There\u27s No One Like The Old Folks After All

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Putting Archaeology and Anthropology into Schools: A 2019 Update

Our 2012 article, “Putting Anthropology Into Schools,” argued that integrating anthropology and archaeology into K-12 schools must involve teacher preparation, state certification requirements, and in-service training. National anthropology and archaeology organizations’ decades-long push for the integration of their disciplines into schools was outlined but assessed as relatively limited compared to successful efforts in psychology, sociology, and economics. Some progress did occur, traced primarily to the National Science Foundation and other funders, alongside committed individuals with well-developed curriculum materials. Our 2019 publication includes the original article followed by an UPDATE outlining developments since 2012. Reports from the National Academies and the American Anthropological Association are discussed alongside efforts bythe Society for American Archaeology and the Archaeological Institute of America. Highlights also include initiatives to align anthropology and archaeology with national standards and global education goals; online resources for teachers and homeschooling parents; and informal, out-of-school opportunities including museum programs

A screw syzygy with applications to robot singularity computation

A syzygy is a relation between invariants. In this paper a syzygy is presented between invariants of sequences of six screws under the action of the Euclidean group. This relation is useful in simplifying the computation of the determinant of a robot Jacobian and hence can be used to investigate the singularities of robot manipulators. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008

Introduction to Polynomial Invariants of Screw Systems

Screw systems describe the infinitesimal motion of multi–degree-of-freedom rigid bodies, such as end-effectors of robot manipulators. While there exists an exhaustive classification of screw systems, it is based largely on geometrical considerations rather than algebraic ones. Knowledge of the polynomial invariants of the adjoint action of the Euclidean group induced on the Grassmannians of screw systems would provide new insight to the classification, along with a reliable identification procedure. However many standard results of invariant theory break down because the Euclidean group is not reductive. We describe three possible approaches to a full listing of polynomial invariants for 2–screw systems. Two use the fact that in its adjoint action, the compact subgroup SO(3) acts as a direct sum of two copies of its standard action on R3. The Molien–Weyl Theorem then provides information on the primary and secondary invariants for this action and specific invariants are calculated by analyzing the decomposition of the alternating 2–tensors. The resulting polynomials can be filtered to find those that are SE(3) invariants and invariants for screw systems are determined by considering the impact of the Pl¨ucker relations. A related approach is to calculate directly the decomposition of the symmetric products of alternating tensors. Finally, these approaches are compared with the listing of invariants by Selig based on the existence of two invariant quadratic forms for the adjoint action

Spectroscopic analysis of hot, massive stars in large spectroscopic surveys with de-idealised models

Upcoming large-scale spectroscopic surveys with e.g. WEAVE and 4MOST will provide thousands of spectra of massive stars, which need to be analysed in an efficient and homogeneous way. Usually, studies of massive stars are limited to samples of a few hundred objects which pushes current spectroscopic analysis tools to their limits because visual inspection is necessary to verify the spectroscopic fit. Often uncertainties are only estimated rather than derived and prior information cannot be incorporated without a Bayesian approach. In addition, uncertainties of stellar atmospheres and radiative transfer codes are not considered as a result of simplified, inaccurate or incomplete/missing physics or, in short, idealised physical models. Here, we address the question of "How to compare an idealised model of complex objects to real data?" with an empirical Bayesian approach and maximum a {\it posterior} approximations. We focus on application to large scale optical spectroscopic studies of complex astrophysical objects like stars. More specifically, we test and verify our methodology on samples of OB stars in 30 Doradus region of the Large Magellanic Clouds using a grid of FASTWIND model atmospheres. Our spectroscopic model de-idealisation analysis pipeline takes advantage of the statistics that large samples provide by determining the model error to account for the idealised stellar atmosphere models, which are included into the error budget. The pipeline performs well over a wide parameter space and derives robust stellar parameters with representative uncertainties.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS, 21 pages, 9 figure

Factors Associated with Arkansans’ First Use of Telehealth during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objective. To examine the factors associated with the first use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic using Andersen’s Model of Healthcare Utilization. Andersen’s Model of Healthcare Utilization allowed the categorization of the independent variables into the following: (1) predisposing factors, including sociodemographic variables and health beliefs; (2) enabling factors, including socioeconomic status and access to care; and (3) need for care, including preexisting or newly diagnosed conditions and reasons to seek out care or to utilize a new mode of care. Methods. Potential respondents (n = 4,077) were identified for recruitment from a volunteer registry in Arkansas. Recruitment emails provided a study description, the opportunity to verify meeting the study’s inclusion criteria and to consent for participation, and a link to follow to complete the survey online. The online survey responses were collected between July and August of 2020 (n = 1,137). Results. Telehealth utilization included two categories: (1) utilizers reported the first use of telehealth services during the pandemic, and (2) nonutilizers reported they had never used telehealth. Lower odds of reporting telehealth utilization during the pandemic were associated with race (Black; OR = 0:57, CI [0.33, 0.96]) and education (high School or less; OR = 0:45, CI [0.25, 0.83]). Higher odds of reporting telehealth utilization included having more than one provider (OR = 2:33, CI [1.30, 4.18]), more physical (OR = 1:12, CI [1.00, 1.25]) and mental (OR 1.53, CI [1.24, 1.88]) health conditions, and changes in healthcare delivery during the pandemic (OR = 3:49, CI [2.78, 4.38]). Conclusions. The results illustrate that disparities exist in Arkansans’ utilization of telehealth services during the pandemic. Future research should explore the disparities in telehealth utilization and how telehealth may be used to address disparities in care for Black Arkansans and those with low socioeconomic status

Association between Diagnosed Anxiety and Depression and Exposure to Life Stressors during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Research suggests that mental health disorders heighten the risk of exposure to life stressors. Drawing on a sample of 754 adults from a survey distributed at six primary care clinics, we examine whether adults who reported ever being diagnosed with depression or anxiety were more likely to experience an employment disruption, a housing disruption, and/or report more COVID-19-related stressors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals who reported ever being diagnosed with depression reported a greater burden (B=.75) of COVID-19-related stressors. Those who reported ever being diagnosed with anxiety had higher odds of experiencing an employment disruption (OR=1.90) and a housing disruption (OR=2.92) and reported about one (B=.97) additional COVID-19-related stressor. Our results suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic may have deepened existing mental health disparities by exposing those with a depression or anxiety diagnosis to additional life stressors