Tag Archives: montreal

Vorgestellt: Wie lebt man in Lampedusa?

By Guest PostJanuary 19, 2014Politicsan der grenze, das meer, die lampedusani, die migrantinnen, dorf in luxemburg, genf, gilles reckinger, interkulturelle kommunikations, kapitaen ist betrunken, lampedusa, leben, lokale bevoelkerung, migranten, montreal, obstplantagen in kalabrien, oesterreich, quebec, risikoforschung, schiffbruch, st gallen, stiftung suedtiroler sparkasse, vertrag, von maastricht, wie lebt man

Gilles Reckinger, neuberufener Professor für Interkulturelle Kommunikations- und Risikoforschung, interessiert sich besonders für das Leben an der Grenze, die Arbeitswelt und Prekarisierungsprozesse sowie für Jungendforschung. Ein großes Anliegen ist ihm die verborgene und unsichtbare Seite der Migration. Seine Professur wurde von der Stiftung Südtiroler Sparkasse gestiftet.

„Wie lebt man in Lampedusa?“ Diese scheinbar simple Fragestellung hat Gilles Reckinger ins Zentrum seiner Forschungsinteressen der letzten Jahre gestellt. Seine Faszination für diese Insel ist bereits als Jugendlicher entstanden. Mit der Unterzeichnung des Vertrags von Maastricht und dem Schengener Abkommen lotete der Forscher die Außengrenzen Europas mit dem Finger auf der Landkarte aus. Die Möglichkeit, die südlichste Insel Italiens ohne Pass bereisen zu können, weckte schon damals seine Neugierde. Nachdem Gilles Reckinger die medialen Berichterstattungen über Lampedusa mitverfolgt hat, entschloss er sich im Jahr 2009 zu einer Forschungsreise auf diese Insel aufzubrechen. Gemeinsam mit seiner Frau und einer Videokünstlerin stellte er schnell fest, dass die Insel vollkommen anders ist, als sie in der Öffentlichkeit dargestellt wird. (more…)

Dead Star and Distant Black Holes Dazzle in X-Rays

By Guest PostJanuary 11, 2014Scienceb1509, canada, cosmic evolution survey, cosmos field, dead star, distant black holes, fiona harrison, francesca civano, hand of god, hongjun an, mcgill university, montreal, NASA, new haven, nuclear, nustar, particle, psr b1509 58, pulsar, pulsar wind nebula, spectroscopic telescope array, spinning star, xrays, yale university

Two new views from NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, showcase the telescope’s talent for spying objects near and far. One image shows the energized remains of a dead star, a structure nicknamed the “Hand of God” after its resemblance to a hand. Another image shows distant black holes buried in blankets of dust.

“NuSTAR’s unique viewpoint, in seeing the highest-energy X-rays, is showing us well-studied objects and regions in a whole new light,” said Fiona Harrison, the mission’s principal investigator at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif. (more…)

Teenagers Avoid Early Alcohol Misuse Through Personality Management

By Guest PostJanuary 28, 2013Healthadventure, alcohol misuse, anxiety sensitivity, avoid, canada, control and intervention, dangers of alcohol, delaying alcohol uptake, early alcohol misuse, high risk adolescents, hopelessness, immunity effect, impulsivity, jama psychiatry, kings college london, montreal, patricia conrod, personality management, personality targeted, sainte justine university, school interventions, self perception, sensation seeking, social network, teenagers, university of montreal

In a study published in the very first issue of the new journal JAMA Psychiatry, researchers from Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center, University of Montreal and King’s College London have shown that personality-targeted school interventions delivered to high risk adolescents manage to reduce and postpone problem drinking, which is responsible for 9% of the deaths in young people between the ages of 15 and 29 in developed countries. Furthermore, by delaying alcohol uptake in at-risk youth, low-risk youth apparently gain group immunity due to reduced drinking within their social network.

“Two factors determine problem drinking: personality and peer pressure,” explains Dr. Patricia Conrod, the study’s first author, who supports the assumption that approaching at-risk youth from the angle of mental health rather than information on the dangers of alcohol is more effective at preventing early-onset alcohol misuse. “Teaching young people how to better manage their personality traits or vulnerabilities helps them make the right decisions in given situations,” she explained, “whether it is a matter of overcoming their fears, managing thoughts that make them very emotional, controlling their compulsions, analyzing objectively the intentions of others or improving their self-perception.” (more…)

Television: Chronicle of a Death Foretold?

By Guest PostNovember 24, 2012Mediaandre h caron, balance of time, bell media, calgary, canadian productions, canadian programming, children, creation, cross canada study, cyms, endangered, Environment, made in canada, media platform, montreal, nuclear family, publication, quality, quebec, social impact, st john, television, television programs, toronto, tv, université de montréal, vancouver, young canadians

Not only is TV not endangered, but it also has a unifying social impact on the nuclear family across the country. This is the main conclusion of a cross-Canada study—Are the Kids All Right?—on the television viewing habits of families with at least one child aged between 9 and 12 years. The study was conducted by a team of researchers led by André H. Caron, professor of communications at the Université de Montréal and Director of the Centre for Youth and Media Studies (CYMS).

“Young Canadians today live in a different world than that experienced by previous generations. In this context, many well-placed observers have predicted the impending death of television,” says Dr. Caron. “We wanted to test the veracity of this statement, so we set out to meet 80 different families (over 200 participants) to determine the current place of the small screen that has shaped so many childhoods since its creation.” (more…)

Study Reveals Declining Influence of High Impact Factor Journals

By Guest PostNovember 12, 2012Sciencearticle citations, articles, bibliometrics, calculation error, cell, digital technology, discipline, eugene garfield, function, george lozano, google scholar, jama, journal impact factor, montreal, Nature, predictive power, publication, scholarly journals, Science, scientific texts, university, vincent lariviere, yves gingras

The most prestigious peer-reviewed journals in the world, such as Cell, Nature, Science, and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), have less and less influence amongst scientists, according to a paper co-authored by Vincent Larivière, a professor at the University of Montreal’s School of Library and Information Sciences. He questions the relationship between journal “impact factor” and number of citations subsequently received by papers.

“In 1990, 45% of the top 5% most cited articles were published in the top 5% highest impact factor journals. In 2009, this rate was only 36%,” Larivière said. “This means that the most cited articles are published less exclusively in high impact factor journals.” The proportion of these articles published in major scholarly journals has sharply declined over the last twenty years. His study was based on a sample of more than 820 million citations and 25 million articles published between 1902 and 2009. The findings were published in the Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. (more…)

Blast from Summer Games Past: Yahoo! Launches Memorable Moments Series

By Guest PostJune 25, 2012Sports, Technologyadrian wojnarowski, beijing 2008, dan wetzel, doping admission, editorial series, georgia dome, marion jones, mary decker, memorable moments, michael phelps, montreal, nadia comaneci, olympians, pat forde, photography, shannon miller, summer games, usain bolt, Yahoo, yahoo sports, zola budd

Iconic Olympians including Jesse Owens, Michael Phelps, Nadia Comăneci, Bruce Jenner and Usain Bolt among those to be celebrated

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Yahoo!, the premier digital media company, launched a unique editorial series entitled Memorable Moments to celebrate the most iconic moments from the history of the modern Summer Games. Memorable Moments (https://sports.yahoo.com/moments) will live on Yahoo! Sports, the No. 1 global sports destination online with over 101 million unique visitors a month.*

Yahoo! Sports is bringing to life a range of remarkable, emotive stories from the greatest sporting event in the world through video, photography, essays from Yahoo! Sports’ award-winning writers, outside voices of influential individuals, and its users. The stories include Nadia Comăneci’s perfection in Montreal and Usain Bolt’s stunning world records in Beijing 2008, as well as controversy such as Marion Jones’ doping admission in 2000 and the drama of Mary Decker’s collision with Zola Budd in 1984. (more…)

Yahoo! Goes Beyond Gold with Global Programming Coverage of Summer Olympics

By Guest PostApril 30, 2012Sports, Technologyaly raisman, Beijing, carl lewis, dan obrien, gold medal, gold medal olympians, gymnastics, london minute, london pickem, los angeles, michael phelps, montreal, nadia comaneci, olympians, ross levinsohn, shannon miller, summer games, summer sanders, Yahoo

Olympians Shannon Miller, Dan O’Brien and Summer Sanders Join Editorial Team as Analysts

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Yahoo!, the premier digital media company, today announced its Summer Games programming efforts bringing Yahoo!’s over 700 million global users closer to the events than ever before, in dozens of languages and regions, across multiple screens and digital platforms. Yahoo!’s coverage will include original video programs, breaking news, expert analysis from Gold Medal Olympians Dan O’Brien (Track and Field), Summer Sanders (Olympics), Shannon Miller (Gymnastics), and the award-winning team of writers from Yahoo! Sports, as well as social integration programs, and for the first time Yahoo! will reveal its “Memorable Moments” editorial series to build excitement for the Games. All the exclusive content will live across the Yahoo! Media Network in addition to the Yahoo! hub dedicated to coverage of the Games (https://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/) and Yahoo! Sports (https://sports.yahoo.com/), the No. 1 global sports destination online with over 104 million unique visitors a month.*

“As the No. 1 global destination online for Olympics coverage for the past three Games, Yahoo! dominates Olympics coverage with our unique storytelling; this year will be no exception and we will be bigger and better than ever before,” said Ross Levinsohn, executive vice president, head of global media. “We’re programming immersive digital experiences for a global audience and delivering a locally relevant editorial voice in each market. Our angle is to cover the stories behind the stories with our own exclusive talent, including multiple former Olympians – across screens, across the globe.” (more…)

Scanning the Brain for Impending Error

By Guest PostApril 22, 2012Scienceactivity, adaptation, algebra, animal watch, brain wave, canada, carole beal, cognitive, computer science, data, dissertation, earner, eeg, electroencephalography, english language, fatigue, federico cirett, july, Mexico, mistake, montreal, new technology, personalization, san diego, sat exam, sista, stress, ua, university of arizona, user modeling

UA computer science doctoral student Federico Cirett is using new technology to predict, in advance, when people will make a mistake. He’s been testing subjects taking the SAT exam in math.

Our bodies and brains tend to give us good cues about when we are becoming stressed, fatigued or overwhelmed.

But what if, with near exact precision, you could predict when heightened levels of fatigue were about to cause you to make a mistake?

University of Arizona doctoral student Federico Cirett believes he’s found a way – and with about 80 percent accuracy. (more…)