cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Biodegradable ultrafiltration membrane enhanced with anti-biofouling agent from Anacardium occidentale extract
Creators: name: Anggraeni, Vania Septa
name: Lee, Hoong Chern
name: Goh, Pei Sean
name: Sutrisna, Putu Doddy
name: Chan, Eric Wei Chiang
name: Wong, Chen Wai
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Space Science
subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Molecular Biology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: Plant Biology

description: Our research focuses on developing environmentally friendly biodegradable ultrafiltration (UF) membranes for small-scale water purification in areas lacking infrastructure or during emergencies. To address biofouling challenges without resorting to harmful chemicals, we incorporate bio-based extracts, such as methyl gallate from A. occidentale leaves, a Malaysian ulam herb, known for its quorum sensing inhibition (QSI) properties. The methyl gallate enriched extract was purified by solvent partitioning and integrated into cellulose-based UF membranes (0 to 7.5% w w–1) through phase inversion technique. The resulting membranes exhibited enhanced anti-organic fouling and anti-biofouling properties, with flux recovery ratio (FRR) of 87.84 ± 2.00% against bovine serum albumin and FRRs of 76.67 ± 1.89% and 69.57 ± 1.77% against E. coli and S. aureus, respectively. The CA/MG-5 membrane showed a 224% improvement in pure water flux (PWF) compared to the neat CA membrane. Our innovative approach significantly improves PWF, presenting an environmentally friendly method for biofouling prevention in UF membrane applications.
Improving Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient for Sparse Reward and Goal-Conditioned Continuous Control
Creators: Futuhi, Ehsan
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

We propose an improved version of deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) for sparse reward and goal-conditioned reinforcement learning. To enhance exploration, we introduce \emph{${\epsilon}{t}$-greedy}, which uses search to generate exploratory options, focusing on less-visited states. We prove that $\epsilon t$-greedy has polynomial sample complexity under mild MDP assumptions. To more efficiently use the information provided by rewarded transitions, we design a new goal-conditioned dual experience replay buffer framework \emph{GDRB} and use \emph{longest n-step returns}. The resulting algorithm \emph{ETGL-DDPG} combines \bm{$\epsilon t$}-greedy, \textbf{G}DRB, and \textbf{L}ongest $n$-step with DDPG. We evaluate ETGL-DDPG on standard sparse-reward continuous tasks, which include a maze and two robotics tasks. We show that ETGL-DDPG significantly outperforms DDPG as well as other state-of-the-art methods in all environments. Further experiments show how each strategy individually enhances the performance of DDPG.
title: Саясаттану
Creators: name: ELS IPR BOOKS
Publisher: name: EDP Hub (Идипи Хаб), Ай Пи Ар Медиа
Year: 2024

description: Семинарда Қазақстан Республикасының Конституциясы, Қазақстан Республикасының Үкіметі, жергілікті мемлекеттік өзін-өзі басқару сияқты тақырыптар қаралды. Саясаттану, Саяси билік, оның мәні мен түрлері, сайлау және саяси партиялар көрсетілген. Саяси мәдениет және саяси мінез-құлық, саяси идеология және көшбасшылық, даму және дағдарыс, әлемдік және халықаралық саясат тақырыптары бойынша тапсырмалар берілген. Практикум студенттерге, бакалаврларға, сондай-ақ жалпы саяси ғылым мен саясаттанудың пәнаралық мәселелеріне қызығушылық танытатын оқырмандардың кең аудиториясына арналған.
Supplementary Material Text
Creators: name: Moriel, Avraham
name: Lerner, Edan
name: Bouchbinder, Eran
Publisher: name: AIP Publishing
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 51
subject: Physical sciences
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The Supplementary Material file contains additional
analysis and data that support the results obtained in
the manuscript.
Bacterial adhesion and corrosion behavior of different pure metals induced by sulfate reducing bacteria
Creators: name: Wan, Huihai
name: Wang, Guoqing
name: Zhang, Tiansui
name: Xu, Zixuan
name: Liu, Hongfang
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Biophysics
subject: Physical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Cancer

description: The corrosion behaviors of four pure metals (Fe, Ni, Mo and Cr) in the presence of sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) were investigated in enriched artificial seawater (EASW) after 14-day incubation. Metal Fe and metal Ni experienced weight losses of 1.96 mg cm−2 and 1.26 mg cm−2, respectively. In contrast, metal Mo and metal Cr exhibited minimal weight losses, with values of only 0.05 mg cm−2 and 0.03 mg cm−2, respectively. In comparison to Mo (2.2 × 106 cells cm−2) or Cr (1.4 × 106 cells cm−2) surface, the sessile cell counts on Fe (4.0 × 107 cells cm−2) or Ni (3.1 × 107 cells cm−2) surface was higher.
Practicing Assessment as a Good Relative: Perspectives of Indigenous Youths and Caregivers of Indigenous Youths
Creators: Carlson, Elizabeth M
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

In this thesis, I co-created knowledge with eight Indigenous youths and ten caregivers of Indigenous youths through qualitative interviews about their experiences of and preferences in psychological assessment. I was guided by constructivist methodology in my use of the qualitative descriptive method. Thematic analysis was my data analysis strategy, through which I came to present the co-created knowledge through interpretive and rich description. Before presenting the co-created knowledge, I present a review of the relevant literature. In the co-created knowledge chapter, I present through thematic networking the global theme of Practicing Assessment as a Good Relative. Youths and caregivers shared how assessment needs to be done in a good way through relational practice meant to “help our relatives.” I then present the three interconnected organizing themes of Relationship Above All, Understanding and Respecting Context, and Truly Seeing the Youth, and their respective subthemes. The potential for benefit and harm is explored surrounding the presence or absence of relationality, understanding and respecting context, and coming to truly see youth in assessment practice. In the discussion chapter, I discuss the co-created knowledge in context of the literature, explore practice implications, and offer a framework for practicing assessment as a good relative. In the concluding chapter, I summarize this research, explore considerations, limitations, and future research, and offer my final reflections. This research provides critical process, outcome, and youth- and caregiver-based evidence to guide practice forward in a good way.
“We’re spinning our wheels with no traction”: Police and Transit Peace Officer Experiences with and Perceptions of Violence, Safety, and Vulnerable Persons on Transit
Creators: Geldart, Rachel Lynn
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

Extant scholarly work has explored multiple aspects of transit safety and security issues. It tends to focus on increasing actual or perceived safety on public transit, including crime prevention through environmental design and increasing safety for vulnerable transit users and community members (e.g., women, people experiencing homelessness). However, much less is known about how police and peace officers perceive and experience policing public transit (on buses, light rapid transit (LRT) train cars, in stations/centres), especially in the Canadian context. To uncover these nuances, I conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 11 Edmonton Police Service (EPS) police officers, 16 Edmonton transit peace officers (TPOs), one high-ranking City of Edmonton employee, and one outreach worker from a local social agency. Results show that police officers and TPOs experienced a dual failure in their official and unofficial policing duties. First, due to a perceived lack of authority, officers felt unable to enforce transit bylaws and could not rely on the criminal justice system to enact appropriate consequences. As such, they felt unable to provide and ensure safety on transit for the public, vulnerable people, and themselves. Second, officers believed existing social services were often inappropriate, unavailable, and inaccessible for vulnerable people, especially those who needed immediate care, which limited their options to divert individuals in crisis out of the transit system. When officers offered help to vulnerable people (e.g., transport to services, treatment resources, etc.), they received constant refusals. Both police officers and TPOs felt extremely ineffective at keeping transit safe and providing suitable alternatives to transit, fuelling feelings of powerlessness, hopelessness, and cynicism. Findings suggest the urgent and critical need for increased integration of law enforcement and social agencies to improve safety outcomes on transit and provide vulnerable people with proper care.
Modulating spin-valley relaxation in WSe$_2$ with variable thickness VOPc layers
Creators: name: Lubert-Perquel, Daphné
name: Cho, Byeong Wook
name: Philips, Alan J.
name: Lee, Young Hee
name: Blackburn, Jeffrey L.
name: Johnson, Justin C.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Combining the synthetic tunability of molecular compounds with the optical selection rules of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC) that derive from spin-valley coupling could provide interesting opportunities for the readout of quantum information. However, little is known about the electronic and spin interactions at such interfaces and the influence on spin-valley relaxation. In this work, vanadyl phthalocyanine (VOPc) molecular layers are thermally evaporated on WSe$_2$ to explore the effect of molecular layer thickness on excited-state spin-valley polarization. The thinnest molecular layer supports an interfacial state which destroys the spin-valley polarization almost instantaneously, whereas a thicker molecular layer results in longer-lived spin-valley polarization than the WSe$_2$ monolayer alone. The mechanism appears to involve a tightly-bound species at the molecule/TMDC interface that strengthens exchange interactions and is largely avoided in thicker VOPc layers that isolate electrons from WSe$_2$ holes.
Vitamin A Modulation of Hepatic Retinoid and Triglyceride Metabolism
Creators: Sugars, Emily S
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

Introduction: Vitamin A is an essential dietary micronutrient and its active metabolite all-trans retinoic acid is a key regulator of both hepatic retinoid and hepatic lipid homeostasis. Retinoic acid is a potent transcriptional regulator with more than 500 proposed target genes, however the tissue, dose, and sex-dependent variation in these genes remains unclear. A protective effect has been proposed for retinoic acid on metabolic-dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease, a disease characterised by the pathophysiological accumulation of triacylglycerol in the liver. This study aims to develop a more holistic understanding of retinoic acid responsive genes in the liver and the interaction between hepatic retinoid and lipid metabolism.

Methods: Changes in mRNA expression were quantified by whole-genome microarray in male C57BL/6 mice, four hours after a 30 mg/kg dose of retinoic acid. The most up and downregulated genes and key retinoid metabolic genes were then assessed by RT-qPCR in female and male mice following another 30 mg/kg dose of retinoic acid, and female and male mice after long term dietary vitamin A manipulation. The effects of obstructed retinoic acid signalling on gene expression, retinoid, and triacylglycerol homeostasis were examined through a hepatocyte specific, dominant negative retinoic acid receptor mice (Alb-cre+/-:RARdnfl/-).

Results and Conclusions: Three-hundred and thirty one genes were identified by microarray as differentially expressed following retinoic acid administration, with downregulation of lipogenic genes. The retinoic acid specific hydrolase CYP26A1 was upregulated by retinoic acid and high dietary vitamin A in both females and males, and downregulated when the retinoic acid receptor was obstructed. Alb-cre+/-:RARdnfl/- mice had increased circulating retinol, decreased circulating triacylglycerol, and did not accumulate triacylglycerol in the liver when fasted.
BeSt-LeS: Benchmarking Stroke Lesion Segmentation using Deep Supervision
Creators: name: Deb, Prantik
name: Baru, Lalith Bharadwaj
name: Dadi, Kamalaker
name: S, Bapi Raju
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Image and Video Processing (eess.IV)
subject: Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (cs.CV)
subject: FOS: Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Brain stroke has become a significant burden on global health and thus we need remedies and prevention strategies to overcome this challenge. For this, the immediate identification of stroke and risk stratification is the primary task for clinicians. To aid expert clinicians, automated segmentation models are crucial. In this work, we consider the publicly available dataset ATLAS $v2.0$ to benchmark various end-to-end supervised U-Net style models. Specifically, we have benchmarked models on both 2D and 3D brain images and evaluated them using standard metrics. We have achieved the highest Dice score of 0.583 on the 2D transformer-based model and 0.504 on the 3D residual U-Net respectively. We have conducted the Wilcoxon test for 3D models to correlate the relationship between predicted and actual stroke volume. For reproducibility, the code and model weights are made publicly available: https://github.com/prantik-pdeb/BeSt-LeS.
description: Accepted to MICCAI BrainLes 2023 (oral)
العلاقة بين مستويات حالة العدوانية وبين النتائج المحققة خلال المنافسة لدى فئة (15- 16 سنة) في رياضة الكاراتيه The relationship between the levels of aggressiveness and the results achieved during competition in the younger category (15-16 years old) in karate
Creators: name: شويطر, رمزي
name: فتاحين, عائشة
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Relation, State, Aggressiveness, Results, Karate, Gender, Specialty

description: The study aimed to research the probability of a relationship between levels of aggressiveness and the results achieved during competition for the category (15-16 years old) in karate. The sample included 114 athletes of both genders.The study relied on the descriptive approach and the analysis of the results statistically. The results of the field study showed that the research sample is free of athletes with a low level of aggressiveness status. It also concluded that there are no statistically significant differences between levels of aggressiveness status that can be attributed to gender factor , and a relationship between levels of aggressiveness status among athletes and their results
Deep Knowledge Tracing Based on Behaviour in the Item Response Theory Framework
Creators: Ma, Chaojun
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

Knowledge tracing involves assessing students' performance based on their learning interaction records and providing them with personalized learning paths. Deep learning methods model students' knowledge states by exploring extensive exercise records, with the Deep-IRT approach considered superior to others. However, Deep-IRT overlooks relevant behavioural features that could assist in modelling students' knowledge states. Therefore, this study introduces a new method for modelling student behaviour, combining behavioural features with learning records to enhance knowledge tracking performance. Experimental results on two real-world benchmark datasets indicate that the proposed model significantly outperforms the Deep-IRT model in predicting future students' abilities. Limitations of the current study and potential directions for future research are also discussed.
My childhood memories during the Second World War
Creators: name: Project Team, Their Finest Hour
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 430304
subject: British history
classificationCode: 430308
subject: European history (excl. British, classical Greek and Roman)
classificationCode: 430316
subject: International history

description: Contributor experienced the Second World War as a child.

William remembers collecting gas mask at a local library at the beginning of the war.

He was eventually evacuated to Mill Farm, and was then moved to Wales after Dunkirk. He went home after the Blitz to Lambeth. He later remembers the V1 & V2 attacks on London.

The household had a Morrison Shelter which they used during Air Raids and later German rocket attacks.

He has recollections of VE Night - went to Trafalgar Square and witnessed the celebrations there.

He felt like the war was a normal thing as was young child - feels he had a natural resilience as child - had a lot of half-days at school.

Eventually received a technical scholarship on completing school.
title: Саясаттану негіздері
Creators: name: ELS IPR BOOKS
Publisher: name: EDP Hub (Идипи Хаб), Профобразование
Year: 2024

description: Практикум саясаттануды, саяси билікті, оның мәні мен түрлерін, сайлауды және саяси партияларды қарастырады. Қазақстан Республикасының Конституциясы, Қазақстан Республикасының Үкіметі, жергілікті мемлекеттік өзін-өзі басқару жарияланды. Саяси мәдениет пен саяси мінез-құлық, саяси идеология мен көшбасшылық, даму мен дағдарыс, әлемдік және халықаралық саясат тақырыптары бойынша тапсырмалар берілді. Практикум студенттерге, сондай-ақ жалпы саяси ғылым мен саясаттанудың пәнаралық мәселелеріне қызығушылық танытатын оқырмандардың кең аудиториясына арналған.
Childhood memories of Cardiff in WW2
Creators: name: Project Team, Their Finest Hour
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 430304
subject: British history
classificationCode: 430308
subject: European history (excl. British, classical Greek and Roman)
classificationCode: 430316
subject: International history

description: Contributor was born on the day Pearl Harbour was attacked (7th December 1941).

Early childhood in Cardiff during WW2.

Grew up living near steelworks - father worked there. Lived through bombing and fire-bombing of industrial areas of Cardiff and saw bombing of steelworks and ARP Wardens working. Remembers hiding in Anderson Shelter with father, brother - in cupboard behind the stairs.

Remembers the end of war period - street parties for VE Day, going around to bonfire sites, and later to victory parades in Cardiff.

Recalls from her childhood having a strong fear of the Germans.

Father also served as a member of the Home Guard.
Automatic Logical Forms improve fidelity in Table-to-Text generation
Creators: name: Alonso, Iñigo
name: Agirre, Eneko
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Computation and Language (cs.CL)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Table-to-text systems generate natural language statements from structured data like tables. While end-to-end techniques suffer from low factual correctness (fidelity), a previous study reported gains when using manual logical forms (LF) that represent the selected content and the semantics of the target text. Given the manual step, it was not clear whether automatic LFs would be effective, or whether the improvement came from content selection alone. We present TlT which, given a table and a selection of the content, first produces LFs and then the textual statement. We show for the first time that automatic LFs improve quality, with an increase in fidelity of 30 points over a comparable system not using LFs. Our experiments allow to quantify the remaining challenges for high factual correctness, with automatic selection of content coming first, followed by better Logic-to-Text generation and, to a lesser extent, better Table-to-Logic parsing.
Quantifying the Chirality of Vibrational Modes in Helical Molecular Chains
Creators: name: Abraham, Ethan
name: Nitzan, Abraham
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Chiral phonons have been proposed to be involved in various physical phenomena, yet the chirality of molecular normal modes has not been well defined mathematically. Here we examine two approaches for assigning and quantifying the chirality of molecular normal modes in double-helical molecular wires with various levels of twist. First, associating with each normal mode a structure obtained by imposing the corresponding motion on a common origin, we apply the Continuous Chirality Measure (CCM) to quantitatively assess the relationship between the chirality-weighted normal mode spectrum and the chirality of the underlying molecular structure. We find that increasing the amount of twist in the double helix shifts the mean normal mode CCM to drastically higher values, implying that the chirality of molecular normal modes is strongly correlated with that of the underlying molecular structure. Second, we assign to each normal mode a pseudoscalar defined as the product of atomic linear and angular momentum summed over all atoms, and we analyze the handedness of the normal mode spectrum with respect to this quantity. We find that twisting the double-chain structure introduces asymmetry between right and left-handed normal modes so that in twisted structures different frequency bands are characterized by distinct handedness. This may give rise to global phenomena such as thermal chirality.
Bensonella undefined-3
Creators: name: Gojšina, Vukašin
name: Hunyadi, András
name: Sutcharit, Chirasak
name: Tongkerd, Piyoros
name: Auffenberg, Kurt
name: Grego, Jozef
name: Vermeulen, Jaap J.
name: Reischütz, Alexander
name: Páll-Gergely, Barna
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Mollusca
Gastropoda
Stylommatophora
Hypselostomatidae
Bensonella
Bensonella undefined-3

description: Bensonella sp. 3
Fig. 108
Material examined.
Laos • Luang Namtha Province, Luang Namtha ca 43.8 km southwest – Vieng Phou Kha, Phou Lan, right side of the road 100 m; 20°44.5278'N, 101°11.1011'E; 770 m a. s. l.; 08 Oct. 2019; A. Hunyadi, K. Okubo, J. U. Otani leg., coll. HA.
Remarks.
Only a single, rather weathered, and partly damaged specimen of Bensonella which is the most similar to B. lakainguta and related species (B. hooki, B. montawa sp. nov., B. multihami) could be examined from Laos. Most of the aperture is obstructed by the dirt that could not be cleaned which is why majority of the barriers were invisible. The identity of this species remains unresolved until more specimens are collected.
description: Published as part of Gojšina, Vukašin, Hunyadi, András, Sutcharit, Chirasak, Tongkerd, Piyoros, Auffenberg, Kurt, Grego, Jozef, Vermeulen, Jaap J., Reischütz, Alexander & Páll-Gergely, Barna, 2025, A new start? Revision of the genera Anauchen, Bensonella, Gyliotrachela and Hypselostoma (Gastropoda, Eupulmonata, Hypselostomatidae) of Southeast Asia with description of 46 new species, pp. 1-338 in ZooKeys 1235 on pages 1-338, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1235.145281
"list.txt" of "Measurement of jet substructure in boosted $t\bar{t}$ events with the ATLAS detector using 140 fb$^{-1}$ of 13 TeV $pp$ collisions"
Creators: name: ATLAS Collaboration
Publisher: name: HEPData
Year: 2024

description: list of tables
description: Particle level differential cross-section measurements for top-pair production, in event with at least an hadronically decaying top-quark, as a function of substructure of the boosted top-quark. Only charged particles are used to build the substructure. Two topologies, $l$+jets and all-hadronic, are considered. The study was performed using data from pp collisions at centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected in Run2 by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{−1}$. Due to the large cross-section at the LHC, such measurements allow a detailed study of the properties top-quark substructure, enabling precision tests of several Monte Carlo generators. The Monte Carlo predictions for measures of the broadness, and also the two-body structure, of the top-quark jets are found to be in good agreement with the measurements, while variables sensitive to the three-body structure of the top-quark jets exhibit some tension with the measured distributions
.
State Construction in Reinforcement Learning
Creators: Rafiee, Banafsheh
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

In reinforcement learning, the notion of state plays a central role. A reinforcement learning agent requires the state to evaluate its current situation, select actions, and construct a model of the environment. In the classic setting, it is assumed that the environment provides the agent with the state. However, in most cases of interest, the information received from the environment only provides partial information about the state of the environment.

Ideally, the agent would construct the state directly from the data stream of its interaction with the environment. The prevalent approach to state construction is to train a large neural network with backpropagation and representing the state as the hidden state of recurrent neural networks or the last hidden layer of feed-forward networks. Building upon this approach, the existing solution methods have made a lot of progress. However, they remain limited due to several reasons such as the problem of loss of plasticity in neural networks.

The first contribution of this thesis is the proposal of three diagnostic benchmarks inspired by animal learning for studying state construction.

The diagnostic benchmarks have a simple setting: there are only a few signals to make predictions about. However, they are complicated because complex computational models are required to solve them. The proposed benchmarks include knobs for controlling the level of difficulty of the problem.

The second contribution of this thesis is empirical. We conduct a comprehensive empirical study of the prominent recurrent learning methods, illuminating some of the limitations of existing solution methods. The empirical study suggests that: 1) None of the methods are fully satisfactory. 2) Recurrent neural networks (RNNs) can be expensive in terms of memory and computation. 3) RNNs trained with truncated backpropagation through time are sensitive to the truncation parameter. 4) Augmenting RNNs with stimulating traces of the observation signals can make T-BPTT less sensitive to the truncation parameter.

The third contribution of the thesis is on the topic of auxiliary task discovery. Learning about tasks auxiliary to the main task of maximizing the sum of discounted rewards can assist state construction. It would be appealing if the agent could discover useful auxiliary tasks automatically. In this work, we propose a method for auxiliary task discovery based on the idea of generate-and-test. Our proposed method continually generates auxiliary tasks, evaluates them, and replaces the useless auxiliary tasks with newly generated ones. We show the efficacy of the proposed method empirically.
The allocation of FIFA World Cup slots based on the ranking of confederations
Creators: name: Csató, László
name: Kiss, László Marcell
name: Szádoczki, Zsombor
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: General Economics (econ.GN)
subject: Optimization and Control (math.OC)
subject: FOS: Economics and business
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 90-10, 90B90, 91B14

description: Qualifications for several world championships in sports are organised such that distinct sets of teams play in their own tournament for a predetermined number of slots. Inspired by a recent work studying the problem with the tools from the literature on fair allocation, this paper provides an alternative approach based on historical matches between these sets of teams. We focus on the FIFA World Cup due to the existence of an official rating system and its recent expansion to 48 teams, as well as to allow for a comparison with the already suggested allocations. Our proposal extends the methodology of the FIFA World Ranking to compare the strengths of five confederations. Various allocations are presented depending on the length of the sample, the set of teams considered, as well as the frequency of rating updates. The results show that more European and South American teams should play in the FIFA World Cup. The ranking of continents by the number of deserved slots is different from the ranking implied by FIFA policy. We recommend allocating at least some slots transparently, based on historical performances, similar to the access list of the UEFA Champions League.
description: 21 pages, 2 figures, 6 tables
Making Space for Fossils: Power and Paleontology in Yoho National Park (1907 – 1988)
Creators: Phillips, Christopher A C-Y
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

Yoho National Park protects the Burgess Shale: a chain of fossil beds in British Columbia bearing what paleontologist and science writer Stephen Jay Gould once called “the world’s most important animal fossils.”  They are an extraordinary record of underwater soft-bodied organisms from just after the Cambrian Explosion, around half a billion years ago.  Paleontologists and geologists have shaped public understanding of the fossils through their fieldwork and research activities. They have also shaped all actors’ use of the Burgess Shale fossil beds in Yoho through the arguments and tactics that they used to access, collect, and recognize the heritage value of the fossils.

In this thesis, I present three case studies of moments in the twentieth century when paleontologists helped shift the access regime around the Burgess Shale. I begin with the first systematic scientific studies of the Burgess Shale, from 1907 – 1925. I examine how Smithsonian Institution Secretary Charles Doolittle Walcott, family members like his wife Mary Vaux Walcott, and the rest of the Smithsonian team negotiated access to the Burgess Shale. They did so by claiming space for Parks Canada and the Canadian Pacific Railway through species naming, by trading favours, and by participating in recreational activities that helped promote the mountain tourism industry. Next, I focus on two permit requests that the Royal Ontario Museum made in the 1970s: one that was denied, and one that Parks Canada found impossible to refuse. I examine how curator and paleontologist Desmond Collins tapped into the discourse of nationalism and an endorsement from the Geological Survey of Canada to make his case for access. Finally, I examine the Burgess Shale’s nomination to the World Heritage list in 1979, and the consequences for park management up to 1988. Here, the authorized heritage discourse and expanding tourist pressure met a parks agency increasingly concerned with wilderness preservation.

Through their research in the Burgess Shale, these generations of paleontologists expanded collective understanding of the evolution of life on Earth. At the same time, they helped Parks Canada and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company claim territory in the Rocky Mountains, increased Parks Canada’s perception of the fossils’ heritage value, and ultimately helped make the sites so popular with tourists that park managers saw strict access restrictions as the only way to protect the fossils.
Regional-scale hydrologic settings buffer black spruce regeneration in the presence of post-fire droughts
Creators: Lanti-Traikovski, Alexander A.
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

Climate change is increasing the frequency of droughts and wildfires, reducing tree

recruitment, and altering post-fire species composition. In Canada’s western boreal forests, postfire recruitment, particularly of drought-intolerant coniferous species like black spruce, has

declined in recent decades to the benefit of early-successional species like jack pine and

trembling aspen. Groundwater supplied to forests via adjacent peatlands may help to resist such

reductions in recruitment and compositional shifts, particularly during droughts. The degree to

which peatlands buffer adjacent forests from drought-induced regeneration failure may therefore

depend on topographic position and soil texture, factors that govern groundwater connectivity. I

examined how these topoedaphic factors influence upland tree regeneration from post-fire

drought, defined in this study as the post-fire climate moisture deficit across sampled fires. Since

higher-positioned peatlands (bogs, poor fens) are mostly fed by precipitation, they are more

vulnerable to drought compared to fen-like peatlands at lower topographic positions that are fed

by groundwater. I therefore hypothesized that regenerating forest density, growth, and

composition at lower topographic positions would be buffered from post-fire drought by water

sources from the adjacent fen across a range of soil textures. Specifically, I predicted that tree

density, volume, and proportions of black spruce should decline with high topographic positions,

favoring instead jack pine and aspen following post-fire drought. I tested this prediction by

measuring 58 post-fire upland forest stands ranging from 5 – 20-years old that experienced wet

or dry post-fire weather. Study sites spanned local (relative to adjacent peatland) and regional

topographic position (relative to a regional low) gradients. I used generalized linear mixed

effects models to test interactions between these local and regional topographic positions, soil

texture, and post-fire climate. I found significant reductions in regenerating black spruceiii

proportions at high regional topographic positions across fine- and coarse-textured soils with

post-fire drought. Total regeneration (stem density), tree volume (basal area), and species of jack

pine and aspen showed no correlations with post-fire drought. This study highlights that

hydrologically well-connected areas of Alberta’s boreal forest may act as refugia from drought

and fire for drought-intolerant black spruce, and that more predominant upland jack pine and

aspen species appeared to be resilient under the current fire regime. Larger scale ecohydrological

dynamics therefore interact with forest regeneration and should be considered to identify areas

that may resist altered post-fire trajectories.
Checkerboard CFT
Creators: name: Alfimov, Mikhail
name: Ferrando, Gwenaël
name: Kazakov, Vladimir
name: Olivucci, Enrico
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The Checkerboard conformal field theory is an interesting representative of a large class of non-unitary, logarithmic Fishnet CFTs (FCFT) in arbitrary dimension which have been intensively studied in the last years. Its planar Feynman graphs have the structure of a regular square lattice with checkerboard colouring. Such graphs are integrable since each coloured cell of the lattice is equal to an R-matrix in the principal series representations of the conformal group. We compute perturbatively and numerically the anomalous dimension of the shortest single-trace operator in two reductions of the Checkerboard CFT: the first one corresponds to the Fishnet limit of the twisted ABJM theory in 3D, whereas the spectrum in the second, 2D reduction contains the energy of the BFKL Pomeron. We derive an analytic expression for the Checkerboard analogues of Basso--Dixon 4-point functions, as well as for the class of Diamond-type 4-point graphs with disc topology. The properties of the latter are studied in terms of OPE for operators with open indices. We prove that the spectrum of the theory receives corrections only at even orders in the loop expansion and we conjecture such a modification of Checkerboard CFT where quantum corrections occur only with a given periodicity in the loop order.
description: 63 pages, 24 figures, v2: typos fixed, references added, prepared or submission to JHEP; v3: typos fixed, references added, published JHEP version
Nurturing the Nurturers: Understanding Support Systems for Early Childhood Educators in Alberta
Creators: Smith, Mary-Frances
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

The recent Government of Canada initiative to create a national early learning and child care (ELCC) system recognizes the importance of accessible and affordable early learning and child care. The Canada-Alberta Early Learning and Child Care Agreement aims to support the 46% of children aged birth to 5 years old in Alberta enrolled in regulated and licensed ELCC services (Government of Canada, 2022). The Agreement is a $3.8 billion investment in Alberta's ELCC sector. Its goal is to create 45,000 new childcare spaces and hire 7,000 to 20,000 new early childhood educators (ECEs) (Government of Canada, 2021a). However, concerns regarding workforce retention persist. This qualitative descriptive, community-engaged research aims to understand the factors contributing to the retention of ECEs in the sector. The purpose of the semi-structured interviews was to gain insights from eleven ECEs in Alberta about their experiences and perspectives on workforce stability. The interviews explored ECE's motivations for entering the sector, workplace experiences, self-advocacy strategies, and grassroots solutions. Thematic analysis identified five key themes of support: personal passion, pride, and professional identity; work-life balance; positive professional relationships; supportive organizational structures; and policy decisions. The participating ECEs had deep motivations to work with children and felt that their work with children and families was not adequately recognized or valued. However, they found the interview process empowering and stressed the importance of decision-makers understanding their skills and challenges. By providing ECEs with an opportunity to voice their concerns, this research helped them realize their agency and the importance of self-advocacy. The findings of this research have significant implications for policy decisions under the Canada-Alberta Agreement. They highlight the need to include the voices and perspectives of ECEs when decisions are made on their behalf.
Characterization of Energy Efficiency in Microwave-Assisted Comminution
Creators: Achina-Obeng, Rebecca
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

Microwave technology has emerged as a promising tool in the mining and minerals processing industry, offering selective heating capabilities that induce fractures along grain boundaries. This innovative pretreatment method not only targets minerals selectively but also contributes to significant energy savings during subsequent grinding operations.

This thesis focuses on interpreting the multifaceted benefits of microwave treatment, with a particular emphasis on energy efficiency and its impact on downstream processes. Through a case study on copper porphyry ore, crucial parameters such as particle size analysis were linked to notable energy savings in the comminution process, alongside an assessment of mineral liberation and flotation kinetics. Optimization tests were completed to determine the limitations of the pilot-scale microwave tests.

Key observations include the correlation between microwave treatment efficiency and particle size, with relatively larger particles exhibiting better liberation benefits and particle size distribution. XRF analysis showed the elemental content of the sample. QEMSCAN analyses played an integral role in determining the extent of liberation achieved, particularly for particles passing the 2mm sieve size (-2 and +0.045) mm.

A flotation recovery of 10.54 % was realized for the microwave treated sample as opposed to 4.06 % for the reference samples. This study not only provides valuable insights into the application of microwaves in mining and mineral processing but also highlights the potential for further innovation and optimization in this field. The continuous evolution of microwave technology underscores its growing significance as a sustainable and efficient solution in mineral processing operations.
A Narrative Inquiry into the Experiences Related to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Access Among Young Men Who Have Sex with Men (YMSM) in Canada
Creators: Tovillo, Jose Benito M.
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

Young men who have sex with men (YMSM) in Canada and globally are disproportionately impacted by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective strategy for reducing transmission and acquisition of HIV infection among high-risk populations, including YMSM. However, there is a limited number of studies exploring YMSM’s PrEP access experiences and the different social, structural, behavioural, and clinical factors that influence their PrEP access and use. The purpose of this narrative inquiry study is to explore and understand the experiences of Canadian YMSM in relation to their PrEP access. In this research, I worked collaboratively with three Canadian YMSM between the ages of 21 and 24 over 24 months. With relational ethics at the center, the participants and I engaged in multiple conversations in person and virtually and collected field texts that provided insights into their experiences across time, places, and social contexts. The intensive and long-term researcher- participant relationships allowed us to co-compose narrative accounts that reflected the participants’ unique experiences, especially those that shaped their overall PrEP access. Through the continuous telling and retelling of the participants’ stories and by reflecting on and laying their narrative accounts side by side, I identified resonant threads that highlighted their experiences of accessing PrEP in relation to and in the contexts of identity-making and social responsibility. This narrative inquiry research provided new understandings and knowledge of Canadian YMSM’s PrEP access experiences. The new knowledge from this research can be utilized to inform PrEP programs, research, education, policies, and practice guidelines that will improve PrEP access and help decrease the rate of new HIV infections among Canadian YMSM.
Vision, Resistance, and Partnership: Navigating Organisational Change in K-12 Education
Creators: Khater, Sherif SM
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

This thesis delves into the pivotal role of teachers in effectuating organisational change within K-12 educational settings. The study hinges on the premise that while teachers are at the forefront of implementing change, they are often sidelined in the decision-making processes, leading to a disconnect between policy and practice. This disconnect not only fosters resistance but also undermines the efficacy of change initiatives. By exploring the nuanced interplay between teachers' resistance and a leader's vision for change through teachers’ lens, this quantitative research illuminates the complexities involved in educational reform. It underscores the necessity of involving teachers as active partners in the change process, not merely as executors of top-down initiatives.

Employing a comprehensive survey methodology, where 466 participant teachers from Alberta, other regions of Canada, and Egypt were surveyed, the research captures insights from a diverse cohort of K-12 teachers across various jurisdictions, both within and outside Canada. The findings reveal a profound impact of leadership practices on the success of change initiatives. Specifically, the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI)-Observer section provides a unique lens into teachers' perceptions of their principals' leadership styles, highlighting a direct correlation between inclusive leadership and reduced resistance to change. The study concludes with a call for a paradigm shift in leadership approaches, advocating for a more collaborative, transparent, and inclusive process that recognizes teachers as integral stakeholders in educational change. This approach, the thesis argues, is instrumental in bridging the existing gap between leadership vision and teachers' buy-in, ultimately paving the way for more sustainable and effective educational reforms.
Exploring the prevalence of serious mental illness among Albertans living with peripheral arterial disease who have undergone a lower limb amputation
Creators: Cray, Danielle J
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a chronic disease that may lead to severe consequences including loss of lower limb. With a known relationship between chronic disease and mental illness, it is paramount to establish the prevalence of mental illness to guide the development of strategies that support individuals living with concurrent mental illness and chronic disease. This thesis examines the prevalence of serious mental illness (SMI) among Albertans living with PAD who have undergone a lower limb amputation (LLA), with the consideration of various other variables of interest. A retrospective cohort design was used whereby existing health data records were analyzed from the years 2017 through to 2019 to determine the study group, which included anyone who had a primary diagnosis of, and hospitalization with PAD, and was over the age of 18. Demographics of the study group are discussed and the following independent variables were reviewed; age, sex, geography, housing, diabetes, length of stay, and discharge disposition. Excel software and R software version 4.3.2 were used to perform descriptive statistics (mean, median, mode and standard deviation), and inferential statistics (correlation analysis, chi-square test of independence, and logistic regression). Correlation analysis revealed no correlation between SMI and LLA, and a moderate correlation between diabetes and LLA. The chi-square test of independence revealed that there was a statistical significance between SMI and those with an LLA, SMI and those without an LLA, as well as PAD and SMI. Logistic regression revealed a statistical significance between diabetes and LLA, and no statistical significance between LLA and SMI. A higher percentage, or prevalence, of SMI was noted in the group of people with LLA compared with those who did not have an LLA, although this was not deemed statistically significant. Key recommendations after completion of this study include the

following: 1) further mental health assessment, starting with depression screening, in individuals who present to acute or primary care settings with symptoms of PAD, 2) increased screening of females who present with symptoms of PAD or risk factors as well as further research on females living with PAD and SMI, 3) further research in understanding mental illness reporting in younger and older adults, 4) repeating this study across every Canadian province and territory, and 5) further research to understand rates of SMI pre and post operatively from an LLA to understand more about a potential causative relationship. This work provides the foundation for further research to be carried out amongst this population, specifically the lived experiences of individuals who live with PAD and a mental illness.