Futurity.org » University of Sheffield

To think clearly under stress, focus on values

Shilo Rea-Carnegie Mellon — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:49:50 +0000

CARNEGIE MELLON (US) — New research provides the first evidence that self-affirmation can protect against the damaging effects of stress on problem-solving performance.

Understanding that self-affirmation—the process of identifying and focusing on one’s most important values—boosts stressed individuals’ problem-solving abilities. The findings, published in PLOS ONE, will help guide future research and the development of educational interventions.

“An emerging set of published Carnegie Mellon University studies suggest that a brief self-affirmation activity at the beginning of a school term can boost academic grade-point averages in underperforming kids at the end of the semester. This new work suggests a mechanism for these studies, showing self-affirmation effects on actual problem-solving performance under pressure,” says J. David Creswell, assistant professor of psychology.

Existing drugs treat seizures in zebrafish

Paul Mannion-Sheffield — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 16:41:06 +0000

U. SHEFFIELD (UK) — Screening a collection of 2,000 biologically active compounds with two-day-old epileptic zebrafish has revealed 46 potential options for future epilepsy treatment.

Those 46 compounds—including some which are used to treat infectious, psychiatric, and inflammatory disorders—were found to exhibit anticonvulsant activity.

Approximately one out of every 140 people in the UK has epilepsy—more than 400,000 people—of which about 30 percent do not respond favorably to the available anti-epileptic drugs.

Books contain fewer words about feelings

Amy Stone-Sheffield — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 10:22:47 +0000

U. SHEFFIELD (UK) — Other than fear, words about emotions have steadily decreased in books throughout the last century, say researchers.

As reported in PLOS ONE, the researchers looked at how frequently “mood” words were used through time in a database of more than five million digitized books provided by Google.

With less ice, growing seasons shift in Arctic

Sara Rimer-Boston U — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:17:36 +0000

BOSTON U. (US) — As snow and ice cover shrink in northern latitudes, researchers say temperatures and vegetation increasingly resemble those found farther south.

The findings, published in the journal Natural Climate Change, are based on newly improved ground and satellite data sets.

Inflammation turns off gene that stops early labor

Amy Pullan-Sheffield — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:59:43 +0000

U. SHEFFIELD (UK) — Inflammation in the uterus can switch off a key gene that stops labor from occurring too early, research shows. The discovery may lead to new treatments to prevent premature births.

The process behind how women go into normal term labor is still poorly understood, but it is vital that it happens at the right time when the baby is ready to be born and can survive. Currently there are few reliable drugs that can be used to stop labor if it starts too early.

3D model changes fetal heart ‘timeline’

Amy Pullan-Sheffield — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 21:06:20 +0000

U. SHEFFIELD / U. LEEDS (UK) — Compared to those of other mammals, human hearts are disorganized jumbles of tissue until relatively late in pregnancy, new research shows.

Researchers have created the first comprehensive model of human heart development using observations of living fetal hearts. The results show surprising differences from existing animal models.

For cheap solar cells, use ‘spray paint’

Paul Mannion-Sheffield — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:43:30 +0000

U. SHEFFIELD (UK) — Making solar cells with a process similar to spray-painting could significantly lower their cost and make them available to people in developing countries.

The method spray-coats a photovoltaic active layer by an air based process—similar to spraying regular paint from a can—to develop a cheaper technique which can be mass produced.

Heat stroke killing captive baby elephants

Paul Mannion-Sheffield — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 14:57:54 +0000

U. SHEFFIELD (UK) — High temperatures and low rainfall brought on by climate change affect the survival of elephants working in timber camps in Myanmar and double the risk of death to the calves.

Elephants are particularly vulnerable to heat stress because of their large size and because they don’t sweat like humans or pant like dogs to cool down.

Bat dad devotion depends on the roost

Chris Bunting-U. Leeds — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 14:32:41 +0000

U. LEEDS (UK) — Male bats range from devoted fathers to independent bachelors along a 50 km stretch of the River Wharfe in Yorkshire, England.

A team led by Professor John Altringham from the University of Leeds’ School of Biology has studied a population of several hundred of the tiny Daubenton’s bats for more than a decade.

The researchers report that all Daubenton’s bats in nursery roosts in lowland areas of Wharfedale during the spring and summer were females and their offspring.

Human enzyme could neutralize nerve agents

Paul Mannion-Sheffield — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 21:36:02 +0000

U. SHEFFIELD (UK) — A new treatment tested in mice appears to neutralize the effects of chemicals that kill hundreds of thousands of people each year.

Organophosphorus agents (OP) are used as pesticides in developing countries and acute poisoning is common because of insufficient control, poor storage, ready availability, and inadequate education amongst farmers.