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Press release of issue dated October 11 for New Scientist, the international science and technology weekly news magazine.

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As the 10-year anniversary of the 1987 Stock Market crash approaches, Baylor University investment professor Dr. William Reichenstein says its unlikely "Black Monday" could happen again. On Monday, Oct. 19, 1987, the worst financial day in U.S. history occurred.

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A remarkable quartet of trained marine mammals is helping scientists at UC Santa Cruz push the frontiers of animal psychobiology by demonstrating, in unprecedented detail, how they see, hear, and think about the world around them.

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Expensive antibiotics are no more effective than inexpensive antibiotics at treating ear infections, according to a University of Colorado Health Sciences Center study published in the October issue of Pediatrics.

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Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists led the development of two scientific sensors that will provide key measurements of the space environment around Saturn when the Cassini spacecraft reaches the ringed planet in 2004.

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Tyrannosaurus rex may have had a sedentary cousin that might better have been called Ty-sit-osaurus. That's the finding of Purdue University researcher Richard Hengst, who studies the anatomy of dinosaurs to determine the efficiency of their breathing systems.

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The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation today unveiled a comprehensive online source of breast health information. The Komen Foundation, known for raising awareness and community support for breast cancer research and programs through its nationally acclaimed Race for the Cure, will now extend its reach by offering a website that provides general breast cancer information, with specific areas that address the needs of speical audiences, including breast cancer survivors and their friends and families, the media, and the medical and scientific communities.

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Using air bags and shoulder restraints in passenger aircraft could reduce deaths from head injuries sustained in airplane crashes, according to a study led by researchers at Johns Hopkins. Such injuries account for up to a third of all aviation-related deaths in the United States.

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University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers report that mature B cells have a molecular repair mechanism that can reactivate the process of genetic recombination to replace mutated and failing lymphocytes with ones producing the right antibodies. They can do it outside the bone marrow and in response to antigen.

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Researchers at Yale University have succeeded for the first time in measuring an electric current flowing through a single organic molecule sandwiched between metal electrodes. The feat could pave the way for a radically new generation of transistors so small that a beaker full would contain more transistors than exist in the world today.

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Students in Professor Dave Raphael's MBA 670 Global Trends class at the University of San Francisco McLaren School of Business predict the U.S. GDP will rise faster in 1997 than it did in 1996, and they believe Hong Kong's stock market will stumble by the end of the year.

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Physicians from 50 countries will participate in CHEST 1997 -- the International Assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians--to be held in New Orleans, October 26 - 30, 1997.

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Cornell University nutritionists and agronomists will travel to the Chakaria area of Bangladesh Oct. 6 to begin investigating why the disease rickets has been found in such a sunny place.

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The National Science Foundation (NSF) has named three centers to conduct and coordinate earthquake engineering research for the nation. They will be located at the Universities of Illinois and California and the State University of New York in Buffalo.

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University of Washington researchers will play a leading role in a $20 million effort to identify and mitigate potential earthquake hazards in urban areas along the Pacific coast. The UW joins eight California universities in the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center announced today by the National Science Foundation.

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Advanced Tissue Sciences, Inc. and its joint venture partner, Smith & Nephew plc, announced today the launch of Dermagraft in the UK market. Dermagraft is the first fully human dermal replacement available for the treatment of full thickness diabetic foot ulcers. The announcement was made today at the British Diabetic Association meeting.

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1) Smoking cessation is one of the most cost-effective medical treatments, reports a Mayo study, 2) Mayo sports medicine researchers report how a training device helps keep the ankle more stable in response to a sudden inversion -- the cause of most ankle sprains, 3) Is multiple sclerosis caused by an infectious agent in the environment? 4) Mayo researchers report that testing a minute sample of fluid from just beneath the surface of the skin measures glucose levels in diabetics as accurately as the standard finger-stick method.

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Women under 50 benefit from screening mammography as much as women over 50, a University of Chicago study reports.

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Radioactive seed implants are a safe, effective way to treat prostate cancer with few side effects, a Michigan study reports.

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An international study reports that children with some difficult to treat tumors can benefit from radiation therapy.

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Radiation therapy prevents local relapses of melanoma (skin cancer) and also improves the quality of life of patients whose disease has spread, a new study in Germany has found.

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Radiation therapy delivered to the pelvis and area of the vagina was effective in preventing the return of endometrial cancer for certain patients, a new study in Wisconsin has found.

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Using low doses of radiation immediately after angioplasty can significantly reduce the risk that a heart patient's arteries will once again become too narrow in the future, a new study has found. An estimated 600,000 patients undergo such interventional procedures a year and researchers say up to 90 percent of these patients could be eligible for this new use for radiation therapy.

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Tarrytown, New York, September 29, 1997 -- AMBI Inc. announced results of a preclinical study demonstrating that lysostaphin, the Companyís proprietary antibacterial agent, was used successfully to treat endocarditis caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria. Lysostaphin completely eradicated the bacteria in more than 90 percent of the animals, whereas vancomycin, the current treatment of choice for this infection, did not eradicate the bacteria in any of the animals in this study.

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Treating common ear infections in children with antibiotics such as amoxicillin instead of more costly choices could save millions of dollars a year without changing recovery rates, according to researchers supported by the federal Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. Their study, which looked at children covered under Colorado's Medicaid program, is published in the October issue of Pediatrics.

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Yale Science News Tips: 1. Discovery Could Restore Full Usefulness of Front-line Antibiotics, 2. Sonar Robot that Mimics Bats and Dolphins Rivals Camera Vision, 3. One-Meter Telescope High in the Andes Gets New Lease on Life, 4. Peabody Museum Brings Science to Life in New Haven Public Schools, 5. U.S.-Japan Study Advocates Global Environmental Trade Group, 6. Six Yale Professional Schools Join in Center for AIDS Research, 7. Yale Predicts How High-speed Network Will Boost Science Research

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A robot inspired by the ability of bats and dolphins to use echoes for locating prey is causing robotics experts to reevaluate the relative merits of sound waves versus camera vision for exploring new environments. The sonar device, which was designed and created by Yale University electrical engineering professor Roman Kuc, is so sensitive that it can tell whether a tossed coin has come up heads or tails.

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University of Michigan scientists have found that iron chelators can prevent deafness in guinea pigs exposed to antibiotics that damage delicate hair cells in the inner ear. The U-M research could lead to a way to eliminate the threat of deafness to individuals treated with a common class of antibiotics.

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Chronic heartburn/GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) can, if left untreated, lead to serious medical problems including asthma, laryngitis and esophageal cancer, according to leading gastroenterologists. To learn more about how to treat chronic heartburn/GERD and prevent any of the associated complications, we invite you to come hear some of the worldís leading experts discuss the most recent research in this area. You will also be able to take an actual endoscopic trip down the esophagus.

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Preliminary results from a Phase II study with Merck's echinocandin antifungal, MK-991 (formerly known as L-743,872), showed efficacy in 85% of patients with Candida esophagitis. The data were presented today at the 37th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

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Some of the nation's leading medical reporters will speak at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Nov. 14-15 in a symposium for working medical journalists and medical communications specialists.

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A long-term study shows that individuals whose coronary arteries are obstructed and who are treated with angioplasty have more heart-related deaths than those who undergo bypass surgery.

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A chemical version of a "balloon-popper" has been identified that may help explain why some aortic aneurysms rupture and others do not. The report appears in today's American Heart Association journal Circulation.

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For treating heart attacks, the blood thinner hirulog is better than heparin when added to a "clot-buster" to dissolve blood clots and reopen clogged arteries, according to a report in today's American Heart Association journal Circulation.

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Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory report in Cell the development of the first genetic model to exhibit both absence and convulsive epileptic seizures. The "slow wave epilepsy" (swe) mouse promises to be the most authentic model yet for petit mal epilepsy in humans.

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Using clues from a fat, yellow mouse, researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of Michigan have identified a new cog in the body's main weight-regulating system. The protein they discovered may join leptin, a protein identified in 1994, as a prime target for the development of drugs to fight obesity, said Dr. Gregory Barsh, an associate professor of pediatrics and genetics at Stanford and the senior author of the study.

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Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have incorporated virtual reality technology into a manufacturing design tool that allows the user to visualize and plan a factory while it is still in the design phase. The tool, a computer simulation, is proving its usefulness at Searle, a pharmaceutical company based in Skokie, Ill.

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Tips from the University of Missouri Health Sciences Center for October 1997: 1)Taking a new shot at allergic reactions; 2)MU docs make headway against "brain attack"; 3) New ulcer test easier to stomach; 4) Two Bs make for a healthier heart. 10/3/97

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One of the countryís leading specialists in the science of human tissue engineering, Dr. Gail Naughton, president and CEO, Advanced Tissue Sciences, Inc., will review recent developments in human tissue creation, including advances in skin replacement technology for burn victims and the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers at the National Academy of Engineeringís Symposium on Bioengineering. Dr. Naughton also will discuss future technologies in this area, such as the development of cartilage from single human cells and the creation of cardiovascular tissue and other internal organs.

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WASHINGTON -- Imagine having a computer disk with your entire dental health history, including pictures of your teeth during various stages of your life and voice recordings of your dentist's treatment recommendations.

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-- Tooth whitening may be the most popular cosmetic dental procedure, but more and more patients are discovering a great way to improve their smile by sculpting their gums

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WASHINGTON -- Researchers say the fastest growing segment of the population is the over-85 age group. Dentists are finding these patients present some of the most difficult and challenging clinical situations, according to an Iowa prosthodontist. Patrick Lloyd, D.D.S., will present a scientific session on "What's Old is New: Clinical Issues in Treating the Older Adult," at the American Dental Association's (ADA) 138th Annual Session in Washington, D.C., Saturday, October 18.

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WASHINGTON -- Should a dental check-up be part of the "to-do" list for women who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy? Yes, says Barbara J. Steinberg, D.D.S., of Philadelphia, who will address the special issues of female dental patients on October 19 and 20 at the American Dental Association's (ADA) 138th Annual Session in Washington, D.C.

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WASHINGTON -- Tobacco use has such a dramatic effect on the mouth that it makes sense for dentists to educate patients about tobacco's dangers. "Helping Your Patients to Quit Tobacco Use" is one of the scientific presentations at the American Dental Association's 138th annual session in Washington, D.C., October 18.

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WASHINGTON -- Great improvements continue to be made in the materials used for dental restorations, according to the head of the American Dental Association Health Foundation's Paffenbarger Research Center (ADAHF- PRC).

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WASHINGTON -- Considerable research has been conducted that documents the effect medications have on oral health, but new work is emerging that suggests some common drugs might affect periodontal health in surprisingly positive ways.

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WASHINGTON -- Your tooth hurts. It throbs. It's sensitive to hot or cold. You can't lie down or it hurts. You can't chew because it hurts. What should you do? The obvious answer is to call a dentist! The subject of dental emergencies will be discussed by a panel of dentists at the American Dental Association's (ADA) 138th Annual Session in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, October 19.

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For the past 10 years in central California, the Su Salud Health Education Fair has brought dentists, physicians, nurses and nutritionists to the people around the Central Valley of California. The number-one health problem among the thousands who have come for the free screenings has been dental disease, according to Guillermo Vicuna, D.D.S.

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WASHINGTON -- With more people developing multiple allergies, dentists have to know how to recognize the signs and be ready to handle potential emergencies in their offices. That's the focus of one of the scientific sessions at the American Dental Association's (ADA) 138th Annual Session in Washington, D.C., October 18 - 22.

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WASHINGTON -- A recent study estimates that one of every four people in the United States suffers an oral injury during their lifetime. And while many of these injuries occur in violent sports like football, boxing and hockey, an alarmingly high percentage of teeth get knocked out during bike riding, baseball, soccer, volleyball and basketball.