Historical Development: The Alouette Program

In the 1950\u27s at the height of the Cold War, Defence Research Bureau (DRB) laboratories, located in Ottawa, were involved in research and development to keep Canadians abreast of leading edge technology and ensure that Canadian forces were adequately equipped for their defence role

Historical Development: Hermes Satellite

In the early 1960\u27s, international communication satellites using the 6/4 GHz bands and positioned in the geostationary satellite orbit were found to be capable of providing high quality telecommunications services. Domestic satellite communications systems were planned and were implemented, beginning in 1972, with the Telesat Canada ANIK-A System

Historical Development: MSAT Program

As early as 1967, Canadian researchers had been involved in trials with the U.S. on the use of UHF satellites for mobile services primarily for defence operations. The use of UHF frequencies, with satellites such as LES-5, LES-6 and TACSAT offered the possibility of small lightweight mobile or transportable terminals, and several demonstrations were carried out in the land, maritime, and aeronautical environment. The world\u27s first direct aircraft-to-aircraft voice communications via satellite was carried out May16, 1970 between two Canadian DND aircraft

Historical Development: Anik A Series

The Department of Communications of the Federal Government ran a competition across Canada to name Telesat\u27s first series of satellites. In November 1969, the winner of the contest was announced. A St. Leonard, Quebec, supermarket employee, Mary Frances Czapla suggested ANIK which means brother in the language of the Inuit. It was selected as the winning entry by a panel of judges which included Marshall McLuhan

SatCom Today in Canada: Communications Research Centre

The Communications Research Centre has been committed to applied and basic research in communications and related technologies since the late 1940s. Over the last 50 years many scientific and engineering milestones have been achieved, contributing to Canada\u27s position as a world leader in wireless and satellite communications and broadcast technologies

Historical Development: Anik B Hybrid Systems

Because of the success of the Hermes program and under an arrangement between Telesat Canada and the federal government, the next satellite commissioned by Telesat-Anik B-was equipped with 4 experimental 14/12 GHz transponders in addition to 12 commercial radio frequency channels in the 6/4 GHz band used by the earlier Anik A satellites. Spacecraft construction was awarded to RCA Astro-Electronics Division

Intermediate-Complexity Biological Modeling Framework for Nutrient Cycling in Lakes Based on Physical Structure

Mathematical models for the change in concentration of total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) in mountain lakes are developed based on the dynamics of coupled, well-mixed containers. Each includes a stratified lake structure without the complexity of a full fluid model. A lake is divided into a suite of compartments based on physical structure: warm upper layer (epilimnion), cold inflow and insertion layer (metalimnion), cold lower layer (hypolimnion), and a warm shallow shelf. With the compartments as the framework and literature values for uptake rates, death rates, half-saturation constants, and sinking rates, systems of equations are written for three models. The first is a system of differential equations including nutrient cycling within each compartment, including changes in TDN due to growth and death of seston as well as loss to and gain from lake sediments. With the literature values, flows, and TDN data taken at the inflow (Baker and Wurtsbaugh 2008), these equations are solved numerically to determine the concentration of TDN in each compartment. The second is a simplified version of the first model containing only fluxes of TDN between compartments and the flux in lake sediments. The third is a system of equations for the steady states of the first model found by making an assumption on the half-saturation constant. With TDN data taken at the outflow in 2002 (Baker and Wurtsbaugh 2008), terms of sedimentation fluxes are chosen to minimize the sum of the squared difference between the measured and predicted concentrations of TDN for each of the three systems. Each model is tested against data taken in 2003 (Baker and Wurtsbaugh 2008). The second model predicts observed TDN well in a stratified lake structure without the computational difficulty of a full fluid model. To determine the flows between compartments we solved differential equations for the transport of nutrients into lakes by cold plunging inflows (Hauenstein and Oracos 1984). The entrainment rates are treated as eigenvalues, and an eigenvalue problem is solved for the plunging inflow based on discharge data taken in 2003 (Arp 2006) and data taken from a field study on Bull Trout Lake (BTL) in central Idaho in June 2008. The results show that lake structure is a significant factor in relating input and output concentrations of TDN

Glutamine : A novel and potent therapeutic for acute spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury occurs at a rate of 11.5 - 53.4 per million in developed countries with great emotional and financial consequences. The damage caused by the initial injury is followed by secondary damage, a complex cascade of mechanisms including ischemia, oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis. Although nothing can be done to reverse the initial damage to the spinal cord once it occurs, the secondary damage can be targeted by therapeutics to improve recovery. Following injury, concentrations of the potent antioxidant glutathione (GSH) are decreased in the spinal cord which potentiates mechanisms of secondary damage. In an attempt to maintain the GSH concentrations, the non-essential amino acid glutamine was tested as it was shown to increase GSH concentrations both in vivo and in vitro. Glutamine is being used extensively in clinical research in an expansive number of physiological and pathological conditions including brain trauma. To examine the therapeutic potential of glutamine after spinal cord trauma, two compression injury models, the modified aneurysm clip and the modified forceps, were used to induce an injury in male Wistar rats. We have demonstrated the ability of glutamine treatment (1 mmol/kg), given 1 hour after a 30 g aneurysm clip injury to increase GSH not only in whole blood samples but within the spinal tissue at the site of injury. Increasing GSH in this way also resulted in improved locomotor scores and maintenance of white matter tissue at the injury epicenter. Experiments using the forceps model were then performed to determine if the potency of glutamine treatment would be carried over to a different model and at a variety of severities. Glutamine, again, demonstrated the ability to improve maintenance of whole blood GSH, locomotor scores and tissue histology. In our experiments, glutamine has proven to be a potent therapeutic for spinal cord injury with an effect that is matched by few compounds currently being studied and well exceeding the standard therapeutic, methylprednisolone. Given the breadth of knowledge regarding the effects of glutamine clinically in numerous paradigms and the potency of the therapeutic effect seen in these studies, we believe that glutamine is fit for clinical trial and has a high potential for success

An aircraft Earth station for general aviation

While the focus has been international commercial air traffic, an opportunity exists to provide satellite communications to smaller aircraft. For these users equipment cost and weight critically impact the decision to install satellite communications equipment. Less apparent to the operator is the need for a system infrastructure that will be supported both regionally and internationally and that is compatible with the ground segment being installed for commercial aeronautical satellite communications. A system concept is described as well as a low cost terminal that are intended to satisfy the small aircraft market

Bird Friendly Beef: Exploring the Impacts of Regenerative Forage Production

In the eastern US, managed hayfields and pasturelands represent a significant portion of remaining available grassland bird habitat, hosting several declining species including the eastern meadowlark (Sturnella magna) and the grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum). However, these working landscapes have deteriorated in their ability to support grassland birds in recent decades due to more frequent and early hay cuttings and intensive grazing. Since the conservation of grassland birds is inextricably linked to agricultural systems, for conservation to be effective, land management must aim to benefit both producers and birds. Regenerative agriculture is an emerging approach that incorporates land management practices that benefit agricultural ecosystems and increase efficiency and profitability. Regenerative grazing has demonstrated associations with greater bird abundance, but there is a significant gap in research that investigates whether these practices contribute to successful nesting. Collaborators from Smithsonian’s Virginia Working Landscapes, American Farmland Trust, and George Mason University set out to explore the effects of regenerative grazing practices on forage quality and the reproductive success of grassland birds. We established four experimental grazing and haying treatments on private working lands. For each treatment, we collected forage samples for nutrient analysis and quantified reproductive success using a combination of territory mapping and systematic nest searching. Our preliminary analysis suggests that grazing pastures early and stockpiling for fall and winter grazing results in standing forages suitable in quality for several different production classes of livestock while reducing producer reliance on harvested feeds such as hay. Our observations also identified this system to provide the greatest propensity for fledgling success of grassland birds due to the lack of disturbances during peak nesting periods which traditionally are due to trampling, haying, and predation