From the Material to the Spiritual in the Sea-Drift Cluster: Transcendence in "On the Beach at Night," "The World below the Brine," and "On the Beach at Night Alone"

Focuses on three critically neglected poems in Whitman\u27s Sea-Drift cluster ("On the Beach at Night," "The World Below the Brine" and "On the Beach at Night Alone") and reads the poems as an important "interruption" in the cluster as a whole, in which the poet establishes crucial ideas of mortality, materiality and spirituality

From Outsetting Bard to Mature Poet: Whitman\u27s "Out of the Cradle" and the Sea-Drift Cluster

Examines the theme of immortality in "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking," situating the poem in the larger context of the Sea-Drift cluster; argues that because previous readings have "attempted to see in that poem the full growth of the poet, the richness of the cluster as a whole has been lost.

From Outsetting Bard to Mature Poet: Whitman\u27s "Out of the Cradle" and the Sea-Drift Cluster

Examines the theme of immortality in "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking," situating the poem in the larger context of the Sea-Drift cluster; argues that because previous readings have "attempted to see in that poem the full growth of the poet, the richness of the cluster as a whole has been lost.

Remembering Sacred Reason: A Humboldtian Way of Knowing the World Sustainability Symposium [University of Northern Iowa, March 30, 2016]

An autumn afternoon about ten years ago, I found myself lying on the ground in the shade of a hundred-year-old live oak tree in Myakka River State Park in southwest Florida. The broad limbs of the ancient tree at once rose up like arms honoring the heavens and bowed down to the ground in an elegant semblance of thanksgiving

Disassembly and reassembly of human papillomavirus virus-like particles produces more virion-like antibody reactivity

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines based on major capsid protein L1 are licensed in over 100 countries to prevent HPV infections. The yeast-derived recombinant quadrivalent HPV L1 vaccine, GARDASIL(R), has played an important role in reducing cancer and genital warts since its introduction in 2006. The L1 proteins self-assemble into virus-like particles (VLPs).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>VLPs were subjected to post-purification disassembly and reassembly (D/R) treatment during bioprocessing to improve VLP immunoreactivity and stability. The post-D/R HPV16 VLPs and their complex with H16.V5 neutralizing antibody Fab fragments were visualized by cryo electron microscopy, showing VLPs densely decorated with antibody. Along with structural improvements, post-D/R VLPs showed markedly higher antigenicity to conformational and neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) H16.V5, H16.E70 and H263.A2, whereas binding to mAbs recognizing linear epitopes (H16.J4, H16.O7, and H16.H5) was greatly reduced.</p> <p>Strikingly, post-D/R VLPs showed no detectable binding to H16.H5, indicating that the H16.H5 epitope is not accessible in fully assembled VLPs. An atomic homology model of the entire</p> <p>HPV16 VLP was generated based on previously determined high-resolution structures of bovine papillomavirus and HPV16 L1 pentameric capsomeres.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>D/R treatment of HPV16 L1 VLPs produces more homogeneous VLPs with more virion-like antibody reactivity. These effects can be attributed to a combination of more complete and regular assembly of the VLPs, better folding of L1, reduced non-specific disulfide-mediated aggregation and increased stability of the VLPs. Markedly different antigenicity of HPV16 VLPs was observed upon D/R treatment with a panel of monoclonal antibodies targeting neutralization sensitive epitopes. Multiple epitope-specific assays with a panel of mAbs with different properties and epitopes are required to gain a better understanding of the immunochemical properties of VLPs and to correlate the observed changes at the molecular level. Mapping of known antibody epitopes to the homology model explains the changes in antibody reactivity upon D/R. In particular, the H16.H5 epitope is partially occluded by intercapsomeric interactions involving the L1 C-terminal arm. The homology model allows a more precise mapping of antibody epitopes. This work provides a better understanding of VLPs in current vaccines and could guide the design of improved vaccines or therapeutics.</p

The reliability of computer software to score essays: Innovations in a humanities course. Science Direct Computers and Composition

Abstract In the summer of 2001, Florida Gulf Coast University was awarded a 2-year, $200,000 grant from the National Center for Academic Transformation to redesign a required General Education course entitled Understanding the Visual and Performing Arts. The course redesign project had two main goals: infuse appropriate technology into the course in meaningful ways and reduce the cost of delivering the course. Faculty members in the humanities and arts were adamant that the redesigned course be structured in such a way that it offered a coherent and consistent learning experience for all students and that it maintained the use of essays as an important strategy for learning in the class. The redesign project led to the creation of a wholly online course with all students registered in two large sections. One of the ways in which we continued to incorporate essay writing into the course was to use a computer application, the Intelligent Essay Assessor (IEA) from Pearson Knowledge Technologies, to score two shorter essays. Through detailed assessment, we have demonstrated that the computer software has an inter-rater reliability of 81% as compared to the 54% inter-rater reliability of the holistic scoring by humans. In this essay, we provide general background on the redesign project and a more detailed discussion of the appropriate use and the reliability of the Intelligent Essay Assessor