The role of Serotonin and the effect of SSRIs on the placental iron transport system

Depression affects up to 20% of pregnancy. If left untreated, antenatal depression increases the risk of complicated pregnancy and abnormal fetal development. The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most commonly used treatment method for perinatal depression, while the risk of the drug on the placental function and fetal development remains controversial. Iron deficiency […]

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Establishment of an X-ray CT and FTIR mouse brain reference atlas

The intern will construct a 3D atlas of the mouse brain, constructed using multiple biomedical and chemical imaging techniques. The atlas will aid visualization of the 3D distribution of brain metabolites and biomolecules.. The atlas will be a powerful research and teaching resource with its multi disciplinary approach to processing and visualizing data collected at […]

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Developing a protocol for single cell Hi-C sequencing in human post-mortem brain

The purpose of the proposed research travel is to co-develop a working protocol for high-throughput chromatin conformation capture (Hi-C) sequencing using human post-mortem brain tissue at the single-nucleus level. I will be traveling to the lab of Schahram Akbarian (MD, PhD) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Dr. […]

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Sniffing Line in Mass Spectrometry for Direct Analysis

Mass spectrometry is a known for its capacity of detection of sample material with high sensitivity paired with high resolution and accuracy. Developing a “sniffing line” that would provide point-of-measurement capabilities for direct analysis of particulates on various surfaces is a necessary and novel method that will influence the mass spectrometry technique. Referred to as […]

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Multi-channel Fluidic Cartridges for Parallel Nanopore Sensing

Solid-state nanopores are tiny holes in thin membranes comparable to the size of individual biomolecules like protein or DNA. They are using as sensors to detect these molecules one at a time, and have the potential to revolutionize DNA sequencing, personalized medicine, point-of-care diagnostics, and next-generation information storage methods, but have not been able to […]

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Enhancing climate change resilience in viticulture using information in long-term records

Winegrape phenology (the timing of seasonal events – leafout, flowering, harvest) has traditionally been an important tool for winegrowers to plan vineyard management. With warming, however, winegrape phenology has advanced significantly, impacting the type and quality of wine different vineyards can produce. How large the impact of climate change has been, and will be, depends […]

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Automatic Species Identification in Underwater Environments

Knowledge of the geographic distribution and identification of species is essential for the conservation of biodiversity. With advances in technology and greater accessibility of equipment capable of recording underwater, it was possible to obtain data efficiently. However, it leads to an immense volume of information collected, which requires exhaustive manual processing that requires label, time […]

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Soil microbial community in cropping systems integrated with Urochloa spp

Nitrogen (N) is essential in agriculture, but has caused environmental pollution problems, demanding improvements in N use efficiency by crops. Tropical grasses like Urochloa spp. conserve N by biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) and mitigate N losses in soils. However, little is known regarding the effects of BNI plants on soil microbial diversity and functions, especially […]

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Ecology and Conservation of Grassland Songbirds in the Waterton Park Front Area

The objective of this project is to establish a long-term study on the ecology of grassland songbirds in the Waterton Park Front Area (just outside of Waterton National Park), Alberta. The student will examine how different grazing regimes and other management actions influence birds. Fieldwork, which will occur from approximately May to July each year, […]

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Optimization of Oat Beverage Process Conditions for Nutrients Recovery

The demand for plant-based beverages by consumers continue to increase due to their sustainability and health benefits. Oat is one of the most promising cereals and seeds to prepare functional plant-based beverage since oat has high amount of dietary fibres and good quality proteins. Earth’s Own is one of the biggest oat beverage producers in […]

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