Motivational Scaffolding, Politeness, and Writing Center Tutoring

Writing center tutors know that improving writing skills requires sustained effort over a long period of time. They also know that motivation - the drive to actively invest in sustained effort toward a goal- is essential for writing improvement. However, a tutor may not work with the same student more than once, so tutorials often need to focus on what can be done in a single 30- to 60-minute conference. Further, although tutors are likely to attempt to motivate students to invest time and effort in improving their writing, when writers leave the writing center, tutors\u27 influence might end with the conference. Therefore, tutors must work to develop and maintain students\u27 motivation to participate actively during the brief time they are collaborating in writing center conferences

Adding Quantitative Corpus-Driven Analysis to Qualitative Discourse Analysis: Determining the Aboutness of Writing Center Talk

We discuss the benefits of using corpus linguistic analysis, a quantita- tive method for determining the aboutness of talk, in conjunction with discourse analysis in order to understand writing center talk at a micro- and macrolevel. We exemplify this mixed-method approach by examining a specialized corpus of 20 writing center conferences totaling more than 75,000 words. Our analysis also uncovered words that differentiated writing center talk from reference corpora and thus helped reveal the aboutness of the writing center talk. For example, student writers said I don\u27t know far more frequently than any other 4-gram, and tutors said You\u27re going to far more frequently than other 4-grams. We close by discussing the possibility of creating a corpus of writing center talk that researchers could use to ask and answer a broad range of research questio

Resilient and regenerative design in New Orleans: the case of the Make It Right project

According to Swiss Re, there are currently approximately 180 urban disasters globally per year. Hurricane Katrina demonstrated the vulnerability of cities and the ability of humans to exacerbate the magnitude and intensity of man-made and/or natural hazards. The changes produced after a disaster can imply multiple adverse impacts including health risks, disruption to energy and water supply, and ecological imbalances. Post-disaster reconstruction, in this context, provides not only the necessity for a community to return to its pre-disaster state, but as Burby states, a “window of opportunity” to enhance resilience, and, in essence, to ‘regenerate’. These ‘windows of opportunity’ allow exploration to plan more globally, assess community social viability, foster adaptation and examine the technical issues of flooding, retrofits, location, and building energy efficiency. The multiple dimensions of resilience in urban settings are paramount to preserving community stability, as well as long-term sustainability. The concept of resilient design and planning uses both technical and social strategies to increase a community’s resilience. Post-disaster environments must address structural-technical issues (such as sea levels, proximity to major infrastructure, and quality of infrastructure) and social issues (such as community participation, policy and integrated design processes) that are vital for a community’s long-term survival. In this instance, community participation is vital both during the planning process and at the level of the individual project. Drawing from post-disaster reconstruction New Orleans, and in particular the Make It Right project, this paper evaluates the ways in which resilient design and planning are put into action. This article will consider the links between regenerative design and resilience at the three scales of building, neighborhood, and city, focusing on the process of the design approach, and impacts on resilience, “regeneration,” and on collective action. In addition, it examines how design for a built environment that has ecological, social and infrastructural resiliencies contributes positively to human and natural systems, and reduces vulnerability. This paper concludes with a comprehensive set of criteria that can be used to evaluate whether a built environment supports resilience and “regeneration” in both the short- and long-term. As the issues of short and long-term resilience will expand, so will the need to revise the criteria from which sustainability will continue to emerge

Resilient and Regenerative Design in New Orleans: The Case of the Make It Right Project

According to Swiss Re, there are currently approximately 180 urban disasters globally per year. Hurricane Katrina demonstrated the vulnerability of cities and the ability of humans to exacerbate the magnitude and intensity of man-made and/or natural hazards. The changes produced after a disaster can imply multiple adverse impacts including health risks, disruption to energy and water supply, and ecological imbalances. Post-disaster reconstruction, in this context, provides not only the necessity for a community to return to its pre-disaster state, but as Burby states, a “window of opportunity” to enhance resilience, and, in essence, to ‘regenerate’. These ‘windows of opportunity’ allow exploration to plan more globally, assess community social viability, foster adaptation and examine the technical issues of flooding, retrofits, location, and building energy efficiency. The multiple dimensions of resilience in urban settings are paramount to preserving community stability, as well as long-term sustainability. The concept of resilient design and planning uses both technical and social strategies to increase a community’s resilience. Post-disaster environments must address structural-technical issues (such as sea levels, proximity to major infrastructure, and quality of infrastructure) and social issues (such as community participation, policy and integrated design processes) that are vital for a community’s long-term survival. In this instance, community participation is vital both during the planning process and at the level of the individual project. Drawing from post-disaster reconstruction New Orleans, and in particular the Make It Right project, this paper evaluates the ways in which resilient design and planning are put into action. This article will consider the links between regenerative design and resilience at the three scales of building, neighborhood, and city, focusing on the process of the design approach, and impacts on resilience, “regeneration,” and on collective action. In addition, it examines how design for a built environment that has ecological, social and infrastructural resiliencies contributes positively to human and natural systems, and reduces vulnerability. This paper concludes with a comprehensive set of criteria that can be used to evaluate whether a built environment supports resilience and “regeneration” in both the short- and long-term. As the issues of short and long-term resilience will expand, so will the need to revise the criteria from which sustainability will continue to emerge

Protein interaction studies on the rotavirus non-structural protein NSP1

Rotavirus encodes six structural and six non-structural proteins. In contrast to the structural proteins, the functional roles of the non-structural proteins are not well defined beyond a realisation that they must have a role in the viral replication cycle. A fuller understanding of the replication cycle must therefore rest on determining the specific roles played by the non-structural proteins. Non-structural protein NSP1 shows high levels of sequence divergence. A generally well conserved cysteine-rich region at the amino-terminus may form a zinc finger structure. It has been shown to possess non-specific RNA-binding activity, and has been found associated with the smallest of three replication intermediates (RIs) found in infected cells, together with the viral proteins VP1, VP3 and NSP3. VP2 and VP6 are added sequentially to the pre-core RI to form the core RI and single-shelled RI respectively. The function of NSP1 in the replication cycle and the importance of its presence in early replication complexes has not been determined. The intermolecular interactions that occur between the components of the RIs have not been defined. Protein-protein interactions between NSP1 and VP1, VP2, VP3, and NSP3, from the UKtc strain of bovine rotavirus, were investigated using a variety of approaches, the first of which was the yeast two-hybrid system. In this assay a self-interaction of NSP1 was not detected. Protein-protein interactions between NSPl and VPl, VP2, VP3, and NSP3, were also not detected. Both the full-length protein and a truncated NSPl, consisting of only the amino terminal third of the protein, were tested. A direct self-interaction of NSP3 was shown and quantified. Radio-immunoprecipitation analysis of in vitro translated viral proteins using specific anti-NSP1 serum was also employed. However, it failed to detect direct protein-protein interactions between NSP1 and VPI, VP2, and VP3. Immunoprecipitation of UKtc rotavirus-infected celllysates with anti-NSP1 serum showed the co-precipitation of viral proteins VPl, VP2, VP3NP4, VP6 and NSP3, with NSP1. It was proposed that NSP1 formed a previously unrecognised complex with these proteins. Immunoprecipitation of nuclease-treated infected cell lysates showed a reduction in the co-precipitation of VP2, VP3NP4 and NSP3 with NSP1. No reduction in the co-precipitation of VP6 was seen. The association of the complex proteins may be mediated by RNA binding. Immunoprecipitation with an anti-VP6 monoclonal antibody reciprocally precipitated small amounts of NSP1, VP2, VP3/VP4, and NSP3, with VP6

Southern Ocean Seasonal Restratification Delayed by Submesoscale Wind–Front Interactions

Ocean stratification and the vertical extent of the mixed layer influence the rate at which the ocean and atmosphere exchange properties. This process has direct impacts for anthropogenic heat and carbon uptake in the Southern Ocean. Submesoscale instabilities that evolve over space (1–10 km) and time (from hours to days) scales directly influence mixed layer variability and are ubiquitous in the Southern Ocean. Mixed layer eddies contribute to mixed layer restratification, while down-front winds, enhanced by strong synoptic storms, can erode stratification by a cross-frontal Ekman buoyancy flux. This study investigates the role of these submesoscale processes on the subseasonal and interannual variability of the mixed layer stratification using four years of high-resolution glider data in the Southern Ocean. An increase of stratification from winter to summer occurs due to a seasonal warming of the mixed layer. However, we observe transient decreases in stratification lasting from days to weeks, which can arrest the seasonal restratification by up to two months after surface heat flux becomes positive. This leads to interannual differences in the timing of seasonal restratification by up to 36 days. Parameterizing the Ekman buoyancy flux in a one-dimensional mixed layer model reduces the magnitude of stratification compared to when the model is run using heat and freshwater fluxes alone. Importantly, the reduced stratification occurs during the spring restratification period, thereby holding important implications for mixed layer dynamics in climate models as well as physical–biological coupling in the Southern Ocean

Maternal, umbilical arterial and umbilical venous 25-hydroxyvitamin D and adipocytokine concentrations in pregnancies with and without gestational diabetes

Objective Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has been associated with inflammation as well as Vitamin D insufficiency. While Vitamin D has anti-inflammatory properties, relationships between Vitamin D and inflammatory markers remain unexplored in GDM. Therefore, this case - control study investigated adipocytokine and Vitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations and correlations in GDM and control women, as well as their neonates. Design/Participants/Measurements seventy-three women participated: 36 GDM and 37 controls. Maternal samples were drawn at 31 weeks. Umbilical arterial and venous samples were collected at birth. 25(OH)D and adipocytokine concentrations were compared for GDM vs control maternal, umbilical arterial and venous samples. Correlations were explored between biochemical results, maternal and neonatal demographics. Results Compared with age- and weight-matched control participants, GDM women had significantly lower concentrations of 25(OH)D (77·3 ± 24·3 vs 93·2 ± 19·2 nm/l; P = 0·009); adiponectin (17·5 ± 11·8 vs 34·1 ± 20·3 μg/ml, P \u3c 0·001); resistin (25·4 ± 9·1 vs 31·9 ± 12·1 ng/ml, P = 0·045); and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) 13·9 ± 10·0 vs 21·0 ± 12·6 ng/ml, P = 0·038), while delivering 1 week earlier (38·2 ± 1·2 vs 39·5 ± 0·9 weeks, P \u3c 0·001). GDM maternal 25(OH)D concentrations positively correlated with PAI-1, IL-8 and TNF-α concentrations. Umbilical 25(OH)D concentrations were not significantly different in GDM vs control offspring, whereas adiponectin, resistin and PAI-1 concentrations were significantly lower in GDM offspring. Conclusions GDM women had lower 25(OH)D concentrations than controls, while neonatal umbilical concentrations of 25(OH)D did not differ. GDM maternal and GDM offspring had lower adiponectin, resistin and PAI-1 concentrations compared with controls. Results suggest that both GDM women and their offspring demonstrate abnormal adipocytokine patterns. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

The effects of climatic fluctuations and extreme events on running water ecosystems

Most research on the effects of environmental change in freshwaters has focused on incremental changes in average conditions, rather than fluctuations or extreme events such as heatwaves, cold snaps, droughts, floods or wildfires, which may have even more profound consequences. Such events are commonly predicted to increase in frequency, intensity and duration with global climate change, with many systems being exposed to conditions with no recent historical precedent. We propose a mechanistic framework for predicting potential impacts of environmental fluctuations on running water ecosystems by scaling up effects of fluctuations from individuals to entire ecosystems. This framework requires integration of four key components: effects of the environment on individual metabolism, metabolic and biomechanical constraints on fluctuating species interactions, assembly dynamics of local food webs and mapping the dynamics of the meta-community onto ecosystem function. We illustrate the framework by developing a mathematical model of environmental fluctuations on dynamically assembling food webs. We highlight (currently limited) empirical evidence for emerging insights and theoretical predictions. For example, widely supported predictions about the effects of environmental fluctuations are: high vulnerability of species with high per capita metabolic demands such as large-bodied ones at the top of food webs; simplification of food web network structure and impaired energetic transfer efficiency; reduced resilience and top-down relative to bottom-up regulation of food web and ecosystem processes. We conclude by identifying key questions and challenges that need to be addressed to develop more accurate and predictive bio-assessments of the effects of fluctuations, and implications of fluctuations for management practices in an increasingly uncertain world