Innovative Projects Realized

Investigating Gangliosides in Breast Cancer Subtypes by Imaging Mass Spectrometry

Breast cancer is the most common cancer amongst women. Early detection through mammography and new breakthroughs in therapy have significantly improved the survival rate. Nonetheless, in Canada, approximately one in eight women diagnosed will not live past five years. The study of gangliosides is one avenue to improve prognosis. Found on the cellular membrane, gangliosides help communication between cells and have shown to be dysregulated in many diseases. Previous studies have found links between certain gangliosides and breast cancers. More recent studies have even shown important nuances in the expression of gangliosides depending on the breast cancer subtype. This project will employ imaging mass spectrometry to corroborate these findings and provide information on the distribution and quantity of these gangliosides in breast cancer by subtype.

Relationship between Elastomeric Material and 3D Printing

Additive manufacturing (AM) offers designers more Degree-Of-Freedom (DOF) in design with fewer limitations and they can focus more on the intended functionality of a product. For example, functionality can be referred to assigned mechanical deformation by printing rigid and elastomeric materials. Soft robot, artificial heart, and customized shoe mid-sole are some functional products. One important foundation of the technique is that spatially distributing the build material differently can generate various mechanical properties of a part. Although the tensile strength and tensile modulus of an elastomeric material are generally provided in the material specification sheet, the 3D printing process will also affect the mechanical properties significantly. This is the PSPP relationship in material science, and it is crucial to understand this relationship at the very beginning. TO BE CONT’D

Encounters and tensions in the French Pyrenees: New herding practices and predatory behavior of the returned brown bear

This research analyzes the interaction between herding practices and bear predatory behavior in the Ariège Pyrenees (France). The LIFE program was launched in 1996 by the European Union (EU) to establish a permanent bear population in the Pyrenees through the introduction of Slovenian sub-species. As a direct response to this policy, shepherds have introduced new techniques of ‘regrouping’ sheep herds for safety, new shepherds have been hired, livestock-guarding dogs were reintroduced and fenced sheepfolds were installed with EU funds to prevent livestock loss. This research aims at bringing together environmental anthropology and behavioral ecology to conduct the first study in the Pyrenees regarding what environmental and social factors are conditioning predation and whether existent means of protection are effective to prevent bear attacks. It will contribute towards improving livestock protection policy outcomes, as well as informing regional policy debates in the EU regarding how land and livestock managerial institutions are emerging as tools to reshape the politics of the commons.

Using Machine Learning to Decipher Controls Water Quality

Water in the United States is a valuable resource. It is used from everything from drinking water to tourism. However, by the 1970s, many rivers and coastal areas were severely degraded from decades of using water to assimilate pollution. After billions of dollars spent and decades of effort on all levels of government, the increasing intensification of the agricultural system and the growing population is still putting U.S. water quality at risk.

Specifically, in many areas, nitrogen concentration trends are not responding to mitigation attempts and are remaining flat or continuing to increase. The overall objective of this work is to quantify water quality trends in rivers across the U.S. and determine how the landscape, climate, or land management may be controlling river nitrogen concentrations. We will be using novel methods in machine learning to find the patterns in river concentrations across the U.S. and determine what is controlling the concentration trends.

This information is crucial for those trying to improve water quality in the U.S. at a national or local level. The first step to addressing water quality issues is to understand how and why water quality has changed over time. TBC

Resolving membrane protein dynamics and self-association characteristics by fluorescence fluctuation analysis

This project aims to exploit an analysis of cellular and molecular dynamics which focuses on understanding protein-protein interactions in living cells. It will focus on the development and application of a suite of novel single molecule super-resolution imaging strategies that will address fundamental questions surrounding how the association of specific membrane proteins drives localization and function. The project contains a robust suite of fluorescence fluctuation analysis tools, including Numbers and Brightness, Spatial Intensity Distribution Analysis (SPIDA). These tools will be complemented by imaging total internal reflection FCS (ITIR-FCS), an approach well-suited for examining surface-specific interactions and spatial variations in molecular diffusion and dynamics on millisecond time scales ). As for expected outcomes, it is supposed to detect actin and ezrin rate on membranes as well as the distribution in different intensity areas. Furthermore, the project would be the basis for mapping the spatially heterogeneous diffusion characteristics in live cells.

A Novel Gan-Based Solar DC-Optimizer

The solar energy market has recently experienced an exponential growth due to the increase in the energy demand and environmental issues. In this research program, a DC-Optimizer system will be designed and developed to harvest the maximum power from solar tiles installed on the rooftops of residential buildings in an efficient and cost-effective way. This research program has tremendous value for LED Sign Supply to be able to acquire significant market share and attain more revenue. This research program can place LED Sign as the leading company in future advanced solar systems.

Fast and robust power electronic interfaces for DC net-zero energy buildings (NZEBs)

Nowadays it is estimated that buildings consume about 40% of the global energy, what corresponds to one-third of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To deal with this issue, the concept of Net-Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) was conceived. These buildings produce, by means of renewable energy sources (RESs), the total energy they consume on an annual basis. Since RESs, such as photovoltaics, are fluctuating, a strong grid connection and/or Energy Storage System (ESS) is/are required. This research project focuses on a NZEB with an innovative DC bus. The research problem to be tackled is the development of fast acting and parameter insensitive controllers for the power electronics interfaces of RESs and ESSs. The plan is to consider the control of these interfaces as a general linear quadratic regulator (LQR) problem as opposed to the conventional PI controllers. The performance of the interfaces with both technologies will be compared experimentally.

An Energy Control Center (ECC) for DC Net-Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs)

Nowadays, buildings consume about 40% of the global energy, what corresponds to one-third of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To deal with this issue, the concept of Net-Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) was conceived. These buildings produce, by means of renewable energy sources (RESs), the total energy they consume on an annual basis. Since RESs, such as photovoltaics, are fluctuating, a strong grid connection and/or Energy Storage System (ESS) is/are required. This research project focuses on an Energy Control Center (ECC) with a hierarchical configuration for assuring good voltage regulation as well as harnessing of maximum renewable energy while keeping batteries with a healthy State-of-charge (SoC). The primary control loop is the conventional DC bus signaling (DBS). For the secondary loop, a suitable algorithm for power control and energy management will be developed. It shall be realized with a C2000 TI microcontroller and Controller Area Network (CAN) communication. TO BE CONT’D

Hoy Creek Shared Equity Home Ownership Project: Models, Applicability, and Administration

The Hoy Creek Shared Equity Home Ownership Project aims to provide a site-specific example of how a shared equity home ownership project can succeed in Canada. As few Canadian examples exist of scalable affordable home ownership models, more research is required to identify options for implementation and strategies for long-term administration. This research project aims to identify strategies for shared equity home ownership implementation and administration while determining best practices for Community Land Trust execution. This project is intended to specifically support the development of the Hoy Creek lands in Coquitlam, BC while contributing to a growing body of research regarding options for alternative tenure models across B.C. and Canada.

Disentangling processes that affect the occupancy-abundance relationship: a test at local and regional scales with moose

Dr. Avgar will be facilitating the start of my master’s project on spatial movement of moose. During my stay at Utah State, I will focus on the analytical application of mathematical models for moose movement patterns. Specifically, occupancy (probability of inhabiting a space) and abundance (number of individuals) are units of measurements affecting the spatial positioning of an animal. Dr. Avgar will oversee my research focusing on the key drivers of the occupancy-abundance relationship. Specifically, the co-occurrence of competitors and/or predators, anthropogenic effects, population density, and habitat availability can influence moose movement patterns. However, although occupancy and abundance influence one another, the drivers of occupancy do not have to be the same as the drivers of species abundance. The interdisciplinary application of mathematics to ecological processes provides a more comprehensive study of moose populations. Working with Dr. Avgar will provide me with a unique perspective for my thesis and a foundation of understanding of mathematical models that I will be apply to empirical data when I arrive in St. John’s the following Fall 2019 semester.

Formation control of unmanned aerial vehicles in presence of obstacles

The objective of this project is to develop a novel distributed constrained control architecture to address the obstacle avoidance problem for rotating wings unmanned aerial vehicles.
In the first phase, the objective is to realize an experimental setup where formations of UAVs can be reproduced and tested. This will be realized at the host supervisor’s research lab at Concordia University which is already equipped with an indoor GPS system (BitCraze Loco Positioning System) and two drones (BitCraze 2.0). The first phase will be concluded implementing, in laboratory, at least one state-of-art solution to the considered research problem. Then, we will develop a novel control strategy that aims at achieving a flexible formation topology that can be properly reorganized whenever obstacle occurrences occlude the path. In a third phase, by exploiting the test-bed flight scenario built in the first phase of the project, we will experimentally compare the performance of the proposed controller with existing ones […]

Application of paleolimnological tools for assessing the transfer of marine derived nutrients and toxins to fresh water systems, Nova Scotia Canada: Focus on Alewife within the Gaspereau Lake watershed

This research will focus on using lakes sediments to determine the amount of marine derived nutrients and contaminants that Alewife (Gaspereau) transfer into Gaspereau Lake, Kings County, Nova Scotia. Lake sediment records form an archive that preserves environmental change that has occurred in lakes. In this project lake sediment cores will be collected and analyzed in the laboratory for a wide variety of organic and non-organic contaminants. These cores will provide a 500-year record of this change to better understand if Alewife transfer significant marine derived nutrients and contaminants to fresh water systems. This technique can also be applied throughout Eastern North America to better understand how changing environmental conditions such as damming and forestry affect marine fish residency in fresh water systems.