Innovative Projects Realized

Does FOXO1 directly regulate chemosensitivity in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia?

Development of waste derived heterogeneous photo-catalysts for the treatment of chlorophenols

Chlorinated organics are recalcitrant in nature and are released from industrial effluents. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) such as photo-catalysis are considered effective towards partial or complete degradation of toxic and recalcitrant compounds due to their non-selective nature. The current study is planned to synthesise bimetallic catalyst supported on carbonaceous waste material. The catalyst synthesized will be then characterized using various techniques and will be tested for treatability of mixture of chlorophenols under the conditions optimized in our recent study. The spent catalyst will be regenerated chemically and thermally and will be reused for photo-catalytic oxidation and characterization. Further, reaction kinetics will be studied and mathematical model will be developed. Finally, a brief report of the work be prepared.

Analysis of a Genetic Mutation in a Gene for Association to Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary artery disease (CAD) occurs when buildup of plaque causes blockage of oxygen to reach the heart. When a total blockage occurs, this leads to heart attacks. CAD is the leading cause of death worldwide and this research will be conducted on a mutation found in a gene associated with plaque build up and analysis will be undertaken to determine the relationship between this mutation and the susceptibility of attaining the disease. Our expected results will allow us to understand what effect this mutation has on a gene related to CAD and will add to our current understanding of genetics in the development of CAD.

Production of 9%Cr-Al-Zr ODS Steels

The goal of the project is to produce sample sets of oxide-dispersion strengthened steels, with varying compositions, using advanced manufacturing equipment and techniques. These ODS steels differ from traditional ferrous alloys as they contain nano-sized oxide particles that are dispersed throughout the body of the steel. These dispersions help strengthen the steel as they are much stiffer and harder, and they maintain these properties at high temperatures. Because of the included participates, these steels cannot be manufactured using traditional methods as the oxide particles cannot bond with the metal base. Instead these materials must be formed from a mix of powders that are compressed and heated. The facilities available for this type of manufacturing are limited, and the advanced manufacturing facilities at the University of Science and Technology Beijing specialize in the production of these ODS steels. At the end of this research project, a set of ODS steel samples with varying concentrations will have been manufactured and processed. Additionally, a draft of a research paper will have been completed and data from mechanical testing and electron microscope imaging will have been collected […]

Molecular insights into the phosphorus cycling in Lake of the Woods, Canada and Lake Taihu, China: the binding forms

Anthropogenic inputs of phosphorus (P) from agricultural and urban activities, as well as sediment recycling (internal loading), have caused harmful algal blooms (HABs) in surface waters worldwide, including Lake of the Woods, Canada and Lake Taihu, China. HABs remain active in the Lake of the Woods and Lake Taihu even though point sources, such as direct and/or indirect municipal and industrial discharge of P loading have been drastically reduced over the past few decades. To address this problem, an improved understanding of P cycling, in terms of P species and binding forms and detailed molecular characterization is essential. Current methods (e.g. membrane filtration; calorimetric method coupled with sequential P extractions) for characterization P chemistry and/or transformation may seriously under predict the actual mobility of P at a site that has undergone restoration. Understanding phosphorus (P) speciation and binding forms and the mechanisms of P transformation especially to bioavailable phases at a molecular level is critical for accurate identification of external and internal P sources […]

Capture and repurposing of waste industrial emissions for improved economic and environmental sustainability

The long-term goals of this project are to help find economic and environmental sustainable ways to improve the efficiency of the mining industry. Vital to the Canadian economy, the industry is energy intensive and produces large amounts of waste carbon dioxide and heat. Through capturing and repurposing these waste streams, the project will develop pathways to produce on a large-scale, microalgae sourced biofuels and valuable health beneficial nutraceuticals, such as antioxidants and antibacterial compounds. These will be obtained from microalgae bioprospected from both historic and active mine sites as we have found many of these microalgae, through natural adaptation to unusual environments, uniquely produce the desired valuable products.

From incubator to money maker: An investigation of entrepreneurial founding teams

The current project seeks to develop an understanding of the process of startup organization process by examining the individual, team, and contextual characteristics that will lead to the success of a startup organization. Despite the importance of each variable, most of the literature has focused on individual characteristics, ignoring the importance of the team as a whole and the context of the organization. The goal of this internship is to create an evidence-based assessment tool that will evaluate a startup based on the aforementioned characteristics. In addition, we are aware that startup organizations are not static in nature; rather, they are dynamics organizations that are constantly evolving as their meet their goal of becoming an operating business. This project will therefore take a temporal approach to assessing startup organization’s needs by identifying differences stages in the startup process and identifying which characteristics are most important at each stage.

Development of invertebrate behavior bio-indicator assays forcontaminants in honey.

This

project aims to investigate the possibility of using insects that feed on honey in nature to develop a simple, lowtech

test for testing honey contamination levels. We propose to test the behavior and development of larvae of

the Greater Wax Moth and the Small Hive Beetle on honey with a range of contamination levels. If we can find a

significant behavioural difference between insects on contaminated and non-contaminated honey this could be

used as an alternative to high-cost testing methods currently in use. We believe that this could have great

potential for small-scale honey producers and in the developing world as a method of reducing the costs of

honey production.

Using a digital camera to monitor dust emissions at mine sites

Minerals industry has a considerable responsibility to implement effective dust management plans, thereby controlling the mine dust emissions. In dust management plans, the monitoring of dust emissions is an indispensable part in both mine sites and process plants. However, mine sites cover a wide range of locations where conventional monitoring instruments cannot be all installed. These locations are still under interests, but there is a lack of technology to monitor their dust emissions to the environment. To this end, new technology using a digital camera will be developed to monitor dust emissions at mine sites. The fundamental understanding of light scattering and absorption and their relationships to dust concentrations will provide valuable guidance for the dust management plans. The findings of this research could be used to create guidelines that will be used in other mining sites in Canada.

Characterization of Active Ingredient in Buckwheat – Part 2

Buckwheat contains an active ingredient that lowers blood glucose in diabetic rats. The active ingredient is not a known compound such as chiro-inositol or rutin. The goal of this project is to characterize the bioactive compounds in buckwheat fractions obtained by countercurrent chromatography (CCC) and having biological activity. This is important for setting the foundation to 1) monitor the levels of the active ingredient in buckwheat (as affected by variety, growing conditions and season), 2) determine how levels of active ingredient are affected by processing, 3) standardize the amount of active ingredient in functional food products and thus meet Health Canada requirements, and 4) provide a screening tool for further enhancement of buckwheat varieties by plant breeding.

Product Portfolio Design using Neural Networks

High-throughput phenotyping of plant health using machine learning and computer vision

Phenotyping is used to develop new strains of plants, understand plant-affecting diseases (phyto-pathology) and evaluate the effects of various substances on plants. A growing variety of sensors and sensor technology is used to gather data used for phenotyping, in a non-destructive manner, and this overall process of data acquisition and analysis is being automated, leading to high-throughput pheno-typing. These technological changes pose challenges both in terms of which models to apply to these heterogeneous data, as well as the scalability of the data and analytics pipeline. The proposed project aims to develop a deep learning model that would produce estimates of plant health based on imaging and other sensor data generated by Terramera, with high classification accuracy, according to threshold tolerances defined by Terramera plant physiologists. The project would also explore some of the data management challenges arising from the application of those deep learning models on automated phe-notyping data acquisition at scale.