Assessing Creative Media's Social Impact

Examines case studies of documentary film as a means of outreach and community engagement in the age of social media. Offers a model for assessing impact based on quality and ability to enhance awareness, engagement, and social movement and effect change

The Emancipator\u27s Wife:A Novel of Mary Todd Lincoln

Sympathetic and exasperating The many woes of Lincoln\u27s lady Throughout The Emancipator\u27s Wife, Barbara Hambly, author of several books and a series featuring an amateur detective in 19th century Louisiana, keeps us off balance by transitioning from present to past, someti...

In Time of War

Turning Back the Clock Modern characters struggle to navigate the past In Time of War, by Allen Appel, starts with a bang—literally. Time-traveler, Alex Balfour, arrives on a steep hillside in the Shenandoah Valley between the forces of Custer and Sheridan just moments be...

Chickahominy Fever

Seven days in Richmond History meets mystery It isn\u27t my job to give the details of the battles . . . What I write is more Odyssey than Iliad . . . more ordinary folk, not so much gods and generals, Brit Wallace, a London newspaperman, responds when an officious Confederate offic...

A \u27Crazy Quilt\u27: The Latest William Monk Mystery Confuses As It Entertains

Well-known for her ability to weave mystery, history, details of daily life, and 19th century technology into a fine Victorian tapestry, Anne Perry constructs more of a crazy quilt in Slaves of Obsession, the 11th book in her William Monk series. The novel opens in London on the eve of the...

Species Importance within a Virgin and a Timbered Beech-Maple Forest Ecosystem

Author Institution: Department of Zoology, Miami UniversityA virgin forest, Hueston Woods in southwestern Ohio, and a selectivelycut forest, Lewis Woods in east central Indiana, were sampled by a modified pointquarter method in order to evaluate the impact of timbering on community structure. Timbering occurred in Lewis Woods in 1910, 1935, and 1955. Importance values were computed for each species encountered (> 1 inch diameter breast height) within each study area in order to determine the timbering impact on community structure. Hueston Woods was clearly dominated by sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and American beech (Fagus grandifolia) with importance values of 132.6 and 117.3, respectively. Lewis Woods was characterized by a more even importance distribution patterns, although sugar maple and American beech were still found to be of greatest importance with values of 120.8 and 76.8, respectively. Sixteen species were encountered in Lewis Woods as compared to 13 species for Hueston Woods. The significance of these differences is discussed

(Non)Parallel Evolution

Parallel evolution across replicate populations has provided evolutionary biologists with iconic examples of adaptation. When multiple populations colonize seemingly similar habitats, they may evolve similar genes, traits, or functions. Yet, replicated evolution in nature or in the laboratory often yields inconsistent outcomes: Some replicate populations evolve along highly similar trajectories, whereas other replicate populations evolve to different extents or in distinct directions. To understand these heterogeneous outcomes, biologists are increasingly treating parallel evolution not as a binary phenomenon but rather as a quantitative continuum ranging from parallel to nonparallel. By measuring replicate populations’ positions along this (non)parallel continuum, we can test hypotheses about evolutionary and ecological factors that influence the extent of repeatable evolution. We review evidence regarding the manifestation of (non)parallel evolution in the laboratory, in natural populations, and in applied contexts such as cancer. We enumerate the many genetic, ecological, and evolutionary processes that contribute to variation in the extent of parallel evolution

Co- variation in soil biodiversity and biogeochemistry in northern and southern Victoria Land, Antarctica

Data from six sites in Victoria Land (72–77°S) investigating co-variation in soil communities (microbial and invertebrate) with biogeochemical properties showthe influence of soil properties on habitat suitability varied among local landscapes as well as across climate gradients. Species richness of metazoan invertebrates (Nematoda, Tardigrada and Rotifera) was similar to previous descriptions in this region, though identification of three cryptic nematode species of Eudorylaimus through DNA analysis contributed to the understanding of controls over habitat preferences for individual species. Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis profiles revealed unexpectedly high diversity of bacteria. Distribution of distinct bacterial communities was associated with specific sites in northern and southern Victoria Land, as was the distribution of nematode and tardigrade species. Variation in soil metazoan communities was related to differences in soil organic matter, while bacterial diversity and community structure were not strongly correlated with any single soil property. There were no apparent correlations between metazoan and bacterial diversity, suggesting that controls over distribution and habitat suitability are different for bacterial and metazoan communities. Our results imply that top-down controls over bacterial diversity mediated by their metazoan consumers are not significant determinants of bacterial community structure and biomass in these ecosystems

New Advice for Thanksgiving Break

A 1992 press release advised parents to brace themselves for change when their first-year students arrived home for Thanksgiving. Student development staff provide fresh insights for 2021