College of Allied Health Sciences Establishes Interdisciplinary Core Curriculum

No abstract available

The Winnipeg Strike Trials

Au printemps de 1919 eut lieu à Winnipeg la seule grève générale qui se soit jamais produite au Canada et l'une des rares à survenir dans un pays industriel moderne. Deux premiers groupes de travailleurs déclenchèrent un « walk-out » le 16 mai, et la grande majorité des membres de l'Union (One Big Union) en firent bientôt autant. Au cours des quelques jours suivants, la vie de la ville était menacée d'une paralysie complète. En même temps, la crise s'aggravait et l'atmosphère se réchauffait progressivement. Le premier trouble éclata au début de juin.Après avoir suivi les événements de très près, le Gouvernement Borden intervint. Dans la nuit du 16 au 17 juin, 1919, plusieurs arrestations furent effectuées par la Gendarmerie Royale. Privé de ses chefs, le mouvement de la grève s'effrita vers la fin de juin, et les grévistes retournèrent au travail sans avoir atteint leurs objectifs.Mais le sort des accusés souleva un vif intérêt, non seulement au Canada, mais aussi dans les pays européens et aux Etats-Unis. Au cours de l'été 1919, il apparut évident que Meighen et le Gouvernement fédéral allaient s'efforcer de prouver que les personnes arrêtées avaient été étroitement reliées à une conspiration révolutionnaire dans la ligne de Lénine et Trotsky. Depuis le début, il apparaissait que les accusés ne subiraient pas un juste procès.Pour quelque raison inconnue, le premier à subir son procès fut Russell, en novembre 1919 : celui des autres eut lieu en janvier 1920. Mais le déroulement des deux procès et leur résultat se ressemblèrent beaucoup. L'acte d'accusation préparé par Ottawa contre les accusés était long et comprenait une longue liste de chefs d'accusation. La conspiration séditieuse fut le chef principal ; l'usurpation de pouvoir en fut un autre et on prétendit également que le « walk-out » avait été illégal selon certaines clauses de la Loi des enquêtes en matière de différends industriels.Andrews, qui était le principal procureur du Gouvernement fédéral, utilisa des tactiques chiches et brutales dans les deux procès. Il essaya d'éveiller, dans l'esprit des membres du jury et du public en général, toutes sortes de préjugés de classes et patriotiques, en traitant les accusés d'anarchistes dangereux, d'hommes diaboliques et sinistres qui essayaient d'utiliser la grève pour en arriver à détruire toute la structure de la société dans l'Ouest canadien.De leur côté, les accusés se dirent les martyrs des mêmes préjugés de la part des groupes de propriétaires de Winnipeg et du Manitoba, et ils prétendirent qu'il ne s'agissait pas uniquement de leur procès, mais de celui de tout le mouvement radical de l'Ouest du Canada.De plus, on ridiculisa les prétentions de conspiration avancées par Andrews et on affirma que tout le conflit avait fondamentalement porté sur la question de la négociation collective et de la reconnaissance syndicale de l'Union.Les procès, qui se terminèrent en mars 1920, suscitèrent beaucoup d'intérêt, comme la grève, parmi les groupements syndicaux, à la fois au Canada et à l'étranger. Dans ces milieux, on était d'opinion que les accusés n'avaient pas subi un juste procès et qu'ils avaient été victimes d'hystérie anti-radicale à la MacCarthy. On avait une preuve de plus que l'administration de la justice au Canada favorisait les classes de propriétaires.La grève et les procès qui suivirent eurent d'importantes et de profondes conséquences dans l'histoire politique et syndicale au Canada.Le « One Big Union » tomba vite dans l'oubli. Et ce fut la fin de toute la vague de radicalisme qui avait déferlé dans l'Ouest canadien, pendant la dernière partie de la guerre et dont le point culminant avait été les événements de Winnipeg, en mai et juin 1919.The author describes the events which brought about and accompanied the Winnipeg general strike in Spring 1919, where many individual were arrested. The main interest of Mr. Greening bears upon the trials which followed. Attention is drawn on the following issues: Under what counts the persons involved in the strike were indicted by the Canadian Government? What was the content of the agreements evoked by both parties at the trial? What was the general social context in which those events took place? The interest of the author is to give a tentative answer to those questions

Biotechnology Program Prepares Future Researchers

No abstract available

Evaporative CO2 cooling using microchannels etched in silicon for the future LHCb vertex detector

The extreme radiation dose received by vertex detectors at the Large Hadron Collider dictates stringent requirements on their cooling systems. To be robust against radiation damage, sensors should be maintained below -20 degree C and at the same time, the considerable heat load generated in the readout chips and the sensors must be removed. Evaporative CO2 cooling using microchannels etched in a silicon plane in thermal contact with the readout chips is an attractive option. In this paper, we present the first results of microchannel prototypes with circulating, two-phase CO2 and compare them to simulations. We also discuss a practical design of upgraded VELO detector for the LHCb experiment employing this approach.Comment: 12 page

Upper limb neuropathy in computer operators? A clinical case study of 21 patients

BACKGROUND: The character of upper limb disorder in computer operators remains obscure and their treatment and prevention have had limited success. Symptoms tend to be mostly perceived as relating to pathology in muscles, tendons or insertions. However, the conception of a neuropathic disorder would be supported by objective findings reflecting the common complaints of pain, subjective weakness, and numbness/tingling. By examining characteristics in terms of symptoms, signs, and course, this study aimed at forming a hypothesis concerning the nature and consequences of the disorder. METHODS: I have studied a consecutive series of 21 heavily exposed and severely handicapped computer-aided designers. Their history was recorded and questionnaire information was collected, encompassing their status 1/2 – 1 1/2 years after the initial clinical contact. The physical examination included an assessment of the following items: Isometric strength in ten upper limb muscles; sensibility in five homonymously innervated territories; and the presence of abnormal tenderness along nerve trunks at 14 locations. RESULTS: Rather uniform physical findings in all patients suggested a brachial plexus neuropathy combined with median and posterior interosseous neuropathy at elbow level. In spite of reduced symptoms at follow-up, the prognosis was serious in terms of work-status and persisting pain. CONCLUSIONS: This small-scale study of a clinical case series suggests the association of symptoms to focal neuropathy with specific locations. The inclusion of a detailed neurological examination would appear to be advantageous with upper limb symptoms in computer operators

A comparison of a structured home-based rehabilitation programme with conventional supervised pulmonary rehabilitation:A randomised non-inferiority trial

Background: Standardised home-based pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) programmes offer an alternative model to centre-based supervised PR for which uptake is currently poor. We determined if a structured home-based unsupervised PR programme was non-inferior to supervised centre-based PR for participants with COPD. Methods: A total of 287 participants with COPD who were referred to PR (187 male, mean (SD) age 68 (8.86) years, FEV1% predicted 48.34 (17.92)) were recruited. They were randomised to either centre-based PR or a structured unsupervised home-based PR programme including a hospital visit with a healthcare professional trained in motivational interviewing, a self-management manual and two telephone calls. Fifty-eight (20%) withdrew from the centre-based group and 51 (18%) from the home group. The primary outcome was dyspnoea domain in the chronic respiratory disease questionnaire (Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire Self-Report; CRQ-SR) at 7 weeks. Measures were taken blinded. We undertook a modified intention-to-treat (mITT) complete case analysis, comparing groups according to original random allocation and with complete data at follow-up. The non-inferiority margin was 0.5 units. Results: There was evidence of significant gains in CRQ-dyspnoea at 7 weeks in both home and centre-based groups. There was inconclusive evidence that home-based PR was non-inferior to PR in dyspnoea (mean group difference, mITT: −0.24, 95% CI −0.61 to 0.12, p=0.18), favouring the centre group at 7 weeks. Conclusions: The standardised home-based programme provides benefits in dyspnoea. Further evidence is needed to definitively determine if the health benefits of the standardised home-based programme are non-inferior or equivalent to supervised centre-based rehabilitation

A cross-sectional study of the relation between symptoms and physical findings in computer operators

BACKGROUND: The character of upper limb disorder in computer operators is subject to debate. A peripheral nerve-involvement is suggested from the common presence of a triad of symptoms consisting of pain, paraestesiae and subjective weakness, and from physical findings suggesting neuropathy. This study aimed to examine the outcome of a detailed neurological examination in computer operators and to compare findings with the presence of symptoms. METHODS: 96 graphical computer operators answered a modified Nordic Questionnaire including information on perceived pain in the shoulder, elbow, and wrist/hand scored for each region on a VAS-scale 0 – 9. In addition, they underwent a physical examination including the subjective assessment of the individual function of 11 upper limb muscles, of algesia in five and vibratory threshold in three territories, respectively, and of mechanosensitivity of nerves at seven locations. In order to reflect an involvement of the brachial plexus (chord level), the posterior interosseous nerve and the median nerve at elbow level we defined three patterns of neurological findings illustrating the course of nerves and their innervation. The pain scores summarized for the three upper limb regions (min. = 0, max = 27) in the mouse-operating and contralateral limbs were compared by a Wilcoxon test and the relation to each physical item analyzed by Kendall's rank correlation. The relation of summarized pain to each pattern was studied by application of a test of the trend across ordered groups (patterns). RESULTS: Pain, paraestesiae and subjective weakness was reported for 67, 23, and 7 mouse-operating limbs, respectively, with the summarized pain scores exceeding 4 in 33 limbs. Abnormal physical findings were prevalent. The summarized pain was significantly related to a reduced function in five muscles, to mechanical allodynia at one location and to elevated threshold to vibration in two territories. Brachial plexopathy was diagnosed in 9/2, median neuropathy in 13/5 and posterior interosseous neuropathy in 13/8 mouse operating/contralateral limbs, respectively. The summarized pain was significantly higher in the mouse-operating limbs and in limbs with any of the defined patterns. There was a significant trend between the summarized pain and the summarized scores for the items contained in each pattern. CONCLUSION: This small-scale study of a group of computer-operators currently in work and with no or minor upper limb symptoms has indicated in symptomatic subjects the presence of peripheral nerve-afflictions with specific locations