Innovative Projects Realized

Migration strategy variation among and within Strait of Georgia Chinook salmon populations

Chinook salmon exhibit diverse migration strategies, both among and with populations. In the Strait of Georgia between mainland British Columbia and Vancouver Island, Chinook salmon exhibit two distinct migration strategies. Some individuals (called migrants) migrate away to the outer coast of British Columbia, Washington and Alaska, while others (called residents) remain near their home rivers in the Strait of Georgia. This project’s goal is to track Chinook salmon to understand which individuals and populations are more likely to stay resident in the Strait of Georgia, using two methods. First, we are tracking the migrations of 329 juvenile Chinook salmon, using small electronic tags, to understand if traits like body size or growth rates influence where salmon migrate. Second, we are using extensive datasets of when and where each population is caught by fisheries and scientific surveys in the Strait of Georgia, using genetic baselines to identify fish to their population. These two studies will further our understanding of the drivers of migratory behaviour in salmon. Broadly, they will provide key context to Pacific Salmon Foundation’s ongoing work to quantify survival of Chinook salmon in the Strait of Georgia, as migrations determine the opportunities and risks that salmon experience at sea.

Developing a framework to assess the costs to healthcare systems of climate-related events

Climate-related events like the heat dome of 2021 are happening more and more frequently and cause considerable impacts on the health of individuals and the healthcare systems that care for them. To judge how much can be spent to prevent or limit the impact of future climate-related events, decision-makers for regions or healthcare systems need to know how much these events cost. However, there is no agreed way to calculate these costs, leading to unreliable and inconsistent estimates. This project aims to provide a standard approach for costing climate-related events, which will help people responsible for planning how to minimize the effects of future events.

Impact of plasma-activated water on extraction of proteins and bioactive compounds from novel food sources and their impact on gut microbiota

This project aims to develop innovative, sustainable methods for extracting proteins and phytochemicals from agricultural processing byproducts using plasma-activated water (PAW), a novel clean technology generated through high-voltage atmospheric cold plasma (HVACP). The study focuses on two plant-based materials: hemp meal, a valuable oil crop byproduct in Canada, and jackfruit processing waste, which is of interest to researchers at the University of Leeds. The research seeks to optimize PAW-assisted extraction processes, enhance extraction efficiency and yields, and investigate the structural and functional changes induced in the extracted compounds. Key objectives include analyzing the impact of PAW on protein digestibility, functional properties, and its effects on gut microbiota. This project will provide critical insights into the role of PAW in improving extraction processes while contributing to the development of environmentally friendly technologies for the food industry. The findings will enable the valorization of processing byproducts, promoting sustainability and supporting the growing demand for plant-based ingredients in food and health-related applications. Ultimately, this research will advance clean-label production, improve protein and phytochemical functionality, and enhance the environmental sustainability of food systems.

Music-movement classes to improve wellbeing of older adults: a global environmental scan of programs and methodologies

The Environmental scan, including a critical appraisal, will 1) map the scope, range, and effectiveness of music and movement programs for older adults and identify gaps and opportunities for future research and practice; and 2) map and appraise research methodologies being used for studies conducted on music and movement programs for older people and identify gaps and opportunities for future research and practice. The interns will work on an important research scan that will ensure optimal delivery of the large SSHRC project called Improving wellbeing of older adults through a community-based music-movement program (COMM). Findings will enable refinement of our approach, to enable the inclusion of populations that are too often forgotten and assess how these populations might be impacted by the COMM program, as well as refine our methodological approach.

Studying Lower Fraser First Nations Selective Fishing Practices for Fisheries Access and Resurgence

Many fish populations have declined across Canada, due to diverse pressures including overharvesting, pollution, habitat degradation, and more. Prior to colonization, Indigenous management systems supported large-scale fisheries alongside healthy fish populations. These systems are being revitalized by their communities, to meet the needs of both people and fish, and move towards more sustainable fisheries practices. Several Nations on the Lower Fraser River, in partnership with Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance (LFFA) are doing just this. As part of this work, we will be studying Lower Fraser First Nations
fishing practices, their criminalization by the Canadian Government, and how they can be revitalized for the health of Pacific salmon populations in the river and its tributaries. From this work we hope to advance the goals of LFFA and UBC’s Centre for Indigenous Fisheries to protect Fraser River salmon and promote First Nations’ rights to fish through scientific partnership.

Développement d’une approche métabolomique pour des espèces de Thé du Labrador

Les plantes du thé de Labrador (Rhododendron tomentosum, Rhododendron groenlandicum et Rhododendron columbianum) présentent un grand intérêt scientifique en raison de leur capacité à produire une large gamme de métabolites spécialisées à l’instar des flavonoïdes, des acides phénoliques, des proanthocyanidines et des terpènes etc. Également, des activités biologiques : anti-inflammatoire, antimicrobiennes, antioxydantes, anticancéreuse, anti-plasmodial et antidiabétiques ont été démontrées sur des extrait des thés du Labrador. Cependant, des données sur le profilage phytochimique complète et l’identification des molécules actives de ces plantes restent très limitées. De plus, la plupart des études réalisées concerne l’espèce R. tomentosum, peu d’études sont faites sur R. groenlandicum et aucunes sur R. columbianum.Nous avons comme objectifs 1) développer une méthode d’extraction verte sur les différentes parties des plantes; 2) Caractériser les profils métaboliques de chaque compartiment et entre espèces par une approche métabolomique non ciblée (analyse par UPLC-QTOF) ; 3) identifier des biomarqueurs spécifiques à chaque espèce par des analyses statistiques multivariées. Ces études permettront d’une part, la caractérisation phytochimique plus détaillée des trois différentes espèces des thés de labrador et d’autre part, serviront un outil d’authentification robuste en phytothérapie. Finalement, nous avons pour ambition d’isoler et d’identifier de nouvelles biomolécules d’intérêt thérapeutique.

Machine Learning-based Acceleration for Planning of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)-guided transurethral ultrasound ablation – Phase I

This one-year Accelerate project is the initial phase of a larger collaboration aiming to improve outcomes for men undergoing a specific prostate cancer treatment. The treatment, called MRI-guided transurethral ultrasound ablation (TULSA), is a minimally invasive procedure that uses high-intensity ultrasound to destroy prostate tissue, with MRI technology helping to plan and monitor the process.

The TULSA-PRO device, created by Profound Medical in Canada, is already approved by major health authorities and is used by doctors. However, feedback from clinical use suggests that several software improvements could make the treatment more effective, safer, faster, and more predictable. This project aims to develop these improvements using machine learning (ML).

The specific objectives are of this first phase of our collaboration are:
1) Develop a method to predict the deformation of the prostate and surrounding structures based on screening prostate MRI images.
2) On the deformed prostate, adapt existing GPU-based numerical implementations for acoustic and thermal modelling to TULSA procedures, simulating the deformed prostate

Co-construction d’outils favorisants des environnements inclusifs pour la participation sociale des personnes de la diversité sexuelle et de la pluralité de genre ayant des incapacités

Better supporting the social participation of 2SLGBTQIA+ (two-spirited, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and those with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities) older adults with disabilities is essential to promoting their health and well-being. The combination of a minority gender identity or sexual orientation, disabilities and advanced age increases the risk of vulnerability. This research project aims to create tools that promote inclusive environments for the social participation of 2SLGBTQIA+ older adults with disabilities (physical or mental health disorders). These tools will be designed to better respond to their unmet needs in terms of social inclusion and interpersonal relationships, as well as access to leisure, sport, tourism, and cultural activities in their environment. Supported by action research, in partnership with GRIS Estrie, it will be exploring their social participation needs through various methods, such as interviews, photovoice and focus groups. The results will inform key components of an awareness-raising campaign for interested parties, gatekeepers and decision makers involved in key services for the social participation in old age This awareness-raising will contribute to make the spaces of participation more welcoming and accessible to 2SLGBTQIA+ older adults with some type of disability.

Advanced Spacecraft Detection on Low Power Compute Unit in Space

Obruta, in collaboration with Dalhousie University, aims to advance computer vision techniques for detecting and estimating the pose of spacecraft in space. While object detection in general has made significant strides, existing models often excel at identifying everyday objects but struggle with specialized tasks like spacecraft detection due to the unique and challenging environment of space. Existing pre-trained models require extensive fine-tuning on domain-specific data, which is hard to obtain due to the scarcity of real spacecraft images captured in space. To mitigate these challenges, this research explores two main solutions, namely generating synthetic images using 3D modeling tools and reconstructing 3D cloud representations of spacecraft from sparse photo sequences.

An Intelligent Robotic System for Cabinet Assembly

In cabinet production, board cutting and cabinet manufacturing need workers to manually operate machines and assembly. The proposed research project will simulate the real-time process of automatic board cutting and manufacture, assembly automatically with the help of various sensors and camara vision. The integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms enables intelligent decision-making and adaptive robot behavior for the cabinet assembly. The proposed project on intelligent robotic systems for cabinet assembly includes tasks from putting raw material to completing products by self-control machines and intelligent robotic production line.

Quantum error correcting stabilizer codes for photonic quantum computers

We appear to be at the beginning of a revolution in the development of new technologies based on quantum science. Over the past several years, Canada has become a world leader in quantum information research and in the development of these emerging quantum technologies. Quantum computers that are based on optical architectures include some of the most promising scalable quantum technologies. Over the past few years, Xanadu Quantum Technologies, based in Toronto, has made significant leaps in the development of its photonic quantum computers. One of the hurdles that remains for Xanadu to overcome, is to identify specific error correction approaches that are tailored to their needs. The research in this proposal, to be carried out by a PhD student intern in collaboration with scientists at Xanadu and the University of Guelph, will focus on key mathematical aspects of these problems.

Distributed Time Synchronous Network for IoUT

Then intent of this project is to develop and demonstrate a highly synchronized communication system capable of connecting multiple devices operating on effectively the same clock. This functionality ensures that any measurement that is made on one single device can be correlated to another measurement made on a separate device with sub-microsecond accuracy. It is equally as important that any non-ideal deviations in one systems clock is propagated to all other devices continuously maintaining agreed timing information. This project benefits the partner organization as the ability to maintain high temporal accuracy is critical to their development of underwater acoustic hydrophone arrays. These arrays utilize the difference of acoustic signal arrival times at each hydrophone to calculate directionality of said signal. Increasing the accuracy of the signal arrival time can directly increase the accuracy of a directionality measurement.