Experts

Inside Westminster Abbey, eight 20-foot-tall live trees lined the center aisle during the wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William. The trees transformed the space, doing what even the most elaborate floral arrangement could not — providing a natural, living sense of permanence and an air of drama. The move was unexpected, unpretentious and bold. A potted tree on your patio or deck can have the same effect. While not every tree is well-suited for a container, there are a surprising number of options, ranging from crape myrtles to hollies.

Dr. Frederick L. Brancati, an internationally known expert on the epidemiology and prevention of type 2 diabetes who was director of the Division of General Internal Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, died Tuesday of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, at his Lutherville home. He was 53. "He was a delightful human being — smart, witty and fun to be around," said Dr. Michael J. Klag, dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, whom Dr. Brancati succeeded as division chief.

Up to half of sexually active young people will get a sexually transmitted disease by the time they are 25, yet many don't seek testing because it may be difficult, costly or embarrassing. Public health officials nationally and in particularly affected cities like Baltimore, however, say they've found a method that seems to address the major hurdles — a website that supplies free in-home testing kits for three of the most commonly reported STDs. "The highest prevalence is in young adults, and we knew we had to reach these kids," said Charlotte A. Gaydos, a professor of infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Cicadas are coming! I have a dog and a cat that both go outside. Do I need to worry if they eat cicadas, or how many is too many? As these red-eyed screechy little bugs begin emerging from the ground, concern among pet parents rises as well. This brood is different from the one we saw in 2004 and its appearance in this state will be limited to parts of Southern Maryland, which is good news. There are several thing pet owners should keep in mind during cicada season: 1.They are not toxic to pets.

As Congress hears testimony about the handling of the Gulf of Mexico spill, scientists and environmentalists question how prepared the government is to respond if a ship or barge were to leak oil into the Chesapeake Bay. Experts say a quick-fire response is needed to stop oil from spreading in the shallow bay and reaching the shores. "There is no functioning [emergency response] system on the Bay in the terms of what we call operational. …," said William C. Boicourt, an expert in physical oceanographic processes at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science at Horn Point.

THEY appear in our mailbox almost as often as L.L. Bean and Victoria's Secrets catalogs: page after glossy page of advertisements for books, manuals, audio and video tapes that will improve me. If I call the 800 number and order, I can reduce stress, improve my professional image, maximize my impact, lose weight, assert myself, stop procrastinating, repair my marriage or find a man (or woman) to marry me. All of this without ever leaving my home.These are the experts, and it's a funny thing about experts these days.

BOSTON -- This is the week when wise men bearing gifts are replaced by wise guys bearing lists. The news is full of the Best and Worst, the Ins and Outs, the Screw-ups and Fess-ups of 2005, not to mention the Predictions for 2006. In 2005, our mistakes seemed piddling compared with the whoppers made in the name of Katrina and Iraq, Harriet Miers and Judith Miller. Thus, for assorted reasons, we break from our Media Culpa awards to take a jaundiced overview of the entire field of experts, those whose punditry and predictions are preparing you for 2006.

FAIRFAX, Va. - The defense team for teen-age sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo asked a judge yesterday to authorize hiring a battery of experts to assist in the capital murder trial, due to start here in November. Malvo, 18, faces the possibility of execution if convicted of killing FBI analyst Linda Franklin, 47, in the parking lot of a Home Depot store in the Seven Corners section of Fairfax County on Oct. 14. Yesterday, his lawyers asked Fairfax County Circuit Judge Jane M. Roush to appoint and authorize court funding for DNA experts and independent DNA testing of evidence, and a social worker or other expert to help gather information for an expected request to spare Malvo's life if he is convicted.

If there's a lack of balance in the news coverage of the O.J. Simpson affair, it shows in the choice of legal experts and commentators hired by the TV networks.There are a few prosecutors and judges. But most of the experts are criminal defense lawyers who gained fame and wealth by winning freedom for assorted nasties and slimeballs.Because they are defense-minded, they see the trial as an elaborate game in which motions to suppress evidence and aiming zingy questions at nervous witnesses are more important than getting at the truth.

Six months ago, the nation's diabetes experts made a sensational announcement. By following a strict medical regimen, they said, diabetics can measurably slow the onset and maybe even avert the dire complications of the disease.The threat of blindness, kidney failure, heart attack or amputation, they proclaimed, could be greatly reduced or virtually eliminated.Diabetes centers across the nation geared up for an onslaught of patients wanting to begin the new treatment. They hired more staff, put in extra telephone lines, prepared educational materials and ordered the home monitoring devices that would allow diabetics to test their blood sugar from four to 10 times a day.The blood sugar tests are a crucial part of the tight-control regimen that the study, which followed 1,441 patients with Type I diabetes for nine years, found to be clearly beneficial to diabetics.

As Orb charged to the wire at Churchill Downs last weekend, he established his clear superiority to the other 18 thoroughbreds on horse racing's biggest stage, the Kentucky Derby. But compared to Derby champions of the past, Orb's time is less impressive - his 2:02.89 run doesn't rank among the top 10 in the race's history. It is slower than the times of many winners from the 1950s and 1960s, and well behind Secretariat's 1973 record. Blame the muddy track? Fair enough, but none of the past decade's Derby winners recorded a top 10 time either.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake appointed an executive with a disaster response company Friday to lead Baltimore's Transportation Department at a time when the agency continues to struggle with its speed camera program. Her pick, William Johnson, has worked since 2005 as a senior manager at O'Brien's Response Management, which billed itself as a provider of emergency preparedness, response management and crisis services when it merged last year with another firm. Johnson has 20 years of public- and private-sector experience in urban transportation, public works, and emergency preparation and response, the mayor's office said.

Edward L. "Mac" McDill, former chairman of the Johns Hopkins University's sociology department who was also the founding director of the Hopkins Center for Social Organization of Schools, died April 25 of prostate cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. The Mays Chapel resident was 82. "Mac was a friend and a mentor. He was the pillar of the department and held it together when we went through some pretty rough times," said Karl Alexander, who succeeded Dr. McDill as department chair.

Our elderly dog, Katie, and our "granddog," Lacey, have been best buddies for many years. Whenever we've gone away, Katie has stayed at our daughter's house with Lacey and has been a perfect guest. Lately, however, she urinates several times during each visit, even after being taken outside. She has never urinated in our house or in any another house she's been to in all the years we've had her. What do you think could be happening with her, and is there anything we can do to prevent this behavior from occurring?

After two days of heavy sedation, Erika Brannock awoke Wednesday morning in her hospital bed to dramatic and gruesome news: Her left leg had been amputated below the knee, the only medical option for a team of surgeons handling traumatic injuries from the Boston Marathon bombings. The 29-year-old Towson preschool teacher took the news with courage, relatives said. Then, unable to speak because of a ventilator tube, she wrote out a simple message: She wanted to see photos of her students.

When Howard County authorities said they found the badly decomposed remains of Christine Jarrett beneath a shed in her own backyard, they moved swiftly to charge her husband - long a suspect - with the murder. That discovery - two decades after her disappearance - is expected to become the focus of Robert Jarrett Jr.'s first-degree murder trial as it enters its second week. Though the body proved to be the tipping point for investigators in the field, it has also become a target for Jarrett's lawyers, who say it doesn't prove their client is guilty.

A town meeting to discuss youth violence drew a small crowd in Columbia last night, but U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin had a message for those who stayed away."

It might have been honor. It might have been fear. Or even self-interest. Possibly, all motivated PepsiCo officials to turn in those who tried to sell the company a secret new beverage recipe belonging to archrival Coca-Cola Co. Whatever the company's reasons, several experts in business ethics and intellectual property say they are not surprised that Pepsi didn't take the bait. Many say they would expect other large companies to refuse if offered their chief competitor's trade secrets.

A large section of brick facade fell off a National Institutes of Health research facility on the Southeast Baltimore campus of Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, reviving concerns about a building that opened two years late because of other problems. The incident, in which no one was injured, also has raised questions about safety in a city with many large buildings - but no laws requiring their exterior walls to be inspected as they age. Experts say such problems are relatively rare, but could become more common as building standards change.