Carle Illinois College of Medicine (CI MED), the first engineering-based medical program in the United States, approaches teaching medicine with an engineering innovation mindset. This approach is reflected in PRORENATA, a pioneering web application designed to address the challenge of incorporating longitudinal pharmacological concepts consistently throughout a curriculum. PRORENATA aims to alleviate resource burden and maximize the learning of pharmacologic concepts through concept mapping. A pilot version of PRORENATA was launched in 2023 and demonstrated general usability. This report shares the design and initial implementation of PRORENATA, a novel web-based medical educational resource to support medical student learning of pharmacology and its clinical applications. Following PRORENATA's pilot, a collaborative effort was established with MedTerms, another developing medical education resource, to further enhance PRORENATA. MedTerms, created by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, uses visualization design and an innovative software user interface buildout to facilitate learning of diseases from foundational principles. PRORENATA's distinguishing advantage is its foundational support by technical experts (designers, software engineers) and medical content experts (medical students, medical educators, medical specialists), ensuring content accuracy and relevance. Specifically, PRORENATA provides a visual organization of content in a tree-like structure, classifying content by class or disease states (e.g., hypertension, acute coronary syndrome, etc.). When the user clicks on specific drugs, more detailed information is revealed, including mechanism of action, key indication, common side effects, and contraindications. Each image within PRORENATA links to its source page. Ultimately, PRORENATA is a student-designed and created resource application to enhance pharmacology education.

ABSTRACT ECR Spotlight is a series of interviews with early-career authors from a selection of papers published in Journal of Experimental Biology and aims to promote not only the diversity of early-career researchers (ECRs) working in experimental biology but also the huge variety of animals and physiological systems that are essential for the ‘comparative’ approach. Julia York is an author on ‘ Temperature sensing in fishes: mechanisms and modulation in a warming world’, published in JEB. Julia is a Postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Christina Cheng at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA, investigating the evolution, expression and function of thermosensory proteins in polar fish.

This issue of SourceLab features artifacts drawn from the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign). This edition presents a figurine of Bes, an ancient Egyptian deity, along with explanatory commentary on the practice of household worship. This publication is part of the digital documentary edition series SourceLab, based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Our Editorial Board conducts rigorous peer-review of every edition.

This issue of SourceLab features artifacts drawn from the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign). The objects presented all represent different techniques of perfecting or correcting the human body. This publication is part of the digital documentary edition series SourceLab, based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Our Editorial Board conducts rigorous peer-review of every edition.

Libraries are not exempt from rising costs. The situation presented is how libraries can continue to provide services while also finding efficiencies in labor and operational expenditures. Libraries must examine where budgets are currently being allocated and then evaluate what further steps can be taken to ensure prompt and reliable service while also remaining efficient. For libraries who participate in interlibrary loan or consortial resource sharing, it may be beneficial to use OCLC’s Interlibrary Loan Cost Calculator or to determine what the return on investment is for being part of a consortium. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign used the ILL Cost Calculator and the return on investment provided by the statewide consortium to evaluate current operations and determine what further steps could be taken to provide materials in a timely manner.

Resting state functional connectivity (RS-FC) studies of tinnitus are useful tools for identifying neural mechanisms and potential treatment options for patients. Building on our previous work demonstrating the replicability of RS-FCin individuals with tinnitus and controls, we attempted to investigate the factors leading to published inconsistent findings by examining resting state networks in participant groups across two different study sites: civilians recruited from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; and military-affiliated participants recruited at the Hearig Center of Excellence at Lackland Airforce Base in San Antonio, Texas. Multiple analyses were performed: an overall analysis comparing tinnitus and control participants combined across the sites, and subgroup analyses based on hearing loss, severity, and site. In general, the tinnitus group at the military site exhibited a more profound effect of severity and less so of hearing, compared to their civilian counterparts. More specifically, while changes to the dorsal attention network were observed in the civilian group, the military tinnitus group exhibited alterations to the default mode, emotion processing, and sensory networks. Our study reiterates the impact of severity and hearing loss on neural networks of tinnitus and further supports the need to account for demographic variables such as age and profession.

Abstract Assistive technology (AT) holds great potential to increase independence for older adults, specifically persons with mild cognitive impairment (PwMCI). MCI affects approximately 20% of individuals aged 50 and above. Despite this prevalence, the existing literature does not include robust information on their attitudes, perceived needs, or desires regarding AT. We conducted six focus groups across two sites (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Weill Cornell Medicine). There were 20 total participants: 6 male, 14 female, aged 60-85, with a TICS-M score between 22-37, indicative of some level of cognitive impairment. The goal of the group discussions was to develop recommendations for an AT system, called SPARC (Supporting Personal Activities and Reinforcing Cognition). The SPARC system offers features designed to aid PwMCI in completing complex activities of daily living, support their cognitive health, increase social engagement, and provide educational opportunities. Discussions focused on content, ease of use, relevance, and integration with other tools. Participants responded favorably to the “all-in-one” nature of the system. They showed some hesitation about potential effort and determination needed to adopt the system. The activity support and education features were well-received. Participants discussed potential barriers to adoption for the social and reminiscence features, most common being relevance to them, ease of use, privacy concerns, and integration with current approaches. These findings underscore the importance of assessing PwMCI’s attitudes and opinions during the early stages of the design process, which will impact the adoption and success of the SPARC or other systems intended to support their needs.

Abstract University and community engagement creates meaningful and mutually beneficial partnerships that enriches learning experiences and provides a foundation for research that is relevant and impactful; addresses community needs; builds trust; and enhances the validity and application of the findings. At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the College of Applied Health Sciences has two research themes: CHART (Collaboration on Health, Aging, Research, and Technology) and CARD (Collaborations in the Advancement of Research on Disability). Together, they represent consortia of faculty across campus and are proactively developing community connections with local leaders, healthcare providers, community agencies, older adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers. We will demonstrate how CHART and CARD have played a critical role in fostering community and university partnerships with successful programs and events this past year, as part of our Age-Friendly University mission. We hosted an open house and tour of the McKechnie Family LIFE Home during Active Aging Week to showcase research innovations with smart home technologies and robotics for people of all ages and abilities. We conducted a symposium entitled “Community/University Engagement to Support Aging and Disability” with over 100 attendees that brought together community members and researchers to explore strategies for effective research partnerships. Presentations and a panel discussion highlighted the importance of collaboration and addressing the needs of diverse communities. These initiatives not only strengthen university-community connections but also pave the way for continued collaboration and implementation of research initiatives to promote meaningful change and enhance well-being of individuals across all generations and abilities.

The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science of Technology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign was established in 1989 with the generous support of the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. It was built to break through disciplinary boundaries and produce scientific discoveries that could only be made by teams using interdisciplinary approaches. After 36 years, I reflect on the transformative legacy of the Beckman Institute at Illinois and how it informs my perspective on future of interdisciplinary research.

Since 2021, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) has been one of the universities hosting the Bolashak International Scholarship. The scholarship aims to prepare scholars and professionals to work on priority sectors of Kazakhstan’s economy (Bolashak International Scholarship, 2025). At UIUC, the Bolashak International Scholarship is coordinated by Global Education and Training (GET), Illinois International. In 2024, GET invited the School of Information Sciences (iSchool) to set up an educational partnership to co-host data science Bolashak fellows. The partnership was implemented through the establishment of one team representing GET and one team representing the iSchool. The GET and the iSchool team collaborate to design a one-year data science program composed of academic events, mentoring, and course audit. The data science program concept is taking into consideration the scholars’ needs and interests, and relies on data science instructors’ expertise, and previous literature on teaching data science and data science programs (Wing, 2019; Brunner, Kim, 2016; Kross, Guo, 2019; Rokem et al., 2015; Tang and Sae-Lim, 2016). Although the implementation of the program faces challenges, such as finding more faculty to participate in the program, a lack of partnership policies and definition of roles, appropriate data science curriculum for one year, the partnership is cooperative and is taking shape as a coalition partnership (Tushnet, 1993; Berliner, 1997). Co-hosting Bolashak fellows has driven a research agenda that integrates research, practice, and policies to create a data science program based upon the iSchool’s unique perspective working at the intersection of people, technology, and information.

This study examines the personal and professional development of 46 mid-career Bolashak scholars in the Pedagogy group at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign during the 2024–2025 academic year. Funded by the Government of Kazakhstan, the Bolashak Program supports scholars in advancing their expertise at leading global universities. Through a mixed-methods analysis of self-evaluation reports, this work-in-progress explores scholars’ reflections on their academic growth, cross-cultural learning, and professional development. Key findings highlight the impact of mentorship, interdisciplinary collaboration, and cultural exchange on scholars’ pedagogical practices and research skills, contributing to Kazakhstan’s goal of developing a skilled workforce.

A novel indirect calorimeter chamber system has been built at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (IL, USA). The unit consists of 6 respiration-metabolism chambers where temperature and humidity are controlled, gas analysis units, a data management unit, a mechanical room, and an air-conditioned feed storage room. The chambers are airtight and each chamber has the capacity to hold more than 1 pig depending on size. Using the system, concentrations of digestible energy, metabolizable energy, and net energy, and digestibility and retention of nutrients can be determined in diets fed to pigs on an ad libitum basis. A recovery test was performed using propane combustion. The recovery rate of oxygen ranged from 86.7% to 108.7% with a mean of 99.0% and a coefficient of variation of 6.27%. The recovery rate of carbon dioxide ranged from 100.0% to 101.0% with a mean of 100.6% and a coefficient of variation of 0.29%. In summary, a novel calorimeter unit allows for pigs to be group-housed and given ad libitum access to feed and water. This system is believed to be representative of commercial settings, and therefore, net energy can be determined in diets fed to pigs under conditions similar to those used in commercial production.

Abstract This paper introduces a three-dimensional model for the 350kW Plasmatron X inductively coupled plasma facility at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, designed for testing high-temperature materials. Simulations of the facility have been performed using a three-dimensional, multiphysics computational framework, which reveals pronounced three-dimensional characteristics within the facility. The analysis of the plasma and electromagnetic field in the torch region reveals the influence of the helical coils, which cause a non-axisymmetric distribution of the plasma discharge. Additionally, simulations of the torch-chamber configuration at two operating pressures have been conducted to examine the impact of plasma asymmetry in the torch on jet characteristics in the chamber. The results indicate an unsteady, three-dimensional behavior of the plasma jet at high pressure. Spectral Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (SPOD) has been performed on the unsteady flow field to identify the dominant modes and their associated frequencies. At low pressure, a steady, supersonic, nearly axisymmetric plasma jet forms with consistent flow properties, such as temperature and velocity. However, strong non-equilibrium effects at low pressures lead to substantial deviations in species concentrations from axial symmetry despite having an almost axisymmetric distribution for quantities such as velocity and temperatures.

abstract: This study evaluates the effectiveness of an asynchronous e-text, Library 101 , in teaching students about library resources and services. Developed in a collaboration between the eLearning librarian and Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (CITL) at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, the Library 101 e-text introduces essential library resources to users regardless of previous library knowledge. The responses from a user survey revealed high satisfaction and a desire for a deeper understanding of the library. The findings highlight the value of digital learning materials in addressing educational gaps and empowering students to utilize library services effectively.

This study investigates the psychological effects of religious superstitious behavior on self-confidence. Historically, religious activities like praying or wearing religious amulets have been linked to psychological advantages including lowered anxiety and increased resilience. We surveyed 100 college students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (ages 19-22)by using a correlational research design, to evaluate their levels of religious superstitious behavior and self-confidence. Participants completed an online Qualtrics survey measuring the variables. Results indicate a positive correlation between religious superstitious behavior and self-confidence so the finding suggests that religious superstitions may serve as tools to increase self-confidence. While the limitations of the study will be sample homogeneity and self-report bias.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a global healthcare challenge. While increasing physical activity through exercise is considered a powerful therapy against MAFLD, its long-term effects on liver function remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate how exercise elicits hepatic memory, hypothesizing that exercise training cycles enhance long-term liver function and metabolic health, which persist after exercise cessation and are amplified with retraining. Here, 8-week-old male mice were fed a control diet and assigned to endurance-(voluntary wheel running; VWR) or resistance-based training (progressive weighted wheel running; PoWeR), or were sedentary (SED) and monitored throughout successive training (4 weeks), detraining (4 weeks), and retraining cycles (4 weeks). In vivo glucose homeostasis and hepatic function were assessed at each time point. We proposed that resistance-based training would yield superior metabolic outcomes. Both endurance (VWR) and resistance training (PoWeR) groups maintained lower body weight throughout training cycles, compared to SED, and following retraining, both training modalities resulted in fat mass reductions and increased lean mass, with PoWeR showing superior effects. While VWR only improved glucose tolerance (GTT) after retraining, PoWeR training robustly enhanced glucose (GTT) and pyruvate tolerance (PTT, and indirect marker of hepatic function) following training and retraining. Next, we studied the hepatic transcriptional adaptations (RNA-seq) and identified an upregulation of genes associated with hepatic secretory functions (Herpes simplex) following retraining including ~70 zinc finger protein (Zfp). Moreover, we identified that endurance retraining induced a group of hepatic carboxylesterases ( Ces2b, Ces3b, Ces4a ), which play a key role in complex lipid clearance from circulation. Greater liver expression of carboxylesterases was associated with higher serum carboxylesterase enzymatic activity (assessed by substrate cleavage). Additionally, PoWeR mice showed higher hepatic Ces2b expression and CES activity, particularly after training, further supporting the role of exercise in enhancing hepatic secretary function. Our findings indicate that exercise induces a hepatic memory that is potentiated by retraining and may be associated with glucose regulation and lipid metabolism. Notably, resistance-based training persistently enhanced the hepatic glucoregulatory function. Our study highlights the powerful effect of exercise as a targeted intervention for improving long-term metabolic health in MAFLD. Funding was provided by the Campus Research Board at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2025 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.

Skeletal muscle is a highly plastic tissue that responds to specific stimuli, including different exercise modalities, which include endurance- or resistance-based training. This is of particular importance given the newfound interest in the muscle memory, or the the long-term, persistent adaptations to prior exercise training. Here, we aimed to investigate how exercise modalities differentially prime the muscle memory. Using novel endurance- (Voluntary Wheel Running; VWR) or resistance-based exercise protocols (PoWeR; progressive weighted VWR of up to 15g added weight), we probed the memory following successive 4wk-TRAINing, 4wk-DETRAINing, and 4wk-RETRAINing cycles. We hypothesize that prior exercise TRAINing induces mitochondrial adaptations resulting in muscle growth which persist through time and are potentiated to improve muscle function. We assessed body composition, muscle fiber type and size (immunofluorescence), transcriptomics (bulk RNA-seq), and protein levels (immunoblot) after each TRAIN, DETRAIN, and RETRAIN cycle. Endurance (VWR) and resistance (PoWeR) TRAINing showed similar reductions in fat mass and comparable increases in adiposity after DETRAINing, but PoWeR RETRAINing resulted in greater body weight loss. Hindlimb muscles showed increased growth following RETRAINing, with VWR producing greater effect sizes in the tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius, and plantaris muscles compared to TRAINing alone. Importantly, both VWR and PoWeR similarly enhanced the growth of the soleus muscle following RETRAINing. Plantaris muscle fiber analysis showed PoWeR TRAINing increased fiber cross-sectional area (fCSA) in all fiber types, whereas VWR TRAINing only increased size of oxidative fibers. However, with RETRAINing, both VWR and PoWeR increased fCSA of oxidative and intermediate fibers. PoWeR, but not VWR, TRAINing altered fiber type distribution to more oxidative and less glycolytic fibers, which disappeared with DETRAINing and returned with RETRAINing. This is in line with our muscle transcriptomic analysis, showing a marked enhancement of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial genes after RETRAINing. Further, PoWeR TRAINing produced similar increases in fatty acid oxidation protein CPT1B and the oxidative phosphorylation complexes (OxPhos) but were reduced following RETRAINing. Conversely, VWR RETRAINing significantly increased expression of CPT1B and OxPhos complex IV, indicating diverging effects on mitochondrial protein abundance. Altogether, our novel exercise training protocols resulted in similar muscle memory recall of prior exercise adaptations. The effects of PoWeR appear to be more intense than VWR, reducing body weight to a greater extent while maintaining lean body mass. Both exercise modalities result in similar muscle growth during TRAINing but differ during RETRAINing, with PoWeR having a greater impact on fiber distribution. These adaptations appear to be linked to diverging effects on mitochondrial metabolism which may be leveraged to enhance muscle health and function. Funding was provided by the Center for Healthy Aging and Disability at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2025 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.

Aging is a degenerative process linked to increased inflammation and dysfunction of the intestinal epithelial barrier, which may impact nutrient absorption in the rapidly growing elderly population. Emerging evidence suggests that disruptions in intestinal host-microbiota crosstalk sphingolipids (SLs) may precede the decline in immune function and intestinal nutrient absorption observed with aging, but the mechanisms associated with this disruption remain poorly defined. Given the pivotal role of intestinal SL in regulating lipid metabolism and inflammation, we propose that age-related inflammation and reduced barrier integrity are linked to alterations in host-microbiota SL metabolism. Here, we utilized Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS)-based lipidomics to identify colonic digesta lipid alterations with aging in C57BL/6 mice (young= 3-4 m.o. vs. aged= 18-20 m.o.). First, we revealed that gut SL metabolism is robustly altered with age, hallmarked by the accumulation of numerous SLs and ceramides (Cer). Next, we investigated small intestinal expression of fatty acid (FA) synthesis and trafficking genes ( Fasn, Acc2, Elovl6, Cd36 , ApoB ) but did not observe significant differences. However, among SL metabolism genes ( Sptlc1, 2, Cers2 ,4, 6, Kdsr , Degs1,2 ), Cers6 was significantly higher ( p <0.01) in small intestine of young mice, which may indicate a greater synthesis of barrier ceramides that declines with age. Further, higher accumulation of SLs in digesta are strongly associated with signs of immune cell infiltration like calprotectin ( p <0.0001) and ex vivo immune toll-like receptor TLR4 reactivity of intestinal mucosa ( p <0.05) and feces ( p <0.001). Given that aging is associated with reduced intestinal resilience, we examined the effect of broad-spectrum antibiotic cocktail (ABX) challenge in young and aged mice. Following a one-week of ABX, mice were allowed to recover for 1 week washout period. Expression of FA and SL metabolism genes in the ileum was unaltered by ABX treatment after washout. Despite this, ABX exposure led to a robust accumulation of digesta triglycerides (TG) in aged mice after washout, indicating a heightened lipid malabsorptive phenotype with aging. Moreover, ABX-induced TG accumulation in the colon of aged mice is associated with an inability to recover their microbiome structure and persistent TLR4 immunogenicity of the digesta. Our findings are in line with a previous aged germ-free (GF) mouse (vs. specific pathogen-free mice; SPF) lipidomic analysis by Tsugawa, et al. ( Nature Aging, 2024), which shows greater SL accumulation in small intestine tissue during aging, with non-glycosylated SLs dominating in SPF mice and glycosylated SLs in GF mice, highlighting the role of gut microbiota in intestinal lipid homeostasis. Altogether, we show that aging and ABX disrupt intestinal lipids which may underlie the chronic inflammatory milieu and reduced barrier integrity. Future studies are needed to understand how aging disrupts intestinal host-microbiota lipid metabolism and nutrient absorption. Funding was provided by Vision 20/20 at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2025 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.

Cost Effectiveness of Ebook Acquisition Models in Two Academic Library Consortia

This research studies the impact of AI and Peer feedback on the academic writing development of Kazakhstani scholars using the CGScholar platform − the product of cutting-edge research and development into collaborative learning, big data, and artificial intelligence developed by educators and computer scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). The study aimed to find out how familiarity with AI tools and peer feedback processes affects participants’ openness to incorporating feedback into their academic writing. The study involved 36 Bolashak scholars enrolled in a scientific internship focused on education at the University of UIUC. A survey with 15 questions with multiple-choice, Likert scale, and open-ended questions was employed to collect a data. The survey was conducted via Google Forms in both English and Russian to ensure linguistic accessibility. Demographic information such as age, gender, and first language were collected to provide a nuanced understanding of the data. The analysis revealed a moderate positive correlation between familiarity with AI tools and openness to making changes based on feedback, and a strong positive correlation between research writing experience and expectations of peer feedback, especially in the area of research methodology. These results show that participants are open minded to AI-assisted feedback, however they still highly appreciate peer input, especially regarding methodological guidance. This study demonstrates the potential benefits of integrating AI tools with traditional feedback mechanisms to improve research writing quality in academic settings. Further research is recommended to evaluate the long-term impact of AI and peer feedback on academic writing skills, particularly through longitudinal studies that assess skill retention over multiple feedback cycles. Additionally, expanding the study to include a more diverse academic audience will provide deeper insights into how feedback mechanisms function across different research cultures and disciplines.