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The buffalo suffered heavy tick infestations and became even more common in the lions’ diet, resulting in unusually high levels of tick-borne parasites in the lions. The canine distemper virus suppressed the lions’ immunity, which allowed the blood parasites to reach fatally high levels, leading to mass die-offs of lions. In 1994, the number of lions in the study area dropped by more than 35 percent after the double infection. Similar losses occurred in the Crater die-off in 2001. Lion populations recovered after three to four years, but most climate change models predict increasing frequency of droughts in East Africa.

Read a UMNews feature story on the research here.

Rotund Rodent Revelation
Researchers in the University of Minnesota Medical School have discovered a gene that may provide a clue as to why obesity rates increase with age. Researchers removed a single gene from mice as part of an ongoing study to understand how the brain controls heart function. While some cardiac deficiencies were detected, the researchers found that the mice exhibited a predisposition to adult-onset obesity. Researchers said more studies need to be done in order to understand how the gene works and why mice missing the gene develop obesity. A person’s likelihood of developing obesity more than doubles between the ages of 20 and 60.

 Secondhand Binge Drinking
The secondhand effects of drinking on college campuses can be harmful to the entire campus community, much like the effects of secondhand smoke, according to the first nationally representative study of college student alcohol use. The Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study, co-directed by a researcher in the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, began in 1992 and included four national surveys examining drinking patterns at 100 colleges. It found that students who binge drink—defined as five or more drinks in a row for males and four or more for females on a single occasion—are more likely to experience academic difficulties, social conflict, risky sexual behavior, risky driving behavior, and alcohol overdose. In addition, campuses that had higher incidences of binge drinking also had more secondhand effects such as physical and sexual assaults and disruptions to students’ study and sleep.

The study found that the frequency and levels of binge drinking among college students varies widely from school to school, leading researchers to conclude that certain college environments promote binge drinking. For example, colleges that emphasize intercollegiate athletics and fraternity and sorority life were found to have more binge drinking. On the other hand, greater racial and ethnic diversity was associated with lower binge-drinking rates among the white majority students. Similarly, lower binge-drinking rates were observed among male and underage students at colleges that had more female and older students. Students who did not binge drink during high school were more likely to take up binge drinking in college if they attended schools with fewer minority and older students.

Teens Lose Out on Diets
Parents don’t do their overweight teenagers any good by encouraging them to diet, according to research at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. A study found that overweight teens whose parents encouraged them to diet for weight control were more likely to remain overweight five years later, compared with their peers whose parents did not encourage dieting. Researchers said that parents should stop promoting dieting and start providing the information, tools, and support their children need to make healthier decisions about eating and physical activity.

Another Reason for Family Meals
Teenage girls who eat with their families at least five times a week are half as likely as their peers to use cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana during their high school years, according to research in the University of Minnesota Medical School. The findings were true even for girls who reported having poor relationships with their parents. Researchers studied 806 middle-school students at public schools in the Twin Cities at two time points five years apart. The research adds to a growing body of evidence that family meal time plays a valuable role in the lives of adolescents. Previous research has found that regular family meals have a positive influence on teens’ dietary habits and provide parents with more opportunity to discuss their children’s everyday lives and other issues.

Read more about the research here.

’Net Gain
Teenagers learn valuable skills as they socialize and network on Web sites such as Facebook and MySpace, according to a first of-its-kind study by researchers in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota. The research showed that spending time on social networking sites helps develop online editing and design skills, a positive attitude toward using technology, and the ability to share creative work such as poetry and film.

The same study found that low-income students are just as technologically proficient as their counterparts, contrary to what previous research has suggested. The findings challenge a 2005 study by the Pew Research Center that concluded that low-income students are technologically impoverished. That study found that Internet usage of teenagers from families earning $30,000 or less was 73 percent, which is 21 percentage points lower than what the U of M research showed. Students participating in the U study were from families whose incomes were at or below $25,000 and were taking part in an after-school program aimed at improving college access for low-income youth. (See a Minnesota Daily article that explains possibly flawed methodology for this portion of the findings.)

Routine Findings
Older men who practice regular routines of waking and going to sleep have a lower risk of death than those with irregular or disturbed sleep patterns, according to research at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

Researchers tracked the movements of 3,000 men age 68 years and older 24 hours a day for one week between December 2003 and March 2005. As of January 2008, 180 men in the study had died; those whose peak activity times were the earliest or the latest—patterns considered indicative of irregular or disturbed rest— had the greatest risk of death. This is the first study to report strong associations between disturbed rest and activity rhythms and mortality rates in older men who live at home. Previous studies of cancer patients and institutionalized Alzheimer’s patients have reported similar findings.