Promoting Airport Walking: A Guide

A study found that signs placed in the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to promote passengers walking to airport gates rather than taking shuttles resulted in several hundred more passengers a day choosing to walk (ceiling-mounted infrared sensors were used to count travelers entering and exiting the study location). The project was supported by Kresge and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study also produced a guide, "Promoting Airport Walking," intended primarily for airport managers who want their airports to encourage healthy habits and improve customer experiences

Unlocking the Doors to Patient Satisfaction in Pediatric Orthopaedics

Background Many hospitals continue to struggle to improve patient satisfaction as the identification of tangible quality improvement areas remains difficult Medicare hospital payments are linked to patient satisfaction and hospitals\u27 HCAHPS scores, which has contributed to the growing influence of patient satisfaction measures Investigation into the major drivers of patient satisfaction in the pediatric clinical arena has not been thoroughly pursued To determine the main drivers of patient experience in pediatric orthopaedics, we performed an analysis of patient satisfaction surveys collected from outpatient pediatric orthopaedic practices at 5 locations in 3 states Hypothesis: the patient-physician relationship is the most important factor in patients\u27 assessment of their experiences These results may have significance in aiding pediatric orthopaedic clinics in their Quality Assurance/Quality Improvement plans of enhancing the patient experiencehttps://jdc.jefferson.edu/pedsposters/1000/thumbnail.jp

Big Hole (41TV2161): Two Stratigraphically Isolated Middle Holocene Components in Travis County, Texas Volume I

During April and May 2006, an archeological team from the Cultural Resources Section of the Planning, Permitting and Licensing Practice of TRC Environmental Corporation’s (TRC) Austin office conducted geoarcheological documentation and data recovery excavations at prehistoric site 41TV2161 (CSJ: 0440-06-006). Investigations were restricted to a 70 centimeter (cm) thick target zone between ca. 220 and 290 cm below surface (bs) on the western side of site 41TV2161 – the Big Hole site in eastern Travis County, Texas. This cultural investigation was necessary under the requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the implementing regulations of 36CRF Part 800 and the Antiquities Code of Texas (Texas Natural Resource Code, Title 9, Chapter 191 as amended) to recover a sample of the significant cultural materials prior to destruction by planned construction of State Highway 130 (SH 130). The latter by a private construction firm – Lone Star Infrastructure. This necessary data recovery was for Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Environmental (ENV) Affairs Division under a Scientific Services Contract No. 577XXSA003 (Work Authorization No. 57701SA003). Over the years since the original award, multiple work authorizations between TxDOT and TRC were implemented and completed towards specific aspects of the analyses and reporting. The final analyses and report were conducted under contract 57-3XXSA004 (Work Authorization 57-311SA004). All work was under Texas Antiquities Committee Permit No. 4064 issued by the Texas Historical Commission (THC) to J. Michael Quigg. Initially, an archeological crew from Hicks & Company encountered site 41TV2161 during an intensive cultural resource inventory conducted south of Pearce Lane along the planned construction zone of SH 130 in the fall of 2005. Following the initial site discovery, archeologists expanded their investigations to the west across the SH 130 right-of-way, and completed excavation of 10 backhoe trenches, 13 shovel tests, and 11 test units at site 41TV2161. The investigations encountered at least seven buried cultural features and 1,034 artifacts, some in relatively good context. The survey and testing report to TxDOT presented their findings and recommendations (Campbell et al. 2006). The ENV Affairs Division of TxDOT and the THC reviewed the initial findings and recommendations, and determined site 41TV2161 was eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and as State Antiquities Landmark as the proposed roadway development was to directly impact this important site and further excavations were required. Subsequently, TRC archeologists led by Paul Matchen (Project Archeologist) and J. Michael Quigg (Principal Investigator) initiated data recovery excavations through the mechanical-removal of between 220 and 250 cm of sediment from a 30-by-40 meter (m) block area (roughly 3,000 m3). This was conducted to allow hand-excavations to start just above the deeply buried, roughly 70 cm thick targeted zone of cultural material. Mechanical stripping by Lone Star Infrastructure staff created a large hole with an irregular bottom that varied between 220 and 260 cmbs. To locate specific areas to initiate hand-excavations within the mechanically stripped area, a geophysical survey that employed ground penetrating radar (GPR) was conducted by Tiffany Osburn then with Geo-Marine in Plano, Texas. Over a dozen electronic anomalies were detected through the GPR investigation. Following processing, data filtering, and assessment, Osburn identified and ranked the anomalies for investigation. The highest ranked anomalies (1 through 8) were thought to have the greatest potential to represent cultural features. Anomalies 1 through 6 were selected and targeted through hand-excavations of 1-by-1 m units that formed continuous excavation blocks of various sizes. Blocks were designated A, B, C, D, E, and F. The type, nature, quantity, and context of encountered cultural materials in each block led the direction and expansion of each excavation block as needed. In total, TRC archeologists hand-excavated 38.5 m3 (150 m2) from a vertically narrow target zone within this deep, multicomponent and stratified prehistoric site. Hand-excavation in the two largest Blocks, B and D (51 m2 and 62 m2 respectively), revealed two vertically separate cultural components between roughly 220 and 290 cmbs. The younger component was restricted to Block B and yielded a Bell/Andice point and point base, plus a complete Big Sandy point. These points were associated with at least eight small burned rock features, one cluster of ground stone tools, limited quantities of lithic debitage, few formal chipped and ground stone tools, and a rare vertebrate faunal assemblage. Roughly 20 to 25 cm below the Bell/Andice component in Block B and across Block D was a component identified by a single corner-notched Martindale dart point. This point was associated with a scattered burned rocks, three charcoal stained hearth features, scattered animal, bird, and fish bones, mussel shells, and less than a dozen formal chipped and ground stone tools. Both identified components contained cultural materials in good stratigraphic context with high spatial integrity. Significant, both were radiocarbon dated by multiple charcoal samples to a narrow 200-year period between 5250 and 5450 B.P. during the middle Holocene. With exception of the well-preserved faunal assemblages, perishable materials were poorly preserved in the moist silty clay loam. Charcoal lacked structure and was reduced to dark stains. Microfossils (e.g., phytoliths and starch gains) were present, although in very limited numbers and deteriorated conditions. The four much smaller Blocks (A, C, E, and F) yielded various quantities of cultural material and features, but these blocks also lacked sufficient charcoal dates and diagnostic artifacts Those artifacts and samples were left unassigned and analyzed separately from the Bell/Andice and Martindale components. The two well-defined components in Blocks B and D are the focus of this technical report. The components provide very significant data towards understanding rare and poorly understood hunter-gatherer populations during late stages of the Altithermal climate period. This final report builds upon the interim report submitted to TxDOT (Quigg et al. 2007) that briefly described the methods, excavations, preliminary findings, initial results from six feasibility studies, and proposed an initial research design for data analyses. Context and integrity of the cultural materials in the two identified components was excellent. This rare circumstance combined with detailed artifact analyses, solid documentation of their ages through multiple radiocarbon dates, and multidisciplinary approach to analyses, allowed significant insights and contributions concerning the two populations involved. Results provide a greater understanding of human behaviors during a rarely identified time in Texas Prehistory. The cultural materials and various collected samples were temporarily curated at TRC’s Austin laboratory. Following completion of analyses and acceptance of this final report, the artifacts, paper records, photographs, and electronic database were permanently curated at the Center for Archaeological Studies (CAS) at Texas State University in San Marcos

Eligibility Assessment of the Slippery Slope Site (41MS69) in TxDOT Right-of-Way in Mason County, Texas

A private landowner reported archeolgical materials were looted along a steep road cut on the southwestern side of Farm to Market (FM) road 1871 along the Llano River south of Mason, Texas (CSJ: 1111-04-002). The landowner was concerned that looting had undermined massive oak trees enough that they might fall directly onto the roadway below. The looting was occurring within Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) right-of-way and east of the existing fence line. In June 2004, archeologists from the Planning, Permitting and Licensing Practice of TRC Environmental Corporation (TRC) Austin office conducted a site specific recording, geoarcheological investigation, and archeological testing for National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and State Antiquities Landmark (SAL) eligibility assessment at prehistoric site 41MS69, the Slippery Slope site. This cultural resource investigation was conducted for the Environmental Affairs Division of TxDOT through multiple Scientific Services Contracts, Work Authorizations, and Supplemental Work Authorizations over the years and through Texas Antiquities Permit No. 3447, issued by the Texas Historical Commission to Principal Investigator, J. Michael Quigg

Root-Be-Gone (41YN452): Data Recovery of Late Archaic Components in Young County, Texas Vol I

This cultural resource investigation was necessitated by the proposed bridge replacement and new right-of-way and easement along the Farm to Market road at Gages Creek crossing (CSJ: 3149-02-010) by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) in southern Young County. From January 29, 2007 through March 16, 2007, an archeological crew from the Cultural Resources Department of TRC Environmental Corporation’s (TRC’s) Austin office conducted data recovery excavations in part of site 41YN452 (RootBe-Gone) before any disturbance from the planned bridge replacement activities occurred. This data recovery program was conducted under TxDOT Scientific Services Contract No. 575XX SA008 and Texas Antiquities Permit No. 4003. Data recovery investigations were conducted along the western side of the existing two-lane paved road in two areas previously documented to have high concentrations of cultural activities centered on cultural features. These two areas were identified during TRC’s 2006 site eligibility assessment, which was also conducted on adjacent site 41YN450. Only the Root-Be-Gone site was accepted as eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and, therefore, subject to intensive data recovery investigations. This report provides the accepted research design that guided the analyses, describes the methods employed, discusses the excavation process, and presents detailed findings and results of technical analyses from the 50.5 m3 (144 m2) data recovery excavations for three, horizontally-separated Late and Terminal Archaic components at Root-Be-Gone. The data recovery investigations included the mechanical removal of roughly 30 to 60 cm of sediment from above a previously identified target zone, cultural materials in a buried A horizon that contained an apparent Terminal Archaic assemblage in two horizontally-separated areas. Each area was targeted by a single block excavation, labeled North and South Block, which are roughly 70 m apart and which parallel the existing right-of-way. Following the mechanical stripping to access the targeted Terminal Archaic component in the buried A horizon, hand-excavations were conducted in 1-by-1 m units in continuous blocks through the targeted buried A horizon. The target zone varied from 20 to 40 cm thick. This buried A horizon appeared to contain a single, isolated Terminal Archaic component. Root-Be-Gone (41YN452) yielded what is considered three horizontally-separate cultural components (labeled 1, 2, and 3) in the buried A horizon. This buried A horizon varied in depth from 45 to 70 cmbs. A few scattered Late Prehistoric arrow points were discovered on the surface and above the Terminal Archaic component. The younger and scattered Late Prehistoric artifacts were determined to occur above or on top of the buried A horizon. No definable cultural features were identified with the scattered arrow points. These scattered, Late Prehistoric materials were deemed insignificant and not targeted during the data recovery investigations. The excavations yielded assemblages of chipped stone tools (N = 154), lithic debitage (N = 1,486), mussel shell (N = 8,430), faunal bone (N = 71), charcoal (N = 111), burned rocks (N = 4,421), features (N = 18), and other cultural materials, including sediment samples. During the analyses, wood charcoal radiocarbon results from across the excavated areas revealed that a minimum of two, and possibly three different Terminal and/or Late Archaic components were represented in the buried A horizon in the two blocks. The North Block was radiocarbon dated by nine accepted dates to ca. a 230 year period between 1100 and 1330 B.P. The cultural materials recovered were assigned to a single, well-defined and isolated Terminal Archaic Component 1. That component yielded three dart points and one tiny arrow point associated with 14 cultural features. The features were comprised mostly of quantities of freshwater mussel shell concentrations in dumps, most associated with small scattered burned rocks; a burned, rock-filled heating element, scattered mussel shells and lithic debitage, and a few scattered formal chipped stone tools. The absolute age documented for this Terminal Archaic component that yielded dart points overlaps in time with the Scallorn arrow point using populations of the Austin phase of the Late Prehistoric period. The South Block yielded minimally two sets of radiocarbon dates. The northern two-thirds of the South Block yielded seven accepted absolute wood charcoal dates that range over a nearly 630 year period between 690 and 1320 B.P. The targeted buried A horizon yielded what appeared as a single Terminal Archaic dart point and a limited stone tool assemblage. This assemblage is assigned to the Late Archaic Component 2. TxDOT archeologists considered this part of the South Block to be potentially mixed based on the wood charcoal radiocarbon dates obtained. Therefore, TxDOT archeologists decided that detailed analyses were restricted to the two cultural features (Features 11 and 13) and the formal stone tool assemblage recovered from that area. Because of the possible mixed cultural materials, this data was not used to address the presented research questions. The southern one-third of the South Block was radiocarbon dated by four accepted wood charcoal dates to a narrow 120 year period with an average age of 1855 B.P. This area was dominated by a single 3.0 to 3.5 m diameter mussel shell feature (Feature 4) that lacked associated formal chipped stone tools and diagnostic dart points. Here, this material is assigned to the Late Archaic Component 3. Because of the documented age difference from the Terminal Archaic Component 1 in the North Block, this material was not used to address the research questions that focused on the Terminal Archaic period. Six research questions were targeted and address issues that include: whether the excavations yielded an isolatable Terminal Archaic component, what cultural materials were associated with the Terminal Archaic component, how this assemblage compares to other Terminal Archaic assemblages in the region, what was the subsistence base and broader economic pattern for this period, and was the bow and arrow adopted simultaneously by all groups. Following the acceptance of the final report, these materials were permanently curated at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL) in Austin. The Texas Historical Commission granted permission to curate only a small sample of the freshwater mussel shells collected during these investigations. The curated shells originate mostly from identified cultural features in all three components

Long View (41RB112): Data Recovery of Two Plains Village Period Components in Roberts County, Texas, Volume 2

This archeological data recovery investigation in Roberts County in the northeastern panhandle of Texas was necessitated by the proposed widening of State Highway 70 (CSJ: 0490-04-037) by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Amarillo District. This proposed highway rehabilitation program will directly impact a roughly 10 meter (m, 30 ft.) wide north-south section of prehistoric site 41RB112, the Long View site. This site consists of two horizontally distinct Plains Village period occupations shallowly buried along a linear interfluvial ridge between two small tributary creeks to the Canadian River in the midslope of this broad, dissected valley. This site was initially discovered by TxDOT archeologist, Dennis Price in June 2004 during an archeological inventory of the proposed 9.7 kilometer (6 mile) section north of the Canadian River in response to the planned highway rehabilitation program. Based on Mr. Price’s discovery of multiple artifact classes in buried context he recommended this site be assessed for its eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places under criterion d and possible designation as a State Archeological Landmark (SAL) per the requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and other related legislation. Following the Texas Historical Commissions concurrence with that recommendation, TxDOT through the Environmental (ENV) Affairs Division, contracted to TRC Environmental Corporation (TRC) under an existing Scientific Services Contract No. 57XXSA006 and issued a Work Authorization to TRC of Austin to conduct the site eligibility assessment. During a site visit by TxDOT geoarcheologist James Abbott and TRC archeologist Mike Quigg in February 2005, the site boundaries were expanded to nearly 300 meters (m) along the proposed area of potential effect (APE). Investigative strategies were devised to assess the Long View site. In May 2005, TRC’s archeologists from Austin conducted archeological testing for a NRHP and SAL eligibility assessment investigation at 41RB112. The assessment along the 10-m-wide by 300-m-long APE was accomplished by hand-excavating 28 1-by-1 m units (totaling 16.8 m3), hand-excavating four narrow ca. 30 centimeter (cm) wide trenches (two in each area totaling nearly 32 linear meters), as well as cleaning and inspecting 28 m of existing road cut exposures. These investigations determined that cultural materials clustered at the northern and southern ends (Areas A and C respectively) of the site with nearly 120 m of noncultural bearing deposits (Area B) between the two concentrations. A 4-m-wide mechanically bladed fireguard paralleled the existing fenceline throughout the length of the APE and disturbed much of the near surface materials in that zone. The opposite, eastern side of the highway was investigated through the excavation of six 50-by-50 cm shovel tests, surface, and road cut inspection. Based on the results from the hand-excavations and various collections conducted during the site assessment, it became apparent that the two ends (Areas A and C) of the Long View site in TxDOT’s proposed APE contained well-defined cultural components in the top 50 cmbs. Each end appeared to represent habitation remains from single occupation episodes with potential structures, restricted to a narrow time period of less than 100 years between uncalibrated 630 and 710 B.P. of the Plains Village period. Rodent and natural disturbances had vertically displaced some small cultural objects within the sandy deposits, but the restricted period of occupation to roughly a 100 year period reduces this impact. TRC recommended the site was eligible for listing on the National Register and as a State Landmark. The Texas Historical Commissions concurred with that recommendation, and subsequently the ENV Affairs Division of TxDOT, again contracted to TRC under an existing Scientific Services Contract No. 575XXSA008 and issued a Work Authorization to TRC Austin to perform the mitigation of the proposed impacts. Data recovery investigations were conducted during August through November 2006 along the western side of the existing highway. The previously identified northern-Area A and southern–Area C areas with high concentrations of cultural materials were targeted. These investigations began with a thorough geophysical survey that employed three noninvasive electrical detective instruments across Areas A and C anticipating to detect the locations of subsurface cultural features to target by hand-excavations. Some excavations targeted the detected anomalies, whereas others targeted previously identified features. In the end, hand-excavated blocks were completed in Areas A and C. The excavations totaled 128 m2 in Area A and 93 m2 in Area C for a grand total of 221 m2 or 103.4 m3. In conjunction with the archeological excavations, geoarcheological investigations focused on defining the age and development of the natural Holocene sediments that contained the cultural materials. The geoarcheological assessment included detailed stratigraphic documentation of site and near site deposits, sediment texture characterization, soil thin sections, magnetic susceptibility, multiple chemical analyses (organic, calcium, and phosphorus). Detailed stratigraphic data was also collected at two rare pithouse structures to pursue construction and filling episodes. The excavations yielded significant and diverse cultural assemblages from the two occupations assigned Component A and C. Both components are attributed to the Plains Village period with two discrete occupations dating to uncalibrated 460 to 535 B.P. (cal A.D. 1398 to 1447) in Component A and 530 to 700 B.P. (cal A.D. 1280 to 1437) in Component C. The two assemblages are significant not only in their diversity and quality of materials but also in the information they yielded. This report represents one of the first complete documents to present the entire cultural assemblage from a single site for this time period and region. The total recovered assemblage includes 157 formal chipped and ground stone tools, 226 informal tools, 3,414 pieces of lithic debitage, over 6,400 faunal fragments (1.4 kg), some 1,541 ceramic sherds, 1,790 burned rocks, at least 116 macrobotanical samples that includes 16 maize cobs, two human burials, and remains of a third, juvenile scattered along a previously bladed fireguard, 32 intact cultural features that include two rare pithouses, and other cultural debris related to these two campsites. The human remains and associated artifacts will be repatriated in accord with the requirements of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). A suite of 10 technical analyses directed at mostly the cultural assemblages included; use-wear, phytolith, diatom, petrography, macrobotanical, starch grain, instrumental neutron activation, bison bone isotopes, obsidian sourcing, radiocarbon and optical stimulated dating. This data was used to address 11 specific research questions concerning these Plains Village period occupations. Not only does the cultural debris contribute to our understanding of the time period but the geoarcheological information obtained explains the conditions and how the materials were preserved, and inform us concerning the past depositional environment in this immediate area. The combined information contributes to a significant understanding to a specific part of the Plains Village cultures in the Texas panhandle. Following the acceptance of the final report by the TxDOT and the Texas Historical Commission these cultural materials and all the documentation from the combined investigations will be permanently curated at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. The curated materials will provide important data that can be researched by interested parties in the future

Aureobacterium resistens sp. nov., exhibiting vancomycin resistance and teicoplanin susceptibility

Two similar strains of a coryneform bacterium were isolated from human clinical material. Both strains were resistant to vancomycin but susceptible to teicoplanin. Detailed biochemical, chemotaxonomical, and molecular genetic investigations revealed that both isolates were members of a hitherto undescribed species of the genus Aureobacterium. The name Aureobacterium resistens sp. nov. is proposed for the new bacterium and the type strain is CCUG 3831

On the Epistemic Role of Our Passional Nature

In this article, we argue that John Henry Newman was right to think that our passional nature can play a legitimate epistemic role. First, we unpack the standard objection to Newman’s understanding of the relationship between our passional nature and the evidential basis of faith. Second, we argue that the standard objection to Newman operates with a narrow definition of evidence. After challenging this notion, we then offer a broader and more humane understanding of evidence. Third, we survey recent scholarship arguing that emotions, a key aspect of our passional nature, are cognitive. In this light, they plausibly have a proper epistemic role. Fourth, we defend Newman’s reliance on the passional nature in epistemic matters by showing how reasonable it is in light of this recent work on evidence and the nature of emotions. Newman’s insistence that the formation of a right state of heart and mind is crucial for epistemic success is far from untenable

Newman and Quasi‐Fideism : A Reply to Duncan Pritchard

In recent years, Duncan Pritchard has developed a position in religious epistemology called quasi‐fideism that he claims traces back to John Henry Newman's treatment of the rationality of religious belief. In this paper, we give three reasons to think that Pritchard's reading of Newman as a quasi‐fideist is mistaken. First, Newman's parity argument does not claim that religious and non‐religious beliefs are on a par because both are groundless; instead, for Newman, they are on a par because both often stem from implicit rather than explicit reasoning. Second, pace Pritchard, Newman's distinction between simple and complex assent does not map onto the Wittgensteinian distinction between groundless hinge commitments and beliefs that flow from these hinges. For Newman, simple and complex assent differ in terms of the believer's level of awareness of their grounds. Third, and finally, Newman does not reject Locke's evidentialism in toto. Instead, he argues that certitude is not restricted to beliefs stemming from intuition and demonstration but often rightly includes probabilistically supported (or fallibly evidenced) beliefs