Lithostratigraphic Succession and Depositional Dynamics of the Lower Mississippian, Southern Ozarks, Northern Arkansas and Adjacent Areas

The Lower Mississippian interval comprises a single, third-order, eustatic cycle subdivided lithostratigraphically into the St. Joe Limestone (Hopkins 1893) and overlying Boone Formation (Branner 1891, Simonds 1891) with type areas in northern Arkansas. Coeval, homotaxial limestones occur in adjacent southwestern Missouri and northeastern Oklahoma, but neither Arkansas name is applied. To eliminate this “state line fault,” Missouri formation names for the St. Joe interval are recognized in Arkansas as members (ascending order): Bachelor, Compton, Northview, Pierson. The Boone interval in Missouri is represented by the (ascending order): Reeds Spring, Elsey, Burlington-Keokuk undifferentiated, but utilization of those names in Arkansas is problematic. Chert development and characteristics associated with the Boone Formation in northern Arkansas have not been applied to the equivalent succession in Missouri. Consequently, in northern Arkansas, the Boone Formation is subdivided into informal lower and upper members based on chert development: lower with black to gray, penecontemporaneous chert; upper with white to light gray, later diagenetic chert. In adjacent northeastern Oklahoma, the nomenclature is a mixture of the Arkansas and Missouri names, but chert development is not used lithostratigraphically. The St. Joe Limestone rests unconformably on the Chattanooga Shale (Upper Devonian-Lower Mississippian) or older units marking the initial transgression of the Kaskaskian II Cycle (Vail et al. 1977). Thin-bedded, St. Joe crinozoan packstones represent bioclastic sediment and carbonate mud transported from its origin on the Burlington Platform (now Missouri), and down the adjacent northern Arkansas ramp in a lobate manner. Distal limestones are condensed and replaced by shale beyond the ramp. A brief drop in sea level represented by the terrigenous Northview Member, was followed by continued transgression through Pierson deposition, reaching maximum flooding without a break in the lower Boone (=Reeds Spring) represented by calcisiltites and penecontemporaneous chert. Highstand and regression are recorded in the upper Boone as rapidly deposited crinoidal packstones and grainstones with later diagenetic chert replacement

A Lifetime of Stress: Analysis and Treatment of an Inlaid Chinese Box

Inlaid wooden objects are complex and intricate mixed media assemblages that can provide significant challenges to the conservator, as the properties of the individual materials can conflict and complicate treatment options. For example, traditional inlay materials such as ivory and mother-of-pearl are particularly susceptible to shifts in moisture and acidity, and the hygroscopic nature of historic proteinaceous adhesives can exacerbate dimensional changes in the surrounding wood. This paper describes the research and subsequent treatment to stabilize and restore a Qing dynasty wooden tabletop chest inlaid with ivory, mother-of-pearl, and various siliceous minerals. A combination of adhesive failure along multiple joints and significant physical damage to the structure and surfaces had resulted in areas of splitting, checking, separation, and instability. Treatment aimed to restore functionality, as the object will be displayed and used in a private home. Numerous ethical concerns were considered during the course of treatment, such as the invasiveness of certain steps and the need for restoring function versus strictly maintaining form, but the priority for treatment remained the piece’s ultimate usability. The object was re-assembled with durability in mind, and a variety of approaches were utilized for securing new joins and filling losses in the wood. Once treatment was complete, the box was stabilized for regular handling and use in a private environment

Religious Freedom (for most) Restoration Act: A Critical Review of the Ninth Circuit’s Analysis in Apache Stronghold

This Note analyzes sacred site protection under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”) and argues that the Ninth Circuit’s upcoming en banc review of Apache Stronghold is a critical moment for many Indigenous faiths. Against the backdrop of a religious freedom resurgence for other faiths over the past decade, the practitioners in Apache Stronghold face the irreparable loss of identity and culture

The Relationship Between Workplace Absenteeism and Alcohol Use: A Day-to-Day Examination

This investigation examined the conditional day-to-day relationship between alcohol use and workplace absenteeism among participants (N = 302) employed full-time in one of three large companies located in the northeastern U.S. Semi-structured interviews were used to gather information from employees on their daily use of alcohol and other drugs during a 1-month period. Employees\u27 absenteeism and work injury data during the same target time period were gathered from personnel files residing in the companies\u27 human resources departments. The presence of a current alcohol use disorder also was determined. The following primary hypotheses were tested: (a) there would be a significant conditional relationship between alcohol use and workplace absence the following day, and (b) workplace absence would be more likely on days after heavy drinking than on days after nonheavy drinking. This investigation also explored: (a) whether the presence of an alcohol use disorder influences the day-to-day conditional relationship between alcohol use and subsequent workplace absence; (b) the conditional relationship between employees\u27 use of psychoactive substances, other than alcohol, and workplace absence the following day; (c) the day-to-day relationship between alcohol consumption during working hours and the occurrence of workplace injury; and (d) the day-to-day conditional relationship between alcohol consumption and workplace absence among different classifications (e.g., executives, administrators, skilled laborers) of employees. The findings support the primary hypotheses. There was a significant conditional day-to-day relationship between alcohol use and workplace absence the following day. Those who engaged in any drinking the day before a scheduled workday were roughly 1.5 times more likely to be absent than on a day after no drinking. Moreover, workplace absence was more likely on days after heavy drinking than on days after non-heavy drinking. Those who engaged in heavy drinking 1 day before a scheduled workday were 1.7 times more likely to be absent the next day. Results indicate no relationship between non-heavy drinking 1 day before a scheduled workday and workplace absence. In addition, drinking was not associated with workplace absence when alcohol was consumed 2 days before a scheduled workday. The exploratory hypotheses were not supported

An Idea of Authorship: Orson Welles, \u3ci\u3eThe War of the Worlds\u3c/i\u3e Copyright, and Why We Should Recognize Idea-Contributors as Joint Authors

Did Orson Welles co-author the infamous War of the Worlds broadcast? The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has told us no, primarily because he only contributed the idea behind the broadcast, and ideas alone can’t be copyrighted. “An Idea of Authorship” challenges this premise—that ideas, no matter how significant, cannot qualify for joint authorship in collaborative works—and argues that we as a society should, under certain circumstances, recognize idea-contributors like Welles as joint authors. We should do so to further our society’s interest in encouraging future creations, as well as out of a sense of equity and fairness to idea-contributors, acknowledging the value of ideas to creative work. Recognizing idea-contributors as joint authors would increase the contractual bargaining power of many of our society’s most creative minds and ultimately better foster the free flow of ideas essential to the constitutional goal of promoting the “Progress of Science and useful Arts.”

The biodegradation of oil and the dispersant Corexit 9500 in Arctic seawater

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2017As oil and gas production continues in the Arctic, oil exploration and shipping traffic have increased due to the decline of Arctic sea ice. This increased activity in the Arctic Ocean poses a risk to the environment through the potential release of oil from cargo ships, oil tankers, pipelines, and future oil exploration. Understanding the fate of oil is crucial to understanding the impacts of a spill on the marine ecosystem. Previous oil biodegradation studies have demonstrated the ability of Arctic and sub-Arctic microorganisms to biodegrade oil; however, the rate at which oil degrades and the identity of indigenous oil-degrading microorganisms and functional genes in Arctic seawater remain unknown. In addition to oil, it is also important to understand the fate and effects of chemicals potentially used in oil spill response. Corexit 9500 is a chemical dispersant that is pre-approved for use in sub-Arctic seawater and is likely the dispersant of choice for spill responders in Arctic offshore environments. Currently no literature exists concerning the biodegradation of Corexit 9500 in Arctic seawater. Here we investigate the fate of oil, chemically dispersed oil, and the chemical dispersant, Corexit 9500, in laboratory mesocosms containing freshly collected Arctic surface seawater. The objectives of these experiments were to calculate the extent and rate of biodegradation (based on GC/MS & LC/MS/MS analysis) and to identify bacteria (determined using 16S rRNA gene sequencing) and genes (based on GeoChip 5.0 microarray) potentially involved in the biodegradation process. Indigenous microorganisms degraded both fresh and weathered oil, in both the presence and absence of Corexit 9500, with oil losses ranging from 36-41% within 28 days and 46-61% within 60 days. The biodegradation of the active components of Corexit 9500, which are dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (DOSS) and non-ionic surfactants, was also measured after 28 days. Biodegradation of DOSS was 77% in offshore seawater and 33% in nearshore seawater. Non-ionic surfactants were non-detectable after 28 days. Taxa known to include oil-degrading bacteria (e.g. Oleispira, Polaribacter, and Colwellia) and oilbiodegradation genes (e.g. alkB) increased in relative abundance in response to both oil and Corexit 9500. These results increase our understanding of oil and dispersant biodegradation in the Arctic and suggest that some bacteria may be capable of biodegrading both oil and Corexit 9500. We also sought to understand baseline abundances of taxa known to include oildegrading bacteria and functional genes involved in oil biodegradation in an offshore oil lease area. Aerobic oil-degradation genes (based on GeoChip 5.0 microarray) and taxa (determined using 16S rRNA gene sequencing) known to include oil-degrading bacteria were identified in seawater from the surface, middle, and bottom of the water column. Bacterial community structure differed significantly by depth (surface water vs. bottom water), while the relative abundance of major functional gene categories did not differ with depth. These findings support previous observations that two different water masses contribute to a stratified water column in the summer open-water season of the oil lease area, but indicate that potential function is fairly similar with depth. These results will contribute to understanding the potential for oil biodegradation throughout the Arctic water column and the fundamental microbial ecology of an offshore oil lease area. Together, these mesocosm experiments and in situ studies address important data gaps concerning the fate of spilled oil and Corexit in Arctic seawater. These results provide novel insight into the ability of Arctic bacteria to biodegrade crude oil and Corexit 9500, and suggest similarities between Arctic and temperate deep-sea environments in regards to taxa and functional genes that respond to oil and Corexit

Using Open-Source, Collaborative Online Reading to Teach Property

Would you like students to read more before class? Read more deeply and critically? Help each other do that? Would you like a window into their thoughts, interests, and questions while they read? The ability to respond to them in real-time? Then read on. Would you like more control over your course material? Stop hopping around the casebook? Speak directly to your students in their readings? Make their legal education more affordable? Then continue. This Essay relates my early experiences in adapting an open-source (free of charge) book to my Property course and having students read it using a collaborative online platform called Perusall. While I believe this will particularly interest Property teachers, I also think it useful for anyone, teaching any course, intrigued by the questions above

Red Clover Hays of Varying Phosphorous Content for Growing Beef Calves

Introduction: The Tennessee Valley Authority is vitally interested in the effect of phosphorous on crop yields and the nutritional value of these crops on livestock. They manufacture different phosphatic fertilizers and test them on farms and in laboratories. Financial assistance is given by the Tennessee Valley Authority to the Tennessee Experiment Station in this study of the feeding value of clover hays of varying phosphorous contents for growing beef calves. This experiment was originated to (1) study growth of calves fed rations differing only in the phosphorous content of the red clover hay; and (2) to study the availability to growing beef calves of the phosphorous in the red clover hays having a different phosphorous content