Seba Smith Embattled

This article reviews events in the life of Seba Smith, most well-known as a humor write of the 19th century. It recounts incidents involving Smith in conflicts with others during his years as a newspaper editor in Portland

Archaeological Testing of the Burleson Homestead at 41HY37 Hays County, Texas

At the request of Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University-San Marcos), the Center for Archaeological Studies (CAS) conducted an archaeological excavation of the historic Burleson Homestead (41HY37). The excavation was conducted in June and July of 2000 under Texas Antiquities Committee Permit No. 2406. Artifacts collected during the project were processed and curated at CAS. In addition, CAS conducted archival research on structures located within the project boundaries. Upon completion of the excavation and archival research, a great deal has been learned concerning the Burleson ownership and use of the San Marcos Springs. Unfortunately, little intact evidence survives. CAS determined that the original cabin had been completely dismantled and a replica cabin was assembled nearby, but not on the original foundation . Most of the deposits on the ridge top have been disturbed and most of the recorded features relate to the construction of the replica cabin in the 1960s. The one early feature that does survive, Feature 4, should be preserved and used to provide a more accurate and full understanding of the locale when Edward Burleson settled the site and helped establish the community of San Marcos. CAS therefore recommends that no further archaeological investigations are necessary and that the site should be used to further the public education of the early history of the San Marcos Springs and the City of San Marcos

The relationship between response consistency in picture naming and storage impairment in people with semantic variant Primary Progressive Aphasia

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the American Psychological Association via the DOI in this record.Objective. The progressive loss of stored knowledge about word meanings in semantic variant Primary Progressive Aphasia (svPPA) has been attributed to an amodal “storage” deficit of the semantic system. Performance consistency has been proposed to be a key characteristic of storage deficits but has not been examined in close detail and larger participant cohorts. Methods: We assessed whether 10 people with svPPA showed consistency in picture naming across three closely consecutive sessions. We examined item-by-item consistency of naming accuracy and specific error types, while controlling for the effects of variables such as word frequency, familiarity and age of acquisition. Results: Participants were very consistent in their accurate and inaccurate responses over and above any effects of the word-related variables. Analyses of error types that compared consistency of semantic errors, correct responses and other error types (e.g., phonologically related errors, unrelated errors) revealed lower consistency. Conclusions: Our findings support the assumption that semantic features constituting semantic representations of objects are progressively lost in people with svPPA and are therefore consistently unavailable during naming. Variability in the production of error types remains when distinctive features of an object are lost resulting in the selection of semantically or visually similar items, or in the failure to select an item and the production of a no-response. The assessment of performance consistency sheds light on the underlying impairment of people with semantic deficits (semantic storage versus access deficit). This can support the choice of an appropriate treatment technique aiming to maintain, or re-learn semantic information

Results of an international Delphi consensus in epilepsy with myoclonic atonic seizures/ Doose syndrome

OBJECTIVE: To establish a standard framework for early phenotypic diagnosis, investigations, expected findings from investigations, evolution, effective therapies and prognosis in the syndrome of Epilepsy with myoclonic atonic seizures (EMAS) / Doose syndrome. METHODS: A core study group (CSG) interested in EMAS was convened. CSG then identified and nominated 15 experts in the field of EMAS. This expert panel (EP) from English speaking nations was invited to participate in anonymous questionnaires. A literature review was provided to them (supplement 1). Three rounds of questionnaires were sent to identify areas of consensus, strength of consensus and areas of contention. RESULTS: Strong consensus was obtained regarding the clinical phenotype of EMAS: myoclonic atonic seizure was identified among others as a mandatory seizure type with typical onset of afebrile seizures between one and six years. A new term "stormy phase" (SP) was designated to delineate a characteristic phenotypic evolution in EMAS patients associated with seizure worsening. Strong consensus regarding the existence and time of onset of the SP, mandatory investigations to be performed early and later in the clinical course of EMAS, first and second tier treatment and prognostic factors for poor outcome were identified. Areas of lack of consensus included some seizure types that are necessary to diagnose EMAS, interictal EEG findings that prognosticate the course of EMAS, overall duration of SP, time to complete remission, and best approach to treat drug resistant EMAS. SIGNIFICANCE: Expert consensus on core diagnostic criteria of EMAS necessary for natural history studies, phenotype-genotype correlations, and clinical trials including comparative studies was demonstrated. Areas of disagreements (especially prognostic features; treatment options) need further research

Archaeological Survey of Southwest Block and Selected Roads and Firebreaks at Camp Maxey, Lamar County, Texas

In June, July, and September 1998, The Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) conducted an archaeological survey of approximately 1,000 acres for the Texas Army National Guard (TXARNG) on Camp Maxey, a TXARNG training facility in north-central Lamar County, Texas, under Sections 106 and 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act and the Antiquities Code of Texas. The TXARNG had identified the 1,000-acre area for possible impact associated with the construction of firebreaks, road improvements, and subsequent military training with tracked and wheeled vehicles. Thirty archaeological sites were found and documented. Twenty-three sites contained a prehistoric component only, five sites contained a historic component only, and two sites contained both a prehistoric and historic component. Based on the results of the pedestrian survey and limited shovel testing, CAR recommends that the following sites are insignificant and therefore ineligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places or for designation as State Archaeological Landmarks: 41LR149, 41LR150, 41LR151, 41LR169, 41LR171, 41LR172, 41LR173, 41LR174, 41LR176, 41LR178, and 41LR179. CAR recommends that because the significance of the following sites is unknown, the TXARNG either avoid further impact to them, or conduct test excavations to determine their significance: 41LR152, 41LR153, 41LR154, 41LR155, 41LR156, 41LR157, 41LR158, 41LR159, 41LR160, 41LR161, 41LR162, 41LR163, 41LR164, 41LR165, 41LR166, 41LR167, 41LR168, 41LR175, and 41LR177

An Archaeological Survey of 307 Acres at Camp Swift, Bastrop County, Texas: 2003

This report documents an archaeological survey of 307 acres at Camp Swift, in north-central Bastrop County, Texas. Camp Swift is owned by the Texas Army National Guard office of Adjutant General (hereinafter referred to as AGTX). A total of 11 previously unrecorded sites were documented during this projec

Test Excavations at the Culebra Creek Site, 41BX126, Bexar County, Texas

Archaeological test excavations were undertaken at 4IBX126 on Culebra Creek to offset the impact from a proposed Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) highway improvement project on Loop 1604 in northwest Bexar County. Archaeological investigations were conducted in three field seasons: the first two seasons were conducted by TxDOT archaeologists and the third was directed by personnel from the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) of The University of Texas at San Antonio. During the three projects, 55 hand-dug units, 29 backhoe trenches, 36 shovel tests, and eight Gradall trenches were excavated. Seventeen features were recorded; 25 radiocarbon assays were conducted; over 59,000 lithic artifacts were recovered and analyzed; 1,655 liters of sediment float samples were processed; 3,337 kg of burned rock were analyzed; and nearly 300 g of fatmal material and 25 archaeomagnetic samples were analyzed. The testing revealed utilization of the site in the Early, Middle, and Late Archaic periods. The analysis of materials and results of all three field efforts are presented in this single volume. Geoarchaeological investigations show that four terraces (TO, Tl, T2, and T3) in the immediate site area accumulated from the Late Pleistocene through the Holocene. Five Stratigraphic Units (I-V) make up these terraces and overlap one another. The T2 terrace is composed of Stratigraphic Units IT, ill, and IV, while the Tl terrace consists mostly of Stratigraphic Units IV and V. Archaeological materials were discovered in situ within the Tl and T3 terraces and primarily within Stratigraphic Units ill and IV. Radiocarbon assays indicate that Stratigraphic Unit IV formed between at least 4000-2000 B.P., Stratigraphic Unit ill accumulated between approximately 11,500-4000 B.P., and Stratigraphic Unit IT was accreting at least 17,500 years ago. Too little evidence exists to determine the full time ranges of sediment accumulation, and whether significant temporal gaps exist between the sedimentation of these geological units. Archaeological excavations focused on three separate areas: A, B, and C. Area A is a new right-of-way east of the existing right-of-way. Excavations in this area defined a Late Archaic Montell component dating to approximately 2700 B.P. These materials include two burned rock features in situ within Unit IV on the scarp of the T2 terrace. This area probably was occupied by a small residential group during the Late Archaic period. Area B is east of Loop 1604 in the existing right-of-way and on the T2 terrace. Area B contains a Middle Archaic Nolan component in the upper portion of Stratigraphic Unit ill, below a Late Archaic burned rock midden with a central subsurface oven in Unit IV. Area C is in the existing right-of-way west of Loop 1604. Excavations in this area investigated the possibility of an intact Early Archaic occupation; however, no evidence of one was found. In Area B, the Nolan component consisted of lithic artifacts scattered among small burned rock features that probably served as hearths. This component is radiocarbon dated to approximately 4600 B.P. The Late Archaic burned rock midden was apparently used between 4000 B.P. and 2000 B.P. Subfeatures within the central oven indicate multiple cooking events. Ethnographic evidence suggests earth ovens contained food wrapped with insulating material over a layer of hot rocks heated by a coal bed. This was capped with dirt to seal the oven. When cooking was complete, the earth cap is removed to reach the food. CAR conducted earth-oven hot-rock experiments which indicated that local limestone could be used once or at the most twice. Local hot-rock cooking should generate a great deal of burned limestone debris. The framework ofthe feature at 41BX126 represents the cap and rock heating-element dumpings from separate cooking events as well as a few small intact burned rock features that served as ovens or hearths. At the base of the midden were a few depressions that may represent borrow pits used to obtain sediment for the central oven cap. Mixing of temporally distinct artifacts from the Nolan and later occupations occurs in and beyond the midden due to sediment excavation and transportation across the site, and redeposition of materials through erosion of materials off the framework

Archaeological Testing at San Marcos Springs (41HY160) for the Texas Rivers Center, Hays County, Texas

This report describes the results of investigations undertaken to assess the archaeological resources at the Spring Lake Site, 41HY160, on the campus of Texas State University-San Marcos in Hays County, Texas. The Spring Lake Site, 41HY160, was recorded in the 1980s at the Aquarena Center, then a privately owned water park. In 1994 Texas State University-San Marcos purchased the Aquarena Center with the intention of converting it into an educational and research facility focused on rivers and springs in Texas. Eventually the University founded the River Systems Institute and it is now housed at the Texas River Center in the restored Hotel at the San Marcos Springs. In preparation for the construction planning for the Texas River Center, an archaeological testing project was undertaken in January 2001 and this report describes the results of that investigation. The primary goal of this project was to determine if intact and well-preserved archaeological materials were contained in the area planned for eventually construction. An extensive geological coring effort extracted 22 cores from over 9 meters of alluvial sediments in the San Marcos River floodplain. These cores extended from the Hotel to beyond the football stadium. Five depositional units (A-E from older to younger) were identified, which dated from the Late Pleistocene to the Late Holocene, and all of these depositional units either contained preserved archaeological materials or were contemporary with know archaeological occupations in the immediate vicinity of Spring Lake. A single flake was recovered from geological Core E in Depostional Unit A channel gravels. Radiocarbon dates confirm sediment accumulation spanning the last ~12,000 radiocarbon years. Archaeological test units recovered a wide range of lithic tools, faunal remains, burned rock features and fl oral remains that have been identified as Middle and Late Archaic, and Late Prehistoric in age. Five intact burned rock features were excavated and documented. The careful excavation and archaeomagnetic analysis of burned rock from the cooking features demonstrates the presence of burned rock cooking pits and scattered burned rock hearths. These features were clearly constructed and used as cooking facilities by prehistoric inhabitants. The prehistoric inhabitants also actively hunted a number of large animals that consisted of bison, antelope and deer, and a variety of small species such as rabbits, turtle, fi sh, rodents, and snakes. The more limited floral remains demonstrate the use of cheno-ams for food, and oak, juniper and bald cypress for firewood. Better preserved plant remains were recovered from Depositional Unit A in the geological Core D and these demonstrate the potential for well preserved archaeological floral remains is great in the deeper portions of the site. A great diversity of chipped stone artifacts (projectile points, preforms and other bifaces, scrapers and other unifaces, groundstone tools) provide the most abundant evidence of technological activities, and production and procurement strategies at the site. The wealth of evidence and the secure geological context of these materials, clearly demonstrates that the potential for the recovery of significant archaeological materials at the Spring Lake Site, 41HY160, is great and it is recommended that any impacts of planned constructionon archaeological resources be mitigated. All recovered materials are curated at the Archaeological Curation Facility, Texas State University

Highly efficient 5\u27 capping of mitochondrial RNA with NAD+ and NADH by yeast and human mitochondrial RNA polymerase

Bacterial and eukaryotic nuclear RNA polymerases (RNAPs) cap RNA with the oxidized and reduced forms of the metabolic effector nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, NAD+ and NADH, using NAD+ and NADH as non-canonical initiating nucleotides for transcription initiation. Here, we show that mitochondrial RNAPs (mtRNAPs) cap RNA with NAD+ and NADH, and do so more efficiently than nuclear RNAPs. Direct quantitation of NAD+- and NADH-capped RNA demonstrates remarkably high levels of capping in vivo: up to ~60% NAD+ and NADH capping of yeast mitochondrial transcripts, and up to ~15% NAD+ capping of human mitochondrial transcripts. The capping efficiency is determined by promoter sequence at, and upstream of, the transcription start site and, in yeast and human cells, by intracellular NAD+ and NADH levels. Our findings indicate mtRNAPs serve as both sensors and actuators in coupling cellular metabolism to mitochondrial transcriptional outputs, sensing NAD+ and NADH levels and adjusting transcriptional outputs accordingly. © 2018, Bird et al

An Archaeological Survey of a Pipeline Right-of-way along Loop 1604 from IH-37 to the San Antonio River, Southeast Bexar County, Texas

In February 1997, the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) of The University of Texas at San Antonio was contracted by the San Antonio Water Systems (SAWS) to conduct an intensive archaeological survey and geomorphological study along a proposed 5 .5-km water main right-of-way, from the junction of ill -3 7 and Loop 1604 to the San Antonio River in southeast Bexar County. Upon completion of a 1 DO-percent pedestrian survey, 10 backhoe trenches, and 152 shovel tests, CAR concluded that no significant cultural remains would be impacted by excavations for the proposed water main, and recommends that no further archaeological work is required prior to construction.