Humanities & Society

Abdominal fat reduction with DHEA useIn a six-month study of elderly people, researchers at the School of Medicine found that the hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) significantly reduced abdominal fat and improved insulin action. This finding suggests that DHEA may be able to counter the increase in abdominal fat and accompanying increased risk for diabetes that very often occurs as we grow older.

In the midst of the growing epidemic of obesity, a group of researchers at the School of Medicine has dived into the human gene pool to look for solutions. The group recently identified genetic variations unique to obese men and are now embarking on a wider search to find additional genes linked to obesity.

Aging and Alzheimer’s disease research at the School of Medicine recently received a $9.6 million boost. The five-year grant from the National Institute on Aging launches the University’s Healthy Aging and Senile Dementia program into its 21st year.

Keith Boykin, president of the National Black Justice Coalition, will present a lecture on race, sexuality and politics 1 p.m. Nov. 13 in Brown Hall, Room 100. Boykin, a prominent author and speaker, was a special assistant to the President and director of specialty media during President Bill Clinton’s administration.

John M. Ferren, senior judge on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, will discuss his new book, “Salt of the Earth, Conscience of the Court: The Story of Justice Wiley Rutledge,” 11 a.m. November 10 in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom of Anheuser-Busch Hall. Ferren’s book, published by University of North Carolina Press, examines the life of Supreme Court Justice Wiley B. Rutledge, former faculty member and dean of the Washington University School of law.

In a finding that may one day help researchers better understand age-related memory and hearing loss, scientists have shown that two key nervous system proteins interact in a manner that helps regulate the transmission of signals in the nervous system.

Experts on the environment, race and gender, international political economy, poverty and health care will be panelists at an Assembly Series event.

PhillipsPoet Carl Phillips, professor of English and of African and Afro-American Studies, both in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has been selected — for the second time in a relatively short literary career — as a finalist for the 2004 National Book Award in poetry. Phillips was nominated for his seventh collection of poetry, “The Rest of Love: Poems,” published in February by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The National Book Awards are considered one of the most prestigious prizes in American literature.

Defining the line between fun and frightenedIn American culture, Halloween is an intriguing mix of ghastly imagery and holiday fun, and at the forefront of all the excitement are children. But how much is too much when it comes to Halloween fun? In the following St. Louis Post-Dispatch article, Dennis O’Brien, research associate in psychiatry, provides insight into the psyche of children on Halloween.

EarlySt. Louis’ “striking history” in baseball is not getting the national attention it deserves, says Gerald L. Early, Ph.D., the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters at Washington University in St. Louis and a noted essayist and baseball fan. “Boston is the big story,” says Early, an American culture critic who served as a consultant on the Ken Burns documentary “Baseball” for the Public Broadcasting Service. “All the stuff about the Red Sox curse, how it’s been so long since they’ve had a World Series win, how they’re the sentimental favorite to win, the East Coast bias — it’s all about Boston.