The effects of culture on spontaneous use of spatial navigation strategies

Cultural neuroscience is based on the theory that different values and behavioral practices across cultures influence information processing as well as neural structures. More specifically, it has been proposed that individualistic Westerners have an increased sensitivity to process central objects; while interdependent East Asians based on their collectivist culture have a tendency to process information […]

Read More
Risk factors for poor fertility on free-stall farms with and without the use of automated activity monitors in southern Brazil

Through this project, we aim to determine on-farm factors that may effect the fertility of farms which use automated activity monitors (AAM) within their reproductive management in southern Brazil. AAM are technologies that monitor the physical activity of cows to try to detect when the cow comes into estrus. These technologies are becoming more important […]

Read More
Development of fluorogenic sensor for imaging of Amyloid-? Plaques

Alzheimer’s disease is one of the hardest diseases to detect, even though an estimated 5.3 million Americans had Alzheimer’s disease in 2015, as reported by Alzheimer’s association. Alzheimer’s disease is known to be caused by amyloid-? plaques. Amyloid-? plaques are plaques that form in the spaces between nerve cells, greatly affecting the neuronal network which […]

Read More
Universal surface modification method to encourage cell patterning

Surface modification to promote the patterning of mammalian cells is an important tool in cellular biology. It aids in the development of different tissue engineering scaffolds, biosensors, and validation of high throughput screening assays. Surface modification protocols must be tailored to each individual material which limits the utility of a successful antifouling strategy to individual […]

Read More
Augmented Reality in Surgery

Augmented Reality (AR) is the combination of virtual images with real objects in order to improve perception. It is a rapidly growing field and has many applications in medicine. For this research project we would like to apply AR to the surgical site during a simulated operation in order to provide additional information and improve […]

Read More
Understanding the facilitators and barriers to effective water and sanitation interventions for characterizing spatial trends of Shigella infections in Jiangsu, China

Home to the world’s largest population, China faces scarce water resources and water contamination problems are causing a significant portion of China’s rural population to live without access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. Exposure to water contaminated with human feces can cause severe diarrheal diseases, especially among children under the age of 5. […]

Read More
Assessment and modification of oral-nasal balance in speakers of Brazilian Portuguese with cleft palate

Many individuals with cleft palate have hypernasal speech, which affects speech intelligibility and acceptability and is socially stigmatizing. The proposed studies relate to the assessment and the behavioural modification of oral-nasal balance in speech. The first study will test a new assessment procedure for hypernasality and other oral-nasal balance disorders which will aid clinicians in […]

Read More
Glutamate-induced allosteric potentiation of GABAA receptor: a novel mechanism of Purkinje cells inhibitory plasticity

Our brain is controlled by two systems: excitatory systems and inhibitory systems. The balance between these two systems is essential for normal brain functions. Our lab has found that glutamate, a key neurotransmitter in excitatory systems, can act at GABAAR, a key receptor in inhibitory system, and improve GABAAR’s function. This is a novel form […]

Read More
Catalysts for natural products epoxidation

The present project consists of developing new catalysts for the epoxidation of natural products. Those catalysts will be titanium and molybdenum, two well known metals for this reaction, on well defined porous silica supports. Solid catalysts are favoured in industries because they are easy to produce at low cost and easy to separate from the […]

Read More