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A scientific breakthrough that could eventually become as important as X-ray and radar technologies may soon make it possible to see images of diseased tissue, electric fields, plastic explosives hidden in a suitcase, and much more that is undetected by other imaging systems. Called real-time electro-optic terahertz sensing, the technology was invented under the leadership of Xi-Cheng Zhang, associate professor of physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

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Vegetarian diets can be less-than-perfect, especially for those who have recently become vegetarians and are still learning about this way of eating. Though vegetarian diets often provide more of some nutrients like vitamin C and folic acid than nonvegetarian diets, several recent studies have found that vegetarian diets may be low in many other nutrients, including vitamins B6, B12, D, riboflavin and the minerals calcium and zinc.

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Programs to empower workers almost always fail because managers promise more than they can deliver. So says Joanne Ciulla, professor of leadership and ethics at the University of Richmond's Jepson School of Leadership Studies. She has written a paper entitled, "Leadership and the Problem of Bogus Empowerment," recently published as a working paper of the Kellogg Leadership Studies Project.

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The idea that problem drinkers can simply cut back instead of cutting themselves off is the premise behind, the Guided Self-Change Clinic at Nova Southeastern University.

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Organizations use hazing because "induction-begets devotion." Research by Caroline Keating, professor of psychology at Colgate University in Hamilton, NY, shows that severe treatment of initiates seems to enhance their commitment to the group. Her research shows that the harsher the hazing, the more attractive and competent group members seem to the initiates and the more initiates conform to the group.

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ARS Tip sheet for 4-28-97: 1- Intercepting exotic pests; 2- Irrigating on computer schedule; 3- Killing whiteflies with fungi; 4- Pond meltwater and spring; 5- Hard white wheats.

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U.S. and Russian institutes are collaborating on a global race to produce isotopes for use in medical diagnostics.

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WEST POINT, Pa., April 28, 1997 -- Merck & Co., Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared its drug Fosamax"š (alendronate sodium) to prevent osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Fosamax is now one of the few drugs indicated to prevent a chronic disease. In addition, Fosamax was cleared to prevent fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. The FDA's decision to clear Fosamax for prevention of the bone-thinning disease gives millions of postmenopausal women in the United States and their physicians a nonhormonal option for preventing rapid bone loss in the early postmenopausal period; bone loss may lead to osteoporosis and its fractures.

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As longtime advocates for the better health and safety of the American public, the American Academy of Family Physicians wholeheartedly supports FDA regulation of products that contain nicotine.

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The enormously successful partnership between professional football players and American Indian teens, which was designed to help those teens stay in school and resist alcohol and drug use, will be highlighted as one of the country's most promising new initiatives at the President's Summit for America's Future. The Summit will take place in Philadelphia, Pa., from April 27 to April 29, chaired by General Colin Powell.

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The Colorado Disaster Medical Assistance Team's (DMAT's) Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) unit has been named one of only three National Medical Response Teams (NMRTs) by the U.S. Public Health Service/National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) Office of Emergency Preparedness.

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A retiree who scavenged a radiation-proof door has cheapened the price for the U.S. to visualize world peace.

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Forty engineers from Sandia National Laboratories are directing security activities in laboratories and power plants of the former Soviet Union to protect nuclear materials that have interested terrorists, thieves and extortionists.

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More than 300 medical and scientific research findings in the diagnosis and treatment of ear nose and throat as well as head and neck disorders will be presented at the 1997 Combined Otolaryngologic Springs Meetings (COSM) to be held in Scottsdale, AZ.

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There are currently 146 drugs and vaccines in development for children, according to a survey released today by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

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NSF Tipsheet for April 25: 1- cloning a mature sheep demands extensive public discussion and debate; 2- site of intense, continuing earthquake activity, and home to 15 million people, needs scientific assistance; 3- lip seals.

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APA Invites Media to Attend 150th Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA

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APA May Online Tipsheet: 1) depression in terminally ill patients; 2) Complicated Grief; 3)Phone Systems Can Aid in Diagnosis & Treatment; 4) Severe Life Stress Speeds Progress rate of HIV

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On May 1, 1997 American Psychiatric Association publishes new Practice Guideline for Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementia of Late Life.

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A new device may help researchers better understand environmental events such as global warming by measuring individual aerosol particles as small as 10 nanometers--roughly one order of magnitude smaller than existing transportable instruments, say University of Delaware researchers who recently filed a patent disclosure. The instrument analyzes particles "at the critical early stages of their growth," before they accumulate in clouds, says Anthony S. Wexler, associate professor of mechanical engineering.

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Because virtually all of today's information technology is computer-driven, there is a huge demand for computer software engineers in just about any field a college-bound high school student can name.

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Purdue University researcher Samuel Wagstaff is using powerful computers to divide and conquer numbers that have more than 100 digits. Results from the latest round, factoring a record-setting 167-digit number, may help scientists develop secret codes for computer security.

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The University of Maryland Medical Center is using a novel approach to solicit funds for a nationwide study of Celiac disease. Instead of holding dinners or galas, fundraising staff are tapping on computer keyboards and ìsurfing the netî to reach potential donors. ìWe believe this is the first time the Internet has been used to launch a comprehensive fundraising drive for medical research,î says Kirk Gardner, director of major gifts at the University of Maryland Medical Center. ìWe will continue surfing the Internet to solicit an estimated $600,000 to fund a national study on Celiac disease.î

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Using polyethlene glycol, researchers have camouflaged red blood cells, in essence creating a universal blood type with broad applications to transfusion medicine. Embargo: Mon. May 5, 5:50 pm EDT.

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Women make up one-third of the 15.6 million Americans who are drug or alcohol dependent. But until recently, most addiction treatment has been tailored toward men, ignoring special needs and problems of women addicts. In an effort to raise awareness of women's issues in addiction treatment and new services to help them, the University of Maryland Medical Center co-sponsored a free conference at the Baltimore Convention Center on April 24. The conference drew about 2,000 addiction treatment providers, including physicians, social workers, employee assistance professionals, counselors and therapists.

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A team of University of Minnesota researchers has regenerated functioning nerve cells from cervical (neck) nerve tissue taken from young rats, whose spinal cords were once thought unable to grow new nerve cells.

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Emory University melanoma researchers are uncovering new information about a vital cellular ingredient which they believe may direct the body's immune system to kill malignant melanoma tumor cells.

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Researchers at the University of Michigan Medical Center have developed a drug, recently approved by the federal government, that can halt the progression of - and often completely reverse - the symptoms of Wilson's disease. The disorder strikes some 5,000 Americans, usually during their teen-age or young-adult years.

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Genetic research conducted at The Jackson Laboratory has identified a protein in mice that may play a fundamental role in the critical process of "wiring" the central nervous system during vertebrate embryonic development.

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Emory and CDC researchers reported in "Clinical Infectious Diseases" that pathogens from patients in hospital intensive care units are most resistant to antibiotics - organisms infecting patients in other areas of the hospital were less resistant.

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Emory University dermatologic surgeons are using a surgigal procedure called MOHS to treat lentigo-maligna melanoma.

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Hormones are being found to have impacts beyond the individual animal that produces them. They reach from one generation to effect the very survival of the next. In addition, they communicate messages about the environmental conditions affecting the parent generation to the offspring -- which may help the new generation adapt to their environment.

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A pending patent, filed for by two researchers at the University of Georgiaπs Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, could reduce cleanup costs by millions of dollars at U.S. Department of Energy facilities across the country and make the most commonly used groundwater remediation technology process much more effective.

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Five internationally leading experts on arthritis and exercise will discuss how exercise helps adults and children with arthritis at the National Press Club on Monday, April 28, 8:45-11 a.m. Speakers will present new evidence from the US and Canada that exercise improves the health of persons with arthritis and disabilities.

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Highlights of News Scientist for 4-26-97

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Nova Southeastern University and the town of Davie have turned an abandoned sewer plant in Florida into the largest fish-breeding facility in the country, and one of only a few in the nation built from an old utility plant. They're breeding thousands of tilapia--a light, white fish that tastes similar to trout--at the Davie Aquaculture Research Center plant.

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Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and at the Veterans Administration West Side Medical Center have found that cocaine may weaken the body's natural defenses by dramatically altering the numbers and genetic machinery of an important type of immune cell from the thymus gland.

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Sheldon R. Erikson, chairman of the Board of Cooper Cameron Corporation (NYSE) since May 1996, and president and chief executive officer since January 1995, will be accepting the Titanium Award for outstanding citizenship within the petroleum industry. This presentation will take place during the ASME Cajun Crawfish Boil, Sunday, May 4, from 1 to 5 p.m.

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Researchers are developing techniques for using an ionized gas to remove uranium, plutonium and related radioactive isotopes from contaminated tools, gloveboxes, pipes and other materials.

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ASME International (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers) is a sponsor of the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), to be held May 5 to May 8, at the Houston Astrodome. The following sessions are sponsored by ASME International:

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Recognizing the critical role of technical standards in international trade, ASME International (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) has urged the U.S. government to support market-driven, de facto international standards as a means of satisfying the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade adopted at the most recent round of GATT negotiations.

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Although hypertension and low income already are linked to an increased risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) for both African-American and white men, the two factors may help explain the four-fold higher incidence of ESRD found in blacks, compared to whites, according to a study led by Johns Hopkins researchers.

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Global representatives from agricultural universities and research facilities met in Ithaca, N.Y., to hammer out details on diet and 'food systems' alliance to create agricultural demonstration projects that show how food systems could be improved in both developing and developed countries. An agreement also would begin the process of upgrading food-systems infrastructures and training within developing countries.

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Genzyme Transgenics Corp. announced today that it has signed a five-year CRADA with the NCI to expand research and development activities related to idiotypic cancer vaccines. Idiotypic vaccines contain proteins derived from individual patient tumors or from specific types of tumors.

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Superintendents of the nationís largest urban school districts will announce the formation of a national coalition to develop and share solutions to common problems they face in improving mathematics and science education. Revitalizing urban schooling is a key to the success of national education reform programs because urban school systems enroll roughly half of all U.S. public school students.

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Caffeine, stress, sleep loss, anxiety and physical exertion all can induce unnoticeable hand tremors. Now, experiments with a drug commonly used to treat rapid heart beats appears to significantly improve hand steadiness of surgeons during simulated eye operations.

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Leading researchers from the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities will convene at UC Santa Cruz on May 10 and 11 for a weekend conference on one of the hottest topics in higher education today: Is science just another cultural and political construct?

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Eric A. Cornell, 35, adjoint professor at the University of Colorado and physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, has been selected to receive the Alan T. Waterman Award, the National Science Boardís highest honor for young researchers.

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"Sarcoidosis is a result of an unknown environmental agent," says Lee Newman, M.D., a National Jewish Medical and Research Center physician. "Sarcoidosis is a mystery disease. There's probably more than one cause." Dr. Newman's "Medical Progress" report in the April 24 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine outlines what the medical community has learned about the disease during the past 10 years and the best ways to treat it. EMBARGOED: 5 p.m. EDT, April 23, 1997

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The Cornell University Institute for Animal Welfare has been established to foster discussion and research on issues concerning animals in agriculture, laboratories and the wild. Based in the College of Veterinary Medicine, the institute will provide financial support for studies by Cornell-affiliated researchers and will bring to campus speakers on a range of animal-welfare topics.