Credit Where Credit is Due: Looking Back at The Junior Archeological Society of Baton Rouge, 1958-1976

The Junior Archaeological Society of Baton Rouge, which operated from 1958 through 1976, afforded middle- and high school-aged students the opportunity to learn about anthropology, history, and a wide range of other topics. The Society (headed by J. Ashley Sibley, Jr.) also excavated at Native American sites in Louisiana and Mississippi – for the perceived “unprofessionalism” with which they proceeded, they have received considerable scrutiny from the Southeastern archaeological community. My goal, from the project’s outset, was to understand the Society’s archaeological endeavors (particularly as they centered around Smith Creek site in Wilkinson County, Mississippi). In order to do this, I chose to employ interviews with former members and archival materials. I came to understand that, far from being haphazardly-digging bugs, JAS members excavated meticulously, scientifically, and sparingly. Moreover, Sibley placed a great deal of emphasis on education and leadership. In this thesis, I explore the work, play, and continuing positive impact of the Society – hopefully, in the process, I also chip away at the poor reputation with which the Society been saddled

Food handling behaviors of consumers when grilling poultry

Master of ScienceDepartment of Food, Nutrition, Dietetics and HealthMark D. HaubResearch has shown that many consumers do not use the proper food safety practices when cooking in the home. Although many studies have been conducted to observe the food safety behaviors and practices in a domestic home kitchen, the food safety behaviors of consumers when using an outside grill has not been vastly explored. The objective of this study was to gain insight on consumers' food safety practices and behaviors when preparing meat and poultry on an outdoor grill. A nationwide survey of grilling consumers (n=1024) was conducted to evaluate the food handling behaviors of consumers who use an outdoor grill to prepare meat and poultry. The survey consisted of 50 questions based on the four core practices of food safety: clean, separate, cook, and chill. The results showed that there was low adherence to consumers not rinsing meat or poultry before preparation, separating utensils for raw and cooked meat, and using a thermometer to ensure doneness. Respondents who grilled poultry followed safer food handling practices than respondents who grilled meat. An observational study (n=30) was conducted to observe consumers prepare poultry products on an outdoor grill. Participants were assessed on handwashing skills, cross contamination behavior, and how they determined the doneness of the poultry. This study illustrated that consumers were not washing their hands thoroughly, especially after handling packaging. Many consumers were observed contaminating surfaces or items in their kitchen after touching the raw poultry. Consumers also failed to use clean utensils for the cooked poultry after using the utensil on raw poultry. Consumers used several methods to determine the doneness of the poultry. Visual cues such as looking at the appearance or color of the poultry was primarily used by consumers to check if the poultry was fully cooked, followed by piercing or cutting the poultry open and using a thermometer. Thermometer use in this study was found to be higher than the usage in prior studies. A separate study assessed poultry grilling recipes (n= 242) for a specified temperature of doneness and additional food safety information. Recipes from cookbooks, magazines, and online sources were evaluated. Over half of the recipes did not specify a temperature of doneness, but used time, visual or textural indications to determine doneness. The findings of this research show that consumers could benefit from education to improve their food handling skills when preparing meat or poultry on an outdoor grill. Educational efforts should focus on proper handwashing procedures, how to reduce cross contamination and the importance of using a thermometer to ensure doneness

Predictors of Quality of Life Among Breast Cancer Patients

Over 3.1 million women living in the U.S. have been diagnosed with breast cancer. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether stage of cancer, psychological distress, cognitive fusion (fusion of one’s thoughts and emotions), mindfulness, and resilience were related to quality of life among breast cancer patients. Participants were 24 women, aged 41-71, diagnosed with stage 0-3 breast cancer, recruited to participate in a pilot intervention study. All data for this study were collected at the baseline assessment. A multiple linear regression analysis explained 79.1% of the total variance in quality of life, F(5, 14) = 15.400, p < .001, Adjusted R2 = .791. Higher resilience significantly predicted higher quality of life (b = 2.392, p = .002), whereas higher stage of cancer (b = -8.068, p = .030) and higher levels of psychological distress (b = -1.737, p < .001) significantly predicted lower quality of life. Contrary to the hypotheses, higher levels of mindfulness significantly predicted lower quality of life (b = -0.612, p = .022). Cognitive fusion did not significantly predict quality of life (p > .05). More research is needed to determine how various factors predict quality of life among breast cancer patients

Demographic Predictors of the Perceived Likelihood of Hiring a Health Care Advocate

Background and Significance: The field of health care advocacy developed in response to the growing complexity of the health care system. A Health Care Advocate (HCA) is a trained professional who can help patients navigate the health care system. In the present study we investigated the effects of social support, number of people with whom individuals reside, gender, age, income, and race on the perceived likelihood of hiring an HCA for oneself. Method: Nine hundred and eighty-seven adults (Mage = 45.48 years, SD = 17.33 years, 55.4% female) were randomly selected and asked to complete a questionnaire. To explore the relationships of the perceived likelihood of hiring an HCA, path-analytic models using full-information maximum likelihood (FIML) estimation were tested, using Stata 12.1. Results: The model fit well statistically, ? 2 (5, N = 987) = 8.50, p = 0.131, and descriptively, CFI = 0.999, RMSEA = 0.027, pclose = 0.891, CD = 0.205. Conclusion: Overall, the model accounted for 4.30% of the variance in Hire HCA. More research is needed to better understand the role of an HCA in our complex and everchanging health care system

Low immunogenicity predicted for emerging avian-origin H7N9

A new avian-origin influenza virus emerged near Shanghai in February 2013, and by the beginning of May it had caused over 130 human infections and 36 deaths. Human-to-human transmission of avian-origin H7N9 influenza A has been limited to a few family clusters, but the high mortality rate (27%) associated with human infection has raised concern about the potential for this virus to become a significant human pathogen. European, American, and Asian vaccine companies have already initiated the process of cloning H7 antigens such as hemagglutinin (HA) into standardized vaccine production vehicles. Unfortunately, previous H7 HA-containing vaccines have been poorly immunogenic. We used well-established immunoinformatics tools to analyze the H7N9 protein sequences and compare their T cell epitope content to other circulating influenza A strains as a means of estimating the immunogenic potential of the new influenza antigen. We found that the HA proteins derived from closely related human-derived H7N9 strains contain fewer T cell epitopes than other recently circulating strains of influenza, and that conservation of T cell epitopes with other strains of influenza was very limited. Here, we provide a detailed accounting of the type and location of T cell epitopes contained in H7N9 and their conservation in other H7 and circulating (A/California/07/2009, A/Victoria/361/2011, and A/Texas/50/2012) influenza A strains. Based on this analysis, avian-origin H7N9 2013 appears to be a “stealth” virus, capable of evading human cellular and humoral immune response. Should H7N9 develop pandemic potential, this analysis predicts that novel strategies for improving vaccine immunogenicity for this unique low-immunogenicity strain of avian-origin influenza will be urgently needed

Thermochemical evolution of the sub-arc mantle due to back-arc spreading

We present the results of a series of numerical geodynamic experiments designed to characterize the thermal and compositional evolution of the sub-arc mantle in response to spreading in the back-arc. We find large changes in both the temperature and composition of the sub-arc mantle with time as the BASC migrates away from the arc. In particular, the sub-arc mantle becomes increasingly more depleted with time following the onset of spreading, as mantle that has experienced decompression melting and melt extraction beneath the BASC is gradually drawn beneath the arc plate by slab-induced corner flow. The rate at which this depletion increases during the ~2 Myr immediately following the onset of spreading is controlled by the spreading rate at the BASC, with faster spreading leading to a more rapid increase in depletion. Following this initial period, depletion within the sub-arc mantle continues to increase at a somewhat slower pace. During this phase, the rate at which depletion increases is chiefly dictated by the subduction rate, with faster subduction leading to a more rapid increase in depletion beneath the arc. Depletion within the sub-arc mantle is also found to increase with increasing mantle potential temperature, decreasing age of the overriding plate, and decreasing distance between the initial location of the BASC and the arc. Predicted changes in the depletion of the sub-arc mantle with time are shown to be consistent with observations of systematic along-strike geochemical variations within a portion of the Tonga Arc adjacent to the Eastern Lau Spreading Center

Rats Genetically Selected for High Aerobic Exercise Capacity Have Elevated Plasma Bilirubin by Upregulation of Hepatic Biliverdin Reductase-A (BVRA) and Suppression of UGT1A1

Exercise in humans and animals increases plasma bilirubin levels, but the mechanism by which this occurs is unknown. In the present study, we utilized rats genetically selected for high capacity running (HCR) and low capacity running (LCR) to determine pathways in the liver that aerobic exercise modifies to control plasma bilirubin. The HCR rats, compared to the LCR, exhibited significantly higher levels of plasma bilirubin and the hepatic enzyme that produces it, biliverdin reductase-A (BVRA). The HCR also had reduced expression of the glucuronyl hepatic enzyme UGT1A1, which lowers plasma bilirubin. Recently, bilirubin has been shown to activate the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPARα), a ligand-induced transcription factor, and the higher bilirubin HCR rats had significantly increased PPARα-target genes Fgf21, Abcd3, and Gys2. These are known to promote liver function and glycogen storage, which we found by Periodic acid–Schiff (PAS) staining that hepatic glycogen content was higher in the HCR versus the LCR. Our results demonstrate that exercise stimulates pathways that raise plasma bilirubin through alterations in hepatic enzymes involved in bilirubin synthesis and metabolism, improving liver function, and glycogen content. These mechanisms may explain the beneficial effects of exercise on plasma bilirubin levels and health in humans