Innovative Projects Realized

Imaging Fibrosis in Peyronie’s Disease with Photoacoustic Ultrasound

Nearly 1 in 10 men are affected by Peyronie’s Disease (PD), a disorder that occurs when excessive scarring builds up in the penis leading to abnormal curvature, pain, and erectile dysfunction. Currently, a photograph of the patient’s erect penis is used to measure the curvature angle, which can be very inaccurate and can be both physically and psychologically uncomfortable for patients. Although some treatments for PD exist, the limitations in assessing PD have made it difficult for doctors to know select the most effective treatment plan. We will employ a cutting-edge imaging technique called photoacoustics (PA) that can directly measure scarring of the penis. We will examine how PA imaging can be used to study PD patients undergoing treatment. Our goal is to help doctors at St.Michael’s Hospital and beyond caring for PD patients improve the quality of life for the 1.7 million Canadians affected by this disease.

Smog and Nanjing Citizens: a Contingent Valuation

The overall objective of the research is to find out to what extent air pollution affects the lives of the residents of Nanjing, China. We are going to use a well-known method in economics, the contingent valuation, to study the willingness to pay of the inhabitants of this city, for a reduction of air pollution (PM2.5). The willingness to pay of every survey respondent will be paired with data on their level of exposure to such pollution on a daily basis. We are hoping to find a positive correlation between both variables; individuals who are exposed to a higher concentration of PM2.5 would therefore value air quality more than others who are less exposed. Studies on the level of exposure to PM2.5 and on willingness to pay for air quality have been done in the past, but no study has combined both. The results of this project could potentially help environmental economists understand better the decision mechanisms behind attribution of a value for a non-market resource

Running FURTHER: Experiences of body image, pain, and self-regulation in women ultra-runners

Ultrarunning has gained popularity in recent decades, with greater participation and the development of several ultraraces across the world. An increase in participation by women athletes is suggested to be largely
responsible for this growth. However, there is limited understanding of the experiences of women ultra-runners. The purpose of this project is to examine how women ultra-athletes cope with and manage stressors, and
experience pain and their bodies during training and competition. Participants are ten women athletes and lululemon ambassadors taking part in Project Further in which athletes will run as far as they can in six days. We
will observe athletes during training and competition, and speak with them via interviews to learn about their experiences. The project will allow lululemon to engage with researchers in sport science to critically investigate
issues pertaining to gender in sport, and to work towards further supporting women ultra-endurance athletes to actualize their potential.

Explorer comment les adultes atteints de douleur chronique non cancéreuse perçoivent la souffrance en lien avec la douleur et le stress : Une étude phénoménologique

Lors de mon premier projet de recherche pour le doctorat, j’ai conduit des entrevues portant sur le stress et la douleur de personnes affectées de douleur lombaire chronique. Lors de ces entrevues, nous avons observé que plusieurs participants avec des niveaux similaires de douleur semblaient avoir de grandes variations dans leur description de la souffrance associée à la douleur. Il est possible que le stress influence le degré de souffrance associé à la douleur, car il augmente le sentiment de contrôle faible sur les situations par exemple. Le premier projet n’avait pas de questions portant sur la souffrance, donc cette association reste exploratoire. Un nouveau projet ayant pour but de comprendre le rôle de la souffrance lors des interactions entre le stress et la douleur permettra de comprendre comment ces trois phénomènes interagissent. Ceci permettra d’établir les bases d’une théorie de la souffrance dans le contexte du stress et de la douleur.

Training attentional control mechanisms using a gamified multiple-object tracking (MOT) task

In daily tasks such as driving or walking down the street, our visual system must select a subset of information to attend to while filtering out unnecessary information. Failure to filter out distractions can have dire consequences (e.g. injuries, collisions), and little is known about the cognitive mechanisms that govern attentional control or how to improve them. However, what if one could improve attentional control abilities by simply playing a video game for a few hours each week? Recent work by Dr. Daphne Bavelier and colleagues has uncovered action video game training as a promising avenue to improve a variety of cognitive abilities involved in attentional control. While this is a promising first step, it is still unclear what facets of action videos games target specific cognitive abilities and what game mechanics facilitate transfer of learning. In this project I will have the opportunity to answer these questions, working alongside Dr. Bavelier in a training study to investigate the game elements that best facilitate attentional control improvements.

Low-Temperature Single-Crystalline Electronics for Smart Displays

The display industry has witnessed rapid growth, in both volume and diversification. In recent years, this trend is expected to persist with continued consumer demand, for example, a wide range of devices such as MP3 players, digital cameras, GPS map readers, portable DVD players, and electronic books, as well as the ubiquitous mobile phone and laptop computers, are integrated into one display or smart display. To achieve such integration, we will develop a system based on single-crystal-silicon spheres where high-performance, large-area with low cost and highly uniform transistors will be achieved. Upon successful completion of the proposed project, the organization can develop an innovative technology for largearea electronics, which can benefit the global industries and particularly Canadian industries, and create new opportunities for the organization in different fields such as large displays and portable devices. In addition, the outcomes are also significant steps in diversifying local industries for more stability.

Automated Golf Performance Assessment Using Markerless Motion Capture Derived from a Cell Phone Camera

The spine is an complex system of joints requiring refined motor control strategies to coordinate movement between the lower and upper limbs. Back injuries occur due to poor spine control during sudden/unexpected spine loading. The golf swing is unique to each individual, repetitive, and involves multiple major joints during performance, making the golf swing an excellent surrogate to investigate spine and hip motion and related injuries.

Typically, spine and lumbopelvic motor control research requires high-grade motion capture equipment managed by highly trained personnel. This prohibits the use of conventional objective movement analyses to assess athletes (i.e., golfers) in field-based settings. Recent advancements in computer vision have simplified gathering human movements in 3D using data derived from 2D video cameras (including those within a cellphone). Different functional movement strategies exist in the population which relate to motor performance and/or musculoskeletal injury [2]. Therefore, it is possible that previous approaches taken to evaluate pitching and workplace movements may assist in the objective analysis of golfing to improve/optimize performance and/or reduce the prevalence of injury.

Comparing Security Frameworks for Operational Technology

Several popular OT security frameworks have been developed to help organizations protect their critical infrastructure and industrial control systems from cyber threats. Two of the most popular standards include ISA/IEC 62443 (formerly ISA 99) and NIST SP 800-82 Rev.2 (ICS Security Guide). The purpose of this project is to use an existing OT infrastructure to evaluate the two frameworks to understand their strengths and weaknesses and to provide guidelines for future researchers when using these models to evaluate the security of an OT environment.

Management and treatment of wood preserving wastes for environmental remediation and energy generation: Waste-Water-Energy Nexus.

In the modern period of the Industrial Revolution, enormous emphasis is placed on green technology, including zero or less waste production, recycling resources, and using recyclable raw materials. According to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for a peaceful and flourishing world, materials science research focuses on recovering techniques and proper waste control are essential to address the worldwide waste catastrophe. Converting low-value biomass waste, predominantly waste wood products, into high-value materials for environmental and energy applications could solve three major issues simultaneously: waste management, wastewater treatment and clean energy recovery. The proposed project will combine strategy, logistics, science, and technology to extensively study the importance of using available biomass waste, i.e., out-of-service utility poles and wood products, as raw materials to prepare materials to function as a dual-functional photocatalyst for the concurrent treatment of wood industry wastewater and hydrogen generation. The biomass-derived materials could be a good alternative as no costly precursor of carbons to deal with both the management and valorization of biomass with environmental impact.

Using CityEngine for Parameterized 3D Modelingof Regional Growth Scenarios

In 2006, the Government of Ontario introduced “Places to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe” to control urban sprawl, protect farmland and green spaces, create complete communities and revitalize downtowns and urban centres. Key specifications include minimum intensification targets, such as requiring 40% of new residential development to occur in existing built-up areas. A recently published report by Allen and Campsie (2013) found that many municipalities across the Toronto region are not planning to adhere to the mandated intensifications targets. This internship will examine the impact of various growth scenarios on urban form for a case study municipality by developing 3D models in Esri’s CityEngine software. The intern will investigate the use of procedurally generated streets, blocks, and neighbourhoods for efficient visualization of development options. These visualizations will contribute to stakeholder and citizen engagement in regional planning through a Web-based application. It enables novel scenario modeling for effective advocacy and policy making to support economically and environmentally sustainable growth.

Leading Treaty Implementation: A Gendered Analysis of Progress and Challenges in Promoting Treaties

This research project will examine the challenges that prevent the proper implementation and awareness of treaties, made between the Canadian government and First Nations in Saskatchewan. We will analyze these barriers from different angles, including the role of organizational and social frameworks, and women’s leadership in Indigenous community organizations. Using feminist and decolonial perspectives, we will identify strategies being used to overcome barriers and recommend priorities for continuing success in the area. The intern will have the opportunity to work with a diverse team of professionals, taking on a leadership role in developing a report on treaty implementation to enhance the work of the Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre (SICC). The SICC will benefit from the intern’s work as it will inform their efforts to work with their partners in the facilitation of treaty implementation in the province. This research aims to contribute to improving relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples by enhancing understanding of contemporary issues surrounding treaties in Saskatchewan.

Design and Implementation of an External-Cavity Laser (ECL) as a Tunable Coherent Source for Optical Communication and Sensing Applications Using Hybrid Integration

FONEX Data System Inc. is developing solutions to address the challenges that telecommunication service providers face in upgrading their access networks to sustain the growth in data traffic. A critical component of the solutions is low cost widely tunable laser modules. In this internship project, a novel laser source is proposed based on external cavity laser (ECL) configuration that can provide low-noise wideband tunability with narrower linewidths. This ECL source helps addressing commercial issues in increasing the number and bandwidth of optical communication channels. Moreover, the proposed module can be directly utilized in other applications, such as an optical sensor to detect a variety of measurands. For example, it can be used as a diagnostic optical biosensor which is affordable and portable. Such sensitive and reliable diagnostic sensor helps health service providers to run remote rapid test in many cases, like preventing the COVID-19 pandemic spread that we all experienced.