Innovative Projects Realized

Maintaining cell wall integrity in Gram-Negative Bacteria

Pathogenic bacteria have the potential to devastate humanity, and without antibiotics (which are failing), we face a humanitarian crisis. The bacterial cell wall is a principle target of antibiotics, and its understanding is essential to preventing an antibiotic crisis. Our hypothesis is that the process of cell wall peptidoglycan and outer membrane biogenesis must be linked and is important for antibiotic resistance. Warwick scientists have established a collaboration with Professor Lori Burrows at McMaster University in Canada who has the specialist genetic tools and facilities to enable us to explore this hypothesis in P. aeuginosa, one of the most important Gram-Negative pathogens.
This will establish at a molecular level how these processes are linked and what proteins may be involved. Knowledge gained in this collaboration could be of fundamental biological importance as well as the basis upon which future antimicrobial strategies that target the two processes in parallel.

Bootstrapping Yield Curves

Financial market’s stability depends on the accurate pricing of financial products traded in the
market. This makes accurate pricing of products a top priority for the banks and financial
instruments. Inaccurate prices can lead to instability in the market and formation of bubbles.
This leads into market crashes such as the 2008 crash where the housing prices bubble
caused the market crash. This project’s aim is to develop a tool for the bank to price financial
products. This tool will provide the information required for pricing a product. This tool uses
the available products in the market to obtain the structure and information required for
pricing a product. Moreover, this tool will allow the bank to study the discrepancies in the
prices of products available in the market.

Advanced photogrammetric data capture and data analysis for improved rehabilitation planning and infrastructure spending

This project will evaluate methods of capturing images in underground hydroelectric facilities for the purpose of generating 3D models to be used for inspection. These facilitates are very dark, wet, and large with complicated geometries. Capturing images in these environments suitable for 3D modelling is challenging and, in some cases, not possible with current technology. Methods of analysing the 3D models, as well as automating the analyses, will also be investigated. Current methods of analysis are labour intensive and lack concise metrics to describe condition. The results of this research will help infrastructure owners optimize infrastructure spending and provide the partner organization with new knowledge and tools that will give it a competitive advantage in the industry. This project will also provide the building blocks for future research

Community dynamics in restored salt marshes

Salt marshes are important coastal ecosystems that provide many services. Due to their high soil fertility, they have a long history of being converted to farmland. There is now growing interest in restoring salt marshes to protect against coastal erosion, mitigate sea level rise, and provide increased habitat for birds, fish, etc. Ducks Unlimited Canada and partners initiated a large salt marsh restoration project in 2009-2010 in Aulac, NB, Canada, and are planning new restoration initiatives, with goals of reverting farmland and freshwater impoundments to salt marsh, and assessing effectiveness of restoration methods. The intern will quantify patterns and rates of restoration of biological communities, at a critical point in the restoration process when the foundational plant species has spread throughout the restoration sites, other halophytic plants are starting to colonize the sites, and the old protective dike has eroded, leaving the young marshes to face stronger erosional forces. This process needs to be fully understood for our region where winter disturbance is substantial, because dike removal and associated shoreline management are becoming more common in Maritime Canada, largely due to the high costs associated with dike maintenance. The project’s information will help determine best management

Investigating the effect of the Virtual Meditative Walk on brain in chronic pain conditions: A longitudinal fMRI study – Year two

The Virtual Meditative Walk (VMW) (1) is a well-developed therapeutic protocol that can be used alone or in combination with the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction techniques in an Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) environment. It has been shown to be effective in reducing pain levels in patients with chronic pain (CP); however, little is known about how IVRs such as VMW may affect pain processing networks in the brain. During this post-doctorate position, a longitudinal neuroimaging clinical trial will be designed and implemented to explore alterations in the brain after a course of the VMW in CP patients.

Methods. Patients with CP will be recruited and randomly assigned to one of the VMW or MBSR based WMV groups. Initially, pain levels and resting-state and task-based functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging data will be acquired. Participants will then receive twelve 20-minute therapeutic sessions, three per week; post-scans and pain levels will thereafter be acquired. Following a three-month post-study period, patients’ pain levels will be acquired again.

Benefits the partner. These findings may provide a neuroscientific explanation for analgesic effects of IVR therapy and support the Easa Therapeutics to provide better services to patients and develop more specialized VR protocols for chronic pain conditions.

Investigating the effect of the Virtual Meditative Walk on brain in chronic pain conditions: A longitudinal fMRI study

The Virtual Meditative Walk (VMW) (1) is a well-developed therapeutic protocol that can be used alone or in combination with the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction techniques in an Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) environment. It has been shown to be effective in reducing pain levels in patients with chronic pain (CP); however, little is known about how IVRs such as VMW may affect pain processing networks in the brain. During this post-doctorate position, a longitudinal neuroimaging clinical trial will be designed and implemented to explore alterations in the brain after a course of the VMW in CP patients.

Methods. Patients with CP will be recruited and randomly assigned to one of the VMW or MBSR based WMV groups. Initially, pain levels and resting-state and task-based functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging data will be acquired. Participants will then receive twelve 20-minute therapeutic sessions, three per week; post-scans and pain levels will thereafter be acquired. Following a three-month post-study period, patients’ pain levels will be acquired again.

Benefits the partner. These findings may provide a neuroscientific explanation for analgesic effects of IVR therapy and support the Easa Therapeutics to provide better services to patients and develop more specialized VR protocols for chronic pain conditions.

Assessing cumulative effects of development and climate change to inform land use planning in Yukon – Year two

The Yukon’s Northern Boreal Mountains region is under increasing pressure from human disturbance and climate change. Exploration of previously untapped natural resources is expanding in northern Canada, and northern ecosystems are thought to be more sensitive to climate stressors[1]. However, the cumulative effects of these co-occurring disturbances on wildlife populations, community structure, and habitat quality are not well understood and often only studied individually and at local scales. This project will investigate cumulative effects of human stressors (resource use, climate change) on (1) avian density, diversity, and community composition, and (2) on water quality in critical salmon spawning habitats at a regional scale. We define stressors as all human-induced activities and cumulative effects as the combined effects of multiple individual stressors on species or ecosystems over time and/or space. This work will identify how resource and climate stressors combine to influence ecosystem function. Results from this project will be used to inform conservation targets built around ecological thresholds for maintaining healthy wildlife populations and ecosystems. Recommendations resulting from this project will play a critical role in guiding sustainable development and habitat conservation, informing land use planning in the Yukon and other northern boreal ecosystems throughout Canada.

Assessing cumulative effects of development and climate change to inform land use planning in Yukon

The Yukon’s Northern Boreal Mountains region is under increasing pressure from human disturbance and climate change. Exploration of previously untapped natural resources is expanding in northern Canada, and northern ecosystems are thought to be more sensitive to climate stressors[1]. However, the cumulative effects of these co-occurring disturbances on wildlife populations, community structure, and habitat quality are not well understood and often only studied individually and at local scales. This project will investigate cumulative effects of human stressors (resource use, climate change) on (1) avian density, diversity, and community composition, and (2) on water quality in critical salmon spawning habitats at a regional scale. We define stressors as all human-induced activities and cumulative effects as the combined effects of multiple individual stressors on species or ecosystems over time and/or space. This work will identify how resource and climate stressors combine to influence ecosystem function. Results from this project will be used to inform conservation targets built around ecological thresholds for maintaining healthy wildlife populations and ecosystems. Recommendations resulting from this project will play a critical role in guiding sustainable development and habitat conservation, informing land use planning in the Yukon and other northern boreal ecosystems throughout Canada.

Evaluating Tile Drainage/Water Management Effects on Wheat, Canola and Soybeans productivity in Heavy Clay Soils

Tile drainage is becoming popular as a way to control excess moisture in the field to increase productivity. Yet, the economic return on investment (ROI) on installing tile drainage is not known for wheat, canola, and soybeans in Manitoba. This research will allow us to assess the impact of water management through controlled drainage on yield and quality of wheat, canola, and soybeans. Detailed soil moisture measurements along with water table depth at different times will help us model water flow within the rootzone and its impact on crop yield. Data collected in this study will be used to calibrate computer models (HYDRUS, DrainMOD) for this location so that weather data from different years could be modeled to assess the long-term impact of tile drainage. The field has drains placed at 15’, 30’, and 45’ allowing different degrees of drainage. Rotating the three crops through these different spacings will help assess the impact of different drainage intensities. Excess moisture is a big constraint in crop production in Manitoba.

Predicting players social behaviour in online multiplayer videogames – Year two

Online multiplayer videogames are popular because most of their content is generated by interactions among players and thus extremely dynamic. Predicting players’ behaviour in these games is necessary to better design and maintain the game environment and to keep the players engaged in the game. These predictions are difficult because a player’s behaviour varies as a function of the behaviour of other players and with past experience in the game environment. Current approaches used to predict player behaviour are based on machine learning, which can optimize a game environment already in place but does not allow for robust predictions of players’ actions in the future. This project will improve our ability to predict players’ behaviour and test hypotheses developed in the fields of ecology and evolution using a scientific and analytical approach. I will use the videogame ‘Dead by daylight’ produced by Behaviour Interactive to predict how a focal player’s in-game behaviour is shaped by behaviours of other players. Results of this project will help managers and designers to make informed decisions over the game’s life cycle and maintenance. Ultimately, this will increase players’ engagement and revenue for the company.

Secure Multiuser Distributed Storage allowing Collaboration

A true blind party is a service provider that does not have access to unencrypted data of its clients.
We note that, in such an environment, the client must securely maintain the many keys that may be
required for the files. In addition, if there are collaborating organizations, the client must securely
deliver the appropriate keys to the collaborators. This environment also makes it difficult to provide
tracking of changes and logging of access to the files.
TitanFile aims at providing a comparable level of security while still managing the encryption keys on
the service side.
A key element of the proposal is to leverage the extensive expertise of the intern and the supervisor
(Dr. Agnew) in Public Key cryptographic systems, Conventional cryptographic systems and secure
system development.

Predicting players social behaviour in online multiplayer videogames

Online multiplayer videogames are popular because most of their content is generated by interactions among players and thus extremely dynamic. Predicting players’ behaviour in these games is necessary to better design and maintain the game environment and to keep the players engaged in the game. These predictions are difficult because a player’s behaviour varies as a function of the behaviour of other players and with past experience in the game environment. Current approaches used to predict player behaviour are based on machine learning, which can optimize a game environment already in place but does not allow for robust predictions of players’ actions in the future. This project will improve our ability to predict players’ behaviour and test hypotheses developed in the fields of ecology and evolution using a scientific and analytical approach. I will use the videogame ‘Dead by daylight’ produced by Behaviour Interactive to predict how a focal player’s in-game behaviour is shaped by behaviours of other players. Results of this project will help managers and designers to make informed decisions over the game’s life cycle and maintenance. Ultimately, this will increase players’ engagement and revenue for the company.