Tag Archives: new jersey

Poor concentration: Poverty reduces brainpower needed for navigating other areas of life

By Guest PostSeptember 4, 2013Scienceanandi mani, cognitive function, easy, eldar shafir, financial woe, hard, harvard university, ifmr trust, India, iq, jiaying zhao, journal science, mental tax, money situation, new jersey, poor concentration, poverty reduces brainpower, scenario, sendhil mullainathan, university of warwick in britain

Poverty and all its related concerns require so much mental energy that the poor have less remaining brainpower to devote to other areas of life, according to research based at Princeton University. As a result, people of limited means are more likely to make mistakes and bad decisions that may be amplified by — and perpetuate — their financial woes.

Published in the journal Science, the study presents a unique perspective regarding the causes of persistent poverty. The researchers suggest that being poor may keep a person from concentrating on the very avenues that would lead them out of poverty. A person’s cognitive function is diminished by the constant and all-consuming effort of coping with the immediate effects of having little money, such as scrounging to pay bills and cut costs. Thusly, a person is left with fewer “mental resources” to focus on complicated, indirectly related matters such as education, job training and even managing their time. (more…)

Morphing manganese

By Guest PostAugust 31, 2013Environmentair, al mucci, aquatic environments, biogeochemistry, black sea, canada, electron, essential nutrient, george luther, golder associates, gulf, manganese, manganese oxide reduction, mcgill university, molecular oxygen, morphing manganese, new jersey, nitrate, ocean environments, ocean sediments, oxidation state, oxygen, photosynthesis, saint laurentian estuary, saint lawrence, sedimentary redox cycle, transition zone, university of delaware

UD researchers report new discovery in ‘Science’ about manganese in aquatic environments

An often-overlooked form of manganese, an element critical to many life processes, is far more prevalent in ocean environments than previously known, according to a study led by University of Delaware researchers that was published this week in Science.

The discovery alters understanding of the chemistry that moves manganese and other elements, like oxygen and carbon, through the natural world. Manganese is an essential nutrient for most organisms and helps plants produce oxygen during photosynthesis. (more…)

Measuring Microbes Makes Wetland Health Monitoring More Affordable, Says MU Researcher

By Guest PostMay 15, 2013Environmentarchaea, atreyee sims, bacteria, cape may, earth, ecosystem, healthy ecosystem, kidneys, measuring microbes, microorganisms, new jersey, soil, university of missouri, wastewater, wastewater treatment, water samples, wetland health, wetland health evaluation, zhiqiang hu

Understanding microbe communities could improve wetland wastewater treatment systems

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Wetlands serve as the Earth’s kidneys. They filter and clean people’s water supplies while serving as important habitat for many species, including iconic species like cattails, cranes and alligators. Conventional ecosystem health assessments have focused on populations of these larger species. However, the tiny, unseen creatures in the wetlands provided crucial indicators of the ecosystems’ health in a study by University of Missouri Associate Professor of Engineering Zhiqiang Hu and his team. Using analysis of the microbiological health of wetlands is cheaper and faster than traditional assessments, and could lead to improvements in harnessing natural processes to filter humans’ wastewater.

“During road and building construction, engineers must sacrifice wetlands to development, but laws dictate that these lost wetlands be compensated for by establishing a wetland somewhere else,” said Hu. “Our research could be applied to both monitor the success of these compensation wetlands and guide conservationists in inoculating new engineered ecosystems with the correct types of microorganisms.” (more…)

Research Enables Fishermen to Harvest Lucrative Shellfish on Georges Bank

By Guest PostMay 13, 2013Environment, Sciencealexandrium cells, alexandrium fundyense, bloom dynamics, cape cod, chrissy petitpas, cysts, darcie couture, dave townsend, dave wallace, deana erdner, delaware, dennis mcgillicuddy, dna evidence, don anderson, ecohab, fda, georges bank, gomtox project, gulf of maine, harmful algal blooms, marine biotoxins, massachusetts, microscope, mindy richlen, nccos, new england shellfisheries, new jersey, noaa, nova scotia, ocean quahogs, offshore population, paralytic shellfish poisoning, phytoplankton, psp, red tides, rhode island, robert magnien, sea watcher, sea water samples, smast, stacey degrasse, surf clams, toxicity, toxicity in shellfish, united states, university of maine, university of massachusetts, university of texas, whoi

Combined research efforts by scientists involved in the Gulf of Maine Toxicity (GOMTOX) project, funded by NOAA’s Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) program, and administered by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), have led to enhanced understanding of toxic algal blooms on Georges Bank. This new information, coupled with an at-sea and dockside testing protocol developed through collaboration between GOMTOX and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigators, has allowed fishermen to harvest ocean quahogs and surf clams in these offshore waters for the first time in more than two decades.

The shellfish industry estimates the Georges Bank fishery can produce up to 1 million bushels of surf clams and ocean quahogs a year, valued $10 – 15 million annually. “There is a billion dollars’ worth of shellfish product on Georges Bank that is property of the United States but that can’t be harvested because of the threat of toxicity, and 99.9% of the time, it is good wholesome product,” says Dave Wallace of North Atlantic Clam Association and a GOMTOX participant. “In an unusual and unique partnership, we worked with GOMTOX scientists, the FDA, and the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Delaware and now that huge resource can go into commerce, which helps the entire country.” (more…)

Questions for Rick Benjamin: Rhode Island’s New Poet Laureate

By Guest PostJanuary 19, 2013Cultureadrienne rich, aids project, brown, community service, courtney coelho, daily practice, eliot, environmental studies, hiv, immemorial, intellectual practice, kevin young, langston hughes, lincoln d chafee, lucille clifton, new jersey, nonprofit work, ordinary life, poem, poetry, public humanities, rhode island, rick benjamin, robert hass, rutgers, ruth stone, spiritual practice, state poet, tibetan scholar

Rick Benjamin, adjunct assistant professor of environmental studies and public humanities, was recently appointed state poet of Rhode Island by Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee. A five-year position, the state poet serves as principal advocate for poetry in Rhode Island. Benjamin has dedicated much of his career to the intersection of poetry and community service, a relationship he incorporates into “Poetry and Community Service,” a course he teaches at Brown and other schools. Courtney Coelho spoke with Benjamin about his poetry, his mission of service, and how he intends to incorporate the two in his new position.

Describe your poetry. What is your style? What are your influences?

I have a wide range of influences. I tend to learn everything through the ear. My early influences were always oral and musical, starting with poetry I probably didn’t really understand by Eliot that my mom was reading me. So she would say things like, “So intimate, this Chopin, that I think his soul should be resurrected only among friends some two or three, who will not touch the bloom that is rubbed and questioned in the concert room.” There’s not a lot of that that I would have understood when she said it, but I did hear it and I really loved the sound of it. And Langston Hughes is a poet I became acquainted with really early on and again it was the sound and the rhythm and the music in the poetry that I responded to first. In terms of poets that I read now: Lucille Clifton, Adrienne Rich, Ruth Stone, Robert Hass, Kevin Young. (more…)

Legal Options for Medical Malpractice Victims

By Guest PostJanuary 9, 2013Healthcarlos, correct treatment, doctor, lawsuit, legal options, medical malpractice, medical professional, new jersey, nurse, seasoned legal blogger, statute of limitations, unnecessary suffering, victims

As a patient, it is extremely important that you are aware of how a doctor, nurse, or any other medical professional is treating you at all times. Medical professionals are expected to adhere to the established standards of their profession when providing care, and if they do not, and you suffer harm as a result, you could take legal action. If a doctor, surgeon, or other practitioner acts in a negligent manner, either through an action he or she took or an action he or she failed to take, medical malpractice may have occurred and the victim may be able to pursue a lawsuit.

From failing to appropriately diagnose your condition to not providing you with the correct treatment in a timely manner, reckless actions from medical professionals can cause serious damage. Fortunately, victims may be able to secure compensation to help cover the costs associated with their unnecessary suffering. (more…)

Amazon Marketplace Sellers Enjoy High Growth Holiday Season

By Guest PostJanuary 2, 2013TechnologyAmazon, amazon customers, edison, eli silver, fba, fulfillment by amazon, general manager, holiday growth, mygift, new jersey, peter faricy, selling on amazon, stephen lai, third party sellers

Third-party selling on Amazon grew more than 40 percent year-over-year during the holiday season

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan. 2, 2013– Amazon.com, Inc. today announced that 2012 was a record-breaking holiday season for businesses selling on Amazon. The more than 2 million third-party sellers worldwide on Amazon experienced record holiday growth: unit growth solely from sellers in the U.S. increased more than 40 percent year-over-year. For the year, sellers on Amazon sold hundreds of millions of units worth tens of billions of dollars worldwide.

“We value the breadth and depth of selection that businesses selling on Amazon offer our more than 188 million active customers worldwide,” said Peter Faricy, VP for Amazon Marketplace. “The entire Amazon Seller organization is focused on helping third-party businesses succeed and grow on Amazon. We do this by creating a dynamic marketplace platform that helps every seller deliver the best possible selection, service and prices to all Amazon customers.” (more…)

Renewable News

By Guest PostDecember 10, 2012Environmentbatteries, carbon dioxide, computer model, cory budischak, electric grid, electricity demands, electricity generation capability, electricity sources, external cost, gigawatt, greenhouse gas, human health effects, hydrogen tanks, natural gas, new jersey, pjm interconnection, power grid, power sector, reduction, renewable energy, renewable news, solar power, storage, storage mechanisms, storage medium, united states, university of delaware, willett kempton, wind, wind power

Wind, solar power paired with storage could be cost-effective way to power grid

Renewable energy could fully power a large electric grid 99.9 percent of the time by 2030 at costs comparable to today’s electricity expenses, according to new research by the University of Delaware and Delaware Technical Community College.

A well-designed combination of wind power, solar power and storage in batteries and fuel cells would nearly always exceed electricity demands while keeping costs low, the scientists found. (more…)