Calgary, Edmonton and the University of Alberta: the extraordinary medical mobilization by Canada’s newest province

The Canadian contribution of medical services to the British Empire during the First World War was a national endeavour. Physicians from across the country enlisted in local regiments to join. No other region provided more physicians per capita than the newly formed province of Alberta. Largely org anized through the Medical School of the University of Alberta, the No. 11 Canadian Field Ambulance out of Edmonton and the No. 8 Canadian Field Ambulance out of Calgary ultimately enlisted between one-third and half of the province’s doctors to the war campaign. Many individuals from this region distinguished themselves, including LCol J.N. Gunn from Calgary, who commanded the No. 8 Canadian Field Ambulance; Maj Heber Moshier, one of the founders of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Alberta; and Dr. A.C. Rankin, who would go on to be the first Dean of Medicine at the University of Alberta. These Canadian heroes, and the many others like them who served with the No. 8 and 11 Field Ambulances, personify the sacrifice, strength and resilience of the medical community in Alberta and should not be forgotten

A generic tool for interactive complex image editing

Plenty of complex image editing techniques require certain per-pixel property or magnitude to be known, e.g., simulating depth of field effects requires a depth map. This work presents an efficient interaction paradigm that approximates any per-pixel magnitude from a few user strokes by propagating the sparse user input to each pixel of the image. The propagation scheme is based on a linear least-squares system of equations which represents local and neighboring restrictions over superpixels. After each user input, the system responds immediately, propagating the values and applying the corresponding filter. Our interaction paradigm is generic, enabling image editing applications to run at interactive rates by changing just the image processing algorithm, but keeping our proposed propagation scheme. We illustrate this through three interactive applications: depth of field simulation, dehazing and tone mapping

Mechanism of tribo-chemical reactions of ionic liquids on titanium alloys

In this paper, the tribological, the tribo-chemical reaction mechanisms and desorption properties of three ionic liquids (ILs), [Bu3MeP][ Tf2N], [Bu3MeN][ Tf2N] and [Bu3MeP][ (MeO)2PO2], in contact with titanium and under vacuum conditions are studied with the CATRI © UHV Tribometer developed by IK4-TEKNIKER [1]. The two ILs containing the bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide anion presented lower coefficient of friction compared to that having the dimethyl phosphate anion. The tribodesorption study revealed that it is required an induction period to decrease the friction coefficient. The end of this period is accelerated in the case of trifluoromethane ionic liquids by the CF3+ release. Hence, the CF3+ reacts with the titanium surface generating a titanium fluoride tribolayer that could act like a catalyst to generate the tribodesorption of ionic liquid cation fragments (CH3+, C2H5+, C3H7+, C4H9+). The XPS analysis confirmed the generation of a boundary film, comprising of sulfide and inorganic fluoride, and being possibly the responsible of decreasing the friction coefficient. The [Bu3MeP][MeO)2PO2] ionic liquid required a long induction period, it did not form any tribolayer and no reduction of friction coefficient, yielding instead a high abrasion and adhesion mechanism. Thus, it can be concluded that bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide anion is more effective than dimethylphosphate in generating a surface protective film on the titanium surface under the selected test conditions and the testing methodology seems to be useful to understand the tribodesorption mechanism.The partners would like to acknowledge the financing to the Austrian Government financing of COMET K2 Excellence Centre of Tribology called X-Tribology to carry out this research collaborative activity. The authors also would like to acknowledge the financing of the EMAITEK Programme by the Basque Country

Survey on Plum pox virus in Norway

In 1998 Plum pox virus (PPV) was detected for the first time in Norway. Virus-like symptoms were observed on several trees in a collection of plum cultivars at Njøs Research Station in the Sogn og Fjordane County in West Norway. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority and the Norwegian Crop Research Institute immediately started surveying other variety collections around the country, nuclear stock material and orchards in all important plum-growing areas. Since 1998 we have surveyed the main part of the commercial plum orchards in Norway. About 75 000 individual trees have been tested. About 1 % of the trees have been found infected by PPV. Only the PPV-D strain has been found. It is suspected that the main infection source was infected plums or apricots imported to Njøs around 1970 or earlier. In most plum orchards in Norway, the spread of PPV by aphids is relatively slow. Therefore, we expect to be able to eradicate PPV from commercial plum orchards in the near future. The eradication work is continuing.Keywords: Plum pox virus, surve

Current status of bacterial spot of stone fruits and almond caused by Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni in Spain

In 2002, typical symptoms of bacterial spot disease of stone fruits caused by Xanthomomas arboricola pv. pruni (Xap) were observed for the first time on Japanese plum in Badajoz (south-western Spain). During the following years, the pathogen was found in seven other eastern and northern Spanish provinces (Valencia, Alicante, Zaragoza, Huesca, Navarra, Lérida and Mallorca) affecting different cultivars of Japanese plum, nectarine, peach and almond. There are few previous reports of Xap on almond, the Spanish outbreaks constituting its first detection on this host in the European Union (EU). Identification of the pathogen was performed using biochemical tests, fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) profiles, conventional and real-time PCR, and hypersensitivity reaction on tobacco leaves. Pathogenicity was demonstrated by inoculation of young potted plants of peach, plum or almond and successful re-isolations from plants with symptoms. In areas where infected plants were found, eradication programs were set up since Xap has a quarantine status according to phytosanitary EU legislation.Publishe

High pressure metamorphism of ophiolites in Cuba

High-pressure metamorphic complexes of ophiolitic material in Cuba trace the evolution of the northern margin of the Caribbean Plate during the Mesozoic. In the northern ophiolite belt of western and central Cuba, these complexes document cold (i.e., mature) subduction of oceanic lithosphere. Age data indicate subduction during pre-Aptian times followed by mélange formation and uplift during the Aptian-Albian. The P-T evolution is clockwise with relatively hot geothermal gradient during exhumation (i.e., "Alpine-type"), suggesting that exhumation may have been triggered by unroofing processes ensuing arrest of subduction. It is hypothesized that tectonic processes related to termination of subduction led to formation of characteristic oscillatory zoning of garnet recorded in blocks separated by ca. 800 km along strike of the belt. In eastern Cuba, the complexes document hot subduction with peak conditions at ca. 750 ºC, 15-18 kbar followed by near-isobaric cooling (i.e., counterclockwise P-T path). The contrasting petrologic evolution in the two regions indicates that the correlation of eastern and western-central Cuban mélanges is doubtful. The age and tectonic context of formation of these hot-subduction complexes is uncertain, but available data are consistent with formation during the Aptian-Albian due to a) the birth of a new subduction zone and/or b) subduction of young oceanic lithosphere or a ridge. Furthermore, tectonic juxtaposition of high-pressure ophiolitic material and subducted platform metasediments in the Escambray complex (central Cuba) that were decompressed under relatively cold geothermal gradients ("Franciscan-type" P-T paths) indicates syn-subduction exhumation during the uppermost Cretaceous (ca. 70 Ma). The diversity of P-T paths, ages and tectonic settings of formation of the high-pressure complexes of ophiolitic material in Cuba document a protracted history of subduction at the northern margin of the Caribbean Plate during the Mesozoic

Evaluación de pérdidas debidas a Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni en plantaciones comerciales de almendro en Aragón: póster

PublishedTrabajo financiado por INIA, proyecto RTA2011-00140-C03-0

SOFIAS – Herramienta para el análisis de ciclo de vida y la calificación ambiental de edificios

This paper describes the development process of a new software tool, called SOFIAS (Software for a Sustainable Architecture), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivenes. Following CEN/TC 350 standard on environmental assessment of buildings, the tool aims at assisting building professionals on reducing the life-cycle environmental impact through the design of new buildings and the refurbishment of existing ones. In addition, SOFIAS provides a rating system based on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. This paper explains the innovative aspects of this software, the working methodology and the different type of results that can be obtained using SOFIAS.SOFIAS (Ref. number IPT-2011-0948-380000) project co financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness