Learning
Harvard Kennedy School; Shorenstein Center On Media; Politics, and Public Policy; Sleep Disparities: An Explainer and Research Roundup
Most sleep studies included only white men in the early years and other racial and ethnic groups and women and were not included in studies of sleep disorders until the 1990s, says Dr. Andrea Matsumura, a sleep medicine physician at The Oregon Clinic in Portland, Oregon, and a member of the Public Awareness and Advisory Committee at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. But the growing body of literature so far has revealed that sleep plays an important role in human health, and factors beyond an one’s control are linked to sleep problems, which can then affect overall health. Research also shows sleep deficiencies disproportionately impact those who experience other health disparities.To take into account social, environmental and economic factors affecting sleep, researchers and experts use the term “sleep health” to create a holistic view of sleep. more »
Jo Freeman Reviews: The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald, A Novel by William Alsup
Jo Freeman Reviews: "You read dialogue and details and personal stories that you won’t find in official testimony. Reading the Warren Commission volumes might not be exciting, but this book is. The questions and answers in the trial have to be fiction, because Oswald never went on trial. But.... you still feel like you have a front row seat in the court room. There are plenty of conspiracy theories, both real and fictional... These were enhanced by the fact that Oswald had trained as a Marine marksman and then defected to Russia. He married a Russian woman and returned to the US. The author had his pick of theories to complicate the “trial,” without picking any of them.... There were also quite a few mysteries. People disagreed over whether they heard three, four, or five shots. They also disagreed over where they came from. Why were only two bullets found? The lawyers in the book debate these mysteries as they try to figure out what really happened." more »
Jerome Powell's Semiannual Monetary Policy Report; Strong Wage Growth; Inflation, Labor Market, Unemployment, Job Gains, 2 Percent Inflation
"...There is little sign of disinflation thus far in the category of core services excluding housing, which accounts for more than half of core consumer expenditures. To restore price stability, we will need to see lower inflation in this sector, and there will very likely be some softening in labor market conditions. Although nominal wage gains have slowed somewhat in recent months, they remain above what is consistent with 2 percent inflation and current trends in productivity. Strong wage growth is good for workers but only if it is not eroded by inflation...Despite the slowdown in growth, the labor market remains extremely tight. The unemployment rate was 3.4 percent in January, its lowest level since 1969. Job gains remained very strong in January, while the supply of labor has continued to lag." more »
Welcome to TDI-11861: NIH-funded Team Contraceptive Disables Sperm; More Work is Still Needed Before Human Clinical Trials Could Begin
"An NIH-funded team of researchers, led by Drs .Jochen Buck and Lonny Levin at Weill Cornell Medicine, pn and fertility. Their findings appeared in Nature Communications on February 14, 2023. A variety of tests in mice didn’t identify any potential safety issues with TDI-11861. The team then treated male mice with a single dose of TDI-11861 before allowing them to mate with females. The treated mice showed no differences in mating behavior from untreated mice. But the sperm from treated mice lost the ability to move on their own. Sperm remained immobile after being deposited in the female reproductive tract..." "Men produce several million sperm per day — about 1,000 per second. To prevent pregnancy, all of these need to be stopped from reaching an egg." more »