Latest News

• share
• favorite_border

Word problem No. 1: Take 372 sixth-graders, 12th-graders and older adults from China and the United States, test them for mathematical ability and solve for the growing Chinese advantage in basic competencies. The answer, says David Geary, professor of psychology at the University of Missouri-Columbia, appears to be cultural changes in both countries including, perhaps, changes in curriculum.

• share
• favorite_border

Institutions are no better at picking future high performing IPO stocks than the average investor, find Meeta Kothare, an assistant professor of finance at the University of Texas at Austin, and Gita Rao, vice president at Colonial Mutual Funds in Boston.

• share
• favorite_border

Luther College art students sorting through the tree limbs and brush at the Decorah city dump are not skipping classóthey are skipping the long lines at the bookstore as they "shop" for school supplies. The supplies they seek are uniquely shaped pieces of wood, and their search is directed by Harley Refsal, resident fellow in Scandinavian folk art and Scandinavian studies at Luther. Refsal is an internationally recognized expert on Scandinavian flat-plane woodcarving, a "lost" folk art of earlier centuries.

• share
• favorite_border

As Martin Luther King Jr. Day approaches, a University of Maine political scientist has tracked use of King's legacy for political gain. She found in a recent study that King's status as an American hero has been used to promote disparate political views and policies, with significant omissions and distortions of his views.

• share
• favorite_border

New research by Carson Chow and James J. Collins at Boston University's Center for BioDynamics may be the basis for a better way to help doctors identify people who are susceptible to falls. An article in the current issue of Physical Review Letters describes their finding that the physical mechanism that keeps a person standing upright works essentially the same way whether the person is standing at ease or pertubed by a slight external push.

• share
• favorite_border

The Petroleum Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers has announced plans to hold the Energy Sources Technology Conference and Exhibition ( ETCE 1998 ) February 2-4, 1998 at the Sheraton Astrodome Hotel in Houston. More than 225 technical presentations, workshops and panel discussions focused on key technologies in the fields of: Drilling; Production Operations; Pipeline Engineering; Offshore Engineering; Pipeline Operations; Plant Maintenance.

• share
• favorite_border

Potassium, either in the form of fruits and vegetables, or in supplements can lower high blood pressure, a risk factor for heart attack or stroke, Harvard researchers report in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

• share
• favorite_border

A new, highly sensitive test based on blood pressure monitoring can detect late-pregnancy complications such as high blood pressure and preeclampsia a full 23 weeks before symptoms occur, Spanish researchers report in this month's Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

• share
• favorite_border

The American College of Physicians released "The Physician Workforce and Financing of Graduate Medical Education, " aimed at changing graduate medical education, adjusting the current physician workforce, achieving predictable and stable funding, and researching new sources of funding such as vouchers.

• share
• favorite_border

A review of clinical trials published this week found that women who consumed high levels of calcium in conjunction with hormone replacement therapy (HRT) had much greater increases in bone mass than those who used either estrogen or calcitonin alone.

• share
• favorite_border

A performance test code to determine power plant thermal performance -- information that is vital to the power industry -- was recently published and is available through ASME International (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers).

• share
• favorite_border

Pharmaceutical companies added 39 new drugs and 10 biologics to the nation's medicine chest in 1997, including important new treatments for heart disease, cancer arthritis, diabetes , Parkinson's disease, and AIDS, according to a report released today by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

• share
• favorite_border

An LSU doctorate student studying menhaden (a small fish), has stumbled across data that shows sharks are using the Northern Gulf of Mexico as a nursing ground. His findings are particularly relevant since national efforts to restore over-fished sharks have not considered this bycatch in the menhaden fishery.

• share
• favorite_border

A new animal model that develops Alzheimer's-like pathology at an accelerated rate will allow researchers to more rapidly test drugs with the potential to slow or prevent the disease. The joint study by the University of South Florida, Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville and the University of Minnesota is on the January cover of the journal Nature Medicine.

• share
• favorite_border

Story Ideas from The National Sea Grant College Program: 1) Wild Rice Flowers Could Hold Clue to Decline; 2) Coral Reef Mining Technique Key To Recovery; 3) Managing Disease in Farmed Fish Seeking Alternative to Antibiotics

• share
• favorite_border

A look at the threat of harmful algal blooms--The National Sea Grant College Program invites you to a special media-only science briefing on the latest marine science research into Pfiesteria and other harmful algal blooms.

• share
• favorite_border

The April 3-10 National Community Economic Development Institute is designed for people eager to make a valuable contribution in their community by helping it prosper economically. No formal business administration background is required to attend. It is a valuable resource for government and business employees, community-based organizations and volunteers who deal with community outreach.

• share
• favorite_border

Advertisements in popular fashion magazines are showing more skin in recent years in their depictions of women, according to a Wesleyan University study.

• share
• favorite_border

The pendulum in 'pop psychology' is swinging back to being in favor of spanking, warns Dr. Roni Leiderman, director of the Family Center at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, FL. She also is the moderator for America Online's "Parent Trap."

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a previously unknown genetic mechanism by which a gene, known as INGI, suppresses tumors in collaboration with the well-known tumor suppressor p53.

• share
• favorite_border

1) Simple computer generated reminders help physicians to remember to discuss end of life directives with their patients, 2) Using both difficulty and degree of independence testing provide a more complete picture of elderly disability, 3) One month intensive course improves residents' interviewing skills, 4) ACP position paper on changes in physician workforce and graduate medical education, 5) Hypertension risk increases with adult weight gain or general obesity.

• share
• favorite_border

When asked to identify the `comb' within a group of imposter items, two-year-olds typically will select a comb-shaped object--whether or not it has teeth for combing a doll's hair--because very young children learn new words based on shapes, not functions, a University of Delaware researcher reports in the Journal of Memory and Language, mailed today.

• share
• favorite_border

In a landmark study for space-based observation of the motions of the earth's crust, geologists have used the same satellite navigation system used to guide motorists to monitor the movement of an entire continent and record the yearly growth of the Andes Mountains to within a fraction of an inch.

• share
• favorite_border

Understanding the genetic causes of spina bifida is a research objective of James F. Martin, an assistant professor of medical biochemistry and genetics at Texas A&M University's Institute of Biosciences and Technology. Spina bifida is a severe birth defect in which the spinal canal fails to fuse. There is no treatment for the resulting spinal cord damage.

• share
• favorite_border

Research has shown that children exposed to common environmental toxins like dioxin and PCBs prenatally or during infancy can suffer behavioral and learning problems. A University of Maryland researcher suggests that the underlying mechanism may be thyroid hormone disruption.

• share
• favorite_border

Sandia National Laboratories has joined the effort to rid the planet of what some people have called its worst form of pollution -- land mines. Sandiaís work in land-mine detection and demining ranges from chemical sensing and backscattered x-ray technologies, to laying down quick-hardening foam to clear a path for military vehicles and developing robotic vehicles that can be used as platforms to support the technologies.

• share
• favorite_border

The federal Health Care Financing Administration has designated the University of Maryland Medical Center as a Medicare-approved lung transplant center, which means that elderly patients who need the surgery no longer have to travel outside the mid-Atlantic region.

• share
• favorite_border

According to research by a Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center physician, potato chips made with olestra don't cause any more digestive problems than regular-fat potato chips and, despite containing only half the calories, are just as filling. Olestra, a nonabsorbable fat substitute, has been making news headlines since its approval by the FDA two years ago for use in snack products.

• share
• favorite_border

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The younger the age of drinking onset, the greater the chance that an individual at some point in life will develop a clinically defined alcohol disorder, according to a new report released today by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and their colleagues at Geron Corp., Menlo Park, Calif., say they have figured out how to overcome the mechanisms that control cellular aging and extend the life span of human cells. The article appears in the Jan. 16 issue of Science.

• share
• favorite_border

The University of New Mexico School of Law pioneered clinical law in the early 1970s and over the years has become a recognized leader in the field. Every year some 110 second and third-year students rotate through the mandatory Clinical Law Program, gaining hands-on, real-life experience practicing law.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists around the world using the Maui High Performance Computing Cneter (MHPCC) operated by the University of New Mexcio, will find their computational problems being solved 50 percent faster in coming months.

• share
• favorite_border

A series of six conferences dealing with space technology and applications will be part of the University of New Mexico Space Technology and Applications International Forum scheduled for Jan. 25-29 at the Albuquerque Convention Center. More than 500 space technology scientists from around the world are expected to attend

• share
• favorite_border

If tobacco is the chief preventable cause of illness and death in America, then the nationπs health can be significantly improved by strengthening tobacco cessation strategies within managed care organizations, the health care delivery systems which serve 75 percent of insured U.S. workers. Thatπs the concept behind a new $6.7 million program supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and based at the University of Wisconsin Medical School. The program, ≥Addressing Tobacco In Managed Care,≤ supports studies of policies and practices which reduce tobacco use by members of managed care organizations: HMOs (health maintenance organizations), PPOs (preferred provider organizations), and point-of-service plans.

• share
• favorite_border

Former Texas Gov. Ann W. Richards will join former Congresswoman Patricia S. Schroeder for a panel discussion on women's careers in politics Feb. 2 at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass.

• share
• favorite_border

People diagnosed with an exercise-induced left bundle branch block are more than twice as likely to die or experience a major cardiac event, compared to a similar group of patients who showed no signs of a bundle branch block. The study by the Cleveland Clinic, published in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), concludes this little-heeded condition might, in fact, be a significant predictor of patient outcome.

• share
• favorite_border

Women's groups claim Super Bowl Sunday is the "biggest day of the year for violence against women." Brett Drake of Washington University co-authored a study which found no correlation between reported cases of child abuse and the broadcast of national playoff games for baseball, basketball or football.

• share
• favorite_border

Following the media uproar over a scientist in Illinois who says he will try to begin human cloning soon, Cornell professor Robert H. Foote spoke out Wednesday, Jan. 7, to debunk and denounce the effort.

• share
• favorite_border

Ralph G. Yount, President of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), today criticized proposals to clone human beings. At the same time, Yount emphasized that certain cloning techniques are important tools for biomedical research.

• share
• favorite_border

Findings regarding vaccine therapy for ovarian cancer, platinum-based chemotherapy, the effect of route of delivery in the post-partum period and pelvic radiation therapy for cervical cancer take center stage at the 29th Annual Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists.

• share
• favorite_border

Story Tips from Carnegie Mellon University: 1) Create interactive 3D graphics, 2) Interview Einstein in 3D in real time, 3) Datamining to make better decisions, 4) Read an antique book online

• share
• favorite_border

In the face of heavy competition from alternative format retailers such as Wal-Mart, traditional grocers seeking survival strategies may employ "efficient assortment" without negatively impacting customers' perceptions as they have long feared.

• share
• favorite_border

Overweight and obese mothers have significantly less success breast-feeding their newborns, and babies who aren't breast-fed for more than two months maybe more likely to become obese adolescents, according to two new Cornell University/Bassett Hospital studies that examine the effects of maternal obesity, breast-feeding and adolescent obesity.

• share
• favorite_border

New research from one of the most comprehensive studies ever of middle-age Americans indicates that people who once smoked may continue to suffer from the effects of smoking even if they had quit years before.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study raises the surprising possibility that physicians may not be treating the aftermath of their patients' heart attacks aggressively enough. The findings appear in today's Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

• share
• favorite_border

The health of a person's heart may be found by looking in the blood, according to a report in today's Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

• share
• favorite_border

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a leader in environmental and energy sciences, is focusing its scientific and technological resources on the emerging problems of agriculture and food production.

• share
• favorite_border

Jupiter's moon Io, whose strange surface is defined by active volcanoes, lakes of molten sulfur and vast fields of sulfur dioxide snow, has revealed another oddity to scientists: caps of glowing hydrogen gas at the moon's poles.

• share
• favorite_border

We invite you to make plans to attend the upcoming Epidemiology and Prevention Conference in Santa Fe. A fully equipped and staffed newsroom will be provided for working members of the media.

• share
• favorite_border

The younger the age of drinking onset, the greater the chance that an individual at some point in life will develop a clinically defined alcohol disorder, according to a new report to be released January 14 by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.