Not Playing it Safe: Tutoring an Ethic of Diversity within a Non-Diverse Environment

For many, the word diversity has become synonymous with statistical representations of race, class, and gender. Although this element is a vital one, there is another, more interior, aspect that must be addressed. Diversity must also be a state of mind, an ethical code of inclusiveness. Such diversity has the potential to change much more than numbers; it can change the way tutors think and (re)act during tutorials. Statistical diversity often has a way of fostering a more diverse attitude, but how can we cultivate that state of mind in a non-diverse environment? My writing center is located on a regional campus of Kent State University, and our student body is overwhelmingly middle class and very much white. It is imperative that tutor training seeks to enable us to work with minority students, yet as a conscientious tutor I cannot ignore the fact that a large percentage of our students come from very privileged backgrounds. These students’ experiences differ from the usual discussion of diversity, and this difference comes through in their writing. If our writing center wants to remain true to our principles of encouraging diversity, what role does the tutor have in either reinforcing or challenging these privileged students and their writingUniversity Writing Cente

An evaluation of hotel service by employees and guests and its internal marketing implications

The purpose of this study was to test the consistency of internal and external marketing messages. This concept is based on the idea that successful companies have customers and employees who agree on what is expected to occur in the service encounter; Importance-Performance Analysis was the tool utilized to analyze data collected through a survey of employees and guests on certain services at the hotel. Once these attributes were rated, the guest and employee responses were compared to determine if there were significant differences in the responses; The results disclosed that there were significant differences in the ratings of many of the importance items, but not many of the performance items. This indicates to management that there are gaps between employee and guest expectations. The implications for the internal marketing program are discussed, along with additional suggestions for future research

Causes and Consequences of Genetic Robustness and Fragility in HIV-1 Proteins

Genetic robustness describes a capacity to maintain function in the face of mutation. RNA viruses, like human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1), experience extremely high mutations rates in vivo, which contribute to the evolvability that permits HIV-1 to evade immune defenses. However, the compact nature of the HIV-1 viral genome, in which small or overlapping proteins are often multifunctional and essential, often necessitates a strong pressure to conserve functional roles, which is at opposition with immunological pressures to diversify. Under such conditions, and in consideration of the relatively rapid replication cycle of HIV-1, natural selection for robustness would be predicted to be beneficial. At the same time, robustness can come at the cost of fitness, and it is unclear whether robustness or fitness would constitute the dominant selective force in the natural setting. Within a given virus, genetic robustness is expected to vary amongst proteins, in accordance with specific function. Therefore, to more accurately examine genetic robustness within HIV-1, we selected one protein in which the competing needs to both conserve function yet diversify sequence is particularly acute. HIV-1 capsid (CA) is under strong pressure to preserve roles in viral assembly, maturation, uncoating and nuclear import, but is also under intense immunological pressure to diversify, particularly from adaptive immune responses. To evaluate the genetic robustness of HIV-1 CA, we generated a large library of random single amino acid substitution CA mutants. Surprisingly, after measuring the replicative fitness of the CA library mutants, we observed HIV-1 CA to be the most genetically fragile protein analyzed with such an approach, with 70% of random CA mutations resulting in nonviable, replicationdefective viruses (\u3c2% of WT fitness). While CA is involved in several steps of HIV-1 replication, analyses of conditionally (temperature-sensitive) and constitutively nonviable mutants indicated that the biological basis for the genetic fragility, or lack of robustness, was principally the need to organize accurate and efficient assembly of mature viral particles. Examination of the CA library mutations in naturally occurring HIV-1 subtype B populations indicated that all mutations occurring at a frequency \u3e3% in vivo had fitness levels that were \u3e40% of WT in vitro. Moreover, protective CTL epitopes were observed to preferentially occur in regions of HIV-1 CA that were even more genetically fragile than HIV-1 CA as a whole. Overall, these results suggest the extreme genetic fragility of CA may explain why immune responses to Gag, as opposed to other viral proteins, correlate with better prognosis in HIV-1 infection. To evaluate whether the fragility we observed in CA was unique to CA or a general property of HIV-1 proteins, and to more firmly establish causes and consequences of genetic robustness or fragility, we evaluated the robustness of another HIV-1 protein, integrase (IN). Again, a large library of unbiased single amino acid mutants was created. In contrast to CA, IN appeared comparatively robust, with only 35% of 156 single amino acid mutations resulting in nonviable viruses. However, when these nonviable mutants were mapped onto a model of the HIV-1 intasome, we noted a striking localization of nonviable mutants to certain IN subunit interfaces. To this end, single mutants affecting both particle production and IN expression in virions could be mapped to even more specific regions within the intasome model. Furthermore, after examining the prevalence of the IN library mutations in an in vivo cohort of subtype B IN sequences, mapping to the intasome helped explain why some in vitro library mutations with high fitness (\u3e40% of WT) never occur in vivo, and also revealed that residues that are highly variable in vivo are more likely to occur in regions in the intasome with more exposed surface area. Despite the relative robustness of HIV-IN, our analyses with an intasome model demonstrate that localized regions of fragility, namely certain subunit interfaces, exist. Understanding the genetic robustness of HIV-1 is particularly important given the continued need for novel therapeutic interventions. Not only has the evaluation of HIV-1 CA and IN robustness revealed particularly fragile regions in both proteins, which may prove ideal targets, but comparisons of their genetic robustness is suggestive of the direction future therapeutic research should take

Unique growth pattern of human mammary epithelial cells induced by polymeric nanoparticles.

Due to their unique properties, engineered nanoparticles (NPs) have found broad use in industry, technology, and medicine, including as a vehicle for drug delivery. However, the understanding of NPs' interaction with different types of mammalian cells lags significantly behind their increasing adoption in drug delivery. In this study, we show unique responses of human epithelial breast cells when exposed to polymeric Eudragit® RS NPs (ENPs) for 1-3 days. Cells displayed dose-dependent increases in metabolic activity and growth, but lower proliferation rates, than control cells, as evidenced in tetrazolium salt (WST-1) and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) assays, respectively. Those effects did not affect cell death or mitochondrial fragmentation. We attribute the increase in metabolic activity and growth of cells culture with ENPs to three factors: (1) high affinity of proteins present in the serum for ENPs, (2) adhesion of ENPs to cells, and (3) activation of proliferation and growth pathways. The proteins and genes responsible for stimulating cell adhesion and growth were identified by mass spectrometry and Microarray analyses. We demonstrate a novel property of ENPs, which act to increase cell metabolic activity and growth and organize epithelial cells in the epithelium as determined by Microarray analysis

Thomas Jefferson Health System Medical Legal Partnership

Introduction: Medical-legal partnerships (MLPs) provide civil legal services in concert with healthcare services to mitigate complex social conditions with health-harming effects. Currently, there are 333 MLPs in 46 states. Thomas Jefferson Health System (TJHS) does not have a systemwide MLP. (Magee Rehabilitation Hospital does have an MLP used by qualifying Magee patients). This project sought to identify the core components of an MLP and to demonstrate the value an MLP would provide TJHS. Methods: Assessed existing literature. Interviewed an existing MLP director. Patients from the Jefferson Hospital Ambulatory Practice (JHAP) clinic completed a written survey regarding health-harming social-legal issues. Entered survey data into Excel and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Six common core components of all MLPs were identified. Existing MLPs have demonstrated a reduction in readmission rates, decreased inpatient and emergency department visits, and recovery of payments for unreimbursed clinical services. Patients report improved health when unmet civil legal needs are addressed. Results of the JHAP clinic survey are pending, but preliminarily many patients appear to have social-legal issues. Conclusions: This project demonstrates that a TJHS MLP program could improve patient health and reduce overutilization of the health system. Over time the cost of the program would potentially be offset by the recovery of healthcare dollars. TJHS patients appear to have social-legal issues that negatively impact their health and could be addressed through legal remedies. Based on the analysis, an Opportunity Assessment was generated. Critical next steps are to draft a business plan and identify potential funding

The envelope gene of transmitted HIV-1 resists a late interferon gamma-induced block

Type I interferon (IFN) signaling engenders an antiviral state that likely plays an important role in constraining HIV-1 transmission and contributes to defining subsequent AIDS pathogenesis. Type II IFN (IFNγ) also induces an antiviral state but is often primarily considered to be an immunomodulatory cytokine. We report that IFNγ stimulation can induce an antiviral state that can be both distinct from that of type I interferon, and can potently inhibit HIV-1 in primary CD4+ T cells and a number of human cell lines. Strikingly, we find that transmitted/founder (TF) HIV-1 viruses can resist a late block that is induced by type II IFN, and the use of chimeric IFNγ- sensitive/resistant viruses indicates that interferon-resistance maps to the env gene. Simultaneously, in vitro evolution also revealed that just a single amino acid substitution in envelope can confer substantial resistance to IFN-mediated inhibition. Thus, the env gene of transmitted HIV-1 confers resistance to a late block that is phenotypically distinct from those previously described to be resisted by env, and is therefore mediated by unknown IFNγ-stimulated factor(s) in human CD4+ T cells and cell lines. This important unidentified block could play a key role in constraining HIV-1 transmission

Like mother, like child? An investigation of the association of fruit and vegetable intake among mothers and children with intellectual disabilities and typically developing children

Research has documented that the dietary patterns of parents of typically developing (TD) children have an impact on their child's diets, including diet quality and intake of certain foods. This influence is thought to be a function of a combination of serving various foods to their child, modeling healthy eating behaviors, providing companionship during mealtime, and implementing various feeding styles and beliefs as their child develops. The extent to which parents of children with intellectual disabilities (ID) influence their children’s dietary intake is unknown. Children with ID experience aversions to certain sensory characteristics of food, food selectivity, and idiosyncratic mealtime behaviors, all of which may result in limited dietary variety. These factors may make children with ID less responsive to their parents’ dietary habits and patterns. Weak to moderate correlations have been found to exist between parents of TD children and their offspring in terms of dietary intake, however, studies examining the parent to child associations of fruit and vegetable intake in the ID population are lacking. We performed a secondary data analysis on a cohort of children and parents involved in the Children's Mealtime Study, a cross-sectional study conducted from 2013-2016 in order to examine factors associated with weight status in children with ID compared to TD children. The goal of our analysis was to determine whether correlations exist between fruit and vegetable variety and consumption frequency among children and mothers and whether these differ between children with ID and TD children. A modified food frequency questionnaire was used to assess variety and frequency of fruits and vegetables consumed by mothers and their children. Statistically significant positive correlations were observed for both fruit and vegetable variety score and consumption frequency among the entire sample. However, the strength of the correlations were weak overall. A significant positive relationship was shown to exist between child fruit consumption frequency for mothers of TD children and their children (p<0.01), but not between mothers and children with ID. The findings indicate that although children with ID may experience greater aversions to food during mealtime compared to TD children, they still appear to be responsive to dietary habits of their mothers for most measures of fruit and vegetable intake

"Don’t Downvote A\$\$\$\$\$\$s!!": An Exploration of Reddit’s Advice Communities

Advice forums are a crowdsourced way to reinforce cultural norms and moral behavior. Sites like Reddit contain massive amounts of natural language human interaction, with rules and norms unique to each individual subreddit community. To explore this data, we created a dataset with top 1000 posts from each of two such forums, r/AmItheAsshole and r/relationships, and extracted natural language features including sentiment, similarity, word frequency, and demographics using both algorithmic and manual methods. Further, we developed a method to extract demographic information from the subreddits, examined how the post authors’ self-disclosures reflect the unique communities in which their posts are shared, and discussed how the authors’ language use choices might be related to broader social patterns. We observed some differences between the subreddits in terms of word frequency, demographics disclosure, and gendered language. In general, both subreddits had more female posters than male, and posters tended to use more words about their opposite gender than the same. Gender-diverse posters were uncommon. Implications for future research include a more careful, inclusive focus on identity and disclosure and how that interacts with advice-seeking behavior in online communities

“Don\u27t Downvote A$$s!!”: An Exploration of Reddit\u27s Advice Communities

Advice forums are a crowdsourced way to reinforce cultural norms and moral behavior. Sites like Reddit contain massive amounts of natural language human interaction, with rules and norms unique to each individual subreddit community. To explore this data, we created a dataset with top 1000 posts from each of two such forums, r/AmItheAsshole and r/relationships, and extracted natural language features including sentiment, similarity, word frequency, and demographics using both algorithmic and manual methods. Further, we developed a method to extract demographic information from the subreddits, examined how the post authors\u27 self-disclosures reflect the unique communities in which their posts are shared, and discussed how the authors\u27 language use choices might be related to broader social patterns. We observed some differences between the subreddits in terms of word frequency, demographics disclosure, and gendered language. In general, both subreddits had more female posters than male, and posters tended to use more words about their opposite gender than the same. Gender-diverse posters were uncommon. Implications for future research include a more careful, inclusive focus on identity and disclosure and how that interacts with advice-seeking behavior in online communities

Analysis and Testing of the FBA-11 Force [Balance] Accelerometer

The FBA-11 is a feedback-controlled accelerometer widely used to measure and record accelerations arising from earthquakes. It has found application both for structural response and for ground motion studies. The design intent of the FBA-11 was to provide electronic control of the natural frequency, damping, and output voltage. Included in this paper are (1) a circuit analysis yielding the complete closed-loop transfer function, and (2) the corroborative test results from shake table evaluations. The transfer function can be used to correct recorded accelerations for instrument response