news 2022

This green process could be used to valorize other food remains rich in cellulose or lignin The banana is an excellent source of energy, nutritionists will tell you unanimously. So is the peel, according to Marie-Josée Dumont, but in the fuel sense of the term. The professor from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Laval University and her colleagues at McGill University have just taken a new step towards a fuel based on banana peel by substantially improving the efficiency of an existing chemical process.

Research finds chronic adolescent cannabis exposure may harm emotional and cognitive brain development through impact on separate brain regions   Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry researchers have shown that chronic exposure during adolescence to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive component of cannabis, may induce long-lasting memory impairments and increased anxiety levels.

University of Waterloo  researchers are developing a new patch that would offer diabetics an affordable, accurate, pain-free, round-the-clock alternative to traditional tests that require pricking a finger for a blood sample every few hours. University of Waterloo  researchers are developing a new patch that would offer diabetics an affordable, accurate, pain-free, round-the-clock alternative to traditional tests that require pricking a finger for a blood sample every few hours.

Study led by Professor Patrick Lussier shows significant decline in recidivism of sex crimes in Canada over 80 years Encouraging news: between 1940 and 2019, the recidivism rate of sex offenders in this country has dropped by nearly 70%, according to a study published in the journal Criminology and Public Policy .

Scientists at the CRCHUM find that a bacterium called Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus HA-114 prevents neurodegeneration in the C. elegans worm used to study amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. CONTENU - A probiotic bacterium called Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus HA-114 prevents neurodegeneration in the C. elegans worm , an animal model used to study amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

In recent years, language-learning apps, websites, and podcasts have exploded in popularity, promising fun and faster ways to make us fluent. But a new study conducted by UBC English James Stratton finds that one of the best ways of fast-tracking your language acquisition may be to learn a bit of language history - at least when it comes to learning a historically related language.

Researchers from the University of Toronto's Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and  Fujitsu  have developed a new way of searching through 'chemical space' for materials with desirable properties. The technique has resulted in a promising new catalyst material that could help lower the cost of producing clean hydrogen.

Therapies to target neuromuscular disorders affecting million of people worldwide are on the horizon thanks to research at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute of Montreal. CONTENU - Neuromuscular disorders affect millions of people worldwide. Now a discovery made at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute of Montreal (IRCM) opens the door to the development of targeted therapies.

The efficacy and safety of taking aspirin before the eleventh week of pregnancy have not been demonstrated for this gestational problem, which affects about 5% of women Preeclampsia is a problem of pregnancy hypertension that increases the risk of premature delivery and leads to the death of approximately 60,000 women and 500,000 children worldwide each year, mainly in developing countries.

Science, Health & Technology Lou Corpuz-Bosshart Chronic ship noise can lead to stress, hearing loss and feeding problems for marine mammals like whales, dolphins and porpoises. UBC researchers are diving in to help address the issue. According to project lead Dr. Rajeev Jaiman , an associate professor in the department of mechanical engineering, propeller noise accounts for much of the acoustic barrage from ships.

Can restricting blood flow to athletes' limbs while training boost performance? University of Toronto researchers investigate Ischemic preconditioning (IPC), a technique used to prepare an organ or tissue for a lack of blood or oxygen supply, was originally developed for use in clinical settings where there is an expected lack of blood and oxygen supply, for example during surgery or after an adverse event like a heart attack.

A team led by UdeM astronomers has found evidence that two exoplanets orbiting a red dwarf star are "water worlds," planets where water makes up a large fraction of the volume. These worlds, located in a planetary system 218 light-years away in the constellation Lyra, are unlike any planets found in our solar system.

Discovery will improve diagnosis and open treatment possibilities for thousands of people with this debilitating neurodegenerative condition worldwide New England Journal of Medicine reports the identification of a previously unknown genetic cause of a late-onset cerebellar ataxia, a discovery that will improve diagnosis and open new treatment avenues for this progressive condition.

Artificial intelligence chatbots that show positive feelings - such as adding an -I am excited to do so!- or a few exclamation marks - do not necessarily translate into positive reactions or contribute to higher customer satisfaction, according to a recent study by researchers from the University of South Florida, the Georgia Institute of Technology and McGill University.

Researchers at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and Lawson Health Research Institute have shown that vaping has a negative effect on a critical layer in the lungs and may harm lung function. The study, published in the PLOS ONE Journal , shows that vaping affects pulmonary surfactant - a layer in the lungs made up of lipids and proteins that allows people to breathe with minimal effort by reducing surface tension.

Science, Health & Technology Brett Goldhawk Researchers at UBC's Life Sciences Institute have identified a compound that shows early promise at halting infections from a range of coronaviruses, including all variants of SARS-CoV-2 and the common cold. The findings, published this week in Molecular Biomedicine , reveal a potential path toward antiviral treatments that could be used against many different pathogens.

A new study is the first to show brain stimulation improves reading in patients with macular degeneration. Drug treatments only slow down the progression of the disease, but Waterloo scientists discovered they could train the brain to use the information it receives more efficiently. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive, painless brain stimulation treatment that uses direct electrical currents to stimulate specific parts of the brain.

A class of medication for Type 2 diabetes may help older people with the condition reduce their risk of dementia. The findings are contained in a new study by Walter Swardfager , an assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and a scientist in the Sandra Black Centre for Brain Resilience and Recovery at Sunnybrook Research Institute, and graduate student Che-Yuan (Joey) Wu.

To better understand the evolution of flowers, researchers from Montreal are harnessing photogrammetry - a technique commonly used by geographers to reconstruct landscape topography. This is the first time scientists have used the technique to study flowers. The team, including researchers from McGill University, Université de Montréal, and the Montreal Botanical Garden, published the results of their work in the journal New Phytologist .

A recent study by Western neuroscientists suggests that, unlike true reality, perception in virtual reality is more strongly influenced by our expectations than the visual information before our eyes. The researchers point to the challenge of online shopping, where customers sometimes mis-estimate the size of a product based on their expectations, discovering for example that a sweater purchased online is indeed lovely but sized for a doll not an adult.