Evidence of Resource Procurement and Manufacturing Techniques in Caddoan Ceramic Assemblages from the Sabine, Cypress, and Sulphur River Drainage Basins, Rusk and Titus Counties, Texas

Texas Utilities Services and Espey, Huston & Associates, Inc. have conducted ongoing archaeological investigations of cultural resources in Northeast Texas for the past 15 years. As a part of these studies, prehistoric Caddoan ceramic assemblages were recovered from 13 sites in three distinct drainage basins: three sites from the Sabine River drainage; three sites from the Cypress Creek drainage; and seven sites from the Sulphur River drainage. Recent research on the ceramic collections has emphasized variability in surface treatment, vessel form, and paste composition by means of a detailed attribute analysis and petrographic examination of a sample of the Caddoan sherds. This paper focuses on the paste composition of a sherd sample selected to undergo petrographic analysis. The sample contains representatives among the sherds of the major tempering agents identified during a macroscopic examination of the pastes. The initial goal of the analyses was establishment of a baseline for paste composition in the study areas. A detailed point count, and grain size measurements, allowed for the identification of constituents in a range of frequencies from among the sites located in each of the three drainage basins. Upon completion of the initial studies, the results of the analyses from the three studies were compared. This paper presents a discussion of preliminary patterns identified in Caddoan ceramic assemblages of resource procurement and manufacturing techniques observed among the site samples

Better Off Working? Work, Poverty And Benefit Cycling

A study of the work experiences of a group of low-skilled workers over five years. Concern has been growing about the extent to which paid work is an effective route out of poverty and the extent of churning between work and benefits that can result in recurrent poverty. Using both interview and survey data, this report examines work pathways, experiences of retention and progression, and feelings of financial strain among a group of lone parents and former long-term unemployed people who have entered work. The report covers: • people’s perceptions of poverty and financial strain and how this relates to their movements in and out of work; • people’s trajectories in work and the factors facilitating or constraining work retention; • the relationship between work trajectories and moving into ‘better work’; • what enables or constrains people in their attempts to progress in work; and • tensions and trade-offs between retention and progression

Mucin expression in normal and diseased states of the stomach : a histochemical and immunohistochemical study

Nine human mucin genes have been described, which express glycoproteins MUCJ,2,3,4 ,5AC,5B,6, 7, and 8 in various tissues. It has been shown that different mucins are expressed in various gastric disease states as compared to the normal. In this study histochemical and immunohistochemical methods were used to determine the type of mucin and the pattern of staining in 54 patients with a variety of gastric conditions [i.e. normal controls, foetal stomachs, chronic active gastritis, low grade dysplasia, intestinal metaplasia (associated with gastritis, benign ulcers, dysplasia and cancer), early and advanced intestinal type adenocarcinoma, and diffuse adenocarcinoma]. MUCJ-7 antibodies were used in the study, this being the first study to all assess seven MUC antibodies in the various conditions. It is also the first study to assess the pattern of mucin staining in foetal stomachs. Normal controls were immunoreactive for MUC4, 5 and 6, and gastritis specimens showed similar results, although the latter showed more MUCJ immunoreactivity. Whereas early foetal stomach showed no MUC immunoreactivity, MUC4, 5 and 6 were present from the early second trimester onwards. There was no significant difference between dysplasia and intestinal metaplasia, both categories showing expression of MUC2 and 3 predominantly. Early intestinal type adenocarcinomas did not show any mucins in the majority of cases. Advanced intestinal type adenocarcinomas showed immunoreactivity predominantly for MUCJ, 5 and 6, as well as MUC2 in some cases. Diffuse adenocarcinomas showed strong positive MUC2 and MUC6 staining, and in some cases MUC5 and 7. In conclusion this study has shown different patterns of mucin immunoreactivity in various gastric disease states. Specimens with dysplasia, intestinal metaplasia, late intestinal type adenocarcinoma and diffuse gastric cancer were characterized by increased diversity of mucin gene expression, whereas early intestinal cancer showed loss of mucin immunoreactivity

Posttraumatic stress disorder among homeless adults in Sydney

A number of international studies reveal high prevalence rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within homeless populations. Recent research on PTSD indicates that cognitive responses to trauma are critical in determining who develops the disorder. In Australia, a number of studies indicate exceptionally high rates of trauma experience among homeless adults, yet PTSD has not been investigated in this cohort. Therefore, the primary aim of this project was to improve understanding of PTSD and related cognitions in a sample of homeless adults in Sydney. The project attempts to determine the prevalence of PTSD and its onset in relation to homelessness (Study One) and also explores the role of cognitions in PTSD (Study Two). The sample consisted of seventy homeless men and women aged 18 to 73 years, who were randomly sampled through eight homeless services. A computer-assisted face-to-face structured clinical interview was conducted for each participant. The majority of the sample stated that they had experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime (98.2%). The twelve-month prevalence of PTSD was higher among homeless adults in Sydney in comparison to the Australian general population (41.1% versus 1.5%). In 59.1% of cases, the onset of PTSD was found to have occurred before the age of the first reported homeless episode. In a comparison of those with and without a current diagnosis of PTSD, it was found that those with PTSD scored significantly higher overall on measures of posttraumatic cognitions and early maladaptive schemas. In particular, this group scored higher on schemas that centre on the world being entirely dangerous and the self being totally inept. A mediational analysis showed that when trauma and mental health care were controlled, the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and PTSD symptom severity was mediated by posttraumatic cognitions. It was concluded that homeless adults in Sydney frequently experience trauma and PTSD, which typically precedes homelessness. It was also concluded that among homeless adults, posttraumatic cognitions and early maladaptive schemas appear to play an important role in PTSD and may be associated with symptom severity. These findings have implications for public policy on homelessness and mental health, homeless service provision, PTSD theory, and PTSD treatment for homeless adults

Design and synthesis of novel sigma receptor ligands through scaffold minimization and their application towards targeted drug delivery

Sigma receptors are a class of proteins in which both subtypes (sigma 1 and sigma 2) have been implicated in the pathology of most central nervous system disorders and various lines of cancer. A series of norbenzomorphan compounds were recently discovered to bind sigma receptors with tunable subtype selectivity depending on the substitution pattern. To further probe the structure-activity relationship of this new class of sigma ligands, a collection of isoindoline, tetrahydroisoquinoline, and benzazepine derivatives were prepared. This new set of compounds showed affinity for sigma receptors, and have been useful tools in refining the pharmacophore model of the binding sites. Additionally, these novel sigma receptor ligands were applied towards a ligand-targeted cancer therapeutic. By chemically conjugating an anticancer agent to a ligand that will selectively target cancer cells, the therapeutic index of the drug will be improved. Herein, a sigma receptor ligand has been chemically conjugated to the chemotherapeutic, gemcitabine, and is undergoing cellular uptake and cytotoxicity testsChemistr

A Comparison of Aggregation Methods for Probabilistic Forecasts of COVID-19 Mortality in the United States

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed forecasting models at the forefront of health policy making. Predictions of mortality and hospitalization help governments meet planning and resource allocation challenges. In this paper, we consider the weekly forecasting of the cumulative mortality due to COVID-19 at the national and state level in the U.S. Optimal decision-making requires a forecast of a probability distribution, rather than just a single point forecast. Interval forecasts are also important, as they can support decision making and provide situational awareness. We consider the case where probabilistic forecasts have been provided by multiple forecasting teams, and we aggregate the forecasts to extract the wisdom of the crowd. With only limited information available regarding the historical accuracy of the forecasting teams, we consider aggregation (i.e. combining) methods that do not rely on a record of past accuracy. In this empirical paper, we evaluate the accuracy of aggregation methods that have been previously proposed for interval forecasts and predictions of probability distributions. These include the use of the simple average, the median, and trimming methods, which enable robust estimation and allow the aggregate forecast to reduce the impact of a tendency for the forecasting teams to be under- or overconfident. We use data that has been made publicly available from the COVID-19 Forecast Hub. While the simple average performed well for the high mortality series, we obtained greater accuracy using the median and certain trimming methods for the low and medium mortality series. It will be interesting to see if this remains the case as the pandemic evolves.Comment: 32 pages, 11 figures, 5 table

Gorlin syndrome in a patient with skin type VI

Gorlin syndrome, also known as nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome, is a rare autosomal dominant disorder that is characterized by multiple basal cell carcinomas developing at a young age, keratocystic odontogenic tumors of the jaw, palmar or plantar pits, calcification of the falx cerebri, and skeletal abnormalities. Nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome is caused by mutations in the PTCH1 or SUFU genes. Our patient with Fitzpatrick skin type VI was diagnosed with Gorlin syndrome based on the presentation of multiple major diagnostic characteristics. Although he is 33 years old, he has not developed any multiple basal cell carcinomas to date