Innovative Projects Realized

Archaeology of Fashion Film

The Archaeology of Fashion Film project investigates the history of early fashion films (1900-1929) and their impact on contemporary fashion and visual culture. It brings together scholars from the fields of film history, fashion history and media studies to explore the influence of various forms of fashion imagery on the industry itself, and the complex relationship between art, fashion and commerce. Through conferences, exhibitions, workshops, and a website, the project encourages exchanges between academics and industry professionals on topics including design, the representation of race and gender on film, self-presentation, and factory work (both historically and in the fast fashion and globalization age). This internship represents a unique opportunity to work alongside some of the most prominent researchers in fashion and media theory. It provides a chance to conduct archival research at institutions including the Gaumont-Pathé Archives, the Cinémathèque française, and the British Film Institute.

Enhancement of xylose fermentation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae via integration of a kinase-phosphatase redox cofactor balancing system

Xylose is one of the most abundant sugars in nature and makes up a significant portion of lignocellulose. In order to profitably use lignocellulosic biomass for sustainably producing ethanol and other chemicals, it is important that all of its sugars be efficiently co-fermented. The current organism of choice for such fermentations, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Baker’s yeast), is unable to do so given its poor consumption of xylose. Engineered strains of S. cerevisiae have arisen from the introduction of a xylose reductase-xylitol dehydrogenase (XR-XDH) pathway native to other fungi, which allows yeast to better metabolize xylose. However, under anaerobic conditions, the XR-XDH pathway leads to an imbalance of the redox cofactors NADH and NAD+. The goal of this study is to introduce a kinase-phosphatase system into S. cerevisiae which recycles NADH independently of the presence of oxygen, thereby reducing the accumulation of certain intermediates as well as by-products of the XR-XDH pathway. This is expected to increase significantly the ethanol yield from xylose, enabling subsequent engineering approaches for the production of other value-added chemicals.

Application of Nano-particle for EOR Process

Nano-particles are effectively a bridge between bulk materials and atomic or molecular structures.

Application of nano-silica for EOR process, especially for low permeability oil field has broad development prospects. The future work in the host institution will focus on two parts.

First, find an economic way to manufacture and modify nano-silica. There are a lot of methods to create nano-silica. I will try both physical or chemical methods. Nano-silica has high chemical activity due to the particle surface exist many unsaturated bonds and different types of hydroxyls. The purpose of the chemical modification is replacing the surface hydroxyls with the target groups, such as alcohol, amine, silane coupling agent, hence change the physicochemical property of nano-silica. Under the guidance of Dr. Li, I will select the appropriate reagents for modification according to the oil property from Saskatchewan oil field.

Second, verification performance experiments will also be taken. The creation method of nano-silica will decide by the grain size and stability in water. The modified nano-silica should change surface wettability and/or reduce interfacial tension.

Enabling Surface Chemistry with Plasmon-mediated Catalysis

When a light source is focused onto a metallic nanoparticle, a phenomenon called localized surface plasmon resonance occurs and can be utilized to guide light, perform highly sensitive spectroscopy measurements and induce efficient surface chemistry reactions. The “hot-electrons” generated by the light excitation are triggering the chemical reactions that could not be initiated otherwise. This project aims at exploring plasmon-mediated reactions and to impart new functionalities at the surface of the metallic particles that could in turn be used as sensing units. When suitable reactants are located in the vicinity of the metal nanoparticle, the hot-electrons participate in chemical reactions by enabling surface reactivity. In this way, we can catalyze chemical reactions on surfaces with metal nanoparticles. An example of this is the reduction of diazonium salts in the vicinity of gold nanoparticles […]

Curiosity and methodological skepticism in Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature

In his Treatise of Human Nature, David Hume proposed a new philosophical approach based on what he called “the science of human nature”. This science consisted in a kind of cartography aiming to establish the epistemological possibilities of the human mind considered on the base of its passionate and social dimensions. I argue that at the heart of this new approach to philosophy there is a skeptical attitude, according to which the epistemic aspirations of the researcher should be constrained by an emotional standard: a moderated curiosity. I contend that such a suggestion implies the existence of a methodological skepticism in Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature. During my stay at Yale’s Philosophy Department, I will work in order to show how Hume’s skeptical epistemology, in particular the skeptical arguments he deploys and the crisis he enacts in part 4 of book one of Treatise, fits his methodological skepticism. The tangible products associated to this stage of my research project will be a draft of a chapter to be included in my dissertation and a paper to be presented to The Society for Early Modern Philosophy at Yale (SEMPY) […]

Community Tables: Engaging Neighbors! [Internship Pair #2]

The United Way of Greater Victoria (UWGV) is spearheading a collaborative community development project with the UVIC Office of Community-Based Research (OCBR) and BC Healthy Communities entitled Community Tables: Engaging Neighbors. Four Mitacs OCBR Interns (plus a fifth supporting intern) will work with 3 neighborhoods and on a broader Capital Region District level with citizens from all walks of life to identify community assets, capacities and visions for change using participatory research, survey, mapping and action planning. Specific attention in the research and action planning will be paid to the United Way’s three priorities for 2011-2014-From Poverty to Possibility, All that Kids Can Be; and Healthy People, Strong Communities.

Evaluating myogenic cell force generation

The intention of this project is inquiry into the role of force signaling in skeletal muscle repair. Before muscle damage, muscle stems cells that are yet to be incorporated in the muscle fibers are relatively inactive, but when injury occurs they can multiply and are recruited to the site of damage. Many aspects of the cell and its surroundings could be involved in this process, such as points of contact between cell and substrate, the protein coating of the substrate, the cell’s cytoskeletal interaction with the substrate and substrate stiffness. Using different methods of microscopy, the intention is to carry what is known about myogenic cell and substrate interactions on a two dimensional gel format to a three dimensional gel format, and eventually in the context of a living muscle tissue. By doing this the hope is that the role of force signaling’ in muscle repair is made clearer as well as to understand why muscle stem cells lose their potency for repair as we age.

In vitro degradation of polymeric drug carrier for sustained release of therapeutics

The focus of this study is on the understanding of degradation rate and mechanism of the polymeric drug carrier for intra-articular injection of therapeutics. For this aim a radical-containing and enzyme-containing medium will be used to accelerate the degradation conditions. At each time point the mass loss and Tg of the hydrogels will be calculated and the structure and molecular weight of the degradation products will be characterized. The potential degradation mechanism will be proposed for the polymers.

Conception de l’extension en porte-à-faux de la corde supérieure des poutrelles en acier

Le projet de recherche sera réalisé en partenariat avec le Groupe CANAM, un important concepteur et fabricant de poutrelles en acier en Amérique du Nord. Il vise à concevoir une méthode de calcul de la résistance pondérée en flexion d’extensions en porte-à-faux qu’il est courant de rencontrer sur les poutrelles en acier que fabrique l’organisme partenaire. Le calcul de la résistance de ces extensions en porte-à-faux ne peut être effectué avec les méthodes simples qui sont disponibles dans les codes ou la littérature en raison de la complexité de la section des extensions, qui peut être uni-symétrique ou asymétrique, et des conditions de chargement et de retenue latérale qui sont particulières. Ces caractéristiques affectent la résistance des extensions et doivent être prises en compte lors de la conception. TO BE CONT’D

Engaging people experiencing poverty in poverty reduction initiatives

Across Canada, many provinces and municipalities are struggling to address poverty in their communities. Communities are attempting to address poverty with poverty reduction strategies. With a lack of literature to support these attempts, it is difficult for communities to best address poverty and to best engage people experiencing poverty in their poverty reduction initiatives. Results from this study will provide a model of engagement for communities looking to engage people experiencing poverty in solutions to address poverty. Results from this study will also support the creation and implementation of a Stakeholder Forum (a lived experience of poverty table) at EndPovertyEdmonton in which members will work with EndPovertyEdmonton to create, implement, and evaluate solutions to end poverty.

Predicting In-patient Discharges to Identify Bed Availability for Housekeeping During Emergency Department Surge Using Machine Learning Algorithms

Prolonged patient waiting times for an inpatient bed in the Emergency Department (ED) is considered a global crisis and most cited reason for the ED crowding. Inability to move admitted patients from the ED to an inpatient bed due to capacity shortage and inefficiencies in patient-flow affects patient care and patient experiences. Housekeeping is crucial in patient-flow from ED to inpatient bed. When a patient leaves a bed (for example, discharge), housekeeping staff must clean and sanitize the bed. Knowing when the beds will be available during ED surge can facilitate the process of bed cleaning and hopefully reduce ED wait times. This research aims to apply machine learning algorithms to predict inpatient discharges during ED surge to identify the number of beds available in next four hours. This will enable housekeeping staff to plan ahead and reduce ED wait times.

Investigating the robustness of gut microbial functions across primates

It remains unclear which factors drives variation in the gut microbiome across humans. Past work has taken an evolutionary perspective and compared the gut microbiome of humans on Western diets to wild primates and humans on non-Western diets and identified particular microbes which are at different abundances. However, the focus of these studies has mainly been on which microbes are present and not what these microbes are doing. By applying my tool, PICRUSt2, to these gut microbiome sequencing datasets I will generate predicted functional profiles and identify potential microbial functions that have diverged in abundance across primate evolution. In addition, I will expand upon my host supervisor’s recently developed metrics of functional redundancy to determine how microbial functional redundancy has diverged across primate evolution. I expect to identify microbial functions linked to diet that have diverged along the human lineage along with functions that remain redundant along the human lineage, possibly due to selective pressure.