LEWISBURG, Pa. — These are Bucknell University story ideas that may interest you in April.
THE FLUIDITY OF LEG SWELLING — Just in time for World Health Day on April 7, Professor James Baish, biomedical engineering, has published a study in Scientific Reports that provides new insights into edema, or leg swelling. Chronic edema or lymphedema is reported to impact about 2 to 4% of the population, and lymphedema accounted for an estimated 165,055 hospital admissions in the U.S. between 2012 and 2017. “Leg swelling is a widespread health problem that, if unchecked, can lead to chronic sores, impaired function and potential loss of limb,” says Baish. “Unfortunately, there are few treatment options available other than compression wraps and elevation of the leg, and while known to be effective these treatments are not fully understood.” The new study addresses the mechanics of fluid movement in the leg under the effects of gravity in a more comprehensive way than previously considered. The paper should provide clinicians with new guidelines for optimizing optimism of treatment which could reduce the amount of leg swelling caused by gravity. “We provide numerical results and some simple scaling rules that yield new insights into whether fluid is likely to pool in the lower leg due to gravity effects or can be managed locally by lymphatic clearance,” Baish says. “These results promise to aid in the optimization of prevention and treatment.” CONTACT: Baish, 570-577-1163, james.baish@bucknell.edu
HOMAGE TO MOTHER EARTH — April is Earth Month and Bucknell has achieved three of its Climate Action Plan initiatives in the past year according to its Fall 2021 sustainability report. Additionally, Holmes Hall — Bucknell’s newest building and home of the Freeman College of Management and Department of Art & Art History — recently received LEED Gold status from the U.S. Green Building Council for its planet-friendly design. The Bucknell Center for Sustainability and the Environment (BCSE) will host a number of environmentally-friendly events during the month, starting on Wednesday, April 13 when it will join the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in a tree-planting from 8:45 to 11 a.m. in the meadow uphill from the Bucknell Golf Club driving range. On Earth Day April 22 from 8:30 to 10 a.m., the BSCE and Chesapeake Conservancy will lead Bucknell students and employees in staking branch cuttings from wetland trees near the Art Barn in order to curb sediment erosion into nearby Miller Run. The BCSE’s Ninth Annual Sustainability Symposium, Is it really too late?: Hope, Agency, and Change, will also take place April 22 and 23. The event provides faculty, staff, students and community stakeholders a regional forum to share research, teaching, creative works and collaborations. Sachem Hawkstorm – hereditary chief of Schaghticoke People and advocate for rights of Indigenous peoples – will deliver the keynote address entitled “Moving beyond sustainability to regenerative futures” on April 22 at 6:30 p.m. in the Elaine Langone Center’s Forum (Room 272). CONTACTS: Dr. Milton Newberry, BCSE, 570-577-1265, m.newberry@bucknell.edu; Shaunna Barnhart, BCSE, 570-577-1724, shaunna.barnhart@bucknell.edu; Samantha Myers, BCSE, 570-577-2437, samantha.myers@bucknell.edu
AN OPENING FOR PREFILLED TAX RETURNS — This tax season brought a seachange on the status quo for filers, as two of the leading software providers, Intuit TurboTax and H&R Block, exited the IRS Free File Alliance. Their exit has opened the door for major changes to the tax filing season. Research by Freeman College of Management Professor James Lawson, accounting, suggests that adopting a prefilled tax return system, which is common in European countries, could benefit taxpayers. While obstacles still exist before the U.S. could pursue this, Lawson says these departures indicate broader change is coming to the system. In their Journal of the American Taxation Association study, Lawson and co-authors explain the average American spends 11 hours completing a tax return with an out-of-pocket cost of $210, and a prefilled system could drastically reduce this burden of compliance. They found increased compliance and documented potential benefits to taxpayers. CONTACT: Lawson, 570-577-3569, james.lawson@bucknell.edu
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CONTACT: Mike Ferlazzo, 570-238-6266 (c), mike.ferlazzo@bucknell.edu