The Recuperating Ability of Cauliflower Coral (Pocillopora Damicornis) and Staghorn Coral (Acropora sp.) to Temperature Stress

Rising temperatures of the world’s waters place our coral reefs under stress, which can lead to coral bleaching, where corals expel their zooxanthellae. With the alarming rates of the depletion of coral reefs over the last 30 years, it is crucial to comprehend the corals’ ability to recover from stressful situations. In this experiment, we will investigate the recuperating ability of the corals Pocillopora Damicornis and Acropora sp. by exposing them to elevated temperatures that causes these corals to “stress”, and then measure their rate of recovery through the comparison of color pigmentations with healthy corals. Terminal branch samples will be collected, with some being placed in a separate tank with aspects equivalent to the original location to establish a control group. The others will be placed in a tank filled with various tools (heaters, water pumps, and artificial light) that can be altered to meet requirements needed to create a “stressful situation”, where atypical conditions take place to disrupt the critical symbiotic relationship between the coral and its zooxanthellae (responsible for the color pigmentation). Thermometers and cameras will be set around the tank to record the progression. We will gradually increase the temperature from ~30°C, to 32°C, and 34°C within two day intervals. After looking for and noting signs of stress, we will gradually decrease the water temperature to ambient and will observe the more resilient species based on returning color pigmentation. Understanding the resilience levels corals possess plays a vital role in the preservation of the reef’s crowning glory

Curriculum Committee report, 2015-2016

Annual report for a committee of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Faculty Senate

Teaching Responsiveness in Creative Writing

As our globe has reacted to the coronavirus pandemic, many articles have been published that make the case: “In this time of crisis and isolation, the role of art becomes more central to our lives, whether we realise it or not,” as Louis Netter writes in The Conversation (from April 1, 2020). What does it mean to cultivate an artistic response to crisis? How can we teach aesthetic responsiveness? Responsiveness entails many things, including attunement to the particularities and contingencies of time, place, and community and the ability to imagine, investigate, reframe. What theories of writing enable responsiveness? Turning to ancient Egyptian and Greek philosophies of rhetoric, the presentation argues that creative writing is uniquely situated to facilitate artistic responsiveness when we draw upon multiple traditions, not centering a Greco-Roman philosophical inheritance over multiple cultural lineages. Investigating aesthetic theory alongside discussions of epideictic rhetoric, which theorize the act of orienting one’s words for a specific public occasion, we find that creative writing has long and deep theoretical roots to draw from as we consider artistic response

Toward an Inclusive Creative Writing

The creative writing workshop has existed since the early part of the 20th century, but does it adequately serve the students who come to it today? While the workshop is often thought of as a form of student-centered pedagogy, it turns out that workshop conversations serve to marginalize a range of aesthetic orientations and the cultural histories to which they belong. Given the shifting demographics of higher education, it is time to re-evaluate the creative writing curriculum and move literary writing pedagogy toward a more inclusive, equitable model. Toward an Inclusive Creative Writing makes the argument that creative writing stands upon problematic assumptions about what counts as valid artistic production, and these implicit beliefs result in exclusionary pedagogical practices. To counter this tendency of creative writing, this book proposes a revised curriculum that rests upon 12 threshold concepts that can serve to transform the teaching of literary writing craft. The book also has a companion website www.criticalcreativewriting.org offering supplemental materials such as lesson plans and course materials

Classroom Technology Committee report, 2016-2017

Annual report for a committee of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Faculty Senate

From Orthodoxy to Enlightenment: Discourse, Territory, and Settler Colonialism in Siberia, 1670-1740

Though many scholars argue that settler colonialism did not firmly come into practice until the late 18th century in Russia, through an analysis of both 17th century historical chronicle narratives and 18th century explorer accounts, I argue that settler colonial discourses and knowledges are already present, laying the groundwork for later settler practices. In the 17th century, chronicle narratives portrayed Siberian territory as a darkened wasteland turned radiant paradise by the presence of Russian Christians and the expulsion of indigenous non-Christians. In the 18th century, discourse changed to produce the increasing view of Siberia as an object of knowledge, great potential, and riches to be extracted and utilized for the state as naturalists and explorers began to describe Siberia in their accounts. Maps, too, produce this shift in knowledge as Russian maps change from traditional and river-oriented in the late 1600s to mathematical and ‘rational’ western mapping by the 1730s. In addition, recent scholarship on settler colonialism has provided greater nuance and context to settler colonies and their character, supporting the conclusion that some aspects of Russian colonialism from 1670-1740 were indeed settler colonial in nature, though unlike more intense western versions. Through discourse analysis of historic chronicles of the late 17th century and traveler accounts of the early 18th century, I argue that settler colonial discourses were present in narratives about Siberian territory since the 17th century and are governed by the epistemes that allowed these discourses to flourish

Letter to Mary Devereaux from W. F. Adsit, June 7, 1940

Letter to Mrs. Mary A. Devereaux from W. F. Adsit, with envelope. Mary A. Devereaux served as National Publicity Chairman for the International Father\u27s Day Association, Spokane, Washington. W. F. Adsit served in the Department of Public Relations, General Motors Corporation, New York.https://digitalcommons.whitworth.edu/fathers-day-correspondence/1069/thumbnail.jp

Public Acceptance of INDOT’s Traffic Engineering Treatments and Services

As a public agency, interacting with and understanding the public’s perspective regarding agency activities is an important endeavor for the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT). Although INDOT conducts a biennial customer satisfaction survey, it is occasionally necessary to capture public perception regarding more specific aspects of INDOT’s activities. In particular, INDOT needs an effective way to measure and track public opinions and awareness or understanding of a select set of its traffic engineering practices. To evaluate public acceptance of specific INDOT traffic engineering activities, a survey consisting of 1,000 adults residing within the State of Indiana was conducted. The survey population was representative in terms of age and gender of the state as of the 2010 U.S. Census. The survey was administered during the months of July and August 2020. Public awareness regarding emerging treatments not currently implemented in Indiana is low and opposition to the same new technologies is prominent. Older or female drivers are less likely to be aware of emerging treatments, and older drivers are more likely to oppose potential implementation of these treatments. Although roundabouts are commonplace in Indiana, multi-lane roundabouts remain controversial among the public. Regarding maintenance and protection of traffic during work zones and considering full or partial roadway closure, public preference is for partial closure; this preference is stronger in rural areas. The public equally agrees and disagrees that INDOT minimizes construction related traffic delays. Approximately 76% of Indiana drivers believe themselves to above average drivers, while an additional 23% believe themselves to be average. Driver perceptions of average highway speeds speed are not aligned with posted speed limit as the perceived average speed on Indiana’s urban freeways and rural and urban state highways is considerably higher than the actual speed limit

Narrative Medicine: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Address Burnout Among the Nursing Workforce

Healthcare providers (HCPs) experience unprecedented burnout. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare workforce was pushed beyond its capacity, driving some out of the field, leaving hospitals and healthcare agencies to face unrelenting demand for care. Limited staff and resources challenged organizations to redesign infrastructure and processes to meet COVID-19 safety guidelines while balancing the priorities of finance and people. Two years into the pandemic, the signs of burnout among nurses in an RN-BSN program surfaced, which paralleled the bitter resentment happening across the nursing profession. Nurses working on the front lines reported feelings of abandonment, lack of resources, staffing shortages, exhaustion, fatigue, hopelessness, and a sense that healthcare systems were falling short in caring for the caregivers. Similar to military service members who returned from combat, nurses project the workforce will experience considerable post-traumatic stress disorder after the pandemic

Secukinumab is Efficacious and Safe in Hispanic Patients with Moderate-to-Severe Plaque Psoriasis : Pooled Analysis of Four Phase 3 Trials

Altres ajuts: This study was funded by Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation. Article processing charges and the fee for open access were funded by Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation. All named authors meet the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) criteria for authorship for this manuscript, take responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole, and have given final approval for the version to be published. All authors had full access to all of the data in this study and take complete responsibility for the integrity of the data and accuracy of the data analysis. Technical assistance with editing and styling of the manuscript for submission was provided by Scott Forbes, Ph.D., of Oxford PharmaGenesis Inc. and was funded by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.There is little evidence available on the efficacy and safety of biologic therapies for the treatment of psoriasis in Hispanic patients. Secukinumab is demonstrated to be highly effective for clearing psoriasis. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of secukinumab in Hispanic and non-Hispanic patients. Data were pooled from four phase 3 studies of secukinumab in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Patients who self-identified as Hispanic were included in the Hispanic subgroup. Efficacy responses (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index [PASI] 75/90/100 and Investigator's Global Assessment 2011 modified version 0/1) for secukinumab 300 mg were greater than for etanercept at week 12 in the Hispanic and non-Hispanic patient subgroups. At week 12 with secukinumab 300 mg, PASI 90/100 responses were achieved by 70.6%/35.9% of Hispanic patients and 58.0%/28.1% of non-Hispanic patients. At week 12 with secukinumab 150 mg, PASI 90/100 responses were achieved by 59.5%/25.1% of Hispanic patients and 41.2%/13.4% of non-Hispanic patients. In both subgroups, peak efficacy responses with secukinumab were observed at week 16 and were maintained to week 52. Secukinumab is highly effective for clearing psoriasis in both Hispanic and non-Hispanic patients. Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation. The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12325-017-0521-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users