2,214 research outputs found

    Criminal Fault as Per the Lamer Court and the Ghost of William McIntyre

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    Contrary to recent criticisms to the effect that the Supreme Court of Canada favours the rights of criminal defendants and shuns the interests of the community, the Lamer Court has in fact championed the moral requisites of the community in its constitutional jurisprudence on criminal fault. By viewing rights and responsibilities as inextricably linked, the Lamer Court implicitly borrows from natural law traditions espoused by the Dickson Court\u27s most conspicuous dissenter on criminal fault issues-Mr. Justice William McIntyre. This article argues that the tradition or philosophy underlying criminal fault as per the Lamer Court contrasts with the individualist, rights-oriented tendency of the Dickson Court, and corresponds with the approach of William McIntyre. Accordingly, the controversial holding of the Court in R v. Daviault does not signal a retreat from the present Court\u27s distinctive approach, as exemplified by the majority opinion in the Creighton quartet and in DeSousa, Hundal, and Rodriguez

    Tracing organic matter composition and distribution and its role on arsenic release in shallow Cambodian groundwaters

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    Biogeochemical processes that utilize dissolved organic carbon are widely thought to be responsible for the liberation of arsenic from sediments to shallow groundwater in south and southeast Asia. The accumulation of this known carcinogen to hazardously high concentrations has occurred in the primary source of drinking water in large parts of densely populated countries in this region. Both surface and sedimentary sources of organic matter have been suggested to contribute dissolved organic carbon in these aquifers. However, identification of the source of organic carbon responsible for driving arsenic release remains enigmatic and even controversial. Here, we provide the most extensive interrogation to date of the isotopic signature of ground and surface waters at a known arsenic hotspot in Cambodia. We present tritium and radiocarbon data that demonstrates that recharge through ponds and/or clay windows can transport young, surface derived organic matter in to groundwater to depths of 44 m under natural flow conditions. Young organic matter dominates the dissolved organic carbon pool in groundwater that is in close proximity to these surface water sources and we suggest this is likely a regional relationship. In locations distal to surface water contact, dissolved organic carbon represents a mixture of both young surface and older sedimentary derived organic matter. Ground-surface water interaction therefore strongly influences the average dissolved organic carbon age and how this is distributed spatially across the field site. Arsenic mobilization rates appear to be controlled by the age of dissolved organic matter present in these groundwaters. Arsenic concentrations in shallow groundwaters (< 20 m) increase by 1 μg/l for every year increase in dissolved organic carbon age compared to only 0.25 μg/l for every year increase in dissolved organic carbon age in deeper (> 20 m) groundwaters. We suggest that, while the rate of arsenic release is greatest in shallow aquifer sediments, arsenic release also occurs in deeper aquifer sediments and as such remains an important process in controlling the spatial distribution of arsenic in the groundwaters of SE Asia. Our findings suggest that any anthropogenic activities that alter the source of groundwater recharge or the timescales over which recharge takes place may also drive changes in the natural composition of dissolved organic carbon in these groundwaters. Such changes have the potential to influence both the spatial and temporal evolution of the current groundwater arsenic hazard in this region

    A New Concept for the Control of a Slow-Extracted Beam in a Line with Rotational Optics, 2

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    The current trend in hadrontherapy is towards high-precision, conformal scanning of tumours with a 'pencil' beam of light ions, or protons, delivered by a synchrotron using slow-extraction. The particular shape of the slow-extracted beam segment in phase space and the need to vary the beam size in a lattice with rotating optical elements create a special problem for the design of the extraction transfer line and gantry. The design concept presented in this report is based on telescope modules with integer-p phase advances in both transverse planes. The beam size in the plane of the extraction is controlled by altering the phase advance and hence the rotation of the extracted beam segment in phase space. The vertical beam size is controlled by stepping the vertical betatron amplitude function over a range of values and passing the changed beam size from 'hand-to-hand' through the telescope modules to the various treatment rooms. In the example given, a combined phase-shifter and 'stepper', at a point close to the synchrotron, controls both of these functions for all treatment rooms in the complex. The modular nature of the design makes it easy to extend the complex

    "Riesenrad" Ion Gantry for Hadron Therapy, 3

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    When using accelerator beams for cancer therapy, the three-dimensional freedom afforded by a gantry helps the treatment planner to spread out surface doses, avoid directions that intercept vital organs and irradiate a volume that is conformal with the tumour. The general preference is for an iso-centric gantry turning 360° in the vertical plane around the patient bed with sufficient space to be able to orientate the patient through 360° in the horizontal plane. For hadrontherapy, gantries are impressive structures of the order of 10 m in diameter and 100 tons in weight and to date only proton gantries have been demonstrated to operate satisfactorily. The increased magnetic rigidity of say carbon ions will make ion gantries more difficult and costly to build. For this reason, exo-centric gantries and, in particular the so-called 'Riesenrad' gantry with a single 90° bending magnet, merit further attention. The power consumption is reduced and the heavy magnets with their counterbalance weight are reduced and are kept close to the axis. The treatment room, which is lighter, is positioned at a larger radius, but only the patient bed requires careful alignment. An optics module called a 'rotator' is needed to match an incoming dispersion vector to the gantry in order to have an achromatic beam at the patient. A practical design is described that assumes the beam is derived from a slow-extraction scheme in a synchrotron and that the beam sizes are controlled by modules in the transfer line. Magnetic scanning is integrated into the gantry optics for both transverse directions

    Podcasting from PowerPoint Made Easy for Faculty

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    Student demand, institutional support, and evidence of quality learning through web-based instruction should encourage faculty to experiment with alternative methods of delivering instruction. The authors developed a procedure to produce and deliver classroom lecture material by narrating PowerPoint presentations and converting to podcasts. This procedure requires little to no technical support, even for the technologically impaired, and costs less than $100 in equipment and software combined. It is an example of the many alternative distance education options available to educators today
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