European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 19, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday August 19, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 5 brain like computers to get financial boost from Dod san Francisco not the defense department s advanced research Agency plans to in crease financing for development of radically new kinds of computers that Are based on How the brain works. The action by the defense advanced research projects Agency traditionally in the forefront of financing advanced computer research represents a big endorsement of the computers and could accelerate their development. The computers Are called neural networks be cause they Are loosely patterned on the interconnected web of neurons or nerve cells in the brain. Such computers still in the Early stages of development have shown great Promise for tasks that have defied More conventional computers like recognizing objects or understanding speech. More Over such computers seem Able to learn from experience. There s no question that this is a promising technology and we re going to scale up our invest ment Craig i. Fields Deputy director of research for the Agency said in an interview. Discussing the proposed financing increase Jasper Lupo assistant director of the Agency s tac tical technology office said it will be noticeable not just another pretty $3  the move to increase support follows the recent completion of a study performed for the Agency by Lincoln laboratories a research Institute affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of technology with assistance from experts in the Field. The report foresees great Promise for neural net works and recommends that the Agency known As Darpa undertake a huge research initiative spending $400 million Over eight years. Such a program would be one of the largest Ever undertaken by the Agency and is not Likely to be approved immediately Fields said. Rather he said Darpa will undertake a smaller program to test the feasibility of such computers before deciding whether to proceed with the larger program. He said even the preliminary program will rep resent a significant increase in support for the Field. The Lincoln study said that for military Pur poses neural networks might be used to interpret radar signals to distinguish Friend from foe and might allow satellites or weapons to spot their own targets. In five years the study said it should be Possi ble to build a brain like computer with a web of interconnected electronic neurons of the same complexity found in the brain of a Bee. That might not appear to be much but even bees can do Many things that present sophisticated computers cannot do. Bees Are pretty smart compared to smart weapons Fields said. Bees can evade. Bees can choose routes and choose  Industry experts say that neural network re search now attracts $20 million to $40 million in funds a year with a few million coming from Darpa. The Agency s increase could double that financing and increase interest in neural networks. I think it will bring a lot of defense contractors into the Field who were just sitting on the Side lines said Edward Rosenfeld editor of the new York newsletter intelligence which follows the neural network Field. Coffee might help asthma study says new York not Coffee consumption which has been blamed for Many ill effects on health May actually have a health Benefit a new study indicates. In a Large scale study in Italy bronchial asthma was less common among Coffee drinkers than among non drinkers. The study indicated that with moderate use the Benefit increased with the amount of Coffee consumed. Prevalence of asthma was lower among people who drank three or More cups a Day than among two cup Consumers and lower among the drinkers of two cups a Day than among those who habitually took Only one cup. There appeared to be no Benefit in drinking More than three cups a Day. The study was reported in the August Issue of Chest journal of the american College of Chest physicians. It was based on data compiled by the italian National health study and was reported by or. Romano Pagano of the italian Central Institute of statistics or. Adrian Decarli of the University of Milan and colleagues. The findings were based on a Survey of 72,284 people Over the age of 15, chosen to represent a Broad and representative spectrum of the italian population. The study confirmed previous observations by doctors that caffeine tended to dilate the Bronchi Al passages of asthmatics the report said. Pagano and his colleagues said the data also suggested that Long term consumption of Moder ate amounts of Coffee might not Only reduce symptoms of bronchial asthma but might even help prevent occurrence of any manifestations of the disease. Seattle rated 87 arrested in 3-state crackdown most liable involving thefts of $1.6 million new York a looking for a v Lookin r a Nice place to live go West Young woman Way West. Seattle is the no. 1 most liveable spot for women in the United states Accord ing to research conducted by two Urban studies specialists for savvy Magazine. Ranking second was Boston tied for third were Pittsburgh and Washington. Ranking fourth was Minneapolis St. Paul while san Francisco came in fifth. Rounding out the rankings in order were Chicago Houston los Angeles new York and Atlanta. Huntington . A authorities arrested 87 people wednesday in a sweep through Southern West Vir Ginia Kentucky and Ohio following an 18-month investigation into the theft of $1.6 million Worth of cars trucks and heavy equipment. Terry Ethridge assistant agent in charge of the Pittsburgh division of the Fri said the investigation netted More than 120 motor vehicles and heavy equipment some of which was displayed at a news conference at the Huntington civic Center. Officers also recovered five pounds of cocaine and numerous automatic weapons Ethridge said. The undercover operation was devised in Early 1987, when Law enforcement officials became aware that we d had a significant theft of property problem in this area he said. Undercover police men then put out the word that they were in the Market to buy stolen Auto parts vehicles and equipment. It was relatively easy said Michael Carey . Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia. The various thefts were not necessarily related to one another the two Justice department officials said. It would be wrong to assume All these people were part of one ring Carey said. The use of the term ring is mislead ing Ethridge added. If you re in the plumbing business you know other plumbers even if you re not in business with them. In the stars and stripes 40 years ago today. Aug. 19, 1948 Secretary of state George c. Marshall said that the ., France and Belgium would Send 300 men from their armed forces to serve As truce observers in Palestine. 30 years ago foday. Aug. 19, 1958 the . Circuit court of appeals reversed a 2 a year old decision by a District court judge in St. Louis and ordered a resumption of racial integration at Central High school in Little Rock Ark. 20 years ago foday. Aug. 19, 1968 guerrilla forces conducted at least 18 attacks against Allied installations throughout South Vietnam killing 12 . Marines and wounding 25 soldiers. 10 years ago foday. Aug. 19, 1978 a bomb exploded in a philippine air lines jetliner As it flew at 24,000 feet. One Passen Ger was killed when he fell through the Hole in the fuselage but All others were saved when the plane landed safely in Manila. Men s hair growth drug of d Kalamazoo Mich. A the . Food and drug administration gave approval wednesday for Upjohn co. To Market a prescription hair growth for Mula. Romaine will become the first prescription drug on the . Market designed to stimulate hair growth on men with male pattern baldness company officials said. We re very pleased with the Fra s decision said Lawrence c. Hoff president and chief operating offi cer for the Kalamazoo based drug company. The development of Romaine represents the first Large scale scientific study of a pharmaceutical agent for hair  in Washington Fra spokesman Bill Grigg con firmed late wednesday that the Agency had approved the drug and had granted the company s request to handle the announcement. The Fra typically allows drug companies to announce drug approvals if they ask to do so and there Are no particularly complicated health issues involved in How the new drug is administered. Upjohn said it has tested Romaine on about 2,300 balding individuals at 27 medical centers. It said 39 percent of those who twice daily applied the 2 percent minoxidil solution experienced either dense or Moder ate hair growth. The drug is scheduled to appear on the Market in the next six weeks. The Price has not been determined the company said. Despite approval Romaine s effectiveness has been questioned by some consumer advocates. The Independent consumer reports Magazine said in its september Issue that Upjohn s tests May exaggerate How Well Bald spots respond to the formula. The study excluded men who were very Bald those with hair Only on the sides and a smooth billiard Ball appearance on top the Magazine said. While a Small portion of participants did see some regrowth of hair and a shrinking of their Bald spots no one grew Back a full head of hair consumer reports said. Company officials said Romaine will not work for everyone adding that continued use for up to four months is necessary before hair growth can be noticed. Because Romaine is a treatment not a cure Cessa ti9n of Romaine treatment in patients with hair growth will Lead to the loss of the hair within a few months said Richard Devillez director of dermatology at up  company said it will continue to conduct tests on the effectiveness of Romaine. Because it s a first it s important to us to Monitor and Analyse its use and acceptance in the medical Community. To do this we will be conducting a postwar keying surveillance Survey Hoff said. Romaine already is available in 44 countries including Canada and Mexico