higher education : In The News

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original source Globe & Mail 

Research from the University of Toronto's OpenNet Initiative forms the core of recent Financial Times feature on Internet censorship by governments.

The OpenNet Initiative--a collaborative partnership of the Citizen Lab at University of Toronto, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, and the SecDev Group in Ottawa--tracks Internet censorship around the world. Directed and founded by University of Toronto's Ron Dibert, the OpenNet Initiative is a world leader on Internet censorship research.

"The OpenNet Initiative lists 18 countries in which it has found evidence of actual or suspected political censorship online, ranging from 'pervasive' in countries like China, Vietnam and Iran to 'substantial' (Libya, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia) and 'selective' (Pakistan, Thailand and Azerbaijan.) More than 30 states filter for social reasons, blocking content related to things like sex, gambling and illegal drugs. Most Middle Eastern countries are identified as 'pervasive' social censors; China, Burma and Thailand are among the 'substantial.' The US, the UK and many European states apply it 'selectively.'"

"People will now see that there's a global battle going on over the future of the Internet," says Ron Deibert of the University of Toronto and a founder of the OpenNet Initiative, which tracks global censorship."

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original source Financial Times

The Next 36"--a competition that challenged four person teams of Canadian university students to create a new mobile app--culminated last week in a pitch session by the top nine competitors to wealthy Toronto investors. BlogTO writes on the pitch session (called "Venture Day") and what Toronto's most promising up-and-coming app entrepreneurs have to offer.

"Last Monday nine Toronto start-ups gathered on the lower level of MaRS to persuade wealthy investors to fork over some money - lots of it."

"As I stood at the back of the packed room listening to pitch after pitch I couldn't help but admire these guys. Almost all of the start-ups were pre-revenue (and in many cases still pre-launch with zero users/customers) yet valuations were being floated in the million dollar range. Some had already raised money. Others had plugged-in advisors ranging from the Managing Director of Facebook Canada to the founder of ATI Technologies. Some will succeed but many will likely fail."

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original source BlogTO

As reported by the CBC, Toronto's York University has placed second in the international University Rover Challenge. The Challenge, held annually by the International Mars Society, asks participants to build the best robotic rover for a Mars-like landscape. This is the second year in a row that York has placed in the top three in the prestigious competition.

"The University Rover Challenge, put on annually by the international Mars Society, was won by the Bialystok University of Technology in Poland, who beat out seven other teams from Canada and the United States."

"York University repeated a second-place showing from last year. Team members said in an email to CBC on Sunday that they were happy with their rover, called EVE, and its performance in the rugged sandstone desert near Hanksville, Utah."

"Although we were well prepared before the competition, the desert environment and harsh operating conditions required many last-minute repairs and alterations," the message said. "This is true for all the teams, but as always our success came from our ability to fix the rover in situ and get back to the task, while other teams were left stranded."

"York's rover cost about $13,000 to build, slightly below the $15,000 maximum allowed. The cost was sponsored by York University, Ontario Centres of Excellence and MDA, a B.C.-based defence contractor."

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original story CBC News

In a breakthrough for healthcare innovation in Canada, Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre has signed a lucrative licensing deal with global pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis. As reported by the Globe and Mail, the deal resulted from Sunnybrook's groundbreaking research into the wound-healing molecule vasculotide, which Sanofi-Aventis hopes to eventually bring to market.

"It's a great example of what we've been missing here in this country and this city," says Mark Lievonen, president of Sanofi Pasteur Ltd., the Toronto-based vaccines division of the Sanofi-Aventis Group. The deal will see the drug company develop and commercialize Sunnybrook's research."

"We have great academic research and lots of work being done, but we have very difficult challenges in actually bringing deals to market," Mr. Lievonen said. "It's important to recognize and celebrate the success it really is."

"Historically, Canadian hospitals and other groups have shied away from commercialization, Mr. Lievonen explains. But people are growing excited about innovation and the positive effect it could have on the economy. "Hospitals and universities see the need to do it and more and more people are jumping on this bandwagon of innovation and looking for ways to achieve this kind of success," he says."

"The compound, called vasculotide, is used to treat chronic wounds. It is provided intravenously, and in animal studies it helped accelerate wound healing, in addition to creating better, deeper healing. Diabetic wounds tend to reopen."

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original source Globe & Mail

Ryerson University recently unveiled the design for it's new Ryerson Student Learning Centre. The design, courtesy of Toronto-based architecture firm  Zeidler Partnership Architects, features a glass facade designed to create textured light qualities within the interior space. As reported by WIDN, constuction on the new building, to be located at the corner of Yonge and Gould, will begin sometime late this year.

"The eight-storey Student Learning Centre will be built at the corner of Yonge and Gould Streets. It will feature a glass fa�ade, a welcoming elevated plaza, a bridge to the existing library and a host of academic, study and collaborative spaces for Ryerson's students, faculty and staff. Yonge Street frontage will feature destination retail at and below grade, creating a major commercial facade."

"The 155,463 square-foot Student Learning Centre will feature a host of creative and inspiring learning environments and spaces. Every floor will be designed differently with some spaces to be open and interpretive with flexible furniture and terraces while others to be densely filled with enclosed study rooms for groups of four to eight people. Special spaces for independent, quiet study will also be featured."

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original source WIDN (World Interior Design Network)

Time Magazine writes on a potentially ground-breaking discovery from a group of University of Toronto scientists. At the annual meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology, UofTs Dr. Kieran Murphy announced that cocktail of antioxidants developed at the university, could cut the damage to DNA by radiation from CT scans by as much as 50%, if taken before the scan.

"Murphy's concoction works by blocking the effect of free radicals, or unstable compounds made when radioactive waves collide with water, generated by radiation. Free radicals can damage DNA and are responsible for the premature aging and death of cells. Murphy's idea was to flood the body with antioxidants that neutralize free radicals prior to medical procedures such as CT scans, which use X-rays to image the body; the antioxidants would counter the damage from radiation."

"He stresses that while any CT scan causes some damage to DNA, for the most part the body's own repair mechanisms are able to overcome such low-level changes. "We have to balance the risks with the benefits," he says. "By far the majority of the time, the risk is far, far worth the benefit. We're just trying to say that if we can reduce that risk a little more, it's a good thing. Then we might be able to allow more screening. If we can increase the number of women who feel safe having a mammogram or the number of people who feel comfortable having a colorectal CT to detect colon cancer, or the number of people who get a coronary calcium screen to pick up signs of future heart trouble, then that would be a good thing."

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original source Time Magazine

Researchers from University of Toronto have made giant strides in the search for relief from obstructive sleep apnea, a sleeping disorder that effects more than 18 million North Americans. As reported by the Medical News, the UofT scientists found that repeated obstruction of the airways releases the brain chemical noradrenaline, an important finding as it suggests that common drugs that affect noradrenaline levels in the brain could be used to improve breathing in patients suffering from sleep apnea.

"In a recent study that appeared in the Journal of Neuroscience, scientists from the University demonstrated that repeated obstruction of the airways requires release of the brain chemical noradrenaline. The release of this chemical helps the brain learn to breathe more effectively and purposefully."

"What we showed is that repeated disruption of normal lung activity - what happens during sleep apnea - triggers a form of learning that helps you breathe better. This type of brain plasticity could be harnessed to help overcome the breathing insufficiency that typifies sleep apnea" says Dr. John Peever, Associate Professor of neuroscience and lead author of the study."

"These findings are important because they suggest that artificial manipulation with common drugs that affect noradrenaline levels in the brain could also help improve breathing in patients suffering from sleep apnea. This work could serve as the potential basis for developing the long sought after pill for sleep apnea."

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original source Medical News

The Financial Times writes why Canada is a good bet for international students seeking an MBA. Canada is lauded for its impressive business schools (notably Toronto's Rotman School of Management), healthy banking culture, and robust financial sector.

"The University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management estimates that the mean starting salary for its graduates rose to C$86,245 ($86,490) in 2010 from C$85,454 the previous year."

"Canada's big banks are in much healthier shape than most of their US and European counterparts. RBC, the country's biggest financial institution, had 72,100 people on its payroll at the end of October 2010, only slightly down from two years earlier, and 11 per cent more than in late 2007. Noting that MBAs are an important pool for the bank's future leadership, Galbraith says: "We need to keep that pipeline open."

"In a bid to capitalise on international interest in Canada's financial sector, a group of Toronto-based banks, insurers and asset managers has joined forces with Rotman to set up the Global Risk Institute in Financial Services. The institute, backed by C$10m in government grants, will provide research in various aspects of risk management and promote collaboration between regulators, policymakers and the financial industry."

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original source Financial Times

The International Business Times praises Toronto's Rotman School of Management for offering an MBA program that successfully fosters innovation and entrepreneurship. Part of the University of Toronto, Rotman is lauded for its Centre for Integrative Thinking, a lab where international scholars collaborate to conduct original and innovative research.

"The Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto internalizes innovation and flexibility through a concept coined by it as Integrative Thinking TM."

"At the Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking, internationally-renowned scholars come together to push the frontiers of Integrative Thinking and conduct original research, making Rotman a focal point for thought leadership and dialogue in this area.
In addition to discipline-based courses in areas like Finance and Accounting, first-year students at the Rotman MBA also take 'Fundamentals of Integrative Thinking.' This focuses on understanding and analyzing the big picture so that they are able to approach each challenge with creativity and a willingness to take risks."

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original source International Business Times