Current Research: Current Research in the Upper McGee Creek Drainage, Oklahoma

In recent years the Choctaw Nation has acquired a roughly 80 square mile ranch in the western edge of the Winding Stair Mountains of southeastern Oklahoma. The land is currently a working ranch and timber management area. Choctaw Forestry manages timber activities and range management with the intention of returning the land to an oak savanna setting. Active logging of pine and selected hardwoods and on-going controlled surface burns are included in Forestry activity on the ranch. The project is supported by the Choctaw Nation Historic Preservation Department, which is responsible for the inventory and protection of the cultural resources found on the property. Archeological surveys were conducted in the McGee Creek Reservoir area in the 1970s and 1980s and a wide range of significant cultural resources were located in the reservoir area, less than 10 miles south of the ranch. Only one previous survey was conducted on the ranch property, by the Oklahoma Conservation Commission in the 1980s ahead of construction of an upland flood control reservoir. Significant archeological resources were recorded. Since very little was known about the ranch property itself, it was presumed that this portion of the McGee Creek drainage would also have a similar archeological importance

Digital Materiality of the Internet-of-Things

date-added: 2015-01-19 04:14:58 +0000 date-modified: 2015-04-01 06:51:10 +0000date-added: 2015-01-19 04:14:58 +0000 date-modified: 2015-04-01 06:51:10 +0000This work was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, CreativeWorks London Hub, grant AH/J005142/1, and the European Regional Development Fund, London Creative and Digital Fusion

Tractable nonlinear memory functions as a tool to capture and explain dynamical behaviours

Mathematical approaches from dynamical systems theory are used in a range of fields. This includes biology where they are used to describe processes such as protein-protein interaction and gene regulatory networks. As such networks increase in size and complexity, detailed dynamical models become cumbersome, making them difficult to explore and decipher. This necessitates the application of simplifying and coarse graining techniques in order to derive explanatory insight. Here we demonstrate that Zwanzig-Mori projection methods can be used to arbitrarily reduce the dimensionality of dynamical networks while retaining their dynamical properties. We show that a systematic expansion around the quasi-steady state approximation allows an explicit solution for memory functions without prior knowledge of the dynamics. The approach not only preserves the same steady states but also replicates the transients of the original system. The method also correctly predicts the dynamics of multistable systems as well as networks producing sustained and damped oscillations. Applying the approach to a gene regulatory network from the vertebrate neural tube, a well characterised developmental transcriptional network, identifies features of the regulatory network responsible dfor its characteristic transient behaviour. Taken together, our analysis shows that this method is broadly applicable to multistable dynamical systems and offers a powerful and efficient approach for understanding their behaviour.Comment: (8 pages, 8 figures

Relationships of Beef Cattle Temperament with Feedlot Performance

This study determined relationships between beef cattle temperament and their feedlot performance. Thirty-five Angus cross-bred steers and heifers (18 steers and 17 heifers) were placed in the Utah State University feedlot to take part in the feed trial. Cattle temperament was measured by a chute score (CS, ranging from 1 = calm and not moving to 5 = rearing and violently struggling) and flight speed. Flight speed was measured by two observers to determine how long the animal took to travel 12 feet from the exit of the squeeze chute. Feedlot performance was assessed by body weight (BW) measurements, average daily gain (ADO) and feed efficiency. Individual daily feed intake was measured as well. Temperament scores were taken at the animal\u27s introduction to the feedlot and at 28 day intervals throughout the trial. A total of 7 different BW measurements and temperament scores were included in this trial. As time progressed, all temperament measurements decreased. Across all three measurements day 0 was significantly higher than day 168 (P \u3c 0.0001). Within heifers there was a negative correlation between daily feed intake and three time points. Weight was different between sex class with steers weighing an average of 108.5 lbs more than heifers (P=0.0027) on day 168. Daily feed intake (P=0.089) and average daily gain (P=0.007) differed between the sexes, but feed efficiency did not (P=0.983). Results of this study indicate that there is not a significant difference in temperament, but there was a difference between sexes in weight. Correlation results indicate that heifer temperament may have greater implications for daily feed intake in comparison with steers

Intrinsic noise profoundly alters the dynamics and steady state of morphogen-controlled bistable genetic switches

During tissue development, patterns of gene expression determine the spatial arrangement of cell types. In many cases, gradients of secreted signaling molecules - morphogens - guide this process. The continuous positional information provided by the gradient is converted into discrete cell types by the downstream transcriptional network that responds to the morphogen. A mechanism commonly used to implement a sharp transition between two adjacent cell fates is the genetic toggle switch, composed of cross-repressing transcriptional determinants. Previous analyses emphasize the steady state output of these mechanisms. Here, we explore the dynamics of the toggle switch and use exact numerical simulations of the kinetic reactions, the Chemical Langevin Equation, and Minimum Action Path theory to establish a framework for studying the effect of gene expression noise on patterning time and boundary position. This provides insight into the time scale, gene expression trajectories and directionality of stochastic switching events between cell states. Taking gene expression noise into account predicts that the final boundary position of a morphogen-induced toggle switch, although robust to changes in the details of the noise, is distinct from that of the deterministic system. Moreover, stochastic switching introduces differences in patterning time along the morphogen gradient that result in a patterning wave propagating away from the morphogen source. The velocity of this wave is influenced by noise; the wave sharpens and slows as it advances and may never reach steady state in a biologically relevant time. This could explain experimentally observed dynamics of pattern formation. Together the analysis reveals the importance of dynamical transients for understanding morphogen-driven transcriptional networks and indicates that gene expression noise can qualitatively alter developmental patterning

The physics of development 100 years after D'Arcy Thompson's “on growth and form”

By applying methods and principles from the physical sciences to biological problems, D'Arcy Thompson's On Growth and Form demonstrated how mathematical reasoning reveals elegant, simple explanations for seemingly complex processes. This has had a profound influence on subsequent generations of developmental biologists. We discuss how this influence can be traced through twentieth century morphologists, embryologists and theoreticians to current research that explores the molecular and cellular mechanisms of tissue growth and patterning, including our own studies of the vertebrate neural tube

Archeological Survey Report on the Mid-Plains Rural Telephone Cooperative Buried Fiber Optic Line Project in Swisher, Randall, Briscoe and Armstrong Counties, Texas

Mid-Plains Rural Telephone Company (MPRT) proposes to replace existing copper telephone lines with new fiber optic technology. The telephone grid covers major portions of Briscoe, Randall, Armstrong and Swisher counties in the Texas Panhandle. Initial consultation was made with the Texas Historical Commission (THC) in October of 2010. THC recommended all segments along or adjacent to playas, creeks and canyons be given further archeological considerations. he proposed new fiber optic line will replace an existing buried copper telephone line. The new line will be installed with a cable plow immediately adjacent to the existing line, along the edge of the existing roadway within county and state road easements. The new lines include 93 miles of buried cable. The Area of Potential Effect (APE) includes an eight foot wide (the cable-plow width) surface disturbance corridor along previously disturbed roadways. Sub-surface disturbance will include a trench 3 inches wide and less than a meter deep. A total of approximately 90 acres will be disturbed by the installation of the new cable. All areas considered highly likely to contain cultural resources were selected for archeological investigations. A background search of the Texas Historical Commission (THC) Atlas Records (on-line) has been completed. Previous investigation records and topographic maps were examined to select approximately 35 miles of the proposed project for archeological examination. For archeological purposes, a corridor 20 feet wide will be included, totaling approximately 85 acres. Archeological investigations were initiated at the request of Del Schipper of N-Com, Inc. Mr. Schipper can be reached at 806-866-9900, 6129 79th St. Lubbock, TX 79424. These investigations were conducted on behalf of Mid-Plains Rural Telephone Cooperative, Inc. and N-Com, LLC under TAC Permit number 5789. A total of 6 segments were located along/adjacent to playas, creeks or canyon settings. All of these segments were physically walked and inspected between October 10 and 29, 2010, by James Briscoe (Senior Archeologist), Jason Zan (archeologist), and Robert Walker (archeological technician); and on November 8, 2010 by Heather Szarka (Senior Archeologist), Nash Sherrod (archeologist) and Robert Walker (archeological technician) of Briscoe/Szarka Consulting Services

Mortification and Apodiorizo: Re-framing Apologia

Image restoration strategies and apologia have been used for years to explain how speakers engage in verbal self-defense. Kategoria has expanded our understanding of apologia when rhetors counter with an accusation to explain or justify their behavior. In recent years, however, a new tactic has emerged in apologia in which speakers admit to the transgression but then accuse the media of invading their privacy by stalking their families. Following the accusation, these speakers draw a boundary with the media and the audience regarding what the media can and cannot do. This strategy is unique because the rhetor does not attempt to create a scapegoat. The rhetor takes full responsibility for the transgression, sometimes even taunting the media to “come after me,” but then demands the media leave their family alone. This strategy of bringing a charge and drawing a boundary is absent in current image restoration literature. This essay will identify this new rhetorical posture as apodiorizo