University of Washington
People diagnosed with either fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or fetal alcohol effect (FAE) are more likely to escape social and relationship problems if they are diagnosed early in life and raised in a stable and nurturing environment, according to new research. A study of 415 subjects showed that of all the factors that might positively or negatively affect a child with FAS or FAE, these two factors are most important in helping them escape negative experiences. Those negative experiences can include confinement for criminal violations and other reasons, trouble with the law, inappropriate sexual behavior, alcohol or drug problems and disrupted education.
A skillful mixing of religion and politics helped President Bush silence critics and sell his policies on terrorism and Iraq to the nation, according to a new book that analyzes hundreds of public communications and news reports. As Bush makes his case for a second term, the research by David Domke documents how during his first term the president effectively linked religious terminology with political goals in the turbulent months after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Two of the biggest physics breakthroughs during the last decade are the discovery that wispy subatomic particles called neutrinos actually have a small amount of mass and the detection that the expansion of the universe is actually picking up speed.
Now three physicists are suggesting the two discoveries are integrally linked through one of the strangest features of the universe, dark energy, a linkage they say could be caused by a previously unrecognized subatomic particle they call the ''acceleron.''
Researchers have found a delivery method for gene therapy that reaches all the voluntary muscles of a mouse -- including heart, diaphragm and limbs -- and reverses the process of muscle-wasting found in muscular dystrophy.
''We have a clear 'proof of principle' that it is possible to deliver new genes body-wide to all the striated muscles of an adult animal. Finding a delivery method for the whole body has been a major obstacle limiting the development of gene therapy for the muscular dystrophies. Our new work identifies for the first time a method where a new dystrophin gene can be delivered, using a safe and simple method, to all of the affected muscles of a mouse with muscular dystrophy,'' said Dr. Jeffrey S. Chamberlain, professor of neurology and director of the Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Center at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. He also has joint appointments in the departments of medicine and biochemistry.
A new study has found that people who began binge drinking at age 13 and continued throughout adolescence were nearly four times as likely to be overweight or obese and almost 3? times as likely to have high blood pressure when they were 24 years old than were people who never or rarely drank heavily during adolescence. It also found four distinct patterns or trajectories of binge drinking among teenagers.
A peculiar form of a gene mutation known to increase a person's risk for Parkinson's disease is puzzling doctors about how to counsel patients who have the anomaly. A study by researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine's Parkinson Center of Oregon, the University of Washington School of Medicine and the New York State Department of Health, Wadsworth Center, raises concerns about whether patients testing positive for a single mutation of the parkin gene, rather than the two mutations typically required for developing Parkinson's, can be accurately informed about their risks of developing the disease or passing it on to their children.
Yo-yo dieting, in which a person repeatedly loses and regains weight, may have a lasting negative impact on immune function, according to new findings by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Conversely, maintaining the same weight over time appears to have a positive effect on the immune system.
Presidential candidates can gain a measurable image boost from going on late-night TV, University of Washington researchers have found. The researchers found that during the 2000 campaign, the favorability rating of George W. Bush went up among late-night comedy watchers for a week after Bush traded comedic jabs with David Letterman. ''Everyone talks about how 'infotainment' is becoming more important in elections, but can it actually sway perceptions of the candidates? We found evidence that it can,'' said Patricia Moy, UW associate professor of communication.
A pair of scientists has proposed a new model for behavioral development among social insects, suggesting that a higher male susceptibility to disease has helped shape the evolution of the insects' behavior. What might be called the ''sick-male'' theory has been proposed by animal behaviorists Sean O'Donnell of the University of Washington and Samuel Beshers of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and appears in the current issue of Proceedings Biological Sciences, published by the Royal Society of London.
Being jailed in federal or state prisons has become so common today that more young black men in the United States have done time than have served in the military or earned a college degree, according to new study. The paper, appearing this week in the American Sociological Review, estimates that 20 percent of all black men born from 1965 through 1969 had served time in prison by the time they reached their early 30s. By comparison, less than 3 percent of white males born in the same time period had been in prison.
The American dream of buying and owning a home all too frequently doesn't have a happy ending for many low-income families. Despite federal government policies encouraging home ownership among minority and low-income families, more than half of them left their houses and returned to renting within five years, according to a new study by a University of Washington researcher. One third of the families returned to renting in the first two years.
Flushing your pet tropical fish to set it free is a bad idea. So is releasing it at the beach. Intentional and unintentional aquarium releases have been a leading cause of freshwater fish invasions, but now researchers from the University of Washington and the Reef Environmental Education Foundation have found 16 non-native species of fish ? apparently set free from home aquariums ? in ocean waters off the southeast coast of Florida.
Higher education is not the hindrance to marriage and motherhood it once was, new research shows. As recently as 1980, the more years of graduate school a woman had completed, the less likely she was to be married later in life. But this difference ? still often bemoaned in the press ? is fast disappearing, according to a new study by Elaina Rose, a University of Washington associate professor of economics. "There used to be a marked tradeoff between higher education and marriage," Rose said, "but that is no longer the case."
Scientists have known for some time that some social insects undergo dramatic behavioral changes as they mature, and now a research team has found that the brains of a wasp species correspondingly enlarge as the creatures engage in more complex tasks. "The amount of change is striking," said Sean O'Donnell, a University of Washington associate professor of psychology and lead author of a new study published in the February issue of Neuroscience Letters. "It is easily apparent with magnification."
Prolonged exposure to low-level magnetic fields, similar to those emitted by such common household devices as blow dryers, electric blankets and razors, can damage brain cell DNA, according to researchers. The scientists further found that the damage from brief exposures appears to build up over time.
