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2015 — Framing Effects in Officer Use-of- Force Decision MakingAbstract
Framing research demonstrates that making simple changes to the description of a task or task strategy can affect behaviour in a number of contexts (Almashat, Ayotte, Edelstein, & Margrett, 2008), but to my knowledge they have not been examined in a law enforcement setting. The present research examines officer decision-making processes during an emergency situation by investigating the influence of framing effects on the use of force. An interactive video-based use-of-force simulation scenario represented the emergency situation and participants were presented with one of three preceding framing manipulations. The experimental conditions emphasized either upholding public safety (i.e., avoiding unnecessary/excessive force) … Read more
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2024 — An experimental study of police interactions with persons with mental illness using simulation technologyAbstract
Mass deinstitutionalization and repeated reports of the use of force during police responses to person(s) with mental illness (PMI) have resulted in public and political debates about police mistreatment of PMI and motivated requests for police reform. As police interactions with PMI continue to increase it is important to understand police decision making, how officers perceive and interact with PMI, and the role of policing during mental health crises. Research examining police records or police-civilian interactions in the field has produced mixed results in the rates of use of force during interactions with PMI. The current study used a laboratory … Read more
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2013 — Automated Analysis of Sewer Inspection Closed Circuit Television Videos Using Image Processing TechniquesAbstract
Closed circuit television (CCTV) has been the primary sewer inspection method over four decades, and it is still widely used around the world. Sewer condition information is an important tool for developing asset management and renewal planning strategies. Several other sewer inspection technologies, such as digital side scanners, sonar, and laser-based scanning have rapidly advanced over the last two decades. However, these technologies still have limited use in the industry, and CCTV technology remains the most widely used sewer inspection technology. CCTV sewer inspections are highly dependent on the operator’s interpretation and assessment, and hence, could be somewhat subjective. Also, … Read more
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2021 — Solubility of Carbon Dioxide and Ethane in Promising Methylimidazolium-Based Ionic LiquidsAbstract
Limiting the emissions of carbon capture is one of the most important environmental issues facing humanity today. Carbon capture is also of great importance in the area of natural gas sweetening. In this work, the solubilities of CO2 and C2H6 in three promising ionic liquids {1- Hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluormethylsulfonyl)imide [HMIM][Tf2N], 1-Butyl-3- methyl-imidazolium dimethyl-phosphate [BMIM][DEP] and 1-Propyl-3- methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethyl-sulfonyl)-imide [PMIM][Tf2N]} were measured at (303.15, 323.15 and 343.15) K and at pressures up to 1.4 MPa using a gravimetric microbalance. The densities of the three ionic liquids were also measured at temperatures ranging from (293.15 to 343.15) K at atmospheric pressure. From the … Read more
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2017 — Rooted: An inquiry into nature shaping pedagogy and sustenance on the professional knowledge landscapeAbstract
This thesis is an autobiographical narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) into two research puzzles: First, how have experiences alongside nature shaped my personal knowledge landscape? Second, how is this knowledge negotiated on my professional knowledge landscape, and how does this negotiation shape or shift my pedagogy? With attention to Dewey’s (1938) theory of continuity and interaction in experience, Connelly and Clandinin’s (1988) conception of personal practical knowledge, and Connelly and Clandinin’s (1999) conception of stories to live by, I describe myself as a person who feels planted in nature. I also describe myself as a teacher of young children … Read more
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2016 — Technological Adaptation for Water Storage and Distribution in the Oldman River Basin in Response to Extreme Climate ExposuresAbstract
Technology has played a significant role in the development of the Oldman River Basin since early settlements. The development of new and expanding industries, changes in agricultural activity and practices, and transformation in demographics and population density across the region have led to the installation and use of new technologies to manage water effectively and efficiently for multiple consumers. Existing technologies are challenged by extreme climate conditions that abruptly change water flow to increase droughts and floods that also affect vulnerable social systems. It is in this context that technology for water storage and distribution has taken a greater role … Read more
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2021 — Performance Analysis of Received Signal Strength Indicator-Based Localization for Underground MinesAbstract
Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been implemented in a variety of scenarios, including tracking, smart grid, and equipment monitoring. Often times, devices in WSNs are required to know their locations with respect to other devices in the network. This act, known as localization, is the art of predicting the location of a device using anchor devices with known locations in the same network. Localization is essential for many critical industrial applications including underground mines, as the location of devices and employees is vital in helping to guarantee the safety of mining personnel. To the best of our knowledge, existing works … Read more
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2014 — Screening of Microfiltration and Ultrafiltration Ceramic Membranes for Produced Water Treatment and Testing of Different Cleaning MethodsAbstract
Membrane filtration, as a physical treatment method, was used to treat produced water (PW). Two ceramic microfiltration (MF) membranes and two ceramic ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were tested. The treatment target was to reach a contamination level suitable for further treatment by nanofiltration (NF)/reverse osmosis (RO) polymeric membranes, discharge into sea or injection into oil wells for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). MF 0.3 m TiO2/ZrO2 and MF 0.1 m SiC membranes were initially tested. The MF 0.1 m SiC membrane was selected based on the permeate flux and rejection performances. The selected MF membrane was used as the first filtration step. … Read more
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2016 — An Examination of the Impacts of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act on Community-Based OrganizationsAbstract
In Canada (AG) v. Bedford (Bedford Ruling), the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) ruled that three of the provisions included in Canada’s Criminal Code, ones that criminalized certain acts related to prostitution, violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the Charter). The SCC determined that the Government of Canada (GoC) needed to make some fundamental legislative changes in order to bring Canada’s prostitution laws into harmony with the Charter. If the GoC failed to make legislative changes within one calendar year, the provisions in question would have been stricken from the record. The GoC successfully made legislative changes within the … Read more
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2021 — Becoming Anti-Oppressive Educators in Open, Online Spaces: Pre-Service Teachers' Perceptions of Digital Identity and Social JusticeAbstract
This dissertation presents key understandings and conclusions drawn from my research into teacher candidates’ perceptions of digital identity, particularly as it relates to the process of becoming anti-oppressive educators. The results of this study provide the beginning of an answer to the following question, which I see as a critical point of inquiry in our increasingly digital world: As institutions of higher education experiment with blended and online learning models, how will these new learning spaces support or hinder the work of anti-oppressive education? The study traces a series of critical conversations with seven students enrolled in a four-year teacher … Read more
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2014 — Determining the Impact of Telehealth on Rural and Remote Health Care Service Delivery in CanadaAbstract
There are disparities in health status and outcomes between rural and remote residents and their urban counterparts, and these disparities are caused in part by inequitable access to health services. For decades provincial and territorial decision makers have implemented numerous health human resource policies, most commonly financial incentives, to attract health providers to rural and remote areas to alleviate the inequity of access. The effect of these policies has been temporary in that health providers responding to these incentives rarely established permanent practices in rural and remote communities. In addition, these policies rarely address the fact that specialized health services … Read more
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2018 — Sedimentology, Stratigraphy and Reservoir Characterization of the Middle Jurassic Upper Shaunavon Member in Southwestern SaskatchewanAbstract
The Upper Shaunavon Member in southwestern Saskatchewan has once again become an area of a new interest with advances in drilling and completion techniques. The member has been a medium oil producer since the 1950’s and has some of the most prolific oil production within the province. In southwestern Saskatchewan the Upper Shaunavon Member unconformably overlies the Lower Shaunavon Member. Detailed core descriptions and geophysical welllogs identified seven recurring lithofacies that include: 1) very fine to medium-grained peloidal quartz arenite (Facies 1); 2) sandy, bioclastic oolitic grainstone (Facies 2); 3) bioclastic, bioturbated sandstone (Facies 3); 4) well-cemented sandstone (Facies 4) … Read more
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2013 — A Parallel Hybrid Metaheuristic Approach for TimetablingAbstract
University timetabling is a well-known problem and much research has been done about it. This is an interesting subject to study because neither modeling nor solving it is straightforward. It has different variants ranging from teaching assignment to course timetabling to examination timetabling. Constructing any of these problems as a conflict-free timetable is a challenging task encountered every year by many educational institutions and universities across the world. Most of the current research in timetabling concentrates on exploring how the level of generalization of algorithms applied can be advanced, so that a broader range of problems can be addressed. In … Read more
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2018 — The Righteous, The Brave, and The Restless: The Experiences of Neil "Piffles" Taylor, his Fellow Canadian Pilots, and Prisoners-of-War in the First World WarAbstract
The experiences of Canadian airmen who served in the British flying services during the First World War have received a very focused treatment from historians. The wartime letters and diary of Saskatchewan veteran Neil Taylor, who served in the Royal Flying Corps, allow for a more complete appreciation of the nature of those experiences. Taylor’s writings, considered in relation to a variety of other primary and secondary sources, illuminate the experiences of Canadian and British Empire pilots and servicemen in the key areas of: motivation and training, active service, and life as a prisoner-of-war. Taylor's correspondence illustrates that pilots' motivations … Read more
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2016 — Domestic Violence and Intergenerational Trauma Amongst Aboriginal Women in Regina, SaskatchewanAbstract
The combined effects of colonialist efforts, namely the Indian Residential School System, have had a negative impact on Aboriginal populations in Canada. This project identified a relationship between experiencing intergenerational trauma as a result of attendance at an Indian Residential School and subsequent domestic violence and its normalization in an intimate partner relationship. Through the use of the interview methodology, the researcher collected data from five First Nations women who had previously been victims of domestic violence in an intimate partner relationship and had some connection to the Indian Residential School System in Canada. Results from the interviews were analyzed … Read more
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2013 — Potential mercury methylation Rates in Prairie Wetland SedimentAbstract
Neurotoxic methylmercury (MeHg) biomagnifies in food webs and may harm human and wildlife health. Methylmercury is produced by the methylation of mercury (Hg), primarily by sulphate reducing bacteria and iron reducing bacteria in anaerobic sediments of aquatic systems. Anthropogenic emissions of Hg may circulate globally in the atmosphere and have increased deposition of Hg to aquatic systems remote from the sources of Hg emissions. Deposited Hg adds to the pool of Hg available for methylation. Wetlands in particular have been identified as sites of elevated MeHg production because of the anaerobic nature of wetland sediments. North America’s prairie pothole region … Read more
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2021 — Restorative Justice, Apology, Restitution, and ForgivenessAbstract
Operating from a retributive approach, the current criminal justice system (CJS) often does not appear to value the well-being of victims. As an alternative approach, restorative justice values the well-being of victims and provides opportunities that can foster forgiveness compared to a retributive approach. London (2011) has linked the importance of forgiveness to the emotional and psychological well-being of victims. Using London’s (2006; 2011), this research aims to provide insight into what factors affect an individual’s willingness to forgive an offender. In doing so, this may improve and expand on how the Canadian CJS is able to serve the needs … Read more
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2017 — What are Grade Twelve Students Reading? Surveying Saskatchewan English Language Arts B30 TeachersAbstract
The purpose of this research study is to investigate how the recent English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum renewal has been adopted throughout Saskatchewan by looking specifically at the full-length texts taught in the ELA B30 course throughout 2014-2015, as a possible indicator. The basis of this research study stems from two prior Canadian studies: “The Constancy of the School ‘Canon’: A Survey of Texts used in Grade 10 English Language Arts in 2006 and 1996” by Mackey, Vermeer, Storie, and DeBlois (2012), as well as Allison Skerrett’s 2010 study, “Of Literary Import: A Case of Cross-National Similarities in the Secondary … Read more
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2016 — Characterization of Gas-Oil Flow in Cyclic Solvent Injection (CSI) for Heavy Oil RecoveryAbstract
Cyclic Solvent Injection (CSI) has emerged as an effective post-CHOPS recovery method. It has shown a great potential with the aid of the solvent injection under the huff-n-puff operation. The use of solvent that maintains a strong nature of gas results in the solvent chamber which under the huff-n-puff operation locates at an inner region towards the well. The CSI process is therefore governed by the gas-oil flow as the solvent chamber is dominated by the free gas-oil flow and the heavy oil zone by the dispersed gas-oil flow referred to as the foamy oil flow. The gas-oil flow in … Read more
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2013 — Risk and Resilience Variables as Predictors of Posttraumatic Stress and Growth: A Longitudinal Media-Based StudyAbstract
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) requires a causal traumatic event that produces severely maladaptive reactions (APA, 2000). Not all people exposed to a traumatic event develop PTSD; as such, identifying predispositional variables (i.e., risk and resiliency factors) associated with PTSD symptoms is important and clinically advantageous. Most experimental investigations of PTSD symptoms have been necessarily retrospective, making causal determinations of predispositional variables difficult, if not impossible. Media imagery of fictional events (e.g., movies) can produce acute states of anxiety and symptoms similar to PTSD. Recent research (Carleton, Sikorski, & Asmundson, 2010) indicates such media may be useful for experimental studies exploring … Read more
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2017 — Exploring Police Officers' Susceptibility to Posttraumatic Stress and Growth After TraumaAbstract
Traumatic exposure is a frequently-occurring facet of policing, yet relatively little research has been done on posttraumatic outcomes in Canadian federal and municipal officers. Given that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in police populations represents a significant health concern and economic burden, clarifying risk and resilience factors for posttraumatic adversity or resilience would inform screening, training, assessment, and treatment for Canadian police. The current dissertation presents cross-sectional, mixed-methods data investigating the relationship between psychosocial variables (i.e., anxiety sensitivity, intolerance of uncertainty, childhood adversity, personality, work disengagement, hope, optimism, perceived social support) and trauma-related outcomes (i.e., PTSD, posttraumatic growth, anxiety, depression) in … Read more
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2023 — Constraint propagation and variable ordering heuristics for solving Constrained Partial CP-netsAbstract
Representing, reasoning and finding Pareto optimal solutions from users' qualitative conditional preferences is one of the interesting research topics in Artificial Intelligence(AI). A conditional Preference Network (CP-net) is one of the extensively used graph models to represent these conditional preferences. Based on user-specific partial order for every value of a set of variables, a CP-net is constructed in ceteris paribus (all else being equal). A Partial CP-net can be used if a user does not specify the order for every variable value. The Search-Partial-CP algorithm can be used for reasoning and producing a set of Pareto optimal solutions from the … Read more
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2016 — A Novel Algorithm for Solving the Multi-Objective Assembly Line Balancing ProblemAbstract
The assembly line balancing (ALB) problems address the issue of assigning work elements and workers into different workstations to optimize a predetermined set of objective parameters such as the number of workstations, the cycle time and the production efficiency. Most of these combinatorial optimization problems possess NP-hard computational complexity. This rationalizes the growing interest of researchers to use metaheuristics to solve ALB problems. The problems studied in literature over the years are often limited by simplifying assumptions, which brings in a challenge to the models developed in academia while applying to real life problems. In this thesis, we have intensively … Read more
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2022 — Genetic interaction landscape of the Escherichia coli transcriptional factor machineryAbstract
In Bacteria, transcription factors (TFs) consist of sensory ligand-binding and DNA-binding helix-turn-helix (HTH) domains to respond to the environmental and internal stimuli. Although Escherichia coli is a well-studied model bacterium, yet half of its TFs’ characteristics remain unclear, including 72 genes of unknown function. Using E. coli synthetic genetic array, a quantitative approach to scoring the fitness of single and double mutant genes, I was able to measure pairwise genetic interactions (GIs) among all TFs in rich and minimal media (RM and MM) to create a differential (DF) GI network. DF network analysis demonstrated GIs altered in RM or MM … Read more
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2023 — Integrated optimization of hybrid steam-solvent injection in post-CHOPS reservoirs with wormhole networks and foamy oil behaviour under uncertaintyAbstract
As for the enormous heavy oil resources deposited in Western Canada, cold heavy oil production with sand (CHOPS) has achieved a low recovery about 5-15% of the originaloil- in-place (OOIP), though both its in-situ generated open channels (i.e., wormholes) and induced foamy oil lead to a higher oil recovery than expected. Hybrid steam-solvent injection has been considered as the most effective recovery method for heavy oil reservoirs; however, the existence of wormhole networks makes it technically and operationally challenging and foamy oil may be artificially induced. Physically, geological uncertainty needs to be considered appropriately with respect to wormhole networks and … Read more