Solution Center

poster abstractThe IUPUI Solution Center, a division of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, was created in 2004 through IUPUI funding and generous support from the Lilly Endowment. The Solution Center mission is to serve as IUPUI’s “Front Door” to the community to assist in the economic development of Central Indiana by connecting the university’s intellectual capital to the pressing demands of business, government, and the nonprofit sector. Drawing on the talent of IUPUI’s faculty and students, the Solution Center facilitates partnerships designed to build human capital, respond to external challenges, and retain the best and brightest baccalaureate and graduate degreed professionals in the state. The center works in concert with OVCR to coordinate meaningful research collaborations between students, faculty, community organizations, and companies. The cornerstone of the Solution Center’s work with the community is its ability to serve as a knowledgeable and informed point of contact for thousands of businesses, nonprofit, and government leaders, connecting them to the talent and expertise of IUPUI for internships, community-based research, and business assistance projects. Equally important to our success in the community is the IUPUI Venture Fund program that allows us to grant match funding to organizations in order to create and sustain meaningful, challenging, and career-relevant internships and applied projects

Sorption Properties of Greenwaste Biochar for Two Triazine Pesticides

This work by ISTC’s Wei Zheng and Kishore Rajagopalan and collaborators from Delaware State University provides innovative solutions for producing energy and food in a sustainable environment. Renewable energy can be produced by converting greenwaste such as using highway grass clippings for gasoline or biodiesel through a process called pyrolysis (heating to 450°C with limited oxygen) and then implementing some refining techniques. However, the pyrolysis process produces a byproduct called biochar, which is a carbon-rich substance similar to activated carbon. The biochar byproduct could be landfilled, but the researchers have a better idea.The other aspect of this research is determining how to produce food without contaminating the environment. The researchers considered two common pesticides. Atrazine and simazine are used as broad-spectrum pesticides/herbicides for agricultural, recreational, and residential uses, but the most common use is for field crop applications. These pesticides can inadvertently contaminate water ways and water bodies from rain events and soil erosion. To prevent this contamination, the researchers proposed mixing biochar into the soil to prevent pesticide/herbicide loss from the field. Full results published in Zheng, Wei, et al (2010). "Sorption properties of greenwaste biochar for two triazine pesticides." Journal of Hazardous Materials 181(1-3), 121-126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2010.04.103Ope

Bacterial disease induced changes in fungal communities of olive tree twigs depend on host genotype

In nature, pathogens live and interact with other microorganisms on plant tissues. Yet, the research area exploring interactions between bacteria-fungi and microbiota-plants, within the context of a pathobiome, is still scarce. In this study, the impact of olive knot (OK) disease caused by the bacteria Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. savastanoi (Psv) on the epiphytic and endophytic fungal communities of olive tree twigs from three different cultivars, was investigated in field conditions. The ITS-DNA sequencing of cultivable fungi, showed that OK disease disturbs the resident fungal communities, which may reflect changes in the habitat caused by Psv. In particular, a reduction on epiphyte abundance and diversity, and changes on their composition were observed. Compared to epiphytes, endophytes were less sensitive to OK, but their abundance, in particular of potential pathogens, was increased in plants with OK disease. Host genotype, at cultivar level, contributed to plant fungal assembly particularly upon disease establishment. Therefore, besides fungi - Psv interactions, the combination of cultivar - Psv also appeared to be critical for the composition of fungal communities in olive knots. Specific fungal OTUs were associated to the presence and absence of disease, and their role in the promotion or suppression of OK disease should be studied in the future.This research was partially supported by FEDER funds through COMPETE (Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade) and by national funds through FCT (Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia) in the framework of the project EXCL/AGR-PRO/0591/2012. This work was supported by FCT under the project UID/MULTI/04046/2013. T. Gomes thanks FCT, POPH-QREN and FSE for PhD SFRH/BD/98127/2013 grant; and also the COST Action FA1405 for a short-term scientific mission (STSM) grant

Strong Anisotropy in Liquid Water upon Librational Excitation using Terahertz Laser Fields

Tracking the excitation of water molecules in the homogeneous liquid is challenging due to the ultrafast dissipation of rotational excitation energy through the hydrogen-bonded network. Here we demonstrate strong transient anisotropy of liquid water through librational excitation using single-color pump-probe experiments at 12.3 THz. We deduce a third order response of chi^3 exceeding previously reported values in the optical range by three orders of magnitude. Using a theory that replaces the nonlinear response with a material response property amenable to molecular dynamics simulation, we show that the rotationally damped motion of water molecules in the librational band is resonantly driven at this frequency, which could explain the enhancement of the anisotropy in the liquid by the external Terahertz field. By addition of salt (MgSO4), the hydration water is instead dominated by the local electric field of the ions, resulting in reduction of water molecules that can be dynamically perturbed by THz pulses

Generation of competent bone marrow-derived antigen presenting cells from the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus)

BACKGROUND: Human infections with Sin Nombre virus (SNV) and related New World hantaviruses often lead to hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), a sometimes fatal illness. Lungs of patients who die from HCPS exhibit cytokine-producing mononuclear infiltrates and pronounced pulmonary inflammation. Deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) are the principal natural hosts of SNV, in which the virus establishes life-long persistence without conspicuous pathology. Little is known about the mechanisms SNV employs to evade the immune response of deer mice, and experimental examination of this question has been difficult because of a lack of methodologies for examining such responses during infection. One such deficiency is our inability to characterize T cell responses because susceptible syngeneic deer mice are not available. RESULTS: To solve this problem, we have developed an in vitro method of expanding and generating competent antigen presenting cells (APC) from deer mouse bone marrow using commercially-available house mouse (Mus musculus) granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor. These cells are capable of processing and presenting soluble protein to antigen-specific autologous helper T cells in vitro. Inclusion of antigen-specific deer mouse antibody augments T cell stimulation, presumably through Fc receptor-mediated endocytosis. CONCLUSIONS: The use of these APC has allowed us to dramatically expand deer mouse helper T cells in culture and should permit extensive characterization of T cell epitopes. Considering the evolutionary divergence between deer mice and house mice, it is probable that this method will be useful to other investigators using unconventional models of rodent-borne diseases