The In-Betweens of Life

Have you ever walked through someplace too many times to count, and then one day it feels entirely new? The feeling of paying attention to an insignificant place for the first time interests me. We are constantly surrounded by buildings and trees and sidewalks and light poles, and don’t often take the time to look at them. In this series of paintings, I am taking the time to look at the overlooked. With The In-Betweens of Life, I am very particular about leaving my hand in each mark. Because the paintings are so small, the viewer is invited close to see them as each brushstroke realizes the subject. I hope that there is a conversation between my hand and the eye of the onlooker. My goal is to create familiarity with each place, as if it is somewhere specific yet universally everywhere. The painted mark identifies my connection with each place and serves as a record of my attempt to find the image within the painting. In order to find meaning with each place, the viewer’s point of view shifts to suggest a new location and a new experience. My subject of “in-between” places is a metaphor for the experiences we fail to notice because we are in the search of the extraordinary. These paintings are meant to create anticipation for a longing of something bigger to arise

Individualized decision aid for diverse women with lupus nephritis (IDEA-WON): A randomized controlled trial.

BackgroundTreatment decision-making regarding immunosuppressive therapy is challenging for individuals with lupus. We assessed the effectiveness of a decision aid for immunosuppressive therapy in lupus nephritis.Methods and findingsIn a United States multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled trial (RCT), adult women with lupus nephritis, mostly from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds with low socioeconomic status (SES), seen in in- or outpatient settings, were randomized to an individualized, culturally tailored, computerized decision aid versus American College of Rheumatology (ACR) lupus pamphlet (1:1 ratio), using computer-generated randomization. We hypothesized that the co-primary outcomes of decisional conflict and informed choice regarding immunosuppressive medications would improve more in the decision aid group. Of 301 randomized women, 298 were analyzed; 47% were African-American, 26% Hispanic, and 15% white. Mean age (standard deviation [SD]) was 37 (12) years, 57% had annual income of <$40,000, and 36% had a high school education or less. Compared with the provision of the ACR lupus pamphlet (n = 147), participants randomized to the decision aid (n = 151) had (1) a clinically meaningful and statistically significant reduction in decisional conflict, 21.8 (standard error [SE], 2.5) versus 12.7 (SE, 2.0; p = 0.005) and (2) no difference in informed choice in the main analysis, 41% versus 31% (p = 0.08), but clinically meaningful and statistically significant difference in sensitivity analysis (net values for immunosuppressives positive [in favor] versus negative [against]), 50% versus 35% (p = 0.006). Unresolved decisional conflict was lower in the decision aid versus pamphlet groups, 22% versus 44% (p < 0.001). Significantly more patients in the decision aid versus pamphlet group rated information to be excellent for understanding lupus nephritis (49% versus 33%), risk factors (43% versus 27%), medication options (50% versus 33%; p ≤ 0.003 for all); and the ease of use of materials was higher in the decision aid versus pamphlet groups (51% versus 38%; p = 0.006). Key study limitations were the exclusion of men, short follow-up, and the lack of clinical outcomes, including medication adherence.ConclusionsAn individualized decision aid was more effective than usual care in reducing decisional conflict for choice of immunosuppressive medications in women with lupus nephritis.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov, NCT02319525

Getting ready to use control:Advances in the measurement of young children's use of proactive control

A key developmental transition in executive function is in the temporal dynamics of its engagement: children shift from reactively calling to mind task-relevant information as needed, to being able to proactively maintain information across time in anticipation of upcoming demands. This transition is important for understanding individual differences and developmental changes in executive function; however, methods targeting its assessment are limited. We tested the possibility that Track-It, a paradigm developed to measure selective sustained attention, also indexes proactive control. In this task children must track a target shape as it moves unpredictably among moving distractors, and identify where it disappears, which may require proactively maintaining information about the target or goal. In two experiments (5-6 year-olds, Ns = 33, 64), children's performance on Track-It predicted proactive control across two established paradigms. These findings suggest Track-It measures proactive control in children. Theoretical possibilities regarding how proactive control and selective sustained attention may be related are also discussed

Examination of target-site-based mechanisms of glyphosate resistance in waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus)

Glyphosate is one of the most important and widely used herbicide in the world. While few weed species had evolved resistance in the two decades after glyphosate’s commercialization in 1974, an overreliance on glyphosate and lack of diversity in weed control methods following the introduction of glyphosate-resistant (GR) crops in 1996 has led to increased selection pressure on weeds to evolve resistance. In 2005, the first GR waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus) population was identified. Waterhemp is perhaps the most economically threatening weed in the north central United States, with many populations evolving resistance to herbicides spanning multiple sites of action. Three potential mechanisms of resistance have been linked with GR waterhemp: EPSPS gene amplification, EPSPS target-site mutations, and reduced translocation. The objective of this research was to investigate the target-site-based mechanisms (EPSPS gene amplification and EPSPS mutations) of glyphosate resistance. Waterhemp populations were collected throughout Illinois and screened for glyphosate resistance and EPSPS gene amplification to address whether the mechanism could be used as a proxy for the resistance. The majority of the time, resistant populations had EPSPS gene amplification; however, populations without gene amplification were also found. In some populations, an EPSPS target-site mutation conferring a Pro106Ser substitution was associated with resistance, while in others neither of the target-site-based mechanisms was present. Further examination of the association between glyphosate resistance and EPSPS gene amplification was carried out via a multi-state study of GR waterhemp populations. Dose responses were performed at each location and survivors were tested for gene amplification. Four of five populations had EPSPS gene amplification, and one had no amplification but the Pro106Ser substitution instead. In populations with EPSPS gene amplification, copy number appeared to increase in plants surviving increasing glyphosate rates. Given the incidence of the Pro106Ser mutation in both of these studies, an investigation of this mechanism was carried out to determine the degree to which it confers resistance. A glyphosate dose response carried out on a segregating F2 population containing the Pro106Ser substitution revealed that a 2- to 4-fold level of resistance is conferred. Gene amplification appears to be the primary mechanism of resistance in the majority of waterhemp populations, with the Pro106Ser substitution present in fewer populations and conferring a lower level of resistance. Results from the studies herein also suggest that additional mechanisms of resistance exist, either separately or in conjunction with the target-site mechanisms studied

Beauty in the Beast

Cutleaf teasel, a plant endemic to Europe, was introduced in the 1700s for the use of its seed heads in teasing wool for the textile industry. Today, teasel is a noxious weed in several states and is often found growing in dense patches along Midwest highways, overtaking native vegetation. Management options are limited, but control can be achieved with the use of herbicides. In both urban and agronomic settings, herbicides often are the most efficientand sometimes the onlymethod of weed control. Weeds can dramatically reduce yields, leading farmers to spend more on herbicides than on any other pesticide. However, much like antibiotic resistance threatens human health, the evolution of herbicide resistance threatens weed management. My research focuses on the biological mechanisms conferring herbicide resistance in weeds and their evolution, an area that informs management decisions that preserve and protect the use of herbicides. As our population size grows, demanding the production of more food and feed, the obstacle of herbicide resistance must not be overlooked any more than the teasel along our highways. This aggressive weed is one that often goes unnoticed, but is brought to light in this photograph.Ope

Beauty in the Beast

Cutleaf teasel, a plant endemic to Europe, was introduced in the 1700s for the use of its seed heads in teasing wool for the textile industry. Today, teasel is a noxious weed in several states and is often found growing in dense patches along Midwest highways, overtaking native vegetation. Management options are limited, but control can be achieved with the use of herbicides. In both urban and agronomic settings, herbicides often are the most efficientand sometimes the onlymethod of weed control. Weeds can dramatically reduce yields, leading farmers to spend more on herbicides than on any other pesticide. However, much like antibiotic resistance threatens human health, the evolution of herbicide resistance threatens weed management. My research focuses on the biological mechanisms conferring herbicide resistance in weeds and their evolution, an area that informs management decisions that preserve and protect the use of herbicides. As our population size grows, demanding the production of more food and feed, the obstacle of herbicide resistance must not be overlooked any more than the teasel along our highways. This aggressive weed is one that often goes unnoticed, but is brought to light in this photograph.Ope

Phytochemical diversity and genetics of purple corn

Color strongly influences the perception of food and beverage quality and plays an important role in the marketing, desirability, and consumption of food and beverage products. Increasing demand for more natural products has spurred interest in natural colorants, especially from sources rich in anthocyanins, red to purple plant pigments. Anthocyanin-rich purple corn is being explored as a potential economical source of natural colorant. Our recent survey of colored corn maize germplasm identified a purple corn landrace, Apache Red (AR), with great pigment variability and intensity. Further breeding and investigation of this line resulted in the identification of AR lines with mostly pelargonidin-derived anthocyanins (orange-red) as opposed to the traditional cyanidin-dominant (red-pink) anthocyanin content of other available purple corn varieties. This unique anthocyanin profile may be attractive to the food and beverage industry looking for orange or red natural colorants. Examination of AR lines also resulted in the identification of new flavanol-anthocyanin condensed pigments not previously reported in maize. Further analysis of AR phytochemistry identified abundant apigenin-derived flavones that were found to copigment with anthocyanins, resulting in darker and bluer extracts and improved anthocyanin stability in a model beverage. Given the unique phytochemical diversity present in AR, a large-scale AR mapping population was created and genotyped using genotyping-by-sequencing, and phenotyped for flavonoid content using HPLC. GWAS (genome-wide association studies) revealed several candidate genes associated with anthocyanin concentration and type as well as flux through the flavonoid pathway. Of interest were candidates found for an O-methyltransferase involved in peonidin biosynthesis, an anthocyanidin reductase (ANR) associated with flavonol synthesis, and MATE transporters that may function in more efficient vacuolar sequestration of acylated anthocyanins. In addition to GWAS, GS was used to predict anthocyanin content in AR. Five-fold cross validation resulted in high prediction accuracies, suggesting GS will be useful in landrace development and may be useful for other purple corn breeding programs. Results from these studies have helped inform breeding goals and provide a foundation for future research into anthocyanin and flavonoid biosynthesis in maize pericarp.LimitedAuthor requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD syste

Dietary consumption of saturated fats and simple sugars exacerbates systolic and diastolic dysfunction and abnormal LV remodeling in diabetic rats

The incidence of obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease is increasing in part due to increased consumption of saturated fat and simple sugars. We evaluated the effect of diets high in fat and/or carbohydrate on left ventricular (LV) morphology and function with or without diabetes. Young male rats received control (CON; 12% kcal fat/19% protein/69% carbohydrate), moderate fat and carbohydrate (MFC; 40/15/45%) or high fat (HF; 60/19/21%) diets; LV morphology and function were evaluated at 2 and 14wk. Blood glucose was unchanged at 2wk; however, at 14 wk glucose in MFC was 2-fold higher (