October 1990

For funding to keep pace with the field's progress, researchers work to keep the public aware of their discipline's achievements When the Society for Neuroscience meets this week in St. Louis, the group's 18,000 members will have their first opportunity to reflect on the first year of the Decade of the Brain, a designation given the 1990s by Congress and President Bush in recognition of the need to better understand mental and neurological disorders. About 50 million people in the United Stat

WASHINGTON--Walter Massey, poised to become the next director of the National Science Foundation, has succeeded in a series of tough jobs with an approach built on quiet attention to details and a commitment to reaching a consensus before taking action. It's a style of leadership that differs sharply from the outspoken and authoritarian method of Erich Bloch, whose six-year term ended August 31. And it's one that many scientists who know Massey say will serve him well as the foundation tries to

Postdocs fresh from academia looking to biotechnology this spring are in for a big letdown. While postdocs once were the bread and butter of a fledgling industry, the years of their being snapped up out of school have given way to their becoming an afterthought as the field shifts its focus from innovation to commercialization of existing products under development. The recruitment focus of these companies now centers on experienced bachelor's and master's degree holders and specialized Ph.D.'s

WASHINGTON--A new report from the Institute of Medicine on how to fund health sciences research doesn't take the easy way out by asking the United States government for more money. But what it does recommend--that the government redistribute existing funds by shifting some money from research grants into training the next generation of scientists and improving research facilities--seems likely to aggravate rather than end the heated debate about how to allocate scarce federal resources. The me

NEW CAUCUS IS NOT QUITE ONE FOR ALL Author: Jeffrey Mervis WASHINGTON--The latest battlefield in the ongoing war over priorities within the biomedical research community is the congressional Biomedical Research Caucus. The caucus, which has signed up 18 members of Congress as of the first of October, made its debut earlier this month at an afternoon symposium and reception on Capitol Hill that featured Harold Varmus, a microbiologist at the University of California, San Francisco

TUCSON, Ariz.--Seven years ago, Charles Sterling came to the University of Arizona determined to find a new line of research. At the time Sterling, who was an expert in malaria from Wayne State University in Detroit, had grown tired of what he called the "nasty" world of big-time malaria research funding, a world rife with political infighting and fierce competition among scientists. So, at Arizona, he turned his attention to an obscure, little-studied relative of the malaria parasite, a protoz

U.S. AGENCIES TO PLAN BRAIN RESEARCH AGENDA Author: Elizabeth Pennisi (The Scientist, Vol:4, #21, pg. 8, October 29, 1990) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) -------- While the neuroscience community mobilizes and plans its Decade of the Brain campaign, those involved in brain research within the federal government are doing a bit of housekeeping themselves. The executive branch's Office of Science and Technology Policy has set up a Subcommittee on Brain and Behavioral Sciences u

WHAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SPENDS ON NEUROSCIENCE (The Scientist, Vol:4, #21, pg. 8, October 29, 1990) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) -------- (ANNUAL SUPPORT IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS) NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke 490.0 National Institute on Aging 92.0 National Eye Institute 80.0* National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders 59.0 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development 58.5 National I

Increased awareness and larger donations are drops in the bucket compared with the amount of federal dollars needed When President Bush signed a congressional resolution officially proclaiming the 1990s as the Decade of the Brain, a cry of triumph rose from patient advocacy groups across the country. Many of the roughly 70 voluntary organizations that represent victims of neurological and mental disorders--a number of whom raise money for research in basic neuroscience as well as for the study

As the process of political decentralization accelerates in the Soviet Union, it is being matched by the decentralization of the country's massive science bureaucracy. The Ukrainian Scientific Association, founded in Kiev in June, is among the latest independent scientific organizations springing up throughout the USSR that are seeking direct contacts with foreign institutions. These organizations hope scientists from the United States will help them take quick advantage of perestroika and gla

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ... (The Scientist, Vol:4, #21, pg.12, October 29, 1990) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) ---------- Following is information on how to contact some of the organizations mentioned in the two stories on the Decade of the Brain in this issue. The groups listed here represent only a few of the scores of voluntary health agencies devoted to the study of neurological disorders. National Alliance for the Mentally Ill 2101 Wilson Blvd, Suite 302 Arlington, Va.

Department of Computer Science University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pa. Mobile robots in the workplace must select collision-free paths in real time, in environments that are constantly changing. A new algorithm is proposed that is based on representing obstacles in a quadtree, from data, for example, from a ceiling camera. Experimental results show faster calculations of collision-free paths than conventional algorithms. H. Noborio, N. Tomohide, S. Arimoto, "A quadtree-based path-planning alg

Institute of Materials Science University of Connecticut Storrs In chemical vapor deposition (CVD), one of the goals is to deposit inorganic materials or metals at low substrate temperatures. To deposit metals, an organometallic precursor is often used. It has recently been shown that thermolysis of (trialkylphosphine) cyclopentadienylcopper(I) into a heated substrate will result in deposition of high-purity copper metal. The surface products of the decomposition reaction are free alkyl phosph

Department of Chemistry University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pa. Hindered organoaluminum Lewis acids are able to distinguish between structurally similar ethers based on small differences in the size of the ether substituents. Complexation chromatography allows the efficient separation of a mixture of two very closely related ethers based on their differing affinities for a supported aluminum complex. K. Maruoka, S. Nagahara, H. Yamamoto, "Molecular recognition of ethers with modified organoa

To be effective as a control measure, the culling of a pest must exceed its capacity to regenerate. In North Australia, where feral donkeys are a serious pest of rangelands, a culling policy is being applied. Population studies have shown that 23 percent of the donkeys need to be removed each year to control density. Also, this figure must be exceeded if the population is to be reduced. D. Choquenot, "Rate of increase for populations of feral donkeys in northern Australia," Journal of Mammalog

Department of Microbiology & Immunology University of Illinois Chicago Perhaps most of us (who live into our late 80s) will show symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. There is evidence of a familial propensity, so it is important to understand the genetic control and, through that, eventually the disease's biochemical basis. Lod ("log of the odds") scores range from significant to not significant (or back!). The results from 48 family lineages gathered by this group of 35 listed authors (plus an ad

(The Scientist, Vol:4, #21, pg. 24, October 29, 1990) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) -------- Hubble Trouble Aside, Fellowships Offered Now in its second year, the Hubble Fellowship Program encourages young scientists to do independent research in observational or theoretical astronomy related to the Hubble Space Telescope mission. The program is offered through the Space Telescope Science Center and supported by NASA. Up to 15 scientists will be appointed based on the quality of the propos

The Bower Award for Achievement in Science, the United States' richest prize for science, was presented to Paul C. Lauterbur on September 18 by the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Lauterbur, a professor of medical information science, chemistry, biophysics, and bioengineering at the Center for Advanced Study of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was recognized for his leadership in developing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the human body. The international award, establis

Nominations are now being accepted for the Chevron Conservation Awards, the oldest privately sponsored program of its kind in the United States. The $1,000 awards will recognize 10 professionals, 10 citizen volunteers, and five nonprofit organizations working to enhance U.S. air, water, land, and wildlife resources. The awards, to be presented in May, include a bronze plaque and a trip to Washington, D.C., for the presentation. The awards are important because "they attempt to recognize people

The Frye test, named after a defendant in a 1923 murder case, is the oldest and most popular test used to determine when scientific evidence can be used in court. Using the test, courts admit scientific evidence based on a novel scientific technique only when the technique has gained general acceptance in the relevant scientific field. For example, testimony based on a certain scientific principle is not admissible simply because one expert vouches for the principle. It is not even enough that

Let's give the animal rights movement due credit. Its highly visible efforts have contributed to a number of positive changes in the laboratory use of animals for purposes of assessing the safety and efficacy of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and other products: The housing and care of lab animals have improved greatly. The total number of animals used has declined drastically during the past several years. Today, in universities and industrial laboratories, committees vigilantly oversee the anima

Barbara Stocker is a librarian, Tom Monahan and Mary Boguslaski are patent attorneys, and Randy McBeath is a marketer. Randy Atkins produces television features, and Elizabeth Culotta writes for a newspaper. Ken Freese searches out commercial applications of research at a government laboratory, while Tom Walsh plays a similar role at a university. Yet all have a common background: They were trained as scientists, some with many years of experience as bench researchers or instructors. By applyin

MOST CITED SCIENTISTS: RESEARCHERS RANKED 401-450 FOR THE PERIODS 1965-78 AND 1973-84 (The Scientist, Vol:4, #21, pg. 22, October 29, 1990) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) -------- CITATIONS NAME FIELD 1965-78 401. GORBACH S.L. Microbiology 3,460 402. FELDMAN G.J. Physics 3,452 403. HEEGER A.J. Physics 3,451 404. FORSHAM P.H. Endocrinology 3,450 405. OWMAN C.S.O. Histology 3,449 406. HILLEMAN M.R. Virology 3,448 407. LEHNINGER A.L. Biochemistry 3,447 408. NAJARIAN J.S. Surgery

While many who have left science have taken jobs that keep them in contact with the research community, others have divorced themselves completely from science. And that's the way they prefer it, they say. "I quit, cold-turkey," says Bud Grace, who has a Ph.D. in atomic physics from Florida State University and now draws a nationally syndicated comic strip, "Ernie." After getting his doctorate in 1971, Grace took research and teaching appointments at the University of Georgia and then back at

Colleen Buggs longed to pursue a career in biomedical research. But Buggs, a black woman, noted how few minorities had appointments on medical school faculties and wondered if it would be more prudent to steer away from academic medicine. During Buggs's first year at Harvard Medical School, however, she met a faculty member whose very presence exemplified what Buggs herself was capable of achieving. Maria Alexander-Bridges, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard--and a black woman--had gra

Ophthalmologist and epidemiologist Alfred Sommer has been appointed dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. His new position began on September 1. Sommer is recognized for his research showing that even small, inexpensive doses of vitamin A can save children's lives. This discovery came in 1983, while Sommer was working in Indonesia and other developing countries, using vitamin A to prevent blindness in malnourished children. "[I] quite accidentally recognize

Below is a list of notable grants recently awarded in the sciences--federal grants as well as awards from private foundations. The individual cited is the project's principal investigator. BIOTECHNOLOGY For training of graduate students in biochemistry and molecular biology. $50,000 from Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, Calif., to University of California, Santa Barbara; L. Wilson. ECOLOGY/ENVIRONMENT For grants related to research in the Great Lakes, especially projects involving toxic substance

Stanley Pine, a professor of chemistry at California State University, Los Angeles, has dedicated a large part of his professional life to chemical safety. At its recent fall meeting, the American Chemical Society honored Pine with its Chemical Health and Safety award. Pine attributes his interest in safety to his experiences as a chemist in industry prior to beginning his graduate education. "In many respects," he says, "I was stimulated 30 years ago when I worked for Union Carbide, which had

Neuroscientists are entering the federally designated "Decade of the Brain" armed with a toolbox bulging with new instruments and techniques. Many have been borrowed from other disciplines; others have been specifically designed to probe the secrets of the nervous system. The variety of tools available reflects the diversity of the researchers who consider themselves neuroscientists. "Neuroscience represents a fusion of several scientific disciplines--biophysics, biochemistry, physiology, anat

Lending Nature A hand Car Wash Helps NCAR NASA Creates Astrophysics Network UC Regents Press Ahead on DOE Ties The Boston-based family of mutual funds, Fidelity Investments, has teamed up with the Smithsonian Institution to offer its investors the chance to make charitable contributions to support conservation efforts in Latin American rain forests. The project is based on the "debt-for-nature" swaps pioneered by biologist Thomas Lovejoy, assistant secretary for external affairs at the