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24-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Asthma And Allergy--The Revenge Of The Viral Nerd?
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Johns Hopkins scientists have found the first hard evidence that viral infections can help cause asthma and allergies, a connection long suspected but never directly confirmed in the lab.

Released: 22-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
March Tips from Ameican Psychiatric Assn.
American Psychiatric Association (APA)

1) Psychiatric Hospital Readmission In Managed Care Environment Not Linked to Poor Hospital Outcome; 2) Managed Care Criteria Can Restrict Patient Access To Acute Care Psychiatric Hospitalization; 3) Managed Care and Mental Health - New Brochure; 4) APA's 150th Annual Meeting, 5/17-5/22, in San Diego, CA; 5) 7/31/97 Deadline For 1998 Media Awards Entries; 6) Upcoming Mental Health/Illness Events/Observances - Use as news pegs for your stories!

Released: 22-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Surprising Findings in Toilet Training Study
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

The first large-scale study in 30 years on toilet training reveals one in five toddlers use a potty chair or toilet to urinate but not for bowel movements.

Released: 22-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Publication commemorates 25th anniversary of SRS
University of Georgia Savannah River Ecology Laboratory

This spring will mark the 25th anniversary of the U.S. Department of Energy's designation of the Savannah River Site as the nation's first National Environmental Research Park. A publication out this week celebrates the occasion with colorful photographs and important information on what has been accomplished in the past quarter of a century.

20-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
New Clues in Causes of Allergies, Asthma in Children
Henry Ford Health

In two separate studies, Henry Ford Health System researchers have found links between dust mites, season of birth and ethnicity and the chances of a child developing allergies or asthma.

Released: 21-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Inner City Children Become Successful Adults
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

A new study shows that the majority of children born in inner cities grow up to become successful adults.

Released: 21-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Pediatricians Respond To TV Ratings System
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) believes that any effective television ratings system should be content based to offer parents guidance on a programs level of sex, violence and language.

Released: 21-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Electronic Version of Pediatrics Unveiled
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

The American Academy of Pediatrics today unveiled Pediatrics electronic pages, a new source of the latest pediatric research available through the internet.

Released: 21-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Warnings About Growth Hormone for Children
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

The American Academy of Pediatrics has released a new statement warning pediatricians to exercise caution when using growth hormones to treat children.

Released: 21-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Shot Effective for Ear Infection Treatment
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

When treating ear infections, a single injection of an antibiotic is as effective as the traditional 10 days of oral treatment, according to a study in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Released: 21-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Trends in heart disease ominous
American Heart Association (AHA)

Progress in reducing deaths from coronary heart disease is threatened by alarming increases in obesity, physical inactivity and cigarette smoking as well as the aging of the population,î stated Jan Breslow, M.D., president of the American Heart Association, in response to a U.S. Centers for Disease Controlís report, released today.

Released: 21-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Genetic Diversity Study Of Wildlife In Acadia National Park
Jackson Laboratory

Acadia National Park has been awarded grants for a pioneering genetic diversity study of wildlife to be conducted by The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor and the federal Cooperative Park Studies Unit at the University of Maine.

Released: 21-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Society Studies Splendor of Coral, Brooklyn to Belize
Wildlife Conservation Society

With 1997 designated as the International Year of the Reef by marine scientists and conservationists, coral conservationissues have taken center stage. Recognizing the importance of these reef systems as one of the world's greatest habitats, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) targets coral conservation in both hemispheres, coupled with the Aquarium for Wildlife Conservation's coral breeding lab in New York.

Released: 20-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
New Scientist Press Release
New Scientist

Press release of issue dated February 22 for New Scientist: 1) Web Bank Robbers Poised To Pounce; 2) A Cheeky Little Powder And It Travels Well; 3) Go On Then, Have The Broccoli If You Must; 4) Did Lax Officials Let Britons Drink A Deadly Pint?; 5) Jaws Bids For Olympic Glory; 6) Cracking The Code Of Custom Drugs; 7) Planes At Risk From Space Intruders; 8) Mighty Mouse Takes On Hepatitis; 9) Best Noses In Town ; #10: An Awfully Deep Adventure; 11) Australia's Giant Lab; 12) Welcome To Clusterworld

Released: 20-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Pycnogenol Pine Bark Extract to Highlight Symposium
Blitz & Associates

Pycnogenol, derived from the French maritime pine tree, is a powerful antioxidant which offers the body's vascular system protection from free radicals. Six leading researchers will present studies on Pycnogenol at a symposium during Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, CA, March 6.

Released: 20-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Bioacousticians track whales hunting giant squid
Cornell University

When the National Geographic Society hunt for living giant squid sends sperm whales with video cameras to the ocean depths this month off New Zealand's South Island, the camerawhales will be tracked by the Cornell University Bioacoustics Research program. Distinctive click sounds produced by diving sperm whales will reveal their whereabouts to an array of hydrophones hanging vertically in the water, using Cornell equipment that pinpoints sound sources.

Released: 20-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
February Tips from American Thoracic Society Journals
American Thoracic Society (ATS)

February Tips from American Thoracic Society Journals: 1) Summertime Haze Worsens Asthma Attacks; 2) Prison Population At High Risk For Tuberculosis

Released: 20-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Awards: Can Computers Communicate Like People Do?
National Science Foundation (NSF)

A set of 15 awards in a new $10 million program led by the National Science Foundation -- Speech, Text, Image and Multimedia Advanced Technology Effort (STIMULATE) -- will fund university researchers investigating human communication and seeking to improve our interaction with computers.

Released: 20-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Shopping Nature for New Products Offers Few Incentives for Conservation
Resources for the Future (RFF)

Conservation advocates may be overstating the promise of biodiversity prospecting -- the search for new products among genes found in wild organisms that may be of potential commercial value -- as a mechanism for financing the conservation of biological diversity, according to a new article published in Resources, the quarterly publication of Resources for the Future.

22-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Continued estrogen use maintains bone density in elderly women
JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association

Women who begin estrogen therapy after age 60 can achieve similar bone mineral density (BMD) to women who started taking estrogen at menopause; however, once estrogen is stopped, the benefit disappears, according to an article in this week's issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

22-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Communication skills and malpractice risk
JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association

There are specific communication behaviors that decrease or increase a primary care physician's risk of a malpractice lawsuit, according to an article in this week's issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Released: 19-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Catching Concrete Flaws Early
Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos scientists have developed a simple, environmentally friendly test that can spot flaws in concrete long before visible signs of failure become apparent. The test, which involves special chemical dyes, could replace a current one that uses uranyl nitrate with its special environmental headaches.

Released: 19-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Clearest Images To Date Of Silicon Surface
Northwestern University

Silicaon is one of the most common elements on earth, yet its surface structure is probably the most complicated of all --- a three-layered geometric construction of atoms with tiny holes at the peaks. Researchers at Northwestern University and the NEC Corporation in Japan have made the clearest images to date of this complex surface.

Released: 19-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
WCS, WWF Unveil Tiger Strategy
Wildlife Conservation Society

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) will unveil a new strategy for conserving tigers at the Zoological Society of London symposium, "Tigers 2000." The meeting, scheduled for February 20-21, will bring together many of the world's top tiger experts.

Released: 18-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Dependent Personality Linked to Higher GPA
Gettysburg College

Men with dependent personalities are more likely to have a significantly higher grade-point average than men with non-dependent personalities. That's according to research on the topic by Robert F. Bornstein, professor of psychology at Gettysburg College, PA.

   
Released: 18-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Alternative Fuels Don't Deliver
Colgate University

The federal government pumps more than a billion dollars in subsidies each year into developing cleaner-burning automotive fuels, but we might not be getting much environmental bang for the buck. That's according to research by Kevin N. Rask, associate professor of economics at Colgate University in Hamilton, NY.

Released: 18-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Plants need Vitamin C, too
Cornell University

Just as virtamin C protects humans and many animals from environmental stress, researchers at Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research Inc. at Cornell have found that mutant plants lacking vitamin C had shriveled leaves, and when grown in an ozone-contained environment, they were not able to cope with the environmental stress, and were hypersensitive to sulfur dioxide and ultraviolet B radiation.

Released: 18-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Global Temperature Report: January 1997
University of Alabama Huntsville

The Northern Hemisphere's coldest month in more than 18 years may in part be due to a persistent low pressure system over the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, according to Dr. John Christy, an associate professor of atmospheric science in the Earth System Science Laboratory at The University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Released: 18-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Coevolution argues for preserving large land areas
Washington State University

By the late 1980s, Thompson had developed the geographic mosaic theory of coevolution, which argues that the long-term dynamics of coevolution occur over large geographic areas rather than within local populations. Much of his current research is directed toward evaluating this theory, his work on Greya moths and the plants they pollinate, for example.

18-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Treatment and Prevention Reducing Coronary Deaths in U.S.
JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association

Despite constant messages that diet and exercise can help to prevent coronary heart disease (CHD), advancements in the management of those who have already developed CHD are credited with most of the striking decline in coronary mortality from 1980 to 1990, according to an article in this week's issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

12-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Sugar, Suckling Trigger Natural Pain Control
University of Maryland, Baltimore

Neuroscientists at the University of Maryland at Baltimore have found that sugar and suckling activate natural pain-modulating systems in babies. They also learned that the pain of inflammation and injury is controlled at least in part in the spinal cord. EMBARGOED for release February 17, 1997, 5 p.m. EST

13-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
When Did Time Begin?
University of California, Santa Cruz

When did time begin? Physicist Joel Primack argues that science can answer the question. It's a fantastic scenario, involving the Big Bang, inflation, and "eternal inflation." He'll explain it all at the AAAS meeting in Seattle.

12-Mar-1997 12:00 AM EST
How Influenza Virus Is Formed
Northwestern University

The influenza virus reproduces itself by pushing out a portion of a cell's outer membrane and pinching it off --- creating a new viral paricle than can go on to infect another cell. Just how the virus succeeds in pushing out the membrane has been clsarified by researchers at Northwestern University

   
Released: 16-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Briefs from Feb. 14 CDC Journal, MMWR
N/A

Articles synopsized below will appear in the Feb. 14 Edition of "Morbidity And Mortality Weekly Report," published by the U.S Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC). 1) State-Specific Variation in Rates of Twin Births--United States, 1992-1994; 2) Ingestion of Cigarettes and Cigarette Butts by Children--Rhode Island, Jan 1994-Jul 1996; 3) Nonhuman Primate Spumavirus Infections Among Persons with Occupational Exposure--U.S., 1996

14-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Super-tasters and cancer
University of Michigan

Super-tasters---people with a genetically inherited sensitivity to bitter or sharp tastes---may avoid tart vegetables and fruits that contain cancer preventive coupounds, says University of Michigan researcher. Prof. Adam Drewnowski presented his study Sunday (Feb.16) at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

13-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Estimated Ages of Oldest Stars Probably Won't Fall Below 15 Billion Years
University of California, Santa Cruz

Are the oldest stars in the galaxy more ancient than the universe itself? That's the embarrassing conundrum facing astronomers today. At the AAAS meeting in Seattle, astronomer Michael Bolte will discuss solid evidence that stellar ages won't fall below 15 billion years.

Released: 15-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Conference to highlight newest antioxidant research
Blitz & Associates

Top researchers to present new evidence showing antioxidant supplements prevent disease and may slow aging. Conference featuring more than 50 scientists to be held in Santa Barbara, CA, Feb. 26-March 1.

Released: 15-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Children No Strangers to Family Violence
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

A study of family violence found that children are often injured during fights between parents, extended family members and even family friends.

Released: 15-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Religious Objections To Medical Care
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

A new policy from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states that no child should be denied access to medical care based on a parents religious beliefs.

Released: 15-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Mandatory Pharmaceutical Labeling Recommended
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a revised policy recommending mandatory labeling of inactive ingredients on prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceutical products.

Released: 15-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Annals of Internal Medicine Tips for 2/15/97
American College of Physicians (ACP)

1) Treating Patients with Dyspepsia Who are Seropositive for Helicobacter pylori; 2) Practice Guidelines for Managing Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura

Released: 14-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Catching Bugs In Quantum Computers
Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos researchers have devised a scheme and algorithms to correct errors in quamtum computers, proposed machines that would manipulate the quantum states of individual atoms to perform calculations.

Released: 14-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
UNM Micro-chip at Heart of Hubble Upgrade
University of New Mexico

A micro-chip designed at the University of New Mexico's Microelectronics Research Center is at the heart of an upgrade unit being installed on the hubble Space Telescope next week.

Released: 14-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
UW Surgeon Pioneers Spinal Fusion Technique
University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Medicine

In what is believed to be the first clinical trial of its kind in the United States, a spine surgeon at University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics has begun using protein-saturated sponges placed in a patient's spine to replace the disc removed during fusion surgery. The sponge contains bone growth factor, a substance expected to produce bone that will complete the fusion -- and eliminate the need to take bone from the patient's body to replace the disc.

Released: 14-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Oscar Recognizes NSF-Supported Films
National Science Foundation (NSF)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has nominated two documentary films produced with support from the National Science Foundation for an Academy Award.

Released: 14-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Pioneering Surgery Saves Twins
University of Illinois Chicago

A condition once considered hopeless for 6,000 twin babies each year in the United States is now being treated with a new, pioneering laser surgical procedure at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center.

Released: 14-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Making The Multimedia Future A Reality
National Science Foundation (NSF)

In the next century, a personal computer could know from the inflection in your voice -- or by a smile or frown -- what you want it to do. Basic research in multimedia technology funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) is moving us much closer to that reality.

Released: 14-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Biggest Earthquakes Of '96 Rattle China, Indonesia
US Geological Survey (USGS)

China and Indonesia suffered the deadliest and most destructive earthquakes in 1996, while the U.S. remained relatively quiet according to scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior. The last deadly earthquake in the U.S. was the 1994 Northridge, Calif., quake that took 60 lives.

13-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Symmetry at its Smallest
University of California, Santa Cruz

Symmetries are evident everywhere in nature, even at the smallest scales of subatomic particles. At the AAAS meeting in Seattle, physicist Michael Dine will describe the latest work toward a theory of supersymmetry, which could round out the Standard Model of particle physics.

Released: 13-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
'Birdsource' Website For Citizen-Science Data
Cornell University

One of the most comprehensive World Wide Web sites for amateur bird-watchers and professional ornithologists, BirdSource, opened for business Feb. 14 by accepting data from participants in Project FeederWatch at http://www.ornith.cornell.edu/CS/PFW/main.html. Co-managed by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society and constructed by the Cornell Theory Center, the Web site was demonstrated at the Seattle annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Embargo Date: 02/14/97



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