The Power to Tell Your Story

• share
• favorite_border

University of Iowa faculty members spend an average of 31.4 hours a week on teaching activities. The study marks the first time that the UI faculty has documented all of its teaching activities, including not only regularly scheduled classes, laboratories and seminars but also time spent preparing for classes, evaluating student assignments, holding office hours, advising students, providing individualized instruction, and working on special projects with honors, masters and doctoral students.

• share
• favorite_border

In a study that could have implications for how hospitals respond to competitive pressures and managed care, a University of Iowa researcher has found that inpatient care units with higher proportions of care delivered by registered nurses have lower rates of medication errors, patient falls and other adverse patient outcomes.

• share
• favorite_border

Students from disadvantaged backgrounds may earn lower scores on standardized tests because they fear that academic success will alienate them from friends or family members and arouse suspicion among teachers, a University of Iowa study has found.

• share
• favorite_border

Despite fears that President Clinton's personal scandal would demoralize Democratic voters in the upcoming mid-term elections, the 1998 Heartland Poll from the University of Iowa shows that Democratic voters in the Midwest are more highly energized than their Republican counterparts. The Heartland Poll, is conducted in election years at the Iowa Social Science Institute at the UI.

• share
• favorite_border

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The future of affirmative action policies and how they will continue affect universities and workplaces nationwide is the topic of "A Conference on the Future of Affirmative Action" set to take place at the University of Iowa Oct. 30-31.

• share
• favorite_border

At least one in six athletes representing the United States in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta had a history of asthma, according to a study published in the November issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

• share
• favorite_border

The order in which a physician receives information about a patientís problem may affect the doctorís ultimate diagnosis -- even for a fairly common condition, according to a University of Iowa study.

• share
• favorite_border

Physicians often seek informal advice from specialists about their patientsí problems, but many times the consultations require a round or two of phone tag or happen hastily as the two colleagues pass each other in a rush. George R. Bergus, M.D., a University of Iowa associate professor of family medicine, has alleviated some of these consultation frustrations for doctors in his department. He has taken the interaction to the Internet.

• share
• favorite_border

UI researchers report that mutations in a gene located on chromosome 1 are responsible for primary open angle glaucoma. "These study results point to the potential availability of a blood test that can identify people at risk for primary open angle glaucoma," says Dr. Thomas Weingeist, UI professor and head of ophthalmology.

• share
• favorite_border

A researcher at the University of Iowa College of Medicine has discovered a technique that may open new doors for prostate cancer therapy. Dr. Timothy Ratliff, UI professor of urology, says a virus called canarypox has the potential to be used as a means of transporting genes that stimulate anti-tumor activity into prostate cancer cells. Ratliff's research appears in the March 19 issue of Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

• share
• favorite_border

For decades, traction has been used routinely to treat dislocated hips in children. But as a University of Iowa College Medicine researcher points out, little scientific evidence exists to show this procedure makes any difference in treating newborn and young children with hip problems.

• share
• favorite_border

Observers around the world will be watching July 1 as Hong Kong makes the transition from British to Chinese authority. To mark the occasion, the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and the UI College of Medicine will take part in a worldwide teleconference convened by the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

• share
• favorite_border

Study finds that following AHA recommendations for electrode placement during defibrilation allows the most current to reach the heart.

• share
• favorite_border

The University of Iowa is one of two research centers coordinating a worldwide surveillance program to track the escalating spread of bacteria resistant to current antibiotics.

• share
• favorite_border

The consequences of genetic testing should be carefully considered by patients and health care providers before a test is administered, according to a University of Iowa nursing professor.

• share
• favorite_border

A certain amount of suspicion is a good thing but too much can be unhealthy. University of Iowa researchers have shown that personality traits and attitudes can affect how well patients follow their medical regimen.

• share
• favorite_border

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Repeated exposure to molds often found in damp hay and grain can irritate the lungs causing a disease known as farmer's lung or hypersensitivity pneumonitis. The syndrome causes coughing and shortness of breath, and is "reasonably common in the Midwest," says Dr. Gary Hunninghake, University of Iowa professor of internal medicine, who has studied the disease for many years.

• share
• favorite_border

For 50 years, Dr. Ignacio V. Ponseti, professor emeritus of orthopaedic surgery at the University of Iowa College of Medicine, has been telling his colleagues that surgery is not the proper method for correcting clubfoot in infants.

• share
• favorite_border

The guidelines used to evaluate on-the-job injury prevention programs often use the weakest available measurement criteria, according to published research led or co-led by Dr. Craig Zwerling, University of Iowa associate professor of preventive medicine and environmental health.

• share
• favorite_border

Cigarette smoking significantly worsens the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, according to University of Iowa College of Medicine researchers who studied the severity of the disease in more than 300 patients.

• share
• favorite_border

Cystic fibrosis, the most common hereditary disease in the United States, is caused by the malfunction of an ion channel that is critical for maintaining the secretions of salt and water that protect the lungs. New research suggests a novel way in which this ion channel may function, thus challenging a commonly held "corked/uncorked" theory. The finding, published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, paves the way for a more refined research effort to find a cure or improve treatment for cystic fibrosis.

• share
• favorite_border

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Every mom knows that after giving birth, sleep is a precious commodity; fatigue and emotional fluctuations are part of the experience. Everyone knows it, but according to Michael O'Hara, University of Iowa professor of psychology, no one has documented the effect of post-birth sleep patterns on thought processes and mood.

• share
• favorite_border

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Among neurological disorders, autism is the new kid on the block, and no one really knows what causes it. For nearly 30 years scientists believed that autism was a disorder of the mind, caused by poor parenting or perhaps early psychological trauma. But by the 1970s, it became clear that biological rather than psychological factors cause the brain abnormality. Today, psychiatrists still don't know exactly what that abnormality is or where and how it develops. Those are questions Dr. Joseph Piven, University of Iowa associate professor of psychiatry, and his colleagues tackle daily. Recently, they found neuroanatomical differences between the brains of autistic and healthy young adults.

• share
• favorite_border

A mechanism that regulates protein activity, previously undescribed for advanced cells, has been reported by Dr. Toshinori Hoshi, University of Iowa assistant professor of physiology and biophysics.

• share
• favorite_border

What does it mean if your doctor is not among those listed as "Best Doctors"? Maybe nothing in terms of good care, says Dr. Arthur Hartz, University of Iowa professor of family medicine.

• share
• favorite_border

A University of Iowa rheumatologist reports that the drug alendronate (marketed as Fosamax) may help prevent steroid-induced osteoporosis, the second most common cause of osteoporosis in post-menopausal women.

• share
• favorite_border

When it comes to lung cancer diagnosis sometimes less is more, even in the high-tech world of medicine. That is the message of a University of Iowa study showing that the analysis of sputum -- a low-cost, low-risk method for detecting lung cancer -- makes more sense as an initial diagnostic test for many patients than the more expensive invasive methods. In addition, the potential national savings in testing costs with the adoption of sputum analysis would be at least $30 million per year.

• share
• favorite_border

Immune system function is decreased in alcoholics and alcohol abusers with liver disease, making them more susceptible to infections and disease. Recent research done at the University of Iowa suggests that alcohol, rather than the liver disease, is largely responsible for the decrease in immune system function -- perhaps by decreasing the number of immune system cells. Sporadic alcohol intake, or binge drinking, may contribute to that cell loss, according to Dr. Robert Cook, professor of pathology at the UI College of Medicine and Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

• share
• favorite_border

The unruly child in the dentist's chair may resist treatment not because of fear but rather out of trouble responding to requests from adults. A University of Iowa College of Dentistry professor suggests that parenting styles affect preschool children's willingness to comply with dental care.

• share
• favorite_border

Though anabolic steroids are known to produce aggressive behavior, a University of Iowa study shows that the drugs do not necessarily cause automobile drivers to take extra risks behind the wheel.

• share
• favorite_border

Employees with certain disabilities are more likely to be injured on the job than workers without disabilities. As a result, further research in the design and evaluation of workplace accommodations for these employees may be needed, according to a study by researchers at the University of Iowa College of Medicine.

• share
• favorite_border

About 5,400 students across the country are getting a high-tech introduction to economic literacy during the next three years, thanks to a $443,000 grant to the University of Iowa College of Business Administration and a partnership of 45 colleges, and educational associations and advocates for minority education.

• share
• favorite_border

Future teachers from the University of Iowa College of Education are showcasing their high-tech skills in a novel way, thanks to a new effort to prepare teachers for the classroom who will also be noticed by employers. "The Electronic Portfolio Project" is a new initiative to provide students in the teacher education program in the College of Education with training, skills and resources to make their academic and professional abilities available to employers on the World Wide Web.

• share
• favorite_border

Public trials of government officials accused of mass atrocities can be quite effective in helping countries heal their psychic wounds, University of Iowa Law Professor Mark Osiel argues in a new book that has attracted attention from judges currently investigating war crimes. "Mass Atrocity, Collective Memory, and the Law" (Transaction Publishers, 1997) lays out Osiel's arguments that the law -- and its manifestation in public trials -- can help societies make sense of their with traumatic pasts.

• share
• favorite_border

The world's most advanced search for the basic building blocks of matter -- a quest begun in ancient Greece -- will be conducted with the help of physicists from the University of Iowa and Iowa State University.

• share
• favorite_border

The University of Iowa International Writing Program (IWP) is a one-of-a-kind residency program that brings together the writers of the world. In 1997 the IWP marked 30 years as a facilitator of intellectual interaction, a promoter of global understanding, an advocate of literary freedom and a celebrant of the importance of writers everywhere.

• share
• favorite_border

Osteoarthritis is not inevitable for people middle-aged and older who want to start playing sports or continue exercising regularly, according to a UI researcher.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers in the University of Iowa College of Medicine are concerned that people who take medications to control high blood pressure at bedtime or in excessive amounts may be at increased risk for an eye disorder known as anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION) or stroke of the eye.

• share
• favorite_border

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Cerebral malaria should be considered as seriously as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or Agent Orange exposure as an underlying cause of long-term medical and psychological problems faced by some Vietnam War veterans, according to a study by a University of Iowa and Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) psychologist.

• share
• favorite_border

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The 1997-98 season is the 50th anniversary of the Broadway premiere of "Summer and Smoke" by University of Iowa theater alumnus Tennessee Williams. To mark the anniversary, University Theatres is producing not the play that was produced on Broadway, but the revision that Williams preferred, "The Eccentricities of a Nightingale."

• share
• favorite_border

Adults 65 years and older who report a high degree of loneliness, tend to be admitted to a nursing home sooner than people who are not so lonel, according to University of Iowa and Iowa State University study.

• share
• favorite_border

Dr. Kenneth Mobily, University of Iowa professor of sports, health, leisure and physical studies, has developed a low-tech, community-based strength training program that improves the physical condition and capabilities in older folks and helps prevent falls.

• share
• favorite_border

A research team led by a University of Iowa College of Medicine researcher has discovered a combination of laboratory tests that may help identify heavy drinkers.

• share
• favorite_border

A University of Iowa researcher may have made a key advance in finding more effective and safer drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune disorders.

• share
• favorite_border

Dr. Antoine Bechara, an assistant professor of neurology at the University of Iowa, thinks that both pleasure and avoidance of pain play a role in compulsive drug use, and that both behaviors are controlled by the brain.

• share
• favorite_border

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Accountants who can write? ... In proper, readable English? Some would say that's as likely as having the Internal Revenue Service offer refunds for poor customer service. But turning out future accountants with communications skills that are as well developed as their bookkeeping prowess is an increasingly important goal of the Department of Accounting at the University of Iowa College of Business Administration.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists don't know exactly how cancer spreads throughout the body or why some forms of the disease distribute to specific organs, but research conducted at the University of Iowa sheds new light on the mysteries of metastasis.

• share
• favorite_border

Bacteria in a community called biofilm are often resistant to attack by antibiotics and the immune system. Scientists may have found a way to impair protective biofilm and make it more sensitive to antibiotics.

• share
• favorite_border

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Federal regulations that say employers must provide toilet facilities for their workers also mean that workers must be permitted to use the bathroom when they need to at work, according to new guidelines issued this week by regulators to clarify an issue that two University of Iowa professors raised with OSHA and have been closely watching.

• share
• favorite_border

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- A research team in the University of Iowa College of Medicine cautions physicians that the increasingly common practice of fathers videotaping births has both risks and benefits.