Diphtheria is still a disease causing significant morbidity and mortality in people worldwide that did not received vaccination or suffer from incomplete immunization. The disease is due to a powerful toxin produced by the pathogenic bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheria. A good vaccine already exists but its production is rather complex and involves several steps: cultivation of […]

Scientific studies show that the connection between the gut and the brain affects obesity and anxiety development. Since exposure to stress increases these problems, the relationship between stress and the gut-brain connection warrants investigation. In the proposed experiment, we will examine the impact of probiotic (beneficial gut bacteria) delivery on weight gain and anxiety in […]

The reliability of transit buses is essential for the cost-effective delivery of public transportation services. This research aims to improve the reliability of transit buses through optimized operational maintenance planning. We specifically wish to develop a mathematical optimization model that would help transit operators in deciding which bus components to repair during a maintenance intervention. […]

The partner organization is designing novel dispensing equipment for liquid products to be used by quick-service restaurants. A food safety concern related to the R&D of this equipment is the potential health hazards associated with the formation of bacterial biofilms within the dispensing system. Biofilms are complex bacterial communities that grow on surfaces contacting liquids. […]

Pollutants in stormwater runoff and municipal wastewater are grave concerns to the receiving environment of lakes and streams, as nutrients (Phosphorus (P), Nitrogen (N)) contribute to eutrophication. While rain gardens are effective to retain and retard stormwater runoff and removal of certain organic pollutants, limited studies have been conducted on nutrient capture. This research focuses […]

With the fast-growing size of machine learning datasets, it has become increasingly important to store them in a reliable and distributed manner. Large scale distributed file systems such as GFS, HDFS and Amazon S3 have the capability to store large scale of data reliably. However, these distributed file systems have an intrinsic shortcoming: they provide […]

Roads threaten wildlife throughout the world when animals experience increased collisions with vehicles and decreased access to important habitat and resources. This research will investigate where animals are crossing roads in the Chignecto Isthmus of Nova Scotia, a region highly impacted by human development. The results will provide evidence for hotspots of negative wildlife-road interactions, […]

The Opportunity Equation is a multi-year research project that explores trends, dynamics and causes of income inequality in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The project aims to produce a comprehensive portrait of the changing income distribution and income gaps among key socio-demographic groups in the City of Toronto, York Region and the Region of Peel […]

Given that plastic pollution in the marine environment has been a critical issue in Canada and in the rest of the world in recent decades, our project aims to provide a possible solution to mitigate plastic waste in the ocean. Previous findings have shown that asking people to make a commitment can effectively change their […]

This objective of this research is to investigate the properties of Oceanic Natural Oceanic Clay harvested by the Iron wood Clay Company in British Columbia, Canada. When the clay is applied to the skin, various cations and positively charged impurities on the skin can be removed by ion exchange mechanism. However, the clay materials can […]

Midply walls have higher lateral resistance than traditional light wood frame shear walls, by creating double shear in fasteners and having larger edge distance. There is also a potential to use Midply wall as infills in Japanese Post and Beam construction, in order to improve the seismic performance of the current system. Little research has […]

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary adult brain tumor. Even with surgery, standard chemotherapy, and radiation, tumor recurrence and patient relapse are inevitable with a median survival rate of