Digital literacy technologies: Applying empirical evidence to optimize reading outcomes

Learning to read is the single most important skill that children learn in elementary school. Squiggle Park is an innovative company that designs digital literacy games that allow children to have fun while learning this critical skill. The Language and Literacy Lab at Dalhousie University has international-level scientific expertise in the process of children’s reading […]

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Enhancing Security and Quality of Service in NFC-based Smartphone Applications

The primary objective of this MITACS Cluster project is to investigate, design and prototype novel techniques for the integration of security and quality of service in near field communication (NFC)- based smartphone applications. Universal NFC Cloud Connect Inc., a new start-up company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that ties mobile devices to location-specific events via […]

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Intelligent Agent Based Computing for Auditing Financial Market Transactions

Citco provides financial products and services to hedge funds, private equity and real estate firms, investors, institutional banks, Global 1000 companies, and high net worth individuals in the Netherlands and internationally. The proposed research is focused on optimizing operations by automating trade resolution and reducing risk using machine learning. Outlier detection algorithms will be proposed […]

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Cannabis and Death-Anxiety

In partnership with True North Clinical Research, two studies are proposed to examine the moderating effect of using cannabis on anxiety in response to death-thoughts. In Study 1, participants will be randomly assigned to consume cannabis either before or after thinking about death. Self-reported affect will be assessed to determine if cannabis helps reduce death-anxiety. […]

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Sperm whale dialect evolution in the Mediterranean Sea

Culture is often thought of as a human trait, but recent research indicates that many animals have rich and varied cultures. Sperm whales have culturally-based population structure, with groups of whales that share vocal dialects interacting to form clans. In the Tropical Pacific and Eastern Caribbean, multiple clans occupy the same waters. In contrast, only […]

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Predicting Risk of Aggressive Responsive Behaviours among People Suffering from Dementia using Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML).

Patients with dementia will eventually experience significant loss of cognitive function. Many will have difficulty properly communicating life’s challenges and instead become agitated, resulting in verbal or physical aggression. Monitoring the risk of a resident harming themselves or others due to aggressive behavior is a priority within a long-term care facility where dementia is present. […]

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Designing Student Success: Building a Mobile Application to Improve Student Retention and Persistence

Ipse offers self-help to students transitioning to college or university to achieve their goals in a way that suits their personality. It uses machine-learning and crowdsourcing to recommend action plans to the students. The proposed research in collaboration with Ipse is aimed at furthering our understanding of personality traits and identification of suitable action plans […]

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