Wise as Serpents, Harmless as Doves: A Collection of Short Stories

This thesis is a collection of short stories inspired by many different women. While the pieces are truly works of fiction, the characters are an amalgam of individuals the author has encountered in her own life. The collection focuses upon the experiences of several elderly women. each confronted with feelings of loneliness, envy, or longing. Although the stories address these sobering themes, they also present the reader with quirky. eccentric characters. An important element in the collection is the examination of how the women interact with one another. One of the stories introduces a specific conflict between two characters, each vying for a much desired object, while another story finds a hostess trying desperately lo impress her peers. Both pieces reveal women with competitive spirits and a touch of hubris. A theme found in several of the stories is death. One character finds herself still healing after the loss of a male, while another character gently cares for her charges and their loved ones as they make the difficult transition from life to death. The pieces maintain a delicate balance between humor and reverence. To avoid creating characters in a stereotypical vein, the importance of emotional attachment is brought to the surface, leaving the physical aspects of aging less transparent. While some of the women do suffer from the conditions often found in the elderly, the real focus is to look beyond the physical and into the psyche of the individual. These characters are passionate and they are not afraid to express that passion. Most importantly, the stories are meant to offer the reader a different view of elderly women. The willingness of the characters to change their circumstances. often at an emotional cost, is a reminder that individuals can continue to grow and evolve in all phases of life

Strictly Speaking, What Needs to Change? A Review of How Statutory Changes Could Bring Strict Products Liability to Virginia

Virginia remains one of five states that refuse to adopt strict products liability. To date, the Supreme Court of Virginia has declined to follow the path Justice Traynor set out nearly a century ago, as its recent decisions confirm its resistance to strict liability. However, given the change in control of the General Assembly following the elections of 2017 and 2019, the General Assembly is in new hands and may remain that way for some time. This new legislative majority, among its plans for new policies, may soon consider establishing strict products liability by statute. In doing so, Virginia would not be alone. State legislation is the method that four states have already used to adopt strict liability. Others have passed statutes to further limit or expand the reach of liability that their state courts established. Legislation is thus a proven method to adopt and manage strict liability should the General Assemblytake up the effort. Part I of this Comment briefly reviews the history of Virginia products liability law, and how small changes over centuries have put the Commonwealth on a long line trending slowly towards, but keeping a healthy distance from, modern product liability norms. Part II addresses where Virginia products liability law is today, and how that practically differs from strict liability. Part III explores how Virginia could adopt strict liability without unnecessarily disrupting established precedent and provides a sample statute to accomplish that end

Experimental study of the stability and flow characteristics of floating liquid columns confined between rotating disks

A low Bond number simulation technique was used to establish the stability limits of cylindrical and conical floating liquid columns under conditions of isorotation, equal counter rotation, rotation of one end only, and parallel axis offset. The conditions for resonance in cylindrical liquid columns perturbed by axial, sinusoidal vibration of one end face are also reported. All tests were carried out under isothermal conditions with water and silicone fluids of various viscosities. A technique for the quantitative measurement of stream velocity within a floating, isothermal, liquid column confined between rotatable disks was developed. In the measurement, small, light scattering particles were used as streamline markers in common arrangement, but the capability of the measurement was extended by use of stereopair photography system to provide quantitative data. Results of velocity measurements made under a few selected conditions, which established the precision and accuracy of the technique, are given. The general qualitative features of the isothermal flow patterns under various conditions of end face rotation resulting from both still photography and motion pictures are presented

The North American Reporting Center for Amphibian Malformations

The North American Reporting Center for Amphibian Malformations was established to provide a conduit of information about, and a systematic data base on, malformed amphibians. This article describes the Reporting Center and the variety of features available at its Web site, presents an example of a summary analysis that can be conducted with its data, discusses caveats about the data, and makes recommendations about systematic surveys to better understand patterns and trends in the incidence of malformed amphibians

Biogeochemistry of manganese in ferruginous Lake Matano, Indonesia

This study explores Mn biogeochemistry in a stratified, ferruginous lake, a modern analogue to ferruginous oceans. Intense Mn cycling occurs in the chemocline where Mn is recycled at least 15 times before sedimentation. The product of biologically catalyzed Mn oxidation in Lake Matano is birnessite. Although there is evidence for abiotic Mn reduction with Fe(II), Mn reduction likely occurs through a variety of pathways. The flux of Fe(II) is insufficient to balance the reduction of Mn at 125 m depth in the water column, and Mn reduction could be a significant contributor to CH<sub>4</sub> oxidation. By combining results from synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence and X-ray spectroscopy, extractions of sinking particles, and reaction transport modeling, we find the kinetics of Mn reduction in the lake's reducing waters are sufficiently rapid to preclude the deposition of Mn oxides from the water column to the sediments underlying ferruginous water. This has strong implications for the interpretation of the sedimentary Mn record