Nation roundup for March 19

Behavior issues for ‘meth babies’

CHICAGO (AP) — The first study to look at methamphetamine’s potential lasting effects on children whose mothers used it in pregnancy finds these kids at higher risk for behavior problems than other children.

The behavior differences — anxiety, depression, moodiness — weren’t huge, but lead researcher Linda LaGasse called them “very worrisome.” Methamphetamine is a stimulant like crack cocaine, and earlier research showed meth babies have similarities to so-called “crack babies” — smaller in size and prone to drowsiness and stress.

Whether problems persist in young children of meth users is unknown. But LaGasse, who does research at Brown University’s Center of the Study of Children at Risk, said methamphetamine has stronger effects on the brain so it may be more likely to cause lasting effects in children.

The study was published online today in Pediatrics. The National Institutes of Health paid for the research, including a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Government data suggest more than 10 million Americans have used meth; fewer than 1 percent of pregnant women are users.

New iPad more costly to produce

NEW YORK (AP) — Apple appears to be making less of a profit from each new iPad than it did when it launched the previous model a year ago, according to a research firm’s analysis.

IHS iSuppli took apart a new iPad on Friday, the day the device went on sale in the U.S. and nine other countries, and found that the components are more expensive than those of the iPad 2.

The third iPad comes in several versions starting at $499, the same price as the iPad 2 at launch.

Apple has priced all three generations of the tablet aggressively, making it hard for competitors to match its features at the same price. It makes less from each iPad than from each iPhone.

As a whole, Apple is wildly profitable, earning $33 billion in net income on $81 billion in revenue in the last calendar year.

ISuppli said a new iPad with 32 gigabytes of RAM and a cellular modem, which costs $729 in stores, costs $364.35 to manufacture. That’s 9 percent more than the $335 it cost to make the corresponding iPad 2 a year ago, when it came out.

S.C. mom guilty in 2 sons’ deaths

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina mother pleaded guilty Friday to killing her two young sons by suffocating them and putting their bodies into a car, letting it roll into a river. The crime was remarkably similar to what Susan Smith did to her two boys decades ago in this state.

Shaquan Duley has been in jail since her arrest in the deaths of 2-year-old Devean and 18-month-old Ja’van. Divers pulled the boys’ bodies from the North Edisto River on Aug. 16, 2010. Duley initially told police she fell asleep at the wheel before the car went into the river about 40 miles south of Columbia, but authorities questioned her story after finding no skid marks or signs of a crash.

Prosecutors did not make a deal with Duley, and she faces between 30 years and life in prison when she is sentenced later this month.

Gallagher telling jokes after coma

LEWISVILLE, Texas (AP) — The comedian Gallagher is telling jokes after being taken out of a medically induced coma that doctors put him in following his heart attack last week in Texas.

Doctors slowly woke up Gallagher on Sunday morning. His promotional manager, Christine Scherrer, says Gallagher immediately recognized his family and started talking to them. She says he’s breathing on his own, moving and joking around. The comedian, whose full name is Leo Anthony Gallagher, is known for smashing watermelons with a sledgehammer.

Scherrer says Gallagher had two stents replaced after collapsing Wednesday before a performance at Lewisville bar, near Dallas.

Gallagher had a minor heart attack last March after collapsing while performing in Minnesota.

Scherrer isn’t sure how long Gallagher will remain hospitalized. She says he appreciates his fans’ thoughts and prayers.