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Category Archives: Behavioral Science

Science fair displays students' ingenuity

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CONWAY -- The bionic hand fashioned by 14-year-old Destany Ballard can hold and pick up objects that are as heavy as 2 pounds.

Relying on rubber bands, sturdy plastic bars and a simple system of pulling the two with a chain, the mechanical hand can be made at home at a low cost, Destany said, which could help a person who can't afford higher-technology prosthetics.

Destany, a freshman at Buffalo Island Central High School in Monette in northeast Arkansas, presented the hand Saturday at the Arkansas State Science and Engineering Fair held at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. She was among about 250 high school students who displayed their theories and inventions.

Students mingled with new friends and their parents on the Jeff Farris Health and Physical Education Center gym floor, which was covered Saturday in tables and colorful tri-fold poster boards. The students ate cookies and awaited a decision about who would be selected to take part in the national science fair competition later this year.

The projects spanned the vast imaginations of Arkansas high school students: a behavioral study of what motivated people to sleep more hours at night, a somewhat stomach-turning study on the decomposition of ants and their release of oleic acid, and the ambitious "Enhancement of the Photocurrent Response of Tungsten Nano-Structures Using an Indium Oxide Coating," a project undertaken by three Little Rock Central High School students.

The event also had a robot, designed to follow lines and make turns while propelling itself.

Destany came up with the idea for a bionic hand last year after realizing that many soldiers return from combat having lost limbs. Concerned about the cost of replacing limbs, Destany decided to see what she could do to help.

"People spend a lot of money on hands," she said.

Since January, Destany has spent Tuesdays and Thursdays after school constructing the hand. Next year, Destany wants to create a voice-command system that would trigger the mechanical fingers to move.

Other science and engineering fair entrants have spent multiple years putting together their projects.

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Science fair displays students' ingenuity

Fairly scientific

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Students that qualify for the state competition on May 1 and 2 at Southern Illinois University are:

Adam Brown in Behavioral Science, with his Color Me Confised experiment: Concordia Lutheran

Baylee Johnson in Earth Science, with her Effect of Water on Landslides experiment: Knoxville Jr. High School

Brianna Honeycutt in Earth Science, with her Effect of Water on Landslides experiment: Knoxville Jr. High School

Hannah Jones in Biochemistry, with her Got Milk, Plastic experiment: Knoxville Jr. High School

Deora Inniss in Environmental Science, with her Soil Acidity design: Knoxville Jr. High School

Prescott Jeckel in Botany, with his Got the Drift? experiment: Delavan CUSD 703

Brenna McConnell in Consumer Science, with her What Soda Makes the Highest Fountain? experiment: Illini Bluffs Middle School

Ethan Gillis in Physics, with his Why so tense? experiment: Concordia Lutheran

GraceThompson in Behavioral Science, with her Stroop Effect...myth/fact experiment: Concordia Lutheran

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Fairly scientific

Quartet Health Closes $7M Series A Financing Led By Oak HC/FT

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New York, NY (PRWEB) April 02, 2015

Quartet Health Inc., a New York-based technology company, has raised $7 million in new funding. The investment was led by Annie Lamont at Oak HC/FT with participation from Shulman Ventures, Fidelity Biosciences, Polaris Partners and a number of leading current and former industry CEOs who are serving as advisors to the company.

Annie Lamont, Managing Partner at Oak HC/FT, joins Steve Shulman, former CEO of Magellan Health and Prudential Healthcare, and Quartet Healths CEO, Arun Gupta, on the Board of Directors. Annie is ranked the number one healthcare investor on the Forbes Midas List and has previously backed companies such as Castlight Health (IPO 2014), Benefitfocus (IPO 2013), and Athenahealth (IPO 2007).

Quartet Health was launched in 2014 by Arun Gupta and Steve Shulman. The company has developed a secure, cloud-based technology platform that addresses the problem of access to behavioral health care resources. Quartets platform allows medical and behavioral health clinicians to work collaboratively on shared treatment goals, while giving patients access to technology-enabled care. The platform is backed by sophisticated data science tools that give health insurers and provider systems population health insight on gaps in care, provider network quality, and utilization patterns driven by behavioral/medical comorbidities.

Access to high-quality behavioral healthcare is a profoundly important issue and Im excited to support a company that is leading the charge toward a better model, said Lamont. There is a huge opportunity for innovation in this space, and better integration of behavioral and medical health will benefit health plans, providers, and most importantly the patient.

The financing will enable Quartet to expand its product offering as well as add key healthcare operators, technologists, and behavioral health thought leaders to its team.

About Quartet Health Quartet Health is a behavioral health technology company. Our suite of products enables a proven model that integrates care for patients with chronic medical and behavioral health conditions. By aligning a quartet of key stakeholders patients, behavioral health clinicians, medical providers, and payors we are delivering improved outcomes that also lower total cost of care. We are committed to a clinician-led quality improvement effort that makes healthcare work better.

About Oak HC/FT Partners Oak HC/FT (http://oakhcft.com/) is the premier venture growth-equity fund investing in Healthcare Information & Services (HC) and Financial Services Technology (FT). We are focused on driving transformation in these industries by providing entrepreneurs and companies with strategic counsel, board-level participation, business plan execution and access to our extensive network of industry leaders. Oak HC/FT is led by the Healthcare and FinTech team of Oak Investment Partners as part of Oaks strategy to develop sector-specific funds and continue its legacy of building best-in-class businesses.

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Quartet Health Closes $7M Series A Financing Led By Oak HC/FT

Bungie Used Science to Hook Players on Destiny

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There's a purely scientific reason why people keep taking their Guardians back into the world of Destiny.

Speaking at GDC 2015, Bungie's John Hopson discussed how the developer so carefully created a game meant to hook players and keep them coming back time after time. The answer? Behavioral game design, the study of linking behavioral psychology to the tasks and rewards in game and observing a person's reactions and behaviors once faced with them.

Three years before Destiny's release, Bungie began testing it with a large group of people. After hours of play and data collection, the developer discovered there were five different player types in Destiny:

Known for being the ones who would dabble in all types of content, Bungie focused on appealing to the so-called "omnivores" of the group.

GamesRadar reports that during this test, players were told to provide contextual feedback by using specially-mapped buttons assigned to different emotions. Players within the testing group had the option of admitting they were confused, frustrated, or happy, depending on how the last encounter had made them feel.

Using his expertise in Behavioral Psychology, Hopson played a role in helping the team create something that would provide players with satisfying rewards after taking so many risks.

It turned out to be a successful approach for Bungie, as Destiny was one of the best-selling games of last year and the average player's time spent in-game comes out to about 77 hours.

To learn more, check out IGN's Destiny review or the Fireteam Chat podcast.

Cassidee is a freelance writer for various outlets around the web. You can chat with her about all things geeky onTwitter.

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Bungie Used Science to Hook Players on Destiny

Carnegie Science Center announces winners of Pittsburgh Regional Science & Engineering Fair

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Nearly 1,100 students representing nearly 120 schools throughout the region competed yesterday in Carnegie Science Centers 76th annual Pittsburgh Regional Science & Engineering Fair (PRSEF)one of the oldest and largest science fairs in the nation. This years participation was among the highest in the history of the local science fair. Awards totaled $1 million in cash and scholarships, and winners were announced at a ceremony at Heinz Field today.

Four students were selected to represent the region at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) to be held May 10-15 in Pittsburgh. These young scientists are: Mihir Garimella, Fox Chapel Area High School, for his project Biologically Inspired Flying Sensor Platform for Emergency Response; Suvir Mirchandani and Konrad Urban, Fox Chapel Area High School, for Automated Illustration of Text to Improve Semantic Comprehension; and Anna Wan, Pittsburgh Allderdice (in Pittsburghs Squirrel Hill neighborhood), for Targeting Hippo-Regulated Cell Polarity in Breast Cancer.

ISEF will bring together nearly 1,700 students from 72 nations and territories to compete for scholarships, tuition grants, internships, scientific field trips, and the grand prize: a trip to attend the Nobel Prize Ceremonies in Stockholm. Carnegie Science Center was instrumental in the selection of Pittsburgh to host ISEF in 2012, 2015, and 2018.

Suvir Mirchandani and Konrad Urban also were selected to receive Carnegie Science Awards in the senior division (Grades 9-12). Also selected were the Junior Division (Grade 6) team of Benjamin Bermann and James Votruba-Drzal, of Falk Laboratory School (in Pittsburghs Oakland neighborhood), for Future Energy: Algae Based Biofuel; and Haley Nichols, also of Falk Laboratory School, in the Intermediate Division (Grades 7-8), for Investigating the Health Benefits of Himalayan Sea Salt. Carnegie Science Awards, which recognize achievement in innovation, education, and entrepreneurship, will be conferred at a ceremony on May 8 at Carnegie Music Hall in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh. Keynote speaker at todays PRSEF Awards Ceremony was Dr. Jeanne Van Briesen of Carnegie Mellon University, winner of the 2015 Carnegie Science Award in the Environmental category.

Among other honors, more than 125 students won Perseverance Awards for longevity of participation in PRSEF, and 19 universities awarded more than 100 scholarships.

2015 Pittsburgh Regional Science & Engineering Fair First Place Category Award Winners

All first-place category award projects will be on display at Carnegie Science Center from now through Monday, April 6.

Junior (Grade 6)

Consumer Science Emma Malkin, Falk Laboratory School, Oakland section of Pittsburgh

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Carnegie Science Center announces winners of Pittsburgh Regional Science & Engineering Fair

Barbara Walters Back For ID Series; Science & Discovery Life Set Slates Upfronts

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Investigation Discovery was among the Discovery Communications networks to unveil their new and returning slates for the 2015-16 upfront season. The network is adding seven new series including a trio with big names: Barbara Walters is hosting American Scandal, revealing never-before-heard details and personal insight from her most notorious interviews;Death By Gossip is produced and hosted by Wendy Williams and showcases the dark side of rumors where dishing the dirthas a deadly outcome;. andJoel Schumacher is executive producing Do Not Disturb, which takes a closer look atchilling cases of hotel murders.

Returning series include the Roseanne Barr-hosted Momsters: When Moms Go Bad and the previously announced Vanity Fair Confidential.

Science, coming of its most-watched quarter in the networks history in 2015, is addingnew series Geek Out Or Freak Out that is part game show and part science experiment; Short-Attention-Span Science;and Outrageous Acts Of Science spinoff Outrageous Acts Of Psych. Most important, the addictive How Its Madeand How Do They Do It return.

Discovery Life Channel is adding two more seasons of its top two series Untold Stories Of The ER beginning in fourth quarter 2015. It also unveiled the upcoming docuseries New Girl On The Block, set for an April 11 bow, the first series to profile a group of female friends in the transgender community, and Sex In Public following sex expert Jill Dictrow as she goes undercover to get unsuspecting pedestrians to dish about their private lives in public settings.

A look at the three networks full 2015-2016 slates:

INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY

NEW ORIGINAL SERIES

DEATH BY GOSSIP WITH WENDY WILLIAMS Hosted and executive produced by talk show host and media mogul Wendy Williams, DEATH BY GOSSIP showcases crimes fueled by rumors ripe with false details and half-truths, where idle gossip has turned dark and dangerous. Offices, gyms, and nosey neighborhoods all make for great rumor mills, until dishing the dirt ends with a deadly offense.

AMERICAN SCANDAL WITH BARBARA WALTERS In AMERICAN SCANDAL, television legend Barbara Walters revisits some of the most compelling stories she has covered in her career, taking viewers inside scandalous stories that captured the publics attention and sharing personal experiences and never before seen footage. In the six-part series, produced by ABCs Lincoln Square Productions, new details about the crimes committed by Jean Harris, Jim Bakker, Mark David Chapman and others are revealed by those closest to them.

SERIAL THRILLER In the heart of a terrorized community, SERIAL THRILLER propels viewers into a world of damage, untimely death and mystery. The three-part original scripted series, produced by October Films, follows a cast of intriguing characters, all on a collision course with fate. The lives of investigators, victims and associates intertwine as the mystery of one of Americas most notorious serial killers unravels.

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Barbara Walters Back For ID Series; Science & Discovery Life Set Slates Upfronts

Parker Hughes, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

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Parker Hughes

Hello Social & Behavioral Science Students! My name is Parker Hughes and I am running for our colleges senate seat. It would be an honor and privilege to serve as your representative to the WSU Student Association. The student senate is responsible for providing input to the universitys administration, influencing campus policies, and advancing Weber State University towards a better tomorrow. However, above all things is the responsibility to represent the student body. I am very grateful to have been surrounded by the bright minds within the social sciences and would love to help bring your ideas and concerns to the table. Together, we can shape this university to meet the demands of students and continue to put forward the ideals we hold to. As a psychology major and neuroscience minor, I share the drive for success possessed by all social science students and have come to appreciate what an education from our college can provide. Through campus and community engagement, I believe that we can build upon an already great number of opportunities. As your senator, one of my highest priorities would be to expand the borders of our College of Social & Behavioral Sciences from the northwest corner of campus to the university as a whole and into the cities we call home. A few of my goals for the upcoming year would include: Providing a strong, fair voice for students Advocating our colleges agenda Promoting clubs and organizations Opening new outlets for campus involvement Supporting all things social science Lets continue to push forward into the future with high aspirations, for we are WEBER STATE, WEBER STATE, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT! Your support is much appreciated, Parker D. Hughes *If you would like to contact me, I am readily available by e-mail at [emailprotected]

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Parker Hughes, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Nashua student places first in state science fair, heads to international competition

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NASHUA A Nashua student placed first in the New Hampshire Science and Engineering Exposition, the state science fair for high school students, last week in Concord, and will be the first New Hampshire student to represent the state at an international science fair this spring.

Out of 125 high school students, Deepika Kurup from Nashua High School South placed first in the environmental science category, and first overall, for her design to purify water using sunlight. ... Subscribe or log in to read more

NASHUA A Nashua student placed first in the New Hampshire Science and Engineering Exposition, the state science fair for high school students, last week in Concord, and will be the first New Hampshire student to represent the state at an international science fair this spring.

Out of 125 high school students, Deepika Kurup from Nashua High School South placed first in the environmental science category, and first overall, for her design to purify water using sunlight.

She will also be the first student to represent the New Hampshire Science and Engineering Expo at the International Science and Engineering Fair, or ISEF, in Pittsburgh this May.

Science fairs have always been a big part of my life, and I am very excited that other students in New Hampshire now have the same opportunities to compete internationally, said Kurup.

New Hampshire had been one of a handful of states not participating in ISEF until this year, she said.

Kurup has been a part of the New Hampshire science fair since her freshman year, and said the competition has really evolved. Being the only representative from South, Kurup said she didnt know anyone at the fair, but students were open with sharing ideas with each other.

Ive been able to see how the fair has grown, and how much the presentations have increased in quality, she said. The environment was really friendly, everyone was talking about their projects.

Kurups project, Novel Photocatalytic Pervious Composites for Removing Multiple Classes of Toxins from Water, was inspired by the worldwide need for sustainable clean water sources. She first got the idea while traveling to India with her family where she saw the need clean water.

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Nashua student places first in state science fair, heads to international competition

School News: March 29

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Published: Saturday, March 28, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. Last Modified: Saturday, March 28, 2015 at 7:48 p.m.

The plant sale supports the self-contained special needs classroom. The proceeds allow students to go on field trips, restaurant outings and other events in the community.

In addition to plants, painted ceramic pots, cheese trays, stepping stones and other products students made will be for sale.

Plants include tomatoes, peppers and herbs that are grown from seeds. Petunias and geraniums, asparagus ferns and other hanging ferns will be available. The greenhouse is called Perennial Promises. The Master Gardeners volunteer and assist students in work.

Layla Bullard, Seth Cartwright, Devon Deerman, Sara Ingle and Chase Luker will represent Davis-Emerson Middle School at the University of Alabama robotics contest on April 11. The students will also serve as mentors to other Davis-Emerson students as Legos are incorporated into the curriculum.

Holy Spirit Catholic School's annual showcase Stars Fell on Alabama was Feb. 21. It was directed by music teacher Annie McClendon, with Jackson Colburn and Reagan Washington as emcees.

The Holy Spirit Singers opened the show. Christina Matos played the piano.

There were several family acts, including Sailey Nicols, who sang while her cousins Mason and Carson Gibbs played the guitar and piano. Hannah Kinney sang while her dad, Lance Kinney, played guitar and her cousins, Anna Simon and Emma Schaetzle, sang.

Sisters Annabelle Upton and Ellie Reese Purdy did a baton routine, and triplets Henry, Anna and Kate Pitts sang and played the guitar, tambourine and drums, respectively.

Sisters Rebecca Melton and Olivia Melton also sang. Sadie McClendon played her ukulele while singing, and JJ Horn showed his karate moves while singing. Catherine Kung played the violin.

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School News: March 29

Behavioral Science Degree – Bachelor of Science | Bellevue …

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Accreditation

Bellevue University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission through the U.S. Department of Education.

If you have a passion to help people, working in the human services field is a rewarding career. Exploring and understanding the effects of human actions and relationships between individuals in the family, in business, and society is the focus of Bellevue University's Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Science.

The foundational knowledge of the degree includes major concepts and theories from psychology, sociology, and counseling, with an emphasis on applications to human services and personal improvement. Applied experience will help you deepen a reflective understanding of self, of the needs of diverse populations of people, and agencies that provide services.

All Bellevue University degrees are designed to deliver a transformative student learning experience that is flexible enough to accommodate your personal and work schedules.

At successful completion of the Bellevue University Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Science degree you will be qualified to enter the human service field or for advancement in a current human services setting.

If you desire to pursue graduate study in clinical counseling or human services administration, the curriculum fully prepares you to pursue the Master of Arts in Human Services (a degree designed for human service agency administration leadership) or a Master of Science in Clinical Counseling (a degree designed for licensure preparation in mental health fields).

This degree equips you with the following learning skills (defined as critical thinking, creative thinking, communicating, and collaborating) needed for professionals in the field:

14/15 Academic Year

In Class

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Behavioral Science Degree - Bachelor of Science | Bellevue ...

Report: Undocumented getting more white-collar jobs

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Undocumented immigrants are increasingly getting white-collar jobs as lower-skilled industries let more workers go, according to a report released Thursday.

In the years since the global recession slammed the U.S. economy - from 2007 to 2012 - construction and production jobs for undocumented immigrants fell by 475,000, according to the report from the Pew Research Center. At the same time, undocumented immigrants gained 180,000 management and professional jobs, the study showed.

"Despite these shifts, unauthorized immigrant workers remain concentrated in lower-skill jobs, much more so than U.S.-born workers," Pew concluded.

The report, which was based on government employment data from 2012, found that undocumented immigrants continue to be concentrated in the low-skilled workforce in the USA.

While undocumented immigrants account for 5% of the overall workforce, they represent 26% of employees in the farming, fishing and forestry industries; 17% of the cleaning and maintenance industries; 14% of the construction and extraction industries; and 11% of the food preparation and serving industries.

While undocumented immigrants saw net job gains in white-collar jobs, such as management, professional and office support occupations, they remained only 2% of the workers in those industries.

That profile means undocumented immigrants were also the hardest hit when the American recession struck, with undocumented immigrants more likely to be let go than U.S.-born workers. Overall, their share of the U.S. workforce fell from 5.4% in 2007 to 5.1% in 2012.

In 2007, undocumented immigrants made up 16% of construction workers. By 2012, that fell to 14%. Their share of the production workforce, including assemblers, food processors and machinists, fell from 10% in 2007 to 9% in 2012. Their share of service-industry jobs also fell from 10% in 2007 to 9% in 2012.

Other findings in the report:

? While the overall size of the undocumented immigrant population fell from 12.2 million in 2007 to 11.2 million in 2012, the number of undocumented immigrants in the labor force rose from 8.1 million to 8.3 million.

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Report: Undocumented getting more white-collar jobs

ACPS Students Earn 1st Place Awards in Piedmont Regional Science Fair

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(ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Virginia) Students in Albemarle High School's Math, Engineering & Science Academy (MESA) earned both Best in Show Awards at the 34th annual Piedmont Regional Science Fair, held at the John Paul Jones Arena this month. Students from MESA also received the two runner-up Best in Show awards.

Overall, Albemarle County Public Schools students won first-place awards in 11 of the 15 science fair categories and received 30 of the 38 first, second or third place awards. The division's students also received 31 of the 45 Special Awards sponsored by local businesses and organizations in the senior or high school category.

The two Grand Award winners, Monika Grabowska and the team of Seth Liyanage and Ishpreet Singh, automatically qualified for the international science fair, sponsored by Intel and being held this year from May 10-15 in Pittsburgh.

Monica's research focused on the use of antioxidants as a molecular strategy to supplant the need for injections in the prevention and treatment of heart attacks. Seth and Ishpreet studied how to use electrolysis to develop the capability for swimmers and divers to stay underwater for prolonged period of time without the need for cumbersome breathing tanks.

Will Knopse and Selena Feng were the two runners-up. Will proposed using the game theory behavioral strategy commonly employed by businesses to track and respond to the incidence and spread of infectious diseases. Selena researched the use of a tiny camera as a non-contact method for monitoring heart rhythms. Her device would serve as an alternative to the often-used electrocardiogram.

These projects are classic examples of the value of the science fair, said Jeff Prillaman, MESA's director. We challenge our students to develop their own ideas as solutions or preferred alternatives to real-world needs, Prillaman said. You can easily see practical applications for these projects, uses that would improve upon current technologies or strategies, he added.

The research, planning, discipline, design, testing and collaboration that make a science fair project a winner, Prillaman said, are exactly the skills a student needs over a lifetime to ensure success in any career path. I really believe this is our purpose in educationit's not about choosing the right answer on a multiple choice test, but about student-driven discovery, the excitement and enthusiasm you see whenever students are creating knowledge, he said.

First-place winners in the high school category from Albemarle High School included Monica Graboswka in biochemistry; Doyeop Kim in chemistry; Tyler Cosgrove in computer science; Selena Feng in materials and bioengineering; Seth Liyanage and Ishpreet Singh in electrical and mechanical engineering; David Calhoun and Danny Smyth in Energy & Transportation; Will Knospe in mathematical sciences; Rahim Zaman in medicine & health sciences; David Hatter and Brendan Ventura in physics & astronomy; and Graham Haynie in plant sciences.

Lillian Xu from Western Albemarle High School won first place in cellular & molecular biology.

To appreciate the impact of the science fair, said Western Albemarle's Carol Stutzman, two of our 2014 winners independently told me that in their college admission interviews, the majority of their discussion was about their science project. It's understandable that some of the best universities in the nation would place a high premium on a student's ability to complete and utilize independent research in a compelling way, she added.

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ACPS Students Earn 1st Place Awards in Piedmont Regional Science Fair


  1. Behavioral Science