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Biomedical engineers have built a prototype drug pump the size of a contact lens, a miniature, closed-loop implant that could monitor its own flow rate to ensure a steady stream of medicine.

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The federal government has made substantial progress recently to improve America's food safety system by adopting a new regulatory framework that focuses on prevention and clearly defines the roles industry and government must play. But reform of the system must go further and assign responsibilities more clearly, make better use of scarce resources, and prepare for future challenges, including those posed by persistent foodborne illnesses and the globalization of the food economy, according to a new article authored by the former head of USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service. The article appears in the current Food and Drug Law Journal.

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Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center and University Hospital in Utrecht, the Netherlands have identified a genetic pathway that may play a role in the development of as many as 90 percent of all colon cancers.

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The Biotechnology Information Institute is now offering the Federal Bio-Technology Transfer Directory as an online Internet Web database. Besides being the largest specialized database of licensing opportunities in the biomedical, biotechnology and pharmaceutical areas, it is the only source for information about federal bio-technology transfers and related commercialization activities.

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Johns Hopkins researchers have identified a protein that helps biochemical "ears" on the surface of brain cells line up close to the areas where nearby brain cells "speak."

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What do boiling-hot fissures in the earth's crust, the insides of airplane fuel tanks, vast expanses of ice in Antarctica and the parched sands of baking deserts have in common with environments on other planets?

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Results of a nationwide survey of physicians and genetic counselors conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions show that most patients who underwent genetic testing for a gene linked with colon cancer did not receive adequate genetic counseling or give their written informed consent for the test.

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TYLENOL(R), the world's leading over-the-counter (OTC) pain reliever, has launched a new site (www.Tylenol.com) on the Internet where consumers and healthcare professionals can find important information about the proper use of OTC pain medications, common illnesses, pain management and self-care.

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On March 24-26, 1997, the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, and in collaboration with other organizations, will host a conference on emerging foodborne pathogens. The conference will take place at the Radisson Plaza Hotel, Mark Center, in Alexandria, Virginia.

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Researchers at the University of Wisconsin Medical School and the National Institutes of Health have determined the three-dimensional structure of the "catalytic core," or main power center, of adenylyl cyclase. Adenylyl cyclase is a key player in the system that receives messages from outside cells and sends them repackaged to cell centers involved in any number of activities.

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The International GovNews Project has announced a special government category on the Internetís Usenet news system. The creation of this new category lays the groundwork for the wide, cost-effective electronic dissemination and discussion by topic of large amounts of public government information.

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The 25 million acres of land entrusted to the U.S. military may now benefit from more than 50 years of study in conservation and land management. A new 500-page publication called ≥Conserving Biodiversity on Military Lands: A Handbook for Natural Resource Managers≤ is now available for the U.S. Department of Defense. The bookπs publication is due in part to the efforts of Dr. Gary Meffe, a senior research ecologist with the University of Georgiaπs Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. He wrote the book with Michele Leslie, Jeffrey Hardesty and Diane Adams, all with The Nature Conservancy.

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The world's leading asthma research and treatment center and an Arizona health resort known as a worldwide leader in healthy living awareness and education are teaming to offer a week-long Adult Asthma Week from Sunday, Oct. 26-Sunday, Nov. 2.

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As the United States Congress considers legislation that would restrict the trading of municipal solid waste (MSW) among states, researchers at Resources for the Future have found that, under certain circumstances, limits placed on the volume of MSW shipped by one state to another state may actually increase the number of interstate waste shipments as well as increase disposal costs for some regions of the country. Embargoed March 20

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Until recently, the study of negotiation was focused on splitting up "goods," or things people want, not on the distribution of "bads." In a study by Neale, Harris Sondak of Duke University, and Robin Pinkley of Southern Methodist University, takes a close look at what factors influence people's willingness to accept burdens.

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The concept of Most Favored Nation has not been lost on the business world, where corporations frequently write Most Favored Customer clauses into contracts with their largest customers, guaranteeing them the lowest price in markets where prices vary. The government has tried to capitalize on the idea, too, but in the case of Medicaid, says a Stanford researcher, it was a bad idea.

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DETROIT -- We've all heard that anger can kill. Yet for cardiac patients, perhaps denial of anger is even more deadly. Denial of anger emerged as a stronger predictor for death and other cardiac incidents, such as new heart attacks or additional cardiac procedures, than traditional cardiac risk factors, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study conducted by Mark Ketterer, Ph.D.

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The microbe that causes cholera has revealed the underlying mechanism for a promising new technology for oral delivery of drugs not normally absorbed through the intestines, such as insulin and immunoglobulins. Embargoed for release March 19, 1997

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APA Announces Legal Actions To Protect Patients: 1)Challenges managed care profiteering by joining as plaintiff in antitrust lawsuit filed in New York State; 2)Seeks to protect patients from discrimination under the Americans With Disabilities Act; 3) Financial support of class action lawsuits against Blue Cross Companies reviews of medical necessity of treatment decisions; 4) Proactive litigation strategy and fund; 5) Further information about these suits

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A researcher at the University of Iowa College of Medicine has discovered a technique that may open new doors for prostate cancer therapy. Dr. Timothy Ratliff, UI professor of urology, says a virus called canarypox has the potential to be used as a means of transporting genes that stimulate anti-tumor activity into prostate cancer cells. Ratliff's research appears in the March 19 issue of Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

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The following stories appear in the American Thoracic Society (ATS) March journals: 1- pulmonary problems greater in low income individuals; 2- moderate levels of air pollution can cause respiratory problems in children; 3- how cigarette smoke inhalation stimulates bone marrow. EMBARGOED: Mar. 20, 1997, 6:00 p.m.

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The Northeast survived the 11th warmest February in 103 years of record -- warm enough to shatter six all-time temperature records for the month and set or tie 47 daily high-temperature records, according to climatologists at the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University.

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Cornell fiber scientist C.C. Chu is editor of new text, "Wound Closure Biomaterials and Devices." The book provides comprehensive information on state-of-the-art, innovative biomaterials, devices and techniques used in wound closure.

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The community around York, NY will hear a report on the feasibility of a central plant that would remove manure odor, recycle manure for value-added products, improve dairy waste management and perhaps provide energy back to the community. All this, and it would more than pay for itself, too, according to a Cornell professor of agricultural and biological engineering.

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After analyzing the reasons for instituting the Glass-Steagall Banking Act, Stanford Business School researcher Manju Puri suggests that barriers dividing commercial and investment banks be relaxed.

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A team of Los Alamos National Laboratory and Caltech scientists have made important breakthroughs in applying a powerful new technique that marries two existing technologies to probe materials at a microscopic level. EMBARGOED until Mar 19, 1997 at 1:30 p.m. Central Time

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LAWRENCE -- Another match has been set in a long-running academic debate about whether birds descended from dinosaurs. At issue, said Larry Dean Martin, curator of paleontology at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, is whether these dinosaurs had feathers.

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Top students from around the world are coming to Chicago to enroll in DePaul University's unique international MBA program that integrates marketing and finance with an international focus.

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Media representatives are invited to attend the American Academy of Neurology's 49th Annual Meeting April 12-19 in Boston, MA. Studies presented at the meeting include: 1) Extensive Decongestant Use Linked to Stroke; 2) Gene Affects Risk of Alzheimer's Disease Differently Among Races Please note individual embargo dates.

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1) Relationship Between Symptoms of Depression in Older Patients and Health Status; 2) ACP Prostate Cancer Screening Recommendations; 3) ACP Position Paper: Inner-City Health Care; 4) ACP Annual Session March 22-24, 1997, Pennsylvania Convention Center. Info: (215) 351-2655.

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Johns Hopkins scientists may have identified how oxidants can worsen cancerous cell growth and how antioxidants can suppress it. Antioxidants have long been thought to fight cancer; the current findings give insight into how the protection may occur and how it may be harnessed for anti-cancer therapies.

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When the anti-nausea drug Thalidomide came out on the market in the late 1950s, one molecule in the drug caused terrible birth defects. That molecule was what chemists call a "chiral" molecule. Chiral molecules are molecules which are chemically and structurally the same, but are mirror images -- one is right-handed and the other is left-handed. Until now there has been no reliable way to separate right- and left-handed chiral molecules. But that is changing.

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Discoveries by a team of LSU researchers could lead to control of the destructive Formosan termite.

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Being the first kid on your block to own a reptile may be cool, but its also a health risk, according to a study in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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Children and adults are more likely to be overweight and obese than they were 20 years ago, according to a recent study in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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Parents who store gasoline in safety cans rather than the more popular rectangular metal gasoline cans may prevent burn deaths and injuries to young children, according to a study on the electronic version of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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Women who receive epidurals to ease labor pains may be increasing discomfort for their newborns, according to a study published in this months Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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Over a seven-year period, there was a 44 percent increase in recurrent ear infections among preschool children, according to a study published on the electronic version of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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In a speech on the function and purpose of the Federal Reserve System, a Simon School professor and noted economist argues that inflation is the one variable which the Fed truly can control; he sees zero inflation as a realistic goal.

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Background information relating to the accuracy and reliability of global climate monitoring by microwave sounding units aboard NOAA satellites has been posted on the UAH web site. The address is: http://www.atmos.uah.edu./essl/msu/background.html

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Professionals involved in the research, design, operation and regulation of America's 114 waste-to-energy plants and more than 400 facilities around the world, will meet at the Fifth Annual North American Waste-to-Energy Conference (NAWTEC V) this April 22-25, at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

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With a proactive stance on compulsive gambling, the gaming industry is doing what's right for customers and may be winning friends and influencing enemies. One of its efforts is a guide compiled by a Purdue University professor to help the industry deal with those addicted to gambling.

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Vaccines can improve a hog producer's bottom line, according to research conducted by a team of eight Purdue University animal scientists and veterinarians.

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It's a technophobe's worst nightmare - a machine that actually makes a computer MORE difficult to operate. But that's what students from seven universities are building for the ninth annual National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest April 5.

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Northwestern University Medical School researchers have launched a study to determine the effectiveness of melatonin to relieve insomnia in the initial weeks of ProzacÆ therapy. They believe the hormone melatonin may not only improve sleep but also diminish depression that has been exacerbated by sleep deprivation.

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Spring traditionally is the season when schools give students -- particularly elementary school students -- the opportunity to develop science fair projects that showcase their knowledge and ingenuity. Finding ideas, however, can test parental mettle and student inventiveness.

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Two geologists, from Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Chicago, have demonstrated that an adjustment to one of those models --- involving reducing the assumed thickness of the tectonic plate --- allows the model to fit the data much more precisely.

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Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers have successfully defeated every tamper-indicating seal thrown at them, and are working with manufacturers to improve such seals.

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New technology has enabled physiologists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine to visualize the organization of intracellular calcium stored in the reticulum of cells. They also have located sodium pumps with a high affinity for the hormone ouabain next to the reticulum, where they play a vital role in controlling the storage and release of calcium. Findings could lead to new and better therapies for hypertension, heart failure, stroke.

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Using ultrafast pulses of laser light, University of Michigan physicists have found a way to control the random oscillations of atoms in a crystal lattice. Their study describes the first experimental modification of one of the most fundamental quantum states of solid matter.