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Drug tests on mothers’ hair links recreational drug use to birth defects

By Guest PostNovember 10, 2014Healthbambang suharnoko sjahrir, birmingham, birth defects, bristol, cocaine, data collection, gerrit gonschorek, guenter Schulze, london, mdma, mother, nicholas patzke, nick morris, oeffentliche gelder, risk factor, ucl, wahlkampfinstrument

Drug tests on 517 mothers in English inner city hospitals found that nearly 15% had taken recreational drugs during pregnancy and that mothers of babies with birth defects of the brain were significantly more likely to have taken drugs than mothers with normal babies. The study found no significant links between recreational drug use and any other type of birth defect.

The study was led by a team of UCL researchers co-ordinating data collection from hospitals across London, Bristol and Birmingham and the results are published in the journal PLOS ONE. The study included 213 women whose baby had a type of birth defect with potential links to recreational drug use, 143 women whose baby had a birth defect with no previously reported links to drug use and 161 women whose baby was normally formed. (more…)

Rural researchers to take the temperature of public opinion on UK environmental change

By Guest PostMarch 28, 2014Environmentameise, anoplolepis gracilipes, basecamp, bernhard seifert, birmingham, ed blinkhorn, engraved stones, environmental policy, exeter, formica paralugubris, glasgow, jersey parish, les varines, public opinion, spinnerameise, st saviour, temperature, university of exeter, waldameisenart

Social scientists at the University of Exeter are working with environmental policy makers to explore public views on the future management of UK ecosystems.

The Centre for Rural Policy Research (CRPR) are leading a £325,000 project, funded by Sciencewise, the UK’s national centre for public dialogue in policy making involving science and technology issues. (more…)

Hazy days of summer: Southeast U.S. field work measures mercury, smog

By Guest PostJuly 16, 2013Environmentair quality, ben lee, birmingham, c 130, central pennsylvania, claudia mohr, clean sea air, climate, coal fired, colored aerosols, dan jaffe, eastern texas, felipe lopez hilfiker, field work, ground-level ozone, gulf of mexico, hazy days, Houston, joel thornton, lyatt jaegle, measure, mercury, military transport plane, nashville, natural vegetation emission, ohio river valley, pollutants, power plant, smog, southeast us, summer, university of washington, vegetation particles, very exciting data

Dozens of atmospheric scientists, including three University of Washington faculty members, are taking part in what’s being described as one of the largest atmospheric field campaigns in decades.

The six-week Southeast Atmosphere Study, through July 15, includes scientists from more than 30 different institutions. Together they are studying how pollutants combine with natural vegetation emissions to affect climate and air quality in the Southeastern U.S. (more…)

Chipping Away at the History of Plaster in Sculpture and Medicine

By Guest PostJanuary 10, 2013Cultureage of industrialism, angel, art historian david bindman, birmingham, british sculptor, casting process, countess spencer, death mask, exhibition, funerary memorial, georgiana, great ormond street, hospital collection, ikon gallery, john flaxman, line to contour, marble, mourning figure, murderer, neo classical artist, pathological specimen, plaster, sculpture model, ucl art museum

A new exhibition about plaster and the casting process, highlighting the sculpture models of the neo-classical artist John Flaxman (1755-1826), starts at the UCL Art Museum this month.

Shown alongside Flaxman’s art will be more unusual applications of plaster pulled from UCL’s stored collections, including Victorian death masks used for the early study of eugenics and casts of human pathological specimens, including the cast of a seven year old’s leg with rickets from the Great Ormond Street Hospital Collection. Many of these macabre objects highlight the efficiency of plaster and its unique ability to capture fleeting moments in time. (more…)

Minorities Pay More for Water and Sewer

By Guest PostNovember 29, 2011Culture, Environment, Generalbirmingham, bygone economic era, cleveland, detroit, environmental practice, michigan state university, pittsburgh, poster child, product of racism, rachel butts, racial minorities, sewer infrastructure, shrinking cities, st. louis, stephen gasteyer, structural inequality, wastewater, water and sewer

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Racial minorities pay systemically more for basic water and sewer services than white people, according to a study by Michigan State University researchers.

This “structural inequality” is not necessarily a product of racism, argues sociologist Stephen Gasteyer, but rather the result of whites fleeing urban areas and leaving minority residents to bear the costs of maintaining aging water and sewer infrastructure. (more…)

Tag Archives: birmingham

Drug tests on mothers’ hair links recreational drug use to birth defects

Rural researchers to take the temperature of public opinion on UK environmental change

Hazy days of summer: Southeast U.S. field work measures mercury, smog

Chipping Away at the History of Plaster in Sculpture and Medicine

Minorities Pay More for Water and Sewer