LEBANON, Tennessee, Feb. 20 -- Cumberland University issued the following news on Feb. 18, 2021: Cumberland University announced today that its Papers of Martin Van Buren Project has received a bequest for $100,000 from Cynthia Van Buren, descendant of Martin Van Buren. The Papers of Martin Van Buren Project is an ongoing project aiming to transcribe the surviving letters, speeches, papers and other documents from the eighth president making them digitized and easily accessible to the public.   more

JOHNSON CITY, Tennessee, Feb. 19 -- East Tennessee State University issued the following news: Audiology faculty and students from East Tennessee State University have recently donated more than $60,000 in services and discounted hearing aid devices to patients who attended the Remote Area Medical (RAM) clinic that took place in Gray last November. RAM is a major nonprofit provider of free pop-up clinics. Students, faculty and staff from several ETSU colleges and programs assist annually at c  more

JOHNSON CITY, Tennessee, Feb. 17 (TNSRes) -- East Tennessee State University issued the following news: The East Tennessee State University Center for Applied Research and Evaluation in Women's Health (CARE Women's Health) is studying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on contraceptive services in health department clinics and federally qualified health centers (FQHC). Before the arrival of the pandemic, CARE Women's Health, housed in the ETSU College of Public Health, had been working with c  more

JOHNSON CITY, Tennessee, Feb. 17 (TNSGra) -- East Tennessee State University issued the following news: The U.S. Department of Education has announced that East Tennessee State University will receive the federally funded Student Support Services (SSS) grant totaling $348,002 annually for five years to help more first-generation and low-income students and students with disabilities succeed and graduate. ETSU has been a recipient of an SSS grant to support traditional and non-traditional studen  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, Feb. 18 -- Lipscomb University issued the following news on Feb. 17, 2021: The famed Civil Rights attorney has been at the forefront of changing the social fabric of America regarding desegregation, integration, constitutional law, racial discrimination in voting, housing, education, jury service, farm subsidies, medicine and ethics and generally in improving the national judicial system. At 90 years of age, Gray is still making an impact. One of those ways is through Lip  more

FRANKFORT, Kentucky, Feb. 20 -- Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron issued the following news release on Feb. 19, 2021: Attorney General Daniel Cameron today announced that he joined a coalition of 23 states in filing an amicus brief before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in support of Tennessee's law requiring a 48-hour waiting period before an abortion. Last year, a federal district court enjoined the Tennessee law. "Kentucky law currently requires a waiting per  more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, Feb. 19 -- The University of Tennessee Health Science Center issued the following news: Dr. Walter and Lynne Fain of Knoxville, Tennessee, have made a major gift of $1 million to help the University of Tennessee Health Science Center's College of Dentistry launch a dental training center in Knoxville. Dr. Fain, a longtime Knoxville dentist, recalls that in the fall of 2019 at a University of Tennessee, Knoxville football game reception, UTHSC College of Dentistry Dean James  more

AUGUSTA, Maine, Feb. 17 -- Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine, issued the following news release on Feb. 16, 2021: Governor Janet Mills today praised an announcement by LP Building Solutions, a Tennessee-based manufacturer of engineered wood building products, that it will invest approximately $150 million to convert part of its LP Houlton mill in New Limerick to manufacture SmartSide, an advanced engineered wood strand siding. "I am excited to welcome this investment, which is a tribute not only to th  more

MURFREESBORO, Tennessee, Feb. 18 (TNSGra) -- Middle Tennessee State University issued the following news: An interdisciplinary team from Middle Tennessee State University is launching a pilot project to promote widespread faculty use of free or low-cost open digital course content that could result in significant savings for students who sometimes struggle to afford necessary textbooks. Open Educational Resources, or OER, "are materials for teaching or learning that are either in the public do  more

CONCORD, New Hampshire, Feb. 16 -- The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission issued the following order of notice (No. DG 21-008) involving Liberty Utilities (EnergyNorth Natural Gas) Corp. dba Liberty Utilities: Petition for Approval of a Firm Transportation Agreement with Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, LLC ORDER OF NOTICE On January 20, 2021, Liberty Utilities (EnergyNorth Natural Gas) Corp. d/b/a Liberty Utilities (Liberty, or the Company) filed a petition for approval of a firm trans  more

CONCORD, New Hampshire, Feb. 19 -- The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission issued the following letter (No. DG 21-008): Re: Liberty Utilities (EnergyNorth Natural Gas) Corp. d/b/a Liberty Utilities Petition for Approval of a Firm Transportation Agreement with Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, LLC Remote Hearing Guidelines To the Parties: Due to the current state of emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission will be conducting the event scheduled in this matter (referred to  more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, Feb. 16 (TNSRes) -- Rhodes College issued the following news: Two Rhodes mathematics majors recently presented posters at the annual Joint Mathematics Meeting, known as the world's largest mathematics gathering. The virtual event was held in January. Lawton Walker received honorable mention for his poster titled "The Hilbert Series of O(2); Deriving the Formula for a Generic Weight Vector and Implementing the Mathematica Algorithm to Compute It," based on work he did as par  more

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee, Feb. 17 -- Tennessee American Water issued the following news release: Tennessee American Water is accepting applications for green project funding through its Environmental Grant Program. The program supports innovative, community-based environmental projects that improve, restore, or protect watersheds and water sources through partnerships. Diverse activities like watershed cleanups, surface or groundwater protection education, and hazardous waste collection efforts a  more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, Feb. 16 -- The University of Memphis issued the following news release on Feb. 15, 2021: The Department of Engineering Technology in the University of Memphis' Herff College of Engineering announces the donation of two Yaskawa HC10 collaborative robots from Yaskawa America, Inc., for use in both undergraduate and graduate-level applied robotics classes. In addition to the donation from Yaskawa America, Inc., the robots were shipped in-kind by FedEx from Miamisburg, Ohio, an  more

MARTIN, Tennessee, Feb. 16 -- The University of Tennessee's Martin Campus issued the following news release: The University of Tennessee at Martin College of Business and Global Affairs recently received a $1 million pledge from James D. "Jim" and Barbara Wingett to continue funding the established James Duncan Wingett Scholarship Endowment, which benefits students majoring in accounting and finance. The Wingetts met while studying at UT Martin in the 1980s and wanted to support the next gener  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, Feb. 16 -- Vanderbilt University issued the following news on Feb. 15, 2021: Vanderbilt University announced today that alumni Carolyn Thomas Rogers, BA'75, and Robert Moss Rogers, BA'75, have made a $5 million gift to establish the Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Center for the American Presidency in the College of Arts and Science. The center will be a nationally recognized hub for innovative scholarship about the workings of the presidency, including its function and it  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, Feb. 20 -- Vanderbilt University issued the following news: The Faculty Development Committee, charged with analyzing and assessing the results of the COACHE Faculty Survey administered in spring 2020, has prepared a preliminary report on the survey's topline findings and will share the report and engage faculty at two workshops in March. Faculty also are encouraged to review the working group's preliminary report and to provide input using the anonymous feedback form on   more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, Feb. 18 (TNSJou) -- Vanderbilt University issued the following news: Vanderbilt researchers are prolific and resolute in their pursuit of transformative research and innovation. During the Research Ramp-up process, more than 3,000 Vanderbilt research personnel have returned to in-person research activities, while many others have continued remotely through perseverance and ingenuity. On campus and at home, they are making discoveries that advance knowledge and improve live  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, Feb. 19 (TNSJou) -- Vanderbilt University issued the following news: GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) increases glucose-mediated insulin secretion. GLP-1 receptor agonists and DPP-4 inhibitors, which prevent GLP-1 inactivation, are widely used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus. Mona Mashayekhi, MD, PhD, and colleagues explored whether a particular genetic variant in the GLP-1 receptor gene affected the metabolic response to a meal and to DPP-4 inhibition. They performed mi  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, Feb. 19 (TNSJou) -- Vanderbilt University issued the following news: Uveal coloboma -- a birth defect that causes a malformation of the eye -- accounts for up to 10% of childhood blindness. Coloboma results from a defective fusion of the optic fissure during eye development. Mutations in the gene encoding Neurofibromin 2 (NF2) can cause eye abnormalities in humans, including coloboma, but the precise role of NF2 in optic fissure closure is not clear. Sabine Fuhrmann, PhD  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, Feb. 19 -- Vanderbilt University issued the following news: As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, school closures and the shift to remote learning have disrupted educational progress across the nation, disproportionately affecting students from low-income communities and those with learning disabilities, according to faculty experts from Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. "The children we are most concerned about in regard to learning losses associated with learning on  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, Feb. 17 (TNSRes) -- Vanderbilt University issued the following news: A Vanderbilt research team has received a $2 million National Institutes of Health grant to further develop a needle-size robotic surgery system with real-time MRI guidance for drug resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Such a procedure has the potential to reduce or eliminate seizures using a minimally invasive approach over the current standard of care, open brain surgery. A craniotomy for TLE has a   more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, Feb. 17 (TNSRep) -- Vanderbilt University issued the following news on Feb. 16, 2021: A major new research review released today paints a detailed picture of how strong principals affect students' educational and social outcomes. The report, co-authored by Professor Jason A. Grissom at Vanderbilt University, concludes that school leaders are even more important than previously believed and that investing in their success has a very large payoff. "Given not just the magnit  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, Feb. 19 (TNSRes) -- Vanderbilt University issued the following news: Laboratory and administrative personnel at Vanderbilt University Medical Center were honored last week for research excellence during the 17th annual Research Staff Awards, held virtually this year because of the pandemic. "We're really honoring the people who make this place go," said Lawrence Marnett, PhD, Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences, who hosted the event with Jennif  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, Feb. 18 (TNSJou) -- Vanderbilt University issued the following news: Vanderbilt biochemist Yi Ren is part of a team that has identified a new behavior of a SARS-CoV-2 protein and discovered that interfering with its function can block virus replication in host cells. This opens up the potential for new therapeutic targets for COVID-19. The article, "Nsp1 Protein of SARS-CoV-2 Disrupts the mRNA Export Machinery to Inhibit Host Gene Expression," was published in the journal  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, Feb. 16 -- Vanderbilt University issued the following news: Daniel J. Sharfstein, Dick and Martha Lansden Professor of Law and co-director of the George Barrett Social Justice Program, will deliver the next lecture in Vanderbilt Law School's Dean's Lecture Series on Race and Discrimination. The online event will be Thursday, Feb. 25, beginning at noon CT. All are invited to attend. Register here: https://events.vanderbilt.edu/law/event/31421-1 The Dean's Lecture Series o  more