Book Review: Ouachita Mountains Archeology: Researching the Past with Two Projects in Arkansas, Mary Beth Trubitt, 2019, Arkansas Archeological Survey Popular Series No. 6, ISBN 978-1-56349-109-2.

This book, written for a general audience, summarizes 10,000 years of history in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. Trubitt draws upon data from Arkansas Archeological Society excavations at the Jones Mill and Dragover sites in southwest Arkansas to produce a highly readable, well-illustrated, and informative volume that introduces the non-professional reader to archaeological work. The use of text boxes to supplement the main narrative, along with a detailed glossary of key terms, allow her to present important concepts without dragging the reader into minutia

The Archaeology, Bioarchaeology, Ethnography, Ethnohistory, and History Bibliography of the Caddo Indian Peoples of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas

The Archaeology, Bioarchaeology, Ethnography, Ethnohistory, and History Bibliography of the Caddo Indian Peoples of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas

Ion beam analysis of microcrystalline quartz artifacts from the Reed Mound Site, Delaware County, Oklahoma

Ion beam analysis (IBA) has been a powerful, non-destructive tool for archaeological research worldwide for over four decades, yet its full potential is seldom realized in North American archaeology. Herein the potential of particle induced X-ray emission spectrometry (PIXE) as a tool for future Ozarks chert provenance studies is evaluated based on its ability to facilitate (1) discrimination of Ozarks chert materials from different geological formations and (2) identification of discrete groups of artifacts from the same geological formation. In addition, PIXE was also used to evaluate the elemental heterogeneity of Ozarks chert materials. Thirty chert (microcrystalline quartz) artifacts were visually sorted and classified according to macroscopic features characteristic of certain chert resources from particular Ozarks geological formations. The elemental concentrations obtained from PIXE analysis underwent multivariate statistical analyses in order to gain insight from the data. The results indicate that PIXE could be a useful tool for assigning Ozarks chert materials to their respective geological formations, and possibly for determining regional or sub-regional provenance

Acute care needs in a rural Sub-Saharan African Emergency Centre: A retrospective analysis

AbstractIntroductionIn June of 2008, Karoli Lwanga (“Nyakibale”) Hospital and Global Emergency Care Collaborative (GECC) opened the first functional Emergency Centre (EC) in rural Uganda. GECC is developing a training programme for a new cadre of midlevel Emergency Care Practitioners (ECPs), to increase access to quality emergency care. In order to determine the skills and resources needed, the unique practice demographics and the feasibility of treating patients in this setting must be understood.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional analysis of the first 500 consecutive patient visits in the EC’s patient care log was reviewed. Data on demographics, procedures performed, laboratory testing, bedside ultrasounds (USs) performed, radiographs (XRs) ordered, diagnoses, condition upon discharge and disposition were collated. Descriptive statistics were performed.ResultsOf the first 500 patient visits, there were 275 (55%) male visits and 132 (26.4%) visits for children under five. Procedures were performed in 367 (73.4%) patients. Laboratory testing, XRs and USs were performed in 188 (37.6%), 99 (19.8%) and 45 (7%) patients, respectively. Infectious diseases were diagnosed in 217 (43.4%) patients; traumatic injuries in 140 (28%) patients. Only one patient expired in the ED, and 401 (80.2%) were in good condition after treatment. One person was transferred to another hospital. After treatment, 180 (36%) patients were discharged home. Only five (1.0%) patients went directly to the operating theatre.ConclusionsThis pilot study describes the patient population, resource and training needs of a rural Emergency Centre in SSA. It demonstrates that acute care providers will be required to evaluate a wide variety of patient complaints, effectively utilise laboratory and radiologic testing, and perform numerous focused treatments and therapies. Specialised training programmes, such as GECC’s ECP programme, are needed to create providers able to provide high quality, lifesaving care

Effects of the slow cooling during cryopreservation on the survival and morphology of Taiwan shoveljaw carp (Varicorhinus barbatulus) spermatozoa

Over the past decades, pollution, overfishing, and habitat degradation have driven the population size of Taiwan shoveljaw carp down markedly in Taiwan. Cryopreservation is a useful tool which could be used to maintain genetic resources to protect and preserve this endemic species. Four cryoprotectants [dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO), dimethylacetamide (DMA), glycerol and methanol] and six freezing rates (0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 °C min-1) were tested in order to develop an optimal controlled slow-freezing protocol for Taiwan shoveljaw carp spermatozoa. Samples were subsequently examined under the scanning electron microscope to reveal whether cryopreservation had affected their ultrastructural morphology. The highest survival rate (50.1 ± 2.0%) was observed with a freezing rate of 8 °C min-1 in 1M DMSO, using SYBR-14 + PI staining. Fertility and hatching rate results using frozen-thawed spermatozoa (90.2 ± 2.2% and 22.3 ± 2.5%, respectively) were not significantly different from results with fresh spermatozoa. After cryopreservation, 21.0 ± 1.6% of frozen-thawed spermatozoa had mid-piece swelling and rupture of the head. Cryopreservation might, therefore, slightly affect Taiwan shoveljaw carp spermatozoa in terms of morphological change. However, these alterations could be compensated by using large enough numbers of normally functioning frozen-thawed spermatozoa to achieve a standard equal to fresh spermatozoa. This is the first report of successful cryopreservation of Taiwan shoveljaw carp spermatozoa using a controlled slow-cooling method

Effects of Caudal Elevation on Testicular Function in Rats: Separation of Effects on Spermatogenesis and Steroidogenesis

A variety of biologic processes are perturbed when exposed to microgravity (space flight) for more than 7 days, including testicular function. Suspension of rats in a special harness (caudal elevation) to induce thoracic pooling of blood fluids and remove the support function of the hind limbs is used to mimic, on earth, the effects of microgravity encountered during space flight. Typically, this induces cryptorchidism in male rats. Three experiments were conducted to differentiate the effects of caudal elevation (30 deg angle) and anatomic location of testes on spermatogenesis and steroidogenesis. Rats were subjected to caudal elevation for 7 days using either a tail harness or a whole-body harness. Testes of rats fell into the abdominal cavity when a tail harness was used, but ligation of the iguinal canal prevented this repositioning. For rats with abdominal testes, testicular weight was reduced (P less than 0.05) and histology of testes was abnormal; the number of spermatids per gram parenchyma was lower (P less than 0.05) in tail-suspended rats compared with control rats

Alcohol-related hypoglycemia in rural Uganda: socioeconomic and physiologic contrasts

Hypoglycemia is a rare but important complication seen in patients who present with alcohol intoxication. In a study by Marks and Teale, less than one percent of people with alcohol intoxication who presented to an American emergency department were hypoglycemic [1]. It is even more rare to see an intoxicated patient, who had been eating appropriately prior to or during the intoxication, present in a hypoglycemic coma. However, our analysis of the first 500 patients seen in a newly opened five-bed Emergency Department (ED) at Nyakibale Karoli Lwanga Hospital in rural southwestern Uganda, revealed multiple intoxicated patients who presented in hypoglycemic coma within hours of eating a full meal. Three of these cases are summarized and discussed below