Innovative Projects Realized

Design, implementation and feasibility testing of a mindfulness meditation intervention to reduce neuropathic pain among individuals with a spinal cord injury

Tens of thousands of Canadians living with a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) suffer from debilitating neuropathic pain. This project, in partnership with Spinal Cord Injury Ontario (SCIO), will seek to understand and test the potential for mindfulness mediation, to decrease pain and increase quality of life. Over 36 months, Robert Buren (the intern), in collaboration with UBC and SCIO, will work together to learn from relevant research that has already been completed, survey the experiences and needs of the SCIO member community, and finally, create and conduct a mindfulness mediation program with a small group of the SCIO community to test if mindfulness mediation can help them reduce pain and improve their quality of life. Throughout this project, the learnings and findings will be shared with the SCIO community, to ideally help everyone in Ontario, Canada, and abroad, living with SCI, to reduce their pain and improve their lives.

Nbwaakaawining binjibaamgad Gkendmaawziwin Wisdom from Knowledge: Documenting and Sharing the Indigenous Biocultural Richness of the Greenbelt

Plenty Canada has partnered with the University of Guelph to launch a biocultural knowledge and mapping project to begin restoring Indigenous knowledge, visibility, and character to the Greenbelt as an important Indigenous cultural landscape in Ontario. Our proposed work builds upon the success of a pilot project that we launched with the Canadian Commission for United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (CCUNESCO) to document and safeguard important Indigenous heritage resources along the Niagara Escarpment. We are now planning to expand our research and mapping project to the entire Greenbelt region. The intern will assist Plenty Canada to gather Indigenous knowledge and scientific data and resources to establish a repository of information that will aid public education and serve as the foundation for enhancing awareness of the importance of preserving natural world ecosystems and green spaces to safeguard Indigenous flora through the braiding of Western science and Indigenous Knowledge systems.

Metabolomic Biomarkers of Traumatic Brain Injury

Clinical diagnosis and rehabilitation of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) relies on patientreported symptoms and on limited availability of quantitative assessment tools. Also, there is no clear standard of care and lot of disparity in the rehabilitation protocols used in the clinic. The industrial partner APEXK Inc. has developed novel patented technology-based solutions to enhance precision of assessment and neurorehabilitation for mTBI patients both in athletes and non-athletic clinical populations through a standardized protocol (Class II Health Canada approved). Current approaches by APEXK use oculomotor and visual-cognitive modalities to deliver personalized treatment. The addition of a quantitative metabolomic signature would enhance precision in mTBI diagnosis, monitoring rehabilitation progress and recovery. The academic team has identified and patented a systems biology-based metabolomics signature with high predictive accuracy that will address this urgent medical need. The novel combination of APEXK’s unique neurorehabilitation methods combined with our patented novel biomarker technology will provide an innovative strategy to match quantitative physiological genomicbased biomarkers to a Health-Canada approved data-driven technology used for concussion rehabilitation.

Sensors for Monitoring Septic Tanks

We are developing an automated monitoring system to optimize the frequency of septic tank pumps.
Septic tanks are used in ~87% of rural communities across Canada; current best practice for
maintenance pumping is neither effective nor efficient as it is based on time rather than use. A
reliable monitoring system can reduce cost by minimizing the frequency of pumping (more efficient)
and avoid environmental damage associated with overflow (more effective). There are three layers
in a tank: floating scum, liquid effluent, and bottom sludge. Both scum and sludge build up over time;
if the tank is not pumped, solids will clog the outflow pipes in the connected leach field. In this
project, we will first perform field testing to determine which layer is most effective for determining
when a tank needs to be emptied. Then we will compare different sensor technologies in a lab test
setup. Thereafter, we will prototype an enclosure and a data logging system for the most effective
sensing technology. Finally we will field test the sensor prototype.

Analyse des pratiques en bâtiment durable des gestionnaires de propriétés immobilières institutionnelles

Ce projet de recherche vise le développement de nouvelles connaissances et de nouvelles données de référence adaptées au secteur de l’immobilier institutionnel au Québec pour valoriser les pratiques de gestion en bâtiment durable afin de stimuler leur transmission et leur adoption. Cette recherche contribue à la mission du partenaire, l’Association des gestionnaires de parcs immobiliers institutionnels (AGPI), en lui suggérant de nouveaux axes d’activités et de formation afin d’actualiser son offre de services et de soutenir les pratiques exemplaires de l’État en matière de gestion de bâtiment durable.

An Approach for Meeting Remote Surgery Performance Requirements in Mobile Networks Core

The research project aims to develop an approach based on resource management in 5G/6G network slicing to meet the performance requirements of remote surgeries that involve surgeons and patients connected remotely through a highly reliable and efficient network. Remote surgery’s relevance is because it allows low-income patients in vulnerable communities to access complex medical procedures anytime and anywhere. The remote surgery service is challenging for 5G/6G networks since it requires extremely low latency and hugely reliability leading to high deployment costs. These requirements are essential during telesurgeries because their non-completion can damage the patients and even cause their death. Expected results from this proposal are the design and development of an approach to orchestrate and another one to schedule intelligent and efficient resources in 5G/6G network slices for achieving remote surgery. These approaches will be evaluated regarding ultra-high reliability and extremely low latency demanded by telesurgeries.

Multidisciplinary Conceptual Design Methodology Integrating Advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation for Optimal and Innovative Vertical Take-Off and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Designs

Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) and VTOL fixed-wing UAVs can have a significantly positive societal impact with applications such as urban air taxi, flying ambulance, search and rescue, delivery to remote places (e.g., Canadian north) and medical equipment transport. These applications are challenging in many aspects. One of the biggest challenges is to achieve high energy efficiency for competitive performance or even feasibility. Weight and aerodynamics are the primary drivers of energy efficiency. Therefore, the emergence of VTOL and VTOL fixed-wing UAVs for demanding applications will depend on the designers’ ability to optimize designs for weight and aerodynamics. The proposed research aims to develop a novel conceptual design methodology integrating advanced aerodynamics in a multidisciplinary framework for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The novelty will be to achieve a step-change in the level of accuracy within the multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) procedure. The selected approach is based on two theoretical kernels: MDO and advanced aerodynamics.

Laser spectroscopy of atomic hydrogen

Sulfur cycling in soils along a land-use intensity gradient in German Biodiversity Exploratories

Interaction of hypoxia and fructose in healthy subjects

Prédiction des propriétés structurales des sols agricoles basées sur l’analyse compositionnelle et l’intelligence artificielle sur les indicateurs de chimie sèche (Dry chemistry)

Notre programme de recherche vise à bâtir un nouveau système intelligent, rapide et précis de diagnostic et de recommandation des amendements calciques pour assurer la santé, la protection et la productivité des sols et les qualités que garantissent les industriels pour une utilisation adéquate et durable des matières fertilisantes dans les différents systèmes agricoles. Le futur stagiaire travaillera sur la prédiction des propriétés structurales des sols agricoles basées sur l’analyse compositionnelle et l’intelligence artificielle sur les indicateurs de chimie sèche. Durant son stage, Chaima Elalami développera des procédures algorithmiques de pédotransfert et d’interprétation spectrale par apprentissage supervisé, pour instaurer et déployer des solutions technologiques compatibles avec l’agriculture de précision et la recherche des solution durables de l’industrie des intrants agricoles.

The hypersomnolence neuroimaging initiative: the first global consortium for harmonized MRI mega analysis on central hypersomnolence disorders

Central hypersomnolence disorders are characterised by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and strongly affect patients’ quality of life. A lack of awareness, as well as poorly understood underlying biology is hindering early identification and adequate treatment of hypersomnolence disorders. Ultimately, strongly reduced daytime functioning and quality of life in patients with central hypersomnolence disorders presents a burden for patients, partners, and society.
Neuroimaging studies in hypersomnolence disorders could help to improve our neurobiological understanding, but are often limited in size. Together with large variation of analysis methods that have been used across sites, this contributes to inconsistent findings and possibly overlooked, true effects in the search for more disease insights. To tackle these issues, the first international multicentre consortium ‘Hypersomnia-MRI’ has recently been initiated by research groups in Amsterdam, Leiden, and Montréal, reaching the largest sample size in the field of hypersomnolence disorders to date. Within this global consortium, existing scans will be processed with harmonised analysis methods and consequently pooled at a central site to increase statistical power. This results in high-impact overarching meta- and mega-analyses.