Archive for August, 2008
Young Children’s ‘Theory of Mind’ Linked to Subsequent Metacognitive Development in Adolescence
Friday, August 22nd, 2008
Study detects a systematic link between children's 'theory of mind' as assessed in kindergarten and their metacognitive knowledge in elementary school.
Measuring the auditory dynamics of selective attention
Friday, August 22nd, 2008
Exploring the various performance times needed to pick out specific sounds in a complex scene
You’ve Gotta Have Hope
Thursday, August 21st, 2008
by Susan
There's an old song titled, "You've Gotta Have Heart" but I've often heard the word Hope substituted for heart including in the title of an old episode of The Golden Girls. In my opinion ya gotta have both....but hope is what I want to talk about in this article.
Those of us with depression often feel hopeless but we can learn to have hope through cognitive behavior therapy. We can learn to set goals and make plans to achieve those goals thus giving us hope....hope for a better life. With hope we can begin to overcome our depression. I believe that hopeful people who encourage us to have hope, are exactly the kind of people we need in our lives.
Let's say we have a goal and a plan. Now we need the motivation to execute that plan. In my opinion, mustering up the motivation is the hard part but we can do it with the help of those who offer us encouragement. Sometimes that can be a professional, a family member or friends. I'd like to say that my brother, David, has given me a lot of the encouragement I needed to carry out my goals with this blog.
There's an interesting article in the Ohio State University Research News on "Hope Therapy". Check it out to learn more about this very interesting idea for controlling the monster.......depression.
Visit: Ozzie Reviews Avon
There's an old song titled, "You've Gotta Have Heart" but I've often heard the word Hope substituted for heart including in the title of an old episode of The Golden Girls. In my opinion ya gotta have both....but hope is what I want to talk about in this article.
Those of us with depression often feel hopeless but we can learn to have hope through cognitive behavior therapy. We can learn to set goals and make plans to achieve those goals thus giving us hope....hope for a better life. With hope we can begin to overcome our depression. I believe that hopeful people who encourage us to have hope, are exactly the kind of people we need in our lives.
Let's say we have a goal and a plan. Now we need the motivation to execute that plan. In my opinion, mustering up the motivation is the hard part but we can do it with the help of those who offer us encouragement. Sometimes that can be a professional, a family member or friends. I'd like to say that my brother, David, has given me a lot of the encouragement I needed to carry out my goals with this blog.
There's an interesting article in the Ohio State University Research News on "Hope Therapy". Check it out to learn more about this very interesting idea for controlling the monster.......depression.
Visit: Ozzie Reviews Avon
Electronic nose radiation sniffer
Thursday, August 21st, 2008
US shipping ports receive about 6 million cargo containers each year. Officials would like to be able to check each one for smuggled nuclear material, but today's detectors cannot process such numbers in a reasonable time. These devices typically require an officer to search inside each container.
The gamma rays produced by radioactive materials can pass through containers relatively easily, but uranium produces only small amounts of such radiation.
Joseph Farmer and colleagues at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have produced a new detector sensitive even to low levels of gamma radiation. Their device is set to speed up screening times.
It doesn't directly detect gamma rays themselves, but instead looks for the hydrogen peroxide generated when the rays interact with water.
The detector consists of an "electronic nose" chip coated with a thin layer of water that is condensed onto its surface. When gamma rays strike water molecules in that layer the nose chip detects any hydrogen peroxide formed.
The inventors say that as well as being more sensitive their design can pick up a wider range of gamma ray energies than conventional detectors.
Read the full electronic nose radiation sniffer patent application.
Justin Mullins, New Scientist consultant
The gamma rays produced by radioactive materials can pass through containers relatively easily, but uranium produces only small amounts of such radiation.
Joseph Farmer and colleagues at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have produced a new detector sensitive even to low levels of gamma radiation. Their device is set to speed up screening times.
It doesn't directly detect gamma rays themselves, but instead looks for the hydrogen peroxide generated when the rays interact with water.
The detector consists of an "electronic nose" chip coated with a thin layer of water that is condensed onto its surface. When gamma rays strike water molecules in that layer the nose chip detects any hydrogen peroxide formed.
The inventors say that as well as being more sensitive their design can pick up a wider range of gamma ray energies than conventional detectors.
Read the full electronic nose radiation sniffer patent application.
Justin Mullins, New Scientist consultant
Researchers Study Facial Structures, Brain Abnormalities to Reveal Formula for Earlier Detection of Autism
Thursday, August 21st, 2008
researchers are studying 3-D imaging to reveal correlations in the facial features and brain structures of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which will enable them to develop a formula for earlier detection of the disorder
Researcher Discovers Brain Serotonin System Controls Maternal Behavior
Thursday, August 21st, 2008
Findings have potential link to post-partum depression
One Sleepless Night Increases Dopamine In The Human Brain
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008
Findings may help explain how sleep-deprived people stay alert
New Study Shows False Memories Affect Behavior
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008
People can easily create false memories of their past and a new study shows that such memories can have long-term effects on our behavior.
Senior Citizens and Depression
Tuesday, August 19th, 2008
by Susan
As a senior citizen I can tell you that depression isn't any easier to deal with as you get older. I'm sure that must also be true for most mental health problems. The mere fact of advancing age sometimes causes me a great deal of sadness. This past week I also felt a lot of anger due to my having to let go of some of the things I love to do.
For many years I have been an avid gardener. I loved growing roses, perennials, annuals and even some vegetables now and then. We have a big yard and I had many large flower beds. During the growing season you usually found me outside digging in the dirt planting flowers or pulling weeds. I dug the flower beds, hauled rocks to build the borders for the beds and hauled the bags of mulch. It has been one of my favorite hobbies through the years.
However, the past few years it has been more and more difficult for me to do all of the necessary work to keep my gardens looking nice. This year because of all the rain, the weeds in some areas were soon taller than I am. Last week one of my neighbors complained. So, my husband and I worked all weekend and we totally eliminated two large flower beds. My feet are still sore from digging! I plan to do the same with some of the remaining flower beds. My gardening hobby will have to be limited, but I will still enjoy it.
Senior citizens have to deal with a lot of acceptance when it comes to their continually decreasing physical abilities. Even with regular exercise and good health habits we all get older and dealing with it can be depressing at times. It's a good thing there are some perks to being a senior too. Watching my grandson grow five inches in one year can be even more fascinating than growing plants. Hearing my one year old granddaughter call me Nana cheers me up in no time.
One of my prized flower beds just a few years ago.
As a senior citizen I can tell you that depression isn't any easier to deal with as you get older. I'm sure that must also be true for most mental health problems. The mere fact of advancing age sometimes causes me a great deal of sadness. This past week I also felt a lot of anger due to my having to let go of some of the things I love to do.
For many years I have been an avid gardener. I loved growing roses, perennials, annuals and even some vegetables now and then. We have a big yard and I had many large flower beds. During the growing season you usually found me outside digging in the dirt planting flowers or pulling weeds. I dug the flower beds, hauled rocks to build the borders for the beds and hauled the bags of mulch. It has been one of my favorite hobbies through the years.
However, the past few years it has been more and more difficult for me to do all of the necessary work to keep my gardens looking nice. This year because of all the rain, the weeds in some areas were soon taller than I am. Last week one of my neighbors complained. So, my husband and I worked all weekend and we totally eliminated two large flower beds. My feet are still sore from digging! I plan to do the same with some of the remaining flower beds. My gardening hobby will have to be limited, but I will still enjoy it.
Senior citizens have to deal with a lot of acceptance when it comes to their continually decreasing physical abilities. Even with regular exercise and good health habits we all get older and dealing with it can be depressing at times. It's a good thing there are some perks to being a senior too. Watching my grandson grow five inches in one year can be even more fascinating than growing plants. Hearing my one year old granddaughter call me Nana cheers me up in no time.
One of my prized flower beds just a few years ago.
Laser microphone for sonar
Tuesday, August 19th, 2008
Certain plastics and glasses have a property known as photoelasticity - they restrict the speed of light differently as the materials are stretched or compressed.
Noureddine Melikechi and Aristides Olaizola at Delaware State University's Applied Optics Center in Dover exploit the effect using an optical fibre with a photoelastic core. They bounce a laser beam back and forth along a fibre to produce a distinctive diffraction pattern and then bombard the fibre with sound.
That causes the photoelastic part to stretch and compress, altering the way light travels through the fibre and changing the pattern. In effect the fibre behaves like a microphone, transforming sounds it receives into light signals.
The team says that the fibre could be used as a low-cost sonar device by laying it across the seafloor and listening out for reflected sound pulses.
Read the full fibre-optic sonar patent application.
Justin Mullins, New Scientist consultant
Noureddine Melikechi and Aristides Olaizola at Delaware State University's Applied Optics Center in Dover exploit the effect using an optical fibre with a photoelastic core. They bounce a laser beam back and forth along a fibre to produce a distinctive diffraction pattern and then bombard the fibre with sound.
That causes the photoelastic part to stretch and compress, altering the way light travels through the fibre and changing the pattern. In effect the fibre behaves like a microphone, transforming sounds it receives into light signals.
The team says that the fibre could be used as a low-cost sonar device by laying it across the seafloor and listening out for reflected sound pulses.
Read the full fibre-optic sonar patent application.
Justin Mullins, New Scientist consultant