Louisville beats Duke 85-63 to reach Final Four

Louisville's Peyton Siva, left, and Chane Behanan, celebrate following their 85-63 win over Duke in the Midwest Regional final in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 31, 2013, in Indianapolis. Behanan was wearing the jersey of teammate Kevin Ware (5) who was injured during the game. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Louisville's Peyton Siva, left, and Chane Behanan, celebrate following their 85-63 win over Duke in the Midwest Regional final in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 31, 2013, in Indianapolis. Behanan was wearing the jersey of teammate Kevin Ware (5) who was injured during the game. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Louisville players huddle as guard Kevin Ware is treated for an injury during the first half of the Midwest Regional final against Duke in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 31, 2013, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Louisville players celebrate following their 85-63 win over Duke in the Midwest Regional final in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 31, 2013, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Louisville forward Montrezl Harrell (24) blocks a shot by Duke forward Mason Plumlee during the first half of the Midwest Regional final in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 31, 2013, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Louisville guard Peyton Siva (3) goes up with a shot against Duke guard Quinn Cook (2) during the first half of the Midwest Regional final in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 31, 2013, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Crying and shaken by the sight of Kevin Ware writhing on the court, his right leg splintered, Rick Pitino and his Louisville players had no idea how they were going to pull it together with a half still left to play and a Final Four berth on the line.

Ware showed them the way.

"I don't think we could have gathered ourselves ? I know I couldn't have ? if Kevin didn't say over and over again, 'Just go win the game,'" Pitino said. "I don't think we could have gone in the locker room with a loss after seeing that. We had to gather ourselves. We couldn't lose this game for him.

"We just couldn't."

With Russ Smith, Peyton Siva and Gorgui Dieng leading the way, the Cardinals finally shook off their grief early in the second half, erupting for a 13-2 run that Duke was powerless to answer. The 85-63 victory clinched a second straight trip to the Final Four for the top-seeded Cardinals, who are determined to win it all for Ware, a New York City native who moved to the Atlanta area for high school.

The Cardinals (33-5) will play Wichita State in the national semifinals next Saturday. The ninth-seeded Shockers (30-8) added to their streak of upsets with a 70-66 victory over Ohio State on Saturday night.

As the final seconds ticked down, Ware's best friend on the team, Chane Behanan, put on the guard's No. 5 jersey and stood at the end of the bench, screaming. Cardinals fans chanted "Kevin Ware! Kevin Ware!"

"We talked about it every timeout, 'Get Kevin home,'" Pitino said.

Smith finished with 23 points and earned Most Outstanding Player honors for the Midwest Region. Siva added 16 while Dieng had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Mason Plumlee had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Duke. But the Blue Devils (30-6) couldn't overcome a poor start by Seth Curry, who scored all 12 of his points in the second half, or their foul trouble.

"I thought we had a chance there, and then, boom," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "That's what they do to teams. They can boom you."

This was the first time Pitino and Krzyzewski had met in the regional finals since that 1992 classic that ended with Christian Laettner's improbable buzzer-beater, a game now considered one of the best in NCAA tournament history.

This game will be remembered, too, but for a very different ? and much more somber ? reason.

With 6:33 left in the first half, Ware, who has played a key role in Louisville's 14-game winning streak, jumped to try and block Tyler Thornton's 3-point shot. When he landed, Ware's right leg snapped midway between his ankle and knee, the bone skewing almost at a right angle. Ware dropped to the floor right in front of the Louisville bench and, almost in unison, his teammates turned away in horror. Thornton grimaced, putting his hand to his mouth as he turned around.

"I heard it and then I seen what happened, (the bone) come out," Smith said. "I immediately just, like, fell. I almost didn't feel nothing."

Pitino went to help Ware up and then saw the leg, which broke in two places.

"I literally almost threw up," Pitino said, his voice catching. "Then I just wanted to get a towel to get it over that. But all the players came over and saw it."

Louisville forward Wayne Blackshear fell to the floor and Behanan looked as if he was going to be sick on the court, kneeling on his hands and feet. Luke Hancock patted Ware's chest as doctors worked on the sophomore and Smith walked away, pulling his jersey over his eyes. The arena was silent, and several fans wept and bowed their heads.

Pitino had tears in his eyes as he tried to console his players. Dieng draped an arm around the shoulders of Smith, who repeatedly wiped at his eyes and shook his head.

"It was really hard for me to pull myself together," Smith said. "I didn't ever think in a million years I would ever see something like that. And that it happened, especially, to a guy like Kevin Ware, I was completely devastated."

As the Cardinals (33-5) gathered at halfcourt to try and regroup before play resumed, Pitino called them over to the sideline, saying Ware wanted to talk to them before he left.

"Basically, the bone popped out of the skin. It broke in two spots," Pitino said. "Remember the bone is six inches out of his leg, and all he's yelling is 'Win the game, win the game.' I've never seen anything like that."

Added Siva, "He told us countless times: 'Just go win this game for me. Just go win this game. Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Just go win this game.' I don't know how he did it. I don't know how he got strength to do it, but he told us to go out there and win."

News of the injury dominated social media. Joe Theismann, whose NFL career ended with a horrific broken leg, said on Twitter, "Watching Duke/ Louisville my heart goes out to Kevin Ware."

Pitino wiped away tears as Ware, whom Smith described as the Cardinals' "little brother" was wheeled off the court. Surgeons reset his leg and inserted a rod in his right tibia during a 2-hour operation at Methodist Hospital. Ware is expected to remain in Indianapolis until at least Tuesday, and Pitino said he, his son Richard and the Cardinals' equipment manager planned to visit the player later Sunday night and again Monday morning.

"He'll come back," Pitino said. "We'll get Kevin back as good as new."

But when play resumed, it was clear the Cardinals' minds were elsewhere. They missed four of their next five shots along with two free throws, and were uncharacteristically sloppy. But they regrouped after a timeout, with Smith's finger roll sparking a 12-6 run to finish the half that gave them a 35-32 lead.

Smith picked up where he left off at the start of the second half, making all three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt to give Louisville a 38-32 lead, its largest of the game to that point.

But just as he did against Michigan State, Curry got hot after halftime, making two 3s in the first three minutes. A Plumlee dunk tied the game at 42.

That, however, was all Louisville needed.

Clawing for every rebound, diving on the floor for loose balls and cranking the intensity up even higher on their ferocious defense, the Cardinals were not going to lose.

And everyone, Duke included, knew it.

This was only the second time the Blue Devils have reached the regional finals and failed to make it to the Final Four. The only other time? In 1998, when the Blue Devils lost to eventual national champion Kentucky.

"We got beat by a better team," Krzyzewski said.

Smith made a layup. Siva had a nice jumper at the top of the key, and then followed with a layup. Just like that, Louisville was off. Siva had seven points during the run, which was only halted by a timeout. But Dieng kept it rolling with a jumper and a tip-in. After Plumlee made a pair of free throws, Hancock made a 3 and the roof of the Lucas Oil Stadium nearly blew off.

"When Kevin went down, it was devastating for all of us," Siva said. "We just came together and Kevin Ware really was the reason why we pulled this game out.

"Everybody on the team just wanted to step up for him. For us to show that focus and that determination, we just tried to do it for him."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-31-NCAA-Duke-Louisville/id-b6a4b0d4fe6741ca8673339e7bf9ab38

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Exxon pipeline leaks thousands of barrels of oil in Arkansas

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Exxon Mobil crude oil pipeline ruptured near Mayflower, Arkansas, spilling thousands of barrels of oil, the company said.

Exxon shut the 20-inch Pegasus pipeline, which carries crude oil from Pakota, Illinois, to the Gulf Coast, after the leak was discovered on Friday afternoon. Exxon said a few thousand barrels of oil had been observed.

Local media reported the spill occurred in a subdivision, and city of Mayflower police said the oil had not reached the nearby Lake Conway.

Federal, state and local officials were on site and the company said it was staging a response for a spill of more than 10,000 barrels "to be conservative."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had categorized the rupture as a "major spill," Exxon said, and 22 homes were evacuated following the incident. Clean-up crews had recovered approximately 4,500 barrels of oil and water.

(Reporting by Matthew Robinson and David Sheppard; Editing by Philip Barbara and Eric Beech)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exxon-shuts-oil-pipeline-major-pipeline-spill-arkansas-010122537--finance.html

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A-Rod's Salary is Higher than the Entire Houston Astros Roster Combined!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/a-rods-salary-is-higher-than-the-entire-houston-astros-roster-co/

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Celebrities Eating Will Put You In The Right Mood For Easter (PHOTOS)

Happy (almost) Easter!

To get you in the mood for Sunday night's big meal, feast your eyes on these celebrities stuffing their faces. Surprisingly, they chew it all: burgers, fries, tacos and sweets. And you thought actresses don't eat ...

• Snooki

• Busy Philipps

• Miley Cyrus

• Sofia Vergara

• AnnaLynne McCord

• Jay Leno and Jessica Biel

• Selena Gomez

• Justin Bieber

• Gisele Bundchen

  (Splash)

• Britney Spears

• Kourtney Kardashian

• Jennifer Love Hewitt

• Clay Aiken and Jessica Simpson

• Kim Kardashian

• Danny DeVito

  (Splash)

• Keanu Reeves

  (Splash)

• Mike Tyson

  (Splash)

• Kelly Ripa

  (Splash)

• Kim Kardashian

• Amanda Seyfried, Jay Leno

• Ed Westwick

• Angelina Jolie

  (Splash)

• Jennifer Lopez

• Madonna

• Britney Spears

  (Splash)

• Chris Pine

• Rihanna

• JWoww

• Alec Baldwin

  (Splash)

• Ben Affleck

  (Splash)

• Charlize Theron

  (Splash)

• Kristin Davis

  (Splash)

• Kate Hudson

  (Splash)

• Jennifer Lopez

  (Splash)

• Miley Cyrus

• Shia LaBeouf, Michael Douglas

• Matthew McConaughey, Camilla Alves, and son

• Guy Ritchie and son

• Usher

• Matt Damon

• Michelle Pfeiffer

• Rachel Zoe

• Cameron Diaz

• Hugh Grant

• Haylie Duff, Nick Zano

• Denise Richards

• Bethenny Frankel

• Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi

• Kanye West and Kim Kardashian

• Avril Lavigne

• Hugh Jackman

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/celebrities-eating-will-easter_n_2980110.html

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Key groups reach immigration deal as overhaul advances

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Prospects for a broad U.S. immigration overhaul brightened on Saturday after major U.S. business and labor groups reached an agreement on a guest-worker program, a source familiar with the deal said.

The agreement was reached on Friday night in a conference call between the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Tom Donohue, and the president of the AFL-CIO labor organization, Richard Trumka, with New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer acting as the mediator, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A guest-worker program has been a major stumbling block to efforts by a bipartisan group of senators known as the Gang of Eight to reach a compromise on a way to create a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, most of whom are Hispanics.

Labor unions have argued against a guest-worker program, worrying that a flood of low-wage immigrant laborers would take away jobs from Americans. The agreement covers the pay levels for low-skilled temporary workers and the types of jobs that would be included.

Schumer briefed White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on Saturday on the breakthrough, the source said.

The agreement still must be approved by the Gang of Eight senators, four Democrats and four Republicans. If they do so as expected, Senate legislation on a broad new immigration law would be advanced in the Senate in the coming weeks.

In recent days, the immigration effort had been stalled by failure to forge an agreement on the guest-worker program, although the White House insisted that progress was being made.

President Barack Obama wants to fulfill a campaign pledge by gaining passage of a law that would create a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants currently in the country. He has vowed to do what he can on immigration through executive actions in the absence of legislation.

Immigration long has been a controversial issue in the United States and previous efforts to craft a comprehensive overhaul of American immigration laws have failed, with Democrats and Republicans remaining far apart.

Many Republicans previously had taken a hard position against illegal immigrants. Obama's unsuccessful Republican challenger last year, Mitt Romney, had advocated "self-deportation" of illegal immigrants. Republicans in Arizona and other states passed tough laws cracking down on illegal immigrants.

But the mood for a deal is ripe because Republicans saw Hispanic Americans vote overwhelmingly for Obama and other Democratic candidates in last November's elections and they need to woo this increasingly important voting bloc.

Many Republicans see gaining favor with the Hispanic voting bloc, which accounts for 10 percent of the U.S. electorate and is growing, as a matter of political survival.

Republicans want to ensure that security along the U.S.-Mexican border is improved before immigrants can get on a path to citizenship. Obama feels security is sufficient but this disagreement is not seen as a deal-breaker.

"We're seeing right now a good bipartisan spirit," Obama told Spanish-language network Univision on Wednesday. "I want to encourage that and hopefully we'll be able to get it done."

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Will Dunham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/business-labor-groups-reach-immigration-deal-overhaul-advances-193136796.html

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Which of These Apple Patents Will Ever See the Light of Day?

The patent office publishes oodles of Apple patent applications each week. It also grants a ton of them, allowing Apple to protect its IP against competitors. Whether it actually uses any of that IP in its products is another matter ...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/vL_NYN8GP8Q/

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Most Beautiful Items: March 23-29, 2013

Between unbelievable balloon art, a scaly aluminum aquarium, and a Google Image Search art project, we have beaucoup beautiful things to show you this week. Take a second to gander at the gorgeous things we found in art, architecture, and design this week. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/v_FKQl_6Dxg/most-beautiful-items-march-23+29-2013

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Stem cell fate depends on 'grip'

Mar. 28, 2013 ? The field of regenerative medicine holds great promise, propelled by greater understanding of how stem cells differentiate themselves into many of the body's different cell types. But clinical applications in the field have been slow to materialize, partially owing to difficulties in replicating the conditions these cells naturally experience.

A team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania has generated new insight on how a stem cell's environment influences what type of cell a stem cell will become. They have shown that whether human mesenchymal stem cells turn into fat or bone cells depends partially on how well they can "grip" the material they are growing in.

The research was conducted by graduate student Sudhir Khetan and associate professor Jason Burdick, along with professor Christopher Chen, all of the School of Engineering and Applied Science's Department of Bioengineering. Others involved in the study include Murat Guvendiren, Wesley Legant and Daniel Cohen.

Their study was published in the journal Nature Materials.

Much research has been done on how stem cells grow on two-dimensional substrates, but comparatively little work has been done in three dimensions. Three-dimensional environments, or matrices, for stems cells have mostly been treated as simple scaffolding, rather than as a signal that influences the cells' development.

Burdick and his colleagues were interested in how these three-dimensional matrices impact mechanotransduction, which is how the cell takes information about its physical environment and translates that to chemical signaling.

"We're trying to understand how material signals can dictate stem cell response," Burdick said. "Rather than considering the material as an inert structure, it's really guiding stem cell fate and differentiation -- what kind of cells they will turn into."

The mesenchymal stem cells the researchers studied are found in bone marrow and can develop into several cell types: osteoblasts, which are found in bone; chondrocytes, which are found in cartilage; and adipocytes, which are found in fat.

The researchers cultured them in water-swollen polymer networks known as hydrogels, which share some similarities with the environments stem cells naturally grow in. These materials are generally soft and flexible -- contact lenses, for example, are a type of hydrogel -- but can vary in density and stiffness depending on the type and quantity of the bonds between the polymers. In this case, the researchers used covalently cross-linked gels, which contain irreversible chemical bonds.

When seeded on top of two-dimensional covalently cross-linked gels, mesenchymal stem cells spread and pulled on the material differently depending on how stiff it was. Critically, the mechanics guide cell fate, or the type of cells they differentiate it into. A softer environment would produce more fat-like cells and a stiffer environment, where the cells can pull on the gel harder, would produce more bone-like cells.

However, when the researchers put mesenchymal stem cells inside three-dimensional hydrogels of varying stiffness, they didn't see these kinds of changes.

"In most covalently cross-linked gels, the cells can't spread into the matrix because they can't degrade the bonds -- they all become fat cells," Burdick said. "That tells us that in 3D covalent gels the cells don't translate the mechanical information the same way they do in a 2D system."

To test this, the researchers changed the chemistry of their hydrogels so that the polymer chains were connected by a peptide that the cells could naturally degrade. They hypothesized that, as the cells spread, they would be able to get a better grip on their surrounding environment and thus be more likely to turn into bone-like cells.

In order to determine how well the cells were pulling on their environment, the researchers used a technique developed by Chen's lab called 3D traction force microscopy. This technique involves seeding the gel with microscopic beads, then tracking their location before and after a cell is removed.

"Because the gel is elastic and will relax back into its original position when you remove the cells," Chen said, "you can quantify how much the cells are pulling on the gel based on how much and which way it springs back after the cell is removed."

The results showed that the stem cells' differentiation into bone-like cells was aided by their ability to better anchor themselves into the growth environment.

"With our original experiment, we observed that the cells essentially didn't pull on the gel. They adhered to it and were viable, but we did not see bead displacement. They couldn't get a grip," Burdick said. "When we put the cells into a gel where they could degrade the bonds, we saw them spread into the matrix and deform it, displacing the beads."

As an additional test, the researchers synthesized another hydrogel. This one had the same covalent bonds that the stem cells could naturally degrade and spread through but also another type of bond that could form when exposed to light. They let the stem cells spread as before, but at the point the cells would begin to differentiate -- about a week after they were first encapsulated -- the researchers further "set" the gel by exposing it to light, forming new bonds the cells couldn't degrade.

"When we introduced these cross-links so they could no longer degrade the matrix, we saw an increase toward fat-like cells, even after letting them spread," Burdick said. "This further supports the idea that continuous degradation is needed for the cells to sense the material properties of their environment and transduce that into differentiation signals."

Burdick and his colleagues see these results as helping develop a better fundamental understanding of how to engineer tissues using stem cells.

"This is a model system for showing how the microenvironment can influence the fate of the cells," Burdick said.

The research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Pennsylvania.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Sudhir Khetan, Murat Guvendiren, Wesley R. Legant, Daniel M. Cohen, Christopher S. Chen, Jason A. Burdick. Degradation-mediated cellular traction directs stem cell fate in covalently crosslinked three-dimensional hydrogels. Nature Materials, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nmat3586

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

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/top_news/top_environment/~3/3TxG0KVGxqw/130328142402.htm

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Sean 'Diddy' Combs to Perform at WrestleMania

STAMFORD, Conn.?? Three-time Grammy Award winner Sean ?Diddy? Combs will perform live April 7 at WrestleMania 29 in front of more than 70,000 fans in attendance at MetLife Stadium with millions watching worldwide on pay-per-view.

How to watch WrestleMania 29

Combs will also co-host the?Superstars for Sandy Relief party with WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon as part of the?WrestleMania Week festivities and serve as an ambassador for WWE?s?Be a STAR anti-bullying initiative.

?WrestleMania is one of the biggest spectacles in the world and I?m looking forward to performing in front of millions on April 7,? Combs said. ?I?ve always been a fan of WWE and I?m excited to support these two important causes, Superstars for Sandy Relief and the Be a STAR anti-bullying initiative.?

It?s not Comb?s first appearance at a WWE event. At WrestleMania XXVIII, he introduced Bad Boy recording artist and prot?g? Machine Gun Kelly, who performed ?Invincible.? And at Tribute to the Troops 2010, Diddy performed "I'll be missing you."

What does Diddy have in store for the WWE Universe at this year's Show of Shows?

Find out how you can watch Diddy perform on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

View Comments

Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/29/sean-diddy-combs-to-perform-at-wrestlemania-29

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WATCH: Ryan Lochte Wants a Soul Mate...Eventually

You probably think of Ryan Lochte as a strong and focused Olympian -- the only swimmer to emerge as a worthy competitor for the insuppressible Michael Phelps.   

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/ryan-lochte-looking-girlfriend-new-reality-show/1-a-530919?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aryan-lochte-looking-girlfriend-new-reality-show-530919

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Lunar cycle determines hunting behavior of nocturnal gulls

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Zooplankton, small fish and squid spend hardly any time at the surface when there's a full moon. To protect themselves from their natural enemies, they hide deeper down in the water on bright nights, coming up to the surface under cover of darkness when there's a new moon instead.

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell discovered that this also influences the behaviour of swallow-tailed gulls (Creagrus furcatus), a unique nocturnal species of gull from the Galapagos Islands. They fitted the birds with loggers and wet/dry sensors which enabled them to see how much time the animals spent at sea at night. Their findings show that the birds' activity was greatest at new moon, in other words the time when the most prey was gathered at the surface of the water. The cycle of the moon therefore also influences the behaviour of seabirds.

The lunar cycle controls the behaviour of various animal species: owls, swallows and bats, for example, align their activity with the phase of the moon to maximise their hunting success. However, marine life is also affected by the moon. Many species of fish hide from their enemies in the depths of the sea during the daytime and only come up to the water's surface in the dark. Known as vertical migration, this phenomenon is additionally influenced by the lunar cycle. The fish thereby avoid swimming on the water's surface at full moon where they would be easy prey. Vertical migration is thus restricted on brighter nights and the animals remain at greater depths. At new moon, on the other hand, the organisms become active and migrate to the surface.

Yet also in the dark of night hunters lie in wait for them ? for instance the swallow-tailed gull Creagrus furcatus from the Galapagos Islands. With eyes that are well adapted to the dark, the gull can see fish below the water's surface even in low light conditions and so does not need the moon as a source of light. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology therefore wanted to find out what effect the lunar cycle had on the hunting behaviour of the gulls.

To this effect, they attached loggers with sensors to 37 birds, which enabled the scientists to measure where, when and how long the animals were in the water. "The gulls fly off to hunt on the open sea and plunge down to the water's surface to snatch squid or small fish," explains Martin Wikelski from the Max Planck Institute in Radolfzell. "From the contact time of the sensors with the water, we were able to conclude in which nights of the month the gulls were particularly active." The behaviour of each bird was recorded for 120 days on average in order to take in several moon phases.

The birds followed the lunar cycles strictly: at new moon the gulls were in the water particularly often. When the nights were very bright, the birds tended to stay on dry land instead. "For the swallow-tailed gulls it makes sense to be guided by the lunar cycle in their hunting, because, with a diving depth of no more than one metre, the prey is quickly beyond their reach on nights with a full moon," says Wikelski.

To facilitate their night-time hunting, swallow-tailed gulls have evolved light-sensitive eyes that are particularly well adapted to the dark nights at sea. They have also lost their melatonin rhythm ? an important clock that regulates sleep ? enabling the swallow-tailed gulls to occupy a new and unique ecological niche.

###

Sebastian M. Cruz, Mevin Hooten, Kathryn P. Huyvaert, Carolina B. Proano, David J. Anderson, Vsevolod Afanasyev, Martin Wikelski

At?Sea Behavior Varies with Lunar Phase in a Nocturnal Pelagic Seabird, the Swallow-Tailed Gull

PLoS ONE 8(2): e56889. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0056889

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft: http://www.mpg.de

Thanks to Max-Planck-Gesellschaft for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127501/Lunar_cycle_determines_hunting_behavior_of_nocturnal_gulls

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Supreme Court, in next gay marriage case, eyes federal law (reuters)

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Simulations uncover obstacle to harnessing laser-driven fusion: Under realistic conditions, hollow cones fail to guide energetic electrons to fuel

Mar. 26, 2013 ? A once-promising approach for using next-generation, ultra-intense lasers to help deliver commercially viable fusion energy has been brought into serious question by new experimental results and first-of-a-kind simulations of laser-plasma interaction.

Researchers at The Ohio State University are evaluating a two-stage process in which a pellet of fusion fuel is first crushed by lasers on all sides, shrinking the pellet to dozens of times its original size, followed by an ultra-intense burst of laser light to ignite a chain reaction. This two-stage approach is called Fast Ignition, and there are a few variants on the theme.

In a recent paper, the Ohio State research group considered the long-discussed possibility of using a hollow cone to maintain a channel for the ultra-intense "ignitor pulse" to focus laser energy on the compressed pellet core. Drawing on both experimental results from studies at the Titan Laser at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, and massively-parallel computer simulations of the laser-target interaction performed at the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) in Columbus, Ohio, the research team found compelling evidence that the cone-guided approach to Fast Ignition has a serious flaw.

"In the history of fusion research, two-steps-forward and one-step-back stories are a common theme," said Chris Orban, Ph.D., a researcher of the High Energy Density Physics research group at Ohio State and the lead theorist on the project. "But sometimes progress is about seeing what's not going to work, just as much as it is looking forward to the next big idea."

Since the ultra-intense pulse delivers energy to the fuel through relativistic electrons accelerated by the laser interaction, the Ohio State study focused on the coupling of the laser light to electrons and the propagation of those electrons through the cone target. Rather than investigating how the interaction would work on a high-demand, high-cost facility like the National Ignition Facility (NIF), which is also based at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and one of the largest scientific operations in the world, the researchers considered experiments just across from NIF at the Titan laser, which is much smaller and easily accessible.

These images from their simulations highlight the trajectories of randomly-selected electrons for a thin cone (left) and thick cone (right), each attached to a copper wire. Background colors show the strength of the electric fields pointing away from the cone and wire. For thin cones, the electric fields act to guide energetic electrons forward into the wire while for thick cones -- a more realistic case -- these fields are too distant to be effective. An animation of the simulation is available online at: http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~orban/cone_wire_final5mJ_4_5ps.avi.

Despite its size and despite having lower total energy, for a brief moment the Titan laser is many thousands of times more intense than NIF, which makes it a decent stand-in as a second-stage ignitor pulse. The OSU-led experimental team focused the Titan pulse on hollow cone targets attached at the tip to copper wires and observed the burst of X-ray photons coming from the copper as a measure of the laser energy to relativistic electron conversion efficiency.

The X-ray signal was much lower from the hollow cones with thicker cone walls. "This was strong evidence to the experimental team that the typical approach to cone-guided Fast Ignition wouldn't work, since thicker cones should be more realistic than thin cones," said Orban. "This is because electrons are free to move around in a dense plasma, much like they do in a normal metal, so the thicker cone target is like a thin cone embedded in a dense plasma."

These intuitions were tested in simulations performed at OSC. Whereas earlier efforts to simulate the laser-target interaction were forced to simplify or shrink the target size in order to make the calculations more feasible, Orban used the LSP code to perform the first-ever, full-scale 2D Particle-In-Cell simulations of the entire laser-target interaction using fully realistic laser fields.

These simulations also included a sophisticated model for the pre-heating of the target from stray laser light ahead of the ultra-intense pulse developed by collaborators at the Flash Center for Computational Science at the University of Chicago.

"We were delighted to help Chris use the FLASH code to provide realistic initial conditions for his Particle-In-Cell simulations," said Don Lamb, director of the Flash Center. "This is an outstanding example of how two groups can collaborate to achieve a scientific result that neither could have achieved alone."

To conduct the simulations, the Ohio State researchers accessed OSC's flagship Oakley Cluster supercomputer system. The HP-built system features 8,300+ Intel Xeon cores and 128 NVIDIA Tesla GPUs. Oakley can achieve 88 teraflops, tech-speak for performing 88 trillion calculations per second, or, with acceleration from the NVIDIA GPUs, a total peak performance of 154 teraflops.

"The simulations pointed to the electric fields building up on the edge of the cone as the key to everything," said Orban. "The thicker the cone is, the further away the cone edge is from the laser, and as a result fewer energetic electrons are deflected forward, which is the crucial issue in making cone-guided Fast Ignition a viable approach."

With both the experiment and the simulations telling the same story, the evidence is compelling that the cone-guided route to Fast Ignition is an unlikely one. While other studies have come to similar conclusions, the group was the first to identify the plasma surrounding the cone as a severe hindrance. Thankfully, there are still many other ideas for successfully igniting the fusion pellet with current or soon-to-be-constructed laser facilities. Any future efforts to spark fusion reactions with these lasers using a two-stage fast-ignition approach must be mindful to consider the neutralizing effect of the free electrons in the dense plasma.

"We could not have completed this project without the Oakley Cluster," Orban noted. "It was the perfect combination of speed and RAM and availability for us. And thanks to the profiling I was able to do, the compute time for our production runs went from two weeks in November 2011 to three or four days as of February 2012."

"Energy and the environment is one of the primary focus areas of the center, and this research fits perfectly into that domain," said Brian Guilfoos, the client and technology support manager for OSC. "Many of our systems were designed and software packages selected to best support the type of computing required by investigators working in fields related to our focus areas."

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Journal Reference:

1. K. U. Akli, C. Orban, D. Schumacher, M. Storm, M. Fatenejad, D. Lamb, R. R. Freeman. Coupling of high-intensity laser light to fast electrons in cone-guided fast ignition. Physical Review E, 2012; 86 (6) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.86.065402

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/2LmJkrdgNbo/130326162340.htm

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PCSkiGal Roadtrip: June Mountain, Calif. - Park City Television

By Jill Adler! | March 27, 2013 at 1:53 am | No comments | Blog, Mountain Views | Tags: Adler, backcountry, closure, dog, hiking, Inyo County, June, Mammoth, Mono County, skiing

Skiing June Mountain is bittersweet today. While I?d normally relish having a mountain all to myself, it?s kind of sad here now. The ghosttown feel is heavy. Although there are still a handful of homeowners and businesses in the June Lake area still trying to muscle through, it?s evident that last summer?s announcement from Mammoth Mountain CEO Rusty Gregory that June would close after 50 years of continuous operation hit Mono and Inyo County hard. No one seems happy with this decision.

June was the lazy, hometown resort for locals and backcountry skiers. Those in the know would scramble to June and its world-class terrain parks and superpipe to avoid the swarms that descend on Mammoth every weekend.? It also offered unmatched, lift-served access to the Sierras and unbound exploration from here to Yosemite.

Fortunately for backcountry skiers, the US Forest Service softened the closure blow. Inyo National Forest leases June?s operating permit to Mammoth so when Mammoth yanked their operations, the Forest Service rules went into effect- ?the land will generally remain accessible to the public for backcountry skiing, snowboarding or snowshoeing. Under the plan, ski patrollers are authorized to prohibit access to the area during avalanche control activities. The ski area remains prohibited to entry by snowmobiles and other motorized use by an existing Forest Order, except by special use authorization,? the Mammoth press release states.

And so June was ?open? for skiing this year.? Local mountain guide Doug Nidiver commented, ?It?s surprising how many tracks there were this season.?

Even better is that dogs are allowed now!

At times the parking lot was full but not today. We packed up the water, the ProBars, the skins and the poop bags and headed up the service road toward the Chalet. The rise of the J1 lift and its face looked intimidating. I couldn?t wait to ski it but climbing it? Not so much.

We stopped for a water break and views on the Chalet?s deck and Nidiver reminisced about riding the lift, taking in the views, having a tasty meal- ?the food was excellent up here? and then venturing out of bounds. Locals had long whined for a backcountry lift where they could pay a reduced rate for lift-accessed OB but that had never happened.

Today, we skied the ski area. The conditions in the hot sun have shifted to spring corn and crust. It didn?t matter where we went so it was easy just to trek straight up the face.

Four hours later, we reached the 10,000-foot summit. We had no trouble skinning except that my hip flexors were a bit out of shape.

After the Kodak moment we ripped the skins, clicked in and dropped into Deer Bowl. We had to be nimble with the breakaway layer but after the first ten turns the trail turned into a smooth table of corn. Over the face and down IQ, the snow became dimpled with sun cups but we were able to ski all the way back to the car. Nearly 3000 vertical for the afternoon.

In my head, I could hear the whoops and hollers of my fellow Utahns enjoying the 10 inches of fresh powder back home. Sigh. But there?s something to be said for solitude, sun and blue skies for the end of March. I had a wicked body buzz going and a deep appreciation for spring skiing. I?m not sure that I would want to be anywhere else today. ?I?ll be back in Utah soon enough!

P.S. It?s not official yet but all signs are pointing to June reopening for winter 2014.

Source: http://parkcity.tv/blog/pcskigal-roadtrip-june-mountain-calif

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Dancing With the Stars Results: Who's the First One Out?

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DICE+ launches $99 developer kit, pre-orders for $40 consumer model start this summer

Game Technologies, the Poland-based company behind the little electronic die that is DICE+, has just announced a $99 developer edition that bundles a transparent-cased model along with its software development kit. As a reminder, the DICE+ is an inch-sized rubberized cube packed with Bluetooth, an accelerometer and a rechargeable battery, with the aim of bringing human interaction to electronic board games and beyond.

We had a look at a demo DICE+ here at the 2013 Game Developers Conference and it looks relatively unchanged from the one we saw at E3 last year. However, the microUSB port is now revealed via a sliding mechanism instead of a pull-out flap, which should result in a more balanced roll. Marketing director David Gatti also told us that the cube's internals have been revamped and simplified for more cost-effective production.

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My Top 5 NZ Series for Kids and Teens | My Best Friends Are Books

March 26, 2013 ? 8:00 am

Like many kids I?m a fan of series.? There?s nothing better than sinking your teeth into a great series and being able to read more than one book featuring your favourite characters.? While there aren?t a heap of New Zealand series for kids and teens there are some that really stand out for me.? Some of them make me laugh again and again, while others take me to different times and places.? Here are my Top 5 NZ series for kids and teens.

• The Karazan Quartet by V.M. Jones

I was excited when the first book in the series, The Serpents of Arakesh, came out.? The idea of an orphan boy getting the chance to test a new computer game and go into this game to retrieve a magical object sounded fantastic, and I wasn?t disappointed.? As soon as I started I knew I was going to love this book, and the other three books in the series just got better and better.? It?s one of my favourite fantasy series and just writing about it now makes me want to go back and read it all over again.? After publishing this series and a couple of great contemporary (and award-winning) novels, V.M. Jones seems to have disappeared.? I really miss her writing and I wonder what she?s doing now.

If you have this series in your library, get it out on display and promote it to your Year 5+ kids, especially the boys.

Recommended for 9+

• The Juno series by Fleur Beale
  • Book 2 ? Fierce September
  • Book 3 ? Heart of Danger

Once I got in to Juno of Taris I couldn?t put it down.? Fleur Beale?s strength with this series is her characters, the strong bonds between them and also the conflict between them.? Fleur really makes you feel for her characters and the strange situation that they are in.? After reading the first book, I would have been satisfied to leave the characters as they were, then Fleur wrote two sequels.? I really enjoyed following these characters as they settled into their new life, and it was great to find out more about the other characters in the series.

Recommended for 11+

• Dinosaur Rescue series by Kyle Mewburn and Donovan Bixley
  • Currently 8 books in the series, starting with T-wreck-asaurus

Prehistoric toilet humour ? what more can you ask for!? These books are full of dinosaur farts, dinosaur poo, caveman vomit and partial caveman nudity.? Not only are they disgusting and hilarious, you also learn heaps about dinosaurs and prehistoric life.? The challenge is trying to figure out what is factually accurate or just a huge whopper.? Kyle and Donovan are too of the wackiest people to ever be thrown together to create a series and it?s a truly winning combination.? If your children haven?t discovered this series yet they are seriously missing out.

Recommended for 7+

• My New Zealand Story series by various authors

The My New Zealand Story series from Scholastic New Zealand introduces children to different events and periods of New Zealand?s history.? I love this series because it gives a snapshot of the life of a fictional character (based on real people) and how they cope with life in the goldfields, or in colonial New Zealand, or how they react to a disaster like the Napier Earthquake.? These books also highlight how different the lives of the characters is to the lives of children today.? They really bring history alive for young readers and connect them with the history of their country.? The latest in the series is Cyclone Bola by Kath Beattie and my school librarian friend, Desna, has a book in the series coming out next year.

Recommended for 9+

• Tales of Fontania series by Barbara Else
  • The Traveling Restaurant
  • The Queen and the Nobody Boy

Barbara Else?s Tales of Fontania series is a fantasy series that stands out from the crowd.? Barbara has an incredible imagination and her world and characters jump off the page.? Her tales are full of adventure, danger, royalty, spies, flying trains, a floating restaurant, stinky trolls, poisonous toads and much, much more.? You never know what who or what you?re going to meet next.? Thanks to the stunning covers by Sam Broad the books jump off the shelf and grab your attention.? I have it on good authority that there are more Tales of Fontania to come too.

Recommended for 9+

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Source: http://bestfriendsrbooks.com/2013/03/26/my-top-5-nz-series-for-kids-and-teens/

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Will streaming music services bring high-res audio back, or kill it for ...

Regardless of which side of the digital audio fence you prefer to hang your shears, there is no question that the market has spoken in terms of its acceptance of digital downloads and streaming music services. Tens of millions of consumers wake up every single day and get their groove on via digital music services like Pandora and Spotify. The transition from getting our music via physical media to getting it from the cloud is an amazing advancement, currently only limited by bandwidth and the ability of those in less-developed nations to attain access. And now that cloud-based music services and personalized Internet radio have the metrics to prove their worth, we can expect to see some big changes in the music industry. But will high resolution audio be part of this revolution, or will those of us who prefer quality over quantity be forced to continue living on the fringe, doomed to toting around clunky hardware so that we can have access to high-quality music wherever we go?

Those who pray to the God of Mp3 may scoff at the non-believers who continue to profess the quality of high resolution audio and how it could take the streaming ecosystem into the heavens, but to negate the need for high resolution audio downloads and streaming channels is to deny technological progress. Still, if the market says ?no?, who are audiophiles to dictate how things need to be? How do the people who feed you your daily dose of music and build the hardware that makes it possible feel about all of this? You might be surprised to learn just how much they side with the audio nerds.

While wandering the halls of some off-site venue at CES 2006, I accidentally bumped into a guy who was waiting for his opportunity to listen to a sound system ? coincidentally, it was the same one I wanted to hear. After apologizing (so Canadian), we introduced ourselves, after which he proceeded to pitch me on this new music steaming service that he was about to launch. His service was going to be really different. It would offer better music, improved sound quality, and a different kind of social interaction with people who liked the same kind of music you did. He told me that it would eventually offer high resolution audio (which in 2006 probably meant 16-bit/44.1 CD-quality), but that wasn?t his focus, despite having a personal affinity for high-end audio. David Hyman and I exchanged business cards and, many months later, I became a MOG user.?

Years later, when MOG was acquired by Beats Electronics in July 2012, alarm bells must have gone off in the offices of chief rivals Spotify and Pandora. Beats, which includes the wildly popular Beats by Dr. Dre headphone brand, was capitalizing on its enormous cash flow and market dominance by throwing its very large hat into the streaming audio arena. Project ?Daisy,? as it is now officially known, does not have a specific launch date (late 2013 is the most we?ve heard), but the principals behind it, including CEO Ian Rogers (formerly of Topspin Media ? a company which developed direct marketing software so artists could have better interaction with their fans), Dr. Dre, CCO Trent Reznor, and music producer Jimmy Iovine, have pledged that ?Daisy? is going to be really different. We?ve been told to expect better sound quality, easier music discovery, direct-to-fan integration, and for the service to generally ?take music subscription services to the next level.?

With MOG already offering 320 kbps streaming service, the promise of better sound quality hints at a rather significant leap forward ? could we be talking about lossless audio here??We?re not convinced that dream will be realized, ?but perhaps high resolution audio has some kind of a future in the streaming world. With Google planning to launch two streaming services ? one for Google Play, and the other for YouTube ? and Apple looking to launch its own music streaming service, we have to wonder what these services will do to make one more appealing than another, especially with already well-established services such as Spotify, Pandora in the mix.?

There are a few music services which make their living by picking up where Apple leaves off, and they seem to believe streaming high-res audio is on its way ? that it?s just a matter of time.?

And then there?s the little guys like?Bandcamp, which?does an end-run around the recording industry by allowing artists to upload their music and sell it as a 24/96 or 24/192 FLAC files, ?AAC, Ogg Vorbis, and Apple Lossless as well. The service has become extremely popular with indie artists with almost 51 million downloads so far ? could it pose a threat to the status quo and do to streaming music services what ?streaming music services did to physical media?

With the software side of things showing such progress, we must naturally turn our attention to the hardware?s role in this progression. It?s all well and good to have sources for high-quality audio, but what you play it back on is equally important. ?Is there anything on the mobile hardware front that could make streaming high resolution audio more appealing to the masses?

According to Tim Pryde,?Senior Director of Audio Product Management at Jawbone, ?Jawbone Jambox products take advantage of SBC Codecs, including AAC in the near future, to transfer audio files over Bluetooth.?

?When listening to audio tracks through a Jambox or Big Jambox, the signal coming in over Bluetooth or through the Line In input goes through the DSP of the unit.?You will not hear the full benefit of ?true high resolution audio tracks over Bluetooth, unfortunately. ?There are improvements when utilizing AAC or APTx Codecs, but still nothing like having the original source material, playing through a high quality DAC plugged straight into a high quality preamp/amp and speakers,? Pryde explained.

?

Jawbone has also been partnering with others including David Chesky to help spread the word about Binaural audio recordings and reproduction.??Jawbone?s LiveAudio technology allows listeners to experience Binaural Records from a single speaker instead of headphones, and for audio tracks that were not recorded in binaural, playback of these tracks through LiveAudio still provides a three-dimensional sound experience,? concluded Pryde.

?

Apple is not on board

?

Jawbone is but one popular product offering hardware which can take advantage of high-resolution audio. There are a surprising number of Bluetooth headphones and portable speakers that can take advantage of codecs like aptX and AAC which deliver surprisingly excellent-sounding audio wirelessly. There?s just one problem: The maker of the most popular media players in the world isn?t down with this whole high-resolution audio thing. Apple?s iTunes store offers, at best, 256 kbps files, and its devices don?t support aptX. If Apple isn?t on board, then is this discussion moot? Perhaps not. There are a few ?music services which make their living by picking up?where Apple leaves off, and they seem to believe streaming high-res audio is on its way ? that it?s just a matter of time.?

?

?High-resolution audio has a real future and we?re going to leverage our relationship with hardware manufacturers to get as many music listeners interested in it as possible.

Eric Wittman is CEO at Songbird and a proponent of high resolution audio and what it could mean for audio playback in the home and on portable devices. He notes that high-res formats require a lot of bandwidth, so it?s unlikely that we?ll be streaming them from the cloud anytime soon, but its millions of users prove there is demand for such a thing.?

Songbird, a desktop open source alternative to iTunes, supports playback of 24/96 and 24/192 FLAC files, and is an option for listeners who want to experience high-resolution audio. The player offers support for just about any digital audio file type, including Apple Lossless, AIFF, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, and Windows Media Audio and it will even tie in access to Internet radio sources such as Last.FM.

Wittman explained to us that ?it?s been amazing to watch the interest in FLAC among our base of millions of users. The number of files has doubled to almost 8% in a short period of time. People who grew up with the iPod and MP3s are suddenly realizing that music can sound a lot better, and they are turning to FLAC as a playback format.?

?Songbird offers a different experience to those who are not tied into the Apple ecosystem or are iOS users but want to try something other than iTunes,? Wittman explained.

?What high resolution audio really needs is exposure. It?s not even a question that it sounds better than MP3. I?ve even demonstrated it at work by playing the same album in the various formats much to the annoyance of my staff who are probably sick of the Dave Brubeck album that I downloaded from HDtracks,? Wittman laughed.

?Look, it?s not like Pandora or Spotify are going to push a button and have the ability to stream 24/96 tracks from the cloud to your device. At least not for a few years and [until] bandwidth issues have been worked out,? replied Wittman when asked about the possibility of streaming high-resolution audio from the cloud in the short term.

??High-resolution audio has a real future and we?re going to leverage our relationship with hardware manufacturers to get as many music listeners interested in it as possible. The initial step is to make it easier for listeners to download it to their devices. That?s the short-term goal. ?My issue with MP3 is that you get the intent of the music, but you don?t really absorb it. High resolution formats make that possible, just like listening to vinyl,? Wittman offered.

Digital Trends: But why should someone decide to go with Songbird?versus another platform? What makes you different?

Eric Wittman:?There are three important differences with?Songbird: First, we don?t try to change your behavior and allow you to play both the content you already own and content from the internet. Second, the breadth of consumer platforms?and media file formats we support. Finally, we deliver the most personalized experience based upon what artists you already like.

DT:?But do you think the launch of Daisy, a potential Apple streaming service, two from Google, and now a proposed Twitter music service, is going to make it impossible for consumers to pick between Songbird, Spotify, Pandora, and all of the rest?

EW: There is clearly a lot of noise in the streaming services space today making it confusing for consumers. One of the concerns we hear from consumers is that pure streaming services are not fulfilling their needs specifically because they limit the catalog of content they have access to, do not allow use of their own media (which often contains higher quality and limited release tracks) and a lack of a discovery experience that is truly personal. The entity that brings these elements into a really elegant consumer experience will be the eventual leader of the digital music world.?

Wittman understands that the future hinges on mobile access, but he also believes that, as more and more people have the opportunity to hear high resolution audio, they?ll begin to appreciate what they have been missing.

We hope he?s right. If the people demand it, then hardware and software providers might work to provide it ? maybe even Apple.?

Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/streaming-music-services-and-high-quality-audio/

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A paradox for young docs: New work-hour restrictions may increase, not decrease, errors

Public release date: 25-Mar-2013
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Contact: Kara Gavin
kegavin@umich.edu
734-764-2220
University of Michigan Health System

U-M-led study of 2,300 1st-year residents questions impact of 2011 duty rules

ANN ARBOR, Mich. At hospitals around the country, young doctors fresh out of medical school help care for patients of all kinds and work intense, long hours as part of their residency training.

Traditionally, residents were allowed to work more than 24 hours without a break. In 2011, new rules cut back the number of hours they can work consecutively to 16, in the name of protecting patients from errors by sleepy physicians.

But a new study of more than 2,300 doctors in their first year of residency at over a dozen hospital systems across the country raises questions about how well the rules are protecting both patients and new doctors.

While work hours went down after new rules took effect in 2011, sleep hours didn't go up significantly and risk of depression symptoms in the doctors stayed the same, according to a new paper published online in JAMA Internal Medicine by a team led by University of Michigan Medical School researchers.

Most concerning: the percentage of residents reporting that they had committed medical errors that harmed patients went up after the new rules took effect.

The results, especially the increase in errors, surprised Srijan Sen, M.D., Ph.D., the U-M psychiatrist who is the report's first author.

"In the year before the new duty hour rules took effect, 19.9 percent of the interns reported committing an error that harmed a patient, but this percentage went up to 23.3 percent after the new rules went into effect," he says. "That's a 15 to 20 percent increase in errors -- a pretty dramatic uptick, especially when you consider that part of the reason these work-hour rules were put into place was to reduce errors."

The findings echo anecdotal reports about the impact of the 2011 duty hour rules.

Co-author Sudha Amarnath, M.D., a resident in the radiation oncology program at the University of Washington, says, "Many interns entering after the new work hour restrictions took effect felt that they were expected to do the same amount of work as in previous years, but in a more limited amount of time, leading to more harried and tiring work schedules despite working fewer hours. Overall, they felt that there was less 'down time' during the work day compared to pre-2011 work schedules, which may partially explain some of the unexpected findings."

Breck Nichols, M.D., MPH, the program director of the combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics residency program at the University of Southern California, and another co-author on the paper, concurs.

"In 2000 a typical call day lasted 36 hours. We have very specifically reduced that for interns from 36 hours to 30 hours in 2003, and now with the latest 2011 work hours change it has been reduced even further to 16 hours," he says. "For most programs the significant reduction in work hours has not been accompanied by any increase in funding to offload the work. As a result, though many programs have made some attempts to account for this lost work in other ways, the end result is that current interns have about 20 less hours each week to complete the same or only slightly less work. If we know that timed tests result in more errors than untimed ones, we should not be surprised that giving interns less time to complete the same amount of work would increase their errors as well."

All the interns assessed in this study were working under the duty hour restrictions that went into effect in 2003 limiting residents to no more than 80 hours of work in a week, and other restrictions. Some studies have suggested that these rule changes, recommended by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, did result in better safety for patients cared for by residents. But in an effort to achieve even greater safety, the ACGME recommended further changes that were implemented in 2011.

Each year, Sen and colleagues send out surveys to students entering residency programs around the U.S. The research team then surveys these interns every three months throughout that first year, asking questions that gauge mental health, overall well-being, sleep habits, work hours and performance on the job.

By comparing the interns serving before the new ACGME rules (called the 2009 and 2010 cohorts) with the interns serving after the new rules were implemented (the 2011 cohort), the research team assessed the effects of the new duty hour rules.

In addition to the increase in self-reported medical errors, 20 percent of the residents screened positive for depression.

Sen was an intern in 2006, and in the years since has studied depression among medical students and residents, said he had been in favor of the adjusting duty hour rules in principle. "It was obvious that after working for 24 hours, we were not functioning at our best, and this was not optimal for us or the patients we were treating," he explains. But in practice, he says, the new rules may have had unintended consequences that ran counter to the goals of new guidelines.

In addition to "work compression", he says, residents now hand off responsibility for a long list of patients more frequently than in the past. Communication between the intern who is ending a shift, and the one beginning a shift, may not cover all patients in detail, he suggests, and this gap in communication may not become apparent until an urgent situation arises with one of the patients.

He also said the increase in errors may come back down with time. "The 2011 changes were a pretty radical shift," he notes. "Doctors have worked 30-hour shifts for decades, and it may just take time for all parts of the health care system to get used to the new rules and adjust."

But, he cautions, the new data don't definitively support any one of these theories as the culprit in the rise in error rates or the lack of progress in sleep hours and well-being among young doctors. Further study is needed to assess what's happening and determine how to better support young doctors in during their stressful training and keep the patients that they treat as safe as possible.

###

The Intern Health Study, from which the new results are drawn, is funded by the National Institutes of Health (grants UL1RR024986, MH095109 and AA013736) with additional support from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. In addition to Sen, Amarnath and Nichols, the paper's authors include Joseph Kolars, M.D., senior associate dean for education and global at the U-M Medical School, Gregory Dalack, M.D., chair of the U-M Department of Psychiatry, Henry R. Kranzler, M.D., from the University of Pennsylvania; Aashish K. Didwania, M.D., from Northwestern University; Ann C. Schwartz, M.D., from Emory University; and Constance Guille, M.D. from the Medical University of South Carolina. REFERENCE: JAMA Internal Medicine, March 25, 2013

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Public release date: 25-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Kara Gavin
kegavin@umich.edu
734-764-2220
University of Michigan Health System

U-M-led study of 2,300 1st-year residents questions impact of 2011 duty rules

ANN ARBOR, Mich. At hospitals around the country, young doctors fresh out of medical school help care for patients of all kinds and work intense, long hours as part of their residency training.

Traditionally, residents were allowed to work more than 24 hours without a break. In 2011, new rules cut back the number of hours they can work consecutively to 16, in the name of protecting patients from errors by sleepy physicians.

But a new study of more than 2,300 doctors in their first year of residency at over a dozen hospital systems across the country raises questions about how well the rules are protecting both patients and new doctors.

While work hours went down after new rules took effect in 2011, sleep hours didn't go up significantly and risk of depression symptoms in the doctors stayed the same, according to a new paper published online in JAMA Internal Medicine by a team led by University of Michigan Medical School researchers.

Most concerning: the percentage of residents reporting that they had committed medical errors that harmed patients went up after the new rules took effect.

The results, especially the increase in errors, surprised Srijan Sen, M.D., Ph.D., the U-M psychiatrist who is the report's first author.

"In the year before the new duty hour rules took effect, 19.9 percent of the interns reported committing an error that harmed a patient, but this percentage went up to 23.3 percent after the new rules went into effect," he says. "That's a 15 to 20 percent increase in errors -- a pretty dramatic uptick, especially when you consider that part of the reason these work-hour rules were put into place was to reduce errors."

The findings echo anecdotal reports about the impact of the 2011 duty hour rules.

Co-author Sudha Amarnath, M.D., a resident in the radiation oncology program at the University of Washington, says, "Many interns entering after the new work hour restrictions took effect felt that they were expected to do the same amount of work as in previous years, but in a more limited amount of time, leading to more harried and tiring work schedules despite working fewer hours. Overall, they felt that there was less 'down time' during the work day compared to pre-2011 work schedules, which may partially explain some of the unexpected findings."

Breck Nichols, M.D., MPH, the program director of the combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics residency program at the University of Southern California, and another co-author on the paper, concurs.

"In 2000 a typical call day lasted 36 hours. We have very specifically reduced that for interns from 36 hours to 30 hours in 2003, and now with the latest 2011 work hours change it has been reduced even further to 16 hours," he says. "For most programs the significant reduction in work hours has not been accompanied by any increase in funding to offload the work. As a result, though many programs have made some attempts to account for this lost work in other ways, the end result is that current interns have about 20 less hours each week to complete the same or only slightly less work. If we know that timed tests result in more errors than untimed ones, we should not be surprised that giving interns less time to complete the same amount of work would increase their errors as well."

All the interns assessed in this study were working under the duty hour restrictions that went into effect in 2003 limiting residents to no more than 80 hours of work in a week, and other restrictions. Some studies have suggested that these rule changes, recommended by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, did result in better safety for patients cared for by residents. But in an effort to achieve even greater safety, the ACGME recommended further changes that were implemented in 2011.

Each year, Sen and colleagues send out surveys to students entering residency programs around the U.S. The research team then surveys these interns every three months throughout that first year, asking questions that gauge mental health, overall well-being, sleep habits, work hours and performance on the job.

By comparing the interns serving before the new ACGME rules (called the 2009 and 2010 cohorts) with the interns serving after the new rules were implemented (the 2011 cohort), the research team assessed the effects of the new duty hour rules.

In addition to the increase in self-reported medical errors, 20 percent of the residents screened positive for depression.

Sen was an intern in 2006, and in the years since has studied depression among medical students and residents, said he had been in favor of the adjusting duty hour rules in principle. "It was obvious that after working for 24 hours, we were not functioning at our best, and this was not optimal for us or the patients we were treating," he explains. But in practice, he says, the new rules may have had unintended consequences that ran counter to the goals of new guidelines.

In addition to "work compression", he says, residents now hand off responsibility for a long list of patients more frequently than in the past. Communication between the intern who is ending a shift, and the one beginning a shift, may not cover all patients in detail, he suggests, and this gap in communication may not become apparent until an urgent situation arises with one of the patients.

He also said the increase in errors may come back down with time. "The 2011 changes were a pretty radical shift," he notes. "Doctors have worked 30-hour shifts for decades, and it may just take time for all parts of the health care system to get used to the new rules and adjust."

But, he cautions, the new data don't definitively support any one of these theories as the culprit in the rise in error rates or the lack of progress in sleep hours and well-being among young doctors. Further study is needed to assess what's happening and determine how to better support young doctors in during their stressful training and keep the patients that they treat as safe as possible.

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The Intern Health Study, from which the new results are drawn, is funded by the National Institutes of Health (grants UL1RR024986, MH095109 and AA013736) with additional support from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. In addition to Sen, Amarnath and Nichols, the paper's authors include Joseph Kolars, M.D., senior associate dean for education and global at the U-M Medical School, Gregory Dalack, M.D., chair of the U-M Department of Psychiatry, Henry R. Kranzler, M.D., from the University of Pennsylvania; Aashish K. Didwania, M.D., from Northwestern University; Ann C. Schwartz, M.D., from Emory University; and Constance Guille, M.D. from the Medical University of South Carolina. REFERENCE: JAMA Internal Medicine, March 25, 2013

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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/uomh-apf032113.php

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