fit – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Pilot program study finds that pediatric obesity patients like telehealth services

By Guest PostDecember 20, 2013Healthalma guerro, debra lotstein, fit, healthy weight program, kaizeen mody, margaret whitley, nilufar izadpanah, obesity, pediatric patients, teledietitian project, telehealth technology, ucla researcher, venice family clinic, wendy slusser

For youth dealing with obesity who need extra help losing weight, experts suggest a multidisciplinary approach in which care is provided by several health specialists. However, the logistics of traveling to multiple appointments, even if just across town, can be a barrier to receiving care, especially for low-income families.

UCLA researchers who work with this patient population set up a pilot program using telehealth technology — a secure system that allowed patients to see and speak with their health care providers at UCLA over a computer from their local health clinic — to evaluate if such a system could be an effective strategy to help overcome these issues. (more…)

Scientists Reconstruct Pre-Columbian Human Effects on the Amazon Basin

By Guest PostJune 19, 2012Environment, Sciencealan tessier, Amazon, amazon basin, amazon river, archaeological evidence, biodiversity, climate change, crystal mcmichael, cultural parkland, d r piperno, ecological processes, environmental change, european, fit, historical evidence, human disturbance, human populations, luiz lobato, m r silman, madre de dios river, mark bush, national science foundation, peru, peruvian amazon, porto velho manaus, pre columbian amazon, pre columbian times, tropical rainforests

Findings overturn idea that the Amazon had large populations of humans that transformed the landscape

Small, shifting human populations existed in the Amazon before the arrival of Europeans, with little long-term effect on the forest.

That’s the result of research led by Crystal McMichael and Mark Bush of the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT). The finding overturns the idea the Amazon was a cultural parkland in pre-Columbian times with large human populations that transformed vast tracts of the landscape.

The Amazon Basin is one of the highest biodiversity areas on Earth. Understanding how it was modified by humans in the past is important for conservation and for understanding the ecological processes in tropical rainforests. (more…)

Catastrophic Drought Looms for Capital City of Bolivia

By Guest PostNovember 13, 2010Environmentandean ecosystems, andean forests, andes, Bolivia, carbonate deposition, catastrophic drought, climatologist, ecology, fit, florida institute of technology, interglacial periods, lake poopo, lake titicaca, mark bush, paul filmer, peru, sherilyn fritz, temperatures rise, vegetation change

*Historical ecology of the Andes indicates desert-like setting on the horizon*

Catastrophic drought is on the near-term horizon for the capital city of Bolivia, according to new research into the historical ecology of the Andes.

If temperatures rise more than 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius (3 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit) above those of modern times, parts of Peru and Bolivia will become a desert-like setting.

About the image: Lake Titicaca from space. Its outline may look very different in the future. Image credit: NASA (more…)

Tag Archives: fit

Pilot program study finds that pediatric obesity patients like telehealth services

Scientists Reconstruct Pre-Columbian Human Effects on the Amazon Basin

Catastrophic Drought Looms for Capital City of Bolivia