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

Early Warning System Provides Four-Month Forecast of Malaria Epidemics in Northwest India

By Guest PostMarch 9, 2013General, Healthaccurate prediction, anopheles mosquitoes, b a cash, breeding sites, climate link, environmental condition, epidemiological records, India, indicator, infected mosquitoes, malaria epidemics, malaria risk, mercedes pascual, monsoon rainfall, northwest india, plasmodium parasite, red blood cells, sea surface temperature, semi arid region, south atlantic ocean, thar desert, transmitted via bites, tropical, university of michigan, west of africa, x rodo

ANN ARBOR — Sea surface temperatures in the tropical South Atlantic Ocean can be used to accurately forecast, by up to four months, malaria epidemics thousands of miles away in northwestern India, a University of Michigan theoretical ecologist and her colleagues have found.

Colder-than-normal July sea surface temperatures in the tropical South Atlantic are linked to both increased monsoon rainfall and malaria epidemics in the arid and semi-arid regions of northwest India, including the vast Thar desert, according to Mercedes Pascual and her colleagues, who summarize their findings in a paper published online March 3 in the journal Nature Climate Change. (more…)

Stay Cool and Live Longer?

By Guest PostFebruary 24, 2013Healthbi zhang, calcium, cells, chemical reactions, cold blooded animals, cold environments, daf 16, fat cells, fat tissue, fish, flies, foxo, gene, genetic program, humans, jianke gong, live longer, longevity in mammals, longevity of roundworms, nematodes, nerve, passive thermodynamic process, pharmacological stimulation, rate, rate of aging, receptor, rui xiao, shawn xu, spicy condiment wasabi, stay cool, temperature response, trpa1 channel, university of michigan, warm blooded lanimals, worms, yongming dong

ANN ARBOR — Scientists have known for nearly a century that cold-blooded animals, such as worms, flies and fish all live longer in cold environments, but have not known exactly why.

Researchers at the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute have identified a genetic program that promotes longevity of roundworms in cold environments—and this genetic program also exists in warm-blooded animals, including humans. (more…)

Social Networking: Gen Xers Connect Online as Often as They Socialize in Person

By Guest PostFebruary 8, 2013Culture, Technologyamerican youth, americans, beginning, electronic era, electronic networking, electronic social networking, face to face, Facebook, first generation, generation x, generation x report, interactions, jon d miller, longitudinal study, personal emails, quality of life, skyping, social capital, social media, Twitter, university of michigan, vital component, young adults, young women

ANN ARBOR — Young adults in Generation X are as likely to connect with friends, family and co-workers online as they are in person, according to a University of Michigan study.

In a typical month, adults in their late 30s report that they engaged in about 75 face-to-face contacts or conversations, compared to about 74 electronic contracts through personal emails or social media. (more…)

How Planets Form: Astronomers Weigh a Protoplanetary Disk with Unprecedented Accuracy

By Guest PostFebruary 5, 2013Scienceabundant element, accuracy, amount of hydrogen, astronomers, constellation hydra, discrepancy, dust and gas, dust grains, edwin bergin, european space agency, extra neutron, five solar systems, fraction, gaseous hydrogen, goran pilbratt, herschel space observatory, how planets form, human hair, ilsedore cleeves, jupiter, like earth, Nature, nucleus, orbiting radio telescope, origin of planets, planet building process, planet forming disk, planetary birth, protoplanetary disk, solar systems, starlight, sun, terrestrial worlds, total gas mass, tw hydra, universe, university of michigan, water and carbon, weighing a disc, young star

ANN ARBOR — In a study that gives astronomers new insights into how planets form, research led by the University of Michigan has enabled a dramatically more precise measurement of the amount of dust and gas in the planet-forming disk around a young star.

The findings speak, in a way, to a fundamental question: “Why are we here?” (more…)

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…)

Tag Archives: university of michigan