Accidental Outreach and Happenstance Staffing: A Cross-Institutional Study of Writing Center Support of First-Generation College Students

First-generation students (FGS) make up a significant percentage of college populations. However, they experience hardships that are less common for their continuing-generation peers. They struggle to understand the “rules” of college and lack the cultural capital that can help students succeed through generations of knowledge about how to navigate college. Writing centers attempt to lessen these burdens by providing outreach to marginalized student populations, including FGS. However, there has been a lack of cross-institutional research that examines exactly how writing centers support FGS. This article presents a mixed-methods study that begins to close that knowledge gap and demonstrate common patterns of FGS support across institution types in the United States. Results show that most FGS support is “accidental” and highly context-specific, which makes measuring success difficult. The results of this study also show that tutor staffing and training play a significant role in FGS support and should be further researched in writing center studies. The author argues that we need to do more assessment of our outreach and its outcomes for FGS, going beyond our narratives of what does or does not work for marginalized students

Si photocathode with Ag-supported dendritic Cu catalyst for CO2 reduction

Si photocathodes integrated with Ag-supported dendritic Cu catalysts are used to perform light-driven reduction of CO2 to C2 and C3 products in aqueous solution. A back illumination geometry with an n-type Si absorber was used to permit the use of absorbing metallic catalysts. Selective carrier collection was accomplished by a p+ implantation on the illumination side and an n+ implantation followed by atomic layer deposition of TiO2 on the electrolyte site. The Ag-supported dendritic Cu CO2 reduction catalyst was formed by evaporation of Ag followed by high-rate electrodeposition of Cu to form a high surface area structure. Under simulated 1 sun illumination in 0.1 M CsHCO3 saturated with CO2, the photovoltage generated by the Si (∼600 mV) enables C2 and C3 products to be produced at -0.4 vs. RHE. Texturing of both sides of the Si increases the light-limited current density, due to reduced reflection on the illumination side, and also deceases the onset potential. Under simulated diurnal illumination conditions photocathodes maintain over 60% faradaic efficiency to hydrocarbon and oxygenate products (mainly ethylene, ethanol, propanol) for several days. After 10 days of testing, contamination from the counter electrode is observed, which causes an increase in hydrogen production. This effect is mitigated by a regeneration procedure which restores the original catalyst selectivity. A tandem, self-powered CO2 reduction device was formed by coupling a Si photocathode with two series-connected semitransparent CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cells, achieving an efficiency for the conversion of sunlight to hydrocarbons and oxygenates of 1.5% (3.5% for all products)

A Catalog of Recombination Lines from 100 GHz to 10 Microns

We have made accurate calculations of recombination lines of H, He, C, and S from 100 GHz to 10 ?m (30 THz) that are useful to radio astronomers working at high frequencies. In particular, the fine structure of hydrogen has been treated explicitly for the First time in this radio-astronomical context

Increasing the precision of measurement of postures in free space

The project set out to use a very precise three dimensional tracking system to identify changes in joint condition for use in clinical assessment. Untried and untested the CODA-3 was brought into the department and put through a six month period of validification in order to evaluate it's capabilities. These are described in detail in the text. Once satisfied that the equipment was capable of measuring minute rapidly changing position of it's prismatic markers, pilot studies were devised to assess it's ability to reproduce the results from well recognised gait-analysis techniques. It gave promising results. The next task was to determine which set of parameters we could derive using CODA-3 that would be of use in describing the kinematics of the diseased and/or prosthetic knee for use as a tool in clinical assessment. Using FORTRAN, subroutines were written and run on a DEC LSI-11 computer, to collect, store and analyse the x, y and z coordinates of the eight CODA landmarks. It was hoped that by appropriate siting of the markers the velocities and accelerations of the segments comprising a joint could be monitored throughout the gait cycle. The resultant patterns of these parameters were plotted out, and the actual data values stored. It was hypothesised that weaknesses in a joint, whether or not detectable by clinical examination would, at points in the gait cycle of maximum joint loading be seen as ectopics in the smooth waveform of the acceleration and velocity of the profiles expected from the normal knee. The results the author presents would suggest that if the limitations of this particular model could be overcome (as it is reported they will be) then the technique has the capability of highlighting abnormalities in a joint. The author is doubtful however that these same weaknesses could not be detected by the clinician. The system may well have other applications related to this area of work and these are discussed

Deterministic Assembly of Arrays of Lithographically Defined WS2 and MoS2 Monolayer Features Directly from Multilayer Sources into Van der Waals Heterostructures

One of the major challenges in the van der Waals (vdW) integration of two-dimensional (2D) materials is achieving high-yield and high-throughput assembly of predefined sequences of monolayers into heterostructure arrays. Mechanical exfoliation has recently been studied as a promising technique to transfer monolayers from a multilayer source synthesized by other techniques, allowing the deposition of a wide variety of 2D materials without exposing the target substrate to harsh synthesis conditions. Although a variety of processes have been developed to exfoliate the 2D materials mechanically from the source and place them deterministically onto a target substrate, they can typically transfer only either a wafer-scale blanket or one small flake at a time with uncontrolled size and shape. Here, we present a method to assemble arrays of lithographically defined monolayer WS2 and MoS2 features from multilayer sources and directly transfer them in a deterministic manner onto target substrates. This exfoliate-align-release process - without the need of an intermediate carrier substrate - is enabled by combining a patterned, gold-mediated exfoliation technique with a new optically transparent, heat-releasable adhesive. WS2/MoS2 vdW heterostructure arrays produced by this method show the expected interlayer exciton between the monolayers. Light-emitting devices using WS2 monolayers were also demonstrated, proving the functionality of the fabricated materials. Our work demonstrates a significant step toward developing mechanical exfoliation as a scalable dry transfer technique for the manufacturing of functional, atomically thin materials

The effect of radial edge lift variation on the speed of RGP lens adaptation

This project was designed to determine if the speed of adaptation to rigid gas permeable (RGP) lenses could be increased by initially fitting low edge lift lenses to reduce lid sensation, and subsequently switching the subject to the higher edge lift lens for long term wear. Thirty-two subjects were dispensed lenses and twenty-nine successfully wore the lenses for the entire eight week period. Half of the subjects wore a low edge design for four weeks, followed by a high edge design for the final four weeks. The remaining subjects wore identical pairs of high edge lift designs for both four week periods to serve as the control group. There were no significant differences in the speed of adaptation between the groups as measured by responses to a questionnaire completed by the subjects at each visit; however, large variations in staining and fitting performance for individual patients demonstrated the importance of customizing the peripheral curve system and the edge lift for each patient

Increasing the precision of measurement of postures in free space

The project set out to use a very precise three dimensional tracking system to identify changes in joint condition for use in clinical assessment. Untried and untested the CODA-3 was brought into the department and put through a six month period of validification in order to evaluate it's capabilities. These are described in detail in the text. Once satisfied that the equipment was capable of measuring minute rapidly changing position of it's prismatic markers, pilot studies were devised to assess it's ability to reproduce the results from well recognised gait-analysis techniques. It gave promising results. The next task was to determine which set of parameters we could derive using CODA-3 that would be of use in describing the kinematics of the diseased and/or prosthetic knee for use as a tool in clinical assessment. Using FORTRAN, subroutines were written and run on a DEC LSI-11 computer, to collect, store and analyse the x, y and z coordinates of the eight CODA landmarks. It was hoped that by appropriate siting of the markers the velocities and accelerations of the segments comprising a joint could be monitored throughout the gait cycle. The resultant patterns of these parameters were plotted out, and the actual data values stored. It was hypothesised that weaknesses in a joint, whether or not detectable by clinical examination would, at points in the gait cycle of maximum joint loading be seen as ectopics in the smooth waveform of the acceleration and velocity of the profiles expected from the normal knee. The results the author presents would suggest that if the limitations of this particular model could be overcome (as it is reported they will be) then the technique has the capability of highlighting abnormalities in a joint. The author is doubtful however that these same weaknesses could not be detected by the clinician. The system may well have other applications related to this area of work and these are discussed