An International Discourse Community, an Internationalist Perspective: Reading EATAW Conference Programs, 2001-2011

This article seeks to characterize the discourse community represented by the biennial conferences of the European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing (EATAW). Drawing on information from EATAW's conference programs, the authors define the topical emphases of the 565 standard presentation abstracts (SPAs) accepted for the first six conferences, identify some of the community's dominant research practices and common methods of presentation, and track the changing international distribution of presenters over time. We conclude that the EATAW discourse community, true to its name, has remained focused primarily on pedagogy and on pragmatic research aimed at improving teaching practices. Working in a multilingual context, EATAW teachers/researchers tend towards an 'internationalist perspective' (Horner and Trimbur 2002: 624), one that is attentive to linguistic and cultural differences and favours empirical research as a means of identifying diverse student needs. This perspective, along with a tendency toward cross-institutional and international research partnerships, stands in contrast to the perspective of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) the conference which best represents the American composition tradition

[For the system, alternate title: If It Sort of Looks Like a Duck: Reflecting on Bad Photographs and Chains of Custody]

Though the system will not permit it, our abstract is an out-of-focus photograph of ducks at 1900 pixels wide and black and white, which is approximately 20% the size of the original color photograph we use for our title. By most technical standards, it is a bad picture. Straightening the horizon, cropping the image to emphasize the two foremost ducks, brightening the image to highlight the feet, and adding a caption that indicates activity might yield a “better” picture for some viewers. This piece captures nearly 20 years of conversations about good and bad pictures, and continues the conversation from the 2016 Proceedings about bad words

Plant guttation water as a potential route for pesticide exposure in honey bees: a review of recent literature

International audienceAbstractBecause honey bees periodically collect water, guttation water from treated crops has been suggested as a potential exposure route to systemic pesticides. We reviewed studies that were published in the scientific literature since a previous review of the topic. We identified several studies that reported residue levels of pesticides in guttation water. However, few studies addressed guttation water as a potential exposure route to honey bees. In these studies, no significant effects on honey bee colony health or overwintering survival were observed when colonies were located within fields of treated crops during guttation periods. The previous and current review suggests that exposure to pesticides via guttation water alone is unlikely to negatively affect honey bee colonies. A better understanding of water foraging by honey bees would be needed to address whether guttation water could represent a relevant exposure route of honey bees to systemic pesticides

If It Looks Like a *uck: A Provocation on B*d Words

For some decades, we’ve been considering (and using) “b*d” words. Such a large part of the document space is made up of words; it seems necessary, upon occasion, to explore the crooked little paths and messy gutters occupied by some words. We invite your company on such a little exploration now

Distribution of contaminants in the environment and wildlife habitat use: a case study with lead and waterfowl on the Upper Texas Coast

The magnitude and distribution of lead contamination remain unknown in wetland systems. Anthropogenic deposition of lead may be contributing to negative population-level effects in waterfowl and other organisms that depend on dynamic wetland habitats, particularly if they are unable to detect and differentiate levels of environmental contamination by lead. Detection of lead and behavioral response to elevated lead levels by waterfowl is poorly understood, but necessary to characterize the risk of lead-contaminated habitats. We measured the relationship between lead contamination of wetland soils and habitat use by mottled ducks (Anas fulvigula) on the Upper Texas Coast, USA. Mottled ducks have historically experienced disproportionate negative effects from lead exposure, and exhibit a unique nonmigratory life history that increases risk of exposure when inhabiting contaminated areas. We used spatial interpolation to estimate lead in wetland soils of the Texas Chenier Plain National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Soil lead levels varied across the refuge complex (0.01–1085.51 ppm), but greater lead concentrations frequently corresponded to areas with high densities of transmittered mottled ducks. We used soil lead concentration data and MaxENT species distribution models to quantify relationships among various habitat factors and locations of mottled ducks. Use of habitats with greater lead concentration increased during years of a major disturbance. Because mottled ducks use habitats with high concentrations of lead during periods of stress, have greater risk of exposure following major disturbance to the coastal marsh system, and no innate mechanism for avoiding the threat of lead exposure, we suggest the potential presence of an ecological trap of quality habitat that warrants further quantification at a population scale for mottled ducks

Construction of a transformer DGA health index based on DGA screening processes

An automated transformer dissolved gas analysis evaluation system based on the recently released IEEE Standard C57.104-2019 for mineral oil-immersed transformers is implemented and its outputs demonstrated. The system includes diagnostic capabilities using the Duval Triangles 1-4-5 and Rogers Ratio method. In addition, a Health Index derived from the above Standards is proposed as a compact, yet informative metric for tracking transformer health. Finally, some of the challenges in developing such an implementation are highlighted

Patterns and pathways of lead contamination in mottled ducks (Anas fulvigula) and their habitat

Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of BiologyDavid A. HaukosMottled ducks (Anas fulvigula) are dabbling waterfowl species native to coastal wetlands of the Gulf of Mexico of the United States and Mexico. Although closely related to common waterfowl species such as the mallard (A. platyrhynchos) and American black duck (A. rubripes), the mottled duck exhibits unique behavior, mainly in its life history as a non-migratory species. As such, because of population declines caused by predation, habitat destruction, and environmental contaminants, this species requires specialized conservation concerns and species-specific management to protect population numbers. The goal of this study was to assess ongoing effect of observed lead (Pb) contamination and exposure issues in mottled ducks and their habitats, which I achieved by conducting assessments that will provide managers habitat and organism level metrics to detect and mitigate lead in mottled ducks and their environments. My field study was conducted at the Texas Chenier Plain National Wildlife Refuge Complex (TCPC), which was the area of greatest mottled duck density on the Texas Coast. I first created a body condition index to provide managers a tool to monitor population health, and a proxy for lead exposure and avian health without destructively sampling individuals. I then used presence-only maximum entropy (MaxENT) and multivariate statistical modeling procedures in conjunction with mottled duck movement data to elucidate sets of habitat conditions that were conducive to predicting the occurrence of mottled ducks and environmental lead “hot spots”. MaxENT analyses suggested that lead in the top portion of the soil column is similarly related to all environmental variables considered, may be increasingly available after large-scale environmental disturbances. Lack of variation in coarse-scale habitat use between breeding and non-breeding seasons may further point to a food-based exposure pathway for lead as mottled ducks switch from an invertebrate to plant diet, either as a result of changing age classes or normal adult phenology, during the period of increased lead exposure. Using stable isotope ratio analysis, I then tested environmental samples of soil and vegetation as well as mottled duck blood to determine isotopic signatures that were consistent with particular sources of lead deposition (e.g., lead shot pellets, leaded fossil fuel combustion, industrial effluents). Comparisons suggested a great deal of similarity to lead shot reference values in vegetation and blood samples, especially in blood samples with higher concentrations of lead present. Last, I conducted a formal Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) procedure to quantify the risk to mottled ducks from lead exposure in their current habitat and direct managers towards effective mitigation and habitat management strategies to reduce exposure in the future. One scenario suggested that mottled ducks were at greatest risk from eating an invertebrate-based diet, but lead content values at the TCPC suggest that a plant-based diet may provide a higher lead exposure risk for mottled ducks, depending on true levels of bioavailability in environmental media. Overall, I determined that mottled ducks experience greatest lead exposure risk from lead shot pellets on the TCPC or in nearby habitat, while potentially also experiencing low levels of exposure from several other sources. Additionally, management efforts that focus on plants that do not provide food resources for mottled ducks as a potential environmental sink for lead contamination, such as phytoremediation, may prove effective in reducing the overall lead load from historical activities that likely deposited much of the lead in this ecosystem

Temperature distribution simulation in an MV switchgear bus bar chamber

Temperature is one of the main contributors for the decrease of switchgear insulation withstand capability and life expectancy. Unattended temperature rise can lead to overheating of switchgear insulation causing insulation breakdown and hence switchgear outage. This work presents a simulation investigation of how temperature hot spots may be detected by studying the surface temperature distribution along a switchgear bus bar chamber wall. A three-dimensional (3-D) finite element method (FEM) MV switchgear bus bar chamber is created. The heat dissipation caused by bus bar load currents and thermal localized hot spots caused by increased contact resistances is investigated. It is shown that it may be possible to detect inner hot spots on the surface of switchgear chamber walls. It is also shown that the coating and the emissivity factor of the walls have a significant influence on the detected surface temperature

Simulation of PD RF EM wave propagation in different MV bus bar compartment configurations

Monitoring of partial discharge (PD) in air-insulated medium voltage (MV) switchgear can reveal potential insulation failure. There is still clarification needed to understand the most effective placement of RF probes, especially along extended MV switchgear line-up structures. In this work a simulation study was performed to investigate the differences between the PD propagation characteristics of electromagnetic (EM) waves in one single bus bar and a triple line-up of bus bar compartments. A finite element method (FEM) bus bar compartment model is created and simulations are performed in Comsol Multiphysics. By applying PD sources at specific locations on particular phases, RF signals are recorded along the compartment surfaces. Based on created signal energy interpolation maps, the potential best sensor position placement areas of RF sensors is revealed for each PD case for the different compartment structures. The investigation reveals that for the sake of PD signal propagation studies PD within a single compartment model may produce similar PD sensor positions patterns to PD of a central bus bar chamber within a triple compartment

A Diagnostics Framework for Underground Power Cables Lifetime Estimation Under Uncertainty

Power cables are critical assets for the reliable operation of the grid. The cable lifetime is generally estimated from the conductor temperature and associated lifetime reduction. However, these tasks are intricate due to the complex physicsof-failure (PoF) degradation mechanism of the cable. This is further complicated with the different sources of uncertainty that affect the cable lifetime estimation. Generally, simplified or deterministic PoF models are adopted resulting in non-accurate decision-making under uncertainty. In contrast, the integration of uncertainties leads to a probabilistic decision-making process impacting directly on the flexibility to adopt decisions. Accordingly, this paper presents a novel cable lifetime estimation framework that connects data-driven probabilistic uncertainty models with PoF-based operation and degradation models through Bayesian state-estimation techniques. The framework estimates the cable health state and infers confidence intervals to aid decision-making under uncertainty. The proposed approach is validated with a case study with different configuration parameters and the effect of measurement errors on cable lifetime are evaluated with a sensitivity analysis. Results demonstrate that ambient temperature measurement errors influence more than load measurement errors, and the greater the cable conductor temperature the greater the influence of uncertainties on the lifetime estimate