Archive for March, 2009
Writing as Exploration and Discovery
Freshman composition pedagogy presents an ongoing challenge and concern for universities everywhere — how do we approach the daunting task of preparing students for professional careers in which sophisticated writing skills will necessarily play a crucial role? I argue that the first step for us as teachers must be to enable students to engage in their task as writers with a sense of personal commitment, to allow them space in which they become able to own their writing process. Typically,students tend to think of writing as a chore they must perform to accommodate the predilections of a classroom professor, and satisfy the requirements for a passing grade. During the past three years, I have conducted action research in my work here at Lehigh with the 200+ students who have taken my course, employing an alternate approach to writing pedagogy in my freshman composition and literature classes whereby I strive to inspire and motivate students by encouraging them to choose their own topics for essays.By means of this methodology, students begin to realize that the writing process is one of exploration and discovery; they develop a strong foundation for critical thinking skills, delving into important academic and public policy issues that interest them as individuals; at the same time, through sharing their work with peers,students learn about themselves and others, and develop a deeper appreciation of the infinite nuances involved in verbal and written communication. Because my students realize that writing is ultimately a vehicle for personal expression, they quickly become fully committed to claiming their written work as their own; pride of ownership promotes steady, sustained commitment to improvement, not just during the course of a college career, but throughout a lifetime of professional and individual experience.
Synthesis of hybrid fluorous surfactants and their application as additives for protein renaturation
During the course of our studies with fluorous surfactants, it was discovered that fluorous hybrid detergents show promise as refolding reagents for denatured proteins. To begin to understand this phenomenon, preliminary refolding studies were performed on chemically and thermally denatured bovine carbonic anhydrase (CAB) using a series of hemifluorinated surfactants containing a sulfonate head group. Preliminary data shows that these surfactants provide good refolding yields at low as well as high concentrations of CAB compared to their hydrocarbon analogs. In contrast to traditional surfactants, we discovered that hybrid fluorous surfactants are most efficient at concentrations well below their critical micelle concentrations. This talk will present the synthesis and characterization of various hybrid fluorous surfactants and their utility in the renaturation of various structurally different proteins. The relationship between surfactant structure and efficiency in renaturation will also be discussed.
Free-Solution Comparison of DNA Hybridization using Isothermal Titration Calorimetry and Backscattering Interferometry
The characterization of biomolecular binding interactions is crucial to the understanding of biological processes and comparison of therapeutic efficacies. This study uses the novel technique of backscattering interferometry with an ITC benchmark to examine the impact of surface immobilization and the presence of a labeled probe on binding affinity. Specifically, the binding affinity of DNA hybridization with and without a fluorescent probe will be compared using both free-solution and surface-bound methodologies. The results from these experiments show a significant increase in the binding affinity for free-solution, label-free DNA hybridization compared to fluorescently labeled, surface-bound DNA hybridization. Additionally, the utility of backscattering interferometry will be compared to ITC as an analytical technique for studying various intermolecular interactions.
The Best Laid Plans: Consequences Of Form Preparation In Speech Production
The form preparation procedure reveals the effective units of speech planning. We extend this paradigm to examine the robustness of planning itself and the consequences of planning on plan-external responses.Participants prepared homogeneous sets of four words that shared onsets, or heterogeneous sets, and then were cued to produce these and other unprepared words. Prepared words showed a homogeneity advantage. Unprepared words showed a homogeneity disadvantage. Form preparation is robust and its consequences are revealing.