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.)

Gas clouds seed galaxy
Massive clouds of gas, discovered long ago but only recently identified as being within the margins of the Milky Way, play a key role in the ability of the galaxy to churn out new stars by raining gas onto the plane of the galaxy, astronomer Bart P. Wakker and colleagues suggest, chipping away at a three-decade-old mystery. The team has discovered a mechanism by which the galaxy is seeded with the stuff of stars and solved a long-standing question of galactic evolution. “You don’t need any other explanations anymore,” Wakker says, “because we now know that this gas is raining down onto the plane of the galaxy.”

AIDS variability explained
Scientists working with monkeys have taken another step toward developing a vaccine for AIDS: They have discovered new evidence explaining why retroviruses such as HIV in people and SIV in rhesus monkeys are so variable and difficult for the body’s immune system to target and kill. A key finding: Killer cells called cytotoxic T lymphocyte cells (CTLs) likely play a greater role than previously thought in controlling infection in both humans and monkeys, says David I. Watkins, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine. The finding is another step toward the development of effective vaccines to prevent AIDS.

Path to dairying takes detour
Compared with established dairy farmers, new dairy farmers in Wisconsin are much less likely to be taking over the farm from their parents, and they’re more likely to use off-farm income to supplement their farm income, according to researchers with the Program on Agricultural Technology Studies. The findings contradict long-held assumptions about Wisconsin’s dairy farmers, and how farms pass from generation to generation, says researcher Douglas Jackson-Smith. Only 18 percent of new entrants farmed land that was part of their parents’ farms, versus 62 percent of established farmers. New entrants were more likely than established farmers to run single-family or individual operations (85 percent versus 72 percent).

Ergonomics gets attention
Workplace ergonomics, in the national spotlight with new standards proposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, are a prominent research focus at the university. Robert Radwin, chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, is a member of a National Academy of Sciences panel on musculoskeletal disorders and the workplace, and he has done influential studies on carpal tunnel syndrome and other work-related disorders. Pascale Carayon and Michael Smith, industrial engineering professors, ran projects at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and Lands’ End, respectively, that reorganized office space to produce a better ergonomic fit for employees.

Web-surfer, heal thyself?
Professor Patricia Brennan says the Web is driving big changes in the doctor-patient relationship and placing more responsibility with health care consumers. “Patients are now required to be smart – they no longer have a choice,” says Brennan, an industrial professor of nursing and engineering. “There is a bigger assumption now that patients are getting more health information online.” The long-term trend, Brennan says, is that more health care information will migrate from the hospital to the community.