A PROENVIRONMENTAL VALUE CONSTRUCT TO DEAL WITH PLASTIC POLLUTION

Plastics are man-made synthetic materials. They are made mostly from crude oil even though natural gas and coal could also be used for manufacturing plastics. The multiplicity of its uses together with its versatile properties has made it indispensable to modern living. The average life of plastics differs in various industrial sectors. The generation of waste depends on the mean-product lifetime of the product into which plastics have been integrated. And when this waste is not handled properly (recycled or incinerated under controlled environment), the problem of pollution emerges. Plastics in the form of microplastics have been found in food chains as well, threatening human wellbeing. A model to better understand the source - use and afteruse of plastics is the central focus of this article. It looks at the need for building a sustainable model to deal with plastic pollution.

It’s What’s on the Inside That Counts: Analyzing Student Use of Sources in Composition Research Papers

Objective – This study is designed to discover what kinds of sources are cited by composition students in the text of their papers and to determine what types of sources are used most frequently. It also examines the relationship of bibliographies to in-text citations to determine whether students “pad” their bibliographies with traditional academic sources not used in the text of their papers. Methods – The study employs a novel method grounded in multidisciplinary research, which the authors used to tally 1,652 in-text citations from a sample of 71 student papers gathered from English Composition II courses at three universities in the United States. These data were then compared against the papers’ bibliographic references, which had previously been categorized using the WHY Method. Results – The results indicate that students rely primarily on traditional academic and journalistic sources in their writing, but also incorporate a significant and diverse array of other kinds of source material. The findings identify a strong institutional effect on student source use, as well as the average number and type of in-text citations, which demographic characteristics do not explain. Additionally, the study demonstrates that student bibliographies are highly predictive of in-text source selection, and that students do not exhibit a pattern of “padding” bibliographies with academic sources. Conclusion – The data warrant the conclusions that an understanding of one’s own institution is vitally important for effective work with students regarding their source selection, and that close analysis of student bibliographies gives an unexpectedly reliable picture of the types and proportions of sources cited in student writing.

Mycorrhizal symbiosis changes host nitrogen source use

Purpose The ecological importance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in plant acquisition of inorganic and organic sources of nitrogen (N) is not clear. To improve understanding of the plant N nutrition ecology, we tested the effect of intraspecific competition and AMF in plant N source use in growth and N acquisition. Methods Solidago virgaurea was grown in microcosms in a fully factorial experiment under greenhouse conditions. The factors tested were intraspecific competition between seedlings and adult plants (yes, no), N source (NH4, glycine) and AMF (inoculated with Glomus hoi, not inoculated). Results When grown separately, non-mycorrhizal seedling growth was highest when grown with ammonium, but non-mycorrhizal adults grew best with glycine as the sole N source. Mycorrhizal symbiosis with Glomus hoi evened out this initial niche partitioning in terms of differences in N source use and all mycorrhizal plants grew best with ammonium. Competition shaped plant benefit from mycorrhizal symbiosis depending on the N source. Competition reduced mycorrhizal growth benefit in glycine-grown seedlings, but not in adults. Plant performance did not show uniform relationship with δ15N, but δ15N was affected by life stage, competition and mycorrhiza. Conclusions Plant competition and AMF shape plant N source use. Plant and AMF benefit of the symbiosis depend on the N source.

1283. High Dose Minocycline for the Treatment of Acinetobacter Infections

Background Acinetobacter (ACB) infections are difficult to treat due to increasing drug resistance. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of high-dose (HD) minocycline (MIN) 200mg q12h for the treatment of ACB infections Methods This is a retrospective study of pts with ACB from 1/1/19 to 10/31/20. Exclusions included non-susceptibility to MIN, age < 18 yrs, hospice care w/in 72 hrs of culture, or urine source. Use of HD MIN (IV or PO), was compared to alternative treatment (AT). Clinical and micro success at the end of therapy (EOT) was evaluated. Clinical success was elimination or improvement in signs and symptoms of infection. Micro success was eradication of ACB from the same site of infection at EOT. Length of stay (LOS), 30-day readmission (with or without ACB), isolation of a MIN non-susceptible ACB within 30 days of EOT, and adverse events related to MIN, were evaluated. Results A total of 320 pts were screened with the most common exclusion being MIN non-susceptible isolate. Of the 204 pts included, 38 received HD MIN and 166 received AT. The most common were cefepime (53/166) and meropenem (36/166). Median age (IQR) was 41 (30-50) yrs for HD MIN vs. 40 (27-48) yrs for AT. Both groups were mostly male (HD MIN: 63% vs. AT: 60%) and respiratory was the most common site (HD MIN: 61% vs. AT: 60%). HD MIN group had 74% of cultures that were polymicrobial vs. 86% in AT group. Lack of clinical response at the EOT occurred in 42% of pts on HD MIN and 37% on AT. Infection related mortality occurred in 24% on HD MIN vs. 15% on AT. In HD MIN group, 16 pts had a repeat culture from the same site after treatment with 25% still positive for ACB. In the AT group 61 pts had a repeat culture and 28% were positive for ACB. Duration of treatment (9 [6-11] days vs. 10 [2-18] days) and LOS (16 [18.25-26.75] vs. 29 [14-49]) were shorter in the HD MIN group. There was only one adverse event reported with the use of HD MIN Conclusion Pts in the HD MIN group had shorter treatment duration and a shorter LOS. Pts who received HD MIN had a lower rate of clinical cure and a higher mortality rate compared to pts in the AT group. Reasons for this difference will need to be investigated further. HD MIN should be reserved for pts who are unable to tolerate other treatment options or who have an ACB resistant to other treatment options. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

Examining EFL learners’ source text use in summary writing

To avoid plagiarism, students have to learn the appropriate and effective ways of source text use, such as paraphrasing, summarizing, and citation. However, few studies have investigated how learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) employ copy and paraphrase as source text use strategies in completing writing tasks involving reading material, and how characteristics of the reading material, such as genre, affect such use. This article reports an empirical study that attempted to address the issue. Eighty students from an undergraduate program of a Chinese university wrote summaries for a narrative text and an expository text. Their drafts and the source texts are compared to identify instances of retention of strings of words from sources. Analysis of the summary scripts showed that participants heavily relied on the source texts when writing summaries. The expository text elicited a larger proportion of words than the narrative text in total text borrowed, and the former also led the participants to stronger reliance on its surface structure than the latter. The less proficient group used Exact Copy more but Paraphrase less than the more proficient group. Higher level of source use – Major Paraphrase and Maximal Paraphrase – seems to be immune to changes in terms of genre of source text and language proficiency. Implications of these findings are discussed with reference to the teaching, learning, and assessing appropriate source text use of university level EFL learners.

Information Source Use and Social Media Engagement: Examining their Effects on Origin of COVID-19 Beliefs

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), a highly infectious virus transmitted through droplets from sneezes and coughs, was declared a global pandemic in 2020. Measures implemented by organizations as a result of COVID-19 were controversial among United States (U.S.) citizens. Perceptions of governmental and scientific information further divided U.S. citizens and distrust in science fostered conspiratorial thinking toward the origin of the virus. The purpose of this study was to determine if critical thinking style (CTS), the use of COVID-19 information sources, and social media connections were predictors of origin of COVID-19 beliefs. A survey was disseminated to 1,048 U.S. adults in May 2020 when most states were under shelter-in-place orders. Results indicated select COVID-19 information sources used and social media connections predicted origin of COVID-19 beliefs. CTS was not a significant predictor. Findings revealed a partisan divide between COVID-19 information sources. Implications for science communicators engaging the public during crisis were discussed.

Device Simulation of The GeSe Homojunction And vdW GeSe/GeTe Heterojunction TFETs For High-Performance Application

Compared with a 2D homogeneous channel, the introduction of a 2D/2D homojunction or heterojunction is a promising method to promote the performance of a TFET mainly by controlling the tunneling barrier. We simulate the 10-nm-Lg double-gated GeSe homojunction TFETs and vdW GeSe/GeTe heterojunction TFETs using the ab initio quantum transport calculations. Two constructions are considered for both the homojunction and heterojunction TFETs by placing the BL GeSe and vdW GeSe/GeTe heterojunction as the source or drain while the channel and the remaining drain or source use ML GeSe. The on-state current (Ion) of the optimal n-type BL-ML GeSe source homojunction TFET and the optimal p-type vdW GeSe/GeTe drain heterojunction TFET are 2320 and 2387 μA μm-1, respectively, which are 50% and 64% larger than Ion of the ML GeSe homogeneous TFET. Inspiringly, the device performances (Ion, intrinsic delay time τ, and power delay product PDP) of both the optimal n-type GeSe homojunction and p-type vdW GeSe/GeTe heterojunction TFETs meet the requirement of the International Roadmap for Device and Systems high-performance device for the year of 2034 (2020 version).

Foregrounding learner voice: Chinese undergraduate students’ understanding of paraphrasing and source use conventions for English research paper writing

We examined how a group of Chinese undergraduate students understood paraphrasing and source use conventions for research paper writing in English. Prior scholarship has generated valuable insights about novice second language (L2) writers’ unconventional source use practices, but little is known about how these writers interpret and understand source use expectations for English academic writing. We followed a group of nine Chinese undergraduate students for an academic term as they learned to paraphrase and write with sources for their research paper assignments. Drafts of students’ papers were collected and rounds of text-based interviews were conducted where students were asked to explain their source use decisions. Findings showed that the students actively and constantly referenced their source use knowledge of Chinese essay writing to help make sense of source use expectations for English academic writing, although their understanding of English academic source use as well as their rendition of culture may likely be viewed by expert academic writers as ‘insufficient’ or ‘inadequate’. We conclude by highlighting the importance of foregrounding learner voice and acknowledging the legitimacy of the interpretations of novice L2 writers as intercultural informants in the teaching of English academic source use.