Shell Artefacts and Shell-Working within the Lapita Cultural Complex

Despite a consistent presence in the archaeological record of the Lapita cultural complex, and their omnipresence in the associated literature, the nature and range of shell artefacts recovered from Lapita sites has only been partially summarized at best. Considering the categories of raw material choice, working techniques, formal artefact types and curation, this article summarizes our current knowledge and points to areas for further research

Education and Career Development

This presentation describes educational programs for trainees and faculty that are offered through the UMCCTS

Quiet Lampshade in the Corner? Exploring Fourth Year Nursing Students\u27 Narratives of Transition to Professional Practice

Recruitment and retention issues continue to be prevalent in all domains of nursing practice. Nursing students’ transition into practice is an understudied area of this concern. This study specifically explored the question: How do fourth year nursing students make meaning of their transition to professional practice? Data was collected from twenty-two field note journals and seven face-face interviews emerging from a capstone nursing theory course focused on nursing leadership, relational ethics, complex healthcare contexts and responsive action. For the participants of this study, the meaning of transitioning to practice manifested as: developing complex identity awareness, mediating expectations in the struggle with uncertainty; and longing to belong in the midst of feeling alien. The paper provides recommendations for pedagogical practice and for capacity building to bridge the tensions of the competing discourses of transition to professional practice within complex health care settings. Résumé Les difficultés de recrutement et de rétention continuent d’être répandues dans tous les domaines de la pratique infirmière. La transition des étudiantes infirmières vers la pratique professionnelle est un domaine sous-étudié de cette problématique. Cette étude a exploré plus particulièrement la question suivante : comment des étudiantes de quatrième année en sciences infirmières donnent-elles un sens à leur transition vers la pratique professionnelle? Les données ont été recueillies à partir de vingt-deux journaux de bord et sept entrevues en personne, suite à un cours de synthèse des fondements de la discipline infirmière avec un accent sur le leadership en sciences infirmières, l’éthique relationnelle, les contextes complexes de soins de santé et les actions requises. Les participantes de cette étude donnent les significations suivantes à leur transition vers la pratique : développer une prise de conscience identitaire complexe, gérer les attentes tout en combattant l’incertitude et désirer faire partie du groupe dans un contexte où l’on se sent étranger. L’article fait des recommandations pour la pratique pédagogique et pour le renforcement des capacités afin de combler le fossé entre les deux discours à la base de la transition vers la pratique professionnelle dans des contextes complexes de soins de santé

Taking the Quantum Leap: Arts-Based Learning as a Gateway into Exploring Transition for Senior Nursing Students

In a senior-baccalaureate nursing program, a student’s journey of transition to becoming a Registered Nurse is fraught with institutional and relational tensions. In a fourth-year capstone theory course focused on issues and trends in nursing leadership, we explored these tensions through arts-based learning activities. Through the theoretical lens of Janzen’s (2013) Quantum Perspective of Learning, reflective narratives illuminated student experiences of the transition and into the unknown. Our goal to inspire, to nurture, and to empower students to take their own quantum leaps took them into finite career spaces and the infinite spaces in-between and beyond

Early Lapita subsistence: the evidence from Kamgot, Anir Islands, New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea

Over several decades there has been much discussion regarding the nature of Early Lapita subsistence, and in particular whether domesticated animals and horticulture were central components or whether initial Lapita subsistence strategies relied primarily upon marine resources. Here, we assess the evidence for subsistence during the earlier phases of occupation at Kamgot, Anir Islands, New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, particularly through the lens of terrestrial versus marine components

Recital: Viola Day, April 11, 2010

Kemp Recital HallApril 11, 20104:00 p.m

Vulnerability of Indigenous heritage sites to changing sea levels: Piloting a GIS-based approach in the Illawarra, New South Wales, Australia

Climate change and sea level rise are expected to exacerbate existing coastal hazards such as erosion and inundation. As a result many coastal heritage sites around the world are expected to be put at potential risk of damage or destruction. The likely susceptibility of Australia’s Indigenous coastal heritage sites to these hazards is widely recognised but the sensitivity has not been quantified or analysed in detail. In order to assess the sensitivity of Indigenous coastal heritage sites, coastal indices of sensitivity and vulnerability were adapted to be used in a heritage context with a pilot study undertaken focused on the coastal Illawarra region of southern New South Wales, Australia. Desk based regional models were produced within the ArcGIS program for coastal shorelines in the region with underlying landform sensitivity used as a proxy for heritage site sensitivity. The relative effectiveness of the desk based modelling approach was also examined by ground-truthing of a number of sites analysed in the coastal site sensitivity index. Desk based regional modelling is shown to be a useful tool for planning and conservation management, particularly in directing resources to sites of the highest risk, and informing the direction of more in depth studies into the hazards faced by coastal Indigenous heritage sites

STING-IRF3 pathway links endoplasmic reticulum stress with hepatocyte apoptosis in early alcoholic liver disease

Emerging evidence suggests that innate immunity drives alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and that the interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3),a transcription factor regulating innate immune responses, is indispensable for the development of ALD. Here we report that IRF3 mediates ALD via linking endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress with apoptotic signaling in hepatocytes. We found that ethanol induced ER stress and triggered the association of IRF3 with the ER adaptor, stimulator of interferon genes (STING), as well as subsequent phosphorylation of IRF3. Activated IRF3 associated with the proapoptotic molecule Bax [B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2)-associated X protein] and contributed to hepatocyte apoptosis. Deficiency of STING prevented IRF3 phosphorylation by ethanol or ER stress, and absence of IRF3 prevented hepatocyte apoptosis. The pathogenic role of IRF3 in ALD was independent of inflammation or Type-I interferons. Thus, STING and IRF3 are key determinants of ALD, linking ER stress signaling with the mitochondrial pathway of hepatocyte apoptosis

Genetic characterization of a multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Agona isolated from a dietary supplement in Germany

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Agona has a history of causing food-borne outbreaks and any emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) isolates in novel food products is of concern. Particularly, in food products frequently consumed without sufficient heating prior to consumption. Here, we report about the MDR isolate, 18-SA00377, which had been isolated from a dietary supplement in Germany in 2018 and submitted to the German National Reference Laboratory for Salmonella. WGS-based comparative genetic analyses were conducted to find a potential reservoir of the isolate itself or mobile genetic elements associated with MDR. As a phylogenetic analysis did not yield any closely related S. Agona isolates, either globally or from Germany, a detailed analysis of the largest plasmid (295,499 bp) was performed as it is the main carrier of resistances. A combined approach of long-read and short-read sequencing enabled the assembly of the isolate’s chromosome and its four plasmids. Their characterization revealed the presence of 23 different antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), conferring resistance to 12 different antibiotic drug classes, as well as genes conferring resistance to six different heavy metals. The largest plasmid, pSE18-SA00377-1, belongs to the IncHI2 plasmid family and carries 16 ARGs, that are organized as two distinct clusters, with each ARG associated with putative composite transposons. Through a two-pronged approach, highly similar plasmids to pSE18-SA00377-1 were identified in the NCBI database and a search for Salmonella isolates with a highly similar ARG resistance profile was conducted. Mapping and structural comparisons between pSE18-SA00377-1 and these plasmids and Salmonella isolates showed that both the plasmid backbone and identical or similar ARG clusters can be found not only in Salmonella isolates, originating mostly from a wide variety of livestock, but also in a diverse range of bacterial genera of varying geographical origins and isolation sources. Thus, it can be speculated that the host range of pSE18-SA00377-1 is not restricted to Salmonella and its spread already occurred in different bacterial populations. Overall, this hints at a complex history for pSE18-SA00377-1 and highlights the importance of surveilling multidrug-resistant S. enterica isolates, especially in novel food items that are not yet heavily regulated

Early and Middle Holocene Hunter-Gatherer Occupations in Western Amazonia: The Hidden Shell Middens

We report on previously unknown early archaeological sites in the Bolivian lowlands, demonstrating for the first time early and middle Holocene human presence in western Amazonia. Multidisciplinary research in forest islands situated in seasonally-inundated savannahs has revealed stratified shell middens produced by human foragers as early as 10,000 years ago, making them the oldest archaeological sites in the region. The absence of stone resources and partial burial by recent alluvial sediments has meant that these kinds of deposits have, until now, remained unidentified. We conducted core sampling, archaeological excavations and an interdisciplinary study of the stratigraphy and recovered materials from three shell midden mounds. Based on multiple lines of evidence, including radiocarbon dating, sedimentary proxies (elements, steroids and black carbon), micromorphology and faunal analysis, we demonstrate the anthropogenic origin and antiquity of these sites. In a tropical and geomorphologically active landscape often considered challenging both for early human occupation and for the preservation of hunter-gatherer sites, the newly discovered shell middens provide evidence for early to middle Holocene occupation and illustrate the potential for identifying and interpreting early open-air archaeological sites in western Amazonia. The existence of early hunter-gatherer sites in the Bolivian lowlands sheds new light on the region's past and offers a new context within which the late Holocene "Earthmovers" of the Llanos de Moxos could have emerged. © 2013 Lombardo et al