Contributor to the November Issue/Notes

Notes by Charles G. Hasson, Robert J. Mahoney, Robert E. Sullivan, John Kelly, John D. O\u27Neill, John M. Anderton, Charles R. Gerard, R. A. Macdonell, William B. Ball, Robert E. Sullivan, and Leonard D. Bodkin

Contributor to the November Issue/Notes

Notes by Charles G. Hasson, Robert J. Mahoney, Robert E. Sullivan, John Kelly, John D. O\u27Neill, John M. Anderton, Charles R. Gerard, R. A. Macdonell, William B. Ball, Robert E. Sullivan, and Leonard D. Bodkin

Do not log-transform count data

1. Ecological count data (e.g., number of individuals or species) are often log-transformed to satisfy parametric test assumptions.
2. Apart from the fact that generalized linear models are better suited in dealing with count data, a log-transformation of counts has the additional quandary in how to deal with zero observations. With just one zero observation (if this observation represents a sampling unit), the whole dataset needs to be fudged by adding a value (usually 1) before transformation. 
3. Simulating data from a negative binomial distribution, we compared the outcome of fitting models that were transformed in various ways (log, square-root) with results from fitting models using Poisson and negative binomial models to untransformed count data. 
4. We found that the transformations performed poorly, except when the dispersion was small and the mean counts were large.  The Poisson and negative binomial models consistently performed well, with little bias

Law Day 1960

Law Day speakers included Whitney Gillilland, Federal Bar Association; Robert O. Arnold, University System of Georgia Board of Regents; and Robert B. Troutman, Attorney, Atlanta, Ga. Scroll Award was presented to Daniel H. Redfearn and Pope F. Brock

Letter from Robert O. Spiegel to B. R. Colson

Letter from Robert O. Spiegel to B. R. Colson. The one-page handwritten note is on Our Florida Friend letterhead and is dated 16 November 1912. There is a transcript of the correspondence included in the item PDF

Unsigned letter to Robert O. Spiegel

Unsigned letter, possibly from B. R. Colson or T. B. Larimore, to Robert O. Spiegel. The one-page typewritten note is dated 20 November 1912

Emissions Relationships in Western Forest Fire Plumes: I. Reducing the Effect of Mixing Errors on Emission Factors

Studies of emission factors from biomass burning using aircraft data complement the results of lab studies and extend them to conditions of immense hot conflagrations. We illustrate and discuss emission relationships for 422 individual samples from many forest-fire plumes in the Western US. The samples are from two NASA investigations: ARCTAS (Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites) and SEAC4RS (Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds, and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys). This work provides sample-by-sample enhancement ratios (EnRs) for 23 gases and particulate properties. Many EnRs provide candidates for emission ratios (ERs, corresponding to the EnR at the source) when the origin and degree of transformation is understood and appropriate. From these, emission factors (EFs) can be estimated when the fuel dry mass consumed is known or can be estimated using the carbon mass budget approach. This analysis requires understanding the interplay of mixing of the plume with surrounding air. Some initial examples emphasize that measured C(tot) = CO2 + CO in a fire plume does not necessarily describe the emissions of the total carbon liberated in the flames, C(burn). Rather, it represents C(tot) = C(burn) + C(bkgd), which includes possibly varying background concentrations for entrained air. Consequently, we present a simple theoretical description for plume entrainment for multiple tracers from flame to hundreds of kilometers downwind and illustrate some intrinsic linear behaviors. The analysis suggests a Mixed Effects Regression Emission Technique (MERET), which can eliminate occasional strong biases associated with the commonly used normalized excess mixing ratio (NEMR) method. MERET splits C(tot) to reveal C(burn) by exploiting the fact that C(burn) and all tracers respond linearly to dilution, while each tracer has consistent EnR behavior (slope of tracer concentration with respect to C(burn)). The two effects are separable. Two or three or preferably more emission indicators are required as a minimum; here we used ten. Limited variations in the EnRs for each tracer can be incorporated and the variations and co-variations analyzed. The percentage CO yield (or the modified combustion efficiency) plays some role. Other co-relationships involving nitrogen and organic classes are more prominent; these have strong relationships to the C(burn) to O3 emission relationship. In summary, MERET allows fine spatial resolution (EnRs for individual observations) and comparison of similar plumes distant in time and space. Alkene ratios provide us with an approximate photochemical timescale. This allows discrimination and definition, by fire situation, of ERs, allowing us to estimate emission factors

Letter from Robert O. Spencer to James B. Finley

Spencer was present during a meeting between Dr. Charles Elliott (editor, Western Christian Advocate) and Bishop Joshua Soule (MEC South), and feels compelled to tell Finley about it. The bishop complained most grievously about the statement in the Advocate alleging that he withdrew from the MEC under grave charges. Soule has continually requested a copy of the charges, but has been denied. He claims that he was accountable to the MEC only until the General Conference of the MEC South in May of 1846. Spencer says Finley\u27s friends are of the opinion that Bishop Soule should receive a copy of the charges, along with the reasons why there was no prosecution. Abstract Number - 340https://digitalcommons.owu.edu/finley-letters/1540/thumbnail.jp

Letter from Robert O. Spencer to James B. Finley

Rev. Robert Spencer (appointed to Chillicothe Station), writes to James B. Finley (Presiding Elder of the Chillicothe District). Spencer\u27s letter contains a copy of a letter to Finley from John H. Fielding, written March 21, 1836, from St. Charles, Mo. Fielding is facing charges in the Ohio Conference on a complaint lodged by McKown (Burr. H.), professor at Augusta College. At the time of this letter Fielding has already transferred from the Ohio Conference to the Missouri Conference, having been appointed president of St. Charles College in the St. Louis District. Fielding is making arrangements to return to Ohio in order to face the charges. Spencer in turn discusses the situation at the Chillicothe Station. Prosperity is not quite so flattering as some time past. Though it is a large and attentive congregation excited about revival, folks are easily divided over differences of opinion. Abstract Number - 569https://digitalcommons.owu.edu/finley-letters/1865/thumbnail.jp

THE PRAIRIE NATURALIST Volume 2, No.2 June, 1970

EDITORIAL: Ecocide on the Sheyenne? ▪ Paul B. Kannowski NEW RECORDS OF VASCULAR PLANTS IN NORTH DAKOTA ▪ Robert E. Stewart SOME LOCAL NATIVE PLANT LOSSES AND SOME SAL V AGE ▪ O. A. Stevens CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS IN NORTH DAKOTA ▪ Robert N. Randall ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN IN COMMUNITY PLANNING ▪ Cameron Man DISTRIBUTION OF THE SCIRPUS VALIDUS COMPLEX IN NORTH DAKOTA ▪ Richard L. War