Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced awards totaling $24 million for small businesses in 30 states and the District of Columbia. The 111 projects funded by DOE’s Office of Science include the development of computing, advanced materials, and scientific instrumentation that will help advance the department’s clean energy mission.  “Small businesses are the cornerstone of America and contribute significantly to the growth of our economy,” said Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, ...

Climate change is leading to an increase in sea level rise, putting millions of people in danger of severe coastal flooding in coming years. Sherif Abdelaziz, associate professor in the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, is collaborating with researchers from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, to find solutions to keep coastal areas safe by enhancing the resilience of sea walls against increasing coastal flooding. The PIONEER project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and is aiming to be the initial step in a global collaboration to strengthen coastal ...

Key takeaways Astrophysicists have found that a large exoplanet known as WASP-69b is being trailed by a tail of gas seven times as long as the planet itself. The comet-like tail is the result of the planet’s gas atmosphere being burned off as it passes precariously close to the hot star it orbits and stretched by stellar winds. By studying this process in real time, scientists can better understand how thousands of other planets in our galaxy have evolved. WASP-69b is having a hot girl summer that never ends. The huge gaseous exoplanet, roughly the size of Jupiter and approximately ...

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have developed a new theoretical model explaining one way to make black silicon, an important material used in solar cells, light sensors, antibacterial surfaces and many other applications. Black silicon is made when the surface of regular silicon is etched to produce tiny nanoscale pits on the surface. These pits change the color of the silicon from gray to black and, critically, trap more light, an essential feature of efficient solar cells. While there are many ways to make black silicon, including some that use the ...

Researchers from University of Oxford, Arizona State University, and University of Iowa published a new Journal of Marketing study that examines how paying doctors to visit rural areas is a cost-effective way to provide reasonable access and effective care to most rural communities. The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled “Bringing the Doctor to the Patients: Cardiology Outreach to Rural Areas” and is authored by J. Jason Bell, Sanghak Lee, and Thomas S. Gruca. Rural health care is in crisis. Between 2010 and 2015, the death rate from coronary heart disease was significantly ...

For patients with multiple sclerosis, a regular exercise routine is important for managing symptoms. Due to different causes of chronic pain though, physical exercise can be more difficult for some. Research published in the Journal of Pain from the University of Michigan found that widespread pain with nociplastic features, also known as WPNF, can make engaging in physical activity a painful task for some patients with MS. “WPNF is a chronic and diffuse pain which can be challenging ...

We are pleased to announce that the 2024 Frank R. Breul Memorial Prize has been awarded to Jessica Pac, Sophie Collyer, Lawrence Berger, Kirk O'Brien, Elizabeth Parker, Peter Pecora, Whitney Rostad, Jane Waldfogel, and Christopher Wimer for their article “The Effects of Child Poverty Reductions on Child Protective Services Involvement,” which appears in the March 2023 issue. The prize pays tribute to Professor Breul’s career as an educator, administrator, and editor of the Social Service Review (SSR) while on the faculty of the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the ...

DENVER/Jan. 9, 2023 – A new scientific publication featured in Veterinary Sciences will guide future wildlife rescue and rehabilitation after Australian bushfires. These findings provide critical information for improving koala care during subsequent fire seasons. Natasha Speight, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Adelaide’s School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, spearheaded the study, analyzing clinical data from koalas affected by the recent Australian bushfires. Beyond generalized skin burns, the study revealed severe footpad burns, hindering koalas’ tree-climbing abilities and escape from fires. The study ...

Six Virginia Tech and Virginia Cooperative Extension projects that help advance the competitiveness of specialty crops grown in the commonwealth have been awarded nearly $550,000 through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Specialty Crop Block Grants program. The projects are aimed at assisting Virginia farmers in making specialty crop production a driver of economic development. Specialty crops are defined as fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, and horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture. Virginia Tech and Extension’s projects ...

The Speech Accessibility Project is now recruiting U.S. and Puerto Rican adults with cerebral palsy. Those interested can sign up online. Funded by Big Tech companies Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign aims to train voice recognition technologies to understand people with diverse speech patterns and disabilities. The project began recruiting people with Parkinson’s disease last spring, those with Down syndrome last fall, and more recently, those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The project will also recruit people who have had a stroke. Researchers at UIUC’s Beckman Institute for Advanced ...

Amsterdam, January 9, 2024 – The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (JAD), published by IOS Press, is pleased to announce the appointment of new co-Editor-in-Chief, Paula I. Moreira, PhD. Dr. Moreira joins Editor-in-Chief George Perry, PhD, and an eminent international editorial board who are dedicated to the continuing success of the world’s leading journal in Alzheimer’s research and treatment. Dr. Moreira is an Associate Professor of Physiology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra and leads the MitoBD (Mitochondria in Brain Disorders) research group at the Center ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science will sponsor the participation of 173 undergraduate students and eight faculty members in three science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-focused workforce development programs at 13 DOE national laboratories and facilities this spring. Collectively, these programs ensure that both DOE and communities across the nation have a strong, sustained workforce trained in the skills needed to address the energy, environment, and national ...

One Sunday morning in February of 2021, Dave Duffy’s kids told him they had just seen a bobcat through the window of their home near the University of Florida’s Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience outside St. Augustine, Florida. They knew their dad would want to know, because they had helped him countless times take samples of animal tracks in hopes of studying the creatures that left them. Initially skeptical – bobcats are rarely spotted during the day out in the open – Duffy eventually went to check and there they were: six clear bobcat prints in the sandy soil. With his kids’ help, he scooped up small soil samples from the ...

EMBARGOED FOR USE UNTIL: 11 A.M. (CT) ON JANUARY 9, 2023     UCLA-led research finds that scooter injuries nearly tripled across the U.S. from 2016 to 2020, with a concurrent increase in severe injuries requiring orthopedic and plastic surgery over the same period. The study, which compared national trends in scooter and bicycle injuries during the period, also found that costs to treat those injuries rose five-fold, highlighting the financial strain these injuries pose to the healthcare system – a finding that “underscores a critical juncture for discerning the underlying causes of injuries and ...

Key takeaways  The prevalence and severity of scooter-related injuries, as well as associated health care costs, have significantly increased in the U.S.   Compared to bicycle-related injuries, scooter-related injuries more often require surgical management and are associated with greater risks of long bone fractures and paralysis.  Scooter riders can protect themselves by wearing protective gear, such as helmets and knee pads, and by obeying traffic laws.  CHICAGO: Scooter riders, stay alert: this increasingly popular mode of transportation may put you at risk for ...

East Hanover, NJ – January 9, 2024 – Kessler Foundation, a leading research organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with disabilities, received two significant grants from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) to further research on barriers faced by individuals with disabilities. The grants, totaling $1,175,510, will fund groundbreaking research initiatives focused on enhancing employment opportunities for adults on the autism spectrum and improving travel instruction services available to people with disabilities in New Jersey. A $577,787 grant will support study lead Helen ...

San Antonio – January 9, 2024 – Southwest Research Institute’s Dr. Steve Dellenback, vice president of the Intelligent Systems Division, will join the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Transforming Transportation Advisory Committee (TTAC). The USDOT recently announced the launch of the committee and its 27 members who represent a diverse spectrum of perspectives from academia, think tanks, the public sector, labor and industry. TTAC will provide expertise and insights, covering a broad range of topics such as automation, cybersecurity, safety, ...

•    Mathematical modelling to help improve liquid metal casting •    New method will address issue of lightweight aluminium alloys corroding when first exposed to air •    Could improve the emerging processes related to 3D printing and additive manufacturing of light metals. A new project at Aston University has been set up to develop a mathematical model to improve liquid metal casting. The method will be used to help prevent lightweight aluminium alloys corroding - or oxidating - very quickly when first exposed to air. A better knowledge of this could improve the emerging processes related to 3D printing and additive ...

A team of researchers from Xidian University in China has achieved a new result in the field of microwave power transmission. Their study, published in Engineering, introduces an optimal design method for antenna aperture illumination with an annular collection area, with the goal of maximizing the power radiated on the collection area. The research, led by Professor Baoyan Duan from Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Space Solar Power Station System, Xidian University, focused on formulating the aperture amplitude distribution using a unique set of series. ...

About The Study: Racial disparities in rates of general anesthesia continue to exist; however, the findings of this study including 35,000 patients who underwent cesarean delivery suggest that, for laboring patients who had labor epidural catheters in situ, no disparity by race or ethnicity existed. Future studies should address whether disparities in care that occur prior to neuraxial catheter placement are associated with higher rates of general anesthesia among patients from ethnic and racial minority groups.  Authors: Caroline Leigh Thomas, M.D., of ...

About The Study: In this study of 952,000 participants, women with perinatal depression were at an increased risk of suicidal behavior, particularly within the first year after diagnosis with persistent risk elevations throughout the 18 years of follow-up, highlighting the need for vigilant clinical monitoring of this vulnerable group.  Authors: Hang Yu, M.Sc., and Donghao Lu, M.D., Ph.D., of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, are the corresponding authors.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/  (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.50897) Editor’s Note: Please see ...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9, 2024 – Badminton traces its roots back more than a millennium, but the modern version of the racket game originated in the late 19th century in England. Today, it is the second most popular sport in the world behind soccer, with an estimated 220 million people who enjoy playing. For the last three decades, badminton has been a competitive Olympic sport, and with “bird” speeds topping 300 mph in “smash” shots, it certainly makes for exciting spectator sport. Shuttlecocks, also known as birdies or birds, are ...

Humans are protected by two branches of the immune system. Innate immunity provides built-in defense against widespread characteristics of bacteria and viruses, while adaptive immunity memorizes individual pathogens that a person has already encountered. Vaccines teach the adaptive immune system about new pathogens without having to go through an actual infection. This has greatly contributed to human health, but requires a specific vaccine for each major pathogen. Some vaccines not only teach the adaptive immune system ...

While mobile methadone units make a difference in expanding methadone use for patients with opioid addictions, they are likely to be most impactful in rural areas, according to new research. The research was published today in Health Services Research and focused on the impact of adding new treatment services exclusively to rural Louisiana, where like in many other remote parts of the country, there are limited healthcare infrastructures and barriers to transportation. They compared this data to the impact of ...

The urgent need to meet global clean energy goals has world leaders searching for faster solutions. To meet that call, the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has teamed with Microsoft to use high-performance computing in the cloud and advanced artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific discovery on a scale not previously demonstrated. The initial focus of the partnership is chemistry and materials science—two scientific fields that underpin solutions to global energy challenges. “The intersection of AI, cloud and high-performance computing, along with human scientists, we believe is key to accelerating the path to meaningful scientific ...