St. Charles Community College

The Genomics Education Partnership (GEP), a consortium of diverse colleges/universities, provides support for integrating genomics research into undergraduate curricula. To increase research opportunities for underrepresented students, GEP is expanding to more community colleges (CC). Genomics research, requiring only a computer with internet access, may be particularly accessible for 2-year institutions with limited research capacity and significant budget constraints. To understand how GEP supports student research at CCs, we analyzed student knowledge and self-reported outcomes. We found that CC student gains are comparable to non-CC student gains, with improvements in attitudes toward science and thriving in science. Our early findings suggest that the GEP model of centralized support with flexible CURE implementation benefits CC students and may help mitigate barriers to implementing research at CCs.

Characidium chancoense new species, is described from the transandean upper Río Cauca drainage in Colombia. It can be distinguished from all congeners by its pigmentation pattern that consists of 7-12 vertical bars, most of which are cuneate-shaped with the vertex ending on or just below the lateral-line scale series, except for the last 1-4, which are dorsoventrally elongate rectangular bars that extend well below the lateral line. Characidium chancoense is sympatric with C. caucanum Eigenmann, C. phoxocephalum Eigenmann, C. cf. zebra Eigenmann and C. cf. boavistae Steindachner. Unlike C. caucanum and C. cf. boavistae, C. chancoense does not appear to be sexually dimorphic.

The matching of ichnites to extinct trackmakers has been done successfully with a variety of taxa, from basal hominids to basal tetrapods. Traces attributed to pterosaurs have been studied for more than 50 years, but little interest has been shown in the pedes themselves. While ichnites can vary greatly in their correspondence to their trackmaker, most pterosaur tracks appear to preserve sufficient detail to assess their origins. This report presents a catalog of pterosaur pedal skeletons that can be matched to a wider spectrum of ichnites, including digitigrade and bipedal ichnites previously not associated with pterosaurs. A variety of pedal characters separate several putative genera into distinct clades, some only distantly related to one another. Distinct pedal characters indicate certain tiny pterosaurs were not juveniles of dissimilar adults, but were separate taxa and likely adults themselves. A squamate and fenestrasaur origin for pterosaurs is supported. These new insights overturn long-standing paradigms. The pterosaur pes contains a wealth of data that should not be ignored. Application of this data enables a more precise identification of both skeletal taxa and ichnotaxa.

Neblinichthys brevibracchium and N. echinasus are new sympatric species from upland tributaries of the Mazaruni River (Essequibo River basin) of Guyana. These two new species are the first Neblinichthys reported from Guyana. Adult males of both new species have short pectoral-fin spines and several series of hypertrophied odontodes covering the entire dorsal surface and along the entire edge of the snout. They are distinguished from each other by dorsal-fin base length/standard length (18.1-22.8% in N. brevibracchium vs. 24.3-27.0% in N. echinasus), dorsal-anal distance/SL (13.7-18.3% in N. brevibracchium vs. 11.9-12.5% in N. echinasus), by having the snout decreasing in steep arc just anterior to eyes and then flattening in area anterior of nares in N. brevibracchium vs. the snout tapering shallowly and continuously from eyes to snout tip in N. echinasus); and by having the adpressed dorsal fin reaching the anterior preadipose plate in N. brevibracchium (vs. not reaching anterior preadipose plate in N. echinasus). They are distinguished from all congeners by lacking odontodes on the opercle (vs. odontodes present); and by completely lacking an iris operculum (vs. congeners with small iris operculum present or at least dorsal portion of iris flat instead of rounded). Neblinichthys echinasus and N. brevibracchium differ from all congeners by having a spotted or vermiculated pigment pattern on the abdomen (vs. abdomen plain); in N. echinasus the abdomen is darkly pigmented with bold white spots and in Neblinichthys brevibracchium the abdomen is light-colored with gray spots and vermiculations. Neblinichthys brevibracchium and N. echinasus differ from N. roraima by having one to two preadipose plates (vs. four or more). New observations revealed Neblinichthys roraima and N. yaravi to be distinct, with N. roraima having four or more preadipose plates and N. yaravi having one or two. Both are present in the upper río Caroní, an Orinoco tributary that drains the slopes of Mount Roraima and other mountains of the Pacaraima Range in Venezuela and interdigitates with headwaters of the Mazaruni River.

The book Early State Formation in Central Madagascar: An Archaeological Survey of Western Avaradrano is the culmination of decades of research in the central highlands of Madagascar. The book was written primarily by Henry T. Wright (p. 6), along with fourteen other contributors, and is based on archaeological fieldwork carried out from 1975 to 1996, northeast of the modern capital of Antananarivo. The fieldwork was predominantly surface surveys, complemented by test excavations and specialist studies. Hence the book reads as a survey equivalent of a major site’s final excavation report. Beyond those interested specifically in the archaeology of Madagascar, or the archaeology of Africa or the Indian Ocean, scholars will find this work a useful demonstration of the power of regional surveys in archaeology and a detailed case study in the processes of archaic state formation. I agree with JeanAime Rakotoarisoa who states in the Foreword that this monograph will be an important model for all future studies. The heart of this book is the “Catalogue of Site Information,” which is the first of five appendices (the other appendices are updated versions of previously published articles based on the Avaradrano survey). The site catalogue is the longest section of the book at 152 pages, and contains detailed information on each site recorded, including site maps of the ditched fortifications and drawings of the diagnostic ceramics. Augustin Holl in the Preface to the volume suggests that this site catalogue is also the most important part of the book, since the level of detail will enable an independent evaluation of the author’s conclusions, or even the use of this data set to pursue other questions. In their Introduction, the authors themselves point to Chapter 5 as “arguably the most important in this study”—the chapter that summarizes the seven archaeological phases, from the earliest Fiekena Phase in the Afr Archaeol Rev (2009) 26:59–62 DOI 10.1007/s10437-009-9044-6

This paper presents a multifaceted study of a collection of stoneware ceramic vessels in the Guthe Collection of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan. These vessels, recovered in the Philippines but manufactured in multiple production sites across East and Southeast Asia, provide insights into premodern economic interactions and maritime trade. Our study of this collection drew on multiple approaches to identify coherent groupings of vessels associated with locations and traditions of production. These include instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) of pastes; laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) of glazes; stylistic analysis of decorative motifs and their execution; and study of morphological attributes. Results of our analyses point to at least four production areas for these ubiquitous trade wares and lay the groundwork for future research on Southeast Asian maritime trade from the twelfth through nineteenth centuries A.D.

1. Today's psychiatric population presents with a higher acuity and complexity of problems. Concomitant medical diagnoses may add to the psychiatric nurse's uneasiness with medical-surgical skills and knowledge. 2. A needs assessment survey of nurses' medical-surgical skills and knowledge was conducted at a private psychiatric facility. Of the 163 surveys distributed, 55 were returned (response rate = 33.74%). The greatest number of skill requests (30.56%) were for assessment skills, mainly general physical assessment. 3. To survive as a specialty, psychiatric nursing must include physical as well as psychologic assessments; psychiatric nurses must reintegrate a medical knowledge base while maintaining a balance with the psychodynamic aspects of care.

Abstract Community college professionals offm their perceptions of staff development programs in Florida and Illinois.