The proposed research project seeks to develop protocols that will enable one to measure the functionality of the auditory brainstem in a way that is clinically viable and time efficient. This project aims to minimize the time necessary to conduct an inclusive otoacoustic emissions (OAE) test using contralateral acoustic stimulation. By setting threshold signal to noise ratios, outputs from the ear in response to specified pure tones centered around frequency levels imperative for understanding speech will be analysed.

Cellulose is a commercially important biopolymer. Due to its abundance, biocompatibility and renewability it has shown important commercial applications in food, pharmaceuticals, biomedical. Depending on the origin and the processing methods used, the resulting fiber dimensions, structure, crystallinity and molecular weight (MW) can vary over a broad range. MW is one of the most important parameters in polymer characterization as many of its properties depend on it. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) has been the technique of choice for determining these properties.

This proposed project focuses on American ginseng (AmG), a natural herb native to Canada that has been used as a traditional medicine for many generations. Southern Ontario has become the World’s largest producer of AmG with annual sales of over $400M at the farm gate. Polysaccharides (PS) are a major active component of AmG showing various biological activities including anti-carcinogenic, anti-aging, immunostimulatory and antioxidant effects.

Playing outdoors in exciting, risky activities has been shown to positively impact the health of children. However, children are often restricted from engaging in this type of play due to safety concerns. Educating adults who care for children about the importance of outdoor risky play is an important step to help improve children’s opportunities for outdoor play in childcare.

Composting is a method of waste management using biological degradation at aerobic condition. Although the process is one of the efficient and least expensive waste management options, nuisance odors emanating from waste processing facilities degrade the air quality of neighborhood. Odor compounds vary significantly depending on the type of wastes, process conditions and include bioaerosols, biomolecules, volatile organics, ammonia, and organic sulphur compounds.

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.

Patients with low kidney function need to take certain medications at a lower dose because their kidneys cannot filter the medication as well from the body. Taking medications at a high dose may be harmful to a patient and lead sometimes to death. The aim of my research is to help reduce medication errors in patients with low kidney function. I will do this by conducting several large studies to determine optimal medication dosing for patients with low kidney function.

The Lockport Group is a succession of carbonate rocks that subcrops in southwestern Ontario. It is of great interest as a source of potable water at shallow depths in Wiarton-Guelph-Hamilton area, of production of oil/natural gas and storage of natural gas and as a hydrochemical indicator interval for potential disposal of nuclear wastes in the deep subsurface. Recently, the Oil, Gas and Salt Resouces (OGSR) Library has published a database of over 28,000 analyses of porosity and vertical and horizontal permeability from 491 wells.

Frequency Selective Surfaces/Structures (FSSs) have great potential to be a mean for improving the capability of communication with Radio Frequency (RF) signals. Although the printed circuit board (PCB) technique is widely available for fabricating FSS, it is difficult to implement using flexible substrates. Its routine process is tedious, costly and environmentally harmful. Other emerging techniques using nano-particle inks also inherently involve large challenges, such as pre- and post-processing, dispersion, agglomeration, and final cost.

Tornadoes are the most disastrous, violent and lethal wind events in the world. In the United States, more than 4,000 fatalities and US$20 trillion in damages were reported between 1950-1994. Recently on September 21st 2018, an outbreak of six tornadoes devastated the Ottawa-Gatineau area in Canada causing damages that might approach US$100 million. Due to the rise in tornado events in recent years, it is expected that the insurance industries and home owners will be more interested in tornado risk mitigation.