Word: normalities
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Such star stalkers are only just beginning to be understood. Most people are attracted by celebrities' aura of glamour, power and wealth, but normal fans know their fantasies are bounded by reality. Obsessed fans do not. Typically they are young, between 20 and 34, and emotionally unbalanced. Unable to forge relationships with the real people in their lives, they imagine intimacy with a public figure. Actors, singers, athletes, politicians -- any will serve their needs...
Another question is why the Coast Guard did not monitor the Valdez after it veered outside normal shipping lanes. Following the last radio transmission by Hazelwood, the Coast Guard did not communicate with the Valdez until after the grounding, nearly an hour later. Nor did it track the tanker by radar. The Coast Guard has cited possible weather conditions, poor equipment and the change-of-shift preoccupations of a watchman to explain why the ship was not picked up on radar. More important, although seamen insist they rely heavily on Coast Guard monitoring in the entire sound, Coast Guard officials...
Even so, the evidence that electric currents can be damaging is far from conclusive, scientists agree. Some epidemiological studies indicate a higher than normal incidence of cancer, including leukemia and brain tumors, among children and adults living or working close to power lines. A study in California found that pregnant women who worked on video-display terminals for 20 hours or more a week had twice the risk of miscarrying as other clerical workers. Such findings are suggestive, but the researchers admit that their work does not establish a direct cause-effect relationship...
Laboratory experiments have shown that electric and magnetic fields can exert an influence on biological processes. Cells naturally maintain an electric charge across their membranes that is essential to the normal functioning of human tissues. In cell cultures, exposure to electromagnetic fields can affect the flow of chemicals across membranes, interfere with synthesis of genetic material, alter the activity of hormones and other chemicals, and change the behavior of cancer cells. Studies with mice show disruptions in eating, breathing and sleeping patterns. An experiment with human volunteers who were exposed to electromagnetic fields found they experienced a reduced heart rate...
...studies so far have merely raised more questions. For example, How exactly do electromagnetic fields produce the alterations in cells? Are the changes temporary or permanent? Do they reflect normal adjustment or a harmful effect? Equally mystifying is what kind of exposure might constitute a danger. Is five minutes in a high-intensity field worse than 24 hours in a weak field? Says Imre Gyuk, manager of the electromagnetic program at the Department of Energy: "We don't at present have a scientific basis for regulatory action...