A BETTER PRENATAL TEST?

A biotech startup promises accurate prenatal tests without the risks of traditional amniocentesis.

By Lisa Palmer, FSB contributor

Life was proceeding as planned for Ravinder Dhallan, or so it seemed. Having earned doctorates in medicine and biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University, he had just started a radiation oncology residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. On the home front Dhallan and his wife, Hejung Christine Chang, had a daughter, and they were eager to see their family grow.

Then things got complicated. Chang suffered two miscarriages. The couple was devastated and had no idea what to do. Only later did they realize that the miscarriages had a genetic basis. The episode left Dhallan struck by how little information was available to women who experienced complications during pregnancy. "It suddenly became personal," he says. And so he resolved to invent a better prenatal diagnostic exam. [complete article]

AN E-Z PASS FOR EMISSIONS TESTS
Drivers may be able to skip the long lines at motor vehicle departments if SysTech's wireless pollution-data-collection system takes off.

By Lisa Palmer, FSB contributor

Fifteen years after receiving his first patent for an automobile-emissions testing device and ten years after founding a company to build and market emissions-testing systems, Pradeep Tripathi has learned a thing or two about his niche. He knows, for example, that neither consumers nor regulators like the current setup. Drivers regard the annual emissions test as a pain in the tailpipe. And regulators question the value of a system that gives them only one shot a year -in some places, once every two years - to certify that a car meets emissions standards. "In between, it could be polluting like crazy and no one will ever know," says Tripathi. [complete article]

JEWELS BUFFED BY THE SEA
By Lisa Palmer

It's Sunday morning, and Louise Rogers is in her usual weekend pose: eyes downcast, strolling meditatively along the beach. She paws at a ribbon of gravel near the low-tide mark and picks up a milky aqua-colored lump the size of a matchbook. She brushes off the sand and issues her verdict: "Coca-Cola bottle. Before 1970." [ Complete article ]

BAND OF BROTHERS
By Lisa Palmer

In the graying hours of a fall evening, Dr. Stephen Carr, fifty-three, director of prenatal diagnosis and fetal imaging at Women and Infants’ Hospital and Master Mason, answers the phone at his Barrington home. He hears Peter’s voice on the other end of the receiver. “How are you? How’s your family? I haven’t seen you in a while and was calling to make sure everything’s okay.” The caller is Peter Burke, an employee of the Adult Correctional Institute in Cranston and fellow member of the Masonic Adelphoi number 33 Lodge with Carr. “Is there anything I can give you a hand with?” [Complete article]

GROUNDHOG DAY
BY Lisa Palmer

We've all experienced it: that feeling we're in a scene from Bill Murray's Groundhog Day. It's the sensation of the numbingly familiar: the morning alarm sounds, you brew coffee, go to work and feel your life is cycling from one day into the next without a flicker of change. When it seems like the seasons are coming and going, and you're stuck in deja vu, how can you shed that humdrum rythm and try something new? Here's some expert advice on breaking the monotony, recharding your career and perking up your personal relationships. [Complete article]

SO YOU WANT TO... MOUNTAIN BIKE?
By Lisa Palmer

Mountain-bikers tend to focus on the fun and exhilaration of their nature-packed, fat-tire rides, often forgetting--until you've walked up one too many hills--that the sport also demands strength and skill. On a ride, you're typically negotiating tree roots, squishy soil, and any number of obstacles that require you to be a human shock-absorber. Riding downhill is often as physcially taxing as steep climbs. (Thought you'd get a breather on the way down, huh?)
[Contact Lisa for complete article]

MATHEMATICS MADE FUN
By Lisa Palmer
Unlike many of his colleagues, mathematician Edward B. Burger doesn't teach concepts like number theory, geometry, or topology through equations and a blackboard.

Instead, the Williams College professor favors a more creative approach. To teach about topology, the goemetry of surfaces, for example, he asks students to figure out how they would remove their pants and put them back on with their ankles tied together. Burger, wearing huge Red Sox boxer shorts under his trousers, demonstrated that challenge last summer at the Boston Public Library.[ complete article ]

AREA BOYS STRUGGLE TO FIND MENTORS
By Lisa Palmer
At Sunnyside Lanes in Danvers, James Agosto, 37, wrapped his hand around the green bowling ball, demonstrating his casual grip. "Try not to throw it so hard," he said, passing the ball to Juan Carrassquill, 13, who rolled it toward the center of Lane 11. The ball toppled several duckpins. One remained upright, wobbling. As Carrassquill shook his fist in disappointment, Agosto said, "Wait, man. You can't give up on that one yet. Give it some time. Blow on it." Sure enough, the pin fell. [ complete article ]

FUNDING CUTS DOUBLE WHAMMY FOR ARTS
By Lisa Palmer
For 18 years, the Angkor Dance Troupe, a traditional Cambodian dance ensemble, has tried to use the arts to smooth the rough edges of Lowell's teenagers, building self-esteem and ambition by teaching dance and showcasing students at venues like the White House and Jacob's Pillow, a national dance festival. [ complete article ]

WHAT'S IN THE TRUNK?
By Lisa Palmer
Collectors of Barbara Bagner's jewelry stand shoulder to shoulder, sipping wine and sampling refreshments while waiting their appointed time with the visiting artist at Craft Company No. 6 in Rochester , N.Y. As customers browse a display case filled with her newest designs, Bagner cultivates relationships with buyers, getting to know each one individually as they try on jewelry at her trunk show. [ complete article ]

MATERIAL ADVANTAGE
By Lisa Palmer
Credit the frugal elite, or good old economics: today's best retail customers are expecting a reward for their loyalty. And America 's art and craft merchants are stepping up to the challenge-pampering prime customers and compensating repeat shoppers to boost business and strengthen customer loyalty. [ complete article ]

GREEN GIANT
By Lisa Palmer

Once there was no more famous horticulturist than Allen C. Haskell. His family continues his legacy.

SMALL STONES CRUNCH BENEATH David Haskell's boots as he strolls along a shady path amid Allen C. Haskell Horticulturists in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Son of the late genius plantsman Allen Haskell, David now oversees the seven-acre retail nursery and landscape design business creatd by his father over the past fifty years. The nursery, which draws plant lovers from all over the world, incudes the city's oldest house, a Colonial structure dating back to 1725. [ complete article ]

THE OLDEST FARM IN AMERICA
By Lisa Palmer

Eleven generations have tilled this New England soil.

BEHIND THE WHEEL OF HIS RED PICKUP TRUCK,
Will Tuttle presides over the changing landscape of the 240-acre Dover, New Hampshire, farm that is the legacy of 11 generations. His family's produce operation is more than 370 years old and a fixture in American agriculture, having the distinction of being the oldest family farm in the country. [ complete article ]

VICTORIAN'S SECRET
THE IDEA OF BUILDING a landmark Victorian home was common a century ago, but designing and building a sprightly Victorian in the 21st century is something very special. When Mark Horan purchased a lot located on Old Beach Road in Newport, Rhode Island, he wanted to build a period home that would pay homage to the neighborhood's style and history but would also suit a contemporary lifestyle. [ complete article ]

The Standard Times

WORDS OF INSPIRATION AT UMASS
By Lisa Palmer
Martin Luther King Jr. said there are moments in life of unutterable fulfillment that cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. But don't mention that to Maya Angelou.
Last night, Dr. Angelou, 74, a poet who is considered one of the great voices in contemporary literature, regaled an audience of 2,000 at UMass Dartmouth with words and wisdom from moments of her life in a 90-minute lyrical message of achievement, hope, dignity and courage. More...

THE JOYS OF GEOCACHING
By Lisa Palmer
Last Saturday morning, Dawn Macomber scuttled over a stony breakwater near Clarks Cove in Dartmouth and stared at the small yellow device in her son's hand.
[ complete article ]

THE KEY TO HIS FUTURE
By Lisa Palmer
Three-year-old Sebastian Oliva of New Bedford sits cross-legged on the top bunk. He is watching Saturday morning cartoons in the bedroom he shares with his older brother. For a few seconds, the curly-haired preschooler glances away from the TV, eyeing a visitor standing in his bedroom doorway. [ complete article ]