Online Resources and Accessibility

These screenshots are of Whittier College’s website page titled “Remote Learning” and were captured on October 15th, 2020. The screenshot shows links to online resources so that both faculty and students can find ways to do distance learning during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Examining these links, it is clear that these are tutorials for these online resources as described from the page, so it can be inferred that not all students or faculty were familiar with these resources going into distance learning. These resources also point to common problems that emerged in online learning, such as zoom hackers, as the last link can be inferred to lead to a tutorial on how to maintain the safety of the online classroom

The ‘Evolving’ Classroom Photo Series

This document is a collection of photos taken by students to illustrate the different environments that students did their learning in during the transition to online learning. Pictured are 5 student desks with their interpretations of their spaces and its impacts on their learning. Also in this file is a postcard that was sent to students along with a purple Whittier College cloth mask. The student desks and the postcards encapsulate the new experience of online learning during a global pandemic. The environment students utilize for their learning is significant, as it emphasizes the evolving image of the classroom as a result of Covid-19

Student and Professor Perspectives from The Quaker Campus Website

The Quaker Campus website is rich in material by providing some diverse perspectives from students and faculty in their transition to distance learning during the Spring 2020 and Fall 2020 semesters. Listed in this collection are their responses to the transition to Distance Learning during COVID-19. Let’s examine below some of the perspectives that Whittier College students and professors had about the transition from in-class to online learning platforms such as Zoom

Emails from The Poet Update

In response to the developing concerns from students and faculty, Whittier College began sending out The Poet Update via email as a main source for campus news and information regarding Covid-19. These emails would provide a general update on the college’s approaches to online learning before going into specific changes or answering questions. Sent between March 13th to April 28th, the following emails reveal the plan of action for students and faculty for moving forward, as well as some of the changing conditions regarding student grades, waivers, fees, and matters specifically dealing with the success of students and faculty. Students and Faculty were informed of any information on opportunities for students to engage and stay connected with Whittier College’s essential resources, such as online tutoring, counseling, and academic mentoring

Inside TENT

A prototype zine researched and designed for the Toronto Fringe Festival that showcases the impact of the Theatre Entrepreneurs\u27 Networking and Training program. The zine is a major output from “Mobilizing Social Innovation to Train the Next Generation of Theatre Entrepreneurs,” a multi-year collaboration funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada via the College and Community Social Innovation Fund.https://source.sheridancollege.ca/fhass_creativehumanities/1003/thumbnail.jp

Automated Grain Boundary Detection for Bright-Field Transmission Electron Microscopy Images via U-Net

Quantification of microstructures is crucial for understanding processing-structure and structure-property relationships in polycrystalline materials. Delineating grain boundaries in bright-field transmission electron micrographs, however, is challenging due to complex diffraction contrast in images. Conventional edge detection algorithms are inadequate; instead, manual tracing is usually required. This study demonstrates the first successful machine-learning approach for grain-boundary detection in bright-field transmission electron micrographs. The proposed methodology uses a U-Net convolutional neural network trained on carefully constructed data from bright-field images and hand-tracings available from prior studies, combined with targeted post-processing algorithms to preserve fine features of interest. The image processing pipeline accurately estimates grain-boundary positions, avoiding segmentation in regions with intragrain contrast and identifying low-contrast boundaries. Our approach is validated by directly comparing microstructural markers (i.e., grain centroids) identified in U-Net predictions with those identified in hand tracings; furthermore, the grain size distributions obtained from the two techniques show notable overlap when compared using t-, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, and Cramer-von Mises tests. The technique is then successfully applied to interpret new aluminum film microstructures having different image characteristics from the training data, and preliminary results from Pt and Pd microstructures are presented, highlighting the versatility of our approach for grain-boundary identification in bright-field micrographs

ATP modulates PTEN subcellular localization in multiple cancer cell lines

The tumour suppressor gene PTEN plays an important somatic role in both hereditary and sporadic breast carcinogenesis. While the role of PTEN's lipid phosphatase activity, as a negative regulator of the cytoplasmic phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/Akt pathway is well known, it is now well established that PTEN exists and functions in the nucleus. Multiple mechanisms of regulating PTEN's subcellular localization have been reported. However none are ubiquitous across multiple cancer cell lines and tissue types. We show here that adenosine triphosphate (ATP) regulates PTEN subcellular localization in a variety of different cancer cell lines, including those derived from breast, colon and thyroid carcinomas. Cells deficient in ATP show an increased level of nuclear PTEN protein. This increase in PTEN is reversed when cells are supplemented with ATP, ADP or AMP. In contrast, the addition of the non-hydrolyzable analogue ATPγS, did not reverse nuclear PTEN protein levels in all the cell types tested. To our knowledge, this is the first report that describes a regulation of PTEN subcellular localization that is not specific to one cell line or tissue type, but appears to be common across a variety of cell lineages

Roadmap for the development of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Genitourinary OncoLogy Database—UNC GOLD

The management of genitourinary malignancies requires a multidisciplinary care team composed of urologists, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists. A genitourinary (GU) oncology clinical database is an invaluable resource for patient care and research. Although electronic medical records provide a single web-based record used for clinical care, billing and scheduling, information is typically stored in a discipline-specific manner and data extraction is often not applicable to a research setting. A GU oncology database may be used for the development of multidisciplinary treatment plans, analysis of disease-specific practice patterns, and identification of patients for research studies. Despite the potential utility, there are many important considerations that must be addressed when developing and implementing a discipline-specific database

Oral Histories of Professors and Faculty Regarding Online Learning

This collection of oral histories were taken from a number of faculty at Whittier College regarding their experiences and perspectives with online learning. Within these interviews, there are the testimonies of; Alondra Morales, Assistant Director at CAAS; Dr. Rosemary Carbine, professor of Religious Studies; and Dr. Jose Orozco, professor of History. These perspectives span across disciplines in order to represent the difficulties, successes, and concerns of different departments to see how Covid-19 and the transition to online learning have impacted them

A Cryogenic Milling Method to Fabricate Nanostructured Anodes

Cryogenic milling was demonstrated as a new and facile method to fabricate nanostructured battery electrode materials. SnSb anode material with 1.2 wt% graphite was selected as a model system to demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of this method. Ball milling at a cryogenic temperature can suppress cold welding, exfoliate bulk graphite powder into nanoplatelets, and evenly disperse them between the grains. Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and post-cycling scanning electron microscopy showed refined grain sizes and well-dispersed carbon nanoplatelets, which can stabilize the nanostructure and alleviate volume expansion and cracking upon cycling. The cryomilled SnSb-C composite anode showed a reversible volumetric capacity of 1842 Ah/L, average coulombic efficiency of 99.6 ± 0.3%, and capacity retention of 90% over 100 cycles. The cryomilled sample showed improved electrochemical performance compared to the conventional ball milled specimen. This new method of cryogenic milling can produce various other high-performance nanostructured electrode materials