An internationally renowned FAU shark researcher has received a $117,501 gift from the Leon H. Charney Foundation, Inc. for a joint program with the University of Haifa in Israel.
The University of Florida’s pilot research program to explore the potential to grow industrial hemp across the state is advancing, with the engagement of an inaugural private partner. The initiative was supported and encouraged by the state but was not appropriated any funding. To move forward, the project needs sponsorships from private industry. Green Roads Inc. has invested $1.3 million to sponsor the first phase of the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences research program.
Start spreading the news – and the peanut butter! From Oct. 1 to Nov. 21, you can donate unopened jars of peanut butter to hungry Panhandle families through the Peanut Butter Challenge, a project coordinated by UF/IFAS Extension faculty and volunteers.
University of Florida scientists are finding that by covering new citrus trees with mesh, they can keep disease-carrying insects from harming the plants. That could be a big step toward stemming the deadly citrus greening disease, UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers say.
America’s seemingly polarized elected officials might be the best representation of their constituents, according to a new study out of Florida State University.
Healthy red blood cells are round, but for those with sickle cell disease, the red blood cells become sticky and hard because of an abnormal amount of protein in the blood. The red blood cells form the shape of a sickle, or crescent.
A system designed to protect citrus trees from the deadly greening disease withstood the ravaging winds of Hurricane Irma last year, University of Florida scientists say. With reinforcements installed after the storm, they’ll likely withstand even more dangerous storms. Using Citrus Under Protective Screening, or “CUPS,” growers can keep the Asian citrus psyllid away from their trees.
Consumers say they’ll pay more for strawberries grown in a manner that is sustainable, the research shows. Researchers defined “sustainable” as production methods that help keep the ecosystem healthy. More specifically, researchers described five sustainable practices: less fertilizer, less pesticide and fewer negative impacts on air, soil and water quality.
The podcast, “All in for Citrus,” will launch the last week in September and will feature short interviews with scientists working to find solutions to citrus greening and other devastating citrus diseases.
With the support of a $500,000 grant from the NOAA Research, Modeling, Analysis, Predictions and Projections Program (MAPP), researchers will develop diagnostic tools to identify the hidden biases that compromise high-powered climate models.
Suicide prevention week is designed to raise awareness of the warning signs of suicide, promote prevention resources, and to encourage Americans to talk more about suicide prevention. Broaching the subject of suicide with someone will not cause them to think about ending their life. However, if they are suicidal, it gives them a chance to unburden themselves and to know that help is available.
A study using EEG shows how the brain re-prioritizes information following changes in the environment. Past memory cues can have different effects on neural representations based on when they’re presented, suggesting that the brain has several different mechanisms to help boost memory performance following a sudden change in the priority or relevance of a given piece of information. Findings suggest that the brain can use several different methods to re-prioritize mental representations depending on how long they’ve been stored.
Low crop production can grow into a national and global security issue, said Jim Anderson, director of the UF/IFAS Institute for Sustainable Food Systems.
To help meet consumer demand for more flavorful mangos without grit or fibrous flesh, University of Florida scientists will try to identify superior varieties so mango producers can choose the best types of the fruit to grow in the Sunshine State.
Sam Hutton, an associate professor of horticultural sciences at the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, will use a new $490,000 federal grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to find ways to develop improved varieties that contain genes to help tomatoes thwart Fusarium wilt.
UF/IFAS researchers will get help from scientists at Iowa State University, the University of Wisconsin, Washington State University and the USDA to conduct the study. The grant comes from the Specialty Crop Research Initiative, which is part of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, an arm of the USDA.
Patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer have been shown to benefit from chemotherapy prior to surgical removal of the bladder. But which type of chemotherapy leads to the best outcomes in terms of complete response rates or cancer control? Moffitt Cancer Center researchers examined data from more than 800 surgical patients with advanced bladder cancer.
With threats of sea level rise, storm surge and other natural disasters, researchers are turning to nature to protect humans from nature. Using bioinspired materials that mimic mangrove trees, they are creating mangrove-like structures that can be used for erosion control, coastal protection, and habitat reconstruction. Structures like seawalls are expensive to build, raise environmental concerns, and obstruct the natural landscape. The prototype they have developed is scalable, smaller, simpler to use and cost effective.
New research suggests that the same factors driving the Arctic’s changing climate are fueling a geological response that could play a small part in counteracting those changes’ malign effects.
Some tailgating foods come in the form of new fruit and vegetable varieties that grew out of years of research by UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences faculty in labs and fields across the state. Those delectable delights include Tasti-Lee® tomatoes, Valquarius® sweet oranges, Sugar Belle ® mandarins and Sweet Sensation® strawberries, among other cultivars.
Bilingual children from immigrant families are not two monolinguals in one. They develop each language at a slower pace because their learning is spread across two languages. A researcher shows strong evidence that the rate of language growth is influenced by the quantity of language input. She challenges the belief, held in and out of scientific circles that children are linguistic sponges who quickly absorb the language or languages they hear and become proficient speakers of both languages.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has updated its 2012 recommendations for cervical cancer screening with one important addition. This is the first time they are recommending a method of cervical cancer screening that does not include the Pap test – the gold-standard screening test for more than 75 years. A leading OB/GYN physician provides an important review of these new guidelines, which preserve the greatest range of choices for practitioners and patients.
Fred Gmitter and Jude Grosser, both UF/IFAS horticultural sciences professors, base their recommendations for the latest citrus varieties to plant on their cumulative knowledge from multiple trials.
A study examined anxiety, depression, social withdrawal, and submissiveness to predict the end of teen friendships. Do friendships end because of one child’s mental health problems or do they end because of differences between friends on the degree to which each friend suffers from these problems? A key finding shows that children’s personal struggles need not adversely impact their social relationships, and mental health issues do not necessarily ruin their chances of making and maintaining worthwhile friendships.
A new study focusing on the environment inside cancer cells may lead to new targeted treatment strategies. Moffitt Cancer Center researchers, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Maryland and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine Barcelona, suggest that lowering the pH inside cancer cells to make it more acidic can slow down the growth and spread of the disease, and possibly provide new options for treatment.
Cows with shorter hair are cooler, and thus, more productive, said Raluca Mateescu, an associate professor of animal sciences at the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. A calm cow is also more productive than an agitated one, Mateescu said.
Through funding from the state legislature-funded Citrus Initiative, Tripti Vashisth has found that leaves from greening-affected trees often show deficiencies in certain nutrients such as manganese, zinc, iron and more. This suggests that, because of greening, more of these are required and are critical for diseased plants’ survival.
Beginning this week, Florida citrus growers will have an updated resource to help them keep groves productive despite the ever-present threat of Huanglongbing, the bacterial malady also known as HLB or citrus greening disease.
TAMPA, Fla. – Game theory can be utilized to identify potential flaws in current cancer treatment approaches and suggest new strategies to improve outcomes in patients with metastatic cancer, according to a new article published online today by JAMA Oncology. The study, which is authored by a mathematician, an evolutionary biologist and clinical physicians from the Moffitt Cancer Center and Maastricht University, challenges the decades old standard of treatment for metastatic cancers in which drugs are typically administered continuously at the maximum-tolerated dose (MTD) until the tumor progresses.
In addition to antibiotic injections, scientists are trying to find the insect that transmits lethal bronzing to the trees. Bahder and his research team have been surveying symptomatic palms for about a year and so far, they’ve narrowed the list to two potential insects as possible conveyors of lethal bronzing.
Fernando Alferez, an assistant professor of horticultural sciences at the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, leads a team of UF/IFAS researchers studying the effects of Homobrassinolides (HBr), a type of plant hormone, on greening-infected citrus trees.
A leading scientist has been working to identify what contributes to the ability of tumor cells to move through the body and find other places to “set up shop.” He has identified a number of enzymes that he believes are responsible for this process and is working to develop novel compounds to slow down this spreading aspect of cancer.
For a new study, UF/IFAS researchers used nine years of data to find out whether snail kites are reproducing after they move, and how these findings might change conservation strategies.
From nutritional supplements to managing irrigation to grower outreach and education, UF/IFAS researchers are finding additional ways to support Florida citrus growers in their fight against citrus greening disease. Twelve projects were funded by the state legislature-funded Citrus Initiative program in 2017-2018 that looked at possible short- and long-term solutions that growers might implement now, that could impact fruit growth, reduce production costs and result in more HLB-tolerant trees.
FAU’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing placed in the No. 1 spot in Florida for the 71 graduates of its BSN program who achieved a 100 percent passage rate on the National Council Licensure Examination. They performed above the national average passage rate of 90.05 percent.
Scientists at the Florida State University-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory have discovered a behavior in materials called cuprates that suggests they carry current in a way entirely different from conventional metals such as copper. The research, published today in the journal Science, adds new meaning to the materials’ moniker, “strange metals.”