New app connects shoppers with desired products at local businesses in Yolo County

Born and raised in Woodland, Grant Lea saw a problem in his local community, one that is also reflected in the rest of the world: Local businesses, offering unique merchandise and personal interactions, struggle to survive against major online retailers, like Amazon. Due to the high cost and logistics involved, these small businesses cannot sustain websites, but Lea saw a fix to this problem. 

In July 2019, with the help of fellow Yolo County native, Chase Kellison, Lea founded Nytch Inc. in Woodland and subsequently launched an app. Nytch, the app, connects small businesses’ offline inventory and expertise with shoppers in Yolo County. Already, 60 restaurants, retail stores and other local shops are registered on the app. The app’s current customer base reaches around 1,000 users, with ages ranging from 18 to 70+. Kellison is the company’s chief operating officer and Lea is the chief executive officer. 

“These small businesses are being beaten up by large online retailers and it’s difficult for them to compete because they can’t function at the same level that these giants can,” Kellison said.

The app is available on iPhones and Androids and can be downloaded on the Apple App Store or Google Play. Interested customers can also visit www.nytch.me. 

To use the app, a customer submits a request of what they want to purchase. They can include a description, pictures, the size and the color of what they desire. Any business registered through Nytch can respond to the customer with what they have to offer that is similar to the request. Businesses can send their price and pictures of the recommended product. If customers like the product, they can purchase it through the app or put the item on hold and then pick it up. Currently, no delivery service is offered, but they are working on it, Kellison said. 

“It is one point of access to 60 businesses,” Lea said. “We describe ourselves as a platform that connects communities to the unconnected.”

Customers should use Nytch because it supports local businesses, is environmentally sustainable and is the easiest way to find desired products, Lea said. 

“We’ve created the pathway for shoppers to connect with businesses in their communities in a way no other platform has before,” Kellison said. “There are no other apps like Nytch nor other apps that can do what we do. We’re one of a kind.” 

Shopping locally can benefit customers because they get to receive expert knowledge from store workers, which is lacking in online shopping, Lea said. These knowledgeable workers can connect customers to the right products without a single phone call or Google search.

“The businesses that you shop in offer more than just their inventory,” Lea said. “They offer customer service, knowledge and good experience. They know how to solve problems that their customers have, which you cannot do online.”

Noemi Gregorio, a third-year communication major and intern for Nytch, helps the company manage its social media presence and reach out to new businesses. As a shopper herself, Gregorio was drawn to Nytch as a new way to find clothes from local businesses. 

“I am always thinking of different outfits in my head,” Gregorio said. “I can just think of something, google it and send in the request to local businesses. I like it because I don’t have to go out to a bunch of different stores to look for one thing.”

Gregorio also appreciates the ability to shop locally while still having the convenience of online shopping. By shopping at small businesses, the money stays local and Davis community members invest in their city.

“What is Amazon going to give back to the people of Davis?” Gregorio asked. 

So far, Kellison said mostly older individuals use Nytch, but the company hopes to expand its user base to a younger audience. Kellison thinks that students would really enjoy the shopping convenience the app provides.

For UC Davis students, using Nytch can benefit the town that supports their university. A thriving downtown makes UC Davis a more desirable university to attend. Nytch allows for students to explore the businesses around them, Lea said. 

“When you are applying to UC Davis, we couldn’t boast about any of the stores or businesses downtown if they weren’t there,” Lea said. “We can talk about the unique shops, farmers markets and businesses that make these towns special places.”

Nytch originally launched its platform only in Yolo County because of the strong community emphasis the county has and the connections both Lea and Grant have from growing up there. 

“Both [Lea] and I thought the communities would really appreciate something like this,” Kellison said. “It’s a really special city and county to live in because it’s so community-centered.”

To recruit new businesses for the app, Lea and Kellison originally went door-to-door to businesses and spread the idea through word of mouth. 

“The businesses like what they hear,” Lea said. “It connects them to their communities in ways that they aren’t.”

The SPCA Yolo County Thrift Store joined Nytch to help them reach a wider customer base, said store manager Darci Soiu via email. After connecting with Nytch, they have received many new, regular customers from other towns. 

“We appreciate the wide variety of people [the app] reaches and the advertisement this company gives us,” Soiu said. 

Another business, Shu Shu’s LLC, has grown through Nytch. Via email, owner Shu Shu Hanjani said it helps her focus on customer relationships instead of other issues. 

“It really helped me avoid all the stress […] of figuring out what to put online, how to put it online, and everything else that goes with that,” Hanjani said. 

In the future, Nytch wants to expand its range beyond Yolo County. As of now, however, Nytch wants to focus its efforts on providing the best results for customers and businesses in this smaller region, Lea said. 

“We want to deliver on expectations,” Lea said. “We are delivering on what our people expect and once we do that, we will focus on how to save other local businesses across the country.”

Currently, businesses get to use Nytch for free with no strings attached, Kellison said. This stems from founders’ love of the Yolo County community. Once Nytch launches elsewhere, the company will charge a 10% fee on each sale made, however, companies in Davis and Woodland will never have to pay this fee. As the home county Nytch stems from, Yolo County businesses will always be able to use the app for free. 

Through Nytch, Lea hopes that small businesses in Yolo County and beyond can survive and thrive while up against large online companies. 

“Nytch makes it possible for small businesses to actually compete,” Lea said. 

Written by: Margo Rosenbaum — science@theaggie.org 

Redhead furry friends get coat color from repeated segments of DNA

A new study from UC Davis researchers explores the genetic controls that make similar breeds of dogs exhibit variation in coat colors. 

This study is based on gene expression. One may already be familiar with a textbook example of dog coat color in Labrador retrievers. Interactions between different versions of dominant and recessive genes result in the Labrador’s classic black, brown or yellow coat. As complex as it is, this type of genetic interaction doesn’t account for all variation in coat colors.

One breed of dog in particular had researchers stumped: the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. Tollers, like the Labrador example, have widely different coat colors that range from light strawberry blond to deep red. However, Tollers with the same genes often show unexplained coat color variations. 

This was the first hint that something else may influence coat color changes, according to the study’s lead author, Kalie Weich, who works in the UC Davis department of population health and reproduction.

  “While many variants that change dog coat color have been previously identified, the variant responsible for differences in shade or intensity of coat color in red or black dogs had not been found,” Weich said via email. 

Coat color derives partly from the genetic controls of yellow (pheomelanin) and black (eumelanin) pigments. Yellow and red dogs have a mutation that causes them to only express the lighter coat color genes. In the case of Tollers, the genetic code alone couldn’t fully explain the difference in coat colors. 

To fetch some answers, UC Davis researchers surveyed the genomes of Tollers with varying coat colors. Genetic samples came from privately-owned dogs through the UC Davis Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital or directly from owners and other veterinarians. The owners provided information including the exact breed, coat color and age of their furry friend along with their dog’s saliva sample. From the collected samples, 13 dogs were Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers with a variety of coat colors and one was an Irish Setter. Researchers extracted DNA from saliva samples and sequenced the genome of each dog.

Between all of the dogs, a single area of chromosome 15 stood out. There, researchers identified a “copy number variant,” or CNV.

“A copy number variant is a piece of the genome that has been duplicated during normal cell division and then incorporated back into the genome,” Weich said. “Some CNVs include only a single copy, but this CNV can include up to four or five copies indicating that multiple duplication events may have happened.”

Dark red Tollers had around five copies of the gene, which caused dark pigmentation from the root to the tip of the hair. Lighter-colored dogs had about two genetic repeats so their fur had light roots and darker tips.

This is a novel discovery in gene expression for dogs, since the study suggests that copy number variants may be a mechanism of coat color intensity among several different breeds. Although CNVs are not the only method of controlling gene expression, Weich’s study is the first to describe this mechanism in dogs.

“Many, but not all, of the identified mutations in genes that result in color changes are either/or scenarios,” said Robert Grahn, a researcher in the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, via email. “[The dogs] are either black or brown, full color or dilute.”

Instead of abiding by these previously known mechanisms of genetics, the copy number variant introduces a new way of quantifying the controls behind coat color.

“The mutation identified in the current research correlates a number of copies of the gene to the intensity of the color,” Grahn said. “The more copies you have the more intense the color.”

The identification of this color-controlling factor has implications for both dog breeders and future genetic studies. This research informs dog breeders on how certain characteristics are inherited, so they have more control over choosing traits in their next litter of puppies. 

“Studies like these help us to understand exactly what types of genetic changes will modify melanin pigmentation and animal coloration,” said Angelica Kallenberg, a researcher in the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, via email. “Dog breeders will be able to breed for a high or low copy number, if that is what they want.”

Novel discoveries about inheritance in dogs also contribute to further exploration in the field of genetics. Although genetic inheritance in dogs has been widely studied, there are still more factors at play in controlling coat color that haven’t been explored. 

“There are some color differences that couldn’t be explained by this research, so that will be a really interesting direction for researchers to look into in the future,” Kallenberg said.

Written by: Lauren Glevanik — science@theaggie.org

Heat-radiating panels supplement solar cells meant to generate electricity at night

A groundbreaking theoretical study from two UC Davis researchers explores the possibility of using “reverse” solar cells to generate power from Earth’s residual heat instead of from direct sunlight. The cells work based on the principles of heat flow, also known as thermal radiation. Heat naturally flows from warm areas to cool areas. This technology aims to harness that natural process and generate usable energy.

During the day, energy heats up Earth, but that heat then dissipates back into the atmosphere once the sun sets, according to Tristan Deppe, a graduate student researcher in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the first author of the paper. 

“The coldest time of day is right before sunrise because the earth has been losing energy all throughout the night,” Deppe said. “What we’re trying to do is extract some electrical power from the heat loss that is always happening from the earth.”

In their theoretical paper, the researchers outline a potential system for increasing the amount of energy harnessed from photovoltaic cells (PV) — “photo” meaning light and “voltaic” referring to the energy that is captured. They propose a design for a thermoradiative cell that generates electricity from the flow of heat. In this system, heat energy flows from the sun-warmed Earth into the cold abyss of space.

The mechanism of thermoradiative cells parallels that of traditional solar cells, but it uses different materials. Solar panel cells are made primarily of silicon, which optimizes energy captured from the sun and minimizes production costs. But sunlight and heat have different wavelengths, so the best material for thermoradiative cells is slightly different to harness the maximum amount of energy. 

Solar energy, generated by PV cells, is one of the most popular sustainable energy sources in use today. However, solar cells have one major pitfall: limited daylight hours.

“The problem with solar cells is that there is no sun 24/7,” said Jerry Woodall, a distinguished professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering. “To make things really attractive to move to solar energy as a primary source of energy, you’re going to need storage. And another problem is that batteries are expensive and they wear out.”

Solar cells only generate power during the day when the power grid is under the least amount of stress, yet demand for electricity peaks in the evening hours when solar panels are the least effective. Implementing thermoradiative cells that harness heat energy could partially alleviate evening electricity demands. In theory, these cells could add up to 12% more power to the daily amount generated and at night when it is needed most.

Atmospheric conditions, such as cloud cover, are another limiting factor of both solar cells and thermoradiative panels. Solar panels are less severely affected if they are strategically placed to maximize electricity generated, according to Adam Moule, a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering.

“There is a lot of sun in Arizona, not so much in Michigan,” Moule said via email. “There is lots of sun in Florida, but frequent hurricanes make investment in solar farms very risky. It doesn’t make sense to replace forest or high quality farmland with PV panels. For all of these reasons it will be necessary to put the panels on buildings, over canals, over parking lots, and anywhere that does not impact land use and the economy.”

Thermoradiative panels would most likely be constrained to the same areas, since they are most effective in areas with very little cloud cover. Deppe suggests they may be best used in already existing solar farms in desert climates where skies are clear and infrastructure is already in place. 

Creative placement of thermoradiative cells can also mitigate industrial contributions to climate change. Since the cells absorb heat that’s radiating out into space, they could also be used in factories to generate power from heat in industrial processes. By harnessing waste heat, these cells generate energy from a previously unusable source and they reduce significant contributions to climate change.

Another practical use of these panels could be to sustain low-power appliances. One example of a large-scale application like this is streetlights. Many are already equipped with solar panels and small batteries, but an additional source of power generated at night could revolutionize the lighting industry. Thermoradiative cells, used in conjunction with energy-efficient LED lights, could remove any need for developing batteries to store solar energy for night use.

“We need to have other sources of energy after solar cells stop working at sundown,” Deppe said. “This project is trying to allay any reliance we have on batteries to store solar energy and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels to help throughout the night.”

Sustainable energy sources even have the potential to phase out fossil fuel use entirely. In the case of PV cells, they are already a feasible alternative to fossil fuels in terms of production, installation and the amount of energy generated.

“Photovoltaic technology now costs the same as fossil fuels to install in the U.S. and is even cheaper in places that do not have centralized electricity grids already,” Moule said. “In those places, the panels can be contained in one building or town/village/city without the need to develop an extensive electricity grid. From a technical perspective, there is no need to ever install another fossil fuel electricity plant anywhere.”

Although the possibilities seem endless, thermoradiative cells are still in development. The materials engineering and design aspects are still undergoing rigorous testing. Thanks to the advancement of engineering projects like these, however, the future of sustainable energy is looking bright.

Written by: Lauren Glevanik — science@theaggie.org