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Category: Research

Wider Access To Naloxone: Harmful or Beneficial?

The Fix

In the study, Doleac and co-author Anita Mukherjee, who is an assistant professor at the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, studied the effects of increased naloxone access across the country. Doleac and Mukherjee “estimated the effects of naloxone access laws across the 50 states and made comparisons across regions.”

Real Time Economics

Wall Street Journal

“Naloxone access may unintentionally increase opioid abuse through two channels: (1) saving the lives of active drug users, who survive to continue abusing opioids, and (2) reducing the risk of death per use, thereby making riskier opioid use more appealing,” the University of Virginia’s Jennifer Doleac and the University of Wisconsin’s Anita Mukherjee write. Because there are more opioid abusers needing to fund their drug habit, theft may also rise.

Aprium, anyone? The pick of hybrid fruit and vegetables

The Guardian

Row 7, a collaboration between a chef, a plant breeder and a seedsman, aims to sell seeds for vegetables that might not otherwise reach a broad market, reported the New York Times last month. One of its offerings is the Badger Flame, a beetroot of brilliant orange that a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison bred to produce a sweet and mild variety his children would enjoy.

Most major outlets have used Russian tweets as sources for partisan opinion: study

Columbia Journalism Review

In a new study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, we look at how often, and in what context, Twitter accounts from the Internet Research Agency—a St. Petersburg-based organization directed by individuals with close ties to Vladimir Putin, and subject to Mueller’s scrutiny—successfully made their way from social media into respected journalistic media.

Scientists have created music for cats, and it’s an interesting listen

Yahoo! UK

We don’t know how to break this to you, but your cat probably hates the music you listen to – and that’s true whether you like classical or death metal. Experts at the University of Wisconsin, Madison investigated the idea, and found that cats tend to ‘ignore’ human music, but listen interestedly to music created specially for them.

The ‘moral hazard’ of naloxone in the opioid crisis

Washington Post

Noted: As opioid usage has worsened in the United States, more and more jurisdictions have acted to increase access to naloxone. Not only first responders but also friends, family and even librarianshave started to administer it. These state laws were passed at different times, giving researchers Jennifer Doleac and Anita Mukherjee a sort of a natural experiment: They could look at what happened to overdoses in areas that liberalized naloxone access and compare the trends there to places that hadn’t changed their laws.

Group of UW researchers spend all year in Antarctica

CBS 58, Milwaukee

ANTARCTICA (CBS 58) —  Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth where the sun doesn’t shine for six months at a time, but it’s staffed by a group of scientists based out of Wisconsin all year long. Meteorologist Justin Thompson-Gee had the opportunity to talk with scientists of a research project called IceCube in Antarctica.

A Secret Superpower, Right in Your Backyard

New York Times

As the verdant hills of Wakanda are secretly enriched with the fictional metal vibranium in “Black Panther,” your average backyard also has hidden superpowers: Its soil can absorb and store a significant amount of carbon from the air, unexpectedly making such green spaces an important asset in the battle against climate change.

Asia’s hunger for sand takes a toll on endangered species

Science

Noted: In grasslands near Poyang, the kind and amount of food the cranes consume “may no longer be enough to fuel egg laying” at the levels the birds managed in the past, says James Burnham, a conservation biologist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. His group has documented a worrisome decline in the ratio of juvenile cranes to adults at Poyang between 2010 and 2012.

Foundation Revisits Anti-Poverty Strategies with an Eye to Change

Nonprofit Quarterly

Noted: Elaborating on the timing of the publication, Katherine A. Magnuson, a poverty researcher at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and an editor of the double-issue journal, told Colorlines, “We felt it was important to bring together a set of fresh ideas that would engage with what we have learned about anti-poverty policies of the past in order to generate positive and innovative solutions.”

Virtual clues

Isthmus

In a recent study, two UW-Madison researchers conducted an experiment having subjects play a virtual reality version of the arcade game Pong. Wearing an Oculus Rift headset, the participants were tasked with whacking a virtual ball with a virtual paddle.

Madison’s Urban Coyotes & Red Foxes — David Drake

The Wisconsin Podcast

David Drake, UW-Madison professor and extension wildlife specialist, discusses the UW Urban Canid Project, a study on red foxes and coyotes living in urban Madison. The project aims to investigate the way canids are living in the city and how we can coexist with these wild neighbors.

A Sweet Future for Renewable Plastics

Engineering

The non-renewable, petroleum version of this (PET), used by many of the largest plastic producers or users, like soda producers Coca-Cola for example, could potentially be replaced with this new renewable plastic if it can be produced in large enough quantities and with economic advantages.

Palmer’s Steakhouse owners working to create $1 million endowment for transplant research

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Their new goal will be no small feat. They are working to create the endowment at UW Health for transplant research, with the help of a $500,000 donation. UW-Madison donors John and Tashia Morgridge will give $500,000 to create an endowment in Tony’s name, but to get the money the Arenas family must match that donation in five years.

Science Should Be For Everyone, Scientist Says

Wisconsin Public Radio

Esther Ngumbi says scientists should talk about their work in a way the public can understand. She joins Central Time to share why that’s important in an age of misinformation, and how scientists can change their frame of thinking.

Fed’s Crisis-Era, Bond-Buying Plan Was Largely Ineffective, Economists Say

Wall Street Journal

The paper presented at the conference was written by David Greenlaw of Morgan Stanley , James Hamilton of the University of California San Diego, Ethan Harris of Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Kenneth West of the University of Wisconsin. It argues most of what people now believe of the asset purchases is likely wrong.

Teen spirit in the lab

Nature

Although still in high school, VanDommelen has logged hundreds of hours in a lab headed by biomedical engineer Melissa Skala at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The experience has sent the teenager down a career path that will probably include many more hours at the bench. “At first, I wasn’t sure that research was something that I wanted to do in my future,” VanDommelen says. “But after all of the positive experiences that I’ve had, I definitely want to continue this.”

Bacterial sex: the promiscuous process driving antibiotic resistance

Stat News

A year after the initial discovery of bacterial conjugation, Joshua Lederberg married Esther Zimmer, who had just earned a master’s degree in genetics from Stanford University while working in Tatum’s lab. The young Lederberg team — Joshua was 22 and Esther 24 — moved to the University of Wisconsin, where they began to explore the strange world of bacteria sex.Esther Lederberg was an exceptionally talented bench scientist.

Arabica Versus Robusta: Which Coffee Is Better For Birds?

Forbes.com

A team of researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society, Princeton University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison examined avian habitat specialists living on arabica and robusta farms in the Western Ghats to learn which is the most “bird friendly” coffee. They also examined the effects on birds of changing a farm from arabica to robusta production.