Word: drastic
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...researchers found that there were drastic chemical differences between a sleeping and a waking brain. When a person is not asleep, one of the two groups of neurons in Hobson's model, called aminergic neurons, processes the hormones norepinephrine and seretonin, which can control bodily functions. On the other hand, if someone is engaged in REM sleep, the other set of neurons, referred to as cholinergic, become receptive to the hormone acetylcholine for muscle control...
...increasingly bitter sniping between the two top Cabinet officials led some Shamir aides to hint that the Prime Minister was considering sacking Peres. But such a move would probably force the next election, now scheduled for November, to be held much earlier. Shamir is reluctant to take such a drastic step. Yet the national unity government now exists in name only, largely because of frictions over the peace issue...
Last week the Managua regime unveiled a desperate strategy to tame Nicaragua's hyperinflated economy. The government replaced the existing currency, the cordoba, which was officially valued at 20,000 to the U.S. dollar, with a new cordoba pegged at ten to the dollar. The monetary shuffle, coupled with drastic price increases, left many of the country's 3.3 million citizens baffled and worried about their purchasing power. A gallon of gas that used to cost the equivalent of 16 cents, for example, now costs $1.50. Explaining the decision to change the currency last week, Economist Mario Arana declared, "Things...
...acknowledge its flaws and admit the system needs to be changed, while many young people support its basic principles. Even some lobbyists for the aged privately accept the need to adjust Social Security, by raising the age of eligibility or taxing benefits for the wealthy, as part of a drastic deficit- reduction plan. While many retirees defend Social Security, they are horrified by the legacy of a $2 trillion debt they will leave behind. "The interest on it is about $1,000 a second," says George Toll, 82, of Long Beach, Calif. "That's why I worry about my grandchildren...
...rightly belongs. Two decades of wrenching societal changes in family structure, in drug and alcohol use among teens, in the level of violence in inner cities, plus widespread parental indifference have undermined urban schools. "We have allowed the school situation to disintegrate to the extent that it calls for drastic measures, and therefore, Joe Clark," says Los Angeles Principal George McKenna, who, like Clark, has been singled out for praise by Secretary Bennett. "The ultimate challenge will be whether schools whose students face these pathologies can in fact become more stable and academically successful," says Ernest Boyer, former U.S. Commissioner...