Innovative Projects Realized

Evaluation of phytochemicals bioavailability and antioxidant capacity in South African common indigenous foods

Phytochemicals are secondary metabolites that offer biological activity to prevent degeneration of different non-communicable diseases such as type-2 diabetes (Stroke), cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Indigenous food crops are rich source of phytochemicals such as phenolic acids and flavonoids which have demonstrated some biological activities including antioxidant, anti-inflammation and anti-bacterial effect. This study aims to screen phytochemical profile in three indigenous food crops [Amaranthus species, Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) and cowpea grain (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.)]. Both untargeted and targeted metabolites profile analysis will be performed to identify the predominant bio-maker or analyte (s). Then the identified analytes will further be analysed for bioaccessibility in to the in vitro gastro-intestinal tract to observe digestion impact on phenolic compounds bioavailability. Three manuscripts in relation to polyphenol bioavailability are expected from this study.

Optimization of Biodegradable Soft Bait Fishing Lures from Natural Materials

There is an increase in reporting of angling activities linked to environmental pollution and exploitation. Soft plastic lures (SPLs) are a major pollution source arising from recreational angling. A small portion of SPLs currently commercially available are designed to be more environmentally friendly alternatives to PVC as they are biodegradable and are manufactured using natural and/or food-grade ingredients. Moreover, these natural lures can successfully degrade in water and are thus more likely to be passed through the digestive tracts of aquatic organisms. However, these lures also have disadvantages that limit their general acceptance by recreational anglers, and typically, to be commercially successful and generally accepted by recreational anglers, these alternatives must also display cohesive material strength, high flexibility, prey-like movement through the water column, and surface topology that mimics live bait. These natural lures must also be resilient enough to withstand repeated stress from water impacts during drag from a line or line castings, trollings and reeling. Lastly, the lures must also be non-perishable, retain plasticity, contain fish attractant and able to be stored for long-term in order to be accepted as commercially viable.

Good News Ventures Summer Application 2022

GNV is seeking an intern to assist with a project to improve and document the venture capital investment process. This includes outbound deal flow sourcing of early stage technology startups, evaluation of startups, due diligence and supporting investees. Furthermore, some supporting duties related to the investment process such as outreach communications within the venture capital ecosystem and with investors may be assigned.

Compliance and effectiveness monitoring of stream barrier remediations on salmonid bearing streams in British Columbia

Over 400,000 culvert stream crossings are present in British Columbia, with many acting as barriers to fish passage. The frequency of culverts on the landscape has made them the leading cause of linear stream habitat fragmentation for salmonids and a restoration priority. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), the British Columbia Fish Passage Technical Working Group (FPTWG) and the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) have undertaken culvert remediation projects to rectify this issue and improve fish passage. Two styles of culvert remediation are employed: retrofits, placing weirs downstream and adding baffles into the structure, or full replacement with open bottom structures. However, as with many habitat restorations, post-construction compliance and effectiveness monitoring are rarely performed. We are undertaking a large-scale post-treatment assessment of previously remediated culverts in B.C. involving physical crossing and habitat assessments, and fish sampling, to assess construction compliance and biological effectiveness at remediated culverts. Our results will inform how well different remediation types have performed, their functional longevity, and the factors associated with remediation failure. These results will be used with geospatial analyses to determine the amount of upstream habitat, assessed as linear stream length, that has been made available to specific species, in BC through culvert remediations.

SimpTek UNB Catalyst- Promote a Digital Low Carbon Plan for NB Residential Consumers

The primary goal of this project is to identify, develop and promote a digital low carbon plan for NB residential consumers. This will encompass various economic opportunities for the province to take concrete actions to achieve its GHG emission targets by accelerating the reduction of GHG emissions of the existing housing stock as explored in more depth in question 2.1.e of this application.

We are able to accomplish this using data collected by our innovative algorithms which are trained based on the results of thousands of physical audits conducted per Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCAN’s) physical home energy audit standard HOT2000.

To provide a high-level view of the challenges we are facing: (1) there is a small percentage of homeowners who are engaged in the conversations around retrofitting/ decarbonizing their home, (2) the current, highly manual and complex process for homewoners to undertake energy retrofits, and (3) the inequitable access to programs for homewoners situated in rural/ remote communities. All of these challenges present barriers to expanding our business if we cannot effectively reach everyday homeowners – arguably our largest demographic.

ArtsLinkNB Catalyst Membership Development Project

ArtsLink Digital Transformation for Optimizing Membership Outreach and Social Media Mastery! ArtsLink NB is a member-based arts service organization, founded in 2009 to advance the arts in New Brunswick by linking and unifying artists and arts organizations and promoting their value. We represent New Brunswick artists of all disciplines from across the province.

We are seeking a dynamic and innovative team to conceptualize and actualize a large-scale membership development project.

Taxation Innovation – Commercial Cideries

The Cideries are a growing industry in Canada. Lack of access to basic market information is hindering the ability of small commercial cideries to understand competitors and to identify opportunities to work together to each other. Due to the relative newness of this industry in Canada, there are also inconsistencies in how provinces are approaching taxation. Through this MITACs project, Shuswap Cider Company LTD. hopes to more fully understand the size and structure of the BC Cider Industry (both land-based and commercial) as well as identify potential policy recommendations that would strengthen and support the industry to grow.

Developing trajectory predictions for AI-enabled psychiatric clinical decision support systems – Aifred Health

Aifred Health has developed an AI-powered clinical decision support system to support doctors treating patients with depression, which is currently under clinical trial. This project aims to improve Aifred’s existing offering by developing technology for trajectory predictions. This technology can be used for several applications involving time-series data, including tracking patient treatment progress. This will enable Aifred Health to continue to offer first-of-its-kind solutions within its clinical decision support system, all to improve the treatment of mental illness.

Water Conservation Systems Augmentation

The project will involve investigating rehabilitation options for Jordan’s Pond in Stratford, PE with regards to the water quality of the pond and hydrology related to the berm that is in place. Data analysis of historical water quality reports will be done to help create standard procedures for water quality monitoring in Stratford.

Habiter les territoires de la violence à Port-au-Prince (Haïti)

Ce projet s’intéresse à l’impact de la violence armée sur les femmes et sur les autres groupes vulnérables vivant dans les quartiers pauvres de Port-au-Prince contrôlés par des gangs armés. Il vise à mieux connaître les enjeux sociaux de cette problématique et à renforcer les capacités des actrices et acteurs locaux accompagnant les femmes et autres groupes vulnérables victimes de ces violences. Une enquête sera menée auprès de victimes directes et indirectes de ces violences, auprès d’individus liés à ces groupes armés, de leaders communautaires et de responsables d’ONG intervenant dans le domaine des violences faites aux femmes et dans celui des droits de la personne. Il ciblera en particulier les quartiers de Martissant, Bel-Air, Bas Delmas, La Saline et Cité Soleil. Ce projet ouvrira la porte à une compréhension plus fine de ce type de violence et fournira des données probantes aux décideurs haïtiens et internationaux, leur permettant ainsi de mieux orienter leurs interventions auprès de ces communautés vulnérables que ce soit en Haïti ou dans tout autre pays confronté à de telles situations. Des articles destinés à la communauté scientifique seront produits, des interventions médiatiques (articles de presse, interventions, conférences-débats) seront élaborées et des formations sur mesure seront données.

Goal-based Wealth Management by Reinforcement Learning

Investors always face the dilemma of risk and return: risky investments offer better returns on average, but also dismal returns once in a while. Goal-based Wealth management is a rather natural way of communicating the “risk vs return” to an investor. Essentially, he or she is asked to define a financial goal over a time horizon (for example, having 1M$ in 10 years), and the probability of attaining this goal is optimized on the basis of historical data, yielding for example an 83% chance of success. If the investor is unhappy with this probability, the goal can be downsized. In all cases, the program optimizes the asset allocation to provide the best chance of success.

Les élu.es des petites municipalités québécoises face aux outils pour faciliter la participation citoyenne dans le cadre de la transition socioécologique : étude de cas

La recherche qui sera effectuée dans le cadre de ce stage est une étude de cas visant à acquérir des connaissances sur le rapport entretenu par les élu.es des petites municipalités québécoises avec différents outils existants pour leur permettre de favoriser la participation citoyenne. Nous nous intéressons au rapport à ces outils dans un contexte de transition socioécologique, c’est-à-dire d’orientation de l’action publique en faveur d’un développement plus durable, orientation pour laquelle l’engagement citoyen est une clé de changement de pratiques. Dans une approche inductive, quatre groupes de discussion seront animés en mode semi-structuré afin de recueillir des données liées à des catégories d’observation relatives à la littérature sur le sujet de la mobilisation des savoirs en politique. Ces groupes se tiendront dans la région administrative du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean, territoire québécois sélectionné pour son dynamisme quant aux initiatives menées en matière d’approche durable de l’action collective, et la présence active du Grand dialogue pour la transition écologique, une initiative
citoyenne mobilisatrice.