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A.
Researchers Link Sleep Apnea to Brain Damage
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Sleep apnea, which is a stoppage
of breathing during sleep, has long been attributed
to a narrowed airway caused by enlarged tonsils,
a small jaw or obesity. But UCLA scientists have
recently linked obstructive sleep apnea to brain
damage in areas that regulate breathing and speech.
Ronald Harper, a professor of neurobiology, led
the study.
Harper:
Using magnetic resonance imaging procedures, we
examined the structure of the brain in various locations
and found that certain areas were smaller in affected
patients. Some of these areas were concerned with
control of the airway muscles and control of other
muscles and particular control of expression of
speech.
Narrator:
The
researchers then serendipitously discovered that nearly
forty percent of the patients in their study also
stuttered from early childhood.
Harper:
The evidence that a speech impediment appears
to be associated, with obstructive sleep apnea suggests
that perhaps the brain area's contributing to the
onset of the syndrome.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
A Computer Simulation Program Successfully Used for
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A complex, computer coded simulation
program, originally developed by scientists at the
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, was used to
develop tactics to take tanks into downtown Baghdad
during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Bob Greenwalt is deputy
director of the Lab's Joint Conflict and Tactical
Simulation project, or JCATS.
Greenwalt:
We developed the simulation here
- we don't use it, but we get a lot of feedback from
our field users and we received an E-mail from the
training site in Europe and they were very excited
about it because apparently in January, the First
Armored Division in Germany was asked to develop the
tactics for moving heavy armor into a large urban
place like Baghdad. And they did that and they used
JCATS as the tool to try out ideas - see what worked,
what didn't work and to refine their tactics.
Narrator:
The scenario was then used in Kuwait to
train the Third Armored Division and the Marines before
the war started.
Greenwalt:
That's the reason we do this kind of job here. The
Lab works in support of national problems and that's
a problem that we think we solved.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
What Women Should Know about Hormone Replacement Therapy
(HRT)
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Many women suffering from
menopause are prescribed hormone replacement therapy
to treat their symptoms. But recent, major studies
found that hormone replacement therapies increase
the risk for breast cancer, heart disease, stroke
and blood clots. Joanne Ikeda, a nutritionist at the
University of California, Berkeley says many women
are now turning to alternative therapies, including
a diet rich in phytoestrogens found in soy products.
Ikeda:There
is some research to show that soy-based foods can
relieve mild menopausal symptoms. However, it really
won't impact if you're having major menopausal symptoms.
Narrator:
Ikeda says the best bet is to speak to your doctor
about hormone replacement therapy.
Ikeda:
Your physician can help you - perhaps can lower the
doses, change the type, but physicians are concerned,
they're aware of this new research information.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
Researchers Challenge the Use of Ethanol as a Gasoline
Additive
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Researchers at the University
of California, Berkeley, are challenging America's
current position on the use of ethanol as a gasoline
additive. Derived from corn, ethanol use is set to
double to 5 billion gallons a year by 2012. Geoengineer
Tad Patzek, who led the study, argues the costs of
transporting ethanol are too high.
Patzek:
The United States has a spider web of pipelines. In
fact, most people don't know that we have literally
thousands of hundreds of miles of pipelines. But these
pipelines are not designed to transport ethanol.
Narrator:
Patzek says
currently most pipeline companies refuse to transport
ethanol because it is highly corrosive and can damage
the seals in the pipelines. So, ethanol would have
to travel from the Midwest in a costly combination
including barges through the Gulf of Mexico and tankers
through the Panama Canal.
Patzek:
And of
course, transporting such huge quantities of highly
flammable, dangerous fuel entails its own problems.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
A Microchip that May Accelerate the Process of Drug
Discovery
Narrator:
This is Science Today. There's a microchip being developed
at the University of California, Berkeley that could
accelerate the process of drug discovery. Mechanical
engineer Yong Huang says traditionally scientists
developing drugs use a test that can only tell if
a toxin kills a cell, but with this new chip, scientists
will be able to understand the dying process of a
cell much more dynamically-and hopefully discover
drugs faster.
Huang:
The nice thing about our technology is that it
tells you what happened with the cell membrane while
cell is dying.
Narrator:
This new wealth of information about the process of
cell death should speed up drug discovery and toxin
detection.
Huang:I
believe that with this technology what we can do is
study how the cells responded to different agents,
drugs or toxins. And to build kind of like an information
library which can also be used for drug discovery
and also for toxic detection.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
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