Quick Draw History – the NRA, the Politics of Memory and the Great Gun Debate

My project will join a nascent research perspective on the NRA, that looks at the organization as a key player in the social construction of gun culture in the United States. The NRA does this using tools like its youth educational outreach, online television network, museums and its firearms training programs (which instruct over 750,000 […]

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Enzymatic approaches to add value to underutilized marine

Using simplified language understandable to a layperson, provide a general, one-paragraph description of the proposed research project to be undertaken by the student(s) as well as the expected outcomes. (Approx. 150 words) Seaweeds have been used traditionally as food, medicines, fodder and fertilizers since time immemorial. Dulse (Palmaria palmata), an edible red alga is widely […]

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Studying mispronunciations in accented speech

This project will investigate the impact of foreign accent on native listener’s semantic processing in Spanish. As such, participants will listen to Spanish words that are produced by native Spanish speakers or native Chinese speakers. Stimuli will include commonly mispronounced words in Spanish (e.g. pelo, ‘hair’) and words that are non-commonly mispronounced in Spanish (e.g. […]

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Non Linear optical studies of diamine based hybrid perovskites

Developing energy efficient materials for new age technology is an area of extreme interest in academics as well industries. Hybrid perovskites are have proved to be rapidly growing to be promising materials in the field of solar cells with efficiencies reaching 23%. The versatile nature, simple synthesis route, tunability, dimensionality effects and other interesting features […]

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Advanced Diagnostics in Plasma Assisted Combustion

Due to its effect on the climate and the environment, combustion of fossil fuels has become an important concern for power generation gas turbines and aeronautical engines. Increasingly rigorous emissions restrictions on polluting species such as NOx have led these industries to develop lean combustors. This technology allows the flame to burn at a lower […]

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Evaluating Delay/Disruption Tolerant Network simulator by Termite

Plant monitoring by sensor devices and cameras contributes to having better environmental conditions for plant growth, irrigation, and productivity. However, transmitting the plant images or sensor data packets in a wide farm is not available over a pre-existing infrastructure network. A Delay Tolerant Network, which may be composed of human-centric devices (also known as a […]

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Light-Activated LiYF4 Microrotors for Temperature Sensing

In March of 2018, the Jaque Group of the Autonomous University of Madrid reported for the first time the development of lightactivated, remote-controlled microrotors for potential applications in temperature sensing, i.e., microparticles exhibiting rotational motion upon irradiation with near-infrared light, from which the temperature of a liquid medium can be inferred. This novelty opens the […]

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The exosome-mediated role of plasma gelsolin in modulating macrophage functions in chemoresistant ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer (OVCA) causes more death than any female cancer in the world. Although patients respond to treatment initially, 70% of them relapse and do not succumb to treatment. Up-to-date, there is no established treatment for such patients. There is therefore the need to investigate the tumor microenvironment for novel targets to enhance treatment. Although […]

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Upscaling evapotranspiration data from eddy covariance using remote sensing

This project is designed under Agricultural Water Innovation in the Tropic (AgWIT) partnership, a WaterWorks project funded by NSERC. Under the AgWIT project, we have been testing alternative land and water management strategies such as biochar application and drip irrigation. Evapotranspiration (ET) monitoring through flux towers has been used for comparing water use efficiency between […]

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17O Solid-state NMR Investigation of Chemotactic Factor f-MLF-OH

When a pathogen is present in one’s body, our innate immune system’s first line of defense is the release of strong agents from a type of white blood cell known as neutrophils. These cells are attracted to the site of infection via chemotactic factors. An example of a chemotactic factor is the tripeptide N-formyl-MLF-OH. Since […]

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Studying Magnetic field structures in ISM scattering screens

Galactic Magnetic Fields (GMF) have always been an intriguing topic to astronomers: they play a big role in star formations, Galactic structures, interstellar medium (ISM) distribution, etc. Therefore, understanding these structures becomes a crucial part to unravel the mystery of our Galaxy. A main signature of magnetic fields is that they can rotate polarized light […]

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