08
October
2012
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18:00 PM
America/New_York

Story Ideas for Media 10/9/12

Research

Poorer Lung Health Leads to Age-Related Changes in Brain Function. Keeping the lungs healthy could be an important way to retain thinking functions that relate to problem-solving and processing speed in one’s later years, new research suggests.
While these two types of “fluid” cognitive functions were influenced by reduced pulmonary function, a drop in lung health did not appear to impair memory or lead to any significant loss of stored knowledge, the study showed.
Researchers used data from a Swedish study of aging that tracked participants’ health measures for almost two decades. An analysis of the data with statistical models designed to show the patterns of change over time determined that reduced pulmonary function can lead to cognitive losses, but problems with cognition do not affect lung health.
“The logical conclusion from this is that anything you could do to maintain lung function should be of benefit to fluid cognitive performance as well,” said Charles Emery, professor of psychology at Ohio State University and lead author of the study. “Maintaining an exercise routine and stopping smoking would be two primary methods. Nutritional factors and minimizing environmental exposure to pollutants also come into play.” CONTACT: Emily Caldwell, (614) 292-8310; Caldwell.151@osu.edu. SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/lungfunction.htm

Events

Ohio State hosts national Eco-Bot Challenge – Oct. 10. Using inch-long “Eco-Bots” made from the head of a toothbrush, a small vibrating motor and a watch battery, thousands of middle school students from around the nation will devise ways to clean up a simulated toxic spill as part of the national Eco-Bot Challenge.
The event takes place from 10 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, Oct. 10 at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive.
From 10 to 11 a.m., 100 seventh- and eighth-graders from “STEM Middle@Baldwin Road,” the STEM academy housed in Reynoldsburg City Schools' Baldwin Road Junior High School, will take the Eco-Bot Challenge.
The Eco-Bot Challenge was selected last year as the 2012 experiment the National Science Experiment for 4-H National Youth Science Day. In 2011, more than 750 National Science Experiment events were held around the country. This year, one of the sites is at Ohio State. Media are welcome to cover the event. CONTACT: Martha Filipic, (614) 292-9833 or filipic.3@osu.edu. SEE: http://go.osu.edu/ecobots.

The State of Health and Wellness in Buckeye Nation – Oct. 10. Bernadette Melnyk, Ohio State’s chief wellness officer, associate VP for health promotion, and dean of the college of nursing, will discuss the state of health and wellness at Ohio State at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 10. Melnyk’s address, which will cover the university’s new health and wellness strategic plan as well as initiatives to enhance health and wellness, takes place at the Cartoon Room at the Ohio Union, 1739 N. High Street. SEE: http://nursing.osu.edu/bw

Dedication set for new cattle facility that designed to work with, not against, natural animal behavior – Oct. 12. The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI) will dedicate its new beef cattle handling facility at 1 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 12, (with remarks at 2 p.m.), at the campus, located at 1328 Dover Road in Wooster.
To construct the facility, ATI used a design by animal behaviorist Temple Grandin. One of the distinctive features of Grandin’s design is a system of curved chutes combined with a round crowd pen.
The tendency of cattle when herded is to move back in the direction they came from. The round pen moves the cattle through a 180 degree turn, thus working with rather than against their natural behavior. The curved chutes allow the cattle to see two or three animal lengths ahead, which is important because, according to Grandin, “Cattle will refuse to go somewhere if they can’t see a place to go.”
With the new facility, the Ohio State ATI beef programs are teaching students more about safe animal handling and the benefits of designing livestock handling facilities based on animal behavior rather than human convenience. CONTACT: Frances Whited, ATI, (330) 287-1216 or whited.16@osu.edu.

Jewish Voting Patterns and the 2012 Presidential Election – Oct 14. America’s top Jewish demographers, Steven Cohen, research professor of Jewish social policy, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and director of the Berman Jewish Policy Archive at NYU Wagner and Ira Sheskin, professor of geography and director, Jewish Demography Project, University of Miami, join panelists Herb Asher and Herb Weisberg, professors emeritus of political science, and Joyce Garver Keller, executive director, Ohio Jewish Communities, for a discussion on the political attitudes and voting behavior of American Jews. The event takes place at 7 p.m. on Sunday, October 14 at the Fawcett Center, 2400 Olentangy River Road. CONTACT: Lori Fireman, fireman.2@osu.edu. SEE: http://artsandsciences.osu.edu/events/jewish-voting-patterns-and-the-2012-presidential-election.

The person listed as the CONTACT will have the most current information about the story. Call on our media relations staff for help with any Ohio State story: Liz Cook, (614) 292-7276 or cook.17@osu.edu; Jim Lynch, (614) 247-4110 or lynch.270@osu.edu; or Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385 or murray-goedde.1@osu.edu