Search and Recovery of the Space Shuttle Columbia: A Geospatial 1st Responder Perspective

A first person account of the Texas geospatial volunteers and their efforts to recover the remains of the Space Shuttle Columbia and her crew lost over eastern Texas and western Louisiana on February 1st, 2003

Banita Creek Sanitary Sewer Replacement Nacogdoches County, Texas

In June of 2011, Deep East Texas Archaeological Consultants (DETAC) conducted a cultural resource management survey of the proposed City of Nacogdoches Banita Creek Sanitary Sewer Replacement Project. The replacement project was to be approximately 9.5-kilometers long and was to consist of a 6-meter wide permanent RightOf-Way (ROW). The proposed project was located within the Banita Creek floodplain in Nacogdoches County, Texas. The survey was conducted under Texas Antiquities Permit #5967. The proposed project area was covered by a pedestrian survey to locate, describe and record any cultural resources within the project area boundaries. The survey was conducted with a combination of visual examination of the property and sub-surface exposure through shovel testing. Because of the proposed project’s proximity to known cultural resource locations, special importance was given to locating sub-surface and surface prehistoric and historic features and/or materials. DETAC conducted a 100 percent pedestrian survey of approximately 57% of the sanitary sewer replacement project. The remaining 43% was inaccessible due to not having landowner permission, having restricted access, or large areas of packed gravel, concrete, and asphalt. All shovel tests were negative and no artifacts were collected. In M a y o f 2017, DETAC w as notifi e d that the proposed project was suspended indefinitely and that although multiple ROW alignment changes were considered, no final alignment alternative was chosen. Based on the testing limitations discussed above, DETAC is recommending that if this proposed project resumes that the newly considered alignments be surveyed to evaluate the potential impacts to cultural resources important to the State of Texas

The Role of Harvest Timing in Pest Management: Grower Response to Infestation by the California Olive Fruit Fly

Crop Production/Industries,

Instrumented Lumbar Corpectomy and Spinal Reconstruction Comparing rhBMP-2/Compression-Resistant Matrix, rhBMP-2/Absorbable Collagen Sponge/Ceramic Granules Mixture, and Autograft in Two Different Devices: A Study in Sheep

Study Design. Fusion success with rhBMP-2 and autograft in titanium or PEEK corpectomy devices was evaluated in a sheep lumbar corpectomy model. The 6 treatment groups included titanium mesh or PEEK corpectomy devices filled with rhBMP-2 on a compression-resistant matrix (CRM) carrier; rhBMP-2 in a morselized absorbable collagen sponge (ACS) carrier combined with resorbable ceramic granules; and autograft. Objective. The aim of this study was to determine fusion rates associated with 2 different preparations of rhBMP-2 as well as autograft in an instrumented ovine lumbar corpectomy model 6 months postoperatively. Summary of Background Data. Vertebral reconstruction with corpectomy devices requires bone graft. Bone graft substitutes have the potential to avoid a second operation, donor site pain, and attendant morbidity associated with autograft. Methods. Twenty-four sheep in 6 treatment groups underwent lumbar corpectomy via a retroperitoneal trans-psoas approach. Spines were reconstructed with autograft, rhBMP-2 on a CRM, or rhBMP-2 on an ACS mixed with ceramic granules. Grafting materials were placed in either a titanium mesh or PEEK conduit in spines with internal fixation. Computed tomographic (CT) scans were evaluated for fusion. Undecalcified histology was used to evaluate for fusion as well as the amount and extent of graft incorporation and graft resorption. Results. Regardless of corpectomy device used, rhBMP-2/CRM or rhBMP-2/ACS with MASTERGRAFT resulted in a 100% fusion rate. The autograft group had a lower (75%) radiographic fusion rate. Using either preparation of rhBMP-2 resulted in the length of the defect filling with solid bone. Autograft fragments and ceramic granules were incorporated into the fusion masses with much of the ceramic granules being resorbed by 6 months. Conclusion. Both of the rhBMP-2 formulations have the potential to effect bony fusion and vertebral reconstruction within the corpectomy devices

Pests and Agricultural Commodity Losses: Evaluating Alternative Approaches to Damage Function Estimation

Estimating the economic impact of a pest requires linking biological and economic systems via a damage function. The most common damage function approach links exogenous pest populations to cumulative commodity yield losses at harvest. This type of representation is a reduced form because is not pest population levels per se that drive damage, but the underlying factors that affect pest populations and the susceptibility of the host. We specify and estimate a structural damage function and compare the results with those of the reduced form. We do so using two alternative models, one that explains the level of crop damage from a pest, and one that explains the timing of that damage during the host’s growing season. We address our objectives within an empirical application to the olive fruit fly in California. In formulating the structural damage function, we draw from current scientific literature on olive fly and olive fruit phenology. The structural damage function takes into account the feedback between climate, host susceptibility, and pest populations. Moreover, the structural approach disaggregates damage rates across space and time, unlike the typical reduced form. The estimation results indicate that endogeneity is a salient concern in both the timing of initial crop damage, and in the levels of damage evidenced in some cultivars. The structural damage function dominates the trapping-based reduced form in terms of explanatory power in every model estimated.Crop Production/Industries,

GIS Aided Archaeological Research of El Camino Real de Los Tejas with Focus on the Landscape and River Crossings along El Camino Carretera.

Many generations of indigenous pathways through the forests of eastern Texas have their origins obscured in antiquity. Utilized by early European explorers, these pathways became modified through heavy use and the expansions and improvements needed to accommodate easy passage of European horses and carts and finally the heavy wagons of Anglo-American settlers. The first road through Texas, El Camino Real de Los Tejas, utilized portions of these early trails. El Camino Carretera (known as the cart road) is an early segment of El Camino Real de los Tejas that crossed the Sabine River at the boundary between Texas and Louisiana. Using historical documents as well as empirical archaeological surveys, existing segments of El Camino Carretera have been located, mapped, and documented. Additionally, a GIS geodatabase model has been developed for managing the archaeological data with physical landscape data in a spatially responsive medium allowing for an integrated study of the landscape forces influencing the selection of a preferred road location

Design of a Comprehensive Geographic Information System for the Administration of El Camino Real De Los Tejas National Historic Trail

Stephen F. Austin State University’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture’s (ATCOFA) Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Laboratory were engaged by the National Park Service (NPS) National Trails System-Intermountain Region to provide GIS services supporting the NPS’s development of a Comprehensive Management Plan for El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail (ELTE). The scope of work was completed under an agreement with the Gulf Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit sponsored by the Texas AgriLife Research Program at Texas A&M University. ATCOFA assisted the NPS in the coordination of local landowner and other local stakeholder contacts, conducted archival research of NPS specific questions, developed high-resolution GIS maps of landscapes encompassing potential Trail resources, evaluated Trail resource landscapes and archaeological records for potential inclusion of sites/segments, developed web based interactive mapping applications for collaborative research of potential Trail resources, as well as provided logistical support and transportation for the investigation, evaluation, and determination of ELTE’s High-Potential Sites and Segments across Texas, Louisiana, and Mexico. ATCOFA’s development of a comprehensive GIS design for archeological and historic resources associated with ELTE Trail resources, as presented in the web based mapping applications, facilitated the management, preservation, and interpretive needs of the Trail while also providing a common platform for historians, Trail advocates and partners, archaeologists, and the public to collaborate on complex ELTE Trail mapping issues. Route verification and the development of a Trails geodatabase by ATCOFA aided the NPS’s Trails research and facilitated the preparation of ELTE’s Comprehensive Management Plan

Forest Landscape Changes in East Texas from 1974 to 2002

Timber production has been one of the most important industries in east Texas since the mid 19th century. For over 100 years, timber has represented one-third of all agricultural income in this region. In order to review forest landscape changes over time -- resulting from many years of management and investment -- historical satellite remote sensing data from 1974 to 2002 were used to determine landscape patterns and changes in four counties of east Texas : Angelina, Nacogdoches , San Augustine, and Shelby . Land cover was classified either as forest or non-forest and a land cover map was generated for seven unique time stages. Landscape patches were identified on each land cover map and landscape metrics were calculated, including patch size, aggregation of patches, and patch shape complexity. Results showed a decline of total forestland in the 1980s and a recovery in the 1990s. This observation coincided with historical information about large scale clear-cutting during this time. Mean patch size of forest showed a trend of increase, whereas that of non-forest was consistently decreasing over time. This reflected the decrease of forest patch shape complexity, while the patch shape of non-forest became more complex. The forest in east Texas plays an important role (presumably from intensive management) not only in the local economy but also in the environment. Replanting efforts have created buffers between land development such as urban sprawl and ranching. Eventually, the forest maintains the overall landscape contagion while non-forest land-use is becoming more fragmented