The following is a compilation of sources and recent developments in science, health and environmental areas from colleges and universities across the U.S.:
DNA TEST TAKES SHARK OUT OF SOUP -- Conservationists have long feared that protected species of sharks have been among the 100 million sharks caught each year, many for use in shark-fin soup. But a new DNA test, developed by researchers at Nova Southeastern University, allows regulators to find out whether protected species are being hunted illegally. Until now, it has been difficult to tell. Shark fins are prized, fetching up to $10,000 to $20,000 for a single fin from a trophy species, says Dr. Mahmood Shivji, a conservation geneticist at NSU and co-author of the study describing the new genetic tests in the August issue of Conservation Biology. But since the rest of the shark is of little value, the practice has been to slice the fin off and throw the shark back to die, making it almost impossible to tell which species the fin came from, says Shivji. "Nobody is keeping track of which sharks are being exploited," he says
GETTING HARD OF HEARING PEOPLE "IN THE LOOP" -- The 24 million people suffering from hearing loss in the United States often lose more than their hearing. They lose the ability to participate in public activities, since most venues aren't wired to provide them any hearing assistance. But Dr. David Myers, a social psychologist at Hope College in Holland, Mich., and author of A Quiet World: Living with Hearing Loss, is changing that by leading an effort to bring an Induction Loop System, which transmits magnetic energy from an amplifier through a wire surrounding the seating area to his town -- making Holland a model looped community, one where churches and institutions are looped, and where audiologists are equipping hearing aids to serve as loudspeakers. The technology, already used in Europe, is an alternative to those who in the past have relied on clunky headsets to listen to church sermons and movies. Once a loop system has been installed, a person simply pushes a button on their T-coil hearing aid to receive sound through his or her hearing aid. Myers urges other cities to create their own looped communities. "For churches, auditoriums, theaters, subway kiosks, drive-up windows, airport waiting areas, homes -- everywhere sound is broadcast -- the possibilities are exciting. Where there are loudspeakers, let there be loops," he says. "Let's loop America."
SMART HOME TECHNOLOGY -- When you come home, the TV is on the program you want to watch, the popcorn is popped and the computer has printed out your supermarket shopping list. This glimpse of the future is courtesy of Lisa Burnell, assistant professor of computer science at Texas Christian University, who is working with her undergraduate students on developing protocols for "smart homes." With a $140,000 NSF grant, Lisa and her students are monitoring human habits to develop computer programs that will anticipate what people want done--and go ahead and do it. These "anticipated behavior predictions" can be linked, via computer, to many routine household tasks. It's just a research project now, but Lisa hope to have a full-fledged "smart home technology" course up and running by 2004.
FOR PROBLEM DRINKERS, THE CHECK-UP IS IN THE MAIL -- Problem drinkers - who indulge in 12 or more drinks per week or binge at least five times per year, but are not physically dependent upon alcohol -- are the neglected majority of alcohol abusers. "For every alcoholic, there are four problem drinkers," says Mark Sobell, a professor of psychology at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Unfortunately, most of these problem drinkers resist the term "alcoholic" and resist treatment. So researchers are taking the treatment to them. A new study indicates that problem drinkers can get help without having to visit a counselor, but by taking part in a "mail intervention." Problem drinkers reported a significant decrease in high-risk drinking and related consequences by filling in a questionnaire, mailing it, and following the instructions in the materials they received in return, says Sobell's wife and lead author Linda Carter Sobell, also a psychology professor at NSU. Participants cut down their weekly intake on average by 15 percent to 33 percent. "There's a neglected majority of problem drinkers out there that will not cross the clinical threshold," says Sobell. "Most of them will never come in for treatment. But if the majority of individuals can change on their own, we can foster that."
ÎDIRTY DANCING'S' MOUNTAIN LAKE VANISHING ACT SOLVED -- For 250 years, Mountain Lake in Giles County, Virginia, has puzzled residents and scientists alike by disappearing for decades at a time and then unexpectedly refilling to its normal depth of over 100 feet. The mystery of the disappearing lake, which was the setting for the 1986 blockbuster movie "Dirty Dancing", was finally solved last year by Jon Cawley, visiting assistant professor of biology at Roanoke College in Salem, Va. whose study showed a hole in the bedrock 110 feet below the surface. He found the water flows through the hole -- like the drain in a bathtub -- and runs along an underground fault before resurfacing half a mile away in the lake's only outlet stream. According to Cawley, the hole periodically widens, allowing more water to escape, then earthquakes pinch the hole shut, letting it refill. The owners of the lake's resort are now using this knowledge to refill the lake, which is 47 percent below capacity, by tapping into the "drain" and pumping it back to the lake.
THE BUSINESS OF SCIENCE -- In 1998, New Jersey's pharmaceutical and medical technology industry contributed more than $8.5 billion to the state's economy, employed more than 60,000 people in 120 facilities in 16 of 21 counties, and received a third of all new FDA drug approvals. Total U.S. sales of pharmaceutical products generated in New Jersey totaled $34 billion. Despite the field being one of the biggest for jobs in the state, recruiters reported to faculty at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J., that there consistently is a shortage of qualified job applicants -- particularly those that integrate training in both the sciences and business. To address those needs and optimize career preparation for Rider's graduates, Rider's College of Business of Administration came up with several academic options for students. Science students currently have the following minor programs to choose from: General Business Minor, Sales Management for the Sciences Minor, and a Health Care Administration Minor. The Health Care Administration Minor is also available to business students as well as non-science majors. This semester, non-science students were also given the option to elect the Integrated Science and Business minor. "Life Science: The Biology of Human Aging," and "The Pharmaceutical Industry" are some of the latest course offerings within the program, which also includes guest lecturers like Mark Nicolich, Ph.D., statistician, Epidemiology Section, ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc. Rider faculty have continued to meet with officials from the state's phamaceutical industry to address their needs and refine this program for the future. DOWN TO THE BONE IN BREAST CANCER RESEARCH -- Dr. Jonathan Yavelow, professor of biology at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J., and Dr. Robert Wieder of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) will share a one-year, $150,000 grant from the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research to study the role of bone marrow tissue in regulating breast cancer cell growth. Yavelow will collaborate with Drs. Sterling McBride and Peter Zanzucchi of Sarnoff Corporation in Princeton to build a device that will permit analysis of single cells. Yavelow explained that Dr. Wieder will take human bone marrow samples and reconstruct bone marrow matrices that will mimic the bone marrow environment in cell cultures. Breast cancer cells will then be seeded onto these bone marrow cells in an effort to simulate a physiological situation. During the 1999-2000 academic year, Yavelow took a sabbatical to explore the new areas of genomics and DNA chip technology in Sarnoff's Life Sciences and Systems Division. He has served as a visiting scientist at New York University's Medical Center, as a visiting professor of biology at Princeton University, and as a visiting research fellow also at Princeton.
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