identifier: Zhang, Li Qiang  (2001) Recognition of courtesy amounts on bank checks based on a segmentation approach.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: A segmentation based courtesy amount recognition (CAR) system is presented in this thesis. This system consists of four modules, which are preprocessing, segmentation, recognition and syntactical analysis. The noise is first removed in the preprocessing module. Then, the segmentation module seeks to extract characters (digits, punctuation marks and so on) from the numeral strings. The recognition module aims at classifying each pattern into one of the ten numerals ('0'-'9') and double zeros ('00'), rejecting ambiguous patterns. Finally, the syntactical analysis module parses the recognition results to provide an acceptable courtesy amount.  Two sets of features, shape features and spatial features, are developed to locate the punctuation marks. In addition, a hypotheses-then-verification approach for segmentation of the numeral strings is introduced. The emphasis is on finding all possible segmentation hypotheses and then verify them. A two-level segmentation module is proposed, namely the global segmentation level and the local segmentation level. At the global segmentation level, the intent is to find the potential broken numerals and group them together. On the contrary, the local segmentation level seeks to split the touching digits.  Two classifiers are combined into the recognition module. The isolated digit classifier divides the input patterns into ten numerals ('0'-'9'), while the holistic double zeros classifier intends to recognize the cursive and touching double zeros as an atomic symbol.  The proposed courtesy amount recognition system has been trained on the database of CENPARMI checks and tested on the database of real checks. The system reads 66.5% real checks correctly at 0% misreading rate


identifier: Waked, Boulos  (2001) Page segmentation and identification for document image analysis.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract: The main objective of this thesis is to develop a system to automatically segment and label a variety of real-life documents written in different languages. The main idea is to partition the whole document into different subimages and assign to each of them one of two labels: text or non-text (including graphics); and then identify the text, as one of three categories, Roman; Ideographic, or Arabic script.  The whole process consists of several steps. For instance, to detect the skew angle of the document, we use the Hough transform and the most frequently occurring local maximum. Moreover, in order to segment the page into regions, we have developed a novel approach based on diagonal scanning and node-edge orientation. Then, text and graphic components are also isolated using the geometric configuration of the connected components. Next, the textual components are segmented into lines using the projection profile: and finally the script is classified into one of the three categories mentioned above using the bounding boxes and horizontal projection.  The system has been tested on 215 samples of diverse document types from many sources such as journal articles, magazines, newspapers, facsimiles, and office correspondence. These testing samples include low quality document images with different types of distortion; they also contain upside-down, skewed and low resolution images. The system classifies 93.5% of the script type correctly and 6.5% of these documents incorrectly


identifier: Antunes, Helder Manuel  (2001) Improving and mediating usability-to-software engineering communication.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Our research investigates how to integrate usability concerns into the software development lifecycle and in particular how to improve the communication between usability and software engineers. In the last few years, many software development teams have tried to integrate user-centered design techniques into their software engineering lifecycle. However, because of lack of understanding and communication between two diverse teams, they often run into problems. One problem arises from the fact that the software engineering teams have their own techniques and tools for managing the whole development lifecycle including usability issues, and it is not clear where exactly in this usability engineering techniques should be placed and integrated with existing software engineering methods to maximize benefits gained from both. Several research attempts have been done to reconcile the user-centered design approach and traditional software engineering methods. The optimal methodology is therefore a tailored one, catering to the needs of each project and team. Our research, rather than investigating, how to alleviate the usability concerns of adapted software development lifecycle, focuses on the communication between usability engineers and developers. To motivate our investigations, we first examine two popular requirement-engineering processes: RESPECT and the use-case driven process, as defined in the Rational Unified Process framework. This discussion allows us to identify milestones of a relevant communication between members of the software development team and usability specialists. Finally, we describe a tool which aims to assist both software and usability engineers to mediate their communication.


identifier: Abi-Aad, Rony  (2001) A new user model to support electronic commerce.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: User models incorporate the knowledge about the user so as to increase, in a general sense, the effectiveness of man-machine interaction. Several applications or software agents can use such model-based knowledge to give better and personalized services to end-users. The personalization can be in the form of filtering, presentation, resolving ambiguity or incompleteness, and proactive notification.  In electronic commerce applications, the user interface plays a key role in achieving user acceptance. This is more so, in the case of business-to-consumer type e-commerce. Based on the user needs, we classify the shopping behavior of consumers into three categories, which are called comparative shopping, planned shopping and browsing-based shopping. We propose a user model to suit these buying behaviors. The user model described in this thesis can be helpful in the development of personalized services and for building user interface and software-agents that can assist consumers both reactively and pro-actively. The proposed user model is applicable in the context of virtual or electronic malls that deal with broad as well as specific types of products and services


identifier: Wen, Tianhe  (2001) The development of a simulation model of pipeline network systems with check valve.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The objective of this thesis is to design and implement a software package to model and simulate pipeline network systems with check valves. The application package is written under the window's environment to provide the hydraulic engineer a user friendly interface for ease of simulation and analysis without requiring to write code.  Discussion of the phenomenon of hydraulic transients, derivation of the differential equations, comparison of different kinds of analysis methods, and investigation of the method of characteristics solution and basic boundary conditions are all established. The check valve dynamic equation is investigated for the analysis of pipeline transients, and formulae for flow torque acting on the valve discs are derived by introducing the orifice sequence model. Dynamic behavior of pumps is considered during the pipeline transients, and the analysis of this behavior combines the method of characteristics with check valve dynamics, pump characteristic and pump boundary conditions both for pump failure and pump start up. Numerical solutions to pipeline transients, check valve dynamics, and pump characteristic are established. Finally, the implementation into a working simulation program of a dynamic model for pipeline network systems with check valves is described, and a user guide for the software HydroAnalysis and HydroGraphic is presented


identifier: Yang, Hui  (2001) A hybrid multilayer error control technique for multihop ATM networks.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: There has been a great interest lately in the utilization of the ATM technology for networks. Especially in recent years, wireless ATM has emerged. The wireless links are characterized by higher, time-varying error rates and burstier error patterns in comparison with the fiber-based links from which ATM was designed. The mean time error checking and correction get more and more important and necessary.  In this work, a new multilayer error control technique is presented and analyzed for ATM networks. While standard Go-Back-N ARQ technique is applied end to end, a new lost-cell concealment technique cooperates below as a forward error correction mechanism that also operates end to end. As the cell travels the inter-network enroute to the destination ATM user node interface (UNI), the CRC is checked and the cell is dropped or passed to the next ATM hop accordingly.  The error detection and correction techniques above are applicable to connection oriented traffic, however in this work we deal with the connectionless case. The choice of one of these alternatives has its implication on the CRC regeneration at each ATM Network Node Interface (NNI). In this work we present the hierarchy of the error control technique above, and analyze the end to end user performance in terms of net throughput and reliability. In the process we investigate the interactive effects of the channel and ATM signaling parameters on the system performance, with particular emphasis on the design of the error control scheme.


identifier: Wu, Chengyi  (2001) Realtime routing and messaging in wireless networks.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Wireless technology has rapidly expanded in recent years; however, until now, it is only used to extend services in wired networks, applications that can take full advantage of mobile communication have not appeared yet. In this thesis, a practical messaging application for mobile computing is presented and a realtime Zone Routing Protocol (ZRP) for underlying wireless networks is evaluated.  Mobile Yellow page Messaging and Retrieval (MYMAR) system is a new application for self-organized IEEE 802.11 compliant WLANs which consist of one Base Station (BS) and several Mobile Stations (MS) in each WLAN segment. In this distributed free public-access mobile network, BSs provide yellow page-like local information, such as digital maps, business advertisements, and business locations, to enable mobile receivers to quickly determine driving direction and navigate facilities of an intended service. Users retrieve and navigate such information via a user-friendly, voice recognition based hand-free command system. Other services available are voice messaging between users and voice-activated global web wireless access. The basic architecture and system operation of this wireless application system is shown.  A suitable routing strategy is also necessary to forward packets between WLAN segments. A realtime Zone Routing Protocol (ZRP), which combines proactive routing for in-zone traffic and on-demand routing for out-zone traffic, was implemented. Some optimal configurations, such as Early Detection/Termination and Backward Route Accumulation, were made to improve the ZRP performance in mobile wireless network. The processing time for each ZRP subtask was evaluated.


identifier: Slater, Michael  (2001) An innovative antenna design tool : the antenna design software.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Antenna design starts with a desired electrical performance, stating the minimum gain, beamwidth and/or other parameters, across a specified bandwidth. An antenna type is chosen, and then trial-and-error is used to choose the dimensions. An initial set of dimensions is used to find the antenna's performance, either by computer simulation or by measurement. If the performance fails to meet the specification, the dimensions are adjusted, and performance again found, the process is repeated until suitable dimensions are found.  This thesis presents a realization of an antenna design tool created with MATLAB, called the Antenna Design Software . The Antenna Design Software can be used to study any antenna system that can be designed using two primary geometrical design parameters. The ADS effectively reverses the approach of antenna simulation programs. The ADS accepts the desired electrical performance as the input then determines all the possible combinations of geometrical dimensions that meet this performance for one antenna type. There may be many possible sets of dimensions, or conversely there may be no set of dimensions that meets the required performance. The thesis illustrates a repertoire of related antenna types, with databases for a simple helix antenna, a helix terminated with a matching section and a helix having a ground cup. The power of the ADS can be greatly increased by developing a library of antenna types that are then at the design engineer's fingertips


identifier: Shukayr, Riman  (2001) Evaluation of the uniform theory of diffraction for edge diffraction at low frequency.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis examines the UTD diffraction coefficient's limitations in accuracy for a half plane and a wedge at low frequency. The UTD solutions are developed for scattering by a strip and a square cylinder with diffraction considered as a local phenomenon. Single and multiple diffractions are considered, and both TE and TM polarizations are done.  As a benchmark, moment method solutions are developed for the strip and square cylinder. Pulse basis point matching is used after investigating its adequacy: some moment method codes that are available in the open literature were examined; in one instance some modifications were required to obtain satisfactory results. For the infinite edge, comparison is done with modal solutions and Sommerfeld's exact solution. The UTD diffraction solution reduces to Sommerfeld's exact solution when the edge is a half plane and the incident field is a plane wave. The equivalence of these cases is not obvious and is derived as part of this work. Other comparisons are made with results that are available in the literature.  It was found that UTD, when multiple diffraction is taken into account, can be used to compute scattered fields and surface currents for scatterers as small as 0.1 n in dimension, with a very high degree of accuracy. This is quite surprising, as UTD is generally expected to only work well with electrically large structures on the order of 1 n in size or larger


identifier: Mai, Yun  (2001) Applying reflection in object-oriented software design.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: thesis work performs a series of experiments on applying reflection technique to improve software design. First, a REFLECTIVE V ISITOR pattern was captured to improve the traditional VISITOR pattern. Reflection enables a visitor to perform a run-time dispatch action on itself. The cyclic dependencies between the visitor structure and the element structure are broken, thus both of them can be reused independently. Secondly, a parser framework was developed by applying several patterns. Especially, the REFLECTION pattern is used in the design of dynamically handling a parsing process by separating the system into two levels. The base-level defines the grammar rules. The meta-level handles the complex relationships of these rules. Reflection technique is used to discover grammar rules at run-time and determines the parsing order. Third, a dynamic object model was defined for a virtual machine that can support reflection. We demonstrated Forman's theory by developing a simplified object model based on a single inheritance system with the support of only one metaclass. Finally, an extensible and reusable compiler system (front-end) for the Decaf programming language was designed and implemented.


identifier: Abdel-Hamid, Amr Talaat  (2001) A hierarchical verification of the IEEE-754 table-driven floating-point exponential function using HOL.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The IEEE-754 floating-point standard, used in nearly all floating-point applications, is considered one of the most important standards. Deep datapath and algorithm complexity have made the verification of such floating-point units a very hard task. Most simulation and reachability analysis verification tools fail to verify a circuit with a deep datapath like most industrial floating-point units. Theorem proving, however, offers a better solution to handle such verification.  In this thesis, we have formalized and verified a hardware implementation of the IEEE-754 Table-Driven floating-point exponential function algorithm system allows its use for the verification task over the whole design path of the circuit, starting from the gate level implementation of the circuit up to a higher level behavioral specification. To achieve this goal, we have used both hierarchical and modular approaches for modeling and verifying the floating-point exponential function in HOL


identifier: Zhang, Yiwei  (2001) Internet negotiation patterns and an appraisal of data mining from a managerial perspective : a case study approach.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Negotiation on the Internet is a new business activity that emerged with the development of the Internet and the World Wide Web. In order to study the use of software tools in cross-cultural Internet negotiations, a project named InterNeg was initiated. The INSPIRE negotiation support system of this project collected data of Internet negotiations by allowing participants to negotiate a mock case.  Empirical research was conducted on these data by applying different data mining methods. This is because there were few former studies and hypotheses, and the variable number is large and they are not obviously correlated. Three data mining methods were applied to find hidden behavior patterns of Internet negotiations: Tree Rule Induction (TRI), Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and Logistic Regression Analysis (IRA). The results showed that the numbers of offers sent, especially during the early and middle negotiation stages, are positively related to reaching agreements, while sending offers at last minute has low chance to get the compromise. Other factors, such as gender and interval time between offers, can also affect Internet negotiation results.  Comparisons of results from different data mining, especially on their prediction accuracies, were also conducted. The results revealed that the TRI method enjoys the highest prediction accuracy while consuming least processing time. The ANN method has the lowest prediction accuracy. Our research results also indicated that the layer number and hidden unit number in the layers could not affect the ANN method's prediction accuracy.


identifier: Péron, Christine  (2001) Expatriate selection : are high self-monitors better expatriates?  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Conducting business on an international scale has been the reality for large corporations for many years. To penetrate these new markets abroad, many firms have decided to use expatriates. It has been well documented in the literature that expatriate assignments are subject to very high failure rates. In the literature on expatriate adjustment several personal dimensions have been studied to see if they influence an individual's adjustment to life overseas. Some of the characteristics that are investigated time and again are cultural empathy, adaptability, cultural flexibility, diplomacy, social orientation, and willingness to communicate. A related individual characteristic is self-monitoring ability. Self-monitoring ability is the ability to observe and control one's behaviour to behave appropriately. This study examined the predictive power of self-monitoring ability on an expatriate's interaction adjustment, work adjustment, general adjustment, and job performance. The results indicate a significant positive relationship between self-monitoring ability and interaction adjustment and a significant negative relationship between self-monitoring ability and work adjustment.


identifier: Discepola, Domenico  (2001) Forecasting volatility in Canadian markets.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study applies the methodology of Guan and Ederington (1998) to Canadian data. Historical volatility is estimated then forecast to examine the comparative performance of various time series models in forecasting volatility. Statistically significant regressions were provided that showed that forecasts of volatility produced low forecast errors, comparable to those found in Guan and Ederington. These errors, reported as the Root Mean Squared Forecast Error (RMSFE), were calculated using in-sample and out-of-sample data. Both static and dynamic forecasts were used. Static forecasts of volatility consistently produced lower forecast errors than dynamic forecasts.


identifier: Schinck, Amélie  (2001) The local-global principle in number theory.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: " p-adic fields provide remarkable, easy and natural solutions to problems which apparently have no relation to p-adic fields and which otherwise can be resolved, if at all, only by deep and arduous methods ". -- J. W. S. Cassels  The first Local-Global Principle, formulated by Hasse in 1921, relates the behaviour of rational quadratic forms in [Special characters omitted.] (global field) to their behaviour in the p -adic fields [Special characters omitted.] (local fields). The notion of using local information as a stepping stone towards understanding more difficult global properties has been generalized and applied to many problems, making Local-Global methods a powerful number theoretic tool. Even when the principle fails, we can sometimes salvage some connection between the local and the global. This thesis aims to give a survey of the basic theory.


identifier: Benghiat, Sonia  (2001) Diagnostics for generalized linear models.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The analysis of residuals can capture departures from a parametrized model. In this thesis we look at how the generalized linear model has become one of the most important developments in statistics in the last thirty years, and on the adequacy of regression model diagnostics that are meaningful and significant in a generalized linear model context. Some asymptotic properties are discussed and numerical examples are provided to illustrate the techniques for binomial, Poisson, and gamma distributed random variables.


identifier: Rinaldi, Gino  (2001) An X- and Q-band electron paramagnetic resonance study of Mn2+ in a single crystal of NH4Cl0.9I0.1 in the temperature range 77-295 K.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This work is an electron paramagnetic resonance study of the mixed ammonium chloride-iodide host crystal doped with divalent manganese. The studies presented here were carried out at X-band and Q-band microwave frequencies, and at various microwave cavity temperatures. The resonance spectrum of this crystal is described by a set of spin-Hamiltonian parameters, whose parameters are determined by fitting the various resonance line positions obtained for several angular orientations of the magnetic field relative to the crystal axes. A set of initial parameters is then determined by second-order perturbation theory. These are then rigorously evaluated by a computer subroutine using the least-squares-fitting technique.  The spectra obtained through angular variation of the crystal within the static magnetic field confirm the cubic symmetry of the crystal, and the existence of three magnetically equivalent sites having their axes along the [100], [010], and [001] directions.  The final set of spin-Hamiltonian parameters were interpreted using the superposition model, which is a mathematical approach used to evaluate the intrinsic parameters of the crystal, based on the sum of nearest neighbor ligand contributions.


identifier: Wei, Yuhong  (2001) A study of the metK gene encoding S-adenosylmethionine synthetase in Escherichia coli K-12.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The metK gene of Escherichia coli encodes S-adenosylmethionine synthetase, which catalyzes the reaction between L-methionine and ATP to form S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), the universal methyl group donor in the cell. SAM synthetase is generally assumed to be essential in E. coli , but this has not been proven. I demonstrated here that the metK gene could be deleted in E. coli by gene replacement only in the presence of a rescue plasmid carrying a functional copy of metK .  One commonly used metK mutant " metK84 " had a markedly reduced SAM synthetase level and exhibited a complex phenotype under certain growth conditions. Through DNA sequencing analysis and primer extension analysis, I showed that this mutant carried an A[arrow right]G transition in the -10 region of the metK promoter.  In this work, the initiation site for metK transcription was determined by primer extension. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)


identifier: Gauvin, Shawn  (2001) Are there self-imposed group foraging costs in the nutmeg mannikin (Lonchura punctulata)?  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Animals that feed socially may benefit from the presence of others without necessarily improving their feeding rates. Feeding rates may actually decrease in the presence of others due to different forms of competition and interference (kleptoparasitism, aggression). Recent work with starlings ( Sturnus vulgaris ) shows that social foragers may also experience self-imposed costs to their feeding rates in order to remain in the presence of group members, despite a lack of physical interaction or overt aggression. I studied whether nutmeg mannikins ( Lonchura punctulata ) feeding from depletable patches alone or with a heterospecific or conspecific flock in a separate cage adjacent to the food patch experience such self-imposed feeding costs. The birds experienced self-imposed changes to their foraging behaviour which led to decreased feeding rates. Subjects fed more slowly in treatments with conspecifics despite travelling more quickly between patches. The decrease occurred because they spent more time idle near the flock instead of feeding from the patch or immediately travelling to the next one. This seems to be a cost related to the maintenance of group cohesion. The birds also reduced their scanning time and rate near conspecifics without experiencing a concomitant increase in feeding rate consistent with the group-size effect. This result may point to a form of interference usually attributed to reduced quality of or access to the food resource caused by group members.


identifier: Boyd, Jason  (2001) Molecular cloning and characterization of two Arabidopsis thaliana sulfotransferases.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Two Arabidopsis thaliana sulfotransferases, AtST4a and AtST6 , were identified through BLAST searches of The Arabidopsis Information Resource's (TAIR) database using AtST1 as a query sequence. The intronless AtST4a was cloned via PCR from Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Col-0 genomic DNA. A cDNA clone of AtST6 was obtained and fully sequenced. AtST4a and AtST6 were both cloned into the bacterial expression vector pQE30. The recombinant proteins expressed in E. coli were 42 and 40 KDa, respectively.  It was determined that AtST4a displayed specificity for various stereoisomers of brassinosteroids and their immediate precursors.  AtST6 was found to sulfonate a wide range of primary and secondary alcohols with unknown kinetics.  Molecular characterization of AtST4a and AtST6 revealed that the deduced protein sequence of both enzymes contain all the amino acids involved in PAPS binding and catalysis (Marsolais et al. 1995). Expression studies failed to determine conditions under which the genes preferentially expressed.  Putative transgenic plants constitutively expressing AtST4a in the sense orientation produced a phenotype similar to that of the known brassinosteroid deficient mutants


identifier: Gariepy, Richard S  (2001) The hermeneutical praxis of the 'Rule of faith' as generating an ecclesiology of community in Irenaeus of Lyons.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Introduction . 'The Glory of God is a living person...a church community fully alive.' A modern paraphrase of Irenaeus' famous dictum or a rediscovery of a profound insight? Can we build a continuity with the relevance of modern day paradigms from how Irenaeus saw his world and how we see our world, especially as it relates to being human and experiencing church?  Specifically, in Part I , we will focus on aspects of the historical, dialectical and, doctrinal ways of communicating how Irenaeus viewed personal salvation and the church as related to community and faith-lifestyle notions (what has been called the 'tradition' of the church and the 'rule of faith'). We will seek to incorporate recent insights in the sociology of knowledge that have helped reorientate our perspective on a communal ethic in the early period of Christian ecclesiology.  In rediscovering his major theological paradigms of Life, Incarnation, and Deification through a 'church faith and community' prism, Part II will seek to draw out four modern aspects of this historical dialectic of Irenaeus' theology that are central to church as 'community' and integrally related to 'faith as lifestyle.' Namely, what could be called his sub-paradigmal themes of: 'Creation and cosmos', 'growth education in divinity', the 'Body of Christ and the flesh of selfhood', and finally, the 'ecumenical freedom of unity as church ecclesia'. We will see how all of this is incorporated in a definition of what I call, the hermeneutical praxis, or orthopraxis theology of Irenaeus and his use of the 'rule of faith (truth)' as generating a communal ecclesiology.


identifier: Aitken, Wendy Ann Jewkes  (2001) Storytelling and conversion in children.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Storytelling and conversion in children

abstract: This thesis explores storytelling and its use in conversion in children. Bernard Lonergan identifies a three-fold conversion: intellectual, religious and moral. Intellectual conversion allows us to distinguish between the world of immediacy and the world mediated by meaning. Religious conversion points us towards God, and moral conversion acknowledges a distinction between satisfactions and values, and it is committed to values even when they oppose satisfactions.  It begins with an overview of storytelling, storytellers, and stories and how they are used in communities to facilitate intellectual awakening to our world constituted by meaning. It then moves to the stories of Jesus, where children discover God and begin to develop a relationship with him.  It is helpful for parents and other caregivers to have some understanding of how children grow and develop. Developmentalists will help in the understanding of psycho-social, cognitive, moral and faith development in children. Finally, anthropologist Robert Coles reflects on the mystery involved in the development of moral persons.  The development of a religious sense in children begins at birth. Stories, and in particular, the Jesus stories, are used to help children develop a relationship with God, and to ultimately make choices based on values rather than rules. Our desire is to help children choose actions that are true and good; to choose long-term value over short-term satisfaction.  Storytelling can be used as an introduction to God, and is important in the development of religious imagination, for stories can evoke a more powerful faith than doctrine.


identifier: Ljubisic, Davorka  (2001) The national question and the collapse of Yugoslavia : geopolitics and stateless peoples.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Jaafar, Nisrine  (2001) The blue flame and the red flame : love and eroticism.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study is an explorative journey into the realm of eroticism. A primary emphasis is placed on the necessity to differentiate erotic experience from the pornographic one. The claim here is that eroticism cannot unfold where the notion of an "indispensable other", and hence the element of love, do not come into play. Eroticism, as this study will attempt to demonstrate is not a game to be played solo. In the fire of desire, eroticism or the red flame, embraces recognition, alterity, mutuality, empathy and unity--all of which constitute the blue flame: love. Once both flames collide and dance together in celebration of sexual desire, a new kind of reality unleashes. In order to delve into erotic reality, partners are supposed to transgresses everyday life and its binding confines. How successful the endeavor turns will be depends on a couple's ability to slide in and out of both realities with subtlety and equilibrium.  Developing a theoretical framework based on the works of Bakhtin, Paz, Bataille, Giddens and Gonzalez-Crussi, I review five Films ( Eyes Wide Shut, Lolita, Exotica, The Lover and Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love ). These films debate the issues of eroticism, love, taboo and obsession in different but illuminating ways, expand our understanding of heterosexuality and explore the relationship between the blue flame of love and the red flame of eroticism.


identifier: Roach, Lisa Gayle  (2001) Refugee and asylum policy in the United States : Cubans and Haitians.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Inconsistencies in U.S. refugee policies have been due to the complex matrix of actors who participate in such policy debates as well as of the impact these concerns have had on policy formulations in the United States. This paper will explore how the United States administration implements such policies, and the problems the implementation process presents to refugees from Haiti and Cuba.  The U.S. government's treatment of Haitians contrasts sharply with that accorded to Cubans, who for years have journeyed to the U.S. to escape difficult political and economic conditions in their country. While Haitians have been routinely sent back, Cubans have been automatically paroled into the U.S. The forced return policy has been criticized both within and outside the U.S. on the grounds that the interdiction program contradicts national and international prohibitions against refoulement, and selectively discriminates against Haitians


identifier: Fahy, Kevin  (2001) Transport policy reform and rural communities : a case study of Gaspé.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In Canada, transport policy reform has given rise to social and economic problems for regions located in the periphery. Rural communities are particularly dependent upon transport links. The town of Gaspe was chosen as a case study because it shares characteristics that are common with rural communities: the out-migration of youth, seasonal work, high-unemployment rates, and problems attracting and retaining business and industry. Furthermore, it has three modes of transport: air, rail and maritime, making Gaspe a unique case study in Canada. This study examines community attitudes to the recent policy changes, explaining how the three modes are viewed in terns of their social and economic contributions.


identifier: Toledano, Rachel  (2001) Development of the sexual arousal and desire inventory (SADI) for the assessment of the psychological and subjective experience of sexual arousal and desire.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Two experiments were conducted with the goal of developing an assessment tool to evaluate the psychological and subjective experience of sexual arousal and desire. The first experiment included a three-questionnaire inventory that was filled out by 85 men and 156 women. Subjects provided demographic information in the first questionnaire and then rated 86 descriptors as they applied to their experience of arousal and desire separately on 0-5 point Liken scales on the second and third questionnaires. Results showed that men and women rated their subjective experiences of arousal and desire in similar ways and that subjects failed to differentiate between these two phases of the sexual response cycle. Principle component analysis (PCA) also indicated that the subjective experience of arousal and desire could be described comprehensively by three main factors, including a cognitive-emotional, a motivational, and a physiological factor. A fourth negative control factor was also extracted that reflected dimensions of aversion or inhibition. The second experiment consisted of a two-questionnaire inventory in which only those descriptors with means Y2.5 or X1.0, and/or with factor loadings Y3.00, were retained. Eighty-two men and 154 women provided demographic information in the first questionnaire, and rated the 54 descriptors retained for arousal and desire in a single questionnaire using the same 0-5 point Likert scale. The same three main factors and the negative control factor were extracted through a second PCA. Results also indicated that, in general, both sexes rated their subjective experiences in similar ways, with the exception of certain items which males and females rated in opposite directions.


identifier: Miners, Richard  (2001) Parenting style, moral development and friendship : (how) do we choose our friends?  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Parenting, morality, and friendship may be interrelated in the area of interpersonal attraction. Friend selection has been argued to occur on the basis of similar moral development. Research indicates that different parenting styles lead to differing levels of moral development. This study examined the impact of parenting style on moral development and investigated whether children befriend similarly morally developed others who have experienced similar parenting styles. Questionnaires were given to 120 children (mean age = 11.2 years), who identified friends, nominated morally-oriented peers, rated responses to moral dilemmas, and rated the emotional climate of their homes. Findings indicated that: (a)  justice and care vary significantly across parenting styles; (b) girls endorse conventional more than preconventional responses to moral dilemmas; (c) boys who perceive their parents as low in warmth and control and the friends of these boys endorse preconventional more than conventional responses; (d) girls who perceive their parents as low-warmth/high-control befriend girls who are more just than the friends of other girls; (e) girls who perceive their parents as low in warmth and control befriend girls who are more caring than the friends of other girls; (f) parental control ratings by children and their friends are positively related; and (g) parental warmth ratings by children and their friends are negatively associated. These findings suggest that adolescent friend selection may rely upon the similarity of certain friend characteristics, while upon the complementarity of others.


identifier: Lee-Genest, Kevyn  (2001) Pathways to adult depression from childhood aggression and withdrawal.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Structural equation modeling was used to examine pathways from aggression and social withdrawal in childhood to depression and to externalizing and internalizing behaviours in adulthood. It was hypothesized that children's aggression and withdrawal are influenced by early family environment and create enduring negative person/environment relations which lead to an increased risk of early depression and stress over time. Stress and previous depressive episodes, in turn, increase the risk of adult depression. It was further hypothesized that aggression and withdrawal in childhood are related to externalizing and internalizing behaviours in adulthood, which are also related to adult depression. The sample was drawn from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project and comprised 146 participants. Peer ratings of aggression and withdrawal were collected when participants were in grades 1,4 or 7 in 1978. Assessments of adolescent depression, negative life experiences, adult depression and adult aggression and withdrawal were made over a period spanning 23 years. Findings showed that negative family environment was related to aggression but not to withdrawal in childhood. A direct path led from childhood aggression to adult depression, whereas the pathway from childhood withdrawal to adult depression was mediated by adolescent depression and negative life experiences. Childhood aggression and adult externalizing behaviour were not related, but childhood and adult withdrawal were linked via adolescent depression and negative life experiences. Adult depression and adult aggression and withdrawal were unrelated. The implications of these findings are discussed, particularly the idea that contrasting behaviour styles in childhood can lead to similar clinical outcomes in adulthood.


identifier: Buhr, Kristin E. M  (2001) Examination of the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and worry.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The present paper consists of two studies intended to further the understanding of intolerance of uncertainty and its relationship to worry. The first study examined the psychometric properties of the English version of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS), which has already been validated in French. Factor analysis indicated that the IUS has a 4-factor structure that represents the idea that uncertainty is stressful and upsetting, uncertainty leads to the inability to act, uncertain events are negative and should be avoided, and being uncertain is not fair. The IUS has excellent internal consistency, good test-retest reliability, and convergent and divergent validity when assessed with symptom measures of worry, depression, and anxiety. The second study attempted to assess the unique relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and worry, beyond constructs already associated with worry such as perfectionism and control. Furthermore, the study assessed the distinction between intolerance of uncertainty and intolerance of ambiguity. The results suggest that worry has a stronger relationship with intolerance of uncertainty than perfectionism, control, and intolerance of ambiguity. Moreover, the results indicate that intolerance of uncertainty and intolerance of ambiguity are distinct constructs. Overall, this study suggests that the IUS is a sound measure of intolerance of uncertainty and supports the idea that intolerance of uncertainty is an important construct involved in worry.


identifier: Auchterlonie, Sarah  (2001) The nature of semantic memory deficits in Alzheimer's disease : evidence from event-related brain potentials and reaction time measures.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The nature of semantic memory deficits in Alzheimer's disease: Evidence from event-related brain potentials and reaction time measures Semantic memory impairment is commonly observed in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT); however the nature of the impairment is unclear. Some researchers argue that the deficit is a loss of information within semantic memory; whereas others argue that semantic memory impairment may result from a failure to access available information. The goal of this study was to investigate the nature of semantic memory deficits in patients with DAY Reaction time (RT) and the N400 event-related brain potential (ERP) were measured in a word-picture semantic priming paradigm. Age-related changes in semantic priming were assessed by comparing young and elderly adults; differences due to DAT were assessed by comparing elderly adults and DAT patients. For patients, pictures were classified as a function of the individual's naming ability to determine whether naming deficits reflected a failure to access a picture's name or a deterioration of its semantic representation. As expected, the young and elderly showed robust priming effects for both RT and ERP measures. DAT patients showed significant RT priming for named stimuli, yet no RT priming for unnamed stimuli. For ERP priming effects, the patient group was heterogeneous, with some patients showing ERP priming and others not. The results are discussed in terms of the access failure and deterioration hypotheses of semantic memory deficits in dementia of the Alzheimer type.


identifier: Sommer, Jonathan J  (2000) Copyright law and postmodern art : reconciling property in mass media with democracy.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis is an analysis of the conflict between copyright law and postmodern appropriational artforms such as audio-visual collage. By looking at the philosophic foundations of copyright, authorship and property, and then surveying the current law of copyright and the reasoning of the judiciaries in both Canada and the United states, this thesis considers whether or not copyright is usurping the right of postmodern artists, in particular, and the citizens of Canada, in general, to freely express themselves in a critical dialogue with the mass media which has come to dominate their landscape.


identifier: Baric, Stephanie  (2001) Yugoslav war cinema : shooting a nation which no longer exists.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: From its inception following World War II, Yugoslav war cinema played a major role in representing and challenging the discourse of the nation. Films depicting the Partisan war experience during the "national war of liberation", the foundational narrative of socialist Yugoslavia, played a significant role in constructing and deconstructing Yugoslavia's revolutionary past. After the death of Tito in 1980, critical focus in cinema shifted away from the events of WW II to post-war Yugoslavia and the brutal anti-Stalinist purges following Yugoslavia's break with the Cominform. With the disintegration of Yugoslavia, "Yugoslav" cinema faced an uncertain future. Post-socialism marked the re-emergence of the war film genre that critically examined the conflicts that tore a nation apart. As communities throughout the former Yugoslavia attempt to come to terms with the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the wars that followed, cinema may be an effective tool for deconstructing the myths of ethnic nationalism. Discourse analysis will reveal the intervention of film in the political and cultural spheres of the nation and its significant role in reshaping the foundational narrative.


identifier: Abraham, Christiana  (2001) Deconstructing the legacy of the 'Savage' woman : the politics of displacing boundaries of difference in Panache magazine.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis deconstructs the notion of the 'savage' woman by focusing on the case of Saartje Baartman nicknamed the 'Hottentot Venus'. Deemed a denigrated African woman, she was displayed and studied in Europe by Enlightenment's scientists. Such studies were pivotal in defining her 'anatomical difference', and became the foundation of philosophies, and stereotypes that have defined images of non-European women for the centuries that followed. This case study examines how layers of acquired discourses developed through an ideology of 'otherness'.  By locating media practice as central to the reproduction of knowledge, this thesis points to how the legacy of this ideology of difference has become an intricate part of contemporary print media practice. This knowledge is readily accessible through the reproduction of stereotypical representations of world majority women in mainstream fashion magazines. This thesis, therefore, explores how the naturalization of the knowledge of 'otherness' in media practice is challenged through an analysis of Panache magazine. Panache is a fashion and lifestyle magazine for world majority women that locates women other than 'white' and 'western' as its central subject and audience. This thesis places the construction of the 'savage' woman as the historical legacy that Panache magazine seeks to tackle. The thesis analyses how Panache magazine conducts its kind of resistance within the confining boundaries of the women's magazine genre. It looks at how problematic resistance can become. At the same time, it also assesses the importance of media resistance in the production of counter-ideologies and discourses.


identifier: Fournier, Carl  (2001) From empire to hegemony : the dynamics of U.S. relations with Cuba and Mexico, 1930-1940.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The history of U.S. relations with Cuba and Mexico has always been complicated by differing political, cultural, social, and economic systems in addition to geographic proximity. The major difference between the 1930s and the earlier and later periods was that the U.S. government decided to change the nature and practice of its relationship with Latin America in response to domestic American pressure and anti-American resentment in the region. The U.S. government ended its policy of political interference and armed intervention in the internal affairs of both Cuba and Mexico, but wanted to retain its large economic and investment stake in the two countries. It also responded to the dislocations produced by the Great Depression in all three countries: increased nationalism and political-economic polarization. The objective of this thesis is fourfold: (1) to examine the dynamics of the U.S. relationship with Cuba and Mexico to determine what compelled the U.S. government to end the practices of "empire" in its relations with the two nations; (2) to investigate the exercise of "hegemony" in U.S. relations with the two countries to ascertain whether it was different from "empire"; (3) to study the internal political, social and economic developments of both Cuba and Mexico in the 1930s that allowed the U.S. shift from empire to hegemony; and (4) to explain how the impact of the onset of the Second World War consolidated the American adoption of hegemony.


identifier: Wozney, Lori M  (2001) The art of self-reflection : adult learners' encounters with portfolio-based assessment.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In adopting educational policies that promote portfolio assessment, educational theorists and practitioners have argued that portfolios provide a framework within classrooms where self-regulated learning processes and higher order thinking skills can be nurtured. However, academic research in the field of portfolio assessment has focused largely on issues of design, academic achievement and validity and not on the metacognitive processes that foster self-regulated learning. This thesis presents a case study that explored adult learners' experiences with self-reflection in portfolio assessment. The study explored the substance of adult learners' self-reflections, the reflective strategies they employed and the challenges they faced in constructing their assessment portfolios.


identifier: Welburn, Barbara  (2001) Language development among autistic children in integrated and special education settings.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study examined the extent to which the language development of young children with autism might be differentially influenced by being in a segregated versus an integrated setting. Participants were six (6) high functioning children with autism enrolled in either an integrated or a segregated elementary school setting. The children's teachers and parents also served as participants. Both quantitative (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - Third Edition) and qualitative methodologies were used to assess the children's language abilities. Two observational methods were used. Specimen descriptions recorded baseline reports of each participant's language abilities and time/event samples recorded the number and types of opportunities for communication that were provided to the participants in their respective settings. Participating teachers and parents were individually interviewed to determine certain background information concerning the children and teacher attitudes and experience. Results demonstrated that overall the language development of children with autism seems to be of a higher quality for the children enrolled in an integrated setting as compared to those in a segregated setting. All teachers stated that the children were attending the most appropriate setting for their needs and the parents expressed an overall satisfaction with their child's school. Implications for the language development of children with autism and the most appropriate setting to promote that development are discussed.


identifier: Molebatsi, Tatolo Edgar  (2001) Possible factors contributing to the lack of success in learning English in Qwaqwa, South Africa : a case study.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study was undertaken with the purpose of identifying some of the factors that may contribute to the high failure rate of grade 12 students of English as a second language in the Qwaqwa district of the Free State province of South Africa. A second purpose of the study was to seek an explanation as to why certain schools in the Qwaqwa district perform better, on average, than other schools, given that the students often share a similar socio-economic and cultural background. The research consisted of a case study, with the investigator observing and recording events as they occurred in normal classroom situations over a period of time, followed by a reflection on these events and an analysis of the lessons in terms of teacher preparation, lesson development and closure, and the apparent impact of the lesson on the learners. Four schools were selected for this study. The criterion used in selecting the schools was based on the quality of their results obtained on the national grade 12 matriculation examinations. Two of the schools sampled had obtained good marks in these examinations, while the other two schools had not performed well. The thesis ends with some suggestions for improving the level of success in the grade 12 matriculation examinations by those schools which are currently under-performing.


identifier: Boutros, Alexandra  (2001) Ritual knowledge, virtual analysis : reading Vodou from the inside out.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Vodou is a syncretic and hybrid religious tradition that generates unique understandings of concepts such as identity and home. This examination of Vodou practices in Montreal focuses on a growing number of new initiates and converts to the religion. These newcomers to Vodou have a complex relationship with a religious discourse that is often continuous with the historical and cultural specificity of Haiti, the birthplace of the Vodou tradition. The purpose of this analysis is to make a religious system of thought explicit by examining how the religion constitutes and reconstitutes the identity of its practitioners. Exploring how newcomers to the Vodou tradition both shape and are shaped by discourses transmitted through the language, literature and rituals of Vodou reveals a unique and fluid epistemology that is original to the Vodou tradition. What emerges in this self-reflexive and interdisciplinary analysis is the realisation that Vodou posits ways of understanding the world that differ substantially from ways of knowing embraced by the academy. The ease with which the discourses of Vodou empower practitioners to concurrently encompass seemingly conflicted identities disrupts standard and dichotomous perceptions of identity. In addition, the knowledge generated and disseminated through the lwa (gods) of the tradition shapes the way in which new Vodouists understand the world and their place in it. Sometimes this conception of the world opposes the one generated by academic discourse. This thesis illustrates the dialogue and tension between these divergent ways of knowing.


identifier: Jarosova, Marketa  (2001) First Nations, museums and McCord Museum's journey Across borders.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis examines Native souvenir arts of the Northeastern Woodlands and their inclusion within collections and exhibitions in Western museums. Since Western scholars have for the most part perceived Native souvenir arts as inauthentic, these objects have not only been excluded from serious study, but Western museums have rarely exhibited them on a large scale. While emerging shifts in exhibition practices have been taking place since the mid-twentieth century and Native souvenir arts have been finding their way into Western museums, the inclusion of this type of object within exhibitions is uncommon. For this reason, the display of a large number of souvenir arts in Across Borders: Beadwork in Iroquois Life , presented at the McCord Museum of Canadian History, Montreal, from June 17 th , 1999, to January 9 th , 2000, proved useful for this study and is thus the focus around which this thesis pivots.


identifier: Okuyama, Misako  (2001) An artist-educator's role in community arts : integrating people of diverse backgrounds and ages.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This research focuses on teaching methods in community arts programs and projects integrating diverse people through collaborative work. Through giving "Art of Japanese Calligraphy" Workshops, I developed my teaching method focusing on creativity of personal expression through collaborative work. The documentary video of the project shows the active process of the participants' personal creations. The participants were children and adults, some with and some without disabilities. Three workshops were held at L'Atelier d'Artisanat du Centre-Ville Inc. in Montreal, and the participants expressed themselves in their collage artworks with Japanese calligraphy In the first and second workshop, they recreated their names and the natural environment by using the letters, paper and other materials on three pieces of large papers. In the third workshop, the participants collaborated with each other to add details to each other's artwork. In having two types of collaboration, I found that different benefits were achieved However, enabling people to communicate through art in both approaches allowed them to learn to respect and to honour each individual's idea.


identifier: Kyriakos, Nada H  (2001) Déplacement et identité : une réflexion visuelle sur la compréhension et la transformation personnelle.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Un lieu ne se vit qu'une seule fois, et l'identité ne se prolonge que par la perpétuation des endroits vécus. A travers une réflexion visuelle sur la compréhension et la transformation personnelle, le sens du déplacement se débat acquérant des horizons significatifs dans ma vie de peintre à l'étranger. Ayant eu le privilège des endroits multiples, je me retrouve dans une position qui me permet d'illustrer un phénomène humain aussi répandue que le déplacement. Le thème s'étale dans des paysages imprégnés par la rupture où l'expérience se recrée dans un acte de mémoire, symbolisé par le geste d'un voile pris comme métaphore de souvenir et d'oubli. Symbole de lieu, le palmier représente l'élément commun de ressemblance entre les différentes interprétations. La répétition reste un concept dynamique à ma démarche où envisager les nuances du phénomène en termes de contrastes, renvoyant la réflexion circulaire de mes écrits.  L'idée de bricolage reste implicite à mon oeuvre dans un éclectisme formel et théorique qui emprunte notamment à la philosophie herméneutique de Gadamer où entendre la compréhension comme médiation ou comme 'fusions d'horizons'


identifier: Li, Ying  (2001) Investigation of aqueous kaolin suspensions : a rheological and sedimentation volume study.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Coating colors are very complex colloid systems of which stability and theological behaviors are of importance in the coating process and in the mechanical, optical properties of the coated layer. Clay is one of the main ingredients of coating colors in the paper industry. There can be very complicated colloid interactions that control the stability and theological properties of the coating colors. The main purpose of this work is to get a better understanding about the role of the colloid interactions in the theological behavior of suspensions which are composed of materials having significant meanings in coating color formulations (kaolin, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, and sodium chloride). For practical applications in many cases, suspensions with a high solid content are required which show low viscosity, significant elasticity, and thixotropy as well. The aim of this investigation is to find such a composition of above components which show the above mentioned theological properties.  The colloid interactions were studied by the theological and sedimentation volumes investigations. The results showed that lv (low viscosity) NaCMC was a better stabilizing and thinning agent than my (medium viscosity) NaCMC; NaCl increased the viscosity of CMC added suspensions. 0.01% my NaCMC increased the viscosity of 0.5% lv NaCMC added kaolin suspension supposedly due to bridging flocculation. This is in a good agreement with the results of sedimentation volume investigations. 0.1% lv NaCMC, 0.002% mv NaCMC and 0.5% NaCl together caused the most significant thixotropy, without of NaCl the suspension shows anti-thixotropy. Real-elasticity was only found in the presence of my NaCMC. The samples, prepared from the mixture of low and medium viscosity NaCMCs, were found to be the best composition for getting low viscosity, significant thixotropy and elasticity.


identifier: Mourali, Mehdi  (2001) A model of consumer preference for interpersonal information search.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study examines the effect of some potential influencers on consumers' preference for interpersonal information search. A model offering individual and situational predictors of consumer preference was tested using structural equation modeling. The individual variables included people's susceptibility to social influence, their need for cognition, and their self-confidence. The situational variables included respondents' product knowledge, and their perceived risk. A self-administered survey was distributed in English and French to a sample of respondents in the greater Montreal area. All three individual variables influenced significantly consumers' preference for interpersonal information search. As for the situational variables, only product knowledge had a significant effect on the dependent variable. The moderating effect of culture was also tested and yielded non-significant results suggesting that consumers' collectivistic orientation does not moderate the impact of the predictor variables on the dependent variable. The results also suggested that women have a higher preference for interpersonal sources than men and that income is negatively related to consumer preference for interpersonal information search.


identifier: Calogeropoulos, Catherine  (2001) The effects of harvest intensity and seedbed type on germination and early survival of balsam fir and white spruce in the southern boreal forest.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The effects of harvest intensities and seedbed type on germination success and early (first summer) survival for balsam fir ( Abies balsamea (L.) Mill) and white spruce ( Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) were examined. The harvest intensities canopies included a 1/3 rd and 2/3 rd partial cut, a clearcut and a control (full canopy). The seedbeds were mineral, humus (O h ) and organic (O f ). In clearcuts, seedbeds included both slash and non-slash treatments. Germination of both species was negatively affected by an increase in harvest intensity. The reverse effects of harvesting intensity were observed during subsequent survival, where spruce was much more affected than fir by a reduction in canopy cover. Cumulative survivorship analyses showed that clearcuts without slash were the worst areas for early plant establishment. Mineral seedbeds allowed the highest rates of seedling establishment for both species, although survival of fir was highest on O f seedbeds. Cumulative survivorship showed that mineral soil is the most suitable substrate for establishment. This finding however, was not strong for spruce, suggesting adverse effects of mineral soils with a high clay content. The slash treatment benefited the establishment of fir, but not for spruce. This study showed the strong initial influence of harvesting intensity and seedbed type. The effects of light however, quickly become muted when cumulative survivorship is considered. Conversely, seedbeds have persistent effects on early establishment.


identifier: Nnadozie, Alfred A  (2001) Application of statistics to the study of cognitive processes in mathematics education : a case study of theoretical thinking as a factor of students' success in linear algebra.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Factors influencing students' success in mathematics in general and linear algebra in particular are examined, drawing on the literature of mathematics and science education. Based on the findings from a sample of 14 high achieving university undergraduate students, certain features of theoretical thinking are identified as necessary factors of the students' success in two linear algebra courses.  The nature of the resulting data presented a peculiar problem. An extensive study of the possibility of applying different forms of statistical analysis to these data is conducted from different perspectives on statistical methodology namely, descriptive/exploratory statistics and statistical modeling. A number of indices for measuring theoretical behavior tendencies are defined and a new method of analysis is developed


identifier: Tremblay, Francine  (2001) L'individu dans la modernité : Georges Herbert Mead, Charles Taylor et Alain Touraine.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Dans ce travail nous avons relaté une notion de l'individu moderne tel que définit dans la sociologie de Georges Herbert Mead, Charles Taylor et Alain Touraine. Avec les écritures de ces derniers, nous enfonçons l'individu profondément dans le social et nous produisons les arguments nécessaires à une conception interactive, intersubjective et dialogique de l'individu. Nous appuyant sur ces principes nous formulons un outil d'argumentation pertinente pouvant nous situer à l'intérieur des débats actuels en ce qui concerne l'individu et sa relation au social. Bien que notre travail ne soit pas soutenu de manière empirique, nous articulons notre position théorique en analysant le travail de Stella, une association regroupant des travailleuses du sexe à Montréal (Québec, Canada). Nous développons un argument théorique (exploratoire) sur les effets possibles engendrés par la criminalisation de la prostitution. Cet argument nous assiste dans l'élaboration d'une position théorique en ce qui concerne la relation soi/social.


identifier: Chapman, Ainsley Claire  (2001) The double-edged sword : defining prostitution in mainstream Canadian press.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Relying on a sample of newspaper articles from The Toronto Star and The Montreal Gazette, this analysis examines the discourse through which prostitutes and prostitution are represented in the media. The sample (N = 52) is randomly chosen from 749 articles collected between 1993 and 1994. A measurement tool is developed and used to code the articles, based on the context through which prostitution is discussed. Based on this sample, the underlying discourse being communicated provides only two perspectives to understand prostitution: an offender orientation portraying prostitutes as a source of crime and threat to communities, and a victim orientation portraying prostitutes as victims of abuse and poverty. This limited and negative discourse fails to communicate an alternative perspective, namely an orientation that examines prostitution as work . By promoting only negative stereotypes the media effectively marginalizes prostitutes and defines prostitution as a social problem. Since prostitutes rarely participate in this public discourse about prostitution, the ideologies behind their movement for rights and respect can not be communicated.


identifier: Anderson, Marc  (2001) Exploring mortality through Pascalian intuition.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This work is an exploration of the concept of mortality, which attempts to answer the question of what attitude we should have toward death. It attempts this answer, through an alternative reconstruction of Blaise Pascal's lines of thought in his Pensées , which turns its focus on the possibility inherent in life. The themes which we proceed through are: the Pascalian answer to skepticism which issues in a characterization of the process of knowledge emphasizing intuition and to a lesser extent habit, the role of the Wager argument and its connection to the rest of the Pensées , the role of the self in exploring its own mortality, criticism of the main lines of a type of opponent thought best exemplified by the work of Camus, which embraces the concept of death, and finally the role of the Christian God as the proper counter to the concept of death.


identifier: Farokhfal, Reza  (2001) Under Western eyes : the BBC and the Iranian revolution 1978-1979 : a discursive analysis.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study explains, from a discursive approach, how the Iranian revolution of 1979 was constructed by the BBC (Persian Service) as news story, and how this constructed story as a text provided the Iranian audiences, who participated in the revolution, with a' preferred reading' of the events. The study gives a media narrative of the revolution as a historical "context", and deals with the BBC as a "sender" in terms of its mythic reputation for "impartiality" and "objectivity" in representing the world events as news. The way in which the BBC as a Western broadcaster mediated in the highly anti-Western context of the Iranian revolution of 1979 is the core question that the study attempts to explore. It does so by analyzing the BBC news-discourse based on a narrative model and by showing the process through which the BBC "message" was encoded and decoded as a text. One conclusion of this thesis is that the BBC broadcasts to Iran cultivated in the audiences an image of the revolution different from what was cultivated by the most Western media, at the time, in their domestic or international audiences.


identifier: McMahon, Colin  (2001) Quarantining the past : commemorating the Great Irish Famine on Grosse-Île.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Grosse-Île, Canada's main quarantine station from 1832 to 1937, was a required stopover for immigrants on their voyage up the St. Lawrence River to the Port of Quebec. Though most passed through the inspection process with little delay, during the spring and summer of 1847, the deadliest year of the Great Famine (1845-50), 100 000, predominantly Catholic, Irish made their way to the island aboard 'coffin ships'. Their already weakened state worsened by the inhumane crossing, some succumbed to typhus en route, others while in quarantine. Despite the efforts of the island's medical staff and the ministrations of members of Quebec's Catholic and Anglican clergy, over five thousand Irish were buried that summer on Grosse-Ile in mass graves. Thousands more died after leaving the island for Quebec City, Montreal, Kingston, Toronto, and Hamilton.  In commemorations organized on the island at the beginning and the end of the twentieth century, Irish-Canadians have memorialized this Irish episode in Grosse-Île's history. In 1909, eight thousand commemorators made the journey to the island to witness the unveiling of a Celtic Cross and hear an assortment of historical, political, and religious orations. Almost ninety years later, amidst controversy and debate over the extent to which the island's Irishness would be emphasized, Parks Canada renamed the national historic site, Grosse-Île and the Irish Memorial , and opened an exhibition marking the Famine sesquicentennial. These acts of public remembrance were multivocal orchestrations, incorporating a variety of historical perspectives. Examining Grosse-Île's commemorative discourses reveals much about the socio-political context in which they were formulated and affords the opportunity to consider how we as a society choose to approach the past in the public sphere.


identifier: Shragge, Joseph  (2001) The Scavenger's daughter.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: The Scavenger's daughter

abstract: The Scavenger's Daughter is a five act play in the form of a medieval Miracle play. Though borrowing from medieval drama the play is mainly concerned with a modernist aesthetic in the vein of Artaud, Brecht, and Beckett. The play centres around a travelling merchant who builds and sells automatons which bear a close resemblance to the mythical Golem. He sells one of his automatons to a group of shepherds. When the "body" breaks a conflict begins between the shepherds and the merchant sparking a comedy of errors with the body. The play draws heavily on traditions of burlesque, travesty, satire, and farce.


identifier: Costantino, Patricia  (2001) Italian immigrant women and literacy : a case study.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The focus of this qualitative study is to explore why Italian immigrant women enroll in a literacy program in a second language context, second, it presents the sociocultural and psychosocial effects of the course on the women; and finally it states the views of the instructor on issues pertaining to the course and to Italian immigrant women.  Personal development and personal independence, communication with immediate and extended family, social interaction, and the acquisition of literacy skills are the fundamental reasons why these women enroll in a literacy program. Several positive effects of the literacy program are noted. These range from an increase in functional skills to an improvement in self-confidence. Communication with grandchildren and family members was facilitated by their English literacy acquisition. The isolation that they may have felt at home was also diminished. The instructor also noted a strong need for social interaction among the women.  The reasons for enrollment underscore the basic need for personal development and also illustrate that there is a growing demand for such courses in the community. These courses are provided to immigrant women in the aspiration that they will become full participating citizens in the community.


identifier: Stevens, Caroline Alexandra  (2001) Making art matter : narrating the collaborative creative process.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This dissertation positions art production as a form of social activism by investigating how participation within artistic collaborations constructs "mattering maps" where individual transformation and political change are linked by collective processes of making meaning. The three sites examined--Oujé-Bougoumou, The Bread and Puppet Theater, and Le Centre Artisanal des Femmes--all facilitate creative production as an apparatus for political action. In analyzing each, the dissertation highlights the affect of art making as a way of theorizing the becoming of subjectivity necessary for social activists. Invoking a locational feminism, this project contends that a situational conception of identity subverts modernist appeals to an essential humanistic subject, while maintaining the possibility of individual agency.  The creative processes enacted at each site necessitate the construction of a new model for art history that narrates collaborative production. Therefore, rather than describing the examples in terms of art objects, finite events, or hypothesizing their effects upon viewers, this dissertation creates particular meaning by shaping the discourse around the production of communities; the performance of collaboration; the transformative pedagogy of "organic intellectuals;" and the creation of cultural democracy. In doing so the specificity of each of the activist interventions can be documented, while attendantly theorizing the impact of participation within creative production as a process of making art matter as social activism.


identifier: Babu, Thimma V. J. Ganesh  (2001) Performance analysis of broadband multimedia wireless communication networks.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The designing of broadband multimedia wireless network systems should aim at achieving maximum utilisation of wireless resources through statistical multiplexing, while, at the same time satisfying the Quality of Service(QoS) requirements of multimedia traffic. In this research, we consider a priority based scheduling strategy, suitable to the terrestrial/satellite wireless environment. The multimedia traffic is categorised into real-time (voice and video connections) and non-real-time (data connections) depending on whether it is delay sensitive or loss sensitive. The fixed size packets generated by each of the aggregated voice, video and data sources from all user terminals in an uplink beam, are modeled as a 2-state Markov modulated Poisson Process (MMPP). Using the counting process of real-time traffic, the real-time packet loss probability has been evaluated at the uplink. Based on the equation governing the non-real-time packet queueing process at the epochs of the beginning of each frame and by using an embedded Markov chain analysis, the elements of the transition probability matrix are derived. Using the matrix-geometric technique, the occupancy distribution non-real-time packet queue is evaluated. The illustrative results for different cases of traffic mix are presented. Further, we outline the analytical derivation for obtaining covariance function of number of real-time and non-real-time arrivals to a particular downstream link through the switch. We match the covariance function values at different lags with the covariance function of 2-state MMPP at corresponding lags in order to obtain the parameters of approximating 2-state MMPPs. Based on this, and using the single queue model of the uplink, we describe the procedure for evaluating the performance at the downlink. A simulation model has also been developed in order to assess the effects of the various approximations required for the analytical model.


identifier: Hammad, Mamoon Mohammad  (2001) CPDICENTER : Web-based virtual construction project document information center in support of claims preparation.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Construction projects' information, in the most part, is document-based. This information documents progress and performance, also supports daily activities. The industry has not paid enough attention to establishing a framework for capturing and storing project's document-based information, which is necessary for substantiating claims' facts. Eventually high "post-construction" dispute resolution costs became the norm, especially in complex construction projects. Understanding the history of such undertakings--without documents--is an enormous one, because to understand the actual history of a project, all-relevant documents have to be available. The outcome and resolution of construction performance-related disputes rely, almost exclusively, on relevant contemporaneous documents from the periods concerned. However, documents sprawling to various project locations without discernable directory structures complicate maintenance functions for backing up and archiving files. Construction projects are temporary organizations that rely heavily on contemporaneous documents to exchange and disseminate information, and to prove claims' causes and damages. Hence, difficulties in locating and accessing critical documents have to be minimized. Registering and cross-referencing every document that is issued by any group in the project achieves that. Currently, the industry is not unanimous on how to solve this problem and with slimming contractor profits (due to severe competition and increased modern projects' complexity) the construction industry has not invested sufficiently to develop data schemas to represent project documents' contents, or context. Modeling such information is necessary for mapping the knowledge contents into databases. This research identified the aforementioned discords and proposes a Web-Based solution; entitled the Construction Project Document Information Center ( CPDICenter ). The CPDICenter is a web-based system with communication architecture to tackle technical constraints like geographical dispersion of operations, multiplicity of project groups, and document workflows. It also allows groups to register, store, access, and search online for any documents in the project via a web browser. The CPDICenter is a project-wide document control system to capture documents from all project groups/participants. This research presents the CPDICenter's web-based workflow system for digital document capture, classification, indexing, and storage, in order to expedite finding and retrieving documents for claim preparation processes. The CPDICenter works with any project organization encompassing any number of groups. The payback will be reduced times for retrieving documents, reduced costs of printing and scanning, and consequently claims' preparation costs. This system intends to capture--in concert with contemporaneous documents--other information about project events' context, documentation rationale and process data. Accurate accounts of project events are essential for a successful and equitable claim analysis and resolution. Such information is a requisite for reconstructing any project's history and finding the causes of disruptions and/or changes to any construction program baselines especially when the people who worked in the project have left to other jobs or their memories have faded.


identifier: O'Rourke, Patricia Mary  (2001) Complementary and alternative medicine : nature, origins, ethics and regulation.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Types of healing alternative to conventional medicine became increasingly popular in the latter quarter of the twentieth century and some physicians, hospitals and governments have begun to take the field seriously. While alternatives to whatever is considered to be conventional medicine have always existed, contemporary interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) may be evidence of interest in unconventional forms of spirituality. Healing and religion have an ancient connection not often acknowledged by modern science. The attraction to medical alternatives may represent for some a deep need to find meaning and wholeness in suffering. Others, wishing to expand medical choice, may be drawn to alternatives that are more "medical" in type.  The journey towards health, particularly when spiritual in nature, is not without risk. The public has a right to be assured that publicly advertised healing methods are safe and their practitioners regulated and accountable. Unlike conventional medicine, alternative medicine in Canada is largely unregulated and some practitioners are inadequately trained and unaccountable to any official body. Given the increasing popularity and growing respectability of complementary and alternative medicine, it is important that Canadian society finds ways to regulate the field.  The first three sections examine the field of complementary and alternative medicine, bioethics, the relationship between religion and healing and the major philosophical and spiritual concepts in which different alternative healing methods are grounded. Section four takes an "ethics-led" approach to regulation (Stone and Matthews, 1996). It applies the four principles of autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence and justice, first elucidated in the Belmont Report (1978), to complementary and alternative medicine to see if these ethical principles, taught widely in medical schools, form an adequate ethical framework for CAMs or whether CAMs have features that require additional principles.  The thesis concludes that while the four principles adequately encompass many of the ethical dilemmas presented in the practice of complementary and alternative medicine, a fifth principle, the fiduciary principle, is probably necessary to take into account the distinctively religious or spiritual aspects of many types of CAMs.


identifier: Morros, Melinda  (2001) A longitudinal study of personality development in older adults : the impact of a volunteer intervention program.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study tested the hypothesis that a volunteer experience would promote ego development for a sample of older adults. Current and non-volunteers were assessed on measures of personality and ego development before and after a 3-month baseline period, after six months of volunteering, and one year after completing their volunteer intervention. In addition, participants' perceptions of their volunteer experiences were assessed at this follow-up.  Repeated measures MANOVA measured the effect of the volunteering experience on ego development and demonstrated that ego development can change as a result of a volunteering intervention for a sample of elderly adults. The results showed that ego development scores for those individuals initially at the conformist or self-aware levels of ego development significantly increased as a result of the volunteer intervention, while ego development scores for those at the conscientious level or above remained stable. Participants' ego development scores did not change during the follow-up. Non-parametric analyses showed that of participants at the self-aware level and below, 49% increased in ego development. In contrast, only 17% of individuals at the conscientious level or above increased in ego development.  The present study supported the hypothesis that volunteering would have an impact on ego development for those at the lower levels of ego development, but not for those at the higher levels. These findings are consistent with previous research that points to a lack of growth in ego development above the self-aware level. This research has theoretical implications for the understanding of personality in older adults as well as of those experiences in adulthood that promote ego development


identifier: Pauli, Sebastian  (2001) Efficient enumeration of extensions of local fields with bounded discriminant.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Let k be a p -adic field. It is well-known that k has only finitely many extensions of a given finite degree. Krasner [1966] gives formulae for the number of extensions of a given degree and discriminant. Following his work, we present an algorithm for the computation of generating polynomials for all extensions K / k of a given degree and discriminant. We also present canonical sets of generating polynomials of extensions of degree p m . Some methods from the proof of the number of extensions of a given degree and discriminant can also be used for the determination of a bound that gives a considerably improved estimate of the complexity of polynomial factorization over local fields. We use this bound in an efficient new algorithm for factoring a polynomial Z over a local field k . For every irreducible factor [varphi]( x ) of Z ( x ) our algorithm return an integral basis for k [ x ]/[varphi]( x ) k [ x ] over k .


identifier: Zargarpour, Sepideh  (2001) Individual differences in children's group perceptions and peer preferences as a function of prejudice level.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study examined relationships between level of racial prejudice, as measured by the Multiple-Response Racial Attitude Measure (MTRA: Doyle & Aboud, 1995), and "White" children's (a) judgments of individual group members (i.e., stereotyping), (b) perceptions of trait variance and of trait prevalence for same- versus cross-race peers, (c) readiness to make evaluative judgments about individual, same-versus cross-race peers (measured via a response-latency paradigm), and (d) expressed preferences for same- and cross-race peers. It further examined interrelationships between different measures of group perception, as well as between various measures of peer preference. The relative strengths of measures of group perception in predicting children's preferences for same versus cross-race peers were also examined.  The subjects were 103, third-grade, English-speaking boys and girls living in suburban Montreal. Overall, the results provided support for the predictive value of individual differences in children's racial prejudice. Low- and High-Prejudice children had expectations that were largely consistent with their prejudice level on a number of measures of group perception. They differed, for example, in their behavioural expectations from Black and White hypothetical peers, in their expectations of the prevalence of positive traits for Whites versus Blacks, in their perceptions of the variance of traits within each group, in the speed with which they made decisions about Black versus White targets, and in the readiness with which they responded to evaluatively positive versus negative questions, regardless of race.  Sex, however, appeared to have a stronger influence on children's preferences for same- and cross-race peers than prejudice level, with girls generally showing more ingroup preferences than boys. Children's expressed liking for unknown Black peers was not significantly related to their liking for actual Non-White peers. The MRA was the only one of the measures of group perception which contributed significantly to the prediction of preference for unknown Black peers. Relatively, weak relationships were found between the various cognitive and affective components of prejudice.  Results are discussed in terms of implications for the predictive value of individual differences in prejudice, the clarification of cognitive processes and knowledge structures underlying children's racial attitudes, the clarification of relationships between the cognitive and affective components of racial attitudes in children, and children's behaviours and affect toward, as well as expectations from actual cross-race peers.


identifier: Stober, JoAnne  (2001) That's not what I heard : synchronized sound cinema in Montreal 1926-1931.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis recognizes the introduction of synchronized sound cinema as a point of departure into a study of the cultural and social dimensions of moviegoing. This research focuses on Montreal between 1926 and 1931 where the first Canadian demonstrations and exhibitions of synchronized sound cinema took place. Using film critiques, advertisements for theatres, letters to the editor and editorials in the Montreal popular press to examine appeals made to audiences, I locate patterns and relationships of moviegoing. This study makes clearer the development of a process through which social and cultural experience is articulated, interpreted and contested all of which point to a need to revisit Canadian film history and audiences. By situating early cinema and early audiences within a complex cultural space of performance, diversity of entertainment, theatre architecture and interior design it is clear that more than technology is implicated in shaping cinematic spectatorship and the conception of historical audiences. The relationship between technology and culture is examined in a synchronic manner to avoid missing the crucial dimensions of moviegoing as it pertains to Montreal.


identifier: Czaika, Gabrielle  (2001) The social construction of female criminality : women, mental health, and the criminal justice system.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The goal of this thesis is not to determine a causal relationship between the closures or reduction in available mental health care and a direct increase in the incarceration rate of women. Rather it is to show that ideology is primarily at the root of this shift in remanding certain individuals from mental health care facilities to penal institutions. I am making this assumption based on evidence uncovered through previous studies that examined the differential treatment of female and male inmates and the circumstances of their incarceration. Many of these studies have repeatedly shown that where female inmates are concerned, there is a much stronger psychiatric or emotional label attached to the acts of deviance committed by women, whereas, there is a rational connotation attached to the criminality of males.  I believe the social construction of womanhood and of a woman's natural place within a patriarchal society was further determined as capitalism gained momentum in the latter half of the 19 th century. Yet, I also believe gender inequities began centuries before this as a result of the church interpreting the creation myth and painting women in a picture of natural evil, a temptation, but a necessary evil . This interpretation has been re-constructed in a capitalist society because in order to function, a capitalist society needs women in the home to ensure its survival. Therefore, the social construction of "woman" is no longer solely rooted in ideological thoughts, but also in the base of today's social structure, the economy


identifier: Galindo, Angela  (2001) Finding our place in the garden : a holistic approach to art education.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study, Finding Our Place In The Garden--A Holistic Approach To Art Education is a qualitative research based on the art practices of an alternative community-based rehabilitation program for children with disabilities. The program takes place in an outdoor natural environment in which children with and children without especial needs are offered a variety of workshops directed by an interdisciplinary group of professionals. This group includes artists, art therapists, social workers and educators. The author participated in two summer sessions as a volunteer participant-observer. During this time she recorded her experiences and observations in a diary and a series of slides.  An analysis of the Spiral Garden program focuses on: (1) the reciprocal role of the environment on art/art-making and community-building practices, and of the latter on the environment. (2) the emergent function of community art and specifically of the performing arts as agents of both social and cultural cohesion and integration of all the other art languages and crafts.  An analysis of the function of art in the social and natural environment of Spiral Garden reveals that its role is subordinate to yet integrated with the primary goal of empowering the child through art-making practices. Education takes place in this setting in a social context more than a strictly educational one. Consequently, art does not have an autonomous formal identity but an organic social function of fostering self-directed creative exploration and social inclusiveness.  From the perspective of a researcher working out of the art education official context, the author reflects also on the role that the alternative community-based art programs play within a contemporary art education field.


identifier: Mphanya, Nkopane Abel  (2001) The significance of space and setting : a critical analysis of selected South African fiction.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The object of this thesis is to explore space and setting as used by South African fiction writers within the ideological framework of apartheid. Apartheid became the regime's preoccupation since 1948 and its ensuing social divisions impacted negatively on the Africans and the country's literature. The thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter One explores issues that inspired apartheid ideology especially the historical factors--from the micro-apartheid of Dr. D. F. Malan to the macro-apartheid of Dr. H. F. Verwoerd; the negative influences brought about by the Land Act of 1913; the opposing statement of the African National Congress; the effects that followed the uprooting of Africans from one location to another and give way for the building of European setting such as Triomf that replaced Sophiatown; the unilaterally decided toponymy of South African towns and cities with the belated African-inspired toponymy that came along with Bantustans; the ninety-nine year leasehold introduced when the four-roomed houses started being sold to Africans; the hardships brought about by the pass laws especially the introduction of the 'book of life' by Dr. Verwoerd. Chapter Two concentrates on Nadine Gordimer's novella Something Out There that points to European people's fear and anxiety originating from the inner self. The characters' pursuit of sabotage of the sensitive power stations whose failure would bring vital works to a halt and revolution shall have been ushered in. Chapter Three explores three short stories written by Can Themba. They are interlaced with journalistic articles on space and setting in South Africa. Chapter Four is the conclusion. It compares and contrasts, where possible, the views of the two authors on space and setting and examines the future of space and setting in the new South Africa.