Deep generative neural networks such as the Deep Belief Network and Deep Boltzmann Machines have been used successfully to model high dimensional visual data. However, they are not robust to common variations such as occlusion and random noise. In this thesis, we explore two strategies for improving the robustness of DBNs. First, we show that a DBN with sparse connections in the first layer is more robust to variations that are not in the training set. Second, we develop a probabilistic denoising algorithm to determine a subset of the hidden layer nodes to unclamp. We show that this can be applied to any feedforward network classifier with localized first layer connections. By utilizing the already available generative model for denoising prior to recognition, we show significantly better performance over the standard DBN implementations for various sources of noise on the standard and Variations MNIST databases.

This qualitative research study seeks to answer the question: Which instructional design approaches for blended learning encourage deep learning? This grounded theory research captures the lived experiences of instructional designers and faculty members in converting courses at the post-secondary level from traditional, face-to-face delivery to blended delivery using educational technology. Study results provide insight into the complexities involved in the design and development of blended delivery courses and shed light on the complications that can arise with course conversion. The study also opens a window into design approaches to foster deep learning, clarifying the importance of targeting high levels of learning in the course syllabus / outline, and then aligning every part of the course to the specific learning outcomes identified. Study results culminate in a set of recommended instructional design approaches that foster deep learning in a blended learning environment. / 2013-08

This thesis examined the reproductive biology of the poorly-known deep-water gorgonian Acanella arbuscula from the Northwest Atlantic. Colonies were collected from The Gully in 2007 and 2010 between 914 and 1860 m depth, and the Flemish Cap in 2009 between 671 and 1264 m. Mean polyp fecundity was relatively high for both females and males, and the large oocyte size suggests that A. arbuscula produces lecithotrophic larvae. This species may have overlapping periodic or seasonal cycles of gametogenesis, and the absence of planulae suggests that A. arbuscula is a broadcast spawner. No spatial variation in the reproductive characteristics of this species was found, suggesting that environmental conditions are similar between the two sites. Female polyp fecundity decreased with increasing depth, which may be due to the high cost of producing oocytes versus sperm. The relatively high mean polyp fecundity, probable lecithotrophic larval development, and broadcast spawning may allow for the wide dispersal and settlement of A. arbuscula across the North Atlantic.

In this autoethnographic personal narrative, I share my multifaceted journey of developing ecological embodied cognition in the context of climate change, specifically in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. Through spending time alone with the other-than-human world and using a deliberate practice of mindfulness to develop a participatory postmodern worldview, I seek to integrate multiple ways of knowing to complement my existing strengths of scientific, positivist understanding of the world. I suggest that expanding my (our) metaphoric construct of self to include ecological self, is vital to deepening sustainable relationships with nature and with other humans. I depict and evoke for readers my personal experience as a potential model of adaptation and worldview change. As environmental educator and education leader in the public school system, I will bring these new skills and ways of knowing and being to the classroom, to more meaningfully promote sustainability initiatives and behaviors.

The relationships between moisture loss and oil uptake and their effects on porosity, pore size distribution and pore structure during deep-fat frying of chicken breast meat were investigated. Chicken meat samples were deep-fat fried in an industrial fryer. The frying oil temperatures were 170, 180 and 190°C and samples were fried for times ranging from 5 to 900 s.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative movement disorder and a leading cause of neurological disability in the older adult population. Historically, the research and treatment of PD has focused on the associated motor symptoms. Now the non-motor symptoms such as sleep disturbance are becoming an increased focus for researchers. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical intervention that has proven to be beneficial for PD motor symptom management. There are claims from the literature that DBS may assist with the phenomenon of sleep disturbance. A case study analysis was done to explore this concept in the DBS-PD patient population using the framework of the Symptom Management Theory. From the analysis of the subjective and objective data gathered it is clear that the phenomenon of sleep disturbance in this population is multifaceted and that DBS may play a role in managing the phenomenon of sleep disturbance for this population.

Neutral microsatellite markers were used to analyse genetic variation in three demersal finfish species, whiting (<i>Merlangius merlangus</i>) haddock (<i>Melanogrammus aeglefinus</i>) and anglerfish (<i>Lophius piscatorius</i>) in the north east Atlantic.  For each species samples were collected from the North Sea and west of the British Isles while geographically distant samples were also collected from Icelandic waters.  In the case of the anglerfish study samples were also taken from the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean Sea. Whiting appears to show the highest level of structuring in the north east Atlantic with samples from Icelandic waters being significantly divergent from samples on the continental shelf.  Just one of the continental shelf haddock samples, the Irish Sea, showed evidence of divergence from the Icelandic samples.  This general lack of divergence between Icelandic and continental shelf haddock is most likely reflective of a combination of relatively recent isolation and large effective population sizes (N_e).  Apart from a few significant results (P&lt;0.05) continental shelf haddock and whiting conspecific populations tended to show little divergence.  This would also appear to be due primarily to large effective population sizes and a relatively recent isolation.  <i>L. piscatorius </i>showed a total absence of genetic differentiation between all the Atlantic samples which is consistent with the long distance movements associated with this species.  There was however strong evidence of divergence between the Atlantic and Mediterranean anglerfish samples. Comparing the results of the molecular studies presented here with non molecular approaches to determining population structure highlights the importance of combining information from several approaches if a sustainable management plan is to be put in place for commercial species.

The current research addresses the formability of two magnesium sheet alloys, a conventional AZ31B and a rare earth alloyed ZEK100. Both alloys had a nominal thickness of 1.6 mm. Both Limiting Dome Height (LDH) and Cylindrical Cup Draw experiments were performed between room temperature and 350°C. To examine the effect of sheet directionality and anisotropy, LDH experiments were performed in both the sheet rolling and transverse directions. In addition, strain measurements were performed along both sheet orientations of the cylindrical cup and LDH specimens for which the geometry is symmetric. The LDH tests were used to study the formability of ZEK100 and AZ31B (O and H24 tempers) magnesium alloy sheet between room temperature and 350°C. At room temperature, AZ31B-O and AZ31B-H24 exhibit limited formability, with dome heights of only 11-12 mm prior to the onset of necking. In contrast, the dome heights of ZEK100 at room temperature reached 29 mm (a 140% improvement over AZ31B). Increasing the temperature above 200°C did not affect the relative ranking of the three sheet samples, however it did reduce the magnitude of the difference in dome heights. The rare earth alloyed ZEK100 had pronounced benefits at intermediate temperatures, achieving an LDH of 37 mm at 150°C; this dome height was only reached by AZ31B at a much higher temperature of 250°C. To further characterize the formability of ZEK100, forming limit curves (FLCs) were developed from the LDH tests in both the rolling and transverse directions. Comparisons to AZ31B were made at selected temperatures. Surface strain data was collected with an in situ digital image correlation (DIC) system incorporating two cameras for stereo observation. Results from these experiments further highlighted the enhanced formability relative to AZ31B over the entire temperature range between room temperature and 350°C, with the most dramatic improvements between room temperature and 150°C. The plane strain forming limit (FLC0) for ZEK100 at 150°C was 0.4 which equals that of AZ31B at 250°C. At higher temperatures (300°C), the two alloys exhibited similar performance with both achieving similar dome heights at necking of 37 mm (AZ31B) and 41 mm (ZEK100). To round out the investigation of ZEK100 for industrial applications, cylindrical cup deep drawing experiments were performed on ZEK100 sheet between 25°C and 250°C under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions. Draw ratios of 1.75, 2.00 and 2.25 were considered to examine the effects of draw ratio on draw depth. The effect of sheet anisotropy during deep drawing was investigated by measuring the earring profiles, sheet thickness and strain distribution along both the rolling and transverse directions. Isothermal test results showed enhanced warm temperature drawing performance of ZEK100 over AZ31B sheet; for example, a full draw of 203.2 mm (8”) blanks of ZEK100 was achieved with a tool temperature of 150°C, whereas a tool temperature of 225°C was needed to fully draw AZ31B-O blanks of this diameter. Non-isothermal deep draw experiments showed further improvement in drawability with significantly lower tooling temperatures required for a full cup draw using ZEK100. ZEK100 achieved a full draw of 228.6 mm (9") blanks with a die and blank holder temperature of 150°C and a cooled punch (25°C) while the same size blank of AZ31B required a die and blank holder temperature 225°C and a cooled punch (150°C). Temperature process windows were developed from the isothermal and non-isothermal results to show a direct comparison of drawing behaviour between ZEK100 and AZ31B. Overall, ZEK100 offers significantly improved forming performance compared to AZ31B, particularly at temperatures below 200°C. This lower temperature enhanced formability is attractive since it is less demanding in terms of lubricant requirements and reduces the need for higher temperature tooling.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative movement disorder and a leading cause of neurological disability in the older adult population. Historically, the research and treatment of PD has focused on the associated motor symptoms. Now the non-motor symptoms such as sleep disturbance are becoming an increased focus for researchers. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical intervention that has proven to be beneficial for PD motor symptom management. There are claims from the literature that DBS may assist with the phenomenon of sleep disturbance. A case study analysis was done to explore this concept in the DBS-PD patient population using the framework of the Symptom Management Theory. From the analysis of the subjective and objective data gathered it is clear that the phenomenon of sleep disturbance in this population is multifaceted and that DBS may play a role in managing the phenomenon of sleep disturbance for this population.

Although the deep seafloor represents the largest biome on the planet, its benthos has remained understudied because of logistical difficulties and the cost of access. Long-term, time-series information is needed to understand the small-scale and inter-annual variations required to build predictive models of ecological processes. In this thesis, we employed three newly developed observatory systems, which coupled in situ imagery with environmental data to examine ecological processes in three deep-sea benthic habitats: 1) Megabenthic surface bioturbation on the upper continental slope (400m depth) near Barkley Canyon, off Vancouver Island, 2) Thermal response in polynoid taxa at Main Endeavour Hydrothermal Vent Field (2,100m depth) on the Juan de Fuca Ridge and 3) Behavioural rhythms and bacterial mat growth in Saanich Inlet (100m), a fjord in southern Vancouver Island. To ensure that the imagery collected was useful for quantitative hypothesis testing by a single observer, we employed a step-wise methodological approach, taking advantage of previously acquired knowledge and, in two cases, the interactive nature of cabled observatories, to tailor the sampling frequency to the variables of interest. The application of a diverse array of image analysis techniques and statistical models, easily extendable to other systems, was also demonstrated. The results obtained while conducting the protocol optimization phase described organism and community level responses to environmental variations. Using a remotely operated camera connected to the NEPTUNE Canada cabled observatory, we estimated that total surface sediment turnover by sea urchins and flatfish, the two most important megafaunal contributors, within the field of view required 93 to 125 days in the absence of phytodetrital accumulations. When employing a camera-temperature array system, the most frequently observed mobile megafaunal species, two polynoid taxa, were not found to exploit the recorded temperature gradients suggesting that they employed a thermoconforming strategy to cope with thermal variability. In the aphotic, mostly hypoxic benthos of Saanich Inlet, strong behavioural entrainment, neither diel nor tidal, was not observed. However, significant changes in species composition and bacterial mat substratum coverage were observed following intrusion of oxygenated waters, a yearly event resulting from specific bathymetric features and oceanographic dynamics of this fjord. A Bayesian approach to data modeling was found to be particularly well suited to protocol optimization purposes as complex models could be more easily and intuitively implemented. The further application of our multi-disciplinary step-wise approach will reduce the time required to approach new ecological questions and improve integration of studies carried in different locations. By carefully choosing ecosystem functions which can be used as indicators of change, the current baseline state of the system can be described. Informed long-term monitoring initiatives can then be implemented in order to quantify global ocean responses to anthropogenic factors such as climate change, resource extraction or eutrophication. / Graduate