Also

* Calypte Biomedical Corp., best known for its urine-based HIV tests, said it’s firing up to 40 employees, about half of its work force, and may go out of business if it’s not acquired soon. The Alameda, Calif.-based company has been losing money for the last 12 months despite increasing sales.

* Outdoor magazine Sports Afield will cease publication this spring, the victim of one of the worst advertising recessions in years. Publisher Robert Petersen, who had acquired the magazine in January 2000 and relocated it to Los Angeles from New York, said Sports Afield will end its 115-year run with the June 2002 issue.

* WellPoint Health Networks Inc. said it is petitioning the Food and Drug Administration to make Schering-Plough Corp. sell its newly introduced Clarinex drug over the counter. Schering-Plough officials had no comment.

* Linens ‘n Things Inc. said first-quarter profit rose 9.5% to $5.14 million, or 12 cents a share, 3 cents better than forecasts. Sales rose 20% to $456.9million.

* Oakley Inc. reported a 38% decline in first-quarter net income to $5.6 million, or 8 cents a share, from year-earlier profit of $9.1 million, or 13 cents, which included a benefit of 1 cent from a reduced tax rate. Sales rose 17% to $109.6 million. The latest results beat the company’s forecast of 5 cents. The Foothill Ranch company raised expectations for the full year, to 81 cents a share from its previous forecast of 77 cents to 80 cents. Oakley said its backlog of orders at the end of the quarter was up 11.9% from a year ago.