Metered oxygen supply aids treatment of domestic sewage

Microbiological fixed-bed process was developed in which supplementary oxygen required by microbial species is supplied by electrochemical device. Rate of addition of oxygen to waste treatment process is controlled to maintain aerobic metabolism and prevent anaerobic metabolisms which produce odorous or toxic products

Development of a bedrest muscle stress apparatus

In attempting further to define the deleterious effects of spaceflight on the human body, measurement systems and techniques were devised to determine the loss of skeletal muscle strength and tone as a result of spaceflight exposure. In order to determine how the muscle degradation process progresses with time during nonuse, a system for measuring muscle stress during bedrest was developed. The Bedrest Muscle Stress Apparatus is configured to slip snugly over the foot board of a standard hospital bed. Data collected with this device correlated well with pre- and post-bedrest data collected with the original skeletal muscle stress apparatus

Probing Exotic Physics With Cosmic Neutrinos

Traditionally, collider experiments have been the primary tool used in searching for particle physics beyond the Standard Model. In this talk, I will discuss alternative approaches for exploring exotic physics scenarios using high energy and ultra-high energy cosmic neutrinos. Such neutrinos can be used to study interactions at energies higher, and over baselines longer, than those accessible to colliders. In this way, neutrino astronomy can provide a window into fundamental physics which is highly complementary to collider techniques. I will discuss the role of neutrino astronomy in fundamental physics, considering the use of such techniques in studying several specific scenarios including low scale gravity models, Standard Model electroweak instanton induced interactions, decaying neutrinos and quantum decoherence.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures; For the proceedings of From Colliders To Cosmic Rays, Prague, Czech Republic, September 7-13, 200

On The Origin Of The Gamma Rays From The Galactic Center

The region surrounding the center of the Milky Way is both astrophysically rich and complex, and is predicted to contain very high densities of dark matter. Utilizing three years of data from the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope (and the recently available Pass 7 ultraclean event class), we study the morphology and spectrum of the gamma ray emission from this region and find evidence of a spatially extended component which peaks at energies between 300 MeV and 10 GeV. We compare our results to those reported by other groups and find good agreement. The extended emission could potentially originate from either the annihilations of dark matter particles in the inner galaxy, or from the collisions of high energy protons that are accelerated by the Milky Way's supermassive black hole with gas. If interpreted as dark matter annihilation products, the emission spectrum favors dark matter particles with a mass in the range of 7-12 GeV (if annihilating dominantly to leptons) or 25-45 GeV (if annihilating dominantly to hadronic final states). The intensity of the emission corresponds to a dark matter annihilation cross section consistent with that required to generate the observed cosmological abundance in the early universe (sigma v ~ 3 x 10^-26 cm^3/s). We also present conservative limits on the dark matter annihilation cross section which are at least as stringent as those derived from other observations.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figure

A Tiger with No Teeth: The Case for Fee Shifting in State Public Records Law

A federal lawsuit filed against the city of Columbia, Missouri, alleging police brutality seemed destined for headlines in 2010. At its core was an incident in which a routine traffic stop for a broken taillight erupted into a “fracas” in which police allegedly both tased and beat a man and threw a woman to the ground. A Columbia Daily Tribune reporter following the case filed a public records request for any documents concerning the incident. A police spokesperson contacted him days later to let him know the records were ready for pickup

Some Physical Properties of Concentrated Aqueous Salt Solutions

The densities and refractive indices were determined at 25° for solutions of the halides of some of the alkali metals, over a concentration range from 0.1 molal to almost saturation. The partial molal volumes were calculated by differentiating the equations of the volume-molality curves. From the refractive index the specific refractivity of the solution and of the solute were calculated. The specific refractivity of the solute was found to be constant throughout the concentrations studied. Using an equation derived by Hückel, involving the refractive index, the dielectric constants of the solutions were calculated

Some Physical Properties of Aqueous Salt Solutions

The refractive indices of solutions of the alkali halides and nitrates were determined at 25 ° and from these the specific refractivities of both the solution and solute were calculated by means of the Lorenz-Lorentz formula. From density data the partial molal volumes were also calculated. The dielectric constants of the solutions were calculated by means of the Huckel relation involving the refractive index and were found to decrease with increase in concentration, the values for all salts approaching the same small value at saturation. The activities were calculated according to the equation given by Huckel for concentrated solutions of strong electrolytes and were found to agree qualitatively with experimental values

Satellite applications to marine geodesy

Potential use of satellites for enhancing positioning capabilities and for marine geodetic contro