university of michigan – Page 10 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Effort to Enforce HIV ‘Health Threat’ Law Raises Questions

By Guest PostFebruary 1, 2013General, Healthadvocates, blood draw, community, database, diagnose, epidemiological data, health threat law, hiv positive woman, hiv surveillance technologies, hiv-positive, local jurisdictions, medical information, michigan health officials, people, policymakers, public health policy, sex, sexual partners, sexually transmitted diseases, stakeholders, trevor hoppe, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR — Michigan health officials are using HIV surveillance technologies to assist in enforcing a “health threat” law that makes it illegal for HIV-positive people to have sex without disclosing their status.

A new University of Michigan study reveals that health officials employ the state’s names reporting database, alongside partner services referrals, for law enforcement purposes. However, this is bad social policy for a variety of reasons, says Trevor Hoppe, the study’s author and a doctoral candidate in sociology and women’s studies. (more…)

Internet Banging: Gangs Use Social Media to Trade Insults, Threats

By Guest PostJanuary 31, 2013Culture, Technologycrimes, desmond patton, dirk butler, Facebook, gang members, gangs, hip hop music, homicide, insults, internet banging, male dominated behaviour, phenomenon, public forum, robert eschmann, social media, social media behaviour, threats, Twitter, university of chicago, university of michigan, urban masculinity, urban youth, violence, voice, YouTube

ANN ARBOR — Gangs now occupy two spaces: the streets and the Internet.

A new University of Michigan study reports that, in addition to carrying guns, gang members have armed themselves with social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to incite dares, trade insults or make threats that may result in homicide or other crimes.

Researchers have described this new interaction as “Internet banging.” They examine several factors, including the role of hip-hop music in this phenomenon and urban masculinity’s influence on social media behavior. (more…)

Violent Video Games Intensify anti-Arab Stereotypes

By Guest PostJanuary 19, 2013Cultureanti arab attitudes, arab men, arab terrorists, arabs, caucasian man, counter strike, craig anderson, effect, emotion, harmful impact, iowa state university, muniba saleem, negative belief, negative stereotypes, nonviolent golf game, prejudice, psychology of violence, researcher, russian terrorists, stereotypical appearance, terrorism, typical arab, united states, university of michigan, violent video games, weapon, woman

ANN ARBOR — Playing violent video games about terrorism strengthens negative stereotypes about Arabs, even when Arabs are not portrayed in the games.

That is one of the findings of an innovative new study in the January issue of Psychology of Violence, a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Psychological Association. (more…)

Americans Have Worse Health than People in Other High-Income Countries

By Guest PostJanuary 11, 2013Healthadvantaged american, aids, american, ana diez roux, australia, average, better health, blood pressure, canada, cholesterol level, chronic lung disease, diabetes, die, disability, disease, environmental, factor, gravity, health disadvantage, healthy behaviour, heart disease, high income countries, higher rate, hiv, homicide, injury, Japan, mortality gap, non hispanic whites, obesity, policy factor, rich nation, sexually transmitted infections, steven woolf, teenage pregnancies, united states, university of michigan, western european countries

WASHINGTON — On average, Americans die sooner and experience higher rates of disease and injury than people in other high-income countries, says a new report from the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine.

The report finds that this health disadvantage exists at all ages from birth to age 75 and that even advantaged Americans—those who have health insurance, college educations, higher incomes and healthy behaviors—appear to be sicker than their peers in other rich nations. (more…)

Women Drivers Outnumber Men, but Still Drive Less

By Guest PostDecember 28, 2012Generalamerica, average female, declining rate, distance, drivers license, fatality rate, federal highway administration, fuel efficient vehicles, gender demographics, majority, male motorists, michael sivak, outnumber, roads, university of michigan, us drivers, women drivers

ANN ARBOR — Although women drivers now outnumber male motorists, men still account for the majority of the driving on America’s roads—albeit at a declining rate, says a University of Michigan researcher.

Using data from the Federal Highway Administration, Michael Sivak, a research professor at the U-M Transportation Research Institute, examined changes in the gender demographics of U.S. drivers from 1963 to 2010. (more…)

Old Habits Die Hard: Helping Cancer Patients Stop Smoking

By Guest PostNovember 26, 2012Healthann arbor, cancer diagnosis, death, familiar scene, hospital gowned patients, iv poles, lung cancer, medical campuses, nicotine addiction, program, quit smoking, smoking cigarettes, sonia duffy, treatment, university of michigan, va center

ANN ARBOR — It’s a sad but familiar scene near the grounds of many medical campuses: hospital-gowned patients, some toting rolling IV poles, huddled in clumps under bus shelters or warming areas, smoking cigarettes.

Smoking causes 30 percent of all cancer deaths and 87 percent of all lung cancer deaths. Yet, roughly 50 percent to 83 percent of cancer patients keep smoking after a cancer diagnosis, through treatment and beyond, says Sonia Duffy, University of Michigan School of Nursing researcher. For patients who quit on their own, relapse rates (as in the general population) are as high as 85 percent. (more…)

Financial Crisis to Blame for Increased Suicides in Italy

By Guest PostAugust 21, 2012Economy, Generalausterity package, bologna, crisis year, david stuckler, economic reason, Europe, global financial crisis, great recession, Greece, increase, italy, michael gideon marmot, rate, regression model, roberto de vogli, suicide, tax office, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— The global financial crisis has contributed to an increase in the rates of suicide and attempted suicide for economic reasons in Italy, new research shows.

A team of researchers, co-led by Roberto De Vogli, associate professor of health behavior and health education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health,

looked at data from 2000-10 and found an increase in suicides and attempted suicides for economic reasons during the entire period. (more…)

Entropy Can Lead to Order, Paving The Route to Nanostructures

By Guest PostJuly 28, 2012Scienceaerodynamics, atoms, computer simulation, crystal structure, disorder, drifting particle, entropy, michael engel, nanoparticle, pablo damasceno, particle, Science, shape, sharon glotzer, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Researchers trying to herd tiny particles into useful ordered formations have found an unlikely ally: entropy, a tendency generally described as “disorder.”

Computer simulations by University of Michigan scientists and engineers show that the property can nudge particles to form organized structures. By analyzing the shapes of the particles beforehand, they can even predict what kinds of structures will form.

The findings, published in this week’s edition of Science, help lay the ground rules for making designer materials with wild capabilities such as shape-shifting skins to camouflage a vehicle or optimize its aerodynamics. (more…)

Tag Archives: university of michigan