Amplifying Tutor Voices: A Qualitative Analysis for Improving Writing Center Tutoring Practices and Pedagogy

Within the walls of university writing centers, tutors and tutees collaborate. They discuss writing, but even more than that, they communicate about ideas and theories bigger than themselves, all while discovering their identities. Exploration of how tutors define their authority and agency, while also highlighting the importance of tutors’ voices, is necessary for the continuation of writing center studies. Writing center tutors’ roles may be understood by some, but the mental hurdles, the questioning natures, and the care-giver roles they are emersed into need to be further investigated. Through a study conducted at Kutztown University’s Writing Center, tutors were surveyed and interviewed to better understand tutors’ perceptions of their writing authorities and tutoring identities within the subsections of tutor training, tutoring sessions, and tutor stress. Additionally, this study discloses these tutors’ voices through anecdotal qualitative data, thus highlighting tutoring challenges and moments of advocacy and agency within the writing center

The Macroinvertebrate and Fish Communities of In-Stream Beaver Ponds in Northeastern Utah

Beavers were virtually extirpated from North America during the fur trade, but populations have since recovered. Dams built by recolonizing beaver alter stream habitat by forming deep, slow ponds within the streams. Such changes to the habitat is likely to have consequences for organisms such as macroinvertebrates and fish. The objective of this study was to identify the differences in the macroinvertebrate and trout community in beaver ponds and lotic (e.g. flowing reaches of a stream) reaches in tributaries to the Logan River in northeastern Utah. The macroinvertebrate community of beaver ponds had fewer species, fewer numbers, and lower biomass of macroinvertebrates compared to lotic reaches. Macroinvertebrates that consume leaf litter and predators that prey on other macroinvertebrates characterized beaver pond macroinvertebrate communities. In contrast, lotic reaches contained macroinvertebrates that consume algae and feed on particles floating through the water column. Macroinvertebrates in lotic reaches were morphologically adapted to cling to rocks in the streamflow, while those in beaver ponds were adapted to living within the fine sediment. Bonneville cutthroat trout collected from lotic reaches were larger than those collected from beaver ponds, while the opposite was true for brown trout collected from lotic reaches. I also found that short-term and long-term diets of both brown trout and Bonneville cutthroat trout were similar between trout caught in beaver pond and lotic reaches. Finally, I found that growth rates of trout were also similar between the two habitats. In conclusion, the structure and function of macroinvertebrates, which are dependent on small-scale habitat features, were more affected by inclusion of beaver ponds to the stream network. Conversely, trout collected from beaver ponds and lotic regions were similar in growth and diet. Considering that beavers are used as a common restoration tool, further studies on the effects of beaver on stream communities is essential

FLOOD INUNDATION MAPPING FOR HURON CREEK, HOUGHTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN

The 2018 Father’s Day Flood rattled the Houghton County, MI community. Thousands of dollars in damage to public and private property were incurred due to slope failure, scour and stagnant water. Though the flood was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime event, hazard mitigation planning has become essential, as extreme weather events are expected to become more frequent with a changing climate. While Federal Emergency Management Agency funding will provide detailed flood hazard maps in the future, mapping is expected to be several years out. To aid the City of Houghton community with immediate flood hazard mitigation planning, a hydraulic-based flood depth map was created for the Huron Creek Watershed. Utilizing the HEC-GeoRAS extension within the ArcGIS software, channel cross sections were drawn from a pre-flood 2018 digital elevation model. The cross sections were then imported to HEC-RAS software, where flow structures were added and channel geometry edited to match surveyed elevations. A steady-state mixed flow analysis was performed for the 1% annual exceedance event (100-year flood). The water surface profile and flood depth map produced reveal that areas at high risk of flooding mainly lie downstream, at Lakeshore Drive. Areas of high velocity and potential scour risk were also identified at the Canal Road and Calverley Road culverts. Suggestions for mitigating the risk of flooding along Lakeshore Drive include increasing the culvert size, widening the upstream channel, removing the outlet weir, and making structural or nonstructural changes to adjacent property to reduce the impact of flooding. In addition, scour reduction may be achieved through the emplacement of inline weirs/vanes

In Vitro Mucin-Producing Models to Study Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease featuring a mutation in the CFTR gene that leads to a buildup of thick clumps of high-molecular-weight glycoproteins (mucins/MUCs) in the lungs and the intestines. This causes difficulty breathing, frequent infections, poor growth, nutrient malabsorption, and ultimately death. Although pulmonary complications are the most life threatening and the most studied, investigating intestinal physiology may provide better insight into the altered mucus properties and systemic effects of CFTR dysfunction. Our goal was to establish a model system to study the effects of CFTR function on gut mucus and to further characterize mucus properties in the intestine. The HT29 cell line, derived from a colon adenocarcinoma, was used in this project as it has previously proven to express both CFTR and mucin genes. To determine the most appropriate culture conditions and optimize expression of mucins and CFTR, HT29 cells were grown in different media, and the validity of the model was evaluated through resistance measurements, mucin biochemical assays (e.g., immunohistochemical staining and Western blotting), and histology. CFTR Cl- secretion was measured by Ussing chamber following forskolin stimulation, but the formation of an intercellular lumina “blister” impeded the traditional measurement of CFTR function. Following culture conditions optimization, a CFTR knockout was generated through CRISPR/Cas9 lentivirus infection and confirmed via protein analysis. In parallel, healthy wild-type (WT) cells were compared to cells where CFTR was pharmacologically inhibited (i.e., CF-like cells) and showed differences in mucin concentrations. Our data suggests these mucin-producing cell lines can function as relevant in vitro models to study the CF gut mucus phenotype. Investigating pure mucus in an environment devoid of inflammatory cells and/or fecal matter can help focus on mucins’ abnormal properties and reveal novel pharmaceutical targets. A treatment targeting mucins or reversing the abnormal mucus phenotype would be mutation agnostic (i.e., independent of genotype) and therefore would have the potential to slow the progression of the disease and benefit all patients with CF.Bachelor of Scienc

Distinct emphysema subtypes defined by quantitative CT analysis are associated with specific pulmonary matrix metalloproteinases.

BACKGROUND: Emphysema is characterised by distinct pathological sub-types, but little is known about the divergent underlying aetiology. Matrix-metalloproteinases (MMPs) are proteolytic enzymes that can degrade the extracellular matrix and have been identified as potentially important in the development of emphysema. However, the relationship between MMPs and emphysema sub-type is unknown. We investigated the role of MMPs and their inhibitors in the development of emphysema sub-types by quantifying levels and determining relationships with these sub-types in mild-moderate COPD patients and ex/current smokers with preserved lung function. METHODS: Twenty-four mild-moderate COPD and 8 ex/current smokers with preserved lung function underwent high resolution CT and distinct emphysema sub-types were quantified using novel local histogram-based assessment of lung density. We analysed levels of MMPs and tissue inhibitors of MMPs (TIMPs) in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and assessed their relationship with these emphysema sub-types. RESULTS: The most prevalent emphysema subtypes in COPD subjects were mild and moderate centrilobular (CLE) emphysema, while only small amounts of severe centrilobular emphysema, paraseptal emphysema (PSE) and panlobular emphysema (PLE) were present. MMP-3, and -10 associated with all emphysema sub-types other than mild CLE, while MMP-7 and -8 had associations with moderate and severe CLE and PSE. MMP-9 also had associations with moderate CLE and paraseptal emphysema. Mild CLE occurred in substantial quantities irrespective of whether airflow obstruction was present and did not show any associations with MMPs. CONCLUSION: Multiple MMPs are directly associated with emphysema sub-types identified by CT imaging, apart from mild CLE. This suggests that MMPs play a significant role in the tissue destruction seen in the more severe sub-types of emphysema, whereas early emphysematous change may be driven by a different mechanism. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Trial registration number NCT01701869