Jet Lag Is a Drag: Why It Happens and How to Avoid It
Baylor UniversityAnyone who has traveled has probably experienced jet lag – that exhausted feeling that comes after long travel and trips. But why do we feel jet lagged and how can we avoid it?
Anyone who has traveled has probably experienced jet lag – that exhausted feeling that comes after long travel and trips. But why do we feel jet lagged and how can we avoid it?
Baylor University mathematicians Dorina Mitrea, Ph.D., and Marius Mitrea, Ph.D., along with Irina Mitrea, Ph.D., professor of mathematics at Temple University, have co-authored an unprecedented 5-volume, 5,000-page original research monograph that creates a new track in mathematics. Geometric Harmonic Analysis (GHA) is a specific area of mathematics at the crossroads of two well-established branches: geometry and harmonic analysis.
Although time is a set duration of hours, minutes and seconds, the perception of time can vary dramatically based on the individual and especially during times of high stress and uncertainty such as disasters, recessions and most recently the COVID-19 lockdown.
Jay L. Banner, Ph.D., F. M. Bullard Professor at UT-Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences, selected for national teaching award, will teach in residence at Baylor in spring 2025.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a five-year, $3.37 million research grant to Baylor University, Blackfeet Community College (BFCC) in Browning, Montana, and Montana State University-Bozeman to explore how the resiliency of the Blackfeet American Indian community could mitigate the health effects related to historical and childhood trauma.
Evidence suggests maternal incarceration is a risk factor for adolescents’ depression and withdrawal, as well as substance abuse and delinquency. However, little work has been done to understand how it affects sleep patterns, dietary behaviors and physical activity.
In 2018 and 2019, Sarah Kienle, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology at Baylor University, and her colleagues collected movement and dive behavior data and samples from leopard seals off the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Their goal was to compile crucial baseline data on the ecology and physiology of this enigmatic species.
Elemental Analysis is so widely adopted that chemistry journals require this technique to publish any new compound. The standard of the value obtained being plus or minus of 0.4% of the formula value for a compound, as determined by elemental analysis, but is this long-accepted +/-0.4% standard accurate? Depending on the nature of the compound, element assessed, and identity of the trace impurities, the +/-0.4% requirement could be too high or too low, and that intrigued an international research team led by a Baylor University chemistry professor to conduct the first-ever review of the validity of the standard.
A new study from researchers with Baylor University’s Sleep Neuroscience and Cognition Laboratory shows that chronotypes are more flexible than originally thought.
Results from the Waco COVID Survey have provided needed insights into how the dynamics of COVID-19 transmission, health behaviors and COVID-19-related attitudes changed across the first two years of the pandemic in the McLennan County, Texas.
Noted Baylor University smartphone researchers Meredith E. David, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Marketing, and James A. Roberts, Ph.D., The Ben H. Williams Professor of Marketing in the Hankamer School of Business, have investigated the correlation between the “flow states” – or happiness experienced by individuals – while using Instagram and TikTok and psychological well-being.
With National Pi Day March 14, Baylor mathematics chair Dorina Mitrea, Ph.D., explains what makes Pi important.
Who are the big brands who win big with their Super Bowl commercials? Advertising executive and multicultural media expert Tyrha M. Lindsey-Warren, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor of marketing at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, says the key for companies break through the noise and make a lasting impression on viewers is empowered storytelling.
Lithophane is an ancient artistic medium but never used to represent scientific data and imagery in a quantitative, controlled manner for tactile visualization and integration. Lithophane combined with 3D printing is turning scientific data into tactile graphics for all to see by eyesight or touch.
Religious believers who embrace accountability to God (or another transcendent guide for life) experience higher levels of psychological well-being – mattering to others, dignity and meaning in their lives, though not happiness.
Climate change mitigation efforts have led to shifts from fossil-fuel dependence to large-scale renewable energy. However, renewable energy sources require significant land and could come at a cost to ecosystems. A new study led by Ryan McManamay, Ph.D., assistant professor of environmental science at Baylor University, evaluates potential conflicts between alternative energy strategies and biodiversity conservation.
Managers should listen more, be empathetic and be sure they give feedback — even if they cannot solve a problem immediately, according to a Baylor University study that focused on workplace communication during the pandemic. The crisis highlighted the need for better on-the-job communication with employees now and in the future, when the pandemic recedes, researchers said.
United Methodist churches — whether the congregation is white or not — have higher attendance when located within white neighborhoods. But racial diversity within a church is associated with higher average attendance over time, according to a study led by Baylor University.
The United States ranks lowest in overall policies to help support children in lower-income families. A study of 20 developed nations found that more flexible work hours and paid leave are more effective for children’s psychological health than cash transfers.
Variation in consumption of market-acquired foods outside of the traditional diet — but not in total number of calories burned daily — is reliably related to indigenous Amazonian children’s body fat, according to a Baylor University study that offers insight into the global obesity epidemic.
A mysterious small marine reptile dating from 150 million years ago has been identified as a new species that may have been capable of diving very deeply. The well-preserved specimen was found in a Late Jurassic deep marine deposit along the English Channel coastline in Dorset, England.
Brief “huddles” — rather than a barrage of emails and texts about safety and risk — may be the fastest and simplest way for hospital workers to avoid communication overload as they deal with the flood of COVID-19 cases, a Baylor University researcher says.
Cynical hostility is a potential pathway to cardiovascular disease by preventing a healthy response to stress over time, according to a Baylor University study. Hostility generally is associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease. But this research explored three types of hostility — emotional, behavioral and cognitive — to see whether one is more predictive of risk factors. Cynical hostility, which is cognitive, poses the greatest risk, based on stress responses.
Racially diverse congregations have nearly tripled in the United States over the past 20 years, according to a Baylor University study. But racial desegregation in American religion still faces difficulties.
Using smartphone check-ins twice a day for two weeks, sociologists in a national study have found a link between individuals’ daily spiritual experiences and overall well-being, say researchers from Baylor University and Harvard University.
A new way of analyzing the chemical composition of soil organic matter will help scientists predict how soils store carbon — and how soil carbon may affect climate in the future, says a Baylor University researcher.
“Whodunnit” may be the big question in crime fiction, but “how they done it” determines whether they will get away with it. These days in detective novels, the war of good and evil increasingly involves technological savvy, says a Baylor University crime fiction researcher.
People who were children when their parents were divorced showed lower levels of oxytocin — the so-called “love hormone” — when they were adults than those whose parents remained married, according to a study led by Baylor University. That lower level may play a role in having trouble forming attachments when they are grown.
People who did not have a large heart rate response to a stress task surprised researchers later — after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic — when they showed more symptoms of PTSD related to the crisis than others who also did the stress task and COVID-19 stress ratings.
People who experience threats to their existence — which these days may well be economic and political instability — are more likely to experience miracles, according to a Baylor University study.
Texas researchers from the University of Houston, Baylor University and Texas A&M University have discovered evidence for why the earth cooled dramatically 13,000 years ago, dropping temperatures by about 3 degrees Centigrade. The evidence is buried in a Central Texas cave, where horizons of sediment have preserved unique geochemical signatures from ancient volcanic eruptions — signatures previously mistaken for extraterrestrial impacts, researchers say.
A mountain people in Uganda — branded as selfish and loveless by an anthropologist half a century ago — really is not, according to a study led by a Baylor University anthropologist.
Psychiatric inpatients with major depressive disorders who increased in the virtue of patience during hospitalization also showed fewer symptoms of depression, according to a Baylor University study.
People felt less gratitude when they read about receiving a favor along with many other individuals, as opposed to a favor that was only given to themselves, according to a Baylor University study. This is because people tend to think that benefactors who help them as individuals care more about them, specifically, compared to benefactors who help them in a group.
Drinking alcoholic beverages may be more appealing amid unease about the coronavirus, as people deal with shelter-at-home orders, fears about the economy and boredom, says a Baylor University researcher who studies alcohol use and misuse. But with regulations providing less access to alcohol, this may be a good time for individuals struggling with alcohol use to begin recovery and for others to guard against over-relying on alcohol or other substances.
The spread of coronavirus has interrupted many traditional institutions of working life, with perhaps the most drastic change to the professional environment coming from the rapid transition to work-from-home offices. With many segments of the workforce ordered to shelter in place and work remotely, employees have scrambled to transform guest bedrooms and kitchen tables to home offices, exchanging conference room roundtable discussions for tiled video conference calls.
Three new species of toothed pterosaurs — flying reptiles of the Cretaceous period, some 100 million years ago — have been identified in Africa by an international team of scientists led by Baylor University.
Public health crises such as COVID-19 — in which people may feel powerless and receive conflicting information — can lead to a flare-up of unsafe religious sentiments, says Baylor University epidemiologist Jeff Levin, Ph.D., who cites past persecution of religious and ethnic minorities who were blamed unfairly for spreading disease.
While a huge focus is on health and mortality during the coronavirus outbreak, not to be forgotten are those who are grappling with death from natural causes, diseases, accidents and crime. Funerals and visitations are the customary means of support friends and loved ones — but restricted travel and social distancing poses challenges.
James Ellor, Ph.D., The Dorothy Barfield Kronzer Endowed Professor in Baylor University’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work, is an expert on working with older adults as well as disaster behavioral health. He said it’s important in this time of uncertainty to continue to support and minister to those older adults who are self-isolating in their homes and those in long-term care facilities.
With many schools closed as a measure against the spread of coronavirus, and many parents working remotely, families can incorporate a variety of activities — including educational ones — to keep kids engaged and ready to continue learning when they return to school, say family experts at Baylor University.
A clear majority of participants in a national survey about the zero-tolerance policy on the United States/Mexico border strongly oppose separating immigrant families and charging the parents as criminals, according to Baylor University research. Researchers also found that among those who support the family separation policy, the strongest connection is conservative political ideology.
A Baylor University interior design team is assisting Decon7 Systems — manufacturer of a powerful disinfectant used by the military, first responders and, most recently, hospitals in China as they battle Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) 19 — in designing a hyperclean play space for children with diseases that compromise their immunity.
With more than a quarter of U.S. adults now having tattoos — and nearly half of millennials sporting them — only a handful of studies have focused on religious tattoos. But a new study by researchers at Baylor University and Texas Tech University analyzes faith-centered tattoos and is the first to use visual images of them.
Forager-horticulturalist children in the Amazon rainforest do not spend more calories in their everyday lives than children in the United States, but they do spend calories differently. That finding provides clues for understanding and reversing global trends in obesity and poor metabolic health, according to a Baylor University researcher in a study published in Science Advances.
The roles of daughters in the family structure and in society are difficult to define and they’re rarely understood – even by daughters themselves – said Allison Alford, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor of business communication in Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business.
Effectiveness in preventing or treating serious medical conditions typically requires patients to follow treatment plans such as medication, exercise or diet, but about 50 percent of patients fail to adequately use those plans. A Baylor University psychology professor has developed a questionnaire for patients aimed at promoting treatment adherence and improved health.
Hundreds of environmental health professionals across the nation report challenges and research needs in six areas — drinking water quality, wastewater management, healthy homes, food safety, public health pests and emerging issues such as disaster risk reduction and new facility types for body art and cannabis-infused products — in research from Baylor University and national health partners.