Findings > T h e L at e s t F r o m T h e L a b s COMING TO THE
POVERTY
BRAIN’S RESCUE
Number of poor children climbing More children are poor since the War on Poverty began
IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICES produce head injuries in
more than 40 years ago. Robert Plotnick, professor of Public
40 percent to 60 percent of soldiers who survive those nasty
Affairs, found that the poverty rate among children was
explosions. To provide optimum medical care, battlefield medi-
20.1 percent, 50 percent higher than in 1969. Oxford University Press will publish Plotnick’s research in mid-2012.
EQUITY STUDY
cal personnel require immediate brain-imaging studies such as magnetic resonance imaging and Computer Tomography scans so they can diagnose and properly treat the injuries. However, soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan often do not have
Low-income households may not bear burden
access to these diagnostic tools. To help remedy this situation,
Robert Plotnick and Jennifer Roach, associate professor of
Pierre Mourad, associate professor of Neurological Surgery,
Social Work, published a study showing that when all low- income households were considered, not just ones using the 520 bridge, a household earning $15,600 annually would pay $10.50 of its annual income in tolls compared with $63 for households earning $76,350.
MEDICINE That cuppa Joe has benefits Paul Nghiem, associate professor of dermatology and pathology, and colleagues at the School of Medicine have discovered how caffeine guards against certain skin cancers that are induced by ultraviolet light. In a study Nghiem found that caffeine protects against non-melanoma skin cancers by eliminating pre-cancerous cells from the skin.
ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES Polar ice caps can recover Researchers used a computer-generated global climate model to reflect accurately the rate of sea-ice loss under current climate conditions. While the highly sensitive model takes several more centuries of warming to completely lose winter sea ice there is no “tipping point,” or threshold warm temperature beyond which the sea ice cannot recover if temperatures come back down.
AUTISM Younger sibs have higher risk Parents of a child with an autism spectrum disorder face a 19 percent chance of having additional children diagnosed with the disorder, according to a new study co-authored by researchers at the UW Autism Center. The study highlights the importance of carefully monitoring the early development of younger siblings of children with the disorder. For more information on these stories, go to www.washington.edu
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UW
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has received a grant of $2,602,379 from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop a rugged, field-deployable imaging device for traumatic brain injuries. Ready access to diagnostic scans will improve the treatment and outcome for U.S. soldiers who sustain a head injury. In other news, Eberhard Fetz, professor of Physiology and Biophysics, is the principal investigator on a project to develop tiny, implantable computers to restore brain, spine and muscle function lost to injury or disease. These computers will help promote neural plasticity, which could strengthen weak connections and relay signals across lost connections. Both applications could allow some of the brain’s functions to be rescued when impaired due to a stroke or brain injury. The $1 million grant is provided by the W.M. Keck Foundation.