From Survey Quadrats to Cultural Landscapes: Forty-one Years of the Cedar Mesa Project

The Cedar Mesa Project in SE Utah was inspired by Binford's classic 1964 research design paper. From 1971 to 1975, a stratified probabilistic sampling design guided regional survey, site recording, and site testing in an 800 km2 study area. Population and settlement systems were characterized through time, and their variation related to broad regional climatic and adaptive patterns. Subsequent fieldwork (1984, 1991-92, 2009-2011) and analyses have built on this Binfordian research base to focus on aspects of Cedar Mesa cultural systems, including agricultural dependence, community organization, cultural landscape construction, external relationships (e.g., with Chaco Canyon) and regional depopulation processes

Students’ with Blindness and Visual Impairments Level of Engagement in Science and Engineering Practices

There is a lack of research on science-process skills and abilities of students with blindness and visual impairments to apply those skills (Jones, Forrester, Robertson, Gardner, & Taylor, 2012). This study aims to provide additional information on how students with blindness and visual impairment are engaged in science and engineering practices in order for teachers to gain a better understanding of how students with visual impairments can learn engineering practices. The Student Inquiry Review (Hilson & Wild, 2015) that examines the scientific and engineering practices as defined in the Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts and Core Ideas (National Academy of Sciences, 2012) was used for this study. Specifically, researchers examined the eight defined science and engineering behaviors of students with visual impairments as they were engaged in a science curriculum specifically designed for them

The gut commensal microbiome of Drosophila is modified by the endosymbiont Wolbachia

Endosymbiotic Wolbachia bacteria and the gut microbiome have inde- pendently been shown to affect several aspects of insect biology, including repro- duction, development, life span, stem cell activity, and resistance to human patho- gens, in insect vectors. This work shows that Wolbachia bacteria, which reside mainly in the fly germline, affect the microbial species present in the fly gut in a lab-reared strain. Drosophila melanogaster hosts two main genera of commensal bac- teria—Acetobacter and Lactobacillus. Wolbachia-infected flies have significantly re- duced titers of Acetobacter. Sampling of the microbiome of axenic flies fed with equal proportions of both bacteria shows that the presence of Wolbachia bacteria is a significant determinant of the composition of the microbiome throughout fly de- velopment. However, this effect is host genotype dependent. To investigate the mechanism of microbiome modulation, the effect of Wolbachia bacteria on Imd and reactive oxygen species pathways, the main regulators of immune response in the fly gut, was measured. The presence of Wolbachia bacteria does not induce signifi- cant changes in the expression of the genes for the effector molecules in either pathway. Furthermore, microbiome modulation is not due to direct interaction be- tween Wolbachia bacteria and gut microbes. Confocal analysis shows that Wolbachia bacteria are absent from the gut lumen. These results indicate that the mechanistic basis of the modulation of composition of the microbiome by Wolbachia bacteria is more complex than a direct bacterial interaction or the effect of Wolbachia bacteria on fly immunity. The findings reported here highlight the importance of considering the composition of the gut microbiome and host genetic background during Wolbachia-induced phenotypic studies and when formulating microbe-based disease vector control strategies.1R56AI97589-01A1 - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; 1225360 - National Science Foundatio

How great were the Cedar Mesa great house communities? (Paper)

Fast, N. How great were the Cedar Mesa great house communities? (Paper). Presented at the 76th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Sacramento, CA, March 31, 2011

How great were the Cedar Mesa great house communities?

Fast, N. How great were the Cedar Mesa great house communities? Presented at the 76th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Sacramento, CA, March 31, 2011

How great were Cedar Mesa great house communities, A.D. 1060-1270?

Questions about the structure of ancient communities and the socially constructed landscape have been explored and explained in other parts of the northern Southwest (e.g. Cameron 2009; Gilpin 2003; Kantner and Mahoney 2000; Varien and Wilshusen 2002), but until recently, the size and structure of Pueblo period communities on central Cedar Mesa in southeast Utah have not been intensively investigated. Two great houses --the Et Al and Owen sites-- other landscape features (such as shrines, great kivas, and roads), and numerous residential sites suggest the presence of a substantial ancient community on the mesa, which was part of a larger network of communities in southeast Utah and the Northern San Juan region. This thesis examines three scales of the Pueblo II and Pueblo III period (A.D. 1060-1270) community associated with the Et Al great house-- the first-order community, the community of participation, and the regional community" and proposes that Et Al functioned as a symbol and locus of integration for the Et Al community. Et Al and Owen may also be the material remnants of competition among individuals vying for political power and personal prestige on the mesa top and across the region. Evidence of feasting at publicly used sites provides evidence for both community integration and individual competition. Using previous research in the Northern San Juan, known sites on Cedar Mesa, and site data gathered during the summer of 2011, I describe aspects of the community that utilized the Bullet Canyon drainage and surrounding areas and argue that the inhabitants of Cedar Mesa constructed landscape features which connected them to more widely held Puebloan ideology and cosmology. Et Al and Owen were not anomalous great houses on the margin of the Mesa Verde region, but represent structures used by a substantial community, which was part of a larger network of great house communities in the prehispanic Pueblo world

Double Grade of Professionalization of Teachers? How Research-based Learning in PE Teacher Training Can Contribute to This Theoretical Approach

Einem professionstheoretischen Verständnis folgend gehört ein reflexiv-forschender Habitus ebenso zum Lehrer_innensein wie eine inhaltliche und vermittlungsbezogene Fachkompetenz. Sportstudierende machen in schulischen Praxisphasen allerdings nicht zwangsläufig diese Erfahrung. Darum messen sie der Entwicklung eines solchen Habitus besonders nach Aufenthalten in der Praxis nur eine geringe Bedeutung hinsichtlich ihrer Professionalisierung bei. Diesem Phänomen wird die Notwendigkeit einer doppelten Professionalität entgegengehalten, die über den hochschuldidaktischen Ansatz des Forschenden Lernens angebahnt werden kann. Insbesondere in der Sportlehrer_innenausbildung kann hierüber neben dem Wechsel von der Lernenden- zur Lehrendenperspektive auch der notwendige Rollenwechsel von sportlichen Akteur_innen zu Arrangeur_innen bewegungskultureller Praxis vollzogen werden. Hierfür bedarf es jedoch einer expliziten, frühzeitigen und kontinuierlichen Beschäftigung mit den verschiedenen Kompetenzfeldern: die Thematisierung inhaltlicher sowie vermittlungs- und forschungsmethodischer Fähigkeiten sollten dabei möglichst integrativ geschehen. Der Beitrag spannt den Bogen von theoretischen Ansprüchen über fachspezifische Herausforderungen und Chancen, Forschendes Lernen gelingend zur Professionalisierung beitragen zu lassen bis hin zu praktischen Handlungsempfehlungen zur didaktischen Umsetzung dieses Ansatzes, die aus der Verbindung von den skizzierten theoretischen und eigenen empirischen Befunden abgeleitet werden.  According to a common profession-theoretical understanding, teachers should have at their disposal both a reflective research-driven habitus as well as content-related and didactic professional competence. However, PE stu-dents often do not necessarily experience the need for such double professional-ism in practice, which is why they often attribute little importance to the devel-opment of a research-driven habitus as part of their professionalization. This phenomenon contrasts with the proclaimed need for a double qualification, which can be implemented by the academic didactic approach of research-based learn-ing. Especially in PE teachers’ training, not only the shift from a learner’s to a teachers’ perspective can be achieved through research-based learning, but also the shift of roles from an athlete to a coordinator of motion-cultural activity. However, both shifts require an explicit, early and continuous engagement in the various fields of competences, addressing content-related and didactic skills and research methods from early on. The article discusses theoretical demands and subject-related challenges and opportunities of research-based learning and how it may contribute to professionalization. Finally, practical recommendations for its didactic implementation are addressed, which are derived from a combination of theoretical positions and empirical findings.&nbsp

Investigating "Places of Attraction" on Cedar Mesa, SE Utah: A preliminary report

Poster presented at the Pecos Conference, Pecos National Historic Park, NM, August 201

The Evolution of Telepsychiatry for Substance Use Disorders During COVID-19: a Narrative Review.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This article aims to review and synthesize the current research evidence regarding the efficacy of telepsychiatry-delivered substance use disorder treatment using a narrative review with a focus on the effects of remote healthcare delivery within the substance abuse treatment space. RECENT FINDINGS: The COVID-19 pandemic exerted substantial pressures on all levels of society. Social isolation, loss of employment, stress, physical illness, overburdened health services, unmet medical needs, and rapidly changing pandemic restrictions had particularly severe consequences for people with mental health issues and substance use disorders. Since the start of the pandemic, addiction treatment (and medical treatment overall) using remote health platforms has significantly expanded to different platforms and delivery systems. The USA, in particular, reported transformational policy developments to enable the delivery of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, systemic barriers such as a widespread lack of internet access and insufficient patient and provider digital skills remain. SUMMARY: Overall, telepsychiatry is a promising approach for the treatment of substance use disorders, but more randomized controlled trials are needed in the future to assess the evidence base of available interventions