The Unity of Word: Language in C.S. Lewis\u27 Trilogy

Discusses the theme of language in the Ransom trilogy. Notes Barfield’s theories of language and Lewis’s apparent agreement with them

Identification, Localization, and Characterization of Sodium/Hydrogen Exchanger Isoforms 1 And 3 in the Gerbil Cochlea

Mongolian gerbils were used in an investigation into the expression of cochlear sodium/hydrogen (NHE) exchanger isoforms 1,2,3 and 4. NHE 1-4 gene products were identified in the gerbil inner ear by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The distribution of NHE-1 and 3 subsequently was mapped in the adult gerbil inner ear using isoform-specific polyclonal antibodies generated against rat antigens. Changes in the cellular expression level of NHE-1 protein in response to treatment with dexamethasone or NH4 CI-induced acidification were then assessed by semiquantitative immunohistochemical analysis. Cochlear cDNA was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using NHE isoform-specific primers based on rat sequences. PCR products spanning selected segments of NHE mRNA were cloned and sequenced. NHE-1, 2, 3 and 4 shared 98.7, 100, 99.4 and 88.9% amino acid homology, respectively, with their rat counterparts. The cellular distribution of NHE isoforms 1 and 3 was mapped in the adult gerbil inner ear by immunostaining with isoform-specific polyclonal antibodies generated against rat antigens. In the cochlea, NHE-1 antiserum reacted strongly with the basolateral membrane of strial marginal epithelial cells as well as with inner and outer hair cells and spiral ganglion neurons. Less intense staining for NHE-1 was present in subpopulations of fibrocytes in the spiral limbus and in inferior and superior areas of the spiral ligament. In the vestibular system, dark cells and transitional cells expressed abundant basolateral NHE-1 as did hair cells in the neurosensory epithelium and neurons in the vestibular ganglia. Immunostaining with anti-NHE-3 was limited to the apical surface of marginal cells in the stria vascularis. Changes in the expression of NHE-1 in response to chronic metabolic acidosis (CMA) and dexamethasone treatment were examined immunohistochemically. In the cochlea, CMA resulted in 127±58% and 221±84% increases in immunostaining intensity for NHE-1 in the stria vascularis and outer hair cells, respectively. Spiral ganglion neurons also appeared to upregulate their NHE-1 protein expression whereas fibrocytes and inner hair cells showed little change in immunostaining intensity in response to CMA. In contrast, dexamethasone treatment increased NHE-1 immunostaining intensity at all sites throughout the cochlea including strial marginal epithelial cells, inner and outer hair cells, spiral ganglion neurons and certain populations of fibrocytes

Case Study of the Economic Feasibility of a Red Oak Small-Diameter Timber Sawmill and Pallet-Part Mill

The economic feasibility of producing lumber, cants, pallet parts, and residues from hardwood small-diameter timber (SDT) has not been investigated. To assess the potential for utilization of this resource, an economic feasibility analysis was conducted based on the results of a related SDT yield study. The economic feasibility analyses used in this research included: break-even, net present value (NPV), and internal rate of return (IRR). These analyses were used to determine the economic viability of a sawmill and pallet-part mill that would utilize red oak small-diameter timber. Twelve scenarios were evaluated using these analyses: two processing levels (sawmill-only, and sawmill and pallet-part mill), two yield levels (actual and average), and three log costs ($33, 39, and 44/tonne). The break-even analysis indicated that in this case study the sawmill-only processing level would not be profitable for all log groups under current conditions. The NPV and IRR analyses illustrated that in this case study a new sawmill-only (scragg mill) processing level scenario is not economically feasible under any of the hypothetical conditions tested. The NPV and IRR analyses indicated that the actual-yield sawmill and pallet-part mill scenario was found to be economically feasible at a$74/m3 ($39/tonne) log cost. The NPV was calculated to be over$500,000, and the IRR was approximately 11%

Forest cover estimation in Ireland using radar remote sensing: a comparative analysis of forest cover assessment methodologies

Quantification of spatial and temporal changes in forest cover is an essential component of forest monitoring programs. Due to its cloud free capability, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is an ideal source of information on forest dynamics in countries with near-constant cloud-cover. However, few studies have investigated the use of SAR for forest cover estimation in landscapes with highly sparse and fragmented forest cover. In this study, the potential use of L-band SAR for forest cover estimation in two regions (Longford and Sligo) in Ireland is investigated and compared to forest cover estimates derived from three national (Forestry2010, Prime2, National Forest Inventory), one pan-European (Forest Map 2006) and one global forest cover (Global Forest Change) product. Two machine-learning approaches (Random Forests and Extremely Randomised Trees) are evaluated. Both Random Forests and Extremely Randomised Trees classification accuracies were high (98.1–98.5%), with differences between the two classifiers being minimal (<0.5%). Increasing levels of post classification filtering led to a decrease in estimated forest area and an increase in overall accuracy of SAR-derived forest cover maps. All forest cover products were evaluated using an independent validation dataset. For the Longford region, the highest overall accuracy was recorded with the Forestry2010 dataset (97.42%) whereas in Sligo, highest overall accuracy was obtained for the Prime2 dataset (97.43%), although accuracies of SAR-derived forest maps were comparable. Our findings indicate that spaceborne radar could aid inventories in regions with low levels of forest cover in fragmented landscapes. The reduced accuracies observed for the global and pan-continental forest cover maps in comparison to national and SAR-derived forest maps indicate that caution should be exercised when applying these datasets for national reporting

Critical conditions for the wetting of soils

The wettability of soil is of great importance for plants and soil biota and in determining whether flooding and soil erosion will occur. The analysis used in common measurements of soil hydrophobicity makes the assumption that water always enters soils if the average contact angle between the soil and water is 90 degrees or lower; these tests have been used for decades. The authors show theoretically and experimentally that water cannot enter many soils unless the contact angle is considerably lower than this, down to approximately 50 degrees. This difference generates serious errors in determining and modeling soil wetting behavior