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Researchers discover how stealthy HIV protein gets into cells
Scientists have known for more than a decade that a protein associated with the HIV virus is good at crossing cell membranes, but they didn’t know how it worked. A multidisciplinary team from the UI has solved the mystery, and their findings could improve the design of therapeutic agents that cross a variety of membrane types. Full story |
| RESEARCH |
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Medicaid is choking demand for private insurance, study indicates
The nation’s flawed-but-free Medicaid program discourages most Americans from buying long-term health insurance that could provide better care and spare their life savings, a new study co-written by a University of Illinois professor says. Full story |
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Unique Web site puts early childhood programs on the map and online
Child-care information is now integrated and available in one online system, available to policymakers, legislators, advocates, businesses. Called the Illinois Early Childhood Asset Map (IECAM), it is the product of an unusual teaming of computer visualization, demographic and early childhood specialists at the UI, working in collaboration with the organization Chicago Metropolis 2020. Full story |
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Ordinary heroes abound, expansive study of U.S. rescues shows
America’s heroes aren’t just in combat fatigues, fire trucks or Hollywood scripts, according to a study by a University of Illinois professor. “The country is full of ordinary heroes,” law professor David Hyman says. “This study shows that regular, everyday people routinely do just amazing things.” Full story |
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Combat helmet that could relay injury data is goal of UI project
University of Illinois researchers are pooling their knowledge of health sciences and engineering on a project that ultimately could benefit combat soldiers who’ve received serious – but often immediately undetectable – blast-related brain injuries. Full story |
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Measurement technique probes surface structure of gold nanocrystals
Finding the key to gold’s chemical reactivity (or that of any metal nanocrystal) has been difficult, as few measurement techniques work at the nanoscale. Now, researchers at the University of Illinois have demonstrated a sensitive probe that can identify and characterize the atomic structure of gold and other nanocrystalline materials. Full story |
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Chains that train new store owners help keep franchises afloat, study says
Fast-food restaurants and other chain outlets are less likely to fail when super-sized training programs prepare fledgling owners for the challenges ahead, according to a new study co-written by a UI business professor. Full study |
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UI library creates one-stop shopping site online for health information
Understanding the potholes and other problems in navigating the Web for health information, librarians at the UI have built a site that will allow users to bypass most Web-related symptoms: a single route to the best, most up-to-date health news available online. Full story |
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Researchers confirm discovery of Earth's inner, innermost core
Geologists at the UI have confirmed the discovery of Earth’s inner, innermost core, and have created a three-dimensional model that describes the seismic anisotropy and texturing of iron crystals within the inner core. Full story |
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After more than 100 years apart, webworms devastate New Zealand parsnips
What could be lower than the lowly parsnip, a root once prized for its portable starchiness but which was long ago displaced by the more palatable potato? Perhaps only the parsnip webworm gets less respect. An age-old enemy of the parsnip, the webworm is one of very few insects able to overcome the plant’s chemical defenses. The tenacious parsnip webworm has followed the weedy version of the parsnip in its transit from its ancestral home in Eurasia to Europe, North America and – most recently – New Zealand. Full story |
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Researchers see history of life in the structure of transfer RNA
Transfer RNA is an ancient molecule, central to every task a cell performs and thus essential to all life. A new study from the University of Illinois indicates that it is also a great historian, preserving some of the earliest and most profound events of the evolutionary past in its structure. Full story |
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Real and virtual pendulums swing as one in mixed reality state
Using a virtual pendulum and its real-world counterpart, scientists at the University of Illinois have created the first mixed reality state in a physical system. Through bidirectional instantaneous coupling, each pendulum “sensed” the other, their motions became correlated, and the two began swinging as one. Full story |
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Ant invaders eat the natives, then move down the food chain
The Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, is one of the most successful invasive species in the world, having colonized parts of five continents in addition to its native range in South America. A new study sheds light on the secrets of its success. Full story |
| CAMPUS |
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Jackson to be commencement speaker at UI graduation
Mannie Jackson, a 1960 alumnus of the University of Illinois and chairman and owner of the Harlem Globetrotters, will be the speaker at the 137th UI Commencementon May 11. Full story |
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Performance-management system has positive focus
Beginning April 1, about 3,000 additional civil service employees at Urbana will be covered by the Performance Partnership Program, a performance-management system that emphasizes good performance and helps employees commit to improve attendance, conduct or other problems. Full story |
| HONORS |
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UI professors win 2008 Sloan Fellowships
A UI professor has been named a recipient of an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation research fellowship. ChengXiang Zhai, a professor of computer science, was among 118 early career researchers from 64 colleges and universities who will receive grants of $50,000 for a two-year period. Full story |
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IPRH announces fellowship awards for 2008-09
The Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities has awarded its annual Faculty and Graduate Student Fellowships to six faculty members and eight graduate students from the UI campus for the academic year 2008-09. Full story |
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achievements A report on honors,
awards, appointments and other outstanding achievements of faculty
and staff members. More |
| DEPARTMENTS |
| brief notes
Petals & Paintings museum benefit is April 11-13 … 'Hamlet' to open Ebertfest
… Edible book art on display April 1 … Dodge ball tournament benefits Crisis Nursery …Sustainability workshop is April 4
… Bluprints, drawings now online …
Lecture addresses cutting world poverty … 'Rupture' is theme of IPRH conference …Race Against Racism is April 26
… Deadline to submit Statement of Economic Interests forms is April 24 …
Calder to be honored March 28 … Display details Vet Med history …Dinner honors black women
…More
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Conference shows how to make campuses more diverse, inclusive
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Local school, UI professor, part of anti-bully film debuting March 28
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book corner
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On the Job: John Rhoades
John Rhoades is a safety officer in Facilities and Services. He is responsible for tracking, inspecting and arranging for maintenance and replacement of te thousands of fire extinguishers across campus. More |
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| job market |
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deaths
A. Toy Caldwell-Colbert, 56, died March 12 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Caldwell-Colbert worked at the UI for seven years, retiring in 2001 as associate vice president for academic affairs. Memorials: Spelman College, Office of Institutional Advancement, Campus Box 1551,350 Spelman Lane SW, Atlanta, GA 30314 or Central State University Foundation, Anthony Fairbanks, vice president of institutional advancement, at 937-376-6373.
Ray L. Hays, 88, died March 7 in Champaign. He was a professor of dairy science in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences for 33 years, retiring in 1979.
Billy G. Johnson, 58, died March 14 at Provena United Samaritans Medical Center Logan Campus in Danville. Johnson worked as a building service worker for Facilities and Services from 1987 to 2005.
Lurline Knudsen, 82, died March 1 at Provena Covenant Medical Center in Urbana. She worked as a cashier for the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics for 17 years, retiring in 1990. Memorials: Grace Lutheran Church, 313 S. Prospect Ave., Champaign, IL 61820.
Ralph B. Peck, 95, died Feb. 18 in Albuquerque, N.M. Peck was an emeritus professor of foundation engineering. He was a member of the civil engineering department for 32 years, retiring in 1974.
Julia Presson Snyder, 98, died March 9 at Clark-Lindsey Village in Urbana. She worked at the UI for 17 years, retiring in 1971 as an administrative chief clerk in the department of journalism.
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