Studies towards a Nickel-Mediated Decarboxylative Coupling

Organometallic reactions are important in organic synthesis and are versatile in creating new C-C bonds. In the past decade, late-transition-metal catalysis has gained increasing attention culminating in the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry award for three seminal palladium catalyzed reactions. However, the commodity metal nickel is more economical and desirable than the other d10 elements, such as Pd and Pt. As chemistry is a continuously evolving science, the concepts of green chemistry and atom economy have gained attention.

Research Chair on Gambling

The Research Chair on Gambling was created at Concordia University in April 2012 (FRQ-SC 2012-2017), its first in Quebec. The Chair provides the research infrastructure on social inequities and lifestyles related to gambling, gaming, and internet use through research, training, and knowledge transfer to partners and collaborators.

Monitoring and treatment of surface water

There exist few technologies worldwide for the treatment of large areas of polluted salt and freshwaters. It is proposed to develop technology for in situ treatment of lakes, ponds, and rivers. The main objective is to develop a system for the in-situ restoration, management, and control of water quality to reduce incidences of cyanobacteria blooms through nutrient reduction to lower
than eutrophic levels.

Do certain aspects of national culture make corruption more prevalent in some countries?

Corruption is recognized as a major factor hindering the development and advancement of countries where it is prevalent. (By “corruption”, I specifically mean “political corruption”, “the use of powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain” [Wikipedia].) Even where the incidence of corruption is relatively low, corruption when exposed has had dramatic effects, including changes in government as the majority of voters indicated their strong disapproval—this has been the recent history in Canada and particularly in Quebec.

New Models in Online Science Journalism

A sense of urgency has emerged in the last decade about the future of science journalism. While it is often argued as an important source of information for non-specialists, science journalism has been heavily criticized as unable to connect with citizens in ways that allow meaningful engagement with science. This critique has intensified as diverse informational environments have appeared online and contentious scientific issues (e.g GMOs, stem cells, climate change, biofuels) have moved towards the misuse of scientific evidence.

The Geography of News Project (Nouveau)

During the summer of 2015, I would like to replicate two of the intensive news-flow studies we conducted a decade ago on the Web sites of six daily newspapers, in order to assess whether any changes have occurred in the news maps these newspapers produce.

Methods and Techniques for Security Assessment of Android Apps

Besides typical personal usages, mobile devices are also being integrated into enterprises, government agencies, and military networks. Consequently, these devices held valuable sensitive information which makes them face the same level of malicious attacks that have targeted the desktop environments over the past three decades. Ensuring the securing open mobile platform such as Android requires a robust and rigorous security analysis methods and techniques.

Analysis and Design of Authenticated Encryption Schemes

Authentication and encryption are two intertwined technologies that help ensure data and network security. While in most people’s minds confidentiality is the primary goal of cryptography, message authentication is arguably as important. Deploying two separate primitives for the encryption and the authentication, in addition to being an inefficient solution, may not necessarily achieve the two required security goals. Authenticated Encryption (AE) schemes [efficiently provide both confidentiality and authentication simultaneously.

Mechanism through which an anti-aging natural compound extends longevity of yeast by remodeling cellular lipid dynamics

The fundamental mechanisms of aging are conserved from yeast to humans. We use the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system with which to study the molecular mechanisms of aging. Our high-throughput chemical genetic screen of extensive compound libraries has identified lithocholic acid (LCA), a bile acid, as a potent anti-aging and anti-cancer compound (Aging (2010) 2:361-370). We found that LCA extends longevity of chronologically aging yeast.

The cognitive neuroscience of indeterminate language interpretation

A hallmark of linguistic communication is that 'what is said' often underdetermines 'what is intended' by a given utterance. Sentences such as 'The author began the book' or 'The boy finished the game' are semantically indeterminate because it is not clear what the author or the boy were really doing. When the activity is not specified, interpreting these common types of sentences might rely on different linguistic and cognitive processes.

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