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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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    Virtual reality based cognitive-motor training and metabolomics: a potential protocol for rehabilitation and enhancement
    (Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Neuroscience, 2025) Witbeck, Carter J.; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Metz, Gerlinde A. S.; Montina, Tony
    Virtual reality (VR)-based cognitive-motor training has emerged as a promising tool for enhancing cognitive and motor functioning. Its underlying cellular metabolic mechanisms remain poorly understood, however. This thesis investigated (1) whether a virtual reality (VR)- based cognitive-motor learning (CML) intervention improves cognitive-motor speed efficacy (CMSE) by enhancing processing speed and/or decision-making, and (2) the urinary metabolomic response to VR training in healthy young adults. Sixty-two participants, assigned to experimental and control conditions, completed a 12-week VR-based CML protocol consisting of a baseline assessment, eight weekly training sessions, a post-test, and a transfer test. Performance was evaluated using response time, decision accuracy, CMSE, and composite indices. Urine samples were collected bi-weekly and analyzed using 1H-NMR spectroscopy with univariate and multivariate methods. The experimental group demonstrated CML, whereas controls showed only practice effects. Learning gains transferred to a similar task and were driven primarily by faster response times rather than improved decision-making. Both groups exhibited significant metabolomic shifts from baseline to training end, with females showing greater alterations; moreover, sex-dependent metabolic changes persisted at transfer. Key disrupted pathways involved carbohydrate, butanoate, and amino acid metabolism. These findings demonstrate the efficacy of a novel CML protocol in promoting processing speed and decision-making. Moreover, VR training induced measurable urinary metabolomic changes reflecting energy and oxidative stress regulation, with distinct sex-dependent adaptations. Together, they provide a foundation for future applications of biomarkers for monitoring cognitive-motor learning and personalized strategies in athletic performance optimization and neurorehabilitation.
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    Investigating the impact of programming styles to improve code quality using machine learning and sociolinguistic features
    (Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Mathematics and Computer Science, 2025) Abdullah, Deen Mohammad; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Rice, Jacqueline E.
    In this research we investigated whether sociolinguistic factors such as gender, region, and expertise influence programming styles and code quality. We collected and processed over 700,000 C++ programs from GitHub and Codeforces to build data sets for training Random Forest and BERT models to classify programmer groups. While capturing stylistic patterns, experimental results showed that context-based models outperform metrics-based models. To measure code quality, we combined the Maintainability Index and difficulty metrics to label code as compliant or non-compliant. We further fine-tuned the T5 model for code transformation to generate stylistically improved code. However, due to the limitations of encoder–decoder LLMs, the generated code samples were non-executable. To address this, we developed a CodeBERT-based recommendation model that generates targeted, metric-driven guidance to improve code quality. Finally, we implemented a prototype tool that combines classifications, code quality, and improvement suggestions, providing pedagogically meaningful feedback for learners and researchers.
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    Examining the relationship between childhood parentification, cultural orientation, and parenting behaviours in female primary caregivers
    (Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Education, 2025) Koumary. Mirele; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Education; Starr, Lisa
    Parentification is the phenomenon whereby children take on roles and responsibilities within their family that are typically reserved for adults, such as providing emotional or physical care for their parents or siblings. In this study, 70 female primary caregivers completed online questionnaires that measured parentification in childhood, cultural orientation, and parenting behaviours. Female primary caregivers who identified as individualists reported higher levels of instrumental parentification in childhood than those who identified as collectivists. Correlation analysis showed no strong or consistent relationships with parenting behaviours, but exploratory subscale findings suggest that perceived unfairness of parentification relates to fewer positive parenting practices. Furthermore, cultural orientation showed some direct effects on parenting behaviours. Using thematic analysis, the researcher created nine themes to capture the qualitative data from the short answer questions. Overall, parentification and the emerging area of the intergenerational transmission of parentification call for the attention of mental health, education, and family support systems to recognize parentification as a relational and cultural phenomenon with profound implications.
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    Cardiotoxicity and interspecies sensitivity of early life stage fish to polycyclic aromatic compounds
    (Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Biological Sciences, 2025) McKenzie, Kristin C. R.; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Wiseman, Steve
    Polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) are a broad class of organic contaminants that are present in all types of hydrocarbon fuels and produced from the incomplete combustion of organic matter. During early development, PAC exposure induces sublethal and lethal toxicity in fish. Predictive tools such, as the target lipid model (TLM), have been developed to estimate these impacts. Although cardiotoxicity is a well-established outcome of early life stage crude oil and PAC exposure, few studies have compared cardiotoxicity endpoints across freshwater fish species, and applications of cardiotoxicity endpoints within a TLM framework remain limited. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare lethal and cardiotoxicity endpoints of larval walleye (Sander vitreus), fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) following exposures to naphthalene, dibenzothiophene and benz(a)anthracene. Larvae from each species were exposed using a passive-dosing system to five serial concentrations of each PAC, with exposures initiated within 24 h post-hatch and terminated at seven days post-hatch. The TLM framework was able to effectively characterize lethality, bradycardia and ventricle to atrium length ratio (walleye only), enabling a critical target lipid body burden (CTLBB) for each endpoint and species. Although walleye exhibited significantly lower sensitivity to acute lethality relative to the other species, no significant differences between species were observed for bradycardia endpoints. Despite their high survival, walleye exhibited significant reductions in ventricle length and diminished cardiac function following exposure to PACs. This study is the first to successfully apply cardiotoxicity endpoints in fish to a TLM and the first to produce CTLBB data for walleye. Results from this study further support the integration of cardiac endpoints into TLM-based approaches for improving the prediction of sublethal impacts from oil spills.
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    Resiliency and vulnerability of boreal peatlands to wildland fire: identifying patterns through depth of burn, carbon loss, and environmental controls
    (Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Geography and Environment, 2025) Nelson, Kailyn Dawn; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Chasmer, Laura
    Boreal peatlands are globally significant carbon (C) sinks that have accumulated C over millennia but are increasingly threatened by climate-driven changes in fire regimes and moisture levels. Soil C losses from peat combustion remain uncertain due to challenges in quantifying below-ground combustion, limiting representation in global C budgets and models. This thesis 1) quantifies spatial variability in C loss during boreal peatland fires, and 2) identifies ecological conditions driving variability and peatland resistance or vulnerability to combustion. Research integrates field data, bi-temporal airborne lidar, and statistical modelling from the 2016 Horse River Wildfire in Alberta’s Boreal Plains. A synthesis of existing knowledge produced conceptual models of pre- and post-fire feedbacks impacting peatland combustion and recovery. These frameworks define two conceptual peatlands: resilient – hydrologically connected with low soil bulk density and moderated water tables, resulting in low severity combustion and moisture-retaining negative feedbacks; and vulnerable – fragmented or drained, with high bulk density, fluctuating water tables, and shrub encroachment, resulting in deep burns and drying positive feedbacks. Lidar ground classification accuracy assessments across unburned and burned, regenerating peatlands revealed negligible mean offsets: 0.00 m in burned to 0.01 m in unburned peatlands, with RMSEs of 0.09 m to 0.19 m, respectively. These findings support the utility of lidar for detecting elevation changes from peat combustion. Using these validated data, depth of burn (DOB) was estimated across peatland types and ecotones, averaging 0.08 ± 0.06 m, with deepest combustion in bog ecotones (0.09 ± 0.07 m). Statistical models revealed that top drivers of DOB variability depended on peatland type. In bogs, DOB was associated with topography and morphology, while in fens and swamps, where groundwater connectivity reduces the influence of topography on water tables, differences were associated with vegetation, hydrology, and disturbance. C losses across peatlands estimated using field-based soil C data and lidar-derived DOB showed that soil C losses (-2.11 ± 5.09 kg m-2) were substantially greater than vegetation losses (-0.38 ± 0.32 kg m-2), with bog ecotones identified as hotspots for C combustion loss (-16.5 kg m-2). Comparison with Landsat differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) revealed that while vegetation losses related moderately to dNBR, soil losses did not, demonstrating the limitations of optical indices for below-ground combustion. Comparisons with estimates from the Canadian Model for Peatlands highlighted the need to explicitly include ecotones in C models – particularly under a changing climate.