Texting in class usually gets kids in trouble. But some writing instructors, intrigued by the popularity of cell-phone novels in Japan, are considering phone composition as a way to get students interested in literature.
"Some critics argue that mobile phone novels are not literature," says Yukiko Nishimura, a linguist and professor of humanities at Toyo Gakuen University in Japan. "I think they are -- it's a new genre."
Girls are gathering online to remake male-oriented Japanese animation videos into romances -- and in the process are picking up skills in film editing, storytelling and feminist literary criticism.
"Boys are more into the fighting aspects of anime," says Elizabeth Birmingham, an associate professor of English at North Dakota State University. "Girls have created this subculture where they cut the animation videos up, mix them around, and create their own stories, often romances."
Steven Krause's new freshman composition textbook, "The Process of Research Writing," is a real bargain for his students: It's free.
Between 2003 and 2007, the progress made in the 1990s and early 2000s in improving contraceptive use and reducing teen pregnancy and childbearing by teens engaged in risky behavior stalled, and may even have reversed among certain groups of teens, according to a study called "Changing Behavior Risk for Pregnancy Among High School Students in the United States, 1991�," by John S. Santelli, MD, MPH, professor and chair of the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in conjunction with researchers at Guttmacher Institute.
Living in an area with more fast food outlets and convenience stores than supermarkets and grocers has been associated with obesity in a Canadian study. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Public Health have shown that your local food environment can affect your weight.
OTTAWA (June 16, 2009) – The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, announced today that the Government of Canada is supporting research to find alternatives to nuclear-produced Technetium-99m, the principal medical isotope affected by the current shutdown at the Chalk River nuclear reactor. Health professionals use medical isotopes in combination with imaging technologies to diagnose and treat conditions such as cancer and heart disease.
SEATTLE—An evaluation of recent innovations in delivering primary care at a Group Health Cooperative medical center shows significant success and rapid return on investment. The data led to a decision to invest in these best practices in all of Group Health's 26 medical centers by 2010.
Sport hunters are depleting lion and cougar populations as managers respond to demands to control predators that threaten livestock and humans, according to a study published in the June 17 issue of PLoS ONE. The study was led by Craig Packer, a University of Minnesota professor and renowned authority on lion behavior, who worked with an international team of conservationists.
Fairbanks, Alaska—Two University of the Alaska Fairbanks researchers are among key contributors to a new national report that details visible effects of climate change in the United States and how today's choices stand to affect the future.
According to a report published today, we must all share responsibility for preventing the spread of diseases such as swine flu, SARS, avian influenza, diarrhoeal and skin diseases, and even the common cold.
STANFORD, Calif. — Comparative effectiveness research is generating buzz these days, with the recent economic stimulus package allocating $1.1 billion for these types of studies. But a researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine is asking policymakers to take a step back and make sure that the plans for comparative effectiveness research go deep enough to make a difference.
Proponents of a flat rate income tax often point to Russia's 2001 switch to a 13 percent flat tax as an economic miracle.
The new tax policy slashed taxes for higher-income Russians who previously paid rates of 20 and 30 percent. Despite the savings to taxpayers, real tax revenues reaped by the government increased by 25 percent in the year after the reform. The windfall, flat tax advocates say, happened because a simpler, fairer tax system leads to better compliance, and because lower taxes spur productivity.
Edmonton—University of Alberta researchers conducting a water study in the Mackenzie River Delta have found a dramatically higher delivery of mercury from the Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean than determined in previous studies.
Researcher Jennifer Graydon analyzed water in the Mackenzie River as it flowed north into the Beaufort Sea. She collected samples for three months and discovered the total amount of mercury exported from the river during that three-month period was equal to an entire year's worth of mercury calculated in previous studies.
Extending health insurance coverage to all children in the U.S. would be relatively inexpensive and would yield economic benefits that are greater than the costs, according to new research conducted at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.
INDIANAPOLIS – A new study by Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) researchers contradicts the conventional wisdom that living near a fast food outlet increases weight in children and that living near supermarkets, which sell fresh fruit and vegetables as well as so called junk food, lowers weight.