Tag: RESEARCH
Publication highlights Virginia’s peer crowd research initiatives
Health Education & Behavior Journal published a study that highlights Virginia’s work on using innovative “peer crowd” research to determine which teen subcultures are more at risk of engaging in specific adverse health behaviors, including tobacco and substance use.
Ear stones provide clues to researchers studying migratory habits of Amazonian fish species
Four researchers published a study that reports on the use of chemical analysis of ear stones as a way to tease out a fish’s life story.
The trial and error of viral evolution: The difference between fading out and pandemic
Viruses evolve quickly. A small tweak to the genetic makeup of a mostly mild strain of influenza can give rise to the next pandemic.
Virginia Tech plant ecologist receives grant to study invasive agricultural weed
A Virginia Tech researcher will spend five years ‘deep in the weeds’ of Johnsongrass research with the help of a $5 million grant from the USDA.
Virginia Tech team tests alternative to lead-based piezoelectric materials
For post-doctoral researcher Deepam Maurya, getting the lead out is not a colloquialism for working fast.
240-million-year-old fossils provide new insight into how dinosaurs grew
Paleontologists at Virginia Tech have found muscle-scared fossil leg bones of one of the closest cousins of dinosaurs.
Genomic info may help researchers fathom bedbug insect resistance
The genetic makeup of bedbug skin plays a significant role in the pest’s ability to resist insecticides, according to Virginia Tech researcher Zach Adelman.
Je Suis #ResearchParasite
In an editorial at the New England Journal of Medicine, Dan Longo and Jeffrey Drazen have coined an interesting new term: “research parasite.”
The awful anchor that lets urinary tract infections take hold
To establish an infection in the urinary tract, bacteria must be able to withstand the tremendous forces of urine flow so they’re not simply washed away.
Study using genetic lines of Virginia Tech chickens reveals evolution happens faster than thought
A critical component of an experiment that proved evolution happens 15 times faster than was previously believed relied upon genetic lines of chickens from Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech researchers study probiotics to rescue threatened amphibians
Skin bacteria could be the best defense that frogs and salamanders have for protection against dangerous diseases like chytrid fungus.
Virginia Tech researchers to measure social networks’ influence on public attitudes
A team of scientists led by Virginia Tech researchers has received a $950,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to study the ways that ideas and behaviors are spread through large social networks like Twitter.
Geoscientist says animals took first breaths after small oxygen hike in atmosphere
If oxygen was a driver of the early evolution of animals, only a slight bump in oxygen levels facilitated it, according to a multi-institutional research team that includes a Virginia Tech geoscientist.
Virginia Tech student investigates how environmental stress could promote tumor cell growth
In a well-lit laboratory on the southwest side of campus, Virginia Tech undergraduate Kimberly Soto-Alvarado focused a high-resolution microscope on a bright orange liquid in a small clear flask.
Virginia Tech researcher develops model for robots with bacterial brains
In a paper published this week in Scientific Reports, which is part of the Nature Publishing Group, a Virginia Tech scientist used a mathematical model to demonstrate that bacteria can control the behavior of an inanimate device like a robot.
VCU researchers, international partners first to identify risk genes for clinical depression
For the first time in scientific history, researchers have identified specific genetic clues to the underlying etiology of clinical depression.
Virginia Tech researchers develop new way to assess healthy beverage intake
There may be a better way to think about daily drinking habits that impact health conditions such as obesity and diabetes, according to a new study by Virginia Tech researchers.
International research team seeks more efficient biomass refinement processes
Researchers from across the world, including from Virginia Tech, plan to mimic the chemistry of the brown rot fungus to improve biorefining processes.
Virginia Tech scientists work to help save the Amazon rainforest and its biodiversity
The Amazon Basin’s vast tropical rainforests, rivers, and soils are rich ecosystems vital to the basic functioning of the planet. They churn moisture into the atmosphere, sequester global carbon, regulate climate patterns, and house much of the world’s biodiversity.
Virginia Tech scientists awarded grant to study optic nerve hypoplasia
The optic nerve could be the microscope into brain disorders that scientists need. An underdeveloped optic nerve – one that never fully developed its cells or one whose cells died off – could indicate other dysfunctions in the brain.
Virginia Agricultural Council funds $315K in research projects
At its March meeting, the Virginia Agricultural Council reviewed research project proposals and funded 21 new projects totaling almost $220,000, as well as more than $45,000 for four new projects for lawn and turf research. It also extended funding for a second year on five projects totaling nearly $50,000.
Missing link found between brain, immune system: With major disease implications
Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have determined that the brain is directly connected to the immune system by vessels previously thought not to exist.
Virginia Tech test site receives more flexibility for drone research
Officials with the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership at Virginia Tech welcomed the Federal Aviation Administration’s announcement last week that it will soon be simpler for the six unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) test sites to conduct research.
Scientists find that saline solution composition can affect cardiac response differently
Saline solution is a staple of every hospital. No matter the ailment, doctors have known for more than a century that saline is key to keeping patients hydrated and maintaining their blood pressure levels.
Letter writer gets it wrong on climate change questions
Pete Kuntz’s letter smearing Tom Harris repeated the false Greenpeace accusation that astrophysicist Willie Soon“got caught secretly taking over a million dollars from oil corporations for his climate science denial services and lying about it.” Dead wrong.
VCU researchers identify functions in the determination of height for a gene expressed in sperm
An interdisciplinary research team led by the deans of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Schools of Medicine and Engineering has for the first time explained the association between human height and a specific protein-coding gene that is found in sperm.
Virginia Tech Transportation Institute launches effort to make traveling through traffic lights safer, smarter and cheaper
Virginia Tech Transportation Institute researchers’ new project could change the way motorists navigate through traffic lights, making the everyday action safer, smarter, and cheaper – the last by cutting fuel costs and likewise reducing pollution.
Virginia Tech scientists to examine antibiotic resistance in food chain from farm to fork
Growing evidence suggests that agricultural practices, especially widespread antibiotic use, could be contributing to the increasing antibiotic resistance problem in humans.
Scientists embark on expedition to Antarctica to study temperature effects on the brain
A team of scientists with the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute will travel to Antarctica to find out, for the first time, how rising temperatures affect the brains and hearts of the icefish – and what it means for the rest of the world.
Successful ecological restoration must meet more robust standards
In a succession of international agreements, most recently the 2014 U.N. Climate Summit, governments worldwide have pledged to restore degraded ecosystems to address climate change.
Virginia Tech researchers say a mosquito sex-determining gene could help fight dengue fever
Males aren’t relevant — at least when it comes to disease transmission by mosquitoes. Researchers with the Fralin Life Science Institute at Virginia Tech have identified a gene responsible for sex determination in mosquitoes that transmit yellow fever, dengue, and chikungunya viruses.
Multiple sclerosis: Scientists ID cause of movement, balance problems
New research into the causes of the excessive inflammation that drives multiple sclerosis has identified a faulty “brake” within immune cells, a brake that should be controlling the inflammation.
Virginia Tech researcher shines light on origin of bioluminescence
A Virginia Tech scientist has discovered that bioluminescence may not have originated as a means to ward off predators, but instead evolved as a way to survive in harsh climates — at least in one millipede.
‘Junk DNA’ holds key to a new detection method for ovarian cancer
Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute of Virginia Tech have discovered new possibilities for detecting ovarian cancer using microsatellite variations.
Aerospace, turbine companies work with Virginia Tech for research solutions
More systems are coming on line at the Advanced Propulsion and Power Lab at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center, officials said this week.
Virginia Agricultural Council announces research grants
At its recent meeting in March, the Virginia Agricultural Council (VAC) reviewed research project proposals and funded 21 new projects totaling almost $220,000, as well as more than $45,000 for four new projects for lawn and turf research. It also extended funding for a second year on five projects totaling nearly $50,000.
Bridgewater College celebrates ASPIRE Week April 26-May 1
Bridgewater College is recognizing academic achievement during a week of activities dedicated to showcasing excellence. ASPIRE (A Celebration of the Arts, Scholarship, Performance, Innovation and Research Excellence), will be held Sunday, April 26 – Friday, May 1.
UVA identifies a surprising contributor to Rett syndrome
The immune system is designed to protect us from disease. But what if it was malfunctioning? Would it make a disease worse? That appears to be the case with Rett syndrome.
Virginia Tech gets jump on destructive moth in Nepal
A tiny moth, Tuta absoluta, has caused millions of dollars of crop losses in Europe, Mediterranean countries, the Middle East, and North Africa.
VCU receives $1.9 million grant to research chemical compounds for treating addiction
Drug development research by Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy associate professor Yan Zhang, Ph.D., at the Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine has been renewed by the National Institutes of Health for the next five years with funding of $1.9 million.
