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CLUE 1

GOT IT ALREADY? SCORE 100 POINTS. IF NOT, READ CLUE #2.

EUREKA!

When Swedish scientist Jons Jacob Berzelius first encountered the mystery element in 1817, he thought it was the known element tellurium (Te). He later realized that he’d made a new discovery. Small amounts of this element are sprinkled throughout Earth’s crust. Usually, it’s combined with other elements to form compounds. Even though the mystery element is a nonmetal, it’s often found in ores (metal-containing rocks) of copper, silver, and other metals.

CLUE 2

NABBED THE ANSWER? SCORE 80 POINTS. STILL GUESSING? GO TO THE NEXT CLUE.

BRIGHT AND SHINY

Because the mystery element is usually found in copper ores, refineries need to remove it in order to yield pure copper–an element often used to make pots and pans. They use electrolysis, a process that utilizes electric currents to break chemical bonds, to separate copper from the mystery element. This process also leaves refineries with large commercial supplies of the mystery element, which shares the same period (row) as copper.

CLUE 3

GAME OVER ALREADY? SCORE 60 POINTS. STILL PLAYING? CHECK OUT CLUE #4.

GO NUTS

"[The mystery element] is essential for life," says Richard Glass, a chemistry professor at the University of Arizona. One reason: It protects cells from damage that could lead to diseases like cancer. Most Americans get sufficient amounts of this element through their daily diet. However, eating large amounts of the element could be toxic to the body. Brazil nuts are so high in this element that some doctors suggest eating them only once in a while.

CLUE 4

NAME IT NOW? SCORE 40 POINTS OTHERWISE, READ ON.

PIPE CLEANER

Brass is an alloy, or mixed-metal product. In the past, most plumbing-supply manufacturers used brass that contained lead. Lead made the brass machinable so that it could easily be shaped into faucets and water pipes. The downside: Lead can get into drinking water and cause health problems, including brain damage in children. Many manufacturers have replaced lead with an alloy of bismuth and the mystery element. The result: Brass stays machinable, but without the health hazards.

CLUE 5

HIT ON THE ANSWER? SCORE 20 POINTS. IF NOT, KEEP TRYING!

HIV FIGHTER

In a recent study, patients infected with HIV (the virus that causes I AIDS) took pills containing the mystery element for 18 months. The result: The amount of the virus in their bloodstream remained unchanged. But for patients who didn’t take the mystery-element pills, the HIV levels in their bodies increased. Barry Hurwitz, one of the researchers who conducted the study at the University of Miami, explains: "[The mystery element] is like a lion tamer in the circus. It makes viruses tamer, less likely to replicate (multiply)."

CLUE 6

SCORE 10 POINTS IF YOU NAME THE ELEMENT WITH THE HELP OF SIX CLUES. STILL GUESSING? READ ON

COPY THIS

Push the start button of a photocopier and bright light moves across the document that you want copied. The light reflects down to a drum, or surface inside the machine that’s coated with the mystery element, which is photosensitive. Since the element is sensitive to light, it helps the drum capture an image of your document. Toner powder then inks the image, which is transferred to blank paper to make a copy.

CLUE 7

GUESS THE ELEMENT? SCORE 5 POINTS. IF NOT, TRY YOUR LAST CLUE.

DANDRUFF FIGHTER

As new skin cells grow, old cells slough off. On the scalp, skin cells normally turn over every 21 days. But for a person with dandruff, a condition that irritates the scalp, the cells regenerate twice as quickly. This causes the old cells to build up in clumps before falling off. A compound containing the mystery element and sulfur, which are members of the same group (column), helps slow cell growth, so it’s used as an ingredient in antidandruff shampoos.

CLUE 8

GAME’S OVER. NOW TURN TO PAGE 20.

STOP AT RED

The mystery element helps prevent traffic accidents. TO make a stoplight’s red glass covering, glass manufacturers mix a batch of ingredients including sand, ash, and limestone. "If you want red-colored glass, you toss in some [of the mystery element]," says Richard Glass. After the batch is melted at temperatures greater than 1,425[degrees]C (2,600[degrees]F), the molten material is then cooled and shaped into a red glass covering. This traffic-stopping element has 34 protons.

Anatomy of an Element

X Atomic number

?? Element symbol

Name Element name

X.XXXX Average atomic mass

KEY DEFINITIONS:

ATOMIC NUMBER equals the number of protons (positively charged particles) in an atom’s nucleus, or center. Every element contains a different number of protons, and so has a unique atomic number. In a neutral atom, the number of protons and the number of electrons (negatively charged particles) are equal.

ATOMIC MASS equals the number of protons plus the number of neutrons (uncharged particles) found in a single atom of an element. The atom’s mass is in its nucleus, which houses both protons and neutrons.

Information provided by: Findarticles.com

WEST HAVEN, Conn. — NanoViricides, Inc. (Pink Sheets: NNVC) presented results of recent animal studies against rabies and BSL3 in vitro studies against a Clade 2 H5N1 (avian influenza) virus at the 23rd Annual Symposium of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology in Tampa, FL, on Wednesday, May 2. (Pan American Society for Clinical Virology (PASCV): Clinical Virology Symposium)

The BSL3 studies against Clade 2 H5N1, a Dec. 2006 isolate in Vietnam, showed that the nanoviricide developed against Highly Pathogenic Influenzas, FluCide-HP [TM], was highly effective in suppressing cytopathic effects (CPE), whereas the broad-spectrum nanoviricide against all influenzas, FluCide[TM], was slightly less effective than AviFluCide-HP. These findings were expected. Both of these candidates were significantly more effective than oseltamivir (Tamiflu[R]) in this blind study performed by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) scientists in Vietnam.

In addition, the antibody-fragment-based H5N1 specific (Clade 1, Vietnam, 2004-2005 strains) AviFluCide[TM] drug candidate was demonstrated conclusively by Vietnam scientists to significantly suppress CPE against this rgH5N1 strain (Clade 1), confirming previous results.

The Highly Pathogenic H5N1 subtype of influenza continues to rapidly evolve and is now found in two distinct subgroups, Clade 1 and Clade 2. According to CDC scientists, the Vietnam 2004/2005 strains belong to Clade 1, whereas the Indonesia 2006 (2007), Egypt 2006, and Vietnam 2006 (2007) strains are different and form the Clade 2 subgroup. The various Clade 2 strains are antigenically distinct from each other, but closer to each other than to Clade 1 strains.

"Highly Pathogenic Influenza strains of all clades possess the polybasic cleavage site. Thus FluCide-HP, designed against this site, is expected to be effective against all Highly Pathogenic influenza strains. It makes no difference to which type, subtype, or clade, they belong," said Anil R. Diwan, Ph.D., president of NanoViricides, Inc.

"We have shown that our drug candidates are the most effective drugs at present against even the newest subgroup of H5N1 viruses. Other companies continue to work on developing vaccines and drugs against the older Clade 1 H5N1 viruses, while we are working on the newest strains," said Eugene Seymour, MD, MPH, Chief Executive Officer of NanoViricides, Inc.

The Company plans to comment shortly on its in vitro/in vivo rabies studies.

About NanoViricides: http://www.nanoviricides.com

NanoViricides, Inc. is a development stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for viral therapy. Nanoviricides is currently developing drugs against Common influenza, Bird Flu H5N1, Rabies, Dengue and other viruses with various collaborators. The Company recently signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (http://wrair-www.army.mil/) for creating new treatments for dengue fever using NanoViricides’ virus-killing nanomedicine technology. This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the Company’s current expectation regarding future events. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual events could differ materially and substantially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors including the success of the Company’s research and development strategy, the availability of adequate financing, the successful and timely completion of clinical studies and the uncertainties related to the regulatory process.

COPYRIGHT 2007 Business Wire
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

Information provided by: Findarticles.com

- Study Establishes Human Model to Evaluate Anti-viral Activity of ALN-RSV01, an RNAi Therapeutic for the Treatment of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Infection -

- Company Plans to Begin Phase II Study with ALN-RSV01 in Experimentally Infected Adults in Second Quarter -

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, presented data from its experimental infection study at the 2007 Pediatric Academic Societies’ (PAS) Annual Meeting being held in Toronto. This study represents an important component of the company’s clinical development program for ALN-RSV01, an RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. Results demonstrated the establishment of a safe and reliable RSV infection in the upper respiratory tract of adult volunteers and as a result of this achievement, the company expects to begin a Phase II study evaluating the safety and efficacy of ALN-RSV01 in experimentally infected adults in the second quarter of this year.

The experimental infection model was designed to evaluate viral infectivity of RSV administered intranasally in healthy adult volunteers. Top-line data are summarized as follows:

* A total of 36 subjects were exposed to RSV in 5 cohorts;

* Escalating viral inoculums were used from log 3 to log 5 plaque forming units (PFU), a measure of viral inoculum concentration;

* Clinical and virologic signs of infection, e.g., viral load and viral shedding, were documented;

* 72 percent of subjects were infected with a mean incubation period of 3.2 days, duration of infection of 7 days, and viral load (by an area under the curve analysis) of 61.9 log 10 PFU-days; and,

* No significant adverse events were observed.

"We are pleased with the progress we have made to date with the clinical development of ALN-RSV01, an RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of RSV," said Akshay Vaishnaw, M.D., Ph.D., Vice President, Clinical Research of Alnylam. "Experimental infection models have been used to develop many anti-viral treatments including those for flu and the common cold, and we believe that such a model is a significant advance for the development of novel anti-RSV therapies. Importantly, with an experimental infection model in hand, we now have the ability to demonstrate the anti-viral activity for RNAi therapeutics in a well-controlled Phase II human trial. We expect to have data with ALN-RSV01 from this trial in the second half of the year."

"Based on the Phase I studies to date, the encouraging pre-clinical data showing anti-viral activity, and the drug’s novel mechanism of action, ALN-RSV01 may represent a breakthrough treatment option for patients infected with RSV," said John P. DeVincenzo, M.D., Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Infectious Diseases at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. "Establishing a safe, reliable RSV infection in human volunteers, and being able to quantify the infection and the symptoms it produces is a significant accomplishment. In the months to come, I look forward to the initiation of a Phase II trial for ALN-RSV01, where we will have the opportunity to demonstrate anti-viral activity in man."

ALN-RSV01 is an RNAi therapeutic being developed for the treatment of RSV infection, a prevalent viral infectious disease in pediatric and several adult patient populations. ALN-RSV01 was found to be safe and well tolerated when administered intranasally in clinically relevant doses to human adult volunteers in a Phase I study where it demonstrated a safety profile comparable to placebo. A Phase I inhalation safety study with a nebulized formulation of ALN-RSV01 is currently enrolling subjects in the U.S.; data from this trial is now expected in the second half of 2007. ALN-RSV01 is an Alnylam proprietary program and as such, represents an important component of the company’s balanced pipeline of proprietary and partnered RNAi therapeutics programs.

Phase II Experimental Infection Study Details

Alnylam will be conducting a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind Phase II experimental infection study to assess the safety and tolerability of intranasally delivered ALN-RSV01 versus placebo, administered to healthy adult volunteers experimentally inoculated with the RSV virus. The study, expected to enroll approximately 90 subjects, aims to determine the safety and anti-viral activity of ALN-RSV01 as measured toward clinical symptoms of RSV infection and RSV infection rate based on measures of viral load.

About Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)

RSV is a highly contagious virus that causes infections in both the upper and lower respiratory tract. RSV infects nearly every child at least once by the age of two years and is a leading cause of hospitalization due to respiratory infection in children and in people with compromised immune systems, and others. RSV infection typically results in cold-like symptoms but can lead to more serious respiratory illnesses such as croup, pneumonia, bronchiolitis, and in extreme cases, death. RSV infection in the pediatric population accounts for more than 125,000 hospitalizations per year in the U.S. In addition, RSV infection in infants has been linked to the development of childhood asthma. As a result, there is a significant need for novel therapeutics to treat patients who become infected with RSV.

Information provided by: Findarticles.com