Making Steel: Understanding the Lived Experience

This article describes the nature of the 'Steel Project' being undertaken by the Beaton Institute in Cape Breton. Using a phenomenological approach, researchers attempt to understand the nature of steelmaking technology and workers' particular part in it through interviews and other documentation. Examples of this approach are provided.Cet article décrit le « Projet acier » mis sur pied par le Beaton Institute du Cap Breton. Inspiré d’un point de vue phénoménologique, ce travail vise à comprendre la nature de la technologie de fabrication de l’acier et de la place des travailleurs dans ce processus. L’analyse se fonde sur des entrevues et d’autre sources documentaires

Slag Houses in a Steel City

Community-based co-operation has long been an important factor in promoting the con-struction of housing for low-income families in Canada. The Insulite Housing Group was a co-operative that used a combination tradi-tional work culture and innovative materials and techniques to build 15 slag houses in Sydney, Nova Scotia, between 1950 and 1954. This group built houses using an innovative building technology utilizing slag from the Sydney steel plant. It operated within a tradi-tional work culture that recognized mutual benefit and resiliency. This article will centre on the ground-level experience of home-building in this particular co-operative: materials and technology, financial arrangements, and the group members' relationships with each other, their leader, the steel company and to a lesser extent, the state. Résumé La coopération communautaire joue depuis longtemps un rôle appréciable dans la pro-motion de la construction de logements pour familles à faibles revenus au Canada. La coopérative Insulite Housing Group a allié la culture ouvrière traditionnelle à de nouveaux matériaux pour ériger quinze logements col-lectifs à Sydney, en Nouvelle-Ecosse, de 1950 à 1954. Elle a bâti ces habitations grâce à une technique de construction novatrice utilisant le laitier d'une aciérie de Sydney. Elle s'enracinait dans une culture ouvrière traditionnelle qui soulignait l'importance du bien commun et de la capacité d'adaptation. L'article met en relief l'expérience sur le terrain acquise lors de la construction des bâtiments dans le cadre de ce projet coopératif particulier : matériaux et technologie, modalités de financement et rapports entre les membres du groupe et avec leur dirigeant, l'aciérie et, dans une moindre mesure, l'État

Gaspereau Fishing on the Southwest Margaree: Gathering at the River

For generations, farming families on the Southwest Margaree River in Cape Breton have harvested gaspereau, the fish also known as alewife. The Margaree gaspereau is sold for lobster bait, or to buyers who export it to the Caribbean, mainly Haiti. In this article, narratives form the basis of understanding the natural, technological, regulatory and commercial processes involved in the gaspereau fishery on the Southwest Margaree River, in particular through storytelling and anecdotes. The gaspereau trap used on the Margaree is of particular interest because it was developed on the Margaree River by a Mi’kmaq fisher; it is now used by both native and non-native gaspereau fishers on Cape Breton Island. The sources for this study consist mainly of interviews with those directly involved in the fishery, and, to a lesser extent, discussions with government officials and the wider Margaree community. The result is a realization that the Margaree gaspereau fishery is important, not only as an income supplement, but also as a form of social cohesion in a particular community.Pendant des générations, des familles de cultivateurs de la rivière Margaree du Sud-Ouest ont pêché le gaspareau, poisson également appelé alewife. Le gaspareau de la rivière Margaree est vendu comme appât à homard, ou à des acheteurs qui l’exportent aux Caraïbes, principalement en Haïti. Dans cet article, les récits, en particulier la tradition orale et les anecdotes, représentent un moyen privilégié de comprendre les processus naturels, technologiques, réglementaires et commerciaux impliqués dans la pêche au gaspareau sur la rivière Margaree du Sud-Ouest. Le piège à gaspareaux utilisé sur la rivière Margaree présente un intérêt particulier, car il a été inventé localement par un pêcheur mi’kmaq ; il est à présent utilisé à la fois par les pêcheurs au gaspareau autochtones et non autochtones de l’île du Cap Breton. Les sources utilisées pour cette étude consistent surtout en entrevues réalisées avec des personnes impliquées directement dans la pêche et, à un degré moindre, en discussions avec des fonctionnaires du gouvernement et la communauté étendue de la rivière Margaree. L’étude conclut que la pêche au gaspareau sur la Margaree a son importance, non seulement en tant que revenu d’appoint, mais aussi en tant que forme de cohésion sociale d’une communauté particulière

Vandetanib-eluting radiopaque beads and stereotactic body radiotherapy in the treatment of liver cancers

Background: Current treatment options for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and colorectal liver metastases (mCRC) include transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE) and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). The objectives of this project were: 1. To assess a novel drug-eluting bead for TACE / 2. To report on the safety and efficacy of SBRT in HCC / 3. To assess the feasibility of using radiopaque beads as fiducial markers for SBRT / Methods: In Part 1, a first-in-human trial was performed in patients with HCC and mCRC using a novel vandetanib-eluting radiopaque bead, BTG-002814. Primary trial endpoints were safety/tolerability and the concentrations of vandetanib and its major metabolite in plasma and resected tissue. Biomarker studies included blood cytokines and perfusion imaging parameters. In Part 2, the efficacy of SBRT was explored in a retrospective study of 31 patients with HCC tumours ≤5 cm and in a phase II study of 13 patients with larger tumours. In Part 3 the feasibility of using radiopaque beads as fiducial markers for SBRT was investigated. / Results: BTG-002814 was shown to have a satisfactory safety profile in 8 patients. Vandetanib was present in the plasma of all patients 12 days post-TACE, and present in resected liver tissue up to 32 days post-treatment. There were no significant changes in perfusion parameters. Blood biomarker studies showed increases in leptin, osteopontin and sTie2. SBRT offered 1-year local control rates of 94% in small HCCs and 92% in larger tumours. Radiopaque beads were visible on 4D-CT and CBCT images in all 8 cases and matching successfully performed. / Conclusions: The safety profile and pharmacokinetic characteristics for this novel technology are adequate to proceed to a Phase I/II trial. SBRT is an effective local treatment for HCC. The role of radiopaque beads as fiducial markers is feasible and warrants further exploration as a clinical trial of TACE with SBRT

Revisiting Incomplete Neutralization: The Case of Puerto Rican Spanish

Recent advances in phonetic analysis have led researchers to re-examine sounds that were previously assumed to be contextually neutralized, or merged into a single pronunciation. By using fine-grained spectrographic analysis, linguists have discovered that in many cases where neutralization was assumed, sounds are actually incompletely neutralized. That is, there are small differences in the articulation of these sounds such that they are in fact not merged, even though impressionistic descriptions report them as such. However, many researchers argue that the differences in pronunciation found in linguistic experiments are the result of hyperarticulation induced by the formality of the laboratory setting. In order to test whether or not incomplete neutralization exists in spontaneous speech, this study utilizes sociolinguistic interview data to examine coda liquid neutralization in Puerto Rican Spanish. The results from this study provide evidence that incomplete neutralization occurs outside of the laboratory context shows that the degree of neutralization and distinction between coda and in this dialect is conditioned by social and linguistic factors

Degradation of beta-actin in aging blood and semen stains

Piecing together a crime scene is one of the most significant components of any forensic investigation and estimating the age of biological stains at a scene can be crucial to the case. Several studies have demonstrated a correlation between the degradation kinetics for mRNA transcripts present in dried body fluid stains aged for varying amounts of time. The relationship between the age of a sample and the state of degradation of many transcripts can be exploited to estimate the age of an unknown crime scene stain. In this laboratory, preliminary work has demonstrated that the 5’ and 3’ ends of many mRNA transcripts degrade at different rates during aging of body fluid stains. The purpose of this study was to map the degradation of the entire ACTB transcript (~1800 nucleotides long) in dried blood and semen stains and to determine if variances in degradation sensitivity are uniformly distributed along the length of the molecule. We also evaluated the kinetics of ACTB mRNA degradation in dried blood and semen stains to determine whether there are any tissue-specific differences in transcript degradation. The findings of this study will contribute to the knowledge that will be needed to apply this technology to estimate the age of biological evidence recovered from a crime scene

Chemical sensors for in situ data collection in the cryosphere

Glaciers and ice sheets are recognised as important components of global biogeochemical cycles. Chemical sensors have great potential for in situ monitoring in the cryosphere and are available for many analytes of interest, but they are frequently unsuitable for deployment since meltwaters are cold, turbid, experience freeze-thaw cycles and display low ionic strength and concentrations of target analytes. Here, we review in situ chemical sensors currently available for measurement of biogeochemically important analytes and assess their suitability for deployment. These include standard parameters such as dissolved oxygen and pH, along with macronutrients (nitrate/nitrite and phosphate), micronutrients (iron and manganese) and biogenic gases (methane). Where no commercial alternatives are available, we discuss sensors currently in development, and their applicability to these extreme environments. The information presented has great relevance for future science in polar environments, and for the ultimate goal of obtaining in situ data from extreme, inaccessible subglacial environments

RENEB accident simulation exercise

Purpose: The RENEB accident exercise was carried out in order to train the RENEB participants in coordinating and managing potentially large data sets that would be generated in case of a major radiological event. Materials and methods: Each participant was offered the possibility to activate the network by sending an alerting email about a simulated radiation emergency. The same participant had to collect, compile and report capacity, triage categorization and exposure scenario results obtained from all other participants. The exercise was performed over 27 weeks and involved the network consisting of 28 institutes: 21 RENEB members, four candidates and three non-RENEB partners. Results: The duration of a single exercise never exceeded 10 days, while the response from the assisting laboratories never came later than within half a day. During each week of the exercise, around 4500 samples were reported by all service laboratories (SL) to be examined and 54 scenarios were coherently estimated by all laboratories (the standard deviation from the mean of all SL answers for a given scenario category and a set of data was not larger than 3 patient codes). Conclusions: Each participant received training in both the role of a reference laboratory (activating the network) and of a service laboratory (responding to an activation request). The procedures in the case of radiological event were successfully established and tested.VII Programa Marco de Investigación y Desarrollo (VIIPM) de la Unión Europea. nº 29551