Cryogenic cooling system Patent

Portable cryogenic cooling system design including turbine pump, cooling chamber, and atomize

Phobos LIFE (Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment)

The Planetary Society's Phobos Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment (Phobos LIFE) flew in the sample return capsule of the Russian Federal Space Agency's Phobos Grunt mission and was to have been a test of one aspect of the hypothesis that life can move between nearby planets within ejected rocks. Although the Phobos Grunt mission failed, we present here the scientific and engineering design and motivation of the Phobos LIFE experiment to assist with the scientific and engineering design of similar future experiments. Phobos LIFE flew selected organisms in a simulated meteoroid. The 34-month voyage would have been the first such test to occur in the high-radiation environment outside the protection of Earth's magnetosphere for more than a few days. The patented Phobos LIFE “biomodule” is an 88 g cylinder consisting of a titanium outer shell, several types of redundant seals, and 31 individual Delrin sample containers. Phobos LIFE contained 10 different organisms, representing all three domains of life, and one soil sample. The organisms are all very well characterized, most with sequenced genomes. Most are extremophiles, and most have flown in low Earth orbit. Upon return from space, the health and characteristics of organisms were to have been compared with controls that remained on Earth and have not yet been opened

Adoptive Behaviors of Farmers After Training and Their Subsequent Diffusive Behaviors In Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

This study focused on Kenyan farmers in the Moiben area who participated in three agricultural seminars at Twiga demonstration farm. The problem of interest was the need for increased dissemination of improved agricultural practices to enhance production and processing of crops related to food security and socio-economic well-being. The study investigated associations between adoptive behaviors of participants and their subsequent behavior related to diffusing improved practices to others. Data was collected using a demographic questionnaire and two structured interview schedules. Correlational analysis was conducted on post-training behavior variables, using Kendall’s tau calculations. The study found that farmers across the samples who exhibited higher levels of adoption of workshop-recommended innovations also had a moderate to strong likelihood of showing correspondingly higher levels of diffusion-related behavior. It was concluded that these findings align well with Rogers’ (2003) discussion of change-agent credibility, and also with Bandura’s (2006) work on social modeling and perceived self-efficacy. It was recommended that offering community-based agricultural seminars such as those in this study be continued and expanded, as an important component in a pluralistic model of agricultural extension methodology for Sub-Saharan Africa. It was further recommended that farmers who adopt improved practices learned in training be identified specifically for further interventions related to implementation and diffusion of agricultural innovations

Do horses recognize the difference between harsh tones and soothing tones when using voice as a reinforcer for learning a frightening task

When working with horses, it is frequently asserted that horses have an inherent understanding of harsh voice cues that would be used as reprimands versus soothing voice cues that may be used as positive reinforcers/calming modifiers. If horses are unable to understand this difference, handlers often make poor assumptions that potentially lead to unfair training. A total of 95 horses from 4 different locations in US and Europe were randomly assigned to either soothing voice treatment (SV; n=52) or harsh voice treatment (HV; n=43). The learning task involved horses of various breeds and ages learning to cross a tarpaulin. Methodology was standardised across locations. SV involved handlers saying \u201cgood horse\u201d in a soft, soothing manner whenever horses made forward progress toward the tarpaulin. HV involved saying \u201cquit it\u201d in a loud, harsh manner whenever horses made forward progress toward the tarpaulin. PRAAT software was used to assess similarities in vocal spectrograms of different handlers/treatments. Mean pitch for SV was 244.4\ub13.11 Hz and 275.1\ub12.01 Hz for HV; both well within the equine hearing range. Average intensity (loudness) for SV was 42.3\ub11.04 dB and 56.0\ub11.80 for HV. Contrary to our hypotheses, risk of failing the task (> 10 min to cross the tarpaulin for the 1st time) was not different between treatments (25% failures SV; 25.5% failures HV; p=0.55). Also, for those horses who did cross the tarpaulin, the total time to achieve calmness criterion (crossing with little/no obvious anxiety) did not differ between treatments (157.3\ub159.8 sec HV vs 245.8\ub143.5 SV, p=0.23. A breed difference was noted: Hot bloods=606.8\ub1145.9 sec vs Warm bloods=120.7\ub118.3 sec, p<0.01. Polar heart rate monitors were used on 68 horses. There was no difference between average HR of horses who crossed (84.7\ub13.9 bpm) vs those who failed (82.1\ub15.1) p=0.69. There was also no difference between HV horses (85.4\ub14.8 bpm) and SV horses (81.3\ub14.2) p=0.52

Phobos LIFE (Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment)

The Planetary Society’s Phobos Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment (Phobos LIFE) flew in the sample return capsule of the Russian Federal Space Agency’s Phobos Grunt mission and was to have been a test of one aspect of the hypothesis that life can move between nearby planets within ejected rocks. Although the Phobos Grunt mission failed, we present here the scientific and engineering design and motivation of the Phobos LIFE experiment to assist with the scientific and engineering design of similar future experiments. Phobos LIFE flew selected organisms in a simulated meteoroid. The 34-month voyage would have been the first such test to occur in the high-radiation environment outside the protection of Earth’s magnetosphere for more than a few days. The patented Phobos LIFE ‘‘biomodule’’ is an 88 g cylinder consisting of a titanium outer shell, several types of redundant seals, and 31 individual Delrin sample containers. Phobos LIFE contained 10 different organisms, representing all three domains of life, and one soil sample. The organisms are all very well characterized, most with sequenced genomes. Most are extremophiles, and most have flown in low Earth orbit. Upon return from space, the health and characteristics of organisms were to have been compared with controls that remained on Earth and have not yet been opened