Stonehenge and Middle to Late Neolithic cremation rites in mainland Britain (c. 3500-2500 BC)

This thesis examines the role of cremation in the Middle to Late Neolithic mortuary and funerary practices in mainland Britain between 3500–2500 BC. It is based on analysing osteological, contextual and chronological data to produce a comprehensive dataset of cremated human bones from mainland Britain. The funerary and mortuary rites in the Early Neolithic (c.4000-3500 BC) are characterised by their diverse variety in location and method of decomposition; however, most archaeologically visible rites contained collective male inhumations within rectangular monuments. During the Middle Neolithic (c.3500-3000 BC), this funerary rite shifted towards an emphasis on individual burials, and a rise in cremation cemeteries in association with circular monuments. By the Late Neolithic (c.3000-2500 BC), cremation was the dominant funerary rite mainly represented by token deposits within or near circular monuments (such as henges, stone/timber circles, pit circles and enclosures). Formal inhumation burials re-appeared in the Chalcolithic (c. 2200-2000 BC) and Beaker (c.2500-1850 BC) periods by continuing to construct (and often re-use) traditional forms of circular monuments. Cremation continued alongside these burials and were deposited in either specifically-made cremation cemeteries or into monuments as secondary deposits. This study found a high prevalence of female cremated remains within circular monuments throughout the Middle and Late Neolithic. This indicates that a shift in socio-political beliefs transpired at a time when paleoclimatic conditions fluctuated, the population sharply decreased, and a reliance on wild plant foods (rather than cultivated cereals) resulting in widespread cultural and funerary change. The number of recovered cremations (and indeed inhumations) accounts for only a small proportion of the Neolithic population, suggesting cremation was used for specific members of society and that the majority of the population was disposed of in some other, archaeologically invisible, way

Orthography development for Darma (The case that wasn’t)

As the discipline of language documentation and description evolves, so do the expectations placed on researchers. Current trends emphasize collaborative efforts that prioritize tangible contributions to the community, such as a pedagogical grammar, dictionary, or collection of texts. Some argue that for unwritten languages orthography development is imperative so that materials prepared by the researcher (perhaps in collaboration with the community) are accessible to speakers. In light of the current discussions of methodology and ethical issues related to endeavors to document and describe the world’s languages, this paper explores the challenges faced by a single researcher (the author) working on a single language (Darma) within a multilingual setting (in India). This project emphasizes ethnographic and discourse-centered research methodologies which reveal language ideologies that are discussed here to demonstrate that while orthography development is a reasonable objective in many cases, one must be sensitive to a variety of interconnecting issues including history, social relationships, language ideology, and local politics associated with writing and education. While orthography development has not been a viable option in the Darma Documentation and Description Project, it is nevertheless a matter that needs to be addressed for the benefit of the community as well as ongoing discussions of methodology and best practices in linguistic and anthropological research

Exploring Digital Health Promotion and Education in East Texas: Pathways to Improving Access

Purpose: Technology is an important part of healthcare in the United States. There are opportunities for a better understanding of how technology and digital health can improve health and healthcare. The purpose of this study was to answer two research questions. The first research question was, what is the understanding of digital health in the community? The second research question was, what is the knowledge of digital health in the community. These research questions may inform how health professionals address the issue of electronic health records, digital health, and the implications for technology. Methods: Using a convenience sample, participants were recruited to answer an online survey to identify knowledge and understanding of technology, digital health, and a better understanding of health. Participants were able to opt into or out of the survey. The data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel and evaluated with descriptive statistics. Results: The sample size of 14 is small. Results identified that participants were not fully embracing of health technologies. The data indicated that participants were not fully accepting of technology and digital health. Conclusions: Further research should be conducted to obtain a larger sample size. Healthcare professionals have a responsibility to plan interventions to educate the community about health and health technologies. Qualitative and mixed-method studies can add to what is known about health and healthcare technology and digital health resources. Recommendations: It is recommended that interventions be targeted to educate the East Texas population about electronic health resources, telehealth/telemedicine, and technologies that can support health. This article was published in Journal of Health Education Teaching, 2020; 11(1), 32-42. ISSN: 2333-4851. The article is Creative Commons licensed (CC-BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.https://openriver.winona.edu/educationeddfacultyworks/1019/thumbnail.jp

Documenting One Language in a Multi-Lingual Community

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Ytterbium-doped Fiber-seeded Thin-disk Master Oscillator Power Amplifier Laser System

Lasers which operate at both high average power and energy are in demand for a wide range of applications such as materials processing, directed energy and EUV generation. Presented in this dissertation is a high-power 1 μm ytterbium-based hybrid laser system with temporally tailored pulse shaping capability and up to 62 mJ pulses, with the expectation the system can scale to higher pulse energies. This hybrid system consists of a low power fiber seed and pre-amplifier, and a solid state thin-disk regenerative amplifier. This system has been designed to generate high power temporally tailored pulses on the nanosecond time scale. Temporal tailoring and spectral control are performed in the low power fiber portion of the system with the high pulse energy being generated in the regenerative amplifier. The seed system consists of a 1030 nm fiber-coupled diode, which is transmitted through a Mach-Zehnder-type modulator in order to temporally vary the pulse shape. Typical pulses are 20-30 ns in duration and have energies of ~0.2 nJ from the modulator. These are amplified in a fiber pre-amplifier stage to ~100 nJ before being used to seed the free-space Yb:YAG thin-disk regenerative amplifier. Output pulses have maximum demonstrated pulse energies of 62 mJ with 20 ns pulse after ~250 passes in the cavity. The effects of thermal distortion in laser and passive optical materials are also. Generally the development of high power and high energy lasers is limited by thermal management strategies, as thermally-induced distortions can degrade laser performance and potentially cause catastrophic damage. Novel materials, such as optical ceramics, can be used to mitigate thermal distortions; however, thorough analysis is required to optimize their fabrication and minimize thermal distortions. iv Using a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (SHWFS), it is possible to analyze the distortion induced in passive and doped optical elements by high power lasers. For example, the thin-disk used in the regenerative amplifier is examined in-situ during CW operation (up to 2 kW CW pump power). Additionally, passive oxide-based optical materials and Yb:YAG optical ceramics are also examined by pumping at 2 and 1 μm respectively to induce thermal distortions which are analyzed with the SHWFS. This method has been developed as a diagnostic for the relative assessment of material quality, and to grade differences in ceramic laser materials associated with differences in manufacturing processes and/or the presence of impurities. In summation, this dissertation presents a high energy 1 μm laser system which is novel in its combination of energy level and temporal tailoring, and an analysis of thermal distortions relevant to the development of high power laser systems

ASEE Support to Student Veterans: Results of a 2018 ASEE Leadership Roundtable

As industry demands for qualified science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workers continue to increase, supporting diverse groups of students towards success in STEM may help mitigate future shortfalls in the STEM workforce. Education benefits like the post 9/11 GI Bill may provide a viable pathway for increasing the STEM-qualified, engineering technician, engineering technologist, and engineer (ETETE) workforce through the nation’s veteran population. Supporting student veterans along ETETE pathways may involve three key tasks: 1) building early awareness of ETETE pathways; 2) ensuring academic recognition for prior military work experience; and 3) providing seamless support from government agencies, academic institutions, and industry. Student veterans follow non-traditional education pathways and bring with them a wealth of diverse life experiences. Correspondingly, the growing number of veterans pursuing STEM degrees, and the diversity of this underserved group of students continues to gain the attention of faculty, administrators, and national organizations. To bolster ASEE’s support for many diverse groups to include student veterans in ETETE pathways, the ASEE president commissioned a series of leadership roundtables during the 2018 ASEE National Conference and Exposition. There, roundtables were tasked with making recommendations regarding how ASEE can support engineering education, relevant diversity research, and engagement of these diverse communities in society activities. The purpose of this paper is to report the results of the 2018 ASEE Student Veteran Leadership roundtable. This roundtable brought together a diverse group of veterans, engineering educators, and engineering student veteran researchers. Through a series of ideation exercises and discussions, the group examined the challenges student veterans traditionally face, on-going support initiatives at their home institutions, and recommended actions for ASEE to pursue in the years ahead. The topics discussed during the panel are related to previous research about the challenges faced by veteran students beyond ETETE career paths. A series of novel initiatives are presented that may assist ASEE and university administrators more broadly in adopting a fresh approach to veteran student support

Evidence and patterns of tuna spawning inside a large no-take marine protected area

© The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Hernandez, C. M., Witting, J., Willis, C., Thorrold, S. R., Llopiz, J. K., & Rotjan, R. D. Evidence and patterns of tuna spawning inside a large no-take marine protected area. Scientific Reports, 9(1), (2019): 10772, doi:10.1038/s41598-019-47161-0.The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), one of the world’s largest marine protected areas, represents 11% of the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Kiribati, which earns much of its GDP by selling tuna fishing licenses to foreign nations. We have determined that PIPA is a spawning area for skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis), bigeye (Thunnus obesus), and yellowfin (Thunnus albacares) tunas. Our approach included sampling larvae on cruises in 2015–2017 and using a biological-physical model to estimate spawning locations for collected larvae. Temperature and chlorophyll conditions varied markedly due to observed ENSO states: El Niño (2015) and neutral (2016–2017). However, larval tuna distributions were similar amongst years. Generally, skipjack larvae were patchy and more abundant near PIPA’s northeast corner, while Thunnus larvae exhibited lower and more even abundances. Genetic barcoding confirmed the presence of bigeye (Thunnus obesus) and yellowfin (Thunnus albacares) tuna larvae. Model simulations indicated that most of the larvae collected inside PIPA in 2015 were spawned inside, while stronger currents in 2016 moved more larvae across PIPA’s boundaries. Larval distributions and relative spawning output simulations indicated that both focal taxa spawned inside PIPA in all 3 study years, demonstrating that PIPA is protecting viable tuna spawning habitat.Funding and support was provided by the PIPA Trust, Waitt and Oceans5 Foundations, Sea Education Association, the Prince Albert of Monaco Foundation II, New England Aquarium, and Boston University to R.R. and J.W. C.H. was additionally supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. J.L. was additionally supported by NOAA through the Cooperative Institute for the North Atlantic Region (CINAR) under Cooperative Agreement NA14OAR4320158 in the form a CINAR Fellow Award, as well as by the WHOI Academic Programs Office. We thank A. Breef-Pilz for onboard sampling assistance, as well as S. Glancy, J. Pringle, E. Martin, J. Fisher, H. Goss, J. Jaskiel, S. Sheehan, and C. Moller for lab assistance. We thank the PIPA Trust and the PIPA Implementation Office for their support, as well as on-ship Kiribati Observers for their support and assistance: Tekeua Auatabu, Iannang Teaioro, Toaea Beiateuea, Taremon Korere, Kareati Waysang, and Moamoa Kabuati. We thank Q. Hanich for reading sections of this paper in advance. This research was conducted under Kiribati and PIPA permits PRP #s 3/17, 1/16, and 2/15 to JW

Archive and database architecture and usability

Presentation for the 2017 Symposium on Developing Infrastructure for Computational Resources on South Asian Languages. This presentation discusses the use of a database for language archiving through the example of Himalayan Tibeto-Burman languages

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy of copper with a 2 mu m thulium fiber laser

We report the first implementation of a 2 mu m thulium fiber laser in a Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy system. Emission from plasma on copper samples was analyzed from 200 to 900 nm. The low ablation fluence ( \u3c 100 J.cm(-2)) and 200 ns pulse duration lead to a plasma with neither continuum emission, nor air emission in the near-infrared region