OPUS: Open Ulethbridge Scholarship

Open ULeth Scholarship (OPUS) is the University of Lethbridge's open access research repository. It contains a collection of materials related to research and teaching produced by the academic community.

Self-archiving your research in OPUS is one way to meet Open Access policies of granting agencies. It is important to retain your final, post-peer-reviewed drafts for submission to OPUS, as this is often the only version publishers will allow to be archived. Click here for information on the U of L Open Access Policy.

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Molecular standards for analytical ultracentrifugation: investigating the suitability of double-stranded DNA
(Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 2023) Ranasinghe, Maduni Charuni; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Demeler, Borries
This thesis focuses on the development of molecular standards to validate analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) instruments, alongside an exploration of multiple applications of AUC. The goal of the main study is to address the critical need to develop a robust molecular standard for validating AUC instruments, with a specific emphasis on evaluating double-stranded DNA molecules as a potential candidate. By extensive investigation into the hydrodynamic properties of different topologies of double-stranded DNA at a wide range of temperatures, this study reveals the potential of linear and nicked double-stranded DNA as a reliable standard for AUC, contributing to the accurate characterization of macromolecules in solution. Supplementary research findings, as detailed in the attached publications presented in the attached appendix, further illustrate the versatility of AUC in various scientific domains. In one study, we employed AUC as a powerful technique to measure the sedimentation and diffusion coefficients of DNA minicircles to validate the elastic theory results obtained from our other collaborator. Also, it explores the impact of DNA supercoiling-induced shapes on minicircle hydrodynamics. In another collaborative effort, we study the oligomerization behavior of a de novo designed metalloprotein for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, leveraging AUC for comprehensive characterization. These collective studies highlight the indispensable role of AUC in the characterization of macromolecules in solution, with applications ranging from DNA dynamics to functional protein characterization, and they demonstrate the crucial importance of reliable molecular standards in enhancing the accuracy of AUC measurements. Together, they contribute to the advancement of analytical science and its applications across diverse research domains.
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Measuring developer experience with abstract syntax trees
(Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Mathematics and Computer Science, 2023) Deutekom, Steven M.; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Rice, Jacqueline E.; Anvik, John
Accurately representing a developer's programming knowledge and experience is difficult. Traditional metrics rely on counting the number of times a developer has used or made changes to pieces of code. When a developer has modified a file in the past they are less likely to introduce defects with a change. However, these metrics do not contain any general information on the structure or purpose of a piece of code and are only useful when developers work on a piece of code more than once. We investigated the use of several new metrics based on abstract syntax trees (ASTs) as a possible way to more completely measure a developer's experience. By using the ASTs of code previously modified by a developer we may be able to identify their experience with a piece of code they are modifying even if they have never modified that specific code before. Through statistical analysis and machine learning predictions we show that AST-based metrics capture a more general programming experience than count-based metrics. In their current form, AST-based metrics do not offer any significant improvements over existing metrics for defect prediction. However, our work offers a starting point for future use of ASTs for representation of knowledge and experience in defect prediction and other relevant areas.
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'A new politics of the city': locating the limits of hospitality and practicing the city-as-refuge
(ACME Editorical Eollective University of British Columbia, 2011) Young, Julie
Refuge is an ongoing, everyday process of contestation that takes and makes place in and through the city, its spaces and relations. The potential of a particular city as a space of refuge is not guaranteed; refuge must be constantly (re)claimed through spatial practices and tactics. The city holds promise as an emancipatory space not through invocations of hospitality but rather because it is struggled over by its various inhabitants; thinking about cities as spaces of ‘dissensus’ highlights how refuge is produced and denied in everyday and extraordinary ways. In looking to the potential of the city as a space of refuge, I take my cue from Derrida (2001) who argues the city should be able to serve as a refuge in ways the nation-state cannot and calls for the invention of ‘new cities of refuge.’ Drawing from empirical work to ground the theoretical framing, I argue that the ways in which school space is practiced by youth living with precarious legal status in Toronto, Canada, reveals how bureaucratic exercises and lived experiences of refuge are in tension and points to potential reframings of membership away from the nation-state.
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Influence of sport type and gender on bone turnover markers in young athletes
(2023) Apiloki, Joy O.; Aje, Oluwakayode S.; Awotidebe, Taofeek O.; Okhawere, Martin I.; Mbada, Chidozie E.; Onyeso, Ogochukwu, K.; Idomeh, Festus A.; Adagbusi, Charles O.; Oke, Kayode I.
Background Exercise is beneficial to bone health. However, little is known about the interaction effect of gender and sport type on bone turnover in young athletes. This study aimed to examine the influence of gender and sports categories (high, medium, and low impact) on bone turnover: reabsorption markers–osteocalcin, calcium, inorganic phosphate (IP), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and resorption marker–cross-linked N-telopeptides of type 1 collagen (NTx) among a university’s undergraduate athletes. Methods The study was an ex-post facto design involving forty-seven purposively recruited gender- and sporttype- matched undergraduate athletes whose demographic characteristics and BMI were obtained. Participants’ 5 mL antecubital blood samples were collected and analysed for serum levels of osteocalcin, calcium, IP, ALP, and NTx using standard laboratory protocols, Bio-Tek spectrometer, and KC4 (3.3) software. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and two-way ANOVA. Results The study involved 24 females and 23 males (n = 47) aged 22.15 ± 3.35 years with an average BMI of 23.34 ± 4.66. There was no significant gender effect on the biomarkers. However, there was a significant effect of the sports category on IP (F = 4.307, p = 0.020), calcium (F = 6.807, p = 0.003), and ALP serum levels (F = 11.511, p < 0.001). Specifically, mid-impact sports participants had a higher IP than the low-impact group (mean difference [MD] = 0.81 mg/dL, p = 0.036). Low-impact had a higher calcium level than mid-impact (MD = 0.40 mg/dL, p = 0.022) and high-impact (MD = 0.49 mg/dL, p = 0.003). Conversely, low-impact had lower ALP than mid-impact (MD = − 11.13 U/L, p = 0.013) and high-impact (MD = − 17.44 IU/L, p < 0.001). Conclusion Moderate to high-impact sports positively affected bone turnover in young athletes. However, gender had no significant impact.
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A computational model of Blackfoot noun and verb morphology
(Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Indigenous Studies, 2023) Kadlec, Dominik Miroslav; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Genee, Inge; Arppe, Antti
This thesis describes the construction of a computational model of Blackfoot word structure. This model was developed so that it could provide a foundation for Blackfoot language technologies such as spelling and grammar checkers, search suggestion generators, paradigm generators for pedagogical purposes, intelligent dictionaries, automated corpus parsers for linguistic research and more. Many Indigenous languages in Canada have been declining in use. In response, many Indigenous communities and activists have implemented revitalization strategies which vary in effectiveness. One way to help language efforts to be more effective is to ensure that tools for research and revitalization are freely available to community members. In the 21st century this can be achieved in part through technology, particularly with the help of the internet, which offers information freely (in most cases) to those who wish to access it. In this thesis I describe the early developments of a project that will be used to augment currently available digital resources and provide a basis for future technology for the Blackfoot language. I use Finite State Transducer technology to develop a computational model of Blackfoot noun and verb morphology and test the model using a corpus of modern Blackfoot text that was constructed from a curated collection of available texts.