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News of the Week:
How Inhaled Dust Harms the Lungs
Test-tube studies uncover a biological mechanism by which particles in air may lead to lung damage.
References:
Costa, D.L., and K.L. Dreher. 1997. Bioavailable transition metals in particle matter mediate cardiopulmonary injury in healthy and compromised animal models. Environmental Health Perspectives 105(September):1053.
Holian, A., et al. 1998. Urban particle-induced apoptosis and phenotype shifts in human alveolar macrophages. Environmental Health Perspectives 106(March):127.
Further Readings:
Adler, T. 1993. Health effects of smog: Worse than thought. Science News 144(Nov. 20):326.
Becker, S., et al. 1996. Stimulation of human and rat alveolar macrophages by urban air particulates: Effects on oxidant radical generation and cytokine production. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 141(December):637.
Calvert, K., et al. 1997. The science behind the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's proposed revisions to the primary national ambient air quality standards for ozone and particulate matter. Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives (June 25). More information is available at http://www.house.gov/science/epa_report_6-25.html.
Environmental Protection Agency fact sheets on the proposed rules are available at http://ttnwww.rtpnc.epa.gov/naaqsfin/achieve.htm.
Goldsmith, C., et al. 1997. Alveolar macrophage interaction with air pollution particles. Environmental Health Perspectives 105(September):1191.
Iyer, R., and A. Holian. 1996. Silica-induced apoptosis mediated via scavenger receptor in human alveolar macrophages. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 141(November):84.
McClellan, R.O. 1997. Use of mechanistic data in assessing human risks from exposure to particles. Environmental Health Perspectives 105(September):1363.
Raloff, J. 1997. Clinton accepts new clean air proposals. Science News 152(July 5):6.
______. 1995. Heart-y risks from breathing fine dust. Science News 148(July 1):5.
______. 1991. Dust to dust: A particularly lethal legacy. Science News 139(April 6):212.
Selgrade, M.K., et al. 1997. Modulation of T-helper cell populations: Potential mechanisms of respiratory hypersensitivity and immune suppression. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 145(July):218.
Uric acid linked to multiple sclerosis
Giving uric acid to mice with a disease resembling multiple sclerosis reduces paralysis.
References:
Hooper, D.C., et al. 1998. Uric acid, a natural scavenger of peroxynitrite, in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis and multiple sclerosis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 95(January):675.
Further Readings:
Hooper, D.C., et al. 1997. Prevention of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis by targeting nitric oxide and peroxynitrite: Implications for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 94(March):2528.
Seppa, N. 1997. Herpesvirus linked to multiple sclerosis. Science News 152(Dec. 6):356.
Sign of spring: Science Finalists Picked
Ten high school girls and 30 boys last week got the phone calls they've been dreaming about: news that they'd beaten 1,541 other top science students to become finalists in the 57th Annual Westinghouse Science Talent Search.
Spotting a sparse crystal of trapped ions
A cloud of widely separated ions at low temperatures has the orderly cubic arrangement typical of many crystalline solids.
References:
Huang, X.-P., et al. 1998. Phase-locked rotation of crystallized non-neutral plasmas by rotating electric fields. Physical Review Letters 80(Jan. 5):73.
Itano, W.M., et al. 1998. Bragg diffraction from crystallized ion plasmas. Science 279(Jan. 30):686.
Further Readings:
Peterson, I. 1988. Chaos in a cold cloud of trapped ions. Science News 134(July 30):69.
Schiffer, J. 1998. Sparse crystals. Science 279(Jan. 30):675.
Additional information about the NIST plasma crystal experiment is available at http://www.bldrdoc.gov/timefreq/ion/penning/penning.htm.
Spy Satellite plumbs secrets of Antarctica
CIA satellite photographs reveal significant changes in Antarctic ice flow.
References:
Bindschadler, R., and P. Vornberger. 1998. Changes in the West Antarctic ice sheet since 1963 from declassified satellite photography. Science 279(Jan. 30):1.
Further Readings:
Monastersky, R. 1993. Fire beneath the ice. Science News 143(Feb. 13):104.
Hormone signals the death of fat cells
The hormone leptin can trigger the brain to kill fat cells.
References:
Quian, H. . . . C.A. Baile. 1998. Brain administration of leptin causes deletion of adipocytes by apoptosis. Endocrinology 139 (February):791.
Further Readings:
Travis, J. 1997. Hormone may directly trim fat from cells. Science News 151(May 3):271.
Expensive drug thwarts deadly lung ailment
Intravenous doses of a drug called prostacyclin may serve as a powerful weapon against primary pulmonary hypertension.
References:
Fishman, A.P. 1998. Pulmonary hypertension-beyond vasodilator therapy. New England Journal of Medicine 338(Jan. 29):321.
McLaughlin, V.V., et al. 1998. Reduction in pulmonary vascular resistance with long-term epoprostenol (prostacyclin) therapy in primary pulmonary hypertension. New England Journal of Medicine 338(Jan. 29):273.
Further Readings:
Abenhaim, L., et al. 1996. Appetite-suppressant drugs and the risk of primary pulmonary hypertension. New England Journal of Medicine 335(Aug. 29):609.
Barst, R.J., et al. 1996. A comparison of continuous intravenous epoprostenol (prostacyclin) with conventional therapy for primary pulmonary hypertension. New England Journal of Medicine 334(Feb. 1):296.
Lewis, R. 1997. Primary pulmonary hypertension. New England Journal of Medicine 336(Jan. 9):111.
McMurray, J., and D. Murdoch. 1997. Calcium-antagonist controversy: The long and short of it? Lancet 349(March 1):585.
Family gives genetic clue to language
Scientists have taken a significant step toward specifying the first gene known to influence human speech and language capacities.
References:
Fisher, S.E., et al. 1998. Localisation of a gene implicated in a severe speech and language disorder. Nature Genetics 18(February):168.
Further Readings:
Bower, B. 1995. Family's grammar loss provokes debate. Science News 147(Feb. 4):70.
Research Notes:
Biomedicine
Appendectomy? Scan me first, Doc
CT scans improve appendix-related diagnoses, reducing unnecessary surgery.
References:
Rao, P.M., et al. 1998. Effect of computed tomography of the appendix on treatment of patients and use of hospital resources. New England Journal of Medicine 338(Jan. 15):141.
Further Readings:
Rao, P.M., et al. 1997. Helical CT technique for diagnosis of appendicitis: Prospective evaluation of a focused appendix CT examination. Radiology 202:139.
Reynolds, S.L. 1993. Missed appendicitis in a pediatric emergency department. Pediatric Emergency Care 9:1.
Snoring impedes blood flow in brain
The obstruction of air passages that makes a person snore can sharply reduce blood flow to the brain, possibly boosting the risk of stroke.
References:
Netzer, N. . . . K.P. Strohl. 1998. Blow flow of middle cerebral artery with sleep-disordered breathing. Stroke 29 (January):1.
Further Readings:
Koskenvuo, M., et al. 1987. Snoring as a risk factor for stroke in men. British Medical Journal 294:16.
Astronomy
From a meeting in Washington, D.C., of the American Astronomical Society
Mapping the universe
Thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers may have accounted for all of the sources of visible light in the universe.
References:
Clements, D.L., et al. 1998. Deep 175 micron counts with ISO: A new population? Meeting of the American Astronomical Society. Washington, D.C.
Vogeley, M.S. 1998. Meeting of the American Astronomical Society. Washington, D.C.
Further Readings:
Cowen, R. 1998. Astronomers aglow about infrared maps. Science News 153(Jan. 10):20.
Dino death: A stellar weapon...
The gravitational tug of a star passing within a few light-years of the sun might have triggered comet showers near Earth.
References:
Molnar, L.A., and R.L. Mutel. 1998. Meeting of the American Astronomical Society. Washington, D.C.
...or a high-energy flash?
An astronomer muses that if a gamma-ray burst of sufficient energy passed close enough to our galaxy, it might have triggered a comet shower.
References:
Brecher, K. 1998. Meeting of the American Astronomical Society. Washington, D.C.
Articles:
Tuberculosis Outbreak
An ancient killer strikes a new population
Researchers study a fierce epidemic among the Yanomami Indians of Brazil.
References:
Nerlich, A.G., et al. 1997. Molecular evidence for tuberculosis in an ancient Egyptian mummy. Lancet 350(Nov. 8):1404.
Sousa, A.O., et al. 1997. An epidemic of tuberculosis with a high rate of tuberculin anergy among a population previously unexposed to tuberculosis, the Yanomami Indians of the Brazilian Amazon. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 94(Nov. 25):13227.
Stead, W.W. 1997. The origin and erratic global spread of tuberculosis. Clinics in Chest Medicine 18(March):65.
Further Readings:
Fackelmann, K. 1997. Paleopathological puzzles. Science News 152(Aug. 30):136.
In Yellowstone, the master adapter learns to deal with wolves
Once top dog in Yellowstone National Park, the coyote is now being preyed upon by the recently restored wolf.
References:
Gese, E.M., and R.L. Ruff. 1997. Scent-marking by coyotes, Canis latrans: The influence of social and ecological factors. Animal Behaviour 54(November):1155.
Gese, Eric M., R.L. Ruff, and R.L. Crabtree. 1996. Foraging ecology of coyotes (Canis latrans): The influence of extrinsic factors and a dominance hierarchy. Canadian Journal of Zoology 74(May):769.
Further Readings:
Osborne, R. 1997. Journal of a Trapper. New York: MJF Books
