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Investigating population structure and resource use diversity in Lake Huron Lake (Coregonus clupeaformis) and Round (Prosopium cylindraceum) Whitefish using compound specific stable isotopes analysis
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Biology, University of Regina. xi, 116 p.Aquatic thermal pollution from electricity generation, via once-through cooling systems, poses a potential
threat to freshwater ecosystems. Research has shown that elevated temperatures can have adverse effects on
whitefish reproduction and development, potentially leading to population decline. Despite these risks, there is
limited understanding of whitefish population structure in areas affected by once-through cooling in Lake Huron.
Population structure assessments are typically conducted with genetic methodologies but population mixing in
Lake Huron complicates detection. In addition, genetic methodologies are not able to capture recent ecological
aspects of population structure, necessitating the use of additional marker types. The stable isotopes of carbon
(δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) are biochemical markers that reflect differences in prey, habitat, and trophic position
within food webs making these isotopes valuable in differentiating ecological populations. Bulk stable isotope
analysis (BSIA) has been used in previous research but interpretation is often confounded by various factors that
contribute to isotopic variation. Compound specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) of amino acids offers higherresolution
information, allowing for the examination of baseline resource use and trophic position estimation for a
sampled consumer. My research aimed to investigate the ecological population structure and baseline resource use
diversity of spawning phase lake and round whitefish in Lake Huron by using CSIA. I evaluated the influence of
sex, size, year, and sample site on baseline isotopic values and trophic position, examined baseline resource use
by comparing isotopic niche size and overlap, and assessed the usefulness of additional amino acids for detecting
population structure. I found extensive variation in δ13C phenylalanine values and moderate variation in δ15N
phenylalanine for both species suggesting diversity in food web membership. While δ13C values were comparable
by site to previous BSIA research, δ15N values showed differences, highlighting the advantage of CSIA in
accurately assessing baseline resource use. Differences in baseline resource use among sites indicates differences
in food web membership suggesting the presence of different ecological populations. Temporal factors, such as
year, influenced baseline isotopic values, potentially indicating shifts in baseline resources or foraging strategies.
Additionally, the biological factors such as sex and total length showed associations with baseline isotopic values,
suggesting potential differences in foraging ecology and habitat use. Trophic position varied within sites for both
species indicating diversity in generalist feeding strategies not connected to sample location. Lake and round
whitefish separated into two areas of isotopic niche space, with δ13C values driving the differentiation. However,
there was species overlap within these niche spaces suggesting the use of similar baseline resources or foraging
within the same food webs. The depleted and enriched δ13C phenylalanine isotopic niche spaces may be connected
to larger geographic regions of origin, and not connected to specific sample locations. Previous research using
BSIA supports this, indicating broad differences in δ13C based on geographic region. The use of amino acids
beyond phenylalanine and glutamine in ecological research using CSIA is uncommon despite their potential
value. For δ13C, both essential and non-essential amino acids differentiated isotopically similar groups within
species. Future investigations of baseline resource use may be enhanced by the inclusion of multiple amino acids
to delineate ecological populations. For δ15N, the additional amino acids distinguished between the whitefish
species. Overall, CSIA provided valuable insights into lake and round whitefish ecology, particularly in
understanding spatial and temporal variations in baseline resource use and foraging behavior.Studentye
A Canadian national study of provincial and territorial correctional workers' suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts
No full textAbstractCorrectional workers (CWs) endure several operational stressors (e.g., exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events) and organisational stressors (e.g., shift work, staff shortages), which are associated with positive screens for mental disorders and self‐reports of suicidal behaviours and thus urgently warrant further inquiry. The Canadian Provincial and Territorial Correctional Worker Mental Health and Well‐Being Study (CWMH) used an online survey to collect data from Canadian correctional service organisations across all 13 provinces and territories. This national Canadian study investigates suicidal behaviours among CWs across diverse occupational roles and provincial and territorial jurisdictions (n = 3740, 50.1% female). The results estimated prevalence proportions for self‐reported past‐year and lifetime suicidal thoughts, planning, and attempts across the 13 Canadian provincial and territorial correctional systems, with the exceptions of past‐year suicidal planning in Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and Yukon where jurisdictional considerations and requests precluded the inclusion of select questions. Substantial proportions of participants reported past‐year or lifetime suicidal ideation (i.e., 9.1%, 29.2%, respectively), planning (i.e., 4.1%, 14.7%, respectively), or attempts (i.e., 0.8%, 7.2%, respectively). Sociodemographic variables (i.e., sex, age, marital status, total years of service, occupational category) were associated with past‐year and lifetime suicidal behaviours. Findings provide opportunities for future research and can inform tailored efforts by clinicians, service providers, and organisational leaders to support proactive interventions and treatments, including supporting the partners and families of CWs, fostering social support networks, and improving access to timely mental health treatment.Canadian Institutes of Health Researc
Identifying the support needs of the informal caregivers of long-term care residents: The potential benefits of a mobile application
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Clinical Psychology, University of Regina. xi, 128 p.Informal caregivers of older adults who reside in long-term care facilities play a crucial role in
ensuring the needs of the resident are being met. Such institutional informal caregivers (IICs),
however, are at a greater risk of experiencing subjective burden and loneliness. They also tend to
report lower levels of perceived social support than their non-caregiver counterparts. Despite
web-based messaging services as well as virtual and in-person informal caregiver support groups
showing promise in reducing subjective burden and loneliness, barriers such as a lack of
transportation or required web services, caregiver busyness, and competing responsibilities of the
caregiver often prevent caregivers from engaging in such groups. In order to make social support
more accessible, mobile applications (apps) have been developed, but often focus on training the
informal caregiver to provide care rather than providing the informal caregiver with support for
managing their own stressors. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to investigate the
support needs of informal caregivers in addition to the potential benefits of a mobile app
intended to provide them with support to improve their experiences of subjective burden,
loneliness, and perceived social support. One hundred and twenty-four of participants (72.6%
female, 25.8% male, 0.8% intersex) completed online self-report measures of subjective burden,
loneliness, perceived social support with participants' inclinations to use a hypothetical IIC
support app. One-way Analyses of Variance (ANOVAs) and independent samples t-tests were
conducted to explore the effect of demographic characteristics on psychosocial variables and
technology acceptance and readiness. Multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that
perceived social support from significant others was a significant predictor of technology
acceptance. One-way ANOVAs and independent samples t-test determined that institutional
informal caregivers (IICs), experienced moderate to high subjective burden, particularly among
older, male, substitute decision-makers (SDMs), and those with other dependents. Older, retired,
or female IICs experienced higher levels of loneliness, while SDMs and those with additional
dependents were less lonely. Older IICs reported greater levels of perceived social support from
friends and married IICs reported greater levels of perceived social support overall. IICs who
identified as female tended to be more accepting of technology. Qualitative analysis found that
IICs tend to experience their caregiving role as being all-consuming, impacting nearly every
aspect of their life and that IICs would likely consider performance expectancy, effort
expectancy, and facilitating conditions when deciding to engage with a new mobile app. Unique
contributions of this study consist of the focus on IICs and the examination of psychosocial
outcomes and technology acceptance. Further research into the coping mechanisms utilized by
IICs as well as the impacts of role strain onto psychosocial outcomes such as subjective burden,
loneliness, and perceived social support may be warranted to inform the creation of interventions
geared towards providing psychosocial support to IICs. Overall, these results suggest that IICs’
experiences of subjective burden and loneliness differ from that of the home-based informal
caregiving population and that IICs may benefit from a mobile application to provide
psychosocial support.Studentye
Financial Empowerment (2nd Edition): Personal Finance for Indigenous and Non-Indigenous People
No full textThe purpose of this textbook adaptation is to take an accessible, student-focused personal finance textbook written for an American audience and make it relevant to Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada. In so doing, it aims to not only help students build their own personal financial capacity, but to prepare them to help others do the same. My greatest goal with this text is to ensure that students do not make the same mistakes that I and many people before me have made because we did not have access to relatable financial literacy resources when we were young.
Financial literacy education should be a requirement for every student in Canada and throughout the world, but we can’t expect students to pursue such an education if the resources are not relevant and accessible. It is my sincere hope that this Open Access textbook makes the delivery of financial literacy education more accessible and affordable for all
Preferences and experiences of interdisciplinary communication across hospital unit types: A survey of three health professions in a Regina, Saskatchewan hospital
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Public Policy, University of Regina. x, 81 p.In the literature, interdisciplinary communication has been linked to high quality patient care, reduced medical error and improved patient and care provider satisfaction. Information sharing, role clarity, and shared goal setting amongst care providers are also attributed with interdisciplinary communication. The Accountable Care Unit (ACU) is an innovative, microsystem-based approach to inpatient hospital care that incorporates distinct features facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration and communication including: geographic co-location of a physicians’ patients and Structured Interdisciplinary Bedside Rounds (SIBR). During SIBR, care providers meet at the patient’s bedside and use a standardized communication protocol to provide and receive information. Traditional hospital wards, on the contrary, lack such features and intentional design. While existing research has separately explored outcomes of ACUs and aspects of interdisciplinary care, no known study has assessed healthcare providers experiences with interdisciplinary communication on ACUs versus traditional wards. The overarching purpose of this study was to understand perceived differences between interdisciplinary communication on traditional medicine wards and ACUs. The research questions that prompted this investigation included: 1. What are the experiences and perceptions of interdisciplinary communication on ACUs at the Pasqua Hospital by nurses, pharmacists and physicians who have previously worked on a traditional medicine ward? 2. How do participants perceive interdisciplinary communication on an ACU versus a traditional ward? 3.Do common themes emerge amongst research participants with similar demographics or professions?
The first ACU in Canada was implemented in 2016 on unit 4A at the Pasqua Hospital in Regina, Saskatchewan to reduce lengths of stay, decrease mortality rates, and improving patient and staff satisfaction. In the following years, additional ACUs were implemented at the Pasqua Hospital and in other Saskatchewan hospitals. This research was carried out via an online survey that offered 9 demographic questions and 6 qualitative questions pertaining to interdisciplinary communication both generally, on ACUs, and on traditional wards. The survey was administered from July 13 2022 until October 31 2022 to physicians, pharmacists and nurses who volunteered to participate and who had work experience on both types of units. Fifteen respondents completed the survey and responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Participants of this study reported an overall positive and enhanced experience with interdisciplinary communication on ACUs, generally finding it more effective than on traditional units. Reasons for this included structured communication amongst multiple care providers, regionalization of patients within the hospital with consistency in care providers, respect, and role clarity. Conversely, participants reported interdisciplinary communication to be more difficult on traditional units due to a lack of structure, absence or unavailability of team members, professional silos, hierarchies and egos. With the exception of respondents’ profession, correlations between demographic information, such as gender or age, and thematic codes proved to be inconclusive. The findings of this research could assist in guiding policies that adopt techniques or models, such as microsystem-based care models and scheduled, structured interdisciplinary rounds, which foster improved interdisciplinary communication and teamwork on acute care medicine wards. The implementation of such approaches could improve staff satisfaction, retention, and patient safety, while reducing liability risks and medical errors. Future researchers may consider investigating ACUs at other sites while acquiring more in-depth demographic information of increasingly diversified participants.Studentye
FPGA implementation of Complex-valued Neural Network for Polar-represented image classification
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Applied Science in Electronic Systems Engineering, University of Regina. xvi, 120 p.This thesis explores a novel approach to image classification by deploying a complex-valued neural network (CVNN) on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), specifically for classifying 2D images transformed into polar form. The aim of this research is to address the limitations of existing neural network models in terms of energy and resource efficiency, by exploring the potential of FPGA-based hardware acceleration in conjunction with advanced neural network architectures like CVNNs.
The methodological innovation of this research lies in the Cartesian to polar transformation of 2D images, effectively reducing the input data volume required for neural network processing. Subsequent efforts focused on constructing a CVNN model optimized for FPGA implementation, emphasizing the enhancement of computational efficiency and overall performance. The research is based on a careful study of previous research on image preprocessing and neural network modeling. This provides a strong base for designing and implementing the system.
The experimental findings provide empirical evidence supporting the efficacy of the image classification system developed in this study. One of the developed models, CVNN 128, achieves an accuracy of 88.3% with an inference time of just 1.6ms and a power consumption of 4.66mW for the classification of the MNIST test dataset consists of 10,000 frames. While there is a slight concession in accuracy compared to recent FPGA implementations that achieve 94.43%, our model significantly excels in classification speed and power efficiency, surpassing existing models by more than a factor of 100.
In conclusion, the thesis demonstrates the substantial advantages of FPGA implementation of CVNNs for image classification tasks, particularly in scenarios where speed, resource, and power consumption are critical. The findings have broad implications for the future development of hardware-accelerated machine learning, emphasizing the importance of architectural and hardware considerations in the evolution of neural network applications.Studentye
The impact of memory enhancement on emotion processing
No full textA Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology, University of Regina. 38 p.Alexithymia, a cognitive-affective impairment, involves difficulties in recognizing and expressing emotions, and is linked to impaired memory function. This study investigates the relationship between memory and emotion processing. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) was administered to 141 participants, 76 of which scored high (> 51) indicating likelihood of alexithymia. First, participants underwent an Emotional Stroop Task (EST) to assess emotion processing, then were randomly assigned to either verbal or sham training groups, where they either completed a botanical name memorization task or watched two short silent movies. Post-training, both groups completed the EST again and underwent cognitive tests to assess memory capacity differences. I hypothesize that the verbal training group will show improvements in emotion processing as well as greater memory function as compared with the sham group. A significant positive correlation was found between TAS scores and EST reaction times for emotional words, indicating a relationship between emotion processing times and alexithymic traits. As for the effects of the verbal training, independent sample t-tests demonstrated that differences in emotion processing times between low and high TAS scorers were reduced. Within the sham training group, high TAS scorers had significantly slower emotion processing than low TAS scorers, but in the verbal training group, no differences were found in emotion processing between high and low TAS scorers. This study’s pivotal finding underscores the impact of verbal training on automatic emotion processing. Despite no observable differences in memory capacity post-verbal training, a notable improvement emerged in the automatic processing of emotion
Teaching & Scholarship News Issue 1 Volume 1
No full textIn the first edition of Teaching & Scholarship News, written by Laurie Clune, we examine
the shifting focus from interprofessional education (IPE) to interprofessional practice (IPP)
and interprofessional collaboration (IPC)
Musings on matchings, matrices, and multiplicities
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Mathematics, University of Regina. xii, 138 p.The Parter-Wiener Theorem is a celebrated contribution to the inverse eigenvalue problem
for trees due to its determination of vertices whose removal affects multiplicities of
eigenvalues in a non-intuitive manner. For a more general graph, G, that contains cycles,
the construction of the weighted matching polynomial and its many properties are derived.
These properties are shown to determine a relationship between the multiplicities of the
roots of the weighted matching polynomial and the graph operation of vertex deletion in
G, which is the operation at the core of the Parter-Wiener Theorem. Solutions for locating
vertices whose removal increases the multiplicity of a root are presented, which gives rise to a
new classification of graphs, called SRSI graphs. These graphs, along with graphs that have
Hamilton paths, are determined to have a trivial variation of the Parter-Wiener Theorem.
In an effort to determine the location of Parter vertices, vertices are categorized into classes
based on their effects of root multiplicities, and, in the case of zero roots, the location of
Parter vertices are explicitly noted. Moreover, computational results regarding the process
of categorizing vertices into these classes are outlined, and the Vandermonde eigenvector test
is established with the assistance of companion matrices. A myriad of results throughout
the thesis are then used to determine a partially-generalized Parter-Wiener Theorem for this
weighted matching polynomial.Studentye
Machine learning-based models for failure prediction and propagation in smart grid systems
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Electronic Systems Engineering, University of Regina. xxii, 253 p.The smart grid connects components of power systems and communication networks
in an interdependent two-way system that supplies or receives electricity to or
from prosumers and collects data that enables it to react to usage levels and interference
from threats, such as cyber-attacks. Cascading failures resulting from cyberattacks
are one of the main concerns in smart grid systems. The use of artificial
intelligence (AI)-based algorithms has become more relevant in identifying and forecasting
such cascading failures. However, existing models that study the propagation
of cascading failures either omit the impact of the communication network or power
characteristics on the propagation process. To address this gap, in this thesis, we
propose a set of novel cyber-attack failure propagation models in smart grids. First,
our realistic failure propagation (RFProp) model addresses the system’s heterogeneity
by assigning different roles to its components. We define rules and interdependencies
for failure propagation and propose a new model for studying cascading failures. In
addition, the RFProp graph-based model identifies the most vulnerable nodes and
implements power flow analysis to guarantee that all transmission lines work below
capacity and remove lines exceeding capacity. Our results establish that by considering
both power and communication characteristics and interdependencies, cascading
failures are modeled more accurately. In the second step, we propose a novel earlystage
failure prediction (ESFP) model based on supervised machine learning (ML)
algorithms. We use the RFProp model to generate a dataset for training these algorithms
and predicting the state of a system’s components after a failure propagates in
that system. Using the ESFP model, we predict failures of all of a system’s elements
in the early stages of failure propagation. We use the XGBoost algorithm and consider
the features of both the power and communication networks that provide high
accuracy in the prediction process for failures. We also identify the location of the
initial failures, as this allows for further protection plans and decisions. In the third
step, we use the real-time digital simulator (RTDS) to develop a real-time early-stage
failure prediction (RESP) model that simulates the power system in real time and
makes it more realistic. We evaluate the RESP model’s effectiveness using the IEEE
14-bus system, which results in the XGBoost algorithm achieving a high accuracy in
predicting attacks and with a lower testing time. Finally, we introduce a real-time
attack prediction (RTAP) model based on a real-time testbed designed to examine
the impact of cyber-attacks on smart grid systems. We utilize real-time simulators,
including RTDS and network simulator 3 (NS3) to emulate the behavior of power
and communication networks. Using this model, we employ various ML algorithms
to detect cyber-attacks. We evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed model using
an IEEE 14-bus test case, demonstrating high accuracy and efficient testing time.Studentye