identifier: Wang, Renjie  (2017) Optimal Measure Transformations and Optimal Trading.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: We first associate the bond price with an optimal measure transformation problem which is closely related to decoupled nonlinear forward-backward stochastic differential equation (FBSDE). The measure which solves the optimal measure transformation problem is the forward measure. These connections explain why the forward measure transformation employed in the FBSDE approach of Hyndman (Math. Financ. Econ. 2(2):107-128, 2009) is effective. We obtain explicit solutions to FBSDEs with jumps in affine term structure models and quadratic term structure models, which extend Hyndman (Math. Financ. Econ. 2(2):107-128, 2009). From the optimal measure transformation problem for defaultable bonds, we derive FBSDEs with random terminal condition to which we give a partially explicit solution. In the second part we consider trading against a hedge fund or large trader that must liquidate a large position in a risky asset if the market price of the asset crosses a certain threshold. Liquidation occurs in a disorderly manner and  negatively impacts the market price of the  asset.  We consider the perspective of small investors whose trades do not induce market impact and who possess different levels of information about the liquidation trigger mechanism and the market impact. We classify these market participants into three types: fully informed, partially informed and uninformed investors. We consider the portfolio optimization problems and compare the optimal trading and wealth processes for the three classes of investors theoretically and by numerical illustrations. Finally we study the portfolio optimization problems with risk constraints and make comparison with the results without risk constraints.


identifier: Rey, Anthony  (2017) Multi-Objective Optimization of Solar Thermal Combisystems.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract: Solar thermal combisystems can significantly reduce primary energy consumption for residential buildings and therefore cut down greenhouse gas emissions; however, the overall performance of such systems depends on their design (i.e., configuration and sizing of their components) and operating conditions. Designing solar thermal combisystems can be improved by using optimization methods. Therefore, this doctoral thesis introduces a multi-objective optimization framework for optimizing the configuration and equipment sizing of solar thermal combisystems. A micro-time variant multiobjective particle swarm optimization (micro-TVMOPSO) algorithm is developed for handling engineering optimization problems, such as the multi-objective optimization of solar combisystems, where evaluating objective functions is time-consuming. The proposed framework uses a generic solar combisystem model coupled with the micro-TVMOPSO algorithm to find a set of optimized combisystem designs. Applied to two case studies, the multi-objective optimization framework was able to find designs reducing the life cycle cost, life cycle energy use, and life cycle exergy destroyed of solar thermal combisystems. The proposed multi-objective optimization framework can therefore be used to get the most out of solar thermal combisystems given specificc economic and environmental conditions.


identifier: Liu, Zheng  (2017) Simulation of Local Climate Control in Shared Offices Based on Occupants Locations and Preferences.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: It is estimated that building energy consumption (BEC) accounts for one-third of the total global energy consumption, and Heating, Cooling, and Air-conditioning (HVAC) accounts for almost half of the energy consumption of buildings. To efficiently achieve more energy saving from the HVAC systems, narrowing the gap between the actual energy consumed and the demanded heating and cooling loads is found to be a promising strategy. Therefore, occupancy-driven HVAC management is attracting great attention. On the other hand, future smart buildings will have the ability to detect and locate the occupants, and adjust the HVAC system accordingly, which is expected to result in considerable energy savings. This research proposes a local climate control strategy in open space, such as shared offices, by dividing the space into zones according to the number of HVAC terminal units and adjusting the operation of each terminal unit based on occupants’ preferences and presence in the zone. To evaluate the performance regarding energy consumption and occupancy thermal comfort, and the feasibility of the proposed local climate control, three case studies are implemented. The occupancy presence pattern is captured by a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)-based tracking system. Based on a four-week test carried out in a graduate laboratory in Concordia University, the occupancy profiles and different HVAC operation scenarios are created as the inputs of the building energy simulation. The simulation is run for three months for cooling and the results show that, with the adoption of the proposed local climate control strategy, 15% or 36% of the energy consumption can be saved compared with applying a dynamic schedule using a motion detector or a fixed schedule, respectively. In addition, the occupants’ comfort level can be increased by an average of 6%. In addition, sensitivity analysis is conducted with respect to the factors affecting the effectiveness of the proposed climate control strategy and the HVAC setpoint temperature.  It is concluded that the proposed local climate control strategy is effective in reducing the energy consumption and improving occupancy thermal comfort, however, the extent of the effectiveness depends on factors of building properties, occupancy attributes, and HVAC operation.


identifier: Renteria Diaz, Laura  (2017) Conditional Modulation of Sensitization of the Stimulant Effects of Cocaine by Wheel Running.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Repeated exposure to stimulant drugs such as cocaine makes animals more sensitive to their stimulant effects—a phenomenon that is known as ‘behavioural sensitization’. However, the magnitude of behavioural sensitization is not fixed but can vary according to life experiences and their interaction with biological factors. This thesis explores whether and how wheel running influences sensitization of the stimulant effects of cocaine as measured after repeated exposure to cocaine or to stress in the rat. Wheel running was chosen because of its natural variability among individuals and because it has been shown to act, at least in part, on the same neuronal substrate as drugs and stress. Three studies were conducted. In the first study we showed that engaging in high levels of wheel running activity protects against cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization. To demonstrate the generalizability of these findings, in the second study, using stress exposure instead of stimulant drugs to induce a sensitized behavioral response, we found that running also protects against stress-induced behavioral sensitization to cocaine and more so in animals that run the most. Finally, in the third study, we showed that engaging in high levels of wheel-running activity, after the fact, once a sensitized behavioral response to cocaine has already been established reverses this typically enduring phenomenon. The findings reported here reveal, for the first time, the regulatory effects wheel running can have on behavioral sensitization and highlight the importance of taking into account individual differences in running when studying the effects of this behavior. What is more, our behavioral model suggests running-mediated neuroplasticity within the neural circuitry involved in behavioral sensitization and may prove useful in studying the role of gene-environment interactions in experience-dependent neuroplastic changes.


identifier: Ghanbari, Hamed  (2017) Three Essays in Theoretical and Empirical Derivative Pricing.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The first essay investigates the option-implied investor preferences by comparing equilibrium option pricing models under jump-diffusion to option bounds extracted from discrete-time stochastic dominance (SD). We show that the bounds converge to two prices that define an interval comparable to the observed option bid-ask spreads for S&P 500 index options. Further, the bounds' implied distributions exhibit tail risk comparable to that of the return data and thus shed light on the dark matter of the divergence between option-implied and underlying tail risks. Moreover, the bounds can better accommodate reasonable values of the ex-dividend expected excess return than the equilibrium models' prices. We examine the relative risk aversion coefficients compatible with the boundary distributions extracted from index return data. We find that the SD-restricted range of admissible RRA values is consistent with the macro-finance studies of the equity premium puzzle and with several anomalous results that have appeared in earlier option market studies.

The second essay examines theoretically and empirically a two-factor stochastic volatility model. We adopt an affine two-factor stochastic volatility model, where aggregate market volatility is decomposed into two independent factors; a persistent factor and a transient factor. We introduce a pricing kernel that links the physical and risk neutral distributions, where investor's equity risk preference is distinguished from her variance risk preference. Using simultaneous data from the S&P 500 index and options markets, we find a consistent set of parameters that characterizes the index dynamics under physical and risk-neutral distributions. We show that the proposed decomposition of variance factors can be characterized by a different persistence and different sensitivity of the variance factors to the volatility shocks. We obtain negative prices for both variance factors, implying that investors are willing to pay for insurance against increases in volatility risk, even if those increases have little persistence. We also obtain negative correlations between shocks to the market returns and each volatility factor, where correlation is less significant in transient factor and therefore has a less significant effect on the index skewness. Our empirical results indicate that unlike stochastic volatility model, join restrictions do not lead to the poor performance of two-factor SV model, measured by Vega-weighted root mean squared errors.

In the third essay, we develop a closed-form equity option valuation model where equity returns are related to market returns with two distinct systematic components; one of which captures transient variations in returns and the other one captures persistent variations in returns. Our proposed factor structure and closed-form option pricing equations yield separate expressions for the exposure of equity options to both volatility components and overall market returns. These expressions allow a portfolio manager to hedge her portfolio's exposure to the underlying risk factors. In cross-sectional analysis our model predicts that firms with higher transient beta have a steeper term structure of implied volatility and a steeper implied volatility moneyness slope. Our model also predicts that variances risk premiums have more significant effect on the equity option skew when the transient beta is higher. On the empirical front, for the firms listed on the Dow Jones index, our model provides a good fit to the observed equity option prices.


identifier: Shilhan, Julie  (2017) Attentional Processing of Visual Sexual Stimuli and the Concordia Sexual Image Dataset.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Historically, research concerning human sexual response and sexual excitement has focused largely on examining subjective arousal or the physiological end points of arousal (e.g., erection or genital vasocongestion: Brotto & Gorzalka, 2002; Laan, van Driel, & van Lunsen, 2008; Laan, van Lunsen, & Everaerd, 2001). However, some researchers have begun to delineate the cognitive mechanisms implicated in human sexual response, and how these mechanisms are influenced by individual differences (Spiering & Everaerd, 2007; Spiering, Everaerd, & Laan, 2004). Accordingly, the studies presented within this dissertation were designed to further elucidate the cognitive contributions of attention and stimulus evaluation on the processing of Visual Sexual Stimuli (VSS), while also expanding the availability of VSS by creating an erotic image database. The modified Stroop paradigm (both word and pictorial) was used to examine attentional responses to VSS. Findings from these studies highlight the importance of attentional factors in the assessment of VSS, and how these factors are influenced by participants’ gender and self-reported sexual desire. Further, results from the pictorial Stroop study suggest that men’s and women’s attentional systems may have adapted to be attuned differently in the processing of VSS. Heterosexual males automatic and controlled attentional biases were category specific (i.e., consistent with their sexual preference), whereas women’s were nonspecific. The general lack of adequately validated modern VSS led to the development of the Concordia Sexual Image Dataset (CSID), a comprehensive database of erotic images that includes heterosexual, lesbian and homosexual content, with norms for valence and arousal by male and female heterosexual participants. These ratings revealed that the evaluation of erotic content was strongly influenced by the gender of the evaluator. Heterosexual men’s response patterns for ratings were fairly consistent across content categories, while women displayed substantial variability in their ratings within and between content categories. These findings suggest that researchers should take into account both the content and the emotional impact of the image when selecting relevant VSS. Collectively, the results presented in this thesis have implications for the objective measurement of sexual response, the conceptualization of cognitive mechanisms implicated in the processing of VSS, and for the identification of cognitive factors associated with individual differences in sexual functioning.


identifier: Payne, Jason W. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9176-9795 <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9176-9795>  (2017) A Novel Mixed-Extinction Paradigm Makes Extinguished Pavlovian Associations More Resistant to Behavioural Relapse.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Omission and Overexpectation are two paradigms that lead to a reduction in the associative relationship between events.  In Omission, this is achieved through absence of the delivery of an expected outcome.  In Overexpectation, two individually trained cues are presented together and are met with an outcome of less intensity then the sum of the two expected outcomes.  The reduction in the conditioned response following Omission or Overexpectation training reflects a reduction in the associative relationship between the target cue and the conditioned response.  However, this reduction is easily disrupted.  Testing outside of the extinction context, letting time pass, or giving unsignalled exposure to the unconditioned stimulus, each lead to an increase in the conditioned response from extinction levels.  These effects can be explained by a view that the original association is not erased but rather is inhibited by extinction learning and this extinction learning is more vulnerable to disruption.  Insight in to this disruption might come from a biological perspective where Omission and Overexpectation have been tracked by unique and overlapping neuronal populations in the central nucleus of the amygdala (Iordanova et al., 2016).  Given evidence that unique and overlapping neuronal populations are involved, one might expect the influence of two these processes to be behaviourally additive.  This raises the possibility that targeting the unique and common populations associated with Omission and Overexpectation through combining both forms of extinction training might lead to lasting reduction in behaviour as one that is more resistance to relapse.  To test this prediction, following conditioning of two different cues with a positive reinforcement, Sprague Dawley rats (Rattus norvegicus) were assigned to either a constantly reinforced Control, an Overexpectation-only, Omission-only, or a Mixed group consisting of blocks of Overexpectation sessions followed by blocks of Omission sessions.  Subsequent Renewal, and Reinstatement tests show higher responding in the Control group compared to the three groups that had undergone extinction or Overexpectation training, with the Mixed extinction group showing the lowest rate of response.  This effect was consistent across different dependant variables.  However a Spontaneous Recovery test, though yielding a similar decrease, did not result in a substantive effect-size statistic or a statistically significant null hypothesis test.  Taken together these findings have potential implications for deepening reductions of maladaptive associations on behaviour, such as those present in addiction and anxiety disorders.


identifier: Chen, Lin  (2017) Performance Evaluation for Secure Internet Group Management Protocol and Group Security Association Management Protocol.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Multicast distribution employs the model of many-to-many so that it is a more efficient way of data delivery compared to traditional one-to-one unicast distribution, which can benefit many applications such as media streaming. However, the lack of security features in its nature makes multicast technology much less popular in an open environment such as the Internet. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) take advantage of IP multicast technology’s high efficiency of data delivery to provide Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) to their users. But without the full control on their networks, ISPs can not collect revenue for the services they provide. Secure Internet Group Management Protocol (SIGMP), an extension of Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP), and Group Security Association Management Protocol (GSAM) have been proposed to enforce receiver access control at the network level of IP multicast. In this thesis, we analyze operational detail and issues of both SIGMP and GSAM. An examination of performance of both protocols is also conducted.


identifier: Marzbali, Mason  (2017) Numerical Analysis of High-speed Droplet Impingement on Elastic and Rigid Substrates.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: High-speed droplet impact is of great interest to power generation and aerospace industries due to the accrued cost of maintenance in steam and gas turbines. The repetitive impacts of liquid droplets onto rotor blades, at high relative velocities, result in the blade erosion, which is known as Liquid Impingement Erosion (LIE). Experimental and analytical studies in this field are limited due to the complexity of the droplet impact at such conditions. Hence, numerical analysis is a very powerful and affordable tool to investigate LIE phenomenon. In this regard, it is crucial to understand the hydrodynamics of the impact in order to identify the consequent solid response before addressing the LIE problem. A 3D analysis of the droplet impingement allows to obtain the transient pressure generated in the liquid and resolve the stress filed in the solid material. Knowing the transient behavior of the substrate, in response to pressure force exerted due to the impact, would facilitate engineering new types of surface coatings that are more resistant to LIE. To that end, modeling the impact of liquid droplets, at high velocities, on elastic and rigid solid substrates, is the main objective of the present work. In order to model the interfacial flow in the fluid region, which contains liquid and gas phases, Volume of Fluid (VOF) method is utilized. The droplet deformation is precisely captured upon impact with impingement velocities from 50 up to 500 m/s. An incompressible solver is implemented for impact velocities below 100 m/s and a compressible model is used at higher impingement velocities. In addition, the stress field in the solid substrate is modeled with Finite Element Method (FEM). A novel 3D model for Fluid-Solid Interaction (FSI) that couples the gas-liquid interfacial model with the structural solver is implemented. The coupling between the fluid and solid domains is achieved by imposing the stress continuity and no-slip velocity condition on the fluid-solid interface. The pressure history in the fluid domain and the transient stress field in the solid domain are obtained simultaneously, by solving the coupled fluid and solid equations with a two-way coupling approach. The validation of the two-way-coupled FSI solver is carried out with ANSYS Workbench. Furthermore, the effect of the fluid compressibility on the generated pressure build-up in the liquid and the resulting stress in the solid are investigated. The results obtained from the compressible fluid modeling are validated against the numerical studies and analytical correlations, available in open literature. Finally, the FEM modeling results for an isotropic Titanium alloy, namely Ti-6Al-4V, widely utilized in manufacturing of gas turbine components, are presented and its elastic deformation threshold is examined. The results obtained in the present work reveal that the substrate reaches its tensile yield strength, under an impact scenario that is known to be destructive in LIE applications, which eventually may lead to micro-crack initiation in the solid material.


identifier: Usher, Camille  (2017) more than just flesh: the arts as resistance and sexual empowerment.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis addresses a long history of colonization and intergenerational traumas still existing today, and the ability that Indigenous performing arts have in addressing sexual health barriers that Northern youth are facing. In this year of Canada’s 150th celebrations there have been several arts initiatives that are working to build confidence and leadership amongst Indigenous youth. As Inuit are facing some of the highest suicide rates in the world, overcrowded housing, lack of mental health resources, high costs of living, intermittent access to reliable internet, intergenerational traumas, food insecurity, and high levels of sexual assault, it is easy to feel hopeless. This thesis focuses on the ability that the arts have in making tangible differences, bringing Indigenous youth into conversations that work through historical colonial suppression, paving new narratives to pass on to future generations, looking at how the arts are being used as a way to inspire what Gerald Vizenor termed as survivance. Focusing predominantly on Qaggiavuut!, an Arctic cultural performing arts group which promotes performance while highlighting non-colonial forms of Inuit self-identity and wellness—with a particular focus on some of the key members of this group whose interest in sovereignty and wellness specifically focuses on Inuit sexual and emotional health, exploration, expression and education. The arts are integral in helping future generations of Indigenous peoples gain confidence and break cycles of intergenerational traumas, thriving through survivance.


identifier: slime, taha  (2017) sentential negation in moroccan arabic.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: sentential negation in moroccan arabic

abstract:
In this thesis I analyze the distribution of negative markers in sentential negation in Moroccan
Arabic . Moroccan Arabic uses two negative markers to denote sentential negation: one in a preverbal
position-ma, and another one following the verb-sh.
I propose a structure based on the assumption that Moroccan Arabic has two NegPs. The lower
NegP hosts ma in its Spec and the higher NegP is the position where sh moves. Moreover, I
propose that ma is a clitic that left adjoins to the verb once the verb is in a c-commanding position
(following Boˇskovi´c’s 2002 view on clitics).
This analysis is successful at accounting for the distribution of negative markers in verbal and
verbless sentences, and also at solving the problems exhibited by the previous analyses of bipartite
negation (Pollock 1989, Rowlett 1998, Benmamoun 1997, Bell 2004).
Furthermore, the same structure also accounts for the syntax of negative sentences containing
N-words, under the assumption that sh and N-words cannot co-occur because they compete for the
same position, namely the spec of the higher NegP.
Finally, to account for the syntax of negative sentences that carry metalinguistic negation, I
propose that the negators are in the CP field, rather than within the TP (following Martins’s 2014
view on metalinguistic negation in European Portuguese). This analysis is successful at accounting
for the distribution of metalinguistic negators in both verbal and verbless sentences.


identifier: Ghassemi Zavieh, Zahra (Mona)  (2017) Reproducing The Virginity Imperative: Women’s Collusion and Men’s Complicity Among Young Iranians living in Montreal.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The present work centres around the question of the virginity imperative, a social contract and regime of power that regulates women’s bodies through disciplinary devices surrounding the socially constructed notion of female virginity. Through participant observation and interviews with young people of Iranian origin residing in Montreal, I explain why the virginity imperative persists among this population. Through description of women’s social navigation (Vigh 2006) of marriage and education, I argue that women’s apparent collusion with restrictive norms does not undermine their agency, but indicates their ability to make decisions that maximize social benefits given their particular circumstances. The argument extends to women’s performance of virginity, which is a face-saving tactic and instrumental in the practice of hypergyny among women I interviewed. Nevertheless, I argue, the virginity imperative operates to categorize women according to a virgin/whore dichotomy, rendering unliveable the lives of those who do not adequately perform virginity. Attitudes that define sex as defiling to women contribute to a gendered politics of knowledge resulting in women’s limited expression of sexuality as compared to men’s, which, along with the patriarchal bargain (Kandiyoti 1988), plays a role in women’s lack of expression of dissent. I argue that men’s preference for virgin women is incompatible with the love marriages they claim to aspire to, and that men lack reflexivity of the consequences for women of attitudes that reinforce the virginity imperative. Bringing an end to these painful consequences requires public discussion to replace their relegation to, and management within, the private sphere.


identifier: Huang, Jie  (2017) A Formative Evaluation of the ICAO TRAINAIR PLUS Program.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The ICAO TRAINAIR PLUS Program is a global cooperative training network of civil aviation training organizations and industry partners working together to develop and deliver competency-based training courses (ICAO, 2014). Since the inception of the TRAINAIR PLUS Program in 2010, the Members of the ICAO training network have grown steadily and the available ICAO-recognized training courses have also increased accordingly, however, only one customer satisfaction survey was conducted for the identification of the Members’ satisfaction level with the TRAINAIR PLUS Program. After seven years of operation, it is significant to conduct a formative evaluation of the Program. This formative evaluation is an action oriented research, with the purpose to study how the TRAINAIR PLUS Program meets its prescribed objectives, how the TRAINAIR PLUS Electronic Management System (TPEMS) contributes to the achievements of the Program objectives and, consequently, determine potential improvements of the Program. In the process of implementing this formative evaluation, four online surveys were deployed using Google Forms and questions were tailored to the TRAINAIR PLUS Program Members, ICAO qualified course developers, ICAO course validators and ICAO instructors respectively. Data collected from the four groups of respondents were analysed separately and then aggregated to generalize the overall results. Subsequently, recommendations and limitations were discussed, and conclusions were summarized from the survey results for the Program improvements.


identifier: Barber, Andrew  (2017) Organic Matter Preservation and Sequestration through the Synergistic Ferric Carbon Shuttle.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: As one of the largest pools of carbon on the planet, organic matter (OM) in aquatic environments plays a major role in balancing the global cycles of carbon and oxygen. Continued sequestration of OM in sediments is required to maintain the Earth’s oxidizing atmosphere and the mechanisms responsible for the preservation of OM in sediments are of the utmost importance for understanding and modelling the long-term repercussions of global climate change and ocean acidification. A common approach used to track OM in such environments involves stable carbon isotope analysis, exploiting the variability in 13C content of natural OM. For stable isotope analysis to be useful, the difference in carbon stable isotope content of the OM pools of interest must be larger than the sum of the analytical uncertainty and natural spread in 13C content. Here we present several examples where differences in 13C content of natural OM can be used to track the fate of OM, while also providing a more realistic representation of the analytical uncertainty associated to these measurements. In addition, carbon stable isotopes were used in a long-term incubation study aimed at following the incorporation of a 13C depleted dissolved algal OM tracer from solution into the sediment mineral matrix. The incorporation of this algal tracer was enhanced through interactions with redox sensitive iron oxides, especially when there is co-precipitation of iron alongside OM. The effect of iron oxide precipitation on the preservation of OM is clear, increasing the quantity of OM sequestered in sediments while also slowing its degradation. Combined with a series of C and Fe K-edge X-ray studies, we demonstrate the importance of inner-sphere covalent complexation for the sequestration of OM via interactions with reactive iron in a series of samples from around the globe including marine and lactustrine sediments with varying oxygen exposure regimes. These strong molecular interactions stabilize iron and OM, allowing for their persistence in sediments via a synergistic ferric carbon shuttle. This allows OM to be stabilized by iron while the reduction of ferric iron is hampered by the presence of OM, leading to their persistence even in reducing environments.


identifier: Mazinanian, Davood  (2017) Eliminating Code Duplication in Cascading Style Sheets.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Cascading Style Sheets (i.e., CSS) is the standard styling language, widely used for defining the presentation semantics of user interfaces for web, mobile and desktop applications. Despite its popularity, CSS has not received much attention from academia. Indeed, developing and maintaining CSS code is rather challenging, due to the inherent language design shortcomings, the interplay of CSS with other programming languages (e.g., HTML and JavaScript), the lack of empirically- evaluated coding best-practices, and immature tool support. As a result, the quality of CSS code bases is poor in many cases.

In this thesis, we focus on one of the major issues found in CSS code bases, i.e., the duplicated code. In a large, representative dataset of CSS code, we found an average of 68% duplication in style declarations. To alleviate this, we devise techniques for refactoring CSS code (i.e., grouping style declarations into new style rules), or migrating CSS code to take advantage of the code abstraction features provided by CSS preprocessor languages (i.e., superset languages for CSS that augment it by adding extra features that facilitate code maintenance). Specifically for the migration transformations, we attempt to align the resulting code with manually-developed code, by relying on the knowledge gained by conducting an empirical study on the use of CSS preprocessors, which revealed the common coding practices of the developers who use CSS preprocessor languages.

To guarantee the behavior preservation of the proposed transformations, we come up with a list of preconditions that should be met, and also describe a lightweight testing technique. By applying a large number of transformations on several web sites and web applications, it is shown that the transformations are indeed presentation-preserving, and can effectively reduce the amount of duplicated code in CSS.


identifier: Davoodi, Elnaz  (2017) Computational Discourse Analysis Across Complexity Levels.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The focus of this thesis is to study computationally the relation between discourse properties and textual complexity. Specifically, we explored three research questions.
The first research question tries to find out to what degree discourse-level properties can be used to predict the complexity level of a text. To do so, we considered three types of discourse-level properties: (1) the realization of discourse relations and the representation of discourse relations in terms of (2) the choice of discourse relation and (3) discourse marker. Using datasets from standard corpora in the field of discourse analysis and text simplification, we developed a supervised machine learning model for pairwise text complexity assessment and compared these properties with more linguistic features. Our results show that the use of only discourse features performed statistically as well as using traditional linguistic features. Thus, we can conclude a strong correlation between discourse properties and complexity level.
The second question that we explored is how exactly does the complexity level of a text influence its discourse-level linguistic choices? To address this question, we conducted a corpus analysis of the Simple English Wikipedia, the largest annotated corpus based on complexity level. Our analysis used the 16 discourse relations defined in the DLTAG framework and focused on explicit relations. Our results show that the distribution of discourse relations is not influenced by a text’s complexity level; but how these are signalled is.
Finally, given the results of our corpus analysis, our third research question tries to investigate if we can leverage these differences to mine parallel corpora across complexity levels to automatically discover alternative lexicalizations (AltLexes) of discourse markers. This work led to the automatic identification of 91 new AltLexes in two corpora: the Simple English Wikipedia and the Newsela corpora.
Overall, this thesis demonstrates that a text’s complexity level and discourse level properties are indeed correlated. Discourse properties play an important role in the assessment of a text’s complexity level and should be taken into account in the complexity level assessment problem. In addition, we observed that the way that explicit discourse relations are signaled is influenced by textual complexity. Lastly, our thesis shows that the automatic identification of alternative lexializations of discourse markers can benefit from large-scale parallel corpora across complexity levels.


identifier: Majid, Masoumi  (2017) Feature Encoding of Spectral Descriptors for 3D Shape Recognition.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Feature descriptors have become a ubiquitous tool in shape analysis. Features can be extracted and subsequently used to design discriminative signatures for solving a variety of 3D shape analysis problems. In particular, shape classification and retrieval are intriguing and challenging problems that lie at the crossroads of computer vision, geometry processing, machine learning and medical imaging.

In this thesis, we propose spectral graph wavelet approaches for the classification and retrieval of deformable 3D shapes. First, we review the recent shape descriptors based on the spectral decomposition of the Laplace-Beltrami operator, which provides a rich set of eigenbases that are invariant to intrinsic isometries. We then provide a detailed overview of spectral graph wavelets. In an effort to capture both local and global characteristics of a 3D shape, we propose a three-step feature description framework. Local descriptors are first extracted via the spectral graph wavelet transform having the Mexican hat wavelet as a generating kernel. Then, mid-level features are obtained by embedding local descriptors into the visual vocabulary space using the soft-assignment coding step of the bag-of-features model. A global descriptor is subsequently constructed by aggregating mid-level features weighted by a geodesic exponential kernel, resulting in a matrix representation that describes the frequency of appearance of nearby codewords in the vocabulary. In order to analyze the performance of the proposed algorithms on 3D shape classification, support vector machines and deep belief networks are applied to mid-level features. To assess the performance of the proposed approach for nonrigid 3D shape retrieval, we compare the global descriptor of a query to the global descriptors of the rest of shapes in the dataset using a dissimilarity measure and find the closest shape. Experimental results on three standard 3D shape benchmarks demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed classification and retrieval approaches in comparison with state-of-the-art methods.


identifier: Hayot-Sasson, Valerie  (2017) Towards easy and efficient processing of ultra-high resolution brain images.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Ultra-high resolution 3D brain imaging is of great importance to the field of neuroscience as it provides a deep insight into brain anatomy and function. Such images may range between a few 100 gigabytes to terabytes in size and do not typically fit into computer memory. Lack of accessibility to the processing of these images is a threat to open science. This thesis aims to design a web system that will handle the storage and processing of ultra-high resolution neuroimaging data.

The system architecture uses technologies such as Hadoop Distributed File System and Apache Spark. For the seamless integration neuroimaging pipelines into our system, we adopted NIfTI as our distributed data format and require that all neuroimaging pipelines be described in common formats such as Boutiques or BIDS.

The large images are split into chunks, and also, recreated from the chunks. The effects of 2D slices and 3D blocks are investigated. Different algorithms to minimize number of seeks were designed and implemented. Results indicate that clustered reading of blocks achieves a significant reduction in processing time, and partitioning data into slices is most effective.

The scalability of processing large images with Spark using a simple non-containerized and containerized pipeline was investigated. It was found that processing time of both algorithms scale well. As data may need to be written to and read from disk for containerized pipeline processing, the speedup provided by Spark's in-memory computing was also investigated. In-memory computing was found to provide significant speedup, however, this speedup may be less significant in more compute-intensive pipelines.


identifier: Harada, Sho  (2017) Optical remote sensing technique for the generation of meandering river channel topography and sediment size.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Traditional techniques for river cross-section surveys are costly, time-consuming, and difficult to implement. They are also limited by logistical constraints. The practical limitation in the spacing and frequency of survey points restricts ground-based surveys to those of reach scale. This research has demonstrated the potential of generating river topography and sizing bed materials within complex shallow channels, using high-resolution multispectral and stereo images. The demonstration uses a 13-km long reach of meandering, alluvial river (the Goulais River in Ontario). Fluvial remote sensing provides a complimentary alternative to field surveys, in which a detailed synoptic view of the river may be acquired. The presented technique generates a river topography model (RTM) by combining the bathymetry map (the channel-bed to the free surface) and digital elevation map (the free surface and above). The former is generated from the depth-to-brightness ratio that is empirically estimated by correlating available field survey points to the digital numbers of the image. The latter is generated through a photogrammetric analysis of stereo images. A challenge arises in combining the maps when the images used to derive the bathymetry map and the digital elevation map are captured at different times (or at different stages). The difficulty is overcome by applying gradually-varied flow type technique (one-dimensional conservation of mass, energy and momentum) to resolve the discrepancy in the stages per cross section. The resulting RTM is a continuous digital terrain that encompasses the channel-bed, floodplains, and the dry terrain features. Qualitative observations of the RTM indicate a correct placement of geomorphic features, including pool-riffle zones, and point bars. The RTM is used as a model domain for simulations of depth-averaged two-dimensional hydrodynamics in order to estimate the boundary shear stress corresponding to the formative discharge. The median sediment diameter in the riffle zones derived from the simulated boundary shear stress compares well with field observations. The method presented offers a promising complimentary tool for river dynamics analysis and river management.


identifier: Merritt, Samantha  (2017) Sincere Irony and Crafting Critique: Institutional Memory in Ursula Johnson’s Mi’kwite’tmn (Do You Remember).  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis is an examination of the exhibition by contemporary artist Ursula Johnson entitled Mi’kwite’tmn (Do You Remember) (2014-2018), through three sets of sometimes conflicting forces: history and memory, nostalgia and irony, and active and passive viewer participation. The exhibition is analyzed through Mi’kmaq Elder Albert Marshall’s philosophy of two eyed seeing, which seeks to blend together Indigenous knowledge systems and Western knowledge systems in a way that benefits both ways of thinking. This thesis begins by exploring the historical evolution of museums as sites which reinforce colonialism, and how Johnson utilizes public familiarity with these institutions through mimicry in order to draw attention to this aspect of institutional spaces. From there, I analyze Johnson’s use of parodic irony and reflective nostalgia through the embodiment of the Indigenous figure of the Trickster both as a form of healing from colonial violence, and looking toward a future of Indigenous cultural resurgence. The final section of this thesis examines the role of the Mi’kmaq worldview of Netukulimk in Mi’kwite’tmn (Do You Remember), examining how the focus on connection in Netukulimk is utilized through viewer participation throughout the exhibition. This thesis ultimately concludes that Ursula Johnson’s Mi’kwite’tmn (Do You Remember) functions as a site of imagining ways in which the colonial institutions of museums can instead be used as a tool for decolonization.


identifier: Côté, Marianne  (2017) Smart City or How to Go to City Hall through the Cloud.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: On the campaign trail in 2013, then-mayoral candidate Denis Coderre promised to transform Montréal into a smart city. Since then, the city released a strategy and action plan, established the Smart and Digital City Office and introduced several projects as ‘smart’ initiatives. Still, what is a smart city and what does it mean to be smart? First, this thesis demonstrates that even if the smart city concept is often seen as ‘new’, it includes many central elements found in the early days of computing technology. Second, this research draws some parallels between the past and the present when it comes to justifying a new urban paradigm. Then, using critical discourse analysis and interviews with two key actors in the Montréal city apparatus, this thesis will reveal how the model was put in place, as well as some of the challenges that the administration faced in the process. By focusing on the regional development of Montréal, Québec, Canada as a smart city, this thesis hopes to make a meaningful contribution to the discussion about the relationship between technology, politics and the future of cities.


identifier: Dudley, Andrew  (2017) Exploring Canadian Music Therapy Graduates’ Experiences of Transitioning into Professional Practice.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The transition to professional practice is a unique experience faced by every person who graduates from a pre-professional training program. While literature exists from other professions and countries on this topic, little is known about the triumphs and challenges that Canadian music therapy graduates experience as novice professionals. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative inquiry was to explore three Canadian music therapy graduates’ recent experiences of transitioning from pre-professional training environments into professional music therapist roles within Canadian employment contexts. Data were collected via individual Skype interviews, which were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. Three individual narratives emerged from the interview data and three global meaning units, each one containing themes, emerged through cross-case comparison. These global meaning units were: (a) navigating uncomfortable situations, (b) feeling a sense of commitment, and (c) establishing a foothold. Practical implications of the findings are presented for Canadian music therapy training programs, the music therapy profession in Canada, and future research. Through the identification of common obstacles faced by aspiring music therapists, as well as the identification of internal and external resources, the results of this research inquiry may help music therapy graduates, faculty, supervisors, and employers better understand and navigate this process of change.


identifier: Pearce, Janice  (2017) Use of the Harp by North American Music Therapists in Oncology/Palliative Care: A Survey Study.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The continuum of oncology/palliative care presents complex bio-psychosocial and spiritual needs of patients that music therapy seeks to address. While the most commonly-reported music therapy interventions for cancer patients use receptive methods, in particular live music presented by the music therapist, the literature is sparse regarding the use of musical instruments in these contexts. Evidence from both music therapy and adjunct music in healing practices indicates that live harp music can be of benefit for specific goals such as pain management, comfort and relaxation, reduction of anxiety, and improvement in quality of life. The purpose of this study was to explore the use of the harp by music therapists in Canada and the United States of America in oncology/palliative care. There were 23 respondents fitting the criteria of using the harp in oncology/palliative care, from a total of 201 credentialed music therapists who answered an English-language online survey consisting of open-ended and close-ended questions. Results showed that the therapists surveyed perceived it to be a useful music therapy instrument in cancer care, particularly using receptive methods to create a healing environment and increase comfort. Acoustic, aesthetic, and archetypal qualities emerged as bearing potential therapeutic impact. Risks and contraindications highlighted the archetypal connection with angels, heaven, and death. Training, study limitations, potential implications for the profession, and future research are discussed.


identifier: Lalancette, Annie  (2017) Navigating the Tides: Indigenous Perspectives and Conventional Fisheries Management in the Tropical Rock Lobster Fishery, Torres Strait, Australia.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The thesis aims to gain a better understanding of opportunities for and constraints to the advancement of indigenous rights and aspirations in State-controlled fisheries. It explores the perspectives of Torres Strait (TS) Islanders in the context of expected shifts in governance of the tropical rock lobster (TRL) fishery. This fishery is shared between traditional inhabitants, non-indigenous Australians and neighboring Papua New Guinea; each with differing objectives, interests and capacities. In 2005, the highest governance Australian body for fisheries in TS decided to introduce a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and quotas for each sector. Implementation of quotas has been systematically delayed due to initial problems with setting the TAC and difficult allocation negotiations. In parallel, the High Court recognized in 2013 the native title rights of TS Islanders to  37,800 km2 of sea territory and non-exclusive commercial fishing rights.

This study is informed by 13 months of field work undertaken in 2008-2011 involving a core component of standard ethnographic methods and three supplementary components consisting of preference interviews and rankings, cognitive mapping and future scenarios. Methods used were assessed in terms of their usefulness and appropriateness in the TS context. While recent methodological developments offer exciting opportunities, this thesis contends that these methods can only achieve their full potential when combined with other complementary methods, are well-tailored to the context and are conducted in an atmosphere of trust which can require significant prior involvement in communities.

It is argued in this thesis that Islander practices contribute to social-ecological resilience and to all dimensions of Islander wellbeing. This thesis highlights how fisheries in TS are largely influenced by conventional management and neoliberal principles. It is shown that the current structure greatly favors Western views and has generally not considered the potential contributions of Islander perspectives to fisheries management. It is argued that the current regime has the potential to erode Islander institutions and practices and is at odds with Islander realities, values and aspirations. It concludes that in the wake of the Sea Claim, significant changes are needed to the current governance structure for the actualization of Islanders’ newly recognized rights.


identifier: Porter, Erica  (2017) Athlete fear avoidance and pain interference are related to return to competition time following an acute injury in athletes.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Context: Pain related fear and fear avoidance contribute to the development of chronic pain and longer rehabilitation times in the general population. Recent evidence suggests that fear avoidance might be associated with increased rehabilitation times in athletes with ACL reconstructions but there is little research on other injuries. Objective: The purpose of this study was to measure fear avoidance and return to competition times in athletes who have suffered an acute musculoskeletal injury. Participants: Thirty-five student-athletes (25 males, 10 females) participated in this study. Athletes competed in football, rugby, soccer, basketball, or hockey. Measures: Within 24 hours of suffering a musculoskeletal injury, participants completed a battery of questionnaires that assessed function, pain severity, interference and disability, depression, and psychosocial factors, which included (athlete) fear avoidance, catastrophizing and kinesiophobia. Return to competition was measured in days once the athlete returned to competition with no restrictions. Results: There was a significant improvement in pain and function from injury to return to competition. In addition, all participants experienced a decrease in pain disability, severity, and interference, as well as all psychosocial factors from injury onset to return to competition. Pearson correlations identified significant relationships between injury onset athlete fear avoidance, change in function, pain disability, pain interference, and depression, with return to competition. The regression analysis indicated a significant model, which accounted for 35.3% of the variance of return to competition times. Conclusion: It is possible that using injury onset measures of pain and athlete fear avoidance could predict rehabilitation times in athletes.


identifier: Pelczer, Ildiko  (2017) A Praxeological Model of Future Elementary Teachers’ Envisioned Practice of Teaching Geometric Transformations.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Research on future teachers’ geometrical knowledge mainly focused on comparing their knowledge against a reference body of knowledge.  Consequently, these studies were categorized into deficit (what is lacking) and affordance (what knowledge enables) approaches. Yet, research literature is very scarce on what future teachers’ geometry knowledge is: what is its content and structure.
In research, under the term of personal epistemology are regrouped studies on people’s perceptions on the nature of knowledge and knowing, in particular those of future or in-service teachers. The main research tool of these studies is a closed item questionnaire with questions usually targeting four aspects of knowledge: certainty, simplicity, source, and justification of knowledge. A shortcoming of this approach is in the difference between professed and enacted epistemologies: the questionnaires measure professed epistemologies, yet these can differ from what is manifested in a spontaneous manner, for example during classroom instruction.  A different line of research, pertinent to this thesis, is on teachers’ conceptions of teaching and learning. Several studies suggest that teachers’ conceptions rely on their epistemic beliefs. Both aspects are comprised in the term of teachers’ epistemology, introduced by Brousseau (1987). In brief, teachers’ epistemology comprises aspects of what, why and how to teach.
The aim of the thesis is to construct a praxeological model of future elementary teacher’s envisioned practice of teaching geometric transformations. These praxeologies comprise the tasks future teachers would use in their classroom to teach the topic, as well the techniques they envision students should learn. Along with these elements, we describe the theory underlying the techniques. The theory is the expression of future teachers’ geometric knowledge. In addition, by analyzing future teachers’ lesson plans, we identify manifestations of their spontaneous, enacted epistemology. By extrapolating from the detailed findings about their praxeologies, a broader characterization of future teachers’ epistemology is proposed.
The thesis discusses the potential implications of future teachers’ praxeologies for students’ learning of mathematics and proposes some recommendations for the preparation of teachers to teach mathematics.


identifier: Venkatarangam, Stephen  (2017) Participants’ Experiences of a Receptive Music Therapy Intervention that Incorporates Raga: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Indian musicians, scholars, and music therapists have explored the use of raga for many years, with music therapists recommending its use in meditation, visualization, and clinical improvisation. Little formal research, however, exists concerning the use of raga in clinical settings with clients unfamiliar with this style of music. By means of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, this qualitative research explored the lived experiences of 3 participants unfamiliar with raga within a live-receptive raga intervention. The primary method of data collection was semi-structured interviews. The following overarching themes emerged through coding and analysis of the interviews: (a) initial awareness of sensory stimulation/environment; (b) pre-contextual thought processes as inherent to the experience; (c) raga as a trusted guide; the development of a “cognitive holding space” through music; (d) emotional and physiological changes throughout the musical movement; and (e) preferred duration of experience. These overarching themes as well as subsidiary themes were explored at a group level while accounting for the unique and rich differences of the participants’ individual experiences. The study provides information to further the dialogue concerning integration of raga within a music therapy context. Particular receptive interventions that may enrich the therapeutic experiences of populations of diverse and non-specialized backgrounds are suggested.


identifier: Pan, Bing-YI  (2017) The Use of Music Therapy/Music to Address Sleep Quality and Sleep Disorders: A Systematic Literature Review.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Approximately 40% of adult Canadians struggle with sleep impairments of some kind. As more people turn to non-medical treatments, such as music therapy and the use of music for sleep troubles, music therapists need to be prepared to help. This systematic literature review investigated, synthesized, and analyzed research concerning the impact of music therapy/music on sleep quality. In this study, 37 articles including 35 published in peer-reviewed journals and 2 Master’s theses were examined and categorized based on the type of study, the use of music therapy or music medicine, the geographic and cultural background, the population and sample size, the research design, the interventions used, the measurement tools used, the music delivery method, the intervention duration, frequency, and treatment period; the music selection rationale, and the results of the study. The analysis showed the studies: a) came from a variety of countries and fields; b) investigated a number of different populations, both clinical and non-clinical; and c) employed an array of measurement tools, music delivery methods, intervention durations, frequencies, and treatment periods, rationales for music choice for the interventions, and mixed results. Of the 37 studies, 33 (89.2%) showed a positive influence of music therapy/music on sleep quality, while 4 (10.8%) found no impact. Six articles reported that music therapy/music had more or equal impact on sleep quality compared to other treatments. These results demonstrated that further research needs to be done to find the most effective interventions for improving the sleep quality of different populations and to explore music therapists’ roles in the area of enhancing sleep quality.


identifier: Manoochehri, Shayan  (2017) Efficient Transactional-Memory-based Implementation of Morph Algorithms on GPU.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: General Purpose GPUs (GPGPUs) are ideal platforms for parallel execution of applications with regular shared memory access patterns. However, majority of real world multithreaded applications require access to shared memory with irregular patterns. The morph algorithms, which arise in many real world applications, change their graph data structures in unpredictable ways, thus, leading to irregular access patterns to shared data. Such irregularity makes morph algorithms more challenging to be implemented on GPUs which favor regularity. The Borouvka’s algorithm for calculating Minimum Spanning Forest (MSF), and multilevel graph partitioning are two examples of morph algorithms with varied levels of expressed parallelism. In this work we show that a transactional-memory-based design and implementation of the morph algorithms on GPUs can handle some of the challenges arising due to irregularities such as complexity of code and overhead of synchronization. First, we identify the major phases of the algorithm which requires synchronization of the shared data. If the algorithm exhibits certain algebraic properties (e.g., monotonicity, idempotency, associativity), we can use lock-free synchronizations for performance; otherwise we utilize a Software Transactional Memory (STM) based synchronization method. Experimental results show that our GPU-based implementation of Borouvka’s algorithm outperforms both the fastest sequential implementation and the existing STM-based implementation on multicore CPUs when tested on large-scale graphs with diverse densities. Moreover, to show the applicability of our approach to other morph algorithms, we do a pen-and-paper implementation and complexity analysis of multilevel graph partitioning.


identifier: Dargahi, Ashkan  (2017) Fabrication, Characterization and Modeling of Magnetorheological Elastomers.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) are a novel class of magneto-active materials comprised of an elastomeric matrix impregnated by micron-sized ferromagnetic particles, which exhibit adjustable mechanical properties such as stiffness and damping coefficient in a reversible manner under the application of an external magnetic field. MREs are solid state of magnetorheological (MR) materials. In contrast to MR fluids, which provide field-dependent apparent viscosity, MREs, being a smart viscoelastic material, are capable of providing controlled field dependent moduli. Yet having a solid grasp of highly complex behavior of this active composite is a fundamental necessity to design any adaptive structure based on the MRE. This study is concerned with investigation of the static and dynamic behavior of the magnetorheological elastomers. To this end, six different types of MREs with varying contents of the rubber matrix as well as ferromagnetic particles are fabricated and characterized statically in the shear mode as a function of the magnetic field intensity. The MRE containing the highest percentage of iron particles (40% volume fraction) exhibited a notable relative MR effect of 555% with 181.54 KPa increase in the MRE shear modulus. This particular MRE was then chosen for subsequent dynamic characterization. The dynamic responses of magnetorheological elastomers revealed strong dependence on the strain and strain rate as well as the applied magnetic field intensity. Dynamic characterization is performed in shear mode under harmonic excitations under the broad ranges of shear strain amplitude (2.5-20%), frequency (0.1-50 Hz) and magnetic field intensity (0-450 mT). The strain softening, strain stiffening, strain rate stiffening and the magnetic field stiffening phenomena are identified as the nonlinear properties of MRE stress-strain hysteresis loops. Subsequently, an operator-based Prandtl-Ishlinskii (PI) phenomenological model is developed to predict the nonlinear hysteresis behavior of the MREs as functions of strain, strain rate and field intensity. The stop-operator-based classical PI model using only 10 hysteresis operators provided very accurate predictions, and it involved identification of only four parameters, which were dependent on the loading conditions. The validity of the developed Classical Prandtl-Ishlinskii model is assessed using the laboratory-measured data for MRE over a wide range of inputs. The proposed model is further generalized to predict the dynamic behavior of MRE independent of the loading conditions, which could be beneficial for controlling the MRE-based adaptive devices in real time. The results demonstrated that the proposed generalized model could accurately characterize the nonlinear hysteresis properties of MRE under a wide range of loading conditions and applied magnetic fields.


identifier: Rossi, Maya  (2017) Reading Speed and Orthographic Quality: Exploring the Space Between Good and Poor.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Individuals vary in the speed with which they read printed text. Each person has words in his or her mental lexicon that are of low, intermediate, and high quality. These representations are said to be developed through self-teaching as students are reading text (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1990; Share, 1995). According to the Lexical Quality Hypothesis (LQH), a word with a higher quality mental representation should be accessed more efficiently than a word with a lower quality representation. This ease of access can be observed via faster reading times. However, direct comparison between reading times of words progressing from low to high quality has yet to be studied. Here, reading times were measured for single words and analysed within-participant and within-word, according to orthographic quality (measured through spelling accuracy and stability). The data from this study show that teenagers who read more for pleasure have faster reading times and higher spelling scores. Furthermore, single-word reading speed gets faster as the orthographic quality of single words progresses from low to intermediate to high quality. Therefore, spelling is important; increasing spelling accuracy and stability is a worthwhile way to efficiently access mental representations of words, and thus increase reading speed. Reading for pleasure can help improve spelling abilities and should be an indispensible part of classroom and home activities.


identifier: Xie, Xiaoran  (2017) Combined Linearization of both Analog and Digital Pre-Distortion for Broadband Radio over Fiber Transmission.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The benefits of rapid wireless communication development are continuously being enjoyed by people all over the world. However, the increasing number of wireless applications leads to surge in demand of spectrum resources which conflicts with the limited band resources. One solution is increasing the available band resources, but a more effective way is improving the utilization of the existing bandwidth. In the Fourth Generation (4G) wireless communication and Wi-Fi standard, the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technique is introduced. As an OFDM signal is a non-constant envelope signal and usually has a high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR), it is very sensitive to the distortion caused by the nonlinear response of inline components in transmission systems.
Within a system, the nonlinearity is basically due to two areas. First, RF power amplifier (PA) is a main contributor. For efficient operation, the PA is set to the saturation zone where a high amount of nonlinearity is present. Consequently, the nonlinearity in the power amplifier will be unbearably high. This nonlinearity is called quiescent nonlinearity. Moreover, with the increasing of signal bandwidth and transmission rate, the memory effect may occur. So, in the 4G and 5G wireless system, both phenomenon should be considered.
Second, when radio over fiber (RoF) transmission is incorporated into front-haul transmission systems, it is capable of simplifying the remote radio units (RRU) from complex signal processing, thus potentially cost-effect. However, optical sideband modulation is used in RoF, and nonlinear distortion is induced to the signals. Therefore, RoF is another contributor to high quiescent nonlinearity.
The nonlinearity from RF PA, RoF system, and other devices will cause out-of-band spectral regrowth and in-band distortion. These problems lead to performance degradation. Some techniques to overcome the limitation of the above nonlinearity were proposed such as feed-forward, feed-back, pre-distortion, and post-distortion. Among these techniques, pre-distortion methods have been widely adopted for its flexible and robust mechanism in the modern ultra-wideband communication systems.
Pre-distortion is divided into two branches: Analog Pre-distortion (APD) and Digital Pre-distortion (DPD). The basic idea of APD is using dedicated nonlinearity devices, like a diode or field effect transistor, to generate a certain nonlinearity that can compensate a PA or RoF system. With the APD method, the odd order of intermodulation distortion (IMD) is usually compensated, but APD devices cannot fix the memory effect induced by PA. Different from the APD method, the DPD linearizes a communication system by digital means. With some digital processing methods, DPD is capable of compensating both memory effect and quiescent nonlinearity. However, the baseband DPD cannot suppress out-of-band distortion, while RF DPD requires costly RF detectors and A/D converters with a high sampling rate
In view of the fact that both APD and DPD have their advantages and disadvantages, a new pre-distortion method of combined APD and DPD is proposed. This new method can both suppress the quiescent nonlinearity and memory effect in a transmission system or PA. Here, APD is used to compensate the third order Intermodulation Distortion (IMD3) induced by an RoF system and the DPD is used to suppress the memory effect that mainly comes from the PA, in addition to in-band nonlinear distortion.
The validity of proposed pre-distortion method is proved in both simulation and experiment. In the simulation, an RoF transmission system model is built to induce both quiescent nonlinearity and memory effect. The RoF model is based on measured data. The PA model is an evolved Wiener-Hammerstein model that can induce both long-term and short-term memory effect. The APD circuit is designed and simulated in software Advanced Design System (ADS). In the simulation, the performance of the proposed pre-distortion method is evaluated by the improvement of Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) and IMD3. After determining the optimal memory depth and optimal RF input power in terms of EVM and IMD3, three cases are considered in the simulation. The first case is a general two-band LTE signal. Two LTE signals located at 800 MHz and 900 MHz pass through the simulation system. It is shown that an average 21.6-dB improvement of EVM, an average 4.6-dB improvement of IMD3, and a 23.8-dB improvement of Adjacent Channel Power Ratio (ACPR) are obtained. In the second case, a two-band LTE signal is located at 800 MHz and 840 MHz. It is shown that a 11.3 dB improvement of EVM, a 9.8 dB improvement of IMD3, and a 9.3 dB improvement of ACPR are achieved. For the third case that is a three-band test, three signals are set to 800 MHz, 850 MHz and 900 MHz. It is shown that a 16.7 dB improvement of EVM, a 21.8 dB improvement of IMD3, and a 18.4 dB improvement of ACPR are got. In the first two cases, 2D-DPD is used as DPD method, and for the third case the RF DPD method is used. The APD circuit used in all three cases is an anti-parallel Schottky diodes based circuit that was designed and fabricated by a former student. The results of the proposed pre-distortion method is compared to traditional DPD-only and APD-only. It is revealed that the proposed pre-distortion method results in higher improvement in EVM, ACPR, and IMD3. This means that the advantages of APD and DPD were combined successfully.
The experiments further verify the advantages of proposed linearization method. Like the simulation, three cases are also considered in experiments. For case one with two-band LTE signal located at 800 MHz and 900 MHz, it is shown that a 11.0 dB improvement of EVM, a 15.0 dB improvement of IMD3, and 19.4 dB improvement of ACPR are obtained. For case two with two-band LTE signal located at 800 MHz and 840 MHz, it is shown that an 8.2 dB improvement of EVM, a 16.8 dB improvement of IMD3, and a 4.6 dB improvement of ACPR are achieved. For case three with three LTE signals at 800 MHz, 850 MHz, and 900 MHz, it is shown that a 10.1 dB improvement in EVM, a 16.9 dB improvement in IMD3, and an 8.6 dB improvement in ACPR are achieved. Moreover, the proposed pre-distortion method leads to better performance in EVM, IMD3, and ACPR than APD-only or DPD-only method.
At the end of the thesis, another evolved 2D-DPD method is proposed based on the mathematical model of combined analog and digital pre-distortion method. The high order nonlinear memory effect is ignored in evolved 2D-DPD. Therefore, the number of coefficients is reduced while the performance remains almost the same. This relationship between the coefficients number and nonlinearity order is discussed. Finally, a simple simulation is done which proves the benefits of evolved 2D-DPD.


identifier: Sadeghifar, Morteza  (2017) Development of the Analysis and Optimization Strategies for Prediction of Residual Stresses Induced by Turning Processes.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Difficult-to-machine materials are widely used in the aerospace and automotive industries including landing gears of aircrafts, drive-shafts of automobiles, and high strength bolts and frame parts of airplanes and motorsports due to their high toughness, less sensitivity to heat, and high resistance to fatigue and corrosion. Machining these materials is accompanied by high cutting temperatures and forces, which cause high residual stresses. It is known that high temperature leads to inaccuracies in component dimensions and causes phase transformation in the material. High cutting forces also raise the power consumption of turning machines and result in an excessive deflection and consequently breakage of the tool. Also, both large cutting temperatures and forces cause high tool wear. Most importantly, machining-induced tensile residual stresses have detrimental effects on the performance of components due to having the tendency to open tiny cracks and speed up crack propagation, which subsequently results in decreasing the resistance to fatigue and corrosion. In contrast, high compressive residual stresses have beneficial effects as they tend to close cracks and slow down crack propagation, which consequently increases the fatigue life considerably. The machining process is required to be efficient by removing as large amount of material as possible, meaning to have a high material removal rate.
Machining forces, temperature, residual stresses, and material removal rate depend highly on machining parameters including cutting conditions and tool geometry. Therefore, a thorough optimization study is required to be conducted to identify optimal machining parameters including cutting speed, feed rate, edge radius, rake angle, and clearance angle to improve response variables specially residual stresses, which will be highly desirable and of paramount importance to the industry. More particularly, when the optimization is carried out based on Finite Element Method (FEM), by which the expensive, time-consuming process of experimental tests is avoided, the outcome will be more economical for the industry.
Finite Element (FE) modeling of orthogonal turning is considered as an open-ended subject as most of the phenomena involved in the orthogonal turning, which also exist in other machining operations, are not fully understood. In the present research work, first, a predictive high-fidelity finite element model is developed using Abaqus software to obtain response variables of cutting temperature, machining forces, and residual stresses induced by orthogonal turning 300M Steel. The validity of the developed FE model is then verified by comparing the predicted machining forces, chip thickness, and residual stresses with those of experimental tests obtained in turn using a piezoelectric dynamometer, a digital micrometer, and ‘X-Ray diffraction apparatus, electropolishing equipment, and a profilometer machine’. The FE model is then utilized to systematically derive response functions (Meta or surrogate models) for desired FE outputs using D-optimal Design of Experiment (DoE) and Response Surface Method (RSM). The derived response functions explicitly relate the desired responses to identified design parameters, and therefore, can be effectively utilized for design optimization problems without using the FE model. Finally, multi-criteria optimization problems are formulated to reduce superficial residual stresses individually and improve a combination of residual stresses, cutting temperature, cutting and thrust forces, and material removal rate by obtaining optimum values of machining parameters including cutting speed, feed rate, edge radius, rake angle, and clearance angle. Special attention is devoted to minimizing the machining-induced residual stresses. Optimization is conducted using a hybrid method of Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) technique in order to accurately capture the global optimum values of machining parameters and response variables. The optimization results show considerable improvement in the total objective function and especially residual stresses.
Since there are no research studies on the finite element simulation, experimental test, and most importantly, constrained and unconstrained multi-performance optimization of machining characteristics and residual stresses for radial turning of 300M steel, the results of the present research can be utilized as a reference for future works along this field.


identifier: Hadziosmanovic, Maida  (2017) Business accountability for climate change: carbon emissions contributions and future sectoral pathways for global carbon budgets.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Discussions regarding climate change accountability, and accordingly, the effort-sharing of climate change mitigation, have focused predominantly on the role of nation-states as the most relevant actors. Yet, companies that are contributing greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere have not similarly been held accountable, nor have they been given clear mitigation guidelines that follow global climate targets. In this study, I aim to encourage business accountability by highlighting the emissions contributions of public companies and the need for reliable corporate reporting and mitigation efforts. I evaluate reported company emissions in 2015, and allocate sectoral carbon emissions budgets associated with the climate targets of remaining below a global mean temperature increase of 1.5°C, and 2°C. I then provide linear, exponential, and logistic functions as future sectoral emissions pathways that conform to these budgets. I also evaluate corporate reporting patterns in the context of company market value and location. Results show that only 7% of companies worldwide report direct emissions. These companies account for a fifth of global CO2 emissions in 2015. Pathways constrained to the 1.5°C budget especially suggest that early and stringent mitigation is critical. Companies may favour the logistic pathway which accommodates an initial lag in emissions reductions, though it forecasts rigorous mitigation requirements in the near future. Weak but significant positive correlations between company market capitalization and emissions may indicate that larger companies are more likely to report greater emissions, and that market value may have potential to be used as a proxy for estimating company emissions. Sectoral level analyses would be improved if corporate emissions disclosure was widespread and verified for reliability. Achieving global climate goals requires accountability that goes beyond the nation-state boundary and that reaches businesses. Moreover, emissions disclosure paves the way for effective business mitigation efforts.


identifier: Karam, Albert  (2017) CEO Entrepreneurial Characteristics and the Entrepreneurial Orientation of the Firm.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The underlying premise of this study is that the individual-level characteristics of the CEO can influence the overall strategy of the firm. Looking at this premise in the context of entrepreneurship, we argue that CEOs that are high in entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial alertness positively influence the entrepreneurial orientation of the firm. This paper adopts Covin & Wales’ (2012) model of entrepreneurial orientation which divides the construct into three dimensions: innovativeness, risk-taking and proactiveness. We further posit that the organizational commitment of the CEO moderates this relationship. Drawing from Meyer and Allen’s (1997) model, we contend that each of affective commitment and normative commitment positively moderate the relationship between both entrepreneurial self-efficacy and alertness on one hand, and entrepreneurial orientation on the other hand, while continuance commitment negatively moderates the aforementioned relationships. Using data we gathered from 33 CEOs and top executives mainly from small family firms in various industries in Lebanon, we find evidence that entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial alertness are positively related to entrepreneurial orientation. We further find that normative commitment positively and significantly moderates the relationship between entrepreneurial alertness and entrepreneurial orientation. We also find that affective commitment negatively moderates the aforementioned relationship. Finally, the three organizational commitment types do not significantly moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial orientation, neither does continuance commitment on the relationship between entrepreneurial alertness and entrepreneurial orientation. From a practical standpoint, the results of this can provide organizations with valuable insights that could be helpful in the CEO selection and training process. The limitations of the study, as well as future directions are discussed.


identifier: Butaev, Almaz  (2017) On some refinements of the embedding of critical Sobolev spaces into BMO, and a study of stability for parabolic equations with time delay.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Van Schaftinen showed that the inequalities of Bourgain and Brezis  give rise to new function spaces that refine the classical embedding of critical Sobolev spaces into BMO. It was suggested by Van Schaftingen that similar results should hold in the setting of bounded domains.

The first part of this thesis contains the proofs of this conjecture as well as the development of a non-homogeneous theory of Van Schaftingen spaces. Based on the results in the non-homogeneous setting, we are able to show that the refined embeddings can also be established for bmo spaces on Riemannian manifolds with bounded geometry, introduced by Taylor.

The stability of parabolic equations with time delay plays an important role in the study of non-linear reaction-diffusion equations with time delay. While the stability regions for such equations without convection on bounded time intervals were described by Travis and Webb, the problem remained unaddressed for the equations with convection. The need to determine exact regions of stability for such equations appeared in the context of the work of Mei and Wang on the Nicholson equation with delay.

In the second part of this thesis, we study the parabolic equations with and without convection. It has been shown that the presence of convection terms can change the regions of stability. The implications for the stability problems for non-linear equations are also discussed.


identifier: el-sayegh, batoul  (2017) Investigation of Left Ventricle Flow Dynamics in the Presence of Mitral Annular Calcification.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Mitral Annular Calcification (MAC) is a degenerative heart disease corresponding to a deformation and narrowing of the mitral valve. Up to 42% of people aged over 65 have it, and 60% of people aged over 85.  The aim of the present work was to understand the flow downstream of a calcified valve and to investigate how both the severity and the orientation affect the characteristics of the velocity field, vorticity field, viscous energy loss, vortex formation time, viscous shear stress, particle path, and shear accumulation.
For the purpose of this experimental thesis, particle image velocimetry was conducted at physiological flow and pressure conditions in two stages. The first stage is the in vitro experiment with seven different mitral valve configurations: (1) normal, (2) mild, (3) moderate with two orientations, (4) severe with three different orientations. Results show that compared with a normal case the instantaneous velocity, vorticity, and shear stress fields in addition to the energy loss evolution and vortex formation time significantly increase with MAC severities. It also showed, that keeping the same severity but modifying the orientation of the mitral valve also significantly lead to sub-optimal hemodynamic configurations.
Findings of this study indicate that the presence of MAC and orientation in the mitral valve significantly alters the hemodynamics in the left ventricle. This study sheds some light on the crucial rule that the orientation of the mitral valve plays in the severity assessment.
The second stage is experiments with models of patient specific valves with three different configurations (1) normal, (2) moderate MAC and (3) severe MAC. Results show that compared with a normal case the velocity and vorticity fields increased with MAC severities. Interestingly, it also showed, that the moderate case had higher averaged energy loss than that of the severe case. The energy loss of the severe was even less than that of the normal.
In conclusion, this study advances the current state of understanding of flow through calcified mitral valve by investigating how MAC affects the hemodynamics in the LV. Results can be used as the foundation for further investigations in order to better clinically evaluate mitral annular calcification.


identifier: Tabrizian, Parnaz  (2017) Co-assembly of graphene oxide / magnetic bimetallic nanoparticles for high-efficiency removal of tetracycline.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
To prevent the human health risks presented by the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria and the negative ecological impacts of large amounts of antibiotics entering the environment, it is crucial to develop effective technologies for the reduction and elimination of residual antibiotics in water.
Current conventional waste water treatment plants (WWTP) are not specifically designed to effectively remove complex organic molecules such as antibiotics. To address this problem many physical and chemical methods have been developed and tested for removal of antibiotics from environmental sources. However, these methods are highly condition based and potentially expensive. Recently, nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) have gained a lot of attention for removal of wide range of organic and inorganic contaminants. It is recognized that nZVI tends to aggregate and oxidize rapidly, reducing the effectiveness and lifetime of these nanoparticles. To overcome these problems, several modification techniques have been developed.  In this study, a novel magnetic nanocomposite based on the electrostatic interactions between graphene oxide (GO) and copper/iron bimetallic nanoparticles was prepared. In comparison to the previously studied “one pot, in-situ” preparation method of GO based nanocomposites, this co-assembly took advantage of the physical affinity between GO and bimetallic nanoparticles allowing for fine-tuning of the size and dimension of the nanoparticles prior to assembly. The nanocomposite showed a pH dependent assembly behavior that could be used to recycle GO and generate new nanoparticles. At optimal conditions, the novel nanocomposite demonstrated almost complete (~100%) removal of tetracycline (TC) within the first 20 minutes. Nanocomposite showed great performance for pH range of 3 to 8 (above 97%) with nearly complete removal for pH values 5 to 7. Desorption studies exhibited that the nanocomposite not only removed TC but also its transformation products. LC–MS analysis showed that the degradation products were mainly stemmed from TC after the losses of some functional groups from the ring. As well as a high removal efficiency, this nanocomposite showed high stability and easy separation, making it a promising method for treating latent antibiotics in water.


identifier: Pope, Frances  (2017) Québécois to British English in Monique Proulx's 'Sans coeur et sans reproche': How much (not) to translate?  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This study takes as its point of departure the extent to which it is necessary to translate linguistic and cultural elements into target terms, as opposed to how much the translator might choose to retain in the source language. The specific parameters of the study are twofold: the translation of a Québécois text for a British readership; and translating Québécois into English in 2017, compared to the same task in previous decades.
Significant shifts in Quebec’s sociocultural, linguistic, and literary spheres over the past few decades have resulted in a greater degree of openness and crossover between Quebec and both neighbouring and international cultures. Through analysis of literary and linguistic aspects, we can see that translation plays a crucial role.
With this in mind, specific translational challenges which arose in the translation of Sans coeur et sans reproche are analysed in response to the question of “how much (not) to translate?” Particularly when viewed from a postcolonial perspective, it becomes clear that many (sometimes conflicting) factors, including idiosyncrasy and identity of the original, sociocultural significance, underlying nuance, comprehension, and literary voice, must be taken into consideration. Consequently, no single strategy can be applied to all contexts, and translational challenges must instead be approached on a case-by-case basis.


identifier: Victor, Samson  (2017) Unsteady and Three-dimensional CFD Simulation of a Darrieus Turbine on the Roof of a Building.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The disastrous effect of climate change has motivated scientists and engineers around the world to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. Among many alternative sources of energy, power production by wind energy has increased exponentially for last few years. Along this spectrum, efforts are made to investigate the possibility to install wind turbine on high roof tops. The onsite generation will also help to integrate micro wind turbines with urban areas. The proposed research work focuses on the CFD study of a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (Troposkien-shaped) mounted on the upstream edge of a building, so that flow acceleration generated by the edge of the building contributes to enhance performance of the turbine. The CFD methodology validation is done by comparison of performance with experimental data. Geometric configuration of Sheldahl’s models is used for unsteady 3D flow of roof mounted Troposkien wind turbine. Three different turbine placement positions at different heights are investigated to observe Cp - λ curve sensitivity at various tip speed ratios. Position 1 and Position 2 are at the edge of the building, whereas position 3 is a few meters away from the edge, directed towards the geometric center of a building. To simulate realistic atmospheric wind conditions, wind gradient is imposed at the inlet, with fixed desired velocity pointing to the middle of the wind turbine. Geometry and numerical setup is described in details, along with the obtained results. The optimal placement position of the turbine shows improvement in the power coefficient from 0.33 to 0.4 at low wind speeds.


identifier: Flesch, Ashley  (2017) A Study of Teamwork Among Business Undergraduate Students.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study aimed to gain insight into undergraduate business students’ acquisition of teamwork skills. The primary goal of the study was to explore the extent to which undergraduate students acquire teamwork skills through the experience of working in teams (exposure), and to explore if support provided by professors facilitate the acquisition of teamwork skills. The secondary goal of the study was to investigate whether teamwork strategies (defined as conscious efforts used to acquire a skill before it is automatic; Afflerbach et al., 2008) mediate links between exposure and skills, and support and skills. Hypotheses were tested using data from several samples of students at different stages of the undergraduate business degree, using both archival (N = 3582) and survey data (N=894). Results demonstrated that exposure can promote the acquisition of teamwork skills, but alone, it may not be optimal. Rather, when professors offer support in the form of ‘Willingness to Intervene and Explain Expectations,’ this tends to promote a higher procurement of teamwork skills. Interestingly, too much professor support, in the form of ‘Interim Feedback’, seems to hinder skill growth, and this may reflect ‘over-scaffolding’ that is detrimental to learning. These findings can provide advice to professors about the types of support that are most beneficial to students’ acquisition of teamwork skills.


identifier: Alzahrani, Abeer  (2017) On Two-Sample Tests For Time Series.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: On Two-Sample Tests For Time Series

abstract: In this thesis, we consider the two-sample problem of time series. Given two time series data x_1,...,x_n and y_1,...,y_m, we would like to test whether they follow the same time series model. First, we develop a unified procedure for this testing problem. The procedure consists of three steps: testing stationarity, comparing correlation structures and comparing residual distributions. Then, we apply the established procedure to analyze real data. We also propose a modification to a nonparametric two-sample test, which can be applied to high dimensional data with equal means and variances.


identifier: Snounou, Sari  (2017) Cdk1 has a role in phosphorylating TRAMM.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
TRAMM was originally identified as a protein that co-precipitates with the TRAPP (transport protein particle) complex that functions in membrane trafficking. Recent work in our laboratory suggested a role for this protein in mitosis, specifically in chromosome congression prior to metaphase. In the early stages of mitosis, TRAMM is post- translationally modified by phosphorylation. Knockdown of the protein causes it to affect the localization of various kinetochore proteins with the strongest effect on CENP-E. The two proteins were also shown to interact using a yeast two hybrid assay (Milev et al., 2015).

In this study, I show that TRAMM also interacts with CENP-E through a co- immunoprecipitaiton assay and this interaction appears to be enhanced in mitotic lysates. Using various inhibitors of mitotic kinases, I further show that only inhibition of Cdk1 prevents the phosphorylation of TRAMM. This suggests that Cdk1, apart from the other mitotic kinases, has a role in phosphorylating TRAMM. Furthermore, I also use bioinformatics tools to predict the structure of TRAMM. Finally I express and purify a recombinant form of TRAMM in a homogeneous monodispersed protein sample.


identifier: Brandes, Hadas  (2017) The Bare Necessities for Doing Undergraduate Multivariable Calculus.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Students in two mathematics streams at Concordia University start their programs on similar footing in terms of pre-requisite courses; their paths soon split in the two directions set by the Pure and Applied Mathematics (MATH) courses and the Major in Mathematics and Statistics (MAST) courses. In particular, likely during their first year of studies, the students set out to take a two-term arrangement of Multivariable Calculus in the form of MAST 218 – 219 and MATH 264 – 265, respectively. There is an ongoing discussion about the distinction between the MAST and MATH courses, and how it is justified. This thesis seeks to address the matter by identifying the mathematics that is essential for students to learn in order to succeed in each of these courses. We apply the Anthropological Theory of the Didactic (ATD) in order to model the knowledge to be taught and to be learned in MAST 218 and MATH 264, as decreed by the curricular documents and course assessments. The ATD describes units of mathematical knowledge in terms of a practical block (tasks to be done and techniques to accomplish them) and a theoretical block that frames and justifies the practical block. We use these notions to model the knowledge to be taught and learned in each course and reflect on the implications of the inclusion and exclusion of certain units of knowledge in the minimal core of what students need to learn. Based on these models, we infer that the learning of Multivariable Calculus in both courses follows in a tradition observed in single-variable calculus courses, whereby students develop compartmentalized units of knowledge. That is, we find that it is necessary for students in MAST 218 and MATH 264 to specialize in techniques that apply to certain routine tasks, and to this end, it suffices to learn bits and pieces of theoretical knowledge that are not unified in a mathematically-informed way. We briefly consider potential implications of such learning in the wider context of the MATH and MAST programs.