Tag Archives: missouri

Mutation Breaks HIV’s Resistance to Drugs, Says MU Researcher

By Guest PostSeptember 22, 2012Health172k, 172k mutation, aids, atsuko hachiya, cellular machinery, drug, hiv, hiv strain, hiv-infected, human, immunodeficiency, inhibitors, missouri, mutation, nnrtis, non nucleoside, nrtis, nucleoside, patient, polymorphism, resistant, reverse, stefan sarafianos, transcriptase, university, virus

Doctors can improve treatment programs using this knowledge

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can contain dozens of different mutations, called polymorphisms. In a recent study an international team of researchers, including University of Missouri scientists, found that one of those mutations, called 172K, made certain forms of the virus more susceptible to treatment. Soon, doctors will be able to use this knowledge to improve the drug regimen they prescribe to HIV-infected individuals.

“The 172K polymorphism makes certain forms of HIV less resistant to drugs,” said Stefan Sarafianos, corresponding author of the study and a researcher at MU’s Bond Life Sciences Center. “172K doesn’t affect the virus’ normal activities. In some varieties of HIV that have developed resistance to drugs, when the 172K mutation is present, resistance to two classes of anti-HIV drugs is suppressed. We estimate up to 3 percent of HIV strains carry the 172K polymorphism.” (more…)

Teens Tell Different Tales about Themselves Depending on Gender, Says MU Researcher

By Guest PostSeptember 6, 2012Culture, General, Healthadolescence, autobiographical narrative, brown university, emory university, emotional state, gender, jennifer bohanek, missouri, negative stories, parent, personal identity, reflect, robyn fivush, sally grapin, self, sense, transition, university, widaad zaman, young people

Parents can use knowledge to help steer teens through life changes

COLUMBIA, Mo. — During adolescence, the stories young people tell about themselves reflects their development of a personal identity and sense of self, and those autobiographical narratives vary depending on the teens’ gender, according to a University of Missouri psychologist and her colleagues. Parents can use this knowledge of how teens talk about themselves to help understand the tumultuous transitions of their children into adults.

“Autobiographical stories tell us details about adolescent psychology that questionnaires and observations of behavior cannot,” said Jennifer Bohanek, assistant professor of psychological sciences in the College of Arts and Science. “Narratives provide information about how adolescents interpret memories as well as how they come to know themselves. Other people then come to know the teens by the stories they tell about themselves. The differences between study participants’ stories suggest there may be differences in the way male and female teens understand themselves and present themselves to the world.” (more…)

African-American Males Most Likely to Lose Academic Scholarships, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostSeptember 3, 2012Culture, Education, Generalacademic success, african american, charles menifield, culture, dormitories, Environment, holistic approach, hope scholarships, male, missouri, retention rate, scholarship, tennessee residents, university

MU researcher recommends a “holistic” approach to student scholarship retention

COLUMBIA, Mo. — College student retention and low graduation rates are the most significant problems associated with state-provided financial aid. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found that African-American males are the most likely to lose state lottery-funded scholarships with academic stipulations. Charles Menifield, a professor in the Truman School of Public Affairs at MU, found that more than 50 percent of African-American males lost state-funded scholarships over the course of a four-year academic career.

“Race turns out to be one of the best predictors of scholarship retention rates,” Menifield said. “This research strongly suggests that colleges and universities that desire to maintain diversity should at minimum target minority students, particularly African-American males, and determine how best to improve academic success.” (more…)

Smartphone App Can Track Objects On the Battlefield as Well as On the Sports Field, Says MU Researcher

By Guest PostSeptember 2, 2012Technology, Weaponsair strike, battlefield, compass, direction, distant object, gps, latitude, location, longitude, missouri, moving object, prototype, qia wang, rangefinder, smartphone, software, soldier, speed, target, university, version, video

COLUMBIA, Mo. — University of Missouri researchers have developed new software using smartphones’ GPS and imaging abilities that determine the exact location of distant objects as well as monitor the speed and direction of moving objects. The software could eventually allow smartphone-armed soldiers to target the location of their enemies. On the home front, the software could be used by everyone, including golfers judging distance to the green and biologists documenting the location of a rare animal without disturbing it.

“The great advantage of a smartphone is that it provides so many tools in a single, readily available, relatively inexpensive package,” said Qia Wang, a doctoral student in MU’s College of Engineering who led the development of the software. “For example, on the battlefield, a soldier needs a rangefinder, compass, GPS and other tools to do reconnaissance before calling in an air strike. With our software, the soldier can have all those instruments in one device that can be purchased off the shelf. When that soldier returns from war, she can use the same software to protect her family by clocking a speeder near her children’s school and catching the culprit on video.” (more…)

MU Research Team Creates New Cancer Drug that is 10 Times More Potent

By Guest PostAugust 30, 2012Health, Scienceboron, breast, cancer cell, cancer drug, carbon, carboranes, chemotherapy, colon cancer, energy production, healthy cell, hydrogen, legend, lung, mark w lee, missouri, mousetrap, radiation, ralph waldo emerson, therapy, university

Drug efficiently targets breast, lung and colon cancer; clinical trials could start within two years.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Legend has it that Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” University of Missouri researchers are doing just that, but instead of building mousetraps, the scientists are targeting cancer drugs. In a new study, MU medicinal chemists have taken an existing drug that is being developed for use in fighting certain types of cancer, added a special structure to it, and created a more potent, efficient weapon against cancer.

“Over the past decade, we have seen an increasing interest in using carboranes in drug design,” said Mark W. Lee Jr., assistant professor of chemistry in College of Arts and Science. “Carboranes are clusters of three elements — boron, carbon and hydrogen. Carboranes don’t fight cancer directly, but they aid in the ability of a drug to bind more tightly to its target, creating a more potent mechanism for destroying the cancer cells.” (more…)

Uncollected Internet Sales Taxes Cost Missouri $468 Million Annually, MU Study Shows

By Guest PostMay 1, 2012Economy, TechnologyAmazon, brad fischer, business, california, congress, david valentine, e-commerce, internet, internet transaction, lobby, missouri, missouri legislator, online retailer, revenue, roy blunt, sales, sales tax, supreme court, university of missouri, us sales, wal-mart

MU researchers recommend legislative action to help local economy, state revenue

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Internet, or e-commerce, sales have increased over the past two decades, comprising nearly 17 percent of the total U.S. sales in 2009. However, many states, including Missouri, have no effective means of collecting taxes on those sales. Researchers at the University of Missouri Truman School of Public Affairs found that the state lost approximately $468 million annually in sales tax revenue during the past decade.

Federal law and U.S. Supreme Court rulings only allow states to levy sales taxes on a business with a physical presence in the state. For example, Amazon.com does not charge sales tax in Missouri because it is physically located in California. However, Wal-Mart charges sales tax, since it has stores in Missouri. In the study, researchers analyzed historical data on e-commerce activity and estimated that the state will miss out on $1.4 billion in potential revenue from 2011 to 2014. (more…)

IBM Opens $50 Million Smarter Cities Challenge Grant Program To 2012 Applicants

By Guest PostOctober 24, 2011Technologyalberta, city forward, citychat, economic climate, edmonton, hashtag, ibm, ibm smarter cities challenge grant program, mecklenburg county, milwaukee, missouri, north Carolina, publicly available urban data, smarter cities challenge, st. louis, stanley s litow, talent and technology, urban centers, wisconsin

*Initiative provided practical advice to dozens of cities worldwide in 2011*

Armonk, NY, – 24 Oct 2011: IBM today announced that it has opened the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grant program to new applications for 2012. Smarter Cities Challenge is a three-year, 100-city, US$50 million grant program in which IBM’s top technical experts and consultants provide actionable advice to urban centers.

This highly successful grant program provides select applicant cities with access to teams of elite IBM employees with expertise on a variety of urban-related matters, such as finance, sustainability, public safety, and citizen services. They devote weeks of their time analyzing unique opportunities and challenges facing municipalities, particularly within the context of today’s challenging economic climate. After conferring with officials, citizens, businesses, academics and community leaders, the IBM teams recommend actions to make the delivery of services to citizens more efficient and innovative. Issues addressed include jobs, health, public safety, transportation, social services, recreation, education, energy, and sustainability. (more…)

MU Researchers Identify Differences in Facial Characteristics of Children with Autism Compared to Typically Developing Children

By Guest PostOctober 23, 2011Science3-d image, adolescence, autism, child head, embryo, environmental factor, environmental influences, face and brain, facial characteristics of children, genetics, geometry of the face, ian george, jordan austin, kimberly cole, kristina aldridge, missouri, origins of autism, philtrum, t nicole takahashi, thompson center for autism and neurodevelopmental disorders, treatments, typically developing children, wider mouth, ye duan

*Research is a step toward understanding cause of autism*

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The face and brain develop in coordination, with each influencing the other, beginning in the embryo and continuing through adolescence. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found distinct differences between the facial characteristics of children with autism compared to those of typically developing children. This knowledge could help researchers understand the origins of autism.

“There is no clear answer about whether autism is caused by genetics or by environmental influences,” said Kristina Aldridge, lead author and assistant professor of anatomy in the MU School of Medicine and the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. “If we can identify when these facial changes occur, we could pinpoint when autism may begin to develop in a child. Knowing that point in time could lead us to identify a genetic cause, a window of time when the embryo may be susceptible to an environmental factor, or both.” (more…)