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The influence of self-compassion on binge eating and internalized weight bias in men: an ecological momentary assessment study
Full text linkPrior research has identified self-compassion as a mechanism that may improve disordered eating, alleviate binge eating, and improve an individual’s ability to regulate emotions during challenges and adversity. Despite evidence supporting self-compassion as a skill that can improve disordered eating, few studies have adequately sampled men and examined this trend among men who binge eat. This project had two primary objectives: 1) examine between and within-subject self-compassion and how it influences momentary binge eating and internalized weight bias; 2) elucidate the relationship between binge eating behaviors, self-compassion, and internalized weight bias in men who binge eat. This project aimed to achieve these objectives by assessing self-compassion and its influence on binge eating behaviors and internalized weight bias (IWB) using a 1-week, single-wave, ecological momentary assessment (EMA) design: study 1) assess the impact of momentary self-compassion (IV) on binge eating behaviors at the following prompt (DV) with adverse childhood experiences and drive for muscularity as moderators while controlling for BMI, age, race, and ethnicity; study 2) examine the between and within-subject effects of self-compassion on IWB controlling for BMI, age, race, and ethnicity, with adverse childhood experiences and drive for muscularity as moderators; and study 3) to examine the indirect effects of the relationships among self-compassion, internalized weight bias, and binge eating. More specifically, we assessed if self-compassion moderates the relationship between internalized weight bias and binge eating. Generalized estimating equations were used to determine the impact of momentary self-compassion on binge eating behaviors and internalized weight bias. To examine if self-compassion moderates internalized weight bias and binge eating, the third and final study utilized IWB (IV) and self-compassion (moderator) at time 1 and binge eating (DV) at time 2 (at a prompt where it is next reported) in the model. Time 1 (IWB as IV and self-compassion as moderator) indicated the most proximal momentary assessment preceding a report of binge eating. Time 2 was a prompt where binge eating was reported. Across three studies, self-compassion appears to play a crucial role in reducing momentary binge eating and internalized weight bias in men
Locking down the dust: exploring the association between Coccidioides posadasii and biological soil crusts
Full text linkValley fever, or coccidioidomycosis, is the disease caused by two endemic soil-inhabiting fungal pathogens, Coccidioides immitis and C. posadasii, found throughout arid regions of the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central, and South America. Humans and other animals contract the disease through the inhalation of infectious spores (arthroconidia) from the environment, and 40% of exposed individuals develop symptoms ranging from mild pneumonia to severe disseminating disease that could lead to death if untreated. There has been little effort to reduce exposure to Valley fever through environmental remediation and restoration of natural soil communities. Biological soil crusts (biocrust) are communities of cyanobacteria, lichens, mosses, liverworts, and many other microorganisms that live in and bind the top mineral soil layer in dryland ecosystems. These communities provide critical ecosystem functions including C and N fixation, soil stability against wind and water erosion, hydrological cycling, and thermo-tolerance. Restoration of biocrust in areas of high Coccidioides endemism could reduce Valley fever incidence via several mechanisms: 1) stabilizing the soil surface with biocrust should reduce the potential of Coccidioides arthroconidia to aerosolize and reduce fungal burden in the airborne dust; (2) directly decreasing the abundance of Coccidioides by changing the soil habitat to be less favorable for its growth, and/or (3) decreasing the abundance of Coccidioides indirectly by creating antagonism or competition from a more diverse and active soil microbiome. Our overarching research objective is to determine if soil remediation with biocrust can reduce the occurrence of Coccidioides spp. in the air and/or soil by stabilizing the soil surface, reducing associated dust, and increasing below-ground microbial competition. For the current study, I took the following approaches to address the above questions. In the field, biocrust restoration plots were sampled as well as neighboring rodent burrows for the detection of Coccidioides spp. All restoration plots had no detection of Coccidioides spp. while 10% of rodent burrows surrounding the restoration site were positive, indicating Coccidioides spp. is found in the area, and soils are more likely negative where biocrust is present. An in vitro preliminary experiment was conducted to test if biocrust reduced arthroconidia aerosolization between three treatment groups: no biocrust, disturbed biocrust, and full biocrust coverage. These findings provide evidence that restoration of natural dryland communities can decrease the human fungal pathogen burden in soil and dust. Management practices that reduce the disruption of soil surfaces and/or restore disturbances with biocrust may reduce the abundance of airborne soil pathogens, and thus reduce the spread of endemic pathogen ranges
Deep learning-based coarse woody debris biomass estimation from mobile lidar
Full text linkCoarse woody debris is essential to the structure and function of forested ecosystems. It plays a role in carbon and nutrient cycling, soil health, and hydrological processes, and it provides a heterogeneous substrate for the development of forest soils, wildlife habitats, forest regeneration, and fire processes. Accurate coarse woody debris loading values are necessary to model fire behavior and calculate carbon budgets. Line-intercept methods, specifically Brown’s transects, are the most commonly used methods for measuring coarse woody debris. While this method is fast, it is also labor intensive, especially in rough terrain and where access is limited. Brown’s transects also cannot capture the variability of coarse woody debris biomass within a forest stand, which is the scale at which most fuel treatments occur. Advancements in remote sensing have opened new avenues for measuring forest biomass at larger scales and with finer resolutions. Mobile Lidar scanning (MLS) collects high-resolution 3D structural data of forest plots, which enables actual volumetric calculations instead of relying on geometric approximations. This technology can potentially conduct forest structural inventories that are competitive with fixed-area sampling methods in the time it takes to collect Brown’s transects. However, this requires segmentation methods that distinguish vegetation from stems and coarse woody debris from the ground. The Forest Structure Complexity Tool (FSCT) is the first open-source program using deep learning to do just that. To assess this tool’s performance on coarse woody debris segmentation, which is the most notable weakness of FSCT, we compared the original model and a model that we retrained for our study site to Brown’s transect and fixed-area plot measurements in the dry mixed-conifer and ponderosa pine forests on Mogollon Rim, AZ. Linear models fit to the original, untrained model predictions and field observed coarse woody debris loads produced R2 values of 0.37 and 0.62 for ponderosa and dry mixed-conifer, respectively, and 0.38 and 0.45 for our retrained model, suggesting FSCT could be ready-to-use without the need for any user-defined parameters or tedious retraining steps. While Brown's transects overestimated mean coarse woody debris loads by 15.8% and 84.8% for ponderosa and dry mixed-conifer, respectively, FSCT underestimated these coarse woody debris biomass, with the original model underestimating by 19.5% and 10.7%, and the retrained model by 22.6% and 51.8%. We determined that for our study site, FSCT was able to provide estimates of coarse woody debris loading that aligned well with current field sampling methods. While FSCT needs to be tested and retained in more conditions, this tool may allow managers to utilize MLS technology for accurate coarse woody debris measurements
The role of academic optimism in high-achieving, low socioeconomic schools
Full text linkAcademic optimism is a construct which was conceptualized to explain specific aspects of school culture. The construct comprises three main components and is based on positive psychology, optimism, and social capital (Hoy et al., 2006). The three main sub-concepts are collective efficacy, academic emphasis, and faculty trust. The construct consists of behavioral (academic emphasis), cognitive (collective efficacy), and affective (faculty trust) elements (Woolfolk Hoy, 2012). The three factors have interdependent relationships, supporting one another (Kirby & DiPaola, 2009). This study uses the lens of academic optimism to explore the beliefs and experiences within two schools with high student achievement and low socioeconomic status students. This study uses the case study method to examine two schools that have low socioeconomic status and high student achievement. The findings revealed that both schools had high levels of academic optimism according to the School Academic Optimism Survey as well as the investigator’s qualitative findings. The study revealed that the attributes of high-performing, low-socioeconomic-status schools are varied, but some common elements existed between the two schools studied. They both display high levels of academic optimism as measured by the SAOS. They both have procedures that are focused on guiding instruction with assessment data. These schools focus on cultivating a robust academic culture and strong relationships with their students' families. Both schools have systems in place to support struggling learners and accelerate higher achieving students. Western Elementary School did so through their NIET systems, while Juniper Elementary School used an MTSS process to support these different needs. The findings also revealed that academic optimism was observed and frequently demonstrated within the two schools studied. Teachers and principals alike spoke about their commitment to excellence in academics (academic emphasis), their strategies to overcome challenges and grow as educators (collective efficacy), and their commitment to strong relationships with families and students (faculty trust)
Non-native English-speaking, English as a second language teachers’ multilevel experiences and professional identity development: a multiple-case study
Full text linkIn recent decades, a growing interest in studies of teacher identity in the field of English as a second language (ESL) teacher education research has developed. In order to better understand issues in teacher education, researchers need to explore how teacher identities are developed through the negotiations of their experiences. This study frames teacher identity development based on Dewey’s philosophy of education and experience and other identity research, aiming to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the interplays between teachers’ multilevel experiences and professional identity development. Using identity as a tool to analyze teachers’ stories provides additional lenses to understand the interactions between teachers’ inner selves and external worlds across time and space. The findings of three non-native English-speaking (NNES) ESL teachers’ stories highlighted three dimensions – temporality, sociality, and rationality – in the complex process of teacher identity development. The temporal dimension helps to understand a teacher’s present and imagined identities through exploring their past experiences. In addition, the three teachers’ stories highlighted the ways in which their imagined identities created motivation to actively engage with professional growth to become the teachers they desire or are expected to be. The teachers’ stories about the rewarding moments demonstrated how their career commitment was enhanced by positive teaching experiences. Moreover, the findings suggest that teachers’ transcultural and transnational educational and teaching experiences can create both constraints and affordances for their professional identity development. The three participating teachers’ stories showcased that their negotiations of experiences and active positioning of selves were at the core of teacher identity development. The findings of this study offer suggestions for teacher educators working with teachers from diverse backgrounds and provide future directions for teacher education researchers to further support the development of teacher identity. I offer new ways of interpreting identity for teacher educators and teacher identity researchers
Investigating brittle-ice onset and behavior in Antarctic ice cores in preparation for the Hercules dome ice core project
No full textIce cores provide highly valuable paleoenvironmental data, but records can be degraded by the occurrence of fractured “brittle ice”. Following bubble closure in ice, internal deformation squeezes bubbles, raising their internal air pressure to near the overburden level. Subsequent release of external pressure during core recovery can allow the internal stresses to exceed the ice strength, causing fracturing in what is known as the “brittle ice zone” (BIZ). The depth range and degree of brittleness varies greatly between ice cores. Site characteristics including accumulation rate and temperature likely affect brittle ice behavior, but strong correlations are not apparent. Despite prior research, the mechanisms controlling BIZs are still not well-understood. Various ice-core observations, together with physical understanding, suggest that BIZ fractures preferentially follow subgrain boundaries, linking bubbles over long distances by way of an interconnected “chessboard” pattern of subgrains anchored to the bubbles. Here, I focus on thin sections from the highly brittle Siple Dome ice core, and compare to the minimally brittle South Pole ice core. Using targeted image processing techniques and analyses, I seek to identify noteworthy relationships between fractures, subgrain boundaries, and bubbles.
This study provides initial insights into brittle-ice behavior and its physical properties and establishes a connection between subgrain prevalence and mean grain/bubble sizes in ice cores, revealing that larger grains/bubbles correlate with more severe brittle behavior. In addition, estimates for the Hercules Dome site suggest a brittle-ice zone between 625-1200 m depth with a brittleness factor of ~2 out of 5
Beyond borders: envisioning students’ migrant justice organizing and political education in northern Arizona
Full text linkWhen paired with strategic leadership development and movement building practices, political education is crucial in working towards goals of social justice within an increasingly censored, neoliberal education system. This thesis project explores how the Northern Arizona University chapter of the No More Deaths/No Más Muertes organization can develop and sustain its work in Northern Arizona. Framed by critical theory and critical pedagogy methodology, this project ultimately envisions and establishes a foundation for continued organizing efforts. The anticipated outcomes of this project were to create a political education and organizing framework for the NMD/NMM NAU chapter for future leaders of the group and envision a stronger sense of identity and purpose of the group. Ultimately, the project evolved into a reflective process learning from the previous practices of NMM at NAU while putting into analysis relevant theory and personal experiences
How will global warming affect decomposition and element cycling of native and invasive leaf litter in streams?
No full textGlobal warming and introduced species have the potential to alter the functioning and structure of headwater streams. Testing how temperature affects detrital food webs is challenging because it is difficult to manipulate temperature in a field setting. Here, we evaluate how microbes and shredders decompose two morphologically distinct, riparian tree species, Populus fremontii (native) and Tamarix sp. (nonnative). We built an artificial stream facility to manipulate temperature while maintaining natural diurnal and seasonal patterns of most stream variables (light, nutrients, dissolved oxygen). We employed a factorial design that included 3 temperature treatments (ambient, + 3.7°C, and + 6.6°C), 2 leaf types and 2 decomposition mediators (microbes and shredders + microbes). Decomposition rate and microbial biomass were influenced by leaf type and temperature, with P. fremontii decomposing more rapidly and supporting almost twice the microbial biomass found in Tamarix sp. Temperature increased decomposition rate by 9.1 to 16.5% in the +3.7°C treatments relative to ambient temperatures. Additional increases in temperature did not accelerate decomposition rate for either species. Litter packs containing shredders decomposed more rapidly than litter packs with only microbes. However, shredder contribution to leaf litter decomposition was relatively low in both leaf types, ranging from 1.97% to 10.45%. A laboratory experiment measured leaching rates with 2 temperatures and 2 time periods (24h and 48h). P. fremontii leached significantly more DOC than Tamarix sp. and Tamarix sp. leached significantly more TN than P. fremontii. In both litter types, approximately 43% to 48% of initial mass was lost after 48 hours of leaching. Temperature did not affect mass loss due to leaching. These results show that increases in water temperature may lead to rapid depletion of labile leaf litter resources and that the disproportionately high leaching of TN found in Tamarix sp. leaf litter may prevent microbes and shredders from accessing compounds containing nitrogen
Fire effects on cultural resources in Grand Canyon National Park
No full textFire archaeology is a relatively new discipline that is underrepresented in anthropological literature. The purpose of this study is to quantify how fire affects cultural resources found on the north and south rims of Grand Canyon National Park. The primary objective of this analysis is to determine whether certain fire or archaeological variables indicate more severe impact on cultural resources from fire events. Twenty-eight pre-contact, multi-component, and historical archaeological sites from both the north rim and south rim of Grand Canyon National Park were visited over the course of the summer and fall of 2022. Standardized post-fire assessment forms and post-fire monitoring forms make up the dataset for this study, producing variables including fire type, site type, fire severity, and level of impact to site integrity. Each of these 28 sites were burned over by either wildland fires or prescribed fires of differing severities over the past several decades. Results produced using IBM SPSS statistics software suggest no statistically significant correlations between fire type, site type, fire severity, and impact to site. These results imply a sense of resilience that certain archaeological artifacts can have in response to fire. It is important for fire managers and fireline resource advisors (READs) to understand these implications, as fire personnel can be assigned to areas they are needed most when there is an understanding of what resources can burn during an incident, and which cannot. Keywords: fire archaeology, IBM SPSS Statistics, cultural resources and fire, Grand Canyon National Par
K-1 discipline support since the enactment of Arizona House Bill 2123
No full textThe purpose of this study was to explore the impact of Arizona Revised Statues 15-843(K) with Arizona elementary administrators, since the 2021-2022 school year. Additionally, this research investigated the Tier 1 and Tier 2 interventions administrators have found to be effective and ineffective to support K-1 students who have behavioral needs. Participants included 12 elementary administrators from two suburban school districts. The design of this study was a case study with a focus on qualitative data collected, analyzed, and summarized. No additional data were collected.
Research Question 1 addressed how administrators’ discipline practices have changed since the revised law. Even though half of the administrators discussed no change has occurred, there was an equal number of participants who explained they had to be creative with their practices. Additionally, they expressed how they had to formalize their MTSS process and focus on early interventions and student relationships.
Research Question 2 addressed what Tier 1 behavioral supports were being utilized for K-1 students. Administrators expressed having their teachers utilize a Social Emotional Curriculum to teach daily social skills as a support for K-1 students. They shared having school-wide expectations in place was supportive for the students. Additionally, having the expectations visible around campus, explicitly taught, and using positive tickets helped to support students with behavioral needs.
Research Question 3 addressed identifying effective Tier 2 interventions. Administrators identified having extra staff members pull small groups of students in order to provide them with instruction on social skills. In addition, Check-in, Check-out was explained to be effective because it was a staff member, other than the teacher, who did the check-in and reflect on behavior goals with the student. When a student reaches their goal, an incentive is given.
Research Question 4 asked administrators to identify ineffective Tier 2 interventions. Because there were none share by participants, there was no conclusion drawn as there was an insufficiency of data