Patients receive heart transplants as a life-saving measure after heart failure; thus, ensuring the success of the transplant is of utmost importance. Rejection is a primary cause for heart transplant failure, and consequently, patients must take drugs that suppress the immune system to prevent rejection. However, these drugs are highly unspecific and cause serious side effects that can be life-threatening. New immunosuppressive drugs that can prevent transplant rejection while allowing normal immune function can greatly improve care and patient outcomes.
The proposed research aims to develop a new wood foam to be used as thermal insulation in the construction industry. The wood foam has the potential to replace plastic foams and will be made out of unwanted forest residue (pine beetle kill, ash borer kills and forest trimmings) and environmentally-benign additives that impart strength and flame retardancy. Different water-based routes to prepare wet foams and then dry them will be tested. The mechanical, chemical, thermal, and flame-retardant performance of the foams will be characterized.
Welfare issues such as lameness and body injuries (LBI) negatively impact health, productivity, and longevity of dairy cows. Despite research, regulatory and outreach efforts, the current prevalence of LBI is high in Canada and shows little evidence of improvement. The proposed study will use an integrated, structured approach to identify gaps influencing the adoption of on-farm practices for control of LBI from a multi-stakeholder perspective.
The main problem being addressed is the current lack of control and quality in the deposition of mixed mortar in the application of large-scale 3D printing. This is a significant issue because the properties of the mixes used depend heavily on the material ratios and mixing/pumping time. This means that slight variations can lead to blockages in the system or even collapse of the intended printed items.
Current 3D Concrete printing system use many different mix/pumping systems. Two system which are very popular are the MTEC Duo Mix 2000 Connect from MTEC, MAI®MULTIMIX-3D.
The ocean is experiencing drastic declines in biodiversity due to the cumulative impact of human activities, including habitat loss, resource exploitation and fossil fuel emissions. These declines in species abundance and diversity have dire consequences for coastal communities whose economic and social systems depend upon healthy oceans. While global analyses of human impacts on marine ecosystems motivate international political action, often coastal communities struggle to make use of large- scale analyses in their decision-making.
The transient killer whales that feed on other marine mammals in British Columbia waters (also known as Bigg’s killer whales) range from Alaska to California. However, relatively little is known about their life histories, including whether they belong to separate populations. We will determine the population structure of west coast transient killer whales (California to Alaska) based on photo id’s, locations of sightings, associations between individuals, and documented feeding behaviours.
Large amounts of sewage sludge (SS) have been generated yearly by municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWPs), which entail huge operational expenses and advanced treatments, and the final disposal of biosolids in agricultural applications is reduced because of the potential environmental risks (e.g., heavy metals and emerging contaminants) associated with biosolids applications.
Large scale 3D printing is a promising and fast developing technology. The main advantages being the speed of execution, less labour needs, material efficiency, and design freedom. This project aims to identify the opportunities that exist in utilizing this technology for building structures with an emphasis on finding opportunities for solving current housing needs and affordability issues. Alterativ Design Lab (the partner organization) intends to create a solution for the housing affordability crisis in Canada and beyond using 3D printing technology.
The Advanced Data Analytics Platform for the Transformation (ADAPT) developed herein integrates quality assurance, quality control and Artificial Intelligence techniques to identify trends and relationships in water networks data. The importance of this information for fostering utility communications and business processes is demonstrated through a visualization dashboard built based on ADAPT.
In hospitals, surface disinfection is critical in reducing the spread of disease and the risk of nosocomial infection. In research institutions, where disinfection practices are less rigorous, fomite control is critical in keeping students, faculty and staff safe. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVC) is an effective disinfection technology that is widely used in hospitals but relies on manual operators.
