6 Mock Mars Explorers Emerge from 17-Month "Mission"

Crew training for 'Marswalk' at the simulated martian terrain of the Mars500 experiment. The terrain, about 10 m long and 6 m wide, is covered with reddish sand and is built to resemble the surface at Gusev crater. On the 'surface', they conducted simulated scientific research by driving a rover and working with sensors to gather physical and chemical measurements. Image: ESA/IPMB

After being isolated from the rest of the world for nearly a year and a half, sealed away in a mock spacecraft, six volunteer astronauts "returned" to Earth today (Nov. 4) to end a simulated mission to Mars and back.

The hatch of the pretend Mars500 spaceship, which is actually a special isolation facility at the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems in Moscow, was opened at 6 a.m. EDT (1000 GMT) this morning to mark the successful completion of a 520-day simulated journey to the Red Planet. The six volunteer crew members had been living and working in the Mars500 facility since June 2010.

The international Mars500 crew is made up of Italian engineer Diego Urbina, French engineer Romain Charles, Russian physiologist Alexandr Smoleevski, Russian surgeon Sukhrob Kamolov, Russian engineer Alexey Sitev and Chinese astronaut trainer Wang Yue.

After an official unlocked the large door to the mock spacecraft and removed a special seal, the first Mars500 crewmember to cross the threshold was Kamolov, followed by Charles, Yue, Urbina, Smoleevski and finally Sitev. [Mars500: Photos From Russia's Mock Mars Mission]

"The international crew of the Mars500 experiment has completed the 520-day experiment," Mars500 commander Sitev reported to project officials after emerging from the isolation habitat. "The program has been fully completed. All the crewmembers are in good health. We are ready to continue the investigations."

The crewmembers expressed their pride at completing the lengthy experiment, and spoke about how their efforts will help future exploration plans.

"One year and a half ago, I was selected by the European Space Agency to be part of the Mars500 crew," Charles told the audience at the hatch opening ceremony. "Today, after a motionless trip of 520 days, I'm proud to prove, with my international crewmates, that a human journey to the Red Planet is feasible. We have all acquired a lot of valuable experience that will help in designing and planning future missions to Mars. We're ready to embark on the next spaceship going there."

The six participants will now remain in medical quarantine for at least three days before taking part in a news conference on Nov. 8.

An ambitious simulation
The elaborate Mars500 project, carried out by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Russia's Institute of Biomedical Problems, was the longest spaceflight simulation ever conducted, and reportedly cost $15 million. The experiment aimed to simulate a manned mission to Mars from beginning to end.

Researchers will use the data collected throughout the Mars500 mission to better understand the physical and psychological challenges that astronauts will face on long-duration missions to Mars, or other deep-space destinations.

"The longest night in the world is about to finish," Urbina said Thursday (Nov. 3) via Twitter.

Urbina showed his humorous side as he added, "'We come in peace,' I always wanted to say that," before adding Thursday's date to the post.

Since there has never been such a long spaceflight simulation before, the Mars500 project is expected to yield unique and important data, said European astronaut Christer Fuglesang, who heads the science and application division at the Directorate of Human Spaceflight and Operations at the European Space Agency.

"From a logistics and communications point of view, it was quite realistic," Fuglesang told SPACE.com.

While certain aspects of a real mission to Mars cannot be simulated, such as the microgravity environment of space, the crew members did perform science experiments, collect medical data, and even performed mock "Mars walks" on a surface constructed to resemble the Red Planet.

"After more than one year rehearsing the same experiments with the same equipment and the same test subjects, it's sometimes hard to find as much interest as during the first session 500 days ago," Charles wrote in diary entry on Oct. 25. "We still perform each experiment as efficiently as before?and often more efficiently?but what we're looking forward to is discovering the conclusion of all the studies being followed by the world-wide community of scientists."

The physical and psychological health of the Mars500 participants was closely monitored throughout the mission. The results of the various tests will help researchers better understand how to help astronauts cope with waning motivation or fatigue during long spaceflights.

"It was difficult to realize it while we were enduring it but now that we're close to the end I can say without a doubt that, except for a few colourful days, our months of August and September were dull," Charles wrote in his Oct. 25 diary entry.

How to cope with a long mission
Previous studies have demonstrated this fatigue in the third quarter of long missions, and Mars500 planners expected to see dips in the mood of the participants in the months leading up to the end of the experiment, Fuglesang said. [Infographic: How the Mars500 Mars Simulator Works]

"You've done most of the exciting things, you're just coming home and there's nothing really exciting happening anymore," he explained. "With Mars500, from August to September, it was maybe a bit harder for them to endure, but that's completely normal."

The data collected from the Mars500 participants will be valuable to space agencies as they plan future long-duration flights. But the simulation also benefitted ground teams, Fuglesang said, as it gave them a unique opportunity to practice carrying out an elaborate and lengthy mission.

"We are also getting training information for the ground crews," Fuglesang said. "We're learning how to operate these missions."

Once the data from the Mars500 mission has been analyzed, ESA officials will determine how best to design follow-up experiments, he added.

In fact, Russia is interested in carrying out an experiment on the International Space Station to simulate aspects of a mission to Mars, according to the Russian Itar-Tass news agency.

"We are interested in staging such an experiment in actual conditions of zero gravity," Vitaly Davydov, deputy head of Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), told Itar-Tass.

Davydov told the Russian news agency that specific plans have yet to be made, but that such a project could be possible after 2014. The simulation would likely involve at least two astronauts living aboard the space station for at least 18 months, according to Itar-Tass.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=813286a819aa5b82a210424ef900b2a6

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Jacobson takes lead in Shanghai (AP)

SHANGHAI ? Fredrik Jacobson didn't see many low scores when he first arrived at Sheshan International for the HSBC Champions. Such scores were all around him Friday when his 6-under 66 was barely enough to take the lead.

Under a heavy, overcast sky on a course that was softened by rain earlier in the week, Jacobson played bogey-free and finished a solid round by hitting 3-iron into the par-4 ninth for a final birdie.

He was at 11-under 133, tying the 36-hole tournament record, and was one shot ahead of Louis Oosthuizen and Adam Scott. PGA champion Keegan Bradley made two key par saves on the back round when his game started to get away from him and salvaged a 70 to stay in the picture just two shots behind.

Oosthuizen and Scott each birdied half of their holes and were flawless from tee-to-green. Oosthuizen avoided trouble and posted a tournament-best 63, while Scott had two bogeys in his round of 65.

Sixteen players were separated by five shots going into the weekend, a group that included Lee Westwood, Malaysia winner Bo Van Pelt and Paul Casey, who lost his PGA Tour card in an injury-filled season and now has a chance to get it back by winning.

"I didn't see those kind of scores when I played my practice round before we had that rain," Jacobson said. "The greens were quite firm. They were in great shape. I think that they softened up a little bit and then we managed to stay away from the rain for most of the two days. It kind of opened up a little bit of an opportunity to make some more birdies."

Several players did just that.

Oosthuizen, struggling in the year after his British Open win at St. Andrews, only recently started to find some form when he finished fourth in the McGladrey Classic. Friday was a bonus, especially seeing so many putts drop for a change.

"If you're hitting good shots, you get rewarded," Oosthuizen said. "There's a few holes where you can take it on or lay it up. Today, I really didn't take much risk. I just made the birdie putts."

The low scoring was best visible through Scott and two guys in his group ? Bradley and Westwood. They combined to make 16 birdies and an eagle, each taking turns going at the flags.

Scott ran off four straight birdies early in his round, capped off by a 7-iron from 190 yards into 3 feet on the par-3 sixth. It looked as though he might make it five in a row until he tried to jam in a 12-foot birdie putt, ran it some 5 feet by the hole and three-putted for bogey. No worries ? he birdied the next two holes and kept right on going.

Scott finished with consecutive birdies, rolling in a 20-foot putt on the 17th and a wedge that spun back to 5 feet on the 18th.

"I'm pleased to be in touch, but obviously scoring is low so I'm going to have to play well on the weekend to keep in touch," Scott said.

The Australian has a chance to join Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson as the only players to win multiple World Golf Championships in the same year. Woods did it five times, while Mickelson won at Doral and the HSBC in 2009.

"That would be a really good year, I think," Scott said. "These are the tournaments that you want to add up by the end of your career."

Even more is at stake for Bradley, who didn't realize until he arrived in Shanghai that he still had a chance at PGA Tour player of the year if he were to win the HSBC Champions for a tour-leading third title. It counts as official on the PGA Tour if a tour member wins it.

Bradley hit a hybrid 3-iron into 40 feet on the second hole and made the long putt for eagle, then added another birdie on the par-3 fourth hole to reach 10 under. But after a bogey on the ninth, his momentum slowed drastically.

He missed the green to the left on No. 11 and left himself a chip up a steep slope with the pin about four paces on. The chip didn't quite reach the green, but the PGA champion holed the putt to save par.

On the 15th, from rough so deep he could barely see his ball, Bradley hammered it out just short of the green. After watching Scott come up short with a chip, Bradley sent his putt some 12 feet by the hole, and made that one for par.

He missed his tee shot on the next three holes, but recovered on the 18th by laying up from thick grass and hitting a wedge to 5 feet for birdie to stay easily in range.

"The birdie on 18 was big," Bradley said. "Today could have easily been even par, and I was 2 under. I'm only two shots back. I'm in a really good spot. I know I could shoot a really good number on this course again."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111104/ap_on_sp_go_su/glf_hsbc_champions

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Army veteran injured in Oakland clashes with police (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) ? A former U.S. Army Ranger and Occupy Oakland protester was in intensive care on Friday after a veterans' group said he was beaten by police during clashes with anti-Wall Street demonstrators this week.

Kayvan Sabeghi, 32, was arrested and hospitalized about a week after another U.S. military veteran, former Marine Scott Olsen, was badly injured in a confrontation with police that helped spark the latest round of unrest.

The group Iraq Veterans Against the War said Sabeghi was detained during disturbances that erupted late on Wednesday in downtown Oakland and was charged with resisting arrest and remaining present at the place of a riot.

Police had arrested more than 100 demonstrators in clashes with protesters late on Wednesday and early on Thursday following a day of mostly peaceful rallies against economic inequality, corporate excesses and bailouts of major banks.

Several bank branches were closed and the Port of Oakland was shut down for several hours by the demonstrations.

Brian Kelly, who co-owns a brew pub with Sabeghi, said his business partner told him he was arrested and beaten by a group of policemen as he was leaving the protest to go home.

"He told me he was in the hospital with a lacerated spleen and that the cops had jumped him," Kelly said, adding that Sabeghi had served as an Army Ranger in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"They put him in jail, and he told them he was injured, and they denied him medical treatment for about 18 hours," he said.

The Oakland Police Department did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The veterans' group said in a statement that police struck Sabeghi with nightsticks on his hands, shoulders, ribs and back, and that in addition to a lacerated spleen he suffered from internal bleeding.

Sabeghi's name was listed by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office as among those arrested that night, and Highland General Hospital confirmed he was a patient in its intensive care unit.

CLASHES NEAR PLAZA

City officials have said that eight people -- five civilians and three police officers -- were injured in the late-night confrontations. But it was not immediately clear whether Sabeghi was among those counted as hurt.

Police had remained largely out of sight during Wednesday's protests until busloads of officers in riot gear moved in on demonstrators at about midnight, firing volleys of tear gas to disperse hundreds lingering near a downtown plaza used as a base camp for Occupy Oakland activists.

Police made a second charge with batons and tear gas about an hour later to drive protesters deeper into the square.

City officials said police had acted in response to small pockets of "anarchists" who vandalized property, set fires, assaulted police officers and broke into a downtown building.

Many protesters said that the streets were largely calm when police converged, although sporadic vandalism and unruliness had been reported during the day.

The call for a citywide strike that preceded the confrontations was triggered in part by outrage over Scott Olsen's injuries during a separate confrontation with police last Tuesday that became a rallying cry for the anti-Wall Street protest movement nationwide.

Friends of Olsen's said he was struck in the head by a tear gas canister police fired at protesters who were trying to reclaim control of the downtown plaza after authorities had earlier forcibly removed their encampment.

Army veteran Aaron Hinde told Reuters he visited Olsen this week after Olsen underwent surgery. He said the last thing Olsen remembers before he lost consciousness the night of his injury was being struck in the head with the tear gas canister.

"He still feels some pain, but most part he's awake, he's cognitive, he has a sense of humor and he's taken the whole situation very well, although of course he's upset at the police," Hinde said.

(Additional reporting by Mary Slosson; Editing by Steve Gorman and Cynthia Johnston)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111105/us_nm/us_protests_oakland_veteran

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Gas could indicate new Japan nuclear plant trouble

Officials detected a radioactive gas associated with nuclear fission at Japan's tsunami-damaged atomic power plant Wednesday, indicating there could be a new problem at one of its reactors. They injected a substance that neutralizes nuclear reactions as a precaution.

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Gas from inside the reactor indicated the presence of radioactive xenon, which could be the byproduct of unexpected nuclear fission. Boric acid was being injected through a cooling pipe as a countermeasure because it can counteract nuclear reactions.

The Tokyo Electric Power Co., or TEPCO, said there was no rise in the reactor's temperature, pressure or radiation levels. The company said the radioactive materials inside the reactor had not reached criticality ? the point when nuclear reactions are self-sustaining ? and the detection of the xenon would have no major impact on their efforts to keep the reactor cool and stable.

"We have confirmed that the reactor is stable and we don't believe this will have any impact on our future work," said TEPCO spokesman Osamu Yokokura. He said no radiation leaks outside the plant were detected.

Hiroyuki Imari, a spokesman with the Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency, said the detection of the gas was not believed to indicate a major problem, but its cause was being investigated.

The plant was the site of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

A 12-mile (20-kilometer) exclusion zone has been in effect since the earthquake and tsunami on March 11 crippled the facility north of Tokyo, sending three of its reactors into meltdowns, touching off fires and triggering several explosions.

The latest setback comes as TEPCO had reported significant progress toward stabilizing the plant. TEPCO says it has essentially reached a "cold shutdown" of the plant, meaning the temperatures at the reactors are constant and under control.

Even so, a Japanese government panel says it will take at least 30 years to safely decommission the facility.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45119826/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/

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Loyola nurse practitioner reduces unnecessary emergency department visits

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 4-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Nora Dudley
nplunkett@lumc.edu
708-216-6268
Loyola University Health System

Clinical role improves continuity in care and utilization of resources

MAYWOOD, Ill. -- Adding a nurse practitioner (NP) to a busy hospital staff can decrease unnecessary emergency department (ED) visits, according to a study published in the latest issue of Surgery by researchers at Loyola University Health System. Researchers found that the nurse practitioner reduced ED visits by improving the continuity in care and troubleshooting problems for patients. The addition of an NP also resulted in an improved use of resources and financial benefits for the health system.

"This study demonstrates the important role that nurse practitioners have in our increasingly complex health-care system," said senior author Margo Shoup, MD, FACS, Division Director of Surgical Oncology, Loyola University Health System. "With resident work restrictions and changes in reimbursement, the addition of a nurse practitioner to a busy practice can fill a void and maintain communication and care after a patient is released from the hospital."

This study evaluated the addition of an NP to a department with three surgeons. Patient records were analyzed one year before (415 patients) and one year after (411 patients) the NP joined the staff. The two groups were statistically similar in age, race, type of surgery, length of hospital stay and hospital readmissions. Patients were tracked after they were sent home from the hospital to determine how many unnecessarily returned to the ED. Researchers defined this as an ED visit that did not result in an inpatient admission.

Mary Kay Larson, BS, MSN, CNN, APRN-BC, is the nurse practitioner who was involved with this study. She communicated with patients and coordinated their discharge plan. Telephone conversations with patients increased by 64 percent during this time. Visiting nurse, physical therapy or occupational therapy services also increased from 25 percent before Larson joined the department to 39 percent after. These services resulted in significantly fewer unnecessary ED visits (25 vs. 13 percent) after she was involved.

"The major decrease in ED visits was due in large part to the communication I had with patients after they left the hospital," Larson said. "I routinely checked on their progress and responded to their concerns by ordering lab tests, calling in prescriptions and arranging to care for them in the outpatient setting to maintain continuity in treatment."

In 2003, resident work hours were restricted to 80 hours per week by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Hospitals have had to make adjustments to ensure patients continue to receive the best possible care. LUHS found that adding an NP to this department helped to accommodate this change without jeopardizing patient care.

"Hospitals must continue to adapt to the changing health-care environment," said Dr. Shoup, who also is an associate professor in the Department of Surgery at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. "The addition of a nurse practitioner clearly represents a way that we can adjust to meet the increasing demands of patient care while we are being asked to do more with less."

###

Additional LUHS investigators involved in this study included lead author Lourdes Robles, MD; Michele Slogoff, MD, FACS; Eva Ladwig-Scott, MD; Dan Zank, MD; Larson; and Gerard V. Aranha, MD, FRCSC, FRCSC.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 4-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Nora Dudley
nplunkett@lumc.edu
708-216-6268
Loyola University Health System

Clinical role improves continuity in care and utilization of resources

MAYWOOD, Ill. -- Adding a nurse practitioner (NP) to a busy hospital staff can decrease unnecessary emergency department (ED) visits, according to a study published in the latest issue of Surgery by researchers at Loyola University Health System. Researchers found that the nurse practitioner reduced ED visits by improving the continuity in care and troubleshooting problems for patients. The addition of an NP also resulted in an improved use of resources and financial benefits for the health system.

"This study demonstrates the important role that nurse practitioners have in our increasingly complex health-care system," said senior author Margo Shoup, MD, FACS, Division Director of Surgical Oncology, Loyola University Health System. "With resident work restrictions and changes in reimbursement, the addition of a nurse practitioner to a busy practice can fill a void and maintain communication and care after a patient is released from the hospital."

This study evaluated the addition of an NP to a department with three surgeons. Patient records were analyzed one year before (415 patients) and one year after (411 patients) the NP joined the staff. The two groups were statistically similar in age, race, type of surgery, length of hospital stay and hospital readmissions. Patients were tracked after they were sent home from the hospital to determine how many unnecessarily returned to the ED. Researchers defined this as an ED visit that did not result in an inpatient admission.

Mary Kay Larson, BS, MSN, CNN, APRN-BC, is the nurse practitioner who was involved with this study. She communicated with patients and coordinated their discharge plan. Telephone conversations with patients increased by 64 percent during this time. Visiting nurse, physical therapy or occupational therapy services also increased from 25 percent before Larson joined the department to 39 percent after. These services resulted in significantly fewer unnecessary ED visits (25 vs. 13 percent) after she was involved.

"The major decrease in ED visits was due in large part to the communication I had with patients after they left the hospital," Larson said. "I routinely checked on their progress and responded to their concerns by ordering lab tests, calling in prescriptions and arranging to care for them in the outpatient setting to maintain continuity in treatment."

In 2003, resident work hours were restricted to 80 hours per week by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Hospitals have had to make adjustments to ensure patients continue to receive the best possible care. LUHS found that adding an NP to this department helped to accommodate this change without jeopardizing patient care.

"Hospitals must continue to adapt to the changing health-care environment," said Dr. Shoup, who also is an associate professor in the Department of Surgery at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. "The addition of a nurse practitioner clearly represents a way that we can adjust to meet the increasing demands of patient care while we are being asked to do more with less."

###

Additional LUHS investigators involved in this study included lead author Lourdes Robles, MD; Michele Slogoff, MD, FACS; Eva Ladwig-Scott, MD; Dan Zank, MD; Larson; and Gerard V. Aranha, MD, FRCSC, FRCSC.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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/2011-11/luhs-lnp110411.php

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Low vitamin D common in spine surgery patients; Deficiency may hinder recovery

ScienceDaily (Nov. 3, 2011) ? A new study indicates that many patients undergoing spine surgery have low levels of vitamin D, which may delay their recovery.

In a study of 313 patients undergoing spinal fusion surgery, orthopaedic surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that more than half had inadequate levels of vitamin D, including one-fourth who were more severely deficient.

The researchers report their findings at the 26th Annual Meeting of the North American Spine Society. The study was chosen as one of the meeting's best papers.

"Our findings suggest it may be worthwhile to screen surgery patients for vitamin D," says Jacob M. Buchowski, MD, the study's principal investigator. "We think those with insufficient levels of vitamin D may benefit from taking 50,000 international units of the vitamin once a week for eight weeks before surgery as this may help the recovery after spinal fusion surgery."

Vitamin D helps with calcium absorption, and patients with a deficiency can have difficulty producing new bone. They are at risk for a condition called osteomalacia. Unlike osteoporosis or osteopenia, which result from low bone mineral density, osteomalacia interferes with new bone formation.

All the patients in the study had spinal fusion surgery. In that procedure, surgeons remove discs between two or more vertebrae. The bones in the spine are then attached with hardware and treated with growth factors. As the spine heals, new bone begins to form, and the vertebrae fuse together.

Buchowski became aware of the vitamin D problem when a patient in her 40s experienced a slow recovery after spinal fusion surgery.

"I was examining her and trying to figure out why the vertebrae didn't fuse," he says. "She mentioned that she had recently been diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency, and it was like a 'light bulb' went off."

As a result, Buchowski, an associate professor of orthpaedic surgery and of neurological surgery, and his Washington University colleagues at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, started routinely screening spinal fusion surgery patients for vitamin D deficiency.

Low vitamin D levels are known to be common in elderly patients. Surprisingly in this study, the patients most likely to have inadequate levels of the bone-building vitamin were younger.

"We rarely think about deficiency in younger patients," Buchowski says. "More of the older patients in this study had a history of taking supplements, and as a result, they had less risk for vitamin D deficiency than younger patients."

Although an earlier study had shown inadequate vitamin D levels in 43 percent of patients undergoing orthopedic procedures, this is the first look solely at spine surgery patients.

Those in the study averaged 55 years of age, 56 percent were female, 41 percent were obese, and 95 percent were white. One quarter of the participants had taken vitamin D supplements in the past.

The researchers found that the main risk factors for inadequate vitamin D were smoking, obesity, disability prior to surgery and never having taken vitamin D or multivitamin supplements.

As a follow-up, Buchowski and his colleagues are planning a study to see whether there is a link between low vitamin D and poor outcomes following spinal fusion. In the meantime, he's recommending that patients having orthopedic surgery ensure they're getting enough vitamin D.

Sun exposure is one of the best ways to get the body to produce vitamin D. He also recommends that if they are not getting enough vitamin D, patients consume dairy products fortified with the vitamin and begin taking a vitamin D supplement prior to and following surgery.

"Vitamin D is inexpensive and easily stored in the body," Buchowski says. "My hunch is that having adequate levels may help the spine fuse following surgery."

To maintain bone health and normal calcium metabolism, the Institute of Medicine established a recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin D of 600 international units. Buchowski says patients should work with their doctors to determine what supplemental level is appropriate for them.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Washington University School of Medicine. The original article was written by Jim Dryden.

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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111103081429.htm

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Mario Batali On 'Jimmy Fallon': Bromantic Dinner Gets Derailed By Tracy Morgan (VIDEO)

Last night, Mario Batali appeared on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon to promote two projects of his -- a new cookbook, Molto Mario, and the universally-beloved food talk show The Chew. The appearance had all the makings of a bromantic dinner. The increasingly food-mad Fallon seemed thrilled to have Batali on his show. He checked in on the chef's progress at the stove several times throughout the show:


Once the feast is ready, Batali serves it family-style to Fallon, Late Night regular Steve Higgins and another of the night's guests, Tracy Morgan, of 30 Rock. At first, everything seems to be going well; the food looks delicious, and Batali gets good reactions when he explains his belief in the importance of family dinners. There are a couple minor snags when Morgan makes strange, inaudible remarks and when the audience laughs at Batali's suggestion that such a copious meal should be a regular event. But Fallon deftly steers the conversation to The Chew, and all seems to be OK.

Midway through the meal, though, things start to go awry. Thanks to Tracy Morgan, what started as a scrumptious, bromantic dinner becomes a circus. The craziness culminates in Morgan's announcement that his father is Newt Gingrich. It would be too difficult to try and explain how he gets there -- so watch the clip below to find out yourself.
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/02/mario-batali-jimmy-fallon_n_1071605.html

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Amazon Cloud Player iPhone App Disappears From iTunes Store (Mashable)

Update: We've heard from the developer who tells us the app was pulled at the request of Amazon, not Apple. We're following up on this story and will update with additional information. An iPhone app that allows users to access Amazon Cloud Player has been removed from the iTunes App Store, due to what its creator calls "legal issues."

[More from Mashable: Gmail Changes Again: Google Rolls Out New Look]

The app, aMusic, comes not from Amazon but from startup Interactive Innovative Solutions. Until Tuesday, the app was available in the App Store for $1.99 and allowed users a way to access their Amazon tunes without having to go through a series of complex steps in a non-Safari browser app.

SEE ALSO: Why Amazon Had Cloud Music App Pulled From the App Store

[More from Mashable: Google GoMo Helps Businesses Go Mobile]

Mashable highlighted the app, along with its Google Music counterpart, gMusic [iTunes link] in a roundup of music apps and tools published last week.

"There are some legal issues with the music industry," James Clancey of IIS told Evolver.fm in a statement. about the removal of aMusic from the App Store. "The aMusic [app] is down temporarily. It will be back. Unfortunately I do not have a specific date when it will be back.

"Also, Apple has been delaying my gMusic update. I submitted it two weeks ago. Every other update I have submitted ... has been approved in under eight hours. So not sure what the deal is."

Sites like Evolver.fm and Cult of Mac are pointing the finger at music labels (who already have issues with Amazon and Google's forays into digital music storage) and Apple, which could view the apps as a competitor to iTunes.

The music industry has forced the removal of music apps from online stores in the past -- notably with Grooveshark. Grooveshark was removed from the App Store in 2010 and was also pulled from the Android Market earlier this spring.

Apple, meanwhile, pulled apps that facilitate BitTorrent activity. Still, once banned doesn't mean always banned. Apple famously refused to allow official and unofficial Google Voice apps from the App Store. But Apple relented 14 months later, allowing those apps (and an official variant) back in the App Store.

As for the fate of aMusic, only time will tell. For Amazon Cloud Player users, it was a nice app -- and a solid alternative to iTunes.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/digitalmusic/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/mashable/20111101/tc_mashable/amazon_cloud_player_iphone_app_disappears_from_itunes_store

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PHOTO: See Heidi Klum's Freaky Halloween Costume

While many beautiful women choose Halloween costumes that are revealing, supermodel Heidi Klum has taken the idea to a whole new level. The Project Runway host managed to surprise everyone at the Halloween party she hosted in Las Vegas with a second-skin costume of what's under her skin.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/photo-see-heidi-klums-freaky-halloween-costume/1-a-397717?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aphoto-see-heidi-klums-freaky-halloween-costume-397717

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