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Sick at Work and Surfing the Net? You’re Not Alone – or Are You?

By Guest PostNovember 10, 2010Culture, Economy, Generalabsenteeism, buzzword, environmental medicine, Health, presenteeism, reduced productivity, scholars, susan hagen, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Some scholars estimate that presenteeism, a relatively recent buzzword that applies to people who are less productive at work because of health issues, costs employers as much as three times the dollar amount as absenteeism in terms of lost productivity.

But researchers at University of Michigan believe those numbers may be inaccurate. A new opinion paper suggests that the tools for measuring and quantifying hours of lost productivity and translating those hours to dollars are unreliable and don’t capture the entire presenteeism picture, said Susan Hagen, an analyst from the U-M School of Kinesiology Health Management Research Center (HMRC). (more…)

Scientists to Spy on People’s Dreams and Thoughts

By PravdaNovember 6, 2010Culture, General, Scienceamerican scientist, anton evseev, brain injuries, eeg, electrodes, electroencephalography, epilepsy, human, human dream, images, impulses, mapping, marilyn Monroe, moran cerf, neurons, oleg levashov, paranormal abilities, pentagon, soldiers, spying, thinking processes, thoughts, visual images, wilder penfield graves

Image credit: Wikipedia

Until now it was believed that a person is unable to read the thoughts of fellow human beings. “Spying” on the dreams of another person appeared unrealistic. However, recent research by American scientists revealed that both these things are quite possible. Overly complex devices and paranormal abilities are not required to do so.

Recently, a respectable scientific journal Nature published an article that ten years ago would have been considered a fiction and would not have been publication at all. A group of American researchers led by Dr. Moran Cerf claims to have found a way to electronically records and decipher human dreams and thoughts. No complicated devices are required. The entire transcript can successfully go through an electroencephalograph – a device that for decades has been used by neuroscientists around the world. (more…)

Investing in Kids’ Future Pays Off

By Guest PostOctober 27, 2010Culture, Generaland downpayment, business start ups, cda, child development accounts, entrepreneurship, feel, kids, long term savings accounts, mich, parent child interactions, parents, pontiac, saving for education, secure, seed, trina shanks, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — When parents set up long-term savings accounts for college, business start-ups or home ownership, kids feel more financially and emotionally secure, new research shows.

The studies show the importance of families using child development accounts (CDA) as one measure to shift from an overreliance on credit and create a foundation for asset building. In other words, this program encourages households to maintain less debt and more savings. (more…)

USGS Oil and Gas Resource Estimates Updated for the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA)

By Guest PostOctober 26, 2010Economy, General3 d seismic survey, alaska, conventional gas, crude oil, gas, giant alpine field, marcia mcnutt, national petroleum reserve, npra, oil, oil exploration, petroleum, reservoir, reservoir rocks, U.S. Geological Survey, undiscovered oil

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates 896 million barrels of conventional, undiscovered oil and 53 trillion cubic feet of conventional, undiscovered non-associated gas within NPRA and adjacent state waters. The estimated volume of undiscovered oil is significantly lower than in 2002, when the USGS estimated there was 10.6 billion barrels of oil. The new estimate, roughly 10% of the 2002 estimate, is due primarily to the incorporation of new data from recent exploration drilling revealing gas occurrence rather than oil in much of NPRA. (more…)

Urban Psychology: Is Your City Led by Heart or Head?

By Guest PostOctober 26, 2010Culture, GeneralBarack Obama, character, christopher peterson, cities, economic and political consequences, el paso, head strong cities, heart cities, John McCain, nansook park, psychology, university of michigan, urban psychology, us cities

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Is your character shaped by where you live—or vice versa?

University of Michigan psychology researchers found that some cities lead with their heart—emotional and interpersonal strengths—while others lead with their head—intellectual and self-oriented strengths.

They also found such distinctions are also related to economic and political consequences. (more…)

200,000 Malaria Deaths Preventable Annually, says U of T Researcher

By Guest PostOctober 24, 2010Generalaids, assam, canada, cancer, cghr, chhattisgarh, eastern india, healthcare facilities, India, jharkhand, kenneth arrow, malaria, malaria atlas project, malaria parasite, orissa, prabhat jha, premature deaths, simon hay, symptoms, uk, v m katoch

*Deaths in India vastly underestimated*

Professor Prabhat Jha of medicine and an international team of researchers from India, Canada and the U.K. say their new studty shows the number of premature deaths from malaria in India has been vastly underestimated.

The new study is of a nationally representative sample of all deaths from any cause in India, asking family members to describe the fatal illness. Its results show that malaria accounts for about 200,000 (2 lakh) premature deaths before age 70 in India (including 80,000 children below age 15 and 120,000 adults). Previous estimates of malaria deaths were less than 10 per cent of this new figure. (more…)

Up in Smoke: Quebec Prison Partial Smoking Ban is not Successful

By Guest PostOctober 9, 2010Culture, Generalbordeaux, canada, cigarette-based economy, maison tanguay, prison, quebec, quebec detention center, serge brochu, smoking ban, université de montréal

The partial smoking ban in Quebec prisons is leading to a slew of new problems according to an investigative study involving the Université de Montréal. Their findings, part of a report conducted by the Institut National de Santé Publique, show that the courtyard-only policy for smoking has not led to quitting but rather to tension in the prison and cigarette-based economy. (more…)

50 Years of the Peace Corps: U-M Students Helped JFK Change World

By Guest PostSeptember 24, 20101 commentGeneral, Politicsalan guskin, Barack Obama, chester bowles, harris wofford, john f kennedy, peace corps, richard nixon, sargent shriver, tom hayden, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— From John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama, presidents have challenged University of Michigan students to change the world. In Kennedy’s case, the transformation was rapid and enduring: The Peace Corps was born.

(more…)

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