U.S. Public and Private Higher Education
News releases, reports, statements and associated documents from public, private and community colleges in the U.S.
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University of the Sciences: Faculty Research - Climate Change Linked to Rise in Bacterial Infections
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, June 25 [TNSmedicalresearch] -- The University of the Sciences issued the following news:
By Jenna Pizzi
A new study of patient cases presenting with a deadly Vibrio vulnificus bacteria, suggests climate change and warming waters may be the cause of an increased number of infections in areas not previously impacted. The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on June 18, 2019, was co-authored by Madeline King PharmD, assistant professor of clinical pharmacy and infectious diseases at USciences' Philadelphia College of Pharmacy.
The report looked at the
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PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, June 25 [TNSmedicalresearch] -- The University of the Sciences issued the following news:
By Jenna Pizzi
A new study of patient cases presenting with a deadly Vibrio vulnificus bacteria, suggests climate change and warming waters may be the cause of an increased number of infections in areas not previously impacted. The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on June 18, 2019, was co-authored by Madeline King PharmD, assistant professor of clinical pharmacy and infectious diseases at USciences' Philadelphia College of Pharmacy.
The report looked at thenumber of patient cases from individuals who came into contact with the infection after water or shellfish exposure in the Delaware Bay. V Vulnificus is endemic along the southeastern U.S. coast as well as in the Chesapeake Bay, but are rarely reported from the Delaware bay, which is slightly cooler. Reports of infection treated at Cooper Rowan Medical Center rose from one in the eight years prior to 2017 to five during the summers of 2017 and 2018.
This study was featured widely in news media and industry press:
CBS News (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/flesh-eating-bacteria-delaware-bay-nj-becoming-more-common-due-to-climate-change-study-says-2019-06-18/)
Time (https://time.com/5606665/vibrio-vulnificus-climate-change/)
Contagion (https://www.contagionlive.com/news/cluster-of-v-vulnificus-pops-up-in-previously-nonendemic-area)
The Daily Mail (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7154981/As-global-climate-warms-flesh-eating-bacteria-strike-new-beaches.html)
Inverse (https://www.inverse.com/article/56855-vibrio-vulnificus-delaware-bay-study)
Medscape (https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/914498)
University of Alabama-Birmingham: Cohort Will Study How Vaping, Environment and Lifestyle Impact Long-Term Lung Health in Millennials
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama, June 25 -- The University of Alabama's Birmingham Campus issued the following news:
By Adam Pope
The long-term impact on someone's lungs while vaping -- the act of inhaling and exhaling the aerosol, often referred to as vapor, which is produced by an e-cigarette or similar device -- is not yet known, and there is no hard evidence that shows whether poor air quality where a person grows up puts them at higher risk for respiratory conditions later in life. These issues, and much more, will be examined in a large, first-of-its-kind longitudinal study of lung health, funded by
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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama, June 25 -- The University of Alabama's Birmingham Campus issued the following news:
By Adam Pope
The long-term impact on someone's lungs while vaping -- the act of inhaling and exhaling the aerosol, often referred to as vapor, which is produced by an e-cigarette or similar device -- is not yet known, and there is no hard evidence that shows whether poor air quality where a person grows up puts them at higher risk for respiratory conditions later in life. These issues, and much more, will be examined in a large, first-of-its-kind longitudinal study of lung health, funded bythe National Institutes of Health.
The study, titled "The American Lung Association Lung Health Cohort," is supported by a $24.8 million grant awarded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the NIH. The University of Alabama at Birmingham will serve as a major study site.
In this first federally funded U.S. cohort to study millennials, scientists will capture baseline lung health measurements of 4,000 healthy adults between the ages of 25 and 35 to identify an ideal picture of respiratory health and understand the key risk factors and biomarkers that are associated with impaired lung health.
While the risks of smoking cigarettes have been well-documented in epidemiological studies, vaping is a relatively new and understudied trend.
"The long-term impact of e-cigarettes and vaping is not known, and it is possible these habits are as harmful as smoking," said Mark Dransfield, M.D., the William C. Bailey Endowed Chair in Pulmonary Disease. "It is critically important we understand their health effects as millions of young people are now using these products."
Findings from the study will arm doctors with information to recognize respiratory problems early and intervene before patients develop chronic lung disease, the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States. The long-term goal of the study aims to identify who is at risk for developing chronic lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema and pulmonary fibrosis.
Some study participants will be smokers, and some will not. Some will live in cities, and others will live in suburban or rural areas. The aim is to recruit a wide range of healthy adults.
The scientists will leverage the national infrastructure of the American Lung Association's Airways Clinical Research Centers to recruit study participants from its 17 metropolitan centers across the country. The UAB Lung Health Center and Children's of Alabama Pulmonary Clinic are among those centers.
Scientists will follow these individuals for six years after their initial interviews to track how their environment, lifestyle and physical activity habits affect their respiratory health. The goal is to renew the grant so the scientists can continue to follow the study participants for the rest of their lives.
Participants will be measured on their exposure to smoking, drinking and vaping; have a nutritional assessment; wear physical activity monitors; and self-report symptoms such as fatigue and sleep disturbances.
The scientists will ask study participants where they lived at key times in their lives (e.g., when they were born, started kindergarten, high school, etc.) and use satellite modeling that measures airborne particulates to determine an environmental measurement of their life-course exposure from birth to adulthood.
Dransfield, who also serves as the medical director for the UAB Lung Health Center, says Alabama has a disproportionate burden of respiratory disease and among the highest rates of asthma and COPD in the country.
"We have known that smoking and air pollution contribute to lung disease," Dransfield said. "But our understanding of other risk factors, particularly in youth and young adulthood, is limited, and this has hampered preventive efforts."
Northwestern University is the primary recipient; but scientists from Johns Hopkins Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, University of Michigan, UAB, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and more will also be collaborating on the research along with other institutions from the ACRC.
Purdue University: Autonomous Diaper Sensor Better Detects Urinary Tract Infection
WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana, June 25 [TNSresearch] -- Purdue University issued the following news release:
Urinary tract infections are the second most common type of infection in children, with ear infections taking first place.
Responsible for nearly 10 million doctor visits each year in the U.S., urinary tract infections can also be a major source of additional disease, particularly for elderly people.
Purdue University researchers have come up with a way to embed an autonomous sensor device in diapers to better detect UTIs. The disposable device has been tested and proven to accurately detect
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana, June 25 [TNSresearch] -- Purdue University issued the following news release:
Urinary tract infections are the second most common type of infection in children, with ear infections taking first place.
Responsible for nearly 10 million doctor visits each year in the U.S., urinary tract infections can also be a major source of additional disease, particularly for elderly people.
Purdue University researchers have come up with a way to embed an autonomous sensor device in diapers to better detect UTIs. The disposable device has been tested and proven to accurately detectthe infection, as seen in this video: https://youtu.be/0AWnGW0XEas.
While treatable with antibiotics, checking for UTI at the doctor's office typically involves testing a urine sample for bacteria and blood cells. These samples are hard to collect in individuals who wear diapers.
"We have at least two big advantages here with our device," said Babak Ziaie, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue. "Because it's autonomous, it doesn't require the patient or caregiver to obtain urine samples, and it can help detect an infection in people who either aren't able to communicate their symptoms, or they don't show typical symptoms."
UTIs develop when bacteria get into the urinary tract and multiply, leading to redness and pain in the urinary tract. Some typical symptoms include an urgent need to urinate, a burning feeling when using the bathroom and a strong odor to the urine. The infection can easily spread to the kidneys and become more severe.
The bandage-sized sensor is self-powered. Once exposed to urine, the battery provides power to the sensor circuitry. The sensor checks for nitrites, chemical compounds commonly associated with urinary tract infections, and wirelessly sends the results via a smartphone to the patient, caregiver, and/or health care network if required.
Purdue researchers tested the prototype with synthetic urine samples. Testing has shown the prototype to be more accurate than commercial dipsticks.
"The autonomous feature improves accuracy because it checks for UTIs on a regular basis, increasing the amount of data. It can also track changes in the status of UTIs over time," said Byunghoo Jung, a Purdue professor of electrical and computer engineering who worked with Ziaie on this technology.
The researchers worked with the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization to patent the technology. The research team is looking for additional partners and those interested in licensing the technology.
More information on the diaper-embedded sensor is available in a paper published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems.
Their work aligns with Purdue's Giant Leaps celebration, acknowledging global advancements in health as part of Purdue's 150th anniversary. It is one of the four themes of the yearlong celebration's Ideas Festival, designed to showcase Purdue as an intellectual center solving real-world issues.
About Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization
The Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2016 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Innovation from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Office of Technology Commercialization at otcip@prf.org and reference 2014-ZIAI-66713. The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University.
North Carolina State University: Researchers Create Multi-Junction Solar Cells From Off-the-Shelf Components
RALEIGH, North Carolina, June 25 [TNSscienceresearch] -- North Carolina State University issued the following news release:
Multi-junction solar cells are both the most efficient type of solar cell on the market today and the most expensive type of solar cell to produce. In a proof-of-concept paper, researchers from North Carolina State University detail a new approach for creating multi-junction solar cells using off-the-shelf components, resulting in lower cost, high-efficiency solar cells for use in multiple applications.
Multi-junction, or stacked, solar cells are currently the most efficient
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RALEIGH, North Carolina, June 25 [TNSscienceresearch] -- North Carolina State University issued the following news release:
Multi-junction solar cells are both the most efficient type of solar cell on the market today and the most expensive type of solar cell to produce. In a proof-of-concept paper, researchers from North Carolina State University detail a new approach for creating multi-junction solar cells using off-the-shelf components, resulting in lower cost, high-efficiency solar cells for use in multiple applications.
Multi-junction, or stacked, solar cells are currently the most efficientcells on the market, converting up to 45% of the solar energy they absorb into electricity. The cells are constructed by stacking semiconductors with varying bandgaps on top of one another, thereby allowing the cell to absorb differing wavelengths of solar radiation. However, these cells are much more expensive to produce than less efficient thin solar films.
"We want to create high efficiency solar cells at a reasonable cost," says Salah Bedair, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at NC State and lead author of the research. "Silicon-based thin solar cells are very popular because the material has around 20% efficiency and the cells cost about 1/10th what a multi-junction solar cell costs. And other low cost, lower efficiency materials are gaining popularity as well. If we could create stacked solar cells using this existing technology we would be well on our way to reaching our goal."
However, you cannot merely stack different solar cells on top of each other - the different materials are structurally incompatible, and so charges cannot pass through them to be collected. To solve that problem in current multi-junction solar cells heavily doped metals are used to create a tunnel junction between the various layers - adding significant expense and complexity to the multi-junction solar cell's creation.
Bedair and his team developed a simpler approach, utilizing intermetallic bonding to bond solar cells made of different materials. In a proof-of-concept, the team stacked an off-the-shelf gallium arsenide solar cell on top of a silicon solar cell.
"In multi-junction solar cells the tunnel junction enables electric connectivity by acting as a metal-to-metal connection," Bedair says. "In our system, indium serves as a shortcut to that. The existing metal contacts of the individual cells are covered with indium films. The indium films bond to themselves easily at room temperature under low pressure. The result is a solar cell made of two different materials that is mechanically stacked and electrically connected.
"With this technique we are able to take advantage of inexpensive, off-the-shelf solutions without having to develop all new technology. Manufacturers could simply tweak their existing products slightly to increase their efficiency in multi-junction solar cells, rather than having to create new products."
The paper, "A New Approach for Multi-Junction Solar Cells from Off-the-Shelf Individual Cells: GaAs/Si" was presented at the IEEE Photostatic Specialist Meeting held June 19 in Chicago, IL. NC State graduate student Brandon Hagar and research assistant professor Peter Colter are co-authors of the paper. The work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant 1665211.
A patent application has been submitted for the work. The authors are interested in collaborating with potential academic and industry partners.
Medical College of Wisconsin: Study to Test Food Access Interventions Among African Americans With Type 2 Diabetes in Inner-City Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin, June 25 [TNSresearch] -- The Medical College of Wisconsin issued the following news release:
One quarter of people with diabetes in the U.S. report food insecurity - an inability to or limitation in accessing nutritionally adequate food - and African Americans overall are three times more likely than whites to be food insecure. In many cases, this poor access to nutrition among Type 2 diabetics leads to worse control over their chronic illness and more difficulty following a healthy diet compared to non-food insecure diabetics.
Two new studies led by scientists at the Medical
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MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin, June 25 [TNSresearch] -- The Medical College of Wisconsin issued the following news release:
One quarter of people with diabetes in the U.S. report food insecurity - an inability to or limitation in accessing nutritionally adequate food - and African Americans overall are three times more likely than whites to be food insecure. In many cases, this poor access to nutrition among Type 2 diabetics leads to worse control over their chronic illness and more difficulty following a healthy diet compared to non-food insecure diabetics.
Two new studies led by scientists at the MedicalCollege of Wisconsin (MCW) will focus specifically on food insecurity among African Americans with Type 2 diabetes in inner-city Milwaukee.
While diabetes affects nearly 10 percent of the U.S. population, African Americans suffer at a higher rate - nearly 60 percent - than white Americans. African Americans are also three times more likely to be food insecure and four times more likely to experience complications of diabetes, such as amputations and end-stage renal disease.
With a more-than-$3.2 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health Institute on Minority Health and Disparities, Leonard Egede, MD, MS, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine, and Rebekah Walker, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at MCW, will test the separate and combined efficacy of monthly food vouchers for farmer's markets and monthly mailed food stock boxes layered upon diabetes education for low income, food insecure African Americans with Type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Walker will also lead a second study to refine and test an intervention to improve glycemic control, dietary intake, self-care and quality of life in food insecure African Americans with Type 2 diabetes. The intervention will involve weekly culturally relevant food supplementation boxes mailed to the participants and culturally tailored telephone-delivered diabetes education and skills training. This study is funded by a four-year, nearly $600,000 grant from the American Diabetes Association.
Several other studies have tested strategies to address food insecurity through food supplementation, including vouchers to cover the cost of food, coupons for farmer's markets and pre-packaged food shipments to participants' homes. However, results of these studies are still unclear in terms of if food supplementation alone is effective in individuals with diabetes.
Another aspect still unclear is how best to understand and address the unique barriers faced by African Americans, who are often more likely to face the compounded impact of low socioeconomic status, food insecurity and diagnosis of diabetes.
Dr. Egede and Dr. Walker's studies will seek to fill in these gaps in the research as well as study the cost effectiveness of these strategies.
Florida International University: Scientists Capture First-Ever Video of Giant Squid in U.S. Waters
MIAMI, Florida, June 25 [TNSresearch] -- Florida International University, a component of the public university system in Florida, issued the following news:
FIU marine scientists Heather Bracken-Grissom and Lori Schweikert were among a team of researchers gathered around a monitor when the tentacle first came into view. It floated in and out of the darkness offering no hint of what was on the other end. Then, in an elegant explosion of arms and tentacles, the creature revealed itself -- the phantom of the deep, known simply as the giant squid.
It is the first time the elusive creature has been
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MIAMI, Florida, June 25 [TNSresearch] -- Florida International University, a component of the public university system in Florida, issued the following news:
FIU marine scientists Heather Bracken-Grissom and Lori Schweikert were among a team of researchers gathered around a monitor when the tentacle first came into view. It floated in and out of the darkness offering no hint of what was on the other end. Then, in an elegant explosion of arms and tentacles, the creature revealed itself -- the phantom of the deep, known simply as the giant squid.
It is the first time the elusive creature has beencaught on camera in U.S. waters -- about 100 miles southwest of New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico. It is only the second time the creature, which can grow up to 40 feet, has ever been captured on camera. The discovery was made toward the end of a 17-day research mission dubbed Journey into Midnight which began June 7.
"It was magical and surreal to see how the animal behaves in nature," Bracken-Grissom said. "To know that I was witnessing something that had only been seen once before in nature filled me with an overwhelming sense of gratitude and respect for what still is to be discovered."
Giant squids have largely avoided interactions with people because they live at great depths, typically 1,000 feet below the surface or more. The sighting and video capture were made possible by a camera system called the Medusa. It was developed by Edie Widder, founder of the Ocean Research and Conservation Association and was part of the team that first captured a giant squid on camera in 2012 near Japan. Widder was on hand for the latest sighting as part of the research team exploring the Gulf of Mexico. The researchers believe the squid they captured on camera this time around was a juvenile, measuring between 10 to 12 feet in length.
The Medusa features a ring of LED lights that resembles a bioluminescent jellyfish which attracts the squid. The camera system is attached to a mile-long cable that was lowered by the research team where it rested for hours recording life in the darkest depths of the Gulf of Mexico. The tedious task of reviewing the footage for different forms of marine life would begin each time the Medusa was retrieved. A variety of marine experts were onboard to help identify what they were seeing including Bracken-Grissom and Schweikert, an FIU post-doctoral researcher, both looking for crustaceans.
After five deployments and more than 120 hours of footage, the entire team gathered around a monitor as the giant squid came into view, first stalking the LED bait and eventually wrapping its long tentacles around it. Quickly realizing the imposter jellyfish was not what it seemed, the giant squid thrust itself back into the darkness. As quickly as it had entered the picture, it was gone. But it was enough to take the breath away of each of the researchers.
"When the squid appeared I couldn't believe what I was seeing," Schweikert said. "I was elated, a feeling that was only matched by the deep satisfaction of sharing that moment with a team who had worked toward this discovery their entire life."
The Journey into Midnight research mission was led by Sonke Johnsen from Duke University and supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The researchers embarked on the mission to study light and light below the twilight zone where light does not penetrate. Bracken-Grissom and the members of her Crustaceans Genomics and Systematics Lab are always on the hunt for new sources of bioluminescence and trying to better understand how animals survive at the darkest depths of the ocean.
View attached video here: https://news.fiu.edu/2019/06/scientists-capture-first-ever-video-of-giant-squid-in-u-s-waters/134530
Columbia University-Mailman School of Public Health: Phyllis Mailman Professorship to Advance Research on Lifesaving Vaccines
NEW YORK, June 25 -- Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health issued the following news:
In honor of philanthropist Phyllis Mailman, The Mailman Foundation, the Joshua Mailman Foundation, and The Tow Foundation, have together endowed the Phyllis Mailman Professorship to support groundbreaking emerging infectious disease research at the Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. The endowed professorship will be based in the Mailman School's world-class Center for Infection and Immunity (CII), led by director W. Ian Lipkin, MD, a globally-recognized microbe hunter
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NEW YORK, June 25 -- Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health issued the following news:
In honor of philanthropist Phyllis Mailman, The Mailman Foundation, the Joshua Mailman Foundation, and The Tow Foundation, have together endowed the Phyllis Mailman Professorship to support groundbreaking emerging infectious disease research at the Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. The endowed professorship will be based in the Mailman School's world-class Center for Infection and Immunity (CII), led by director W. Ian Lipkin, MD, a globally-recognized microbe hunterwho has identified more than 1,500 novel viruses. The newly created faculty position will support a distinguished researcher in the field of emerging infectious diseases.
"The Phyllis Mailman Professorship will help us continue to lead in discovery, surveillance, diagnostics, and response to infectious diseases. This gift has the potential to save thousands, perhaps millions, of lives," said Lipkin. "I am grateful for this generous support for our faculty."
The Center for Infection and Immunity is one of the world's leading academic centers focused on microbial surveillance, discovery, and diagnosis. In recent years, Dr. Lipkin and his team have helped to reduce the impact of numerous pathogens, including viruses that cause respiratory diseases, hemorrhagic fever or neurodevelopmental damage in humans, such as SARS, MERS, Lujo, Ebola, and Zika. They have advanced critical knowledge on wildlife reservoirs of emerging infectious diseases, pathogenic threats to food security; the role of the human microbiome in disease pathogenesis; and the mechanisms of several diseases, including autism and chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The CII has also pioneered the development and implementation of cutting-edge diagnostic tools, including the world's first multiplex test for tick-borne illness, and powerful precision medicine platforms for detecting and characterizing all known viruses and bacteria.
"Our mother, Phyllis, has long been a strong advocate of public health. She is particularly committed to preventing disease through the work of the Center for Infection and Immunity whose important research impacts the health of entire populations," said Jody Wolfe, President of The Mailman Foundation. "This gift underscores my mother's dedication to the School and commitment to its continued growth as a world-renowned public health institution."
In 1998, Mrs. Mailman and her children, Jody Wolfe and Joshua Mailman, made a transformative gift to Columbia University in honor of their late husband and father, Joseph L. Mailman. This gift made it possible for the School to move to its current building on the Columbia University Irving Medical Center campus. Since 1998, the Mailman family has remained actively involved and connected with the School, with several family members serving on the School's Board of Overseers.
"I am deeply appreciative of the visionary leadership of the Mailman and Tow families, and honored to have their partnership through the years," said Dean Linda P. Fried. "As members of the Board of Overseers, Jody, Josh, and Leonard Tow have not only provided an incredible opportunity to recruit a world-leading scientist to help stop the spread of disease and forge new paths in combating emerging viral threats, but also have helped the School advance one of its key philanthropic goals: to secure vital funding to recruit and retain exceptional faculty members. The Phyllis Mailman Professorship will help us to catapult our Center for Infection and Immunity to a new level of eminence. It is a transformative moment, and we are grateful for this remarkable commitment from these members of our board."
