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1)Steady Growth Continues in Academic R&D 2)Early Returns in from Ice Station Sheba 3)Helping Kids become Young Scientists

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Physicians today reviewed the impact of the newest class of asthma medications, antileukotrienes, on the management of asthma symptoms in a scientific symposium funded by an education grant from Zeneca Pharmaceuticals at the 54th annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI).

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Low estrogen levels caused more than 50 percent miscarriage in pregnant baboons, primates whose hormones during pregnancy act much like those of humans. The fetuses died before miscarriage.

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1) Exposure to passive smoking causes the aorta to lose its elasticity. 2) Over 30 percent of gallstone disease can be prevented by 30 minutes of endurance type exercise five times a week. 3) Low cholesterol is associated with high risk for violent death. 4) Is managed care a "monstrous hybrid?" 5) Thalidomide is effective in treating Behcet syndrome.

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1998 George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism awarded to Ben Brantley, The New York Times; Elinor Fuchs, author of The Death of Character (Indiana University Press); and Todd London, artistic director of New Dramatists and columnist for American Theater magazine.

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Researchers at Forsyth Dental Center and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine are tracing the identity of unknown and emerging microbes, some of which have foiled the efforts of investigators around the country. Using the newest molecular methods, they are identifying mysterious bacterial species that may be the cause of dental caries and periodontitis. But the search is not limited to the oral cavity.

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Purdue University researchers have developed a new class of materials that has a wide variety of potential applications, from a coating to repel liquids to a membrane that could be used in wastewater treatment and drug delivery.

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After four months in cardiac intensive care, a 56-year-old Baltimore County woman woke up at the University of Maryland Medical Center with a new heart on Valentine's Day. What makes this transplant unusual is that it was a ìdirected donationî ñ a rare occurrence in which an organ donorís family may designate the recipient.

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1.Smell Loss an Early Indicator of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases; 2.Newly Found Endothelial Receptor Implicated in Both Heart Disease and AIDS; 3. DNA Vaccination Lowers HIV-1 Viral Load in Infected Chimpanzees

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A new honors program in engineering and law, the only such program in the U.S., is being launched at Northwestern University. The program offers high school seniors conditional acceptance into law school and completion of their undergraduate studies a year early.

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A Purdue University study of religion and body weight finds that religious people are more likely to be overweight than are nonreligious people. Fortunately for them, being religious may curtail some of the unhealthy effects of being overweight.

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El Nino, the weather pheonomenon blamed for killer tornadoes in Florida, may actually benefit the Lower Plains and the Midsouth during the coming spring tornado season.

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Phase I clinical trials of fluasterone, a synthetic steroid with many potential therapeutic and preventive uses, show it is safe at high doses, well tolerated and not metabolized to testosterone or estrogen in men or women.

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Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Public have found that a simplified regimen of treatment provided protection against tuberculosis in HIV-infected, PPD-positive adults.

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As the number of Americans with asthma--and the number of asthma deaths each year--continue to rise, Zeneca Pharmaceuticals released results of their recently sponsored survey which was conducted by Wirthlin Worldwide. The survey assessed asthma patients' attitudes and compliance with their medication.

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The Global Positioning System (GPS) is allowing geologists to measure the positions of markers thousands of miles apart to a precision of less than an inch and has suddenly become a powerful tool for earthquake studies around the world.

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Understanding proteins is essential to understanding cellular biology, but difficult. Scientists often turn to analogy, and talk of the "building blocks" or the "alphabet of life," but biologist Mary Anne Clark at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth says she hears the proteins singing.

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In an effort to help design and build future generations of powerful integrated circuits, scientists at Bell Laboratories, the research and development arm of Lucent Technologies, have created new materials that show exceptional promise as insulators for semiconductor components.

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Changes in managed healthcare are creating pioneering roles for healthcare workers. This is happening against a backdrop of President Clinton's call for a national patient bill of rights and movements by several states to draft consumer protection bills for managed-care participants.

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The fungus responsible for the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s is back, and could be more threatening than ever. More than 150 years after the famine that took an estimated 1 million lives, a newer, more exotic strain of the fungus is causing widespread crop devastation in the United States.

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Marietta, GA ñ March 11, 1998 ñ Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced today that it received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market the lowest oral estrogen dose -- 0.3 mg ESTRATAB (tm) (Esterified Estrogens Tablets, USP) -- for the prevention of osteoporosis.

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Most americans get their health insurance through their employer but the availability of employer-sponsored insurance varies greatly from state to state, according to a first-ever Federal survey to produce state estimates.

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Hundreds of millions throughout the world suffer from arsenic poisoning by drinking their own water, but a new device invented by engineers at the University of Connecticut through the Critical Technologies Program may help end the problem.

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National Science Foundation (NSF) director Neal Lane will speak on Saturday, March 14, 1998, at a conference on "The Integral Role of the Two-year College in the Science and Mathematics Preparation of Prospective Teachers."

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Whether you are male or female, black or white, old or young, taking out fat in your diet will lower blood cholesterol levels -- and reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke, according to a study in this month's issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology: Journal of the American Heart Association.

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A synthetic author the likes of Proust, Joyce, or Kafka may not be in the future, but Brutus.1--an artificial agent capable of story generation--just wrote its first story about betrayal.

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Professors at the University of Connecticut have conducted a study with cyclists to determine if oral or intravenous hydration has a better effect on an athlete's performance once they become dehydrated.

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In a decision that highlights why many lesbians do not receive adequate medical care, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has rejected a request by the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association for exhibit space at ACOG's annual conference.

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Interferon-alpha is used to treat several kinds of cancers. It is also effective against hepatitis B and C. However, interferon-alpha can cause central nervous system side-effects, includimg depression, slowed thinking and memory impairment. Fortunately, these side-effects can be treated successfully.

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The National Cancer Institute has awarded a $13.3 million grant to the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Cancer Center to study how diet might help prevent a recurrence of breast cancer.

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Religious beliefs are a major source of political cleavage, according to Vanderbilt political scientist Geoff Layman, who is calling for improved measurement of the effect of religous beliefs on voting.

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1997 State Legislated Actions on Tobacco Issues (SLATI), the only up-to-date, comprehensive guide to state tobacco-control laws enacted in 1997, has been compiled by the American Lung Association. The 216-page 1997 SLATI includes: state-by-state information, tables, maps and matrixes on tobacco-control laws plus a quick-read two-page guide to state tobacco laws.

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Bird watchers are teaming up with scientists at Cornell University's Laboratory of Ornithology to learn more about kestrels, swallows, bluebirds, chickadees, wood ducks and other birds that nest in tree cavities and nest boxes through the Cornell Nest Box Network (CNBN).

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Observations that Mars has scattered crustal magnetic fields will be published in the March 13 issue of Science. Paul Cloutier, professor of space physics and astronomy, is a co-investigator on the Mars Global Surveyor team that obtained the findings and is available for comment.

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Atlanta, GA "” Patients undergoing surgery for more than three hours are at risk for developing potentially fatal pressure ulcers, warn leading medical experts gathered here today to present clinical data on this underreported problem.

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President Clinton's proposal to spend $21.7 billion over five years to make child care affordable is a step in the right direction, but a Vanderbilt University historian says the public and policymakers need to do more to build a good system of child care. "Child care in America shouldn't just be expanded, it should also be improved," said Elizabeth Rose, assistant professor of history and author of a forthcoming book from Oxford University Press on the history of child care in America.

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"If Americans knew the conditions children are subjected to in juvenile justice facilities, they would be horrified and appalled," Michael Faenza, President and CEO of the National Mental Health Association, said at a Congressional Children's Caucus hearing today. "Children with emotional disorders are routinely hog-tied, beaten, put in isolation, forced medication and even denied medication."

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Vermont will be the first state in the nation to hold a statewide discussion of concerns regarding genetic breakthroughs. Backed by a federal grant, the effort will use town meetings and other forums.

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Peter Gizzi, one of the country's most celebrated young poets, is already receiving high praise for his soon-to-be released collection, Artificial Heart. The book is one of two by Gizzi that will be published this spring.

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What has become of civility in our society? The John Hopkins Civility Project will host an international conference to explore that issue. "Reassessing Civility: Forms and Values at the End of the Century" will be held in Baltimore March 26-28. Coverage is welcome.

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Researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed an artificial liver using living cells that will temporarily support patients with severe liver failure as they wait for a liver transplant or recover from liver injury. Algenix Inc., a Minnesota-based company, has licensed the technology from the university and is seeking investors to begin clinical trials.

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Vassar College announces the fifteenth annual Institute of Publishing and Writing: Children's Books in the Marketplace, to take place on the Vassar campus June 14 to 19.

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Television writers who plan to cover USA Network's four-hour mini series on "Moby Dick," airing March 15-16, can find valuable background material on Herman Melville from the University of Delaware's Hershel Parker, author of what has been called the "definitive" Melville biography.

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The age-based TV program rating system unveiled last fall as a guide to prime time television offers little help to parents who want to protect their children from television violence or alcohol-saturated programming, according to a recently completed study of the fall 1997 TV season by George Gerbner, Bell Atlantic Professor of Telecommunications at Temple University.

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Cornell University researchers have built and tested an array of microscopic scanning tunneling microscopes on the surface of an ordinary silicon chip. Such arrays could vastly speed the scanning of surfaces down to the atomic level, and could be used for very high-density data storage.

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The jet engine of the future could be made of materials that are more like plastics than steel, if studies at the University of Missouri-Rolla find that these new materials can hold up under extreme changes in temperatures and other conditions.

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Did it melt or not? Antarctic scientists, including a team in UMaine's Institute for Quaternary Studies and Dept. of Geological Sciences, have been debating that question for more than a decade when they look at the history of the south pole ice sheet as far back as three to four million years ago. The answer is important for predicting how Antarctica and the world's ocean levels might behave in a warmer global climate.

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Although scientists have known for several years that the presence of the 4 form of the gene known as apolipoprotein-E (APOE) or APOE- 4 allele (gene variation), is associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease among whites, the risk posed by the gene has not been so clear-cut among African Americans and Hispanics. Now, researchers from Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons have discovered that African Americans and Hispanics have an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease whether or not they carry the APOE- 4 allele. The discovery could lead to a better understanding of other genes or risk factors that may contribute to Alzheimer's disease.

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Kids' Spring Sports Bring Mealtime Frenzy --In a recent national survey, almost half of American families said they'll have children participating in organized spring sports this spring. A large majority of these said it will affect the family's mealtime routine. The National Cancer Institute offers quick ways to eat healthfully -- especially five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day -- during this busy time.

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Millions of American children are still uninsured and face barriers to care. The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) today released a new sourcebook on data about children's health. The data in Children's Health 1996 highlights findings from AHCPR's 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS).