Focus: Hidden - Missouri

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Saint Louis University has received a $6.4 million task order from NIAID/NIH to study a treatment for MDR-TB, a worsening, deadly global health threat.

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In an article published today (Thursday, Aug. 24) in an American Physical Society journal, researchers reported observing unexpected instantaneous phase shifts during atomic scattering.

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From fitness bands to smart glasses, wearable technology has grown in popularity in recent years. But what prompts people to put on a wearable device? A recent study conducted by researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology provides some answers.

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Saint Louis University scientist Kasey Fowler-Finn, Ph.D., and her research team will study treehoppers to learn how changing temperatures affect singing insects' ability to recognize the songs of potential mates.

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An engineer at Washington University in St. Louis has taken steps toward using nanocrystal networks for artificial intelligence applications.

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In the wake of the Aug. 12 confrontations between protesters and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, some progressives are calling for legal restrictions on the display of the Nazi flag. These arguments are entirely understandable, but they often misapply existing First Amendment law, and they suppress free speech values that progressives — more than anyone else — should want to defend, says a Constitutional law expert at Washington University in St.

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A $597,380 grant from the National Science Foundation will fund SLU scientist Paul Bracher, Ph.D., and his research team as they study what life might look like on other planets - or, here on earth - if it began in oil.

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Ameren Missouri and Saint Louis University are partners on an innovative weather forecasting system called Quantum Weather that provides detailed severe weather information to improve energy restoration for customers during storms.

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Some children born with birth defects may be at increased risk for specific types of cancer, according to a new review from the Brown School and the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis.

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Saint Louis University researchers are encouraged by study results which they hope can reduce the risks associated with this type of brain surgery.

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President Donald Trump declaring the opioid epidemic a national emergency is an important statement and first step toward admitting a problem, said an expert on opioid addiction at Washington University in St. Louis, while warning that without science-informed solutions and plans of action, the epidemic will worsen.The nation has seen three drug epidemics, said David Patterson Silver Wolf, associate professor at the Brown School and an expert on substance use disorder treatment services.

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Results of a small clinical trial show promise for treating a rare neurodegenerative condition that typically kills those afflicted before they reach age 20. The disease, called Niemann-Pick type C (NPC), causes cholesterol to build up in neurons, leading to a gradual loss of brain function. In the drug trial, researchers have shown that treatment with a type of sugar molecule called cyclodextrin slows progression of the disease.

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Currently, testing for Zika requires that a blood sample be refrigerated and shipped to a medical center or laboratory, delaying diagnosis and possible treatment. Now, Washington University in St. Louis researchers have developed a test that quickly can detect the presence of Zika virus in blood. Although the new proof-of-concept technology has yet to be produced for use in medical situations, test results can be determined in minutes, and the materials do not require refrigeration.

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For many, the commute to and from work is a lengthy, stressful process. According to the U.S.  Census Bureau, it takes the average American about 26½ minutes to get to work. That’s nearly an hour each day — to work and back — to face traffic snarls and congested highways. That commute can also be hazardous to your health, exposing drivers to an increased amount of air pollutants that have been linked to a whole host of medical maladies, including cardiovascular disease, respiratory issues and even lung cancer.

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A team of engineers at Washington University in St. Louis has made major strides recently in the study and manipulation of light. The team's most recent discovery of the sensing capability of microresonators could have impacts in the creation of biomedical devices, electronics and biohazard detection devices.

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The city of the future could start with a village – Missouri University of Science and Technology's Solar Village, to be exact. S&T researchers will study the Solar Village and its residents as their living laboratory over the next three years thanks to an $800,000 grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, funded as part of the National Science Foundation’s Cyber-Physical System initiative. The research team is led by Dr. Simone Silvestri, principal investigator and assistant professor of computer science, and Dr. Denise Baker, co-principal investigator and assistant professor of psychological science

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ceramic engineering professor at Missouri University of Science and Technology has received a federal patent for his latest innovation, a multi-layer ceramic capacitor that could help boost energy storage in applications ranging from pulse power devices to military hardware.

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Artificial intelligence, robotics, automation and machine learning are already disrupting the workplace. Will they disrupt the college experience next? That’s the question Dr. Keng Siau is asking colleagues this week at the Twenty-Third Americas Conference on Information Systems in Boston.

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As Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia continue to become more prevalent, it may not be long before there is a push for legalizing physician-assisted death (PAD) in dementia cases in the United States.American officials must thoroughly consider the moral and social consequences of such an action, says an expert on medical ethics at Washington University in St.

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The ribbon cutting ceremony to open Saint Louis University’s newest residence hall, Grand Hall, is set for Tuesday, Aug. 8. The ceremony will include brief remarks by SLU president Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D.

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The Aug. 21 solar eclipse across the United States promises to provide not only a rare visual experience for Americans, but also a rare listening experience for amateur radio operators interested in how the eclipse might affect radio waves in the atmosphere. And members of the Amateur Radio Club at Missouri University of Science and Technology plan to tune in to the eclipse as part of a global research project.

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With the first total eclipse of the sun in four decades less than a month away, it’s critical to consider how your vision can be injured by unprotected viewing, warns Sweta Kavali, M.D., a Saint Louis University ophthalmologist and retina specialist.

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The combination of a bacterium that normally lives in the gut and a protein-rich diet promotes a more tolerant, less inflammatory gut immune system, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings, in mice, suggest a way to tilt the gut immune system away from inflammation, potentially spelling relief for people living with inflammatory bowel disease.

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Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a particular gut microbe can prevent severe flu infections in mice, likely by breaking down naturally occurring compounds — called flavonoids — commonly found in foods such as black tea, red wine and blueberries.

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The 21st Century Cures Act, approved by Congress in December 2016, authorized $6.3 billion in federal funding, mainly for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It was supported in large part by pharmaceutical manufacturers.The bill and key changes made during its drafting remain controversial and show the need for a more informed comment period for future health care legislation, says an expert on health law at Washington University in St.

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After nearly a decade of work, a small Guatemalan village can now count on clean drinking water thanks to a group of student volunteers from Missouri University of Science and Technology. The Missouri S&T student chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) first traveled to Nahualate, Guatemala, in 2008 as part of a volunteer project to design and build a public water system. On Wednesday, Aug. 2, a delegation from EWB’s S&T chapter is scheduled to return to Central America to mark the project’s official completion.

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Researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have solved the three-dimensional structure of a complex that is essential for the correct sorting of chromosomes into eggs and sperm during reproductive cell division or meiosis.

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Sophisticated techniques for testing hypotheses about the brain by activating and silencing genes are currently available for only a handful of model organisms. Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis are working on a simplified toolkit that will allow scientists who study animal behavior to manipulate the genomes of many other animals with the hope of accelerating progress in our understanding of the brain.

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A ban on transgender people serving in the United States military is an attempt to make policy with no logical foundation in evidence or expertise on the matter, says an expert on transgender aging at Washington University in St. Louis.President Donald Trump announced July 26 that the United States military will no longer allow or accept transgender people.

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Using the gene editing technology CRISPR, scientists have shed light on a rare, sometimes fatal syndrome that causes children to gradually lose the ability to manufacture vital blood cells. The research, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, suggests new lines of investigation into how to treat this condition — dyskeratosis congenita — which is characterized by shortened telomeres. Short telomeres lead to progressive DNA damage that accumulates over time.

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Dosenbach, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of pediatric and developmental neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and colleagues used imaging techniques to collect a massive amount of data on individual brains. Their work led to 10 individual-specific connectomes — detailed maps of neural brain connections that reveal spatial and organizational variability in brain networks.

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In American women, breast cancer is the second most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death. Using data, algorithms and lab experimentation, a biomedical engineer at Washington University in St. Louis is studying breast cancer at the most basic level – the cells – to look for clues about how the cancerous cells metastasize.

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Behind the chubby cheeks and bright eyes of babies as young as 8 months lies the smoothly whirring mind of a social statistician, logging our every move and making odds on what a person is most likely to do next, suggests new research in the journal Infancy.

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New research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that children as young as 3 already are beginning to recognize and follow important rules and patterns governing how letters in the English language fit together to make words

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Saint Louis University obstetricians are leading a clinical trial at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital that investigates a possible approach to treat postpartum hemorrhage, the leading cause of perinatal maternal death around the world.

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Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria — those at the root of hard-to-treat urinary tract infections (UTIs) — hijack trace amounts of copper in the body and use it as a nutrient to fuel growth. The finding suggests blocking this system may starve E. coli infections, opening the door to treating UTIs using drugs that work differently from traditional antibiotics.

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Stem cell centers claim to offer effective treatment to patients with heart failure, despite the fact that the treatment is not approved for such use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), says the author of research letter in the current issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.

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Dr. Yinfa Ma, associate dean for research and external relations in the College of Arts, Sciences, and Business, was recently selected to be an American Chemical Society Fellow. He was one of only 65 scientists named to the 2017 class, and will be recognized at a ceremony and reception on Aug. 21, during the society’s 254th National Meeting & Exposition in Washington, D.C.

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A book by a Missouri University of Science and Technology history professor is the basis for a tactical wartime video game set for release in 2018.

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Irregular heartbeat — or arrhythmia — can have sudden and often fatal consequences. A biomedical engineering team at Washington University in St. Louis examining molecular behavior in cardiac tissue recently made a surprising discovery that could someday impact treatment of the life-threatening condition.

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A new study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that measures of amyloid beta in the blood have the potential to help identify people with altered levels of amyloid in their brains or cerebrospinal fluid. Currently, the only way to detect amyloid beta in the brain is via PET scanning or a spinal tap.

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Changes in a liquid as it becomes a glass are related to repulsion between atoms as they are crowded together. Although scientists have long believed the poorly understood glass transition must have atomic underpinnings, this is the first time they have been demonstrated experimentally.

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Science communication can be hard to define, and even harder to teach. But an academic book co-edited by a technical communication professor at Missouri University of Science and Technology hopes to make the subject easier for instructors, and their students, to teach and learn.

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The naturally curly texture of the hair of many African Americans is not something schools should be spending their limited time and resources regulating, says an expert on implicit bias and the law at Washington University in St. Louis.“Several school districts around the nation have adopted policies that prevent students from wearing their hair in braids, twists, dreadlocks and Afros, and even Afro puffs,” said Kimberly Norwood, the Henry H.

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A new study in mice shows that females vaccinated before pregnancy and infected with Zika virus while pregnant bear pups who show no trace of the virus. The findings offer the first evidence that an effective vaccine can protect vulnerable fetuses from Zika infection and resulting injury.

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A major 20-year study provides further evidence that prostate cancer surgery offers negligible benefits to many men with early-stage disease. In such men, who account for most cases of newly diagnosed prostate cancer, surgery did not prolong life and often caused serious complications such as infection, urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. The research team included Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

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A Missouri University of Science and Technology researcher wants to make walking up and down stairs easier through the creation of a device that recycles the energy we use to climb and descend.

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Using eye-tracking technology, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta have found compelling evidence that genetics plays a major role in how children look at the world and whether they have a preference for gazing at people’s eyes and faces or at objects. The discovery adds new detail to understanding the causes of autism spectrum disorder. Studying twins, the researchers found that where babies focus their eyes is under stringent genetic control.