Life Sciences & Biotechnology Update articles from March 2001

Life Sciences & Biotechnology Update archives from March 2001

VALUE OF PREVENTIVE HEALTH BEHAVIOR ON FUTURE HEALTH.
March 1, 2001... This (Rutgers University) document details two studies examining the relationship between preventive health behavior and aspects of patient preferences known as time-preferences -- the subjective value of future outcomes relative to immediate...

HOW HEALTH-CARE POLICY-MAKERS USE RESEARCH TO GENERATE QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS IN HEALTH CARE.
March 1, 2001... This (American Association of Health Plans) report summarizes a conference on the use of research to drive quality improvements in health care. Its contents include: Building Bridges; The Road to Quality Care; and Using Research to Drive...

THE WELL-BEING OF AMERICAN CHILDREN AND YOUTH.
March 1, 2001... This extensive (Child's Trends Inc./Urban Institute) document reports on trends in the well-being of our nation's children and youth. The report presents the most recent and reliable estimates on more than 90 indicators of well-being. It...

DOES ACCESS TO WOMEN'S HEALTH SERVICES MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN PREGNANCY OUTCOMES?
March 1, 2001... The question of how access to services affects health outcomes is critical for policy makers allocating resources across different programs, but it is difficult to answer with cross-sectional data sets. This (RAND Corp.) study uses data from a...

UNIFORM LABELING OF BLOOD AND BLOOD COMPONENTS: GUIDANCE FOR INDUSTRY.
March 1, 2001... This (FDA) document has the following Table of Contents: Introduction; Background; FDA Review and Conclusions; Reporting Requirements for Licensed Establishments; Summary; and Supplementary Information. (Order this LIFE SCIENCES &...

CERVICAL SPINAL MOTION DURING INTUBATION.
March 1, 2001... This (University of Iowa) report concerns cervical spine motion during intubation. The study uses 10 fresh human cadavers that are intubated, while recording cervical motion using a cinefluoroscopic technique. Segmental cervical motion from...

HELPING ADOLESCENTS RESIST DRUGS.
March 1, 2001... This (RAND Corp.) paper addresses "Project ALERT," which departs boldly from drug-prevention models of the 196Os and 197Os, which emphasized informing adolescents about the long-term consequences of drug use or building their decision-making...

RELATIONSHIP OF PSYCHOSOCIAL VARIABLES IN HIGH SCHOOL TO ALCOHOL USE DURING THE TRANSITION TO YOUNG ADULTHOOD.
March 1, 2001... This (Pennsylvania State University) study examines the relationships between psychosocial indicators during adolescence, alcohol use during adolescence, and alcohol use trajectories during the transition into early adulthood. Previous...

THE PROBLEMS OF DRUG DEPENDENCE.
March 1, 2001... This extensive (College on Problems of Drug Dependence) document contains the proceedings of a scientific meeting focusing on drug dependence problems (1999, Acapulco, Mexico). The following depicts a partial contents of the publication:...

DRUG ABUSE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL TRENDS.
March 1, 2001... This (National Institute on Drug Abuse) document contains the proceedings of a meeting on epidemiological trends in drug abuse (1999, Vancouver, B.C., Canada). During the meeting, 21 presentations were made on the current drug trends and...

THE COST OF CANCER CLINICAL-TRIAL RESEARCH TREATMENT STUDIES.
March 1, 2001... This (RAND Corp.) study concerns the cost of cancer treatment studies. Clinical cancer trials are supported by a combination of research sponsors, institutions, and third-party payers. However, it is unclear what additional costs, if any, are...

CANCER VACCINES CONFERENCE.
March 1, 2001... This translation from Italy (Istituto Superiore di Sanita) summarizes a conference on cancer vaccines (1999, Rome, Italy). The conference was organized with the objectives of dedicating special attention to the recent developments of research...

PRODUCTION OF ANTIBODIES FOR CRANIOFACIAL GENES RELEVANT TO EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT, ANOMALIES, AND ORAL CANCER.
March 1, 2001... This (University of Pennsylvania) research and development has produced a series of antibodies to craniofacial genes potentially relevant to embryonic development, anomalies, and oral cancer, including interesting novel genes. It also...

A NEW CLASS OF TRANSITION-STATE ANALOG INHIBITORS FOR SERINE AND CYSTEINE ARE BEING USED AS ANTICANCER AGENTS.
March 1, 2001... This (Brown University) report describes efforts to develop a new class of competitive inhibitors for serine and cysteine proteases. These compounds are potential anticancer agents that would act by inhibiting metastasis and angiogenesis. The...

INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF PROSTATE CANCER PATIENT OUTCOMES AND CHOICE OF PROVIDERS.
March 1, 2001... This (RAND Corp.) report addresses the development of an infrastructure for quality assessment of prostate cancer patient outcomes and choice of providers. Prostate cancer is the most common solid malignancy diagnosed in American men. More...

PROSTATE CANCER AND LIFESTYLE PRACTICES AMONG AFRICAN- AMERICAN MEN.
March 1, 2001... This (Oakwood College) report looks at prostate cancer and lifestyle practices among African-American men. African-Americans (A-A) have the highest rates of prostate cancer in the world. The incidence of prostate cancer for A-A is 37% higher...

TRACKING PROSTATE CARCINOMA WITH HISTOCHEMICAL MARKER GENES.
March 1, 2001... This (Case Western Reserve University) project examines mechanisms by which human prostate carcinoma (PCA) cells undergo metastasis in an athymic nude mouse (male) model system, since little attention has been devoted to these events for PCA....

BREAST AND CERVICAL CANCER COMMUNITY PROGRAMS: OUTREACH; SCREENING; FOLLOW-UP CARE.
March 1, 2001... This (National Cancer Institute) guide is designed to help concerned citizens and health care groups, in communities across the country, to reduce illness and death from breast and cervical cancers, by helping them achieve three goals: (1)...

BREAST CANCER SUPPRESSOR GENES.
March 1, 2001... This (Georgetown University) research has cloned several tumor suppressor genes (TSGs), and finds them to be mutated in a variety of cancers, including breast cancer. The objectives of the research are to: (1) clone novel TSGs specific to...

HIGH-SENSITIVITY HIGH-RESOLUTION DIGITAL X-RAY IMAGER FOR MAMMOGRAPHY.
March 1, 2001... This (Sensors Plus Inc.) report concerns the development of a digital x-ray imager with a full-size (8 inch x 10 inch) screen and high resolution (40 microns). By applying current engineering devices and practices, a low-cost and low-noise...

HER4 TYROSINE KINASE IN BREAST CANCER: ACTIONS AND SUBSTRATES.
March 1, 2001... This (University of North Carolina) report discusses progress made in developing methods and cell lines to study the potentially unique role of HER4 in breast cell differentiation. The developed reagents will help elucidate the potential...

TAXOL AND LPS MODULATION OF C-KIT AND nm23 EXPRESSION IN MACROPHAGES AND IN NORMAL VERSUS MALIGNANT BREAST CANCER CELLS.
March 1, 2001... Apart from its well-characterized anti-mitotic effects, Taxol shares with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) the capacity to elicit microtubule-independent intracellular signaling in murine macrophages, leading to expression of many genes....

ROLE OF HUMAN DNA POLYMERASE AND ITS ACCESSORY PROTEINS IN BREAST CANCER.
March 1, 2001... The mechanism for genetic errors and genomic instability in breast cancer cells has not been fully delineated. Defects in DNA polymerase delta, and its accessory proteins, could contribute to the molecular etiology of breast cancer. DNA...

ROLE OF THE NOVEL NUCLEAR TYROSINE KINASE, RAK, IN THE BIOLOGY OF BREAST CANCER.
March 1, 2001... This (University of North Carolina) research has the objectives to evaluate Rak mRNA expression in both tumor tissue and breast cancer cells, and determine whether inhibiting RAK is a feasible approach to breast cancer therapy. To accomplish...

POTENTIAL ROLE OF THE TUMOR SUPPRESSOR, ADENOMATOUS POLYPOSIS COLI, IN THE POLARIZATION OF BREAST EPITHELIAL CELLS.
March 1, 2001... Recent evidence suggests that the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene participates in breast tumorigenesis. A direct correlation has been shown between the loss of adherens junction components, and the metastatic potential of breast cancer....

ENDOTHELIUM-PRESERVING MICROWAVE TREATMENT FOR ATHEROSCLEROSIS.
March 1, 2001... This government-owned patent (NASA), available for licensing, describes a method and apparatus to treat atherosclerosis, when the artery is partially closed, by dilating the artery, while preserving the vital and sensitive endothelial layer....

BUTYRYICHOLINESTERASE GENETIC VARIANTS IN PERSONS WITH GULF WAR ILLNESS.
March 1, 2001... This (University of Nebraska) work addresses the question of whether veterans with Gulf War Illness have a higher frequency of butyryicholinesterase (BChE) genetic variants. BChE is of interest because BChE protects against the toxic effects...

ADENOVIRUS INFECTION AND ACUTE RESPIRATORY DISEASE AMONG U.S. ARMY BASIC TRAINEES IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
March 1, 2001... This (Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine) report details an investigation of acute respiratory disease (ARD) and adenovirus infections conducted among non-immunized basic trainees (involving three basic combat training...

FEDERAL AND STATE FUNDING TO ADDRESS HARMFUL INVASIVE SPECIES.
March 1, 2001... This (GAO) report to Congress addresses harmful invasive species -- harmful nonnative plants, animals, and microorganisms -- that pose a serious threat to U.S. agriculture and the environment, with estimated damages exceeding billions of...

THE ORIGIN OF CELLULAR LIFE, INVOLVING MEMBRANE-BASED FUNCTIONS.
March 1, 2001... This (NASA) report has the objective to help explain how the earliest ancestors of contemporary cells (protocells) performed their essential functions, employing only the molecules available in the protobiological milieu. The hypothesis is...

ROLE OF NEURONAL APOPTOSIS IN PYRIDOSTIGMINE-INDUCED NEURODEGENERATION.
March 1, 2001... This (Purdue Research Foundation) report addresses the role of neuronal apoptosis in pyridostigmine-induced neurodegeneration. Pyridostigmine causes apoptotic cell destruction in rat brain. The study reveals mechanisms by which pyridostigmine...

DEVELOPMENT OF MINIMALLY-INVASIVE ENDOSCOPIC SIMULATOR TECHNOLOGY.
March 1, 2001... This (HT Medical Inc.) research develops minimally- invasive procedural-simulation technologies that are broadly applicable to the improvement of medical training. The specific application chosen for this research is the simulation of...

PROFILE OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
March 1, 2001... This (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) (NIAID) document presents a profile of the NIAID, which conducts and supports scientific research on infectious and immunologic diseases. The goals of the research are to delineate...