UF study shows people focus on negative traits in partners
A new study found people tend to focus on a partner’s negative traits rather than the positive ones when considering a relationship.
Gregory Webster, an associate professor in UF’s Department of Psychology, said he got involved when another professor conducting the research approached him and asked if he would help. The research itself took about a year to conduct. Previous researchers focused on evaluating positive traits in partners rather than the negative traits that people tend to avoid, he said.
“We thought it would be interesting to look at (this topic), and we would learn a lot more,” Webster said.
He and the other researchers sent online surveys to several thousand single people to collect the data, he said. They compiled this research for their paper.
After conducting the research, they found people tend to weigh negative information about partners more than they weigh positive information, he said.
Overall, the study illustrates that people tend to think about relationships in terms of positive and negative traits, he said.
“People want to find the optimum, or best, partner when they’re probably just as happy avoiding partners with traits that they don’t like,” Webster said.
- Brooke Steinberg
UF researchers find shrimp preservation alternatives
UF researchers have found a way to preserve shrimp without sodium.
Sodium is added to shrimp to help it retain water and stay fresh longer, said Paul Sarnoski, the study’s main researcher. He wanted to know if polysaccharides, a type of carbohydrate used in products like gum, would work better to keep shrimp moist.
During the research, he dipped shrimp in different types of solutions, said Sarnoski, an assistant professor of food science and human nutrition. The researchers then used a group of judges with an acute sense of taste to evaluate how the shrimp tasted.
“We found polysaccharides showed no significant difference in terms of taste to the participants” he said.
One polysaccharide that worked well in keeping the shrimp fresh was xanthan gum, an ingredient found in Gatorade. The team also found another carbohydrate, fibercolloid, to be successful.
Sarnoski said he hopes the two polysaccharides are used in the future, but the food industry needs to look at alternative products before this can happen.
“The next stage is commercialization,” he said.
- Kaelah Scheff
UF researches alternative treatment for bloat
Six researchers at UF’s Small Animal Hospital are trying to increase survival rates of dogs suffering from a bloat disease.
Gastric dilatation-volvulus, also referred to as bloat, is a deadly stomach disease commonly found in large dog breeds. Dogs with it have a bloated stomach that twists over on itself, compressing vital vessels and organs. If untreated, it kills them.
“It’s a scary disease, and that is one of the reasons we wanted to look into it,” said Alex Fox-Alvarez, one of the principal investigators for the study.
Currently, dogs are treated with a tube down their esophagi or by piercing their stomachs with a needle. Both techniques are internal and temporary.
UF researchers are using an external needle to deflate dogs’ stomachs.
“Because it’s on the outside, we’re able to place a device that can stay there and maintain decompression, giving the dog a higher chance at survival,” Fox-Alvarez said.
The researchers hope to treat 16 dogs in the trial — half with the old techniques and half with the new. The new device has been successful, he said.
“Ultimately, our goal is to have another tool in our repertoire of treating the disease,” Fox-Alvarez said.
- Kathleen Hyatt
