Tag Archives: university of missouri

Emotional News Framing Affects Public Response to Crises, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostJanuary 16, 2012Mediaanger frame, automobile recalls, corporate response, crisis, crisis situations, distinct emotions, effective communication, glen cameron, human face, hyo kim, journalism research, maxine wilson gregory chair, message, nanyang technological university, news frames, organizational crises, plane crashes, public relations, relief, sadness frame, singapore, strategies, substantive action, university of missouri, victims, wellbeing

COLUMBIA, Mo. – When organizational crises occur, such as plane crashes or automobile recalls, public relations practitioners develop strategies for substantive action and effective communication. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found that the way in which news coverage of a crisis is framed affects the public’s emotional response toward the company involved.

Glen Cameron, the Maxine Wilson Gregory Chair in Journalism Research and professor of strategic communication at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, along with Hyo Kim of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, studied the reactions of news readers when exposed to a story about a crisis. One group read an “anger-frame” story that blamed the organization for the crisis. Another group read a “sadness-frame” story that focused on the victims and how they were hurt by the crisis. Cameron and Kim found that those who read the “anger-frame” story read the news less closely and had more negative attitudes toward the company than those exposed to the “sadness-frame” story. (more…)

MU Researchers Find Unique Protein Organization in Arteries Associated with Cardiovascular Disease

By Guest PostJanuary 13, 2012Health, Science3 d microscopic imaging technology, amount of protein, artery, artery functions, blood vessels, cardiovascular disease, cause of death, circulatory complications, diabetes, disorders, elastin, elastin production, factor, gerald meininger, high blood pressure, human arteries, michael hill, minute structural elements, molecular biologists, stiffening, stiffening process, tissue replacement proces, united states, university of missouri

*Knowledge could assist in tissue replacements, treatments for high blood pressure and diabetes*

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Human arteries – some smaller than a strand of hair – stiffen as a person ages. This stiffening is a factor in cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the United States, because it contributes to the circulatory complications in disorders such as high blood pressure and diabetes. University of Missouri researchers have now used advanced 3-D microscopic imaging technology to identify and monitor the proteins involved in this stiffening process. These findings could eventually help researchers and physicians understand and treat complications associated with cardiovascular disease. (more…)

Investment Risk Tolerance Affected by Age, Economic Climate, MU Study Shows

By Guest PostJanuary 5, 2012Economyasset preservation, client education, counter productive strategy, economic climate, economic outlook, federal reserve board, financial planners, financial risk, investment goals, investors, market fluctuations, pragmatic relationship, risk tolerance, risks, rui yao, steady source of income, stock market, time period, turbulent economy, u.s economy, united states, university of missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. – As the U.S. economy continues to lag, many investors remain wary about taking risks with the stock market. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have concluded that this attitude toward investment risk-taking is influenced by the age of the investor and the economic climate of the time period. Rui Yao, an assistant professor of personal financial planning in the College of Human Environmental Sciences at MU, found that willingness to take financial risks, or “risk tolerance,” decreases as investors age.

“Age has a pragmatic relationship with financial risk,” Yao said. “Each additional year of life represents a shortened time horizon for recouping market losses. In addition, individuals approaching or in retirement may shift focus from asset accumulation to asset preservation. These individuals may become relatively more concerned about potential loss of money when they are closer to retirement or no longer have a steady source of income.” (more…)

Breast Cancer Survivors Benefit From Practicing Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, MU Researchers Find

By Guest PostDecember 31, 2011Healthamerican cancer society, breast cancer, health challenges, jane armer, lifestyles and belief, mbsr, meditation, meditation technique, mindfulness, mindfulness based stress reduction, physical awareness, positive effects, post diagnosis, survivors, university of missouri, women, yaowarat matchim, yoga

*Survivors’ psychological and physiological health improved after training*

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Women recently diagnosed with breast cancer have higher survival rates than those diagnosed in previous decades, according to the American Cancer Society. However, survivors continue to face health challenges after their treatments end. Previous research reports as many as 50 percent of breast cancer survivors are depressed. Now, University of Missouri researchers in the Sinclair School of Nursing say a meditation technique can help breast cancer survivors improve their emotional and physical well-being. (more…)

MU Unveils 3-D Visual Immersion Laboratory

By Guest PostDecember 20, 2011Science3 d, active shutter, bimal balakrishnan, design studio curriculum, designing buildings, experiential tool, glasses, high definition projection screens, icon lab, iel, ilab, immersive 3 d technology, immersive environments lab, model, penn state university, rooms, smart board, Technology, three dimensional space, university of missouri

*New “iLab” will allow undergraduate students to design projects in a 3-D environment*

COLUMBIA, Mo. – One of the most difficult tasks architects and interior designers face when designing buildings and rooms is visualizing exactly what their projects will look like when they are finished. Now, the University of Missouri architectural studies department has developed the Immersive Visualization Lab (iLab) to help students visualize their designs more accurately. Bimal Balakrishnan, an assistant professor of architectural studies in MU College of Human Environmental Sciences, says the iLab will be one of few labs in the country to allow undergraduate students to get hands-on experience using immersive 3-D technology to complete and test their designs as part of their design studio curriculum.

“Most university immersion labs are reserved primarily for graduate students to use for research purposes,” Balakrishnan said. “While the MU iLab will be used for research, it will also serve as an excellent teaching and experiential tool for undergraduate students.” (more…)

Serendipitous News Reading Online is Gaining Prominence, MU Study Shows

By Guest PostDecember 3, 2011Mediabizarre, borchuluun yadamsuren, exposure, Facebook, internet, newspapers, online news, serendipitous discovery, television news, traditional media, university of missouri

*Media should place news links on different sites to take advantage of this phenomenon*

COLUMBIA, Mo. –Traditional media, such as newspapers and television news, require readers and viewers to intentionally seek out news by picking up a newspaper or turning on the television. The Internet and new technologies now are changing the way readers consume online news. New research from the University of Missouri shows that Internet users often do not make the conscious decision to read news online, but they come across news when they are searching for other information or doing non-news related activities online, such as shopping or visiting social networking sites. (more…)

MU Engineers Developing Military Applications for Smartphones

By Guest PostNovember 22, 2011Technology, Weaponsaccelerometer, android phones, bluetooth, camera, cellular, compass, dominic ho, gps, internet, iphones, leonard wood institute, microphone, military targets, off the shelf, popular smartphones, smartphone based system, smartphone information, soldiers in combat situations, university of missouri, us army, wenjun zeng, wifi, wireless sensors, yi shang

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Tracking military targets? The University of Missouri’s College of Engineering has an app for that.

Engineers from the MU College of Engineering, with funding from the U.S. Army/Leonard Wood Institute, have enhanced popular smartphones to be able to find and track targets. In addition, the engineers have developed ad hoc networks so that soldiers can relay smartphone information without using the internet. (more…)

Government Secrecy Claims Too Broad, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostNovember 4, 2011Politicscharles davis, democracy, foia, freedom of information act, global war on terror, government information, journalism, mosaic theory, national security, secrecy and transparency, september 11, terrorist threats, terrorists, university of missouri

*Mosaic theory interferes with public’s right to know, MU expert says*

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Since September 11, 2001, the global war on terror has changed the way the U.S. government regards secrecy and transparency. Journalism researchers from the University of Missouri are concerned about the impact this may have on information freedom in the future. Charles Davis, an associate professor of journalism studies at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, has found that more and more government agencies are using the “mosaic theory” to rationalize keeping government information secret. Mosaic theory is a legal theory used to uphold the classification of information, saying that a collection of unclassified information might add up into a classified whole. Davis finds this trend disturbing. (more…)