University of Winnipeg

About: University of Winnipeg is a education organization based out in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 3235 authors who have published 6413 publications receiving 150564 citations. The organization is also known as: U of W.

Measurements of the T2K neutrino beam properties using the INGRID on-axis near detector

Abstract: Precise measurement of neutrino beam direction and intensity was achieved based on a new concept with modularized neutrino detectors. INGRID (Interactive Neutrino GRID) is an on-axis near detector for the T2K long baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. INGRID consists of 16 identical modules arranged in horizontal and vertical arrays around the beam center. The module has a sandwich structure of iron target plates and scintillator trackers. INGRID directly monitors the muon neutrino beam profile center and intensity using the number of observed neutrino events in each module. The neutrino beam direction is measured with accuracy better than 0.4 mrad from the measured profile center. The normalized event rate is measured with 4% precision.

Application of a Wide Area Backup Protection Expert System to Prevent Cascading Outages

Abstract: A strategy to prevent cascading outages in power systems is proposed in this paper. The strategy employs wide-area back-up protection and artificial intelligence techniques to minimize the impact of a fault on a network. There are two ways in which wide-area backup protection can prevent cascading trips leading to a wide spread blackout: 1) Precise location of a fault so that only the circuit breakers necessary to isolate the fault are tripped; and 2) Avoidance of unnecessary trips, due to hidden failure or overloading, by blocking the trip signals of conventional back-up protection relays. The limitations of conventional back-up protection are examined and methods of improvement are presented.

Face Masks and the Cardiorespiratory Response to Physical Activity in Health and Disease.

Abstract: To minimize transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the novel coronavirus responsible for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization recommend wearing face masks in public. Some have expressed concern that these may affect the cardiopulmonary system by increasing the work of breathing, altering pulmonary gas exchange and increasing dyspnea, especially during physical activity. These concerns have been derived largely from studies evaluating devices intentionally designed to severely affect respiratory mechanics and gas exchange. We review the literature on the effects of various face masks and respirators on the respiratory system during physical activity using data from several models: cloth face coverings and surgical masks, N95 respirators, industrial respirators, and applied highly resistive or high-dead space respiratory loads. Overall, the available data suggest that although dyspnea may be increased and alter perceived effort with activity, the effects on work of breathing, blood gases, and other physiological parameters imposed by face masks during physical activity are small, often too small to be detected, even during very heavy exercise. There is no current evidence to support sex-based or age-based differences in the physiological responses to exercise while wearing a face mask. Although the available data suggest that negative effects of using cloth or surgical face masks during physical activity in healthy individuals are negligible and unlikely to impact exercise tolerance significantly, for some individuals with severe cardiopulmonary disease, any added resistance and/or minor changes in blood gases may evoke considerably more dyspnea and, thus, affect exercise capacity.

Long-distance movements of little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus)

Abstract: were to quantify proportions of male and female bats that relocated from hibernacula and/or summer roosts between years, proportions of males and females captured at swarms that hibernated at those sites versus other hibernacula, and distances traveled by males and females during relocation events. We predicted that bats would exhibit male-biased dispersal, with males significantly more likely to relocate and more likely to travel long distances during relocation events. Between 1989 and 2010, we recaptured 1,459 of 10,432 banded individuals. Seasonal movements from hibernacula and/or swarms to summer colonies ranged widely from 10 to 647 km. Consistent with previous studies we found high fidelity to summer colonies and hibernacula across years. However, some individuals switched sites between years and the median relocation distance was 315 km, with over 20% of individual movements exceeding 500 km. Surprisingly, we found that females were significantly more likely to relocate than males. Our data could help explain apparent jumps in the distribution of G. destructans, but more data on transmission of the fungus in the wild are needed.