Swift Fox, Vulpes velox, Den Located Next to a Railroad Track in Northwestern Texas

Swift Fox (Vulpes velox) dens are typically found in areas were the vegetation is sparse, in loam soils, and with unobstructed views of the surrounding area. In 2002 a Swift Fox in northwest Texas was found in a unique den situated at the base of a hill with the entrance within 1 m of an active railroad track. Use of a den in such proximity to railroad tracks has never been previously reported

The Effect of Electronic Cigarette User Modifications and E-liquid Adulteration on the Particle Size Profile of an Aerosolized Product

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are an alternate nicotine delivery system that generate a condensation aerosol to be inhaled by the user. The size of the droplets formed in the aerosol can vary and contributes to drug deposition and ultimate bioavailability in the lung. The growing popularity of e-cigarette products has caused an increase in internet sources promoting the use of drugs other than nicotine (DOTNs) in e-cigarettes. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of various e-cigarette and e-liquid modifications, such as coil resistance, battery voltage, and glycol and drug formulation, on the aerosol particle size. E-liquids containing 12 mg/mL nicotine prepared in glycol compositions of 100% propylene glycol (PG), 100% vegetable glycerin (VG), or 50:50 PG:VG were aerosolized at three voltages and three coil resistances. Methamphetamine and methadone e-liquids were prepared at 60 mg/mL in 50:50 PG:VG and all e-liquids were aerosolized onto a 10 stage Micro-Orifice Uniform Deposit Impactor. Glycol deposition correlated with drug deposition, and the majority of particles centered between 0.172–0.5 μm in diameter, representing pulmonary deposition. The 100% PG e-liquid produced the largest aerosol particles and the 100% VG and 50:50 PG:VG e-liquids produced ultra-fine particles \u3c0.3 μm. The presence of ultrafine particles indicates that drugs can be aerosolized and reach the pulmonary alveolar regions, highlighting a potential for abuse and risk of overdose with DOTNs aerosolized in an e-cigarette system

Process for extracting ethanol from fermentation broths for direct blending into gasoline while preserving the broth for recycling

Describes a method of producing ethanol from a fermentation source for direct blending into gasoline to form gasohol by extracting ethanol from the fermentation broth with a non-toxic solvent compatible with gasoline. The invention includes extraction outside of the fermentor and the recycling of the extracted broth back to the fermentor. An extracting column is used for the extraction and recycling and the extract can be dried before blending it with the gasoline. The preferred solvent is an alkylate

Swift Fox, Vulpes velox, Den Use Patterns in Northwestern Texas

Predator avoidance may be a reason why Swift Foxes (Vulpes velox) are one of the most burrow-dependent canids in North America. Typically Swift Foxes have multiple dens, which they frequently move among. As part of a larger study to reduce Coyote (Canis latrans) related mortalities on Swift Foxes, we installed artificial escape dens in areas occupied by Swift Foxes on Rita Blanca National Grassland, Dallam County, Texas. For this paper, our objective was to determine the effects of artificial escape dens on Swift Fox den use patterns. From January 2002 to August 2004 we captured, radio-collared, and monitored 55 Swift Foxes. We documented annual number of dens used, rate of den use (fidelity), distance between dens, den area, and den sharing. We compared treated (artificial dens installed) and untreated (no artificial dens) areas but found no differences in annual number of dens (P = 0.64; mean = 8), rate of den use (P = 0.96; mean = 35%), mean distance between dens (P = 0.99; mean = 2,311 m), den area (P = 0.55; mean = 5.72 km2), or den sharing (P = 0.46; mean = 42% of time). We did not observe an effect of artificial escape dens on Swift Fox den use patterns probably because artificial escape dens were designed for temporary escape cover rather than diurnal den use

Pulaski County Education Report Card 2021

The goal of this report is to help parents, school personnel, community members, and policy makers understand how effectively the students in their community are being served by public schools. The past two years have been difficult for families, teachers, and students, and throughout the challenging context, Pulaski County students demonstrated lower growth in achievement on the ACT Aspire than students in the state overall, and are performing below the state average in achievement, graduation rates, and School Quality and Student Success scores. Acknowledging the unprecedented circumstances presented by the COVID virus, Arkansas schools were not assigned an overall letter grade in 2020 or 2021

NWArkansas Education Report Card 2021

The goal of this report is to help parents, school personnel, community members, and policy makers understand how effectively the students in their community are being served by public schools. The past two years have been difficult for families, teachers, and students, but despite the challenging context, Northwest Arkansas students are demonstrating greater growth in achievement and earning higher scores on the ACT Aspire than are the students in the state overall. Schools in NWA also have received higher School Quality and Student Success scores and are graduating a greater percentage of high school students. Acknowledging the unprecedented circumstances presented by the COVID virus, Arkansas schools were not assigned an overall letter grade in 2020 or 2021

The Stellar Content of Obscured Galactic Giant H II Regions IV.: NGC3576

We present deep, high angular resolution near-infrared images of the obscured Galactic Giant H II region NGC3576. Our images reach objects to ~3M_sun. We collected high signal-to-noise K-band spectra of eight of the brightest objects, some of which are affected by excess emission and some which follow a normal interstellar reddening law. None of them displayed photospheric features typical of massive OB type stars. This indicates that they are still enshrouded in their natal cocoons. The K-band brightest source (NGC3576 #48) shows CO 2.3 micron bandhead emission, and three others have the same CO feature in absorption. Three sources display spatially unresolved H_2 emission, suggesting dense shocked regions close to the stars. We conclude that the remarkable object NGC3576 #48 is an early-B/late-O star surrounded by a thick circumstellar disk. A number of other relatively bright cluster members also display excess emission in the K-band, indicative of reprocessing disks around massive stars (YSOs). Such emission appears common in other Galactic Giant H II regions we have surveyed. The IMF slope of the cluster, Gamma = -1.51, is consistent with Salpeter's distribution and similar to what has been observed in the Magellanic Cloud clusters and in the periphery of our Galaxy.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A

GASP II. A MUSE view of extreme ram-pressure stripping along the line of sight: kinematics of the jellyfish galaxy JO201

This paper presents a spatially-resolved kinematic study of the jellyfish galaxy JO201, one of the most spectacular cases of ram-pressure stripping (RPS) in the GASP (GAs Stripping Phenomena in Galaxies with MUSE) survey. By studying the environment of JO201, we find that it is moving through the dense intra-cluster medium of Abell 85 at supersonic speeds along our line of sight, and that it is likely accompanied by a small group of galaxies. Given the density of the intra-cluster medium and the galaxy's mass, projected position and velocity within the cluster, we estimate that JO201 must so far have lost ~50% of its gas during infall via RPS. The MUSE data indeed reveal a smooth stellar disk, accompanied by large projected tails of ionised (Halpha) gas, composed of kinematically cold (velocity dispersion <40km/s) star-forming knots and very warm (>100km/s) diffuse emission which extend out to at least ~50 kpc from the galaxy centre. The ionised Halpha-emitting gas in the disk rotates with the stars out to ~6 kpc but in the disk outskirts becomes increasingly redshifted with respect to the (undisturbed) stellar disk. The observed disturbances are consistent with the presence of gas trailing behind the stellar component, resulting from intense face-on RPS happening along the line of sight. Our kinematic analysis is consistent with the estimated fraction of lost gas, and reveals that stripping of the disk happens outside-in, causing shock heating and gas compression in the stripped tails.Comment: ApJ, revised version after referee comments, 15 pages, 16 figures. The interactive version of Figure 9 can be viewed at web.oapd.inaf.it/gasp/publications.htm

The XXL Survey VIII: MUSE characterisation of intracluster light in a z∼\sim0.53 cluster of galaxies

Within a cluster, gravitational effects can lead to the removal of stars from their parent galaxies. Gas hydrodynamical effects can additionally strip gas and dust from galaxies. The properties of the ICL can therefore help constrain the physical processes at work in clusters by serving as a fossil record of the interaction history. The present study is designed to characterise this ICL in a ~10^14 M_odot and z~0.53 cluster of galaxies from imaging and spectroscopic points of view. By applying a wavelet-based method to CFHT Megacam and WIRCAM images, we detect significant quantities of diffuse light. These sources were then spectroscopically characterised with MUSE. MUSE data were also used to compute redshifts of 24 cluster galaxies and search for cluster substructures. An atypically large amount of ICL has been detected in this cluster. Part of the detected diffuse light has a very weak optical stellar component and apparently consists mainly of gas emission, while other diffuse light sources are clearly dominated by old stars. Furthermore, emission lines were detected in several places of diffuse light. Our spectral analysis shows that this emission likely originates from low-excitation parameter gas. The stellar contribution to the ICL is about 2.3x10^9 yrs old even though the ICL is not currently forming a large number of stars. On the other hand, the contribution of the gas emission to the ICL in the optical is much greater than the stellar contribution in some regions, but the gas density is likely too low to form stars. These observations favour ram pressure stripping, turbulent viscous stripping, or supernovae winds as the origin of the large amount of intracluster light. Since the cluster appears not to be in a major merging phase, we conclude that ram pressure stripping is the most plausible process that generates the observed ICL sources.Comment: Accepted in A&A, english enhanced, figure location different than in the A&A version due to different style files, shortened abstrac

Drawing Boundaries

In “On Drawing Lines on a Map” (1995), I suggested that the different ways we have of drawing lines on maps open up a new perspective on ontology, resting on a distinction between two sorts of boundaries: fiat and bona fide. “Fiat” means, roughly: human-demarcation-induced. “Bona fide” means, again roughly: a boundary constituted by some real physical discontinuity. I presented a general typology of boundaries based on this opposition and showed how it generates a corresponding typology of the different sorts of objects which boundaries determine or demarcate. In this paper, I describe how the theory of fiat boundaries has evolved since 1995, how it has been applied in areas such as property law and political geography, and how it is being used in contemporary work in formal and applied ontology, especially within the framework of Basic Formal Ontology