Perforated Groove Cam Lock

NASA Artemis III astronauts need a way to attach and detach various tools to an extension handle to be used during lunar EVA sample collection. Because lunar dust is so harsh and abundant, mechanisms must be designed to function regardless of the number of contact particulates. Past designs used on the Apollo missions proved to be problematic for their operators, opening the door for innovative improvement. A new mechanism has been proposed that directly addresses the performance issues of the original handle extension mentioned in NASA’s Apollo mission reports. The new mechanism boasts an open design that promotes dust tolerance while maintaining operational simplicity. The device contains two primary components: a cylindrical insert with a notched groove, and a perforated socket paired with a cam latch. The notches in the insert allow lunar dust to pass through the negative space without sacrificing contact stability. A similar effect is achieved by the perforations in the socket. The assembly meets all Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) standards and is intended for use with EVA gloved hands. The approved design proposal is complete and physical development is near complete. The justification for this design pertains to the challenge specifications provided by NASA. All material requirements, as well as a finalized manufacturing plan have been identified. All specifications meet compliance, and a final prototype was tested in the NBL as well as the Simulant Lab in the Johnson Space Center

Reading, Trauma and Literary Caregiving 1914-1918: Helen Mary Gaskell and the War Library

This article is about the relationship between reading, trauma and responsive literary caregiving in Britain during the First World War. Its analysis of two little-known documents describing the history of the War Library, begun by Helen Mary Gaskell in 1914, exposes a gap in the scholarship of war-time reading; generates a new narrative of "how," "when," and "why" books went to war; and foregrounds gender in its analysis of the historiography. The Library of Congress's T. W. Koch discovered Gaskell's ground-breaking work in 1917 and reported its successes to the American Library Association. The British Times also covered Gaskell's library, yet researchers working on reading during the war have routinely neglected her distinct model and method, skewing the research base on war-time reading and its association with trauma and caregiving. In the article's second half, a literary case study of a popular war novel demonstrates the extent of the "bitter cry for books." The success of Gaskell's intervention is examined alongside H. G. Wells's representation of textual healing. Reading is shown to offer sick, traumatized and recovering combatants emotional and psychological caregiving in ways that she could not always have predicted and that are not visible in the literary/historical record

Temperature dependence on the mass susceptibility and mass magnetization of superparamagnetic Mn–Zn–ferrite nanoparticles as contrast agents for magnetic imaging of oil and gas reservoirs

The mass susceptibility (χmass) and mass magnetization (Mmass) were determined for a series of ternary manganese and zinc ferrite nanoparticles (Mn–Zn ferrite NPs, MnxZn1−xFe2O4) with different Mn:Zn ratios (0.08 ≤ x ≤ 4.67), prepared by the thermal decomposition reaction of the appropriate metal acetylacetonate complexes, and for the binary homologs (MxFe3−xO4, where M = Mn or Zn). Alteration of the Mn:Zn ratio in Mn–Zn ferrite NPs does not significantly affect the particle size. At room temperature and low applied field strength the mass susceptibility increases sharply as the Mn:Zn ratio increases, but above a ratio of 0.4 further increase in the amount of manganese results in the mass susceptibility decreasing slightly, reaching a plateau above Mn:Zn ≈ 2. The compositional dependence of the mass magnetization shows less of a variation at room temperature and high applied fields. The temperature dependence of the mass magnetization of Mn–Zn ferrite NPs is significantly less for Mn-rich compositions making them more suitable for downhole imaging at higher temperatures (>100 °C). For non-shale reservoirs, replacement of nMag by Mn-rich Mn–Zn ferrites will allow for significant signal-to-noise enhancement of 6.5× over NP magnetite

Climate-informed stochastic hydrological modeling: Incorporating decadal-scale variability using paleo data

A hierarchical framework for incorporating modes of climate variability into stochastic simulations of hydrological data is developed, termed the climate-informed multi-time scale stochastic (CIMSS) framework. A case study on two catchments in eastern Australia illustrates this framework. To develop an identifiable model characterizing long-term variability for the first level of the hierarchy, paleoclimate proxies, and instrumental indices describing the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) are analyzed. A new paleo IPO-PDO time series dating back 440 yr is produced, combining seven IPO-PDO paleo sources using an objective smoothing procedure to fit low-pass filters to individual records. The paleo data analysis indicates that wet/dry IPO-PDO states have a broad range of run lengths, with 90% between 3 and 33 yr and a mean of 15 yr. The Markov chain model, previously used to simulate oscillating wet/dry climate states, is found to underestimate the probability of wet/dry periods >5 yr, and is rejected in favor of a gamma distribution for simulating the run lengths of the wet/dry IPO-PDO states. For the second level of the hierarchy, a seasonal rainfall model is conditioned on the simulated IPO-PDO state. The model is able to replicate observed statistics such as seasonal and multiyear accumulated rainfall distributions and interannual autocorrelations. Mean seasonal rainfall in the IPO-PDO dry states is found to be 15%-28% lower than the wet state at the case study sites. In comparison, an annual lag-one autoregressive model is unable to adequately capture the observed rainfall distribution within separate IPO-PDO states. Copyright © 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.Benjamin J. Henley, Mark A. Thyer, George Kuczera and Stewart W. Frank

Climate-informed stochastic hydrological modeling: Incorporating decadal-scale variability using paleo data

A hierarchical framework for incorporating modes of climate variability into stochastic simulations of hydrological data is developed, termed the climate-informed multi-time scale stochastic (CIMSS) framework. A case study on two catchments in eastern Australia illustrates this framework. To develop an identifiable model characterizing long-term variability for the first level of the hierarchy, paleoclimate proxies, and instrumental indices describing the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) are analyzed. A new paleo IPO-PDO time series dating back 440 yr is produced, combining seven IPO-PDO paleo sources using an objective smoothing procedure to fit low-pass filters to individual records. The paleo data analysis indicates that wet/dry IPO-PDO states have a broad range of run lengths, with 90% between 3 and 33 yr and a mean of 15 yr. The Markov chain model, previously used to simulate oscillating wet/dry climate states, is found to underestimate the probability of wet/dry periods >5 yr, and is rejected in favor of a gamma distribution for simulating the run lengths of the wet/dry IPO-PDO states. For the second level of the hierarchy, a seasonal rainfall model is conditioned on the simulated IPO-PDO state. The model is able to replicate observed statistics such as seasonal and multiyear accumulated rainfall distributions and interannual autocorrelations. Mean seasonal rainfall in the IPO-PDO dry states is found to be 15%-28% lower than the wet state at the case study sites. In comparison, an annual lag-one autoregressive model is unable to adequately capture the observed rainfall distribution within separate IPO-PDO states. Copyright © 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.Benjamin J. Henley, Mark A. Thyer, George Kuczera and Stewart W. Frank

Personalized Exposure Assessment: Promising Approaches for Human Environmental Health Research

New technologies and methods for assessing human exposure to chemicals, dietary and lifestyle factors, infectious agents, and other stressors provide an opportunity to extend the range of human health investigations and advance our understanding of the relationship between environmental exposure and disease. An ad hoc Committee on Environmental Exposure Technology Development was convened to identify new technologies and methods for deriving personalized exposure measurements for application to environmental health studies. The committee identified a “toolbox” of methods for measuring external (environmental) and internal (biologic) exposure and assessing human behaviors that influence the likelihood of exposure to environmental agents. The methods use environmental sensors, geographic information systems, biologic sensors, toxicogenomics, and body burden (biologic) measurements. We discuss each of the methods in relation to current use in human health research; specific gaps in the development, validation, and application of the methods are highlighted. We also present a conceptual framework for moving these technologies into use and acceptance by the scientific community. The framework focuses on understanding complex human diseases using an integrated approach to exposure assessment to define particular exposure–disease relationships and the interaction of genetic and environmental factors in disease occurrence. Improved methods for exposure assessment will result in better means of monitoring and targeting intervention and prevention programs

Does age matter? The impact of rodent age on study outcomes

Rodent models produce data which underpin biomedical research and non-clinical drug trials, but translation from rodents into successful clinical outcomes is often lacking. There is a growing body of evidence showing that improving experimental design is key to improving the predictive nature of rodent studies and reducing the number of animals used in research. Age, one important factor in experimental design, is often poorly reported and can be overlooked. The authors conducted a survey to assess the age used for a range of models, and the reasoning for age choice. From 297 respondents providing 611 responses, researchers reported using rodents most often in the 6–20 week age range regardless of the biology being studied. The age referred to as ‘adult’ by respondents varied between six and 20 weeks. Practical reasons for the choice of rodent age were frequently given, with increased cost associated with using older animals and maintenance of historical data comparability being two important limiting factors. These results highlight that choice of age is inconsistent across the research community and often not based on the development or cellular ageing of the system being studied. This could potentially result in decreased scientific validity and increased experimental variability. In some cases the use of older animals may be beneficial. Increased scientific rigour in the choice of the age of rodent may increase the translation of rodent models to humans

Stretch Activated Channels in Proprioceptive Organs of Crab and Crayfish Are Sensitive to Gadolinium but not Amiloride, Ruthenium Red or Low pH

The type of stretch activated receptors (SARs) in the chordotonal organs in the crab walking leg and of the muscle receptor organ (MRO) in the crayfish abdomen have not yet been classified as to their molecular or pharmacological profile. The purpose of this study is to examine the pharmacological profile of SARs in the proprioceptive neurons in the crab and crayfish models. Since many SARs share the pharmacological profile of displaying low pH or being proton sensitive (i.e. being more active) or blocked by the diuretic amiloride or ruthenium red as well as being blocked by the broad stretch activated channel blocker gadolinium (Gd3+), we used these agents to screen the receptors. Various displacement rates as well as static positions that activate the stretch activated receptors were used in examining their pharmacological profiles. Hour-long exposure to low pH decreased neural activity of the chordotonal organ of the crab more so than to amiloride or ruthenium red. The crayfish MRO did not show pH sensitivity or sensitivity to amiloride or ruthenium red. Gd3+ rapidly blocked neural activity in both the crab and crayfish. It appears these stretch activated receptors may not have a classification that is suited to the standard pharmacological profiles. The molecular makeup of the channels also awaits characterization. This could reveal a novel SAR subtype. Our neurophysiology course1 took this project on as a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) to address an authentic research question

The Effect of CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e, Intracellular pH and Extracellular pH on Mechanosensory Proprioceptor Responses in Crayfish and Crab

Proprioceptive neurons monitor the movements of limbs and joints to transduce the movements into electrical signals. These neurons function similarly in species from arthropods to humans. These neurons can be compromised in disease states and in adverse environmental conditions such as with changes in external and internal pH. We used two model preparations (the crayfish muscle receptor organ and a chordotonal organ in the limb of a crab) to characterize the responses of these proprioceptors to external and internal pH changes as well as raised CO2. The results demonstrate the proprioceptive organs are not highly sensitive to changes in extracellular pH, when reduced to 5.0 from 7.4. However, if intracellular pH is decreased by exposure to propionic acid or saline containing CO2, there is a rapid decrease in firing rate in response to joint movements. The responses recover quickly upon reintroduction of normal pH (7.4) or saline not tainted with CO2. These basic understandings may help to address the mechanistic properties of mechanosensitive receptors in other organisms, such as muscle spindles in skeletal muscles of mammals and tactile as well as pressure (i.e., blood pressure) sensory receptors

The challenge and response to global tourism in the post-modern era: the commodification, reconfiguration and mutual transformation of Habana Vieja, Cuba

There is a growing literature on the symbolic and cultural meanings of tourism and the ways in which cities are increasingly competing for tourists through the promotion of cultural assets and different forms of spectacle in the `tourist bubble'. To date, research on the role and impact of tourism in cities has largely been confined to those in Western, post-industrial economies. This paper examines the growth of cultural tourism in the central area of Havana, Cuba, and explores the range of unique, devolved, state-owned enterprises that are attempting to use tourism as a funding mechanism to achieve improvements in the social and cultural fabric of the city for the benefit of residents. The paper concludes with an assessment of the implications of this example for our understanding of how the pressures for restructuring and commodification can be moderated at the city level. Copyright 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution