Monthly Archives: January 2012

Colloquium or presentation, Physics and Astronomy at Western What's Happening

REMINDER: Physics & Astronomy Colloquium – TODAY @ 1:30 – DR. BLAINE CHRONIK, Western

TODAY

 

The University of Western Ontario
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY

PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY COLLOQUIUM

Date:           Thursday, 26th January 2011
Time:          1:30 p.m.
Location:    Physics & Astronomy Seminar Room 22

Dr. Blaine Chronik
Physics & Astronomy Department
The University of Western Ontario

“Variable fields in MRI: progress, opportunities, and challenges”

ABSTRACT

Over the past 8 years or so, we have worked on Magnetic Resonance Imaging methods and technology which are distinguished because of their focus on the use of rapidly varying, strong magnetic fields.

Our approach has evolved, from what was purely “laboratory,” preclinical implementation, to our current efforts which focus on systems for use in clinical MR scanners.

In this talk, I will describe a new method of MRI in which we strive to produce very specific MR image contrast due to the presence of a chemical contrast-agent, only when that agent is bound to target molecules of interest. This represents a means to achieve contrast specificity in MRI that has not been previously available. The method is called “dreMR”: delta relaxation enhanced MR (reference: Magn Reson in Med, 61(4):796-8002 (2009)). This technique requires a major change to the MRI system architecture – specifically, the ability to vary the main magnetic field strength as a function of time. I will review the concept behind the method, our preclinical technological implementation, and we will discuss the applicability of the method for human-scale subjects. Along the way, we will also review the wider range of MR system developments we’ve worked on, and some of our future projects.

Coffee & cookies will be provided.

Physics and Astronomy at Western Blog, Physics and Astronomy at Western What's Happening

Those lazy profs

Back in the fall of 2010, when it looked like members of UWOFA might be going on strike, there was occasionally some muttering about “those lazy profs who only work 3 hours a week”. It’s true that our actual classroom time is small compared to elementary or high school teachers, so what does a prof do with the other hours in the week?

Most professors at Western have their workloads divided between teaching, research and service. The balance varies, but the standard is 40% of time to research, 40% to teaching and 20% to service. So that tells you where some of the non-classroom time is going — to things completely other than teaching.

But how about the other non-classroom-but-teaching hours? From my perspective, some of those hours are spent doing the same things other teachers do:  preparing class activities (including lectures), preparing and marking assignments and tests, and dealing with a gradebook. I write letters of recommendation for students and meet with them in my office to talk about coursework or (espeically in the case of graduate students) their research. I go to conferences and workshops which are supposed to help me be a better teacher.

There are some things that elementary and high school teachers do which are not part of my job. I don’t have yard duty at recess, and, except in rare cases, I don’t talk to the parents of my students. However, I also do some things that elementary or high school teachers don’t do. (Let me be clear that I don’t think their jobs are easier than mine, just different!)

Some of these tasks are related to the size of our classes: for instance, this term I have one class with 100 students and one with 200; I’m course coordinator of two courses which means that I have some organizational responsibility for about 900 students total. With large classes, we have teaching assistants to help with things like tutorials and marking, and organizing those TAs is a non-trivial task. With that many students, administrating them — for example, arranging make-up exams for students who missed a midterm — also takes time. I have to make up many-page course outlines which spell out the details of my courses, such as what happens if a student misses a midterm. And a sad fact of life is that I have to spend time on anti-cheating measures, for example making multiple versions of exams.

The other category of teaching tasks that I think is different for profs is related to our greater freedom to decide what and how we want to teach. For elementary and high school students in Ontario, the province sets the curriculum. We have the Western course Calendar which doesn’t exactly go into the same level of detail. So I spend a fair bit of time thinking about what I want my students to learn, and why. For, say, first-year physics, this course content is driven to a large extent by the upper-level courses which these students will go on to take. But for a graduate course, or an astronomy-for-non-scientists course,  there’s not such a clear set of requirements.

This means that I spend time looking around for examples of similar courses, looking at textbooks to see which ones might be most suitable, and talking to other profs about what they want students to learn from this course. Then once I figure out where I want students to go, I have to figure out how I can help them to get there. Again, I spend some time looking around, trying to figure out what educational methods are best suited for the type of course and students that I have. If I give complicated assignments, I try to do them myself to make sure they’re feasible. If I’m going to use some new technology, I have to make sure that I can make it work.

My prof colleagues who are reading this now know exactly how lazy I am (or not). For students who read this all the way down, I hope it gives you a bit of a behind-the-scenes look at what I am doing when we’re not in the classroom together. In a future post I’ll discuss some of what the other 60% of my time involves.

Physics and Astronomy at Western What's Happening

email campaign re federal funding for research

Below is the text of an email I got from the Canadian Association of Physicists, asking folks to send an email to MPs regarding the level of funding for research in the upcoming budget. The process is quick and easy and can have a real influence.

Here is a link where you can send an email with a few clicks:

http://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1727&ea.campaign.id=12842
Here is the whole message:
As you may know, The Canadian Association of Physicists is a member of the Canadian Consortium for Research (CCR), the umbrella body that advocates for research and post-secondary education at the federal level and a CAP past president, Paul Vincett, is Chair of the CCR. 

CCR has recently raised concerns that there is again a substantial possibility that the upcoming federal Budget will be a bad one for research.  For example, cuts to the Granting Councils are a very real possibility.  Substantial cuts to in-house government science have already started, notably at Environment Canada.  The context is the federal Strategic and Operating Review which required all departments to propose a departmental budget based on an overall cut of (a) 5% and (b) 10%.  Final decisions will be made by senior ministers.  Presumably, cuts to the Granting Councils, and/or more cuts to government science, may well be proposed under this exercise.  
While this process is well underway, Minister Flaherty has talked of 'flexibility' in the government's plans.  Moreover, the fluid international economic outlook probably means that the government's plans will also be fluid.  

This situation is at best unclear and at worst threatening for research funding.  Yet, given the economic uncertainties, the government may be open to persuasion, based on the critical importance of research to Canada's future.  

IT IS THEREFORE VERY IMPORTANT THAT THE VOICE OF THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY BE HEARD!  

As part of its actions to address this matter, the CCR is coordinating an e-mail campaign to ensure the concerns of the research community are brought to the attention of the federal government.  PARTICIPATION IS VERY EASY THIS YEAR, thanks to an online facility kindly being provided by the Canadian Psychological Association, a CCR member. 

The CAP Executive supports this initiative, and we are therefore asking you to participate in this campaign.  By accessing a new online system, you can very easily send an e-mail to your MP, with copies to Ministers Flaherty, Paradis and Goodyear.  The links at the end of this message will take you to the system, where you can review an (editable) template letter.  The system will automatically identify your local MP based on your postal code, and will send copies of your submission to Ministers Flaherty, Paradis, and Goodyear when you submit/e-mail your message. 

If a large number of researchers makes their views known, it is not too late to have an impact! The success of the 2010 e-mail campaign initiated by the CAP regarding the Ontario Engineering Act suggests to us that a large number of e-mails could well be effective. After a similar effort regarding the budget last year (which produced over 500 e-mails), the budget turned out to be much better for research than had been feared.
We therefore urge you to click on one of the links below as soon as possible (preferably within the next week) and to follow the simple instructions.   We encourage you to incorporate some modifications to the template to personalize the message; however, simply submitting the template message will have a significant impact.  With minor editing of the template message, you should be able to complete the process within 3-5 minutes.

Thank you.
Physics and Astronomy at Western What's Happening

Astronomy apps for your new mobile device

Just in time for the holidays, an annotated overview of 98 astronomy applications for smart phones and tablets has been published in the on-line journal “Astronomy Education Review.”  Compiled by Andrew Fraknoi (Foothill College), the list features a brief description and a direct URL for each app.

You can access the article free of charge at:
http://aer.aas.org/resource/1/aerscz/v10/i1/p010302_s1

The listing includes a variety of apps for displaying and explaining the sky above you (some using the GPS function in your device); a series of astronomical clocks, calculators, and calendars; sky catalogs and observing planners; planet atlases and globes; citizens science tools and image displays; a directory of astronomy clubs in the U.S.; and even a graphic simulator for making galaxies collide. A number of the apps are free, and others cost just a dollar or two. A brief list of articles featuring astronomy app reviews is also included.

Astronomy Education Review is on-line journal about astronomy education and outreach — published by the American Astronomical Society — which celebrated its 10th anniversary this fall.  You can find it at http://aer.aas.org

via seti.org
Physics and Astronomy at Western What's Happening

Science podcasts

I listen to a lot of podcasts. When I lived in Boston, I had a tortuous commute. Now that I live in suburban London, my commute isn’t so bad but I have a lawn to be mowed and a driveway to be shovelled.  Here are a few science-related podcasts that I like. These are primarily “professional” podcasts; amateur ones to be covered in some future post.

Quirks and Quarks from the CBC

Science Weekly from the Guardian

Nature podcast  from (you guessed it) Nature

Science Talk from Scientific American

The Naked Scientists from “a media-savvy group of physicians and researchers from Cambridge University”

The Jodcast from the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics

Material World from the BBC

Science Times from the New York Times

Physics and Astronomy at Western What's Happening

Science lend a helping hand to solve a medical problem

On Jan 20th 2012, the Globe and Mail had a piece of article on the use of Technetium-99m in nuclear medicine without requiring production of its “neutron rich” parent, Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), which is created in a nuclear reactor by bombarding natural occuring Mo-98 (~25% natural abundance) with a neutron flux. The aging Chalk River nuclear reactor currently produces 40% of worldwide supply of this isotope for medical use.

 

 

In fact, London is involved in the production of Technetium-99m from a cyclotron, which is located at the St Joseph’s Hospital. ( http://communications.uwo.ca/com/western_news/stories/schulich_assistant_professor_to_develop_non-reactor_based_isotopes_20110203447355/ )

 

Digging deeper, this involves using a cyclotron (proton beam) to create Technetium-99m by knocking out a proton from Mo-100 (~10% natural abundance) when Mo-100 is used as a target. For more details, see http://medicalphysicsweb.org/cws/article/research/47248 .
This is an example of how basic science can help solve a problem in medicine.