Four students at The University of Toledo are heading to Maryland this week to compete in a national basketball tournament.

They’re playing on a team alongside Special Olympics athletes from Lucas and Wood counties in the National Intramural Recreation Sports Association tournament April 14-16 at the University of Maryland.

The Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities’ Unified Intramural League plays at the UToledo Student Recreation Center. The league is inspired by a simple principle: training, playing and competing together is a quick path to friendship, understanding and meaningful inclusion. The league welcomes student partners and Special Olympics athletes at any level of skill or experience.

The team going to the national tournament features five Lucas County Special Olympics athletes, one Wood County Special Olympics athlete and UToledo students Ray Shaver, Greg Seditz, Eric Briggs and Cole Tessena.

Media are invited to meet the athletes Wednesday, April 12, at the Student Recreation Center on Main Campus. All teams in the league play from 6 to 7 p.m. The team going to the tournament has its final practice together before the tournament from 7 to 8 p.m.

Seditz, a senior studying finance at UToledo, joined the Unified Sports League in 2019 as a freshman.

“It is a distinct honor to head to the nationals with this team,” Seditz said. “I enjoy playing with all the amazing Special Olympics athletes and getting to know them and having the opportunity to leave an impact on them. These games give me great joy, and it is even more rewarding when I can win with the athletes to give them an experience they will never forget. I am a very competitive person, and being able to compete with these athletes is something I’ll never forget.”

“I like competing in the sport of basketball and doing community service,” said Shaver, a 5th-year student studying mechanical engineering. “I think it’s a great opportunity to travel and represent the team in our goal of winning.”

Thomas Laube, a Lucas County Special Olympics athlete, said the unified basketball program offers an equal opportunity to compete and play at a higher level.

“It helps build confidence on and off the court,” Laube said. “I am excited to go to Maryland. I have never been there. Playing on college courts is something very few people get to do, so it is a great honor to be part of this tournament.”

Special Olympics college programs connect college students and individuals with intellectual or other developmental disabilities through shared experiences. Together, college students and Special Olympics athletes can work together to build accepting campus communities and friendships that help lead the social inclusion movement of Special Olympics.

“The Unified Sports partnership with the Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities is important to the UToledo community because it allows us to truly live in our commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, community and well-being,” said Tony North Jr., associate director of recreational services at UToledo. “It allows our campus to connect on a person-first level. When we’re competing in sport, everyone is an athlete where an individual’s abilities are able to be highlighted.”

“We continue to expand unified sports offerings through our Special Olympics program, and, whether it’s our unified softball team last year at state or this unified basketball team going to nationals, we continue to see great successes for these athletes,” said Nabil Shaheen, public information manager with the Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities. “On the field or on the court, these teams help us raise awareness and show off the inclusive community we live in.”

A chemical analyst and expert in micro-extraction at The University of Toledo created a more reliable, robust and efficient way to monitor pesticide exposure and help protect the health and safety of agricultural workers, especially for emerging sectors like the cannabis industry.

Dr. Emanuela Gionfriddo, an assistant professor of analytical chemistry, and Nipunika H. Godage, a Ph.D. candidate in UToledo’s Dr. Nina McClelland Laboratory for Water Chemistry and Environmental Analysis, published research in the journal Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry outlining their groundbreaking method that is able to detect 79 pesticide residues in human blood plasma at “ultra-trace” levels, or parts per trillion.

“This has the potential to be applied to human exposure studies for the general public such as exposure through food or contaminated water but, most importantly, agricultural workers who have a higher potential for acute exposure to these toxic chemicals, which typically occurs through the skin, with pesticides then passing into the bloodstream and circulating through the body,” Gionfriddo said.

Pesticides are widely used in farming to prevent or reduce produce losses caused by pests and improve the quality of fruits and vegetables, but human exposure during mixing or application has been reported to cause neurological disorders, poisoning, cancer, reproductive disruptions, respiratory problems and chronic kidney diseases among farm workers.

Though pesticides are regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Gionfriddo said the legalization of cannabis recently in several states has led to “inexperienced” farmers exposing themselves to the harmful chemicals since those workers are less familiar with pesticide safety equipment and procedures as well as proper pesticide storage and handling.

The pesticides selected for her study are the most commonly used pesticides during cannabis cultivation.

Gionfriddo’s new testing method uses what’s called bio solid-phase microextraction with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

“To meet the growing demands of regulatory agencies and routine analysis laboratories, sample throughput and method tunability is critical,” Gionfriddo said. “Using automated samplers, the preparation time per sample is 1.7 minutes.”

And as occupational exposure to pesticides can occur at varying concentration levels, it is important for any method to quantify pesticides at low concentrations. The new testing method demonstrated higher sensitivity, precision and accuracy and a drastic reduction in abnormalities compared to the commonly used approach, known as QuEChERS, which stands for Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe but can be labor intensive with prolonged workflows.

Last week during National Farmworker Awareness Week, the U.S. EPA said pesticide exposure doesn’t only happen when working in the fields. The federal agency said pesticide take-home exposure can occur when farm workers go home bearing pesticide residues that may cling to their skin, clothing, hats, boots, tools, lunch coolers or other items in their work environment. Their children may then be exposed to these pesticide residues.

“Assessing pesticide exposure quickly and thoroughly is crucial for the health and safety of workers and their families, to correct malpractices in pesticide storage and application, and to prevent further exposure,” Godage said. “Our new method can extract and analyze simultaneously a wide variety of pesticides from human plasma.”

To learn more about the U.S. EPA’s Occupational Pesticide Safety and Health program, visit the agency’s website.

It’s almost time to deploy the high-tech buoys that float 24-7 in all weather conditions throughout Lake Erie during the spring, summer and fall to monitor water quality and help us understand and protect our freshwater resources.

Each smart buoy carries a solar-powered sensor that provides real-time data measurements remotely accessible to scientists, regional water utility managers and the general public — including fishermen and boaters — to help track toxic algal blooms and water conditions.

But before sending the buoys out for the season to bob in the open waters as floating laboratories, water-quality experts across the region need to synchronize the sensors that are a key part of Lake Erie’s early-warning system.

Scientists and water treatment plant operators throughout the region are visiting The University of Toledo Lake Erie Center in Oregon this week to make sure equipment that measures water quality throughout algal bloom season is ready to be deployed in buoys and treatment plants across Lake Erie.

Since the calibration event started in 2015, the collaboration helps to ensure conformity of data coming from the probes over the next few months.

Media are invited 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 5, as partners in the early-warning buoy network do the calibration. Partners include researchers from UToledo, Ohio State University and Bowling Green State University, as well as water treatment plant operators in Cleveland, Toledo, Oregon, Defiance, Elyria, Avon, Painesville, Sandusky, Lorain, Ottawa and Huron.

LimnoTech and YSI are companies providing technology support.

The buoys are equipped with what is called the YSI EXO sonde, a yellow and blue instrument consisting of several probes to measure various water quality parameters, including how much blue-green algae are present, water temperature, clarity, oxygen levels, turbidity and pH.

“These buoy and sensors are the first line of defense against harmful algal blooms,” said Dr. Thomas Bridgeman, a professor of ecology and director of the UToledo Lake Erie Center. “Real-time data coming from buoys spread across western Lake Erie is used to map the growth and movement of blooms as they approach water treatment plants, giving water plant operators ample time to respond.”

Bridgeman’s laboratory is one of the key locations for tracking and providing early warning of harmful algal blooms in the western basin of Lake Erie.

UToledo’s water quality and sensor buoy annually rides the waves off the shore of the Maumee Bay State Park Lodge and Conference Center in Oregon. It is part of the Great Lakes Observing System’s early-warning network of buoys throughout the western Lake Erie basin that provides live data vital in the assessment of harmful algal blooms.

A UToledo alumnus who now works for Ann Arbor-based LimnoTech as an environmental scientist is organizing the calibration event. Ken Gibbons graduated from UToledo in 2015 with a master’s degree in biology.

”The sonde calibration event started when I was a graduate student at UToledo, and I’m excited to be still involved,” Gibbons said. “In addition to calibrating the sondes, this event teaches participants how to clean and maintain the sonde, which can help them if they encounter any issues during the bloom season.”

This year the calibration event is expanding to also include a Cleveland location on Wednesday, April 26, at the Cleveland State University MakerSpace, located at 2121 Euclid Ave.

“Having two events is helping us expand our footprint and make it easier for in-person participation,” Gibbons said. “We have people from as far west as Defiance and as far east as Ashtabula. We also have a participant coming up from the Columbus area.”

The University of Toledo will continue its 150th anniversary celebration and celebrate 419 Day with the outdoor Rocket Spring Festival on Centennial Mall on Wednesday, April 19.

Beginning at 5 p.m., the free, public festival sponsored by Huntington Bank will end with a bang featuring a 13-minute fireworks show at 9:30 p.m. that will illuminate the sky over Main Campus to the tunes of popular hits and UToledo favorites

Rocket Spring Festival follows President Gregory Postel’s State of the University Address that will take place at 3 p.m. in Doermann Theatre in University Hall on Main Campus.

Local food trucks will be on campus selling their popular dishes, a DJ will provide music entertainment, and fun games and activities will be provided by SuperGames.

A pep rally will take place 6:30 p.m. in front of Thompson Student Union and feature cheerleaders, dance teams, mascots and Rocket student-athletes.

“We are excited to share the Rocket Spring Festival with the Toledo community and cap off our year-long sesquicentennial celebration recognizing the historic milestones, achievements and positive impact the University has had since its founding 150 years ago,” Postel said.

The activities taking place on April 19 also recognize Toledo’s unofficial 419 Day holiday connected to our 419 area code and celebrate UToledo’s connection to the city and region.

Community partners, including the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo-Lucas County Public Libraries, Healthy Lucas County and Urban Wholistics, also will participate in the event.

Jupmode will sell UToledo gear on campus to celebrate the University’s 150th birthday in style.

Complimentary parking, sponsored by ParkUToledo, will be provided to attendees from 4 to 10 p.m. in Areas 2, 1N, 1S, 12, 13, 17, 5, 6 and 10 — with the exception of metered, handicapped and reserved spaces. Parking in other areas will require payment via the ParkMobile app or a parking meter. Visit the ParkUToledo website for more information.

To view a map of the parking lots, visit the website featuring a campus map.

To learn more about UToledo’s 150th anniversary, visit the sesquicentennial website.

As part of its 150th anniversary celebration, The University of Toledo is presenting “Medical Education in Toledo: 140 Years of Progress,” a lecture by Barbara Floyd, UToledo professor emerita and author of “An Institution for the Promoting of Knowledge: The University of Toledo at 150.”

The free, public talk will examine the first medical school established in 1882, the founding of the Medical College of Ohio in 1964 and its merger with The University of Toledo in 2006.

The event is from 4 to 5 p.m. Thursday, April 20, in Health Education Building Room 105 on Health Science Campus.

When the Medical University of Ohio merged with UToledo in 2006, the combined institution was seen as something brand new, Floyd said, but this was the second time a medical college had merged with the University. From 1904 to 1918, UToledo and a school called the Toledo Medical College were one. When that school closed in 1918 due to financial constraints and demands for improving medical education and licensing physicians, medical education ended in Toledo until 1964.

In addition to the lecture, The Ward M. Canaday Center’s exhibit commemorating UToledo’s sesquicentennial, “Faith, Vision, and Hard Work: The University of Toledo, 1872-2022,” can be experienced on Health Science Campus in a display that features UToledo’s historical timeline, reproductions of photographs and documents following the institution’s trajectory from the 1872 Articles of Incorporation through today, and trivia.

The satellite exhibit is open and available for viewing until May 8 in the walkway that connects the Frederic and Mary Wolfe Center to the Mulford Library Building.

The full exhibit in the Canaday Center runs until August 1. Viewing hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Both displays are free and open to the public.