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Dr Claudine Bruck | Professor Edward Morrisey | Professor Jason Burdick – A Hydrogel with the Ability to Recover Heart Function
The human heart is a muscle, and like all types of muscles, it can be injured. In humans, heart muscle is not able to regenerate after injury, and this can lead to heart disease which develops over time, eventually leading to an untimely death. A team of researchers, Doctor Claudine Bruck (Prolifagen), Professor Edward Morrisey (Department of Medicine and Cell and Developmental Biology) and Professor Jason Burdick (Department of Bioengineering) at the University of Pennsylvania, have collaborated to develop a novel therapy to regenerate damaged heart muscle.
Dr Charles Vite – Naturally Occurring Diseases in Dogs and Cats Help to Develop Treatments for Inherited Neurological Disorders
Many inherited neurological diseases are rare but can have severe outcomes, frequently resulting in disability and even death for children. New treatment options are essential to prevent suffering and decrease mortality, but to find such treatments, these diseases need to be more closely studied. Dr Charles Vite and his team at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, are committed to achieving these goals. By utilising animal models and unique markers for inherited neurological disease, they have already delivered promising results supporting the development of new treatment options.
Dr Radu Custelcean – Reducing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Through Direct Air Capture
Climate change is mostly the result of elevated carbon dioxide emissions. Over the past two decades, research groups have been searching for new technologies that capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as an effective way of reversing climate change. Dr Radu Custelcean and his colleagues at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the US specialise in this endeavour. The team is developing novel materials and methods that filter carbon dioxide out of the air in an energy-efficient manner.
Enhancing Teacher Learning of Ambitious Instruction Through Collaborative Design
Efforts to reform science education in the US emphasise the importance of engaging in the development of explanations of natural phenomena in students’ learning. Discussing and evaluating ideas is a vital component of this process. Thus, teaching practices that enhance student sensemaking through talk are central to improved science education; this is a marked shift from traditional teaching, where the teacher lectures about science explanations and then students do a lab to confirm what they have been told. Researchers from Florida State University and Georgia State University are investigating how teachers can be supported to develop the skills they need to adopt these instructional practices, in their research and professional development project: Learning through Collaborative Design.
Dr Guoqing Zhang – Streamlining the Modern Supply Chain
The digital age has seen a profound shift in how we consume products. Not only have many of us shifted to doing most of our shopping online; new technologies are also transforming how products are produced. These shifts have brought about similarly monumental changes to the supply chains that bring products to the doorstep, presenting significant new challenges to the complex networks of groups involved. In his research, Dr Guoqing Zhang at the University of Windsor in Canada uses the latest computational techniques and optimisation algorithms to present smart solutions to these issues.
Dr Mina Sadeq – Physiological Impact of Nitrate Intake from Non-disinfected Drinking Well Water
Prolonged exposure to nitrate from contaminated water affects the transport of oxygen in blood. Nitrate can react with haemoglobin, oxidising it into methaemoglobin, which is unable to carry oxygen. High methaemoglobin levels among infants result in a medical condition known as methaemoglobinemia or blue baby syndrome. Dr Mina Sadeq and her team from the National Institute of Hygiene in Morocco, conducted two studies to investigate the combined effects of nitrate and bacteria on the development of methaemoglobinaemia in infants and young children.
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Scientia Issue #133
TRANSFORMING GLOBAL HEALTH THROUGH SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY As 2020 draws to a close and we look towards 2021, the importance of innovation and progress in science, medicine and healthcare has never felt more urgent or critical. Without doubt,...
Scientia Issue #132
BREAKING BOUNDARIES IN PHYSICS & TECHNOLOGY In this exciting edition of Scientia, we showcase some of the latest discoveries and innovations across the interconnected fields of engineering, technology and the physical sciences. To begin,...
Scientia Issue #131
BUILDING BRIGHTER FUTURES THROUGH INNOVATION IN PSYCHOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE This important and timely issue of Scientia showcases the scientists striving to build brighter futures for humankind through their pioneering endeavours across...
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Editor’s Pick
Dr Hannah Gosnell – Regenerative Agriculture: Putting the Heart and Soul Back in Farming
Modern industrial agriculture has helped farmers meet rising food demands, but these practices are contributing to a range of environmental problems. Regenerative agriculture holds promising solutions that could help to restore and maintain healthy ecosystems and contribute to climate change mitigation, while keeping pace with food demands and enhancing farmers’ resilience to environmental stressors. Through her research, Dr Hannah Gosnell aims to understand what motivates cattle and sheep farmers – also known as ranchers – to adopt and sustain the use of regenerative practices and what challenges must be navigated. Her work is informing efforts that encourage farmers to transition to these methods.
The Thinnest of Materials May Hold a Cure for Osteoarthritis
Since the turn of the century, a myriad of exciting applications for graphene have emerged. Amongst the most exciting might be its use as a scaffold for promoting tissue growth in the treatment of various medical conditions, including osteoarthritis. Researchers at Boise State University in the USA and Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg in Germany are gaining a greater understanding of the interactions between graphene and cells, towards the development of implantable graphene-based devices that can rebuild damaged tissue.
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SciComm Corner
SciComm Corner – Turning the tide against science conspiracy theories
In today’s landscape of widespread social media use, the average internet user will be no stranger to science conspiracy theories. From misleading reports of imminent asteroid impacts, to falsified statistics that appear to undermine the severity of climate change, the public is now being exposed to misleading statistics and unproven claims at unprecedented levels. While many of us have learnt to recognise the dangers of this content, it has also persuaded many others to outright reject scientific facts. As social media has come to influence so many aspects of our everyday lives over the past decade, this critical problem now seems to be growing rapidly.
#Researchers at Prolifagen & @Penn are collaborating to develop an exciting, novel therapy to regenerate damaged #heart muscle. Read how this treatment for heart failure may improve the outcomes for millions of patients that have suffered #heartattack: https://www.scientia.global/dr-claudine-bruck-professor-edward-morrisey-professor-jason-burdick-a-hydrogel-with-the-ability-to-recover-heart-function/
#Researchers @Penn are developing important new #treatment options for inherited #neurological #diseases, which although rare can have severe outcomes. Read how by using animal models and unique markers, they are delivering very promising results: https://www.scientia.global/dr-charles-vite-naturally-occurring-diseases-in-dogs-and-cats-help-to-develop-treatments-for-inherited-neurological-disorders/
Dr Colleen Carney and her students at the #sleep and Depression Laboratory @RyersonU are passionate about finding much needed, more effective solutions for #INSOMNIA and #depression. #scicomm
Watch to learn more: https://youtu.be/AUp_DQmqIiY
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