TALLAHASSEE, Tennessee, July 2 -- The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy issued the following news release: A solar program petition, and stipulation between Duke Energy Florida (DEF), Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE), Vote Solar, and Walmart, filed at the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) in support of DEF's Clean Energy Connections community solar program will, if approved, allow DEF customers to participate in one of the largest community solar program in the U.S. that helps t  more

OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, July 3 -- The Oak Ridge Associated Universities issued the following news release: For Eboni James, passing the bar exam was marked by months of cramming, late nights in the books and juggling work/life balance as a wife, mother and contracts administrator at ORAU. On the day James became a lawyer, she did so with the full support of her family, manager, mentor, colleagues and ORAU by her side. As the first lawyer in her family, James, ORAU associate general counsel, bega  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, July 3 -- Vanderbilt University Medical Center issued the following news: Debra Friedman, MD, MS, E. Bronson Ingram Chair of Pediatric Oncology, is expanding her leadership role in improving cancer outcomes both within and beyond the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) catchment area. She has been named associate director of Community Science and Health Outcomes. Although the title is new for Friedman, the mission is not. She serves as co-leader of the Vanderbilt-Ingra  more

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee, June 30 -- The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy issued the following news release on June 29: A coalition of bill payers and community groups seek more Accountability, Cost-Savings, and Transparency from the Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) and are campaigning for an amendment on November's ballot to enact just that. KUB has been a long-time, trusted community partner, yet it appears KUB's leadership is losing touch with the people it serves. The grassroots campaign 'ACT  more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, July 1 -- St. Jude Children's Research Hospital issued the following news release: M. Madan Babu, Ph.D., will join the faculty of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the Structural Biology Department on July 1 as the endowed chair in Biological Data Science and director of the Center of Excellence for Data-Driven Discovery. Babu is a pioneer in data science-based approaches to revealing fundamental principles in biological systems. He has developed state-of-the-art com  more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, June 30 -- The National Cotton Council issued the following news release: In its June acreage report (http://www.cotton.org/econ/cropinfo/production/usda-june-acreage.cfm), USDA estimated 2020 U.S. cotton plantings at 12.19 million acres, 11.3 percent less than in 2019. Upland planted area is estimated to have decreased 11.2 percent to 11.99 million acres. Extra-long staple cotton producers planted 195,000 acres, 14.7 percent less than in 2019. USDA's June projection for a  more

OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, July 1 -- New Phytologist, a journal that says it features plant science and its applications, published research articles, including the following topics, in Part 1 of its August 2020 edition: Forum: * Carboniferous plant physiology breaks the mold Review: * Transcriptional regulatory network of the light signaling pathways * Wax biosynthesis in response to danger: its regulation upon abiotic and biotic stress * Reassessing plant glyoxalases: large family and expan  more

BRENTWOOD, Tennessee, July 4 -- Psycho-Oncology, a journal that says it features cancer and AIDS-related tumors, epidemiology, palliative and supportive care, psychiatry, psychology, sociology and nursing from the American Psychosocial Oncology Society and British Psycho-Oncology Society, published research articles on the following topics in its July 2020 edition: REVIEW: * Sexual health in colon cancer patients: A systematic review PAPERS: * Efficacy of health coaching and a web-based prog  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, July 4 -- Vanderbilt University Medical Center issued the following news: Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Purdue University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have isolated human monoclonal antibodies that potentially can prevent a rare but devastating polio-like illness in children linked to a respiratory viral infection. The illness, called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), causes sudden weakness in the arms and legs following a fever or respirator  more

ATLANTA, Georgia, July 1 -- The Southern Regional Education Board issued the following news release: SREB recognizes the outstanding leadership efforts of a state and a district that established structures to help schools transform their school and classroom practices and maintain cultures of continuous improvement. The Mississippi Department of Education and DeKalb County School District in Alabama will be recognized on July 6, 2021, at SREB's Making Schools Work Conference in Nashville, Tenn  more

ATLANTA, Georgia, July 1 -- The Southern Regional Education Board issued the following news release: Twenty-three schools won 2020 Gene Bottoms Pacesetter School Awards for their efforts to increase quality instruction and raise student achievement. Recipients will be honored on July 6, 2021, at the opening general session of SREB's Making Schools Work Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, due to the cancellation of the 2020 conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. Pacesetter School Awards recogni  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, July 2 -- The Tennessee Bar Association issued the following news: The TBA Young Lawyers Division announced that Nashville lawyer William "Billy" Leslie has been selected as the group's new president-elect. He will serve a one-year term starting and then automatically ascend to the office of president for the 2021-2022 bar year. Leslie is a 2017 graduate of the Nashville School of Law and currently works as a judicial law clerk for Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Tim Easte  more

MURFREESBORO, Tennessee, July 2 -- The Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association issued the following news: The merger between the Murfreesboro Electric Department (MED) and Middle Tennessee Electric (MTE) became official and finalized. "Now we begin bringing our two great teams together for the benefit of all those we serve," said Chris Jones, MTE's president and CEO. "While we've been preparing for some time, now it is real, and we are thankful and excited." Upon completion of TVA's regula  more

SOMERVILLE, Tennessee, July 3 -- The Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association issued the following news: On July 1, Loyd Muncy became Chickasaw Electric Cooperative's fifth general manager. Muncy replaces John Collins who announced his retirement in 2019. Muncy, a 30-year veteran of the cooperative, has served in many capacities while at the cooperative including engineering supervisor, IT manager, project manager, and manager of finance and administration. Muncy was drawn to the position b  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, July 2 -- The Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association issued the following news: Trimming trees is one of the most expensive things your local co-op does. Co-ops spend million of dollars each year keeping trees and other vegetation away from their power lines. This may leave you wondering, if trimming trees is so expensive, then why do it? There are three reasons your local co-op trims trees: safety, reliability and to save our consumers money. The first two reasons s  more

BRENTWOOD, Tennessee, July 1 -- The Tennessee Hospital Association issued the following news: On Monday, Governor Bill Lee issued Executive Order 50, which extends activation of Tennessee's emergency management plan and a host of waivers, including many healthcare-related provisions, through Aug. 29. All existing healthcare provisions from Executive Order 36 were included in the extension, many of which were requested by THA on behalf of hospitals across the state. Of particular interest are a  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, July 2 -- Vanderbilt University Medical Center issued the following news on July 1: With the aid of a $75 million, five-year grant renewal, the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics Network (eMERGE) will venture beyond its current focus on monogenic disease, that is, diseases inordinately influenced by single genes and single genomic variants, to scoring research participants' relative risk for complex heritable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney dis  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, July 2 -- Vanderbilt University Medical Center issued the following news: Patient misidentification is an all too common cause of medical error. In low- and middle-income countries, free, open-source facial recognition software could provide an economical solution for verifying patient identity across health care settings, according to a study (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1386505619312481) by Martin Were, MD, MS, and colleagues, appearing in the Int  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, July 3 -- Vanderbilt University Medical Center issued the following news on July 2: The Latino community is affected disproportionately by COVID-19. News outlets report leaders and lawmakers calling its impact "catastrophic." In the state of Tennessee, one-third of residents who test positive for the coronavirus are Hispanic, even though only 5.6 percent of the population is Hispanic. During a recent online discussion featuring health care providers and faith leaders, Chr  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, July 1 -- Vanderbilt University Medical Center issued the following news: Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators are leading a new study that examines the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, within households in Nashville. The study funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) aims to understand how fast the infections spread within households and the factors that may be associated with that transmission. This is one o  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, July 1 -- Vanderbilt University Medical Center issued the following news: One month after George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis while in police custody, the conversation about racism and the impact of Floyd's death continues at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). Adding to a growing number of town halls, departmental forums and small group meetings, a second virtual, enterprise-wide panel discussion was held last week for the larger VUMC community. "You can't h  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, July 1 -- Vanderbilt University Medical Center issued the following news: A pair of ultra-thin electrodes surgically implanted deep into the brain might slow the progression of Parkinson's disease, according to five-year outcomes from a 30-patient randomized clinical trial conducted by investigators at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Their report (https://n.neurology.org/content/early/2020/06/09/WNL.0000000000009946), published in the July 2020, issue of Neurology,   more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, July 3 -- Vanderbilt University Medical Center issued the following news: Jenny Slayton, MSN, RN, who has served as Vice President of Quality, Safety and Risk Prevention since 2016, is being promoted to Senior Vice President for Quality, Safety and Risk Prevention. In this new position Slayton will serve as the Chief Quality, Safety and Risk Prevention Officer (QSRP) for Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and all VUMC-related entities. She will report to C. Wrigh  more