In a wide variety of subject fields (intelligent videoconference, broadcasting, security, remote sensing, medical imaging, etc.), multi-camera modeling is arousing increasing interest. It's a new research area in computer vision. Many research projects from local universities will stimulate the transfer of technology towards commercial and industrial purposes.

The control system which usually controls pain works poorly in fibromyalgia patients. Up to now, no study scientifically demonstrated this deficiency in these patients' body's natural morphine production. To get to this result, a researcher had to use a test administered by submerging a person's arm in ice water in eight successive steps.

The code of ethics is the tool that businesses use most frequently to develop an ethical culture. However, its adoption guarantees neither the improvement of the organizational culture nor conformity of behaviour. The problem stems from the tuning and management conditions of the code of ethics. Quebec researchers are considering the latest tendencies and the qualities expected in regards to the content of codes of ethics.

This might be possible thanks to a device that promises to give people who are blind, even those who are blind from birth, their sight back without going through the eyes or the optic nerve. This bionic eye, developed by Quebec researchers, could be implanted routinely in patients within approximately eight years.

If you log on to your Facebook profile one morning, you could discover that amongst your friends, Peter is now single or that Sylvia just added superb images that shamelessly display her new bathing suit that is turning heads in Cuba. For Quebec researchers, consuming this type of information can easily find itself at the core of jealousy problems, or even infidelity.

A Quebec researcher, in cooperation with colleagues from Victoria and the United Kingdom, has succeeded in demonstrating that a linear relationship exists between total cumulative emissions and global temperature changes. To limit global warming, it will thus be necessary to limit total emissions of carbon – now and forever – to a little more than half a trillion tonnes.

Using chitosan, a substance found in the shell of crustaceans, Quebec researchers have developed a revolutionary gel that allows cartilage to repair and regenerate. Many patients have already taken advantage of the results of these endeavours and invasive procedures can thus be avoided. In Canada only, it is estimated that more than 4.3 million people suffer from arthritis. It's a scientific development that creates hope!

Quebec researchers have developed a digital imagery device that allows the amplification of photons perceived by astronomical cameras or by other equipment used in very low-light conditions. The results were so spectacular that NASA wanted to be the first space research center to be equipped with one of those cameras.

The antiasthmatic medications currently available allow patients to control their symptoms, without however having a real impact on the development of the illness. A research team in immunology and in pharmacology is studying the changes that take place in the bronchi when faced with different irritants present in the environment when the illness develops. In doing this they are trying to understand the immune system mechanisms of asthma and to identify new avenues for treatment.

A child's preparedness to start school seems to depend more on factors tied to the environment a child grows up in rather than hereditary factors, according to a study in which researchers from a Quebec university took part. At the completion of an analysis conducted on 840 twins, researchers have determined that the life environment explains 54% of the differences observed in the general abilities needed for a good preparation for school. As for genetic factors, they would be responsible for only 29% of the differences observed while the last 17% would come from environmental factors specific to each child.

A group of Quebec researchers is studying the production process of public policy, from their emergence to their evaluation, analyzed with a focus on their effects on health. This group also aims to promote the appropriation, by concerned players, of knowledge pertinent to the elaboration of public policies favourable to good health.

Well-known in popular culture for their Tomb-raiding, Nazi-battling, and Mummy-wrangling abilities, the archaeologist has been for writers of science fiction a rich source for imagining “strange new worlds” from “strange old worlds.” Nostalgia for an old and past world is the motivation to create new futuristic worlds that are based in antiquity.

In 1969, the “Omnibus Bill” decriminalized homosexuality. In 2005, Canada was the fourth country in the world to recognize weddings between spouses of the same sex. If legal equality has progressed in 40 years, mentality has not evolved at the same rate. Studies seem to confirm that the phenomena of homophobia reaches its peak in high school. A Quebec researcher and her team are conducting a research on homophobia in high school and Cégep.

In Quebec, the state of roads is a topic of conversation almost as popular as the weather. Many different factors contributes to the deterioration of our roads and, each year, large quantities of old coating material from the rebuilding or our roads is carried to dumps. Two Quebec researchers want to enhance the properties and long-term behaviour or recycled coating material for reasons both environmental and economical.

On the Internet, we can find the best like the worst, botched amateur work and rigorous documents with well-established credibility. It is essential to be able to evaluate their credibility. A Quebec professor proposes criteria to evaluate these documents. However, we should always keep in mind that using these criteria do not always yield a clear and decisive answer to the question “Can I really trust this information?”

A research team is trying to answer some old questions: what is old age and how do we age? Is it the last step of the human development program, or simply the result of the accumulation of unrepaired cellular and molecular damage? By studying bread making yeast as a model for human cellular aging, these researchers discovered that age is the last step of an improvement program and the fruit of a continual accumulation of cellular and molecular damage.

A new research demonstrates that short-term, temporary and contractual employment can cause psychological distress and depression. According to data from a sociological study, employees occupying a temporary, contractual or occasional position are more at risk of developing mental health problems. As reported by a researcher, temporary workers are vulnerable to having their mental health decline and this as long as they occupy a position that can be perceived as “disposable” or “second rate”.

Some people seem to present a natural resistance to HIV. A new study from Quebec researchers is nearly ready to shed some light on this phenomenon. Indeed, researchers have compared the genetic profile of people who have been infected with HIV for a year to those of individuals repeatedly exposed to the virus without showing sign of infection. It seems that the simultaneous expression of certain versions of two specific genes of the immune system contributes to reduce the risk of infection by the HIV virus, of, if infection does occur, to slow its development.

A Quebec researcher proposes to fight fire with fire. Indeed, her work allows her to assert that covering acid-generating mine waste with a layer of desulphurized residue constitutes an effective method to control the production of acid mine drainage (AMD). According to this study, based on the case of a mining site in the region of Abitibi, a buffer of about one meter is enough to stop AMD. It was then possible to perfect a methodology than is applicable to different mining site restoration situations through the use of mine waste with a low concentration of sulphur.

The Internet modifies the way we access culture in obvious ways. Physical objects, be it vinyl, compact discs or books, are losing more and more popularity to the benefit of the immaterial, from digital files bought or obtained for free - and instantly for immediate consumption. A “culture without walls”, some say, accessible beyond any physical distance and at a lower cost: the democratisation of art in all its forms. According to a Quebec researcher, this increasing dematerialisation of culture has very positive sides…

“Living on an island, it's paradise?” Seen from the outside, we might believe it. But the islanders themselves know that not only do the waters that surround them not protect them from trouble, they also pose the challenge of finding original solutions to resolve problems. That's what is described by two Quebec researchers in a captivating article on life in an insular environment.

Physicians shouldn't judge a book by its cover when a new patient comes into their office. Two obese individuals, with almost identical life habits, can hide compeltely different bills of health. According to Quebec researchers, there exists some individual that are physically obese, but that are healthy on the metabolic level. The opposite is also true. The famous body mass index should thus be used selectively.

Since 1977, a highly recognized industrial chair, whose incumbent is a professor from a Quebec university, is mandated with studying many phenomenon linked to atmospheric icing, particularly of electric networking equipment. This chair has the responsibility of advancing knowledge in this field and to broadcast the results of his research. Experimenting in an environmental chamber or refrigerated wind tunnel, computer modeling and digital computer simulation as well as data analysis of natural sites are all techniques used in the framework of these researchers' work.

Did you know? Four Quebecer academic institutions are co-responsible of a large project: a computerized database that allows the automated construction of family histories and of ascending or descending genealogies. The data that is feeding the files is taken primarily from vital records (births, marriages, burials). The goal is to cover the whole of Quebec's population, from the settlement of the province in the 17th century up to our current date. Work on the construction of the file, started in 1972, is presently completed for the regions for the regions of Saguenay and of Charlevoix and is under way for the other regions of Quebec.

According to a recent study, transplanting foetal neuronal cells into the brain of people stricken with Huntington's disease does not produce long-term effects. This study, directed by a Quebec researcher, puts into question the pertinence of transplanting foetal cells into the brain of afflicted people and constitutes the first demonstration that transplants do not achieve, in the long term, a durable replacement of neurones affected by this illness.

Noise is becoming more and more of a cause for concern in the aeronautical industry, not only for the passengers and personnel on board's sake, but also for people living near airports. Three researchers specializing in airwaves and vibrations, brought together by an innovative research chair, are researching ways to lower the noise caused by airplanes. Their ultimate goal? Creating a perfectly silent plane!

Children that have been mistreated could have suffered biochemical modifications in their brain, which would make them more vulnerable to suicidal impulses as adults. A team of Quebec scientists has compared the cerebral epigenetic markers of men that have taken their own lives (and had all been victims of physical abuse during childhood) to those victims of accidents growing up in non abusive conditions. It's possible that the modifications to epigenetic markers have been caused by abuse during childhood.

Gifted students failing? It happens a lot more often than we think! 33% to 50% of “intellectually precocious” children will experience at least one academic failure in their lives. A group of psychology students discovered this, to their surprise, while summarizing writings on the subject. According to a study conducted on 145 gifted students followed for a period of 20 years and presented by Medec in 2003, only 40% get a bachelor's degree or access graduate studies. The others drop out or abandon schooling.

A Quebec researcher was inspired by living mushrooms of the bark of trees to fight against the pollutants that water treatment plants filter out and that are suspected to act as hormone disrupting chemicals. This professor is trying to develop an effective method to introduce enzymes whose biological origin is traced to mushrooms commonly found inside treatment plants and use them to attack these new contaminants.

In Canada, exploiting wind power presents some unique characteristics: the large size of wind farms, often developed in wooded areas, the topography, the snow and the severity of rime are all factors that greatly influence the conception and realization of large construction sites. Already since 2002, the founding chair holder of the chair of research on aerodynamics of wind turbines in northern climates targets research thematic essential to the development and exploitation of wind farms.

Quebec's boreal forests have not been getting any younger over the last few decades. For the flora and fauna, it's a brooding disaster. According to Quebecer and French researchers, we are cutting down forest much too fast and it doesn't have time to age. The boreal forest has always been regulated by fire and by ravaging insect epidemics able to decimate vast territories. These researchers recommend increasing the distance between cutting grounds by at least 40% of the territory, since, by being razed too often, the forest is losing its complex structure, essential to the habitat of various species.

Before the age of five, it isn't unusual to be under the impression that the great majority of our family activities are organised around the sleep (or lack thereof!) of our little ones. As a Quebec researcherexplains, if a parents indeed sleeps 7 to 8 hours a night, a few weeks old nursing infant can sleep up to 18 of them. However, it is good to know that all babies can have very different habits from one another.

Quebecer and French researchers have led an intensive campaign to adapt the mouth of the Saguenay in accordance with the regular presence of belugas. The research team has deployed a listening network there to record belugas and to continually measure underwater noise from the beginning of May to mid-June. This research is within a program initiated a few years ago on oceanographic, ecosystemic and acoustic study of this privileged habitat of the Saint-Lawrence's beluga.

A Quebecer researcher is leading, from Quebec, a Canada-wide team examining the impact of mad cow disease on the health and well being of breeders and farmers of the country. For these researchers, it is necessary to understand the personal and communal effects causes by bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly called mad cow disease, in order to establish and evaluate programs and policies that promote the health of the Canadian families and communities affected.