Latest News from: Washington University in St. Louis

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Released: 31-Jan-2018 12:05 PM EST
ID’ing Features of Flu Virus Genome May Help Target Surveillance for Pandemic Flu
Washington University in St. Louis

A pandemic flu outbreak could kill millions. Now, researchers have found features of the virus's genome that influence how well it multiplies. The findings could help target pandemic flu surveillance efforts to make it easier to find the next outbreak before it spreads widely.

   
Released: 31-Jan-2018 10:05 AM EST
Study Finds Strategies to Encourage 50 Percent Tax-Refund Saving
Washington University in St. Louis

The W-2s are arriving, and taxpayers are preparing to file their 2017 federal income taxes. For low- and moderate-income taxpayers, the possibility of a modest windfall looms: Will they receive a refund?For these taxpayers, 80 percent of the time, the answer will be yes. So what happens next is key. Will taxpayers immediately absorb their tax refund into short-term expenses? Or can they be persuaded to save it for more long-term needs or as a rainy-day fund?In a research paper set for publication in the next issue of the journal Behavioral Science & Policy, a team of researchers, including two from Washington University in St.

Released: 31-Jan-2018 6:05 AM EST
Brass Tax: Cutting Through the Politics of Tax Reform
Washington University in St. Louis

As Americans receive their 2017 tax statements and begin the slow march to filing their last under a fading tax system, as President Donald Trump concludes his first State of the Union with a great emphasis on the economy, as the world watches this country undergo tectonic changes, it’s time to cut through the politicking and positioning.

Released: 30-Jan-2018 11:05 AM EST
Record Expansion of U.S. Hate Groups Slows Under Trump Administration
Washington University in St. Louis

As President Donald Trump prepares to offer his first State of the Union address, a new analysis by a Washington University in St. Louis sociologist may explain why the pronounced, decades-long expansion of U.S.-based hate groups has slowed to a crawl during the first year of his administration.

Released: 29-Jan-2018 2:05 PM EST
Plotting the Path of Plant Pathogens
Washington University in St. Louis

In a sneak attack, some pathogenic microbes manipulate plant hormones to gain access to their hosts undetected. Biologists at Washington University in St. Louis have exposed one such interloper by characterizing the unique biochemical pathway it uses to synthesize auxin, a central hormone in plant development.In a paper published in the Jan.

26-Jan-2018 4:30 PM EST
Body Clock Disruptions Occur Years Before Memory Loss in Alzheimer’s
Washington University in St. Louis

People with Alzheimer’s disease have disturbances in their internal body clocks that affect the sleep/wake cycle and may increase risk of developing the disorder. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that such circadian rhythm disruptions also occur much earlier in people whose memories are intact but whose brain scans show early, preclinical evidence of Alzheimer’s.

Released: 27-Jan-2018 6:05 AM EST
New Molecular Muscle Responds to Visible Light
Washington University in St. Louis

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have created a completely new kind of artificial molecular muscle from a polymer that’s capable of some heavy lifting — relatively speaking.

Released: 25-Jan-2018 1:05 PM EST
WashU Expert: If You See Signs of Child Abuse, Report It
Washington University in St. Louis

David and Louise Turpin have been accused of abusing their 13 children for years inside their California home, a case that has captured international attention. What should you do to try to better recognize signs of abuse in your neighborhood?The bottom line: If you think a child is in danger or is being hurt, call a hotline, says a child abuse expert at Washington University in St.

   
Released: 25-Jan-2018 10:05 AM EST
Light-Triggered Nanoparticles Show Promise Against Metastatic Cancer
Washington University in St. Louis

A new anti-cancer strategy wields light as a precision weapon. Unlike traditional light therapy — which is limited to the skin and areas accessible with an endoscope — this technique can target and attack cancer cells that have spread deep inside the body, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Released: 24-Jan-2018 11:05 AM EST
Joining Forces to Stop Cycle of Violence in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis

The Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis will launch the regional St. Louis Area Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program (STL-HVIP), which will aim to promote positive alternatives to violence, thanks to a $1.6 million grant from Missouri Foundation for Health.

Released: 23-Jan-2018 7:05 PM EST
Genetic Lung Disease’s Molecular Roots Identified
Washington University in St. Louis

People with the rare genetic disease primary ciliary dyskinesia suffer repeated lung infections because they lack functional cilia, hairlike structures that sweep mucus through the airways.  Most people have errors in the molecular motor that powers the cilia. But some have errors in non-motor proteins. Now, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis researchers report that mutated non-motor proteins cause disease by assembling the motor incorrectly. The findings suggest new routes to drug discovery.

Released: 22-Jan-2018 3:05 PM EST
Impact of Religion and Racial Pride on Classroom Discrimination
Washington University in St. Louis

Two important factors seem to explain black American adolescents’ experiences with teacher-based racial discrimination – religiosity and racial pride, finds a new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.“Overall, for both African American and Caribbean black adolescents, experiencing teacher-based racial discrimination in the classroom was associated with not feeling like they belong at school, or less school bonding,” said Sheretta Butler-Barnes, assistant professor at the Brown School.

Released: 17-Jan-2018 11:05 AM EST
WashU Expert: We Already Have ‘Baby Bonds’
Washington University in St. Louis

As economists float the proposal to give every newborn in the United States a “baby bond” account with between $500 to $50,000 in cash, Michael Sherraden, director of the Center for Social Development (CSD), says a solution already exists — Child Development Accounts, a policy concept first proposed in his groundbreaking 1991 book, “Assets and the Poor.

   
Released: 16-Jan-2018 12:05 PM EST
Memory Loss From West Nile Virus May Be Preventable
Washington University in St. Louis

People who survive brain infection with West Nile virus can have neurological problems long after the virus is gone. A new study in mice suggests that such ongoing problems may be due to unresolved inflammation that hinders the brain's ability to repair damaged neurons and grow new ones. Reducing inflammation with an arthritis drug protected mice from West Nile-induced memory loss.

Released: 16-Jan-2018 11:00 AM EST
Pediatric Physician-Scientists Struggle for Funding
Washington University in St. Louis

A new, multicenter study that included Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found that most NIH grants awarded to researchers in pediatrics during the past five years have been limited to physicians in senior positions at a small number of institutions. The findings indicate an overall downward trend in funding for pediatric research, particularly among early-career physician-scientists.

Released: 8-Jan-2018 4:05 PM EST
Combatting ‘Disinformation’ About Child Abuse
Washington University in St. Louis

Children need nurturing, attention to health and basic needs, safety and appropriate supervision. Child abuse and neglect, also called “child maltreatment,” too often endanger the health, well-being and even lives of children.Especially for the very young child, maltreatment can result in a variety of serious issues, including physical injury; cognitive delay; disruption of the stress response system that may result in long-term problems with emotion regulation and health; and even death, said Melissa Jonson-Reid, the Ralph and Muriel Pumphrey Professor of Social Work Research at the Brown School at Washington University in St.

Released: 5-Jan-2018 2:05 PM EST
WashU Expert: Marijuana Enforcement Change Could Backfire
Washington University in St. Louis

United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions this week made it easier for federal marijuana laws to be enforced in states that had legalized its use, a move that may backfire, says a legal expert at Washington University in St. Louis.“Legalization of medical marijuana is favored by most voters even in swing states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, which now permit medical marijuana,” said Peter Joy, the Henry Hitchcock Professor of Law and director of the School of Law’s Criminal Justice Clinic.

Released: 4-Jan-2018 3:10 PM EST
In New Year, Resolve to Learn Your Risks of Cancer, Diabetes, Other Diseases
Washington University in St. Louis

Your Disease Risk measures an individual's risk of 12 common cancers and five major chronic diseases. The tool, developed by researchers at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, incorporates the latest scientific evidence on disease risk.

Released: 3-Jan-2018 5:05 PM EST
Did Ancient Irrigation Technology Travel Silk Road?
Washington University in St. Louis

 Using satellite imaging and drone reconnaissance, archaeologists from Washington University in St. Louis have discovered an ancient irrigation system that allowed a farming community in arid northwestern China to raise livestock and cultivate crops in one of the world’s driest desert climates.Lost for centuries in the barren foothills of China’s Tian Shan Mountains, the ancient farming community remains hidden in plain sight — appearing little more than an odd scattering of round boulders and sandy ruts when viewed from the ground.



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