Innovative Projects Realized

Estimation of Contagion Risk of Infectious diseases by Uncertain Mobility Pattern and Social Interaction Analysis

The present worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) has already caused enormous loss of human lives, and massive economic and social upheaval. Even as COVID-19 vaccination has started, it may be many months before normalcy returns. Public health interventions can play a major role in containing and mitigating infectious diseases by disrupting the propagation of contagion. The choices of intervention measures are critical for the policy makers to be able to make wise decisions. To determine the optimal intervention, it is necessary to understand the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases within a population. The goal of this research project is to understand the spatio-temporal transmission dynamics of COVID-19. Specifically, the project aims to develop a contagion model that is realistic and to incorporate this into a rapid simulation tool for a private sector company Black Arcs Inc. This tool may be employed by the provincial and federal governments to plan the reopening of offices, and assist with pandemic policy refinement and intervention strategies.

Mapping anthropogenic noise in Alberta using passive acoustic monitoring data

Noise from human activities negatively affects the well-being of humans and wildlife alike. In rural areas, ecosystems that are relatively undisturbed by human activities may still be subjected to noise exposure from vehicles passing nearby, industry-related noise (e.g., compressor stations), or from airplanes overhead. To date, however, little work has been done to quantify what proportion of Canada’s land area might be exposed to anthropogenic noise, and how much noise is out there. This project will use existing sound recordings to produce a map of estimated noise levels across the province of Alberta. This map will estimate, for the first time, 1) how much of the province is subjected to noise levels over and above the natural background; 2) which areas are most severely affected by noise pollution; and 3) which areas remain relatively free of human noise. This project promises to build upon previous work mapping the impacts of human activities in Alberta, to produce new insights into patterns of anthropogenic noise.

Pre-clinical assessment of ALY688 in a mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a debilitating disease that causes weakness in muscles the move the body as well as the diaphragm. This disease results in severe immobility and can make it difficult to breathe. Strong anti-inflammatories are often prescribed to patients, but the side effects and limited effectiveness underscores the need for developing additional therapies. This research project will determine if a novel anti-inflammatory will increase muscle strength, size and quality (less fibrosis or scar tissue) by lowering inflammation and improving cellular metabolism. By partnering with Allysta Pharmaceuticals Inc. we will test the compound ALY688 in mice that have the same genetic mutation as people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. If the drug is successful in improving muscle function, the findings may help guide the development of new medicines to help improve the lives of people with this severe disease.

L’impact des services de rédaction Thèsez-vous sur les habitudes rédactionnelles et la motivation à rédiger des étudiants gradués

Au Canada, le taux d’abandon au doctorat s’élève à 50% et occasionne des coûts humains et financiers importants. L’organisme à but non lucratif (OBNL) Thèsez-vous offrent des services de rédaction telles que des groupes de rédaction et des retraites de rédaction dans le but d’aider les étudiants gradués à adopter de saines habitudes de travail, briser l’isolement et graduer. Dans ce contexte, une étude a été entamé pour connaître l’impact des services de rédaction Thèsez-vous sur les habitudes rédactionnelles et la motivation à rédiger des étudiants gradués. Récemment, l’arrivée de la pandémie Covid-19 et l’augmentation du sentiment d’isolement a entrainé l’OBNL à offrir ses services virtuellement et à agrandir son équipe d’animateurs. Le présent projet vise à documenter l’effet d’une participation aux services de rédaction de l’OBNL chez les doctorants, ainsi qu’à documenter comment les animateurs tiennent compte des savoirs acquis dans leur façon d’animer les services virtuels.

Vapor-phase metal additive manufacturing

Additive manufacturing (AM, or 3-D printing) with metals is a rapidly growing field catalyzing a revolution in modern manufacturing. The most common approach involves the use of metal powders as a feedstock material. The proposed research program will use metalorganic gaseous precursors such as Ni(CO)4 and Fe(CO)5 which facilitate low temperature (~200 C) deposition, forming solid metal deposits utilizing infrared light radiation-based heating. The low deposition temperature of nickel and iron carbonyls is attractive as it facilitates low thermal stresses during part building, providing the possibility of extreme dimensional accuracy for such process. The project will explore both stand-alone deposits using the concept of “laser writing”, as well as metal deposition on 3-D printed polymer substrates. The proposed technique will enable broadening Weber’s portfolio of products produced by conventional nickel vapor deposition process (using oil-heated mandrels as substrates).

Fundamental movement skills in children with physical disabilities

In Canada, 4.2% of children under the age of 15 years are living with physical disabilities. For children with physical disabilities, participation in physical activity is limited. A common factor attributed to reduced physical activity is physical literacy, defined as a multifaceted conceptualization of the abilities required to be engaged in physical activities for life. Fundamental movement skills, defined as basic skills required to accomplish a particular task, are essential for physical competence and higher level of physical activity. Children with poorer fundamental movement skills proficiency may demonstrate developmental delays. In partnership with Adaptavie, we aim to deepen our understanding of how children and youth with disabilities participate in physical education to improve their physical activity in Quebec schools. A better understanding of fundamental movement skills will help Adaptavie to tailor their adapted physical activity programs.

La relation entre les mouvements et l’expression sur canvas: un plugin IA de TouchDesigner pour réaliser de l’art interactif

Ce projet consiste à créer une plateforme permettant à des artistes de peindre sur un mur projeté avec leurs mouvements corporels. Ce projet a pour but d’explorer la relation entre les mouvements et l’expression sur canvas. Le stagiaire a l’expérience pratique pour développer l’algorithme d’apprentissage automatique, travailler avec une équipe multidisciplinaire et produire un plugin pour un logiciel commercial à la fin. L’ensemble du pipeline de recherche et de production sera un atout important pour lui pour sa future carrière. Avec nos partenaires nous testerons et déploierons la plateforme pour les productions actuelles de ces partenaires en Chine et au Canada. mDreams Pictures, Inc. bénéficiera de ce projet en mettant à jour sa plateforme de présentation vidéo en tant qu’offre de services de production vidéo virtuelle interactive en temps réel.

Wastewater Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Nova Scotia

Although COVID-19 is considered a respiratory illness, the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has been found in the feces of people infected with the virus. It is known that the virus survives longer in the gastrointestinal tract than in the respiratory tract. As such, wastewater has been used to determine the presence of the virus either before someone develops symptoms; receives a positive test result; or is an asymptomatic carrier of the virus. On a larger scale, wastewater may be monitored for SARS-CoV-2 to learn more about the prevalence of COVID-19 infections in a given population. By applying this method to a province-wide monitoring program, we will gather baseline data for SARS-CoV-2 occurrence in wastewater in vulnerable communities and learn more about the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 prevalence that may result from individuals traveling to Nova Scotia from outside the Atlantic Region.

The use of Carbon-Nanotube Aluminum/Copper Composite for Power Transmission Line and Inductor

The focus of this research project is possibilities of increasing the capacity of overhead power transmission conductors using Carbon Nanotubes (CNT). Current constraints to existing transmission conductors include: (i) high resistivity of the reinforcing steel strands; (ii) energy loss in the form of heat generated from this inefficiency; and (iii) and thermal expansion and increases the sag and length of the conductor. The unique properties of CNTs have generated much interest in their potential application to transmission conductors in the form of CNT-reinforced aluminum. A critical step in using CNTs within a new conductor is to develop a fabrication process that successfully transfers the properties of CNT to the matrix material of aluminum. A scrolling fabrication process has been developed, which may solve these challenges. Different strands of Al-CNT composite wires with different CNT concentrations will be fabricated.

Ground Disturbance and Downed Woody Materials following Diverse Timber-Harvest Methods in the Pockwock Watershed

The forWater Network, funded by the federal government as well as industry partners and provincial governments, is a national research network looking into the impacts of forest-management strategies on drinking-water source quality and treatability. forWater Network researchers at Dalhousie University (including Duinker, the supervisor in this application) are working with Halifax Water and Westfor Management Inc. to determine how the Pockwock forested watershed can be managed to improve water treatability. A key issue here is the movement of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). DOC movement from the land to the water has increased in recent decades, and that increases the cost of treating drinking water to acceptable standards. The Halifax study centres on integrated simulation modelling to build and analyze long-term scenarios of forest management and climate change and their effects on DOC levels in Lake Pockwock. The modelling is supported by monitoring of water moving through the forested landscape as well as detailed measurements of the carbon stocks in the forests themselves. Experimental timber harvests will reveal what happens to DOC movements under different harvest regimes. With the project proposed herein, we intend to make a thorough characterization of two additional important variables in forest carbon assessment:

PredictNow.ai Business Strategy Internship

The intern will be primarily be asked to help carry out our ongoing customer discovery project. The intern will also help assist the business team with its existing sales and marketing plan. Finally, the intern will have a regular shift as a first point of contact monitoring the customer support requests, assisting the customers with their issues and elevating problems to other members of the support team when the intern can not solve the problem.

The intern will conduct interviews with new customers to address their pain points as well as incorporate their feedback into the overall PredictNow.ai inbound marketing plan. The intern will also help manage our social channels as well as develop marketing materials to share online. The intern will also eventually work with clients to properly format their data files with the features that provide their machine learning model with effective predictive power.

Clearview Advisory Business Strategy Internship

Clearview Advisory is a boutique advisory firm founded in 2017 that helps business owners with high value projects – Mergers and Acquisitions, divestitures, financings, joint-ventures, business integration management and strategic planning. While Clearview works with businesses across many sectors, its expertise lies in the Food & Beverage industry.
Up until recently, Clearview has grown entirely through word of mouth. The firm wants to continue to expand its business more formally, but currently lacks the bandwidth internally to do so due to its work-load with current clients. We have now orchestrated a business development plan with multiple marketing initiatives working together in concert (social media campaign, brochure, email scripts, etc.), and require additional support in order to execute on these initiatives.