Newsroom Stories

Courtesy photoDiavoloDiavolo — the acclaimed Los Angeles dance company known for combining bold movement with the adventurous, high-wire attitude of extreme sports — will bring its dynamic and wittily subversive choreography to Edison Theatre at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 28 and 29. In addition, Diavolo will present an all-ages matinee as part of the ovations! for young people series at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 29.

Donna Murphy, shelving supervisor for University Libraries, died Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2005, following a sudden onset of illness in August. She was 62. Most recently the shelving supervisor, she worked in University Libraries for the past 34 years.

Sunlight promotes healthy teeth.As the days get shorter and colder, it gets harder to spend time in the sun, and that’s probably bad for your teeth. According to an article in the Journal of Periodontology from WUSM researcher Charles F. Hildebolt, our teeth may be light-sensitive, at least indirectly. Vitamin D, which regulates calcium absorption, is produced by the body when exposed to sunlight.

Religion and pluralism, natural law, feminist ethics, responding to terrorism, deliberative democracy, race and reparations, American conservatism, identities and borders, and classical critiques of democracy will be among topics explored Oct. 21-22 as the Association for Political Theory holds its 2005 meeting at Washington University.

The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the School of Medicine is starting its first federally-funded training program to provide support for postdoctoral fellows in reproductive sciences.

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Sunlight is good for teeth (week of Oct. 5) • Countdown to drug dependency (week of Oct. 12) • Cell phones don’t stress human cells (week of Oct. 19) • Beta-blocker use depends on genes (week of Oct. 26)

Enlisted to help fight viral infections, immune cells called macrophages consume virus-infected cells to stop the spread of the disease in the body. Now researchers at the School of Medicine have uncovered how macrophages keep from succumbing to the infection themselves.

Six entrepreneurial projects have made it to the final round of the Olin Cup Competition. The finalists were selected from a group of 11 semi-finalists Thursday evening at a networking event at Washington University. Teams are competing for a total of $70,000 in seed investments — awarded to those who create viable business ventures with a high probability of success. In addition to the $70k, a $5k grant will be awarded to the best student-owned venture — bringing the total prize money to $75,000.

The Center on Urban Research & Public Policy is an interdisciplinary effort dedicated to promoting scholarship and debate on critical issues facing urban America and dense populations around the globe.

Poorly controlled blood glucose levels can negatively affect blood flow to the heart.In the heart muscle of type 1 diabetics, high blood glucose is a significant contributor to poorly opening vessels, or poor vasodilation, according to a study by researchers at the School of Medicine. Even administration of high levels of insulin, which usually enhances vasodilation, can’t counteract the negative effect of high glucose on the heart, and this contributes to increased plaque buildup and heart disease.