In the Hilt is Fame : Resonances of Medieval Swords and Sword-lore in J.R.R. Tolkien\u27s \u3ci\u3eThe Hobbit\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eThe Lord of the Rings\u3c/i\u3e

Examines legends and lore of famous swords in medieval Germanic, Norse, Celtic and English literature, and how Tolkien adapted and added them to his rich history in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Ring

The role of cryptic dispersal in shaping connectivity patterns of marine populations in a changing world

Genetic connectivity directly shapes the demographic profile of marine species, and has become one of the most intensely researched areas in marine ecology. More importantly, it has changed the way we design and describe Marine Protected Areas across the world. Population genetics is the preferred tool when measuring connectivity patterns, however, these methods often assume that dispersal patterns are 1) natural and 2) follow traditional meta-population models. In this short review, we formally introduce the phenomenon of cryptic dispersal, where multiple introductory events can undermine these assumptions, resulting in grossly inaccurate connectivity estimates. We also discuss the evolutionary consequences of cryptic dispersal and advocate for a cross-disciplinary approach that incorporates larval transport models into population genetic studies to provide a level of oceanographic realism that will result in more accurate estimates of dispersal. As globalized trade continues to expand, the rate of anthropogenic movement of marine organisms is also expected to increase and as such, integrated methods will be required to meet the inevitable conservation challenges that will arise from it

Platinum group element signatures in the North Atlantic Igneous Province: Implications for mantle controls on metal budgets during continental breakup

The North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP) is a large igneous province (LIP) that includes a series of lava suites erupted from the earliest manifestations of the (proto)-Icelandic plume, through continental and ultimately oceanic rifting. The lavas of one of these sub-provinces, the British Palaeogene Igneous Province (BPIP), were some of the first lavas to be erupted in the NAIP and overlie a thick crustal basement and sedimentary succession with abundant S-rich mudrocks. We present the first platinum-group element (PGE) and Au analyses of BPIP flood basalts from the main lava fields of the Isle of Mull and Morvern and the Isle of Skye, in addition to a suite of shallow crustal dolerite volcanic plugs on Mull, and other minor lavas suites. BPIP lavas display both Ssaturated and S-undersaturated trends which, coupled with elevated PGE abundances (> MORB), suggest that the BPIP is one of the most prospective areas of the NAIP to host Ni-Cu-PGE-(Au) mineralisation in conduit systems. Platinum-group element, Au and chalcophile element abundances in lavas from West and East Greenland, and Iceland, are directly comparable to BPIP lavas, but the relative abundances of Pt and Pd vary systematically between lavas suites of different ages. The oldest lavas (BPIP and West Greenland) have a broadly chondritic Pt/Pd ratio (~ 1.9). Lavas from East Greenland have a lower Pt/Pd ratio (~ 0.8) and the youngest lavas from Iceland have the lowest Pt/Pd ratio of the NAIP (~ 0.4). Hence, Pt/Pd ratio of otherwise equivalent flood basalt lavas varies temporally across the NAIP and appears to be coincident with the changing geodynamic environment of the (proto)-Icelandic plume through time. We assess the possible causes for such systematic Pt/Pd variation in light of mantle plume and lithospheric controls, and suggest that this reflects a change in the availability of lithospheric mantle Pt-rich sulphides for entrainment in ascending plume magmas. Hence the precious metal systematics and potential prospectivity of a LIP may be affected by contamination of plume-derived magmas by subcontinental lithospheric mantle at the margins of cratons that has been enriched by Palaeoproterzoic orogenesis

Underpowered Aircraft - Performance and Operational Possibilities

A unique configuration, known as an Underpowered Aircraft, allows for the modification of gliding flight vehicles for increased range and lower cost when compared with fully powered flight vehicles. Intentionally under-sizing the powerplant for a flight vehicle allows the designer to choose a powerplant that will not only perform the mission requirements, but will also provide the customer with the most cost effective solution, as some missions may not require fully powered flight. Specifically, the underpowered aircraft concept studied in this paper is a gliding flight aircraft that does not have enough power for climbing or level flight, but does have enough power to overcome some of the drag forces associated with flight, in turn increasing the effective range of the vehicle. In this paper, the underpowered aircraft concept was analyzed and its feasibility was determined. Analysis done using equations of motion, followed by a more accurate numerical integration including a thrust lapse, determined that the underpowered aircraft concept provides a unique method for a cost effective range extension technology for gliding flight vehicles. Finally, the technology and methods of this paper were applied to the AGM-154 JSOW and JSOW-ER glide munitions and it was determined that JSOW-ER is representative of an underpowered aircraft with our analysis. This paper represents a back-of-the-envelope investigation into the underpowered aircraft concept

A Thirteenth-Century English Charter at Brock University

In the fall of 2008, staff of the Special Collections and Archives of the James A. Gibson library at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, discovered a small, tightly folded, and clearly very old parchment document in a bag in the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet. The document, which had been transferred to the Library from the President’s Office in 1976, was stored without being catalogued, probably because it fell outside the scope of the department’s collection policy. It remained unexamined for over thirty years until early in 2009, when the announcement of its ‘rediscovery’ caused considerable excitement among the Brock University and Niagara communities. Efforts to trace the provenance of the Charter prior to its arrival at Brock University have proven unsuccessful. The document, dated to the mid-thirteenth century, records a grant of land in the village of Clopton in Warwickshire (see further below) by Robert de Clopton to his son William; although some of the individuals and places named in it are known from contemporaneous records, it does not appear to be referred to in secondary sources pertaining to the family, the estate, or the county and, in fact, seems to be completely unknown. The Clopton charter now has the distinction of being the oldest item in the holdings of the James A. Gibson Library at Brock University. This paper offers a description, transcription, translation and preliminary analysis of the document

A phylogenetic assessment of breeding systems and floral morphology of North American Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae)

A phylogenetic investigation of 68 species and two varieties of tropical and temperate North American Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae) using sequence data from the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) with parsimony and Bayesian analyses revealed multiple origins of autogamy. By assessing breeding systems and floral morphological characters in the context of this phylogeny, we estimate 16 independent origins of autogamy and 4 subsequent reversions to xenogamy. Transitions to autogamy are associated with reduced pollen-ovule ratios, decreased anther-stigma distance, and small flower size. Although the relationship between floral traits and breeding systems has been described in previous studies, this is the first investigation to examine this association in Ipomoea. - Una investigación filogenética sobre 68 especies y dos variedades de Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae) en las zonas tropicales y templadas de Norteamérica, empleando datos de secuencias de ADN (ITS) con análisis de parsimonia y Bayesianos, demuestran orígenes múltiples de la autogamia. Basándose en la evaluación de los sistemas reproductivos y las características florales en el contexto de los resultados filogenéticos, estimamos 16 derivaciones independientes de la autogamia y cuatro reversiones a la xenogamia. Las transiciones a la autogamia se asocian con relaciones bajas de polen/óvulo, la disminución de la distancia entre las anteras y el estigma, y corolas pequeñas. Aunque estudios previos han tratado de las relaciones entre los sistemas reproductivos y los rasgos florales en las angiospermas, el presente estudio representa el primero que investigua estas relaciones en Ipomoea

Impacts of Co-Solvent Flushing on Microbial Populations Capable of Degrading Trichloroethylene

With increased application of co-solvent flushing technologies for removal of nonaqueous phase liquids from groundwater aquifers, concern over the effects of the solvent on native microorganisms and their ability to degrade residual contaminant has also arisen. This study assessed the impact of ethanol flushing on the numbers and activity potentials of trichloroethylene (TCE)-degrading microbial populations present in aquifer soils taken immediately after and 2 years after ethanol flushing of a former dry cleaners site. Polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed soluble methane monooxygenase genes in methanotrophic enrichments, and 16S rRNA analysis identified Methylocystis parvus with 98% similarity, further indicating the presence of a type II methanotroph. Dissimilatory sulfite reductase genes in sulfate-reducing enrichments prepared were also observed. Ethanol flushing was simulated in columns packed with uncontaminated soils from the dry cleaners site that were dosed with TCE at concentrations observed in the field; after flushing, the columns were subjected to a continuous flow of 500 pore volumes of groundwater per week. Total acridine orange direct cell counts of the flushed and nonflushed soils decreased over the 15-week testing period, but after 5 weeks, the flushed soils maintained higher cell counts than the nonflushed soils. Inhibition of methanogenesis by sulfate reduction was observed in all column soils, as was increasing removal of total methane by soils incubated under methanotrophic conditions. These results showed that impacts of ethanol were not as severe as anticipated and imply that ethanol may mitigate the toxicity of TCE to the microorganisms

Topological change of the Fermi surface in ternary iron-pnictides with reduced c/a ratio: A dHvA study of CaFe2P2

We report a de Haas-van Alphen effect study of the Fermi surface of CaFe2P2 using low temperature torque magnetometry up to 45 T. This system is a close structural analogue of the collapsed tetragonal non-magnetic phase of CaFe2As2. We find the Fermi surface of CaFe2P2 to differ from other related ternary phosphides in that its topology is highly dispersive in the c-axis, being three-dimensional in character and with identical mass enhancement on both electron and hole pockets (~1.5). The dramatic change in topology of the Fermi surface suggests that in a state with reduced (c/a) ratio, when bonding between pnictogen layers becomes important, the Fermi surface sheets are unlikely to be nested

A function for tyrosine phosphorylation of type 1 inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor in lymphocyte activation

Sustained elevation of intracellular calcium by Ca2+ release–activated Ca2+ channels is required for lymphocyte activation. Sustained Ca2+ entry requires endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca2+ depletion and prolonged activation of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R)/Ca2+ release channels. However, a major isoform in lymphocyte ER, IP3R1, is inhibited by elevated levels of cytosolic Ca2+, and the mechanism that enables the prolonged activation of IP3R1 required for lymphocyte activation is unclear. We show that IP3R1 binds to the scaffolding protein linker of activated T cells and colocalizes with the T cell receptor during activation, resulting in persistent phosphorylation of IP3R1 at Tyr353. This phosphorylation increases the sensitivity of the channel to activation by IP3 and renders the channel less sensitive to Ca2+-induced inactivation. Expression of a mutant IP3R1-Y353F channel in lymphocytes causes defective Ca2+ signaling and decreased nuclear factor of activated T cells activation. Thus, tyrosine phosphorylation of IP3R1-Y353 may have an important function in maintaining elevated cytosolic Ca2+ levels during lymphocyte activation

Drivers of groundwater utilization in water-limited rice production systems in Nepal

Most rice farmers in Nepal’s Terai region do not fully utilize irrigation during breaks in monsoon rainfall. This leads to yield losses despite abundant groundwater resources and ongoing expansion of diesel pumps and tubewell infrastructure. We investigate this puzzle by characterizing delay factors governing tubewell irrigation across wealth and precipitation gradients. After the decision to irrigate, different factors delay irrigation by roughly one week. While more sustainable and inexpensive energy for pumping may eventually catalyze transformative change, we identify near-term interventions that may increase rice farmers’ resilience to water stress in smallholder-dominated farming communities based on prevailing types of irrigation infrastructure.</p