BROOKINGS, S.D. —South Dakota State University Associate Professor Laura Diddle-Hildebrant is calling South Dakota Honor Choir alumni to sing at the Sioux Falls Washington Pavilion for an Honor Choir reunion concert Aug. 1.



This year marks the 35th anniversary of the South Dakota High School Honor Choir. To mark the milestone, Stacy Gross, Honor Choir personnel director, is organizing a Reunion Choir.



“This is a magnificent opportunity for singers, friends and vocal music educators to come together to celebrate 35 years of choral music excellence here in South Dakota,” said Diddle-Hildebrant who is president of the South Dakota American Choral Directors Association.



“I hope all Honor Choir alumni and choral musicians take this opportunity to make music together, renew old friendships and forge new ground for future South Dakota choral musicians,” said the SDACDA president.



The Reunion Choir will rehearse at Augustana College in Sioux Falls July 30 – 31 to perform a concert Aug. 1 at 7:30 p.m. Tim Peter of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa will be the guest conductor.



Interested alumni can register for the Reunion Choir through the SD Honor Choir website at http://sd-acda.sdsmt.edu/SHChoir/index.htm.



The Reunion Choir will perform four independent selections and join the 2008 High School Honor Choir for two additional pieces.



All former SD Honor Choir members from 1974 – 2007 are encouraged to participate.



Gross encouraged alumni who cannot perform in the Reunion Choir to visit the website and update the alumni database.



Further information and registration forms are available on the Honor Choir website, or by contacting Stacy Gross at 605-361-6148 or stacygross@sio.midco.net.

 

BROOKINGS, S.D. — South Dakota State University’s Prairie Repertory Theatre will celebrate its 400,000th patron during the Friday, July 11 performance of “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” in Doner Auditorium.



The first PRT company opened 38 years ago to a small audience of theatre aficionados sitting on plank benches and cinderblocks in the un-air conditioned Prairie Village Opera House in Madison.



This summer, 163 shows, 1,213 performances and 1,273 students later, PRT will offer a full scale production of the musical “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” to its 400,000th patron.



“Four hundred thousand people is definitely a milestone,” said J.D. Ackman, PRT’s administrative head.



“It says that PRT is a continuing success, but most of all it proves our new tagline: we really do belong to our patrons,” he concluded.



In honor of the momentous occasion, PRT will have a special ceremony to honor past and present patrons.



“We want to celebrate our 400,000th patron, whoever he or she may be,” said Joshua Westwick, director of audience services and communications.



Emily Humke, the audience services manager, said the 400,000th ticket is still up for grabs, although the Brookings performances of “Seven Brides” are selling quickly.



“He or she could be a season book holder, a student or faculty member, anyone,” explained Humke.



“All we know is that sooner rather than later, it’s going to be the next person who buys a ticket to Friday’s performance.”



To recognize the landmark number, PRT will present the 400,000th patron with 10, free season books to PRT performances in Brandon and an $80 bouquet donated by Lori Olson of Main Street Florist in Hendricks, Minn.



The entire Friday audience can celebrate with the “Seven Brides” cast and PRT company members enjoying free cookies donated by Lowes for an after-performance gathering.



“Our gala is a tribute to the success of our program, which is due to the loyalty and enthusiasm of our patrons. We’re not only celebrating our past, but also all that’s yet to come,” declared Westwick.



PRT’s two-part mission is to further the education of participating students and to provide patrons with the best possible entertainment. Ackman said the company achieved that through a combination of student energy, creative designers and devoted faculty members.



“We have a lot going for us, but the bottom line is that people are loyal, and that 400,000 people enjoy our shows. They’re the real reason we’re still here,” he said.



“Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” plays in Doner Auditorium on the SDSU campus at 7:30 p.m. each night from July 9 – 12.  A Sunday matinee begins at 2 p.m. July 13.



Theatre goers interested in becoming PRT’s 400,000th patron can purchase a ticket by contacting the Audience Services Office at 605-688-6045, visiting the website at www.prairierep.org or stopping by the Performing Arts Center box office on campus, Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

The key to a better drug delivery method for cancer patients may be growing all across the Midwest, South Dakota State University research suggests.

Assistant Professor Omathanu Perumal and his team in SDSU’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences have been working with submicroscopic particles to deliver medications using the corn protein, zein.

Zein is a protein found in distillers grains, a co-product of ethanol production. It is different from other proteins in its unique ability to prevent water absorption. This quality of zein has found applications ranging from food packaging to chewing gums.

Researchers at SDSU are preparing zein nanoparticles for drug delivery. Nanoparticles are tiny particles that can only be seen with an electron microscope. Scientists are entrapping a medication inside the nanoparticles, which Perumal notes are approximately 500 times smaller than the diameter of a strand of human hair.

The tiny size of these particles could lend assistance to new cancer therapies, where one challenge is treating the cancer cells without affecting the normal cells around it.

“We can utilize size. In general, the cancerous tissue is physiologically different from the normal tissue,” explains Perumal. “One of the things we see in the tumor tissue is that the blood vessels are much ‘leakier,’ whereas normal blood vessels don’t allow particles to be transported through them. Therefore, if you have really small particles, they will not go into normal tissue, but they can go into the cancerous tissue. This is called passive targeting.”

The drug-loaded zein nanoparticles are being delivered by injection in animal experiments, but future tests may explore oral, topical and other delivery methods.

When outside objects, including medications, get inside the body, the body’s immune system tries to get them out of the body. This, in turn, affects the length of time that drugs can work in the body before being expelled. But these nanoparticles are so tiny that the body doesn’t recognize and excrete them.

In the technique SDSU is exploring, drugs are encapsulated within the nanoparticles and delivered to the affected site. Perumal became interested in using corn zein to form nanoparticles because it satisfied a safe, biodegradable alternative to using a synthetic ingredient and could target specific areas because of its size. The dosage frequency is also reduced because the medication stays longer in the body. Perumal adds that many people, because of religious reasons, don’t take in animal proteins. That is one more reason to develop treatment options that use plant-based zein.

The team is currently working with a drug commonly used in treating breast cancer. They are experimenting with how much of the dose is delivered and its effectiveness compared to traditional methods of delivery. Perumal said the results show the treatment is meeting expectations.

Perumal’s work has been funded by the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council. SDSU has filed a provisional patent and the researchers are moving forward with early pre-clinical studies using mice.

Although his team is now working with human breast cancer cells, Perumal anticipates the possibility of expanding nanoparticle treatment for other conditions. For those with artery blockage around the heart, synthetic stents are inserted to help keep the artery open. Because the stent is a foreign object, the body sometimes tries to combat its existence, causing inflammation. By coating the stent with drug-loaded nanoparticles, Perumal hopes that this would be prevented.

As the research enters its third year, Perumal will continue trials with support from the South Dakota Board of Regents.

 

BROOKINGS, S.D. — The South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum received an Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) for the publication of “Peril and Promise: Essays on Community in South Dakota and Beyond.”

   

“Peril and Promise” features writing by a dozen scholars associated with South Dakota State University on what makes community in the state.



The essays discuss aspects of community from the perspective of scholars and professors in a variety of academic disciplines, ranging from English, history and sociology to political science, biology and education.



The book is available at the Ag Museum, Brookings Book Co., Cover To Cover Bookstore in downtown Brookings, Zandbroz Variety in Sioux Falls and Codington County Heritage Museum in Watertown.



“We’re thrilled that our first publication received national recognition for a collection that includes writing by so many SDSU scholars,” said Mac Harris, Ag Museum director.



“The AASLH Leadership in History Awards is the nation’s most prestigious competition for recognition of achievement in state and local history,” said Terry Davis, president and CEO, speaking from the organization’s headquarters in Nashville, Tenn.



Awards for 2008 were given to 57 organizations and individuals across the United States.



The AASLH awards program was initiated in 1945 to establish and encourage standards of excellence in the collection, preservation and interpretation of state and local history throughout the United States.



The Ag Museum’s publication will be recognized in September at an awards banquet in Rochester, N.Y., during the AASLH annual meeting.

BROOKINGS, S.D. — Twelve French agriculture and engineering students from the École Nationale Superiere Agriculture-Toulouse (ENSAT) in Toulouse, France are part of a summer internship program at South Dakota State University.



The student interns are in their second year of study at French national specialty schools, which is equivalent to a first-year, U.S. master’s degree student.



The students work for 12 weeks over the summer with SDSU faculty in animal sciences, plant sciences, pharmacy, engineering, economics, dairy science and the Geographic Information Science Center of Excellence (GIScCE).

 

Sociology professor Meredith Redlin, directs the exchange program.

 

“Agriculture students have been coming for over 20 years,” Redlin said. She explained that two additional universities in Toulouse specializing in engineering and chemistry (ENSIACET) and spatial technology and engineering (ENSEEIHT) have joined the program this summer.

 

Claire Gasnier, an agromanagement specialist, an area of study similar to agriculture economics, is working with Professor Gerald Warmann, SDSU economics extension specialist.

 

Warmann worked with an ENSAT student last summer and wanted to repeat the experience.

 

This summer he and Gasnier are working with South Dakota farmers’ market producers to estimate cost and quality differences and encourage local producers to be more analytical.



Gasnier plans to compare how French markets advertise and function with farmers at local farmers’ markets. She intends to examine advertising and sales techniques for local markets’ fresh produce and work with media and local producers in South Dakota to promote the markets.

 

“Our school requires that we spend three months learning in another country,” Gasnier said of the exchange program. “Speaking English in my field is a good experience.”



Like other participating faculty members, Warmann developed a project for Gasnier and will monitor her progress throughout the summer.



“This internship means Claire will take what she’s already learned in the classroom and use it as she speaks with the U.S. farmers’ market managers,” he said.



“It’s for her degree internship requirement, but it’s much more than that – it’s practical application and training for her career.”



Chandradhar Dwivedi, head of the pharmaceutical sciences department, advises two French students.

His students will aid SDSU pharmacy faculty members with their current research.



“The exchange program is beneficial because it promotes cultural diversity on campus, generates additional research data and promotes career advancement for our French interns,” Dwivedi said.



“All our French interns so far have been very productive and still keep in touch after they’ve returned home,” he added.



In fact, some interns are so happy with their time at SDSU that they return to State for their doctorates.

 

Alexis Annes, a current Ph.D. student in the sociology department and Marie-Laure Sauer, a current post-doctoral researcher in plant sciences, both chose SDSU for their advanced studies after experiencing the university through the exchange program.



“The exchange program is a priceless opportunity for both ENSAT and SDSU,” concluded Redlin.



“Sharing knowledge, especially across continents, is one of the most important aspects of education.”