                     AIDS Daily Summary
                      January 2, 1996

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS
Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a public
service only. Providing this information does not constitute endorsement
by the CDC, the CDC Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction
of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC
Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information.
Copyright 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"Kenya's Moi Bans Sex-Education Book"
"Blood Banks Starting to Harvest Umbilical Cords"
"Widow of Arthur Ashe Raises Objection to Site for Monument"
"Touched by Royalty"
"Beyond the Beltway 1995: What's My Line?"
"Appointments: The National AIDS Fund of Washington"
"Is Kaposi's-Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Detectable in Semen 
of HIV-Infected Homosexual Men?"
"AIDS Tumor Bank"
"Crystal Structure of SIV Matrix Antigen and Implications for 
Virus Assembly"
"Clinton Holds First AIDS Summit"
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"Kenya's Moi Bans Sex-Education Book"
Washington Post (01/02/96) P. A18
     A family planning book published by the Girl Guides Association 
of America has been banned by Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi, 
the Daily Nation reported.  According to the newspaper, Moi said 
that "Family Life" is immoral and encourages promiscuity.  "It 
talks about sex and I direct that the book be removed from the 
shelves by the [Kenyan] Girl Guides and the Boy Scouts," the 
president said on Sunday.
      
"Blood Banks Starting to Harvest Umbilical Cords"
New York Times (01/01/96) P. 12;  Lewin, Tamar
     The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is deliberating how to 
regulate the use of umbilical cord blood to treat fatal diseases.
Some private firms, however, are already seeking clients through 
mailings to pregnant women, telling them that a baby's umbilical 
cord blood could be a sort of insurance for the entire family.  
The technique is still experimental and it is not yet known 
exactly for whom this blood should be used, how well it works 
compared to other treatments, how long it remains useful, and 
what the role of public and private blood banks should be.  
Cynthia Fisher, president of Viacord in Boston, notes, "The 
majority [of our clients] view this as a choice for parents and 
doctors to make an investment in the future.  It's not just for 
leukemia.  It's potentially for breast cancer, or even AIDS."  
Some concerns related to the practice are that both the mother's 
and the baby's blood are not infected with such diseases as HIV 
or hepatitis, and whether parents and children should be informed
of any genetic data learned from ensuing tests.
      
"Widow of Arthur Ashe Raises Objection to Site for Monument"
New York Times (01/02/96) P. C33
     After months of silence, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, the widow of 
tennis great Arthur Ashe, says she disagrees with the City of 
Richmond's decision to put a statue of her husband on Monument 
Avenue, which currently honors only Confederate heroes.  "I have 
always felt that in all this controversy, the spirit that Arthur 
gave to Richmond has been overlooked," Moutoussamy-Ashe said.  "I
am afraid that a statue of Arthur Ashe on Monument Avenue honors 
Richmond, Va., more than it does its son, his legacy, and his 
life's work."  Arthur Ashe, who was once banned from the 
segregated tennis courts in his hometown Richmond, later became 
known worldwide as an advocate of human rights.  He died of AIDS 
three years ago.
      
"Touched by Royalty"
Washington Post (01/01/96) P. C7
     Queen Elizabeth II has placed singer Elton John, who has donated 
millions of dollars to AIDS research, on her New Year's Honors 
list.  The list also recognizes hundreds of people unknown 
outside their local communities who are nominated by admirers for
their work.  John was recognized "for services to music and for 
charitable services," and received a CBE award, or Commander of 
the Order of British Empire.
      
"Beyond the Beltway 1995: What's My Line?"
Washington Post (01/01/96) P. C3
     One of the strange stories of 1995 was that Brazil's health 
ministry changed the name of a "talking penis" used in an ad 
campaign about AIDS following complaints from people with that 
same name.
      
"Appointments: The National AIDS Fund of Washington"
Washington Post--Business (01/01/96) P. 8;  Ginsberg, Steven
     The National AIDS Fund of Washington has appointed B.J. Stiles as
its executive vice president, Jerry Atchison as director of 
communications, Dennis L. Stover as director of projects and 
programs, and Nila Vehar as director of community partners.
      
"Is Kaposi's-Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Detectable in Semen 
of HIV-Infected Homosexual Men?"
Lancet (12/16/95) Vol. 346, No. 8990, P. 1601;  Lin, Jung-Chung; 
Lin, Seh-Ching;  Mar, Eng-Chun; et al.
     Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention investigated the possibility of transmission of 
Kaposi's-sarcoma-associated herpes virus (KSHV) in the semen of 
HIV-infected homosexual men.  Using unnested polymerase chain 
reaction (PCR) techniques, Lin et al. found KSHV sequences in the
semen of more than 60 percent of the HIV-infected gay men and in 
none of the healthy participants.  The nested PCR test revealed 
detectable KSHV sequences in some 90 percent of the infected men 
and 23 percent of the healthy men.  Furthermore, in the five 
years of follow-up, 13 of the 33 homosexual men who tested 
KSHV-positive developed KS, while none of the KSHV-negative men 
did.  According to the researchers, the results indicate a 
possible sexual route of KSHV transmission, though further 
research is required.
      
"AIDS Tumor Bank"
Science (12/08/95) Vol. 270, No. 5242, P. 1571
     The AIDS Malignancy Bank (AMB) contains AIDS-related tumors, 
including formerly hard-to-obtain tissue and fluid samples from 
AIDS patients, as well as detailed clinical information.  The 
bank, which opened in October, is funded by the National Cancer 
Institute (NCI).  Cancer biologist Michael McGrath of the 
University of California at San Francisco notes that nearly 50 
percent of all AIDS patients have some type of malignancy.  
Still, NCI's Ellen Feigal says that tumor samples from AIDS 
patients are frequently hard to obtain.  The AMB will supply "all
types of fluid, tissues, cells, and blood products" associated 
with AIDS tumors, McGrath said, adding that all products will be 
of "a high-quality clinical pedigree."  McGrath, who heads one of
the AMB's five regional repositories, notes that the tumor bank 
will add to the work of the new NCI-funded AIDS Malignancy 
Clinical Consortium, which involves 13 institutions doing 
"innovative" clinical studies.
      
"Crystal Structure of SIV Matrix Antigen and Implications for 
Virus Assembly"
Nature (12/14/95) Vol. 378, No. 6558, P. 743;  Rao, Zihe;  
Belyaev, Alexander S.;  Fry, Elizabeth; et al.
     Rao et al. determined the crystal structure of the matrix antigen
(MA) for the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) using multiple 
isomorphous replacement and cross-averaging.  The MAs of SIV and 
HIV share approximately 50 percent sequence identity.  MA is a 
factor of Pr55Gag, the protein needed for assembly of the virion 
shell, and targets the protein to the plasma membrane, thus 
easing incorporation of the virus envelope protein.  The 
researchers report that in SIV's MA, the molecule creates a 
trimer constant with oligomerization in vitro and several other 
characteristics of MA.
      
"Clinton Holds First AIDS Summit"
Science (12/15/95) Vol. 270, No. 5243, P. 1752;  Cohen, Jon
     Many participants at the first White House Conference on HIV and 
AIDS praised President Clinton for addressing a disease that his 
predecessors hardly even mentioned.  Clinton proposed two new 
strategies to accelerate the search for treatments.  Under the 
first plan, Vice President Al Gore will meet with pharmaceutical 
industry representatives to find ways  to speed development of 
drugs, vaccines, and vaginal microbicides.  Under the second, 
White House AIDS policy leader Patsy Fleming will form a working 
group with governmental agencies conducting AIDS research and 
will develop a coordinated research program.  "We can't afford 
any unnecessary delays or missed opportunities," Clinton said.  
In addition, Clinton appointed William Paul, head of the National
Institutes of Health's Office of AIDS Research (OAR), to lead the
intergovernmental review.  Paul particularly wants to have the 
panel investigate the overlap between epidemiology research done 
independently by NIH and by the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.  A preliminary draft report from the OAR review 
indicates that it would be more useful if these programs had 
"much clearer integration," Paul said.
      
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