The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, April 23, 2002, Image 6

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    2002 Schulenburg Festival
Aug. 2,3,4
Friday Performers
Roger Creager & Pat Green
Saturday Performers
Bleu Edmonson & Kevin Fowler
Sunday Performers
The Original Triumphs
For Times & Tickets visit our website
www.schulenburgfestival.org v
Sci Tech
THE BATTALION
1 uesday, Apr
OFF CAAAPUS
‘last meeting of the year*
You won't want to miss out on:
Cookout <& Aggie style
Olympics w/prizes!
At Spence Park
(Behind Koldus)
Tues. April 23, 2002 7pm
Even if you haven t been out to much this year or
you have been at almost every thing...come have
some fun with us!
Oca.tamu.edu Koldus 137 845-0688
Matters of the heart
Heart mechanics researched hy biomedical engint
By Jesse Stephenson
THE BATTALION
When it comes to matters of the heart, a
Texas A&M professor is taking a different
approach to understanding how the muscle
works.
Dr. John C. Criscione, assistant professor
of the biomedical engineering program,
researches heart problems such as conges
tive heart failure using an engineering
method.
“Biomedical engineering is the applica
tion of engineering principles to medicine,"
Criscione said. “Its an engineering
approach to a medical program.”
Criscione said biomedical engineering is
a new field and at the forefront of engineer
ing. At Texas A&M, it is a division of the
industrial engineering department, but soon
it will be operating on its own.
Criscione’s area of specialty is conges
tive heart failure, a disease that affects five
million Americans.
“Congestive heart failure is when the
heart grows and remodels in a bad way.
Heart attack is one of the primary causes of
congestive heart failure,” Criscione said.
In medical jargon, growing is the act of
adding mass and remodeling is redistribut
ing that mass. “The coronary arteries get
blocked, then the tissue downstream dies
because of a lack of oxygen, and it kills part
of the heart wall and a heart attack ensues,”
Criscione said. “When a part of the heart
■wall dies, it puts too much stress on the rest
of the heart.”
Criscione*s research already has made
some interesting findings. One example is
the differences of the inner and outer walls
of the heart.
“In a normal heart, the inner wall is not
like the outer wall,” Criscione said. "In the
case of congestive heart failure the inner and
outer walls ltx>k the same, and they tend to
look like the outer wall of a normal heart."
While the research is promising,
Criscione said science is only beginning to
understand how the heart works.
“We are very behind on the physiology of
the heart, most breakthroughs have been by
trial and error.” he said.
Biomedical
engineering is the
application of
mgineering principles
to medicine. ”
CKiVj
Criscione’s research will takes
He expects to be busy with resear. |
next 10 years.
“Within 15-20 years we should^.!
implement some treatments," he aii
Criscione describes the presenJ
second wave of bio-engineering."
computers are driving this secor |
Part of his work deals with difficti!'
matics called non-linear partialdi
equations. Computers are used top
these tricky problems which alio*
lists to conduct research muchfasr
years past.
Attention Seniors
Graduating in August or December 2002
English 210 & 301 (Technical Writing)
Force Dates
Summer I, II and Fall
Wed.. May 1 . Thurs., May 2. and Thurs.. May 31
9:00 am - 11:00 a.m.
Summer I, II and Fall
Mon., lune 3
9:00 am - 11:00 a.m.
Summer II and Fall
9:00 am - 11:00 a.m.
Fall only
Mon,, September 2
9:00 am - 11:00 a.m.
1. Make sure you have the correct prerequisite (English 104 or
equivalent).
2. Come to Blocker 224 during the force dates and times listed
above.
3. Bring a letter on departmental stationary from your academic
advisor stating that you are graduating in the semester for which
you are registering.
• No forces will be done during pre-registration or after Sept 2.
• You must come in during these dates.
• Although forcing will occur on the first morning of each
Summer and Fall session, no forces will be given for a distance
course beginning that day.
• You may incur a late registration fee if you register on the first
day of classes.
If you can't make these dates, send a representative with your letter
and a list of preferred times.
]
J Forcing Information Line: 862-7724
i Web site: www-english.tamu.edu/wprograms/forcing.html
Living organ donor numbers on the ris
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Organ donations
For the first time, organ donations
from the living last year
surpassed donations from those
who had died. There were 6,485
living donors in 2001, 92 percent
of whom donated a kidney.
Cadaveric ■■ Living
7,000
’97 ’98 ’99 2000 2001
SOURCE: United Network for Organ
Sharing
AP
WASHINGTON (AP)
— For the first time,
organ donations from the
living reached a record
high last year, outnumber
ing donors who are dead.
With waiting lists grow
ing. more than 6.400 peo
ple gave away a kidney or
a piece of their liver.
For more than a decade,
the numbers of organs
donated by the living have
been growing more quickly
than those given after death
as desperate patients have
turned increasingly to fam
ilies or friends.
In 2001, the number of
living donors jumped by
13.4 percent, on top of a
16.5 percent increase a
year earlier, the govern
ment said Monday. By
contrast, donations from
dead people inched up by
just 1.6 percent.
Surgeons across the
country routinely suggest
now that patients look for
donors rather than rely on a
growing waiting list.
In the past, a patient fac
ing a wait of a year or two
for a kidney would resist
asking family or friends for
fear of putting them
through a painful proce
dure with medical risk, said
Dr. Jeffrey Punch, a kidney
surgeon and chief of the
University of Michigan
Medical Center's transplant
division.
“Now that they're think
ing about five or six years,
they’re more willing to
accept it." he said.
Rick Palank decided to
donate a kidney after hear
ing about his boss' deterio
rating health. He said his
boss never suggested it, but
after hearing that no one in
the family was a match,
Palank volunteered, even
though the two are not par
ticularly close or friendly
outside the office.
“1 was sitting there
thinking, v Wow, this guy
looks terrible. I've had per
fect health, and this guy's
had all these probi:
should help him.
Palank. 55, of St
who donated a kifc |
month and was onto
hospital a day later.
"He's a very nia.|
good human beins.
added. “That pro' '
something to dowiit]
Last year, there i
6,081 donor cadaver^
can give several or® j
dead people stil Y
about three outof:'i|
four transplants.
They now ate t
be red by living AW-
2001. there were a re J
6,485.
Public canl
encouraging org an
tion all revolve an
cadaveric donors, f
aging people to
family about the ^
before someone »
year ago. Health
Human Services Seen
Tommy Thomf:
launched an effort to
with employers. Hep
the effort again Mon®)
We’re not like every
other high-tech company
We’re hiring.
l r.MZS'T I
loin Th* Come One! Coue^l! Co* j
— Starting Times- I
roes wed Thur-Sot ^
6:45 6:45 8 9:00 |
EXPERIENCE THE
THRILL OF WlNNlM %
LARGE NO* SMOKING^,
c School | CathotOu**
No one told you the hardest part of being an engineer would be finding
your first job. Of course, it s still possible to get the high-tech work
you want by joining the U.S. Air Force. You can leverage your degree
immediately and get hands-on experience with some of the most
sophisticated technology on earth.To find out how to get your career off
the ground, call 1-800-423-USAF or visit our Web site at airforce.eom.
U.S. AIR FORGE
The EnglishT^ 5 '
& Literary Soc' et ' |
presents
Open
Poetry Nif
II
Thursday-
2002
April 25"
7:00
IVisc Visual A rb
Gallery