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A.
Geocoding Techniques Used to Study Asthma
Narrator: This is Science Today. Computer mapping of residential locations, or geocoding, was used in an asthma study conducted by researchers at the University of California , San Francisco . Study leader, Paul Blanc says by linking this data to general U.S. census information, investigators were able to determine a strong link between socioeconomic status of an area and health measures of asthma.
Blanc: In the past people have used things like zipcode and the problem with zipcode is there's not particularly a rhyme or reason for a zipcode on a pure socieoencomic basis. You can make some generalities, but there are very mixed zipcodes.
Narrator: Blanc says the next step is using the same geocoding approaches to look into factors such as traffic density and land use patterns in one's surrounding area.
Blanc: We can say how far in miles someone is from agricultural land, how far they are from what kinds of agricultural lands and also say something about the types of plants and their surroundings.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
Engineers Aim to Develop Longer-Lasting Lighting
Narrator: This is Science Today. Engineers at the University of California , Davis have developed innovative lighting technology called field emission lamps. Charles Hunt, co-inventor of the lamp, says this energy-efficient, non-toxic lighting source uses specialized carbon-based materials.
Hunt: In using this particular type of cathode, I think at first people thought “this is yet another carbon cathode, so what” – the big difference is at Davis we've learned to change the surface that emits the electrons and changes it from a so-so emitting cathode to a really, extremely good emitting cathode.
Narrator: Hunt says they've done a few things to improve on the technology.
Hunt: One of the things that we have successfully discovered and patented here at UC Davis is a method for treating the surface so that we can get 10,000 hours of lifetime and actually much more than that. We are now targeting 30,000 hours of lifetime, so that we think we that we can get a lifetime that might be as much as three times as long as the best fluorescent bulbs.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C. Can Brain Imaging Help Measure Early Progression of Alzheimer's Disease?
Narrator: This is Science Today. Several University of California campuses are participating in a bold, 5-year initiative to test whether brain imaging can be combined with other biological and clinical markers to measure the progression of mild cognitive impairment and early Alzheimer's disease. Dr. William Jagust of UC Berkeley, who leads the initiative's research on PET scans, says this initiative is rare.
Jagust: First of all, it's a public-private partnership. It actually involves the pharmaceutical industry, NIH and academia and to my knowledge, that kind of interaction is unusual, if not unique. Second of all, it's very large and the reason is there are many technical factors that have to be overcome.
Narrator: Researchers will see if imaging technologies, like PET and MRI scans, can predict cognitive decline over time and will also learn more about the natural rate of change in brain anatomy and brain function.
Jagust: And looking at these rates of change naturally over time is something that many people are interested in potentially to use as an indicator of a treatment by a drug.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D. How Consumers Benefit from Competition in the Organic Foods Market
Narrator: This is Science Today. Take a trip to your local supermarket and chances are high that you'll find sections dedicated to organic products. Julie Guthman, a professor of Community Studies at the University of California , Santa Cruz , has conducted a comprehensive study of organic agriculture in California – the fastest growing segment of farming today.
Guthman: Some consumers say, I just want a safer food, made with fewer pesticides and some consumers are really into this seasonal, direct marketing business. Consumer conceptions are all over the place.
Narrator: As the organic market continues to grow, consumers are benefiting because prices are going down due to increased competition. Part of this competition is coming from conventional growers and businesses that have entered the organic market.
Guthman: But it's not like General Mills was coming along looking for these sorts of things. It was more that these smaller businesses were, as they succeeded – it was sort of a venture capital thing – they started looking for people to buy them out and then the big manufacturers came into the market. But they didn't initiate it and that's quite different.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E. Researchers Look into a Fundamental Scientific Question
Narrator: This is Science Today. Scientists can distinguish whether materials were formed inside or outside of the solar system by examining the isotopic ratios of these materials. John Bradley, director of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, recently found an isotope ratio that was a fingerprint of a pre-solar environment.
Bradley: Basically, we just use the isotopes to prove that some of the organic matter in these particles actually comes from the interstellar medium. It was formed long before the solar system was even here. This research is chasing what is perhaps the ultimate, scientific question. Where did we come from? How did life get started on Earth? And this is perhaps one of the most complicated problems in science today – understanding how a primordial piece of organic goop made the transition from something that's dead to something that's self-replicating in life. I think in the next fifty years or so, we will answer that question.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
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