PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Learning to live on mars

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital have developed and tested a fatigue management program which is successful at controlling space-age jetlag

2012-09-28
(Press-News.org) Boston, MA—Since the beginning of August, NASA's Mars rover, Curiosity, has been roaming all over the distant planet learning as much as it can about the Martian terrain. The mission control team back on Earth has also learned what it may be like on Mars by trying to live and work on a Martian day, which is about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day. This 'day' length causes havoc with the internal 24-hour body clock but researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have developed and tested a fatigue management program which is successful at controlling this space-age jetlag. The results of the study will be published electronically on September 28, 2012 and will be published in the October print issue of SLEEP.

Mission controllers investigating the Martian landscape are required to communicate with the rover on Martian time. This unusual schedule poses a great challenge as our internal body clock has evolved to expect a 24-hour light-dark, not a 24.65 h 'day', making it difficult to sleep, wake and work. "Our study, which was conducted during the Phoenix Mars Lander mission, investigated the effectiveness of a pilot program to educate the mission personnel on how to reset their body clocks more quickly and how to improve their sleep, alertness and performance," explained Steven W. Lockley, PhD, neuroscientist at BWH, and senior investigator on this study.

The research team studied 19 scientific and technical personnel supporting the Phoenix Lander mission for more than 11 weeks. The participants were assessed using a sleep/work diary, continuous wrist actigraphy, and regular performance tests. A subset of the study participants were also given portable blue-light light boxes to place at their workstations to help reset their internal body clocks and improve their performance. The researchers found that most of the participants were able to synchronize to a Martian day schedule.

"While adapting the human sleep-wake and performance cycle to a 24.65 hour day is a substantial challenge, our study has provided the foundation to develop comprehensive fatigue management programs for future missions, which may eventually include manned missions to Mars," explained Laura Barger, PhD, an associate physiologist at BWH and principal investigator of the study. "Such a program could decrease the risk of fatigue-related mistakes during these high profile and expensive missions."

Researchers suggest that these findings may also prove helpful to other groups that work on unusual 'day-lengths' such as submariners who have traditionally lived on an 18-hour day.

###This research was funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNX08AD66A) and supported in part by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute through NASA NCC 9-58. The Phoenix Mars Lander mission was supported by NASA contract NNH04CC16C.

Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) is a 793-bed nonprofit teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School and a founding member of Partners HealthCare. BWH has more than 3.5 million annual patient visits, is the largest birthing center in New England and employs nearly 15,000 people. The Brigham's medical preeminence dates back to 1832, and today that rich history in clinical care is coupled with its national leadership in patient care, quality improvement and patient safety initiatives, and its dedication to research, innovation, community engagement and educating and training the next generation of health care professionals. Through investigation and discovery conducted at its Biomedical Research Institute (BRI), BWH is an international leader in basic, clinical and translational research on human diseases, involving nearly 1,000 physician-investigators and renowned biomedical scientists and faculty supported by nearly $625 million in funding. BWH continually pushes the boundaries of medicine, including building on its legacy in organ transplantation by performing the first face transplants in the U.S. in 2011. BWH is also home to major landmark epidemiologic population studies, including the Nurses' and Physicians' Health Studies, OurGenes and the Women's Health Initiative. For more information and resources, please visit BWH's online newsroom.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Baumann Group Appoint Carbon Finance Management Strategist.

2012-09-28
Mike Rutherford is a business process and project management consultant who specializes in developing strategies to help companies deal with the transitions and climate change policies relative to the energy sector; and he has done so since 1999. "Mike Rutherford will analyze Baumann Group's business process and how they integrate their key systems into every project" stated a source close to the management team at Baumann Group. "Mike has an extensive background in successfully combining his experience and skills honed over 25 years. He will revamp ...

Content Marketing Firm Sumèr, LLC, Announces Launch of a Newly Branded Website and Expanded Core Services

2012-09-28
In an effort to better serve clients, copywriting and content marketing firm Sumèr, LLC, launches a new brand image and website to better reflect the company's personality and to attract and connect with new and ideal clients. Over the years, Sumèr has catered to overwhelmed companies who want to grow fast, and are in need of a big picture strategy that is executed quickly. And in order to streamline these measures, the new website will feature two new core services in addition to the current copywriting offerings. When asked about these new services, CEO Michelle ...

Turzain Unveils Portugal Property Rental Website Revamp

2012-09-28
Turzain, the family-run expert in luxury long- and short-term accommodation in Portugal, is pleased to announce the launch of its new-look website. The modified website has a clean design and invites visitors to learn more about Portugal with plenty of new features. http://www.turzain.com. In addition to offering luxurious apartment rentals in the areas of Cascais, the Algarve, and Lisbon, the new Turzain website also expertly informs visitors about Portuguese culture. The website's professional and user-friendly design complements Turzain's ethos for a friendly and ...

Fans "Green Light" Showgirls the Musical -- Dates Added

2012-09-28
Two Chicagoans are producing a musical version of the cult-classic movie, Showgirls, this October at Chicago's Stage 773. Having raised funding for the project this summer on Kickstarter—a digital fundraising program for artists and dreamers—Showgirls the Musical more-than hit it's fundraising goal on July 29: essentially giving the "green light" to A Touch Too Much productions as they build their musical—the answer to every middle-aged gay man's prayers. With rehearsals currently underway, an enthusiastic cast of 8 works day and night to bring the pieces of ...

Stellar Announces New Sunshine Coast Location for Australian Taxation Office Contact Centre

2012-09-28
As the fourth largest local government in Australia, the Sunshine Coast region provides a large, diverse labour catchment area and a robust economy to support the large scale operation. "I am looking forward to Stellar achieving great things here on the Coast, and the company will have our support all the way," said Mark Jamieson, Mayor and Economic Portfolio holder. Melissa Hamilton, CEO Stellar (Asia Pacific) recently said, "We are really proud and excited to be bringing so many employment opportunities to the Sunshine Coast. We've always been a big ...

Chris Andries of The Andries Team Earns NAR Short Sales and Foreclosure Certification Buyers and Sellers Benefit from REALTOR Expertise in Distressed Sales

2012-09-28
Chris Andries with Keller Williams Realty has earned the nationally recognized Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource certification. The National Association of REALTORS offers the SFR certification to REALTORS who want to help both buyers and sellers navigate these complicated transactions, as demand for professional expertise with distressed sales grows. According to a recent NAR survey, nearly one-third of all existing homes sold recently were either short sales or foreclosures. For many real estate professionals, short sales and foreclosures are the new "traditional" ...

Great Skin Spa & Skin Care Provides a Vast Line of Beauty Products for Men and Women

2012-09-28
Great Skin Spa & Skin Care provides a vast line of beauty products that make taking care of the skin easy for both men and women. While there are plenty of daily changes people can make in their lives to obtain the beautiful skin they desire, the right beauty care products are essential to the health and beauty of the skin. At Great Skin Spa & Skin Care, customers can expect the best quality products to achieve the look they seek. Some of the most popular types of products available from Great Skin Spa & Skin Care include anti-aging products, acne treatments, ...

"Till We Eat Again: A Second Helping" Dishes Up Deliciously Funny Diet Memoir

2012-09-28
Looking for the straight skinny about losing weight and getting in shape? So did award-winning humorist Judy Gruen, who determined to streamline her body and outsource her fat during the months leading up to a college reunion. In her new book, Till We Eat Again: A Second Helping, Gruen chronicles her campaign to unearth long-hidden hip bones and earn the right to feel fabulous after 40. Faced with a bloated BMI number, she considers a relationship with a talking scale, signs up for fitness boot camp, belly dancing classes, too-hot-to-handle Bikram yoga, barre fitness, ...

Halloween Season Kicks-Off With a Family-Friendly Makers Festival in Tempe

2012-09-28
Local spooky artists, costumers and entertainers are encouraging Arizonans to embrace the traditional roots of Halloween culture - the creative and the macabre - with a kick-off festival this month. The New School for Arts & Academics presents the first annual Keen Halloween on September 29th from 11am to 10pm. The all day, all-ages festival encourages attendees to "watch, learn, and get inspired" with information workshops, a Monster Market (with local artists and creators), an outdoors hands-on Creepy Crafts tent with Bookmans, on-site costume advisors ...

Sacramento Movers Blog About How to Load a Moving Truck

2012-09-28
In a recent blog post Sacramento Movers described how to load a moving truck. If you've decided to do the move yourself and rent out a moving truck, you may want to consider how you will efficiently and safely pack the truck. Or perhaps you've hired movers to do your move but you still want to understand the process for loading a moving truck. In their blog post, Sacramento Movers break down the truck into sections called "tiers" and explain how to load each tier. Fill the attic. The attic is the part of the moving truck that stretches out above the cab of ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Using lightning to make ammonia out of thin air

Machine learning potential-driven insights into pH-dependent CO₂ reduction

Physician associates provide safe care for diagnosed patients when directly supervised by a doctor

How game-play with robots can bring out their human side

Asthma: patient expectations influence the course of the disease

UNM physician tests drug that causes nerve tissue to emit light, enabling faster, safer surgery

New study identifies EMP1 as a key driver of pancreatic cancer progression and poor prognosis

XPR1 identified as a key regulator of ovarian cancer growth through autophagy and immune evasion

Flexible, eco-friendly electronic plastic for wearable tech, sensors

Can the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?

Stuckeman professor’s new book explores ‘socially sustainable’ architecture

Synthetic DNA nanoparticles for gene therapy

New model to find treatments for an aggressive blood cancer

Special issue of Journal of Intensive Medicine analyzes non-invasive respiratory support

T cells take aim at Chikungunya virus

Gantangqing site in southwest China yields 300,000-year-old wooden tools

Forests can’t keep up: Adaptation will lag behind climate change

Sturgeon reintroduction initiative yields promising first-year survival rate

Study: Babies’ poor vision may help organize visual brain pathways

Research reveals Arctic region was permafrost-free when global temperatures were 4.5˚ C higher than today

Novel insights into chromophobe renal cell carcinoma biology and potential therapeutic strategies

A breakthrough in motor safety: AI-powered warning system enhances capability to uncover hidden winding faults

Research teases apart competing transcription organization models

Connect or reject: Extensive rewiring builds binocular vision in the brain

Benefits and risks: informal use of antibiotics to prevent sexually transmitted infections on the rise in key populations in the Netherlands

New molecular tool sheds light on how cancer cells repair telomeres

First large-scale stem cell bank enables worldwide studies on genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease

Hearing devices significantly improve social lives of those with hearing loss

CNIC scientists reveal how the cellular energy system evolved—and how this knowledge could improve the diagnosis of rare genetic diseases

AI sharpens pathologists' interpretation of tissue samples

[Press-News.org] Learning to live on mars
Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital have developed and tested a fatigue management program which is successful at controlling space-age jetlag