SAMPLES
HEALTH & MEDICINE
Adjuvant chemoradiation therapy including interferon-alpha and gemcitabine produced modest improvements in overall survival in pancreatic adenocarcinoma relative to conventional treatments, according to research presented at the 60th annual meeting of the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO).
However, the regimen was about as toxic as other chemoradiation therapies....
Doctor's Guide (website), March 19, 2007.
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When the first "super aspirin" drugs came on the market in the late 1990s, they were hailed as breakthroughs. Clinical studies suggested the agents --
Celebrex, Vioxx, Bextra -- were as effective as aspirin, ibuprofen and similar over-the-counter drugs, but with much less likelihood of causing stomach
ulcers. The drugs looked like a godsend for people with arthritis and other chronically painful conditions....
Morgantown (W.V.) Dominion Post, Oct. 31, 2004.
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"Keep going, Bernie, the cat'll move."
Bernard Minor hesitates in his living room doorway, a fluffy white cat sprawled lazily at his feet. Diane Kenney, a physical therapist, is urging him to walk into the room.
Minor eyes the cat for a long moment, then takes a small step. The cat scurries off, and, with increasing confidence, Minor moves into the living room.
It's a small victory, but for Minor, 71, who is coping with the effects of several strokes, it's significant and rewarding....
Morgantown (W.V.) Dominion Post, Nov. 20, 2003.
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Patients presenting with pneumonia -- or what appears to be pneumonia -- are among the most common serious situations in most hospital. According to Sharon Ngan, M.D., pulmonary and critical care resident at New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y., "The number of patients hospitalized with CAP [community-acquired pneumonia] is higher than myocardial infarction [or] stroke." But data presented by Ngan at CHEST 2006, the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, indicates that CAP may be overdiagnosed at hospital admission.
Among those patients correctly diagnosed, blood testing for C-reactive protein (CRP) may help direct patients -- especially those with the severest illness -- to the most effective treatment....
Conference Perspectives, Nov. 2006.
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HIV is thought to have originally been a simian virus that acquired the ability, and the opportunity, to infect humans, but exactly how isn't completely known. Now, scientists have witnessed another primate retrovirus make the jump. It may help researchers understand the process better, but it's also a warning against the dangers of frequent close contact between wild simians and humans, especially in Asia.
The virus is simian foamy virus (SFV), which infects macaques and other small primates in Asia....
Biotechnology News, August 11, 2005.
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SCIENCE
Here's something you might see on a future episode of "CSI," the hit TV series celebrating forensic science. Researchers at West Virginia University
(WVU) (Morgantown, WV) have discovered that RNA analysis could potentially be used to determine the age of biological samples at crime scenes....
Diagnostics Intelligence, January 2005.
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The Pentagon doesn't like soldiers. Not for combat, anyway.
True, throughout history, humans have done all the fighting, and the military continues to rely on young men and women to put themselves in harm's way. But with that comes casualties. Generals and admirals -- not to mention the folks at home -- hate casualties.
A solution is at hand, thanks to technologies that have begun to offer ways for the military to do its job without endangering its own people....
Morgantown (W.V.) Dominion Post, Sept. 12, 2004.
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This year marks the centennial of one of the most important events in U.S. history, one that literally transformed the face of the nation. It is likely to pass unremarked except by a few dedicated individuals. There will be no speeches, film festivals or museum shows to commemorate the event.
It was in 1904 that the American chestnut blight first turned up on our shores....
Morgantown (W.V.) Dominion Post, Oct. 24, 2004.
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BUSINESS
Light snow was falling as Bill King welcomed a visitor to his Preston County farm. A thermometer read 25 degrees.
"I don't like it this cold," he said.
Not what you'd expect from a man who's been farming Christmas trees for more than 60 years....
Morgantown (W.V.) Dominion Post, Dec. 14, 2003.
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Six years ago, Morgantown's Wharf District was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The goal was to encourage rehabilitation of the area's old warehouses and homes, thanks to federal tax incentives available to buildings within districts listed in the National Register.
The historic status is now threatened, say local and state historic preservation officials, as one of the district's major warehouse buildings has since
been razed and another is now facing demolition....
Morgantown (W.V.) Dominion Post, Sept. 12, 2004.
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If you've ever had a gravel driveway, you know that taking care of it is constant work. Ruts need to be smoothed and weeds pulled. Washouts after heavy rains must be repaired.
Now imagine that your driveway is 43 miles long, and you can't afford to hire help. Then you might understand why Anita Mayer sounds concerned, even desperate.
Mayer is president of the Monongahela River Trails Conservancy, which led the development of the popular rail-trails along the Mon River and
Decker's Creek....
Morgantown (W.V.) Dominion Post, Dec. 19, 2004.
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PEOPLE
Dave Crawford had the rest of his life mapped out in the summer of 2004. Crawford is an underground coal miner, the iconic job in West Virginia. Then 47 years old, he figured he could take retirement in eight more years. By then he'd have enough time in unionized jobs to be eligible for a full pension and comprehensive health benefits under the United Mine Workers of America contract. He figured he'd play some golf and do some traveling.
Crawford was working in the Cannelton mine outside Smithers, W.Va., about 30 miles east of Charleston, the state's capital and largest city. He'd worked in the region's mines for more than 25 years. Cannelton's owner, Horizon Natural Resources, had financial problems (it had been in and out of bankruptcy), but the mine was one of the most productive in the nation and Crawford felt secure.
He wasn't. That summer, Horizon closed the mine....
Ignatian Imprints, Winter 2007.
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An ironclad rule in running for statewide office is that a candidate must spend X amount of time each day raising funds.
"There's nobody like the candidate to ask for money," said Kris Warner, the state Republican Party chairman. For [gubernatorial candidate Monty Warner], however, X is frequently zero.
"Monty won't do it," Kris Warner said. "He will not put anybody on the spot." ...
Morgantown (W.V.) Dominion Post, Oct. 29, 2004.
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Alfred Haunold told his bosses in Corvallis that he wanted to retire this year, and beer brewers around the world started to get nervous.
Haunold, you see, is the only full-time breeder of hops in North America and is probably the world's leading developer of new hop varieties.
He is almost single-handedly responsible for putting the Pacific Northwest on a par with Germany in hops production during the past 30 years....
Eugene Weekly, July 27, 1995.
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It's a truism that performing artists can't make a living at it, especially when they're young. Enough so that the classic taunt hurled at a less-than-stellar performer is, "Don't quit your day job!"
For Rachel Eddy, who plays and teaches traditional Appalachian and Celtic music, there is no day job except with fingers on strings....
Morgantown (W.V.) Dominion Post, Feb. 20, 2005.
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Born 45 years ago in Cincinnati, [David] Miller moved to Eugene in 1979 and worked for seven years at odd jobs. He mopped floors at Fred Meyer. He pumped gas. He sold flowers and herbal flea collars at Saturday Market. He served lemonade from a cart owned by Jan Tritten.
In 1986, Tritten made a seemingly idle remark to Miller that has now landed him in the Oregon Supreme Court.
"She told me I knew so many jokes I should write joke books," Miller says.
Publishing under the pen name Frog and selling his badly edited, crudely printed books on the sidewalk from a bulging Register-Guard delivery bag,
Miller has become a Eugene icon....
Eugene (Ore.) Weekly, July 11, 1993.
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