January 18, 2024
Purdue University researcher Jessica Sonia Fortin and her collaborators are creating multiple patent-pending compounds to treat Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Type 2 diabetes. The compounds inhibit protein aggregation in the brain and pancreas associated with the diseases.
Treating diseases by eliminating protein aggregation in the brain, pancreas
January 18, 2024
In a paper published on 3 January in Science Advances, researchers from Purdue University, in Indiana, have created a new prototype of electroluminescent thread that can glow blue, green, and yellow while maintaining its shape, even under the rigors of machine embroidery. Chi Hwan Lee is an associate professor of biomedical and mechanical engineering at Purdue and the senior author on the new paper. He says that electroluminescent thread offers an opportunity to incorporate smart features and detectors into clothing and wearables that traditional fibers or even LEDs alone can’t accomplish.
January 17, 2024
The company evokes images of a garden paradise on earth. But the idea behind the Houston-based NASA spinoff came from a more pragmatic view of the world. Womack’s company sells indoor food towers, self-contained, modular plant growth systems built on years of research by NASA scientists looking for the best way to feed astronauts in space.
Houston startup with next-gen farming tech calls for crowdfunding as it plans to grow
January 12, 2024
A long-term study that tracked the health of Scottish terriers indicates cigarette smoke exposure leads to a sixfold increase in the risk of bladder cancer
January 12, 2024
When Indiana pork producers gathered in Lebanon, Indiana for the 2023 Midwest Pork Conference last month, they had the opportunity to interact with representatives of the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine. Held at the Boone County Fairgrounds, the one day conference on Tuesday, December 5, included an annual economic update, educational sessions on issues important to pork producers, a swine specific trade show, and industry networking opportunities. The Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory and Purdue University Farm Animal Hospital were showcased at a booth that was part of the conference trade show, which featured more than 50 vendors and was a hub of activity involving pork producers, veterinarians, legislators, and industry leaders. ADDL Director Kenitra Hendrix and Assistant Director Craig Bowen helped staff the PVM booth. Dr. Bowen also provided an ADDL update at a related session with Indiana swine veterinarians. “The Midwest Pork Conference always provides a great opportunity for the ADDL to connect with the swine veterinarians and pork producers of Indiana,” Dr. Bowen said.
Midwest Pork Conference Provides Visibility for ADDL and Farm Animal Hospital
January 11, 2024
A Purdue University research team led by Chi Hwan Lee has overcome that obstacle by developing multicolor electroluminescent threads in blue, green and yellow for use with standard embroidery machines. This enables manufacturers to stitch their decorative designs on consumer fabrics without degrading the textiles’ wear resistance and light-emitting properties.
BME's Lee ‘lights up’ wearables with high-tech embroidery solution
January 2, 2024
Peptide formation from amino acids is thermodynamically unfavorable but a recent study provided evidence that the reaction occurs at the air/solution interfaces of aqueous microdroplets. Here, we show that i) the suggested amino acid complex in microdroplets undergoes dehydration to form oxazolone; ii) addition of water to oxazolone forms the dipeptide; and iii) reaction of oxazolone with other amino acids forms tripeptides.
Oxazolone mediated peptide chain extension and homochirality in aqueous microdroplets
December 28, 2023
Technology developed at Purdue University is giving a voice to the roads beneath our wheels. The highways are communicating via sensors implanted in concrete when it is poured. The data collected is providing engineers with information that could be used to better plan highway construction and for improved concrete mixing formulas, according to a report on the innovation from SciTechDaily. For travelers, it could mean saving a valuable asset: time. “Traffic jams caused by infrastructure repairs have wasted 4 billion hours and 3 billion gallons of gas on a yearly basis,” smart concrete lead developer and Purdue professor Luna Lu said in a university report. “This is primarily due to insufficient knowledge and understanding of concrete’s strength levels.”
NEW ‘SMART’ TECHNOLOGY COULD REDUCE TRAFFIC JAMS THAT HAVE ‘WASTED 4 BILLION HOURS’ EACH YEAR
December 28, 2023
Purdue University scientists are unraveling the complicated toxicity of a mixture of what are often called “forever chemicals” found in many consumer products. In outdoor experiments under controlled conditions, the team found that tadpoles exposed to a common mixture of those compounds, called perfluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl substances -- PFAS -- suffered reduced growth as they transformed into juvenile frogs. Size at that life stage is related to the survival and reproductive success of amphibians generally, said Tyler Hoskins, Purdue University research faculty member. “There are over 5,000 of these chemicals out there that we know of, and that list continues to grow as our analytical capabilities grow,” Hoskins said. A common source of the chemicals is the fire-retardant aqueous film-forming foams -- AFFF -- that have been used for more than 50 years to douse fuel fires at airports and military sites. But PFAS are widespread environmental contaminants that are also found in fast-food packages, nonstick coatings on cookware, cosmetics, biosolid-derived fertilizers and a broad range of manufacturing processes. “We were trying to mimic what aquatic organisms would experience if they were near a site where AFFF had been historically used. Water bodies at airports and defense sites are the areas where you would expect surface water to end up with AFFF,” he said. Hoskins and nine co-authors published their results in a paper highlighted on the cover of the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Co-author Maria Sepúlveda, professor in the Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, said, “PFAS are perhaps the most persistent class of chemicals we have created since we started producing chemicals. Studies that look at PFAS mixtures are very critical right now, and there aren’t very many because they are hard to do.”
November 30, 2023
During 2021 and 2022, national news reported on four infants being hospitalized and two dying after consuming infant formula tainted with Cronobacter sakazakii. The reports sparked the prolonged shutdown of a production plant that produced large quantities of the formula, leading to a months-long nationwide shortage of infant formula. The incident motivated Purdue University’s Haley Oliver to launch a project to improve the safety of low-moisture food-processing facilities. Oliver, a professor of food science, will collaborate with Old Dominion University’s Rishi Drolia on the project, which will target the C. sakazakii pathogen.
