Using Writing to Teach

This text represents a year of research, dialogue, collaboration, and difference between teachers and scholars from at least nine disciplines at Syracuse University. The conversations and resources gathered here are intended to function as a practical and pedagogical tool for using writing in the university classroom. It is written in such a way that readers can use it as a linear text or as a sourcebook for specific questions, concerns, and teaching needs.https://surface.syr.edu/books/1010/thumbnail.jp

Ocean biogeochemical response to phytoplankton-light feedback in a global model

Oceanic phytoplankton, absorbing solar radiation, can influence the bio-optical properties of seawater and hence upper ocean physics. We include this process in a global ocean general circulation model (OGCM) coupled to a dynamic green ocean model (DGOM) based on multiple plankton functional types (PFT). We not only study the impact of this process on ocean physics but we also explore the biogeochemical response due to this biophysical feedback. The phytoplankton-light feedback (PLF) impacts the dynamics of the upper tropical and subtropical oceans. The change in circulation enhances both the vertical supply in the tropics and the lateral supply of nutrients from the tropics to the subtropics boosting the subtropical productivity by up to 60 gC m(-2) a(-1). Physical changes, due to the PLF, impact on light and nutrient availability causing shifts in the ocean ecosystems. In the extratropics, increased stratification favors calcifiers (by up to similar to 8%) at the expense of mixed phytoplankton. In the Southern Ocean, silicifiers increase their biomass (by up to similar to 10%) because of the combined alleviation of iron and light limitation. The PLF has a small effect globally on air-sea fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2, 72 TmolC a(-1) outgassing) and oxygen (O-2, 46 TmolO(2) a(-1) ingassing) because changes in biogeochemical processes (primary production, biogenic calcification, and export production) highly vary regionally and can also oppose each other. From our study it emerges that the main impact of the PLF is an amplification of the seasonal cycle of physical and biogeochemical properties of the high-latitude oceans mostly driven by the amplification of the SST seasonal cycle

Exploration of age-related differences in executive control processes of verbal and visuo-spatial working memory: Evidence from the repetition detection paradigm

The current study explores executive control processes of working memory in order to attempt to identify the factor underlying age-related differences. A new and unique paradigm, repetition detection, is manipulated to create four processing conditions (baseline, transformation, supervision, and coordination) examined in analogous verbal and visuo-spatial domains. The baseline condition requires the participant to find a repeat in a series of stimuli. The transformation condition requires on-line transformation and updating of stimuli in addition to the baseline task. The supervision condition requires a repeat to be located in two distinct channels or processing streams. The coordination condition requires simultaneous access in order to find a repeat across channels. The results from three experiments suggest age-insensitivity for the baseline and transformation conditions, but age-sensitivity for the supervision and coordination conditions. Experiment 3 suggests that the age-related differences in working memory are specific to the process of focus switching , a condition requiring the maintenance of distinct processing streams. The findings provide support for a process-specific account of age-related differences in executive control, as well as for the fractionalization of working memory

Risk Factors for Death among Children Less than 5 Years Old Hospitalized with Diarrhea in Rural Western Kenya, 2005–2007: A Cohort Study

<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Diarrhea is a leading cause of childhood morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Data on risk factors for mortality are limited. We conducted hospital-based surveillance to characterize the etiology of diarrhea and identify risk factors for death among children hospitalized with diarrhea in rural western Kenya.</p> <h3>Methods and Findings</h3><p>We enrolled all children <5 years old, hospitalized with diarrhea (≥3 loose stools in 24 hours) at two district hospitals in Nyanza Province, western Kenya. Clinical and demographic information was collected. Stool specimens were tested for bacterial and viral pathogens. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were carried out to identify risk factors for death. From May 23, 2005 to May 22, 2007, 1,146 children <5 years old were enrolled; 107 (9%) children died during hospitalization. Nontyphoidal <em>Salmonella</em> were identified in 10% (118), <em>Campylobacter</em> in 5% (57), and <em>Shigella</em> in 4% (42) of 1,137 stool samples; rotavirus was detected in 19% (196) of 1,021 stool samples. Among stools from children who died, nontyphoidal <em>Salmonella</em> were detected in 22%, <em>Shigella</em> in 11%, rotavirus in 9%, <em>Campylobacter</em> in 5%, and <em>S</em>. Typhi in <1%. In multivariable analysis, infants who died were more likely to have nontyphoidal <em>Salmonella</em> (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 6·8; 95% CI 3·1–14·9), and children <5 years to have <em>Shigella</em> (aOR = 5·5; 95% CI 2·2–14·0) identified than children who survived. Children who died were less likely to be infected with rotavirus (OR = 0·4; 95% CI 0·2–0·8). Further risk factors for death included being malnourished (aOR = 4·2; 95% CI 2·1–8·7); having oral thrush on physical exam (aOR = 2·3; 95% CI 1·4–3·8); having previously sought care at a hospital for the illness (aOR = 2·2; 95% CI 1·2–3·8); and being dehydrated as diagnosed at discharge/death (aOR = 2·5; 95% CI 1·5–4·1). A clinical diagnosis of malaria, and malaria parasites seen on blood smear, were not associated with increased risk of death. This study only captured in-hospital childhood deaths, and likely missed a substantial number of additional deaths that occurred at home.</p> <h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Nontyphoidal <em>Salmonella</em> and <em>Shigella</em> are associated with mortality among rural Kenyan children with diarrhea who access a hospital. Improved prevention and treatment of diarrheal disease is necessary. Enhanced surveillance and simplified laboratory diagnostics in Africa may assist clinicians in appropriately treating potentially fatal diarrheal illness.</p> <h3></h3><p> <em>Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary</em></p> </div