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I'm really excited :) I think this will work out really well :)
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The late Michael Jackson’s teenage daughter, Paris Jackson, will be appearing on the Ellen DeGeneres show on Thursday. Paris talked about the masks her father [...]
My girlfriend: We're late. We need to get a cab to the [Thanksgiving] dinner.Me: I just talked to the cab company and they're going to take forever. I'm trying Uber.Her: There's no Uber in DC.Me [checks app]: Oh, look, there is! The car will be here in 10 minutes.? And that's how I discovered that Uber is launching in Washington, DC. Today, it's announcing to the capital that it's ready for business, having spent?the last month recruiting drivers, testing routes and everything else that goes into opening up in a new area.?I recently talked to Rachel Holt, who's leading Uber DC, to get some more details about how the company has worked out this expansion.
Physics strikes the right note with classical musiciansPublic release date: 15-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Michael Bishop michael.bishop@iop.org 01-179-301-032 Institute of Physics
The combination of physics and music might usually prompt images of Brian Cox playing keyboards for D:Ream, but a new trio, consisting of a professor of physics, an internationally renowned composer and an award-winning violinist, are bringing particle physics to life through a series of classical compositions.
An insight into their work, aptly named "Particle Partitas", is revealed in an exclusive video report on physicsworld.com [http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/multimedia/47845], where the trio show the creative processes at work and tentatively attempt to play a few bars for the first time.
Jack Liebeck, a Classical BRIT award winner, and Brian Foster, a particle physicist at the University of Oxford, are no strangers to the fusion of physics and music: for the last six years they have been touring a self-created "musical lecture" that explores Einstein's legacy to physics.
Their newly recruited composer, Edward Cowie, is also aware of the crossover between the two disciplines, having originally studied physics at Imperial College London.
"The music is shaped by the activity of particle physics. In terms of the way subatomic particles are observable in their collisions, in their traces, in their impacts, music can do the same thing. You can make music that has a device into which it is forced to impact fragments fly off it and they have behaviours, which can parallel," explains Cowie in the video.
This new series of 20 short musical pieces, documenting the history of particle physics from the late 19th century through to the present day, will be accompanied by short lectures on the topic given by Foster. It will debut in the UK in June 2012 and Foster also hopes to take the show abroad to particle physicists at CERN.
###
Please mention Physics World as the source of these items and, if publishing online, please include a hyperlink to: http://physicsworld.com
Notes for editors:
1. Physics World is the international monthly magazine published by the Institute of Physics. For further information or details of its editorial programme, please contact the editor, Dr Matin Durrani, on tel 44-117-930-1002. The magazine's website physicsworld.com is updated regularly and contains physics news, views and resources. Visit http://physicsworld.com.
2. The Institute of Physics is a leading scientific society promoting physics and bringing physicists together for the benefit of all.
It has a worldwide membership of around 40 000 comprising physicists from all sectors, as well as those with an interest in physics. It works to advance physics research, application and education; and engages with policymakers and the public to develop awareness and understanding of physics. Its publishing company, IOP Publishing, is a world leader in professional scientific communications. Go to http://www.iop.org
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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.
Physics strikes the right note with classical musiciansPublic release date: 15-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Michael Bishop michael.bishop@iop.org 01-179-301-032 Institute of Physics
The combination of physics and music might usually prompt images of Brian Cox playing keyboards for D:Ream, but a new trio, consisting of a professor of physics, an internationally renowned composer and an award-winning violinist, are bringing particle physics to life through a series of classical compositions.
An insight into their work, aptly named "Particle Partitas", is revealed in an exclusive video report on physicsworld.com [http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/multimedia/47845], where the trio show the creative processes at work and tentatively attempt to play a few bars for the first time.
Jack Liebeck, a Classical BRIT award winner, and Brian Foster, a particle physicist at the University of Oxford, are no strangers to the fusion of physics and music: for the last six years they have been touring a self-created "musical lecture" that explores Einstein's legacy to physics.
Their newly recruited composer, Edward Cowie, is also aware of the crossover between the two disciplines, having originally studied physics at Imperial College London.
"The music is shaped by the activity of particle physics. In terms of the way subatomic particles are observable in their collisions, in their traces, in their impacts, music can do the same thing. You can make music that has a device into which it is forced to impact fragments fly off it and they have behaviours, which can parallel," explains Cowie in the video.
This new series of 20 short musical pieces, documenting the history of particle physics from the late 19th century through to the present day, will be accompanied by short lectures on the topic given by Foster. It will debut in the UK in June 2012 and Foster also hopes to take the show abroad to particle physicists at CERN.
###
Please mention Physics World as the source of these items and, if publishing online, please include a hyperlink to: http://physicsworld.com
Notes for editors:
1. Physics World is the international monthly magazine published by the Institute of Physics. For further information or details of its editorial programme, please contact the editor, Dr Matin Durrani, on tel 44-117-930-1002. The magazine's website physicsworld.com is updated regularly and contains physics news, views and resources. Visit http://physicsworld.com.
2. The Institute of Physics is a leading scientific society promoting physics and bringing physicists together for the benefit of all.
It has a worldwide membership of around 40 000 comprising physicists from all sectors, as well as those with an interest in physics. It works to advance physics research, application and education; and engages with policymakers and the public to develop awareness and understanding of physics. Its publishing company, IOP Publishing, is a world leader in professional scientific communications. Go to http://www.iop.org
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?
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.
No, we still don't know when the Galaxy Nexus will launch in the U.S. But the global model of the phone is out there, and we finally got to try it out.
It rocks.
Click here for photos of the Galaxy Nexus >
We're going to wait until Verizon launches its LTE model of the Galaxy Nexus and post a full review of both phones, but here are a few initial thoughts of the global version after spending a full day with it.
The screen is huge, but not annoyingly so.
The keyboard is incredible and feels more accurate than the one on the iPhone. Part of this is due to software, but the larger screen helps make typing more accurate too.
We love the People app. It syncs with Google+, Twitter, and LinkedIn to put all your contacts' status updates and photos in one place. Very nice. (No Facebook integration though.)
Battery life is just okay. We got about 7 hours of use the first day. We'll keep playing with it, but so far it doesn't feel promising.
The battery cover is thin, flimsy, and plasticky, just like the one on Samsung's Galaxy S II phones. It feels cheap.
The camera is good, but not as good as we thought it would be based on Google's statements when the Galaxy Nexus was first launched. Still, there's zero shutter lag and we love the panoramic mode.
This is just a taste, and hardly a full review. Keep reading for photos of the Galaxy Nexus.
A member of the pro-Kremlin youth movement Stal (Steel) wearing a Darth Vader mask participates in a rally in downtown Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday he's satisfied with the performance of his party in Russia's parliamentary election even though it lost a significant number of seats, adding that a drop in support is "inevitable" for any ruling party. The statement came as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton again criticized the election. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
A member of the pro-Kremlin youth movement Stal (Steel) wearing a Darth Vader mask participates in a rally in downtown Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday he's satisfied with the performance of his party in Russia's parliamentary election even though it lost a significant number of seats, adding that a drop in support is "inevitable" for any ruling party. The statement came as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton again criticized the election. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
Russian police block a road to prevent opposition rallies against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party, which won the largest share of a parliamentary election, as the monument of the heroes of the Revolution of 1905 is seen in the background, in downtown Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Security forces beefed up their presence across the capital Tuesday in apparent anticipation of more protests. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Russian police gather to prevent an opposition rally against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party, which won the largest share of a parliamentary election in downtown Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Security forces beefed up their presence across the capital Tuesday in an apparent anticipation of more protests. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Opposition leader Ilya Yashin is escorted by police from a court in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Yashin was sentenced Tuesday to a 15-day arrest for disobeying police after he was detained Monday along with some 300 protesters who rallied against what they called vote rigging during Sunday's parliamentary election. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)
Red lights of police cars are reflected on the wet asphalt where police officers block the road after a political rally in downtown Moscow, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. Several thousand people have protested in Moscow against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party, which won the largest share of a parliamentary election that observers said was rigged. A group of several hundred then marched toward the Central Elections Commission near the Kremlin, but were stopped by riot police and taken away in buses. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
MOSCOW (AP) ? Police clashed with demonstrators protesting vote fraud in Moscow and at least two other major Russian cities Tuesday, as anger boiled over against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his ruling United Russia party.
At least 250 people were detained by police at a protest in downtown Moscow, where flare-type fireworks were thrown at a group of pro-Kremlin youth, said city police spokesman Maxim Kolosvetov.
Russian news agencies reported about 200 were arrested at a similar attempt to hold an unsanctioned rally in St. Petersburg and another 25 protesters were arrested in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
It was the second consecutive night of large protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg, an unusually sustained show of indignation that came after widespread reports of vote fraud in Sunday's parliamentary election. Russian police routinely crack down hard on unauthorized rallies and protesters generally take time to regroup for a new attempt.
According to preliminary results,Putin's dominant United Russia party lost a large share of the seats it had held in the State Duma but still kept a majority of seats.
Opponents say even that reduced presence came because of vote fraud. Local and international election observers reported widespread ballot-stuffing and irregularities in the vote count.
The protesters appear to be both angered by the reported fraud and energized by the vote's show of declining support for Putin and his party, which have strongly overshadowed all other political forces in Russia for a dozen years.
But pro-Kremlin supporters also put on two large rallies in Moscow, attracting thousands and showing vehement divisions in Russian society.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? SAP said Saturday it is paying $3.4 billion to acquire SuccessFactors, a software company specializing in human resources tasks. It is the latest move in the escalating rivalry between SAP and Oracle Corp., and underscores the increased interest in technology companies that deliver software over the Internet, or in the so-called "cloud."
The deal calls for subsidiary SAP America Inc. to pay $40 per share in cash for SuccessFactors. That is a 52 percent premium over SuccessFactors' closing stock price of $26.25 on Friday. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2012.
SAP AG is one of the world's biggest business software makers. The German company's specialty is business applications, such as those used for payroll and managing relationships with customers and suppliers.
SuccessFactors, based in San Mateo, California, is a big maker of cloud-based human resources applications. The company focuses on applications for managing relationships with employees, such as organizing and developing performance reviews and bonuses. The company says it has more than 3,500 customers. It lost $12.5 million on $205.9 million in revenue last year.
"The cloud is a core of SAP's future growth, and the combination of SuccessFactors' leadership team and technology with SAP will create a cloud powerhouse," Bill McDermott, an SAP co-CEO, said in a statement.
The deal is part of the growing rivalry between SAP and Oracle. Oracle's push into SAP's turf of business applications has been a multibillion-dollar affair. Oracle's boisterous CEO Larry Ellison has pursued big-ticket acquisitions that have made his database software company a major player, behind SAP, in many different realms of the business software world. SAP is the dominant maker of business applications.
The feud has gotten personal. Oracle won a $1.3 billion jury verdict against SAP last year over the widespread theft by a now-shuttered SAP subsidiary of documents from password-protected Oracle customer websites. Oracle alleged the information was used to steal business. A judge threw out the award, calling it "grossly excessive" and setting the stage for a retrial.
Oracle landed a publicity jackpot from the trial. Ellison used it to repeatedly shame SAP publicly. SAP admitted the theft and agreed to pay $20 million to settle criminal charges filed by the Department of Justice over the former subsidiary's practices.
False denials the Justice Department sent to Congress about the Fast and Furious gunrunning investigation came from top officials at the U.S. Attorney?s Office in Arizona and at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, documents released Friday by the Obama administration show.
The 1,364 pages of documents and emails turned over to Congressional investigators detail the Justice Department?s robust internal deliberations leading up to a February 4, 2011 letter in which the department assured the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, that claims a whistleblower was making about the Fast and Furious investigation were false.
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?ATF makes every effort to interdict weapons that were purchased illegally and prevent their transportation to Mexico,? the February letter from Justice Department legislative affairs chief Ron Weich to Grassley said. The letter also asserted that an ?allegation?.that ATF ?sanctioned? or otherwise knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons to a straw purchaser who then transported them into Mexico ? is false.?
The second denial related to startling, emerging claims that weapons ATF lost control of in the Fast and Furious operation wound up at the scene of the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry, in Arizona last December.
Terry?s death has fueled much of the public controversy over and Congressional interest in Fast and Furious, which investigators say allowed as many as 1200 weapons to make their way from the U.S. across the border to Mexican drug cartels.
The operation, which Attorney General Eric Holder has called ?flawed in concept, as well as in execution,? has prompted investigations by three Congressional committees and has led to calls from more than 50 Republican members of Congress for Holder?s resignation. The Friday afternoon document dump came in advance of a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing next Thursday where Holder is expected to face extensive and intense questioning.
Holder has contended that the operation violated Justice Department policy, but that he was unaware until the controversy erupted earlier this year that Fast and Furious had used the controversial technique of ?gunwalking.?
?The tactic of allowing guns to ?walk,? as was permitted in Operation Fast and Furious, is completely unacceptable,? Holder said in a letter last month expressing his sorrow to Terry?s family.
Top Justice Department officials, including Holder, have acknowledged in Congressional testimony in recent months that the February letter was wrong in some respects. In a letter to Congress on Friday, Deputy Attorney General James Cole formally withdrew the February response and sought to explain the misstatements ? to a degree.
?Facts have come to light during the course of this investigation that indicate the February 4 letter contains inaccuracies,? Cole wrote. ?Department personnel?relied on information provided by supervisors from the components in the best position to know the relevant facts: ATF and the U.S. Attorney?s Office in Arizona?Information provided by those supervisors was inaccurate. We understand that, in transcribed interviews with congressional investigators, the supervisors have said that they did not know at the time the letter was drafted that information they provided was inaccurate.?
FRIDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Opera legend Beverly Sills never smoked. Neither did actress and health advocate Dana Reeve, wife of the late actor Christopher Reeve.
And yet in 2007 and 2006, respectively, both joined the ranks of about 32,000 Americans each year who never touch a cigarette but die of lung cancer anyway.
In fact, experts say, one in every five cases of the leading cancer killer occurs in nonsmokers. The annual death toll among this group now approaches that of breast cancer (about 40,000 per year) and is roughly equal to that of prostate cancer (32,000). Many never-smoking women may also be unaware that they are more than twice as likely to die of lung cancer as they are of ovarian cancer (14,000 deaths per year).
Numbers like those have experts calling for a shift in the public's thinking on lung cancer, away from its label of "the smoker's disease."
"We say, 'If you have a lung, you can get lung cancer,'" said Linda Wenger, executive director of Uniting Against Lung Cancer (UALC), a nonprofit advocacy group aimed at reaching a better understanding of lung cancer. The group was founded after the death in 2001 of Joan Scarangello, an ABC and NBC journalist and lifelong nonsmoker who fell victim at age 47 to lung cancer.
"She was very healthy, she was a runner," Wenger said, but the disease claimed Scarangello as it has many never-smokers. "We need to look at lung cancer as being a cancer like any other," Wenger added.
Many experts believe that the stigma around smoking that accompanies lung cancer -- that its victims somehow "brought it on themselves" -- has dampened public sympathy for patients and hindered funding for research.
"The lung cancer research field is definitely the stepchild in the [cancer research] family, and we're sure a lot of that has to do with stigma," said Holli Kawadler, UALC's scientific program director. She noted that, in terms of funding received from the U.S. National Cancer Institute, "the numbers are $27,000 in research per cancer death for breast cancer, compared to only about $1,400 per cancer death for lung cancer."
"It's very disheartening for the whole field," Wenger said. "We have a partner out there, his wife has lung cancer but she never smoked. And she has the attitude that 'I never smoked, but cigarettes are going to kill me' because the money is not there for research, because of the smoking stigma."
Lung cancer's lethal nature may also be hindering efforts to boost awareness and funding for research, experts add.
"Unlike other cancers where there is better funding, lung cancer patients aren't well enough to really advocate for themselves," explained Dr. James Dougherty, medical and scientific advisor for the Lung Cancer Research Foundation (LCRF), based in New York City. "When they get the diagnosis they often get sick pretty quickly, so they aren't about to publicly take on the role of saying 'Look, I have a problem, I need help.'"
Still, even with limited funding, scientists are slowly uncovering clues to the origins and distinct nature of lung cancer in never-smokers. One obvious starting point is the fact that women are affected far more often than men.
"Among never-smokers with lung cancer, women outnumber men two-to-one," Wenger said.
According to experts at the LCRF, the reasons for the disparity aren't clear, but early research is suggesting that, much like breast tumors, lung tumor aggressiveness in women appears linked to estrogen. Other factors, as yet unknown, may also be at play.
"We're also learning much more about the differences in the biology of [lung cancer in] smokers and nonsmokers," Dougherty added. He pointed to LCRF-funded research under way at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, "specifically looking at some new potential markers on the [tumor] cells of people who have never smoked. Hopefully that will lead to the identification of better treatment options for nonsmokers."
Determining risk factors that might place certain never-smokers at especially high risk for lung cancer is another focus of research. The dream, experts said, is to somehow devise an accurate "panel" of biological and other factors that could serve as a basis in pinpointing at-risk individuals who may need closer monitoring.
All of these research advances will depend on much better funding, however. In the meantime, the stigma of smoking that overshadows never-smokers newly diagnosed with lung cancer continues.
"We hear a lot from people that the first thing they are asked after diagnosis is, 'Did you smoke?'" said Kawadler. "That's very tough."
More information
Find out more about ongoing efforts to fight lung cancer at the Lung Cancer Research Foundation.
HOUSTON (Reuters) ? Two boys have died after a Wednesday shooting at a Houston-area home, the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences said on Thursday.
A woman and two other children were also shot at the home, and the suspected killer was dead after apparently shooting himself in the head, Bay City police had said Wednesday.
Investigator Roxanne Mena of the forensic sciences institute declined to give the ages of the boys who died.
The children who were shot were airlifted to various regional hospitals in nearby Houston, Bay City Police Department spokesman Andrew Lewis said on Wednesday. The wounded woman was also taken to hospital for surgery, he said.
Detectives on Wednesday were still trying to determine the relationship of the alleged shooter to the victims.
(Reporting by Mandy Oaklander; Editing by Corrie MacLaggan and Jerry Norton)
It's true ? apple juice can pose a risk to your health. But not necessarily from the trace amounts of arsenic that people are arguing about.
Despite the government's consideration of new limits on arsenic, nutrition experts say apple juice's real danger is to waistlines and children's teeth. Apple juice has few natural nutrients, lots of calories and, in some cases, more sugar than soda has. It trains a child to like very sweet things, displaces better beverages and foods, and adds to the obesity problem, its critics say.
"It's like sugar water," said Judith Stern, a nutrition professor at the University of California, Davis, who has consulted for candy makers as well as for Weight Watchers. "I won't let my 3-year-old grandson drink apple juice."
Many juices are fortified with vitamins, so they're not just empty calories. But that doesn't appease some nutritionists.
"If it wasn't healthy in the first place, adding vitamins doesn't make it into a health food," and if it causes weight gain, it's not a healthy choice, said Karen Ansel, a registered dietitian in New York and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says juice can be part of a healthy diet, but its policy is blunt: "Fruit juice offers no nutritional benefit for infants younger than 6 months" and no benefits over whole fruit for older kids.
Kids under 12 consume 28 percent of all juice and juice drinks, according to the academy. Nationwide, apple juice is second only to orange juice in popularity. Americans slurp 267 ounces of apple juice on average each year, according to the Food Institute's Almanac of Juice Products and the Juice Products Association, a trade group. Lots more is consumed as an ingredient in juice drinks and various foods.
Only 17 percent of the apple juice sold in the U.S. is produced here. The rest comes from other countries, mostly China, Argentina, Chile and Brazil, the association says.
Television's Dr. Mehmet Oz made that a key point a few months ago when he raised an alarm ? some say a false alarm ? over arsenic in apple juice, based on tests his show commissioned by a private lab. The Food and Drug Administration said that its own tests disagreed and that apple juice is safe.
However, on Wednesday, after Consumer Reports did its own tests on several juice brands and called along with other consumer groups for stricter standards, the FDA said it will examine whether its restrictions on the amount of arsenic allowed in apple juice are stringent enough.
Some forms of arsenic, such as the type found in pesticides, can be toxic and may pose a cancer risk if consumed at high levels or over a long period.
All juice sold in the United States must be safe and meet U.S. standards, said Pat Faison, technical director for the juice association. As for making good nutrition choices, "a lot of the information that people need about fruit juices is on the label," she said.
So what's on those labels?
Carbohydrates, mostly sugars, in a much higher concentration than in milk. Juice has a small amount of protein and minerals and lacks the fiber in whole fruit, the pediatrics academy notes.
Drinking juice delivers a lot of calories quickly so you don't realize how much you've consumed, whereas you would have to eat a lot of apples to get the same amount, and "you would feel much, much more full from the apples," Ansel said.
"Whole fruits are much better for you," said Dr. Frank Greer, a University of Wisconsin, Madison, professor and former head of the pediatrics academy's nutrition committee.
He noted that the WIC program ? the U.S. Department of Agriculture's nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children ? revised its rules in 2005 to replace juice with baby food fruits and vegetables for children over 6 months. More than half of all infants born in the U.S. are eligible for WIC, and the government "really cut back severely on the ability of mothers to get fruit juices" through the program, Greer said.
If you or your family drinks juice, here is some advice from nutrition experts:
_Choose a juice fortified with calcium and vitamin D-3.
_Give children only pasteurized juice ? that's the only type safe from germs that can cause serious disease.
_Don't give juice before 6 months of age, and never put it in bottles or covered cups that allow babies and children to consume it throughout the day, which can cause tooth decay. For the same reason, don't give infants juice at bedtime.
_Limit juice to 4 to 6 ounces per day for children ages 1 to 6, and 8 to 12 ounces for those ages 7 to 18.
_Encourage kids to eat fruit.
_Don't be swayed by healthy-sounding label claims. "No sugar added" doesn't mean it isn't full of naturally occurring sugar. And "cholesterol-free" is silly ? only animal products contain cholesterol.
___
Marilynn Marchione can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP
___
Online:
Academy of Pediatrics on juice: http://tinyurl.com/qtkls
NEW YORK ? New York City Opera has declared an impasse in contract negotiations with unions for its musicians and singers and is threatening to present its abbreviated season without them.
That creates the danger of a possible strike and boycott of donations for the financially troubled company. City Opera claims deficits of $44 million over a decade.
It announced in July a schedule of four operas at three venues from February to May. General Manager George Steele said Thursday the company planned to present a season "one way or another."
The union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board in May. That was one week after the company announced it was leaving Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, its home since 1966. The board has not ruled.
Innovative approaches help sleep apnea sufferers benefit from CPAPPublic release date: 1-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Victoria M. Indivero vmi1@psu.edu 814-865-9481 Penn State
People with obstructive sleep apnea are more likely to stick to prescribed treatment when a partner or parent is involved with their treatment, according to a team of sleep researchers.
Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the upper airway collapses during sleep. It is the most common type of sleep-disordered breathing, and chances of it occurring become more elevated in obese people.
The first line of treatment for sleep apnea is a non-invasive in-home treatment called CPAP, continuous positive airway pressure therapy. However, if patients do not use the equipment properly, or at all, it cannot help.
Amy M. Sawyer, assistant professor of nursing, Penn State, and her team are looking for the best ways to encourage patients to adhere to the CPAP treatment.
"There is inconsistency in how people use and adhere to CPAP," said Sawyer. "Patients are expected to use CPAP for the eight hours or so that they are asleep. Unfortunately, most patients do not use CPAP for the duration of their sleep time."
A CPAP machine is connected to a nasal, oral or full-face mask. The CPAP machine delivers positive pressure by air, which keeps the upper airway open and unable to collapse -- a definitive problem of obstructive sleep apnea sufferers. Keeping the airway open prevents drops in oxygen levels during sleep and reduces sleep disturbance. As a result, people treated with CPAP have less daytime sleepiness, better cognitive function and generally feel more refreshed. Treating obstructive sleep apnea also lessens other health risks, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
The researchers were looking at different types of interventions to promote CPAP use, the team reports in the current issue of Sleep Medicine Reviews. Sawyer and her team looked at 80 studies to determine what works and what factors are important to consider when helping obstructive sleep apnea people start CPAP therapy.
"Collectively, these studies suggest that patients who experience difficulties and proactively seek solutions to resolve problems (active coping) are more likely to be adherent than those who use passive coping styles," the researchers noted.
Many different factors can affect whether or not patients follow through on their prescribed treatment -- disease and patient characteristics, treatment requirements, technological device factors and side effects, and psychological and social factors. One of the studies that the researchers reviewed showed that about half of newly diagnosed sleep apnea patients would not use CPAP if it made them feel claustrophobic.
Several intervention studies use telecommunications to help patients adhere to their treatment. This method can involve weekly phone calls or wireless telemonitoring of patients.
The researchers determined that CPAP adherence intervention should be done on a case-by-case basis. If social support is involved -- such as a parent or partner -- patients are likely to continue their treatment. With social support sources providing insight, CPAP users are more readily able to identify their own improvements with treatment. If patients do not have social support available to them, then telecommunications may be a good option for them.
"This study highlights the need for individualized considerations for initiating and managing CPAP treatment with diverse patient groups," said Sawyer.
###
Sawyer is currently directing a clinical trial at the Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pa., to test an individualized approach to helping patients begin CPAP treatment. The trial is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Nursing Research; and American Nurses Foundation, Sigma Theta Tau International.
Also working on this research were Nalaka Gooneratne, assistant professor of medicine, and Dafna Ofer, physician, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Kathy C. Richards, professor of nursing, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing; Carole L. Marcus, professor of pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; and Terri E. Weaver, professor and dean, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Nursing.
A grant from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Nursing Research supported the team's research.
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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.
Innovative approaches help sleep apnea sufferers benefit from CPAPPublic release date: 1-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Victoria M. Indivero vmi1@psu.edu 814-865-9481 Penn State
People with obstructive sleep apnea are more likely to stick to prescribed treatment when a partner or parent is involved with their treatment, according to a team of sleep researchers.
Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the upper airway collapses during sleep. It is the most common type of sleep-disordered breathing, and chances of it occurring become more elevated in obese people.
The first line of treatment for sleep apnea is a non-invasive in-home treatment called CPAP, continuous positive airway pressure therapy. However, if patients do not use the equipment properly, or at all, it cannot help.
Amy M. Sawyer, assistant professor of nursing, Penn State, and her team are looking for the best ways to encourage patients to adhere to the CPAP treatment.
"There is inconsistency in how people use and adhere to CPAP," said Sawyer. "Patients are expected to use CPAP for the eight hours or so that they are asleep. Unfortunately, most patients do not use CPAP for the duration of their sleep time."
A CPAP machine is connected to a nasal, oral or full-face mask. The CPAP machine delivers positive pressure by air, which keeps the upper airway open and unable to collapse -- a definitive problem of obstructive sleep apnea sufferers. Keeping the airway open prevents drops in oxygen levels during sleep and reduces sleep disturbance. As a result, people treated with CPAP have less daytime sleepiness, better cognitive function and generally feel more refreshed. Treating obstructive sleep apnea also lessens other health risks, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
The researchers were looking at different types of interventions to promote CPAP use, the team reports in the current issue of Sleep Medicine Reviews. Sawyer and her team looked at 80 studies to determine what works and what factors are important to consider when helping obstructive sleep apnea people start CPAP therapy.
"Collectively, these studies suggest that patients who experience difficulties and proactively seek solutions to resolve problems (active coping) are more likely to be adherent than those who use passive coping styles," the researchers noted.
Many different factors can affect whether or not patients follow through on their prescribed treatment -- disease and patient characteristics, treatment requirements, technological device factors and side effects, and psychological and social factors. One of the studies that the researchers reviewed showed that about half of newly diagnosed sleep apnea patients would not use CPAP if it made them feel claustrophobic.
Several intervention studies use telecommunications to help patients adhere to their treatment. This method can involve weekly phone calls or wireless telemonitoring of patients.
The researchers determined that CPAP adherence intervention should be done on a case-by-case basis. If social support is involved -- such as a parent or partner -- patients are likely to continue their treatment. With social support sources providing insight, CPAP users are more readily able to identify their own improvements with treatment. If patients do not have social support available to them, then telecommunications may be a good option for them.
"This study highlights the need for individualized considerations for initiating and managing CPAP treatment with diverse patient groups," said Sawyer.
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Sawyer is currently directing a clinical trial at the Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pa., to test an individualized approach to helping patients begin CPAP treatment. The trial is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Nursing Research; and American Nurses Foundation, Sigma Theta Tau International.
Also working on this research were Nalaka Gooneratne, assistant professor of medicine, and Dafna Ofer, physician, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Kathy C. Richards, professor of nursing, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing; Carole L. Marcus, professor of pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; and Terri E. Weaver, professor and dean, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Nursing.
A grant from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Nursing Research supported the team's research.
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Public release date: 15-Dec-2011
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