Creating Opportunities for Digital Writing: Multimodality in Argument Writing Tasks

Writing students need opportunities in their language arts classrooms to develop the global skills that are paramount in today’s digital world. Students should not only be prepared to communicate in traditional forms but also through multiple literacies as well. Secondary ELA teachers and first-year composition instructors can build interest in writing tasks by including digital writing and multimodal elements that appeal to Gen Z students while also developing skills that transfer to other disciplines, civic life, and career goals. A digital writing sample unit for secondary ELA and FYC is included

A Penalty Method to Model Particle Interactions in DNA-laden Flows

We present a hybrid fluid-particle algorithm to simulate flow and transport of DNA-laden fluids in microdevices. Relevant length scales in microfluidic systems range from characteristic channel sizes of millimeters to micron scale geometric variation (e.g., post arrays) to 10 nanometers for the length of a single rod in a bead-rod polymer representation of a biological material such as DNA. The method is based on a previous fluid-particle algorithm in which long molecules are represented as a chain of connected rods, but in which the physically unrealistic behavior of rod crossing occurred. We have extended this algorithm to include screened Coulombic forces between particles by implementing a Debye-Hueckel potential acting between rods. In the method an unsteady incompressible Newtonian fluid is discretized with a second-order finite difference method in the interior of the Cartesian grid domain; an embedded boundary volume-of-fluid formulation is used near boundaries. The bead-rod polymer model is fully coupled to the solvent through body forces representing hydrodynamic drag and stochastic thermal fluctuations. While intrapolymer interactions are modeled by a soft potential, polymer-structure interactions are treated as perfectly elastic collisions. We demonstrate this method on flow and transport of a polymer through a post array microchannel in 2D where the polymer incorporates more realistic physical parameters of DNA, and compare to previous simulations where rods are allowed to cross. We also show that the method is capable of simulating 3D flow in a packed bed micro-column

A Hard Constraint Algorithm to Model Particle Interactions in DNA-laden Flows

We present a new method for particle interactions in polymer models of DNA. The DNA is represented by a bead-rod polymer model and is fully-coupled to the fluid. The main objective in this work is to implement short-range forces to properly model polymer-polymer and polymer-surface interactions, specifically, rod-rod and rod-surface uncrossing. Our new method is based on a rigid constraint algorithm whereby rods elastically bounce off one another to prevent crossing, similar to our previous algorithm used to model polymer-surface interactions. We compare this model to a classical (smooth) potential which acts as a repulsive force between rods, and rods and surfaces

Particle Interactions in DNA-laden Flows

Microfluidic devices are becoming state-of-the-art in many significant applications including pathogen detection, continuous monitoring, and drug delivery. Numerical algorithms which can simulate flows of complex fluids within these devices are needed for their development and optimization. A method is being developed at LLNL by Trebotich et. al. [30] for simulations of DNA-laden flows in complex microscale geometries such as packed bed reactors and pillar chips. In this method an incompressible Newtonian fluid is discretized with Cartesian grid embedded boundary methods, and the DNA is represented by a bead-rod polymer model. The fluid and polymer are coupled through a body force. In its current state, polymer-surface interactions are treated as elastic collisions between beads and surface, and polymer-polymer interactions are neglected. Implementation of polymer-polymer interactions is the main objective of this work. It is achieved by two methods: (1) a rigid constraint whereby rods elastically bounce off one another, and (2) a smooth potential acting between rods. In addition, a smooth potential is also implemented for the polymer-surface interactions. Background information will also be presented as well as related work by other researchers

Relation of delayed recovery of myocardial function after takotsubo cardiomyopathy to subsequent quality of life

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) has generally been regarded as a relatively transient disorder, characterized by reversible regional left ventricular systolic dysfunction. However, most patients with TTC experience prolonged lassitude or dyspnea after acute attacks. Although this might reflect continued emotional stress, myocardial inflammation and accentuated brain-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) release persist for at least 3 months. We therefore tested the hypotheses that this continued inflammation is associated with (1) persistent contractile dysfunction and (2) consequent impairment of quality of life. Echocardiographic parameters (global longitudinal strain [GLS], longitudinal strain rate [LSR], and peak apical twist [AT]) were compared acutely and after 3 months in 36 female patients with TTC and 19 age-matched female controls. Furthermore, correlations were sought between putative functional anomalies, inflammatory markers (T2 score on cardiovascular magnetic resonance, plasma NT-proBNP, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels), and the physical composite component of SF36 score (SF36-PCS). In TTC cases, left ventricular ejection fraction returned to normal within 3 months. GLS, LSR, and AT improved significantly over 3-month recovery, but GLS remained reduced compared to controls even at follow-up (-17.9 ± 3.1% vs -20.0 ± 1.8%, p = 0.003). Impaired GLS at 3 months was associated with both persistent NT-proBNP elevation (p = 0.03) and reduced SF36-PCS at ≥3 months (p = 0.04). In conclusion, despite normalization of left ventricular ejection fraction, GLS remains impaired for at least 3 months, possibly as a result of residual myocardial inflammation. Furthermore, perception of impaired physical exercise capacity ≥3 months after TTC may be explained by persistent myocardial dysfunction

An NSTA Position Statement: Science-Technology-Society: Science Education for the 1980s

Science and technology influence every aspect of our lives. They are central to our welfare as individuals and to the welfare of our society. All around us are examples of the importance of science and technology for production of food, shelter, clothing, medicines, transportation, and various sources of energy. There are an increasing number of science- and technology-related societal problems as well as increasing societal benefits. Science and technology are central to our personal and cultural welfare and to many societal problems. We must insure appropriate science education for all citizens

Apical ballooning syndrome complicated by acute severe mitral regurgitation with left ventricular outflow obstruction – Case report

BACKGROUND: Apical ballooning syndrome (or Takotsubo cardiomyopathy) is a syndrome of transient left ventricular apical ballooning. Although first described in Japanese patients, it is now well reported in the Caucasian population. The syndrome mimicks an acute myocardial infarction but is characterised by the absence of obstructive coronary disease. We describe a serious and poorly understood complication of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a 65 year-old lady referred to us from a rural hospital where she was treated with thrombolytic therapy for a presumed acute anterior myocardial infarction. Four hours after thrombolysis she developed acute pulmonary oedema and a new systolic murmur. It was presumed she had acute mitral regurgitation secondary to a ruptured papillary muscle, ischaemic dysfunction or an acute ventricular septal defect. Echocardiogram revealed severe mitral regurgitation, left ventricular apical ballooning, and systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve with significant left ventricular outflow tract gradient (60–70 mmHg). Coronary angiography revealed no obstructive coronary lesions. She had an intra-aortic balloon pump inserted with no improvement in her parlous haemodynamic state. We elected to replace her mitral valve to correct the outflow tract gradient and mitral regurgitation. Intra-operatively the mitral valve was mildly myxomatous but there were no structural abnormalities. She had a mechanical mitral valve replacement with a 29 mm St Jude valve. Post-operatively, her left ventricular outflow obstruction resolved and ventricular function returned to normal over the subsequent 10 days. She recovered well. CONCLUSION: This case represents a serious and poorly understood association of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy with acute pulmonary oedema, severe mitral regurgitaton and systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve with significant left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. The sequence of our patient's presentation suggests that the apical ballooning caused geometric alterations in her left ventricle that in turn led to acute and severe mitral regurgitation, systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve and left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. The left ventricular outflow tract obstruction and mitral regurgitation were corrected by mechanical mitral valve replacement. We describe a variant of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy with acute mitral regurgitation, systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve leaflet and left ventricular outflow tract obstruction of a dynamic nature

The source ambiguity problem: Distinguishing the effects of grammar and processing on acceptability judgments

Judgments of linguistic unacceptability may theoretically arise from either grammatical deviance or significant processing difficulty. Acceptability data are thus naturally ambiguous in theories that explicitly distinguish formal and functional constraints. Here, we consider this source ambiguity problem in the context of Superiority effects: the dispreference for ordering a wh-phrase in front of a syntactically “superior” wh-phrase in multiple wh-questions, e.g., What did who buy? More specifically, we consider the acceptability contrast between such examples and so-called D-linked examples, e.g., Which toys did which parents buy? Evidence from acceptability and self-paced reading experiments demonstrates that (i) judgments and processing times for Superiority violations vary in parallel, as determined by the kind of wh-phrases they contain, (ii) judgments increase with exposure, while processing times decrease, (iii) reading times are highly predictive of acceptability judgments for the same items, and (iv) the effects of the complexity of the wh-phrases combine in both acceptability judgments and reading times. This evidence supports the conclusion that D-linking effects are likely reducible to independently motivated cognitive mechanisms whose effects emerge in a wide range of sentence contexts. This in turn suggests that Superiority effects, in general, may owe their character to differential processing difficulty