Tag Archives: united states

Teaching Autistic Teens to Cope

By Guest PostJune 17, 2012Healthalexander gantman, asd, autism spectrum disorder, catherine mogil, elizabeth laugeson, fred frankel, help group, knowledge, social functioning, teenagers, united states

Unique UCLA program that teaches social skills proves effective over long term

Teenagers with autism spectrum disorder are in a bind. The disorder is characterized by impairments in communication and social interaction, but it’s a continuum, so some teens diagnosed with ASD are considered high functioning and healthy enough to be “mainstreamed” in school.

But without the proper social skills, even mainstreamed teens don’t quite fit into the general social milieu of middle school or high school. As a result, they suffer from all the slings and arrows of that world.

Since 2006, however, the UCLA PEERS (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills) clinic has assisted high-functioning teens with ASD by literally teaching them the strategies they need to fit in better with their peers. And while previous research demonstrated that the program was effective, it wasn’t known whether the new skills “stuck” with these teens after they completed the PEERS classes. (more…)

Measuring the “Other” Greenhouse Gases: Higher Than Expected Levels of Methane in California

By Guest PostJune 16, 2012Environmentanthropogenic, atmospheric lifetime, berkeley lab, black carbon, california, carb, carbon dioxide, central valley, ch4 emissions, climate pollutant, CO2, coal mines, decomposition, environment policy, fossil fuel, fraction, global warming, greenhouse gas, halocarbon gases, landfills, livestock ranches, man made source, map, marc l fischer, methane, methane emissions, methane signals, natural sources, nitrous oxide, noaa, organic matter, refrigerants, sacramento, seongeun jeong, soot, sound energy, spatial, temporal resolution, united states, walnut grove

Berkeley Lab scientists develop new method for evaluating short-lived pollutants.

New research from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has found that levels of methane—a potent greenhouse gas emitted from many man-made sources, such as coal mines, landfills and livestock ranches—are at least one-and-a-half times higher in California than previously estimated.

Working with scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Berkeley Lab scientists Marc L. Fischer and Seongeun Jeong combined highly accurate methane measurements from a tower with model predictions of expected methane signals to revise estimated methane emissions from central California. They found that annually averaged methane emissions in California were 1.5 to 1.8 times greater than previous estimates, depending on the spatial distribution of the methane emissions. (more…)

Evolution of Religious Patriarchy as a Mate-Guarding Strategy?

By Guest PostJune 15, 2012Culture, Scienceadultery, african population, african society, beverly strassmann, Bible, biological anthropologist, brenda gillespie, brendan hugg, christianity, contraception, cuckoldry, dogon belief, dogon people, dogon practice, eneticist, erin burke, evolution, female sexuality, fertility status, fidelity, genetic data, ideology, indigenous, islam, Mali, menstrual huts, menstrual taboos, michael hammer, monotheistic religion, nikhil kurapati, pollution, quran, rates of cuckoldry, religious patriarchy, religious practices, sacred texts, tatiana karafet, traditional, united states, university of arizona, university of michigan, village, virginity, west africa, word of god, y dna mismatch

One of the largest and longest studies in a traditional African society sheds light on religious practices and cuckoldry. Genetic data suggest religious patriarchy is directly analogous to the mate-guarding tactics used by animals to ensure paternity.

Religious practices that strongly control female sexuality are more successful at promoting certainty about paternity, according to a study published in the June 4, 2012 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In an interdisciplinary collaboration, a group of researchers around biological anthropologist Beverly Strassmann from the University of Michigan and University of Arizona geneticist Michael Hammer analyzed genetic data on 1,706 father-son pairs in a traditional African population – the Dogon people of Mali, West Africa – in which Islam, two types of Christianity and an indigenous, monotheistic religion are practiced in the same families and villages. (more…)

Vampire Bat Study May Lead to Better Rabies-Control Strategies

By Guest PostJune 14, 2012Nature, ScienceAmazon rainforest, badgers, bat colonies, blood samples, bovine, cattle, charles rupprecht, culling bats, daniel streicker, ebola, genetic studies, immune, infectious diseases, ivan vargas, joel montgomery, jorge gomez benavides, marburg hemorrhagic fevers, mathematical modelling, nipah encephalitis, pejman rohani, peru, rabies, rabies in peru, rabies infections, rabies virus, sars, sergio recuenco, south america, tuberculosis, united states, university of michigan, vacuum effect, vampire bats, vampiricide, víctor pacheco, wildlife disease, zoonotic diseases

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A new study of rabies in vampire bats in Peru has found that culling bats—a common rabies control strategy—does not reduce rates of rabies exposure in bat colonies, and may even be counterproductive.

The findings may eventually help public health and agriculture officials in Peru develop more effective methods for preventing rabies infections in humans and livestock, according to a team of scientists from the United States and Peru led by Daniel Streicker, a postdoctoral associate at the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology.

The study was published online this week in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The research team includes University of Michigan population ecologist Pejman Rohani. (more…)

A SMART(er) Way to Track Influenza

By Guest PostJune 12, 2012Scienceaartik sarma, amplification, andrew artenstein, anubhav tripathi, biological debris, brown assay, brown university, carmichael ong, DNA, first aid kit, flu detection test, genetic sequence, H1N1, hiv, influenza rna, influenza rna sequence, iPhone, magnetics, memorial hospital, microfluidics, nasba, nucleic acid sequence, pigs, polymerase chain reaction, prototype, rhode island, rna partners, rna probe, rna strand, smart, smart detector, stephanie mccalla, steven opal, swine flu, tb, tracking of influenza, tuberculosis, united states, virus in mexico

Brown University researchers have created a reliable and fast flu-detection test that can be carried in a first-aid kit. The novel prototype device isolates influenza RNA using a combination of magnetics and microfluidics, then amplifies and detects probes bound to the RNA. The technology could lead to real-time tracking of influenza. Results are published in the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — In April 2009, the world took notice as reports surfaced of a virus in Mexico that had mutated from pigs and was being passed from human to human. The H1N1 “swine flu,” as the virus was named, circulated worldwide, killing more than 18,000 people, according to the World Health Organization. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States said it was the first global pandemic in more than four decades. (more…)

Where Have All the Hummingbirds Gone?

By Guest PostJune 8, 2012Environment, Natureamy mckinney, arizona, billy barr, broad tailed hummingbirds, bumblebees, central america, crested butte, david bertelsen, david inouye, food resources, glacier lily, global warming, higher latitudes, hummingbirds, hummingbirds fly, male hummingbirds, mountain meadows, mountain summer, national science foundation, nectar, nickolas waser, North America, paul caradonna, saran twombly, united states, university of maryland

Glacier lilies and broad-tailed hummingbirds out of sync

The glacier lily as it’s called, is a tall, willowy plant that graces mountain meadows throughout western North America. It flowers early in spring, when the first bumblebees and hummingbirds appear.

Or did.

The lily, a plant that grows best on subalpine slopes, is fast becoming a hothouse flower. In Earth’s warming temperatures, its first blooms appear some 17 days earlier than they did in the 1970s, scientists David Inouye and Amy McKinney of the University of Maryland and colleagues have found. (more…)

Clean Energy From CO2?

By Guest PostMay 23, 2012Environmentcarbon dioxide, cpg, crust, cycle, deane morrison, earth, electricity, fossil fuels, geologic formation, geothermal heat, geothermal systems, global warming, green future, heat mining company, hydrofracking, impermeable rock, international space station, jimmy randolph, martin saar, mobility, renewable energy, supercritical, thomas kuehn, underground storage, united states, university of minnesota, villain co2

Global warming villain CO₂ may have a surprisingly green future

The next frontier in the search for renewable energy lies less than two miles from where you are now.

Unless you’re reading this on the International Space Station.

Geothermal heat a mile or two deep in Earth’s crust is a potential source of energy that could be tapped by an unlikely carrier: carbon dioxide (CO₂), the central villain in global warming. That energy, unlike solar and wind, could be easily turned on and off without the intermediate step of being stored in a battery. And it would be constant and reliable. (more…)

Study Highlights How Twitter is Used to Share Information After a Disaster

By Guest PostMay 22, 2012Media, Technology2011 nuclear disaster, andrew binder, fukushima, fukushima daiichi, fukushima disaster, hazard, Japan, nuclear plant, social media, technology issues, tool, tsunami, tweets, Twitter, twitter posts, united states, websites

A study from North Carolina State University shows how people used Twitter following the 2011 nuclear disaster in Japan, highlighting challenges for using the social media tool to share information. The study also indicates that social media haven’t changed what we communicate so much as how quickly we can disseminate it.

“I wanted to see if Twitter was an effective tool for sharing meaningful information about nuclear risk in the wake of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant,” says Dr. Andrew Binder, an assistant professor of communication at NC State and author of a paper describing the work. “I knew people would be sharing information, but I wanted to see whether it was anecdotal or substantive, and whether users were providing analysis and placing information in context. (more…)