Latest Journal Entries

Sydney Choi – Year 3 (Student) Abisola Kehinde (Mentor) Introduction In Canada, 90% of diabetes cases are categorized into type 2, a condition that occurs due to the improper regulation and use of glucose (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2022). The Public Health Agency of Canada (2022) also states that insulin, produced by the liver, is the regulating hormone for glucose and type 2 diabetes can be a result of the malfunction of insulin and… Read more: Inhibiting the Function of α-Amylase Enzymes using the Polyphenol Extract from Strawberries

Angelina Hang – Life Science, Year 2 Abstract Breast cancer remains a very important issue in today’s world, killing 15 Canadian women every day. To treat breast cancer, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors have shown promise in preventing the growth and development of cancer cells in the body. In particular, olaparib, an FDA-approved PARP1 inhibitor, is widely implemented in the medical field. This study attempts to enhance olaparib’s ability to bind to the PARP1 protein, through… Read more: Enhancing the Binding Affinity Between Olaparib and PARP1 Using Computational Biology as Breast Cancer Treatment

Gillian Mok – Applied Science, Year 2 Abstract A person’s postural sway is an indicator of their overall balance. Currently, there are no general-use devices that can be used to measure a person’s postural sway. The lack of accessibility is concerning for seniors as they generally have higher risks of falling. To address the issue, a general-use postural sway detector making use of an accelerometer was created. An experiment was then run to verify the… Read more: Shaking on Steady Ground: The Creation and Evaluation of a General-Use Postural Sway Detector

Yixin (Sophie) Jiang – Year 3 (Student) Vincent Wong (Mentor) Abstract Obstacle detection systems are vital for assistive technologies and autonomous navigation, particularly when deployed on everyday edge devices with limited computational resources. This study investigates whether quantization and pruning can enhance the efficiency of YOLOv8n, an object detection model, without significantly compromising its performance. Using a dataset of 3350 annotated public-space obstacle images across 22 classes, a baseline YOLOv8n model was trained and compared… Read more: Beyond YOLOv8n: Quantization and Pruning for Efficient Obstacle Detection on Edge Devices

Yifan Zhuo – Year 3 (Student) Lauren Pugsley (Mentor) Abstract An increasing number of antibiotic issues, like antibiotic resistance and shortage, have emerged all over the world, causing inconvenience and negative impacts on society. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of Urinary Tract Infection’s (UTI) home remedies with commonly used antibiotics in impeding bacterial motility, the main cause of UTI. It was observed that the bearberry leaf extract was more effective at disrupting bacterial… Read more: Comparative Analysis of the Effectiveness of Home Remedies for Urinary Tract Infections in Impeding Bacterial Motility

Alexandra Ye – Applied Science, Year 2 Abstract This study investigates the impact of dropper tip geometry on eye drop volume and usability, in order to reduce medication waste and improve dosing accuracy. Four 3D-printed prototypes with varying internal and external structures were designed and tested against a commercial control using standardized saline trials. Drop size was measured by mass of 10 drops per trial to overcome limitations in precision. Results showed that pointed tips… Read more: Better Drops: A 3D-Printed Solution for Ophthalmic Waste

Soren Bjornson – Life Science, Year 2 Abstract Growing fresh food is crucial for long space missions but carries significant food safety risks due to the rogue bacteria often present in the closed environment of spacecrafts. Understanding how microgravity affects the interaction between plants and these bacteria, particularly human pathogens, is essential for astronaut safety, as current knowledge is limited. Preliminary research suggests microgravity might weaken plant defences, while increasing the effectiveness of pathogens like… Read more: How Simulated Microgravity Effects E. Coli K-12’s Ability to Enter the Stomata of Lactuca Sativa L. Black Seeded Simpson (lettuce)

Ann Wang – Applied Science, Year 2 Abstract Hydrogen fuel cells are increasingly recognized as a pivotal technology in the global transition to sustainable energy systems. Harnessing the potential of hydrogen, the element with the highest energy content per mass unit (142 MJ/kg), they are playing a critical role in decarbonizing industries that are hard to electrify, such as shipping and heavy manufacturing (Ursúa et al., 2012). However, currently, 96% of hydrogen gas is derived… Read more: Optimizing Alkaline Electrolysis: A Comparison of Electrolyte Performance

Linlin Li – Life Science, Year 2 Abstract Anthocyanins, a type of natural pigment that gives plants their red, purple, and blue colours, are becoming more relevant for their antioxidant qualities and applications in the food, medicine, and cosmetics industries. This study examines the effectiveness of ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) of anthocyanins from rose petals using distilled water of different pH levels (approximately 3, 6 and 9). The majority of research regarding anthocyanin extraction through UAE… Read more: Ultrasonic Assisted Extraction of Anthocyanin Pigment Using Distilled Water of Different pH as Solvent

Dennis Shen – Applied Science, Year 2 Abstract Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is a process through which computers are trained to recognize characters appearing within an image. Recent advancements show promise for OCR to be applied to music. This study aims to create an open-source program that incorporates OCR to transpose alphabetical chords found in sheet music. The program was built with three main parts: image preprocessing, image OCR, and image postprocessing. Then, the program… Read more: Photographic Transposition of Alphabetical Music Chords

Caryl Szeto – Life Science, Year 2 Abstract Plastic is used throughout the world; however, its growing presence in our environments and our own bodies is cause for concern. It’s been found in Antarctica, the Arctic, Mount Everest, and even the Mariana Trench (Li et al., 2023). With new research coming to light regarding the effects of microplastics (MPs) on human health, and their growing existence within the human body, it is essential that people… Read more: Plastic in Progress: Household Methods for Microplastic Detection in Water

Michael Yang – Applied Science, Year 2 Abstract           Visually impaired people face difficulties navigating through physical environments every day. This project explores a cost-efficient solution using efficient computer vision models on low-cost hardware, such as a Raspberry Pi, to provide real-time object detection. A computer vision model was fine-tuned to recognize a single object and deployed on a Raspberry Pi 4. The model was evaluated and achieved an accuracy of 96% and an average detection… Read more: Efficient assistive technology with computer vision

Keltie Mitchell – Life Science, Year 2 Abstract Sea Star Wasting Syndrome has been a significant issue on our coast since its onset in 2013. Widely regarded as one of the largest singular marine die off events in recent history, it is of pressing importance to identify the causes and eradicate the triggers. Pisaster ochraceus was chosen as the subject of this study due to its colour polymorphism expressed as a result of its diet… Read more: Incidence of Sea Star Wasting Syndrome in Pisaster ochraceus Populations living in Mytilus californianus Vs. Crassostrea gigas Based Habitats

Jamie Song – Life Science, Year 2 Abstract Fermented foods like kimchi and sauerkraut have been long celebrated for their probiotic and nutritional benefits, yet concerns remain about the potential formation of harmful nitrites during fermentation. Nitrites can convert into carcinogenic nitrosamines under certain conditions, prompting questions about when fermented foods are safest to consume. This study investigates how varying the initial pH of fermentation solutions affects nitrite and nitrate levels over time, with the… Read more: Determining the effect of pH on fermentation periods: How does the varying pH of solution used for natural fermentation of cabbage affect its corresponding fermentation period required for safe consumption?

Sana Seraj – Life Science, Year 2 Abstract           Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem that can impact everyday life. As a result, scientists worldwide are trying to find alternatives and there is an emerging interest in using natural antibiotics, such as spices and herbs. Two well-documented examples of these include garlic and oregano. The purpose of this experiment was to test garlic oil and oregano oil against Escherichia coli (E. coli) K-12and to see… Read more: Tackling Antibiotic Resistance: Observing the Effects of Combining Garlic and Oregano Against E. coli