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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Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

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 3177
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 ,
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.
Access status: Open Access ,
The impact of wearing a heart rate monitoring wristband on museum visitors’ memory and emotions: a randomized controlled trial
(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2025-05-13) Vasta, Nicola; Andrao, Margherita; Treccani, Barbara; Isaia, Denis; Mulatti, Claudio
Advances in technology have enabled museum curators to employ equipment that can measure visitors’ physiological responses, offering a means to monitor these responses, while, at the same time, potentially engaging visitors. However, it is unclear whether these devices genuinely promote a positive experience or, conversely, are perceived as intrusive monitoring tools. Following traditional theories linking physiological responses, emotions and memory, we tested whether wearing a heart rate monitoring wristband during a temporary art exhibition could affect visitors’ emotions and if emotional changes due to this manipulation could, in turn, affect the long-term memory of the artworks. Our findings show that using such a device heightened pleasant emotions experienced by visitors and improved their memory of the exhibit. These effects were still present even after six days from the visit. Moreover, we found that providing fake feedback concerning the emotions experienced in a specific room increased visitors’ memory of artworks within that room. Our results are encouraging regarding the use of these technologies in museum exhibitions and bring evidence that they can enhance visitors' experiences, regardless of their accuracy.
Access status: Open Access ,
Navigating fragmented services: a gender-based violence (GBV) critical feminist analysis of women’s experiences engaging with health and social supports in three Canadian cities
(BioMed Central Ltd, 2025-03-31) Rudzinski, Katherine; Hudspith, Lara F.; Guta, Adrian; Comber, Scott; Dewar, Linda; Leiper, Wendy; Hawkins, Kim; Laforet, Lady; Mangat, Rajwant Raji; Long, Phoebe M.
Gender-based violence (GBV) remains a pervasive public health crisis with devastating impacts on women’s health and well-being. Women experiencing GBV face considerable barriers accessing appropriate and timely health and social services. This study explored women’s experiences with health and social services in three Canadian cities to understand critical challenges and strengths in service provision for women experiencing GBV. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with self-identifying women (n = 21) who had accessed health or social care services and with service providers (n = 25) in three Canadian cities between February 2021 and November 2022. Women’s interviews focused on experiences engaging with services including what worked well, the challenges they faced, and their recommendations to enhance service delivery to women experiencing violence. Staff interviews focused on their experiences of providing services within their organization, and the strengths and challenges in providing services to women within their community. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis with a gender-based violence critical feminist lens. Results: We organized the findings into three interrelated themes. First our results show how the systems within which health and social services are organized, are not designed to meet women’s complex needs, with rigid structures, siloed services, and stigmatizing cultures creating significant barriers. Second, the data illustrate how service providers support and empower women through practices such as providing key information, assisting with administrative tasks, offering material resources, and addressing discrimination through advocacy and accompaniment. Third, our findings demonstrate how building an effective working relationship characterized by trust, non-judgment, and collaboration is crucial for service engagement and women’s overall well-being. Conclusions: Findings illuminate critical public health challenges as women navigate fragmented services across multiple and siloed systems not designed to meet their complex needs. There is an urgent need for systemic change to create more integrated, responsive support systems for women experiencing GBV. This includes addressing underlying structures perpetuating gender inequities and violence. Facilitating safe access to holistic services that consider women’s preferences is crucial. Effective working relationships built on trust, respect, and power-sharing are key to supporting women’s agency and addressing their interconnected needs.
Access status: Open Access ,
Pulling Order Back from the Brink of Disorder: Observation of a Nodal-Line Spin Liquid and Fluctuation Stabilized Order in K2IrCl6
(American Physical Society, 2025-04-21) Wang, Qiaochu; De La Torre, Alberto; Rodriguez-Rivera, Jose A.; Podlesnyak, Andrey A.; Tian, Wei; Aczel, Adam A.; Matsuda, Masaaki; Ryan, Philip J.; Kim, Jong-Woo; Rau, Jeffrey G.; Plumb, Kemp W.
Competing interactions in frustrated magnets can give rise to highly degenerate ground states from which correlated liquidlike states of matter often emerge. The scaling of this degeneracy influences the ultimate ground state, with extensive degeneracies potentially yielding quantum spin liquids, while subextensive or smaller degeneracies yield static orders. A long-standing problem is to understand how ordered states precipitate from this degenerate manifold and what echoes of the degeneracy survive ordering. Here, we use neutron scattering to experimentally demonstrate a new "nodal-line"spin liquid, where spins collectively fluctuate within a subextensive manifold spanning one-dimensional lines in reciprocal space. Realized in the spin-orbit-coupled, face-centered-cubic iridate K2IrCl6, we show that the subextensive degeneracy is robust, but remains susceptible to fluctuations or longer-range interactions which cooperate to select a magnetic order at low temperatures. Proximity to the nodal-line spin liquid influences the ordered state, enhancing the effects of quantum fluctuations that in turn act to stabilize the sublattice magnetization through the self-consistent opening of a large spin-wave gap. Our results demonstrate how quantum fluctuations can act counterintuitively in frustrated materials: Even in a case where fluctuations are ineffective at selecting an ordered state from a degenerate manifold, at the brink of the nodal spin liquid, they can act to protect the ordered state and dictate its low-energy physics.
Access status: Open Access ,
Identifying the transition from ante-mortem to post-mortem odor in cadavers in an outdoor environment
(Elsevier, 2025-06-11) Patel, Darshil; Burr, Wesley S.; Daoust, Benoit; Forbes, Shari
This study investigates the transition from ante-mortem to post-mortem odor in human remains during the early post-mortem period in an outdoor environment. Three cadavers (donors) were placed at an outdoor human decomposition facility, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were collected and analyzed using thermal desorption coupled with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TD-GC × GC-TOFMS). The key findings revealed that nitrogen-containing compounds were predominant in early post-mortem VOC profiles, driven by enzymatic and bacterial activity. Esters, alcohols, and halogenated compounds were also identified, with esters linked to microbial transformation and alcohols possibly formed by lipid peroxidation. Ante-mortem VOCs were persistent across samples, influenced by skin microbiota and environmental factors like UV radiation, complicating the detection of decomposition odor. Post-mortem VOCs became more prominent after ADD 73.4(experimental day 3), signaling the transition to the bloat stage of decomposition. Variations in sample collection methods and external factors such as temperature were found to affect VOC abundances. This study provides critical insights into odor transition and has implications for the use of search and rescue (SAR) and human remains detection (HRD) dogs. Further research is needed to standardize methods and assess odor transitions across diverse environments and seasons.