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Fulfilling a sow’s increased nutritional needs in the last trimester may lead to greater productivity for both the mother and her piglets, according to assistant professor Crystal Levesque of the South Dakota State University Department of Animal Science. Through a pilot study, she has found “fairly clear preliminary evidence that we’re impacting at least piglet survivability in the first week post-weaning.”

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A victim of cyanide poisoning can die within 30 minutes.The diagnostic test to determine cyanide exposure takes 24 hours.Two chemists at South Dakota State University have developed a prototype that can detect exposure to cyanide in 70 seconds via a blood sample. The device could save lives, whether it be diagnosing exposure from an industrial fire or a terrorist attack

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“Secure, healthy caregiving is just as important as genetic factors in preventing physical and emotional problems,” according to South Dakota State University nursing professor Marylou Mylant. That’s the premise behind research on strengthening families to fight a dramatic increase in obesity among Native American preschoolers. Less than 25 percent of the preschoolers at the intervention site have normal BMIs.

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Using natural soil components to trap pollutants will allow producers to control soil contaminants and reuse draining water while protecting their agricultural crops, according to Mohamed Elsayed, a Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar at South Dakota State University’s chemistry and biochemistry department. His research seeks to increase the ability of humic acid to adsorb, or trap pollutants, in combination with either of two clay minerals—kaolinite or montmorillonite.

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Tumor cells require high levels of glucose to multiply. This, in turn, creates more lactic acid, a byproduct that negatively affects the body’s immune response thereby reducing the effectiveness of drug therapies. Scientists from Sanford Research and South Dakota State University are using a low-glucose diet and specially designed anti-cancer drugs to improve therapeutic outcomes in cancer patients.

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As the price of gasoline drops, the number of automobile crashes increases, according to analysis of monthly crash data. from the Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety for 1998 to 2007. However, the time frame within which this occurs varies based on the driver’s age, according to South Dakota State University sociologist Guangqing Chi. He led the multi-institutional team of researchers who analyzed crash data from Minnesota, Mississippi and Alabama in relationship to gasoline prices.

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Tillage practices that conserve moisture, plants that use water more efficiently and soil with more organic matter have produced higher yields even in dry conditions, according to soil scientist David Clay, professor of plant science at South Dakota State University. In addition, scientists have a better understanding about how water stress decreases the plants’ ability to take up nutrients and recover from pest injury.

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Nurses, doctors, pharmacists and therapists care for the same patient, but often don’t meet until they are practicing health professionals. Simulations at the Sullivan Health Science Center in Sioux Falls involving pharmacy students and graduate and undergraduate nursing students from South Dakota State University are giving them a taste of reality and building their confidence.

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Organic solar cells are less expensive to produce than silicon-based technologies, but to make them competitive a method must be found to increase their efficiency. Qiquan Qiao of the South Dakota State University Center for Advanced Photovoltaics is using tunnel junctions to provide effective pathways through which charge can travel and thus reduce energy losses

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In an era when consumers have a wealth of information at their fingertips, where do consumers go for recommendations on meat-purchasing? A pilot study by consumer economist Kuo-Liang “Matt” Chang and a team of researchers from South Dakota State University showed that websites and social media are sources of information about nutrition and cooking that then may lead to recommendations on meat purchasing.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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South Dakota State University food science professor Padmanaban Krishnan received a four-year grant geared toward getting corn co-products to the food market.