Latest University of Alberta Stories

Gaining entry to play, feeling like a legitimate participant and having friends cited as key to feeling included for kids with disabilitiesThe playground can be a daunting place for any kid trying to join in and be one of the gang. For kids with disabilities it's just as important to feel included, be accepted and valued "“ particularly by their peers.In a study to understand the perspectives of children with disabilities around inclusion in physical activities during free play,...

Questionnaire results and DNA samples volunteered by a group of University of Alberta students has broken new ground in the study of aggression. U of A Psychology researcher Peter Hurd was looking at the link between an individual's sensitivity to testosterone and aggressive behaviour."I looked at the gene that makes the body's testosterone detector to determine if variations in this detector's sensitivity to the chemical causes people to be more or less aggressive," said Hurd.Hurd...

University of Alberta researchers have unearthed a mysterious link between bones of an ancient lizard found in Africa and the biggest, baddest modern-day lizard of them all, the Komodo dragon, half a world away in Indonesia.Biologists Alison Murray and Rob Holmes say the unique shape of the vertebrae links the 33-million-year-old African lizard fossil with its cousin the Komodo, which has only been around for some 700,000 years."The African fossil was found on the surface of a windswept...

University of Alberta research has discovered a strong link between depression and risky sexual behaviours such as improper condom use, transactional sex and relationship violence among young people in South Africa.The research shows that depression is common among young South Africans, and could be making a significant contribution towards the HIV epidemic.As well, the researchers believe that depression could be contributing to risky sexual behaviours around the world, and that preventing...

Adding pharmacists to the primary care team right in doctors' offices may help patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes better manage associated risks, a new University of Alberta study had found.The blood pressure of patients with Type 2 diabetes dropped significantly when pharmacists were included in the on-site clinical examination and consulting process, the U of A study showed. Among 153 patients whose hypertension was inadequately controlled at the beginning of the study, the 82...

Tyrannosaurus rex was far from a plodding Cretaceous era scavenger whose long tail only served to counterbalance the up-front weight of its freakishly big head.T. rex's athleticism (and its rear end) has been given a makeover by University of Alberta graduate student Scott Persons. His extensive research shows that powerful tail muscles made the giant carnivore one of the fastest moving hunters of its time.As Persons says, "contrary to earlier theories, T. rex had more than just junk in...

A University of Alberta geomicrobiologist and his PhD student are part of a research team that has identified phosphorus as the mystery ingredient that pushed oxygen levels in the oceans high enough to establish the first animals on Earth 750 million years ago.By examining ancient-ocean sediments, Kurt Konhauser, student Stefan Lalonde and other colleagues discovered that as the last glacier to encircle Earth receded, leaving behind glacial debris containing phosphorus that washed into the...

Study sheds light on understanding how behaviors toward food early in life can lead to obesityWhen it comes to understanding where tendencies to overweight and obesity develop, you have to begin with the very young, says John Spence, a behavioural scientist in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta.His research, the first of its kind to look at North American kids and published in the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, examined four- and five...

If you're having a bad day, you may want to stay away from listening to commercials for Lululemon or Coca Cola. Or from any retailer or merchandise whose name bears a similarly repetitive phonetic sound.University of Alberta marketing professor Jennifer Argo recently published a study in the Journal of Marketing indicating that hearing the names of brands containing these types of repetitive sounds can influence our mood and thus our decision-making ability when it comes to choosing whether...

University of Alberta researcher Lori Friesen's classroom assistants are very attentive, love to listen to children read and can keep their composure in a classroom full of energetic Grade 2 students. However, her assistants are more likely to lick the students' faces than give them a gold star.Friesen's says her work with her "literacy dogs," Tango and Sparky, in one city-area classroom yielded some highly positive successes for the children and her research.In Friesen's research,...