Combination throttle and shutoff valve

Combination of translating sleeve throttle valve and conventional poppet valve provides capability of shutting off flow completely by poppet and sleeve control of the rate of flow. Integration of the two concepts can be accomplished without difficulty and in a manner that requires a minimum of development

Long life, low cost ball valve, with lifted seals and cartridge type construction

Ball valve design incorporates modular construction in easy-to-install, easy-to-replace cartridge housing, and a system of cams to lift upstream and downstream seals away from the ball during rotation. Tests conducted on nitrogen tetroxide prove new valve to be more efficient than previous models in preventing leakage

NATURAL RESOURCES AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Shellfish Face Uncertain Future in High CO2 World: Influence of Acidification on Oyster Larvae Calcification and Growth in Estuaries

BACKGROUND: Human activities have increased atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide by 36% during the past 200 years. One third of all anthropogenic CO(2) has been absorbed by the oceans, reducing pH by about 0.1 of a unit and significantly altering their carbonate chemistry. There is widespread concern that these changes are altering marine habitats severely, but little or no attention has been given to the biota of estuarine and coastal settings, ecosystems that are less pH buffered because of naturally reduced alkalinity. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To address CO(2)-induced changes to estuarine calcification, veliger larvae of two oyster species, the Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica), and the Suminoe oyster (Crassostrea ariakensis) were grown in estuarine water under four pCO(2) regimes, 280, 380, 560 and 800 microatm, to simulate atmospheric conditions in the pre-industrial era, present, and projected future concentrations in 50 and 100 years respectively. CO(2) manipulations were made using an automated negative feedback control system that allowed continuous and precise control over the pCO(2) in experimental aquaria. Larval growth was measured using image analysis, and calcification was measured by chemical analysis of calcium in their shells. C. virginica experienced a 16% decrease in shell area and a 42% reduction in calcium content when pre-industrial and end of 21(st) century pCO(2) treatments were compared. C. ariakensis showed no change to either growth or calcification. Both species demonstrated net calcification and growth, even when aragonite was undersaturated, a result that runs counter to previous expectations for invertebrate larvae that produce aragonite shells. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest that temperate estuarine and coastal ecosystems are vulnerable to the expected changes in water chemistry due to elevated atmospheric CO(2) and that biological responses to acidification, especially calcifying biota, will be species-specific and therefore much more variable and complex than reported previously

Birds of the Santa Marta region of Colombia: A study in altitudinal distribution

Volume: 14Start Page: 1End Page: 58

In De-Nile of Our Mummy Issues: Memory Under Wraps

Previous research has found a difference in memory recall between different forms of information delivery (Murray & Thomson, 2011; Heikkilä & Tiippana, 2015), finding that visual methods of information delivery yield higher amounts of memory recall than audio methods of information delivery. The purpose of the present study is to look into differences in memory recall between different forms of information delivery. We hypothesized in a preliminary study that participants in the visual group, those receiving written text, would achieve significantly higher scores than participants in the audio group, those hearing the information. Thirty students from University of the Pacific were given a story and then tested on their memory recall of key details. The participants were recruited via SONA and the studies were conducted in the Psychology building. A story with an audio format and the same story in visual format were presented to two separate groups. Participants were given the same memory related test. We conducted an independent samples t test for results. It was found that the visual group performed significantly higher than the audio group. In the next phase of our study, we will add a third condition which will utilize both audio and visual methods (video), to find differences in memory recall between all three groups. We hypothesize that participants in the video group will perform higher than participants in the other conditions. In the next phase of our study, we will be recruiting 30 students via SONA to participate. This experiment will also take place in the Psychology building. Data collection is ongoing. We will conduct an independent samples t test as well as a one-way ANOVA on the data collected. Upon viewing our poster, the audience can expect to examine graphs that detail the results, limitations, as well as a discussion of the findings