Attention, an important aspect of human cognition, is needed for safe mobility and navigation through the environment. With age, the ability to move and navigate through the world requires greater cognitive resources. Previous brain imaging research has shown that mobility impairments are associated with reduced attention. However, previous work was limited to assessing attention while participants were stationary and/or in a laboratory environment, which does not necessarily translate to what would occur in the real-world.

During surgery, a neurosurgeon must refer to three levels of image information: macroscopic from the patient’s MRI or CT, providing anatomical context of the surgical target; mesoscopic information from a surgical microscope or exoscope providing a highly magnified view of the region surrounding the surgical target; and the most important microscopic information provided by histology samples of excised tissue that must be analyzed in a pathology laboratory.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to represent a global health risk. Definite strides have been made to limit infection through the use of personal protective equipment and mass vaccinations, yet new variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 are still being detected in the population and spreading worldwide. As the pandemic enters its third year, medical professionals must focus on developing new ways to stop these variants. One way is to study compounds that are able to kill cells infected with virus and are known as antivirals.

Presently, sound wall foundation design for steel piles is being governed by the effects of the freeze-thaw cycles. The deformations produced by the freeze-thaw cycles cause structural damage and can be seen as an important index to judge the stabilities of structures in cold regions. A very limited number of studies investigated pile design within the context of sound wall foundation, as the behavior of these foundation under the cumulative freeze-thaw deformations is yet to be characterized.

City landfills release odourous gases from their daily operations which can impact the quality of life for near-by residences. The proposed research will determine how much odourous gas a typical landfill emits from its daily operations and whether odour absorbing materials or changes in in the types of wastes added to a landfill can be effective methods for reducing odour emission.

Sensors, as we know them in robots and many other systems, are usually devices made of tiny and delicateelectrical components. This project, however, is about the design of a sensor that is mechanical. The outcome ofthis project is the first commercially viable acoustic encoder. The definition of the acoustic encoder is simple: It isa mechanical structure that makes a clear resonant and vibrating sound when sensing displacement; The soundsignal then travels through the air to a remote microphone where it is translated to data.

Treatment of wastewater from refineries removes toxic compounds prior to the water being released into the environment. Treatment could be made more efficient and done more cheaply if we knew how to promote the growth of bacteria that enable toxin breakdown. The aim of this project is to identify which bacteria are present and active when the treatment plant is working as expected, and which are present when the treatment plant is ‘disrupted’.

Electronic waste is one of the largest intensifying waste streams in the world. Although some traditional disposal methods are available to process electronic waste, these methods have several disadvantages from both the economic and environmental perspective. Some processes create challenging gases that require expensive clean-up, while others use harmful and toxic solvents which create air, water and soil pollution. As a result, we need to consider an alternative pathway for electronic waste disposal which can facilitate the recycling process.

Youth concussion rates are rising across Canada. In response, efforts are being made to enable the recovery of injured youth. However, little is known about what recovery ‘is’ (how youth understand their own recovery, what constitutes a ‘good’ recovery). This omission represents a major gap in knowledge of youth concussion. This research project will partner with youth who have experienced concussion as ‘storytellers’, to (1) investigate, challenge, and transform conventional ways of thinking about youth concussion, and (2) refine a virtual method for research with this group.

In land-based aquaculture being able to estimate the mass of a fish is critically important in monitoring their health as they move through their lifecycle as well as knowing when to harvest. Current methods are invasive to the fish in its environment and result in mortality during sampling. We aim to use two cameras placed closely together underwater to take simultaneous pictures of fish and enable the estimation of their biomass.