July 2, 2009, 10:03 PM CT

Influences of nature and nurture

Practice, practice, practice might get you to Carnegie Hall, but for aspiring musicians, there's new evidence that genes may influence one's ability to get there, as well.

Perfect pitch, also known as absolute pitch, is the rare ability to recognize and name musical notes without any reference pitch for comparison, detecting, for instance, A before middle C. The rarity of the aptitude contrasts with the common ability to immediately recognize and name colors, distinguishing pink from red or azure from blue.

In the July 2 online posting of "American Journal of Human Genetics," UCSF researchers report that they identified a particular region of genes on human chromosome eight that is associated with perfect pitch, at least in people of European ancestry. The next step, they say, is to identify a specific gene.

The finding, part of a larger examination of families of various ancestries Europeans, Ashkenazi Jews, Indians and East Asians is the first significant genetic evidence of a role of genes in perfect pitch. It is likely, the scientists say, that multiple genes are involved in all cases of perfect pitch and that different genes could be linked to different ethnic backgrounds.

Regardless, the finding is an important advance, they say, in their effort to move in on the relative roles of early musical training and genetic inheritance on perfect pitch. More broadly, says senior author Jane Gitschier, PhD, UCSF professor of medicine, pediatrics and genetics, and herself a singer, it is an advance in the team's effort to explore the relative contributions of environmental factors and genes on learning and other behaviors......... Posted by: Gina      Read more         Source

June 28, 2009, 6:18 PM CT

Opt For Rented Cars

Are you planning a trip to Lihue? If you want travelling to be hassle-free then car rental is the best viable option for commuting. To pamper your traveling impulses just throw yourself in a car in which you can move around at your will and take in the awe-inspiring panoramic view of this holiday spot. Make your vacation at Lihue, a rich sight-seeing experience with facilities of car rental provided by top most auto agencies. Whatever kind of car you need, whether it is economy, luxury or prestige, there are numerous companies ready to cater to your transportation needs.

Most companies assure their clients with alluring insurance coverage that implies total security and peace of mind. Top most agencies give paramount importance to the client's safety by including a waiver which protects you against collision damage. The car rental agencies in Lihue, Hawaii have a wide variety of vehicle types and rates.

Things to be noted before hiring a car

Always carefully eyeball your vehicle before leaving the rental agency. The last renter may have damaged the car and you may be the unlucky one, ending up paying for someone else's fault!

Prior scratches, dents, and other vehicle damage can cause extra trouble and costs if not noted before you leave the rental car lot......... Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

June 16, 2009, 5:13 AM CT

Positive ads aren't always the most effective

Ads that feature positive emotions, like happiness, are not always the best way to reach consumers, as per a newly released study in the Journal of Consumer Research

Authors Loraine Lau-Gesk (University of California, Irvine) and Joan Meyers-Levy (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis) investigated consumer attitudes toward emotional ads. They discovered that people's responses are affected by factors such as the amount of mental energy or attention they are able to devote to the ads as well as the physical layout of the advertising.

"Eventhough under some circumstances consumers may respond more favorably to ads that feature positive rather than negative emotions, this is not always the case," the authors explain. "Instead, how favorably consumers respond to ads depends on whether the amount of mental resources they devote to the ad is comparable to the amount of such resources that are needed to optimally appreciate and understand key aspects of the ad".

When consumers are interested in an ad, they are better able to devote mental resources to thinking about it, the authors explain. Therefore advertising aimed at interested consumers can tap into more complicated emotions, such as bittersweet nostalgia, anxiety, and guilt.

In contrast, disinterested consumers react to less nuanced messages. "When ad recipients lack much interest in an ad and therefore expend minimal mental resources processing it, the favorableness of their response to the ad depends primarily on the favorableness of the ad's emotional appeal," the authors write......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 02:50:45 GMT

Greening Your Grocery Cart

When it comes to "being green" at the grocery store, it"s more than just buying organic items.  Being environmentally conscience also extends to buying items that create less greenhouse gas to get the items from the water or ground to your shopping cart.In a recent issue of Self magazine, they shared some excellent tips to reduce your impact when shopping for groceries:

• When choosing fish, look for the seafood choices that live higher in the water, like mahimahi, herring and wild Alaskan salmon.  Those choices are caught by hooks, lines or nets, which use less fuel than some of their counterparts like cod, flounder and shrimp.
  
  
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June 4, 2009, 3:24 AM CT

Wage gap linked to customer bias

Scientists have helped solve the mystery of why white men continue to earn 25 percent more than equally well-performing women and minorities. Managers and business owners must pay a premium for white male employees because customers prefer them, says David Hekman, assistant professor in the Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee (UWM).

The study would be reported in the Academy of Management Journal "Customers, from students buying textbooks to patients in an examining room, are consistently biased in favor of white men," says Hekman. "Because customer satisfaction is critical for organizational survival, business owners and managers will hire white men when possible and will pay lower salaries to the women and minorities they do hire."

Hekman and his colleagues at four other North American business schools showed customers a video featuring either a black male, a white female, or a white male actor playing the role of an employee helping a customer. Those viewing the white male not only reported being 19 percent more satisfied with the employee's performance, but also they were more satisfied with the store's cleanliness and appearance. This despite the fact that employees demonstrated the same scripted behaviors and the store background, camera angles and lighting were identical......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

May 28, 2009, 5:19 AM CT

Sea-level rise may pose greatest threat

The melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet this century may drive more water than previously thought toward the already threatened coastlines of New York, Boston, Halifax and other cities in the northeastern United States and Canada, as per new research.

Results of the study are being published this week in Geophysical Research Letters They suggest that moderate to high rates of ice melt from Greenland may shift ocean circulation by about 2100, causing sea levels off the northeast coast of North America to rise by about 30 to 51 centimeters (12 to 20 inches) more than other coastal areas.

The research builds on recent reports that have observed that sea level rise could adversely affect North America, and its findings suggest that the situation is even more urgent than previously believed.

"If the Greenland melt continues to accelerate, we could see significant impacts this century on the northeast U.S. coast from the resulting sea level rise," says scientist Aixue Hu, the paper's main author. Hu is at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo. "Major northeastern cities are directly in the path of the greatest rise".

A study in Nature Geoscience in March warned that warmer water temperatures could shift ocean currents in a way that would raise sea levels off the Northeast by about eight inches more than the average global sea level rise that is expected with global warming......... Posted by: Mac      Read more         Source

May 28, 2009, 5:15 AM CT

When is it Safe To Hire Someone With a Criminal Record?

Carnegie Mellon University scientists have created a model for providing empirical evidence on when an ex-convict has been "clean" long enough to be considered "redeemed" for employment purposes.

The newly released study, which appears in the current issue of Criminology, estimates that after five years of staying clean an individual with a criminal record is of no greater risk of committing another crime than other individuals of the same age. The research comes at a time when President Barack Obama's crime agenda includes breaking down employment barriers for people who have a previous criminal record, but who have stayed clean since their earlier offense.

"In the past, employers had no way of knowing when it might be safe to look past a criminal record," said Alfred Blumstein, co-author of the study and the J. Erik Jonsson University Professor of Urban Systems and Operations Research at Carnegie Mellon's H. John Heinz III College. "Hiring an ex-offender was a totally arbitrary decision. We believe our model can change that and help provide employers with data in making such decisions. Or it can be used by state criminal-record repositories in deciding when a previous arrest is too 'stale' to warrant distributing." Blumstein's co-author is Kiminori Nakamura, a Ph.D. student at the Heinz College......... Posted by: Mac      Read more         Source

May 24, 2009, 8:50 PM CT

Ocean life in olden days

Before oil hunters in the early 1800s harpooned whales by the score, the ocean around New Zealand teemed with about 27,000 southern right whales - roughly 30 times as a number of as today - as per one of several astonishing reconstructions of ocean life in olden days to be presented at a Census of Marine Life conference May 26-28.

At about the same time, UK scientists say large pods of blue whales and orcas, blue sharks and thresher sharks darkened the waters off Cornwall, England, herds of harbour porpoise pursued fish upriver, and dolphins regularly played in waters inshore.

Using such diverse sources as old ship logs, literary texts, tax accounts, newly translated legal documents and even mounted trophies, Census scientists are piecing together images - some flickering, others in high definition - of fish of such sizes, abundance and distribution in ages past that they stagger modern imaginations.

They are also documenting the timelines over which those giant marine life populations declined.

For example, Census researchers say the size of freshwater fish caught by Europeans started shrinking in medieval times.

Scientists James Barrett and Jen Harland (Cambridge University, UK), Cluny Johnstone (York University, UK) and Mike Richards (Max Planck Institute, Gera number of) say a shift from eating locally-caught freshwater to marine fish species occurred around 1000 AD......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

May 20, 2009, 5:07 AM CT

People who can speak two languages

People who can speak two languages are more adept at learning a new foreign language than their monolingual counterparts, as per research conducted at Northwestern University. And their bilingual advantage persists even when the new language they study is completely different from the languages they already know.

"It's often assumed that individuals who've learned multiple languages simply have a natural aptitude for learning languages," said Viorica Marian, associate professor of communication sciences and disorders at Northwestern University. "While that is true in some cases, our research shows that the experience of becoming bilingual itself makes learning a new language easier".

In the first study to explore a possible advantage in bilinguals who learned a second language at a parent's knee, Northwestern scientists asked three groups of native English speakers -- English-Mandarin bilinguals, English-Spanish bilinguals and monolinguals -- to master words in an invented language that bore no relationship to English, Spanish or Mandarin.

They observed that the bilingual participants -- whether English-Mandarin or English-Spanish speakers mastered nearly twice the number of words as the monolinguals.

And they believe the bilingual advantage is likely to generalize beyond word learning to other kinds of language learning, including learning new words in one's own language and a very basic ability to maintain verbal information......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

May 19, 2009, 8:18 PM CT

Hawaii Car Rentals

If you are on vacation to the Big Island, Hawaii car rentals is one of the best options you have to reach your favorite destinations. You can find affordable Hawaii car rentals that suit your needs, without much effort. Hawaii car rentals also offer several car classes, which include economy, compact, convertible, jeep wrangler, SUV, premium, luxury, 12 or 15 passenger van, pick up truck or cargo van. Also, if you have reserved a Hawaiian cruise vacation on your itinerary, you can even consider Hawaii cruise ship car rentals.

Hawaii Car Rentals: Vacationing

The paradise island of Hawaii is every vacationer's dream, given its natural beauty. The impressive altitude and latitude of the island and the several telescopes mounted on Mt. Mauna Kea makes it an astronomer's delight. Tourists can also enjoy activities, such as whale watching cruises, air tours, snorkeling and deep-sea diving. The island comprises black sand beaches, formed of lava eruptions from Kilauea volcano, which is the world's most active volcano. Some of the best and the most popular vacationing spots in the Big Island are Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Mauna Kea, Akaka Falls, and its various botanical gardens.

Hawaii Car Rentals: Other Benefits

A glimpse into certain exciting discounts and waivers offered by Hawaii Car rentals:........ Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

May 19, 2009, 5:14 AM CT

Judges' backgrounds matter in high court selection

Some federal judges are tossing out civil cases based on their own opinions, a disturbing trend that makes background checks even more important in the search for a new associate justice for the U.S. Supreme Court, a University of Illinois legal expert says.

A study by law professor Suja A. Thomas observed that judges improperly dismiss cases based on their own view of evidence because legal standards - which require them to gauge whether evidence is sufficient to sway a reasonable jury - are "fatally flawed".

"This idea that judges could actually determine what a reasonable jury would do is impossible," she said. "One of the reasons that they're using their own opinion of evidence is that the current standards call for an impossible determination".

Thomas hopes her research, reported in the Boston College Law Review, yields new guidelines that weed out opinion and also steers decision-makers toward deeper background checks as they mull candidates to replace retiring U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice David Souter.

"Judges are using their own opinions to decide cases, and their opinions are shaped by their background," she said. "So background really matters, from their experiences to where they grew up. We also need to look at the background of the other justices and try to find a background that's different and adds to the court's diversity"......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

May 13, 2009, 5:19 PM CT

Buy email list

When looking to buy email lists, many customers are unsure of what to look for to ensure they receive a quality product they can trust. At Data Depot, we offer the most information for the best value. Our professionals have established a proven track record of excellence through our expertise in marketing strategies and optimization efforts. If you’re interested in buying email lists that produce effective and reliable results, then Data Depot is the resource you’ve been waiting for. As a well known leader in the industry, Data Depot is proud to have earned a reputation for enhancing its customers’ bottom line while remaining an economical option. To stretch your advertising dollars to the limit, we provide you with multiple options to buy email list. Our comprehensive list collection covers reams of valuable data on getting in direct touch with your most prized customers as well as exploring new markets.

We offer lists that include household member age, residence type, home age, estimated home value and income, whether the individual owns or rents, and length of residence. These pieces of information can make a significant difference in the trajectory of your company’s marketing plan and we at Data Depot are pleased to offer such in depth research. Our business recognizes the importance of relevant consumer information and our services are aimed at fostering smart growth and strategic development........ Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

May 13, 2009, 5:21 AM CT

Feeling cramped while shopping?

When consumers find themselves in stores with narrow aisles, they react in a surprising way: they seek variety. As per a newly released study in the Journal of Consumer Research, confined spaces might help people diversify their choices.

Authors Jonathan Levav (Columbia University) and Rui (Juliet) Zhu (University of British Columbia, Vancouver) built on previous research on "psychological reactance," behaviors consumers employ to attempt to regain their freedom in situations where they perceive it to be threatened.

"For example, when consumers' freedom of choice is limited by stock-outs, they might exhibit reactance by evaluating the unavailable options as more appealing," the authors explain. "Extending this line of research, in this paper, we investigate an important yet overlooked factor that can also limit consumers' freedom: physical confinement".

As per the authors, in Western cultures, choice is viewed as a way to exert control over one's environment. And when people feel confined, apparently their shopping habits change.

The scientists designed a series of laboratory experiments to test the hypothesis that confining spaces lead to greater variety seeking. In the first study, participants shopped for candy in a laboratory space modified to create both wide and narrow aisles. The participants in the narrow aisle chose a greater variety of candy bars than consumers in the wide aisle. In a subsequent study, the authors observed that participants in narrow aisles were more likely to choose unfamiliar and unique brands. The results were amplified among people who tend to have high reactance tendencies. In a real-world study, the scientists observed that increased customer density led to more varied choices among supermarket customers......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

April 30, 2009, 9:47 PM CT

Mysterious disappearance of explorer Everett Ruess

The mysterious disappearance of Everett Ruess, a 20-year-old artist, writer and footloose explorer who wandered the Southwest in the early 1930s on a burro and who has become a folk hero to a number of, has been solved with the help of University of Colorado at Boulder scientists and the National Geographic Society.

The short, compelling life of Ruess, who went missing in 1934 after leaving the town of Escalante, Utah, has been the subject of much speculation. His story has spawned two documentary films, as well as plays, books, magazine and newspaper articles and a T-shirt line, and his name now graces an annual art festival in Escalante.

Ruess is well known for his artwork -- including watercolors and woodcuts of Southwest landscapes -- as well as extensive, romantic journaling of his travels. He was photographed by famous American documentary photojournalist Dorothea Lange, exchanged photos with Ansel Adams, and even merited a chapter in John Krakauer's book "Into the Wild," about another young wanderer, Chris McCandless.

An investigative article in the April/recent issue of National Geographic Adventure by David Roberts, who had been probing the Ruess disappearance for years, indicates a Navajo man, Aneth Nez, told his granddaughter, Daisy Johnson, in 1971 that he witnessed the murder of a young white man near Bluff, Utah, in the 1930s by Ute Indians. Nez told her he buried the body in a crevasse on nearby Comb Ridge......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

April 30, 2009, 9:45 PM CT

Mexicans more sociable than Americans

Stereotypes often paint a partial or false picture of an individual or group.

But now scientists have found evidence that supports a stereotype held by a number of in the United States that Mexicans are more outgoing, talkative, sociable and extroverted. The finding also contradicts the way a number of Mexicans view themselves as being less extroverted than Americans.

A team of social psychology experts from the two countries explored this paradox by having students from Mexico and the U.S. wear small digital audio recorders the size of a cell phone for two days and then analyzing their interactions. The students also filled out questionnaires that measured their sociability. The differences the scientists found are primarily cultural.

"Mexicans and Americans differed in the way they behaved socially," said Nairan Ramirez-Esparza, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington's Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences.

Ramirez-Esparza is a native of Mexico and began exploring the stereotype of Mexican sociability when she moved to the United States. She could see a difference in behavior while attending college.

"In Mexico people are outside a lot more and are in groups more than Americans are. The University of Texas has a lot of very nice outdoor places where students could get together. But American students didn't do that as much," she said......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

Fri, 01 May 2009 02:22:08 GMT

Calibrate your thermometer

Don’t you hate it when you find out that because you weren’t properly informed you wasted money?  I’ve long been a fan of metal probe-style instant read thermometers. As I’ve written before, they help you to cook meat not only safely but also to the perfect level of doneness. I knew these thermometers need to be tested frequently (especially after being dropped) but whenever I found one to be on the fritz, displaying a temperature out of whack with normal  temperature standards, I threw it away.

At an average of $15 each, that means that over the last few years, I’ve thrown out well over $100 worth of instant read thermometers!  That’s money I could have spent on dinner out at a nice restaurant, a facial, bonbons, beer or some other necessity of life. (Or, I guess I could have saved it,  but whatever.). 

Essentially that cash went into my trash can and then into land fill since almost all instant read thermometers can be calibrated. I learned this info when I took a safe food handling course on Sunday and I’ve been mad at myself ever since for not knowing that these tools are easily adjusted.

As I got over the initial embarrassing sting of how I’ve wasted money, I realized that if one person doesn’t know about something, there are likely others who aren’t informed either. So, today, just in time for grilling season, I’m going to teach you how to check your instant read thermometer for accuracy and how to fix it if it fails the test. 

• Step One - Testing:  Fill a glass with equal parts cold water and ice cubes to make an ice slush mixture. Insert the instant read probe into the centre of the mixture being sure not to touch the sides or bottom of the glass. If the thermometer does not read 0 degrees celsius (or 32 degrees fahrenheit) move on to step two.  Otherwise, clean the probe and put it away.
• Step Two - Calibrating: Turn the thermometer so that the face is away from you. On the underside of the thermometer, look for the nut that attaches the probe to the casing that holds the face. Use a small adjustable wrench to turn this nut gently. Retest the temperature and readjust the nut until you get the appropriate reading. Note:  Many models have a wrench built right into the same holder that keeps the probe clean and protected!

Did you know how to test and calibrate an instant read thermometer before reading today’s post?  Or, am I the only one who didn’t know how to do this task?

NB: If you need info about how to use an instant read thermometer, check out this post from last spring. Posted by: danamccauley      Read more     Source

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 04:50:29 GMT

10 Top Photography Composition Rules

The only rule in photography is that there are no rules. However, there are many composition guidelines which can be applied in almost any situation, to enhance the impact of a scene. Here are ten of the most popular and most widely respected composition "rules". Posted by: Gerard      Read more     Source

April 23, 2009, 5:27 AM CT

"Congestion pricing" could solve the problem of airport delays

In London, motorists pay a fee to drive into certain parts of the city during peak traffic hours, and the idea has been considered for implementation in New York as well. Now Dr. Itai Ater, an economist from Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Management, is suggesting that introducing "congestion pricing" at airports could save travellers time and airlines money.

"What I propose is a policy to reduce the amount of delays in the airline industry," says Dr. Ater. Airlines that want to use an airport's runways during the busiest times of the day, he says, should pay an additional fee. This price for premium access to the runway could reduce airport congestion - and the inevitable delays, as well as the risks, linked to crowded skies.

Dr. Ater will present his advice at the National Bureau of Economic Research conference in Boston this May. His aim is to spare airlines from future catastrophes as airports, and skies, get busier.

How the Pennies (and Minutes) Add Up

"Airport congestion is a big problem in the U.S. and around the world," says Dr. Ater, who reviewed flight records from America's busiest airports for his doctoral thesis at Stanford University. "The estimated annual costs of delays are $10 billion. When there are delays on take off or landing, a cascading effect is created, with lots of associated problems, risks and financial costs," he says......... Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

April 23, 2009, 5:20 AM CT

Financial Barriers to Attending College Affect Young Students

Most young students do not enjoy homework. However, after being told that good grades will help them get into college and lead to a better life, most students eventually buckle down and start studying. But what if college is not an option? If a student thinks they won't be able to afford a higher education - if the path towards college feels closed to them - they may conclude that studying and homework are a waste of time. Psychology experts Mesmin Destin and Daphna Oyserman from the University of Michigan wanted to know at what age this thinking starts to set in and found out that this mentality and lack of motivation towards school occurs in children as young as 11 years of age.

Seventh-grade students from low-income families participated in these studies. The students were either provided with information about need-based financial-aid opportunities available to them (i.e., open-path mind-set - that college was a possibility for them) or information about the enormous costs linked to a college education (i.e., closed-path mind-set - that college was not a viable option for them). The students then completed questionnaires about their academic goals, expected grades and how a number of hours they planned on studying and doing homework later that evening.

The results, reported in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, reveal that mind-set matters. When students, as young as 11 years of age, felt that college was an option for them, they expected to do better in school and planned on putting more effort into studying and homework, in comparison to students who did not view college as a realistic possibility. When the scientists looked at the students' current grade point averages, they observed that the positive effects of an open-path mind-set were not as great for students with lower grade point averages; these students planned on spending less time studying in comparison to students with higher grades......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

April 22, 2009, 10:19 PM CT

Do good looks lead to higher grades in school?

Do personal traits predict success in school? If so, which dimension of one's outward appearance can tell the most about academic achievement? The answers to these questions are found in a newly released study by scientists from the University of Miami Health Economics Research Group. The study is the first to demonstrate that non-cognitive traits play an important role in the assignment of grades in high school.

Economists have examined the role that beauty plays on the type of employment, earnings, productivity and the likelihood of politicians being elected to office, and have wondered if "beauty premiums" and "plainness penalties" in the labor market come from an accumulation of differences in attention and rewards received from teachers throughout the school years. Findings from this peer-evaluated study titled: "Effects of Physical Attractiveness, Personality and Grooming on Academic Performance in High School" would be reported in the next issue of Labour Economics.

The study offers a new perspective in an area of research that until now was almost exclusively focused on adults. It examines the effect of three personal characteristics--physical attractiveness, personality and grooming--on students' grade point averages (GPA) in high school. The primary objective is to determine which aspects of these non-cognitive personal traits are more strongly associated with academic achievement, said Michael T. French, professor of health economics in the UM College of Arts and Sciences and one of the authors of the study......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:36:18 GMT

Nigel Nolan at Le Gallery

I didn"t really know what to expect when I made my way over to Nigel Nolan"s latest show, Amuse-Bouche, at Le Gallery on Dundas West. I realize this is something of a fluff statement - one that writers often use to break the ice and get a post underway. But let me assure you: in this case, my intrigue was palpable. The main reason for this was the fact that I had taken a peek at the webpage that Nolan put together in anticipation of the show. The combination of the statement "I have some hot Argentine boys for sale" and a series of photos that seem to gesture to amateur pornography is, of course, a pretty good way to generate such inquisitiveness.

Even after spending some time at the show, I"m not sure that I was able to answer all of the questions it engendered. But that"s not necessarily a bad thing. If something"s actually provocative, it tends to resist being fixed or labeled too easily and quickly. And while I think this particular show is less shocking than perhaps its meant to be - what with the graphic sexual imagery and all - its numerous artistic interrogations are fascinating. Posted by: Derek      Read more     Source

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:33:37 GMT

Calling Fairy Godmothers

Our friend Florence the Shoegoddess is not only into shoes, she"s really into supporting A Place Called Home- a haven within South Central Los Angeles dedicated to providing at-risk youth with a secure, positive family environment. Florence has been working with APCH for years now and spends time weekly down in South Central with her "kids" as she calls them. One of the events by APCH is "The Cinderella Project" -- a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to building the self-esteem of underprivileged teenage girls by providing them with beautiful formal wear for special occasions in their lives. We love supporting good causes and what could be better than building self worth in young women!?!? So we"re asking anyone reading this to contact APCH and donate a gown, a pair of shoes, and/or a BAG! Posted by: Tina      Read more     Source

April 21, 2009, 5:25 AM CT

Consumers flock together, but don't necessarily buy

Consumers are attracted to crowds in stores, but they are not likely to buy something from a crowded location, as per a newly released study in the Journal of Consumer Research

Authors Sam K. Hui (New York University), Eric T. Bradlow, and Peter S. Fader (both University of Pennsylvania) analyzed tracking data from an electronic system called Pathtracker, a device attached to the bottom of a shopping cart that emits a signal every five seconds to track shoppers' paths. They matched the shopping cart paths with purchase records obtained from scanners to create complete records of consumers' shopping trips. The data came from a large supermarket in the eastern United States.

The data showed that eventhough consumers are attracted to crowded store zones, they are less likely to make a purchase once they arrive.

The authors also discovered that the more time people spend in a store, the more purposeful they become. "As consumers spend more time in the store, they begin to feel time pressure when making the visit. Thus they adapt by changing their shopping strategies: They are less likely to spend time on exploration, and instead focus on visiting and shopping at store zones that carry categories they plan to buy," write the authors.

The scientists also confirmed a hypothesis posed by earlier scientists that after purchasing a "virtue" product (like a healthy food), people are more likely to purchase something from a "vice" category (like an unhealthy snack)......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

April 17, 2009, 5:13 AM CT

College students better prepared

Freshmen entering California State University, Sacramento, are better prepared to tackle college-level work than they were in 2004, suggesting that a five-year-old statewide program to assess college readiness among high school juniors is paying off.

Those are the conclusions of a newly released study of California's Early Evaluation Program by Michal Kurlaender, an assistant professor of education at UC Davis, and scientists at California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State) and the University of Minnesota. The study will be presented on Friday, April 17, at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in San Diego.

Kurlaender and her co-researchers found a 6-percentage point drop since 2004 in the number of entering Sacramento State freshmen who need remedial English, and a 4-percentage point drop in those who need extra classes in math.

Across the 23-campus CSU system, a decline of this magnitude would equal about 2,000 fewer students in remedial math and 3,000 fewer in remedial English courses, a substantial reduction.

At Sacramento State, the decline did not appear to be due to an increase in the number of unprepared students who opted not to apply to college, the scientists report.

"This is perhaps the best part of the story: Students and high schools appear to be using the information from the Early Evaluation Program to act in the senior year of high school," Kurlaender said......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

April 16, 2009, 5:03 AM CT

One course to help the struggling first-year students

A researcher at Ohio State University has developed a course on learning and motivation strategies that actually increases the odds that struggling first-year students will graduate.

Students in academic difficulty who took the "Learning and Motivation Strategies" course in their first quarter at Ohio State were about 45 percent more likely to graduate within six years than similar students who didn't take the class.

Average-ability students who took the course were also six times more likely to stay in college for a second year and had higher grade point averages than those who didn't take the class.

"We are taking the students who are least likely to succeed in college and teaching them the skills they need to stay in school and graduate," said Bruce Tuckman, a professor of education at Ohio State, and creator of the course.

"Just taking this one class has made a big difference in how well below-average students do at Ohio State".

Tuckman and Gary Kennedy, a graduate student in education, recently completed a study looking at how students have fared after taking the class. They presented their results April 16 in San Diego at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association.

The scientists compared 351 students who took the class their first quarter at Ohio State with 351 matched controls who didn't take the class. The students were matched on quarter of enrollment, gender, age, ethnicity, high school class rank and ACT scores to make sure those who took the class were in comparison to students of similar ability and background......... Posted by: Jaison      Read more         Source

April 13, 2009, 2:13 PM CT

People Drive The Speed They Are Comfortable With

Kansas gravel roads have varying speed limits, but a study by Kansas State University scientists shows that instead of abiding by those limits, people are more likely to use their own judgment to gauge how fast they should drive on the roads.

K-State scientists Sunanda Dissanayake, associate professor of civil engineering, and Litao Liu, graduate student in civil engineering, have studied the actual speeds on Kansas gravel roads and the various factors involved.

"We observed that people are driving at speeds based on their perceptions and existing conditions - regardless of the speed limit," said Dissanayake, who also is a faculty member with K-State's University Transportation Center.

Kansas has about 78,000 miles of gravel roads, or 58 percent of all roads in the state, she said. By state law, gravel roads have a speed limit of 55 mph, though local governments are allowed to reduce the speed limit within their jurisdictions. Most of the state's 105 counties maintain the 55 mph speed limit and don't post the limit on gravel roads.

One exception is Johnson County, where the gravel road speed limit has been reduced to 35 mph and signs are posted. Dissanayake said this creates problems since the county is the only one in the area with that speed limit. For instance, when driving on a gravel road in Miami County, the speed limit is 55 mph -- and it's not posted. However, when staying on the same road and passing into Johnson County, signs alert drivers that the speed limit is 35 mph......... Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

April 9, 2009, 4:42 AM CT

Tax lobbying provides 22,000 percent return

Three professors at the University of Kansas have observed that a one-time tax break allowed multinational corporations to receive a 22,000 percent average return on lobbying expenditures.

The study was conducted by Raquel Meyer Alexander, assistant professor of accounting; Stephen Mazza, associate dean of the School of Law; and Susan Scholz, associate professor of accounting and Harper Faculty Fellow. Mazza recently presented their findings at the Critical Tax Theory Conference, sponsored by the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington.

A recent tax law change provided a tax break to the corporations by lowering their tax rate 85 percent on certain worldwide income. The professors examined the extensive lobbying around the law change and observed that for each dollar spent on lobbying, a corporation received $220 in U.S. income tax savings.

The American Jobs Creation Act, among other provisions, allowed U.S. multinational corporations a one-time opportunity to bring home foreign earnings at an extremely low tax rate. In effect, it lowered the corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to a maximum of 5.25 percent on repatriated amounts. In response, 843 firms repatriated over $312 billion at this reduced tax rate. Using financial disclosures in the annual reports of multinational corporations, the scientists examined 476 publicly traded firms that repatriated more than $298 billion......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

April 6, 2009, 10:19 PM CT

States that vote early can reap big bucks

The 2008 presidential campaign season had the earliest statewide primaries and caucuses in memory, starting with the Iowa Caucus on Jan. 3. Now research from North Carolina State University shows that states may have good reason to push for an early contest. States that hold early presidential primaries or caucuses get a larger share of per capita federal procurement spending in comparison to other states, the newly released study says. But being early is not enough, study author Dr. Andrew Taylor says states must also pick the winner.

"Obviously this has real-world ramifications," Taylor says. "Here is some evidence that order does matter, and that there is some incentive for states to try to move forward in the presidential nomination process."

Evaluating data from 1984 through 2004, the new report finds that the earlier a state holds its primary or caucus, the more federal procurement funding it receives per capita as long as it backed the candidate who ultimately won the White House. Taylor explains that states receive minimal benefit if they vote early but back a candidate who ultimately drops out of the race or loses the election. Federal procurement is federal funding for goods and services, such as defense contracts.

States that hold later contests, after the field of candidates has been narrowed, have a better chance at picking the winning candidate. But Taylor says that advantage is effectively negated, because states with later primaries or caucuses won't receive much - if any - added benefit for backing the winner......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source