Calling all researchers: York’s Research Commons is offering two new workshops
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The new Research Commons at York University, which was created in 2019 by the Vice-President Research & Innovation, is comprised of a group of seasoned researchers and sector-leading research staff members. The group supports research intensity across the University.
The major emphases during its first year will be to increase tri-council grant applications and success through a supportive skills and mentoring program for new faculty members at York University. In keeping with that goal, the Research Commons has organized two workshops for January:
Concur Workshop
Jan. 21, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Room 519 Kaneff Tower, Keele Campus
The Concur workshop will teach participants about how to manage administrative tasks in Concur. This two-hour workshop will offer insight on the ins and outs of the Concur expense system. Participants will have an opportunity to work directly with staff from General Accounting and Research Accounting. Skills taught include accessing Concur, creating and submitting expense reports and the top reasons why reports are returned. There will also be information about the new tri-council guidelines and how these guidelines can impact research expenses.
The World According to CIHR Workshop Jan. 29, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Room 626, Kaneff Tower, Keele Campus
The workshop offers tips and insights associated with being a continuously funded Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) researcher. Participants will hear from a panel of highly successful researchers receiving CIHR funding. There will be opportunities to ask questions and have open discussions with the panel participants.
Both workshops are free and open to early, mid-level and senior researchers at York University. To learn more, visit the Research Commons website.
Two York University professors receive large NSERC grants for research and development
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Two York University professors have received Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Collaborative Research and Development (CRD) Grants. The grants were awarded to Professors Gunho Sohn of the Lassonde School of Engineering and Faculty of Science Professor Derek Wilson, York Research Chair in Molecular Mechanisms of Disease and director of the Centre for Research in Mass Spectrometry. These large grants support well-defined projects undertaken by university researchers and their partners.
“York is delighted to see Lassonde Professor Gunho Sohn and Science Professor Derek Wilson awarded NSERC CRD Grants,” said Rui Wang, interim vice-president research & innovation. “These grants will expand the scope of research undertaken at York, foster dynamic interaction between discovery-based and innovative research, and allow the research results to be translated into new knowledge, products or processes.”
Sohn’s project uses artificial intelligence to update Canada’s infrastructure
Gunho Sohn
Sohn was awarded a grant worth $1,024,000, from NSERC, for his project. Additional cash and in-kind contributions made from industrial partners were also significant: the total cash contribution is approximately about $1.5 million ($1,536,000 total; $512,000 from Teledyne Optech) and $1 million in-kind contribution ($1,048,146). Total funding is $2.5 million over four years.
This project seeks to update Canada’s critical infrastructure – the independent network of utilities, transportation and facilities. Although Canada is the second-largest country in the world (in terms of area), with the world’s 10th largest economy, one-third of its infrastructure is in need of a significant update. In collaboration with Teledyne Optech, Sohn’s project will develop an advanced data processing system using a specific type of artificial intelligence (AI), called deep neural network, which has recently achieved remarkable success in computer and robotic vision and machine learning.
“This work will allow for the autonomous recognition of infrastructure assets using high-quality 3D models of critical networks, thus contributing to the field of infrastructure management and improving urban sustainability as a whole,” Sohn explains.
Importantly, this project will also train highly qualified personnel and, in this way, will contribute to Canadian industries and the fields of AI technologies, infrastructure management, urban planning, and 3D mobile mapping systems.
Wilson’s project will accelerate the development of new therapeutics
Derek Wilson
Wilson was awarded a grant worth $1,040,000 from NSERC, for his project: The Technology-Enhanced Biopharmaceuticals Development and Manufacturing (TEnBioDev) initiative. With additional cash and in-kind contributions from industry, the total funding comes to $2.2 million over four years.
This project is aimed at the implementation of new Canadian bioanalytical technologies to accelerate pre-clinical development and enable precision manufacturing of protein therapeutics. The initiative links platforms developed by Canadian instrument manufacturer SCIEX, through unique technologies, methods and expertise held primarily at York University to the drug development pipelines of Canada’s research-active biopharmaceuticals companies Sanofi Pasteur, Treventis and Immunobiochem.
“Protein therapeutics have numerous advantages over conventional drugs, most stemming from the fact that they can be precisely directed at their intended molecular targets, even in the exceedingly complex environment of the cell. This makes protein therapeutics both highly potent and generally less prone to side-effects,” Wilson explains.
This work has huge implications for vaccines – the majority of which are protein therapeutics. The total market for protein therapeutics extends well into the hundreds of billions annually, says Wilson.
“Being home to a number of international leaders in protein therapeutics development and innovative biotech startups, Canada is well positioned to achieve and maintain a global leadership position in this industry,” he says.
CRD Grants are intended to:
Create collaborations among Canadian universities and private and/or public sector partners that lead to advancements that, in turn, result in economic, social or environmental benefits for Canada;
Provide an enhanced experiential learning environment for graduate students and postdoc fellows; and
Allow partners to access the unique knowledge, expertise, infrastructure and potential highly educated and skilled future employees graduating from Canadian universities.
“Brainstorm,” a special edition of YFile publishing on the first Friday of every month, showcases research and innovation at York University. It offers compelling and accessible feature-length stories about the world-leading and policy-relevant work of York’s academics and researchers across all disciplines and Faculties and encompasses both pure and applied research.
Words that empower: The transformation of Indigenous language dictionaries A travelling exhibition on dictionaries and Indigenous languages, created by student curators at the Canadian Language Museum, traces the varies functions that dictionaries have played over 400 years. This interactive show also offers resources for the enrichment of Indigenous languages. Read the full story.
Scuba enthusiasts: Your future dive buddy might not be human Artificial Intelligence meets recreational sport: Pioneering Lassonde researchers are building robots that function underwater and can recognize the same hand gestures that conventional divers use to communicate with each other, while using the dive buddy system for safety. Read the full story.
Mosquito sperm research could aid pest control strategies in deadly viruses New research from the Faculty of Science suggests that influencing male mosquitoes’ reproductive capacity may, one day, hold the key to improved pest control strategies. Impeding some of the world’s most deadly viruses, spread by mosquitoes, could possibly be within reach, this research suggests. Read the full story.
Launched in January 2017, “Brainstorm” is produced out of the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation in partnership with Communications & Public Affairs; overseen by Megan Mueller, senior manager, research communications; and edited by Jenny Pitt-Clark, YFile editor and Ashley Goodfellow Craig, YFile deputy editor.
Scuba enthusiasts: Your future dive buddy might not be human
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scuba
Research on responsive robots, programmed to help humans in some way and facilitate fast and effective human-robot interaction, is usually set on land. Robots that function underwater is another whole matter. This is the novel frontier of York University’s Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science in the Lassonde School of Engineering – a recognized leader in robotics.
In a paper that appeared at the 14th annual ACM/IEEE International Conference on Robot-Human Interaction (2019) in Korea, graduate student Robert Codd-Downey and Professor Michael Jenkin describe a new method for underwater human-robot interaction, which they created.
This image illustrates the diver’s body parts that the robot is able to recognize
“This research borrows from the long-standing history of diver communication using hand signals. It presents an exciting opportunity to develop a marketable product that assists robot-diver interactions underwater,” Codd-Downey explains.
The work was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s Canadian Robotics Network and Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA). Codd-Downey received a VISTA doctoral scholarship to undertake the work in 2017. Jenkin, a member of both VISTA and the Centre for Vision Research at York, supervised the work. He is an international expert in mobile, visually guided autonomous robotics; computer vision; and virtual reality.
From left: Robert Codd-Downey and Michael Jenkin
VISTA advances visual science through research
This is an excellent example of the groundbreaking research that VISTA supports. VISTA is a collaborative program funded by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund that builds on York’s world-leading interdisciplinary expertise in biological and computer vision.
VISTA essentially asks: “How can machine systems provide adaptive visual behavior in real-world conditions?” Answering this question will provide advances to vision science and exciting, widespread applications for visual health and technologies.
“Our overarching aim is to advance visual science through research that spans computational and biological perspectives and results in real-world applications,” says VISTA’s Scientific Director, Professor Doug Crawford.
VISTA will propel Canada as a global leader in the vision sciences
Underwater represents certain challenges for robots
Through this new work, Codd-Downey and Jenkin were searching for a better way for human-robot interaction to take place underwater. “Current methods for human-robot interaction underwater seem antiquated in comparison to their terrestrial counterparts,” Codd-Downey explains. “And humans can’t operate their vocal cords underwater, which prevents voice communication,” he adds.
Other complications include the fact that acoustic modems are bulky and power intensive; and mechanical interaction devices, such as keyboards, joysticks and touchscreens, don’t function properly underwater without significant protection from the elements which makes them difficult to operate.
So, the researchers turned to tried-and-true diver communication hand signals. The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) defines a number of common hand signals. The gesture language combines hand configuration with arm trajectories to encode messages. Commercial divers and technical diving groups have defined additional signals useful for specific tasks.
Common PADI hand signals. The hand signal illustrations are provided by PADI and are used with PADI’s permission.
How does the robot recognize the hand gestures?
To facilitate and ensure that the robot recognizes the gestures, Codd-Downey and Jenkin broke down the process into four steps, detailed below.
Step 1: Object recognition: The first step involves ensuring the robot recognizes the body parts of the diver with whom it will be communicating – specifically the person’s head and hands. Here, the researchers were able to program the robot to a high degree of accuracy.
Step 2: Hand and head tracking: In this step, the researchers programmed the robot to ensure that it is able to track the hands and head of the diver.
Step 3: Hand pose classification: Again, the researchers ensured that the robot could identify the number of fingers and the direction of each palm of the diver. Interestingly, the combination of these two parameters (fingers, direction) define 25 different classes. [Classes refer to number of different hand poses used in PADI gestures.]
Step 4: Translation: The previous three steps generate data that is interpreted or translated to the robot.
Data collection using an underwater vehicle that Codd-Downey developed. Jenkin is in the shot.
Codd-Downey elaborates on Step 4: “The OK gesture, for example, can be interpreted as IDLE-OKIDLE. Where IDLE represents a return to none gesturing posture/action. A more complicated sequence of gestures can be interpreted as IDLE-YOU-STALL-FOLLOW-ME-IDLE. Where STALL represents a pause or break in the gesture sequence without returning to an IDLE state.”
In addition to hand signals, the researchers also used light-based communication methods to control the underwater robot either remotely or by a nearby diver.
Codd-Downey’s work in underwater human-robot communication has not gone unnoticed. He received an award for the best demonstration at the June 2018 Space Vision and Advanced Robotics Workshop for related work on light-based communication between two robots.
This cutting-edge work continues. “Work on hand gesture recognition is an ongoing part of my thesis,” Codd-Downey explains. He adds that he is currently collecting additional annotations to train the hand pose classifier and identifying common phrases that divers use to communicate to train the models for in-water testing.
To read the article, “Human Robot Interaction Using Diver Hand Signals,” visit the website. A video of the diver part recognition system operating can be found here. To read a related article from VISTA, visit the website. To learn more about VISTA, visit the website.
To learn more about Research & Innovation at York, follow us at @YUResearch; watch our new animated video, which profiles current research strengths and areas of opportunity, such as Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous futurities; and see the snapshot infographic, a glimpse of the year’s successes.
By Megan Mueller, senior manager, Research Communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, York University, muellerm@yorku.ca
Just who are the winners and losers when biomedical advances eliminate death?
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woman taking a breath in front of a spectacular view
Professor Regina Rini, Canada Research Chair in Philosophy of Moral and Social Cognition and core member of Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA), has a way of raising previously unimaginable moral questions that cut to the heart of things. She has done it again, this time in the esteemed Times Literary Supplement. Her article, “The Last Mortals,” was released to a global audience in May 2019.
Rini starts with the supposition that biomedical advances could mean eternal life in 100 years’ time. She then delves into the most troubling moral dilemma in this scenario: What happens to the generation prior to the lucky cohort with eternal life? What happens when these folks, the last mortals, come face-to-face with the immortals and fully realize the gravity of their loss? Their anguish, she imagines, would be acute.
Rini essentially asks: What happens when the last mortals come face-to-face with immortals and fully realize the gravity of their loss?
“My aim is to show that dying is worse for the last mortals than for earlier generations. The advent of immortality actually worsens the lives of those who fall closest in never reaching it,” Rini explains.
Rini is the perfect person to dive deeply into this issue. Her work analyzes research from the social sciences, especially cognitive science and sociology, and through this lens, she determines then investigates key philosophical questions. She believes we cannot understand our individual moral decisions without also understanding how we relate to those of others.
Biomedical breakthroughs have got us this far
In the article, Rini first reminds us of the ever-expanding lifespan of Western civilization: If you were born in 1900, your lifespan was, on average, 47 years; if you were born in 1950, it was 68; if you were born today, you could possibly expect to see your 100th birthday. The human lifespan has so expanded that if you are currently under the age of 40, then you can plan to meet young people who will live to see the year 2157, Rini says.
Rini suggests that biomedical advancements could, theoretically, extend human life to infinity
This would be, of course, the result of consistent biomedical advancements, including vaccinations, new cancer treatment, transplants and much more. Medical research is also shifting from acute conditions, such as the flu, to chronic conditions including heart disease and diabetes – getting to the root of some of today’s most common causes of death. Furthermore, aging is largely determined by genes, which can be manipulated, Rini points out. This opens another avenue for a limitless lifespan.
Rini ferrets out the most disturbing moral question
Regina Rini
Now comes the hard part. Rini considers the situation, the possibility of mortality, and ferrets out the most disturbing moral question within it. She asks: “What if this [eternal life] all happened sooner rather than later?” She throws out a date – 100 years from now – and suggests that anyone alive in 2119 is likely to live for centuries, even millennia, possibly forever. (One caveat of immortality is that, given statistics about deathly accidents, sooner or later all “immortals” would eventually die in some form of an accident.)
But what about those who just about make it to this hypothetical date of 2119, when immortality is possible? Rini elaborates on this conundrum: “What would it mean to realize that you very nearly got to live forever, but didn’t? What would it mean if we were increasingly forced to share social space with young people whose anticipated allotment of time massively dwarfs our own?”
The agony of nearly making it to eternity, when surrounded by those who’ve effortlessly achieved this simply by the date they were born, is profound. She elaborates: “It’s one thing to imagine whippersnappers coasting into the next century. It’s another to know many will see the next millennium. The proportions are terribly imbalanced, and their distribution arbitrary. This is a sure recipe for jealousy. The last mortals may be ghosts before their time, destined to look on in growing envy at the enormous stretches of life left to their near-contemporaries. In one sense, it will be the greatest inequity experienced in all human history.”
What does immortality mean, and do we really want it?
Switching gears to consider the life of the immortals, Rini next considers if an endless life is something that people would genuinely want. In most fiction works, this is shown to be boring, tedious and meaningless. The film Groundhog Day with Bill Murray is a good example of this, as the lead character repeatedly wakes up to the same, inescapable day.
Is eternal life really a blessing? Rini considers
Rini also points out that if no one died, rampant overpopulation would certainly affect quality of life in a catastrophic way. Here, she unearths the fundamental human predicament: We may want to live forever, and do things to extend our lives, like eating right and not smoking, but the question of whether eternal life would be a blessing is unclear.
Rini’s article in the Times Literary Supplement is an accessible and hugely compelling read. She pushes through to the nucleus of moral questions, effortlessly drawing from a repertoire of thinkers from Greek philosophers Epicurus and Diogenes to the Roman Stoic Seneca, from feminist existentialist Simone de Beauvoir to J. R. R. Tolkien [Lord of the Rings], with an interesting fictional tangent about Sigmund Freud and an iPhone. Rini is an exceptional philosopher and thinker who, with everything she writes, takes readers on a veritable roller coaster ride of highly charged moral dilemmas.
To learn more about Research & Innovation at York, follow us at @YUResearch; watch our new animated video, which profiles current research strengths and areas of opportunity, such as Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous futurities; and see the snapshot infographic, a glimpse of the year’s successes.
By Megan Mueller, senior manager, Research Communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, York University, muellerm@yorku.ca
Words that empower: The transformation of Indigenous language dictionaries
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Words that empower FEATURED new
The Canadian Language Museum at the Glendon Gallery
Last fall, the Canadian Language Museum at the Glendon Gallery (Glendon Campus, York University) staged a compelling exhibition “Beyond Words: Dictionaries and Indigenous Languages.” The travelling show (which ran at Glendon from Sept. 19 to Oct. 23, 2019) examined the relationship between dictionaries and Indigenous languages – the former functioning, at first, as rudimentary translation tools to facilitate trade; then later, as vehicles through which to retain Indigenous languages for future generations. The show encapsulates several centuries and tells the story of this remarkable transformation.
Amos Key Jr. with the English-Cayuga Cayuga-English Dictionary at the opening
Guest speaker Amos Key Jr. (Tae ho węhs), inaugural vice-provost Indigenous Engagement at Brock University, spoke at the opening and set the stage for the exhibition. A member of Mohawk Nation, Key is an educator and advocate for First Peoples’ human, civil and linguistic rights; the decolonization of Indigenous education; and the emancipation of Indigenous Peoples. He was central to the creation of the digital archive of Onkwehonweh Ceremony and Rituals and the publication of an English-Cayuga Cayuga-English Dictionary, which was part of the exhibit.
Show examines the different roles of dictionaries over four centuries
“Beyond Words,” created by student curators Briahna Bernard and Stephen Shurgold, under the supervision of Elaine Gold, director of the Canadian Language Museum, has an ambitious objective: to trace the varied functions that dictionaries have played over 400 years. Given this massive scope, establishing themes was a brilliant idea. The show is built around six themes that frame the examination and, essentially, walk the viewer back in time. It is organized by:
first meeting and trade;
dictionaries for conversion;
early modern dictionaries;
community initiatives; and
embracing technology.
The show begins with first contact between European settlers and the Indigenous population. It features word lists, dictionaries and phrasebooks that were needed to communicate for economic trade – words such as “fur,” “cost,” and “value,” for example.
These early resources, created by non-Indigenous wordsmiths, were far from bias free. Bilingual dictionaries were used as tools of colonization, conversion and assimilation.
The “Beyond Words” exhibition
In this way, the show exemplifies how dictionaries are a microcosm for the world at a particular point in time. “Dictionaries are not just lists of vocabulary; they are artifacts of the time and place they are made and reflect the goals of the people who create them,” says Gold.
In sharp contrast, today’s Indigenous language dictionaries are vehicles to retain and restore Indigenous languages for future generations. “They have become a powerful means of community-driven Indigenous language revitalization and cultural continuity,” says Gold.
Show offers compelling new resources to combat the loss of Indigenous languages
This exhibition provides an important opportunity to recognize that the loss of language in this community, over the last few decades, has been grave. Dislocation and fractured communities negatively affect a person’s or a community’s ability to retain a mother tongue.
Effort such as this traveling exhibition are turning this around. Today, there are more than 60 Indigenous languages and over 200,000 people speaking them. Cree and Inuktitut are the languages with the most speakers.
Books on display at the “Beyond Words” exhibition
The interactive component of this show is an important part. The exhibition features an online tool where visitors can access language materials being developed by Indigenous communities to transmit the elders’ language knowledge to today’s youth.
“Beyond Words” is an engaging, comprehensive and interactive show containing historical insights and resources for the enrichment of Indigenous languages.
The show toured in 2019, from spring to fall, launching at the 2019 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences in June and displayed at venues including Glendon, the Markham Public Library and the University of Calgary.
The Canadian Language Museum promotes an appreciation of Canada’s rich language heritage: over 60 Indigenous languages, the official languages of French and English, and the many other languages brought to this country by immigrants from around the world. Exhibits at this museum explore important language issues such as bilingualism, multilingualism, and language endangerment, preservation and revitalization.
To learn more about the show, visit the Language Museum website. To learn more about the show on the Glendon Campus, visit the website.
To learn more about Research & Innovation at York, follow us at @YUResearch; watch our new animated video, which profiles current research strengths and areas of opportunity, such as Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous futurities; and see the snapshot infographic, a glimpse of the year’s successes.
By Megan Mueller, senior manager, Research Communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, York University, muellerm@yorku.ca
The best contemporary art can’t be pigeonholed into one genre because, more often than not, it combines a variety of approaches in new and innovative ways that press or even coerce the viewer/participant into considering their own reality. Simply put: It demands more of the viewer. This is the engaging terrain of York University Professor and intermedia artist Freya Björg Olafson.
Freya Olafson’s “MÆ – Motion Aftereffect”
Premiering last year (Oct. 31 to Nov. 3, 2019) at the Prairie Theatre Exchange (PTE) in Winnipeg, Man., Olafson’s “MÆ – Motion Aftereffect” is an unforgettable interactive, multimedia experience. It successfully blends dance, video, audio and virtual reality (VR), blurring the lines between the real and the virtual.
“The MÆ project is a new work that aims to catalyze conversations about contemporary culture and performance while imagining societies future with advances in virtual reality, artificial intelligence, 360 video and related technologies,” Olafson explains.
Freya Björg Olafson
“Boldly, and with levity and humour, Freya’s imagination and craft gives us a playful window into a world that we can only begin to imagine,” says PTE’s Artistic Director, Thomas Morgan Jones.
Olafson’s work combines different genres in a whole new way
Olafson came to York University just over two years ago. If one were to study her work over the years, to trace her evolution as an artist, it would be clear that she has embraced tremendous dexterity. She easily and naturally ventures into different media or genres, unfettered by conventional barriers.
A dozen years ago, for example, Olafson was a bold figurative painter. In the photo below Olafson sits in front of her New Icelander Series (2006). “In my early studio work, I based performances off of paintings and I created sets and props. This is before I started integrating video into my live works,” she explains.
Today, she is best known as an interdisciplinary artist and pioneering dancer/choreographer on the world stage. Between these two points in time, there have been many exciting developments in her work that drove the seamless shift from painting (a static, two-dimensional art form) to dance and VR – kinetic, three-dimensional art forms that engage viewers in wholly new ways.
Musician/collaborator Kristjanna Oleson and Freya Olafson in Olafson’s studio in front of sets and paintings from New Icelander Series (2006)
Her most recent work centres around identity and the body informed by technology and the Internet, no doubt informed by her six years of classical training at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. This new work considers what it means to be present in our contemporary screen-obsessed world and constructs an experience that interrogates the impact of technology on our bodies and psyches.
It’s not a heavy-handed delivery; Olafson’s performances are elegant, sophisticated. They feature evocative and multi-layered images with figures and shapes disappearing and re-emerging in a ghostly, elusive way. For audiences, the impact of these works is borne of the experience in its entirety.
“Motion Aftereffect” hones in on out-of-body experience
“Motion Aftereffect” is a body of work that comprises multiple short video works, this upcoming live performance and in the near future a VR installation for exhibition in galleries. Funded by the Manitoba Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts, “MÆ – Motion Aftereffect” was developed, from 2017 to 2019, through residences in Montreal, Portland, Winnipeg and San Francisco.
The premiere in Winnipeg is the latest incarnation of the series.
Olafson explains what is going on and what the viewers would see: “Onstage, I am working with live digital painting with a green screen glitch effect. Often in my work, I aim to conflate the live body with projections of digital figures/avatars. I also work with found video footage of folks testing out their home motion capture systems. In a later section of the work I actually use the VR headset.”
This work asks viewers to consider their own reality, through VR technology, to effectively destabilize meaning(s) of the corporeal body.
As Olafson noted, the project references and uses a variety of Internet content – such as material from open source motion capture libraries, ready-made 3D human models and monologues of individuals recounting their experiences with VR in live gameplay, explorative worlds and VR porn. “These texts and visuals combine with YouTube monologues about out-of-body experiences and astral projection,” she explains.
“MÆ – Motion Aftereffect” series, video stills: Freya Olafson (2017), overlaid photo credit: Ian McCausland
In an out-of-body experience, a person perceives the world from a location outside of their physical body. Astral projection (sometimes called astral travel) describes a person’s intentional out-of-body experience. This assumes the existence of a soul or consciousness, called an ‘astral body,’ that is separate from the physical body and capable of travelling outside and far beyond it – in fact, throughout the universe.
The result is a one-of-a-kind experience for viewers.
What’s next for Olafson? Upcoming publications include a score/script of her performance work AVATARas part of Canadian Playwrights Press’ 2021 anthology on Digital Theatre in Canada.
Funding acknowledgement: The development of “MÆ – Motion Aftereffect” was possible via the AR/VR Artist Research Residency Pilot organized by Oregon Story Board, Eyebeam and Upfor Gallery in Portland as well as the 13th annual Montréal Choreographic Workshop. In 2017, this work was developed through the CounterPulse (San Francisco) ‘Artist Residency Commissioning Program’ with lead support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, the Zellerbach Family Foundation, and the Ken Hempel Fund for the Arts.
To learn more about Research & Innovation at York, follow us at @YUResearch; watch our new animated video, which profiles current research strengths and areas of opportunity, such as Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous futurities; and see the snapshot infographic, a glimpse of the year’s successes.
By Megan Mueller, senior manager, Research Communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, York University, muellerm@yorku.ca
Mosquito sperm research could aid pest control strategies in deadly viruses
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Mosquitoes (specifically, Aedes aegypti) carry a variety of pathogens causing diseases including Zika, Yellow Fever, Chikungunya and Dengue Fever – the latter being the most widespread disease in humans infecting more than 500 million people every year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Aedes aegypti, a vector of several tropical diseases including Yellow Fever
York University graduate student David Rocco, supervised by Faculty of Science biology Professor Jean-Paul Paluzzi, led a team of researchers that included academics from Brazil’s São Paulo State University, in some groundbreaking research in this area.
Traditional research has focused on female mosquitoes (they bite), but this group of researchers took an unconventional approach by studying males (they don’t bite). What the team discovered led them to conclude that influencing male fertility (by decreasing sperm yield) could possibly, one day, lead to the development of novel approaches and the improvement of existing pest control strategies aimed at lessening the burden of these medically important vectors of disease.
The compelling results of this research, which funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, were published in Frontiers in Physiology (2019).
From left: David Rocco and Jean-Paul Paluzzi
Rocco sits down with Brainstorm to discuss his work.
Q:Tell us about your work in the Paluzzi lab.
A: My research in the Paluzzi lab looks at vectors of disease – ticks, mites, mosquitoes predominantly. The driving notion behind it is: If we could better understand mosquito biology, then it could possibly help design targets for pest control research.
In biology, there are two main systems that function to regulate the body: the nervous system and the endocrine system, which are hormones. In this way, humans and mosquitoes are quite similar.
We’re essentially asking: By targeting different aspects of biology, including hormones, can we design novel pest control strategies or identify novel targets? Can we design something that will target this [some specific] hormone in this [some specific] species of mosquito and thereby reduce transmission?
Q:What were your objectives?
A: My research focused on a specific glycoprotein hormone in the mosquito: GPA2/GPB5. Hormones are often named after what they do in the body, but we don’t yet know what this one does. My objective was to determine what this hormone does in mosquitoes to better understand its function.
I was looking for where the receptor is for this hormone. Receptors are activated by specific hormones, released through the bloodstream, similar to a lock and key. So, I looked at the location of the receptor to learn more about the hormone.
Q:Is this original research?
A: The male mosquito reproductive system is very understudied. That said, most research in this area is about releasing sterilized males (whose sperm is not functioning) into the wild. If you breed thousands of sterilized males and you release them into the wild, then they will compete with other males to mate with a female. If a female mates with a sterilized male, then she won’t reproduce since her eggs won’t be fertilized. So effectively, you’ll reduce the population.
My work adds to this body of research.
Q:What were your key findings?
I was able to determine that the hormone GPA2/GPB5 was making sperm; its function was spermatogenesis. More specifically, it helps to make the flagella, the whip-like tail at the end of the sperm. To date, we had no idea how mosquito spermatogenesis was regulated – how sperm is made, controlled by things like the nervous system.
So, when I found out that this receptor plays a role in regulating the development of sperm, that was a really exciting find. The next question is: Could this hormone be used in the future? Could it be a target to sterilize males?
The Dengue virus affects more than a half million people annually (WHO)
Q:How could this new knowledge inform policy or pest control strategies in the future?
A: We don’t make policy or draft strategy. In the lab, we provide the research, the evidence. Others, perhaps with Level 3 Containment facilities, can build on what we’ve done. [This refers to the biosafety level of labs required to isolate dangerous biological agents in an enclosed facility. The highest level is 4.] These facilities could go online, read our research paper and be able to follow up with any implications, applications and strategies for pest control.
Q:What is the current best practice to control mosquitoes?
A: Bed nets, sleeping with a large net over your bed. The approach is limited. You still get bit, you still get disease transmission.
Q: Could this research have a global impact in that it could inform future efforts to eradicate Dengue Fever or other deadly viruses?
A: Yes, this species transmits at least four viruses. Zika’s not even the most prevalent or deadly. The prevalent diseases, especially in South America, are Yellow Fever, Chikungunya and Dengue Fever. The number of reported cases of Dengue in 2018 alone, was over half a million according to WHO.
To date, this particular mosquito that transmits these diseases has not established itself in Canada, but could it? With global climate change creating warmer and more humid environments, these populations could migrate.
My research could also be applied to other species of mosquitoes, such as the ones in Ontario that are transmitting West Nile, or to ticks, spreading Lyme Disease and more – any other vectors of disease.
Q:How has York supported your work?
A: York has funded almost all of my research. If it weren’t for York, I would not have been able to undertake this work.
To learn more about Research & Innovation at York, follow us at @YUResearch; watch our new animated video, which profiles current research strengths and areas of opportunity, such as Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous futurities; and see the snapshot infographic, a glimpse of the year’s successes.
By Megan Mueller, senior manager, Research Communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, York University, muellerm@yorku.ca
York Distinguished Research Professor Debra Pepler named an Officer of the Order of Canada
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Debra Pepler
Faculty of Health psychology Professor Debra Pepler, an internationally recognized expert who has changed the way we think about bullying, has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Pepler was among five Companions, 38 Officers and 77 Members named to the Order of Canada on Dec. 28, 2019 by the Governor General of Canada Julie Payette (DSc ’10). Her citation states that she is being honoured for her innovative, community-based research on social issues involving children and youth, which has changed the way psychologists study bullying.
Pepler has been a member of the Department of Psychology at York University since 1988. She served as the director of the LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence and Conflict Resolution from 1994 to 2002. Pepler is a registered psychologist in the Province of Ontario and has co-authored four books, dozens of referred journal articles, book chapters, reviews and government reports. In 2008, she was awarded the title of Distinguished Research Professor by York University in recognition of her pioneering research.
“The entire York community extends our enthusiastic congratulations to Professor Pepler for this recognition of her leadership on one of the most important issues facing young people, their families, and our society today,” said President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton. “Her world-leading scholarship on bullying exemplifies the positive impact York University has on the communities we serve through our exceptional teaching, research and creative activities.”
In addition to her scholarly endeavours, Pepler has been a senior associate scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children since 2001. She has also served on the Ontario Minister of Education’s Safe Schools Action Team since 2004 and on several other advisory committees related to parenting, antisocial behaviour and school violence.
As part of her extensive research accomplishments, Pepler was awarded a Network of Centres of Excellence: New Initiatives grant to establish PREVNet (Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network) with Queen’s University psychology Professor Wendy Craig (MA ’89, PhD ’93), who was Pepler’s first PhD student at York University. PREVNet is a collaborative and interdisciplinary initiative that brings together 62 researchers from 27 Canadian universities and 49 national organizations.
Pepler has conducted two major research programs on children at risk within the context of peer relationships at school and in context of the family. To study aggression and bullying, she developed an innovative methodology to observe children’s interactions, which would normally be hidden from adults. Pepler was honoured for this research with the Contribution to Knowledge Award from the Psychology Foundation of Canada, the Educator of the Year Award from Phi Delta Kappa (Toronto), the University of Waterloo Arts in Academia Award and the Canadian Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Contributions to Public or Community Service. She is also the recipient of the 2015 Donald O. Hebb Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology as a Science from the Canadian Psychological Association.
Members of the Order of Canada with connections to York University also named
Four other individuals affiliated with York University were also appointed as members of the Order of Canada. They are broadcaster Hana Gartner (MA ’17), author Katherine Govier (MA ’72), social justice advocate and politician Cheri DiNovo (BA ’94), and philanthropist and former York University Board of Governors member John Hunkin (LL.D [Hons.] ’04, MBA ’69).
New gift brightens learning, research opportunities for optical physics students
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Maksym Stolyarevsky, Marshall McCall, Samer Bishay and EJ Janse van Rensburg
A new gift to the Faculty of Science will enhance learning and research opportunities for students studying optical physics at York University by creating awards for graduate and undergraduate students and upgrading a hands-on teaching laboratory for optical physics.
The gift, valued at $470,000, is supported by Iristel Inc, a Canadian telecommunications company founded and led by York University alumnus Samer Bishay. Bishay graduated in 1998 from York’s Space and Communications program, which was established by the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Department of Computer Science, both being in the Faculty of Science at the time.
“We are deeply grateful to Samer Bishay for this very generous donation, from a company that is pushing the boundaries of the telecommunications industry,” said Professor EJ Janse van Rensburg, former interim dean of science at York University who was involved in securing the gift. “This gift will unlock more opportunities for students in optical physics to pursue learning, research and practical experiences in the field. The Faculty of Science really looks forward to this new partnership with Samer and Iristel.”
From left: Maksym Stolyarevsky, Marshall McCall, Samer Bishay and EJ Janse van Rensburg
“My years at York were both exciting and challenging and what I learned then helped propel me, and ultimately my company, forward,” Bishay said. “These are incredibly exciting times, and opportunities abound. And, York is a terrific university for honing the minds of young people with a passion for science and technology. This is our opportunity to give back.”
One portion of the gift ($100,000) will create an award for graduate students in the field of optical physics. Starting in spring 2020, the Iristel Graduate Award will be granted to two full-time graduate students each year in the field of optical or experimental physics and will support research and related scholarly and creative activities.
Another portion ($120,000) will create an undergraduate scholarship to reward academic performance and lab proficiency and to encourage students in their third or fourth year to pursue a career in optical physics. Recipients will have the opportunity to interview for an internship at Iristel. The Iristel Undergraduate Scholarship will be granted to two full-time students each year, starting in spring 2020.
Finally, $250,000 will be designated to expand, renovate and upgrade the Optical Physics Laboratory in the Petrie Science and Engineering Building. The Iristel Optical Physics Laboratory will enhance experiential education, research and other creative activities for students using the lab.
“This incredibly generous gift will allow our department to upgrade and expand our educational program in experimental optical physics and provide our students with laboratory experiences that are unique in Canada,” said Professor Marshall McCall, chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. “The scholarships and internship will help to attract students to the field and to stimulate growth in the optical physics community at York.”
The major emphases during its first year will be to increase tri-council grant applications and success through a supportive skills and mentoring program for new faculty members at York University. In keeping with that goal, the Research Commons has organized two workshops for January:
