Tag Archives: university of missouri

For Young Adults, Appearance Matters More than Health, MU Research Suggests

By Guest PostAugust 13, 2012Culture, General, Healthappearance, carlia francis, college age, food environment, good nutrition, healthful choice, interactive play, maría len rios, mizzou advantage, nutrition 101, professor of theater, self image, societal message, suzanne burgoyne, unattainable figure, university of missouri, young adults

Research inspires interactive theater, opens dialogue

COLUMBIA, Mo. –When it comes to college-age individuals taking care of their bodies, appearance is more important than health, research conducted at the University of Missouri suggests. María Len-Ríos, an associate professor of strategic communication, Suzanne Burgoyne, a professor of theater, and a team of undergraduate researchers studied how college-age women view their bodies and how they feel about media messages aimed at women. Based on focus group research findings, the MU team developed an interactive play about body image to encourage frank discussions about conflicting societal messages regarding weight, values and healthful choices.

“During our focus group conversations, we learned that young people don’t think about nutrition when it comes to eating,” Len-Ríos said. “They think more about calorie-counting, which isn’t necessarily related to a balanced diet.” (more…)

Press Freedom Leads to Happiness, Environmental Quality, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostAugust 9, 2012Culture, Media, Politicsbruno takahashi, democracy, Economy, edson tandoc, environmental degradation, environmental quality, freedom, government, happy, information, life satisfaction, predict, press, united nations, university of missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Freedom of the press is viewed by many as a cornerstone of democracy. But can it actually help improve people’s lives and make them happy? Researchers at the University of Missouri have found that citizens of countries with press freedom tend to be much happier than citizens of countries without free presses. Edson Tandoc, Jr., a doctoral student in the MU School of Journalism, says that press freedom directly predicts life satisfaction across the world.

“We already know that having reliable, objective news sources can benefit democracy, but in this study, we found that press freedom also benefits communities by helping improve the overall quality of life of citizens and, in the process, by also making them happier,” Tandoc said. “People enjoy having an element of choice about where they get their news. Citizens of countries without a free press are forced to rely on the government for information, when what people really want is diversity in content where they are free to get the information they want from the source of their choosing.” (more…)

Multiple Husbands Serve as Child Support and Life Insurance in Some Cultures Says MU Researcher

By Guest PostAugust 4, 2012Cultureamerican women, anthropology, culture, economic repercussion, extra husbands, India, kathrine starkweather, marriage structure, multiple husbands, nepal, non classical polyandry, polyandrous cultures, polyandry, raymond hames, tibet, united states, university of missouri, university of nebraska, women

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Marrying multiple husbands at the same time, or polyandry, creates a safety net for women in some cultures, according to a recent study by a University of Missouri researcher. Extra husbands ensure that women’s children are cared for even if their fathers die or disappear. Although polyandry is taboo and illegal in the United States, certain legal structures, such as child support payments and life insurance, fill the same role for American women that multiple husbands do in other cultures.

“In America, we don’t meet many of the criteria that tend to define polyandrous cultures,” said Kathrine Starkweather, doctoral student in MU’s Department of Anthropology in the College of Arts and Science. “However, some aspects of American life mirror polyandrous societies. Child support payments provide for offspring when one parent is absent. Life insurance allows Americans to provide for dependents in the event of death, just as secondary husbands support a deceased husband’s children in polyandrous societies.” (more…)

Detecting Cancer with Lasers Has Limited Use, Say Mu Researchers

By Guest PostAugust 1, 2012Healthamerican cancer society, cancerous cells, carbon nanotube, cellular tissue, enhancers, gerardo gutierrez juarez, gold, luis polo parada, malaria, markers, melanoma skin cancer, Mexico, nanoparticle, photoacoustics, pigmentation, united states, university of guanajuato, university of missouri, xrays

COLUMBIA, Mo. — One person dies every hour from melanoma skin cancer in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. A technique known as photoacoustics can find some forms of melanoma even if only a few cancerous cells exist, but a recent study by University of Missouri researchers found that the technique was limited in its ability to identify other types of cancer. Attaching markers, called enhancers, to cancer cells could improve the ability of photoacoustics to find other types of cancer and could save lives thanks to faster diagnoses, but the technique is in its early stages.

“Eventually, a photoacoustic scan could become a routine part of a medical exam,” said Luis Polo-Parada, assistant professor of pharmacology and physiology and resident investigator at the MU Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center. “The technique doesn’t use X-rays like current methods of looking for cancer. It could also allow for much earlier detection of cancer. Now, a cancerous growth is undetectable until it reaches approximately one cubic centimeter in size. Photoacoustics could potentially find cancerous growths of only a few cells. Unfortunately, our research shows that, besides some cases of melanoma, the diagnostic use of photoacoustics still has major limitations. To overcome this problem, the use of photoacoustic enhancers like gold, carbon nanotubes or dyed nanoparticles is needed.” (more…)

Adolescent Sexual Behavior Tied to Motion Picture Sexual Content Exposure, Says MU Researcher

By Guest PostJuly 24, 2012Culture, Generaladolescent, condom, exposure, monogamous, ontraceptive, risky sexual behavior, ross ohara, sexual activity, sexual behavior, sexual content, sexual partner, sexual stimulation, university of missouri

Results Important to Parents/Motion Picture Industry

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Young people who watch more sexual content from movies also tend to engage in more sexual behavior and begin sexual activity at an earlier age, according to a University of Missouri researcher’s study.

“We can’t say that watching sexual content in movies is directly responsible for adolescents’ sexual behavior,” said Ross O’Hara, currently a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Missouri, who conducted the research with other psychological scientists while at Dartmouth College. “However, there is a correlation between the two. Sensation seeking, or the tendency to seek more novel and intense sexual stimulation, does seem to increase in young people who watched more movies with sexually explicit content.” (more…)

Gold Nanoparticles Could Treat Prostate Cancer With Fewer Side Effects than Chemotherapy, MU Researchers Find

By Guest PostJuly 20, 2012Healthanandhi upendran, cathy cutler, charles caldwell, chemotherapy, gold nanoparticle, half life, kattesh katti, nanoparticle, prostate, prostate cancer, prostate tumor, radioactive, radioactive seeds, raghuraman kannan, tea, treatment, tumor, tumor cell, university of missouri

In new study published in PNAS, scientists found that nanoparticles, produced from chemicals in tea, reduced tumors by 80 percent.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Currently, large doses of chemotherapy are required when treating certain forms of cancer, resulting in toxic side effects. The chemicals enter the body and work to destroy or shrink the tumor, but also harm vital organs and drastically affect bodily functions. Now, University of Missouri scientists have found a more efficient way of targeting prostate tumors by using gold nanoparticles and a compound found in tea leaves. This new treatment would require doses that are thousands of times smaller than chemotherapy and do not travel through the body inflicting damage to healthy areas. The study is being published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. (more…)

Advertisers Could Target Online Audiences More Efficiently with Personality Scale, MU Researcher Finds

By Guest PostJuly 14, 2012TechnologyFacebook, heather shoenberger, high risk activity, mini mam, mini motivation, news feed, online advertising, personality type, Phoenix, scale, school of journalism, social media, university of missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Online advertising has become prevalent in the past five years, and social media sites, such as Facebook, have played a major role. Now, a study at the University of Missouri School of Journalism has developed a method that could help advertisers target online audiences easier by knowing their personality types.

Using a new personality scale, researchers determine how people with certain personality types use social media websites. Heather Shoenberger, a doctoral student in the MU School of Journalism, found that those individuals who liked high-risk activity tended to update their status, upload photos and interact with friends frequently. Simultaneously, those individuals who were more reserved tended to merely scroll through Facebook’s “news feed”, and did not upload photos or actively engage with their friends frequently. (more…)

Childhood Obesity Linked to Math Performance, MU Researcher Says

By Guest PostJune 22, 2012Scienceacademic tests, anxious, childhood obesity, elementary grades, kindergarten, math performance, mediated analysis, obesity, sara gable, university of missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Childhood obesity has increased dramatically throughout the past 40 years and has been tied to many health problems. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found that children’s weight is associated with their math performance.

“The findings illustrate the complex relationships among children’s weight, social and emotional well-being, academics and time,” said Sara Gable, associate professor in the MU Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, who led the study.

Gable looked at more than 6,250 children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort, a nationally representative sample. The children were followed from the time they started kindergarten through fifth grade. At five points in time, parents provided information about their families, teachers reported on the children’s interpersonal skills and emotional well-being, and children were weighed and measured; they also took academic tests. (more…)