Vital data : writing and circulating data in non-profits.

This dissertation presents the results of an ethnographically-informed workplace observation study of a single non-profit referred to throughout as “the Metro Data Coalition” (MDC). It begins with an overview of the organization, its institutional history, the technical and technological scenes of composing, and the demands placed on the writing process by each of these variables. It considers usability studies, activity theory, and rhetorical ecologies in coming to terms with how MDC writers shape the numerical data they work with daily. The latter half of the dissertation considers how MDC writers approach their work as “storytellers,” a self-concept that is threaded throughout their writing process, and the ways in which MDC team members and those of their parent non-profit—the City-Community Partnership—shape a circulation process in a bid to measure the MDC’s rhetorical “impact.” The dissertation is divided into six parts. The introduction and Chapter 1 serve to set the scene of the MDC, their organization, their purpose, and their writing processes. I argue here that their organizational ethos is imposed by a range of structural and historical forces, and ultimately runs into conflict with their mission statement. In Chapter 2, I zoom in on the technologically-mediated data visual composing process and make a case for a vision of distributed creativity that suits technical writing scholarship. In Chapter 3, I focus on the organization’s and individual team members’ approaches to “story” and “storytelling,” and argue that “storytelling” is itself an action that is distributed across a perceived ecology of MDC work and circulation, and that the goal is a sense of “stickiness” that is ultimately fraught in our present, hyper-digitized and ecological age. Chapter 4 takes up the issue of “mission impact,” and the ways in which ecologies of work are shaped and re-shaped in a bid to prove rhetorical success of MDC work. Here, I argue that a story’s “stickiness” cannot be read by one-to-one uptake of arguments, but instead by evidence of re-telling in other organizations. In the conclusion, I emphasize external organizations and the way MDC data has been approached, ultimately suggesting that the technical, quantitative writing the organization engages with is unsuited to the rapidity with which quantitative information can be shaped and re-shaped to align with previously-held, culturally infused “stories.” Ultimately, this project is designed to provide a set of workable heuristics for understanding how quantitative information can be shaped and deployed in technical and professional writing scenarios. It is a study of the “life” of data and the many mutations that happen within that “lifecycle.” To get there, however, it is necessary to engage with real-world writers doing heavily quantitatively-informed work, and to come to terms with the non-numerical, “subjective” forces that shape how we approach “data” in the 21st Century

Instructor-Created Video Supplements: A Closer Look

This study is the first to examine the demographics of students who utilize instructor -created video supplements. Using a core-level finance course, we find that students who utilize these recordings tend to be students with lower ACT Math scores and lower ACT Composite scores. A student's ACT Math scoreis a stronger predictor of recording utilization than the ACT Composite score. This suggests instructorcreated video supplements can be especially valuable in quantitative courses. We also show that students prefer to have such supplements used in quantitative courses, as evidenced by their responses on surveys given at the end of the semester

Yew Street urbanization: environmental impact assessment (EIA)

The proposed action is the development of approximately 545 acres located in the Yew Street area within the Lake Padden watershed. The area will be rezoned from R10 densities to UR3, UR4, RR2, and ROS. This will result in the urbanization of this area, which will include approximately 900 additional housing units

The quail genome:insights into social behaviour, seasonal biology and infectious disease response

Background: The Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) is a popular domestic poultry species and an increasingly significant model species in avian developmental, behavioural and disease research. Results: We have produced a high-quality quail genome sequence, spanning 0.93 Gb assigned to 33 chromosomes. In terms of contiguity, assembly statistics, gene content and chromosomal organisation, the quail genome shows high similarity to the chicken genome. We demonstrate the utility of this genome through three diverse applications. First, we identify selection signatures and candidate genes associated with social behaviour in the quail genome, an important agricultural and domestication trait. Second, we investigate the effects and interaction of photoperiod and temperature on the transcriptome of the quail medial basal hypothalamus, revealing key mechanisms of photoperiodism. Finally, we investigate the response of quail to H5N1 influenza infection. In quail lung, many critical immune genes and pathways were downregulated after H5N1 infection, and this may be key to the susceptibility of quail to H5N1. Conclusions: We have produced a high-quality genome of the quail which will facilitate further studies into diverse research questions using the quail as a model avian species

High LRRK2 Levels Fail to Induce or Exacerbate Neuronal Alpha-Synucleinopathy in Mouse Brain

The G2019S mutation in the multidomain protein leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) is one of the most frequently identified genetic causes of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Clinically, LRRK2(G2019S) carriers with PD and idiopathic PD patients have a very similar disease with brainstem and cortical Lewy pathology (α-synucleinopathy) as histopathological hallmarks. Some patients have Tau pathology. Enhanced kinase function of the LRRK2(G2019S) mutant protein is a prime suspect mechanism for carriers to develop PD but observations in LRRK2 knock-out, G2019S knock-in and kinase-dead mutant mice suggest that LRRK2 steady-state abundance of the protein also plays a determining role. One critical question concerning the molecular pathogenesis in LRRK2(G2019S) PD patients is whether α-synuclein (aSN) has a contributory role. To this end we generated mice with high expression of either wildtype or G2019S mutant LRRK2 in brainstem and cortical neurons. High levels of these LRRK2 variants left endogenous aSN and Tau levels unaltered and did not exacerbate or otherwise modify α-synucleinopathy in mice that co-expressed high levels of LRRK2 and aSN in brain neurons. On the contrary, in some lines high LRRK2 levels improved motor skills in the presence and absence of aSN-transgene-induced disease. Therefore, in many neurons high LRRK2 levels are well tolerated and not sufficient to drive or exacerbate neuronal α-synucleinopathy

Characterizing Emerging Canine H3 Influenza Viruses.

The continual emergence of novel influenza A strains from non-human hosts requires constant vigilance and the need for ongoing research to identify strains that may pose a human public health risk. Since 1999, canine H3 influenza A viruses (CIVs) have caused many thousands or millions of respiratory infections in dogs in the United States. While no human infections with CIVs have been reported to date, these viruses could pose a zoonotic risk. In these studies, the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance (CEIRS) network collaboratively demonstrated that CIVs replicated in some primary human cells and transmitted effectively in mammalian models. While people born after 1970 had little or no pre-existing humoral immunity against CIVs, the viruses were sensitive to existing antivirals and we identified a panel of H3 cross-reactive human monoclonal antibodies (hmAbs) that could have prophylactic and/or therapeutic value. Our data predict these CIVs posed a low risk to humans. Importantly, we showed that the CEIRS network could work together to provide basic research information important for characterizing emerging influenza viruses, although there were valuable lessons learned

The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) Mission Concept Study Final Report

The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory, or HabEx, has been designed to be the Great Observatory of the 2030s. For the first time in human history, technologies have matured sufficiently to enable an affordable space-based telescope mission capable of discovering and characterizing Earthlike planets orbiting nearby bright sunlike stars in order to search for signs of habitability and biosignatures. Such a mission can also be equipped with instrumentation that will enable broad and exciting general astrophysics and planetary science not possible from current or planned facilities. HabEx is a space telescope with unique imaging and multi-object spectroscopic capabilities at wavelengths ranging from ultraviolet (UV) to near-IR. These capabilities allow for a broad suite of compelling science that cuts across the entire NASA astrophysics portfolio. HabEx has three primary science goals: (1) Seek out nearby worlds and explore their habitability; (2) Map out nearby planetary systems and understand the diversity of the worlds they contain; (3) Enable new explorations of astrophysical systems from our own solar system to external galaxies by extending our reach in the UV through near-IR. This Great Observatory science will be selected through a competed GO program, and will account for about 50% of the HabEx primary mission. The preferred HabEx architecture is a 4m, monolithic, off-axis telescope that is diffraction-limited at 0.4 microns and is in an L2 orbit. HabEx employs two starlight suppression systems: a coronagraph and a starshade, each with their own dedicated instrument

The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) Mission Concept Study Final Report

The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory, or HabEx, has been designed to be the Great Observatory of the 2030s. For the first time in human history, technologies have matured sufficiently to enable an affordable space-based telescope mission capable of discovering and characterizing Earthlike planets orbiting nearby bright sunlike stars in order to search for signs of habitability and biosignatures. Such a mission can also be equipped with instrumentation that will enable broad and exciting general astrophysics and planetary science not possible from current or planned facilities. HabEx is a space telescope with unique imaging and multi-object spectroscopic capabilities at wavelengths ranging from ultraviolet (UV) to near-IR. These capabilities allow for a broad suite of compelling science that cuts across the entire NASA astrophysics portfolio. HabEx has three primary science goals: (1) Seek out nearby worlds and explore their habitability; (2) Map out nearby planetary systems and understand the diversity of the worlds they contain; (3) Enable new explorations of astrophysical systems from our own solar system to external galaxies by extending our reach in the UV through near-IR. This Great Observatory science will be selected through a competed GO program, and will account for about 50% of the HabEx primary mission. The preferred HabEx architecture is a 4m, monolithic, off-axis telescope that is diffraction-limited at 0.4 microns and is in an L2 orbit. HabEx employs two starlight suppression systems: a coronagraph and a starshade, each with their own dedicated instrument.Comment: Full report: 498 pages. Executive Summary: 14 pages. More information about HabEx can be found here: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/habex