19614 research outputs found
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The youth-led research giving voice to teen mothers in Uganda
No full textThe authors acknowledge the financial support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the project team members (Prof. Mandeep Kaur Mucina, Prof. Grace Bantebya Kyomuhendo, Ms. Annah Kamusiime, Ms Jackline Nabirye and Ms. Phiona Tumuhaise), the young mothers who participated in the study, key informants in Kampala and Iganga, the youth peer researchers, and the consortium partnership (Makerere University, Nascent Research and Development Organization, and the University of Victoria)Facult
Utilizing the diaschisis model to investigate the effects of stroke on post-synaptic spine densities
No full textThe brain is highly interconnected, and this is crucial to understanding a wide variety of neurological diseases. Identifying changes in brain connectivity circuits that occur in a disease state, like ischemic stroke, helps explain the deficits observed in both the peri-infarct and distally connected regions to the stroke site. This phenomenon is referred to as ‘diaschisis’. Currently, there is a lack of understanding of the structural changes that occur at the neuronal level in both proximal and distal regions that are synaptically connected to the infarct. In this study, viral vectors and 2-photon laser scanning microscopy were employed to examine both the acute and long-term changes of dendritic spine densities in post-synaptic neurons following a stroke in the primary somatosensory forelimb cortex (S1FL). Results show that dendritic spine density is significantly decreased in the peri-infarct region as well as in the motor cortex (superficial neurons only) after stroke as compared to shams. The secondary somatosensory and contralateral S1FL cortices show no changes in spine density 1-week after stroke. After 6-weeks of recovery (6 weeks after the stroke), spine densities returned to control levels, with the exception of the basilar dendrites on superficial peri-infarct neurons. These findings suggest that not only does stroke cause structural changes to occur in neurons localized in the peri-infarct region, but it also impacts regions heavily reliant on those neurons, supporting the diaschisis model of brain injury. Data suggests that the decreases in spine density 1-week after stroke may be proportionate to the number of synapses they make with neurons in the infarct. In conclusion, these data suggests that changes in dendritic spine densities could play a role in the global dysfunctions observed after stroke and may provide valuable information for therapeutic interventions in the future.Graduat
Evaluating the impacts of anthropogenic development on large mammals across protected and industrialized landscapes in Western Canada
Get PDFAnthropogenic landscape development leads to substantial habitat loss and fragmentation, with large mammals among the most strongly impacted. In this thesis, I used wildlife camera traps across landscapes in Western Canada to investigate two landscape-level management actions for development. First, protected areas (PAs) control development within their boundaries, so they provide refuge to wildlife from many anthropogenic disturbances. Despite their prevalence, many PAs fall short of protecting species and habitats. Since PAs are intrinsically linked to their surrounding lands, pressures outside of PAs can be sources of mortality for mammals using habitat that spans boundaries. To improve our understanding, Chapter Two of this thesis examined the relative impacts of landscape development inside and outside of PAs on large mammals. Species occurrences were best predicted by models that comprised both inside- and outside-PA development, demonstrating that PAs do not offer the full protection they are mandated to. Most of the land on earth, however, remains unprotected, so conservation relies on species persistence in unprotected regions with active development. The composition and configuration of habitat resulting from development has been found to influence species distributions, but configuration is often disregarded as influential in landscapes with less than 70% total habitat loss. Chapter Three examines the relative influences of landscape composition and configuration on large mammal species distributions across a petroleum extraction region. Both configuration and composition were revealed as important, and the specific measures of configuration that explained species occurrence showed that resulting landscape configuration from development restructures the ecological mechanics of ecosystems. Together these results can be used to inform landscape management practices across North America to conserve large mammal species.Graduat
Democratic organizations struggle with democracy, too. Here’s what they can do about it
No full textFacultyUnreviewe
Exploring spatiotemporal variability in secondary production off the west coast of Vancouver Island using biochemical approaches
No full textZooplankton production in marine ecosystems refers to the rate at which zooplankton biomass increases through a combination of somatic and reproductive growth. Despite its importance in understanding the flow of energy to higher trophic levels, in situ measurements of zooplankton production rates in marine ecosystems remain rare. In recent decades, biochemical methods of estimating zooplankton production have become increasingly popular, though there still exist critical knowledge gaps as to how effective these methods are at estimating in situ growth and production rates. Addressing these knowledge gaps is necessary to lay the foundation for the future integration of routine secondary production rate measurements as part of synoptic oceanographic surveys.
Chapter 1 of this thesis introduces the global importance of zooplankton and reviews the methods currently used to assess zooplankton production rates. Specifically, two contemporary biochemical methods are discussed, as well as their advantages and limitations as compared to more traditional incubation methods. The first is the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (AARS) method, where the activity of in vivo AARS enzymes is utilized to derive a proxy measure of growth rate. The second is the chitobiase method, in which the rate of decay of dissolved chitobiase activity in water is used to estimate the growth and production rates of crustacean zooplankton assemblages. The chapter concludes with a description of the regional oceanographic setting in which these studies took place and outlines the primary objectives of this thesis.
Chapter 2 focuses on the AARS method of measuring secondary production rates. Here, the efficacy of this method for mixed zooplankton assemblages was assessed by comparing growth and production rate estimates to those predicted from two widely used empirical models. Samples collected from eight stations off the West Coast of Vancouver Island (WCVI) in September 2021 were used to measure total AARS and protein-specific AARS (spAARS) activities. Total AARS showed strong positive correlations with production rates predicted by both models, whereas correlations with spAARS were weaker. Spatial variation in AARS activity showed that higher production rates were observed in the inshore regions of the WCVI, and lower rates were observed offshore. These results indicated that in situ AARS-based production rates are temperature-dependent and show significant variation with total zooplankton biomass.
In Chapter 3, the chitobiase method of estimating secondary production rate was used to assess production rates in the waters off the WCVI in September 2022 and May 2023. Water samples were collected from the four distinct bioregions off the WCVI during each sampling period, along with zooplankton net samples for biomass and taxonomy analyses. The data gathered from these samples were used to better understand how production rates vary between regions with distinct oceanographic characteristics. Chitobiase biomass-production rate (BPR) and growth rate estimates (daily production to biomass ratio) varied with both season and region, though the trends in these rates did not align with trends in mixed-layer temperature and biomass. Higher chitobiase-based growth rates were observed in inshore regions during September 2022 and May 2023. Chitobiase BPR in September 2022 also followed this trend. Conversely, production rates in May 2023 were higher in the south, indicating a change in the regional drivers of production rate between seasons. The chitobiase-based growth and production rate estimates obtained during this study were also added to the growing time series of previous chitobiase measurements in this region and indicate that production rates have recovered since the low values measured following the 2014-2016 marine heatwave.
Chapter 4 of this thesis presents general conclusions on how the AARS method can be used in future studies, as well as the ecological and methodological challenges faced during this study. This thesis concludes with suggestions of how these methods can be utilized in the future to gain a greater understanding of in situ zooplankton community production rates.Graduat
Burning Questions: Costing the Impacts of BC’s Wildfires on Carbon Stores
No full textThis study evaluates the impact of wildfires on the carbon sequestration capacity of British Columbia's natural environment, a topic largely overlooked in previous research. By utilizing data from various sources including the Dynamic World Land Use and Land Cover Dataset, the National Burned Area Composite, and a biophysical table of carbon storage, the analysis identifies the causal effects of wildfires on land cover changes and carbon storage. Employing a difference-in-difference methodology, the study estimates the cost of carbon loss attributable to wildfires, shedding light on the significant economic implications of these environmental disturbances. The findings underscore the need for further research to incorporate severity measurements and future projections to better understand the full extent of wildfires' impact on carbon flowsJamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA)UndergraduateReviewe
Flow Analysis of Non-Spherical Granular Materials in a Two-Dimensional Hopper
No full textNon-spherical granular materials have been of an interest for the various research communities and industries due to their widespread presence in natural and engineered systems. These materials, which include substances like soil, powders, dry sludges, and grains, exhibit complex behaviors influenced by factors such as grains interactions and boundary conditions. Under sufficient conditions, these materials can flow, ranking second only to water as the most handled materials in diverse industries. Therefore, understanding how these materials flow is important in different domains, from wastewater treatment and mining to food and pharmaceutical industries.
Granular flow within hoppers, driven by gravity, provides cost-effective transportation and is widely used in material handling and storage systems. This research aims to investigate the behavior of non-spherical grains in flow within a hopper through implementing a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) suite and using a previously developed model for non-spherical granular flow. A simulation similar to an available experiment is conducted by implementing the developed model for both spherical and non-spherical grains. The results from the simulation consistently align with those of the experiment, demonstrating the validity and accuracy of the simulation. Moving forward, more complex conditions in a practical application are examined to showcase the capability of the model and the implementation approach. The simulation results reveal the effect of boundary conditions and model parameters on grains orientation and flow within the hopper.
The main motivation behind this research lies in establishing a foundation for utilizing the capabilities of a FEA suite to facilitate further investigations spanning a broad range of geometries and conditions, addressing challenges in numerical modeling of complex non-spherical granular flows.
The outcome of this research in successfully integrating the developed model into the suite and simulating granular flow in different conditions and geometries, can be employed for further studies with practical significance for industries dealing with granular materials. It lays the groundwork for implementing a versatile FEA suite to simulate complex behaviors of granular materials. This foundation is viable for further studies addressing potential issues related to grain flow in hoppers, aiming to optimize industrial processes and improve material handling and storage techniques.Graduat
Living wage initiative outcome harvest: Evaluation report
No full textThis report provides an overview of an Outcome Harvest evaluation of Vibrant Communities Calgary's Living Wage Initiative. Vibrant Communities Calgary (VCC) is a nonprofit organization that advocates for and convenes groups around social and economic issues and solutions – they steward the City of Calgary’s community-owned poverty reduction strategy "Enough for All". One goal of the strategy is to ensure Calgarians have enough income and assets to thrive, which is advanced by promoting living wage pay. A living wage is the hourly rate that is region-specific that takes into account what an employee needs to be paid to meet their basic needs, save for an unexpected event, and to participate in society. VCC's Living Wage Initiative works in several ways to promote living wage pay, including convening partners to support establishing the Alberta Living Wage Network (ALWN) a provincially coordinated living wage movement. Outcome Harvesting is a robust evaluation methodology that measures impacts by surfacing what outcomes have occurred over a specified time period, and seeks to understand the significance of them and the contribution of the program. It is useful in complex environments, where change is not predictable or linear, such as in poverty reduction and systems change efforts. This Outcome Harvest evaluation looked at changes between 2019-2024 for living wage certified employers and their employees, for Calgary's local economy, for collective advocacy efforts in Alberta, and for government and funder decision-making and policy, and asked how VCC contributed to the changes. The findings suggest that employers had to make adaptations to become and maintain their certification, and they subsequently experienced several benefits and challenges, with the benefits outweighing the challenges, reinforcing their commitment to certification and living wage pay. The evaluation found that employees experienced positive job satisfaction and personal benefits which had a ripple effect out to their families and communities, and reinforced employer positive outcomes. Further, several municipalities and nonprofit organizations came together to establish the Alberta Living Wage Network which increased awareness and education on the living wage, advanced recruitment of more network members and living wage employers, and facilitated utilization of living wage in policy and decision making with varying success. Overall, the efforts of VCC, the ALWN members, and living wage allies have developed a robust movement that provides a credible and tangible indicator to talk about affordability and poverty as a systemic and not an individual issue. Overall, this facilitates more employees having enough income and assets to thrive and promotes meaningful and dignified work, advancing VCC's work in the community-owned Enough for All poverty reduction strategy.Graduat
Self-admitted scientific debt: Navigating cross-domain challenges in scientific software
Get PDFScientific software development faces unique cross-domain challenges, requiring expertise from both scientific and software engineering disciplines. These challenges often manifest as technical debt, specifically in the form of Self-Admitted Technical Debt (SATD). While technical debt is a well-recognized issue in software engineering, its impact within scientific software remains underexplored. In particular, the integration of domain-specific scientific knowledge with robust software engineering practices presents ongoing difficulties. This work investigates these cross-domain challenges in scientific software in various fields—including high-energy physics, astronomy, molecular biology, climate modeling, and applied mathematics—through SATD analysis. We examined 28,680 code comments from nine open-source scientific projects, identifying 11 types of technical debt. Among them, we introduced a novel category termed Scientific Debt, representing the issues that arise when integrating scientific findings with software development. We identified five key indicators of SD: assumptions, missing edge cases, accuracy challenges, translation challenges, and the incorporation of new scientific discoveries. Our findings reveal that Scientific Debt accumulates at a significantly higher rate than it is resolved, with the Missing Edge Cases indicator being the most frequently addressed. To further support the management of this debt, we explore the potential of Large Language Models (LLMs) in identifying and predicting cross-domain challenges. Our preliminary investigation suggests that LLMs could help detect issues requiring both scientific and software expertise, offering a promising direction for future efforts to manage and mitigate Scientific Debt.Graduat
Breaking the binary: Gender identity communication of nonbinary individuals in Türkiye
Get PDFThis qualitative study explores nonbinary individuals’ experiences with communicating gender by asking how they, while predominantly speaking Turkish and living in Türkiye, try to communicate to other people that they are nonbinary. Turkish-speaking individuals who do not identify with binary genders employ various communication strategies, offering valuable insights into the relationship between gender and language.
Drawing on 13 in-depth interviews with nonbinary people living in Türkiye, this research offers three key findings. First, Turkish-speaking nonbinary people suffer less from grammar-based challenges and more from semantic challenges when communicating their identities because Turkish is a grammatically gender-neutral language. Second, participants discuss different strategies they use to express their nonbinary identity, such as borrowing words from other languages and using humor to smooth over challenging conversations. They also frequently take on the role of educating others about gender-related terms and concepts. Finally, participants stress that communicating their gender identity goes beyond simply sharing; it’s about being acknowledged and accepted. Therefore, their methods of expression shift depending on the social context, societal expectations, and the availability of supportive resources. Taken together, these findings reveal how the Turkish language, along with cisheterosexual norms and expectations, shape both the construction and expression of gender identity. This research offers a unique look at the relationship between society’s use of language and the impact of language on society, while taking into account the influence of traditions and cultural norms.Graduate2025-12-1