reduce

10Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

ENVIRONMENT

Boosting Renewable Energy Use Can Reduce Harm To Low-Income People If Done Thoughtfully – And Can Happen Quickly

With many nations making efforts to transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy, SciLine interviewed Erin Baker, a professor of industrial engineering and operations at UMass Amherst. Baker discussed the technological, political and regulatory efforts needed for this transition, as well as ways that our fossil fuel-dependent system disproportionately harms poor communities and communities of color. The Conversation has collaborated with SciLine to bring you highlights from the discussion, which have been edited for brevity and clarity. How is our country doing at making the transition to renewable energy? Erin Baker: There has been amazing technological change over the past 15 years. Offshore wind costs 50% less than it did six years ago. Solar has had a sixfold decrease in ...

It’s Not The Whole Story But Safety Net Policies Are Helping Reduce The Number Of Americans Below The Poverty Line

5Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

It’s Not The Whole Story But Safety Net Policies Are Helping Reduce The Number Of Americans Below The Poverty Line

On The Record Elena Delavega, University of Memphis CC BY-ND The share of Americans living in poverty shrank to an estimated 9.2% in 2020, according to the Urban Institute, a think tank that closely tracks this rate with a widely used model. There were 29.3 million Americans living below the poverty line, the institute’s researchers found. Another 10.3 million appear to have been kept out of poverty through government efforts to cushion the blows from massive economic upheaval triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. This new estimate contradicts many prior predictions and is significantly lower than the 10.5% of the U.S. population the U.S. Census Bureau said was in poverty in 2019, the most recent official data available. If confirmed when the government agency releases official 2020 numbe...

2 Things To Know About Jury Bias And 2 Ways To Reduce It – Chauvin Conviction

2Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

VIDEO REELS

2 Things To Know About Jury Bias And 2 Ways To Reduce It – Chauvin Conviction

Shortly after the guilty verdicts were revealed in former police officer Derek Chauvin’s trial for murdering George Floyd, legal experts suggested Chauvin will appeal, arguing that his right to a fair trial was threatened by extensive pretrial publicity. Video of Derek Chauvin with his knee on the neck of George Floyd for more than nine minutes was shared around the globe on social media and drew international outrage. The publicity around Floyd’s death will likely underlie any Chauvin appeal. To help place the jury’s unanimous decision on all three charges in context, here are some important facts about juries. Pretrial publicity and other biases High-profile incidents of police killings often result in widespread pretrial publicity about the defendant and victim. The Derek Chauvin case ...

Using Indoor Air Filters Near Busy Highways Can Reduce Blood Pressure

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Using Indoor Air Filters Near Busy Highways Can Reduce Blood Pressure

The big idea For people living near busy highways, using air filters indoors results in short-term improvements to blood pressure, according to a new study I co-authored. Busy highways are large sources of air pollution. Larry D. Moore via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA Next to busy highways and major roadways, there are high concentrations of air pollution – including exceptionally tiny, invisible and odorless ultrafine particles from burning fuel. My colleagues Neelakshi Hudda, Misha Eliasziw and I tested how using air filters indoors near a highway can reduce exposure to ultrafine and other particulate pollutants – and what effect that has on blood pressure. Our team tested 77 participants over three two-hour sessions in a room next to a busy highway. We manipulated the level of air pollu...

Strategies For Parents To Reduce Kids Pandemic Stress

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Strategies For Parents To Reduce Kids Pandemic Stress

Parents are dealing with huge demands on their time and energy. Children may not be attending school or involved in regular activities. As the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on families, routines have collapsed, patience is wearing thin and self-care is a distant memory. Making time to connect one on one is crucial. S&B Vonlanthen/Unsplash, CC BY Decades of research have taught us that adversity during childhood has damaging effects on health and development. Many studies have shown that kids who have faced abuse, neglect and family conflict struggle forming friendships, have academic difficulties and face physical and mental health problems in adolescence and adulthood. Fortunately, developmental scientists have identified ways to help children survive and thrive during times of ...

Support From Schools Can Reduce Parents Anxiety During The Pandemic

4Nov

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, EDUCATION

Support From Schools Can Reduce Parents Anxiety During The Pandemic

Our recent survey found that schools can affect the mental health and well-being of not just students but their parents, too. From April through June 2020, we surveyed 152 parents – primarily mothers – in Detroit, Michigan, who were managing the new demands of remote schooling for their children. Not surprisingly, they reported high levels of anxiety (34%) and depression (27%) during this stressful period, but some indicated that support from their child’s school played an important role in reducing their mental health difficulties. Generally speaking, the more school support parents in our survey felt they had received, the less anxiety and depression they reported. However, this finding did not extend to families that were highly affected by COVID-19 due to lost income, food insecurity ...

Pneumonia Vaccines May Reduce Deaths From COVID-19 Until A Coronavirus Vaccine Is Available

16Oct

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19

Pneumonia Vaccines May Reduce Deaths From COVID-19 Until A Coronavirus Vaccine Is Available

The yearly influenza season threatens to make the COVID-19 pandemic doubly deadly, but I believe that this isn’t inevitable. There are two commonly given vaccines – the pneumococcal vaccine and the Hib vaccine – that protect against bacterial pneumonias. These bacteria complicate both influenza and COVID-19, often leading to death. My examination of disease trends and vaccination rates leads me to believe that broader use of the pneumococcal and Hib vaccines could guard against the worst effects of a COVID-19 illness. I am an immunologist and physiologist interested in the effects of combined infections on immunity. I have reached my insight by juxtaposing two seemingly unrelated puzzles: Infants and children get SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, but very rarely become hospital...