Locks of antimatter

Scientists at CERN, the European nuclear research facility, say they have produced and trapped molecules of antihydrogen, a form of antimatter. Physicist Jeffrey Hangst explains how they were made and captured. Will trapping antimatter help scientists learn about the construction of the universe?

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IRA FLATOW, host:

Up next, on the trail of the elusive antimatter.

(Soundbite of movie, "Angels and Demons")

Unidentified Man (Actor): (as character) We have a signal on the (unintelligible) monitors. We have events.

FLATOW: Remember that scene from "Angels and Demons"? It showed scientists at CERN running experiments with a Large Hadron Collider and capturing antimatter in a bottle? Well, this week scientists at CERN - real scientists and not the movie variety - announced the same thing almost. They say they have finally produced and captured antimatter - antihydrogen, exactly - long enough to study it, not a very long time, though, it's about a second, but it doesn't last long enough to be captured in a vial like in the movie, so they didn't get that part down yet.

Here to tell us how they did it and what the physicists hope to learn from this antihydrogen is my guest Jeffrey Hangst. He's professor in the Department of Astronomy and Physics at Aarhus, the university in Denmark. And he joins us from Switzerland. Welcome to SCIENCE FRIDAY.

Professor JEFFREY HANGST (Aarhus University): Thank you very much. Although, I think it's going to be hard to follow that oboe stuff.

(Soundbite of laughter)

FLATOW: You mean antimatter is not sexy enough to follow an oboe made out of a straw. I think it is. How were you able to capture antimatter?

Prof. HANGST: Okay. We have kind of a magnetic trap. Antihydrogen is neutral, so it has no net charge. So you can't trap it the way we normally trap charged particles. It has a little magnetic character, like a little compass needle that flies around with the atom. So it can be deflected by very strong magnetic fields. And what we did here was we created the antihydrogen atom in the magnetic trap. So that if it was cold enough or moving slowly enough, it didn't escape this magnetic bottle.

FLATOW: Hmm. And how many atoms were you able to capture?

Prof. HANGST: Well, in this article we reported 38 as a proof of principle. This was the first signal that we saw, so of course we report the signal as soon as it comes because we've been working a long time to see anything at all. So this is a proof of principle experiment, but we're making steady progress since then.

FLATOW: Now, what is the difference between antihydrogen and the real or the regular hydrogen we see around us?

Prof. HANGST: That's exactly the question that we'd like to answer. The laws of physics say that hydrogen and antihydrogen should behave in the same way. The problem is that nature chose to only give us matter. You know, people think at the Big Bang there were equal quantities of matter and antimatter, but for some reason the antimatter has disappeared. It's like nature took a left turn instead of a right turn and chose matter. So we don't know what happened to the antimatter. So we'd like to study and see if there's some fundamental difference between the two that the current laws of physics have overlooked.

FLATOW: Hmm. And you were able to capture it for one second. Is that - and you say this is a proof of concept. Does that mean that theoretically you can capture it for a longer amount of time?

Prof. HANGST: Not just theoretically. The antimatter didn't escape in this experiment. We threw it out. The way we show that we've trapped it, we have to first trap it and then release it intentionally. The thing about antimatter is that when it meets matter it annihilates it. It makes a little microscopic explosion that we're very good at detecting. So the way that you show that you've trapped antihydrogen is to intentionally let it go at a given time. So the time that we stored the antimatter for in that experiment was by choice, not by some limit. We've already succeeded in storing it for much, much longer times.

FLATOW: How much longer?

Prof. HANGST: I can't tell you because we...

(Soundbite of laughter)

FLATOW: You'd have to shoot me then.

Prof. HANGST: Yeah. It's not like that. It's just that we don't quote published numbers. But I usually say it's a number that you could measure with a watch. Okay?

FLATOW: Okay. And when you say well, isn't it there we always see in the movies and we hear, you know, what happens when antimatter annihilates with matter is there's huge explosion. Wasn't there a huge explosion or danger one?

Prof. HANGST: But - on the microscopic level, it's a huge explosion. But the amount of energy from a few atoms is completely negligible. In fact, the total amount of antimatter produced at CERN in all of its history would barely boil your coffee. And so the - for us, it's easy to detect but it's of absolutely no danger to anyone anywhere. I usually say it would take longer than the age of the universe to create just one gram of antimatter. So you don't need to worry about that.

FLATOW: Yeah. And now, what practical value comes out of this work?

Prof. HANGST: Absolutely none. This is basic research at the most fundamental level. We're asking about, what's the structure of space and time? Can we learn something about what we usually refer to as symmetry in nature? Is there a difference between left and right? What happens if time runs backwards? Is there a difference between matter and antimatter? You can actually get paid for trying to answer those questions.

FLATOW: And we think you should, actually.

Prof. HANGST: Yes.

FLATOW: But everything has to have a, you know, discernible who knows, somewhere down the line, there might be was it "Star Trek" where they have antimatter running in their engines there?

Prof. HANGST: Yeah, that's true. I don't know where they found that. But if you found some antimatter, okay, first you should keep it at a safe distance. But then you could consider it as an energy source. The problem is that if you try to make antimatter in the laboratory, it requires much, much more energy than you would ever get out of it. It's a complete loser as an energy source. So that's really science fiction.

FLATOW: Hmm. But it's also a kind of science fictiony(ph) but fact to think that if there was equal amounts of matter and antimatter at the Big Bang, where did it all go?

Prof. HANGST: Yeah. But I'm not sure that our experiment will ever address that question. We're interested more in: Do the laws of physics be applied in the same way to matter and antimatter?

There are other experiments at CERN that are trying to address that question more directly. Those are at the LHC. Our experiment doesn't use the LHC in any way, in contrary to what you've seen in Dan Brown's films and movies. We work at a low energy accelerator.

In fact, CERN has the only accelerator in the world that works in reverse. We actually slow the antiprotons down. We need to have them at very low energy, very cold, in order to make them and hold on to them.

FLATOW: And how did you actually make this antimatter?

Prof. HANGST: Very slowly.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Prof. HANGST: What you do is you take the components of the antihydrogen atom. Okay. We start with hydrogen, because that's the simplest atom. Everybody remembers from high school, hopefully, it has a proton and a nucleus with a positive charge, and an electron negatively charged orbiting around it. That's the normal atom cartoon that we all see.

FLATOW: Right.

Prof. HANGST: So antihydrogen is the identical but opposite. So the antiproton has a negative charge and is in the center of the atom. And the positron, or anti-electron, is the thing doing the orbiting. We're at CERN because they provide us with antiprotons. We have to make those in the accelerator. And this is where Mr. Einstein comes in, E=MC2. What CERN does is use E, energy, to make M, mass, right?

FLATOW: Right.

Prof. HANGST: So we use energy to produce mass. And here's the curious thing. When you do that, you always make equal amounts of matter and antimatter. In the laboratory, if you produce an antiproton, you produce a proton at the same time. That seems to be a fundamental law. And that's why we're confused about the beginning of the universe.

So we make this stuff within the big accelerator and then slow it down. We want it at really cold temperatures when we combine antiprotons and positrons to make antihydrogen atoms.

FLATOW: Quite fascinating. And so, then you sort of recycle it when you're done with it, right? Getting and so you this could have been done years ago, do you think? Or just people...

Prof. HANGST: No, no, no. We've been working on this steadily since the well, the history of the field goes to the late '80s. And there's been no pause or let up in the attempt to get this far. The last big breakthrough was in 2002.

There's another experiment that we had called ATHENA, where we actually produced a lot of antihydrogen atoms for the first time. So we've been producing them for the last eight years. It's only now that we've learned how to hold on to them so they don't run off and annihilate.

FLATOW: So you caught lightning in a bottle.

Prof. HANGST: That's a good way to look at it, yes.

FLATOW: Yeah. Well, we want to wish you good luck.

Prof. HANGST: Thanks very much.

FLATOW: And thank you for taking time to be with us.

Prof. HANGST: Hey, it's my pleasure.

FLATOW: And...

Prof. HANGST: And thank you for your interest.

FLATOW: Yeah, because we're very interested in this topic. And we'll check in with you when the research continues.

Prof. HANGST: Okay. Thank you very much.

FLATOW: Thank you.

Prof. HANGST: Okay.

FLATOW: We were talking about antimatter being caught in a bottle at CERN with Jeffrey Hangst, at - professor in Department of Astronomy and Physics at Aarhus University in Denmark, but he was in Switzerland when we were talking about him.

(Soundbite of music)

FLATOW: A quick note to mark the passing of astronomer Dr. Brian Marsden, supervisor of astronomy at The Smithsonian Physical Observatory and director emeritus of the Minor Planet Center, frequent guest on the program. Dr. Marsden was known for his expertise in identifying comets.

(Soundbite of archived audio)

Dr. BRIAN MARSDEN (Former Supervisor of Astronomy, The Smithsonian Physical Observatory): Comets are a dirty snowball or a snowy dirt ball, if you want to call it that. As the ice vaporizes and turns to gas, it releases this dust. Some of the dust sticks around with some of that gas around...

FLATOW: And he was on our program back in 1994, talking about comets. He was an expert on that. He also was warning us to keep our eyes watching out for asteroids that might collide with the Earth. He was also, well you might remember, one of the first to call for the demotion of Pluto out of the family of planets. But none of his scientific work, I don't think, would have received the widespread attention that it deserved if he had not been such a vocal and visible scientist, and someone who was always eager to come on SCIENCE FRIDAY and talk to the public whenever he could.

Brian Marsden, dead at the age of 73 after a long illness.

I'm Ira Flatow. This is SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR.

Copyright © 2010 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

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Creamy asparagus soup recipe

Asparagus cream soup one of my is comfort favorite cooler weather food. However, I do it slightly different than most. You can't tell by his appearance and perhaps even the taste but my version of this delicacy is complete dairy free. I guess that I to replace the cream or milk with soy milk. False. Instead I use the taste and texture of raw cashew nuts to the wealth of cream while at the same time to imitate, improve the overall nutritional composition of the final product.

There are obvious and subtle differences be found if cashews to compare heavy cream. A half cup serving raw cashew nuts rings in at approximately 360 calories. It offers approximately 10 grams protein and 30 grams mainly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Heavy cream is about 410 calories per 4 oz. The majority of energy comes from saturated fatty acids (44 G).Other differences include higher levels of antioxidants, fiber and phytochemicals in cashew nuts.(1,2,3,4,5)

One of the best features of nuts such as cashews is to improve the nutritional composition of ones diet without weight gain - when eaten in moderation are capable. A recent analysis of Louisiana State University found that regular tree nut consumption significantly improvements nutritional value over increased intake of calcium, fiber, magnesium, potassium and vitamin E led.These same people showed a tendency consume less sodium on a daily basis.And while eating nuts often results in a slightly higher calorie intake, this gain in calories is not affiliated with Gewichtszunahme.In demonstrates some research that including nuts in those diet contributes risk of a long-term weight to reduce win Act.(6,7,8)

Healthy fellow cream of asparagus soup
32 Ounce organic vegetable broth
12 Oz organic asparagus Spears
1/2 Cup organic, raw cashew nuts
2 Tablespoons organic, extra vergine olive oil
2 large organic shallots
organic black pepper to taste
NutraSalt or salt to taste

Nutrition content: Calories: 130. Protein: 3 grams. Fat: 10 Grams. Fiber: 2 G."Net" carbohydrates:6 Grams.

Pour the olive oil in a large soup pot on medium low heat.Roll the shallots and the hot oil to soften.Rough chop the asparagus Spears and add the pot.Season generously with salt and pepper and cooking for 5 minutes.Stir occasionally to prevent the shallots burn.Stir in the vegetable broth and cover the pot. simmer for 5 minutes.Turn the heat and add the cashews.Use a hand blender, puree the soup in a creamy consistency.Check seasoning and accordingly adjust.

Tree nut consumption may help prevent weight gain 

I personally use a variety of dairy products in my own Ernährung.jedoch some people not tolerate or object from philosophical Gründen.Das is why I always like to have to alternatives to the hand when guests come to besuchen.Aber is yet another reason why I occasionally a familiar food from my own diet omit: diet diversity to promote it is much easier for milk products, exposed as cashews application more, do not always and kept the same foods to eat the way, a wide range of phytochemicals, naturally occurring minerals and vitamins genießen.Kurz telling your bases helps to mix it to you in the kitchen the nutritional front and cover.

You may have noticed that I spend the recipe ingredient not at any time in today's column on the stars: Spargel.Ich recently wrote a column, which focused on health, the promotion potential of Asparagus officinalis, so I, decided not to previous material I'll tell Runderneuerung.jedoch I first and foremost, chosen because it packs use impressive nutritional punch this low Glycemic, non starchy Gemüse.Ein 12 ounce bags of asparagus Spears income less than 90 calories and contributes a significant amount of protein, fiber, potassium and vitamin an excellent example c.Dieses for how much healthy vegetables of each diet program, including low-carbohydrate diet can add.

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S.m.a.r.t.-objectives: an essential step in strategy formulation

By MATT MODLESKI

We are often asked to organizational strategy weigh when the proverbial "House is on fire" and a client will experience business challenges. Our first question to the CEO and his staff as soon as we our consulting to begin journey is simply, "what is your goal?" Many times it is uncomfortable silence or clients offer an admirable and ambitious objectives which are not quantifiable.Things like "We want to be a high quality provider" or "We want to inspire our customers."In an instance of a CFO told us "I will make the financial objective later, I want to talk strategy!"

Aspirational and inspiring rhetoric is valuable in many related.Leadership inspires energy and enthusiasm with aspirational declarations from the podium. And mission and vision statements are accordingly with statements on efforts and commitments we want our Organization to "do and be."That's ok. What is wrong if we confuse these things with business performance goals.

Needless to say, no clear lenses, there can be no clear strategy. If there no clear s.m.a.r.t.-target, an organization has difficulty who decide how you align activities and resources in ways that will lead this objective.For example, is "to the quality provider" much less clear than to say "till December 31, 2011, we will hospitals in employee satisfaction scores in the top 15% of the VHA."

A clear, focused goal is the first step in creating Gewinnstrategie.Aber discipline, which for the first and crucial step required is often defective. Or if the willingness to articulate a goal often present lacks the strict necessary, really focused one to create.

Before we can evaluate the strategy and tactical plan supported in all strategic plan, the strategy, we need a s.m.a.r.t.-purpose. Whether we are talking about an organization, a business unit or individual, in which we are confronted with evolving terrain change realities that force, and can we assess our strategy we must start with the objective.

So let's do a quick refresher on the s.m.a.r.t.-code. 100% Boards to pass strict on each abbreviation must all targets:

S PECIFIC: hone in want to achieve with a focus on exactly what it is.

M edible: mathematics people Mathematik.Jedes arithmetic components must target.Share growth, raw unit volume or dollar volume, number of measurable Responses…etc.

A Ttainable: Stretch is good but let us not mission so ambitious that there is no way we'll it getroffen.Zu much stretch and teams are never the journey involved in accomplishing the target have.

R-Ealistic: this is not redundant to the achievable plank. This measure provides balance achievable Herausforderung.Wir want too much stretch in our goal but we also want under set of the bar.That are "A and R" checks and balances to ensure the correct amount of healthy tension in our goal.

T IME bound: participation in the proverbial sand on the drop dead return date that would like to celebrate, have reached your destination.Why? because we, when the party favors and balloons for the celebration to shop need to know.Seriously people "Perpetual in the entire 2011" as your drop dead, date assures that energy and focus on the importance of the objective will dissipate.

The remaining steps in the strategic process include a thorough knowledge of themselves, the environment and competition, which then strengthen of an honest assessment of your unique culminating against the competition.Once these unique strengths was distilled the power efficiently reaching the raw material for most should have your destination is selected and tactically executed.The strategic process rigorous in all aspects fehlt.Klingen is focus away from a longer view of our world and the hardships which draw sometimes strategic processes, short-term tactical distractions and quarterly earnings "Panic" often.

Rigorous strategic processes start with the clear intention and preferably in s.m.a.r.t.-objectives are grounded.So what is s.m.a.r.t.-target the ACO's development, or for that matter in healthcare reform as a whole? "Improving the quality of care while reducing costs through collaborative care" sounds good, but existed the s.m.a.r.t.-test?Since the reform law seem as written, links less than strict an enormous amount of latitude in HHS and CMS, many of the elements of sound strategic planning at this Punkt.Und frankly, could a singular s.m.a.r.t.-aim for the health the Attainable and realistic test despite our best efforts to create are one.

A more cautious approach would s.m.a.r.t.-herstellen.Diejenigen objectives objectives within the health care chain for certain reform could such as access, quality, commercial insurance and federal and Government plans enthalten.sobald s.m.a.r.t.-objectives within these targets have been set up, we could see more accurately and relevant an ACO model.

Less than strict s.m.a.r.t.-objectives often become a causal variable in organizational performance deficiencies and Herausforderungen.Wenn contribute to the moral business units and individuals are insecure are how the organization defines a "win", be it a lack of commitment and Fokus.Und you probably because these two pieces of the strategic plan reform shaky at best as Lewis Carol ", ACO Street looks pretty well" could have said!

Matt Modleski is a Vice President with Stovall Grainger Modleski Inc, a strategically focused organization that consulted and of goods and services for the healthcare has trains customers and marketing Wirtschaft.Matt extensive experience in strategic direction, management and healthcare was his work in the health sector, sales Beratung.Vor and moves by an experienced pilot marketing Matt 355th wing instructor was the ranks in the U.S. Luftwaffe.Er rider of the year and also a lead member of the United States Air Force air demonstration Squadron, better known as the Thunderbirds.

Yes, you Suggsted everyone Hae smart and all people must obey follow.

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The Penguin problem

Nobody moves when everyone moves so that no one moves.

  To overcome the Penguin problem has to do a lot with creating expectations.A recent letter from Dr. James O'Connor in the doctor presses practice a voice from the physician community which I never before heard haben.seinem essay is entitled "use meaningful — doctors have no choice ".

Dr. O'Connor argues that doctors are effectively forced the adoption facts cited EHRs.Er and achieved a powerful conclusion:

Revisiting the Penguin problem of EHR adoption. What here's happening?

View Dr. O'Connor's comments relating to the Penguin problem the EHR adoption:

Should Dr. O'Connor's write as a sentinel event - a possible early signal of massive changes ahead? Las his conclusion and consider associations such as the collective actions of the Federal Government, payer and doctors strong expectations of EHR adoption create:

I never seen an article like Dr. O'Connor's plan - a letter from a doctor that to effectively express that doctors are feeling pressure to rise ice floe and directly into the aquatic environment of the EPO adoption.

Is pressure acts as a slight nudge or a painful is perceived in the butt? Dr. O's article suggests the latter, but let's leave the topic for another discussion.

... and you're either way, the ice floe and swimming in the ocean of EHR adoption.

An article by a doctor is probably not enough to get all the penguins in the Water…but, it definitely is noted importance and continue to dribble

Is Vince Kuraitis JD, MBA health care consultant and principal author of the e Care Management blog where was this post.

THCB the more I read the more I have the impression that the EPA for the healthcare analysts always what bloodletting to doctors of the nineteenth century - magic bullet with unrealistic war.Und I'm someone who who actually supports EHR and who worked with 3 different EPA since residency in 2000.

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Best of natural liver protection

The word “detoxification” is frequently mentioned in holistic circles. Perhaps the most important organ involved in this process is the liver. Without it, the body could not handle exposure to alcohol, environmental contaminants, junk food and even medications. The liver is responsible for promoting healthy blood (via the production of albumin and clotting factors) and combats fatigue by storing fat as an source of energy. Furthermore, it also aids in the absorption of life promoting nutrients such as CoQ10, Vitamins A, D, E and K. Simply put, without a properly functioning liver, one cannot live a vigorous life.

An herb known as milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is probably the best known natural remedy that supports healthy liver function. It has garnered this reputation with good reason. But there are some other lesser known ways to protect the liver as well. (1,2,3)

Liver Protector #1 – Coffee

A new study appearing in the journal Hepatology examined a proposed link between coffee consumption and hepatitis C outcomes. 766 Hep C patients were medically evaluated every 3 months for almost 4 years. During that time, they reported their average coffee and tea intake. Researchers found a dose dependent protective effect afforded by regular coffee use. The relative risk of disease progression was 30% lower in those drinking 1-3 cups of coffee per day and 53% lower in participants drinking 3 or more cups daily. An interesting side note is that black and green tea did not appear to confer the same benefit. Prior population studies appear to support the superiority of coffee vs. tea in this particular circumstance. The exact mechanism by which coffee imparts this protective effect isn’t clear at this time. However, some scientists suspect that certain phytochemicals in coffee (cafestol, diterpenes and kahweol) may block the damaging effects of toxins on this vital organ. (4,5,6)

Liver Protector #2 – Coenzyme Q10

Coenzyme Q10 is a vitamin-like substance produced by the body that plays an integral role in maintaining a healthy cardiovascular system and supporting cellular energy. The liver is one of the richest sources of CoQ10. Perhaps this is why a recent study presented in the journal Biochemical Pharmacology points to its application in protecting against liver damage caused by a poor diet.

A group of mice was fed a junk food diet or a “balanced diet” for 8 weeks.The unhealthy diet was higher in fat and included 21% added fructose in the water supply.Some of the mice receiving the unhealthy drink and food were also supplemented with CoQ10.

The researchers reported that the junk food mice ate more, gained weight and demonstrated elevated blood sugar and “impaired glucose tolerance”. There was also a significant increase in inflammation and oxidative stress – particularly with regard to liver metabolism. On the other hand, CoQ10 supplementation countered some of these ill effects by decreasing liver inflammation and stress markers via altered gene expression in the liver. This is not the first mention of a hepatoprotective effect of CoQ10 in the medical literature. Other trials have concluded that this coenzyme may combat symptoms of cirrhosis and even mitigate the harmful effects of certain medications on the liver. (7,8,9)

Liver Protector #3 – Krill Oil

Krill oil is a valuable source of omega-3 fatty acids, phospholipids and a potent antioxidant known as astaxanthin, a carotenoid that gives wild salmon its distinctive pink color. The October 2009 edition of the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry points to a relatively new method for shielding the heart and liver against dietary insults. Much like the previous study using CoQ10, the mice in this experiment were fed two different types of diet: 1) a “standard feed” that was used for comparison purposes; and 2) a heavily processed feed that was intended to tax the cardiovascular system and liver. The researchers then added krill oil to the chow of some of the lab animals that were fed the unhealthy diet.

The mice who received krill oil while eating the unhealthy diet showed a reduction in liver fat content and liver weight.Lower levels of blood sugar, cholesterol and triglycerides were also detected in the krill supplemented group.

It’s also interesting to note that krill oil provoked an increase in adiponectin levels. This is a substance released by fat cells that helps to regulate lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides) and promotes insulin sensitivity. Higher levels of this hormone are connected to improved cardiovascular health and a reduced risk of diabetes. In general, marine-based omega-3 fats have been shown to support hepatic health. But krill oil appears to be more effective than fish oil in this regard. However, this conclusion needs to be interpreted with caution because it’s based on a very limited number of studies. (10,11,12)

Source: Can Fam Physician 2007;53:857-863 (a)

The single best way to support the liver is to avoid harming it in the first place. We all understand that abusing alcohol and drugs can ruin virtually any organ or system in the body. But not everyone is aware of the damage caused by consuming excessive carbohydrates on a regular basis. Even moderate amounts of carbs in the form of added sweeteners can lead to harmful shifts in lipid profiles and liver health markers. This is according to a new study conducted at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle, Washington. The worst sweeteners appear to be the fructose based variety – agave nectar, crystalline fructose and high fructose corn syrup. A recent review in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry again points to fructose as a primary culprit in the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. On the flip side of the coin, the October 2009 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition explains that higher protein intake may actually lower fatty deposits in the liver – via increased bile acid production. (13,14,15)

There may never be a drug, food or supplement that allows us to eat and live recklessly without suffering the consequences. However, I am a realist and do understand that most people don’t always eat and exercise as they should. Coffee, CoQ10 and krill oil may help overcome genetic weaknesses or the occasional dietary indulgence. But ultimately it’s important to remember that “supplements are meant to supplement an otherwise healthy lifestyle”. When used in that fashion, they can often be the body’s best friend.

Update: November 2010 - An analysis in the September 2010 issue of the journal Digestive Diseases and Sciences determined that as many as 92% of patients with chronic liver disease are deficient in Vitamin D. A lack of D or cholecalciferol is most commonly associated with poor bone density. However, new evidence details a much more direct role for this nutrient in the management of the liver disease hepatitis C. A recent Italian trial evaluated the connection between Vitamin D concentrations and the response rate to conventional treatment of recurrent hepatitis C (RHC). A total of 42 patients with RHC took part in the 48 week examination. Fifteen of the study volunteers were given supplemental Vitamin D in order to address an overt deficiency and prevent further bone loss. In this subset of participants, 13 responded well to treatment by exhibiting “sustained viral response”. This compared favorably to the remainder of the non-supplemented participants: only 1 in 10 patients with severe Vitamin D deficiency (10 to 20 ng/ml) demonstrated sustained viral response. The conclusion of the study states that “Vitamin D deficiency predicts an unfavorable response to antiviral treatment of RHC. Vitamin D supplementation improves the probability of achieving a SVR following antiviral treatment”. This suggests that anyone concerned about or living with a liver condition would do well to monitor 25-OH Vitamin D serum levels. (16,17,18)

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Are you safe airport scanner?

Some airport body scanning machines use X-rays to generate images. How much radiation is a traveler exposed to? Should frequent fliers opt for a pat down instead? Radiation expert David Brenner explains the possible public health concerns of scanning millions of passengers.

Copyright © 2010 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

IRA FLATOW, host:

This is SCIENCE FRIDAY. I'm Ira Flatow.

Lots of talk this week about public resistance to the new full-body scanning machines at the airports. The full-body scan, which penetrates your clothes, showing great detail, is done using one of two different machines. There's one machine that uses millimeter waves that's - millimeter wave machine, and there's another one that uses X-rays. And it's the latter that have radiation experts buzzing because they subject passengers to what the TSA and the FDA say is a miniscule amount of ionizing radiation.

But just because it's a small amount, does that mean it's safe? And how do scientists know what a safe dose of radiation is? In addition, some TSA workers are exposed to small amounts of radiation that may leak or escape the baggage X-ray machines. How much of a risk do they face from accumulated radiation exposure?

Joining me to talk about it is my guest. David J. Brenner is the Higgins Professor of Radiation Biophysics at Columbia University. He's also director of the Center for Radiological Research there, and that's the oldest and largest radiological research center in the country. It was founded by a student of Marie Curie.

Welcome to SCIENCE FRIDAY, Dr. Brenner.

Dr. DAVID J. BRENNER (Higgins Professor of Radiation Biophysics, Columbia University): A pleasure to be here, Ira.

FLATOW: Yeah. Thank you. Let's talk about the machines that scan the people -there are two basic types, right?

Dr. BRENNER: Yes, there are. One is usually called millimeter wave scan machine and the other is called X-ray backscatter machine. In fact, they both work on the same basic principle of firing a beam of radiation at the individual and looking at what it's reflected back, quite similar to radar or sonar, but in one case using millimeter waves which are not so different from microwaves, in fact, and the other uses X-rays.

FLATOW: Mm-hmm. And it's the backscatter X-ray machines that give you a dose of X-ray radiation?

Dr. BRENNER: That's correct. As far as we know - one can never say something is safe - but as far as we know, there is no health hazard associated with the millimeter wave scanners. So the concern is more about the X-ray scanners.

FLATOW: Mm-hmmm. And what is that concern?

Dr. BRENNER: Well, we know that X-rays can damage DNA in cells, and we know that X-rays can ultimately produce cancer. So the concern is about the possibility of inducing X-ray-induced cancer in one of the individuals who's scanned.

FLATOW: Mm-hmm. On their website, the FDA says that these X-ray machines, quote, "deliver an extremely low dose of radiation to the person being screened. The radiation is so low that there's no need to limit the number of individuals screened or in most cases the number of screening an individual can have in a year."

Dr. BRENNER: Well, I certainly agree with the first part of that statement. The radiation doses we're talking about here are exceedingly low. I think there's some evidence they're a little bit higher than the TSA are stating, but even then the dose is still very low. And what that means is that the risk is extremely low for any individual going once through one of the scanners.

FLATOW: Mm-hmm.

Dr. BRENNER: The concerns we have are actually twofold. One is that there are actually a lot of people who go through airport security many times. One group, of course, is airline pilots, another group is frequent fliers. A typical commercial airline pilot in this country goes through security anywhere from 200 to 400 times a year. So that means that the very small risk from an individual scan is multiplied by that number 200 or 300 times for a pilot, or for a frequent flier, in fact. There's certainly frequent fliers who go through the security that many times in a year.

FLATOW: Or a flight attendant.

Dr. BRENNER: Or flight attendants, indeed.

FLATOW: I was talking to one on the plane the other day about this and I asked her if she was fearful. And she said, you know, I've been a flight attendant for 40 years. And she said just being up here at 35,000 feet for six hours at a time, I get plenty of radiation alone from just being that far above the Earth and the pilots do also. And, you know, I'm the last person who wants to walk through one of these machines.

Dr. BRENNER: Well, I would agree with that. And you could argue that the radiation that pilots and the rest of the air personnel get from natural sources is inevitable. There's nothing you can do about that. But the radiation from the scans, certainly, one could avoid if one used, for example, a millimeter wave scanners, which don't involve X-rays at all.

FLATOW: Well, why don't we just use those then? Why not use the - do away with the X-ray scanners and just use the millimeter ones and everybody might feel better?

Dr. BRENNER: I certainly would. It's hard to know what the logic is. I mean, I think the logic must be that the TSA believes both of them are safe and so they're using both of these devices. But there is certainly not conclusive evidence but convincing evidence that there will be some cancers induced some time in the future by these X-ray devices.

FLATOW: Mm-hmm.

Dr. BRENNER: The issue, Ira, is even though the individual risk is very small, we also think, when we think about risk, in terms of the population risk -that's the risk - we've factored in the number of people exposed to that risk. And what's happened in this field is until 2010, these machines were used actually quite rarely. They were not first-line screening devices. They were used for random checks and for people with - who have some special interest in.

But after the Christmas Day bombing of last year, the so-called underwear bomber, the TSA changed their policy and decided to use these devices as a frontline screening device, essentially, ideally for everybody.

FLATOW: Mm-hmm.

Dr. BRENNER: So what that meant is that the number of people being scanned has gone up or is going to go up quite dramatically. You know, the number of people going through airports at the moment is something like 750 million per year in the U.S. That's a big number.

So imagine all of those people getting scanned. So we have a small risk, but we have an awful lot of people exposed to that small risk. And that gives you a public health concern as well as a concern for the individuals.

FLATOW: Have independent labs verified that these scanning machines are giving the low-level radiation that the TSA says they are?

Dr. BRENNER: Well, the answer is no. It would be good - and I think this really should happen - that these machines become available for the general scientific community to actually assess what the radiation doses actually are. At the moment, people are having to do it in a rather indirect way. You look at the images, the pictures that you've probably seen on the Internet from these devices, and you can work backwards from the quality of the image to how much radiation dose was actually produced...

FLATOW: Mm-hmm.

Dr. BRENNER: ...needed to generate that image.

FLATOW: Mm-hmm.

Dr. BRENNER: And it's actually rather larger than the TSA's numbers. But what we really need is some independent measurements.

FLATOW: So you suspect that those numbers may be higher because the picture is so good?

Dr. BRENNER: Well, because the picture is moderately good, I would say.

FLATOW: Mm-hmm.

Dr. BRENNER: And even if they're higher, the doses are still very low - that, I think, one must say. But they're probably somewhat higher than the TSA's estimates at this point.

FLATOW: Let's talk a bit - only a couple of minutes we have left - about the baggage handlers, because they stay by those baggage machines. And there was a study that came out in 2008 that sort of flew under radar screen, I think, of anybody's attention. It was a study by NIOSH, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, at the request of the TSA, to determine the level of radiation emissions from these systems that scan the baggage. And they had some very disquieting conclusions about what they found.

Dr. BRENNER: Yeah, indeed. They found that the handlers were actually getting radiation exposure that we didn't expect, in part, because they were reaching into the machines. And, yeah, that that really shouldn't have happened. And it indicates some failure in terms of the quality control of the whole system.

FLATOW: Well shouldn't the TSA workers being wearing badges? Everywhere you go that people are around radiation in hospitals, in clinics or dentists, wears a badge to see what their cumulative exposure is.

Mr. BRENNER: Absolutely I work at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital here and everybody associated with radiation work wears a film badge and it's easy and it's inexpensive and so every month there is a reading of how much radiation exposure anyone wearing the film badge gets. It would sound an alarm if there are any possible over-exposures. So it's a no-brainer in many ways for the folks associated with these devices to wear film badges.

FLATOW: Yet they tell us from personal communications that they're afraid or discouraged from wearing them. It's not against the rules but they're told, you know, it has to be out of sight, some people have said.

Mr. BRENNER: Yeah, that's a little surprising. I mean, and the film badges have to be organized by the employers because the film badges then have to be sent off to be read and analyzed so it's not something you can really do on an individual personal basis. It's something that the employers have to organize.

FLATOW: And so we don't know even after this report came out, we don't know if any practices have changed.

Mr. BRENNER: I certainly haven't seen film badges on personnel in airports. I don't know if you have.

FLATOW: No, well as I say when I don't see them I ask them and I ask why and some people know about it. Some people don't know about it. And you get some of the answers from when I go through there and I say, are you fearful of the machine? Are you getting any exposure? And many of them tell you, oh, I'm getting a little bit but it's not harmful.

Mr. BRENNER: Well, small amounts, very low doses of radiation on an individual basis probably are not so harmful but radiation is cumulative. It builds up over time. And if a large population of people are being exposed to radiation that's also a problem.

FLATOW: Mm-hmm. And so as far as the personal scanning and the choice between these two machines, one ,if we did away with the X-rays people might not worry about any X-ray radiation because there is a technology to use the millimeter.

Mr. BRENNER: I think that's true.

FLATOW: Is there any sound, sonic kind of ultrasound scanner that they might develop?

Mr. BRENNER: Ultrasound has not proved very successful. It has been tried in fact and it doesn't seem to have worked very well. The two devices that seem to give the best images are the X-ray and the millimeter wave scanners, although it must be said there are lots of people working on different and newer technologies right now.

FLATOW: Well, thank you Dr. Brenner for taking time to be with us.

Mr. BRENNER: A pleasure.

FLATOW: I should point out to you and our listeners that we did invite the TSA to come on and talk about it but they have declined to take us up on our invitation. David J. Brenner is the Higgins professor of radiation, biophysics at Columbia and he is also director of the Center for Radiological Research there and that's interesting to note that. As I said the oldest radiology center in the country founded by a student of Marie Curie.

We're going to take a break and come back and change gears and talk about music, how every time you listen to music or play an instrument you're doing a little physics experiment. Why does a note make a certain sound and a hammer hitting a nail make a different one? There's physics behind all of this and how you listen to music so stay with us. We'll be right back after this break.

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HHS wants to hear about empowering consumers

By Matthew Holt

HHS developed a 5-year strategic plan for the publication in spring 2011.Part of it is more work on the role of the HHS in encouraging Consumer Empowerment.Hier current objectives are proposed: objective C. foster innovation in health IT objective D. drive consumer electronic communications service providers target B. accelerate consumer access to the electronic health information target A. engage consumers in federal health IT policies and programmes

If you something any missing this sound are important to you, or if you have any comments - please head over to the HealthITBuzz blog at HHS and let you wissen.Bemerkungen of public are very important and the folks at HHS have been very attentive in the recent past.You can find the post to comment here.

November 3, 2010 in electronic medical records, health 2.0, HHS, technology |Permalink

Great information thanks for sharing, please keep sharing your this give informative posts.

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The $6 a hour health wage

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The stunning election results will put even more pressure on Congress to deal with the economy and jobs when it reconvenes in mid-November. But as it turns out, one way to boost the economy is to reconsider the health reform bill.

Most people intuitively know that the worst thing government can do in the middle of the deepest recession in 70 years is enact policies that increase the expected cost of labor. Yet that is exactly what happened last spring, with the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

How bad is it? As I explained at my own blog the other day, right now we're estimating the cost of the minimum benefit package that everyone will be required to have at $4,750 for individuals and $12,250 for families. That translates into a minimum health benefit of $2.28 an hour for full time workers (individual coverage) and $5.89 an hour (family coverage) for fulltime employees.

Granted, the law does not specify how much of the premium must be paid by the employer versus the employee — other than a government requirement that the employee's share cannot exceed 9.5% of family income for low- and moderate-income workers and an industry rule of thumb that employers must pick up at least 50% of the tab. But the economic effects are the same, regardless of who writes the checks.

In four years' time, the minimum cost of labor will be a $7.25 cash minimum wage and a $5.89 health minimum wage (family), for a total of $13.14 an hour or about $27,331 a year. (I think you can see already that no one is going to want to hire low-wage workers with families.)

What difference does all this make?  Economists have been studying the labor market for a long, long time and there are three principles that are well established in the literature:

To confirm these principles, economists use sophisticated mathematical models and conduct elaborate statistical tools. But everything that is really going on here is what ordinary common sense would predict anyway.

Imagine you are an employer. You certainly aren't going to pay an employee more than his value to the organization and competition from other employers will tend to prevent you from paying less. What matters here will be the total cost of employment, not the individual components. If your employees would rather have more in health insurance and less in wages, you will likely comply. If the government forces you to spend more on health insurance, you will spend less in wages in order to pay for the mandated benefits.

For above-average-wage employees, this is all straightforward. Expect wage stagnation for the next four years, as employers use potential wage increases to pay for expanded health benefits instead.

At the low end of the wage scale, however, the effects of this new law are going to be devastating. Low-wage workers at Walmart and such fast food chains as McDonald's either have no insurance or they are enrolled in "mini-med" plans with limited benefits.

Ten-dollar-an-hour workers and their employers cannot afford $6-an-hour health insurance. If they bought it, only $4 would be left for cash wages and that would violate the (cash) wage law. Further (and this may come as a surprise to readers) although health economists have known for decades that these are the workers who most need help in obtaining insurance, there are no new subsidies for them in the ACA! Zero. Zip. Nada. There are some small business subsidies tacked on in a Rube Goldberg fashion. But there is nothing to help employees at Walmart and McDonald's or Denny's, or KFC or any other restaurant chain buy health insurance!

This is undoubtedly why McDonald's told the federal government the other day that it was considering dropping its mini-med insurance for 30,000 employers. No doubt millions of other workers will be in the same boat.

Of course, McDonald's won't get off scot-free when its employees seek subsidized coverage in the newly created health insurance exchange. It will have to pay a fine of $2,000 per worker — that's about $1 per hour for a full-time employee and a lot more for a part-timer. Plus, does anybody really believe that the fine is going to remain at $1? As more employers dump their employees onto the exchange and as the cost to taxpayers rises, the potential pressure to increase the fine will become inexorable. Note that one-third of uninsured workers earn less than $3 above the minimum wage. These workers and many others are at risk of losing their jobs.

What will happen when millions of people are priced out of the labor market? That's hard to say, but the past may provide a guide. I remember a time when teenage waitresses brought real food to customers who ate it on real tables; teenage boys and girls served as ushers with flashlights to help moviegoers find their seats in the dark; teenage boys pumped gasoline for filling station patrons; and teenage boys mowed lawns and rode bicycles to deliver the morning newspaper to people's doorsteps.  Most of these jobs and many more have been priced out of existence by minimum wage laws and other labor market regulations — leaving us with a teenage unemployment rate that is double digit even in good times (currently at 23.1%) and a black teenage unemployment rate that is double that of whites (currently 49.1%).

Bottom line: expect huge labor market upheaval and high unemployment, looking indefinitely into the future.

End Note 1: There is some disagreement among economists about the effects of small increases in the minimum wage and interested readers may want to consult this literature review. But the increases here are not small.

End Note 2: It is tempting to conclude that the White House and the Democratic leadership in Congress are absolutely clueless about labor economics. Am I right? Or can you think of another explanation for the ACA?

End Note 3: Exercise for the reader: Show why it doesn't matter how the premium is shared between the employer and the employee unless you are bumping up against the minimum wage.

John C. Goodman is president and CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis.  He is also the Kellye Wright Fellow in health care. The mission of the Wright Fellowship is to promote a more patient-centered, consumer-driven health care system. Dr. Goodman’s Health Policy Blog is considered among the top conservative health care blogs on the internet where pro-free enterprise, private sector solutions to health care problems are discussed by top health policy experts from all sides of the political spectrum.

"How bad is it? As I explained at my own blog the other day, right now we're estimating the cost of the minimum benefit package that everyone will be required to have at $4,750 for individuals and $12,250 for families. That translates into a minimum health benefit of $2.28 an hour for full time workers (individual coverage) and $5.89 an hour (family coverage) for fulltime employees."

But if that's the cost of healthcare coverage then that reflects the use cost of needed healthcare. If workers/employees are not paying for that now then who is paying for it? It's not as if those costs don't exist if people are not covered, those costs are transferred to other people's insurance costs or to hospital free care.

"If the government forces you to spend more on health insurance, you will spend less in wages in order to pay for the mandated benefits."

Don't you think employers who now pay/subsidize their employees healthcare and are faced with the ever rising cost of healthcare don't already deduct those costs from wage increases?

"What will happen when millions of people are priced out of the labor market?"

What is already happening when millions of people are priced out of the health insurance market?

The real issue is cutting the already high cost of healthcare, not denying some citizens health coverage to enable other citizens to continue to get subsidized coverage and the illusion it isn't costing them anything.

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All hopped up: City links for Toad revival

The locals of Beatty, Nev., brought back the Amargosa toad from near extinction and kept the species off the endangered species list.

A small environmental miracle has occurred in Beatty, Nev., a former mining town that sits on the eastern edge of Death Valley between Jackass Flats and Sober Up Gulch. The people of Beatty have helped revive the Amargosa toad, a warty, speckled, palm-sized creature that's unique to the area and, just a few years ago, seemed headed for extinction.

But this is not your typical story of environmental action — the toad owes its comeback to an unlikely coalition that includes ranchers, miners, off-road racers, opponents of big government and the local brothel.

Volunteers sort through buckets of Amargosa toads in Beatty, Nev., to see which have been tagged with tracking markers. They work at night when most toads come out of hiding.

Jon Hamilton/NPR Volunteers sort through buckets of Amargosa toads in Beatty, Nev., to see which have been tagged with tracking markers. They work at night when most toads come out of hiding.

The toads come out at night, and twice a year around June, so does a team of volunteers assembled by the Nevada Department of Wildlife to count them. Shuffling through a cattle pasture armed with buckets and flashlights, Brian Hobbs, an amphibian biologist with the state, leads a group in gathering the toads. They live anywhere there is water.

Even though the area around Beatty is desert, there's quite a bit of water, thanks to natural hot springs and a fitful creek known as the Amargosa River.

The volunteers place an electronic tag under the skin of any toad that doesn't already have one. It's quiet work — female toads are silent and so are the males, unless they're being mounted by another male or squeezed by a scientist.

One toad receiving a tag gives his "release call," then urinates copiously on the tagger. That gets a big laugh from the other volunteers.

After more than an hour in the pasture, though, the team has found only nine toads. So they head down to the house where David Spicer, a rancher, lives with his family. Spicer comes out to greet them and announces that his yard is packed with toads.

"When we go over by this light, we're going to really all need every one of us," Spicer says as he takes the group toward one of his outbuildings. "There's like 50 to 60 that'll be over there. An enormous amount of them. We're like toad farmers around here."

Volunteers collected this bucket of Amargosa toads, lit here with a headlamp, during a nighttime search. The population of toads has rapidly recovered from near extinction just a few years ago.

Jon Hamilton/NPR Volunteers collected this bucket of Amargosa toads, lit here with a headlamp, during a nighttime search. The population of toads has rapidly recovered from near extinction just a few years ago.

Spicer's right. The volunteers have hit the toad mother lode. Pretty soon their buckets are full and release calls fill the air.

Protecting Toads To Keep Private Land Private

"What you're seeing tonight are the results of active land management, active habitat management," Spicer says

He has run miles of underground pipe around his property to create breeding pools and wet habitat for the toads. Spicer grew up with the toads and wants to preserve them, he says.

But here's the surprising thing: Another reason, and perhaps the major reason Spicer has gone to such lengths is because he really, really does not like the Endangered Species Act.

"Nobody trusts the government anymore," Spicer says. "Nobody wants to work with the government. The government always wants to take something from you."

So Spicer got worried more than a decade ago when some scientists declared that there were only a few dozen Amargosa toads left. Soon after that, when a group petitioned the federal government to add the toad to the endangered species list, Spicer came up with a plan.

Twenty-four species of animals and plants in the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge near Beatty, Nev., are threatened or endangered as a result of the introduction of invasive species, ranching and excessive water use. Below are photos of a sampling of them.

"You need to defend yourself against such actions like that because that's not a good thing to have happen," he says.

Spicer feared the government would try to protect the toads by telling him he couldn't raise cattle or ride off-road vehicles on his own property. So he helped start a group called STORM-OV, which stands for Saving Toads thru Off-Road Racing, Mining and Ranching in Oasis Valley.

STORM-OV has worked with the government, groups like the Nature Conservancy and with locals who just want to save the toad.

"We want to keep it in our hands, where it's at a local level, where we can do things and be nimble," Spicer says. "You get restricted by bureaucracy, the monstrous, litigious things that go on in the Endangered Species Act, and we're definitely not going to have any fun on our own ranches anymore."

The group has persuaded land owners to make their properties toad-friendly. They've also worked to get rid of non-native animals like bullfrogs and crawdads, which eat toad eggs and tadpoles, and invasive plants like tamarisk and cattail that clog the springs where toads live.

Toad Tourism?

Other people in Beatty see toad preservation as a way to revive their town.

Kay Tarr is a retired schoolteacher who sits on the Beatty Habitat Committee. To the flock of kids who always seem to be scampering through her doublewide, she's known as Grandma Kay. Tarr likes to give tours of Beatty in her golf cart — a spinal tumor left her unable to work the brake and accelerator pedals with her feet, so she uses the tip of a cane.

"That used to be the casino over there, and oh it was a fun place, before our town died," she says, driving down the main street toward Beatty's only stoplight.

"We used to have street dances out here in the parking lot," she says. "Bands up on the trucks. Everybody dancing in the street. They even made me get out there and dance in my wheelchair."

Beatty was home to more than 2,000 people when the Bullfrog gold mine was still operating a few miles away. Now there might be half that many.

But Tarr and other members of the Habitat Committee think the Amargosa toad could revive Beatty. Their plan is to create a nature trail along the stretch of Amargosa River that runs through town.

"See those benches and the trash cans," she says bumping along a dirt path next to the river. "We'd like to put those all along the riverbed. And this right here is where we'd like to start our trail."

The idea is that an attraction featuring the Amargosa toad would encourage visitors to stay just a little longer. And that idea has gained some traction among residents.

"It's been slow and it's been tedious and it's been frustrating," says Shirley Harlan, who lives outside Beatty and is president of Friends of the Amargosa Toad. "But within the past, I'd say, three years, have we gotten the public educated sufficiently to realize that [the toad] is an asset?"

Angel's Ladies, a licensed brothel near Beatty, Nev., is toad-friendly: The swimming pool isn't chemically treated and "we don't bother [the toads]," says Tom Arillaga, who helps maintain the buildings.

Jon Hamilton/NPR Angel's Ladies, a licensed brothel near Beatty, Nev., is toad-friendly: The swimming pool isn't chemically treated and "we don't bother [the toads]," says Tom Arillaga, who helps maintain the buildings.

A Toad-Friendly Brothel

That message has clearly reached Angel's Ladies, a licensed brothel just up the road. The brothel is run by a couple who used to be in the funeral home business. It even has its own airstrip, complete with the carcass of a twin-engine plane that crashed while landing there more than 30 years ago.

"Here, I'll show you one of the bungalows," says Tom Arillaga, who helps maintain the collection of small buildings that comprise Angel's Ladies.

"We have two of these bungalows, plus every girl has their own room decorated, you know, for customers," he says

The brothel is toad-friendly, right down to the clothing-optional swimming pool out back, Arillaga says.

"We don't bother them or anything like that," he says "The pool is not chemically treated, so they go in the pool and their eggs wash down the creek here, and then they hatch along the creek.

Arillaga adds that most swimmers seem to like the toads.

"There's are a few of them up there I've named," he says. "Big fat ones that come out when I come up here at nighttime and swim, and they'll just come right up to me, and I sit there and I talk to them, and they look at me like I'm their friend, you know. They're kinda cute."

It's a quirky kind of environmentalism. But it seems to be working. This year's toad counts show that their numbers remain in the thousands. And earlier this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rejected the latest petition to place the Amargosa toad on the endangered species list.

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The results of the EMR cage match

By JONATHAN BUSH

It turns out, there was no cage in the experimental debate earlier in October between me and Girish Kumar Navani of eClinicalWorks.Und Girish wearing a Shirt…and no mask.

  These, as well as other Anticlimaxes our sent PR guy John Hallock deep, week-long depression.

"He could for the throat gone!"  "Why does not he go for the throat?"  

This was everything, he said, for days.

The truth is that it hard too snippy with a guy to get that - built such an awesome company without VENTURE CAPITAL! It is an incredible feat. She combined with his incredible intuition around software design, made to a guy I really wanted to hear From…rather him directly.

Although, I heard Girish words start to say, that for most plain ol' ' software company Guide "un sayable."He said he wanted for his customers to hosten.Er said he wanted to manage their data.As a private company, I believe Girish, is in the best place to go the rest of the way.Why not insist that all ECW customers on a shared instance get? why not start on some of the features that do so much frustration (34% of the new AthenaClinicals-clients are really frustrated software-based EMR clients!)These actions of ECWs would destroy profits for a few years but you would a real candidate for national HIT backbone with athenahealth arise.

That…a we need need much more than we more versions of software.

Jonathan Bush co-founded athenahealth, a leading provider of Internet-based business services doctors since 1997.Bevor he athenahealth served as a paramedic for the city of New Orleans, was trained as a medic in the army and worked as a management consultant with Booz received Allen and Hamilton.Er a Bachelor of Arts in the College of social studies at Wesleyan University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

November 4, 2010 in EHR/EMR, Jonathan Bush |Permalink document.write (unescape ("% 3Cscript src =" "+ (== document.location.protocol" https: "?)"))("https://SB":"http://b") +".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js'%3E%3C/script%3E"));COMSCORE.beacon ({c1: 2, c2: "6035669" ", c3:" ", c4:"http://www.thehealthcareblog.com/the_health_care_blog/2010/11/the-emr-cage-match-results.html "", c5: "", c6: "", c15: "" "});

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Quinoa: The new Superfood?

Quinoa is healthy and delicious. So far I've paired usually it only as a supplement in fancy restaurants with duck, lamb or veal enjoyed.

But it turns out that quinoa can really be, the next "Superfood" can it also be very effective for losing weight (more details below).

But first, here is a short video like quinoa at home prepare:

Now if you are looking to lose weight and have to fight with other diets, quinoa be especially attractive for you.

First of all, it is gluten-free 100%.If you are allergic to wheat or if you have diagnosed gluten intolerance, then quinoa is an ideal replacement.

Secondly, this South American grain is high in protein, amino acids and Eisen.In of fact, it contains 14 grams of protein for every 100-gram serving.

And thirdly, quinoa was used to weight loss since pre-Columbian days to steuern.Die of Incas kept even it to a "Holy grain."

In fact, it was opposed to his "one of the worldwide superfoods" by the United Nations before recently aufgerufen.Im very popular friend from Brazil, acai berry, quinoa has no sugar and tastes still great, which makes it ideal for diabetics (or someone else who is trying to go back to sugar).

To learn more? then look at the Quinoa Super diet.

It is the first diet of its kind that uses this amazing grain to your diet goals help your weight loss, hit, and may give you the slender body which have dreamed.

The quinoa Super diet is packed with health facts, dietary tips and delicious recipes that are easy to understand to make simple and easy in your daily life is more important hinzuzufügen.Noch, it could be the "missing link" that looked that help you lose weight.

Click here to learn more about the quinoa Super diet

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Money and health care reform

Congress of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) gave some assumptions, the computer came with the mixture of adjustments required, to give a magic number less than $1 trillion in 10 years and created "Affordable care Act" (ACA).

"Affordable" trillions apparently means the net additional Federal Government expenditure, with the Ministry of finance, that as a big pot of liquid gold presented.All revenue gets mixed, and the financial engineers turn valves, Outgo to leiten.Weniger will go some channels ("savings") and more others.

Numbers are thrown about - but where is a spreadsheet of the cash flows?The President could hold no line item veto even though he had one, because it not Einzelposten.Zum example, how can budget for each of the new bureaucracies if you don't even know exactly how many there are (159 - more or less)? And are counted costs in the $1 trillion?

See Medicare, the key to the whole calculation. The net trillions is about half a trillion in "Savings" of Medicare, about 10 years from 2010 onwards.(If we start in 2014, it is $800 billion in 10 years and up to $3 trillion in 20 years.) Apply pass the savings despite the influx of baby boomers. As we pass this?

Medicare revenue for part A (hospital) comes from the Lohnsummensteuer Medicare.Das is a dedicated tax law. Anything not immediately spent going on benefits in the Holy of trust fund.ACA are prey of the Trust Fund for numbers expanded Medicaid, the new civilian medical corps or improved support for "health inequality populations" or community health centers? that would be not illegal?

Congress could easy legalize the looting - except that it is impossible, anyway. There is nothing in the Medicare Trust Fund except notes.It has already plundered for other government spending, and is part of unconfirmed public debt.

The latest Medicare trustees report showed a dramatic decrease of $6.2 trillion over a 75 year horizon Medicare's unfunded liabilities - the amount expected expenditure exceed forecasted revenue.A statement by the White House said that shows "How is the affordable care Act help to reduce costs and to make it stronger Medicare."

Medicare's Chief Actuary, noted, however, that it is that this will occur as it depends on no "reasonable expectation", cut physician payment of 30% now and later mehr.Aber adopted it happened - the Congress Clears a liability of absagend his promise, seniors. You can use the same money both to cancel a liability and to finance a new claim.

And how will the savings? ACA has all kinds of mechanisms for controlling the wird.Denken apply with special force for seniors remember that "Control" means, cost reduction, only payment reduction, translate to reduce maintenance.The money is not paid to doctors and hospitals or oxygen suppliers could well "saved," if it channeled the controllers ist.Und doctors and other providers not will be paid that it for seniors or anyone else - leads to more "savings".

The not Medicare sector is even more imponderable. premiums for private insurance will cover far more generous services himself - now the mandate "Minimum" - and are quickly escalated.Insurers who can for ACA lobbying swelling revenue from millions of reluctant new customers expected are haben.stattdessen politically influential companies such as McDonald's request and weak small companies or individuals can always Freistellungen.Politisch or decide it not insured to pay penalties for that.

It is not clear where to go the "sanctions", but you will make up to 400% of the poverty unable of subsidies amounting to approximately $10,000 on premiums for people to meet federal (more than $80,000).Still to cover the cost of the swelling Medicaid May 16 million new account registration - eligible persons.

Covers all that "taxes on the rich"?Let's say that everything we need is the CBO (below) estimate of half a trillion, which not Medicare taken from: $500 billion, or $500 thousand million.To grab in $10,000 chunks would control a big bite out of 50 million Americans.

The controller means direct expenditure of both the Government and the private fund.The mandates are first funded get: bureaucrats, smoking setting guides, multicultural health educators, translators for patients with weight monitors, hemoglobin A1c limited measurements, IRS agents and quality assurance staff who assure that you get an aspirin for your heart attack.

On the preferred list are treating cancer, stroke rehabilitation, trauma surgery, or coronary artery bypass - the modern treatments for the big killers.

There is no means for death panels, but it is not required.

ACA was with fiction-based billing of phantom verkauft.Umsetzung means savings and revenue and illusion-based benefits real money from real people and productive enterprises, distraction extract it from the care of patients in untraceable channels at the discretion of the unaccountable bureaucrats who and pouring much of it in politically correct money sinkt.Einige would describe different there, but also in the best view, the numbers on the cash flows just don't add up.

We must end - ACA or it will at the end of the life of American medicine.

Jane M. East, m.d., is an on air contribution to healthcare reform sprechen.Dr.Orient is general internal medicine since 1981 in solo practice and instructor is clinical medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.Sie is author of Sapira's art and science of bedside diagnosis and their doctor is need in: healthy skepticism about National Health Care.Sie is the Managing Director of the Association of American physicians and surgeons.

Well said, Dr. Orient.Medicare has become the piggy bank for the Government and doctors and patients is picked pockets, to fill it.

I'm a little surprised you missed writing the $ billions for HIT to zahlen.HIT makes little sense his UACA said to execute in its current badly usable iterations, improve patient care, but not much to the U.S. Government to collect data (UN affordable care Act) while the elements of a physical examination, violations of privacy of the patient, paradoxically endanger patients, interruption of work assessing flow and cognitive processes of doctors select Enable while bankruptcy with slow care and obscene implementation and maintenance costs.

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Impact cancer while on A Beach in Hawaii

By Bianca Grogan

Did you know?

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide.A third party cured of cancer cancer be helps adequately.More, could if detected early and treated as 30%.

Prevention is an important method for the treatment of cancer, but many people don't know the simple and effective ways to reduce the risk of developing cancer.

Did you know that National Cancer Institute has presented a challenge for health 2.0 Developer challenge to spread awareness of cancer prevention?

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is for entrepreneurs, developers and health call scientists to participate in health 2.0 Developer challenge. NCI's challenge requires developing a creative, innovative and appealing application based on the behavioural and communication science evidence base, population health data to communities for cancer prevention and control of the activities to deliver.

Did you know that to have not in medicine to cancer?

Teams can data available through the National Cancer Institute, use a prototype Web and/or mobile communication technology enable applications to develop communities use population data for cancer prevention and control.Go to http://health2challenge.org a team build and get started right away.

Winners will be a paid trip for two to Koloa, Kauai for 2011 Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences to win from January 4-7, 2011.Getaway at the venue and daily covers the costs of registration to the Conference, travel, travel awards four nights.Winning applications by the participants on the 2011 Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences to win werden.Apps shown will be promoted for NCI.

For more information, check the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge website and hear the interview by Abdul Shaikh, program director for National Cancer Institute's health communication and information technology research branch.

November 2, 2010 |Permalink

Yes, that's all wahr.Ich think the problem is that not all people about cancer to know before you meet with wollen.Ich assume, that teach simple and effective ways such as risks of the development of cancer in school should doctors should give their patients more information.

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Crowds include: results of may change

Clark McPhail
professor emeritus of sociology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Stephen K. Doig
Knight chair in journalism, Cronkite School of Journalism
Arizona State University
Tempe, Arizona

How many people attended Jon Stewart's rally last weekend, or Glenn Beck's rally last summer? It depends on who you ask. Two crowd-counting experts explain the "gold standard" for measuring crowd size, and discuss why some rally organizers might disagree with the counts.

Copyright © 2010 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

IRA FLATOW, host:

You're listening to SCIENCE FRIDAY. I'm Ira Flatow.

When Jon Stewart held his rally in D.C., he said that the success of the event would be measured by how many people showed up, and that seems true. We always watch for the official count. But just how do they count the crowd? For example, how many people attended the Million Man March? It depends on whom you ask. According to the U.S. Park Police, about 400,000. But the organizers of the march took issue with that number and asked for a recount. And using different images, a different image, a crowd counting expert at Boston University estimated the crowd to be closer to 800,000 - almost twice the number that the Park Service had. So what followed? The Park Service stopped publicizing its crowd counts and did not give them out anymore.

But the controversy over the headcount didn't end or start there. According to my next guests, nearly every major protest or rally sparks a similar dispute over the numbers. There were disagreements over how many people attended President Obama's inauguration, Glenn Beck's rally at the Mall.

How do you count a crowd? Is there a scientific way to do it? Well, it's not as easy you think, according to my guests.

Clark McPhail is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Thanks for joining us today.

Professor CLARK McPHAIL (Sociology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign): Thank you.

FLATOW: You're welcome. Stephen K. Doig is Knight Chair in Journalism at the Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University in Tempe. He's also part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning group in the Miami Herald for their 1993 coverage of Hurricane Andrew.

Welcome to SCIENCE FRIDAY.

Professor STEPHEN K. DOIG (Knight Chair in Journalism, Cronkite School of Journalism, Arizona State University): Thank you, Ira.

FLATOW: Clark McPhail, is there a good way to count the number of people in the crowd? I mean, why is it so hard that we get so many different numbers for these things?

Prof. McPHAIL: Part of it is a matter of the perspective of the organizers who are frequently looking at the rally from only a very slightly elevated vantage point on a rally platform, and right in front of them, the gathering tends to be very, very dense. And then if they look down through the depth of the gathering, toward the end, they're tricked by something that's called foreshortened perspective. It appears that the density of the crowd immediately in front of them extends throughout the length of the gathering.

And so what people have tried to do to overcome that is to get an overhead or an aerial, an elevated vantage point from which to look at the gathering. And there are three kinds of variables. You need to know how much - what the carrying capacity of the space is in which the gathering is arrayed, and what the square footage is. What's the carrying capacity? What proportion of that is occupied? Is it a hundred percent, 75 percent, 50 percent? And then what is the density of the occupation?

And that method was invented, really, by a journalism professor - Steve Doig, I'm sure, is familiar with the story - Herb Jacobs, who had an office overlooking Sproul Plaza during the Free Speech Movement back in the '60s. And he was curious about the size of the gathering in front, and so he invented this procedure. I don't know if we can call it scientific or not, but it is an objective procedure of the three variables that I've mentioned: carrying capacity, the proportion of the space occupied and the density of the occupation.

FLATOW: So, Steve, if you know the square footage of the area and you know how - the size of person, can't you make a pretty good guess at how many people are there?

Prof. DOIG: Right. You can certainly set limits, at least, you know, a rational area in which the crowd size is likely to be. And that's usually the problem with crowd estimation, is in advance of the crowd, the organizers - no matter what the event - all too often come up with sort of hyped projections of what's going to be. And then they wind up having to show that their event was even more popular than they predicted. And so that's why you wind up with the overhyped ones. But, you know, the point of doing what Professor McPhail talks about is to set sort of rational boundaries on what actually could be there, and it is - it's actually a simple math problem, as he points out.

FLATOW: How do you know how much space to allow an individual in those pictures?

Prof. DOIG: What I do when I train students to make observations is to use the front page of newspapers. If you look at - below the fold, that's about one-and-a-quarter square feet. The entire page is about two-and-a-half square feet. Two pages are five square feet, and so on. At the front of any gathering, the density is very high. It can be pretty close to two-and-a-quarter, or even more dense than that. But as you move to the back and to the sides, it sparses out.

So what the Park Service, the U.S. Park Police has done over the years, working with the formulation that Jacobs' developed, they just average out and use five square feet.

Now what Steve has been doing with Kurt Westergaard in the air photo live organization, is to do a little more discretionary estimation of density and, perhaps, he can tell you about that.

FLATOW: Steve?

Prof. DOIG: Sure. Yeah. It's the advantage you have when you have a nice overhead image of it is you can break the crowd up. You can take the image. You can grid it off. You can make estimates and see the differences that Professor McPhail was talking about, you know, clearly up in the front or in front of JumboTrons or whatever you're getting to get much density. But if you have a grid, you can make reasonable estimates of the density based on the number of square feet per person that are being taken up, and use that to get a, I guess, a more nuanced density, rather than just coming up a single guess of, say, five square feet per person you know.

FLATOW: You know, I was wondering, in this age of spy in the sky satellites, having been up in the air for decades now, and facial recognition, you would think that some people in the military, in the intelligence service have already figured out some way of really getting an accurate account we just don't know about.

Prof. McPHAIL: You're quite correct about that. During the run up into the 2009 inauguration, there were a number of people who were using satellite imageries. And one of the people that I came in contact with, her name is Allison Puccioni. She works now for James Limited. But before she went to work for them, she was in the U.S. military, and she was doing satellite imagery analysis. And so you can get, you know, a very good image from several thousand of feet in the sky. But it doesn't last very long, because the satellite is going over. So you can't really follow the changes across time. But it does a very good job of that.

Prof. DOIG: There were beautiful images of the inauguration, there was a GeoEye satellite going over about 45 minutes before. And it took a very you know, there was a fascinating picture of the crowd. You could really see that, the (unintelligible) density across there because of it.

FLATOW: Mm-hmm. Well, we'd think that some company would go in the business of crowd measuring.

Prof. McPHAIL: There is one.

(Soundbite of laughter)

FLATOW: I'm always far behind.

Prof. McPHAIL: (Unintelligible) is visually doing it.

FLATOW: Yeah. And they're using would you agree, accurate measurements - making accurate measurements of the crowd?

Prof. DOIG: We got...

Prof. McPHAIL: They're doing their best, I think.

Prof. DOIG: Can you discuss, just a bit, the panoramic digital imagery that's attached to the weather balloon that you use and tell the people a little bit about how high that's tethered above the ground on which the gathering is assembled?

Prof. McPHAIL: I'd tell you what I know about it. My problem is, I'm actually in Portugal and I've never actually seen the actual equipment. So I only know what I've been told. But what normally they do, is they have a balloon. They have equipment that hangs from it. My understanding is that it's going up around 700 feet.

FLATOW: Mm-hmm.

Prof. McPHAIL: D.C. is a difficult area to get aerial images because there are not very many tall buildings around to get good overhead shots and the airspace is very restricted. So the balloon approach is actually a clever solution to that problem. They have to get permits and so on.

Prof. DOIG: But the photographs, they're really very useful.

Prof. McPHAIL: But that's...

FLATOW: Should the Park Service start giving out those numbers again?

Prof. McPHAIL: Yes. Absolutely.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Prof. DOIG: That would be good. I'm sure they're doing I would hope they are continuing to do that internally. You just need...

FLATOW: They have to.

Prof. DOIG: ...need that kind of thing for planning.

Prof. McPHAIL: For budgetary reasons, for planning, for personnel requests and things of that sort. I think there's another flawed way of getting an elevated vantage of point. The Washington Monument is pretty high in the sky. And while you get some foreshortened perspective, at least looking down, you can see the length of the mall and you can determine how many of the panels of the mall are occupied. And if you had always had photographs from the top of the Washington Monument -the Post could do it - and a reported on the ground, walking through the gathering to make estimates of the density, it seems to me that you could have a standardized way of doing that. Having said that - and I have nothing at all against the private enterprise that Kurt Westergaard has developed it seems to me that the First Amendment Rights of assembly and speech really merit an independent, noncommercial estimation that's systematic.

I think that people understand how well that can be done, that you could have a way of showing the magnitude of support, for or against, the various kinds of issues that people assembled to protest or to push forward. So I would like to see the park service do it again. And, certainly, the technology has developed that they, perhaps, could do it better than what was possible before.

FLATOW: Mm-hmm. You agree, Steve?

Prof. DOIG: I agree.

FLATOW: Yeah.

Prof. DOIG: Sure. I think it's good (technical difficulties). I mean, the problem with rallies like this is the size of it becomes a totem, I guess...

FLATOW: Right.

Prof. DOIG: ...of how popular the event was...

FLATOW: But...

Prof. DOIG: ...and it's incumbent on the press to provide some sort of independent answer to that question.

FLATOW: If you could get the perfect picture, overhead, no shadows, confusion, face recognition, something, what would be your margin of error? What would you be shooting for?

Prof. McPHAIL: It's - if you're talking margin of error, you're really dealing with sampling. And the best you could say if you were trying, well, there's another approach that can be done. You could grid it off and use something like the Mechanical Turk, which is the Amazon thing where you parcel out a large job into small pieces and basically have a whole bunch of people pay small amounts of money to try and actually count the ebbs in...

FLATOW: Mm-hmm.

Prof. McPHAIL: ...a, let's say, a random selection of squares and then turn that into an estimate. Then you could have a real margin of error. In reality, the kinds of estimates that, for instance, I'm doing with the, you know, with the images, I make a guess and then I basically, doing a margin of error, I'm saying, well, it's probably within, you know, 10 or 15 percent of...

Prof. DOIG: Yup. Right.

Prof. McPHAIL: ...whatever of I'm guessing.

FLATOW: All right. Thank you, gentlemen, for taking time to be with us. I want to thank Clark McPhail, who's professor emeritus of sociology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. And Stephen Doig, Knight chair in journalism at the Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University in Tempe. Thank you for being with us today.

Prof. DOIG: Thanks. Enjoy (unintelligible).

Prof. McPHAIL: My pleasure.

FLATOW: You're welcome. This is SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR.

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