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A genome-wide association study on resistance to iron deficiency chlorosis in soybean using whole genome resequencing data
(2025-05-12) Espina, Mary Jane C; Stupar, Robert M; Lorenz, Aaron J; espin164@umn.edu; Espina, Mary Jane; University of Minnesota Soybean Breeding and Genetics Lab
Iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC) is a nutritional stress prevalent in high pH and high calcium soils, significantly reducing soybean productivity. This study aimed to identify genetic variants associated with IDC resistance using high-resolution markers. In this research, we analyzed 426 G. max accession using 1.4 M markers, incorporating comprehensive IDC phenotyping across four environments and accounting for spatial field variation. Additionally, we examined the phylogenetic relationships within the panel and the distribution of IDC resistance. Our analysis identified six significant loci associated with IDC resistance, including three previously mapped regions and three novel associations. Furthermore, we found one association in chromosome 13 for IDC recovery, located near a previously mapped maturity locus. Notably, one of the significant hits for IDC resistance found in chromosome 5 was co-localized within a previously fine-mapped 75 kb region. Within this region, we conducted candidate locus association and analyzed the effects of different haplotype combinations involving transposable elements and TATA box insertions for potential epistatic interactions. We found that lines carrying the ‘Fiskeby III’ type alleles with the significant SNP, L1-13, and TATA insertions exhibited significantly lower IDC scores than those carrying the Wm82 type alleles. We also validated a putative candidate gene using CRISPR-Cas9 knock-out experiments but found no significant phenotypic differences between the knock-out line and the wild type. Finally, these findings reinforce the importance of chromosome 5 QTL in IDC resistance. However, our results suggest that the genetic mechanism is very complex for this trait, warranting further investigation to fully understand the underlying genetics behind this QTL.
Supporting Data for Laser ablated sub-wavelength structure anti-reflection coating on an alumina lens
(2025-05-12) Hanany, Shaul; Cray, Scott; Dietterich, Samuel; Dusing, Jan; Koch, Jurgen; Lam, Rex; Matsumura, Tomotake; Sakurai, Haruyuki; Sakurai, Yuki; Suzuki, Aritoki; Takaku, Ryota; Wen, Qi; Wienke, Alexander; Yan, Yan; hanany@umn.edu; Hanany, Shaul
These are images and computer code supporting the data analysis described in the paper.
Endogenous and exogenous control of polymers for spatiotemporally defined drug delivery
(2025-01) Flowers, Marcus
Polymeric ‘smart drug delivery systems’ respond to external and environmental stimuli to modulate drug release at the right time and in the right place. Here I present several polymer systems to overcome challenges in spatiotemporal control of drug delivery. First, a novel acid-labile liquid polymer responsive to endogenous pH conditions was synthesized and characterized for releasing poorly soluble drugs as an injectable depot, a photo-crosslinked implantable matrix, temporarily stable nanodroplets and stable nanogels. Second, two acid-labile biodegradable liquid polymers were investigated for pH-responsive intracellular delivery of the immunomodulator R848 (or Resiquimod), a poorly soluble adjuvant for a melanoma vaccine. Third, nanodroplets of one of the liquid polymers were embedded in mucoadhesive wafers and were evaluated for spatially defined drug delivery to engineered tissues. Lastly, exogenously controlled drug release was demonstrated using a novel gold-coated hydrogel and focused ultrasound. Together, these studies have presented new biomaterial systems as versatile tools for controlled drug delivery with potential applications in immunotherapy and tissue engineering.
The making of Unapologetic Blackness: Black women, media, and meaning-making
(2025-02) Evans, Monica
This dissertation focuses on “restorying” Black women’s lives/media representations through the lens of reclamation, in opposition to AfroPessimistic approaches shaped by historical tropes, legacy stereotypes, and the hegemonic structures and processes of racial and gender inequality, creates a better understanding of the ways in which Black women navigate the world through joy by decentering strife and struggle. This project investigates Unapologetic Blackness through the use of two intersecting media case studies: from television—Harlem (2021), and from music—Jazmine Sullivan’s Heaux Tales (2021). The research illustrates the unique intersection between restoring Black women’s narratives and centering the present representations of Black women. Ultimately, this project argues that Unapologetic Blackness is an expression of Black sociality that is radical in its creation of unique temporalities and safe spaces for Black women to be their full selves—emotionally vulnerable and expressive of autonomy.
Modeling, control, and optimization of autonomous diesel- and electric-powered off-highway vehicles for energy efficiency
(2025-02) Edson, Connor
Off-highway vehicles are heavily relied upon for industrial transportation and havehighly energy-intensive operation. Automation of off-highway vehicles presents an opportunity to reduce energy consumption without negative impact on productivity through optimization. Prior studies on this topic are lacking a systematic formulation of the optimal control problem for automation. This work introduces novel formulations of the optimal control problem for a typical wheel loader drive cycle for both diesel- and electric-powered vehicles. The formulations include development of control-oriented mathematical models, physical constraints, boundary constraints to create the desired cycle, and multi-objective cost functions. Simulations of the optimized trajectories demonstrate feasibility of implementation and allows deeper analysis of proposed reductions in energy. This work finds that optimal automation for a diesel wheel loader can reduce energy consumption by 42.1% while matching or improving that productivity of a human driver. For electric wheel loaders, this work extends the feasibility of electrification to larger sizes than those found in literature while matching diesel per-day productivity with 1.2 battery charges compared to human drivers and 1.8 battery charges compared to an optimal automated diesel vehicle while demonstrating 74% less energy consumption. The diesel-powered vehicle reduces energy by optimizing the engine operation point via coordination of the driving and working systems, while the electric-powered vehicle further reduces energy consumption with a more efficient architecture. Overall, this work demonstrates the potential for automation of off-highway vehicles to reduce energy consumption, provides a systematic methodology for optimizing automation and evaluating its benefits, and gives a pathway to electrification of mid-size wheel loaders using automation.