Phase I Archaeological Survey of a 10-acre Habitat for Humanity Tract in Laredo, Webb County, Texas

On December 7, 2004, the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) conducted a Phase I intensive pedestrian archaeological survey of a 10-acre portion of Tract 4 in the Las Blancas Subdivision located near Laredo in Webb County, Texas, for Habitat for Humanity of Laredo. The proposed development consists of the construction of low-income housing within this parcel. Twenty shovel tests were excavated along 20-meter transects and in areas considered to have high or moderate probability of buried cultural materials. In addition, two backhoe trenches were excavated in alluvial deposits along the eastern margin of the project area overlooking Blancas Creek. The survey resulted in the identification of one archaeological site, 41WB633, an apparent lithic procurement locality. Site 41WB633 covers approximately 6.4 acres and extends beyond the survey area. The core area with the highest density of surface materials measures approximately 65 x 45 meters and contains early reduction stage bifaces, cores, and lithic debitage scattered across the surface. Only one of the 20 shovel tests (ST 10) placed within the site recovered subsurface materials buried in Levels 1–3, at 0–30 cm below surface. Neither of the two backhoe trenches excavated within the boundaries of the site yielded subsurface materials. The geoarchaeological investigations indicate that the prehistoric lithic artifacts show no evidence of alluvial or colluvial abrasion and only minimal patination was observed on a few pieces. This suggests that they are not the product of significant high-energy redeposition. Although the surface gravels may have been formed by colluvial or eolian processes, the fresh, undamaged edges of the lithics indicate that events concentrating the gravels probably occurred prior to deposition of the archaeological materials. Given the lack of isolable archaeological deposits at 41WB633, the overall low density of cultural materials, and the absence of a comprehensive research context within which such lithic procurement sites can be interpreted, CAR recommends that the site does not merit designation as a State Archeological Landmark and does not warrant nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. Therefore, it is CAR’s recommendation that the construction work associated with the development of this 10-acre portion of the Las Blancas Subdivision proceed as planned. Because the property was privately owned at the time of the fieldwork, and no state funds will be employed in the construction effort, no Texas Antiquities Committee permit was necessary for this undertaking. The artifacts collected during the survey will be curated at CAR unless otherwise requested by the landowner. All project-associated documents are curated at the Center for Archaeological Research at The University of Texas at San Antonio

Events leading up to the June 2015 outburst of V404 Cyg

On 2015 June 15 the burst alert telescope (BAT) on board {\em Swift} detected an X-ray outburst from the black hole transient V404 Cyg. We monitored V404 Cyg for the last 10 years with the 2-m Faulkes Telescope North in three optical bands (V, R, and i$^{'}$). We found that, one week prior to this outburst, the optical flux was 0.1--0.3 mag brighter than the quiescent orbital modulation, implying an optical precursor to the X-ray outburst. There is also a hint of a gradual optical decay (years) followed by a rise lasting two months prior to the outburst. We fortuitously obtained an optical spectrum of V404 Cyg 13 hours before the BAT trigger. This too was brighter ($\sim1\rm\,mag$) than quiescence, and showed spectral lines typical of an accretion disk, with characteristic absorption features of the donor being much weaker. No He II emission was detected, which would have been expected had the X-ray flux been substantially brightening. This, combined with the presence of intense H$\alpha$ emission, about 7 times the quiescent level, suggests that the disk entered the hot, outburst state before the X-ray outburst began. We propose that the outburst is produced by a viscous-thermal instability triggered close to the inner edge of a truncated disk. An X-ray delay of a week is consistent with the time needed to refill the inner region and hence move the inner edge of the disk inwards, allowing matter to reach the central BH, finally turning on the X-ray emission.Comment: Accepted by ApJ Letter, 7 pages, 5 figure

Forest Response to Chronic Hurricane Disturbance in Coastal New England

Question: Hurricanes and cyclones cause a wide range of damage to coastal forests worldwide. Most of these storms are not catastrophic in ecological terms, but forest responses to storms of moderate intensities are poorly understood. In regions with a high frequency of moderate hurricanes, how does variation in disturbance intensity affect the magnitude of ecological responses? Location: Naushon Island, Massachusetts USA Methods: We use historical records and dendroecological methods to characterize establishment and growth of Fagus grandifolia, Quercus alba and Quercus velutina in response to seven non-catastrophic hurricanes of varying intensity and a major logging event, relative to baseline conditions, over the past ~ 150 years. Our aim was to document variation in the magnitude of responses to known disturbance events of varying intensity, and to determine whether tree growth after moderate hurricanes differs from growth during periods of no disturbance. Results: Forest harvesting in 1824-1827 had a strong impact on forest composition and growth. Since then, the study region has been characterized by little harvesting but frequent hurricanes. However, only one of the seven storms examined caused substantial increases in growth and new establishment for the dominant species; most moderate disturbances had minimal impacts on growth and regeneration dynamics. We also document highly variable responses among species to individual storms, including substantial growth decreases that may not be detected by standard analytical approaches. Conclusions: Our results caution against the use of simple metrics such as wind speed to predict forest response to specific hurricanes, and highlight the importance of individual disturbance events in controlling long-term forest dynamics, even in regions characterized by high disturbance frequency. Additionally, we show that standard approaches to reconstructing disturbance history based on increases in radial growth and pulses of tree establishment are likely to underestimate the frequency of moderate disturbances.Other Research Uni

Exploring the Effectiveness of a Retreat Method for Extension Staff

The California 4-H Association hosted two retreats to support its members with goals of balancing professional development with intentional relationship building. Evaluations demonstrated that staff found the intentional balance of time spent in unstructured, semi-structured, and structured time offered opportunities to grow professionally while building relationships with peers. Follow-up surveys found that 4-H professionals strengthened their network of peers to rely on in their work. Future work for professional development may benefit from a social capital lens

Influence of environmental factors on the abundance of Anopheles farauti larvae in large brackish water streams in Northern Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands

Background: The main vector of malaria in Solomon Islands is Anopheles farauti, which has a mainly coastal distribution. In Northern Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, high densities of An. farauti are supported by large brackish streams, which in the dry season are dammed by localized sand migration. The factors controlling the high larval productivity of these breeding sites have not been identified. Accordingly the influence of environmental factors on the presence and density of An. farauti larvae was assessed in three large naturally dammed streams. Methods. Larval sites were mapped and anopheline larvae were collected monthly for 12 months (July 2007 to June 2008) from three streams using standard dippers. Larval collections were made from 10 locations spaced at 50 m intervals along the edge of each stream starting from the coast. At each collection point, floating filamentous algae, aquatic emergent plants, sun exposure, and salinity were measured. These environmental parameters along with rainfall were correlated with larval presence and density. Results: The presence and abundance of An. farauti larvae varied between streams and was influenced by the month of collection, and distance from the ocean (p < 0.001). Larvae were more frequently present and more abundant within 50 m of the ocean during the dry season when the streams were dammed. The presence and density of larvae were positively associated with aquatic emergent plants (presence: p = 0.049; density: p = 0.001). Although filamentous algae did not influence the presence of larvae, this factor did significantly influence the density of larvae (p < 0.001). Rainfall for the month prior to sampling was negatively associated with both larval presence and abundance (p < 0.001), as high rainfall flushed larvae from the streams. Salinity significantly influenced both the presence (p = 0.002) and density (p = 0.014) of larvae, with larvae being most present and abundant in brackish water at < 10 seawater. Conclusion: This study has demonstrated that the presence and abundance An. farauti larvae are influenced by environmental factors within the large streams. Understanding these parameters will allow for targeted cost effective implementation of source reduction and larviciding to support the frontline malaria control measures i.e. indoor residual spraying (IRS) and distribution of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs)

Evidence for a compact jet dominating the broadband spectrum of the black hole accretor XTE J1550-564

[abridged] The black hole X-ray binary XTE J1550-564 was monitored extensively at X-ray, optical and infrared wavelengths throughout its outburst in 2000. We show that it is possible to separate the optical/near-infrared (OIR) jet emission from the OIR disc emission. Focussing on the jet component, we find that as the source fades in the X-ray hard state, the OIR jet emission has a spectral index consistent with optically thin synchrotron emission (alpha ~ -0.6 to -0.7, where F_nu \propto nu^alpha). This jet emission is tightly and linearly correlated with the X-ray flux; L_OIR,jet \propto L_X^(0.98 +- 0.08) suggesting a common origin. This is supported by the OIR, X-ray and OIR to X-ray spectral indices being consistent with a single power law (alpha = -0.73). Ostensibly the compact, synchrotron jet could therefore account for ~ 100 % of the X-ray flux at low luminosities in the hard state. At the same time, (i) an excess is seen over the power law decay of the X-ray flux at the point in which the jet would start to dominate, (ii) the X-ray spectrum slightly softens, which seems to be due to a high energy cut-off or break shifting to a lower energy, and (iii) the X-ray rms variability increases. This may be the strongest evidence to date of synchrotron emission from the compact, steady jet dominating the X-ray flux of an X-ray binary. For XTE J1550-564, this is likely to occur within the luminosity range ~ (2 e-4 - 2 e-3) L_Edd on the hard state decline of this outburst. However, on the hard state rise of the outburst and initially on the hard state decline, the synchrotron jet can only provide a small fraction (~ a few per cent) of the X-ray flux. Both thermal Comptonization and the synchrotron jet can therefore produce the hard X-ray power law in accreting black holes.Comment: MNRAS accepted, 12 pages, 9 figure

Targeting White Matter Neuroprotection as a Relapse Prevention Strategy for Treatment of Cocaine Use Disorder: Design of a Mechanism-Focused Randomized Clinical Trial

Cocaine use continues to be a significant public health problem with limited treatment options and no approved pharmacotherapies. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) remains the mainstay treatment for preventing relapse, however, people with chronic cocaine use display cognitive impairments that are associated with poor response to CBT. Emerging evidence in animal and human studies suggests that the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR- γ) agonist, pioglitazone, improves white matter integrity that is essential for cognitive function. This project will determine whether adjunctive use of pioglitazone enhances the effect of CBT in preventing relapse during the early phase of recovery from cocaine use disorder. This paper describes the design of a mechanism-focused phase 2 randomized clinical trial that aims first to evaluate the effects of pioglitazone on targeted mechanisms related to white matter integrity, cognitive function, and cocaine craving; and second, to evaluate the extent to which improvements on target mechanisms predict CBT response. Positive results will support pioglitazone as a potential cognitive enhancing agent to advance to later stage medication development research

Loyal Americans

Pictured at the center of the tinted lithograph is an oval portrait of Abraham Lincoln. This portrait is surrounded by oval portraits of Union statesmen and military leaders (clockwise from top): General Scott, H. Hamlin, S. Cameron, G. Welles, M. Blair, General Butler, General Anderson, Colonel Ellsworth, C.B. Smith, E. Bates, S.P. Chase, and W.H. Seward.https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/fvw-prints/1115/thumbnail.jp