Social Sciences

Mark this one down as a parental nightmare. First, your child gets her tongue pierced. Then, as if you needed something else, she starts "playing" with the tiny barbell-shaped stud, pushing it against her upper front teeth. And before you know it, she forces a gap between those teeth -- a fraction-of-an-inch gap that may cost thousands of dollars in orthodontic bills to straighten.

Taking the time to talk to your children about current events like the Gulf Oil spill -- and using mathematical terms to do so -- can help students develop better reasoning and math skills and perform better in school, according to a study by a University at Buffalo professor.

It isn't easy being green, but Dennis A. Andrejko, FAIA, of Williamsville, associate professor in the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning, and a longtime proponent of sustainable architecture, has been elected vice president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), to serve 2011-2012.

"Building UB: the Comprehensive Physical Plan" has received a 2010 Professional Award in the category of Comprehensive Planning from the Western New York Section of the American Planning Association.

Researchers at the University at Buffalo conducting a neighborhood-scaled exploratory study that tested the association between the food environment, the built environment and women's body mass index (BMI) have found that women with homes closer to a supermarket, relative to a convenience store, had lower BMIs, and that the greater the number of restaurants within a five minute walk of a woman's home, the higher her BMI.

Although long-term care of sick or disabled loved ones is widely recognized as a threat to the caregiver's health and quality of life, a new study led by University at Buffalo psychologist Michael Poulin, PhD, finds that in some contexts, helping valued loved ones may promote the well being of helpers.

An assessment of patients with adult Tourette syndrome (TS) to identify clinical factors that contribute to psychosocial and occupational disabilities resulting from the vocal or motor tics that define TS found that anxiety/panic disorder may be the most disabling psychiatric condition associated with the disorder.

Trauma patients without insurance are more likely to die of their injuries from auto accidents and gunshot wounds than privately insured patients with similar injuries, according to findings of an analysis of 193,804 patients from 649 facilities conducted by University Buffalo emergency medicine physicians.

Last weekend at a university campus in Port-au-Prince, where not a single building withstood the January earthquake, more than 200 Haitian engineers, architects and other professionals gathered in tents in temperatures hovering near 100 degrees F to begin learning the principles of earthquake-resistant design.

University at Buffalo researcher Gregory A. Fabiano has received the green light to continue using a parent-teen therapeutic program and state-of-the-art driving simulator to teach safe driving habits to a group of drivers at the very top of the risk pool: teens with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).