Winter 1987 by Endeavors

The Thiangle Universities Licensing Consortium: Marketing of Technology-One Linkage 0f the University to Society

Since the founding of western universities it has been necessary to reconcile the need of the university to be faithful to academic purpose with appropriate concern for societal interests. In recent years, this historical ten-

Relatively few discoveries by faculty or research staff offer such commercial promise that the right to use the discowry through licensing patents or otherwise, is widely and spontaneously sought by the commercial sec-

sion has been focused in the United States particularly upn the relations of universities to industry 0r more broadly upon the relation of the generati0n of knowledge to the application of knowledge in our capitalistic economy. Driven in part by international economic competition and in part by secular change in demographics, financing, and intellectual fron-

tor. Rather, it is most often necessary lo "sell" the license to use the discorery by informing potential users of the availability and specific advantages to them. Some universities undertake this marketing of discorcries within their own administrative structure. Others have concluded that this is largely a commercial undertaking best conducted outside of the direct administratire responsibility of the uni versity even though the interests of the faculty

tierq many American universities are peering over the walls of the ivory tower into the highways and marketplaces of society seeking to find new ways to apply the krowledge gained in research. Some seem to me to have taken the leap from the parapets when, for example, university endowments are used as venture capital to finance directly or indirectly the corporate adventures of university faculty. But there is, I think, a broad, safe, and useful middle way that can enhance the translation of faculty-generated knowledge to

the ultimate benefit of the public without compromising the integrity of the university. For this to happen, the univenity must have a clear set of academic values and a governance which is uncompromising in its commitment to these values. The values must be rooted in the adminishation and the governing boards as well as in the faculty. Under these circumstances an array of relationships between universities and societies has developed and flourished

oler many decades.

From the performing arts

throu$ political

and

social sciencg the humanities, the physical sciences, and the health sciences, our own University has a distinguished history of leadership and social contribution through such relationships. Yet we have not been among the nations

leaders

in bringing the disccreries of our

fac-

ulty and reseuch staff into practice through patenting and licensing. In prt this is because we have traditionally been oriented toward other expressions of scholanhip as have most

Dr. Stuarl Bondunnt, Dean, khool ol Medicine

and research staff and of the university may be involrrcd. Further, the process of marketing discoveries is complex and upensive. Because the number of marketable discoveries is related to the size of the research base, the Iicensing operation should support and service

a large base of research. With the foregoing considerations in mind, former UNC system President William C. Friday

other nonengineering universities. In part, too, we may not have built a record of application of useful knowledge through patenting and

appointed a statewide committee including

licensing because the quality and scope of

representatives from

research that might be successfully marketed

has not been matched by the development of incentives and arrangements that relieve the faculty and staff of inappropriate administrative

0r even commercial burden

associated with

the marketing process. Serreral steps have been taken

recent years to enmurage this

activity.

this institution as well as from Duke Univenity, Wake Forcst University, North Carolina State University, and other research-based organizations to consider how best to construct a system t0 support the ap-

plication of the results of faculty research. The recommendations of this committee were discussed at a number of meetings of faculty and staff on this camp(g and there was broad

The 1980 revisions of the U.S. Patent Law assured research personnel in universities of protection of their personal intellectual con-

general support.

tributions to patentable technology that was based on research supported by federal funds. Also assured to the developers of such technology were prtions of licensing revenues. Our University and most others quickly modernized patent and licensing policies and ap plied this protection to all university-based research. Each member of the faculty and staff should be aware of the patent policies of the University. Statements of the patent policies are available in departmental offices.

Consortium has hen establishd as a joint undertaking of D*e University, North iarolina

As called for by the committees recommendations, the Tiiangle Universities Licensing

State Univenity, and the Univenity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with the possibility of associate participation by a number of other universities and research in$itutions. The Tliangle Universities Licensing Consortium will assist the faculties and research staffs of the universities in identifying, evaluating, marketing, and liensing new, usable technologies discovered in the research programs and Continued on inside back cover

Production, Sto and Exchange in the East Andes Is Tiaditional Agriculture a Means of Risk Reduction? self-sufficient peasant households make choices among differing production, storage, and exchange options, and how these choices are affected by risk of crop failure." The team is

also interested in the origins of the terraces that cover the slopes and were built five to six hundred years ago, before the Incas. "lt's a landscape almost entirely designed by human beings through a tremendous amount of highly organized labor," Winterhalder adds. The National Science Foundation has funded the study, which has entered its third and final

year.

Prnduction, Storage, and Exchange

-a e

Dr. Bruce llinterhalder, professor of anthropology and uology

High on the eastern escarpment of the Andes of southern Peru, a team of researchers is studying how the campesinos have adapted themselves to living in a steep, terraced terrain where drought, frost, and landslide are the norm. "The project is an ecological and economic analysis of subsistence decisions in

the district of Cuyocuyo," says Dr. Bruce Winterhalder, principal investigator of the proiect and associate professor of anthropology and ecology at UNC-CH. "We are asking how

The project covers three broad areas of investigation: agricultural production, storage; and the exchange of goods and labor. In the area of production, the main issue under study is the spatial diversification of fields and cultigens. A family may own forty plots that are very small-each perhaps only a few meters

wide-and scattered over the terraces. 0f these, fifteen to twenty may be seeded in any given year, according to a plan for planting and rotation coordinated by the community. The team is trying to determine to what extent this traditional method of cultiration is a means of avoiding the risk of crop failure. The same method, called the "open field system," was used in England until the late 1800s. Some scholars considered

inefficient

because of the amount of

time and effort

expended in getting to and working the individual, spatially distant fields. 'An economic

historian, Donald McCloskey, has argued that,

to the contrary it is a quite effective means of reducing household risk of crop failure," Winterhalder says. If conditions in one area destroy a field's crop, the family has fields in other areas, where conditions may be different. "ln the Andes we have a functioning system of field dispersion that will allow us to investigate directly these alternative hypotheses,"

he adds. The crops grown in the dispersed fields are also diversified. The campesinos grow dozens of varieties of potatolike tubers, which have different tolerances for temperature, moisture, pathogens, soil composition, and preservation.

If conditions are bad for some varieties in any given year, other varieties may thrive. Thus the differences help guard against crop failure.

In the area of storage, the research focus is on whether and how storing the harvest functions as another means of guarding against crop failure and loss of food supply. Tirbers are the primary crop grown on the Cuyocuyo terraces. To preserve them for storage, the campesinos use an ancient Andean freeze-

drying method. After soaking the tubers in cold, flowing water for a couple of weeks, they expose them spread out 0n a mat. During the day, the tubers dry in the intense, highaltitude sunlight and at night they freeze. Over a period of weeks the alternating drying and freezing of the tropical, high-altitude climate preserves the tubers, which can then be stored for future use or given to relatives. The process and functions of exchange of new or stored goods are also under scrutiny.

PI'

&fi#

-a

i,r,SVf

An Andean wonan

harvests papas.

Campesinos living at different altitudes pro duce different goods. At the highest altitudes, they are restricted to herding. Farther down, they grow tubers, and in the next zone, corn. These various goods and the labor required to produce them are exchanged up and down the altitudes. Winterhalder suspects that one of the purposes of exchange is to build a

of reciprocity, links between families that can be drawn on if one's crops fail.

sense

Applications for Third World Planners The population of southern Peru is dense, relatively poor, and dependent on subsistence production in an area where climatic conditions fluctuate and are severe. Therefore, their

agricultural practices are of great concern t0 national planning agencies such as the

Proqrama Nacional de Sistemas Andinos de

1ne of the soaking pools in which the tuberc sit during the freeze-drying process. Hundreds of these pools are built into the terraces at places where springs break through the earth.

Produccidn Agropecuaria (PNSAPA). The Winterhalder team's investigations will provide both information about local circumstances and measurements 0f the efficiency and pro ductivity of traditional methods that will help planners decide which practices should be conserved and which can be improved by introducing modern knowledge and technology. "We are seeking an Andean understanding of Andean development," Winterhalder emphasizes. The impact of these studies is not limited to Peru, however. "Our pragmatic concerns reach right into North Carolina," Winterhalder "The potatoes you purchase in your local

says.

supermarket originally were domesticated in the Andes around Cuyocuyo." The native varieties of tubers still grown in Cuyocuyo provide precious genetic resources for the potato, one

of the world's major food crops. These genetic resources include the ability to grow in certain climatic conditions or soils or a

resistance

The tubers are uposed to the air after soaking

in the pools.

to certain pathogens.

About fifteen years ago, scientists began to realize that these traits were being lost forever because the native varieties were dying out. Scientists and planners thus are interested in

R.S

E.il

whether indigenous agricultural practices are preserving the native cultigens so that they

will

remain available for breeding programs. Winterhalder's group is inrrestigating the diversity of varieties maintained in the fields, where the campesinos get their seed, and

how they choose it. p

Applyrng a Comprthensive Perspective

= ?

"To understand how people in a community tike this behave, it takes researchers with different types of expertise all coming together," Winterhalder says. Therefore, the project has combined an international team of faculty and students from many disciplines and universities. fuo of the students, Jorge Recharte

o -e g

and Alejandro Camino, are Peruvians currently

Jorge Recharte selects coca leaves for an oflering during a comnunity ritual that sanctifies construction of the project living quarters. The team agreed to rebuild sacnl houses in an abandoned hacienda and are living in these houses during their stay. At the end of the study, the houses will revefi to the

attending American schools. Under Director

connunity.

Ihpia, the PNSAPA, which is the Peruvian research counterpart of UNC-CH on the project, has also provided valuable personnel and

field, graduate students Jorge Recharte and

logistical support.

data collection by two Peruvian research

largely on tubers. Her work has focused on oca, ullucu, and afi'u, littleknown species of tubers that were domesticated in and remain

Collectively, the team is compiling a comprehensive, quantitative data set to test the

assistants, Alfredo Condori Flores and Javier

unique to the central Andes.

Choque Ordonez, and working on their own

risk-avoidance hypothesis. They are gathering

dissertation topics. Recharte, an economic anthropologist from Cornell University, analyzed the relationship between gold mining by the campesinos and agricultural production. The

Brad Bennett, a graduate student in plant ecology at UNC-CH, also spent four months in the field during the year conducting a quantitative study of plant ecology. He is interested in which plants are used and for

extensive data from two communities in the Cuyocuyo district-Puna Ayllu, which is at an altitude of 3,800 meters, and Ura Ayllu, at 3,400 meters-and are recording more specific data from twenty sample families, ten

each

community. Through periodic visits at random times of day, they are determining what each family member does throughout the day and how each allocates his or her time. Household inventories of purchases, sales, and other exchanges are taken from diaries kept by

each family. The researchers are making an extensive survey of the fields cultirated by the twenty sample families-350 the first yearrecording such items as how many fields were worked, where they were located, what

the productivity of each was, and whether it was higher or lower than upected and why. The more general data includes vital statistics -births, marriages, and deaths; weather records, including a map of rainfall and temperature to be analyzed for climatic statistics and predictability; and a computerized map of the whole district, prepared by Dr. Stephen McCrae, a geographer at the University of

Margaret Graham lived

in Cuyocuyo, overseeing

campesinos have been mining gold for over four hundred years and still use the same techniques of excavation employed by the lncas, Recharte says. After the crops are planted, almost all males migrate to the gold fields and mine for

two months, leaving the crops in the care of the women. While most scholars believe that a market economy will naturally take over a traditional subsistence economy, Recharte has found that in Cuyocuyo the gold mining helps maintain the agricultural economy. "One of the reasons the people can maintain their traditional activities is because they have access to gold and mining," Recharte says. "Very little land is available to them, about two acres per family. Without the gold, they could not survive-they could not educate their children, they could not feed themselves properly."

what purposes. He has also been trying to assess the impact humans have had on the plant community and how much they have altered it. "The land look barren and desolate," Winterhalder says. "But our data indicate that a// of that land is used for production of one type or another." Bennett's work is being supplemented by that of Alejandro Caminq an ethnobotanist from the University of Michigan. Camino is examining the use of domesticated plants and the campesinos' knowledge and beliefs about them. Having spent the first summer in Cuyocuyo helping coordinate the field work, he will return for three months during the 1986-87 season to focus on land tenure and on local rationales for the timing of planting and the particular cultigens used in different z0nes.

For the second field season, Anne Larme,

Graham, a nutritional anthropologist from Michigan State University, studied the house

a medical anthropologist from UNC-CH, and

California, Riverside, to analyze altitude, slope, and exposure. All personnel participate in gathering and analyzing these common data

hold economy and food use, analyzing the nature and quality of the diet and how much of it is produced locally versus purchased

is also focusing on a related, individual topic. During the first year of research in the

from elsewhere. Graham is especially interested in how mothers meet the nutritional needs of infants and small children with a diet based

versity of Michigan, have replaced Recharte and Graham. Larme is studying the relationship between illness and work and how a family gets essential labor if a member is sick. Goland, who earned a master's degree in

sets, but each researcher

Carol Goland, an archaeologist from the Uni-

anthropology from UNC-CH, is surveying the

DEA

terraces to understand their origins better and looking at the techniques and economic aspects of tuber processing and storage. Her data will

field, people will appreciate their own work and the work of others better," Winterhalder says. "They can also help one another in

help archaeologists to identify more easily processing and storage technologies in the archaeological record and to analyze better their influence on the prehistoric Andean

their research." For instance, Bennett, who studying the uses of wild plants, may miss

in the household because that is an area that is culturally

ways they are used by women

kingdoms, including the Incas. Next summer, Dr. R. Brooke Thomas, a physical anthropologist at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, will loin the others in Cuyocuyo to study the relationship between metabolic energy and productivity-how many calories of energy people expend to do their work. Because the terraces are narrow and fields are dispersed, all of the labor is manua[, and the primary tool is a foot plow. By measuring the volume of air breathed and the amount of oxygen extracted from it by the body, Thomas can calculate the amount of metabolic energy being expended. "From this information, he can build a picture of the amount of calories people have to consume t0 do the work," Winterhalder says. "He'll also get another measure from the nutritionist, who's studying the in-house consumption of food." After spending two years on administrative responsibilities associated with the project, Winterhalder hopes during the second field season

to focus on field diversification and to

compare historic European agricultural theory with that current in the Andes and Third World. "The current emphasis is to consolidate for economy of scale and to use tractors, but there may be important rationales for diver-

sification," he notes. Winterhalder also hopes to fill out the census data already collected and investigate the engineering aspects of the terraces. Instead of falling with a straight rock face from one down to the next, the configuration of the terraces is such that the lower terrace is set back, and the upper terrace forms a lip over part of it. Also, the terraces are filled with rocks covered by soil that tradition holds was carried in from other areas. Winterhalder wants to look into the reasons for this construction. Tho hypotheses to be considered are that the form and fill facilitate drainage of rainfall and create warm pockets of air to protect crops against the freezing nights.

Rescerch Dlfficulder Requlre Spccial Sktlls This type of research demands an unusual combination of skills. Apart from the topical

inaccessible t0 a man. Graham, however, is acquiring that information indirectly through her studies of household food allocation and

consumption. "There are dozens of instances like this in which the students, by working together, become important information resources for one another," Winterhalder says.

Contrary to nodern agricultunl pnctice, the furrows on these Cuyocuyo terraces point downslope instead of parallel to the tenace. This construction helps drain cold air and excessive water after

flooding rains.

skills of their respective fields, the researchers have to know Spanish and at least some Quechua, the native language of the Incas and Cuyocuyo, which is taught at only about four universities in the United States. They also must have a special temperament. Cuyocuyo

is extremely remote, and they spend long periods isolated in a foreign culture without the amenities they are used to. "They're often thrown back on their own resources," Winterhalder says. "For instance, if the truck breaks down, they have to fix it. They have to be scholars, explorers, ard mechanics." Such hardships are not unusual for anthro pologists, but the areas terrain poses special problems. "Every day I walked up and down huge mountains," Recharte says. "lt's always up or down, never flat." The scarcity of oxygen available at that altitude-Ss to 65 percent of that arailable at sea level-makes physical ac-

tivity all the more difficult. Also, the researchers must contend with logistical difficulties in getting people, food, and supplies in and out of the district. For instance, the recent flooding of Lake Titicaca between Cuyocuyo and the nearest town has turned an eight-hour road trip, which covers only 140 miles, into "a miserable ten-, twelvq or even twenty-hour trip," Winterhalder says. The group approach to the project helps alleviate some of the difficulties of isolation. "By developing support and rapport in the

Unexplored Territory The project grew out of previous work by Thomas and Winterhalder, who worked under Thomas while a graduate student at Cornell. In 1981 Winterhalder decided that he wanted to go back to the Andes because of his own love of the mountains and because he thought that research opportunities for graduate students were more numerous there. 0n a Junior Faculty Improvement grant from UNC-CH, Winterhalder made an exploratory trip to Peru with Thomas. They selected Cuyocuyo as a research site because almost nothing was known about the area and the location was so intriguing and spectacular, especially the terraces. Also, their work dovetails with possibilities for archaeological research on the late preconquest period, before 1532, and

with archival work on the post-conquest period.

The team is producing working papers on their progress and plans to write a set of journal articles and synthesis monographs as well as individual dissertations. Winterhalder also expects that members of the group will return for further studies. "A lot of groundwork has been laid with this basic data set," he notes. "ln the future we can go back with more specific questions that have been raised by the original work or with questions related to other topics." Additional projects may cover topics such as the relationship of Andean religious beliefs

to life in Cuyocuyo or pro

duction activities at lower altitudes. Because the Andean escarpment supports ecological zones ranging from glaciers to tropical forest within about sixty kilometers, it is a fertile source of inquiry Winterhalder explains, adding, "Once you've been to those mountains, it's hard to get them out of your blood."

-Diantha J. Pinner

ilD

Arbitrariness and the Death Penalty alibi. The scores were then compared with the outcome at each stage 0f the judicial

Whether the capital punishment system is administered arbiharily is the last remaining issue to be resolved in deciding its constitutionality, says Barry Nakell, professor of law at UNC-CH. To clarify the issue and provide data for Supreme Court review, Nakell and

pr0cess.

Nakell and Hardy had reasoned that the score should reflect the outcome if legal standards were indeed determining whether the death penalty was imposed. White the

Kenneth A. Hardy, director of the Social

correlation between the scores and the outcomes was reasonably high, it was not perfect. "We would expect the score to be the primary determinant," Nakell says, "but it also should be the 0rl/ determinant." Therefore, they concluded that the capital punish-

Science Statistical Laboratory at the Institute

for Research in Social Science, have studied how the capital punishment system has been applied in North Carolina. They have not considered capital punishment as a moral issue, but rather have investigated whether the penalty has been applied evenhandedly or arbitrarily. Nakell and Hardy's book describing the results of this study, The Arbitrariness of the Death Penalty, will be published by Temple University Press in December 1986, when the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to consider the issue of arbitrariness. In 1972 the United States Supreme Court

ruled in Furman v. Georgia that the death sentence was unconstitutional because

being administered

in too arbitrary a

was

manner.

"The erratic imposition of the death penalty rendered it cruel and unusual as a punishment," Nakell explains. The states responded by adopting procedures to control for arbitrariness, and in 1976 the Court upheld the new procedures. The Court made this decision, however, without any data pertaining to application of the procedures. "Reviewing them 'on their face' without any evidence of how they were working in practice," Nakell notes, "the Court assumed that the new procedures would prove

capable of protecting against arbitrariness." Nakell thought that more rigorous examination was warranted and decided to study whether the North Carolina procedures are indeed suf-

ficient in practice. In North Carolina the death penalty can be given only in cases of first degree murdermurder that is premeditated or committed during a felony. After a defendant is charged with and convicted of first degree murder, a separate, sentencing trial is held. During that trial, aggravating and mitigating circumstances

ment system, as it was administered in North Carolina, was arbitrary.

This finding led them to ask what factors,

if not the

legal standards, were influencing

cases. Statistical analysis revealed that during

Barry Nakell, professor of law

are introduced and weighed to decide the penalty. This trial is followed by automatic appellate review of both the conviction and the sentence. Before Furman v. Georgia, however, sentencing was decided during the guilt trial without deliberation of qualifying circumstances, which could not be introduced unless relevant to guilt. Alsq only the convic-

tion was appealed. With funding from the National Science Foundation, Nakell, Hardy, and a large support staff studied all homicides during the first year of the new procedures to see whether the strictly legal factors-the definition of first degree murder and the statutory aggravating and mitigating circumstances-predicted the outcome at each stage of the judicial process. They examined the records of the medical examiner, police reports, and court records and interviewed the prosecuting and defense attorneys about each case. The researchers evaluated the quality of the evidence presented on both sides, scoring it on criteria such as the existence and credibility of eyewitnesses and character witnesses; the existence of trace, physical, and circumstantial evidence; and the defendant's statement, motive, and

the pretrial stage, the judicial district and the race of the defendant influenced whether the defendant was charged with first degree murder or a lesser charge. Prosecutors, they

found, differed in how they applied the law and whether they would plea-bargain for a lesser charge. For the cases that went to trial, the race of defendant continued to be a significant determinant. After the court had heard the evidence and the iudge had delib erated whether it supported a charge of first degree murder, the iury was much more likely to deliberate first degree murder if the defendant was nonwhite. At the verdict stage, the race of the victim, rather than that 0f the defendant, influenced conviction. The jury was much more likely t0 return a guilty verdict if the victim was white. These findings should not lead one to confuse arbitrariness with discrimination, Nakell cautions. Discrimination is an intentional act, and one would have to show that the outcome in each particular case was the result of discrimination. "Our survey data can't indicate anything regarding intent," Nakell adds. 'Arbitrariness, on the other hand, focuses on the system and on whether it is capable of making a rational, impartial decision."

-Diantha J. Pinner

3-D Reconstruction Computer Graphics as an Aid to Anatomical Studies that gave an accurate representation of depth. Solid models in clay or wax were also built, but these manual methods were tedious and provided too many possibilities for error, as

well as necessitating a considerable degree of artistic skill on the part of the modeler. Since the late 1960s, the digital computer has been employed as a tool for reconstruction. It is programmed to assist in manually tracing the outline of features in serial sections, storing that information, stacking the outlines, and generating the resultant model on a

loseph Capowski, lecturer in physiologlr

A computer graphics display system created by Joseph Capowski of the UNC-CH Department of Physiology is providing anatomists and neurobiologists with a valuable tool for conducting morphological studies. Capowski's Vector Display Processor generates thre*

screen. The display is then rotated smoothly, creating the illusion of a threedimensional image which can be viewed from a lariety of angles. Such systems, however, usually involve timeconsuming calculations that cannot be performed with sufficient speed on the sort of small general purpose computer that a researcher

is likely to use in the

The Yector Dlcplay

lab.

koccrcor

t0 UNC-CH in

1972 from Salt

dimensional images of cells and tissue

Capowski came

sections and, coupled with software that he has been developing, provides statistical summaries of them. Capowski's system is unique in its adaptability to the needs of individual researchers as well as in its relatively low

Lake City, where he worked as a design engineer for a company manufacturing high performance computer graphics displays. 0ver computer graphics processors, each one simpler than the last, tailored to the needs of anatomists. "Anatomical studies don't demand

Itc hoblon of Reconrfuucdon

a full-function system," explains Capowski, 'hnd by streamlining mine, while, at the same time, taking adrantage of recent advances in

examine the interior of a cell necessarily involves destroying much of its form and structure. The need arises for finding some way to reconstruct the visual information uncorrcred by dissection. The oldest method of doing this was through artistic interpretation

using drawings and shading. In the late nine teenth century it became possible to slice off extremely thin sections of tissue and embed them in wax. These sections would then be traced onto transparent sheets which were stacked to form a threedimensional model

superimposed

wer the inage of the neuron when

viewed through the nicroscope. With his right hand, Capowski uses a joystick to tnce the den-

drites, while giving

fuilhu conmands to

the

systen wilh the keyboard at his left.

the next decade he developed a series of

cost.

One of the problems plaguing morphological studies has been the inherently destructive process of dissection, for any attempt to

Capowski and Ellen Johnson enmining a neurcn VDPS. A conputil generated cursor is

in the

integrated circuit technology, I was able to dwelop a system with commercial possibilities at a substantially reduced cost when compared to other processors." One of Capowski's innovations involved the modification of a technique used to represent pictorial information on a computer screen. Most images are made up of long lines and their display requires a number of expensive computations to "cliy'' them at the edges of the viewscreen. Anatomical structures, however, are characterized by inegular outlines, and these can be approximated by using a series of short straight lines which, when an outline goes

off the screen, can be eliminated entirely

without degrading the picture appreciably. The resulting projection costs much less whilq at the same time, adequately serving the needs of the anatomist. Capowski called his system the Neuroscience Display Processor. He took his third model, the NDP3, to Eutectic Electronics, a Raleighbased computer manufacturing company. ln the Fall of 1983 Eutectic showed a prototype 0f the NDP3 at a neuroscience convention in Boston and received a good response. The decision was made to market the system. Eutectic, however, feeling that the NDP3 had a wider market potential than just neuro biology, renamed it the Vector Display Pro cessor, While interest in the VDP3 was high, sales were only modest. Although it was affordable, it still possessed a significant drawback in that as a research tool it could be used flexibly only by an investigator who possessed programming expertise.

Y.O.R.S

Scrid Sccdon Roconchrrcdon end ilcuron lbeclng Capowski and Eutectic realized that what was needed was a "turnkey system," a combination hardware and software package that provided for a lariety of specific functions, but required little more expertise from the operator than it would take to turn a key to set the process

in motion. The nut

step,

clearly, was to provide such a system. Concurrently with his work on the NDB Capowski, along with Ellen Johnson, a computer pro grammer at UNC-CH, had hen dweloping a package for the serial section reconstruction

of tissues. This involved the application of what is known as a semi-automatic process

.a---

for tracing tissue sections. Semiautomatic systems require the operator to do the actual tracing, while the computer receives, stores, and displap the information. Totally automatic sptems, where the computer lools at an image of a tissue mounted on a slide and extracts the needed information from it without human help, are availablg but the results from these have not been entirely satisfactory since the computer lacls the powers of visual discrimination necessary to determine precisely what should be traced. "ln a semi-automatic system," Capowski states, "the operator would

do what humans do best, pattem recognition, and avoid what humans do worst, bookkeepingl' The most obvious attraction of the program

is the ease with which an inve$igator

can

visualize a threedimensional model on the screen. "Some biologists han worked with an organism all their lives, and yet have never had a chance to see it in 3-D," says Capowski. "The value of such modeling is in allowing the researcher to study spatial relationships among biological structures." In addition, statistical summaries of structurcs can be generated. The volume

of a structure, for

instance, can easily be calculatd and used to describe mathematically its morphology, and to compare one population of $ructures to another.

Parallel with his work on serial section reconstruction, Capowski has worked with Mikl5s R6thelyi of Semmelueis University in Budapest, Lorne Mendell of SUNY at Stonybrook,

M.J. Sedevic of Appalachian State University, and William Cruce of NE Ohio Universities College of Medicine to design a turnkey system aimed specifically at the reconstruction of neurons. This sy$em traces, displays, plots, and mathematically analyzes nerve cells. Neuron reconstruction is an imposing task

:-' -'-

-b .,2

(:5 A study in clntnsts.

Above: a felt-tip pen plot of a neurun produced with the VDPS and the neuron reconstruction nftwarc. Below: the sane neurun photognphed through a microscope.

because

of the compler structue of these

cells. With Capowski's system, the operator look through a microscope directly at a section of a neuron mounted on a slide. Using a joystick, he traces the dendrites (the treelike branchings of the cell from the soma), passing them under a computer generated cursor. This cursor has an adjustable diameter which can accommodate the varying thicknesses of

the dendrites. By focusing on only a very small depth of the imagq the computer can accurately record each point of the cell as a threedimensional coordinate. The resulting model is then generated vizually on the screen as a stick figure which can be rotated smoothly to display the 3-D structure from a variety of angles. A realistic drawing of the cell can also be produced with the help of a felt-tip pen plotter. Such a plot can show detailed representations of swellings and other irregularities in the neuron. The system is also programmed to do a wide variety of statistical summaries based on the information entered into the computer. In this way, one cell or population of cells can be compared mathematically to another. Den-

dritic len$h, membrane surface areas, cell volumes, and many more sophisticated analyses are possible with this program. Capowski is very enthusiastic about the neuron tracing package. "There are so many potential applications," he says. "lt allows the

researcher who studies neurons to see many things which he muld not see using a micro scope alone. The microscope constrains his view to one tissue section seen from one direction. The visual depth of focus is limited to two 0r three microns an( of course, the image he sees is limited to two dimensions. With this system he can see the three dimensional branching patterns of the dendrites, even when they extend through sweral tissue sections There are other adyantages. The generation of realistic plots alone can save enormous amounts of time for a re searcher. There's a manually rconstructed

model of a Golgi-impregnated neuron, a really beautiful job, but it took a year to make.

a much more complex cell and plot it, all within forty hours." Capowski feels that his neuron tracing system is one of the best in the world in terms of flexibility, ease of use, range of abilities, and cost. Nevertheless, he continues to develop his work in new directions. Currently, he is working 0n a program for multi-neuron statistical summaries. Future plans include the We've been able to trace

development of new software systems, the modification and amplification of existing packages, and continued updating

of the

hardware.

-Tin

Jenkins

A.Y

E,il

The Evolution of Birds and Flight Support for the Dinosaurian Theory of Origin and for the Primacy of an Aerodynamic Function

Feathers

lithographica, the earliest known avian creature, was uncovered in a limestone quarry near the village of Solnhofen, Bavaria. About 140 million years old, the skeleton of Archaeopteryx was clearly reptilian, shon',ing many $ructural similuities to a branch of the dinosaurs called the coelurosaurs Among other featurs, it had fore arms ending in claws of three fingers and a long tail with many vertebrae. But it also had a pair of short feathers attached to each vertebra ts

= 4 E

Dr. Alan Feduccia holds

fossil of

a cnne from

the Myocene of Nebraska. A thre*neter thick ashfall fron a large volcano prcserved birds and

nannals hon

this period.

and wings with asymmetric, doublelaned feathers.

Therefore, it was also clearly avian. "The Archaeopteryx lossil is the most superb example of a specimen perfectly intermediate between two higher groups of living organisms-what has

-b

come t0 be called a 'missing linkj

says.

Feduccia

The discorery of the creatures avian characteristics was possible only because the grain

0f the Solnhofen limestone was uniquely fing allowing the impression of delicate feathers to visibly rccorded. Alsq because the limestone

was then being mined for the nelv lithographic

printing process,

was remorrcd in

lapn,

and

Despite numerous studies and fossil discorreries,

each slab of stone was eramined carefully for

the origin of birds and the wolution of flight ale still vigorously debated isues. Some of the

quality.

major questions sunounding these issues are: did birds descend directly from dinosaurs or

panllel to them, from the dinosaurs' ancestors? were the immdiate ancestors of flying birds ground or treeduelling creatures? and was the wolutionary function of feathen insulatory or aerodynamic? Studies conducted

recent years

by Dr. Alan Feduccia, asociate chairman and professor in the Department of Biologr, hara shd light on these questions.

Compefing Thcorler

of ffigin

The dinosaurian theory of the origin of birds arose in 1861, when a fossil of Archaeopteryx

The dinosaurian theory lost favor, hovmrer, during the early part of the twentieth century with the discorary of another fosil, Eupukeria, a creature 230 million )mrs old and betieved at

the time to be ancestral to both birds and dinosaun. This fossil led to the theory that birds originated much earlier, descending parallel with the first dinosaurs and directly from

the reptiles called pseudosuchian thecodonts. More recently, the work of Dr. John H. Ostrom

of Yale Uniwrsity has rwircd interest in the dinosaurian theory. 0strom realized that faint impressions of feathers had been oraerlooked in fossils identified as coelurosaurs and that the fosils werg in fact, specimens ol Archaupteryx.

This called attention once again to the specialized skeletal similarities between the first bird

The Berlin specinen (1877) of Archaeopteryx lithographica recovered fron a linestone quarry near Eichstatt and considered the world's nost fanous fossil. Note the leatherd wings and reptilian tail.

and one of the branches of dinosaun Interut

in the theory has been further

stimulated in

the intenening pars since Ostrom's discorery by the recorery of a large number of Iater bird fossils, including one

of a full-fledged flying

bird hom early in the Cretaceous Period, r,ery soon after the time of Archampteryx.

Further Support for the Dlnomurlen TheorT The results of Feduccias own studies, from

different approach, har,e further strenghened the

E.T

D.E

o.R.s

dinosaur hypothesis. While other scholan hare focused on Archampteryx in searching for the key that identifies its ancestor, Feduccia has looked to modem neotenic birds, i.e, those that

retain immature charaderistia. "Archaupteryx a flying bird and arclving touard adiw pcnnrered flight," Feduccia arplains. There

was already

forq it would not be opeded to uhibit the original chancteristia of the class. After comparing the bones in the shoulder girdle of volant and flightless birds, he has found differences that point to dinosaurian ancestry. Feduccia has studied in detail the conjunction of two boneq the scapula and the coracoid, in

adult birds that hare secondarily amlved flightlesnes from volant ancestors and in the embrps of rolant birds. By differentially staining the bone and cartilage in an embryq the skeleton may be cleady distinguished (see back co,rr). ln both the flightless and premature rrolant birds, the scapula and concoid form a

nearly rcrtical, obtuse angle ln some birds, the two bones har,e sen fused into one As the embrps of rolant birds mature, hcxmer, the angle closes and hcomes acute-about 90 degrees-permitting the powerful dwnwad stroke necessary

for flight.

From this information, Feduccia has concluded:

"The obtuse angle is a primitire chancteristig one at the basal line of the origin of the clas. The acute anglg on the other hand, is a deriwd chanderistig one that has woh,td with flight farther dorn the line" Fduccia searched for an ancestor that had a similar shoulder girdle structure He found it not in the pseudosuchiang but in their descendent$ the theropod dinosaurs, of which the coelurosaurs are a branch. In fact, the pseudo suchian shoulder had rtry litle in common with that of the birds. While Fduccia's research strengthens the thmry of dinosaurian ancestry it cannot rule out the posibility of parallelism or convergence "Whether this feature attained its structure

parthrough descendency ftom theropods or allelism or conrcrgence cannot be ascertained

for certain, but the striking similarity of the scapulocoracoid

of flightless birds and

cannot be ignored," Feduccia

The

theropods

notes.

ffiglnal funcdon

The scapula and coracoid fron modern flightlex and flying birds. The fused scapula and coracoid of the llightlex bird, with its obtuse angle, closely resenbles that ol the theropod dinosaurs.

holds that the ancestors r,'tre warmilooded, bipedal creatures that ran on the ground and that feathen aruhâ&#x201A;Źd first as a means of insulation. Later they were adapted to provide an aerodynamic function as the creatures took to

that ccnrcr the body and would haw been most apt to prwide insulation in the first birdsdegenerated, further indicnting that they, too, had an original aerodynamic function. "lf feathers rrcrc designed for insulation, why would they go to pieces when flight disappears?"

the air.

Feduccia ash.

to the other theory the ancestors were tree{rclling, and feathen arolwd to pro

aerodynamic and lose their structural

of this unique feature One school of thought

According

vide an adr"antage o,er falling. "The slightest fringe of scalelike feather equivalents would offer an immediate aerodynamic admntage in panchuting, which would rcpresent a stage intermediate betrrcen falling and gliding," Feduccia explains. adapted

In this model feathers were later for insulation when birds darcloped full

flight and the aaompanying high metabolic rates.

"Why feathen?" Fduccia asla Their structure is the most complex of all the types of outer cowrings, and while it appean to offer no great adlanEe cnrcr hair for insulation, it is a near perfect aerodynamic design. "Feathers arc so

complor, why hare them instead of hair?"

'[b uplore this question, Feduccia examined the feathers of modem birds under an electron microscope "lf feathers aolr,rd initially as insulation, then the body, or contour, Feduccia adds.

of foethen

of modem birds should be essentially similar to the original feather," he sap.

Whatelnr reptile was the ancestor of birds, a second unresolr,ed question is, ln what contort did feathen first a,olw? Birds are the only known creatures that hare featheq and there are two main theories arplaining the emergence

Looking at flightlas birdg whose feathen har,e only an insulatory function, Feduccia found that the feathers had drynerated and bcome hairlike losing their aerodynamic asymmetry and complex interlocking hrb strudun Furthermore, er,en the contour feathers-those

feathers

Because

both flight and contour feathers are

intqrity

when flight disappean Feduccia concludes that thry aolred first to aid flight and only secondarily to pr,ovide insulation. His findings are his original obsenation that supprted featheq because of their structural complexity, would amount to "gros orrcrkill' if desiped primarily for insulation. "To clothe a ground dv,tlling, endothermic reptile with feathen for insulation is tantamount to insulating an ice truck with heat shields from the space shuttlg" he adds. hleontologists are still far from linding definitir,r answers to many questions about the origin and anlution of birds, and only fosils of intermediate stages preceding Archaupteryx czn fill in the clues and direct scientists along the right paths. "Er,ery fosil is a piece of data in this story" Feduccia sap. "The more data, the more complete the story and the more able we

are to ask specific questions regarding phylogeny."

-Dianka J. Fduaia publishd the lirst

Pinner

,eadable account of bird booir The Age of Birds /Hanad Unitnnig Press, 198'0), which ha nore recently appearcd in bth C-crman and Japnese editions. A paWb'ack

ori$ns and ewlution in

dition will

iri

be publishd

the spring

1987.

E.tr

AYORS

The Genetics of Blood Coagulation UNC's Unique Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis Explores Causes and Tieatment

of Inherited

Blood Disorders and Faces the Complex Puzzle of AIDS

of hemophilic patients, the Diagnostic and Ileatment Center, directed by Dr. Campbell MacMillan, professor of pediatrics, is the second largest in the United States, treating 300 to 400 patients each year. Since 1953, investigators in the Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis have been involved in both clinical and laboratory investigation of

Dr. Harold R.

Roberts, director

of the Center for

Thrombosis and Hemostasis

blood coagulation disorders. Begun by Dr. Graham and Dr. Emily Barrow, professor of pathology, the laboratory originally consisted of a very small staff which has grown to over a dozen highly qualified researchers, due in large part to continuing efforts to widen the focus of research in the Center. The facility, recently named the John B. Graham Clinical Coagulation Laboratory, now includes faculty and researchers from the Departments of

each year. In 1946 Dr. Kenneth M. Brinkhous laid the foundation for the Center, presently supported by two major grants from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and now directed by Dr. Harold R. Roberts, Sarah Graham Kenan professor of medicine. Dr. Roberts is the principal investigator for one of these grants, and Dr. John B. Graham, pro fessor of pathology, is the principal investigator for the other. In addition, the Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis also includes the Comprehensive Hemophilia Diagnostic and

Tleatment Center. Created in 1978 to meet the increasing needs of a growing population

Noyes, research assistant professor in the Departments of Medicine and Pathology and director of the Amino Acid Sequence Laboratory along with Dr. Roger L. Lundblad, professor of pathology and biochemistry

this single amino acid change, the only abnormality out of 415 amino acids. "lf a person is making an abnormal proteinwhich can differ in just one amino acid out of several hundred-then that protein may detected

not work as well as it should, and in some

Pathology, Laboratory Medicine, Medicine, and

all," explains Dr. Noyes. Factor IX Alabama, another abnormal factor described by Dr. Roberts, was discovered in two hemophilia patients referred to Roberts from the University of Alabama. In addition

Biology.

to amino acid sequence analysis, such as that

Research at the Center for Thrombosis and

Hemostasis at UNC-CH has contributed significantly to a clearer understanding of the causes and potential cures of inherited blood diseases. One of only four centers in the entire United States funded to conduct research in thrombosis and hemostasis, UNC's Center receives grants in excess of two million dollars

residue instead of an arginine residue at a critical position in the molecule, making it resistant to activation for clotting. Dr. Claudia

Ihe Geneticc of Blood Coaguladon Normal blood clotting requires the presence

in the circulation of a number of soluble clotting factors. The absence of any one of these results in the bleeding disorder hemo philia. Dr. Roberts and his associates were the first to describe a particular aberration in one of these factors, which they then named Factor lX Chapel Hill. This abnormal blood clotting protein is inherited as a sexlinked recessive trait (carried solely by females and expressed almost exclusively

leads to one of several forms called hemophilia B.

males) and

of hemophilia

A protein is made up of a chain of amino acids, put together much like a string of beads. In the case of Factor lX Chapel Hill, this string of amino acids contains a histidine

cases, not at

carried out by Noyes and Lundblad, the sequence of a protein can also be determined by the sequence of nucleotides in the gene itself. Dr. Darrel W Stafford, professor of biology, and his colleagues found through genetic analysis that this abnormal molecule had glycine replacing aspartic acid at position

47 on the chain, a single amino acid substitution that results in abnormal binding of Factor IX Alabama to the cell surface, causing hemophilia B. The abnormal Factor IX molecules isolated by Dr. Roberts and his group have aided significantly in understanding the critical structure of the normal Factor IX molecule that is necessary to clotting function. "lt has only been in the last few years that the techniques in blood coagulation studies have become sensitive enough for us to follow the process down to the molecular level and locate the exact defects," says Dr. Noyes. Dr. Stafford is conducting structurefunction

o.R

EITI)

(genepeptide) relationship studies on spontaneous mutations in people seen at the University's Comprehensive Hemophilia Diagnosis and Tleatment Center. Stafford has cloned the gene for Factor IX and is comparing it with

in a series of patients who have a Factor IX hereditary defect. Stafford and his associates sequence the genes from each abmutations

normal DNA to see exactly what the mutation is, an important step toward understanding the function of Factor IX in patients, since the location of the mutation determines the kind of abnormality in hemophiliacs.

Dr. Howard M. Reisner, associate professor of pathology, has raised several monoclonal antibodies (specific immunoglobins produced

by hybrid cells artificially cloned in a lab) to Factor IX, and with Dr. Stafford is working to match up each monoclonal antibody with corresponding fragments of the molecule in order to sequence the entire Factor lX mole cule and eventually construct an entire epitopic map (showing each part of the protein that is antigenic) of this impo(ant molecule.

Iibrinogen and lhrombin

Dr. Roberts, Drs. Howard Reisner, Susan Lord, Dana Fowlkes, Kathleen High, John Grahan, and Darrel Staflord

basis for desiging inhibitors of thrombin activity and fibrin polymerization. "Such

Cora-Jean S. Edgell, assistant professor of

inhibitors as these may be clinically useful in treating or prwenting the kind of pathological clot formation that causes $rokes and heart disease," says Dr. Lord. Dr. Dana M. Fovlkes, assistant professor of

stasis because they produce factors that dissolve

pathology, studies the molecular mechanisms Researchers

in the Center also study, at

the

molecular level, two proteins basic to the clotting process, thrombin and fibrinogen. During clotting, thrombin cleaves the large fibrinogen molecules of the plasma to form a sticky fibrous protein called fibrin, which in turn forms a network of fihrs along with platelets to become a clot that slows down and eventually stops bleeding and encourages wound healing. Dr. Susan Lord, assistant professor of pathology, is working to describe the molecular details of the fibrinogen alphachain contrib uting to its roles as a substrate for thrombin and a participant in fibrin formation. ln the past, researchers proposed that cleavage by thrombin depends upon the presence of a particular (beta{urn) structure at 0r near amino acids at positions 13 and 14 on the protein chain. Dr. Lord conducts molecular

in order to suggest mutations which would disturb or support such a strucmodeling studies

ture, and will later test the predicted changes experimentally. She has cloned tumor fibrino gen, and can exprcss the gene in bacteria. In addition, Lord plans to study similar mutations along the entire alpha-chain (fibrinogen consists of several protein chains) in order to identify long range interactions. The results from these experiments will provide detaild information, serving as the

which determine the physiologic and pathologic levels of hemostatic proteins synthesized in the liver. Fowlkes' current model for study is called the "acute phase reaction," the normal physiological rcsponse t0 trauma or injury

during which fibrinogen synthesis increases dramatically. "l am concentrating on gene regulation-what turns a gene 0n and off-and what codes for the synthesis of fibrinogen," Fowlkes says.

Fowlkes has cloned and expressed the betachain of thrombin, another clotting protein.

pathology. These cells are important

in hemo

blood clots and prevent thrombosis, and they also produce some of the factors that promote the blood clotting necessary t0 prevent uncontrolled bleeding. Edgell's research focuses on how endothelial cells regulate the expression

of these diverse functions. The endothelium is a difficult tissue to study because it occurs as just a monolayer of cells throughout the vascular tree. A re searcher must peel such cells from a blood vessel in order to grow them in culture. The

will express many differentiated functions in culture, but they gradually lose this capacity and also the ability to replicate. In response cells

to that problem Edgell developed a highly successful continuous line of endothelial cells by hybridizing human umbilical vein endothelial

Scientific data indicate that the betarhain contains many, but probably not all, of the determinants for thrombin's various biological activities. "We've been applying molecular genetic techniques to begin our inquiry into the structure of thrombin, which is important

cells with another line that grows readily in

to carrying out its many functions," he

prothrombogenic, anti-thrombogenic, and fibri-

says.

By segregating the functions, Fowlkes hopes to learn more about the protein. "Clinically, this project has a great deal

relevance;

it,

we can begin to approach intervening in the process of cerebral hemorrhage and heart attacks," says Fowlkes.

Endothelial Cellc and Blood Clotting "l'm interested in the cells that line the blood vessels-endothelial cells," says Dr.

culture-a human tumor cell line. Differentiated cell functions are frequently extinguished in hybrid cells, but the hybrid line derived by Edgell continues to sustain and express many endothelial cell specific properties, including nolytic activities, rendering suitable for study.

especially

"ln order to look at how these activities are regulated, we needed some recombinant DNA probes, so we construded a c-DNA library from the hybrid," sap Edgell. The c-DNA library includes clones for the differentiated activities expressed by the specialized cell type. "Clones for a number of the differ entiated functions have been isolated, and we plan to use them as probes to find out how

R.S

is first aroused when more than a single

in a family. In order to detect carriers and to aid prenatal

case occurs

diagnosis Graham now uses certain DNA probes called restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPS). Every gene contains many restriction

enzyme recognition sites and sometimes there are differences that result in markers, known as RFLPs. These plymorphic sites on the clotting factor gene can be very useful for detecting the presence of an abnormal hemo philic gene. Dr. Graham is looking at the pal terns of polymorphisms that occur in the several

forms of hemophilia. Graham points out that a polymorphism requires three contiguous restriction enzyme sites, of which the outer ones must always be present and the inner be wiable, or polymorphic. They may lie within the gene itself Dr. Aibert White discusses X-ray results with a patient at North Carolina Menorial Hospital

the cells regulate which functions are expressed under different conditions," says Dr. Edgell.

Explorlng the Potential for Curafive Gene Ingertion fherapy

structure, function, and expression, since it allows one to characterize abnormal Factor IX molecules at the level of the nucleotide sequence," sap Dr. High. High plans to characterize the canine Factor IX defect at the level of the gene sequence.

and genetically the same as the human disease. A unique colony of dogs housed at the

After she isolates the normal canine Factor IX cDNA, she plans to insert it into a retrc viral vector (an organism that transmits an RNA virus into the host chromosome where it is replicated) for use in trials of canine gene transfer therapy, paving the way for the possibility of use in humans.

Francis Owens Blood Research Laboratory of UNC-CH makes it possible for Dr. High to explore the possibility of curative gene therapy (the actual insertion into the host's

Garrier ll,etection Studiec

Dr. Katherine A. High, assistant professor of medicine and pathology, defined the Factor lX gene in dogs with hemophilia B, clinically

genome of a normal replacement gene) as a means for treating hemophilia. She points out that the huge amount of blood required to make the clotting factors required to treat hemophilic bleeds each year renders the possibility of gene insertion therapy especially attractive. "Since rccombinant DNA techniques now permit the isolation of the genes which code for various clotting factors, it is possible to consider gene replacement therapy for hemophilia," she says. Efforts to characterize the abnormal Factor IX proteins have been hampered in the past

by the difficulties of obtaining and purifying adequate amounts of a protein which circulates in very small quantities. Thus, despite the crucial role of Fador IX in coagulation, relatively little is known about the molecular basis of its function. "The cloning of the gene for human Factor IX now makes possible another approach to the study of Factor lX

Since the 1950s, Dr. Graham has worked on the problem of detection of the female carriers of hemophilia. He notes that over 300 families have had their full genetic histories worked up at UNC, one family with more than 1,000 memhrs. Hemostasis in mammals depends upon the integrity of three interacting biological sys tems: blood vessels, platelets, and coagulation of plasma. "Since none of these are present in the fertilizd ovum, it is safe to infer that instructions for their coming into existence are coded in the DNA of the zygotic genome," says Graham.

Iko

steps occur

in recognizing and establish-

ing a hereditary disease: first, the recognition that a consistent polymorphism exists (the presence of a trait), and second, a demonstration that the trait is hereditary. Graham notes that suspicion that a trait is hereditary

or closely adiacent to it. In order to study these

sites,

a researcher

must have a probe which recognizes the polymorphic region. fuo probes are available at UNC for Factor IX (hemophilia B), and six for Factor VIII (hemophilia A), the most common clotting defect. "When these RFLP techniques are applied to families with hemo philia, they allow us to see specific genetic relationships previously only conjecturalcrossing-over and new mutations, for instance," says Graham.

Conventional methods of eramining plasmas for detecting hemophilia carrien are not as effective in the case of hemophilia B as are DNA studies. "The primary reason for carrier detection is to let women know before they become pregnant what their chances are for giving birth to a hemophilic baby," says Graham. Also, if researchers know the polymorphism pattern for hemophilia in a family,

they can examine the blood of an unborn fetus and determine whether a male baby is affected.

AIIDS Rccearch "Until recently, the major problems of hemo philiacs were joint bleeds and liver disease due to the occasional presence of hepatitis virus in plasma concentrates used for treatment," says Dr. Gilbert C. White, II, associate director of the Comprehensive Hemophilia Diagnostic and Tteatment Center and associate professor of medicine. Between 1981 and 1982

the first cases of AIDS in hemophiliacs were reported by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. In fact, the initial discovery of the AIDS virus (HTLV-IID was made utilizing a

EilI'E

AYORS

sample from a patient with clasic hemo philia at UNC s Hemophilia Tleatment Center.

Dr. White explains that in late 1982, collab orating with Dr. Bart Haynes and other immunologists at Duke Uniwrsity, he began a study of hepatitis and other viruses in hemo philia victims. "One of the viruses we were interested in was a newly discovered human retrovirus, HTLV-I. We saw high titers of antibodies to IITLV in some of the hemophilia patients and became very interested in HTL

viruses in general," he says. One patient with enlarged lymph nodes (lymphadenopthy syndrome, which is now called AIDS Related Complex, or ARC) was particularly interesting. Dr. White sent samples of this patient's blood to Dr. Robert A. Gallo of the National Cancer Institute, who found very high titers of antibody to an unrecognized rebovirus-HTLV-lll. Drs. White and Gallo, along with other colleagues, published this cardinal discovery in Science

1985.

A patient wik henophilia demonstmtes the technique ol home infusion of periphenl blod clotting lactor concentmte. This aduance in thenpy, obviating the need for a hospital visit and pernitting prompt trcatment, was made possible by Dr. Robert Wagter, professor of pathologt, and Dr. Brinkhous, who together d*eloped a blood clotting factor concentnte

White, Haynes, and Gallo harc continued to collaborate and expand their efforts, adding Dr. Dani Bolognesi of Duke University to their research team, and are now studying the role

of HTLV-lll, using Factor VIII

1lr ''*! *

,n.&

i ,:ii

-r-rrfrh; ,fg*;rc":l;[*ry..r: --*

ffiisfl' {*rr;$\

concentrates

which contain the virus to find out how it attacls cells and leads to immune impairment. Factor VIII concentrates are now prepared by several commercial pharmaceutical companies that employ a basic method of purification described by Dr. Robert H. Wagner,

irlfi-G

$rr

'' .'.:"o l,l

professor of pathology at UNC. However, before the connection between HTLV-lll and

blood factor concentrates was known, hemo philiac patients everywhere, including those cared for by the Hemophilia Tleatment Center, were exposed to the AIDS virus through the blood products necessary to stop bleeding. These patientq whose records have been kept since the late 1950s, will provide invaluable resources to help researchers define the natural history of AIDS and the efficacy of new drugs now being tested for treatment. Moreover, these patients can be used to test the efficacy of an AIDS vaccine when and if such a laccine is developed. Dr. White explains that HTLVJII cannot be detected

in Factor VIII concenfates, "but

do know that a hemophiliac will not get this virus unless he is treated with the concentrate." he says Why then do the concentrates predispose one to HTLV-lll? Does the Factor VIII concentrate alter the lymphocy'te to make it more susceptible to the virus? 'Answers to these kinds of questions will give us a clue as to how the virus infects a cell," Dr. White says.

$: E a

illl:':

lffi +r.-*

,*.pffii{-;

;

this photognph, all thrw subjuts have a genetic blood cldting disease and have contributed to the Centels knowldge about blood coaguhtion birchenistry and genetics. The pig has von Will&rand's disease (lack of von lVillebnnd factor that resuhs in a bleeding disorder), the nan and the dog have classic hemophilia.

White uses hemophiliac blood samples to identify protective and non-protective antibodies. Most hemophiliacs have antibodies to HTLV-lll, but only one percent g0 0n t0 develop AIDS. White plans to characterize the antibodies of patients who do not contract

"lf we can identify those antibodies that are protedive, we can use them to make a vaccine," he explains. Dr. Roberts of the Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis points out that for the great AIDS.

number of hemophiliacs seen at UNC each year,

life spans had increased up to forty years until the introduction of AIDS. In addition, the great amount of money necessary to provide each patient with enough concentrate to keep him healthy necesitates a more profound understanding of hemostasis in order to provide alternatives for treatment. Ongoing projects in

the Center for Hemostasis and Thrombosis promise to address these serious and complex issues in the years to come

-Ann

F. Stanford

IID

A.Y

o.R

Imaging and Failure Analysis of Integrated Circuitry Partnership Between the University and Industry Stimulates Development

of Novel Methods and

Tools

assistant professor

of biomedical engineering

and physics and astronomy, has operated for four years with funds from the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) in the Research Tliangle Park, located near Chapel Hill. SRC, a nonprofit organization with over 35 indus-

trial members, coordinates university research with industrial needs. Currently, national research funding for support of faculty and nearly 400 graduate students approaches twenty million dollars annually.

At UNC-CH, members of a unique team consisting of two faculty members and five students, cutting across several departmental

boundaries, have developed methods and tools which resolve some of the difficulties inherent in the process of failure analysis of complex integrated circuits (computer chips).

Failure Analysio Craduate student

llill

Oxford and Dr. Roy H. Propst, director of the

Industry-sponsored research at the university level has demonstrated time and again the efficacy of a working liaison between a private corporation, 0r group of corporations, and the

Bionedial Miuoelectronics Laboratory

active research community of a university. The Biomedical Microelectronia Laboratory of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, directed by Roy H Propst, research

Failure analysis of integrated circuits is distinguished from testing of integrated circuits in that testing involves determining whether chip works or not, and is carried out after

the chip has been manufactured. Failure analysis, on the other hand, concerns the

D.E

A.Y

with Dr. Frank A. DiBianca, professor of biomedical engineering and director of the Biomedical Microelectronics Program.

Inage Procccclng ilethodc Propst and his associates have dweloped an entire array of software aimed toward more precise and clear failure analysis of integrated circuits using various image processing methods. The research utilizes scanning electron microscopy, which has become an essential tool for failure analysis in the

the image is directly prbportional to the number of electrons scattered and collected from the circuit being examined. With this process, researchers can see the chip while it is being activated and watch the charge actually move through lhe complex circuitry. The video images are then digitized, which means that they can be stored and processed

for computer manipulation.

addition, the team has developed color

for the display routines. Student William Oxford says, "We can get much more infor-

mation from a circuit if we have color rather

semiconductor industry. Using electrons rather than light, scanning electron microscopy collects scattered (or secondary) electrons, which create the image. Electron microscopy provides greater resolu-

than black and white images." Michael Neascu explains, "We use an intuitive model of a heated object spectrum in which various color mappings distinguish the shades, going all the way from glowing red to white hot, depending on the degree of heat or cold." This

tion than optical microscopy, making visible entities that could not be seen with light alone. In addition to its higher resolution, the

spectrum provides a vivid idea of relative brightness levels in an image.

scanning electron microscope (SEM) allows one actually t0 "see" voltage levels, which is

an impossibility with optical methods. The team of researchers have taken the SEM images of integrated circuits and created

Dr. C. Robert Bagnell, research

assistant professor

Yottege Gonhart f,Ieasurementc

dynamic, or animated, displays using video tape procedura. When voltage moves from positive to negatiw, it changes from black to

Although the first observation of voltage contrast 0n the scanning electron microscope was reported almost thirty years ago, the use of this phenomenon to measure voltages on

white on the video display. The intensity of

operating semiconductor integrated circuits

of pathology and director of the Pathology Department Research Electron Microscopy Laboratory

location and characterization of specific faults during production of an intErated circuit. These faults can result either from initial design errors or processing problems during fabrication. "The failure analysis and testing process has become one of the most impor-

tant, expensive, and timeconsuming phases of integrated circuit fabrication," says Dr. Propst. Since failure analysis encompasses a wider spectrum of electrical, mechanical, and analytic procedures than equipment testing, the development of tools for failure analysis has lagged behind that for testing. Working with Dr. Propst are Dr. C. Robert Bagnell, Jr., research assistant professor in the Pathology Department and director of the

,l','F

Pathology Department's Research Electron Microscopy Labontory, and graduate students Edward L Cole, Jr., Lori Lipkin, and Michael Neascu from the Department of Physics and Astronomy and William V. 0xford and Brian G. Davies from Biomedical Engineering. Formerly on the team were students Craig Allyn Smith and Darryl 0. Johnson, along

Graduate students Lori Lipkin, Ed Cole, and Michael Neasa examine a control box designed by Propstb team and built by Cole for fabriution of necessary testing equipnent.

was not common until the advent of the modern digital computer. Voltage contrast involves a variation in image

intensity caused by a local variation in the elechic field near the surface of an operating integrated circuit. The local field is superimposed onto the field of the secondary electron collector s0 as to decrease (when positive) or increase (when negative) the number of reflected and scattered electrons collected at any instant. 0nce the voltage levels are pictured on a correctly operating device, they are compared with those of a defective integrated circuit. Theoretically, the difference between the defectirre and the nondefective integrated

Gnduate student Brian Davies nounts a device holder onto the stage before loading it into the chanber of a rccently purchasd electron miuoscope designed for the nicroelectroniu industry that allows

uanination of whole

waferc.

circuit should locate the failure, but it is never that simplq explains Propst. "Most chips have millions of conductors, and you need extremely high resolution to see them all," he says. In addition, to avoid radiation damage in metaloxide devices, lon primary electron beam energies must be used. These electrons only penetrate into the uppermost portion of the passivation layer, the layer of silicon dioxide that protects the integrated circuit of a computer chip from chemicals in the atmo sphere. To perform conventional voltage contrast, the glass (silicon dioxide) must be stripped from the chip by putting it into an acid bath, which can damage the integrated circuitry.

Among many novel methods developed by Propst and his associates, timeresolved capacitive coupling voltage contrast provides the means for voltage contrast imaging through the passivation layer, thus alleviating the need for stripping. In this technique, subsurface voltage changes buried under the passilation layer induce polarizations of the insulating layer between the deep structure of the inte grated circuit and the surface. The charge is dissipated by the scanning electron beam. In addition, the team can now freeze individual frames ("frame grabbing") for closer scrutiny, and average them with a computer. To lower device contamination rates, an ex-

tremely low primary electron beam current is q

used to produce these images. However, the low current provides a very poor signal-to noise ratio in the resultant video images. Thus, multiple video frames are averaged for each image, resulting in an image with im-

b a a

prorred signal A

a d

An aranple of the inoease of signal to noise ntio is shown using frane avenging

this squence of photographs obtained

to noise characteristics. This

noise can be characterized by the frequency spectrum of the image i.e., its Fourier transform. The Fourier transform allows researchers to analyze just how much noise is actually present in an imagg and how to eliminate it.

o n.s

Paraneter f,leasuremcnt In addition to failure analpis, scanning electron microscopy may be used for examining the physics and properties of an integrated circuit. Propst explains that one method, electron beam induced current imaging (EBIC), can determine exactly where the junctions between the positive and negative materials are located on a chip, in order to tell if the junctions fit the manufacturer's designed specifications.

In addition, when color is added and the images are enlarged, junctions are more clearly seen. Small segments of the chip are analyzed and then added to each other on the screen to form a complete image. Dr. Propst points out that the misalignments in

chip make a significant difference in how well it will work. Propst's team has developed a method of measuring resistance between the points of the integrated circuit (resistive contrast imaging) using EBIC. Using the scanning electron microscope primary beam as a current source, researchers inject

t a

a very small current into

the device at a given location. The measure ment of current flow at two different chip bonding pads determines the relative resistance between the location of the primary beam and the two terminals, and produces an image of the device that depicts relatiw resistance.

Iechnology llenrfer and Blologlcal Appllcaff onc Another significant aspect of the research conducted in the Biomedical Microelectronics Laboratory is the transfer of technology to other fields. Dr. Bagnell, a pathologist, says, "l'm involved in this research for more than the obvious reason that I have the scanning electron microscory know-how. I'm interested in the technology transfer between image pro cessing and computer analyses that Dr. Propst is doing on integrated circuits, and the image processing and computer analyses that we can do on biological specimens." Bagnell notes that medicine stands to gain from the transfer of research between the two fields. Many of the techniques and methods de veloped in Propst's lab are being used in the Pathology Department. For example, Bagnell and his associates have just implemented a technique t0 reconstruct a threMimensional image of a biological specimen. Recently they have taken a white blood cell, whose internal

Thrce4inensional gnph ol EBIC image finset) showing the junction befi,rcen two types ol seniconductor naterials

morphology is very complicated, and have been studying it by making serial sections and using a computer system to reconstruct it in 3-D images "We bought a system designed by Dr. Capowski of the Department of Physi

such as the Semiconductor Research Corporation are sponsoring more and more research in order to make the American semiconductor industry more competitive.

ology, and we are taking Dr. Propst's image collection capabilities and combining the two technologies to enhance this system greatly,"

says Dr. Bagnell.

Bagnell and Propst are currently generating to help automate the process of

software

digitizing in order to speed up the image reconstruction process.'Automation will eliminate the roadblocls to doing 3-D reconstruction, which takes a great deal of time," says Bagnell. He adds that collaboration with researchers in the Department of Radiology is in the planning stages also.

Rerearch and tte Sonlconductor Indurfry Because foreign competition is very strong in the semiconductor industry industry affiliates

Techniques and methods have been dweloped

Propst's lab to enhance reliability and production in the semiconductor industry. "We want to take all the technologies we have developed and integrate them into a larger, automated system which will allow interfacing between a CAD/CAM [computer aided design/computer aided manufacturing] system and our testing system," says student Brian Davies. Eventually, the team would like to integrate the processes of fabrication, testing, and failure analysis, so that the same system would carry out the three procedures.

Dr. Propst sap, "The semiconductor industry needs a way to do in-proces, online, rea[time failure analysis of integrated circuits. What we design in our lab fits in a variety of ways into a much larger puzzle."

-Ann F. Stanford

oRS

Seat Belt Safety UNC's Highway Safety Research Center Examines the Effects of T\ry0 State Laws While Educating the Public on the Issue

of Safety Restraints

categories: the der,elopment

of incentive pro

grams t0 encourage the use of seat belts among adolescents and adults, the emluation

of the

state laws, and the continuation of a child restraint program.

Ghlldron and Safcty Rechahts

Research Associate

Willian Hunter, Dr. Donald Rein[urt, and

HSRC Director

Dr. B.l. Campbell

The passage of two pieces of legislation by the General fusembly made 1985 a watershed year in the history of automobile safety in North Carolina As of July l, 1985, the new

As a result of these two laws a good deal of public attention has been focused on the use of seat belts. The issues surrounding safety restraints, however, are not new UNC's

Child Passenger Protection Law replaced

Highway Safety Research Center has been involved in inr,estigating the effects of seat belt usage, and in developing methods for public education and the dissemination of

earlier and les comprehensive version that had been passed in 1981. October 1, 1985 marked the effective date for the state's first mandatory seat belt usage law covering drivers and all front seat passengers.

information in this area, for nearly a decade. At present, its work falls into three major

In the Fall of 1977, HSRC, funded through the Governor's Highway Safdy Program, launched their Child Restraint Project on what was then a yearly basis. The project's primary goal was to educate parents on the dangers children faced when traveling in automobiles and to encourage the use of child safety seats. This was undertaken through the publication of a newsletter, IUI LINE, lhe establishment of a toll-free telephone information line, and through prcsentations to groups of all sorts throughout the state: PIAs, pediahic and medical societies, and public health organizations. "Whererer we could set up an exhibit or get 0n an agenda, wed gq" says research associate William Hatl. "The staff spent a good deal of time on the road. But it got people talking, and that word of mouth helped t0 get the ball rolling." Indeed, a large number of HSRC s staff have been involved with the project, including Forrest Council, B.J. Campbell, Barerly 0rr, Lauren Marchetti, Ann Woodward, Donna Suttles, Teresa Parls, and Ellen Orcrman. While the program's initial efforts helped to double the use of child resraints throughout the state, ovenll compliance was still a dismally low l1 percent. Tiagically, 80 percent of the children who were dying in automobile accidents could have been saved if they had been properly res[ained. Nationally, therp

R.S

had been a move toward legislation as a solution to this problem. In 1979, Tennessee's state legislature became the first to pass a law requiring child restraintq but not without

a battle. 0pponents, who saw the law as an infringement on a parent's right to raise a child as he or she saw fit, fied to scuttle it by introducing an amendment which waived the restraint requirement if the child were sitting on an adult's lap. Proponents were appalled at what came t0 be known as the "Child-Crushe/' amendment, for in a crash a lapheld child may be crushed between the car's interior and the body of the adult. They dmided, however, that half a law was better than none and pushed the bill through. Later, when the efficacy of the law became apparent, the amendment was rescinded. In North Carolina, similar resistance occurred in 1981, but here too a law was passed. According to studies conducted by Hall and his associates, that law has been extremely effective. By the end of 1984, compliance rates were up to as high as 70 percent, and HSRC estimates that, among children under two, twenty-two lives were savd and fifty-five serious injuries uere prevented in the period between 1982 and 1984. Enmuraged in part by HSRC's eraluations, legislators strengthened

the law

1985.

fuo

continuing problems are the widespread and sometimes gross misuse of the restraint devices available, and ignorance as to the provisions of the legislation. "hrents don't realize the extent of the law," says Lauren Marchetti, editor of IUf LINE, 'hnd we're

making it our business to educate them. The l98l law covered children under two riding with their parents. Now all children less than six years old must be buckld up by all drivers." Adds Hall, "The wa5n people find to misuse restraints are endless They include the purchasing of uncrashworthy seats from flea-markets 0r garage sales, improper installation of the seats, putting the child in the wrong way-more children might live if parents kner,v what they \4rre doing." ln conjunction with the N.C. Passenger Safety Association, HSRC is pursuing an aggressive education program to corred these problems. The Child Restraint Project is now a permanent ongoing program in the Center's activities.

Incendve kogremr HSRC's highly successful adult incentive

program began

1981.

Dr. B.J. Campbell,

Hall discusses the propu 0rr, Lauren Marchetti, and Ann Woodward.

Research Associate Willian

the Center's diredor, responded to a federal request for research ideas with a plan to combine a program offering education and incentives for seat belt use with statistical surveys to determine how effedive the incentives actually uere, and for how long. Explains William Hunter of the program, "Our approach was basically twofold. First, we'd educate a group as to the hows and whys of belts, and the risls involved in driving without them. Then ned employ inentives to get the drircrs accustomd to buckling up." Chapel Hill High School was targeted for the initial effort. ln the previous seven years, an average of one student per year had died in automobile accidents, and irnariably these fatalities involved unrestrained passengers 0r drivers. Clearly, some action was needed, and HSRC thought the nov program was the answer.

The Center began the program by making observational surveys on the use of shoulder belts among $udent drivers. (Lap belts are not easily visible to an observer, and so were not counted.) After a baseline usage rate of 20 percent was determined, there followed an intensive educational phase. Usage rose to 40 percent, but began to drop off over a five to six-week period. Then, a monthlong incentive phase was inifiated. Properly buckled drircrs

and passengers were picked randomly from the traffic stream going into and out of school parking lots and awarded a coupon

use

of child safety

seats

with

colleagues Beverly

redeemable for five dollars. These winners also became eligible for a $300 grand prize drawing. Shoulder belt usage averaged 53 percent during this phase. Continued observational studies showed a drop after the program ended, but usage leveled off at 36 percent, and stayed there. In all, the program nearly doubled the rate of belt usage among students and was considered a great success.

In 1983 the Center began its most ambitious program to date, a community-wide campaign lasting for six months. "Seat Belts Pay Off," as the program was called, included both Chapel Hill and Carrboro and involved a barrage of publicity in print, public service announcements on the radiq spnsorship from the local business community, and the local police. The program's mo$ visible sym-

bol was the Center's yellow van, which cruised the streets while displaying a large sign giving current estimated usage rates for the community. Prizes ranged from coupons redeemable for fast food meals to a $1000 grand prize dmwing. Over all, from a base line of 24 percent, usage rates peaked at 4l percent, and then stabilized at about 36 percent, representing a S0-percent increase. The campaign receivd the Secretary's Award for Excellence as a community health promotion program from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Continued on inside back cover

Eil

The Letters of Paul Green An Autobiography in the

Rough

activism. Scholars at UNC were working to establish the University as a center for liberal, critical interest in society, and Green devoted a lot of time and effort to social amelioration, especially in the area of race relations. Black artists were welcomed at UNC and stayed

with Green while they were here. "lt was not an easy time to be in favor of racial justice, and he was so well known that he was very visible," Avery notes. "But he was a moral visionary, and anything that didn't

fit

his

morals disturbed him, and he threw himself into it." For instance, Richard Wright came t0 the University in 1941 to work with Green on a dramatization of Wright's Native Son. The tension created by Wright's presence was s0 great that the la$ night of his visit, Green sat out

Dr. Laurcnce Avery professor of English, with a bust of his friend Pad Areen by sculptor Willian Hipp,

lll

in the yard to protect his

opposed to

"The kind of book I like is the one that tells the story of a person's life," says Dr. Laurence G. Avery professor of English at UNC-CH. Avery is editing the voluminous letters of the late Paul Green, the former professor of dramatic art for whom the University's theater is named. "Since I've read all of his letters and diaries as well as his published work, and also knew him," Avery adds, "l have a pretty good sense of how his mind worked, and I try to let the letters show his mind." A playwright and scholar, Green began his tenure at UNC-CH as a professor of philosophy, switching to the Department of Dramatic Art

when it was founded in the mid-1930s. Al' though he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1927 for In Abraham's Bosom, Green was not a great Broadway success. "Paul Green was an experimenter," Avery explains. "He wanted to write plays that weren't like the plays people were used to seeing on Broadway. Because of that, although he had several Broadway productions, he had a hard time getting his plays produced there." Green is best known Ior The Lost Colony,

which was commissioned for a celebration of the 350th anniversary of the Roanoke settlement. The play was especially risky because Roanoke is an island, and at that time there was no bridge across the sound or roads to a boat launching site. Nevertheless, about fifty thousand people came to its performances the first summer, and up to a hundred thousand

years thereafter.

The play's innovativeness contributed to its appeal. It was unusual in that it was presented outdoors on the site of the original settlement, representing a back-to-nature concept characteristic of Green's philosophy. He believed that performance on the very spot where an event had taken place would facilitate a spiritual renewal. Green's concept caught hold and spurred a new genre of dramatiza-

tion. Eighteen of his own commemorative plays, along with several hundred by other writers, have been presented across the nation. Green's theatrical activities and success brought much prestige to UNC. But equally important to the University was his social

guest.

Green also spent a lot of time at Central Prison, working with the inmates. "He became interested in capital punishment because he saw that it was more often inflicted on blacks and poor whites, although he later became

it on principle,"

Avery says.

least one occasion, he saved the life of a person sentenced t0 death by pleading the inmate's case with the governor. lt was the first pardon granted to someone who had been sentenced to death

in North Carolina.

Avery became acquainted with Green in 1976 while editing the letters of Maxwell Anderson. Avery liked Green, found that he was an energetic correspondent, and proposed editing his letters. Green became excited about the project as well and, until he died in 1981, gave Avery a r00m t0 work in at his home, Windy Oaks.

"lt

was kind of an ideal

situation for an editor," says Avery, who also secured a University Research Council grant for making working copies of letters. Although Green supplied many of his letters -there are 6,000 now at UNC alone-as well as his personal diaries, he never tried to influence Avery's work. "He said t0 me one don't want you leaving day," Avery recalls, out ones that you don't think are pretty."' But because Green was so prolific, many of

"'l

Continued on inside back cover

Continued from page 19

Dvaluetion of the State Law The 1985 adult seat belt bill includes a provision that the Governor's Highway Safety Program shall evaluate the effects of the law and issue a report on its findings by October 1988. With funding from GHSB the Highway

is conducting that is directed by Dr. Campbell and

Safety Research Center study, which

Dr. Donald Reinfurt. According to Reinfurt, HSRC's provisional report at the end of 1986

will

address three areas: changes

usage

rates, changes in the number of injuries and fatalities, and the extent of law enforcement activities.

Reinfurt's team has picked out 72 sites throughout the state from which to monitor usage. A third of the sites are in the mountains, a third in the Piedmont, and the rest are on the coast. Data are stratified in terms

of rural or urban sites, the time of day (commuting, noncommuting, or weekend), and by road types (U.S. Highway, Interstate, or city street). Finances preclude covering all sites regularly, but twelve representative sites are observed every two months, and inclusive surveys are done three times a year. 0bservers

work for oneand-a-hal[hour periods at each site. They observe vehicles stopping at intersections, collect information regarding the type of vehicle, the race, sex, and belt status of the front seat occupants, and note any unusual occurrences. Reinfurt is finding an overall compliance rate of 45 percent, which is disappointing, though

still better than many other

states

report. Those who wear belts tend to live in urban rather than rural areas, drive cars rather than pickups, and be commuters rather than noncommuters. The mountains have the Iowest compliance rate. Working with figures obtained from the Division of Motor Vehicles, HSRC estimates that 1,600 people were saved from moderate or serious injuries in car crashes in the first three months since the law went into effect. Reinfurt points out that, impressive as these numbers are, they represent the results of less than half of all drivers belting themselves. The benefits of the law could increase substantially with a larger compliance rate. Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the report for seat belt proponents will be the section dealing with the level of enforcement during the current warning phase. Questionnaires were sent out t0 city, county, and state police departments, asking them how actively they were enforcing the law, and how they went about doing so. The Highway Patrol

reported issuing 7,000 warning tickets a month, but many city departments and sherifls offices said they relied on verbal warnings if they bothered with the law at all, and a few stated they had no intention of enforcing it.

fron page 20

Continued

the letters must be left out, making selection one of the greatest tasks of the project. For his book, Avery is paring the collection down to a representative five hundred and annotating each letter to place it in context. Without information about the recipient, events referred to in the letter, and their outcome, a letter is unintelligible, Avery says. But such information is not always easy to obtain. To track down pieces of the puzzle, Avery has interviewed Green's family, especially his sisters and children. Green's administrative assistant, Rhoda Wynn, has also been very helpful in identifying correspondents and filling

in the events of Green's life. 0f the

project,

Avery comments, "Each letter is a series of research problems."

-Diantha J. Pinner

Endoevorr Research and Craduale Education at the Universltv of

Norlh Carolina at Chapel Hill Winter

1987

"This could seriously hinder our efforts to get the maximum benefits hom the law,"

Volume

says Reinfurt.

the 0ffice of Researc-h Services, a division of the Oraduate School 0f the University of Norlh Carolina at Chapel Hill. flach issue of fndeavors describes only a fsr of the many ruearch projects undertaken by faculty and students of the University.

Despite these difficulties, HSRC is happy with the results seen so far. "lt's clear evidence," says Campbell, "that the seat belt law already means a great deal t0 our state in the prevention of human suffering."

-Tin

Number

Endeavors is

Jenkins

magazine published three times a year by

Requests for permission t0 reprinl material, readers' comments, and requests for extra copies should be sent lo Edilor, Endeavors, 0ffice of Research Sewices, 300 Bynum Hall 008A, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 2i514 (telephone g19/966562s).

Continued

hon inside front

cover

laboratories of the universities for the ultimate benefit of the public. The work 0f the Con-

sortium should enlarge the relalions between university faculty and industry in a context which is constructive and appropriate. The Consortium is in part an esension of the continuing effort of the 0ffice of Research Services, among others, t0 serve the research needs on campus more effectively. The Tliangle Universities Gnter for Advanced Studies, Inc. (TUCASD, through a financial

commitment from the Research 'lfiangle Foundation, has agreed to contribute operating costs of the Consortium for its first five years. Thereafter, if the Consortium is successful, it should generate support of university research indirectly by royalties and directly by industry contracts.

A search is now underway for a Director of

the lliangle Universities Licensing Consortium and we hope to have the position filled by January 1, 1987. Because the success of the Consortium will depend upon the faculties and research staffs of the three research un! versities in the Tliangle, the Dircctor and the Consortium staff witl need to be in touch with members of the faculty and staff who are generating patentable and licensable discoveries.

During the coming year there will be opportunities for faculty and staff members t0 meet with the staff of the Consortium for this purpose. In the meantime, the Chapel Hill-based members of the Board of Directors of the Consortium, Ms. Susan Ehringhaus, Dr. John H. Harrison, and l, will welcome your observations, sugge$ions, and interest.

*Stuart Bondurant September

24,

1986

Chancellor: Christopher C. Fordham, III Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Graduate School: G. Philip Manire Director: 0ffice of Research Services: Tom K. Scott

Editor: Suzanne Appelbaum Assistant Editors: Tim Jenkins Diantha J. Pinner

Ann F, Stanford Photographer: Will Owens

Designer:

Donna S. Slade

1987 by The University

Hill in the Urited

States.

of North Carolina at

All righls

Chapel

reserved. No part of

this publication may be reproduced without the consent

of The Unirersity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Cover: Clouds cap prelnca tenaced fields farmed by campesinos on the eastern slope of the southern Andes in Peru. The main crop at this altitu&, 2,800 meters, is corn. Photograph by Dr. Bruce Winterhalder. Story on page l.