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North Carolina State University statistician Dr. Sastry Pantula has been elected as the 105th president of the American Statistical Association (ASA). Pantula, who is the head of the NC State Department of Statistics and director of the Institute of Statistics, will serve as ASA president beginning Jan. 1, 2010. The ASA is a scientific and educational society founded in 1839, with 18,000 members serving in academia, government, and industry. Continue Reading »

Researchers at North Carolina State University have created a substance far stronger and harder than conventional iron, and which retains these properties under extremely high temperatures – opening the door to a wide variety of potential applications, such as engine components that are exposed to high stress and high temperatures.

Iron that is made up of nanoscale crystals is far stronger and harder than its traditional counterpart, but the benefits of this “nano-iron” have been limited by the fact that its nanocrystalline structure breaks down at relatively modest temperatures. But the NC State researchers have developed an iron-zirconium alloy that retains its nanocrystalline structures at temperatures above 1,300 degrees Celsius – approaching the melting point of iron.

Kris Darling, a Ph.D. student at NC State who led the project to develop the material, explains that the alloy’s ability to retain its nanocrystalline structure under high temperatures will allow for the material to be developed in bulk, because conventional methods of materials manufacture rely on heat and pressure.

In addition, Darling says the ability to work with the material at high temperatures will make it easier to form the alloy into useful shapes – for use as tools or in structural applications, such as engine parts.

The new alloy is also economically viable, since “it costs virtually the same amount to produce the alloy” as it does to create nano-iron, Darling says.

Dr. Carl C. Koch, an NC State professor of materials science engineering who worked on the project, explains that the alloy essentially consists of 1 percent zirconium and 99 percent iron. The zirconium allows the alloy to retain its nanocrystalline structure under high temperatures.

The research will appear in the journal Scripta Materialia. Kris Darling is the lead author on the paper, “Grain-size Stabilization in Nanocrystalline FeZr Alloys,” but co-authors include Koch, fellow NC State materials science professor Dr. Ronald O. Scattergood, NC State doctoral student Jonathan E. Semones, and NC State undergraduates Ryan N. Chan and Patrick Z. Wong.

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Note to editors: The paper’s abstract follows.

“Grain-size Stabilization in Nanocrystalline FeZr Alloy”

Authors: Kris A. Darling,* Ryan N. Chan, Patrick Z. Wong, Jonathan E. Semones, Ronald O. Scattergood and Carl C. Koch, North Carolina State University

Accepted for publication: May 7, 2008, in Scripta Materialia

Abstract: Nanocrystalline Fe-Zr alloys with a nominal grain size of 10 nm were synthesized by mechanical alloying. The grain size in pure Fe was >200 nm after annealing for 1 h at T/T_M = 0.5. Additions of 1 at .% Zr stabilized the grain size at 50 nm up to T/T_M = 0.92. Particle pinning, solute drag and reduction in grain-boundary energy have been proposed as stabilization mechanisms. The stabilization in Fe-Zr alloys is attributed to a reduction in grain-boundary energy due to Zr segregation.

Researchers at North Carolina State University have discovered that adding tiny bits of gold to a failed HIV drug rekindle the drug’s ability to stop the virus from invading the body’s immune system.

The addition of gold nanoparticles to a modified version of a drug designed in the 1990s to combat HIV - but discarded due to its harmful side effects - creates a compound that prevents the virus from gaining a cellular foothold, say Dr. Christian Melander, assistant professor of chemistry at NC State, and doctoral student T. Eric Ballard.

Their findings appear online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

The drug, a compound known as TAK-779, was originally found to bind to a specific location on human T-cells, which blocks the HIV virus’ entry to the body’s immune system. Unfortunately, the portion of the drug’s molecule that made binding possible had unpleasant side effects.  When that portion of the molecule - an ammonium salt - was removed, the drug lost its binding ability.

That’s when Melander and colleagues from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Colorado at Boulder turned to gold as the answer. The element is non-reactive in the human body, and would be the perfect “scaffold” to attach molecules of the drug to in the absence of the ammonium salt, holding the drug molecules together and concentrating their effect.

“The idea is that by attaching these individual molecules of the drug with a weak binding ability to the gold nanoparticle, you can magnify their ability to bind,” Melander says.

The researchers’ theory proved correct. They started with a modified version of TAK-779, which didn’t include the harmful ammonium salt. After testing, they found that attaching 12 molecules of the modified drug (SDC-1721) to one nanoparticle of gold restored the drug’s ability to prevent HIV infection in primary cultured patient cells. When only one molecule of the drug was attached to the gold nanoparticle, the compound was unable to prevent HIV infection, indicating that the multivalency of the drug was important for its activity.

“We’ve discovered a non-harmful way to improve the strength and efficacy of an important drug,” Melander says. “There’s no reason to think that this same process can’t be used with similar effect on other existing drugs.”

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Note to Editors: an abstract of the paper follows.

“Inhibition of HIV Fusion with Multivalent Gold Nanoparticles”
Authors: Mary-Catherine Bowman, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; Christian Melander and T. Eric Ballard, North Carolina State University Daniel Feldheim, University of Colorado at Boulder, et al
Published: May 13, 2008 in Journal of American Chemical Society online

Abstract:
The design and synthesis of a multivalent gold nanoparticle therapeutic is presented. SDC-1721, a fragment of the potent HIV inhibitor TAK-779, was synthesized and conjugated to 2.0 nm diameter gold nanoparticles. Free SDC-1721 had no inhibitory effect on HIV infection; however, the (SDC-1721)−gold nanoparticle conjugates displayed activity comparable to that of TAK-779. This result suggests that multivalent presentation of small molecules on gold nanoparticle surfaces can convert inactive drugs into potent therapeutics.

Scientists have long known that air pollution can have adverse effects on human health. Now, thanks to research from a North Carolina State University statistician, we may soon have more accurate information about how, exactly, particulate matter in polluted air affects rates of asthma and heart disease in people.

Dr. Montserrat Fuentes, NC State associate professor of statistics, has received grants from both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine the connection between air pollution, asthma and cardiovascular disease.

The EPA grant provides Fuentes and co-researchers Dr. Chris Frey, professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering, and Dr. Yang Zhang, assistant professor of marine, earth and atmospheric sciences, with $839,439 over three years to look at particulate matter in the atmosphere - tiny particles of pollutants that human beings inhale - to determine whether daily exposure increases mortality rates, locations where human beings are in the most danger from exposure, and what the most dangerous rates of exposure may be.

The NIH grant provides Fuentes and Frey $1,086,133 over a three-year period to study the impact of ozone and particulate matter in the atmosphere on cardiovascular disease and asthma.

“We know that atmospheric pollutants are harmful to human health,” Fuentes says, “and more precise information about the connection between particular pollutants and specific diseases will help us set air-quality standards to decrease human exposure and improve the health of people and the environment.”

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North Carolina State University Chancellor James Oblinger conferred 4,030 degrees on 3,768 graduating students when the university held 2008 Spring Commencement on Saturday, May 10, at the RBC Center in Raleigh.

Erskine Bowles, president of the University of North Carolina system, delivered the commencement address. Candidates for degrees were from 87 North Carolina counties, 31 other states or United States territories and 42 foreign countries. NC State holds graduation ceremonies each year in the spring and fall.

Oblinger also conferred honorary degrees on behalf of NC State to Pat Mora, an award-winning author of poetry, nonfiction and children’s literature; Richard Robb, a noted business professional who has provided important service to numerous corporate and non-profit boards, including NC State’s Board of Trustees; and C.D. Spangler, an accomplished businessman and former president of the University of North Carolina system.

The names of NC State’s May 2008 degree candidates are available on the Web at www.ncsu.edu/registrar/publications/graduation/index.html.

If a graduate’s hometown address is not listed under the appropriate county, it is because the graduate originally established residency in the county listed, but has changed his or her mailing address for grades. Also, students with privacy blocks on their personal information are not included in the Web list.

Graduates’ fields of study are indicated by two- or three-letter codes. Students with more than one code earned degrees in more than one field. You can find a list of the codes - and the fields of study they designate - on the Web at: www.ncsu.edu/registrar/curricula/index.html.

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North Carolina State University Chancellor James Oblinger announced that 6,075 undergraduate students earned Dean’s List honors at NC State during the spring 2008 semester.

To make the Dean’s List, students must earn an academic grade-point average of 3.25 or higher if they are carrying 15 or more hours of course work, or a 3.5 grade-point average if they are carrying 12 to 14 hours.

The list is available on the Web at: www.ncsu.edu/registrar/publications/deans/index.html

Those students with a perfect 4.0 average are noted on the list.

Access the above Web address and click on North Carolina for a county-by-county breakdown of Dean’s List students. If a student’s corresponding city is not listed under the appropriate county, it is because the student originally established residency in the county listed, but changed his or her mailing address for grades. Also, students with privacy blocks on their personal information are not included in the Web list.

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Sharing might help young children become better people, but it might also make them better at math, according to preliminary findings of a study being conducted at North Carolina State University.

The study, funded by a $1.65 million grant from the National Science Foundation, aims to develop a diagnostic system for teachers to use in assessing their third- to eighth-grade students’ understanding of how to solve problems that use fractions and ratios and build on the knowledge of multiplication and division, known as rational number reasoning.

The findings could signal significant changes in the way math is taught in elementary school.

The very earliest math capabilities exhibited by children is the ability to split between two people or share a group of objects, says Dr. Jere Confrey, Joseph D. Moore Distinguished Professor of Mathematics Education at NC State. “Kids are very sensitive to the notion of ‘fair shares’ and are very adept at making sure the shares come out even,” she says. “That’s an early characteristic that should be much more heavily leveraged in early education.

“If the students’ counting and splitting skills were developed in parallel to each other, we believe they would be much more successful in all areas of rational number reasoning,” she adds. “As these partitioning or splitting activities become more complex, they set up fractions, division, ratios - all of the topics that tend to be delayed until 3rd or 4th grade, but that should be done earlier because they can lead to more success in advanced math subjects down the road.”

Confrey and Dr. Alan Maloney, NC State associate professor of mathematics, science and technology education and a co-investigator on the grant, also say that teachers need to examine how and in what order they teach math concepts to students. “In many schools multiplication is taught and then a couple of months later division is taught,” Maloney says. “Part of what we stress in the ’splitting’ world is that division and multiplication are very tied to each other and should be taught at the same time. So as the students are learning multiplication they should also be learning division.

“Teachers have this whole counting mentality that says you always teach the ones, then twos, then threes, etc. in that order,” Maloney says. “But that’s not necessarily the case with splitting. So one of the implications of this is that when teachers teach multiplication, they should think about it in terms of splitting, not counting. They should teach the twos as doubles, and then the fours as doubles of twos, and then eights and then 10 - and then five as half of 10. Then you can go back and pick up the threes, the sixes, the nines, and finally the sevens. This also holds true for division. This approach builds relationships within multiplication and division, rather than only memorization.”

The five-year study will examine six different math subjects that involve rational numbers: partitioning; multiplication and division; ratio, proportion, and rate; fractions, decimals, and percents; similarity and scaling; and area and volume. The researchers plan to build precise measures that can show teachers which subjects are most troublesome to students.

“Students are taking these high-stakes multiple-choice tests which are very crude measures of what the students really do and don’t understand about a topic,” Confrey says. “Teachers need precise information about what students have learned, what they are proficient at and what they still need to learn. So that’s what we hope to accomplish with this study.”

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A North Carolina State University researcher has received a three-year, $592,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to study the occurrence of Salmonella in pigs that haven’t been given anti-microbial drugs either for treatment or growth promotion.

Dr. Siddhartha Thakur, assistant professor of swine health and reproduction, will take samples from pig populations, their environments, and pork processing plants to determine the strains of the Salmonella pathogen that these pigs may be exposed to, as well as the rate of infection in these environments.

Anti-microbial free pigs, or ABF pigs, haven’t been given anti-microbial treatments that speed growth and kill certain pathogens. Pork producers are increasing their stock of ABF pigs in response to increasing demand from consumers for “naturally grown” pork. Some of the ABF pig farms also raise their pigs outdoors instead of in barns, which can open new avenues for possible Salmonella contamination.

“Salmonella is responsible for most of the bacterial food-borne illnesses in the U.S.,” Thakur says. “It affects up to an estimated 1.5 million people per year in this country alone, so it’s vital that we protect our food supply from Salmonella contamination.”

The grant is part of the USDA’s National Integrated Food Safety Initiative. Thakur and his NC State colleague, animal science professor Dr. Morgan Morrow, believe that the information from the study will both help protect the general population from food-borne illness, and enable pork producers to better prevent and control outbreaks.

“It will be a win-win situation for the farmers of North Carolina, who will receive information vital to the health of their farm animals, and for the consumers who can be certain that their food supply is safe,” Thakur says.

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Three North Carolina State University faculty members and one graduate student have been chosen to participate in the Fulbright Scholar program to study and teach abroad during the 2008-09 academic year.

Fulbright grants are awarded each year to leading researchers, teachers and administrators at universities worldwide, allowing the recipients to travel, conduct research and teach abroad at host universities for up to one year.

The NC State scholars chosen to participate in the Fulbright program this year are:

• Dr. Tony K. Stewart, professor of south Asian religions and literatures, has received one of only 22 Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad awards given this year. Stewart will spend the 2009 calendar year in Bangladesh working on a research project, “Romance of the Pirs:  Popular Visions of Muslim Community in Early Modern Bengal,” which focuses on the religious traditions (Hindu and Muslim) of the early modern Bengal region.

• Dr. Elizabethann O’Sullivan, associate professor of public administration, has received a teaching and research fellowship that will send her to Malaysia, where her work will focus on international nongovernmental organizations and Malaysian public agencies.

• Dr. Ronald V. Fodor, professor of geology, has received an award to travel to Hungary for the spring semester of 2009 to teach graduate geology courses at Eotvos Lorand Technical University in Budapest.

• Yiyi Wong, who will receive her master’s degree in marine science in August, will be traveling to the Institute for Estuarine and Coastal Studies in Shanghai to continue her research on the global carbon cycle and focus on the interaction between the atmospheric and ocean interfaces.

The Fulbright Scholar Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State – with the exception of the Fulbright-Hays award, which is administered by the Department of Education – and is the most prestigious international exchange program for scholars. Established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the program’s purpose is to build mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the rest of the world.

Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement and leadership potential in their fields.

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Next week (May 18-24) is National Dog Bite Prevention Week, and Dr. Barbara Sherman, a specialist in animal behavior at North Carolina State University, says looking at things “from the dog’s point of view” can help keep you and dogs safe.

Sherman offers the following suggestions to avoid dog bites:

• Some dogs don’t like strangers and may react defensively to them. Always ask for permission before you pet a strange dog. Never pet a dog that seems frightened.

• Some dogs are territorial. Don’t reach through a fence or into a car to pet a dog.

• Some dogs are frightened by rapid movements and loud voices. Move slowly and speak in a calm tone of voice when you approach a dog.

• Some dogs are protective of special foods and resting sites. Stay away from a dog when it is eating, chewing on a special treat, and when it is sleeping.

• Some dogs are threatened when you stare at them or reach over their heads, which may prompt a “keep away” response. Don’t stare at a dog’s face. Pet a dog on its back and not on its head.

Sherman is available for media interviews to discuss these and other suggestions related to preventing dog bites as part of National Dog Bite Prevention Week. She can be reached at 919/513-6141 or 919/ 460-8512 or via e-mail at barbara_sherman@ncsu.edu.

Nearly 5 million people in the United States suffer from dog bites annually, and about 800,000 bites are serious enough to require medical attention. Bite-related injuries are highest among children ages 5 to 9. Experts believe most bites can be avoided.

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