Innovative Projects Realized

Effects of a powered and automated cargo management system on the biomechanical variables of workers during ladder lifting tasks: A pilot study

Portable ladders are used by workers in industries such as construction, electrical, and telecommunications. A new powered and automated cargo management system, the RazerLift, has been designed to assist workers during portable ladder lifting tasks. The objective of this study is to investigate whether this system improves the biomechanical variables of workers during ladder lifting tasks. Each participant will perform a ladder lifting task using a powered and automated cargo management system. The biomechanical variables will be calculated during the ladder lifting tasks. Specialized software will be used to calculate these biomechanical variables. In addition, paper-based questionnaires will be administered to the participants after conducting the lifting tasks to determine their acceptance and the usability of the system. The partner organization will benefit by having its product validated for use by its clients. The feedback will also help the partner organization to scale up its product by marketing it to a wider range of users and/or industries.

Dimensionnement d’un ouvrage de recuperation de I’energie de la houle

L’objectif du stage est d’effectuer la phase de recherche rnenant View Full Project Description

Radiofrequency Treatment for Emphysema in Mouse Model

Emphysema, a lung disease that millions of Canadians currently suffer from, has few safe and non-invasive options available. One of the features of emphysema is the lack of proper blood flow in the diseased lungs and this results in poor gas exchange. IKOMED Technologies Inc. has been developing a new technology that has the potential to remove diseased lungs non-surgically. The initial proof-of-concept experiments have already been tested and validated using rat models with Dr. Don Sin. In the second phase of testing, they will continue to optimize this application using small mice for physiological studies to check both safety and effectiveness of this new treatment method. IKOMED Technologies Inc. is the sponsor of this work and will be acknowledged in potential publications. The data collected may be used for future patenting of this new treatment technology.

Achieving optimal diagnostic accuracy with quantitative electrophysiology

This project will perfect current quantitative electrophysiology technique (qEEGt) based on multivariate spectral analysis of magnetic-electrophysiology recordings to provide sensitive biomarkers for its use in the Precision Brain Health, including diagnostic, prediction, and intervention. We will take advantage of the Bayesian statistics to produce novel solutions and solve the main unresolved problems of quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG): issues of reference electrode, elimination of recording artifacts; improved estimation of neural source connectivity; identification of the relevant co-variables that are co-founding factors for prediction; identification of the most relevant features for detecting normal and abnormal brain states; integration of qEEG measures into disease progression model of aging to provide predictions of individualized brain health trajectories. The developed approach will be applied into the analysis of large data-sets of Alzheimer disease. This project will contribute to the Health Brain Health Life (HBHL) project and the joint Canada-Cuba-China brain imaging project as well.

Effects of a digital lifestyle change program on prediabetes indicators, health outcomes and cost effectiveness.

The number of Canadians living with diabetes is at an all-time high as are the consequential healthcare costs. A scalable solution to this public health crisis is needed. The aim of this research project is to evaluate Transform, a digital health program created by Blue Mesa Health. The program is designed to prevent diabetes by helping people adopt healthier lifestyles. By analyzing existing Transform participant metrics and program outcomes, the intern will seek to understand the nature of the program’s impact on diabetes prevention. A secondary evaluation of the potential return on investment from diabetes prevention will also be carried out. Blue Mesa Health seeks to develop a strong research portfolio on Transform in order to provide a high-quality intervention that is both effective and competitive. BMH has plans to begin serving Canadians in 2019. Establishing collaborative partnerships in the Canadian academic arena is valuable to the growth and success of the company.

Development and Optimization of Advanced High-Throughput Behavioural Testing Platforms for the Screening of Mouse Models of Schizophrenia

Operant chambers equipped with touchscreens are a new technology that has been used for the mass behavioural phenotyping of rodent models of neurological disease. These chambers have the potential to make behavioural testing more reliable, faster, and translationally valid to human cognitive testing. To further increase the utility of these systems, technology capable of tracking animal behaviour in the chamber will be integrated into the operant system. In order to measure neural activity in the touchscreen systems, fibre photometry will be incorporated to measure the neural activity of large structures, while mini-scope technology will be incorporated to measure neural activity of smaller circuits. All of these technologies will be applied to the screening of a newly developed mouse model of schizophrenia. Through this work, the partner organization will be able to optimize touchscreen technology and increase the overall utility of these high-throughput behavioural systems.

Micro Action Impact Measurement Index for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (aka Project MAI-MI)

In a historic United Nations (UN) summit, world leaders adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a universal call to action to address the global challenges we face by the year 2030, including those related to poverty, inequity, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice. Together, the UN and their partners have underscored the importance of evidence-based and transparent long-term pathways, in which sound metrics and data are critical for turning the SDGs into practical tools for problem solving, tracking progress and accountability.

The proposed research will employ statistical and machine learning tools to bridge the gap of mapping individual actions (micro-level) against the SDGs and targets (macro-level). The resulting innovation is expected to support emerging Corporate Social Responsibility principles and practices for Canadian companies and help them be more competitive through operational efficiency gains and enhancing their employer brand with transparent impact reporting.

Control of Silicon Nanocrystal Optical Response through Fueled Dissipative Self-Assembly

This project aims to prepare a self-assembling and disassembling material from silicon and gold nanoparticles. The lifetime of this material is determined by the network of chemical reactions that control the assembly and disassembly of its constituents. The relative rates of these reactions, in turn, depend on the concentration of a chemical fuel. Silicon nanoparticles, though inherently luminescent, are expected to lose their luminescence when assembled with gold nanoparticles. Consequently, the material will luminesce in the disassembled state but will not in the assembled state. Thus, the optical (and electronic) behaviour of the prepared material, as well as its lifetime, can be tuned through careful manipulation of chemical fuel concentration. This affords an intelligent and responsive system that can be employed in applications where temporal and spatial control of material properties is critical, such as in self-healing electronics and smart drug delivery.

SAGD Wind Down and Post-SAGD Energy Scavenging

In-situ recovery methods for oils sands are applied to reservoirs containing bitumen that are too deep for mining. To date there has been only one commercially viable in-situ recovery method, Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD), involving high pressure steam injection and bitumen production using horizontal well pairs located near the base of oil sands formations. While SAGD has enabled conversion of significant resources to reserves (about 170 billion barrels), SAGD has many economic and environmental limitations. At the end of SAGD, steam chamber temperature remains very high and drops at a fast pace of about a few degrees per month even after the wells are shut in. The heat scavenging can play an important role in post SAGD reservoir management that requires the appropriate follow-up technologies to be developed. The project in the current proposal is an extension of an existing project and aids in further evaluating the benefits of several new technologies for stored energy scavenging from reservoir.

Investigating the Role of Sti1 in Preventing TDP-43 Misfolding in a Zebra Fish Model of ALS

ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is an incurable neurodegenerative characterized by the dysfunction and then death of motor neurons due to misfolded proteins. While healthy cells are equipped with a defence mechanism against protein misfolding known as protein quality control, it is possible that some neurons in ALS lose this mechanism. It is unknown why TDP-43 misfolds in ALS, and why the protein quality control process is unable to prevent this. To investigate this, we will narrow our research in on chaperones such as Sti1, a key component of the protein control process. In a collaborative research initiative to decipher why Sti1 fails to prevent TDP-43 mis-folding in ALS motor neurons, we will use a zebra fish model of TDP-43 toxicity. This model is unique in that it allows us to investigate the Sti1-TDP-43 interaction in an organism holistically, through genetic, biochemical, cell biological, physiological, and behavioural approaches. Thus, we will be able to determine how Sti1 modulates TDP-43 in motor neurons and determine the effect on muscle function. This work will shed light on how specific molecular chaperones, in the protein quality control process, modulate protein misfolding. TBC

Changes in trabecular packets with age & effects on mechanical behaviour of cancellous bone

A person’s risk of experiencing a bony fracture increases with age. In addition to simply the loss of bone volume that occurs due to aging, there are also microstructural changes that contribute to the increased risk. The latter have been poorly studied to date. Trabecular packets (also known as hemiosteons) are the microstructural constituents of the cancellous bone that form the bulk of a spinal vertebrae, a common location for age-related fractures. Our hypothesis is that age alters the population of packets within the bone, which in turn affects the bone’s mechanical and failure behaviour.

The goal of the proposed research is to gather preliminary data supporting this hypothesis in samples from a young and old spine. Two cores of vertebral cancellous bone will be X-rayed in three-dimensions (3D) to measure its geometry, along with the 3D strain distribution when the sample is compressed. We will then embed the samples, section and stain them, and image the slices, in order to reconstruct the 3D geometry of the trabecular packets. The packets identified can then be related to their position within the overall sample geometry, as well as the strain measured in those locations. TBC

Using CT scans of deceased children to investigate the impact of mortality bias on interpretations of age and growth in forensic and bioarchaeological applications

Mortality bias is the concept that because non-survivors have passed away, they may be the frailest or most vulnerable members of a population. Thus, they may not accurately represent the biology of the whole population to which they belonged. However, these deceased individuals are precisely the ones examined by physical anthropologists working in both archaeological and forensic contexts. This study aims to estimate how much of an impact mortality bias could have on interpretations of growth, health and age at death from juvenile skeletal remains. This will be achieved by using a sample of CT scans taken of modern children. Developmental status will be assessed and then compared between groups of children meant to represent those of a normal modern population, an archaeological population, and a forensic population. This study will either strengthen skeletal analysis as conducted today, or provide incentive and a framework to develop more robust methods.