Western Carolina University

About: Western Carolina University is a education organization based out in Cullowhee, North Carolina, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 1660 authors who have published 3192 publications receiving 69454 citations.

Mercury in surface waters of three mine-dominated river systems: Idrija River, Slovenia; Carson River, Nevada; and Madeira River, Brazilian Amazon

Abstract: This paper investigates the aqueous geochemistry of mercury (Hg) in three aquatic systems impacted by either past or present mining activities. The Idrija River in Slovenia flows near the Idrija mercury mine, the second largest mercury mine in the world, with continuous mining and smelting activities for five centuries. During this period, it has been estimated that over 30 000 tonnes of Hg have been released into the mine9s surrounding environment, due to inefficient smelting technologies and Hg left behind in mine tailings within the river basin. In contrast to cinnabar mining in the Idrija River Basin, the Carson River in Nevada and the Madeira River in the Brazilian Amazon are impacted by metallic mercury (Hg 0 ) used in the amalgamation process to extract gold (Au) and/or silver (Ag) from crude ores and fine alluvial materials. The Carson River Basin was the site of intensive Au- and Ag-mining for over 50 years in the late 1800s and early 1900s, resulting in an estimated 7000 tonnes of Hg lost to the river and its watershed. The Madeira River is a site of ongoing use of Hg 0 in Au-prospecting. This study reports on the level and speciation of Hg, as well as factors controlling levels of methyl-Hg using aqueous data. Surface water samples collected along longitudinal transects upstream of well-identified point sources of Hg, except for the Madeira River, to river deltas were analysed for Hg and geochemical parameters of interest. Samples from Idrija and Carson rivers show clear evidence of contamination, with Hg levels up to several hundreds of ng l −1 downstream from main point sources. Unlike Idrija and the Carson rivers, water samples collected from the Madeira River exhibited much lower Hg levels (9.51 ng l −1 on average, n = 16). Measured physiochemical parameters are used to determine the fate of Hg in these three river systems.

Institutions and Representational Roles in American State Legislatures

Abstract: What is the impact of a legislature’s institutions on the representational roles its members adopt? We address this question by examining the role orientation of state legislators in eight states, explaining why some legislators identify more with a trustee model of representation and others identify more with the delegate model. Using ordinal logistic regression analysis on data from a survey of 447 legislators, we test for the effects of multimember districts and term limits, along with several other factors. First, we find that representational roles and behavior are related; legislators who think of themselves as delegates are much more likely to hold frequent district office hours than their counterparts who think of themselves as trustees. Second, we find that, overall, legislators are more likely to consider themselves trustees than delegates. Third, we find that multimember districts and term limits increase the likelihood that legislators think of themselves as trustees. Thus, legislative institutions can influence the representational roles legislators adopt. a basic tenet of political science is that institutions can affect behavior (Shepsle and Weingast 1995). For example, when rules of a legislative body change, we expect that the policies produced by that chamber will change as a result (Larimer 2005). Likewise, as the rules of elections change, so do the outcomes of those elections (Cox 1990). Although institutions are generally believed to affect representation (Moncrief, Thompson, and Cassie 1996), most research on this relationship has focused on one case—the United States Congress—whose institutions have largely remained constant. 1 In keeping with Jewell’s (1983, 310) call to uncover the “variables that may help to explain particular role orientations,” we use the institutional variation in the American state legislatures to test whether legislative institutions can influ ence legislators’ representational roles. We also demonstrate the influence of a legislator’s role orientation on his or her legislative behavior and describe

“The Chords of the German Soul are Tuned to Nature”: The Movement to Preserve the Natural Heimat from the Kaiserreich to the Third Reich

Abstract: In the early 1930s, Dr. Konrad Guenther, a longtime advocate of nature conservation, was exhorting the German people to return to “the soil of the homeland.” In the past, according to Guenther, whenever the German people had been forced to respond vigorously to the pressure of hard times, they had returned to their “natural” roots. He called on the population to learn about the Heimat (homeland) and its natural environment, ‘not only through reason alone, but with the entire soul and personality; for the chords of the German soul are tuned to nature. Let us allow nature to speak, and let us be happy to be German!” The stakes were high, for if the German people failed in this way to unite into a strong, “natural” community, they would become “cultural fertilizer for other nations.” Following the fall of the Weimar Republic and the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Guenther became one of the most vocal exponents of the notion that conserving nature would aid in the cultural unification and “racial cleansing” of Germany. Indeed, Guenther and his fellow conservationists saw their longstanding dream of a nationwide conservation law at last fulfilled under the Third Reich. The 1935 Reich Conservation Law guaranteed state protection of “the nature of the Heimat in all its manifestations”—if necessary through police measures.