HARVEST
University of Saskatchewan's Repository for Research, Scholarship, and Artistic Work
Welcome to HARVEST, the repository for research, scholarship, and artistic work created by the University of Saskatchewan community. Browse our collections below or find out more and submit your work.
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Recent Submissions
Perspective on strategies for matching across age and sex in physiology research: “recreationally active” is not good enough
(Frontiers Media SA, 2025-01-06) Schweitzer, Allyson M.; Fuller, Daniel; Fliss, Matthew D.; Mitchell, Cameron J.
Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and muscular fitness are powerful confounders in age and sex-related comparisons. This paper provides a perspective on the benefits and limitations of matching participants by physical activity behaviour, objectively measured fitness and normative fitness percentiles. Data presented herein are a subset of a larger study, and highlight that matching by physical activity, does not necessarily match on other metrics like physical fitness, especially when age-related comparisons are being made. Our data showed that young and older adults matched by physical activity behaviours showed the expected higher CRF and muscular fitness in male and younger participants, but older adults had higher CRF percentiles. This suggests that matching by physical activity behaviour may select older adults with relatively higher CRF. Researchers must choose their matching method carefully to ensure the appropriate aspects of fitness have been matched between groups. For clarity, they should also report when certain aspects of fitness have not been accounted for and give an explanation as to why.
Urban vegetation and well-being: A cross-sectional study in Montreal, Canada
(Wiley, 2025-01-13) Sousa-Silva, Rita; Kestens, Yan; Stephens, Zoé Poirier; Thierry, Benoit; Schoenig, Daniel; Fuller, Daniel; Winters, Meghan; Smargiassi, Audrey
1. As urbanisation continues to accelerate, urban green spaces are increasingly recognised as key elements for enhancing people's health and well-being. However, most research has used vegetation metrics that may not capture the specific associations between different types of vegetation and different mental health outcomes.
2. In this study, we investigate the cross-sectional associations between residential vegetation exposure and individual well-being in Montreal, Canada, using different vegetation and well-being measures: The proportion of grass cover, tree cover, and average NDVI value within buffers of various radii (100–1000 m) were linked to each participant's residence (n = 1072, aged 18 years or older), while well-being was assessed using subjective happiness, emotional well-being, and personal well-being scales. The associations were analysed using generalised additive regression models.
3. Our findings show that more vegetation was linked to enhanced well-being, although the effect sizes were relatively small. Irrespective of the buffer distance, the positive associations for grass and NDVI were more pronounced than those for trees, though these associations varied across the different well-being outcome measures. We also observed that increasing tree coverage has a stronger positive effect on the well-being of individuals who are dissatisfied with the current number of street trees.
4. Synthesis and applications. Everyday exposure to nearby nature is associated with better self-reported mental health, suggesting urban greening policies should focus on including more vegetation within built spaces, from individual street trees to small and large parks. Our study also highlights the importance of distinguishing between different types of vegetation (e.g. grass vs. trees) when studying the effects of vegetation on well-being or other health-related outcomes. Likewise, using different measures of well-being may provide a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of how vegetation impacts people's well-being.
The promises and perils of a free rural inter-city transportation scheme: A mixed-methods study from Northern Saskatchewan
(Springer Nature, 2025-02-05) Alhassan, Jacob Albin Korem; Fuller, Daniel; Woytowich, Ron
Objective
Transportation is a critical health determinant, yet the last decade has witnessed rapid disinvestment across Canada (particularly in rural contexts) with negative health consequences. We sought to explore and describe the benefits and challenges faced in operating the first community-driven free-transportation scheme in Saskatchewan that emerged in response to widespread unavailability of public transportation due to budget cuts (austerity).
Methods
We conducted a mixed-methods community-based participatory research study involving 22 interviews with bus riders and service administrators. We also performed descriptive statistics and chi-squared analyses on bus rider data (data on 1185 trips routinely collected between July 2023 and December 2023) to explore sociodemographic characteristics and trip purposes of bus riders.
Results
All trips were completed by 616 community members using the free bus service between July 2023 and December 2023. Community members took an average of 5 trips (median = 2.0) with a maximum of 22 trips being taken by one community member (1.9% of all trips). Most trips were by women (53%), and older adults mostly used the free bus for medical purposes (22% of riders were older adults and 34% of these used the bus for medical reasons). Qualitatively, the bus service has increased access to care and promotes social participation and autonomy, especially for older adults. The service however faces some challenges, including funding disruptions and difficulty recruiting and retaining drivers.
Conclusion
Free inter-community transportation (i.e. transportation across cities and municipalities) promotes health equity and access. In contexts without access to public transportation, governments could support community-driven initiatives through increased funding.
Interviews to Assess a Peer Health Navigator Service for People Who Are Transgender or Gender Diverse
(The Annals of Family Medicine, 2025) Gulka, Emily; Rose, Gwen; McCarron, Michelle C.; Reid, Mel; Clark, Megan; Madill, Stéphanie
PURPOSE People who are transgender or gender diverse (PTGD) often experience difficulties navigating the health care system due to a variety of factors such as lack of knowledgeable and/or culturally competent clinicians, discrimination, and structural and/or socioeconomic barriers. We sought to determine whether a peer health navigator service in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan helped connect transgender and gender-diverse clients and health care practitioners (HCPs) to resources, and how this service changed their health care experiences.
METHODS Semistructured interviews were conducted with 9 clients and 9 HCPs. Interview transcripts were then analyzed by researchers using an interpretative phenomenological approach, with qualitative data analysis software.
RESULTS The most prevalent theme that emerged from interview data, from both clients and HCPs, was support for the navigators’ work and a desire that the service should continue. It was reinforced by 3 subthemes: the importance that the navigators were PTGD, the ability of the navigators to connect people to services and reliable sources of information, and their skill in directly supporting clients. A fourth subtheme, primarily found among clients, was the navigators’ ability to provide connections to affirming mental health care.
CONCLUSIONS Clients and HCPs alike emphasized that the navigator’s lived experience was invaluable and allowed them to empathize with PTGD and provide support. Furthermore, the navigators acted as a direct connection to health care services, which helped improve access for clients. Our findings underscore the need for navigator positions to become permanent within the provincial health system to improve the health care experiences of PTGD in Saskatchewan.
Coarse for Fine: Bounding Box Supervised Thyroid Ultrasound Image Segmentation Using Spatial Arrangement and Hierarchical Prediction Consistency
(IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, 2025) Chi, Jianning; Lin, Geng; Li, Zelan; Zhang, Wenjun; Chen, Jia-hui; Huang, Ying
Weakly-supervised learning methods have become increasingly attractive for medical image segmentation, but suffered from a high dependence on quantifying the pixel-wise affinities of low-level features, which are easily corrupted in thyroid ultrasound images, resulting in segmentation over-fitting to weakly annotated regions without precise delineation of target boundaries. We propose a dual-branch weakly-supervised learning framework to optimize the backbone segmentation network by calibrating semantic features into rational spatial distribution under the indirect, coarse guidance of the bounding box mask. Specifically, in the spatial arrangement consistency branch, the maximum activations sampled from the preliminary segmentation prediction and the bounding box mask along the horizontal and vertical dimensions are compared to measure the rationality of the approximate target localization. In the hierarchical prediction consistency branch, the target and background prototypes are encapsulated from the semantic features under the combined guidance of the preliminary segmentation prediction and the bounding box mask. The secondary segmentation prediction induced from the prototypes is compared with the preliminary prediction to quantify the rationality of the elaborated target and background semantic feature perception. Experiments on three thyroid datasets illustrate that our model outperforms existing weakly-supervised methods for thyroid gland and nodule segmentation and is comparable to the performance of fully-supervised methods with reduced annotation time. The proposed method has provided a weakly-supervised segmentation strategy by simultaneously considering the target's location and the rationality of target and background semantic features distribution. It can improve the applicability of deep learning based segmentation in the clinical practice. The source code and relative datasets will be available at https://github.com/LanLanUp/SAHP-Net.
Hydrogen uptake and embrittlement behavior in pipeline steels: Insights from slow strain rate testing and synchrotron micro-CT imaging
(Engineering Failure Analysis, 2025-02) Jack, Tonye; Webb, Mark Adam; Rahman, K.M. Mostafijur; Fazeli, Fateh; Szpunar, Jerzy
Hydrogen embrittlement (HE) presents a major challenge to the integrity of steel pipelines, often leading to premature failure. Traditional methods using two-dimensional (2D) analysis of damaged structures, often overlook critical features related to failure. Hence, this study investigates the hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility of two pipeline steels, X60 and X65, using a combination of mechanical testing, hydrogen diffusion and trapping studies, microstructural characterization, and synchrotron micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) imaging. The results highlight the critical role of hydrogen trapping and retention in HE, with steel microstructure significantly affecting hydrogen uptake and diffusion as well as crack nucleation and propagation. Synchrotron micro-CT imaging provided more accurate crack pattern assessments than traditional 2D methods, revealing potential misinterpretations from 2D cross-sectional analysis. This study concludes that simultaneous hydrogen ingress and mechanical loading is more damaging than pre-charging with high hydrogen concentrations, and that hydrogen retention capacity plays a greater role in embrittlement behavior than crack initiation. The failure mechanism of the hydrogen-charged steels shifted from being plasticity-based to decohesion-driven, based on the hydrogen content and retention in the steel, which is in line with the unified HELP+HEDE model.
New Graduate Nurses' Transition to Rural Emergency Practice: A Narrative Inquiry
(2025-03-21) Moon, Elizabeth M; Rohatinsky, Noelle; Penz, Kelly; Bigalky, Jodie
The ratio of Registered Nurses (RNs) to rural Canadians has declined over the past decade, resulting in an increased reliance on new graduate nurses (NGNs) in rural emergency departments (EDs). However, NGNs often enter the workforce unprepared for the acute and unpredictable nature of emergency care. The stress of transitioning to practice in such settings, combined with insufficient professional and emotional support, places NGNs at significant risk of job turnover. This perpetuates a cycle of nursing attrition, threatening rural Canadians’ access to quality healthcare. Despite the critical need for effective interventions to support NGNs in rural EDs, research on their experiences within this unique context is lacking.
The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of NGNs transitioning to professional practice in rural EDs, to contribute to the insight needed for the development of supportive interventions. The specific aims were to facilitate a deeper understanding of NGNs’ transition experiences, to examine the influence of the rural emergency context on their growth, explore their main challenges, and identify their unique support needs. These aims were guided by an evolving research puzzle that asked: How do NGNs experience the transition to practice in rural EDs? How does the rural emergency context shape their transition? Where do these NGNs encounter stress and growth, and what sources of support do they draw upon?
Using narrative inquiry methodology, this study involved conversational interviews with three participants. Their stories of transition were co-created and analyzed for resonant threads, contextualized within NGN transition theory and existing literature on rural and emergency nursing. Four resonant threads were identified: (a) influential relationships, (b) learning on the job, (c) becoming a rural emergency nurse, and (d) developing confidence.
The findings of this study enhance understanding of NGNs’ transition experiences in rural EDs. Readers are encouraged to reflect on these findings in relation to their own practice environments, fostering insight into the unique factors shaping NGN transitions. This understanding can inform the development of tailored, resource-conscious interventions that support NGNs more effectively, ultimately improving retention and ensuring sustainable healthcare delivery in rural settings.
Unlocking Histories, Building Bridges: Transforming the Neil Richards Collection into a Vibrant Hub for 2SLGBTQIA+ History in Saskatchewan
(2024-05-04) Klein, Candice; Liang, Ann; Stokalko, Lindsay
The Neil Richards Collection of Sexual and Gender Diversity was established in 2010 and contains more than 8,000 unique items and twenty-five related archival collections. Inspired by Apple (2021), our goal was to give this collection back to the community by removing the high academia stigma and exclusivity associated with archives in hopes of inspiring partnerships and to create a more accurate and holistic reflection of2SLGBTQIA+ history in Saskatchewan. This was first done with the creation of marketing and promotional videos but has since blossomed into events and collaborations. Interactions with the collection have markedly increased, including donations, integration into University of Saskatchewan courses, its use in educational presentations such as Drag History with China White and Iona Whipp, supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ month and partnerships with community organizations like OUT Saskatoon, the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union Pride Centre, the University of Saskatchewan’s Women’s Centre, Saskatoon Pride, the Western Development Museum and Justice Trans. This session will cover our process for the creation and distribution of the videos, the initiatives that have formed from the renewed interest in the collection and where we hope to take the collection in the future.
Synchrotron X-ray imaging study on the mechanism of solids transfer to bitumen froth during oil sands flotation 1: True flotation
(Elsevier, 2025-01-18) Zhang, Hanyu; Xia, Liuyin; Zhu, Yanfei; Gasilov, Sergey; He, Iris; Ding, Xiaofan
Unwanted mineral solids in bitumen froth can lead to increased solvent usage and higher hydrocarbon loss in downstream processing, negatively impacting the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of synthetic crude oil production. Enhancing the quality of bitumen froth with fewer solids is a goal for oil sands processors. This study presents an in-situ analysis of the particle size distribution and association of solids in bitumen froth, thereby uncovering solids transport mechanisms, such as true flotation. Oil sands flotation experiments were conducted with 30% pulp density, at 50 °C and pH 8.5. The collected bitumen froth was immediately characterized using synchrotron-based X-ray imaging by a monochromatic X-ray with photon energy of 60 keV provided by 05ID-2 beamline of the BioMedical Imaging and Therapy (BMIT) facility at the Canadian Light Source (CLS). This characterization method can finish a typical CT scan with 2000 projections in less than 3 min, and thus allows for in-situ imaging of freshly prepared bitumen froth without the need for special arrangements, such as freezing. 14, 234 unwanted solids carried over into bitumen froth were visualized, 98.9 wt% of them were sand particles, which is consistent with mineral liberation analysis (MLA) results. This study introduced an innovative image segmentation technique to quantify the transfer of particles into the bitumen froth via true flotation. Statistical analysis revealed that approximately 53 wt% of sand particles were collected due to true flotation. Furthermore, the median particle size (P50) for sand particles entering froth by true flotation was determined to be 67.6 μm, significantly larger than the 30.6 μm observed for particles transferring through entrainment or entrapment.
Mitigating synchronization bottlenecks in high-performance actor-model-based software
(IEEE, 2025) Klenk, Kyle; Moayeri, Mohammad Mahdi; Guo, Junwei; Clark, Martyn; Spiteri, Raymond
Bulk synchronous programming (in distributed-memory systems) and the fork-join pattern (in shared-memory systems) are often used for problems where independent processes must periodically synchronize. Frequent synchronization can greatly undermine the performance of software designed to solve such problems. We use the actor model of concurrent computing to balance the load of hundreds of thousands of short-lived tasks and mitigate synchronization bottlenecks by buffering communication via actor batching. The actor model is becoming increasingly popular in scientific and high-performance computing because it can handle heterogeneous tasks and computing environments with enhanced programming flexibility and ease relative to conventional paradigms like MPI. For a hydrologic simulation of continental North America with over 500,000 elements, the proposed buffering approach is approximately 4 times faster than no buffering, outperforms MPI on single and multiple nodes, and remains competitive with OpenMP on a single node and MPI+OpenMP on multiple nodes.