Job websites could soon advertise for cannabis growing working positions, based on the provisions of the new union contract.
Based on the latest Oregon reports, new Marijuana provisions turn pot growers into legitimate tax payers. Communities and states, which have finally agreed to acknowledge medicinal marijuana will soon benefit of the contribution of pot growers, whose activity is carefully supervised by the OLCC and the Oregon Health Authority.
Marijuana consumption could no longer represent an issue for those U.S. states that have agreed to legalize it. Oregon, the first state that has agreed to legalize recreational marijuana, has gradually turned pot growing activities into regular drug producing businesses.
According to Jeff Anderson, union Secretary-Treasurer, many efforts are being made to unionize employers and employees who grow cannabis. The union is particularly interested in offering good working conditions for those employees who grow and test marijuana. For this purpose, authorities use the drug store model which presupposes a series of obligations on behalf of employers.
Based on this model, marijuana growers must provide higher wages and benefits for their employees. In addition, they must pay taxes to contribute to the community like other business administrators do.
Stoney Brothers, a marijuana producing company in Portland has teamed up with the union to elaborate the first union contract for their workers. Judging by the example that Stoney Brothers has set, Anderson estimates that all cannabis growers in the region will soon have at least one hundred employees.
Thanks to the recent legalization of recreational marijuana, workers in pot growing facilities benefit now of $15/hour wage and a working plan of 15-34 hours per week. Moreover, employers must provide them a medical and a retirement plan, according to the new state provisions.
As expected, the government’s decision to accept the use of marijuana has contributed to the improvement of Oregon’s rural areas. Many families will now benefit of wage jobs in these regions that have been economically depressed since the loss of the timber industry.
The use of cannabis for medicinal purposes was also made easier by the new rules. NOVUS Medplan has been the first American company agreeing to provide wider insurance plans that also cover the use of medicinal marijuana. Frank Fabrozzi, the company’s chairman, has stated that their insurance plans foreseen discounts for marijuana-based products for patients, who have a medical marijuana card.
In spite of the progress that these states are making, there are still many other Oregon states and counties, which have adopted laws to prohibit cannabis growth and production. It remains to be seen which decision was the wisest.
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Optogenetics – the science of controlling the brain with the use of light – has just received a boost from a Stanford research team who invented the first fully internal implanted device that’s wirelessly-powered.
The importance of the device is monumental, as it expands the way optogenetics can be used during research. More than anything, the implant will be aiding scientists in their endeavor of carrying out experiments involving mice, whether they are in enclosed spaces or interacting with other animals.
Published in the journal Nature Methods, the research conducted by Assist Prof Ada Poon, who teaches electrical engineering at Stanford, has improved conditions for the experiments done on mice. Its small size allows the mouse to move around freely, without the usual restrictions offered by other alternatives.
Because the device can be reconfigured for different uses, Poon made the design of the power source available for the public. She is confident that other labs will find new applications that will assist them in their work.
Conventional optogenetics required that the mouse’s head be fitted with a fiber optic cable that would deliver light and control the brain. Because of the limitative headgear, mice could only be observed in an open cage, as they weren’t able to navigate in enclosed spaces.
Moreover, the results of the experiments were often subject to alteration because the mice were often stressed beforehand by scientists attaching the cable to their heads. Restrictions like these hindered the advancement of optogenetics.
Even though this method allowed researchers to investigate medical issues – such as relieving tremors in Parkinson’s disease – they couldn’t incorporate other factors in their studies, like depression or anxiety involved in mazes because of the challenges presented by a tethered mouse.
Fascinated by the creation of miniature, implantable, wirelessly powered devices, Poon had collaborated with graduate student Kate Montgomery, professor of bioengineering and of mechanical engineering, convinced they could provide an advanced tool for neuroscience.
Before people go around thinking they could control other people’s minds, an important point must be done from clarifying that optogenetics is only successful on carefully prepared nerves that now contain proteins that respond to light.
Poon explains that developing the miniature device that delivers light was not the hard part. Figuring out a viable way to power it over a large area with power efficiency in mind was.
Instead of tackling the problem by creating yet another bulky device that attaches to the mice’s skull, Poon found a way to “use the mouse’s own body to transfer radio frequency energy that was just the right wavelength to resonate in a mouse.”
Experiments that will better our understanding of mental health disorders have suddenly become that much easier, all thanks to the tiny device and the innovative powering mechanism.
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Sunny days were all fun and games until this study came along and proved that they could be exceptionally bad for our health. Apparently, the urban grime that creeps on buildings reacts when sunlight hits, causing air pollution.
A phenomenon never studied before, the release of nitrogen oxide compounds that reside in the building-coating grime is something that Dr. James Donaldson of Toronto University in Canada has been concerned about. The research shows that sunlight is a natural trigger for the soot covering statues and other urban outdoor surfaces to be released in the air we breathe.
More than that, this study reverts the long-standing concept that the nitrates contained in urban grime are static, locked in place. As it goes, the current understanding of air pollution excludes the fact that nitrogen oxides can be recycled and transferred from building surfaces.
After analyzing the situation in a real-world environment through field studies, researchers concluded that this phenomenon is very much happening. Its extent is yet unknown, but further investigation might conclude it is quite a significant factor to urban air pollution.
According to Dr. Donaldson, urban grime can be defined as a compound of thousands of chemical elements that are scattered in the air by factories, traffic and other sources. The most dangerous are nitrogen oxides, because they have the ability to combine with other air pollutants, resulting in ozone, the chief cause of smog.
The long-standing theory regarding nitrogen oxides trapped in grime is that once they settle on a surface, they become inactive. Data collected by Dr. Donaldson’s team, however, proves that notion wrong.
Lab work showed that nitrate disappeared from grime at a rate that couldn’t be simply explained by wash-off due to rainfall. When exposed to artificial sunlight, the disappearance rate of nitrate was 10,000 times higher the rate of a water-based solution.
In further experiments, researchers observed how grime reacted when exposed to artificial sunlight versus keeping it in the dark. Results showed that more nitrates escaped from the exposed grime, suggesting that light has the chemical ability of reactivating nitrogen compounds, which then return in the air.
Lab conclusions were tested in Leipzig, Germany, and Toronto, proving that we still have a lot to understand about urban air pollution. Dr. Donaldson is scheduled to present the team’s findings at the 250th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society.
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No matter how hard it is to stomach some stories, that doesn’t make them less real. Just like the anonymous essay published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, which did more than make our hearts sink. It turned the spotlight on an issue we usually prefer to leave in the dark: doctors behaving in inappropriate ways when patients are under anesthesia.
Two experiences were included under the title “Our Family Secret,” as the author describes situations when physicians were misogynistic toward their patients, with grave undertones of sexual assault.
According to the editors of the journal, the article was not published because of how common this practice is, but because doctors need to know that 1. this is not acceptable, and 2. they don’t have to keep silent if they should witness such misconduct.
When the author, a doctor himself, asked his students of medical humanities about any situations when they had to forgive something that happened during a clinical experience, the following events were revealed.
One of the students recalled a scenario when he should have stood up to a surgeon’s inappropriate behavior – even though he admitted he played along – but he didn’t.
Prior to a vaginal hysterectomy, while the patient was under general anesthesia, the surgeon made a stomach-churning comment about how the patient enjoyed having their vaginal area prepped for the procedure, laughing and winking at his own joke.
In response to the student’s story, the author also shared a similar situation from his time as a medical student, when a baby delivery went wrong. Due to the heavy hemorrhaging, the patient was put under anesthesia, and in spite of the resident doctor’s crucial role in saving her life, his behavior was unforgivable.
The author clearly remembers comments like “Atta girl. That’s what I like. A nice, tight uterus.” made during the necessary internal bimanual uterine massage. Even more horrifying was the fact that the doctor started singing “La Cucaracha,” but was eventually stopped by the anesthesiologist.
Even though this type of inappropriate behavior is clearly at the far end of the spectrum, it shouldn’t happen at all. The essay had a powerful message to deliver, and Dr. Christine Laine, chief editor of the Annals of Internal Medicine, recognized its potential in igniting a much-needed discussion on the topic of doctors acting inappropriately.
Because other members of the editorial team felt an explanation was needed to go along with the article, Dr. Laine said that she was aware that such stories could damage the profession’s reputation, but that was in fact one of the reasons why she chose to publish it. She added that it was time to stop “dusting [the doctors’] bad behavior under the rug.”
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Kinberly Novaes and her child are in a good condition, medical experts have reassured.
Based on the recent press releases, Brazilian MMA fighter wins title while 12 weeks pregnant. Kinberly Novaes had no idea she was pregnant as her medical reports did not indicate it in any way, but a deeper investigation revealed she was expecting a baby.
MMA fighter usually have to train hard and constantly keep a close eye on their physical condition, so their body mass index would not suffer any unwanted modification. This explains Kinberly Novaes’ desperation when, in spite of all the physical efforts she was making, she could not lose weight and get ready for her following game.
Additional tests, however, gave her unexpected news. Doctors performed a morphology ultrasound and noticed that the MMA Brazilian fighter was 24 week (six months) pregnant. Further tests have revealed that the both the mother and the fetus are in a perfect condition, so the champion woman has no reasons to worry.
According to her official declaration, the woman was afraid because her last competition was 12 weeks before when Novaes defeated Renata Baldan. At that period of time, the woman had no idea she was pregnant, so she trained very hard and she kept severe diets in order to dehydrate. Fortunately, the pregnancy went on well. So well that the woman was not even aware of it, we might add.
This week, the Brazilian champion was preparing for her last game against Jocelyn Lybarger, which has been programmed for August 21. The stomach problems that the woman has had have constrained medical experts to take her to the hospital where she found out that she was 24 weeks pregnant. The game has been cancelled and it remains to be seen when Novaes will resume her fighting activity.
The MMA fighter has further stated that she was initially very sad when she found out the news and even started to cry. However, she soon realized that the news was great because she will be having a baby.
The owner Bruno Barros told the press that he is responsible for the entire situation. He asked his fighters to take HIV tests, but did not insist they followed the routine; hence, Novaes’ undiscovered pregnancy. He was glad, too, that the woman and her child are safe.
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Published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, a new study suggests that women who stand a lot during work hours might have a hard time conceiving.
A pool study conducted by a panel of scientists from the Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Centers for Disease Control focused on collecting information on a group of nurses who had previously been a part of the Nurse’s Health Study.
Data showed that one in three women had reported being on their feet for at least 8 hours each day, while 40 percent of them said that lifting heavy loads was a job they performed at least five times a day. At the same time, 16 percent of the 1,738 nurses who were attempting to have a baby were unable to do so within one year.
Senior author Audrey Gaksins said that results pointed out to the fact that sustaining heavy work that put a physical strain through long hours seemed to have a negative effect on the ability of female nurses to become pregnant.
According to experts, healthy couples are usually able to conceive in a matter of three months – or six, at most. This statistic excludes older couples, or those who deal with medical conditions; couples who sustain bad habits detrimental to fertility were also removed from the estimation.
Roughly half of the participating women were older than 33 years of age; 44 percent of them were overweight or obese; and 22 percent had a smoking history. Researchers noted that shifts, whether they worked day or night, did not have any impact on the how long it took for the nurses to conceive.
What did have an impact, however, is the frequent heavy lifting that’s part of the job. Even after the team excluded the women with irregular menstrual cycles, heavy lifting was still tightly connected, delaying the timeline to conception with 33 percent when compared to the average.
The data can, obviously, be interpreted in multiple ways. While she wasn’t part of the study, Courtney Lynch, a specialist in reproductive health from the Ohio State University, said that women might be experiencing difficulties conceiving because they are having less frequent intercourse because work is so demanding.
Whether this is the case or not, Lynch added that women who want to increase their chances of getting pregnant should be extra-careful with the lifestyle they’re maintaining, because being healthy has a great impact on the chances of creating a little bundle of joy.
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Women are often encouraged to cook for their potential mate, because we’ve all been told time and time again that “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” However, according to a new study, it turns out that women might react in a similar way, being a lot more responsive to romantic cues if their stomach has already been taken care of.
In order to reach this conclusion, researchers from the US Drexel University analyzed the way the brain reacts when women are hungry versus satiated, studying women who had dieted before and women who haven’t.
Senior author of the study Alice Ely, who led the research as part of her doctoral degree, explains that having a history of dieting made no difference in this aspect, as both types of young women had higher brain activation when showed romantic pictures if they had eaten before. Their reward-related neural regions were not so thrilled if they went through the experiment with an empty stomach.
Dr. Ely is now a contributing postdoctoral researcher at the Eating Disorders Center for Treatment and Research, part of the University of California. She said she was surprised to find the results were contrary to previous studies, which demonstrated that hungry men and women alike exhibit greater sensitivity to gratifying stimuli, such as finance, food, and drugs.
This finding is part of a larger pilot study that Ely and her Drexel colleagues have conducted on the brain responses to food cues. Researchers were particularly interested if there was a significant difference in the brain’s reward response to food in women with history of dieting – and higher risk of obesity – compared with those who had never dieted.
The study’s conclusions are based on the reactions of young, college-age women of normal weight. Published in 2014, the research points to the fact that women with history of dieting had a stronger brain response to food cues if they were fed than young women currently dieting or with no dieting habits.
Based on that study, the new research, published in the journal Appetite, had the team hypothesizing that brain responses in these two groups might also be different in particular situations, such as when showed romantic pictures in a hungry and fed state.
MRI imagining was used to establish accurate results, which suggested that, even though both groups had stronger responses to romantic cues in a satiated state, women with history of dieting were still ahead of the other group when it came to the degree of neural activity.
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A new American health study found that it’s easier to lose weight by cutting fat from your diet than focusing on reducing the carbohydrates intake. It was not easy to reach this conclusion, but scientists hovered over every bite of food, second of exercise and breath the subjects of the research were taking.
It turned out that both controlled diets observed in the study conducted by the National Institutes of Health led to fat loss, because the calorie count was reduced in a similar way, but scientists could notice that going easy on the fat had more surefire effects.
However, experts also noticed that the most efficient diet is the one people can stick to, and this factor matters more than the type of diet they follow. But when it comes to getting rid of the muffin top, they wanted to see if restricting carbs is the best way to go, mostly because this method is known to alter the metabolism.
In theory, it’s easy to see why fewer carbohydrates lead to weight loss; the lesser the intake, the lower the levels of insulin, the one responsible for releasing fat from the body’s stores.
Senior researcher Dr Kevin Hall of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases said that these processes take place with carb reduction causing you to lose fat, but cutting out the fat might have a different outcome.
Therefore, this study suggests that simply lowering your carbohydrates intake could have a reduced impact on weight loss. Conclusions are based on the data collected from monitoring the diet of 19 obese individuals whose daily intake was 2,700 calories.
The subjects were then divided in two groups and asked to try diets that reduced the calories by a third, one that reduced carbohydrates and another one fat. Revealed in the journal Cell Metabolism, the results showed that volunteers on the fat reducing diet lost an average of 80 percent more weight than those focusing on cutting down on carbs.
Because there is no “metabolic” ground to favor a low-carb diet over any other, and because real-life diets are less strictly controlled, Dr Hall encourages people to choose a healthy diet that they can stick to, whether it cuts down on fat or carbohydrates. Ideally, people should make the decision permanently, as those are the most efficient diets.
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Patients have reported lower pain levels post-surgery after listening to music.
Among the many other benefits, a study has discovered that music can be a good painkiller during surgery and would ultimately help patients before undergoing potentially dangerous procedures. There has been evidence presented along the years about the beneficial and healthy effects of music.
What it hasn’t been proven on a larger scale, though, was that it provided excellent and soothing support for nervous patients before, during or after surgery. It can reduce pain, anxiety and even lower the number of painkillers required during their recovery, though greater benefits have been observed pre or post-operation.
The study conducted at Brunel University has seen 72 trials that involved almost 7,000 patients, and it has been observed that listening to the music of their choice severely influenced their pain levels and anxiety. There’s little more unnerving than knowing you are about to go under anesthesia and place yourself in the hands of others, no matter how well trained. Music has shown signs of aiding with lessening that particular batch of nerves.
Patients who indulged in music before surgery have reported lower pain levels than those who choose not to, and required less pain medication, which often hold their own risk. Lead researcher, Dr. Catherine Meads, stated that music is not routinely used during surgery due to skepticism among professionals about its benefits. However, it should be.
She has stated that patients should be allowed to pick their own music, or at least choose from a pre-made playlist of “soothing” genres, and, hopefully, played in a manner that does not interfere with the surgery team’s communication, although some doctors willingly opt for listening themselves.
However, too loud of a volume may do more harmful than good, considering it could be distracting to members of the staff or even require them to repeat requests in a situation where time is truly of the essence. A controlled ambiance could be tolerated for the good of the patient.
The simple use of cheap headphones or music pillows could be the best choices for lessening the amount of pain and anxiety, along with not interfering with the surgeon’s vitally important attention. According to Meads, it’s a “non-invasive, safe, cheap intervention” that would cost hospitals nearly nothing and would save patients from higher levels of pain.
Dr. Martin Hirsch at Queen Mary University in London has stated that the positive impacts of music during surgery have been known for a long time, but no concrete large study has been made in order to turn it into a common practice. But perhaps it would now.
In the future, patients might be allowed to pick their own music and listen before and after surgery, and even while they’re under anesthesia. After all, another good point to make, like Dr. Paul Glasziou from Bond University in Queensland has implied, if music could be stuffed into a pain-relieving pill, the drug would be selling like hotcakes.
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The stakes are getting higher for professional gamers, so the rules are becoming stricter.
The definition of ‘sport’ is widening its meaning with the advancement of technology, so ESL is as serious as the Olympics about doping when it comes to professional players. The Electronic Sports League (ESL) has installed anti-doping policies that is meant to successfully uphold the spirit of fair play and integrity of the sport.
Videogame competitions have seen an uprising within the last couple of years, drawing out numerous sponsors and millions of viewers. It implies a display of skills ranging from strategy, reflexes, attention, dexterity and, most importantly, teamwork. The eSports League is officially taking the phenomenon to a different level, putting down rules that are necessary due to the upping of prize money and viewers.
The world top professional gaming league has adopted an anti-doping policy that essentially bans players from using similar drugs that are also most definitively not allowed in the Olympics, including anabolic steroids, cannabis, cocaine, HGH and many others. They will be using randomized saliva testing to make sure the players aren’t cheating and that the competition is clean.
The need for the new policy has risen after a CounterStrike: Global Offensive professional player, Kory Friesen, known as Semphis to the gaming world, has admitted to using Adderall to enhance his performance at a tournament in March. It’s commonly used as a drug to treat those afflicted with ADHD or narcolepsy, as it helps increasing attention and focus.
It’s an unfortunate consequence of gaming becoming such a popular and awarding sport, as it’s sending the clear message that the prizes are now valuable enough that players are willing to use drugs in order to win. Not to mention benefit from the use of illegal software that would give them a digital advantage.
Thousands of gamers and millions of viewers tune in to see the competition unfold for prizes that can reach $500,000 for CounterStrike, and has had a whopping near $11 million for DOTA 2 tournaments, such as the one in February of this year. Gaming is becoming a profession and each professional player must then adhere to the proper rules.
ESL will be first instating these rules starting with their CounterStrike tournament in Cologne on August 22nd of this year. Players will be allowed to announce if they’re on any kinds of medication before the tournament, and they are not restricted to using any kinds of drugs during their spare time outside the competition.
However, during the tournament, the use of any of the banned substances will result in loss of points, prize money or even complete suspension and banning from competitive play. Gaming is entering a new era, and all those who wish to see it through will have to take it seriously.
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