Improved method and apparatus for waste collection and storage

A method and apparatus for the collection of fecal matter are designed to operate efficiently in a zero gravity environment. The system comprises a waste collection area within a body having a seat opening. Low pressure within the waste collection area directs fecal matter away from the user's buttocks and prevents the escape of undesirable gases. The user actuates a piston covered with an absorbent pad that sweeps through the waste collection area to collect fecal matter, scrub the waste collection area, press the matter against an end of the waste collection area and retracts, leaving the used pad. Multiple pads are provided on the piston to accommodate multiple uses of the system. Also a valve allows air to be drawn through the body, which valve will not be plugged with fecal matter. A sheet feeder feeds fresh sheets of absorbent pad to a face of the piston with each actuation

Valve for waste collection and storage

A method and valve apparatus for collection of fecal matter designed to operate efficiently in a zero gravity environment is presented. The system comprises a waste collection area within a body having a seat opening. Low pressure within the waste collection area directs fecal matter away from the user's buttocks and prevents the escape of undersirable gases. The user actuates a piston covered with an absorbent pad that sweeps through the waste collection area to collect the fecal matter, scrub the waste collection area, press the waste against an end of the waste collection area and retracts, leaving the used pad. Multiple pads are provided on the piston to accommodate multiple uses of the system. Also a valve allows air to be drawn through the body, so the valve will not be plugged with fecal matter. A sheet feeder feeds fresh sheets of absorbent pads to a face of the piston with each actuation

Method for waste collection and storage

A method for collection of fecal matter designed to operate efficiently in a zero gravity environment was invented. The system consists of a waste collection area within a body having a seat opening. Low pressure within the waste collection area directs fecal matter away from the user's buttocks and prevents the escape of waste gases. The user actuates a piston covered with an absorbent pad that sweeps through the waste collection area to collect fecal matter, scrub the waste collector area, press the waste against an end of the waste collection area and retracts, leaving the used pad. Multiple pads are provided on the piston to accommodate multiple usages. Also a valve allows air to be drawn through the body, which keeps the valve from becomming plugged with the feces. A sheet feeder feeds fresh sheets of absorbent pads to a face of the piston with each actuation

Environmental influences on galaxy evolution

We investigate the role of mergers and interactions in the evolution of galaxies by studying galaxies in compact groups. Compact groups of galaxies have high spatial densities and low velocity dispersions making these regions ideal laboratories in which to study the effect of interactions and mergers. Based on a detailed spectroscopic and multi-color imaging study, we find that both the isophotal shapes and the stellar kinematics indicate that many of the elliptical galaxies in compact groups have been affected by tidal interactions. At the same time, however, we find that only a few elliptical galaxies in compact groups have evidence for the young stellar populations that would be expected if they are the result of recent merger of two spiral galaxies. Therefore, we conclude that tidal interactions affect galaxy properties at the current epoch, but the bulk of basic galaxy formation and transformation must have occurred at much higher redshift

Experimental Investigation of Stresses in Gusset Plates

Formerly, it was common practice to design and build trusses with pin connected joints. However, at present this practice has been virtually discontinued, owing to the increasing popularity of riveted connections. It is a reasonable assumption that rivets (or bolts) are used in 90% of all connections in present structural practice. The advantages of the riveted joint are due largely to the inherent strength, stiffness, and rigidity of this type of construction. This eliminates much vibration and wear, resulting in a more durable structure. At present, the usual practice is to rivet or bolt all the members meeting at a joint to a plate (or plates). These plates, commonly called gusset plates are subjected to a multiplicity of stresses which fact makes the analytical stress determination quite difficult, if not impossible. The gusset plate must transmit the direct stress in each member (or difference in stress for a member which continues through the joint) by direct, bending and shearing stresses. If there is any bending twist (torque), in the members, the gusset plate must also resist these moments, setting up a more complex pattern of stress. Modern practice is to make the size of the gusset plate, in the plane of the truss, as large as necessary so that all required rivets may be placed properly, and then to select a thickness in accordance with average values used for similar trusses. The stresses are then analyzed as carefully as possible to make sure that the plates are adequate and economical. This analysis generally requires passing various sections through the plate and analyzing for direct, bending and sharing stresses, all of which necessitates making certain questionable assumptions

Factors Associated with Unmet Respite Care Needs in Families of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Background. One in sixty-eight children have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). To optimize outcomes to families through use of respite care, we examined the prevalence of unmet respite care needs and associated factors in families of children with ASD, compared to families of children with special healthcare needs (CSHCN) without ASD. Design. An exploratory secondary analysis of the 2009-2010 National Survey of Children with Special Healthcare Needs (NS-CSHCN) was conducted using a non-experimental, descriptive, correlational design. The NS-CSHCN is a national cross-sectional telephone survey of 40,242 US households. The final sample included parents of children age 2-18 years old with ASD (n=935) and parents of CSHCN without ASD (n=1,583) who reported a need for respite care. Logistic regression was used to examine relationships between context factors that were aligned with the Individual and Family Self-Management Theory and unmet respite care needs. Results. Parents of children with ASD who had unmet respite care needs were predominantly white, well-educated, affluent mothers of male children 12-17 years old with limited functional status. Differences in prevalence of unmet respite care needs were found between parents of children with ASD (14%; n=558) and parents of CSHCN without ASD (2%; n=717). In parents of children with ASD, Child Functional Status, Hours/Week Providing Care, and Family Financial Burden were significant predictors of unmet respite care needs. Conclusions. The prevalence of unmet respite care needs in parents of children with ASD was seven times higher than parents of CSHCN without ASD. Screening all parents of CSHCN for unmet respite care needs is important, recognizing that parents of children with ASD, functional limitations and high caregiving demands are at highest risk for unmet respite care needs. Increased funding for and reimbursement of respite care services is needed to optimize family outcomes

<interdisciplinary space-oriented research program in the physical, life, and engineering sciences< progress report

Physics research - plasmas, gas dynamics, magnetic effects, neutron absorption, shell theory, elasticity, and radial hea

First Starbursts at high redshift: Formation of globular clusters

Numerical simulations of a Milky Way-size galaxy demonstrate that globular clusters with the properties similar to observed can form naturally at z > 3 in the concordance Lambda-CDM cosmology. The clusters in our model form in the strongly baryon-dominated cores of supergiant molecular clouds. The first clusters form at z = 12, while the peak formation appears to be at z = 3-5. The zero-age mass function of globular clusters can be approximated by a power-law dN/dM ~ M^-2, in agreement with observations of young massive star clusters.Comment: 4 pages, proceedings of the "Multi-Wavelength Cosmology" meeting, June 200

Star Formation in Violent and Normal Evolutionary Phases

Mergers of massive gas-rich galaxies trigger violent starbursts that - over timescales of $> 100$ Myr and regions $> 10$ kpc - form massive and compact star clusters comparable in mass and radii to Galactic globular clusters. The star formation efficiency is higher by 1 - 2 orders of magnitude in these bursts than in undisturbed spirals, irregulars or even BCDs. We ask the question if star formation in these extreme regimes is just a scaled-up version of the normal star formation mode of if the formation of globular clusters reveals fundamentally different conditions.Comment: 4 pages To appear in The Evolution of Galaxies. II. Basic building blocks, eds. M. Sauvage, G. Stasinska, L. Vigroux, D. Schaerer, S. Madde