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Water in smog may reveal pollution sources

  March 2, 2015 – The chemical signature of water vapor emitted by combustion sources such as vehicles and furnaces has been found in the smoggy winter inversions that often choke Salt Lake City. The discovery may give researchers a new tool to track down the sources of pollutants and climate-changing carbon dioxide gas. University […]

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U honors students examine air quality, health and society in the state of Utah

March 2, 2015— Students in the University of Utah’s Honors College are working towards real, implementable solutions for the hotly debated air quality problem in the state of Utah. A year-long honors Praxis Lab called “Air Quality, Health and Society” has afforded 10 students the opportunity to comprehensively study the problem and take matters into […]

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Largest study of its kind documents causes of childhood community-acquired pneumonia

With the chill of winter comes a spike in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), which spreads more easily as people retreat indoors and come into close contact. The lung infection triggers persistent coughing, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing, and is particularly hard on the very young and the very old. In fact, pneumonia is the leading […]

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Chemist Jen Heemstra wins Cottrell Scholar Award

Feb. 24, 2015 – Jennifer Heemstra, an assistant professor of chemistry, has won a Cottrell Scholar Award of $75,000 – a prize aimed at early career, physical sciences faculty who are committed to excellence in research and undergraduate teaching. “In addition to funding for my research program, I’m very excited that this award provides the […]

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U mathematician wins prestigious Sloan Fellowship

Feb. 23, 2015 – Jonathan Chaika, an assistant professor of mathematics, today was named as one of 126 young U.S. and Canadian scientists to receive a prestigious 2015 Sloan Research Fellowship. The much sought-after fellowships and $50,000 awards are meant to “honor early-career scientists and scholars whose achievements and potential identify them as rising stars, […]

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Better catalysts, made-to-order

Utah chemists captured enough data on the crucial steps in a reaction to accurately predict the structures of the most efficient catalysts, those that would speed the process with the least amount of unwanted byproducts. The new approach could help chemists design entirely new catalysts. With a clearer understanding of the forces at play as molecules cling and shape-shift together, chemists might be able to take advantage of interactions now regarded as unimportant or impossible to control.

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Novel “smart” insulin automatically adjusts blood sugar in diabetic mouse model

For patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D), the burden of constantly monitoring their blood sugar and judging when and how much insulin to self-inject, is bad enough. Even worse, a miscalculation or lapse in regimen can cause blood sugar levels to rise too high (hyperglycemia), potentially leading to heart disease, blindness and other long-term complications, or to plummet too low (hypoglycemia), which in the worst cases can result in coma or even death.

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