You Are What You Eat: Food-Drug Interaction in Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)

The research featured in this poster examined how phytochemicals in nectar and pollen (quercetin and p-coumaric acid), which are known to upregulate cytochrome P450 detoxification enzymes, affect honey bee survival in combination with the pesticides propiconazole, a fungicide, and chlorantraniliprole, an insecticide. While consuming either phytochemical in the absence of pesticides can prolong longevity, consumption of pesticides reduced bee lifespan significantly with or without phytochemicals present

Exploring the Age Gap: Nontraditional Age Students at Parkland

This podcast is the result of an ethnography assignment for Anthropology 103. Students interviewed three women who were attending or have attended Parkland College in Champaign, IL, as nontraditional aged students. The three were interviewed, and their answers led the students to conclude that nontraditional aged students attend for diverse reasons and therefore not to be placed in a single category

Characterization of a Netrin-4 Like Protein in \u3cem\u3eTetrahymena thermophila\u3c/em\u3e

The netrin family of proteins has homeostatic roles in vertebrate development and angiogenesis, and pathophysiological roles in the progression and metastasis of cancer. We have previously characterized a netrin-1-like protein in Tetrahymena thermophila, and have shown that vertebrate netrin-1, netrin-3, and netrin-4 all serve as chemorepellents in this organism. We are currently using Western blotting and immunofluorescence to further characterize the netrin-like proteins in Tetrahymena. Western blotting with our anti-netrin-4 antibody shows a band that is clearly visible in whole cell extract, but shows little reactivity with secreted protein, indicating that most of our netrin-4-like protein remains within the cell. Western blotting of whole cell extract with anti-netrin-1, netrin-3, and netrin-4 antibodies shows a clear band measuring 50 kD that stains with all three antibodies. Some lower molecular weight bands are also evident in all three blots, possibly due to proteolytic activity. Immunolocalization with an anti-netrin-4 antibody shows some colocalization with netrin-1, netrin-3, and ER Tracker™. Our anti-netrin-4 antibody localizes to the oral groove, basal bodies, and nuclei of cells, indicating a possible structural role for the netrin-4-like protein in this organism. Further research will involve determining the primary amino acid sequence of the 50 kD protein and comparing it with the Tetrahymena thermophila proteome database to help ascertain the physiological role of this protein

Reduction of VLDL Secretion Decreases Cholesterol Excretion in Niemann-Pick C1-Like 1 Hepatic Transgenic Mice

An effective way to reduce LDL cholesterol, the primary risk factor of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, is to increase cholesterol excretion from the body. Our group and others have recently found that cholesterol excretion can be facilitated by both hepatobiliary and transintestinal pathways. However, the lipoprotein that moves cholesterol through the plasma to the small intestine for transintestinal cholesterol efflux (TICE) is unknown. To test the hypothesis that hepatic very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) support TICE, antisense oligonucleotides (ASO) were used to knockdown hepatic expression of microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP), which is necessary for VLDL assembly. While maintained on a high cholesterol diet, Niemann-Pick C1-like 1 hepatic transgenic (L1Tg) mice, which predominantly excrete cholesterol via TICE, and wild type (WT) littermates were treated with control ASO or MTP ASO. In both WT and L1Tg mice, MTP ASO decreased VLDL triglyceride (TG) and cholesterol secretion. Regardless of treatment, L1Tg mice had reduced biliary cholesterol compared to WT mice. However, only L1Tg mice treated with MTP ASO had reduced fecal cholesterol excretion. Based upon these findings, we conclude that VLDL or a byproduct such as LDL can move cholesterol from the liver to the small intestine for TICE

Constraints on the Ultra-High Energy Neutrino Flux from Gamma-Ray Bursts from a Prototype Station of the Askaryan Radio Array

We report on a search for ultra-high-energy (UHE) neutrinos from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in the data set collected by the Testbed station of the Askaryan Radio Array (ARA) in 2011 and 2012. From 57 selected GRBs, we observed no events that survive our cuts, which is consistent with 0.12 expected background events. Using NeuCosmA as a numerical GRB reference emission model, we estimate upper limits on the prompt UHE GRB neutrino fluence and quasi-diffuse flux from $10^{7}$ to $10^{10}$ GeV. This is the first limit on the prompt UHE GRB neutrino quasi-diffuse flux above $10^{7}$ GeV.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, Published in Astroparticle Physics Journa

First Constraints on the Ultra-High Energy Neutrino Flux from a Prototype Station of the Askaryan Radio Array

The Askaryan Radio Array (ARA) is an ultra-high energy ($>10^{17}$ eV) cosmic neutrino detector in phased construction near the South Pole. ARA searches for radio Cherenkov emission from particle cascades induced by neutrino interactions in the ice using radio frequency antennas ($\sim150-800$ MHz) deployed at a design depth of 200 m in the Antarctic ice. A prototype ARA Testbed station was deployed at $\sim30$ m depth in the 2010-2011 season and the first three full ARA stations were deployed in the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 seasons. We present the first neutrino search with ARA using data taken in 2011 and 2012 with the ARA Testbed and the resulting constraints on the neutrino flux from $10^{17}-10^{21}$ eV.Comment: 26 pages, 15 figures. Since first revision, added section on systematic uncertainties, updated limits and uncertainty band with improvements to simulation, added appendix describing ray tracing algorithm. Final revision includes a section on cosmic ray backgrounds. Published in Astropart. Phys.

Assessing Communities of Practice in health policy : A conceptual framework as a first step towards empirical research

Peer reviewe

Performance of two Askaryan Radio Array stations and first results in the search for ultra-high energy neutrinos

Ultra-high energy neutrinos are interesting messenger particles since, if detected, they can transmit exclusive information about ultra-high energy processes in the Universe. These particles, with energies above $10^{16}\mathrm{eV}$, interact very rarely. Therefore, detectors that instrument several gigatons of matter are needed to discover them. The ARA detector is currently being constructed at South Pole. It is designed to use the Askaryan effect, the emission of radio waves from neutrino-induced cascades in the South Pole ice, to detect neutrino interactions at very high energies. With antennas distributed among 37 widely-separated stations in the ice, such interactions can be observed in a volume of several hundred cubic kilometers. Currently 3 deep ARA stations are deployed in the ice of which two have been taking data since the beginning of the year 2013. In this publication, the ARA detector "as-built" and calibrations are described. Furthermore, the data reduction methods used to distinguish the rare radio signals from overwhelming backgrounds of thermal and anthropogenic origin are presented. Using data from only two stations over a short exposure time of 10 months, a neutrino flux limit of $3 \cdot 10^{-6} \mathrm{GeV} / (\mathrm{cm^2 \ s \ sr})$ is calculated for a particle energy of 10^{18}eV, which offers promise for the full ARA detector.Comment: 21 pages, 34 figures, 1 table, includes supplementary materia