Science Education & Policy

Shape Up Somerville: Eat Smart. Play Hard.™ a community-based environmental change intervention to prevent obesity in culturally diverse, early elementary school children reduced weight gain over one school year. The program was designed and implemented by researchers from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and the Tufts University School of Medicine in close collaboration with the community. The first year results reflect efforts of children, parents, teachers, school food service providers, health care providers and policy makers, as well as city…

In the eternal conflict between friends and parents, friends will often win because they highlight the positive aspects of sex. Parental communication more often than not focuses on the negative aspects of sex, write Marina Epstein and L. Monique Ward from The University of Michigan. In the study, total of 286 male undergraduates aged 18-24 were asked to recall who had had the greatest influence on their sexual education and, more specifically, who had discussed or been responsible for which aspects. The authors’ goal was to determine whether there is a difference in the information gleaned…

According to this study, marital sex is the single greatest HIV risk for women around the world. Marital infidelity by men is so deeply ingrained across many cultures, say Mailman School of Public Health researchers, existing HIV prevention programs are putting a growing number of women at risk of developing the HIV virus. The findings, indicating that globally, prevention programs that take a "just say no” approach and encourage men to be monogamous are unlikely to be effective, underline the need for programs that make extramarital sex safer, rather than—unrealistically—trying to eradicate…

Does the time of year in which a child is conceived influence future academic achievement? Yes, according to research by neonatologist Paul Winchester, M.D., Indiana University School of Medicine professor of clinical pediatrics. Dr. Winchester and colleagues linked the scores of 1,667,391 Indiana students in grades 3 through 10 who took the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP) examination with the month in which each student had been conceived. The researchers found that ISTEP scores for math and language were distinctly seasonal with the lowest scores received by…

The growing premature birth rate in the United States appears to be strongly associated with increased use of pesticides and nitrates, according to work conducted by Paul Winchester, M.D., professor of clinical pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Winchester and colleagues found that preterm birth rates peaked when pesticides and nitrates measurements in surface water were highest (April-July) and were lowest when nitrates and pesticides were lowest (Aug.-Sept.). More than 27 million U.S. live births were studied from 1996-2002. Preterm birth varied from a high of 12…

Regular as clockwork, the flu arrives every year. And, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5 to 20 percent of the U.S. population on average will come down with it. About 36,000 people will die. But among health experts, a bigger concern than the seasonal flu is an outright flu pandemic, such as a human strain of avian flu. And officials say it is not a question of if such a health crisis will come but when. Are we prepared? In a word, say three UCLA researchers, no. In a report to be published in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS Computational Biology and…

In a special issue, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment explores ecology in an era of globalization, looking at the impacts of human migration, production systems, and invasive species on ecosystems and people throughout North, Central, and South America. Scientists from throughout the Americas gathered last year in Merida Mexico and held a conference on this very topic. The following are highlights from the meeting, including more extensive work done since the event. In an introduction by Jeffrey Herrick (US Department of Agriculture) and José Sarukhan (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de…

More than one in three HIV positive gay men say they have unprotected sex, reveals a community survey, published ahead of print in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections. And almost one in five HIV negative men said that they do the same, the figures show. The findings are based on a survey of men at gay bars, clubs, and saunas in London, Manchester, and Brighton between 2003 and 2004. The surveys, which were carried out at 90 venues, involved information on lifestyle, background, and sexual behaviour. Almost 3600 questionnaires were handed out, 2640 of which were completed. Saliva…

According to a study in the May/June 2007 issue of the journal Ground Water, pharmaceuticals are being found in septic tanks and, consequentially, ground water due to incomplete human metabolism and excretion into the waste stream or by disposal of unused medications in the toilet or down the sink. This screening-level study investigated the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in areas receiving waste water from septic tanks located in sand and gravel deposits in Missoula, Montana. Many pharmaceutical and pharmaceutically-active compounds (e.g. caffeine) persist through the human body and are…

Hari Jayaram just listed my blog as one that makes him think. Keeping the meme going, I'll list 5 that have had an impact on me. 1. Beth's Second Life Beth Ritter-Guth has been a huge inspiration for me and she is the main reason I pulled the trigger on getting involved with Second Life for my teaching and research. We have collaborated on many other projects involving social software and new approaches to education - Google her name for many more goodies. 2. Chem-bla-ics Egon Willighagen has been instrumental to the cheminformatics community. From the description on his blog: "chemblaics…