What\u27s For Dinner?: A Faunal Analysis of the Bison, Elk, and Bighorn Sheep Bones from the Windy Bison Site (48YE697), Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Archaeologists have discovered hundreds of prehistoric sites around the shores of Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming indicating that Native Americans lived, hunted, and gathered in the region for 11,000 years. This thesis attempts to identify the Native American subsistence strategies that were conducted around the shores of Yellowstone Lake, specifically along the northeast shore. The objective is to define how Native Americans exploited the bison, elk, and bighorn sheep that were observed at the Windy Bison Site (48YE697). This objective is approached through analyzing the faunal remains that were documented at 48YE697. The analysis will be conducted using zooarchaeological methods to determine the economic utility of the identified carcass remains. Economic utility is defined as the amount of useful meat, marrow, and/or grease that is associated with a bone. Also, the economic utility will be determined through the development of utility indices that will reflect whether a given carcass element is a high-utility or a low-utility element. In addition, the determination of high-utility or low-utility elements will contribute to the understanding of how hunter-gatherers selected and transported specific carcass elements from a processing/kill site to a residential site. The selection and transportation decisions are based the central place foraging perspective. Furthermore, the approached objective is through a combination of theoretical perspectives that highlight: 1) the seasonal movements of people; 2) why bison, elk, and bighorn sheep were the primary fauna species identified at 48YE697; and 3) why and how hunter-gatherers make decisions on carcass element selection, and transportation. The last methods for approaching the objective is the combination of archaeological, ethnographic, and ethnohistoric data. The overall combination of utility indices, theoretical perspectives, archaeological, ethnographic, and ethnohistoric data allows for an understanding of hunter-gatherer subsistence and mobility strategies at Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming to be understood

Modeling Metal Protein Complexes from Experimental Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure using Computational Intelligence

Experimental Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) spectra carry information about the chemical structure of metal protein complexes. However, pre- dicting the structure of such complexes from EXAFS spectra is not a simple task. Currently methods such as Monte Carlo optimization or simulated annealing are used in structure refinement of EXAFS. These methods have proven somewhat successful in structure refinement but have not been successful in finding the global minima. Multiple population based algorithms, including a genetic algorithm, a restarting ge- netic algorithm, differential evolution, and particle swarm optimization, are studied for their effectiveness in structure refinement of EXAFS. The oxygen-evolving com- plex in S1 is used as a benchmark for comparing the algorithms. These algorithms were successful in finding new atomic structures that produced improved calculated EXAFS spectra over atomic structures previously found

Impulsivity Relates to Relative Preservation of Mesolimbic Connectivity in Patients with Parkinson Disease.

IntroductionThe relationship between Parkinson Disease (PD) pathology, dopamine replacement therapy (DRT), and impulse control disorder (ICD) development is still incompletely understood. Given the sensorimotor-lateral substantia nigra (SN) selective degeneration associated with PD, we posit that a relative sparing of the limbic-medial SN in the context of DRT drives impulsive, reward-seeking behavior in PD patients with recent history of severe impulsivity.MethodsImpulsive and control participants were selected from a consecutive list of PD patients receiving pre-operative deep brain stimulation (DBS) planning scans including 3T structural MRI and 64 direction diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Using previously identified substantia nigra (SN) subsegment network connectivity profiles to develop classification targets, split-hemisphere target-based SN segmentation with probabilistic tractography was performed. The relative subsegment volumes and strength of connectivity between the SN and the limbic, associative, and motor network targets were compared.ResultsOur results show that there is greater probability of connectivity between the SN and limbic network targets relative to motor and associative network targets in PD patients with recent history of severe impulsivity as compared to PD patients without impulsivity (P = 0.0075). We did not observe relative volumetric subsegment differences across groups.ConclusionFirstly, our results suggest that fine-grained, atlas-derived classification targets may be used in PD to parcellate and classify functionally distinct subsegments of the SN, with the apparent preservation of previously reported topographical limbic-medial SN, associative-ventral SN, and sensorimotor-lateral SN orientation. We suggest that relative, as opposed to absolute, degeneration amongst SN-associated dopaminergic networks relates to the impulsivity phenotype in PD

Keck Hires Observations of the QSO First J104459.6+365605: Evidence for a Large Scale Outflow

This paper presents an analysis of a Keck HIRES spectrum of the QSO FIRST J104459.6+365605. The line of sight towards the QSO contains two clusters of outflowing clouds that give rise to broad blue shifted absorption lines. The outflow velocities of the clouds range from -200 to -1200 km/s and from -3400 to -5200 km/s, respectively. The width of the individual absorption lines ranges from 50 to more than 1000 km/s. The most prominent absorption lines are those of Mg II, Mg I, and Fe II. The low ionization absorption lines occur at the same velocities as the most saturated Mg II lines, showing that the Fe II, Mg I and Mg II line forming regions must be closely associated. Many absorption lines from excited states of Fe II are present, allowing a determination of the population of several low lying energy levels. From this we determine an electron density in the Fe II line forming regions of 4000 per cubic cm. Modelling the ionization state of the absorbing gas with this value of the electron density as a constraint, we find that the distance between the Fe II and Mg I line forming region and the continuum source is of order 700 parsec. From the correspondence in velocity between the Fe II, Mg I and Mg II lines we infer that the Mg II lines must be formed at the same distance. The Mg II absorption fulfills the criteria for Broad Absorption Lines defined by Weymann et al. (1991). This large distance is surprising, since BALs are generally thought to be formed in outflows at a much smaller distance from the nucleus.Comment: 34 pages, 11 figures. Accepted by The Astrophysical Journa

Expression and Regulation of Osteoprotegerin in Adipose Tissue

PURPOSE: Osteoprotegerin (OPG), a potent inhibitor of osteoclastic bone resorption, has a variety of biological functions that include anti-inflammatory effects. Adipocytes and osteoblasts share a common origin, and the formation of new blood vessels often precedes adipogenesis in developing adipose tissue microvasculature. We examined whether OPG is secreted from adipocytes, therefore contributing to the prevention of neovascularization and protecting the vessels from intimal inflammation and medial calcification. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The mRNA expression of OPG and receptor activator of NF-kappaB ligand (RANKL) was measured in differentiated 3T3L1 adipocytes and adipose tissues. RESULTS: OPG mRNA expression increased with the differentiation of 3T3L1 adipocytes, while RANKL expression was not significantly altered. OPG mRNA was expressed at higher levels in white adipose tissue than in brown adipose tissue and was most abundant in the epididymal portion. In differentiated 3T3L1 adipocytes, Rosiglitazone and insulin reduced the OPG/RANKL expression ratio in a dose- and time- dependent manner. In contrast, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) increased the expression of both OPG and RANKL in a time-dependent manner. The OPG/RANKL ratio was at a maximum two hours after TNF-alpha treatment and then returned to control levels. Furthermore, OPG was abundantly secreted into the media after transfection of OPG cDNA with Phi C31 integrase into 3T3L1 cells. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that OPG mRNA is expressed and regulated in the adipose tissue. Considering the role of OPG in obesity-associated inflammatory changes in adipose tissue and vessels, we speculate that OPG may have both a protective function against inflammation and anti-angiogenic effects on adipose tissue.ope

Nitrogen Fertilizer Guide for First-Year Small Grains Following Alfalfa

Nitrogen (N) fertilizer is one of the most expensive crop inputs. It is an essential nutrient for most crops and often increases yield more than any other nutrient. Small grains are no exception. Alfalfa is the dominant crop in Utah in terms of area and gross sales, and as a nitrogen-fixing legume, it does not require nitrogen fertilizer. When terminated, alfalfa usually leaves a lot of nitrogen in the soil for subsequent crops. The amount of nitrogen that it supplies to following crops has been termed the “alfalfa N credit.” In many cases, this credit can be up to 300 lbs. N/acre for the two crops following alfalfa. This fact sheet addresses the nitrogen fertilizer needs of small grains grown for forage and for grain and corresponding economics

Asian Contributions to Three Instruments of Global Health Governance

It is widely recognised that the adverse impacts that transnational forces are having on health determinants and outcomes require more effective collective action.  The Asian region has been among the most acutely affected by the health impacts of globalisation, while many health issues in the region have potentially far reaching consequences.  The rapidly rising economic status of many Asian countries, coupled with their vulnerability to global health, points to the need to better understand their contributions to GHG.  This article analyses Asian contributions to three key instruments underpinning GHG – the International Health Regulations (IHR), Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework (PIPF), and Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).  It finds that, if Asian countries are to move, from rule-takers to rule-makers, there is a need to address weak capacity in the region, to go beyond traditional notions of sovereignty, and to build trust and policy processes across the region

APOE4 allele disrupts resting state fMRI connectivity in the absence of amyloid plaques or decreased CSF Aβ42

Identifying high risk populations is an important component of disease prevention strategies. One approach is examining neuroimaging parameters that differ in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), including functional connections known to be disrupted within the “default mode network” (DMN). We have previously shown these same disruptions in cognitively normal elderly, who have amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques detected using PIB PET imaging, suggesting neuronal toxicity of plaques. Here we sought to determine if pathological effects of apolipoprotein E ε4 (APOE4) genotype could be seen independent of Aβ plaque toxicity by examining resting state fMRI functional connectivity (fcMRI ) in participants without preclinical fibrillar amyloid deposition (PIB−). Cognitively normal participants enrolled in longitudinal studies (n = 100, mean age = 62) who were PIB− were categorized into those with and without an APOE 4 allele and studied using fcMRI. APOE 4 allele carriers (E4+) differed significantly from E4− in functional connectivity of the precuneus to several regions previously defined as having abnormal connectivity in a group of AD participants. These effects were observed prior to any manifestations of cognitive changes and in the absence of brain fibrillar amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaque deposition, suggesting that early manifestations of a genetic effect can be detected using fcMRI and that these changes may antedate the pathological effects of fibrillar amyloid plaque toxicity