Canada and the European Community: a conference organized by the CIIA in cooperation with Department of External Affairs and the Commission of the European Community. Volume XXXII, No. 6, February 1974

"The new Europe . . . Will it be a new dynamic community leading to a new wave of prosperity in the world? or will it be an inward-looking regional bloc? Will it look at North America as a continental bloc? or will it recognize that two countries are involved, each with its separate policies? These are vital questions - for Europe and for Canada." This was the outline for the first public conference on Canada and the European Community, which the Canadian Institute of International Affairs organized in Ottawa in November 1973, in co-operation with the Department of External Affairs and the Commission of the European Community. The conference reached no conclusions and made no recommendations. That was not its purpose. It was intended to be an opportunity for Canadians to learn more about the Community, and for the Community to hear what Canadians are thinking. Some 200 people took part, from Europe, from all parts of Canada, and from a wide variety of professions. The impressions they took home with them are undoubtedly many and various. The Europeans present may have been surprised to find the age-old debate about Canadian identity surfacing, and the Canadians are likely to have been impressed with the progress Europe is making towards its goal of complete economic union by 1980. What follows is not a polished analysis of the conference. It is a collection of speeches and reports. As such, it may have a certain raggedness. At the same time, it captures the favour of the occasion. For those present, it will remind and refresh. For those unable to come, it indicates the breadth of the discussions. For everyone, it will raise questions. The Institute is grateful to the Community and to the Department of External Affairs for their support in organizing the conference. We are grateful too to the participants for the part they played in making the sessions come to life. We hope it may have contributed towards a better understanding of relations between Canada and the European Community on which so much will depend in the years ahead

Phase of Spontaneous Slow Oscillations during Sleep Influences Memory-Related Processing of Auditory Cues.

UNLABELLED: Slow oscillations during slow-wave sleep (SWS) may facilitate memory consolidation by regulating interactions between hippocampal and cortical networks. Slow oscillations appear as high-amplitude, synchronized EEG activity, corresponding to upstates of neuronal depolarization and downstates of hyperpolarization. Memory reactivations occur spontaneously during SWS, and can also be induced by presenting learning-related cues associated with a prior learning episode during sleep. This technique, targeted memory reactivation (TMR), selectively enhances memory consolidation. Given that memory reactivation is thought to occur preferentially during the slow-oscillation upstate, we hypothesized that TMR stimulation effects would depend on the phase of the slow oscillation. Participants learned arbitrary spatial locations for objects that were each paired with a characteristic sound (eg, cat-meow). Then, during SWS periods of an afternoon nap, one-half of the sounds were presented at low intensity. When object location memory was subsequently tested, recall accuracy was significantly better for those objects cued during sleep. We report here for the first time that this memory benefit was predicted by slow-wave phase at the time of stimulation. For cued objects, location memories were categorized according to amount of forgetting from pre- to post-nap. Conditions of high versus low forgetting corresponded to stimulation timing at different slow-oscillation phases, suggesting that learning-related stimuli were more likely to be processed and trigger memory reactivation when they occurred at the optimal phase of a slow oscillation. These findings provide insight into mechanisms of memory reactivation during sleep, supporting the idea that reactivation is most likely during cortical upstates. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Slow-wave sleep (SWS) is characterized by synchronized neural activity alternating between active upstates and quiet downstates. The slow-oscillation upstates are thought to provide a window of opportunity for memory consolidation, particularly conducive to cortical plasticity. Recent evidence shows that sensory cues associated with previous learning can be delivered subtly during SWS to selectively enhance memory consolidation. Our results demonstrate that this behavioral benefit is predicted by slow-oscillation phase at stimulus presentation time. Cues associated with high versus low forgetting based on analysis of subsequent recall performance were delivered at opposite slow-oscillation phases. These results provide evidence of an optimal slow-oscillation phase for memory consolidation during sleep, supporting the idea that memory processing occurs preferentially during cortical upstates

Rivulet Flow In Vertical Parallel-Wall Channel

In comparison with studies of rivulet flow over external surfaces, rivulet flow confined by two surfaces has received almost no attention. Fully-developed rivulet flow in vertical parallel-wall channels was characterized, both experimentally and analytically for flows intermediate between a lower flow limit of drop flow and an upper limit where the rivulets meander. Although this regime is the most simple rivulet flow regime, it does not appear to have been previously investigated in detail. Experiments were performed that measured rivulet widths for aperture spacing ranging from 0.152 mm to 0.914 mm. The results were compared with a simple steadystate analytical model for laminar flow. The model divides the rivulet cross-section into an inner region, which is dominated by viscous and gravitational forces and where essentially all flow is assumed to occur, and an outer region, dominated by capillary forces, where the geometry is determined by the contact angle between the fluid and the wall. Calculations using the model provided excellent agreement with data for inner rivulet widths and good agreement with measurements of outer rivulet widths

Measurements of Fundamental Fluid Physics of SNF Storage Canisters

With the University of Idaho, Ohio State University and Clarksean Associates, this research program has the long-term goal to develop reliable predictive techniques for the energy, mass and momentum transfer plus chemical reactions in drying / passivation (surface oxidation) operations in the transfer and storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from wet to dry storage. Such techniques are needed to assist in design of future transfer and storage systems, prediction of the performance of existing and proposed systems and safety (re)evaluation of systems as necessary at later dates. Many fuel element geometries and configurations are accommodated in the storage of spent nuclear fuel. Consequently, there is no one generic fuel element / assembly, storage basket or canister and, therefore, no single generic fuel storage configuration. One can, however, identify generic flow phenomena or processes which may be present during drying or passivation in SNF canisters. The objective of the INEEL tasks was to obtain fundamental measurements of these flow processes in appropriate parameter ranges

Development Of An Experiment For Measuring Flow Phenomena Occurring In A Lower Plenum For VHTR CFD Assessment

The objective of the present report is to document the design of our first experiment to measure generic flow phenomena expected to occur in the lower plenum of a typical prismatic VHTR (Very High Temperature Reactor) concept. In the process, fabrication sketches are provided for the use of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) analysts wishing to employ the data for assessment of their proposed codes. The general approach of the project is to develop new benchmark experiments for assessment in parallel with CFD and coupled CFD/systems code calculations for the same geometry. One aspect of the complex flow in a prismatic VHTR is being addressed: flow and thermal mixing in the lower plenum ("hot streaking" issue). Current prismatic VHTR concepts were examined to identify their proposed flow conditions and geometries over the range from normal operation to decay heat removal in a pressurized cooldown. Approximate analyses were applied to determine key non-dimensional parameters and their magnitudes over this operating range. The flow in the lower plenum can locally be considered to be a situation of multiple jets into a confined crossflow -- with obstructions. Flow is expected to be turbulent with momentum-dominated turbulent jets entering; buoyancy influences are estimated to be negligible in normal full power operation. Experiments are needed for the combined features of the lower plenum flows. Missing from the typical jet experiments available are interactions with nearby circular posts and with vertical posts in the vicinity of vertical walls - with near stagnant surroundings at one extreme and significant crossflow at the other

Physical and Computational Modeling for Chemical and Biological Weapons Airflow Applications

There is a need for information on dispersion and infiltration of chemical and biological agents in complex building environments. A recent collaborative study conducted at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) and Bechtel Corporation Research and Development had the objective of assessing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models for simulation of flow around complicated buildings through a comparison of experimental and numerical results. The test facility used in the experiments was INEEL’s unique large Matched-Index-of-Refraction (MIR) flow system. The CFD code used for modeling was Fluent, a widely available commercial flow simulation package. For the experiment, a building plan was selected to approximately represent an existing facility. It was found that predicted velocity profiles from above the building and in front of the building were in good agreement with the measurements

Vocabulary learning benefits from REM after slow-wave sleep.

Memory reactivation during slow-wave sleep (SWS) influences the consolidation of recently acquired knowledge. This reactivation occurs spontaneously during sleep but can also be triggered by presenting learning-related cues, a technique known as targeted memory reactivation (TMR). Here we examined whether TMR can improve vocabulary learning. Participants learned the meanings of 60 novel words. Auditory cues for half the words were subsequently presented during SWS in an afternoon nap. Memory performance for cued versus uncued words did not differ at the group level but was systematically influenced by REM sleep duration. Participants who obtained relatively greater amounts of REM showed a significant benefit for cued relative to uncued words, whereas participants who obtained little or no REM demonstrated a significant effect in the opposite direction. We propose that REM after SWS may be critical for the consolidation of highly integrative memories, such as new vocabulary. Reactivation during SWS may allow newly encoded memories to be associated with other information, but this association can include disruptive linkages with pre-existing memories. Subsequent REM sleep may then be particularly beneficial for integrating new memories into appropriate pre-existing memory networks. These findings support the general proposition that memory storage benefits optimally from a cyclic succession of SWS and REM

Self-assembled dextrin nanogel as protein carrier : controlled release and biological activity of IL-10

Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an anti-inflammatory cytokine, which active form is a non-covalent homodimer. Given the potential of IL-10 for application in various medical conditions, it is essential to develop systems for its effective delivery. In previous work, it has been shown that a dextrin nanogel effectively incorporated and stabilized rIL10, enabling its release over time. In this work, the delivery system based on dextrin nanogels was further analyzed. The biocompatibility of the nanogel was comprehensively analyzed, through cytotoxicity (lactate dehydrogenase release, MTS, Live and Dead) and genotoxicity (comet) assays. The release profile of rIL-10 and its biological activity were evaluated in vivo, using C57BL/6 mice. Although able to maintain a stable concentration of IL-10 for at least 4 hours in mice serum, the amount of protein released was rather low. Despite this, the amount of rIL-10 released from the complex was biologically active inhibiting TNF-α production, in vivo, by LPSchallenged mice. In spite of the significant stabilization achieved using the nanogel, rIL-10 still denatures rather quickly. An additional effort is thus necessary to develop an effective delivery system for this cytokine, able to release active protein over longer periods of time. Nevertheless, the good biocompatibility, the protein stabilization effect and the ability to perform as a carrier with controlled release suggest that self-assembled dextrin nanogels may be useful protein delivery systems.Contract grant sponsor: Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT), PortugalContract grant number: SFRH/BD/27359/2006Contract grant sponsor: FCTContract grant number: PTDC/BIO/67160/2006; SUDOE-FEDERIMMUNONETSOE1/P1/E01