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News roundups

August 7, 2012

News Digest: Society inaugurates Raymond B. Huey Award, Honor: Marsha Linehan

Society names student award in honor of Ray Huey The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology’s Division of Ecology and Evolution has just announced a new prize for the best student presentation at its annual meeting, named in honor of Ray Huey, University of Washington professor of biology. “Ray has been an integral part of SICB for 40 years, and without fail he presents cutting-edge science and gives great talks,” according to information from the society about the new Raymond…

Health and medicine | News releases | Research | Uncategorized

August 5, 2012

Muscle cell grafts keep broken hearts from breaking rhythm

Researchers have made a major advance in efforts to regenerate damaged hearts. They discovered that transplanted heart muscle cells, grown from stem cells, electrically couple and beat in sync with the heart’s own mucle. The grafts also reduced the incidence of arrhythmias (irregular heart rhythms) in a guinea pig model of myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). This finding from University of Washington-led research is reported in the Aug. 5 issue of Nature. The paper’s senior author, Dr….

Health and medicine | News releases | Research | Science

August 3, 2012

Americans gaining more weight than they say

Despite the increasing awareness of the problem of obesity in the United States, most Americans don’t know whether they are gaining or losing weight, according to new research from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, also known at IHME, at the University of Washington. Obesity increased in the U.S. between 2008 and 2009, but in response to the questions about year-to-year changes in weight that were included in the most widespread public health survey in the country, on average,…

Learning | UW and the community

Summer programs aim to encourage and prepare minorities to attend college

Some high school students, especially underrepresented minorities and those from low-income, first-generation and migrant worker backgrounds, lack access to resources for college preparation. Here is a round-up of programs taking place this summer on the UW Seattle campus that help inspire high school students to pursue higher education and prepare them for college life. ‘Upward Bound’: Six-week academy for Seattle high school students The desire to attend college isn’t necessarily a reality for all high school students, especially those from…

Research | UW and the community

August 2, 2012

‘Documents that Changed the World’: A podcast series from Joe Janes

The phrase occurred to Joe Janes out of the blue one day and immediately appealed to him. From there, ideas began to flow quickly. Janes, associate professor in the University of Washington Information School, had been a fan of the British Broadcasting Corp. radio series “A History of the World in 100 Objects” and thought those shows effectively blended history and storytelling. Documents that Changed the World a podcast series by Joe Janes UW Information School An introduction “President Obama’s…

Environment | News releases | Science

Bears, scavengers count on all-you-can-eat salmon buffet lasting for months

Salmon conservation shouldn’t narrowly focus on managing flows in streams and rivers or on preserving only places that currently have strong salmon runs. Instead, watersheds need a good mix of steep, cold-running streams and slower, meandering streams of warmer water to keep options open for salmon adapted to reproduce better in one setting than the other, new research shows. Preserving that sort of varied landscape serves not just salmon, it provides an all-summer buffet that brown bears, gulls and other…

Arts and entertainment

Arts Roundup: Student art, ongoing exhibits — and natural science trivia

Should you want a break from the Olympics, UW arts are here for you. There are student art exhibits, a student-organized show of print arts and popular ongoing exhibits at the Burke Museum and Henry Art Gallery. The Burke also is restarting its monthly trivia contest at the College Inn Pub — a sort of local Olympics of natural science knowledge, if you will, with beer. Burke Trivia Night, 8 p.m. Aug. 2. Natural science, teamwork and beer make a…

Health and medicine | News releases | Research | UW and the community

August 1, 2012

UW researchers urge integrating deworming into HIV care in Africa

HIV care centers are an important and highly accessed point of care for HIV-infected children and their families in sub-Saharan Africa, but opportunities to address other health issues are being missed. Proven interventions, including routine deworming among children, could be effectively integrated into HIV care according to a new paper by University of Washington researchers published in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. The article, “Integration of Deworming into HIV Care and Treatment: A Neglected Opportunity,” estimates that millions of…

For UW employees

July 31, 2012

Athletes, accountants and more: UW hosts visitors all summer

Athletes, accountants, leaders, teachers, gamers, programmers and more — all manner of groups use the University of Washington campus facilities during the summer, all hosted by Housing and Food Services. And new this summer, Teach for America trainees, athletes with disabilities and a new precollege recruitment program from the Office of Minority Affiars will join the long list of summer conferences. From just hours after the end of spring quarter until just before classes start in the fall, the UW…

Education | Learning | UW and the community

Rockets, roller coasters and more for young scholars – with slideshow

Pedestrians along the UW’s Rainier Vista may have noticed an unusual warning last Friday. “Danger Rocket Launching Area,” the sign read. Below that someone had drawn a cartoon stick figure receiving a “doink” to the head from a descending bottle rocket. The sign was part of a demonstration by students in grades five through 10 enrolled in summer sessions for advanced learners, organized by the UW Robinson Center for Young Scholars. This year’s 507 participants came from around Puget Sound….

Environment | News releases | Research | Science

Critically endangered whales sing like birds; new recordings hint at rebound — with audio

When a University of Washington researcher listened to the audio picked up by a recording device that spent a year in the icy waters off the east coast of Greenland, she was stunned at what she heard: whales singing a remarkable variety of songs nearly constantly for five wintertime months. Listen to the bowheads repeat their other-worldly song as they cross the Fram Strait. Bowhead whale song 1 Bowhead whale song 2 Kate Stafford, an oceanographer with UW’s Applied Physics…

Arts and entertainment | UW and the community

July 27, 2012

Lost and Found Films: ‘Play Fair, 1950’

Welcome back to 1950 for an installment of Lost and Found Films, old footage promoting a play festival that aims for a Norman Rockwell feel, with maybe a little Twain thrown in. Lost and Found Films is an occasional UW Today series where readers help identify historic bits of film unearthed from the UW Audio Visual Materials Library provided by film archivist Hannah Palin. They range from shadowy black and white snippets to thoughtfully produced color home-movie style productions like…

Health and medicine | News releases | Research

Seattle researchers to engineer kidney tissue chip for predicting drug safety

Seattle researchers will be part of the new federal initiative to engineer 3-dimensional chips containing living cells and tissues that imitate the structure and function of human organs.  These tissue chips will be used for drug safety testing. Tissue chips merge techniques from the computer industry with those from bioengineering by combining miniature models of living organ tissues onto a transparent microchip. Ranging in size from a coin to a house key, the chips are lined with living cells and…

Science

July 26, 2012

Underwater ‘electrical outlets’ put in place for cabled ocean observatory project

The first U.S. cabled ocean observatory reached a milestone on July 14 with the installation of a node 9,500 feet deep off the coast of Oregon. Like a giant electrical outlet on the seafloor that also provides Internet connectivity, the node was spliced into a network of cable segments totalling some 560 miles that were laid in the summer of 2011. Six more of these primary nodes — each about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle — are being installed…

Health and medicine | News releases | Research

Chemical makes blind mice see

A chemical that temporarily restores some vision to blind mice has been discovered.  Its discoverers are working on  an  improved compound that may someday allow people with degenerative blindness to see again. Read the paper in Neuron News release on earlier study A team of UW Medicine researchers, in collaboration with scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Munich, conducted the study. Their findings appear in the July 26th issue of the journal Neuron. The approach could eventually help those with…

Education | Engineering | Learning | News releases | Science | Technology

July 24, 2012

‘Control-Alt-Hack’ game lets players try their hand at computer security

Do you have what it takes to be an ethical hacker? Can you step into the shoes of a professional paid to outsmart supposedly locked-down systems? Now you can at least try, no matter what your background, with a new card game developed by University of Washington computer scientists. “Control-Alt-Hack” gives teenage and young-adult players a taste of what it means to be a computer-security professional defending against an ever-expanding range of digital threats. The game’s creators will present it…

For UW employees | News roundups | UW and the community

News Digest: Campus dining changes, venues on display Sunday, volunteer for Azalea Way gardening

Options, changes for campus dining Summertime always brings some new twists to eating on campus, and this year is no different, as Housing & Food Services brings some changes and additions in mid-August, while some established things remain. The $6.50 “all you care to eat” option has returned for UW faculty and staff at 8 at McMahon Hall, and come Aug. 17 that deal will be offered at the reopening Eleven 01 Café in Terry Hall as well. Mobile dining…

Technology | UW and the community

July 23, 2012

Memorial for UW-IT’s R.L. “Bob” Morgan

A memorial for R.L. “Bob” Morgan, 57, an expert in “identity management” for UW Information Technology, will be held in Kane Hall 225 (the Walker-Ames Room) at 11 a.m. Sunday, July 29. He died July 12 during cancer treatment at UW Medical Center. Besides his work in identity management, which provides the foundation for safe access to digital resources such as email and online banking, he also was recognized internationally for his work in “federated identity,” a more secure approach…

Administrative affairs | Health and medicine | News releases

July 20, 2012

UW Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center take top two spots in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals state, metro rankings

U.S. News latest hospital rankings UW Medicine’s two academic medical centers are ranked the best in the region and the state of Washington in U.S. News & World Report’s 2012 edition of America’s Best Hospitals. UW Medical Center holds the No. 1 rank and Harborview Medical Center is No. 2 out of 35 hospitals in the Seattle metropolitan area and more than 100 hospitals in the state. In addition, UW Medicine’s Valley Medical Center is ranked No. 4 in the metro…

Uncategorized

July 19, 2012

Global health exhibit at Seattle Center is family-friendly, free and open to all

Seattle is showcasing the work of more than 30 area organizations at an exhibit at Seattle Center through Aug. 19. Global Health Exhibit at Seattle Center Dates: Now – Aug. 19, 2012 Time: Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. Location: Seattle Center, Next Fifty Plaza World Vision donated a mock village that has been turned into the Global Health Experience Exhibit in the Next 50 Plaza at Seattle Center. The exhibit introduces global health challenges and success to the public…

Uncategorized

UW designated an NIH Center of Excellence in Pain Education

Chronic pain affects approximately 100 million Americans and costs up to $635 billion in medical treatment and lost productivity each year. Yet pain management often is not taught in many health professional schools. Recognizing the need to change this, the National Institutes of Health have selected 12 schools to develop pain curricula, and the UW has been named the lead site. The center will receive $300,000 to start, with the potential for further funding. The curricula will advance the assessment,…

Arts and entertainment

Arts Roundup: Faculty, student art — on and off campus

Here in another slow summer week, the School of Art takes the lead with art by students, faculty — and former faculty as well. Plus, there are continuing exhibits on campus well worth investigating. Exhibit: “Tangible Competitive Intangibles,” through Aug. 4. An invitational show in the Jacob Lawrence Gallery featuring the work of artists who have taught in the School of Art. These include Carol Adleman, Tina Aufiero, Carrie Bodle, Erin Burns, Michael Cepress, Claudia Fitch, Rumi Koshino, Perri Lynch, Anne Petty, Maria…

For UW employees | News releases | Research | UW and the community

UW names DeLuca director of School of Environmental and Forest Sciences

A soils and ecosystem scientist who studies natural resources sustainability has been named the director of the University of Washington’s School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. Thomas H. DeLuca is currently professor of natural resources and geography at Bangor University, Wales, where he holds the chair in environmental sciences sponsored jointly by the university and the U.K.’s National Environmental Research Council. “We couldn’t be happier that Tom will join us to lead the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. Tom…

Education

UW is first U.S. school to give credit for classes, certificate programs on massive open online course platform

The University of Washington is about to become the first university in the United States to provide classes for university credit using a massive open online course learning platform. UW is planning courses that will be made available in multiple ways, tailoring innovative options to match consumer needs. Free, non-credit versions will use the Coursera platform, providing access to high-quality education for anyone.  In addition, enhanced, instructor-led versions will result in UW credit and/or certificate credentials when successfully completed. “Increasing…

Technology | Uncategorized | UW and the community

DO-IT celebrates 20 years preparing students with disabilities for college

A group of Washington high-school students will arrive at the University of Washington campus this week for the annual DO-IT Scholars Summer Study program. It’s the 20th anniversary of the summer program, which has now helped launch the careers of hundreds of students from Washington and beyond who have a wide range of disabilities. DO-IT Scholars, July 17-27 DO-IT stands for Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology. The students learn about challenging careers in fields including science, technology, engineering and mathematics….