There’s more to carrying your books to school

A project titled "2001: A School Odyssey – There’s More to Carrying Your Books to Class Than You Think" caught our attention at the recent Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in San Jose, California. Something to ponder, what with the school opening only a few weeks away.

According to young scientists Hebert, Mia and Kenneth of Catholic High School, New Iberia, their study aims to determine "the most common way and the safest way of transporting books in a school environment."

Read this, boys and girls: Researchers used a Gait lab to measure students’ angular and lateral spinal deviations. To set a control, the subjects were videoed while walking on a treadmill at a comfortable stride without books. Then they were re-tested under the same conditions as the control by carrying books in five different ways, as commonly seen on campus.

The study found out that carrying books on the front torso caused the smallest average amount of angular deviations in Angle 1 (hip to shoulder) at 0 degree, Angle 2 (shoulder to neck) at 13 degrees, and Angle 3 (neck to temple) at 40. Carrying books with a single strap on the back causes the greatest amount of deviation with an average of 5 degrees for Angle 1, 52 degrees for Angle 2, and 54 degrees for Angle 3 with controls of Angle 1 (1 degree), Angle 2 (17 degrees), and Angle 3 (43 degrees).

The study also showed lateral deviations of the spine by measuring the distances between pivot points. When measuring the distance between Point 1 (hip) and Point 2 (shoulder), the larger the distance, the greater the lateral deviation of the shoulder. When measuring the distance between Point 2 (shoulder) and Point 3 (neck), the smaller the distance, the greater the lateral deviation of the shoulder. The greatest amount of lateral deviation was caused by carrying a book bag on a single shoulder with or without cradled books, the distance from Point 1 and Point 2 averaging 75 mm to 71 mm compared to the average control of 69 mm. It likewise showed the smallest average amount of distance from Point 2 and Point 3 that ranged from 15 mm to 18 mm compared to the average control of 24 mm.

Of the students tested, the study found that 63 percent carried their books with both straps on the back. It concluded that the safest way to carry books is in a book bag over the front torso of the body. Which means you shouldn’t go back to school with those cumbersome backpacks, kids!

Another project we couldn’t help sinking our teeth into was a study made by Filipino student Bernardo Mendoza, Jr. of the Divisoria High School in Isabela. It hits you in the viscera: Increasing the carbohydrate and protein content of Rc-64 rice variety via cobalt 60 irradiation. Here’s a nutritious way to enjoy a staple in the Filipino diet.

Is all this science talk giving you a headache? Take a Tylenol. Better yet, take this study done by John Andrews of McLean High School, McLean, VA on the effects of Tylenol, aspirin and ibuprofen on prostate cancer cells. Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of death from cancer in men. Recent findings indicate that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may be effective in preventing and/or treating prostate cancer.

John describes his study thus: "I investigated the effects of three common non-prescription NSAIDs (aspirin, Tylenol and ibuprofen) on a human prostatic cancer cell line in vitro. Forty-eight hours following the addition of various concentrations of aspirin, Tylenol and ibuprofen, I fixed the cells in 10 percent formalin, and then analyzed them by fluorescent light microscopy following the application of Hoechst and Tunel staining procedures. Compared to aspirin and Tylenol, ibuprofen was far more effective at initiating programmed cell death of prostate cancer cells." John adds that additional studies are needed to determine the usefulness of ibuprofen in the prevention and/or treatment of prostate cancer.

Then there were Tyler Morehart and Devin Harper who sought to heal the world, heal people’s wounds. In their project titled "The Pressure’s On – The Healing Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen," the duo explains: "Chronic hard-to-heal wounds affect thousands of people on an annual basis at an astronomical cost to the community. It is well known that oxygen is an essential component to the wound healing process. Through review of medical records with all identifiers removed, we compared the healing rates of subjects with chronic wounds diagnosed with acute arterial insufficiency as the underlying cause of the wound formation. One group of subjects that the researchers studied was treated with conventional wound care only (WCO), the second group with conventional wound care plus hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO). A total of 44 cases with 22 subjects in WCO group and 22 subjects in the wound care plus HBO were reviewed and analyzed. Eighteen subjects from each group met the criteria set for a healed wound (80 percent). The rate of healing for the WCO group was an average of 52 days. The conventional wound care plus HBO healing rate averaged 40 days. This significant length of time to healing difference supports the hypothesis that healing rates in this particular type wound are enhanced with the use of HBO." Michael Jackson could be right.

Our own Filipino students, Niña Gianan, Menandro Canusa and Catherine Rose Lu of Philippine Science High School, Davao came up with a study aimed at discovering a fungicide against the black fungus attacking our banana plants. We did learn quite a mouthful at this very stimulating science fair.