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Feb. 7, 2006
Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina
people and programs cited recently in the media:International Coverage
Drug combination prevents HIV infection in monkeys
Reuters (United Kingdom)
An injection of two drugs normally used to treat HIV patients completely protected monkeys from becoming infected with the AIDS virus, U.S. researchers reported on Monday. ...Dr. Myron Cohen of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said the study suggested that people who know they are at high risk of infection might be able someday to protect themselves by taking a pill. "Adolescent women in South Africa go from having a 10 percent risk of HIV infection to a 30 percent risk in a matter of two years," said Cohen, who was not involved in the study. "This is a big epidemic that is not going away."
Poor suffer from lack of recreation sites
United Press International
A U.S. study says poor people are more likely to be overweight than the rich because they don't have access to recreational facilities. In their study of some 20,000 U.S. teenagers, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill explored whether resources available for physical activity were distributed relatively equally across all segments of the population. "We expected to find that private, fee facilities would be more common in more affluent areas, but the extent and magnitude of the lack of access in poorer communities was very surprising," said Dr. Penny Gordon-Larsen, assistant professor of nutrition.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb06/pediatricspg020106.htmSynthetic Heparin may replace current drug
United Press International
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill scientists have found a new way to make the anti-blood clotting drug Heparin. ...Rensselaer and UNC-Chapel Hill researchers successfully synthesized large quantities of heparin by developing a process involving engineered enzymes and co-factor recycling. The new, scalable process can be applied to synthesize other heparin-based structures that regulate cell growth and may have applications in wound healing or cancer treatment, according to the researchers.
Regional Coverage
RPI aids blood-clot prevention
The Albany Times-Union
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered an alternative way to produce heparin, a drug commonly used to stop or prevent blood from clotting, RPI announced Monday. ...The breakthrough at RPI, along with work at UNC Chapel Hill, allowed researchers to synthesize hundreds of milligrams of the drug by developing a large-scale process. The researchers are working to increase the production a millionfold to make it commercially viable.
State & Local Coverage
14 named to Carolina North panel
The Chapel Hill Herald
The university already has named 14 people to its new Carolina North planning committee, and they range from UNC faculty members to state officials. Ken Broun, a UNC law professor, said Monday that Chancellor James Moeser asked several of the members to serve on the committee and that Broun asked the others.
Related Link: http://www.newsobserver.com/114/story/397277.htmlLosing their religion? Not really
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
With the world of young consumers what it is today -- violent video games, nakedness on the Internet and booty shakin' on MTV -- a reasonable adult could assume that this generation of teens has strayed from religion. Not necessarily, according to research into the relationship between young people and faith. Based at UNC-Chapel Hill, the National Study of Youth and Religion has spent the past several years collecting and interpreting data on teens. What did the researchers learn? That teens follow the adults in their lives.
What's next? (Question-answer)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Sen. Arlen Specter said the committee would hold at least two more hearings in the coming weeks; they may include Gonzales. Specter also has invited former Attorney General John Ashcroft to testify. ..."We presume the president's primary job is to enforce the laws Congress passes, but here the president is arguing his authority is not limited to that. The fact that politics plays a role doesn't mean that the law is irrelevant. I'm still working out what to tell the class. Michael Gerhardt, who teaches constitutional law at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Work for real change and perception will follow (Opinion-editorial column)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
On a January day in Chapel Hill this week, the sun was bright and unseasonably warm, coaxing cherry trees into early blossom. At a roundtable discussion for North Carolina journalists, the dean of UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School was waxing rhapsodic about the weather and the Tar Heel state. "Where do people want to live?" asked Dean Steve Jones, and, answering his own question, gestured toward the window. "It’s what, Jan. 30? You don’t even need a coat on outside."
Produced by News Services, Carolina in the News is an e-mail sampling of current news media coverage about Carolina people and programs, as well as issues and trends that affect the university. Stories usually will be online and available free for a limited time - often one to two weeks. Expiration dates before stories move to archives vary by media outlet. Some outlets require free user registration or a subscription.
Carolina in the News is also posted daily to the News Services Web page, http://www.unc.edu/news/clips/index.shtml.
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