Share

Contact: Tom Butler
tbutler@admin.fsu.edu
850-644-8634
Florida State University

New musical pacifier helps premature babies get healthy

Florida State University invention now available to world's neonatal units

Many premature babies enter the world with a mountain of challenges in front of them. Even after they overcome any life-threatening issues, they face ongoing, and typically unpleasant, medical procedures, long hospital stays and increased chances of chronic health issues throughout their lives.

To help address one of their biggest problems — learning how to suck and feed — Florida State University has announced the availability of the Pacifier Activated Lullaby (PAL) device to hospitals around the world.

The innovative PAL device, which uses musical lullabies to help infants quickly learn the muscle movements needed to suck, and ultimately feed, is being sold through a partnership with Powers Device Technologies Inc. Research studies have shown that PAL can reduce the length of a premature infant's hospital stay by an average of five days.

"Unlike full-term infants, very premature babies come into the world lacking the neurologic ability to coordinate a suck/swallow/breathe response for oral feeding," said Jayne Standley, Florida State's Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Music Therapy and inventor of the PAL. "The longer it takes them to learn this essential skill, the further behind in the growth process they fall. PAL uses musical lullaby reinforcement to speed this process up, helping them feed sooner and leave the hospital sooner."

PAL uses a specially wired pacifier and speaker to provide musical reinforcement every time a baby sucks on it correctly. The musical lullabies are gentle and pleasant to the baby, making them want to continue the sucking motion so they can hear more of the lullaby.

Clinical studies conducted by Standley at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital (TMH), University of Georgia Hospital in Athens, University of North Carolina Medical Center in Chapel Hill and Women's and Children's Hospital in Baton Rouge, La., have shown that infants will increase their sucking rates up to 2.5 times more than infants not exposed to the musical reinforcement.

"It's amazing to watch how much quicker our babies are able to learn the sucking motion after they have used PAL," said Terry Stevens, a neonatal intensive-care unit (NICU) nurse at TMH. "They are ready to eat sooner, they go home from the hospital earlier, they tolerate their feedings better; it's just a phenomenal improvement overall."

In addition to helping premature babies learn to feed quicker, PAL also provides parents with a welcome chance to connect with their babies during this crucial stage of the development process.

"PAL provides a chance for parents who have lost a lot of control in the birth process to come in and work directly with their baby as they receive the music therapy," said Deborah Merritt, an NICU nurse at TMH. "They can begin to have that control back again, and really be an active part of the recovery, healing and development of their little one."

Originally envisioned by Standley more than a decade ago, PAL has undergone extensive testing, received a U.S. patent and been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Recognizing the significant health and economic benefits of PAL, Powers Device Technologies obtained the distribution and marketing rights and has launched a worldwide sales initiative.

"After years of research and clinical studies to prove how effective this technology is at solving developmental issues in preterm infants, we are thrilled to be working with Florida State University to bring PAL to market," said P. Kathleen Lovell, president and CEO of Powers Device Technologies. "PAL truly merges science and art to improve the lives of premature infants. It will make a huge difference in the standard of medical care preemies receive in the NICU."

As premature birth rates continue to rise (up 36 percent since the 1980s), PAL demonstrates how the power of music is being harnessed to help premature infants overcome their developmental challenges.

"Many of these babies undergo daily medical procedures that, while necessary, result in added stress, pain and anxiety for the infant," Standley said. "Using a device that actually gives them comfort while they learn an essential life skill is a valuable complement to NICU care."

###

To watch a short video of PAL in use or learn more about Standley's music therapy research, visit www.research.fsu.edu/PAL. To learn more about the device, visit www.powersdt.com.

Florida State University, rated RU/VH ("Research University/Very High" research activity) by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, is one of the nation's leading research and creative-activity institutions. With nearly $204 million in external research funding in 2011, and a large collection of unique, cutting-edge scientific and performing arts facilities, Florida State offers faculty and students unparalleled opportunities to expand the frontiers of knowledge and discovery in their areas of expertise. To learn more about what Florida State has in store for the world, locate a subject matter expert or arrange an interview on a specific research or creative topic, contact Tom Butler at tbutler@admin.fsu.edu, or Florida State's News and Research Communications Office at (850) 644-4030.

[ | E-mail |

Share ]

 

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

HOME   DISCLAIMER   PRIVACY POLICY   TERMS & CONDITIONS   CONTACT US   TOP Copyright ©2012 by AAAS, the science society.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]>

Share

Contact: George Hunka
ghunka@aftau.org
212-742-9070
American Friends of Tel Aviv University

Teaching creativity to children from a galaxy away

Encouraging 'expansive thinking' opens children to creative possibilities, says a Tel Aviv University researcher

Playing make-believe is more than a childhood pasttime. According to psychologists, it's also crucial to building creativity, giving a child the ability to consider alternative realities and perspectives. And this type of thinking is essential to future development, aiding interpersonal and problem-solving skills and the ability to invent new theories and concepts. That has been shown to be a component of future professional success in fields from the arts to the sciences and business.

But can creativity be taught? Prof. Nira Liberman ofTel Aviv University's School of Psychological Sciences, with her students Maayan Blumenfeld, Boaz Hameiri and Orli Polack, has demonstrated that children can be "primed" for creativity by how they are persuaded to think about and see the world around them. According to their study, one catalyst of creativity is "expansive" thought — encouraging children to think about distant objects and perspectives like the galaxies in the skies above, as opposed to local objects and perspectives in their immediate surroundings.

Thinking "outwards" rather than "inwards" allows children to consider different points of view and think beyond their "here and now" reality, says Prof. Liberman, whose research has been published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. She says that relatively simple exercises can get children in the right frame of mind.

Thinking from the inside out

For their study, the researchers worked with 55 children ages six to nine. Half were shown a series of photographs that started with nearby objects and gradually progressed to more distant ones — from a close-up of the pencil sitting on their desk progressing to a picture of the Milky Way galaxy. The other half was shown exactly the same photographs but in reverse order, to induce a "contractive" frame of mind.

After viewing the series of photographs, the children completed creativity tests, including the Tel Aviv Creativity Test (TACT), in which the participant is given an object and asked to name the different uses they can think of for it. Points are given for the number of uses mentioned and the creativity of the use. The children in the expansive mind-set group scored significantly better on all of the creativity measures, coming up with a greater number of uses and more creative uses for the objects.

Spatial distance, as opposed to spatial proximity, was clearly shown to enhance creative performance, says Prof. Liberman. Increased creativity was a direct result of priming the children in the first group to think expansively rather than contractively.

This study was the first to focus on child rather than adult creativity in this type of research. In the past, Prof. Liberman and her fellow researchers investigated how creativity in adults may be enhanced by encouraging them to consider the distant future and unlikely events. Overall, "psychological distance can help to foster creativity because it encourages us to think abstractly," says Prof. Liberman of her findings.

Flexing creative muscles

This study adds to recent research by social psychologists that shows creativity is a trainable skill, not only an innate talent. Though some people are undeniably more creative than others,there are benefits from "priming" your mind to think more creatively by investigating new perspectives and thinking abstractly.

"Creativity is basically about the flexibility of thought of your mental system," explains Prof. Liberman. Like the physical stretching that makes your body more flexible, mental exercises such as problem solving can train the mind to improve its creative thinking.

"The flexibility of your mental operations is important because it underlies many human qualities, such as empathy, self regulation, problem-solving, and the ability to make new discoveries," she adds.

###

American Friends of Tel Aviv University (www.aftau.org) supports Israel's leading, most comprehensive and most sought-after center of higher learning. Independently ranked 94th among the world's top universities for the impact of its research, TAU's innovations and discoveries are cited more often by the global scientific community than all but 10 other universities.

Internationally recognized for the scope and groundbreaking nature of its research and scholarship, Tel Aviv University consistently produces work with profound implications for the future.

[ | E-mail |

Share ]

 

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

HOME   DISCLAIMER   PRIVACY POLICY   TERMS & CONDITIONS   CONTACT US   TOP Copyright ©2012 by AAAS, the science society.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]>

Share

Contact: Mary-Ann Twist
JCR@bus.wisc.edu
608-255-5582
University of Chicago Press Journals

Can consumers 'fit in' yet remain unique?

Most consumers want to fit in while still asserting their individuality—and they balance these conflicting desires when choosing products, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

"Consumers want both to signal their identity with desired groups and to be different from other group members. This research shows how people simultaneously satisfy these apparently conflicting motives in consumer behavior," write authors Cindy Chan, Jonah Berger (both University of Pennsylvania), and Leaf Van Boven (University of Colorado, Boulder). "Is it possible to be similar and different—at the same time?"

The authors conducted field and laboratory studies to demonstrate how consumers simultaneously satisfy competing desires for group identification and individual uniqueness. They found that participants often satisfy their need to fit in by choosing a brand that represents their in-group, but they differentiate by choosing colors or styles to set themselves apart. "For example, a snowboarder may sport a Burton jacket to identify himself as a snowboarder (rather than a skier), while choosing an unusual pattern to stand apart from other snowboarders," the authors write. Or a fashionable consumer might choose a popular brand handbag in an unusual color.

The experiments showed that participants who were concerned with communicating their social identity were more likely to choose a brand that was preferred by most members of an in-group (but not an undesirable out-group). That was especially true in categories that signify identity, like clothing. On the other hand, people with a strong need for uniqueness preferred less-popular products.

"Our research provides insights into decision making and behavior when there are tensions between motives of assimilation and differentiation, even in situations that may not involve consumption," the authors write. "For example, an employee may desire to both be an integrated team member and have a unique role in the organization. Similarly, elected politicians and their loyal constituents may wish to toe the party line and voice their individual opinions," the authors conclude.

###

Cindy Chan, Jonah Berger, and Leaf Van Boven. "Identifiable but Not Identical: Combining Social Identity and Uniqueness Motives in Choice." Journal of Consumer Research: October 2012. For more information, contact Cindy Chan (cich@wharton.upenn.edu) or visit http://ejcr.org/.

[ | E-mail |

Share ]

 

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

HOME   DISCLAIMER   PRIVACY POLICY   TERMS & CONDITIONS   CONTACT US   TOP Copyright ©2012 by AAAS, the science society.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]>

Share

Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
202-872-6042
American Chemical Society

New, inexpensive paper-based diabetes test ideal for developing countries

With epidemics of Type 2 diabetes looming in rural India, China and other areas of the world where poverty limits the availability of health care, scientists are reporting development of an inexpensive and easy-to-use urine test ideally suited for such areas. The report describing the paper-based device, which also could be adapted for the diagnosis and monitoring of other conditions and the environment, appears in ACS' journal Analytical Chemistry.

Jan Lankelma and colleagues point out that monitoring glucose levels is important. Although diabetes test strips seem inexpensive, the cost can be prohibitive in areas where people must choose between that and the essentials of life, such as food and shelter. In addition, current handheld diabetes monitoring devices measure glucose levels in blood, which requires a pin-prick to a finger — something that could deter patients from taking the measurements. To address these challenges, the researchers built a new type of glucose monitor — one that detects glucose levels in urine (which is easy to obtain) and is made from inexpensive materials, such as paper.

The device consists of three electrodes, a buffer solution, a piece of paper (or nitrocellulose) and a plastic dish. The sample is injected onto the paper with a slightly modified medical syringe, and the solution moves along the paper by gravity and capillary action. An enzyme called glucose oxidase is already on the paper, and it reacts with glucose in the sample to produce hydrogen peroxide, which is detected by the electrodes. The system can be built quickly, is inexpensive and produces results similar to those from a more expensive, commercially available clinical instrument. The authors state that the device could be used not only in a clinical lab, but it could also be further developed for applications as diverse as analyzing food quality and environmental monitoring.

###

The authors acknowledge funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 164,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society contact newsroom@acs.org.

[ | E-mail |

Share ]

 

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

HOME   DISCLAIMER   PRIVACY POLICY   TERMS & CONDITIONS   CONTACT US   TOP Copyright ©2012 by AAAS, the science society.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]>