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A.
Working to Prevent Recurring Breast Cancer
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Nutrition has been long known
to influence the risk of primary breast cancer.
But researchers at the University of California,
San Diego are now looking into how nutrition may
prevent the recurrence of breast cancer. Cheryl
Rock, a member of UCSD Cancer Center, is leading
the Women's Healthy Eating and Living study.
Rock: One of the most important aspects of
this study that's not typically done in these types
of large studies is that we're actually collecting
blood samples from women at the beginning and at
specific intervals during the time that they're
involved in the study, which is a long time - the
average woman in this study will be in it for six
years.
Narrator: These blood samples would contain
biomarkers - such as the cancer- protective carotenoids
derived from fruits and vegetables - to monitor
how well a woman is following and handling a prescribed
diet regimen.
Rock:And then later, when we're at the point
of seeing who gets a recurrence and who doesn't,
we might actually be able to identify markers that
could be later measured.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa
Branin.
B.
The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on the Brain
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Sleep deprivation is a common
occurrence in today's busy society. But just how does
a lack of sleep affect the brain? Researchers at the
University of California, San Diego are using a technique
called functional resonance imaging, to find out.
Dr. Greg Brown, a professor of psychiatry, who conducted
the experiments, says there were some surprising findings.
Brown: We found that all regions in the anterior
portion of the brain were that active when subjects
were well-rested, remain active when they were sleep
deprived and some additional areas of the anterior
brain region also became active with memorizing.
Narrator: Although sleep deprivation has many
adverse effects, these findings suggest the brain
has an adaptive resource that kicks in during times
of stress - such as lack of sleep.
Brown:
The ultimate goal would be to understand the limits
of this adaption. And the conditions under which adaption
can occur to sleep deprivation and the conditions
under which limits to that adaption can occur.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
Understanding Environmental Cues in Drug Addiction
Narrator: This is Science Today. By blocking
access to nerves in part of the brain involved with
learning, researchers discovered they can prevent
an early stage of alcohol addiction. Rosana Camarini,
of the University of California, San Francisco, is
interested in seeing if this blocking agent is critical
to an important form of learning called Pavlovian
conditioning, which associates environmental cues
with responsive behavior.
Camarini: There are several models of drug
dependence that emphasize the role of Pavlovian conditioning
in the development of drug addiction. Basically, you
associate the drug with some environment cues. Then,
when you paired the environment cues with the drug
use, this environment stimuli can become a conditioned
stimuli that illicit compensatory response - as craving,
for example.
Narrator: The goal is to find a drug that can
interrupt all aspects of addiction.
Camarini: Not only the first stage, but withdrawals
and the relapse.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
.
D.
Better Education Recommended for Nursing Home Staff
Narrator:
This is Science Today. According to national statistics,
nursing homes on average are understaffed - putting
residents at greater risk of health problems and even
death. Charlotte Harrington, a professor of social
and behavioral sciences at the University of California,
San Francisco, says adding to this problem is the
greater lack of education among nursing home staff
members.
Harrington: We recommended that the directors
of nursing need to have at least a bachelor's degree
and preferably a master's degree in gerintological
nursing. And then we recommended a part-time nursing
assistant director and a part-time director of in-service
education, that's an RN, and a full-time, 24-hour
a day RN staff.
Narrator: Harrington surveyed a national panel
of experts to come up with recommendations to improve
staffing and quality of care.
Harrington: Not only people would feel better
and have less problems, but there also might be some
savings that would be achieved because you would have
fewer people going to the hospital.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
A Big Leap in Cleaning up Superfund Sites
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Chemists at the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory have proven that removing underground
contaminants by heating and steam-cleaning the soil,
is more efficient than the conventional pump and treat
systems. Chemist Roger Aines and his colleagues had
phenomenal results at a Superfund site in California.
Aines:
It's an old pole treating yard in which they dipped
telephone poles in creosote and the creosote got into
the groundwater. In twenty years of this pump and
treat, they've been averaging about ten pounds of
creosote a week removed.
Narrator: The steam method removed six hundred
thousand pounds of creosote in less than a year. That's
several thousand times more than before.
Aines: They estimated that it was going to
take one hundred twenty years to clean that site.
Now using steam, they estimate they'll be done in
less than five years and that includes a lot of just
watching it after you're done to make sure that you
really did finish.
Narrator: Aines says the steam method is just
starting to take hold and already has great public
acceptance. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
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