New Hampshire's supply of Gardasil, the vaccine that can help prevent cervical cancer by guarding against human papilloma virus, is running low, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday. The state had agreed to provide the drug for free to women under the age of 19, but high demand has forced the formation of waiting lists and other measures to ration doses of the vaccine. Without aid from the state, the vaccination costs approximately $360 total, but it is covered by some forms of health insurance. The short supply has caused doctors to debate whether to give out the remaining doses to older women who will soon be ineligible for the program, or to younger teenagers who are not yet sexually active.
Several brushfires burned in southern New Hampshire on Monday, following a drastic change in weather conditions. High temperatures and dry winds contributed to fires in the Lakes Region, Hillsborough County and Laconia. "You wouldn't expect it to go from floods to fires in a matter of days," Lt. Mike Clough of the Somersworth Fire Department told the Manchester Union Leader. Two fires near Bedford were probably started by a passing train, according to Fire Chief Scott Wiggin. Although blanketed by snow only a few weeks ago, some debris alongside the tracks was ignited by sparks from a train's exhaust. As of the end of the day, all fires were fully contained and no injuries were reported.
New research conducted by Dartmouth scientists has revealed a link between the quality of nutrients that organisms eat and the level of toxins present in their bodies. The research involves Daphnia pulex, a zooplankton important to food chains in freshwater rivers and streams. The students found that, when exposed to the same amount of the neurotoxin methylmercury, zooplankton fed more nutrient-rich foods had a lower concentration of the toxin in their bodies. Biology graduate student Roxanne Karimi headed up the group of resesarchers that produced the article, titled "Stoichiometric controls of mercury dilution by growth." It appeared Monday in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
