Monthly Archives: May 2021

Anatomy

Former Grey’s Anatomy star Sara Ramirez joins Sex and the City revival – Digital Spy

Former Grey's Anatomy star Sara Ramrez is joining the cast of Sex and the City.

Ramrez has been cast in a recurring role in HBO Max's event series And Just Like That as a podcaster named Che Diaz who frequently has Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) on their show.

Che is queer and nonbinary, and their views on gender identity have made their podcast extremely popular in the world of Sex and the City (via Entertainment Weekly).

Ramrez's casting comes on the heels of reports that Sex and the City boss Michael Patrick King would be adding several characters from diverse backgrounds to the cast to better represent Carrie and friends' social circle.

Nicholas HuntGetty Images

King has now said: "Everyone at And Just Like That is beyond thrilled that a dynamically talented actor such as Sara Ramrez has joined the Sex and the City family.

"Sara is a one-of-a-kind talent, equally at home with comedy and drama and we feel excited and inspired to create this new character for the show."

Ramrez is best known for playing one of the longest-running LGBTQ+ characters in TV, Dr Callie Torres, on Grey's Anatomy.

Since leaving Grey's, they starred in the political drama series Madam Secretary as policy advisor Kat Sandoval for two seasons.

Slaven VlasicGetty Images

And Just Like That will bring back original cast members Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon without Kim Cattrall's Samantha Jones for a brand new chapter.

John Corbett has also announced that he will be returning as Carrie's one-time boyfriend Aidan Shaw.

The Sex and the City revival series will be airing on HBO Max in the US for 10 all-new episodes, with filming set to begin this summer.

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Former Grey's Anatomy star Sara Ramirez joins Sex and the City revival - Digital Spy

Anatomy

15 years of Google Trends, and Americans are still mostly searching for the same things – WFAA.com

Google Trends turned 15 in May 2021.

DALLAS Editor's note: The above video is from 2019.

Harry Potter, "American Idol" and "Grey's Anatomy" may seem unrelated on the surface, but they have at least one thing in common: American Google users were searching for those terms back when Google Trends first launched in May 2006 - and they're still searching for them now in May 2021.

Google Trends, the search engine's tool for seeing what Google users are searching for at any given moment, turns 15 this month. It launched in May 2006, when high-speed internet was first becoming widespread, Houston rapper Chamillionaire was burning up the charts with "Ridin' Dirty," and Texan George W. Bush was in the Oval Office.

A lot has changed in 15 years, but apparently, America's pop culture tastes and Google searches have stayed somewhat the same. In addition to Harry Potter, "American Idol" and "Grey's Anatomy" (which just got renewed for an 18th season), Americans are still searching for thriller and fantasy books, like 2003's "The Da Vinci Code" and 1993's "Without Remorse," which just got a search bump because it was adapted into a movie at Amazon Prime starring Michael B. Jordan.

Many actors that were popular in Google searches in 2006 are also still popular today, like Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck and Zac Efron.

Worldwide, people are still asking the big questions in the past 15 years, like:

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Reports like these aren't just fun lists of what people search on Google each year; they're also mini-time capsules, showing us what we thought was worthy of our attention at any given moment. Fifteen years from now, we may look back at our fascination with "Game of Thrones" the same way we look at "The Da Vinci Code."

Take a trip down Memory Lane, see what's changed and check out Google's list of top searches in May 2006 vs. May 2021 below.

Top English-language questions, past 15 years, Worldwide

Most searched song lyrics, May 2006, U.S.

Most searched song lyrics, May 2021, U.S.

Most searched books, May 2006, U.S.

Most searched books, May 2021, U.S.

Most searched actors, May 2006, U.S.

Most searched Actors, May 2021, U.S.

Most searched TV shows, May 2006, U.S.

Most searched TV shows, May 2021, U.S.

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15 years of Google Trends, and Americans are still mostly searching for the same things - WFAA.com

Anatomy

Anatomy of an NBA champion: Which 2021 teams fit the statistical profile? – theScore

What does a champion look like?

Anyone familiar with the pantheon of NBA champions knows that certain teams have dominated - only 12 franchises have won the last 41 titles. But what do those champions have in common? Do they provide a statistical profile we can use to learn about this year's playoffs?

When we're looking for statistical similarities among championship teams to help us evaluate this year's postseason field, we'll use the last 16 seasons. The NBA's current 30-team, six-division scheduling format has been in place since 2004-05. The league had already adopted rules that prioritized offense by eliminating hand-checking and illegal defenses. And it's also recent enough to account for the modern importance of 3-point shooting.

Let's dig into the numbers that link these NBA champions and see what they say about this year's playoff teams.

Modern champions compiled a minimum win percentage of .634 - the equivalent of 52 wins in 82 games - and a top-five overall record during the regular season.

Even that might be a bit conservative, as the winning percentage outlier, the 2005-06 Heat, were on a 55-win pace (41-20) after Pat Riley took over coaching duties from Stan Van Gundy and a 58-win pace (42-17) with Shaquille O'Neal in the lineup after the big man missed 18 of 20 games to start the season. You'll also notice that the last eight champs finished with top-three records.

Who fits the bill? Jazz, Suns, 76ers, Nets, Nuggets

Who doesn't measure up? Bucks, Mavericks, Trail Blazers, Lakers, Hawks, Knicks, Heat, Celtics, Warriors, Grizzlies, Wizards, Pacers

Potential outlier: Clippers

The Clippers won more than 65% of their games this season, so they meet the win-percentage threshold of a champion, but they technically finished behind the Nuggets in the standings - sixth overall - due to Denver owning the tiebreaker. From a record perspective, however, the Clippers tied for a top-five mark this season, which would put them in title-contending territory.

An NBA champion needs to boast a top-eight scoring differential and top-eight net rating per 100 possessions. Specifically, the previous champions have outscored opponents during the regular season by at least 3.9 points per 48 minutes or 4.1 points per 100 possessions. The 2011 Mavs are an obvious outlier here, and a top-five differential might be the more accurate cutoff.

Who fits the bill? Jazz, Clippers, Bucks, Suns, 76ers, Nuggets, Nets

Who doesn't measure up? Hawks, Knicks, Mavericks, Trail Blazers, Celtics, Heat, Grizzlies, Warriors, Pacers, Wizards

Potential outlier: Lakers

The defending champions boasted a top-eight point differential and net rating, but their actual metrics fell short of the specific plus-3.9 and plus-4.1 cutoffs for modern champions. However, the Lakers played a significant chunk of their season without one or both of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and when they did share the court, L.A. walloped teams by more than 11 points per 100 possessions (Utah's league-leading net rating was plus-9.0). With James on the floor in general, the Lakers still posted a higher net rating (plus-9.2) than the Jazz.

In other words, the healthy Lakers we expect to take the court for the postseason would more than meet our threshold for point differential.

Notwithstanding last year's Lakers and the 2009-10 Lakers, a top-nine offensive rating (points per 100 possessions), a top-six effective field-goal percentage, and a top-20 3-point percentage are all requirements for a championship offense. Dig deeper and you'll find that as NBA offenses have shifted to emphasize the 3-point shot, eight of the last nine champions finished in the top nine in 3-point shooting.

However, in the interest of consistency, we'll include the 2020 and 2010 Lakers and say that the 2021 champion only requires a top-11 offensive rating, a top-15 eFG%, and a top-23 3-point percentage.

Those very modest cutoffs don't really discriminate.

Who fits the bill (expanded version)? Nets, Trail Blazers, Clippers, Jazz, Bucks, Nuggets, Suns, Mavericks, Celtics

Who doesn't measure up? 76ers, Knicks, Hawks, Heat, Lakers, Warriors, Grizzlies, Wizards, Pacers

If we do ignore the 2010 and 2020 Lakers, we could use the 14 other modern champions to determine the requirements are a top-nine offense and top-six effective field-goal percentage. That leaves these teams.

Who fits the bill (limited version)? Nets, Clippers, Jazz, Bucks, Nuggets, Suns

Although offense gets all the attention, every champion in our sample finished in the top 11 on the defensive end, with at least a top-13 mark in opponents' effective field-goal percentage. Also, 13 of the last 14 champions finished in the top eight in limiting opponents' effective field-goal percentage.

Who fits the bill? Jazz, Knicks, 76ers, Lakers, Clippers, Suns, Bucks, Warriors, Grizzlies

Who doesn't measure up? Mavericks, Trail Blazers, Nets, Hawks, Celtics, Wizards, Pacers

Potential outliers: Heat, Nuggets

Both the Heat and Nuggets finished in the top 11 on the defensive end but failed to meet the necessary cutoffs by ranking 19th and 21st, respectively, in opponents' effective field-goal percentage. In addition, Miami didn't rebound well enough on the defensive end, and Denver sent opponents to the free-throw line too often - both issues that are often remedied by postseason attention to detail and officiating. These teams may not meet our defensive cutoff points, but they're both capable of defending well enough to contend.

The postseason, not to mention The Finals, is about transcendent talent. Depth can carry you to the playoffs and an All-Star can perhaps drag you into the second or third round. But if you want to compete in June (or, in the case of 2021, July), you need a Hall of Fame-type, generational superstar. There's a reason 38 of the last 41 Finals has featured at least one of LeBron James, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, or Larry Bird. Throw in names like Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Isiah Thomas, and you get 41 of 41.

There's obviously no way to quantify with 100% accuracy where players rank individually in the NBA, but one fun tool determines how stars stack up based on their average rank across a plethora of catch-all stats. Andy Bailey made this measure famous on Basketball Twitter. According to that data, each of the last 16 champions has had a player rank in the top 15 during the regular season. When you consider how flawless the 2014 Spurs were, and how much better than the 15th-best player Leonard was in 2019 (when regular season games played held him back in the rankings), you realize that a top-10 player - if not top five - is probably what's truly necessary.

You'll also notice every champion featured at least one All-Star, with 13 of the last 16 teams employing more than one.

All 16 champions featured at least one All-NBA selection (10 of 16 had multiple players on the year-end list), and 14 of the last 16 champions boasted at least one All-Defensive team selection. But those awards won't be handed out for weeks, so we can't use them to filter here.

Let's look for playoff teams with a top-15 player this season, according to the average of those aforementioned catch-all stats.

Who fits the bill? Nuggets, Bucks, 76ers, Mavericks, Heat, Clippers, Trail Blazers, Jazz, Lakers, Suns, Nets, Celtics, Warriors

Who doesn't measure up? Knicks, Hawks, Grizzlies, Wizards, Pacers

Potential outliers: Hawks, Knicks

No catch-all method or statistical cutoff is perfect, so does it really matter that Atlanta and New York's best players ranked just outside the top 15? After all, Julius Randle is almost certain to nab an All-NBA spot, and will likely even garner some down-ballot MVP love.

Nevertheless, if we also want to incorporate the fact that 13 of 16 modern champions boasted multiple All-Stars, then only the Sixers, Clippers, Lakers, Jazz, Suns, and Nets qualify.

Home-court advantage may not mean as much in 2021 as it did in 2019, but with fans slowly returning to arenas, we inch closer to postseason normalcy. At the very least, home court - and all that comes with it, beyond just fan support - means a lot more this spring than it did in the 2020 restart bubble. Historically, a team that excels no matter where it plays usually has a good chance to contend, so let's look at the home/road splits of recent champions and then compare that to the splits of 2021 playoff teams.

We're looking for teams that dominate at home and, at the very least, still win on the road. Modern champions post a minimum home win percentage of .707 (equivalent to a 29-12 home record in a full season) while also recording a winning record on the road.

Who fits the bill? Jazz, Suns, 76ers, Nets, Clippers, Bucks

Who doesn't measure up? Nuggets, Mavericks, Trail Blazers, Lakers, Knicks, Hawks, Heat, Celtics, Warriors, Wizards, Grizzlies, Pacers

Potential outliers: Everyone

Again, it's tough to use home/road splits from a season that was played in front of mostly empty arenas while heading into a postseason that will only feature moderately filled stadiums. Still, there's something to be said for the consistent excellence of the teams that made the cut.

If you're wondering why some other measurements were left out of this research, I discovered that assist metrics, rebound rates, turnover measures, free-throw frequency, and opponent 3-point percentages didn't produce championship trends as consistently as the statistics cited above. The championship teams we examined often finished in the bottom third in at least one of those categories.

Only two teams managed to check every box, with the Jazz and Suns entering the playoffs as the clear-cut favorites when considering the statistical profiles of modern NBA champions (though neither team is a betting favorite).

In addition, the only thing holding the Clippers back is that every modern champion finished top five in the overall standings, while the 2021 Clippers officially finished sixth. Again, however, L.A. did match the record of fifth-place Denver - and shamelessly tanked the final weekend of the season to seemingly avoid the Lakers' side of the West bracket - so I'm including the Clippers alongside Utah and Phoenix as having met the historical requirements of a contender.

Phoenix being in this category is most remarkable, as the Suns haven't played a postseason game in 11 years, and hadn't even cracked the 40-win mark in seven years. Not since the 2007-08 Celtics - who went on to win the title after acquiring Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen - has a team become a full-blown contender so swiftly (although I suppose you can make an argument for last year's Lakers, who ended a seven-year postseason drought to win the title).

Potential outliers: Lakers, Nets

We've already noted how dominant the Lakers are when James and Davis are healthy, and the defending champs almost certainly would've met the necessary championship cutoffs had the star duo not missed a combined 63 games. Needing to win a play-in game against Steph Curry's Warriors before drawing the rested Suns changes the equation, however.

As for the Nets, the trio of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving played just eight games together, and even Brooklyn's lagging defensive metrics measured as surprisingly competent at high points of the team's season. If the Nets or Lakers emerge victorious a couple months from now, it won't be the tale of a team bucking the championship trend as much as it will be the tale of a team whose regular season wasn't indicative of its potential.

Wondering where the Sixers, Bucks, and Nuggets are? Philadelphia didn't score efficiently enough to qualify, Milwaukee finished outside the top five in the overall standings, and the (Jamal Murray-less) Nuggets didn't meet the necessary defensive requirements.

Just happy to be here: Hawks, Wizards, Pacers

Atlanta's the only surefire playoff team without a single championship indicator, though the Hawks only narrowly missed the thresholds on offense and in the "star talent" category. One of Washington or Indiana will join them in this category once the East play-in is decided.

Joseph Casciaro is a senior writer for theScore.

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Anatomy of an NBA champion: Which 2021 teams fit the statistical profile? - theScore

Anatomy

This former ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ star is joining the HBO Max ‘Sex and the City’ reboot – Yardbarker

Sara Ramrez won over millions of hearts during a 10-year run as Dr. Callie Torres on Grey's Anatomy, and now the 45-year-old is crossing over into another iconic television franchise.

According to Deadline'sDenise Petski,Ramrez has been cast in HBO Max'sSex and the Cityreboot limited series titled And Just Like That...,where she will star alongside OG cast members Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon.

Petski provided context:

Ramrez made history as Grey'sTorres, an orthopedic surgeon who came into her sexuality during Season 4 through a surprise romance with Dr. Erica Hahn (Brooke Smith), and became the longest-running LGBTQ+ character across 241 total episodes.

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This former 'Grey's Anatomy' star is joining the HBO Max 'Sex and the City' reboot - Yardbarker

Anatomy

Is Greys Anatomy on tonight (5/20/2021)? – nj.com

Greys Anatomy 2021, in the midst of a year of COVID-19 difficulties, began its 17th season on Thursday, Nov. 13.

For some fans, the frequent gaps in the shows release schedule have been an unexpected source of confusion.

The long-running medical drama stars Ellen Pompeo, Justin Chambers, Chandra Wilson, Kevin McKidd, Kim Raver, and James Pickens, Jr.

Heres the information youll need to watch Greys Anatomy when it airs, including with a free live stream.

Does Greys Anatomy come on tonight (5/20/2021)?

Greys Anatomy will be returning to its regular release schedule on May 20, 2021 at 9 p.m. The episode will be the 15th episode of its 17th season.

The episode will be preceded by a new episode of Station 19 at 8 p.m., and before a new episode of Rebel at 10 p.m.

How to watch Greys Anatomy live without cable

If youre a cord-cutter or dont have cable, you can live stream Greys Anatomy on Fubo TV, a streaming service that offers a free trial. As of recently, Fubo TV now offers ABC as part of its channel package.

The streaming service lets viewers watch the series, and other ABC content, live as it airs. There is also DVR functionality.

What channel is ABC?

You can use the channel finder on your providers website to locate it: Verizon Fios, AT&T U-verse, Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV, Dish.

How to watch Greys Anatomy online on-demand

For cord-cutters, if youre concerned you might miss Greys Anatomy, you can use the DVR feature of Fubo TV, which also offers a free trial, to record and store episodes of the series, along with anything else that airs on ABC. It will also be available to stream on-demand on Hulu Live TV, which offers a seven-day free trial, as well.

For cable subscribers, Greys Anatomy will be available to watch the day after each episode airs on ABC.com by logging into the website via your cable provider.

What is Greys Anatomy about?

According to the official ABC website: The doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital Meredith Grey are faced with life-or-death decisions on a daily basis. They seek comfort from one another, and, at times, more than just friendship. Together they discover that neither medicine nor relationships can be defined in black and white.

Heres a look at Greys Anatomy, courtesy of ABCs official YouTube channel:

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Joseph Rejent may be reached at jrejent@njadvancemedia.com.

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Is Greys Anatomy on tonight (5/20/2021)? - nj.com

Anatomy

Slow Motion And Sentiments: The Anatomy Of Mother’s Day Ads – Forbes India

Indian actress Nirupa Roy

This Mothers Day was very harsh on me. I realised that I am adopted. When I called my mom to wish her on the day, she didnt cry and I didnt sense a wide smile showcasing her new molars nor a nod in slow motion. In fact, she mumbled something about me not calling her often, and that if Bill Gates had sat for CAT after engineering and completed his MBA, he wouldnt have gotten divorced. In other words, my mother just failed the advertising maternity test.

Every year, every brand decides to stand out with the same mothers day campaign mom works hard but goes unnoticed, the son/daughter decide to do something special, but always in slow motion. Mom is moved, again in slow motion. Background music picks up, to accentuate the slow motion effect, just in case there are people in the world who are living their life in 0.5x and they happen to miss the whole slow-mo thing. All parties hug, again, in slow motion.

Literally every brand almost does the same damn Mothers Day ad. This year was no different. I saw so many of them but two stood out for me. One was from Prega News. It was brave of them because you can assume there is one big portion of their target group that uses their product hoping they dont become mothers. Then, there was another brand for lumbar support. Even they made a sentimental ad of a son helping his mom fix her posture by sending her a lumbar support. There were violins playing as the mother took her seat. She teared up, but I think that was probably because her back was hurting.

I am not saying dont do Mothers Day ads. All Im saying is not every brand should exploit my feelings for my mom on the same day. Only I have the right to exploit my mom for social media content with throwback pictures once in a while.

With this in mind, I would like to request the senior folks at Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) to introduce four to five mothers' days across the calendar year. So that all brands get more than one day to exploit big data for my moms affection. We can separate these days based on themes so that the advertising can be different.

Angry Mothers Day aimed at moms who just found out five minutes ago that their kids are joining the media business; Mothers Day For Moms Who Need Lumbar Support so our friends in the lumbar support business dont have to slug it out with the likes of Prega News for a mothers attention; and one award oriented Mothers Day for creative directors and copywriters in ad agencies where we can dedicate it to mothers who are suffering from Alzheimer's or any other such Cannes Lion-friendly ailment. With these steps AAAI could truly revolutionise Mothers Day advertising in India forever. This, and imposing lifetime bans on the usage of slow motion shots using mothers.

The writeris a co-founder of All Things Small. Views are personal

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Slow Motion And Sentiments: The Anatomy Of Mother's Day Ads - Forbes India

Neuroscience

OhioHealth debuts first of its kind Neuroscience Wellness Center – NBC4 WCMH-TV

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) OhioHealth calls its new 18,000 square foot building just north of Riverside Methodist Hospital the first of its kind facility in the country. Tuesday, the hospital system unveiled the Neuroscience Wellness Center during a grand opening celebration.

What weve never done before is had a space where we could do all-access membership, explained Lauren Esposito, a physical therapist, and the manager of the new center.

The freestanding center will serve as a central location with amenities for people living with the effects of strokes, Parkinsons disease, multiple sclerosis, and other neurological conditions. Esposito gave NBC4 a tour of the facility Tuesday and highlighted the buildings indoor track, four education studios, several open gyms, and group fitness class areas.

Much of the exercise equipment can be adapted for use with wheelchairs or harnesses and can be operated by individuals with limited motor skills.

Every client space has a view of the trees outside. Access to a central courtyard, community garden, and outdoor yoga deck give the facility the appearance of a nature retreat.

This is a unique environment where they can come in and they have the courses, the exercise, the yoga, the mindfulness, the wellness, said Dr. Brien Smith, the Vice President of OhioHealth Neuroscience.

Part of what makes the center unique, Dr. Smith explained, is the sense of community it fosters. Caregivers will be able to use the facility along with patients and seating areas to encourage members to relax and spend time with one another.

We found that our members were really making a lot of connections with each other, Esposito said. And we wanted to create a space where they could gather and talk and really build those bonds.

She explained the wellness center will help patients build healthy lifestyles as they transition out of physical therapy. OhioHealths medical teams were consulted when creating the space and exercise physiologists will offer advice to members.

Non-members will have access to free classes at the facility and will be able to watch recorded videos of the seminars.

The Neuroscience Wellness Center was funded by $12.6 million in donations.

If youre interested in becoming a member, you can schedule and learn more by visiting OhioHealth.com/NeuroscienceWellnessCenter and completing a membership form.

You can also email NWCmembership@ohiohealth.com or call 614-788-5660 for more information.

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OhioHealth debuts first of its kind Neuroscience Wellness Center - NBC4 WCMH-TV

Neuroscience

What Does Neuroscience Have To Do With Exercise? A Lot According To Cyborggainz: A New Way Of Thinking About Well Rounded Fitness – Yahoo Finance

Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- It was past 9 p.m. on Financial Street in Beijing by the time the figure inside Huarong Tower there picked up an inkbrush and, with practiced strokes, began to set characters to paper.Another trying workday was ending for Wang Zhanfeng, corporate chairman, Chinese Communist Party functionaryand, less happily, replacement for a man who very recently had been executed.On this April night, Wang was spotted unwinding as he often does in his office: practicing the art of Chinese calligraphy, a form that expresses the beauty of classical characters and, it is said, the nature of the person who writes them.Its mastery requires patience, resolve, skill, calmand Wang, 54, needs all that and more. Because here on Financial Street, a brisk walk from the hulking headquarters of the Peoples Bank of China, a dark drama is playing out behind the mirrored faade of Huarong Tower. How it unfolds will test Chinas vast, debt-ridden financial system, the technocrats working to fix it, and the foreign banks and investors caught in the middle.Welcome to the headquarters of China Huarong Asset Management Co., the troubled state-owned bad bank that has set teeth on edge around the financial world.For months now Wang and others have been trying to clean up the mess here at Huarong, an institution that sitsquite literallyat the center of Chinas financial power structure. To the south is the central bank, steward of the worlds second-largest economy; to the southwest, the Ministry of Finance, Huarongs principal shareholder; less than 300 meters to the west, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, entrusted with safeguarding the financial system and, of late, ensuring Huarong has a funding backstop from state-owned banks until at least August.The patch though doesnt settle the question of how Huarong makes good on some $41 billion borrowed on the bond markets, most incurred under Wangs predecessor before he was ensnared in a sweeping crackdown on corruption. That long-time executive, Lai Xiaomin, was put to death in Januaryhis formal presence expunged from Huarong right down to the signature on its stock certificates.The bigger issue is what all this might portend for the nations financial system and efforts by Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, to centralize control, rein in years of risky borrowing and set the nations financial house in order.Theyre damned if they do and damned if they dont, said Michael Pettis, a Beijing-based professor of finance at Peking University and author of Avoiding the Fall: Chinas Economic Restructuring. Bailing out Huarong would reinforce the behavior of investors who ignore risk, he said, while a default endangers financial stability if a chaotic repricing of the bond market ensues.Just what is going on inside Huarong Tower? Given the stakes, few are willing to discuss that question publicly. But interviews with people who work there, as well as at various Chinese regulators, provide a glimpse into the eye of this storm.Huarong, simply put, has been in full crisis mode ever since it delayed its 2020 earnings results, eroding investor confidence. Executives have come to expect to be summoned by government authorities at a moments notice whenever market sentiment sours and the price of Huarong debt sinks anew. Wang and his team must provide weekly written updates on Huarongs operations and liquidity. They have turned to state-owned banks, pleading for support, and reached out to bond traders to try to calm nerves, with little lasting success.In public statements, Huarong has insisted repeatedly that its position is ultimately sound and that it will honor its obligations. Banking regulators have had to sign off on the wording of those statementsanother sign of how serious the situation is considered and, ultimately, whos in charge.Then there are regular audiences with the finance ministry and the other powerful financial bureaucracies nearby. Among items usually on the agenda: possible plans to hive off various Huarong businesses.Huarong executives are often kept waiting and, people familiar with the meetings say, tend to gain only limited access to top officials at the CBIRC, the banking overseer.The countrys apex financial watchdogchaired by Liu He, Xis right-hand man in overseeing the economy and financial systemhas asked for briefings on the Huarong situation and coordinated meetings between regulators, according to regulatory officials. But it has yet to communicate to them a long-term solution, including whether to impose losses on bondholders, the officials said.Representatives at the Peoples Bank of China, the CBIRC, Huarong and the Ministry of Finance didnt respond to requests for comment.Focus on BasicsA mid-level party functionary with a PhD in finance from Chinas reputed Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Wang arrived at Huarong Tower in early 2018, just as the corruption scandal was consuming the giant asset management company. He is regarded inside Huarong as low-key and down-to-earth, particularly in comparison to the companys previous leader, Lai, a man once known as the God of Wealth.Hundreds of Huarong staff, from Beijing division chiefs to branch employees in faraway outposts, listened in on April 16 as Wang reviewed the quarterly numbers. He stressed that the companys fundamentals had improved since he took over, a view shared by some analysts though insufficient to pacify investors. But he had little to say about what is on so many minds: plans to restructure and shore up the giant company, which hed pledged to clean up within three years of taking over.His main message to the troops: focus on the basics, like collecting on iffy assets and improving risk management. The employees were silent. No one asked a question.One employee characterized the mood in his area as business as usual. Another said co-workers at a Huarong subsidiary were worried the company might not be able to pay their salaries. Theres a widening gulf between the old guard and new, said a third staffer. Those who outlasted Lai and have seen their compensation cut year after year have little confidence in the turnaround, while new joiners are more hopeful about the opportunities the change of direction offers.Others joke that Huarong Tower must suffer from bad feng shui: after Lai was arrested, a bank that had a branch in the building had to be bailed out to the tune of $14 billion.Dark humor aside, a rough consensus has begun to emerge among senior management and mid-level regulators: like other key state-owned enterprises, Huarong still appears to be considered too big to fail. Many have come away with the impressionand it is that, an impressionthat for now, at least, the Chinese government will stand behind Huarong.At the very least, these people say, no serious financial tumult, such as a default by Huarong, is likely to be permitted while the Chinese Communist Party is planning a nationwide spectacle to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding on July 1. Those festivities will give Xiwho has been positioning to stay in power indefinitelyan opportunity to cement his place among Chinas most powerful leaders including Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.Huarong is nowhere near defaulting, the managing editor of Caixin Media wrote in an opinion piece on Saturday. Neither the Ministry of Finance nor Chinese regulators would allow it, Ling Huawei wrote.What will come after that patriotic outpouring on July 1 is uncertain, even to many inside Huarong Tower. Liu He, Chinas vice premier and chair of the powerful Financial Stability and Development Committee, appears in no hurry to force a difficult solution. Silence from Beijing has started to rattle local debt investors, who until about a week ago had seemed unmoved by the sell-off in Huarongs offshore bonds.Competing InterestsHuarongs role in absorbing and disposing of lenders soured debt is worth preserving to support the banking sector cleanup, but requires government intervention, according to Dinny McMahon, an economic analyst for Beijing-based consultancy Trivium China and author of Chinas Great Wall of Debt.We anticipate that foreign bondholders will be required to take a haircut, but it will be relatively small, he said. It will be designed to signal that investors should not assume government backing translates into carte blanche support.For now, in the absence of direct orders from the top, Huarong has been caught in the middle of the competing interests among various state-owned enterprises and government bureaucracies.China Investment Corp., the $1 trillion sovereign fund, for instance, has turned down the idea of taking a controlling stake from the finance ministry. CIC officials have argued they dont have the bandwidth or capability to fix Huarongs problems, according to people familiar with the matter.The Peoples Bank of China, meantime, is still trying to decide whether to proceed with a proposal that would see it assume more than 100 billion yuan ($15.5 billion) of bad assets from Huarong, those people said.And the Ministry of Finance, which owns 57% of Huarong on behalf of the Chinese government, hasnt committed to recapitalizing the company, though it hasnt ruled it out, either, one person said.CIC didnt respond to requests for comment.The banking regulator has bought Huarong some time, brokering an agreement with state-owned lenders including Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. that would cover any funding needed to repay the equivalent of $2.5 billion coming due by the end of August. By then, the company aims to have completed its 2020 financial statements after spooking investors by missing deadlines in March and April.How China deals with Huarong will have wide ramifications on global investors perception of and confidence in Chinese SOEs, said Wu Qiong, a Hong Kong-based executive director at BOC International Holdings. Should any defaults trigger a reassessment of the level of government support assumed in rating SOE credits, it would have deep repercussions for the offshore market.The announcement of a new addition to Wangs team underscores the stakes and, to some insiders, provides a measure of hope. Liang Qiang is a standing member of the All-China Financial Youth Federation, widely seen as a pipeline to groom future leaders for financial SOEs. Liang, who arrived at Huarong last week and will soon take on the role of president, has worked for the three other big state asset managers that were established, like Huarong, to help clean up bad debts at the nations banks. Some speculate this points to a wider plan: that Huarong might be used as a blueprint for how authorities approach these other sprawling, debt-ridden institutions.Meantime, inside Huarong Tower, a key item remains fixed in the busy schedules of top executives and rank-and-file employees alike. It is a monthly meeting, the topic of which is considered vital to Huarongs rebirth: studying the doctrines of the Chinese Communist Party and speeches of President Xi Jinping. (Updates to mention Caixin managing editors opinion piece on the matter. )More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P.

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Anesthesia Doesn’t Simply Turn Off the Brain It Dramatically Changes and Controls Its Rhythms – SciTechDaily

Researchers measured how strongly brain waves were synchronized before, during, and after anesthesia with propofol. Data from the research shows strong increases in synchrony only in very slow frequencies (deep red color along bottom) between the thalamus and four cortical regions while animals were unconscious. Credit: Image courtesy of the Miller/Brown labs, Picower Institute

Simultaneous measurement of neural rhythms and spikes across five brain areas reveals how propofol induces unconsciousness.

In a uniquely deep and detailed look at how the commonly used anesthetic propofol causes unconsciousness, a collaboration of labs at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT shows that as the drug takes hold in the brain, a wide swath of regions become coordinated by very slow rhythms that maintain a commensurately languid pace of neural activity. Electrically stimulating a deeper region, the thalamus, restores synchrony of the brains normal higher frequency rhythms and activity levels, waking the brain back up and restoring arousal.

Theres a folk psychology or tacit assumption that what anesthesia does is simply turn off the brain, says Earl Miller, Picower Professor of Neuroscience and co-senior author of the study in eLife. What we show is that propofol dramatically changes and controls the dynamics of the brains rhythms.

Conscious functions, such as perception and cognition, depend on coordinated brain communication, in particular between the thalamus and the brains surface regions, or cortex, in a variety of frequency bands ranging from 4 to 100 hertz. Propofol, the study shows, seems to bring coordination among the thalamus and cortical regions down to frequencies around just 1 hertz.

Millers lab, led by postdoc Andre Bastos and former graduate student Jacob Donoghue, collaborated with that of co-senior author Emery N. Brown, who is the Edward Hood Taplin Professor of Medical Engineering and Computational Neuroscience and an anesthesiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. The collaboration therefore unified the Miller labs expertise on how neural rhythms coordinate the cortex to produce conscious brain function with the Brown labs expertise in the neuroscience of anesthesia and statistical analysis of neural signals.

Brown says studies that show how anesthetics change brain rhythms can directly improve patient safety because these rhythms are readily visible on the EEG in the operating room. The studys main finding of a signature of very slow rhythms across the cortex offers a model for directly measuring when subjects have entered unconsciousness after propofol administration, how deeply they are being maintained in that state, and how quickly they may wake up once propofol dosing ends.

Anesthesiologists can use this as a way to better take care of patients, Brown says.

Brown has long studied how brain rhythms are affected in humans under general anesthesia by making and analyzing measurements of rhythms using scalp EEG electrodes and, to a limited extent, cortical electrodes in epilepsy patients. Because the new study was conducted in animal models of those dynamics, the team was able to implant electrodes that could directly measure the activity or spiking of many individual neurons and rhythms in the cortex and thalamus. Brown said the results therefore significantly deepen and extend his findings in people.

For instance, the same neurons that they measured chattering away with spikes of voltage 7-10 times a second during wakefulness routinely fired only once a second or less during propofol-induced unconsciousness, a notable slowing called a down state. In all, the scientists made detailed simultaneous measurements of rhythms and spikes in five regions: two in the front of the cortex, two toward the back, and the thalamus.

Whats so compelling is we are getting data down to the level of spikes, Brown says. The slow oscillations modulate the spiking activity across large parts of the cortex.

As much as the study explains how propofol generates unconsciousness, it also helps to explain the unified experience of consciousness, Miller says.

All the cortex has to be on the same page to produce consciousness, Miller says. One theory about how this works is through thalamo-cortical loops that allow the cortex to synchronize. Propofol may be breaking the normal operation of those loops by hyper synchronizing them in prolonged down states. It disrupts the ability of the cortex to communicate.

For instance, by making measurements in distinct layers of the cortex, the team found that higher-frequency gamma rhythms, which are normally associated with new sensory information like sights and sounds, were especially reduced in superficial layers. Lower-frequency alpha and beta waves, which Miller has shown tend to regulate the processing of the information carried by gamma rhythms, were especially reduced in deeper layers.

In addition to the prevailing synchrony at very slow frequencies, the team noted other signatures of unconsciousness in the data. As Brown and others have observed in humans before, alpha and beta rhythm power was notably higher in posterior regions of the cortex during wakefulness, but after loss of consciousness power at those rhythms flipped to being much higher in anterior regions.

The team further showed that stimulating the thalamus with a high-frequency pulse of current (180 hertz) undid propofols effects.

Stimulation produced an awake-like cortical state by increasing spiking rates and decreasing slow-frequency power, the authors wrote in the study. In all areas, there was a significant increase in spiking during the stimulation interval compared to pre-stimulation baseline.

Reference: Neural effects of propofol-induced unconsciousness and its reversal using thalamic stimulation by Andr M Bastos, Jacob A Donoghue, Scott L Brincat, Meredith Mahnke, Jorge Yanar, Josefina Correa, Ayan S Waite, Mikael Lundqvist, Jefferson Roy, Emery N Brown and Earl K Miller, 27 April 2021, eLife.DOI: 10.7554/eLife.60824

In addition to Miller, Brown, Bastos and Donoghue, the papers other authors are Scott Brincat, Meredith Mahnke, Jorge Yanar, Josefina Correa, Ayan Waite, Mikael Lundqvist, and Jefferson Roy.

The National Institutes of Health and the JPB Foundation provided funding for the study.

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Anesthesia Doesn't Simply Turn Off the Brain It Dramatically Changes and Controls Its Rhythms - SciTechDaily