environmental – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Updating Air Pollution Measurement Methods with UMass Amherst Air Quality, Health Effects Research

By Guest PostJanuary 12, 2014Environmentair pollution exposure, air pollution measurement, air quality, amherst, arnico panday, capital city, development, electrocardiogram, elemental carbon levels, environmental, Germany, icimod, kabindra shakya, kathmandu, levels of pollution, nepal, organic, particles in air, petri dish, potsdam, rick peltier, toxicity, united states, university of massachusetts, xray fluorescence spectrometry

AMHERST, Mass. – Launching a natural research experiment in Kathmandu, Nepal, this month using advanced monitoring methods to assess health risk from air pollution, environmental health scientist Rick Peltier at the University of Massachusetts Amherst hopes to demonstrate for the first time in a real-world setting that air pollution can and should be regulated based on toxicology variables rather than simply on the volume of particles in the air.

Recent technological advances in air quality measurement methods now make it possible and practical to monitor air pollution in a much more sophisticated way than before, Peltier says. Researchers now use X-ray fluorescence spectrometry to measure air pollution metal content, ion chromatography to identify other chemicals and other tactics to assess organic and elemental carbon levels. (more…)

Study Identifies Deepwater Horizon Debris as Likely Source of Gulf of Mexico Oil Sheens

By Guest PostAugust 5, 2013Environmentbp, chemical makeup, chris reddy, christoph aeppli, coast guard, cofferdam, dave valentine, deepwater horizon debris, deepwater horizon rig, drilling operations, environmental, fingerprint, gas chromatography, gcxgc, gulf of mexico, industrial chemicals, legal concerns, macondo well, matthias kellermann, oil samples, oil sheens, olefins, preliminary data, real world problem, robert k nelson, source, study, synthetic hydrocarbons, technique, two dimensional, ucsb, united states, university of california, whoi

A chemical analysis of oil sheens found floating recently at the ocean’s surface near the site of the Deepwater Horizon disaster indicates that the source is pockets of oil trapped within the wreckage of the sunken rig. Both the Macondo well and natural oil seeps common to the Gulf of Mexico were confidently ruled out.

Researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) used a recently-patented method to fingerprint the chemical makeup of the sheens and to estimate the location of the source based on the extent to which gasoline-like compounds evaporated from the oil sheens. The study was published online in Environmental Science & Technology. (more…)

Behaviour of seabirds during migration revealed

By Guest PostMay 6, 2013Natureanimal behavior, anthropogenic pressure, behaviour of seabirds, behavioural states, centre for mathematics, complex data series, computational analyses, conservation concern, environmental, environmental conditions, ethoinformatics, flight, geolocators, gps tracking, lightweight gps loggers, manx shearwater, migration, migration data, new method, patterns of foraging, puffinus puffinus, rest, robin freeman, royal society, small seabird, south america, south eastern brazil, species, tracking technologies, ucl, uk birds, university of oxford, western atlantic

The behaviour of seabirds during migration – including patterns of foraging, rest and flight – has been revealed in new detail using novel computational analyses and tracking technologies.

Using a new method called ‘ethoinformatics’, described as the application of computational methods in the investigation of animal behaviour, scientists have been able to analyse three years of migration data gathered from miniature tracking devices attached to the small seabird the Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus). (more…)

Lionfish Invasion

By Guest PostFebruary 9, 2013Environment, Natureadam marsh, biological dynamics, caribbean, cayman islands, coral reef habitats, coral reef systems, coral reefs, diversity, economic threat, ecosystem, environmental, exotic lionfish, florida waters, gainesville, government permission, indo-pacific, invasive species, lionfish invasion, little cayman, mark moline, mark warner, native habitats, neil van niekerk, new york, overfishing and pollution, reducing biodiversity, reef dwellers, reef environment, shrimp, smsp, tom frazer, university of florida, venomous barbs, young lionfish

Invasive species among marine science subjects in Cayman Islands study abroad program

With a spiky fringe of venomous barbs and bold brown-and-white stripes, the exotic lionfish invaded Florida waters several decades ago and expanded its range widely from the Caribbean to New York. Native to the Indo-Pacific, the invasive species has no natural predators in this part of the world and readily feasts on small fish and shrimp.

UD students have the opportunity to observe these intruders — up-close and underwater — in a new study abroad program offered in the Cayman Islands through the School of Marine Science and Policy (SMSP). (more…)

Americans Have Worse Health than People in Other High-Income Countries

By Guest PostJanuary 11, 2013Healthadvantaged american, aids, american, ana diez roux, australia, average, better health, blood pressure, canada, cholesterol level, chronic lung disease, diabetes, die, disability, disease, environmental, factor, gravity, health disadvantage, healthy behaviour, heart disease, high income countries, higher rate, hiv, homicide, injury, Japan, mortality gap, non hispanic whites, obesity, policy factor, rich nation, sexually transmitted infections, steven woolf, teenage pregnancies, united states, university of michigan, western european countries

WASHINGTON — On average, Americans die sooner and experience higher rates of disease and injury than people in other high-income countries, says a new report from the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine.

The report finds that this health disadvantage exists at all ages from birth to age 75 and that even advantaged Americans—those who have health insurance, college educations, higher incomes and healthy behaviors—appear to be sicker than their peers in other rich nations. (more…)

For Some Women, Genes May Influence Pressure to Be Thin

By Guest PostOctober 5, 2012Healthalexandra burt, beauty, behavior, change, cheryl sisk, eating disorder, Environment, environmental, environmental influence, environmental trigger, genetics, ideal, internalization, jessica suisman, kelly klump, michigan, msu, psychological impact, risk factor, self perception, shannon oconnor, state university, symptom, thin, western culture, western society, women, young women

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Genetics may make some women more vulnerable to the pressure of being thin, a study led by Michigan State University researchers has found.

From size-zero models to airbrushed film stars, thinness is portrayed as equaling beauty across Western culture, and it’s an ideal often cited as a cause of eating disorder symptoms in young women. The researchers focused on the potential psychological impact of women buying into this perceived ideal of thinness, which they call thin-ideal internalization. Changes in self-perception and behavior, caused by this idealization, can lead to body dissatisfaction, a preoccupation with weight and other symptoms of eating disorders. (more…)

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