19614 research outputs found
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The Faces Behind 'JewBook': An Exploration of Online Jewish Community
No full text'This research explores perspectives on online Jewish communities through interviews with active participants in online Jewish spaces. The use of the internet as a platform for building community is controversial and within the Jewish community, there are distinct concerns about religious restrictions and sustaining in person institutions. Lockdowns and social distancing restrictions due to COVID-19 forced many communities to turn to online platforms which renewed interest in digital religion as a topic of study. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with three users and facilitators of online Jewish spaces. The strength of relationships that are built through online platforms was emphasized by all participants. Participants' opinions varied on how online communities compare to in person; however a theme emerged of the interconnectedness of online and in person Jewish communities. This research provides insights into how participants are able to connect to Jewish community through virtual platforms.Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA)UndergraduateReviewe
Accelerated human-induced extinction crisis in the world's freshwater mammals
Get PDFHuman activities have significantly impacted natural habitats and wildlife worldwide, particularly emphasizing repercussions for freshwater habitats and associated species. These negative impacts on freshwater fish are well known, but for mammal species that regularly use and dependend on freshwater systems, there is an incomplete understanding. Here, we assessed the status of freshwater and semi-aquatic mammal species inhabiting and dependent on freshwater ecosystems (hereafter referred to as freshwater mammals) and evaluated the impact of human activities on species richness both globally and by biogeographical regions. We used structural equation modeling and simultaneous autoregressive models to assess the direct and indirect effects of seven anthropogenic-related variables on overall freshwater mammal richness. Specifically, we examined the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on the richness of threatened and non-threatened species, as well as species with decreasing and stable/increasing populations. Forty-three percent of all freshwater mammal species are classified as globally threatened by the IUCN Red List, with 50% experiencing population declines. Furthermore, 48% are affected by domestic or international trade, while 75% face threats from geographically expanding human activities. Aridity, pesticide pollution, human footprint, and croplands had the strongest negative effects on freshwater mammal richness. In contrast, the coverage of freshwater habitats (FWs), Indigenous Peoples' lands (IPLs), and protected areas (PAs) helped to sustain freshwater mammal species globally, with an even stronger positive effect at individual biogeographical regions. We conclude that FWs, IPLs, and PAs play a critical role in the conservation of freshwater mammal species, helping safeguard these species from extinction, however, freshwater ecosystems are seldom the focal point of conservation management strategies. The ongoing adverse anthropogenic impacts on these natural habitats present a potentially catastrophic and irreversible threat to global freshwater environments and the species, including humans, reliant upon them. We strongly advocate for the implementation of more robust national and international policy frameworks that endorse alternative and sustainable livelihoods. Such frameworks can play a crucial role in alleviating anthropogenic pressures, thereby aiding in the mitigation of the extinction risk faced by these vital ecosystems and the world's freshwater mammal species.We are grateful to the Editor in Chief Dr. Inés Ibáñez, AE Dr. Miaogen, as well as three anonymous reviewers, for their useful and constructive comments on the manuscript. This study was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from Consejo Nacional de Humanidades, Ciencias y Tecnologías (CONAHCyT -Mexico) to E.J.T-R.FacultyReviewe
Development and demonstration of an on-detector technique to limit the impact of atmospheric emission lines on near-infrared spectra
Get PDFObservations in the near-infrared using large ground-based telescopes are limited by bright atmospheric emission lines, particularly the OH Meinel bands. These lines can saturate a spectrograph on the order of minutes, resulting in the loss of information at wavelengths containing the lines. OH lines also vary on the scale of minutes, so observations longer than this timescale cannot capture this variability. Both of these properties necessitate the use of short exposure times in order to perform accurate sky subtraction. To observe faint science targets, several short exposures must be coadded instead of taking a single long exposure. Because each exposure includes its own independent read noise, this results in an increase in the total noise of the coadded image. In this thesis I present a new method to achieve longer exposure times in near-infrared spectra without the saturation of these lines, while still preserving information about their variability so that sky subtraction can still be applied. This is accomplished by periodically resetting the pixels on an H2RG detector that contain bright lines while the rest of the detector continues integrating. This method is demonstrated on the McKellar Spectrograph, where we reset the emission lines from an arc lamp while still recording their flux. I show that, when comparing the resulting spectrum and its signal-to-noise to a more conventional observing mode, the only measurable systematic difference is a result of our imperfect setup and can be removed with a standard nonlinearity correction. This method does not have the drawbacks of other measures to mitigate the effects of OH lines, such as short exposure times or completely removing the information at the relevant wavelengths, and as such shows promise for potential future use at observatories. We advocate demonstrating this method on sky spectra at existing high-quality facilities in order to test its feasibility for use in sky subtraction schemes for premier modern spectrographs.Graduat
Effects of transition from remote to in-person learning in university students: A longitudinal study
Get PDFPrevious studies have shown that the transition from the University environment to remote learning impacted student mental health. Our study aimed to investigate the effects of university environment on anxiety and depressive symptoms in health sciences students. Students at the Technical University of Manabí, Ecuador, with 6–10 in-person semesters, who shifted to remote learning and then returned to face-to-face learning were selected. Students responded to the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). In addition, questions regarding social interaction, physical exercise, mood and sleep habits were also asked. This longitudinal study tracked 323 students during the return to in-person classes and term end. The results showed similar rates of anxiety (GAD-7, p = 0.011-p = 0.002) and depression (PHQ-9 p = 0.001-p = 0.032) among students at week 1 and week 15. Previous diagnosis of depression (OR, 0.171; CI 0.050–0.579, p < 0.005) was shown to correlate with depression levels in week 1, with no changes seen at follow-up. Anxiety levels were shown to be associated with a previous diagnosis of the disorder at week 1, but not at follow-up (OR 0.233; CI 0.085–0.643, p < 0.005). The return to in-person learning among university students maintained levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms, underscoring ongoing vulnerabilities to mental health disorders in this group.FacultyReviewe
Developments in The Cubing Problem
No full textIn our research, we set out to make progress in either developing or proving it is likely impossible to develop a polynomial time algorithm to partition orthogonal polyhedra (cornerhedra) into the minimum number of boxes possible. For our purposes, a box is either a rectangle or square shape (i.e. a rectangular prism) made of UCs that is filled in. This is a special case of the problem of rectangular partition of polyhedrons which has applications in various fields and industries. In our research, we proved that cornerhedra can either have certain qualities or cannot. Examples of these are that some cornerhedra can be partitioned without splitting 2 layers and others cannot. We have also shown that the minimum number of boxes some cornerhedra can be partitioned into is greater than the number of outward-facing corners of that cornerhedron. Outside of this, we formulated conjectures about possible cornerhedra. An example of a conjecture would be whether there exists a cornerhedron such that when any two of its layers are split at least 2 new outward-facing corners are created.Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA)UndergraduateReviewe
Exposure of satellite tagged bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) to transiting vessels in the Eastern Canadian Arctic
No full textClimate change poses new challenges to Arctic marine mammals, with increasing vessel traffic and associated underwater noise pollution emerging as significant threats. The bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus), an endemic Arctic cetacean, faces these new threats. The Eastern Canada-West Greenland (ECWG) bowhead whale population migrates through areas with the highest levels of vessel traffic in the Canadian Arctic. Here, we document the spatial and temporal overlap between 36 satellite-tagged ECWG bowhead whales and vessels equipped with Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders during 2012–2017. We report 1,145 instances where vessels were within 125 km of a tagged whale, with 306 occurrences within distances ≤50 km. Overlap between vessels and tagged bowhead whales was quantified monthly within years to investigate individual whale encounter rates. Results indicate that ECWG bowhead whales encounter the majority (79%) of vessels annually during August–October, with the highest number of encounters (42%) observed in September. Encounter rates ranged from 0.25 to 0.51 vessels encountered per day per whale during August–October compared to <0.07 vessels per day in all other months in this study. To better inform conservation strategies, further research is required to assess bowhead whale behavioral responses relative to distance from vessels.FacultyReviewe
Human disturbance in riparian areas disrupts predator–prey interactions between grizzly bears and salmon
Get PDFWildlife must increasingly balance trade-offs between the need to access important foods and the mortality risks associated with human-dominated landscapes. Human disturbance can profoundly influence wildlife behavior, but managers know little about the relationship between disturbance–behavior dynamics and associated consequences for foraging. We address this gap by empirically investigating the consequences of human activity on a keystone predator–prey interaction in a region with limited but varied industrial disturbance. Using stable isotope data from 226 hair samples of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) collected from 1995 to 2014 across 22 salmon-bearing watersheds (88,000 km2) in British Columbia, Canada, we examined how human activity influenced their consumption of spawning salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), a fitness-related food. Accounting for the abundance of salmon and other foods, salmon consumption strongly decreased (up to 59% for females) with increasing human disturbance (as measured by the human footprint index) in riparian zones of salmon-bearing rivers. Declines in salmon consumption occurred with disturbance even in watersheds with low footprints. In a region currently among the least influenced by industrial activity, intensification of disturbance in river valleys is predicted to increasingly decouple bears from salmon, possibly driving associated reductions in population productivity and provisioning of salmon nutrients to terrestrial ecosystems. Accordingly, we draw on our results to make landscape-scale and access-related management recommendations beyond current streamside protection buffers. This work illustrates the interaction between habitat modification and food security for wildlife, highlighting the potential for unacknowledged interactions and cumulative effects in increasingly modified landscapes.Fieldwork and logistics were supported by the Coastal Guardian Watchmen Network from collaborating First Nations governments, with capacity from the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, the Hakai Institute, and the Grizzly Bear Foundation. M.S.A. was supported by Mitacs and Wilburforce fellowships. C.T.D. was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Discovery Grant 435683 and the Wilburforce and SkyeMikko foundations.FacultyReviewe
Doing contracts differently – A look at visual and comic book contracts
No full textDo you know that visual and comic book contracts have opened the door for creative forms of contracting and furthered accessibility and transparency in the last decade? Nowadays, visual contracts are well received by people, companies, and students in different places. In this presentation, Professor Andersen from UWA shares her work over the last decade on simplifying and visualising contracts to make them more relational, enjoyable and transparent.UVic Graduate Student Law & Society Research GroupFacultyUnreviewe
Terror and the new man: Belief, performance, and atomization in Stalin's Soviet Union
Get PDFWhen the Bolshevik Party of the Soviet Union came to power following the 1917 October Revolution, the revolutionaries aimed not only to reinvent the political and economic systems of what had been the Russian Empire, but also to reshape the people into ideologically committed “New Men”; a reshaping which took place against a backdrop of extreme violence. In this thesis, I examine the popular reaction to three instances of terror during the Stalinist period— the 1928–1932 Dekulakization campaign; the 1936–1938 Great Terror, and the 1953 Doctors’ Plot— to determine whether or to what extent such a transformation occurred and, more broadly, analyze the nature of the Soviet experience under Stalin. Using letters, diaries, newspaper articles, and government and police reports from the era, as well as memoirs and oral histories produced after the fact, I will argue that the reaction to each instance of terror was defined by the interaction between three interconnected factors: belief, atomization, and performance. While the Bolsheviks never succeeded in transforming the whole of Soviet society into New Men and many citizens accepted the official discourse only in part — most often because its elements contradicted either their existing beliefs and prejudices or their lived experiences — these periods of intense and often arbitrary repression had an atomizing effect as expressing one’s true opinions carried a significant risk of denunciation, arrest, and imprisonment or execution. Under these circumstances, the Soviet people learned to perform as New Men for their own protection, a practice which in turn produced further atomization and prevented concerted resistance.Graduate2025-08-2
Memory, Politics, and Place: Revitalizing Indigeneity and Unsettling Colonial Narratives with Reflections from Holocaust Memorial Culture
Get PDFFollowing the Government of Canada’s 2008 apology to victims and survivors of the Indian Residential School (IRS) system and in combination with the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA), the subject of Indigenous peoples and their place in Canada has been forced to the forefront of Canadian consciousness. Over a decade later, multiple reports commissioned by successive governments have pointed to systemic violence against Indigenous peoples amounting to genocide. Accepting the conclusions of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (NIMMIWG), the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), and the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP), this thesis will analyse the role that memorialization may play in the (re)conciliatory process and consider, specifically, the state’s role in any such memory projects. To do this, this project analyses the ways by which memorial projects have been utilized to influence narrative and collective consciousness in a number of different European countries, through case studies relating to the Holocaust. This thesis then juxtaposes European examples (Germany and Poland) of memorialization with the processes and methods underway in Canada with regard to the IRS system. Through this juxtaposition, commonalities and differences are isolated, interrogated, and applied to context-specific sites of atrocity in Canada. This thesis concludes with a discussion on the place of memorialization within the context of (re)conciliation and offers some reflections on how best to proceed—in line with the TRC’s Calls to Action No. 79 to 83—with regard to facilitating the emergence of memory projects in Canada in cooperation with numerous levels of government and Indigenous communitiesGraduate2025-04-1