GEN Reports on the Greening of the Life Sciences
Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News is published 21 times a year by Mary Ann Liebert Inc. (Credit: © 2010, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.)
Biopharmaceutical firms and other life science organizations are taking definitive steps toward creating greener working environments and developing more sustainable operations, reports Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN). This promising trend was made clear through a series of presentations and panel discussions that took place at GEN’s (www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/biopharma-s-going-green/3381), “GreenBioPharma” conference, which was recently held in Philadelphia.
“The main message that emerged from our meeting was that going green is not only beneficial to the environment but that sustainable practices make good economic sense as well,” said John Sterling, Editor in Chief of GEN.
Topics ranged from environmentally sensitive building design, air-quality monitoring systems, automation, energy efficiency, water-reduction strategies, biocatalysis to optimize process dynamics, and waste reduction and recycling. Many of the presentations emphasized the operational efficiencies and sustainable advantages of switching to disposable technologies across the process stream, including savings in labor, energy, water, chemical use, and overall costs.
Beth Junker, Ph.D., senior scientific director in bioprocess R&D at Merck, encouraged companies to assess the environmental footprints of their chemical processes—such as the aquatic toxicity of heavy metals—early in the product life cycle. Dr. Junker identified three main opportunities for waste (including energy) reduction: process intensification, easing of purification bottlenecks, and a shift in focus in purification from product capture to contaminant removal. (more…)
Researchers Analyze ‘The Environmentalist’s Paradox’
Ciara Raudsepp-Hearne
Human well-being is improving even as ecosystem services decline: Why?
Global degradation of ecosystems is widely believed to threaten human welfare, yet accepted measures of well-being show that it is on average improving globally, both in poor countries and rich ones. A team of authors writing in the September issue of BioScience dissects explanations for this “environmentalist’s paradox.” Noting that understanding the paradox is “critical to guiding future management of ecosystem services,” Ciara Raudsepp-Hearne and her colleagues confirm that improvements in aggregate well-being are real, despite convincing evidence of ecosystem decline. Three likely reasons they identify—past increases in food production, technological innovations that decouple people from ecosystems, and time lags before well-being is affected—provide few grounds for complacency, however.
Raudsepp-Hearne and her coauthors accept the findings of the influential Millennium Ecosystem Assessment that the capacity of ecosystems to produce many services for humans is now low. Yet they uncover no fault with the composite Human Development Index, a widely used metric that incorporates measures of literacy, life expectancy, and income, and has improved markedly since the mid-1970s. Although some measures of personal security buck the upward trend, the overall improvement in well-being seems robust.
The researchers resolve the paradox partly by pointing to evidence that food production (which has increased globally over past decades) is more important for human well-being than are other ecosystem services. They also establish support for two other explanations: that technology and innovation have decoupled human well-being from ecosystem degradation, and that there is a time lag after ecosystem service degradation before human well-being will be affected. (more…)
Photo Album Tells Story of Wildlife Decline
This is one of the 5,000 plus camera-trap images used to develop the Wildlife Picture Index, a new way to measure biodiversity across large landscapes. (Credit: Wildlife Conservation Society)
With a simple click of the camera, scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Zoological Society of London have developed a new way to accurately monitor long-term trends in rare and vanishing species over large landscapes.
Called the “Wildlife Picture Index,” (WPI) the methodology collects images from remote “camera traps,” which automatically photograph anything that lopes, waddles, or slinks past. These virtual photo albums – sometimes containing thousands of photos of dozens of species – are then run through a statistical analysis to produce metrics for diversity and distribution of a broad range of wildlife.
Though camera traps are already used by conservationists to track individual species or to survey wildlife in small protected areas, this study marks the first time they have been used to scientifically measure long-term trends of multiple species on a landscape-wide scale.
The study appears in the August, 2010 issue of the journal Animal Conservation. Authors include: Tim O’Brien and Linda Krueger of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Jonathan Baille of the Zoological Society of London, and Melissa Cuke of the University of British Columbia. (more…)
Networks – Not Size – Give Cities Competitive Advantage
A study by MSU sociologist Zachary Neal argues that advances in technology have allowed smaller cities to compete with urban powers such as New York. (Photo by G.L. Kohuth)
A city’s size no longer is the key factor in building vibrant local economies, according to a study by a Michigan State University sociologist.
Zachary Neal found that although America’s largest cities once had the most sophisticated economies, today that honor goes to cities with many connections to other places, regardless of their size. The study was published Aug. 30 online in the research journal City and Community.
The rise of commercial aviation, high-speed rail, the Internet and other technological advances have allowed smaller cities to compete with urban powers such as New York and Chicago, Neal said. The study identifies Denver, Phoenix and even Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart’s corporate home – as some of the most well-connected and economically sophisticated communities.
“Fifty years ago, no one would have thought to put a multinational corporation in Bentonville, Ark., when it could be in New York or Chicago or Los Angeles,” said Neal, assistant professor of sociology. “But changes in technology have started to level the playing field in terms of what cities can do.” (more…)
Americans Using Less Energy, More Renewables
The left side of the chart shows the different sources of energy and the amounts produced. Following the flow of energy from left to right, the pink boxes show where the energy is consumed (electrical generation, residential, commercial, industrial and transportation) while the shades of gray show the amount of energy lost or rejected – often through heat loss. The information is based on DOE/EIA-0384(2009), August 2010. Distributed electricity represents only retail electricity sales and does not include self-generation. EIA reports flows for non-thermal resources (i.e., hydro, wind and solar) in BTU-equivalent values by assuming a typical fossil fuel plant "heat rate." End use efficiency is estimated as 80% for the residential, commercial and industrial sectors, and as 25% for the transportation sector.
Americans are using less energy overall and making more use of renewable energy resources.
The United States used significantly less coal and petroleum in 2009 than in 2008, and significantly more wind power. There also was a decline in natural gas use and increases in solar, hydro and geothermal power according to the most recent energy flow charts released by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
“Energy use tends to follow the level of economic activity, and that level declined last year. At the same time, higher efficiency appliances and vehicles reduced energy use even further,” said A.J. Simon, an LLNL energy systems analyst who develops the energy flow charts using data provided by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration. “As a result, people and businesses are using less energy in general.”
The estimated U.S. energy use in 2009 equaled 94.6 quadrillion BTUs (“quads”), down from 99.2 quadrillion BTUs in 2008. (A BTU or British Thermal Unit is a unit of measurement for energy, and is equivalent to about 1.055 kilojoules). The average American household uses about 95 million BTU per year. (more…)
LEDs Promise Brighter Future, Not Necessarily Greener
Solid-state lighting pioneers long have held that replacing the inefficient Edison light bulb with more efficient solid-state light-emitting devices (LEDs) would lower electrical usage worldwide, not only “greenly” decreasing the need for new power plants but even permitting some to be decommissioned.
But, in a paper published Thursday in the Journal of Physics D, leading LED researchers from Sandia National Laboratories argue for a shift in that view.
“Presented with the availability of cheaper light, humans may use more of it, as has happened over recent centuries with remarkable consistency following other lighting innovations,” said Sandia lead researcher Jeff Tsao. “That is, rather than functioning as an instrument of decreased energy use, LEDs may be instead the next step in increasing human productivity and quality of life.”
The assumption that energy production for lighting will decline as the efficiency of lighting increases is contraindicated by data starting with the year A.D. 1700 that shows light use has remained a constant fraction of per capita gross domestic product as humanity moved from candle to oil to gas to electrical lighting. Thus the societal response to more efficient light production has been a preference to enjoy more light, rather than saving money and energy by keeping the amount of light produced a constant. (more…)
Lifting the Veil of Secrecy Surrounding Development of New Medicines
Samir Brahmachari, Ph.D., director-general, CSIR
An unlikely effort is underway to lift the veil of nearly-total secrecy that has surrounded the process of developing new prescription drugs for the last century, scientists said today at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). The upheaval in traditional practice would make key data available to college students, university professors, and others in an open, collective process.
Called open-source drug discovery, the new approach involves an online community of computer users from around the world working together to discover and develop much-needed new drugs. It could lead to inexpensive drugs to treat a wide variety of diseases, including tuberculosis and malaria, that claim a huge toll in developing countries.
Scientists from government, industry, and academia are presenting a dozen reports on this topic during a special symposium entitled “Open-source Drug Discover” at the ACS meeting.
Open-source drug discovery is a movement as well as an evolving program. The Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD) Consortium, for instance, is a worldwide scientific community of more than 3000 people from 74 countries that was launched in 2008 by India’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the country’s largest research and development organization. People can participate in the program by logging into a Web site: www.osdd.net
“I believe this is the way to go about not only drug discovery, but it may be a way of doing science in the future,” said OSDD Project Director Samir Brahmachari, Ph.D. “Everybody can contribute.” (more…)
Can the International Science Community Find the Balance Between Cooperation and Competition?
Charles M. Vest, president of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and moderator, 2010 Kavli Prize Science Forum. (Credit: NAE)
Cooperation comes naturally to science; or at least it should, as the big problems science is called upon to address – from climate change to pandemics – respect no boundaries. And science at its best is a group effort, inclusive and open.
But are competitive forces, now stronger than in the past, working against globally collaborative science? This will be one of the issues addressed at the inaugural Kavli Prize Science Forum, a partnership of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, The Kavli Foundation and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research. To be held on September 6 in Oslo as part of Kavli Prize Week, the Forum is a biennial event aimed at facilitating high-level, global discussion of major topics on science and science policy. This year’s topic: “The Role of International Cooperation in Science.”
The inaugural forum will bring together some of the most influential science policy figures in the world. Among them will be John P. Holdren, science advisor to President Barack Obama, and Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker, the first head of the European Research Council and now Secretary-General of the International Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSPO). Also joining a panel discussion will be the presidents of the Royal Society, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the Science Council of Japan, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Officials from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Max Planck Institute will also be panelists. (For a full list of participants, click here) (more…)
Fires Around Moscow: A Satellite Perspective
This is a false color image from Aug. 8 which highlights the smoke from the wildfires as bright yellow -- these clouds are moving towards Finland in the extreme top left of the picture. (Credit: Image created at University of Leicester, Credit for data: EUMETSAT)
Space scientists at the University of Leicester have released satellite images of vast plumes of smoke emanating from the peat bog fires which are currently sweeping across central and western Russia.
Using equipment on the European satellite MetOp-A researchers from the University’s Earth Observation Science group have analysed and released still images taken on 4, 8 and 9 August.
Each satellite image is available as both a true colour image and as a false colour version in which the smoke shows up as yellow. Using this technique, the extent of the smoke plumes and their encirclement of Moscow becomes obvious. (more…)
Wireless Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems in Cars May Compromise Privacy, Pose Security Threat
New wireless technologies in cars may compromise a driver’s privacy and pose a security threat, warn researchers at Rutgers University.
Modern automobiles are increasingly equipped with wireless sensors and devices, such as systems that monitor air pressure inside tires and trigger dashboard warnings if a tire’s pressure drops. The Rutgers researchers have shown that these wireless signals can be intercepted 120 feet away from the car using a simple receiver despite the shielding provided by the metal car body.
Since signals in tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) include unique codes from each wheel sensor, this raises concerns that drivers’ locations could be tracked more easily than through other means, such as capturing images of license plates.
The Rutgers researchers and their collaborators at the University of South Carolina are presenting results of their work this week at the USENIX Security Symposium, one of the premiere academic computer security conferences. The researchers are experts in wireless communication and computer networking security. (more…)
Africa’s Cell Phone Boom Can’t Trump Dire Need for Schools, Roads, Power & Water
by Margaret Allen
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The fast-growing use of cell phones in Africa — where many people lack the basic human necessities — has made headlines worldwide the past few years.
The surprising boom has led to widespread speculation — and hope — that cell phones could potentially transform the impoverished continent.
But new research by economists Isaac M. Mbiti and Jenny C. Aker finds that cell phones — while a useful and powerful tool for many people in Africa — cannot drive economic development on their own.
Mbiti, at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and Aker, at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., say that while there is evidence of positive micro-economic impacts, so far there’s limited evidence that mobile phones have led to macro-economic improvements in African countries.
Not a magic bullet
Cell phones can do only so much, say the researchers.
Many Africans still struggle in poverty and still lack reliable electricity, clean drinking water, education or access to roads. (more…)
New Study Examines the Economic Returns of Public Access Policies
U.S. Army research unit marks four decades in Kenya, Africa
Delivering timely, open, online access to the results of federally funded research in the United States will significantly increase the return on the public’s investment in science, according to a new study by John Houghton at the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies at Victoria University. The study, “The Economic and Social Returns on Investment in Open Archiving Publicly Funded Research Outputs,” co-authored by Bruce Rasmussen and Peter Sheehan, was released today by SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition).
Public funding of scientific, technical, and medical research assumes that economic and social returns to taxpayers will exceed the amount of the research investment. A proposal currently before the U.S. Congress – the Federal Research Public Access Act, H.R. 5037 and S. 1373 (FRPAA) – seeks to ensure and maximize the public’s return by delivering open online access to the results of research funded through 11 federal agencies no later than six months after publication in a journal. The Victoria University study outlines one approach to measuring the potential impact of this policy on returns on public investment in research and development (R&D). (more…)
Unaccounted Feedbacks from Climate-Induced Ecosystem Changes May Increase Future Climate Warming
The terrestrial biosphere regulates atmospheric composition, and hence climate. Projections of future climate changes already account for “carbon-climate feedbacks”, which means that more CO2 is released from soils in a warming climate than is taken up by plants due to photosynthesis. Climate changes will also lead to increases in the emission of CO2 and methane from wetlands, nitrous oxides from soils, volatile organic compounds from forests, and trace gases and soot from fires. All these emissions affect atmospheric chemistry, including the amount of ozone in the lower atmosphere, where it acts as a powerful greenhouse gas as well as a pollutant toxic to people and plants.
Although our understanding of other feedbacks associated with climate-induced ecosystem changes is improving, the impact of these changes is not yet accounted for in climate-change modelling. An international consortium of scientists, led by Almut Arneth from Lund University, has estimated the importance of these unaccounted “biogeochemical feedbacks” in an article that appears as Advance Online Publication on Nature Geoscience’s website on 25 July at 1800 London time. They estimate a total additional radiative forcing by the end of the 21st century that is large enough to offset a significant proportion of the cooling due to carbon uptake by the biosphere as a result of fertilization of plant growth. (more…)
International Researchers Meet in Singapore to Discuss Research Integrity
Singapore's Education Minister Dr. Ng Eng Hen delivered the opening speech at the 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity on July 22, 2010. (Credit: WCRI Official Organiser)
Research plays a crucial role in economies that value knowledge creation and innovation. As more countries develop their research and development (R&D) capabilities and embark on research initiatives and partnerships at the international level, research integrity becomes all the more important. Increasing globalisation and international collaborations also highlight the importance of promoting integrity in cross-border research.
Some 350 senior education and research policymakers, leaders of research-funding agencies, university leaders and faculty, researchers, and academic publishers from 58 countries are meeting in Singapore to discuss the key issues of research misconduct policy, responsible conduct of research, education and the promotion of professional responsibility in research.
The World Conference on Research Integrity 2010 is hosted by Singapore’s leading research-performing organisations, namely NTU, NUS, SMU and A*STAR, with support from Singapore’s Ministry of Education and the Singapore Tourism Board. The theme for conference, held at Pan Pacific Singapore from 21 to 24 July 2010, is ‘Leadership Challenges and Responses’. (more…)
BP a Classic Example of How “Greenwash” Can Engulf a Company in Perilous Waters
John Maxwell
At a 2002 Earth Summit, a group of NGOs offered a tongue-in-cheek critique of BP’s “Beyond Petroleum” campaign, naming it winner of the “Greenwash Academy Awards.” Today the company’s reputation as an environmental steward and good citizen is in tatters.
Analyzed in light of a first-of-its-kind economic analysis from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, BP offers a classic case of the potential downside for companies that place greenwash ahead of truly transparent disclosure.
Greenwash, as defined in the study, is “the selective disclosure of positive information about a company’s environmental performance without full disclosure of negative information on these dimensions.”
“Greenwash makes sense from a business perspective as it’s logical to emphasize the positive outcomes and stay away from problem areas,” said John Maxwell, professor of business economics and public policy at Kelley and co-author of the analysis.
“However, as BP demonstrates, if the public comes to view a company as ‘green,’ there will be a high price to pay if it discovers it has been duped — especially if the public suffers in a major way from ruined ecologies, job losses and other economic problems,” Maxwell added. (more…)
Citizen Journalism v. Legacy News: The Battle for News Supremacy
A team of researchers from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and two other schools say that even the top 60 citizen websites and bloggers are not filling the information shortfall that has resulted from cutbacks in traditional media.
“While many of the blogs and citizen journalism sites have done very interesting and positive things, they are not even close to providing the level of coverage that even financially stressed news organizations do today,” said Margaret Duffy, associate professor at the Missouri School of Journalism. “Not only do these blogs and websites lack the staff to adequately cover stories, but most citizen journalism managers do not have the financial resources and business experience to make their websites viable over time.”
Duffy collaborated with Esther Thorson, associate dean for graduate studies at the MU School of Journalism, and Mi Jangh, doctoral candidate at MU, along with others at Michigan State and North Carolina. The Pew and Knight foundations underwrote the research.
The researchers identified a number of factors including how much linking each website included, how much public participation they allowed or invited, how frequently news and content were updated, and whether the citizen websites provided contact information for the public. (more…)
Better-Looking Politicians Get More Media Coverage
The better a politician’s looks, the higher the frequency of television news coverage, shows a new study carried out at the University of Haifa’s Department of Communication, published in the International Journal of Press/Politics. “Earlier studies have shown that people generally tend to prefer the company of people who are physically attractive and even value them as more worthy people. Our study reveals that journalists probably behave just like the rest,” the researchers noted.
The study, carried out by Dr. Yariv Tsfati, Dana Markowitz Elfassi and Dr. Israel Waismel-Manor and based on a thesis written by Ms. Markowitz Elfassi, explored the association between the physical appearance of politicians and news coverage on Israeli television channels 1, 2 and 10. The researchers surveyed the coverage of all members of the 16th Israeli Knesset on these channels. In parallel they had the appearance of each member of Knesset -based on their official website photos - rated by Dutch students who were not familiar with the personalities, so as to avoid political bias or any sort of partiality. In order to examine whether the physical attractiveness has actual bearing on coverage and that it does not result from other differences between those who are more attractive and less attractive, additional control variables were inspected, such as age, sector, political tenure and political centrality. (more…)
Do Scientists Understand the Public?
Chris Mooney
Scientific advances often provoke deep concern on the part of the public, especially when these advances challenge strongly held political or moral perspectives.
An American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ project on Improving the Scientific Community’s Understanding of Public Concerns about Science and Technology examined the ways in which scientists engage with the public, and how their mutual understanding could be improved. More than fifty scientists, engineers, public policy experts, lawyers, ethicists, and journalists participated in a series of workshops that focused on four areas of public concern: the siting of nuclear waste repositories; the spread of personal genetic information; the next generation of the Internet; and the risks and benefits of emerging energy technologies. Several common themes emerged:
* Scientists and the public both share a responsibility for the divide. Scientists and technical experts sometimes take for granted that their work will be viewed as ultimately serving the public good. Members of the public can react viscerally and along ideological lines, but they can also raise important issues that deserve consideration.
* Scientific issues require an “anticipatory approach.” A diverse group of stakeholders — research scientists, social scientists, public engagement experts, and skilled communicators — should collaborate early to identify potential scientific controversies and the best method to address resulting public concerns. (more…)
The Vienna Declaration: A Global Call to Action on Illicit Drugs Policy
2008 Nobel Laureate and International AIDS Society (IAS) Governing Council member Prof. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, co-discoverer of HIV. (University of Cambodia )
Three leading scientific and health policy organizations today launched a global drive for signatories to the Vienna Declaration (www.viennadeclaration.com), a statement seeking to improve community health and safety by calling for the incorporation of scientific evidence into illicit drug policies. Among those supporting the declaration and urging others to sign is 2008 Nobel Laureate and International AIDS Society (IAS) Governing Council member Prof. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, co-discoverer of HIV.
The Vienna Declaration is the official declaration of the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010), the biennial meeting of more than 20,000 HIV professionals, taking place in Vienna, Austria from 18 to 23 July 2010 (www.aids2010.org).
“Many of us in AIDS research and care confront the devastating impacts of misguided drug policies every day,” said AIDS 2010 Chair Dr. Julio Montaner, President of the IAS and Director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. “These policies fuel the AIDS epidemic and result in violence, increased crime rates and destabilization of entire states – yet there is no evidence they have reduced rates of drug use or drug supply. As scientists, we are committed to raising our collective voice to promote evidence-based approaches to illicit drug policy that start by recognizing that addiction is a medical condition, not a crime.” (more…)
Enterprise PCs Work While They Sleep, Saving Energy and Money
Yuvraj Agarwal is the UC San Diego research scientist who led development of SleepServer.
Personal computers in enterprise environments save energy and money by “sleep-working,” thanks to new software called SleepServer created by computer scientists from the University of California, San Diego.
Sleep-working enterprise PCs are accessible via remote connections and maintain their presence on voice over IP, instant messaging, and peer-to-peer networks even though the PCs are in low-power sleep mode. SleepServer can reduce energy consumption on enterprise PCs previously running 24/7 by an average of 60 percent, according to a new peer-reviewed study presented by UC San Diego computer scientists on June 24 at the 2010 USENIX Annual Technical Conference in Boston.
SleepServer creates lightweight virtual images of sleeping PCs, and these pared down images maintain connectivity and respond to applications, such as Voice over IP, instant messaging and peer-to-peer services, on behalf of the sleeping PCs. Each virtual PC image can also enable remote access to the sleeping PC it represents via protocols such as Remote Desktop, VNC and encrypted connections using SSH. SleepServer is compatible with existing networking infrastructure. It is highly scalable, runs on commodity servers, and is cross platform – it works with Windows and different versions of Linux. A MAC OSx version is being developed. (more…)
Inconspicuous Consumption: Insiders vs. Outsiders
Why would a consumer spend $10,000 on a handbag that doesn’t identify the brand, when most observers would confuse it with a $50 alternative? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research finds that high-end consumers don’t always want their consumption to be conspicuous.
“Consumers often spend lavishly to communicate wealth and status to those around them and explicit branding facilitates this process,” write authors Jonah Berger (Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania) and Morgan Ward (Southern Methodist University). “Handbags with Gucci written across them in large letters, or ties covered in Burberry plaid make it easy for observers to know what brand someone purchased and that they had money to burn.”
But many high-end products do not display brand names or logos. In an analysis of handbags and sunglasses, the authors found that while only 21 percent of sunglasses under $50 contained a brand name or logo, this increased to 84 percent among sunglasses that cost between $100 and $300. However, among sunglasses priced above $500, only 30 percent displayed their brand.
While it’s clear why some consumers might want to not broadcast that they bought clothing at Walmart, the study’s authors looked at why consumers are willing to spend money on products that are easily misidentified as cheaper brands. (more…)
Loneliness, Poor Health Appear to Be Linked
By La Monica Everett-Haynes
Some people enjoy being alone. But a UA study has found that for those who are truly lonely, the issue is one of perception and could have serious health-related consequences. (Photo credit: FJ Gaylor Photography)
Hoarding friends on Facebook – or followers on Twitter – won’t do much to stave off loneliness if those relationships lack any kind of strong connection, new research finds.
Two newly published University of Arizona studies suggest that superficial relationships can not only result in feelings of detachment, but also contribute to certain health-related problems.
“There is an association between social networks and health but the precise mechanism is not understood,” said Stacey Passalacqua, who recently earned her UA doctorate in interpersonal and health communication.
Passalacqua and Chris Segrin, the UA communication department head and lead author on the papers, decided to study individual perceptions of stress and social support to understand ways loneliness may be linked to health.
In their study of 265 adults ages 19 to 85, Segrin and Passalacqua found that stress serves a crucial function for those who reported being lonely. (more…)
Physician-Journalist Guidelines Proposed in Wake of Haiti Earthquake
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a CNN medical correspondent and practicing neurosurgeon, examines an injured Haitian girl in the medical facility aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson on Jan. 18, 2010, off the coast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Erin Oberholtzer/Released)
In the wake of extensive television news reporting in Haiti by physicians such as Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CNN, guidelines for physician-journalists in covering disasters are proposed in the current issue of Electronic News, published by SAGE.
Within two days after the January 12 quake, CNN had sent Gupta, its chief medical correspondent, to the scene. Other network physician reporters, including Drs. Richard Besser (ABC News), Nancy Snyderman (NBC News), and Jennifer Ashton (CBS News), arrived in the week following the quake. The physician reporters faced an immediate question. Should they exclusively report? Or should they attend to the sick and injured? Or should they do both? And if so, how should they balance the duties and responsibilities of their two professions?
All four chose to spend some or most of their time attending to injured and dying Haitians. On returning, physician-journalists faced criticism that by reporting about their own medical efforts, they were exploiting their good deeds for crass ends.
The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Code of Ethics offers no guidelines for physician reporters. In its ”Statement of Principles,” The Association of Health Care Journalists recognizes ”that gathering and reporting information may cause harm or discomfort” and suggests ‘’special sensitivity . . . when dealing with children, mentally handicapped people, and inexperienced sources or subjects.”
The author of the article, Tom Linden, MD, is a professor of medical journalism in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and director of the medical and science journalism program. He proposes three rules for physician-journalists covering disasters. (more…)
Sweden: More Turning to the Net for their News
Nordicom, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, conducts a yearly survey of Swedes’ media use called Mediebarometern, which started in 1979. The results for the 2009 survey are now complete and show that Net media are increasingly strong, but interest in ‘traditional’ news is decreasing.
More people are using the Net to access various media – from 85 percent of youth to 34 percent of pensioners in 2009. Those of middle age and older primarily seek out traditional media’s websites, whereas youth begin with social media, e.g., Facebook. On a typical day, nearly 65 percent of 15- to 24-year-olds engage in ’social networking’ on the Internet. Over 50 percent of young Net users visit YouTube daily, and 37 percent have visited a blog. Significantly fewer, about 10 percent, are active bloggers themselves. 44 percent of children (9-14 years) play computer and video games.
Pensioners are becoming increasingly habitual Net users (34 percent); on a typical day, 20 percent of older Net users read a daily paper over the Net. However, TV viewing still dominates in all groups, with one exception – in 2009, more 15- to 24-year-olds engaged in Internet use than in TV viewing. When they watch TV, they are more likely than other groups to first choose programmes on niche channels on Viasat and SBS. We can furthermore establish that young people who are highly active Net media users are also regular users of traditional media. This is how Ulla Carlsson, Professor at Nordicom, University of Gothenburg – summarizes the results of Mediebarometern 2009. (more…)
Loading... 
