Three-fourths of cancerous prostate removal surgeries at the University of Wisconsin Hospital are now performed by a robot. The robot and its very flexible “wrists” are controlled by a surgeon, however.
The first robotic prostatectomy at UW Hospital was performed in March 2006 by urologic surgeon Dr. David Jarrard, who also performed the 200th on July 31 this year.
….in the 1618 painting of “Two Citrons” by Filippo di Liagno (called Filippo Napoletano), a lemon is more than either just a lemon or just a painting.
That is typical of most of the 43 works you can see in “Natura Morta: Still-Life Painting and the Medici Collections,” a new show of 17th and 18th century works that goes on exhibit Saturday at the University of Wisconsin’s Chazen Museum of Art.
Professor Gail Geiger, who teaches Italian Renaissance art at the UW and specializes in patronage, knows how to decode these paintings and other works of art.
Quoted: David Ahrens, spokesman for the Tobacco Surveillance & Evaluation Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
UW-Madison hydrologist Ken Potter said the rain in some parts of the region reached levels that could be expected once every 100 years. The extraordinary rainfall, combined with the steep slopes found in the Driftless Area, posed a challenge to dams, bridges, roads and levees, he said.
Quoted: Presenter Dr Suzanne Gibbons-Burgener, from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, noted that on-farm use of raw milk is legal and common, and that the sale of unpasteurised milk is legal in 28 states, though California, for example, requires a warning label.
It wasn’t that long ago when few people embraced alternative medical practices such as chiropractic services, acupuncture and massage.
Today, such services, like many advanced traditional medical practices, are moving into the mainstream of pet care as more and more people pamper their pets — although medical care isn’t seen on the same plane as some other pampering practices.
Quoted: Dr. Sandi Sawchuk, School of Veterinary Medicine
Whether climate change has caused the extreme weather we’ve experienced in recent weeks — near-drought followed by heavy rain — is a subject of debate among scientists.
A study by the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Ecological Society of America in 2005 said Wisconsin’s climate was warming, that extreme heat would occur more often and long periods of flooding rains may increase. John Magnuson, UW-Madison professor emeritus, helped write that study and definitely believes that global warming is causing more extreme weather.
Quoted: Jonathan Martin, chair of the UW-Madison Department of Atmospheric Sciences
Quoted: Laura Dresser, associate director of UW-Madison ‘s Center on Wisconsin Strategy.
Will an agent secure you a higher selling price? The National Association of Realtors claims homes sold by its realty agents bring 16 percent higher prices on average. On the other hand, a study released earlier this summer by economists from Northwestern University and the University of Wisconsin showed FSBO sellers in Madison, Wis., made out better than if they had hired an agent and paid a commission. But Madison has a more-robust-than-usual local FSBO Web site, and the researchers’ calculations placed no value on services provided by an agent.
Quoted: Pamela Oliver, a sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has studied racial disparities in prisons, said there are “reasonable arguments” both for and against profit-driven prison industries.
Q. Can lightning strike in the exact same spot twice?
A. The short answer, according to UW-Madison atmospheric scientist Steve Ackerman, is yes.
Bedbugs are back, with a vengeance.
The tiny night-time bloodsuckers were common in Madison and elsewhere in the United States in the 1940s, until DDT ended the threat. But the insecticide damaged wildlife and was banned in the U.S. in 1972, and in recent years travelers brought bedbugs back, according to Phil Pellitteri, a UW-Extension entomologist affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A chemical family known as synthetic pyrethroid has been used to get rid of the unwelcome pests, but they have developed resistance to it, he added.
Cataracts, a clouding of the lens of the eye that begins as a vague blurriness and can lead to blindness, is a common affliction of aging. For insured Americans, cataract surgery is a routine procedure that restores vision completely.
Despite the simplicity of cataract surgery, about 20 million people worldwide are blind because of cataracts, and 90 percent of them live in developing countries.
Dr. Suresh Chandra, an opthalmologist at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, has been working to eliminate preventable blindness through the Combat Blindness Foundation he started in Madison in 1984. Since then, the CBF has supported more than 100,000 free cataract surgeries.
Everyone who lives long enough will eventually get cataracts, a clouding of the lens of the eye that begins as a vague blurriness and can lead to blindness. For insured Americans, cataract surgery is an routine procedure that restores vision completely.
Despite the simplicity of cataract surgery, about 20 million people worldwide are blind because of cataracts, and 90 percent of them live in developing countries.
Dr. Suresh Chandra, an opthalmologist at UW-Madison medical school, has been working to eliminate preventable blindness through the Combat Blindness Foundation he started in Madison in 1984. Since then, the CBF has supported more than 100,000 free cataract surgeries.
Quoted: Bob Cropp, a dairy analyst at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the market could soften.
Nobody will ever accuse Jeremi Suri of lacking style or insight. His study of Henry Kissinger’s personality and place in history offers piercing originality–so much so that laying down Dallek for Suri feels rather like that moment in The Prince and the Showgirl when Laurence Olivier, after telling all and sundry that they have too little love in their life, meets his ex-mistress . . . and realizes that she has too much.
Suri fires off insights and theories about Henry Kissinger at a rapid clip. He especially delights in paradox.
NOT LONG after Frank Sinatra died, his journalist friend Pete Hamill, spurred by obituaries that were full of Sinatra’s feuds and foibles, wrote a wonderful little book called “Why Sinatra Matters.”
….At noon Wednesday at the Rotary Club of Madison’s meeting at the Inn on the Park, UW-Madison Professor Craig Werner — an admirer of Hamill’s Sinatra book — will make a similar case for another music legend, Elvis Presley.
Quoted: Molecular geneticist Sean Carroll of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
If you’ve tried loading up on fruits, vegetables and whole grains and still can’t get relief from constipation, maybe you need more than a boost of fiber.
“The idea that many patients have, and unfortunately their physicians, if we just keep pushing fiber until the grass grows out of their behind they’ll have been treated successfully, that’s not really true,” said Dr. Arnold Wald, a professor of medicine in the section on gastroenterology and hepatology at the University of Wisconsin.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A poison-ivy rash is never any fun.
But this year the itching might be worse.
Botanists say there are record-high carbon-dioxide levels – and that’s causing poison-ivy plants to grow faster and with more potency.
Tom Sharkey is a botany professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: Donald Downs, a professor of political science, law, and journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, would take issue with that. Downs acknowledged that some FISA reforms are needed, but the issue is whether the new law goes too far.
Quoted: Molecular geneticist Sean Carroll of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, says the study offers some “intriguing leads” on candidate genes to be followed up. “There is an important message here” that changes in regulatory sequences may be important in the evolution of many species, he says.
The best thing about this weekend ‘s Perseid meteor showers, according to UW-Madison astronomer Jim Lattis, is that it doesn ‘t take any fancy equipment or knowledge to enjoy the spectacle.
“All you need, ‘ ‘ Lattis said, “is a lawn chair. ‘ ‘
Quoted: Dennis Dresang, a political science and public affairs professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: Carl Watras, a research scientist for DNR and the University of Wisconsin-Madison,
Quoted: Tim Sell, who manages a surplus program for the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the state of Wisconsin.
Quoted: Robert Blick, a professor of electrical and computer engineering from the University of Wisconsin.
Quoted: Arthur Glenberg, a gesture researcher at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Quoted: David Bordwell, University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Quoted: Dr. John Moulder, a senior editor of the journal Radiation Research, for his reaction to the study. Moulder, who is professor and director of radiation biology in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Wisconsin,
Quoted: Harry Bunn of the University of Wisconsin, who co-directs the project.
Quoted: James Paul Gee, a University of Wisconsin professor.
Quoted: Frank Tuerkheimer, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a former U.S. attorney, said itâ??s rare to see prosecutions for a murder conspiracy when no one has been hurt.
Quoted: Dennis Dresang, a political science and public affairs professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the tragedy prompted some officials in Minnesota to change their stand against spending and tax increases.
Quoted: Molly Jahn, dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Quoted: Molly Jahn, dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, moderated the panel of speakers.
JANESVILLE, Wis. (AP) — The eight inches of rain that fell in some parts of central Wisconsin over the last three days will bring back an unwanted pest – mosquitoes.
So says University of Wisconsin Extension entomologist Phil Pellitteri.
Pellitteri says people will notice an increase in the biting insects.
Quoted: Amato Evan, a climate researcher at the University of Wisconsin.
Quoted: The downside of such a highly personalized approach to promotion and brand-building, says University of Wisconsin marketing expert Thomas O’Guinn, is that it leaves no room for failure, either by the individual or by the companies associated with the individual.
Quoted: Menzie D. Chinn, professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin.
Quoted: Susan Crowley, director of an anti-binge drinking program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said dangerous drinking and partying are on the rise.
Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison engineering professor Michael Oliva said the inspections are public relations exercises but they may be helpful.
Nothing beats a milkshake on a hot summer day. It’s cool and refreshing whether you suck it through a straw or spoon it into your mouth.
Ann Elizabeth Kelley, an internationally acclaimed UW-Madison behavioral neuroscientist who conducted important research on brain mechanisms underlying drug addiction and obesity, died Sunday at her home in Madison from metastatic colon cancer at age 53.
Quoted: Phil Pellitteri, extension entomologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: Michael Oliva, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Quoted: Calvin B. DeWitt, a professor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin.
Quoted: Jim Seward, professor of finance and the director of the Nicholas Center for Corporate Finance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The very weather that is scaring away pesky mosquitoes this summer is the same weather attracting other kinds of critters.
Phil Pellitteri, extension entomologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said much of the state has lucked out with weather conditions harmful to the blood-sucking insect.
Author: Richard Hartel is a professor of food engineering in the department of food science at UW-Madison. He may be contacted at rwhartel@wisc.edu.
Liz and Garrett Perry were dropping off scrap lumber and old shingles from a garage roofing project at the Deer Track Park landfill when they saw what appeared to be a bloody chicken darting between the big trash bearing rigs roaring through the massive dump just off Interstate 94 near Johnson Creek.
Quoted: Andrew Reschovsky, an economics professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who studies tax policy.
Quoted: James M. Raymo and Larry Bumpass, professors within the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Sociology,
Quoted: Theodore Gerber, a sociologist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Like ghost stories around the campfire, hot weather myths are part of summer.
There are the endearing, the enduring and the just plain ridiculous — dogs with sweaty paws, potato salad’s bacteria bonanza, air-conditioning-induced colds.
So what about these almost believable, almost dismissable summer legends?
Quoted: Lawrence Bank, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Quoted: Michael Pariza, director of the Food Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin.
Quoted: Amato Evan, a University of Wisconsin climate scientist who studies African dust.
Quoted: Bob Cropp, a dairy analyst at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the market could soften.
Quoted: Sheela Kennedy, coauthor of an upcoming paper at the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Demography and Ecology.
