Latest news with #Rinaldi
The Market Online
29-04-2025
- Business
- The Market Online
Cipher Pharmaceuticals' Natroba granted Medicaid preferred status in Illinois
Cipher Pharmaceuticals (TSX:CPH), a profitable specialty pharma company, reports that its Natroba treatment for scabies and head lice has been upgraded to preferred status by the state of Illinois Concurrently, the state has downgraded Natroba's main competitor, Permethrin 5%, to non-preferred status Cipher is a specialty pharmaceutical company with a diversified portfolio of commercial and early to late-stage products, mainly in dermatology Cipher Pharmaceuticals stock has added 50.23 per cent year-over-year and 1,322.22 per cent since 2020 Cipher Pharmaceuticals (TSX:CPH), a profitable specialty pharma company, reports that its Natroba treatment for scabies and head lice has been upgraded to preferred status by the state of Illinois. Concurrently, the state has downgraded Natroba's main competitor, Permethrin 5%, to non-preferred status. According to Tuesday's news release, the changes mean that 'all Medicaid treatments for scabies and Permethrin 5% prescriptions in the state must first step through Natroba being the preferred treatment in Illinois.' The company believes that recent studies showing parasitic resistance to Permethrin played a determining factor in the updated preferred drug listing. See work by Rinaldi and Simonart for further reference. Cipher has delivered positive net income over the past five fiscal years, with a high of US$26.64 million in 2022, and grew revenue by 58 per cent in 2024 thanks to increasing market share and the acquisition of Natroba. Investors have collected an over 1,300 per cent return since 2020. Leadership insights 'The medical decision made by the state of Illinois is just another example of the effectiveness of Natroba (Spinosad) and what clear growth potential for the product remains ahead of us,' Craig Mull, Cipher Pharmaceuticals' interim chief executive officer, said in a statement. 'We believe it is only a matter of time until more state pharmacy directors require step-through of Natroba representing the standard of care in the treatment of scabies and head lice. We are in active discussions with other U.S. states to build upon this recent success, and we continue to believe there is significant potential outside the U.S. to out-license Natroba whereby lice resistance to Permethrin-based products is a pervasive worldwide issue and whereby Natroba fills an unmet need.' About Cipher Pharmaceuticals Cipher is a specialty pharmaceutical company with a diversified portfolio of commercial and early to late-stage products, mainly in dermatology. The company markets its products in Canada, South America and the United States. Cipher Pharmaceuticals stock (TSX:CPH) is up by 3.31 per cent on the news trading at C$12.80 as of 10:01 am. The stock has added 50.23 per cent year-over-year and 1,322.22 per cent since 2020. Join the discussion: Find out what everybody's saying about this pharmaceuticals stock on the Cipher Pharmaceuticals Inc. Bullboard and check out Stockhouse's stock forums and message boards. The material provided in this article is for information only and should not be treated as investment advice. For full disclaimer information, please click here. (Top photo: Cipher Pharmaceuticals)
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Yahoo
Police across US warn about new, high-tech key fob thefts
Police have a warning for car drivers: criminals reportedly have a new, high-tech way to steal your vehicle – without ever touching a key. It's called a ProPad, which ABC News reports is a tool typically used by locksmiths. Now, it's being abused to clone key fobs and program new ones. ALSO READ: Suspects accused of stealing hundreds of cars with key fob devices in Charlotte One woman told ABC's Detroit affiliate WXYZ that she watched her own car being stolen from her driveway in the middle of the night. 'I watched somebody drive off with my car,' Kristina Rinaldi said. WXYZ reports Rinaldi's vehicle was ultimately recovered after a police chase, but was totaled. And now across the country, police are tracking thieves who've used ProPad-like devices. The thefts reportedly only take minutes. In the video above, ABC's Alison Kosik explains how. WATCH BELOW: Morganton man accused of stealing from firefighters, church
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Beardsley's Zoo hosts ‘Party for the Planet'
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (WNTH) — Beardsley's Zoo celebrated Earth Day early with a 'Party for the Planet' on Saturday. The event featured educational hands-on activities, sustainability-themed exhibits and conservation efforts from the community. University of New Haven hosts sustainability fair focusing on Long Island Sound 'This is a community effort, right,' said Associate Curator of Education Carolyn Rinaldi. 'We're Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo. We're the only zoo in Connecticut, but we have a lot of community outreach.' Organizers said the event was meant to inspire environmental action through art, education and community involvement. 'Carrying the activities that we do at the zoo to how to create a better environment for the planet right in your own backyard,' Rinaldi said. Attendees could participate in making seed balls, electronics disposal and a water cleanup at Beardsley park Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Yahoo
Detroit Dog Rescue vehicle stolen after alleged key fob replication, police chase ensues
The Brief A police chase across Metro Detroit involved a stolen vehicle from a dog rescue business in West Bloomfield. At 2:30 a.m. on Friday, Kristina Rinaldi says, in the blink of an eye, her car was unlocked. Six months prior, her car was broken into, and police say they made a replica key fob for her car. DETROIT (FOX 2) - A multi-city police chase ended in a crash in Detroit, where police say the vehicle was stolen from Detroit Dog Rescue in West Bloomfield. Timeline It was quite the day for Kristina Rinaldi, the executive director of Detroit Dog Rescue, who says her vehicle was broken into in 2024. She never expected that something would happen to it again. "You can take a car, and I can replace that car," she said. "But the sense of safety that I feel, it's hard. It's lingering. I have two small daughters, and it's sad." Rinaldi is shaken as her Chevy Suburban, which she sometimes uses to rescue dogs, was stolen from her driveway in West Bloomfield, and she witnessed the whole thing from her bedroom window. "I'm still having a hard time believing it. I was actually still awake, getting home from Detroit Dog Rescue," she said. "I heard a car pull up. I thought it was Amazon delivering something for DDR. I noticed it was a white Challenger (Charger), and something was just off about that." Her instincts were right. At 2:30 a.m. on Friday, she says, in the blink of an eye, her car was unlocked. "And then I saw someone come out of the white Charger and just run for my car, and within a few minutes, had the car started. I had screamed out 'hey,'" she said. She says it startled the guy for a second, but then he jumped in and drove away. Rinaldi called the police and quickly learned how they did it. "Six months ago, my car was broken into, and what police know is that it was probably them, and they got the VIN number. They were able to make a replica key fob," she said. What they're saying Then she learned that it was part of a police chase. "It went from West Bloomfield to Troy to Detroit back to Eastpointe. Eastpointe pursued and pursued it into Detroit, where it ultimately crashed," she said. "So, detectives have the car now." She says her truck was insured, but it's totaled, and the investigation is ongoing. Her advice to others: park your vehicle inside your garage if you have one. "They were flying pretty fast, and I'm grateful nobody else was hurt. On a day when a lot of kids were off school today," she said. "People are on Easter break. I'm just, I don't even care, I'm so grateful nobody else was hurt." What's next Rinaldi says the suspects are in custody, and she initially offered a $5,000 reward for tips that led to an arrest. She says she's going to stay in touch with the police to see if any tips come in.
Asia Times
15-04-2025
- Asia Times
Bullet Curtain: China's answer to US drone swarms in a Taiwan war
China just pulled the trigger on the future of air defense with its new 'Bullet Curtain' system—a drone swarm killer that aims to clear the sky with a storm of bullets. This month, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that China recently unveiled its Bullet Curtain system, the world's first close-in anti-drone barrage weapon developed by state-owned Norinco, as revealed in the April 2025 edition of Modern Weaponry magazine. Unlike traditional single-point interception systems, Bullet Curtain uses 35mm advanced hit efficiency and destruction (AHEAD) ammunition to unleash timed airbursts of sub-projectiles, forming a dense wall of shrapnel that can neutralize drone swarms, cruise missiles, mortar rounds and aircraft. The system's 'plane-to-point' interception method allows for blanket saturation of attack zones—a capability Norinco chief designer Yun Bin has likened to a fly swatter regarding area coverage. Bullet Curtain integrates radar, optical detection, fire control and management systems into a modular design, enabling compatibility with various platforms, including trucks, armored vehicles, naval ships and fixed installations. Inspired by Metal Storm, a joint US-Australia concept from the 1990s, Norinco has advanced the prototype into a cost-effective operational system. Its modular adaptability ensures deployment flexibility across diverse combat scenarios. Amid rising concerns over drone swarm tactics designed to overwhelm traditional defenses, live demonstrations of Bullet Curtain have reportedly proven effective. Jake Rinaldi and Jake Vartanian highlight the weaknesses of traditional defenses against drone swarms in a January 2025 article for the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI). The writers mention that China's conventional air defenses, such as the HQ-17 surface-to-air missile and PGZ-95 antiaircraft artillery, effectively target specific unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) types but struggle with small, slow, low-altitude drones, face high costs and rapid ammunition depletion. Rinaldi and Vartanian mention that jamming technologies, such as those mounted on rifles and vehicles, are versatile but increasingly limited by autonomous UAVs' reduced signal dependence and susceptibility to swarms. They add that while smoke screens are mobile and effective in obscuration, they are short-lived and impractical against large-scale attacks. Furthermore, they state that counter-swarm UAVs, such as the CH-901 loitering munition, show promise in countering drones but remain a nascent tactic with limited munitions and evolving strategies. They also note that aerial nets offer nondestructive capture for intelligence but are limited by performance against high-speed targets and dynamic scenarios. Rinaldi and Vartanian say that advanced laser systems, like the LW-30, provide cost-efficient and rapid engagement of drone swarms but require clear lines of sight and significant power, posing logistical challenges. They point out that China's counter-UAS capabilities exhibit critical vulnerabilities, such as insufficient scalability, limited endurance in saturation scenarios and reliance on traditional methods ill-suited for modern UAV swarm operations. However, Bullet Curtain may have significant advantages over China's existing counter-UAS capabilities. Ranjana Nallamalli and other writers, in a July 2023 article in the peer-reviewed Defense Science Journal, stress the effectiveness of systems like China's AHEAD, noting their ability to generate dense fragment fields that lower accuracy requirements and neutralize multiple small drones efficiently. Such a system may be necessary for China considering the US's plans to use drone swarms in a possible Taiwan conflict. In May 2022, The War Zone (TWZ) mentioned that US Air Force and RAND Corporation simulations highlight drone swarms as decisive in Taiwan defense scenarios. According to the report, low-cost, autonomous UAVs linked by distributed mesh networks rapidly identify and strike Chinese targets like invasion fleets and transport aircraft, even without air superiority. These UAVs, acting as sensors, jammers, and decoys, exhaust enemy air defenses while enabling stealth operations by manned aircraft such as F-35s. In August 2023, the US Department of Defense (DOD) unveiled the Replicator initiative, which targets China's military buildup by leveraging thousands of attritable, autonomous systems across all domains within 18 to 24 months. According to the DOD, these unmanned, cost-efficient systems are designed to offset China's strategic advantage on a military scale, comprised of its mass of ships, missiles, and personnel. The DOD says that by relying on innovation and autonomy, the US aims to create a 'mass of our own' combining rapid production and deployment capabilities with reduced human risk. In line with its Replicator initiative, in May 2024, the DOD chose to accelerate the fielding of the Switchblade-600 loitering munition, produced by AeroVironment Inc, as part of its first tranche of Replicator capabilities. As for the second tranche of Replicator drones, the DOD announced in November 2024 that systems under consideration include Anduril Industries' Ghost-X and the Performance Drone Works C-100 systems. As to how the US plans to use its Replicator drone swarms, the chief of US Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), Admiral Samuel Paparo, mentions in a June 2024 Washington Post article that he intends to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned 'hellscape' to allow at least a month for US forces to get ready. That timing may prove critical, as Timothy Heath and other writers mention in a June 2023 RAND report that Taiwan is vulnerable to defeat in the first 90 days of a Chinese invasion. According to Heath and others, that timeframe is the minimum required for the US to marshal sufficient forces for a major combat intervention in East Asia. Further, Bonny Lin and other writers predict in an August 2024 report for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) that China could sustain major combat operations against Taiwan for six months. But could the US actually pull off its 'hellscape' strategy in the Taiwan Strait? In a June 2024 report for the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), Stacie Pettyjohn and other writers mention that drone range and cost go hand in hand. Pettyjohn and others say that while the US needs vast numbers of cheap, expendable units, they may not have the range to reach the Taiwan Strait launched from bases in Japan, Guam and the Philippines. They also point out that this approach conflicts with the DOD's historical preference for fewer, more sophisticated systems. Moreover, Pettyjohn and others add that it is doubtful if the US defense industrial base, currently struggling to produce enough munitions, could produce enough drones for a long war with China.
