Development of Biocompatible and bidegradable Mg alloy stents for cardiovascular implant applications

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of premature death in developed countries like Canada. Many such diseases are now treated by inserting medical devices (e.g. intracardiac occlusive devices, intra-vascular stents) implanted through percutaneous or minimally invasive approach. Most implants are of permanent materials (stainless steel, cobalt) that may cause long-term erosion, irritation, inflammation, perforation, infection […]

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Magnetometry with spin-based sensors

The summer intern will participate in a project aimed at using single defect centers in diamond to map out the magnetic fields generated by driven ferromagnetic circuits. Nanoscale magnetic circuits are critically important to computer hardware, especially in applications that use ferromagnetic domains to encode information. For example, magnetic random access memory (MRAM) could potentially […]

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Hydrogen trapping at nanoscale alloy carbides in high-strength steels

Hydrogen, when dissolved in metal or alloy lattice, can render the otherwise ductile material brittle. This phenomenon, namely hydrogen embrittlement (HE), has been a persistent obstacle for the application and development of high strength steels. One effective means to enhance the high strength steel’s resistance to HE is to introduce nanoscale alloy carbides (NACs) into […]

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Statistical challenges in individual patient data meta analysis

In a typical meta analysis, estimates of the parameter of interest (e.g. odds ratio) are extracted from the literature or by contacting researchers and pooled together. In contrast, for IPD-MA line-by-line patient data are obtained from each study. IPD-MA data permit researchers to define exposures and outcomes consistently across studies, and to analyze the association […]

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Regulating Innovation: Law and the Creative District

We will investigate the relationship between law and innovation in our newly globalized era. We will draw on well-documented innovative districts in Montreal and Silicon Valley to assess how law promotes or hinders such innovation. We will consider emerging initiatives such as the Blueseed startup community, which is a proposed un-regulated innovation zone to be […]

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Developing new viscoelastic substrates for cell mechanics studies

Traction force microscopy is a well-established methodology to measure the local contractile forces exerted by a cell, and is accomplished by measuring the deformation of a soft elastic substrate by cell forces. From this measured deformation, the strain is calculated, and by knowing the elastic modulus of the substrate, the forces are calculated. Key changes […]

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Energy-efficient thermal management in deep underground mines

It is well known that underground miners are exposed to one of the most dangerous working environments on earth. As miners delve deeper into the earth, the rock pressure and temperature rise, which in turn have an adverse effect on the environment and thus lead to higher operating costs. Furthermore, in coal mines where methane […]

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Perioperative use of opioids and risk of ovarian cancer recurrence and metastasis

Objective. The primary objective of this cohort study is to determine if use of opioids increases the risk of ovarian cancer recurrence and metastasis. The specific objectives are to determine whether: 1) use of IMM opioids during surgery increases the risk of cancer recurrence or metastasis when compared to NIMM opioid use, among patients undergoing […]

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Design and Synthesis of Covalent Enzyme Inhibitors

Introduction. Fibroblast activation protein-? (FAP), an enzyme of the S9 protein family, was identified as a major player in the activation of the stroma required for tumor growth and proliferation and progression of cancer cells. In parallel, prolyl oligopeptidase (POP), an enzyme of the same family, has been found to be responsible for the production […]

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Enhanced Remote Viewing Capabilities from a Camera Array

The project will entail one or more of the following activities, depending in part by which elements are completed in the summer of 2014. – adding “last mile support” for rendering 3D stereoscopic display from the dual-interpolated views we’re able to generate – implementing a dynamic camera-swapping selection mechanism based on the current set of […]

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Structural Investigation of an antibiotic-producing NRPS

Pacidamycins are group of peptide antibiotics which act against the Pseudomonas human pathogens by inhibiting cell wall biosynthesis. Pacidamycins are produced in Streptomyces coeruleorubidus by proteins of a nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) gene cluster. NRPS are a class of modular proteins that synthesize small peptide products with a wide variety of chemical and biological properties. […]

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Genetic factors underlying the survival of Legionella in water

One of the best-studied water-borne bacterial pathogens, in term of its interaction with phagocytic protozoans, is Legionella pneumophila. This species is an important, but often underestimated, cause of community-acquired and nosocomial pneumonia. Transmission occurs primarily by inhalation of contaminated water droplets, but the exact mechanism and other factors influencing virulence remain unclear. Once in the […]

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