thursday, September 0, lua
daily nebraskan
page 9
LesearcHiers: chemical appears to improve memory
OMAHA-Crcighton University researcher! say they
nave 'discovered an organic chemical compound that
apparently improves memory and intellectual perfor
mances that normally deteriorate with age.
" Dr. Nikolaus Hansl, associate professor of medical
chemistry and a member of the team of scientists, said
the compound, known as PRL-8 -53, counters the destruc
tion of certain chemical pathways In the brain by "making
up the slack chemically
In a clinical study at Creighton, 58 college students
performed better on intellectual tasks when they were
given the compound than when they were not, Hansl
said. , ,4
He described the compound as similar to an amino
acid. " :
In another study published in 1978, researchers com
pared the compound s effects on performance of college
students with that of persons who were over 30 years
old. '
The participants were asked to remember lists of
"nonsense syllables' geometric objects and other tasks,
Hansl said.
The older group showed a 130 to 140 percent greater
improvement in memory than the college students he
said.
He said the effect of the compound lasted about
seven hours, and added that even after the effect faded,
memory was better.
Hansl said the compound could help 'the geriatric
population-anyone over 30-such as the elderly man who
forgets his glasses or loses a thought in mid-sentence. I
would like to make them more self-sufficient,"
But Hansl added there have been no indications that
persons with brain damage could benefit from the com
pound. .
Vietnamese shot "
WASHINGTON-Recent refugees report many people
have been shot while trying to escape Vietnam since the
U.N.-sponsored Ccneva conference on the boat people,
Carter administration sources said Wednesday.
Since the conference in mid-July, the Hanoi govern
ment has imposed harsh penalties for attempted escapes
and clamped down oh life in the country '? refugees were
quoted as telling U.S. officials. -
The Vietnamese government has increased patrols and
has applied stricter security controls, refugees said. v
The sources, who declined $ to be named, indicated
Vietnamese refugees were questioned at camps in South
east Asia. U5. Navy ships and, patrol planes, have been
helping boatloads of refugees in the South China Sea
reach safety.
One group, which left Vietnam in August, claimed that
escape has been made more difficult than it was a year
ago, U.S. sources said.
Refugees who have escaped since July told U.S.
officials that Communist Party officials called people
together and advised them to ignore U.N. promises.
They were warned that those who left Vietnam would
become slaves of foreigners," one source said.
Soviet troops
. Wednesday that many Americans may face "a cruel choice
between food or heat" this winter because home heating
oil costs will be more than SO percent higher than last
year.
Despite the rising costs, Deputy Energy Secretary John
F. O'Leary told a congressional hearing that homeowners
who heat with oil will have more than enough to get
through the winter. :
O'Leary said the Carter administration soon will ask
Congress for $150 million Impre than the $250 million
already appropriated for energy assistance to low-Income
families to compensate for higher heating oil costs.
O'Leary testified as a new Library of Congress study
claimed that heating oil consumers have been charged $1
billion more in higher prices over the past year than can
be justified by inflation in higher crude oil costs.
The study said heating oil prices rose from 49 cents a
gallon last September to 80.8 cents last month. Of this
increase, only 14.8 cents could be attributed to higher
crude oil costs, the report said.
WASHINGTON-Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance
said Wednesday the United States 'Swill not be satisfied
with the maintenance of the status quo regarding Soviet
combat troops stationed in Cuba.
Vance said the Soviet troop presence "will affect
Soviet-American relations.'
He did not rule out the possibility that the situation
would influence Senate action on the strategic arms
limitation treaty with the Soviet Union.
Vance said at a news conference he has asked Soviet
ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin to return to the United
States from vacation as soon as possible to discuss the
troop presence. '
In the meantime, he said, the Carter administration
believes the Senate's ratification hearings on the SALT H
treaty should go forward. But Vance stopped short of say
ing the Senate should vote to ratify the treaty regardless
of the outcome of the issue of Soviet troops in Cuba.
He refused to say what will satisfy the adrninlstration
regarding the troops, although he noted it was the combat
capability of the troops that was of concern d the admin
istration. , - V;
No.bobzevi " v
: . ' ' " ' .-;
GRAND ISLAND-An ordinance banning alcohol
from city parks has been approved by the Grand Island
-dry Council; - - - - w;
4 The ban on alcohol replaces i city ordinance that
allows possession of alcohol in city parks but no consump.
r lion. , lH . . .y I : y: - j a. r . ' . . -
: . ;Poiice Chief Howard Baccn tc!d the council the cur-, J
rent ordinance is unenforceable. 5 ; - r' w . -
Americano face choice
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