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ATHENS, Ga. -- A botanist at the University of Georgia and a colleague at Purdue University have shown for the first time that filamentous fungi contain crucial "scaffold" proteins called septins. Perhaps even more important, the researchers have found that the gene which directs the production of septins in one fungus (Aspergillus nidulans) is crucial to the survival of the organism. The discovery could point toward a method of treating fungal diseases, which have dramatically increased in the past decade.

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Press release of issue dated March 8 for New Scientist, the international science and technology weekly news magazine

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DETROIT -- An innovative approach to providing health care to the elderly is being put to the test at Henry Ford Health System. Recognizing that providing health care for the elderly is entirely different from providing care to younger people, health care workers at Henry Ford Health System and University Hospitals Health System in Cleveland are learning ways to treat older patients.

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In the February, 1997 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Mount Sinai - Bronx VA nutrition researcher Victor Herbert reported that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-mandated (effective January 1, 1998) addition of folic acid fortification to grains (breads, cereals, pastas) will do more harm than good, unless the FDA also mandates fortification with free vitamin B12. To the contrary, having both vitamins in grains will help millions, says Herbert.

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NEW ORLEANS, LA.--With a tip just 25 microns in diameter, a new microelectrode sheds light on the complex natural chemistry of "swamp scum and sea slime"--including the corrosive ocean "biofilms" that damage boats, docks and off-shore platforms, a University of Delaware researcher reported today during the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) meeting.

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A growing proportion of U.S children, asolescents, and adults are over weight, according to an article published in today's Morbidity and Mortality weekly Report by HHS' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

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The National Science Foundation (NSF) has named the late Carl Sagan, noted planetary scientist, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Emmy Award-winning television producer, to receive the agencyís Distinguished Public Service Award for lifetime achievement.

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An exhaustive supercomputer modeling effort at the NSF-supported National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, has shown that hydrochloric acid (HCL) is broken down on the surface of ice particles found in stratospheric clouds over earth's poles. Taller than most seabirds, masked boobies live and breed in tropical oceans where they feed by making high-velocity fishing dives into the sea. One of the most elusive pieces of the climate and weather puzzle may soon be supplied by a simple ocean-going package of sensors the size and shape of a frisbee.

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The most common method for controlling blood-sugar levels in hospital patients with diabetes is ineffective and in some cases worsens their condition, a Johns Hopkins study suggests.

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The role of wetlands in providing habitat for wildlife, reducing floods and erosion and improving water quality is documented as part of a comprehensive state-by-state assessment of the nation's wetlands compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey.

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Two University of North Texas computer scientists are working on an innovative way to "visit" a university campus, as well as take classes there, all from a personal computer. The course design being developed for the Virtual Collaborative University stands to revolutionize the nature of student involvement in classes over the Internet.

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The human body has several mechanisms for getting rid of foreign chemicals. Stanford researchers have now shown that one of the first lines of defense -- a versatile pump in the lining of the gut, called P-glycoprotein -- may prevent the absorption of saquinavir, one of the new generation of anti-HIV drugs.

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According to a new study released by the Coalition for Excess Weight Risk Education (CEWRE), the difference in obesity levels nationwide is determined by a combination of cultural and demographic factors unique to each city. The study, known as the National Weight Report, ranks the 33 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. by percentage of obese residents and explores demographic and cultural factors that contribute to variability in those percentages.

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The dreams of cultural landscape historian John Brinckerhoff (J.B.) Jackson will live on at the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning through a major bequest recently announced by the Jackson Trust.

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Sexually active young people must protect themselves against sexually transmitted diseases and be routinely tested for these infections to help ensure their fertility later in life, the American Social Health Association emphasizes.

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Spending six months of the year in the midst of a malaria epidemic in the African nation of Malawi may not sound like the ideal career to most people, but Terrie Taylor, D.O., associate professor of internal medicine at the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, wouldnπt have it any other way.

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Thyroid hormone may play a role in the hyperactive and impulsive symptoms of children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Elevated levels of certain thyroid hormones correlate positively with hyperactivity and impulsivity, although not with inattention.

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New medical research into the treatment for women's cancers will be presented at the 28th annual meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists, to be held March 22 at the South Pointe Hilton, Phoenix, AZ. Medical and scientific presentations regarding Estrogen Replacement Therapy, BRCA1 Gene Therapy, and Pap and cervical examinations will highlight the meeting. Exciting results will add to the medical knowledge of diagnosing and treating women's cancers.

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The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), Laurel, Md., has received a Defense Certificate of Recognition for Acquisition Innovation for its achievements in the Transit Navy Navigation Satellite Program. The award was one of two given out in a community of more than 41,000 eligible organizations.

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It sounds like a James Bond thriller -- tiny chemical structures are parachuted onto a surface for strategic safe-keeping, and then retrieved when duty calls. Purdue University scientists have developed a way to bring chemical structures in for a "soft-landing" on surfaces, providing a new way to modify the outermost layer of materials.

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Some 12,000 dermatologists, exhibitors and guests from 60 countries will meet in San Francisco, March 20-26 for the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.

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A Purdue University professor sugggests that employers should provide their workers with a little more financial support than just a salary. Flora Williams suspects that financial counseling for workers might help companies improve profitability.

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Annals of Internal Medicine 3-1-97 TipSheet 1) Screening for Asymptomatic Carotid Stenosis Not Cost-Effective; 2) Specific Medical Benefits Derived from Transdermal Nicotine, Moderate Alcohol Consumption; 3) Exploring Systematic Reviews and Clinical Decisions; 4) Clinical Interventions and End-Of-Life Care; 5) Early Detection of Prostate Cancer

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Northeast Regional Climate Center climatologist finds that long-term temperature runs in the Northeast end when and if an El Niño weather event develops in the Pacific Ocean.

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Topics: *Ask frank questions before receiving minimal-access surgery *Heimlich maneuver can be a lifesaver, but don't use it on babies or coughing adults *Tax time is a good time to become a food accountant: Keep a calorie ledger instead of just saying no *Work with your physician to get the most out of cholesterol-lowering drugs

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Earthquakes in Iran and Pakistan have already pushed the death toll for this year higher than all of 1996, according to Patrick Leahy, Chief Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey.

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The Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) -- a Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) satellite launched last April to gather data for future space- and ground-based missile defense systems -- has tracked two medium-range missiles, known as Low Cost Launch Vehicles (LCLV). Part of the Combined Experiments Program, these LCLV flights were designed to demonstrate the ability of space-based optical sensors, on MSX, to perform key missile defense functions -- acquisition, tracking and discrimination in the mid-course phase of missile flight -- on realistic targets against realistic backgrounds.

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USGS scientists -- some just recently returned from working on the Western floods -- are reporting the highest flows of record in several states, including West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio.

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A new process developed at Michigan State University stands ready to revolutionize the flower industry -- as well as provide a boon for medical school teaching, restaurants and an endless array of others by using silicone to open up new possibilities in preservation.

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America would be better off seeking compensation from tobacco companies at the state and local levels rather than at the national level, according to a commentary in this week's issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: 3 p.m. (CT) Tuesday, March 4, 1997

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A curable, recurrent rapid heart rhythm can produce symptoms similar to those of a "panic attack," causing physicians to misdiagnose the condition especially among women, according to an article in the March 10 issue of the AMA's Archives of Internal Medicine. EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: 3 p.m. (CT) Sunday, March 9, 1997

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Survival rates and quality of life are similar after five years whether a patient undergoes angioplasty or coronary bypass surgery, according to an article in this week's issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: 3 p.m. (CT) Tuesday, March 4, 1997

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Prolonged continuous use of high doses of inhaled steroids may increase the risk of glaucoma or ocular hypertension, according to an article in this week's issue of The Journal of The American Medical Association (JAMA). EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: 3 p.m. (CT) Tuesday, March 4, 1997

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A distinguished group of physicists and historians will gather in London on March 21 for a daylong symposium at the Royal Society on the contributions of Isaac Newton to science. Three centuries after Newton published his Principia, scholars are still learning much about the development of his scientific ideas.

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About 40,000 people in the U.S. have severe reactions that simulate allergic reactions but where no external cause is involved. They show up in emergency rooms and doctors' offices with sneezing, itchy nose, rashes or hives and spasms in the bronchial tubes that make it difficult to breathe and swallow. Without immediate diagnosis and special treatment, many of these patients could die.

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The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) is funding three projects, now underway, to create a closer, ongoing working relationship between medicine and public health. These projects support the efforts of the Medicine/Public Health Initiative, a national consortium working to improve the working relationship between the two disciplines.

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Robert J. Swieringa, professor of accounting at Yale's School of Management and a former member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, has been named dean at Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management. Swieringa gained wide visibility and influence in the corporate community through his work with FASB.

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For the first time, USGS Biological Resources Division researchers are displaying the spring migration of satellite radio-marked snow geese on the internet (http://north.audubon.org) as it happens.

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Press release of issue dated March 1 for New Scientist, the international science and technology weekly news magazine.

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Johns Hopkins School of Public Health researcher finds that despite tremendous growth of environmental agencies, the public's health is not a priority. Research lists average per capital expenditures on environmental health state by state.

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The program for the 39th annual American Cancer Society Science Writers Seminar to be held March 23 - 26, 1997 at the Hyatt Regency Reston in Reston, VA.

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The virus that helped wipe out smallpox -- a benign pox virus called vaccinia -- may now help develop new gene therapies and genetically engineered vaccines, according to Texas A&M University's Institute of Biosciences and Technology.

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Scientists from Johns Hopkins and elsewhere will meet in Bethesda, Md., March 6-7 to discuss the latest research into climate change and its potential for triggering outbreaks of disease.

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The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME International) and the board of directors of the International Gas Turbine Institue (IGTI) have named Ann E. McClure, a certified association executive, as managing director of IGTI in Atlanta, Ga., starting in April.

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Since the devastating floods of 1972 that took nearly 500 lives, the human toll has declined in the United States, thanks in part to advances in science and technology as well as better partnerships among local, state and federal agencies working together to provide advance warnings to citizens.

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Tips from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center 1) Study shows Medicare rehab warranted for stroke, less for hip fracture 2) Relief is available for dry mouth sufferers 3) Patients for hormone replacement studies sought in Colorado 4) Univ of Colorado School of Medicine ranks among top for primary care

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Harvard Medical School researchers have made a discovery helping to explain why the immune system of AIDS patients collapses after years of infection, reporting in the March 4 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that strains of virus developing later in patients may attack a different, larger population of immune cells through different chemokine receptors.

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The first experiments of a collaborative U.S./Russian space science program were successfully launched recently aboard two Russian Meteorological MR-12 sounding rockets from Kapustin Yar, near Volgograd, Russia, a test range similar to the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

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Long-term estrogen replacement therapy after menopause may reduce heart attack risk not only by lowering blood-fat levels, but also by increasing blood flow to the heart and causing blood vessels to stay open wider and longer, according to a study led by Johns Hopkins researchers.

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Neuroscientists at The University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center are a step closer to understanding the processes underlying learning and memory. In a report in the February 28 issue of Science magazine they describe how a protein molecule, transforming growth factor-fl (TGF-fl), induces changes in neurons similar to those associated with learning. This work may have implications for the treatment of learning disabilities in people whose nervous systems have been compromised by disease, injury or aging.