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Few people are cut out for pressure-cooker jobs such as being a 911 operator or an air traffic controller. University of Washington psychologist have determined that certain people seem to possess a common trait that enables them to handle these kinds of jobs, sometimes involving life and death, and have developed a new test that identifies these individuals.

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Christopher C. Cummins, 32, chemistry professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will receive the Alan T. Waterman Award for 1998, which is the National Science Foundation's most prestigious prize for young researchers.

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The National Science Board (NSB) will host a ceremony and reception on May 6 honoring annual winners of key awards in science and engineering, and public service. The awards will be presented at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

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Researchers at Michigan State University have found that DDE, a by-product of DDT, the now-banned pesticide that continues to have a presence within the Earth's soils and sediments, is degrading naturally in the environment.

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1) Deformed Frogs Might Be Due to Natural Degradation of Pesticides, 2) Chlorinated Dioxins Found in Century-old Soil Sample

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Just as humans may use naphthalene "moth balls" to fumigate their closets, termites may use naphthalene to protect their nests, according to a research group led by urban entomologist Gregg Henderson, Ph.D., at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

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Cornell astronomer Philip Nicholson and his colleagues have proposed to name the two recently discovered moons of the planet Uranus Caliban and Sycorax, both characters in Shakespeare's play "The Tempest." The astronomers confirm that the two moons, whose discovery was announced on Oct. 31, are the faintest planetary satellites yet imaged by ground-based telescopes.

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Traditional support groups clearly help cancer survivors cope with their experiences, and Internet-based networks can offer many of the same benefits, says a University of Delaware professor who examined the content, advantages andpitfalls of "cyber solace" in a new study published in the January-February issue of "Computers in Nursing."

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Traditional support groups clearly help cancer survivors cope with their experiences, and Internet-based networks can offer many of the same benefits, says a University of Delaware professor who examined the content, advantages and pitfalls of "cyber solace" in a new study published in the January-February issue of Computers in Nursing.

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Though the recent Carnegie Foundation report found fault with many U.S. research universities--arguing that undergraduates are too often simply "receiving what is served out to them," mainly by untrained graduate assistants--the University of Delaware was one of only five institutions cited for "making research-based learning the standard."

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Treatments developed at the University of Minnesota have shown promise in halting or even reversing progress of a rare and deadly brain disease.

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Providing women in labor with the continuous support of an experienced female labor-companion, known as a doula, results in significantly more positive levels of interaction between mothers and infants after delivery.

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While safe, garlic treatment for children with high cholesterol does not lower their cholesterol levels, according to a study by researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and St. Joseph's Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario.

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The Gay and Lesbian Medical Association recently met with representatives of Pfizer Inc., which is launching Viagra, a new medication for treating patients with erectile dysfunction. At this meeting, GLMA and Pfizer Inc. discussed concerns about the impact of Viagra on the health of some gay and bisexual men.

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Dr. Robert Gallo, of the University of Maryland at Baltimore, and Dr. Luc Montagnier, of Queens College, Flushing, N.Y., and Pasteur Institute, Paris, who discovered and isolated HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, are the winners of the Tenth Annual Warren Alpert Foundation Prize.

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The Krannert Graduate School of Management at Purdue University and other business schools around the country are using community service activities to teach leadership and a sense of community to students. For the third time in as many years, the approximately 100 graduate students involved in Krannert's Management Volunteer Program, or MVP, have won the national "MBAs make a difference day" award.

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1) NSF Releases Study on Weather and Climate, 2) New Insight Into Protein Structure May Lead to 'Designer Drugs', 3) NSF Reaches 40 States with Excess Equipment

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Purdue University researchers are leading a national effort to ensure the safety and efficiency of the next generation of nuclear power plants. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has established the Institute of Thermal-Hydraulics at Purdue's School of Nuclear Engineering.

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Less time off in the summer may translate into greater academic achievement for elementary-school students, says a Purdue University expert on year-round schools.

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1) A study finds no link between aspirin use and colorectal cancer, but a separate study finds women on hormone replacement therapy have a 35 percent decrease in colon and rectal cancers. 2) Breast cancer is found at the same stage in black and white women who have regular mammograms. 3) Voluntary, rather than mandatory, testing for HIV in pregnant women is more effective. 4) Treating AIDS as an "exceptional" disease has drawbacks.

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Satellite communications and spread-spectrum digital radios operating in no-license areas of the spectrum will be the focus of a National Science Foundation-(NSF) sponsored Emerging Wireless Communications Workshop May 4-5.

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Migraine and depression, two commonly linked conditions, may now be treated together, according to results of a new study presented today at the 50th annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. The new oral medication for the treatment of acute migraine from Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, Zomig (zolmitriptan), is safe when taken with the antidepression treatment fluoxetine, commonly known by its trade name Prozac.

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A new discovery by researchers at the University of Georgia may help explain why -- when it comes to people -- all veins are not created equal. The scientists demonstrated for the first time dramatic differences in the density of receptors for a powerful blood-borne substance called endothelin. And once again, it's bad news for white males.

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Physical evidence of the existence of extremely acid lakes 270 million years ago over a huge area of the North American midcontinent has been documented by a team of researchers headed by a Central Michigan University geologist. The discovery, featured in the April 30 edition of the scientific journal Nature, could lead to new information useful for the clean-up of modern-day contaminated waters.

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Research strongly suggests that PSA tests can reliably gauge the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatment for advanced prostate cancer. It shows doctors whether the prescribed therapy is working and allows them to quickly and confidently change the treatment plan when it's ineffective---possibly improving the patient's quality of life as a result.

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When clinic patients were taught to take control of their health needs, the results were dramatic---fewer days in the hospital, fewer trips to the emergency room, fewer lost work days. In addition, the cost of health care for each patient declined nearly $3,400 a year.

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Sandia research may make electricity derived from geothermal energy more economically feasible with new electronic instrument systems that can operate more than 100 degrees hotter than systems presently available.

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A Cornell University study provides new evidence that curriculum-based external exit exams not only enhanced student achievement, but also increased the earnings of graduating seniors who took them.. It also showed that students who took remedial or basic courses earned less than their peers who enrolled in more challenging courses.

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In the new book "Escaping the Advice Trap," two Cornell psychologists ask more than 100 experts how they would respond to 59 tough relationship problems. Then, Wendy M. Williams and Stephen Ceci, both professors in the department of human development at Cornell University, offer a bottom-line analysis for each dilemma.

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.-- Researchers at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Duke University Medical Center have found that a deficiency of S-nitrosothiol (SNO), a chemical that dilates the bronchial tubes, is associated with severe asthma in children. The finding, published in the May 2 issue of Lancet, may help doctors develop new asthma therapies aimed at correcting this deficiency.

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The National Science Board (NSB) will meet on Wednesday, May 6 through Friday, May 8, 1998 at the National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va. Sessions are open to the public on Thursday.

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1) Panic Reoccurs More Often in Women, 2) Practice Guideline for Treatment of Panic Disorder, 3) ADHD More Treatable in African American Kids, 4) IQ Drop During Childhood Predicts Future Psychosis, 5) May Special Issue of Psychiatric Services: Focus on Women, 6) New Books

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Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital have developed a new imaging agent for Parkinson's disease that could allow clinicians to diagnose the disease more accurately and earlier in its progression than is currently possible, as well as to utilize imaging technologies that are cheaper, faster, and widely available.

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Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine report an association between the use of prescription sleeping pills and an increased risk of death. The research findings are published in the May 1, 1998, issue of the journal Biological Psychiatry.

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Children are at slightly increased risk for seizures with fever following some vaccinations, but children who have these types of seizures are not at increased risk for subsequent seizures, epilepsy, or long term psychiatric or behavioral problems.

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Biomedical research has been shifting from a commons to a privatization model. Federal patent policy in biomedical research imposes social costs overlooked in the public debate. Granting too many patent rights in pre-market or "upstream" biomedical research paradoxically may stifle discovery of life-saving "downstream" products.

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John Hope Franklin, a founding father of African-American history and the head of President Clinton's national advisory board on race, will deliver the keynote address and be awarded an honorary doctorate when Occidental College celebrates Commencement 1998 in the historic Remsen Bird Hillside Theater on Sunday, May 10, at 3 p.m.

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If current clinical trials are successful, within a few years the daily insulin injection for diabetes could be a thing of the past. A new type of dry insulin-delivery system, the result of research at Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research Inc., an affiliate of Cornell University, is now undergoing the second phase of human clinical trials required by the Food and Drug Administration.

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This monthly update is designed to keep you informed about activities at the Babson School of Executive Education, which provides management development programs to companies around the world.

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NEW YORK-- At "Fight Asthma Now!" events in New York and Los Angeles, Allergy and Asthma Network/Mothers of Asthmatics (AAN/MA), HOPE for Kids and Combat Insect Control Systems released results of a new Harris survey that shows that less than 1 percent of Americans can identify roaches as a leading cause of asthma attacks in inner cities.

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IOWA CITY, Iowa -- A researcher in the University of Iowa College of Medicine says the funding provided by the federal and state governments to help pay for increasingly expensive treatment for AIDS is a fragile, short-term solution that may not provide a stable, long-term way to improve access to health care.

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Grazing by herbivorous mammals like bison increases biodiversity in North American grasslands, says National Science Foundation (NSF) ecologist Scott Collins, even during periods of frequent burning and other stresses. In fact, loss of species diversity in these grasslands due to frequent burning was reversed by bison grazing, according to Collins.

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Many studies have concluded that sun exposure, especially a sunburn, during childhood appears to increase the risk of melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer.

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Researchers at Lucent Technologies have built microscopic "trampolines" to help measure a material's magnetic properties when placed in a strong magnetic field. The novel technique will provide researchers with a very powerful method to study new materials.

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High-temperature superconducting materials have almost limitless potential but are often less "super" in real performance, since they lose as much as 95 percent of the current running through them. A University of Wisconsin-Madison experiment has found a surprising contributor to this energy sink, by pinpointing tiny defects that clog electrical flow through the wires.

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MINNEAPOLIS--Results from two new studies demonstrate an advance in the medical community's ability to quantify what migraine sufferers have known for years-the disabling impact of migraine on sufferers' quality of life. These data may help migraine patients clearly communicate the social, physical, and emotional setbacks caused by the most common neurological condition in developed countries.

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Much of the suffering from lung disease in children is due to largely preventable causes-air pollution, secondhand smoke and cockroach allergen, suggest studies presented here the American Lung Association/American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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Chocolate may be a harmless treat for humans, but it could land a racehorse into trouble. Researchers found that horses fed chocolate- coated peanuts every day for eight days showed detectable levels of caffeine and theobromine -- substances that are banned for horses.

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The methods that managers use to assign employees to workplace teams can have significant effects on worker attitudes and even performance, new research shows.

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This month, scientists with the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) will install one of many planned Geophysical Ocean Bottom Observatories (GOBO), in which a permanent seismograph station will be established on the sea floor for monitoring earthquake activity. ODP is funded in large part by the National Science Foundation (NSF).