South Dakota State UniversityOFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENTFOR RESEARCHSDSU, Box 2201Brookings, SD 57007

xxxxxx copies • Office of the Vice President for Research • $xxx AD248 02/14

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Research Administration

SDSU Research Leadership

ResearchSOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY

South Dakota State UniversityWinter 2014

supercapacitors, with a carbon material derived frominexpensive biochar.Using his background in chemistry and industrial

coatings, Jin is investigating different methods ofconverting biochar to nanostructured carbon materialsthat will hold more energy. His dissertation will focus ondeveloping biochar-based carbon materials forsupercapacitors. For a lithium battery, the carbon must have a relatively

high graphene content, however, for use on the electrodesof a supercapacitor, “the carbon must have well-developedhierarchical pores,” Gu explained. The two devices can beused in combination—supercapacitors to capture theenergy from wind turbines, for instance, and lithiumbatteries to provide stable, long-term storage.The United States now imports most of its activated

carbon from Asia—including Japan, Thailand and China—to manufacture these storagedevices, according to Gu. “With America’s abundance of wood-based biomass andagriculture residue as raw materials, we can use those materials as biofuel so the U.S. doesnot have to depend heavily on petroleum, and at the same time, generate good active carbonto export.”

For a description of other SDSU technologies available for licensing, go towww.sdstate.edu/research/tto/technologies/index.cfm.

More technical information is available through Will Aylor, director of technology transfer—will.aylor@sdstate.edu or (605) 688-4752.

Weed researchFusarium head blight Childhood obesityEffect of childbirth support Early-stage breast cancer

Palliative care Structural testingWastewater filtrationCombine firesEnergy storageInside

David L. Chicoine, Ph.D.President

Kevin D. Kephart, Ph.D.Vice President for Research

James J. Doolittle, Ph.D.Associate Vice President for Research Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

William Aylor II, M.S., J.D.Director, Technology Transfer Office

Norman O. Braaten, M.B.A.Research Compliance Coordinator

Sabina Kupershmidt, Ph.D.Grant Proposal Specialist

Michele Mucciante, DVMUniversity Veterinarian

Daniel T. Scholl, Ph.D.Associate Dean for Research DirectorSouth Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station

Dennis Helder, Ph.D. Associate Dean for ResearchJerome J. Lohr College of Engineering

Nancy Fahrenwald, Ph.D.DeanCollege of Nursing

Chunyang Wang, Ph.D.Associate DeanCollege of Education and Human Sciences

Xiangming Guan, Ph.D.Coordinator of Graduate StudiesCollege of Pharmacy

Bonny Specker, Ph.D.ChairEthel Austin Martin Program in Human Nutrition

Geoffrey Henebry, Ph.D.Co-DirectorGeographic Information Science Center of Excellence

Vance Owens, Ph.D.DirectorNorth Central Regional Sun Grant Center

James Rice, Ph.D.Department Head and ProfessorChemistry and BiochemistryDirector, South Dakota EPSCoR

Jacqueline Nelson, M.Ed., CRADirectorBudget/Grants and Contracts Administration

Kathleen Donovan, Ph.D.Associate DeanCollege of Arts and Sciences

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

Closeup of an electrode coated withcarbon made from biochar being placedinto a lithium battery.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY

WINTER 2014

The axiom, “growing like a weed,” takes onnew meaning in light of changes in geneexpression that occur when weeds interact withthe crops they infest, according to plant scienceprofessor Sharon Clay. Using sophisticatedgenetic-mapping techniques, Clay and herresearch team are documenting how corn andweeds influence one another.“Weeds grow like weeds when they grow

with corn,” said Clay. “They grow bigger andtaller in corn than by themselves.” And inversely,“corn grows less among weeds.”Over the last 20 years, Clay has been

studying weed management in range andcropping systems, weed physiology andinteractions among herbicides, soil and crops.The weed scientist is just ending her term as thefirst woman president of the American Societyof Agronomy.She has received two awards from the Weed

Science Society of America for outstandingpapers published in “Weed Science”—one in2007 and another in 2012. Both articles werewritten in collaboration with David Horvath, aresearch plant physiologist for the AgriculturalResearch Service at the U.S. Department ofAgriculture in Fargo, N.D.

Never saying neverClay met Horvath during a poster session at

a weed science conference in 2005. He wascomparing the genomics of leafy spurge duringsummer and fall to examine how it acclimates tocold temperatures.

She took one look at his poster and toldhim, “I don’t see how I could use the genomicsinformation in my research. I will never usethis.”In less than a year, the two of them were

collaborating, she recalled with a laugh. Theirfirst paper, which came out in 2006, focused onhow weed stress affects gene regulation in cornwhile it’s developing the stalk and leaves. “He’s the guy I go to for anything to do with

weed physiology,” she added.

Exploring gene expressionIn November 2009, scientists at Washington

University in St. Louis, Mo., completedsequencing the corn genome, a mixture of32,000 genes within 10 chromosomes. It is thethird cereal-based crop for which this has beendone. Clay and her team use a method known as

microarray analysis to document howenvironmental stressors change the ways inwhich genes are expressed. The researchersprocess and then tag the genetic material fromthe control and experimental groups withdifferent fluorescent colors, so that they canidentify which gene expressions increased ordecreased, according to Clay. These variationsaffect plant growth and yields. Identifying these differences can mean

sorting through anywhere from 64,000 to100,000 possibilities. One graduate student andtwo research associates work on the project.Clay’s husband, David, is the soils expert on theteam.

Growing better among cornTo figure out how corn and weeds affect each

other’s gene response, Clay and her team plantedplots of velvetleaf alone, corn with velvetleaf andcorn kept weed-free. The researchers saw anentirely different response when velvetleaf wasgrown by itself versus among corn plants. Thevelvetleaf alone was shorter and stouter, Clayexplained. In addition, specific genes thatinfluenced photosynthesis and other importantplant responses differed in expression.Another study compared the corn’s growth

and yield in response to weeds, lack of nitrogenor shade. In all cases, Clay and Horvath foundthat genes were differentially expressedcompared with nonstressed plants. However,each stress resulted in very different expressionpatterns.Traditionally, weeds have been thought to

reduce crop growth and yield due tocompetition for water, nutrients and light. This

study, however, indicates that weed-cropinteractions are much more complex thanresearchers have thought. When grown with weeds, genes that control

the major facets of the corn plant’s metabolismwere decreased or down-regulated, according toClay. These included its response to lightstimulus, the amount of chlorophyll it producesand its ability to convert raw materials intoenergy. In short, these changes in gene expression

adversely affect the plant’s ability to grow andreproduce.

Having long-term impactWhen the researchers started taking weeds

out of the corn at early points, such as when thecorn had as few as two and four leaves, they stillsaw differences in gene expression whencompared to corn without weeds. However, Claypointed out, the amount of biomass—the stemand leaves—was not significantly different. “The genes never recovered,” said Clay, even

after the weeds were removed. “The impact islong term,” she added, which further builds thecase for controlling weeds early. These changes in gene expression can help

explain instances in which the yield isunaffected, but a slight reduction has taken placein the plant which scientists cannot pinpoint. Next, the researchers looked at the effect of

water stress on gene expression using cornplanted on high and low ground. The genes ofthe water-stressed corn on the top of the hillwere down-regulated in terms of phosphorousuptake, Clay explained. In addition, the circadian rhythm, the

internal clock that controls the operation of theplant’s cells, was affected she added. This, inturn, affected the plant’s wounding response andmade it more susceptible to pest injury.Essentially, the water-stressed corn “was gettingolder, faster,” Clay said.The researchers now “have a clearer idea of

how that stress is affecting the plant,” she

explained. “We didn’thave that ability beforewe had the genomesequence.”

Refocusing on early controlThe increasing

emergence of herbicide-resistant varieties of weeds has refocusedattention on weed control, according to Clay.For the last 20 years, glyphosate has provided aninexpensive, yet efficient, means of controllingweeds.“Because we had such an easy control

method, no one put money into research,” saidClay, pointing out that the newest herbicideswere developed decades ago. “My bottom line isto get growers to use what they need, where andwhen they need it.”And that, Clay explained, means “judiciously

using all the tools in our toolboxes.” Like manypeople in agronomy, she considers herself anenvironmentalist. “I want to help producers dothe best job they can with the smallestfootprint.”By understanding how weeds and

environmental stressors affect gene expression,scientists will have one more piece of the puzzlethat will improve weed control and decreasecrop damage.

influence gene expression, growth in cornWEEDS

Research

Sharon Clay

Below, left to right: Corn planted alongside velvetleaf at thetwo-leaf, top, and the four-leaf, below, stages of growth arealready interacting with one another. Even if the velvetleaf isremoved at these stages of growth, the way the corn genesare expressed has already been altered, according to plantscience professor Sharon Clay.

Research on weed-crop interactions shows that velvetleafgrows taller among corn than by itself.

As a master’s student, Janet Moriles Miller, now a researchassociate, received second place for a paper describing herrole in weed scientist Sharon Clay’s research on howvelvetleaf affects that way in which genes are expressed incorn. First and third place went to doctoral students. The nextstep will be to extend this work to soybeans.

2 SDSU Research

President of South Dakota State University: David L. Chicoine

Design & Layout:Virginia Coudron

Writer & Photographers: Christie DelfanianEric Landwehr

Publications Editor: Andrea Kieckhefer

Editor:Matt Schmidt

This publication is published by the Office of University Relations, South Dakota State UniversityBrookings, S.D. 57007-1498.

Innovative research yields practical results for South Dakota

As a high-performing research institution, South Dakota State

University fulfills its land-grant mission by focusing on practical

research that furthers economic development, higher

standards of living and great quality of life for South Dakotans.

Good research starts with innovative ideas, but producing results

that impact people’s lives requires resolve and persistence.

After working on Fusarium head blight for more than 20 years, a

plant scientist has found what he believes is the key to developing

real resistance to this devastating fungus that affects wheat and

barley. The first woman president of the American Society of

Agronomy has begun to unravel how velvetleaf changes the way in

which the genes in corn are expressed and affect yields.

Civil engineers develop more durable, less costly materials with

which to build bridges and test new building materials that withstand

earthquakes. Water and environmental engineers have designed more

efficient ways to filter wastewater not only to provide for the needs of

our people but also conserve our resources.

Pharmaceutical scientists are developing ways to deliver

anticancer compounds directly to the milk ducts, where 95 percent of

breast cancers start. The technology has been licensed to a

Brookings-based startup company as part of the university’s effort to

build high-tech businesses and economic growth in the state.

Health and nutrition researchers give children and their parents

the tools to develop an active, healthy lifestyle that will help stem the

nationwide obesity epidemic. South Dakota is one of five states in the

nation that has seen a slight decrease in the childhood obesity rates

of preschoolers. With resolve and persistence, we can help keep this

very important trend headed in the right direction and significantly

improve our children’s lives.

University researchers help promote and develop health-care

programs that minimize the need for invasive medical interventions

and reduce lifelong health-care costs. Volunteer doulas at Brookings

Health System can make labor and delivery a more positive

experience for mothers and their partners, and our one-of-a-kind

program serves as a template for communities in the United States

and other countries.

A survey of South Dakota health-care institutions identified ways

to improve the use of interdisciplinary palliative care teams, who help

patients dealing with chronic illnesses by having directives in place

that subsequently improve the quality of their lives. Thanks to this

research, more funding has been provided to train professionals to

provide these important services.

The innovative work of these determined scientists and engineers

puts the university at the forefront of advances that make a difference

in the lives of people in the state, nation and the world.

Kevin D. Kephart, Ph.D.Vice President for Research

outlook

Research South Dakota State University

SDSU, Box 2201Brookings, SD 57007

605-688-5642

www.sdstate.edu/research/

Becky JensenJessica Meendering

American parents cite obesity as the No. 1 threat to their children’s health,according to the American Heart

Association. A study by the NationalCollaborative on Childhood Obesity Researchshowed that obesity increases a youngster’s riskof developing asthma by 60 percent. Inaddition, 39 percent of obese 5- to 17-year-oldshad two or more risk factors for cardiovasculardisease.South Dakota was one of five states in

which the childhood obesity rate decreased by1 percent—from 16.2 percent to 15.2 percent—between 2008 and 2011, according to theCenters for Disease Control survey of nearly 12million children between 2 and 4 years oldnationwide who were part of a federal maternaland child nutrition program. “While it is comforting that childhood

obesity rates have begun to plateau, thepercentage of children who are overweightand/or obese remains high,” said associateprofessor of health and nutritional sciencesJessica Meendering, who heads aninterdisciplinary team of university researcherstraining graduate students to lead the fightagainst childhood obesity. The program bringstogether experts in a variety of disciplines:nutrition, exercise science, early childhoodeducation, statistics, nursing, familydevelopment and counseling. “Our goal is to have people think more

broadly about obesity than just nutrition andexercise,” said Meendering. To accomplish this,Meendering and her team are collaboratingwith the University of Nebraska-Lincoln tooffer a Transdisciplinary Childhood ObesityPrevention graduate certificate program,referred to as TOP. Development of the TOP graduate

certification program, which began in 2011, issupported by a five-year, $4.1 million grantfrom the Agriculture and Food Research

Initiative. This is part of the U.S. Departmentof Agriculture’s effort to prevent childhoodobesity, educate youth about proper nutritionand connect experts with communities.

Promoting awarenessDietetics graduate student Megan Olesen

assessed how social marketing can promotehealthy eating and exercise habits among 130fourth-graders in eastern South Dakota for aprogram called Jumpin’ Jacks. She completedher thesis in September and is currently servingin a dietetics internship. She worked with graphic design students to

develop poster slogans and layouts, selectingeight designs based on focus group feedback.These posters were displayed at theintervention schools for eight weeks and Jack,the SDSU mascot, delivered a nutrition andphysical activity lesson.Although the curriculum did not result in

significant health behavior changes, Olesenreported that students showed a high level ofawareness and understanding regarding thecampaign message. Partnerships betweenathletics and education can serve as “asustainable model for implementinginterventions in schools,” Olesen said.However, the challenge will be “to bridge thegap between high awareness and behaviorchange.”This project illustrates what she learned as a

TOP student: “This problem can’t be tackled byone discipline; we need approaches from allsides.”

Encouraging healthy eating, activityFor her master’s work in exercise science,

Emily Huber looked at whether participatingin KidQuest, a nutrition-focused program thatincludes small physical activity elements,affected the physical activity levels of 400 fifth-and sixth-grade participants.

The children wore beltsequipped with accelerometers fora week prior to beginning the

KidQuest program and a weekfollowing the completion of theprogram, Huber said. Theaccelerometers provided an objectivemeasure of physical activity, “howlong they engage in sedentary

behavior and spend at different physicalactivity intensity levels.” Results indicated that a nutrition-

focused intervention with small physicalactivity elements was not enough to increasephysical activity levels and decreasesedentary time, reported Huber, who hasbegun her doctoral work.She recommends a school-based

transdisciplinary intervention emphasizingboth nutrition and physical activity as a wayto prevent and combat childhood obesity. “We need to change the mindset of an

entire culture—teachers, principals,superintendents and other administrators,parents and family members, and thecommunity as a whole,” Huber said.

Making meals, supporting familiesGraduate student Celine Kabala is

evaluating the impact of i-Cook 4-H, aprogram that teaches low-income familiesand their children how to make meals thatcontain the proper balance of fruit,vegetables, whole grains and lean meat on alimited budget. The pilot program, which is aimed at 9-

and 10-year-olds, was tested in five states—South Dakota, Nebraska, Tennessee, WestVirginia and Maine—through a five-yearUSDA grant. Professor Kendra Kattelmann,head of the SDSU dietetics program, leadsthe project in South Dakota. Each of the six two-hour lessons

contains a 15- to 20-minute unit onphysical activity. Researchers recruited37 child-parent pairs in Sisseton andSioux Falls—27 pairs received i-Cook 4-H lessons over a 12-weekperiod. The remaining 10 pairs,who served as the controlgroup, did not.Kabala completed the

post-interventionassessments in December andhas begun analyzing changesin physical activity levels.Kabala hopes to complete heranalysis this spring.

“As dietitians, we usually look at physicalactivity and nutrition and a little bit ofgenetics,” said Kabala. “Through thisprogram, we learn about different anglesthat contribute to childhood obesity.”

Assessing fitness levelsAs part of the Presidential Youth Fitness

Program, South Dakota children participatein exercise tests to determine their fitnesslevel. The Progressive AerobicCardiovascular Endurance Run, or PACER,test is now recommended over thetraditional mile run test to evaluate youthaerobic fitness levels, according to doctoralstudent Corey Selland. PACER testing uses cones set 20 meters

apart and a preprogrammed audio CD tohelp students “pace themselves through thetest,” Selland explained. It begins at acomfortable pace and progresses in intensityas the student runs back and forth inresponse to the beep. Through his research, Selland hopes to

develop a new equation to improve theprediction of aerobic fitness from thePACER test in the youth population. Duringthe testing, students are outfitted withequipment to monitor heart rate and oxygenconsumption.

Testing began last fall at the Boys andGirls Club of Brookings. Selland hopes toevaluate the fitness levels of more than 200fourth- through eighth-grade girls and boys.“The kids tend to prefer the PACER test overthe mile-run test and indicate that it’s moreenjoyable,” he said. To evaluate the accuracyof the test, results will be compared with atreadmill test, which Selland called “the goldstandard.”

Training professionalsThe TOP graduate certification program

emphasizes the complexity of the obesityproblem. “Our students leave with awarenessand understanding ofchildhood obesity that isbigger than their givenfield,” saidMeendering. Realizing the value

of collaboration amongdisciplines early in theircareers will help theseyoung professionals takeon the challenges ofreducing childhoodobesity—and makea difference in thelives of thesechildren and theirfamilies.

Graduate research targets

childhoodobesity

SDSU Research 3

Far Left: Middle-schooler Emma Todey takes the treadmill test asdoctoral student Corey Selland monitors her progress. The treadmillis the “gold standard” when it comes to aerobic fitness, saidSelland.

Above Left to right: Deubrook health teacher Staci Carlson, center,explains the KidQuest Sugar Shocker assignment to fifth-gradersTyler Berndt, left, Lance Castellano, Austin Olsen and ZaneChristiansen. The students are surprised at how much sugar acommon sports drink contains.

As part of a KidQuest lesson, fifth-graders determine the amount ofsugar in each of these drinks and illustrate this with sugar cubes.

Below from left: In the gymnasium at the Boys and Girls Club ofBrookings, first-grader Zachary Berg runs in response to the beepalongside doctoral student Corey Selland.

Selland, undergraduate James Nordstrom and doctoral studentEmily Huber help adjust the equipment that will determine thefitness level of Berg, center.

“Although

obesity remains

epidemic, the

tide has begun to

turn for some kids

in some states.”

—Tom Frieiden, directorof the Centers for

Disease Control andPrevention

4 SDSU Research

One of every eight women in the United States willdevelop breast cancer that has spread beyond theducts and nodules of the breast. Though the

incidence of breast cancer began decreasing in 2000, it is stillthe second-leading cause of cancer death in women.Better screening techniques, increased awareness and

improved treatments have increased the 5-year survival rate tonearly 100 percent for women with early stage cancer. In 2013,an estimated 65,000 women were diagnosed with carcinomain situ, a noninvasive breast cancer that affects the milk ductsand lobules of the breast, according to the American CancerSociety. While nearly everyone diagnosed at this stage can be

cured, professor Omathanu Perumal, head of thepharmaceutical sciences department, pointed out that the sideeffects from the drugs used to combat this disease are prettysignificant. He and doctoral student Kushalkumar Dave are

developing a new method to deliver cancer-fighting drugsdirectly to the milk ducts, where more than 95 percent ofbreast cancer originates. The patent-pending technology hasbeen licensed to Tranzderm Solutions, a Brookings-basedstart-up company. Perumal is the company’s chief scientificofficer.This method promises to reduce side effects and to deliver

large doses of medication directly to the affected tissues. Theresearch has been supported by the Translational CancerResearch Center, one of the Governor’s Research Centers. Itprovides seed money for high-risk, high-reward research.

Using this data, Perumal has teamed with researchers andclinicians from Johns Hopkins University and Mayo Clinic toapply for an $800,000 Department of Defense grant.

Delivering drugs through milk ductsAnticancer drugs, such as tamoxifen, are normally

administered through an oral tablet, so the medication musttravel through the bloodstream before reaching the breasttissue, explained Perumal. Side effects of tamoxifen, for example, include increased

risk of uterine cancer, cataracts, stroke and cardiovasculardisease. Patients diagnosed with precancerous cells or lesionsmay take tamoxifen anywhere from three months to five years.These significant side effects may be mitigated through a

more direct, localized drug delivery method, according toPerumal.The researcher proposes applying a medication-containing

gel or lotion to the nipple. The drug will then be absorbedthrough openings in the nipples directly into the milk ducts. When the project began, Perumal thought that breast

anatomy was well understood, “but it’s not,” he explained. Thenumber of openings in the nipple varies based on theindividual, but the range is usually 10 to 15 openings pernipple. The number of openings gives the scientists anindication of how much drug can be delivered.Next, the researchers looked at which molecules could be

delivered. To do this, they used pig breast tissue. Surprisingly,they found that even large molecules, such as proteins, can betransported through these openings, making a wide range ofmedications deliverable.

TransmammaryValidating the modelFeedback from a proposal submitted to the National

Institutes of Health confirmed that the researchers neededto use human breast tissue to prove the feasibility of thepig model. “Animal skin is usually thinner and more permeable

than human tissue,” Perumal explained. “We needrepeatability.” Pigs have on average six to seven pairs of mammary

glands, but the team would need at least three pairs ofhuman breasts—at a cost of more than $1,000 per set—tovalidate the model. Fortunately, Perumal was able to obtain the human

breast tissue he needed free of charge through the LionsEye and Tissue Bank in Sioux Falls. Director MarcyDimond said her organization provides tissue to qualifiedSouth Dakota programs conducting medical research.“We have a progressive medical community and being

able to contribute to research programs that have thepotential to be far-reaching is a wonderful opportunity,”said Dimond. Not everyone can be a transplant donor, sothis is a way those patients who truly want to be donorscan contribute to research.The donation of breast tissue was integral to advancing

the project. “Without them, we wouldn’t have made a lot of

progress,” Perumal said. Having local access to tissues was“a big help to move things forward.”

Documenting similar trendsComparing the absorption rate of the nipple with the

surrounding breast skin, twice the amount of drug can bedelivered through the nipple, Perumal explained. “It’s adirect port of entry.” Plus, the medication does not enterthe bloodstream.Though different drug quantities are absorbed, pig and

human breast tissue show similar trends, Perumalexplained. As a result, the researchers can now use pig tissue to

optimize and test various drug formulations. Dave, whowill finish his dissertation within a year, has already begunsome animal studies. He recently received a grant fromWomen and Giving at the SDSU Foundation to supporthis work.A variety of compounds show promise in fighting the

many types of breast cancer. Perumal points to a naturalcompound—developed by former colleague andDistinguished Professor Emeritus Chandradhar Dwivedito prevent skin cancer—as having the potential to preventbreast cancer. Additional methods are also being used in Perumal’s

lab to increase the penetration of the compounds throughthe nipple. The successful studies in animals may lead toclinical testing in humans. “If this approach is successful, the impact will be huge

in terms of reducing side effects.” said Perumal. Onceperfected, this unique technology developed at SDSU willhelp improve the lives of women battling early-stagebreast cancer.

Research

Omathanu Perumal

SDSU Research 5

The 5-year survival rate

for women with early-

stage breast cancer is

nearly 100 percent.

More than 95 percent of

breast cancer originates

in the milk ducts.

Top left to right: Compounds now used in the treatment of early-stage breastcancer and novel compounds developed at SDSU are being tested using pig breasttissue on this bank of nine receptacles. The tests are repeated four times.

Doctoral student Kaushalkumar Dave puts a buffer solution into the receivingcompartment. Any drug that passes through the nipple will be captured in this buffer.

Dave places the pig nipple on the top of the receiver.

Bottom left to right: The pig nipple is placed on the top of the receiver.

Once the setup is ready, the drug compound, which contains a radioactivecomponent, is deposited into the top chamber above the nipple tissue.

The receiver vials are then stored and the amount of radioactive material measuredso that professor Om Perumal, left, and Dave know how much of a specific drugcompound can be absorbed through the openings in the nipple.

Below: This microscope image shows the distribution of a fluorescent dye in thenipple ducts in the pig breast tissue section.

drug deliverysystem for early-stage breast cancermay reduce sideeffects

SDSU Research 7

Pale, shriveled heads of grain spell trouble forwheat and barley farmers—they’re the telltalesigns of Fusarium head blight. The fungal

disease, commonly known as scab, not onlydramatically shrinks yields but also produces toxinsthat make the grain unfit for human or animalconsumption.From 1991 to 1996, head blight caused $2.6 billion

in losses to the U.S. wheat crop. At its peak, the fungusdestroyed the entire malting barley crop in the RedRiver and Ohio River Valleys, according to professorYang Yen of biology and microbiology. Two decades later, the U.S. Department of

Agriculture still ranks head blight as “the worst plantdisease to hit the U.S. since the rust epidemics in the1950s.” Wheat and barley farmers have lost more than$3 billion since 1990 from blight outbreaks. In 1993, an epidemic of Fusarium head blight

caused approximately $80 million in losses for SouthDakota spring wheat producers, according to RandyEnglund, executive director of the South DakotaWheat Commission.Despite major research funding, including the U.S.

Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative, scientists admit thatefforts to control this devastating disease have hadlimited success. “This is an extraordinary disease that requires

extraordinary means to combat it,” said Yen, whobegan working on head blight in 1997. Using advanced genetic and molecular

technologies, Yen has begun tracing the biochemicalpathways that make wheat susceptible or resistant tohead blight. Three graduate students and twopostdoctoral scientists have worked on this researchover the last 16 years.

Multiple hosts and pathogensHead blight can be caused by multiple pathogens,

and these pathogens can attack multiple hostsincluding grasses and corn, Yen explained. This makesthe disease tougher to combat. Researchers are working to develop resistant typesof grain, alter tillage practices and apply fungicides

to fight the disease. “This disease is not new,” Yen said.It was first reported in England in1884 and in North America in1890. Over the last century,serious outbreaks haveoccurred in Asia, Canada,Europe and SouthAmerica.

If this disease couldbe controlled throughbreeding, Yen believesthat scientists would havedone so by now. Varieties ofwheat with some resistance

to blight were collected in China during the 1950s, andbreeding for better resistance has been done since. Themost resistant variety of wheat, Sumai 3, was releasedin China in the 1960s, Yen explained, “but it still getsthe disease.” Fusarium spores survive winter in the plant debris.

Even plowing the stubble under does not eliminate theproblem because the fungus also survives in theground. Wind and rain splash carry the spores ontothe head when it flowers, but the weather conditionsmust be just right—warm, humid and wet—for it toinfect the plant. The wheat flower must be open for the fungus to

enter, Yen explained. In susceptible varieties, thefungus kills the infected cells in the head therebyplugging the transport of water and nutrients to theupper part of the head.While diseases such as stem rust persist on living

plant tissues, Yen said, “Fusarium attacks the wheat orbarley spikes and the kernels collapse because thefungus kills them and lives on the dead cells.”Sumai 3 successfully delays the development of the

disease. Though the kernel on which the spore haslanded will be empty, it won’t affect the rest of thehead, he explained. But this variety has otherundesirable characteristics and cannot be used here.

Gene expressionYen has undertaken a molecular study of the

disease, investigating how the fungal infection impactswheat gene expression. He compared the mostresistant varieties of wheat with the most susceptibleones. By looking at how genes were expressed, themolecular biologist narrowed the possibilities fromthousands of genes to 608, then to 47 and eventually tothree. “These genes are functional in both resistant and

susceptible varieties. How they respond to regulatorypathways triggered by the fungal infection makes thedifference,” he said. “That’s why normal gene cloningdidn’t work.”Resistance to the disease is controlled by the

chemical pathways of two growth hormones,jasmonate and ethylene, Yen explained. To prove this,he took a susceptible wheat variety, treated it withjasmonate and ethylene and then exposed it to headblight. The wheat plant resisted the fungi.“Two of the three genes are directly involved in the

chemical pathways,” Yen explained. “How the third oneis involved we still do not know, but it may play a keyrole because suppressing its function in the first eightto 60 hours after the infection causes the diseasedevelopment.”Through funding from USDA and the South

Dakota Wheat Commission, he has identifiedbiomarkers that will allow breeders to screen for thisresistance.

“The discovery and development of true scabresistance in our wheat varieties would not onlyprevent losses and reduce quality discounts, but alsowould save farmers millions of dollars and timeinvested in treating the disease,” said S.D. WheatCommission Chairman Clint Vanneman. “Fundingfrom wheat checkoff dollars for the scientists andcontinuation of comprehensive integrated wheatresearch at South Dakota State University is truly agreat investment.”

Disease developmentEssentially, Yen hypothesizes that the fungus

softens the host cell wall during infection and triggersa chain of host resistance responses. “In the resistant wheat, the key resistance gene may

delay this chain of reactions until the host tissue is toohard for the disease to develop,” Yen explained. “In thesusceptible wheat, the disease makes the plant dropthis gene expression, so the fungus can get established.”

Yen has received a three-year USDA grant fornearly $363,000 to test this hypothesis. In addition, Yen must find out where the signal is

coming from and how the fungus suppresses the geneexpression. Only then can the researcher figure outhow to prevent the disease from becoming anepidemic.“Fusarium head blight results from close

interaction between the fungus and the host. We needto understand how this interaction is occurring andidentify which step is the easiest to manipulate tocontrol the disease,” he explained. That will then allow researchers to determine how

to neutralize the fungus’s power to infect small grains.

scabresistance

Biochemical pathwaysmay be key to

Yang Yen

6 SDSU Research

Research

An estimated 1 million fewer gallons of watermust be treated daily at the Sioux Falls WaterReclamation Plant, thanks to a filtration project

done in collaboration with the SDSU Water andEnvironmental Engineering Research Center, the Cityof Sioux Falls and the city’s consulting firm, H.R.Green Engineering of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.For more than a decade, the city has set aside

$20,000 each year from its capital improvementprogram to fund graduate research that will increasethe efficiency of its wastewater treatment plant. Andsometimes those projects reap huge rewards.The filtration project has saved the city millions of

dollars and garnered accolades for the university, theSioux Falls Water Reclamation Facility and H.R. GreenEngineering. “The project was highly successful,” said Chris

Schmit, director of the water research center.

Selecting a new filtration systemIn 2010, the Sioux Falls Water Reclamation Plant

set out to replace the filters that trap the remainingsolids just before wastewater is released into the BigSioux River. The goal of the capital improvement project was to

increase the flow rate through the filters and automatethe backwash system, according to Mark Perry, SiouxFalls wastewater superintendent. The price tag forreplacing the filters was $3 million. The plant’s dual-media filters, which use a

combination of anthracite and sand to filter water,were operating well beyond their design life, Schmitexplained. “They were failing, losing media out thebottom.” The filters would clog and then have to be

backwashed every 24 hours, which cost the plant timeand resources creating what Schmit called “abottleneck in the plant.”

Finding a simple solutionWith guidance from Schmit, graduate student Sean

Sieler looked at the possibilities and worked with H.R.Green Engineering and the City of Sioux Falls to comeup with a filtration system that would meet the city’sneeds.“We used an old technology called a monomedia,

unstratified deep bed filter, which utilizes only coal anda deep bed,” Schmit explained. The media, which ismuch larger than conventional filter media, lets morewater through, holds more solids and doesn’t clog asquickly. Because of these features, the filter only needs to be

backwashed once every three days to remove depositsand the process uses half as much water as the previousbackwash method, Schmit explained.

H.R. Green Engineering workedwith SDSU to design the study, providingthe information the researchers needed to selectthe best operating parameter. Following the designphase, Schmit said, “We piloted this technology and itworked very well.”

Saving water, time and energyThe plant was able to maximize its hydraulic

capacity because the monomedia filters could handletwice the amount of water as the old dual-media filters,Perry explained. By doubling its capacity, the plant wasable to meet the city’s needs without having to build asecond filtration building that would have cost about$10 million. “That was a huge win,” he said. Not only did the filter have to be backwashed less

often, but the backwashing only took 10 minutes,resulting in more than a 50 percent savings in timealone, according to Perry. The reduction in water usagewas an added benefit.Backwash water has to be reprocessed, so any water

savings essentially doubles, Perry explained. The plantgained 800,000 to 900,000 gallons a day in capacity,“because we don’t have to send that water to the headof the plant again.”That’s critical, Perry pointed out, especially during

spring downpours, such as the one on May 26, 2013,when three to five inches of rain fell within a fewhours. Natural events such as this can push the plant’swastewater processing capacity to as much as 40million gallons per day. In addition, the city saves on energy and labor costs

because backwashing is now done automatically via aprogrammable logic controller, Perry explained. Theprocess can be accomplished at night, when thedemand for electricity is lower. All the staff has to do isto wash down the walls during the process.

Improving water qualityChanges in the filtration system have also improved

the quality of the water being released into the SiouxRiver, Perry explained. The end product has 50 to 80percent fewer suspended solids which translates toclearer water, or in engineering terms, decreasedturbidity. Essentially, the water that the plant releases is“cleaner than what’s normally in the river,” said Perry. The increased water quality also reduces the

number of chemicals needed to kill disease-causingbacteria called fecal coliforms, Perry explained.Consequently, the plant was able to confidently switchfrom gaseous to liquid chlorine, which is safer foremployees to handle. And the existing chemical feedbuilding provided sufficient storage for the chlorineneeded, leading to even greater savings.

Gainingrecognitionfor innovation The water filtration

project has proven the value ofinvesting in research, one that has beenrecognized by engineers nationwide. A paper on the filtration selection process was

published in the June 2012 edition of the “WaterEnvironment Federation” magazine. Schmitt presentedthe research portion of the filtration project at the2012 Water Environment Federation TechnicalExhibition and Conferences in New Orleans, whileengineers from the city and H.R. Green Engineeringtalked about their work on the project at thefederation’s 2013 conference in Chicago. Between15,000 and 20,000 professionals attended these events. Sioux Falls, H.R. Green Engineering and SDSU also

received the 2012 Annual Honor Award from theAmerican Council of Engineering consultants of SouthDakota and the 2012 Annual Outstanding EngineeringAchievement Award from the South DakotaEngineering Society.Sioux Falls and its taxpayers have reaped the

rewards of investing in research and serve as anexample for what other communities might be able toaccomplish through a partnership with the WaterResearch Center.

water, moneyfor City of Sioux Falls

Chris Schmit

New filtration system saves

Spores in petri dish, inset: Fusarium graminearum, a majorpathogen of Fusarium head blight—commonly known as scab, iscultured in a petri dish. The fungus affects multiple crops—wheat,barley, oat and corn. The disease can also be caused by multiplepathogens. That’s one of the reasons it’s so hard to control.

Below left to right: This series of photos documents theprogression of Fusarium head blight from affecting one singlekernel to destroying the entire head in a susceptible variety;however, the fourth photo shows how the fungus is confined to onlya single kernel in the resistant variety.

Graduate student Aravind Galla is checking a wheat head that wasinoculated with a Fusarium graminearum mutant strain in whichone gene is blocked. This is part of an effort to determine how thegene functions in relationship to disease development.

Below left to right: Backwashing these monomedia filters takes only10 minutes and saves the city an average of 1 million gallons ofwater per day and approximately $12,000 per year in labor andenergy costs.

It sounds like a jumbo jet revving up its engines for takeoff, but thisblower system uses air at 10 to 14 psi to dislodge particles in themonomedia filters and thus requires less water. This means bigsavings for the City of Sioux Falls.

Operations supervisor Mark Hierholzer of the Sioux Falls WaterReclamation Plant checks the control panel, which makesbackwashing automatic via a programmable logic controller. Thisalso allows staff to do the backwash in the evenings during off-peakdemand periods when power costs are lower.

www.sdstate.edu/weerc/

Fewer medical interventions, fewer hoursin labor and increased satisfaction withthe birthing experience—that’s what

national statistics say a doula’s support duringlabor and delivery means to women and theirpartners. A doula is a trained woman whoprovides nonmedical support during laborand delivery. In 2011, Brookings Health System became

the first hospital in South Dakota to offer theservices of volunteer doulas for labor anddelivery at its New Beginnings Birth Centerand, in 2012, the first in the nation to offervolunteer doulas for postpartum support—free of charge. The services of a doula can costa couple anywherefrom $350 to $1,000,according todoula.com.A team of

four SouthDakota StateUniversity

researchers gathered feedback on thevolunteer program from patients and theirpartners, doulas and health-care professionalsat Brookings Health System. They alsoevaluated the effectiveness of its promotionalmaterials. Their research was funded in partby the Women and Giving Foundation at theSDSU Foundation and in part by the RuralHealth Research Center. “This was an opportunity to learn about

our program and better serve the needs of areawomen,” said Brookings Health SystemDirector of Obstetrics Mary Schwaegerl. Only an estimated 3 percent of mothers

who deliver in Brookings opt to use theservices of a doula. Schwaegerl and her teamhope to increase participation based on theresults of this research.

Calming expectant parents Assistant professors Jennifer Anderson and

Rebecca Kuehl in communication studies andtheatre, Sun Woo Kang in counseling andhuman development and Hilary Hungerfordin geography interviewed parents, expectantparents, doctors and nurses regarding thedoulas’ effect on the birthing experience. Inaddition, they questioned doulas about theeffect the program has on them and evaluatedthe program’s promotional materials. The team interviewed 11 parents and 20

expectant parents. Only a few had priorknowledge about or experience with a doula. “If they had a positive experience with a

doula, they wanted to have one again,” Kuehlsaid. One respondent said she would neverhave a baby without a doula. Those who had a previous negative birth

experience felt that a doula would improve thequality of their experience, according toAnderson. Their experiences with doulas wereoverwhelmingly positive.

Surprisingly, some expectant motherschose a doula as a means to helptheir partners cope, Kang explained.“If the laboring women see theirpartners as more comfortable in theroom, that’s going to be a supportfor them.”

“A doula helps the husbandknow how to navigate thesituation,” Anderson added.Couples felt the doula broughtthem closer together.

Doulas interviewedemphasized this, saying, “my jobis to help them have the bestbirth experience that they can,”reported Anderson. Based on these responses,

Kuehl—a persuasion expert—recommended that doulapromotional materials alsodescribe ways in which doulasbenefit fathers. In addition, theteam suggested thatinformation on the doula

program continue to be distributed at birthingclasses. When considering the differences between

births with and without a doula, the 14Brookings health-care professionalsinterviewed pointed out how calming theconstant presence of a doula was, not just tothe patient but to everyone in the room, Kuehlexplained. “That speaks very highly of thedoula program here and how well coordinatedit is.”In addition, the Brookings facility allows

doulas to go into the operating room withmoms who must undergo a cesarean section,according to Schwaegerl. Marilyn Hildreth,CEO of JM Birth Consultants, PLLC,explained this is something many hospitalswill not do even when moms request it. Thecertified doula and approved doula trainer hasbeen instrumental in starting doula programsnationally and internationally.Anderson reports that women facing a

C-section said that they needed their doulaseven more. Moms can begin skin-to-skin contact with

their newborns immediately following thebirth, regardless of the type of birth they have,Hildreth explained. This, in turn, leads togreater breast-feeding success.“Postpartum doulas are especially helpful

for mothers who are recovering from a C-section,” Schwaegerl said. Brookings HealthSystem Doula Coordinator Emily Delbridge,marketing and public relations director JuliaYoder and Schwaegerl were an integral part ofthis collaborative project. Statistics from the Doula Organization of

North America show a 25 percent decrease inlength of labor, 50 percent reduction in C-sections and improved mental health andinfant care for mothers who use doulas. AtBrookings Health System, the C-section rate in2012 was 12 percent, far below the nationalaverage of 33 percent, but Schwaegerlexplained this has been consistently low forthe past five years.In addition, the moms require less medical

intervention, added Anderson. That translatesto lower health-care costs. The Brookings program has also become a

template for other hospitals in the region.Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines isdeveloping a similar program and Hildrethhas received inquiries from other SouthDakota hospitals on how to implement such aprogram.

Enriching doula experiencesBrookings Health System has 26 trained

doulas who volunteer either for one 24-hourshift or two 12-hour shifts per month,according to Schwaegerl. Of those, 18 areSDSU students. Brookings Health System paysthe doula’s training costs in return forvolunteering for one year.The nine doulas interviewed in the study

described their experiences as “transformativeand fulfilling,”

Andersonexplained.

All felt thatthe trainingHildrethprovided hadgiven them theskills theyneeded. “Theywere fired up andexcited to providethe services,”Kuehl said.“Doulas want tobe called,”Anderson added. Obstetrics

directorSchwaegerl is nowusing thevolunteer doula’sfirst shift as anorientation to theunit whether thedoula gets calledor not. This stepalready helpsdoulas feel moreconnected to thestaff, she said. The doulas

interviewed whoare SDSU nursingstudents said theadditional trainingand work in an obstetrical setting made them“standout candidates for their first job,”reported Anderson. In her first year as a doula, SDSU nursing

student Breanna Spartz helped with one birth.The labor lasted five to six hours and this wasthe woman’s first child—the national averageis 12 to 18 hours, according tobirthwithmidwife.com.“It was the greatest experience,” Spartz

said. “It brings all the things together thatwe’re learning in class.” Her nursing professor,Lois Tschetter, encouraged her to get involvedin the program. As a volunteer doula, Spartz said she was

able to focus more on the patient and her care.The role of helper “gives you a differentoutlook.”Anderson said that nursing students

reported that they applied doula techniques tocalming patients in a clinical setting and evento calming themselves during stressfulsituations. Through the doula training,students learn physical and emotional comfortmeasures that nursing programs don’t havetime to teach, according to Hildreth. “The SDSU nursing program is

outstanding, above any I am aware of in theUnited States,” said Hildreth. These nursingstudents and the Brookings doula programcan have a far-reaching impact on health carein the state and beyond.

birthing experience ease stress, increase satisfaction with

Research

Durable, more efficient structures—thoseare the results the Jerome Lohr StructuresLaboratory delivers. Situated in Crothers

Engineering Hall, the lab is the only facility of itskind in South Dakota, according to Nadim Wehbe,professor and acting head of the civil andenvironmental engineering department. Over the last decade, the lab has conducted

research and structural testing on large- and full-scale test specimens for private companies andgovernment entities. Established in 2004, thefacility has a 34-foot high bay space that is 90 feetlong and 39 feet wide with a 4-foot thickreinforced concrete floor to accommodate thesespecimens.As one of eight universities in the Mountain

Plains Consortium Transportation CenterProgram, university civil engineering faculty andgraduate students are working on solutions totransportation-related problems and evaluatingstructures that may be more cost-effective anddurable.

Testing composite structuresThe Vulcraft/Verco Group of Norfolk, Neb., a

division of Nucor Corporation, has used the lab toresearch a wide range of steel joists, steel decks, andcold-formed wall assemblies.

For a Nucor-funded project in fall 2008,structures lab graduate students and staff builtcold-formed steel walls and a 20-foot steel joistfloor, tested the structure and demolished it, allwithin a week, explained lab manager ZachGutzmer. This process was repeated for sevenfloor-and-wall setups.The goal of the project was to determine how

the type and placement of joists affected wallloading, recalled Adam Roark, the civil engineeringstudent who wrote his thesis on the project. Thefloor was loaded using an actuator, and straingauges collected data on wall stress and its effect onbuilding components. Since then, Nucor has sponsored four research

projects investigating various facets ofconcrete/cold-formed steel composite buildingcomponents. “Having a structures lab close by allows our

engineers to view more of the testing and reducesour transportation costs,” explained DaveSamuelson, structural research engineer for newproducts and market development atVulcraft/Verco Group.

“Nucor’s research partnership with SDSUduring the past five years has allowed us to developa greater understanding of the behavior of our newcomposite floor system,” Samuelson said. “Ourpartnership with SDSU has been a win-winsituation.”

Evaluating bridge materialsResearch at the structures lab also helps South

Dakota companies develop transportationproducts, such as bridge girders. In 2006, the lab evaluated the performance of

six 40-foot prestressed concrete bridge girders,each weighing 18 tons. The research project wasfunded by the South Dakota Department ofTransportation and the U.S. Department ofTransportation through the Mountain PlainsConsortium and investigated the performance ofself-consolidating concrete. Two precast concreteproducers, Gage Brothers of Sioux Falls and Cretexof Rapid City, donated the girders made of coarseaggregates from their respective areas of the state.Self-consolidating concrete, also known as self-

leveling or self-compacting, does not require theuse of a mechanical vibrator to distribute theconcrete evenly. Tests showed that the self-consolidating girders performed equal to or betterthan conventional concrete girders, according toWehbe. This research enabled the two companiesto produce a new product, which they could thensell to construct bridges on the state’s highways. “We can combine both public and private

interests into one project by engaging industrywith vested interest in the research being done.”Wehbe said. Collin Moriarty, engineering manager at Gage

Brothers, said this coordinated effort provides localgovernments with better, more cost-effectivestructures.

Withstanding earthquakes, crashesLast summer, graduate student Todd Pauly

worked on a project to determine if bridgecolumns made of self-consolidating concrete canbe used in regions which experience earthquakesfor the Mountain Plains Consortium. In some structures fabricated with

conventional concrete, the steel reinforcement isnot fully embedded and honeycombing of theconcrete surface can occur, Pauly explained. “Self-consolidating concrete improves the overallquality, both aesthetically and structurally.”

The columns canbe placed moreefficiently, reducinglabor costs for largestructures, such asbridges, Paulypointed out.However, the materialcosts for self-consolidatingconcrete is higherthan that ofconventionalconcrete. In another

transportation project,graduate student Brett Tigges is evaluating theeffectiveness of a concrete wall poured betweentwo bridge columns in preventing bridge failurethat might occur if a semi-truck crashed at highspeed into the bridge column. To do this, he builttwo one-third-scale models of the bridge at Exit109 to Madison on Interstate 29. Tigges began testing in December and hopes to

have results for analysis this spring. “This lab is a tremendous resource for hands-

on research,” said professor Wehbe. Through its collaboration with private and

public entities, the work done at the structures labwill continue to improve the quality of buildingsand bridges.

Structures labevaluates strength, durability of structural componentsDoulas

8 SDSU Research

Nadim Wehbe

Zach Gutzmer

Hilary Hungerford

Jennifer Anderson

Rebecca Kuehl

Sun Woo Kang

Left: Volunteer doula Breanna Spartz, a senior nursingstudent, performs massage on expectant mom WendyLong at the New Beginnings Birth Center in Brookings.Spartz has been a doula for a year and recommends theexperience to other nursing students.

Expectant mom Katy VanderWal, right, of ruralBrookings, uses a birthing ball during labor with the helpof her doula, Taylor Mertz. VanderWal gave birth to ababy girl, Callie, in December 2011, the same month inwhich Mertz completed her nursing degree.

Below left to right: Graduate student Todd Pauly and structureslab manager Zach Gutzmer position steel rebar together toreinforce the concrete in this column loading block. Lateral andaxial forces are then applied to the column through the loadingblock to test the seismic performance of self-consolidatingconcrete columns as part of a project for the Mountain PlainsConsortium.

Civil engineering graduate student Brett Tigges, undergraduateeconomics major Ty Ahrenstorff and Gutzmer align the hopper topour concrete into the column formwork.

During testing of a concrete column, lecturer Seyed MohammadSeyed Ardakani, left, department head Nadim Wehbe andGutzmer track the data being gathered during a loading cycle.

Bottom left to right: Pauly adjusts the instrumentation on thecolumn as part of testing to determine whether self-consolidating concrete columns can be used in areas whereearthquakes occur. Pauly is writing his thesis on this researchwork.

The self-consolidating concrete has held up well during testingto simulate an earthquake.

Major damage has been done to this concrete column.

SDSU Research 9

Device gives sunflower producers reprieve from

Harvesting sunflowers requires nervesof steel. “It’s not if we will have acombine fire, but when,” according to

area producers. But an answer to this nerve-wracking problem may be within their grasp. A device designed by a team of SDSU

agricultural engineers has proven to drasticallyreduce and perhaps even eliminate these fires. The researchers found that sunflower

debris ignites at temperatures that are 68 to 86degrees Fahrenheit lower than residue fromcorn or soybeans. When sunflower dust isdrawn into the fan that pulls air through theradiator to cool the engine, some bits of debriscan ignite. When these embers live long enoughto land on similar material that accumulates onthe combine, a fire starts. The prototype system encases the

turbocharger and exhaust manifold and then afan pulls in clean air to cool the chamber.Additionally, the outside of the patent-pendingsystem easily stays within a safe temperaturerange.Professor Dan Humburg led the

agricultural engineering team, while KevinDalsted coordinated data-gathering and inputfrom area producers and assisted with technicaland design work. The initial project wasfunded by the South Dakota Oilseeds Council.

Manufacturing devices for combinesThe challenge now is figuring out how to

get this device into the hands of the producers,according to director of technology transferWill Aylor. The technology transfer office hasfiled a patent application on the device. Thisspring Aylor will try to forge an agreementwith a fabrication company to manufacture thedevice for existing combines, as perhaps thequickest way to get the technology into thefields. Gene Brehmer, sales manager at

Schuneman Equipment in Brookings, agreedwith this approach. Larger farms and anupswing in the farm economy during the lastfive years have increased combine sales. “A farmer running his combine 300 hours

per harvest season might purchase a newcombine every three years or even trade every

year,” Brehmer explained. However,with corn selling for $4 a bushel or lower, heexpects a noticeable decline in sales.

Endorsing return on investmentThe expertise and passion of the SDSU

team produced results that Brad Bonhorst,former president of the Oilseeds Council,described as having “great potential to solve theproblem.” “This was one of the best uses of checkoff

dollars that I’ve ever seen,” he said. In 2013, theNational Sunflower Association took overfunding the project. “That doesn’t happen veryoften.” During testing, the device was fitted onto

three combines—a Case IH 8120, a CaseIH 8230 and a John Deere 9770. All threemodels have different exhaust sizes andconfigurations, so the fan and filter systemhad to be redesigned for each combine.“That’s the limitation,” Humburg

added, and one of the challenges offinding a company that can manufacturethe devices.In addition, combine manufacturers

must meet new emission reductionstandards this year that may exacerbatethe problem. To regenerate the dieselparticulate filter that traps soot,manufacturers are running thecomponent hot enough to burn thematerial away, Humburg explained. Thiscreates yet another danger area when it

comes to sunflowers and an issue thatmanufacturers will have to address. However, the researchers admit that

sunflower growers do not constitute a largeshare of the combine market. In 2012, U.S.producers harvested nearly 2.8 billionpounds—50 percent grown in North Dakotaand 25 percent in South Dakota, with the restscattered across Texas, Minnesota and Kansas,according to Agricultural Marketing ResourceCenter. To build their case for the device, the

researchers are looking at other crops, such aschickpeas, lentils and even soybeans that createan elevated fire hazard for producers.

Impacting producers“Being able to go full speed and use all the

capacity of the combine to get the crop in is ahuge relief,” said Onida farmer Scott Foth, whohelped the agricultural engineers understandthe problem and then tested their prototypedevice for two seasons. “I’ve experimented withmany things that helped, but until now,nothing really solved the problem completely.” Aylor pointed out that this is a technology

that “as a land-grant institution, we need topromote as much as possible for the good itcan do for producers. It’s our mission.”

Research

Palliative care improves quality of life for chronically ill patients

Edgewood Vista Memory Care Manager Sheila Gummer,left, visits with Geneva and Leroy Furey. After 70 years ofmarriage, Leroy said they realize “the value of each other’spresence.” Last year when Geneva developed heartproblems during rehab, the family decided to usemedication rather than invasive interventions to make hercomfortable and allow her to return to Leroy’s side—thatwas all she needed to recover. Geneva and Leroy are 94years old.

Nearly 90 million Americans are livingwith serious illnesses and thatnumber is predicted to double in the

next 25 years. Seven of every 10 deaths in thiscountry are caused by chronic conditions. InSouth Dakota, 45 percent of all deaths in 2011were due to heart disease and cancer.A palliative health-care team can improve

quality of life and significantly reduce health-care costs for patients dealing with chronic,life-threatening illnesses, according to theAmerican Cancer Society. A palliative careteam, which consists of doctors, nurses, socialworkers and other professionals, guidespatients and their families through any stageof a serious illness including choosing curativetreatments.Associate professor Mary Minton, who

teaches at the College of Nursing West RiverSite in Rapid City, and a team of researchersexamined the palliative and end-of-life services offered among SouthDakota health-care facilities.

Dealing with dyingWhen people face life-threatening

illnesses, they often seek advice from theirclergy rather than their health-care provider,Minton explained. However, she added,“Clergy are attuned to dealing with the time ofdeath.” “As a society, we do not do well talking

about and planning for death,” Minton said,“and death is going to happen to all of us.”Making decisions that will determine thepatient’s quality of life requires thecoordinated effort of a palliative care team.The researchers gathered information

from 455 of the state’s 668 health-carefacilities through a phone survey. Theseincluded clinics, assisted living centers,specialty clinics, hospice and home-healthproviders, hospitals and nursing homes. Geographically, the facilities were 30

percent urban, 46 percent large rural and 23percent small rural. One graduate student, one research

associate and seven undergraduates worked onthe project, which was supported by the SouthDakota Department of Health ComprehensiveCancer Control Program.

Providing central point of contactMore than half of the facilities surveyed

had no specific person as a point of contactfor advanced care directives and planning, twocrucial pieces of palliative and end-of-life care,according to Minton. These directivesdelineate the life-prolonging procedures thatpatients want and, more importantly, thosethey do not want, once they are unable tospeak for themselves. “Often these key decisions come close to

the time of death when there’s a lot of stress,”said Minton. She did her dissertation onbereavement and has worked as a parish nursefor seven years of her 32-year career innursing. Within 48 hours of death, a family is

typically faced with 50 decisions, Mintonexplained. “Intentional palliative and end-of-

life care helps alleviate some of the stressassociated with urgent decision making.”While nearly 75 percent of the institutions

in the survey had a process in place foraddressing advance directives—what actionsshould or should not be taken if a patient isunable to speak—and 53 percent had one foradvance-care planning, there was a lack ofconsistency with the process. Providing acentral point of contact would be a steptoward increasing these numbers.

Training professionalsThe researchers found that the staff at 80

percent of the facilities surveyed had nopalliative care training and those at 73 percentof the health-care institutions had no trainingin end-of-life care. Health-care educators in the state are

moving to remedy that. Sanford School ofMedicine, in combination with Life CircleSouth Dakota, offers an interdisciplinarypalliative care course, according to Minton.

In response to needs identified in thesurvey, the South Dakota ComprehensiveCancer Control Program awarded LifeCircleSouth Dakota a grant for $6,513 to implementan interdisciplinary palliative care educationalworkshop for health-care professionalspracticing in a rural or frontier setting. Theworkshop is a collaborative effort amongfaculty from Sanford School of Medicine, theSouth Dakota State College of Nursing andUniversity of Sioux Falls representingLifeCircle.Dr. Theresa Campbell, a family

practitioner who leads a palliative care team atAvera Queen of Peace Hospital in Mitchell,said that part of her work involves educatingother physicians about palliative care. Though the health-care professionals at

Edgewood Vista have had no specific training,clinical services director Anna Telleksonsaid much of what they do is palliativecare. The facility in Brookings offerslong-term care, adult day care and anAlzheimer’s or memory unit.Tellekson sees the possibility of usingcontinuing education as a teachingtool for nurses and doctors.

Decreasing health-care costsHospital administrators are

beginning to see the benefits ofpalliative care for the family,patient and the health-carefacility, explained Campbell. The Center for

Medicare and MedicaidServices is alsomonitoring hospitalsregardingreadmission ofpatients within amonth or less forthe samediagnoses, aswell as deathsin the intensivecare unit.Additionally,

medical interventions provided at the end oflife in the ICU to patients who have a chronic,severe, life-threatening illness, may notimprove the patient’s quality of life, Mintonadded.Tellekson, who also teaches a geriatrics

clinical for the university nursing program,has seen a shift over the last 10 years fromaggressive treatment to just finding a comfortlevel for elderly patients. Comfort level carecan produce unexpected results.In one case, a resident on rehabilitation in

a nursing home started having heart problemsand was hospitalized, separating her from herhusband of 70 years, Tellekson recalled. Thefamily decided to treat her shortness of breathand high pulse rate with medication and takeher back to Edgewood Vista. That was threemonths ago and the patient has thrived onhospice. She and her husband just celebratedtheir 94th birthdays—together again.

Providing palliative care servicesSouth Dakota and the Northern Plains

area, in general, have been relatively slow atoffering palliative care to patients, rather thanjust hospice, according to Campbell. Her teamconsists of a palliative care nurse, a palliativecare pastor, a social worker and additionalstaff as needed. Hour-long family meetingsinclude the patient, family members, palliativecare team and the primary care physician orCampbell. The team discusses the patient’s diagnosis,

prognosis, establishment of power of attorneyand code status, as well asavailable

services, such as homehealth, assisted livingand nursing homeplacement, Campbellexplained. Familiesseem to appreciate thetime the team takes to discuss these difficultissues. The Mitchell palliative care team is

hospital-based, but some facilities in the stateare providing outpatient care instead,Campbell explained. Palliative and end-of-life care services are

offered for both adults and children throughAvera in Sioux Falls, Aberdeen and Yanktonand at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls. RapidCity Regional Hospital just started a palliativecare team, Minton added.Communities such as Parkston and

Freeman are also starting palliative careprograms, according to Campbell. “With ouraging population, palliative care services needto grow.”

Mary Minton

10 SDSU Research

Filtered air is forced into the enclosure surrounding the exhaust components of this combine engine through the duct, center/right, andallowed to exit through the small vents in the center. This prevents sunflower debris from entering the compartment.

Aunique energy storage projectdrew Hong Jin to the doctoralprogram in agricultural and

biosystems engineering. Since August 2011, Jin has been

working with assistant professorZhengrong Gu on a project to usebiochar, a byproduct of transformingplant materials into biofuel, as part of aproject to develop more cost-effectiveways of storing renewable energy. Theresearch is supported by the U.S.Department of Agriculture and the NorthCentral Regional Sun Grant Center. Jin is the recipient of the Joseph P.

Nelson Graduate Scholarship Award giveneach year to an outstanding graduatestudent. The award recognizes originalscientific research and provides up to$8,900 for tuition and expenses. “Without good graduate students, a

professor cannot do a good job,” Gu said.Professors design a system, he explained,“but don’t have time to work on thehands-on details.”That’s where talented graduate

students come in.

Using biochar for energy storageGu seeks to replace the expensive,

activated carbon that coats the electrodesof current energy storage devices, such as

Graduate scholarship winner

Doctoral student Hong Jin positions an electrodecoated with carbon made from biochar into a lithiumbattery.

CONTINUED BACK COVER

works on renewable energy storage

Dan Humburg

combine fires

0

$10,000,000

$20,000,000

$30,000,000

$40,000,000

$50,000,000

$60,000,000 Others

Pharmacy

Arts and Sciences

E. A. Martin, Human Nutrition

GIS Center of Excellence

Education and Human Sciences

Sun Grant Center

EPSCoR

Engineering

Agriculture and Biological Sciences20132012201120102009

Nonfederal

Other federal

U.S. Dept. of Education

U.S. Dept. of Tranportation

U.S. Dept. of Interior

NASA U.S. Dept. of Defense

Health and Human

U.S. Dept. of Energy

National Science

U.S. Dept. of Agriculture $10,725,477

$1,364,023

$1,110,196

$1,329,258

$3,136,788

$3,328,694

Foundation

Services

$10,512,302

$7,460,876

$5,380,894

$3,691,361

$2,825,079

$30,000,000

$40,000,000

$50,000,000

$60,000,000

$70,000,000

$80,000,000

2013201220112010200920082007

Expenditures through grants and contracts by administrative unitFY 2009-2013

Expenditures through grants and contracts by funding sourceFY 2013

Total research expenditures FY2007-2013*SDSU executes an average of180 research- andtechnology-relatedagreements annually resultingin an average of $1.8 millionin license income per year.

The Ph.D. programs attainednew record milestones in2013 with 317 studentsenrolled and 45 studentscompleting their degrees.

SDSU Research 11

*These figures are the sum of expenditures from grants and contracts, funds appropriatedto the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and other institutional funds allocatedto research.

South Dakota State UniversityOFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENTFOR RESEARCHSDSU, Box 2201Brookings, SD 57007

xxxxxx copies • Office of the Vice President for Research • $xxx AD248 02/14

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Research Administration

SDSU Research Leadership

ResearchSOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY

South Dakota State UniversityWinter 2014

supercapacitors, with a carbon material derived frominexpensive biochar.Using his background in chemistry and industrial

coatings, Jin is investigating different methods ofconverting biochar to nanostructured carbon materialsthat will hold more energy. His dissertation will focus ondeveloping biochar-based carbon materials forsupercapacitors. For a lithium battery, the carbon must have a relatively

high graphene content, however, for use on the electrodesof a supercapacitor, “the carbon must have well-developedhierarchical pores,” Gu explained. The two devices can beused in combination—supercapacitors to capture theenergy from wind turbines, for instance, and lithiumbatteries to provide stable, long-term storage.The United States now imports most of its activated

carbon from Asia—including Japan, Thailand and China—to manufacture these storagedevices, according to Gu. “With America’s abundance of wood-based biomass andagriculture residue as raw materials, we can use those materials as biofuel so the U.S. doesnot have to depend heavily on petroleum, and at the same time, generate good active carbonto export.”

For a description of other SDSU technologies available for licensing, go towww.sdstate.edu/research/tto/technologies/index.cfm.

More technical information is available through Will Aylor, director of technology transfer—will.aylor@sdstate.edu or (605) 688-4752.

Weed researchFusarium head blight Childhood obesityEffect of childbirth support Early-stage breast cancer

Palliative care Structural testingWastewater filtrationCombine firesEnergy storageInside

David L. Chicoine, Ph.D.President

Kevin D. Kephart, Ph.D.Vice President for Research

James J. Doolittle, Ph.D.Associate Vice President for Research Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

William Aylor II, M.S., J.D.Director, Technology Transfer Office

Norman O. Braaten, M.B.A.Research Compliance Coordinator

Sabina Kupershmidt, Ph.D.Grant Proposal Specialist

Michele Mucciante, DVMUniversity Veterinarian

Daniel T. Scholl, Ph.D.Associate Dean for Research DirectorSouth Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station

Dennis Helder, Ph.D. Associate Dean for ResearchJerome J. Lohr College of Engineering

Nancy Fahrenwald, Ph.D.DeanCollege of Nursing

Chunyang Wang, Ph.D.Associate DeanCollege of Education and Human Sciences

Xiangming Guan, Ph.D.Coordinator of Graduate StudiesCollege of Pharmacy

Bonny Specker, Ph.D.ChairEthel Austin Martin Program in Human Nutrition

Geoffrey Henebry, Ph.D.Co-DirectorGeographic Information Science Center of Excellence

Vance Owens, Ph.D.DirectorNorth Central Regional Sun Grant Center

James Rice, Ph.D.Department Head and ProfessorChemistry and BiochemistryDirector, South Dakota EPSCoR

Jacqueline Nelson, M.Ed., CRADirectorBudget/Grants and Contracts Administration

Kathleen Donovan, Ph.D.Associate DeanCollege of Arts and Sciences

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

Closeup of an electrode coated withcarbon made from biochar being placedinto a lithium battery.