Category: Research Results

Using chaos as a tool, scientists discover new method of making 3D-heterostructured materials

sarah JonasResearch Results

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and their collaborators from Iowa State University have developed a new approach for generating layered, difficult-to-combine, heterostructured solids. Heterostructured materials, composed of layers of dissimilar building blocks display unique electronic transport and magnetic properties that are governed by quantum interactions between their structurally different building blocks, and open new avenues for electronic and energy applications.

‘Game changer’ for reporters: 2016 US presidential election coverage

sarah JonasResearch Results

The 2016 U.S. presidential election is considered a “game changer” for journalists covering the U.S. presidential elections by causing them to dramatically reconsider how they view their role — either as neutral disseminators of information or impassioned advocates for the truth — according to researchers at the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism.

Story Tips From Johns Hopkins Experts on COVID-19

sarah JonasResearch Results

It seems there will never be enough “thank you’s” for the incredible doctors, nurses, technicians and support staff members who are working around the clock to help patients with the dangerous coronavirus disease. Their dedication, determination and spirit enable Johns Hopkins to deliver the promise of medicine.

Design method may boost semiconductor performance by better handling heat

sarah JonasResearch Results

Finding ways to manage the flow of heat in silicon could boost the performance of semiconductors, but, so far, discovering the right design has remained elusive. Now, a team of Penn State researchers report that a fabrication technique may offer a path toward mastering the often chaotic flow of heat carriers at the nanoscale in silicon and other semiconductors.

Brexit’s Effect on Research Networks: Lower Local and Global Efficiency, Reorganization of Research Communities

sarah JonasResearch Results

Brexit has affected trade and security, but scientists wanted to know how it might also affect the EU Framework Programmes for Research, known as Horizon 2020. In this week’s Chaos, authors examined a network of 19,200 research organizations to determine how removing U.K. organizations affects three Horizon 2020 programs: Excellent Science, Industrial Leadership and Societal Changes. They looked at percolation theory, and networks were examined in terms of global efficiency, local efficiency and mesoscopic-scale effects.

Lack of Damage After Secondary Impacts Surprises Researchers

sarah JonasResearch Results

When a material is subjected to a shock or blast wave, damage often forms internally through spall fracture, and research is needed to know how these damaged materials respond to subsequent shock waves. Recent experimentation on spall fracture in metals found that, in certain cases, there was an almost complete lack of damage with only a thin band of altered microstructure observed. In the Journal of Applied Physics, researchers narrowed down exactly why the expected damage was missing.

New drug candidate reawakens sleeping HIV in hopes of functional cure

sarah JonasResearch Results

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have created a next-generation drug called Ciapavir (SBI-0953294) that is effective at reactivating dormant human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The research, published in Cell Reports Medicine, aims to create a functional HIV cure by activating and then eliminating all pockets of dormant HIV—an approach called “shock and kill.”

75% of US workers can’t work exclusively from home, face greater risks during pandemic

sarah JonasResearch Results

About three-quarters of U.S. workers, or 108 million people, are in jobs that cannot be done from home during a pandemic, putting these workers at increased risk of exposure to disease. This majority of workers are also at higher risk for other job disruptions such as layoffs, furloughs or hours reductions, a University of Washington study shows.

Researchers Unravel the Ways Income and Liquor Stores are Related to Neighborhood Drinking

sarah JonasResearch Results

Residents of wealthier neighborhoods drink alcohol twice as frequently as people in poorer areas, a new study suggests. The neighborhood environment is known to be associated with alcohol use. But the separate effects of various factors — for example, average income and the number of off-sales outlets — are complex, situational, and difficult to unravel. A new study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research demonstrates a sampling technique that isolates these influences. It explores how certain individual characteristics interacted with certain neighborhood characteristics among 984 survey respondents.

Study: Air pollution from fracking linked to deaths in Pennsylvania

sarah JonasResearch Results

Approximately 20 people in Pennsylvania lost their lives during a seven-year period because of particulate matter pollution emitted by shale gas wells, according to a recent study including faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

Vets Walking Pets: Strolls with Shelter Dogs May Reduce PTSD Symptoms in Military Veterans

sarah JonasResearch Results

About 6 to 8 million dogs end up in shelters in the U.S. each year. Researchers worked with two no-kill shelters on a study examining the effects of walking with a shelter dog on psychological and physiological stress indicators in military veterans. Results confirm the importance of the human-animal bond and provide evidence that walking with a shelter dog may affect psychological and physiological stress indicators in veterans – with particular potential benefits for those with an increase in PTSD symptom severity.

New Research Confirms Higher Rates of New Coronavirus in Latinx Populations

sarah JonasResearch Results

In a new analysis of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, test results for nearly 38,000 people has found a positivity rate among Latinx populations about three times higher than for any other racial and ethnic group. The findings, published June 18 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), add to evidence that there are much higher COVID-19 infection rates among U.S. minorities, particularly in Latinx communities.

Researchers develop low-cost, easy-to-use emergency ventilator for COVID-19 patients

sarah JonasResearch Results

A team of engineers and physicians at the University of California San Diego has developed a low-cost, easy-to-use emergency ventilator for COVID-19 patients that is built around a ventilator bag usually found in ambulances.

The team built an automated system around the bag and brought down the cost of an emergency ventilator to just $500 per unit–by comparison, state of the art ventilators currently cost at least $10,000. The device’s components can be rapidly fabricated and the ventilator can be assembled in just 15 minutes.

New technique allows scientists to measure mitochondrial respiration in frozen tissue

sarah JonasResearch Results

UCLA scientists have developed a method for restoring oxygen-consumption activity to previously frozen mitochondria samples. By speeding up research, investigators hope to accelerate the diagnosis of people living with mitochondrial diseases and secondary disorders in which mitochondria play a key role, including diseases related to aging, metabolism and the heart.

UTEP Professor Collaborates on LGBTQ+ COVID-19 Texas Study

sarah JonasResearch Results

Preliminary results from this first-of-its-kind survey found that gender diverse people and queer people of color are experiencing a number of disparities. They include higher rates of COVID-19, more difficulty accessing a variety of services, and higher rates of anxiety and depression, as well as high unemployment compared with white participants.

Hamsters develop protective immunity to COVID-19 and are protected by convalescent sera

sarah JonasResearch Results

— In an animal model for COVID-19 that shares important features of human disease, scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the University of Tokyo and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai show that prior infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus provides protection against reinfection, and treatment with convalescent serum limits virus replication in their lungs.

Immune Cells Infiltrating Tumors May Play Bigger Cancer Role Than Previously Thought

sarah JonasResearch Results

UC San Diego researchers uncovered in mice how IRE1α, a molecule involved in cells’ response to stress, determines whether macrophages promote inflammation in the tumor microenvironment. Inflammation is known to promote tumor growth, making IRE1α an attractive target for drug development.

Cover Clinical Trials Session, June 24, Before ATS 2020 Virtual Kick-Off

sarah JonasResearch Results

ATS 2020 Virtual is taking place on Aug. 5-10, but you can register for “Breaking News: Clinical Trial Results in Pulmonary Medicine,” a preview session taking place on June 24 at 2-3:45 pm ET. Review program details here. Please note that all content for the Clinical Trial Results session is embargoed until 2 p.m. ET June 24.

Researchers Say Genetics May Determine Wound Infection and Healing

sarah JonasResearch Results

In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers have determined that genetics may play a role in how wounds heal. Caleb Phillips, an assistant professor at Texas Tech University and director of the Phillips Laboratory in the Department of Biological Sciences, and doctoral student Craig Tipton led the study, “Patient genetics is linked to chronic wound microbiome composition and healing,” published Thursday (June 18) in the open-access, peer-reviewed medical journal PLOS Pathogens.