Newsbriefs ----------------------------- Hopkins ranked No. 10 in latest U.S. News survey ----------------------------- Johns Hopkins University is ranked No. 10 nationally in this year's U.S. News & World Report's annual ranking of U.S. colleges and universities. Last year, Hopkins ranked No. 22. And in the magazine's first-ever ranking of undergraduate engineering schools and programs, the G.W.C Whiting School of Engineering ranked No. 17, tied with seven other programs, and the Department of Biomedical Engineering is ranked No. 1. The 1995 rankings will be published in the magazine's Sept. 18 issue, on newsstands Sept. 11. "We are unquestionably pleased at the university's ranking, which places us among the top 10 nationally," said Robert Massa, dean of enrollment management. "More important, however, is the recognition that Hopkins is among the best universities in the country year after year. And being No. 5 or 15 or 22 is less relevant than the acknowledgment of our stature within our peer group." Massa noted that one reason for the university's shift from 22 to 10 has to do with a change in the way part-time faculty teaching in part-time programs are evaluated. "In my judgment, Hopkins is the same quality institution it has been for years," he said. "Year to year, U.S. News does a very good job reflecting the top schools in the nation, and they are recognized for doing so," said Provost Joseph Cooper. "We are pleased to have this confirmation of our excellence overall and of the School of Engineering and the Department of Biomedical Engineering." School of Engineering dean Don Giddens was pleased by the positive recognition his program received in the magazine's first such survey and ranking. "This is a wonderful reflection of our program, which only formally began [as the Whiting School] 16 years ago and remains one of the smallest programs, in size, among the top 50 engineering schools in the country," Giddens said. "I think our ranking derives not only from the reputation of the exceptional quality of our faculty and staff but also from the overall high regard in which Hopkins is held among research universities." Murray Sachs has served as director of the Department of Biomedical Engineering for five years; for each of those years the graduate program has been ranked first nationally. "Needless to say we are very pleased at the recognition of our undergraduate program," Sachs said. "It is a tribute to a hard-working faculty with responsibilities in the schools of Medicine and Engineering and the program they maintain in both biology and engineering." ------------------------- Blood Drive scheduled for Sept. 13 and 14 ------------------------- The 1995 Red Cross Blood Drive continues on the Homewood campus from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sept. 13 and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sept. 14, in the Glass Pavilion in Levering Hall. Donors will be entered in a raffle for two sets of tickets to the Orioles' final game of the season, at 1:35 p.m. against the Detroit Tigers on Oct. 1. To sign up for donation time, call Peggy Jones, at (410) 516-8039. Medical News ----------------------------- Measles vaccine safe for children with egg allergies ----------------------------- A new study says more than 99 percent of allergic children have no reaction to the small amount of egg-related antigen found in the combined measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and the University of Arkansas confirmed that the vaccine is safe even for children who react to eggs. Published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine, their study underscores a need for change in the national guidelines, they said. "Currently, children who react to a skin test of the vaccine get six progressive injections, rather than a single shot. It's an upsetting and painful procedure," said Hugh Sampson, professor of pediatrics, allergy and immunology at the Children's Center. "We're hoping the American Academy of Pediatrics will reconsider the current recommendation." ------------------------- Inhaler used for asthma may cause heart disease ------------------------- People using a popular inhaled prescription drug for chronic asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and other lung diseases may be at increased risk for a form of heart disease. Results of a study at Hopkins and other medical centers suggest that the inhalers with beta-agonists have a role in causing idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, which often leads to heart failure. In idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, the heart's ventricles become stretched and cannot contract normally, often leading to an "enlarged heart," congestive heart failure and death. Beta-agonists ease breathing by stimulating cell receptors in the airways, causing them to open. But beta-agonists also increase heart rate, elevate blood pressure and, in some people, trigger a potentially fatal abnormal heart beat. The study is reported in the current issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology. ---------------------------- Pulp and paper workers have lower mortality rate ---------------------------- The School of Hygiene and Public Health released a report late last month on the first phase of an industry-wide study of health trends for U.S. pulp and paper workers, which indicated, overall, that the mortality rate for long-term industry workers is about 74 percent lower than that of the general population. "This is an indication of what we call the 'healthy worker effect,' which is often found in groups of people who are gainfully employed," said the study's lead author Genevieve Matanoski, professor of epidemiology. The report also states that, for all diseases studied, none showed a significantly higher mortality rate, compared to that of the general public. Mortality rates for some specific diseases appeared elevated when employees were compared to each other. For example, employees in mills which used certain pulping processes had elevated mortality rates for heart disease, lung and brain cancers, and lymphomas compared to employees at mills that did not use similar processes. The study, begun in 1987 with an initial grant from the American Forest and Paper Association, should be completed in 1997. The report, the first of a multiphased study, analyzed data from 63,000 long-term employees working in 51 pulp and paper mills nationwide for 10 or more years.