Scholarship @ UWindsor

Scholarship @ UWindsor is the institutional repository of the University of Windsor (UWindsor), showcasing and preserving the UWindsor community’s scholarly outputs, as well as items from the Leddy Library’s Archives & Special Collections. Its mission is to disseminate and preserve knowledge created or housed at the University of Windsor.

Contact scholarship@uwindsor.ca for more information.

Communities in Scholarship @ UWindsor

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Conferences and Conference Proceedings 3167
Papers, presentations and abstracts of conferences held at the University of Windsor, in person and virtually.
Digitized Local Collections 1552
Digitized local items from the collections of the Leddy Library, University of Windsor, and community partners.
Faculties, Departments and Research Units 3181
Open Access Faculty publications, reports and working papers from academic departments at the University of Windsor.
Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 9577
Formal graduate original research from the University of Windsor's Masters and Doctoral programs.

Recent Submissions

Access status: Open Access ,
Green Video Transcoding in Cloud Environments Using Kubernetes: A Framework With Dynamic Renewable Energy Allocation and Priority Scheduling
(IEEE, 2025-07-11) Beena B.M. a Send mail to Beena B.M. ; b ; a ; a ;; Ranga, Prashanth Cheluvasai; Chowdary, Vinitha; Gamidi, Rohan; Hemasri M.; Muppala, Tejaswi
Video content continues to be a major source of Internet traffic, with a growing demand for high-quality, on-demand videos. This leads to significant energy consumption across cloud servers. Conserving energy and improving energy efficiency in cloud servers is a major challenge. The growing demand for video transcoding services and increasing concerns over energy consumption necessitate systems that balance processing power with energy usage. The research addresses these challenges by developing a green, energy-aware video transcoding system that predicts energy availability from renewable sources (solar and wind) using machine learning techniques and optimizes tasks allocation. The system utilizes a Kubernetes-managed backend to dynamically scale resources for FFmpeg-based transcoding while prioritizing renewable energy, minimizing grid usage utilizing the advanced machine learning models, including Random Forest, XGBoost, and CatBoost, predict energy production and guide task assignments. The integration of predictive analytics with Kubernetes’ Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA) allows dynamic workload distribution, ensuring optimal energy utilization. Additionally, the system incorporates real-time energy monitoring to adjust task scheduling based on fluctuations in renewable energy availability. Two novel scheduling algorithms, Dynamic Renewable Energy Allocation (DREA) and Energy-Aware Priority Scheduling (EAPS), enhance energy efficiency. DREA allocates tasks to energy zones based on real-time renewable availability, while EAPS prioritizes tasks by urgency and energy needs, deferring low-priority tasks to periods of high renewable availability. These green strategies minimize reliance on non-renewable sources while maintaining performance and scalability. The system’s modular design allows easy integration with various cloud platforms, increasing its applicability in real-world scenarios. Furthermore, extensive scalability tests demonstrate that the proposed approach maintains efficient task execution even under high workloads, making it suitable for large-scale cloud environments. By reducing energy consumption and carbon footprint, this framework contributes to the advancement of sustainable cloud computing solutions.
Access status: Open Access ,
Regional cerebral pulsatile hemodynamics during isocapnic and poikilocapnic hyperthermia in young men
(American Physiological Society) Skaper, Spencer J. a Send mail to Skaper S.J. ; b ; b ; . c ;; Shepley, Brooke R.; Wafai, Ibrahim Amr; Ainslie, Philip N.; Bain, Anthony R.; Smith, Kurt J.
Hyperthermia is known to induce hypocapnia-driven reductions in cerebral blood flow; however, it is unknown if it causes changes in hemodynamic pulsatility that negatively influence cerebrovascular function. This retrospective analysis aimed to assess cerebrovascular hemodynamic pulsatile buffering (damping factor; DFi) during poikilocapnic (HT) and isocapnic (HT-C) hyperthermia. We hypothesized that HT would reduce cerebral DFi, while HT-C would attenuate the reduction in DFi by limiting increases in resistance. Ten healthy males were passively heated +2°C from normothermia (BL). Blood flow through the internal carotid artery (ICA) and vertebral artery (VA) was measured using vascular ultrasound. Blood velocity through the middle cerebral artery (MCA) and the posterior cerebral artery (PCA) was measured using transcranial ultrasound. DFi was calculated as the ratio of proximal to distal pulsatility index (PI): Anterior cerebral DFi = PIICA/PIMCA; Posterior cerebral DFi = PIVA/PIPCA. Anterior DFi decreased in both HT (1.08 ± 0.19 a.u; p = 0.007) and HT-C (1.12 ± 0.231 a.u; p = 0.021) conditions from BL values (1.27 ± 0.14 a.u). No changes were observed in posterior DFi, p = 0.116. Irrespective of PaCO2 clamping, both hyperthermic conditions reduced anterior DFi, suggesting other mechanisms are responsible for cerebrovascular hemodynamic buffering. Posterior DFi responses were not observed, suggesting preferential buffering of the hyperthermic posterior circulation (VA–PCA).
Access status: Open Access ,
Realization of Modified Electrical Equivalent of Memristor-Based Pavlov’s Associative Learning to Avoid Training Fallacies
(MDPI, 2025-02-04) Mehta, Ankit a Send mail to Mehta A. ; Ahmadi, Arash b Send mail to Ahmadi A. ; Ahmadi, Majid a Send mail to Ahmadi M.
Biological systems learn from past experiences by establishing relationships between two simultaneously occurring events, a phenomenon known as associative learning. This concept has promising applications in modern AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning). To leverage it effectively, a precise electrical model that can simulate associative learning observed in biological systems is essential. The paper focuses on modeling Pavlov’s famous experiment related to the drooling of dogs at the sound of bell after associating the food with the bell during training. The study addresses limitations in existing circuit designs that fail to accurately replicate associative learning in dogs, particularly when the sequence of food and bell signals deviates from a specific pattern. We propose a novel design using a few CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) transistors and memristor models that produces an output corresponding to the dogs drooling only when food and bell signals are associated, mirroring real-life training conditions. The results section first discusses simulations using the standard TiO2 (Titanium Oxide) memristor model, followed by experimental results obtained from a classical memristor emulator. Both simulation and experimental findings confirm the effectiveness of the circuit designs.
Access status: Open Access ,
“From an HCV and HIV point of view, it's been remarkable”: A qualitative study about using prescribed safer supply to support people who use drugs along the HIV and HCV prevention and treatment cascades in Ontario, Canada
(John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2025-08-25) Guta, Adrian; Rudzinski, Katherine; Gagnon, Marilou; Schmidt, Rose A.; Kolla, Gillian; German, Danielle; Kryszajtys, David; Perri, Melissa; Sereda, Andrea; Sterling-Murphy, Christopher; Strike, Carol
Despite advances in HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment, people who use drugs (PWUD) face significant barriers along prevention and treatment cascades. Safer supply programmes (SSPs) providing prescribed pharmaceutical alternatives to the unregulated drug supply may create opportunities for enhanced healthcare engagement and person-centred care. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study examining four SSPs in Ontario, Canada between February and October 2021. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 52 patients and 21 providers (including physicians, registered nurse practitioners, nurses and allied health professionals). Interviews explored experiences with safer supply and HIV/HCV care. Analysis used thematic techniques guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Results: SSPs supported HIV/HCV care by first addressing patients’ substance use needs, which created subsequent opportunities for building trust for broader health engagement. Providers identified the safer supply model as giving PWUD something they wanted, which then opened opportunities to discuss HIV, HCV, and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections. SSPs provided opportunities to support patients with HIV and HCV testing and treatment initiation, and safer supply medications were bundled with HIV and HCV medications to support adherence. Non-punitive approaches helped overcome previous negative healthcare experiences by prioritizing patient autonomy. Implementation challenges included balancing flexible, patient-directed care with programme requirements and coordinating comprehensive services around individual needs. Conclusions: SSPs may improve HIV/HCV care delivery for PWUD by building services around their priorities and lived realities. The integration of safer supply with HIV/HCV care through daily dispensing and wraparound services showed promise for engaging people previously disconnected from care. While findings suggested improved treatment outcomes, limitations included data collection during COVID-19, limited representation of some populations and a focus on opioid-only programmes. Research examining long-term outcomes and programme sustainability is needed as SSPs face growing scrutiny and closure in Canada.
Access status: Open Access ,
Production of Exopolysaccharides Through Fermentation of Secondary Whey with Kefir Grains
(MDPI, 2025-04-04) Hernández-Martínez, Aidalú; Jiménez-Pérez, Carlos; Cruz-Guerrero, Alma; Trant, John F.; Alatorre-Santamaría, Sergio
The cheese industry produces millions of tons of lactose-rich whey yearly, of which 50% is discharged into water and soil, leading to significant environmental challenges. In Mexico, cheese whey is repurposed for traditional cheese production. However, another by-product named secondary whey (SW) remains. This study focused on the production of exopolysaccharides (EPSs) via SW fermentation of kefir grains, yielding 632.6 ± 30.8 mg/L of a freeze-dried solid, and the carbohydrate-to-protein ratio stood at 2.89, corresponding to the bound EPS protein content. Through the analysis of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra, it was determined that EPSs were successfully produced, as a signal was observed between 1200 and 1000 cm−1, characteristic of the glycosidic bonds in polysaccharides.