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A surge of stress-related drinking and alcohol-related deaths brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic in the US has not tapered off the way Dr. Brian Lee, a transplant hepatologist at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, had hoped. “I was hopeful that we would see declines in alcohol use, but I’m a practicing liver specialist, and the reality is, we had definitely seen a rise in patients with liver failure, which is really an extreme, I think, clinical condition from excessive alcohol use,” Lee said. “So we had definitely seen a surge with the pandemic. And if you look at my clinic and in the hospital, at least from my experience, it hasn’t gone down.” New research, led by Lee and published November 12 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that a spike in alcohol consumption among people in the US in 2020 continued to rise slightly in 2021 and 2022. The study used data from the National Health Interview Survey, administered by the US Census Bureau, and compared the data with 2018 as the baseline. The study included almost 25,000 respondents from 2018, about 31,000 from 2020 and almost 27,000 from 2022. The increase in drinking was seen among both men and women and across all race and ethnic groups. In 2022, 69.3% of Americans reported some alcohol consumption in the previous year, a slight increase from 69% in 2020 and 66.34% in 2018. Additionally, the percentage of heavy drinkers rose to almost 6.3% of those surveyed in 2022, up from 6.13% in 2020 and 5.1% in 2018. “While the findings are troubling, they are not surprising,” said Dr. Jagpreet Chhatwal, director of the Institute for Technology Assessment at Massachusetts General Hospital, who was not involved in the study. “Alcohol consumption has been steadily increasing over the past several years.” White Americans had the highest change in being heavy drinkers, with roughly 7.3% claiming to be heavy drinkers, an increase from about 5.7% in 2018 and 7.1% in 2020. Women also were more likely to be heavy drinkers, with 6.45% reporting as such, compared with 6.1% of men. It doesn’t take much alcohol to increase health dangers, Lee says: “If you’re drinking more than one drink per day as a woman, you can be at risk for having liver disease.” The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines heavy drinking for women as four or more drinks on any day or eight or more per week. For men, it is defined as five or more drinks a day or 15 or more per week. The institute considers a drink to be about 14 grams of pure alcohol, which equates to about 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits. Though the researchers couldn’t answer exactly why alcohol consumption was so high among the US adults surveyed, Lee has a few hypotheses. “They had really disruptive pandemic-related effects to their careers, losing jobs or losing their routine. Some of them have young children, too,” he said. “We know that alcohol is used as a coping mechanism for stress. What starts as a habit can become addictive or a substance disorder.” Chhatwal agreed, adding that life stressors like financial insecurity, work pressure or other mental health struggles may contribute to the rise in alcohol consumption. “Increasing stress and burnout in society exacerbate this tendency,” he said. “The normalization of drinking culture also contributes to increased and excessive consumption. Unfortunately, most people recognize the damage caused by alcohol only in the later stages of liver disease, when treatment options are limited.” According to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, deaths caused by alcohol use in the US spiked during the pandemic, with over 49,000 in 2020. The height of the pandemic also saw an average of about 488 deaths per day due to excessive alcohol consumption; there was an increase of more than 29% from 2016-17 to 2020-21. Lee believes that research findings alone are no longer enough to deter people from overconsuming. “We’ve shown in studies that liver transplants for alcohol have increased fivefold in the last 20 years. We’ve also shown that alcohol deaths due to liver disease are surging,” he said. “Now, it’s about intervention. What interventions could actually work to save lives and what policies can we enact to stem the surge?” Chhatwal recommends heavier taxation and limiting sale hours within retailers to decrease alcohol accessibility. Lee and Chhatwal also suggest that more and better messaging on the risks of overconsumption could help counter these effects. “People need to know what is harmful alcohol use and what it does to your body,” Lee said. “Medical professionals really need to speak to their patients about alcohol use openly and nonjudgmentally. Alcohol has been implicated in more than 200 diseases, whether it’s heart disease, cancer, pancreatic disease – it really can affect your body, and both patients and doctors really need to be aware of this.”The Government will block new incinerators if they do not help meet environmental objectives under rules unveiled on Monday. Developers will have to show that their project either helps reduce the amount of non-recyclable waste going to landfill, or replaces an older, less efficient incinerator. The move forms part of the Government’s drive to increase recycling rates, which have held at about 45% of household waste since 2015. Environment minister Mary Creagh said: “For far too long, the nation has seen its recycling rates stagnate and relied on burning household waste, rather than supporting communities to keep resources in use for longer. “That ends today, with clear conditions for new energy from waste plants – they must be efficient and support net zero and our economic growth mission, before they can get the backing needed to be built.” Developers will also have to ensure their incinerators are ready for carbon capture technology, and demonstrate how the heat they produce can be used to help cut heating bills for households. The Government expects that its “crackdown” on new incinerators will mean only a limited number are built, while still reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill and enabling the country to process the waste it produces. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the country was almost at the point where it had enough waste facilities to handle non-recyclable rubbish, and so had limited need for new incinerators. But the proposals stop short of the plans included in the Conservatives’ 2024 manifesto, which committed to a complete ban on new incinerators due to their “impact on local communities” and declining demand as recycling increased.mgo777 pro

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What's Going On With Illumina Stock On Monday?Nokia Corporation Stock Exchange Release 4 December 2024 at 22:30 EET Nokia Corporation: Repurchase of own shares on 04.12.2024 Espoo, Finland – On 4 December 2024 Nokia Corporation (LEI: 549300A0JPRWG1KI7U06) has acquired its own shares (ISIN FI0009000681) as follows: * Rounded to two decimals On 22 November 2024, Nokia announced that its Board of Directors is initiating a share buyback program to offset the dilutive effect of new Nokia shares issued to the shareholders of Infinera Corporation and certain Infinera Corporation share-based incentives. The repurchases in compliance with the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 (MAR), the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 and under the authorization granted by Nokia’s Annual General Meeting on 3 April 2024 started on 25 November 2024 and end by 31 December 2025 and target to repurchase 150 million shares for a maximum aggregate purchase price of EUR 900 million. Total cost of transactions executed on 4 December 2024 was EUR 3,502,064. After the disclosed transactions, Nokia Corporation holds 209,033,034 treasury shares. Details of transactions are included as an appendix to this announcement. On behalf of Nokia Corporation BofA Securities Europe SA About Nokia At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together. As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs. With truly open architectures that seamlessly integrate into any ecosystem, our high-performance networks create new opportunities for monetization and scale. Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today – and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future. Inquiries: Nokia Communications Phone: +358 10 448 4900 Email: press.services@nokia.com Maria Vaismaa, Global Head of External Communications Nokia Investor Relations Phone: +358 40 803 4080 Email: investor.relations@nokia.com Attachment Daily Report 2024-12-04STEMart Announces Balloon Catheter Testing Services to Ensure Medical Device Safety and Regulatory Compliance 12-16-2024 07:52 PM CET | Health & Medicine Press release from: ABNewswire STEMart introduces Balloon Catheter Testing Services for the development of safe and effective medical devices. STEMart, a US-based provider of comprehensive services for all phases of medical device development, announces the expansion of its medical device testing capabilities and introduces Balloon Catheter Testing [ https://www.ste-mart.com/medical-device-balloon-catheter-testing.htm ] Services for the development of safe and effective medical devices. These reliable testing solutions will meet the evolving needs of the medical device industry and help manufacturers minimize the compliance risks. Medical device testing is a crucial step in the development and commercialization of innovative medical devices. To ensure product safety and efficacy, comprehensive testing is required throughout the entire product lifecycle. STEMart's experienced team assists clients in meeting stringent regulatory standards, including ISO 10992, ISO 18562, FDA guidance, and ASTM standards. By providing a range of testing services for Class I, II, and III medical devices, STEMart helps clients navigate the complex regulatory landscape and bring their products to market with confidence. Balloons and catheters, in particular, necessitate stringent testing to verify their intended use and labeling. STEMart offers advanced testing capabilities to assess critical parameters like balloon fatigue, inflation and deflation time, burst pressure, and balloon compliance. Its state-of-the-art facilities and adherence to FDA guidance documents and ISO standards guarantee accurate and reliable testing results, enabling clients to bring safe and effective balloon catheter products to market. These comprehensive balloon catheter testing services can assess the performance and safety of medical devices. For example, the Burst Testing determines the maximum pressure a balloon catheter can withstand before rupturing. A controlled pressure increase is applied until the balloon fails, providing crucial data for safety assessments. Additionally, the Fatigue Testing evaluates the balloon's ability to be safely cycled through a defined number of inflations to rated pressure, meeting the testing requirements of ISO 10555 or FDA guidelines. To ensure the long-term reliability and performance of balloon catheters, additional testing is necessary. Compliance testing measures the balloon's diameter at various pressure levels to assess its ability to expand and contract as needed. Finally, inflation/deflation testing determines the time required for the balloon to fully inflate and deflate, which is essential for efficient and effective clinical procedures. These tests, often conducted using an automatic inflation/deflation system, help ensure that balloon catheters meet the stringent requirements. With extensive expertise in medical device balloon catheter testing, STEMart can provide comprehensive services to help manufacturers meet regulatory objectives and minimize compliance risks. STEMart's experienced team of engineers and technicians leverages state-of-the-art equipment and rigorous testing protocols to ensure medical devices meet the highest quality standards and regulatory requirements. To find out more about other medical device testing solutions, or to consult with the experts at STEMart, please visit https://www.ste-mart.com/medical-device-balloon-catheter-testing.htm . About STEMart STEMart is an industry-leading eCommerce platform incorporated with an extensive global footprint and a broad portfolio of more than 10,000 products. It aims to provide better lab materials, medical instruments and consumables, excellent technologies, and high-quality services to global customers in the fields of science, technology, and engineering, from the discovery stage upward to the manufacturing process. STEMart is dedicated to enhancing research and biotech production with simpler and safer protocols to access better health worldwide. Media Contact Company Name: STEMart Contact Person: Staci Horme Email:Send Email [ https://www.abnewswire.com/email_contact_us.php?pr=stemart-announces-balloon-catheter-testing-services-to-ensure-medical-device-safety-and-regulatory-compliance ] Country: United States Website: https://www.ste-mart.com/ This release was published on openPR.