identifier: El Zeftawy, Mohamed Abdel Monem  (2006) Use of rhamnolipid to remove heavy metals from aqueous streams via micellar enhanced ultrafiltration.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In this research, the rhamnolipid biosurfactant was utilized in micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF) of heavy metals from contaminated waters. The effects of different major operating conditions on the (MEUF) system performance were investigated for copper, zinc, nickel and cadmium using two membranes. The optimal conditions were successfully applied to treat six contaminated wastewaters from metal refining industries and three contaminated groundwaters using the two membranes (> 99% rejection ratio). To efficiently choose the most influential factors to the MEUF system, optimization by the response surface methodology approach was utilized and data quality was examined.  Three studies were performed in order to investigate the mechanism and the interactions between the heavy metal ions and the rhamnolipid micelles in the rhamnolipid-based UF system. The first study successfully investigated the applicability of Gouy-Chapman approach for binding of heavy metal ions to rhamnolipid biosurfactant in the MEUF system and the mechanism via electrostatic attraction was suggested. The second study efficiently evaluated binding behavior of the four heavy metal ions individually and collectively onto the rhamnolipid. The order was Cu 2+ > Cd 2+ > Zn 2+ > Ni 2+ .The third study analyzed the equilibrium data using Langmuir, Freundlich, and linear adsorption models. The Freundlich model fitted the data better and the K F values were from 1.3 to 6.1.  In addition, solidification/stabilization (S/S) technology was successfully used to stabilize solid wastes contaminated with heavy metal. Furthermore, preliminary trials were performed to examine the recovery of the rhamnolipid from the retentates for possible reuse. The amounts recovered ranged from 12 ± 1% to 18 ± 1% of the rhamnolipid concentration initially present in the retentate. Similarly, preliminary trials to reuse water from the retentates were investigated. The total portions recovered ranged from about 81.0 ± 0.34% to 82.3 ± 0.46$% of the total feed water. This work may be used as preliminary investigations for further detailed pilot and/or large-scale studies to treat contaminated groundwater and industrial wastewater.


identifier: El Kafrawy, Omar  (2006) Seismic performance evaluation of reinforced concrete moment resisting frames.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract: During the last few decades, the concepts and procedures of seismic design of buildings have evolved significantly. Traditionally, seismic design was based on providing the structure with the strength it needs to resist equivalent lateral forces that represent the earthquake induced forces. This methodology has proven to be inefficient in providing the target level of seismic performance in all case scenarios. The new methodology in seismic design, performance-based design, aims at designing the structure to achieve the expected performance levels under different levels of seismic hazard. Although this goal is still not fully attained, several developments have taken place towards it. The latest edition of the National Building Code of Canada (NBCC 2005) requires the use of dynamic analysis for the seismic design, except in the case of short to medium height simple buildings with regular geometry where the use of the equivalent static load method is still allowed. In this study, three moment resisting frame buildings assumed to be located in Vancouver, British Columbia are designed based on the equivalent static load method of the NBCC 2005 and their performance is evaluated using nonlinear dynamic time-history analysis. Multiple ground motion records corresponding to different seismic hazard levels are used in the analysis. The effect of infill panels on the seismic response is studied as well. The results show that the design is satisfactory and, in some cases, conservative. The results also show that infill panels, in most cases, enhance the dynamic response of the buildings, while in some cases they may have a negative impact on it.


identifier: Oghenekevwe Okoro, Clementina  (2006) Biosurfactant enhanced remediation of a mixed contaminated soil.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The most ubiquitous soil contamination problems in the world today are related to hydrocarbons and heavy metals. It is a common phenomenon to find a mixture of heavy metals and hydrocarbons in most contaminated sites in the US and also in Canada. The presence of these contaminants can destroy the balance in the natural habitat. Therefore there is a need for remediation to mitigate these effects on humans and the environment at large. Heavy metals, such as copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and nickel (Ni), have received considerable attention with regard to their accumulation in soils, uptake by plants and contamination of groundwater by leaching. Since they cannot be degraded, they pose a serious problem to the environment. Hydrocarbons, e.g. diesel oil, also pose a similar risk when present in large quantities in soil. This research focuses on using biosurfactants; rhamnolipids, saponin and mannosyl-erythritol lipids to remediate a natural soil contaminated with a mixture of heavy metals and hydrocarbons (diesel fuel). The soil contained 894 mg/kg of zinc, 216 mg/kg of copper, 167 mg/kg of nickel and 228 mg/kg of the total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) content.  Experiments carried out showed that after a series of five washings of the soil using biosurfactants; the highest removal of zinc (88% and 79%) was achieved using saponin (30 g/L), pH 3 and pH 5 respectively.  The maximum copper removal (46%) was obtained with 2% rhamnolipids at pH 6.5. Highest nickel removal (76%) was obtained with saponin (30 g/L) pH 5.  The TPH level in the soil after multiple washings dropped drastically from an initial concentration of 228 mg/kg to concentrations in the range of 14-67 mg/kg with biosurfactants and the control.  Sequential extraction performed on the untreated soil showed that copper exists more in the organic fraction (50%), zinc in the oxide fraction (36%) and nickel exists more in the exchangeable and carbonate fractions (50%). After a series of five washings with biosurfactants it was evident that the oxide fraction of zinc, organic fraction of copper, exchangeable and carbonate fractions of nickel were substantially reduced, compared to the control and the untreated soil.  The results of the study clearly indicated the feasibility of reducing zinc, copper, nickel and the total petroleum hydrocarbon content of a mixed contaminated soil with the anionic biosurfactants tested


identifier: Zukauskas, J. P  (2006) Love and intersubjectivity : an inquiry into the personalism of Max Scheler.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate intersubjectivity in the work of Scheler, focusing primarily on writings of his middle or "Catholic" period. To do so, I consider the nature of the person as both the autonomous center of spiritual acts and as a vital ego immersed in a universal life stream with others. I then address the issue of intersubjectivity as it has been commonly formulated in phenomenology and demonstrate that for Scheler, true intersubjectivity is situated in love between persons and that it demands both a proximity and a distance that are positioned outside the bounds of theoretical formulations and cognitive knowledge. Following an exhibition of the role and forms of love in Scheler's philosophy, I address issues related to love and the order of material values as they pertain to the autonomy and uniqueness of the person, with reference to themes of "the same" and "the other" found in the work of Levinas. Ultimately we see that Scheler posits the person in such a way that it is the seat of absolute value, that the person cannot be limited by theoretical structures or language, and that for Scheler, the person as person is a phenomenon that lies outside the scope of philosophy.


identifier: Zhang, Yongzheng  (2006) Analysis of islanding detection capabilities of multi-inverter systems.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Islanding is one important concern for grid connected distributed resources due to personnel and equipment safety. Inverter-resident islanding detection methods (IDMs) employ locally measured parameters to detect islanding. Passive type IDMs only monitor local variables such as voltage and frequency while active IDMs inject disturbances into the supply system and detect islanding based on system responses. Although very effective in systems with a single inverter, it is believed that active frequency drifting IDMs might have their effectiveness reduced in multi-inverter systems. This thesis investigates the islanding detection capabilities of multi-inverter systems. Three possible scenarios with passive-active, different and same type of active IDMs were discussed. Their performance was assessed using the concept of non-detection zones (NDZs) in a quality factor ( Q f ) vs. load resonant frequency ( f 0 ) load parameter space extended to multi-inverter systems. This thesis also proposes the use of a small dedicated reactive power source (STATCOM) as the sole active component in a multi-inverter system. In this way, interactions between inverters with active IDMs are prevented while effective islanding detection capability is provided by the islanding detection enhancer. The simulation and experiment results were presented to validate the theoretical analysis and the effectiveness of the proposed techniques.


identifier: Zhu, Jian Jun  (2006) Development of an adaptive contact model for analysis of wheel-rail impact load due to wheel flats.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The discontinuities in surface profiles of railway wheels, commonly known as wheel flats, are known to impose excessive impact loads at the wheel-rail interface. Such impact loads can cause premature fatigue and failure of the vehicle-track system components, and impede the operational safety. The safe and cost-effective operations of railways thus necessitate continuous monitoring and control of impact loads induced by wheel defects. In this dissertation research, an adaptive wheel-rail contact model is developed to predict contact geometry and impact force as a function of flat geometry, speed and normal load. The model employs radial contact springs and could simulate for either single or multiple wheel flats. Unlike the commonly used Hertizan nonlinear models, adaptive model predicts the contact geometry involving either total or partial contact in the presence of a wheel defect in the contact patch. The proposed contact model is integrated to a roll plane model of vehicle and a three-dimensional flexible track model to derive a coupled vehicle-track system model. The vehicle is modeled as a six-DOF lumped mass system including carbody, bolster, sideframe, wheelset, and primary and secondary suspensions. The track system model considers two parallel Timoshenko beams periodically supported by lumped masses representing sleepers. The rail-pad and ballast are also included through linear visco-elastic elements. Central finite difference technique is employed to solve for the coupled partial and ordinary differential equations of motion for the continuous and discrete system models, respectively.  The dynamic response of the wheel-track system is initially investigated under a constant moving load to examine validity of the model and the numerical method. The impact force response of the adaptive contact model in the presence of a single wheel flat revealed reasonably good agreements with available measured data. This agreement was better than that provided by the well-known Hertizan nonlinear point contact model. The results further revealed that discrete sleeper supports act as sources of excitations. The results attained from the parametric study revealed that the normal load, speed and flat size are the primary factors that affect magnitudes of impact forces, while the suspension parameters show only minor effects. Some of the parameters of the track system also revealed important effects on magnitudes of impact force. The coupled vehicle-track system is further analyzed to derive the impact force properties for different wheel flats, operating speeds and loads. The analyses were also performed for single as well as two flats within the same or two opposite wheels of a wheelset. The results suggested that magnitudes of impact forces attributed to the second flat were strongly affected by responses to the preceding flat. The resulting peak impact force may be either higher or lower than that caused by a single flat, depending upon flats geometry, relative coordinates of the flats and operating speed. The results further suggest that the length of a flat, which is regarded as the removal criteria by AAR and Transport Canada, is not sufficient for cases involving either single or multiple flats


identifier: Song Zhu, Qing  (2006) Numerical modeling of the cold spray process.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis involves numerical modeling of several cold spray processes in order to predict the gas flow as well as the particle conditions upon impacting on a substrate. Particle normal velocity was found to be the most important factor to improve the deposition efficiency and coating quality. Particle velocity was calculated with both Lagrangian and Eulerian approaches. The Lagrangian approach was used to investigate the effect of particle size and substrate geometry in a dilute particle flow. The shape and strength of the bow shock formed near the substrate for different geometries (such as concave, convex, and flat) were studied. Consequently, the particle normal velocities impacting on the substrates located at various stand-off distances were calculated. Furthermore, the numerical simulations were repeated with particles of various sizes as well as different types of feeding gas. The results were compared to obtain the optimum substrate location and the appropriate particle size for each feeding gas. The numerical results were validated against the experimental results for the majority of the process parameters including the gas Mach number and mean particle velocity. The Eulerian approach was also implemented to model dense particulate flows. It was found that a dense particulate flow could significantly decelerate the gas flow and consequently result in small particle velocity.


identifier: Gajusingh, Shivani Tara  (2006) Influence of surface geometry and heating on the flow structure in wall-bounded flows.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The present research is aimed at improving the knowledge and understanding of the physical processes that control heat transfer across the solid-fluid interface, which is very important in order to develop efficient heat exchangers. To achieve this objective, the research has been divided into three phases, which investigated the fundamental physical phenomena from different aspects.  The first phase provided the first detailed investigation of the impact of different wall roughness on the turbulent properties in a smooth channel. The results show the different wall roughness has significant effects on the mean streamwise velocity and Reynolds stress distribution. For other turbulent properties, the enhancement was observed near the rough wall, however, it was restricted to the inner region.  The second phase provided the first quantitative comparison of the mean and turbulent properties in the presence and absence of wall heating under same operating conditions. The results show that both mean and turbulent characteristics are affected by wall heating. The results also showed that an originally laminar flow becomes turbulent with the addition of heat. However for an originally turbulent flow, addition of heat reduces the magnitudes of the mean streamwise velocity and turbulent properties.  The third phase provided the first detailed comparison on the turbulent characteristics with and without a baffle. The results showed a significant enhancement of all turbulent characteristics in the region downstream of the baffle. These results demonstrate that higher turbulence produced by a baffle would be responsible for the enhanced heat transfer rate at the wall


identifier: Behdad, Bahareh  (2006) Evolutionary based classification of fungal lipases as a framework for structure and function prediction of putative lipases.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Lipases are a family of enzymes which catalyze the hydrolysis of lipids and they exhibit esterase type activities such as phospholipase, lysophospholipase, cutinase and amidase. These enzymes have applications in detergent, the production of oil and fat, baked products, organic synthesis, hard surface cleaning, leather, paper, and cocoa butter. Lipases are versatile and have become a major source of industrial lipolytic enzymes. I performed a comparative analysis of protein sequences of well characterized fungal lipolytic enzymes from SWISS-PROT and developed a classification system to assist structural and functional characterization of newly identified putative lipase gene sequences. The distance-based UPGMA method was used for constructing the phylogenetic tree. Eight sequences of known secondary and tertiary structure were used to predict the secondary structure of similar sequences with unknown structure. Using sixteen different tools from SWISS-PROT and NPS@, the secondary structures of sequences with unknown 3-dimensional structures were predicted. The evolutionary based clustering of lipase protein sequences resulted in seven major families with the largest family being divided into five subfamilies and two single member branches. This analysis allowed us to: (i) perform a comparative study of well-characterized fungal lipases to develop a comprehensive classification system for fungal lipases, (ii) assess various protein secondary structure prediction tools to select suitable tool(s) for predicting secondary structures of lipases, (iii) predict structural features important for specific function of lipases such as residues forming the catalytic sites, disulfide bonds and salt bridges, and (iv) develop a framework to predict putative function and reaction conditions of newly identified lipase gene sequences.


identifier: Kallio, Natalie  (2006) Aboriginality & sexualised violence : the Tisdale rape case in the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In September 2001, a 12-year-old Saulteaux Cree girl-child of the Yellow Quill First Nation was sexually assaulted by three white men from Tisdale, Saskatchewan--Dean Edmondson (24), Jeffrey Kindrat (20), and Jeffrey Brown (25). This thesis interrogates the discursive construction of this crime and its representation as an ongoing media event in one of Saskatchewan's major newspapers, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. Analysing coverage that begins in October 2001, the scope and trajectory of this thesis includes an analysis of numerous preliminary court appearances and hearings, two trials, Edmondson's conviction and Kindrat and Brown's acquittal in 2003, the ensuing appeals, and associated and related stories. The approach to media discourse employed in this thesis strives to locate this media event firmly within the time and place it occurred--contextualising it within intersecting discourses of race and sex specific to this case, in Saskatchewan, at this time. This work problematises not only the hegemonic production of media discourse, but the power-knowledge of authorised speakers and the dominant discourses of rape and Aboriginality that were invoked and reproduced. As such, this thesis forwards an understanding of the physical and discursive contestations of power involved in discourses of rape, racism, and sexism, paying particular attention to violent ways in which this victim's credibility was attacked and erased, as well as the reproduction of the conditions that produced this rape. It concludes by identifying how hegemonic constructions are defended and reinforced at the expense of Aboriginal girls and women.


identifier: Anwar, M. Arefin  (2006) Design, analysis and testing of rotary type micro thermal actuators.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) has opened a new horizon for realizing smaller physical systems. The current trend of developing any physical device for technological applications is to have smaller, economical, reliable and functional devices. MEMS has significantly scaled down the size of the devices while offering more functionality by having fully integrated devices in micro level. MEMS devices have also proven to be cost effective. In MEMS applications, researchers are consistently searching for innovative concepts to develop actuators, which play a key role in any integrated system. Micro electro thermal actuator is one such concept that offers more force and displacement than other mechanisms available in micro level. The present research effort is directed towards development of a novel rotary type micro thermal actuator that may be attractive for various optical applications like switching, diffraction, attenuation etc. This thesis proposes various design topologies which offer rotary motion of cold disc energized by electrical potential. The proposed designs are analyzed by analytical and finite difference methods along with finite element analysis using commercial software, ANSYS. A proposed design for the actuator is analyzed to evaluate influence of parameters. The parametric analysis examines the influence of parameters on the motion of the actuator. A prototype actuator and experiment setup is fabricated to test the performance of the design. The experimental results demonstrate the functionality and effectiveness of the proposed device as an actuator, as well as the validity of the modeling techniques used to simulate the performance of the novel rotary type micro thermal actuator.


identifier: Massara, Hafez  (2006) Anaerobic treatment of hexavalent chromium in industrial effluent using two-phase anaerobic sequencing batch reactor.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Hexavalent chromium pollution is a major environmental concern due to its toxicity and extensive use in industry. Industrial effluents containing Cr(VI) have been traditionally treated by chemical reduction, followed by precipitation, or more recently, by removal using non-viable biosorbents. This study investigates the use of a two-phase anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR) for the treatment of Cr(VI) contaminated wastewater. Simulated wastewater containing potassium chromate and sucrose was introduced into reactor one which contained phase I optimized biomass. Complete sorption and reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) occurred in reactor one, which had a 1:1 volume of treated wastewater to settled cheese whey biomass granules. The chromium-free effluent from reactor one, rich in volatile fatty acids (VFA) was the feed stock or influent for reactor two, where optimum methane production was maintained. Reactor one was operational for about 40 days with a Cr(VI) loading of 25 mg/L-day. Cr(III) derived from the reduction of Cr(VI) occurred in the effluent of reactor one at levels between 1 to 2.5 mg/L only from about day 28 to the end of the experiment. Selective sequential extraction (SSE) of the spent biomass showed that 45% of the added chromium was in the form of insoluble Cr(III) hydroxides, and the remaining 55% as organo-Cr(III) complexes. VFA levels were eventually reduced in reactor one by about 50%, and soluble COD removal by about 65%. Average methane content in the reactor two biogas was greater than 80%. Based on sorption studies, and using a novel approach whereby sorbed Cr(VI) was interpreted as a "dose" in order to obtain various toxicological indices, models were developed for estimating the amount of Cr(VI)-wastewater that could be treated using plant size unit operations. Leaching tests carried out on spent biomass from reactor one over a five month period demonstrated the non-leacheability of chromium. This study indicated the potential feasibility of using a two-phase ASBR system for the co-treatment of inorganic Cr(VI) contaminated wastewater and high organic loading effluents.


identifier: Bai, Linbo  (2006) A new method for texture mapping point-based models.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In recent years, point-sampled geometry is becoming ubiquitous in graphics and geometric information processing. From a computer graphics point of view, the first major challenge in point-based geometry is to render high quality realistic images. A commonly used technique in realistic rendering is texture mapping, which essentially adds surface and/or material property detail in the final stages of rendering the image. The primary focus of the research reported in this thesis is to find suitable solutions to directly map one or more textures onto the surface of geometry represented by points without explicitly converting the surface to polygon mesh or to another geometric surface representation.  Parameterization is the most important step required for adding texture onto the surfaces of objects. In this thesis, a global parameterization method is developed by using level set methods to evolve the concerned surface to a surface with implied parameterization, say a sphere. By tracking the point samples to their final destinations on the sphere, a polar coordinate is assigned to every point in the original model. The user then chooses a few anchor points that map into one or more texture images to yield a simple and flexible procedure to map texture images onto the surface of a point-based model. The method has been implemented using MATLAB and C++ and tested on a number of point-based models


identifier: Wu, Xiaorong  (2006) Effect of chemical admixtures on conductivity of mortars.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The effect of available commercial chemical admixtures namely ASTM Types A, C, D, E, F and AEAs on the electrical conductivity of mortars was investigated using modified electrical technique. Interpretation of the electrical conductivity (reciprocal of resistivity) of mortars was combined with results from calculating Na + and K + ion concentrations in the pore solution of mortars, measuring non-evaporable water content, gravimetric water porosity as well as conductivity of chemical admixtures. The water to cement ratios used were 0.485 and 0.35 with a sand to cement ratio fixed to 2.75. The dosage of chemical admixtures varied from low, medium and high in accordance with the indication by manufacturers.  The results showed that the different types of chemical admixtures exhibited different effects on the electrical conductivity of mortars. In the high water to cement ratio condition, the conductivity values of mortars with added Types A, D and F chemical admixtures were raised due to alteration of the pore solution chemistry, severe set retardation and increase in porosity. The high conductivity of mortars with Type C chemical admixtures was due to the introduction of a large amount of strong electrolyte Ca(NO 2 ) 2 to the pore solution which overwhelmed its accelerating hydration rate. On the contrary, the high degree of hydration of mortars with added Type E chemical admixtures offset their high alkali concentration in the pore solution. In the low water to cement ratio condition, the presence of types A, D, E and F chemical admixtures decreased the conductivity of mortars which was attributed to deflocculation, improving the microstructure and reducing porosity. Appropriate addition of AEAs reduced the conductivity of mortars in low and high water to cement ratios owing to the entrained micro-air bubbles in mortars separating the paths of conductivity


identifier: Mousseau, James  (2006) Synthesis of crescent shaped heterocyclic urea-linked foldamers.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Foldamers are oligomers or polymers that have well-defined conformations in solution. The synthesis of tunable, heterocyclic, urea-linked foldamers is described. The curvatures of the foldamers can be altered by varying the heterocylic diazine (pyrazine, pyrimidine, pyridazine) or the non-heterocyclic (tolyl, o -xylyl, m -xylyl) aromatic units. Foldamers comprised of three to five aromatic groups were synthesized. Folding of these oligomers is driven by the restricted rotation along the urea bonds linking the aromatic units. This restricted rotation is caused by the additive effects of non-covalent interactions, particularly intramolecular hydrogen bonding between the urea hydrogen and the heterocyclic nitrogen atoms and steric interaction between the urea carbonyl and the toluene or xylene methyl groups. These foldamers were characterized using NMR, MALDI-TOF-MS, and FTIR. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first urea-based foldamers where curvature of the macromolecule can be easily controlled by varying either the heterocyclic or non-heterocyclic aromatic segments.


identifier: Neale, Adam  (2006) A study in computational fluid dynamics for the determination of convective heat and vapour transfer coefficients.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Convective heat and moisture transfer coefficients are required to simulate the performance of building envelope systems, for example, in the simulation of the drying of wood or brick cladding wetted by driving rain. Such coefficients are dependent on the velocity and type of the air flow, the air and material temperature, the moisture content of the material and the relative humidity of the air. Convective heat transfer coefficient correlations are readily available for many geometries and air flow conditions, but primarily for mechanical engineering applications. It is not so for convective mass transfer coefficients. Building physicists must often put up with values from literature that are not entirely adequate or perform measurements for the conditions under study.  The overall goal of this work was to study the feasibility and accuracy of using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to calculate convective heat and vapour transfer coefficients. The objectives were: (1) to validate the CFD simulation results for boundary layer velocity and temperature profiles for laminar and turbulent forced convection, and for turbulent natural convection; (2) to simulate vapor transfer between air and a porous material; and (3) to compare the calculated convective heat and vapor transfer coefficients with literature experimental data.  Several CFD simulations were performed to calculate the boundary layer velocity and temperature profiles in different configurations. The calculated convective heat transfer coefficients were compared with analytical, semi-empirical and/or experimental results from literature. A grid sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the grid independent solutions for certain cases. The overall conclusion was that CFD accurately predicted the boundary layer velocity and temperature profiles and the convective heat transfer coefficients for the cases studied.  In order to simulate vapour transfer between air and porous materials, a model was developed using CFD coupled with an external vapour transport model. CFD was used to model heat and water vapour transport in the air, including both convective and radiative heat transfer, and heat transport within the material. Vapour transport in the material was calculated externally and coupled with the CFD solution at specific time steps. A transient case of air flow over a drying wood sample was simulated using the developed model. A sensitivity analysis was performed on relevant model parameters, such as the material properties of the wood and flow conditions of the air layer


identifier: Semaan, Nabil  (2006) Subway station diagnosis index (SSDI) : a condition assessment model.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Condition assessment of subway stations is a major issue facing public transit authorities worldwide. In 2002, the Société de Transport de Montreal (STM) valued its subway station replacement cost at 2.6 CAD Billions. While its stations are becoming aged, the STM requires a rehabilitation budget of 643.6 CAD Million between the year 2006 and 2010. Nevertheless, the STM lacks a planning strategy reflecting this increase. The principal obstacle to the development of effective planning strategies is the lack of condition assessment models of subway stations.  This research develops a condition assessment model, the 'Subway Station Diagnosis Index (SSDI)', and a scale. The SSDI model is used to diagnose a specific subway station and assess its condition using an index (0 to 10). Based on the SSDI, the condition scale describes the station's condition state, its deterioration level (%), and proposed consequent actions.  The new model identifies and evaluates the different functional/operational criteria for subway stations; mainly structural, architectural, mechanical, electrical, security and communications criteria. It uses specific decision analysis tools in order to evaluate a 'Functional Diagnosis Index' (FDI), and a global 'Station Diagnosis Index' (SDI). In other words, the SSDI model uses the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) in order to determine the criteria weights. It also utilizes the Preference Ranking Organization METHod of Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) in order to aggregate the multi-criteria. Finally, the SSDI applies the Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) to determine the FDI and the SDI values.  Data were collected from experts through interviews, phone calls and questionnaires as well as STM inspection reports. The targeted interviewees were transit authority experts in both Canada and U.S.A. Statistical and sensitivity analyses were performed on the collected data. Analyses show that structural and security/communication criteria are the most important (36.1% and 27.3%, respectively).  The newly developed model is applied to seven stations from the STM network. Results show that these stations are deficient, with an average SDI of 4.4 out of 10. Ranking of the seven stations is compared to that of PROMETHEE, which shows similar results. In addition, the SDI values are confirmed by STM engineers with 80% agreement. This research is relevant to industry practitioners (management, engineers, and field inspectors) and researchers, since it develops, a multi-criteria condition assessment model and scale for subway stations


identifier: Haggag, Tarek  (2006) Tracking and controlling of engineering deliverables for EPC projects.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) projects, the engineering/design phase is crucial as it has a direct impact on the delivery of such complex projects. Efficient tracking of engineering deliverables is a key to the successful delivery of these projects. Many studies have been carried out in this domain to develop tracking and control systems, particularly for A/E firms. The engineering deliverables in the Engineering/Design phase in EPC projects should be controlled individually and should be integrated with the project schedule.  The aim of this research is to study current practice in the management area referred above and present a methodology that enhances tracking and controlling of engineering deliverables; integrating the cost and schedule functions; forecasting the cost and time at the report date and at completion; and for integrating the engineering deliverables with the project schedule to demonstrate their effects on the delivery of such projects. To demonstrate the use and essential features of the proposed methodology, a computerized system has been developed in the Microsoft ® Windows XP environment using Excel sheet 2003. The developed system operates at three levels in EPC projects: (1) the deliverables level; (2) the activities level; and at (3) the project level. It is a stand alone system that can be used as an independent add-on utility to the project management software of the industrial partner "PM+". The developed system can be used to assist the project management teams on making decisions to improve the delivery of the EPC projects considering the impact of engineering deliverables. A training set of data developed by an industrial partner, SNC-LAVALIN, from of their EPCM projects, is utilized to validate the accuracy and functionality of the developed system


identifier: Xiang, Chong  (2006) A two-stage formation flying strategy for UAVs.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis is concerned with formation flying of unmanned air vehicle (UAV) with minimum time mission requirement. It is assumed that a known finite set of different configurations exists, which characterizes the mission. This means that the desired configuration at each point in time belongs to this set. A reconfiguration strategy is then introduced which is carried out in two phases. The first phase starts upon the completion of the latest reconfiguration task. In this phase, each UAV moves to a pre-determined location which is obtained to be as close as possible to all potential next destinations given by the known set. All UAVs stay in this location during the idle time, i.e., while no new mission command is issued. The second phase begins once a new command is issued to reconfigure the formation. In this phase, all UAVs will move to the location specified by the new command. This two-stage strategy minimizes the reconfiguration time, which is quite desirable in many real-world applications. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed strategy results in a significant reduction in the reconfiguration time.


identifier: Soroardy, Jomir Uddin  (2006) Numerical investigation of the flow between two stationary parallel discs.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Steady, incompressible turbulent sink flows that develop between two stationery discs with and without swirl were investigated numerically using the software FLUENT 6.1 with the Reynolds Stress Model (RSM) employed to approximate turbulence. The main purpose of the work is to validate the method and then elaborate on some key features of these types of flows.  Both problems studied here were characterized by severe streamline bending. Exploratory tests using the k - [varepsilon] methodology reconfirmed that it is not suitable for flows of these type. Instead, the Reynolds Stress Model (RSM) with five equations for 2D geometry and 7 equations for 3D to accurately resolved the physics of the problems well. Furthermore, the continuative rather the pressure boundary condition yielded stable solutions. Care however had to be applied in selecting the length of the outlet manifold. The basic idea was to avoid the vena contracta after the ninety-degree bend by increasing the length of the exit pipe.  The obtained numerical results are shown to be in accord with past experiments throughout the entire domain. The technique is able to resolve, at a satisfactory level, the flow development even at known problematic areas such as for example near the sink exit. Acceleration was found to be the primary controlling factor for both purely radial and swirling inflow where monotonic changes of pressure gradient are a common manifestation.  For uni-radial sink flow, inertia increase either due to inlet velocity augmentation or decrease of the local area produces flatter velocity profiles thus suggesting that inertia reigns over the viscous forces. In the case of swirling inflow, the overpowering centrifugal force field forced almost all of the fluid to be drained through the Ekman's boundary layers developed on each of the disk surface. It now becomes clear that the growth of flow near the disk or spikes in the radial velocity is due to the combined action of boundary layer development and local reduction of the flow area. The numerical algorithm was also able, for the first time, to successfully capture the toroidal recirculation zone that is known to inhabit the central portion of the flow. The latter is also responsible for the development of a reversed flow, which causes the saddle-like behavior of the radial velocity near the mid-plane. The tangential velocity peaks near the disks known from previous experiments and numerical formulations appeared also in the current solutions.  Therefore, the present study has validated a tool that can now be used to provide answers to some outstanding questions. It can be employed to provide an insight into the stabilizing effects of acceleration which encourages the flow to remain laminar even at very high inlet Reynolds numbers, or to laminarize in case that the entering flow is turbulent. It could also provide the limits of validity of the previous simple models


identifier: Wu, Zhiyuan  (2006) Design of turbo MIMO wireless communications.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Since the discovery of the significant gain in capacity provided by multiple antennas over fading channels, tremendous research and development efforts in academia and industry have been invested to multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) technology. However, difficulties still exist in the design of flexible MIMO transmission schemes. The overall goal of our study is to develop efficient turbo MIMO transceivers that are capacity-achieving and yet with reasonable complexity.  First, we study the design of serially concatenated MIMO transmitters. For simpler design and flexible rate-versus-performance tradeoff, conventional encoders are used before a linear space-time modulator. A joint iterative receiver based on the turbo principle is assumed that precludes the use of Tarokh's design criteria for such a concatenated system. Extending the extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) charts to MIMO systems, design criteria that concern both the data rate and error performance are developed for the inner space-time (ST) modulator. Based on the new design criteria, an optimal space-time linear dispersion modulation scheme is presented. In addition, the tradeoff between constellation size and symbol rate for a given data rate is discussed. Simulation results are provided to verify the new design criteria and to demonstrate the merits of the proposed coded space-time modulation.  For such a turbo MIMO transmitter, the abundance of highly developed outer decoders allows us to focus on the study on the inner multi-user detection (MUD). To start, a new parallel interference cancellation (PIC) MUD scheme is proposed. This detector can be used as a stand-alone multi-user detector in a non-iterative MIMO receiver. The new scheme employs a novel nonlinear minimum mean square error (MMSE) estimator as the soft decision device. The nonlinear estimator exploits the knowledge of symbol alphabet for refined estimates with smaller mean square error (MSE). Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed detector significantly outperforms the conventional detectors with comparable complexity. The nonlinear MMSE estimator is further extended to develop the soft-output MUD for iterative turbo MIMO receivers. The nonlinear estimation makes use of a priori information from the outer decoder and preliminary estimates gleaned from channel observation as well. With the new nonlinear MMSE estimator, a generalized SIC-MMSE scheme is proposed. Depending on the methods for generating preliminary estimates, two generalized SIC-MMSE detectors are proposed: a 2-staged SIC-MMSE and a recursive SIC-MMSE detectors. Analytical study and simulations are carried out to demonstrate the merits of the two proposed detectors.  Last, tradeoffs among the components of the transmitter that affect error performance at the receiver are discussed to provide design guidelines for practice


identifier: Drolet, Pierre  (2006) Essai de traduction en cinématographie.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Essai de traduction en cinématographie

abstract: In this master's thesis, the author translates from English to French a part of an introductory book on the cinema entitled Film Studies, by Andrew M. Butler, published in Great Britain in 2002. To facilitate the translation, he creates an English-French cinema lexicon, since no tool of this kind currently exists in Quebec. He examines his translation work in the light of Christiane Nord's theories, which were specifically designed for pragmatic translations. Through this examination, he shares with the reader his reflexions on theory and practice in translation, using a comparison between theory and practice in translation and the relationship of Sigmund Freud to theory and practice in medicine. He supports his statements with those of renowned authors in the field of translation studies.  Important terms. translation, translation studies, theory, lexicon and cinema


identifier: Al Shafie, Abdellatif  (2006) Sorption of 17a-ethynylestradiol in different soil environments.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDCs) have the ability to negatively affect the endocrine system; subsequently, they became the focus of the current research and media awareness. Steroid estrogens (natural and synthetic) have been recognized as endocrine disrupting chemicals a number of studies have correlated these compounds to adverse effects in humans, wildlife and fish. Most of the research done thus far was focused on the fate, behavior and impact of these compounds within living organisms, or during their removal/treatment. However, knowledge about the behavior and partitioning of these compounds or their byproducts once they are released in the environment (particularly in soil media) is not yet very well established. The focus of this study was to identify and evaluate the extent of partitioning of 17{460}-ethynylestradiol (EE2), a synthetic estrogen steroidal hormone, to different soil constituents (clay minerals: illite, montmorillonite, iron oxide: goethite and soil organic humic acid). The study demonstrated the effect of variable experimental conditions, such as pH, oxygen availability and EE2 initial concentration on the degree of sorption of the steroidal estrogen to individual soil components. Moreover, the potential mobility of 17{460}-ethynylestradiol leaching from biosolids and natural fertilizers application was investigated.  Batch-equilibration methods were conducted at the nanogram level in an attempt to emulate current environmental concentrations. The outcome of this research showed that 17{460}-ethynylestradiol showed different affinities of binding to soil constituents. Partitioning onto clay minerals was greater than onto iron oxide or humic acid. Sorption of 17{460}-ethynylestradiol was generally rapid within 1 hour; however, uptake by clay minerals continued to occur over a period of 24 hours. Changes in soil particles' surface-charges as a result of changing pH values were demonstrated to have a great influence on the potential mobility of 17{460}-ethynylestradiol within soil media. Highest sorption values were achieved at the isoelectric points of individual soil constituent. Sorption was primarily governed by hydrophobic interactions with siloxane surfaces, coupled with the interaction of nonpolar 17{460}-ethynylestradiol with uncharged soil surface hydroxyl groups through hydrogen bonding. The results also implied that the affinity of the synthetic estrogen to partition to soil constituents within subsurface media is not expected to differ between aerated top soil regions and deep ground levels of air deficiency. Moreover, the introduction of leachate was found to reduce the affinity of 17{460}-ethynylestradiol to partition into illite, natural soil, and goethite; however, it increased the degree of sorption to montmorillonite. Finally, this study results suggest that montmorillonite possessed the greatest sorption capacities under a wide range of environmental conditions. Although adsorbing EE2 to clay minerals is expected to diminish the potential hazard of leaching out to groundwater, surface water bodies are still vulnerable to contamination through runoff


identifier: Naccache, Rafik  (2006) Cross-relaxation and energy transfer processes in praseodymium-doped gadolinium gallium garnet (Gd3Ga5O12:Pr3+) bulk and nanocrystalline systems.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The luminescence properties of singly-doped Pr 3+ and Pr 3+ /Yb 3+ co-doped nanocrystalline gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG, Gd 3 Ga 5 O 12 ) are investigated. Dominant blue/green emission emanating from the 3 P 0 [arrow right] 3 H 4 and 3 P 0 [arrow right] 3 H 6 transitions was observed after excitation using a wavelength of 457.9 nm. The luminescence properties of the nanocrystals were compared to the bulk material (single crystal) with identical Pr 3+ concentrations (1 mol%) and no noticeable shift in peak position was observed. Increasing the Pr 3+ concentration in the nanocrystals resulted in a decrease in 3Po and 3P, emission to lower lying states via the [ 3 P 0 , 3 H 4 ] [arrow right] [ 3 H 6 , 1 D 2 ] cross relaxation (CR) mechanism. Furthermore, a decrease in the 1 D 2 emission was observed and was attributed to the [ 1 D 2 , 3 H 4 ] [arrow right] [ 1 G 4 , 3 F 3,4 ] CR mechanism. The increase in CR efficiency was attributed to the smaller interionic distances between the dopant ions.  Continuous wave excitation into the 1 D 2 level of the Pr 3+ ion at 606.9 nm transition produced blue upconversion luminescence. Based on the increase in transition lifetimes, an energy transfer (ET) upconversion mechanism was proposed. Furthermore, weak blue, green and red upconversion emission was observed from the 3 P 0 , 3 P 1 and 1 D 2 states following excitation into the 1 G 4 energy level with 980 nm. Upconversion was determined to primarily occur through excited state absorption.  Co-doping the nanocrystalline GGG:Pr 3+ (1 mol%) samples with Yb 3+ (1-10 mol%) results in a 3-fold increase in upconversion emission intensity relative to the singly doped samples excited under the same conditions (n exc = 980 nm). The observed lifetimes obtained using 457.9 nm excitation suggest back transfer from the Pr 3+ ion to neighboring Yb 3+ ions which results in decrease in room temperature visible emission and upconversion luminescence.


identifier: Gopala Krishnan, Anand  (2006) Orbital dynamics analysis and scale model testing of galloping transmission lines.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The Overhead Electrical Transmission Lines, used for carrying high voltage electrical power, are held by huge steel towers with large spans. The cables of transmission lines are subjected to three different types of wind-induced vibrations, namely, galloping, aeolian and wake-induced vibrations. During winter, in some cold climates ice is deposited on the cable, making the cross section of the cable asymmetric. When wind blows across the ice accumulated cables, they start vibrating with large amplitudes and at low frequencies. In the present work, such galloping vibrations are analyzed. Neglecting the flexural rigidity and axial rigidity of the wire, two-dimensional equations of motion of the wire are formulated. The effect of torsion of cable is neglected. Fourth-order Runge - Kutta method has been employed to solve the governing equations and to obtain the orbital motions of the transmission line cable. The analytical model includes parameters such as ice inclination angle, angle of incidence of wind on the cable, sag length, angle subtended by the relative wind velocity to horizontal and aerodynamic force coefficients. The effects of these parameters on the orbital motions of the cable are investigated. Validation of analytical studies is carried out by tests on scale models of the actual cable. The models are analyzed and the eigen values and eigen vectors are found out. Experimental investigation is carried on both the actual cable and the scaled model in the wind tunnel and orbital motions are measured. The test results are compared with the numerical simulations and discussed. The galloping motions were essentially orbital in nature. The test results validated the analytical investigations on the galloping phenomena.


identifier: Zlatkova, Sacha Z  (2006) Computational investigation of the ionization and photo-ionization of hydrogen halide acids in water clusters.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The ionization of hydrogen halide acids HX (X=Cl, Br) in the presence of water in the ground and excited electronic states is an important fundamental process, with possible implications for the ozone layer depletion. Experimental investigations of acid dissociation and hydration of ion pairs [X - (H 2 O) n H 3 O + ] at the molecular level are hindered by instrument limitations, and to date, theoretical studies address the mechanism of acid ionization in polar and non-polar solvents only partially. This thesis aims at characterizing ground-state acid-water complexation and ionization, and possible effects of water on the ionization of HX in electronically excited states.  As for ground-state ionization, the structures of HCl and HBr in aqueous clusters of different sizes were characterized with second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2), and coupled cluster theory with single, double and perturbative triple excitations [CCSD(T)], paying particular attention to the critical number of water molecules needed for acid ionization to occur. Combined results from the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (AIM) and infrared (IR) vibrational spectra analyses are used to unambiguously characterize the nature of bonding in acid-water clusters. Global minimum-energy cluster structures suggest that both HCl and HBr form ionized complexes in the presence of four water molecules.  As for possible excited-state ionization of hydrogen halides, the excited-state electronic structures and potential energy curves of gas-phase HBr were first obtained from multi-reference configuration interaction (MRCI) calculations. Investigation of the influence of water molecules on the excited-state potential energy curves of HBr then revealed the feasibility of excited-state ionization, and thus photo-ionization in water clusters, due to opening of an ion-pair dissociation channel. This work thus claims the interpretation of recent experimental findings [Science, 2002], in which HBr photo-ionization was observed in small water clusters, but not for clusters larger than size 4, presumably because of ground-state ionization that quenches the HBr photo-ionization channel.


identifier: Choy, Bonny Shu Fen  (2006) Yeast model of human ββ-enolase deficiency disease : characterization of G157D yeast enolase.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Enolase is an essential enzyme in glycolysis and gluconeogenesis. In 2001, the first known case of a human disorder diagnosed as muscle enolase deficiency was found (Comi et al., 2001). The patient carried two heterozygous missense mutations changing glycine 156 to aspartate 156 in one case and glycine 374 to a glutamate 374 in the other. In this study, yeast enolase is used as a model to study the role of G156 (G157 in yeast enolase) and the effects of the G156D mutation in human ββ-enolase. Specifically, site directed mutagenesis was used to change G157 to D in yeast enolase. Spectroscopic studies using fluorescence, circular dichroism, and analytical ultracentrifugation indicated no substantial differences in the conformational foldings of G157D compared to wild-type enolase. The conformational stability of the G157D variant was found to be slightly decreased compared to the wild-type enolase when subjected to chemical or thermal denaturation. The G157D variant is also more susceptible to limited proteolysis by trypsin. The G157D protein exhibits only 0.06% wild-type activity under standard enolase assay conditions. Kinetic studies indicate that the G157D enolase has a higher K M for Mg 2+ , no significant differences in K M for Mn 2+ , and a slightly increased K M for its substrate, 2-phospho-D-glycerate, than has the wild-type enzyme. 2 H kinetic isotope effect studies proved that the first step of enolase catalysis, abstraction of the C-2 proton from 2-PGA becomes more rate limiting for the G157D enolase. Ligand binding studies indicate similar K d for the first Mg 2+ site for both G157D and wild-type enolase. Isothermal titration calorimetry indicates comparable association constants for the second Mn 2+ , PhAH, and 2-PGA/PEP.  To further investigate the effects of size and charge upon replacing a small, non-charged glycine residue by a bulky, charged aspartate, G157A, G157N, and G157L yeast enolase variants were also created. Studies on the latter three proteins illustrate correct folding of the proteins and no substantial stability discrepancies compared to the wild-type enzyme. In spite of this, activity studies show that as the size of the amino acid at this site increases, the enzyme activity decreases. It is possible that the small and non-charged properties of G157 are necessary for proper coordination of active site residues to the metal cofactors and the substrate 2-phospho-D-glycerate


identifier: Toledano, Rachel  (2006) Development of the sexual arousal and desire inventory (SADI) : a multidimensional scale of subjective sexual arousal and desire in men and women.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The psychological experience of the sexual response cycle has, in recent years, been theoretically redefined to take into account the multidimensional nature of its different stages and the important biopsychosocial factors that influence them. The first chapter of this thesis advocates a four-dimensional model to describe the subjective experience of sexual arousal and desire in both men and women, with three positive dimensions including an evaluative, a motivational, and a physiological factor, as well as a fourth aversive or inhibitive negative factor. An adjective-rating questionnaire, called the Sexual Arousal and Desire Inventory (SADI), was developed to evaluate this multidimensional model of sexual arousal and desire. A sample of 195 women and 195 men completed the questionnaire to convey their subjective experiences of sexual arousal and desire. Results supported the four-factor model to describe men and women's experiences of sexual arousal and desire, suggesting they involve similar experiences. Further inquiry into the questionnaire's psychometric properties as a measure of subjective sexual arousal and desire and of the four-dimensional model revealed excellent reliability and validity, and is covered in chapter one as well. Chapter two examines whether the presence or absence of specific sexual cues, including the ejaculation ending and the soundtrack of an erotic film segment, would alter the subjective experience of sexual arousal and desire of men and women. The third and final chapter of this thesis introduces a Quebec French translation of the SADI. In a preliminary study, 310 women and 59 men completed the questionnaire. Results supported the four-factor model in this French version of the SADI and suggested that this model is adequate to describe the subjective experience of sexual arousal and desire of Quebec Francophone populations. A more equal sample of men and women will need to be evaluated in order to confirm the validity of these results in both sexes.


identifier: Farran, Mazen  (2006) LIfe cycle cost for rehabilitation of public infrastructures : application to Montreal metro system.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: According to the National Guide to Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure (InfraGuide), Canadian municipalities spend $12 to $15 billion annually on infrastructure; however, this does not seem to be enough to maintain ageing infrastructures and rehabilitate them to higher safety standards. The solution according to InfraGuide is "to change the way we plan, design, and manage infrastructures" .  Several rehabilitation planning methods are reported in the literature for public infrastructures, such as bridges, pavements, sewers, or others. These methods, however, are limited to specific types of infrastructure. In this research, a novel method for Maintenance and Rehabilitation Planning for Public Infrastructure (M&RPPI) is developed. One that is generic for any type of public infrastructure. The method aims at determining the optimal rehabilitation profile over a desired analysis period. Specifically, it will determine the best type of rehabilitation intervention, and its optimal timing. The M&RPPI method is based on life-cycle costing (LCC) with probabilistic and continuous rating approach for condition states. The M&RPPI also uses a new approach of " dynamic " Markov chain to represent the deterioration mechanism of an infrastructure and the impact of rehabilitation interventions on such infrastructure.  As an optimization technique, genetic algorithm (GA) is used in conjunction with Markov chains in order to find the optimal or quasi-optimal rehabilitation profile. The way GA communicates with the transition probability matrices (TPM) is described. In addition, a new directed-GA approach was developed in order to guide the optimization process toward the final solution. Finally a computer program using Excel and VBA macros is developed in order to prove workability of the developed method.  The developed M&RPPI methodology is applied to the deterioration problem of Montreal Metro system. In order to validate the performance of the proposed methodology, three different types of analysis are performed using: (1) traditional Markov decision process (MDP) that uses a discrete rating scale, (2) continuous rating method, and (3) the proposed M&RPPI method with GA optimization technique. Results show the benefits of using continuous rating in contrast with discrete method. They also demonstrate the superiority of GA compared to other optimization methods. In addition, the proposed M&RPPI method provides a complete M&R Plan over a required study period, not only a stationary decision policy. Finally, the M&RPPI is a major step towards a broader infrastructure management system, addressing network-level problems


identifier: Bourassa, Éric  (2006) Les rapports d'influence entre la forme et le contenu : les motivations thématiques de la caméra subjective chez Robert Morin.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: À l'aide de la notion de dialogisme élaborée par Mikhaïl Bakhtine, nous analysons la fabrication du discours dans les films de Robert Morin. L'hypothèse au coeur de ce mémoire est qu'il existe une constante thématique dans l'oeuvre de Robert Morin qui agit comme système générateur de la subjectivité filmique au plan formel. Cette constante dévoile une diversification perceptive où tout est obligatoirement subjectif, autant pour les personnages que pour le spectateur. Morin ne montre jamais la réalité simplement, elle se trouve toujours transformée par les divers individus/personnages qui la vivent. Il tente consciencieusement de représenter cette multitude de points de vue autant dans le contenu de ses récits que dans la forme qu'il leur donne. Il met aussi en question l'objectivité même du procédé filmique en démontrant un intérêt marqué pour les différentes subjectivités possibles. L'évolution de ce thème a façonné l'aspect formel de ses films, le motivant à adopter la caméra subjective comme outil argumentatif. L'objectif principal de ce mémoire est ainsi d'établir l'existence d'un rapport d'influence dans l'oeuvre de Robert Morin entre la subjectivité filmique et le contenu narratif de ses films.


identifier: Chandrasekaran, Arvind  (2006) SOI waveguide based optical microsystems for biophotonic enzymatic detection.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Medical diagnostics using microsystems have gained a lot of importance in the recent years to develop a fully integrated, cost effective and easy-to-use sensor for in-situ detection of biomolecules. In the present work, the feasibility of developing an evanescent wave biosensor on Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) platform through waveguide based Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) is studied.  Herein, the proposed waveguide system has been modeled through Finite Difference (FD) technique for different evanescent field conditions and the results for modal parameters have been compared with Finite Element Modeling (FEM) simulated through FEMLAB. Scalar Beam Propagation Method (BPM) simulations have been carried out with R-Soft for rectangular and anisotropic waveguides and the results of propagation constants obtained from R-Soft have been compared with the FD method and FEM


identifier: Beavis, Lori  (2006) An educational journey : women's art training in Canada and abroad, 1880-1929.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: By describing the art training of Canadian women artists, this thesis will document the presence of women in Canadian, English and French art schools from the 1870s to 1929. The nineteenth-century feminine ideal of the accomplished young woman aided in the development of women's artistic sensibilities in the eyes educators. Upon enrolment in art schools, women often found they were subject to segregation, restricted access to studying from the nude, and poorer studio space. While this was often the experience of women in English and European art schools before 1860, this does not seem to have been the case in Canada as the art schools opened both men and women were admitted to the schools and outright segregation or discrimination. In fact women were often in the majority in the student population and the institutions depended on the women's presence (specifically, their enrolment fees) for their survival.


identifier: Beattie, Kathryn  (2005) Aspects of acceptance and denial in painted posthumous portraits and postmortem photographs of nineteenth-century children.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The Victorian romanticizing of death, childhood and the family helped people to cope with flux and uncertainty in an era of social upheaval. Faced with high infant mortality rates, Victorian parents used culture in diverse ways to mourn and remember their dead children. But to believe that with the reality of high infant and child mortality rates came total acknowledgment and resignation is an inaccurate assumption. In fact, many Victorian parents both accepted and denied the deaths of their children. The simultaneous acceptance and denial of death is personified in both the painted posthumous mourning portraits which represented the dead child as alive and often life-size, and the much smaller, blatant images of corpses found in the postmortem photographs. This thesis considers these two types of mourning images which flourished side by side for over sixty years, and addresses the question of why the same society would find two such seeming opposites---in format and subject---equally suitable and acceptable as forms through which to remember a deceased child. It is only when we realize that Victorian society actually dealt with death simultaneously in two extremely different ways---denial and romantic acceptance---that these ostensibly contradictory types of images begin to make sense.


identifier: Gubbay Helfer, Sharon  (2006) Lavy's Shul : a Canadian experiment in Reconstructionism.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Despite the fact that Reconstructionism is often referred to as the only "made-in-America" (USA) Jewish denomination, it was a Canadian community that was the first synagogue anywhere to call itself "Reconstructionist." The founder and guiding figure of Montreal's Reconstructionist Synagogue was Lavy M. Becker, who functioned as the community's "honorary" (unpaid) rabbi in its first phase of development, from 1960 through 1976. Throughout this period, "Lavy's Shul," as it was affectionately known, was a vibrant experiment in Jewish life, a hybrid, containing elements of both havurah and synagogue, whose special character was described by a member of the community as "an assault on the heart and the brain at the same time." This dissertation creates a portrait of this singular community in the context of its time. A framework of thought constructed around the themes of memory, identity, community and narrative is used to highlight the shifting tapestry of collective identities of a changing Canada within a world in flux, which is seen to form the backdrop to this community study. In the foreground, the founding and evolution of the synagogue are portrayed in some depth through profiles of Lavy Becker and of selected members of the founding community. These profiles are complemented by a characterization of community life and the "culture of conversation" that developed there. The interdisciplinary approach used here borrows elements from history and ethnography and is an adaptation of the methodology called "Portraiture"


identifier: Liu, Dai Ying  (2006) Progressive failure and post-buckling response of tapered composite plates.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Design and manufacture of a variable-thickness composite laminate such as a helicopter yoke or a robot arm involves tapering the laminate by dropping certain individual plies at discrete internal locations, in order to tailor the stiffness of the laminate to the design and performance requirements. The ply drop in the laminate creates geometric and material discontinuities and results in large stress concentration. These in turn cause changes in the response and failure strengths of the laminate. For achieving economical, safe and reliable design, the progressive failure and post-buckling response of tapered laminated plates are important design considerations. Therefore, there is a necessity to investigate the progressive failure of tapered laminates and its effect on the post-buckling response. The present thesis concerns with these aspects.  In the present thesis, a nonlinear finite element formulation is developed based on the first-order shear deformation theory and the geometric nonlinearity in the von Karman sense for the analysis of tapered laminated plates. The tensor polynomial form of failure criterion is used in conjunction with a progressive failure simulation methodology to study the progressive failure. The developed formulation and progressive failure simulation methodology are validated. A detailed parametric study of the deterministic progressive failure of tapered laminates under the action of uni-axial and bi-axial compression, in-plane positive shear, and in-plane negative shear loadings is conducted. A detailed parametric study on the deterministic progressive failure of tapered laminates under the action of bi-axial compression combined with in-plane shear loading is also conducted. The first-ply failure load, the ultimate failure load, the buckling load, the associated maximum transverse displacements, and the locations and modes of failure of tapered laminated plates are determined for each case. The effects of different taper and laminate configurations, fiber orientations, boundary conditions, addition of uniform-thickness sections are determined. Stochastic progressive failure of tapered laminated plate under the action of bi-axial compression combined with in-plane positive shear loading is investigated. The mean and standard deviation values of failure strengths are calculated considering the material properties as stochastic processes in space


identifier: Huang, Jin  (2006) Development of an electrokinetic method of dewatering and upgrading sludge to class A / excellent quality biosolids : comparison of aerobic and anaerobic municipal sludge.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Biosolids are organic-rich residuals resulting from the wastewater treatment processes. Thousands of tons of biosolids are produced every year currently in Canada and the U.S., which should be treated and disposed of safely according to the strict environmental standards. This study aims to investigate different sludges and generate Class A biosolids due to electrokinetic (EK) simultaneous dewatering and inactivation of pathogenic organisms such as Salmonella spp. and Fecal coliforms.  Bench scale experiments had been conducted operating under batch regime in the environmental research laboratory at Concordia University. Ten cells were set up with three different types of sewage sludge: primary, secondary (attached growth culture and suspended culture), and anaerobic digested sludge. They were taken from Auteuil Wastewater Treatment Plant, Laval, Quebec, and R.O. Pickard Environmental Centre, Ottawa, Ontario. The characterization of the sludge was performed followed by electrokinetic system (EK) tests and data analysis. A conditioning liquid was also added to five cells. Low and high potential such as 1 V/cm and 1.5 V/cm were applied to the cells. Blower system was integrated into the EK for four cells. In order to access the dewatering, disinfection efficiency and other applications of EK system, parameters such as total solids contents, Fecal coliforms, pH, Salmonella spp, and anions concentration were analyzed. The highest total solids (TS) content (98.5% TS) was achieved in the cell with combined primary and secondary sludge where the lower voltage gradient, conditioner and blower system were applied. No Fecal coliforms were detected after treatment in most of the EK cells. The highest log reduction of Salmonella spp. was achieved in the EK cell with anaerobic digested sludge, under lower voltage gradient. In general, Salmonella spp. log-reduction was found to be between 6 and 11 in EK cells. The cells without the conditioner exhibited Salmonella spp. inactivation mostly in the anode area, while the cells with conditioner observed the inactivation of Salmonella spp. in cathode area. Different types of biosolids were observed having different responses to the EK system in terms of dewatering efficiency and pathogen inactivation. It was concluded that the anaerobic digested sludge had better inactivation of Salmonella spp. and achieved higher dewatering efficiency under lower voltage gradient. The mixed sludge had better inactivation of Salmonella spp. under higher voltage gradient, while the lower voltage gradient yielded higher dewatering efficiency.  This study showed that Electrokinetic dewatering can be applied simultaneously to upgrade both aerobic and anaerobic digested sludge to Class A/Exceptional Quality biosolids


identifier: Millette, Lynn  (2006) The experience of artmaking : body, self and word as ontological environment.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: All of my senses are implicated in my art-making process. My paintings come from deep inside and materialise before me on the surface of a canvas as it develops. A dialogue on the creative process must be based on an art practice because art making represents thinking in the language of creation.  I am very close to a phenomenological consideration of temporality as I paint. Experience and time are visible in the brush marks of a painting. My creative process is phenomenological when I consider and associate the things that I perceive while focusing on my senses. I know that I can decide whether or not I am open to awareness of my organism and as I record my physical state, metaphors emerge in the form of mental images. Opening my perception to the world around me constructs my sense of self. Learning about the interrelationship between the outside world and my body allows me to understand my perception and how I change an internal idea into an image.  Language can bring implicit experience into the world but I cannot address someone on the outside in the same manner that I think when I am creating. For this reason I believe that there is an inner language that allows for the associations that become metaphors. When I am creating I have an awareness that cannot be translated into words or images. Inside my mind, images are fleeting and intertwined with emotions and my organism, but they can cross over to the outside directly through my relationship with a material to become a part of reality that can be rationally interpreted and transformed.  The bridge that I cross from inside to the outside when I make art is not the same as the bridge I cross when I speak and write. Paintings encompass all that is being considered by perception. Ontology is within an artwork which reflects life experience


identifier: Achkar, Firas  (2006) Hysteresis-based selective Gaussian-Mixture model for real-time background update and object detection.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Background subtraction refers to background update and object detection, and it is a commonly used object segmentation technique. In this technique a background model frame is built and updated over time such that it only corresponds to static pixels of the monitored scene. Moving objects are then detected by subtracting each new frame from this background model frame.  In this thesis, we propose two real-time effective techniques for video object segmentation: the first is a background subtraction technique that includes background update and object detection stages to extract object binary blobs; the second is an improved contour tracing and a new filling algorithms to extract object features such as area, compactness and irregularity. The proposed background subtraction technique effectively models the static background and detects true moving objects while retaining computational efficiency for the real-time criteria.  In the background update stage of the proposed background subtraction technique, the reference background pixels are modeled as multiple color Gaussian distributions (MOGs) with a new selective matching scheme based on the combined approaches of component ordering and winner-takes-all. This matching scheme not only selects the most probable component for the first matching with new pixel data, greatly improving performance, but also simplifies pixel classification and component replacement in case of no match. Further performance improvement to background update stage is achieved by using a new simple yet functional component variance adaptation formula. A periodical weight normalization scheme is used to prevent merging temporary stopped real foreground object into the background model, and the creation of false ghosts in the foreground mask when these objects start to move again. The proposed background update technique implicitly handles both gradual illumination change and temporal clutter problems.  The object detection stage uses two schemes that improve object blob quality: a new hysteresis-based component matching to reduce the amount of cracks and added shadows; and temporal motion history to preserve the integrity of moving object boundaries. In this stage, the problem of shadows and ghosts is partially addressed by the proposed hysteresis-based matching scheme, while the problems of persistent sudden illumination changes and camera perturbations are addressed at frame level depending on the percentage of pixels classified as foreground.  After background subtraction the detected moving object pixels (initial foreground binary mask) are highly abstract and must be grouped together to form the actual objects. We propose an improved contour tracing and new filling algorithms for grouping object pixels. The proposed improved tracing algorithm can detect and reject dead or inner branches, false non-closed contours, noise related small contours, and then efficiently categorize each contour into inner or outer contours. The new filling algorithm is efficient and never leaks, it uses the extracted contour points and their chain-code information as seed points for horizontal line growing. Experimental results show that the proposed tracing and filling techniques improve computational performance with no tracing or filling errors compared to other reference techniques.


identifier: Lavaei Yanesi, Javad  (2006) High-performance robust decentralized control of interconnected systems.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This dissertation deals with the structurally constrained control of interconnected systems. A near-optimal decentralized control law is proposed for finite dimensional linear time-invariant (LTI) systems, which under certain conditions leads to a quadratic performance index arbitrarily close to the LQR performance. A method is then proposed to implement any centralized controller in a decentralized fashion in order to reduce the communication requirements. The decentralized controller obtained performs identically to the original centralized controller if some a priori knowledge of the nominal model of the system and the expected values of the initial states are available. The immediate application of this decentralization scheme is in control of a formation of spacecraft in deep space, as it is an ongoing research in JPL. Design of a high-performance decentralized generalized sampled-data hold functions (GSHF) is also studied, which relies on linear matrix inequality (LMI) techniques. Moreover, the problem of simultaneous stabilization of a set of LTI systems using a periodic control law is investigated. It is to be noted that prior to this work there were only sufficient conditions for simultaneous stabilizability of more than four systems, although this problem has been investigated in the literature for several decades. This thesis provides the first necessary and sufficient condition for simultaneous stabilizability of any arbitrary number of systems.  Stabilizability of an interconnected system with respect to LTI decentralized control law and also general (nonlinear and time-varying) control law is investigated in the literature, by introducing the notions of decentralized fixed mode (DFM) and quotient fixed mode (QFM). Since the existing methods aiming at identifying these fixed modes are ill-conditioned, two graph-theoretic approaches are proposed here to obtain the DFMs and QFMs of a system in a more efficient manner. In addition, it is asserted that the nonzero and distinct DFMs of a system can be eliminated by means of a proper sampled-data controller. On the other hand, decentralized overlapping control as a more advanced form of structurally constrained control systems is investigated thoroughly. An onto mapping between the decentralized control and the decentralized overlapping control is introduced, which makes the decentralized control design techniques applicable to the decentralized overlapping problem. A systematic method is proposed to check stabilizability of general proper (as opposed to strictly proper) structurally constrained controllers with respect to LTI and non-LTI systems. It is to be noted that the extension of the existing techniques to this general problem not only is non-trivial, but not feasible indeed. Besides, robust stability of the closed-loop system in the presence of polynomial uncertainties is also investigated and a necessary and sufficient condition in the form of sum-of-squares (SOS) is presented. It is to be noted that this problem has been investigated in the literature for the past ten years but prior to this work, only sufficient conditions existed for robust stability of this type of systems. The results presented in this treatise are applied to several benchmark examples, including formation flying of three UAVs, to demonstrate the efficacy of this work


identifier: Tcherednitchenko, Margarita  (2006) Performance of Canadian real estate investment trusts.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The Canadian REIT sector has experienced rapid growth that has coincided with the strong performance of the real estate sector. Thus, this thesis examines the risk-adjusted return performance in the secondary and primary (IPO) markets and interest rate sensitivity of all non-mortgage REITS that traded on the TSX during the 1996-2004 period.  Smaller REITs offer lower risk-adjusted returns since the value-weighted REIT index has about the same mean monthly return but much lower standard deviation than its equally-weighted counterpart. Based on the Sharpe ratio and the Jensen alphas, both equally- and value-weighted REIT indexes outperform the market.  Although mean first-day unweighted and size-weighted IPO returns are significant and negative, the size-weighted counterparts are approximately equal to the commissions saved by new issue versus secondary market purchase. Mean mispricing in the first and not second subperiod suggests that earlier overpricing of IPOs has corrected, and that more recent REIT IPOs are approximately correctly priced on average. Consistent with studies of US REITs, Canadian REITs do not outperform (or underperform) the market during the year after initial issue. If past performance is reflective of what can be expected in the future, REITs provide investors with a "fairly" priced vehicle for participating in real estate investment.  REITs are more interest-rate sensitive than other equities but the sensitivity depends upon the interest rate change proxy used. REIT returns are inversely related with bond premia. This interest-rate sensitivity has implications for the management of risk for this asset class within an investor's portfolio.


identifier: Khawaja, Nadir Ashraf  (2005) A methodology for total life-cycle costing of buildings designed for disassembly.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Although the concepts and principles of Life cycle costing are very well established and practiced by the construction industry, what is lacking is the incorporation of the environmental impacts of the design options into the selection criteria and thus the application of the concept of Total Life cycle costing of the project. The concept of Total Life cycle costing developed earlier suggest, that different relevant environmental impacts associated with each design option be converted to the financial format and added to the calculated values of Life cycle cost of the design option.  However the situation is complicated by the introduction of the concepts of design for disassembly into the design options, and the resulting requirement to distribute the environmental impacts over different life cycles of the component design assemblies throughout their useful life. The purpose of this research is to propose a methodology to tackle the problem.  Keywords. Sustainable development, Design for disassembly, Life cycle costing, Life cycle assessment


identifier: Kent, Brad  (2006) Censoring nationalisms : literature, legislation and national identities in Ireland, 1923-58.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis examines the relationship between literature and State-directed censorship in the process of national identity formation in post-independence Ireland, from 1923 to 1958. It traces the institutionalisation and workings of censorship by providing culturally and historically informed readings of banned books written by Irish writers, State, Church and personal archival documents, and the secular and religious media of the day. This interdisciplinary cultural approach allows for the analysis and articulation of the bottom-up resistance from those who were censored and fought the censorship, the top-down imposition of norms and mores through the State's banning of literature, and the informal censorship that occurred at points in between the writers and the State at the hands of booksellers, librarians, social groups and literary critics. By undertaking such an inclusive methodology, the thesis provides a much fuller understanding of how censorship and the resistance it engenders function than what has previously been offered in other studies; there is therefore a simultaneous focus on the official State nationalism that censors and the oppositional nationalisms that are censored. It develops this dual focus by arguing that censorship is a crucial means of determining the cultural borders of the nation in terms of what it permits and prohibits from circulating within the territory of the State. More exactly, it demonstrates that prohibited literature contains ideas and images that cannot be assimilated to the constructs of official nationalism. Furthermore, the thesis challenges the concept of institutions as they have been theorised by political scientists. While institutions are defined by their ability to remain resistant to change, the thesis argues that such a concept is predicated on the fact that theorists and empiricists have focused on what are termed "hard" institutions. Instead, censorship is posited as a "soft" institution for its relatively more malleable quality that allows it to be shaped by those in power while still conforming to other characteristics of institutions. Finally, the thesis examines the legacy of censorship, specifically through how censored books are and are not discussed in the decades after they are banned and unbanned. It makes the case that in order to undo the harm the State causes to a society through censorship, literary scholars need to continue to prioritise the discussion and analysis of formerly censored books and the power structures of the society that censored them.


identifier: D'Souza, Neil Savio  (2006) Variable perturbation size maximum power point tracking algorithms for photovoltaic systems.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The perturbation and observation (P&O) or hill-climbing maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms are commonly used in PV systems due to their easy implementation. A P&O algorithm based on peak current control (PCC) and on the use of instantaneous sampled values to calculate the next perturbation can provide faster transient responses and small oscillations around the maximum power point (MPP) than when pulse width modulation (PWM) and averaged control values are used. However, the use of a fixed size perturbation (variation of the reference current for the PCC) results in a compromise solution between transient and steady-state responses.  This thesis focuses on alternatives for implementing variable size perturbations in peak current controlled P&O MPPTs. First a Fuzzy logic based implementation is proposed and designed. Then hybrid region-based methods, where the MPPT algorithms operate differently depending on where in the PV panel Volt-current characteristics the system operates, are considered. The concept of non-switching zones is proposed as a means for moving the operating point of the PV system towards the vicinity of the MPP in the shortest possible interval. The potential performance of four different P&O algorithms is investigated by means of simulations. Experimental results are then used to verify how the computational burden of each algorithm and the processing speed of a common digital signal processor (DSP) affect the performance of each method in a practical prototype.


identifier: Vadean, Mirella  (2006) Texte et musique dans le Journal d'Henriette Dessaulles, une disposition en abîme de type fractal.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This master thesis aims to demonstrate that the personal diary, as a structure where several systems of signs can converge and seen from the point of view of evocation, can contribute to the structuring of a new hermeneutic figuration. For the purpose of this thesis, we analyze the limit of the literary fragment using the philosophical point of view of the Whole as a possible dynamic of restitution. Beyond this limit, we explore the emptiness that lays ahead, in the hope of, once again, recreating the Whole. References made to music (opera) throughout the diary, will be studied as a never ending "mise en abîme". We will use Lucien Dällenbach's methodology to detect and decode excerpts of Giuseppe Verdi's Trouvere and Richard Wagner's Rienzi within the diary. Throughout this thesis, we will suggest that textual and musical resonance between the word, the utterance and the code, allow for the creation of a system whose components are perpetually moving. For a better description of this system and in order to make the mechanism of sequences and resonance more clearly visible, we propose to consider this system as a fractal. This will enable us to constitute a system based on Henriette Dessaulles' diary (a "Dessaullien System"), a system erected using the science of fractals. The parameter of this system is the literary fragment, the unknown factor is the music and the interface is philosophy


identifier: Dasgupta, Abhijit  (2011) Effect of Tank Cross-Section and Longitudinal Baffles on Transient Liquid Slosh in Partly-Filled Road Tankers.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Parham, Mohammad / MP  (2011) Validation of the Security of Participant Control Exchanges in Secure Multicast Content Delivery.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
In Content Delivery Networks (CDN), as the customer base increases, a point is reached where the capacity of the network and the content server become inadequate. In extreme cases (e.g., world class sporting events), it is impossible to adequately serve the clientele, resulting in extreme customer frustration.  In these circumstances, multicast content delivery is an attractive alternative.  However, the issue of maintaining control over the customers is difficult.

In addition to controlling the access to the network itself, in order to control the access of users to the multicast session, an Authentication, Authorization and Accounting Framework was added to the multicast architecture. A successful authentication of the end user is a prerequisite for authorization and accounting. The Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) provides an authentication framework to implement authentication properly, for which more than thirty different available EAP methods exist.

While distinguishing the multicast content delivery requirements in terms of functionality and security, we will be able to choose a smaller set of relevant EAP methods accordingly. Given the importance of the role of the ultimate chosen EAP method, we will precisely compare the most likely to be useful methods and eventually pick the Extensible Authentication Protocol - Flexible Authentication via Secure Tunneling (EAP-FAST) framework as the most suitable one.

Based on the work on receiver participant controls, we present a validation of the security of the exchanges that are required to ensure adequate control and revenue recovery.


identifier: Ratiu, Catalin  (2011) Proactive sustainability strategies and capability development: Insights from the public transportation industry.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Golnaraghi, Sasan  (2011) Development of Delays Claims Assessment Model.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Disputes in the construction industry originate primarily from the occurrence of delays, which are the major causes of time and cost overruns in construction projects. Delays affect project parties, the owner and the contractor. Loss of either anticipated revenue or opportunity cost, on the owner’s side, and increased overhead cost, cost escalation and liquidated damages, on the contractor’s side, are considered as the main impacts of delays on key project stakeholders. Meanwhile, preparing delay claims is a time consuming process that requires extensive resources. Facilitating this process will benefit both project parties. In this regard, this research presents a new systematic delay analysis technique that is capable of evaluating concurrent delays, while considering the critical path of the project. The developed technique precisely allocates delays among the different project parties. The technique is tested against a hypothetical case to highlight its advantages and limitations, in comparison to existing delay analysis methods. In support of the proposed technique, a robust expert system is designed to classify the different types of delays, as well as to offer recommendations on delays or delaying events. The expert system and the proposed delay analysis technique are integrated with a scheduling software which accesses a project database. Likewise, an embedded feature of computing associated costs enhances the capability of the system. The developed system assist the analyst to reduce the time and cost associated with delay claim preparation in a systematic approach. Finally, the reliability of the integrated system is validated through a real case.


identifier: Riven, Levi  (2011) Context breeds false recognition for indeterminate sentences.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Over the last decade, there has been considerable debate concerning the processes governing the comprehension of indeterminate sentences such as (A) Lisa began the book, and how they come to be understood as something like (B) Lisa began reading the book. A major theme in this debate concerns the role of context in facilitating comprehension. Research shows that the costs associated with processing indeterminate expressions (e.g., McElree et al., 2001) are attenuated when these sentences are preceded by a sufficiently supporting context (de Almeida, 2004). A plausible explanation for this observation is that context facilitates comprehension by activating knowledge in support of inferential processes. This view lies in contrast to the coercion hypothesis, for which indeterminate sentences are enriched by default as a function of retrieving internal properties of the nominal book (Pustejovsky, 1995). In the present study, we employed a discourse-based sentence recognition paradigm (Sachs, 1967), investigating whether a strongly biasing context facilitates comprehension of indeterminate sentences. Our goal was to determine whether the interpretation of indeterminate sentences is facilitated by context manipulations that tap into inferential processes rather than constituent features of the complement noun. We found that participants (N = 72) drew systematic inferences from the context to the extent that they recognized sentences such as (B) from the discourse, when in fact, they were only exposed to indeterminate sentences such as (A). These results were obtained when proposed elements of the coercion hypothesis were experimentally and statistically controlled, suggesting that context facilitates comprehension of indeterminate sentences by triggering pragmatic inferences.


identifier: MacKay, Anne  (2011) Pricing and Hedging Equity-Linked Products under Stochastic Volatility Models.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.