Humanities & Society

Elderly patients taking the commonly prescribed blood thinner warfarin experience an increased risk for osteoporosis-linked bone fractures, according to a study at the School of Medicine. The results suggest physicians should carefully monitor the bone health of patients placed on the medication and that their patients should take steps to decrease the risk of osteoporosis.

WestCornel West, one of America’s most prominent public intellectuals, will deliver a talk for the Washington University Assembly Series at 4 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 2, in Graham Chapel. His lecture, “Democracy Matters,” is free and open to the public, however seating will for the general public will be limited. Please call 314-935-4620 or visit the Assembly Series Web page (http://assemblyseries.wustl.edu) for more information.

Vegetables are a staple of calorie restriction diets.Eating a very low-calorie yet nutritionally balanced diet is good for your heart. Studying heart function in members of an organization called the Calorie Restriction Society, investigators at the School of Medicine found that their hearts functioned like the hearts of much younger people. The researchers report their findings in the Jan. 17 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Keith Sawyer, Ph.D., associate professor of education and psychology in Arts & Sciences, is one of the country’s leading scientific experts on creativity. His research spans creativity, collaboration, learning and play. His eighth book, Explaining Creativity, was the subject of a recent Time magazine interview.

BagenstosThe United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously on January 9 in favor of a Georgia inmate in a disability rights case, United States v. Georgia. Samuel R. Bagenstos, J.D., professor of law, argued the case on behalf of the inmate, Tony Goodman. The ruling paves the wave for Goodman to seek damages against the state of Georgia. According to the ruling, Goodman’s “more serious allegations” were that he was “confined for 23-to-24 hours per day in a 12-by-3-foot cell, in which he could not turn his wheelchair around” and that “the lack of accessible facilities rendered him unable to use the toilet and shower without assistance, which was often denied.”

An international team of researchers, led by investigators at the School of Medicine, are zeroing in on a gene that increases risk for Alzheimer’s disease. They have identified a region of chromosome 10 that appears to be involved in risk for the disease that currently affects an estimated 4.5 million Americans.

“One Woman’s Action…One Man’s Effort” is the theme of the University’s annual celebration honoring Martin Luther King Jr. at 7 p.m. Jan. 16 in Graham Chapel. Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton will begin the program with a welcome and remarks. Also speaking will be Margaret Bush Wilson, a prominent civil rights attorney in the 1960s and the first woman to chair the board of directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and several student leaders. The evening will include performances by the YMCA Boys Choir and Washington University’s Black Anthology.

TrinkausTwo Neandertal fossils excavated from Vindija Cave in Croatia in 1998, believed to be the last surviving Neandertals, may be 3,000-4,000 years older than originally thought. An international team of researchers, including Erik Trinkaus, Ph.D., the Mary Tileston Hemenway Professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences, has redated the two Neandertals from Vindija Cave, the results of which have been published in the Jan. 2-6 early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Kevin L. MosesSoldiers currently stationed at Camp Liberty, Iraq, unload 105mm M119 Howitzer rounds.Comparing veterans deployed in the first Persian Gulf War and veterans deployed elsewhere at the same time has revealed veterans who served in the Persian Gulf have nearly twice the prevalence of chronic multi-symptom illness (CMI), a cluster of symptoms similar to a set of conditions often called Gulf War Syndrome.

Increased communication between brain cells increases levels of amyloid beta, the key ingredient in Alzheimer’s brain plaques, scientists at the School of Medicine have found. The findings showed that turning up brain cell firing rates drove up levels of amyloid beta in the spaces between brain cells.