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One of the minor horrors of the computer age is to be working on a document not yet saved to the hard drive ìmemoryî and lose everything because of a power outage or a screen freeze-up that forces the operator to shut down the computer. Now scientists at Sandia National Laboratories and France Telecom have applied for a patent on a prototype memory-retention device that is inexpensive, low-powered, and simple to fabricate. The device, referred to as ìprotonic,î is reported in todayís issue of the journal Nature.

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Plants have been recycling waste carbon dioxide into life-giving oxygen for as long as humans have been breathing. Now Purdue University researchers are prodding them to take the cleanup a step further - to collect heavy metals and radioactive waste from polluted water and contaminated soils.

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An independent Government Accounting Office report condemning the Department of Defense program to train psychologists to prescribe medication reinforces the American Psychiatric Association's long-standing opposition to the program.

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Highlights of April 12 New Scientist,

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ATHENS, Ga. -- Scientists know Carolina bays are naturally occuring, shallow elliptical depressions largely fed by rain and shallow ground water. Beyond that, however, their natural history is a mystery. One researcher has identified at least 18 different theories on their origins, and new ones come along every few months. Now, researchers at the University of Georgia have found that the bacteria in the bays include species heretofore unknown to science.

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The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) has contracted to purchase an HP Exemplar X-Class system from Hewlett-Packard. The National Center for Atmospheric Research and HP expect to develop the use of distributed shared- memory systems, such as the Exemplar, for numerical computer models employed in climate and weather prediction.

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One of every three U.S. households--37 percent, or 35 million households--includes someone who has had a primary role in a new or small business, according to a first-of-its-kind study by an international research collaborative.

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Two LSU professors have helped find a way for individuals to be able to exercise for longer periods of time, according to a study released today (April 9) at the Experimental Biology '97 conference in New Orleans.

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People with questions about vaccinations can now call the National Immunization Information Hotline, a new toll-free service providing information about vaccine-preventable diseases and immunizations to protect against them. Hotline callers are preparing for increased calls during National Infant Immunization Week, April 20-26.

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The National Science Foundation (NSF) established a program of Science and Technology Centers in 1987 to exploit new opportunities in fundamental science and technology as well as education. The centers are also designed to stimulate technology transfer and applications for various sectors of society. NSF funds 24 centers with an operating budget of more than $60 million. Below are a few samples of ongoing projects at major research institutions.

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The National Science Board (NSB) has approved new criteria for evaluating funding proposals submitted to the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Board, which is the governing body of NSF, took the action at its March 28 meeting.

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A Cornell University psychology experiment with moving shapes and colored strobe light shows that color composition occurs in the visual cortex of the brain, not in the eye, as was previously thought. The experiment that may confirm, once and for all, the "central synthesis" theory of human color vision.

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This digest contains summaries of the following news releases 1. Purdue professors' 'toy story' saves companies money 2. Purdue professor gives casinos tool against compulsive gambling 3. Finance Experts 4. Business & Finance Briefs

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A new look at a famous Chicago study on nutrition and heart disease further documents that men who ate a moderate amount of fish had a lower risk for dying of a heart attack than men who did not eat fish. Embargoed: 4/9/97

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Parkinson's disease may be reversible if a drug that has worked in animal tests is as successful in humans.

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Keeping surgery patients warm is a simple and inexpensive way to significantly reduce the risk of heart complications, the leading cause of post-operative death, a Johns Hopkins study suggests.

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ATHENS, Ga. -- A sense of "self" and the enjoyment of play may have more to do with rearing history than was previously thought, according to a new study by a graduate student at the University of Georgia. In studies with the noted chimpanzee Washoe and others like her reared in a human environment, the researchers found that the capacity for self-knowledge may exist before it is ever expressed. The study was apparently the first ever to examine the reaction of chimps to their own images in hand-held mirrors.

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A Cornell student raspberry project may turn into a full-fledged agricultural industry. The raspberries are grown in the middle of winter, in greenhouses, in upstate New York.

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It took only the first day of this month to record the snowiest April ever for Boston, Worcester, Mass., and Providence, R.I., in what is being called the Great April Fools' Day Storm of 1997, according to the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University.

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Babson College announces the 1997 inductees to The Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs. They will be honored at the 20th annual Founder's Day program, Wed.,April 16, 1997 on the Babson campus in Wellesley.This year's Academy inductees include: Willie D. Davis, Leo Kahn, Leslie C. Quick, Jr. and Thomas G. Stemberg

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Between launches of new instruments and ongoing analyses of data from satellites already in orbit, 1997 promises to be a banner year of space research for Los Alamos National Laboratory.

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In a surprise tribute to its retiring president and former corporate executive William F. Glavin, Babson College announced the naming of the William F. Glavin Center for Global Entrepreneurial Leadership at Babson College. Major donations and net proceeds from the New York event have garnered $15.5 million to fund eight endowed faculty chairs for the Center.

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The chance of having a stroke after a heart attack is highest within five days of the attack, thus reducing a personís short-term and long-term survival, Swedish scientists report today in the current issue of the American Heart Association journal Stroke. Embargoed: Monday, April 7, 1997 4 p.m. EST

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The search for potential pharmaceuticals derived from indigenous natural medicines -- marred in the bad old days by exploitation of local Third-World populations -- has now been refined to funnel significant benefits to these groups.

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Should the U.S. continue to support scientists from the former Soviet Union to keep them from selling their expertise to forces hostile to the U.S.? The cost and utility of this support is explored in an article in the April 7 issue of Chemical & Engineering News

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Key nutrients in the diet during infancy and adolescence--especially sodium, calcium, fiber and fat--have an early impact on blood pressure and could influence whether high blood pressure develops later in life, two new reports suggest.

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Tipsheet from ARS for April 5, 1997 1- Cloned Gene May Benefit Cattle Feeders, Plastics Manufacturers; 2- New state-of-the art acoustic technology is uncovering the secrets of soil--undisturbed in the field or moving in streams; 3- New "Pineapple" orange coming for Florida growers; 4- Natural chemical found in avocados kills fruit flies; 5- "Plum" of a rootstock may boost a premium almond; 6- WeedCast predictions save farmers money

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Low concentrations of the popular skin care ingredients called alpha-hydroxy acids appear to be modestly effective in reducing symptoms of skin aging brought on by sun exposure and other environmental factors.

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Sunscreens are being customized to meet a variety of needs. The industry is continually coming out with new products, 'improved' versions of old favorites and product extensions. Significant improvements include less irritation and improved substantivity. Selecting a sunscreen has become a complicated decision.

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Botox, is a purified form of one of the most potent toxins known to man. In high doses it can cause the clinical disease botulism. However, in carefully administered low doses, it is very useful for treating hyperkinetic facial lines (wrinkles).

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Just as some newborn babies need an incubator before they're strong enough to survive on their own, a professor and an MBA student at the University of California at Berkeley each is setting up an "incubator" for fragile young businesses.

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Even in areas where hepatitis A is common, Americans tend to underestimate its risks, according to a Gallup survey. The survey was commissioned by Merck & Co., Inc. The company makes a vaccine indicated for hepatitis A. Prescribing information is available upon request.

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Hepatitis A is a highly contagious virus that attacks the liver. It is the seventh most commonly reported infectious disease in the United States.

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Precision research to make perennials bloom on command will revolutionize the way consumers by flowers in the spring, thanks to research at Michigan State University. This story and other ideas on the spring garden tip sheet.

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The following stories appear in the American Thoracic Society (ATS) April Journals: 1- Some adults "outgrow" asthma; 2- A leukotriene antagonist effectively controls moderate-to-severe asthma; 3- Female asthma patients on oral contraceptives have less exacerbated asthma during the menstrual cycle. Embargoed: April 17, 1997, 6:00 p.m.

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A tree-top study of the common crow by a Cornell ornithologist who climbs more than 100 feet each spring to tag them is explaining an uncommon behavior in the avian world -- crows that forgo breeding for years to help their parent raise more siblings.

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Biomedical researchers at Purdue University are using a one-of-a-kind test apparatus to obtain information that will enable developers of Magnetic Resonance Imaging to produce faster, more precise MRI scans. Findings from the study wil be reported April 16 at the annual meeting of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance Medicine in Vancouver, British Columbia. Color photo available

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Tip sheet April 1997 Journals of the American Society for Microbiology: April 1997 Donated Organs Should Be Tested for Amebae Which Came First: The Chicken or the Mouse? New Intranasal Vaccine for Influenza A Engineering on the (Cell) Surface

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As the launch date nears for the first commercial remote sensing satellite, Resources for the Future is helping the National Aeronautics and Space Administration find a reliable way to measure the economic return from its transfer of formerly-classified space technologies to the public and private sectors. Researchers are using methods that have been developed by RFF for the valuation of hard-to-measure assets, such as clean air or a national park.

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Vitamin E supplements are safe, effective in preventing degenerative diseases and should be part of a healthy lifestyle, a leading supplier of natural vitamin E said today in response to confusing media reports on a new, but small laboratory study.

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Press release of issue dated April 5 for New Scientist, the international science and technology weekly news magazine

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Researchers have identified certain T cells that suppress the reproduction of HIV carried within them. AIDS

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Researchers at Johns Hopkins and Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc., have successfully modified a group of established drugs to stimulate nerve growth without suppressing the immune system.

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The first strain of mouse genetically engineered to model major symptoms of Huntington's disease -- an inherited, degenerative brain disorder that affects an estimated 30,000 Americans -- is now undergoing processing at The Jackson Laboratory for distribution to researchers worldwide.

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Physicians from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the University of Rochester's Cancer Center have created a promising compound that recruits the body's immune system to target and wipe out cancer cells in the liver. In a study with laboratory rats, the majority of animals injected with the vaccine were cancer-free, while similar animals that did not receive the vaccine typically had dozens of tumors. The work was reported in a recent issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

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Vitamin E, in all forms, is one of the safest of all vitamins. No adverse effects have been demonstrated with alpha-tocopherol at intakes of 1,200 international units (IU) or more.

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Three selected story ideas from the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center -- "Reconnecting After Spinal Cord Damage" (Michael E. Selzer, MD, PhD); "Serendipitously, HIV-Related Antibody In Hand" (James A. Hoxie, MD); and "Magnetic Attraction -- Towards a New Era in Treating Rh-Factor Incompatibility" (Donald L. Siegel, MD, PhD).

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Cornell nutritionists examine links between body weight and dating attitudes, marriage and marital satisfaction.

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Insects as entrees will be a featured attraction at Purdue University's annual Bug Bowl, April 18-20. That's where the vendors rattle off a menu that includes chocolate chirpy chip cookies, mealworm chow mein and a trail mix called "caterpillar crunch."

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LSU researcher's study says the probability of a catastrophic hurricane striking anywhere along the northern Gulf of Mexico is once in an average of 400 years.