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Author: knutson4

UW Study Indicates Brain Bounces Back After Anesthesia

Wisconsin Public Radio

General anesthesia allows those having surgery not to feel pain or remember what occurred on the operating table. Both functions are controlled by the brain so no matter what part of the body is being operated on, the brain also is affected. To what degree has been unclear. Past studies have had mixed results.

How Exercise Lowers the Risk of Alzheimer’s by Changing Your Brain

Time

Noted: To find out, for nearly a decade, Ozioma Okonkwo, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and his colleagues have studied a unique group of middle-aged people at higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Through a series of studies, the team has been building knowledge about which biological processes seem to change with exercise. Okonkwo’s latest findings show that improvements in aerobic fitness mitigated one of the physiological brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s: the slowing down of how neurons breakdown glucose. The research, which has not been published yet, was presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association on Aug. 9.

Mandela Barnes said months ago he ‘finished’ college but now says he didn’t graduate

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison journalism professor Michael Wagner, who specializes in political communication, said it’s unclear whether the episode will matter to voters should he seek another political office.

“It’s pretty cut and dry that he lied and that usually doesn’t sit well with the voters,” said Wagner. But the impact in a polarized electorate is unknown, he added.

“We’ve seen lots of scandals at statehouses that were electrifying at a time that seem to fade away,” Wagner said. “In the Trump era, politicians can choose to try to ride it out and hope the news cycle changes.”

The top drinking colleges in the nation: UCSB top for liquor, Wisconsin No. 1 in beer

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: It should be noted that the hard liquor survey produces different results than the Party Schools list, in which the top spot went to Syracuse University and UCSB finished sixth, and the Lots of Beer rankings, in which first place went to University of Wisconsin-Madison and UCSB didn’t place in the top 20 at all. It may be hoped that those Wisconsin students at least occasionally sampled some high-quality brews, instead of just getting the cheap stuff.

Sunset paddles, happy hour hikes and other ways a nonprofit is trying to get millennials to give back to nature

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: The Glow Float has been the nascent program’s most popular trip and has sold out the past two years. Wayfarers (which means travelers, usually by foot) paddle 6 miles from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Memorial Union Terrace on Lake Mendota to Picnic Point for a bonfire and a talk about the history and significance of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve (which the point is part of). On the paddle back to the Terrace, Wayfarers adorn their kayaks with lanterns and glow sticks. This year’s trip is from 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 17 and costs $55 (includes kayak rental).

UW research ‘angels’ help find and identify American MIAs

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Tens of thousands of American service members never returned home.

People who pulled on American uniforms, raised their right hand to support and defend the Constitution before dying in foreign lands and waters far from their homes, and worried families who never got the chance to bury their loved ones.

But the missing in action have not been forgotten. Not by a nation that sent them to war and not by a dedicated group of volunteers and researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Tony Evers calls on GOP lawmakers to take up universal background checks, ‘red flag’ law

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: A recent study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison of social media reaction to mass shootings points to one of the obstacles that proponents of gun control face in marshaling political support for new gun restrictions even after the most horrific of these events.

Dhavan Shah, the UW-Madison professor who oversaw the study, said in an interview Monday that with each new shooting now, it is his sense that expressions of sympathy are increasingly seen as inadequate.

“I do think there is more of an immediate recoiling at the notion of (just) ‘thoughts and prayers.’ … There is a sense of the emptiness of that,” said Shah, director of the school’s Mass Communication Research Center. “Whatever side it is, I don’t think there is a lot of people who don’t think this a problem at this point.”

YouTube Tweaked Algorithm to Appease FTC But Creators are Worried

Bloomberg News

Quoted: Heather Kirkorian, an early childhood development professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, opened the app this week and found Baby Shark and Lucas the Spider, two global hits. “I wouldn’t consider them educational. I would consider them wholesome,” she said. “The term ‘educational’ is used as an umbrella for ‘non-harmful.’”

Dinner and a museum date? Chazen Museum wants to lead the way to inclusivity with expanded hours

Isthmus

Want to visit the Chazen? How about on Monday? At 6 p.m.?

Starting Sept. 3, when UW-Madison classes begin, the Chazen Museum of Art will be throwing open its doors seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. That’s a total of 84 hours per week, and more than all similar university-affiliated museums, according to a study conducted by the Association of Art Museum Directors.

Local leaders say African market could invigorate Cedar-Riverside

Minnesota Daily

Quoted: Alfonso Morales, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and researcher of public marketplaces, said public markets help those with fewer resources to build wealth and carve a place in their community.

But he said community support sours with public markets when they do not meet expectations set forth by those who envision them.

“If you over-promise, right, you’re gonna be in trouble,” Morales said.

‘Time lost is brain lost’: Stroke patients face dangerous delays in receiving critical surgery.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: Azam Ahmed, a thrombectomy specialist at the University of WisconsinHospital, said delays in stroke treatment are widespread because hospital systems are not cooperating with each other. If a doctor in one system refers a patient to another system, that system might miss out on revenue that could come from the patient’s care.

“Sometimes the best care isn’t being provided — knowingly,” Ahmed said. “It sounds unpalatable to say hospitals are competing for patients but the fact of the matter is they are.”

Exact Sciences Expanding Through $2.8B Deal

Wisconsin Public Radio

Quoted: Dr. Joshua Lang of the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center said he hopes the merger would mean more practical tools for oncologists.

“As we’ve learned more, we’re starting to understand just how many different types of cancers there are,” he said. “We need better tests. And if (I’m) smarter as a clinician, because I have better information, it means I’m going to be able to deliver better care.”

Hagedorn swearing-in this week on Wisconsin Supreme Court illustrates power of appointments

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: “You’d like to think you’ve got seven people sitting there and looking over the law and being fairly dispassionate about it. (Their decision) shouldn’t be predictable by someone who knows nothing about the law,” said Frank Tuerkheimer, an emeritus University of Wisconsin-Madison law professor who studies judicial ethics. “As we become more polarized why shouldn’t appointment of judges be polarized, too? I would be surprised if it were otherwise.”

Cannabis Culture

Washington Blade

Noted: African Americans in Wisconsin are four times more likely than whites to be arrested for violating marijuana possession laws, according to an analysis of 2018 arrest data by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism.

Commenting on the state-specific study, University of Wisconsin-Madison sociology professor Pamela Oliver said: “The only possibility for these statistics to happen is for police to be stopping blacks more than whites. … We know the usage patterns are not different, so if you’re generating a difference in arrests, it has to be differential policing.”

The Real Cost Of College

WORT FM

Noted: First, she talks with professor Nicholas Hillman, an expert in higher education finance and a faculty affiliate of the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education(WISCAPE), to get a full picture of the cost of attendance, the generational divide when it comes to college, proposed solutions at the university and federal levels, and the importance of higher education for aspiring students.

Who repairs your busted books?

Noted: How does one become a book-repair expert? O’Hara’s path began at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she started on her master’s degree in 1990. While there, she began work in the preservation and conservation area in the basement of the library. She learned to triage and do everything from “tipping” an entire torn page into place to disassembling a book to wash the pages, then put it back together.

Credibility and consent at issue in sexual assault trial of former Badger Quintez Cephus

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Sex among college students increasingly has raised debate about consent and assault, and that discussion becomes loudest when it involves a high-profile athlete.

Such is the case of Quintez Cephus, a former University of Wisconsin Badgers football player who goes on trial in Madison this week on charges he sexually assaulted two fellow students in the spring of 2018.

Wisconsin legislators pushing market-based approach to farm pollution say it will work. The evidence isn’t clear.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: Morgan Robertson, a University of Wisconsin-Madison geography professor who studies market-based environmental policy, is less certain. In the past, lawmakers and industry groups across the country have been too optimistic about farmer participation in water quality trading programs, he said.

“To the extent that that’s an attractive strategy at the state level — the 30,000-foot level — for somebody planning a statewide political response, it’s not necessarily an attractive strategy for Joe and Jane Farmer in Kewaunee County who have other kitchen-table concerns,” he said.

All feelings welcome

Isthmus

Noted: Barcelos, who relocated to Madison from Massachusetts in January, is a UW-Madison professor of gender and women’s studies. Barcelos — who uses they/their pronouns — researches public health through queer, race and feminist perspectives. A yoga teacher since 2012, Barcelos leads the class with an intentional, yet light, demeanor, inviting yogis to take movements rather than telling them to.

In Milwaukee County, hundreds are hurt every year by reckless drivers. This is one victim’s story.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Preliminary data show there were 299 car crash injuries related to speed in Milwaukee County through Monday, compared with 224 through roughly the same period in 2010, according to the Community Maps database, an online tool developed by the state Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Safety and the Traffic Operations and Safety Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That’s a 33% increase.

The Vaccine That Could Prevent Stress, Anxiety, and Depression

Vice

Quoted: One single risk factor will never explain the entirety of psychiatric problems, wrote Chuck Raison, a psychiatrist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in a special report on the topic in Psychiatric Times. But “inflammation turned out to be a common denominator and likely risk factor for every manner of psychiatric disturbance, from schizophrenia to obsessive compulsive disorder, from mania to depression,” he wrote.

Loudest Republican voice against ‘send her back’ in Wisconsin is a congressman from Trump country

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said a number of factors including Gallagher’s unconventional path to politics could be at play.

“Gallagher’s uncommon response among Republicans could reflect both his personal path into politics and the nature of his district,” Burden said. “Having only a limited history within Republican Party politics in the past several years probably makes him less compelled to keep close to party leaders in every instance.”

Young philanthropists use birthdays for good causes

Wisconsin State Journal

Quoted: In recent years, there’s been “an explosion of visible, public, and digital and crowd-sourced fundraising techniques for nonprofit, philanthropic, and community efforts,” said Mary Beth Collins, executive director of the Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies at UW-Madison.

“Every time we turn on the TV, watch a sporting event, go to the grocery store, and go on social media, we see information about worthy causes and ways that we can pitch in,” Collins said.

Wisconsin Republicans mostly quiet about President Trump’s use of a racist trope

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: Barry Burden, a political science professor and director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, called the silence from most Republicans “surprising and puzzling.”

“I would expect members of Congress, in particular, to stand up for their colleagues in the Legislature who are being belittled by President Trump,” he said.

Second Arabic immersion school in U.S. plans to open in fall 2020 in Brookfield

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Learning Arabic opens new career opportunities, said Katrina Daly Thompson, director of the program in African Languages at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Students who’ve graduated from UW-Madison’s African Language program have secured jobs in nonprofit and government work, said Thompson. The language is classified as a “critical need language” by the U.S. government, which means it has importance for U.S. national security.

With just a year to go until 2020 DNC, organizers focus on making a good first impression of Milwaukee

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

It was 13 years ago when a south Florida high school senior named Liz Gilbert visited the University of Wisconsin-Madison, got out of the car, briefly soaked up the atmosphere and declared that she was Wisconsin bound.

Gilbert said her mother told her: “You haven’t even seen anything, you haven’t talked to anybody.”

“I said, ‘I just feel it.’ ”

Three things you should know about a new autism technician program that could be coming to Waukesha County Technical College

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: In Wisconsin, the number of children with an ASD continues to increase each year, the agenda notes said. Currently, one in 71 children in Wisconsin has been diagnosed with an ASD, according to data cited in the notes from the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The center also called for planning for ASD services and training.

Fish die-offs in Wisconsin expected to double by 2050, quadruple by 2100, report says

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Imagine sauntering up to your favorite Wisconsin lake and recoiling from the stench of rotting fish and the sight of pale carcasses littering the shoreline.

Those days are coming, according to two researchers who worked together at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In a report released Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, Samuel Fey and Andrew Rypel predict fish die-offs in Wisconsin lakes will double by 2050 and quadruple by 2100.