Newsroom Stories

Soumen Rakennustaiteen Museo (SRM)McDonald’s-Finland Headquarters in HelsinkiHas corporate architecture doomed the city? Over the last century, corporate headquarters — as well as churches, universities and government institutions — have been pillars of the urban environment, embodying the culture, values and aspirations of their societies. Yet today’s corporations — competing in global, open-market economies; distanced and disassociated from the means of production — have increasingly situated themselves on the suburban periphery, replacing civic engagement with simple displays of technological prowess. As a result, “corporations must be seen as potential ‘dissolving agents’ of the cities in which they have chosen to locate,” argues Peter MacKeith, associate director of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, where he also serves as associate dean of Architecture.

In vitro fertilization can cost anywhere from $10,000 – $15,000 for each round of treatments. This means access to assisted reproductive technologies (ART) is generally limited to a relatively small portion of couples that seek it. Several state governments have turned to public policy in an attempt to make access to ART more widely available. But two professors from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis find that market competition can be as effective at expanding access as requiring insurance companies to cover infertility treatments. At the same time, competition appears to lower the rate of high-risk births and encourages the use of new technologies.

Cell phone radiation doesn’t stress human cells.Weighing in on the debate about whether cell phones have adverse health effects, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that the electromagnetic radiation produced by cell phones does not activate the stress response in mouse, hamster or human cells growing in cultures. The stress response is a cellular protection mechanism set into motion by various adverse stimuli, including heat shock, heavy metals, and inflammation. High levels of the stress response in cells are thought to result in changes associated with malignancy.

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 Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. 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.

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 a researcher at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, our teeth may be light-sensitive, at least indirectly.

Women have different sports medicine needs than men.In sports medicine, it isn’t always true that what’s “good for the goose is good for the gander.” Reporting on issues unique to female runners in the journal Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America, Washington University physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists say women’s bodies adapt to athletic challenges differently. They say that when female athletes get injured, health-care professionals need to consider the anatomic, biomechanical, hormonal and functional factors that are unique to women.

In 1992, Mae Jemison climbed aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour and became the first woman of color to go into space. On Wed., Oct. 26, she will deliver the Black Arts & Sciences Festival lecture for the Assembly Series at 11 a.m. in Graham Chapel.

Three Hilltop Campus Arts & Sciences faculty — a biologist, geologist and mathematician — are participants in a new series, “Science on Tap.”

Bernstein”Imagine an electrical appliance industry with plugs of 9,000 different shape and sizes that need one of 9,000 matching sockets to work. Preposterous as that is, that’s the “design” of American health insurance – tens of thousands of medical care providers must plug their billions of billings into thousands of differing insurance policies,” says Merton C. Bernstein, a founding member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and the Coles Professor of Law Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis. “This wasteful design has its silver lining, though. Eliminating administrative costs through universal Medicare coverage, or Medicare-for-All, would save as much as $280 to $300 billion a year, enough to pay for covering the 45 million uninsured. ”

Eleven semi-finalists remain in the field for the 2005 Olin Cup Entrepreneur Competition — including four student-owned ventures. Judges will select the finalists on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 5 p.m. at a networking event which is open to the public. The event will be in Simon Hall’s May Auditorium on Washington University’s campus. Kevin McGowan, principal and co-founder of McGowan Walsh Historic Renovators, is the featured speaker.