Saint Vincent de Paul: A Creative Reconciler

Vatican II emphasized the need for Catholics and Catholic religious communities to focus on their beginnings (their primitive spirit). Margaret John Kelly uses this imperative to show how the roots of “the modern charities movement” are found in the work and leadership of Vincent de Paul. She explains why it is important to remember Vincent. The many parallels between his time and Church and our own are discussed, as is his relevance. Kelly calls him “a creative reconciler” because he was able to harness competing interests and make them work together in concrete ways for the service of the poor. Examples are given, with special attention paid to his work in reconciling the sometimes conflicting ministries of the Church: charity and social justice. Vincent’s ability to unify different economic classes and to collaborate effectively with laypeople were hallmarks of his leadership. The elements that led to his formation as a creative reconciler are examined

Co-Adaptation Is Key to Coexisting with Large Carnivores

There is a pressing need to integrate large carnivore species into multi-use landscapes outside protected areas. However, an unclear understanding of coexistence hinders the realization of this goal. Here, we provide a comprehensive conceptualization of coexistence in which mutual adaptations by both large carnivores and humans have a central role

Spatial Variation of Reservoir Properties in Onshore Dove Field of the Niger Delta Region, Nigeria

Spatial variation of reservoir properties in Dove Field, onshore Niger Delta was evaluated using standard seismic and well log information for six wells. Pattern maps, Sequential Gaussian Simulation (SGS), and geostatisticsVariogram, were used to determine the reservoir spatial variation property. The result revealed a Porosity range of 24% to 33% signifying possible hydrocarbon pore volume with an all-round interconnected pore space. Water saturation range 26% to 37%, with regions above 35% are seen as Aquifer. Shale volume range is 10% to 40%, indicating a good and efficient zone of shaly sand dispersal. Permeability range 600mD to 1600mD, with high permeability ranges of 800mD to 1200mD at the north-east section of the wells. High reservoir deliverability is anticipated within the producingzone of the Dove field considering its hydrocarbon pore volume as seen from the comparison of the Net-to-gross range of 55% to 85%, with the shale portion. The average values of porosity, permeability, shale volume, water saturation and netto-gross in the Dove field are 28%, 800mD, 13%, 32% and 85%, which are typical of the Niger Delta and can serve as abasis for decision making in the Dove field.Keywords: DOVE field, Spatial Variation, Reservoir, Niger Delta

Fact sheet: Assessing restoration objectives following a second-entry prescribed fire in an unharvested mixed conifer forest

Efforts to restore degraded forest ecosystems often involve thinning small-diameter trees and reintroducing surface fire; however, in some areas, such as national parks, mechanical tree thinning is kept to a minimum. In these situations, prescribed fire is the best tool available to restore historical fire regimes and forest structure over broad spatial scales

Dietary and Reproductive Responses of Arctic Foxes to Changes in Small Rodent Abundance

Between 1988 and 1995, dens in three adjacent arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) territories were monitored in an alpine environment in south-central Norway (the Snøhetta plateau). A total of 675 scats were collected at dens in both winter and summer, and the numbers of resident adults and pups at emergence were counted each summer. Small rodents (mainly Lemmus sp. and Microtus sp.) were the most frequently consumed prey and made up the greatest volume within scats, in all seasons and at all stages of the rodent cycle. Small rodents were followed in frequency by reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), hares (Lepus timidus), birds, and vegetation. Birds and vegetation were more common in the summer diet than in the winter diet, reflecting their seasonal availability. The relative volume of reindeer and birds in the diet decreased with increasing rodent abundance. Increased pup production was associated with years of high rodent abundance and a high occurrence of rodents in the diet. Adult numbers were not associated with rodent abundance.Entre 1988 et 1995, on a observé les terriers du renard arctique (Alopex lagopus), dans trois territoires contigus situés dans un environnement alpin du centre-sud de la Norvège (le plateau Snøhetta). En hiver et en été, on a recueilli un total de 675 excréments sur le site des terriers, et chaque été, on a compté le nombre de résidents adultes et de petits qui faisaient leur première sortie du terrier. Les petits rongeurs (surtout Lemmus sp. et Microtus sp.) étaient la proie la plus fréquemment consommée et constituaient le plus gros volume des excréments, en toute saison et à toute étape de la vie du rongeur. Les petits rongeurs étaient suivis en fréquence par le renne (Rangifer tarandus), le lièvre (Lepus timidus), les oiseaux et la végétation. Les oiseaux et les plantes étaient plus courants dans le régime alimentaire estival que dans celui hivernal, ce qui reflétait la disponibilité saisonnière. Le volume relatif de renne et d'oiseaux dans l'alimentation diminuait avec l'augmentation de rongeurs. La production accrue de petits était associée aux années de grande abondance de rongeurs et à une occurrence élevée de rongeurs dans l'alimentation. Le nombre des adultes n'était pas relié à l'abondance de rongeurs

The Gold Flat Tuff, Nevada:Insights into the evolution of peralkaline silicic magmas

The Gold Flat Tuff is the youngest (9.15 Ma) ash-flow sheet erupted from the Black Mountain Volcanic Centre, southwest Nevada, USA. This paper explores some aspects of the very complex nature of the tuff's magmatic plumbing system. The main body of the deposit is a mixed magma product, comprising pantelleritic and comenditic melts derived from independently evolving reservoirs, and antecrysts and enclaves derived from a range of basic to intermediate sources. Metre-scale cognate xenoliths point to the presence of alkali feldspar accumulation zones. The pantellerite contains phenocrysts of fluorite and chevkinite-(Ce). The inferred intermediate magma component contains perrierite-(Ce) phenocrysts. The pantellerite has unusually high contents of F (≤2.2 wt%), F + Cl (≤2.9 wt%) and ZrO 2 (≤1.04 wt%). The high halogen contents may have influenced the evolution of the strongly peralkaline magma. The crystallization conditions are poorly constrained but those for the pantelleritic magma may have been close to water-saturation (>4 wt% melt water) at temperatures ~740 °C and fO 2 around FMQ

Infrared behavior of graviton-graviton scattering

The quantum effective theory of general relativity, independent of the eventual full theory at high energy, expresses graviton-graviton scattering at one loop order O(E^4) with only one parameter, Newton's constant. Dunbar and Norridge have calculated the one loop amplitude using string based techniques. We complete the calculation by showing that the 1/(d-4) divergence which remains in their result comes from the infrared sector and that the cross section is finite and model independent when the usual bremsstrahlung diagrams are included.Comment: 12 pages, uses axodra

Activity patterns of eurasian lynx are modulated by light regime and individual traits over a wide latitudinal range

The activity patterns of most terrestrial animals are regarded as being primarily influenced by light, although other factors, such as sexual cycle and climatic conditions, can modify the underlying patterns. However, most activity studies have been limited to a single study area, which in turn limit the variability of light conditions and other factors. Here we considered a range of variables that might potentially influence the activity of a large carnivore, the Eurasian lynx, in a network of studies conducted with identical methodology in different areas spanning latitudes from 49 degrees 7'N in central Europe to 70 degrees 00'N in northern Scandinavia. The variables considered both light conditions, ranging from a day with a complete day-night cycle to polar night and polar day, as well as individual traits of the animals. We analysed activity data of 38 individual free-ranging lynx equipped with GPS-collars with acceleration sensors, covering more than 11,000 lynx days. Mixed linear additive models revealed that the lynx activity level was not influenced by the daily daylight duration and the activity pattern was bimodal, even during polar night and polar day. The duration of the active phase of the activity cycle varied with the widening and narrowing of the photoperiod. Activity varied significantly with moonlight. Among adults, males were more active than females, and subadult lynx were more active than adults. In polar regions, the amplitude of the lynx daily activity pattern was low, likely as a result of the polycyclic activity pattern of their main prey, reindeer. At lower latitudes, the basic lynx activity pattern peaked during twilight, corresponding to the crepuscular activity pattern of the main prey, roe deer. Our results indicated that the basic activity of lynx is independent of light conditions, but is modified by both individual traits and the activity pattern of the locally most important prey

Ultrastructure of ostrich (Struthio camelus) spermatozoa. II. Scanning electron microscopy

The three-dimensional structure and size of ostrich sperm is unknown. In this study, the morphology and dimensions of ostrich sperm were determined by scanning electron microscopy of semen samples obtained from sexually mature males during the breeding season. The results indicate that sperm cells of the ostrich are of the sauropsid type characteristic of non-passerine birds and, in general appearance, resemble those of the chicken, turkey, guinea fowl, budgerigar and tinamou. They differ from tinamou sperm, however, in that they do not show a small bump at the tip of the acrosome. Ostrich sperm are shorter (69,6 μm total length) than those of the chicken, turkey and guinea fowl, but longer than those of the budgerigar. A lack of information makes it impossible to compare the dimensions of ostrich sperm with those of other ratites such as the rhea. In ostrich and guinea fowl, the sperm head is proportionately longer than that of the chicken, turkey and budgerigar as determined by tail to head ratios. Two distinct groups of ostriches could be distinguished on the basis of differences in the length of various sperm cell components. This may reflect persistent genetic (subspecies) variations in the domestic ostrich population.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.Klein Karoo Landboukooperasie. University of Pretoria.mn201

Mechanical Properties of Concrete with Recycled High-Density Polyethylene Macro Flat Fiber and Rice Hull Ash as Partial Replacement to Cement

This study determines the mechanical properties of concrete with the addition of recycled High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) Macro Flat Fiber (MFF) and Rice Hull Ash (RHA) as partial replacement to cement. The objective of this study is to identify the optimum mix ratio for compressive and flexural strength of concrete. Various percentage of HDPE MFF (0.5%, 0.75%, and 1.0%) and 10% partial replacement of RHA to cement is incorporated in the mixture. The RHA is obtained through uncontrolled burning while HDPE MFF is collected through shredding and manual cutting. The results showed that the addition of HDPE MFF had a positive effect on the compressive and flexural strength of concrete. The optimum value is achieved on concrete with 0.5% HDPE MFF and no RHA, as it had showed an average of 31.87 MPa with a 18.04% increase in compressive strength, and an average of 4.532 MPa with a 17.78% increase for flexural strength. Moreover, the combination with RHA had not showed promising results. It had been concluded that the addition of recycled HDPE MFF with no RHA increases the compressive and flexural strength of concrete