Word: block
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...finally facing the problem, though, doesn't mean they know how to deal with it. The New Orleans counterattack is more of a series of experimental forays than an all-out assault. In one test, the USDA will attempt to beat back the bugs in an entire 15-block section of the French Quarter by using a variety of techniques all at once. At the same time scientists will try to figure out which of the available poisons is the most effective by treating 15 New Orleans schools with different chemicals...
...drugs work pretty much the way the old ones do. Aspirin and other NSAIDs block production of substances called prostaglandins, which are among the most versatile molecules in the body. Among other things, prostaglandins trigger uterine contractions during birth; generate a layer of mucus that protects the stomach from its acids; and cause blood particles called platelets to form clots--a mixed blessing, since the clots that help a wound heal can also lead to a heart attack...
...inhibitors may not just control pain; they may also one day prevent some types of cancer. Researchers have learned that malignant cells in the intestines manufacture COX-2 enzymes to accelerate their growth. (That may help explain why consuming fruits and vegetables, which block COX-2 enzymes naturally, seems to protect against colon cancer.) Clinical trials are under way in England to see if superaspirins can prevent colon cancer. Other scientists, meanwhile, have determined that COX-2 inhibitors could conceivably lessen some of the brain damage in Alzheimer's disease...
...there anything superaspirins can't do? Unfortunately, COX-2 inhibitors, unlike aspirin, have little or no effect on heart disease, since it's the COX-1 enzymes that cause blood clotting. But so far, no one knows how to block the COX-1 enzymes in the bloodstream without also affecting the ones that help protect the stomach...
Although it looks like just another stately residence on a quiet, tree-lined block minutes from Harvard Square, the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow House, at 105 Brattle Street, is a treasure-chest of American history...