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Publish or Parent: Tenure-Track Fathers at Work and Home
Above: Dr. Richard Reddick and his son Karl, Photo by Marsha Miller
Although research suggests that dual-income households share parenting duties, many people still believe mothers are the true primary care givers—and the most stressed.
However, a new study on tenure-track fathers by Richard Reddick and Aaron Rochlen indicates that these parents face a unique set of problems.
Like studies on mothers indicate, tenure-track fathers undergo stresses that can affect their relationships not only in the work place but at home as well.
However, tenure-track mothers’ increased likeliness to report fatigue and other conflicts indicates that tenure-track fathers are less vocal about their problems. Men and women traditionally deal with depression in different ways, and this situation could be very similar, Reddick said.
This reluctance to share their problems often translates into reluctance of seeking help. One stand-out finding of the study showed that faculty fathers were less likely to know about institutional support designed to help employees with young children, regardless of the parent’s gender. Furthermore, even after learning about these programs, fathers were more reluctant to take advantage of family-friendly policies.
The study also concluded that universities would benefit from more aggressive broadcast of family-friendly policies in order to retain and attract more top-tier faculty.
Flashing Lights Means More Crashes
Red, yellow, green. Stop, slow down, go. It can’t be too hard, right? Wrong.
According to Chandra Bhat, a professor of the Cockrell School of Engineering, the driving system is harder than it seems. His study shows that when a traffic light is flashing yellow or red at an intersection, the driver is three times as likely to get into an accident.
“Intersection and Intersection-related crashes account for roughly 40 percent of all crashes,” Bhat said.
Why do people make more mistakes when faced with a flashing light? Bhat speculates drivers are unsure of the correct course of action. (Note: Flashing red is treated like a stop sign.)
The study also highlights the increased danger of accidents at intersections with frontage roads. Often, drivers do not slow down enough as they exit freeways or they have to quickly switch lanes to enter the on-ramp, which makes these areas particularly dangerous.
So always exercise caution when on the road but be aware of these problem areas. Stay safe!
Teachers Think White Girls Can’t Do Math
A study led by Catherine Riegle-Crumb suggests that high school teachers are convinced white female students cannot do math, regardless of their academic performance.
Using data from the National Center for Education Statistics, researchers looked at the grades, test scores, and teacher-rated performance evaluations of over 15,000 students.
Analysis showed that while on average, teachers rate minority students lower than than white males, the rating disparity disappears when grades are considered. However, even when grades were introduced to compare white males and females, teachers still gave a lower rating to the white females although their scores were the same.
The misconception that white girls are not as good at math persists, “Because the idea that men and women are different in this regard is considered natural and not discriminatory,” said Riegle-Crumb. Thus, teachesr may be more aware of race and ethnicity and the pitfalls of racial discrimination than they are of gender.
“If we continue to send young women the message that they aren’t as good at math, it’s unlikely we’ll be able to increase the number of women working in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields,” Riegle-Crumb said.
The study has been published in the April issue of Gender and Society.
A new procedure based on a study led by George Bittner, professor of neurobiology, could repair severed sciatic nerves in minutes and decrease recovery time to days rather than months.
By studying invertebrates’ ability to regenerate nerve axons, the team mimicked the process by operating paralyzed rats.
The team discovered that by keeping the injured area calcium-free, scientists were able to interfere with the rats’ self-healing process in which the nerve ends seal themselves off, making them difficult to reattach later.
The process begins by injecting a calcium-free, salty solution to the injury site to prevent the self-repairing proces. Next, the two jagged nerve ends are pulled within a micrometer of each other before being squirted by a polymer called polyethylene glycol (PEG). PEG removes water from the outer fatty membrane of each nerve stump, allowing the fats in the membranes to merge together again and reconnect the nerve ends. Last, the natural healing process is re-started by injecting the site with a calcium-rich solution, triggering the body to begin producing vesicles again to repair any remaining gaps in the nerve.
Bittner has successfully performed this procedure on 200 rats.
To explore the long term implications and medical uses of this procedure, collaborators at Harvard Medical School and Vanderbilt Medical School are conducting studies to gain approval to begin clinical trials.
“We believe this procedure could produce a transformational change in the way nerve injuries are repaired,” Bittner said.
Power Profiles Lowering Energy Consumption
Kathryn McKinley, professor of computer science, has completed a study with Steve Blackburn of the Australian National University that is the first to systematically measure and analyze application power, performance, and energy on a variety of hardware types.
“We did some measurements that no one else had done before. We showed that different software and different classes of software have really different power usage,” said McKinley.
But what is the significance of the study, and why was it selected as one of the “most significant research papers in computer architecture based on novelty and impact” by IEEE Micro?
(…’cause, you know, it’s kind of a big deal)
Interlude
So I tried to use organic kale in my guilt-free green curry quinoa last night… The clumps of aphids on the leaves totally freaked me out, and I had to throw it away and sub in spinach instead.
I’m afraid to open my organic blueberries.
Move over, iPad
Dr. Richard Crooks and graduate student Liu have recently published a paper in Analytical Chemistry detailing their research and development of their new origami Paper Analytical Device, or oPAD, that could test for Malaria, HIV, and other diseases for less than 10 cents.
The sensor is made of paper and is folded by the user.
Above: oPAD
So here’s a lovely video I found (I did not produce this video, and I could not find a proper credit) on UT’s Youtube channel of Professor Lydia Steinman in which she touches on the merits of organic food and organic gardening.
A few semesters ago, I took NTR 306, Fundamentals of Nutrition, with Steinman, and the course really impacted my awareness of my diet. Now, I’ve never been obsessively healthy, and I probably never will be (midnight weakness for fried potatoes, I’m lookin’ at you), but it’s good to gain a grounded perspective amidst all the discussion of pink slime and sugar being as toxic as alcohol.
To start with something a little simpler than the politics of “lean, finely textured beef,” let’s talk organic. How important is it, and are the benefits really worth it?
Research shows that except for organic milk and organic tomatoes, organic food is not nutritionally any better than non-organic food. So why bother? Well, pesticides for one. Consuming organic produce is a good way to eliminate exposure to harmful and carcinogenic pesticides.
Steinman says there is enough research to suggest pesticide residue left on food can be harmful over a long-term period and that it is best to feed organics to young children, who are more greatly affected by the chemicals.
But for most people, says Steinman, eating organic food should be less of a concern. More important is to get adequate nutrition and consumption of fruits and vegetables up to par with the recommended standards before worrying about organics or not.
Another important aspect to consider when purchasing organic produce is to consider which fruits and vegetables absorb the most pesticides. The EWG, or Environmental Working Group, a non-profit environmental organization, produces a list of the “dirtiest” and “cleanest”—the dirty dozen and clean fifteen—fruits and vegetables. So, as a rule, choose organic when purchasing fruits and vegetables which tend to absorb pesticides, but skip (unless you can afford it) organic fruits and vegetables with skins that can be peeled off—oranges, avocados, pineapples, etc.—since they remain fairly free of pesticides.
In addition to having her own organic garden, Steinman consults for an organic baby food company, and she helped launch an organic garden for students at the University of Texas Elementary School, which is a research-based demonstration school affiliated with UT.
Interlude
Changed the colors on the blog today and found out that the official hex code for UT burnt orange is #CC5500. Just something I thought was fun and interesting. :)
Above: UT Tower lit up to honor the 2006 rose-bowl win.
Ciguatera Poisoning… Wait, What?
Dr. Deana Erdner, Assistant Professor of the Marine Science department, is part of an international research team known as CiguaHab that has been awarded a 5-year $4 million grant to research ciguatera poisoning.
But what exactly is ciguatera poisoning and why is Erdner’s research so important?
Above: Dr. Deana Erdner in front of an installation entitled Stacked Waters by Teresita Fernandez at the Blanton Museum of Art. Photo taken by Alex Wang.
