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BCIT Citations Collection

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Smart Grid and ICT's role in its evolution
While there is debate around the real causes of Climate Change, Green House Gas (GHG) emissions as a result of widespread use of fossil-based fuels by major economies around the world has been thought of playing a significant role in perpetuating the negative impacts of the phenomenon known as Climate Change. Regardless of whether GHG emissions is the sole culprit of the unusual, and often devastating changes in the climate patterns around the world, the global understanding has been sought over mitigating further dependence on fossil fuels by the developed countries. What further accentuates that desire, is not only the political and social instability of the regions which have traditionally supplied such fuels, but the fact that such fuel are finite in nature and due to be substantially exhausted in the not too distant future. It is interesting to note that the political and social turmoil associated with traditional sources of fossil fuels has given rise to the justification for many special interest groups in the developed world to call for "drilling closer to home". This view often ignores the fact that fossil fuel in the developed world often lies in "difficult to reach" and technologically challenging areas, which do not lend themselves to relatively risk-free exploration and exploitation. Recent environmental disasters, such as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a clear and undisputable indication of the dangers associated with "drilling closer to home". Consequently, to get out of our energy conundrum, it seems that our societies have no choice but to review and question the way our economies generate and utilize energy. Most studies of this nature reveal the wasteful and unsustainable processes and approaches which we have so far used in energy production and use. Conversion of one form of energy into another, transmission of energy from one place to another, distribution of energy through our urban and rural communities, and management of energy resources have all been imperfect, to say the least. Such wasteful approaches to energy use have been the hallmark of the last century, which has now come back to haunt us in terms of devastating consequences associated with Climate Change. It is in that light that Smart Grid has been inadvertently positioned as the silver bullet to address the Climate Change and Energy Independence issues. Smart Grid is expected to enable unprecedented degrees of conservation, efficiencies and utilization of alternative sources of energy, thus substantially reducing this century's dependence on fossil fuels. It is notable that regardless of which development category they belong to, the developed countries, as well as the developing countries, have put together ambitious plans for the development of next generation electric grid, also called Smart Grid, as the main engine for the development of their economies and the well-being of their population. However, the fact remains that Smart Grid is still a collection of concepts and ideas, whose full impact cannot be realized until a rich portfolio of innovative technologies, system architectures, integration solutions and social-economic components are available cost-effectively and in concert to address the energy supply and demand issues which individual countries across the world are grappling with. And as such, energy independence should be perceived by the world community as a global problem longing for global solutions. As will be demonstrated in the rest of this chapter, Information and Communication Technologies are poised to play a critical role in bringing about the full spectrum of functionalities which Smart Grid promises. After all, Smart Grid is all about pervasive monitoring and control, which could not be realized without a comprehensive blanket of communication technologies, encompassing all utility assets, and enabling the intelligence implanted in each node to contribute to the overall system capabilities and functionalities which Smart Grid is expected to provide., book chapter, Book published
Smart microgrids
The utility sector's transition to renewable energy and the smart grid has already begun. The first step towards smart grid is microgrid, which is a smaller electricity grid with access to all the essential assets of a larger grid. This book provides a glimpse into an actual microgrid project. It supplies a system-level approach to the design of smart Microgrids, covering the entire design process-from roadmap to realization. Detailing lessons learned and pitfalls to avoid in Microgrid technology, the book provides an interdisciplinary approach to design and problem solving for smart microgrids., Book, Published.
Sound transmission loss of extensive green roofs
A study was conducted to review the acoustical features and the potential contributions of green roofs to the acoustical environment, to investigate sound transmission theory, and to report on new empirical findings on the transmission loss of green roofs. The results of the study shows that existing sound transmission algorithms do not adequately predict TL of light-weight roof system or green roofs, nor describe the potential effect of moisture content of the substrate. The sound energy is dissipated in the substrate and provides a mass loading and damping effect on to the light-weight roof deck. The study also suggested that green roofs will provide a higher TL than the additional ceiling element and improve TL throughout the full architectural frequency range, specifically desirable in residential and institutional occupancies that are developed below aircraft flight paths., Article, Published.
Spectrum hierarchies and subdiagonal functions
Proceedings of the 18th IEEE Symposium on Logic in Computer Science (LICS-03), Ottawa, ON, 2003. The spectrum of a first-order sentence is the set of cardinalities of its finite models. Relatively little is known about the subclasses of spectra that are obtained by looking only at sentences with a specific signature. In this paper, we study natural subclasses of spectra and their closure properties under simple subdiagonal functions. We show that many natural closure properties turn out to be equivalent to the collapse of potential spectrum hierarchies. We prove all of our results using explicit transformations on first-order structures., Conference paper, Published.
Spinal cord injury and type 2 diabetes
Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between spinal cord injury (SCI) and type 2 diabetes in a large representative sample and to determine whether an association exists irrespective of known risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Methods: Data were obtained on 60,678 respondents to the Statistics Canada 2010 Cycle of the cross-sectional Canadian Community Health Survey. Multivariable logistic regression, incorporating adjustment for confounders and probability weights to account for the Canadian Community Health Survey sampling method, was conducted to quantify this association. Results: After adjustment for both sex and age, SCI was associated with a significant increased odds of type 2 diabetes (adjusted odds ratio = 1.66, 95% confidence interval 1.16–2.36). These heightened odds persisted after additional adjustment for smoking status, hypertension status, body mass index, daily physical activity, alcohol intake, and daily consumption of fruits and vegetables (fully adjusted odds ratio = 2.45, 95% confidence interval 1.34–4.47). Conclusions: There is a strong association between SCI and type 2 diabetes, which is not explained by known risk factors for type 2 diabetes., Peer-reviewed article, Published. Received May 14, 2013 ; Accepted August 21, 2013.
A state-of-the-art on concrete repairs and some thoughts on ways to achieve durability in repairs
Thee aim of this chapter is to provide the reader with a general overview of the different phenomena and factors involved with durability of repair and suggest the major aspects which the repair design should focus on. However, it is important to keep in mind that any repair problem needs to be addressed as a unique problem first, and the designer, by developing awareness of the several challenges involved, should be able to make mindful choices, adequate to the specific application that is being considered., Book chapter, Published.
Stochastic dynamics of gene expression in developing fly embryos
Proceedings of 2017 International Conference on Noise and Fluctuations (ICNF), Vilnius, Lithuania on 20-23 June 2017. Segmentation of the developing insect body is preceded by cell-specific gene expression. In fruit flies (Drosophila), pair-rule genes are expressed in spatial stripes specifying segment fates. Transcription of the even-skipped (eve) pair-rule gene was recently shown to proceed in noisy bursts. Here, we develop a stochastic model of eve transcription from DNA to mRNA. This indicates that eve transcription proceeds at two rates, with a slow rate providing basal production and a fast rate allowing for high mRNA output. This two-rate transcription may afford more reliability in mRNA output, and therefore the protein levels which specify cell type, than a simple on-off (one-rate) mechanism., Conference paper, Published.
Strengthening of timber beams using externally-bonded sprayed fibre reinforced polymers
The use of Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP) has grown in popularity in the construction industry. FRP has proven useful in the retrofit of various types of structural elements. It may be used for the strengthening of beams, the seismic upgrade of walls panels, as well as the jacketing of columns to provide confinement. There exist several methods of FRP application for the case of structural retrofits. These include the application of pre-prepared FRP mats, or application of FRP via the wet lay-up process. However, a new technique developed at the University of British Columbia allows for the application of FRP in the form of a spray. Externally bonded Sprayed FRP (SFRP) is known to increase strength and energy absorption capacity of a retrofitted member as well as, or better than, FRP sheets. However, tests have primarily been carried out on concrete members only. An area of interest, into which not much research has been conducted, is the application of SFRP to timber. Timber bridges are extensively used in many parts of the world. Often due to remoteness and practical constraints, it is impossible to apply FRP sheets to retrofit these bridges. SFRP would be a much easier method of FRP application. This study looked at the application of SFRP to Douglas Fir (D.Fir) Beam specimens subjected to 3-Point Flexural Loading only. The specimens were treated with either a water based (Borocol) or oil borne (Creosote) antifungal preservative prior to being sprayed with FRP. Different combinations of adhesives/bonding agents including Hydroxymethylated Resorcinol and Polymeric Isocyanates were used to try to develop a strong bond. When considering using only chemical adhesives to obtain a proper bond between the two constituents of the composite, use of HMR is recommended for timber which is untreated or has been treated with a water borne preservative such as Borocol, while a pMDI adhesive such as AtPrime 2 is recommended for timber treated with an oil borne preservative such as Creosote. For Non Creosoted beams, adhesives did not generate as significant of a strength gain. For Creosoted beams, adhesives may be sufficient to generate significant strength gain when SFRP is applied to a beam. Considering that most structures in use would probably have been treated with a preservative similar to Creosote, in practice, AtPrime 2 or some other some sort of pMDI would probably be the adhesive of choice. Based on the results of the study, it is possible to say that the application of SFRP to retrofit/rehabilitate timber structures shows considerable promise. If a decent bond is achieved between the composite constituents, it is possible to substantially increase the ultimate flexural strength of the member, as well as drastically increase its ductility and energy absorption capacity. It is recommended that further tests be carried out using different types of loading schemes, geometrical configurations of SFRP, other types of anchorage, and development of a proper analytical model before the method is adopted for widespread use., Thesis, Published.
Structured documents
Proceedings of 2012 European Intelligence and Security Informatics Conference (EISIC) in Odense, Denmark 22-24 Aug. 2012. Much of the information exchanged between agents over a network is encapsulated in XML documents. An XML document has a tree structure, and the meaning of the document can be understood in terms of a set of label-value pairs. The content of a document is often secured through digital signatures applied to different sections, while the document is passed between several agents. In this paper, we illustrate that this process is insecure in the sense that a malicious agent can deceive an honest agent to hold beliefs that are untrue. We provide a formal framework for analyzing the security of structured documents, based on the implicit epistemic impact that a signed document will have on a recipient. This kind of analysis can provide significant insight into deception and fraud detection., Conference paper, Published.
Student emotions with an edu-game
Proceedings of 2013 Humaine Association Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction, Geneva, Switzerland, 2-5 Sept. 2013. We present the results of a study that explored the emotions experienced by students during interaction with an educational game for math (Heroes of Math Island). Starting from emotion frameworks in affective computing and education, we considered a larger set of emotions than in related research. For emotion labeling, we employed a standard method that relies on trained judges to report emotions over 20-second intervals. However, we asked judges to report all observed emotions in each interval, as opposed to only choosing one, as is standard practice. This variation allows us to discuss the appropriateness of this interval for emotion labeling. We present a detailed analysis of inter-coder reliability, both aggregated and over individual students, that considers not only the matching by judges over emotion type, but also the number of emotions detected., Conference paper, Published., Peer reviewed
Students use new lab to test electrical and cybersecurity systems
2016 | 2017 Project Highlights Short piece about BCIT Smart Microgrid designs., Article, Published
Study on the mechanical and environmental properties of concrete containing cathode ray tube glass aggregate
Cathode ray tube (CRT) glass is considered a hazardous material due to its lead toxicity. In addition, current disposal practices are being phased out due to their adverse environmental impacts. In this project, CRT glass was used as a fine aggregate replacement in concrete. Life-cycle material characterization was conducted by evaluating the durability and strength of the CRT-Concrete. Leaching tests were also conducted to investigate whether the material meets drinking water limits for Pb. Test results show that the plastic state of the CRT-Concrete was affected by the angularity of the glass particles. Moreover, the compressive strength of CRT-Concrete met and exceeded that of the control specimen. However, CRT-Concrete was susceptible to expansive alkali-silica reactions when more than 10% CRT replacement was used. Environmental leaching results show that lead concentrations from CRT-Concrete are below the drinking water limits depending on the CRT volume replacement and if biopolymers are used., Peer reviewed, Peer reviewed article, Received 26 July 2012 ; Accepted 24 March 2013 ; Available online 28 April 2013., Durability, CRT, Heavy metals, Glass recycling, Waste management, Sustainable concrete

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