Newsroom Stories

Josh Smith in the Libyan desert.They’re back! Joshua Smith, Ph.D., assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, and D. Tab Rasmussen, Ph.D., professor of anthropology, both in Arts & Sciences, are stateside, teaching at Washington University after returning from what is thought to be the first-ever collaborative paleontological expedition between American and Libyan scientists. Smith and Rasmussen were in Libya for just three weeks in August of 2005. They were in the field for only 10 days, and they and their colleagues visited 13 new places that have produced Cretaceous-aged vertebrate fossils. They found fossils of sharks, bony fish, crocodiles and turtles.

When managers realize that their corporate earnings per share are in jeopardy of falling short of analysts’ quarterly forecasts, they usually look for a way to avoid that fate. While there has been plenty of research that looks at how companies beat analysts forecast by manipulating their earnings, the effects of stock repurchases has remained unexamined. A new study by a business professor at Washington University in St. Louis, finds that under the right circumstances, repurchasing stock in an attempt to increase earnings per share does not completely fool the market, although it is an effective way to avoid being throttled when earnings per share falls short of market expectations.

You hear about them often in the news — longtime managers who survive corporate mergers with a golden parachute and a backpack full of fabulous perks. They must have done a great job in helping the company grow, right? Not necessarily, according to research done by a professor at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis. In a series of studies Litov conducted, he found that, longtime, or entrenched, managers tend to avoid risky investments and projects, which results in saddling their firms with higher debt levels and slowing the firm’s growth.

Benjamin Franklin’s myriad contributions as scientist, inventor, publisher and statesman will be back in the spotlight in coming months as America celebrates his 300th birthday on Jan. 17. Much of the hoopla, including major exhibits in London, Paris, Philadelphia and other American cities, will focus on Franklin’s role as an influential American diplomat. However, a new book by medical historian Stanley Finger contends that Franklin also deserves considerable recognition for important contributions to the healing arts. “With strong interests in bedside and preventative medicine, hospital care, and even medical education, he helped to change medical care in both America and Europe,” Finger says.

WUSM researchers have developed a diagnostic tool for identifying pathological gambling disorder.More than 80 percent of the U.S. population gambles at some time in their lives. It might be the lottery, bingo or poker. Most never need treatment for problem gambling, but others lose control and lose their houses or cars and damage family relationships as a result of compulsive gambling. Little is known about why people gamble and how to predict who is likely to become a pathological gambler, but Washington University researchers have developed a diagnostic tool for identifying pathological gambling disorder, and they’re beginning to learn who is at risk.

The design of the eye and the muscles and bone that surround it help the brain manage certain complex aspects of eye movement, according to researchers at the School of Medicine. The finding, published in Neuron, may help push an old debate about how eye movement is controlled toward resolution and help eye surgeons better diagnose and treat disorders such as strabismus (crossed eyes) that lead to misalignment of the eyes.

The eyes have it — a design to manage aspects of movement.The design of the eye and the muscles and bone that surround it help the brain manage certain complex aspects of eye movement, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The finding, published in Neuron, may help push an old debate about how eye movement is controlled toward resolution and help eye surgeons better diagnose and treat disorders such as strabismus (crossed eyes) that lead to misalignment of the eyes.

Repair proteins (bright green areas) are inhibited from gathering at sites of DNA damage.To remain healthy, all cells must quickly mend any breaks that arise in their DNA strands. But cancer cells are particularly dependent on a process called homologous recombination to repair DNA and stay alive. Now researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a protein with a role in homologous recombination, and the discovery could be exploited as part of a two-pronged treatment strategy to kill cancer cells by eliminating their ability to repair DNA.

WUSM researchers have developed a diagnostic tool for identifying pathological gambling disorder.More than 80 percent of the U.S. population gambles at some time in their lives. It might be the lottery, bingo or poker. Most never need treatment for problem gambling, but others lose control and lose their houses or cars and damage family relationships as a result of compulsive gambling. Little is known about why people gamble and how to predict who is likely to become a pathological gambler, but Washington University researchers have developed a diagnostic tool for identifying pathological gambling disorder, and they’re beginning to learn who is at risk.

Structure of the fatty acid receptor CD36As you stand at buffet tables during holiday parties this year, it might cheer you up to know most people don’t gain as much weight over the holidays as once was thought. Instead of five or 10 pounds, most of us actually gain only a pound or two. But it might depress you to know that weight gain happens one pound at a time, and in the long run, it may be hard to avoid — especially for some of us, because some of the taste buds in our tongues are programmed to make us crave fatty food — and fat is everywhere in our diets. French researchers recently reported that mice have a receptor in their tongues that can sense fat, and the presence of that receptor seems to drive the mice to crave fat in their diets. The research was based on work from scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, where investigators previously had identified a protein receptor for fat and documented its function in recognizing and using fatty food.