Innovative Projects Realized

Encapsulation strategies for the enhanced performance of activeingredients in cosmetic products

“Functional foods and cosmetics contain physiologically active compounds. However, many active ingredients are susceptible to degradation and/or are not efficiently absorbed by the body. It is increasingly recognized that the composition and physical structures of the products, and interactions between ingredients in the matrix can impact the stability and availability of active ingredients. Encapsulation is an important strategy for protecting and delivering active ingredients and it has a long history of use in food and cosmetic industries. Several encapsulation vehicles for active ingredients have been developed, however their efficacy in delivering active ingredients is not well characterized. This research proposal addresses the value-chain development and enhancement of active ingredients using different encapsulation vehicles for food and cosmetic applications. Results of this project will bring research from the academia to the industry, which will lead to potential commercialization of novel functional food and petroleum-free cosmetic products.”

Encapsulation strategies for the enhanced performance of active ingredients in foods and non-food products

“Functional foods and cosmetics contain physiologically active compounds. However, many active ingredients are susceptible to degradation and/or are not efficiently absorbed by the body. It is increasingly recognized that the composition and physical structures of the products, and interactions between ingredients in the matrix can impact the stability and availability of active ingredients. Encapsulation is an important strategy for protecting and delivering active ingredients and it has a long history of use in food and cosmetic industries. Several encapsulation vehicles for active ingredients have been developed, however their efficacy in delivering active ingredients is not well characterized. This research proposal addresses the value-chain development and enhancement of active ingredients using different encapsulation vehicles for food and cosmetic applications. Results of this project will bring research from the academia to the industry, which will lead to potential commercialization of novel functional food and petroleum-free cosmetic products.”

End-User Understanding of Web Certificates – Year two

Users must decide which websites to trust and which to avoid. How can users know if a website is truly what it claims to be? This is a pivotal issue. When attackers can convince users to trust their sites, though phishing or other strategies, user security and privacy are easily compromised, malware can be downloaded, and infrastructure undermined.
Our plan is to conduct user studies to explore the understanding of browser-presented certificate information. We will conduct both qualitative studies, to explore understanding through observation and interviews, and larger quantitative studies, to statistically assess hypotheses. The partner would benefit from this work because they are concerned that users are currently not aware of the available certifications and need insight as to why this is.

Evaluation of appearance, corrosion properties and leach resistance of modified micronized copper preservative treated wood

Title: Evaluation of appearance, corrosion properties and leach-resistance of modified micronized-copper preservative treated wood

Sponsor: Timber Specialties Co.

Intern: Myung Jae Lee

Supervisor: Paul Cooper

University: University of Toronto

Recently introduced micronized copper wood preservative system has successfully captured most of the treated wood market in the USA; however, it cannot be acceptable in Canada because the wood surface is mottled and streaky in appearance when it is applied to Canadian wood species (spruce-pine fir). This problem may be solved by partially solubilizing copper with MEA to provide an even color to wood surface. If this modification does not compromise the excellent Cu leach resistance, corrosion resistance and expected mould resistance of the micronized copper system, the partner organization will be able to get this improved treatment accepted in the Canadian market. The intern will evaluate the modified system focusing on optimizing the formulation to address the above issues over a four month research period.

End-User Understanding of Web Certificates

“Much of life is online, so online security is critical. While many aspects of security are infrastructural, users must make key decisions. In particular, users must decide which websites to trust and which to avoid. How can users know if a website is truly what it claims to be? This is a pivotal issue. When attackers can convince users to trust their sites, though phishing or other strategies, user security and privacy are easily compromised, malware can be downloaded, and infrastructure undermined.Our plan is to conduct user studies to explore the understanding of browser-presented certificate information. We will conduct both qualitative studies, to explore understanding through observation and interviews, and larger quantitative studies, to statistically assess hypotheses. The partner would benefit from this work because they are concerned that users are currently not aware of the available certifications and need insight as to why this is.”

High Bandwidth Biometrics Data Hosting and Analytics in Cloud-based Storage Systems – Year two

Cloud hosting environments include large scale distributed storage systems. With the advent of Big Data, especially newer biomedical and biometrics data, collected from wearable monitoring devices, there is a high need for Cloud-based solutions for large scale storage and high bandwidth on-the-fly data analysis for such data. A key problem for IT companies that collect large amounts of biometrics data on-the-fly is their need for real-time solutions for anomaly detection in the collected data. This work focuses on (a) on-the-fly biometric data analysis and anomaly detection and (b) on-the-fly analysis of computer system data for anomaly detection of system behavior. The proposed solution will minimize the data analysis search space of the stored data. We will evaluate our solutions in collaboration with the partner organization for types of human and system biometrics data on various distributed storage systems.

High Bandwidth EEG Data Hosting and Analytics in Cloud-based Storage Systems

Cloud hosting environments include large scale distributed storage systems. With the advent of Big Data, especially newer biomedical and biometrics data, collected from wearable monitoring devices, there is a high need for Cloud-based solutions for large scale storage and high bandwidth on-the-fly data analysis for such data. A key problem for IT companies that collect large amounts of biometrics data on-the-fly is their need for real-time solutions for anomaly detection in the collected data. This work focuses on (a) on-the-fly biometric data analysis and anomaly detection and (b) on-the-fly analysis of computer system data for anomaly detection of system behavior. The proposed solution will minimize the data analysis search space of the stored data. We will evaluate our solutions in collaboration with the partner organization for types of human and system biometrics data on various distributed storage systems.

Development of a precise and robust INS/GPS navigation system using low cost MEMS sensors dedicated to autonomous multirotor applications

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) became increasingly more popular since the global industry realized the unlimited possible applications assignable to these vehicles for reasonable costs. In this way, the company ARA Robotique designs flight controllers for multi-rotors UAVs that need accurate positions, velocities and attitude (roll, pitch, yaw) knowledge. This project focuses on designing a low-cost inertial navigation system (INS) suitable for aerial navigation. However, low-cost sensors are subject to many errors including sensors temperature dependence, sensors time synchronization, magnetic perturbations and random errors induced by their low-cost nature. The computed positions and velocities may drift very quickly from numerical integration of accelerometers and gyroscopes. A common solution is to assist the INS with low-rate drift free but imprecise GPS positions and velocities. The intern will have to design a coupled INS/GPS solution suitable for outdoor autonomous navigation and indoor manual control regardless of its position on earth from low-costs Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) based sensors. The INS/GPS solution will be implemented and experimentally tested in open areas.

Étude de l’utilisation de lumières et de vibrations tactiles comme interface utilisateur d’un système porté non muni d’écran

Le bracelet NEX, développé par Mighty Cast, comprend cinq voyants lumineux DEL de différentes couleurs avec lentille tactile et un actionneur linéaire pour créer des vibrations tactiles. L’utilisation de ces nouveaux modes de communication soulève plusieurs questions : quels patrons visuels et vibrotactiles et combien en utiliser pour communiquer efficacement avec l’utilisateur sans nécessiter trop d’apprentissage et de mémorisation? Quelles combinaisons de patrons visuels et de patrons vibrotactiles donnent les meilleurs résultats en termes de performance et de satisfaction de l’utilisateur? Est-ce que les utilisateurs modifient les patrons qui leur sont proposés et ceux-ci sont-ils plus faciles à mémoriser? Le but de ce projet est de produire des connaissances scientifiques sur l’efficacité, l’acceptabilité et l’utilisabilité de différents patrons lumineux et patrons vibrotactiles pour communiquer avec l’utilisateur dans une interface sans écran. Les résultats attendus sont des données empiriques, des lignes directrices

Design and validation of a novel peptide immunotherapeutic for the treatment of dog allergies – Year two

Adiga Life Sciences Inc. developed a novel immunotherapeutic platform in which small components (peptides) of allergen proteins are identified and administered in a regimen that causes immune cells to become non-responsive towards the allergens. In a phase II clinical trial, the cat allergy treatment developed by Adiga using this platform reduced allergic symptoms in allergic subjects. However, the mechanism of action of the peptide treatment is still not fully understood. During this project, relevant peptides from dog allergens will be identified and assessed for the ability to ameliorate dog allergy. In addition, samples collected from the clinical trials will be assessed to identify how the treatment works and affects immune cells. This project will therefore lead to the production of a new allergen immunotherapeutic and identify a mechanism(s) of action. This will increase our understanding of immunotherapy and potentially identify new targets and biomarkers for the treatment of allergic diseases.

Design and validation of a novel peptide immunotherapeutic for the treatment of dog allergies

Adiga Life Sciences Inc. developed a novel immunotherapeutic platform in which small components (peptides) of allergen proteins are identified and administered in a regimen that causes immune cells to become non-responsive towards the allergens. In a phase II clinical trial, the cat allergy treatment developed by Adiga using this platform reduced allergic symptoms in allergic subjects. However, the mechanism of action of the peptide treatment is still not fully understood. During this project, relevant peptides from dog allergens will be identified and assessed for the ability to ameliorate dog allergy. In addition, samples collected from the clinical trials will be assessed to identify how the treatment works and affects immune cells. This project will therefore lead to the production of a new allergen immunotherapeutic and identify a mechanism(s) of action. This will increase our understanding of immunotherapy and potentially identify new targets and biomarkers for the treatment of allergic diseases.

Expanding the capabilities of a neurosurgery software platform to provide clinical solutions for advanced spinal cord imaging and intra-operative guidance

Pathologic changes that occur in the cervical spinal cord as a result of injury and disease are not well characterized with current clinical imaging techniques. Synaptive Medical has recently developed a suite of innovative medical imaging products focused on the brain and image-guided neurosurgery. They are interested in investigating the potential application of these technologies beyond the brain. Leveraging the expertise in spine imaging analysis, 3D visualization and surgical simulation at Sunnybrook Research Institute and the University of Toronto Spine Program, the objective of this project will be to use Synaptive’s magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologies to better characterize pathologic changes of the spinal cord and guide complex cervical spine interventions. For Synaptive, this represents an opportunity to extend use of their specialized imaging and navigation techniques into a new clinical area focused on the cervical spine.