New York, NY (December 2, 2002) -- A widely available dietary supplement, coenzyme Q10, has shown promising results in a clinical trial involving 80 patients with early Parkinson's disease, according to a recent article in the "Archives of Neurology." In the trial--a multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, and dosage-ranging trial--coenzyme Q10 was shown to be safe, well-tolerated, and significantly effective in slowing the progression of the neurological disorder. And it was clearly dose-dependent - that is, the larger the dose, the greater its effect."Our results are so encouraging that we have to emphasize that they still have to be confirmed by a Phase III clinical trial with a larger group of patients," said Dr. Flint Beal, Chairman of the Department of Neurology and Neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College and one of the authors of the article. He and his colleagues caution that the findings may not extend to patients with later stages of Parkinson's or to patients who are at risk but have not been diagnosed with the disorder. Furthermore, if too many people now buy coenzyme Q10 on their own, there may not be enough subjects for a rigorous Phase III trial.
Ever since the German doctor Alois Alzheimer gave his name to the dementia suffered by many of the aging, nearly a century ago, it has been known that the brains of these patients show an accumulation of plaques.
A new strategy to genetically engineer rice and other crops to make them more tolerant of drought, salt and temperature stresses, while improving their yields, is being reported by molecular biologists at Cornell.
New York, NY (November 22, 2002) -- An innovative and sophisticated computer simulation model can help public health officials and emergency planners to prepare a public health response in case of bioterrorist attack, a study by scientists in the Department of Public Health at Weill Cornell Medical College has demonstrated. The simulation model, which predicts staffing requirements for antibiotic or vaccine dispensing centers, should help remedy a potential gap in current local, state, and national bioterrorism preparedness.The study, authored by Dr. Nathaniel Hupert, Dr. Alvin I. Mushlin and Dr. Mark A. Callahan, first appeared in the current issue of the journal "Medical Decision Making."
Testing for chronic wasting disease in tissues from deer and elk has begun in a specially outfitted facility in the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory at the College of Veterinary Medicine. The tests are part of a nationwide surveillance effort by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to track the spread of the nervous system disease, which has infected deer and elk in several states but has yet to reach New York state.
As pollution, terrorism, hunger, cruelty and poverty continue to challenge our world, a new initiative at Cornell offers a simple strategy to buoy the spirit of the campus and simultaneously to foster change in a troubled world.
Wilfried Brutsaert, the W.L. Lewis Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, has been named winner of two major awards for his decades-long research into the Earth's resources, both in atmospheric sciences and hydrology. Most recently he has been selected to receive the 2003 Jule G. Charney Award from the American Meteorological Society (AMS). The award recognizes "highly signiÞcant research or development achievement in the atmospheric or hydrologic sciences." (November 22, 2002)
Which is a better choice -- the external job candidate who scored exceptionally high on an interview or the internal candidate who has an above-average, but not exceptional, past-performance record? While it may be tempting to hire the freshest face with the glowing interview, the best choice, time and again, is the above-average employee in the organization who has consistently been rated well in the past, according to a new study by a Cornell University researcher and his colleagues. The researchers provide estimates of the strength of the relationship between past and future performance that supervisors can use in the hiring process. (November 21, 2002)
New York, NY (November 21, 2002) -- More than 60-million Americans suffer from allergies, and as many as 40 million suffer from airborne allergies. Yet, despite their prevalence and the ever-increasing numbers of allergy sufferers, there is still widespread misunderstanding about allergies. Now, a new book by a leading Weill Cornell allergist clears the air about allergies and distinguishes the fact from the fiction.The book, entitled "What's In the Air? The Complete Guide to Seasonal and Year-Round Airborne Allergies," is authored by Dr. Gillian Shepherd, Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, and Marian Betancourt. It is available in paperback and published by Pocket Books.
Engineer and physicist Harold Craighead of Cornell University has been awarded $750,000 by a New York state research agency to develop a chip-based analytical system for rapid analysis of chemical and biological compounds. Craighead, the C.W. Lake Jr. Professor of Engineering and professor of applied and engineering physics at Cornell, received the award through the New York State OfÞce of Science, Technology and Academic Research's (NYSTAR) Faculty Development Program. The funds are designed to assist universities in the recruitment and retention of leading research faculty in science and technology Þelds with strong commercial potential. (November 20, 2002)
The Hon. Art Eggleton, a member of the Parliament of Canada, will visit Cornell University Friday, Nov. 22, to give a talk on "Canada-U.S. Relations in the Post-9/11 Era." The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be in the Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall from 2:30 to 4 p.m. (November 20, 2002)
A four-year, $650,000 Research Scholar Grant from the American Cancer Society (ACS) will help Cornell University biologist W. Lee Kraus, assistant professor of molecular biology and genetics, and his laboratory group learn more about how the hormone estrogen regulates the growth of cells in the human body -- including cells that develop into breast cancers. Kraus credits a graduate student in his Cornell laboratory, Mi Young Kim, with the discovery of two enzymes that apparently act on the hormone-binding proteins that bind estrogens inside cells. The Cornell researchers now hope to learn how these estrogen receptor-modifying enzymes, called an acetylase and a deacetylase, alternately add or remove acetyl groups at the receptor. They also hope to learn what effect these modifications have on the activity of the receptors in normal and cancerous human mammary cells. (November 19, 2002)
