Technique

A federal report says DNA fingerprinting should not be allowed in court until laboratory standards have been tightened and a firmer scientific basis for the method is established.The report by the National Academy of Sciences also says the genetic technique for identifying criminal suspects must be regulated and controlled by scientists and federal agencies that have no stake in the method's success.In principle, the technique, known as DNA fingerprinting or DNA typing, allows a person to be identified from the tiniest scraps of body tissue at the scene of a crime, whether a drop of dried semen, a strand of hair or a spatter of blood.

Anthony "A.J. " Williams works in science by day and in the sweet science by night. He's accustomed to the good-natured verbal jabs he takes about his pursuit of a boxing career. "They actually just make jokes about it all day every day," the 26-year-old fighter said of his colleagues at Parexel International, a bio/pharmaceutical services organization, where he works as a research technician in Baltimore. "When I was an amateur, I had to be clean-shaved. So I came into work with a pencil mustache looking like I was someone's father.

The pain and bleeding was so bad the last year that she would have had a hysterectomy even if it meant the standard two months of recovery.But three weeks after her doctor removed her uterus using a special instrument, Joan Stickles feels ready to return to her job tomorrow. The three tiny surgical incisions required no more than one staple each and a few Band-Aids the next day, she said."If I'd had a regular hysterectomy, I'd be laid up six to eight weeks," Stickles said. "I'm ecstatic about it."

After reading Pete Pichaske's article ("A new way to teach spelling," March 7), I felt spurred on to reframe the issue of mathematical literacy. Ineffective teaching strategies for spelling have also been used for mathematics (ex. memorization). Teaching students merely the operations of math, without discussing what it is that makes math interesting (patterns, both shape and number), will only serve to demoralize students and destroy their intellectual curiosity about the beautiful subject that I have studied for over 20 years and hold so dear to my heart.

Doctors at the University of Maryland Hospital have begun using expandable "balloons" -- the same technology used to unclog arteries and repair heart valves -- as a tool for draining fluid that often accumulates around the hearts of cancer patients.Physicians there said yesterday that they are experimenting with the technique to see if it is capable of replacing the surgery for most or all patients hampered by fluid buildup around the heart.The technique, involving the insertion of a single needle through the abdominal wall, is part of medicine's continued drift toward lower-cost, non-surgical solutions to illnesses traditionally treated with surgery and lengthy hospital stays.

Ruth Laredo's piano recital last night in Shriver Hall offered some of the most highly colored music ever written for her instrument: three mazurkas by Chopin, a Scriabin group that included the orgasmic Ninth Sonata (the so-called "Black Mass"), and Iberian music by Albeniz and de Falla. The only classical work was Beethoven's Sonata No. 23 ("Appassionata"), one of the most torrid pieces in the repertory.Unfortunately, the prerequisite for such a program is coloristic imagination and ability.

All eyes are fastened on teacher Mary McKnight-Brown. It is quiet in the first-grade classroom at Dasher Green Elementary.But when she moves her hand slightly, 24 first-graders suddenly erupt into fierce whispering. As she makes another signal, the children become quiet, eager to share answers.One doesn't hear many verbal reprimands from Ms. McKnight-Brown, who will be featured next month on a national program about innovative teaching.Instead of commanding her students to "sit down," or "be quiet," the Columbia teacher uses hand signals to communicate.

Will Wilson is an artist of almost consummate technical ability. He can do a trompe l'oeil painting, such as "Back to the Drawing Board" in his current show at the Baltimore Life Gallery, and make it look so real you think you could go up and pull those thumbtacks right out of that piece of wood.In "Painting" (presumably a self-portrait, since Wilson's name is on the easel the figure holds), he surrounds the central face with various creatures from birds and mice to bees and butterflies, snails and a snake; everything is rendered in extreme detail, down to the single hair, a prodigious tour de force.

Meshing old-world techniques with modern technology, Glenn James feels he's found his niche in the world.A Westminster builder who specializes in timber-frame homes built without nails, Mr. James said that the ancient technique -- used in colonial homes that still stand today -- fits in with the ideals he embraced in the 1960s."

Ever seen a green steak?You probably never will. But in the figurative sense, the choice cuts from Lawrason Sayre's Angus herd bear the universal color of environmental protection.Since 1987, the 65-year-old Churchville farmer has been converting his traditional beef-cattle operation to one based on a feeding technique used extensively in New Zealand. The technique, called "rotational grazing," helps protect Mill Branch and other sensitive streams that lace through his Waffle Hill Farm and flow toward the Chesapeake Bay.Mr.

Dr. Gary S. Hill, an internationally renowned renal pathologist and the former chief of pathology at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, died Tuesday from lung cancer. He was 74. Dr. Hill pioneered a new technique for biopsies of tissue, in addition to developing a system for identifying lupus and how far the disease had progressed in a patient. Colleagues and family described him as a man greatly interested in conversation and friends, traits that translated into the way he moved forward in his career.

Environmental activists met Saturday at the University of Baltimore to organize a push for a legislative ban on the natural gas drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing — or fracking — casting the issue as a fight pitting the little guys versus the lobbyists. Del. Heather R. Mizeur told the crowd of about 200 activists that she wanted Maryland to show others that they can hold the gas industry accountable before drilling starts, rather than trying to clean up after any environmental problems.

Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith displayed another element to his evolving skill set in Thursday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Instead of reprising his strength as a rookie with a trademark fly pattern, Smith showed a growing knowledge of the route tree. During a 48-17 victory over the Jaguars , Smith hauled in eight receptions for 103 yards while being targeted a game-high 11 times by quarterback Joe Flacco. The former second-round draft pick from the University of Maryland primarily operated underneath the defense with a series of hooks, curls and intermediate sideline routes.

There was no disputing that the Ravens' top three cornerbacks last season were starters Lardarius Webb and Cary Williams and top backup Jimmy Smith. The first cornerback off the bench after that trio was Danny Gorrer. Whether that scenario plays out this year is up in the air. Webb, Williams and Smith are back, but Corey Graham, a Pro Bowler for his prowess on special teams, was signed to a free-agent deal in March. A month later, the organization selected Asa Jackson in the fifth round of the NFL draft.

Officially, the state of Maryland does not hold any of the 22,000 inmates in its prison system in what is called "solitary confinement," a cruel form of extreme punishment that isolates certain prisoners from any contact with other human beings, sometimes for months, years or even decades at a time. In fact, the term "solitary confinement" doesn't even appear in the state regulations governing prisoner treatment, nor is it anywhere mentioned in guidelines issued by theU.S. Department of Justicefor the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Last year, when Gov.Martin O'Malley signed an executive order establishing a commission to study the impact of drilling for natural gas in Western Maryland's Marcellus Shale deposit, he promised the state would be guided by "scientific knowledge. " Yet gathering that much-needed information costs money, something the state doesn't have at the moment. That lack of funds will likely mean many months of delay for the fact-finding efforts of the governor's advisory commission. The alternative - to simply not do a thorough study of such issues as the potential economic effects of fracking, the disposal of toxic waste water, and the impact on local ground water - would be wholly unacceptable.

The solution to the Ravens' defensive slide in October is not in changing players or schemes, Jarret Johnson says. It is in practicing, and perfecting, existing techniques. "It's no one player, it's no one position," the veteran linebacker said Tuesday. "Everybody's made enough mistakes across the board to get us in the situation we're in. ... We've got to understand the games we've been in, [if] you make a mistake, that might be the play that costs the team the game. You don't want to be that person.

Michael Monroe talks with admiration bordering on affection about Gary Schlappal's big ceramic piece that hovers between human and vessel form."This takes the vessel as a form, but transforms it," says Monroe. "It becomes a canvas for the artist, who has drawn, incised, added layering of paint. He has used the vessel form as a background on which to decorate in a painterly way, but this is also an excellent example of the artist integrating surface decoration with the form. Some artists are just facile, painting on top of the form.

Mount St. Mary's coach Tom Gravante is quick to point out that the team's 1-4 skid in its last five contests can be traced - in part - to an inability to control faceoffs (48.7 percent on 58-of-119 wins) and collect groundballs (105 to opponents' 127). Gravante also conceded that sophomore goalkeeper Chris Klaiber is enduring his share of struggles in the cage. Over that same span, Klaiber has allowed 55 goals and posted a .466 save percentage. Klaiber, who had the enviable task of succeeding four-year starter T.C. DiBartolo, has been particularly vulnerable against shooters who take aim at the upper portion of the net. “He's really struggling with the high-to-high shots,” Gravante said Thursday before referring to last Saturday's 17-9 thumping at the hands of Northeast Conference rival Bryant.

With some paint and glazes, a few tools and a little time, a plain, functional front door can become a home's welcoming statement, with the rich colors and grains of oak or mahogany. A concrete column can look like marble, a ceiling can become a cloud-dappled sky and old cabinets can get new life. To get those looks and more, all homeowners have to do is go to school. The Faux School, founded in Frederick by artist Ron Layman, 41, offers classes on decorative painting techniques to amateurs and professionals alike.