The Courtyard and Patio Gardens of the Vieux Carre (1861-1982)

The evolutionary process of the gardens of New Orleans\u27 Vieux Carre from 1861 to 1982 has been influenced by cultural, economic, governmental and social forces within and without the Vieux Carre. Their interworkings combined to shape and style these gardens. No single force or era is seen as clearly dominant in this perceived pattern of evolution. Rather, in this study these gardens are viewed as reflections of various times and, more specifically, the culture, economics, politics and social aspirations of such times. The tracing of the history of these gardens reveals that during the past 122 years they have continually responded to the vastly changing means, needs and stylistic preferences of successive Vieux Carre residents. After the Civil War, the residual gardens of the Antebellum period largely succumbed to deterioration and waves of immigration that overwhelmed the Vieux Carre. Ironically preserved through inertia and neglect, the Vieux Carre was to be romantically rediscovered in the 1920s and subsequently and actively preserved. During this process of rediscovery, a new Vieux Carre garden style was forged from a unique blending of various garden traditions. The elements of this new style have endured into the Vieux Carre\u27s present period of prosperity. This study shows that while such elements of Vieux Carre gardens often vary in detail, their essence is shared. With few exceptions, they are nineteenth century spaces with twentieth century treatments. This study chronicles the history of these gardens in the context of the development of the Vieux Carre and the City of New Orleans. The cultural, economic, governmental and social forces significant to this development are related to the changes in the Vieux Carre gardens. The causes and effects are linked to reveal a pattern of evolution that makes these gardens more understandable

Depolarization and CaM Kinase IV Modulate NMDA Receptor Splicing through Two Essential RNA Elements

Alternative splicing controls the activity of many proteins important for neuronal excitation, but the signal-transduction pathways that affect spliced isoform expression are not well understood. One particularly interesting system of alternative splicing is exon 21 (E21) of the NMDA receptor 1 (NMDAR1 E21), which controls the trafficking of NMDA receptors to the plasma membrane and is repressed by Ca(++)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMK) IV signaling. Here, we characterize the splicing of NMDAR1 E21. We find that E21 splicing is reversibly repressed by neuronal depolarization, and we identify two RNA elements within the exon that function together to mediate the inducible repression. One of these exonic elements is similar to an intronic CaMK IV–responsive RNA element (CaRRE) originally identified in the 3′ splice site of the BK channel STREX exon, but not previously observed within an exon. The other element is a new RNA motif. Introduction of either of these two motifs, called CaRRE type 1 and CaRRE type 2, into a heterologous constitutive exon can confer CaMK IV–dependent repression on the new exon. Thus, either exonic CaRRE can be sufficient for CaMK IV–induced repression. Single nucleotide scanning mutagenesis defined consensus sequences for these two CaRRE motifs. A genome-wide motif search and subsequent RT-PCR validation identified a group of depolarization-regulated alternative exons carrying CaRRE consensus sequences. Many of these exons are likely to alter neuronal function. Thus, these two RNA elements define a group of co-regulated splicing events that respond to a common stimulus in neurons to alter their activity

Evaluating the effects of water influx on the Mississippi sound: current vs. Historical relationships

This research investigated the influence of the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway and other fresh water inputs on the Mississippi Sound. The Bonnet Carre Spillway was completed in 1931 and was constructed to protect New Orleans whenever the Mississippi River is at flood stage. The spillway drains into Lake Pontchartrain a brackish-water lagoon north of New Orleans which then drains into Lake Borgne and subsequently into the Mississippi Sound. The inflow of water from the spillway changes the water chemistry of all receiving water bodies and impacts the waters of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. We collected in-situ temperature specific conductance and dissolved oxygen data for the Spring of 2018 opening event and used these data in addition to remotely sensed data for tracking the movement of river water plume/plumes through the coastal waters. Remote sensing data was collected from Landand Sentinel 2 platforms and were all processed to track freshwater plumes where possible. Specific conductance and temperature both displayed the effect of the Bonnet Carre Spillway within 13 and 18 days respectively while dissolved oxygen did not show a clear pattern of impact. The three remote sensing analyses completed were: Sentinel 2 single band and multispectral analysis Land8 multispectral analysis and Landthermal analysis. All of which were successful at identifying the Bonnet Carre Spillway plume near the source influx. Identification of the Bonnet Carre Spillway plume within the Mississippi sound was not possible due to water column mixing beyond the source influx. Lastly features present in our study area were the result of a combination of Pearl River plumes and increased sediment suspension from Lake Pontchartrain flushing out through the Rigolets channel

Ανασκαφαί Πέλλης 1957-1960

Les premieres fouilles systematiques a Pella ont ete executees pendant les annees 1914 et 1915 par feu le Professeur G.P. Oekonomos lorsqu’il etait ephore des Antiquites en Macedoine. La premiere guerre mondiale avait interrompu son activite archeologique. Assez pres de l’endroit fouille par lui, on a trouve en 1957 fortuitement, pendant des travaux de deblaiement, dans le sous-sol d’une maison appartenant a B. Sterjoulas et pres du 38e kilometre de la route Thessalonique - Edessa, le tambour d’une colonne ionique avec sa base, in situ. Cette colonne appartenait a un peristyle dont chaque cote comportait six colonnes. Cela a ete constate par la suite de la fouille. La decouverte a marque le commencement de la nouvelle periode des fouilles a Pella, qui se poursuivent chaque annee sur une etendue considerable. Le present rapport resume les resultats des fouilles de quatre annees, de 1957 a 1960. Pendant la premiere periode, une partie importante de Γ edifice auquel appartenait le peristyle a ete degagee. II s’agit d’une maison privee faisant partie d’un grand carre urbain (Section I, carre 1). Au sud de la maison, une autre encore a ete fouillee completement. Une troisieme qui se trouvait sous la voie publique qui traverse le terrain des fouilles (voir plan 1) n’a pas pu etre degagee qu’en partie. Les pavements de la deuxieme maison sont decores de mosaiques. Deux de ces mosaiques, au centre des salles d’apparat (άνδρώνες), represented une chasse au lion et Dionysus nu sur une panthere. Sur deux plus petits mosaiques devant 1’ entree de ces salles, figured deux centaures affrontes et un griffon attaquant un cerf (PI. 47). Au nord du carre I des maisons, une serie de salles a ete decouverte. Ces salles font partie d’un autre carre (No 2). A 1’ouest de ce dernier carre, une grande partie du carre 3 a ete degagee. Ce carre comporte deux maisons. Au sud du carre 3, on a fouille en partie une maison qui appartient a un autre carre (Section IV). Les materiaux architectoniques, les mosaiques et les trouvailles s’accordent pour placer les maisons dans les premiers temps de l’epoque hellenistique. On peut supposer que sur la region fouillee, il y a eu extension de la ville antique selon le systeme d’Hippodamos, car on a trouve trois fours a ceramique, et d’autres ateliers, notamment un des bronziers, sous les pavements des maisons. Au nord, sur une colline a 1 km de distance, des sondages ont donne des fondations et des murs de destination inconnue. Un de ces murs epais de 2,20 m. est construit avec orthostates de dimensions considerables. Par la suite, on a decouvert les fondations d’un bailment carre et plus loin, au sud, celles d’un batiment en abside. Trois socles de trepieds en pierre, trouves sur place, indiquent la destination sacree du batiment. II faut completement exclure l’hypothese publiee dans les journaux qu’il s’agit du palais d’Archelaos. Au sud, sur une petite colline a une grande distance de la voie publique, on a fait aussi des sondages. L’endroit a ete identifie par Struck avec Γ«έν Φάκφ γάζαν». Ici il y avait des traces d’une enceinte de defense, des restes de batiments anciens et, dans les couches les plus profondes, des tessons prehistoriques. On a trouve aussi des tessons prehistoriques sur la colline ou se trouve actuellement le village «Palea Pella» et a l’endroit connu sous le nom «Bains d’Alexandre le Grand» a une distance de 2 km au sud. On a effectue des sondages a differents points dans les champs des environs. La plupart de petits objets (dont quelques-uns sont illuttres, Planches : 65, 82, 84, 85) ont ete trouves pendant les fouilles des maisons, et se rapportent a la vie de la famille. Une de plus importantes est la statuette en bronze de Poseidon du type dit de Lateran (PI. 65 a). La statuette a ete decouverte dans la maison de la Section IV, pres d’une chambre de la partie sud. Cette chambre etait, semble-t-il, destinee au culte