Increasing Social Presence Online: Five Strategies for Instructors

As one component of the Community of Inquiry Model, social presence comprises how learners effectively project themselves in a learning environment. Effective cultivation of social presence can lead to more motivated students, success in the class, and, of course, effective online instruction. However, increasing social presence in an online course can be easier said than done. Through a review of literature, this paper briefly overviews the benefits of increased social presence and highlights five research-based strategies for improving social presence in online environments

A community in transition: Analysis of health and well‐being in people living during and following aridification

This paper considers skeletal and dental lesions to assess the effects of aridification on two skeletal samples from the Bronze Age in what is now the United Arab Emirates (UAE), located on the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. This paper hypothesized that the sample from Qarn al-Harf (QAH) Tomb 6 would show a greater prevalence of skeletal and dental lesions in comparison with that from QAH Tomb 5, because QAH Tomb 6 dates to a period of aridification when compared with the wetter Wadi Suq period (~2000 B.C.). The skeletal remains from two tombs from QAH cemetery are studied: one dated to the transition period from the Umm an-Nar to Wadi Suq period (~2000 B.C.) (Tomb 6, n = 141) and one Wadi Suq period tomb (Tomb 5, n = 44; 2000–1600 B.C.). Skeletal and dental lesions, including carious lesions, antemortem tooth loss, dental enamel hypoplasia, periosteal new bone formation, cribra orbitalia, and porotic hyperostosis, were recorded and used to assess differential lived experience. Findings from the two tombs are compared with five contemporary sites of the Umm an-Nar and Wadi Suq periods. Fisher's exact tests found more statistically significant differences in the prevalence of cribra orbitalia (p = 0.0050) and non-adult mortality (p = 0.0118) for the QAH Tomb 6 skeletal sample than that from QAH Tomb 5. No other skeletal or dental lesions were significantly different according to Fisher's exact tests. While not significant, periosteal new bone formation rates in QAH 6 in conjunction with cribra orbitalia rates suggest individuals were experiencing stressors that were not impacting QAH Tomb 5 individuals. Skeletal and dental lesion rates are not directly attributable to climate change; however, we argue that intense aridification around 2000 B.C. caused desiccated crops and an increased reliance on marine sources for QAH Tomb 6. This reliance likely promoted nutritionally deficient diets manifesting as observed higher rates of cribra orbitalia and periosteal new bone formation

A male adult skeleton from the Han Dynasty in Shaanxi, China (202 BC–220 AD) with bone changes that possibly represent spinal tuberculosis

Bioarchaeological data for tuberculosis (TB) have been published very sporadically in China or the rest of East Asia. To explore the history of TB in this area, 85 skeletons excavated from the Liuwei Cemetery in Shaanxi, China (202 BC–220 AD) were macroscopically examined to record TB related bone changes. These skeletons represented inhabitants of Maolingyi, an urban area that had a high population density during the Han Dynasty (202 BC–220 CE). Seventeen of the 85 skeletons had spines that were well enough preserved to observe evidence of spinal disease. Among them, a male skeleton aged around 30 years (M34-E) manifested multiple lytic lesions in the eleventh thoracic to second lumbar vertebral bodies (T11 to L2). TB was considered a possible diagnosis for the spinal lesions observed, with differential diagnoses of brucellosis and typhoid. The dense population and overcrowding in urban Maolingyi were considered the potential social risk factors for TB found at this site. The findings of this study contribute to limited knowledge about the history of TB in East Asia and suggest a relationship between population density and the spread of TB in Maolingyi at that time. However, the lack of published bioarchaeological data of TB in East Asia hinders understanding the transmission of TB within Asia and its link to the rest of the world. Further intensive review of archaeological skeletons in Asia is urgently needed

First archaeological evidence for ginger consumption as a potential medicinal ingredient in a late medieval leprosarium at St Leonard, Peterborough, England

Leprosy was one of the most outwardly visible diseases in the European Middle Ages, a period during which leprosaria were founded to provide space for the sick. The extant documentary evidence for leprosy hospitals, especially in relation to diet, therapeutic, and medical care, is limited. However, human dental calculus stands to be an important source of information as it provides insight into the substances people were exposed to and accumulated in their bodies during their lives. In the present study, microremains and DNA were analysed from the calculus of individuals buried in the late medieval cemetery of St Leonard, a leprosarium located in Peterborough, England. The results show the presence of ginger (Zingiber officinale), a culinary and medicinal ingredient, as well as evidence of consumption of cereals and legumes. This research suggests that affected individuals consumed ingredients mentioned in medieval medical textbooks that were used to treat regions of the body typically impacted by leprosy. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study which has identified Zingiber officinale in human dental calculus in England or on the wider European continent

Ethical considerations and publishing in human bioarcheology

INTRODUCTION: As bioarcheologists and forensic anthropologists, we are writing to highlight the apparent lack of ethical consideration, or mention of ethics, in published papers, especially when publishing on archeological human remains. In many situations, data deriving from excavated human remains provide the deep time perspective relevant to populations today (e.g., Binder et al., 2014). However, bearing in mind current ethical debates around the excavation, analysis, and curation of human remains (e.g., Squires, Errickson, & Márquez-Grant, 2019), and any in the future, we do need to address the ethics surrounding our research and its publication as we go forward

Ethical Considerations and Publishing in Human Bioarchaeology

As bioarchaeologists and forensic anthropologists, we are writing to highlight the apparent lack of ethical consideration, or mention of ethics, in published papers, especially when publishing on archaeological human remains. In many situations, data deriving from excavated human remains provide the deep time perspective relevant to populations today (e.g. Binder, Roberts, Spencer, Antoine & Cartwright, 2014). However, bearing in mind current ethical debates around the excavation, analysis, and curation of human remains (e.g. Squires, Errickson & Márquez-Grant, 2019a), and any in the future, we do need to address the ethics surrounding our research and its publication as we go forward

Transcranial focused ultrasound-mediated neurochemical and functional connectivity changes in deep cortical regions in humans

Low-intensity transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) is an emerging non-invasive technique for focally modulating human brain function. The mechanisms and neurochemical substrates underlying TUS neuromodulation in humans and how these relate to excitation and inhibition are still poorly understood. In 24 healthy controls, we separately stimulated two deep cortical regions and investigated the effects of theta-burst TUS, a protocol shown to increase corticospinal excitability, on the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and functional connectivity. We show that theta-burst TUS in humans selectively reduces GABA levels in the posterior cingulate, but not the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Functional connectivity increased following TUS in both regions. Our findings suggest that TUS changes overall excitability by reducing GABAergic inhibition and that changes in TUS-mediated neuroplasticity last at least 50 mins after stimulation. The difference in TUS effects on the posterior and anterior cingulate could suggest state- or location-dependency of the TUS effect—both mechanisms increasingly recognized to influence the brain’s response to neuromodulation

The Lantern Vol. 4, No. 3, June 1936

• Dr. Omwake as his Friends See Him: A Letter from Dr. James M. Anders ; An Interview with Dean Kline • George Leslie Omwake, Educator and Churchman • The Story of Ursinus • Way Back When • Editorial: We Look Before and After • Reminiscences of an Ex-Storekeeper\u27s Daughter • The Tale of a Toper, or How the Little Stone Went Rolling • Book Review: May I Present? • Time Out, Please • Youth at the Crossroads • Of Candy Bars and Tears • Reflections • To a Star • It Takes Two to Study the Moonhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1008/thumbnail.jp

The Lantern Vol. 4, No. 3, June 1936

• Dr. Omwake as his Friends See Him: A Letter from Dr. James M. Anders ; An Interview with Dean Kline • George Leslie Omwake, Educator and Churchman • The Story of Ursinus • Way Back When • Editorial: We Look Before and After • Reminiscences of an Ex-Storekeeper\u27s Daughter • The Tale of a Toper, or How the Little Stone Went Rolling • Book Review: May I Present? • Time Out, Please • Youth at the Crossroads • Of Candy Bars and Tears • Reflections • To a Star • It Takes Two to Study the Moonhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1008/thumbnail.jp