Early last week, I received an official invitation from Worcester Polytechnic Institute to attend a celebration marking the opening of its new Sports and Recreation Center. Cannon Design directed the design of the project and I take great pride in the building and the efforts our team put forth. It will be exciting to attend the opening celebration and see how it transforms the campus.
The invitation to the event conveys WPI?s excitement for the Sports and Recreation Center. It talks about the building?s potential to improve the campus experience and create new opportunities for students and faculty at the university. It creates a stronger and brighter future for the university.
A LEED certified building, the new five-story recreation facility offers a four-court gymnasium, a three-lane perimeter jogging track, a 25-meter, 250-spectator competition swimming pool, three convertible racquetball and squash courts, an eight-person rowing tank and dramatic views of the campus.
The project is part of a larger seven-year fundraising and improvement plan for the university, I?m excited to see this building become a reality and know that Cannon Design has played a part in helping WPI meet its goals.
Sammy's latest marketing ploy kicked off with a string of nonsense that could just as easily have come from the Sunday morning jumble: "Destination: tgeltaayehxnx," declared the Samsung Mobile Twitter account. Anagram wizards will read that as, "the next Galaxy," and wouldn't you know it, it's also the URL for an auspicious countdown clock. Sammy promises to let visitors take "the next step" in about 17 hours and counting. Bonafide internet sleuths can find an extra carrot strung up in the site's source, reading, "discover how Samsung is about to challenge the way you view the Galaxy once more." Is Samsung about to break its own May 3rd unveiling? We'll let you know in 16 hours and change.
Update: It seems like that ticker just might be counting down to some sort of anagram guessing game, according to an Engadget tipster who partook in some directory diving. Among a series of assets of different colored lettered tiles he found images with instructions warnings, reading "Click on the letters in the correct order to reveal your real destination," and "Following technology blindly often gets you nowhere." Ominous.
If you were ever curious as to how much body parts can fetch on the black market, Medical Transcription created a snazzy infographic to show you. Some parts are shockingly cheap! Like would you want a new shoulder or a new iPad? Both cost 500 bucks. More »
Check out this puggle—a pug and beagle mix—sidestepping on a treadmill. Like a boss. Why? Because he's a puggle sidestepping on a treadmill, that's why. If I tried to do this I would smash my jerkface against the ground. [The Dogs] More »
Contact: Kate Cox kate.cox@warwick.ac.uk University of Warwick
The development of more effective cancer drugs could be a step nearer thanks to the discovery, by scientists at Warwick Medical School, of how an inbuilt 'security check' operates to guarantee cells divide with the correct number of chromosomes.
Most cells in our bodies contain 23 pairs of chromosomes that encode our individual genetic identities. The process of chromosome segregation is monitored by a system called the spindle checkpoint that ensures daughter cells receive the correct number of chromosomes.
If daughter cells receive an unequal number of chromosomes, known as 'aneuploidy', this drives normal cells to become cancerous. Indeed, the cells of aggressive human tumours are frequently 'aneuploid' with many components of the spindle checkpoint being mutated or mis-expressed. Therefore, determining how the spindle checkpoint operates is vital to understanding what causes, and what can prevent, the formation of tumours.
Current Biology has published research by Professor Jonathan Millar at the University of Warwick that pinpoints the precise mechanism by which spindle checkpoint proteins bind chromosomes.
Professor Millar explained: "Components of the spindle assembly checkpoint were first discovered 22 years ago by researchers in America and yet, until now, the binding sites for these proteins on chromosomes have remained unknown. We have been able to answer this question and as a result, we are now in a much better position to design more selective and effective drugs."
Currently, one of the most frequently used anti-cancer drugs are taxanes, which prevent proper inactivation of the spindle checkpoint and result in selective death of cancer, but not normal, cells. However, this class of drug can have debilitating side effects including permanent neurological damage and hair loss side effects that could be reduced if cancer cells could be targeted more selectively.
Professor Millar was quick to point out that this is not an overnight cure: "This research is a significant advance in our understanding of how the spindle checkpoint operates but it is really just the start. More research has to be done before we can convert this into a commercial treatment for patients. But we are greatly encouraged that our research here at Warwick is leading the way in the search for more effective cancer drugs."
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The paper can be viewed at Current Biology: www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(12)00338-7
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Contact: Kate Cox kate.cox@warwick.ac.uk University of Warwick
The development of more effective cancer drugs could be a step nearer thanks to the discovery, by scientists at Warwick Medical School, of how an inbuilt 'security check' operates to guarantee cells divide with the correct number of chromosomes.
Most cells in our bodies contain 23 pairs of chromosomes that encode our individual genetic identities. The process of chromosome segregation is monitored by a system called the spindle checkpoint that ensures daughter cells receive the correct number of chromosomes.
If daughter cells receive an unequal number of chromosomes, known as 'aneuploidy', this drives normal cells to become cancerous. Indeed, the cells of aggressive human tumours are frequently 'aneuploid' with many components of the spindle checkpoint being mutated or mis-expressed. Therefore, determining how the spindle checkpoint operates is vital to understanding what causes, and what can prevent, the formation of tumours.
Current Biology has published research by Professor Jonathan Millar at the University of Warwick that pinpoints the precise mechanism by which spindle checkpoint proteins bind chromosomes.
Professor Millar explained: "Components of the spindle assembly checkpoint were first discovered 22 years ago by researchers in America and yet, until now, the binding sites for these proteins on chromosomes have remained unknown. We have been able to answer this question and as a result, we are now in a much better position to design more selective and effective drugs."
Currently, one of the most frequently used anti-cancer drugs are taxanes, which prevent proper inactivation of the spindle checkpoint and result in selective death of cancer, but not normal, cells. However, this class of drug can have debilitating side effects including permanent neurological damage and hair loss side effects that could be reduced if cancer cells could be targeted more selectively.
Professor Millar was quick to point out that this is not an overnight cure: "This research is a significant advance in our understanding of how the spindle checkpoint operates but it is really just the start. More research has to be done before we can convert this into a commercial treatment for patients. But we are greatly encouraged that our research here at Warwick is leading the way in the search for more effective cancer drugs."
###
The paper can be viewed at Current Biology: www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(12)00338-7
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Public release date: 20-Apr-2012
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