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Category: Research

Wolf study raises questions about what’s going on in Wisconsin’s woods

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Wisconsin Examiner

After contributing to an independent study to assess how many wolves were killed during the February wolf hunt, Professor Adrian Treves expected some criticism. “There’s just more controversy surrounding wolves, their protected status, and the conflict that some people experience with them that makes management very difficult and controversial,” Treves, a professor of environmental studies at UW-Madison’s Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies, told Wisconsin Examiner. It’s also normal for new research to be debated, questioned, and compared with other existing information. Treves, however, feels that’s not how the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is handling the study’s findings.

Native bees need saving too, research shows decline across Midwest

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Spectrum News

This summer, UW-Madison researchers further looked at the links between certain types of crops, the growth in those types of crops and the correlation to a decline in native bees across the state and the midwest as a whole.

“Rarer [bees] that have become increasingly rare, they might not be able to thrive because we’ve eliminated those flowers that they need from the landscape,” said Jeremy Hemberger, a research entomologist at UW-Madison “by converting prairies and wetlands to agriculture and developments.”

The decline of native bees is a decades-long problem that keeps the list of endangered bees growing.

“Native bees are silently playing these really important roles, so just people becoming more aware that there’s all these other groups out there that through our actions we could be supporting, I think is a really valuable thing,” UW-Madison professor Claudio Gratton said.

Researchers Estimate 1/3 of Wisconsin’s Wolf Population Wiped Out in Last Year

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Newsweek

In an analysis published in the journal PeerJ on July 5, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UWM) estimate that Wisconsin’s wolf population was reduced by about one-third between April 2020 and April 2021. Specifically, the researchers estimate that 313 to 323 (27 to 33 percent) of the state’s 1,034 wolves were killed by hunters or poachers in that period of time.

Wisconsin’s Covid Condition: The Delta Variant Looms for Unvaccinated People

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PBS Wisconsin

Quoted: “The really good news is that if you have gotten your vaccine, you’re not going to be sick with the Delta virus,” said David O’Connor, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the July 7 edition of Here & Now’s Noon Wednesday.

“Most of the people who are getting sick with the Delta variant, and indeed with covid generally, in the United States are people who are not vaccinated,” said Thomas Friedrich, a professor of pathobiological sciences at UW-Madison, also during the July 7 episode of Noon Wednesday.

UW Prof. Jordan Ellenberg, “Shape: The Hidden Geometry Of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy And Everything Else.”

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WORT FM

Stu Levitan welcomes one of the brightest stars in the firmament that is the University of Wisconsin faculty, Professor Jordan Ellenberg, here to talk about his New York Times best-seller, Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else.

Latinos Have Greater Risk of Developing Alzheimer’s, But Less Likely to Get Help

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WTTW - Chicago PBS

Quoted: Dr. María Carolina Mora Pinzón, a preventive medicine physician and scientist at the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute at University of Wisconsin, Madison, says that Latinos are less likely to move a relative into a residential care facility or access other forms of help.

“We have heard from people that are looking for the services, that they are not available for their family members,” said Mora Pinzón. “It’s either an access issue where they are not eligible, or the insurance does not cover these types of services.”

Virtual cow fences, 24-hour NYC partying, Carters’ anniversary: News from around our 50 states

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USA Today

Madison: As many as one-third of the state’s gray wolves likely died at the hands of humans in the months after the federal government announced it was ending legal protections, according to a study released Monday. Poaching and a February hunt that far exceeded kill quotas were largely responsible for the drop-off, University of Wisconsin scientists said, though some other scientists say more direct evidence is needed for some of the calculations

California identifies new, rare gray wolf pack

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ABC News

Wisconsin was the first state to resume hunting of wolves. A study released this week by University of Wisconsin scientists says that as many as one-third of Wisconsin’s gray wolves likely died at the hands of humans in the months after the federal government announced it was ending legal protections.

Wisconsin’s gray wolves are in serious trouble

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Popular Science

The aim of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources was to have a hunting season that “resulted in no annual increase or decrease in the state’s wolf population.” Wolf hunts are annual events where hunters congregate to hunt the animals for sport, though this practice has become controversial in many countries. However, that no change in the wolf’s population goal was not met, says Adrian Treves, an ecologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and coauthor of the new findings.

After COVID-19 Successes, Researchers Push to Develop mRNA Vaccines for Other Diseases

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Scientific American

In 1990, the late physician-scientist Jon Wolff and his University of Wisconsin colleagues injected mRNA into mice, which caused cells in the mice to produce the encoded proteins. In many ways, that work served as the first step toward making a vaccine from mRNA, but there was a long way to go—and there still is, for many applications.

Self-powered biodegradable patch zaps broken bones to heal them

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New Atlas

Seeking a simpler, less invasive alternative, a team led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Prof. Xudong Wang created a self-powered electrical patch that is surgically placed onto a bone-break site, but that is harmlessly absorbed by the body once its job is done. It’s called the fracture electrostimulation device, or FED.

We Are on Track for a Planet-Wide, Climate-Driven Landscape Makeover

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Mother Jones

Scientists debate what this floral rearrangement will look like. In some places, it may take place quietly and be easily ignored. In others, though, it could be one of the changing climate’s most consequential and disruptive effects. “There’s a whole lot more of this we can expect over the next decades,” said University of Wisconsin-Madison paleoecologist Jack Williams. “When people talk about wildfires out West, about species moving upslope—to me, this is just the beginning.”

First Thing: Six months on, Republican efforts to deny Capitol attack are working

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The Guardian

Wisconsin’s gray wolf population plunged by as much as a third after they were removed from the endangered list in January. A study by the University of Wisconsin released on Monday found that poaching and a hunt in February were largely responsible for the huge drop in population numbers. Gray wolves in the lower 48 states were removed from the US Fish and Wildlife Service list of endangered and threatened species in January, soon before Donald Trump left office.

Participants needed for Alzheimer’s disease clinical trial with UW Madison

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NBC-15

Madison researchers are looking for people to participate in a clinical trial that is the first of its kind to study Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss. The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health announced Tuesday it was searching for volunteers for the AHEAD study, which will test an experimental drug’s effectiveness to a large group of participants.

Medical, veterinary specialists worked together for risky brain surgery on a Milwaukee County Zoo bonobo

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Zoo veterinarians injected the bonobo in the hip with medication to render him unconscious. Then, Schroeder and a colleague, Kyle Bartholomew, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, injected Qasai with two additional medications, Lidocaine and Propofol.

State Prisons Fueled Covid-19 Spread in Their Areas Last Spring, Study Suggests

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Gizmodo

Noted: Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison looked at data on covid-19 cases across the U.S. reported during the spring of 2020 and focused on comparing counties with prisons and jails to those without them. After controlling for other variables linked to covid-19 spread, like nearby nursing homes or population density, they found a clear link between having a state prison in the area and increased covid-19 cases.

“Our big takeaway from this research is that prisons are a particularly vulnerable type of facility when it comes to risk for disease spread, which may add additional stress to rural healthcare systems that are already struggling to cope with the pandemic,” study author Kaitlyn Sims, a doctoral student in agricultural and applied economics at UW–Madison, told Gizmodo in an email.

Healthiest Communities: How They Were Ranked

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US News and World Report

Babies Born With Low Birth Weight: Reflects the percentage of live births where the infant weighed less than 2,500 grams, or about 5.5 pounds. (2012-2018; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. County Health Rankings & Roadmaps)

Former Mosinee athlete, UW professor addresses brain trauma in new book about youth sports

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Wausau Daily Herald

She was studying athletic training at the University of Wisconsin-Madison when she met the athlete who would change the trajectory of her career.

Now a 34-year-old assistant professor at UW-Madison’s Department of Kinesiology, Mosinee native Julie Stamm was an undergraduate then, in the midst of the clinical portion of her studies — working with a high school football team, getting hands-on training in treating athletic injuries.

“We had a lot of concussions that fall, probably seven or eight just in preseason camp,” Stamm said.

A real-life butterfly effect: How weather in Africa drives butterfly bursts in Europe

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Vox

Quoted: This suggests that butterflies as far north as Scandinavia are affected by habitat in countries like Chad and Nigeria. “It’s brilliant, really,” said Karen Oberhauser, a monarch expert and professor of entomology at the University of Wisconsin Madison, who was not involved in the study. “Until you know this, you’d never think that, ‘Wow, what’s going on so far away could have an impact.”

What to Do When Your Hamster Has a Bald Spot

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Pop Sugar

Noted: Regardless of the specific cause of your hamster’s hair loss, your veterinarian will be your best ally in coming up with a strategy to tackle the problem. Christoph Mans, DVM, a clinical associate professor of zoological medicine at the University of Wisconsin, said that in some cases deep skin scrapes are necessary for a diagnosis. Finding the cause can be important in case there’s a serious health problem at play.

Practicing Self-Care Could Boost Your Immune System – Here’s How

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Shape

Noted: Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison discovered that mindfulness meditation could actually enhance immune function. Participants in the study were injected with the flu vaccine. Half of them also received mindfulness training, while the others did not. After eight weeks, the mindfulness group showed greater levels of antibodies, effectively giving them better flu-fighting ability. (P.S. a strong immune response isn’t the only health benefit of meditation.)

PODCAST: How Does Climate Change Affect Door County?

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Door County Pulse

Deb Fitzgerald sits down with Steve Vavrus, Sr. Scientist at the Nelson Institute at UW-Madison, to talk about climate change and what’s in store for Wisconsin in general and Door County’s specifically. They also discussed what’s causing climate change, and some ways people can change their behaviors to reduce their carbon footprints.

How heat waves form, and how climate change makes them worse

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Vox

Quoted: “It compounds on itself,” said Jonathan Martin, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Wisconsin Madison. “When you’re dry, you get warm. When you’re excessively warm, you tend to build and strengthen the anticyclone, which encourages continuation of clear skies, which in turn encourages a lack of precipitation, which makes it drier, which makes the incoming solar radiation more able to heat the ground.”

You may see yellow-green water off Park Point this summer

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Duluth News Tribune

Quoted: “The spotter sensor is a basketball-sized, solar-powered yellow buoy that will be anchored,” said Chin Wu, a lead researcher from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “The GPS drifter tracker looks rather like a red post floating upright in the water. It will be drifting with the current. We’d appreciate it if the public would allow the equipment to operate.”

If You Notice This at Night, It May Be an Early Alzheimer’s Sign, Study Says

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Best Life

Quoted: “Previous evidence has shown that sleep may influence the development or progression of Alzheimer’s disease in various ways,” Barbara B. Bendlin, PhD, the study’s author from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, said in a statement. “For example, disrupted sleep or lack of sleep may lead to amyloid plaque buildup because the brain’s clearance system kicks into action during sleep. Our study looked not only for amyloid but for other biological markers in the spinal fluid as well.”

Covid Lab-Leak Theory Renews ‘Gain-of-Function’ Research Debate

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The New York Times

Two teams of researchers — one from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and the other at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands — designed experiments to identify which genetic mutations were essential for a successful jump from birds to people. They injected bird flu viruses into the noses of ferrets, waited for the viruses to replicate, and then transferred the new viruses to new ferrets. Soon the viruses evolved to become better at replicating in the ferrets.

This County Has The Most Pharmacies

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24/7 Wall Street

Only counties with populations of 25,000 or more were included. The percentage of population reporting sub-optimal health is from the 2021 County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, a collaboration between the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

New research shows prosecutors often fight winning innocence claims, offer deals to keep convictions

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KARE 11

Quoted: Keith Findley co-founded the Wisconsin Innocence Project, and was the co-director for years. Now he teaches on criminal law, evidence and wrongful convictions at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

“One of the things that innocence advocates have noticed over the years is that not always, but sometimes, prosecutors, when confronted with very powerful evidence of innocence, go to great lengths to try to preserve the convictions,” Findley said. “Including making plea offers that are essentially so good that it’s hard to turn them down, even for an innocent individual.”

Most of Wisconsin has no native earthworms. What’s with that?

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Fittingly, the thrashing invaders were first confirmed in the state by both Williams and Brad Herrick, ecologist and jumping worm specialist at UW-Madison Arboretum. The worms were discovered during a 2013 talk they were leading about invasive species at the Arboretum in Madison.

In 2013 when the jumping worms were first documented, they were probably already established in Wisconsin and the Midwest, Herrick said.

“They have been in North America for around 100 years,” he said, creeping here from the northeastern part of the country. “The Midwest states have been the recent invasion.”

Herrick, also known as Dr. Worm by Williams, is beginning his PhD study on the biology, ecology and control of jumping worms. He is helping lead a statewide jumping worm survey beginning in July.

Where Traffic Deaths Surged In Wisconsin During the Pandemic

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PBS Wisconsin

Noted: Milwaukee’s new traffic unit is using DOT data to focus its enforcement efforts on intersections and stretches of road identified as particularly dangerous. The DOT partners with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Traffic Operations and Safety Laboratory to collect collision report data that flows in from law enforcement agencies across the state every day and organize it into an interactive statewide map of crashes.

Making This One Change to Your Diet Could “Reprogram” Your Metabolism, New Study Says

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Eat This, Not That

Dr. Dudley Lamming is a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. His latest study’s press release states that in 2014, Lamming was reading about an Australian study that had come upon something remarkable: The mice that had been fed the least amount of protein were the healthiest.