kurtkurtrussell: March 2013

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Easter bunny horror stories: Resist the urge to give rabbits, ducks, chicks

Easter bunny horror stories are a post holiday tradition, say animal control officials across the US. The cute gifts ? rabbits, ducks, chicks ? suddenly get abandoned or maltreated because they were impulse buys. Pubescent bunny behavior is not cute; and the foul mess can be a rude surprise.

By Andrew Averill,?Correspondent / March 30, 2013

Easter bunny horror stories are a post-Easter tradition in the US, say animal control and rescue officials who see an uptick in abandoned rabbits, ducklings, and chicks at Easter and advise against impulse buys. A Muscovy duck named Quasimodo watches two Pekin ducks play in a pool at The Lucky Duck Rescue & Sanctuary in Sun Valley, Calif., August 2011.

Lydia Yasuda/AP

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For Easter, when Lindsay Durfee?s sister-in-law Kelly was young and sweet and wide-eyed, her parents bought her a team of ducklings. Kelly and her family, Ms. Durfee says, lived on a lake in Orlando, Fla., populated with different species of wildlife.?

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So, shouldering a video camera to record it, young Kelly marched her Easter ducklings to the water like a drum major. But nature was ahead of her: before she and the ducks reached the edge of the lake, a large bird ? probably a heron? swooped down and made off with a duckling by its neck. The gory detail of what happened next is PG-13; but suffice to say, says Durfee, the videotape captured it and Kelly's scream.?

?It's one of those stories that comes up every year,? Durfee wrote in an e-mail to the Monitor. To this day, says Durfee, "My husband and I laugh until we cry over how appalling it is!??

Pet horror stories are a staple of the post-Easter season in the United States, day animal control and rescue officials. The Easter holiday brings out the duckling, chick, and baby bunny lovers in people. They make an impulse buy, the recipient goes wild with joy for a day, but the honeymoon soon ends and parents scramble to surrender the animals.

Animal rescue staff, traditionally inundated with calls from regretful parents immediately following Easter, are asking consumers to stop and think before buying an animal for Easter, and with good reason.

If, and it?s a big if, the animal doesn?t die from all that Easter excitement, now there?s a growing and soon-to-be mature duck, chicken (worse, a rooster), and rabbit on your hands.

A pubescent rabbit is not one to cuddle. Females are prone to running in circles, lunging, and grunting, says Anne Martin, shelter director for House Rabbit Society?s headquarters in Richmond, Calif. And if you purchased a male? ?The boys will spray urine ... all over the place,? says Ms. Martin, who owns six rabbits and adds that a mature rabbit is a fantastic pet. But they can be quite alarming for a new pet owner whose supplier did not warn them.

Suppliers are also known for selling bunnies that have been taken away from their mothers too soon, says Mary Cotter, vice president of the House Rabbit Society. ???

Ducklings and chicks have their own drawbacks, says Susie Coston director of the Farm Sanctuary shelter.

Like bunnies, ducklings and chicks are extremely fragile. If a child plays with them like a toy instead of fine china, they are likely to die from over-handling, Ms. Coston says.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/E1hxCt8V9fw/Easter-bunny-horror-stories-Resist-the-urge-to-give-rabbits-ducks-chicks

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

Romo gets paid

Getty Images

When the Browns signed quarterback Jason Campbell, many assumed he?d potentially become the team?s starter in 2013.? And he?ll definitely get a chance to win the job, since he?s the first signal-caller signed by the new regime in Cleveland, after previously starting in Washington and Oakland.

For now, though, he?s getting paid like a backup, and not a lot when compared to other backups.? A source with knowledge of the contract tells PFT that Campbell?s contract pays out $1.5 million in 2013.

Specifically, he gets a base salary of $1.5 million in 2013, $500,000 of which is fully guaranteed.

That said, if Campbell can win the job, he?ll make more money via incentives.? Specifically, he gets $150,000 for 50 percent playing time in 2013, 65 percent results in $350,000, and 80 percent triggers $600,000.

In 2014, Campbell?s base salary is a bit higher, at $2 million.? He also gets roster bonus of $250,000 due the third day of the league year.

But there are escalators for 2014 based on playing time in the coming season.? Campbell?s 2014 base salary will increase by $500,000 based on 30 percent playing time in 2013.? 40 percent playing time in 2013 increases the 2014 salary by another $500,000.? Ten more percent in 2013?? Another $500,000 in 2014.? And if Campbell takes 65 percent or more of the snaps in 2013, his $2 million salary will double.

Still, his backup pay for 2013 is low, and that?s largely because Campbell?s options were limited.? Especially in light of the egg he laid when he had a chance during 2012 to sub for Jay Cutler in Chicago, during that Monday night debacle against the 49ers.

Campbell could have stayed in Chicago and backed up Cutler, or he could have gone to Cleveland with a chance to win the starting job.? If Campbell pulls it off, he?ll be paid more on the back end.

And if he plays really well in 2013, the Browns likely will tear up the 2014 deal and sign him to something better.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/29/report-deal-done-romo-gets-more-guaranteed-money-than-flacco/related/

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Robotic surgery tied to temporary nerve injuries

By Genevra Pittman

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - One in 15 people undergoing robot-assisted prostate, kidney or bladder surgery develops a nerve injury related to pressure from positioning on the operating table, a new study suggests.

Patients on the table getting those types of robotic surgery need to be tilted steeply - with their head by the floor and their feet in the air - to give the surgeon better traction, researchers explained.

"When somebody is in that position, there's a chance they could slide down - it's like a big ramp," said lead author Dr. Tracey Krupski, from the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville.

"When you slide, you then could be pulling, or having the drag on some of the nerves. It's like a constant pulling on the muscle."

Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration announced it would be taking a closer look into safety reports regarding da Vinci surgical robots, made by Intuitive Surgical. The robots cost about $1.5 million each.

For the new study, Krupski and her colleagues reviewed records from 334 robot-assisted urology procedures done at their institution in 2010 and 2011. Those included prostate, kidney, adrenal gland and bladder surgeries.

A total of 22 patients - between six and seven percent - woke up with a positioning injury after their procedure, including weakness, numbness or immobility in the hands or feet. More than half of the injuries resolved within a month, but five lasted more than six months, the study team reported in The Journal of Urology.

Patients were more likely to be hurt during longer procedures: surgeries without a positioning injury lasted four hours, on average, compared to five and a half hours for those in which a person was injured.

Krupski said the new findings shouldn't raise the alarm over robotic surgery safety.

"I don't think it means that we need to stop doing it," she told Reuters Health. "The benefits of a robotic approach far outweigh the six percent chance that we saw this happen."

Doctors and nurses can try to prevent the injuries by paying close attention to what's happening to their patients during surgery, she said, and going in to check on their positioning and slightly readjusting them when necessary.

"I think the issue of careful patient positioning and avoiding nerve injury is something that's there with every patient," said Dr. Myriam Curet, a surgeon at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, and chief medical advisor for Intuitive Surgical.

"When you're putting a patient in a steep position, those issues are heightened," she told Reuters Health, adding that some non-robotic surgeries require that type of positioning as well.

"I think it's part of the discussion that any surgeon has with their patient about what the risks of surgery are."

Krupski agreed the most important message from her study is simply making patients aware of the possibility of nerve injury - so they know what's going on if it does happen to them.

"You tell the patients that, ?You might transiently wake up with one of these things that the vast majority of the time goes away,'" she said.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/10ltpD4 The Journal of Urology, online March 4, 2013.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/robotic-surgery-tied-temporary-nerve-injuries-180335373.html

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'Game of Thrones': A business leader's guide - Fortune Management

By Keith Proctor

Tyrion Lannister, played by actor Peter Dinklage

FORTUNE ? To all of those who are stuck in high-stakes, rival-infested work worlds, take heed. The secrets to success can be found in HBO's Game of Thrones, where you either win ? or end up with your head on a pike.

As we prepare for Sunday's third season premiere, let's consider the rival claimants, power brokers, and schemers in the show based on George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire book series. What can today's manager learn from these feuding fantasy clans? Quite a lot, actually. Here are five key leadership lessons we can draw from their trials.

Spoiler alert: For the Johnny-come-latelies who haven't finished season two, you have been warned.

Determine which promises you can't afford to break

In a chaotic world, promises matter. Just ask Jaime "Kingslayer" Lannister, the guy with the worst exit interview in Westeros. After swearing an oath to protect the last Targaryen king, Jaime stabbed his employer in the back. Literally. Granted, that particular CEO was a maniac who set people on fire. But once a reputation for honesty is tainted, there's no going back.

MORE: How a mega-church founder rediscovered religion

In Game of Thrones, as in life, oath-breaking can create strategic liabilities. Consider Robb Stark, who throughout the second season leans heavily on a web of contractual dependencies, most notably to Lord Walder Frey, an Ebenezer Scrooge lookalike who controls the only land access between Robb's kingdom in the north and the fighting in the south. Frey can scissor Robb's supply lines at will. The only guarantee that he won't is Robb's commitment to marry Frey's daughter. Robb violates the contract at the end of the second season when he falls for, and marries, a Red Cross volunteer. Lord Frey will not be pleased. Before breaching a contract, be certain you can bear the cost.

Protect your strongest assets

Every upstart needs capital. While exiled princess Daenarys Targaryen may ultimately emerge as a winner in the game of thrones, she spent season two as a cash-strapped entrepreneur. Given her dragons' long maturation time -- they're about the size of Easter hams -- they are a few seasons away from being the kind of force multipliers that will attract investment. As a result, the khaleesi awkwardly attempts to raise unsecured loans from the merchant kings of Qarth. The wily lot may be excused for not jumping at the Mother of Dragons' elevator pitch. A scraggly band of followers, a tenuous claim to a distant throne, and no business plan are not exactly music to a venture capitalist's ears.

Yet in spite of Daenarys's weak bargaining position, she avoids bad terms. By the end of season two, she has successfully navigated Qarth's den of vipers -- the most venomous, it turns out, being the man who promised her immense wealth in return for her hand in marriage. In Game of Thrones' dynastic world, marriage is merger. Aside from the dragons, being single is Daenarys's most valuable asset, one she's careful not to give away. This caution bears fruit. When it turns out that her disingenuous suitor's vaults are, in fact, empty, Daenarys learns the importance of scrutinizing a potential partner's balance sheet.

Cultivate middle management

A CEO can't be everywhere. In a world without videoconferencing -- and where note-carrying ravens are a slow (though bizarrely reliable) precursor to email -- it's tough to keep an eye on your investments. The solution is in delegation.

The best leaders in the Seven Kingdoms have an eye for talent. The most inspired act of executive recruitment? Tywin Lannister naming his son Tyrion as acting King's Hand.

MORE: The XBA: A better, faster, cheaper MBA?

Tyrion runs King's Landing like a turnaround expert. He is a master of radical adaptation, particularly in his creative deployment of wildfire. A previously shuttered R&D program, wildfire is a tactical nuke crossed with a Zippo lighter. Tyrion spots an opportunity for a new product launch. The result: a disruptive innovation that largely destroys his enemy's fleet.

But how do you hold on to top talent, especially when they're being poached by shifty competitors? Offering competitive compensation is only part of it. In Tyrion's case, he's fully vested in Lannister, Inc., and his fortunes will rise and fall with the management.

When a delicate alignment of interests breaks down, leaders face a principal-agent problem: An ambitious hireling may end up pursuing his own interests over his employer's. In the second season, Robb Stark trusts in his personal relationship with Theon Greyjoy, who ventures off to the Iron Islands to recruit his kin to aid the North. But in a grim pivot, Theon turns his cloak, leading a war party to capture Robb's capital.

Be wary of external hires

The best executives are promoted from within. They understand their institution and its personalities. Robb Stark is exemplary. He tames recalcitrant board members through a mixture of personal appeal, strong-arming, and ego massage. Intimate knowledge of the Stark organization makes possible Robb's consultative style of leadership.

By contrast, consider Theon Greyjoy. A job-hopper from the Stark camp hired as a junior executive for Pyke, Theon is derided as an outsider by his men. Consequently, Theon's policies are designed not for long-term strategic purposes, but to earn his team's respect. This slide into institutional insularity leads him to brutally execute an old friend, Rodrik Cassel, and to claim (falsely) to have killed his foster brothers, Bran and Rikkon. Theon grabs headlines but can't secure market share. This does not delight shareholders -- and in Westeros, there's no such thing as a golden parachute.

Being right is not enough

This is the Ned Stark Rule. Honor, mercy, and fairness will not protect you against your rivals. Though one of the most popular characters in season one, Ned was a colossal failure as King's Hand to Robert Baratheon. He was too focused on institutional legitimacy. He expected others to put aside their interests and respect precedent. As a result, he ended up dead, with his family endangered. As Stannis Baratheon learns, being "right" means nothing when you lack the resources to back it up.

MORE: Boys vs. girls: What's behind the college grad gender gap?

Yet muscle isn't enough either. While King Joffrey sits on the Iron Throne and has the manpower to enforce his rule, his legitimacy as a leader is in question. This is partly due to doubts about his parentage, but the proximate cause is that he's a despotic twit who openly despises his people. When Joffrey & Co. are nearly torn apart by a starving mob, that's karma knocking on the door.

While a sword may be necessary to force some into line, a leader must be perceived as serving the interests of the majority. That's why Renly Baratheon appealed, and why a servant-leader, like Daenarys, may come out on top. When used in a conservative, thoughtful manner, power enhances legitimacy; when unconstrained, power undermines. Striking that balance is the real secret to winning the game of thrones, in Westeros and elsewhere.

Source: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/03/29/game-of-thrones-a-business-leaders-guide/

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For the Love of Food: Vanilla Rooibus Tea with Cacao & Mint

If you ever come to Seattle, one of the places that you absolutely have to visit is Remedy Teas on Capitol Hill. I am obsessed with this tea house. They carry over 150 organic loose leaf teas in the cafe, including white, green, oolong, black, rooibus, yerba, and a variety of herbal teas. If you are a tea drinker, this place is pure heaven.?

One of my favorite combinations was a seasonal holiday tea they featured several years ago that tasted like chocolate peppermint candy. Let me tell you, I bought out the store. Literally. And over the next eleven months I drank it all.?

Then the following Christmas I anxiously awaited for this seasonal tea to return, but they never brought it back. Several months ago I found myself craving this tea again and I finally decided it was time to just make my own combination. So I did. ?

Rooibus is a sweet, caffeine-free tea from South Africa. I love drinking it as an afternoon treat and this combination is perfect with a little almond milk and stevia. ?

I was pleasantly surprised by how cost effective it is to make my own loose leaf blend by purchasing the ingredients separately and then mixing them together. A small tin of this blend can usually run around $15, but I found that purchasing the ingredients in bulk and making this myself cut the cost to a little less than 1/3 of the price. I found the ingredients at my local health foods store, but I also provided links below to order online if your store does not have a bulk section or does not carry these items. Since vanilla beans are quite pricey, I kept mine whole and added it to the tea blend to help infuse the tea with vanilla flavor. Storing the tea in a?tea tin?kept the vanilla bean fresh enough that it still has plenty of flavor to reuse in future batches of tea.?

Vanilla Rooibus Tea with Cacao & Mint

Makes about 15 cups of tea

Ingredients:

Instructions:

Assemble the ingredients and store in a?tea tin.

The general rule of thumb when brewing loose leaf tea is 1 teaspoon of tea per cup of water, but I tend to like stronger tea so I usually add 2 - 3 teaspoons per cup of water. I am by no means a tea expert, but here are some other helpful tips I typically use for brewing rooibus tea:

Always use fresh, cold, and preferably filtered water for boiling. (This will help your tea to taste the best.)
The recommended temperature for making rooibus tea is 205?F, which means you can usually bring the water to a rolling boil and then steep the tea right away. (Some teas are better at a lower temperature so you have to wait a few minutes after boiling.)
For steeping the tea, I usually opt for my trusty?Bodum teapot?or?tea filters?if I am using a travel mug on-the-go. Lately I've been using a?tea infuser,?which allows me to steep the tea directly in my mug. For some reason this has felt easier than using a teapot, but it's all personal preference.?
Rooibus tea should steep for 3 - 5 minutes, and then the leaves should be removed. ?It's also recommended that the cup is covered during steeping, but if you use the teapot or tea infuser, this usually has a lid of its own.?
Finally, enjoy your tea! Add some milk of your choice and your favorite sweetener (if desired) and serve hot!

Source: http://www.fortheloveoffoodblog.com/2013/03/vanilla-rooibus-tea-with-cacao-mint.html

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Friday, March 29, 2013

DIY theremin goggles marry the art of noise with steampunk style (video)

Sometimes annoying just isn't annoying enough. For DIY enthusiast and self-described "maker of awesome" Sarah Petkus, the incentive to irk was merely a happy by-product of her latest goggle design. The steampunk-ish effort, chronicled on Petkus' blog Robotic Arts, combines some artfully arranged scrap metals with an integrated optical theremin that lets the wearer manipulate an incredibly unpleasant tone just by waving their hands and adjusting the amount of light fed into the sensors. Since the volume control and speaker are housed inside the eyepieces, the goggles are little more than a head-mounted accessory. But that shouldn't stop cosplay types (or sociopaths) from strapping on a set and tweaking the nerves of unfortunate passers-by. That's if Petkus gets around to selling the "eyewear." For the public's sake, we hope this inventive mod remains a one-off. Head past the break for a video demo of this cringe-inducing, gesture-controlled cacaphony.

Filed under: Wearables, Alt

Comments

Via: Adafruit

Source: Robotic Arts

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/28/diy-theremin-goggles-steampunk/

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North Korea puts rockets on standby as US official warns regime is no 'paper tiger'

The threats to the U.S. are becoming more strident as North Korea's leader, Kim Jung Un, says his rockets are ready to strike America at any time. But experts do not believe Pyongyang has the capabilities it claims.

By Courtney Kube and Ian Johnston, NBC News

North Korea put its rocket units on standby Friday to attack U.S. military bases in South Korea and the Pacific, after repeated threats and one day after two American stealth bombers flew over the Korean Peninsula in a military exercise.

A U.S. official warned that the isolated communist state is ?not a paper tiger? and its reaction should not be dismissed as ?pure bluster.?

According to the North Korea's official KCNA news agency, the country's leader Kim Jong Un ?judged the time has come to settle accounts with the U.S. imperialists in view of the prevailing situation? at a midnight meeting of top generals, Reuters reported.

The latest threat comes one day after?two nuclear-capable stealth bombers flew from Missouri?to drop inert munitions on a range in South Korea as part of a major military exercise.

KCNA via EPA

Kim Jong Un, seen at what was described as an urgent meeting overnight, has ordered his rocket forces to be on standby to strike U.S. and South Korean targets at any time.

The U.S. official emphasized the danger posed by North Korea?s military and the unpredictable nature of its 30-year-old leader.

?North Korea is not a paper tiger so it wouldn't be smart to dismiss its provocative behavior as pure bluster. What's not clear right now is how much risk Kim Jong Un is willing to run to show the world and domestic elites that he's a tough guy,? said the official, who asked not to be named. ?His inexperience is certain -- his wisdom is still very much in question.?

There was a mass demonstration in support of Kim?involving tens of thousands of people?in the main square of North Korean capital Pyongyang Friday, The Associated Press reported.

Placards read "Let's crush the puppet traitor group" and "Let's rip the puppet traitors to death!"

'War for national liberation'
The state-controlled KCNA also published an article that said the ?opportunity for peacefully settling the DPRK-U.S. relations is no longer available as the U.S. opted for staking its fate. Consequently, there remains only the settlement of accounts by a physical means.? DPRK stands for Democratic People?s Republic of Korea, the North's official name.

David Guttenfelder / AP

As chief Asia photographer for the Associated Press, David Guttenfelder has had unprecedented access to communist North Korea. Here's a rare look at daily life in the secretive country.

?A battle to be fought by the DPRK against the U.S. will become a war for national liberation to defend the sovereignty and dignity of the country and, at the same time, a revolutionary war to defend the human cause of independence and the justice of the international community,? the article by ?news analyst? Minju Joson said.

South Korea?s Yonhap news agency quoted a South Korean military official as saying that there had been ?increased movement of vehicles and forces? at missile launch sites in the North. ?We are closely watching possibilities of missile launches,? the unnamed official said.

North Korea routinely issues hostile statements but analysts have noted recent remarks have become more belligerent. In December, the North carried out a long-range rocket test and then detonated a nuclear bomb in a test earlier this year.

North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-un has issued almost daily threats, including the threat of nuclear strikes on Washington, D.C., and Seoul. In addition, Pyongyang has put its troops on combat readiness, warning that war "may break out at any moment." NBC's Ian Williams reports.

At a daily news briefing Friday, China?s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei said China was calling for an easing of tensions.

But some fear the situation could be getting out of control.

"It seems that Kim Jong Un is in the driving seat of a train that has been taken on a joyride," Lee Min-yong, an expert on North Korea at Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul, told Reuters.

Russia, meanwhile, appeared to criticize the U.S. over Thursday's bomber mission.

"We are concerned that alongside the adequate, collective reaction of the U.N. Security Council, unilateral action is being taken around North Korea that is increasing military activity," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Moscow, according to Reuters.

"The situation could simply get out of control; it is slipping toward the spiral of a vicious cycle," he said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Related:

PhotoBlog: North Koreans rally in support of leader's call to arms

Nuclear-capable stealth bombers sent to South Korea amid Kim Jong Un's threats

Despite rhetoric from North, South Koreans carry on

This story was originally published on Fri Mar 29, 2013 5:11 AM EDT

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After Raising $2.1M, TiKL Opens Their Mobile Chat/Voice Calling API To Developers

For a team that has somehow stayed mostly off the tech press' radar, TiKL has had a pretty friggin' good year. With $0 spent on marketing, their two apps, TiKL and Talkray, have nabbed a total of 28M downloads. After taking part in YC's Winter 2012 class, they raised $2.1M from some of the Valley's biggest names. Today TiKL is unveiling the other half of their business strategy: the Talkray API

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/W2aFHQhXntA/

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Army vet accused of fighting with al-Qaida

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) ? A U.S. Army veteran is charged with conspiring with an Al-Qaida group to wage war against the Syrian regime.

Eric Harroun of Phoenix was charged Thursday in federal court in northern Virginia with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction outside the U.S. An affidavit states Harroun has been engaged in military action in Syria, siding with rebel forces against the Syrian government. It says he used rocket-propelled grenades in the fighting earlier this year.

On his Facebook page, he claimed credit for downing a Syrian helicopter.

Prosecutors say one of the groups with which Harroun served is the al-Nusrah Front, which is commonly known as al-Qaida in Iraq.

Harroun has made an initial court appearance. A public defender was appointed to represent him in a detention hearing scheduled for Tuesday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-army-vet-charged-fighting-al-qaida-184044925.html

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Prostate Cancer Linked to Early Balding in African-American Men ...

Going bald early may increase your risk for prostate cancer ? especially if you?re an African- American man. That?s the finding of a new study from the American Association for Cancer Research.

In the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention,?researchers report on more than 300 African-American men with prostate cancer and more than 200 control cases, who participated in the Study of Clinical Outcomes, Risk and Ethnicity between 1998 and 2010. The men had either a full head of hair or frontal or vertex (crown) baldness.

?We focused on African-American men because they are at high risk for developing prostate cancer and are more than twice as likely to die from prostate cancer than other groups in the United States,? said Charnita Zeigler-Johnson, Ph.D., research assistant professor at the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, in a press release. ?Although this is a high-risk group for poor prostate cancer outcomes, no published study had focused on evaluating baldness as a potential risk factor in a sample of African-American men.?

Researchers found a 69 percent increased risk of prostate cancer among the men with any form of baldness. Risk for advanced prostate cancer diagnosis more than doubled in men with frontal baldness, an association that was even stronger among African-American men who were diagnosed with prostate cancer before age 60.

?Early-onset baldness may be a risk factor for early-onset prostate cancer in African-American men, particularly younger men,? added Zeigler-Johnson. ?Pending future studies to confirm our results, there is a potential to use early-onset baldness as a clinical indicator of increased risk for prostate cancer in some populations of men.?

In the United States, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, with higher rates in African-American men, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and it is the second most common cause of death in most American men.

Study: Health law to raise claims cost 32 percent

FILE - In this March 23, 2010 file photo, Marcelas Owens of Seattle, left, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., right, and others, look on as President Barack Obama signs the health care bill in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Medical claims costs _ the biggest driver of health insurance premiums _ will jump an average 32 percent for individual policies under President Barack Obama?s overhaul, according to a study by the nation?s leading group of financial risk analysts. Recently released to its members, the report from the Society of Actuaries could turn into a big headache for the Obama administration at a time when many parts of the country remain skeptical about the Affordable Care Act. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Map shows projected change in medical claim costs by

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A new study finds that insurance companies will have to pay out an average of 32 percent more for medical claims under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

What does that mean for you?

It could increase premiums for at least some Americans.

If you are uninsured, or you buy your policy directly from an insurance company, you should pay attention.

But if you have an employer plan, like most workers and their families, odds are you don't have much to worry about.

The estimates from the Society of Actuaries could turn into a political headache for the Obama administration at a time when much of the country remains skeptical of the Affordable Care Act.

The administration is questioning the study, saying it doesn't give a full picture ? and costs will go down.

Actuaries are financial risk professionals who conduct long-range cost estimates for pension plans, insurance companies and government programs.

The study says claims costs will go up largely because sicker people will join the insurance pool. That's because the law forbids insurers from turning down those with pre-existing medical problems, effective Jan. 1. Everyone gets sick sooner or later, but sicker people also use more health care services.

"Claims cost is the most important driver of health care premiums," said Kristi Bohn, an actuary who worked on the study. Spending on sicker people and other high-cost groups will overwhelm an influx of younger, healthier people into the program, said the report.

The Obama administration challenged the design of the study, saying it focused only on one piece of the puzzle and ignored cost relief strategies in the law, such as tax credits to help people afford premiums and special payments to insurers who attract an outsize share of the sick.

The study also doesn't take into account the potential price-cutting effect of competition in new state insurance markets that will go live Oct. 1, administration officials said.

At a White House briefing Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said some of what passes for health insurance today is so skimpy it can't be compared to the comprehensive coverage available under the law. "Some of these folks have very high catastrophic plans that don't pay for anything unless you get hit by a bus," she said. "They're really mortgage protection, not health insurance."

Sebelius said the picture on premiums won't start coming into focus until insurers submit their bids. Those results may not be publicly known until late summer.

Another striking finding of the report was a wide disparity in cost impact among the states.

While some states will see medical claims costs per person decline, the report concluded that the overwhelming majority will see double-digit increases in their individual health insurance markets, where people purchase coverage directly from insurers.

The differences are big. By 2017, the estimated increase would be 62 percent for California, about 80 percent for Ohio, more than 20 percent for Florida and 67 percent for Maryland. Much of the reason for the higher claims costs is that sicker people are expected to join the pool, the report said.

Part of the reason for the wide disparities is that states have different populations and insurance rules. In the relatively small number of states where insurers were already restricted from charging higher rates to older, sicker people, the cost impact is less.

The report did not make similar estimates for employer plans that most workers and families rely on. That's because the primary impact of Obama's law is on people who don't have coverage through their jobs.

A prominent national expert, recently retired Medicare chief actuary Rick Foster, said the report does "a credible job" of estimating potential enrollment and costs under the law, "without trying to tilt the answers in any particular direction."

"Having said that," Foster added, "actuaries tend to be financially conservative, so the various assumptions might be more inclined to consider what might go wrong than to anticipate that everything will work beautifully." Actuaries use statistics and economic theory to make long-range cost projections for insurance and pension programs sponsored by businesses and government. The society is headquartered near Chicago.

Bohn, the actuary who worked on the study, acknowledged it did not attempt to estimate the effect of subsidies, insurer competition and other factors that could offset cost increases. She said the goal was to look at the underlying cost of medical care.

"We don't see ourselves as a political organization," Bohn added. "We are trying to figure out what the situation at hand is."

On the plus side, the report found the law will cover more than 32 million currently uninsured Americans when fully phased in. And some states ? including New York and Massachusetts ? will see double-digit declines in costs for claims in the individual market.

Uncertainty over costs has been a major issue since the law passed three years ago, and remains so just months before a big push to cover the uninsured gets rolling Oct. 1. Middle-class households will be able to purchase subsidized private insurance in new marketplaces, while low-income people will be steered to Medicaid and other safety net programs. States are free to accept or reject a Medicaid expansion also offered under the law.

___

AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-27-US-Health-Overhaul-Costs/id-40c501e6e64b440493e74febc620bd88

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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Stocks fall despite Cyprus deal

Stocks turned negative about an hour into the trading day Monday as the initial euphoria about Cyprus' funding deal was overshadowed by renewed concerns about the European economy.?European stocks were up when Wall Street opened Monday, but turned lower shortly after Wall Street's gains evaporated.

By Daniel Wagner,?AP Business Writer / March 25, 2013

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange, Monday. Optimism about a deal to prevent financial collapse in Cyprus had briefly pushed the Standard & Poor's 500 index to within a quarter-point of its record closing high Monday, but stocks soon turned negative.

Brendan McDermid/Reuters

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Stocks?reversed an early rise on Wall Street Monday as traders returned to worrying about the European economy.

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Optimism about a deal to prevent financial collapse in Cyprus had briefly pushed the Standard & Poor's 500 index to within a quarter-point of its record closing high, but?stocks?soon turned negative.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite index both closed down 0.3 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.4 percent.

Stocks?turned negative about an hour into the trading day Monday as the initial euphoria about Cyprus' deal to secure 10 billion euros in emergency funding was overshadowed by renewed concerns about the European economy.

The fear intensified after a top European official indicated that investors in struggling banks may be forced to take losses ? an element of the Cyprus agreement that had previously been seen as unique to that country.?

Public braves snow for gay marriage case tickets

WASHINGTON (AP) ? People waiting to attend to gay marriage cases being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court have been undeterred by snow falling in the nation's capital.

More than three dozen people were waiting Monday to get tickets to the cases, which will be heard Tuesday and Wednesday. Many of them were holding umbrellas or had tarps over their belongings as snow fell, and one woman was wearing a trash bag from the waist down. People standing in line included college students, a substitute teacher and an Army veteran.

The first people got in line for the cases on Thursday, and some people are being paid to hold places for others. Lines frequently form in advance for the free tickets to high-profile arguments, but five days before a case is particularly early.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-25-US-Supreme-Court-Gay-Marriage-Snow/id-c5b8abf4fda64c3c923fcb4b902efbf9

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People with depression may not reap full benefits of physical activity or light alcohol consumption, study suggests

Mar. 26, 2013 ? Depression may inhibit the anti-inflammatory effects typically associated with physical activity and light-to-moderate alcohol consumption, according to researchers at Duke Medicine.

The finding -- based on measurements of the cardio-metabolic risk marker C-reactive protein (CRP) -- points to another potential danger of depression, which afflicts an estimated one in 10 adults in the United States. Study results were published online March 26, 2013, in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

"Our findings suggest depression not only directly affects an individual's mental and physical health; it might also diminish the health benefits of physical activities and moderate alcohol consumption," said lead author Edward C. Suarez, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke Medicine. "This appears to be specific to inflammation, which we know increases the risk for heart disease, so our findings suggest that depression could be a complicating risk factor."

CRP is a biomarker that predicts future risk of heart disease and other chronic inflammatory conditions. It may also play a role in the formation of plaque that builds up in arteries.

Physical activity and moderate alcohol consumption, defined as one drink a day for women and two a day for men, have each been shown to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. These behaviors also reduce inflammation, which is demonstrated through lower levels of CRP.

In contrast, depression is associated with elevated CRP and increased risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

In the current study, researchers gathered information from 222 nonsmoking, healthy adults with no history or diagnosis of psychiatric conditions. They recorded the amount of alcohol the participants consumed, defining light-to-moderate drinking as about half a drink per day for women and one daily drink for men. Participants reported how many hours of physical activity they did in the past week in activities such as walking, playing tennis, and exercise classes. Researchers also measured CRP levels through blood samples and evaluated the participants' depressive symptoms, with 4.5 percent of the study group meeting the criteria for depression.

The researchers found that untreated depression hindered the anti-inflammatory effects of moderate alcohol consumption and exercise. Participants who were physically active generally had lower CRP levels, with the exception of those who were depressed, who saw no beneficial effect on CRP levels.

In addition, light-to-moderate alcohol consumption was associated with lower CRP, but only in men who were not depressed. Men with symptoms of depression did not see the benefits of light-to-moderate alcohol consumption. Depression did not make a statistically significant difference among women who consumed light to moderate amounts of alcohol, nor those who didn't drink or only drank infrequently.

"This is a novel finding, and it seems to be specific to inflammation as measured by CRP," Suarez said, given that depression did not affect other health markers such as fasting triglyceride and cholesterol levels.

Although preliminary, Suarez said the study could guide health care providers on how best to reduce the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. In addition to traditional recommendations to increase physical activity and adhere to a Mediterranean diet that includes alcohol consumption, clinicians may also need to consider the mental state of their patients and specifically the presence of depressive symptoms.

This combined approach could be especially beneficial for primary care providers, who are in a good position to both screen for depressive symptoms and measure CRP and cardiovascular risk. Early intervention -- and perhaps more aggressive treatment for depression -- may benefit patients who do not see the benefit of heart-healthy activities due to untreated depression.

"We're not saying that exercise isn't helpful for those with depression; what we saw is that depression has effects beyond what has previously been reported. Even if mental health improves, the anti-inflammatory benefits of physical activities may lag behind," Suarez said.

Future longitudinal studies could measure CRP levels among those with depression to see if the anti-inflammatory effects of healthy behaviors catch up over time.

In addition to Suarez, study authors include Nicole L. Schramm-Sapyta, Tracey V. Hawkins and Alaattin Erkanli.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Duke University Medical Center.

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

Journal Reference:

Edward C. Suarez, Nicole L. Schramm-Sapyta, Tracey Vann Hawkins, Alaattin Erkanli. Depression inhibits the anti-inflammatory effects of leisure time physical activity and light to moderate alcohol consumption. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 2013; DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2013.03.009

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/mind_brain/depression/~3/R8Pj5T20lZA/130326121745.htm

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Sydenham House, New York-Area's Oldest ... - AOL Real Estate

By Laura Vecsey

Forget the War of 1812. How about a home whose historic foundation dates back a full century earlier that has just been listed for sale in Newark, N.J.? The Sydenham House was built in 1712 as a two-room saltbox over a root cellar and was later expanded in 1826. It's now a five-bedroom, two-bathroom residence with a distinct calling card: It's the oldest house in Newark and the oldest private residence in the metropolitan New York area.

The home has been refurbished to its original condition and modernized with amenities necessary for modern living. It has been listed since 1970 on the National Register of Historic Places. Sydenham House appears to have come a long way since 2005, when it was last on the real estate market and featured in The New York Times. At that time, the home was in rough shape, occupied only by a caretaker employed by descendants of a Newark couple who had for 40 years worked on preserving the residence. The home still retains its original floors, doors and hardware, windows and fireplaces, but has been bolstered with new wiring, plumbing, roof and gourmet kitchen.

The Times noted that the home had been listed for sale at $699,000 in 2005, which many neighbors deemed too high, especially because strict guidelines were set forth by its now-deceased owners regarding the way in which the house can be remodeled or maintained. Now, however, the home is priced at $438,000, though it still raises the question: How much value should be placed on a property for which there are no comparable homes?

See the listing for more details.

Find more homes for sale in Newark, N.J., or search listings in your area.

See more on Zillow:
Pros & Cons of Owning a Home in a Historic District
Homes of the Future: Atomic-Age Design Lives
Bob Hope's Iconic House for Sale in Palm Springs

More on AOL Real Estate:
Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.
Find homes for sale in your area.
Find foreclosures in your area.
See celebrity real estate.

Follow us on Twitter at @AOLRealEstate or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook.

Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/03/25/sydenham-house-newark/

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Monday, March 25, 2013

?The Korean Zombie? asks Georges St-Pierre to stop wearing ?Rising Sun? symbol at fights

UFC featherweight Chan Sung Jung has a fight with Ricardo Lamas coming up in July. The fight will likely have title implications, and will give "The Korean Zombie" a chance to prove he belongs at the top of the UFC's 145-lb. class. But the upcoming fight didn't keep Jung from speaking up to one of the UFC's biggest stars.

Jung posted a letter on his Facebook page to UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre about the Rising Sun symbol GSP wore to his fight with Nick Diaz.

Dear Mr. Georges St. Pierre
Hi, My name is Chan Sung Jung from South Korea. As one of many Koreans who like you as an incredible athlete, I feel like I should tell you that many Korean fans, including myself, were shocked to see you in your gi designed after the Japanese 'Rising Sun Flag'. For Asians, this flag is a symbol of war crimes, much like the German Hakenkreuzflagge. Did you know that? I hope not.

Just like Nazis, the Japanese also committed atrocities under the name of 'Militarism'. You can easily learn what they've done by googling (please do), although it's only the tiny tip of an enormous iceberg.

Furthermore, the Japanese Government never gave a sincere apology, and still to this day, so many victims are dying in pain, heartbroken, without being compensated. But many westerners like to wear clothes designed after the symbol under which so many war crimes and so much tragedy happened, which is ridiculous.

I know most of them are not militarists. I know most of them do not approve unjustified invasion, torture, massacre, etc. They're just ignorant. It's such a shame that many westerners are not aware of this tragic fact. Wearing Rising Sun outfits is as bad as wearing clothes with the Nazi mark on it, if not worse.

Since you're influenced by Japanese Martial Arts, your wearing a headband designed after Japanese flag is understandable. But again, that huge 'Rising Sun' on your Gi means something else.

Many people say GSP is the best Welterweight fighter throughout history, to which I totally agree. This means you have a great influence on every single fan of yours all around the world. And I do believe your wearing 'the symbol of War Crime' is a very bad example for them, not to mention for yourself.

So, what do you reckon? Do you want to wear the same Gi next time as well?

The Rising Sun flag was used by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II, and it was banned by the United Nations in 1945. Jung is not the only person to have an issue with seeing it used by an athlete. During the 2012 Olympics, Japanese gymnasts wore a leotard that was inspired by the Rising Sun, and some South Koreans were not happy about it.

When one-time MMA sponsor Hoelzer Reich used Nazi imagery on the gear UFC and WEC fighters wore into the cage, the promotions banned their items from the cage. Jung has the courage to speak up to a fighter he admittedly admires. GSP and the UFC owe him a response.

Thanks, Bloody Elbow.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/korean-zombie-asks-georges-st-pierre-stop-wearing-164004367--mma.html

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Reports about East Coast meteor flood in, setting off a media scramble

An East Coast meteor put on a spectacular show on Friday. NBC's Michelle Franzen reports.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

A Friday night flash of light in the skies over the East Coast sparked a rash of meteor sighting reports, followed by a mad dash to track down photos and videos of the event.

The American Meteor Society logged more than 800 reports from a region ranging from ?North Carolina to Washington to New York to New England to Canada. Hundreds more registered their observations on Twitter. ?One Twitter user, known as @Married2TheNite, reported from New Jersey that he saw ? and heard?? the object pass by. "It was making almost a hissing noise as it flew brightly overhead," he wrote. "I saw it around 7:55 p.m. EDT."

That time frame meshed with the many other reports. Some witnesses said they saw flashes of green, red and blue as the object streaked past.

The reports were consistent with a fireball?? similar to the one that flashed over Russia on Feb. 15, but much, much smaller.

"It's not an incredibly rare event, but it is very unusual to have that many people observe it, and also it was unusually bright," Ron Dantowitz, director of the Clay Center Observatory, told NBC station WHDH-TV?in Boston. "These types of meteors happen once or twice a year. The unusual thing is that it was so well observed not so long after sunset."

Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environmental Office told The Associated Press that the flash appeared to be "a fireball that moved roughly toward the southeast, going on visual reports."

"Judging from the brightness, we're dealing with something as bright as the full moon," Cooke said. "The thing is probably a yard across. We basically have (had) a boulder enter the atmosphere over the Northeast."

For a while, Twitter buzzed with tweets and retweets highlighting pictures that falsely purported to show the Friday night light ? but eventually, bona fide views surfaced. The paucity of honest-to-goodness meteor shots contrasted with the wealth of dashboard videos that came to light after last month's Russian meteor blast.

"The meteor has taught us one thing tonight," Cara Lynch tweeted, "the East Coast needs more dash cameras."?

One of the most widely distributed videos of Friday night's flash came from someone who didn't actually see it when it happened. "I wish I would have seen it for real," said Kim Fox, a first-grade teacher from Thurmont, Md.

This security camera footage, from Kim Fox of Thurmont, Md., shows the Friday night flash in the sky.

Fox told NBC News that she checked her security-camera system after hearing about the meteor. At around the time that news reports said the meteor was widely sighted, she saw a bright flash on one of the camera views. She took out her mobile phone, recorded a video of the video, and posted it to her Facebook page. From there, the video went viral on the Web and on TV newscasts.

"The phones have been ringing all night," Fox said.

Did you see the flash? Add your sighting report to the American Meteor Society's log, and tell me about it in the comment space below. Got pictures? Feel free to post them to the Cosmic Log Facebook page.

Update for 3:44 p.m. ET March 23: In one reference, I mistakenly placed Thurmont in New Jersey rather than Maryland. And it's WHDH, not WDHD. Sorry about that! Also, more video views of the flash have come in. Hopkins Automotive Group posted this flashy security camera video on its Facebook page. There's also this dashcam view from WUSA9 photojournalist Kurt Brooks.

More about meteors:

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

This story was originally published on Sat Mar 23, 2013 12:09 AM EDT

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/29e52879/l/0Lcosmiclog0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C230C1742180A40Ereports0Eabout0Eeast0Ecoast0Emeteor0Eflood0Ein0Esetting0Eoff0Ea0Emedia0Escramble0Dlite/story01.htm

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Sunday, March 24, 2013

Napoleon and Josephine's engagement ring sells for $949,000

The engagement ring the young Napoleon "must have broken his wallet" to buy for his fiancee Josephine shattered expectations today at the Osenat auction house in France when it sold for close to $1 million, Osenat's expert Jean-Christophe Chataignier said.

The winning bidder, who wanted to stay completely anonymous, paid $949,000, almost 50 times the $20,000 Osenat had expected to bring in. Including the buyer's 25 percent commission to Osenat, the total price for the ring was $1.17 million.

"In my wildest dreams, I did not think we would outsell the estimate by more than 47 times," said Osenat's Emily Villane, who led today's auction. "We based the estimates in our catalog on the actual market value of the ring, minus Napoleon and Josephine provenance. It is not our job to tell bidders how much they should pay for the historical premium."

There was intense interest in the ring, she said. In addition to the 300 people in the Fontainebleau auction house, about 50 more international bidders were hooked up by phone.

Osenat, which is in Fontainebleau, outside Paris, also received more than 40 written bids by email from the U.S. alone, she said.

The auction house set up extra phone lines and hired 10 additional people to be prepared for the sale.

"It was 15 minutes of relentless bidding," Villane said. "We opened at 10,000 euros, I raised it to 50,000 euros. From then on it was going up by 10,000. When the hammer went down at 730,000 euros there was a huge applause."

The sale was timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of Josephina's birthday.

The golden ring is in an 18th century setting called "toi et moi," "You and Me," with opposing tear-shaped jewels -- a blue sapphire and a diamond. The carat weight of the two gems is little less than a carat each.

Osenat already had clues that it had a blockbuster on its hands several days before the auction.

In addition to a great deal of interest from bidders around the world, Chataignier said there were also requests for private spaces a floor above the salesroom, where the superrich could watch and bid without being seen.

The ring may seem unimpressive considering the names attached to it are an emperor and empress, but it actually illustrates Napoleon's passion for his future queen.

"At the time Napoleon was a young and promising officer, but he was not rich. He must have broken his wallet to buy this quality ring," Chataignier told ABCNews.com.

The auction was also held on a unique day, celebrating the 250th anniversary of Josephine's birth, said historian David Chanteranne, the editor in chief of Napoleon I Magazine.

Napoleon met Josephine, (Rose Tascher de la Pagerie as she was known then) in September 1795. She was 32 years old, six years older than Bonaparte. At the time she was the rich and stylish widow of Alexandre de Beauharnais, an aristocrat who supported the French Revolution but died on the guillotine. Her first marriage produced two children, Eugene and Hortense, who Napoleon later adopted.

According to Napoleon's memoirs written at St. Helena, he met Josephine when her son Eugene came to ask him for the right to keep his father's sword. Napoleon said yes, and Josephine invited him to her apartment in Paris to thank him. Napoleon was immediately smitten, and within the first couple months of their relationship had fallen completely in love with her. He wrote about this in his memoirs:

"Everyone knows the extreme grace of the Empress Josephine and her sweet and attractive manners. The acquaintance soon became intimate and tender, and it was not long before we married."

The wedding day was March 9, 1796, but the honeymoon lasted only 36 hours. Napoleon left to lead the French army on a successful invasion of Italy, but during this absence he wrote frequently, sometimes twice a day.

"Since I left you, I have been constantly depressed," one letter says. "My happiness is to be near you. Incessantly I live over in my memory your caresses, your tears, your affectionate solicitude."

"How happy I would be if I could assist you at your undressing," the Emperor writes, "the little firm white breast, the adorable face, the hair tied up in a scarf a la creole."

Napoleon begged Josephine to join him in on his conquest in Milan, but Josephine was often unresponsive, preferring Paris where her kids attended school to the front line in Italy. And the there was her Parisian affair with Lt. Hippolyte Charles.

When Napoleon learned about Josephine's affairs, his letters changed in tone: "I don't love you, not at all; on the contrary I detest you -- You're a naughty, gawky, foolish slut."

The marriage didn't last, but "Josephine continued to treasure the ring and gave it to her daughter Hortense, later Queen of Holland, through whom it came down to her son, Napoleon III and his wife Empress Eugene to whose family this relic ring still belongs," claims Chataignier.

The buyer broke up something of a set. The ring had been on display alongside other historic treasures, including portraits of Napoleon's son and a sword given to the emperor by King Henry IV.

Return to active duty not likely after allograft treatment for knee defect

Public release date: 23-Mar-2013
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Contact: Lisa Weisenberger
lisa@aossm.org
847-655-8647
American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine

CHICAGO, IL Treatment of large cartilage knee defects with an allograft osteoarticular transplant (OATS) may not allow some military personnel to return to full active duty status, say researchers presenting their work at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Specialty Day in Chicago, IL.

"Only 28.9 percent of the military patients we studied were able to return to full duty, when they received the OATS procedure with only 5.3 percent returning to their pre-injury level of activity," said James S. Shaha, MD of Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii. "It appears the branch of service also was a significant predictor of outcome, with Marines and Navy service members more likely to return to full activity."

Researchers performed a retrospective review on 38 OATS procedures performed at a single military institution by four sports medicine fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeons between January 2002 and August 2011. All patients were active duty at the time of the index operation with data collected on demographics, return to duty, the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score and ultimate effect on military duty. Success was defined as ability to return to pre-injury military occupation specialty with no restrictions. The procedure was shown to diminish pain and improve function in some patients, but did not "cure" the issues for the active patient. More than 40 percent of the patients in this study were "boarded out" of the military because of this condition.

"Cartilage injuries in the high-demand, athletic population remain a clinical challenge. Our study contrasts recent literature which suggests a high rate of return after the OATS procedure and further demonstrates that physicians must carefully interpret what "return to activity" means to different populations," said Shaha.

###

The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) is a world leader in sports medicine education, research, communication and fellowship, and includes national and international orthopaedic sports medicine leaders. The Society works closely with many other sports medicine specialists, including athletic trainers, physical therapists, family physicians, and others to improve the identification, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of sports injuries. AOSSM is also a founding partner of the STOP Sports Injuries campaign to prevent overuse and traumatic injuries in kids. For more information on AOSSM or the STOP Sports Injuries campaign, visit http://www.sportsmed.org or http://www.stopsportsinjuries.org

[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.

Return to active duty not likely after allograft treatment for knee defect Public release date: 23-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lisa Weisenberger
lisa@aossm.org
847-655-8647
American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine

CHICAGO, IL Treatment of large cartilage knee defects with an allograft osteoarticular transplant (OATS) may not allow some military personnel to return to full active duty status, say researchers presenting their work at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Specialty Day in Chicago, IL.

"Only 28.9 percent of the military patients we studied were able to return to full duty, when they received the OATS procedure with only 5.3 percent returning to their pre-injury level of activity," said James S. Shaha, MD of Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii. "It appears the branch of service also was a significant predictor of outcome, with Marines and Navy service members more likely to return to full activity."

Researchers performed a retrospective review on 38 OATS procedures performed at a single military institution by four sports medicine fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeons between January 2002 and August 2011. All patients were active duty at the time of the index operation with data collected on demographics, return to duty, the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score and ultimate effect on military duty. Success was defined as ability to return to pre-injury military occupation specialty with no restrictions. The procedure was shown to diminish pain and improve function in some patients, but did not "cure" the issues for the active patient. More than 40 percent of the patients in this study were "boarded out" of the military because of this condition.

"Cartilage injuries in the high-demand, athletic population remain a clinical challenge. Our study contrasts recent literature which suggests a high rate of return after the OATS procedure and further demonstrates that physicians must carefully interpret what "return to activity" means to different populations," said Shaha.

###

The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) is a world leader in sports medicine education, research, communication and fellowship, and includes national and international orthopaedic sports medicine leaders. The Society works closely with many other sports medicine specialists, including athletic trainers, physical therapists, family physicians, and others to improve the identification, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of sports injuries. AOSSM is also a founding partner of the STOP Sports Injuries campaign to prevent overuse and traumatic injuries in kids. For more information on AOSSM or the STOP Sports Injuries campaign, visit http://www.sportsmed.org or http://www.stopsportsinjuries.org

[ | E-mail | Share ]
?

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/aosf-rta031813.php
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