Intensive Cultural Resources Survey Of 53 Acres Along Seber Road In Harris County, Texas

HRA Gray & Pape, LLC., of Houston, Texas performed an intensive archaeological pedestrian and reconnaissance-level walkover survey on an estimated 21.4-hectare (53-acre) property designated for residential development in Harris County, Texas. The project is being conducted on private property in anticipation of potential United States Army Corps of Engineers permitting requirements. All fieldwork and reporting activities were completed with reference to the Texas Antiquities Code 26.24, Council of Texas Archeologists guidelines, federal (National Historic Preservation Act) laws and guidelines (United States Department of the Interior 1981), and guidance for conducting cultural resources surveys pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (Advisory Council on Historic Preservation 2001). Site file research was completed using the online Texas Archaeological Sites Atlas maintained by the Texas Historical Commission. No previously recorded historic properties, historic markers, National Register of Historic Places, or archaeological sites were identified within a 1.6-kilometer (1-mile) radius during the background research. The review of the Texas Historical Commission files online did identify 2 areas that had been previously surveyed within the 1.6-kilometers (1-mile) search radius; however, these surveys did not identify archaeological resources. Field investigations were conducted on March 10, 2014 and required approximately 48 person hours to complete. All fieldwork and reporting activities were conducted and completed with reference to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended and Texas survey Standards. The survey consisted of walkover, shovel testing, and photo-documentation of the permit area/Area of Potential Effects. Subsurface investigation included the excavation of 42 shovel tests, all of which were negative. During this investigation, no new or previously identified archaeological sites were recorded. Shovel testing identified soil profiles that gave no indication of buried cultural horizons. One extant historic-age storage barn was identified along the northwestern boundary of the property. The structure, constructed sometime after 1944, includes walls made of lumber and the roof was constructed of corrugated metal. None of the construction materials or methods appeared to be of unique design. Based on the negative results of this survey, HRA Gray & Pape, LLC. recommends no further cultural resources investigations within the property, and that the project be allowed to proceed as planned

Bridge Project Prioritization

Kentucky’s 14,000+ bridges are key nodes within the state’s surface transportation network. They facilitate the movement of freight, commercial vehicles, and personal vehicles alike. Historically, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has prioritized bridge maintenance projects using sufficiency ratings. These ratings are based on three factors — structural adequacy and safety, design obsolescence, and an asset’s importance within the roadway network. Although useful, sufficiency ratings do not account for factors that should be considered during the prioritization process (e.g., condition factors, risk). To address the shortcomings associated with using sufficiency ratings, KYTC — with the assistance of the Kentucky Transportation Center — has developed and implemented a new Enhanced Bridge Prioritization Index. Sixteen factors distributed across three categories (Condition, Mobility, and Risk) are used to calculate index scores for each structure. Each factor is weighted in proportion to its contribution to the overall index. The Condition category makes up the largest part of the index, accounting for 68% of the overall score. Scores range between 0 and 1. A bridge that receives a score of 0 is the lowest priority, while a bridge that earns a score of 1 ranks as the highest priority. Following successful testing, over the next few budget cycles KYTC intends to use the Enhanced Bridge Prioritization Index. As part of this effort, the agency will evaluate the index’s performance and make revisions as needed

Changes in participant behaviour and attitudes are associated with knowledge and skills gained by using a turtle conservation citizen science app

1. Citizen science has become a popular way to collect biodiversity data and engage the wider public in scientific research. It has the potential to improve the knowledge and skills of participants, and positively change their behaviour and attitude towards the environment. Citizen science outcomes are particularly valuable for wildlife conservation, as they could help alleviate human impacts on the environment. 2. We used an online questionnaire to investigate the consequences of participating in an Australian turtle mapping app, TurtleSAT, on skills and knowledge gain, and test for any association between these gains and behavioural or attitudinal changes reported by the participants. 3. One hundred and forty-eight citizen scientists completed our questionnaire, mostly from the states of New South Wales and Victoria. TurtleSAT was the third most common source of correct answers about turtle ecology and conservation, after a talk about turtles and personal observations/research. Citizen scientists who participated more often were more knowledgeable about turtles than infrequent users. Self-reported gains in knowledge and skills were positively linked to attitudinal and behavioural changes, such as being more aware of turtles on roads. However, behaviour and attitude changes were not related to participation rate. Respondents also reported that after learning about the current decline in turtle populations, they adopted several turtle-friendly practices, such as habitat restoration or moving turtles out of harm's way, underlining the importance of increasing people's awareness on species declines. 4. The reported changes in attitudes and behaviours are likely to positively impact the conservation of Australian freshwater turtles. Engagement with citizen science projects like TurtleSAT may result in participants being more interested in the natural world, by learning more about it and being more exposed to it, and therefore contributing more actively to its protection

Changes in participant behaviour and attitudes are associated with knowledge and skills gained by using a turtle conservation citizen science app

1. Citizen science has become a popular way to collect biodiversity data and engage the wider public in scientific research. It has the potential to improve the knowledge and skills of participants, and positively change their behaviour and attitude towards the environment. Citizen science outcomes are particularly valuable for wildlife conservation, as they could help alleviate human impacts on the environment. 2. We used an online questionnaire to investigate the consequences of participating in an Australian turtle mapping app, TurtleSAT, on skills and knowledge gain, and test for any association between these gains and behavioural or attitudinal changes reported by the participants. 3. One hundred and forty-eight citizen scientists completed our questionnaire, mostly from the states of New South Wales and Victoria. TurtleSAT was the third most common source of correct answers about turtle ecology and conservation, after a talk about turtles and personal observations/research. Citizen scientists who participated more often were more knowledgeable about turtles than infrequent users. Self-reported gains in knowledge and skills were positively linked to attitudinal and behavioural changes, such as being more aware of turtles on roads. However, behaviour and attitude changes were not related to participation rate. Respondents also reported that after learning about the current decline in turtle populations, they adopted several turtle-friendly practices, such as habitat restoration or moving turtles out of harm's way, underlining the importance of increasing people's awareness on species declines. 4. The reported changes in attitudes and behaviours are likely to positively impact the conservation of Australian freshwater turtles. Engagement with citizen science projects like TurtleSAT may result in participants being more interested in the natural world, by learning more about it and being more exposed to it, and therefore contributing more actively to its protection

The Transformation Project: Program Update 2015-2016

In 2014 Nebraska took a giant step toward fixing pervasive issues plaguing agencies throughout the justice system culminating in a prison system that was bursting at the seams. The state enlisted the services of the Council of State Governments (CSG), a national organization dedicated to helping state governments problem-solve and develop policies for the common good. Over the next several years, the CSG worked to help Nebraska usher in policies that would begin to shape justice reinvestment in the state. Along with the CSG’s initial assessment procedures, the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) asked the group to do an additional review of its institutional programming. The report, released in June of 2016, drove home what many of us who had been working to implement programming within the Department had already experienced: not enough staff to run programs and not enough assessment procedures and training in place to ensure programs are running well. The report also detailed a number of recommendations for NDCS, which included providing more efficient and effective programming. We were delighted to see the effort we had given to specific areas of Transformation Project curriculum and implementation matched perfectly with the CSG’s recommendations. By working to address multiple criminogenic needs at once, building proficiency by integrating graduated skills practice and utilizing gender and youth specific curriculum, Transformation Project is ahead of the curve when it comes to comprehensive prison programming. Our attention to incorporating fidelity measures is also right on target to help overcome some of the issues faced by corrections systems as they work to implement programming. This is reassuring as we develop a program that fits the needs of Nebraska and meets high national standards

Adjustable Prone Trolley Design for People Suffering from Spinal Cords Injuries in Nepal

For people who suffer from spinal cord injuries in Nepal, rehabilitation and care are often difficult to receive, especially for those for whom fewer resources are available. Thankfully, International Nepal Fellowship (INF), a non-profit serving Nepal for nearly 70 years, aids patients with spinal cord injuries at Green Pastures Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre in Pokhara, Nepal. A crucial part of any rehabilitation is adequate exercise to improve circulation and prevent sores and muscular atrophy. Yet, due to the nature of the injury, using a traditional wheelchair is not an option to fulfill this need for those with spinal cord injuries. Therefore, Green Pastures uses prone trolleys so that these patients can exercise. A prone trolley is a horizontal cushioned board where the patient lies flat on their stomach and is able to move themselves using the wheels attached to the cushioned board. Despite the importance of the prone trolley, the trolleys at Green Pastures Hospital have a few critical issues. The major issue is that the prone trolleys are internationally imported, which not only means that delivery can take months, but also that the trolleys are also difficult to repair when damaged. Both these factors severely hamper Green Pastures Hospital’s ability to provide spinal cord injured patients with the care they need. The Nepal Prone Trolley team, a part of Messiah University Collaboratory, seeks to develop and design a fundamentally better prone trolley for INF. The goal of our project is to design a prone trolley that can be fabricated by the INF staff with locally sourced materials. The advantage of this new design is that it will be easier to obtain and can easily be repaired when needed. After creating a design that satisfies our goal and fulfills the criteria of a functional prone trolley as defined by INF, we were able to fabricate a prototype of the prone trolley using resources and techniques available in Pokhara. Moving forward, we will conduct testing and redesign the trolley so that our finalized prone trolley design will be able to transform how Green Pastures Hospital aids their spinal cord injury patients. Funding for this work provided by The Collaboratory for Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research.https://mosaic.messiah.edu/engr2022/1011/thumbnail.jp

Impaired Bub1 Function In vivo Compromises Tension-Dependent Checkpoint Function Leading to Aneuploidy and Tumorigenesis

Bub1 is a serine/threonine kinase originally described as a core component of the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) mechanism in yeast. Bub1 binding at kinetochores has been reported to be required for SAC function and localization of other SAC components. A proper SAC is believed to be essential for murine embryonic development, as all previously described null mutations in SAC components in mice cause embryonic lethality. We produced mice harboring a Bub1 mutant allele lacking exons 2 and 3, resulting in a hypomorphic mutant expressed at <5% of wild-type levels. Despite this significant reduction, homozygous mutant animals are viable on a mixed 129P2/B6 or FVB background but display increased tumorigenesis with aging, whereas mice with a C57Bl/6J background die perinatally. Bub1 mutant murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) display defects in chromosome congression to the metaphase plate, severe chromosome missegregation, and aneuploidy accompanied by high levels of premature senescence. Mutant MEFs have a robust SAC in response to nocodazole treatment but an impaired response to Taxol. Mutant MEFs also show reduced kinetochore localization of BubR1, but not of Mad2. The significant reduction in SAC response to Taxol, but not nocodazole, coupled with the reduced binding of BubR1, but not Mad2, indicates that Bub1 is particularly critical for the SAC response to a lack of tension on kinetochores. Thus, Bub1 is essential for proper chromosome segregation, a defect that can lead to severe phenotypes, including perinatal lethality and a predisposition to cancer

Cooperativity between MAPK and PI3K signaling activation is required for glioblastoma pathogenesis

Glioblastoma (GBM) genomes feature recurrent genetic alterations that dysregulate core intracellular signaling pathways, including the G1/S cell cycle checkpoint and the MAPK and PI3K effector arms of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signaling. Elucidation of the phenotypic consequences of activated RTK effectors is required for the design of effective therapeutic and diagnostic strategies

Ageing exacerbates damage of systemic and salivary neutrophils from patients presenting Candida-related denture stomatitis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ageing leads to a decline in the function of the immune system, increasing the body's susceptibility to infections through the impairment of T-cells, macrophages, neutrophils and dendritic cells Denture stomatitis is a primary oral disease affecting elderly denture wearers. The major etiologic factor involved in this pathology is the infection by <it>Candida albicans</it>, an opportunistic pathogen that causes local and disseminated diseases in immunosuppressed humans. Neutrophils play a critical role in the immune response against <it>C. albicans </it>and are continually present in the salivary fluid and in the blood. The aim of this study was to determine ageing-related changes in salivary and blood neutrophils and their potential implications in <it>Candida</it>-related denture stomatitis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our results showed a lower number of neutrophils in the saliva from patients presenting <it>Candida</it>-related denture stomatitis in comparison to their matched controls. Furthermore, fewer neutrophils were isolated from the saliva of aged control individuals in comparison to matched younger subjects. CXCR1, CD62L and CD11b expression were significantly greater on systemic neutrophils from younger control individuals. Elderly individuals showed more apoptotic salivary neutrophils and lower GM-CSF levels than younger ones, regardless of the occurrence of <it>Candida </it>infection. On the other hand, CXCL-8 concentrations were higher in the saliva from elderly individuals. Besides, TNF-α was detected at elevated levels in the saliva from infected elderly subjects. Salivary neutrophils from elderly and young patients presented impaired phagocytic activity against <it>C. albicans</it>. However, just systemic neutrophils from elderly showed decreased phagocytosis when compared to the younger ones, regardless of the occurrence of infection. In addition, neutrophils from aged individuals and young patients presented low fungicidal activity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The data suggests that the <it>Candida </it>related-denture stomatitis is associated to neutrophils function deficiency, and ageing drastically appears to alter important characteristics of such cells, facilitating the establishment of this infection.</p