A Purdue University animal scientist has figured out why livestock have trouble gaining weight on a diet of tannin-rich sorghum. His work eventually may help livestock, and people, get more nutrition out of lower-cost, tannin-rich grains.
Neurosurgical specialists, reporting at the 47th annual meeting of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) next week, will describe how the Digital Holographyô System from VoxelÆ (NASDAQ:VOXL) is helping them plan and perform complex neurosurgical procedures.
Nationwide study indicates a 15% increase in drug resistance over the last three years, suggesting that office physicians need to look out for antibiotic resistance in their patients and prescribe antibiotics appropriatley. Investigators collected over 8,000 samples from around the country of the Haemophilus influenzae bacteria which causes chronic bronchitis, middle-ear infections and sinusitis.
Scientists at Columbia University have developed a new topical hand cream that may prevent the two most common latex allergy reactions-- sensitization to latex after prolonged exposure and contact dermatitis. Over 100,000 people in the United States are at risk for latex allergies, which causes itching and redness and in severe cases can lead to respiratory distress or even death.
Newborn babies may avoid lifelong vision problems thanks to a discovery in rhesus monkeys at the Yerkes Primate Center at Emory University. Scientists there have found that a dramatic reorganization of brain cells occurs in infant monkeys in the first three weeks of life, corresponding in humans to the first three months. These neural connections turn out to be the building blocks of a healthy visual system, allowing for a baby's sudden ability to see three-dimensionally, and as the years go by, to avoid a series of irreversible visual defects.
ISU officials today (Oct. 8) unveiled and operated a full-scale replica of the first electronic digital computer, the Atanasoff- Berry Computer (ABC) at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The replica is a working model of original ABC, built in 1939 - 42.
Tobacco and pharmaceutical drug companies to compete for the hearts and lungs of nicotine-dependent consumers in emerging, multi-billion dollar, nicotine maintenance market, says U-M health policy researcher.
Busy emergency room doctors now have a new ally in their fight to save heart attack victims from dying. The ally is a computerized decision-making aid built into the standard electrocardiograph (EKG) machine that instantly prints predictions, based on the patient's EKG and other clinical information, of whether that individual is likely to benefit from potentially lifesaving treatment with thrombolytic (clot-dissolving) drugs.
The following are findings described in the September issue of Research Activities from the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research: 1) Prophylactic Mastectomy Provides Substantial Gains in Life Expectancy for Women With Cancer-Disposing Genes, 2) Amoxicillin is Often Prescribed to Prevent Middle Ear Infections in Young Children, But it is Only Marginally Effective, 3) Many Physicians Have Not Fully Adopted Recommended Cholesterol Management Practices, 4) Duration of Maternity Work Leave Significantly Affects Maternal Health
The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research and the American Association of Health Plans' Foundation today announced a joint call for studies to determine the impact of different features of health plans on the quality of care provided to patients with chronic illnesses and on outcomes. The two groups will together provide up to $7 million over a three-year period to support peer-reviewed, outcomes-focused studies.
Tips from the National Science Foundation--9/26/97: 1) University of Miami Joins Suny Buffalo to Study Airborne Contagions; 2) Skeletal Muscle May Repair Heart Damage, 3) President's Budget Continues Shift to Civilian R&D
University of Maryland researchers have confirmed the link between a calcium-handling enzyme and the strength of the heart's beat. They also have been able to enhance the heart's beating strength using a genetically altered adenovirus to give heart muscle cells extra copies of the gene that produces the crucial enzyme, ATPase.
Tips from the American Psychiatric Association -- September, Part 2: 1) Two Decades of Psychiatric Leadership: An Interview with Melvin Sabshin, M.D., 2) Meeting on Psychiatric Services Held in October, 3) Mark Your Calendars: American Psychiatric Association Calendar Listings, 4) Free APA Resources for Media
Tips from the American Psychiatric Association, -- September, Part 1: 1) Schizophrenia Tied to Complications at Birth, 2) Antidepressants in Breast Milk: No Negative Impact, 3) Homeless People with Mental Illness Find Support in the Community, 4) Mental Illness Seen in Young Adults Abusing Drugs and Alcohol, 5) Violence May Be Predictable
African Americans with higher income and education levels are less likely to suffer the consequences of hypertension because of their awareness of the benefits of a heart healthy diet.
Nick Irons swam the length of the Missisippi River, from Minneapolis to Baton Rouge, to raise awareness of the neurological disease multiple sclerosis (MS) and to raise money for MS research. His father, Dr. John Irons, has lived with MS for over a decade, and currently uses one of the latest treatments available, called AVONEX, to delay the progression of disability which normally occurs with the disease.
Latin American markets are accurately characterized as being among the riskiest capital markets in the world, but Latin American markets have outperformed the Standard & Poor's over the last 20 years. That's according to research by two professors at Texas Christian University who have researched Latin American market's performance as compared with the S&P 500 over the last 20 years.
Tips from the American Psychiatric Association Journals - Part 3: 1) 49th Institute on Psychiatric Services Provides Dozens of Story Ideas, 2) Mark Your Calendars - APA Event Listing, 3) Free Resources for Media from the APA
Tips from the American Psychiatric Association - Part 2: 1) 10 Percent of Patients Report Insomnia, 2) Confining Sex Offenders: the Supreme Court Decision, 3) New Technique Bridges the Communication Gap for Patients with Schizophrenia, 4) Persons with Mental Illnesses Benefit from Community Care
Tips from the American Psychiatric Association Journals: 1) New Insights into Late Life Depression; 2) Screening Leads to Treatment for Depression; 3) Life Expectancy Shortened by Mental Disorders
Cornell gerontologist, Karl Pillemer, has developed a program and published a manual called "Partners in Caregiving" to improve communication between nursing home staff and families of residents.
Thanks to the confluence of a new technology in virology and a recent patent in rearing insects, scientists at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research Inc. (BTI), located at Cornell University, have found a better way to produce commercial quantities of pharmaceutical proteins out of insect larvae.
Winston-Salem -- In what could be the most exciting advance in the treatment of AIDS to date, Bowman Gray School of Medicine scientists today reported a novel way to block the deadly HIV virus from ever invading white blood cells.
A team of Miami University researchers has discovered another part of the process that allows certain reptiles and amphibians to freeze solid and then thaw back to healthy life. Glucose, key to preserving wood frogs when they freeze during winter, is not flushed out of a frog's body when it thaws, but is reabsorbed into the bloodstream through the frog's urinary bladder, according to research by Drs. Jon Costanzo, Phyllis Callahan and Richard Lee, professors of zoology, and Michael Wright, research associate, all at Miami.
A genetically engineered thyroid-stimulating compound may be used safely and effectively to screen for recurrence of thyroid cancer after surgery and cause fewer side effects than the traditional test, according to a national study led by two Baltimore physicians.
A Purdue University study sheds new light on the old practice of marrying for money. "Marriage has a lot to do with wealth accumulation," says Janet Wilmoth, assistant professor of sociology. "Getting and staying married appears to provide institutional benefits that greatly impact long- term economic well-being."
First lady Rosalynn Carter was awarded the National Mental Health Association's "Into the Light" award for her decades of dedication to mental health advocacy. The award was presented at NMHA's annual tribute dinner in Washington, DC, September 25.
Notes in Brief: 1. A BU School of Medicine research team has deemed a transplant involving pig cells to be safe. The transplant is designed to treat symptoms of Parkinson's disease, and will shortly begin controlled trials. 2. Teenagers in Massachusetts are unlikely to seek HIV testing, although a majority believe that they are at least "a little likely" to become infected with the virus, a BU School of Public Health researcher finds.
Some managing directors and financial analysts on Wall Street learned their jobs as undergraduate and MBA students at Texas Christian University while overseeing one of the largest student-managed funds in the U.S. The $1.5 million student-managed Educational Investment Fund at TCU is the second oldest student-managed fund in the U.S. and among the top 5 in portfolio size. It has been in existence for 25 years.
The process of photosynthesis -- the way in which plants convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen -- is much clearer now, thanks to research by two Michigan State University chemists. While other researchers have been able to hit upon only "bits and pieces" of the process, these two scientists were able to bring it all together.
To meet the special needs of both adoptive parents and their children, Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital has developed a new program called the Rainbow Center for International ChildHealth. Children who are adopted from overseas sometimes carry rare diseases, or have psychological or behavioral problems associated with neglect or deprivation common to institutionalization.
The American Dental Association invites you to participate in a telephone news conference highlighting some of the most dynamic areas of dentistry: trends in cosmetic dental services such as tooth whitening; new technology that improves patient's understanding of their treatment options; and recent advancements in oral care for seniors and women.
Iowa State University and Ohio State University will manage the newly established Airworthiness Assurance Center of Excellence announced Sept. 23 by the Federal Aviation Administration. AACE will identify and solve critical technology challenges related to national aircraft safety, including research in the areas of aircraft inspection, maintenance and repair; crashworthiness; propulsion; advanced materials; and landing gears.
Topics: 1) Take a systematic approach to solving bedwetting; 2) LSD can produce symptoms years later, says drug rehab expert; 3) Get out and walk says a cardiologists who has answers for common excuses not to.
Once dismissed as mere padding, cells known as glia may be essential for the correct wiring of the brain. This is the conclusion of a study reported in the Sept. 12 issue of Science by researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Women suffering from a severe form of premenstrual syndrome that adversely affects relationships and work may have fewer emotional problems when treated with the antidepressant sertraline, a researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas reported Sept. 23 in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
The Space Shuttle Atlantis, scheduled for launch on the STS-86 mission on Sept. 25, will support the third and final flight of KidSat (short for Kid's Satellite program), NASA's pilot education program that uses an electronic still camera aboard the Shuttle to bring the frontiers of space exploration to a growing number of U.S. middle school classrooms via the Internet.
A University of Delaware research scientist says the zero emission car plugged into your garage could make large, expensive, centrally located utilities obsolete.
A Cornell study finds student evaluations of teachers invalid; ratings on many measures soared when the professor simply used a more enthusiastic tone of voice in teaching the same material.
Heavy rains hit Atlantic City, N.J., with new records in August, while many parts of the Northeast region remained dry, according to the climatologists at the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University. The Atlantic City rain event of August 20-21 deluged the area with 13.52 inches. Atlantic City's daily precipitation total of 11.2 inches on Aug. 20 more than surpassed their all-time daily rainfall record of 6.46 inches set on July 10, 1949.
If ever there was a clinching argument for meandering evolution, it is the process of symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Beautiful though it is, such a process could not possibly be the result of straightforward design. We need nitrogen desperately, as do all living things, for nitrogen atoms are a key component of many important biological molecules, including DNA, RNA and proteins. And proteins, as they say, are us.
Johns Hopkins AIDS researchers have launched a multi-center study to find out if early, aggressive treatment of HIV infection can reduce virus levels or even eliminate the virus. The study also will examine the effect of this treatment approach on the immune system during the first few months of infection. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the research could lead to improved treatments and more effective vaccines.
The only signature Michelangelo da Caravaggio ever put on one of his paintings appears as a flow of blood oozing from the neck of a partially decapitated St. John in Caravaggio's greatest work, "The Beheading of St. John the Baptist." Why the newly knighted Baroque artist chose this bloody dedication is a key question that David Stone, assistant professor of art history at the University of Delaware, says he hopes to solve as a winner of the 1997-98 Rome Prize Competition.
Five times tougher and 16 times more extensible than a human tendon, the leathery, yet amazingly stretchy collagen threads produced by marine mussels might someday suggest strategies for developing better artificial skin and other biomimetic materials, say University of Delaware researchers. In the Sept. 19, 1997 issue of Science, they describe byssal threads as containing "the first known protein [with] both collagenous and elastin-like domains."
Hog farmers who hope to boost pig production by giving each of their healthy sows a single, massive shot of vitamin A are probably wasting their money, according to Purdue University research.