September 06, 2007 - Columbia News - Columbia University

6
SEPTEMBER 6, 2007
TheRecord
RESEARCH NEWS
Breaking News on Bones
continued from page 1
ation, according to the American Diabetes Association. Of the 14.6 million Americans
who have been diagnosed with the disease, most have type 2 diabetes.
Karsenty and his colleagues previously showed that leptin, a hormone
released by fat cells, acts upon and ultimately controls bone mass. They reasoned
that bones must in turn communicate with fat, so they searched bone-forming
cells for molecules that could send signals back to fat cells.
The researchers found that osteocalcin, a protein made only by bone-forming
cells (osteoblasts), was not merely a structural protein, but rather a hormone
with totally unanticipated and crucial functions. Osteocalcin directs the
pancreas’s beta cells—which produce the body’s supply of insulin—to produce
more insulin. At the same time, osteocalcin tells fat cells to release a hormone
called adiponectin, which improves insulin sensitivity. Additionally, osteocalcin
boosts production of insulin-producing beta cells, which is considered one of
the best, but currently unattainable, strategies to treat diabetes.
People with type 2 diabetes have been shown to have low osteocalcin levels,
suggesting that altering the activity of this molecule could be an effective therapy.
That conclusion is supported by the Columbia research showing that mice
with high osteocalcin activity did not gain weight or become diabetic even when
they ate a high-fat diet. Mice lacking the osteocalcin protein had type 2 diabetes,
increased fat mass, a decrease in insulin and adiponectin expression and
decreased beta-cell proliferation.
This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the
American Diabetes Association, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
and the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
The researchers are now examining the role of osteocalcin in the regulation
of blood sugar in humans and are continuing investigations into the relationship
between osteocalcin and the appearance of type 2 diabetes and obesity.
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ROCK LYRICS SPEAK
WORDS OF WISDOM
By Diane Dobry
F
or decades, parents have worried that the
lyrics to rock music could corrupt their children
and poison their minds. But what of the
intellectual and spiritual nuggets those lyrics
may contain?
In his new book, Rock ’n’ Roll Wisdom: What
Psychologically Astute Lyrics Teach About Life and
Love, Barry Farber, a professor of psychology and
education at Teachers College, analyzes rock lyrics
for their psychological truths.
“The better lyricists within the rock tradition tell
stories about life and use creative phrases and
imagery to do so,” he says. “Like other artists,
great songwriters offer the virtue of a more palatable
way of learning than through the often-tedious
pages of textbooks.”
The book, which is published by Praeger
Publishers, an imprint of Greenwood Publishing
Group, is not typical of Farber’s oeuvre, which runs
more to such articles titled “The Therapist as
Attachment Figure” and “Clients’ Perceptions of the
Process and Consequences of Self-Disclosure in
Psychotherapy.” But given his research interests in
psychotherapy and self-disclosure in patients,
therapists and supervisors, it’s not too far a
jump to the psychology of 50 Cent, Lil’ Kim and
Snoop Doggy Dogg.
“Rock lyrics, I believe, can be a lighthearted
but engaging means to think about some profound
issues of living,” Farber writes. “Specifically,
I have looked for lyrics that illustrate in particularly
insightful ways common human longings
and concerns.”
Farber groups rock lyrics into basic thematic categories,
including love and friendship; pain; ways of
coping, aging and growing; and the inevitable troika
of sex, drugs and money.
“‘Who am I?’ is one of the great questions of life,
pondered by philosophers, artists, psychologists,
and yes, songwriters,” Farber writes, noting that
although the rocker Meat Loaf “made fun of such
existential questions, he also noted implicitly that
these are just the kind of things that many think
about a good deal.”
A chapter on death weaves together a discussion
of Aerosmith, Jackson Browne, Simon and
Garfunkel, John Prine, Billy Joel and Bonnie Raitt.
Farber notes that in rock lyrics, “nostalgia seems to
have two competing sides. One side pushes toward
sweetening the past, the other clings to old regrets.”
Farber also names the “50 Best Rock Lyrics” (in
his opinion). They include selections from the
Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Eagles, Joni Mitchell, Paul
Simon and Billy Joel. The list is diplomatically presented
in alphabetical order, beginning with the
Beatles’ “And in the end the love you take is equal
to the love you make” and ending with U2’s
“We’re one, but we’re not the same/We get to
carry each other.”
Farber doesn’t dispute that the writings of great
authors and psychologists go far deeper than rock
lyrics. He admits, too, that many rock devotees don’t
really listen to the lyrics. Still, he would like to see
the “words” part of rock given more attention and
serious consideration.
LONGER PATERNITY LEAVE PUTS DADS IN THE LOOP
By Record Staff
M
ost fathers take at least some leave from work to help care for their
newborn children, and those who take longer leaves are more
involved in their children’s care down the road, according to a study
by two Columbia University social work professors.
Providing some of the first evidence on paternity leave in the U.S., the study
finds that an overwhelming majority of fathers take some leave after a birth. A substantial
minority take a leave of two or more weeks, but those who do are more
involved with child caretaking tasks when interviewed nine months later.
Conducted by professors Lenna Nepomnyaschy and Jane Waldfogel at the
School of Social Work, the report used data on more than 4,500 two-parent
families from the “Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort,” a
new nationally representative study that is following a large sample of children
born in 2001. The national study’s researchers interviewed mothers
and fathers nine months after the birth, gathering detailed data about their
involvement with the child and also asking whether they took any leave
after the birth and, if so, how much.
When asked whether fathers took any leave after the birth, the vast majority
(89 percent) of families report that fathers take some time off work. “This is
the first time we have had national data on fathers’ leave-taking, and this
percentage is much higher than any of us would have expected,” said Waldfogel.
However, the analysis also indicates that these leaves are quite short,
with most fathers taking just one week or less and only a third of fathers
taking two weeks or more.
Fathers who are more highly educated and working in higher-prestige occupations
are more likely to take leave and tend to take longer leaves than those
who are less advantaged on those indicators. This result is consistent with prior
evidence that higher-paying jobs are more likely to offer leave and to offer
longer periods of leave.
Fathers interviewed about their involvement with their children nine
months after the birth shed new light on how leave-taking after the
birth relates to subsequent involvement.
“We wanted to know not just whether fathers are taking leave,
but how that translates into later involvement with their children.
Are fathers who take leave more involved with their children
subsequently? Our analyses suggest the answer is clearly
yes,” said Nepomnyaschy.
“We find that fathers who take two or more weeks off work
after the birth of their child are much more likely to participate
in a range of child-care tasks when interviewed at nine months
post birth than otherwise comparable fathers who did not take
that much leave.”
The child-care activities examined at nine months include
diapering, feeding, dressing and bathing children.
The full study, “Paternity Leave and Fathers’ Involvement with
their Young Children: Evidence from the American ECLS-B,” will be
published in the November issue of Community,Work & Family.