GW Expert Available: I-95 Highway Collapse in Philadelphia After Tanker Truck Fire

In Philadelphia, Monday morning traffic slowed drivers who tried to find new routes around a closed section of northbound I-95, which collapsed yesterday after a tanker truck caught fire underneath the highway overpass. Authorities say it could take months to repair, impacting…

Cell phone data from winter snowstorm shows Dallas is resilient

Natural disasters can wreak havoc on a city, from hurricanes in Houston to winter storms in Dallas. Measuring resilience — the length of time it will take a city to bounce back — can help policymakers and others plan responses to future events and reveal potential vulnerabilities. An SMU research team measured Dallas’s resilience before, during, and after the February 2021 winter snowstorm and found Dallas recovered almost immediately after the snowstorm ended, indicating Dallas exhibits a great degree of resilience.

USU Study finds National Guard members remained psychologically resilient during pandemic response

The National Guard (NG) played a crucial role in the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, assisting communities nationwide with emergency outreach, setting up care facilities, working at testing sites, and distributing supplies, among many other demands. Simultaneously, these service members faced their own personal and family responses to the crisis. Still, they remained psychologically resilient, according to a new study led by the Uniformed Services University’s (USU) Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS).

Program Leads to Sustained Improvements in Nurses’ Moral Resilience

An experiential educational program led to sustained improvements in nurses’ skills in mindfulness, resilience and competence in confronting ethical challenges. In the study, more than 95% of the 245 participating nurses reported confronting ethical challenges in their workplace, but only 15% had previously received formal ethics training.

FAU, Virtual Planet and City of West Palm Beach Unveil Groundbreaking Virtual Reality Experience

The multidisciplinary team created a virtual simulation of the devastation that a Category 5 hurricane and sea level rise could have on West Palm Beach. The simulation, produced with 3D technology, reveals the destruction that could occur in Osprey Park and the surrounding communities, highlighting the threat to the coastline and potential solutions for coastal areas.

Four major Illinois research institutions form a collaboration to improve urban forest drought resilience

Argonne, The Morton Arboretum, the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign received a grant from NOAA to assess drought resilience in the urban tree canopy.

Close Relationships with Parents Promote Healthier Brain Development in High-Risk Teens, Buffering Against Alcohol Use Disorder

For teens at elevated risk of developing alcohol use disorder (AUD), close relationships with parents can help mitigate their genetic and environmental vulnerability, a new study suggests. The offspring of people with AUD are four times more likely than others to develop the disorder. Increasing evidence suggests that this heritable risk may be either amplified or mitigated by the quality of parenting.

ComEd report shows how science and supercomputers help utilities adapt to climate change

Shifting climates are causing utility companies to take a closer look at the current and future power needs of their customers. Northern Illinois’ ComEd and Argonne National Laboratory used science to glimpse the future.

AACN Selects 10 Nursing Schools to Pilot Learning Strategies to Build Leadership and Resilience Skills in New Nurses

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is pleased to announce that 10 schools of nursing have been selected to participate in a national initiative designed to prepare the next generation of nurses with strong skills in the areas of leadership, resilience, self-care, and well-being.

Argonne awarded $6 million to develop technologies for recycling nuclear fuel

Recycling used nuclear fuel makes the most of nuclear power’s carbon-free energy potential. Argonne has received major funding to develop technologies that may result in a sustainable fuel stock and a reduction in U.S. dependency on fossil fuels.

University of Central Florida team protects virtual solar facility to win CyberForce Competition

More than 140 U.S. college teams competed to test their cyber defense skills and protect a fictional electric vehicle manufacturer’s solar installation from simulated cyberattacks.

Collegiate students fired up to protect virtual solar facility from cyberattack

Cybersecurity professionals are in high demand. The Department of Energy tasks Argonne National Laboratory with challenging and inspiring college-age students to compete against one another to outsmart cyberattackers in a simulated threat scenario.

5 big strides from Argonne towards nuclear energy’s future

Nuclear energy is an exciting carbon-free energy source. Recent work at Argonne National Laboratory shows how nuclear energy can improve and why it is such an enticing resource in the fight against climate change.

NSF Tags FAU Researcher for Post-quantum Cryptography in NextG Networks

FAU’s Reza Azarderakhsh, Ph.D., was among 34 investigators nationwide selected by the NSF for RINGS, which is short for Resilient and Intelligent Next-Generation Systems. His project is the only one working on taking post-quantum cryptography to next generation systems.

Argonne is helping communities avoid the climate crosshairs

Scientists at Argonne are addressing the vulnerabilities of infrastructure systems through the lens of climate impacts: They are creating detailed climate maps and adapting them to infrastructure as a way for communities to protect themselves from the effects of climate change.

Don’t Let the Raging Virus Put Life in Jeopardy. Chula Recommends How to Build an Immunity for Your Heart Against Stress and Depression

Cumulative stress, denial, and chronic depression are the byproducts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Center for Psychological Wellness, Chulalongkorn University recommends ways to cope by harnessing positive energy from our heart.

Climate experts share insights in new report from Argonne’s America Resilient Conference

America Resilient proposed key ways to mitigate the degree of likely human suffering, loss of biodiversity, and disruptions to critical societal systems by building resilience and mitigating the effects of climate change in the United States.

During COVID-19, nurses face significant burnout risks, reports American Journal of Nursing

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 40 percent of nurses and other health care workers had risks associated with an increased likelihood of burnout, reports a survey study in the August issue of the American Journal of Nursing (AJN). The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

Peer-Rejected Rats Aid Study of Alcohol Relapse in Women

Rejection of adolescent female rats by their peers has long-term effects on alcohol-seeking behavior, according to a study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, and could provide a tool for studying alcohol relapse in humans. There is growing evidence from experimental studies that women who had adverse social experiences in childhood are more susceptible to alcohol relapse following abstinence. This is not observed in men, despite men having higher rates of alcohol dependence overall. Laboratory-bred rodents are important for studying the molecular and neurobiological underpinnings of addiction and alcohol dependence, but few animal studies have assessed the sex-dependent effects of adverse social experiences on later alcohol-seeking behavior. Recently, researchers in Germany have developed a rat model for adolescent peer rejection which has allowed them to study the long-term consequences of these experiences in adult male and female rats.

ASU expert says mindfulness can be a “driving force and tool for advocacy” after year of political and social turmoil

This week, Nika Gueci, executive director at the Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience at Arizona State University, is speaking at the Mindful.org “Mindfulness for Healthcare” virtual summit. The conference brings together academics, health care professionals, scientists and experts in a virtual setting to…

Argonne leads creation of definitive valuation guide for pumped storage hydropower

Argonne scientists led four other laboratories in developing definitive guidance on how to value pumped storage hydropower projects. Their efforts resulted in DOE publication of the Pumped Storage Hydropower Valuation Guidebook: A Cost-Benefit and Decision Analysis Valuation Framework. The guide provides an objective, transparent valuation methodology and helps measure both monetary and non-monetary value streams.

Virtual climate conference explores adaptation and resilience

To bring together the country’s brightest minds to think critically about the climate challenges facing the nation and the key capabilities we have to solve them, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory convened a virtual climate conference called “America Resilient.”

Corals Carefully Organize Proteins to Form Rock-Hard Skeletons

Charles Darwin, the British naturalist who championed the theory of evolution, noted that corals form far-reaching structures, largely made of limestone, that surround tropical islands. He didn’t know how they performed this feat. Now, Rutgers scientists have shown that coral structures consist of a biomineral containing a highly organized organic mix of proteins that resembles what is in our bones. Their study, published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, shows for the first time that several proteins are organized spatially – a process that’s critical to forming a rock-hard coral skeleton.

How and why microbes promote and protect against stress

The bacteria, yeast and viruses that make up the human microbiome affect physical health, behavior and emotions. Some microbes in the human microbiome prosper when the body is under stress, while other microbes contribute to buffering the body against stress. Evolutionary theory suggests reciprocal relationships between microbes in the human body and stress; these relationships can possibly be harnessed to promote physical and mental health.

LifeBridge Health Launches Innovative New Center for Hope, Comprehensive Violence Intervention and Prevention Services Integrated Together Under One Roof

LifeBridge Health launched the Center for Hope, the first comprehensive violence intervention and prevention center in the nation that is part of a large regional health system. The Center for Hope brings together LifeBridge Health services around child abuse, domestic abuse and elder abuse along with community violence prevention programs, including a new Safe Streets site. The building design, which will be revealed at groundbreaking event, was created to welcome children, youth and adults into a space that fosters hope, safety and wellness, including an outdoor area for therapeutic play. The purpose of the Center for Hope is to advance hope, healing and resilience for those impacted by trauma, abuse and violence through comprehensive response, treatment, education and prevention.

Rutgers Experts Available to Discuss N.J.’s Vulnerability Eight Years after Sandy

New Brunswick, N.J. (Oct. 27, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick experts are available to discuss the busy 2020 Atlantic hurricane season and New Jersey’s vulnerability to coastal storms and flooding eight years after Superstorm Sandy, along with how to boost resilience.…

Resilience-Driven Care for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Leads to Sharp Drops in Emergency Room Visits and Hospitalizations

A personalized program to increase resilience in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can substantially reduce hospitalizations and emergency room visits, Mount Sinai researchers report. The research is being unveiled on October 27th in a plenary presentation at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG 2020).

Rutgers Expert Can Discuss 10 Ways to Adapt to Coastal Flooding

New Brunswick, N.J. (Oct. 14, 2020) – Rutgers coastal expert Vanessa Dornisch is available for interviews on 10 steps residents can take to prepare for sea-level rise and adapt to increased coastal flooding. Dornisch, coastal training program coordinator at the…

Most Nations Failing to Protect Nature in COVID-19 Pandemic Recovery Plans

The COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to reset the global economy and reverse decades of ecosystem and species losses, but most countries are failing to invest in nature-related economic reforms or investments, according to a Rutgers-led paper.

How to Get a Handle on Carbon Dioxide Uptake by Plants

How much carbon dioxide, a pivotal greenhouse gas behind global warming, is absorbed by plants on land? It’s a deceptively complicated question, so a Rutgers-led group of scientists recommends combining two cutting-edge tools to help answer the crucial climate change-related question.