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Author: jplucas

Anxiety, Shyness May Be Long-Lasting Traits (HealthDay News)

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LiveScience.com

The brains of people who suffer from anxiety and severe shyness may respond more strongly to stress and show signs of being anxious even in situations considered safe by others, say researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

They studied brain activity, anxious behavior and stress hormones in adolescent rhesus monkeys. Those with the most anxious temperaments showed higher activity in a part of the brain called the amygdala, which regulates emotion and triggers reactions to anxiety.

Number of large animal vets is on the decline in Wisconsin (Janesville Gazette)

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Janesville Gazette

JANESVILLE â?? It’s not easy being a small animal veterinarian.

A sweet kitty can become a hissing, screaming furball requiring two leather-gloved doctors to give it a vaccination.

But what if the patient is 10 times the size of the doctor with four hooves and a dirty tail made for clubbing?

The number of graduates entering the large animal and general practice veterinarian fields in Wisconsin has declined, said Dr. Nigel Cook, head of the Food Animal Production Medicine group at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine.

Area’s environment among worst in state, UW study finds

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Wausau Daily Herald

Central Wisconsin residents are exposed to some of the worst environmental hazards in the state, according to a new study.

Lincoln, Marathon, Portage and Wood counties generally were ranked toward the bottom of the stateâ??s 72 counties for air and water quality measures, according to the study conducted by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s Department of Population Health Sciences.

UW Student Found Dead In Apartment

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WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. — A University of Wisconsin student from China was found dead on Sunday night at a campus-area apartment, according to UW police.

Officers responded to an emergency call at an Eagle Heights apartment, but the victim was already dead.

The student, identified as Hao Yu, was a guest at the apartment.

BP Donates Bad Boy Buggy To Lakeshore Nature Preserve

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WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. — The Lakeshore Nature Preserve has a greener ride to get around the 300-acre preserve.

Oil company BP donated the electric solar-powered vehicle, which can reach 22 mph.

The solar-powered bad boy buggy ATV is for off-road use only.

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Battle brewing for Legislative control

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Wisconsin Radio Network

The upcoming race for control of the state Legislature could be a big one.

The deadline to file a candidacy for the State Assembly or Senate is at the end of the day, and Mike McCabe with the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign says it already shaping up to be a crowded field. He says there are more people already running for the Legislature than there have been in the last decade.

Police identify UW student found dead at apartment

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WKOW-TV 27

The Dane County Coroner has identified the UW student found dead Sunday night at the Eagle Heights apartment complex as 19-year old Hao Yu. Police say Yu was from China and was staying at a guest at the apartment.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison police tell 27 News they found Yu’s body around 10:00 p.m. Sunday night. The coroner says preliminary autopsy results show Yu likely died of natural causes and foul play is not suspected.

Study Finds That Anxiety Develops in Childhood

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Wisconsin Public Radio

(MADISON) A Wisconsin study helps explain why shy, nervous children tend to stay that way. According to University of Wisconsin researchers in Madison, some people are tense for no reason. They say they can’t help it, because that’s the way they are; their brains are hardwired early in life. Researchers now have a better understanding of what goes wrong with the brain that can cause anxiety to escalate or turn into depression later in life. (Sixth item.)

Art review: Prints charming: UW-Madison’s Tandem Press celebrates 20 years of printmaking with exhibit

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Wisconsin State Journal

Printmaking is among the most resolutely contradictory of the contemporary arts. It ‘s premised on archaic technology (woodblocks 1,300 years old have been recovered in Korea), but is constantly being rethought, re-tooled and expanded.

The finished product is inherently reproducible, but the technique is used to emphasize the hand wrought and unique. Accomplished artists who have gained fame for work in other media return to the form again and again, yet few who are primarily printmakers can achieve prominence.

Chancellor Moves to the Lab

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Chronicle of Higher Education

John D. Wiley, who will step down as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Madison in September, has been named to another position of leadership at the institution.

In November, Mr. Wiley will become interim director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, the public half of an interdisciplinary research center scheduled to open on the campus in 2010.

Martin Cadwallader, dean of the university’s graduate school, which oversees the institute, says Mr. Wiley is the perfect choice for this stage of the institute’s development. “He knows about the science side of things, he has great leadership skills, and he’s got the ability to attract the best talent,” he says. (Final item.)

Rush ruined executive searches

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Racine Journal Times

What are we to make of the recent recruiting problems in southeastern Wisconsin? The obvious lesson is that people werenâ??t doing what they ought. Fortunately there are easy solutions.

Until the U.S. attorney in Kentucky a couple of weeks ago announced a criminal probe, no one would have found a solid problem with Robert Felner, former chancellor-apparent for the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Yet there were apparently clues to disenchantment with him which the local search committee knew of but didnâ??t think enough of to pass on to people at the UW System in Madison, clues which a system spokesman said would have been useful at least for further investigation.

Community shocked by murder charge (Stillwater Gazette)

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While police say Adam Charles Peterson stabbed a stranger to death in late January, those who grew up with the 2006 Stillwater Area High School graduate find it difficult to believe he was capable of such a violent act.

Still, the 20-year-old now faces a first-degree murder charge in Madison, Wis., where authorities say Peterson’s DNA was matched to samples found on the knife that was used to kill 31-year-old Joel Marino in his Madison home on Jan. 28, and on a backpack and cap that were found near the scene of the crime.

For Beets, a Little More Respect, Please

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New York Times

Beets have been a hot topic on the Well blog this week as readers debate the merits of this improbable superfood.

Beets are loaded with nutrients and phytochemicals. Some readers love them, while others have said â??yuck.’â?? I confess that I have never cooked, shredded or otherwise prepared a beet in my home, but I now wonder if Iâ??m missing out. I asked one of the countryâ??s leading experts in beets, Irwin L. Goldman, professor of horticulture at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, why beets get no respect.

Study uncovers how Ritalin works in the brain

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Reuters

Stimulant drugs like Ritalin work by “fine-tuning” neuron activity in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for filtering out distractions and helping people to focus on tasks, new research in rats suggests.

Little is known about how Ritalin and related drugs actually work, researchers point out in the journal Biological Psychiatry.

To investigate, Dr. Craig Berridge of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his colleague David Devilbiss attached tiny electrodes to individual neurons in the brains of normal rats and watched how different doses of the drug affected neuron activity.

Afghani officials visit Green Bay

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Officials from Afghanistan visited the Brown County Register of Deeds office recently to study a land records system they hope to implement in their country.

Mohammed Yasin Safar, a land specialist, and Deputy Minister of Agriculture Mohammed Sharif Sharif accompanied University of Wisconsin professor David Stanfeld to the county office June 23.

Mohammed Yasin Safar, a land specialist, and Deputy Minister of Agriculture Mohammed Sharif Sharif accompanied University of Wisconsin professor David Stanfeld to the county office June 23.

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Health Care, UW Take Budget Hits

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Wisconsin State Journal

A state health-care program for the poor – already projected to be $78 million in the red – will have to put up an additional $53.3 million to help the state solve its budget crisis.

The University of Wisconsin System will also be hit with $25 million in additional spending cuts, with at least some affecting UW-Madison, a System spokesman said.

Moe: Desperately seeking Harry Rosenbaum

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Wisconsin State Journal

The wild goose chase is an occupational hazard of journalism, and some of us are more susceptible than others. Some of us, and I count myself in their number, can get a little obsessed.
On Wednesday, the following, datelined Paris, appeared in the International Herald Tribune newspaper, which is the global edition of The New York Times: “Harry Rosenbaum, a 24-year-old student from Madison, Wis., was arrested in front of a bookshop at 30 boulevard Saint-Michel Friday night and charged with the theft of a book, it became known yesterday.”

Moe: Moore keeps busy with ’30 Minute Music Hour’

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Wisconsin State Journal

When Andy Moore turned 50 last year, he asked his wife and kids to give him a banjo.
On Wednesday, Moore said: “Is there any better definition of a midlife crisis than learning to play the banjo? ”

Moore is actually too busy to have a midlife crisis. While he continues as producer of “Here and Now, ” Wisconsin Public Television ‘s weekly public affairs program, Moore earlier this year launched a weekly music show, the “30 Minute Music Hour, ” a great name that was dreamed up by Pat MacDonald, who also happened to be the show ‘s first guest.

Our waters have flood hangover

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Wisconsin State Journal

The Madison lakes appeared to be gleaming over the Fourth of July weekend, beckoning beneath a mostly blue sky and home again to anglers, skiers, boaters and even swimmers on some beaches.

But anyone fishing or boating on Lake Mendota ‘s University Bay or even sitting on the Memorial Union Terrace over the holiday weekend could see the lingering effects in area waters of recent flooding.

Curiosities: Retailers use .99 pricing to attract consumers

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Wisconsin State Journal

Q. Why is it that gasoline (and many other fuels, I think) are priced with a dollar and cents amount, plus 9/10ths of a cent. I know this practice has been around almost forever, but when and why did it start? Who do they think they are fooling?
A. The reason those who tax use the .9 pricing is the same reason those who sell do: So it looks like a better deal, says Tom O’Guinn, executive director of the Center for Brand and Product Management.

Islet-cell transplants at UW Hospital help diabetes patients

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Wisconsin State Journal

Diabetes patients with a severe form of the disease, they have frequently faced life-threatening episodes of low blood sugar. But at UW Hospital, they received islet-cell transplants that have greatly improved their conditions. Doctors infused insulin-producing cells from donor pancreases into their livers.

La Crosse County wins award for drug disposal

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La Crosse Tribune

La Crosse County Solid Waste Departmentâ??s program for collecting and disposing of unused medication won an award Wednesday for government efficiency and effectiveness.

The Lloyd D. Gladfelter Award is administered by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Political Science, and recognizes problem-solving and resourceful ideas generated by non-elected government employees.

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A sea of change

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A gigantic meteorite may have killed off the dinosaurs, but most big wipeouts probably originated from under the sea rather than from outer space.

New research from University of Wisconsin-Madison geologist Shanan Peters indicates that fluxes in ancient sea levels and sediments were the primary cause of the worldâ??s periodic extinctions, which could have important implications for life in our oceans today.

Cindy Crawford spends weekend in Madison with child cancer survivors

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WKOW-TV 27

Hundreds of little kids who beat cancer spent the day at Monona Terrace in Madison painting, playing basketball, and posing for pictures with Supermodel Cindy Crawford.

It’s the 4th Kids with Courage event, a five-year reunion for child cancer survivors. Crawford got involved in 1993 as a tribute to her brother, Jeffrey, who died at UW Hospital before his 4th birthday when Crawford was still a kid.

Tip crucial to nabbing Peterson

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WKOW-TV 27

A citizen’s tip played a crucial role in leading investigators to Adam Peterson, the man charged in the murder of Madison’s Joel Marino.

Right after Marino’s January stabbing, police officials distributed a photo of a white, UW stocking cap allegedly worn by a “person of interest,” and said the person of interest may be in his twenties.

On Campus, the â??60s Begin to Fade as Liberal Professors Retire

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New York Times

MADISON, Wis. â?? When Michael Olneck was standing, arms linked with other protesters, singing â??We Shall Not Be Movedâ? in front of Columbia Universityâ??s library in 1968, Sara Goldrick-Rab had not yet been born.

When he won tenure at the University of Wisconsin here in 1980, she was 3. And in January, when he retires at 62, Ms. Goldrick-Rab will be just across the hall, working to earn a permanent spot on the same faculty from which he is departing.

GWC Technologies obtains exclusive license from WARF

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Wisconsin Technology Network

Madison, Wis. – GWC Technologies, a manufacturer of scientific instruments for researchers, has signed an agreement with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation for an exclusive license to a new technology for protein analysis – which some believe to be the next field of endeavor for biotechnology.

Exercise Invites Mosquito Bites

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New York Times

To a mosquito, exercise makes you far more appealing than a couch potato.

According to Susan Paskewitz, a University of Wisconsin-Madison entomology professor, mosquitoes bite the people who are easiest to find.

Study uncovers how Ritalin works in the brain

Posted on
Reuters

Stimulant drugs like Ritalin work by “fine-tuning” neuron activity in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for filtering out distractions and helping people to focus on tasks, new UW-Madison research in rats suggests.

Are Some People Mosquito Magnets?

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Newsweek

Carbon dioxide and lactic acid are released whenever we breathe or sweat, but the emission rates vary by person. Larger people and pregnant woman, for example, have higher levels and are more likely targets. According to Susan Peskewitz, a mosquito researcher and entomology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the scents of these compounds coupled with body heat are the biggest attractors.

Forbes: The Spookiest Places

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Forbes

Researchers Kristen Harrison of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Joanne Cantor, from University of Wisconsin, Madison, looked at the long-term effects of getting scared from a horror film or television show. They interviewed 150 college students and found that 26% had residual anxiety. Their research also showed that the images which produced the most anxiety were those that involved blood, injections or injury. Disturbing sounds were the second highest.

La Crosse County wins award for drug disposal

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La Crosse Tribune

La Crosse County Solid Waste Departmentâ??s program for collecting and disposing of unused medication won an award Wednesday for government efficiency and effectiveness.

The Lloyd D. Gladfelter Award is administered by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Political Science, and recognizes problem-solving and resourceful ideas generated by non-elected government employees.

Marquette program encourages girls to pursue engineering fields

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

At Marquette, the Milwaukee School of Engineering, UW-Milwaukee and UW-Madison, the percentage of women with undergraduate degrees in the field has declined or stayed static since 1998. Twenty percent of engineering graduates from Madison were women in 2006-’07, while UWM graduated just 6% women that year – a big drop from previous years.

Early Music Festival gets up a little later

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The ninth annual Madison Early Music Festival is pushing the definition of “early” music a few years later.
By featuring the music of George Frideric Handel, all of whose works date after 1705, the festival straddles the cusp of “modernity.” The musicians are playing Handel’s music, but like all the performances at the weeklong festival, they’re playing it on the baroque instruments for which it was written.

Around the bubbler: What’s on tap this week

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See Amiri Baraka, “the Godfather of Spoken Word,” speak at the Wisconsin Union Theater (800 Langdon St.) at 7 p.m. on Monday, July 7. The free “lit-hop” lecture/performance kicks off the 3rd Annual Spoken Word & Hip-Hop Educator’s Institute, running on the UW-Madison campus until July 11.

UW-Madison Alums Invited to Farm Tech Days Picnic, Reunion

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Wisconsin Ag Connection

Alumni of the University of Wisconsin-Madison are invited to two events during Farm Technology Days in Brown County. Former students and friends of the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences are invited to the Wisconsin Agricultural and Life Sciences Alumni Association’s annual Picnic on July 16. That will be held between 3:30-7:30 p.m. at Wayside Dairy Farm near Greenleaf. The picnic costs $10 per person. No reservations are necessary.

Beil: Public workers deserve privacy

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Wisconsin State Journal

If citizens want to know how much front-line public employees are paid, it ‘s not hard to find out. Pay ranges are public record.

If a newspaper wants to find out if law enforcement officers are among those who no longer are allowed to drive state cars, a reporter can request and find out the job classifications of those covered by the prohibition.

But if the newspaper wants to know exactly what a particular state correctional officer is paid, or exactly who is being prohibited from driving, that ‘s when the line is crossed between legitimate public knowledge and the protection of personal privacy.

UW basketball: North to pay for new Kohl Center floor

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Wisconsin State Journal

Madisonian Andy North is renowned for his achievements and commentary in golf, but the two-time U.S. Open champion has another prominent love.

North is an enthusiastic follower of the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball program, a reality soon to be reflected with a sizeable gift to the school.

Undrafted Butch Lands With Hawks

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Wisconsin State Journal

Although Brian Butch’s name wasn’t called during Thursday night’s NBA draft, it didn’t take much time for the former University of Wisconsin standout to land an opportunity in the professional ranks.

11 In A Row For Badgers

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Wisconsin State Journal

The University of Wisconsin men’s rowing program will continue to be well-represented at the Summer Olympics.

Former Badgers Beau Hoopman and Micah Boyd were named to the 45-person roster selected to the U.S. Olympic rowing team on Friday.