Advances

(Advances gives a glimpse of the many significant research projects at the university. Tell us about your discoveries by e-mailing: wisweek@news.wisc.edu.)

Researchers to test remedy for common cold
That achy, sneezy, itchy, stuffy and simply miserable feeling that is the result of having a common cold may not have to be so miserable in the future. If proven effective, a new cold treatment being studied at the Medical School may revolutionize how we treat the common cold.

The new treatment, a nasal spray, is designed to take a new approach to cold prevention and treatment. “This spray is designed to kill the leading common cold viruses,” says James Gern, associate professor of pediatrics. “Current medications treat only the symptoms of a cold, usually after the virus is well-established in the nose. This nasal spray attempts to kill viruses before they enter nasal cells and cause disease.”

Gern hopes to recruit 40 participants between the ages of 18 and 60 who are willing to get a cold. Participants will use the new medication for the first five days of the cold and will be monitored for five weeks. Information: 262-7169.

Poverty researchers begin insurance study
Institute for Research on Poverty senior scientist Thomas Kaplan and Karen Holden of the Human Ecology and LaFollette schools have received a $40,000 contract from the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Division of Health Care Financing, to determine whether people with health insurance are more likely to make use of health services and to determine factors in addition to health insurance status that are associated with the use of health-care services. Using data from the Family Health Survey, the researchers will investigate the effect of insurance status on utilization of health services for those who have serious health problems vs. those who do not and for those with high income vs. those with very low family income.

Forest scientists examine impact of fires
University forest scientists are heading into Canada to determine how fires in the great boreal forest alter its uptake and release of carbon dioxide.

Findings will help policymakers understand the region’s role in global warming. Stretching across parts of North America, Europe and Asia, the boreal forest is the second largest forested region in the world, according to Tom Gower, a forest ecologist in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Most scientists consider forests a moderating factor in global warming because trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thus slowing its buildup. The boreal forest is important because of its size and the enormous amount of carbon contained in its plants and soils.

Developing flowers that last longer
American consumers spent $9 billion on cut flowers in 1998, but they might buy even more if they knew the flowers would last longer once they were cut.

Help is in the works. University researchers want to breed flowers that hold their beauty longer after cutting. Horticulturists have found that several genes determine how long cut flowers remain attractive. They now are focusing on one plant trait linked to longer-lived cut flowers. Dennis Stimart, a physiologist who studies ornamental plants at the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, says he became interested in the topic about 10 years ago when regulators in some European countries restricted the use of two chemical preservatives for cut flowers. Both compounds are health hazards, although they are still approved for use in the United States.