cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Engineering superpositions of N00N states using an asymmetric non-linear Mach-Zehnder interferometer
Creators: name: Birrittella, R. J.
name: Alsing, P. M.
name: Schneeloch, J.
name: Gerry, C. C.
name: Mimih, J.
name: Knight, P. L.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We revisit a method for mapping arbitrary single-mode pure states into superpositions of N00N states using an asymmetric non-linear Mach-Zehnder interferometer (ANLMZI). This method would allow for one to tailor-make superpositions of N00N states where each axis of the two-mode joint-photon number distribution is weighted by the statistics of any single-mode pure state. The non-linearity of the ANLMZI comes in the form of a $χ^{\left(3\right)}$ self-Kerr interaction occurring on one of the intermediary modes of the interferometer. Motivated by the non-classical interference effects that occur at a beam splitter, we introduce inverse-engineering techniques aimed towards extrapolating optimal transformations for generating N00N state superpositions. These techniques are general enough so as to be employed to probe the means of generating states of any desired quantum properties.
description: This paper was prepared for AVS Quantum as part of a commemorative issue for Jonathan Dowling
Development of Standard Test Methods for Assessing the Durability and Safety of Joule Heating Textiles
Creators: Mahmud, Shakil
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

Joule heating textiles, a category of e-textiles, is playing an important role in providing thermal comfort to the wearer, as well as serving novel purposes by providing heat therapy to medical patients. However, the lack of standardized testing methods for Joule heating textiles is a key barrier to their commercial growth. Availability of standard test methods for Joule heating textiles can safeguard product quality, regulate the end performance, sustain consistent performance, and ensure safety. Potential issues with heating textiles have been identified in terms of efficiency, safety, and durability. To solve this, research has been conducted at the University of Alberta in collaboration with CTT Group to develop a set of reliable and robust test methods. Work done as part of this study includes improvements of the test protocol previously developed to characterize the efficiency of heating textiles, for instance a copper plate temperature measurement device designed to reduce the variability in the measurement of the surface temperature of heterogeneous heating textiles.

In addition, the research covered durability test methods corresponding to five factors associated with daily life that may reduce the lifespan of heating textiles: abrasion, laundering, perspiration, fatigue stretching and fatigue bending. An in-depth investigation was carried out on the topic of abrasion using a Martindale tester. The study used five types of Joule heating textiles corresponding to different textile structures encountered in commercial products – woven, plated knit, nonwoven, stitched, and inserted – to ensure the universality of the test method developed. The experimental work was conducted in two segments: a pretrial and a trial. In the pretrial, all five categories of heating textiles were subjected to abrasion until 20,000 abrasion cycles or any major loss in heating performance. The residual heating efficiency was calculated after each series of 1000 abrasion cycles. The results led to the selection of three series of abrasion cycles for the trial: 5000, 10,000, and 20,000. Based on the results obtained in the trial, four performance levels were proposed for the resistance of Joule heating textiles to abrasion.

For the remaining four damaging conditions (laundering, perspiration, fatigue stretching and fatigue bending), test protocols and experimental plans have been proposed, including the selection of the test parameters based on realistic application scenarios, to guide the development of the corresponding test methods carried out in the future. In terms of safety, test protocols and experimental plans have been designed to characterize the propensity of heating textiles to short circuit generation and overheating. The developed test protocols will contribute to lifting some of the barriers that currently limit the growth of the e-textile industry.
An eco-friendly spectrophotometric analysis tool with whiteness assessment to assay erythromycin in pharmaceutical formulation through metal complexation with Ni2+: application to the microbiological activity using agar diffusion method
Creators: name: El-Shabrawy, Yasser
name: El-Gindy, Alaa El-din M.
name: Wahba, Mary.E.K.
name: Ayman, Aya
name: Mostafa, Aziza E
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Biophysics
subject: Biochemistry
subject: Space Science
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Physiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Cancer

description: A new, facile and eco-friendly spectrophotometric method for estimating erythromycin (ERY) in its dosage form has been proposed and validated. It depends on the formation of a complex between the drug and nickel at pH 7, using distilled water as a diluent, where the absorbance of the generated complex was measured at 228.5 nm. The formed complex followed a linear response over the concentration range of 80.0 to 300.0 µg/mL of ERY. The proposed method was fully validated according to international conference of harmonization (ICH) and was used to estimate the relevant concentration of the drug in its oral suspension formulation providing mean percentage recovery of 100.0±1.08 with a limit of detection and limit of quantification of 60 µg/mL and 80 µg/mL, respectively. the reaction stoichiometry was investigated and a reaction mechanism proposal was offered. Eventually, the antimicrobial effect of ERY and its metal complex with Ni2+ were compared using agar diffusion method, where no significant difference in their activities was observed.
Megachile illustris Mitchell, new comb.
Creators: name: Raw, Anthony
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2002
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Megachilidae
Megachile
Megachile illustris

description: illustris Mitchell, new comb.
Megachile illustris Mitchell 1930: 188. Male. Type locality: Chapada [dos Guimarães, Mato Grosso], Brazil. Type repository: ANSP 4142. Examined.
description: Published as part of Raw, Anthony, 2002, New combinations and synonymies of leafcutter and mason bees of the Americas (Megachile, Hymenoptera, Megachilidae), pp. 1-43 in Zootaxa 71 (1) on page 3, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.71.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/155887
The Nordic-walking mechanism and its explanation of deconfined pseudocriticality from Wess-Zumino-Witten theory
Creators: name: Hawashin, Bilal
name: Eichhorn, Astrid
name: Janssen, Lukas
name: Scherer, Michael M.
name: Ray, Shouryya
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
subject: Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The understanding of phenomena falling outside the Ginzburg-Landau paradigm of phase transitions represents a key challenge in condensed matter physics. A famous class of examples is constituted by the putative deconfined quantum critical points between two symmetry-broken phases in layered quantum magnets, such as pressurised SrCu$_2$(BO$_3$)$_2$. Experiments find a weak first-order transition, which simulations of relevant microscopic models can reproduce. The origin of this behaviour has been a matter of considerable debate for several years. In this work, we demonstrate that the nature of the deconfined quantum critical point can be best understood in terms of a novel dynamical mechanism, termed Nordic walking. Nordic walking denotes a renormalisation group flow arising from a beta function that is flat over a range of couplings. This gives rise to a logarithmic flow that is faster than the well-known walking behaviour, associated with the annihilation and complexification of fixed points, but still significantly slower than the generic running of couplings. The Nordic-walking mechanism can thus explain weak first-order transitions, but may also play a role in high-energy physics, where it could solve hierarchy problems.
 We analyse the Wess-Zumino-Witten field theory pertinent to deconfined quantum critical points with a topological term in 2+1 dimensions. To this end, we construct an advanced functional renormalisation group approach based on higher-order regulators. We thereby calculate the beta function directly in 2+1 dimensions and provide evidence for Nordic walking.
description: 12 + 11 pages (typeset with sn-jnl.cls), 4 + 1 figures; comments welcome
An amalgamation of LC-MS HDX and AI-based software for structure prediction of drug degradation products: An integrated step towards pharmaceutical development
Creators: name: Jain, Sonali
name: Palle, Narasimha Swamy
name: Kuppusamy, Ananda Rajkumar
name: Korlam, Venugopal
name: Shah, Ravi P.
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Genetics
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Information Systems not elsewhere classified
subject: Developmental Biology
subject: Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences

description: Structure identification of drug degradation products is one of the key components of any pharmaceutical product development. Knowledge-based in-silico tools are widely used to predict the probable degradation and excipient interaction products. However, multiple structures of the same masses are predicted through this software, which makes identification of the correct/exact structure of the degradation product difficult. In this study, the utilization of a simple yet powerful analytical tool, LC-MS HDX was explored for improving the predictive capability of the in-silico tool. For the same, 5 drugs were selected as representative of pharmaceutical development workflow and subjected to a stress degradation study as per ICH regulatory requirements. There were in total 55 degradation products, for which all possible structures were predicted through Zeneth® software. The number of labile hydrogens in each of the 55 products was obtained through a simple LC-MS HDX method. While scrutinizing predicted structures with the number of labile hydrogens, many false positive predictions could be ruled out. Out of 55 degradation products, this approach has helped in improving the predictability of 45 products corresponding to ∼82% cases. It is simple to adopt for the industry by simply amalgamating analytical practices with AI prediction.
Observation-Augmented Contextual Multi-Armed Bandits for Robotic Search and Exploration
Creators: name: Wakayama, Shohei
name: Ahmed, Nisar
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Robotics (cs.RO)
subject: Machine Learning (cs.LG)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: We introduce a new variant of contextual multi-armed bandits (CMABs) called observation-augmented CMABs (OA-CMABs) wherein a robot uses extra outcome observations from an external information source, e.g. humans. In OA-CMABs, external observations are a function of context features and thus provide evidence on top of observed option outcomes to infer hidden parameters. However, if external data is error-prone, measures must be taken to preserve the correctness of inference. To this end, we derive a robust Bayesian inference process for OA-CMABs based on recently developed probabilistic semantic data association techniques, which handle complex mixture model parameter priors and hybrid discrete-continuous observation likelihoods for semantic external data sources. To cope with combined uncertainties in OA-CMABs, we also derive a new active inference algorithm for optimal option selection based on approximate expected free energy minimization. This generalizes prior work on CMAB active inference by accounting for faulty observations and non-Gaussian distributions. Results for a simulated deep space search site selection problem show that, even if incorrect semantic observations are provided externally, e.g. by scientists, efficient decision-making and robust parameter inference are still achieved in a wide variety of conditions.
description: 8 pages, 9 figures
Response Time as a Predictor of Test Performance: Assessing the Value of Examinees' Response Time Profiles
Creators: Tan, Bin
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

Response time data has gained extensive attention in recent years, thanks to the increasing use of computer-based assessments. Previous studies examined the relationship between response time and test performance, yielding inconsistent findings such as positive, negative, and no relationship. To comprehensively examine the complex relationship between examinees’ response times and test performance, this study employs profile analysis to analyze assessment data from the Problem Solving and Inquiry tasks (PSI tasks) in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019 for grade-four mathematics. In the assessment, there were 29 items distributed across 17 screens, with response time recorded for each screen. The data used included responses from 27,682 fourth-grade examinees from 36 countries, including six benchmarking participants. The results of this study show that examinees’ standardized response time varied throughout the test. Furthermore, the study shows the predictive power of screen response time for test performance, with varying strengths and directions of the regression coefficients for different screens. Notably, considering separate response times for individual screens and accounting for within-examinee variability in response time provide more accurate predictions of test scores than relying on total response time or the average response time per screen. Additionally, the analysis uncovers that the relationship between total or separate response times and test performance is also distinct across different achievement groups. Low achievers exhibit a stronger positive correlation between response time and performance, while advanced achievers show a negative correlation. Moreover, the study reveals the influence of item position and item difficulty on response time patterns and their relationship with test performance. These findings contribute to advancing our understanding of the relationship between response time and test performance, with implications for the design and administration of future educational assessments.
FDM@JadeHS : Die ersten Schritte zu einem erfolgreichen Forschungsdatenmanagement an der Jade Hochschule
Creators: name: Schulz, Dörthe
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: FDM@HAW
FDM
Forschungsdatenmanagement
Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften
Fachhochschule
HAW
FH
Datenkompetenzen
FDM-Kompetenzen an HAW 2024

description: Dieses Poster wurde im Rahmen der VW-Themenwoche "Digitale Kompetenzen in der Wissenschaft" im Workshop "FDM mit geringen Ressourcen. Kompetenzaufbau durch Vernetzung von Hochschulen für angewandte Wissenschaften" am 02. Dezember 2024 vorgestellt.
Transforming Dutch: Debiasing Dutch Coreference Resolution Systems for Non-binary Pronouns
Creators: name: van Boven, Goya
name: Du, Yupei
name: Nguyen, Dong
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Computation and Language (cs.CL)
subject: Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: I.2.7

description: Gender-neutral pronouns are increasingly being introduced across Western languages. Recent evaluations have however demonstrated that English NLP systems are unable to correctly process gender-neutral pronouns, with the risk of erasing and misgendering non-binary individuals. This paper examines a Dutch coreference resolution system's performance on gender-neutral pronouns, specifically hen and die. In Dutch, these pronouns were only introduced in 2016, compared to the longstanding existence of singular they in English. We additionally compare two debiasing techniques for coreference resolution systems in non-binary contexts: Counterfactual Data Augmentation (CDA) and delexicalisation. Moreover, because pronoun performance can be hard to interpret from a general evaluation metric like LEA, we introduce an innovative evaluation metric, the pronoun score, which directly represents the portion of correctly processed pronouns. Our results reveal diminished performance on gender-neutral pronouns compared to gendered counterparts. Nevertheless, although delexicalisation fails to yield improvements, CDA substantially reduces the performance gap between gendered and gender-neutral pronouns. We further show that CDA remains effective in low-resource settings, in which a limited set of debiasing documents is used. This efficacy extends to previously unseen neopronouns, which are currently infrequently used but may gain popularity in the future, underscoring the viability of effective debiasing with minimal resources and low computational costs.
description: 22 pages, 2 figures. Accepted at the 2024 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT '24)
End-of-Life Moisture Sensor for Fire-Protective Fabrics and Sensor Manufacturing process
Creators: Samaraweera, Arawe Gedara Nadeesha S
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

Fire fighters’ protective clothing acts as a barrier between them and the hazardous environment to which they are exposed. However, the high-performance fibres they are made of experience a reduction in their performance over time due to exposure to heat, ultraviolet radiation, and moisture among other. As there are not always visual signs indicative of the fabric’s degradation, researchers at the University of Alberta have been working on the development of end-of-life sensors to monitor the aging of the protective garments in service. These end-of-life sensors use a graphene conductive track combined with polymers sensitive to the fabric aging conditions. As the protective clothing is exposed to aging conditions susceptible to negatively affect its performance, the sacrificial polymer degrades, disrupting of the graphene track and resulting in a reduction in its conductivity.

This thesis covers work related to the end-of-life moisture sensor. A first aspect was related to the confirmation of the suitability of polyimide (PI) as a sacrificial polymer for the moisture sensor following a study performed by a former member of the project team. The formation of nanoscale peeling-like structures on the surface of the PI film was observed upon hydrothermal aging. In addition, the effect of hydrothermal aging on the toughness retention of the PI film was characterized by a similar activation energy as a firefighter protective clothing outer shell fabric, with a faster kinetic of the toughness reduction upon thermal aging. This indicates that PI can be served as an early warning indicator of the hydrothermal aging of the fire-protective fabrics.

The second part of this study involved the manufacturing of the moisture sensor. The configuration of the moisture sensor was designed. In addition, the selection of the materials for the different components of the sensor was revisited to avoid issues such as galvanic corrosion of the electrical contacts and lack of thickness uniformity of the sensor. Moreover, the laser parameters were optimized to generate an appropriate graphene track on the PI film. This work included considerations for the industry scale-up of the manufacturing process.

The work accomplished in this thesis has allowed moving the end-of-life moisture sensor for fire-protective fabrics to the prototype fabrication stage. The next step will be to automatize the manufacturing to increase the sensor reproducibility and perform the cross-evaluation of the moisture sensor with other aging agents.
Unsupervised Syntactic Text Simplification with AMR
Creators: Guzhva, Kostyantyn
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

Syntactic text simplification, the task of reducing the grammatical complexity of text while preserving the content, can be useful for non-native speakers, text summarization, and other downstream natural language processing tasks. Many traditional methods are rule-based and do not generalize, while methods that rely on modern large language models often are limited by prohibitive computational requirements or data privacy concerns. We present a text simplification pipeline based on Abstract Meaning Representation which can run on modest hardware, and report on intrinsic and extrinsic evaluations of its performance. We find that our method achieves comparable performance to GPT-3.5, at a fraction of the cost, and without any privacy concerns. Additionally, it outperforms a best in class rule based text simplifier. To see if our simplified text preserves the semantics of the original text, we evaluate our simplified text in two downstream tasks: relation extraction, and entity linking. We find that our syntactic simplification pipeline has limited or no impact on the performance of the methods we evaluate for these tasks, indicating that our pipeline preserves the information in the original text.
Probing the Effects of Pathogenic Mutations on Prion-like Conversion of Superoxide dismutase-1
Creators: Hamzeh, Bahareh
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

Multiple neurodegenerative diseases feature the accumulation of misfolded proteins in and around neurons. In some cases, misfolding propagates through a prion-like mechanism whereby interactions between misfolded conformers and natively folded conformers induce the latter to convert into the misfolded conformer. We developed a novel assay to monitor the prion-like conversion of superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1), whose misfolding is linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In this assay, a misfolded SOD1 mutant monomer that is associated with familial ALS is tethered to a wild-type (wt) SOD1 monomer, and the enzymatic activity of the wt SOD1 domain is monitored over time to detect its conversion into inactive misfolded conformers. Tethering the mutant vastly increases the effective local concentration of misfolded protein in the assay while keeping the global concentration low, decoupling conversion from aggregation. Our study tested this assay on a range of SOD1 heterodimers, including wt-G85R, wt-G127X, wt-D76V, wt-G93A, wt-G41D, wt-I104F, wt-G41S, and wt-A4V.

The results varied significantly among different mutants. We observed distinct patterns in the enzymatic activity of these heterodimers, with some exhibiting a sigmoidal decline, suggestive of a direct conversion process. This decline was characterized by a stable phase of activity, followed by a decrease representing the conversion phase, and finally reaching stability again, suggesting the completion of the conversion. In contrast, other heterodimers demonstrated a pattern of stability with no obvious change in activity, suggesting either a slower conversion rate or retention of some activity in the mutant domain. One specific heterodimer, wt-I104F, showed a more complex or biphasic decline in its activity, suggesting the heterodimer may undergo two separate processes.

Our findings challenge our initial assumptions about the relationship between the rapidity of ALS progression and the conversion rate of wt SOD1. The lack of a direct correlation between these factors suggests a more intricate mechanism underpinning ALS progression than previously understood. This research lays the groundwork for future studies to develop a more nuanced understanding of the prion-like conversion process in ALS. Future directions include refining our assay technique to explore a broader range of SOD1 mutants and investigating the potential therapeutic applications of targeting specific stages or mechanisms of the SOD1 conversion process. By deepening our understanding of SOD1 misfolding and its prion-like propagation in ALS, we aim to open new avenues for developing effective treatments for this disabling disease.
Megachile itapuae Schrottky, new comb.
Creators: name: Raw, Anthony
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2002
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Megachilidae
Megachile
Megachile itapuae

description: itapuae Schrottky, new comb.
Megachile itapuae Schrottky 1908: 238. Female. Type locality: Encarnacion, Paraguay. Type repository: MZSP. A female determined by Schrottky and labelled “METATIPO” in MZSP is a member of this subgenus.
description: Published as part of Raw, Anthony, 2002, New combinations and synonymies of leafcutter and mason bees of the Americas (Megachile, Hymenoptera, Megachilidae), pp. 1-43 in Zootaxa 71 (1) on page 4, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.71.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/155887
Twist-3 contribution to deeply virtual electroproduction of pions
Creators: name: Duplančić, Goran
name: Kroll, Peter
name: Passek-K., Kornelija
name: Szymanowski, Lech
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The twist-3 contribution, consisting of twist-2 transversity generalized parton distributions (GPDs) and a twist-3 meson wave function, to deeply virtual pion electroproduction is discussed. The twist-3 meson wave function includes both the $q\bar{q}$ and the $q\bar{q}g$ Fock components. Two methods to regularize the end-point singularities are introduced - quark transverse momenta and a gluon mass. Using existing GPD parameterizations the transverse and the transverse-transverse interference cross sections for $π^0$ production are calculated and compared to experimental data.
description: 40 pages, 10 figures; some improvements in the text and few typos corrected; corresponds to a published version
Effects of the Large Magellanic Cloud on the Local Dark Matter Distribution in the Milky Way: Insights from the Auriga Simulation
Creators: Ronaghikhameneh, Nima
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

This thesis investigates the Large Magellanic Cloud's (LMC) influence on the Milky Way's local dark matter distribution, focusing on implications for dark matter direct detection. Using state-of-the-art Auriga magneto-hydrodynamical simulations with an LMC-like system, we study the dark matter distribution in the Solar neighborhood during different phases of the LMC's orbit around the Milky Way. Our findings show that dark matter particles from the LMC analogue dominate the high speed tail of the local dark matter velocity distribution, confirming earlier Milky Way-LMC system simulations. The LMC's motion significantly accelerates native Milky Way dark matter particles in the Solar neighborhood, creating a distinct peak in the dark matter velocity distribution, particularly for speeds over 500 km/s with respect to the center of the Milky Way-like galaxy.

Simulations of potential signals in upcoming xenon, germanium, and silicon direct detection experiments reveal that the LMC's presence shifts expected direct detection exclusion limits towards smaller cross sections, especially for low mass dark matter. This highlights the LMC's critical role in future dark matter detection studies. We estimate the local dark matter density to be between [$0.21 - 0.60$] $\rm GeV/cm^3$, influenced by the prevalence of LMC dark matter particles in the Solar neighborhood and the Sun's relative position to the LMC in simulations. The outcomes contribute significantly to our understanding of the LMC’s role in influencing the local dark matter distribution and the broader dynamics of dark matter particles in galactic environments.
Megachile manaosensis Schrottky, new comb.
Creators: name: Raw, Anthony
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2002
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Megachilidae
Megachile
Megachile manaosensis

description: manaosensis Schrottky, new comb.
Megachile manaosensis Schrottky 1913a: 201. Male. Type locality: Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Type repository: MZSP. (Not M. (Acentron) manaosensis Mitchell 1930: 203. See Mitchell 1943b: 671.) Based on the description the species is tentatively placed in this subgenus.
description: Published as part of Raw, Anthony, 2002, New combinations and synonymies of leafcutter and mason bees of the Americas (Megachile, Hymenoptera, Megachilidae), pp. 1-43 in Zootaxa 71 (1) on page 4, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.71.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/155887
DEVELOPING AGED AND UNAGED MICRO AND NANOPLASTICS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING
Creators: Elnaz Kalantar
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

Concerns are growing about plastics in the environment. The aging of the plastics in the environment will impact their fate and their interactions with the ecosystems’ constituents. As such, there is a need to improve our understanding of aged plastics and how they differ from their pristine or primary counterparts. Toward this aim, this work details the formation of primary and secondary polystyrene (PS) micro and nanoplastics (MNPs) and their weathering by a combination of UV light, heat, and mechanical abrasion.

Primary MNPs were produced through the dissolution of PS in chloroform followed by anti-solvent precipitation in a 10% polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution. Secondary MNPs were produced through mechanical abrasion and shear stresses using a ball mill grinder. Following production, particles were filtered, purified, and concentrated in a deionized water (DI) suspension. Weathering of primary and secondary MNPs was performed by Ultraviolet (UV) light exposure to produce surface oxidation, as confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).

Characterization of MNPs was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Coulter counter, laser diffraction, dynamic light scattering (DLS), electrophoretic mobility, and FTIR analyses. Both primary and secondary MNP suspensions had an average particle size in nano-scale (~ 330 ± 2 nm and 155.7 ± 1.5 nm, respectively), though SEM indicated primary MNPs were spherical while secondary MNPs were irregularly shaped. Chemical characterization of primary and secondary MNPs showed the same PS signature of the parent material, and oxidation due to UV light and heat exposure in weathered MNPs was monitored by FTIR.

Due to changes in morphology and surface chemistry, secondary and weathered MNPs are anticipated to behave differently from primary particles. Comparing primary to secondary and weathered MNPs will determine the dependence of aging on particle behavior and will improve the applicability of lab-scale testing when seeking to understand environmental impacts.
Open-Source Radiation Testing Apparatus and Electrical Power Supply Design for CubeSat Missions
Creators: Damkjar, Stefan
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

The continuing miniaturization of computing technology and the increasing popularity of CubeSats among a growing market of modest-budget developers have revolutionized the space industry by enabling cost-effective access to space. However, ensuring reliability remains a paramount concern. This thesis describes research that addresses two critical reliability drivers for CubeSat missions: radiation effects and power system design.

Characterizing the sensitivity of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components to ionizing radiation can be challenging for inexperienced CubeSat developers. To bridge this gap, an open-source, versatile radiation testing platform is investigated and implemented. This automated platform leverages a modular design, allowing rapid testing of up to 24 devices in a particle accelerator beamline during a single testing session, thereby enhancing data collection efficiency and lowering costs. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of this approach for estimating error rates in low Earth orbit.

On any spacecraft, the Electrical Power Supply (EPS) is a mission-critical subsystem, and its reliability is crucial. An innovative open-source EPS design is proposed with fault tolerance features and novel attributes including adaptive single-event latchup detection, a battery charge inhibit scheme for low temperatures, and a power-saving control scheme. A complete hardware prototype is built and tested, demonstrating promising efficiency, fault tolerance, and overall functionality, that matches or exceeds the performance of COTS EPSs.

Both the software and hardware for both projects are intended to be open-source, contributing to the CubeSat community by providing accessible design resources for enhancing reliability. By offering economical radiation testing and an adaptable and feature-rich EPS solution, the result of this research project should accelerate the development of cost-effective CubeSat missions, empowering researchers to focus on mission-specific scientific payloads and novel contributions to space exploration.
Data augmentation for the POD formulation of the parametric laminar incompressible Navier-Stokes equations
Creators: name: Muixí, Alba
name: Zlotnik, Sergio
name: Giacomini, Matteo
name: Díez, Pedro
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Numerical Analysis (math.NA)
subject: Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science (cs.CE)
subject: Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: 65M60, 76D05, 76D55

description: A posteriori reduced-order models (ROM), e.g. based on proper orthogonal decomposition (POD), are essential to affordably tackle realistic parametric problems. They rely on a trustful training set, that is a family of full-order solutions (snapshots) representative of all possible outcomes of the parametric problem. Having such a rich collection of snapshots is not, in many cases, computationally viable. A strategy for data augmentation, designed for parametric laminar incompressible flows, is proposed to enrich poorly populated training sets. The goal is to include in the new, artificial snapshots emerging features, not present in the original basis, that do enhance the quality of the reduced basis (RB) constructed using POD dimensionality reduction. The methodologies devised are based on exploiting basic physical principles, such as mass and momentum conservation, to construct physically-relevant, artificial snapshots at a fraction of the cost of additional full-order solutions. Interestingly, the numerical results show that the ideas exploiting only mass conservation (i.e., incompressibility) are not producing significant added value with respect to the standard linear combinations of snapshots. Conversely, accounting for the linearized momentum balance via the Oseen equation does improve the quality of the resulting approximation and therefore is an effective data augmentation strategy in the framework of viscous incompressible laminar flows. Numerical experiments of parametric flow problems, in two and three dimensions, at low and moderate values of the Reynolds number are presented to showcase the superior performance of the data-enriched POD-RB with respect to the standard ROM in terms of both accuracy and efficiency.
description: 36 pages, 13 figures, 4 tables
РОЛЬ ПАРЛАМЕНТА УЗБЕКИСТАНА В КЛИМАТИЧЕСКОЙ ДИПЛОМАТИИ: ОТ НАЦИОНАЛЬНОЙ ПОЛИТИКИ К ГЛОБАЛЬНОМУ СОТРУДНИЧЕСТВУ
Creators: name: Расулов, Убайдулла
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024

description: В статье анализируются усилия национальных парламентов, в том числе парламента Узбекистана, в рамках глобальной борьбы с изменением климата. Основное внимание уделено координирующей роли Межпарламентского союза (МПС), участию парламентариев Узбекистана в мероприятиях союза, а также в ключевые инициативы Олий Мажлиса, выдвинутым на конференциях ООН по изменению климата в 2023 году (СОР28) и в 2024 году (СОР29).
Megachile permunda Cockerell, new comb.
Creators: name: Raw, Anthony
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2002
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Megachilidae
Megachile
Megachile permunda

description: permunda Cockerell, new comb.
Megachile permunda Cockerell 1912d: 56. Male. Type locality: Natal, [Rio Grande do Norte], Brazil. Type repository: AMNH. Examined.
description: Published as part of Raw, Anthony, 2002, New combinations and synonymies of leafcutter and mason bees of the Americas (Megachile, Hymenoptera, Megachilidae), pp. 1-43 in Zootaxa 71 (1) on page 4, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.71.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/155887
Optimizing Electric Vehicle Charging Networks: Adaptive Placement and Energy Management in Uncertain Environments
Creators: Zargari, Faraz
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

With the emerging proliferation of electric vehicles (EVs) in traffic, the optimal deployment of EV charging stations has become a critical issue due to the foreseeable significant impact on conventional power distribution systems and traffic networks. With the complex coupling between time-varying traffic flow demand and power demand during a day, it is challenging to intelligently compromise the infrastructure cost and service quality to ensure cost-effective investment as well as customers’ comfort. To deal with this particular challenge, in this study, an iterative algorithm comprising three stages with comprehensive formulations is presented to optimize the locations and sizing of charging stations, considering the EVs' behavior and customers' perspective in the composite transportation and power network. To verify the proposed algorithm, a case study based on a 25-node transportation network integrated with IEEE 33-bus system is done. Numerical results show that our algorithm can efficiently solve the problem in power-traffic coupled networks while accounting for time-varying flow demand and power demand.

Additionally, we addressed the high power needs of charging stations by treating them as microgrids capable of generating their own power from renewable sources. This new approach aims to make the system more robust and dependable. To do this, we introduced a sophisticated online algorithm based on thresholds. This algorithm is crucial in managing the energy storage in each microgrid, finding the best balance between charging, discharging, and interactions with the main grid. We conducted a thorough mathematical analysis to understand how well this algorithm performs in worst-case scenarios. Then, we tested it with two detailed case studies: one using generated data and the other using real-world information. In both cases, our model consistently showed strong performance, often reaching nearly optimal results.
A Study of Localization based on Quantized Received Signal Strength
Creators: Yong, Alan
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

We bridge the localization techniques that are based on proximity (near/far) information with those based on Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) information. An RSSI-based scheme can be mapped to proximity-based scheme by quantizing the RSSI values such they are represented by a single bit. Extending the quantization to multiple bits per RSSI value, we observe diminishing improvement of localization accuracy with more bits used. Quantization of RSSI also enables the offline construction of lookup tables mapping quantized RSSI to coordinates, enabling applications such as: (a) passive localization performed by devices performing table lookups without transmitting, and (b) scalable simultaneous localization of many devices without performing per-device computation. We treat the underlying localization algorithm as a black box and we develop a search process to determine the optimal quantization given a training data set. For our evaluation we use a data set of RSSI measurements in an environment where a vehicle was placed at various positions (or was absent) in order to capture a dynamically changing environment. We evaluate how training and optimizing the quantization on a given data set fares when tested in a modified environment. Our black box localization schemes are taken from the family of k--Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) schemes. Despite their similar results in terms of average accuracy, different members of the k-NN family demonstrate drastically different coverage behavior, i.e., ability for the quantized RSSI values to represent a larger set of distinct locations in space.
Differential effects of tree species identity on rhizospheric bacterial and fungal community richness and composition across multiple trace element-contaminated sites
Creators: name: Bonin, Aurélie
name: Pfendler, Stéphane
name: Chalot, Michel
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Phytomanagement
metabarcoding
Contaminated sites
Microbial communities

description: Soil microbial communities play a key role in plant nutrition and stress tolerance. This is particularly true in sites contaminated by trace metals, which often have low fertility and stressful conditions for woody plants in particular. However, we have limited knowledge of the abiotic and biotic factors affecting the richness and composition of microbial communities inhabiting the rhizosphere of plants in contaminated sites. Using high-throughput amplicon sequencing, we studied the rhizospheric bacterial and fungal community structures of 14 woody plant families planted in three contrasting sites contaminated by metals (Pb, Cd, Zn, Mn, Fe, S). The rhizospheric bacterial communities in the given sites showed no significant difference between the various woody species but did differ significantly between sites. The Proteobacteria phylum was dominant, with over 25% of the overall relative abundance, followed by Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Gemmatimonadetes. Sites were also the main driver in fungal community composition, yet, unlike bacteria, tree species identity significantly affected fungal communities. The Betulaceae, Salicaceae, and Fagaceae families had a high proportion of Basidiomycota, particularly ectomycorrhizal fungi, and the lowest diversity and richness. The other tree families and the unplanted soil harbored a greater abundance of Ascomycota and Mucoromycota. Consequently, for both bacteria and fungi, the site effect significantly impacted their community richness and composition, while the influence of plants on the richness and composition of rhizospheric microbial communities stayed consistent across sites and was dependent on the microbial kingdom. Finally, we highlighted the importance of considering this contrasting response of plant rhizospheric microbial communities in relation to their host identity, particularly to improve assisted revegetation efforts at contaminated sites.
description: Funding provided by: Agence Nationale de la RechercheCrossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/00rbzpz17Award Number: ANR-13-CDII-0005-01
Funding provided by: Agence de la transition écologiqueCrossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/05rth8x13Award Number: ADEME-1172C0053
Funding provided by: Franche-Comté Regional CouncilCrossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/04x58c235Award Number: 2014-069
Funding provided by: Pays de Montbéliard Agglomération*Crossref Funder Registry ID: Award Number: 13/070-203-2015
Network linkages between TBAs and other providers having a role in childbirth care in rural Bangladesh
Creators: Ghosh, Mridul Kanti
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

Introduction: Though the number of deliveries by skilled birth attendants and at facilities has increased in Bangladesh, still many deliveries are occurring at home. More than half of all deliveries in rural areas of Bangladesh are assisted by traditional birth attendants (TBAs). Despite their critical role in maternal health, the network linkages between TBAs and other providers engaged in childbirth care in rural Bangladesh has not been well explored.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the coordination or communication between TBAs and other health care workers providing health care services to the women during childbirth or after delivery in rural Bangladesh.

Methods: A qualitative approach was used to explore the coordination and communication between TBAs and other providers of health care services to the women during childbirth or after delivery in rural Bangladesh. Seventeen practicing TBAs, 9 “village doctors”, 8 obstetricians and 3 transport people were purposefully selected from 4 upazilas (sub-districts), in the districts of Jashore and Kushtia. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth, individual interviews. They were conducted in Bangla and then translated and transcribed into English and analyzed.

Results: Themes emerging from the interviews included TBA’s work as part of a childbirth care network, quality of care and patient safety, working relationships between TBA and village doctors, and relationship of TBA with obstetricians.

Conclusion: This study explored the critical role of TBAs and other providers of their network involved in maternal health service delivery in rural areas of Bangladesh. TBAs are working in coordination with other providers. A strong referral network including TBAs will better serve mothers and newborns in rural Bangladesh.
Assessing Language Vitality of the Gorontalo Language
Creators: Kadir, Rahmawaty
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

This study aims to examine the linguistic vitality of the Gorontalo language, which was assessed as a threatened language by Ethnologue in 2020 (Eberhard, et al., 2020).  Based on an extensive literature review, two research questions emerged: 1) What is the current language vitality of the Gorontalo Language? and 2) To what extent do the following variables influence Gorontalo language vitality: age, gender, place of origin, place of growing up, level of education and profession? This study employed an explanatory mixed-methods design. In the first phase of the study 60 participants who live in Gorontalo regency of Gorontalo province completed the quantitative sociolinguistic survey.  A second phase involved qualitative data collection through semi-structured interviews with eight mothers of lower elementary school children. Both data collection phases were conducted in 2021. The study is informed by Fishman’s language use and language shift, Baker’s language attitudes, and the UNESCO language vitality assessment.  Based on the Language Vitality Measurement Scales (LVMS), which were adapted from UNESCO’s frameworks, it was found that the current status of the Gorontalo language is shifting, with the child-bearing generation knowing the language well enough to converse among themselves, but not passing it on to their children. Vygotsky’s theory on language learning, Bonnie Norton’s theory on language and identity, and a large body of research on language planning and policy guided in interpreting the research findings. With the increasing numbers of endangered languages in Indonesia and the shortage of professional literature on the health of the Gorontalo language in Indonesia, the results of this study contribute to the scholarly literature on the Gorontalo language. It offers a contemporary descriptive portrait of language transmission, language use, language attitudes and language fluency within the Gorontalo community in Gorontalo province. Results can guide policies and practices for reversing language shift in the Gorontalo community and elsewhere in Indonesia.