Archaeological assessment and report of investigations involving Sweetwater Creek Watershed (PL-566), Philadelphia, Loudon County, Tennessee

An archaeological survey-reconnaissance of the Sweetwater Creek project area, located in Philadelphia, Tennessee, was conducted by one of the authors during April, 1981. At least 15 archaeological sites were defined in the project area on the basis of combined documentary and archaeological evidence. These include three nineteenth century mill sites, a historically significant spring, and at least eleven domestic-craft occupations. In addition, the presence of a Civil War battlefield in the project area is strongly inferred, although its exact location has not been defined archaeologically; no evidence of prehistoric occupations was noted. It is recommended that all sites in the project area be preserved. Secondary testing and/or mitigation of the archaeological resources will be required if preservation of the sites is not feasible. It is further recommended that the town of Philadelphia, including the project area, be nominated to the National Register of Historic Places as a Historic District.https://scholar.utc.edu/archaeology-reports/1078/thumbnail.jp

Test excavations at Citico (40HA65) Hamilton County, Tennessee

In June and July, 1988 test excavations were conducted on a portion of the Citico Site (40HA65). A considerable amount of cultural material, structural features and human burials were documented. More importantly, it was demonstrated that significant portions of the site remain archaeologically intact. Further research would provide valuable insights concerning this major southeastern site.https://scholar.utc.edu/archaeology-reports/1070/thumbnail.jp

Prehistoric and historic cultural resources in the Chattanooga area and an assessment of four prospective sites for the proposed River Port at Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee

In July, 1981, personnel of the Jeffrey L. Brown Institute of Archaeology, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, conducted a preliminary assessment of four prospective sites under consideration for the construction of a river port facility at the city of Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee, in accordance with an agreement between the Institute and the firm of Sverdrup and Parcel and Associates, Inc. The study was based on a review of available archival, documentary, and published data relevant to the Chattanooga area. This study revealed that all four prospective sites are known to contain cultural remains, but the overall significance of these remains could not be determined at the documentary level of research. Furthermore, it is highly probable that each of the sites contain additional cultural resources not presently recorded, including deeply buried prehistoric material. Additional archaeological research will therefore be necessary for any of the prospective sites that will be subjected to development or other land-altering activities. In order to determine the nature and extent of the cultural resources present at each of the sites slated for development, we make the following recommendations: 1. a thorough surface rennaissance of the site area; 2. subsurface testing in the form of small hand-excavated units in all areas of low surface visibility and additionally as deemed necessary; 3. extensive mechanical testing for deeply buried components; 4. determination of National Register eligibility based on the results of the testing program outlined above.https://scholar.utc.edu/archaeology-reports/1072/thumbnail.jp

Present day partisanship and the legacy of structural inequality has helped fuel the spread of COVID-19 in Native nations

The pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on Native nations in the US with COVID-19 rates 350 percent higher among Native Americans compared to whites. In new research Raymond Foxworth, Laura E. Evans, Gabriel R. Sanchez, Cheryl Ellenwood, and Carmela M. Roybal contextualize the history of colonization and policy neglect by federal and state governments to explain the unequal impact of the pandemic. They find that this disparity is related to a lack of basic infrastructure like safe running water, a shortage of health information available in Native languages, and the high rate of non-tribal members visiting tribal lands during the pandemic. State-level partisanship also plays an important role; Republican dominated states were less likely to implement pandemic mitigation policies such as mask mandates, which in turn has put Native American lives in danger

Fluid-membrane tethers: minimal surfaces and elastic boundary layers

Thin cylindrical tethers are common lipid bilayer membrane structures, arising in situations ranging from micromanipulation experiments on artificial vesicles to the dynamic structure of the Golgi apparatus. We study the shape and formation of a tether in terms of the classical soap-film problem, which is applied to the case of a membrane disk under tension subject to a point force. A tether forms from the elastic boundary layer near the point of application of the force, for sufficiently large displacement. Analytic results for various aspects of the membrane shape are given.Comment: 12 page

Mojave remote sensing field experiment

The Mojave Remote Sensing Field Experiment (MFE), conducted in June 1988, involved acquisition of Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS); C, L, and P-band polarimetric radar (AIRSAR) data; and simultaneous field observations at the Pisgah and Cima volcanic fields, and Lavic and Silver Lake Playas, Mojave Desert, California. A LANDSAT Thematic Mapper (TM) scene is also included in the MFE archive. TM-based reflectance and TIMS-based emissivity surface spectra were extracted for selected surfaces. Radiative transfer procedures were used to model the atmosphere and surface simultaneously, with the constraint that the spectra must be consistent with field-based spectral observations. AIRSAR data were calibrated to backscatter cross sections using corner reflectors deployed at target sites. Analyses of MFE data focus on extraction of reflectance, emissivity, and cross section for lava flows of various ages and degradation states. Results have relevance for the evolution of volcanic plains on Venus and Mars

Detection Rates of Northern Bobwhite Coveys Using a Small Unmanned Aerial System-Mounted Thermal Camera

The northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter, bobwhite) requires intensive monitoring to evaluate management efforts and determine harvest rates. However, traditional monitoring techniques (e.g., covey-call surveys) are labor-intensive and imprecise. Small unmanned aerial systems (sUASs) mounted with thermal cameras have demonstrated promise for monitoring multiple avian species and could provide a less intensive and more effective approach to monitoring bobwhite coveys, assuming coveys produce a recognizable heat signature. To assess sUAS monitoring, we evaluated the influence of bobwhite covey size (3, 6, and 12) and cover type (grass, shrub, and forest) on covey detectability by a sUAS equipped with a thermal camera. We hypothesized that forest would have the lowest covey detection due to trees obstructing detection of the thermal signature and that larger covey size would improve covey detection due to the formation of larger, more visibly distinct thermal signatures. We placed groups of known-size, pen-reared bobwhites in steel mesh cages (3, 6, and 12 individuals/cage) in 3 vegetation types (grass, shrub, and forest) among predetermined locations on a private farm in Clay County, Mississippi, USA (3 replicates, 27 total cages). At civil twilight on 5 March 2020, the sUAS flew a systematic route over the cage area at 30 m above ground level, capturing thermal infrared photographs every 5 seconds. To assess detection, we distributed 57 photographs to 31 volunteers and asked them to assign a binary value for detection (1, 0) regarding covey presence in each photograph. Overall true positive rate was 0.551 but improved with increasing covey size. By vegetation type, simulated coveys in grass had the lowest true positive rate by photograph (0.403), followed by forest (0.562) and shrub (0.605). Results indicate that sUASs and thermal camera technology could be a viable method for surveying intact bobwhite coveys, especially if detection of smaller groups and those in denser vegetation improves. As this technology advances, we recommend that future research focus on evaluating the efficacy of this novel methodology through assessing the influence of weather conditions, camera specifications, flight speed, and altitude, as well as assessing machine learning for processing photos

An appraisal of analytical tools used in predicting clinical outcomes following radiation therapy treatment of men with prostate cancer: a systematic review

Background: Prostate cancer can be treated with several different modalities, including radiation treatment. Various prognostic tools have been developed to aid decision making by providing estimates of the probability of different outcomes. Such tools have been demonstrated to have better prognostic accuracy than clinical judgment alone. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken to identify papers relating to the prediction of clinical outcomes (biochemical failure, metastasis, survival) in patients with prostate cancer who received radiation treatment, with the particular aim of identifying whether published tools are adequately developed, validated, and provide accurate predictions. PubMed and EMBASE were searched from July 2007. Title and abstract screening, full text review, and critical appraisal were conducted by two reviewers. A review protocol was published in advance of commencing literature searches. Results: The search strategy resulted in 165 potential articles, of which 72 were selected for full text review and 47 ultimately included. These papers described 66 models which were newly developed and 31 which were external validations of already published predictive tools. The included studies represented a total of 60,457 patients, recruited between 1984 and 2009. Sixty five percent of models were not externally validated, 57% did not report accuracy and 31% included variables which are not readily accessible in existing datasets. Most models (72, 74%) related to external beam radiation therapy with the remainder relating to brachytherapy (alone or in combination with external beam radiation therapy). Conclusions: A large number of prognostic models (97) have been described in the recent literature, representing a rapid increase since previous reviews (17 papers, 1966–2007). Most models described were not validated and a third utilised variables which are not readily accessible in existing data collections. Where validation had occurred, it was often limited to data taken from single institutes in the US. While validated and accurate models are available to predict prostate cancer specific mortality following external beam radiation therapy, there is a scarcity of such tools relating to brachytherapy. This review provides an accessible catalogue of predictive tools for current use and which should be prioritised for future validation.Elspeth Raymond, Michael E. O’Callaghan, Jared Campbell, Andrew D. Vincent, Kerri Beckmann, David Roder, Sue Evans, John McNeil, Jeremy Millar, John Zalcberg, Martin Borg and Kim Morett

Longitudinal evaluation of quality of life in 288 patients with Neurofibromatosis 2

Advances in molecular biology have resulted in novel therapy for neurofibromatosis 2-related (NF2) tumours, highlighting the need for robust outcome measures. The disease-focused NF2 impact on quality of life (NFTI-QOL) patient questionnaire was assessed as an outcome measure for treatment in a multi-centre study. NFTI-QOL was related to clinician-rated severity (ClinSev) and genetic severity (GenSev) over repeated visits. Data were evaluated for 288 NF2 patients (n = 464 visits) attending the English national NF2 clinics from 2010 to 2012. The male-to-female ratio was equal and the mean age was 42.2 (SD 17.8) years. The analysis included NFTI-QOL eight-item score, ClinSev graded as mild, moderate, or severe, and GenSev as a rank order of the number of NF2 mutations (graded as mild, moderate, severe). The mean (SD) 8.7 (5.4) score for NFTI-QOL for either a first visit or all visits 9.2 (5.4) was similar to the published norm of 9.4 (5.5), with no significant relationships with age or gender. NFTI-QOL internal reliability was good, with a Cronbach’s alpha score of 0.85 and test re-test reliability r = 0.84. NFTI related to ClinSev (r = 0.41, p < 0.001; r = 0.46 for all visits), but weakly to GenSev (r = 0.16, p < 0.05; r = 0.15 for all visits). ClinSev related to GenSev (r = 0.41, p < 0.001; r = 0.42 for all visits). NFTI-QOL showed a good reliability and ability to detect significant longitudinal changes in the QOL of individuals. The moderate relationships of NFTI-QOL with clinician- and genetic-rated severity suggest that NFTI-QOL taps into NF2 patient experiences that are not encompassed by ClinSev rating or genotype

Global generalized solutions for Maxwell-alpha and Euler-alpha equations

We study initial-boundary value problems for the Lagrangian averaged alpha models for the equations of motion for the corotational Maxwell and inviscid fluids in 2D and 3D. We show existence of (global in time) dissipative solutions to these problems. We also discuss the idea of dissipative solution in an abstract Hilbert space framework.Comment: 27 pages, to appear in Nonlinearit