Regional anesthesia technique significantly improves outcomes of hip and knee replacement

Public release date: 1-May-2013
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Contact: Phyllis Fisher
phyllis.fisher@gmail.com
212-606-1724
Hospital for Special Surgery

Comparative effectiveness research identifies anesthesia technique that has lower rates of complications

A highly underutilized anesthesia technique called neuraxial anesthesia, also known as spinal or epidural anesthesia, improves outcomes in patients undergoing hip or knee replacement, according to a new study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery. The study, which appears in the May issue of the journal Anesthesiology, found that neuraxial anesthesia, a type of regional anesthesia, reduced morbidity, mortality, length of hospital stay and costs when compared with general anesthesia.

"The influence that the type of anesthetic can have on perioperative outcomes has been vastly underestimated. Indeed, our study suggests that the type of anesthesia chosen may have important impacts on all kind of medical and economic outcomes in orthopedic surgical patients," said Stavros Memtsoudis, M.D., Ph.D., director of Critical Care Services at Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City. "It is not something to be taken lightly." The findings of this comparative effectiveness research could be applied to over one million patients undergoing joint arthroplasty in the United States each year.

Using neuraxial anesthesia over general anesthesia reduced the risk of pulmonary compromise by twofold in knee replacement patients and over threefold in hip replacement patients. "When one considers the modest decrease in risk of adverse outcomes associated with the use of a number of widely used medications such as anti-cholesterol drugs, the effect sizes seen in this study are really impressive," said Dr. Memtsoudis.

Neuraxial anesthesia involves injecting medication into fatty tissue that surrounds the nerve roots in the spine (known as an epidural) or into the cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds the spinal cord. Currently, the majority of joint replacements in the United States are performed under general anesthesia. Anesthesiologists at the Hospital for Special Surgery, however, use regional anesthesia for over 90% of hip and knee replacements. In the past, several small studies have shown that compared with general anesthesia, regional anesthesia reduces intraoperative blood loss and the need for blood transfusions.

In the new study, researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery conducted a retrospective review of hip and knee replacements performed between 2006 and 2010 in the United States using data collected by Premier Perspective. This administrative database contains discharge information from approximately 400 acute care hospitals located throughout the United States.

Information on the type of anesthesia used was available in 71.4% of 528,495 patients. Eleven percent received neuraxial anesthesia, 14.2% received combined neuraxial and general anesthesia, and 74.8% received general anesthesia. Thirty-day mortality was significantly higher in patients who received general anesthesia, 0.18%, compared with those who received neuraxial, 0.10%, or neuraxial-general, 0.10%.

"Other studies have suggested some benefit of neuraxial over general anesthesia, but they looked at very limited outcomes, primarily at risk of bleeding and blood transfusions. What this study does for the first time is really explore the impact of anesthesia on a wider range of important outcomes," said Dr. Memtsoudis. "We found lower rates of complications including pulmonary compromise, pneumonia, infections, and acute renal failure when neuraxial anesthesia is used. The choice of anesthesia seemed to basically affect every organ system."

When patients who received general anesthesia were compared to patients who received neuraxial or a combination of neuraxial and general, they were found to have higher rates of pulmonary compromise (0.81% vs. 0.37% vs. 0.61%), infections (4.5% vs. 3.11% vs. 3.87%) and acute renal failure (1.75% vs. 1.1% vs. 1.43%).

Neuraxial anesthesia was also associated with shorter hospital stays and lower health care costs. Patients were defined as having a prolonged hospital stay, if they fell in the 75th percentile of the study cohort in terms of stay duration. The researcher found that more patients receiving general anesthesia (35.4%) had a prolonged hospital stay than patients who received neuraxial (28.7%) or neuraxial and general (27.4%). Patients were less likely to fall into the upper 75th percentile in terms of health care costs if they received neuraxial anesthesia (21.4%) or combined neuraxial-general (18.3%) than in the general anesthesia group (23.4%). "Patients were 30% more likely to be in the group that had the highest costs if they received general anesthesia alone," said Dr. Memtsoudis.

Anesthesia medications used during surgeries are a small fraction of overall health care costs, and the costs of regional and general anesthesia are similar.

Dr. Memtsoudis pointed out that educating patients is key. "Some patients don't like the idea of having an injection in their back and their legs being numb, but a thorough discussion of risks, benefits and alternatives can go a long way to help an educated patient make rational decisions," he said. "For the anesthesiologist, a number of factors come into play, including patient comorbidities and preferences as well as other practice specific factors, such as the choice for anticoagulation, but regional anesthesia should, at the very least, be considered in every patient."

While randomized clinical trials are the gold standard of clinical research, such trials are not feasible for testing anesthesia technique in joint replacement surgeries, because the low incidence outcomes would require a huge number of patients.

###

The study was performed with funds from the Department of Anesthesiology at Hospital for Special Surgery and the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Physician-Scientist Career Development Award, New York, (Stavros G. Memtsoudis). Contribution of Drs. Mazumdar and Banerjee, Ms. Chiu, and Ms. Sun on this project was supported in part by funds from the Clinical Translational Science Center, New York, and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Rockville, Maryland.

Dr. Memtsoudis is also clinical professor of Anesthesiology and clinical professor of Public Health at Weill Cornell Medical College. Other investigators involved in the research include Ottokar Stundner, M.D., and Nigel Sharrock, M.B., Ch.B., from Hospital for Special Surgery; Spencer Liu, M.D., formerly from HSS and now at the University of Washington; and Samprit Banerjee, Ph.D., M.Stat., Xuming Sun, M.S., Ya-Lin Chiu, M.S., and Madhu Mazumdar, Ph.D., from Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City.

About Hospital for Special Surgery

Founded in 1863, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is a world leader in orthopedics, rheumatology and rehabilitation. HSS is nationally ranked No. 1 in orthopedics, No. 3 in rheumatology, No. 10 in neurology and No. 5 in geriatrics by U.S. News & World Report (2012-13), and is the first hospital in New York State to receive Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Service from the American Nurses Credentialing Center three consecutive times. HSS has one of the lowest infection rates in the country. From 2007 to 2011, HSS has been a recipient of the HealthGrades Joint Replacement Excellence Award. HSS is a member of the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System and an affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College and as such all Hospital for Special Surgery medical staff are faculty of Weill Cornell. The hospital's research division is internationally recognized as a leader in the investigation of musculoskeletal and autoimmune diseases. Hospital for Special Surgery is located in New York City and online at http://www.hss.edu.

For more information contact:

Phyllis Fisher
212-606-1197
FisherP@hss.edu
phyllis.fisher@gmail.com

Tracy Hickenbottom
212-606-1197
HickenbottomT@hss.edu

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 1-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Phyllis Fisher
phyllis.fisher@gmail.com
212-606-1724
Hospital for Special Surgery

Comparative effectiveness research identifies anesthesia technique that has lower rates of complications

A highly underutilized anesthesia technique called neuraxial anesthesia, also known as spinal or epidural anesthesia, improves outcomes in patients undergoing hip or knee replacement, according to a new study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery. The study, which appears in the May issue of the journal Anesthesiology, found that neuraxial anesthesia, a type of regional anesthesia, reduced morbidity, mortality, length of hospital stay and costs when compared with general anesthesia.

"The influence that the type of anesthetic can have on perioperative outcomes has been vastly underestimated. Indeed, our study suggests that the type of anesthesia chosen may have important impacts on all kind of medical and economic outcomes in orthopedic surgical patients," said Stavros Memtsoudis, M.D., Ph.D., director of Critical Care Services at Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City. "It is not something to be taken lightly." The findings of this comparative effectiveness research could be applied to over one million patients undergoing joint arthroplasty in the United States each year.

Using neuraxial anesthesia over general anesthesia reduced the risk of pulmonary compromise by twofold in knee replacement patients and over threefold in hip replacement patients. "When one considers the modest decrease in risk of adverse outcomes associated with the use of a number of widely used medications such as anti-cholesterol drugs, the effect sizes seen in this study are really impressive," said Dr. Memtsoudis.

Neuraxial anesthesia involves injecting medication into fatty tissue that surrounds the nerve roots in the spine (known as an epidural) or into the cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds the spinal cord. Currently, the majority of joint replacements in the United States are performed under general anesthesia. Anesthesiologists at the Hospital for Special Surgery, however, use regional anesthesia for over 90% of hip and knee replacements. In the past, several small studies have shown that compared with general anesthesia, regional anesthesia reduces intraoperative blood loss and the need for blood transfusions.

In the new study, researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery conducted a retrospective review of hip and knee replacements performed between 2006 and 2010 in the United States using data collected by Premier Perspective. This administrative database contains discharge information from approximately 400 acute care hospitals located throughout the United States.

Information on the type of anesthesia used was available in 71.4% of 528,495 patients. Eleven percent received neuraxial anesthesia, 14.2% received combined neuraxial and general anesthesia, and 74.8% received general anesthesia. Thirty-day mortality was significantly higher in patients who received general anesthesia, 0.18%, compared with those who received neuraxial, 0.10%, or neuraxial-general, 0.10%.

"Other studies have suggested some benefit of neuraxial over general anesthesia, but they looked at very limited outcomes, primarily at risk of bleeding and blood transfusions. What this study does for the first time is really explore the impact of anesthesia on a wider range of important outcomes," said Dr. Memtsoudis. "We found lower rates of complications including pulmonary compromise, pneumonia, infections, and acute renal failure when neuraxial anesthesia is used. The choice of anesthesia seemed to basically affect every organ system."

When patients who received general anesthesia were compared to patients who received neuraxial or a combination of neuraxial and general, they were found to have higher rates of pulmonary compromise (0.81% vs. 0.37% vs. 0.61%), infections (4.5% vs. 3.11% vs. 3.87%) and acute renal failure (1.75% vs. 1.1% vs. 1.43%).

Neuraxial anesthesia was also associated with shorter hospital stays and lower health care costs. Patients were defined as having a prolonged hospital stay, if they fell in the 75th percentile of the study cohort in terms of stay duration. The researcher found that more patients receiving general anesthesia (35.4%) had a prolonged hospital stay than patients who received neuraxial (28.7%) or neuraxial and general (27.4%). Patients were less likely to fall into the upper 75th percentile in terms of health care costs if they received neuraxial anesthesia (21.4%) or combined neuraxial-general (18.3%) than in the general anesthesia group (23.4%). "Patients were 30% more likely to be in the group that had the highest costs if they received general anesthesia alone," said Dr. Memtsoudis.

Anesthesia medications used during surgeries are a small fraction of overall health care costs, and the costs of regional and general anesthesia are similar.

Dr. Memtsoudis pointed out that educating patients is key. "Some patients don't like the idea of having an injection in their back and their legs being numb, but a thorough discussion of risks, benefits and alternatives can go a long way to help an educated patient make rational decisions," he said. "For the anesthesiologist, a number of factors come into play, including patient comorbidities and preferences as well as other practice specific factors, such as the choice for anticoagulation, but regional anesthesia should, at the very least, be considered in every patient."

While randomized clinical trials are the gold standard of clinical research, such trials are not feasible for testing anesthesia technique in joint replacement surgeries, because the low incidence outcomes would require a huge number of patients.

###

The study was performed with funds from the Department of Anesthesiology at Hospital for Special Surgery and the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Physician-Scientist Career Development Award, New York, (Stavros G. Memtsoudis). Contribution of Drs. Mazumdar and Banerjee, Ms. Chiu, and Ms. Sun on this project was supported in part by funds from the Clinical Translational Science Center, New York, and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Rockville, Maryland.

Dr. Memtsoudis is also clinical professor of Anesthesiology and clinical professor of Public Health at Weill Cornell Medical College. Other investigators involved in the research include Ottokar Stundner, M.D., and Nigel Sharrock, M.B., Ch.B., from Hospital for Special Surgery; Spencer Liu, M.D., formerly from HSS and now at the University of Washington; and Samprit Banerjee, Ph.D., M.Stat., Xuming Sun, M.S., Ya-Lin Chiu, M.S., and Madhu Mazumdar, Ph.D., from Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City.

About Hospital for Special Surgery

Founded in 1863, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is a world leader in orthopedics, rheumatology and rehabilitation. HSS is nationally ranked No. 1 in orthopedics, No. 3 in rheumatology, No. 10 in neurology and No. 5 in geriatrics by U.S. News & World Report (2012-13), and is the first hospital in New York State to receive Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Service from the American Nurses Credentialing Center three consecutive times. HSS has one of the lowest infection rates in the country. From 2007 to 2011, HSS has been a recipient of the HealthGrades Joint Replacement Excellence Award. HSS is a member of the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System and an affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College and as such all Hospital for Special Surgery medical staff are faculty of Weill Cornell. The hospital's research division is internationally recognized as a leader in the investigation of musculoskeletal and autoimmune diseases. Hospital for Special Surgery is located in New York City and online at http://www.hss.edu.

For more information contact:

Phyllis Fisher
212-606-1197
FisherP@hss.edu
phyllis.fisher@gmail.com

Tracy Hickenbottom
212-606-1197
HickenbottomT@hss.edu

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/hfss-rat043013.php

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Beatles record broken: UK superstar eyes US market

Beatles record broken: Scottish singer-songwriter Emeli Sand? is considering following the Beatles across the pond, having broken their record for the most consecutive weeks in the UK's Top 10. Her hit 'Next to Me" is already climbing US charts.

By Rollo Ross,?Reuters / April 29, 2013

Emeli Sand?, seen performing at the o2 Arena during the 2013 BRIT Awards in London on Wednesday, Feb. 20, has broken the Beatles' record for number of consecutive weeks in the top 10. Her debut album, 'Our Version of Events,' broke an almost-50-year-old record set by the Beatles with "Please Please Me" in 1963 and 1964.

Joel Ryan/Invision/AP/File

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Scottish singer-songwriter Emeli Sand? scored a new chart record on Sunday with her debut album after a stellar year in Britain that has paved the way for her next challenge ? the US market.

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Ms. Sand? smashed a record held for nearly 50 years by The Beatles when her debut album, "Our Version of Events", hit its 63rd week in the top 10 of the UK album charts, according to the Official Charts Company.

The Beatles previously held the record for the debut album spending the most consecutive weeks in the top 10 with "Please Please Me" racking up 62 weeks in 1963 and 1964.

"It feels quite surreal to even have your name mentioned in the same sentence as The Beatles," Sand?, 26, told Reuters television.

"For a record to stay there for so long it means that people have connected with it so that's how I'm enjoying celebrating this record."

The release of "Our Version Of Events" in February 2012 kicked off a year of successes for Sand?, who sang at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics and won best British female artist and best album at the BRIT Awards.

Sand? also notched up three No. 1 singles in the UK with "Read All About It" with Professor Green, "Next to Me", and "Beneath Your Beautiful", a collaboration with Labrinth.

Now the former medical student has set herself a new challenge, tackling the US market, where she has yet to make a name for herself.

Her single "Next To Me" is currently 46th in the Billboard Hot 100 chart and she is in the United States this month to promote her album.

"I'm really excited about taking music over to the States because it's a brand new challenge," she said.

"There's different formats over there so you have to understand the market, the people, you really have to take into account how massive the place is .. It's a brand new adventure and it's chapter two of this whole big thing."

Sand? is the first to admit that the past year has been extraordinary but she is aware that she needs to keep building from her debut album that was Britain's best-seller last year.

"So many things I've dreamed of doing have happened last year which is amazing, but you always want to be better as a musician," she said.

"The biggest thing for me right now is creating a second record that I love."

So does the success mean that she has abandoned her plan to go back and finish her medicine degree that she shelved in its fourth year?

"Would I go back? I'd like to and every time I see programmes on medicine I'm tempted to go back to it because I do miss it a lot and I miss science and learning but in the near future, no. I think I'd miss music too much," she said.

(Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/NzibhBHZTXU/Beatles-record-broken-UK-superstar-eyes-US-market

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Jon Jones, Pat Healy and Sara McMann: UFC 159?s Three Stars

UFC 159 was a bizarre event ? possibly cursed by demons ? but there were still plenty of standout performances by fighters whose bouts ended normally. Who stood out for you? Speak up on Twitter or on Facebook.

No. 1 star -- Jon Jones: As we've said since the fight was made, Chael Sonnen was not the right competition for UFC light heavyweight Jones because he is middleweight coming off of a loss. Jones could have taken Sonnen lightly and still probably won, but he didn't do that. He used the fight as another opportunity to show his dominance, beating Sonnen at his own game by taking him down several times before finishing the fight near the end of the first round.

Would the fight have been stopped if they made it out of the first round, and the referee had noticed Jones' mangled toe? Who cares? It didn't happen, and Jones is still the champ.

No. 2 star -- Pat Healy: The UFC's already stacked lightweight division somehow got even tough with Healy's performance on Saturday night. Along with Jim Miller, he put on a show then finished the fight in the third round. He won both Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night, meaning Healy walked away with an extra $130,000.

No. 3 star -- Sara McMann: As an Olympic silver medal-winning wrestler, McMann is one of the most decorated athletes to join the UFC. This means she had big expectations to perform, and she exceeded them. McMann used wrestling and power to stop Sheila Gaff in the first round.

More news from the Yahoo! Sports Minute:

Other popular content on Yahoo! Sports:
? Jets show disdain for Tim Tebow
? ThePostGame: The road to Jason Collins' revelation
? Just how big is Jimmie Johnson?s points lead?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/jon-jones-pat-healy-sara-mcmann-ufc-159-132329967.html

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PFT: Jets reportedly to keep Sanchez into preseason

Getty Images

After analyzing?the draft needs of all 32 teams, PFT will review how well each team addressed those needs. Up next: The Oakland Raiders.?

What?they?needed: Defensive line, quarterback, offensive line, cornerback, tight end, wide receiver.

Who they got:
Round 1: D.J. Hayden, CB, Houston.
Round 2: Menelik Watson, OT, Florida State.
Round 3: Sio Moore, LB, Connecticut.
Round 4: Tyler Wilson, QB, Arkansas.
Round 6: Nick Kasa, TE, Colorado.
Round 6: Latavius Murray, RB, UCF.
Round 6: Mychal Rivera, TE, Tennessee.
Round 6: Stacy McGee, DT, Oklahoma.
Round 7: Brice Butler, WR, San Diego State.
Round 7: David Bass, DE, Missouri Western.

Where they hit: Hayden, who survived a freakish life-threatening internal injury suffered in November, could be the Raiders? top cornerback in short order. With the second-rounder acquired from Miami, the Raiders added Watson, a tackle prospect with upside. Moore is a good scheme fit, and Wilson could prove a very good value if he plays to his best collegiate form.

Where they missed: The Raiders didn?t draft a defensive lineman until Round Six. There?s playing time to be had for ends Bass and Jack Crawford (2012 fifth-rounder) and tackles McGee and Christo Bilukidi (2012 sixth-rounder) behind the Raiders? veteran starters, but Oakland could use a little more help at both line positions. In McKenzie?s defense, the Raiders have numerous needs, and on first analysis, he did quite well to add talent and depth in this draft.

Impact rookies: Given the state of the Raiders? roster, all 10 drafted rookies have a chance to make the team, and several could earn game-day snaps of consequence in Year One, so we?re going to cast a slightly wider net than usual here.

Hayden has the best shot to start. He should compete with Tracy Porter and Mike Jenkins right off the bat. Moore is also a player to watch; the Raiders have revamped their LB corps this offseason but don?t have any standouts. A talented fresh face has a chance to make an impact early at this position. Watson?s best opportunity to start in 2013 is at right tackle, but that?s no sure thing, given his lack of experience.

Rivera is a potential sleeper, given the Raiders? lack of a clear-cut top target at tight end after the departure of Brandon Myers. And then we come to Wilson. Matt Flynn will get first run at the starting job. Wilson will have to be a quick study to challenge Flynn and Terrelle Pryor. However, it?s not out of the realm of possibility.

Long-term prospects: Give McKenzie credit ? this roster has improved at numerous positions compared to where it stood earlier in the spring. In the best-case scenario for the Raiders? Class of 2013, these three things happen: 1) Hayden is a starter-caliber player from the get-go; 2) Watson and Wilson build on their potential; 3) the Day Three picks other than Wilson provide solid depth, with one or two panning out better than Oakland expected.

Make no mistake: the Raiders have a lot of catching up to do in the AFC West. However, there?s vast opportunity for some young players to seize some key roles. The Raiders have to hope more than a few rise to the occasion.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/28/report-jets-will-keep-sanchez-into-preseason/related/

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Court seeks 'Stand Your Ground' answer from Goerge Zimmerman

By Barbara Liston

ORLANDO (Reuters) - Prosecutors in Florida want George Zimmerman to state publicly at a court hearing on Tuesday whether he will pursue his immunity defense in the 2012 shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin on the basis of the state's "Stand Your Ground" law, or waive his right to use it.

Prosecutors asked Judge Debra Nelson in a motion to remind Zimmerman "that should defendant in fact wish to waive any pre-trial immunity challenge under this statute, he may not attempt to do so later, particularly once trial has commenced."

Zimmerman will attend Tuesday's hearing, according to his lawyer, Mark O'Mara. However, O'Mara told Reuters he hadn't decided what he will do if the judge tries to question his client.

"I know the state would like to have that information, it seems. I don't feel compelled to advise anybody of my strategy in this case," O'Mara said.

Zimmerman goes on trial June 10 on a second-degree murder charge for shooting Martin after prosecutors say he profiled and confronted the unarmed black teenager, despite a police dispatcher instructing him not to do so.

Zimmerman, 29, was a neighborhood watch volunteer at the time and Martin was walking back to a town home in the gated community in Sanford, Florida, with snacks to eat while watching a televised basketball game in February last year.

O'Mara has talked publicly about pursuing immunity for Zimmerman under Florida's controversial "Stand Your Ground" statute, which bars prosecution of someone who is in fear of his life and shoots rather than retreats. O'Mara canceled a scheduled hearing earlier this month to make the case, but told Reuters he believes he has the right to raise the immunity defense at any time during the trial.

"If you can convince someone, a judge, by preponderance of evidence that you acted in self defense, then you're immune, and that can happen however it happens," O'Mara said.

Prosecutors want to pin Zimmerman down on the record over waiving his right to pursue immunity in order to pre-empt the possibility that he might try to revive it after trial if he is found guilty, according to the motion. O'Mara said it would be difficult to raise the issue post-conviction.

Nelson also will hear a defense request to unseal a settlement between Martin's parents and the homeowner's association at The Retreat at Twin Lakes subdivision where Martin was killed.

The association's insurance company at one point offered its policy limit of $1 million to the family, according to correspondence between the insurance company and association attached to the motion. The defense argues that the jury should be able to consider the financial interest of potential witnesses in the case.

(Editing by David Adams and Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/florida-teenagers-shooter-faces-deadline-court-110517464.html

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structured settlement agreement sample ? Nuhitz ? Social ...

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Structured settlement payments occur when some insurance company agrees to offset an injured party an established level of investment to get a fixed timeframe. A constant sum payable at specified intervals is an annuity. Structured settlement payments can be built through a claimant's life, meaning monthly or annual payments is often rather small. However, in some cases people decide to get their own settlement from a single lump sum payment. Capable to get cash from legal financing companies that are experts structured settlement payments.

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Source: http://www.nuhitz.com/blog/16866/structured-settlement-agreement-sample/

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Officials: No sign 'Misha' tied to Boston bombing (The Arizona Republic)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/302043211?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Facebook And The Sudden Wake Up About The API Economy

What a two weeks it’s been. Something happened that has been simmering for a while. The API market exploded. Intel bought Mashery for more than $180 million and CA acquired Layer 7. 3Scale received a new $4.5 million round of funding from Javelin Ventures. Programmable Web acquired Mulesoft. And then Facebook jumped in and bought Parse. The acquisitions and funding point to a maturing market that is reflected in the ubiquity of APIs across the application landscape. It’s not a new market by any means. The space is filled with companies that have leveraged the API build out that has happened over the past several years. Instead this is an inflection point. There are more than 30,000 APIs, according to Programmable Web, the leading API directory and blog. Javelin Ventures Managing Director Noah Doyle said to me in an interview that analysts see the API market growing five to ten times over the next five years. With that scaling in number of APIs comes a virtuous circle for the developers that build compelling apps and APIs. The APIs extend the apps reach as they become part of distributed data network. As more people use the APIs so the app developer generates more data. As the data increases in scope, often the service will become an API. Facebook needs new streams of data to keep rolling out new digital products. Back end as a service providers like Parse provide SDKs and APIs that give developers access to infrastructure for storing basic data types, locations and photos. How Facebook uses this data is a question mark. But regardless, Pare serves as a constant replenishing source, nourished by the apps on the Parse platform that use APIs. Facebook now will decide how to package and segment that data to push more relevant advertising to its 1 billion users. APIs Are Like Glue APIs will be the glue to the Internet, said Programmable Web Founder John Musser. Musser, like Doyle, sees a new generation of APIs emerging that are fueled by demand, triggered by mobile devices, which serve in many respects as the new client/servers. Apps are hosted on cloud services and distributed across mobile devices that read and write data, sending and receiving information, connecting via APIs. In the first generation, Mashery and companies like Apigee pioneered the API management space. Twitter and other web companies emerged in the second generation. In the

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/w8YoAqX9UZY/

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Humane Society for Greater Nashua recognized for volunteerism ...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Nashua;65.0;http://forecast.weather.gov/images/wtf/small/sct.png. The Telegraph · Home ... Franks has been a volunteer at the Humane Society for eight years, and logged 2,439 volunteer hours in 2011. Enlarge. NASHUA ...

Source: http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/1001830-469/humane-society-for-greater-nashua-recognized-for.html

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Not 'brainwashed': American women who converted to Islam speak ...

S. Deneen Photography

Lauren Schreiber, 26, converted to Islam in 2010 after a study-abroad trip. She and others want to dispel stereotypes that have sprung up after news reports about Katherine Russell, 24, the U.S.-born wife of suspected Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

By JoNel Aleccia, Senior Writer, NBC News

When an American convert to Islam was revealed as the wife of the dead Boston bombing suspect, Lauren Schreiber wasn?t surprised at what came next.

Comments from former acquaintances and complete strangers immediately suggested that 24-year-old Katherine Russell, a New England doctor?s daughter, must have been coerced and controlled by her husband, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who died last week in a firefight with police.

?She was a very sweet woman, but I think kind of brainwashed by him,? reported the Associated Press, quoting Anne Kilzer, a Belmont, Mass., woman who said she knew Russell and her 3-year-old daughter.

That kind of assumption isn?t new to Schreiber, 26, a Greenbelt, Md., woman who became a Muslim in 2010.

?The moment you put on a hijab, people assume that you?ve forfeited your free will,? says Schreiber, who favors traditional Islamic dress. ?

The Boston terror attack and the questions about whether Russell knew about her husband?s deadly plans have renewed stereotypes and misconceptions that U.S. women who have chosen that faith say they want to dispel.

?It?s not because somebody made me do this,? explains Schreiber, who converted after a college study-abroad trip to West Africa. ?It?s what I choose to do and I?m happy.?

Rebecca Minor

Rebecca Minor, 28, of West Hartford, Conn., converted to Islam five years ago. Wearing a hijab "reminds me to be a good person," she said.

Her view is echoed by Rebecca Minor, 28, of West Hartford, Conn., a special education teacher who converted to Islam five years ago. When her students, ages 5 to 8, ask why she wears a headscarf, she always says the same thing:?"It's something that's important to me and it reminds me to be a good person," says Minor, who is secretary for the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut.?

Muslims make up less than 1 percent of the U.S. population, according to studies by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. In 2011, about 1.8 million U.S. adults were Muslim, and about 20 percent had converted to the faith, Pew researchers say. Of those converts, about 54 percent were men and 46 percent were women. About 1 in 5 converts mentioned family factors, including marrying a Muslim, as a reason for adopting the faith.?

Accusations are 'harsh'
Women convert for a wide range of reasons -- spiritual, intellectual and romantic -- says Yvonne Haddad, a professor of the history of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations at Georgetown University.

?Islam is attractive to women that the feminist movement left behind,? says Haddad, who co-authored a 2006 book, ?Muslim Women in America: The Challenge of Islamic Identity Today.?

Women like Lindsey Faraj, 26, of Charlotte, N.C., say that wearing a headscarf and other traditional Islamic garb in public often leads people to assume she sacrificed her American life to please a man.

?'You must have converted in order to marry him,' I hear it all the time,? says Faraj, who actually converted simultaneously with her husband, Wathek Faraj, who is from Damascus, about four years ago.?

She?s also heard people say that her husband is allowed to beat her, that she?s not free to get a divorce, that she and her two children, ages 4 months and 2, are subservient to the man. Such concepts are untrue, of course, she says.

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Lindsey Faraj, 26, of Charlotte, N.C., converted to Islam four years ago. She says it was thoughtful, heart-felt choice that changed her life.

?In the beginning, it did offend me a lot,? says Faraj, who grew up in a Christian family in Florida. ?But now as my sense of my new self has grown, I don?t feel offended.?

She?s able to joke, for instance, about the woman who screamed insults from a passing car.

?They screamed: ?Go back to your own country? and I thought, ?It doesn?t get more white than this, girl,?? says Faraj, indicating her fair features.?

Like all stereotypes, such views are steeped in fear, says Haddad.

?Accusations of brainwashing are harsh,? she says. ?They cover up the fact that we don?t comprehend why people like ?us? want to change and be like ?them.??

All three women say they came to Islam after much thought and spiritual searching.

Islam 'entered my heart'
Schreiber, who is a community outreach and events coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, says she was drawn to the religion after meeting other Muslims on her trip abroad before graduating from St. Mary's College of Maryland in 2009.?

She grew up in an agnostic family where she was encouraged to discover her own faith.?

"It was, whatever you decide to do -- temple, church, mosque -- I support you finding yourself," says Schreiber. She's now married to a Muslim man, Muhammad Oda, 27, whose parents were both converts to Islam. She said came to the faith before the relationship.??

Faraj, a stay-at-home mom, says she never saw herself "as a religious person, in the least," but became enthralled after trying to learn more about Islam before a visit to see her husband's family.?

?The concept of Islam hit me,? Faraj recalls. ?It was just something that entered my heart.?

Minor, who is single, says she was intrigued by Islam in college, when she was?close friends with?a deployed?American Marine but had Muslim friends at school.

"I saw a huge discrepancy in the negative things I heard coming from my?(friend)?and the actions I could see in my co-workers," she recalls. After spending 18 months learning about Islam, she decided to convert.?

The response from family and friends has been overwhelmingly supportive, Minor says.?

"The more you can do to educate people about Islam, not by preaching, but by actions, the better," she says.?

Reports that Katherine Russell might have been embroiled in an abusive relationship, or that her husband intimidated her aren?t an indictment of Islam, Haddad says.?

"Abusive men come in all colors, nationalities, ethnicities and from all religions," she says. "No one says that Christianity teaches abuse of women because some Christian men are abusive."

Schreiber says she frequently gets comments from people surprised to see her fair skin and hear her American accent from beneath a scarf. She says she appreciates it when people actually ask questions instead of making assumptions.

?I just want people to know that there are American Muslim women who wear hijab by choice because they believe in it and it feels right to them, not because anyone tells them to.?

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/26/17897741-not-brainwashed-american-women-who-converted-to-islam-speak-out

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NASA probe observes meteors colliding with Saturn's rings

Apr. 25, 2013 ? NASA's Cassini spacecraft has provided the first direct evidence of small meteoroids breaking into streams of rubble and crashing into Saturn's rings.

These observations make Saturn's rings the only location besides Earth, the moon and Jupiter where scientists and amateur astronomers have been able to observe impacts as they occur. Studying the impact rate of meteoroids from outside the Saturnian system helps scientists understand how different planet systems in our solar system formed.

The solar system is full of small, speeding objects. These objects frequently pummel planetary bodies. The meteoroids at Saturn are estimated to range from about one-half inch to several yards (1 centimeter to several meters) in size. It took scientists years to distinguish tracks left by nine meteoroids in 2005, 2009 and 2012.

Details of the observations appear in a paper in the Thursday, April 25 edition of Science.

Results from Cassini have already shown Saturn's rings act as very effective detectors of many kinds of surrounding phenomena, including the interior structure of the planet and the orbits of its moons. For example, a subtle but extensive corrugation that ripples 12,000 miles (19,000 kilometers) across the innermost rings tells of a very large meteoroid impact in 1983.

"These new results imply the current-day impact rates for small particles at Saturn are about the same as those at Earth -- two very different neighborhoods in our solar system -- and this is exciting to see," said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "It took Saturn's rings acting like a giant meteoroid detector -- 100 times the surface area of the Earth -- and Cassini's long-term tour of the Saturn system to address this question."

The Saturnian equinox in summer 2009 was an especially good time to see the debris left by meteoroid impacts. The very shallow sun angle on the rings caused the clouds of debris to look bright against the darkened rings in pictures from Cassini's imaging science subsystem.

"We knew these little impacts were constantly occurring, but we didn't know how big or how frequent they might be, and we didn't necessarily expect them to take the form of spectacular shearing clouds," said Matt Tiscareno, lead author of the paper and a Cassini participating scientist at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. "The sunlight shining edge-on to the rings at the Saturnian equinox acted like an anti-cloaking device, so these usually invisible features became plain to see."

Tiscareno and his colleagues now think meteoroids of this size probably break up on a first encounter with the rings, creating smaller, slower pieces that then enter into orbit around Saturn. The impact into the rings of these secondary meteoroid bits kicks up the clouds. The tiny particles forming these clouds have a range of orbital speeds around Saturn. The clouds they form soon are pulled into diagonal, extended bright streaks.

"Saturn's rings are unusually bright and clean, leading some to suggest that the rings are actually much younger than Saturn," said Jeff Cuzzi, a co-author of the paper and a Cassini interdisciplinary scientist specializing in planetary rings and dust at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "To assess this dramatic claim, we must know more about the rate at which outside material is bombarding the rings. This latest analysis helps fill in that story with detection of impactors of a size that we weren't previously able to detect directly."

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras. The imaging team consists of scientists from the United States, England, France and Germany. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

For images of the impacts and information about Cassini, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov .

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Journal Reference:

1. Matthew S. Tiscareno, Colin J. Mitchell, Carl D. Murray, Daiana Di Nino, Matthew M. Hedman, J?rgen Schmidt, Joseph A. Burns, Jeffrey N. Cuzzi, Carolyn C. Porco, Kevin Beurle, and Michael W. Evans. Observations of Ejecta Clouds Produced by Impacts onto Saturn?s Rings. Science, 2013; 340 (6131): 460-464 DOI: 10.1126/science.1233524

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/astronomy/~3/SgDGsVxA4wQ/130425144654.htm

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Slow Insurance Approvals Strand Mental Health Patients in ER ...

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on April 25, 2013

A significant problem regarding health care access involves obtaining hospital admission for those experiencing a mental health crisis.

The backlog in obtaining insurance approval for admission to a hospital bed is problematic for the patient in crisis, other emergency room patients and physicians.

A research letter to be published in the May issue of the journal Annals of Emergency Medicine argues that pre-authorization process is akin to health care ?rationing by hassle factor.?

?An emergency department is just about the worst place for a psychiatric patient to wait for an inpatient bed, and yet that is exactly what the pre-authorization process forces on millions of these vulnerable people,? said senior author J. Wesley Boyd, M.D., Ph.D.

?The thousands upon thousands of hours emergency physicians spend obtaining prior authorization for admission to the hospital are hours we are not spending on direct patient care. Only Medicare does not require prior authorization for us to admit psychiatric patients to the hospital; maybe they are onto something.?

In the study, researchers recorded data on 53 patients ? most were in the emergency department because they were having suicidal thoughts.

Half of the authorization requests took under 20 minutes to be approved, but 10 percent of the patients? authorizations took an hour or more. Only one of the 53 patients? insurance carriers denied pre-authorization. There are approximately 2.5 million psychiatric admissions to hospitals every year in the U.S.

?Psychiatric care is really the poor stepchild in the world of insurance coverage,? said lead author Amy Funkenstein, M.D., of Brown University in Providence, R.I..

?Insurance carriers reimburse poorly and as a consequence, hospitals often have inadequate resources for patients who urgently need this care. The situation is so dire that ERs are now being designed and configured to house psychiatric patients awaiting placement as inpatients. These patients deserve better.?

Source: American College of Emergency Physicians

Man waiting in the Emergency Room photo by shutterstock.

APA Reference
Nauert PhD, R. (2013). Slow Insurance Approvals Strand Mental Health Patients in ER. Psych Central. Retrieved on April 26, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/04/25/slow-insurance-approvals-strand-mental-health-patients-in-er/54083.html

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Source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/04/25/slow-insurance-approvals-strand-mental-health-patients-in-er/54083.html

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New imaging technology could reveal cellular secrets

Apr. 25, 2013 ? Researchers have married two biological imaging technologies, creating a new way to learn how good cells go bad.

"Let's say you have a large population of cells," said Corey Neu, an assistant professor in Purdue University's Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. "Just one of them might metastasize or proliferate, forming a cancerous tumor. We need to understand what it is that gives rise to that one bad cell."

Such an advance makes it possible to simultaneously study the mechanical and biochemical behavior of cells, which could provide new insights into disease processes, said biomedical engineering postdoctoral fellow Charilaos "Harris" Mousoulis.

Being able to study a cell's internal workings in fine detail would likely yield insights into the physical and biochemical responses to its environment. The technology, which combines an atomic force microscope and nuclear magnetic resonance system, could help researchers study individual cancer cells, for example, to uncover mechanisms leading up to cancer metastasis for research and diagnostics.

The prototype's capabilities were demonstrated by taking nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of hydrogen atoms in water. Findings represent a proof of concept of the technology and are detailed in a research paper that appeared online April 11 in the journal Applied Physics Letters. The paper was co-authored by Mousoulis' research scientist Teimour Maleki, Babak Ziaie, a professor of electrical and computer engineering; and Neu.

"You could detect many different types of chemical elements, but in this case hydrogen is nice to detect because it's abundant," Neu said. "You could detect carbon, nitrogen and other elements to get more detailed information about specific biochemistry inside a cell."

An atomic force microscope (AFM) uses a tiny vibrating probe called a cantilever to yield information about materials and surfaces on the scale of nanometers, or billionths of a meter. Because the instrument enables scientists to "see" objects far smaller than possible using light microscopes, it could be ideal for studying molecules, cell membranes and other biological structures.

However, the AFM does not provide information about the biological and chemical properties of cells. So the researchers fabricated a metal microcoil on the AFM cantilever. An electrical current is passed though the coil, causing it to exchange electromagnetic radiation with protons in molecules within the cell and inducing another current in the coil, which is detected.

The Purdue researchers perform "mechanobiology" studies to learn how forces exerted on cells influence their behavior. In work focusing on osteoarthritis, their research includes the study of cartilage cells from the knee to learn how they interact with the complex matrix of structures and biochemistry between cells.

Future research might include studying cells in "microfluidic chambers" to test how they respond to specific drugs and environmental changes.

A U.S. patent application has been filed for the concept. The research has been funded by Purdue's Showalter Trust Fund and the National Institutes of Health.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Purdue University. The original article was written by Emil Venere.

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Journal Reference:

1. Charilaos Mousoulis, Teimour Maleki, Babak Ziaie, Corey P. Neu. Atomic force microscopy-coupled microcoils for cellular-scale nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Applied Physics Letters, 2013; 102 (14): 143702 DOI: 10.1063/1.4801318

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/ayYzbNTiLZE/130425160208.htm

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Cornell University Athletics - Track Teams Conclude Busy Weekend ...

Track Teams Conclude Busy Weekend with Big Red Invite

4/25/2013 9:51:00 AM

Big Red Invite Entries
Big Red Invite Schedule

ITHACA, N.Y. ? The Big Red track and field teams begin competition at the Penn Relays on Thursday, but the team will also be hosting the Big Red Invite on Sunday at the Kane Sports Complex.
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Cornell will be taking on competition from multiple nearby universities as well as club teams from around the area. Feature opponents on Sunday include Syracuse, Buffalo, Binghamton, Cortland, Ithaca College and SUNY Oneonta.
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Revised meet entries and schedule can be found at the top of the page.
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Action begins at 11 a.m. with field events including the women's hammer throw and the men's shot put, with the rest of the field events following those. On the track, races begin at 11:30 a.m. with the 100-meter hurdles trials. Competition concludes at 7:15 p.m. with the 10K races.

Source: http://www.cornellbigred.com/news/2013/4/25/WTRACK_0425135324.aspx

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'The Rocket,' 'Kill Team' take top Tribeca honors

NEW YORK (AP) ? The Laos adventure "The Rocket" and the Afghanistan War documentary "The Kill Team" have taken top honors at the Tribeca Film Festival.

In an awards ceremony Thursday evening in New York, festival jurors selected Kim Mordaunt's "The Rocket" for best narrative film. Its 10-year-old star won best actor. The young Sitthiphon Disamoe stars as Aholo, who enters a rocket festival to help save his poverty-stricken family that's been uprooted for the construction of a dam.

Taking best documentary was Dan Krauss' "The Kill Team," an examination of the so-named group of U.S. soldiers charged with killing Afghan civilians.

Earlier Thursday, the festival awarded its first recipient of the inaugural Nora Ephron Prize, an award for female filmmakers. The prize went to writer-director Meera Menon. Her first film, "Farah Goes Bang," chronicles friends making a road trip to campaign for John Kerry during the 2004 presidential election.

The 12th annual Tribeca Film Festival ends Sunday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rocket-kill-team-top-tribeca-honors-001945419.html

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Iran's finance minister: 'Sanctions haven't crippled us' ? Amanpour ...

By Samuel Burke, CNN

The tactic of choice to derail Iran?s nuclear program has been "crippling sanctions," imposed by the United States and other Western countries.

Iranian Finance?Minister Seyyed Shamseddin Hosseini said that sanctions have driven up prices to some degree, but he downplayed the larger effect. Hosseini spoke with CNN?s Christiane Amanpour in an interview that aired Tuesday.

?I am not saying that they haven't had any impact on our country,? Hosseini said of the sanctions. ?But on the other hand, I don't believe that such sanctions have crippled us.??

The Obama administration has painted a completely different picture.

?Few thought that sanctions could have an immediate bite on the Iranian regime,? President Obama declared last year. ?They have ? slowing the Iranian nuclear program and virtually grinding the Iranian economy to a halt in 2011.?

The efforts to isolate and penalize Iran by cutting it off from international markets are based on the hope that sanctions will force Iran to come into compliance with U.N. resolutions.

Sectors that depended on foreign imports have been weakened, Hosseini admitted to Amanpour. But he also claimed that some of the negative measures placed on the economy have actually had a positive impact.

?Non-oil exports grew,? Hosseini said. ?Our industrial exports grew twenty percent. And in comparison, our imports were reduced by fourteen percent. As such that we met our foreign import requirements by non-oil exports.?

Hosseini maintained his country?s stance that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and that the sanctions won?t stop its efforts.

There has been talk of the U.S. and other countries allowing some relief in the sanctions on the gold, silver and precious metals markets.

?This is what our people want,? Hosseini said of the Iranian nuclear program. ?This cannot be compromised by a deal for relief, like in transactions of gold or silver.?

The most recent talks between Iran and the six world powers about the Iranian nuclear program took place in city of Almaty, Kazakhstan at the beginning of April.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton said these were the most detailed discussions that the two sides had had, with "a real back-and-forward between us," but she also made clear that she was disappointed by the lack of progress made.

?I believe the Almaty talks one and two were quite productive because both sides were able to talk,? Hosseini told Amanpour.

He said that he expects the discussions to continue.

AMANPOUR SPECIAL PRESENTATION ? A Nuclear Iran: The Expert Intel

Source: http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/24/irans-finance-minister-sanctions-havent-crippled-us/

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Penpower Worldcard Link pro Complete Contact Management Solution review

In both my personal and professional life I have collected stacks of business cards. When I was offered the opportunity to review the Worldcard Link Pro?business card scanner and software from Penpower,?I jumped at the opportunity. ?Let’s see how it works. Worldcard Link (WCL) is designed for use with 4th and 5th generation iPhones and [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/04/24/penpower-worldcard-link-pro-complete-contact-management-solution-review/

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The biology of fats in the body

Apr. 23, 2013 ? When you have your cholesterol checked, the doctor typically gives you levels of three fats found in the blood: LDL, HDL and triglycerides. But did you know your body contains thousands of other types of fats, or lipids?

In human plasma alone, researchers have identified some 600 different types relevant to our health. Many lipids are associated with diseases--diabetes, stroke, cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, to name a few. But our bodies also need a certain amount of fat to function, and we can't make it from scratch.

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health are studying lipids to learn more about normal and abnormal biology. Chew on these findings the next time you ponder the fate of the fat in a French fry.

Fat Functions

Triglycerides, cholesterol and other essential fatty acids--the scientific term for fats the body can't make on its own--store energy, insulate us and protect our vital organs. They act as messengers, helping proteins do their jobs. They also start chemical reactions involved in growth, immune function, reproduction and other aspects of basic metabolism.

The cycle of making, breaking, storing and mobilizing fats is at the core of how humans and all animals regulate their energy. An imbalance in any step can result in disease, including heart disease and diabetes. For instance, having too many triglycerides in our bloodstream raises our risk of clogged arteries, which can lead to heart attack and stroke.

Fats help the body stockpile certain nutrients as well. The so-called "fat-soluble" vitamins--A, D, E and K--are stored in the liver and in fatty tissues.

Using a quantitative and systematic approach to study lipids, researchers have classified lipids into eight main categories. Cholesterol belongs to the "sterol" group, and triglycerides are "glycerolipids." Another category, "phospholipids," includes the hundreds of lipids that constitute the cell membrane and allow cells to send and receive signals.

Breaking It Down

The main type of fat we consume, triglycerides are especially suited for energy storage because they pack more than twice as much energy as carbohydrates or proteins. Once triglycerides have been broken down during digestion, they are shipped out to cells through the bloodstream. Some of the fat gets used for energy right away. The rest is stored inside cells in blobs called lipid droplets.

When we need extra energy--for instance, when we exercise--our bodies use enzymes called lipases to break down the stored triglycerides. The cell's power plants, mitochondria, can then create more of the body's main energy source: adenosine triphosphate, or ATP.

Recent research also has helped explain the workings of a lipid called an omega-3 fatty acid -- the active ingredient in cod liver oil, which has been touted for decades as a treatment for eczema, arthritis and heart disease. Two types of these lipids blocked the activity of a protein called COX, which assists in converting an omega-6 fatty acid into pain-signaling prostaglandin molecules. These molecules are involved in inflammation, which is a common element of many diseases, so omega-3 fatty acids could have tremendous therapeutic potential.

This knowledge is just the tip of the fat-filled iceberg. We've already have learned a lot about lipids, but much more remains to be discovered.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/heart_disease/~3/tXX0TXi6KXw/130423102127.htm

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Anti-smoking ads with strong arguments, not flashy editing, trigger part of brain that changes behavior

Apr. 23, 2013 ? Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at University of the Pennsylvania have shown that an area of the brain that initiates behavioral changes had greater activation in smokers who watched anti-smoking ads with strong arguments versus those with weaker ones, and irrespective of flashy elements, like bright and rapidly changing scenes, loud sounds and unexpected scenario twists. Those smokers also had significantly less nicotine metabolites in their urine when tested a month after viewing those ads, the team reports in a new study published online April 23 in the Journal of Neuroscience.

This is the first time research has shown an association between cognition and brain activity in response to content and format in televised ads and behavior.

In a study of 71 non-treatment-seeking smokers recruited from the Philadelphia area, the team, led by Daniel D. Langleben, M.D., a psychiatrist in the Center for Studies of Addiction at Penn Medicine, identified key brain regions engaged in the processing of persuasive communications using fMRI, or functional magnetic resonance imaging. They found that a part of the brain involved in future behavioral changes -- known as the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dMPFC) -- had greater activation when smokers watched an anti-smoking ad with a strong argument versus a weak one.

One month after subjects watched the ads, the researchers sampled smokers' urine cotinine levels (metabolite of nicotine) and found that those who watched the strong ads had significantly less cotinine in their urine compared to their baseline versus those who watched weaker ads.

Even ads riddled with attention-grabbing tactics, the research suggests, are not effective at reducing tobacco intake unless their arguments are strong. However, ads with flashy editing and strong arguments, for example, produced better recognition.

"We investigated the two major dimensions of any piece of media, content and format, which are both important here," said Dr. Langleben, who is also an associate professor in the department of Psychiatry. "If you give someone an unconvincing ad, it doesn't matter what format you do on top of that. You can make it sensational. But in terms of effectiveness, content is more important. You're better off adding in more sophisticated editing and other special effects only if it is persuasive."

The paper may enable improved methods of design and evaluation of public health advertising, according to the authors, including first author An-Li Wang, PhD, of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. And it could ultimately influence how producers shape the way ads are constructed, and how ad production budgets are allocated, considering special effects are expensive endeavors versus hiring screenwriters.

A 2009 study by Dr. Langleben and colleagues that looked solely at format found people were more likely to remember low-key, anti-smoking messages versus attention-grabbing messages. This was the first research to show that low-key versus attention-grabbing ads stimulated different patterns of activity, particularly in the frontal cortex and temporal cortex. But it did not address content strength or behavioral changes.

This new study is the first longitudinal investigation of the cognitive, behavioral, and neurophysical response to the content and format of televised anti-smoking ads, according to the authors.

"This sets the stage for science-based evaluation and design of persuasive public health advertising," said Dr. Langleben. "An ad is only as strong as its central argument, which matters more than its audiovisual presentation. Future work should consider supplementing focus groups with more technology-heavy assessments, such as brain responses to these ads, in advance of even putting the ad together in its entirety."

Co-authors of the study include Kosha Ruparel, MSE, James W. Loughead, PhD, Andrew A. Strasser, PhD, Shira J. Blady, Kevin G. Lynch, PhD, Dan Romer, PhD, and Caryn Lerman, PhD, of the Department of Psychiatry at Penn Medicine, and Joseph N. Cappella, PhD, of the Annenberg School for Communication.

This study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R21 DA024419).

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/PCn9rWhdoXs/130423211716.htm

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