Membrane proteins such as ion channels, transporters or G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are excellent but difficult drug targets involved in a large number of life-threatening diseases and conditions. These proteins, over-expressed and essential for disease onset and progression, are naturally targeted by toxins from venomous organisms. During evolution, these toxins have been optimized to efficiently target physiologically-relevant proteins involved in ion channel opening or closure, thus incapacitating the prey or defending against predators.

There is no memorandum project overview associated with this application.

The research project examines how social and political groups make critical policy choices in a challenging economic context. Focusing on the sub-provincial cases in China, the project aims to examine the process of financial reform during a period of declining economic growth. Examining the government-business relations, the research addresses the challenges that the Chinese political elites face to address the critical needs of diversifying its financial system in order to facilitate economic growth without losing control and oversight over its institutions.

Hypernasality is a speech disorders that results from excessive sound coming through the nose during speech. A speaker afflicted with hypernasality may be perceived as sounding flat and monotonous because the nasal murmur masks the inflections of the fundamental frequency (Kummer, 2008). However, the masking of prosody by the nasal murmur has not been investigated systematically. The first goal of the proposed study is to investigate how the presence of hypernasality affects the listener’s perception of prosodic pitch inflections.

With increasing rates of economic and forced migration globally, there is a great need to deepen our understanding of the relationship between health and family separation due to migration. Under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program, farm workers from Mexico are hired to work in Canada for up to eight months a year. From a social determinants of health perspective, the precarious work and migratory conditions paired with the cyclical and long-term separation of families, increases the risk of workers and their families for mental, physical and emotional health problems.

Modelling the movement of water through a hydropower station is an important tool for understanding this very complex behaviour, where water is pushed and pulled through long tunnels and spinning turbines, resulting in a vast range of pressures and speeds. There are generally two types of models: 1-dimensional (1D) models, which are simple and cost-effective, but do not provide adequate detail for the more complex features in the power station. The second type is 3-dimensional (3D) models, which are very detailed but cost both time and money.

Recovering oil from underground reservoirs carries environmental and financial risks that can be minimized with prior knowledge of what fluids are there and how to efficiently extract them. Currently, fluid flow behaviour can be measured at reservoir conditions in large pressurized vessels capable of up to 150 atmospheres and 300°C, but measurements can take weeks to complete. As an alternative, Interface Fluidics is developing a miniaturized pressure vessel where fluid behaviour can be completely visually mapped in under a day and at comparatively low cost.

The objective of this project is to work with an industrial partner (Eclectic Industries Inc.) to design an activity tracker for institutionalized individuals with dementia. In our previous work with Eclectic Industries Inc., we refined and evaluated Ambient Activity Technology (AAT). AAT is a wall-mounted interactive tool (accessible anytime) designed for people with dementia to encourage physical, cognitive and social engagement. The displayed content is meaningful and personalized to the resident (e.g., favourite music, family photos).

Diabetic patients suffer from reduced sensation in their foot which will be leading to foot ulcers that are hard to treat, and often resulting in limb amputation. The existing health-care techniques usually fail to prevent foot ulcers because they cannot monitor the foot in real-time. In this work, we seek to develop smart socks based on textile technology to help patients to artificially feel sensory stimuli that they cannot realistically feel.

This project is focused on the production of improved deck tiles made of foamed recycled polypropylene (PP) base mat and recycled and virgin polystyrene (PS)/ high impact polystyrene (HIPS) slats that are assembled to the base mat. The current product is available in 12” x 24” and 12” x 12” configurations in a variety of colors. This product is typically installed on high-rise balconies, house porches or decks. Recently, it was reported that the tiles tend to deform after a while. The deformation is usually in the form of center bow down.