An Analysis of Ceramic Vessel Form and Function at the Pockoy Island Shell Rings

Four thousand years ago, Late Archaic peoples along the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia accumulated mollusk shells into enormous, circular structures known as shell rings. The purpose of these rings has been a subject of archaeological debate for decades, with no clear consensus as to whether they are accidental accumulations of domestic refuse, or intentionally constructed landscape markers with ceremonial or symbolic meaning. This paper presents the results of a morphological and functional analysis of ceramic vessels excavated from the Pockoy Island Shell Rings, a double shell ring site located on the shore of Edisto Island, South Carolina, in order to understand the social activities that took place there, as well as to compare these results to ceramic assemblages from similar shell ring sites. Digital modeling software was used to identify vessels and their potential functions, in order to expand our understanding of Late Archaic ceramics and what they can tell us about the social activities that took place at the site. The results suggest an assemblage of vessels of generally greater size than those normally found at coastal Late Archaic sites, as well as the presence of previously undescribed vessel forms. From a social perspective, the results also suggest that Pockoy Island was much more than just a habitation site

BRAF inhibitor and hairy cell leukemia-related transient acantholytic dermatosis

Grover disease (GD) is an acquired, nonfamilial, nonimmune mediated, transient or persistent acantholytic dermatosis. Herein, we present a 72-year-old man who had clinical and histopathologic findings of GD following two weeks of treatment with vemurafenib without MEK inhibitor. The patient was successfully treated with topical emollients and a high-potency corticosteroid. Meanwhile, vemurafenib was temporarily discontinued. Drug-induced GD has increasingly been reported in patients on BRAF inhibitor monotherapy as an immune-related adverse event. The cutaneous side effects seem to arise secondary to a paradoxical activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling of BRAF inhibitor treatment, leading to keratinocyte proliferation. Although the pathogenesis of GD has not been delineated, there is suggestion of activation of T lymphocytes, particularly helper cells under the action of pro-inflammatory cytokines, resulting in proliferation of keratinocytes. Combination therapy with a MEK inhibitor appears to prevent BRAF-induced GD. Given that there is a higher prevalence of GD in patients with hematologic malignancy, a direct causal relationship between the initiation of vemurafenib therapy and development of GD in this case may be difficult to establish

Annual Report 2013

Dear Friends, As we end the 2012-2013 Academic Year, I will begin a new assignment as Vice President for Research and Development at Louisiana Tech. While I am excited about what lies ahead, this is a bittersweet moment for me. Although my office will move to Wyly Tower, I will still be on campus and hope to continue working with alumni, faculty and students in my new capacity, and see you when you are here for Tech events or advisory board meetings. As I look back over my tenure as dean, I am so proud of our faculty, staff and students and what we have accomplished together. Our innovative, hands-on approach to undergraduate education is being emulated around the world, and our scientists and researchers are putting Louisiana Tech on the map. Our faculty has been involved in ground-breaking science, like the discovery of the Higgs-boson, in advanced research in critical areas and in the development of innovative technology for solutions to immediate challenges. Our students have also been recognized. The Eco-marathon team has won awards every year they have competed at the annual Shell event, and our National Society of Black Engineers chapter has been named National Distinguished Chapter of the Year two consecutive years. I am especially proud of our Engineering and Science Foundation Board of Directors. They have stepped up their support of our Campaign for a New Integrated Engineering and Science Building, and I expect we will achieve our goal of raising $7.5M in private funds by the end of the calendar year. I plan to remain involved in this project even as I move into my new role as Vice President. I still believe it is the single most pressing need of the College today. In closing, I will not say good-bye. I will say thank you for your support and guidance, and look forward to seeing you around campus! Sincerely, Stan Napper, Dean and Thigpen Professorhttps://digitalcommons.latech.edu/coes-annual-reports/1007/thumbnail.jp

Annual Report 2012

I hope you will enjoy reading about our faculty and student successes and take pride in the accomplishments of the College. We continue to do our best to advance each student who walks through our doors, in spite of continued state budget cuts. In the summer of 2012, I had to make some of the hardest decisions in my tenure as dean of the College of Engineering and Science. These cuts have affected our ability to replace faculty who have retired or taken other positions, to purchase needed equipment and supplies, and much more. I have asked our faculty and our Leadership Team to move forward with me in spite of these budget cuts and to continue to “lead the way” in innovative STEM education and transformative research. Meanwhile, we have much good news to share. This year, the College of Engineering and Science rolled out its Cyber Discovery Camp to a national audience, with support from the Cyber Innovation Center in Bossier City and funding from the Department of Homeland Security. This successful program, which was created within our College, is now being duplicated at colleges and universities across the U.S. Additionally, our highly successful Living with the Lab first-year curriculum is also being emulated, both in this country and around the world. We have had faculty from New Zealand, Florida and Massachusetts visit our College this past year to learn more about this exciting new learning environment. Our faculty continues to make national news in research. Dr. Erez Allouche, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the Trenchless Technology Center at Louisiana Tech University, has won Technology Product of the Year honors from the Louisiana Technology Council and the North Louisiana Economic Partnership for his innovative green geopolymer concrete technology. Dr. Lee Sawyer, Dr. Dick Greenwood and Dr. Markus Wobisch, physics professors at Tech, were actively involved in the discovery of the Higgs boson — one of the most significant scientific discoveries in 30 years. Additionally, this fall we will begin offering a pioneering, interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Molecular Sciences and Nanotechnology, as well as the new B.S. in Cyber Engineering. As you read this report, I hope that you will feel a sense of pride in the accomplishments of our faculty, staff and students who continue to excel under difficult conditions. I realize that many others are facing similar problems, so I appreciate your support and words of encouragement more than ever. Sincerely, Stan Napper Dean and Thigpen Professorhttps://digitalcommons.latech.edu/coes-annual-reports/1008/thumbnail.jp

Flow Induced by Dual-Turbine of Different Diameters in a Gas-Liquid Agitation System: the Agitation and Turbulence Indices

Flow induced by a dual turbine stirred tank was characterized measuring local velocities with a LDV and drawing the main velocity fields and the maps of turbulence intensities. The hydrodynamic regime studied in all the experiments was the so-called merging flow regime. Two impeller configurations were studied. In the first one, two disk style turbine of the same dimensions (configuration A) were used, while in the second one, the dimensions of the upper turbine were 20 % proportionally smaller than those of the lower turbine (configuration B). The agitation and turbulence indices were used to evaluate, as a first order approximation, the power consumption distribution between convective and turbulent flows. The comparison of the two-phase agitation systems studied showed that configuration B seems to be more efficient than configuration A, since both induce a similar global convective flow, but the first one assures a significant reduction of power consumption. The distribution of power consumption between convective and turbulent flows was evaluated using the agitation index and a new global parameter: turbulence ind

A review about lycopene-induced nuclear hormone receptor signalling in inflammation and lipid metabolism via still unknown endogenous apo-10´-lycopenoids

Lycopene is the red pigment in tomatoes and tomato products and is an important dietary carotenoid found in the human organism. Lycopene-isomers, oxidative lycopene metabolites and apo-lycopenoids are found in the food matrix. Lycopene intake derived from tomato consumption is associated with alteration of lipid metabolism and a lower incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Lycopene is mainly described as a potent antioxidant but novel studies are shifting towards its metabolites and their capacity to mediate nuclear receptor signalling. Di-/tetra-hydro-derivatives of apo-10´-lycopenoic acid and apo-15´-lycopenoic acids are potential novel endogenous mammalian lycopene metabolites which may act as ligands for nuclear hormone mediated activation and signalling. In this review, we postulate that complex lycopene metabolism results in various lycopene metabolites which have the ability to mediate transactivation of various nuclear hormone receptors like RARs, RXRs and PPARs. A new mechanistic explanation of how tomato consumption could positively modulate inflammation and lipid metabolism is discussed

Sociocultural variability in the Latino population: Age patterns and differences in morbidity among older US adults

BACKGROUND—The US Latino population is rapidly aging and becoming increasingly diverse with respect to nativity and national origin. Increased longevity along with medical advancements in treatment have resulted in a higher number of older Latinos living with morbidity. Therefore, there is a need to understand variability in Latino health among older adults. OBJECTIVES—This paper documents mid- and late-life health differences in morbidity by race/ethnicity, nativity, and country of origin among adults aged 50 and older. METHODS—We use data from the 2000–2015 National Health Interview Survey to calculate age-and gender-specific proportions based on reports of five morbidity measures: hypertension, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes among non-Latino Whites and seven Latino subgroups. RESULTS—The foreign-born from Mexico, Cuba, and Central/South America, regardless of gender, exhibit an immigrant advantage for heart disease and cancer in comparison to non-Latino Whites across all age categories. Conversely, island-born Puerto Ricans are generally characterized with higher levels of morbidity. Similarly, US-born Puerto Ricans and Mexicans exhibit morbidity patterns indicative of their minority status. Latinos, regardless of gender, were more likely to report diabetes than non-Latino Whites. Hypertension and stroke have significant variability in age patterns among US-and foreign-born Latinos. CONCLUSION—Recognizing the importance of within-Latino heterogeneity in health is imperative if researchers are to implement social services and health policies aimed at ameliorating the risk of disease. CONTRIBUTION—Considering intersectional ethnic, nativity, and country-of-origin characteristics among older Latinos is important to better understand the underlying causes of racial/ethnic disparities in morbidity across the life course

Sexual dimorphism in the loud calls of Azara’s owl monkeys (Aotus azarae): evidence of sexual selection?

Primates use different types of vocalizations in a variety of contexts. Some of the most studied types have been the long distance or loud calls. These vocalizations have been associated with mate defense, mate attraction, and resource defense, and it is plausible that sexual selection has played an important role in their evolution. Focusing on identified individuals of known sex and age, we evaluated the sexual dimorphism in a type of loud calls (hoots) in a population of wild owl monkeys (Aotus azarae) in Argentina. We found evidence of sexual dimorphism in call structure, with females and males only emitting one type of call, each differing in dominant frequency and Shannon entropy. In addition, both age-related and sex-specific differences in call usage were also apparent in response to the removal of one group member. Future acoustic data will allow us to assess if there are individual characteristics and if the structure of hoot calls presents differences in relation to the social condition of owl monkeys or specific sex responses to variants of hoot calls’ traits. This will provide deeper insights into the evolution of vocal mechanisms regulating pair bonding and mate choice strategies in this and other primate species.Leakey Foundation, Wenner-Gren Foundation, National Geographic Society, NSF, National Institute on Aging, University of Pennsylvania Research Foundation, Zoological Society of San Dieg