Innovative Projects Realized

Probabilistic Finite Element Method for the evaluation of ASR affected concrete structures

Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) in concrete can induce degradation in its mechanical properties, leading to compromised serviceability and even loss in load capacity of concrete structures. Dams and bridges have been reported to be affected by ASR which lead to expensive mitigation operations as well as demolishing of the structure in Canada and Australia. This research aims at providing reliable evaluation procedures on ASR affected concrete structures in terms of their health condition and load carrying capacity. The specific objectives of this study are (1) to reduce uncertainties and provide better approach for estimation of mechanical properties degradation and evaluation of damage level due to ASR, and (2) to develop a probabilistic based finite element model integrated with Bayesian updating for uncertainty quantification and propagation to identify ASR effects, and evaluate structural behavior, and load capacity of ASR affected concrete structures.

Definitive gas migration testing – Comparative assessment of different gas migration testing techniques and field instrumentation

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions contribute to a global warming trend that is associated with climate change. Methane is a potent GHG with a global warming potential 25 times that of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) over a 100-year period. Gas migration in soils from the subsurface to the surface is a well-known issue; however, characterizing the source zone(s) for stray gases from production, injection, and observation wells is an ongoing challenge in the oil/gas industry. The proposed research project will address the complex nature of the multiple interacting variables that can affect gas migration investigations. The study will control test variables that impact soil gas flux rates for different environmental conditions.

Leaving the Land Before Time: The Planetary Presence of Indigenous World Literatures

My project advocates that a primary impediment to increased consciousness about Indigeneity lies in how we study the contemporary literature of Indigenous peoples. This requires a reconceptualization of Indigeneity away from its boundedness to specific lands and pasts that valorize ties to first contact, instead embracing the reality that Indigenous peoples are a contemporary presence throughout the world. In response to this reimagining, my research investigates: (i) how the study of Indigenous world literatures might destabilize characterizations of absence that isolate Indigenous peoples to particular places and pasts, and (ii) how these literatures can entrench Indigenous presence as planetary phenomenon. I make this intervention by modeling a cosmic methodology that recognizes Indigeneity and Indigenous peoples as omnipresent and thriving; it is, at its heart, a project that contributes to the ongoing work of decolonizing literary study itself through the minds of those who study and teach literature.

Validation of Novel, Tumor Microenvironment-based Targets for Biological Therapeutics

ImmunoBiochem is developing novel anti-cancer therapeutics to address unmet need in intractable solid tumors. Because solid tumors are highly heterogeneous and evasive, recognizing cancerous cells, while avoiding damage to normal tissue, is a challenge. As a result, many targeted therapies quickly come up against resistance, resulting in patient relapses. ImmunoBiochem is solving the issue of tumor versus normal recognition by exploiting cancer targets in the tumor environment – a collection of features that are uniquely present in tumors and absent in the environment of normal cells. This provides for an ability for broader targeting and opportunity to avoid many common resistance mechanisms. The interns will help advance the validation of novel drug candidates in models of various cancer types and subtypes, to understand efficacy and how to ultimately translate the findings to initiate clinical trials in human patients.

Management and conservation of polar bears in Davis Strait: An integrated population modeling approach to estimating population size, growth rate and Total Allowable Harvest of a priority species in Nunavut, Canada – Year two

Estimates of population size and structure of the Davis Strait polar bear population are uncertain due, in large part, to the prohibitive costs of conducting regular aerial surveys. In recent years, Inuit have indicated that increased bear abundance has resulted in public safety concerns. In addition, Inuit believe that polar bears have negatively impacted other wildlife through increased consumption of seals, and eggs in bird colonies. In an effort to address these concerns, provide better estimates of demographic parameters, and inform sustainable Total Allowable Harvest levels, we propose to use an integrated population model to describe population dynamics of the Davis Strait polar bear population. Using multiple data sets collected from the mid-1970s through 2018, we shall use capture-mark-recapture (CMR) data, capture recovery (CR) data, harvest (HAR) data, age structure (AS) data, habitat data (annual date of ice retreat and advance; ICE), and prey data (annual abundance of harp seal pups; SEAL) to implement a birth-death (BIDE) balance equation that describes the population dynamics. TO BE CONT’D

Management and conservation of polar bears in Davis Strait: An integrated population modeling approach to estimating population size, growth rate and Total Allowable Harvest of a priority species in Nunavut, Canada.

Estimates of population size and structure of the Davis Strait polar bear population are uncertain due, in large part, to the prohibitive costs of conducting regular aerial surveys. In recent years, Inuit have indicated that increased bear abundance has resulted in public safety concerns. In addition, Inuit believe that polar bears have negatively impacted other wildlife through increased consumption of seals, and eggs in bird colonies. In an effort to address these concerns, provide better estimates of demographic parameters, and inform sustainable Total Allowable Harvest levels, we propose to use an integrated population model to describe population dynamics of the Davis Strait polar bear population. Using multiple data sets collected from the mid-1970s through 2018, we shall use capture-mark-recapture (CMR) data, capture recovery (CR) data, harvest (HAR) data, age structure (AS) data, habitat data (annual date of ice retreat and advance; ICE), and prey data (annual abundance of harp seal pups; SEAL) to implement a birth-death (BIDE) balance equation that describes the population dynamics. TO BE CONT’D

The role of the media in corporate philanthropy: Media amplification

Does corporate philanthropy affect firm performance? Over the past decades, a considerable amount of scholarly attention has been devoted to examining this relationship. Some studies provided evidence for the positive relationship between corporate philanthropy and corporate performance, while others found no empirical support for such relationship. This mixed and inconclusive evidence calls for the need to scrutinize the underlying mechanisms by which corporate philanthropy can be beneficial for firm performance. The proposed project will explore whether a firm’s success in drawing positive media attention to its donations is the precise mechanism by which corporate philanthropy affects firm performance. Engaging in corporate philanthropy is inevitably costly to a firm. The primary economic benefits accruing to a firm from spending resources on charitable giving may come through obtaining social approval from external stakeholders. Corporate philanthropic activities failing to draw attention from the media are likely to be insufficient to outweigh the costs of giving, because those activities have little or no influence on stakeholders’ perceptions of how much a firm cares about and gives back to its communities. To be cont’d.

Time Series Forecasting for Stress Testing Models and Credit Transition Matrices: Research & Development

Consistent with industry norms, ATB Financial conducts both mandatory and discretionary stress tests of the whole institution and of its credit portfolio. This project aims to contribute to the refinement of the in-house expertise on methodologies employed to measure credits risk and the overall level of risk of the institution. These activities normally require management to provide an estimate for ATB’s financial performance, capital and liquidity position conditional on a set of predefined scenarios. The focus of the research project is on the estimation of default probabilities and loss given default.

MADMAX – Building a Novel Dark Matter Detector from Scratch

Psychological Distress among Immigrants in Montreal

In this proposed research project, I plan to study the lived experience of migration, and the factors underlying psychological distress, among international students in Montreal, Canada. I propose to analyze archival data and conduct interviews in order to accomplish this. Upon completion of the project, I will return to Japan and conduct a parallel study in Osaka in order to compare results across the two contexts. I have decided to carry out this research in Canada because it is a country with a very large population of immigrants and a long history of multiculturalism, in contrast to Japan. My proposed co-supervisors and I anticipate that the results of this project will improve our knowledge about the experiences of immigrants, the impact of migration on well-being, and similarities and differences between the Canadian and Japanese contexts.

Brain networks of complex arm functions after stroke

Stroke is the most frequent neurological disorder leading to long-term disability by an impairment in movement control. In this project we aim to quantify the damage to a patient´s brain with a newly developed method: Tractography-based Lesion Assessment Standard (TractLAS). This tool provides a patient-specific quantification of the whole-brain structural network damage caused by stroke. Therefore, it creates a way to link network damage to clinical symptoms and behavioral impairment.
This project represents a unique scientific direction, since the expertise and previous work of the collaborators complement each other in a unique way: on one hand we will use a new methodological approach to quantify the effect of lesion on disconnection in the whole brain and, on another hand we will provide a thorough and cutting-edge assessment of sensorimotor performance deficits in a group of stroke patients using clinical scores and robotic technology. We believe that this work will result in important neuroscientific, clinical and methodological advances.

Optimal decentralized control systems with unreliable communication links

In traditional control systems such as industrial plants, automobiles, HVAC systems, etc. consist of a single dynamical system that is controlled by a single controller. Such systems are referred to as centralized control systems. Many of the modern control systems such as networked control systems, Internet of Things, mobile robotics, vehicular platoons, and smart grids consists of multiple dynamical systems that are controlled by multiple controllers. Such systems are referred to as decentralized control systems. The optimal design of centralized control systems is well understood. For centralized control systems with linear dynamics, quadratic cost, and Gaussian disturbances (abbreviated as LQG systems), the optimal control strategy is easy to synthesize and easy to implement. However, the optimal design of decentralized control systems is still an open area of research. In other words, there is no approach to obtain the optimal design of a general decentralized control system. Most of the result in the literature investigate models with specific features and exploit the features of the model to establish that the optimal control strategy is linear and has a finite dimensional representation. To be cont’d.