WVU Research In the News

Chestnut trees may get a dose of good health

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 11:57:00 EST

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

For decades, a stand of trees in western Wisconsin was untouched by a lethal fungus that wiped out the American chestnut over much of the eastern United States. Isolated from its natural range, the 90-acre forest near West Salem in La Crosse County – purely by a freak of geography – became the largest stand of the trees in the United States to escape chestnut blight. Then, bad news. In 1987, the blight was identified in the private woods on Highway C north of town. Big chestnuts, nearly 100 feet tall, began dying. They were succumbing to the invasive fungus Cryphonectria parasitica, which was from Asia and was first discovered at the Bronx Zoo in 1904. But the latest research shows that the chestnuts are beginning to respond. In some cases, trees that were given up for dead are growing like gangbusters. “The results are mixed, but we are encouraged by it,” said William MacDonald, a leading expert on chestnut blight at West Virginia University. “If you had asked me 10 years ago, I would have said things aren’t going as we thought they would. But now we see positive aspects to this stand.”

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/chestnut-trees-may-get-a-dose-of-good-health-pg3i8e4-136488753.html

Exercise Helps Teen Smokers Quit

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 10:14:00 EST

WDTV

What’s the best way to get teens to quit smoking? A new study suggests exercise can help. WVU researchers found that teens, particularly boys, were more likely to quit smoking if exercise was a part of their daily routine. The Mountain State has the worst teen smoking problem in the country, as statistics show 29 percent of West Virginians under 18 smoke, compared to the national average of 20 percent. “Smoking with the chemicals and stuff in the cigarettes, they actually release different hormones in your body that, you know, give you that feeling of well-being and things like that when you smoke the cigarette. The endorphins and things that are released during exercise do exactly the same thing. So you’re replacing, you know, those hormones that you’re getting from the cigarettes with better hormones and things with the exercise,” said Chris Hedio, Exercise Physiologist.

http://www.wdtv.com/index.php/home/local-news/11277-exercise-helps-teen-smokers-quit

WVU efforts with industry help innovation

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 10:10:00 EST

State Journal

Patents, numbers of startup companies and license revenue — these are all typical measures of university success in innovation. But one writer and data cruncher has found that West Virginia University is relatively successful by a different measure: industry research funding relative to federal research funding. “Most metrics today count contractual units of knowledge,” such as patents, Melba Kurman wrote Dec. 14 in “Best U.S. Universities for Innovation Transfer?” on the website InnovationExcellence.com. “Instead, we need to expand how we measure how effectively universities translate federal research funding into new knowledge and new technologies by honoring channels that do not involve intellectual property.”What she found was that Duke University received the most industry funding per million federal dollars. Next in line were not MIT or Yale or Stanford, but the University of West Florida and then West Virginia University. It may be an indication that programs like WVU’s new Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation–funded initiative known as LIINC, or Linking Innovation Industry and Commercialization, are making a difference, wrote WVU in a media release on Kurman’s article. The LIINC program works to accelerate the commercialization of research results and to create new and improve traditional ties to industry and to other regional entrepreneurial universities.

http://www.statejournal.com/story/16419073/wvu-efforts-with-industry-help-innovation
http://www.socialentrepreneurguide.com/wvu-efforts-with-industry-help-innovation
http://www.noodls.com/viewNoodl/12626382/west-virginia-university/wvu-scores-high-among-universities-that-attract-private-indu

Shelton Joins WVU as Associate Dean for Research

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 10:32:00 EST

Advanceweb.com

Deborah Shelton, PhD, RN, recently joined the West Virginia University School of Nursing, Morgantown, VA, as the endowed E. Jane Martin Professor and Associate Dean for Research. She will be responsible for strategic planning and management of the school’s research agenda. Shelton’s own research focuses upon the health disparities of people who are incarcerated, particularly the services provided to people with mental disabilities. A frequently published author and presenter, Shelton currently participates on four national and international task forces addressing nursing and clinical practice challenges in prisons and jails.

http://nursing.advanceweb.com/News/Regional-News/Morgantown-WV-Shelton-Joins-WVU-as-Associate-Dean-for-Research.aspx

Geomorphic design could create better valley fills in Appalachia

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 14:26:00 EST

State Journal

Geomorphic design principles offer the possibility of constructing valley fills in Appalachian surface mines that have more natural contours and more varied habitat. That was the message of the panel titled “Geomorphic considerations in mining reclamation” at the 2012 West Virginia Water Research Conference hosted by West Virginia University’s West Virginia Water Research Institute.

http://www.statejournal.com/story/19962780/geomorphic-design-could-create-better-valley-fills-in-appalachia

WVU researcher gets award to study natural gas

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 14:24:00 EST

Associated Press

A West Virginia University researcher is examining potential sources of pollution that could result from natural gas drilling. The Morgantown school says that assistant professor Shikha Sharma has received $265,000 from the National Science Foundation to support the Stable Isotope Research Laboratory. Officials say the lab advances research and training in earth sciences with a primary focus on energy and environmental topics.

http://ee.dominionpost.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=RFBvc3QvMjAxMi8xMC8zMSNBcjAxMTA3&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom
http://www.wvva.com/story/19959517/wvu-researcher-gets-award-to-study-natural-gas
http://www.wvnstv.com/story/19959517/wvu-researcher-gets-award-to-study-natural-gas?clienttype=printable
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WV_WVU_NATURAL_GAS_RESEARCH_WVOL-?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/briefs/x746103615/WVU-researcher-gets-award-to-study-natural-gas

WVU professor studies linkages between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 14:24:00 EST

Noodls.com

Past studies have shown that having diabetes increases one’s risk for Alzheimer’s disease and can accelerate the disease’s progression. The cause of this relationship between the two diseases is currently unclear. Funded by the Alzheimer’s Association, West Virginia University’s Miranda Reed received a $97,000 for her research to understand why diabetes increases an individual’s risk for Alzheimer’s disease and how to make effective medications for these diseases.

http://www.noodls.com/viewNoodl/16423090/west-virginia-university/wvu-professor-studies-linkages-between-diabetes-and-alzheime

WVU research making energy exploration, mining more efficient

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:36:00 EST

State Journal

Companies may no longer have to choose between efficient mining and environmental damage thanks to recent advances in three-dimensional seismic mapping technology. Dengliang Gao, an associate professor for West Virginia University’s Department of Geology and Geography, recently was awarded a grant from the South American company MPX to investigate the subsurface resource potential in El Molino, Colombia. Using seismic attributes may enable the company to more precisely map subsurface geology, locate valuable resources such as oil and natural gas and extract them with minimal cost and environmental damage. In the past few years, Gao’s research has been focused on developing and applying new 3D seismic attribute technologies to help investigate geology in the subsurface in general, and in particular to help energy companies to increase exploration success rates and to reduce economic risk while mitigating the environmental footprint.

http://www.statejournal.com/story/19945472/wvu-research-making-energy-exploration-mining-more-efficient

OU And WVU To Conduct Depression Treatment Study

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 15:35:00 EST

WOLB public radio

Ohio University and West Virginia University have teamed up for a study to treat individuals with Type 2 diabetes and depression. The project is called Program ACTIVE II and Doctor Frank Schwartz is one of the principal investigators. Dr. Schwartz says that Program ACTIVE II is a community-based intervention program for persons that have Type 2 diabetes and depression. “It’s a trial where we are combining talk therapy and supervised exercise as a way of both improving a person’s outlook about themselves and also improve their compliance with diabetes and to improve control and reduce complications,” said Doctor Schwartz, Director of the Diabetes/Endocrine Center at Ohio University.

http://woub.org/2012/10/28/ou-and-wvu-conduct-depression-treatment-study

Economic development organization lauds WVU

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 15:34:00 EST

State Journal

A West Virginia University program that encourages student and faculty researchers to interact and innovate with private companies to turn ideas into job-creating products was recognized recently by a national organization dedicated to higher education-inspired economic development. Linking Innovation, Industry and Commercialization, or LIINC, received the first place award at a national competition sponsored by the University Economic Development Association. According to a news release from the university, WVU’s LIINC competed against similar programs offered by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and the University at Albany of the State University of New York. UEDA officials call the recognition, “the leading awards program for colleges and universities engaged in economic development.”

http://www.statejournal.com/story/19936033/economic-development-organization-lauds-wvu