Balloon test project: Cosmic Ray Antimatter Calorimeter (CRAC)

Cosmic ray observations from balloon flights are discussed. The cosmic ray antimatter calorimeter (CRAC) experiment attempts to measure the flux of antimatter in the 200-600 Mev/m energy range and the isotopes of light elements between 600 and 1,000 Mev/m

Wage losses in the year after breast cancer: Extent and determinants among Canadian women

This article is available open access through the publisher’s website at the link below. © The Author 2008.Background - Wage losses after breast cancer may result in considerable financial burden. Their assessment is made more urgent because more women now participate in the workforce and because breast cancer is managed using multiple treatment modalities that could lead to long work absences. We evaluated wage losses, their determinants, and the associations between wage losses and changes for the worse in the family's financial situation among Canadian women over the first 12 months after diagnosis of early breast cancer. Methods - We conducted a prospective cohort study among women with breast cancer from eight hospitals throughout the province of Quebec. Information that permitted the calculation of wage losses and information on potential determinants of wage losses were collected by three pretested telephone interviews conducted over the year following the start of treatment. Information on medical characteristics was obtained from medical records. The main outcome was the proportion of annual wages lost because of breast cancer. Multivariable analysis of variance using the general linear model was used to identify personal, medical, and employment characteristics associated with the proportion of wages lost. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results - Among 962 eligible breast cancer patients, 800 completed all three interviews. Of these, 459 had a paying job during the month before diagnosis. On average, these working women lost 27% of their projected usual annual wages (median = 19%) after compensation received had been taken into account. Multivariable analysis showed that a higher percentage of lost wages was statistically significantly associated with a lower level of education (Ptrend = .0018), living 50 km or more from the hospital where surgery was performed (P = .070), lower social support (P = .012), having invasive disease (P = .086), receipt of chemotherapy (P < .001), self-employment (P < .001), shorter tenure in the job (Ptrend < .001), and part-time work (P < .001). Conclusion - Wage losses and their effects on financial situation constitute an important adverse consequence of breast cancer in Canada.The Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and Fondation de l’Université Laval

Potential for the psychrophilic anaerobic treatment of swine manure using a sequencing batch reactor

. 1997. Potential for the psychrophilic anaerobic treatment of swine manure using a sequencing batch reactor. Can. Agric. Eng. 39:025-034. The feasibility of psychrophilic anaerobic digestion (PAD) in intermittently fed sequencing batch reactors (SBR) was investigated during the start-up run of an ongoing laboratory study. The start-up run results indicated that PAD in SBRs was efficient in stabilizing and deodorizing swine manure slurry. The digester effluents had little odour when compared to the raw manure. Total chemical oxygen demand (COD) was reduced by 58 to 73% and soluble COD (SCOD) by 85 to 96%. Methane production varied from 0.30 to 0.66 L CH4/g volatile solids added and methane concentration in the biogas ranged from 50 to 80%. The biog&lt;ls production rate continued to increase even when concentrations of acetic acid and ammonia nitrogen were as high as 5500 mg/L and 3700 mg/L, respectively. Keywords: anaerobic digestion, swine manure, biogas, manure treatment, psychrophilic process, anaerobic treatment. Cet article presente les resultats preliminaires du projet d&apos;etude sur la digestion anaerobie en condition psychrophile dans un bioreacteur it operation sequentielle. Les resultats experimentaux ont demontre que cette nouvelle technologie desodorise et stabilise Ie lisier de porco Le lisier traite est presque inodore comparativement au lisier de porc brut: La demande chimique en oxygene totale a ele reduite de 58 it 73%. La demande en oxygene chimique soluble a subit une forte diminution variant de 85 it 96%. La production de methane etait de 0.30 it 0.66 litre de CH4 par gramme de solides volatiles alimentes aux bio-reacteurs. La concentration du methane dans Ie biogaz variait entre 50 et 80%. Ce procede est tres stable, il n&apos;est pas affecte par des concentrations elevees d&apos;acide acetique (5500 mg/l) et ammoniac (3700 mg/l)

SCALABLE CASCADED SNAP-IN ACTUATORS FOR LARGE-STROKE DISPLACEMENTS

This paper will focus on the design, and first measurements of a cascaded in-plane parallel plate snap-in actuator. The actuator is based on a rather simple microfabrication process and can achieve a total displacement of several tenths of microns. Compared to classical noncascaded transducer device based on parallel plates or comb-drive actuator, the actuation voltage is relatively low due to the snap-in phenomenon of electrostatic actuators. The electromechanical response of such a device is sequential. The fabricated 4-stage device shows a total stroke of 75 μm at 60 V. It is possible to easily increase the total stroke of the actuator by increasing the number of stages. Only one input electrode is required. Simulations with CoventorWare showed easy scalability of the concept for up to 19 stages with a total displacement of 350 μm

Long-lived photoexcited states in polydiacetylenes with different molecular and supramolecular organization

With the aim of determining the importance of the molecular and supramolecular organization on the excited states of polydiacetylenes, we have studied the photoinduced absorption spectra of the red form of poly[1,6-bis(3,6-didodecyl-N-carbazolyl)-2,4-hexadiyne] (polyDCHD-S) and the results compared with those of the blue form of the same polymer. An interpretation of the data is given in terms of both the conjugation length and the interbackbone separation also in relation to the photoinduced absorption spectra of both blue and red forms of poly[1,6-bis(N-carbazolyl)-2,4-hexadiyne] (polyDCHD), which does not carry the alkyl substituents on the carbazolyl side groups. Information on the above properties is derived from the analysis of the absorption and Raman spectra of this class of polydiacetylenes