UVicSpace : Browsing by Date Added

Browsing by Date Added

Now showing 1 - 20 of 21928

Computer-based technologies and the social construction of gendered identities: an ethnography of the power/knowledge relations of schooling
(2005-04-11T18:37:17Z) Coupal, Linda Vera; Carol E. Harris
This dissertation reports the findings of a critical ethnographic study of the cultures of five secondary schools in Western Canada, focusing on the structural and symbolic systems related to information and communications technologies (ICT).
(Re)presenting the living landscape: exploring community mapping as a tool for transformative learning and planning
(2005-04-11T23:33:27Z) Lydon, Maeve Frances; Michael M'Gonigle
In this thesis I explore community mapping as a tool for transformative community learning and planning for sustainability. This inquiry is set within the context of “grassroots post-modernism” which prioritizes the realm of locally-based knowledge and narrative. The first part of the thesis explores the landscape of discourse and the tension between hegemonic and situated knowledge. Deconstructing the power relations behind colonial and globalized worldviews provides a foundation for examining pedagogy and its relationship to power relations and everyday life. The argument is made for an inclusive community and eco-system-based approach to knowledge production as a cornerstone of healthy and sustainable development. This leads into the second part of the thesis: the exploration of mapping and case study of community mapping as a practical application of this theoretical framework. As discourse, I look at maps as subjective reflections of the world and the culture of the mapmaker. In this sense they are paradigmatic. They reflect cultural patterns and worldviews and therefore offer a medium for inquiry that reveals the interdependence of worldview, pedagogy and planning. Maps can help to create a sense of place, provide space for dialogue, and bridge personal knowledge to community learning and planning. Mapping is also a tool for narrative, for “storied residence,” and, when applied in a community context, it can facilitate creative and engaging expression. Overall, maps have significant spatial power, reflecting social, economic, and ecological relations that influence communities and patterns of development worldwide. The thesis attempts to show how mapping discourse, grounded in ecological and social narrative, can be tied practically to asset-based community learning, and participatory planning for sustainability. This is accomplished through a case study of the Common Ground Community Mapping Project based in Victoria, British Columbia and through a profile of various approaches to, and examples of, community mapping methodologies and projects.
Matched field processing with broadband random sources
(2005-07-25T21:55:04Z) Mokhtari-Dizaji, Reza; Chapman, N. Ross; Kirlin, R. Lynn
The goal of this thesis is to introduce new matched field processors (MFPs) for estimating the source location and the environmental parameters of a shallow water waveguide in which the source transmits either broadband or narrowband random signals.
Water and social activism in Canada
(2005-08-11T21:34:21Z) Busch, Kelly; Warburton, Rennie
This thesis on water and social activism in Canada is a journey into the realm of shared social understanding. Water is too precious to all forms of life to simply permit commodification for the benefit of a few at the expense of the many. The Sun Belt case adjudicated under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) when compared with what prevailed under previous Canadian national law reveals severe limits to state sovereignty. A high measure of support has already been manifest around concerns and considerations which pertain to water and the potential for the growth of social activism with reference to water may well be unprecedented in Canada. There are fundamental inequalities found within the Sun Belt case. Current international trade policy coupled with private banking practices does not value the principles of sustainability, equality and justice because it is committed to the commodification of the “commons”. This thesis uses a variety of sources to oppose the present discourses followed by governments according to the doctrines found in the study of classical economics within a capitalist context.
Working the system: re-thinking the role of parents and the reduction of 'risk' in child protection work
(2005-08-16T18:50:42Z) Brown, Debra J; Warburton, Rennie
This thesis examines how the British Columbia child protection system permeates the lives of the mothers it investigates. Dorothy Smith’s generous notion of work (1986) and Arlie Hochschild’s emotion work (1983) were combined to explicate the unpaid labour mothers contribute to the child protection process. Smith’s textually mediated relations of ruling (1987) revealed how a contracted child protection agency uses various texts to organize these women’s everyday activities. These texts are linked to others in work locations representing the institutional priorities of government and professional bodies, which uphold societal expectations of mothering. Ten interviews and a focus group with mothers revealed the ‘core competencies’ necessary to successfully navigate the child protection system. Mothers also identified risks inherent in the system with the potential to negatively impact their children, themselves and their family’s resiliency. Interviewing an experienced child protection counselor informed a textual analysis of the requisite paperwork within contracted agencies.
Secrets et puissances des figures merveilleuses dans les Lais de Marie de France: aspects du silence
(2005-08-19T17:53:58Z) Warrington, Rachel L.; Cazes, Hélène
Cette thèse examine d’abord les personnages merveilleux dans cinq lais de Marie de France, et reconnaît trois types de merveilleux : féerique, amoureux et lycanthropique. Sans motivation ni explicitation – donc par moyen d’un silence narratif – on reconnaît le personnage merveilleux « type ». Une analyse narratologique montre qu’un personnage peut être merveilleux sans être « type » et qu les cinq lais étudiés sont construits selon une focalisation sur le personnage humain. Examinant les actes magiques, cette thèse conclut que la magie des merveilleux « types » ne diffère d’un acte de celle des personnages non « types » que par la motivation psychologique. M’appuyant sur les lois universelles de la magie décrites par Hubert et Mauss, je conclus que Chievrefueil décrit en fait la construction d’une baguette magique. Dernièrement, l’altérité du personnage humain crée la possibilité d’une rencontre – d’habitude érotisée – entre le monde humain et le monde merveilleux et lance le récit.
Investigating landscape change and ecological restoration: an integrated approach using historical ecology and GIS in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta
(2005-09-02T20:08:30Z) Levesque, Lisa Marie; Higgs, Eric; Keller, Peter
This thesis examines landscape change from 1889 to the present within the foothills-parkland ecoregion of Waterton Lakes National Park (WLNP) in southwestern Alberta, Canada. Land cover dynamics are explored qualitatively and quantitatively using Geographical Information Systems and a combination of historical and contemporary data sources including: (1) Dominion Land Survey (DLS) transect records (1889), (2) repeat oblique photographs (1914 and 2004) and repeat aerial photography (1939 and 1999). Results indicate a consistent increase in woody vegetation cover, particularly aspen forest cover, within the foothills-parkland since 1889, largely at the expense of native grasslands. The primary drivers of these changes likely include: climatic influences, changes to the historical grazing regime, the suppression of natural fire cycles and the cessation of First Nations’ land management practices. This research illustrates the value of integrating multiple historical data sources for studying landscape change in the Canadian Rockies, and explores the implications of this change for ecological restoration in the foothills-parkland of WLNP.
An investigation of clinician acceptance of a guideline based patient registry system for chronic disease management
(2005-09-21T23:45:24Z) Fortin, Patricia Marie; Lau, Francis; Maclure, Malcolm
In 2002 federal funds, known as the Primary Care Health Transition Fund (PCHTF) were transferred to the provinces to experiment with different models of health services delivery in primary care. The Northern Health Authority used the fund to implement a Chronic Disease Management Community Collaborative using the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Breakthrough Series and the British Columbia (B.C.) Expanded Chronic Care Model. Included in the Chronic Care Model is an information systems component that enables a population-based approach using guidelines and data to plan, organize, monitor and deliver care for patients with chronic illnesses. In British Columbia a secure web based system, known as the Chronic Disease Management (CDM) Toolkit was developed by the Ministry of Health and made accessible to all physicians in the province to facilitate CDM by collaboratives and individual general practitioners (GPs). Technology acceptance is a mature concept in the information systems literature, and models of technology acceptance are important in health care with the increasing deployment of information systems to support clinical and management work processes. Understanding what variables influence clinicians to use appropriate technology could promote the diffusion of technology in health care. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) is a recent (2003) model that consolidates eight models of technology acceptance that are prominent in the information systems literature. The UTAUT analysis revealed that social influence, usefulness, and facilitating conditions are important variables for the acceptance of new technology. With some adaptations to fit the health care context, the UTAUT was found to be an effective tool to measure CDM Toolkit acceptance in the Northern Health Authority. The field observations highlighted salient issues not captured by the UTAUT, including security certificate implementation, access and confidentiality, physician participation, data entry, flow sheets, infrastructure and training.
Classified models for software engineering
(2005-09-30T23:55:00Z) Stuart, Gordon F.; Wadge, William W.
In this dissertation it is shown that abstract data types (ADTs) can be specified by the Classified Model (CM) specification language - a first-order Horn language with equality and sort "classification" assertations. It is shown how these sort assertations generalize the traditional syntactic signatures of ADT specifications, resulting in all of the specification capability of traditional equational specifications, but with the improved expressibility of the Horn-with-equality language and additional theorem proving applications such as program synthesis. This work extends corresponding results from Many Sorted Algebra (MSA), Order Sorted Algebra (OSA) and Order Sorted Model (OSM) specification techniques by promoting their syntactic signatures to assertions in the Classified Model Specification language, yet retaining sorted quantification. It is shown how this solves MSA problems such as error values, polymorphism and subtypes in a way different from the OSA and OSM solutions. However, the CM technique retains the MSA and order sorted approach to parameterization. The CS generalization also suggests the use of CM specifications to axiomatize modules as a generalization of variables within Hoare Logic, with application to a restricted, but safe, use of procedures as state changing operations and functions as value returning operations of a module. CM proof theory and semantics are developed, including theorems for soundness, completeness and the existence of a free model.
National health Information Management/Information Technology priorities: an international comparative study
(2005-10-07T21:23:37Z) Sandhu, Neelam; Protti, Denis J.
This thesis research contributes to national health Information Management/Information Technology (IM/IT) planning and therefore strategy development and implementation research, as well as to health information science. An examination into the national health IM/IT plans of several countries provides knowledge into identifying the typical IM/IT priorities that selected countries are focusing upon for healthcare improvement. Second, a systematic literature review of the current challenges, barriers and/or issues (referred to as ‘challenges’ hereafter) facing IM/IT priority implementation in healthcare settings provides insight on where nations should perhaps be focusing their attention, in order to enable more successful healthcare IM/IT implementations. Lastly, a study on national health IM/IT priorities contributes to the body of evidence that national level IM/IT direction is necessary for better patient care and health system reform across the world. In this investigation, the national health IM/IT priorities, which are reflected in the national health IM/IT strategic plans of five countries were assessed. To this end, the study: 1) Developed a set of measures to select four countries to study in addition to Canada; 2) Described the national health IM/IT priorities of Canada and four other countries; 3) Performed a systematic literature review of the challenges to overcome for successful implementation of IM/IT into healthcare settings; 4) Developed and administered a questionnaire where participants were asked to give their opinions on the progress their country has achieved in dealing with such challenges; and 5) Performed an analysis of the questionnaire results with respect to the countries’ national health IM/IT priorities. The systematic literature review uncovered a large number of challenges that the health informatics and healthcare community face when attempting to implement IM/IT into healthcare settings. iii The priority comparison highlighted that there is no right or wrong answer for what countries should focus their national health IM/IT energies upon. The findings indicate that nations focus their resources (time, money, personnel etc.) on the priorities they feel they should, whether those stem from needs analyses or politics. However, by learning about what other nations are prioritizing, a country can use that knowledge to help focus their own national health IM/IT priorities. The questionnaire results drew attention to the most frequently encountered challenges the five countries face in moving their national health IM/IT agendas forward. The feedback from the respondents provided individual reflections on how IM/IT implementations are actually progressing in their country, where problems are being encountered, including the nature of those problems, and in some cases, respondents offered insight on how to better deal with the challenges they face. The findings indicate that nations encounter similar problems in implementing IM/IT into healthcare settings. Currently, the world is facing many of the same healthcare system issues: shortages of healthcare processionals, long surgical and diagnostic imaging waitlists, ‘skyrocketing’ pharmaceutical drug pricing, healthcare funding practices, and challenges with implementing healthcare IM/IT priorities to name a few. If countries are facing similar health system problems, then it would be logical to assume that solutions to deal with such problems would be similar across nations. Thus, it is recommended that international fora and conferences be held to further discuss the types of health system IM/IT priorities that countries are implementing at a nation scale, the kinds of challenges they face and the solutions or conclusions that they have formulated in response to these challenges.
Nodal configurations and Voronoi tessellations for triangular spectral elements
(2005-10-07T23:09:49Z) Roth, Michael James; Weaver, A. J.
By combining the high-order accuracy of spectral expansions with the locality and geometric flexibility of finite elements, spectral elements are an attractive option for the next generation of numerical climate models. Crucial to their construction is the configuration of nodes in an element — casual placement leads to polynomial fits exhibiting Runge phenomena manifested by wild spatial oscillations. I provide highorder triangular elements suitable for incorporation into existing spectral element codes. Constructed from a variety of measures of optimality, these nodes possess the best interpolation error norms discovered to date. Motivated by the need to accurately determine these error norms, I present an optimization method suitable for finding extrema in a triangle. It marries a branch and bound algorithm to a quadtree smoothing scheme. The resulting scheme is both robust and efficient, promising general applicability. In order to qualitatively evaluate these nodal distributions, I introduce the concept of a Lagrangian Voronoi tessellation. This partitioning of the triangle illustrates the regions over which each node dominates. I argue that distant and disconnected regions are undesirable as they exhibit a non-physical influence. Finally, I have discovered a link between point distributions in the simplex and on the hypersphere. Through a simple transformation, a distance metric is defined permitting the construction of Voronoi diagrams and the calculation of mesh norms.
Nutrient release and cycling in the soils of a continental lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Doug.) ecosystem, Bootleg Mountain, B.C.
(2005-10-13T20:35:03Z) Lamberts, Jill S.; Roy, Réal; Mazumder, Asit
Nutrient dynamics in a lodgepole pine forest at Bootleg Mountain, B.C., were investigated through the sampling of soil, snow and groundwater in six one-ha blocks. Nitrogen (NO3-, NH4+, TIN, TDN, TN), phosphorus (PO43-, TDP, TP), and DOC were analyzed in addition to N mineralization and nitrification. Position and dispersion statistics were computed for each variable and correlations (Pearson and Spearman) were computed for each pair of variables. The overall heterogeneities of soil, snow, and groundwater were generally lower between 1-ha blocks than between plots. Productivity in the soil was generally N-limited with low input from snow precipitation. Very little N leached from soil to groundwater. Phosphorus contents were highly variable and were the limiting nutrient in the groundwater. Rates of net and gross N mineralization and nitrification were determined using buried bags and 15N isotope dilutions. Gross rates were greater than net rates and nitrification was low relative to high immobilization rates. The N cycle appears to be tightly regulated, thus further study will be needed to monitor the impact of harvesting on N cycling.
A deterritorialized history: investigating German colonialism through Deleuze and Guattari
(2005-10-24T22:30:21Z) Bullard, Daniel; Saunders, Thomas J.
This study seeks to understand the forces initiating and sustaining colonialism, specifically the German colonial expansion in Africa. The history of this colonialism, and the relations between Germany and Africa, is difficult to understand holistically, given its complex and contentious nature. In order to best comprehend the composite interactions within the expansion of German control over Africa, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s theory of deterritorialization will provide the interpretative framework. This analysis begins by grappling with the notion of deterritorialization and then relates the theory to the social, cultural, economic and political manifestations of German colonial expansion. By taking a broad perspective upon the diverse articulations of power in Africa, the multiple elements of colonial control and resistance are manifest. In conclusion, this study finds difference, syncretism and negotiation between German and African to determine the history of German colonialism in Africa.
An authoring tool for temporal intensional web pages
(2005-10-28T18:25:55Z) Hoke, Yatang; Wadge, W. W.
ITPerl is a web authoring tool that enables users to add temporal features to intensional web pages. ITPerl adds temporal macros to IPerl, a Perl interface to the C++ intense library. ITPerl combines temporal and default logic with intensional programming. ITPerl is an ideal solution for many time-sensitive and rapidly changing web applications. When developing a site, a user can add a temporal section to a webpage by providing different versions of it and associating each version with a time constraint. When a webpage is requested by a browser, a time point will be sent, as part of the request, to the ITPerl module. This time point is by default the current server time, but can be any time specified by the viewer. ITPerl will then compare the time point with each time constraint. If the time point satisfies more than one time constraint, then ITPerl will choose the best-fit version of the section by finding the most refined constraint. A html page that contains this best-fit version of this section will then be generated and sent back to the browser. ITPerl is easy to use. It provides the user with high level macros that have a simple syntax and that generate temporal codes as cgi files. This frees the user from having to write the complex temporal code himself.
Effectiveness of occupational therapy in remediating handwriting difficulties in primary students: cognitive versus multisensory interventions
(2005-11-23T22:51:24Z) Zwicker, Jill G.; Hadwin, Allyson
The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of cognitive versus multisensory interventions on handwriting legibility of primary students referred to occupational therapy for handwriting difficulties. Using a randomized three-group research design, 72 first and second-grade students were assigned to either a cognitive intervention, multisensory intervention, or no intervention (control) group. Letter legibility was measured before and after 10 weeks of intervention. Analysis of variance of difference scores showed no statistically significant difference between the intervention groups. Grade 1 students improved with or without intervention, but grade 2 students showed dramatic improvement with cognitive intervention compared to multisensory intervention (d = 1.09) or no intervention (d = .92). Several students in both grades showed declining performance in the multisensory and control groups, but no students had lower legibility after cognitive intervention. These results challenge current occupational therapy practice of using a multisensory approach for remediation of handwriting difficulties, especially for students in grade 2.
Speaking from the inside: participation in aboriginal health planning in a regional health authority
(2005-12-13T20:43:40Z) Cheema, Geeta; Prince, Michael
This case study explores participation in Aboriginal health planning as perceived by members of the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Advisory Committee of the Interior Health Authority, a regional health authority in British Columbia. By prominently featuring the voices of Committee members as recorded in personal interviews, this research identifies issues and tensions in participatory Aboriginal health planning. Document review and personal observations enrich and support the analysis. The research findings convey that, although Committee members express a range of perceptions and beliefs about Aboriginal health planning, the Committee provides a foundation for meaningful participation. Strengthening accountability relationships and employing Aboriginal population health approaches are suggested means by which meaningful participation in Aboriginal health planning can be actualized. This study emphasizes the importance of genuine relationship building between the health authority and Aboriginal communities for achieving gains in Aboriginal health.
Multicommodity flow applied to the utility model: a heuristic approach to service level agreements in packet networks
(2005-12-16T17:50:49Z) Yu, Louis Lei; Manning, Eric G.
Consider the concept of the Utility Model [5]: the optimal allocation of resources of a server or network while meeting the absolute Quality of Service (QoS) requirements of users' multimedia sessions. Past algorithms and heuristics to solve the Utility Model mapped the problem onto a variant of the Combinatorial Knapsack Problem, with server utility (e.g. revenue) as the quantity to be optimized and with user QoS requirements expressed as constraints on the resource allocation. Both optimal (algorithmic) and fast but sub-optimal (heuristic) methods were derived to solve the resulting Multidimensional Multiconstraint Knapsack Problem (MMKP) and hence to perform admission control of proposed user sessions However, previous algorithms and heuristics were restricted to solving the Utility Model on an enterprise network (a network of less than 30 nodes), owing to the need in admission control to solve the problem in real time, typically a few seconds or less. The methods used for the path finding and admission processes had unfavorable computational complexities. As a result, only small (i.e. enterprise) networks could be treated in real time. Also, considerable time was wasted on frequently unnecessary traversals during upgrading. In this thesis we attempt to solve and implement the Utility Model using a modified version of a Multicommodity Flow algorithm, which has better computational complexity than Knapsack Algorithms or many heuristics and hence is capable of finding paths relatively quickly for larger networks. What's more, the Multicommodity flow algorithm used keeps essential information about the current networks and user sessions, thus further reducing the overall admission time.
Water ways: exploring water through metaphoric imagery, discussion and action
(2005-12-22T09:02:12Z) Walker, Trevor Scott; Snively, Gloria
This case study was unique in its focus on an environmental education curriculum for older adults. It followed from previous studies in exploring the instructional and research potential of metaphor and environmental orientation. Environmental orientations towards water were examined among a group of retirees before, during and after a workshop which incorporated instructional metaphor as a teaching strategy. The study demonstrated that, at least for some participants, the use of metaphor from a variety of orientations has the potential to increase participants’ appreciation of alternative ways of relating to the environment. Overall, the use of metaphor appears to have contributed positively to most participants’ understanding of water issues. As an educational tool instructional metaphor was useful in group discussion as a catalyst for conversation about how participants view, understand and relate to water. As a research technique metaphoric interviewing was useful to help draw out the accumulated knowledge and experiences of older adults.
Invasion dynamics of a non-indigenous bivalve, Nuttallia obscurata, (Reeve 1857), in the Northeast Pacific
(2005-12-31T01:04:51Z) Dudas, Sarah; Dower, John F
This thesis describes how life history characteristics of the varnish clam (Nuttallia obscurata), and interactions with the physical environment and other species, have contributed to its successful invasion in coastal British Columbia. Lab and field experiments were conducted to investigate varnish clam larval ecology (i.e. larval rearing experiments), adult population dynamics (i.e. annual population surveys, mark-recapture and length-frequency analysis, growth modeling) and ecological interactions with native species (i.e. predator/prey preference feeding trials). Using these results, a matrix demographic model was developed to determine which life history stage contributes the most to varnish clam population growth. Larval rearing experiments indicated that temperature and salinity tolerances of varnish clam larvae are comparable to native species, however the planktonic phase is slightly longer (3-8 weeks). Based on local oceanographic circulation, varnish clam larvae have the potential to disperse throughout their entire geographic range in just one reproductive season. Varnish clam population surveys revealed spatiotemporal variation in density and size. No relationships were evident between varnish clam density and the number or density of co-occurring bivalve species. Length-frequency analysis suggested that recruitment varies among sites, with high post-settlement mortality coinciding with high recruitment. The presence of similar recruitment pulses at geographically separate sites indicates regional scale processes may influence recruitment. Individual growth rates iii varied among sites, with higher growth corresponding to lower population densities and water temperature. Monthly survival rates ranged from 0.81 – 0.99 and were lower for clams 10-30 mm. Predator/prey preference feeding trials showed that crabs prefer varnish clams to local species when clam burial depth is limited. Crabs therefore have the potential to influence varnish clam distributions, particularly on beaches where the varnish clam is unable to bury deeply. Based on matrix demographic analysis, adult survival (e.g. clams ≥ 40 mm) is the most crucial factor for varnish clam population growth, and drives the observed population growth differences between sites. This study of the varnish clam invasion demonstrates that its success lies in both species (e.g. lengthy planktonic phase, high survival) and regional (e.g. favourable ocean circulation patterns for rapid dispersal) characteristics. Measures to reduce introductions should be targeted in areas where introductions are likely to have the furthest reaching impacts.
Pre-cooling during steady-state rowing decreases physiological strain and enhances self-paced rowing performance in elite rowers
(2005-12-31T01:12:45Z) Johnson, Elizabeth A.R.; Wenger, Howie; Sleivert, Gordon
To determine the effects of torso cooling with ice (ICE) or water-perfused (WP) vests during rest and warm-up on subsequent 1500 m time trial rowing performance in the heat. Eight male rowers (23 ± 4 y) completed 3 sessions on an ergometer in an environmental chamber (38ºC, 47% RH) 1 week apart. Pre-cooling was applied during rest (45 min) and warm-up (30 min) in 2 trials using ICE or WP vests, but not in the control condition (CON). Rectal (Tre) and skin (Tsk) temperature, HR, RPE, thermal comfort (TC) and sensation (TS) were monitored throughout. HR, RPE or TS were not different between conditions. TC, Tre and Tsk were lower in WP and ICE than CON post warm-up (P<0.05). The reduction in strain was reflected by increased power output during the 1500 m time trial in ICE (11±1.2 %) and WP (9.6±1.1%) compared to CON (P<0.05). Pre-cooling with ICE or WP vests enhanced performance in a 1500 m rowing time trial and power output was higher from the onset.

Browsing by Date Added

Results Per Page

Sort Options