New Year, New Look: Communicating an Organizational Identity for the EIU Women\u27s Basketball Team

The attempt to increase and maintain stakeholder engagement and interaction is one of the main pursuits for public relations practitioners today. With new and changing ways to reach and engage stakeholders through various social media outlets public relations professionals now more than ever have to find a way to make their products stand out among the multiple messages a person views in a given day. This public relations campaign attempted to increase engagement and interaction with the Eastern Illinois University\u27s women\u27s basketball team by giving the team a new organizational identity. This identity was conveyed through the team\u27s social media accounts using a distinctive brand personality as well as visual communication to distinguish the team from comparable others. Over the course of the 2016-17 season it was found that the use of this distinctive visual communication and brand personality, utilized across Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, had a tremendous increase in the number of stakeholder engagement and interactions with each post

New Year, New Look: Communicating an Organizational Identity for the EIU Women\u27s Basketball Team

The attempt to increase and maintain stakeholder engagement and interaction is one of the main pursuits for public relations practitioners today. With new and changing ways to reach and engage stakeholders through various social media outlets public relations professionals now more than ever have to find a way to make their products stand out among the multiple messages a person views in a given day. This public relations campaign attempted to increase engagement and interaction with the Eastern Illinois University\u27s women\u27s basketball team by giving the team a new organizational identity. This identity was conveyed through the team\u27s social media accounts using a distinctive brand personality as well as visual communication to distinguish the team from comparable others. Over the course of the 2016-17 season it was found that the use of this distinctive visual communication and brand personality, utilized across Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, had a tremendous increase in the number of stakeholder engagement and interactions with each post

Characterization of Lignin Structural Variability and the Associated Application In Genome Wide Association Studies

Poplar (Populus sp.) is a promising biofuel feedstock due to advantageous features such as fast growth, the ability to grow on marginal land, and relatively low lignin content. However, there is tremendous variability associated with the composition of biomass. Understanding this variability, especially in lignin, is crucial to developing and implementing financially viable, integrated biorefineries. Although lignin is typically described as being comprised of three primary monolignols (syringyl, guaiacyl, p-hydroxyphenyl), it is a highly irregular biopolymer that can incorporate non-canonical monolignols. It is also connected by a variety of interunit linkages, adding to its complexity. Secondary cell wall formation requires the coordination of many metabolic pathways. Additionally, complex traits such as lignin are highly polygenic. While there are several methods to analyze lignin structure, 2D HSQC NMR is a powerful analytical tool that elucidates many structural traits of lignin simultaneously. This work examined the lignin structure of 409 unique Populus trichocarpa genotypes via HSQC NMR. Twelve lignin phenotypes were subsequently utilized for a genome-wide association study (GWAS) – a powerful approach for identifying loci contributing to natural phenotypic diversity. This deep phenotyping enabled GWAS to identify 756 candidate genes associated with at least one lignin phenotype. Many of these candidate genes have not been previously reported to be associated with lignin or cell wall biosynthesis. These results provide a valuable resource for gaining insights into the molecular mechanisms of lignin biosynthesis and offer new targets for future genetic improvement in poplar

Experimental Validation of the Calphad Approach Applied to Multi-Principle Element Alloys

High entropy alloys (HEAs) are a recent area of research in materials science. Their namesake is because their high entropy of mixing due to multiple metallic elements in a near equimolar ratio. The high entropy of mixing is supposed to suppress unwanted, brittle, ordered intermetallic phases, and form a single, randomly mixed solid solution phase. This phenomena makes HEAs a good candidate for structural applications. However, this entropy of mixing may not be enough to suppress all intermetallic phases. For this reason, the CALculation of PHAse Diagrams (CALPHAD) approach is being explored to predict phase equilibrium in HEAs. This study seeks to experimentally validate the current CALPHAD approach when applied to HEAs. Five alloy compositions were characterized with SEM, EDS, and XRD in the as-cast condition and after equilibrium heat treatments of 500hr at 1000°C and 1000hr at 750°C. Phases detected in the experimental alloys were compared with the CALPHAD predicted equilibrium phases. When considerations are taken, the current CALPHAD approach is adequate in predicting phase equilibrium for HEAs

Phase I Contaminant Transport Parameters for the Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport Model of Corrective Action Unit 99: Rainier Mesa/Shoshone Mountain, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada, Revision 1

This document presents a summary and framework of available transport data and other information directly relevant to the development of the Rainier Mesa/Shoshone Mountain (RMSM) Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 99 groundwater transport model. Where appropriate, data and information documented elsewhere are briefly summarized with reference to the complete documentation

Phase I Hydrologic Data for the Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport Model of Corrective Action Unit 99: Rainier Mesa/Shoshone Mountain, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada, Revision 1

This document presents a summary and framework of the available hydrologic data and other information directly relevant to the development of the Rainier Mesa/Shoshone Mountain (RMSM) Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 99 groundwater flow models. Where appropriate, data and information documented elsewhere are briefly summarized with reference to the complete documentation

Webcharts – A Web-based Charting Library for Custom Interactive Data Visualization

Webcharts is a JavaScript library built on top of D3.js that creates reusable, flexible, interactive charts that are highly customizable. Webcharts provides a method for creating commonly-used charts, including bar charts, scatterplots, and timelines, through a simple configuration scheme. Charts created with Webcharts allow users to dynamically manipulate chart data, appearance, and behavior both through callback functions and input elements that are tied to chart objects. This approach allows users to create reusable charts that range from simple static graphics to complex interactive data exploration tools with custom user interfaces, all using the same library

A computationally engineered RAS rheostat reveals RAS-ERK signaling dynamics.

Synthetic protein switches controlled with user-defined inputs are powerful tools for studying and controlling dynamic cellular processes. To date, these approaches have relied primarily on intermolecular regulation. Here we report a computationally guided framework for engineering intramolecular regulation of protein function. We utilize this framework to develop chemically inducible activator of RAS (CIAR), a single-component RAS rheostat that directly activates endogenous RAS in response to a small molecule. Using CIAR, we show that direct RAS activation elicits markedly different RAS-ERK signaling dynamics from growth factor stimulation, and that these dynamics differ among cell types. We also found that the clinically approved RAF inhibitor vemurafenib potently primes cells to respond to direct wild-type RAS activation. These results demonstrate the utility of CIAR for quantitatively interrogating RAS signaling. Finally, we demonstrate the general utility of our approach in design of intramolecularly regulated protein tools by applying it to the Rho family of guanine nucleotide exchange factors

Peripartum infections and associated maternal mortality in rural Malawi

Article approval pendingTo assess associations between maternal mortality and severe morbidity and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, uptake of antiretroviral therapy, obstetric infections, and nonobstetric infections in a rural Malawian district, where the estimated HIV prevalence is 21%