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This report summarizes the discovery of ca. 200 linear mounds along 40 km of the Des Moines River in central Iowa. Many of these mounds were mapped and recorded piecemeal over a century, but their full extents were not known until recent high-resolution lidar mapping. General insights about the age and significance of the mounds can be inferred from nearby archaeological sites and surface finds, as well as comparisons with regional mounds. Limited archaeological evidence suggests the linear mound concentration may be associated with a long stable Woodland occupation of the region, culminating in the Late Woodland Great Oasis manifestation.

BackgroundThe NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (DPP) in England is a behavioural intervention for preventing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among people with non-diabetic hyperglycaemia (NDH). How this programme affects inequalities by age, sex, limiting illnesses or disability, ethnicity or deprivation is not known.MethodsWe used multinomial and binary logistic regression models to compare whether the population with NDH at different stages of the programme are representative of the population with NDH: stages include (1) prevalence of NDH (using survey data from UK Household Longitudinal Study (n=794) and Health Survey for England (n=1383)); (2) identification in primary care and offer of programme (using administrative data from the National Diabetes Audit (n=1 267 350)) and (3) programme participation (using programme provider records (n=98 024)).ResultsPredicted probabilities drawn from the regressions with demographics as each outcome and dataset identifier as predictors showed that younger adults (aged under 40) (4% of the population with NDH (95% CI 2.4% to 6.5%)) and older adults (aged 80 and above) (12% (95% CI 9.5% to 14.2%)) were slightly under-represented among programme participants (2% (95% CI 1.8% to 2.2%) and 8% (95% CI 7.8% to 8.2%) of programme participants, respectively). People living in deprived areas were under-represented in eight sessions (14% (95% CI 13.7% to 14.4%) vs 20% (95% CI 16.4% to 23.6%) in the general population). Ethnic minorities were over-represented among offers (35% (95% CI 35.1% to 35.6%) vs 13% (95% CI 9.1% to 16.4%) in general population), though the proportion dropped at the programme completion stage (19% (95% CI 18.5% to 19.5%)).ConclusionThe DPP has the potential to reduce ethnic inequalities, but may widen socioeconomic, age and limiting illness or disability-related inequalities in T2DM. While ethnic minority groups are over-represented at the identification and offer stages, efforts are required to support completion of the programme. Programme providers should target under-represented groups to ensure equitable access and narrow inequalities in T2DM.

Objective: The study sought to explore the consent rate and associated potential bias across a cohort in a large longitudinal population based study. Research design: Data were taken from a study designed to examine the effects of the reintroduction of community water fluoridation on children's oral health over a five-year period. Children were recruited from a fluoridated and non-fluoridated area in Cumbria, referred to as Group 1 and Group 2. Results: Data were available for 3138 individuals. The consent rate was 12.91 percentage points lower in Group 2 than Group 1 (95% CI -16.27 to -9.56, p<0.001). The population in Group 2 was more deprived (higher Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)) than Group 1 before consent was taken. Consent was not associated with deprivation in either group. Conclusion: The cohort appeared to be unaffected by IMD-related non-consent. However there was a difference in consent rate between the two groups. With the population in Group 1 being more deprived than Group 2, it will be important to incorporate these differences into the analysis at the end of this longitudinal study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACTBetween 1884 and 1894, Theodore Hayes Lewis mapped 370 prehistoric American Indian mounds and earthworks in Iowa as part of a larger survey of mounds in the upper Midwest. Georeferencing remapped Lewis survey notes allows their comparison with modern GIS data including lidar topographic maps, aerial photos, and land records. Of the 370 mounds, 190 (51.4%) are clearly visible in lidar, 160 (43.2%) are probably destroyed, and 20 (5.4%) are undetermined. Data analyses explore the factors that influenced mound survivorship. By far the strongest correlations for survivorship are modern land use, modern ownership, and local landform, with mounds most likely to survive in wooded areas, on public land, and on islands. Iowa data are compared with Lewis map data from Minnesota, revealing Iowa has a far higher survivorship, 51.4% versus 25.6%, likely attributable to land use in the late nineteenth century. Further comparison with Minnesota data suggests perhaps twice as many mounds stood in modern agricultural fields of Iowa before Lewis made his surveys.

Socioeconomic status (SES) is a major determinant of health. We studied the Index of Multiple Deprivation Rank of 473 families with individuals with pathogenic autosomal copy number variants (CNVs) and known inheritance status. The IMDR distribution of families with pathogenic CNVs was significantly different from the general population. Families with inherited CNVs were significantly more likely to be living in areas of higher deprivation when compared with families that had individuals with de novo CNVs. These results provide unique insights into biological determinants of SES. As CNVs are relatively frequent in the general population, these results have important medical and policy consequences.

Nearly half a century ago, two papers postulated the likelihood of lunar lava tube caves using mathematical models. Today, armed with an array of orbiting and fly‐by satellites and survey instrumentation, we have now acquired cave data across our solar system—including the identification of potential cave entrances on the Moon, Mars, and at least nine other planetary bodies. These discoveries gave rise to the study of planetary caves. To help advance this field, we leveraged the expertise of an interdisciplinary group to identify a strategy to explore caves beyond Earth. Focusing primarily on astrobiology, the cave environment, geology, robotics, instrumentation, and human exploration, our goal was to produce a framework to guide this subdiscipline through at least the next decade. To do this, we first assembled a list of 198 science and engineering questions. Then, through a series of social surveys, 114 scientists and engineers winnowed down the list to the top 53 highest priority questions. This exercise resulted in identifying emerging and crucial research areas that require robust development to ultimately support a robotic mission to a planetary cave—principally the Moon and/or Mars. With the necessary financial investment and institutional support, the research and technological development required to achieve these necessary advancements over the next decade are attainable. Subsequently, we will be positioned to robotically examine lunar caves and search for evidence of life within Martian caves; in turn, this will set the stage for human exploration and potential habitation of both the lunar and Martian subsurface. We have now acquired cave data across our solar system—including the identification of potential cave entrances on the Moon, Mars, and at least nine other planetary bodies. These discoveries gave rise to the study of planetary caves. To help advance this field, we conducted an expert‐opinion based social survey to identify a strategy to explore caves beyond Earth. We focused primarily on astrobiology, the cave environment, geology, robotics, instrumentation, and human exploration. First, we assembled a list of 198 science and engineering questions. Then, through a series of social surveys, 114 scientists and engineers winnowed down the list to the top 53 highest priority questions. This exercise resulted in identifying emerging and crucial research areas that require robust development to ultimately support a robotic mission to a planetary cave—principally the Moon and/or Mars. With the necessary financial investment and institutional support, the research and technological development required to achieve these necessary advancements over the next decade are attainable. Subsequently, we will be positioned to robotically examine lunar caves and search for evidence of life within Martian caves; in turn, this will set the stage for human exploration and potential habitation of both the lunar and Martian subsurface. Robotics and instrument advancements identified as linchpin focal areas for in situ study of planetary cavesResearch and technological development required for lunar and/or Martian cave exploration is achievable in next decade with proper investmentFirst application of systematic and statistically rigorous social survey to identify science and engineering requirements in planetary science Robotics and instrument advancements identified as linchpin focal areas for in situ study of planetary caves Research and technological development required for lunar and/or Martian cave exploration is achievable in next decade with proper investment First application of systematic and statistically rigorous social survey to identify science and engineering requirements in planetary science

The Palace site in Des Moines, Iowa, is an exceptionally well-preserved, multi-component Middle Archaic site with evidence for house basins. The main components of the Palace site had repeated occupations (6175 ± 25 B.P. to 5885 ± 15 B.P.) and evidence for multi-season occupation and reutilization. The Palace site appears to be the western periphery of phenomena associated with Eastern Middle Archaic sites: the appearance of substantial house basins occupied multi-season and repeatedly, a mixed diet based on deer and riverine resources, and an abundance of large ground stone tools. Comparisons with other Middle Archaic sites suggest house basins are broadly associated with Hypsithermal warming, but this association is tenuous, different regions appear to adapt house basins under different climatic conditions. Similar sites might exist in large river valleys throughout the Plains, but these sites are probably difficult to locate archaeologically.

A database of 675 historic Indian locations in Iowa illuminates some of the broader trends of population movement during the periods of Euro-American exploration and American settlement. The data are varied, consisting of recorded archaeological sites combined with Indian accounts gleaned from digital archives such as local histories and newspapers. Insights derived from analysis include the placement of the 1825 Neutral Line as a possible cause of the myth of the Dakota as an overly aggressive tribe and the poorly documented eastward expansion of Potawatomi into Iowa after 1840. The database can aid future investigations in historical research, archaeology, and tribal range and affiliation.

Dragoon fortifications of the 1830s through the 1850s are some of the most important historic sites of the Midwest, built for the supervision of the removal of Indians and the arrival of European American settlers. Ground-penetrating radar (Gpr) surveys at three dragoon forts demonstrate that Gpr varies greatly in its ability to detect fort-era features. The forts surveyed were Fort Atkinson in Iowa, Second Fort Crawford in Wisconsin, and Fort Des Moines No. 2 in Iowa. Fort Atkinson contained numerous early historic features detected by extensive Gpr survey and confirmed by excavation. A Gpr survey at Second Fort Crawford revealed features that correspond well with an historic map of the fort. Extensive Gpr survey of Fort Des Moines determined there is little correspondence between expected fort structure locations and Gpr features; archaeological excavation revealed that fort-era deposits are very ephemeral and buried beneath deep layers of later historic fill. Based on these tests, Gpr appears to be well suited for survey of substantial military fortifications, provided the site has not been extensively disturbed or covered by dense layers of later fill.

The DARPA Urban Challenge was a competition to develop autonomous vehicles capable of safely, reliably, and robustly driving in traffic. In this article we introduce Boss, the autonomous vehicle that won the challenge. Boss is a complex artificially intelligent software system embodied in a 2007 Chevy Tahoe. To navigate safely, the vehicle builds a model of the world around it in real time. This model is used to generate safe routes and motion plans both on roads and in unstructured zones. An essential part of Boss's success stems from its ability to safely handle both abnormal situations and system glitches.

Current models use climate change associated with Holocene Altithermal warming to explain differences between Paleoindian and Archaic bison seasons of kill on the Great Plains. These models, however, do not take into consideration the very different ecological conditions between the eastern and western Plains during this period. Reanalysis of the Cherokee Sewer site bison dentition and fetal elements indicates a late-fall to early-winter season of bison kill on the Paleoindian and Early Archaic horizons, rather than a mid- to late-winter season of kill suggested in the original report. Dentition studies also show a shift in bison mortality from younger animals to older ones during the Altithermal onset and maximum. Combined, these results suggest bison hunters on the eastern Plains used different adaptive strategies to cope with climate change than those seen on the western Plains.

To understand how people living in rural areas articulated with larger systems of commodities networks it is important to study them not just as consumers of goods, but also as producers of commodities. Based on historical and ethnohistorical comparisons, a late-19th-century feature at the Plum Grove site in Johnson County, Iowa, displays archaeological evidence of the production of animals for market sale despite a lack of historical records from this time period. The nature of this evidence is discussed, as is its significance in understanding Plum Grove’s articulation with macro-level economic networks.

A high degree of mobility, reliability, and efficiency are needed for autonomous exploration of extreme terrain. These requirements have guided the development of the Ambler, a six-legged robot designed for planetary exploration. To address issues of efficiency and mobility, the Ambler is configured with a stacked arrangement of orthogonal legs and exhibits a unique circulating gait, where trailing legs recover directly from rear to front. The Ambler is designed to stably traverse a 30 degree slope while crossing meter sized features. The same three principles have provided many constraints on the design of a software system that autonomously navigates the Ambler through natural terrain using 3-D perception and a combined deliberative/reactive architecture. The software system has required research advances in real-time control, perception of rugged terrain, motion planning, task-level control, and system integration. This paper presents many of the factors that influenced the design of the Ambler and its software system. In particular, important assumptions regarding the mechanism, perception, planning, and control are presented and evaluated in light of experimental and theoretical research of this project.

In November of 1898, Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, lashed out at the expansionists and denied most emphatically that there was “justification for our enforced conquest and annexation ”of the “semi-nude people ”of Puerto Rico, living in a state of “peonage.” At large, the American trade union movement appears to have been caught up in the movement for Cuban independence—both political and economic. Puerto Rico, however, was a different matter. The trade union leadership had shown no special awareness of the island or of conditions prevailing there and, following the American occupation, adopted a strongly anti-imperialist stand. Yet, in February of 1901, the American Federationist(edited by Gompers) warmly applauded the Louisville conventions decision “. . .to organize the 15,000 skilled workers of the island of Puerto Rico on the unshakable basis of the trade union.” By the summer of 1902, trade union opinion had largely reversed itself and fraternal ties between the American Federation of Labor and the Federación Libreof Puerto Rico had been irrevocably forged.

Reports on Indian gaming in New Mexico. Value of the industry in the U.S.; Number of people employed by casinos in the state; Impact of gaming on the state's economy; Benefits available to casino employees.