Futurity.org » University of Virginia

Recon 2 predicts how metabolism misbehaves

Josh Barney-Virginia — Mon, 13 May 2013 17:31:13 +0000

U. VIRGINIA (US) — The largest computer model of human metabolism offers a new way to understand, and perhaps treat, conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

The powerful new tool will speed the development of new drugs and treatments and, eventually, may allow doctors to tailor medicine to each patient’s personal biology. The researcher is published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

Impartial experts not so impartial

Josh Barney-Virginia — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 21:01:58 +0000

U. VIRGINIA (US) — Researchers find that many “impartial” expert witnesses lose sight of objectivity and tend to come to conclusions that align with those who pay for their services.

Forensic psychologists and psychiatrists are ethically bound to be impartial, to look only at the evidence before them, when performing evaluations or providing expert opinions in court. But new research suggests that the paycheck some courtroom experts receive influences their evaluations.

In a real-world experiment, experts who believed they were working for prosecutors tended to conclude that sexually violent offenders were at greater risk of re-offending than did experts who thought they were working for the defense, the researchers found.

Redshirt hype? Most don’t delay kindergarten

Audrey Breen-Virginia — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:20:32 +0000

U. VIRGINIA (US) — Delaying a child’s entry into kindergarten—known as “redshirting”—is not as common as thought, but the percentage varies greatly depending on the child’s community.

Researchers found that only between 4 percent and 5.5 percent of children have their entries into kindergarten delayed.

Bullying victims don’t have many enemies

Kathryn Ware-Virginia — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:48:27 +0000

U. VIRGINIA (US) — Bullied kids are not universally disliked by their peers, but they are strongly disliked by those who harass them, say researchers.

Though the thousands of kids who are bullied ever day may have interpersonal and behavioral difficulties, and they may not be the most popular students at school, many are not disliked by classmates.

Bump in ozone bewilders bugs

A'ndrea Elyse Messer-Penn State — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 19:14:22 +0000

PENN STATE (US) — Increases in ground-level ozone, especially in rural areas, not only interfere with the ability of predator insects to find host plants but also with pollinators to find flowers.

For a new study, researchers tested the striped cucumber beetle, a predator of cucurbits—cucumber, squash, pumpkin, and melons. These insects dine on the plants from the moment they emerge from the ground and when fruit forms, they eat that, too.

Teen social struggles can last into adulthood

Fariss Samarrai-Virginia — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:46:12 +0000

U. VIRGINIA (US) — Most teens who fail to build strong, independent relationships with peers continue to have social and romantic issues into adulthood, a study shows.

Teenagers’ struggles to connect with their peers in the early adolescent years while not getting swept along by negative peer influences predict their capacity to form strong friendships and avoid serious problems as much as a decade later, conclude researchers involved in a longitudinal study.

Does low-fat milk make kids heavier?

Josh Barney-Virginia — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:59:40 +0000

U. VIRGINIA (US) — Preschoolers who drink low-fat milk are more likely to be overweight or obese than kids given 2 percent or whole milk, new research suggests.

The new study evaluates data from 10,700 American children between the ages of 2 to 4 followed in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study.

Amino acid linked to asthma, obesity combo

Anita Srikameswaran-Pittsburgh — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:11:05 +0000

U. PITTSBURGH (US) — An imbalance in the metabolism of arginine could cause respiratory trouble and asthma issues in obese people, especially those who develop asthma later in life.

The relationship between asthma and obesity is in many ways a conundrum, says the study’s lead author, Fernando Holguin, associate professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and co-director of the Asthma Institute.

A person who has severe asthma may require frequent steroid treatments and limit his or her activity, resulting in weight gain; in others, obesity seems to aggravate or even initiate asthma symptoms.

Bouncy material remembers original shape

Fariss Samarrai-Virginia — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:45:39 +0000

U. VIRGINIA (US) — Originally made to fix a wobbly table, a new type of silicone rubber is a “viscoelastic” solid—both rigid and fluid at the same time.

The material can be placed under a table leg where it conforms to the shape of the leg bottom and the floor surface, perfectly filling the gap.

Threat of death gets more blood donors

H. Brevy Cannon-Virginia — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:55:19 +0000

U. VIRGINIA / NORTHWESTERN (US) — To motivate people to give blood, asking them to “prevent a death” works much better than “save a life,” new research shows.

For the study published in PLoS One, researchers collaborated with the American Red Cross to assess the effects of changing the urgency and messaging of a call for blood donations.