Scientists identify proteins that direct bone demolition
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Pig-to-primate transplants show promise for diabetes
Scientists exploring a potential cure for diabetes have shown that transplanting insulin-producing cells from embryonic pigs into diabetic monkeys can dramatically lower blood sugar levels, though not quite to normal levels.
Cities of the Future Film Series Dec. 6, 7 and 8
The city of the future is a utopian confection of luxurious modernist skyscrapers, except when it’s a hidden nightmare of exploited subterranean workers, a comedy of anonymous office spaces or a collection of geodesic domes orbiting Saturn. Throughout the 20th century, filmmakers have explored the ever-quickening pace of technological development through visionary images of both social and architectural space. In December, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will screen three such films as part of its Cities of the Future Film Series.
Brown School’s Toys for Tots drive ends Dec. 16
The 2011 annual Brown School Toys for Tots drive is collecting new, unwrapped toys to be distributed to youth and families to in the St. Louis area. Last year the “Bear Brigade” collected four full boxes. This year’s theme is “Joining Forces” as the Brown School challenge all students, faculty and staff, as well as on and off campus partners, to help reach the 2011 goal of five full boxes. The drive runs through Friday, Dec. 16.
The Intergalactic Nemesis: Live-Action Graphic Novel
Is it a comic book? A radio play? A conquering sludge monster from outer space? Yes! The Intergalactic Nemesis: Live-Action Graphic Novel is all that and more. Follow intrepid reporter Molly Sloan, her trusty assistant Timmy Mendez and mysterious librarian Ben Wilcott as they race against time and fight to save humanity from impending invasion. The resistance begins at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 18 and 19, as part of the Edison Ovations Series at Washington University.
WUSTL Dining Services: There’s an app for that
An Apple mobile application called WUSTL Dining — which allows potential diners to check out menu items at each WUSTL Dining Services location — now is available at the Apple App Store. The new app is free and also allows users to find WUSTL Dining Services locations and view nutritional information on menu items on their iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.
WUSTL named a top producer of U.S. Fulbright students
Washington University in St. Louis recently was named one of the top producers of U.S. Fulbright students, based on outcomes of the 2011-2012 competition. The Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program, recently announced the complete list of top-producing colleges and universities in the Oct. 24 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Sports update Nov. 7: Volleyball wins 20th UAA title
The No. 3 volleyball team rallied from an 0-2 deficit to defeat No. 2 Emory University in the 2011 UAA championship match Nov. 5 in New York. The UAA title is a school-record 20th in WUSTL history, and the first since 2008. Updates also included on men’s and women’s soccer, football, swimming & diving, and women’s basketball.
Numerous flaws in ‘personhood’ movement, says family law expert
On Nov. 8, Mississippi voters will cast their ballots on Initiative 26, which would make every “fertilized egg” a “person” as a matter of law. “Many have rightly condemned this so-called ‘personhood’ initiative as an attack not only on abortion rights, but also on the ability to practice widely used methods of birth control, to attempt in vitro fertilization, and to grieve a miscarriage in private, without a criminal investigation by the state,” says Susan Appleton, JD, family law expert and the Lemma Barkeloo and Phoebe Couzins Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis. “But these criticisms fail to identify another flaw in the reasoning of the initiative’s proponents,” she says. “The proponents assume that attaching the label of ‘person’ to fertilized eggs, embryos and fetuses necessarily establishes a legal basis for criminalizing abortion, or even for requiring its criminalization.”
HDHP, HSA information sessions Nov. 17 and 18
Due to increased employee interest in the High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) and the Health Savings Accounts (HSA), the WUSTL Benefits Department will host special informational sessions Nov. 17 and 18 about these health plan options.