Creating smart indoor environments that detect and understand human daily life activities is attracting significant amount of attention, due to their huge potential impact on context-aware technologies. Aerial Technologies, our partner organization, is developing products that provide device-free indoor localization and activity recognition Wi-Fi signals generated by off-the-shelf Wi-Fi enabled devices. This project will use state of the art machine learning and time-series analysis algorithms to improve the detection and classification capabilities of these systems.

Cochlear implants are surgical implanted devices that allow deaf people to recover some form of hearing and understand speech, but current devices are limited, and the consequences of these limitations have not been fully explored. For example, there is a growing consensus that hearing loss interacts with cognitive systems. Yet, relatively little is known about the cognitive burden of CI users.

The degree of brain cell injury and death may be associated with disability and problems with memory and thinking skills in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). This is most frequently measured by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images to calculate shrinkage of brain volume. In fact, MS patients suffer more rapid shrinkage of brain volume compared to healthy people. However, brain volume can also fluctuate due to reasons other than brain cell death, such as water coming in and out of the brain.

In this project we address the problem of power consumption for wireless sensor nodes. This is where among different components of a sensor, RF transceivers consume a significant amount of power e.g. approximately 80%. Hence the main objective is this project is to tackle the power consumption problem at the RF transmitter, where we aim to reduce the power consumption to micro-watts of power, with minimal sacrifice in achievable data rate and by keeping the connectivity range within an acceptable radius.

Following the study of spinal cord transected (SCT) rat models being treated by fesoterodine fumarate (antimuscarinic drug) to prevent neurogenic detrusor overactivity, bladders of all 30 animals were conserved. It was observed that an early fesoterodine fumarate administration at the time of transection modulates bladder overactivity. However, the exact mechanism of action is not known and should be investigated further focusing on detrusor muscarinic receptor modifications in order to support clinical trials with humans.

The proposed project searches to understand the effect of probiotic bacterial strains belonging to the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium genera on the degradation and bioavailability of phenolic compounds present in potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) after in vitro digestion. The more easily absorbed metabolites are associated with protective effects against cancer and diabetes mellitus type II. Additionally, the combination of probiotics with phenolic-rich potato extract may have beneficial effects on the human colonic bacterial composition.

Genacol Canada Corporation Inc. manufactures a bovine-sourced hydrolyzed collagen supplement (Genacol® Original Formula), which has shown efficacy in two separate clinical trials for reducing joint pain. Following digestion, hydrolyzed collagen yields amino acids and peptides that can lead to the health promoting properties of the supplement. However, the specific identity and mechanisms of action of the peptide and amino acids produced from the digestion of the Genacol collagen hydrolysate that support joint health is unclear.