Discoveries highlight year in
Larry Dean Martin, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the KU Museum of Natural History, left, and Zhonghe Zhou, a KU doctoral student from China, hold a cast of the world's earliest bird bird
— named Confuciusomis. The two were part of a team that discovered the fossil in China.
Confuciusornis reveals wisdom about bird evolution
Two Kansas University researchers are pushing back the beginning of time for birds.
Larry Dean Martin, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the KU Museum of Natural History, said discovery of the world's earliest beaked bird named Confuciusornis would revolutionize thinking about bird evolution.
He said a farmer in a Chinese province northeast of Beijing last year unearthed evidence that birds had diversified into at least two major groups late in the Jurassic Period, which was 195 million to 140 million years ago.
The only other bird species known to exist in the Jurassic — the beakless Archaeoptery — is roughly 5 million years older than Confuciusornis
"Until now, if you were a bird-watcher in the Jurassic, you would have only one bird on your watch list." Martin said. "Now, you have more than one."
Given this discovery, Martin predicted researchers would likely find evidence these
birds lived millions of years earlier than previously thought. After all, many generations were needed to evolve a bird species without teeth.
In addition, the region where Confuciusornis was found is loaded with bird fossils.
"This area of China is a gold mine for early bird evolution," Martin said.
Martin shares credit with Zhonghe Zhou, a KU doctoral student from China with an international reputation as a fossil hunter. Chinese paleontologist Lianhai Hou and University of North Carolina biologist Allen Feduccia also worked on the project.
Martin said their findings forced revision of 150 years of paleontology analysis of nature's work with birds.
"Previously, one could make the argument that all birds derived from Archaeopteryx. It stood on a perch alone. That was the framework people used to look at evolution," he said.
However, the latest discovery shows bird development to be more complex and
On one evolutionary highway was Archaeopteryx, a beakless bird with about 80 sharp teeth. The only fossil evidence of feathers was on its wings.
diverse.
Elsewhere on the evolutionary map was Confuciusornis, a beaked and toothless bird that had body and wing feathers.
There was common ground: both birds had claws on their wings for climbing trees. Neither was skilled at taking off from the ground. They needed to jump off something to take flight.
Although Confuciusornis had similarities with modern birds, it went extinct. About 70 million years later, nature produced a similar beaked bird and let the toothy model die out.
This time, the beaked version thrived.
"Evolution teaches us that there are lots of false starts," Martin said. "The experiment was run at least twice. The first time it was rejected. The second time it was a great success, and they franchised it."
Tom Cravens of Kansas University, above, collaborate dusty ring was discovered 16 years ago by two NASA space
Psychology prof studies young to ease Alzheimer's tragic grip
usan Kemper put her mind to a study that offers insight into a degenerative brain disease.
Kemper, a Kansas University professor of psychology and KU Gerontology Center research associate, contributed to a major investigation of Alzheimer's and aging.
The so-called Nun Study indicates young people with low language skills are at greater risk of being attacked by Alzheimer's later in life, she said.
Susan Kemper, KU professor of psychology and research associate at the KU Gerontology Center, has found young people with low language skills are at greater risk of being attacked by Alzheimer's disease later in life.
A Journal of the American Medical Assn. report based on the study identified linguistic skill as a potent marker for predicting who'll get the progressive brain disease.
In addition, the article says Alzheimer's may be like hardening of the arteries. It could be a life-long biological deterioration that becomes evident only when people age.
The report was drawn from a federally funded study focusing on 700 members in the School Sisters of Notre Dame religious congregation.
Kemper analyzed one-page autobiographies written by 104 nuns in terms of grammatical complexity and idea density.
Meanwhile, University of Kentucky colleagues tested the nuns' cognitive skills in old age. Brains of nuns who died were studied at UK's medical college to establish presence or absence of Alzheimer's.
The personal accounts of their lives had been placed in the order's archives just before taking vows, at an average age of 22.
Kemper said analysis of nuns' youthful writings indicated women with low linguistic ability in their 20s had a much higher risk of Alzheimer's when elderly.
"Our prediction isn't perfect," she said. "But, by and large, those with low grammatical density or low idea density developed Alzheimer's disease 60 years later."
Alzheimer's disease afflicts 4 million Americans. About 100,000 die of it annually. There are 35,000 victims in Kansas. The disease has no known cause, cure or reliable treatment
As part of the study, scientists performed autopsies on brains of 25 nuns who died, 10 of whom
Ninety percent of nuns who developed Alzheimer's brain lesions exhibited a low linguistic ability in their autobiographies when young, compared with 13 percent among those who did not have Alzheimer's.
had Alzheimer's.
George Wilson, Kansas University professor of chemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry, right Hu, M.D., a research associate, scrutinize a flexible sensor used to monitor blood-sugar levels.
Sweet improvements in blood-sugar monitori
The country's 1.3 million insulin-dependent diabetics are sick of poking their fingers for blood tests every day.
George Wilson, Kansas University professor of chemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry, is working with French researchers to ease their pain.
They came up with a device that offers continuous monitoring of blood glucose for diabetics.
8B SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 1996
The system, once fully developed, may offer intensive enough management of diabetes to cut long-term health complications — blindness, amputation of limbs, organ failure — by 30 percent to 70 percent.
Studies show most diabetics don't test glucose the minimum four to seven times a day.
"The first reason is that it is painful," Wilson said. "The second is that it's boring. The third is that it's expensive."
That led the team to develop a flexible sensor three times the size of a human hair that checks blood sugar levels nearly 1,500 times a day.
Diabetics painlessly implant a monitor under their skin with a needle. The sensor can remain four days. It can be connected to a pocket-size monitor that calculates blood sugar levels.
An alarm beeps to warn use glycemia, or low blood sugar. Hypo lead to unconsciousness, coma or e
Many researchers said it was make a convenient monitor and for diabetics.
"That's very important because if diabetes don't consider it useful a they won't use it," Wilson said.
"We're saying, 'We're sorry wrong,' Wilson said.
The system has proven effective KU. It's worked in animal and in trials in France.
Wilson works with Dr. Gérard R engineer Jean-Claude Klein, both of
The device may reach the publ four years. Still to come are of approval by U.S. and French govem development of mass production sors and monitors.
Marketing rights are held by Nat Science, Portland, Ore. Annual rev device may top $300 million. KU royalties based on a formula.
Stories by Tim Carpenter