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Page last updated: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 1:09
RESEARCH & EXPERTISE NEWS
| News about significant campus research and expertise (scholarly research, discoveries, etc.) that promotes and distinguishes the University of Arkansas as a nationally competitive research university serving Arkansas and the world. |
Posted:5/6/2008
Strong Relationships Increase Commitment of Information-Technology Personnel in Public Sector
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – In one of the first studies to focus specifically on state government information-technology personnel, researchers at the University of Arkansas found that key interpersonal relationships – both mentoring and different types of exchanges between supervisors and subordinates – have a major impact on employees’ commitment to an organization. |
Posted:5/5/2008
Survey Research Center Celebrates 10th Anniversary, Begins New Omnibus Survey
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Survey Research Center at the University of Arkansas will begin collecting data Tuesday, May 6, for the Northwest Arkansas Omnibus Survey, a short, service-oriented poll to measure local residents’ perceptions about the economy and a variety of other topics. |
Posted:4/24/2008
UA Q&A: Why is it important to get enough protein in my diet?
 Why is it important to get enough protein in my diet? Please visit http://researchfrontiers.uark.edu to see the reply from Marjorie Fitch-Hilgenberg, associate professor of dietetics in the School of Human Environmental Sciences at the University of Arkansas. |
Posted:4/24/2008
Researcher to Study Gene Flow 'Hot Spots' in Canola
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A University of Arkansas researcher and her colleagues have won a joint grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency to look at the combined effects of global climate change on weed biology, focusing in particular on transgenic hybrid weeds created by cross-pollination with genetically modified crop plants. The joint award of $520,000 is one of only four in the country. |
Posted:4/24/2008
Preserving a Language and Culture: Teaching Choctaw in the Public Schools
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Choctaw, a language that once was used for government, commerce, school and church in the Oklahoma Territory, faces extinction. In a program that could become a model for other threatened languages, Freddie A. Bowles, foreign language educator at the University of Arkansas, works with the Choctaw Nation to preserve and revitalize this indigenous heritage language. |
Posted:4/23/2008
Magazine Focuses on Sustainability Research
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Designing landscapes, creating efficient power sources, developing better business practices, examining human impact on small creatures – through these and other projects, University of Arkansas researchers work to create a better world for the long term. The work of these faculty and others is showcased in the spring 2008 issue of Research Frontiers. |
Posted:4/23/2008
In a 'My Campaign' Era, Wedge Issues Trump National Interests
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The days of a national election
resulting in a presidential mandate are over, and a new era of segmentation and
personalized pitches to voters has serious implications for democracy,
according to Todd Shields, a University of Arkansas political scientist. |
Posted:4/8/2008
Habit Plays Major Role in Continued Use of Information Technology, Study Finds
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Business and
management researchers generally acknowledge two basic stages of
information-systems usage: adoption and continuance. Past research has focused
on adoption, the initial, critical stage in which users are introduced to a
given computer application or program, learn about it and come to accept it.
But recently, organizational managers and researchers have
begun to explore the importance of continuance, the post-adoption stage of
information-systems usage. |
Posted:4/3/2008
UA Q&A: What Makes a Poet an Imagist?
 Many poets use images. What makes a poet an Imagist? Please visit http://researchfrontiers.uark.edu to see the response by
Michael Heffernan, professor of English in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. |
Posted:4/2/2008
Test Scores Go Up with Best Friends of Different Race
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Having a best friend of a different race can make a big difference in the academic achievement of black and Hispanic high school students, according to a University of Arkansas study. |
Posted:3/27/2008
University of Arkansas Researchers Study Effects of School Consolidation on Students, Educators
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - School consolidation affects the students and teachers who move to a new
school more than it affects students and teachers in the receiving school, a
new study by University of Arkansas researchers found. The study also indicated
that students affected by consolidation were more resilient and able to adapt quicker
to their new settings than their teachers and parents. |
Posted:3/24/2008
Innovative Warehouse Design Concept Implemented by Wisconsin Generator Manufacturer
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - An innovative, alternative warehouse-design concept developed by a University of Arkansas researcher and his colleague at Auburn University has been implemented by a Wisconsin generator manufacturer. In its newly designed warehouse in Whitewater, Wis., Generac Power Systems built a non-traditional aisle and rack system based on concepts created by Russell Meller, professor of industrial engineering, and Kevin Gue, engineering professor at Auburn. |
Posted:3/13/2008
UA Q&A: Why do Some Foods Spoil Easily, While Others Don't?
Why do some foods spoil easily, while others don't? Please visit
http://researchfrontiers.uark.edu to see the reply from Michael
Johnson, professor of food science in the Dale Bumpers College of
Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas. |
Posted:3/13/2008
RFID Improves Inventory Accuracy, University of Arkansas Study Finds
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - A preliminary
analysis of the effect of radio frequency identification on
retail-inventory accuracy demonstrated that an automated, RFID-enabled
inventory system improved accuracy by about 13 percent in test stores compared
to control stores. The investigation, conducted by researchers in the RFID Research Center, a research unit of the Information
Technology Research Institute in the Sam M. Walton College of Business,
also revealed that manual inventory adjustments by store personnel
significantly declined in test stores due to the automated, RFID-based system. |
Posted:3/3/2008
Keeping Traditions in a Modern-Day Bedouin Village
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - University of Arkansas researchers have used modern digital-mapping technology to uncover an ancient tradition still practiced by a Bedouin tribe that once roamed Jordan but now has settled into a modern village. The findings appear to have no parallel anywhere. |
Posted:2/28/2008
Dismal Rock: Poetry That Captures a Fading World
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - An award-winning collection of poetry by Davis McCombs uses the language
and terrain of the burley tobacco country of south-central Kentucky to reveal
the complexities of a fading way of life. McCombs' book, Dismal Rock, was recently published by Tupelo Press. |
Posted:2/25/2008
Novel Materials Research Nets Physicist NSF CAREER Award
A University of
Arkansas physics professor will create and explore novel interface-controlled
materials at the nanoscale to explore their physical properties, many of which
are not attainable in bulk materials. His research in this area earned him a
$410,735 CAREER award from the National Science Foundation to continue the
research, which was cited by Science
magazine as one of the top 10 breakthroughs of 2007. |
Posted:2/13/2008
University of Arkansas Q&A: What is the difference between a stock and a bond?
 What is the difference between a stock and a bond? Please visit the
Research Frontiers Web site at http://researchfrontiers.uark.edu to see
the answer by Craig G. Rennie, Clete and Tammy Brewer Professor of
Financial Markets in the Sam M. Walton College of Business and managing
director of the Garrison Financial Institute. |
Posted:2/12/2008
Faculty Members Birth New Baby Products Company
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - University
of Arkansas faculty members Li Cai and Mark Zweig have launched Good Parents, a
company offering innovative and high-quality infant and baby products. Anchored
by a novel diaper-changing pad designed several years ago by Cai, research
professor of electrical engineering, the company has already sold a few items
even before its Internet store opens Feb. 15. |
Posted:2/6/2008
UA Q&A: What happens to fish when a stream dries up?
What happens to fish when a stream dries up? Please visit
http://www.researchfrontiers.uark.edu to see the reply by Dan
Magoulick, associate professor of biological sciences in the J. William
Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. |
Posted:2/5/2008
NASA Announces Intent to Fund Researchers to Study Stardust Samples
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - University of Arkansas researchers are receiving a grant to examine
material from a comet sample brought back to Earth from outer space. They will
try to determine its composition and age. This work will provide new insights
into the formation and history of comets. |
Posted:1/31/2008
Research Suggests Experience, Not Genetics, Affects Musicians' Brain Responses
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - By looking at brains listening to Bach, Elizabeth Margulis, a music
cognition researcher, has found evidence to support one side in a long-running
debate among musicians. Practice, training and experience, it appears, are what
develop a musician's ear, not genetic predisposition. |
Posted:1/28/2008
Focus the Nation: University of Arkansas to Participate in National Teach-in on Global Warming
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.
- The University of Arkansas
will participate in Focus the Nation's Teach-in on Global Warming. On
Wednesday, Jan. 30, and Thursday, Jan. 31, more than 1,000 educational
institutions will focus on global warming in an effort to educate young people
about the pressing need for changes to sustain the planet and to outline
actions people can take now to reduce the effects of global warming. |
Posted:1/16/2008
Drought Length Influences Survival of Fish in Stream Pools
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. -University of Arkansas researchers have found that not all pools of water
are equal from year to year when it comes to housing fish species during dry
spells - a finding that becomes increasingly important during unusual and
prolonged drought conditions. |
Posted:1/16/2008
Drinking to Cope in College Linked to Drinking Problems
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Although discomfort in social situations and drinking are both
recognized features of college life, the complex relationship between social
anxiety and drinking is not well understood. Research by University of Arkansas
psychologist Lindsay Ham into motives for drinking shows that drinking to cope,
in particular, can be associated with drinking problems for socially anxious
college students. |
Posted:1/15/2008
University to receive $4 million nanotechnology grant from the state
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Gov. Mike Beebe announced today that
nanotechnology researchers at the University of Arkansas will receive a $4 million grant from the
state's General Improvement Fund. The money will benefit research and
facilities in the College of Engineering and the J. William Fulbright
College of Arts and Sciences. |
Posted:1/9/2008
Researchers Develop Tool for Securing Rural Transportation Networks
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Researchers in the Mack-Blackwell
Rural Transportation
Center at the University
of Arkansas have completed a
seminal study on the security of U.S.
rural transportation networks. The study provides a low-cost and efficient tool
to assess the vulnerability of rural transportation assets and will help officials
develop and implement plans for emergency preparedness. |
Posted:12/20/2007
Community as Place and Identity: Mexican Immigrant Workers on Both Sides of the Border
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - As Mexican immigrant workers have moved into the heartland of the United
States seeking stable employment, particularly in the poultry industry, they
have developed a sense of home that encompasses life on both sides of the
border. According to a University of Arkansas anthropologist, community
identity is important, both for ties to Mexico and survival in the United
States. |
Posted:12/19/2007
Researchers Investigate Supercritical Method of Converting Chicken Fat and Tall Oil into Biodiesel
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Chemical engineering researchers at
the University of Arkansas have investigated supercritical methanol
as a method of converting chicken fat into biodiesel fuel. The new study also
successfully converted tall oil fatty acid, a major by-product of the
wood-pulping process, into biodiesel at a yield of greater than 90 percent,
significantly advancing efforts to develop commercially viable fuel out of plentiful,
accessible and low-cost feedstocks and other agricultural by-products. |
Posted:12/18/2007
Study Examines Role of Tattoos in Construction of Personal Identity
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Marketing experts know that consumers
use products to help construct personal identity. When a person decides to
purchase a Hummer rather than a Prius, for instance, that person is also buying
a certain lifestyle or attitude. And with so many products to choose from, it
is easy to change one's identity by simply purchasing different products. |
Posted:12/12/2007
UA Q&A
How do astronomers measure the distance from Earth to the stars? |
Posted:12/11/2007
Arctic Impact Crater Lake Reveals Interglacial Cycles in Sediments
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - A University of Arkansas researcher and a team of international scientists have taken cores from the sediments of a Canadian Arctic lake and found an interglacial record indicating two ice-free periods that could pre-date the Holocene Epoch. |
Posted:12/6/2007
Research Reveals Factors That Promote Innovation in Government
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Using an unusually extensive dataset, an international team of
researchers has identified several factors that promote government innovation.
While leadership commitment to innovation is vital, it also takes an engaged,
professional workforce and new management structures to implement and spread
innovative practices. |
Posted:11/29/2007
Diary of Cuban Counterrevolutionary Exposes and Instructs
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - A record of 19 years inside a Cuban women's prison is more than simply a
personal autobiography or account of triumph over brutality, according to
University of Arkansas researcher Lisa M. Corrigan. |
Posted:11/29/2007
Researcher Studies the Process of Cell Division
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - A University of Arkansas researcher is
studying the architecture of cell division - a fundamental process about which
little is known, but when something goes wrong, it can cause cell death. Her
work in searching for cellular factors that counteract destructive mutations in
this process has earned her National Science Foundation funding through 2010. |
Posted:11/28/2007
Teaching English to Adolescents: Lyrics Can Be a Scaffold for Literature
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - A former high school English teacher turned literacy researcher at the
University of Arkansas says that discussing song lyrics in the classroom can
help students connect in multiple, complex levels with traditional literature.
Christian Z. Goering now hosts a Web site for teachers to share links between
literature and lyrics. |
Posted:11/26/2007
Policies to Address Tardiness Will Not Work, Study Suggests
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - A new study by a University of Arkansas economist suggests that national
campaigns against tardiness in two South American countries will not work. The
findings provide insight for policymakers and business leaders who want to know
the costs associated with unpunctuality in an ever-expanding global economy. |
Posted:11/20/2007
UA Q&A
What factors determine the success of the stock market? |
Posted:11/13/2007
UA Q&A
Why do I need antioxidants in my diet and how can I be sure I get enough? |
Posted:11/19/2007
Heritage Interpretation Connects People With Nature and Culture - Not With the Gift Shop
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Each year groups of visitors to national parks cluster around rangers or volunteers to learn more about a site's natural life and history. A recreation researcher at the University of Arkansas has found that park staff and volunteers remain true to their roots as nature guides, even as the field of heritage interpretation matures into a certified discipline with formal training. |
Posted:11/7/2007
Novel Nanostructure Response Opens Possibilities for Electrical Devices
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - A University of Arkansas physicist
and her colleagues have examined dielectric susceptibilities of nanostructures
(that is the response of their polarization to electric fields) and found
novel, seemingly contradictory properties that may change how such materials
can be used by scientists and engineers to build electronic devices. |
Posted:10/23/2007
University of Arkansas to Release Results of Arkansas Poll
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - University of Arkansas
political scientist Janine Parry will release results of the ninth annual
Arkansas Poll to the media on Tuesday, Oct. 30. In a break from previous years,
the poll results will not be embargoed and may be published upon release. |
Posted:10/16/2007
Studying Proteins that Underlie Cancer
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - A University of Arkansas scientist who studies constructs of a protein
that are associated with the cell transformation that causes cancer has
received a five-year, $661,018 grant from the National Institutes of Health to
expand his research. |
Posted:10/11/2007
New Finding Opens Path for Designing Novel Complex Oxide Nanomaterials
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - A University of Arkansas researcher
and his colleagues have found a novel way to "look" at atomic orbitals, and
have directly shown for the first time that they change substantially when
interacting at the interface of a ferromagnet and a high-temperature
superconductor. |
Posted:10/11/2007
Researchers Develop Adaptive Technology for Visually Impaired Engineers
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - By adding features to commonly used chemical-engineering software packages, researchers at the University of Arkansas, the University of Akron and Chemstations Inc. have developed adaptive technology that allows blind or visually impaired students and working professionals to perform the essential functions of chemical-engineering process design. |
Posted:10/11/2007
Staying Back to Move Forward: The Impact of Test-Based Grade Retention on Florida Students
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.
- An analysis of the impact of a promotion and retention policy in Florida
public schools adds to the limited research on test-based promotion and
suggests its value to students. A study by University of Arkansas researchers
Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters showed that when students who didn't pass
the state accountability test repeated third grade, "they learned at a faster
rate than if they had been promoted." |
Posted:9/27/2007
Study Reveals Human Cost of Colombian Coal
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - A case study of the world's largest open-pit coal mine reveals the hidden costs of coal from Colombia, in particular the effects on indigenous and Afro-Colombian villages. |
Posted:9/20/2007
Foreclosure Is Not Inevitable, Advises Consumer Finance Expert
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - If homeowners facing mortgage problems follow the advice of a University of Arkansas consumer and family finance expert, they can greatly increase their chances of keeping their homes. Time is of the essence, and reliable, free help is available. |
Posted:9/19/2007
Accounting Procedures Act Changing How Foreign Firms Converge Toward U.S. Regulations, Study Finds
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark.
- Finance research has demonstrated that in the global economy, non-U.S. firms
benefit from convergence toward U.S.
market and legal regulations. University
of Arkansas
researchers have examined the relative advantages of the two convergence
methods - cross-listing and acquisition by a U.S.
firm - and determined that passage of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley
Act, which tightened reporting and accounting procedures in response to major
corporate scandals, is changing the way foreign firms converge. |
Posted:9/12/2007
University Receives NSF Grant for Supercomputer
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Further demonstrating its position
as a national leader in high-performance computing, the University
of Arkansas has received an
$803,306 equipment grant from the National Science Foundation to purchase and
assemble the university's second supercomputer. The new machine will be among
the fastest supercomputers in all U.S.
academic institutions. |
Posted:9/6/2007
Research Project Will Help Minimize Environmental Impact of the Fayetteville Shale Play
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark.
- For the next 30 years, the
Fayetteville Shale Play, an unconventional natural gas formation across central
Arkansas, will contribute to the nation's energy
supply and boost the state's economy. However, as with any subsurface resource
extraction, significant development of surface infrastructure is required,
which has the potential to cause localized environmental disturbances. |
Posted:9/6/2007
Writing Was Performance Art on Archaic Greek Pottery
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - A "communication explosion" in the early days of the Greek alphabet
brought both writing and figure scenes onto pottery in the eighth century
B.C.E. Whatever the purpose of an inscription, when writing appeared on ancient
Greek pottery, it became performance art. |
Posted:9/4/2007
Republicans and Democrats Have Changed Roles, Election Analyst Says
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - University of Arkansas political scientist Andrew Dowdle has studied the
pre-primary period for the past eight presidential elections, and from what he
has seen so far, the 2008 election appears to be turning the usual process on
its head. |
Posted:8/28/2007
Biosensor Center to Receive Part of Large NSF Grant
_rdax_116x145.jpg) FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Center for Nano-, Bio-, and Info-Technology
Sensors and Systems at the University of Arkansas will benefit from a recent $9 million National
Science Foundation grant to the Arkansas Science & Technology Authority.
The university portion of the grant will allow researchers to create
collaborative infrastructure for the design of arrays of nanosensors
that can be integrated with wireless systems and fabricated with a specialized,
yet low-cost, nanofabrication technology. |
Posted:8/27/2007
How Snakes Survive Starvation
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Starving snakes employ novel survival strategies not seen before in vertebrates, according to research conducted by a University of Arkansas biologist. These findings could be used in conservation strategies to determine the health of snake populations. |
Posted:8/21/2007
Shocks and Stress Tests
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark.
- In response to federal banking regulators' concern about community banks'
increased participation in commercial real-estate lending, a University
of Arkansas
researcher has developed a system that allows banks to perform stress tests on
their commercial real-estate portfolios. |
Posted:8/20/2007
Nanowire Coating for Bone Implants, Stents
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - University of Arkansas researchers have found a simple, inexpensive way to create a nanowire coating on the surface of biocompatible titanium that can be used to create more effective surfaces for hip replacement, dental reconstruction and vascular stenting. Further, the material can easily be sterilized using ultraviolet light and water or using ethanol, making it useful in hospital settings and meat-processing plants |
Posted:8/14/2007
Sense of Connection May Be Key
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Research from the University of Arkansas suggests the need to re-think
the role of religion in preventing suicide behaviors among African American
adolescents. |
Posted:8/13/2007
When 'Don't Worry' Leads to Worry
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - When a company makes a commitment to avoid layoffs, it would be
reasonable to expect that workers would feel more secure about their future. It
turns out that's not true for everyone. In research presented at the American
Sociological Association, Song Yang of the University of Arkansas reports a
surprising finding - African American workers become more pessimistic about
their job security in organizations with a layoff prevention program. |
Posted:8/9/2007
Step Toward Commercialization
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Groundbreaking research at the University
of Arkansas is one step closer to
commercialization. Intellectual Property Partners LLC, an Atlanta
company that turns promising
technologies into profitable ventures for the business world, now holds
the global license for a multifunctional material developed by a chemist at the
university. |
Posted:8/9/2007
Other Images of the Depression
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Recently discovered Depression-era photographs of farmers in the Arkansas Ozarks are more than a significant visual record of rural poverty, says Patsy Watkins, a journalism researcher at the University of Arkansas. The photographers included captions that expand and intensify the power of the image. |
Posted:8/8/2007
Genocide Scholar Returns From Chad-Sudan Border
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Samuel Totten, a genocide scholar at the University of Arkansas, returned in early August from his second visit to the Darfur refugee camps on the Chad-Sudan border where he had collected oral histories from a dozen survivors of the genocidal violence in Darfur. The in-depth, two- to four-hour interviews provided Totten with new insights about the Darfur situation. For example, he learned that many of the black Africans in the camps had fled to Chad after experiencing numerous major attacks - sometimes four or more - as far back as the mid-1990s. |
Posted:8/6/2007
Conference Explores Simulation and Gaming in Education
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - An interdisciplinary team of University of Arkansas researchers plans to explore the positive characteristics of video and computer games and the people who play them to find effective ways to teach the generation now entering college. To do so, they are bringing together a national group of experts for a day-long conference, called Sim-U, which will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. |
Posted:8/3/2007
National Notice for UA Nanotech Firms
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Two University of Arkansas researchers and their nanotechnology companies will be presented with Recognition of Excellence in Innovation certificates by the Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology Robert Cresanti on Aug. 7 at the Bailey Alumni Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. |
Posted:7/31/2007
Understanding Math Day By Day
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Parents can help their children understand mathematics by talking about
the numbers and figuring used in daily life, preparing them for learning skills
and concepts in the classroom, says a University of Arkansas math educator. |
Posted:7/25/2007
Peeking Into a Dietitian's Pantry
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - After teaching students about human nutrition all day, Marjorie
Fitch-Hilgenberg, associate professor of dietetics at the University of
Arkansas, goes home at night to put her lessons into practice. To make it easy
to serve a nutritious meal after a long day at work, Fitch-Hilgenberg keeps her
pantry and freezer stocked with some versatile staples. |
Posted:7/23/2007
Two Faculty Honored with NSF Awards
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Two assistant professors in the mechanical
engineering department at the University
of Arkansas have been awarded
individual Faculty Early Career Development awards for 2007 by the National
Science Foundation. Min Zou and Sulin Zhang will each receive approximately
$400,000 over five years to fund their research projects. |
Posted:7/18/2007
Clay Studies Alter View of Early Mars Environment
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - A study of the thermodynamics of
clays found on Mars suggests that little carbon dioxide could have been present
during their formation, which contradicts a popular theory of the early Martian
atmosphere and will send researchers looking for other explanations for clay
formation. |
Posted:7/17/2007
Point-of-Care Diagnostics
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark.
- Working with an organic semiconductor, electrical-engineering researchers at
the University
of Arkansas
have fabricated and tested two similar but slightly different biosensors that
can measure important physiological signs. Integrated into "smart" fabrics -
garments with wireless technology - the sensors will be able to monitor a
patient's respiration rate and body temperature in real time and thus provide
point-of-care diagnostics to health-care professionals and greater freedom for
patients. |
Posted:7/12/2007
Impact of Anti-Tobacco Advertising
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Marketing researchers at the University of Arkansas have completed a
study of the impact of an anti-tobacco advertising campaign and found that
attitudes toward the campaign and the campaign message were positively
connected to the consideration among smokers to kick the habit. Overall,
results of the study, which included researchers at Marquette University and the University
of Virginia, showed that consumer reaction to the
advertising campaign - both television and radio commercials - were
significantly related to four key anti-smoking beliefs, which many public
health officials argue are important in efforts to convince smokers to quit and
to prevent adolescents from starting smoking.
|
Posted:7/10/2007
Ask Pollsters Some Questions
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - The closer it gets to November 2008, the more polls will confront - and
sometimes confound - U.S. voters. To weigh the results of any poll, Molly
Longstreth, director of the Survey Research Center at the University of
Arkansas, suggests voters consider four w's and an h: who, what, where, when
and how. |
Posted:6/28/2007
The Architecture of Globalization
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Using recent advances in the study of networks, two University of Arkansas economists suggest alternative measures of international economic integration, popularly referred to as globalization. Rather than focusing on trade levels of individual countries, the new measures consider the pattern of linkages that tie together countries around the world. |
Posted:6/28/2007
Dinner in 20 Minutes
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Working parents and their children can sit down to a nutritious dinner
20 minutes after arriving home by following three simple steps: Plan, Prepare
and Participate. Marjorie Fitch-Hilgenberg, associate professor of dietetics at
the University of Arkansas, offers practical advice to make meal preparation
easier and more satisfying, including instructions for her proven-popular
spinach quesadillas. |
Posted:6/27/2007
Is Texas Beyond Redemption?
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Between 1874 and 1890, Texas Democrats known as Redeemers dismantled Reconstruction reforms, adopted a fundamentally revised state constitution and steered Texas in a new direction. Research by University of Arkansas historian Patrick G. Williams establishes that their constitution and policies affected the development of the state through the 20th century and up to today. |
Posted:6/25/2007
Mapping to the Edge of Information
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - As students leave campus classrooms for summer vacation, university officials across the United States are already planning for fall. University of Arkansas schedulers are trying to figure out how to place tens of thousands of students in thousands of rooms with hundreds of instructors at dozens of different time slots in a given week. Solving some of these complicated logistical issues may one day be as simple as clicking a computer mouse, thanks to the combined efforts of campus planners and geospatial researchers at the University of Arkansas. |
Posted:6/20/2007
Exploring the Sounds of Silence
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Silence in music is not really silent. Research by a University of
Arkansas music theorist, Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis, reveals how context
affects listeners' experience of silence in music. |
Posted:6/19/2007
Studying Genes of Desert Fruit Flies
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Researchers at the University
of Arkansas and University
of Nevada-Las Vegas will study the
genetics of fruit flies in desert habitats to determine how they developed the
ability to survive under stressful conditions. |
Posted:6/14/2007
Breakthrough in Nanomachining and Organic Molecular Breakdown
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Engineering
researchers at the University of Arkansas and the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln have discovered a novel nanomachining process that will help
manufacturers produce superior nanoscale devices to perform important functions
such as detecting DNA and precisely controlling drug release. |
Posted:5/24/2007
TV Food Advertising Unchanged
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Research at the University of Arkansas shows that a year after major food
companies announced new advertising policies to combat childhood obesity, there
have been no significant changes in television food advertisements that
children view. Not only were unhealthy foods the most frequently advertised,
but child-targeted commercials continued to employ the very production
techniques and persuasive appeals that make it difficult for children to
critically evaluate advertising. |
Posted:5/23/2007
Model Methanogens
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - University of Arkansas researchers have tested the methane production of
three different types of microorganisms in different soil types that resemble
those found on Mars to test the possibility of these soils harboring life. |
Posted:5/21/2007
Securing a Financial Future
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Despite economic hardships, low-income women can build wealth. Extensive
interviews with participants in an asset-building program offer new insight
into how and why women go about securing their financial future. |
Posted:5/17/2007
Item-Level Tagging with RFID Technology
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Imagine shopping without money,
sales clerks or even cash registers. All you have to do is walk in, find your
items and walk out. In the not-so-distant future, special technology within
retail stores may help you find items you want, recognize these items when you
leave without stopping to check out, and charge your bank account
automatically. |
Posted:5/16/2007
When is a Cup of Tea a Pharmaceutical?
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - When is an herbal tea a safe and effective sleep aid, and when is that
same tea a risky pharmaceutical choice? Health care professionals face such
questions daily, and a University of Arkansas researcher cautions that they may
need to acquire advanced clinical skills in order to assure patient safety. |
Posted:5/15/2007
Bring Home the Troops, Majority Says
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - According to a new poll, Northwest
Arkansans - who have tended to be conservative and vote Republican
- reflect the sentiments of Americans as a whole about the war in Iraq. |
Posted:5/3/2007
Can Nemo Find His Way Home?
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The fate of ocean fish larvae has remained a mystery to science until now, but a University of Arkansas researcher and his colleagues have used a novel technique to directly explore their journey from egg to adult for the first time. Their findings, which also may help governments and marine organizations better manage marine protected areas, appear in the May 4 issue of the journal Science. |
Posted:5/3/2007
Love, Marriage and Abduction
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - While Romeo and Juliet depended on a helpful friar to escape from the
control of their families, young working class couples in 19th
century Oaxaca found an ally in the courts and used virginity as a bargaining
chip. |
Posted:5/2/2007
E-mail Privacy
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark.
- In a major article examining the strength of legal arguments to protect
private e-mail expression, a University of Arkansas law professor concludes
that, based on the historical common law, today's Federal Copyright Act does
not protect someone from copying and distributing another person's private
expression, which means that forwarding e-mail without permission of the sender
may be against the law. |
Posted:4/26/2007
Instruments in Space
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - University
of Arkansas researchers, in
partnership with a local company will develop a probe for future planetary
rovers that will help scientists study the history of the solar system by
examining the properties of layers of material beneath the surface of the moon,
Mars, comets and other planetary bodies. |
Posted:4/25/2007
Leadership Shaped by Gender and Culture
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - To be leaders in human services agencies, American Indian women must
straddle two cultures. While doing so, they redefine what it means to be a
leader. An exploratory study by a University of Arkansas researcher and her
colleagues of American Indian women leaders found that they typically downplay
the use of power and control and use a leadership style "characterized by a
sharing, building, collaborative and mentoring process." |
Posted:4/24/2007
Opportunity Rocks
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - A program designed to attract the
interest of underrepresented students in geosciences will pair undergraduates
with University of Arkansas
professors to study aquifers in central Arkansas
and seismic hazards in Central America. |
Posted:4/24/2007
International Trade Structure
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Research on the effects of international trade on economic growth has typically relied on measures of trade volume or trade policies. In a new study to be published in the June issue of the Journal of International Trade and Economic Development, University of Arkansas economists show that trade structure - the number of trade partners a country has and the concentration of trade among those partners - affects a country's economic growth independently of trade volume. The findings indicate that disparities between poor and rich economies may demand different policies regarding trade structure. |
Posted:4/16/2007
Removal Jurisdiction
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark.
- A University of Arkansas law professor has developed a new legal
framework for resolving certain questions of jurisdiction that are confounding
federal courts across the nation and sometimes resulting in nullification of
months or even years of progress in federal court. The framework deals with
federal jurisdiction in "removal," the word used to describe the rules for
transferring a case from state court to federal court for adjudication. |
Posted:4/12/2007
KIDS Helps Inquiring Minds Learn
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - In a paper to be
presented Thursday, April 12, at the annual meeting of the American Educational
Research Association, Ronna C. Turner of the University of Arkansas will report
an evaluation of the fifth year of a university and public school partnership
that has the potential to be a model for improving science and math education
in the schools. The program, "K-12, I Do Science" or KIDS, has earned a second
round of funding from the National Science Foundation with an eye toward
institutionalizing the program. |
Posted:4/11/2007
Perception, Status and Bottled Water
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - In a new study, University of Arkansas researchers argue that consumers buy bottled water because they perceive it to be purer, safer and healthier than municipal water. Further findings suggest that young and high-income people, guided by the perception of higher quality, are more likely to purchase bottled water and home-filtration systems. Purchasing bottled water also carries a degree of status, or "snob appeal," the researchers found. |
Posted:4/10/2007
Recognizing Violent Hate Crimes
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - When it comes to
hate crimes, research by a University of Arkansas sociologist found that when
people and police focus on the signs of a hate group in their community, they
risk missing the even more serious, violent hate activity that happens between
individuals. |
Posted:4/10/2007
Dissecting Hope to Predict Performance
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Research conducted at the University of Arkansas suggests that when university graduate
students are assigned to work in cooperative groups, they might want to start
by exchanging scores on the Hope Scale along with cell phone numbers. |
Posted:4/9/2007
Drama Enhancement
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - The drama that takes place behind
the scenes of a play unfolds in black and white images on the Spring 2007 Research Frontiers Web site. |
Posted:3/29/2007
Manure as Fuel
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Modernizing an ancient method of producing energy, a Division of Agriculture
engineering researcher at the University of Arkansas has developed a system
that addresses two major problems associated with poultry farming. By using
poultry litter as fuel, the system will help protect the environment and could
reduce individual farmers' energy costs by as much as 80 percent. |
Posted:3/29/2007
Wild Harvest in the Heartland
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - When cultural anthropologist Justin Nolan looks at a wild persimmon or a basket of hickory nuts, he sees more than good eating. He sees natural resources of rural Missouri that "sustain and syncopate human belief and behavior into a rhythm, one with ineffable meaning in everyday life." |
Posted:3/28/2007
Fruit Flies, Death, and Immunity
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - University
of Arkansas scientists have found
an important mechanism that regulates the destruction of larval fruit fly
salivary glands that could point the way to understanding programmed cell death
in the human immune system. |
Posted:3/27/2007
Flyover Territory Reconsidered
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Artist Bethany Springer asked one question of 12 elderly residents of Memphis, Tenn.: "If you could fly anywhere in Memphis, where would you go and why?" What they told her opened up a new direction for an art project that became Flyover Territory. |
Posted:3/20/2007
Keep on Trucking -- Safely
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - When 30 tons of big rig come barreling down the road, drivers in the path want to be assured that everything has been done to maximize safety and minimize the likelihood of a crash. To do this, researchers at the University of Arkansas recommend that trucking companies and transportation policymakers take a holistic approach to truck safety, and they have suggestions for where to start. |
Posted:2/12/2007
From Acanthaceae to Zygophyllaceae
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Thanks to the work of University
of Arkansas biology professor
Johnnie L. Gentry and his colleagues, 351 new plant species have been
recognized in Arkansas. These
species and 2,356 others appear in the recently published Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Arkansas. |
Posted:3/15/2007
Combating Friction and Stiction
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Micro-electro-mechanical systems, popularly referred to as MEMS, in small electronic devices often fail because of adhesion and stiction - the attractive force between the surfaces of interacting parts. University of Arkansas researchers have developed a surface-topography engineering method that reduces these forces and will help microscopic parts interact and function smoothly. |
Posted:3/15/2007
What Lies Beneath
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Studies conducted by University
of Arkansas researchers suggest
locations where future Mars missions might seek liquid water underneath Martian
soil. |
Posted:3/14/2007
Big Picture for Small Borers
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - University of Arkansas researchers are using cutting-edge spatial technologies to study the aftermath of an insect infestation that has devastated red oak populations in Arkansas and Missouri. By combining this research with field work, they seek patterns that might help explain what trees are vulnerable to infestation, thus helping forestry professionals determine future forest management practices. |
Posted:3/8/2007
Novel Biosensor
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Researchers at the University of Arkansas have fabricated and tested a
novel biosensor that detects glucose close to real time and with much greater
sensitivity than other comparable, biocompatible sensors. |
Posted:3/7/2007
Arkansas'? Arkansas's? Who's to Say?
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Is the razorback hog Arkansas' mascot or Arkansas's mascot? Whether an apostrophe after an
"s" should be followed by another "s" has been a question for grammarians
globally and at the University of Arkansas long before the Arkansas state legislature joined the debate. |
Posted:3/1/2007
Innovative Interfacing
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - A University of Arkansas physics
professor and his colleagues have created a nanoscale structure that contains
both magnetic and superconducting properties at the same time, and they will be
exploring the properties of this novel material this summer in Switzerland. |
Posted:2/28/2007
Angry? Breathing Beats Venting
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - While it is a common assumption that
an angry person needs to blow off steam or risk going through the roof, research
in psychology shows just the opposite. According to University of Arkansas psychologist Jeffrey M. Lohr, research
has consistently showed that venting anger is at best ineffective and in some
cases is even harmful. |
Posted:2/28/2007
Puberty and Panic
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - For most teenagers a run up the stairs
is simply the quickest way to get from one floor to another, but for some the
resulting breathlessness and pounding heart triggers anxiety or fear - possibly
predicting a future vulnerability to panic symptoms. |
Posted:2/14/2007
Shaky Ground
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - University of Arkansas researchers have used
measurements of tiny movements in the Earth's crust to gain a better
understanding of earthquake dynamics in Nicaragua, where a large quake
devastated the city of Managua in 1972. Their findings confirm a prediction of
movement in the Earth's surface, but show little perpendicular strain associated
with the movement, indicating a lack of coupling between the converging plates
despite earthquake activity, a surprising finding. |
Posted:2/13/2007
Setting the Record Straight
 FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark.
- When history teachers
discuss the major players of the Civil Rights Movement, few, if any, mention
Wiley A. Branton. Even in his native Arkansas, most young residents do not recognize
the man who created and directed the largest voter registration effort in U.S. history and represented the students who
would pioneer integration in the Little Rock School District. |
Posted:2/13/2007
Byron: More Than a Pretty Face
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Lord Byron, the 19th-century
Romantic best known for his epic poem Don
Juan, has another, little-recognized side. According to Emily A. Bernhard
Jackson, a Byron scholar at the University of Arkansas, Byron was a psychologically astute
writer who developed a philosophy of knowledge sharply at odds with the
thinking of his time. |
Posted:2/7/2007
Smoking to Cope
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - People smoke for many reasons, and no
matter what the reason, quitting is difficult. When people with posttraumatic
stress symptoms use cigarettes to cope with anxiety and other negative feelings
related to the trauma, it becomes even more difficult to stop smoking. |
Posted:2/6/2007
Genetic Defections
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - A University of Arkansas researcher
and her colleagues are developing a way to examine how the genomes rearrange
themselves during hybridization to better pinpoint how genetically modified
organisms may behave when they cross with naturally occurring plants. |
Posted:1/31/2007
Translating the World of 'Skylark Farm'
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Geoffrey Brock's translation from
Italian of the debut novel by Antonia Arslan, brings the story of her family's
struggle for survival in the Armenian genocide to the English-speaking world.
The Kirkus Review calls Skylark Farm an "Armenian Schindler's
List." The Bloomberg reviewer praised
the "impressive subtlety" of Brock's translation of Arslan's "powerful
account." |
Posted:1/31/2007
Impact of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.
- In the first empirical study of the effect of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act on
the financial services industry, a finance researcher at the University of Arkansas
found that the act had little effect on bank profitability and productivity.
With one minor exception, which may be attributed to earlier changes in federal
banking laws, the act also did not create significant synergies between
commercial banking, investment banking, merchant banking and insurance activities. |
Posted:1/29/2007
Beyond Greening
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - When corporations serve
the world's 4 billion poor people - a global growth strategy often referred to
as "B24B," or "business to 4 billion" - with affordable and easy-to-use products
that have low environmental impact, those businesses achieve sustainability,
says a University
of Arkansas business
researcher. |
Posted:1/25/2007
Rapid Response to Avian Flu Threat
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - An interdisciplinary team of researchers led by Yanbin Li, professor of biological engineering in the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, has developed a portable biosensor for in-field, rapid screening of avian influenza virus. |
Posted:1/16/2007
Interpersonal Violence: Anger, Aggression, or Both?
 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.
- "Those whom God wishes to destroy, he first makes angry," Euripides wrote
more than two thousand years ago. Psychologists at the University of Arkansas
have revisited the age-old question of the role of anger in human relationships
with a 21st century eye. |
Posted:1/5/2007
Healthy Potato Chips
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - For plenty of good reasons,
the term "trans fat" leaves a bad taste in the mouths of health-conscious consumers.
Typically, trans fatty acids are bad for health, but scientists at the
University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture have coaxed out significant
health benefits by juggling the molecular structure of soy oil. |
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - New findings suggest that the ancient human "cousin" known as the "Nutcracker Man" wasn't regularly eating anything like nuts after all.
Will alternative fuels be better for the environment, and, if so, how?
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Rural herbalists from Cherokee and European American backgrounds come from different traditions, yet research at the University of Arkansas shows they end up adopting similar patterns of plant use.
FAYETTEVILLE -
Diverse cultures, diverse education, diverse landscapes, diverse ways of
expression - the University of Arkansas Press celebrates all of these in the
spring 2008 catalog.
Why do some microbes cause illness, while others don't?
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The irony of wind as a clean,
renewable source of energy is that the modern tools used to exploit it are less
than sustainable. Researchers at the University
of Arkansas are
evaluating means to make these tools more efficient and sustainable. 
Please visit http://researchfrontiers.uark.edu to see the reply by
Don Steinkraus, professor of entomology in the Dale Bumpers College of
Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - A genocide scholar from the University of Arkansas has been awarded a
Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research in Rwanda while developing a genocide
studies program at that country's national university.
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Along with the fall issue of Research Frontiers magazine, readers
will have the opportunity to see research in motion online.
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - While fidgety children may be told that "patience is a virtue," a
University of Arkansas philosopher has found patience to be much more profound
than simple, passive waiting. Rather, patience is "the living heart of ethics."
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - Questions of revenge and reconciliation explored by a Holocaust writer
after World War II are worth considering today, according to University of
Arkansas German scholar Jennifer Hoyer.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - As record labels are dramatically
increasing lawsuits over music piracy, a University of Arkansas law professor argues that the law's
automatic punishment of illegal downloading violates the First Amendment.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - In the lead-up to the 2008 elections, the 
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - People of color in the United
States typically have 15 percent of the net
worth of their white counterparts, according to the Insight
Center for Community Economic
Development.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - With the right choice of condiments, seasonings or sauces, ordinary food can go from "blah" to "ahh" - with a boost in nutritional value.
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - A University of Arkansas graduate
student is helping rice farmers grow better crops by studying the plant at its
most fundamental molecular level.
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - A University of Arkansas professor wants science educators to put a
human face on the science concepts they teach in the classroom.