The proposed research aims to use non-destructive MicroCT analysis to investigate the levels of adolescent rickets and potential gender differences in the occurrence of the condition in two 19th century communities, Beemster and Hattem, in the Netherlands. In paleopathology, patterns of rachitic changes are well recognized in individuals that died during infancy and early childhood, […]

Dielectric elastomers or “artificial muscles” are a class of electroactive polymers that undergo expansion when subjected to an applied electric field. Polysiloxanes commonly referred to as silicones are often the material of choice for dielectric elastomers due to their excellent mechanical properties. However, they suffer from minimal expansion when subjected to an electrical field. This […]

The net 5-year survival rate for patients suffering from liver cancer is less then 20 percent and the number of cases is rapidly increasing in Canada. Unfortunately, currently available oral chemotherapies can only extend median survival by 3 – 4 months making the development of new and effective drug treatments critical. The proposed study aims […]

For a software application to be released, it may need a number of standard certifications, which should be issued from different associations and for a wide range of software features (e.g., security, perfor-mance, scalability). We call these associations trusted third parties. The main problem with these trust-ed third parties is that they are single points […]

The project aims to develop a novel deep learning based computer vision system to identify different categories and sub-categories of the furniture and the associated attributes (such as color, shape, style, and material). It will also develop an automated recommendation system that can learn from the massive historical data and the on-going stream of data […]

In manufacturing industry many tools are protected by coatings to increase tool life and productivity. It is only logical that mechanical properties of the coating will affect its performance. Therefore, it is essential to characterise the coating and understand its properties to tailor it for a specific application. These properties might be assessed with different […]

We would like to develop a wide-field fluorescence lifetime imaging(FLIM) system with a 4-Tap image sensor developed by the Imaging Devices Laboratory. During the duration of our stay we will develop the software and hardware solution to enable the collection of wide field FLIM images, and test the performance on a standard biology set, and […]

The Ladle Metallurgy Furnace is used for adjustment of chemical composition and temperature, and control of tiny particles called “inclusions”. Controlling inclusions is carried out by adding calcium to modify the solid alumina or magnesium aluminate inclusions to less harmful liquid inclusions. During ladle process, reaction of top slag, steel and inclusions occur simultaneously. Therefore, […]

The proposed project aims to develop a systematic approach for improving deep-learning-based computer vision systems by augmenting the local pixel data with the global shape data (more specifically, Jordan curves) and by adjusting system architectures to accommodate the augmented input. Three canonical computer vision problems will be investigated in this project. They are respectively image […]

Benefit payments totaled 2.5 billion dollars for Ontario workplaces in 2015. The most common injury resulting in a lost time claim was a strain or sprain – indicating despite massive efforts to reduce musculoskeletal injuries by ergonomists, these issues still have a significant financial burden on the economy. An easy-to-use, readily available, and automated physical […]

There is substantial variability in an individual’s ability to increase muscle mass following resistance exercise training (RET). The final chapter of my doctoral thesis is designed to explore the relative influence extrinsic (e.g., the load lifted per repetition) vs. intrinsic (e.g., rates of protein turnover) factors have on RET-induced muscle hypertrophy. I am applying for […]

Infiltration facilities are an effective storm water management practice. The conventional continuous simulation models are widely used in the hydrologic analysis of infiltration facilities in practical engineering practices. However, these continuous simulation models are often time-consuming and data-demanding. The previously proposed analytical probabilistic models can also be used for analyzing hydrologic performance of infiltration facilities, […]