michigan – Page 3 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Sharks: Bad Creatures or Bad Image?

By Guest PostNovember 8, 2012Media, Naturebret muter, climate change, conservation biology, conservation issue, ecology, extinction, fins, habitat loss, international, key issue, Media, media coverage, media market, meredith gore, michigan, negative effect, negative report, news article, overfishing, overharvesting, pollution, risks, shark attack, shark biology, shark conservation, shark population, sharks, species, state university, survival, threat, threatened species, udall foundation, wildlife

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Historically, the media have been particularly harsh to sharks, and it’s affecting their survival.

The results of a Michigan State University study, appearing in the current issue of the journal Conservation Biology, reviewed worldwide media coverage of sharks – and the majority isn’t good.

Australian and U.S. news articles were more likely to focus on negative reports featuring sharks and shark attacks rather than conservation efforts. Allowing such articles to dominate the overall news coverage diverts attention from key issues, such as shark populations are declining worldwide and many species are facing extinction, said Meredith Gore, MSU assistant professor of fisheries and wildlife and the School of Criminal Justice. (more…)

New Mobile App Helps Migraine Sufferers Track and Analyze Pain

By Guest PostNovember 6, 2012Health, Technology3d skull, alexandre dasilva, attack, eric maslowski, facial pain, ipad, iphone app, ipod, michigan, migraine, nerve pain, pain, paintrek, record, sean petty, sean sheehan, stephanie omalley, temporomandibular disorders, tmd, university

ANN ARBOR — A new iPhone app developed at the University of Michigan lets migraine or facial pain patients easily track and record their pain, which in turn helps the treating clinician develop a pain management plan.

Dr. Alexandre DaSilva, director of the Headache & Orofacial Pain Effort (H.O.P.E.) at the U-M School of Dentistry and one of the project developers, said the app will help people with migraine, temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and other types of facial nerve pain. (more…)

The Fed and Interest Rates: Biased Toward the GOP?

By Guest PostNovember 1, 2012Politicsbill clinton, counter intuitive, democrat, election, fed, federal funds rates, federal reserve bank, fiscal, george bush, government, independent bank, jared wadley, michigan, monetary policies, partisan bias, party, policy behaviour, presidential election, republican, right wing, study, university, vincent are bundock, White House, william clark

ANN ARBOR — With the elections less than a week away, it’s worth considering that the party of the president influences the policy behavior of the Federal Reserve Bank, according to a new University of Michigan study.

The Federal Reserve Bank increases interest rates before the presidential elections when Democrats are in office, but lowers the rates when Republicans control the White House. The independent bank finds it easier to accomplish its policy goals when Republicans control the White House than when Democrats do, the researchers say. (more…)

Common Food Preservative May Slow, Even Stop Tumor Growth

By Guest PostOctober 30, 2012Healthanti tumor, antibacterial agent, antimicrobial, bacteria, bad cell, calcium, cancer fighting, cancer medicine, cancerous tumor, cell carcinoma, cell death, cell head, cell membrane, chac1, fda, food preservative, good cell, human consumption, key regulator, michigan, neck cancer, nisin, nisin treatment, oral cancer, potential, properties, protein, squamous, therapy, tumor, university, yvonne kapila

ANN ARBOR — Nisin, a common food preservative, may slow or stop squamous cell head and neck cancers, a University of Michigan study found.

What makes this particularly good news is that the Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization approved nisin as safe for human consumption decades ago, says Yvonne Kapila, the study’s principal investigator and professor at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. (more…)

Small Organisms Could Dramatically Impact World’s Climate

By Guest PostOctober 26, 2012Environment21st century, atmospheric, carbon, carbon dioxide, christopher klausmeier, climate change, colin kremer, cycle, david garrison, diversity, element, elena litchman, equatorial water, evolutionary adaptation, food chain, global climate, impact, level, marine microorganism, michigan, mridul thomas, nitrogen, ocean, ocean floor, organism, phosphorous, photosynthesis, phytoplankton, population, science express, state university, temperature, tropical water, warmer

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Warmer oceans in the future could significantly alter populations of phytoplankton, tiny organisms that could have a major impact on climate change.

In the current issue of Science Express, Michigan State University researchers show that by the end of the 21st century, warmer oceans will cause populations of these marine microorganisms to thrive near the poles and may shrink in equatorial waters. Since phytoplankton play a key role in the food chain and the world’s cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous and other elements, a drastic drop could have measurable consequences. (more…)

Exercise May Lead to Better School Performance for Kids with ADHD

By Guest PostOctober 17, 2012Health, Scienceadhd, american children, attention, brain activity, cartoon fish, challenge, charles hillman, children, computer game, daniel picchietti, deficit, disorder, eeg cap, error, exercise, hyperactivity, inhibitory control, journal, kids, matthew pontifex, michigan, mistake, nonpharmaceutical treatment, pediatrics, physical activity, physical education, program, state university, swimming, treadmill, walking briskly

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A few minutes of exercise can help children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder perform better academically, according to a new study led by a Michigan State University researcher.

The study, published in the current issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, shows for the first time that kids with ADHD can better drown out distractions and focus on a task after a single bout of exercise. Scientists say such “inhibitory control” is the main challenge faced by people with the disorder. (more…)

Fingerprints for Financing: Removing Some Risk from Lending in Africa

By Guest PostOctober 16, 2012Economy, Generalafrican nation, american, biometric identification, birth certificate, computer, control trial, credit history, dean yang, defaulting, economic review, economist, fingerprinting, id, identification system, jessica Goldberg, malawi, michigan, microfinance institution, national, negative association, paprika, paprika farmer, positive association, record, rural area, scanned fingerprint, software, southeastern, university, witchcraft, world bank, xavier gine

ANN ARBOR — Some called it “witchcraft.” Others just watched in awe as their scanned fingerprints were used to pull up their records on a computer.

They were paprika farmers in Malawi participating in a new study that shows fingerprinting can help encourage borrowers to repay their loans.

Like many impoverished countries, Malawi lacks a national identification system. Most of the population lives in rural areas with few government services. Even ID as basic as a birth certificate is rare in the southeastern African nation. (more…)

First Digital Resource Explores 1918 Flu Epidemic

By Guest PostOctober 14, 2012General, Health1918, american, american history, americans, canteen volunteers, culture, detroit chapter, digital collection, digital encyclopedia, general public, hathitrust, history, howard markel, influenza epidemic, influenza victims, john wilkin, medical policy, medicine, michigan, motor corps, online, public health, red cross, united states, university

ANN ARBOR — The University of Michigan has established the largest digital collection of materials relating to the 1918 influenza epidemic in the United States.

“The American Influenza Epidemic of 1918: A Digital Encyclopedia,” created by the Center for the History of Medicine in partnership with the U-M Library’s MPublishing, documents 50 diverse communities in the United States during fall 1918 and winter 1919—a period when the effects of influenza caused the deaths of an estimated 650,000 Americans (and 50 million people worldwide). (more…)

Tag Archives: michigan