Innovative Projects Realized

Stoke-related slowing of balance reactions: Understanding mechanisms and developing treatments

Stroke    Canada's leading cause of chronic disability   often induces a condition of significantly reduced speeds of motion. Timely movements are, however, vital to prevent falls, perform daily activities, and be able to return to work. Therefore, our objective is to characterize `stroke-related slowing' and to suggest novel therapies. Balance characteristics during perturbed standing will be captured for healthy people and people experiencing stroke-related slowing. Both groups will also perform a voluntary movement that will be replicated by a mathematical model. Using this approach, primary mechanisms of stroke-related slowing can be identified and compared to the healthy system. The proposed research is crucial for developing novel interventions that increase independence following stroke. Since the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute operates an extensive stroke program, it will directly benefit from the research. Considering the growing impact of stroke disability on the economy, the envisioned innovations will also be of key importance for Ontario.

Fabrication and Characterization of Frisch Gridded Selenium Device

Amorphous selenium direct detection X-ray detectors coupled to amorphous silicon readout circuits provide the best spatial resolution and are the leading technology for the worldwide breast cancer imaging market.  However, they are relatively slow and noisy leading to higher X-ray dose requirements for the emerging and highly accurate modality of 3D breast imaging.  We plan to develop high speed, low noise digital imagers that can leverage the spatial resolution advantages of existing a-Se detector technology.  The results of this research will help create a product that can directly benefit the Ontario economy as well as improving breast cancer screening worldwide.  A breakthrough result of this nature will promote the training of future scientists and engineers in the medical imaging, information technology, photonics, and manufacturing industries.  These highly skilled personnel are essential to maintain Ontario’s technological advantage in the future and especially for Ontario companies like DALSA Imaging.

Statistical development for the analysis of longitudinal survey data from the International Tobacco Control project

There is an urgent need for developing and applying methods for analyzing longitudinal survey data. The proposed research aims to address that need with data from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Project, which is conducting parallel longitudinal surveys across 20 countries to evaluate the impact of tobacco control policies (e.g., warning labels, smoke-free laws). These methods will also examine the natural smoking and cessation history of individuals and whether that history varies across countries. ITC is supported by the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR); Dr. Geoffrey Fong (supervisor) was the first researcher to become an OICR Senior Investigator. Substantial implications of this project arise for disease prevention and public expenditure in Ontario, which is conducting its own longitudinal survey of smoking. As such, methods developed for ITC will be useful for research organizations in Ontario, including Cancer Care Ontario, the OICR, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Towards a Cognitively Informed Music Knowledge Base

Music Information Retrieval is a burgeoning area of industry that assists consumers in retrieving information from increasingly large databases of music. waveDNA is an Ontario-based music software development company focused on building upon its proprietary algorithms for digital music representation and analysis in ways that make unique contributions to this field. The aim of the proposed research project, involving a collaboration between the postdoctoral fellow (Naresh Vempala) at Ryerson's SMART lab and the partner company waveDNA, is to develop a cognitively-based analysis engine. Such an engine would yield judgments of musical similarity that are in accord with human judgments. The originality of this research lies in its combination of cognitive methods of validation with music information retrieval software. This presents an opportunity for waveDNA's software to significantly advance the state-of-the-art within the music information retrieval community.

Modelling of integrated biomass gasification and solid oxide fuel cell systems

Integrated solid oxide fuel cell and biomass gasification systems are one of the most promising energy technologies of the future. Usage of this system to utilize biomass yields better performance and environmental impact compared to the conventional biomass utilization technologies, e.g. steam turbine and internal combustion engine. However, to get the most benefit from this system, the configurations and operating parameters of this system should be optimized, which can be done through modeling. The model that will be developed as a result of this proposed research is intended to be the most comprehensive and accurate model for simulating the integrated SOFC and biomass gasification systems. Performing several parametric studies and developing performance maps will lead to selecting the optimum operating parameters of the system. The results of this study will be beneficial for researchers, engineers, and plant managers who intend to design a new or improve an existing plant that is used to generate electricity and heat from biomass.

Intraoperative Surgical Guidance for Neurosurgical Applications

Current intraoperative surgical navigation techniques are time consuming, may involve radiation and most importantly, are only able to account for patient motion during surgery a few times. The research project will focus on the development of an optical imaging device capable of capturing topographical images of exposed anatomical structures within the surgical field. These images in combination with CT and MRI data will guide the surgeon in the placement of devices such as screws within the spine. Additionally, this technique will provide the surgeon with information to avoid critical structures such as the spinal cord. The potential benefits of this project to Ontarian, Canada and world-wide surgical community is a decrease in surgery time and patient wait times, an increase in the accuracy of surgical procedures, while improving patient safety and reducing surgical complications.

Multivariate Feature Extraction Methods for Biomedical Signals and Health Data Classification

In large health data sets, researchers may want to classify individuals into important groups, such as risk groups, based on multiple important variables from various different data resources.  Different groups may warrant different, targeted interventions.  Combining different data sources to classify individuals with the highest risks and needs can provide health officials an objective way of targeting scarce health care resources.  Since each individual would have variables from multiple data sources, determining the key features that can be used to classify individuals into groups requires specialized statistical techniques.  This project aims to develop and investigate new multivariate feature extraction methods and apply these methods in a novel way to biomedical signals and health data.  Health authorities and stakeholders in Ontario will be able to use these results to inform health care resource allocation decisions.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) of Ontario Vehicle End-of-Life (VEOL) Processes

Life cycle assessment (leA) methods will be use to study end-of-life vehicle (ElV) dismantling and shredding processes, dismantling in particular, to identify and quantify the flows of EL Vs through these processes, as well as the El V parts and materials recovered for reuse, remanufacture and recycling. Understanding the eco-efficiencies associated with these activities, will:

1) allow the Ontario auto recycling industry to benchmark the environmental contributions Ontario dismantlers make in the overall vehicle end-of-life (VEOl) recycling process;

2) help the Ontario auto recycling industry, and Ontario government, to develop an appropriate and effective El V waste diversion program based on extended producer responsibility principles; and

3) facilitate potential opportunities for enhanced materials recovery for recycling, after ELV dismantling but prior to sending the ELV hulks for shredding, and hence stimulate increased economic returns to the EL V dismantling and shredding industry by generating more recyclable products and reducing the amount of material disposed of as shredder residue.

Improving vaccine production with novel drugs

Vaccination is the most effective method for the prevention of a wide range of human illnesses.  Vaccines are currently prepared by growing live virus strains in chicken eggs.  New strategies are very much needed to improve the speed and efficiency of virus production, especially during disease outbreaks.  Recently, Chem Virion has identified new drugs which can significantly boost the growth of viruses.  We propose to use these drugs to improve vaccine production.  We will focus on using these drugs to increase the production of the swine flu (or H1N1) vaccine in cells grown in the laboratory, which are more convenient and less expensive than chicken eggs.  If this project is successful, this will benefit Ontario in the short term by making Chem Virion, an Ontario-based company, more attractive to investors, leading to job creation. In the long-term, the project can impact the Canadian healthcare system by permitting faster and cheaper production of new vaccines.

Photonic Generation of THz Waves

The electromagnetic spectrum between infrared light and microwave radiation, known as the TeraHertz (THz) spectrum, has recently attracted a great deal of interest due to its wide and unigue applications, As readily sources for such a spectrum are not available, several technigues have been developed to realize THz generation, Nonetheless, achieving an efficient, tunable, and low cost THz sources remain a serious challenge, In this project, we are aiming to model, design, and experimentally demonstrate THz generation in a nonlinear optical medium, This can be achieved by the mean of mixing several laser beams to generate a beat freguency that is in the THz range, In principle, this method has the potential to achieve the desired THz source specifications, Prospective applications, including medical imaging and ultra-fast communications, would be investigated.

Religion at Work: Impressions & experiences of young adults of immigrant background in Canada

Working from an existent database of focus groups and interviews conducted in Canadian cities, this project investigates how young adults from established immigrant populations view religious diversity in the workplace. The study is comparative, exploring the impressions and experiences of "religion at work" as they pertain to specific genders, ethnicities and religious backgrounds While participants recounted extensive examples of religious discrimination at work their narratives were also hopeful, delineating successful strategies of inclusion and articulating progress in achieving religious equality at work. The study will provide empirical data that will enrich existing knowledge about managing religious diversity. In collaboration with human rights organizations, human resource professionals and diversity consultants, the research hopes to contribute to effective workplace training and sound policy for religious diversity in the workplace.

A phase-type model for health status transitions

The main objective of the proposed research is to develop a flexible and mathematically tractable disability model.  The model will describe the rates of transition between health, disability, and death, allow one to explore factors affecting disability incidence and duration and their trends, and facilitate the computation of probabilities associated with future disabilities.  This model will be valuable to London Life, as they have significant amounts of both individual and group disability insurance in force.  The model will provide a tool for analyzing their experience, pricing their disability insurance products, and understanding the risks associated with emerging trends.  The research will benefit Ontario, as it contributes to the understanding of how the health of Ontarians is changing, at the individual level – during their lifetimes – and at the population level over time.