Discovery launch: No earlier than Sunday
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., March 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says space shuttle Discovery's launch to the International Space Station is tentatively targeted for Sunday evening.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials postponed Wednesday's planned liftoff due to a leak in a hydrogen venting system outside the rocket's external fuel tank. The system is used to carry excess hydrogen safely away from the launch pad.
Sunday's launch would be at 7:43 p.m. EDT but NASA said the exact launch date is dependent on the work necessary to repair the problem.
Discovery's 14-day STS-119 flight will deliver the space station's fourth and final set of solar array wings that provide electricity to power science experiments and will support the station's expansion to six crew members in May. STS-19 will also include replacement of a failed unit that converts urine to potable water. Four spacewalks are planned, NASA said.
Estrogen aids preterm-birth lung function
DALLAS, March 12 (UPI) -- A U.S. study of primates suggests estrogen might become a new postnatal therapy to improve lung function and other outcomes in preterm infants.
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Professor Philip Shaul, the study's senior author, said the research was conducted at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research Primate Center in San Antonio.
"Ironically, a hormone that has received great attention as a potential means to optimize the health of older women may be a beneficial treatment for humans during the earliest stages of life," said Shaul. The research was part of an investigation into the causes and treatments for bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a primary complication of premature birth that develops in the preterm lung following ventilation and oxygen support.
Shaul and his colleagues found administering estrogen to premature primates accomplished several things, including creating a greater abundance of nitric oxide synthases in their lungs, resulting in markedly enhanced lung function, and a significantly reduced need for ventilation support.
That, said Shaul, represents an important step in lessening the lung injury that causes BPD in humans and also prevent slow blood pressure, which is a common problem in preterm infants.
The study is detailed in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Road paint reflectivity is studied
RALEIGH, N.C., March 12 (UPI) -- A U.S. study suggests painted road markings such as lines separating lanes of traffic reflect headlights better in the direction the paint was applied.
"In other words the paint reflects more light if you are following the painting truck than if you are driving from the other direction," said the study co-author, North Carolina State University Professor Joe Hummer.
Hummer, who conducted the research with Professor William Rasdorf and graduate student Guanghua Zhang, said the findings could help state transportation departments better predict how long painted markings will perform properly. If a state can repaint road markings every three years instead of every two, it will save a lot of money, he said.
Hummer said the difference in reflectivity occurs because glass beads are scattered onto freshly painted traffic markings to make them reflective. Since the painting truck is moving, the beads tend to bounce and roll before coming to rest.
"The beads skid and build up paint on one side," Hummer said "Therefore, they are less reflective in that direction."
The research was published in the journal Public Works Management & Policy.
Hyperbaric treatment effective for autism
MELBOURNE, Fla., March 12 (UPI) -- A U.S. controlled trial of hyperbaric treatments for children with autism has determined such treatments can improve the patients' conditions.
Hyperbaric therapy traditionally involves inhaling up to 100 percent oxygen at a pressure greater than 1 atmosphere in a pressurized chamber. In the first randomized, controlled, double-blind multi-center trial, Dr. Dan Rossignol of the International Child Development Resource Center and colleagues from six U.S. centers, studied 62 children ages 2-7 years to assess the efficacy of hyperbaric treatment for children with autism.
The children were randomly assigned to either 40 hours of hyperbaric treatment or slightly pressurized room air.
The study determined children with autism in the treatment group had significant improvements in overall functioning, receptive language, social interaction, eye contact and sensory/cognitive awareness compared with children in the non-treatment group.
The research, the first controlled trial to report such clinical improvements, appears in the journal BMC Pediatrics.
