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The January episode of “Growing Impact” discusses cement replacements made from leftover agricultural materials that could be more environmentally friendly. Credit: Brenna Buck. All Rights Reserved.

'Growing Impact' examines sustainable cement replacements

The January episode of “Growing Impact” discusses the search for cement replacements that are more environmentally friendly.

Salmonella infections in dogs may be an overlooked transmission vector to humans, researchers reported in a new study.  Credit: SeventyFour/Getty Images. All Rights Reserved.

Pet dogs often overlooked as spreader of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella

A team of Penn State researchers have found that household dogs are an overlooked transmission point for zoonotic pathogens such as nontyphoidal Salmonella.

New Annual Summit Focuses on Graduate Student Resiliency

Earlier this month, the Huck Institutes, in partnership with the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School at Penn State, hosted the Inaugural Huck Institutes T32 Summit.

Flies play a crucial role as pollinators, second only to bees in terms of the volume of crops and habitat they pollinate. Pictured here is a blue fly pollinating common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca).  Credit: Martha B. Moss/Penn State Extension Master Gardener / Penn State. Creative Commons

Pollinators most vulnerable to rising global temperatures are flies, study shows

New research led by Penn State scientists suggests flies are increasingly at risk due to rising global temperatures.

A led by Penn State researchers compared two treatments for a common uterine infection, called clinical metritis, that can lead to serious health problems for dairy cows. One treatment was based on antibiotics and the other was not. Both treatments had a similar clinical cure rate in mild cases of the disease. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

New treatment for dairy cows could help fight antibiotic resistance, study finds

A concentrated sugar solution could be just as effective as antibiotics at treating a common infection in dairy cows, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State.

Phil Choo, professor of graphic design, had his self-funded work designing postal stamps for all 63 U.S. national parks on display at Seoul National University of Technology in October.  Credit: Provided. All Rights Reserved.

Stuckeman graphic design professor’s work showcased at exhibition in Seoul

Penn State Professor of Graphic Design Phil Choo in the College of Arts and Architecture’s Stuckeman School was recently invited to present an exhibition of his research work on U.S. National Parks.

New program aims to transform research administration with $5.1M NSF grant

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $5.1 million to support the Skilled Training in Administration and Institutional Research (STAIR) program, a national initiative designed to revolutionize research administration across U.S. academic institutions.

This image depicts a conceptual mobile application designed to empower health care providers to capture and analyze placenta images at birth for immediate diagnostic insights. Credit: Sonhita Chakraborty / Penn State. Creative Commons

Placenta assessment tool aims to improve neonatal, maternal care

A multi-national, multi-institutional team led by Penn State researchers developed a new tool that enables doctors to examine placentas right at the bedside using just a phone.

Penn State Herbarium adds historic perspective to modern research

Boasting a collection of an estimated 35,000 plant specimens form around the world, the Penn State Herbarium is the third largest herbarium in Pennsylvania. Among its holdings are 3,000 plant specimens from the personal collection of Even Pugh, the first president of Penn State.

New research finds sex-specific regions of the brain can relieve the detrimental effects of chronic stress in male and female mice. Left: Schematic showing a cortical microcircuit with three types of interneurons expressing somatostatin (SST), parvalbumin (PV) or vasointestinal peptide (VIP) and their distinct patterns of innervation of glutamatergic output neurons (PNs), with thin lines representing axons that send chemical signals and the thicker lines of PNs representing dendrites that receive information. There is selective innervation of the distal ends of PN dendrites by axons of SST neurons. Right: Increased activity of SST neurons by genetically induced disinhibition, on top right, or by chemogenetic activation of SST neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex, on bottom right, leads to stress resilience and facilitates the reversal of the detrimental behavioral effects of stress exposure in male but not female mice. Credit: Bernhard Lüscher / Penn State. Creative Commons

Brain regions that relieve effects of chronic stress in mice differ based on sex

In two new studies, researchers made mice resilient to stress by activating neurons in different brain regions and found that the changes involved are highly sex-specific