Letter from H.S. Thomas to James B. Finley

H.S.Thomas [Hiram Starr Thomas] has been on the road giving lectures on temperance. He was extremely gratified when Finley signed the pledge in Germantown, for there is great need of the religious in fighting the scourge of alcohol. His purpose in writing is to convince Dayton\u27s presiding elder, Finley, to appoint the right kind of ministers in Warren County, i.e. those who will support the work of temperance. [Note: Sons of Temperance organization in its infancy.] Abstract Number - 1160https://digitalcommons.owu.edu/finley-letters/2143/thumbnail.jp

Range Constraints for Introduced Elk in Southwest Yukon, Canada

Forage availability, snow depths, and winter temperatures were assessed to determine if they might impose range constraints on introduced elk (Cervus elaphus) that voluntarily colonized a 95 km2 area of southwest Yukon (Canada) in 1959. Parkland-like vegetation of stunted aspen (Populus tremuloides) and nonforest upland plant communities, which is atypical vegetation for a boreal forest environment, composed 30% of the colonized area. About 95% of the area produced less than 300 kg/ha of forage, which represents poor productivity compared to more southern elk ranges. In the remaining 5%, indigenous graminoid communities produced (average ± SD) 408 ± 131 kg/ha of forage, exceeded only by nonindigenous roadside vegetation with 652 ± 115 kg/ha. Data from radio-collared animals indicated that most elk occurrences (38% year-round) were associated with parkland-like vegetation, and fecal pellet groups were six times as frequent in indigenous graminoid vegetation as in forest vegetation. Late February 2011 snow depths of 41 ± 7 cm, during a year with a below-normal snowfall, suggested a potential for reduced winter access to forage. Meteorological data from 1981 – 2010 indicate that one-third of winter daily minima in the study area were likely lower than −20˚C, a threshold below which the metabolism of an elk calf must increase to maintain its body temperature. Each assessed habitat variable was unfavorable to elk compared with other western North American winter ranges, which may have limited the development of a more robust population in the southwestern Yukon.La disponibilité des fourrages, l’épaisseur de couche de neige et les températures hivernales ont été évaluées afin de déterminer si elles sont susceptibles d’imposer des contraintes à l’aire de répartition du wapiti (Cervus elaphus) introduit en 1959 en vue de la colonisation volontaire d’une aire de 95 km2 du sud-ouest du Yukon (Canada). La végétation de type forêt-parc composée de trembles rabougris (Populus tremuloides) et les communautés de plantes non forestières en montagne, soit une végétation atypique en milieu de forêt boréale, composent 30 % de la zone colonisée. Environ 95 % de la zone visée produisait moins de 300 kg de fourrage par hectare, ce qui constitue une productivité médiocre comparativement aux aires de répartition de wapitis se trouvant plus au sud. Dans le 5 % qui reste, les communautés graminoïdes indigènes produisaient (moyenne ± écart-type) 408 ± 131 kg/ha de fourrage, ce qui était dépassé seulement par la végétation non indigène en bordure de route de 652 ± 115 kg/ha. Les données obtenues grâce aux bêtes dotées de colliers émetteurs ont indiqué que la plupart des occurrences de wapitis (38 % à l’année) survenaient dans la végétation de type forêt-parc. Par ailleurs, les groupements de pelotes fécales se retrouvaient six fois plus souvent dans la végétation graminoïde indigène que dans la végétation forestière. L’épaisseur de couche de neige de 41 ± 7 cm enregistrée à la fin février 2011, une année où les chutes de neige ont été inférieures à la normale, suggèrent que l’accès au fourrage pourrait être réduit l’hiver. Les données météorologiques prélevées de 1981 à 2010 indiquent que le tiers des températures minimales quotidiennes hivernales dans la zone à l’étude étaient vraisembla­blement inférieures à −20 ˚C, un seuil en dessous duquel le métabolisme d’un jeune wapiti doit s’élever pour maintenir sa température corporelle. Chacune des variables de l’habitat qui a été évaluée n’était pas favorable au wapiti, comparativement à d’autres aires de répartition d’hiver de l’Ouest nord-américain, ce qui pourrait avoir eu pour effet de restreindre la formation d’une population plus robuste dans le sud-ouest du Yukon

Bathyal demersal fishes of the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone region (49°–54°N) of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge : III. Results from remotely operated vehicle (ROV) video transects

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Turning intercalators into groove binders: synthesis, photophysics and DNA binding properties of tetracationic mononuclear ruthenium(ii)-based chromophore-quencher complexes.

The synthesis of two new tetracationic mononuclear RuII complexes containing the tetrapyridyl [3,2-a:2',3'-c:3'',2''-h:2''',3'''-j] phenazine ligand in which the uncoordinated site has been converted into a dicationic ethylene-bipyridyldiylium unit is reported. The structure of the complexes is fully assigned through detailed NMR studies and, in one case, through an X-ray crystallography study. Voltammetry, optical spectroscopy and computational studies confirm that the bipyridyldiylium moiety has a low-lying reduction that quenches the 3MLCT-based emission usually observed in such systems. The new complexes interact with DNA in a quite different manner to their dicationic analogues: they both bind to duplex DNA with micromolar affinity through groove binding. These observations are rationalized through a consideration of their structural and electronic properties

Theory for Metal Hydrides with Switchable Optical Properties

Recently it has been discovered that lanthanum, yttrium, and other metal hydride films show dramatic changes in the optical properties at the metal-insulator transition. Such changes on a high energy scale suggest the electronic structure is best described by a local model based on negatively charged hydrogen (H$^-$) ions. We develop a many-body theory for the strong correlation in a H$^-$ ion lattice. The metal hydride is described by a large $U$-limit of an Anderson lattice model. We use lanthanum hydride as a prototype of these compounds, and find LaH$_3$ is an insulator with a substantial gap consistent with experiments. It may be viewed either as a Kondo insulator or a band insulator due to strong electron correlation. A H vacancy state in LaH$_3$ is found to be highly localized due to the strong bonding between the electron orbitals of hydrogen and metal atoms. Unlike the impurity states in the usual semiconductors, there is only weak internal optical transitions within the vacancy. The metal-insulator transition takes place in a band of these vacancy states.Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures and 6 tables. Submitted to PR

The STAR Time Projection Chamber: A Unique Tool for Studying High Multiplicity Events at RHIC

The STAR Time Projection Chamber (TPC) is used to record collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The TPC is the central element in a suite of detectors that surrounds the interaction vertex. The TPC provides complete coverage around the beam-line, and provides complete tracking for charged particles within +- 1.8 units of pseudo-rapidity of the center-of-mass frame. Charged particles with momenta greater than 100 MeV/c are recorded. Multiplicities in excess of 3,000 tracks per event are routinely reconstructed in the software. The TPC measures 4 m in diameter by 4.2 m long, making it the largest TPC in the world.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figure

An ‛Aukward' Tale: A Genetic Approach to Discover the Whereabouts of the Last Great Auks.

One hundred and seventy-three years ago, the last two Great Auks, Pinguinusimpennis, ever reliably seen were killed. Their internal organs can be found in the collections of the Natural History Museum of Denmark, but the location of their skins has remained a mystery. In 1999, Great Auk expert Errol Fuller proposed a list of five potential candidate skins in museums around the world. Here we take a palaeogenomic approach to test which-if any-of Fuller's candidate skins likely belong to either of the two birds. Using mitochondrial genomes from the five candidate birds (housed in museums in Bremen, Brussels, Kiel, Los Angeles, and Oldenburg) and the organs of the last two known individuals, we partially solve the mystery that has been on Great Auk scholars' minds for generations and make new suggestions as to the whereabouts of the still-missing skin from these two birds