The orbit and stellar masses of the archetype colliding-wind binary WR 140

We present updated orbital elements for the Wolf-Rayet (WR) binary WR 140 (HD 193793; WC7pd + O5.5fc). The new orbital elements were derived using previously published measurements along with 160 new radial velocity measurements across the 2016 periastron passage of WR 140. Additionally, four new measurements of the orbital astrometry were collected with the CHARA Array. With these measurements, we derive stellar masses of $M_{\rm WR} = 10.31\pm0.45 M_\odot$ and $M_{\rm O} = 29.27\pm1.14 M_{\odot}$. We also include a discussion of the evolutionary history of this system from the Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis (BPASS) model grid to show that this WR star likely formed primarily through mass loss in the stellar winds, with only a moderate amount of mass lost or transferred through binary interactions.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

A Desert Place: Asceticism in the Aftermath of Destruction

This dissertation is an ethnography of asceticism after and amid destruction. Based on eighteen months of fieldwork at Antiochian Orthodox monasteries in Lebanon, it considers the inheritance of this form of Christian asceticism as it intersects with a particular history of dispossession following Lebanon’s civil war. Tracing out the grammar and practices of this tradition of withdrawal, the dissertation moves through the historical archive of the monastic properties, their ruination and reinhabitation, the hagiographic narratives of the ascetics, their theological and philosophical writings, as well as the reproductive and poetic labours of the broader communities that are sustained by them. These elements are not gathered under the terms of institutional monasticism, but under a singular sensibility of ascetic withdrawal. Tracing out this movement toward ‘the desert,’ as both a metaphorical place of passage for the soul and the physical space of the monastery, coordinates this tradition of spiritual struggle even as it dissolves it. Part One traces out the history of monasticism in Lebanon, attending to the waning of monastic life in the early twentieth century and its return under the impetus of an Orthodox revival movement before the Civil War. The dereliction of the present is translated by my ascetic interlocutors into a space for spiritual struggle; its estrangement beckons a return to humility. Part Two turns to the therapeutic dimensions of ascetic practice and its particular attention to stillness and the soul. The stillness in the desert of the soul here works to metabolize the traumatic effects of post-war life, opening to a shared experience of divine tribulation. Part Three considers the language of subjectivity and ethics, counterposed by the ascetic interdiction against the moral ‘self’, as it also moves to understand the staging of Islamic poetics at the monastery. The common retreat to God, a destructive limit that forms a relationship to an outside, is finally found in the repose of death. In this, the dissertation as a whole focuses on the ambivalence of destruction for my interlocutors; its paradoxical capacity to disclose through destitution

Animal foraging as a mechanism for sediment movement and soil nutrient development: Evidence from the semi-arid Australian woodlands and the Chihuahuan Desert

An emerging area of interest in geomorphology over the past two decades has been the effects of biota on ecosystemprocesses.We examinedthe roles of a rangeof vertebrates onsoildisturbance in twomarkedlydifferent environments, the semi-arid woodland of eastern Australia and a Chihuahuan Desert grassland–shrubland in the south-westernUnited States. Foraging pits of soil-disturbingvertebrates variedmarkedly fromsmall scratchings of heteromyid (mainly Dipodomys spp.) rodents (1.8×10−4m3) to deep (1.0×10−2 m3) excavations of the burrowing bettong (Bettongia leuseur) and greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis). Vertebratesmoved substantial volumes of soil in both environments, and activity was highly temporally and spatially variable. At large spatial scales, soil disturbance by echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus) and Gould\u27s sand goannas (Varanus gouldii) was substantially greater in communities dominated by shrubs, and where domestic livestock had been excluded. Heteromyid rodents tended to excavate more foraging pits in coarse-textured vegetation communities (both grasslands and shrublands). In both environments, foragingwas concentrated close to perennial plants such as grass tussocks and tree canopies rather than in the interspaces. Foraging pits of Chihuahuan desert animals tended to be higher in labile carbon and support greater levels of infiltration, though this was plant community-dependent. Overall our results indicate that animal foraging is an important geomorphic mechanism capable of mobilizing substantial volumes of soil in arid and semi-arid environments and with potential effects on soil function

Environmental scan and gaps analysis of prevention programs in Multnomah County

87 pp. References, tables, figure, appendices

Career Dilemmas among Diné (Navajo) College Graduates: An Exploration of the Dinétah (Navajo Nation) Brain Drain

Like many Indigenous nations, the Navajo Nation has worked to develop its human and economic potential. It has provided scholarships and other supports to enable its members to pursue post-secondary education. However, relatively few of these college-educated members return to the reservation to contribute directly to its development. This phenomenon has been termed a brain drain. This study explored the experiences of 28 college-educated Navajos who, while raised on the reservation, were living off the reservation after completing their post-secondary education. Participants indicated a number of factors that went into their decision to live off the reservation. These included: Ké’: Relationships/Connections to Family, Culture, Homeland, People; Iiná: Lifestyle/Lifeway, Desirable Setting, Learned Work Ethic, Social Atmosphere, Togetherness (Diné) vs. Individualism (Mainstream); Bee ach’į’ na’hwii’ná: Resources and Roadblocks to Making a Life, Infrastructure, Services, The “System”; Bee ajit’9: Opportunity, Prosperity and Personal Improvement, Education, Extracurricular, Job Availability, Work Experience

Rural communities experience higher radon exposure versus urban areas, potentially due to drilled groundwater well annuli acting as unintended radon gas migration conduits

Abstract Repetitive, long-term inhalation of radioactive radon gas is one of the leading causes of lung cancer, with exposure differences being a function of geographic location, built environment, personal demographics, activity patterns, and decision-making. Here, we examine radon exposure disparities across the urban-to-rural landscape, based on 42,051 Canadian residential properties in 2034 distinct communities. People living in rural, lower population density communities experience as much as 31.2% greater average residential radon levels relative to urban equivalents, equating to an additional 26.7 Bq/m3 excess in geometric mean indoor air radon, and an additional 1 mSv/year in excess alpha radiation exposure dose rate to the lungs for occupants. Pairwise and multivariate analyses indicate that community-based radon exposure disparities are, in part, explained by increased prevalence of larger floorplan bungalows in rural areas, but that a majority of the effect is attributed to proximity to, but not water use from, drilled groundwater wells. We propose that unintended radon gas migration in the annulus of drilled groundwater wells provides radon migration pathways from the deeper subsurface into near-surface materials. Our findings highlight a previously under-appreciated determinant of radon-induced lung cancer risk, and support a need for targeted radon testing and reduction in rural communities

Recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Vectors Expressing Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 gD Elicit Robust CD4(+) Th1 Immune Responses and Are Protective in Mouse and Guinea Pig Models of Vaginal Challenge

Recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) vectors offer an attractive approach for the induction of robust cellular and humoral immune responses directed against human pathogen target antigens. We evaluated rVSV vectors expressing full-length glycoprotein D (gD) from herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) in mice and guinea pigs for immunogenicity and protective efficacy against genital challenge with wild-type HSV-2. Robust Th1-polarized anti-gD immune responses were demonstrated in the murine model as measured by induction of gD-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes and increased gamma interferon expression. The isotype makeup of the serum anti-gD immunoglobulin G (IgG) response was consistent with the presence of a Th1-CD4(+) anti-gD response, characterized by a high IgG2a/IgG1 IgG subclass ratio. Functional anti-HSV-2 neutralizing serum antibody responses were readily demonstrated in both guinea pigs and mice that had been immunized with rVSV-gD vaccines. Furthermore, guinea pigs and mice were prophylactically protected from genital challenge with high doses of wild-type HSV-2. In addition, guinea pigs were highly protected against the establishment of latent infection as evidenced by low or absent HSV-2 genome copies in dorsal root ganglia after virus challenge. In summary, rVSV-gD vectors were successfully used to elicit potent anti-gD Th1-like cellular and humoral immune responses that were protective against HSV-2 disease in guinea pigs and mice