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Category: Research

Federal dairy innovation program gets a boost from pandemic relief funds

Wisconsin Examiner

A federal program will give Wisconsin and 10 other states a $20 million boost to help farmers, cheese makers and other dairy processors develop new products and new markets to help stabilize the embattled dairy industry.

The funds, announced by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) Monday at a Jefferson County cheese producer, will expand the Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives program in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

USDA is giving the money to the Dairy Business Innovation Alliance, a joint project of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association and the Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The groups will provide grants and support programs so that farms, dairy processors and related businesses can “modernize, reach new markets and create economic growth,” said Baldwin.

Madison guaranteed income program will give 155 households $500 monthly for a year

Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison’s Institute for Research on Poverty is partnering with the Center for Guaranteed Income Research at the University of Pennsylvania to gather survey data throughout the program. The information collected will be used to help guide policies and future programs, advocate for a national guaranteed income program and aid in the expansion of the social safety net.

Eyes on Schizophrenia

Wisconsin Public Radio

We see the term schizophrenia often, but what does a schizophrenia sufferer experience, and how can non-sufferers recognize the symptoms? UW-Madison Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry Diane C. Gooding will lead us through the complexities of a disorder that affects millions of people worldwide.

Not Just for the Birds: Avian Influenza Is Also Felling Wild Mammals

New York Times

Something was wrong with the foxes. That was what callers to the Dane County Humane Society in Wisconsin kept saying in April, as they reported fox kits, or young foxes, behaving in strange ways: shaking, seizing or struggling to stand. The kits, which were often lethargic and wandering by themselves, also seemed unusually easy to approach, showing little fear of humans.

Build Belonging: 6 Best Ways To Connect Based On Science

Forbes

Noted: A study at the University of Wisconsin found digital messaging—and especially text—were effective in building relationships. The reason they made a difference is because they tended to communicate people were thinking about each other and taking time to reach out. The study found quantity was actually not as important as quality—communicating a real caring or attention to the other person.

Fathers feed babies too — so why are they so scarce in media coverage of the formula shortage?

Salon

Co-authored by Tova Walsh, an assistant professor of social work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a member of the Scholars Strategy Network and Alvin Thomas, an assistant professor of human development and family studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a member of the Scholars Strategy Network.

‘Zombie deer’ disease is killing herds across the country

Population Science

Allan Houston is a Professor of Forest and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Tennessee. Disclosure: Research on chronic wasting disease at the Ames station is conducted in cooperation with the University of Tennessee, Mississippi State University, the University of Wisconsin and Colorado State University.

What’s the latest on avian influenza in Wisconsin?

The Capital Times

As temperatures rise and the seasonal migration of wild birds comes to a close, this year’s transmission of the avian influenza may be nearing its end, said Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

At UW-Madison’s School of Veterinary Medicine, a vaccine for avian influenza is currently in the works to prepare for future outbreaks. Poulsen, however, said it may be difficult to vaccinate millions of birds and could potentially affect international trade.

The Kinetics of the Seismic Cycle

Eos

Finally, additional hydrothermal synthesis experiments examining the detailed kinetics of quartz cementation at conditions reflective of the earthquake-producing crust would likely be informative.— Randolph T. Williams (rtwilliams@wisc.edu; 0000-0002-1160-8842), University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA; and Åke Fagereng (0000-0001-6335-8534), Cardiff University, UK

Wisconsin ranks third worst in country for air pollution exposure disparities

Wisconsin Public Radio

Quoted: A study released last month by UW-Madison researchers found the elimination of air pollution emissions across the country from energy-related activities could prevent more than 50,000 premature deaths a year.

In a press release about the analysis, Claire Gervais, a clinical associate professor with University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, called the results “shocking.”

“Doctors can only do so much,” Gervais said. “We must have better public policy to reduce industrial and transportation sources of fossil fuel burning.”

How to Start Over: Parents Are Not All Good and All Bad

The Atlantic

In my survey 1,600 estranged parents that I did through the University of Wisconsin Survey Center, one of the things that we found was about 70 percent of the estranged parents my survey had a divorce in their past from the [other] biological parent.

White House interns will be paid for the first time this fall, opening the doors of the prestigious program to lower-income applicants

Business Insider

In years past, interns across industries may have found themselves paying thousands to hold their positions, worsening income inequality. A recent brief from the Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions at University of Wisconsin-Madison found that it’s likely middle-class and low-income students “self-select out of unpaid work due to their socio-economic status,” and therefore “are kept from these opportunities and their later rewards or take out loans that may be adding to an already considerable debt load.”

Longer wait times and fewer options for girls plague Wisconsin juvenile justice system already in disarray

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: In fact, a 2008 analysis from University of Wisconsin system researchers noted, “effective gender‐responsive care remains elusive in Wisconsin and elsewhere.”

The researchers found that girls who come into the juvenile justice system are more likely than boys to have run away from home, survived sexual abuse, experienced pregnancy, have a psychiatric condition and/or become involved with partners — especially males — who are also committing crimes.

“Adolescent girls are entering the juvenile justice system at higher rates than in the past, requiring that professionals responsible for administering programs respond to their specific needs,” researchers wrote.

Most teens have a healthy relationship with digital technology, so long as their parents do too

Wisconsin Public Radio

Quoted: Dr. Megan Moreno, a professor of pediatrics at UW-Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health and study lead, said their findings show just how important parents are when it comes to teens and technology.

“Parents serve as such role models, and I think that when kids are young, the role-modeling includes a lot of instruction and talking; and I think when teens are older, parents teach more through their own behavior than through their own words,” she said.

New tool shows Wisconsin farmers financial benefits of letting cows graze

Wisconsin Public Radio

Quoted: John Hendrickson, farm viability specialist for UW-Madison’s Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, helped develop the tool for the Grassland 2.0 project. Started in 2020 using a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the collaboration between researchers from UW-Madison and other universities, farmers and agriculture industry leaders is working to encourage farmers to adopt the use of grasslands.

“We want farms to be financially viable and sustainable for the long term,” he said. “But of course the Grasslands 2.0 project also has this larger look at the entire landscape and climate change and soil erosion and what can we do to have a more sustainable agricultural system on the landscape.”

Women return to the workforce after COVID-19

Spectrum News

According to a UW-Madison professor, there’s a big return to work in Wisconsin right now. Laura Dresser is an assistant clinical professor with the university’s Institute for Research on Poverty.

“There are more workers in the labor force today than there were in February of 2020 before the shutdowns,” she said.

She added the labor force participation rate is about 66% in the state.

“That doesn’t mean women’s lives aren’t really stressed by the pandemic, but I think we haven’t seen a kind of permanent shift in work as a result at least here in Wisconsin,” Dresser said.

Ancient canoe from Lake Mendota undergoes high tech scan

Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison announced Tuesday that Lennon Rodgers, who directs the Grainger Engineering Design and Innovation Laboratory, conducted the scans at the invitation of Wisconsin State Archaeologist James Skibo and Scott Roller, a senior collections manager for the Wisconsin Historical Society. The canoe, being preserved and housed at the Wisconsin State Archive Preservation Facility on Madison’s Near East Side, was out of its tank for about a day in order for Rodgers, who oversees the College of Engineering’s makerspace, to do his work.

Cutting fossil fuel air pollution saves lives

NPR

“These [particles] get deep into the lungs and cause both respiratory and cardiac ailments,” says Jonathan Patz, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and one of the authors of the study. “They are pretty much the worst pollutant when it comes to mortality and hospitalization.”

This Is the Cheapest City to Buy Groceries

24/7 Wall Street

Metros were ranked based on the EPI’s annual food cost estimates. The food insecurity rate (the share of the population that lacks adequate access to food) is from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute joint program’s 2021 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps report.

UW Veterinary Care offers rabbit vaccine against fatal disease

NBC-15

Researchers say a fatal rabbit hemorrhagic disease, RHDV2, is spreading across the U.S. In response to the outbreak, the UW Veterinary Care Special Species Health Service at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine is offering an emergency-authorized vaccine against the disease for rabbits.

In Praise of Anxiety

WSJ

A similar effect comes from being in the presence of others, which can cause anxiety in some contexts but can also provide a pathway out. Research shows that receiving direct social support is one of the best ways to manage all types of distress, including anxiety. A 2006 study from the University of Wisconsin, for example, brought participants into the lab to take part in a high-anxiety situation: They entered a loud, claustrophobic MRI machine to have their brain scanned and were told to expect electrical shocks in the course of the procedure. One third of the group were allowed to hold the hand of a loved one, one third held the hand of a stranger, and the last third were left alone.

The Oldest County in Every State

24/7 Tempo

Supplemental data on total population is also based on five-year estimates from the 2020 ACS. Data on life expectancy by county came from the 2021 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a joint program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. The identity of county seats comes from the National Association of Counties County Explorer.

Bioethanol: We have way too much corn.

Slate

In February, Tyler Lark, a scientist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, published a study analyzing the impact of the RFS. Lark and his colleagues researched the impact the policy had on crop prices and farm expansion between 2008 and 2016, comparing the real-world situation with a counterfactual one where biofuel production was kept at levels mandated in an earlier version of the RFS.

Straight coils for twisty reactors give new shape to nuclear fusion

New Atlas

Lonigro and her colleagues came to this realization by experimenting with a mathematical technique called “spline representation,” which they used to improve the computer code that generates designs for magnetic coils. This led to the design of magnets with straighter sections but still a strong and accurate enough magnetic field to confine the plasma. As a demonstration, the scientists designed straighter and simpler new magnets for an experimental stellarator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Critical forecast tool upgraded just in time for 2022 Atlantic hurricane season

New York Post

A crucial tool that meteorologists use to forecast hurricanes is being upgraded just in time for the start of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season.

The University of Wisconsin announced the significant upgrade to the Advanced Dvorak Technique (ADT) and says it will use full-resolution images from weather satellites, better identification of the storm eye location and the ability to analyze hurricanes occurring outside tropical regions.

ADT was developed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS).

“The ADT itself is not a prediction tool, but it does help describe the current state of tropical cyclone intensity, which provides the critical starting point for both forecaster and model-based predictions of future track and intensity,” says senior scientist Christopher Velden, who leads the CIMSS Tropical Cyclone Group.

A longevity expert says you can extend your life span if you eat more carbs and less protein and fast every 3 months

Insider

Noted: Diets high in plant-based carbs and fats and low in meat and processed food may be best for longevity, according to the researchers, Valter Longo, a professor at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, and Rozalyn M. Anderson of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

American families need to earn $35.80 an hour just to make ends meet. Few earn that.

CBS News

Noted: An hourly wage of $35.80 equates to about $74,400 in annual income. The average hourly wage stood at $31.73 in March, or about $66,000 annually, according to the latest government data. That means many families are falling behind in their ability to afford the basics, said Marjory Givens, co-director at the County Health Rankings, which is a program of the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

Iowa counties ranked in terms of health by University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute

The Courier

Newly released rankings on the health of people in each county in the United States has Black Hawk and Bremer counties on opposite ends of the spectrum.

The rankings, put together by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute using new data, are meant to help people “understand what influences how long and how well we live.”

For many American families a living wage is out of reach: Report

ABC News

“The data reinforces what we’ve known for some time. People in both rural and urban communities face long-standing barriers, systemic barriers — avoidable barriers — that get in the way of groups of people and places in our country from being able to live long and well,” Sheri Johnson, co-director of County Health Rankings & Roadmaps and director of the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, told ABC News.