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National: San
Francisco crash shows 'what if' in tankers-as-weapons By
ANNA BADKHEN - In the aftermath of a fiery gasoline truck accident
that destroyed key ramps on a San Francisco highway, security
analysts and truck drivers are weighing the scope of damage a
deliberate terrorist attack using tankers could cause U.S. metropolises
and highways.
Security experts said the crash
- and the costly repairs - demonstrated how easy it would be
for terrorists to disrupt normal life in major U.S. cities.
"It's very difficult now
to purchase explosives ... but it's not that hard to steal a
truck full of gasoline, and you can do quite a bit of damage,"
said Christopher Falkenberg, a former Secret Service agent who
is now the president of Insite Security, a consulting firm in
New York. "You don't need access to sophisticated explosives
to have a big impact." - More...
Wednesday - May 02, 2007
National: A
note of caution about dog vaccines By SUSAN BANKS - The mammoth
recall of pet food that grabbed headlines over the past month
after contaminated batches were linked to at least 16 pet deaths
has put a new spotlight on proper handling of pet products and
care issues.
But there's another area that
has gotten little attention but could also pose a risk to dogs,
especially those among the smaller breeds.
It involves vaccines and how
often they should be given.
According to major veterinary
schools and the American Animal Hospital Association, most major
canine vaccines should be given once every three years - not
annually. In fact, for some smaller breeds - pugs, Yorkies, French
bulls, Maltese and Pekinese - the yearly vaccines can lead to
sometimes lethal complications.
While most vet schools and
national veterinary societies endorse the three-year regimen
for distemper, parvovirus, parainfluenza and adenovirus 2 vaccines,
it's hard to find veterinarians who aren't pushing annual shots
for these diseases.
An informal phone poll of more
than 15 animal hospitals in the Pittsburgh area found only one,
Point Breeze Animal Clinic, that was giving shots at three-year
intervals.
"Are we vaccinating too
much? The answer is yes, we are," says Dr. Lawrence Gerson,
who runs the Point Breeze practice. - More...
Wednesday - May 02, 2007
Health - Fitness: With
a flood of imports, food safety is in doubt By DEB KOLLARS,
JIM DOWNING and DORSEY GRIFFITH - With food coming in from all
corners of the earth, the simple act of eating in America has
become not just an exercise in the delicious, but also the awe-inspiring:
Peaches in the dead of winter.
Golden curries from Asia. Cookies that stay fresh for months.
Powders that turn a morning smoothie into fuel for a marathoner.
But the global dinner plate
also comes with dangers, as has been painfully demonstrated in
the recent scare from melamine in pet food that wound up in the
human food chain.
"This whole debacle where
you've got a plastic getting into a food supply shines a huge
spotlight on a broken, broken system," said Elisa Odabashian,
the West Coast director of Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher
of Consumer Reports.
According to consumer and food
safety experts, a vast array of foods and ingredients pours into
the United States every year with little or no scrutiny.
In the past, grapes from Chile,
raspberries from Guatemala and onions from Mexico have sickened
consumers or even led to their deaths.
In recent days consumers learned
that pet food contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine
had been fed to hogs destined for market, some of which were
consumed.
Although no one has reported
becoming ill from eating the pork, the incident has pushed worries
over imported foods and ingredients to a new level. - More...
Wednesday - May 02, 2007
Health - Fitness: New
developments in the fight against fat By LEE BOWMAN - American
scientists working with mice are successfully experimenting with
drugs that trick cells into burning fat.
And elsewhere on the weight
front, British researchers are hoping to develop infant-food
supplements that might protect babies from becoming obese later
on.
In a study presented Monday
in Washington during a conference on experimental biology, researchers
from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif.,
reported that in adult mice, a drug designed to mimic fat can
switch on the master hormone regulator of cells' ability to burn
fat.
Even when the mice are not
active, the drug switches on the same fat-burning process that
occurs during exercise. The resulting shift in energy balance
makes the mice less likely to gain weight, even when on a high-fat
diet.
The lead author of the study,
Dr. Ronald Evans, had discovered the gene that turns on the master
fat regulator, called PPAR-d, several years ago and bred so-called
"marathon" mice that had their energy-burning switch
permanently turned on, making them leaner and having more endurance.
Since such genetic engineering
is not possible in adults, Evans' new focus is on finding a way
to turn the switch on late in life.
He envisions a one-a-day pill
that could set cellular fat burners on high. - More...
Wednesday - May 02, 2007
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