Discusses major uses of rats as experimental animals for studying health concerns, pointing out that their size, gestation, and histocompatibility make them useful in various studies. Topic areas addressed include aging, autoimmune disease, genetics, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, infection, reproduction, and behavior. (DH)

Discusses recent advances in the understanding of the photoreceptor function. Phototransduction, photoreceptor syncitium, and the signal at the synapse are among the topic areas addressed. (DH)

Traces the history of the antivivisection movement, examining issues related to the use of animals in studying the cause of rabies. Also discusses issues related to the current controversy over animal experimentation. (JN)

Masturbation, once thought evil and the cause of many diseases, has been proven medically not to cause mental illness, physical weakness, or any type of disease or death; it is a normal aspect of human sexual development. (SK)

Describes research which indicates that children delivered via the Leboyer method have been observed to possess higher development quotients, walk earlier, and have less difficulty during the first month of life. The Leboyer theory of tactile stimulation of children by mothers is also discussed. (SL)

Recently medium-sized computers have begun to play an important role in scientific research involving small groups of investigators, especially in the health sciences. Discusses computer applications in some of the projects at the National Institutes of Health, and applications in the fields of medicine and mental health. (JR)

Thyroid abnormalities were studies in seven boys and three girls, 4- to 17-years-old, with Noonan's syndrome, characterized by mental retardation, ocular anomalies (wide spaced eyes, drooped eye lids, or strabismus), heart lesions, characteristics of Turner's syndrome, and normal karyotypes (chromosome arrangement). (MC)

Evaluated by radiography was tongue size relative to the mouth cavity in eight children from 5 to 15 years of age with Down's syndrome. (DB)

Serum immunoglobulin E was measured by double antibody radioimmunoassay in 32 children with bronchiolitis and 30 age-matched control subjects. (Author)

In an 8-week double-blind comparison, haloperidol reduced the severity of the target symptoms impulsiveness, hostility, and aggressiveness in significantly more mentally retarded children than did chlorpromazine. (Author)

Analyzed were serum levels of IgA, IgG, ad IgM in groups of institutionalized and noninstitutionalized Down's syndrome subjects and in institutionalized retarded children with other etiologies. (KW)