All posts by medical

The Gene | Part 1: Dawn of the Modern Age of Genetics – PBS

Funding for KEN BURNS PRESENTS THE GENE: AN INTIMATE HISTORY has been provided by Genentech, 23andMe, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Gray Foundation, American Society of ... More

Funding for KEN BURNS PRESENTS THE GENE: AN INTIMATE HISTORY has been provided by Genentech, 23andMe, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Gray Foundation, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) & Conquer Cancer Foundation, Judy and Peter Blum Kovler Foundation, Craig and Susan McCaw Foundation, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The Outreach and Education Partner is National Institutes of Health, National Human Genome Research Institute. Outreach support is provided by Foundation Medicine.

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The Gene | Part 1: Dawn of the Modern Age of Genetics - PBS

Designing Leadership Models That Actually Work With Andrea Derler And Kamila Sip: The NLI Interview – Forbes

Designing sticky, meaningful, and coherent leadership models makes it easier for leaders to adopt ... [+] and practice them.

If theres one lesson business leaders can draw from the COVID-19 pandemic, its that behavior change is hard.

In countries all around the world, government leaders have spent the last few weeks pleading with their citizens to stop gathering in public and stay home. Yet in the United States, Italy, and elsewhere, thousands of people ignored these injunctions, choosing instead to crowd together in parks, casinos, and beaches as if nothing had changed. If presidents, governors, and mayors cant convince their citizens to observe social distancing protocols that will literally save their lives, then what hope is there for organizations to change their cultures?

But whether the stakes are life-and-death, like slowing the spread of a deadly virus, or aspirational and human like transforming an organizations culture to empower leaders to perform at their best evidence shows that real behavior change is possible. Its all a matter of how you approach it.

For organizations, changing behavior usually involves defining a leadership model a set of phrases intended to guide leaders behaviors across an organization. But research by the NeuroLeadership Institute has found that most leadership models tend to be long, convoluted, and difficult to remember, often consisting of dozens of complex and contradictory behaviors. Since they are not clear or memorable, they fail to successfully guide behavior in critical leadership situations.

So how do you build a leadership model that actually works one designed with the brain in mind to successfully guide leaders behavior?

I sat down with Andrea Derler, NLIs Director of Industry Research, and Kamila Sip, NLIs Director of Neuroscience Research, to talk about how to design leadership models that are not just relevant, but actually useful for guiding leaders behaviors and decisions.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

NLI: How do you define leadership models?

Kamila Sip: Leadership models are sets of phrases that guide leadership behavior across an organization. They answer the question, What do leaders need to be reminded about most frequently?

Leadership models should focus on behavior rather than lofty values or mission statements. As we've learned in our new research, leadership models are useful only if leaders actually apply them in their daily work.

Andrea Derler: The reason we need leadership models is that most organizations expect their leaders to act in a certain way. Leadership models are descriptions of what leaders should prioritize as they manage teams and businesses, how they should lead employees to execute the strategy, or how theyre expected to build a certain culture and follow the organizations mission and purpose.

NLI: Tell me about your research. What did you set out to study and how did you do it?

Andrea Derler: We conducted this research to learn about the current state of leadership models in organizations. We wanted to understand the design process, as well as the qualities of typical models and, most importantly, how leaders the ones who are expected to demonstrate the behaviors listed in the models perceive and use leadership models.

We conducted structured interviews with 20 HR and talent leaders, as well as a survey of 568 business and HR leaders across various organizations and industries.

With the HR leaders, we looked at the leadership model design process, what models typically look like, how they're rolled out, and what obstacles leaders face in designing leadership models that work.

The business leaders, managers, and individuals in our survey were asked about their perception of their organizations leadership models, and if, how, and when they apply the content of their models in everyday leadership situations.

NLI: So what are organizations getting wrong in designing these models?

Andrea Derler: We were struck by how few leaders are actually using their organizations leadership models. Considering the amount of time, resources, and energy organizations put into designing them, its striking how many leadership models end up getting shelved. Our research shows that only 38% of individuals take action on their models once or twice a week. I'm sure organizations would prefer that number to be higher.

Getting back to your question, What typically goes wrong when models are designed? We learned that there are many things organizations get wrong in the design process.

First, instead of focusing on what their business actually needs, they allow themselves to be influenced by dozens of external models, theories, and frameworks. Or they engage in lengthy processes with just the top leadership teams, creating long exhaustive models nobody can remember, let alone roll out. The result is that the model then never gets implemented in the learning strategy. Thats because leadership models are often designed in a vacuum, without the end user in mind.

Along these lines, we found that 44% of companies have models with more than 20 behaviors! This may explain why only 17% of leaders find their models easy to remember. Leaders are so overwhelmed by the sheer number of behaviors and by the complexity of expectations and descriptions that in the end, they cant even remember them, let alone apply them in their work.

Kamila Sip: Exactly. The second issue is that only 27% of individuals consider their leadership model meaningful! This suggests a bigger problem. If we expect people to demonstrate leadership behaviors in their everyday work, they need to be designed with peoples actual work, objectives, teams, and challenges in mind.

Our research showed that only 31% of design teams involved the business in designing leadership models. Thats a problem.

Although we learned in our research that design teams are often not diverse enough to come up with the right phrases, we believe that leadership models that reflect a diverse pool of stakeholders, from various parts of the business, capture the voice of the business better than can those designed by the top 1% of the company.

Why? Because the few on the top may focus on the wrong things, assuming they're representative of what good leadership looks like in everyday business situations. For example, conducted focus groups with a multi-national insurance company, consisting of 100 people from across the globe and including almost every sector of their business.

Finally, we learned that very few leaders use their leadership models in everyday situations. Three qualities predict whether leaders use their leadership models more often; being sticky, meaningful, and coherent. Our data suggest that when models are perceived as sticky, meaningful, and coherent with theother objectives of the business, leaders use them more often.

Lets unpack what this means in practice. It means organizations that want their people to change their behavior should design leadership models with three questions in mind. Can I remember this? Do I care about this? And does this fit with what I'm asked to do?

NLI: So why is it that leadership models need to be sticky, meaningful, and coherent?

Kamila Sip: From a scientific perspective, we know that for a leadership model to be "sticky", it cant be complicated, wordy, and hard to remember. Thats because the brain has limited cognitive capacity at any point in time, a limitation that impacts how efficiently we can process information. Information thats easy to recall eats up less brainpower, which makes us more able to act in accordance with the message.

However, being sticky is not enough. To motivate leaders to act on them, models also need to be meaningful. If leaders actually feel they can succeed in applying the models to their daily behavior and the outcomes are meaningful to them, theyre then more motivated to actually think and act in accordance with the model.

Third, leadership models need to be coherent with the companys other expectations. For example, if members of a sales team are stack-ranked against each other that is, rewarded for individual success and for ranking higher than their colleagues then a leadership model emphasizing collaboration and teamwork could be perceived as incoherent.

When organizations create decoherence through conflicting objectives, employees experience cognitive dissonance a mental discomfort when beliefs, expectations, values, or actions dont fit together.

NLI: What are the next steps in your research?

Andrea Derler: Understanding the reality of behavior change will remain NLIs theme this year and beyond. This research on brain-based leadership models is one step in a larger sequence of research. Next, well address why design teams experience the pitfalls we described, and provide more detailed benchmarks for the design process itself providing insights about who should be part of design teams and the duration and nature of rollouts.

But the behavior guidelines that leadership models provide are just one component in NLI's brain-friendly framework for behavior change. In the coming months, well also be studying the importance of habits and the role of systems. Our ultimate goal is to gain a more comprehensive understanding of how insights from neuroscience and other cognitive sciences can inform our understanding of the complexity of culture and behavior change.

Andrea Derler, Ph.D., NLIs Director of Industry Research, collaborates with scientists, consultants, and HR and business leaders to produce science-based, practical insights about people in organizations.

Kamila Sip, Ph.D., NLIs Director of Neuroscience Research, is a neuroscientist with expertise in decision making, unconscious bias, and change management that she implements into simple solutions to further effective behavior change at scale.

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Designing Leadership Models That Actually Work With Andrea Derler And Kamila Sip: The NLI Interview - Forbes

Viruses, Vaccines, and Treatments | College of Science – RIT University News Services

Biochemists focus on the chemistry of living things. They play an important role in discovering and describing how viruses make people sick. Biochemists also contribute to the development of vaccines (for protection) and therapeutics (for treatments). They use different techniques, methods, and instruments to better understand the molecular mechanisms of diseasethe more we know, the better prepared we can be for future outbreaks.

Biochemists study how viruses replicate in host cells using biomolecules, said RIT associate professor, Lea Vacca Michel. We can learn a lot about new viruses by studying other virusestheir disease-causing properties and the human response to infection.

As a biochemist, you might find yourself working in academic laboratories, biotech/pharmaceutical companies or government organizations such as:

Also, biochemists make GREAT, well-prepared medical professionals (doctors, nurses, physician assistants, dentists, etc.). If youre looking for the skills to make a difference in the world, a degree in biochemistry could be a good fit for you.

RITs bachelors degree in biochemistry addresses challenges facing the chemical, pharmaceutical, and biotechnological fields, offering students many hands-on research experiences. RITs Undergraduate Chemistry Research Scholars are currently working with faculty mentors on research projects focused on organic, physical, analytical, environmental, materials, polymer, and biological chemistry.

RIT is preparing the next generation of biochemists at The School of Chemistry and Materials Science.

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Viruses, Vaccines, and Treatments | College of Science - RIT University News Services

Researchers at U of T, Sinai Health working on blood test to screen thousands for COVID-19 immunity – News@UofT

A team of researchers at Sinai Health Systemand the University of Toronto is in the early stages of developing a blood test that can identify who is immune to COVID-19 on a mass scale.

The test is an adaptation of an ELISA assay (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay)and has the potential to enable hospitals and other institutions to screen up to 10,000 samples at once, allowing entire workforces to be tested efficiently.

The blood-based test, whichthe team hopes to test on volunteers within the next two weeks, does not directly detect the live virus and is not intended to replace current tests for infection.

Anne-Claude Gingras, project co-lead, said the test works by detecting antibodies in the immune system of infected patients. Those antibodies persist in blood even after the virus has been completely eliminated.

The entire city has come together to make this possible, said Gingras, a senior investigator at Sinai Healths Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute (LTRI) and a professor of molecular genetics at U of T. This test is being developed with the goal of monitoring the percentage of the population that has been infected and to help in identifying those individuals that may have protective immunity.

The project is a collaboration between Gingras and Jeff Wrana, also a senior investigator at LTRI and a professor of molecular genetics at U of T, and other researchers from the Faculty of Medicine.

The team includes James Rini, a professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics who was key to producing proteins for the assay, and Professors Jennifer Gommerman and Mario Ostrowski from the department of immunology, who helped supply samples from pre-pandemic subjects as well as patients infected early in the pandemic who have since recovered.

The new ELISA test can provide valuable information about the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in Canada, said Karen Maxwell, an assistant professor of biochemistry who is helping to co-ordinate COVID-19 research at U of T.

This test will allow us to track the true spread and magnitude of the disease, Maxwell said. Determining who has been infected and has antibodies will be important information for making decisions about how and when we return to our normal activities.

The test will make use of the robotics platform at LTRI. Jim Woodgett, director of research at LTRI and a professor of medical biophysics at U of T, said such advances are possible thanks to close collaboration between scientists across institutions.

Sinai Health and the University of Toronto are ideally positioned to develop this critically important antibody-based test, Woodgett said. This research group is eager to contribute in any way possible to help Canada overcome this historic public health challenge.

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Researchers at U of T, Sinai Health working on blood test to screen thousands for COVID-19 immunity - News@UofT

‘Behind the Blue Special Edition’: Rebecca Dutch on UK’s Efforts to Treat, Understand and Eradicate COVID-19 – UKNow

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 7, 2020) Rebecca Dutch has been at the University of Kentucky for nearly 20 years. She is considered a leader in the field of virology the study of viruses and now serves as chair of UKs Department of Molecular andCellular Biochemistry.

But her newest field of exploration is unlike anything she has done in her storied career.

She is helping lead researchers and faculty from multiple disciplines across the University of Kentucky as part of the global effort to treat, understand and eradicate COVID-19. The COVID-19 Unified Research Experts (CURE) Alliance team, a new workgroup within UKs College of Medicine, is bringing together UK experts from across the campus to focus on advising COVID-19 patient care and clinical trials based on emerging research and potential treatment options.

College of Medicine Dean Robert DiPaola recently announced the creation of CURE, which the college is funding with additional support from UKs Vice President for Research Lisa Cassis.

Over the next weeks, we will assess emerging studies to guide the College of Medicines clinical enterprise to provide the best COVID-19 patient care available, said Dutch, who is CURE leader. Our goal, in the long term, is to identify the best options for patient participation in ongoing clinical trials, as well as clinical trials we can develop right here at UK.

Dutch says the team, which is now meeting multiple times a week via Zoom, is also identifying potential COVID-19 research collaborations among UK experts. Several CURE team members have expertise directly related to COVID-19.

In this special edition of "Behind the Blue," Dutch discusses her efforts and those of others across the campus to find treatments for COVID-19 as well as why the virus has spread the way it has and how we can all better protect ourselves and others.

Read more about CURE here: http://uknow.uky.edu/research/university-kentucky-researchers-unite-fight-covid-19.

"Behind the Blue" is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of Behind the Blue each week. UKs latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.

For questions or comments about this or any other episode of "Behind the Blue,"emailBehindTheBlue@uky.eduor tweet your question with #BehindTheBlue. Transcripts for this or other episodes of "Behind the Blue" can be downloaded from the shows blog page.You can watch a video version of this podcast here.

To discover whats wildly possible at the University of Kentucky, clickhere.

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'Behind the Blue Special Edition': Rebecca Dutch on UK's Efforts to Treat, Understand and Eradicate COVID-19 - UKNow

‘We will get through this," says Nation’s Doctor: Dr. Jerome Adams – BlackEngineer.com

No doubt about it, COVID is on the mind of the United States Surgeon General. Speaking on television Tuesday, Dr. Jerome Adams indicated there were green shoots of hope. The mitigation is working, Dr. Adams said. It tells us social distancing, practicing good hygiene, and the 30-day guidelines for America are effective and will help us get to the other side of this unfortunate tragedy.

As the country rallies against the coronavirus disease, Dr. Adams said the government will do two million COVID-19 testings this week. The surgeon general added that by the end of the month there will be diagnostic and surveillance testing across the country. The industryis also on board with antibody testing.

According to the medical community, there are tests that check the blood for antibodies providing confirmation of infection and possible protection. And then there are diagnostic tests that confirm whether someone has an active infection, which could be useful to form better estimates of the scale of infection and the death rate of the virus.

Speaking on the death rate of blacks and ethnic minorities, the surgeon general said the CDC is tracking the disease demographically.

The surgeon general said whether we are white, black, brown or yellow, wearing a face mask will help protect ourselves and each other.

Dr. Jerome M. Adams was sworn in as Surgeon General by Vice President Mike Pence at the Office of the Vice President in Washington D.C.

As the No. 1 doctor in the United States, Dr. Adams gives Americans the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and reduce the risk of illness and injury.

Since he graduated in 2002 from the Indiana School of Medicine, which educates future physicians and conducts advanced medical research throughout Indiana, Dr. Adams has put himself on the path to success.

Dr. Jerome Adams distinguished himself as an anesthesiologist at Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis, which serves our most vulnerable citizens, and as a clinical associate professor of anesthesiology at Indiana University, Vice President Pence said on his appointment.

As Indiana health commissioner from 2014 to 2017, Adams dealt with infant mortality in high-risk areas and the opioid-fueled-HIV/AIDS epidemic in rural areas.

We had an extraordinarily diverse cabinet when he (Pence) was governor, and he took a chance on this young, African-American guy from the East Coast to be his health commissioner, Adams said at his swearing-in ceremony as the top doctor.

Dr. Adams has a master of public health degree from the University of California at Berkeley, a medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine, and a bachelors degree in biochemistry and psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

How a medical doctor was born

Jerome Adamss father, who is a U.S. military veteran and retired tech Maryland teacher, said that one experience that might have left a lasting impression on his son was going to hospital twenty-two times in one year because of his childhood asthma attacks.

Another experience that served as an inspiration was the Ebola virus outbreak in Zimbabwe. Adams did research in the southern African country as a biochemistry student attached to the Meyerhoff Scholars Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC).

A Distinguished Meyerhoff Scholar

According to UMBC, the Meyerhoff program has graduated over 900 students since 1993. To date, alumni from the program have earned 198 Ph. D.s, 239 Masters degrees, as well as 107 M.D. degrees. Some work as scientists, researchers, teachers, and physicians.

As surgeon general, Dr. Adams is a commissioned officer in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and by law holds the rank of vice admiral (three stars). The Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service Corps is one of the seven Uniformed Services.

Both the position of Surgeon General, and the United States Public Health Corps that the Surgeon General leads, are an extremely important component of our national health education and response, Dr. Adams said at his nomination hearing chaired by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee this August.

Prevention, wellness, and health promotion

The Public Health Service Commissioned Corps has approximately 6,500 uniformed health officers who serve in 600 locations around the world to promote, protect and advance the health and safety of America and the world.

Whether we are facing infectious diseases like Ebola and Zika, or natural disasters like earthquakes and Hurricane Katrina, or human-caused tragedies like 9/11 and the opioid epidemic, our country and our world need this ready to respond army of health experts, Dr. Adams said.

He also added that while many people call the surgeon general Americas top doctor one person cant be all things to health and doesnt give proper consideration to the vital role partnerships play in the success of this position, Dr. Adams said.

The position of Surgeon General carries with it tremendous power to convene supporters (as well as detractors), and to facilitate health and wellness discussions, Adams said. The power of the position comes from the even wider array of health crusaders that can be mobilized from a multitude of sectors across our country if the platform is used properly.

Dr. Adams has served in leadership positions at a number of professional organizations, including the American Medical Association, the Indiana State Medical Association and the Indiana Society of Anesthesiologists. He is the immediate past Chair of the Professional Diversity Committee for the American Society of Anesthesiologists

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'We will get through this," says Nation's Doctor: Dr. Jerome Adams - BlackEngineer.com

The Science Behind The BCG Vaccine – Newstalk 106-108 fm

Luke ONeill, Professor of Biochemistry Trinity College,

We look at the science behind the BCG vaccine, with Prof Luke O'Neil Professor of Biochemistry at Trinity College, MihaiNeteaOIfeInfectious DiseaseSpecialist and Prof of ExperimentalInternal Medicine andPaul Hegarty, Consultant Urologist, Mater Private Hospital & Mater Misericordiae University Hospital.

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The Science Behind The BCG Vaccine - Newstalk 106-108 fm

2020 UWMadison Distinguished Teaching Awards – University of Wisconsin-Madison

Thirteen faculty members have been chosen to receive this yearsDistinguished Teaching Awards, an honor that annually recognizes some of UWMadisons finest educators. The following testimonials were given, and photographs made, before virtual teaching was instituted in response to COVID-19 but whatever form instruction might take, this group ranks among the universitys best. While the ceremony originally scheduled for April 7 has been postponed, we honor the winners here, and commend all who are teaching in these challenging times.

Photographs byJeff MillerandBryce Richter

Emil Steiger Teaching Award

PaulBlockAssociate professor of civil and environmental engineering

Paul Block teaches graduate students a Hydroclimatology for Water Resources Management class in Engineering Hall. Photo: Jeff Miller

Block has taught each semester since beginning at UWMadison in 2013 at both the graduate and undergraduate level. He creates an intellectually stimulating classroom environment by combining demonstrations, experiential learning, reinforcement and critical thinking in an interactive setting. Block has modernized the content of several courses and significantly upgraded lab facilities, modules and the number of experiments students do. Fluid Mechanics is widely regarded as one of the more difficult engineering courses, but Block uses demonstrations, experiments and visuals to make it engaging and enjoyable. His research and applications connecting climate prediction and water resources systems management have involved international efforts and collaborations, ranging from Ethiopia to Peru and Chile.

Class of 1955 Teaching Excellence Award

William BrocklissAssociate professor, Classical & Ancient Near Eastern Studies

William Brockliss is pictured with artwork titled Sarcophagus with the Allegory of the Four Seasons in the Roman and Greek collection at the Chazen Museum of Art. Photo: Jeff Miller

Brockliss has a gift for engaging students through discussions, activities and presentations, even in high-enrollment courses like his popular Ancient Greek and Roman Monsters course. He has given presentations on classics and the Latin language to students in elementary and high school, acted as a liaison with Latin teachers from Wisconsin high schools, organized three visit days for high-school students on the UW campus, and taught classes for the Odyssey Project, which allows low-income adults to earn college credit. Brockliss has served as a mentor to students with an interest in teaching high school Latin, with three going on to be certified to teach Latin and now employed in Wisconsin high schools.

Chancellors Distinguished Teaching Award

SamuelButcherProfessor of biochemistry

Samuel Butcher is pictured in his office at the Biochemistry Labs. Photo: Jeff Miller

Butcher has been teaching Introduction to Biochemistry for almost two decades, with enrollment growing from 200 students per semester to more than 600. He has been instrumental in reshaping the course with the goal of teaching students to think like a scientist. Theyre focused on learning concepts rather than memorizing facts. Butcher is also committed to accessibility and led an initiative to add more sections of Biochem 501, including courses in the summer and online to increase access. He has been a leader in using technology to make the course material more accessible for all students, regardless of disability or learning style.

Chancellors Teaching Innovation Award

ShuchiChawlaProfessor of computer science

Shuchi Chawla teaches students an Introduction to Algorithms class in Noland Hall. Photo: Jeff Miller

Chawla has risen to the challenge in teaching Computer Science 577: Introduction to Algorithms. When she began teaching the course in 2006, 30 students were enrolled. Today, there are more than 300. To ensure that todays students receive the same high-quality experience as their predecessors, she has restructured the pace of the course, held frequent office hours, and brought in peer mentors (undergrads who have recently taken the course) so that students who are struggling have a variety of resources available when they need help. The peer mentor system has been so successful it has been adopted for other Computer Science courses.

William H. Kiekhofer Teaching Award

Kathleen CulverAssociate professor of journalism and mass communication

Kathleen Culver teaches a Journalism 563: Law of Mass Communication class in Helen C. White Hall. Photo: Jeff Miller

As the driving force behind Journalism 202: Mass Media Practices, Culver is responsible for giving students a solid foundation for success in the rapidly changing media landscape. Her effectiveness is evident in the words of the many students she has guided and mentored, both in and out of the classroom. Culver has trained media educators from across the country at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, and as director of the Center for Journalism Ethics, she serves as a source for reporters on questions of journalism ethics, digital innovations in journalism, and other contemporary issues.

Chancellors Inclusive Excellence Award

RamziFawazAssociate professor of English

Ramzi Fawaz is pictured at Stanford University, where he is currently on leave as a 2019-2020 faculty fellow. By Steve Castillo, courtesy of Stanford Humanities Center

Fawaz has added many innovative courses to the English departments offerings, with titles such as Queer about Comics, Gay is Good: Queer Visions of Freedom Since the 1970s and America in the 1990s. In an open, welcoming setting that encourages students to share their thoughts and feelings about the course material, he challenges students to step out of their comfort zones and examine their views of the world. Fawazs influence on teaching extends well beyond the university. Among his many outreach activities, he frequently participates in interviews and panel discussions on teaching and has written a widely read article on trigger warnings in the classroom.

Chancellors Distinguished Teaching Award

ChristineGarloughProfessor of gender and womens studies

Christine Garlough talks with students during a Gender and Womens Studies 449 course in Chamberlin Hall. Photo: Bryce Richter

Garlough believes classrooms should address real-world issues with rigor and compassion, guiding students to pursue knowledge and develop their own voices. She inspires critical thinking and self-reflection in a supportive learning environment. Her approach mixes lecture, discussion and small group participation. Students in large lectures can be disinclined to connect with others in a sea of strangers, but Garlough regularly creates opportunities for dialogue and engaged listening. Students eagerly engage with others every class period and even change seats over the course of the semester so they can benefit from discussion with a variety of classmates holding different perspectives.

Chancellors Distinguished Teaching Award

EricaHalversonProfessor of curriculum and instruction

Erica Halverson talks with students at Thoreau Elementary School in Madison during a Whoopensocker outreach program event. Photo: Bryce Richter

Halversons work focuses on teaching and learning in and through the arts. From First-Year Interest Groups to graduate-level courses, she is known for challenging her students to understand themselves and their world differently. She designed and teaches Arts Integration for Teaching and Learning, a unique course that engages future elementary school teachers in understanding and using various art forms in their teaching. The students learn to create art that represents their experiences and to think about how they might bring the arts into their future classrooms not only for the arts own sake, but also in support of core concepts like reading and math.

Excellence in Community-Based Learning Teaching Award

AndreaHicksAssistant professor of civil and environmental engineering

Andrea Hicks is pictured in her office in Engineering Hall. Photo: Bryce Richter

Hicks used a $5,000 grant from the Morgridge Center for Public Service to turn her Environmental Sustainability Engineering course into a community-based learning course. She works with the UniverCity Year program, which connects the UW with Wisconsin communities, to find class projects. Her students then work on problems identified by counties, villages and school districts. Students evaluate the problem and potential solutions using the three paradigms of sustainability: environment, economy and society. Community partners use the students work to advance projects in areas such as renewable energy and wastewater treatment. Students love the opportunity to take what theyve learned in the classroom and apply it to real-life problems.

Chancellors Distinguished Teaching Award

IrenaKnezevicProfessor of electrical and computer engineering

Irena Knezevic talks with a graduate student during a progress check-in meeting. Photo: Bryce Richter

ECE 235: Introduction to Solid State Electronics is a required course with a large enrollment and difficult subject matter. But 10 years ago, Knezevic reimagined how the fundamentals of quantum mechanics could be introduced to undergraduate engineering learners and revamped the course. She developed a successful approach thats been adopted by everyone who teaches it. She began redesigning the course before she had been granted tenure a time when junior faculty typically devote most of their time to research. Her reward was the knowledge that students would more easily master difficult material and would approach the course with enthusiasm rather than dread.

Chancellors Inclusive Excellence Award

LoriLopezAssociate professor of communication arts

Lori Lopez talks with students during a Communication Arts 250 course in the Educational Sciences Building. Photo: Bryce Richter

In teaching everything from large introductory courses to small graduate seminars, Lopez has earned high marks and glowing comments from students for her approach to controversial topics such as racism. As the creator and chair of her departments Diversity and Equity Committee, she has added mini trainings to monthly department meetings, on topics such as trans-inclusive pedagogy, universal design, diversifying the syllabus, and diversity accommodations. Lopez is also committed to creating opportunities for learning outside of the classroom and created Madisons Asian American Media Spotlight, a film festival that invites filmmakers from across the country to screen their films on campus and engage in discussions with students.

Chancellors Distinguished Teaching Award

JenniferRatner-RosenhagenProfessor of history

Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen talks with audience members during a public lecture in the Elvehjem Building. Photo: Bryce Richter

Ratner-Rosenhagen teaches U.S. intellectual history a topic she acknowledges might seem forbidding, arcane and dull to undergrads. But she brings it to life and gives her students the confidence to believe that they can do important intellectual work. Her innovative undergraduate courses build on students interests and guide them in thinking about how key ideas in U.S. intellectual history relate to their own lives. In her course titled A History of Your Parents Generation: 1970s-90s, students interview their parents about their memories of that time. Outside the classroom, she founded the Intellectual History Group grad students and faculty who meet to discuss books, articles and dissertation chapters.

Van Hise Outreach Teaching Award

KateVieiraAssociate professor of curriculum and instruction

Kate Vieira talks with students during a Curriculum and Instruction 596 class session in the Teacher Education Building. Photo: Bryce Richter

Vieiras work focuses on issues of literacy among everyday people, especially those at the margins of society. She explores literacy and writing as a means of social change. Her outreach work has taken her to Colombia, where she has worked with community members using writing to help people build peace after the violence of a decades-long civil war. Locally, she has forged connections between South American educators and the Madison community. Two of her collaborators from Colombia visited last May to co-lead workshops at East and West high schools, meet with local Latinx writers, and share pedagogical practices with representatives of the Greater Madison Writing Project.

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2020 UWMadison Distinguished Teaching Awards - University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Effect of Visceral Abdominal Fat Volume on Oxidative Stress and Pr | DMSO – Dove Medical Press

Andrs Garca-Snchez, Jorge Ivn Gmez-Nava, Elodia Nataly Daz-de la Cruz, Ernesto Germn Cardona-Muoz, Itzel Nayar Becerra-Alvarado, Javier Alejandro Aceves-Aceves, Esther Nrida Snchez-Rodrguez, Alejandra Guillermina Miranda-Daz

Department of Physiology, University Health Sciences Centre, University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Correspondence: Alejandra Guillermina Miranda-DazDepartment of Physiology, University Health Sciences Centre, University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, MexicoEmail kindalex1@outlook.com

Purpose: The increase of visceral abdominal fat (VAF) and oxidative stress (OS) are independent predictors for cardiovascular risk. This study aimed to determine the association of VAF with proinflammatory cytokines, oxidants, antioxidants, and oxidative damage to DNA in subjects with normalweight, overweight, and obesity.PatientsandMethods: A cross-sectional study that included 21 men and 71 women whoattended for a medical check-up was conducted. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to measure the VAF volume. ELISA and colorimetric techniques were used for chemical analysis.Results: Low activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) was found in overweight and obese subjects compared to the normalweight group (p=0.005). In contrast, the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) was higher in the overweight and obesity groups compared to the normalweight subjects (p=0.017). The total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was alsoincreased in the overweight group compared to the normalweight group (p=0.04). According to the volume of VAF, the levels of tumor necrosis factor alfa and interleukin 6 showed no differences between subjects with normal and high VAF. Subjects with high VAF show higher levels of 8-isoprostans compared to normal VAF group (p=0.039). Less concentration of 8-oxoguanine-DNA-N-glycosylase-1 (hOGG1) was found in the high VAF group (p=0.032) compared to thenormal VAF subjects. VAF was positively correlated with lipoperoxides (LPO) (r=0.27, p< 0.05) and 8-isoprostanes (r=0.25, p< 0.05). We also found correlations between oxidative stress markers and anthropometric ratios for intra-abdominal fat. The waist-hip ratio was positively correlated with LPO (r=0.30, p< 0.05) and TAC (r=0.24, p< 0.05).Conclusion: These findings suggest that the predominantly oxidative damage associated with VAF in overweight or obesity is lipoperoxidation and oxidative DNA damage. Alterations in endogenous antioxidant defenses may not be linked to the amount of VAF.

Keywords: oxidative stress, oxidative DNA damage, antioxidant enzymes, Lunar iDXA, visceral fat cutoff score

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The Effect of Visceral Abdominal Fat Volume on Oxidative Stress and Pr | DMSO - Dove Medical Press

Growing from there to here – Good Fruit Grower

In its natural habitat, a sweet cherry tree can grow up to 135 feet, much higher than an apple trees 40 feet, or even a pear trees 65 feet. Combine that height with small, delicate fruit that needs to be picked by the stem, and its safe to say the cherry tree poses some unique management challenges.

Its a forest tree, said Greg Lang, a professor of horticulture at Michigan State University. Lang spoke during the International Fruit Tree Associations 2020 conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It evolved over centuries to survive in forests.

But over the last few decades, researchers, nurserymen and growers have manipulated the giant forest trees physiology into the small yet productive tree we see in modern, high-density orchards today. Cherry trees, it turns out, can grow into unusual shapes. Lang focused especially on the UFO system upright fruiting offshoots named by Matt Whiting, a Washington State University professor.

Lang expects the UFO system to be common a decade from now. Its yields can be equal to or greater than other systems, crop load management and fruit quality are more uniform, hand harvest is more efficient, and the structure is more amenable to precision tools and technology.

But how did we get from there to here from the forest giant to the UFO? Lang started by explaining how a seedling survives.

A cherry seedlings top priority is to grow a vertical leader that can capture as much light as possible in a crowded forest. To achieve apical dominance, all of the trees energy and growth goes toward its top in the first year, he said.

Vigor is always greatest in the tops of trees, Lang said. Even when they are 35 or more years old.

Beginning in the second year, the leader keeps growing, but the tree also initiates upright primary lateral growth just below it (so if the leader dies, one of the laterals can take over). Lower secondary branches grow horizontally beneath the primary laterals, to capture light the leader isnt getting and to shade out forest competitors, he said.

As the tree ages, its extreme vigor is dispersed into the laterals. In order to capture new light, its large leaves arise as far away from the previously formed leaves as possible.

(The cherry tree) still thinks its in the forest and (it is) trying to grow up and capture light, Lang said. Thats what were trying to manage throughout the life of the orchard.

For a long time, commercial growers had to focus on managing a freestanding cherry trees incredible vigor keeping it at a reasonable size rather than managing its crop load. Things changed in the 1990s, however, when dwarfing rootstocks became available.

The question we started wrestling with when we got dwarfing rootstocks for sweet cherries was: How can we get toward precise crop load management of a cherry tree now that we have a smaller tree than that forest tree? Lang said.

He turned to grapevines for inspiration.

I said, Lets grow a cherry tree like a grape, where it is easy to prune to a specific number of spurs and buds that lead to a specific spacing and quantity of shoots and fruit clusters.

With this in mind, in 1999, Lang, who was with WSU at the time, developed a planar cherry tree canopy structure to emulate the two cordons and vertical shoot position training of wine grapes. WSUs Whiting further developed the concept with UFO a system that utilizes the natural growth habit the cherry tree evolved over centuries to most efficiently capture sunlight, Lang said.

UFO takes advantage of the trees natural upright growth by establishing multiple vertical fruiting units in a narrowly aligned row arising from a primary trunk thats trained horizontally. The number of vertical fruiting units is varied to diffuse vigor in proportion to the overall vigor of the rootstock-scion-soil-climate matrix yielding the only training system that can be adapted to any rootstock. The system also takes advantage of the leaves natural arrangement forming on the vertical shoot as far away, horizontally, from previous leaves as possible to minimize shading and maximize light penetration, Lang said.

by Matt Milkovich

Related:Precision vision on 2020 IFTA Michigan tourStill no answer for bitter pitBattle of the cherry architecturesGrowers gain UFO experience

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Growing from there to here - Good Fruit Grower