Incentivizing bioenergy crop production in locations with marginal soils, where low-input perennial crops can provide net carbon sequestration and economic benefits, will be crucial to building a successful bioeconomy. We developed an integrated assessment framework to compare switchgrass cultivation with corn-soybean rotations on the basis of production costs, revenues, and soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration at a 100 m spatial resolution. We calculated profits (or losses) when marginal lands are converted from a corn-soy rotation to switchgrass across a range of farm gate biomass prices and payments for SOC sequestration in the State of Illinois, United States. The annual net SOC sequestration and switchgrass yields are estimated to range from 0.1 to 0.4 Mg ha^-1 and 7.3 to 15.5 Mg dry matter ha^-1, respectively, across the state. Without payments for SOC sequestration, only a small fraction of marginal corn-soybean land would achieve a 20% profit margin if converted to switchgrass, but $40-80 Mg^-1 CO₂e compensation could increase the economically viable area by 140-414%. With the compensation, switchgrass cultivation for 10 years on 1.6 million ha of marginal land in Illinois will produce biomass worth $1.6-2.9 billion (0.95-1.8 million Mg dry biomass) and mitigate 5-22 million Mg CO₂e.

Heart failure, the heart's inability to sufficiently deliver blood to meet the body's demand, is a leading cause of death in the U.S. As an adaptive response to stress, the heart undergoes structural remodeling resulting in enlargement known as cardiac hypertrophy. Although initially compensatory, chronic hypertrophy can lead to reduced contractility, often resulting in heart failure. The signaling mechanisms by which chronic hypertrophy transitions to heart failure are not well understood and are of great significance to advancing clinical treatment of heart failure. In the heart, Ca²⁺ is a critical second messenger involved in many cardiac signaling pathways, and changes in Ca²⁺ handling are associated with hypertrophy and dysfunction leading to heart failure. Several proteins are involved in intracellular Ca²⁺ regulation, one being Ca²⁺/calmodulin- dependent protein kinase II, (CaMKII). This Ca²⁺-sensitive protein kinase, which phosphorylates a number of known substrates, has emerged as a key molecule in hypertrophy and heart failure. CaMKII activity and expression are altered in heart failure patients and animal models of hypertrophy and heart failure. The predominant cardiac isoform is CaMKII[delta], and two splice variants (subtypes), [delta]B and [delta]C, differing only by a nuclear localization sequence, are present in the heart. Our lab has shown that overexpression of either subtype results in cardiac dysfunction, however whether the subtypes have differential roles is unclear. Studies presented in the first part of this dissertation extensively characterize the localization and activation of [delta]B vs. [delta]C, and reveal that subtype localization is nonspecific, and enzyme localization governs its activation and function. CaMKII[delta] null mice overexpressing individual subtypes were generated and used throughout our studies to not only understand enzyme localization and activation, but also to provide an important perspective on whether [delta]B and [delta]C have differential roles. The second part provides an in- depth study of the mechanism by which CaMKII [delta]C contributes to heart failure, studied by crossing [delta]C transgenic mice with several genetically altered mouse models in an effort to rescue the heart failure phenotype. While attenuation of the heart failure phenotype was not achieved, our findings provide insight into the maladaptive mechanisms that contribute to cardiomyopathy, and underscore the multidimensional role of CaMKII in the heart

Hero's Journey Hero's Journey is an interactive decision-making game where you attempt to become a hero. The choices you make impact the path you take and determines whether or not you end up becoming a hero.

The commander of a squadron that has landed on an alien planet You make a series of choices that alternate between befriending aliens and going against them This game makes the player paranoid of whether they can choose to trust the aliens or go against them It's a twist on the alien takeover on a human planet There are three endings to this game.

South Asian Americans, one of the fastest-growing and most diverse immigrant communities, have experienced increased discrimination and hate crime during the post-9/11 period. South Asians bore the brunt of racial hostility triggered in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, with Muslims and Sikhs bearing the greatest burden. The domestic security policies inaugurated after 2001 further impacted both South Asian and Arab communities adversely. These official policies ranging from surveillance of mosques and communities to delayed naturalization and restricted immigration have severely encroached upon the civil liberties of the groups. The ten-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks should be an occasion to review some of these policies in order to ensure that South Asian and Arab communities are not being profiled and targeted in the name of domestic security.