FederalDaily - December 29, 2006
Study Recommends Hearing Protection for Soldiers
A new study published in a medical journal recommends better hearing protection for soldiers who are
exposed to the sound of gunfire. The recommendation was based on the results of a study published in
the January issue of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, which involved 80 subjects with no history
of hearing disorders who received short-term exposure to the “impulse noise” generated
by five shots from an AK-47 rifle and suffered predictable hearing loss. The study said common estimates
indicate 10 percent to 15 percent of returning active-duty soldiers without hearing protection develop
acoustic trauma. The study recommends that the military adopt hearing protectors that reduce the harmful
noise frequencies produced by gunfire while still allowing soldiers to communicate with one another.
For more, go to: www.entnet.org/ent-press/index.cfm
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Latest Federal R&D Numbers Reported
New statistics from the National Science Foundation (NSF) show that federal agencies provided $109.7
billion for research and development (R&D) activities in 2004. The NSF Survey of Federal Funds
for Research and Development indicated that research accounted for almost half—48.6 percent—of
total federal R&D money in 2004, with 42.5 percent of that money going to universities and colleges.
Federal agencies contributed 23.8 percent of their R&D budgets to basic research. Health and Human
Services led the way in basic research with 56.5 percent, primarily from the National Institutes of
Health. The National Science Foundation was next, with 13.4 percent. Federal agencies spent 47.7 percent
of their R&D budgets on development activities. DoD accounted for the biggest share of that amount,
45.9 percent, excluding the department’s major systems development activities. NASA was second
in development activities at 21.9 percent. For more, got to: www.nsf.gov.
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U.S. Marshals Nab Fugitive Former Fed
The U.S. Marshals Service on Dec. 23 announced the capture in El Paso, Texas, of a former Immigration
and Naturalization Service agent who had been a fugitive for more than 12 years. The U.S. Marshal for
the Western District of Texas said former federal agent Jose Trinida Carrillo was apprehended by the
Lone Star Fugitive Task Force, El Paso Division. Carrillo had fled to Mexico in 1994 while he was free
on bond and awaiting sentencing after being convicted of conspiracy to import marijuana and bribery
of public official. For more, go to: www.usmarshals.gov/news/chron/2006/122306b.htm.
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