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A new subclass of analytic functions associated with the q-derivative operator related to the Pascal distribution series
No full textA new subclass TXq[?,A,B] of analytic functions is introduced by making use of the q-derivative operator associated with the Pascal distribution. Certain properties of analytic functions in the subclass TXq[?,A,B] are derived. Some known results are generalized.FacultyReviewe
Re-worlding the self in graphic narratives—A case study of sense, affect, and mad-centered knowledges of psychosis
Get PDFThis doctoral project, Re-worlding the Self in Graphic Narratives—A Case Study of Sense, Affect, and Mad-Centered Knowledges of Psychosis, collaboratively explores and addresses experiences of psychosis (sensory breaks from reality) with Mad-identifying participants who describe their earliest memories of these interior events from a sensorial and visual perspective. Co-creating an arts-based ethnography of psychosis through the ongoing production of artworks and media, I survey the ways that participants’ narratives of psychosis materialize through visual and poetic representations of their lived experiences of madness. I examine how individuals distressed by psychosis move beyond their symptomatic illnesses and narrowly prescribed identities and find new ground to (re)make themselves through expressive processes. Within a synergetic inter-arts research setting, I led a series of five online workshops with two unique groups of participants, each of whom had prior past episodes of psychosis and were immersed in outpatient mental health services. Participants drew from and upon their interior, emotionally charged experiences during the workshops to develop multisensory and narrative drawings that became both prompt and foundation for subsequent individual interviews. We then collaborated on participant-led comics that became the foundational impetus for re-imagining the ethnographic text. Through this novel approach to arts-based research, I aimed to understand psychosis from empathic, sensorial, and visual perspectives. This project documents, engages, and theorizes the role of “psychosic” imagination and creativity in the lives of ten participants who have experienced psychosis as a life event and were involved in comics-making activities. Here, I track how participants, as cherished Mad interlocutors and co-collaborators, sought to resolve communication and subject-positioning issues that arose from the equally ineffable and challenging dynamics of psychosis and madness. These conflicts were internally registered and spurred a vital set of self-fashioning, polyphonic dialogics that primed my interlocutors for self-transformation and psychosic re-worldings. These collective efforts not only de-center ethnographic practice through research-creation strategies, but they succinctly clarify aspects of how madness and pressured, non-normative consciousness are experienced, generating a set of symbolic, poetic, and visual languages to capture expressions of psychosis. Moreover, as a collaborative research-creation practice, our extensive, year-long work aided in destigmatizing and reframing mental duress. Participants simultaneously developed ways to navigate emotional tensions, challenge points, and affective accruals wrought by psychosis through graphic narrative modalities, offering this practice as one that sees Mad-inclusive systems of living myth intertwined with post-traumatic growth.Graduat
Paleoenvironmental interpretations of the Late Triassic marine realm across the Canadian Cordillera: Slow burn of the end-Triassic mass extinction
Get PDFDespite representing some of the most pivotal intervals in evolutionary history, the timing and tempo of mass extinction events have remained contentious. Many studies have contributed evidence suggesting that ecosystem disturbance associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction (ETME) began prior to the Triassic/Jurassic boundary (TJB), but the extent and duration of this leadup phase is not well established. This uncertainty is exacerbated by a comparative lack of studies investigating the ETME within the context of long-term Late Triassic trends, as well as by the dominance of Tethyan datasets in paleoenvironmental interpretations of the epoch. The research presented in this dissertation consists of a multi-faceted investigation of Panthalassan paleoenvironmental conditions spanning from the Norian/Rhaetian boundary (NRB) to across the TJB, as recorded in western Canadian marine strata.
An instance of coral reef collapse on Mount Sinwa, British Columbia, is associated with the paleoenvironmental disturbance around the NRB via conodont and Re–Os isochron age constraints. Ratios of 87Sr/86Sr are observed to gradually increase across the late Norian, as opposed to the sudden drop previously observed in Tethyan datasets, indicating the NRB disturbance was not triggered by mantle-derived volcanism on a global scale. A 3 – 4‰ negative excursion in δ13C values is captured in the latest Norian on Mount Sinwa, consistent with the global carbon cycling disruption proposed to occur around the NRB by prior studies.
The conodont species Mockina carinata and Mockina englandi are especially abundant in the Norian and Rhaetian strata of Panthalassa. Morphometric analyses on these two conodont species demonstrate a gradual reduction of platform width across the NRB. These intraspecific trends are likely a more conservative parallel to concurrent intergeneric morphology shifts observed in Tethyan conodonts, together potentially implying a global shift in conodont diet away from mineralized food sources during this time. This may suggest that the biomineralization pressure typically associated with the ETME began at a lesser severity around the NRB, and that conodont biodiversity underwent only limited recovery between the substantive turnover at the NRB and complete extinction of the class around the ETME. Specimens of both these species that have a mid-platform length to breadth ratio greater than 3:1 are observed exclusively in the Rhaetian, a clear sign of morphotype origination or subspeciation, with implications for improved biostratigraphic utility.
The compilation of δ13C values across stratigraphic sections from Williston Lake, Holberg Inlet, and Kyuquot Sound in the Canadian Cordillera develops a comprehensive Panthalassan record spanning from the Norian through into the Hettangian, with representation from a variety of depositional settings across a wide paleogeographic area. Three distinct negative excursions are observed, with one proximal to the NRB, one within the Rhaetian, and another across the TJB. The somewhat variable positions of these excursions suggest that the earliest “precursor” excursion associated with the Rhaetian leadup to the ETME may be indistinguishable from an excursion associated with the NRB. Some of the observed excursions are too large in magnitude to reflect shifts in global ocean water chemistry, necessitating a local-scale amplification mechanism, such as disturbance-triggered organic carbon respiration in a water column with restricted circulation. Nevertheless, this evidence for repeated carbon cycling instability indicates the ecological distress that initiated around the NRB persisted across the Rhaetian, escalating into the TJB.
Drawing from a combination of lithological, paleontological, and geochemical evidence from across the Canadian Cordillera, this dissertation supports the hypothesis of a protracted ETME that initiated as early as the NRB. With implications of elevated extinction pressure persisting for millions of years before the climax at the TJB, this research challenges preconceptions of the timescale in which mass extinction events ought to be envisioned.Graduat
Interpreting Kali's Complexities
Get PDFInterpreting Kali’s Complexities explores the ways in which social and political structures and changes have impacted depictions of the Hindu goddess Kali. Beginning with an overview of the history and iconography of Kali, we begin in the 6th century with the Devi Mahatmya as the definitive scripture on Hindu goddesses. In this text, her origin story can be found, where she is described as the incarnation of Durga’s rage. Moving forward in time to the 17th and 18th centuries, primarily focusing on Northwestern India, we explore how artists stylistically understand and shift her iconography to align with or fight against the advent of British colonialism.Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA)UndergraduateReviewe
Parallel vertex clustering (CUDA)
Get PDFThe computational demands of high-quality graphics are rising, and the need to manage these large datasets effectively is apparent. This project aims to rewrite and optimize a parallel vertex clustering algorithm by leveraging CUDA to accelerate the processing of large-scale 3D meshes. Aside from increasing processing speed, the project also looks at scalability and handling of massive datasets which can be constrained by single CPU-based methods. Though attempts at parallelism with OpenMP and multi-threaded CPU approaches have proven effective to a degree, they are still limited by the CPU’s lower capacity for handling numerous operations at once. CUDA instead utilises many GPU cores at once, enabling far greater parallelization for processing complex geometric data. Although the algorithm is still in development, early results suggest performance gains, however methods can still be further optimized. Future work will aim to refine the algorithm and proceed with more tests to ensure it can scale effectively as well as maintain accuracy.Valerie Kuehne Undergraduate Research Awards (VKURA)UndergraduateReviewe
Integrating municipal police officers onto Assertive Community Treatment Teams (IMPACT): Findings from the Victoria Police Department database
No full textWe would also like to thank Drexler Ortiz, MSc, Cindy Quan, Ph.D., Pauline Song, MSc, Sean Morgan, MSc, Jannell Walton, BSc, and Jessica Silverman, BA, for their research assistance.This research was funded by a provincial BC Crime Prevention and Crime Reduction grant and by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Engage Grant.FacultyUnreviewe
Nonlinear dynamic assessment of mid-rise light-frame wood shear walls under horizontal and vertical ground motions
Get PDFThis research complements recent studies on light-frame wood shear walls for mid-rise buildings by comparing the dynamic performance of multi-story shear walls constructed with discrete and continuous rod hold-down systems. For this purpose, a numerical model has been developed and series of comprehensive nonlinear time-history analyses are conducted in SAP2000 software. Maximum inter-story drifts are estimated and compared under different earthquake records. According to the numerical results, using continuous steel rod hold-down could reduce the maximum drift in the multi-story strong wall by over 40%. The maximum drift in the strong shear wall with discrete hold-down is 2.3%, while this value is 1.3% in the wall with continuous rod hold-down. The results show the better performance of continuous steel rod leading to lower inter-story drifts in all stories in both multi-story conventional and strong wall. Estimates of deflection and drift of a six-story strong wood shear wall using CSA O86:19, SDPWS 2021, are also compared with numerical modelling results. The estimates from CSA O86:19 is found to be conservative, with deflections 10% to 55% higher than the FE model, while SDPWS 2021 generally predicts lower deflections in upper floors compared to FE and CSA O86. It should be noted that while the results indicate that the deflection predictions from CSA O86:19 may be conservative in some stories, the drift predictions might not be.
According to parametric studies conducted using the development numerical model, higher aspect ratios could lead to increased axial forces in studs and hold-downs as expected, with a notable rise in tension for walls with an aspect ratio of 1.50 compared to those with 0.72. Numerical results in the walls with different numbers of stories (one, three, five and six stories) illustrate how demands are distributed vertically across different stories during an earthquake event, with the maximum force in the studs concentrated at lower story levels. Numerical results show that including vertical component of earthquake slightly increases lateral deflections and axial forces, with continuous rod systems showing smaller increases compared to discrete hold-downs. In terms of diaphragm effect, a significant reduction in lateral deflection of considered shear walls under monotonic load are noted due to out-of-plane stiffness effect of diaphragms especially at higher stories.Graduate2025-10-2
Peeking into nature's pool game
No full textPhysics and Astronomy - Three Minute Thesis Winner and People's Choice Award recipientUVic Faculty of Graduate Studies Three Minute Thesis (3MT) research communication competition.Graduat
The role of interactions between cucurbit[7]uril and small molecules in the sodium deoxycholate hydrogel
Get PDFThe structure of bile salts has hydrophilic (hydroxyl groups) and hydrophobic (alkyl groups) regions, resulting in amphiphilic properties. Bile salts can form aggregates and these aggregates can act as supramolecular hosts for small molecules and encapsulate guest molecules within their structure. Unlike other bile salts, sodium deoxycholate (NaDC), can form supramolecular hydrogels through molecular self-assembly processes by adjusting the pH to around neutral and controlling the temperature.
The aim of this work, was to investigate how cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]), affects the properties of NaDC hydrogel. Cucurbit[n]urils (CB[n]s) are a family of macrocyclic molecules characterized by their pumpkin-shaped structure and a symmetrical hydrophobic cavity. By studying the interactions of CB[7] in NaDC hydrogels, the aim was to understand the potential role of CB[7] in modifying the hydrogel's properties and to determine if CB[7] can serve as a carrier for guest molecules from the NaDC hydrogel to the surrounding medium. To gain a better understanding of the effect of CB[7] and its localization within the NaDC gel, two projects were developed.
The objective of the first project was to study how the presence of NaDC aggregates affects the binding dynamics of berberine, a natural isoquinoline alkaloid fluorophore, with the host CB[7] in the presence of mobile aggregates of the NaDC. The presence of NaDC aggregates creates a more heterogeneous environment for the host-guest interactions, potentially affecting the dissociation of berberine from CB[7]. The results showed that the addition of NaDC aggregates changed the distribution of berberine, causing berberine to bind to both CB[7] and NaDC aggregates. The results also revealed that the addition of NaDC aggregates to the berberine@CB[7] complex accelerated the apparent dissociation rate constant of berberine from CB[7].
The objective of the second project was to understand how the presence of CB[7] affects the structure of the NaDC hydrogel and the release of a small molecule from the hydrogel into the surrounding medium, and how this effect differs from the effect of cucurbit[6]uril (CB[6]). To study these effects, I studied the hydrogel's structure using berberine, a hydrophobic and positively charged guest, and rhodamine 6G, a hydrophilic and positively charged dye. The release of rhodamine 6G from the NaDC hydrogel into the surrounding medium was also studied in the presence of CB[7] and CB[6]. The results showed that the presence of CB[7] in the NaDC hydrogel caused the transformation of the spherical aggregates into elongated structures, whereas CB[6] led to the formation of fibrous structures, as observed in previous research conducted by our group. Also, the release profile of rhodamine 6G from the NaDC hydrogel was not significantly affected by the addition of either CB[6] or CB[7].Graduat
Rethinking public transit networks using climate change mitigation and social justice lenses: Great Victoria area case study
Get PDFPublic transit has a relatively low GHG-to-passenger ratio and offers affordable options for local travel compared with personal vehicle travel. Investments in an effective public transit network are therefore critical for progress toward climate change mitigation and social justice. Using the Greater Victoria Area (GVA) in British Columbia, Canada, as a case study, this research identified, mapped, and examined three new regional transit network scenarios, which, respectively, align with the objectives in the planning and policy areas of (1) climate change mitigation, (2) social justice, and (3) climate justice. The methods involved a literature review to develop an analytical framework for mapping and examining new transit networks using the climate change mitigation, social justice, and climate justice lenses. The framework was revised through a research practitioner workshop, and it was then applied using network analysis techniques to (re)map the GVA’s transit networks under the three scenarios. The key outcomes of the project included an analytical framework and a process for analyzing and remapping transit networks in ways that align with climate and social justice objectives. The findings indicated the need to add some bus routes and stops, especially in the northern part of the GVA, and two new fast transit networks according to the justice lenses.This project is supported by funding from the MITACS Accelerate program (application reference: IT35318).FacultyReviewe