Late Precontact and Protocontact Stone Circle Sites at Little Manitou Lake, South-Central Saskatchewan

This study focuses on the Little Manitou Lake archaeological complex, a collection of sites situated around the western end of Little Manitou Lake, located in south-central Saskatchewan. The majority of sites documented in this region contain stone circle features suggesting residential/domestic use while a handful of sites have been documented as ceremonial in nature, containing medicine wheels and vision quest features. Today, Little Manitou Lake is hypersaline and has been so for the last 2,000 years. Evidence suggests that the lake was previously a deep freshwater lake. Changing climatic and environmental conditions responsible for the transformation of the lake would likely have influenced lifeways of past populations and may have influenced use of this area. Archaeological sites around Little Manitou Lake have been hypothesized to relate to the saline/healing nature of the water. The named Manitou comes from an Algonquian word meaning “great spirit” and the lake became known as the “Lake of Healing Waters”. Ethnographic information indicates that aboriginal groups made pilgrimages to the lake to experience the lakes healing properties. The main objective of this research was to improve understanding of interactions between past populations and the environment of the Little Manitou Lake area and to set the local archaeological record into the broader context of Northern Plains prehistory. The importance of this area to past populations is demonstrated by the density of archaeological sites identified around the lake. Considering paleoenvironmental data in relation to these sites provides new insights about human-environment interactions and how changing environmental conditions may have influenced past use of this area. To achieve the objective of this study, three goals were set out and explored: to identify hearth deposits at archaeological sites that could provide dates for site occupation in the area, to review paleoenvironmental data to better understand changing water and salinity levels of the lake through time, and to carry out spatial analyses to evaluate how site placement may relate and help elucidate the overall cultural landscape. Hearth deposits, containing charred organics, were identified which produced dates for three archaeological sites, establishing part of the cultural chronology for the region and provided data which suggest occupation occurred during the late summer or early autumn. The sites were found to belong to the Precontact and Protocontact periods. Data from EkNk-3 indicated that occupation occurred during a period of transition from the Late Old Women’s phase to the Mortlach phase while data from EkNj-4 and EkNj-68 indicated that occupations occurred during the Mortlach phase. Dates from these sites, when compared to the literature relating to paleoenvironmental conditions in the region, allowed for the inference that Little Manitou Lake was a saline lake during site occupation, leading to an improved understanding of the environmental context in which the sites were utilized. Spatial analyses were conducted on both domestic and ceremonial sites in the area. Spatial evaluations of domestic sites at the western end of Little Manitou Lake provided insight about the patterning of features present at the sites. Spatial evaluations of ceremonial sites provided insight about the importance of prominent topographic features in the region and helped to elucidate the overall cultural landscape. Taken as a whole, data collected during this study provides substantive new insights about the archaeological environment at Little Manitou Lake

Underwater Sensor Nodes and Networks

Sensor technology has matured enough to be used in any type of environment. The appearance of new physical sensors has increased the range of environmental parameters for gathering data. Because of the huge amount of unexploited resources in the ocean environment, there is a need of new research in the field of sensors and sensor networks. This special issue is focused on collecting recent advances on underwater sensors and underwater sensor networks in order to measure, monitor, surveillance of and control of underwater environments. On the one hand, from the sensor node perspective, we will see works related with the deployment of physical sensors, development of sensor nodes and transceivers for sensor nodes, sensor measurement analysis and several issues such as layer 1 and 2 protocols for underwater communication and sensor localization and positioning systems. On the other hand, from the sensor network perspective, we will see several architectures and protocols for underwater environments and analysis concerning sensor network measurements. Both sides will provide us a complete view of last scientific advances in this research field.Lloret, J. (2013). Underwater Sensor Nodes and Networks. Sensors. 13(9):11782-11796. doi:10.3390/s130911782S1178211796139Garcia, M., Sendra, S., Lloret, G., & Lloret, J. (2011). Monitoring and control sensor system for fish feeding in marine fish farms. IET Communications, 5(12), 1682-1690. doi:10.1049/iet-com.2010.0654Martinez, J. J., Myers, J. R., Carlson, T. J., Deng, Z. D., Rohrer, J. S., Caviggia, K. A., … Weiland, M. A. (2011). Design and Implementation of an Underwater Sound Recording Device. Sensors, 11(9), 8519-8535. doi:10.3390/s110908519Ardid, M., Martínez-Mora, J. A., Bou-Cabo, M., Larosa, G., Adrián-Martínez, S., & Llorens, C. D. (2012). Acoustic Transmitters for Underwater Neutrino Telescopes. Sensors, 12(4), 4113-4132. doi:10.3390/s120404113Baronti, F., Fantechi, G., Roncella, R., & Saletti, R. (2012). Wireless Sensor Node for Surface Seawater Density Measurements. Sensors, 12(3), 2954-2968. doi:10.3390/s120302954Mànuel, A., Roset, X., Rio, J. D., Toma, D. M., Carreras, N., Panahi, S. S., … Cadena, J. (2012). Ocean Bottom Seismometer: Design and Test of a Measurement System for Marine Seismology. Sensors, 12(3), 3693-3719. doi:10.3390/s120303693Jollymore, A., Johnson, M. S., & Hawthorne, I. (2012). Submersible UV-Vis Spectroscopy for Quantifying Streamwater Organic Carbon Dynamics: Implementation and Challenges before and after Forest Harvest in a Headwater Stream. Sensors, 12(4), 3798-3813. doi:10.3390/s120403798Won, T.-H., & Park, S.-J. (2012). Design and Implementation of an Omni-Directional Underwater Acoustic Micro-Modem Based on a Low-Power Micro-Controller Unit. Sensors, 12(2), 2309-2323. doi:10.3390/s120202309Sánchez, A., Blanc, S., Yuste, P., Perles, A., & Serrano, J. J. (2012). An Ultra-Low Power and Flexible Acoustic Modem Design to Develop Energy-Efficient Underwater Sensor Networks. Sensors, 12(6), 6837-6856. doi:10.3390/s120606837Shin, S.-Y., & Park, S.-H. (2011). A Cost Effective Block Framing Scheme for Underwater Communication. Sensors, 11(12), 11717-11735. doi:10.3390/s111211717Kim, Y., & Park, S.-H. (2011). A Query Result Merging Scheme for Providing Energy Efficiency in Underwater Sensor Networks. Sensors, 11(12), 11833-11855. doi:10.3390/s111211833Llor, J., & Malumbres, M. P. (2012). Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks: How Do Acoustic Propagation Models Impact the Performance of Higher-Level Protocols? Sensors, 12(2), 1312-1335. doi:10.3390/s120201312Zhang, G., Hovem, J. M., & Dong, H. (2012). Experimental Assessment of Different Receiver Structures for Underwater Acoustic Communications over Multipath Channels. Sensors, 12(2), 2118-2135. doi:10.3390/s120202118Ramezani, H., & Leus, G. (2012). Ranging in an Underwater Medium with Multiple Isogradient Sound Speed Profile Layers. Sensors, 12(3), 2996-3017. doi:10.3390/s120302996Lloret, J., Sendra, S., Ardid, M., & Rodrigues, J. J. P. C. (2012). Underwater Wireless Sensor Communications in the 2.4 GHz ISM Frequency Band. Sensors, 12(4), 4237-4264. doi:10.3390/s120404237Gao, M., Foh, C. H., & Cai, J. (2012). On the Selection of Transmission Range in Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks. Sensors, 12(4), 4715-4729. doi:10.3390/s120404715Gómez, J. V., Sandnes, F. E., & Fernández, B. (2012). Sunlight Intensity Based Global Positioning System for Near-Surface Underwater Sensors. Sensors, 12(2), 1930-1949. doi:10.3390/s120201930Han, G., Jiang, J., Shu, L., Xu, Y., & Wang, F. (2012). Localization Algorithms of Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks: A Survey. Sensors, 12(2), 2026-2061. doi:10.3390/s120202026Moradi, M., Rezazadeh, J., & Ismail, A. S. (2012). A Reverse Localization Scheme for Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks. Sensors, 12(4), 4352-4380. doi:10.3390/s120404352Lee, S., & Kim, K. (2012). Localization with a Mobile Beacon in Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks. Sensors, 12(5), 5486-5501. doi:10.3390/s120505486Mohamed, N., Jawhar, I., Al-Jaroodi, J., & Zhang, L. (2011). Sensor Network Architectures for Monitoring Underwater Pipelines. Sensors, 11(11), 10738-10764. doi:10.3390/s111110738Macias, E., Suarez, A., Chiti, F., Sacco, A., & Fantacci, R. (2011). A Hierarchical Communication Architecture for Oceanic Surveillance Applications. Sensors, 11(12), 11343-11356. doi:10.3390/s111211343Zhang, S., Yu, J., Zhang, A., Yang, L., & Shu, Y. (2012). Marine Vehicle Sensor Network Architecture and Protocol Designs for Ocean Observation. Sensors, 12(1), 373-390. doi:10.3390/s120100373Climent, S., Capella, J. V., Meratnia, N., & Serrano, J. J. (2012). Underwater Sensor Networks: A New Energy Efficient and Robust Architecture. Sensors, 12(1), 704-731. doi:10.3390/s120100704Min, H., Cho, Y., & Heo, J. (2012). Enhancing the Reliability of Head Nodes in Underwater Sensor Networks. Sensors, 12(2), 1194-1210. doi:10.3390/s120201194Yoon, S., Azad, A. K., Oh, H., & Kim, S. (2012). AURP: An AUV-Aided Underwater Routing Protocol for Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks. Sensors, 12(2), 1827-1845. doi:10.3390/s120201827Caiti, A., Calabrò, V., Dini, G., Lo Duca, A., & Munafò, A. (2012). Secure Cooperation of Autonomous Mobile Sensors Using an Underwater Acoustic Network. Sensors, 12(2), 1967-1989. doi:10.3390/s120201967Wu, H., Chen, M., & Guan, X. (2012). A Network Coding Based Routing Protocol for Underwater Sensor Networks. Sensors, 12(4), 4559-4577. doi:10.3390/s120404559Navarro, G., Huertas, I. E., Costas, E., Flecha, S., Díez-Minguito, M., Caballero, I., … Ruiz, J. (2012). Use of a Real-Time Remote Monitoring Network (RTRM) to Characterize the Guadalquivir Estuary (Spain). Sensors, 12(2), 1398-1421. doi:10.3390/s120201398Baladrón, C., Aguiar, J. M., Calavia, L., Carro, B., Sánchez-Esguevillas, A., & Hernández, L. (2012). Performance Study of the Application of Artificial Neural Networks to the Completion and Prediction of Data Retrieved by Underwater Sensors. Sensors, 12(2), 1468-1481. doi:10.3390/s12020146

Crowdsourcing Methods for Data Collection in Geophysics: State of the Art, Issues, and Future Directions

Data are essential in all areas of geophysics. They are used to better understand and manage systems, either directly or via models. Given the complexity and spatiotemporal variability of geophysical systems (e.g., precipitation), a lack of sufficient data is a perennial problem, which is exacerbated by various drivers, such as climate change and urbanization. In recent years, crowdsourcing has become increasingly prominent as a means of supplementing data obtained from more traditional sources, particularly due to its relatively low implementation cost and ability to increase the spatial and/or temporal resolution of data significantly. Given the proliferation of different crowdsourcing methods in geophysics and the promise they have shown, it is timely to assess the state‐of‐the‐art in this field, to identify potential issues and map out a way forward. In this paper, crowdsourcing‐based data acquisition methods that have been used in seven domains of geophysics, including weather, precipitation, air pollution, geography, ecology, surface water and natural hazard management are discussed based on a review of 162 papers. In addition, a novel framework for categorizing these methods is introduced and applied to the methods used in the seven domains of geophysics considered in this review. This paper also features a review of 93 papers dealing with issues that are common to data acquisition methods in different domains of geophysics, including the management of crowdsourcing projects, data quality, data processing and data privacy. In each of these areas, the current status is discussed and challenges and future directions are outlined

A Portable Digital Sounding System for Arctic Use

This paper describes a light-weight digital echo sounder for water depth determination through ice

From streams to citizens : a multi-lens investigation of water quality through carbon cycles and participation within water science and policy

Water management approaches that are scientifically sound and societally relevant are critical, given the myriad demands and threats posed to this resource and its necessity for environmental and human life. This thesis reflects the inherently complex and multifaceted nature of water management by investigating issues of water quality, as well as societal participation within science outlining the health of water resources, and policy that determines admissible human impacts. First, the technical details of deploying in situ water quality monitoring networks are examined, given challenges of installing sensitive and costly sensors within remote and physically dynamic stream environments. A year of high frequency measurements explicates the necessity of measuring concentrations at adequate time intervals to accurately calculate fluxes of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Secondly, these spectrophotometric approaches were used to investigate how forest harvest affects in-stream DOC biogeochemistry within a small headwater stream on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Forest harvest has a large impact on catchment biogeochemistry and hydrology. Harvest increases DOC concentration and flux within the stream. It also alters the chemical composition of DOC, signifying impacts on the catchment scale mechanisms by which DOC is created and transported. Thirdly, the impacts of citizen participation on scientific data outcomes within the burgeoning field of citizen science are detailed. Six critical lessons learned were distilled from a citizen science water quality monitoring program (concerning DOC concentration and characteristics). Scientific data was used alongside qualitative vignettes to explicate the importance of citizen perspectives, contextual knowledge, and motivations for involvement on critical data outcomes. Lastly, the process and outcomes of public participation through consultation in the creation of provincial-level water policy are discussed. The extensive public consultation process undertaken during the modernization of BC’s Water Sustainability Act was used to examine what was expressed during consultation, and how this compared to the contents of the Act. Differences between consultation outcomes and Act contents (especially related to water allocation) bring to bear questions regarding the function of consultation within participatory policy processes, including how consultation was (and should be) used, and the possible influence of elite groups.Science, Faculty ofResources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute forGraduat

Investigating nanomechanical properties of proteins that exhibit differing functionality using single molecule atomic force microscopy

Proteins are the workhorses of the biological world, performing a range of tasks that are critical to life. How proteins attain their functional three dimensional fold from a simple linear polymer chain is a poorly understood, yet fundamental process. Comprehending how proteins fold and the molecular arbiters of functional characteristics has the potential for the future rational engineering of proteins that exhibit desired utility and remains an active area of research today. The atomic force microscope (AFM) has been developed as a tool uniquely suited towards studying protein folding and functionality at the nanoscale, with its ability to definitively describe the mechanical properties of a single molecule of protein. This study seeks to apply the AFM towards elucidating the mechanical properties of two proteins with dissimilar functionality: the mechanical extracellular matrix protein tenascin-X and the non-mechanical enzyme bacillus circulans xylanase (BCX). By explicating the mechanical properties of each of these proteins, we seek to explore how intrinsic functionality is encoded within the molecular structure of a protein with intrinsic mechanical functionality as well as one lacking a mechanical physiological role. Using AFM to investigate these differences expands on what is already known concerning the mechanical properties of proteins exhibiting differing structure and functional character, seeking to further explicate the basis of mechanical properties observable using the AFM.Science, Faculty ofChemistry, Department ofGraduat