|
A.
A Study Contradicts Some Common Assumptions about Suburban Living
Narrator: This is Science Today. Contrary to what critics have long argued about suburban living, a study of 15 thousand Americans has found that living in the suburbs is better for people's social life than city dwelling. Economist Jan Brueckner of the University of California, Irvine, co-led the study.
Brueckner: Critics of urban sprawl claim that sprawl, namely low-density suburban living reduces social interaction, reduces links between people. Our paper shows that the opposite is true, that interaction is higher in the suburbs, namely when people live in low-densities.
Narrator: Brueckner has some theories as to why this is, including that city dwellers are surrounded by people more and tend to want more privacy. There are also more entertainment options available in urban areas and less reliance on reaching out to others. Whatever is the cause, Brueckner say these findings have an economic value.
Brueckner: A lot of research has shown that labor market outcomes are better for people with a lot of friends, with a lot of social contacts. They get better jobs, better job matches and so on.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
California to Establish the First Greenhouse Gas Standard
Narrator: This is Science Today. The state of California is set to establish the world's first Greenhouse Gas Standard for transportation fuels, a move that will spark research in alternatives to oil, as well as boost clean technology and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Alex Farrell, director of the University of California, Berkeley 's Joint Center for Transportation Sustainability Research, will conduct a study to evaluate the implementation of a low carbon fuel standard for fuels sold in California.
Farrell: One of the key issues – one of the important details, is developing protocols so that we can rigorously measure, and with confidence, audit the greenhouse gas implications of fuels that are sold in California.
Narrator: Farrell says the groundbreaking low carbon standard will help diversify our fuel supplies.
Farrell: And the competition among all these different fuel providers, all these new companies that will enter the market in terms of providing fuels, I think that that competition is the way to ensure that prices remain low.
Narrator: The goal is to have a regulatory process for the new standard completed by late 2008. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
Researchers Develop a Saliva Test for Early Detection of Oral Cancer
Narrator: This is Science Today. For the first time, researchers at the UCLA School of Dentistry have developed a standardized saliva-based early detection test for oral cancer. Dr. David Wong, Director of UCLA's Dental Research Institute, says this minimally-invasive test is now ready for further clinical testing.
Wong: And what that means is we're going to take this signature here that we developed here at the University of California , Los Angeles and have it tested in multiple parts in the country to see how this signature oral cancer biomarkers will behave. And if the results come out as we hope it will be, then it will become a clinical test.
Narrator: Oral cancer is the number six most common cancer in the United States , affecting 38 thousand Americans each year.
Wong: It is a terrible, terrible cancer to have because people that are affected by oral cancer, 50% of them die within five years. However, if this disease could be detected earlier, absolutely that would change that.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin .
D.
Genetically Speaking, Modern Europeans Fall into Two Groups
Narrator: This is Science Today. In terms of genetics, modern Europeans fall into two groups: a Northern one and a Southern, or Mediterranean, group. Those were the findings of a study led by Dr. Michael Seldin, who chairs the Rowe Program in Genetics at the University of California, Davis Health System.
Seldin: These findings might have important implications in terms of looking at these individuals differently and furthermore, being able to really ascertain where people come from even when we have either inaccurate or the lack of information about a country of origin.
Narrator: Similar studies are being conducted in admixed populations, such as African-American and Mexican-American.
Seldin: We got our first hint that there was this substantial difference in European population substructure in some of our studies looking at admixed populations where it looked like in Mexican-Americans, in Mexican subjects and Puerto Ricans, that the European component actually had two parts to it.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
Measuring Quality Hospital Care in Terms of Patient Outcomes
Narrator: This is Science Today. The University of California, San Francisco will lead a two-year study measuring nursing quality in hospitals. Mary Blegen, director of the Center for Patient Safety in the UCSF School of Nursing, says there have been a number of research studies in recent years looking at the effects of nurse staffing levels, how many registered nurses are in hospitals and the safety and equality of patient care.
Blegen: Each of those studies had used different measures and different ways of analyzing this and so the resulting research has had a lot of inconsistency in it. And so what this project will do, it's using some of the better data that anyone has had access to. But it's still addressing that question of, “if a patient care unit has more registered nurses on it, is the patient outcome and care on that unite better than it would be otherwise?"
Narrator: Blegen's team will measure quality hospital care in terms of outcomes, indicators of how well patients fare and whether they suffer complications of their care. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
|
