New research from Florida State University scientists has found that urban areas throughout the Florida peninsula are experiencing shorter, increasingly intense wet seasons relative to underdeveloped or rural areas.
Examining 44,000 brief text samples collected over 25 years, a study of ego level and language sheds light on ego development, its relationship with other models of personality and individual differences, and its utility in characterizing people, texts and cultural contexts. If ego development can be scored from everyday language, then text from Twitter feeds to political speeches, and from children’s stories to strategic plans, may provide new insights into the state of moral, social and cognitive development.
For some, the thought of a tarantula makes their skin crawl. Not Keara Clancy, a student in the UF/IFAS College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. The more exotic the critter, the more she embraces it. From the time she was about 5, Clancy recalls collecting millipedes as pets at her school playground.
The Marshall Plan is still celebrated for its instrumental role in catalyzing the resurgence of Western Europe and containing the spread of Soviet-style communism throughout the continent, said FSU Professor Robert Gellately.
Through a detailed genetic study of kinship, an international team is the first to demonstrate that just like human societies, beluga whales appear to value culture as well as their ancestral roots and family ties. They have demonstrated that related whales returned to the same locations year after year, and even generation after generation.
Imagine sinking your teeth into a fat, bright red tomato, whose aroma promises a tantalizing treat. Instead, you realize you got a great looker, but not a great taster. That’s because the consumer has been left out of the breeding process. For 20 years, Harry Klee, a professor of horticultural sciences at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, has been using genetics to improve flavors and smells in tomatoes and other produce that induce the consumer to buy more of them.
The Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) named Florida Atlantic University as a LBDA Research Center of Excellence (RCOE), a nationwide collaboration of 24 pre-eminent academic medical research centers.
By visualizing dopamine neurons in a tiny worm's brain, scientists have identified a novel pathway that sustains the health of these cells. The study shows that the normal actions of swip-10 to protect dopamine neurons are indirect, derived from the gene’s action in support cells called glia that lie adjacent to the dopamine neurons. Glial cells are recognized to play a critical role in shaping neuronal development, structure, and function, however, this research offers a clear demonstration that they also keep dopamine cells alive.
A new FAU study shows that expatriates’ personality characteristics have a lot to do with how well they adjust and whether they succeed and provide a return on a company’s considerable investment in an individual.
Cancer therapies that target a specific protein have improved outcomes for patients. However, many patients eventually develop resistance to these targeted therapies and their cancer comes back. It is believed that differences among tumor cells, or heterogeneity, may contribute to this drug resistance. Moffitt Cancer Center researchers are using a unique approach by combining typical cell culture studies with mathematical modeling to determine how heterogeneity within a tumor and the surrounding tumor environment affect responses to targeted drug therapies.
So what is it about the link between drinking coffee and living longer? Could it be the 200 plus organic compounds in the coffee bean itself and its proven benefits of reducing inflammation and regulating glucose levels? Or could it be something else?
The guidelines cover everything from planning, design and construction of the courses to water quality and quantity used. They also cover nutrition, integrated pest management, pollinator protection and energy management, said Bryan Unruh, a UF/IFAS professor of environmental horticulture.
Not only can these invasive termites kill pine trees, they also hollow out the trunk of many other trees, including oak trees, making them structurally fragile and susceptible to hurricanes.
Using data from male inmates in 23 maximum-security prisons, researchers looked at factors related to fear of rape and likelihood of requesting mental health treatment while incarcerated. They focused on those at most risk of being victimized: gay or bisexual inmates and those with a history of childhood sexual abuse.
In the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, University of Florida researchers surveyed people in Gulf coast communities, representing 930 household members, to learn patterns of seafood consumption. A key element needed for this effort was a tool to help survey participants accurately report how much Gulf seafood they actually eat. Anne Mathews, a UF/IFAS assistant professor of food science and human nutrition, led research that examined how accurately people could report their seafood intake, based on photographs of different portion sizes of cooked seafood.
TAMPA, Fla. – Multiple myeloma is a rare incurable disease that is diagnosed in more than 30,000 people each year in the United States. Only half of patients with multiple myeloma are expected to survive five years after their diagnosis. Moffitt Cancer Center researchers are trying to identify patients who are at a higher risk of developing multiple myeloma early in order to improve patient outcomes.
In the midst of an eventful decade for the United States, 1968 proved to be one of the most tumultuous years in history. With the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. (April 4, 1968) and Robert F. Kennedy (June 5, 1968) occurring only two months apart, the civil rights movement experienced a drastic shift.As our country commemorates the 50th anniversary of these events, Florida State University’s Davis Houck, the Fannie Lou Hamer Professor of Communication, reflects upon the significance of 1968 and the untimely deaths of these two prominent American figures.
The face of American forests is changing, thanks to climate change-induced shifts in rainfall and temperature that are causing shifts in the abundance of numerous tree species, according to a new paper by University of Florida researchers.
When most people walk into a grocery store, the shelves are stocked year-round with all the food they want, so they might not consider the origins of their food. Jack Payne, University of Florida senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources, said it’s critical to know the origins of our food supply, and not just the sake of being aware.
Pumpkins and their seeds are good for you. For example, the flesh of the fruit is a good source of many vitamins and fiber, and its seeds provide unsaturated fats that help reduce cholesterol, among their other health benefits.
Individuals with lower-pitched voices are more likely to win elected office because they are believed to be superior leaders. But is voice pitch a reliable signal of leadership quality? And is the bias in favor of selecting leaders with lower voices good or bad for democracy? A novel study is the first to address these questions.
UF/IFAS faculty are working with scientists campus-wide and across the globe to help improve the nutrition of children in Ethiopia and other nations with malnourished children.
Drug therapies that target a specific molecule have changed the way patients are treated for cancer and greatly improved survival rates. However, some patients do not respond to these therapies because the drug is not reaching the tumor cells effectively. In a new study published in Scientific Reports, Moffitt Cancer Center researchers combined single-cell imaging of cancer cells in mice with mathematical modeling to determine which drug characteristics are the most important for efficient drug uptake.
Current signs indicate that most U.S. housing markets are approaching a peak in the real estate cycle, but there’s little evidence to suggest prices will plummet as they have in the past, according to the latest national index produced by FAU and FIU faculty.
When you go online, do you want a flowery review of groceries, or do you want a write-up that’s more straightforward and factual? A new University of Florida study shows consumers find the “just-the-facts” approach more useful.
For years, scientists have argued about whether managing both nitrogen and phosphorus – versus managing strictly phosphorus or just nitrogen – would control harmful algal blooms.
Researchers have developed a spatial planning strategy that accounts for and quantifies industry, environmental and societal interests in a given area to produce optimized, sustainable ocean usage plans.
In the first study to measure the link between an employee’s number of paid sick leave days and the use of vital preventive health care services like getting a flu shot, researchers found a 26 to 85 percent increase in preventive health care use among those with at least 10 or more paid sick leave days. For the female-focused preventive services, they showed a 55 percent increase in the use of preventive mammography.
Orlando Regional Medical Center, Dr. P. Phillips Hospital, South Lake Hospital, and Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies, earn accreditation form the Surgical Review Corporation.
For eight years, researchers have been tracking blacktip sharks using a boat, plane, acoustic monitoring devices, and drones. Water temperatures affect their migration patterns. In prior years, as many as 15,000 sharks were reported on any given day. That’s not the case this year.
In the wake of a mass shooting that took the lives of 17 students and teachers at a South Florida high school, a vast majority of Floridians support stricter gun laws, including a ban on assault-style rifles, universal background checks and raising the minimum age for gun purchasers, according to a statewide survey by the Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative (FAU BEPI).
To address embarrassing, inconvenient and costly male fertility testing, researchers from FAU are developing a home-based kit that accurately, quantitatively, and quickly, provides a complete semen evaluation using microfluidics, an app and a smartphone. After all, if women can use pregnancy tests in the comfort and privacy of their own homes, men also should be able to test their semen at home without any hassles.
We know that germs can make you sick, but if you seem to constantly be under the weather with cold symptoms, could it be something other than germs that are getting you down?
The Florida torreya is the most endangered tree in North America. And it may soon disappear entirely. But scientists such as the University of Florida’s Jason Smith are ready to fight for the species, which is a critical part of its native ecosystem in the Florida Panhandle. That’s why he and other leading researchers and conservationists from across the country are headed to the Torreya Tree of Life event next week to develop a rescue plan.
About 25 years ago, University of Florida scientist Nan-Yao Su set out to develop a bait to kill termites. He came up with Sentricon™ and found it worked better than any other termite-killing method to date. Now, scientists know more about why the bait works so efficiently and how to improve it to kill termite colonies faster.
For couples with decades of shared memories, a partner’s decline in the ability to communicate because of dementia is frightening and frustrating. Communication strategies they’ve used before simply don’t work anymore. By getting creative, an in-home intervention to support couples affected by dementia is showing that “practice does make perfect,” both for the caregiver and the care receiver or person with dementia, and can improve their communication behaviors in just 10 weeks.
Vance Whitaker toils day and night to develop the tastiest, best-looking, aromatic strawberries a consumer would want. Yummy enough for a nutritious snack or to help flavor a cake or pie just in time for National Strawberry Day on Feb. 27.
More than 7,000 miles away from the snowcapped peaks of PyeongChang, scientists from FSU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry unlocked a novel strategy for synthesizing a highly versatile molecule called olympicene — a compound of carbon and hydrogen atoms named for its familiar shape.
“An olympicene is a molecule consisting of five rings that resemble the shape of the famous Olympic rings,” said Cottrell Family Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Igor Alabugin. “This new process for synthesizing these molecules offers a unique tool for the preparation of structurally precise carbon-rich nanostructures.”
Now that the American Association for the Advancement of Science has selected Roger Kjelgren as a Leshner Fellow, he hopes to increase participation in urban food and water security.
Just in time for Valentine’s Day and American Heart Month, FAU's College of Medicine has received initial accreditation from the national Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education for its first University-sponsored fellowship. The FAU Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship will be based at Tenet HealthCare system’s Delray Medical Center.