John Corvino, chair of the philosophy department at Wayne State University, wrote in an op-ed that it now appears that pro-equality forces won in all four states where marriage was on the ballot on election day: Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington.

A group of researchers in Wayne State University's College of Engineering has been working to create advanced materials with high-yield strength, fracture toughness and ductility. Their efforts have led to the development of a new material consisting of bainitic steels and austempered ductile iron that has all these characteristics, ultimately resisting fatigue that can cause fractures in materials often with catastrophic consequences. The group, led by Susil Putatunda, professor of chemical engineering and materials science in WSU's College of Engineering, has focused on developing novel materials using a unique processing technique. According to Putatunda, this third generation advanced high strength steel has a number of advantages over the currently available steels currently being used in industry today. "Our steel has twice the yield strength, has a very high tensile strength, and is close to three times the fracture toughness over advanced steels currently on the market," said Putatunda.

Jay Walljasper, a former travel editor at Better Homes & Gardens and contributing editor to National Geographic Traveler, wrote a piece about his recent tour of Detroit and specifically his connection with Wayne State University's Detroit Revitalization Fellowship (DRFP). DRFP has tapped 29 young professionals from across the U.S. to become part of organizations working to revive the city. The project--funded by the Kresge Foundation, Ford Foundation, Hudson-Webber Foundation and the Skillman Foundation--is part of an unprecedented philanthropic effort to reinvigorate Detroit. "No city has gone through what Detroit has gone through. But that leaves the door wide open to do new things," says Fellow Matteo Passalacqua, an urban planner working with the North End's Vanguard Community Development Corporation.

Four years after launching the $100 million New Economy Initiative for Southeastern Michigan, the foundations behind it are exploring a second round of funding, with discussions over details such as which funders would participate -- and the initiative's focus, should it continue. The New Economy Initiative was "strange, new territory" to most of the funders when it launched, said Wayne State University President Allan Gilmour, who was among those who came up with the NEI concept as chairman of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan. Some of its grants are still being made, and the final reports are not yet in, but on the whole, "the first round of NEI has been successful, perhaps more successful than some of us would have thought," Gilmour said. The initiative's economic development focus is also ground-breaking nationally, participants say. But NEI's funders "should reconsider the content of the activity ... we should assess what's worked, what hasn't, what the needs are and how we see them changing and how NEI should participate in those," Gilmour said. A photo of President Gilmour is included.

Rachele Downs, program manager for Wayne State's Detroit Revitalization Fellows Program (DRFP), talked about the success of DRFP now in its second year. Twenty-nine economic development professionals affiliated with the program are working in Detroit to spur growth.

Wayne State University announced Friday it had been awarded two Grand Challenges Explorations research grants, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, totaling nearly $200,000. The first project, "Linoleic acid as a preventative and-or therapeutic agent for Cholera," is led by Jeffrey Withey, assistant professor of immunology and microbiology in WSU's School of Medicine. The second project, "Mobile immunization tracking and management systems," is a collaborative effort by Paul Kilgore, M.P.H., M.D., associate professor of pharmacy practice in WSU's Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences and Weisong Shi, Ph.D., associate professor of computer science in WSU's College of Engineering. "Wayne State's projects seek to help areas of the world where our research ideas can make an impact on lives," said Hilary Ratner, vice president for research at Wayne State University. "We are pleased to work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to foster innovative ideas to overcome health challenges through proper treatment and availability of appropriate vaccines and medicines. These projects have significant potential to help others."

Wayne State University will be hosting a University Room at Greater Grace Temple/National Scholarship Service College Fair and College Readiness Workshops scheduled 6-9 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 8. WSU is one of three universities hosting a room during the event - called the "Warrior Room."

The Wayne State University School of Medicine now has $1 million more of the tools it needs for research in the prevention and treatment of ovarian cancer thanks to a Clinton Township woman's recent donation. Cheryl McKee lost her sister, Dorothy Ann McKee, in 2005, after a nine-year battle with ovarian cancer. Her donation will create the Dorothy Ann McKee Endowed Fund for Ovarian Cancer Research, Prevention and Treatment.

A new book that delves into the unexpected properties of life at the nanoscale was released this week by Basic Books. "Life's Ratchet: How Molecular Machines Extract Order from Chaos," by Peter M. Hoffmann, professor of physics and materials science and associate dean in Wayne State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, uses the principles of physics - the science of levers and pulleys, atoms and quarks - to explain life. Hoffmann explores at the nanoscale how the cells in the human body come to life. At this scale, the energy of the random motions of atoms can move molecules, initiate chemical reactions or create voltages, allowing for the existence of independently moving nanoscale machines. According to Hoffmann, the complex molecules of human cells can be called "molecular machines," or "nanobots."

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development announced it is awarding a two-month, $2.6 million contract extension to Wayne State University to continue funding its Perinatology Research Branch through Dec. 31. The award extends a previous 10-year, $167 million contract that lapsed Nov. 1 for the perinatology program, staffed by Wayne State physicians at Hutzel Women's Hospital in the Detroit Medical Center. The Perinatology Research Branch contract supports more than 120 jobs at the DMC and accounted for about $16.2 million out of the $88.5 million in various contract and grant awards from NIH to Wayne State during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. Matt Lockwood, director of communications for Wayne State, confirmed the length and terms of the extension.

An increased focus on college costs comes amid news that the average in-state undergraduate tuition for a student at a Michigan public university went from $8,106 in 2007-08 to $10, 416 in 2011-12, an increase of 28.4 percent. Even among current governing board members, there is a growing concern about college costs. Before the start of this school year, six members across the three boards voted against tuition increases. At WSU, Democrats Tina Abbott and Annetta Miller aren't running for re-election. Republicans Michael Busuito and Satish Jasti are running, as are Democrats Sandra Hughes O'Brien and Kim Trent. This election also will have an impact on who runs two of the institutions. At WSU, President Allan Gilmour is stepping down at the end of the school year. At U-M, President Mary Sue Coleman's contract expires in 2014, and she is expected to retire.

Theatre critic John Monaghan gives the Hilberry's new production of "Othello" three out of four stars, lauding the title performance by Edmund Alyn Jones. Additionally, he notes that director Blair Anderson has spent considerable effort making the Shakespearean language accessible, right down to the smallest roles. "Othello" continues in rotating repertory through Jan. 17, 2013.

In a new study, about half of HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy skipped their medications whenever they were drinking alcohol, an ill-advised behavior that could lead to higher viral loads, researchers say. Nearly 200 people with HIV who were on antiretroviral drugs and drank alcohol were followed for a year, and 51 percent stopped taking their medications while drinking - and those same patients tended to have higher viral loads, according to the new report. Andrea Sankar, a professor at Wayne State University, who did not participate in the study, said the belief likely comes from the advice that doctors typically give to patients, which is that they shouldn't drink when they are on therapy. "When clinicians say, 'if you're taking antiretroviral therapy you shouldn't drink,' then what happens is rather than people stopping drinking, they stop taking their medications," she told Reuters Health. Sankar said that doctors' offices are the best place to start changing behavior to make sure people continue to take their medication.

Hundreds of teenagers attended the Giant Step Teen Conference held at Wayne State University yesterday. This year's keynote speaker was Ronnie Bachman, who told his inspiring story of survival and success. Ron was born with legs so badly deformed they hindered his ability to crawl. At age 4, his parents made the difficult decision to have both legs amputated at the hip. Giant Step is Michigan's longest running teen conference attracting over 5,000 participants.

Janet Anderson, Wayne State University adjunct professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, participated in a panel discussion about the growing influence and challenges of technology and the cities. The panel was part of the Techonomy Detroit conference hosted at Wayne State and sponsored by the Detroit Economic Club and Techonomy Media.

Wayne State's Piotr Jachowicz and Kristina Novichenko are the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's and women's swimmers of the week. Jachowicz tallied four individual wins and three relay victories in two meets. Novichenko won six individual events and swam on a winning medley relay team.

A buy-local purchasing initiative among the procurement offices of Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System, Wayne State University and Detroit Medical Center could have already transferred about $18 million worth of purchases to local vendors in its first 18 months. Source Detroit, originally organized as "Buy in Detroit" in early 2011, debuted with a trade fair last May and, as of July, tallied $16.5 million of combined goods and services transferred to city-based vendors. Midtown Detroit and the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. collaborate on Source Detroit with the three institutional buyers' senior procurement officers: Ken Doherty, assistant vice president of procurement and strategic sourcing for Wayne State; James O'Connor, Henry Ford vice president of supply chain management; and Donald Groth, DMC corporate vice president of materials resource management. The program is intended to place more than 3 percent of the institutions' combined $1.6 billion in procurement spending among companies after its first three years.

Bringing more than a decade of experience in history and archives, Elizabeth Myers was recently appointed as director of the Wayne State University Library System's Walter P. Reuther Library. "Beth Myers' knowledge and archival experience will certainly benefit the Reuther Library," said Wayne State Library System Dean Sandra Yee. At Wayne State, Myers is looking forward to working with the Reuther staff on new and ongoing projects as well as developing more community outreach activities.

The ink may not be dry on the new contract between Detroit-based Nextek Power Systems and Wayne State University, but the implications of the agreement reignite a battle that Thomas Edison fought years ago and won decidedly. Until now. Nextek, a TechTown company with three labs in the NextEnergy Center, focuses on direct current power systems. CEO Paul Savage said that although most of us get power through alternating current -- commonly known as AC -- DC is more efficient and more in line with today's electrical needs. Efficiency improvements range from 10 percent to 42 percent, Savage said. WSU will put a high-performance research computing infrastructure -- HPC for short -- into the DC-powered research center at NextEnergy. "It will be part of our overall day-to-day research support capacity on the IT side," said Joseph Sawasky, chief information officer of computing and information technology at WSU. "So if Wayne State research scientists are doing decoding and doing other research that involves intensive computing and storage, we can support part of that through microgrids and DC-powered infrastructure." The contract between WSU and Nextek runs until 2014. During that time, Sawasky said, the implications for the future of power systems will be scrutinized. "The expected benefit for us is to validate that DC-powered distribution systems are a good, solid, viable, production-ready alternative in the United States and that the equipment that helps distribute that power is more reliable than AC equivalents," Sawasky said.

A story on Fox News' "Housecall for Health" discusses new research that says when it comes to paying attention to cholesterol, don't wait. Scientists at Wayne State University School of Medicine find teens and young adults need to keep an eye on cholesterol levels, instead of waiting until they're older when it can be more difficult to control. Screening for high cholesterol under age 35 is controversial, but some doctors believe earlier intervention is essential.