March 1997

Sidebars: National Institutes of Health : Summary of Appropriations Research and Development Intestments Federal science and technology agencies are holding their own in President Clinton's recently proposed fiscal year 1998 budget, which allocates $75.5 billion-a 2.2 percent increase-to government-sponsored R&D. The National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation are slated to receive modest overall increases, approximately 2.6 percent and 3 percent, respectively. As the

Sidebar : Asthma Products - Delivering the Dosage Asthma Products - More Information CHEMICAL BLOCKER: Accolate was the first new asthma drug approved by FDA since the 1970s. New research is breathing life into the asthma drug market. Inspired by improving knowledge of asthma's biochemistry, more than 40 companies worldwide are investigating drugs to control the disease. This effort translates into new opportunities for creative chemists and biologists. For 25 years, a handful of drug firms,

The current sociopolitical climate in the United States affects funding and the ability to draw new investigators into the field, scientists contend. It seems as if one aspect of reproduction research or another is perpetually making headlines. In the most recent example, reports of cloned animals touched off a firestorm of debate on human cloning. Some researchers and ethicists contend that the field's notoriety comes from its connection with abortion-rights issues, an association that has st

Editor's Note: On the preceding page, Eugene Garfield pays tribute to information science pioneer Calvin N. Mooers, who died in December 1994 and who was memorialized at last October's annual meeting of the American Society for Information Science. Here The Scientist presents a classic article by Mooers, originally delivered as part of a panel discussion in 1959 and republished last year in the Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science as a prelude to the October meeting. Some c

By Eric Albert Email: ealbert@world.std.com ACROSS 1 Phylum that contains radiolarlans and heliozoans 6 It's synthesized in the nucleolus: abbr. 9 Organism's capacity to withstand toxic substances. 10 Seasoning rated 2.5 on Mohs scale 12 It includes the upper but not the lower jaw 13 Interrelated community ofplants, animals, and bacteria 14 Type of chemical bond 16 American chemist who won a 1979 Nobel Prize 19 Orbit of equal-energy electrons 20 It's about 98% iron and 2% carbon 23 Noncyclic a

Institute, Center, or DivisionFY1997FY1998 Estimate National Cancer Institute $2,156,416 $2,217,482 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Inst. 1,370,952 1,404,770 National Institute of Dental Research 182,893 190,081 National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases 802,889 821,164 National Insitute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke 701,582 722,712 National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases 608,950 634,272 National Institute of General Medical Sciences 970,749 9

Asthma - FOR FURTHER INFORMATION Date: March 17, 1997 Abbott Laboratories Inc. http://www.abbott.com Arris Pharmaceutical Corp. http://www.arris.com Boehringer Ingelheim http://199.79.148.67 Sequana Therapeutics http://www.sequana.com 3M Pharmaceuticals http://www.3M.com Zeneca Pharmaceuticals http://www.zeneca.com The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program's recently released "Guidelines for the Diagnoses and Management of Asthma" can be accessed on the Intern

For more than 30 years, asthmatics have walked around with portable inhalers in their pockets. Taking a puff of medication from an inhaler, patients can stifle an asthma attack. If they inhale medicine daily, they may even prevent asthma attacks entirely. But there's a problem. Studies suggest that many asthma patients use inhalers incorrectly and end up with less medicine than they need. They might inhale their medication too quickly, for example. In many cases, asthma patients end up swallow

By Eric Albert Email: ealbert@world.std.com ACROSS 1 Phylum that contains radiolarlans and heliozoans 6 It's synthesized in the nucleolus: abbr. 9 Organism's capacity to withstand toxic substances. 10 Seasoning rated 2.5 on Mohs scale 12 It includes the upper but not the lower jaw 13 Interrelated community ofplants, animals, and bacteria 14 Type of chemical bond 16 American chemist who won a 1979 Nobel Prize 19 Orbit of equal-energy electrons 20 It's about 98% iron and 2% carbon 23 Noncyclic a

For the record, Robert Finn's story on a faculty lawsuit at the University of Southern California (USC)(The Scientist, Feb. 3, 1997, page 1) contains an aside that is in error: It notes that "USC was placed under AAUP [American Association of University Professors] censure in 1996 for an unrelated case involving denial of tenure to an assistant professor of sociology." The case did not involve a tenure decision. It involved a probationary junior faculty member whose annual contract was not ren

As a scientist, past editor, member of editorial boards, and occasional published poet, I found the article on scientific writing timely and to the point, although not surprising (K.S. Brown, The Scientist, Jan. 20, 1997, page 16). The chastening of scientists as members of C.P. Snow's "other culture" is a popular pastime, but editors and publishers bear a share of the blame for substandard scientific writing. I have commented here (E.D. Kilbourne, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Soc

Excessive use of abbreviations is decried both in an article (K.S. Brown, The Scientist, Jan. 20, 1997, page 16) and in a subsequent letter to the editor (S.A. Lederman, The Scientist, Feb. 17, 1997, page 13). All the problems mentioned for abbreviations apply equally well to the use of names of people in articles. Generally, that is not an issue in research reports, but it is a major problem in news and commentary. Such articles commonly refer to several different individuals, and each person

I heartily agreed with the opinions voiced in "Scientific Journal Editors Say Polished Prose Clarifies Research" (K.S. Brown, The Scientist, Jan. 20, 1997, page 16) that careful writing enhances understanding of an article's scientific content. However, missing from all the other useful advice was one tip: namely, to seek out the services of a medical editor. So-called author's editors (who assist authors by preparing manuscripts before submission to journals) work in many medical schools and c

Sidebar: National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) - For More Information ALL FOR ONE: "Our unifying theme is human development in all its aspects," explains NICHD director Duane Alexander. Since its founding nearly 35 years ago, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has undertaken an unusually broad mission. Rather than focus on a single disease, organ system, or stage of life, as do most other institutes of the National Institutes of Heal

National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) - For More Information Date: March 17, 1997 National Institute on Child Health and Human Development P.O. Box 29111 Washington, D.C. 20040 (301) 496-5133 Fax: (301) 496-7101 http://www. nichd.nih.gov For information on the more than 100 scientific and medical societies and health advocacy groups connected with NICHD research, contact Friends of the NICHD, a coalition that lobbies for the institute's goals: Friends

Edited by: Karen Young Kreeger N. Funayama, F. Fagotto, P. McCrea, B.M. Gumbiner, "Embryonic axis induction by the armadillo repeat domain of b-catenin: Evidence for intracellular signaling," Journal of Cell Biology, 128:959-68, 1995. (Cited in more than 60 publications as of February 1997) Comments by Barry Gumbiner, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center DOUBLE ROLE: Sloan-Kettering's Barry Gumbiner and colleagues found that beta-catenin plays a role in signal transduction, as well as cell

AUTHORSHIP ISSUES: Washington University's Fredrick Sweet says papers often cause conflicts. All professional situations involving people working together have the potential to foster conflict, but laboratory environments can present unique sources of tension, scientists report. The collaborative nature of the work can lead to clashes over authorship of papers, conflict-of-interest questions, and struggles between junior and senior researchers, both within and outside the lab. When allowed to

Refrigeration has long been a critical component of myriad clinical and biological research applications. Nowhere is the need for precision refrigeration and freezing in greater demand than in laboratories that handle blood, blood products, DNA, enzymes, and tissue samples, and in those involved in human reproductive technology. CRYOGENIC FREEZER: Revco Scientific’s Ultra-Low freezer can chill to -86°C While the use of refrigeration is common in laboratories, increasingly sophistic

Concerns over governance have nixed a merger between New York's Mount Sinai and New York University medical centers. The proposed venture, announced in June (M.E. Watanabe, The Scientist, Aug. 19, 1996, page 1), would have united the hospitals and medical schools of the two institutions. But according to a report in the February 15 New York Times (E.B. Fein, page 25), the deal fell through because Mount Sinai and NYU could not agree on who would control the combined medical school. Sources told

The third sentence in the last paragraph of the article "Our Radiation Protection Policy Is A Hazard To Public Health" (T. Rockwell, The Scientist, March 3, 1997, page 9) should have read: "There is no legitimacy in predicting deaths at radiation levels far below where any actual health effects are observed." A photo of Theodore Rockwell accompanying the article should have been credited to photographer G.F. Stork. [corrected in Web version stored here]

The conservation of biodiversity is a universally applauded good, bringing to mind the aesthetic values of elegant felines and brilliantly plumaged birds. The rain forest and other plants have also been the source of many important pharmaceuticals, which can be assessed for their economic and health-giving powers. We need but mention familiar examples like quinine and aspirin (and we cannot ignore morphine and cocaine-albeit opium poppies and coca bushes are in no danger of extinction). We shou

     A Tribute To Calvin N. Mooers, A Pioneer Of Information Retrieval Author: Eugene Garfield The Scientist, Vol: 11(4)March 17, 1997         Last October at its annual meeting in Baltimore, the American Society for Information Science presented a session entitled "History of Information Science: Reminiscences and Assessments." Part of the session memorialized Calvin N. Mooers, a pioneer of information science who passed away in December 1994. Mooers