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Plasma-Assisted One-Step Direct Methanol Conversion to Ethylene Glycol and Hydrogen: Process Intensification
(2024-06-29) Ayodele, Olumide Bolarinwa
This perspective reports a process intensification strategy that converts methanol into ethylene glycol (MeOH-2-EG) in a single step to circumvent multi-step naphtha cracking into ethylene followed by ethylene epoxidation to ethylene oxide (EO) and the subsequent hydrolysis of EO to ethylene glycol (EG). Due to the thermodynamic restriction for the direct MeOH-2-EG, plasma-assisted catalysis was introduced, and platinum group metals were identified as prospective transition metal catalysts that can achieve the formation of strong metal hydride bonds and guarantee the controlled C–C coupling of two plasma-activated hydroxymethyl radicals (*CH2OH) from methanol, both of which are essential for the single-step MeOH-2-EG.
Archaeological Investigation of the Upper Labor Acequia, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas
(Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio, 2024-07-03) Kemp, Leonard
The Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) conducted an archaeological investigation of a section of the Upper Labor Acequia (ULA; 41BX2043) in Brackenridge Park, San Antonio, Texas. The work was in response to a request from the City of San Antonio (COSA) Public Works Department to provide information to the structural engineer for future remediation of the acequia. The project area is also within a previously designated site, 41BX1425 described as a large prehistoric campsite. The ULA is a contributing element to the Brackenridge Park National Register District and is also listed as a State Antiquities Landmark. The work described here was conducted under Texas Antiquities Permit (TAP) 31262, with Cynthia Munoz serving as the Principal Investigator.
The investigation, conducted in July 2023 and January 2024, included the excavation of three trenches to describe the exterior wall of the acequia and three test units to describe the interior wall of the acequia. In general, the acequia in the project area has been impacted, to varying degrees, as evidenced by highly fragmented wall sections, collapsing wall sections, missing stone, and/or wall sections with cracks. Trenching revealed that the exterior wall is comprised of stacked limestone rubble and larger stone that is not mortared. The interior of the wall consists of a mortared limestone facade. The foundation of the interior wall is limestone rubble resting on a clay matrix. No definitive acequia channel floor was found during the excavation. The test unit excavations within the acequia recovered modern debris, although a single flake was observed in the spoil pile of one of the test units.
All three external trenches contained prehistoric artifacts, including debitage and/or burned rock. The CAR documented an amorphous, ashy deposit in the floor of Trench 2 at approximately 80 cm below the top of the acequia wall. Designated Feature 1, it included burned earth, burned clay, ash, charcoal, and two burned rocks. The feature covers an area roughly 50 by 30 cm, with an unknown depth. A radiocarbon date on charcoal extracted from a sediment sample collected from the feature yielded a median date of 1306 cal BP with a two-sigma range of from 1345 to 1291 cal BP, documenting an occupation at the end of the Late Archaic Period. A burned rock cluster and a single flake was present in the western wall of the trench, roughly 30 cm above where the feature was defined. While the association of this material with Feature 1 is not clear, it is the case that an unknown portion of the feature was removed by the backhoe prior to the feature identification. Burned rock and debitage were also observed in Trench 1. Trench 3 contained these materials as well as faunal bone. Following the trench and test unit excavations the structural engineer, Shawn Franke, P.E., the City Archaeologist Matthew Elverson, and the THC’s Dr. Emily Dylla reviewed the exposed portion of the ULA.
Given the recovery during this investigation of cultural material and an archaeological feature with chronological information and integrity, CAR recommends that the deposits adjacent to the acequia on site 41BX1425 are eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) under criterion D, in that the deposits have yielded, and are likely to yield, information important to prehistory. In addition, the CAR recommends that this area of the site is eligible for designation as a State Antiquities Landmark (SAL) in that the site has the potential to contribute new and important information and thereby lead to a better understanding of Texas prehistory. Given that recommendation, and our current understanding of the proposed work, the CAR further recommends the development of a proactive testing program to mitigate impacts to this area of the site.
CAR will submit a site update (41BX1425) of this recent investigation to the Texas Archaeological Sites Atlas following comments by the COSA Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) and the Texas Historical Commission (THC), along with a GIS shapefile of the site and other information relevant to TAP No. 31262. Following completion of the fieldwork, all project-related materials, including the final report, were permanently stored at the CAR’s curation facility under accession number 2868.
Size Matters? Penis Dissatisfaction and Gun Ownership in America
(SAGE Publications, 2024-05-31) Hill, Terrence D.; Zeng, Liwen; Burdette, Amy M.; Dowd-Arrow, Benjamin; Bartkowski, John P.; Ellison, Christopher G.
In this study, we formally examine the association between penis size dissatisfaction and gun ownership in America. The primary hypothesis, derived from the psychosexual theory of gun ownership, asserts that men who are more dissatisfied with the size of their penises will be more likely to personally own guns. To test this hypothesis, we used data collected from the 2023 Masculinity, Sexual Health, and Politics (MSHAP) survey, a national probability sample of 1,840 men, and regression analyses to model personal gun ownership as a function of penis size dissatisfaction, experiences with penis enlargement, social desirability, masculinity, body mass, mental health, and a range of sociodemographic characteristics. We find that men who are more dissatisfied with the size of their penises are less likely to personally own guns across outcomes, including any gun ownership, military-style rifle ownership, and total number of guns owned. The inverse association between penis size dissatisfaction and gun ownership is linear; however, the association is weakest among men ages 60 and older. With these findings in mind, we failed to observe any differences in personal gun ownership between men who have and have not attempted penis enlargement. To our knowledge, this is the first study to formally examine the association between penis size and personal gun ownership in America. Our findings fail to support the psychosexual theory of gun ownership. Alternative theories are posited for the apparent inverse association between penis size dissatisfaction and personal gun ownership, including higher levels of testosterone and constructionist explanations.
Dealing with the social-emotional effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: School administrators’ leadership experiences in Texas, USA
(SAGE Publications, 2024-05-22) Okilwa, Nathern S. A.; Barnett, Bruce
The onset of COVID-19 in March 2020 presented unprecedented disruption to the education systems across the globe. Given that school leaders were at the forefront of guiding schools during the tumultuous times, the purpose of this article is to highlight the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic on schools and examine how school leaders addressed these challenges, particularly the lingering social-emotional disruptions the students and teachers are experiencing. This qualitative study utilized an online survey to collect the perspectives of South Texas school leaders on the challenging circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings are organized by: leadership experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic (lessons learned and critical practices), additional knowledge and skills (social-emotional well-being, resources to address social-emotional well-being, and parental engagement), and suggestions for preparation programs (students’ social-emotional learning (SEL) and teachers’ well-being). The scale of emerging pandemic-related challenges has left school leaders scrambling to seek innovative approaches to maintain a safe and orderly teaching and learning environment. Implementing SEL for students and educators seems to hold promise.
Reconnecting Our Fragments through Ceremony: An Indigenous Archaeology Comparative Ceramic Analysis in the Coca-Nahua Pueblo of Mezcala, Jalisco, Mexico.
(2024) Figueroa Alcantar, Jesus
This master's thesis revitalizes archaeological inquiry from an Indigenous perspective in the Lake Chapala Basin of West Mexico through a comparative ceramic analysis of registered and non-registered ollas (jars) at the Mexkal'lan Community Museum and olla rim sherds from the Island of Mezcala, Jalisco Mexico with the Ph.D. dissertation of Margaret Nell Bond published in 1971. Due to historical exclusion of Indigenous perspectives in archaeology, I use my lived experience in Indigenous ceremony as a guiding theoretical framework in our process of interaction and interpretation of the material culture of our ancestors from Lake Chapala. I apply methodology from Indigenous archaeology that incorporates interviews with Indigenous Coca-Nahua elders in the town of Mezcala, Jalisco, Mexico in order to center local Indigenous Knowledge in the process of knowledge production. Therefore, this thesis is an initial conversation with the community of Mezcala on previous archaeological reports in the region, an explanation of the process of this ceramic analysis, with the research goals of understanding the regional context of these ollas in order to expand our understanding of dating and the chronology of our different tribal cultures of the Lake Chapala Basin.
The results of this comparative ceramic analysis brings the out-of-context ollas of Mezcala into closer context with other medium-sized ollas of similar form and style from the Ixtépete-El Grillo phase of the Valley of Atemajac (present-day Guadalajara, Jalisco) and the Lagos phase of Los Altos de Jalisco, both dating to the Classic period (300-900 CE). Recognizing the challenges to access to western forms of higher education and financial resources, I will donate two refurbished laptops with this thesis translated to Spanish and all cited references to Cesar Hesiquio "Papayo" Santiago de la Cruz and Noel Contreras Garcia from Mezcala, to encourage them and the community to continue to investigate and write their own history, and our collaboration as Indigenous colleagues and scholars.