Comparing Australian and Canadian Public Library Systems: A Qualitative Investigation of Best Practices and Barriers to Participation within Older Adult Library Programming

Public libraries have the potential to support communities in mitigating the challenges and capitalizing on the opportunities associated with population aging. In order to support public libraries in meeting the needs of Canada and Australia’s older adult population, this qualitative comparative study will investigate best practices and barriers to participation with regard to older adult […]

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Tumor-blood vessels communication impacting on cancer progression and metastasis

Tumor-associated blood vessels are a major component of the tumor microenvironment because of their important role in supplying the tumor cells (TC) with nutrients and being the border for metastatic spread. Endothelial cells (EC) of blood vessels communicate with TC through direct interactions via Notch signaling. Our group could show that activated Notch1 receptors are […]

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Computational study of the effect of gene deletion (synthetic lethal) on cellular growth in pathogenic organisms

Infectious diseases kill millions of people each year. For example, according to World Health Organization’s estimate, 10 million people contracted tuberculosis in 2017 resulting in 1.6 million deaths, which is approximately one death every twenty seconds . Increasingly, the pathogenic organisms, responsible for these diseases, are evolving to be resistant to drugs already in use […]

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Developing a Protocol for the Post-Assembly Functionalization of Chemically-Tailored Copolymer Membranes

Traditional chemical separations, such as water filtration for example, are often energy intensive and require large amounts heat to achieve success. In an age with a growing need for clean technology, there has been increased demand for membranes capable of achieving these separations, without the traditional downfalls. These so called super-membranes are capable of producing […]

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Using a Modified Delphi Process to Identify Elements of a Mobility Enhancement Comprehensive Care Model For Older Adults Transitioning from Inpatient Rehabilitation to Home in the Community.

After leaving the hospital, about 65% of older adults go back into the hospital because of mobility problems. Mobility problems are caused by many factors such as cognitive (e.g. dementia) psychological (e.g. depression), physical (e.g. medical conditions), environmental (e.g. bad roads), financial (e.g. low income), social (e.g. relatives/friends) and personal (e.g. age). Usually, these mobility […]

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Downstream purification of RNA therapeutics

Gene therapy is an expanding field that shows promise in the long term treatment of many genetic disorders. CRISPR-Cas9 technology is one way of editing the existing genome when trying to treat genetic disorder, or engineering genetic therapeutics. One area of interest is RNA therapeutics based on this technology. The Zydney and Salis lab groups […]

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Mechanical Characterization of Nanocomposites to Identify Structure-Function Relationships of Plant Cell Wall Components

In nature, a complex network of cellulose and hemicellulose interacts to provide plant cell walls with their mechanical strength, flexibility, and light weight. However, there is still little known about the relationship between the cellulose-hemicellulose interactions and how that influences the resulting mechanical properties of plants. In this work, we will use films thinner than […]

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Evidence-Based Dietary Protein Intake in Canadian Hospitals

Doctors are learning that nutrition plays a very important role in patient outcomes. Research has shown that protein is especially critical to patient health and recovery, especially for the elderly and severely ill. The quality of the protein, and the quantity of protein that patients receive makes a big difference. This project will examine how […]

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Investigation of the joint effects of smoking and breastfeeding on maternal postpartum weight retention

The harmful effects of smoking on fetal development, child health, and maternal wellbeing are well described, making smoking cessation during pregnancy and the postpartum period a global health priority. Although a large proportion of expecting mothers will spontaneously quit smoking during pregnancy, the majority will restart smoking within 6 months post-pregnancy. Efforts to reduce smoking […]

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