Despite the improvements in cancer diagnostic and treatment, cancer is still a leading cause of death in Canada with 30% of all deaths. Some cancers, like pancreatic cancer (PC), still have poor survival rates due to the lack of early diagnosis and good prognostics markers. The Atlantic Cancer Research Institute (ACRI) has developed a proprietary technology to capture extracellular vesicles (EVs) from various biofluids with the goal to deliver precision medicine solutions through liquid biopsy technologies.
Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is a debilitating disease resulting from the loss of skeletal muscles mainly in the face, shoulder blades and upper arms. FSHD results from expression of the protein DUX4
which causes skeletal muscle cell death and therefore loss of muscles. This project aims to immortalize isolated skeletal muscle cells from patients with FSHD and produce long-lived cells that can be used to screen
pharmaceutical compounds for their ability to inhibit the expression of DUX4 and therefore treat FSHD.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions contribute to a global warming trend associated with climate change. Methane is a potent GHG with a global warming potential 25 times that of Carbon Dioxide over a 100-year period. Gas migration /Surface casing vent flows from subsurface to surface is a well-known issue; however, characterizing the source zone(s) for stray gases from production, injection, and observation wells is an ongoing challenge in the oil/gas industry.
The Centre for the Commercialization of Antibodies and Biologics (CCAB) is working with Empirica Therapeutics (Empirica), a Canadian start-up company focused on developing data-driven treatments for cancer, to address the unmet medical needs of glioblastoma (GBM), the most common adult malignant primary brain tumor. Current therapies are only partly effective, with frequent relapse and poor patient survival, which correlates with the presence of CD133+ brain tumor-initiating cells that are also implicated in treatment-resistant GBM. By partnering with Dr.
Conservation of endangered species has become increasingly urgent. This is evident given the rate of species extinction by 100 to 1000-fold, and global biodiversity has decreased. With current climate changes, these concerns will only grow. Assisted reproductive technologies can play a vitalrole in endangered species conservation. Many approaches are currently being utilized or explored, including animal cloning. Unfortunately, cloned animals are not genetically pure and therefore, are not valuable for use in breeding programs.
Endocannabinoids are compounds produced by the human body that bind to and activate cannabinoid receptors. There are two major endocannabinoids: anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG). Both play a role in regulating the firing of brain cells in the nervous system and attenuating immune system responses. As such, the endocannabinoid system is implicated in several clinically relevant processes including appetite regulation, pain management, fertility, and beyond.
The Canadian Food Guide has recommended an increase in fresh produce in the daily diet. Although the nutritional benefits of fresh produce are well established there are continuing food safety issues, high wastage and water consumption. To enhance safety and shelf-life it is common practice to pass produce through a post-harvest wash using chlorine as sanitizer. Chlorine is reactive and forms disinfection byproducts from constituents released from produce during washing. The byproducts are considered environmental pollutants but also has low antimicrobial activity.
The Marquardt Group at the University of Windsor intends to better understand the stability and degradation of Catalentâs vitamin A soft gel supplement, including the effect of various antioxidants on the degradation. Catalent is one of the largest suppliers of Vitamin A palmitate capsules to Nutrition International (previously Micronutrient Initiative), which is an organization aimed at eliminating malnutrition throughout the world.
The agricultural sector is currently facing a conundrum, whereas the needs to produce more (food, fiber, bioenergy) are ever increasing, the land and resources needed to produce them are diminishing. Furthermore, consumers and legislators pressure for environmentally friendly products are increasing accordingly, the development of sustainable alternatives such as the use of plant growth-promoting rhyzobacteria (PGPR) for improving agriculture production is gaining interest.
Composting is a method of waste management using biological degradation at aerobic condition. Although the process is one of the efficient and least expensive waste management options, nuisance odors emanating from waste processing facilities degrade the air quality of neighborhood. Odor compounds vary significantly depending on the type of wastes, process conditions and include bioaerosols, biomolecules, volatile organics, ammonia, and organic sulphur compounds.
