British Columbia Institute of Technology

About: British Columbia Institute of Technology is a education organization based out in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Smart grid & Belief revision. The organization has 458 authors who have published 785 publications receiving 16140 citations.

Color Assortative Mating in a Mainland Population of the Poison Frog Oophaga pumilio

Abstract: Assortative mating is a reproductive strategy used by a diversity of animals, in which individuals choose a mate that shares similar characteristics. This mating strategy has the potential to promote the evolution of various sexual signals and has been a proposed mechanism driving and maintaining color variation in the anuran family Dendrobatidae. Most studies have examined this reproductive strategy in the polytypic poison frog, Oophaga pumilio, in the Bocas del Toro archipelago in Panama. Little attention, however, has been given to ancestral populations across this species’ mainland range, where dramatic color polytypism appears to lack. Additionally, most studies are exclusively experimental and investigate mate choice between allopatric populations, neglecting the behaviors of naturally occurring mates. This study observed natural mating pairs within a population of O. pumilio on mainland Costa Rica and tested the prediction that color phenotype of mating females and males would be correlated. Naturally occurring pairs were found to share similar coloration, suggesting that color assortative mating operates in nature, and in a mainland population. Our results indicate that coloration is an important trait in driving the natural mate choices of female O. pumilio, which provides valuable insight into realistic mate selection tactics of this dendrobatid frog.

Wood ST : A Temperature-Dependent Plastic-Damage Constitutive Model Used for Numerical Simulation of Wood-Based Materials and Connections

Abstract: The thermomechanical behavior of members and connections plays a crucial role in the fire safety of timber construction. In this study, a unique constitutive model, WoodST, combining a numb...

Education and Sustainability: Learning Across the Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Divide

Abstract: This book critically examines the impact of migration, education, development, and the spread of English on global bio-linguistic and cultural diversity. Derived from findings from a comparative eco-linguistic study of intergenerational language, culture, and education change in the Tibetan Diaspora, the book extends its analysis to consider the plight of other peoples who find themselves straddling the Indigenous-Minority-Diaspora divide. MacPherson explores the overlapping and distinctive sustainability challenges facing indigenous and minority communities when they are connected by and within diasporas, and seeks to adequately explain the discontinuities and disjunctures between their educational struggles and achievement levels.

Drones' Face off: Authentication by Machine Learning in Autonomous IoT Systems

Abstract: Autonomous Internet-of-Things (IoT) are comprised of moving objects such as drones and rovers that use self-control techniques to accomplish a mission while following a path. However, losing control in such systems usually by spoofing their sensors or hijacking with misleading commands can lead to catastrophic safety consequences. In this paper, we close the gap by authenticating the behavior of autonomous IoT systems during operation. In particular, we check the behavior of a moving IoT object, e.g., a drone, by evaluating its time-series telemetry traces during the flight. We examine three different machine-learning algorithms for this purpose, namely, K-Nearest Neighbour (KNN), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Logistic Regression (LR). Our results show that KNN is the best method of the three selected techniques for authentication in dynamic IoT systems, e.g., drones. We achieved 93.4% in precision rate and 100% recall rate with KNN.

Sound transmission loss of extensive green roofs - Field test results

Abstract: 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.