According to the Federation Association of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, it is all about the distracting elements that bring the big ideasAnd whats better known for providing distraction, than alcohol?

The study reports that by reducing a persons focus, a persons ability to creatively problem solve is enhanced.

The study concludes, that its all about the reduced role of the working memory part of the brain. This is what gives us the capacity to focus, make decisions, and be logical. When this is not engaged, the brain is simply streaming consciousness and is distracted.

The same occurs by sleeping, taking a hot shower, or getting older.

This distraction gives the brain the ability to be innovative and creative problem solve by associating remote ideas together.

This creative problem solving, essentially entails thinking outside the box.

If you have ever experienced a sudden answer popping into your head, from what seems out of nowhere-you have experienced creative problem solving.

CTV Reporter Elizabeth Drolet speaks with a CSU Cognitive Psychology Grad Student, as well as, hears students reactions about the potential creative outlet they are tapping into when moderate drinking occurs.

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Science finds that alcohol boosts creative problem solving (video)

STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Researchers applying psychology to the realm of politics are finding that giving voters a few strategic nudges can push far more people in the direction of polls on election day.

Old standard get-out-the-vote phone call scripts made by volunteers simply asked people to participate in the election and reminded callers that voting was important. But now, using insights on how people make decisions, political parties and other organizations are finding that subtle changes in language even from a verb to a noun can make a substantial difference in how many people cast ballots.

Studies presented at Stanford on March 30 showed that more voters are motivated to go to the booths when they are told turnout will be high and when they are provoked to discuss plans for getting there. Moreover, they also are more likely to vote when they are threatened with personal accountability and when they are encouraged to see voting as an intrinsic part of their identity, rather than just something they do.

Since the 2006 election, in fact, organizations have doubled or tripled the efficiency of their get-out-the-vote budgets by including such messages, according to Todd Rogers, a Harvard professor and former founding executive director of the political research organization Analyst Institute. Rogers presented the work to nonprofit and corporate leaders assembled for The Science of Getting People to Do Good briefing, sponsored by the Center for Social Innovation at the Graduate School of Business.

Typical voter campaign telephone scripts just encouraging people to vote, Rogers said, end up being a total waste of time and have no impact on voting behavior. What works in such calls, instead, is getting people to form a voting plan.

In a controlled study of voter mobilization phone calls in the 2008 Pennsylvania presidential primary, which pitted Hillary Clinton against Barack Obama, researchers discovered that differences in scripts affected turnout. Scripts that guided people to think through the logistical details of their plans for voting such as when they intended to head to the polls, how they would get there, and what they would be doing beforehand were more than twice as effective as the standard scripts that simply asked people if they intended to vote.

This shows that cognitive planning and mechanical logistics, not just motivation, are part of the voting decision, Rogers noted. But the plan-making only affected single-voter households. Voters who live alone are less likely to have a plan than people who live in groups or families, where discussing the next days events are a natural part of life. So the intervention has much more impact on those who live alone, Rogers said.

Personal accountability matters, too. In a study of the 2010 general election, researchers sent one group of potential voters a psychologically sophisticated mailing encouraging them to vote. Another group received the same mailing, plus in the top right corner a box saying: We may call you after the election to talk about your voting experience. Adding that box increased the effectiveness of the mailing in terms of the voting it stimulated by almost half. The effect was especially strong among those who were the most civically engaged, based on their answers to a post-election survey of civic questions like: How many amendments are there in the Bill of Rights?

Join the Trend or Buck the Trend?

A common tactic used by press, politicians, and pundits to get people to vote has simply been to lament low voter turnout. But, Rogers has conducted research showing that such messages actually demotivate voting. This is because people are fundamentally social beings, and so the behavior of others influences their behavior, he explained.

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Getting Out the Vote

Judges at the Los Angeles County Science Fair named the top two winners of the competition on Saturday out of the more than a thousand students who had their experiments on display.

Kenneth Lee, a senior from Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, received the top sweepstakes prize for the senior-level division made up of high school students. He won for his project in the biochemistry and molecular biology category: "The Role of Testosterone in Hepatocyte Apoptosis in High Fat Diet-Induced Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease." His teacher on the project was Peter Starodub.

At the junior level for middle-schoolers, Raymond Gilmartin, an eight-grader at South Pasadena Middle School, took the sweepstakes prize. He had a project in the physics-aerodynamics and hydrodynamics category: "Spare the Environment, Spoiler the Car." His teacher on the project was Emily Hoffman.

Judges also awarded first-, second- and third-place medals, as well as honorable mention prizes, in a number of other categories, with animal physiology and biology, behavioral science, biochemistry and molecular biology, chemistry, engineering and mathematics and computer science, among them.

An exhibit hall at the Pasadena Convention Center was lined with rows of tri-fold poster boards featuring the projects, some of which will proceed to a statewide science fair and then on to the international level.

The science fair, in its 62nd year, had more students involved than in recent years, with 1,063 students taking part. The students came from public and private schools, as well as from those of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The number of girls participating has eclipsed the number of boys in recent years a trend that continued this year with 564 girls and 499 boys.

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L.A. County Science Fair names top student scientists

Students in the fourth through sixth grades throughout Marin entered 115 projects in the annual Marin County Elementary Science Fair sponsored by the Marin County Office of Education.

The projects were on display Tuesday at Vallecito Elementary School in San Rafael. Students developed a hypothesis, tested that hypothesis through data collection and analysis and then developed conclusions based on their investigations.

Grand Prize winners are:

Behavioral science: Lizzie Ferguson, sixth grade, Saint Mark's School, "The Eyes and Ears of Learning."

Engineering science: Jack Eisele and Quinn Woodhead, sixth grade, Saint Mark's School, "Insulating Fun."

Environmental science: Blake Benson, Nick Cauz and Jack De Graves, fifth grade, Dixie Elementary School, "Lead Is In What?"

Life science: Sasa Plichta, fourth grade, Brookside School Upper Campus, "How Does Light Affect Egg Laying In Chickens?"

Physical science: Daniel Ongaro, sixth grade, St. Anselm School, "Which Pipe Can Retain The Most Heat?"

Also, the Marin County Dental Society Award was presented to Payton Alonzo and Cassidy Bruner, fifth grade, Brookside School Upper Campus, "Which Toothpaste Works Best to Remove Stains From An Eggshell?"

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Winners named in Marin elementary school science fair

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

ISC West - International Security Conference & Expo - Behavioral Recognition Systems, Inc. (BRS Labs), inventor of the worlds first reason-based video surveillance behavior recognition software, has been issued Patent Number 8,131,012 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office covering the companys unique artificial intelligence based technology that serves as the foundation for its AISight 3.0 video surveillance software platform. This is one of a series of more than 60 related U.S. Patents that have either been granted, are pending, or are in process.

The video surveillance technology we have invented is distinctly and materially different from the simple recognition capabilities found in video analytics solutions currently available from a number of vendors in the physical security market, explained John Frazzini, President of BRS Labs. Generally speaking, video analytics software receives video data from cameras and issues alerts based on very specific and narrowly defined human programmed rules that have failed to provide operational value in the video surveillance market. In strong contrast to those limited and deteriorating solutions, the patented technology of BRS Labs does not require any human pre-programmed rules, thereby providing an inherently scalable enterprise class software platform to the video surveillance market.

In 2005, a team of experienced software developers and scientists with backgrounds in computer vision, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and theoretical physics began working at BRS Labs to create a technology that would allow computers to autonomously learn to recognize unusual behaviors observed by security cameras and warn security teams about those behaviors.

The results of this work the patented AISight Behavioral Recognition System accepts video streams from standard cameras, detects and tracks subjects, characterizes their appearances and properties, classifies them, learns the patterns of behavior they exhibit, remembers those patterns, recognizes behaviors that deviate from those patterns, and alerts the user about those events in real time.

These advancements would not have been possible ten or fifteen years ago because science didnt adequately understand how the human brain models and manipulates data, and there wasnt enough computer power to get the job done, said Dr. Wesley K. Cobb, Chief Science Officer at BRS Labs. Now, computers are exponentially faster and we have been successful in developing a method and system for analyzing and learning behavior based on acquired streams of video frames. This was an extremely difficult technical problem to solve, and to our knowledge, no other company has been able to approximate or duplicate what we have done.

U.S. Patent Number 8,131,012, issued to BRS Labs earlier this month, covers the invention of using artificial intelligence learning modules to recognize behavior patterns in a video stream to identify objects and events that are unusual. BRS Labs has also trademarked the term Behavioral Recognition to describe this invention and revolutionary method of analyzing and learning behavior based on streaming video data.

In addition to the behavioral recognition system patent, other BRS Labs intellectual property filings cover technical breakthroughs in background models, detection, tracking, object characterization, classification, scene characterization, target matching, techniques for unsupervised learning of spatial and temporal behavior, long term associative memories, anomaly detection using long-term memories, sudden illumination change, scene preset identification, trajectory learning, trajectory anomaly detection, spatial and temporal anomaly detection, clustering techniques in self organizing maps, classification anomalies, semantic representation of scene content, and a cognitive model for behavior recognition.

BRS Labs will be displaying their revolutionary AISight 3.0 surveillance software at the upcoming ISC International Security Technology Conference & Exhibition (Booth #22071) from March 28 to 30 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

"Our now patented behavioral recognition system technology is deployed in very prominent security surveillance installations to protect the safety of millions of citizens and employees across multiple vertical markets," added BRS Labs President John Frazzini.

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BRS Labs Granted U.S. Patent for Behavioral Recognition System

Mary Ann Bulawa, a sophomore at Rome Free Academy, took top honors at Utica Colleges 34th annual Regional Science Fair Saturday.

Her project, Optimizing Algae Growth, garnered the senior level grand prize, which includes two years of half tuition at Utica College, along with an all-expense paid trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Pittsburgh in May.

The senior level runner-up was Grace Atik from Clinton, a ninth-grade student, for her project, We Didnt Start the Fire. She will be eligible for a one-year, half-tuition scholarship at Utica College.

Taking top honors in the junior level were Neila Rekic and Katelyn Zaleski, eighth-grade students from John F. Kennedy Middle School in Utica, for their project, The Electrolyte Challenge.

Local students in grades 7 through 12 from Oneida and Chenango counties presented their research and experiments in categories ranging from behavioral and computer science to microbiology and engineering.

Schools participating this year were: Clinton, Donovan Middle School, John F. Kennedy Middle School, New Hartford, Perry Junior High, Poland, Rome Catholic, Rome Free Academy, Strough Junior High, Proctor and Whitesboro.

Entrants competed in either the senior level (grades 9-12) or junior level (grades 7-8) for cash prizes, tuition scholarships, and select special prizes awarded by organizations such as the American Meteorological Association, Intel, the U.S. Army and many others.

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RFA sophomore wins regional science fair

Public release date: 23-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Ann C. Benner annb@nih.gov 301-594-4574 NIH/Office of the Director

A Web-based interactive anthology will provide psychologists, economists, anthropologists, sociologists and other scientists with the latest research methods and tools to address emerging challenges in public health, such as the obesity epidemic and the rise of chronic diseases such as heart disease. The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) at the National Institutes of Health collaborated with New England Research Institutes to create the free resource(http://www.esourceresearch.org/), called e-Source.

Because behavioral and social scientists hail from widely varying disciplines from political science to social work research, there was a need for a central resource for current, high quality behavioral and social science research methods. With contributions from international experts, this anthology provides authoritative answers to methodological questions and sets quality standards for the research community.

The goal of the program is to demonstrate the potential of behavioral and social science research, focusing on applying research findings to public health activities and the potential to enhance biomedical research. It is also a useful training resource for biological scientists, providing them with a basic foundation for collaborations with behavioral and social scientists. "The behavioral and social sciences research community has long needed an easily accessible, low-cost central resource for standardized methods," said Dr. Robert M. Kaplan, director of OBSSR.

Behavioral and social science has broad appeal and impact, and the program was developed to reach a wide audience of researchers, within the NIH, nationally and internationally. The Web-based interactive collection consists of 20 interactive chapters with new features including a discussion forum and enhanced note-taking capabilities. The twenty chapters cover a range of topics, but are accessible to all users, including those with limited familiarity of concepts such as how to conduct a qualitative analysis. The concepts are supported with interactive exercises and a full set of references linked to abstracts in Pubmed(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed), a library of citations for scientific journals.

The program includes chapters under five major categories relevant to behavioral and social science. "Setting the Scene" introduces major concepts in design and planning of social and behavioral science research. "Describing How" addresses methodologies used to explain how something occurs (for instance, learning how a disease is distributed in a population by conducting a survey or an observational study). "Explaining Why" provides guidance on qualitative methods appropriate for describing why something occurs. "What Works" explores research methods that can evaluate whether one treatment is better than another and whether there are cost differences (for example, a brand drug versus a generic medication). "Emerging Issues" addresses challenges in behavioral and social science research.

Several features engage the user and promote sharing, including a discussion board, a notes feature to save content and share it with others, and a function which allows the user to print a page or a chapter as a PDF. Unlike a printed textbook, the site has been developed with the expectation that it will provide a foundation of methods, but also evolve as new issues emerge. Future topics may include the effects of living in a particular neighborhood, the impact of differences in language and lifestyles, and the science of writing questions.

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The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) opened officially on July 1, 1995. The U.S. Congress established the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) in the Office of the Director, NIH, in recognition of the key role that behavioral and social factors often play in illness and health. The OBSSR mission is to stimulate behavioral and social sciences research throughout NIH and to integrate these improving our understanding, treatment, and prevention of disease. For more information, please visit <http://obssr.od.nih.gov>.

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NIH launches online resource on behavioral and social science research methods

Newswise HOUSTON (March 21, 2012) The Womens Behavioral Program at the Center for Behavioral Health, which offers specialized care for women with emotional challenges, has opened at St. Joseph Medical Center in partnership with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

The program is directed by Marketa Wills, M.D., M.B.A., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the UTHealth Medical School.

The program offers holistic care combined with cutting-edge behavioral treatment, said Wills, who specializes in the treatment of women across a broad range of diagnoses. We offer group, dance and music therapy in a spa-like setting designed to help women relax. Comfortable furnishings, signature robes and slippers, flat-screen TVs, computers and other amenities are included.

The program treats women within the broad spectrum of mental illness, including substance abuse, trauma, bipolar disorder, mild psychosis, personality disorder and depression.

According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 20 million Americans have depression and women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with it. Biological, life cycle, hormonal and psychosocial factors may be linked to the higher rates of depression in women, the NIH says. After experiencing hormonal and physical changes after giving birth, for example, women may develop postpartum depression.

But some women may also experience depression during pregnancy, Wills said. Ten to 20 percent of pregnant women may suffer from depression, Wills said. Signs include crying, tearfulness, lack of self care, lack of attention to obstetric care, concern they wont attach to the baby or they dont want the baby. The program has been developed to accept pregnant women and allow visitation by children.

Other signs of depression in women may include feelings of sadness, emptiness, irritability, guilt, hopelessness and fatigue. A woman also might be experiencing depression if she has lost interest in favorite activities, is unable to concentrate and not sleeping or sleeping too much. Thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts are important symptoms. Overeating or not wanting to eat are also signs.

Wills also has clinical expertise in treating women with eating disorders. Often people think that a person with an eating disorder such as anorexia is doing it on purpose or its just a matter of eating, she said. Whats really going on is people are restricting their food intake as a form of control and power because they feel out of control in other areas. By not eating, they see themselves doing something other people cant do.

Wills said signs of an eating disorder include a body weight less than 85 percent of ideal body weight and the cessation of the menstrual cycle. Thats where theyve reached the level of needing immediate physiological help. Once they are stable medically, they can come here to continue their treatment.

The new program is a collaboration among the employees and staff of St. Joseph Medical Center and UT Physicians, the medical practice of the UTHealth Medical School.

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UTHealth, St. Joseph Open Holistic Women's Behavioral Program

Medical schools are seeking longer Medical College Admission Tests to better prepare future medical doctors.

The Association of American Medical Colleges decided to add content to the current exams. These changes will take place starting in 2015. The new content includes more behavioral science questions from classes such as psychology, sociology and philosophy. The changes to the content will increase the test time from five-and-a-half hours to seven hours.

Mollie Semmer, a senior in the College of Health and Human Sciences, took the MCATs during the summer and said she thinks the changes are good because they encourage students to take a wide range of courses, and a lot of medical schools require the additional courses anyway.

"It's a tough test to prepare for because it's a content-based test, so you have to know certain concepts from class that are on the test," Semmer said.

Semmer said to be better prepared for the test, students should stick to a schedule while doing the practice tests and pace themselves because the exam is rushed.

Amy Terstriep, a health professions adviser in the College of Science, said this has been the second change in the last 10 years. The current change is a bigger overhaul than the last one.

"The changes in the test that they are thinking of now will better reflect what medical schools are looking for and what they need students to be able to do," Terstriep said. "It's going to be different, not necessarily harder."

Robert Walkup, an adviser in the School of Health Sciences, wrote in an email the changes to the MCATs are not worrisome for Purdue students and that the changes might benefit students not involved in science-based curriculum.

"I don't see it as being harder but with a broader-based focus," Walkup wrote. "Most students enrolled in pre-med programs at Purdue complete these courses currently."

Terstriep said longer does not necessarily mean harder, but it can be tiring. Her advice to future test takers is to thoroughly learn the material presented in class and not just study for the next exam because students are going to need the concepts for the MCATs.

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Medical school exams to include broader range of subjects

Public release date: 20-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Lucy Hyde lhyde@psychologicalscience.org 202-293-9300 Association for Psychological Science

March 20th marks the birthday of famed behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner, who would have turned 108 today. Besides Sigmund Freud, B.F. Skinner was the most famous and perhaps the most influential psychologist of the 20th century. But his own "radical behaviorism"the idea that behavior is caused solely by environmental factors, never by thoughts or feelingsmade him a magnet of controversy, which grew even more intense with the publication of his best-known book, Beyond Freedom & Dignity.

"He was looked at as beyond the pale by a lot of other psychologists, including me," says Dean Keith Simonton, a psychologist at the University of California Davis, who was a graduate student at Harvard when Skinner taught there. Some even called Skinner a fascist for his radical views of human malleability. But, says Simonton, "people who knew him would also say, 'You really should talk to Skinner, because he's a much broader, more open person than you think.'"

Who was B.F. Skinner? University of Oslo psychologists Geir Overskeid and Cato Grnnerd, along with Simonton, used a variety of source material plus an instrument that scores people on five major personality factors, to describe him and compare him with other eminent scientists. The study, which appears in Perspectives in Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science, reveals a complex manbut nothing like the monster his detractors called him.

To draw an objective picture of Skinner, the psychologists first combed through published sources both biographical and autobiographical, archival material, and sketches written by people who knew him. From these they culled 118 descriptive words and phrases, from "fanatic" to "afraid of the police." Five raters blind to the subject's identity categorized each descriptor under the Big Five traits that psychologists use to describe personalityOpenness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Extroversion, and Neuroticismand assigned to the descriptor a degree from -2 to +2. The authors chose the 81 descriptors on which four of the five raters agreed; there was almost complete agreement as to degree.

The results: Skinner was highly conscientiousscoring 1.8working tirelessly and meticulously toward ambitious goals. Indeed, he wrote that he aimed to remake the "entire field of psychology" and viewed relaxation as dangerous. And those Harvard students were right about Skinner's openness to experience. Besides being a psychologist, he painted, wrote a novel, played saxophone and piano, and enjoyed all kinds of music. He was also somewhat neurotic and extroverted: known as charming, funnyand a womanizer.

In many respects, Skinner's is the profile of an eminent scientistfor his drive and discipline, creative versatility, and also for his neuroticism, a trait shared by as many as 45% of leading scientists, according to one analysis. What the profile does not represent: an evil authoritarian. "This article makes Skinner more human," says Simontonnot just a "consolidation" of traits but also an array of nuanced detail. Though objective, it's not "a polarizing treatment. You don't have to love or hate him."

###

To learn more about B.F. Skinner, you can also read this profile and interview recently featured in the APS Observer.

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What was B.F. Skinner really like? A new study parses his traits

Thomas Ruli, a student at St. Paul's School in Covington, was the overall winner in the Senior Division of the 2012 Region 8 Science Fair earlier this month, while William Ian Kelly of St. Tammany Junior High in Slidell took the top spot in the Junior Division. Both will advance to the state science fair to be held at LSU later this year.

Ruli won for his exhibit "Natural Antibiotics vs. Man Made Antibiotics" in the Medicine and Health Sciences Category, and Kelly was recognized for his display "Which Acoustical Material Absorbs the Most Sound" in the Engineering Category.

Other winners around St. Tammany Parish include:

Senior Division (Grades 9-12)

Christ Episcopal School, Covington: Leah Bell, first, physics and astronomy; Clayton Williams, first, Ingrid Sjunnesen, third, and Avery Owings, honorable mention, all in chemistry.

Pope John Paul II High, Slidell: Matthew Tonglet, first, animal science; Hope Brusstar, third, engineering; Jena Cartaginese and Heidi Dunne, second, and Amanda Stark, honorable mention, medicine and health sciences; Dominque Delaney, first; and Hannah Donnell and Molley Edwards, second, microbiology; Will Arata, second, and Justin Gandy, third, both in physics and astronomy.

St. Paul's School, Covington: Michael Sitarz, first, Michael Brown, third, and Benjamin Dantin, honorable mention, all in energy and transportation; Roberty Bayer, first, and Brennan Knepper, third, both in environmental sciences; and Peter Yager, third, medicine and health sciences.

St. Scholastica Academy, Covington: Caitlyn Hoerner, first, engineering; and Shelby Bryan, second, behavioral and social science.

Junior Division

Boyet Junior High, Slidell: Nicholas Foster, second, microbiology; Michael Stokes, second, and Alex Barron, third, physics and astronomy; and Noah Roheim, third, animal science.

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Several St. Tammany Parish students take home ribbons at Region 8 Science Fair

Nirupama Devanathan from Summit and David Pan of Canterbury won Outstanding Project Awards at the Northeast Indiana Regional Science and Engineering Fair at IPFW on Saturday.

Seven students from the junior division and seven students from the senior division will advance to the Hoosier Science and Engineering Fair in Indianapolis, IPFW said in a statement. The senior division students will compete to represent Indiana at the Intel International Science Fair in Pittsburgh.

The fair displayed the work of 281 students from an eight-county area, the statement said.

The winners were:

Kindergarten, first place: Benjamin Morton, Lafayette Meadows; second place: Caroline Egolf, Churubusco; Kamden Trent, Haverhill; third place: Kara Alday, Lafayette Meadows; Will Beltz, Queen of Angels; Rylan Hathaway, Haverhill; fifth place: Peyton Alt, Maplewood; Chloe Richard, Price.

First Grade. first place; Luke Finch, Aboite; second place: Noble Hinen, Coesse; Miriam Kline, Churubusco; third place: Katie Cichocki, Ascension; Gracen Norris, St. John, New Haven; fourth place: Stuart McCabe, Ossian; Jack Vandenberghe, Whispering Meadows; fifth place: Ren Moore, Weisser Park/Whitney Young; Nicholas Shannon, Weisser Park/Whitney Young.

Second Grade, first place: Miles Hahn, Irwin; second place: Marissa Butcher, Aboite; Clayton Hoffman, Coesse; third place: Abigale Smith, Lincoln; fourth place: Isaac MacDonald, Deer Ridge; Aiden Meek, Maplewood; Joseph Royer, Churubusco; fifth place: Amelia Elliott, Canterbury.

Third Grade, first place: Elly Doyle, Emma Doyle and Hope Nitza, St. Jude; second place: Trinity Forish, Haley; Laura Hartmus and Jessica Hartmus, Huntington Catholic; Calvin Madsen, Haverhill; Ethan Schreck, Lafayette Meadows; Sarah Wilson, Deer Ridge; third place: Gabriel Brown, Arlington; Isabelle Hogan, St. Jude.

Fourth Grade, first place: Abby Mains, Fort Wayne Area Home; second place: Alexandra Coleman, Huntertown; third place: Kennedy Jester, Croninger; Olivia Taylor, Leo; fourth place: Madelyn Myers, Leo; Katherine Ousley, South Whitley; fifth place: Nick Bayes, St. Charles, Fort Wayne; Dominic Gery, Deer Ridge.

Fifth Grade, first place: Cole Clements, Aboite; second place: Cory Balkenbusch, Aboite; Zoe Moore, Weisser Park/Whitney Young; Sophie Steele, Brentwood; third place: Marten Slager, Lafayette Meadows; Ashley VandenBoom, Ossian; fourth place: Abigail Smith and Grace McGuire, Deer Ridge; Ashley Reider, Fort Wayne Area Home.

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Science fair winners announced

CLEMSON UNIVERSITY Clemson University was honored with six awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education District III. The College of Business and Behavioral Science advancement team received a Special Merit Award for Overall Advancement Services Operations. Clemsons 2020 Road Map: Launching a Strategic Plan received an Award of Excellence in the category of Institutional Relations Projects.

The College of Business and Behavioral Science alumni magazine, The Exchange, received a Special Merit Award in the Alumni Magazine category.

The video Prime III: The Worlds First All-accessible, Electronic Voting System was named the Grand Award Winner for Slides and Multimedia Programs. A video on Clemson Engineers for Developing Countries and its work to help bring fresh water to people in Haiti received an Award for Excellence in the category of Slide and Multimedia Programs. A video on the Bite Counter, an innovative food intake measuring device designed to promote weight loss, received a Special Merit Award in Slides and Multimedia Programs.

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is a volunteer organization with more than 3,500 members dedicated to the advancement of professionals in educational institutions, with a focus on the fields of alumni relations, fundraising, communications and marketing in the Southeastern states.

For more information, e-mail anixon@clemson.edu or call 864-656-0382.

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Clemson University recognized by Council for Advancement and Support of Education

SCIENCE FAIR RESULTS

The Pikes Peak Regional Science Fair was held March 10 at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Here are the awards earned by area students. The spelling of student names was provided by science fair officials.

GRAND AWARDS Senior high: Sara Volz, 11th grade, Cheyenne Mountain High School; Rahul Shankar, 12th grade, Rampart High School, runner up.

Junior high: Joshua Courtney, sixth grade, Monument Academy; Aleesa Muir, eighth grade, The Classical Academy, runner up.

BEST BACKBOARD Senior high: Molly Merkert, ninth grade, Palmer High School. Junior high: Seth Young, seventh grade, The Classical Academy, runner up.

SENIOR AWARDS

Biology science: Sara Volz, 11th grade, Cheyenne Mountain, first; Jenna Hartley, 10th grade, Palmer, second; Annika Bultema, ninth grade, Palmer, third; Mikaela Clemons, ninth grade, Palmer, fourth; Natasha Hamilton, ninth grade, Palmer, fifth; Devon Klingman, ninth grade, Palmer, sixth; Shelby Faulkner, ninth grade, Palmer, seventh.

Health/behavioral science: Rahul Shankar, 12th grade, Rampart, first; Mia Lynch and Jessica Nawrocki, 11th grade, Palmer, second; Emma Reece, ninth grade, Palmer, third; Lindsay Fletcher and Sara Ellison, 10th grade, Victory Christian Academy, fourth.

Physical science: Wesley Hileman, 11th grade and Matthew Hileman, ninth grade, The Classical Academy, first; Yael Courtney, 10th grade, Lewis Palmer High School, second; Sydney Anderson and Rowan Binkley-Jones, 10th grade, Edison High School, third; Maxx Helfer, ninth grade, Palmer, fourth; Molly Merkert, ninth grade, Palmer, fifth; Zachary Fackelman, ninth grade, Coronado, sixth; Nathan Hittle, ninth grade, Palmer, seventh.

Physical science, engineering mathematics and computer science: Swapnika Mallipeddi, ninth grade, Coronado, first; Heather Bangs, 11th grade, Victory Christian Academy, second: William Brown, ninth grade, Palmer, third.

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Dozens of students earn regional Science Fair awards

Stuttgart School District students came back victorious from the Southeast Regional Science Fair at the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

Stuttgart High School held its science fair back in December, and those students who earned first, second or third places moved on to the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff Science Fair. The UAPB Science Fair was held Feb. 16 and students that place first, second or third went on to compete in the Regional Science Fair at Monticello on March 8.

Now those who have placed in the regional at Monticello have the opportunity to compete in the state science fair March 30 and 31, SHS teacher Kathy Prislovsky said.

In the Senior Division at Monticello Chris Hooks received first place in Behavioral Science. Lawrence Chamberlain received second place in Behavioral Science. Pearl Jangjiravat received second place in Chemistry. Shana Fruge received first place in Biochemistry. Cassidy George received second place in Cellular/Molecular Biology. Marlee Meier and Aston Coleman received second place in Team.

In the Junior Division Abbey Maynard received third place in Chemistry. Corbin Buerkle received first place in Microbiology. Ashley Hopson and Jaelyn Maddox received third place in Team.

Chamberlain was the overall winner of the science fair at UAPB receiving a four-year scholarship and the Sigma Xi Fraternity award with a $100 prize. Hooks was the winner of the science fair in Monticello and won a one-year scholarship at UAM.

Each year we try this same sequence local science fair, UAPB science fair, regional science fair, then state, Prislovsky said. Last year we had a couple students qualify for state, but couldnt attend.

You cant imagine how proud the science department and the high school are of these students.It is an honor, and I am excited that they wanted to continue on with their projects, she said.

It is important for the students to compete in these competitions because it helps them with the presentation skills and also their self-esteem, Prislovsky explained.

It also is wonderful that they enjoy doing science. STEM is where we are heading, science, technology, engineering and mathematics, she said. These students need to be prepared for college and the work force.

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Students place in regional science fair

When she says no, the bottle beckons more brightly for men and for fruit flies, according to a new study that found that male flies that had been repeatedly spurned by females were more likely to turn to alcohol to self-medicate their frustration.

As a topic of study, drunk fruit flies may seem trifling, but what the findings reveal about the neurochemistry that drives behaviors like sex and eating may point the way to new drugs to fight both addiction and obesity.

Researchers performed several clever experiments to determine the relationship between sexual frustration and drinking in male flies. Some lucky males were allowed four days of mating for six-hour sessions at a time (each bout of fruit fly copulation takes 20 minutes) with an abundance of sexually receptive females the female-to-male ratio was a satisfying 5-to-1. The male flies were housed either together or alone.

The unlucky experimental group was introduced to females that had already mated and had no desire to mate again. The females ran away, kicked and stuck out their egg-laying organ to fend males off. The male flies underwent this exercise in sexual frustration and rejection three times a day, for an hour at a time, over four days. Again, some of the males were kept in containers with other male flies, while others were isolated.

A third group of males was exposed to the sad sight of decapitated virgin females a situation that resulted in sexual frustration, but no active rejection.

MORE: Do Monkeys Pay for Sex?

After these experiences, the flies were given a choice of ordinary food (yeast and sugar) or food that had been spiked with the kick of 30-proof spirits (yeast, sugar and 15% alcohol). Not surprisingly, the sexually rejected flies boozed much more than the mated group with those males that had been spurned and alone hitting the sauce the hardest. The flies that had been sexually frustrated but not rejected also drank more than those that had been allowed to mate. However, when flies that had first been rejected were later given a chance to mate, their extra preference for alcohol disappeared.

So what was going on in the flies brains? Researchers found that a neurotransmitter called neuropeptide F, or NPF, which seems to be linked with fruit flies reward system, was strongly predictive of whether the flies drank. NPF was low in sexually frustrated flies lower in flies that had been isolated than in those that had company in their misery which appeared to drive them to drink.

Both mating and drinking alcohol increased NPF levels. Moreover, when NPF levels were artificially reduced in mated flies, they continued to show an extra preference for alcohol just as if they hadnt mated. These data suggest that activity of the NPF system is regulated by at least two rewarding experiences, mating and [alcohol] intoxication, the authors write.

The researchers also found that activating the NPF system was itself pleasurable to the flies, suggesting that it may create the feeling of satisfaction associated with drinking and sex.

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Bizarre Science: Sexually Frustrated Flies Are Driven to Drink

The towns police chief is headed home after an extended training session with the FBI.

Police Chief Paul Shastany wrapped up 21/2 months at the invitation-only FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va. He will be back on the job Monday.

Classes at the academy include law, behavioral science, forensic science, understanding terrorism/terrorist mind sets, leadership development, communication and health/fitness. The academy has existed since 1935.

Executive Officer Robert Devine, who has been serving as acting chief in Shastanys absence, called it a momentous day in an email.

This is a huge occasion for all of us, and we couldnt be prouder of him, Devine wrote.

Shastany has been writing periodic updates on the training, posted on the departments Facebook page.

I cannot tell you how great this experience has been. I have many new friends, he wrote in his most recent post. We have come together as a team and will leave as individuals.

Shastany said he was inspired by the fellow law enforcement professionals he met during the training, including a New Jersey state police captain and a colonel in the Egyptian police force.

This experience was not so much about academics but rather about the character and commitment of the people, he wrote. The world is a better place because of the type of people that come here and serve their communities.

Justin Graeber may be reached at jgraeber@enterprisenews.com or follow him on Twitter @justingraeber.

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Stoughton police chief set to return after FBI training

CLOQUET, Minn. The former head of behavioral health at Fargos MeritCare was sentenced to 120 days in jail on Wednesday after he was caught peeping here at the window of the juvenile daughter of his neighbor last summer.

Richard Allen Paul, 57, of Cloquet, had pleaded guilty in December to a felony interference with privacy charge and was sentenced Wednesday in Carlton County District Court in front of his victims, other neighbors and his own family. The charge is a felony because the person whose privacy was violated was a minor.

Paul, who was director of behavior services for Essentia Health System in Duluth before he was arrested and held a similar position at the predecessor to Sanford Health in Fargo from 1999 to 2002, apologized in the courtroom.

Not a day goes by that I dont regret my actions, Paul said. Not a day goes by that I dont pray for (the vicitms family) that God gives them relief from the pain I gave to them.

B.J. Berg discovered Paul outside Bergs home at 11:30 p.m. on June 14, 2011, wearing a black ski mask, tan shirt and jeans while peering into a bedroom window. When Berg confronted him, Paul said something about trying to find his dogs.

Berg told him, Not at my daughters window, youre not, and told him to get off his property.

Berg followed Paul to his home and called the police, who searched Pauls home and found night vision goggles, a ski mask, clothing and a loaded handgun. Paul admitted to police he had a firearm on his hip while outside Bergs home.

In his statement in court, Berg talked about the close-knit nature of their rural Cloquet neighborhood 20 miles west of Duluth and how Paul built trust with his neighbors and their children over 12 years.

This whole ordeal has been a sad lesson for our kids and family to learn that you may not be able to trust the people you have grown to respect, and that your home may not be the safe haven you thought it was, Berg told the court, adding that his children havent ventured down the road on their bikes to visit friends since then. Some of their childhood innocence has been lost and their perception of safety in our home has been diminished.

Paul sat with his head down during most of Bergs statement.

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Ex-head of behavioral science at MeritCare in Fargo gets 120 days for window peeping

Two North Middle School students will be heading to the Hoosier State Science and Engineering Fair in Indianapolis after taking part in the 2012 Tri-State Science and Engineering Fair held at the University of Southern Indiana on Thursday.

Sheridan Forker placed first in behavioral and social sciences, and Addison Watson placed first in animal science.

"We have been competing in the Tri-state Science and Engineering Fair for over 12 years," said North Middle School science teacher Terry Bennett. "I am not aware of us being able to send anyone to the state competition prior to this year."

The Indianapolis fair will be held at IUPUI on March 31. The event is sponsored by the Science Education Foundation of Indiana.

Meanwhile, a total of 170 students from North Middle competed at the fair held at USI, and the following students earned top awards out of a pool of nearly 500 students from the Tri-state area:

Chase Becker, second place, Mathematical and Computer Sciences.

Rodrigo Daboin, third place, Mathematical and Computer Sciences.

Alyssa Weber, second place, Microbiology and Molecular Biology.

Jennifer Horn, third place, Microbiology and Molecular Biology.

Cole Privette, second place, Animal Science.

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Two students head to state science fair

Special to The T&D The Times and Democrat | Posted: Thursday, March 15, 2012 6:00 am |

Students and members of the community are invited to come see the exciting science programs and visionary research at Claflin Universitys Undergraduate STEM and Behavioral Science Research Symposium on Friday, March 23.

Dr. Maydianne C.B. Andrade, research chair in integrative behavioral ecology at the University of Toronto at Scarborough, Canada, will serve as the keynote speaker.

This symposium will heighten awareness for our fantastic research and academic programs in the community and far beyond, said Dr. Verlie Tisdale, dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

In addition to Andrades remarks, there will be a poster session based on the research of Claflin students, oral presentations from graduate students and tours of the state-of-the-art Molecular Science Research Center and the James S. Thomas Science Center.

Andrades current position was awarded to her by the Canadian government. She has been on the faculty at the University of Toronto at Scarborough since 2004. She received a Ph.D. in neurobiology and behavior from Cornell University, where she received the Clark Distinguished Teaching Award. In 2007, she was acknowledged with the African Canadian Achievement Award for Excellence in Science.

Andrade was also featured in a 2002 edition of Canadas Time Magazine as a person who will define the next frontier of science. She also was named among the 10 most brilliant young scientists in North American by Popular Magazine.

Tisdale said the main goal of the symposium is to assemble members of the science community from South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. Another aim, Tisdale noted, is to highlight the significant research strength of Claflins master of biotechnology degree program. Claflin is home to the South Carolina Center for Biotechnology, where world-renowned researcher Dr. Omar Bagasra is the director.

Prospective students of the master of biotechnology program are eligible for full tuition and a monthly stipend through the U.S. Department of Education. The center has assembled a massive portfolio of research projects since opening in 2005, tackling such issues as HIV/AIDS, cancer, organ transplantation and diabetes.

Undergraduate and graduate students at Claflin will orally present their research during the symposiums afternoon session.

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Undergraduate STEM/Behavioral Science Research Symposium set