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st-just · 3 years

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A Typology of Spirits

So I desperately needed a distraction today, and recently remembered what WorldAnvil is, so ended up doing my favorite kind of worldbuilding - drawing important metaphysical distinctions between folkloric terms that are all basically synonyms.

An Angel is a pure and uncorrupted Divine Soul, an incarnation of the Celestial Will, descending from the Heavens as a result of a sufficiently grand Sacred Petition or to carry out the Ineffable Will of the Heavens. Sadly, those which has deigned to answer the questions of supplicants have replied that they have no memory of the Heavens, save the burning Purpose for which they descend unto the Earth. Pure Soul, they are driven and purposeful, with little interest in anything else.

While separate from the Profane World, Angels are physically impotent, but all but the most minor are spiritually mighty, with a Celestial remit to Discipline and Extirpate Demons, the Dead, and any others whose Souls are not in alignment with their bodies. As Celestial Beings, they can also Bless and Sanctify they souls and tools of mortals, Empowering them to carry out a Purpose.

Angels do not tarry long in the World – and those who do, do not remain Angels. It is often the case that they are petitioned to take up stewardship or a land whose Gods were killed or corrupted, and in so doing they becomes Gods themselves. Else, on completion of their Purpose, they universally return to the Heavens, and beyond the reach of Mortal senses. Finally, on rare occasions, when prevented from carrying out their Purpose, direly wounded, or corrupted by Profane Manipulations, Angels have on rare occasions been known to Fall, gathering up the raw material of the World into a Form and Aura for themselves. While every Fallen is unique, they each follow one of their Three Orders, depending on which part of the World they draw most deeply on.

The most storied of the Fallen are the Fae. Their forms and auras are predominantly spun of Thought or Dream. Their forms are transient and shifting, changing according to their every Whim, but are always Wondrous and Beautiful to Behold, though their guises are often quite Terrible as well. Repulsed by stagnation and boredom, Fae forever seek to entrap others in the fantasies, dramas, deals and conspiracies they weave, often with no higher purpose than their own Amusement or satisfying their occult sense of Justice. Disdaining physicality, they prefer to entrap opponents in artificial dreams, or distract them with Illusions so vibrant they believe themselves to be Truth.

The most infamous of the Fallen are the Djinn and Ifrit. Their forms and auras are predominantly built from the Elements or Matter. Their forms are to a degree Protean, but the Elements which they have taken as their own are always clear. Passionate and Vainglorious, they Inevitably reshape the very landscapes around them into Monuments of their Hubris, and seek out Dangers and Impossible Trials they consider worthy of their Efforts. In these Civilized Times, many or most have been Damned, or Bound by other hands, but in the vast expanses of sea, sky and trackless steppe, many still hold their courts, and woe betide the travel whose ship is caught in their path.

The rarest of the Fallen are named Titans. Their forms and auras are predominantly sculpted of Flesh, and so they appear similar to Mortal Life created on the Divine Plan, but far more Awesome, and on a far Grander scale. Towering far above any Mortal, they work their own Flesh and that of others like clay, often moulding wild beasts into servitors and extensions of their Soul. Most Famously, the Hundred-Handed Titans of the Outer World ruled a Grand Empire for Centuries, moulding servitor races to wait on them and heighten their glory, decaying into Decadence as they Lessened themselves to Ensoul their servitors and creating self-perpetuating slave races to Conquer and Build across the Land.

The Terrestrial Gods or Sacred Spirits are the Divine Souls charged and entrusted with the stewardship of span of Nature or population of Beasts. Like a Human Soul on a Broader and Grander Scale, they act as Soul and Spirit for all the Lesser forms of life, plant, beast and vermin alike. Their might varies widely, of a kind with the prominence of their Domain, of which they are inevitably fiercely protective. As long as their charges are protected, most are entirely content with the Divine Order, but the mightiest often grow Proud, creating whole courts and kingdoms of lesser divinities and mortal worshippers. Still others are corrupted by their worshippers, perverted into one form of abomination or another. In any event, to slay a God is a Crime against the Heavens, as they are vital to the proper functioning of the World, and without a governing Soul their domain will quickly grow wild and dark.

A Devil could be any number of things, as any being, Mortal or Spirit alike, may be Damned by their Crimes and the Judgment of Heaven and the Throne. Spiritually branded and crippled, they are imprisoned in the Hell most appropriate for their crimes, enduring their Just punishment for all eternity, or until recalled by the Throne or one of its agents. The process of being Damned leaves every Devil subject to the commands of any correctly executed Conjuring, lending ever Imperial Binder access to servants far beyond what the petty Sorcerers of other lands can hope to dominate. Care must be taken, however, as Devils forever seek to escape their punishments, and will seek any weakness in their bindings or vagueness in their commands to draw out their time in the World, or escape their summoners control entirely.

The Soulless or Demons are not spirits at all, but the terrible result of their lack. Without a capable Soul to master it and force it into alignment with the Divine Will, the world rebels, breaking free of its bindings and seeking to unmake itself. There is no Will or Identity behind this – there cannot be, as it occurs from the very absence of one. But the great and terrible Archdemons whose butchered flesh forms the World did not know Death, and have never accepted it. Mindless and hopeless, their twitching corpses still act by reflex and impulse whenever the Sacred Duty of keeping them mastered is failed. Their cause is hopeless, but no Demon is capable of understanding that, and acts in their peculiar and futile way to resurrect their parent, and vent their endless spite at the Order, Beauty and Virtue which are the surest signs of the Victory of the Heavens.

-The Lady Binder Katerine ir Paimon “The Choirs of the Immaterial, An Introduction”

#worldbuilding #abhari #this is theoretically a writing blog #ah I hate Father's Day

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tribbetherium · 3 years

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The Middle Glaciocene: 110 million years post-establishment

Riplets, Believe It Or Not: The Arcuterran-Mesoterran Land Bridge

Mesoterra, since its formation in the Middle Glaciocene, had been an isolated landmass that had come into being from the fusion of two separate isolated landmasses: North Ecatoria and East Nodera, each of which had broken off their main continents all the way back since the Therocene. But temperatures fluctuate in the days of the Glaciocene, and as ice caps expand and shrink almost rhythmically every couple of million years, sea levels also rise and drop: for a few million years, land bridges emerge and are submerged, causing a random and unpredictable exchange of biospheres between continents at seemingly random events.

One such example is the Arcuterran-Mesoterran Land Bridge: a very narrow strip of land that in recent years, as little as half a million years ago, had risen from the ocean in a period of high glaciation. Now a semi-flooded mixed grassland with a few forest-like patches of wetland trees, this region is thriving with life-- a mingling of Mesoterran fauna and animals from the mainland.

Various species make a living here, in particular herd-dwelling species that migrate: some, such as the delta bandopod (Deltapodotherium hemizebroides) actually make trips between Mesoterra and Arcuterra, migrating seasonally to find regions of plentt of food. These creatures travel from one end of the bridge to the next in massive stampeding herds numbering in thousands: indeed, they are so numerous that significant numbers tend to drown in mass stampedes when crossing strong rivers, with their remains serving to feed the local aquatic life, such as shrompers: tiny shoaling freshwater shrarks that are opportunistic scavengers.

While podotheres migrate outward from Mesoterra, ungulopes, on the other hand, migrate inward from Arcuterra: grazing on tough vegetation, saberleaf or otherwise, they manage to overlap their range with the podotheres, which are more omnivorous and prefer softer vegetation as well as invertebrates. Typical are small grazers like the unicones, such as the prismhorns (Pyradoceratomys spp.), which are gazelle-like opportunistic herbivores that alternate between browsing and grazing depending on availability, while bigger species, such as bilderweests (Taurungulopus spp.) fill bigger-herbivore niches-- despite appearances, they are unrelated to the scruffalo, and convergently evolved a more bovine-looking build independently of their Gestaltian distant relatives.

But most noteworthy of all the bridge land species are the riplets (Cricetatrox spp.) that serve as the delta's primary predators. At just scarcely over two feet in height, these small but formidable killers are descended from dwarfed species of ripperoos: large, intelligent and ferocious apex predators in their native Mesoterra. Competition with larger species of their genus drove these tinier but smarter hunters across the land bridge: but the abundance of predator rivals in Arcuterra would slow their progression. Outmatched in strength and weaponry, the riplets were forced to rely on their numbers and bigger brains: neotenic and fast-breeding, the riplets would retain a flexible capacity to learn even in adulthood, and a rapid reproductive rate to cope with high mortality: a factor that will shape their budding societies and their glimmerings of culture. While riplets know the advantages of cooperation, it is a purely pragmatic arrangement, showing little regard for the welfare of their own kind and even actively killing their weakest-- breeding quickly and dying at young ages, their fellows were easily replacable, and in these harsh lands there was little room to play nice and be sentimental about their kin--it was all a matter of survival.

Intelligent, cooperative, and adaptable, but also incredibly ferocious, fast-breeding and every bit as borderline sociopathic as their larger ripperoo cousins on Mesoterra, the riplets would, given their organized swarm tactics and intelligence, would become formidable predators despite their tiny size. Even the mighty bilderweests stand little chance against the riplets once they figured out how to chase them into natural traps like off cliffs or into deep mud, and with their intellectual upper hand, the riplets would eventually extirpate any other small carnivores on the land bridge.

And to top it all off, with the most fearsome hunter and the most advanced brain the planet had ever seen, a milestone would be reached that would change HP-02017 forever: the riplets would discover the use of fire.

Unable to create fire for themselves, the riplets rely on naturally occurring bushfires from lightning strikes and combusting dry grass. They have not--at least yet-- managed more advanced uses of it: but they have since learned one crucial fact that would assure their rise to power-- they learned that other animals feared fire. As such some packs learned to opportunistically wait for bushfires to occur and then carry away burning sticks to start fires elsewhere, pouncing on any prey that tries to flee the flames. They, over time, learned how to keep small fires burning for longer periods of time, and through their methods of hunting by arson, they would slowly change the landscape: scorching away forest cover and drier grasses like saberleaf, and promoting the growth of other, less-flammable plants: overturning local ecosystems with their newfound weapon to a level unlike anything seen before.

With their capacity to shape their environment, utilize weapons and tools, cooperative behavior and complete ruthlessness, the unassuming riplets, tiny but terrible, would quickly gain dominance over their environment. This one species, suddenly finding itself with both a deadly new weapon and the intelligence to use it to its greater potential, would move out into the Arcuterran plains at long last, finally able to hold their own against the native rivals, designed perfectly by evolution to weather nature's processes, but woefully underprepared to face up against a creature able to affect large-scale change so quickly.

And in less than five million years, the descendants of the riplets would attain a pinnacle of cognitive milestones, and reshape the world to their liking, like no one species had ever done before --at least, on this planet.

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#speculative evolution #speculative biology #spec evo #speculative zoology #hamster's paradise

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wolveswolves · 5 years

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‘It’s tough sleeping at night’: ranchers seek to protect herds as wolves move in

January 9, 2019 - As wolves arrive in California for the first time since the 1920s, ranchers try non-lethal methods to deter animals once seen as livestock-killing vermin.

Breanna Owens had no idea where to turn for help when the wolves arrived. The northern California-based rancher used to take her cattle to graze each summer in Oregon, but in 2014, OR-7, a solitary wolf dubbed Journey, found a mate and produced a litter of pups in the vicinity of Owens’ herd. The Rogue pack was the first in the area in generations.

“All of a sudden it’s, ‘Oh, he set up camp. And there’s a female. And there’s pups – oh my gosh!’” she recalled.

Four years later, Owens again finds herself in wolf country. Another pack has settled in the northern California mountains where she and other ranchers graze sheep and cattle. It’s news that has environmentalists celebrating – wolves were extirpated from the state in the 1920s – and ranchers wringing their hands amid a handful of livestock killings.

But Owens is taking a remarkably contrarian tack: rather than calling for the removal of wolves, she’s working to ensure safe coexistence with the canines.

Gray wolves were long seen as livestock-killing vermin and were driven nearly to extinction by the early 1900s. They were listed as endangered in 1978, and in 1995 a reintroduction effort began in Yellowstone. Packs have since established themselves throughout the northern Rocky Mountains and in Washington and Oregon.

When the Rogue pack arrived, Owens had plenty of questions: did she need to be concerned? What actions could she take? When would the wolves start exhibiting hunting behavior?

Owens turned to an unlikely ally: Karin Vardaman, then a director with the California Wolf Center, a not-for-profit group dedicated to rebuilding the state’s long-lost wolf population. Vardaman knew conflicts over wolves were imminent, and that a working relationship with ranchers would both minimize cattle predation and the chance of wolves being killed in retaliation. Accordingly, she began meeting with livestock producers across the state’s northern reaches.

“People in urban areas get excited,” said Vardaman, now with the advocacy group Defenders of Wildlife. “But they’re not impacted when wolves return.”

She formed the Working Circle Proactive Stewardship, and Owens eventually signed on as its director. It suggests a suite of non-lethal wolf deterrents, including fladry (small red flags) and flashing lights, which can startle predators, and guard dogs. It teaches tactics such as bunching cattle together and rotating them around grazing areas, which not only keeps wolves at bay, it also better allows grass to regenerate. And it trains and funds range stewards, who spend time in the field with cattle, observing how best to manage the herd and protect it from predators.

The question could not be more pressing: the new California pack, the Lassen pack, now consists of at least two adults, two yearlings and five pups, and has killed at least four calves since July.

Todd Swickard suffered one such depredation. On 19 September, one of his ranch hands found a partially consumed calf, which state biologists confirmed was killed by a wolf. Swickard was in the process of shipping his cattle out of their summer grazing terrain, so there wasn’t much risk of further losses. But the specter of wolves’ continuing presence bothers him.

“They’re mostly nocturnal hunters, so it’s tough sleeping at night,” Swickard said. “You wonder if they’re in the middle of your livestock, and we’re charged with the husbandry and care of those animals.”

Area livestock producers feel their hands are tied if wolf numbers continue growing. Federal and state laws prohibit lethal recourse against wolves. Plus California lacks robust deer and elk populations such as those in Oregon and Idaho, so ranchers think their herds will be the top option on the wolves’ menu. “The wolves have to eat,” the rancher Daren Hagata said. “If they don’t have the wildlife populations … they’re going to come after your livestock.”

“Once [wolves] get in and start harassing the cows, especially on a regular basis, weight gains go away, conception rates go down,” said another rancher, Jack Hanson. “That’d be my biggest worry, even more than the mortality issue.”

With lethal action off the table – at least legally – ranchers are slowly coming to the realization they must try other methods. Owens spends a good deal of time meeting with ranchers in the area to educate them about Working Circle services.

Despite work that might be seen as advocacy for wolves, Owens is ambivalent about their presence. Her efforts are grounded as much as anything in the realization that wolves are not going anywhere.

“You like wolves, just like any other wildlife,” she said. “But when you see confirmation of pups, you get that sinking feeling. How’s this going to go? How many cows are we going to lose? How many wolves are we going to lose?”

For examples of the methods Owens preaches, ranchers in the Lassen pack’s orbit could look north. Since 2016, Scott Sumner has served as a Working Circle-funded range steward for the Hart Ranch, which his sister, Susan Hart, owns. Sumner patrols Hart’s summer grazing meadows by foot and mountain bike, accompanied by his nine-month-old collie, Rachel. Sumner’s job was an urgent addition – in 2015, the Shasta pack became the state’s first wolf pack in nearly a century, and the Hart Ranch was squarely in its range.

“My job is to know this landscape better than the cows and wolves,” Sumner said. “If I notice a change in the cows’ behavior, my radar goes up.” He keeps the cattle bunched tightly, rotates them between meadows, and is constantly seeking to minimize threats by, for example, thinning trees near salt licks to reduce odds of a wolf ambush. He checks a network of 14 trail cameras in the area, one of which snapped a photo this summer of OR-44, one of two lone wolves ranging through California.

Since Sumner began range riding, the Harts have suffered no wolf depredations, and the pack appears to have disappeared, though the state hasn’t confirmed whether the wolves dispersed on their own or were poached. No other pack has established itself. “Who knows?” Sumner said. “Maybe there are no wolves here because I’m around.”

Sumner understands the cattle he watches over would be at risk if wolves returned, but that doesn’t mean he’d be disappointed to see another pack. Shortly before the state confirmed the Shasta pack’s existence, a wolf trotted ahead of Sumner’s pickup, not 20 meters away, as he was driving near the ranch’s grazing meadows. “When I first saw it, it was pretty much just surprise – that’s a damn wolf! I was excited for 24 hours,” he said.

I asked Sumner how seeing the wolf made him feel, and it took him some time to elaborate. Earlier in the day, he had lamented how some wolf advocates glorified the species. But when describing his emotions when he saw the wolf three years ago, reverence crept into his tone.

“I don’t want to sound like a wolf-hugger,” he said, chuckling. “But they do symbolize a part of this country that I don’t want to see ever lost. I understand why they’re revered, and why they’re hated. I want to do what I can do, in what little time that I have, to help them be here.”

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#wolf #wolves #wildlife #animals #wolf pack #article #california

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s-e-c-t-i-o-n-8 · 1 year

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#Stabbing #extirpated mortal process #death metal #brutal death metal #slam #Slamming brutal death metal #deathcore #disgorge #disentomb #ingested #pathology #katalepsy

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thevividgreenmoss · 5 years

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Baby with the bath-water . – Among the motifs of cultural criticism one of the most long-established and central is that of the lie: that culture creates the illusion of a society worthy of man which does not exist; that it conceals the material conditions upon which all human works rise, and that, comforting and lulling, it serves to keep alive the bad economic determination of existence. This is the notion of culture as ideology, which appears at first sight common to both the bourgeois doctrine of violence and its adversary, both to Nietzsche and to Marx. But precisely this notion, like all expostulation about lies, has a suspicious tendency to become itself ideology. This can be seen on the private level. Inexorably, the thought of money and all its attendant conflicts extends into the most tender erotic, the most sublime spiritual relationships. With the logic of coherence and the pathos of truth, cultural criticism could therefore demand that relationships be entirely reduced to their material origin, ruthlessly and openly formed according to the interests of the participants. For meaning, as we know, is not independent of genesis, and it is easy to discern, in everything that cloaks or mediates the material, the trace of insincerity, sentimentality, indeed, precisely a concealed and doubly poisonous interest. But to act radically in accordance with this principle would be to extirpate, with the false, all that was true also, all that, however impotently, strives to escape the confines of universal practice, every chimerical anticipation of a nobler condition, and so to bring about directly the barbarism that culture is reproached with furthering indirectly. In the cultural critics after Nietzsche this reversal of position has always been obvious: Spengler endorsed it enthusiastically. But Marxists are not proof against it either. Cured of the Social-Democratic belief in cultural progress and confronted with growing barbarism, they are under constant temptation to advocate the latter in the interests of the ‘objective tendency’, and, in an act of desperation, to await salvation from their mortal enemy who, as the ‘antithesis’, is supposed in blind and mysterious fashion to help prepare the good end. Apart from this, emphasis on the material element, as against the spirit as a lie, gives rise to a kind of dubious affinity with that political economy which is subjected to an immanent criticism, comparable with the complicity between police and underworld. Since Utopia was set aside and the unity of theory and practice demanded, we have become all too practical. Fear of the impotence of theory supplies a pretext for bowing to the almighty production process, and so fully admitting the impotence of theory. Traits of malice are not alien even to authentic Marxist language, and today there is a growing resemblance between the business mentality and sober critical judgement, between vulgar materialism and the other kind, so that it is at times difficult properly to distinguish subject and object. – To identify culture solely with lies is more fateful than ever, now that the former is really becoming totally absorbed by the latter, and eagerly invites such identification in order to compromise every opposing thought. If material reality is called the world of exchange value, and culture whatever refuses to accept the domination of that world, then it is true that such refusal is illusory as long as the existent exists. Since, however, free and honest exchange is itself a lie, to deny it is at the same time to speak for truth: in face of the lie of the commodity world, even the lie that denounces it becomes a corrective. That culture so far has failed is no justification for furthering its failure, by strewing the store of good flour on the spilt beer like the girl in the fairy-tale. People who belong together ought neither to keep silent about their material interests, nor to sink to their level, but to assimilate them by reflection into their relationships and so surpass them.

Theodor Adorno, Minima Moralia

#*#theodor adorno #minima moralia

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annieboltonworld · 4 years

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Juniper Publishers- Open Access Journal of Environmental Sciences & Natural Resources

Mesopredator Release Theory: Comparing Mesocarnivore Abundance and Prey Choices in an Urban Landscape and Impacts on Prey Populations

Authored by Melissa L Karlin

Abstract

According to the mesocarnivore release theory, when apex carnivores from the landscape the populations of mid- to small-sized carnivores explode and many prey species decline. Apex predators are replaced by smaller mesocarnivores, such as domestic cats (Feliscatus), which should consume smaller prey such as birds, arthropods, and rodents, while larger mesocarnivores, such as Coyotes (Canislatrans), should prey on small mammals such as rodents and rabbits. The purpose of this research was to determine the abundance of mesocarnivores in two urban landscapes, and by determining their prey choices, estimate their impacts on small mammal and bird population abundance in their landscape.

Birds and arthropods were found in highest abundance (42.86%) in cat and Gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) samples, while Eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) was found in highest abundance (41.18%) in Coyote and Bobcat (Lynx rufus) samples. There was a significant difference in prey consumed between these two groups, as expected based on the mesopredator release theory. However, small mammal and bird abundance and diversity indices were similar when comparing the site with the Coyote as the apex predator with the site with cats as the apex predator, suggesting no significant impacts on these prey. Based on the results of primarily the scat analysis in this study, the mesopredator release theory was supported by these results and the difference between the groups was significant, although sample sizes were small.

Keywords: Coyote; Mesocarnivore; Mesopredator release; Small mammal

Abreviations: GCSNA: Government Canyon State Natural Area; StMU: St. Mary's University

Introduction

A 2013 study by the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute estimated that un-owned and owned free-ranging domestic cats (Feliscatus) kill between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds and between 6.9 and 20.7 billion small mammals each year in the contiguous United States (U.S.) alone Loss et al. [1]. If these estimates are correct, this represents the largest source of human-related mortality of U.S. birds and mammals. The same study noted that it is the un-owned cats (farm and barn cats, strays, colony cats, and feral cats) that cause about 69% of the bird deaths and 89% of the mammal deaths. In situations where humans are providing an artificial food source to these cats, a process known as hyper predation may occur, in which a prey species can indirectly affect another prey species, by causing an increase in abundance of a shared predator Baker et al. [2]. In this scenario, the humans are acting as a prey species by providing a food source to cats, allowing the abundance of the cat population (the predator) to surpass the carrying capacity of the environment Baker et al. [2]. This causes an increase in predation of the other prey type (i.e., birds or small mammals) due to the inflated predator population size. Predation rates by individual cats may be lower when cats are provided an artificial food source, but the collective number of birds and small mammals killed in these scenarios are elevated because the number of predators present is above the carrying capacity of the area, up to densities 100 times or more high than native carnivore densities Coleman [3].

Large native carnivores such as Gray wolves (Canis lupus)or Mountain lions (Puma concolor) once served as apex predators in many ecosystems prior to urban settlement and habitat fragmentation Crooks & Soule [4]. These apex predators controlled population sizes of the mid-sized carnivores such as Coyotes (Canislatrans) through, in the case of wolves, territorial exclusion and aggressive interactions Smith et al. [5]. An indirect effect of this top-down control was that smaller prey items targeted by Coyotes or other mid- to small-sized carnivores were not heavily predated upon. When these apex carnivores disappeared across the U.S. due to predator control and urban settlement, the populations of mid- to small-sized carnivores exploded and many prey species declined, a phenomenon known as mesocarnivore release Crooks & Soule [4]. In many areas of the U.S., the Coyote has now risen to the role of apex predator, although it is a mid-sized carnivore, because the former apex predators have been extirpated Prugh et al. [6]. Cats can also function as mesocarnivores in continental ecosystems or even apex predators in island ecosystems Prugh et al. [6]. This apex role for cats is particularly true in heavily urban areas where Coyotes cannot exist, but free-ranging cats, un-owned by anyone in particular, are maintained by an urban human population.

In areas where Coyotes serve as the apex predator, they can suppress the population abundance of smaller carnivores such as Striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), Raccoon (Procyon lotor), Gray fox (Urocyoncinereoargenteus) and cats Crooks & Soule [4]. One study documented an increase in scrub bird diversity in areas where Coyotes were present and these smaller carnivores were absent (due to being predated by the Coyote), and a corresponding decrease in bird diversity in areas where these smaller carnivores were present but Coyotes were absent Crooks & Soule [4]. Based on this example, ecosystems with coyotes present as the apex predator may have higher bird and small mammal's population diversity and possibly abundance, when compared to systems where the Coyote is absent and smaller carnivores abound. In light of the recent studies on the impact of free-ranging cats on prey such as birds and small mammals, ecosystems that have free-ranging cats as the apex predator may have extremely low levels of these prey when compared to ecosystems with Coyotes present.

Coyotes, Bobcats (Lynx rufus), and Gray fox are sympatric in many areas of the U.S. Whitaker & Hamilton [7], and can all be considered generalists in terms of habitat use; in terms of diet, Bobcats are mainly carnivorous while Coyotes and Gray fox are omnivorous Litvaitis & Harrison [8]. All three, however, prey on mammals Litvaitis & Harrison, Harrison [8,9]. A combination of competition for resources and intraguild predation among these three species may be present where they coexist Fedriani et al. [10]; a study in California documented Coyote dominance over Bobcats and Grayfoxes, with multiple Gray fox and Bobcat deaths attributed to Coyotes Fedriani et al. [10]. Diets of feral cats have been studied extensively on islands, where their impact on native fauna may be significant. They prey on arthropods, reptiles, birds, and lagomorphs Paltridge et al. [11-13]. On San Clemente Island, CA, Island fox (Urocyonlittoralis) and feral cats consumed similar proportions of birds, but feral cats consumed rodents and lizards at a higher frequency than Island foxes, which consumed more arthropods and plants Phillips et al. [13].

The purpose of this research was to determine the abundance of mesocarnivores in two urban landscapes, and by determining their prey choices and measuring prey abundance and indices, estimate their impacts on small mammal and bird populations in their lands cape in light of the mesopredator release theory. The objectives of this project were to quantify abundance of mesocarnivores, birds and small mammals at both sites and determine prey choice by mesocarnivores using scat analysis.

Study Sites

St. Mary's University

St. Mary's University (StMU) is located on the west side of San Antonio, Texas in a mixed residential/commercial urban and covers approximately 0.55 km2 (Figure 1). The campus is home to about 3,800 students and is in a heavily urban area. The majority of the land use on the campus is urban, impervious surfaces, with little green space. All areas of the campus are maintained by grounds keeping and no natural areas exist.

Government Canyon State Natural Area

Government Canyon State Natural area (GCSNA) is an approximately 47.04 km2 state natural area within the Balcones Canyonlands sub-region of the Edwards Plateau Ecoregion (Texas Parks & Wildlife 2005) and is located approximately 37 km north west of San Antonio, TX (Figure 1). Dominant vegetation includes Ashe juniper (Juniperus ashei) and a mixed deciduous component of Texas oak (Quercus buckleyi), Live oak (Quercus fusiformis), Cedar elm (Ulmuscrassifolia), Texas ash (Fraxinustexensis), and Escarpment black cherry (Prunus serotina) Watson The natural area has canyon lands and grasslands, is home to the endangered Golden-cheeked warbler (Dendroicachrysoparia) and has over 64 km of hiking trails, as well as a visitor center and campgrounds.

While GCSNA represents a large natural area, the location of this study within GCSNA was in the southernmost section of the natural area, and was the most heavily disturbed by neighboring urban development (Figure 2). The entry road to the park and offices passes through the study site, and the closest residential home was between 25 m and 1 km from the study area. This section of the natural area was selected for this study as it represented the region where impacts from edge effects and residential pets would likely be the greatest.

Materials and Methods

Small mammal surveys

All surveys, field work, and data collection were conducted from June - July 2014. At both sites, 20 Sherman Live Traps (7.62 cmby7.62 cm by 22.86 cm) and 10 track stations, spaced 10 m apart in an alternating pattern, were used to measure small mammal population diversity and abundance. At StMU, these 30 stations were laid in a straight line transect for four nights Kays , DeWan [14], and then moved 50 m to a new line, for a total of five transects and 600 total trap nights (number of traps multiplied by number of nights) O’Brien et al. [15] (Figure 2). At GCSNA, these 30 stations were laid in a straight line transect as well, and moved 50 m to a new line after four nights, for three transects and a total of 360 trap nights. The original location at GCSNA yielded no small mammal captures after 12 trap nights, and a severe Solenopsis invicta Buren (red imported fire ant) presence in the area. The trap line was moved to the grassy area in the southern section of the natural area, and the original trapping methodology was continued for an additional two transect lines and 240 trap nights (Figure 3). All traps were checked daily before 1000 h, and were reset each evening after 1800 h to avoid the day time heat. If an animal was captured, it was marked with a nonpermanent livestock marker paint pen, so that it would not be counted if captured again.

Small mammal track stations consisted of 60.96 cm plastic gutters inverted over an aluminum metal strip which had an approximately15.2 cmby12.7 cm area sprayed with a combination of 4 to 5 tablespoons of carpenters chalk and 473 ml of 98% isopropyl alcohol, followed by 15.2 cm by 12.7 cm sheet of contact paper, on each end, with a 2.54 cm wide bait station in the center Neal [16]. Traps were baited with peanut butter and track stations with peanut butter and bird seed. Contact paper strips recorded footprints from each track stations for later identification to the genus level. In addition, the small mammal abundance data collected at four camera stations (Figure 3) in GCSNA during a previous study (September-December 2013) were used to supplement small mammal abundance data on larger wildlife, such as Eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus). The cameras used during this previous study were the DLC Covert Extreme Black 60 (Covert Scouting Cameras, Lewisburg, KY). This camera was a black infrared camera with a 40 ft detection range; 12 megapixel (MP) picture resolution; a 1.2 second trigger speed; a variable trigger interval of 1 s - 60 min; takes pictures or video; includes 60 infrared black LED’s; and includes a date, time, temperature, and moon phase stamp on every picture. The infrared technology detects motion, and an animal must move into the detection zone in order to activate the camera Kelly & Holub. For the trail camera data, photos were analyzed to determine species type, and total number of individual species was calculated based on trap events Kelly & Holub, which consisted of a record of an animal within a 30 min period. If the same species was recorded within 30 min, it was assumed to be the same individual and was not counted. This research was authorized by the St. Mary’s University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, Approval No. STMU-2014-7.

Bird surveys

Bird abundance and diversity was measured for both sites during three bird surveys, covering three transects at each site. The surveys followed guidelines established by the Expedition Field Techniques from Bird Life International Bibby et al. [17]. Birds were surveyed from transects at each site, as illustrated in (Figures 2 & 3). The observer stopped for 3 min at every 100 m distance mark along the transects, and recorded the abundance and species of birds visible from the transect line. Transect locations were selected based on building configuration at StMU and to cover both areas surveyed for small mammals at GCSNA. Total transect length at StMU was 1.5 km and 2.75 km at GCSNA. All surveys were conducted between 0700-0900 h, when wind speeds were less than 12 mph, and when there was no precipitation [18].

Mesocarnivore surveys

Five predator scent stations were established at each study site (Figures 2 &3), which consisted of a fatty-acid impregnated predator scent disk (USDA APHIS) placed in a mesh stocking and hung from a branch, placed over a track pad Kays & DeWan [14]. For this study, 50 cm by 75 cm sheets of aluminum flashing painted with a combination of 4 by 5 tablespoons of carpenters chalk and 473 ml of 98% isopropyl alcohol were used as the track substrate, and contact paper placed in the center of the flashing was used as the track pad (Neal 2007). Animals were identified based on the track records using an animal tracks identification guide Murie et al. [19]. A DLC Covert Extreme Black 60 (Covert Scouting Cameras, Lewisburg, KY) trail camera was also placed at each scent station to record predators). (Figures 2 &3) Predator abundance data collected at four camera stations (Figure 3) in GCSNA during a previous study (September- December 2013) was also included to supplement the survey of predator abundance.

Scat Analysis

Scat was opportunistically at both study sites to determine the diets of carnivores in the study areas. Scat samples were collected along trapping transects lines and was identified to the species level when collected. Samples were stored in a freezer until they could be analyzed. For analysis, the samples were thawed, dried in an oven at 200°F for 24 hr, and placed in a mesh stocking and rinsed in running water to separate the items, similar to methods followed by Phillips et al. [13]. Scat contents were categorized into prey groups (rodent, rabbit, bird, arthropod, and fruit/seed), non-preyitems (e.g., twigs, rocks, vegetation), and an unknown category, similar to Phillips et al. [13]. Prey items were identified to the most detailed taxonomic level possible.

Data analysis

Species richness (S), Shannon diversity index (H), and the Shannon's Equitability index (EH) (Molles [19]) were calculated for birds, small mammals and mesocarnivores, using survey data, trap event data from trail cameras and trapping data from small mammal traps and track pads. S was a measure of the number of different species present; H was a measure of species abundance and diversity; and EH was a measure of evenness among the species present. Based on the scat analysis, the Pianka Index was calculated to determine dietary overlap between the mesocarnivore species Pianka [20,21]. The Pianka Index ranges from 0 (no dietary overlap) to 1 (complete dietary overlap).A Chi-Square analysis (α = 0.05) was conducted to determine if abundance of prey types consumed by mesocarnivores differed between species.

Results

No small mammals were captured in the traps or recorded on the track pads at StMU. At GCSNA, only two small mammals were captured in the traps, both White-footed mice (Peromyscusleucopus). No small mammals were documented on trail cameras at StMU, but Eastern cottontail was documented by a trail camera in the GCSNA study area. At StMU, mesocarnivores documented by trail cameras included striped skunk, cat, domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris), and Virginia opossum(Didelphis virginiana); at GCSNA, coyote, bobcats, gray fox, Feral pig (Susscrofa), striped skunk, and raccoons were documentedon trail cameras in the September - December 2013 data collection period and the current June - July 2014 period (Table 1). No domesticcats were recorded at GCSNA. The track pads for mesocarnivores were discontinued after two trapping sessions because the trail cameras documented all required data.

Cats dominated the mesocarnivores at StMU (75% of trap events) and coyotes dominated the mesocarnivore population at GCSNA (43%). Total species richness (S) for small mammals was low at both sites, although the small mammals documented at GCSNA were similarly represented, as indicated by the EH value (Table 2). H values for small mammals and mesocarnivores were similarly low for both sites, considering the potential range of 1- ln S. Bird species richness and H, however, were high at both sites and showed a similar distribution between the sites (Table 2). The abundance of each particular bird species, and the rarity of the species, however, varied considerably between the study areas (Figure 4).

Although small mammals were not captured at StMU and were captured in limited abundance at GCSNA, the scat analysis revealed the most common prey items of these groups. Because of their similar prey choices based on trophic level, cat and gray fox scat samples were combined for analysis. A total of 11 cat, one gray fox, four bobcat, and six coyote scat samples were collected. Birds and arthropods were found in 75% of cat/Gray fox samples, and Eastern cottontail rabbit was found in 70% of the Coyote/Bob cat samples. By total prey items, birds and arthropods were the most abundant items (42.86% each) in cat/Gray fox scat, and Eastern cottontail rabbit was the most abundant (41.18%) in Coyote/Bobcat scat (Table 3). There was a significant difference in the number and type of prey consumed between the two groups (χ2 = 13.44, df = 4, p < 0.05), although n values were low. Vegetation (mostly grass) was found in 90% of the cat/Gray fox scat and in 36% of the Coyote/Bobcat samples. The Pianka Index of dietary overlap, however, was low for all mesocarnivore comparisons (Table 4).

Discussion

There were no correlations between predator abundance and small mammal abundance at either site, due to the lack of data from the small mammal trapping. This may have been due to the time of year: the summer heat and the abundance of other food sources; or the prevalence of Fire ants at both study sites which were attracted to the bait. However, a small mammal trapping study conducted at GCSNA from 1999-2008 revealed a steady decline in small mammal numbers, from a high of 45 individuals during a two night trapping period, to 0 individuals (D. Ribble, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX, 2014 unpubl. data). This suggests that actual small mammal abundance at GCSNA may be very low. At StMU, rodent traps are also placed near many of the buildings to keep the population low, which may explain the lack of small mammals recorded at StMU. Bird surveys revealed similar numbers and diversity of species at both sites, although GCSNA had species such as the Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) and Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) that preferred more natural, grassy habitats, while StMU had an abundance of typical urban species such as House Sparrows (Passer domesticus), White-winged Doves (Zenaida asiatica), and Northern Mockingbirds (Mimuspolyglottos).

Mesocarnivore numbers based on trap events at GCSNA may be inflated since they are based only on a 30 min threshold, whereas at StMU, the cats had identifying features (e.g., color patterns) so in addition to the 30 min threshold, the trap events could be filtered by these features. Based on this abundance data, cats were the dominate mesocarnivore at StMU and Coyotes were the dominate mesocarnivore at GCSNA. The low Shannon indices for both sites reflected that there were a few, very abundant, species at both sites, such as the cat and Coyote, and overall diversity and species richness were low. Given the heavily urban setting of StMU, a wide array of mesocarnivores was not expected and these low indices reflect the nature of the urban environment; the low indices at GCSNA support the premise that this region of the natural area may be disturbed by the neighboring urban areas. Based on the high abundance of Coyotes (Table 1), this mesocarnivore may also be dominating the landscape at GCSNA and restricting the presence of other species. This may explain why no cats or domestic dogs, and very few small mesocarnivore species such as Striped skunks, were documented at GCSNA. The scat analysis became the focus of this study after a disappointing small mammal trapping season, and while sample sizes for this analysis were low, the clear separation between bird abundance in the cat/Gray fox samples and Eastern cottontail abundance in Coyote/Bobcat samples was in line with other published reports of prey choices for all the mesocarnivores. It does not appear, however, based on the indices calculated, that the site with cats as the apex predator has less of an abundance of small mammal or bird species than the site with Coyotes as the apex predator. This is contrary to many other studies which document higher bird and small mammal population diversity and abundance in systems where the Coyote is present Crooks & Soule, Prugh et al. [3,6].

Plant material was found in a high number of cat/Gray fox samples, which has been reported in low numbers from other cat studies Phillips et al. [13]. The Pianka index of dietary overlap revealed expected low numbers when comparing cat to both Coyotes (0.28) and Bobcats (0.22), but also a low overlap when compared to the Gray fox (0.29). This, however, is due to the fact that only one Gray fox scat sample was obtained. The highest dietary overlap, as expected, was between Coyotes and Bobcats (0.44), which was also lower than may have been expected and may also be attributed to low sample sizes.

According to the mesocarnivore release theory, the smaller mesocarnivores such as cats and Gray fox should consume smaller prey such as birds, arthropods, and rodents, while the larger mesocarnivores, such as the Coyotes and Bobcats, should prey on small mammals such as rodents and rabbits. Based on the results of primarily the scat analysis in this study, this theory was supported by these results and the difference between the groups was significant, although sample sizes were small. However, there did not appear to be a significant difference in bird and small mammal abundance between the sites, even though cats appeared to prey preferentially on birds in this study. Additional scat samples from both sites and a longer study duration, however, may yield more insight on the impacts of cats in the StMU urban landscape.

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mere-technicality · 7 years

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The Wikipedia troll

I can’t believe I haven’t told the story of my Wikipedia troll yet.

So, last year I did a lot of page curation on Wikipedia. There were a lot of spam pages but more often than not they were just not notable people. In any case, one such page that I marked for deletion was one of the Militant Christian Church. Deleted for spam and being non-notable. Then, a few minutes later, there was another page about the pastor of that church, whose name was Ebeneezer Lux, I believe. Marked for deletion for the same reasons. In any case, after I marked them for deletion, I went to bed.

The next morning I woke up to about five different notifications. And they were all from the same guy, someone named A Humble Footsolider in Archangel Michael’s Army. The same dude that had created all those pages. He went on a paragraphs-long rant that I found by digging back through the edit log. “I am a faithful, zealous, righteous and upright Christian soldier, committed to fight for MY Faith with no hesitations and no qualms, and give No Quarter to all Enemies of Christ - be they Infidel, Backslider, Heretic, Papist or Atheist - as all these are but different face of the same ANCIENT FOE, all alike but bestial minions of Satan and the Antichrist, all alike enemies which the True Christian Knight is duty bound to fight and extirpate. So be it, so be it, Amen in the Highest! So Hast God Ordained At The Very Creation Of The World, and So Verily Shalt It Be! The Thrice-Cursed Witch and Minion of Satan and of the Anti-Christ Nicole calling herself "MereTechnicality” is a Prime Example of such Cursed Enemies of the Christian Faith and the True Christian Church. Along with All Other Minions of Satan, she shalt be EXTIRPATED! Begone, ye Creature of Darkenss, ere the Light of the Risen Jesus Christ Militant strike Ye like Unto Seventy-Seven Suns! Amen, Amen, Amen in the Highest - God’s Will Be Done!A Humble Foot Soldier in Archangel Michael’s Army (talk) 11:14, 18 February 2017 (UTC)[[User:A Humble Foot Soldier in Archangel Michael's Army|A Humble Foot Soldier in Archangel Michael's Army]] ([[User talk:A Humble Foot Soldier in Archangel Michael's Army|talk]]) 11:18, 18 February 2017 (UTC)“

so i’m just here laughing my ass off at this guy who is literally challenging me to holy combat and everyone is just giving him templated responses like “please do not vandalize the talk pages of others” and then he came back on his talk page about how HE IS HERE TO CLEANSE WIKIPEDIA AND PREPARE IT FOR EBENEEZER LUX’S HOLY MESSAGE AND I’M JUST LAUGHING SO HARD AT THIS

he got banned obviously.

but then months later i got another string of notifications. all from one guy whose name was “A Wayfarer Bearing the Sword of Jesus” so immediately i’m like “oh here we go again”

and the dude is just RAILING on me. apparently tagging those two pages was enough to doom me to hellfire or at least a spot on his blacklist. his message read as follows:

“ Foul Fiend, though stands Unmasked and revealed as the Satanic Minion thou art! Yea Indeed! Being enmeshed the Coils and Most Nefarious Designs of thy Infernal Master, thou hast Transgressed, Blasphemed and Presumed to block the True Word of God in Wikipedia! For such an Enormity of Mortal Sin there is not – and cannot be – any Forgiveness! Know, thou Wretch, thou Foul Fiend, thou Satanic Minion, that the True Word of God issues and emanates from The Most Holy Person Now Living, none less than The Most Holy Reverend Ebenezer Abel Lux, Consecrated Pastor and Prophetic Leader of the First Church of Jesus Christ Militant, to whom were vouchsafed Divine Visions and Angelic Visitations and who is Fated and Destined to Stand at the Right Hand of Christ in the Second Coming. Know, thou Wretch, that the Synod of The First Church of Jesus Christ Militant has duly resolved and commanded and commended that Wikipedia must be and shalt be Cleansed and Purified and be made a Ready and Fitting Vehicle for the True Word of God. Know, thou Wretch, that I, Thomas Lucas McGregor III, am a faithful, zealous, righteous and upright Christian soldier, a True, Faithful and Loyal Son and Knight of the Church, and that I most willingly and happily do the bidding of the Synod and of the Most Holy Reverend Lux – so help me God Almighty and the Risen Jesus Christ Militant. Thereupon I, Thomas Lucas McGregor III, Soldier of Christ, hereby challenge thou, Fould Fiend and Minion of Satan, to single combat! Yea, to to single combat! Choose your Arms and Come to Me on the Field of Tournament! You may prepare all thy Infernal Devices, you may beseech the aid of Succor of thy Foul Infernal Master – but it would avail thee Naught. For it is God Almighty who Guides my sword arm, and it Jesus’ Bright Sword of Justice which I Bear. To the Righteous shalt Victory go, yea indeed, most assuredly! I shalt meet thou on the Field of Testing and I shalt mete out to thee thy Just Deserts. Thy Earthly Husk shalt go to a miserable shameful burial in Unhallowed Ground, and thy Doomed Immortal Soul shalt go down to Total Perdition and a million million years of unceasing Hellish Torture – as thou so very richly Deserve. So be it, so be it, Amen in the Highest! So Hast God Ordained At The Very Creation Of The World, and So Verily Shalt It Be! Amen, Amen, Amen! [[User:A Wayfarer Bearing the Sword of Jesus|A Wayfarer Bearing the Sword of Jesus]] ([[User talk:A Wayfarer Bearing the Sword of Jesus|talk]]) 15:44, 22 April 2017 (UTC)”

and obviously that sockpuppet was also banned BUT THAT STILL WASN’T THE END OF IT

by the time i get another string of messages i’m just like “oh it’s the fundie he’s back”

"I am a humble Christian soldier and obedient servant of the Glorious First Church of Jesus Christ Militant. I full obedience to the Commands of the Church and of its Most Holy Leader and Spiritual Guide, The Most Holy Reverend Ebenezer Abel Lux, I have come into Wikipedia to do here my Most Holy Duty to God Almighty and The Risen Jesus Christ Militant and issue a Challenge to Personal Combat to the Satanic Minions who have infested Wikipedia and are Charged by their Most Foul Infernal Master with the Nefarious Task of block the True Word of God from being heard and disseminated. In pursuance with my above-mentioned duty I have embarked on issuing the challenges in the Prescribed Form as follows: Satanic Minion, I Challenge Thee To Single Combat! Foul Fiend, thou stands Unmasked and revealed as the Satanic Minion thou art! Yea Indeed! Being enmeshed in the Coils and Most Nefarious Designs of thy Infernal Master, thou hast Transgressed, Blasphemed and Presumed to block the True Word of God in Wikipedia! For such an Enormity of Mortal Sin there is not – and cannot be – any Forgiveness! Know, thou Wretch, thou Foul Fiend, thou Satanic Minion, that the True Word of God issues and emanates from The Most Holy Person Now Living, none less than The Most Holy Reverend Ebenezer Abel Lux, Consecrated Pastor and Prophetic Leader of the First Church of Jesus Christ Militant, to whom were vouchsafed Divine Visions and Angelic Visitations and who is Fated and Destined to Stand at the Right Hand of Christ in the Second Coming. Know, thou Wretch, that the Synod of The First Church of Jesus Christ Militant has duly resolved and commanded and commended that Wikipedia must be and shalt be Cleansed and Purified and be made a Ready and Fitting Vehicle for the True Word of God. Know, thou Wretch, that I, Thomas Lucas McGregor III, am a faithful, zealous, righteous and upright Christian soldier, a True, Faithful and Loyal Son and Knight of the Church, and that I most willingly and happily do the bidding of the Synod and of the Most Holy Reverend Lux – so help me God Almighty and the Risen Jesus Christ Militant. Thereupon I, Thomas Lucas McGregor III, Soldier of Christ, hereby challenge thou, Foul Fiend and Minion of Satan, to single combat! Yea, to single combat! Choose your Arms and Come to Me on the Field of Tournament! You may prepare all thy Infernal Devices, you may beseech the Aid and Succor of thy Foul Infernal Master – but it would avail thee Naught. For it is God Almighty who Guides my sword arm, and it is Jesus’ Bright Sword of Justice which I Bear. To the Righteous shalt Victory go, yea indeed, most assuredly! I shalt meet thee on the Field of Testing and I shalt mete out to thee thy Just Deserts. Thy Earthly Husk shalt go to a miserable shameful burial in Unhallowed Ground, and thy Doomed Immortal Soul shalt go down to Total Perdition and a Million Million Years of unceasing Hellish Torture – as thou so very richly Deserve. So be it, so be it, Amen in the Highest! So Hast God Ordained At The Very Creation Of The World, and So Verily Shalt It Be! Amen, Amen, Amen! A Humble Christian Pilgrim and Knight (talk) 12:55, 31 July 2017 (UTC)” Black List of Satanic Minions calling themselves “administrators” of Wikipedia – doomed, doomed, doomed, one and all, to Fall before the Bright Sword of Jesus Christ Militant and go down to their Just Deserts, to Perdition and Eternal Hellish Torture: User:Widr, User:MereTechnicality, (me!) User:Jake Brockman, User:Non-dropframe, User:JamesBWatson, User:Yunshui, User:Jackninja5, User:Materialscientist, User:Exemplo347, User:NeilN So far the text of the Challenges to Single Combat which I issued to the Foul Satanic Minions in the Prescribed Form as laid down by the One and Only True Church, First Church of Jesus Christ Militant, in accordance with True Traditions and Usages of Chivalry as of Olden Times. I have been disrupted and blocked in this Holy Task of issuing Challenges to Single Combat - clearly yet another Manifestation of the Nefarious Satanic Minions and their Stanglhold on Wikipedia WHICH MUST AND SHALT BE DULY BROKEN! In the process, yet another Satanic Minion, calling himself User:There'sNoTime, has revealed his Ugly Face. He, too, shalt of course be added to the Black List of Satanic Minions calling themselves “administrators” of Wikipedia – doomed, doomed, doomed, one and all, to Fall before the Bright Sword of Jesus Christ Militant and go down to their Just Deserts, to Perdition and Eternal Hellish Torture. He, too, shalt be duly issued with a Challenge to Single Combat and he too shalt most assuredly Fall before the Bright Sword of Jesus Christ Militant wielded by my Sword Arm. and at the end added “So thereupon I request and indeed most sternly DEMAND that this stupid Satanic "block” be removed forthwith and that that I be enabled to continue uninterrupted on my Holy Task of Cleansing Wikipedia and making it a Fit Vehicle for the True Word of God. And again do I sternly warn that all who presuming to stop the Humble Servant of Gon in the Fulfilment of his Ordained Task are risking their immortal Souls, that anyone persisting and maintaining this stupid Satanic “block” are risking no less than Utter Perdition, a Million Million Years of the Most Hellish Unceasing Torture. I have spoken, you have been WARNED, so Help Me God! Amen, Amen, Amen![[User:A Humble Christian Pilgrim and Knight|A Humble Christian Pilgrim and Knight]] ([[User talk:A Humble Christian Pilgrim and Knight#top|talk]]) 12:55, 31 July 2017 (UTC)}}“

so anyway every few months i just get like seven notifications from this guy coming back for another round and it’s always just hilarious.

You know what the kicker is? I’m not even an admin on Wikipedia.

#have a story #wikipedia #fundies #laugh tag #...is it cheating to tag my own content in my laugh tag #i don't care this made me laugh #long post

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juniperpublishersoa · 4 years

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Juniper Publishers| A New Clinical Classification of Hilar Cholangiocarcinoma (Klatskin Tumor)

Journal of Surgery-JuniperPublishers

Introduction

Altemeir first described hepatic hilar cholangiocarcinoma in 1957 [1]. In 1965, a series of 13 cases of hepatic hilar cholangiocarcinoma was reported by Klatskin [2]. This tumor makes up about 60% of all cholangiocarcinoma. Anatomically, this tumor situates at special site, i.e. hilar biliary bifurcation within a limited small space, close to vessels (portal vein, hepatic artery) and liver (especially caudate lobe). Biologically, it usually grows slowly and locally, with submucosal infiltration (up to 1.6 cm from gross margin of the tumor), neurovascular infiltration and lymphnode metastasis, but less often with distance metastasis. Therapeutically, its resection usually is difficult, especially to obtain R0 resection, while it does not respond well with chemo-and/or radiational therapy. Local recurrence is high (>50%), leading treatment failure and poor outcome [3].When humans ingest the eggs of the tapeworm, embryos emerge from the eggs and penetrate the intestinal mucosa. From there the embryos are transported via the blood to various organs and get lodged in organs like liver (65 - 75% of all cases) and lungs (25 - 30% of all cases). In children the most common organ being lungs followed by liver. Other organs such as the spleen, heart and brain are affected rarely [4,5]. Bone and soft-tissue hydatid disease are rare form of presentation of hydatid disease and account for around 1 - 5% of all cases. The environment in muscles is toxic to the establishment and growth of the cestode because of the increased concentration of the lactic acid and the movement of the muscles. Most of the muscular hydatid disease are secondary to visceral involvement and primary muscular hydatid diseases is even rarer, with most common sites being the neck, trunk and roots of the limbs [6,7]. We report a rare case of a primary intramuscular hydatid cyst of femoral muscles in a man who presented as a mass in the right thigh, making diagnosis very difficult.Go to

Staging/Classification

Over years, there were a number of staging/classification system, including Bismuth/Corlette, Liver Cancer Study Group of Japan, MSKCC (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center), AJCC (American Joint Committee of Cancer), and most recently European HPBA (European Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association). The most well-known classification was from Dr. Henry Bisthmus (Figure 1) [4], who classified the tumor according to the anatomic locations:

Type 1 - tumor involves hepatic bile duct only;

Type 2 - tumor involves bile duct bifurcation;

Type 3a - tumor involves bile duct burfication and right hepatic bile duct;

Type 3b - tumor involves bile duct burfication and left hepatic bile duct;

Type 4 - tumor involves both sides of hepatic bile ducts. This system is used widely in clinical practice. It was based on anatomic level or involvment of the tumor to biliary tree. This does help in preparation of surgical plan. However, it does not describe the involvement status of vessels, status of liver parenchyma, metastasis and lymphnode. Therefore, it is not as helpful when liver resection and vascular resection/reconstruction are considered.

In 2000, the Liver Cancer Study Group of Japan proposed a classification according cancer growing pattern, mass forming, periductal infitration and intraductal growing (Figure 2) [5]. This was more about cancer biological behaviour, with better prognosis of mass forming and intraductal growing. Preoperatively, the information about this classification would unlikely be obtained in detail. Further more, there was no description about vascular involvement and liver lobar status. Therefore, the value of this classification in surgical assessment regarding resectability was limited.

MSKCC staging/classification took bile duct involvement, vascular involvement and liver atrophy into consideration (Table 1) [6]. It helps in preparation of liver resection in treatment of Klatskin tumor. However, this classification did not include lymphnode and metastasis status, and did not consider liver transplantation as option of treatment. The AJCC’s TNM classification based on tumor, lymphnodes involvemen and distance metastasis [7] (Table 2). TNM is often used for most of the cancer staging. However, it is mostly appropriate for postoperative pathological staging, as some information such as tumor invasion, lymphnode metastasis, may not be accurately assessed before surgery.

In 2011, an international working group based on a consensus from the European Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Assoiation, published a new most complete staging/classification system [8] (Table 3) [16]. This is not only including information about bile duct, hepatic artery and portal vein, but also covering tumor biological growing form, liver resection related information such as liver volume, remnant volume and, background liver disease history. This system seems very complicated with some information not easily and accurately obtainable before resection.

Surgical management update

Original local resection of hilar cholangiocarcinoma (Klatskin tumor) had poor long term results with 5 year survival <7.3% [9]. In 1990’s, more and more studies showed R0 resection resulted longer survival. Klatskin tumor is found to have relatively low distance metastasis and high local recurrences. Therefore, combining radical choledochectomy with liver lobectomy was promoted, especially including right hemi- or right extended hemihepatectomy plus caudate lobe resection [10,11]. The 5 year survival rate increased to over 30-40%. However, postoperative morbidity and mortality were as high as 59% and 11%. In 2009, Chen XP et al. [12] however, published a paper on British Journal of Surgery, suggesting minor limited hepatectomy for patients whose cancers were not involving vascular structures might not be necessarily worse in outcome, with 5-yr survival rate of 34%, while the postoperative morbidity and mortality from a major extended resection were greatly avoided [12].Issue of vascular resection and reconstruction has been reviewed through a mega-analysis by Abass S and Sandrassi C [13]. There were 669 patients out of 2457 cases had vascular resection, 22-88% resected sample were found positive on pathology, 36-88% of patients achieved R0 resection while the morbidity and mortality were respectively 22-88% and 2-15%. Five year survival was 20-56%. In 2012, Jong MC et al. [14] reported a multi-institutional analysis of 305 cases [14], showing portal vein resection should be undertaken when necessary to extirpate all disease. Combined liver resection, extra-hepatice bile duct resection and portal vein resection can offer long-term survival in some patients with advanced hilar cholangiocarcinoma.Liver transplantation for treatment of cholangiocarcinoma has been attempted for more than twenty years. Before 2000, however, five year survival was only 28%. With neo-adjuvant therapy, the results were gradually improving. In 2005, Rea SR et al. [15] from Mayo Clinic with tedious strict preoperative selecting and treatment protocol [15]. The results was significantly better, with 1, 3, 5 year survival as 92%, 82% and 82%. Liver transplantation as a treatment option though in a small highlyselected group of patient, achieves R0 resection more readily without concerning about lobar atrophy, intrahepatic bile duct or vascular involvment.Go to

Proposal Of New Clinical Classification

Former staging/classifications did not take fully consideration of therapeutic process and are limited on description of cancer status related surgical management. Any final results of a cancer patient treatment is actually determined by three parts [15]:

patient’s systemic healthy with range of tolerance of therapeutic actions;

the cancer itself and its response to therapies; and

the therapies.

This new clinical classification is based on clinical therapeutic options according to patient’s condition and cancer status. As therapeutic technologies including neoadjuvant therapy, chemoradiation and transplantation, are continuously improving, with further advances in therapeutic technologies in the future, more vpatients will receive radical treatment with better final results. In order to take all present available therapeutic options into consideration, a new clinical therapeutic classification is here proposed (Table 4).

BD: Bile Duct; PV: Portal Vein; HA: Hepatic Artery; lap: Exploratory Laparotomy; LXT: Liver TransplantationThis relatively simple classification is to help in making clinical decisions regarding therapeutic purpose. The patients with Klatskin tumor are classified in 4 groups: resectable, marginally resectable, unresectable but transplantable and, unresectable and untransplantatable. Surgical treatment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma is not only depending on resection, but also on reconstruction. We could do as much resection as possible, as long as vascular and biliary reconstruction is achievable. Liver transplantation is useful when reconstruction becomes not possible. However, in order to achieve long-term good outcome with liver transplantation, liver transplantation could only be used in highly-selected patient group without distance metastasis, at present i.e. biologically less aggressive with 3-months neoadjuvant therapy with no progress and pathologically localized tumor with exploratory laparotomy -finding of no positive lymphnode.Go to

Conclusion

Advances in management of hilar cholangiocarcinoma (Klatskin Tumor) leads to a new clinical classification, which will facilitate in clinical therapeutic decision at present time.

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