2011 / 6th Annual University of Regina Graduate Student Research Conference

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Creating Community Consciousness: Students Expanding Knowledge & Creativity

Editors:

Timothy Maciag
Richard Dosselmann
Elizabeth Starks

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2011 University of Regina Graduate Students' Association Student Research Conference Abstracts
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-01) Maciag, Timothy; Dosselmann, Richard; Starks, Elizabeth
On behalf of the University of Regina Graduate Students' Association executive I would like to welcome you to the sixth annual Student Research Conference, titled Creating Community Consciousness: Students Expanding Knowledge & Creativity. The aim of the conference has remained the same as in previous years ~ to provide a platform for students to share their academic knowledge and creative works with the academic and local community. In helping organize this annual event I have had the unique perspective of witnessing first-hand the excitement of students in all disciplines ~ eager to come together and share their knowledge and creative works. It truly is something great. I wish to thank the university community and all of the sponsors for supporting this year's conference. I also wish to thank the many volunteers who have helped in organizing the event. I specifically wish to thank Richard Dosselmann, Elizabeth Starks, and Bahman Ahmadi for their ongoing help and support. I also wish to thank all of the members of the GSA executive: Adam Belton, Jane Rose, Emenike Ezechikwelu, Adewale Babatunde Aderoju, and Dorothea Wojtowicz, all of whom have helped make this conference possible. I wish to provide a special thanks to Bill Brown and the executive members of the GNU/Linux Open Source Users of Regina, Saskatchewan (LOSURS). With their participation in this year's event, it is my hope that it is the beginning of more collaborative efforts between university students and local community groups. I also wish to thank our two keynote speakers: Robert J Sawyer and Dr. Richard Stallman for their participation. Both of these speakers are people I admire very much and I am grateful I was given the opportunity to bring them to Regina to speak at this event ~ helping expose their work to the academic and local community. I hope that you take this opportunity to explore the research and creative works throughout the 2 day event and engage the presenters with questions and comments.
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2011 University of Regina Graduate Students' Association Student Research Conference Schedule
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-01) University of Regina Graduate Students' Association
Open Access
Advanced Photo Sensors for Particle and Medical Physics
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-01) Tahani, Mehrnoosh
In recent years, tremendous effort has been expended on subatomic physics, with the building of new laboratories to better understand the natural laws governing the universe. Jefferson Lab, one of these Laboratories in the United States, contains four experimental halls and aims to explore some of the least understood aspects of our known physical laws. The new experimental hall in Jefferson Lab, Hall D, will house a new experiment called GlueX. A critical component of GlueX is a custom-designed device comprised of layers of optical fibres and lead sheets, which will detect subatomic particles. For this purpose, GlueX will be using a new-generation photo sensor, which also has wide applications in medical physics.
Open Access
Alternative Rehabilitation Programs for Correctional Facilities
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-02) McInnes, Adam
There have been several alternative programs implemented in prisons around the world as ways to rehabilitate inmates, some of which have been borrowed or introduced into school systems. Through the use of appropriate motivation, people can be influenced towards making changes in their lives. Nontraditional programs, such as horticultural therapy, animal husbandry and therapy, meditation, fitness and athletics, education and vocational training, and proper nutrition have all shown to be effective towards rehabilitation, improving mental health, and have several cost benefits. Several great programs are already in operation in Canadian correction centres, but there are a limited number of spaces available in those programs due to large incarcerated populations. To that end, this list of programs may provide insight into new approaches that can be operated within existing programs, or as complementary programs that improve the effectiveness of other programs. Some of these programs appear to have been introduced in a limited way to a few women’s prisons in Canada and others to male prisons, however these programs have found a more gender neutral application in other prisons around the world with great success.
Open Access
An approach to face recognition using Bayesian networks
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-01) Moise, Marian
There are many categories of algorithms that tackle face recognition, one of them being based on Bayesian Networks which allow to encode causal relationships between different kind of random variables, thus helping to express correlations between salient facial features(eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth). Although current algorithms are quite successful on controlled conditions, performance decreases rapidly in case of unconstrained viewing conditions, such as head pose and illumination for instance. In order to diminish the influence of lighting conditions, histogram equalization is used as a preprocessing algorithm. The used algorithm for features extraction from the grayscale image is the two-dimensional Cosine Transform (2D-DCT) and for facial features localization it has been used the Active Shape Models (ASM) which consists in fitting the shape of an object, using a previously learned global shape model, and represented as a set of landmark points on the face. The model of the used Bayesian Network can be explained as follow: the root node on the top represents a face (node F), which is composed of the relationships between eyebrows (node B), eyes (node E), the nose (node N) and the mouth (node M).And finally, these types of facial features generate the corresponding observations. Finally, we compare the proposed system with two popular appearance-based approaches: PCA (Principal Components Analysis or Eigenfaces) and LDA (Linear Discriminant Analysis or Fisherfaces).
Open Access
Beautiful Falsehoods: A Look at the Symposium, and the Problem of Diotima
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-02) Greenwood, Todd
One question which is often brought up with regards to the Symposium is why Socrates chooses to give his speech through the mouth of Diotima, given that she is the only woman ever to get a prominent speaking role in any of the dialogues? Through a careful examination of the forms as presented in his speech, I show how Socrates would likely not have been espousing accurate concepts of such things as Beauty and love. Instead, it can be seen that he is doing much the same thing as every other individual at the symposium, named providing a eulogy to Eros. Considering the situation in the Symposium it becomes clear what purpose Diotima serves; through her, Socrates is able to give a eulogy and participate in the symposium with the others, and yet still keep his reputation among those present; the speech, and thus the problems therein, are not actually seen to be said by Socrates.
Open Access
Bio-Composite Development for Acoustic Barriers
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-02) Panigrahy, Bhabani; Stilling, D.S.D.
An innovative biocomposite material utilizing reclaimed material and Saskatchewan crop residue is under development. This material is intended to not only minimize the societal, environmental footprint by using sustainable or reclaimed material, but also provide good acoustic and vibration damping and possess semi-structural, construction strength. This value-added product is to be designed into an acoustic barrier in construction areas or along traffic corridors. By varying the combination of natural fibres, such as flax or hemp fibres, with reclaimed polymers, such as polypropylene and rubber, a resilient material with ultimate strengths ranging from 3 to 5 MPa with the capacity to attenuate acoustic noise by 20 dB have been manufactured and evaluated by University of Regina researchers. These properties of good acoustic and vibration damping capacity and high strength essentially are inversely related with increased fiber content. Basically, an increase in fiber content tends to increase the damping capacity yet decrease the strength. Generally, a compromise between these competing properties of strength and damping can be achieved with 30 to 50% fiber concentration of the biocomposite. To improve the structural strength, the manufacturing processes of compression moulding and extrusion combined with compression moulding have been compared with the latter providing improved strength characteristics. Also, fiber processing prior to manufacturing affects strength, density, water absorptive and acoustic absorptive. Fundamental engineering design can be applied to further improved structural integrity and enhance the acoustic damping properties of the material to create a functional acoustic barrier along a traffic corridor.
Open Access
Care Farming: a New Approach to Therapy
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-02) McInnes, Adam
Care farms are a growing movement around the world. Though still rare here in North America, there is an interest in this type of therapy and rehabilitation. Care farming uses traditional agriculture in an innovative way to generate and promote therapy, rehabilitation, social inclusion, education, and social services. This type of agriculture offers opportunities for disabled or disadvantaged people to participate in growing food, working with animals, and/or learning new job skills while being integrated into supportive environment where their capabilities may be valued and enhanced. This includes people with mental health problems, people with disabilities (social, physical, mental, sensory, learning, etc.), addictions rehabilitation services, prisoner rehabilitation services and probation, services for older people, therapeutic activities for children, adults and young people doing community service, and so on. All participants benefit from the physical work, skill learning and development, and a reconnection with food, nature, and their community. They are assisted in becoming productive members of the community.
Open Access
Characterization of Clinical and Environmental Isolates of Pantoea
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-02) Nadarasah, Geetanchaly; Stavrinides, John
The genus, Pantoea, belongs to a family of Gram negative bacteria that have been found to colonize many hosts, including humans. Pantoea can be found in the general environment, including plants, soil, ground, and clinical or nosocomial environments. A total of 110 strains representing 29 clinical, 43 environmental and 38 plant isolates of Pantoea were studied via multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) to determine their phylogenetic relationships. Further analysis investigated the ability of different isolates to colonize various hosts such as Zea mays and Drosophila melanogaster. Clinical, environmental, and plant isolates were found interspersed within the tree, in contrast to what would be expected in relation to their different areas of isolation. Colonization abilities were also discovered to be similar among the different isolates. Clinical isolates were found to colonize maize crops equally and efficiently as plant isolates, and plant and environmental isolates were discovered to colonize the fruit fly effectively as clinical isolates. Close relatedness and equal colonization abilities among clinical, environmental, and plant isolates suggests that they are capable of multi-host colonization. This suggests that plant isolates may not only be harmful to plants but may also be capable of colonizing other hosts, including humans.
Open Access
Community Values Scale Validation
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-02) Parkerson, Hollyanne
In 2009, the Uranium Development Partnership (UDP) put forth recommendations about how Saskatchewan could better utilize its uranium resources. A qualitative analysis of written stakeholder responses was conducted and four value clusters were revealed (traditional market values, green market values, deep ecology values, and sustainability values; Dolter & Arbuthnott, 2010). Measurement of environmental concern has typically been addressed within the areas of risk perception (e.g., worldview/identity grid; Kahan & Brahman, 2006), values research (e.g., New Environmental Paradigm; Dunlap, Van Liere, Mertig, & Jones, 1990), and temporal concern (e.g., Consideration of Future Consequences; Strathman, Gleicher, Boninger & Edwards, 1994); however, the four values revealed in the stakeholder responses spanned these three directions. This suggests that current measurement instruments may not provide an adequate assessment of all value clusters. The purpose of this study is to assess the reliability and validity of the proposed scale and to assess whether the relationship between the four values and the UDP recommendations generalizes beyond the stakeholders of the public consultation.
Open Access
Comparison of seismocardiography to echocardiography for measuring cardiac cycle events
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-02) Quarrie, David Mac; Neary, Patrick
Background Seismocardiography (SCG) measures timing and force of cardiac contraction. However, limited data is available to confirm its ability to accurately record these events in comparison to echocardiography (Echo). This study compared SCG with Echo to determine whether SCG provided a valid measure of cardiac performance. We hypothesized that the SCG measurements would not be different from Echo. Methods and Results SCG and Echo was performed on 28 (17 females) healthy volunteers (Mean ± SD; age=39.3±13.9 yrs; age range = 12-59 yrs). The SCG was recorded in the supine position. Following SCG collection, Doppler and M-mode Echo measurements were collected. Data analysis was performed on 10 cardiac cycles (SCG’s) and 1-3 Echo images. The results showed the % differences between the Echo and SCG for all comparable variables ranged from 0.90% to 11%, with similar coefficient of variation. Independent T-tests (p<0.05) showed no significant differences between the Echo and SCG, respectively, for aortic valve open to acceleration time of systole (71±13 vs 76±12 msec), mitral valve open to E-wave (111±33 vs 110±20 msec), E-wave to A-wave (370±118 vs 410±144 msec), mitral valve open to E-wave (159±20 vs 164±28 msec), and mitral valve open to mitral valve close (536±129 vs 573±148 msec). Statistically significant differences were found for aortic valve open to aortic valve close (292±18 vs 264±20 msec), and isovolumic relaxation time (81±15 vs 91±8 msec). Conclusion SCG reliably measured cardiac timing when compared to the reference method, suggesting that SCG could be used in applied and clinical research.
Open Access
A Comparison Study of Cost-Sensitive Classifier Evaluation
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-02) Zhou, Bing
Performance evaluation plays an important role in the rule induction and classification process. Classic evaluation measures have been extensively studied in the past. In recent years, cost-sensitive classification has received much attention. In a typical classification task, all types of classification errors are treated equally. In many practical cases, not all errors are equal. Therefore, it is critical to build a cost-sensitive classifier to minimize the expected cost. Much work has been done with regard to this issue. On the other hand, cost-sensitive classifier evaluation received less attention, and had only been investigated in specific classification tasks. The goal of my project is to investigate different aspects of this problem. I review 5 existing cost-sensitive evaluation measures and compare their similarities and differences. I find that the cost-sensitive measures can provide consistent evaluation results comparing to classic evaluation measures in most cases. However, when applying different cost values to the evaluation, the differences between the performances of each algorithm change. It is reasonable to conclude that the evaluation results could change dramatically when certain cost values applied. Moreover, by using cost curves to visualize the classification results, performance and performance differences of different classifiers can be easily seen.
Open Access
Competition and Cooperation: Challenging the beauty and the beast paradigm
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-02) Harenberg, Sebastian; Dorsch, Kim D.; Karreman, Erwin; Riemer, Harold A.
Competition and cooperation have been conceptualized by social interdependence theory (Johnson & Johnson, 1989), which functions as the theoretical framework in many contexts (e.g., cooperative learning in education). Most studies show that positive interdependence in cooperative structures leads to more positive outcomes in terms of group productivity and interpersonal relationships. As a result, the focus has been on the structure of cooperation and competition has been viewed as an unproductive condition and a counterpart to cooperative structures. Some scholars (Baumgarten, 1988; Kohn, 1986) even argued that competition should be banned out of our workplaces and schools as it can only lead to destructive outcomes. Lately, studies (Fülöp, 2008; Sheridan, & Williams, 2006) have challenged this dichotomous view of competition and cooperation and suggested that both concepts need to be seen as continuums. Stanne, Johnson, and Johnson (1999) found that appropriately structured competition can lead to equally or more favorable outcomes than cooperative settings in motor task execution. Other researchers (Fülöp, 2009; Tjosvold, Johnson, & Johnson, 2003, 2006) have since examined the nature of constructive competition and its applicability in different contexts. This study examines the concept of constructive competition by exploring and structuring the most recent literature from educational and athletic contexts. The dimensions of constructive competition found in various studies will be explained and compared. The implications for educational and athletic contexts will be highlighted and future research directions will be discussed.
Open Access
Could Humans Cause Prairie Lake Food Webs to Collapse?
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-02) Starks, Elizabeth; Wissel, B.
Disturbed ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to top predator loss. Prediction of these losses remains challenging and controversial due to the importance of both community interactions and the tolerance of individual species. Here, we combined within-species biological indicators of a top predator (growth, physical condition and genetic diversity of walleye) with metrics of overall food-web structure (diversity and web complexity) to evaluate potential human causes of food-web disruption across 22 prairie lakes. In this study, food webs ranged from simple plankton communities to a complex community of fish, plankton, and invertebrates. Human disturbances included climate variability, land-use and fisheries activity. Both food-web structure and top predator health were primarily influenced by salinity, fertilizer runoff and gamefish stocking. Higher predator levels declined above 3 g/L salinity or 90 ug/L phophorus and showed physical stress below these levels. Ongoing attempts to maintain desirable fish communities through stocking were sometimes successful but often costly to the ecosystem. Future declines in community complexity are expected with climate change and new farming practices.
Open Access
Counting Permutations
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-02) Purdy, Alison
Suppose we have an orange, an apple and a pear. How many different ways can we arrange these three? The answer is six – OAP, APO, PAO, OPA, AOP, POA. These arrangements are called permutations. Now, how large a collection of these arrangements can we have so that any two arrangements have one fruit in the same position? With our three fruit, the answer is two. One example would be OAP and OPA. The answer isn’t quite so easy if we start with a larger set of objects. You would probably be surprised at the number of years it took for mathematicians to prove an answer that would apply to any number of objects. It turns out that the best approach is to have one object in the same position in all the arrangements. What happens if any two arrangements must have two objects in the same positions? What about more than two? How large a collection of permutations will meet these constraints? Recently, Ellis, Friedgut and Pilpel arrived at a partial answer to this question. In the research for my Master's thesis at the University of Regina, I used a different approach in an attempt to solve this problem. I will present these two results and discuss the relative strengths of each.
Open Access
Current Constructions: Examining the Representation of the Aboriginal Gangster on CBC Radio
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-02) Grebinski, Leisha
CBC Radio’s network program The Current produced a special segment on Saskatoon’s changing demographics in September 2010. The spotlight highlighted the city’s rapidly growing Aboriginal population. However, the dominant thread throughout the discussion (re)produced colonial tropes that situated Aboriginal people as disproportionately degenerate, inferior, and criminal (Carter, 1997; Fanon, 1990; Razack, 2002). In this paper I will question The Current’s focus on the “Aboriginal gangster” and its emphasis on the large number of youth being lured into gangs who allegedly have their grip on much of Saskatoon’s inner-city. In addition, I will critically examine racism and the systemic factors that are either overshadowed or completely ignored. Building on a body of literature that problematizes media as a powerful disseminator of knowledge that demonstrates to the public what is “common sense” (Hall,1976; Henry and Tator, 2002; Jiwani,2006), I will ask: What message does The Current sends to the nation regarding Saskatoon’s Aboriginal population? And as a consequence, what image does the Aboriginal population see reflected? When negative representations are produced and (re)produced by mainstream media, the health and well-being of Aboriginal peoples and their communities are adversely affected. As such, this paper will encourage dialogue to challenge and disrupt media discourse that produces and perpetuates the “Aboriginal gangster” stereotype; the latest monolithic depiction of Canada’s imagined Indian (Francis, 1992; Robertson, 2011; Valaskakis, 2005).
Open Access
The dasymetric method for mapping population
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-02) Krahnen, Anne; Siemer, Julia
This poster introduces basic concepts, methods and ideas of the dasymetric method. Today’s society relies upon maps as a common and effective way of communication. Population distribution and density are frequently displayed phenomena. Currently, the choropleth method is most commonly applied to map population. This method displays statistical data as densities for enumeration units and is most appropriate for phenomena that occur equally throughout a region (e.g., tax rates). However, its application to phenomena whose real distribution is not reflected by the boundaries of administrative areas (e.g., population) is inadequate. A less established method avoiding these problems is the dasymetric method. This method is visualizing statistical surfaces displaying phenomena and variables varying continuously over space. Cartographers discovered a relationship between the occurrence of population and additional, so-called ancillary data. Dasymetric mapping is the method used to define this logical relationship between ancillary data and census population data. Irregularities such as peak values and local variations are shown on dasymetric maps. The dasymetric method has not been standardized yet. A generally accepted valid relationship between ancillary data and a statistical surface still is to be defined. Thus, research focuses on the definition of methods that precisely redistribute census data to exclusively populated areas and determine their population density.
Open Access
Determination of Carbamate Insecticides, their Degradation Products and Phenylurea Herbicides in Atmospheric Samples in the Prairie Agricultural Region
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-01) Fergus, Nicole
Saskatchewan has the highest provincial pesticide usage in Canada. With the drought expected in Saskatchewan due to climate change, there will be increased crop production pressures and in turn, increased pesticide use. Increased pesticide use impacts human health, the environment, and resource management, among other things. Because of this, it is important to determine the amount of pesticides in the environment. This presentation introduces a new analytical method using liquid chromatography-positive electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry for the analysis of carbamate insecticides, their degradation products, and phenylurea herbicides in atmospheric samples. Atmospheric samples were collected at Bratt's Lake, Saskatchewan located in the prairie agricultural region. At present, there has been little to no atmospheric sampling of these pesticides, especially in western Canada and the objective is to provide the first detection for some of the target pesticides in the atmosphere.
Open Access
Development and Application of Meso-scale Soil Test System
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-01) Saadeldin, Ramy
This paper describes the design and fabrication of a new Mesoscale Soil Test System. This equipment is developed to find out innovative solutions for the construction of civil infrastructures on problematic soils, such as expansive clays. Expansive clays occur in the city of Regina and exhibit large amount of volume change due to seasonal climatic changes. The conventional laboratory test methods are not able to capture the field conditions of expansive clays. Development of modified testing methods can support geotechnical investigations for expansive soils. Meso-scale Oedometer Test System (MOTS) was fabricated at The University of Regina to take the advantage of testing an undisturbed Meso-scale soil samples (24 inches diameter). The (MOTS) is developed with approximate cost of $ 285,000 and is funded by Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). A high quality undisturbed sample of Regina clay was recently retrieved with the help of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure. The cost of sample acquisition was about $5,000 including the personnel time, backhoe operation, and transportation. MOTS apparatus will be provided with different sensors to measure the changes in loading, deformations and soil pressures.
Open Access
Development of Inference Methodology for Supporting Understanding of Composting Processes
(University of Regina Graduate Students' Association, 2011-04-01) Sun, Wei; Li, Gongchen; Huang, Gordon
Composting, one of the promising biotechnologies for solid waste management, is a process where organisms convert organic materials into a hygienic and bio-stable humus-like product. Food waste composting has gained increased attention in the past decade. Efficient operations of composting relies on insights of relationships between state variables (e.g. oxygen concentration, ash content, moisture content, and pH) and specific characteristics (e.g. microbial activities, maturity, and stability). Previously, many experimental approaches were developed in analyzing these relationships. However, experiment-based evaluations could hardly help quantify the interactions among multiple composting state variables. In comparison, a model-based analysis could help examine the inherent impacts of various factors on the biological and physiochemical processes and gain an in-depth insight into the related mechanisms. This study attempted to develop inference methodology based on multivariate analysis to describe the nonlinear relationships between the selected state variables and characteristics of interest in food waste composting. The experimental data from bench-scale composting reactors were used to demonstrate the applicability of proposed methods. These methods would help identify the most significant relationships, understand the interactive mechanisms, and infer the hard-to-obtain characteristics in an easier manner, during composting and many other environmental processes.

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