There is a desperate need for a fast, non-contact, non-invasive, safe and accurate technique that can measure oxygen saturation, oxygen metabolic activity and multilayered histology-like information. Oxygen saturation and oxygen metabolic activity play a vital role in understanding several diseases including early tumour and vision loss diagnosis and treatment. Additionally, when the oncologic care team must to remove a tumour, it is essential that no malignant tissue left behind.

Operant chambers equipped with touchscreens are a new technology that has been used for the mass behavioural phenotyping of rodent models of neurological disease. These chambers have the potential to make behavioural testing more reliable, faster, and translationally valid to human cognitive testing. To further increase the utility of these systems, technology capable of tracking animal behaviour in the chamber will be integrated into the operant system.

Biobased products, mostly derived from plant biomass, have the potential to improve the sustainability of Canada’s natural resources and environmental quality while competing economically. Plant biomass, composed primarily of cell walls and modification of cell wall properties has the potential to improve biomass conversion to biobased products such as biofuels as well as improve feedstock quality in forage crops. Progress towards achieving this goal is currently impeded by a lack of knowledge of how cell walls are assembled and how their structure affects the processing of biomass.

The aim of this collaboration is to produce a novel design of percutaneous mitral valve that utilizes the synthetic cryogel material developed at the Heart Valve Performance Laboratory, UBC Okanagan campus for the valve leaflets, along with different anchoring mechanisms to develop an optimized option for testing. The proposed design will be made for either the transseptal, that being a puncture between the right atrium and left atrium to give access to the native mitral valve, or the transapical approach, that being entering through the apex of the heart into the left ventricle. TO BE CONT'D

Drug-impaired driving represents a significant and increasing threat to the safety of Canadians and there is an urgent need for a convenient, instantaneous and accurate road-side evaluation technology for impaired driving. Current solution for roadside drug testing includes a device that is still just a qualitative indicator. Quantitative detection of drugs currently require expensive equipment, dedicated infrastructure and specialized laboratory personnel. To address this problem, eye3concepts inc.

Proteinuric kidney diseases, such as lupus nephritis, affect approximately 1 in 10 individuals around the world. For many patients, it results in the progression to end-stage kidney disease, for which the only treatments available are dialysis and transplantation. Therefore, it is imperative to develop therapies that slow down or halt the progression of proteinuric kidney disease. Voclosporin (VCS) is a next-generation calcineurin inhibitor currently in phase 3 clinical trials. It confers increased potency when compared to other drugs currently used to treat proteinuric kidney disease.

The objective of this research aims to create a framework of compensation strategy that is applicable to the social enterprise sector and create stronger understanding between actual compensations practice and media perception. Therefore, the focus of this study is to gain a stronger understanding of the social enterprise sector (particularly compensation), and the media perceptions surrounding it. This will allow for increased sustainability for organizations, and provide a strong stepping stone for new research within this sector.

Conservation of endangered species has become increasingly urgent. This is evident given the rate of species extinction has increased by 100 to 1000-fold, and global biodiversity has decreased. With current climatic changes, these concerns will only grow. Assisted reproductive technologies can play a vital role 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.

Idiopathic pulmonary (lung) fibrosis (IPF) affects 5 million people with a mean survival time of 2-3 years after diagnosis. In lung fibrosis, connective tissue fibroblasts excessively produce and stiffen collagen matrix. The resulting scar destroys the delicate lung architecture, decreases lung compliance and gas exchange, ultimately rendering patients unable to breathe. The only effective treatment for IPF patients is a lung transplant. Typical of lung fibrosis is the chronic co-existence of fibroblasts, innate immune macrophages, and adaptive immune T-cells.