Checkup time for Fido? Wait might be longer in the country

Study highlights differences in access to care in rural areas

Ohio State University

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Most people can get their pets in for veterinary visits relatively quickly, but access to care could use improvement in rural areas, suggests a recent study.

“Access to veterinary care appears to be generally pretty good and the wait times aren’t too long, particularly if you compare it to how long people often have to wait to establish primary care, but there’s clearly room for improvement in less populated areas,” said Simon Haeder, the study’s lead author and an associate professor in Ohio State’s College of Public Health. The research appears in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Using a “secret shopper” survey approach, members of the research team posed as dog owners, calling more than 5,000 randomly selected veterinary practices in six states (California, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington) in early 2025.

The team was able to secure an appointment 67% of the time. When they didn’t, it was typically because they couldn’t connect with staff or were on hold for excessively long periods – more than five minutes was the cutoff in the study. In almost 4% of cases, veterinarians didn’t have the capacity to accept new patients.

The “dog owners” who were able to make an appointment were told they’d have to wait an average of 6.4 days. Average travel distance for an appointment was 6.4 miles.  

But when it came to rural areas, the barriers to care grew more substantial. The research team was able to make an appointment less than 62% of the time when calling rural practices. The average wait time jumped to 8.6 days, and the average travel distance increased to 13 miles.

Current efforts to increase the number of veterinary students nationwide, and at Ohio State, could help remedy this disparity, Haeder said.

Through a new Ohio initiative called Protect One Health in Ohio, Ohio State’s College of Veterinary Medicine aims to strengthen Ohio’s veterinary workforce, protect public health and advance the agricultural economy.

In another recent paper in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, that college’s leadership detailed plans to educate more Ohio veterinarians with a specific aim of increasing veterinary care in rural areas.

After costs associated with care, access has been consistently identified as the most pressing concern among pet owners, Haeder said.

“When pets don’t receive prompt preventive care, diagnoses and treatment, both the pets and their owners suffer, and we know that living with a beloved pet can be good for health, both mental and physical,” he said.

“And gaps in access can pose broader public health threats, especially if animals aren’t protected against vaccine-preventable illnesses like rabies.”

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Journal

Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association

Method of Research

Observational study

Article Title

Secret shopper survey reveals generally reasonable access to preventive veterinary appointments for dogs, with notable gaps in rural areas and for other outliers

New molten salt method gives old lithium batteries a second life

Biochar Editorial Office, Shenyang Agricultural University

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Molten salt regeneration of single-crystal LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 from end-of-life cathodes

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Credit: Fangshu He, Yuelin Lv, Jingyuan Wu, Qi Zhang, Shuaipeng Hao, Lixia Yuan, Haiping Yang & Yang Yang

As electric vehicles become more common, the number of used lithium-ion batteries is soaring. These batteries contain valuable metals such as nickel, cobalt, and lithium, but current recycling methods often destroy the complex crystal structure that makes them work efficiently. Now, researchers from Huazhong University of Science and Technology have developed a new molten salt technique that restores the structure and performance of used high-nickel cathode materials, offering a greener and more efficient route to battery recycling.

The study, published in Energy & Environment Nexus, introduces a direct regeneration strategy that uses a special molten salt mixture to repair the degraded cathodes found in end-of-life batteries. Instead of breaking the materials down into metal components as conventional methods do, this approach restores the material itself so it can be reused in new batteries.

“Traditional recycling can recover metals, but it cannot bring back the original atomic structure of the material,” said corresponding author Yang Yang. “Our method allows the degraded cathode to be reborn, regaining its crystal order and high capacity.”

The team focused on LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2, or NCM811, a high-performance material widely used in electric vehicles for its high energy density. Over time, NCM811 loses lithium and develops structural defects that reduce its ability to hold charge. To repair these defects, the researchers designed a ternary molten salt composed of lithium hydroxide, lithium nitrate, and lithium salicylate. When heated, the molten salt becomes a liquid that allows lithium ions to move freely and penetrate the damaged material, while also helping the atoms reorganize into their original structure.

Microscopic and spectroscopic analyses showed that the regenerated material had regained a uniform single-crystal structure, with the unwanted surface “rock salt” layer completely removed. The regenerated cathode achieved an initial discharge capacity of 196 milliamp hours per gram and maintained 76 percent of that capacity after 200 charge–discharge cycles, outperforming most existing recycling methods.

“This process effectively heals the internal and surface damage of the cathode material,” said first author Fangshu He. “It not only replaces the lost lithium but also restores the ordered layered structure that is key to long battery life.”

Because the molten salt system works at relatively low temperatures and avoids the use of strong acids or toxic solvents, it is both energy efficient and environmentally friendly. The researchers believe their method could serve as a foundation for closed-loop recycling, where used batteries are directly converted back into high-quality materials for new ones.

Although the current experiments were carried out at the laboratory scale, the team plans to optimize the process for industrial applications and conduct a full life cycle assessment to evaluate its environmental impact. The approach could help reduce both the environmental burden and the cost of recycling, bringing the world closer to sustainable battery production and energy storage.

 

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Journal reference: He F, Lv Y, Wu J, Zhang Q, Hao S, et al. 2025. Molten salt regeneration of single-crystal LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 from end-of-life cathodes. Energy & Environment Nexus 1: e007  https://www.maxapress.com/article/doi/10.48130/een-0025-0004   

 

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About Energy & Environment Nexus:
Energy & Environment Nexus is an open-access journal publishing high-quality research on the interplay between energy systems and environmental sustainability, including renewable energy, carbon mitigation, and green technologies.

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DOI

10.48130/een-0025-0004 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Molten salt regeneration of single-crystal LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 from end-of-life cathodes

 

Leg, foot amputations increased 65% in Illinois hospitals between 2016-2023

Growing prevalence of diabetes and peripheral artery disease among patients

Northwestern University

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• 
  

• Men, Black Americans, those living in areas with low socioeconomic status more affected
•  
• The Illinois data from a diverse population (ethnic/racial, rural/metropolitan) likely reflects national amputation trends 

• ‘Unless we make changes in how we care for marginalized communities, I don’t anticipate this getting better’

CHICAGO --- Rates of leg and foot amputations in Illinois hospitals increased 65% between 2016 and 2023, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. 

Men, Black patients, and those living in areas with low socioeconomic status were disproportionally affected, the study found. The dramatic spike is largely attributed to a growing prevalence of diabetes and peripheral artery disease (PAD), two chronic conditions that often lead to lower extremity amputation, the study authors said. 

“Unfortunately, by the time a patient with diabetes and/or PAD presents with a foot wound or ascending leg infection, their disease might be just too advanced and amputation may be the only treatment option,” said first author Dr. Maggie Reilly, a vascular surgery resident at McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University. “The patient population with both diabetes and PAD had the biggest increase in amputation rates.”

Rates of smoking have gone down in recent decades, and improvements in medical therapies, such as greater utilization of statin therapy, should theoretically improve limb salvage, she said. Those positive changes, however, are outpaced by the quickly increasing rates of diabetes and PAD, Reilly said. 

“Despite our medical advances, we’re not reaching all the communities that need it,” Reilly said. “It’s creating this bigger divide between people who are getting the necessary preventive care and those who aren’t. Unless we make changes in how we care for marginalized communities, I don’t anticipate this getting better.” 

The study was published today (Oct. 30) in the journal Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice.

Amputation burden: Shame, blame, months of healing

“The things that make a leg amputation necessary (diabetes and PAD) can also make it harder to heal,” Reilly said. “The effects of those diseases don’t stop with the amputation, which is really unfortunate.”

Patients undergo at least three months of post-operative care that includes medical appointments to ensure proper healing, followed by months of physical and occupational therapy to learn how to walk on a prosthetic leg. Some patients need to wait six months before getting their prosthesis, Reilly said.

“Going six months without walking can really make patients debilitated,” Reilly said. “It takes a big medical team to make sure patients get back to a level of independent functioning.”

The mental burden of losing a limb also weighs on patients. 

“People feel shame or they’re looking for someone to blame. They can feel really disenchanted with the medical system and failed by their providers, but sometimes given the progressive nature of the disease, we’ve done everything we can do,” Reilly said. “Patients generally have a poor understanding of diabetes and PAD, which makes it hard for them to come to terms with this life-changing procedure.”

Illinois data likely reflects national rates of amputations

Approximately 150,000 non-traumatic leg amputations occur annually in the U.S. Although this study focused only on Illinois patients, the study authors said dramatic increases in leg and foot amputations are likely happening nationally. 

“Using Illinois as a proxy for understanding amputation rates in the U.S. is helpful because Illinois has both metropolitan and rural areas, so it’s a good snapshot of different communities,” Reilly said. “We have a lot of racial and ethnic diversity, especially within Chicago, so we thought our data could be generalized nationwide.”

What can be done? 

Some data suggest that 50% of patients who undergo an above-knee amputation will die in the next 12 months because of the nature of systemic disease, Reilly said — which is why prevention and appropriate management of cardiovascular disease is of dire importance. 

“We know from previous studies that PAD is underrecognized, underdiagnosed, and undertreated, especially for patients from marginalized populations,” Reilly said. “Health systems and community partners should emphasize aggressive prevention including screening, early diagnosis and intensive risk factor management.”

Breaking down the study findings

Between 2016 and 2023, there were 30,834 amputation admissions from 193 Illinois hospitals, with a 65% increase in annual amputation rate. Rates of diabetes and hospital stays that extended past 20 days also increased significantly. Amputees were disproportionately men, with only 28.8% of patients being women. The cohort included 20.2% of patients who were 75 years or older, and 25% of patients were non-Hispanic Black (as compared to an Illinois population with only 13.9% Black residents in 2020). During the study period, 81.5% of amputations occurred in patients with diabetes. The largest percent increases in amputation rates were for males (+76.1%), non-Hispanic Black patients (+67.5%) and residents aged 65 to 74 years old.

The study is titled, “A population health analysis of trends in lower extremity amputation secondary to diabetes and peripheral artery disease, 2016-2023.” Other Northwestern study authors include Isabel Cohen, Samantha Watson, Dr. Karen Ho and Joe Feinglass. 

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Journal

Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice

DOI

10.1016/j.diabres.2025.112963 

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

A population health analysis of trends in lower extremity amputation secondary to diabetes and peripheral artery disease, 2016–2023

Article Publication Date

30-Oct-2025

 

New study explores ‘legacy effects’ of soil microbes on plants across Kansas

University of Kansas

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The research team from the University of Kansas performed genetic analysis on both microbes and plants to better understand on the molecular level how legacy effects might function. Pictured is cross section of a corn root from the study.

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Credit: Maggie Wagner

LAWRENCE — A new study appearing in Nature Microbiology analyzes soils sampled across the state of Kansas to determine the importance of “legacy effects” — or how soils from a specific location are influenced by microbes that have evolved in response to the specific climate at that site for many years.

“The bacteria and fungi and other organisms living in the soil can actually end up having important effects on things that matter, like carbon sequestration, nutrient movement and what we’re particularly interested in — the legacy effects on plants,” said co-author Maggie Wagner, associate professor of ecology & evolutionary biology at the University of Kansas.

“We got interested in this because other researchers, for years, have been describing this type of ecological memory of soil microbes having some way to remember from their ancestors' past,” she said. “We thought this was really fascinating. It has a lot of important implications for how we can grow plants, including things like corn and wheat. Precipitation itself has a big influence on how plants grow, but also the memory of the microbes living in those soils could also play a role.”

According to Wagner, while legacy effects previously have been reported, they aren’t well characterized. A better understanding could eventually benefit farmers and agricultural biotech firms, which could build on the research.

“We don't really understand how legacy effects work,” she said. “Like, which microbes are involved at the genetic level, and how does that work? Which bacterial genes are being influenced? We also don't understand how that legacy of climate moves through the soil to the microbes, and then eventually to the plant.”

By sampling soils from six sites across Kansas — from its lower, rainier eastern half to the state’s western High Plains, higher in altitude and drier because of the rain shadow of the Rocky Mountains — the researchers aimed to determine differences in legacy effects.

“This was a collaboration with a team at the University of Nottingham in England,” Wagner said. “We divided up the work, but the bulk of the experiment — actually, the entire experiment — was conducted here at KU, and we also focused on soils from Kansas for this work.”

Back at KU, Wagner and her colleagues began testing the soils to better understand legacy effects of the samples’ microbes.

“We used a kind of old-school technique, treating the microbes as a black box,” she said. “We grew the plant in different microbial communities with different drought memories and then measured plants’ performance to understand what was beneficial and what was not.”

The researchers challenged the microbial communities for five months, either with plenty of water or very little water.

“Even after many thousands of bacterial generations, the memory of drought was still detectable,” Wagner said. “One of the most interesting aspects we saw is that the microbial legacy effect was much stronger with plants that were native to those exact locales than plants that were from elsewhere and planted for agricultural reasons but weren't native.”

While more plant species will need to be tested to confirm this hypothesis — the researchers tested one crop (corn) and one native plant (gamagrass) — the researchers said the findings could offer important context for farmers who want to use beneficial microbes to improve yields.

“We think it has something to do with the co-evolutionary history of those plants, meaning that over very long periods, gamagrass has been living with these exact microbial communities, but corn has not,” she said. “Corn was domesticated in Central America and has only been in this area for a few thousand years.”

Additionally, the research team performed genetic analysis on both microbes and plants to better understand on the molecular level how legacy effects might function.

“The gene that excited us most was called nicotianamine synthase,” Wagner said. “It produces a molecule mainly useful for plants to acquire iron from the soil but has also been recorded to influence drought tolerance in some species. In our analysis, the plant expressed this gene under drought conditions, but only when grown with microbes with a memory of dry conditions. The plant’s response to drought depended on the memory of the microbes, which we found fascinating.”

The KU researcher said gamagrass is being looked at as a possible source of genes to improve corn performance under challenging conditions.

“The gene I mentioned earlier could be of interest,” she said. “For biotech firms focused on microbial additions to crops, this gives hints about where to look for microbes with beneficial properties. Microbial commercialization in agriculture is a multibillion dollar industry and still growing.”

Wagner’s KU collaborators were lead author Nichole Ginnan, now of the University of California-Riverside, and Natalie Ford, now of Pennsylvania State University; Valéria Custódio, David Gopaulchan, Dylan Jones, Darren Wells and Gabriel Castrillo of the University of Nottingham; Isai Salas-González of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; and Ângela Moreno of the Ministério da Agricultura e Ambiente in Cabo Verde.

“One of the things that makes this work valuable is how interdisciplinary it was,” Wagner said. “We brought together genetic analysis, plant physiology and microbiology, allowing us to ask and answer questions that couldn’t have been addressed before.”

This research was funded by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Integrative Organismal Systems.

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Journal

Nature Microbiology

DOI

10.1038/s41564-025-02148-8 

Article Publication Date

30-Oct-2025