Establishing New and Improving Existing Dulse Habitatfor a Sustainable Marine Plant Aquaculture Business and Industry

The research aims to develop techniques for the colonization of seashores by the economically important red seaweed, Palmaria palmata, commonly known as Dulse. The project is a direct collaboration between a local industry leader, Fundy Dulse, and Dr. David Garbary of St. Francis Xavier University. A major problem facing the Dulse industry is the limited […]

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PET/MRI Imaging Development for Pre-clinical Neuroimaging Applications

The field of nuclear medicine relies on positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scanners to visualize molecular processes in normal and disease states in the living human. These imaging technologies have significant potential to enhance our ability to diagnose disease, develop appropriate disease-modifying treatments and for non-invasive monitoring of these […]

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Energetic homeostasis in Mytilus edulis: feedback between feeding activity and digestive processes

Bivalves (e.g. mussels, oysters, and scallops) are valued for both their economic and ecological importance. As filter-feeders, bivalves remove suspended matter (e.g. phytoplankton) from their environment to ingest. There is potential that filter-feeders change their feeding activity based on their digestive processes. This feedback between feeding and digestion would be an important link to help […]

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Visual Analytic Tool for Lessons Learned Retrieval and Decision Making

According to the World Petroleum Council (WPC), the average age of employees in Oil and Gas companies is 50 years, and it is estimated that in the next 5 years 40-60% of them will retire. One consequence of this age-related crisis is losing the accumulated knowledge by retiring “gray-beards”. In this scenario, new software technologies […]

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Synthesis of an irreversible inhibitor of Pol?

One aspect of modern drug development involves understanding how enzymes function in terms of the progress of certain diseases in humans. This MITACS project involves the synthesis of small-molecule labels that can bind to a specific enzyme of interest, so as to better understand the mode of action of this enzyme as related to the […]

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Bench – Scale Approach to Understand the Release of Opportunistic Pathogens from Biofilms in Drinking Water Distribution Systems

Legionella pneumophila is an opportunistic pathogen that affects humans that are immunocompromised. It is the most frequently reported drinking water related disease in the United States. In order to investigate its occurrence and release from pipe walls in the drinking water distribution system, a bench – scale method has been designed. Disinfectants (chlorine) and corrosion […]

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Investigating the robustness of gut microbial functions across primates

It remains unclear which factors drives variation in the gut microbiome across humans. Past work has taken an evolutionary perspective and compared the gut microbiome of humans on Western diets to wild primates and humans on non-Western diets and identified particular microbes which are at different abundances. However, the focus of these studies has mainly […]

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Effects of changes in mechanical load on cardiac autoregulation in vivo

The heart beats 3-4 billion times in a person’s lifetime, making it the only part of the body that continues to work – without a break – for one’s entire existence! For this to occur, the heart must be highly regulated, so that is continues to function normally. Much of this regulation occurs within the […]

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Recurrence Interval of Large Earthquakes in the Eastern Himalaya

I designed my master project for performing paleo-seismological research in the eastern Bhutan, where no instrumental or historic earthquake is known and where a historic surface rupture along the Himalayan front was recently identified. Based on the ages of the known large historic earthquakes in the eastern Himalaya, the newly identified surface rupture could have […]

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