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New study shows race significant factor in death penalty cases

New research by Scott Phillips, associate professor of sociology and criminology at the University of Denver, finds that in Harris County, TX the District Attorney (DA) was more likely to pursue the death penalty when the defendant was African American and less likely to pursue the death penalty when the victim was African American. The study, "Racial Disparities in the Capital of Capital Punishment," will be published in the Houston Law Review this fall.

"Conventional wisdom holds that the race of the victim is pivotal," Phillips says. "But, current research suggests that the race of the defendant and victim are both pivotal."

Phillips studied whether race influenced the DA's decision to pursue a death trial or the jury's decision to impose a death sentence against defendants indicted for capital murder in Harris County, located in the Houston area. He spent several years looking at more than 500 capital murder cases that occurred between 1992-1999. Although Texas has a reputation for executing a large number of people, Harris County executed more people than any other state but Texas.

People

Researchers explore altruism's unexpected ally -- selfishness

Just as religions dwell upon the eternal battle between good and evil, angels and devils, evolutionary theorists dwell upon the eternal battle between altruistic and selfish behaviors in the Darwinian struggle for existence. In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), evolutionary theorists at Binghamton University suggest that selfishness might not be such a villain after all.

Omar Tonsi Eldakar and David Sloan Wilson propose a novel solution to this problem in their article, which is available in the online Early Edition of PNAS. They point out that selfish individuals have their own incentive to get rid of other selfish individuals within their own group.

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Japan detergent suicide sparks panic due to deadly fumes

A man triggered panic in a northern Japanese city Thursday when he killed himself by mixing detergents in his house, releasing toxic fumes that drove 350 people from their homes - the latest in a series of such suicides.

The panic in Otaru came just hours after national police urged Internet providers to crack down on Web sites that have spurred a wave of detergent-related suicides. Some 50 people have reportedly killed themselves over the past month in Japan by mixing household chemicals to produce hydrogen sulfide.

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©Kyodo News / AP Photo
Police officers in protective gear enter an apartment in Konan, southern Japan Thursday, April 24, 2008. A Japanese girl gassed herself to death by mixing laundry detergent with cleanser, releasing fumes that sickened 90 people in her apartment house, police said Thursday as they grappled with a spate of similar suicides.

Health

Flashback Japan: Girl's suicide leaves dozens ill from fumes

A 14-year-old Japanese girl killed herself by mixing laundry detergent with cleanser, releasing fumes that also sickened 90 people in her apartment house, police said Thursday as they grappled with a spate of similar suicides.

Pills

Drug Contamination that Killed 81 May Have Been Deliberate, F.D.A. Says

Federal drug regulators believe that a contaminant detected in a crucial blood thinner that has caused 81 deaths was added deliberately, something the Food and Drug Administration has only hinted at previously.

Syringe

FDA report shows 49 problems at Merck vaccine plant, including failure to follow good manufacturing practices

Federal inspectors documented unwanted "fibers" on the stoppers of vaccine vials at Merck & Co. Inc.'s vast vaccine plant in Montgomery County.

They also found instances of contaminated children's vaccines and complaints that were not always investigated at the West Point plant.

Document

Flashback Drug giant Merck accused of deaths cover-up

It is perhaps the biggest drug scandal of recent years. Before Merck withdrew Vioxx in 2004, the popular painkiller was linked to heart attacks in tens of thousands of people. Now researchers have alleged that Merck knew of the dangers years earlier, but tweaked statistics and hid data so that regulators remained in the dark.

Syringe

Flashback Vaccine companies investigated for manslaughter

French authorities have opened a formal investigation into two managers from drugs groups GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur over a vaccination campaign in the 1990s, a judicial source said late on Thursday.

Syringe

Checking links between vaccines and autism

Nassau County officials are looking at a potential link between children vaccines and autism.

Legislator David Mejias and Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg are meeting today with parents of autistic children who claim the combination of vaccines given to young children can cause autism.

Life Preserver

Investigators unveil new drug discovery tool for Alzheimer's disease

An article published in the April issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease presents a detailed characterization of a new drug discovery tool for Alzheimer's disease. It demonstrates that an abnormal form of tau protein, as it occurs in Alzheimer's disease, can be produced in very simple cell models in an unambiguous way. Most importantly, it also shows an example of a chemical compound, found in nature, which is highly effective to completely suppress the abnormal changes of tau.