Sony's new president and CEO; Kazuo Hirai

Sony has announced that Howard Stringer, who worked as CEO of the company since 2005, will start working as Chairman of the Board and he will be succeeded by Kazuo Hirai, video game executive.


Kazuo Hirai will have to face a challenging post in the new position as company is expecting big losses this year.


Kazuo Hirai said,

As challenging as times are for Sony now, were it not for the strong leadership of Sir Howard Stringer these past seven years, we would have been in a much more difficult position. I am grateful to Sir Howard and to the Board for their confidence in me, and I look forward to working with everyone at Sony more closely than ever before to build a strong future for our customers, shareholders, partners and employees. The path we must take is clear: to drive the growth of our core electronics businesses - primarily digital imaging, smart mobile and game; to turn around the television business; and to accelerate the innovation that enables us to create new business domains. The foundations are now firmly in place for the new management team and me to fully leverage Sony’s diverse electronics product portfolio, in conjunction with our rich entertainment assets and growing array of networked services, to engage with our customers around the world in new and exciting ways.

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Sleep apnea patients can become the patient of silent stroke

Researchers have found that the patients of sleep apnea can become the patients of silent stroke. They have found that there are more chances of white matter lesions in the brain of the patient of sleep apnea.

On the other hand, Researchers have discovered that approximately 91% of patients of stroke also had sleep apnea.

"Sleep apnea is widely unrecognized and still neglected," Dr. Kepplinger of the University of Technology in Dresden, Germany in a news release. "Patients who had severe sleep apnea were more likely to have silent strokes and the severity of sleep apnea increased the risk of being disabled at hospital discharge."

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Dr. Richard Olney died in the course of disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Dr. Richard Olney (Credit: thirdage)

Dr. Richard Olney who spent 18 years of research in University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in the research of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) has been died on January 27.

He was diagnosed with ALS 8 years ago and resigned from the UCSF ALS center which he established for the treatment and research of ALS in the early years of 1990.

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LightSquared and Sprint's agreement is under risk

LightSquared and Sprint has agreed last year to work together for 15 years. They were agreed that they will share wireless spectrum, equipment costs and network construction. This agreement was on the provisions of Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) approval to LightSquared.

Recently, Sprint reported that it has given LightSquared six weeks to get FCC approval, so that the agreement could run smoothly.

"Sprint and LightSquared have extended their agreement until mid-March to give LightSquared additional time to address issues associated with the 1.6 spectrum," Sprint said in a statement on Tuesday. It also gave more details about a temporary stop to work on the project pending the regulatory approval, "At the end of 2011, Sprint and LightSquared jointly decided to pull back on expenses and stop new deployment design and implementation. All work has been halted. This helps ensure Sprint's Network Vision project remains on schedule."

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Cystic Fibrosis has gotten an enemy from Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Cystic Fibrosis (Credit: A.D.A.M. / MedlinePlus)

Vertex Pharmaceuticals have reported that its drug "Kalydeco" has been approved by FDA for the treatment of the rare form of Cystic fibrosis.

Cystic fibrosis is the disorder of lungs and digestive system.

"More than 13 years ago we set out to change the lives of people with cystic fibrosis by developing new medicines that address the underlying cause of this rare and devastating disease," said Jeffrey Leiden, M.D., Ph.D., Vertex's incoming President and Chief Executive Officer. "KALYDECO represents a major advance in the treatment of cystic fibrosis for people with a specific type of this disease. But our work isn't done. With the ongoing support of doctors, patients and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, we're making progress toward our ultimate goal of developing additional medicines to help many more people with cystic fibrosis."

From Vertex Pharmaceuticals,

The approval of KALYDECO was based on data from two Phase 3 studies of people with CF who have at least one copy of the G551D mutation. Those who were treated with KALYDECO experienced significant and sustained improvements in lung function as well as other disease measures, including weight gain and certain quality of life measurements, compared to those who received placebo. People who took KALYDECO also experienced significantly fewer pulmonary exacerbations, which are periods of worsening in the signs and symptoms of the disease that often require treatment with antibiotics and hospital visits. Fewer people in the KALYDECO treatment groups discontinued treatment due to adverse events than in the placebo groups. The majority of adverse events associated with KALYDECO were mild to moderate. Adverse events commonly observed in those taking KALYDECO included headache, upper respiratory tract infection (common cold), stomach pain and diarrhea.

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Biogen Idec's increased sale from the drugs of multiple sclerosis

Biogen Idec, a biopharmaceutical company working mainly on multiple sclerosis drugs, has released its Q4 results.

Increased sales of its multiple sclerosis drugs has caused an increased earnings in the fourth quarter of 2011.

"Our success in 2011 gives us a strong position on which to build," said George A. Scangos, Ph.D., the company's chief executive officer. "In 2012 we will focus on the continued growth and leadership of our marketed products and the advancement of our strong pipeline. We will continue to work on risk stratification to unlock the value of TYSABRI and we plan to launch the AVONEX PEN in the US to support the continued growth of AVONEX. We are working to file BG-12 as quickly as possible, and are preparing for the potential launch of the product. We also anticipate phase III data later this year for our long-acting factor VIII and factor IX in hemophilia, and dexpramipexole in ALS, and are preparing for multiple filings and product launches where the data are positive. At the same time we are working to strengthen our early stage pipeline through internal research and strategic collaborations to build a foundation for growth and innovation over the long term."

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Final Cut Pro X has gotten a professional update

Final Cut Pro X (Credit: Apple)

Apple Inc. has launched a professional update of Final Cut Pro X i.e. version 10.0.3.

It will have paths for projects made in previous versions of Final Cut Pro X. This comes with third party plugin.

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