Registration of biological pest control products exceeds that of agrochemicals in Brazil

Around 90% of the sugarcane area in Brazil now uses natural enemies to combat agricultural pests; data were presented during FAPESP Week Illinois.

FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO

 

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JOSÉ MAURÍCIO SIMÕES BENTO, CO-PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR AT SPARCBIO, DURING HIS LECTURE AT FAPESP WEEK ILLINOIS IN CHICAGO

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CREDIT: ELTON ALISSON/AGÊNCIA FAPESP

The number of biological products registered in Brazil in recent years for crop protection against agricultural pests has surpassed that of agrochemicals. Around 90% of the area under sugarcane cultivation in the country, for example, already uses natural enemies such as microorganisms, macroorganisms, biochemicals (compounds of natural origin that control pests and diseases) and semiochemicals (molecules that induce behavioral responses in target organisms).

The data were presented by José Maurício Simões Bento, a professor at the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture at the University of São Paulo (ESALQ-USP), in a panel discussion on intelligent agriculture during FAPESP Week Illinois, on April 10, in Chicago (United States).

“There are currently around 629 biological products registered in Brazil for pest control, involving microorganisms, macroorganisms, biochemicals and semiochemicals. This number has been steadily increasing year after year,” said Bento, who is one of the main researchers at the São Paulo Advanced Research Center for Biological Control (SPARCBio), an Engineering Research Center (ERC) set up by FAPESP in partnership with the company Koppert.

According to the researcher, approximately 20% of the world's agricultural producers use biological products. Brazil leads the way with 55% of farms using biocontrol, compared to 6% in the United States. For biostimulants, the country's share is 50% versus 16%, and for biofertilizers, it is 36% versus 12% for the two countries, respectively.

“Today, Brazil has around 170 biofactories, treating an area of approximately 25 million hectares, and a market that moves more than US$ 1 billion a year, with a growth projection of 15% to 20% a year,” Bento reported.

In plantations of sugarcane – of which Brazil is the world's largest producer, with 22 million hectares planted and a fourfold increase in production over the past 40 years – biological control has been combined with technologies such as monitoring systems, sensors, artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles to improve its application.

Smart traps, equipped with cameras that capture images of captured insects attracted by pheromones, have been installed throughout the planted areas.

The images are sent to a central processing unit, where they are processed by software that quantifies the insects captured. Using artificial intelligence tools, the images are processed together with climate data and weather forecasts.

“This artificial intelligence processing allows us to estimate the insect population for the next few days and accurately determine the most appropriate date to release natural enemies in different parts of the farm, which is done using drones,” Bento explained.

Impact of climate change

Artificial intelligence tools have also made it possible to model the impacts of climate change, such as drought, high temperatures and increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), on the composition of soybeans produced in Brazil.

By analyzing them, a group of researchers from USP's Institute of Biosciences observed that, up to a point, high levels of CO2 have a protective effect on soybeans, which begin to produce more seeds, for example. At high temperatures, the results are even better. However, when these two variables are mixed with drought, the effect on the plant can be disastrous, altering the composition of the grain's oils.

“This could have disastrous economic impacts for Brazil, which is the world's largest oilseed producer, followed by the United States,” said Marcos Buckeridge, professor at IB-USP and coordinator of the study.

According to the researcher, the soybean varieties produced in Brazil and the United States are completely different genetically. “That's why it's important to collaborate on research to advance our understanding of the possible impacts of climate change on these plants,” he stressed.

Use of robots

In the United States, researchers at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign are conducting a program on the use of artificial intelligence to develop sustainable agricultural solutions.

One of the technologies being developed is small robots, with wheels and other devices, designed to control weeds in cornfields, for example.

“These robots can pass under the plant canopy, detect weeds and remove them mechanically. The way this is done today is very primitive. Conventional herbicides can only be applied before the canopy closes, in the early stages of the growing season,” explained Madhu Khana, a professor at the institution and coordinator of the project.

Another application for robots is planting cover crops, which are intended to temporarily cover the soil after harvest to protect it from erosion and nutrient loss.

“These robots can spread the cover crop seeds. That way, when the corn is harvested, the cover crop is already planted. Using them also helps reduce the need for labor, improve soil health, reduce the need for fertilizers and the amount of weeds,” Khana said.

According to the researcher, cover crop adoption rates have increased over time, but are still less than 10% of hectares in the Midwestern United States.

The researchers have conducted studies using machine learning and remote sensing tools to analyze changes in cover crop adoption over time in three US states: Illinois, Iowa and Indiana.

The results of the studies showed that the likelihood of adopting this practice increases when it is already used by neighboring farms, when soil quality is poor, and when the cost of cover crops is lower, among other factors.

More information about FAPESP Week Illinois can be found at: fapesp.br/week/2024/illinois.

 

Older adults in Ohio are among the most vulnerable to extreme weather

Study finds who are least prepared and have experienced weather disruptions

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Nearly 1 in 5 older adults in central Ohio report not being prepared for emergencies, such as extreme weather events, or not knowing if they are ready.

That is concerning because research shows older adults are at greater risk of harm during disasters such as extreme weather events, said Smitha Rao, lead author of the study and assistant professor of social work at The Ohio State University.

And Ohio is not immune from weather catastrophes.

“Ohio and the Midwest are often considered a safe haven from extreme weather, but that is not true anymore with climate change,” Rao said.

“Climate projections suggest that Ohio will experience intensifying weather patterns with a higher risk of heavy rainfalls, extreme heat and air pollution days. We need to protect our most vulnerable citizens, which include older adults.”

The study was published recently in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Science.

Researchers used data from the 2021 Central Ohio Regional Assessment on Aging (CORAA) Survey.  It involved 1,417 adults over age 65 in eight central Ohio counties, including Franklin County, which contains Columbus, the state capital. They also included information on county-level data from administrative sources.

Overall, 78% of respondents were prepared for emergencies, 13% were not and 9% didn’t know. Those who were prepared indicated they had at least a three-day supply of necessities to sustain life during emergencies, including food, water, clothing, flashlights and medicine.

In counties where greater proportions of older adults faced cumulative disadvantages such as lower income, living in subsidized housing, and having a disability, higher percentages of respondents also reported not being prepared.

There was a wide range of preparedness by county, from only 68% being ready for emergencies in Fayette County to 94% being prepared in Union County, Rao said.

“Fayette County scored high on vulnerability in terms of socioeconomic status and household characteristics,” Rao said.

For example, the median income in Fayette County was under $40,000 – the lowest of the eight counties in the study.  In addition, 37% of county residents in subsidized housing were over 62 years old and 41% of older adults in the county lived with some form of disability.

Especially for the most vulnerable older adults, the effects of extreme weather aren’t just something to worry about in the future – they have already arrived.

That was evident in Fayette County, where, compared to other counties, older residents were more likely to report weather-related disruptions to their lives.

Nearly one-fifth of its older residents reported missing health appointments or not being able to get medicine, reach their work or place of volunteering, or get to family and friends because of severe weather conditions.

The survey didn’t ask about the specific extreme weather events that caused these issues, but it could have been events like flooding that blocked off local roads, or power outages, Rao said.

“We tend to think of the worst outcomes that can occur from extreme weather, but there are much more common disruptions that are affecting older residents on a more regular basis,” she said.

“Many of the most vulnerable residents in places like Fayette County don’t have the social and economic resources or service landscapes to fall back on when those disruptions occur,” said study co-investigator Holly Dabelko-Schoeny, professor of social work and the director of the Age-Friendly Innovation Center at Ohio State.

The results provide key information for policymakers, service professionals and other officials who need to know which older adults will need help in case of extreme weather events,” Rao said.

“We do this work to identify communities who are not prepared so that important resources can be directed towards them,” she said.

Some of the interventions are easy to identify. Rao noted that Fayette, unlike other counties, did not have an existing tax levy for senior services.

“Levies help get resources to older adults that need them, so that could help more older adults be prepared for emergencies,” she said.

Another issue is that many older adults, especially in places like Ohio that are far from rising oceans and tropical heat waves, don’t understand the risks they face from a changing climate.

“We’ve found in other studies that emergency preparedness is not a top priority, especially for vulnerable adults who already have plenty to worry about in their everyday lives,” Rao said.

That’s one reason why the researchers plan to share their results with community partners and county leaders so they can take the appropriate actions to identify and help older adults who most need it, she said.

In addition, the researchers have started a project to talk directly to older adults with the goal of learning from their experiences to develop tools that can help them become better prepared for emergencies.

This project reflects commitment by the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging and the Franklin County Office on Aging, collaborative partners on the CORAA survey to understand how best to support their clients with the changing weather patterns in Ohio, an area of commitment of the Age-Friendly Innovation Center with the college.

Other co-authors on the study, all from Ohio State, are Fiona Doherty, Anthony Traver, Marisa Sheldon and Emma Sakulich.

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JOURNAL

International Journal of Disaster Risk Science

DOI

10.1007/s13753-024-00548-8 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Extreme Weather Disruptions and Emergency Preparedness Among Older Adults in Ohio: An Eight-County Assessment

 

The Italian central Apennines as a source of CO2

In these mountains, CO2 emissions from deep rock are more important than the CO2 balance of weathering on the surface – at least where the crust is thin and the heat flow is high

GFZ GEOFORSCHUNGSZENTRUM POTSDAM, HELMHOLTZ CENTRE

 

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THE APENNINES IN CENTRAL ITALY: THE CO2 BALANCE FOR A RELATIVELY YOUNG MOUNTAIN RANGE WAS MEASURED HERE. THE PHOTO SHOWS A NATURE RESERVE LOCATED IN THE LAZIO REGION. GROUNDWATER FLOWS THROUGH THE MESOZOIC LIMESTONE MASSIFS AND EMERGES AT SPRINGS LIKE THIS ONE. THESE SPRINGS FEED INTO ADJACENT RIVERS THAT WIND THEIR WAY THROUGH THE COMPLEX, TECTONICALLY ACTIVE LANDSCAPE.

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CREDIT: PHOTO: ERICA ERLANGER, GFZ

Summary

Tectonically active mountains play an important role in the natural CO2 regulation of the atmosphere. Competing processes take place here: At Earth’s surface, erosion drives weathering processes that absorb or release CO2, depending on the type of rock. At depth, the heating and melting of carbonate rock leads to the outgassing of CO2 at the surface. In the central Italian Apennine Mountains, researchers led by Erica Erlanger and Niels Hovius from the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences and Aaron Bufe from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München have now investigated and balanced all of these processes in one region for the first time – using, among others, analyses of the CO2 content in mountain rivers and springs. They found that weathering in this region leads to an overall CO2 uptake. However, these near-surface processes only determine the CO2 balance in areas with a thick and cold crust. On the western side of the Central Apennines, the crust is thinner and the heat flow is higher. There, CO2 outgassing from depths is up to 50 times greater than CO2 uptake through weathering. All in all, the analysed landscape is a CO2 emitter. The structure and dynamics of Earth's crust, therefore, controls the release of CO2 here more strongly than chemical weathering. The study was published today in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience.

Background: The role of mountains in Earth's CO2 budget

In addition to man-made CO2 emissions, many natural processes – both biological and geological – also play a role in balancing the global CO2 budget. Mountain landscapes strongly modulate the carbon cycle, and it is important to adequately consider the competition of CO2 emission and CO2 uptake occurring here in climate models.

On the one hand, rocks on the Earth's surface are weathered by chemical dissolution processes: erosion continuously exposes rock, which – depending on the type of rock – weathers at different rates and either absorbs or releases CO2. Silicate minerals, for example, bind CO2 and form limestone. In turn, the weathering of carbonate and sulphide-containing minerals releases CO2.

A research team led by Aaron Bufe and Niels Hovius has investigated the competition of CO2 release and drawdown from weathering in a further study published in the journal Science at the beginning of March. They analysed the influence of the erosion rate on the CO2 balance using various mountain regions around the world as an example.

However, mountain building does not only influence erosion and weathering rates on Earth's surface. Where tectonic plates slide over each other, heating of carbonate rocks in the crust and mantle can lead to chemical reactions associated with CO2 emissions.

“Previous studies have often focussed on a single process and have treated weathering on the surface and processes at depth separately. We wanted to change that,” says Niels Hovius.

Investigations in the Apennines: CO2 outgassing or storage – which process dominates?

The competition between near-surface and deep-seated processes is now the focus of a new study by Erica Erlanger, post-doctoral scientist at the GFZ and the Université de Lorraine (France), Aaron Bufe, Professor of Sedimentology at the LMU Munich and former post-doctoral scientist at the GFZ, and Niels Hovius, Head of the Geomorphology Section at the GFZ and Professor at the University of Potsdam, together with colleagues from France, Italy, the USA and Switzerland.

The central Apennines in Italy prove to be a particularly suitable region for this study, as Erica Erlanger, first author of the study, explains: “This area is part of an active mountain range with closely spaced zones of thick, cold crust and thin, warm crust, allowing us to investigate the influence of subsurface activity. The climatic conditions as well as the topography and the rock types on the surface are similar throughout the area, so there should not be any large differences in weathering activity.”

Sampling and analysis of CO2 content

In the western central Apennines, the crustal thickness is around 20 kilometres and the heat flux is up to over 100 milliwatts per square metre, while the crust in the east is more than 40 kilometres thick, with a heat flux of around 30 milliwatts per square metre.

The researchers took a total of 104 water samples in the western Tevere and eastern Aterno-Pescara River systems, 49 of them in summer 2020 and 55 in winter 2021, covering the warmest and driest seasons and the wettest and coldest seasons to estimate the minimum (summer) and maximum (winter) CO2 fluxes.

Water samples are suitable because rivers and springs transport carbon, which originates both from depths and from weathering reactions near the surface. The chemical analysis of the samples included determining the relative abundance of various carbon isotopes. These can provide information as to whether the carbon originates from a plant or from the atmosphere or was released from a subducted rock.

“On this basis, we were able to calculate the quantities of CO2 released by weathering or from carbonates at depths, and the quantities of CO2 bound by weathered silicates,” explains Erlanger.

In order to estimate an overall balance for the CO2 budget of the Apennines, the researchers also took into account estimates for inorganic CO2 emissions from gas vents known from the western side of the Apennines, as well as from organic CO2 exchange.

Result: Central Apennines as a net CO2 source, but with a split CO2 balance

The research team found that the weathering processes in the entire study area predominantly capture CO2 and do not release it. Remarkably, however, where the crust is thin and the heat flow is high, CO2 release from depths outpaces weathering-related CO2 fluxes by a factor of 10 to 50. Overall, the region is, therefore, a CO2 source.

“Importantly, fluctuations in CO2 release from deep rock are much greater than fluctuations in chemical weathering fluxes. This means that the regional geodynamics in the central Apennines influences the carbon cycle most strongly by modulating the release of CO2 from depth, and not by impacting weathering reactions,” summarises Erica Erlanger. “Based on the geological evolution of the area, we estimate that CO2 outgassing from the crust and mantle has probably occurred over the last 2 million years.”

Further impacts: Better climate models and understanding of the delicate CO2 balance over geological timescales

“Our investigations will contribute to a better understanding of the actual CO2 balance for the atmosphere and, thus, to better long-term climate models,” says Aaron Bufe. “They also help to clarify how our planet has maintained the narrow range of conditions that are conducive to life by balancing CO2 outgassing and CO2 storage processes over geological times.”

Niels Hovius looks ahead: “If we want to investigate the role of mountains for Earth's carbon cycle in a more general sense, even seemingly simple geological questions will require a more holistic approach. Of particular interest are geologically young mountain belts at plate boundaries, where carbonate rocks are likely to predominate both near the surface and at depth. Today’s Mediterranean region and other comparatively young mountain ranges, such as the Indonesian archipelago, exhibit geological conditions and rock types similar to the central Apennines. So, the next big question we face is whether outgassing in active tectonic areas could be a global phenomenon in space and time.”

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JOURNAL

Nature Geoscience

DOI

10.1038/s41561-024-01396-3 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Deep CO2 release and the carbon budget of the central Apennines modulated by geodynamics

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

19-Apr-2024

 

Roundtable showcases Warwick’s sustainable heat network system

The University of Warwick has showcased its leading role in research into decarbonization at a roundtable event

UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

 

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BARONESS SHEEHAN

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

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CREDIT: CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

The University of Warwick has showcased its leading role in research into decarbonisation at a roundtable event.

The event, attended by key figures from government, industry, and academia, including Baroness Sheehan, Chair of the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Select Committee, focused on heat networks.

Heat networks have a vital role to play in the race to decarbonise UK heating and cooling, a sector that currently accounts for over a third of UK emissions. They supply heat from a central source to consumers, via a network of underground pipes carrying hot water. This approach, as opposed to one where individual buildings generate their own heat (e.g. from a gas boiler), is seen as a leading solution to decarbonising the UK’s heating and cooling sector.

The University of Warwick is itself heated by a 23km heat network that sees hot water delivered to campus buildings from three energy centres and is embarking on an ambitious programme to decarbonise its own heat network infrastructure as part of its ‘Way to Sustainable’ agenda. Heat networks are already commonplace in many European countries, including Denmark where 64% of all private households are connected to a heat network.

The roundtable, held at The Shard in London, was an opportunity to showcase the University’s commitments to decarbonisation among representatives from key government departments, including HM Treasury and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Organised by the University’s School of Engineering, in collaboration with Warwick Business School, the event formed part of the EPSRC-funded LoT-NET research programme that investigates how heat sources and thermal storage can feed into low temperature heat networks. The £5.4 million programme is steered by an Advisory Board that includes representatives from large businesses including Sainsbury's and SSE Energy Solutions, many of whom attended the roundtable event.

Baroness Sheehan said: “Congratulations on a very informative event and on getting some of the key players around the table. We need to improve policy clarity on heat networks to get the public on side and give clear signals of direction of travel so that business can grab hold of the opportunities presented with confidence and run with it.”



Dr Stan Shire, School of Engineering, University of Warwick and co-lead of the LoT-NET programme said: “After such a successful event, it’s clear to see that heat networks will act as an enabler for other technologies in the effort towards the decarbonisation of heat. We have heard about the policy, economic and social frameworks required to accelerate technology deployment. The UK heating and cooling sector is by far the most challenging to decarbonise and so bringing people together in this way is crucial in starting a dialogue amongst all stakeholders to tackle this multidisciplinary challenge.”



Note to editors:

The LoT-NET programme has seen academics in the School of Engineering and Warwick Business School work with the University’s Estates team to analyse and improve the University’s extensive heat network, undertaking building characterisation and low temperature heat network simulations to assess the impact from introducing heat pumps to the network. The programme is a six-year collaborative programme grant led by the University of Warwick. Other major partners include London South Bank University, Loughborough University and Ulster University.

The event was organised by the Sustainable Thermal Energy Technologies research group in the School of Engineering. In 2019 the group launched new facilities after receiving funding from government via the Energy Research Accelerator, a £60m investment by Innovate UK into energy research facilities in the Midlands.
 

 

The biggest barrier to a vibrant second-hand EV market? Price

New policies and broader subsides are needed to help lower-income buyers afford used electric vehicles, according to a Rutgers study

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

As early adopters of electric vehicles (EVs) trade up for the latest models, the used EV market is beginning to mature in the United States. Yet many potential buyers, particularly low-income drivers, are skeptical of EV’s conveniences and are put off by the price, according to a study conducted at Rutgers University–New Brunswick.

“While the transition to electric vehicles is an important piece of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, the market for used electric vehicles in the U.S. remains dominated by wealthy households,” said Wei San Loh, a former graduate student of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers–New Brunswick whose study is published in the journal Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment  “Our findings offer clues as to why that might be.”

To understand what motivates buyers of different income strata to purchase second-hand electric battery vehicles, Loh and Robert B. Noland, director of the Rutgers Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center, designed and conducted a nationwide survey of EV owners. Participants were recruited via electric vehicle discussion groups on Reddit and Facebook.

In addition to demographic and socio-economic data, participants were asked questions related to pre-purchase concerns, specifically on battery performance, charging availability, price, driving range, availability of used EVs on the market and the cost of installing a home charger.

In total, 1,167 owners of used electric vehicles in more than a dozen states were surveyed between September and October 2022.

By isolating for household income, the researchers found price, charging availability and battery performance are the top concerns for buyers when considering the purchase of a used electric vehicle. The concerns weren’t shared universally, however.

Those with annual incomes below $50,000 were more likely to be concerned about availability of charging stations than those making more than $150,000, while those at the lowest end of the income spectrum were 32 percent less likely to worry about battery performance than those at the highest. Loh said lower-income drivers typically have shorter commutes, which could explain the disparity.

Additionally, owners of used EVs with annual household earnings below the national median of $75,000 were more concerned with price than those whose household incomes top $150,000 per year.

“Taken together, these findings suggest that EV demand may still not be widespread for lower-income households in the U.S.,” Noland said. “Encouraging nationwide EV adoption will require broader uptake of new and used EVs from all income levels.”

Loh, who now works at the University of Michigan as a senior statistician, said policy changes could help promote greater used EV uptake across income groups. Increasing the availability of charging stations and expanding subsidies for used vehicle purchases are two oft-discussed ideas, she said.

“Buyers will always compare EVs to combustion engines,” Loh said. “That’s why we need to think creatively about making it more attractive for people from different income brackets to consider the used EV option.”

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JOURNAL

Transportation Research Part D Transport and Environment

DOI

10.1016/j.trd.2024.104086 

SPAGYRIC HERBALISM

New compound from blessed thistle promotes functional nerve regeneration

UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE

 

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DRIED BLESSED THISTLE (CNICUS BENEDICTUS)

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CREDIT: DIETMAR FISCHER

Blessed thistle (Cnicus benedictus) is a plant in the family Asteraceae and also grows in our climate. For centuries, it has been used as a medicinal herb as an extract or tea, e.g. to aid the digestive system. Researchers at the Center for Pharmacology of University Hospital Cologne and at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Cologne have now found a completely novel use for Cnicin under the direction of Dr Philipp Gobrecht and Professor Dr Dietmar Fischer. Animal models as well as human cells have shown that Cnicin significantly accelerates axon (nerve fibres) growth. The study ‘Cnicin promotes functional nerve regeneration’ was published in Phytomedicine.

Rapid help for nerves

Regeneration pathways of injured nerves in humans and animals with long axons are accordingly long. This often makes the healing process lengthy and even frequently irreversible because the axons cannot reach their destination on time. An accelerated regeneration growth rate can, therefore, make a big difference here, ensuring that the fibres reach their original destination on time before irreparable functional deficits can occur. The researchers demonstrated axon regeneration in animal models and human cells taken from retinae donated by patients. Administering a daily dose of Cnicin to mice or rats helped improve paralysis and neuropathy much more quickly.

Compared to other compounds, Cnicin has one crucial advantage: it can be introduced into the bloodstream orally (by mouth). It does not have to be given by injection. “The correct dose is very important here, as Cnicin only works within a specific therapeutic window. Doses that are too low or too high are ineffective. This is why further clinical studies on humans are crucial,” said Fischer. The University of Cologne researchers are currently planning relevant studies. The Center for Pharmacology is researching and developing drugs to repair the damaged nervous system.

The current study received funding of around 1,200,000 euros from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research within the framework of the project PARREGERON.

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JOURNAL

Phytomedicine

DOI

10.1016/j.phymed.2024.155641 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Cnicin promotes functional nerve regeneration

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

14-Apr-2024

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for SPAGYRIC 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for HOMEOPATHY 

 

Auburn’s McCrary Institute, ORNL to partner on first regional cybersecurity center to protect the nation’s electricity grid

U.S. Department of Energy awards $10 million grant to develop innovative solutions to mitigating cyber threats across the U.S.

DOE/OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY

 

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THE CENTER, OFFICIALLY NAMED THE SOUTHEAST REGION CYBERSECURITY COLLABORATION CENTER (SERC3), WILL BRING TOGETHER EXPERTS FROM THE PRIVATE SECTOR, ACADEMIA AND GOVERNMENT TO SHARE INFORMATION AND GENERATE INNOVATIVE REAL-WORLD SOLUTIONS TO PROTECT THE NATION’S POWER GRID AND OTHER KEY SECTORS. 
 

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CREDIT: CREDIT: AUBURN UNIVERSITY

Auburn University’s McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security was awarded a $10 million Department of Energy grant in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to create a pilot regional cybersecurity research and operations center to protect the electric power grid against cyberattacks. 

The total value of the project is $12.5 million, with the additional $2.5 million coming from Auburn University and other strategic partners.

The center, officially named the Southeast Region Cybersecurity Collaboration Center, or SERC3, will bring together experts from the private sector, academia and government to share information and generate innovative real-world solutions to protect the nation’s power grid and other key sectors. It will include a mock utility command center to train participants in real-time cyber defense. 

“Auburn University is proud to be at the forefront of this important field as we work against one of the greatest threats the country and the business sector will face in the future,” said Steve Taylor, Auburn University’s senior vice president for research and economic development. “The center will conduct critical research and provide real operational solutions to protect all of us as we address these challenges. We are thankful to Oak Ridge National Laboratory for partnering with us and Rep. Mike Rogers for his support in securing funding for this critical program.” 

The center will run experiments with industry partners in a research lab environment to support integration of new and existing security software and hardware into operational environments. Research labs will be established at Auburn University, housed at the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, and at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

“We are excited to work with Auburn on this important national mission,” said Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Stephen Streiffer. “We’re combining our capabilities to partner with industry, develop new security technologies and transfer those technologies to industry, all while developing the workforce that will operate these enhanced systems.”

Workforce and skills development will be a core role of Auburn’s in this partnership.

“This project provides an exciting opportunity for our college and our students,” said Mario Eden, dean of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. “Our students will get hands-on experience in a real-world environment. We have a proven track record of innovation and this project perfectly aligns with our mission to provide the best student-centered engineering experience in America and expand our engineering knowledge through research.”

With an emphasis on critical infrastructure, the research will help utilities across the nation become more resilient to the increasing threat of cyberattacks. 

“We know that adversaries want the ability to disrupt our energy infrastructure, which could be devastating for our communities,” said Moe Khaleel, associate laboratory director for National Security Sciences at ORNL. “SERC3 will focus on establishing regional partnerships and developing science-based solutions to mitigate these threats – and keep everyone’s lights on.”

Puesh M. Kumar, director of the Department of Energy’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response (CESER), praised the collaboration between organizations.

“I applaud Auburn University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s collaborative effort to advance grid cybersecurity,” Kumar said. “Everyone must come together – industry, the national laboratories, academia, as well as State and Federal governments – if we are to succeed against the growing cyber threats facing the U.S. energy sector from malicious actors and nation-states like the People’s Republic of China. This partnership is a critical example of that.”

Frank Cilluffo, director of the McCrary Institute, said the project is at the core of what the institute does. 

“A secure and resilient grid is a national and regional imperative,” Cilluffo said. “Spearheaded by James Goosby at McCrary and Tricia Schulz at Oak Ridge, we will create new research to rapidly identify, share and mitigate cybersecurity risks while we train the future workforce we need to keep us safe.” 

Auburn University is a nationally ranked land grant institution recognized for its commitment to world-class scholarship, interdisciplinary research with an elite, top-tier Carnegie R1 classification, life-changing outreach with Carnegie’s Community Engagement designation and an undergraduate education experience second to none. Auburn is home to more than 30,000 students, and its faculty and research partners collaborate to develop and deliver meaningful scholarship, science and technology-based advancements that meet pressing regional, national and global needs. Auburn’s commitment to active student engagement, professional success and public/private partnership drives a growing reputation for outreach and extension that delivers broad economic, health and societal impact.

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.  

This story originally appeared on the Auburn University website.

 

New UNC-Chapel Hill study examines the increased adoption of they/them pronouns

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL

People are using “they/them” pronouns more often according to a new study by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Led by UNC-Chapel Hill researcher Jennifer E. Arnold, Ph.D., the new research paper published on April 14 in Glossa Psycholinguistics provides the first evidence of how people use “they/them” when talking about a specific person in a spoken storytelling context. 

“Within the last decade, people have started to use ‘they’ as a personal pronoun, often because they identify as nonbinary or gender nonconforming,” said Arnold, a professor of psychology and neuroscience in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences. “This usage is called non-binary ‘they.’ This change is new, and it is not fully understood how our mental language system is changing as a result.”

This project addresses an ongoing change in the English language regarding pronouns. People have used “they” as a singular pronoun for centuries, but it was always in a context where the reference wasn’t specific and known. 

Results from this study show that college-aged speakers are good at using nonbinary “they” -   they used it in the same conditions as they used binary “she” and “he” pronouns, and no less frequently. This finding establishes that cognitively, the same process applies to the selection of pronouns and names for both binary and nonbinary pronouns, showing that the new usage is being adopted into the existing pronoun system. 

No other study has provided data on how people naturally use this form in a spoken storytelling context. The findings will help people understand how the language is changing and understand the natural process of developing competency with this new form.

“Current teaching materials may not acknowledge this form, but given that young people are already using it, it must be taken into account in educational settings,” Arnold adds. 

Read the published article in Glossa Psycholinguistics here. To learn more about current research efforts on how the human cognitive system handles the information processing requirements of communication, visit the Arnold Lab website here. 

 

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JOURNAL

Glossa Psycholinguistics

DOI

10.5070/G60111306 

ARTICLE TITLE

Gender Competition in the Production of Nonbinary ‘They’

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

14-Apr-2024