Today's Globe: MGH prep, Gulf War syndrome, in vitro babies' defects, salmonella blame, MBL grant, Frank Epstein, Bernard Weinstein

Massachusetts General Hospital, which fared poorly in its last inspection by a national accrediting agency, is getting ready for the group's next visit, which could come at any time within the next 13 months.

A report released yesterday concluded that Gulf War syndrome is a legitimate condition suffered by more than 175,000 US war veterans who were exposed to chemical toxins in the 1991 Gulf War.

Certain birth defects multiplied and in some cases more than quadrupled when children were conceived through in vitro fertilization and similar techniques, according to the largest US study of the abnormalities.

A failure by government agencies to coordinate their investigation into a US salmonella outbreak may have put the public at risk and caused needless harm to the tomato industry, according to a report.

The Marine Biological Laboratory is receiving a $15 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to make major renovations to its three-story Loeb Laboratory (sixth item).

Dr. Frank Epstein, a kidney specialist who mentored a generation of Harvard Medical School residents and fellows and reveled in the discoveries and accomplishments of others, died Nov. 5 in Boston, a month after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He was 84.

Dr. I. Bernard Weinstein, a researcher and top administrator at Columbia University who advanced the study of how pollutants and other environmental factors can cause cancer, died Nov. 3 in Manhattan, where he lived. He was 78.