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Confronting Transit’s Fiscal Cliff in Illinois
No full textA new report from the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs highlights how transit agencies nationwide, and in Illinois in particular, face significant postpandemic budget gaps, threatening transit service provision and availability. The study focuses on transit ridership and financial data from 2019 to the present, examining the factors contributing to depressed ridership and financial pressures, and also identifies potential policy responses.
The policy spotlight report, “Confronting Transit’s Fiscal Cliff in Illinois,” was written by Richard Funderburg, professor of public management and policy at the College of Public Affairs and Education, University of Illinois Springfield; and Paula Worthington, lecturer, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago and senior policy advisor, Civic Federation. It finds that postpandemic ridership recovery has been limited by factors such as the rise in remote work, concerns about personal safety and security, and uneven service quality.
With fewer riders, agencies that rely heavily on farebox revenues face budget gaps as COVID-era federal resources are depleted. In the past, transit agencies have responded to budget gaps by cutting service, raising fares, deferring capital projects and obtaining additional public support. Service cuts disproportionately affect transit access by disadvantaged individuals and communities, further limiting their access to essential services including health care, employment and education. The policy spotlight report cites evidence that postpandemic restoration of service provision was uneven and slower in many low-income South and West Side neighborhoods of Chicago
From mother to offspring: tracking neurodevelopmental and behavioral consequences of gestational influenza
No full textMaternal immune activation (MIA) is an established risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder in offspring. In the US, about 63% of pregnant women experience at least one infection during pregnancy, nearly half of which are respiratory. This is important because maternal viral infections, such as influenza, can interfere with fetal brain development, potentially increasing the risk of NDDs by up to threefold. Most MIA studies employ pathogen mimetics like Poly(I:C). However, no study has shown the postnatal cortical and behavioral effects of gestational influenza A virus (IAV). To address this gap, we employed a translationally relevant model using a mouse-adapted H3N2 strain of IAV (X31), which engages both innate and adaptive immune responses. On gestational day 9.5, pregnant C57BL/6NTac dams were intranasally inoculated with IAV (X31; 10⁴ TCID₅₀) or a vehicle control (Saline). To separate the effects of prenatal insult from postnatal maternal care, pups were cross-fostered to lactating Swiss Webster dams at postnatal day (PD) 0.5. Cross-fostering was highly successful, with 17 of 18 litters adopted. Dams were monitored daily for weight gain. Dams were also scored post-inoculation for sickness behaviors, including ptosis, lethargy, huddling, eye/nose discharge, shivering, labored breathing, piloerection, and hunched posture. Compared to controls (n=12), X31-infected dams (n=15) showed weight loss beginning at 3 days post inoculation (dpi), resolving by 9 dpi (Time × Treatment p<0.0001, mixed-effects ANOVA). Sickness behavior scores were also significantly elevated (Time × Treatment p<0.0001, mixed-effects ANOVA) in X31 dams (n=13) versus controls (n=9), peaking at 2 and 3 dpi (p<0.0001, Šidák post-hoc test). At parturition, no group differences were observed in spleen weight (p=0.8446) or colon length (p=0.138), suggesting recovery from acute systemic effects observed earlier in infection (X31 n=13, Saline n=9; Mann-Whitney U test). Ongoing work will examine PD21 offspring brains for cortical excitatory neuron markers SATB2 and TBR1 to assess persistence of previously documented prenatal cortical disruptions. Behavioral assays modeling anxiety-like and repetitive behaviors, including marble burying, Y-Maze, open field, and elevated plus maze, are currently underway. All outcomes will be compared across sexes. Together, these novel findings will not only improve our understanding of the utility of live IAV infection as a clinically relevant MIA model, but also advance our understanding of how maternal influenza shapes offspring neurodevelopment and behavior
Genotype by environmental interactions shape insecticide resistance phenotypes in Culex pipiens and Culex restuans
No full textAnthropogenic changes can drive rapid evolution in wild populations, but the role of phenotypic plasticity in such scenarios remains unclear. This uncertainty can affect applications like the design of resistance management approaches. In the case of insecticide resistance in mosquitoes, however, little is known regarding how environmental conditions, genetic variation, and their interactions jointly shape resistance phenotypes. To address this, we employed a full-sibling design to investigate the effects of larval food availability on adult broad-sense heritability and phenotypic plasticity in resistance to permethrin. Two experiments measured resistance levels in West Nile virus vectors (laboratory colony of Culex pipiens and two field populations of Culex restuans) using CDC bottle bioassays, and the time until death was tracked. Wing lengths were measured to assess if there is a relationship between body size and permethrin resistance. The broad-sense heritability values for resistance were significant based on likelihood ratio tests. There was substantial variance and phenotypic plasticity in both Cx. restuans field populations, while the laboratory colony of Cx. pipiens exhibited less variation. Larval food availability significantly affected resistance, but the sign of the effect varied across populations from different geographic regions, highlighting the importance of genotype by environmental interactions in this system. Our results offer valuable insights into the potential for insecticide resistance to evolve in mosquito populations and have important implications for how resistance in vectors can be assessed. We suggest changes to improve the current methodology for insecticide resistance testing and recommend that population-specific data should inform vector control schemes
The Catalyst: UIS Research Review, Issue 13
No full textThe Catalyst is a publication by the Research Society at UIS that highlights student research at the university. This issue includes Elijah Eshum and his research with Dr. Suyang Yu, Disaster management through collaboration: A qualitative study of emergency management networks in Illinois
Current Condition and Future Concerns for Growth in Illinois’ State Revenue
No full textExecutive Summary
Current Condition and Future Concerns for Growth in Illinois’ State Revenue. IGPA’s Fiscal Futures project produces annual reports analyzing Illinois’s fiscal condition and long-term trends to inform policy decisions. This report examines FY2025 revenue trends with three main findings: (1) Re-categorization of individual and corporate income tax revenues has complicated data interpretation; (2) Evidence suggests long-term decline in state sales tax revenue, though COVID-era volatility obscures clear trends; and (3) Federal policy changes will significantly decrease health-care-related funding, posing serious longer-term challenges.
FY2025 Revenue Performance. Since 1998, total nominal (i.e. not adjusted for inflation) revenue has grown at almost five percent per year. As in past years, the largest categories of Illinois revenues continue to be the individual income tax, federal revenues for Medicaid, and the sales tax. Total revenues reached 91.1 billion in FY2024. However, the one-year growth rate significantly lagged the long-term trend across most categories
Transgenerationality impacting transnationality: Intersectional possibilities in anime
No full textThe idea of transnationality is still making waves in anime studies, as fans and scholars track the new Japanese-influenced animation coming from all over the world and ask how definitions of anime beyond Japan can best accommodate and describe this work. The new(ly emerging) issue of transgenerationality will impact anime even further. Japan’s and North America’s creative and fan populations ar ageing out, while in the Middle East, Indonesia, India and Africa huge young populations are consuming and re-creating anime in their own image. This short paper is by no means definitive but highlights a few trends and areas for consideration
The rise and fall of anime in the People’s Republic of China
No full textThe history of anime in China is a roller-coaster ride of diplomatic boondoggles, under-the-radar industries, unsanctioned releases and censorship scandals. Jonathan Clements investigates the fluctuating fortunes of Japanese animation in China, not only in terms of its reception among audiences, but of its hidden impact in the production sector, the politics of its distribution and exhibition, and the effect of recent government backlashes and clampdowns as the People’s Republic seeks animation autarky