The use of expensive, marine-derived protein drives up the cost of high-quality fish feed. A South Dakota State University microbiologist and fisheries expert joined forces to produce fish feed ingredients from plant-based proteins, such as soybean meal. Their company, Prairie Aquatech, is scaling up production of the feed ingredients and expanding fish feeding trials.
Caring for a chronically ill family member can impact the caregiver’s physical, biological and mental health, according to assistant professor SunWoo Kang of the South Dakota State University counseling and human development department. “Higher levels of marital strain among family caregivers exacerbate the negative health impact,” she said. “In contrast, less strain from the spouse buffered this effect.”
A robot capable of scanning a tray of insect specimens in a few minutes will help make the virtual images and tagging information available online, according to South Dakota State University entomologist Paul Johnson, director of the Severin-McDaniel Insect Research Collection. The InvertNet Project, led by the University of Illinois in Champaign, involves 23 universities and two natural history museums.
Energy storage devices and computer screens may seem worlds apart, but they’re not. When associate professor Qi Hua Fan of the South Dakota State University electrical engineering and computer science department set out to make a less expensive supercapacitor for storing renewable energy, he developed a new plasma technology that will streamline the production of display screens.
When it comes to potential for wind energy, the Midwest has it. However, to harness that power communities will have to come to terms with a landscape dotted with wind towers. That’s a reality people are willing to accept, according assistant professor of sociology and rural studies Jeffrey Jacquet. He and graduate student Josh Fergen have done research in South Dakota and Minnesota to gauge attitudes about wind farms and their impact on the community and the environment.
Catching the fall foliage at its peak in the United States just became a little easier, thanks to the work of senior scientist Xiaoyang Zhang in the Geospatial Sciences Center of Excellence at South Dakota State University. He and research scientist Yunyue “Bob” Yu of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) developed a method to monitor and predict changes in leaf coloration using satellite imagery. Maps are available at http://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/star/news2014_201410_FallFoliage.php.
A new influenza virus, discovered in pigs and later found in cows, shares common ancestry with known influenza viruses, but is distinct enough that researchers have proposed calling it Type D Influenza. Three years ago Ben Hause, then a doctoral student at South Dakota State University, identified and characterized the new virus. SDSU virologist Feng Li and immunologist Radhey Kaushik will develop genetic and biochemical tools to study the virus and then determine how it is transmitted and how it replicates at the molecular level through a grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Nick Stokes of CSI using fingerprints to identify the murdered and Charlie Eppes of Numbers solving crimes via mathematical equations lead many people to assume that forensic science is a highly technical field relying on experts that always have a definitive answer about culpability. In fact, forensic statistics is a relatively new field that is working to establish investigative techniques and quantitative methods that ensure accuracy in suspect identification. There are about 25 statisticians worldwide working in forensics science. Two of these happen to be in the mathematics and statistics department at South Dakota State University and have recently received a $780,300 grant to advance the science.
An emerging virus demands quick action. One week after the diagnostic lab at Iowa State confirmed that porcine epidemic diarrhea virus had spread to the United States, Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Lab researchers at South Dakota State University released a diagnostic test to differentiate PEDv genetic material from that of other viruses. A faster, more sensitive second-generation PCR test was commercially available within a few months.
South Dakota State University food science professor Padmanaban Krishnan received a four-year grant geared toward getting corn co-products to the food market.
Two South Dakota State University professors in pursuit of strengthening their global perspective headed more than 5,500 miles east from their Brookings home to Istanbul, Turkey. A yearlong sabbatical leave, spent in Hande Briddick’s home country, served as an educational and rewarding adventure for her and husband, Chris. The College of Education and Human Sciences associate professors, who teach within SDSU’s Department of Counseling and Human Development, left for Istanbul in August 2013 and returned this July.
Hot, dry conditions can wreak havoc on a field of soybeans. Assistant professor Jai Rohila of the South Dakota State University Biology and Microbiology Department is uncovering the molecular mechanisms that lead to drought and heat tolerance. This will help breeders develop soybean varieties that can survive heat and drought. To do this, he is working with University of Minnesota soybean breeder Jim Orf, who provided Rohila with two varieties of soybeans, one that has greater tolerance to hot, dry conditions, and another that is susceptible.
Why did 43 percent of 1,093 South Dakota women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer surveyed choose mastectomy rather than lumpectomy? “According to research evidence, survival rates are considered equal,” noted Nancy Fahrenwald, dean of the South Dakota State University College of Nursing. To determine which of the nine independent variables tipped the scales toward mastectomy, she collaborated with associate professor Chris Saunders of the mathematics and statistics department.
Two college students from Toulouse, France, completed a 10-week internship milling wheat and researching how to expand the loaf volume of bread. Elodie Payrau and Floriane Bouchet are agronomy food science and management students in their second year at École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique of Toulouse. The students worked with department of health and nutritional sciences professor Padmanaban Krishnan in the South Dakota State University Seed Technology Laboratory as part of a long-standing partnership between SDSU and ENSAT.
Felling trees, building dams and creating ponds—beavers have a unique ability to alter the landscape in ways that are beneficial to other organisms, according to South Dakota State University professor Carol Johnston of the natural resource management department. That’s why they are known as a “keystone species.” The ecologist received a two-year National Science Foundation grant for more than $143,000 to compile a book based on her previous NSF-funded research on how beavers have affected the ecosystem at Voyageurs National Park near International Falls, Minnesota.
It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. Scientists searching for the gene or gene combination that affects even one plant or animal characteristic must sort through massive amounts of data, according to associate professor Xijin Ge of the mathematics and statistics department at South Dakota State University. He leads a bioinformatics research group, which provides the expertise that plant and animal scientists need to uncover how genes and proteins affect cell functions. Just one experiment to analyze gene expression can produce one terabyte of sequence data, Ge explained. “That’s a little beyond many biologists' comfort zone.”
It’s that time of year again—the dry season in southeastern Asia when smoke and particulates from Indonesian peat swamp fires on the island of Borneo drift across to neighboring countries. Indonesia is trying to reduce carbon emissions, but documenting carbon sequestration to reward nations for their efforts through programs such as REDD and REDD Plus can be challenging.
Spring rains that delayed planting and a cool summer have farmers concerned about whether their corn will reach maturity before the first frost. Two new online decision-making tools available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Useful to Usable research project will help, according to state climatologist and South Dakota State University associate professor Dennis Todey. Farmers are producing crops under more variable conditions, so these tools can be critical to both food safety and the farmers’ economic survival.
Fiber optics increased the speed and quantity of information that can be transmitted through the Internet by transforming electrical signals into pulsating light. The same can be done within laptops and other devices by using organic materials containing chromophore as an active compound, according to South Dakota State University materials chemist Cheng Zhang. Components made from this organic material can provide a larger bandwidth and draw less power.
Dealing with malaria is a fact of life for more than 91 million Ethiopians. Each year four to five million contract malaria, one of the biggest health problems in this poor country. Through a five-year, $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, and Michael Wimberly of the Geographic Information Science Center of Excellence and an international team of scientists will combine environmental data gathered through earth-imaging satellites and surveillance data from public health professionals in the Amhara region of Ethiopia to anticipate malaria outbreaks.
Parents of children with short bowel syndrome measure their outcomes by the centimeters of intestine that remain after surgery. Many of these children live on intravenous nutrients and fluids, in combination with formula by a gastric tube in and a strict diet. All face daily challenges—infections, diarrhea and liver disease. Through a collaborative project with clinical researchers and a microbiologist in Canada, assistant professor Crystal Levesque of the South Dakota State University Animal Science Department hopes to help in finding a treatment that will help grow their intestines. Beginning its second year, the project has been supported by an annual $25,000 Maurice Shils Grant from the Nestlé Nutrition Institute awarded through the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Rhoads Research Foundation.
Far-sighted data policy and cloud computing are leading to the “democratization of satellite mapping,” one expert says — and the payoff will be wider access to information about the earth via platforms such as the new Google Earth Engine, a planetary-scale platform for environmental data and analysis.
Crafting oat varieties suitable for horses and other livestock is priority for plant breeders at South Dakota State University. But horses are having to make room at the trough for humans as scientists continue to learn more about the health benefits of oats in human diets.
A fresh look at the safety systems for current and future nuclear power plants may be the silver lining in the current crisis involving nuclear reactors damaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan. Physicist Robert J. McTaggart, the coordinator of nuclear education at South Dakota State University, is available to discuss the safety and future design considerations of nuclear power plants.
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