identifier: Mohideen, Fathima Ifthiha  (2021) Harnessing the Substrate Promiscuity of Enzymes Involved in Natural Product Glycosylation Towards Better Engineered Bioactive Small Molecules.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Many small molecule natural products are decorated with sugar moieties that are essential for their biological activity. A considerable number of natural product glycosides and their derivatives are clinically important therapeutics. The biosynthesis of these natural product glycosides involves the action of sugar biosynthetic enzymes and glycosyltransferases (GTs), where many of these enzymes show relaxed substrate specificities. This can make them valuable biocatalytic tools for altering glycosylation as part of a strategy called “glycodiversification.”
The success of glycodiversification greatly depends on the screening method, many of which have limitations with respect to their throughput and ease of use. To address this, we have developed a screening tool for assaying GTs in a high-throughput fashion enabled by rapid isolation and detection of chromophoric or fluorescent glycosylated natural products. Using our novel high-throughput assay, we screened a collection of natural product GTs against a panel of precursors to therapeutically important molecules. A number of these enzymes showed novel acceptor and donor specificities. Interestingly, three GTs catalyzed the synthesis of novel anthracycline glycosides. Our findings are particularly important towards the glycodiversification of therapeutics in this class, given the clinical value of anthracycline glycosides, and the importance of the sugar residue on the biological activity of these therapeutics.
Epirubicin is a high value anticancer anthracycline drug, as it is reported to have a lower cardiotoxicity than the parental compound, doxorubicin. The sugar moiety, L-acosamine and L-daunosamine is the only difference between epirubicin and doxorubicin. The corresponding nucleotide activated sugar donors are TDP-L-acosamine and TDP-L-daunosamine. Despite the importance of TDP-L-acosamine, a natural biosynthetic pathway for this precursor has not been described. Chemists have synthesized this donor via organic synthetic methods, however, it is a tedious process with multiple chemical conversions. Furthermore, the in vivo production of TDP-L-daunosamine is reported to be low. We have addressed this by engineering an in vitro enzymatic pathway for the synthesis of TDP-L-acosamine and TDP-L-daunosamine based on the substrate flexibility of sugar biosynthetic enzymes. Starting from a common precursor, we have synthesized these nucleotide deoxysugars and a few intermediates of the enzymatic pathway and used one of the produced intermediates in enzymatic characterization. Moreover, these could be used in in vitro glycodiversification and as the starting material for the in vitro enzymatic synthesis of some other valuable deoxysugars.


identifier: How, Jade  (2021) Refusing Disciplinarity: A Theoretical Exploration of the Survival Strategies and Resistance Tactics Performed/Enacted by Women of Color Undergraduates.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract: This thesis examines the survival strategies and resistance tactics performed and enacted by women of color undergraduates in academic spaces. Revisiting the classroom as a space of possibility and an (un)even site of encounter, this interdisciplinary project interrogates the relationship between race, place, and space. In addition, it asks different and more generative questions about knowledge production with/in the neoliberal university. As an exercise in speculative thought and practice, this research seeks to add to the existing literature on women of color as the theoreticians of their own lives.


identifier: Touma, Fadi ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1338-7289 <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1338-7289>  (2021) The Regulation of T Helper Cells by Adrenergic Agonists and The Role of Nitric Oxide.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: We have previously found that nebivolol inhibits the cytokines of T helper 1 and T helper 17 cells which are linked to autoimmunity and in turn supports nebivolol’s candidacy as a therapeutic of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. In this thesis, I aimed to confirm the inhibitory role of nebivolol on T helper cells and explore whether these effects are mediated by nitric oxide induction. The findings of this thesis show that nebivolol inhibited the cytokine production of T helper 17 and T helper 1 cells in samples of human peripheral mononuclear cells. I also found that these effects were not mediated by nitric oxide and its predominant signaling pathway. Instead, a low level of nitric oxide was produced during adrenergic signaling and helped to stabilize T helper 17 and T helper 1 cells. Finally, nebivolol, which has not been investigated before on human immune cells, represents a promising immunomodulatory adrenergic drug that can help to mitigate the symptoms of autoimmune diseases without inducing cell death or altering nitric oxide levels.


identifier: Alphonse Irudhayaraju, Leo Dixon  (2021) Modelling and Simulation of Concentrated Photovoltaic / Thermal (CPV/T) Collector with a Novel Approach towards the Design of Concentrator for Residential Buildings.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The need to address the rising energy demand through clean energy and efficient management of such generated energy ranging from single family residence to larger communities has laid the foundation for this research. The necessity to accomplish this task without polluting the environment has set the path towards generating renewable energy in reliable ways, capable of sustaining distributed generation and decentralized grid architecture.
This thesis presents a hybrid model of concentrated photovoltaic / thermal collector (CPV/T) and its methodology, with waste heat recovery for domestic hot water consumption suitable for residential buildings.
This hybrid is the combination of two systems: concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) and solar thermal collector (STC). The CPV system generally concentrates inbound solar energy onto a smaller surface. The concentrator is modelled based on square spherical mirrors with a novel approach to attain uniform irradiation. This smaller surface is fitted with a photovoltaic (PV) modules made up of multi-junction solar cells (MJSC), which provide electrical outputs. This PV module is specifically chosen for this concentrator design. The module is fixed with a thermal collector to deliver the usable thermal energy to the storage tank.
This hybrid model is designed and a case study of a residential building based of Arkansas is simulated using eQuest. The energy consumption based on various parameters of an average residential building in Arkansas is prepared from ACEEE to establish the electric and thermal demand profile (Neubauer and Nadel 2011). A comparison graph is plotted to understand the influence of our proposed system on the existing energy demand and supply curve. The electrical efficiency of the system produces 5 kWp along with a 50% thermal efficiency. The reduction in the cost of electricity is discussed along with it net metering arrangement.


identifier: Ayoubi, Hassan  (2021) Seismic Evaluation of Existing Stone Unreinforced Masonry Walls Using Predictive Parameters for Strengthening Interventions.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The seismic evaluation of existing unreinforced masonry (URM) structures is deemed essential due to their historical value and the vulnerability they present when subjected to earthquake shaking. Most of these buildings, constructed in the last century, do not comply with the current seismic codes and masonry standard. This study focusses on the assessment of URM walls subjected to lateral loading and more in detail to the behaviour of structural components such as the piers and spandrels. The behavior of structural elements, comprising the shear and bending failure modes, are investigated; these failure modes can be detected through the crack propagation initiated in building’s masonry walls. Then, a parametric study on a series of capacity formulations of piers and spandrels is performed and each failure mode is investigated independently in the aim of assessing the accuracy in capturing their strength. Three experimental test data are used to validate the efficiency of formulations for diagonal shear and data from five testing programs are used to validate the proposed formulations used to predict the maximum shear force resulting from flexural behavior of piers. Subsequently, a deterministic model for piers is built using an open-source software to generate data required to build a linear relationship between different parameters and the performance criteria expressed in terms of strength and ductility. A case study comprising an URM facade wall of an existing 2-storey school building in Montreal is also conducted and certain strengthening interventions are presented. Further, the generated data is used to build probabilistic models that operates on Bayesian Networks. Nonlinear analysis using the target and the predictive variables are carried out. Machine learning algorithms are applied to acquire the entropy reduction factors which helps determining the most predictive variables used to assess the performance of piers.


identifier: Kierans, James  (2021) Isolation of Latent Player Shooting Ability in the National Hockey League.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Most public research into player performance in the National Hockey League makes use of data published by the NHL itself, which is limited in scope. In the context of evaluating player shooting, i.e. the ability of a player to affect the probability of a shot of theirs becoming a goal, the use of public NHL data may produce a bias, as it does not include data about the movement of the puck prior to a shot. This thesis makes use of a privately tracked dataset which does include information regarding pre-shot movement, and inspects whether the use of this more refined dataset has a material impact on the analysis of player shooting talent. The probability of a shot becoming a goal given external factors (such as location, pre-shot movement, and game state) are used to estimate the probability of a shot becoming a goal, independent of the shooter's ability. Then, the impact a shooter has on the goal probability is captured as a coefficient estimate in a logistic regression model. This analysis is run over both datasets, and the results show that there is evidence that the more granular dataset eliminates pre-shot movement bias in the evaluation of player shooting ability.


identifier: Couturier, Philippe  (2021) School-work dynamics: A within-person examination of how school stress appraisals can impact organizational citizenship behaviour at work.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This dissertation reports the results of a within-person study concerning how various types of school stress appraisals (i.e., hindrance, threat and challenge) can impact organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) at work for student-workers. Indirect effects via positive and negative affect were also examined. Theoretical foundations for this research included the transactional model of stress, the work-home resources model, and affective theories of OCB. Data were gathered every week over a period of four weeks from employed students who were pursuing an undergraduate degree in commerce. Findings provided limited support for the hypotheses that school stress appraisals can impact workplace OCB. The total effects of school stress appraisals on OCB were generally non-significant. However, and consistent with the hypotheses, it was found that appraising school as a hindrance had a negative indirect effect on OCB via positive affect, but this effect became non-significant after including work hindrance appraisal in the model. Furthermore, it was found that appraising school as a threat had a negative indirect effect on OCB via positive affect, but this effect also became non-significant when including work threat appraisal in the model. It was also found that school challenge appraisal had a positive indirect effect on OCB via positive affect, and this effect remained significant after controlling for work challenge appraisal. Supplementary analyses revealed that school stress appraisals are not strong predictors of task performance and CWB at work. One implication of this study is that when students adopt positive framing around school as a challenge, this may have positive downstream effects their OCB and task performance at work via positive affect.


identifier: Jolin, Isabelle  (2021) Female Directors and Corporate Risk Taking: Evidence from U.S. REITs.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: While gender differences in risk preferences and the benefits of gender diversity have been extensively documented, there is currently no research that combines the two concepts to measure managerial overconfidence in the context of REITs. In this paper, we study the impact of board gender diversity on the risk management decisions of 158 U.S. REITs over the 2004 to 2018 period. Gender diversity is measured using two distinct variables to independently reflect both the gender and the diversity dimensions, respectively expressed by the Blau diversity index and the number of female directors on the Board. Risk is proxied by four different measures, namely the portfolio’s green share as well as its level of geographical diversification, sectoral diversification, and net property trading. We find significant risk-reduction benefits associated with gender diversity, confirming that women are less overconfident than men, even in a managerial context. We contribute to the existing research by showing that the combination of both a female CEO and a sufficient number of female directors, whether in relative or absolute terms, is necessary to significantly influence corporate investment risk decisions.


identifier: Chevalier-Crockett, Stephany  (2021) ‘The Defence, as Usual, is Insanity’: Cultural Precedent and the Construction of the Insanity Defence in Nineteenth-Century America.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The United States first saw the introduction of a medicalized insanity test in its courtrooms in the mid-nineteenth century. From 1843 onwards, numerous sensational insanity trials entrenched the test in the common law of the country. Scholarly analyses of the defence primarily focus on the role of medical specialists and jurists in its construction. This thesis proposes that a cultural history of the insanity defence offers a fundamentally different vision of the defence as it emerged in the 1840s. My reading of media sources, such as trial transcripts, newspapers, and other public-oriented work, shows that the informal relationships the public drew between cases influenced perceptions of the plea which in turn shaped how jurists and doctors approached the plea in the courtroom. Consequently, as the defence upheld popular cultural perceptions regarding mental illness, criminality, race, and gender in its use, the insanity plea became constructed as a cultural defence in the law, one imbued with the subjectivity of those who used it in the courts. The cultural constructions of the defence during the nineteenth century illustrates the continuing dialectical relationship that has informed the use of the plea into contemporary times. Ultimately, these trials offer valuable insights for future research regarding public constructions of legal defences such as the insanity plea, and their impact on juror behaviour.


identifier: Cordonnier, Lucile  (2021) Maurice Denis (1870-1943) and the Sacred Grove: Temporality in Fin-de-Siècle France.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis explores the temporalities of three of Maurice Denis’ paintings from his Nabis period: April, or The Anemones (1891, private collection), The Muses (1893, Orsay Museum), and The Green Trees, or Beech Trees in Kerduel (1893, Orsay Museum). All three paintings represent scenes set in forests or woods populated by ethereal figures engaged in processions along paths delimitated amid the trees. I have chosen to name this natural setting “sacred groves.” In the “Definition of Neo-Traditionalism,” Denis defined his artistic practice as the “sanctification of nature.” He wrote: “Art is the sanctification of nature, of that nature found in all the world, which contents itself to live.”  To Denis, art has the ability to make nature sacred. Denis’ use of natural environments in his works, such as the woods and the forest, holds a particular meaning that goes beyond mere landscape painting. In this thesis, I argue that April, The Muses and The Green Trees are three paintings that synchronize multiple levels of temporality within them: spiritual, decorative, and mythical. Temporal synchronicity is made possible by the subject of the sacred grove that ties these levels together and grants their homogeneity and integrity within the works. My approach is inspired by art historian Giovanni Careri’s concept of the revival of the work of art in the “Now-Time.” As works meant to decorate modern interiors or to be kept private for spiritual contemplation, their purpose is revived in the viewer’s time, the “Now-Time.” Thus, this thesis questions the way this revival functions with mythical times, how a work can connect private spaces with linear and public time, and how the spatiotemporality of the decorative, central to Maurice Denis’ art, is articulated around the paintings’ spiritual purpose.


identifier: Arthurs, Audrey  (2021) “COME DOWN SELECTA”- Capturing the Dancehall Phenomenon Through the Album Art of Wilfred Limonious.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
ABSTRACT

“COME DOWN SELECTA”- Capturing the Dancehall Phenomenon Through the Album Art of Wilfred Limonious
Audrey Arthurs
This thesis examines the artwork of Wilfred Limonious (1949-1999), who illustrated hundreds of vinyl album covers for dancehall music, a sub-genre of reggae music, during the 1980s and 1990s. In this thesis dancehall music is regarded as a personal, musical response to inner-city struggles, oppression and the repeated denial of opportunities to improve standards of living and community safety. Using a satirical, comics-like style, Limonious illustrated the musical scene and inner-city lifestyle of Kingston, Jamaica; his art replete with razor sharp wit and humour yet imbued with empathy and respect for the men and women he depicts. The only scholarly work to date that discusses Limonious’s work is Christopher Bateman’s exhibition catalogue In Fine Style: The Dancehall Art of Wilfred Limonious (2016). My research sets out to situate Limonious’s work within the history of comics, by comparing his work to countercultural comics and to a number of Black (American) artists who drew Black characters during the early and mid 20th century. This thesis also draws on interdisciplinary scholarship to frame Limonious’s art: cultural studies, histories of Jamaica, musicology, and gender theory. More specifically, the thesis focuses on gender dynamics in dancehall culture, which takes the form of flashy clothing, bling, exaggerated erotic performances, and fantastical violence. This thesis examines the gender dynamics in his artwork, while focusing on the hypersexual performances of both men and women in the dancehall space and on dancehall album art.


identifier: Zhang, Haonan  (2021) Studying Logging Practice in Test Code.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Studying Logging Practice in Test Code

abstract: Logging is widely used in modern software development to record run-time information for software systems and plays a signiﬁcant role in software testing. Although the research area of logging has attracted much attention, there is no research on the practice of test logging (i.e., the logging involved in test ﬁles). To ﬁll this knowledge gap, we conduct this empirical study to explore and disclose the practice of test logging. This study examines 21 open-source subjects with ∼8 million sources lines of code and ∼70 thousand logging statements. We organize our study by answering four research questions, and as a result, (1) we have yielded ﬁve ﬁndings to reveal the differences between test and production logging statements, (2) we have disclosed four ﬁndings regarding the differences between the maintenance efforts of test and production logging statements, (3) we have identiﬁed four reasons why developers use test log and (4) we have uncovered the relationship between test logging and production logging. To the best of our knowledge, this is the ﬁrst study that quantitatively and qualitatively analyzes the logging practices in test and production code, providing developers and researchers with insight into this topic.


identifier: Uddin, Md Shahab  (2021) Horus: A Security Assessment Framework for Android Crypto Wallets.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Crypto wallet apps help cryptocurrency users to create, store, and manage keys, sign transactions, and keep track of funds. However, if these apps are not adequately protected, attackers can exploit security vulnerabilities in them to steal the private keys and gain ownership of the users’ wallets. We develop a semi-automated security assessment framework, Horus, specifically designed to analyze crypto wallet Android apps.  We perform semi-automated analysis on 311 crypto wallet apps and manually inspect the top 18 most popular wallet apps from the Google Play Store. Our analysis includes capturing runtime behavior, reverse-engineering the apps, and checking for security standards crucial for wallet apps (e.g., random number generation and private key confidentiality). We reveal several severe vulnerabilities, including, for example, storing plaintext key revealing information in 111 apps which can lead to losing wallet ownership, and storing past transaction information in 11 apps which may lead to user deanonymization.


identifier: John, Camille  (2021) A Study of Building Thermal Dynamics from Large Data Sets: An Application for Residential Smart Thermostats.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis focuses on identifying the Thermal Time Constant (TTC), a thermal performance indicator related the building’s effective thermal insulation, airtightness, and thermal storage capacity. Using data from over 15,000 smart thermostats, data mining is applied to identify patterns in the short-term transient thermal response of Canadian and American dwellings. The data used consist of contextual information (i.e. metadata) and one year of measurements recorded at 5-minute intervals (i.e. indoor air temperature, outdoor air temperature, and Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) equipment run times). The TTC is captured from the data by tracking the indoor temperature response of the free-running dwelling over a specific time period, and by also assuming this response can be accurately described by the characteristic exponential decay (or growth) of a first-order resistance-capacitance thermal model. Consequently, the results show significant differences between estimated TTC values for the summer and winter months across ASHRAE climate zones 1 through 7. In winter, the mean TTC related to these climate zones ranges from 7 to 47 hours. In contrast, the summer mean values vary between a lower and narrower range of 6 to 19 hours which can presumably be attributed to occupants opening the windows, and thus effectively reducing their dwelling’s overall thermal resistance. Towards the larger objectives of thermal resilience, energy savings and grid reliability, the estimated TTC values can be used in the residential sector to quickly identify buildings eligible for building enclosure retrofits or to rapidly generate a simple model to inform thermal load estimation and management.


identifier: Guévremont, Michel ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2904-6382 <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2904-6382>  (2021) 4D Simulation of Capital Construction Projects: Levels of Development and Ontology for Delay Claims Applications.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
4D simulation is commonly used in building construction projects as part of Building Information Modeling (BIM) processes. A construction project progresses through different phases. At each of these phases, the project schedules and 3D models have various levels of development (LODs) ranging from summarized to detailed models. Therefore, 4D simulation should consider multiple LODs. However, the literature does not define 4D-LODs adequately. On the other hand, there is limited research related to the visualization of complex delay claims using 4D simulation. Moreover, although BIM, 4D simulation, Delay Effects and Causes (DEC), and claims are knowledge domains with active research in the construction industry, there is a gap in integrating these domains in a more formal and overarching ontology-based approach to link essential concepts such as liability, causality and quantum in a delay claim using 4D simulation.
The long-term goal of this thesis is to propose a systematic approach for the development of 4D simulation to fulfill the needs of different applications focusing on the area of delay claims. The thesis has the following specific objectives: (1) Providing a guideline about 4D-LODs definitions that are based on needs and project progress; (2) Introducing a formal method for developing 4D simulation of capital construction projects considering different time horizons; (3) Investigating the current usage, efficiency and value of 4D simulation in construction delay claims and applications such as analyzing delay DEC and assigning responsibilities; (4) Developing a multidisciplinary ontology for linking delay claims with 4D simulation to analyze DEC and responsibilities; and (5) Developing a method for delay claim visualization and analysis using 4D simulation.
The selection of the suitable 4D-LOD based on the proposed guideline enables an effective simulation considering the needs of the project and the available information. The proposed 4D-LODs are useful in identifying the different representations of workspaces created at each LOD. Furthermore, the proposed 4D simulation development method is efficient and useful for project owners and contractors to streamline the simulation process by focusing on needs. This method has been applied in several large-scale projects, and resulted in reducing project cost and duration by quickly identifying feasible scenarios, as well as avoiding claims and minimizing site conflicts.
A survey has been conducted to understand the potential applications of 4D simulation in forensic investigation of delay claims in construction projects. The results of the survey show that 4D simulation is efficient for all roles involved in delay claims negotiations and litigations including judges, lawyers, experts and witnesses. However, 4D simulation would provide more benefits if it is required in the contract. 4D simulation can facilitate the identification, visualization, quantification and responsibility assignment of delay events by identifying spatio-temporal conflicts and generating a better collaboration environment for finding appropriate mitigation measures. Finally, an ontology (called Claim4D-Onto) has been developed for linking delay claims with 4D simulation to analyze effects-causes and responsibilities. Claim4D-Onto has been validated with legal experts and delay claims professionals considering the criteria of clarity and completeness. Claim4D-Onto can facilitate a systematic and clear representation of the DEC and responsibilities in 4D simulation for delay claims management and avoidance. Using the concepts of Claim4D-Onto, it has been demonstrated that visual analytics based on 4D simulation can clarify the causality and analyze delay responsibilities and entitlements as a complementary tool to the cause-effect matrix.
The main contributions developed in the context of this thesis are: (1) Defining 4D-LODs with a guideline based on the available information and needs; (2) Introducing the development of 4D simulation with a formal method considering different time horizons; (3) Identifying the efficiency and value of 4D simulation in construction claims as a tool for supporting legal arguments, stakeholder’s viewpoints and interrogatory considerations; (4) Developing a visualization method to facilitate the identification and quantification of events in delay claims using 4D simulation; (5) Developing a multidisciplinary ontology (Claim4D-Onto) for linking delay claims with 4D simulation; and (6) Extending the benefits of 4D simulation in the area of delay claims with visual analytics of DEC and responsibilities.


identifier: Mirjalili, Seyedmohammad ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5364-2715 <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5364-2715>  (2021) Design and Optimization of Optical Devices Using Artificial Intelligence Techniques.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Over the last decade, there has been a growing interest in utilizing novel photonic and optical devices for a diverse range of applications. For the next generation of wireless communication networks, the development of new and optimal optical devices is inevitable. Existing optical network infrastructure cannot meet the stringent requirements of next-generation data networks (such as a 1000-fold increase in bandwidth demand, very low latency, better spectral and energy efficiency, etc.). In other words, the physical layer of the communication network must be revolutionized to provide the proper foundation for these emerging technologies.
 Optical networks are based on propagating light. Light propagation in realistic settings is usually a complicated phenomenon. When it comes to the context of optical devices and its propagation in the new devices, the complexity of the problem becomes much higher. In other words, the relations between the light propagation characteristics and the structural parameters of the new devices are mostly unknown. Therefore, the conventional method for designing such devices in the absence of a clear analytic description is usually based on a trial and error process. This method has many disadvantages, being time-consuming, inefficient, and the designed device is usually far from an optimized one. Also, the designing process needs intensive human involvement.
Therefore, to fill this gap, we have utilized artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to design, analyze, and optimize several different optical devices. More specifically, we have proposed several optimization frameworks for designing orbital angular momentum (OAM) fibers, large mode area photonic crystal (PhC) fibers, waveguide-based LP01 to LP0m mode converter, PhC filters, PhC sensors, and PhC-enhanced light-emitting diodes (LEDs).  In all of these devices, we are dealing with a complicated system in which the relationships between the structural parameters and the output performance merit factors are very complicated. Such problems have a long simulation runtime, so it is not viable to employ an exhaustive optimization algorithm, which evaluates all of the possible combinations of the parameters to find the optimal one. Therefore, we consider our problem as a black box and use the AI optimization algorithm to find the optimal solution. Eventually, the proposed optimization frameworks open up an effective way to design high-performance optical devices for a diverse range of applications and pave the way for the development of next-generation optical devices for next-generation optical networks.


identifier: Majewski, Robert  (2021) Constructive Journalism in Real-Life Settings: The Case of Radical Ruralism in Les Basques (“Les Basques Autrement”).  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

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abstract: This research-creation project proposes the application of constructive journalism theory to the practice of digital multimedia documentary production. It uses rural Quebec’s Les Basques region as a creative testing ground to show how theoretical models of constructive journalism can be used to tell stories of radical ruralism in the region. To date, very few examples of how to apply the theoretical teachings of this model to digital multimedia documentary production exist. Constructive journalism is a solutions-oriented model that focuses on positive emotions and reports on affirmative, inspiring and often untold narratives, and aims for engagement and co-creation. Mobilizing elements of previous alternative models such as peace journalism, civic/public journalism and solutions journalism, constructive journalism attempts to respond to declining trust levels and audience disengagement in the news by proposing a model that seeks to inspire hopefulness and resilience. This research-creation project takes a multimedia approach and uses video, photography, audio and text in its digital documentary component, Les Basques autrement. Using the documentary produced, this research also provides a constructive journalism “how-to” guide accompanied by notes and reflections from the field to discuss the implications of applying the model’s theoretical framework in a real-life setting.


identifier: Van Tuan, Tran ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4234-9038 <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4234-9038>  (2021) Formalising Solutions to REST API Practices as Design (Anti)patterns.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: REST APIs are nowadays the de-facto standard for Web applications. However, as more systems and services adopt the REST architectural style, many problems arise regularly. To avoid these repetitive problems, developers should follow good practices and avoid bad ones. Thus, research on best and bad practices and how to design simple but effective REST APIs is important. Yet, to the best of our knowledge, only a few recurring REST API practices have been codified in the form of design (anti)patterns, which include a name, an intent, a context, and some solutions. There are works on defining or detecting some practices, but not on codifying these practices as patterns. In this thesis, we present the most up-to-date list of REST API practices and formalise them in the form of design (anti)patterns to ease their use by developers. During this formalisation, we also devise and formalise solutions to these practices. Finally, we validate our design (anti)patterns with a survey and interviews of 55 developers, which confirm that our solutions are acceptable by practitioners and reflect real problems and solutions.


identifier: Pigeon-Owen, Louis  (2021) Hypodermia.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Hypodermia

abstract: Hypodermia is a novel about the ‘skin trade’ relayed through a cyberpunk and magic realist lens. It follows the trajectory of Investigation Officer Mehmet Akhavan who works for England’s National Crime Agency at the Port of Dover and unwittingly uncovers a conspiracy wherein snakeheads are selling the skins of refugees to underground illicit galleries and fashion shows. This is a dark, speculative tragi-comedy which, at its heart, acts as a political commentary on the United Kingdom’s treatment of migrants and, more globally, dives under the skin of modern slavery, drug trafficking and transplant tourism and the systematic exploitation that binds them along the same smuggling routes. The paths of a variety show host-turned-influencer, a televangelist legislator, a forensic scientist, a Syrian literature student and a deluded anatomy professor collide and coalesce in this alternate future that attempts to dissect the ways in which humans commodify and fetishize each other’s bodies. Mehmet’s pursuit of the truth will lead him to confront the weird, beautiful and horrific corners of a world set on turning its citizens into objects of art.


identifier: Zhu, Xiuquan  (2021) “How Do You Think Bear Felt?”: Enhancing Preschoolers’ Inferencing During Storybook Reading.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Preschoolers’ inferential skills are a strong predictor of their vocabulary, story comprehension, and later reading comprehension. Preservice educators can play an important role in supporting these skills, but often lack knowledge about inferencing and inferential questions and strategies to support inferencing in early childhood settings. This study investigated the effectiveness of an instructional unit (including direct teaching; reading, observing, and reflecting; and practicing the targeted strategies) aimed at developing preservice educators’ knowledge about children's inferencing skills as a component of emergent literacy, and about strategies to support such skills during storybook reading.
Participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental group that received instruction focused on asking inferential questions (n = 13) or a comparison group (n = 12), that received instruction on print referencing, another means of supporting emergent literacy. In both groups, knowledge about emergent literacy and inferencing was evaluated via a questionnaire, and their use of inferential questions was investigated via a role play. Mixed ANOVA demonstrated that both groups increased their emergent literacy knowledge significantly from pretest to posttest, as expected. However, as hypothesized, only participants in the experimental group improved significantly in their knowledge about inferencing and inferential questions from pretest to posttest. The role play data further showed that the experimental group significantly increased the frequency and diversity of inferential questions from pretest to posttest, and surpassed the comparison group on these measures at posttest. These results have direct implications for education and professional development for preservice educators.


identifier: Ahmed, Sara Moustafa Ismael  (2021) A Three Echelon Location Routing Problem with Multiple Commodities and Courier Deliveries.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Research on  location-routing is extensive, providing new variants for numerous applications. It is worth mentioning that most contributions present in the literature of freight distribution are limited to two-echelon, single commodity networks imposing one delivery strategy for all flows. While there are recent variants that consider extensions to this problem, they rarely consider modifying all the features simultaneously. To address this gap, we define a multi-echelon location and routing problem with multi-commodity pick-up-and-delivery (3E-LRP-MC-PD). We further consider the choice between three different transportation strategies for each commodity. The problem is formulated as an integer program and three additional variants of the formulation are considered. A slope scaling decomposition matheuristic is proposed to solve the problem in reasonable computational time. Computational experiments are performed to asses the different formulations and to evaluate the performance of the matheuristic. Finally, additional experiments are conducted to investigate the impact of the unique attributes of the 3E-LRP-MC-PD.


identifier: Manshaei, Mohammad  (2021) Nesting the Spectacle: A Study of Toronto's New Opera House, an Architecture that Averts Being Iconic.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto's first purpose-built opera facility, was constructed in the early 2000s as part of a substantial investment in the city's cultural infrastructure that brought about a short-lived period of developing cultural buildings, commonly known as Toronto's Cultural Renaissance. For developing the opera facility, the Canadian Opera Company pursued a strategy that marked a distinction from the approach of many of its local and international rivals. Instead of commissioning celebrity architects for a spectacular iconic design — a strategy that, by the end of the twentieth century, had become part of a prevalent trend of developing cultural buildings all around the world — the Opera Company strove to build a humble-looking structure, designed by a Toronto-based architectural firm. Against the backdrop of Toronto's Cultural Renaissance developments, which involved the construction of a few world-class urban icons in the city, this research explores the reasons behind the Opera Company's distinct approach. While critical studies concerned with positioning architecture in its socio-political context often concentrate on interrogating cases of iconic buildings, especially since such architectural products are generally considered the most likely outcome of conditions of neoliberal globalization, this work contends that iconic architecture is not the only manifestation of the appropriation of architecture by the powerful. By borrowing from Bourdieu's theory of practice, it points to the implicit nature of architecture's complicity in processes of power and explores alternative pathways through which architecture can retain capitalist interests in urban space. The research emphasizes the importance of investigating architectural products that are considered banal and ordinary, especially since such cases have often remained at the margins of critical examination.


identifier: Malayeri, Mojtaba  (2021) Volatile organic compounds by-products generation in photocatalytic oxidation reactor: Experimental and modelling.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in indoor air is inevitable. Their adverse effect on human health has encouraged researchers to develop various technologies for air pollution remediation. Photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) has been regarded as a promising and emerging technique for air purification and extensively investigated in the last two decades to characterize and improve the effectiveness and performance of this technology. In addition, the development of appropriate models can enhance the understanding of reactor performance and the evaluation of intrinsic kinetic parameters that enable the scale-up or re-design of more efficient large-scale photocatalytic reactors.
This research works on mathematical modeling of gas phase photocatalytic reactors and analyses different key factors that can enhance pollutants decomposition. At the first step, a one-dimensional time-dependent mathematical model for continuous flow UV-PCO reactor has been developed. In this model, transfer of pollutants by advection and dispersion in bulk phase incorporates with the reaction rate based on the extended Langmuir Hinshelwood model in the catalyst phase. CFD modeling was also used to determine the flow distribution in the reactor at various airflow rates. Moreover, the light intensity distribution on the photocatalyst surface was simulated using the linear source spherical emission model. A dimensionless form of the model was then proposed to generalize the result for any scale. The proposed model was validated first by comparing with predictions of other models (inter-model comparison) and then by experimental data from two different scales (pilot and bench) of UV-PCO reactors. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis using dimensionless parameters was conducted to find the controlling step in the PCO process. To validate the model, acetone, MEK, and toluene were tested in the UV-PCO reactor with a commercial PCO filter (TiO2 coated on silica fiber felts) at various operating conditions, such as concentration, relative humidity, irradiance and air velocity.
 The main issue for applying PCO technology in the indoor environment is the generation of hazardous by-products. The effect of by-products formation was usually ignored in former modeling studies.  The next effort was to improve the model and build a comprehensive one to consider by-products generation in the UV-PCO reactor. To achieve this goal, a possible reaction pathway for degradation of each challenge compound was proposed based on identified by-products in analytical methods (GC-MS and HPLC). Different possible reaction rate scenarios were evaluated to find the best expression fitted to experimental data at the steady-state condition. The obtained reaction coefficients were then used to validate the model under various operating conditions. Finally, the Health Risk Index was used to investigate the implications of generated by-products on human health under varying operating conditions. The results indicated that the proposed model has a great potential to simulate the behavior of UV-PCO reactor in a real application.


identifier: Tafakori, Tala  (2021) Caloric Restriction and the TORC1-Sch9 Nutrient-Signaling Branch Link Chronological Aging to Cellular Quiescence in Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Based on the recent findings of the Titorenko laboratory, I hypothesized that caloric restriction slows the chronological aging of budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae because this geroprotective dietary intervention is integrated into the four processes of a cellular quiescence program. Limitation of calories prolongs yeast longevity by altering the properties of quiescent cells through an intricate network of nutrient-signaling pathways. In addition, I propose that genetic interventions inferring mutations in the Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 (TORC1)-Serine/threonine-protein kinase (Sch9) nutrient signaling branch (such as the tor1Δ and sch9Δ mutations) display longevity-extending phenotypes as a caloric restriction by targeting the processes of the quiescence program. In this study, caloric restriction and the mutant phenotypes of sch9 (in some cells) demonstrated a deceleration of yeast chronological aging by arresting the cell cycle in early G1 and stimulating the development of high-density quiescent cells (process 1), whereas the phenotypes of the tor1 and the sch9 mutants (in some cells) displayed cell cycle arrest in late G1, developing high-density quiescent cells. Caloric restriction promoted an aging-associated conversion of high-density quiescent cells into low-density quiescent cells (process 2), while the phenotypes of the tor1 and the sch9 mutants (in some cells) postponed the conversion of high-density quiescent cells into low-density quiescent cells. Therefore, yeast longevity can be extended by either promoting or decelerating process 2 of the quiescence program. The three interventions displayed a common effect in which they slowed down a fast aging-associated deterioration in clonogenicity of low-density quiescent cells (process 3) and postponed a slow aging-associated decline in clonogenicity of high-density quiescent cells (process 4).


identifier: Zamanian, Farzaneh  (2021) The Relation Between Parenting Styles and Parents' Perceptions of Their Children's Play.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Play can facilitate children’s understanding of the world, help them learn how to control their feelings, practice life skills, learn to socialize with others, as well as develop their cognitive skills (Emsli & Mesle, 2008; Kayılı, 2010; Moore & Russ, 2008; Taggart et al., 2020; Yılmaz & Pala, 2019). On the other hand, parent-child interactions and how parents perceive their children’s play types can make a fundamental difference in children’s early learning and development, and have, therefore, been widely studied in diverse contexts (Khoshbakht, 2012; Lagacé-Séguin & d’Entremont, 2006; Lin & Li, 2019; Manz & Bracaliello, 2016). This qualitative research investigated how five Iranian mothers perceived their children’s play and how this perception was related to their perceived parenting practices. A cultural framework – the Developmental Niche Theory (Super & Harkness, 1986) –  was used to understand these Iranian mothers’ perceptions who were living in Iran. The participants were interviewed about their practices and perceptions of their young children (aged 3 to 5-year-old). The participants  completed the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ; Robinson, 2001), and they were also interviewed about their perceptions of their own parenting styles and practices.
The findings suggested that mothers’ cultural backgrounds and their own childhood play experiences influence their perspectives about their children’s play. The mothers also perceived playtime as an important element in children’s life, and provided their children with opportunities to decide about their play types/toys. Finally, mothers’ perceptions of their parenting and their beliefs about it seemed to impact their perceptions of play.


identifier: Pan, Keyu  (2021) Vital Signs Monitoring Based On UWB Radar.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Contactless detection of human vital sign using radar sensors appears to be a promising technology which integrates communication, biomedicine, computer science etc. The radar-based vital sign detection has been actively investigated in the past decade. Due to the advantages such as wide bandwidth, high resolution, small and portable size etc., ultra-wideband (UWB) radar has received a great deal of attention in the health care field.  In this thesis, an X4 series UWB radar developed by Xethru Company is adopted to detect human breathing signals through the radar echo reflected by the chest wall movement caused by breath and heartbeat. The emphasis is placed on the estimation of breathing and heart rate based on several signal processing algorithms.

Firstly, the research trend of vital sign detection using radar technology is reviewed,  based on which the advantages of contactless detection and  UWB  radar-based technology are highlighted. Then theoretical basis and core algorithms of radar signals detection are presented. Meanwhile, the detection system based on Xethru UWB radar is introduced. Next, several preprocessing methods including SVD-based clutter and noise removal algorithms, the largest variance-based target detection method, and the autocorrelation-based breathing-like signal identification method are investigated, to extract the significant component containing the vital signs from the received raw radar echo signal. Then the thesis investigates four time-frequency analysis algorithms (fast Fourier transform + band-pass filter (FFT+BPF), empirical mode decomposition (EMD), ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) and variational mode decomposition (VMD) and compare their performances in estimating breathing rate (BR) and heart rate (HR) in different application scenarios.

A python-based vital signs detection system is designed to implement the above-mentioned preprocessing and BR and HR estimation algorithms, based on which a large number of single target experiments are undertaken to evaluate the four estimation algorithms. Specifically, the single target experiments are divided into simple setup and challenging setup. In the simple setup, testees face to radar and keep normal breathing in an almost stationary posture, while in the challenging setup, the testee is allowed to do more actions, such as site sitting, changing the breathing frequency, deep hold the breathing. It is shown that the FFT+BPF algorithm gives the highest accuracy and the fastest calculation speed under the simple setup, while in a challenging setup, the VMD algorithm has the highest accuracy and the widest applicability.

Finally, double targets breathing signal detection at different distances to the radar are undertaken, aiming to observe whether the breathing signals of two targets will interfere with each other. We found that when two objects are not located at the same distance to the radar, the object closer to the radar will not affect the breath detection of the object far from the radar. When the two targets are located at the same distance, the 'Shading effect' appears in the two breathing signals and only VMD algorithm can separate the breathing signals of the targets.


identifier: Bi, Huifang  (2021) Oil Removal and Prevention from Shoreline under Different Environmental Conditions.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Marine oil spills frequently occur and cause adverse impacts on the coastal ecosystem and communities. The spilled oil may reach the shorelines and can persist for a long time. The application of surface washing agents is an important shoreline cleanup technique that can help remove stranded oil from substrate surfaces with the advantages of high removal efficiency, low toxicity, and strong economic viability. Herein, in this thesis, the comprehensive literature review was firstly conducted to study the causes and effects of oil spills, transport and fate of the spilled oil, various shoreline cleanup methods, and the use of surface washing agents for shoreline cleanup. Second, the effects of environmental factors on the performance of a commercial surface washing agent were well investigated. Meanwhile, the assessment for this agent was also carried out from aspects of toxicity, detergency, dispersion properties, and field tests. It has the practical implication for the use of surface washing agents in shoreline cleanup. Third, a green and responsive washing fluid was developed by modifying the nanoclay with a nonionic surfactant to washed out the stranded oil on beach sand. The thermodynamic miscibility modeling results had good agreement with the batch test results. The modified nanoclay has the application potential for shoreline cleanup, which can be a desirable alternative to the existing commercial surface washing agents. Fourth, a framework for the evaluation and selection of surface washing agents was also developed to better understand and apply this technique, and it is helpful for future shoreline-cleanup decision making. In addition, a new initiative was proposed with the use of alginate hydrogel coating for emergent shoreline oiling prevention. It provides a unique direction for the future development of green oil spill control strategy.


identifier: Narcross, Lauren  (2021) De novo synthesis and derivatization of norlaudanosoline in yeast.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs) are a class of plant secondary metabolites with interesting pharmaceutical properties, such as analgesic, anti-cancer, anti-spasmodic, anti-microbial, anti-tussive, vasodilation, and muscle relaxant. The BIA family includes the opiates morphine and codeine. Several other BIAs are also commercially available; relevant to this thesis is sanguinarine, which is marketed as a growth enhancer for animal feed by the company Phytobiotics. To date, commercial production of almost all BIAs relies on their extraction from plants. However, the rarity of most BIAs in nature and the cost and difficulty of their chemical synthesis limits research and potential valorization of most of these compounds. An alternative route to BIA synthesis could enable sustainable production of BIAs currently extracted from plants while also expanding access to rarer alkaloids. Synthesis in a microbial host like baker’s yeast is an attractive option due to cheap feedstock, genetic tractability, and ease of scaleup. The highest BIA titer produced in a microbial host is currently 4.6 g/L of (S)-reticuline, the last common pathway intermediate to several commercially relevant alkaloids, including sanguinarine. This success has not yet been carried forward to downstream targets, whose reported titers remain at the microgram to low milligram scale.

This thesis is focused on the development of a microbial platform for the synthesis of the BIA dihydrosanguinarine, the direct precursor of sanguinarine. In 2014 our group demonstrated the reconstruction of a partial synthesis pathway in yeast, resulting in 1.5% conversion of the supplemented BIA norlaudanosoline to dihydrosanguinarine. Here, we improve conversion of norlaudanosoline to dihydrosanguinarine to 10% by eliminating a pathway bottleneck. Next, we introduce de novo norlaudanosoline synthesis to yeast, which improves yields and reduces side products compared to the route previously used for BIA synthesis. Finally, we extend reticuline synthesis to dihydrosanguinarine, demonstrating its first de novo production in a microbial host and culminating in 630 mg/L of dihydrosanguinarine and sanguinarine in fed-batch fermentation. This represents a >300-fold increase over the previous highest reported titer of a commercial BIA target – a major milestone in the quest to make the entire BIA family commercially accessible.


identifier: REBBAH, DHIAA ELHAK  (2021) Security Monitoring of Distribution Automation Systems.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Distribution automation systems represent the new generation of power distribution systems
in response to the growing interest in smart grids along with the integration of information
and communication technologies (ICT). Distribution automation systems leverage
advanced ICTs to automate system operation for delivering electrical energy to consumers.
With the use of ICT comes the need to protect distribution automation systems from cyberattacks
that could impact the operation of such systems, mainly power availability.
In this thesis, the main objective is to assess the security aspect of distribution automation
systems. As such, we design and implement a security monitoring platform that allows
assessing the dynamics of these systems. In this regard, a digital twin testbed is designed
and implemented to simulate smart power distribution systems in near real-time. Moreover,
a proposed security monitoring platform is designed and implemented on top of the
previously mentioned digital twin testbed. The platform can help monitor the impacts of
different occurring incidents and allows executing implemented cyberattacks against the
modeled power systems. In addition, it employs AI techniques to detect these attacks.
The specific contributions of this thesis are: (i) the design and implementation of a cosimulation
testbed for distribution automation systems using open source software packages;
(ii) the design and implementation of an AI-based security analytics framework for
distribution automation systems; and (iii) the implementation of cyberattacks targeting distribution
automation applications. Various machine and deep learning models are implemented
to detect the attacks and different performance evaluation metrics are used to compare
different models. The obtained results are competitive and they validate the usefulness
of the models in detecting attacks. The co-simulation platform is able to simulate power
distribution systems in near real-time, along with an emulation of the IEC 60870-5-104
communication protocol. Also, the platform is capable of simulating big distribution test
cases, e.g., the IEEE 123-bus and the IEEE 8500-nodes systems. The proposed platform
allows power utilities to assess the security of their power distribution systems without
affecting power availability and quality.


identifier: Duke, Kieran  (2021) Synthesis and Characterization of Modified Polyadenosines for Applications as a pH-Responsive Nanodevice.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The need for structurally and functionally diverse nanomaterials is rapidly expanding with increasing applications in various fields including medicine and biotechnology. RNA has been gaining recognition as a nanomaterial due to its ability to engage in both Watson-Crick and non-canonical interactions as well as its capacity to adopt structural motifs distinct from those of DNA. One such structure, the poly(A) RNA duplex, first described by Rich et al in 1961, is parallel-stranded and stabilised by hydrogen bonds between the Hoogsteen edges of the adenine bases. Acidic conditions or ammonium (NH4+) promotes duplex formation. Poly(A) RNA lends itself for applications as a pH-responsive nanomaterial similar to other nucleic acid structures including the i-motif.
The aim of this thesis was to expand upon previous studies that investigated the influence of 2'-modifications on the poly(A) RNA duplex. Here, the effects of 2'-O-propargyl functionality, and additional Click chemistry derivatization employing copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition was explored to assess relationships between structure and stability.
Incorporation of the 2'-O-propargyl functionality was found to be destabilizing towards duplex formation. Click chemistry derivatization was performed with small molecule azides including 4-azidobutylamine and 1-(azidomethyl)pyrene. Duplexes that incorporated the amine functionality through the 1,4-triazole linkage were found to be destabilized, where as, pyrene modifications provided stabilization upon successive incorporations. Fluorescence analysis of pyrene-functionalized oligonucleotides provided insight into the localization of the pyrene group and potential flexibility differences between the ends of the duplex. These findings will guide the design of future duplex modifications to enhance its’ application as a pH-responsive nanomaterial.


identifier: Bilal, Nadia  (2021) Detecting Location Names in French Life-Story Interview Transcripts.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: A number of real-world projects cannot leverage the state-of-the-art techniques due to the unavailability of labelled datasets, lack of models tailored to their specific information extraction needs, or lack of models for their language. In such scenarios, instead of using state-of-the-art techniques, a rule-based syntactic analysis is more feasible for extracting specific entities and their relationships. In a similar information extraction scenario, this thesis uses prepositions to detect location names in the French life-story interview transcripts. When the performance is compared with human annotations (gold standard), the average precision for this basic methodology is 80% and the recall is 83%. Such locations that are identified in the context of prepositional phrases are thereafter extracted from the rest of the text. This extends the basic methodology and leads to a significant increase in recall, however, at the expense of precision. The extended version has a higher recall of 94% with a decreased precision of 70%. An additional step addresses a small set of false positives which increases the precision of the extended version to 76% with the same recall of 94%. In addition to location detection, this thesis presents a simple demonstration of using the grammatical context to further detect other entities of interest, specifically, the interviewee’s recollection of the past with respect to people in association with a location. Hence, this thesis demonstrates the utility of the rule-based approach and a grammar based methodology to detect specific entities of interest and their relationships in texts of specific projects.


identifier: La Roche, Pierrette-Anne  (2021) A Music Therapist's Exploration of Vocal Improvisation for Self-Care: A Heuristic Self-Inquiry.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Self-care is imperative for helping professionals yet literature indicates that these professionals lack the support and guidance that they need to engage in effective and personally meaningful self-care practices. Furthermore, music therapists face stressors specific to the practice of music therapy. Given the importance of self-care practices for music therapists and the potential for vocal improvisation to elucidate personal insights and potentials, the purpose of this heuristic self-inquiry was to examine my own lived experiences of engaging in free unaccompanied vocal improvisations as a means of authentic self-expression. Results were comprised of four overarching categories: impediments and facilitators of authentic vocal expression, the many voices, the authentic voice in professional contexts, and authentic vocal expression and self-care. Each category contained sub-categories explicated through personal journal quotes and insights that emerged.  A creative synthesis, symbolizing aspects of my growth throughout the research process, is presented in the form of an original song. The results of this study helped me to further realize and connect to my authentic vocal potentials and in doing so, further understand how my own self-care needs might be addressed through vocal improvisation.  Additionally, this research may inspire other music therapists and perhaps other health professionals to explore this medium as a means of authentic self-connection, which in turn could enhance their own self care practices. Other implications as well as limitations of the study, are presented. Suggestions for future research are offered.


identifier: Richard, Victoria  (2021) Coordinating signaling pathways between cell types to control anterior morphogenesis in C. elegans.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Morphogenesis is crucial for the development of tissues which must be coordinated to give rise to complex structures in the context of an organism. Mechanisms at the single cell, tissue and multi-tissue levels contribute to the complexities in studying morphogenesis. In C. elegans, prior studies uncovered mechanisms regulating epidermal and pharyngeal morphogenesis, but how these and other tissues are coordinated to give rise to the anterior lumen remained a black box. We characterized anterior morphogenesis to determine how the epidermal, pharyngeal and neuroblast (neuronal precursor) cells move and are positioned relative to one another, and to identify signaling events that regulate their coordination. We found that the first visible marker of the future anterior lumen are projections from the anterior-most pharyngeal cells (arcade cells) which form a stable rosette and express the polarity protein PAR-6. These projections are surrounded by subsets of polarized neuroblasts with PAR-6-enriched projections that organize into patterns forming two pentagons and a semi-circle. The anterior epidermal cells migrate toward the projections and ultimately join with the pharyngeal cells for their successful epithelialization. We found that the ventral epidermal cells migrate using F-actin-rich projections which come close to, but do not cross the semi-circle of foci suggesting that the cells corresponding to these foci provide guidance cues. Blocking neuroblast cell division and disrupting the patterns of polarized neuroblasts caused a decrease in the number of epidermal F-actin projections and delayed their migration. We propose that signals associated with the neuronal and/or glial cells control anterior epidermal cell migration. To identify these signals, we performed RNAi to several guidance cues and their receptors, and found that slit (slt-1) and sax/robo (sax-3) are required for neuroblast positioning and epidermal cell migration. This work provides new insights on the mechanisms underlying the multi-tissue cooperation required for successful anterior morphogenesis of C. elegans embryos.


identifier: Vahdati, Elham  (2021) Facial Beauty Analysis based on Computer Vision and Deep Learning Techniques.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Analysis of facial beauty has become an emerging research topic in recent years, and has fascinated researchers from various fields. Considering the development of modern technologies, there is a great interest in discovering the quantitative relationship between attractiveness and facial features using computer vision and machine learning techniques. The objective of facial beauty prediction (FBP) is to develop a human-like model that automatically evaluates facial attractiveness.
Our research aims to provide new frameworks to analyze the attractiveness of human faces. First, two geometric facial measurements, including ratios and angles, along with a stacking ensemble model are employed to predict female face attractiveness. In fact, we investigate the importance of angles of lines connecting facial landmarks on three prominent facial
regions, namely eyes, nose and chin, for facial beauty assessment. Second, inspired by the success of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) on facial analysis tasks, we introduce a new framework to analyze the attractiveness of female faces using transfer learning methodology as well as a stacking ensemble model. Specifically, a pre-trained Convolutional Neural
Network (CNN) originally trained on relatively similar datasets for face recognition task is utilized to acquire high-level and robust features of female face images. This is followed by leveraging a stacking ensemble model which combines the predictions of several base models to predict the attractiveness of a face. Extensive experiments conducted on SCUT-FBP and SCUT-FBP5500 benchmark datasets, confirm the strong robustness of the proposed approach. Prediction correlations of 0.89 and 0.91 are achieved by our new method for SCUT-FBP and SCUT-FBP5500 datasets, respectively. Our successful results would certainly support the efficacy of transfer learning when applying deep learning techniques to compute facial attractiveness.
Moreover, this study provides a new deep framework for simultaneous facial beauty assessment, gender recognition as
well as ethnicity identification. To  further enhance  the  attractiveness  computation  accuracy,  specific  regions  of  face  images  (i.e. left  eye,  nose  and  mouth)  as  well  as  the  whole  face  are  fed  into  multi-stream  CNNs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to integrate different face attributes and facial regions using multi-stream CNNs for face attractiveness prediction. Prediction correlation of 0.95 is achieved by our deep model for the SCUT-FBP5500 benchmark dataset,
which would certainly support the efficacy of our proposed model. Interestingly, our experimental results on the SCUT-FBP and SCUT-FBP5500 benchmark datasets (spanning 500 and 5500 facial images) indicate significant improvement in accuracy over the other state-of-the-art methods.


identifier: Antal, Caitlyn ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3921-501X <https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3921-501X>  (2021) What Do We Grasp At A Glance? Investigating Conceptual Representations Through Rapid Object Categorization.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: We report on two experiments investigating the nature of conceptual tokening—whether concepts are accessed via the content of lexical labels representing whole objects or constituent conceptual properties—using a picture-word masked priming congruency task with brief exposures (50/60 ms or 190/200 ms). In Experiment 1, participants were presented with picture-word pairs and had to judge whether the stimuli were related to each other. In Experiment 2, participants completed the same task while wearing red-blue anaglyph glasses—allowing us to control for the potential overlap between retinal projections, and investigate the role of visual pathways and early posterior visual projections during object and word recognition. For each picture (e.g., a dog), one of four word probes was presented for congruency decision: the basic level category label of the picture (e.g., dog), a superordinate label (e.g., animal), a high-prototypical (e.g., bark), or low-prototypical feature (e.g., fur). Response times and accuracy to congruency decisions were analyzed through linear mixed effects models. Results showed that (a) at 50/60 ms, pictures paired with superordinate labels engendered faster and more accurate responses than those paired with high- and low-prototypical features—but no differences with basic level labels, and (b) at 190/200 ms, superordinate and basic level labels yielded faster and more accurate responses than high- and low-prototypical features. We suggest that object concepts are represented in the brain by non-decompositional abstract atomic symbols carrying information about their superordinate categories or information akin to their most generic lexical labels, not through their constituent or salient features.


identifier: Cavalcante Pereira, Antonio  (2021) Novel Sustainable In-Situ Geotextile Filtration Method for Eco-remediation of Eutrophic Lake Waters.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Climate change and human-made actions are synergically increasing eutrophication cases on inland waters. These augmentation circumstances are not only in places where contamination is higher (i.e., with increased nutrient input) but worldwide due to climate change disruptions. Those excessive nutrients scenarios are augmenting faster trophic status changes to inland waters. Diverse invasive, drastic, intricate, and expensive technologies are applied currently worldwide for eutrophic water remediation, adversely affecting the aquatic biota and reducing its water volume. In order to counterpart this issue, a novel approach method is under study and application, an effective, environmentally safe, and economic eco-remediation technique using a floating filtration system, a silt curtain, and geotextiles (woven and non-woven) as filter media. An in-situ water remediation methodology for the minimally invasive removal of suspended solids and particulate nutrients. A sustainable remediation method supporting the own waterbody’s restoration and directly following three of the 17 Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs), proposed by United Nations (UN) to be reached before 2030: SDG 6 clean water and sanitation, SDG 12 responsible consumption, and production, and SDG 14 life below water. This pilot in-situ experiment was deployed at Lake Caron, a shallow eutrophic lake located in the Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs municipality in Quebec from summer until mid-fall for two consecutive years (i.e., 2019 and 2020). Lake water quality monitoring were performed using the following parameters: particle size analysis (PSA), total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), nitrate (NO3-), chemical oxygen demand (COD), pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), temperature (Temp.), oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), conductivity, turbidity, total dissolved solids (TDS), chlorophyll a (Chl. a) and blue-green algae-phycocyanin (BGA-PC). Turbidity, total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (TP), blue-green-algae-phycocyanin (BGA-PC), and chlorophyll-a statistically significant average removal efficiencies were 49%, 53%, 22%, 56%, and 57%, respectively in the first-year study and 17%, 36%, 18%, 34% and 32%, respectively in the second year study. Those removal trends prevented primary productivity, in both years. This has demonstrated the hypothesis of sustainable lake water remediation by the method presented. A strong statistically positive correlation was also found, in the second year study, between TSS and turbidity, and with TSS and variables that could represent particles (i.e., total phosphorus, turbidity, chlorophyll-a) same behavior were found with turbidity. Additionally, to comply and strengthen sustainability principles within the project, waste management practices were investigated, based on potential reuse strategies (i.e., for used geotextiles and captured suspended solids) following circular economy principles. After proper washing, the geotextiles exhibited hydraulic proprieties close to a value of the unused ones (related to the flow rate and permittivity) characterizing its possible reuse.  Also, liquid waste produced with the captured suspended solids may be classified for future reuse with the high phosphorus content where additional investigation is required. Using this surface water management technique in combination with the proper waste management route as presented, could present this remediation as a promising technique not only for shallow lakes but also for ponds, river sections, coastal regions, bays, and other water types, to ensure proper cleaner water for future generations.


identifier: Al-Deri, Noraldin  (2021) Cellular characterization of fibroblasts harboring variants in TRAPPC2L linked to neurodevelopmental disorders.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
In this thesis, I focus on TRAPPC2L, a recently discovered core subunit of the TRAnsport Particle Protein (TRAPP) complexes, which is not well studied. I performed biochemical and cell biological functional studies to characterize the cellular phenotype of the first identified
homozygous missense variants (p.Asp37Tyr and p.Ala2Gly) in TRAPPC2L linked to neurodevelopmental delays and intellectual disabilities. In this study, I show that only the p.(Ala2Gly) variant, but not the p.(Asp37Tyr) variant, disrupted the interaction betweenTRAPPC2L and TRAPPC6a, another core TRAPP protein. I also show by using size exclusion chromatography that both TRAPPC2L variants disrupted the assembly and stability of the TRAPP complexes in lysates from fibroblasts harbouring the two variants. In addition, we used two different membrane trafficking assays on fibroblasts from individuals harboring
the variants in TRAPPC2L and we found delays in endoplasmic reticulum-to-Golgi and post-Golgi trafficking. In this study, I better characterized the role of TRAPPC2L in the function and assembly of TRAPP and supported the pathogenicity of the two TRAPPC2L variants, p.(Asp37Tyr) and p.(Ala2Gly).


identifier: Abbas, Zarish  (2021) Reward and Time On the Valuation of Delayed Rewards.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Time plays an essential role in reward valuation. While animals prefer large rewards to small rewards, the preference reverses if the large reward is delayed too long. This thesis is divided into four chapters that explore this curtailing effect of delay on reward valuation. Chapter 1 introduces delay discounting and neural models of interval timing to provide context for the questions that are asked in this thesis. In Chapter 2, we ask whether repeated treatment with the psychostimulant methylphenidate alters delay discounting in rats in the long run and whether any such effect is contingent on exposure at certain developmental stages. Compared with controls, rats treated with moderate doses of methylphenidate during early adolescence showed a long-term increase in delay discounting, indicating they had become impulsive. This brought up the question of what the drug was affecting: the magnitude of the reward, the perception of delay or how they combine. To gain insight, some of the more rudimentary assumptions about the combination of subjective reward and subjective delay needed to be confirmed. Chapter 3 addresses one of those assumptions: whether the computation of reward magnitude is independent from reward delay. We used intracranial self-stimulation and the reward-mountain model to tackle this question. The reward-mountain model describes how various dimensions of value combine. Through the model, we can computationally derive whether manipulations change the reward sensitivity by affecting the directly stimulated neurons or their integration, or whether they change the output of the integration. In contrast to the common assumption that relative subjective reward intensity and reward delay are computed independently and combined in a simple multiplicative manner, we show that delay affected reward processing at multiple stages during the computation of reward value. When reward was delayed by 2 s and 4 s, not only were later stages of the reward circuitry affected, but a reduction in reward sensitivity was also observed at early stages of processing, at the directly stimulated neurons or their integration. The final chapter discusses the implications of these results, including the possibility that the neural signal for reward magnitude and its delay may be interwoven.


identifier: Miriestahbanati, Maryam  (2021) Resource Allocation in Collocated Massive MIMO for 5G and Beyond.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Massive multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems have been recently introduced as a promising technology for the next generation of wireless networks. It has been proven that linear precoders/detectors such as maximum ratio transmitting/maximum ratio combining (MRT/MRC), zero forcing (ZF), and linear minimum mean square error (LMMSE) on the downlink (DL)/uplink (UL) transmission can provide near optimal performance in such systems.
Acquiring channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter as well as the receiver is one of the challenges in multiuser massive MIMO that can affect the network performance. Any data transmission in multiuser massive MIMO systems starts with the user transmitting UL pilots. The base station (BS) then uses the MMSE estimation method to accurately estimate the CSI from the pilot sequences. Since the UL and DL channels are reciprocal in time division duplex (TDD) mode, the BS employs the obtained CSI to precode the data symbols prior to DL transmission. The users also need the CSI knowledge to accurately decode the DL signals. Beamforming training (BT) scheme is one of the methods that is proposed in the literature to provide the CSI knowledge for the users. In this scheme, the BS precodes and transmits a pilot sequence to the users such that each user can estimate its effective channel coefficients.
Developing an optimal resource distribution method that enhances the system performance is another challenging issue in multiuser massive MIMO. As mentioned earlier, CSI acquisition is one of the requirements of multiuser massive MIMO, and UL pilot transmission is the common method to achieve that. Conventionally, equal powers have been considered for the pilot transmission phase and data transmission phase. However, it can be shown that the performance of the system under this method of power distribution is not optimal.
Therefore, to further improve the performance of multiuser massive MIMO technology, especially in cases where the antenna elements are not well separated and the propagational dispersion is low, optimal resource allocation is required. Hence, the main objective of this M.A.Sc. thesis is to develop an optimal resource allocation among pilot and data symbols to maximize the spectral efficiency, assuming different receivers such as MRC, ZF, and LMMSE are employed at the BS. Since the calculation of spectral efficiency using the lower bound on the achievable rate is computationally very intensive, we first obtain closed-form expressions for the achievable UL rate of users, assuming the angular domain in the physical channel model is divided into a finite number of separate directions. An approximate expression for spectral efficiency is then developed using the aforementioned closed-form rates. Finally, we propose a resource allocation scheme in which the pilot power, data power, and training duration are optimally chosen in order to maximize the spectral efficiency in a given total power budget.
Extensive simulations are conducted in MATLAB and the results are presented that illustrate the notable improvement in the achievable spectral efficiency through the proposed power allocation scheme. Moreover, the results show that the performance of the proposed method is much superior when the number of channel directions or the number of antennas at BS increases. Furthermore, while the advantage of the proposed method is more notable in the case of ZF and LMMSE receivers, it still outperforms the equal power allocation method for the MRC receiver in terms of spectral efficiency.


identifier: Sparks, Lindsay M.  (2021) Individual differences in the expression of Pavlovian-conditioned approach in response to a sexually-conditioned cue in male rats: A model of fetishistic behaviour.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Neutral stimuli that are repeatedly paired with reward act as predictors of impending reward, and can acquire incentive salient properties, measured using Pavlovian-conditioned approach. Individual differences in Pavlovian-conditioned approach have been observed in a subset of animals. In sign-trackers, the CS becomes ‘attractive’ and ‘wanted’, whereas in goal-trackers, the CS retains informational properties that signal the availability of reward. Most studies have investigated sign- and goal-tracking using food and drug reward, as these phenotypes may confer vulnerability or resistance to the development of addictive behaviours, respectively. To date, the expression of sign- and goal-tracking in response to a sexually-conditioned cue has been limited to male Japanese quail.

We are the first to assess individual differences in Pavlovian-conditioned approach in response to a cue paired with sexual reward leading to the ejaculatory state. We found evidence of sign-tracking, as subjects approached, engaged, and spent more time near the cue paired with the opportunity to ejaculate with a sexually-receptive female. Goal-tracking was also observed in subjects that approached and spent more time near the location where sexual reward was delivered.

Next, we compared the stability of sign- and goal-tracking to a sucrose- and sex-paired cue, and whether phenotypic differences are consistent across different types of natural reward. Sucrose goal-trackers fluctuated between cue- and goal-directed responses, though a statistical trend revealed a tendency to spend more time near the location where sexual reward was delivered. Sucrose sign-trackers appeared to ‘shift’ their behavioural phenotype, as they demonstrated goal-directed behaviour in response to a sexually-conditioned cue.

Lastly, we explored whether the chronic systemic administration of oxytocin influences the expression of Pavlovian-conditioned approach in response to a sexually-conditioned cue. Oxytocin did not enhance nor diminish sign-tracking behaviour, however it potentiated goal-tracking responses in intermediate subjects that typically fluctuate between cue- and goal-directed behaviours.

Collectively, we demonstrate that individual differences in Pavlovian-conditioned approach develop in response to a sexually-conditioned cue in male rats, likely as they acquire incentive salience due to their pairing with sexual reward. Furthermore, sign- and goal-tracking are expressed differentially based on the type of natural reward and neuropeptide influence.


identifier: Haeri, Amin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1217-656X <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1217-656X>  (2021) Accurate and Real-Time Granular Flow Modeling of Robot-Terrain Interactions.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
An important challenge in robotics is understanding the interactions between robots and deformable terrains that consist of granular material. Granular flows and their interactions with rigid bodies still pose several open questions. A promising direction for accurate, yet efficient, modeling is using continuum methods. Also, a new direction for real-time physics modeling is the use of geometric machine learning. This research advances continuum and machine learning methods for modeling rigid body-driven granular flows, for application to space robotics (where the effect of gravity is an important factor) as well as terrestrial industrial machines.

For accurate and efficient design applications, this research develops a continuum method comprising a modern constitutive model, nonlocal granular fluidity (NGF), and a state-of-the-art numerical solver, material point method (MPM). We design a numerical approach, within a hyperelasticity framework, to implement the dynamical form of the viscoplastic NGF constitutive model in three-dimensional MPM. This approach is thermodynamically consistent, and the dynamical form includes the nonlocal effect of flow cessation. This is verified by both quantitative measurements and qualitative visualization of our excavation and wheel experiments. Furthermore, this research explores the gravity sensitivity of continuum numerical solvers. It explains why MPM is an appropriate continuum solver to model granular flows under different gravity.

For real-time control applications, this research considers the development of a subspace machine learning simulation approach. To generate training datasets, we utilize our high-fidelity MPM-NGF method. Principal component analysis (PCA) is used to reduce the dimensionality of data. This research shows that the first few principal components of our high-dimensional data keep almost the entire variance in data. A graph network simulator (GNS) is trained to learn the underlying subspace dynamics. The learned GNS is then able to predict particle positions and interaction forces with good accuracy. More importantly, PCA significantly enhances the time and memory efficiency of GNS in both training and rollout. This enables GNS to be trained using a single desktop Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) with moderate Video-RAM. This also makes the GNS real-time on large-scale 3D physics configurations (and 700x faster than our MPM-NGF).


identifier: Goulet, Magali-Chen  (2021) Neural Networks in Insurance.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Neural Networks in Insurance

abstract: To date, in the insurance industry, the premium for a given risk is based on the expected claim amount since the models used are only meant to calculate a mean response. However, getting more information about the distribution of each single risk would be useful for risk assessment. A method in Neural Networks (NN) called Tractable Approximate Gaussian Inference (TAGI) by Goulet et al. (2020) allows to study each response individually since each output follows its own Normal distribution. The main contributions of this thesis are to make this technique available through an open source package, to apply TAGI in insurance and compare it to other techniques and to study risk measures with it.


identifier: Mohamed, Maleika  (2021) Sparkle in the Narratives of Kindergarteners.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Narratives play a significant role in communication and social interaction starting in early childhood. Narrative skills are also expected of children beginning in kindergarten and predict later literacy skills and academic outcomes. While much research has been devoted to the structure of children's stories, less attention has been devoted to their artfulness: the features of stories that make them sparkle and engage listeners. This study investigates how French-speaking children use artfulness in their narratives and how artfulness relates to language skill. Children (N = 91) in Quebec from two different kindergarten levels (K4 and K5, reflecting the age of kindergarten entry) were asked to tell a story using picture prompts from a published assessment tool. The stories were audiorecorded and transcribed, then coded for artfulness features (namely evaluation, appendages, and orientations), using a coding system adapted from Ukrainetz et al. (2005). The results showed that artfulness features, particularly evaluations, were used by all children. The older children (K5) included more artfulness features than the younger ones (K4), overall and within the subcategories of evaluation and appendages. The types of evaluations were also more varied in the older group. General language measures (the number and mean length of T-units, and the number of total and different words) were strongly correlated with the total number of artfulness features in the children's stories and the number and diversity of evaluations they included. I situate my results in relation to the rare studies of artfulness to date, discuss the implications of the findings, and outline directions for future research.


identifier: Qi, Xietian  (2021) An Accurate Kinematics Model of the Sanding-Belt-Wheel Driving System of a CNC Grinding Machine and its Application.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: CNC Sanding-belt grinding machines are widely used in the manufacturing industry. These machine tools are featured with multiple linear and rotary axes, complex driving system of the sanding belt wheel, and very high investment. The advantages of these machine tools include making complex parts with high accuracy and being productive without manual operation. A kernel technique of these machine tools is to align the sanding belt well match the part geometry so that the sanding belt can accurately grind complex parts. However, the driving system of the sanding belt wheel is complicated, and the kinetics model of the driving system has not been established. Currently, the motion of the sanding belt wheel is simplified as vertical ups and downs. The drawback of the current kinetics of the sanding belt wheel costs the sanding belt location and the part accuracy. The objective of this research is to establish the accurate kinetics model of the driving system and apply this model to calculate the sanding belt wheel location. In this thesis, first, the mechanism of the driving system is investigated. based on geometric principles of the pressure drive system, a mathematical model is built to predict the position of the sanding belt wheel under different grinding pressure. Then a novel kinematics chain considering the sanding belt wheel position is developed to generate various NC programs for different grinding pressure. This kinematics chain is novel, and no one has done relevant research before. The experimental results showed that the NC program after compensation enhanced the machining quality significantly.


identifier: Orsini, Arielle  (2021) Teaching Inequalities to Young Children Using Visual Representations: Perceptual Richness and Concreteness.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Pictures are often used in the mathematics classroom to depict quantities in problems. Their physical properties can differ by perceptual richness, the degree to which they are visually stimulating, and by concreteness, the degree to which they evoke prior knowledge of real-world contexts. In the present study, I examined the effects of perceptual richness and concreteness of visual representations on children’s ability to learn about inequalities online. Twenty-eight five- to six-year-olds were randomly assigned to one of three visual representation conditions for all presented sets: bland abstract, rich concrete, and rich abstract. Participants number knowledge was tested at the start of the study. They then participated in an interactive lesson about inequalities and engaged in five tasks assessing different conceptual components of inequalities: three learning tasks and two transfer tasks. There was no effect of perceptual richness or concreteness on children’s performance on any of the tasks. Children with greater number knowledge received higher scores on the transfer tasks. Qualitative analysis of participants reading of inequalities revealed three types of readers: Direction readers were able to correctly read the inequalities based on the direction of the inequality symbol. Magnitude readers ignored the direction of the inequality symbol but were able to correctly read the magnitude relationship of the inequality. Incorrect readers failed to learn how to read inequalities. The study’s small sample did not afford the opportunity to investigate whether reader type differed by condition. The study’s limitations and directions for future research are discussed.


identifier: Dwyer, C. E. Lyne  (2021) Trouble in Paradise: Non-Monogamies and Queer Play in Digital Games.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis uses a combined method of game analysis and play-as-method to investigate the representation and performance of non-monogamies in digital role-playing games. I consider how an array of game elements including rules, mechanics, objectives, win and lose states, characters, and narrative shape the conditions within which non-monogamies are permitted, punished, and proscribed in videogames where players interact with prefabricated non-player characters (NPCs) in single-player worlds with scripted narratives. Through an exploration of the country life simulator and role-playing game (RPG) Stardew Valley (Barone, 2016), I investigate how popular and mainstream videogames both challenge and reinforce compulsory hetero-monogamy as a social institution and how players can resist mononormative and heteronormative tropes, systems, and scripts through queer play. Finally, I compare these titles to a selection of independent, small studio, and experimental titles to signal how alternative ways of designing in-game relationships can explore videogames’ potential to act as sites of queer becoming and resistance against compulsory hetero-monogamy.