The latest news from the UW

Experiments to understand single-bubble sonoluminescence — where a pinpoint of light and extreme temperatures are created inside a tiny bubble when liquids are bombarded with high-pitched sound waves — have earned the University of Washington’s Tom Matula a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

It isn’t pretty on the streets of Seattle, or any big city, if you are a homeless adolescent. But recent research shows life on the street may be an improvement over what many children face at home.

Surgical students soon will be able hone their skills with simulators that for the first time present a realistic feel of performing surgery thanks to a research project under way at the University of Washington. The project also could improve patient care by leading to the development of instruments that enhance surgeons’ sense of touch.

This presentation will cover the highlights of the Mars Pathfinder mission and the design and control of the Sojourner vehicle. It will include pictures taken by the lander and rover, video clips of mission operations, a video containing eight rover movies showing sojourner navigating its way across the Martian surface and a 3-D animated playback of data collected by Sojourner.

The latest research on thyroid disease, wildlife populations, beryllium exposure and Columbia River contamination in the Hanford reach area are among topics to be addressed during a two-day conference Dec. 3 and 4 in Richland, Wash.

All 38 of Washington’s public colleges and universities have proposed that the state establish a $500 million public-private partnership to enhance the quality of higher education in Washington.

The proposition that the Earth’s little understood inner core is a frozen yet white hot globe of curiously laid out iron crystals, spinning independently of the rest of the planet, has been given a boost by a University of Washington researcher.

A clinical trial performed by University of Washington researchers shows that administering an anti-arrhythmia medication, amiodarone, offers considerable promise in helping to resuscitate cardiac arrest victims.

A newly established endowed professorship — the first for the University of Washington Department of Family Medicine — will further enhance the already strong links between the academic department and practicing physicians throughout the region.

A postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of University of Washington geneticist Dr. Mary-Claire King has succeeded in cloning a gene which, when mutated, causes an inherited form of deafness.

The National Science Foundation has appointed University of Washington Professor Mark Haselkorn to coordinate its external efforts to address the year 2000 computer problem.

First it was the Chinese, then the Egyptians who more than 3,000 years ago began studying and predicting the weather. Then in the 16th and 17th centuries meteorology became a science with the invention of instruments to measure the elements. Now a supercomputer is ushering in a new era of high-precision local weather forecasting.

Seattle adults seeking a drug-free treatment as an alternative for dealing with depression are needed for a University of Washington study testing two new psychological treatments to deal with the disorder.

Stumps of long-dead western red cedar trees are revealing new details of a cataclysmic earthquake along North America’s west coast more than 100 years before the arrival of the first European occupants.

Medical News from the University of Washington

A new study indicating that portions of bird brains enlarge in response to social, as well as other environmental, factors adds to the mounting evidence showing that the brains of higher animals change over time.

Some women who become glucose intolerant late in pregnancy may develop gestational diabetes and give birth to larger than normal babies with a tendency to become obese. Now a new study of genetically normal rats indicates that the effect of overfeeding extends for at least three generations and may explain health trends beginning to be seen in human populations in the American Southwest, Japan, Australia and some Pacific islands.

Seattle-based world leaders in the fight against cancer today announced that they are forming a new, combined clinical cancer program. The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the University of Washington (UW), and Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center are creating the new program, called the “Cancer Care Alliance,” to speed the development of new knowledge of, and treatment for, various cancers.

Dr. Nancy Woods, associate dean for nursing research and director of the University of Washington School of Nursing’s Center for Women’s Health Research, is the first recipient of the Vivian O. Lee Women’s Health Award.

Maria Root, a psychologist and associate professor of American Ethnic Studies, is looking for 60 pairs of adult siblings in Washington state and the Portland, Ore., area to participate in a study that will explore how people of mixed ancestry develop their racial identity and how they viewed themselves when they were growing up.

The University of Washington’s main campus 1997 Autumn Quarter enrollment is 35,367, including 853 students in the Evening Degree Program instituted in autumn 1990.

It may well be the “biggest” honor ever bestowed upon a UW researcher: A Seattle-based shipping company will christen its newest vessel, a 25,000-barrel oil barge, the “Bonnie R.” in honor of Dr. Bonnie Ramsey, professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine and director of the Cystic Fibrosis Center at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center.

It looks like El Niño, it feels like El Niño, and if you are watching fish stocks, reservoir levels or farm production, you would say it is El Niño.

The Washington Council for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect and a University of Washington sport psychologist are teaming up to hold a series of 10 workshops across Washington to train at least a thousand coaches and make participation in youth athletics a more positive experience for youngsters, parents and coaches.

Youth sports should be a rewarding, positive experience for children. But all too often these activities aren’t and become a childhood nightmare filled with emotional abuse and negativity.

In an effort to make maximum use of a scarce resource, University of Washington Medical Center is now offering split-liver transplants — an effort that could save up to 26 more lives each year.

The University of Washington admissions office is moving to a more active mode in working with prospective students and high schools throughout the state of Washington.

The University of Washington and 13 university-area community groups have transmitted to the City of Seattle a draft agreement governing future development by the UW on the university’s Seattle campus.

University of Washington researchers will play a leading role in a $20 million effort to identify and mitigate potential earthquake hazards in urban areas along the Pacific coast.

The patient is Mr. Jones. His chart says he’s a 28-year-old male with a nail embedded in his foot. The students are told to ready him for general anesthesia. Mr. Jones has been through this before. He is a computerized, full-size mannequin, programmed to respond to treatment. As in life, he pulls through his ordeals just fine most of the time.

They spent their summer working in the lab instead of enjoying the sunshine, studying everything from cloning and protective coatings to mosquito control. On Friday, they will get their reward. At a reception at the University of Washington’s Kane Hall, 50 undergraduates will be honored for their summer research sponsored by the Washington Space Grant Consortium.

Medical News from the University of Washington

More than 40 scholars from around the world will come to the University of Washington Oct. 29 to Nov. 1 to participate in the Inaugural Conference in Textual Studies.

The economic incentives of Medicare’s reimbursement system for rehabilitation hospitals encourage millions of dollars in increased payments each year.

More than 40 scholars from around the world will come to the University of Washington Oct. 29 to Nov. 1 to participate in the Inaugural Conference in Textual Studies.

Medical experts from around the world will gather Oct. 15 to 17 in Seattle for a review of state-of-the-art developments in liver transplantation at the Fourth Congress of the International Liver Transplantation Society.

Engineers at the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory have developed a diver-held sonar with better resolution than any other hand-held sonar used today by the military or civilian sectors.

The eighth annual Fall Fling is expected to draw several thousand new and returning University of Washington students on Friday, Sept. 26.

Widely respected artist, environmental- and urban-activist Buster Simpson will install a new work of public art in time for the dedication of the University of Washington’s Tacoma campus Sept. 26.

To address the enormous task of declassifying Hanford documents and to improve public access to information, the U.S. Department of Energy is turning to the public for assistance.