Today In Science and Technology:
	Spinal Cord Injuries Treated In China Using Fetal Tissue Research Recommends 'Self-Googling' Ford Adds Mariner Hybrid SUV To Line The Web: Online Bill-Paying Burgeoning
	Spinal Cord Injuries Treated In China Using Fetal Tissue
	Source: Yomiuri Shimbun Japanese patients who suffer from spinal cord injuries that are difficult to treat have received regenerative medical treatment in China using mucous cells from the noses of aborted fetuses, the head of a patient organization said Tuesday. In Japan, a council at the Health, Labor, and Welfare Ministry has discussed whether cells from aborted fetus can be used for medical treatment. But it has postponed making a conclusion for more than a year because of serious ethical questions. According to an explanation by Makoto Ohama, chairman of Japan Spinal Cord Foundation, at a meeting of Council for Science and Technology Policy's expert panel on life ethics, doctors at Capital University of Medical Sciences in Beijing have developed the spinal cord treatment. At least two Japanese patients have received the treatment in China. In the treatment, doctors inject cultured mucous cells collected from the noses of aborted fetuses into an area around the lesion of spinal cord victims. It is believed that the method can help regenerating nerve cells of spinal cord, according to Ohama. The doctors treated more than 300 Chinese patients over the past three years. They reported consistent recoveries in motor functions and the ability to feel pain among their patients. A Web site launched by the doctors explains the treatment method for Japanese patients in Japanese. The doctors plan to build a special hospital for Japanese patients in five years. "A number of patients asked us about the treatment method. Though its safeness and effectiveness haven't been confirmed yet, we can't tell patients not to go to China. We hope Japanese specialists will make a decision on the medical use of cells from aborted fetuses as soon as possible," Ohama said. To see more of The Daily Yomiuri On-Line, go to http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/daily. The Yomiuri Shimbun. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2004 Back to Top
	Research Recommends 'Self-Googling'
	Source: United Press International BUFFALO, N.Y. (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A U.S. professor recommends self-Googling -- searching for one's own name on the Google search engine -- as a smart form of personal management. "Self-Googling is not simply narcissism," said Alexander Halavais, an assistant professor of communication at the University of Buffalo. "People should Google themselves for the same reason corporations do -- to help to manage their public face." Halavais, who studies Internet communications, recently purchased a prime Google location for his personal Weblog using Google's paid advertising program designed primarily for businesses and consultants. His ad pops up prominently whenever someone searches for his name or variations of it. Google provides Halavais with daily click-through counts of how many times he is searched by other people. The count currently runs about 60 per week, he said. To manage an online image, Halavais recommends people regularly Google themselves, as well as their e-mail address, to see what turns up. If negative or inaccurate material appears, he recommends a polite message to the author, because a threatening e-mail could result in another negative remark appearing online. Copyright 2004 by United Press International. Back to Top
	Ford Adds Mariner Hybrid SUV To Line
	Source: United Press International DETROIT (United Press International via COMTEX) -- The Ford Motor Co. says the Mercury Mariner will be offered as the automaker's third hybrid gas-electric powered vehicle in the near future. When production begins in 2006, the Mariner SUV will join the Ford Escape small sport-utility vehicle and a future midsize sedan in Ford's offerings of more environmentally friendly vehicles. The hybrid Mariner was announced at the New York Auto Show. "We will continue to develop all of our hybrids in-house, including core research," said Jim Padilla, Ford Motor Co. executive vice president and president of the Americas. Ford had been criticized for falling behind Toyota and Honda in introducing fuel-efficient hybrids -- vehicles that run both on batteries and small internal combustion engines. "We're starting to get out heads around where we want to take the technology next," said Mary Ann Wright, chief engineer of the hybrid Escape, and Ford's director of sustainable mobility technologies and hybrid vehicle programs. Copyright 2004 by United Press International. Back to Top
	The Web: Online Bill-Paying Burgeoning
	By GENE J. KOPROWSKI, UPI Technology News Source: United Press International (UPI) -- A woman places a bag of popcorn in the microwave oven and before the kernels have all popped, she has flipped on her personal computer, goes online and finishes paying all her monthly bills. Fueled by superficial commercials, like those currently running on cable TV channels, the public's perception is that most people who pay their bills online do so through their bank's Web site. In this case, the reality does not match the marketers' rhetoric. A report prepared by Gartner Inc., an IT research consultancy in Stamford, Conn., and obtained by United Press International, indicates consumers who disburse their bills online do so "overwhelmingly" directly through the Web sites of their service providers. The report estimates that within three years, 65 million U.S. adults will view their monthly bills online. "People trust banks, but what they get is free service at the biller's Web site," Avivah Litan, a senior analyst at Gartner, told UPI. That is because major companies -- such as Verizon Wireless, Target Stores and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota -- are offering customers the ability to see, and then pay, their entire detailed billing history online. Customers can even use the billers' sites online to order new products or cancel their accounts. Unlike most banks, there is no charge to pay bills online from these merchants and service providers. "The most common contact a company has with its customers is through its monthly bills," said Chris Gardner, vice president of marketing at E-Docs, a Boston-area provider of electronic billing software for Internet sites. "Companies don't want to separate themselves from that relationship," he told UPI. "So they're giving customers more options with their own online services, letting them dispute charges or analyze three months of bills, or even order new services from their bill payment centers online." Banks and merchants and service providers have been trying to get their customers to view -- and pay -- bills online since the late 1990s. It was part of the dot-com boom. According to the Gartner Inc. study, only 7 million customers use banks for this service, while 28 million view their bills at the billers' Web sites. "This is all part of the fact that the Internet is becoming a primary customer service channel for companies," Tim Walsh, a director of E-Docs, told UPI. "It's better than call centers." The economic slowdown of the early 21st century gave the merchants and service providers who were already online a boost over the banks for bill payment. This trend has persisted through the past eight quarters of economic growth. "The fact that customers can pay immediately at billers' sites has been a factor driving their growth," Litan said. "Consumers don't want to give up money sooner than they have to. There is an element of mystery that consumers don't like with banks -- because a lot of banks will take up to five days to actually pay the bill, once you have authorized it online. But with people living from paycheck to paycheck, they want more control over when they pay." To be sure, the majority of all bills are still paid through the U.S. Postal Service. "Old habits are hard to break," Litan said, and added research shows 116 million U.S. adults still want to pay their bills by mail. A total of 57 million customers in the United States already have bills deducted automatically from their checking accounts via so-called autopayments. "There is an uphill battle converting paper-bound customers to electronic transactions," Litan said. Many companies are offering incentives for their clients to switch. Verizon Wireless, in Bedminster, N.J., is undergoing a "bill consolidation project" to move all of its 36 million wireless customers gradually to the e-bill presentment and payment system, said Brian Wood, the company's executive director. "Because of the way the industry has evolved over the years, with customers getting free minutes at nights and weekends, and free mobile-to-mobile calls within the network, the costs of service are going down, but the bills are getting fatter and fatter, are less and less useful," Wood told UPI. "We're cutting down trees and paying postage for shipping stuff that is not as useful as it used to be. There's a different paradigm today than when wireless began." A large portion of the wireless industry customer base is "Web savvy," Wood said. "They are already going to the site to look up their customer information." Some customers, however, will continue to receive paper bills, Wood explained, such as those who require billing statements in Braille, the system of writing and printing designed by a French teacher of the blind in the 19th century. Many major companies -- not just wireless providers -- are offering online bill payment, including Target Stores, FleetBoston Financial Services, TXU Energy, Toyota and Lexus Financial Services, and Blue Cross Blue Shield -- giving momentum to the trend. A lot of money is at stake -- Verizon alone generates about $2 billion in earnings per year through online bill payments, experts said. For example, Litan said Internet service providers, or ISPs, are trying to move into this niche, eyeing the chance to take business away from the banks and direct billers. So the future of e-bill presentment is not set yet. "There is this new model, AOL Bill-Pay, which recently emerged," Litan said. "It takes the best of both worlds. If you are an AOL subscriber and use AOL e-mail, you can get as many bills as you want e-mailed to you. You can look at the details and then pay at the biller Web site, but all the bills are consolidated into one e-mail." In response, major banks -- such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citibank and Chase -- are eliminating their online bill payment fees, she said. "Banks and billers need to work together to create a blended model that gives them the best of both worlds," Litan continued. "Such a blended model is the only one that provides a win-win value proposition to banks and billers alike, and is the only one that best satisfies consumer requirements for convenience and rich functionality." -- Gene Koprowski covers telecommunications and technology for UPI Science News. E-mail sciencemail@... Copyright 2004 by United Press International. Back to Top

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