Projets novateurs réalisés

Validating an automated speech assessment pipeline for use with individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – Year Two

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating disease that affects many parts of patients’ lives, such as the abilities to think, move, and speak. Speech problems in ALS can have a substantial effect on patients’ quality of life. They are also related to faster disease progression and shorter survival time. It may be possible to detect the onset of ALS head and neck muscle problems early using speech recordings, which could improve planning of care for ALS patients. Speech recordings may also be useful measures for ALS clinical trials. Our proposed industry partner, Winterlight Labs, has developed an app that records speech and uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect speech problems in a variety of diseases. In this study, we will investigate the ability of their app to detect speech problems in people with ALS. We will also determine if their app can distinguish people with ALS from healthy individuals. By conducting this study, we will gain a better understanding of speech problems related to ALS. Winterlight will benefit by gaining access to new data, which will help improve its app, and which could also make their app suitable as a tool to use in clinical trials of ALS treatments.

Processes for Ensuring Mobile Educational Game Quality

Software developers have been quick to capitalize on the growing number of children using smartphones, publishing enough educational titles to warrant their own category on the Apple App Store. However, establishing the efficacy and usability of these mobile educational games can be difficult and expensive. Heuristics are commonly used during the evaluation of user interface and game design, providing substantial benefit at limited cost. However, current game heuristics do not address the interplay between educational and entertainment outcomes. In this proposal we outline a process for generating and evaluating heuristics for mobile educational exergames. This research will provide an additional specialized framework to the growing body of game evaluation techniques and provide the sponsoring company with an early adopter advantage more efficient quality assurance.

Validating an automated speech assessment pipeline for use with individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating disease that affects many parts of patients’ lives, such as the abilities to think, move, and speak. Speech problems in ALS can have a substantial effect on patients’ quality of life. They are also related to faster disease progression and shorter survival time. It may be possible to detect the onset of ALS head and neck muscle problems early using speech recordings, which could improve planning of care for ALS patients. Speech recordings may also be useful measures for ALS clinical trials. Our proposed industry partner, Winterlight Labs, has developed an app that records speech and uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect speech problems in a variety of diseases. In this study, we will investigate the ability of their app to detect speech problems in people with ALS. We will also determine if their app can distinguish people with ALS from healthy individuals. By conducting this study, we will gain a better understanding of speech problems related to ALS. Winterlight will benefit by gaining access to new data, which will help improve its app, and which could also make their app suitable as a tool to use in clinical trials of ALS treatments.

Direct Solution Processing of Fullerene C60 with Branched Polyethylene Towards Improved Organic Electronics – Year Two

Organic solar cells are promising sources of renewable energy, with the added benefit of mechanical flexibility making them particularly desirable for many applications compared to traditional silicon solar cells. However, high cost and low efficiency has thus far hindered the commercialization of organic devices, restricting their development to academic research labs. One of the carbon-based materials most widely utilized in the active layer of organic solar cells, C60, has desirable electronic properties but requires costly deposition methods to fabricate into thin films for electronic devices. Covalently functionalized derivatives have been developed which can be coated into films using inexpensive methods, however this approach increases the material costs significantly. In this project, we will utilize straightforward non-covalent chemistry to functionalize C60 with an inexpensive polyethylene, to enhance the material’s solubility and facilitate solution coating. The polyethylene is a proprietary material developed by PolyAnalytik Inc, and is currently undergoing evaluation for several applications. Solution processing is an economical and scalable method of preparing thin films for electronic devices, and non-covalent functionalization provides an inexpensive route to access soluble C60 derivatives. Organic solar cells will be fabricated with the newly developed functional C60/polyethylene, laying the groundwork for subsequent commercialization efforts by PolyAnalytik Inc. to market their polyethylene as a solubilizing additive for the advanced manufacturing of emerging organic electronic devices.

Direct Solution Processing of Fullerene C60 with Branched Polyethylene Towards Improved Organic Electronics

Organic solar cells are promising sources of renewable energy, with the added benefit of mechanical flexibility making them particularly desirable for many applications compared to traditional silicon solar cells. However, high cost and low efficiency has thus far hindered the commercialization of organic devices, restricting their development to academic research labs. One of the carbon-based materials most widely utilized in the active layer of organic solar cells, C60, has desirable electronic properties but requires costly deposition methods to fabricate into thin films for electronic devices. Covalently functionalized derivatives have been developed which can be coated into films using inexpensive methods, however this approach increases the material costs significantly. In this project, we will utilize straightforward non-covalent chemistry to functionalize C60 with an inexpensive polyethylene, to enhance the material’s solubility and facilitate solution coating. The polyethylene is a proprietary material developed by PolyAnalytik Inc, and is currently undergoing evaluation for several applications. Solution processing is an economical and scalable method of preparing thin films for electronic devices, and non-covalent functionalization provides an inexpensive route to access soluble C60 derivatives. Organic solar cells will be fabricated with the newly developed functional C60/polyethylene, laying the groundwork for subsequent commercialization efforts by PolyAnalytik Inc. to market their polyethylene as a solubilizing additive for the advanced manufacturing of emerging organic electronic devices.

Advancing Materials Science using Resonant Inelastic Scattering – Year Two

This program will focus on the detailed characterization of the luminescence of a series of next-generation doped phosphors for lighting applications. These narrow-band-emitting, high-efficiency phosphors have demonstrated outstanding potential for use in phosphor-converted light emitting diodes. This technology is poised to replace traditional incandescent lights and it is expected to lead to an outstanding reduction of 15% in global energy consumption in the lighting sector with substantially greater long-term reductions. This reduction in energy consumption is driven by the development of new high-efficiency phosphors.
In these materials a host material is doped with rare-earth ions to generate emission in the visible spectrum. The emission can be tuned by the choice of host crystal to produce light of the desired wavelength. However, the interplay of host lattice and dopant is complex, difficult to measure and even more difficult to model.
The postdoc will use a new calculation tool to compute the emission spectra of various phosphors in the visible spectral range. The comparison of modelled and measured emission spectra will allow a model to be developed that ultimately will inform the design of new tailored LED materials with improved performance like less energy consumption, better stability, and better color. The partner organization is Canada’s only synchrotron, the Canadian Light Source where the measurements will be performed at the REIXS beamline.

Advancing Materials Science using Resonant Inelastic Scattering

This program will focus on the detailed characterization of the luminescence of a series of next-generation doped phosphors for lighting applications. These narrow-band-emitting, high-efficiency phosphors have demonstrated outstanding potential for use in phosphor-converted light emitting diodes. This technology is poised to replace traditional incandescent lights and it is expected to lead to an outstanding reduction of 15% in global energy consumption in the lighting sector with substantially greater long-term reductions. This reduction in energy consumption is driven by the development of new high-efficiency phosphors.
In these materials a host material is doped with rare-earth ions to generate emission in the visible spectrum. The emission can be tuned by the choice of host crystal to produce light of the desired wavelength. However, the interplay of host lattice and dopant is complex, difficult to measure and even more difficult to model.
The postdoc will use a new calculation tool to compute the emission spectra of various phosphors in the visible spectral range. The comparison of modelled and measured emission spectra will allow a model to be developed that ultimately will inform the design of new tailored LED materials with improved performance like less energy consumption, better stability, and better color. The partner organization is Canada’s only synchrotron, the Canadian Light Source where the measurements will be performed at the REIXS beamline.

Wild bee microbiomes and pollinator health – Year Two

The holobiont view of organism microbiomes suggests that microbial communities influence and are influenced by animal behaviour. While many microbes are beneficial and necessary for digestion and homeostasis, others can be detrimental, including pathogens leading to compromised immunity and disease states. Recent studies suggest microbiomes covary with landscape floral and fungal diversity, yet fine scale data does not exist examining consistent hubs for beneficial and pathogenic microbes outside of select few crop and flower species. There is evidence that floral diversity promotes healthy microbiomes, but this research has largely focused on mammals and there is surprisingly no data on wild bees in urban systems. Bees are a keystone group responsible for pollinating most wild plants. Yet populations of many wild bees are declining and to ensure sustainable pollination, their conservation is essential. As cities are often hotspots for bee diversity, they may be crucial reservoirs for the maintenance of bee diversity, and particularly so when cities are surrounded by forests or croplands that are less favourable for bees. It is known that habitat heterogeneity is an important correlate of bee diversity, and urban centres, where land management practices vary harbour diverse wild bee assemblages. We will combine state-of-the-art metagenomics document wild bee microbiomes and nutritional ecology for the first time to provide conservation guidelines to promote the sustainability of populations of the major wild pollinators in urban centres. Our findings will be relevant to the >80% of Canadians that are urban dwellers.

Wild bee microbiomes and pollinator health

The holobiont view of organism microbiomes suggests that microbial communities influence and are influenced by animal behaviour. While many microbes are beneficial and necessary for digestion and homeostasis, others can be detrimental, including pathogens leading to compromised immunity and disease states. Recent studies suggest microbiomes covary with landscape floral and fungal diversity, yet fine scale data does not exist examining consistent hubs for beneficial and pathogenic microbes outside of select few crop and flower species. There is evidence that floral diversity promotes healthy microbiomes, but this research has largely focused on mammals and there is surprisingly no data on wild bees in urban systems. Bees are a keystone group responsible for pollinating most wild plants. Yet populations of many wild bees are declining and to ensure sustainable pollination, their conservation is essential. As cities are often hotspots for bee diversity, they may be crucial reservoirs for the maintenance of bee diversity, and particularly so when cities are surrounded by forests or croplands that are less favourable for bees. It is known that habitat heterogeneity is an important correlate of bee diversity, and urban centres, where land management practices vary harbour diverse wild bee assemblages. We will combine state-of-the-art metagenomics document wild bee microbiomes and nutritional ecology for the first time to provide conservation guidelines to promote the sustainability of populations of the major wild pollinators in urban centres. Our findings will be relevant to the >80% of Canadians that are urban dwellers.

4G Cellular Trespasser Detection System for Farms

There is a strong demand for effective means to detect and record trespass activities onto farm properties, which cost the agriculture industry many hundreds of millions of dollars each year. The goal of the project is to design and develop a trespasser detection system based on the presence of a human being carrying a cell phone. The detection system can be used to surveil farm premises in order to detect and immediately report the presence of any person illegally entering/trespassing on agricultural properties. It will be a very solid addition to Be Seen Be Safe Ltd, the partner organization’s expanding portfolio of offerings to the agricultural community in the biosecurity and farm security space in Canada.

Management of Context for Smartphone-based Push Marketing for Brick and Mortar Retailers

Smartphones are not only incredibly powerful computing devices, but also sophisticated sensor platforms. Leveraging sensed user context, such as location, to provide targeted advertising has been discussed as a potential application of ubiquitous sensing in the literature, and is beginning to appear in industrial applications. In this proposal we describe the innovations necessary to realize context-sensitive advertising in a traditional brick and mortar store, where user-specific offers are pulled from a server when the phone determines that the user is likely about to shop at a particular store. This innovation will require research and development in ubiquitous systems, sensor data analysis and human computer interaction. The final product will be an innovative and competitive system that will provide College Mobile with an ongoing competitive advantage in supplying brick and mortar companies with user-specific smartphone advertising solutions. Investigating this challenging problem will advance user modeling and small-screen interaction research.

Supporting positive well-being of early career veterinarians

The aims of this research are to 1) assess mental health status and challenges longitudinally as veterinary students transition into working in the profession; and 2) develop a tool that is especially suitable to support positive mental health of early career veterinarians.

Questionnaires will be distributed to all Canadian veterinary undergraduate students in their final year and during their transition into the workplace to assess mental health status longitudinally. Individual one-on-one interviews with recent graduates will provide additional in-depth insights. We will involve veterinary undergraduate students and recent graduates to develop and evaluate a resilience training tool that provides strategies to increase mental health especially during the first years as practitioners.

This research will raise awareness of mental health issues in the veterinary community. Once its benefit is established, the program will be made available to all Canadian veterinary colleges, students, and recent graduates. VetStrategy will benefit by gaining information about the mental health status of veterinarians in Canada, including veterinarians employed by their organization.