A team of researchers led by Brent Sumerlin, the George B. Butler Professor in the University of Florida Department of Chemistry, has made a breakthrough with the potential to transform how we recycle plastics. Their innovative approach to working with polymers has led them to develop a new method for recycling that promises to lower the energy requirement without sacrificing the quality of the plastic. It’s no secret that the U.S. and the Earth at large have a pressing plastic problem. Despite a meteoric rise in usage over the past few decades, only about 10% of our plastic currently ends up getting recycled. “Our work is a response ...

PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA [August 7, 2023] — New research in the August 2023 issue of JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network evaluates how an important analysis on local-regionally advanced colon cancer adjuvant chemotherapy impacted prescribing patterns. The IDEA collaboration included more than 12,000 patients with Stage III colon cancer across 6 randomized phase 3 trials in a planned pooled analysis, to determine how three or six months of post-surgery chemotherapy—either a combination of capecitabine/oxaliplatin (CAPOX) or fluorouracil/leucovorin/oxaliplatin ...

DALLAS, August 7, 2023 — Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association, has again been recognized for elite leadership in the 26th annual listing of The NonProfit Times Power & Influence Top 50. For more than three decades, The NonProfit Times has been a leading trade publication providing news, information and insight into nonprofit management. Brown, who is now appearing for the 8th time on this list, was recognized specifically for her leadership as a champion for equitable health. The NonProfit ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $4.7 million in funding for five new research projects in computational biology. These projects will develop new software and analytical tools to manage the growing quantities of genomics and other data stemming from the study of microbes and other biological systems. “The Biological and Environmental Research (BER) Genomic Science program is at the forefront of using genome-enabled approaches to identify the basic principles that drive biological systems underlying functional processes of organisms,” said Todd Anderson, DOE Acting Associate Director for BER. “To gain ...

HOUSTON – (Aug.7, 2023) – The spinal cord is harder to access and study than even the brain. The challenges posed by its mobility and anatomical structure have made understanding exactly how it functions difficult. Rice University engineers will work with collaborators to optimize an array of nanoelectronic threads, or NETs ⎯ already used successfully for gathering high-fidelity, long-term data from neurons in the brain ⎯ for use in the spine, supported by a $6.25 million, four-year grant from the National Institutes of Health. In addition to neuronal activity recordings, NET probes can provide tunable, localized stimulation of adjacent neurons. Rice ...

HOUSTON, Aug. 7, 2023 – The Baker Hughes Foundation announced a $100,000 grant to the University of Houston Energy Transition Institute (ETI) to support environmental justice research and workforce development programs. The institute, which focuses on the creation and use of reliable, affordable, environmentally responsible energy for all through a just and equity-driven pathway, is looking forward to using the grant to amplify its mission. “Thanks to the generous support of the Baker Hughes Foundation, the UH ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – Geoscientists have long thought that water – along with shallow magma stored in Earth’s crust – drives volcanoes to erupt. Now, thanks to newly developed research tools at Cornell, scientists have learned that gaseous carbon dioxide can trigger explosive eruptions. A new model suggests that basaltic volcanoes, typically located on the interior of tectonic plates, are fed by a deep magma within the mantle, stored about 20 to 30 kilometers below Earth’s surface. The research, which offers a clearer picture of our planet’s deep internal dynamics and composition, with ...

Researchers at Kobe University discovered an entirely new and unexpected mechanism by which the immune system can get rid of cells lacking molecules that identify them as part of the self in mice. The finding, published in PNAS, has possible implications for cancer treatment. The immune system comprises many types of cells that work together to fight off diseases. Two important types are dendritic cells and T cells. Dendritic cells are located in strategic positions throughout the body including the gut and skin, as well as in the lymph nodes, sample their environment and present small components derived from these samples on their ...

Social learning is typically thought to be most beneficial when the environments in which individuals live change quite slowly – they can safely learn tried and tested information from one another and it does not go out of date quickly. Innovating brand-new information, on the other hand, is thought to be useful in dynamic and rapidly changing environments. Researchers Madeleine Ammar, Laurel Fogarty and Anne Kandler at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology developed an agent-based simulation model of the evolution ...

Researchers at Uppsala university have developed a new method to find mutations in brain tumors in children. They could also show that the mutations identified by them changes how cancer cells respond to a cancer drug. These findings could lead to better diagnostics and more individualized treatment of children with brain tumors. The study is published in the journal PNAS.   Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in children. It usually develops in the cerebellum and even if modern treatment has improved the prognosis so that over 70% live more than five years, not all patients ...

Outbreaks of polycystic echicnococcosis, a life-threatening zoonotic disease, are driven by regional climate changes, according to a study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), an institution supported by “la Caixa” Foundation. The findings, published in PNAS, provide evidence of the impact of climate on neglected tropical diseases in the Amazon region, with implications for other zoonoses. Polycystic echinococcosis (PE) is a neglected life-threatening zoonosis caused by an intestinal worm (Echinococcus vogeli) ...

Groundbreaking new research has uncovered a potential route to developing the first ever drug treatments for vascular dementia, that directly target a cause of the condition. The research, funded by the British Heart Foundation and published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, [1] has shed light on how high blood pressure causes changes to arteries in the brain, a process that leads to the devastating condition.   High blood pressure is a main cause of vascular dementia, a condition characterised by poor blood flow to the brain. The reduced blood supply starves brain cells of nutrients and over time they become damaged ...

Engineers have developed nanoscale tattoos—dots and wires that adhere to live cells—in a breakthrough that puts researchers one step closer to tracking the health of individual cells. The new technology allows for the first time the placement of optical elements or electronics on live cells with tattoo-like arrays that stick on cells while  flexing and conforming to the cells’wet and fluid outer structure. “If you imagine where this is all going in the future, we would like to have sensors to remotely monitor and ...

ATLANTA — Catherine Perkins, a clinical professor in the College of Education & Human Development at Georgia State University, has been awarded a five-year, $3.6 million grant by the U.S. Department of Education to expand quality school-based mental health (SBMH) services for underserved populations in high-need schools. The Expanding Quality SBMH Services for Underserved Populations with Inclusive Practices (GSU-EQUIP) grant will have a direct impact in metro Atlanta by increasing access to school-based programs and strengthening the candidate pool of mental ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – There is more to a harmful algal bloom than the green stuff in water that meets the eye – specifically, a changing hazard level of toxins produced by the microbes that make up the scummy mess. A new study analyzing toxins produced by Microcystis, the main type of cyanobacteria that compose the annual harmful algal bloom (HAB) in Lake Erie, suggests that the toxicity of the bloom may be overestimated in earlier warm months and underestimated later in the summer. The research is part of a large project, led by The Ohio State University, designed to develop a more accurate harmful algal bloom toxicity forecast ...

WASHINGTON (August 7, 2023) – The domestication of canines and their co-evolution with humans has fostered an incredibly unique relationship with these animals. Over time, our four-legged friends have adapted well to understanding human modes of communication, both verbal and nonverbal. However, researchers at the George Washington University say humans could do more to better understand our furry companions, and a dogs’ facial markings may be one key to meeting them halfway. In a new paper published in the journal Animals, ...

Chestnut Hill, Mass. (8/7/2023) - The Pacific Ocean’s western boundary current, which forms a critical regulator of sea surface temperature and weather patterns, has significantly strengthened as the planet warms, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience. The study provides the first evidence that the western boundary current in the South Pacific has significantly strengthened during the 20th century in response to global warming, contributing to an intensified equatorial undercurrent, according to Boston College Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences Xingchen (Tony) Wang, a co-author ...

Academic performance has long been linked to how supported students feel at school. Now, a Rutgers study suggests this sentiment is also essential to preventing suicides.   A Rutgers researcher found that having a strong sense of school belonging – the subjective feeling of being accepted, valued, included and encouraged in the school community – could mitigate suicidal tendencies among Black adolescents.   “Having a supportive teacher or other nonparent adult can change a child’s life because they will want to go to school,” said Adrian Gale, an assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Social Work and co-author of the study ...

LA JOLLA, CA—An antibody in single-chain fragment variable (scFv) format that binds to the powerful opioid carfentanil was shown to reverse signs of carfentanil overdose in preclinical tests conducted by scientists at Scripps Research. Carfentanil is a variant of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, and about 100 times as potent as its chemical cousin. Along with fentanyl and other fentanyl variants, it is commonly mixed with illegal drugs such as heroin and cocaine to enhance their euphoric effects, resulting in many fatal overdoses. In the study, published in ACS ...

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the renewal of the Midwest Integrated Center for Computational Materials (MICCoM) for another three years at $3 million per year. Founded in 2015, the Center is headquartered at DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory. Partnering universities include the University of Chicago, University of Notre Dame and University of California, Davis. “The MICCoM team has been at the forefront of developing simulation methods and codes and solving cutting-edge materials science problems,” said Center director Giulia Galli. She is also a senior scientist in Argonne’s Materials Science division and professor in the ...

Key Takeaways A new method derived from standard blood pressure assessments can improve monitoring of critically ill patients with circulatory shock The method accurately predicts risk of death, length of hospital stay, and blood lactate levels (an indicator of tissue perfusion and oxygenation). BOSTON – Critically ill patients with circulatory shock—when the heart cannot pump enough blood and oxygen to the rest of the body, often as a result of heart failure, sepsis, or hemorrhage—require close monitoring and treatment, especially to maintain adequate blood pressure to prevent injury to important organs. ...

Researchers have successfully grown bacterial cells in potential sand-based construction materials, as detailed in a paper published by Research Directions: Biotechnology Design, a new journal from Cambridge University Press. This achievement marks a substantial contribution to the field of biodesign, which seeks to incorporate living organisms into building materials as a means of making architecture more sustainable. It is effectively a fusion of biological and architectural expertise, with the shared goal of building better. Cyanobacteria could enable the solidification of inorganic materials such as CO2, ...

WASHINGTON  –  The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) will launch ComPair aboard a high-altitude balloon from Fort. Sumner, New Mexico Aug. 10.   The ComPair mission instrument measures and detects gamma-ray emissions from astrophysical objects. The NRL instrument is one of the four subsystem instruments led by NASA GSFC. The mission name – ComPair – is inspired by the mechanisms by which gamma rays interact with matter.   “They do so via three dominant processes – photoelectric effect, ...

Losing long-lasting flockmates may drive a golden-crowned sparrow to stray from its favorite overwintering spot, a new study says, suggesting that friendly, familiar faces help anchor it to familiar spaces. Led by ecologists at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the study found that a golden-crowned sparrow returning to California after a winter migration — one that can stretch as many as 3,000 miles — resettled an average of just 90 feet away from the center of its previous year’s range. But golden-crowned sparrows appearing for at least their third consecutive winter began ...

Amarda Shehu, Associate Vice President of Research, Institute for Digital Innovation (IDIA); Associate Dean for AI Innovation (CEC); Professor, Computer Science, received funding for the project: "Collaborative Research: IIBR: Innovation: Bioinformatics: Linking Chemical and Biological Space: Deep Learning and Experimentation for Property-Controlled Molecule Generation."  This project advances property-controlled molecule generation. A key insight propelling property-controlled molecule generation is that machine learning models need to be situated in biological data and knowledge.   The research activities for this project ...