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ABC News reports on an unusual and tragic case of a heart attack triggered by blasting music. A British teenager died shortly after complaining of loud music at a London nightclub, according to reports. Details are sketchy but U.S. doctors suspect a genetic condition may be to blame.

From ABC News:

“Any time someone in a setting of excitement has a sudden cardiac arrest, especially at a young age with a seemingly normal heart, you have to consider [an inherited condition] such as long QT,” said Dr. Richard Page, chair of medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and president of the Heart Rhythm Society. “One of the genetic variants is especially predisposed to having an arrhythmia when exposed to loud sound.”

Long QT, an inherited affliction, is named for the points Q and T on a heart monitor. Longer-than-usual intervals between these points is one
major marker of this syndrome. People with QT can go into cardiac arrest when exposed to loud sounds such as alarms, music or sirens. Although it’s a rare disorder, it’s also deadly if left untreated. Fortunately, EKGs and genetic tests can detect most cases and pacemakers have been proven to help considerably.

As for the sad case of the British teenager, the world may never know if loud music killed him. Only an autopsy can confirm this and his family
is keeping mum for now.

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Image: flickr / Kaloozer

Most pregnant women wind up taking at least one prescription drug. But, because no one wants to subject pregnant women and their unborn children to a clinical trial, there’s very little clear evidence about the unique risks some prescription drugs may pose during pregnancy.

So the FDA is funding an analysis of data on prescription drug use and pregnancy outcomes from a bunch of health systems that collectively recorded roughly one million births between 2001 and 2007. Researchers from Harvard, Vanderbilt and Kaiser Permanente, among others, will work on the project.

In the current system, women and their doctors rely in part on letters the FDA assigns to prescription drugs as a shorthand for what is known about a drug’s effect on pregnant women and their babies. The letters are explained here. A 2004 study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that more than a third of pregnant women take prescription drugs from category C, which means the effects on human fetuses are unknown.

The FDA described the new reserach project in a statement yesterday, but didn’t say when it expects results from the analysis.

Hat Tip: Pharmalot; Image: iStockphoto

I don’t have a lot of New Year’s Resolutions. My life has been in so much flux in the past few years that I think my main resolution is to survive in a healthy manner and be a good example to the kids.

So far so good!

But, it is impossible to go into the New Year without thinking of changing some things about yourself and your life. I will be divorced in 2010. I never thought it would happen to me. I had been married for 30 years and I thought that we were working out the glitches that seem inevitable at midlife. I have to admit some pride in the fact that I had been married for so long, that we were a family that according to statistics no longer exists. It was humbling to become a statistic.

The idea of building another relationship from scratch was and is frightening to me. The idea that someone could find me attractive at age 49-almost-50 is a bit of a stretch for me, too. Yes, I will get married again if things work that way because I like being married.  I like everything about being a wife.  And I like sharing parenting duties much more than being the single decision maker.

My goals in 2010 are simply to be more and more the woman that God created me to be and to create the best life I can with what He allows in my life this year. Whether you believe in God or not, that is a simple and yet important goal. Be more of who you really are; create the best you can with what you are dealt.

To do this I must forgive. I must encourage myself to heal. And I must look at those things I did to contribute to the demise of my marriage. In order to move into the future I must let go of the past.

Imagine yourself caught between your past and your future. You can’t go back…it just isn’t possible. You can’t move forward because the weight of all the years behind you is not letting you move. The only wise thing to do is admit the past is past and open your hand to let it go. Cry as it slips away from you if you must but turn your eyes toward all that you have to look forward to. The past is largely a perception created in your own mind. The future is the same. The present is the only reality that you get and while you can’t use it to change your past you can use it to create a stellar future if you want to. After all, in order to raise healthy kids we must be healthy parents.

So, while everyone else is making resolutions?  Just say goodbye and walk into 2010 with freedom. I think it is going to be a very good year. What about you?

image: marye audet

Post from: Blisstree

Happy New Year!

Tube or valve amplifiers are electronic amplifiers that make use of vacuum tubes to boost the power of a signal. They’ve been around for decades, and some audio freaks still love the sound they help to produce. And they look kind of pretty, too. Reason enough for Hanwha Japan to come up with the US-0498 [JP], a PC speaker that looks like a tube amplifier (but isn’t one).

Connect the simple 38mm speaker to your Windows PC (Windows XP/Vista/7) via USB 2.0 and you’ll get 0.35W×2ch sound with 45db max. It needs two USB ports. The four tubes will start lighting up in blue when the music goes on.

Sized at 125x 98x 80mm (weight: 220g), the speaker is available in black or silver and costs $25. It’s Japan-only, so you might want to contact import/export specialists Japan Trend Shop, Geek Stuff 4 U or Rinkya if you’re interested in getting one.

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When it comes to showing a Nexus One getting put through the paces,  the following video is the best footage we’ve come across so far.  While it’s not high definition by any means, it’s still better than anything else we’ve suffered through these last few weeks.  The ten minute clip shows the user messing with animated wallpapers (very cool), the camera, gallery, weather (neato), maps, and the browser.  The response  and overall speed of the Nexus One seems to be downright incredible. 

One of these days, they’ll get around to a better music player.  Right guys?

Source: DroidDog

Reference: Commonwealth of Australia. Australian Bureau of Meteorology http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate/change/extremes/trendmaps.cgi?map=TN90&period=1960

Images are located at Commonwealth of Australia. Australian Bureau of Meteorology http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate/change/extremes/trendmaps.cgi?map=TN90&period=1960 The images were issued January 28, 2010. Image Permission: This work is copyrighted and unlicensed. However, it is believed that the use of this work to illustrate the subject in question, Where no free equivalent is available or could be created that would adequately give the same information, on Interlinked Challenges, hosted on servers in the United States by Michigan State University, qualifies as fair use under United States copyright law.

The previously phased out 11.1-inch Sony Vaio T has shown back up over at Sony Style Japan. The good news is that this time, it’s a Windows 7 CULV on the inside, even if it looks the same on the outside. The new Vaio Ts come with processor options including a dual core 1.2GHz Celeron SU2300, a 1.4GHz dual core Core 2 Duo SU9400, or a 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo SU9600, and they boast Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics, plus 4GB or 8GB of RAM, an up to 512GB SSD or 500GBhard drive. There’s also optional extras like Blu Ray, 802.11n WiFi, a fingerprint scanner, and digital TV tuner. The laptop’s life is rated at about 11 hours when equipped with the standard battery, or 17 with the large capacity. So far, we’ve only seen these bad boys in Japan, where they’re retailing for ¥129,800 (that’s around $1400).

Sony Vaio T makes a comeback, and this time it’s a CULV with major battery life originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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And the last big jobs number of the year is a good one.

Initial jobless claims fell to 432,000 from 454,000, beating expectations of 460,000.

Stock futures are modestly in the green ahead of what wil be a very light and quiet trading day.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• MF Global: A Jobless Recovery, Sovereign Debt Risks, And The "Apex" Of US Liberalism In 2010
• Jobless Claims Jump to 480,000 Come In Worse Than Expected
• Initial Jobless Claims Rise Unexpectedly

By Ben Worthen, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

A lawsuit that blamed Apple Inc.’s iPod music player for causing hearing loss fell on deaf ears at a federal appeals court.

The lawsuit, which was originally filed in 2006, argued that because iPods don’t come with a decibel meter that lets users know how much noise the device is producing, consumers don’t understand the potential damage they could be causing themselves by listening to loud music for long periods of time. It also claimed that the earbuds that come with the iPod increase the risk that damage could occur because they are designed to be placed inside the ear.

In dismissing an appeal in the case Wednesday, a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals called the claims “obvious” and said that a reasonable person could easily avoid hearing loss by turning the volume down.

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Filed under: iLife, iPhone, Mac 101, Snow Leopard

More Mac 101, tips and tricks for novice Mac users.

I love iPhoto. I use it for most of my photo editing. The thing I don’t like about iPhoto is how it opens each and every time I connect my iPhone to my Mac. What strikes my as plain silly is that, since the introduction of the iPhone two and a half years ago, Apple has not built in an option in the iTunes iPhone status window to disable the automatic iPhoto launch every time you plug in your iPhone.

If you want to take control of this behavior, and you’d prefer to stick with Apple’s built-in tools (rather than take advantage of the free and easy Cameras prefpane) there is good news: there’s a simple way to disable this ‘feature’ and it doesn’t involve command line stuff. Even better, it isn’t an “all or nothing” solution – eg: you can still have iPhoto automatically open when you connect your camera, but not have it open when you connect your iPhone. Aron mentioned this approach a few months ago but I thought it would be helpful to walk through it in detail.

It should be noted that this solution only works on Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. If you are running 10.5 or earlier, you’ll have to use one of the solutions noted above; we recommend the free Cameras preference pane as a quick fix.

You’ll see the image above is of iPhoto’s preferences. You may think the option of disabling iPhone auto-open is in there, but it’s not. To stop the iPhone from opening iPhoto you actually need to launch the Image Capture application.

Step 1: Launch Image Capture (Applications>Image Capture). If your iPhone isn’t plugged in already, plug it in to the USB port on your Mac. It should then show up in the devices source list.

Step 2: Make sure you have the iPhone selected in the source list. When you do, you should see any photos you have on the iPhone appear in the right-hand column of the Image Capture application.

Step 3: At the bottom of the source list, you’ll see your iPhone’s name then, below that, you’ll see the words “Connecting this iPhone opens:” and a drop-down menu. Select “No application”. Now close the Image Capture app and you’re done. No more iPhone opening up iPhoto, but your other cameras will still auto-launch iPhoto when they are connected!

TUAWMac 101: Stop the iPhone from opening iPhoto originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Over this past week, I’ve answered more BlackBerry questions than ever before. Plenty of friends and family members got BlackBerry devices for the holidays, and many of them need help with basic functions. Thankfully, those who ask by email get a link to one of our many useful articles. Those who ask in person get the universal sign for “give it to me.” Over at Pocket-lint, Stuart Miles goes over another important aspect of your new BlackBerry: what applications do you get first? Stuart has some good ideas, but I’d like to add my own take. The major difference is that he’s in the UK, while I’m in the States, so there might be a nuanced change here or there. Anyway, here’s my list vs. Stuart’s.

(more…)

Filed under: CES, Technology, Kia

[Source: Kia, Microsoft]

Kia and Microsoft set to debut UVO at CES, leave us wondering for now originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I am always on the lookout for something GREEN to write about … the advertising on some Chinet products caught my eye.

While at my local Costco last night I saw some interesting information info on Chinet plates … they are now compostable !!

"Preserving natural resources for future generations is important to us, and to our extended family, which includes you. So, start to finish, we pursue sustainable practices, from using recycled materials to produce our disposable tableware products to reducing the amount of energy we use and waste we create to make them. "

They have "how to do it" instructions for composting their plates along with other compostable material …  LINK

 Chinet is made by Huhtamaki  Americas

Via: Chinet  LINK

What a whirlwind of a year. Since launching this blog in July, we’ve had more than 230,000 visitors, many of whom have left thought-provoking comments on our posts.

We’ve enjoyed bringing you personal stories and expert insight about current pediatric health topics, and we hope you continue reading us in 2010.

What were our readers most interested in this year? Our most widely read stories range from a video series about defeating a milk allergy to a news report about the discredited Baby Einstein videos. Did you miss any of our most popular posts? We revisit them below.

• H1N1 was by far the most popular topic on Thrive. We posted 44 different articles on the subject. Our most read H1N1 blog asked the question, “Should my child get the swine flu (H1N1) shot?” This post triggered an outpouring of reader comments, from both hesitant parents weighing the pros and cons, and vocal vaccine proponents. To see a complete list of Thrive’s H1N1 stories, click here.

• This heartbreaking story written by a mother about her daughter and shaken baby syndrome was a wake-up call for us all. Readers were both sympathetic to her plight and also outraged; a sensitive topic, this post received a lot of passionate feedback.

• Brett Nasuti, an 11-year-old Children’s patient, was born allergic to 15 foods. Thrive readers got to tag along as he went through a milk exposure desensitization trial to cure his milk allergy—the first of its kind in the country— by watching this video series. Will Brett ever get to eat pizza and drink milk with his cookies? Watch the first of Brett’s video series here.

• Children’s media expert, Michael Rich, MD, MPH, addresses Disney’s precedent-setting move offering refunds on the Baby Einstein DVDs they claimed promoted better brain development in infants. A media expert, Rich contributes a weekly post about children and media.

• The Twilight phenomenon has hit teens and pre-teens worldwide. Claire McCarthy, MD, gives suggestions for how parents should address the main themes of this book series with their children. McCarthy, a pediatrician, writes regular posts for Thrive about everything from BPA to childhood stress.

• One mother tells the shocking story of how strep throat attacked her child’s brain, causing symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder.  Many other parents wrote in to Thrive, saying they had experienced the same thing. It’s a scary story, but by sharing, this family helped others feel like they weren’t so alone.
• We also talked a lot about epilepsy this year. We recently shared the video and first-person story of a young woman whose seizures are being controlled by a novel brain stimulation technique. We also heard from neurologist Frances Jensen, whose work studying the causes and potential treatments of epilepsy was featured in a 60 Minutes story.

Is there anything we didn’t cover this year that you’d like us to? Please let us know!

It is amazing how much advance product information leaks out over social networks like Twitter. Recently, the HTC Russia team tweeted that the HD2 will be getting upgraded to Windows Mobile 7 next year when it is available. This hasn’t been confirmed by HTC, but the tweets went onto mention that the HD2 is the only HTC phone currently available that will get the upgrade. I’ll have to take this on good faith, as it is definitely a rumor and especially since I don’t read Russian.

The painting made by the blind Turkish artist Esref Armagan depicting the new Volvo S60 was recently put up for grabs on eBay Canada. The unique painting finally sold for 3,050 dollars, the highest price an art piece is sold for on eBay for the benefit of a charity, with the proceeds going to a Canadian charity, the World Blind Union.

"We were really surprised that a dealership from our own Volvo Network bought the painting", says Lukas Dohle, head of Live Communication … (read more)

Wellesley residents Burton and Gloria Rose recently presented Hebrew SeniorLife with a $1 million gift to support its Nursing Career Development Program, which allows certified nursing assistants who work for Hebrew SeniorLife to become licensed practical nurses…

Hebrew SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, offers senior housing, health care, research, and education programs…

Read more here The Boston Globe

Filed under: Etc., Motorcycle, Specialty

A stretch-limo Vespa may still garner a fist to the face, but this attention-grabbing idea is better than the last flash of brilliance Vespa South Africa Managing Director Andy Reid put into action. That plan involved fake parking tickets being placed guerrilla-style on large vehicles to drive the point about Vespa’s fuel efficient image.

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em seems to be the latest modus operandi. Aimed square at the blingy-glam heart of the public at large, a custom Vespa “stretch limo” has been whipped up to generate publicity. Vespa calls it a family car on two wheels and intimates that children will dig going to school on it. Maybe the going part. Other glitterati-friendly uses abound: be the designated driver and still park outside the front door (didn’t know that was a problem?), make friends and drag them home, all in one swift, conjoined-twin-motorscooter motion. The reality is more likely that this thing is a dog to ride. It’s akin to surfing a pipeline while standing at the very front of your longboard on your tiptoes. Now that would certainly get your attention, now wouldn’t it? Exactly. Hat tip to Robin!

[Source: Motoring.co.za via Neatorama]

Piccolo Grande: Stretch-limo Vespa? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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