Saliva is a promising alternative specimen since it is easy and non-invasive to collect, and available at any time. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) has been recently introduced as a green, simple, fast and sensitive sample preparation technique for high-throughput and in vivo analysis of drugs in various biological fluids, including saliva. The proposed research aims at […]

Long-term effects of forest harvest and other land uses on boreal forest birds are unknown, because most studies of forestry practices on boreal birds occur over short periods, while effects of habitat fragmentation may be realized over longer periods and affected by climate change. I will analyze >20 years of forestry treatment and bird abundance […]

A parallelized electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulation tool for power system transients will be developed in this research to accelerate the internal computation process. An EMT simulator uses a highly detailed representation for the power systems components. Conventional EMT simulators typically execute sequentially on a single processor; and computational effort increases significantly with network size. Graphics […]

This project aims to validate and optimize drugs to treat heart rhythm disorders. The heart is a complex organ that uses tiny electrical signals to maintain a healthy rhythm. When these electrical signals are disturbed, it can change the regular rhythm, which can result in life-threatening consequences such as sudden cardiac death. Here, I will […]

Maritime situation analysis is critical for dynamic decision-making in responding to real-world situations. Rapidly unfolding situations that pose an imminent danger or threat to critical infrastructure or public safety require interactive decision-making to enable a swift response. The main objective of this project is to design a robust methodical framework for the development of intelligent […]

Transparent electrodes (TEs) combine high optical transparency and electrical conductivity, useful in different devices such as light-emitting diodes, displays and solar cells. A highly competitive market of electronic devices, such as phones and flexible touch screens as well as a worldwide increasing demand for energy, drives research to improve the performance of TEs. However, mass […]

The Northern Gateway Pipeline and similar projects propose to transport oil from Alberta to tidewater terminals in British Columbia and eastern Canada. Accidental release of petroleum distillates and related by-products would have consequences on the marine ecosystem. To evaluate spill implications for seabirds, we propose to develop and apply molecular tools to assess toxicological and […]

Several fish species produce species-specific sounds that can be identified in the wild using Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) (i.e. dataloggers configured with underwater microphones). Our project will use existing and new PAM recordings to monitor the distribution of several fish species in the western Canadian Arctic, with particular focus on a keystone Arctic species, the […]

To perform a complete molecular analysis of muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) before and after pre-operative chemotherapy to find changes responsible for resistance to treatment. Analysis will include a combination of DNA sequencing, RNA expression analysis and quantification of protein. Together this information will reveal the molecular landscape for these tumors. We will use these […]

Perfusion imaging with a CT scanner provides important information about blood flow and, in acute ischemic stroke, highlights regions of brain infarct, where tissue has died because of a lack of blood flow. This infarct region continues to grow over time until blood flow is restored. Being able to predict the rate of infarct growth […]

Most economically important traits associated with lactation and reproduction in pigs are either less heritable, sex-limited, expressed later in life, or difficult to measure on a routine basis. Genomic predictions using single step best linear unbiased prediction (SSBLUP) methodologies, which utilizes information on phenotypes, pedigree and markers from genotyped and non-genotyped animals simultaneously, is an […]

The most common cause of chronic aortic insufficiency (AI), a backwards leaking of blood through the aortic valve, are congenital valve disease, degenerative valve disease, and primary diseases of the surrounding aorta. Current management of severe AI is to surgically replace the valve based upon generic 2D imaging measures of severity and progression. However, 4D […]