Can water be simultaneously solid and liquid?

Yes, according to new research from University of Rochester scientists. The Rochester researchers, along with their colleagues at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, used lasers at Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) to flash-freeze water into an exotic water ice phase. Using X-ray diffraction, they were able to identify and record, for the first time, the ice’s atomic structure.  Their research, published in the journal Nature, may give more insight into the interior structures of giant planets in our galaxy.

“Icy giants like Uranus and Neptune consist of about two-thirds water by mass,” says Ryan Rygg, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and of physics and a senior scientist at the LLE, who worked on the project. “I expect the experimental confirmation of this exotic phase of water will push planetary scientists to overhaul their picture of the interiors of these planets.”

In 1998, scientists first predicted that water would transition to an exotic state when it was subjected to extreme pressures and temperatures—similar to the conditions that exist in planets such as Uranus and Neptune. In 2018, the Rochester and Livermore team presented the first experimental evidence for this exotic state of water, known as superionic ice, that is simultaneously a solid and a liquid because it is composed of oxygen atoms in a solid crystalline lattice and liquid-like hydrogen. However, the team was only able to observe general properties of the ice, such as temperature and energy.

Now, using laser-driven shockwaves and X-ray diffraction, the researchers not only created superionic ice, but recorded images of the microscopic crystalline structure of water in the superionic ice phase—all in a few billionths of a second.

“We wanted to determine the atomic structure of superionic water,” says Federica Coppari, a physicist at Livermore. “But given the extreme conditions at which this elusive state of matter is predicted to be stable, compressing water to such pressures and temperatures and simultaneously taking snapshots of the atomic structure was an extremely difficult task, which required an innovative experimental design.”

Read more here.

A team of psychologists and biologists from Rochester and two other universities set out to discover if consumers’ distrust of genetically modified organisms would change if they understood the underlying science better.

The short answer is “yes.” 

“Political orientation and demographics inform attitudes and we can’t change those,” says Jonathon McPhetres, a newly minted PhD in psychology from the University of Rochester and lead author of a paper recently published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology. “But we can teach people about the science behind GMOs, and that seems to be effective in allowing people to make more informed decisions about the products that they use or avoid.”

Previous research has shown that more than half of Americans know very little or nothing at all about GM foods. And while genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are considered safe by an overwhelming majority of scientists, only about one third of consumers share that view.

In a series of studies, the team discovered that people’s existing knowledge about GM food is the greatest determining factor of their attitudes towards the food— more than 19 times higher as a determinant compared to demographic factors such as a person’s education, socioeconomic status, race, age, and gender.

The team replicated the US findings in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, where opposition to modified food has tended to be higher than in the United States, and where GM food is highly regulated in response to consumer concerns.

The team discovered that learning the underlying science led to more positive attitudes towards genetically modified foods, a greater willingness to eat them, and a lowered perception of GM foods as risky.

Their findings, argues the team, lend direct support for the deficit model of science attitudes, which—in broad terms—holds that the public’s skepticism towards science and technology is largely due to a lack of understanding, or absence of pertinent information.

Read more here.

Do you think your doctor knows—or cares—what it cost you to get a prescription filled? Even though out-of-pocket costs for medications can be a significant burden, asking patients if they’re concerned about it isn’t typically part of office visits.

Medical Center research suggests that a modest training session for doctors and their office staffs might encourage this interaction, potentially making it a routine and effective way to help assure patients are getting and taking their medications appropriately.

The study, “Addressing Medication Costs During Primary Care Visits: A Before–After Study of Team-Based Training,” was published this month in the Annals of Internal Medicine. It involved clinicians and staff at seven primary care practices in three states. Teams at each practice participated in one-hour training sessions to guide them in understanding how important the issue is to patients, screening for patients who may need help, and learning some cost-saving strategies for their patients. To determine the training’s impact, 700 adult patients taking at least one long-term medication were surveyed—half before the training and half for three months after the training intervention. Forty-five staff members were interviewed.

Training improved the rate of cost-of-medication conversations in six of the seven practices involved, increasing the frequency of these conversations from 17 percent to 32 percent. Staff interviews identified variations in how each practice approached the patient screening, workflow, and strategies for addressing medication costs with patients.

“We are encouraged that the training intervention doubled the rate of these cost-of-medication conversations,” said researcher Kevin Fiscella, professor of family medicine. “It’s important for patients to understand they have options and that their doctor doesn’t want the cost of medications to be a burden that prevents them from taking them. This training is a way to provide physicians and practice staff with tools for broaching the topic with patients.”

Strategies to help defray costs can range from identifying equally effective alternatives to more costly medications, to guiding patients to resources that may help defray costs.

The Goergen Institute for Data Science will present six faculty research talks as part of its 2019 Summer Colloquium Series, to be held on Wednesdays from noon to 1 p.m. in 1400 Wegmans Hall.

• June 5: “What is Privacy and Why Does it Matter” by Jens Kipper, assistant professor of philosophy.
• June 12: “Twice Written Tales: On First Looking into Palimpsests and Other Hidden Texts” by Gregory Heyworth, associate professor of English and textual science and director of the Lazarus Project
• June 19: “Augmenting Social Reality for Lifelong Learning” by Zhen Bai, assistant professor of computer science
• June 26: “Probabilistic Earth Imaging with Ground Vibrations: Explaining the Softness in Earth’s Stiffest Rocks” by Tolulope Olugboji, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences
• July 10:  “Software and Hardware for Mobile Visual Computing” by Yuhao Zhu, assistant professor of computer science
• July 17:  “Aging & Engaging: Development of a Web-based Communication Coach for Older Adults” with Kimberly Van Orden, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine.

The talks are a featured presentation of the National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (NSF REU) on Computational Methods for Understanding Music, Media, and Minds. Every talk is free and open to all faculty, staff, students and community members.

Lunch will be sponsored by the Goergen Institute for Data Science. To ensure enough food is ordered for all attendees, pre-register here.

Hayley Martin, epidemiology, “Assessing the Impact of Group Prenatal Care on Breastfeeding Behavior and Motivation.” 11 a.m. June 4, 2019. Helen Wood Hall | 1W-509. Advisor: Edwin Van Wijngaarden.

George Grell, mathematics, “Iterated Galois Groups of Quadratic Rational Functions.” 2 p.m. June 5, 2019. Hylan 1106A. Advisor: Thomas Tucker.

Laura Cubit, clinical psychology, “The Influence of Stimulus Predictability on Attentional Preferences in Young Children, and Relevance for Autism Spectrum Disorder.” 11 a.m. June 6, 2019. Meliora Hall 366. Advisor: Loisa Bennetto.

Catherine G. Burke, microbiology & immunology, “Developmental activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor results in durable changes to the responsive capacity and epigenetic landscape of CD4+ T cells.” Noon, June 6, 2019. Adolph Auditorium (1-7619) Advisor: Paige Lawrence.

Lacey Jane Favazzo, microbiology & immunology, “The nor-nos axis contributes to virulence and metabolism in Staphylococcus aureus.” Noon, June 7, 2019. Medical Center | K307 (3-6408). Advisor: Steven Gill.

Today: 5 p.m. deadline to submit funding applications for pilot projects, sponsored by the Medical Center and Roswell Park, for research relevant to the regulation of tobacco products. Read the full RFA. Contact Scott Steele or Deborah Ossip with questions.

June 1: Un-meeting to foster new collaborations and ideas and explore innovative approaches to the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning at all stages of the translational science spectrum. Hosted by the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI). 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saunders Research Building.

June 5: Discover Embark panel discussion and Q&A on a new initiative to streamline and strengthen clinical research at the University of Rochester Medical Center. All URMC community members involved in clinical research are encouraged to attend.  2-3 p.m. Class of ’62 Auditorium. Email Embark with any questions or concerns.

June 5: “What is Privacy and Why Does it Matter” by Jens Kipper, assistant professor of philosophy. 2019 Summer Colloquium Series, Goergen Institute for Data Science. 12 noon to 1 p.m.,1400 Wegmans Hall. Free to all faculty, staff, students and community members. Lunch sponsored by the Goergen Institute for Data Science. Pre-register here.

June 12: “Twice Written Tales: On First Looking into Palimpsests and Other Hidden Texts” by Gregory Heyworth, associate professor of English and textual science and director, Lazarus Project. 2019 Summer Colloquium Series, Goergen Institute for Data Science. 12 noon to 1 p.m.,1400 Wegmans Hall. Free to all faculty, staff, students and community members. Lunch sponsored by the Goergen Institute for Data Science. Pre-register here.

June 19: “Augmenting Social Reality for Lifelong Learning” by Zhen Bai, assistant professor of computer science. 2019 Summer Colloquium Series, Goergen Institute for Data Science. 12 noon to 1 p.m.,1400 Wegmans Hall. Free to all faculty, staff, students and community members. Lunch sponsored by the Goergen Institute for Data Science. Pre-register here.

June 26: “Probabilistic Earth Imaging with Ground Vibrations: Explaining the Softness in Earth’s Stiffest Rocks” by Tolulope Olugboji, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences. 2019 Summer Colloquium Series, Goergen Institute for Data Science. 12 noon to 1 p.m.,1400 Wegmans Hall. Free to all faculty, staff, students and community members. Lunch sponsored by the Goergen Institute for Data Science. Pre-register here.

July 10:  “Software and Hardware for Mobile Visual Computing” by Yuhao Zhu, assistant professor of computer science. 2019 Summer Colloquium Series, Goergen Institute for Data Science. 12 noon to 1 p.m.,1400 Wegmans Hall. Free to all faculty, staff, students and community members. Lunch sponsored by the Goergen Institute for Data Science. Pre-register here.

July 17:  “Aging & Engaging: Development of a Web-based Communication Coach for Older Adults” with Kimberly Van Orden, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine. 2019 Summer Colloquium Series, Goergen Institute for Data Science. 12 noon to 1 p.m.,1400 Wegmans Hall. Free to all faculty, staff, students and community members. Lunch sponsored by the Goergen Institute for Data Science. Pre-register here.