New Illinois Butterfly Records for Clark, Coles, Cumberland, Douglas, and Edgar Counties

The butterfly (Lepidoptera) fauna of east-central Illinois is largely undocumented. We collected butterflies and examined specimens in the Insect Museum at Eastern Illinois University for unpublished records for five counties in east-central Illinois. Here we report 105 new butterfly county records: 17 for Clark County, 30 for Coles County, 28 for Cumberland County, 9 for Douglas County, and 21 for Edgar County. We also describe behavioral observations, in particular those behaviors related to reproduction, for some of the records. Of special note were two rare vagrants from Coles County found in the museum collection, the orange-barred sulphur (Phoebis philea) and the marine blue (Leptotes marina)

Forge: Thermoelectric Cookstove

Our interdisciplinary team, known as Forge, has built a cookstove that not only can be a portable cookstove, but also includes a port to charge devices such as a phone using thermoelectrics. The product has been designed for developing areas in Nicaragua where power is inaccessible and a multi-purpose cookstove/phone charger could be of use. The cookstove features a cylindrical combustion chamber that can be used for gasification. Gasification is a burning process where smoke from the fire is also burned, creating higher temperatures and a cleaner burn. The combustion chamber is insulated using refractory cement, which will drop the temperature from about 700 Celsius inside the chamber to 200 Celsius outside the chamber. The cookstove outputs heat at a rate of 4.6-6.6 kW. The cookstove has thermoelectric modules attached to the outside, which, by utilizing the Seebeck effect, convert excess heat into electrical energy. Ideally, the energy would be transferred into the phone at 5 volts and 0.5-0.6 amps and some of the electrical energy would be used to power a cooling fan to help the stove function properly. The final temperatures that were recorded ranged from around 400ºC to 700ºC in the combustion chamber and around 500ºC for the cooking surface. Gasification was successfully occurring during this stage, and the smoke was being visibly burned off. The electrical output was less successful, resulting with only around 0.08 V coming out of the thermoelectric generators due to the lack of air flow within the electrical housing and poor electrical connection. The stove does achieve its primary functionality of being more than capable of boiling water, something that presently available cookstoves in Nicaragua cannot do consistently

It's a Bine, Not a Vine - Literary Review of Hop Varieties

Hops (the flowers of the Humulus lupulus plant) are an important and essential part of the beer brewing process as well as in the taste and fragrance of the final product. During the brewing process, hops are isomerized into alpha and beta acids that balance out the sweetness of the malt by providing bitterness, measured in International Bittering Units (or IBUs) or aroma respectively. Based on geographical location or strain of hop grown, the flower can provide numerous different flavor and aroma profiles, as well as essential oils, flavonoids, and antimicrobial properties. In addition, the time and temperature at which hops are added during the brewing process can dramatically change the taste or smell of the beverage produced. The flavors and aromatic properties in each kind of hop also contribute to the style of beer produced. Some varieties are better than others (or should be completely avoided) for some beer styles, but a few of them can also be used interchangeably, as arranged on the Flavor Profile Wheel of Hops Varieties. These findings led to the creation of this diagram to help give a visual showcase of how hops could be classified

Comprehensive Identification and Modified-Site Mapping of S-Nitrosylated Targets in Prostate Epithelial Cells

Although overexpression of nitric oxide synthases (NOSs) has been found associated with prostate diseases, the underlying mechanisms for NOS-related prostatic diseases remain unclear. One proposed mechanism is related to the S-nitrosylation of key regulatory proteins in cell-signaling pathways due to elevated levels of NO in the prostate. Thus, our primary objective was to identify S-nitrosylated targets in an immortalized normal prostate epithelial cell line, NPrEC.We treated NPrEC with nitroso-cysteine and used the biotin switch technique followed by gel-based separation and mass spectrometry protein identification (using the LTQ-Orbitrap) to discover S-nitrosylated (SNO) proteins in the treated cells. In parallel, we adapted a peptide pull-down methodology to locate the site(s) of S-nitrosylation on the protein SNO targets identified by the first technique. This combined approach identified 116 SNO proteins and determined the sites of modification for 82 of them. Over 60% of these proteins belong to four functional groups: cell structure/cell motility/protein trafficking, protein folding/protein response/protein assembly, mRNA splicing/processing/transcriptional regulation, and metabolism. Western blot analysis validated a subset of targets related to disease development (proliferating cell nuclear antigen, maspin, integrin beta4, alpha-catenin, karyopherin [importin] beta1, and elongation factor 1A1). We analyzed the SNO sequences for their primary and secondary structures, solvent accessibility, and three-dimensional structural context. We found that about 80% of the SNO sites that can be mapped into resolved structures are buried, of which approximately half have charged amino acids in their three-dimensional neighborhood, and the other half residing within primarily hydrophobic pockets.We here identified 116 potential SNO targets and mapped their putative SNO sites in NPrEC. Elucidation of how this post-translational modification alters the function of these proteins should shed light on the role of NO in prostate pathologies. To our knowledge, this is the first report identifying SNO targets in prostate epithelial cells

Concert recording 2015-04-10

[Track 01]. Neun deutsche Arien, HWV 202 & 209. Künft\u27ger Zeiten eitler kummer, no. 1 ; [Track 02]. In den angenchmen Büschen, no. 8 / George F. Handel -- [Track 03]. Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio! K. 418 / Wolfgang A. Mozart -- [Track 04]. Chanson perpétuelle op. 37 / Ernest Chausson -- [Track 05]. L\u27invitation au voyage / Henri Duparc -- [Track 06]. La diva de l\u27empire / Erik Satie -- [Track 07]. Der Hirt auf dem Felsen D. 965 / Franz Schubert

Concert recording 2015-04-10

[Track 01]. Neun deutsche Arien, HWV 202 & 209. Künft\u27ger Zeiten eitler kummer, no. 1 ; [Track 02]. In den angenchmen Büschen, no. 8 / George F. Handel -- [Track 03]. Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio! K. 418 / Wolfgang A. Mozart -- [Track 04]. Chanson perpétuelle op. 37 / Ernest Chausson -- [Track 05]. L\u27invitation au voyage / Henri Duparc -- [Track 06]. La diva de l\u27empire / Erik Satie -- [Track 07]. Der Hirt auf dem Felsen D. 965 / Franz Schubert

Expression and function of ryanodine receptor related pathways in PCB tolerant Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) from New Bedford Harbor, MA, USA

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2014. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Aquatic Toxicology 159 (2015): 156-166, doi:10.1016/j.aquatox.2014.12.017.Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) thrive in New Bedford Harbor (NBH), MA, highly contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Resident killifish have evolved tolerance to dioxin-like (DL) PCBs, whose toxic effects through the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) are well studied. In NBH, non-dioxin like PCBs (NDL PCBs), which lack activity toward the AhR, vastly exceed levels of DL congeners yet how killifish counter NDL toxic effects has not been explored. In mammals and fish, NDL PCBs are potent activators of ryanodine receptors (RyR), Ca2+ release channels necessary for a vast array of physiological processes. In the current study we compared the expression and function of RyR related pathways in NBH killifish with killifish from the reference site at Scorton Creek (SC, MA). Relative to the SC fish, adults from NBH displayed increased levels of skeletal muscle RyR1 protein, and increased levels of FK506-binding protein 12 kDa (FKBP12), an accessory protein essential for NDL PCB-triggered changes in RyR channel function. In accordance with increased RyR1 levels, NBH killifish displayed increased maximal ligand binding, increased maximal response to Ca2+ activation and increased maximal response to activation by the NDL PCB congener PCB 95. Compared to SC, NBH embryos and larvae had increased levels of mtor and ryr2 transcripts at multiple stages of development, and generations, while levels of serca2 were decreased at 9 days post-fertilization in the F1 and F2 generations. These findings suggest that there are compensatory and heritable changes in RyR mediated Ca2+ signaling proteins or potential signaling partners in NBH killifish.Funding was provided through the NIEHS Superfund Research Program UC Davis (INP and EBF; P42-ES004699) and Boston University (JJS and JVG; P42-ES007381). Support was supplied via the UC Davis NHLBI Training Grant (T32-HL086350, EBF). Additional support came from NIEHS 1R01-ES014901, 1R01-ES017425, the UC Davis Center for Children’s Environmental Health (1P01-ES011269, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Grant 8354320), and an unrestricted JB Johnson Foundation gift grant.2015-12-1

Ryanodine receptor and FK506 binding protein 1 in the Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) : a phylogenetic and population-based comparison

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2017. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here under a nonexclusive, irrevocable, paid-up, worldwide license granted to WHOI. It is made available for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Aquatic Toxicology 192 (2017): 105-115, doi:10.1016/j.aquatox.2017.09.002.Non-dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (NDL PCBs) activate ryanodine receptors (RyR), microsomal Ca2+ channels of broad significance. Teleost fish may be important models for NDL PCB neurotoxicity, and we used sequencing databases to characterize teleost RyR and FK506 binding protein 12 or 12.6 kDa (genes FKBP1A; FKBP1B), which promote NDL PCB-triggered Ca2+ dysregulation. Particular focus was placed on describing genes in the Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) genome and searching available RNA-sequencing datasets for single nucleotide variants (SNV) between PCB tolerant killifish from New Bedford Harbor (NBH) versus sensitive killifish from Scorton Creek (SC), MA. Consistent with the teleost whole genome duplication (tWGD), killifish have six RyR genes, corresponding to a and b paralogs of mammalian RyR1, 2 and 3. The presence of six RyR genes was consistent in all teleosts investigated including zebrafish. Killifish have four FKBP1; one FKBP1b and three FKBP1a named FKBP1aa, FKBP1ab, likely from the tWGD and a single gene duplicate FKBP1a3 suggested to have arisen in Atherinomorphae. The RyR and FKBP1 genes displayed tissue and developmental stage-specific mRNA expression, and the previously uncharacterized RyR3, herein named RyR3b, and all FKBP1 genes were prominent in brain. We identified a SNV in RyR3b encoding missense mutation E1458D. In NBH killifish, 57% were heterozygous and 28% were homozygous for this SNV, whereas almost all SC killifish (94%) lacked the variant (n≥39 per population). The outlined sequence differences between mammalian and teleost RyR and FKBP1 together with outlined population differences in SNV frequency may contribute to our understanding of NDL PCB neurotoxicity.This research was supported by the KC Donnelly Research Externship made possible by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ Superfund Research Program (EBH) and the Superfund Research Programs at UC Davis (INP and EBH; P42ES004699) and Boston University (JJS, JVG, MEH, SIK; P42ES007381). Additional support was provided by the National Institute of Health (INP; R01 ES014901; and P01 AR052354) and by National Science Foundation collaborative research grants (MEH and SIK; DEB-1265282 and DEB-1120263). This research was also supported in part by an appointment (to BC) with the Postdoctoral Research Program at the U.S. Environmental Protection (US EPA) Office of Research and Development administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) through Interagency Agreement No. DW92429801 between the U.S. Department of Energy and the US EPA