Researchers developing heat-tolerant poinsettias
UF researchers are trying to improve poinsettias so they can grow in warmer temperatures.
Dr. Jim Barrett, a UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences professor emeritus and part-time poinsettia researcher, said most poinsettias have a heat delay, which causes flowering to take longer due to high temperatures. UF researchers have been studying poinsettias for years to improve sales.
Because of Florida’s high temperatures, the plants are very sensitive and usually don’t live after December, he said.
Barrett said the plants are usually sold from early November to late December. Florida gets its poinsettias from breeders, but few species of the plant can survive in the state.
He said UF has been successful in educating poinsettia breeders to understand what the plants need to survive when growing in warmer climates.
Poinsettias need sun and shade and require good drainage, Barrett said. Poinsettias don’t do well in temperatures less than 50 degrees.
“The varieties are unpredictable in high-temperature regions,” he said.
- Chelsea Hansen
Psychiatric treatment may help in quitting smoking
Researchers in UF’s Department of Psychiatry are trying to determine whether additional treatment can break the habit of smoking.
Dana Mason, the research coordinator, said she is using transcranial magnetic stimulation, a non-invasive treatment that has few side effects, to combat addiction. The study is investigational because this method hasn’t been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating addiction.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation involves a magnetic coil that rests on someone’s head, Mason said. This sends magnetic pulses to the area of the brain where addiction to nicotine occurs.
“People have a very hard time taking the medications that are prescribed to quit smoking, like Chantix, et cetera, that have a lot of bad side effects,” Mason said.
Researchers are looking for participants who are moderate to heavy smokers and have smoked at least 10 cigarettes a day for a year. The participants will receive a daily treatment for three weeks and a weekly treatment for another three weeks.
“Hopefully it may become another treatment to quit smoking that doesn’t have the kind of side effects that medication has,” Mason said.
- Cassandra Alamilla
