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Womenís health issues frequently made headlines in 1997 ó from mammograms and pap smears to diet pills and hormone replacement therapy.

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November capped a cool autumn in the Northeast, making it the fifth month in a row of average temperatures below the 30-year normal, according to Keith Eggleston, a senior climatologist at the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University. The region's area-weighted monthly average temperature was 2.9 degrees cooler than normal, making it the 21st coolest November in the last 103 years.

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January Online Tipsheet: 1- ECT: Safe, Effective, Affordable -- Why Aren?t We Using It? 2- High Rate of Homelessness Among Newly Diagnosed Patients with Schizophrenia; 3- Confidentiality of Patients Records Threatened; 4- Psychiatrist, Heal Them Quick; 5- What Happens to the Children When Mental Illness Strikes?

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Young deer hunters who bring home a trophy buck during firearm season also may be returning with an unwanted acquisition: permanent hearing loss. The results of a new survey by a Central Michigan University audiologist show that most young recreational firearm shooters between the ages of 18 and 30 are in danger of permanently damaging their hearing.

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Rates of atmospheric mercury deposition in Maine appear to have reached a peak in the early to mid-1970s and to have declined significantly by 1982, according to a report by University of Maine geologists published in the December issue of the journal Water, Air and Soil Pollution (v. 100: 271-186, 1997). Stephen A. Norton, Gordon C. Evans and Steve Kahl of the UMaine Department of Geological Sciences used archived cores from Sargent Mountain Pond and Big Heath in Acadia National Park on Mt. Desert Island to determine historical trends in mercury deposition from the atmosphere to the Maine landscape. The cores were collected in 1982 and 1983.

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Pfizer Inc announced on Dec. 19 that its broad-spectrum antibiotic Trovan (trovafloxacin) had gained marketing clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Discovered and developed by Pfizer, Trovan was cleared for the treatment of 14 bacterial infections, which is the largest number of indications ever included at an intial drug approval in the U.S. More than 13,000 patients participated in 87 studies involving Trovan and 30 comparatoe drug regimens, representing the largest clinical trial program in Pfizer history.

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Four Tips from Los Alamos * Record-setting atomic trapping * Wee little boreholes for oil reservoir searches * Lasers and powderscombine under computer control for product making * Chemical reaction for removing actinides from the environment

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Scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago have found an important molecular clue to genetic diseases caused by expansions of repeated DNA segments. The lengths of the segments and the status of protein synthesis in a cell affect their replication.

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Millions of Americans will be protected by new rules the Clinton administration released today telling employers how they must comply with the 1996 Mental Health Parity Act. The administration said all group health plans and all employers with 50 or more workers -- including state governments and churches -- must equalize the annual and lifetime limits imposed on mental and physical health care.

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Myotrophin, an experimental drug for Lou Gehrig's disease, appears to slow the disease's symptom progression. Results of a nine-month study involving 266 patients at eight North American medical centers were reported in the December issue of the journal Neurology.

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There is no evidence whatsoever to link the creatine supplement or any other supplement to the recent deaths of college wrestlers, and the media implications of a link are irresponsible and not supported by evidence.

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WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 -- An estimated 70,000 to 90,000 scientists emigrate from Russia every year, according to an article published in the Dec. 22 issue of Chemical & Engineering News, the weekly news magazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. Because they are in the 30- to 45-year-old range, almost an entire generation of scientists has been lost to one of the world's largest countries.

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Research based on space technology is helping improve crop management decisions for rural farmers.

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Persons choosing to live outside of urban centers can expect to pay a social cost, primarily in their adult income levels.

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A "drum-thunker" and a high-temperature electric torch are helping a Mississippi State University lab develop ways to reduce and safely store nuclear wastes.

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Colon cancer and many other geriatric diseases in primates appear to be natural outcomes of aging, rather than being caused by outside factors, a scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has found.

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While a frantic pace has become an accepted way of American life,John Hemingway says it is also a threat to democracy.

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New York, NY -December 22, 1997-Scientists at NYU School of Medicine and the United States Department of Agriculture have, for the first time, coaxed animals to produce a human protein in their urine, a discovery that could lead to a new and vastly less expensive method to obtain rare therapeutic proteins for a range of human diseases.

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University of Wisconsin-Madison influenza experts will conduct a detailed surveillance next month of the dangerous strain of influenza that has infected eight people and killed three in Hong Kong.

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ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY TIP SHEET - January 1998 1. Pure as the Driven Snow? Tracking Pollutants on Snowflakes 2. Getting the Lead out May Mean Cleaning up the Outdoors 3. What Is the Source of Atmospheric Mercury Contamination in Remote Areas?

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The federal government's recent attempts to settle claims relating to human radiation experiments during the Cold War doesn't address the problems of radium poisoning that occurred during the years before World War II. The plight of a group of women known as the "radium girls," who from 1910 to 1935 found themselves among the first victims of radium poisoning, is the subject of a new book by a Central Michigan University history professor.

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University of Pittsburgh researchers have constructed the first prototype of a delivery system for genes called a reconstituted chylomicron remnant (RCR) that has resulted in the extended production of therapeutic proteins in an animal model, according to a report published in the Dec. 23 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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A new, longer-acting treatment for migraine, naratriptan, quickly relieves pain and disability associated with migraine and greatly reduces headache recurrence, according to a study published in the December issue of Neurology, the American Academy of Neurology's scientific journal. Embargoed for Release until Monday, December 22, 1997.

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Women may be able to reduce memory loss and boost thinking power with estrogen replacement therapy (ERT), according to a study published in the December issue of Neurology, the American Academy of Neurology's scientific journal. Embargoed for Release until Monday, December 22, 1997.

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Study shows drug treatment administered before open heart surgery reduces atrial fibrillation---a rapid, irregular beat in the upper chambers of the heart---in the days after the operation. Researchers found significant decreased risk of stroke after the operation as well as reductions in patient discomfort, cost and hospitalization time.

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Millions of people with a history of peptic ulcer disease may be receiving unnecessary treatment according to a new study. Researchers report that prompt diagnosis and treatment for infection of H. pylori bacteria --- instead of acid-blocking medication --- improved many patients health and saved money.

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A new treatment for the muscle-weakening disease myasthenia gravis has been devised by University of Minnesota researchers. The new treatment "tricks" the immune system into halting its attack and tolerating the muscle parts it had previously targeted. A pilot clinical trial may begin soon for the nasally administered therapy, which prevented the disease in mice.

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Nuclear Industry comment on DOE Energy Information Administration report, " Annual Energy Outlook 1998."

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Two University of Kansas researchers have shown that Taxol, already proven effective in fighting ovarian and breast cancer, may someday also help in the battle against Alzheimer's disease. In laboratory studies, the two KU scientists have used taxol to slow the damage done to brain cells by the poisonous protein fibers that cause Alzheimer's.

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Johns Hopkins Business of Medicine Tips and Briefs-- Listed are story ideas from the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.

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Cornell University astronomer Joseph Veverka and a team of scientists are releasing humanity's first close-up images of a little-known c-class asteroid 253 Mathilde to be published exclusively in the journal Science on Friday, Dec. 19. Scientists didn't expect to find the minor planet so densely pocked with craters and so porous. It is made mostly of carbonaceous chondrite.

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Jan. 1 is the perfect time to begin to plan for next year's taxes, says a Purdue University accounting professor. "It's too late to do anything about the 1997 return, so you might as well start planning ahead." says John "Jack" Hatcher, assistant professor of management in the Krannert Graduate School of Management. Hatcher teaches tax courses in the accounting program at Krannert and offers the following tax tips for early bird planners:

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Los Alamos metallurgists adapting technology for spraying molten metal to national security applications have also found a use for the technology as a new tool for sculptors.

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Imagine if your old chemistry textbook could suddenly come to life. You could see chemical reactions or an interactive representation of the periodic table.

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"It's a Wonderful Life" is one of the most popular and heartwarming films ever made. Long regarded as the definitive Christmas movie, "It's A Wonderful Life" tells the tale of a man's life that is recognized as wonderful and truly rich after he suffers through many hardships and trials. Yet in 1947, the FBI had some very different ideas about this holiday classic. In fact, the FBI branded "It's a Wonderful Life" and seven other films, including "The Best Years of Our Lives" as subversive.

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World-wide financial crises--like the ongoing one Asia--will recur until the G-7 nations throw "sand in the gears" of globalized financial markets. So says Dr. David Felix, an economist at Washington University, in two papers he wrote well before the latest crisis.

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What is it about the New Year that compels people to make resolutions? Michael Penn, assistant professor of psychology at Franklin & Marshall College believes it's the tone time of year when people drop their typically cynical views of human nature and hope for a positive change.

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In their respective positions as president and vice president of Franklin & Marshall College, Richard Kneedler and Alice Drum have spent years talking to parents about the value of a liberal arts education. Sooner or later, almost every conversation comes around to cost.

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Standard, widely-used measures of mutual fund performance are inaccurate and unreliable, and can lead to faulty conclusions by investors, a new study shows. The study--conducted by Professors S. P. Kothari and Jerold B. Warner of the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration and funded by the Association for Investment Management and Research--has important implications not only for fund managers who claim they can outperform the market, but also for ratings services such as Morningstar that track mutual fund performance.

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Leptin, a hormone that appears to play an important role in body metabolism and obesity, has been found for the first time in human breast milk.

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A grass-roots movement to revivie businesses in the depressed regions of Madison County, NY, is enjoying great success and serves as an example of what can be done in other depressed rural areas of the country to revive industries.

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Though anabolic steroids are known to produce aggressive behavior, a University of Iowa study shows that the drugs do not necessarily cause automobile drivers to take extra risks behind the wheel.

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The unruly child in the dentist's chair may resist treatment not because of fear but rather out of trouble responding to requests from adults. A University of Iowa College of Dentistry professor suggests that parenting styles affect preschool children's willingness to comply with dental care.

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New Scientist Tip Sheet for 12-16-97

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Astronomers will release today (Dec. 17) the clearest Hubble Space Telescope images yet of zesty and mysterious cosmic spouts - known as FLIERs -- emanating from distant objects that once were stars like our sun.

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The University of Maryland Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has selected the University of Maryland Medical Centerís sports medicine program to provide medical services to all Terrapin teams.

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A 27-year-old Carroll County woman finally hopes to gain some control over her epileptic seizures with a new device implanted in her chest that sends electrical impulses to her brain via a nerve in her neck. In a surgical procedure at the University of Maryland Medical Center on December 15, Erinn Elizabeth Farver became the first person in Maryland to receive the new device, called a vagus nerve stimulator.

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The renovation of Vassar College's Carol and James Kautz Admission House has garnered awards for renovation and design from leading construction and architectural organizations.

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Researchers at Northwestern University Medical School have found that a chemical in red wine believed to help reduce risk for heart disease is a form of estrogen. The substance, resveratrol, is highly concentrated in the skin of grapes and is abundant in red wine.

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Rolla, Mo. -- Recent tests of steel from the Titanic reveal that the metal was much more brittle than modern steel but the best available at the time, a metallurgical engineering professor at the University of Missouri-Rolla says in a paper to be published in the January 1998 issue of Journal of Metals.