Boise State Students Encounter Writing: Using Google Maps to Digitally (Re)Present Discourse Communities in English 101

Students in the Fall 2012 English 101.017 class collaborated on a digital group project that (re)presents their research on discourse communities. Working independently or within small groups, we produced various digital texts that provide an overview of our personal discourse communities and linked them to a Google Map, “Boise State Students Encounter Writing.” There are a variety of different mediums including blogs, slideshows, and claymation videos, all of which are placed marked at the place in Boise that best represents their discourse community. For example, if someone was in a cross fit club, they would likely mark their project at the recreation center. Google Maps facilitated this project well because you could see how our small class of 22 students connects to the world outside of the University. Our presentation will display our class Google Map on the computer projector, and it will encourage the spectators and visitors to engage and interact with our digital platform. With the current academic movements and changes in digital humanities, we worked to digitally compose texts using online resources like SlideRocket, Tumblr, and even Google Maps itself. These different research methods and platforms used, helped the first-year writers exit their comfort zone of writing a five paragraph essay and find an innovative way for their peers and readers of their project to be able to connect to their discourse community

Ecomorphological inferences in early vertebrates:reconstructing(Arthrodira, Placodermi) caudal fin from palaeoecological data

Our knowledge about the body morphology of many extinct early vertebrates is very limited, especially in regard to their post-thoracic region. The prompt disarticulation of the dermo-skeletal elements due to taphonomic processes and the lack of a well-ossified endoskeleton in a large number of groups hinder the preservation of complete specimens. Previous reconstructions of most early vertebrates known from partial remains have been wholly based on phylogenetically closely related taxa. However, body design of fishes is determined, to a large extent, by their swimming mode and feeding niche, making it possible to recognise different morphological traits that have evolved several times in non-closely related groups with similar lifestyles. Based on this well-known ecomorphological correlation, here we propose a useful comparative framework established on extant taxa for predicting some anatomical aspects in extinct aquatic vertebrates from palaeoecological data and vice versa. For this, we have assessed the relationship between the locomotory patterns and the morphological variability of the caudal region in extant sharks by means of geometric morphometrics and allometric regression analysis. Multivariate analyses reveal a strong morphological convergence in non-closely related shark species that share similar modes of life, enabling the characterization of the caudal fin morphology of different ecological subgroups. In addition, interspecific positive allometry, affecting mainly the caudal fin span, has been detected. This phenomenon seems to be stronger in sharks with more pelagic habits, supporting its role as a compensation mechanism for the loss of hydrodynamic lift associated with the increase in body size, as previously suggested for many other living and extinct aquatic vertebrates. The quantification of shape change per unit size in each ecological subgroup has allowed us to establish a basis for inferring not only qualitative aspects of the caudal fin morphology of extinct early vertebrates but also to predict absolute values of other variables such as the fin span or the hypocercal and heterocercal angles. The application of this ecomorphological approach to the specific case of Dunkleosteus terrelli has led to a new reconstruction of this emblematic placoderm. Our proposal suggests a caudal fin with a well-developed ventral lobe, narrow peduncle and wide span, in contrast to classical reconstructions founded on the phylogenetic proximity with much smaller placoderms known from complete specimens. Interestingly, this prediction gains support with the recent discovery of fin distal elements (ceratotrichia) in a well preserved D. terrelli, which suggests a possible greater morphological variability in placoderm caudal fins than previously thought

Prevalence of ICU delirium in postoperative pediatric cardiac surgery patients

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of ICU delirium in children less than 18 years old that underwent cardiac surgery within the last 30 days. The secondary aim of the study was to identify risk factors associated with ICU delirium in postoperative pediatric cardiac surgical patients. DESIGN: A 1-day, multicenter point-prevalence study of delirium in pediatric postoperative cardiac surgery patients. SETTING: Twenty-seven pediatric cardiac and general critical care units caring for postoperative pediatric cardiac surgery patients in North America. PATIENTS: All children less than 18 years old hospitalized in the cardiac critical care units at 06:00 on a randomly selected, study day. INTERVENTIONS: Eligible children were screened for delirium using the Cornell Assessment of Pediatric Delirium by the study team in collaboration with the bedside nurse. MEASUREMENT AND MAIN RESULTS: Overall, 181 patients were enrolled and 40% (n = 73) screened positive for delirium. There were no statistically significant differences in patient demographic information, severity of defect or surgical procedure, past medical history, or postoperative day between patients screening positive or negative for delirium. Our bivariate analysis found those patients screening positive had a longer duration of mechanical ventilation (12.8 vs 5.1 d; p = 0.02); required more vasoactive support (55% vs 26%; p = 0.0009); and had a higher number of invasive catheters (4 vs 3 catheters; p = 0.001). Delirium-positive patients received more total opioid exposure (1.80 vs 0.36 mg/kg/d of morphine equivalents; p \u3c 0.001), did not have an ambulation or physical therapy schedule (p = 0.02), had not been out of bed in the previous 24 hours (p \u3c 0.0002), and parents were not at the bedside at time of data collection (p = 0.008). In the mixed-effects logistic regression analysis of modifiable risk factors, the following variables were associated with a positive delirium screen: 1) pain score, per point increase (odds ratio, 1.3; 1.06-1.60); 2) total opioid exposure, per mg/kg/d increase (odds ratio, 1.35; 1.06-1.73); 3) SBS less than 0 (odds ratio, 4.01; 1.21-13.27); 4) pain medication or sedative administered in the previous 4 hours (odds ratio, 3.49; 1.32-9.28); 5) no progressive physical therapy or ambulation schedule in their medical record (odds ratio, 4.40; 1.41-13.68); and 6) parents not at bedside at time of data collection (odds ratio, 2.31; 1.01-5.31). CONCLUSIONS: We found delirium to be a common problem after cardiac surgery with several important modifiable risk factors