NASA schedules new launch dates
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., June 15 (UPI) -- Space shuttle Endeavour's next launch attempt has been set for 5:40 a.m. EDT Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
As a result of the shuttle re-scheduling, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite will lift off together Thursday aboard an Atlas V rocket Thursday. NASA officials say they have three launch windows that day at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida: 5:12 p.m., 5:22 p.m. and 5:32 p.m. EDT.
Endeavour's originally scheduled Saturday launch date was postponed because of a leak in its gaseous hydrogen venting system that carries excess hydrogen safely away from the launch pad.
Endeavour's 16-day STS-127 mission to the International Space Station will feature five spacewalks to complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is to embark on a one-year exploration mission at a polar orbit of about 31 miles, NASA said, which is the closest any spacecraft has orbited the moon. The orbiter's primary objective is to prepare for future explorations of the moon.
The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite will search for water ice on the moon by sending the spent upper-stage Centaur rocket into a polar crater. The spacecraft will fly into the plume of dust left by the impact and measure its properties before also colliding with the lunar surface.
Cardiac problems and ADHD drugs linked
WASHINGTON, June 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says there may be a link between the use of ADHD drugs and sudden cardiac death in healthy children.
The federal agency said the possible connection between attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder medications and children's cardiac problems was found during a study that was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. But, the FDA said that because of the study's limitations, parents should not stop a child's stimulant medication, but should discuss the situation with the prescribing healthcare professional.
The FDA said it "can not conclude that the data in the study affect the overall risk-benefit profile of stimulant medications used to treat ADHD in children."
"The FDA continues to review drug safety information for stimulant medications used to treat ADHD so that we can give health care professionals and families the most up-to-date drug safety information available," said Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
Additional information about the study is available at:
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/DrugSafetyInformationforHeathcareProfessionals/ucm165858.htm.
Light-emitting transistor sets record
CHAMPAIGN, Ill., June 15 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have constructed a light-emitting transistor that has set a record for a signal-processing modulation speed.
University of Illinois researchers said they achieved a speed of 4.3 gigahertz, breaking the previous record of 1.7 gigahertz held by a light-emitting diode.
Then by internally connecting the base and collector of a light-emitting transistor, they also created a new form of light-emitting diode, which modulates up to 7 gigahertz -- breaking the speed record once again.
The university and licensee Quantum Electro Opto Systems in Melaka, Malaysia, reported the fabrication and testing of the new high-speed light-emitting transistor and the new "tilted-charge" light-emitting diode.
"Simple in design and construction, the tilted-charge light-emitting diode offers an attractive alternative for use in high-speed signal processing, optical communication systems and integrated optoelectronics," said Professor Nick Holonyak Jr., who invented the first practical visible light-emitting diode more than 40 years a ago.
Quantum Electro Opto Systems is a company formed by Gabriel Walter, chief executive officer of the company, Professor Milton Feng and Holonyak to commercialize the light-emitting transistor and tilted-charge light-emitting diode technology.
The research that included graduate students Chao-Hsin Wu and Han Wui Then appears in the journal Applied Physics Letters.
FDA asks for warning on some asthma drugs
WASHINGTON, June 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has asked manufacturers to include a precaution in the labeling of some asthma drugs called leukotriene modifiers.
The federal agency said the labeling should advise patients that some neuropsychiatric events have been reported by people taking montelukast (Singulair), zafirlukast (Accolate) and zileuton (Zyflo and Zyflo CR).
"Leukotrienes are chemicals the body releases in response to an inflammatory stimulus, such as when a person breathes in an allergen," the FDA said in a statement. "Montelukast and zafirlukast are leukotriene receptor antagonists that work by blocking leukotrienes. Zileuton is a leukotriene synthesis inhibitor, which works by stopping the formation of certain substances that cause swelling, tightening and mucus production in the airways."
The FDA said reported neuropsychiatric events include agitation, aggression, anxiousness, dream abnormalities, hallucinations, depression, insomnia, irritability, restlessness, suicidal thinking and behavior -- including suicide -- and tremors.
