Wet atmospheric generation apparatus

The invention described relates to an apparatus for providing a selectively humidified gas to a camera canister containing cameras and film used in space. A source of pressurized gas (leak test gas or motive gas) is selected by a valve, regulated to a desired pressure by a regulator, and routed through an ejector (venturi device). A regulated source of water vapor in the form of steam from a heated reservoir is coupled to a low pressure region of the ejector which mixes with high velocity gas flow through the ejector. This mixture is sampled by a dew point sensor to obtain dew point thereof (ratio of water vapor to gas) and the apparatus adjusted by varying gas pressure or water vapor to provide a mixture at a connector having selected humidity content

Raped, beaten and bruised: military institutional abuse, identity wounds and veteran suicide

The Australian government has recently established a Royal Commission on Defence and Veteran Suicide (DVSRC). Veteran suicide rates for those who have left the Australian Defence Force (ADF) are higher than the national average and there has been little success in reducing this over an extended period of time. Veteran suicide is poorly understood, and the collected data is imprecise and incomplete. Deployment trauma and Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD i.e. a mental health lens) are taken for granted as the principal causes. This article presents a case study on institutional abuse in the ADF which led to the veteran attempting suicide on numerous occasions. The article draws upon the mental health and moral injury knowledge but questions their centrality and dominance. Military Institutional Abuse (MIA) and its consequent identity wounds are explained as institutional causes of military trauma. We argue that these institutional abuse processes and their consequences, occurring within military moral geographies, lead to suicidal ideation and attempt. These are situated within wider relations of civil society, the state, and the military

Feeding behavior of the ctenophore Thalassocalyce inconstans : revision of anatomy of the order Thalassocalycida

© 2009 The Authors. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License. The definitive version was published in Marine Biology 156 (2009): 1049-1056, doi:10.1007/s00227-009-1149-6.Behavioral observations using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in the Gulf of California in March, 2003, provided insights into the vertical distribution, feeding and anatomy of the rare and delicate ctenophore Thalassocalyce inconstans. Additional archived ROV video records from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute of 288 sightings of T. inconstans and 2,437 individual observations of euphausiids in the Gulf of California and Monterey Canyon between 1989 and 2005 were examined to determine ctenophore and euphausiid prey depth distributions with respect to temperature and dissolved oxygen concentration [dO]. In the Gulf of California most ctenophores (96.9%) were above 350 m, the top of the oxygen minimum layer. In Monterey Canyon the ctenophores were more widely distributed throughout the water column, including the hypoxic zone, to depths as great as 3,500 m. Computer-aided behavioral analysis of two video records of the capture of euphausiids by T. inconstans showed that the ctenophore contracted its bell almost instantly (0.5 s), transforming its flattened, hemispherical resting shape into a closed bi-lobed globe in which seawater and prey were engulfed. Euphausiids entrapped within the globe displayed a previously undescribed escape response for krill (‘probing behavior’), in which they hovered and gently probed the inner surfaces of the globe with antennae without stimulating further contraction by the ctenophore. Such rapid bell contraction could be effected only by a peripheral sphincter muscle even though the presence of circumferential ring musculature was unknown for the Phylum Ctenophora. Thereafter, several live T. inconstans were collected by hand off Barbados and microscopic observations confirmed that assumption.Supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and NOAA Grant #NA06OAR4600091

Beating dark-dark solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates

Motivated by recent experimental results, we study beating dark-dark solitons as a prototypical coherent structure that emerges in two-component Bose-Einstein condensates. We showcase their connection to dark- bright solitons via SO(2) rotation, and infer from it both their intrinsic beating frequency and their frequency of oscillation inside a parabolic trap. We identify them as exact periodic orbits in the Manakov limit of equal inter- and intra-species nonlinearity strengths with and without the trap and showcase the persistence of such states upon weak deviations from this limit. We also consider large deviations from the Manakov limit illustrating that this breathing state may be broken apart into dark-antidark soliton states. Finally, we consider the dynamics and interactions of two beating dark-dark solitons in the absence and in the presence of the trap, inferring their typically repulsive interaction.Comment: 13 pages, 14 figure

The effect of metabolic phenotype on sociability and social group size preference in a coral reef fish

Although individuals within social groups experience reduced predation risk and find food patches more consistently, there can be competition for food among groupmates. Individuals with a higher standard metabolic rate (SMR) may be less social, to prioritize food acquisition over defense, while a greater maximum metabolic rate (MMR) may modulate sociability through increased competitive ability. Therefore, in theory, individuals with a higher SMR may prefer smaller groups and those with greater MMR may prefer larger groups. We examined links among metabolic phenotype, sociability, and choice of group size in the redbelly yellowtail fusilier Caesio cuning. Individuals were exposed to three association tests: (a) a choice between two fish or zero fish; (b) a choice between five fish or zero fish; and (c) a choice between two fish and five fish. The first two tests quantified sociability while the third measured relative group size choice. Although there was no link between SMR and sociability, fish with a higher MMR were more social than those individuals with a lower MMR. While no correlation was found between MMR and group size choice, there was weak evidence that, if anything, individuals with a higher SMR preferred larger groups, contrary to our hypothesis. As C. cuning is an active fish that spends a large proportion of time operating above SMR, this result could suggest that the links between sociability and SMR may shift depending on a species’ routine behavior. Links between sociability and MMR may arise if competitive ability allows individuals to obtain resources within groups. Although metabolic traits had no significant influence on group size choice, variation in food availability or predation risk could alter the effects of metabolism on group size choice

Prospective open-label study of add-on and monotherapy topiramate in civilians with chronic nonhallucinatory posttraumatic stress disorder

BACKGROUND: In order to confirm therapeutic effects of topiramate on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) observed in a prior study, a new prospective, open-label study was conducted to examine acute responses in chronic, nonhallucinatory PTSD. METHODS: Thirty-three consecutive newly recruited civilian adult outpatients (mean age 46 years, 85% female) with DSM-IV-diagnosed chronic PTSD, excluding those with concurrent auditory or visual hallucinations, received topiramate either as monotherapy (n = 5) or augmentation (n = 28). The primary measure was a change in the PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C) score from baseline to 4 weeks, with response defined as a ≥ 30% reduction of PTSD symptoms. RESULTS: For those taking the PCL-C at both baseline and week 4 (n = 30), total symptoms declined by 49% at week 4 (paired t-test, P < 0.001) with similar subscale reductions for reexperiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyperarousal symptoms. The response rate at week 4 was 77%. Age, sex, bipolar comorbidity, age at onset of PTSD, duration of symptoms, severity of baseline PCL-C score, and monotherapy versus add-on medication administration did not predict reduction in PTSD symptoms. Median time to full response was 9 days and median dosage was 50 mg/day. CONCLUSIONS: Promising open-label findings in a new sample converge with findings of a previous study. The use of topiramate for treatment of chronic PTSD, at least in civilians, warrants controlled clinical trials