Helicobacter pylori Prevalence and Risk Factors in Three Rural Indigenous Communities of Northern Arizona

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is one of the most common bacterial stomach infections and is implicated in a majority of non-cardia gastric cancer. While gastric cancer has decreased in the United States (US), the incidence in the Navajo Nation is nearly four times higher than surrounding Non-Hispanic White populations. Little is known about H. pylori prevalence in this population or other Indigenous communities in the lower 48 states. In this cross-sectional study, 101 adults representing 73 households from three Navajo Nation chapter communities completed surveys and a urea breath test for active H. pylori. Accounting for intrahousehold correlation, H. pylori prevalence was 56.4% (95% CI, 45.4–66.8) and 72% of households had at least one infected person. The odds of having an active infection in households using unregulated water were 8.85 (95% CI, 1.50–53.38) that of the use of regulated water, and males had 3.26 (95% CI, 1.05–10.07) higher odds than female. The prevalence of H. pylori in Navajo is similar to that seen in Alaska Natives. Further investigation into factors associated with prevention of infection is needed as well as understanding barriers to screening and treatment.

Variation in Plant–Pollinator Network Structure along the Elevational Gradient of the San Francisco Peaks, Arizona

The structural patterns comprising bimodal pollination networks can help characterize plant–pollinator systems and the interactions that influence species distribution and diversity over time and space. We compare network organization of three plant–pollinator communities along the altitudinal gradient of the San Francisco Peaks in northern Arizona. We found that pollination networks become more nested, as well as exhibit lower overall network specialization, with increasing elevation. Greater weight of generalist pollinators at higher elevations of the San Francisco Peaks may result in plant–pollinator communities less vulnerable to future species loss due to changing climate or shifts in species distribution. We uncover the critical, more generalized pollinator species likely responsible for higher nestedness and stability at the higher elevation environment. The generalist species most important for network stability may be of the greatest interest for conservation efforts; preservation of the most important links in plant–pollinator networks may help secure the more specialized pollinators and maintain species redundancy in the face of ecological change, such as changing climate.

A Multisectoral Approach to Advance Health Equity in Northern Arizona: County-level Leaders’ Perspectives on Health Equity

Background Multisectoral and public-private partnerships are critical in building the necessary infrastructure, policy, and political will to ameliorate health inequity. By focusing on health equity, researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers make explicit the systematic, avoidable, unfair, and unjust differences in health status across population groups sustained over time and generations, beyond the control of individuals. Health equity requires a collective process in shaping the health and wellbeing of the communities in which we live, learn, work, play, move, and grow. Methods Data are drawn from the Southwest Health Equity Research Collaborative Regional Health Equity Survey (RHES). RHES is a community-informed, cross-sectional online survey comprised of 31 quantitative and 17 qualitative questions. Generated to elicit an interdisciplinary body of knowledge and guide future multisectoral action for improving community health and well-being, the RHES targeted leaders representing five large rural northern Arizona counties and 13 distinct sectors. To explore, multisectoral leaders’ knowledge, attitudes, and actions to address the social, environmental, and economic conditions that produce and sustain health inequity were analyzed using a priori coding scheme and emergent coding with thematic analysis. Results Although leaders were provided the definition and asked to describe the root causes of inequities, the majority of leaders described social determinants of health (SDoH). When leaders described root causes of health inequity, they articulated systemic factors affecting their communities and described discrimination and unequal allocation of power and resources. Most leaders described the SDoH of their communities by discussing compounding factors of poverty, transportation, and housing among others, that together exacerbate inequity. Leaders also identified specific strategies to address SDoH and advance health equity in their communities, ranging from providing direct services, to activating partnerships across organizations and sectors in advocacy for policy change. Conclusion Our findings indicate that community leaders in the northern Arizona region acknowledge the importance of multisectoral partnerships and collaborations in improving health equity for the populations that they serve. However, a common understanding of health equity remains to be widely established, which is essential for conducting effective multisectoral work with the goal of advancing health equity.

Preface

The 13th symposium of Indonesian Wood Research Society (IWoRS 2021) conference was held virtually because the pandemic situation in Indonesia had not improved until the day of the conference approached. This conference was held virtually instead of being postponed so that the conference which has been regularly scheduled every year will continue to run while at the same time encouraging the researchers, scientists, government, communities, and industry professionals and students that even though the situation is difficult, we can still work. The conference was held at September, 2nd 2021 by University of Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The conference start at 08.00 WITA (GMT +8) with a plenary session which is divided into 2 sessions and there are 3 keynote speakers for each session. The keynote speakers comprise of experts from 6 different countries, they are Dr. Agus Justinanto (Director General of Sustainable Forest Management, Indonesia), assc. Prof. Dr. David Auty (Northern Arizona University), Prof. Dr. Ryo Funada (President of the Japan Wood Research Society), Prof. Jegatheswaran Ratnasinga (University Putra Malaysia), Prof. Zhongwei Guan, Ph.D. (Executive Director of Advance Materials Research Center), Dr. Wen Shao Chang (The University of Sheffield). The conference then continued with a parallel session at 13:00 WITA (GMT +8). Parallel sessions consist of 6 classes with 3 sessions where each session contains 4-6 speakers. Each presenter has present their paper for 15 minutes which is then followed by a discussion session. List of Proceeding Organizing Committee, Symposium Committee are available in this pdf.

50 Using GPS and Genomic Technology to Provide a More Accurate Estimate of Bull Power in Western Intermountain Beef Systems

The objective of this study was to utilize GPS technology and genomic parentage testing to provide a more accurate measurement of bull power in the intermountain west beef production system. Breeding seasons are typically conducted on large, remote pastures, leading to current estimates of bull:cow ratios (1:20 or 1:25) possibly being inaccurate. With advances in genetic testing, parentage of calves can be obtained allowing producers to review which calves were sired from specific bulls, or how many cows each bull serviced (bull power). Our study fit 5 bulls from the same herd with GPS collars and collected hair samples for future DNA extraction prior to the 2018 breeding season. Bull movement was tracked over a 90-day breeding season on a large grazing allotment on the southern Utah and northern Arizona border. The GPS collars collected measurements of total distance traveled per day and distance traveled away from water, along with geocoordinates. Upon completion of the breeding season, collars were removed and data retrieved. At calving, biological material was collected and parentage testing of 104 calves was conducted and parentage determined. Results of parentage testing revealed that actually 6 bulls sired calves during the 2018 breeding season. The ranch’s bulls sired 72 (69%) calves (30, 16, 14, 10 and 2 calves, respectively). Thirty-two (31%) calves were sired by bulls from herds that grazed nearby. Interesting to note is the producer was unaware of any non-herd bulls co-mingling with this herd. While results from the current study are very preliminary, they do validate the importance of verifying bull power and sire identification to critically evaluate sire performance and increase the accuracy of selection in breeding replacements. The information presented herein may prove useful as a future selection tool to identify bulls that are high performing during breeding season in the intermountain west.

Mixed-status Families in Northern Arizona: An Inductive Analysis of Legal Clinic Participation and the Gendered Dynamics of Emotional Care Work

Fear of deportation and consequent separation of “mixed-status families” (those with citizen and non-citizen members) is a central issue facing immigrants today. Yet, there is a gap in sociological explorations of legal clinics designed to assist these families. Here, we examine parents of mixed-status families in danger of deportation who visited one such clinic: what factors drove them to seek legal help? While we explore theoretical implications related to legal violence, we also highlight ways to better reach these families and provide free legal services, particularly to women who seem to be primarily tasked with this work. Research was conducted through Northern Arizona Immigration Legal Services (NAILS). Using in-depth interviews with nine undocumented Mexican-born parents, mostly mothers, our findings reveal patterns that could aid NAILS and other legal support services in providing assistance to these families. Issues such as traditional gendered labor division within the family and the role of social workers were the most relevant themes in seeking legal help. These findings not only contribute to the growing sociological research on immigration and gender dynamics but can also help NAILS and other similar community organizations connect with immigrants in more efficient ways, particularly as it relates to the emotional care work of mothers in mixed-status families.

Saving the Forest from the Trees: Expert Views on Funding Restoration of Northern Arizona Ponderosa Pine Forests through Registered Carbon Offsets

Ponderosa pine forests in the southwestern United States of America are overly dense, increasing the risk of high-intensity stand-replacing wildfires that result in the loss of terrestrial carbon and release of carbon dioxide, contributing to global climate change. Restoration is needed to restore forest structure and function so that a more natural regime of higher frequency, lower intensity wildfires returns. However, restoration has been hampered by the significant cost of restoration and other institutional barriers. To create additional revenue streams to pay for restoration, the National Forest Foundation supported the development of a methodology for the estimation and verification of carbon offsets generated by the restoration of ponderosa pine forests in northern Arizona. The methodology was submitted to the American Carbon Registry, a prominent carbon registry, but it was ultimately rejected. This paper presents a post-mortem examination of that methodology and the reasons it was rejected in order to improve the development of similar methodologies in the future. Using a mixed-methods approach, this paper analyzes the potential atmospheric carbon benefits of the proposed carbon offset methodology and the public and peer-reviewed comments from the associated review of the methodology. Results suggest a misalignment between the priorities of carbon registries and the context-specific ecosystem service benefits of this type of restoration; although findings confirm the potential for reductions in released carbon due to restoration, these results illuminate barriers that complicate registering these reductions as voluntary carbon offsets under current guidelines and best practices, especially on public land. These barriers include substantial uncertainty about the magnitude and timing of carbon benefits. Overcoming these barriers will require active reflexivity by the institutions that register voluntary carbon offsets and the institutions that manage public lands in the United States. Such reflexivity, or reconsideration of the concepts and purposes of carbon offsets and/or forest restoration, will allow future approaches to better align objectives for successfully registering restoration-based voluntary carbon offsets. Therefore, the results of this analysis can inform the development of future methodologies, policies, and projects with similar goals in the same or different landscapes.

Disease Triangle Dynamics of Coccidioidomycosis in Northern Arizona

Coccidioides species are the etiological agent of Valley fever (Vf). Disease ranges from pneumonia to extrapulmonary infection. If diagnosis is delayed or missed, the risk of severe disease increases. We investigate the disease triangle (intersection of pathogen, host, and environment) of Vf in Northern Arizona, where the risk of acquiring the disease is lower but prevalent and rising. We inspect reported and hospitalized cases of VF hosts. Then assess pathogen origin by comparing Northern Arizona clinical isolates to isolates from other regions. Lastly, we survey Northern Arizona soils for evidence of Coccidioides. We found that cases of Vf are increasing some requiring hospitalization. The Northern Arizona Coccidioidies isolates were genetically related to Southern Arizona populations. However, we detected Coccidioides DNA in Northern Arizona soils. We expect that cases will continue to increase and suggest increased awareness and screening for the disease is crucial to limit severe illness in Northern Arizona.

Southwestern ponderosa pine forest patterns following wildland fires managed for resource benefit differ from reference landscapes

Context. Managers aiming to utilize wildland fire to restore southwestern ponderosa pine landscapes require better understanding of forest cover patterns produced at multiple scales. Restoration effectiveness of wildland fires managed for resource benefit can be evaluated against natural ranges of variation.Objectives. We describe landscape patterns within reference landscapes, including restored and functioning ponderosa pine forests of northern Arizona, and compare them to wildland fires managed for resource benefit. We make comparisons along a gradient of extents and assess the effects of scale on landscape differences.Methods. Using Sentinel-2 imagery, we classified ponderosa pine forest cover and calculated landscape metrics across a gradient of landscape extent within reference and managed landscapes. We used non-parametric tests to assess differences. We used random forest models to assess and explore which landscape metrics were most importance in differentiating landscape patterns.Results. Managed wildfire landscapes were significantly different from reference landscapes for most metrics and extents (15 ha to 840 ha). Landscape type (managed vs. reference) became increasingly differentiable with scale, with area and aggregation metrics being the most informative. Classification models increased in accuracy despite fewer observations with increasing scale.Conclusions. Wildland fires managed for resource benefit in ponderosa pine forests of northern Arizona are not producing landscape patterns consistent with reference landscapes likely due to predominance of low-severity burning and minimal resulting changes in overstory structure. Differences become more pronounced with increasing landscape size and suggest small-scale heterogeneity and mid - and large-scale homogeneity within each landscape type.

FORENSIC ART AND ANTHROPOLOGY

Forensic artists must overcome ingrained ideas of what the human face “should” look like in order to learn how to draw it realistically. Ironically, those ingrained images and perceptions tucked away in our minds present the biggest obstacles to realism. As a teacher of a forensic art class in anthropology at Northern Arizona University, I encounter students of varying degrees of artistic ability and background. I do not require that students have pre-requisite courses in art before taking my course because I believe that any student can learn to draw faces more realistically if they apply some basic forensic art techniques used in composite sketching combined with an understanding of facial anatomy. This article is about teaching Northern Arizona University students forensic art drawing methods, but it is also about the lesser-known aspect of doing composite sketches, such as applying cultural understanding and sensitivity when interviewing traumatized witnesses and survivors of crime. The result is a very holistic approach to composite sketching rather than a purely technical one.