Archaeological Survey and Testing in San Pedro Park (41BX19), San Antonio, Texas

In April 1998, staff from the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) of The University of Texas at San Antonio completed a pedestrian survey and a series of 44 shovel tests and two backhoe trenches in San Pedro Park, in San Antonio, Texas. The project was required to evaluate the potential for significant historic (including a Spanish Colonial dam and acequia) and prehistoric cultural deposits in areas to be impacted by a plan to renovate the park, including the rebuilding of a swimming pool. The shovel tests showed that the majority of the area to be impacted by renovation was already disturbed. Areas which appear to retain undisturbed cultural deposits were identified. One backhoe trench found that the Spanish Colonial dam was probably destroyed by early twentieth-century renovations

Early life-history studies of nearshore rockfishes and lingcod off Central California, 1987-92

This study focused on the physical and biological processes that influence the distribution, abundance, growth, and survival of young-of-the-year (YOY) rockfishes and lingcod along the central California coast. The annual somatic and reproductive condition of adult female blue rockfish corresponded to annual upwelling. Resulting larval production may correspond to the reproductive potential of adults; however, ultimate recruitment success of YOY is also effected by oceanographic conditions during their planktonic stage. Within a year, each species of settled YOY was observed concurrently and in relatively similar abundances at all study dive sites along the central coast. Most species of YOY exhibited similar growth patterns among stations and years. We found a high degree of interannual variability in the condition of adults and relative abundances of YOY. We believe a large part of this variability is due to annual oceanographic conditions, specifically upwelling. Marine reserves, which would protect populations of reproductively mature rockfishes and lingcod and insure 1arval production, have been suggested as an alternative to present management strategies for these species. However, a crucial question is whether or not larvae from adult fish in reserves would significantly contribute to replenishing stocks in other areas. This study was undertaken to assist in determining the feasibility of reserves to enhance nearshore rockfish and lingcod populations. (78pp.

Archaeological and Historical Investigations at Rancho de las Cabras, 41WN30, Wilson County, Texas: Fourth Season

During the month of July, 1983, the Center for Archaeological Research conducted a fourth season of excavations at Rancho de las Cabras (41 WN30) near Floresville, Texas. Eleven excavation units were completed in the east part of the compound. Details of the construction of the south wall of Room 3 and the southeast portion of the compound wall were recorded. A trench for a palisade-type fence was located and followed out in the vicinity of the original northeast wall section. The fence was probably constructed for use in small livestock raising during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Additionally, interviews with local informants were conducted to collect information about the history of the ranch

Substrate control in stereoselective lanthionine biosynthesis.

Enzymes are typically highly stereoselective catalysts that enforce a reactive conformation on their native substrates. We report here a rare example in which the substrate controls the stereoselectivity of an enzyme-catalysed Michael-type addition during the biosynthesis of lanthipeptides. These natural products contain thioether crosslinks formed by a cysteine attack on dehydrated Ser and Thr residues. We demonstrate that several lanthionine synthetases catalyse highly selective anti-additions in which the substrate (and not the enzyme) determines whether the addition occurs from the re or si face. A single point mutation in the peptide substrate completely inverted the stereochemical outcome of the enzymatic modification. Quantum mechanical calculations reproduced the experimentally observed selectivity and suggest that conformational restraints imposed by the amino-acid sequence on the transition states determine the face selectivity of the Michael-type cyclization

An Archaeological Survey for the Bexar County Correctional Facility at Cagnon Road, San Antonio, Texas

An archaeological survey was conducted near Cagnon Road by the Center for Archaeological Research of The University of Texas for Bexar County. The project area is the proposed location for the Bexar County Correctional Facility. Intensive pedestrian survey and backhoe trenching were employed to determine the presence and depth of cultural material in the project area. One prehistoric site, characterized by a surface lithic scatter, was identified. Due to thin topsoil and agricultural activities, the site exists in a disturbed context. Furthermore, the presence of shallow Cretaceous age subsoil precludes finding buried in situ cultural material in the project area. Since the Bexar County Correctional Facility will not negatively impact intact cultural deposits it is recommended that construction be allowed to proceed

High Resolution Spectroscopy and Spectropolarimetry of some late F-/early G-type sun-like stars as targets for Zeeman Doppler imaging

High resolution spectroscopy and spectropolarimetry have been undertaken at the Anglo-Australian Telescope in order to identify suitable targets for magnetic studies of young sun-like stars, for the proxy study of early solar evolution. This study involved the investigation of some variable late F-/early G-type sun-like stars originally identified by the Hipparcos mission. Of the 38 stars observed for this study, HIP 31021, HIP 64732, HIP 73780 were found to be spectroscopic binary stars while HIP 19072, HIP 67651 and HIP 75636 are also likely to be binaries while HIP 33111 could even be a triple system. Magnetic fields were detected on a number of the survey stars: HIP 21632, HIP 43720, HIP 48770, HIP 62517, HIP 71933, HIP 77144, HIP 89829, HIP 90899 and HIP 105388, making these stars good candidates for follow-up Zeeman Doppler imaging studies.Comment: 16 pages, 16 figures, 4 tables Accepted for publication in PAS

Archaeological and Historical Investigations at Rancho de las Cabras, 41WN30, Wilson County, Texas: Fourth Season

During the month of July, 1983, the Center for Archaeological Research conducted a fourth season of excavations at Rancho de las Cabras (41 WN30) near Floresville, Texas. Eleven excavation units were completed in the east part of the compound. Details of the construction of the south wall of Room 3 and the southeast portion of the compound wall were recorded. A trench for a palisade-type fence was located and followed out in the vicinity of the original northeast wall section. The fence was probably constructed for use in small livestock raising during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Additionally, interviews with local informants were conducted to collect information about the history of the ranch

Remembering Forward: Neural Correlates of Memory and Prediction in Human Motor Adaptation

We used functional MR imaging (FMRI), a robotic manipulandum and systems identification techniques to examine neural correlates of predictive compensation for spring-like loads during goal-directed wrist movements in neurologically-intact humans. Although load changed unpredictably from one trial to the next, subjects nevertheless used sensorimotor memories from recent movements to predict and compensate upcoming loads. Prediction enabled subjects to adapt performance so that the task was accomplished with minimum effort. Population analyses of functional images revealed a distributed, bilateral network of cortical and subcortical activity supporting predictive load compensation during visual target capture. Cortical regions – including prefrontal, parietal and hippocampal cortices – exhibited trial-by-trial fluctuations in BOLD signal consistent with the storage and recall of sensorimotor memories or “states” important for spatial working memory. Bilateral activations in associative regions of the striatum demonstrated temporal correlation with the magnitude of kinematic performance error (a signal that could drive reward-optimizing reinforcement learning and the prospective scaling of previously learned motor programs). BOLD signal correlations with load prediction were observed in the cerebellar cortex and red nuclei (consistent with the idea that these structures generate adaptive fusimotor signals facilitating cancelation of expected proprioceptive feedback, as required for conditional feedback adjustments to ongoing motor commands and feedback error learning). Analysis of single subject images revealed that predictive activity was at least as likely to be observed in more than one of these neural systems as in just one. We conclude therefore that motor adaptation is mediated by predictive compensations supported by multiple, distributed, cortical and subcortical structures

Archaeological Monitoring of the HEB-GSA Parking Lot: Impacts to the San Pedro Acequia

In October, 1997, the Center for Archaeological Research of The Univeristy of Texas at San Antonio monitored parking lot construction activities at the Federal Center (4IBX622), part of the old United States Arsenal, in downtown San Antonio, Texas. The new parking lot, being constructed by H. E. Butt Grocery Company on land leased from the General Services Adminstration, will impact a section of the San Pedro Acequia which runs beneath an existing parking lot in the same location. The monitoring of these activities documented two sections of the acequia and corrected previous projections of the acequia\u27s route. It is CAR\u27s recommendation that the monitoring and documentation project has mitigated any adverse effects to the acequia.