Tag Archives: united states

Changes in language and word use reflect our shifting values, UCLA psychologist reports

By Guest PostAugust 17, 2013Culture, Generalauthority, belong, changes in language, Google, google books database, hypothesis, ngram viewer, non fiction publications, obedience, patricia greenfield, pray, rural environment, shifting values, socio demographic, textbooks, ucla psychologist, united states, urbanization, word use

Study analyzes more than 1 million books published over 200 years

A new UCLA analysis of words used in more than 1.5 million American and British books published between 1800 and 2000 shows how our cultural values have changed.

The increase or decrease in the use of certain words over the past two centuries — a period marked by growing urbanization, greater reliance on technology and the widespread availability of formal education — reveals how human psychology has evolved in response to major historical shifts, said Patricia Greenfield, a distinguished professor of psychology at UCLA and the author of the study. (more…)

China has potential to be leader in global sustainability

By Guest PostAugust 13, 2013Environmentair pollutants, carbon dioxide emissions, carbon emissions, carbon intensive industries, cement, China, dabo guan, domestic energy market, douglas crawford brown, electrical grids, energy, global sustainability, great britain, jianguo jack liu, kebin he, leader, michigan state university, steel, tsinghua university, united states, zhu liu

China, with its enormous cities and vast countryside, is a potential star in the ongoing global drama of slashing carbon emissions.

In this week’s Nature, a Michigan State University researcher and an international team of sustainability experts propose a script.

China already is a star in unleashing carbon dioxide emissions. In 2011, it accounted for a quarter of the world’s total. The problems – air pollution, squandered energy resources and economic stresses that squelch growth – also come with tremendous opportunity for China to be leader in slashing emissions. Along the way, China’s vast variety of economic and geographic circumstances offers a chance to set examples for its global neighbors. (more…)

Oldest European fort in the inland US discovered in Appalachians

By Guest PostAugust 11, 2013Culture, Scienceamerican south, appalachian mountains, appalachians, archaeologist, atlantic coast, carolina piedmont, catawba river, christopher rodning, city of morganton, coastal south carolina, colonial invasion, david moore, de aviles, earliest european fort, England, foothills, fort san juan, full scale, geophysical technique, inland us, jamestown, juan pardo, large scale excavations, latin america, lost colony, magnetometry, mound building mississippian, native americans, oldest european, pat berry, pedro menendez, robin beck, sir walter raleigh, spanish captain, spanish soldiers, team of archaeologists, tulane university, united states, university of michigan, warren wilson college

ANN ARBOR — The remains of the earliest European fort in the interior of what is now the United States have been discovered by a team of archaeologists, providing new insight into the start of the U.S. colonial era and the all-too-human reasons spoiling Spanish dreams of gold and glory.

Spanish Captain Juan Pardo and his men built Fort San Juan in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in 1567, nearly 20 years before Sir Walter Raleigh’s “lost colony” at Roanoke and 40 years before the Jamestown settlement established England’s presence in the region. (more…)

Obama on NSA, Russia and others (Press Conference, 9 August 2013)

By Guest PostAugust 10, 2013Politicsamerican leadership, anti american, cold war, edward snowden, fisc, g20, human rights, members of congress, nsa, Obama, olympics, others, patriot act, press conference, russia, russian cooperation, soviet union, start, syria, the white house, united states, us russian relationship, vladimir putin

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. Please have a seat.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been talking about what I believe should be our number-one priority as a country — building a better bargain for the middle class and for Americans who want to work their way into the middle class. At the same time, I’m focused on my number-one responsibility as Commander-in-Chief, and that’s keeping the American people safe. And in recent days, we’ve been reminded once again about the threats to our nation.

As I said at the National Defense University back in May, in meeting those threats we have to strike the right balance between protecting our security and preserving our freedoms. And as part of this rebalancing, I called for a review of our surveillance programs. Unfortunately, rather than an orderly and lawful process to debate these issues and come up with appropriate reforms, repeated leaks of classified information have initiated the debate in a very passionate, but not always fully informed way. (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…)

A constitutional right to health care

By Guest PostJuly 29, 2013Health, Politicsaccountability, adele cassolab, affordable care act, amy raub, canada, canada foundation, congress, constitutional right, global public health, global recognition, half empty, half full, health care, health protection, innovation, jody heymann, latvia, lipi mishrab, mcgill university, medical care, moral right, senegal, transparency, ucla, united nations, united states, uruguay, us supreme court

UCLA-led study shows that many countries have it, but not the U.S.

Uruguay has it. So does Latvia, and Senegal. In fact, more than half of the world’s countries have some degree of a guaranteed, specific right to public health and medical care for their citizens written into their national constitutions.

The United States is one of 86 countries whose constitutions do not guarantee their citizens any kind of health protection. That’s the finding of a new study from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health that examined the level and scope of constitutional protection of specific rights to public health and medical care, as well as the broad right to health. (more…)

Among Indian immigrants, religious practice and obesity may be linked, study shows

By Guest PostJuly 26, 2013Culture, Healthasian indians, body weight, california, dataset, diabetes, ethnic groups, heart disease, hinduism, hindus, independent factor, indian ancestry, indian immigrants, insulin resistance, islam, marjorie kagawa singer, martin f shapiro, mitchell d wong, muslims, nazleen bharmal, obesity, racial, ramadan, religious practice, sikhism, sikhs, united states

Asian Indians are one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States, and roughly half a million people of Indian ancestry live in California — more than any other state. Individuals from this group are strongly predisposed to obesity-related conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, due in large part to physical inactivity, diets low in fruit and vegetables, and insulin resistance.

Among other racial and ethnic groups, research has shown that religious practices and religiosity have been associated with obesity and greater body weight, but no one had studied this potential link among Indians. (more…)

Link between low vitamin D blood levels and heart disease varies by race

By Guest PostJuly 25, 2013Health25 hydroxyvitamin, blacks, blood levels, by race, cardiovascular events, cassianne robinson cohen, chinese, coronary heart disease, gene variations, genetic variation, heart disease, hispanics, ian deboer, jama, kidney disease, kidney research institute, leila gray, low vitamin d, mesa, metabolism, michael lauer, multi ethnic, risk factors, study group, united states, university of washington, vitamin d activation, vitamin d levels, whites

Low vitamin D blood levels are linked to greater risk of heart disease in whites and Chinese, but not in blacks and Hispanics, according to a study appearing this week in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Growing evidence has suggested that low blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin are associated with higher risk of developing coronary heart disease among whites. Few of these studies included substantial numbers of people from other races. (more…)