Word: beta
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...noticed how pale the students are, they must be studying a lot," poet Charles Simic said yesterday prior to reading a poem he wrote in honor of the newly elected members of Phi Beta Kappa...
...other things. After a few puffs, the level of nicotine in the blood skyrockets, the heart beats faster and blood pressure increases. Result: smokers become more alert and may actually even think faster. In addition, nicotine may produce a calming effect by triggering the release of natural opiates called beta-endorphins. Thus a smoker literally commands two states of mind -- alertness and relaxation...
...attempt to find a more selective treatment for Type 1 diabetes, researchers are trying to figure out exactly why the immune system attacks the beta cells. Last October a Stanford University team discovered errant forms of a gene that controls the development and growth of the culprit T cells. The team's conjecture: in Type 1 diabetics, this gene produces a protein badge that differs slightly from the norm in structure, causing the immune system to attack the beta cells. Eventually, the group hopes to find a way to neutralize the harmful effects of the molecule and thus eliminate...
Some of the most promising new therapies arising from recent research involve the chemical signals, or lymphokines, that regulate the immune system. These extraordinary proteins have a bewildering array of names and functions. There are, for instance, three types of interferon -- alpha, beta and gamma. Alpha alone comes in more than a dozen varieties. Interleukins are similarly prolific. "We are already up to interleukin-7 and interleukin-8," says Immunologist Lloyd Old, of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, "and one can expect that we will go on from there." Scientists have so far discovered at least five...
...California, are considering legislation. U.S. Food and Drug Administration safety standards, which include warnings to wear goggles and limit exposure, are patchily enforced. Most sun- lamp worshipers assume they are protected because the type of radiation produced in most tanning machines is largely UVA (alpha) light instead of UVB (beta) light, which quickly reddens fair skin. Although alpha rays do not appear to burn, says Dr. Michael Franzblau, president of the Congress of California Dermatological Societies, "they're even more dangerous because of the damage they cause to underlying tissue." UVA, he explains, can cause allergic reactions in people...