identifier: Duchesneau, Janie  (2016) Oxytocin As a Treatment for Addiction: The Effects of Exogenous Oxytocin on Heroin Taking and Seeking in Male Rats.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Drug addiction is characterized by recurring episodes of relapse and has a profound impact on individuals’ well-being as well as our economic and healthcare systems. Although many efforts have been put into developing solutions to treat drug addiction, an effective long-term treatment has yet to be found. Previous animal studies indicate that exogenous oxytocin (OXT) holds potential to treat and reduce relapse, withdrawal and help drug cessation. More particularly, a decrease in psychostimulant drugs (e.g., cocaine and methamphetamine) consumption has been noted while earlier studies also suggested a similar role for OXT in opiate drugs (e.g., morphine and heroin) reward and withdrawal.
In light of those studies, our objective was to continue investigating the role of OXT in inhibiting heroin self-administration (SA) as well as attenuating relapse by using an animal model of stress-induced reinstatement. We examined the effects of acute and chronic administrations of OXT on heroin SA and the reinstatement of extinguished heroin seeking in male rats. Rats were tested under fixed-interval 20 s (FI-20 s) and progressive-ratio (PR) schedules of reinforcement in order to assess heroin intake. Results suggest that OXT did not attenuate heroin taking during the SA sessions under various schedules of reinforcement. Next, we tested the effect of OXT on stress-induced reinstatement of extinguished heroin seeking, by using yohimbine (YOH) as our pharmacological stressor. Contrary to our expectations, central administration of OXT did not attenuate yohimbine-induced reinstatement. In conclusion, contrary to recent findings with psychostimulant drug-trained rats and earlier reports with heroin-trained rats, OXT did not attenuate either heroin SA or yohimbine-induced heroin seeking.


identifier: Abarbanel, Kate  (2016) It was Very Wrong: A Comparative Examination of Moralization of Residential School Histories at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and in Canadian Comic Books.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract: This paper compares how Canada’s residential school histories are discursively framed in Canadian comic books about residential schools and at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR). Specifically, I look at the extent to which this history is framed in terms of “moralization,” defined as a judgement made about “right” or “wrong” conduct. Both Canadian comic books and the CMHR’s treatments of residential school histories are heavily moralized, and in both sources residential schools tend to be moralized as examples of wrong conduct. However, this paper explores key differences between how, and to what degree, the two sources moralize this history, ultimately arguing that the particular “technology” and layout of the museum, as well as the placement of residential school related content allows for a layering of information that diversifies and creates hierarchies among various framings. I then postulate about what these moral judgments and hierarchies of information mean for education about residential schools in Canada and for levels of congruence between Aboriginal and settler narratives of residential schooling. In this paper, I observed moralization through determining the relative likelihood of museum and comic book content provoking sympathy and by analyzing the use of moralized words such as “abuse,” “wrong,” and “genocide.”


identifier: Arrowsmith, Julie  (2016) Acidity gradients shape the phylogenetic structure of odonate communities across three biomes.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Environmental filtering and competitive exclusion can act simultaneously to shape the structure of communities, but disentangling them has proved difficult. Specifically, environmental filtering may restrict establishment at a site to a set of species sharing particular traits permitting local persistence. Mutual exclusion of ecologically similar or phylogenetically related species can also dictate community composition. Patterns of phylogenetic structure allow assessment of the relative influence of these processes. Using phylogenetic patterns of community structure, this study aims to assess the predominant processes structuring odonate communities along a broad-scale environmental gradient in Quebec. Phylogenetic analyses of forty lentic (i.e. lake) odonate communities revealed that co-occurring species in temperate regions were more related than expected by chance, suggesting a predominant role of environmental filtering. Site-to-site variation in phylogenetic structure was related to pH. That is, the most alkaline lakes, found in temperate regions, were the most phylogenetically clustered, suggesting that pH acts as a main environmental filter of odonate communities. However, environmental filtering may not be the only important process. One alternative explanation is that temperate communities are phylogenetically clustered because damselflies are disproportionally diverse relative to dragonflies in this region. Specifically, the recent radiation of damselflies in temperate regions could have increased the diversity of this group in the temperate species pool, which could then shape local communities in that region.  Nevertheless, further analyses suggested that environmental filtering along a pH gradient, rather than the evolutionary history of the species pool, shapes odonate communities in Quebec.


identifier: Zhu, Ming  (2016) A Categorical Approach to Verifying Consistency in Concurrent Systems.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
A concurrent system involves several executing components. Such a system usually allows to carry out multiple tasks at the same time, which can speed up the computational work of software substantially.  The recent research findings demonstrate that process-oriented programming languages provide a suitable means for developing concurrent systems. However, design and implementation are at different levels of abstraction in software development process. It is challenging to incorporate knowledge and experience to control the consistency between these phases in developing concurrent systems.  The potential inconsistencies arising would introduce errors to the production of concurrent systems, which would prove fatal to the systems in areas with zero tolerance for failure.

To tackle such a challenge, the goal of this research is to propose an innovative categorical framework for designing, implementing and verifying the consistency of communications. This framework is inspired by Hoare's vision of category theory and obtained research results towards validating the vision. In this framework, Communicating Sequential Processes(CSP) and Erasmus are used for design and implementation. In addition, abstract interpretation is employed to extract process communications from implementation. Furthermore, several novel rules to analyze semantics of abstraction of implementation are proposed for Erasmus. Finally, category theory is utilized as an innovative means to model and verify consistency of process communications. The framework is illustrated by using several running examples.


identifier: Riley, Krista Melanie  (2016) “You Don’t Need a Fatwa”: Muslim Feminist Blogging as Religious Interpretation.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Through an examination of four prominent blogs written by self-identified Muslim feminists in North America, this dissertation looks at blogging as it relates to Islam, gender, sexuality, religious interpretations, community, and the public sphere.  I begin by locating blogging in relation to literature on the public sphere, counterpublics, and alternative media, looking at issues including the divisions between public and private, questions of self-disclosure and anonymity, and the different shapes that audiences and communities may take in response to a blog.  Using Sa’diyya Shaikh’s (2007) notion of “tafsir through praxis” – a lens through which she considers Muslim women’s lived experiences as sources of religious interpretation – I propose the concept of “tafsir through blogging.”  I argue that blogging shapes the development of religious interpretation online in a number of ways as it weaves together personal narratives, textual interpretations, short episodic posts, audiovisual elements, and public discussions with an audience of readers.
The investigation of this practice through a focus on the topics of menstruation, queer issues, and gendered prayer spaces offers insights into how the bloggers’ writing practices challenge dominant discourses about women’s bodies, construct online interpretive communities, and provide new perspectives on Muslim feminist work.  My examination of the bloggers’ discussion of menstruation looks at how the writers challenge expectations that menstruation should be kept private and conceptions of menstruating bodies as contaminated.  Next, I look at how the bloggers use their writing to point to the limitations of dominant Muslim discourses on queer sexualities and relationships.  Through an examination of blog posts and comments related to women’s prayer spaces in mosques, I consider the collective, public, and counterpublic dimensions of tafsir through blogging.  The dissertation concludes by considering what the format of blogging means for questions of authority and legitimacy among Muslim feminists, suggesting that for these women writers whose ideas and online writing styles may be seen as far outside of the religious mainstream, blogging provides them an alternate avenue for establishing legitimacy as participants in public conversations about gender and Islam.


identifier: Lacroce, Clara  (2016) Deformations of Galois representations.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Deformations of Galois representations

abstract:
In this thesis we study a paper by Barry Mazur ([11]) about deforming Galois representations. In particular we will prove that, if $\bar{\rho}: \Pi \rightarrow \mathrm{GL}_N(k)$ is an absolutely irreducible residual representation, a universal deformation ring $R=R(\Pi,k,\bar{\rho})$ and a universal deformation $\boldsymbol{\rho}$ of $\bar{\rho}$ to $R$ exist. This result is part of the proof of the modularity conjecture.
The modularity conjecture is of great importance since it states a connection between modular forms and elliptic curves over $\Q$, providing a great tool to study the arithmetic properties of those elliptic curves. Andrew Wiles studied the conjecture as a part of the more general problem of relating two-dimensional Galois representations and modular forms and used [11] to complete his construction.
To better understand the proof of Mazur, we will analyze in detail the paper of Michael Schlessinger ([13]). This article, which is focused on functors over Artin rings, provides a criterion for a functor to be pro-representable. Moreover, it gives the definition of a "hull", which is a weaker property than pro-representability.


identifier: Richards-Douglas, Marilyn  (2016) Identifying learning needs to enhance communication skills between doctors (MDs) and nurses (RNs) in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) to deliver safe care to residents.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
ABSTRACT
Identifying learning needs to enhance communication skills between doctors (MDs) and nurses (RNs) in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) to deliver safe care to residents
Marilyn Richards-Douglas
The purpose of the study was to understand how nurses working in LTCFs perceive their communication with doctors in order to give safe care to residents and to identify learning needs to enhance communication skill between doctors and nurses.  This qualitative study was based on narratives obtained through interviews with six nurse Team Leaders working in the same LTCF. The interdisciplinary team they lead includes nurses’ aides, licenced practical nurses, the team leader, the head nurse and the doctor and they work with occupational therapists, social workers, ergo-therapists, pharmacists, kitchen aids and nutritionists.  Other individuals present on the floor on a continual basis are the family members and companions of the residents.  All six team leaders expressed their desire to continue to work in the role of Team Leader and helped better define the following areas of concerns and needs to improve communication in their setting especially with the doctors.  The insights gained are discussed under the following titles:
A. Preparedness for Team Leadership in LTCs: Education and Practice as Team Leaders.
--Nursing Education
--Challenges encountered as Team Leader
--Autonomy in Nursing Practice
--The Need To Be Recognized
B.	RN Perception/Narratives of Working Relationship with the MD
--Communicating with doctors in LTC
--Perceived Barriers to Effective Communication
--Developing the Skill of Communication
--Strategies for Collaborative Practice


identifier: Campbell, Alex  (2016) Engineering of a nepetalactol-producing platform strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the production of plant seco-iridoids.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The monoterpene indole alkaloids (MIAs) are a valuable family of chemicals that include the anti-cancer drugs vinblastine and vincristine. These compounds are of global significance – appearing on the World Health Organization’s list of model essential medicines – but remain exorbitantly priced due to low in planta levels. Chemical synthesis and genetic manipulation of MIA producing plants such as Catharanthus roseus have so far failed to find a solution to this problem. Synthetic biology holds a potential answer, by building the pathway into more tractable organisms such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Recent work has taken the first steps in this direction by producing small amounts of the intermediate strictosidine in yeast.  In order to help improve on these titers, we aimed to optimize the early biosynthetic steps of the MIA pathway to the metabolite nepetalactol. We combined a number of strategies to create a base strain producing 11.4 mg/L of the precursor geraniol. We also show production of the critical intermediate 10-hydroxygeraniol and demonstrate nepetalactol production in vitro. We demonstrate that activity of the Iridiod synthase towards the intermediates geraniol and 10-hydroxygeraniol results in the synthesis of the non-productive intermediates citronellol and 10-hydroxycitronellol. As a means of improving metabolic flux in this system, we also experimented with the use of protein scaffolds to co-localize vulnerable pathway enzymes together. We demonstrate that protein scaffolds successfully bind their targets in vivo, and as a test case showed we could raise the production of citronellol up to 57.8%. These discoveries have serious implications for the reconstruction of the MIA in heterologous organisms.


identifier: Kabir, Md Imran  (2016) Lateral Torsional Buckling of Welded Wide Flange Beams.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Abstract
Lateral Torsional Buckling of Welded Wide Flange Beams
Md. Imran Kabir
Lateral Torsional Buckling (LTB) can be defined as a combination of lateral displacement and twisting due to an application of load on an unsupported beam. Design specifications of Canada CSA S16-14 provides solutions for LTB of welded and rolled beams that were derived for constant moment situation. Same equations have been used over the years for design of rolled and welded shape beams. A recent study has shown that the current code equations might overestimate the capacity of the welded wide shape beams, which make them unsafe to use. Thus a detailed study is required to evaluate the existing LTB equations for welded wide flange (WWF) shapes. This thesis evaluates the performance of current equations in providing LTB capacities of WWF shape beams. A nonlinear finite element (FE) model is developed to investigate the LTB capacity of WWF shape beams. The validated FE model is used to analyze a series of simply supported WWF shape beams with varying unbraced lengths and subjected to equal end moments. Four different patterns of residual stresses and a constant initial imperfection of L/1000 are considered for the analysis. In total, 320 FE models are analyzed, and it is observed that current code overestimates the LTB capacity of WWF shape beams as much as of 37% mainly using the measured residual stress of Lehigh University.
 Later, LTB capacity of WWF shape beams subjected to other loading configurations i.e. linear and non-linear moment gradient is investigated. Three types of linear moment gradient are considered i.e. end moment ratio of 0.5, 0.0, -1.0 while for non-linear moment gradient, two types of transverse loading i.e. concentrated load at mid span and uniformly distributed load along the length of the beam are considered in this research. In addition, for transverse loading, the effect of load height is taken into account by changing the position of load at top flange, centroid and bottom flange. Thus, in total 123 and 228 FE models are developed for linear and non-linear moment gradient respectively. From the parametric study conducted for linear moment gradient, it is observed that current CSA S16-14 strength curve overestimates significantly for end moment ratio of 0.5 (40.1%) and 0.0 (34.57%) while it essentially coincides with FE results for end moment ratio of -1.0.
In the case of transverse loading, CSA S16-14 strength curve overestimates by 17% and 33% for concentrated load and distributed load respectively when the load is applied at the top flange of the beam. Unlike the top flange loading, CSA S16-14 strength curve underestimates by 64% and 44% for concentrated and distributed load applied at bottom flange respectively. However, in both cases, CSA S16-14 reasonably matches with the FE results when the load is applied at shear center of the cross-section. In addition, the mean value of equivalent moment factor, ω2 provides good agreement with recommended values by CSA S16-14. In all cases, FE results are compared with other standards i.e. AISC, Eurocode as well as with latest equation proposed by the researchers in University of Alberta. Although, Eurocode is found to be conservative in every cases but proposed equation by the researchers at University of Alberta shows good agreement only in the case of unequal end moment and transverse loading condition. Hence, this equation can be used with a lower resistance factor for LTB strength calculation of WWF beams.


identifier: Hedges, Gareth  (2016) Cinematic Memory and the Southern Imaginary: Crisis in the Deep South and The Phenix City Story.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This dissertation is a historical and theoretical study of the southern imaginary at the intersection of mass and regional culture. The focus is on two cinematic treatments of significant violent crimes in the region during the 1950s: firstly, the assassination of Albert Patterson, which prompted the clean of the “wide open” town of Phenix City, Alabama; and secondly, the murder of Emmett Till in Mississippi, which played a critical role in accelerating the African American freedom struggle.  The Phenix City Story (Allied Artists, 1955), and Crisis in the Deep South, an unproduced 1956 screenplay written by Crane Wilbur, were both products of the media frenzy surrounding these actual events and they each involved investigation and research into local circumstances as part of their development and production.
Rooted in film studies, history and cultural studies, the method of this thesis is to look backward to the foundational elements of the texts in question (e.g., the ‘raw material’ of the actual historical events,), and forward to the consequences of cinematic intervention into local commemorative regimes.  In this way, I chart how the overlaps and interconnections between these film projects and others of the era reveal the emergence, consolidation and dissolution of a larger “cycles of sensation,” a concept outlined by Frank Krutnik and Peter Stanfield.  The thesis offers a radical close reading of these texts to illuminate the complex relationship between Hollywood film and historical fact.
The thesis examines southern exceptionalism and outlines the ways its romantic visions of “moonlight and magnolias” inform the treatment of the American South in the cinematic imagination, while tracing presentations of the modern American South through the popular hicksploitation cycle of the 1970s.  The failed attempt to make a film out of the murder of Emmett Till in the 1950s demonstrates the limitations of Hollywood’s ability to address civil rights issues.  My analysis of The Phenix City Story uncovers connections between the film’s racial melodrama and the Alabama town’s hidden history of racial violence and the Ku Klux Klan activity, while arguing for the role race played in the political corruption that the film’s narrative exposes.


identifier: Feng, Shushu  (2016) What Can Women Do? – Women’s Participation on Top Management and the Moderating Impact on Strategic Change and Firm Performance.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Abstract
Based on gender and strategic management research, this study introduces women’s participation in top management team as the main variable to examine its impact on strategic change and firm performance in China. The impact of female top managers in China has been drawing attention increasingly, as the institutional and organizational factors facilitate the positive outcome in one way, but constraint women’s access to top positions in another due to
gender-role stereotype and traditional Chinese cultural expectations. The research question of this study is “Do women’s participation in top management positively affect firm strategic change and performance in China?” Specifically, I first test the relationship between women’s participation in top management team and strategic change as well as performance growth, and then I test the moderator effect of female top managers. The scope of the study is to discuss the outcome of firm strategic change in China, as well as the moderating effect of women’s participation in top management in the context of China. Research on the impact of females in top management has been a controversial topic in past decades, but it is still worthwhile to contribute in this field by finding connections between gender diversity and firm outcomes.


identifier: Omidbakhsh, Mandana  (2016) A Methodology for Confidence-based Adaptive Numeracy Skill Assessment in Healthcare.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

format: text text

abstract:
Numeracy skill level of patients has great influence on their preferences and priorities for the treatment options concerning their healthcare. The elicitation of patient preferences in healthcare, along with the increasing degree of patients’ participation in their own treatment decision- making immensely signify the importance of the topic.  Numeracy in healthcare domain is a measure of the ability of patients to understand and digest numerically presented information so as to make appropriate health decisions and understand risk factors.
Not properly numeracy-assessed patients are prone to make inaccurate and inappropriate decisions for their medical treatments. There are many challenges that the researchers face in designing and developing patient-sensitive numeracy assessment methods. The adaptability of the numeracy assessment is considered to be one of the most important issues to address. The existing methods of numeracy testing do not take confidence as a parameter in consideration for adaptive assessment. Numeracy assessment without confidence is prone to guess work. A better result in measurement is achieved when confidence in the knowledge is also appraised. More importantly, patients may act up on knowledge when they have confidence in it. Thus, we aimed to develop a novel model for Patient Numeracy Assessment based on this parameter.
We proposed a goal-driven Confidence-based model for Patient Numeracy Assessment (C-PNA), which (1) is adaptable to each individual patient, (2) covers the full sets of numeracy skills, and (3) considers confidence. Our adaptive model is based on a conceptual math model. Accordingly, to develop our model, we applied the Confidence Based Learning method for the measurement of confidence and (4) created the item bank, (5) defined the selection algorithm and (6) specified the associated scoring protocol applicable for the assessment of numeracy. To validate the feasibility of our model, we conducted several empirical studies and demonstrated that the results are statistically significant.
We also (7) introduced a novel quality model for the evaluation of patient numeracy assessment methods. The quality model, which is inspired by ISO/IEC 25022, covers both (8) objective and (9) subjective characteristics regarding patient interface with numeracy assessment methods. We further applied this quality model to compare our numeracy assessment methods with the other existing methods. We were able to establish the place of our Confidence-based Patient Numeracy Assessment (C-PNA) method among the other numeracy assessment methods based on the empirical studies we performed. Empirical data provided the evidence for high satisfaction and trust, and significant effectiveness and usage efficiency of our patient numeracy assessment method.
The results of the empirical studies reveal that our model for the assessment of patient numeracy skill could be consequently pertained for Patient Preference Elicitation (PPE) systems. Preliminary research in support of PPE is reported in the thesis. In particular, it focuses on strategies to improve outcome of the treatments and decisions highly depending on patient’s numeracy skill. It will be instrumental in tailoring decision-supporting interventions to particular patient needs.


identifier: Cerreta, Suzanne  (2016) Engaging the Senses: A Sensory-Based Approach to L2 Pronunciation.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This case study examined the possible benefits of a sensory-based learning approach for
teaching L2 pronunciation to actors, and attempted to address the unique learning goal of nativelike speech, or North American commercial standard speech for acting purposes. In line with Gibson’s (1969) definition of sensory learning, or linking new concepts to previous knowledge through sensory engagement, curriculum materials were designed and adapted from Celce-Murcia, Briton, and Goodwin (2010) and the theatrical voice methods from Knight (2012). Focusing on two French Canadian actors (Marianne & Sebastian) over a 10-week instructional period, samples from monologue and scene performances before and after instruction were rated for six global and linguistic measures of speech (e.g., accent, comprehensibility, vowel and consonant errors) by 10 linguistically trained listeners, and for two performance measures by 10 advanced acting students. Linguistics listener ratings revealed a significant improvement in accent for Marianne and greater comprehensibility for both actors after instruction. However, qualitative data from weekly surveys and exit interviews showed a divergence in learning preferences. Marianne prioritized sensory-based activities, whereas Sebastian preferred more traditional language-focused instruction. These results suggest that theatrical methods of learning, such as sensory-based activities, can be beneficial for some L2 learners for overall improvement in accent and comprehensibility. This study highlights the importance of sensory-based activities as a supplement to form-focused pronunciation instruction and calls for theatrical voice curricula to promote practicing language in similar contexts to its intended use.


identifier: Lynes, Philippe  (2016) General Ecology: Life Death on Earth in Derrida and Others.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Life  on  earth  is  currently  approaching  or  undergoing  what  has been  called  the  sixth  mass extinction, also known as the Holocene or anthropocene extinction. Unlike the previous five, this extinction  is  due to the  destructive  practices  of  a single species,  our own.  Along  with  the  up to 50%  of  plant  and  animal  species  facing  extinction  by  the  year  2100,  as  many  as  90%  of  the world’ s  languages  are  expected  to  meet  the  same  fate  by  this  time.  Biocultural  diversity  is  a recent  appellation  for  thinking  together  the  earth’ s  biological,  cultural  and  linguistic  diversity, the  related  causes  of  their  extinctions  and  the  related  steps  needing  to  be  taken  to  ensure  their sustainability. In this dissertation, I turn to the work of Jacques Derrida  to propose a notion of ‘ general ecology’  as a way to respond to this loss, to think the ethics, ontology and epistemology at  stake  in  biocultural  sustainability  and  the  life  and  death  we  differentially  share  on  earth  with its others. Through readings of a variety of contemporary continental philosophers, I develop the interdisciplinary  applicability  of  general  ecology  in  the areas  of  translation  studies,  biopolitics, science  and  technology  studies  and  ecolinguistics.  My  hope  is  to  give  readers  not  only  an appreciation  of  the  ecological  and  biocultural  stakes  of deconstruction,  but  to  provoke  in  them new ways of thinking a more just sharing of the earth.


identifier: Banerji, Srishti  (2016) Vibration Based Monitoring and Damage Detection of Structures using Wireless Sensors.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) implies monitoring the performance of structures using sensors to get an advance warning of the loss of structural capacity or potential collapse. Wireless-sensor based monitoring system is found to be advantageous over traditional wire-based system because of their ease of implementation, cost, flexibility and maintenance. However, power supply is an important concern for wireless sensors used in monitoring of civil engineering structures. While there are different efficient power usage methods and power supply solutions available for wireless sensors, their applications to SHM systems for civil infrastructure are not standardized. Energy harvesting by means of converting energy from the surrounding environment provides a desirable solution to address the issue of finite power source for wireless sensors. There are several sources of renewable energy that can be harnessed to generate electrical energy for the sensors. Use of energy harvesters for SHM applications are advancing these days. This research proposes the utilization of energy harvesters as damage detectors in addition to supplying power to the wireless nodes. This will ensure higher accuracy in the damage detection and capture sensor faults as well. This proposed concept is evaluated using pre-stressed concrete box bridge and steel truss bridge models in this thesis. This is a step towards increasing reliability of data acquisition. Instrumented structures are monitored by analyzing the responses recorded by deployed sensors in the form of signals. Processing these signals accurately is another important aspect of SHM to diagnose anomalies in structural behavior. The vibration signature of a structure changes with damage. In order to detect damage effectively, preservation of non-linear and non-stationary features of real structural responses is important. Decomposition of the signals into Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMF) by Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) and application of Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT) addresses the time-varying instantaneous properties of the structural response. The energy distribution among different vibration modes of the intact and damaged structure depicted by Marginal Hilbert Spectrum (MHS) can detect location and severity of the damage. This research investigates this damage detection method by experimental modal testing of a steel frame structure and numerical simulation testing of a steel beam. The performance of Damage Indices (DI) from the energy distribution curves of the undamaged and damaged structure are assessed. It is found that MHS can effectively identify the presence and location of damage in the structure using its vibration response at undamaged and damaged conditions.


identifier: Jorgensen, Lisa  (2016) Criminal Diversions: Newspapers, Entertainment, Sport, and Physical Culture in New York Prisons, 1899-1920.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Prisons in New York in the early twentieth century were becoming modern institutions. In my dissertation I examine the cultural dimensions of the prison reforms that were part of the progressive era “new penology” movement that fundamentally altered life in prison in this period. In researching this largely neglected area of prison reform, and the particularly neglected period between 1899 and 1913, I have discovered that the major reforms instituted across the prison in the state in 1913 were part of a much more gradual process than previously thought. I argue that the prisoner-produced newspapers, the entertainment and leisure activities, and physical culture programs that were introduced starting in 1899 laid the groundwork for the reforms to come. The prisoners and prison administrators used the recreation programs to present themselves to the public in a positive way, to forge new relationships between the prison workers and the prisoners, and to build new connections between the world of the prison and the world beyond prison walls. These changes led to a period of prisoner self-government that gave prisoners more power in the institution and helped to shape contemporary prison structures. �


identifier: Coulter, Gregory  (2016) Condamné à mort: Slavery and the Hangman of New France, 1733-1743.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This case study strives for a greater understanding of slavery as experienced in New France, as well as its relationship to the French Atlantic. It draws on documents related to Mathieu Léveillé, the executioner of the colony from 1733 to 1744. Léveillé lived as a plantation slave in Martinique for 24 years. He was sentenced to death after being caught making a third attempt to escape, but his sentence was commuted to serving as the hangman of New France. His life speaks to the relationship between slavery and the early modern scientific understanding that black bodies were unfit for northern climates. Léveillé’s doctors diagnosed his depression through this theoretical framework, thus confirming French prejudices. As this case study demonstrates, slavery in New France cannot be separated from slavery in the Caribbean. Black slaves in Canada are best understood through an Atlantic perspective as slavery did not exist in Canada without its existence in the Caribbean. This perspective is not confined to national borders which is key to a better understanding of slavery in Canada. The value of this study therefore comes from its contributions to understanding the connection of black slaves to the colonies in which they were born and touches on racism in scientific frameworks and mental health.


identifier: Yazdani Sarvestani, Hamidreza ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7787-342X <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7787-342X>  (2016) High-order Simple-input Methods for Thick Laminated Composite Straight and Curved Tubes.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Composites have proven their great potential for many aerospace applications, where high performance justifies high cost. One of the potential applications of composites is helicopter landing gears. Helicopter landing gears consist of straight and curved tubes. A new analysis and design tool is required to consider the manufacturing technology. In this study, high-order analytical methods are proposed to analyze and design thick laminated orthotropic straight and curved tubes subjected to different boundary and loading conditions.
In the first part of this thesis, the elasticity displacement field of thick laminated composite straight tubes is developed. In this investigation, thick composite cantilever tubes under transverse loading are studied using the newly displacement-based method. This method provides a quick, convenient and accurate procedure for the determination of 3D stresses in thick composite straight tubes subjected to both bending and shear loadings. In addition, this method is used to study stress and strain distributions in thick composite straight tubes with different simple and complex lay-up sequences. Note that thick laminated composite straight tubes subjected to cantilever loading conditions are investigated for the first time. Moreover, the developed method is used to analyze thick laminated composite straight tubes subjected to different mechanical loadings such as axial force, torque and bending moment.
In the second part of this thesis, the general displacement field of thick laminated composite curved tubes is developed. By proposing a new high-order displacement-based method, single-layer composite curved tubes are examined. First, a displacement approach of Toroidal Elasticity is chosen to obtain the displacement field of single-layer composite curved tubes. Then, a layer-wise method is employed to develop the most general displacement field of elasticity for thick arbitrary laminated composite curved tubes. The developed method is used to analyze single-layer and laminated composite curved tubes subjected to pure bending moment. Note that displacement-based Toroidal Elasticity is applied to study thick laminated composite curved tubes for the first time. In addition, the failure analysis on thick composite curved tubes subjected to pure bending moment is conducted. Effects of lay-up sequences of composite curved tubes on stress distributions and failure sequences are investigated, as well.
The accuracy of the proposed methods is verified by comparing the numerical results obtained using the proposed methods against finite element method, experimental data and solutions available in the literature.
The methods that proposed in this thesis do not require meshing. They simplify greatly inputs that the user has to do, once the program for solution is available. This presents a clear advantage over FEM. Therefore, the most important advantage of the proposed methods is that inputs for modeling and analyzing of composite straight and curved tubes with complex lay-up sequences are simple, easy to use and fast to run. In addition, using FEM for the parametric study is cumbersome. By applying the proposed methods, the parametric study for thick laminated composite straight and curved tubes is simple with low computational cost.


identifier: Taylor, Kym  (2016) The Kindergarten Effect: Exploring the Influence of Communities of Practice on Adult L2 Willingness to Communicate.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Though previous research suggests that adult second language (L2) learners can face a number of struggles (e.g., Gallagher, 2013; Mady & Arnott, 2010), one of the biggest challenges for these learners is finding the confidence to communicate with their interlocutors, often native speakers of the L2. At the center of this challenge is the construct of willingness to communicate (WTC), which is typically operationalized as a measure of a learner’s comfort level in initiating communication with native speakers (MacIntyre, Babin, & Clément, 1999). One example of a rich, welcoming, nonthreatening, and nonjudgmental learning environment that might encourage
WTC is a kindergarten classroom, where young children acquire group communicative, social, and academic skills. The goal of this longitudinal case study was to examine the impact of adult L2 learners’ experience in a kindergarten classroom as a means of enhancing their WTC. The
target participants included four female international university students from China of similar age, L2 proficiency, and English instruction background. Two students attended a local kindergarten classroom three times per week for five weeks, in addition to their regular
university ESL courses; the other two attended regular ESL instruction at the university, but did not visit the kindergarten classroom. All students were pre- and posttested using a willingness to communicate scale (McCroskey & Richmond, 1990) and evaluated through weekly language use logs (Ranta & Meckelborg, 2013). The experimental participants were observed through weekly kindergarten observations (Spada & Frohlich, 1995). Journals were completed by the students
after each visit, and exit interviews were conducted with the participants’ university professors. Results revealed a positive impact of the kindergarten environment on the students’ WTC (shown in both self-reports and observations) that has extended to the students’ L2 use outside the kindergarten context. These results support the use of communicatively rich, nonthreatening communities of practice as vehicles for increasing WTC. I discuss implications for WTC as a construct and for the use of volunteer opportunities to supplement regular L2 instruction.


identifier: Choi, Kay  (2016) Understanding Cross-cultural Supervision in the Creative Arts Therapies: A systematic Review of the Literature.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Cross-cultural and/or multicultural issues and considerations are increasingly becoming more relevant to the creative arts therapies’ practice and supervision. This systematic literature review aimed to investigate the existing body of cross-cultural/multicultural supervision literature in the fields of music therapy, art therapy, drama therapy, and dance movement therapy, as well as to identify the gaps in the knowledge. English-language literature published between 2000 and 2015 was examined to ascertain its relevance to the cross-cultural issues and challenges that exist within supervision of supervisors and supervisees with racial/ethnic differences. A search strategy that included a review of electronic databases and grey literature, as well as hand searching of journals and edited books was undertaken. Fourteen sources were identified as providing valuable information related to cross-cultural/multicultural supervision: seven music therapy; three art therapy; one drama therapy; and three dance movement therapy publications. Review of the identified sources indicated that cultural differences had an impact on the process and the relationship in the cross-cultural supervision. Furthermore, these differences may provide opportunities for enhanced understanding and awareness of cultural backgrounds, biases, and assumptions of supervisors and supervisees through sharing and open discussions. Findings also suggested the need for future research in the general topic of cross-cultural supervision in the creative arts therapies fields. This review offers an accessible resource for creative arts therapists to existing cross-cultural supervision resources, where they can assess the current state of the literature and better understand the complex dynamics of cross-cultural supervision experiences.


identifier: Jezer-Morton, Kathryn  (2016) Where Does the Time Go: Smartphone Use Among Immigrant Mothers Born in the English-Speaking Caribbean.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This ethnographic study investigates the ways in which smartphone use shape the daily routines of seven mothers who immigrated to Montreal from the English-speaking Caribbean. Using a combination of empirical data collection through a use-tracking app installed on participants’ smartphones and open-ended interviews, the paper argues that the pervasive use of smartphones in these mothers’ routines creates conflict with children while simultaneously providing mothers with a valuable outlet for socialization, identity creation and the maintenance of community ties. Evidence found in this study also suggests that media literacy is a relevant concern for women belonging to this population. One of the roles of a “good” mother is media gatekeeper, and while most of the participants in this study subscribe to this belief, most of them also have very little working knowledge about the media landscape in which they inhabit, and in some cases very little ability to decode the meaning and function of basic media products. For these reasons, media literacy among this population emerged as both an area of inquiry and a possible area of further study or outreach.


identifier: Mills, Thomas Oscar  (2016) Miners’ Meetings and Mining Boards: The Development of Mining Law in Colonial British Columbia, 1858-1867.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Miners’ meetings were a customary legal practice from California that was imported to British Columbia during the Fraser River gold rush (1858). To date, there has been limited recognition of this practice’s influence on the development of British Columbia. The historical works that do exist on the subject argue that the practice was not established in the colony owing to the Colonial Government’s allowance for Mining Boards, a representative institution, by The Gold Fields Act, 1859. To the contrary, this thesis looks at the different ways that miners’ meetings and miners’ customary law were expressed and adapted to conditions in British Columbia before and after the passing of The Gold Fields Act, 1859. It argues that miners’ meetings persisted as a political practice despite the existence of Mining Boards and that miners’ meetings and Mining Boards performed different functions in colonial society. Whereas in frontier regions miners’ meetings were used to organize frontier society and establish mining regulations—performing legislative, judicial, or executive functions in different circumstances—and in more developed regions miners’ meetings adapted and were used by mining communities to influence the decisions of the Government, Mining Boards were a representative institution that was mandated by election to fulfill a specific purpose. This thesis tracks the history of miners’ meetings and Mining Boards from 1858 to 1867—through such episodes as the Canyon War, McGowan’s War, Cariboo Gold Rush, and Grouse Creek War—and examines how the mining community was in constant dialogue—in turn, cordial and tense—with the Colonial Government on the subject of the formal colonial mining laws.


identifier: Viqar, Sarwat  (2016) Sovereignty, Modernity and Urban Space: Everyday Socio-Spatial Practices in Karachi's Inner City Quarters.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis is an interdisciplinary study of the norms and forms of everyday life in the historic quarter of Karachi, Pakistan, as they relate to the sovereign imaginaries that animate the way urban subjects inhabit the space of the city. It examines the evolution of the urban form of the city and shows how historical constructions of space, empire and nation structured present formulations of political subjectivity at the micro and macro levels. Using three disciplinary lenses—history, anthropology and political science—the study captures the diverse forces and sovereignties that have shaped ideas of life and the organization of space in a complex urban environment. Based on previously unexamined archival material and ethnographic field research in the historic inner city area of Karachi, it traces the effects of historic formations of the space of the city on the lived space of the streets and neighbourhoods. It locates the politics of space that unfolds in the streets and neighbourhoods of the city in significant shifts in its colonial and postcolonial history. In doing so it brings attention to the limits of biopolitical subject formation, where the processes of making social and political worlds in common exceed the state’s attempt at discipline and subjugation. The social and political formations that were the object of this study, consist of different kinds of sovereign arrangements that attempt to rule and govern space in parallel to, and often overlapping with, state governance. These sovereign arrangements range from custom and kinship-based organizations to political and religious groups and movements that seek to establish norms around the social and spatial management of the neighbourhood. The finding of this study is that multiple sovereign assemblages act to both challenge and reproduce state sovereignty. These sovereignties operate in different domains – political, religious and clan-based social networks that constantly overlap and engage with the state to claim legitimacy and a share of urban resources. The most significant finding of this study is that sovereign imaginaries drawn upon by these arrangements go beyond the nation to draw upon histories and trajectories that are transregional and transcendental, bringing into question the nation-state’s sole claim to territorial sovereignty.


identifier: Worton, Maria  (2016) The Globalization and Financialization of Montreal Water: Network Procurement Practices for Commodifying a Commons.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The City of Montreal describes its water as a public service. This thesis complicates if not challenges such a designation by showing how emergent water-related infrastructure procurement practices are introducing global and financial markets into Montreal water. Indeed, Montreal’s Green Economy is arguably valuing all water-related infrastructure with the intention of commodifying it fully. While such commodification is diluting Montreal’s Water Commons with private actors and private decision-making, away from democratic procedures. The following actor network analysis shows multiple and heterogenous actors, relations and processes that are implicated in this transformation.


identifier: Ikpong, Anthony Akpan  (2016) Managing Highway Bridges against Climate-Triggered Extreme Events in Cold Regions.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Highway bridges represent a significant investment by Governments at both Provincial and Federal levels and their importance is underscored by the fact that every citizen derives a benefit, directly or indirectly, from public transportation infrastructure.  As with any engineering product, highway bridges must be well designed and robust to avoid any malfunction that could jeopardise the lives of people.  Further, highway bridges deteriorate over time and need preservation intervention applied at suitable intervals over the bridge’s service life.  Determining the timing and order of implementation of preservation work among deficient bridges in a highway bridge inventory is an important function of bridge management.

The doctoral research reported in this thesis aimed to devise a method for the resilience/vulnerability rating of highway bridges against climate-triggered extreme events/ loads.  The research also sought to devise a ranking technique for bridge projects’ programming by pursuing a one-directional, non-iterative, method that could maximize the value function and significantly cut down the computer run time for the ranking analysis.

The research outcomes include a weighted-criteria method for the multi-criteria ranking, a practical tool for the resilience/vulnerability rating of highway bridges against extreme events such as deck flooding and abutment washout, and a method for determining the magnitude of climate-triggered extreme load (e.g. ice accretion, pier scour) that could potentially cause bridge failure.

The projects’ ranking method developed in this research, including the development of a weighted criteria formulation, could potentially be adopted by bridge management systems in North America and elsewhere.  Further, it is expected that the method will influence future development of multi-criteria ranking in bridge management and other fields.  Similarly, the proposed new method for climate change resilience rating of highway bridges is a significant effort at translating the general scientific and engineering impacts’ discussion of climate change into an engineering tool for the continuous management of bridges.  Finally, it will be important for transportation agencies to determine beforehand what magnitude of climate-triggered extreme load would produce bridge distress and potential failure, and this thesis provides a solution to that problem.


identifier: Trujillo-Pisanty, Ivan  (2016) Dissecting the role of dopamine in brain stimulation reward: neuroeconomic, pharmacological, and optogenetic studies.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Dopamine (DA) is critical for reward-seeking. However, its specific role in reward has remained elusive. In the Intracranial Self-Stimulation (ICSS) paradigms, animals are trained to perform operant tasks to deliver trains of electrical or optical pulses to reward-related brain regions. The tight experimental control attainable by these paradigms makes them suitable for psychophysical and computational studies aiming at understanding how specific neural circuits and signals mediate reward seeking. However, common measurement methods in ICSS studies fail to distinguish between effects arising at different stages of reward processing. The reward-mountain model links the effects of experimental manipulations to specific stages of neural processing.
I used the reward-mountain model to distinguish between variables affecting the integration of reward intensity and other factors that influence ICSS. I administered a DA reuptake blocker or a DA receptor antagonist to animals working for electrical stimulation of the Medial Forebrain Bundle (MFB). The results show that DA signaling affects ICSS at a stage beyond the computation of reward intensity by modulating reward gain, costs, or the value of competing activities.
Optogenetics allows for direct optical stimulation of specific neural subtypes with tight temporal control. I present a technical development that proved critical in running long experimental sessions with rats. I used optogenetics to bypass the inputs to midbrain-DA neurons. I adapted the reward-mountain paradigm to rats working for optical stimulation of midbrain-DA neurons, allowing me to further dissect the role of DA in reward seeking. In these animals, DA reuptake blockade affected the integration of reward intensity. This contrasts with the effects produced by the same drug in rats working for electrical ICSS (eICSS). The drug also affected reward gain, cost, or the value of competing activities.
Overall, the results show that eICSS and optical ICSS (oICSS) recruit the reward system at different stages of neural processing. In eICSS, DA signaling affects reward-seeking at a stage beyond the computation of reward intensity, whereas in oICSS of midbrain-DA neurons, reward intensity is determined by a second reward-integrator downstream from the one that determines the reward intensity in eICSS.


identifier: Khan, Muhammad Nsr  (2016) Mobile Viewing and Self-Management of Patient’s Electronic Health Records (EHRs) with MyHealthCloud.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Mobile computing has become one of the most dominant computer use paradigms and an essential part of the modern healthcare environment. As these applications become more sophisticated, a trend will inevitably develop towards providing comprehensive
support for healthcare practitioners.

According to industry estimates, by 2018, 50 percent of more than 3.4 billion smartphone and tablet users will have downloaded mobile healthcare apps. These users include healthcare professionals, consumers and patients. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is encouraging the development of mobile
medical applications that improve healthcare and provide consumers and healthcare professionals with valuable health information.

In this thesis, we propose a novel mobile healthcare platform for the visualization and management of patients’ medical reports, named MyHealthCloud. The research offers a new approach to store, retrieve and share the medical reports for patients and doctors. This new platform maximizes the benefits of mobile health technology by
providing the best possible way for healthcare professionals to share information with their patients efficiently and effectively.

This thesis empirically validates the usability of the proposed approach and clearly demonstrates its usefulness, providing details of the empirical study conducted with end-users in a real environment at various hospitals.


identifier: Hong, Jihyun  (2016) How Music Therapists Address Spiritual Issues with Clients in End-of-Life Care: An Integrative Literature Review.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Although music therapists are often called upon to address spiritual needs and issues of clients in end-of-life care, most have limited education and/or training in this and few resources exist to help guide them in this area of clinical practice. Furthermore, it is important for music therapists to understand the pertinent ethical and professional boundaries. The purpose of this integrative literature review was to synthesize information contained in the music therapy literature in order to describe how music therapists are addressing spiritual issues in end-of-life care. This in turn helped to identify positive aspects of the work, problems that need to be addressed, and possible gaps in services. Twenty-four sources that met the criteria for inclusion were reviewed. Results revealed that music therapists are addressing a range of spiritual needs/issues with their clients in end-of-life care and are using multiple types of interventions to do so. However, the literature also revealed that music therapists experience a number of complex challenges in this work. Although there are some specific and general suggestions on how these challenges may be addressed, the extent to which music therapists are following through on these suggestions is unknown. Reflections upon the results and limitations of the research as well as potential implications for practice, research, and training/education are presented.


identifier: Butler Burke, Nora  (2016) Double Punishment: Immigration Penality in the Daily Lives of Migrant Trans Women.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Over the past 20 years, researchers and activists alike have highlighted the role of state violence, administrative erasure and criminalization in driving the precarity and social exclusion of many trans women. The experiences of migrant trans women who sell sex, however, have been largely obfuscated or ignored. This thesis aims to understand migrant trans women’s everyday lives in relation to criminal and immigration law enforcement. The research draws on seven qualitative interviews, extensive archival research and critical feminist methodologies to centre the everyday experiences of migrant trans women to illuminate ideological and social processes that construct and coordinate immigration penality.


identifier: Senécal, Jean-Sébastien  (2016) Machines That Learn: Aesthetics of Adaptive Behaviors in Agent-based Art.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Since the post-war era, artists have been exploring the use of embodied, artificial agents. This artistic activity runs parallel to research in computer science, in domains such as Cybernetics, Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Life. This thesis offers an account of a particular facet of this broader work — namely, a study of the artistic practice of agent-based, adaptive computational artistic installations that make use of Machine Learning methods. Machine Learning is a sub-field of the computer science area of Artificial Intelligence that employs mathematical models to classify and make predictions based on data or experience rather than on logical rules.

These artworks that integrate Machine Learning into their structures raise a number of important questions: (1) What new forms of aesthetic experience do Machine Learning methods enable or make possible when utilized outside of their intended context, and are instead carried over into artistic works? (2) What characterizes the practice of using adaptive computational methods in agent-based artworks? And finally, (3) what kind of worldview are these works fostering?

To address these questions, I examine the history of Machine Learning in both art and science, illustrating how artists and engineers alike have made use of these methods historically. I also analyze the defining scientific characteristics of Machine Learning through a practitioner’s lens, concretely articulating how properties of Machine Learning interplay in media artworks that behave and evolve in real time. I later develop a framework for understanding machine behaviors based on the morphological aspects of the temporal unfolding of agent behaviors as a tool for comprehending both adaptive and non-adaptive behaviors in works of art. Finally, I expose how adaptive technologies suggest a new worldview for art that accounts for the performative engagement of agents adapting to one another, which implies a certain way of losing control in the face of the indeterminacy and the unintelligibility of alien agencies and their behaviors.


identifier: Mobasheri, Faezeh  (2016) Simple Power Transformer Fiber Bragg Grating Temperature Sensor.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This study has designed, developed, and tested a high temperature sensor based on Fiber Bragg grating. The new introduced interrogation system makes the sensor suitable for installation inside the power transformer. Unlike the existing fiber Bragg grating based temperature sensors, the interrogation system of the sensor is based on amplitude modulation (AM). The distinctive characteristics of the designed temperature sensor, in addition to inherent advantages of FBG is, its real-time monitoring, small size, and low cost. The sensor is tested in harsh environment at temperature starting from -27 ºC to 400 ºC. The long-term stability and reliability of the designed sensors of one sensor head is tested in furnace at 400 ºC for 338 hours. Furthermore, the sensor head was under test in 600 ºC for about 18 hours. The sensor head which is used in this experiment is fiber Bragg grating Corning SMF-28, Ge-doped optical fibers with 4% Ge content in its core. It was loaded with hydrogen prior to writing with 248 nm excimer laser. The Bragg wavelength of the two prepared sensors head for this work is around 1530 nm and 1550 nm.
In this study, we used Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) light source as an input light for the sensor head. ASE light source makes it possible to have linear input light in two different ranges with 4 nm span. The sensors head Bragg wavelength is designed in the range in which the ASE light source spectrum is linear. The sensor has the Photodiode (PD) to convert the Bragg reflected spectrum power into its equivalent current.


identifier: Daryalal, Maryam  (2016) Efficient Spectrum Utilization in Large-Scale RWA and RSA Problems.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
While the Routing and Wavelength Assignment (RWA) problem has been widely studied, very few studies attempt to solve realistic size instances, namely, with 100 wavelengths per fiber and a few hundred nodes. Indeed, state of the art is closer to around 20 nodes and 30 wavelengths. In this study, we are interested in reducing the gap between realistic data sets and testbed instances, using exact methods.

We propose different algorithms that lead to solve exactly or near exactly much larger instances than in the literature, with up to 150 wavelengths and 90 nodes. Extensive numerical experiences are conducted on both the static and the dynamic cases. For the latter, we investigate how much bandwidth is wasted when no lightpath re-arrangement is allowed, and compare it with the number of lightpath re-arrangement it requires in order to fully maximize the grade of service. Results show that the amount of lightpath re-arrangement remains very small in comparison to the amount of wasted bandwidth if not done.

The Routing and Spectrum Assignment (RSA) problem is a much more difficult problem than RWA, considered in elastic optical networks. Although investigated extensively, there is still a gap between the size of the instances that can be solved using the current heuristic or exact algorithms, and the size of the instances arising in the industry. As the second objective of this study, we aim to reduce the gap between the two, using a new mathematical modeling, and compare its performance with the best previous algorithms/models on realistic data instances.


identifier: Khan, Mohammad Asgar  (2016) Investigation on the Autonomic Structural Self-Healing of FRPC using Microencapsulated 5E2N/Grubbs Catalyst System for Low Temperature Applications.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
ABSTRACT

Investigation on the autonomic structural self-healing of FRPC using microencapsulated 5E2N/Grubbs catalyst system for low temperature applications

Mohammad Asgar Khan, Ph.D.
Concordia University, 2016

Structural self-healing of Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites (FRPC) using microencapsulated 5E2N/Grubbs catalyst system is investigated in this work for low temperature applications. Microcapsule containing liquid 5E2N monomer in poly melamine urea formaldehyde (PMUF) shells have been synthesized following the in-situ polymerization technique. The effects of stirring speed and concentration of surfactant on the quality of microcapsules in terms of their average sizes, size distribution, surface morphology and shell thickness are investigated. An optimum combination of stirring speed-SLS concentration is established through numerous synthesis trials of microcapsules. The feasibility of self-healing with the current materials system is first demonstrated by visually observing the healing of crack network that is created on unreinforced epoxy samples impacted with high velocity projectiles. Different strength-based approaches like impact-heal-flexure, flexure-heal-flexure are examined to evaluate the self-healing performance of FRPC in the preliminary investigations. A fracture based approach based on the mode II delamination of FRPC which deals with determining material properties independent of geometry of samples is found to be a better choice for the evaluation of healing performance of FRPC. In the new proposed protocol, healing performance is evaluated by measuring and comparing the mode II fracture toughness of regular neat (not incorporated with healing agents) and modified (incorporated with healing agents) FRPC samples during the Non pre-cracked (NPC) and Pre-cracked (PC) test post healing without any manual intervention for achieving healing. Healing performance index, instead of healing efficiency, is defined by comparing the fracture toughness of regular and modified samples taking into account the possible toughening or weakening effect of incorporating healing agents into the composites. Healing performance index is shown to be a better and realistic indicator of actual healing performance than conventional healing efficiency definition. Effects of average size and concentration of microcapsules on the self-healing performance of FRP composites are investigated at room temperature using the proposed protocol. Finally, the effect of low temperature on self-healing performance of FRP composites is evaluated.


identifier: Levy, Hannah C.  (2015) Experimental Investigations of the Judicious Use of Safety Behaviour in Exposure Therapy for Contamination Fear.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Compulsive washing and contamination fear are among the most common symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).  Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is an effective treatment for OCD, but a substantial proportion of clients/patients refuse this treatment entirely or drop out prematurely.  A proposed solution involves the judicious use of safety behaviour to enhance the acceptability of ERP.  However, to this author’s knowledge, there are currently no published guidelines for the judicious use of safety behaviour in exposure, and questions remain about how best to incorporate safety behaviour into existing treatments.  For instance, which kinds of safety behaviour may be beneficial in treatment, and which may be harmful?  Who decides when to eliminate the safety behaviour during treatment, the client/patient or the therapist?  The present studies made a first attempt at addressing these questions.  In the first study, a clinical sample of individuals with contamination-related OCD (N = 60) was randomized to receive an exposure session with no safety aid (ERP), a routinely-used safety aid (RU), or a never-used safety aid (NU).  Significant reductions in contamination fear severity were observed in all conditions.  However, participants in the NU condition demonstrated the lowest self-reported contamination fear severity at post-treatment.  Further, the NU condition received the highest acceptability and anticipated adherence ratings.  In the second study, a subclinical sample of undergraduate students (N = 100) was assigned to complete an exposure session for contamination fear under one of three fading conditions: participant-initiated, experimenter-initiated (based on time), or experimenter-initiated (based on participant-reported distress levels).  Compared to the experimenter initiated time-based condition, the participant-initiated condition demonstrated significantly greater reductions in obsessive beliefs and peak fear, as well as marginally higher treatment expectancy ratings.  There were no differences in outcome or acceptability between the participant-initiated and experimenter initiated distress-based conditions.  The results of these studies are discussed in terms of the cognitive-behavioural theory and treatment of anxiety and related disorders, and of the potential benefits of judiciously incorporating safety behaviour into effective treatments.


identifier: Rosberg, Tyson  (2016) A Sheltered World: Remembering the Great Depression in Rural Québec and the Prairies.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The Great Depression has been immortalized in song, film, photography, and novels. Much of this cultural production is American, spilling over into Canada shaping how we see our own history.  This thesis examines the depression-era experiences of nineteen rural people from Québec and the Canadian Prairies whose life stories were either recorded for this project or whose earlier interviews were archived for future use.  The eight men and eleven women seemed well aware that they lived sheltered lives during these hard times, at least compared to the experience of others and to the dominant narrative of the period. Some were even apologetic. They noted that they had a roof over their heads and were never hungry, as they were able to grow their own food or forage and fish in nearby woods and waters.  Again and again, they insisted that they “didn’t starve.”  Still, there was pride in what their families had to overcome. Resilience is a key trope in the interviews, confirming historian Michael Frisch’s suggestion that people remember the history of the 1930s as biography.  In both sets of interviews, conducted decades later when rural life was in sharp decline, and where mass consumption had changed our eating patterns, stories of food and eating together around the dinner table resonated: harkening back to a time of self-sufficiency, family ties, and local community.


identifier: Meridji, Tayeb  (2016) LOAD FLOW MODEL FOR DROOP-CONTROLLED ELECTRIC SYSTEMS: CASE OF MICROGRIDS.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Microgrids are independent micro electric systems made up of locally controlled systems that can function both connected to the main grid (on-grid mode) or isolated from the main grid (off-grid or islanded mode). CIGRE defines Microgrids as “electricity distribution systems containing loads and distributed energy resources, (such as distributed generators, storage devices, or controllable loads) that can be operated in a controlled, coordinated way either while connected to the main power network or while islanded.”

As described by the IEEE Standards Coordinating Committee, microgrids have the ability to: (1) improve electrical reliability for customers; (2) relieve electric power system overload problems, in particular for highly congested power systems; and (3) resolve power quality issues. Most of the advantages offered by microgrids heavily rely on their predisposition to operate in isolated, independent mode. However, microgrids in islanded mode present technical operating challenges that need to be thoroughly investigated.

A microgrid must be able to independently meet the active and reactive power requirements of its assigned loads. In addition, it must also actively regulate voltage and frequency within a safe operating range in order to ensure system stability.

Investigating the technical challenges of islanded microgrids requires appropriate modeling tools. As is the case for high voltage (HV) power systems, the reliability of an isolated microgrid starts with a thorough investigation of its behaviour under various steady-state conditions and a derivation of the steady-state voltage profiles and transmission line loading levels throughout the system.
The present thesis investigates the steady-state analysis of islanded microgrid systems. To that end, an algorithm is developed using MATLAB to solve positive sequence (i.e., balanced) load-flow problems associated with isolated microgrids (IMGs). The proposed algorithm takes into account the specificities of IMGs and therefore yields more accurate results than those obtained with a conventional load flow algorithm. Compared to a conventional load flow algorithm, the algorithm that is most suitable for IMG has the following salient features: (1) no slack bus capable of supplying/absorbing the deficit/excess active and reactive power, (2) variable system frequency, and (3) part of, if not all, DG units operated in droop-control mode, which means that their active and reactive power outputs are not pre-specified, but are rather dependent on load flow variables (i.e., system frequency and bus voltages, respectively)  at a given time.


identifier: da S. Maldonado, Everton  (2016) Identifying Self-Admitted Technical Debt.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Technical debt is a metaphor coined to express the trade off between productivity and quality, e.g., when developers take shortcuts or perform quick hacks during the development of software projects. These non optimal solutions are often implemented to allow the project to move faster in the short term, at the cost of increased maintenance in the future. The accumulation of technical debt during the ever changing life-cycle of a project is unavoidable, and if not properly managed can severely hinder the development of the project. To help alleviate the impact of technical debt, a number of studies focused on the detection of technical debt. However, a recent study has shown that one possible source to detect technical debt is using source code comments, also referred to as self-admitted technical debt. Therefore, in this dissertation we use empirical studies and NLP techniques to propose an approach to automatically identify self-admitted technical debt.

First, we examine source code comments to determine the different types of technical debt, and we propose four simple filtering heuristics to eliminate comments that are not likely to contain technical debt. Then, we read through more than 33K comments, and we find that self-admitted technical debt can be classified into five main types - design debt, defect debt, documentation debt, requirement debt and test debt. In addition, two most common types of self-admitted technical debt are design and requirement debt, making up between 42% to 84% and 5% to 45% of the classified comments, respectively.

Second, we leverage the knowledge obtained in our first study to present an approach to automatically identify design and requirement self-admitted technical debt using Natural Language Processing (NLP). We study 10 open source projects: Ant, ArgoUML, Columba, EMF, Hibernate, JEdit, JFreeChart, Jmeter, JRuby and SQuirrel SQL and find that 1) we are able to effectively identify self-admitted technical debt, significantly outperforming state-of-the-art techniques; 2) that words related to sloppy or mediocre source code are the best indicators of design debt, whereas for requirement debt, words related to enhancing or completing tasks are the best indicators; and 3)  we can achieve 90% of the best classification performance, using as little as 23% of the comments for both design and requirement self-admitted technical debt, and 80% of the best performance, using as little as 9% and 5% of the comments for design and requirement self-admitted technical debt, respectively.


identifier: Hui, Joanne Joe Yan  (2016) Better Life? Drawing the People’s 2010 Shanghai World Expo.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This dissertation presents a research-creation investigation of the phenomenon of visitor activities at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, the results of which later became part of the visual culture of the event in the form of a 200-page drawing folio entitled Expo Daily. Featuring 130 watercolour illustrations (ranging from 25.4 x 30.5 centimetres to 21.9 x 29.7 centimetres) accompanied by field notes, Expo Daily uses primary data gathered over a forty-two day period through observation, drawing, and information gathered from local newspapers. Critical analysis included verification with secondary sources to report and reduce the raw data. The drawing folio subsequently served as the main unit of study for this dissertation by providing graphic (illustrated) case studies of three kinds of visitor activities: visitors preferring to buy counterfeit Haibao toys rather than the officially licensed Expo souvenirs, visitors picnicking on fairgrounds not designed for accommodating sedentary groups, and visitors passing up exhibition displays in favour of collecting souvenir stamps. The findings suggest that many visitors engaged in social practices very different from those anticipated by the Shanghai Expo’s official pavilions, which showcased the theme “Better City, Better Life.” This study argues that these divergent visitor activities speak to China’s issues of class inequality, and alternative narratives of nationality once visitors left the pavilions for the fairgrounds of the Expo. Visitor activities, therefore, highlight the question of “Better Life?” in order to investigate how local Chinese attendees contested the Shanghai Expo’s official programs.


identifier: Gaudreault, Gabriel  (2016) Derivational Event Semantics for Pregroup Grammars.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The focus of this research project is the development of a derivational system for event semantics over pregroup grammars. More concretely, it is shown how by extending the usual pregroup framework with a semantic layer and by assigning explicit event variables to the basic syntactic types of an expression, one can get semantic extraction from pregroup derivations without too many complications.
The resulting meaning is neo-davidsonian and conjunctivist in form, that is, the meaning is analysed in terms of events, and a single logical operator is used for meaning combination: the conjunction ∧.
Using conjunctions as sole mean of meaning combination makes it harder at first to analyse certain constructions, but this is a small price to pay for the level of generality and overall derivational simplicity that is obtained in the end by equating syntactic combination — pregroup contractions — with meaning conjunction.
The issue of having non-functional types in this work is circumvented by using a unification operation over event and entity variables rather than abstraction/application operations à la λ- calculus, usually used in formal semantics.


identifier: Hooshyar Telegraphi, Amirreza ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3081-3868 <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3081-3868>  (2016) A Simulation Study on Control Chart Performances in Monitoring Batch Production Processes.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Quality control charts are graphical tools for monitoring quality characteristics of manufacturing or service systems. Control charts have been applied in many manufacturing systems such as long-run production and short-run production since 1931. It is worth noting that less research is done in applying control charts in batch production and job-shop manufacturing. In this thesis, numerical simulation is used to find appropriate control charts in batch production. For quality improvement in such or similar processes, different control charts for batch production, e.g. x ̅ chart, x ̅ chart with Western Electric Rules, Q chart, EWMA Q chart, T chart, EWMA T chart, and Schewhart sign chart are simulated and assessed. The main task of this thesis is to study control charts capabilities to detect mean shifts of the considered processes.


identifier: Matamoros, Camila  (2016) Indirect Address: Using Computer Science to Map New Ontological Alignments Between Phonology and Neurobiology.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
An important goal of biolinguistics is to go beyond explanatory adequacy, to be able to generalize to other fields in the natural sciences (cf.Chomsky 2007). Formulated another way by Embick and Poeppel (2015) (E&P), a mutual goal for disciplines studying language, whether in neurobiology (NB) or using a computational-representational (CR) theory of mind (as linguists do), is to discover a unifying theory between them.
This thesis maps standard taxonomies of symbols and variables used in computer science, as outlined in Gallistel and King (2009), to parallels in standard phonological theory. The outcome is a finer picture of the constituent parts of the existing phonological model. Furthermore, I suggest that the resulting insights identify shared conceptual territory with NB, generating potential linking hypotheses for both correlational and integrated neurolinguistics.


identifier: zhu, jianhui  (2016) Secure CrsMgr: a course manager system.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Secure CrsMgr: a course manager system

abstract:
Internet was developed for computers to be interconnected easily and hence allow them to interchange information. One of the early use of the internet was for email communications and file transfers. The web was developed to make the sharing of information much more convenient.  However, the technology for protecting data when interaction is allowed was developed piecemeal and many web applications where user communicate using the web form based interface with a server  and databases are exposed to various threats including malicious script. Moreover, companies and malicious users use trackers to observe and record the user actions.
In this project we address these problems in connection with course manager system(CrsMgr) which is used currently to manage typical university courses; it includes features for posting notes, tutorials, assignments, projects, create and maintain student groups, provide facility for group peer evaluation, on-line quizzes, and grading.  The technique used to enhance the security based on using  filtration layer and prepared-execute layer to make CrsMgr secure. The goal of filtration layer is to catch malicious user input based on suspect key words; The goal of prepared-execute layer is to invalidate malicious input. The implementation of this feature uses mysqli,  a PHP extension  for secure database access.
We have also developed an experimental browser which prevents user tracking and saves bandwidth by disallowing third party contents. The latter uses two techniques: filtration and user agent faking. Filtration is to check every resource Uniform Resource Identifier(URL) before making a request to load it, and not loading any target URL if it is determined to be a third party. The third party determination policy is configured by the user. The browser also provides user agent faking which is a feature that allows masquerading the browser and platform information with random information. The browser provides a simple user interface that allow user to verify the third party content on a web page and stop using a simple switch metaphor.


identifier: Heydari, Mahnoush  (2016) Justifying and Prioritizing Roadway Lighting: A Case Study of Quebec Highways.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
ABSTRACT
Justifying and prioritizing roadway lighting: A Case Study of Quebec Highways
Mahnoush Heydari

Roadway lighting is an effective countermeasure capable of reducing night-time motorized collisions under the right circumstances. Its initial viability can be learnt through collision modification factors showing beneficial effects of roadway lighting on local roads. However, this requires time-series of data from several years before and after the implementation of lighting. There is a need to estimate collision modification factors of lighting from locally observed cross sectional data from as little as one year. There is also a lack of a practical method capable of replacing the complicated warrant system to support decisions of whether or not to illuminate roads. Such method should be able to identify and prioritize segments that will benefit the most from being illuminated. This research presents a method to estimate collision modification factors with as little as one year of data. In addition, this research presents a practical method that identifies and prioritizes candidate road segments for being illuminated. A case study of Quebec's highways found that lighting is an effective countermeasure and that expected benefits approximate 60% reduction in night time collisions. It was found that segment size plays an important role and that Bayesian data fusion can be used to abstract from segment size to estimate a generic collision modification factor. It was found that safety performance functions for desired land use and sites type can be used in combination with the observed number of collisions to classify those sites expected to observe benefits from being illuminated.


identifier: Yazdizadeh, Ali  (2019) Traveler Mobility and Activity Pattern Inference UsingPersonal Smartphone Applications and ArtificialIntelligence Methods.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Recent advances in communication technologies have enabled researchers to collect travel data from location-aware smartphones. These advances hold out the promise of allowing the automatic detection of the critical aspects (mode, purpose, etc.) of people’s travel. This thesis investigates the application of artificial intelligence methods to infer mode of transport, trip purpose and transit itinerary from traveler trajectories gathered by smartphones. Supervised, Random Forest models are used to detect mode, purpose and transit itinerary of trips. Deep learning models, in particular, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN), are also employed to infer mode of transport and trip purpose. The research also explores the use of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), as a semi-supervised learning approach, to classify trip mode. Moreover, we investigate the application of multi-task learning to simultaneously infer mode and purpose.

The research uses several different data sources. Trip trajectory data was collected by the MTL Trajet smartphone Travel Survey App, in 2016. Also, other complementary datasets, such as locational
data from social media, land-use, General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS), and elevation data are exploited to infer trip information.

Mode of transport can be inferred with Random Forest models, ensemble CNN models, and RNN approaches with an accuracy of 87%, 91%, and 86%, respectively. The Random Forest and
multi-task RNN models to infer trip purpose achieve an accuracy of 71% and 78%, respectively. Also, the Random Forest transit itinerary inference model can predict used transit itineraries with an accuracy of 81%. While further improvement is required to enhance the performance of the developed artificial intelligence models on smartphone data, the results of the research indicate the capability of smartphone-based travel surveys as a complementary (and potentially replacement) surveying tool to household travel surveys.


identifier: MacKinnon, Lachlan  (2016) Deindustrialization on the Periphery: An Oral History of Sydney Steel, 1945-2001.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This thesis is an historical examination of the multi-layered processes of deindustrialization in Sydney, Nova Scotia. The history of a steel plant formerly located in the centre of the city is used as a case study through which the mechanisms of deindustrialization are fully explored. In 1967, the provincial government of Nova Scotia nationalized the Sydney Works. This marks a significant divergence from previous studies of deindustrialization, which have traditionally focused on the wave of industrial closures in the North American heartland during the 1970s and 1980s. Framed by oral history accounts of former steelworkers, this dissertation reveals the combined impact of Canadian regionalism, political economy, and working-class cultures of resistance on local experiences of industrial decline. This represents a synthesis between the econo-political historiography of deindustrialization favoured in the 1980s and the cultural/representational approaches of the 1990s and 2000s.
	The title, “Deindustrialization on the Periphery,” speaks to the specific national and regional contexts that frame the decline of Sydney Steel. The longue durée of economic change on the rural resource frontier has been understudied. In Cape Breton, the devastation wrought by the end of industry has roots that stretch back to the early 20th century. Tracing these through the use of Harold Innis’ “staples trap,” my thesis reveals how deindustrialization stretches from decades before closure to the years after a mine, mill, or factory are shuttered for the last time. Workers and other residents in Sydney continue to face the bodily aftermath of workplace injury, occupational, and environmental illness long after the structures of the plant have been demolished. But so, too, have experiences of working at the mill and living in the neighbourhoods that surrounded its gates created particular forms of culture, solidarity, and identity. My research is more than a eulogy for a defunct steel town. It seeks to expose the tensions between different forms of memory and experience, and to examine how the industrial past remains inextricably connected to the “post-industrial” present.


identifier: Hossain, Shahriar  (2016) A Generalized Radiosity Simulation Model and Full-Scale Experimental Verification of a Corner Office having Three Section Façade with Motorized Shading.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Daylight distribution models are essential for daylighting design and present information in a visual manner that facilitates decision making. With an accurate model, daylight in a space can be distributed in an efficient and comfortable way, so that the need for electric lighting in daytime is reduced. On the other hand, motorized shades can be controlled automatically to better distribute daylight on the work plane and reduce or avoid glare.
Most of modern buildings, both commercial and high-rise residential, have windows in more than one orientation and have the provision for daylight penetration into space. In this study, a radiosity model for simulating the daylight distribution of a corner office having two windows in various orientations with motorized shades has been developed. The model calculates the illuminance at different locations on the work plane.
The simulation model based on radiosity theory is verified with measured data under overcast and clear sky conditions with direct and diffuse lighting, and a parametric analysis is carried out for various room shapes and shading devices and façade orientations. The model is implemented in Mathcad and used to predict the illuminance distribution in the room for developing improved control strategies for shade positions and also for design guidelines to select the properties of the shades. Three section façade is considered with the bottom section being opaque (spandrel), the middle viewing section and a top daylighting section. Variable shade transmittance in the middle and top section of the facades is studied, and it is shown that having a higher transmittance in the top section results in improved daylight utilization and a middle section with lower transmittance provide privacy to the building occupants. Specific recommendations are made for shade transmittances for upper and middle part of the façade to maintain occupant privacy with acceptable illuminance in the work-plane.


identifier: Aplop, Faizah  (2016) Computational Approaches To Improving The Reconstruction Of Metabolic Pathway.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Metabolic pathway reconstruction is the essence of systems biology where in silico modeling
and prediction of the cell's function is based on the interaction of the cell's components
represented as a network of reactions. The reconstructed model and the associated database
of information about the organism's genes and their functional roles facilitate a variety of
analysis and simulation techniques that can enrich our understanding. However, there are
unresolved issues for genome-scale metabolic network reconstruction, such as our incomplete
knowledge of the cell's networks for metabolism, transport, and regulation; the completeness,
accuracy, and specificity of the annotation of genomes; and our ability to fully utilise the
available information from -omics (genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, etc) for the reconstruction
of the networks. These issues result in incomplete metabolic models, which limit
our ability to perform analysis of and to make predictions about the cell that are based on
the network model.
This dissertation discusses the state-of-the-art of metabolic pathway reconstruction and highlights
the outstanding issues. In particular, we consider a number of case studies using
genomes of fungi relevant to industrial applications, such as biofuels, to demonstrate the
performance of existing techniques and illustrate the issues. Our case studies focus on the
cell's central metabolism, and the utilisation and transport of sugars as a carbon source,
since these are essential concerns for industrial applications.
A significant deficiency in the existing state-of-the-art for the reconstruction of metabolic
pathways is the ability to associate genes and proteins to the transport reactions that move
specific compounds across the membranes of the cell. The dissertation reviews the state-of-the-
art of prediction methods for transmembrane transport proteins by developing a scheme
to describe and compare existing methods, and applying the existing techniques to the
v
fungal genome of A. niger CBS 513.88. This reveals the split between those methods that
use the Transporter Classification (TC) as their target for prediction, and those that use
the type of chemical substrates being transported as their target. Despite this difficulty in
comparing approaches, it is clear that the state-of-the-art cannot predict specific substrates
being transported, and hence cannot associate genes and proteins to the transport reactions.
The dissertation presents TransATH, which stands for Transporters via ATH (Annotation
Transfer by Homology), a system which automates Saier's protocol and includes the computation
of subcellular localization and improves the computation of transmembrane segments.
The choice of thresholds for the parameters of TransATH is investigated to determine optimal
performance as defined by a gold standard set of transporters and non-transporters from
S. cerevisiae. The dissertation demonstrates TransATH on the fungal genome of A. niger
CBS 513.88 and evaluates the correctness of TransATH using the curated information in
AspGD (the Aspergillus Database). A website for TransATH is available for use.


identifier: Yazdizadeh, Ali  (2016) A Generic Form for Capturing Unobserved Heterogeneity in Discrete Choice Modelling: Application to Neighborhood Location Choice.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Discrete choice models and their strength to predict individual choices mostly depend on the quality of datasets that have been used for model generation. However, even the most comprehensive and detailed datasets are not able to observe all factors pertinent to someone’s choice. This issue in the choice modelling literature has been addressed as unobserved heterogeneity, which means that individuals across populations are not affected identically by alternative attributes. Furthermore, such variation in preferences across populations and their sources are not always recognized by researchers.
There are different methods to capture unobserved heterogeneity proposed in the discrete choice literature among which the random parameters approach, also referred to as mixed logit models, the latent class approach and the agent effect approach are the most well know methods. The main contribution of this study is to extend the formulation of LC-MMNL model to capture the agent effect by including a random term in the utility function of the model. Three types of models, Mixed Multinomial Logit (MMNL), Latent Class Mixed Multinomial Logit (LC-MMNL) and Agent Effect Latent Class Mixed Multinomial Logit (AGLC-MMNL) have been generated and the results compared. Considering agent effect simultaneously with other sources of unobserved heterogeneity in a latent class context demonstrates improvement in terms of model fit as well as cross section validation. It enables us to generate a latent class model with a larger number of classes explaining more heterogeneity across the population of a neighborhood location choice study. The AGLC-MMNL model is able to detect four distinct classes of individuals in Montreal, exhibiting different behaviours while facing neighborhood location choices in the context of a Discrete Choice Experiment. The classes of the model are able to explain different behaviours of individuals based on their income level, whether they are transit or car oriented, and the importance of privacy to them.