University Of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Research Articles

Exercise training cycles persistently improve glucose homeostasis and alters hepatic fatty acid oxidation

Obesity is a metabolic disease associated with a lower capacity for fatty acid oxidation (FAO) that contributes to insulin resistance and reduces metabolic fuel flexibility. Conversely, the long-term consequences of obesity can be reversed through exercise training. While studies suggest that exercise elicits long-lasting and persistent adaptations in muscle akin to an “exercise memory”, how a hepatic memory is established remains unknown. This is key given that beneficial adaptations to the exercised muscle cannot occur without support from the liver. Thus, we hypothesize that exercise training elicits a hepatic “exercise memory” that persists after exercise cessation and is accentuated by retaining to improve metabolic health and FAO. Here, we used male SEDentary (static cages; SED) and exercise-TRAINed (wheel running, TRAIN) chow-fed mice and investigated how exercise impacts whole body glucose homeostasis (glucose tolerance test [GTT], insulin tolerance test [ITT], pyruvate tolerance test [PTT]) and hepatic FAO following training (4wks), detraining (8wk), and retraining (12wk) in three independent cohorts. Exercise training reduced adiposity ( p<0.01) and improved glucose tolerance (GTT) ( p<0.05), compared to SED. Metabolic improvements in TRAIN mice were accompanied by higher gene expression of FAO enzyme Hadha ( p<0.05). Further, improvements to adiposity and glucose handling disappear after detraining. Nevertheless, after detraining, TRAIN mice had a higher expression of lipid uptake ( Lpl, p<0.05), mitochondrial function ( Sdha, Sdhb, p< 0.05), and FAO genes ( Acadvl, p=0.053). Following retraining, we observed a significant enhancement of basal glucose ( p<0.05) and a main effect of exercise training on glucose homeostasis (GTT, ITT, PTT) across timepoints (factorial ANOVA p< 0.001). However, mitochondrial and FAO gene expression ( Sdha, Sdhb, p<0.05, Acadvl, p=0.053) were reduced with retraining in TRAIN mice, compared to SED. In conclusion, we observed that exercise training improves glucose homeostasis, which is further potentiated through exercise retraining. This effect was accompanied by dynamic changes in expression of genes related to mitochondrial function, FAO, and lipid uptake. Our data may suggest a dynamic reprogramming of hepatic fatty acid handling with training, that may persist with detraining, and can be enhanced with retraining. Funding was provided by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Alterations in sphingolipid synthesis during training, detraining, and retraining may alter myogenesis in skeletal muscle

The benefits of exercise on metabolic health and its effectiveness at reducing morbidity risk are well established. Exercise training enhances skeletal muscle metabolism and function, but whether such adaptations persist through detraining and how they are potentiated with retraining are not well understood. Recent evidence has highlighted the role sphingolipids play on skeletal muscle size and function, but how exercise affects sphingolipid metabolism is not yet known. We hypothesize that alterations in skeletal muscle sphingolipid metabolism with exercise training are necessary to enhance muscle mass with further exercise retraining. Here, mice were SEDentary (SED; static cages) or exercise-TRAINed (TRAIN; voluntary wheel running) and chow-fed. We performed body composition analysis (using EchoMRI) and skeletal muscle collection [tibialis anterior ( TA), extensor digitorum longus ( EDL), gastrocnemius ( Gas), Soleus ( Sol), plantaris ( Plant), and levator ani ( LA)] following training (4wks), detraining (8wk), and retraining (12wk) in three independent cohorts. Sphingolipid and myogenic gene expression was measured in TA muscle by qPCR. Exercise training concomitantly increased lean and decreased fat percentage ( p<0.05), while increasing Sol muscle mass in TRAIN mice ( p<0.05), compared to SED. This was accompanied by higher sphingolipid metabolism ( Acer1, p<0.05; and Cers1, p=0.058) and myogenic gene expression ( MyoD, Myf5; p<0.05). Following detraining, TRAIN mice had an overall increase in lean-to-fat mass ( p<0.05) while maintaining all individual muscle masses ( p<0.05), compared to SED. This was accompanied by a reduction in gene expression of the sphingolipid receptor S1pr1 and myogenic factor Myf5 ( p<0.05), but no differences in sphingolipid metabolism ( Acer1, Cers1). Lastly, retraining increased lean and decreased fat percentage ( p<0.05) and enhanced the masses of TA, Gas, Sol, and Plant muscles in TRAIN mice ( p<0.05), compared to SED. This was accompanied by a reduced expression of rate limiting sphingolipid synthesis genes Sptlc1 and Sptlc2 and the kinase Sphk1 ( p<0.05), but no differences in Cers1 or myogenic gene expression in TRAIN mice, compared to SED. Overall, our data shows that exercise training and retraining potentiate muscle mass accretion and dynamically regulates sphingolipid metabolism adaptations. These data suggest a potential role for sphingolipids to modulate long-lasting improvements to skeletal muscle. Funding was provided by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Changes in Digital Collections and Their Metadata: A Longitudinal Study of UIUC Digital Library

Discussions surrounding digital libraries and their metadata have become less robust than before, given that creating and hosting digital collections have become the norm for most cultural heritage institutions over the last 20 years. Consequently, there are fewer discussions of how the characteristics of digital collections and their metadata have changed over time. This article showcases the evolution of digital collections and their metadata at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Library in the last 20 years. It discusses the growth of its collections and their characteristics, examines historical changes in the use of metadata elements, and explores responses to the changing nature of digitized and born-digital materials. Based on a large-scale data analysis of the digital collections and their metadata housed in UIUC Digital Library, the paper also examines the challenges and opportunities of the curation and management of digital collections and digital libraries in the future.

Molecule Maker Lab Institute: Accelerating, advancing, and democratizing molecular innovation

AbstractMany of the greatest challenges facing society today likely have molecular solutions that await discovery. However, the process of identifying and manufacturing such molecules has remained slow and highly specialist dependent. Interfacing the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and synthetic organic chemistry has the potential to powerfully address both limitations. The Molecule Maker Lab Institute (MMLI) brings together a team of chemists, engineers, and AI‐experts from the University of Illinois Urbana‐Champaign (UIUC), Pennsylvania State University, and the Rochester Institute of Technology, with the goal of accelerating the discovery, synthesis and manufacture of complex organic molecules. Advanced AI and machine learning (ML) methods are deployed in four key thrusts: (1) AI‐enabled synthesis planning, (2) AI‐enabled catalyst development, (3) AI‐enabled molecule manufacturing, and (4) AI‐enabled molecule discovery. The MMLI's new AI‐enabled synthesis platform integrates chemical and enzymatic catalysis with literature mining and ML to predict the best way to make new molecules with desirable biological and material properties. The MMLI is transforming chemical synthesis and generating use‐inspired AI advances. Simultaneously, the MMLI is also acting as a training ground for the next generation of scientists with combined expertise in chemistry and AI. Outreach efforts aimed toward high school students and the public are being used to show how AI‐enabled tools can help to make chemical synthesis accessible to nonexperts.

Playful by Design: A Third Space Community of Practice for Game Studies & Design

This paper traces the history and development of Playful by Design, a cross-campus initiative at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign from which the interdisciplinary Game Studies & Design program emerged. Interdisciplinary collaborations bridge differences between academic cultures and can spur innovative research and new programs and initiatives. Games, understood both as objects of study and as a methodology for conducting research on topics other than games, are moving into the mainstream within multiple academic disciplines; that doesn’t mean that interdisciplinary game studies must disappear as an intellectual endeavor. Playful by Design has become a local and global community of practice in which shared and overlapping interests in game-relevant research of all kinds, but also design, pedagogy, and technology, provide a durable interdisciplinary third space. As a network, it can welcome multidisciplinary activities pursued by teachers, scholars, artists, and designers within their own disciplines and in their own ways. Through creative collaborations, the sharing of resources, and the growth of team-based studio work and other experiential learning, this approach facilitates the emergence of transdisciplinary and glocal aspirations. These include shared values of accessibility and inclusion, reflected in how we teach and conduct research, and in the design and creation of games, simulations, and other interactive and immersive experiences that address the critical shared challenges of our times.

Micr -Transfer Printing for Efficient 3DHI of 100-300mm Wafers and Glass Panels

This paper presents an analysis of using micro-transfer printing (MTP) for three-dimensional heterogeneous integration (3DHI) of diverse components made using 100mm, 200mm and 300mm wafers with large area glass substrates. Techniques for achieving high throughput and high wafer and substrate utilization, despite their size mis-matches, are described in detail along with MTP’s pros and cons versus alternative wafer-to-wafer and die-to-wafer 3DHI technologies. MTP, a massively parallel pick-and-place process, efficiently transfers large arrays of ultra-thin (<10 micron), small, diverse components (“x-chips”) from one or more source wafers to destination substrates. MTP enables disruptive 3DHI of compound semiconductors, including GaN, GaAs, InP, SiGe and emerging materials, silicon and passive components for wireless and optical communications, power management, sensor, photonics and other analog / mixed signal applications. Since the x-chips are ultra-thin and active side up, standard copper redistribution layer (RDL) technology may be readily used to interconnect the x-chips and destination die, resulting in very short path lengths and, hence, minimum parasitics. ASM AMICRA and X Display Company supply R&D and production MTP manufacturing systems. More than twenty MTP systems are installed worldwide at X-FAB, Micross Components, Tyndall National Institute, Teledyne, the Naval Research Laboratory, the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, the University of Ghent / imec, UPVfab and undisclosed leading manufacturers.

User-driven product development: Designed by, not designed for

The current state of function and design of accessible assistive technology is lacking, evidenced by low usability and high abandonment rates by people with disabilities (PwD). A significant contributing factor to these negative outcomes is a lack of user-centered design or user-opinion in the product development. The Human Performance and Mobility Maker Lab (HPML) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a new facility dedicated to developing assistive technology by PwDs. Rather than being excluded from the design and innovation process, PwDs are the primary drivers of innovation at the HPML. The HPML’s the central tenet is ‘Designed by, not designed for’. The purpose of this paper is to explore various assistive technologies developed in the HPML while providing an empathic framework for other research groups to follow in integrating PwDs into the development and design of assistive technology.

OR22-01 Sex Differences In Enterohepatic Circulation Mediated By Hepatic FXR And SHP Depletions In Mice

Abstract Disclosure: F. Reichardt: None. C. Galuke: None. S. Anakk: None. Bile acids are transported via the portal vein to the liver after their absorption through the distal intestine mucosa. In hepatocytes, they activate the nuclear receptors, Farnesoid-X-receptor (FXR) and Small Heterodimer Partner (SHP), which exert negative feedback on bile acids synthesis. The aim of this project is to decipher how hepatic FXR/SHP deletion impact BA composition, enterohepatic circulation, and its cross talk with the gut microbiota. Enterohepatic circulation was investigated by measuring total bile acids in intestinal, hepatic tissues and fecal tissues and in portal and systemic blood, using 3-5 months-old fed female and male wildtype (WT) and LDKO (liver specific FXR/SHP depletions) mice. We also examined if intestinal dysmotility mediated the alteration in bile acids absorption by following methylene blue dye progression in overnight fasted WT and LDKO mice. Portal and systemic total bile acids concentrations were higher in LDKO mice compared to WT, despite of no significant change in hepatic and intestinal levels. Sex differences were seen only in LDKO mice with higher systemic and portal concentrations in females compared to males. Intestinal transit time and fecal total bile acids were equivalent between all mice. Intriguingly, we observed that portal bile acids levels correlated to the liver weight to body weight ratio and to cecum weight to body weight ratio, suggesting that bile acids alterations within the enterohepatic loop could be associated to cecal dysbiosis. These preliminary findings highlight altered BA recirculation in LDKO mice compared to WT, but also between females and males LDKO. We hypothesize that these sex-specific modifications are associated with intestinal dysbiosis impacting bile acid compositions, and to test this we will be analyzing the influence of sex, and BA composition on the microbiome. Further investigations using fasted or HFD-fed LDKO and WT mice will help us to better understand the role of hepatic FXR and SHP in bile acids circulation between intestine and liver. Acknowledgement: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, American Cancer Society and Cancer Center at Illinois Seed grant Presentation: Saturday, June 17, 2023

Photogrammetry-based computational fluid dynamics

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is the cornerstone of the design and analysis process in many engineering applications. Not only has it been applied in the design phase, but it has also been employed for analyzing the fluid flow phenomena during the operation phase for many in-use structures, such as vehicles, buildings, and landscapes. However, creating a 3D mesh-based model of in-use structures that can be used by conventional boundary-fitted CFD methods is labor-intensive, time-consuming, and sometimes impossible. Due to the challenges introduced by geometry complexity and lack of design information, it is often difficult to perform an accurate and efficient CFD analysis of these objects. This paper aims to overcome such challenges by proposing a novel photogrammetry-based CFD framework for simulating in-use structures whose design models and analysis meshes are hard to obtain. The proposed framework integrates machine learning-based 3D point cloud reconstruction of structures from 2D images obtained from portable devices (e.g., cell phones and drones) and an immersogeometric approach that can carry out flow analysis directly on reconstructed point clouds. We first present the technical details of point cloud reconstruction techniques and the immersogeometric analysis method. We then simulate the flow past a standard 12 oz soda can reconstructed using photogrammetry and compare the results with reference solutions to assess the accuracy of the approach. Finally, the proposed photogrammetry-based CFD is applied to simulations of a bell tower and the Kavita and Lalit Bahl Smart Bridge on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) campus to demonstrate the robustness of the framework and its applicability to real-world in-use civil structures.

The Renaissance Scholar of Library and Information Science: Professor Linda C. Smith

The Renaissance Scholar of Library and Information Science:Professor Linda C. Smith Anita S. Coleman (bio) and Martha Kyrillidou (bio) This collection of essays is to honor Linda C. Smith, widely recognized as a well-established and dedicated teacher and scholar at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the soul of the iSchool. Smith's contributions to library and information science (LIS) research, teaching, and higher education administration, as an award-winning professor of LIS for the past forty-five years, have been characterized by attention to interdisciplinarity, people, and information technology. From the very beginning of her graduate studies, Smith targeted key aspects of the information revolution that would come to shape our technological world. Her impact on education for the information professions as well as on generations of graduate students has been a richly complex and multithreaded story. It is thus fitting that an issue in her honor recognize and laud Professor Smith as the renaissance scholar of LIS, trace the arc of a relevant past, and reflect on a future that Smith so presciently studied. Smith's oeuvre includes her movement from pretenure basic research in a new area to the integration and transformation of that knowledge through research, teaching, and service as a distinguished and tenured professor. In her early work, Smith focused on how artificial intelligence techniques could be used to improve computerized information retrieval systems. Captured initially by the proliferation of databases and the impact they had on reference work and information behavior in libraries, she co-edited five editions of the key textbook in this area, Reference and Information Services: An Introduction. She has written one of the most highly cited articles on citation analysis (1981), which is also one of the most highly cited articles ever published in Library Trends. Among her many articles and contributions to the research and professional literature, she coedited a Festschrift in honor of her colleague Kathryn Luther Henderson, a book on technical services management (Smith and Carter 1996). Finally, she [End Page 1] has supported numerous students, both domestic and international, in pursuing their passions and achieving their goals. It was Smith's support for her PhD students that brought together the two co-editors of this special issue. Those who know Linda Smith, especially her doctoral students, are cognizant that her editorial skills are unparalleled. As coeditors, we are thankful for her willingness to read and review the contributed articles as they came in. Such meticulous, and often invisible, editorial expertise is the kind of added support that Linda has generously and diligently provided her collaborators, colleagues, students, the iSchool and the University of Illinois over the many years of her work as a researcher. This Festschrift is a testament to Linda Smith. It is done for her and with her. The articles in Linda's Festschrift represent the countless ways she has contributed to the discipline of LIS and helped to structure its evolution and growth as a field of knowledge and practice. "Library and Information Science, Interdisciplinary Perspectives" is a collection of essays based on three central themes of Smith's prodigious work: library systems, intelligent and interdisciplinary services, and information sciences education. Smith's themes were selected from her writings, such as her very first research paper, "Systematic Searching of Abstracts and Indexes in Interdisciplinary Areas," which won the 1974 ASIS Student Paper Award and was published in the Journal of the American Society for Information Science. While emerging trends were her motivation, Smith's goal for her research was to build capable computer systems and save the time of researchers and information users. That goal never changed, and it led her to study the different applications of computers beyond the sciences to humanities, engineering, and medicine. In the process she also became an astute administrator and a key influencer of LIS education. The topics covered in this issue include LIS education, accreditation, teaching reference and bibliographic searching, navigating copyright, and serials modeling, concluding with admonitions for new roles in LIS in relation to data stewardship and interdisciplinarity and in relation to artificial intelligence and the responsibilities of LIS roles. Linda's Design Lynne C. Howarth and Eileen G...

Preface: Proceedings of the XVIth International Conference on Ephemeroptera and XXth International Symposium on Plecoptera

Because of uncertainty about hosting an international, in-person conference in mid-2021, our meeting was postponed until summer 2022. Uncertainty continued into 2022. We could not wait longer, so The Joint Meeting of the XVI International Conference on Ephemeroptera and XX International Symposium on Plecoptera was a virtual affair hosted from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, U.S.A. The conference occurred daily, 0600–0900 hrs Chicago time, 26–29 July 2022. Despite the virtual venue, 41 oral (video) and 26 poster presentations were given by a total of 133 authors, representing 28 countries. At least 196 unique persons attended the 12 hrs of conference. It was a surprisingly successful meeting. The meeting program and links to all presentations are available from Plecoptera Species File. There were no Lifetime Achievement Awards bestowed upon our members during this meeting. A proposal for a meeting in 2024 in Turin, Italy was presented and accepted. In the weeks following the conference, we learned of the tragic death of our good friend and colleague Dr. Boris C. Kondratieff. We dedicate this volume to his memory and provide an obituary in this volume.

Paul Price and American percussion practices during the ‘Golden Age’ of higher education

In 1950, percussionist and pedagogue Paul Price established an accredited collegiate percussion ensemble course at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the first of its kind in the country. In this article, I argue that Price’s accreditation of the genre, coupled with his many other entrepreneurial initiatives, was made possible by the higher education’s renewed desire for democracy and intellectual achievement that emerged after World War II and ultimately led to percussion’s own ‘Golden Age’ that endured until the late 1970s. I achieve this objective by highlighting Price’s role as an institutional entrepreneur, as demonstrated through his relationships and compositional collaborations with two American composers of midcentury percussion works, Michael Colgrass and Vivian Fine. By advocating for new standards of learning, musicianship, and composition, Price negotiated institutionalized norms to help turn percussion into an art form worthy of professional performance standards, accredited courses, a thriving repertory, and institutional recognition in the United States. An investigation of the correlations between midcentury collegiate percussion practices and the patterns of change and growth evident in higher education at the time help illuminate the powerful influence of educational institutions on music discourse in the postwar era.

Stretch goals: Launching crowdfunded comics collections in academic libraries

This article presents a case study reflecting on the first two years of collecting crowdfunded comics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The case study demonstrates the significant resource investment required to start such a specialized collection, and that the project met its goal to diversify the comics collection by adding titles from BIPOC and LGTBQ+ creators.

Overview of Liquid-Metal PFC R&D at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The design and implementation of future flowing liquid-lithium plasma-facing components (LLPFCs) will be dependent on several factors. Of course, one of the most important is the need to be able to deal with high heat fluxes incident on the surface of the LLPFCs, but there are also several other important liquid-metal behaviors that have been identified for their critical impact on the feasibility of a LLPFC. One of these is the ability to constantly wet 100% of the plasma-facing component area and the best way to achieve that. Another key point is knowing and understanding the erosion and corrosion of the surfaces subject to a flowing liquid-lithium system and the ability for hydrogen and helium uptake by the system. The Center for Plasma Material Interactions (CPMI) has been tasked with looking at these various issues. The Mock-up Entry module for EAST device was used to investigate wetting and erosion effects and to design a suitable distribution and collection system with a liquid-lithium loop. The vapor shielding effects of lithium on the surface were also modeled and studied. A model coupling CRANE, an open-source global reaction network solver, and Zapdos, a plasma transport solver, is being developed to better understand the dynamics of the vapor cloud. Experiments on the Magnum-PSI at the Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research have been carried out to study the vapor shielding effect and obtain experimental benchmarks to verify the model. Also, initial experiments using the Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications have been performed to understand the pumping effects of lithium on helium. Experiments with a drop of liquid lithium (~100 mg) into a helium plasma have shown the ability of lithium to take out the cold recycling helium gas as well as hydrogen and oxygen impurity gases. The improvement in plasma performance was significant, and further understanding of this effect will have impacts on how future LLPFCs will be designed. Further investigation into the exact mechanism for helium pumping by lithium needs to be performed in the future. This paper presents a summary of the results obtained at the CPMI.

Importance of Community Engagement in Data Decision Making.

Importance of Community Engagement in Data Decision Making.

Towards a wireless sensing infrastructure for smart mobility

This paper presents a suite of wireless sensing solutions for the continuous monitoring of transportation infrastructure using traditional and emerging sensor technologies. First, various pavement sensing technologies are discussed followed by a suitability assessment survey to select suitable inter-sensor and gateway-to-cloud communication technologies for the sensors requiring lower and higher bandwidths. Selection recommendations were then made based on multi-disciplinary analyses of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of various communication technologies and proposed wireless architectures for sensing infrastructure for smart mobility (SISM). Further, recommendations were made concerning the implementation of proposed wireless architectures for wireless and continuous monitoring of transportation infrastructure at the proposed Illinois Autonomous and Connected Track (I-ACT), which will be established at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Using Minecraft to cultivate student interest in STEM

Due to the popularity and flexibility of Minecraft, educators have used this game to develop instructional materials and activities to cultivate student interests in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). One example of such an initiative is the What-If Hypothetical Implementations in Minecraft (WHIMC) project of the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. The study reported in this paper describes a WHIMC deployment in the Philippines and the effects this deployment had on student STEM interest. The study used quantitative and qualitative methods to determine the effect of WHIMC on the STEM interest of Filipino students. We performed quantitative analysis of the pre- and post-STEM Interest Questionnaire (SIQ) ratings and Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ) ratings of the high- and low-performers to determine the effect of using WHIMC in the students’ STEM interest and the difference between the game experience of high- and low-performers, respectively. Qualitative analysis of the answers to the open-ended questions about the attributes of the module was also conducted to determine the relationship between the module attributes and student performance. The analysis of the aggregated SIQ ratings before and after using the WHIMC-based modules revealed only a minimal effect on the STEM interests of the students. However, there was a significant effect in the Choice Actions construct, which implies that students recognize the importance of studying hard if they want to pursue STEM-related careers. Further, the analysis of the overall GEQ of high-performers and low-performers also revealed no significant difference. Although no significant difference was observed in the overall GEQ, high-performers had significantly higher GEQ ratings in the Immersion dimension. This result suggested that high-performers had a more positive, engaging, and enjoyable learning experience. Moreover, the findings on the favorite module attributes suggested that students perform better in the out-of-game assessments when they like all the module attributes. This implies that students must be engaged in the game and learning task aside from being interested in the learning topic to have better assessment scores. The study also showed that open-ended learning environments coupled with tasks that demand exploration, observation, and higher-ordered thinking are demanding even on high-performers.

Textured Epoxy-Coated Rebars: Physical, Structural, and Empirical Characterization

Although the traditional epoxy coating represents an effective corrosion protection system, it has the disadvantage of making bridge decks more susceptible to cracking. This phenomenon occurs because its smooth surface reduces the bond with the concrete and, therefore, increases the radial components of the force-transferring mechanism. To try to mitigate these problems, the Illinois Department of Transportation developed the textured epoxy-coated (TEC) reinforcement, which possesses a roughened surface and, in recent years, has been the subject of study at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, in the U.S. Particularly, this experimental program explores, complements, and compares the physical and bond-slip characteristics of the TEC rebars developed hitherto. From the physical characterization, different parameters are measured on the textured surfaces to obtain a numerical comparison of each roughness type. Also, determining the adhesion strength and thickness of the textured coating reveals that it provides similar corrosion protection to the traditional approach while keeping its integrity on the steel substrate. The bond-slip characterization, in turn, was done using pull-out tests and, by combining these results with the microstructure examination of TEC bars, it is found that the absence of texture voids is related to the degradation of the slip resistance. Furthermore, through a finite element model, the development length of the TEC reinforcement is estimated and compared with the values calculated according to current standards. Finally, given the complexity of obtaining the surface parameters of the coating, an empirical, weight-based approach is developed for the TEC bars as a rapid method for assessing their roughness.

An ammonia sponge

A long-overlooked metal-organic framework (MOF) acts as a sponge for ammonia, selectively soaking up and releasing the corrosive gas at moderate pressures and temperatures of up to 175 °C. Using the material to separate ammonia from a mix of nitrogen and hydrogen could make ammonia synthesis less energy intensive, which could change how and where ammonia-based fertilizers and shipping fuels are made. Researchers in Jeffrey R. Long’s lab at the University of California, Berkeley, discovered the ammonia-adsorbing properties of the MOF, which is made of copper and trans -1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylate ( Nature 2023, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05409-2 ). MOF chemists had largely overlooked this material and others like it because at first glance their structures aren’t particularly interesting, says Benjamin E. R. Snyder, the report’s first author. Snyder, who did a postdoctoral fellowship in Long’s lab, recently started his own lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “Once you approach them with the

Reflections on the IDEA Forum—Statistics, Climate Change, and Sustainability

The past two decades have witnessed a great change in the statistics community, as we have become more inclusive and appreciative of different types and areas of research. Interdisciplinary research, including statistical climatology, has developed rapidly in such a background. The Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Innovation (IMSI), funded by the National Science Foundation, is managed by the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, the University of Illinois Chicago, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and is hosted at the University of Chicago. IMSI launched in fall 2020 with a mission “to apply rigorous mathematics and statistics to urgent scientific and societal problems, and to spur transformational change in the mathematical sciences.” This article describes the work of IMSI and gives our perspective on the future of the field of statistical climatology.