Back from Spring Break, here's a roundup of 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis research news from the past week.
Uh-oh: Don't inhale these disinfectants
Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) have been widely used in liquid disinfectants such as Lysol for decades. A new study led by Professor Gino Cortopassi at the 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine shows that inhaling sprays of these compounds damages the lungs of mice.
We have to question whether we really want to have all of these QAC-based disinfectant sprays in the environment given their proven lung toxicity in mice, Cortopassi said.
Light bends these crystals
Perovskites are a type of crystal that can act as semiconductors and photovoltaic cells. Professor Marina Leite's lab at the Department of Material Sciences Engineering has now found that shining light on these crystals can reversibly bend the crystal lattice.
The discovery, supported by a grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, could open up new ways to design devices tuned or switched by light, such as sensors or actuators.
Grant for brain health
A grant of nearly $16 million from the National Institutes of Health to researchers at 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis and 51勛圖窪蹋 San Diego , a group historically overlooked in aging research.
Our goal is to identify the factors that matter most for healthy cognitive aging and ultimately reduce the burden of dementia for millions of families. Our new study will give us an unprecedented ability to understand how the brain changes over time in Latino communities, said , 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis distinguished professor of neurology and the studys principal investigator.
Crane flies are flying now
Warm spring weather has brought leggy insects bumbling around the house. Far from being "skeeter eaters" these blundering bugs barely feed at all as adults, according to Lynn Kimsey, Distinguished Professor emeritus in the Department of Entomology and Nematology.