title: Cross Section Measurements of the Higgs Boson in the Diphoton Decay Channel Using Proton-Proton Collision Data Recorded by the ATLAS Detector at Centre-of-Mass Energies of 7 TeV and 8 TeV

abstract: In July of 2012, both the ATLAS and CMS experiments announced the discovery of a new particle consistent with the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson. This has ushered in a new era of precision physics: measuring the Higgs boson's properties. Precisely measuring all the properties of the newly discovered Higgs boson will tell us if this is the particle predicted by the SM or another particle entirely. This thesis focuses on cross section measurements of the Higgs boson in the diphoton decay channel. The analysis is preformed using 4.5 fb-1 and 20.3 fb-1 of proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at CERN's Large Hadron Collider in 2011 and 2012, at centre-of-mass energies of 7 TeV and 8 TeV, respectively. Fiducial cross sections are measured and corrected for experimental effects such as detector acceptance and resolution. The results are compared to the latest state-of-the-art theoretical prediction for SM Higgs boson cross sections.The Higgs boson signal is extracted and the background subtracted by performing a signal plus background fit to the invariant diphoton mass spectrum. The pp -> H -> gamma gamma inclusive fiducial cross section is measured to be 45.3 +/- 16.9 (stat.) +5.3 -5.3 (syst.) +/- 0.8 (lumi.) fb at 7 TeV and 43.2 +/- 9.4 (stat.) +3.2 -2.9 (syst.) +/- 1.2 (lumi.) fb at 8 TeV, for a Higgs boson of mass 125.36 GeV. Using the larger 8 TeV dataset, additional fiducial and differential cross section measurements of the Higgs boson are also reported. This thesis will particularly focus on the following aspects of the Higgs boson cross section measurements: (i) jet calibration and performance, (ii) a data-driven method for obtaining the diphoton background rate estimations required for deriving the background parameterization used in the signal extraction, (iii) extracting the Higgs boson signal by performing a simultaneous s+b likelihood fit to the diphoton invariant mass spectrum, and (iv) deriving the `unfolding' factors used to translate the measurements to a set of detector corrected model-independent observables.


title: Quaternion-Based Human Gesture Recognition System Using Multiple Body-Worn Intertial Sensors

abstract: In this study, we designed a multi-sensor gesture recognition system that can classify among six different human gestures. Data was collected from eleven participants using five gyroscopic motion sensors tied to their upper body. A total of 1080 samples were collected, which contain almost 6000 gestures collected within a span of 90 minutes. The data were processed and fed into a multiclass Pattern Classification system to classify the gestures. We trained Support Vector Machines and Artificial Neural Networks on the same dataset under two different scenarios to compare the results. A similar study was performed before using modified Hidden Markov Model but the data was collected using a single sensor. Our study indicates that near perfect classification accuracies are achievable. However, such accuracies are more difficult to obtain when a participant does not participate in training even if the test set does not contain any data from the training set.


title: Experimental and Modelling Study of a Geodesic Dome Solar Greenhouse System in Ottawa

abstract: A building model was created in TRNSYS 17 to determine whether appropriate growing conditions can be maintained in a geodesic dome greenhouse in Ottawa, Canada, without the use of auxiliary power or heating. A microcontroller, the Arduino UNO, is used as the data collection device. In order to test the effects of ventilation, thermal mass, and solar panel shading on both the modelled and the measured results, combinations of these variables were used to create five operating scenarios. The model was calibrated and run under each of these scenarios, using actual 2015 weather data, and was also run for a full year using the CWEC weather data to compare the performance of each scenario for a typical weather year. The results indicate that air temperatures are expected to exceed acceptable ranges during a typical weather year, which indicates that further efforts will be required to heat and cool the Biodome.


title: Iterative Principal Component Analysis (IPCA) for Network Anomaly Detection

abstract: Due to a plethora of network anomalies and their rapid increase both in complexity and diversity, an ongoing research for security countermeasures is emerging. Princi- pal Component Analysis (PCA) is one of the several methods that were suggested in order to detect such anomalies and is known as a powerful tool in finding and diagnosing anomalies in network traffic. Nonetheless, previous relevant research work highlighted some inconsistencies of the classical method. It has been shown that the efficiency of the results are highly dependent to the input data and the calibration of its parameters. These parameters should be carefully selected in order to pinpoint the existence of anomalies in network traffic. By obtaining real network traffic traces from a small enterprise and artificially injecting anomalies, we apply a modified PCA based method. The results of our experimentation imply that this method possesses promising capabilities in efficiently detecting network anomalies and manages to sur- pass some of the limitations of the classic approach.


title: Purchasing Power: Explaining Variation in the Canadian Armed Forces’ use of Contracted Services

abstract: This dissertation examines why the Canadian military’s use of privatized defence services has varied over time. In answering this question, the hypothesis tested is that variation in the use of Private Military and Security Companies by the Canadian military has been driven by changes to the size and internal allocation of the defence budget. Drawing on the concept of constrained optimization, this hypothesis asserts that defence officials have attempted to optimize the allocation of the defence budget between its constituent spending categories of Personnel, Operations and Maintenance and Capital. Variation in the extent of service contracting has been influenced by changes to the size of the defence budget and constraints on its allocation. The dissertation reviews the history of changes to the size and allocation of the defence budget and the historical use of service contracts by the Department of National Defence (DND). It then examines four case studies that provide focused examinations of significant shifts in DND’s use of service contracts. Three of these cases examine increases to the use of service contracting: the Alternate Service Delivery program; In-Service Support contracting; and Operational Support Contracts. The fourth case study, the 2012 Service Contracting Cut, examines a decrease in the use of service contracts. This research found that constraints on DND’s ability to spend money on Personnel have been the most consistent cause of variation in the use of service contracts, but this variation was most significant when Personnel constraints were combined with budget cuts. Whether the combination of constraints on Personnel and budget cuts led to an increase or decrease in the use of service contracts has depended on the constraints on the other two major categories of defence spending (Capital or Operations and Maintenance).


title: Encoding Arguments

abstract: We study encoding arguments using partial prefix-free codes, which allow us to prove probabilistic statements using the basic fact that uniformly chosen elements from a set of size n cannot be encoded with fewer than log_2 n bits on average. This technique, in the end, is a more direct version of the incompressibility method from the study of Kolmogorov complexity. We use our technique to produce short original proofs for several results. We also explore extensions of the technique to non-uniform input distributions. Finally, we offer a new manner of encoding which allows for real-valued codeword lengths, thereby refining every other result obtained through encoding.


title: Advances in Classification in Non-Stationary Environments

abstract: A common assumption in the majority of existing classification algorithms is that the stochastic distribution of the data being classified is stationary and does not change with time. However, in some real-word domains the data distribution can be non-stationary, implying that the distribution or characterizing aspects of the features change over time or the data generation phenomenon itself may change over time, which, in turn, leads to a variation in the data distribution. In this thesis, we consider a problem of C-class classification and of detecting the source of data in periodic non-stationary environments. Within our model, sequential patterns arrive and are processed in the form of a data stream that was generated from different sources with distinct statistical distributions. Using a family of Stochastic-Learning based Weak Estimators, we adopt a scheme to estimate the vector of the probability distribution of the binomial/multinomial datasets.


title: Assessing the Acute Effects of CDP-Choline on Sensory Gating and Cognitive Deficits in Chronic Schizophrenia

abstract: Deficient sensory gating (SG) and cognition in schizophrenia are associated with functional outcome and offer therapeutic targets as they are linked to the altered function/expression of the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR). This study analyzed the effects of CDP-Choline, an α7 nAChR agonist, on SG and cognition in a sample of chronic schizophrenia patients. Using a randomized, placebo controlled, double-blind design the dose dependent (500 mg, 1000 mg, 2000 mg) and baseline SG dependent (deficient vs. normal suppressors) effects of CDP-Choline were analyzed using the P50 index of SG and a computerized cognition test battery. CDP-Choline improved SG (500 mg) in the deficient suppressor subgroup by increasing suppression of the S2 P50 amplitude. No positive effects of CDP-Choline on cognition were observed. These findings tentatively support α7 nAChR dysfunction in the expression of SG deficits and support further trials with CDP-choline to asses the effects of sustained α7 nAChR activation.


title: Potential Struggle Between the Legislative and Judicial Branches of Canada: A Contestational Approach to Interpreting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Through Bedford & PHS Community Services

abstract: This project examines how two recent controversial Canadian Supreme Court decisions, Bedford and PHS Community Services, combined with their legislative responses, demonstrate competing interpretations of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms between the legislative and judicial branches of the state. Using Bonnie Honig’s account of agonism, this paper creates a contestation-centred approach that emphasizes disagreement between these branches to illustrate how, despite what the judicial dialogue literature insists, a final interpretation of the Charter is not possible. The remainder of this project demonstrates how the legislature’s responses to these cases could have been more democratic by emphasizing the contestation taking place between it and the judiciary over the interpretation of the Charter. Specifically, it argues that the contestation in these instances could have been made more accessible by the legislature justifying its decision to resist the judiciary’s interpretations of the Charter, or, in exceptional circumstances, invoking the notwithstanding clause.


title: Making Money: Alternative Currency Use in Canada

abstract: Drawing on national-level online news sources covering Bitcoin from 2012 until September 23, 2014, this thesis analyzes the ways in which the Canadian government has sought to socially construct Bitcoin, an electronic peer-to-peer value transfer system and currency, within the Canadian legal framework. This thesis analyzes theoretical propositions about alternative currencies made by Geoffrey Ingham, Peter North and Edward Castronova by applying the contributions of these theorists to the present Canadian social context. 166 National Post, CBC News and Globe and Mail articles were analyzed through the use of a Thematic Analysis and Factor Analysis. This study determined that the state has constructed Bitcoin as a de facto currency in Canada for the accumulation of taxes while retaining de jure currency status for the Canadian Dollar. In doing so, the state has allowed Bitcoin to proliferate as an avenue with which to advance the state’s monitoring of Canadian financial activity.


title: Realizing the Potential of Protein-Protein Interaction Prediction for Studying Single and Evolutionarily Similar Organisms and Engineering Inhibitory Proteins with InSiPS: The In Silico Protein Synthesizer

abstract: Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) play a vital role in the life cycle of a cell and the elucidation of PPIs and PPI networks have become the interest of many over the past 15 years. There are a variety of experimental techniques to determine PPIs, however they are expensive, time and resource consuming and have relatively high error rates. To combat this, many computational tools have been produced to predict PPIs. These tools, however, have their own downfalls, including limited applicability, lack of supporting biological data, long running times and inadequately high error rates. The Protein-protein Interaction Prediction Engine (PIPE) is a computational tool used to predict PPIs which overcome the limitations of other methods and is able to perform proteome-wide PPI predictions within a wide range of organisms with a very low false positive rate (< 0.05%) in a reasonable amount of time. This thesis has four main areas of contribution. First, extensions to the PIPE method (including a method to predict PPI sites within a protein pair and a new scoring function used to determine PPIs) and performance improvements over the last PIPE implementation will be detailed. Secondly, the study of PIPE predicted PPIs will be used to produce novel biological insights in S. cerevisiae and H. Sapiens and the capability of PIPE to produce cross-species PPIs will be shown. Next, PIPE will be used to study the evolution of two families of organisms, starting with a family of green algae containing members at different stages of the transition from unicellularity to multicellularity followed by a group of five closely related yeast strains. In the latter, a novel null model used to compare PPI networks will also be introduced. Lastly, the PIPE method will be incorporated with a genetic algorithm to create a massively parallel computational tool used to generate novel, synthetic protein sequences designed to interact with a specific target while avoiding off-target interactions. Proteins with these properties can be used in an inhibitory manner and can form the basis for the development of various therapeutics. Wet-lab experiments were done to verify the generated proteins’ function in multiple cases.


title: A High-Throughput Energy-Efficient Passive Optical Network with Multiple Planes

abstract: Datacenter applications impose heavy demands on bandwidth and generate different communication patterns. Supporting such traffic demands leads to networks built with exorbitant facility costs and formidable power consumption if conventional design is followed. In this thesis, we propose a novel high-throughput datacenter network that leverages passive optical technologies to efficiently support communications with mixed traffic patterns. Our network enables a dynamic traffic allocation that caters to diverse communication. Specifically, our proposed network consists of two optical planes, each optimized for specific traffic patterns. We compare the proposed network with its counterparts and highlight its benefits in terms of facility costs and power consumption. To avoid collisions, a high-efficiency distributed protocol is designed to dynamically distribute traffic. Moreover, we formulate the scheduling process as a programming problem and design three greedy heuristic algorithms. Finally, simulation results show our scheme outperforms the previous POXN in terms of throughput and mean packet delay.


title: Adding Cartoon-Like Motion to Realistic Animations

abstract: In comparison to traditional animation techniques, motion capture allows animators to obtain a large amount of realistic data in little time. The motivation behind our research is to try to fill the gap that separates realistic motion from cartoon animation. With this, classical animators can produce high quality animated movies (such as Frozen, Toy Story, etc.) and non-realistic video games in a significantly shorter amount of time. To add cartoon-like qualities to realistic animations, we suggest an algorithm that changes the animation curves of motion capture data by modifying local minima and maxima. We also propose a curve-based interface that allows users to quickly edit and visualize the changes applied to the animation. Finally, we present the results of two user studies that evaluate both the overall user satisfaction with the system’s functionality, interactivity and learning curve, and the animation quality.


title: Backwash Optimization for Drinking Water Treatment Biological Filters

abstract: A lab scale study was conducted to examine the impacts of backwashing on biofiltration performance. Collapse pulsing resulted in significantly higher DOC removals (21%) compared to the water only backwash (13%). Three backwash procedures were investigated under nutrient supplemented conditions. Employing a lower bed expansion of 20% compared to the 30% reference bed expansion lead to similar DOC removals (30%). However, employing a 40% bed expansion lead to significantly lower DOC removals (24%). A backwash strategy that reduced the backwash water volume usage by about 20% resulted in similar DOC reductions observed with the reference backwash. The investigated backwash procedures were also terminated by the extended terminal subluidization wash (ETSW). ETSW demonstrated no impact on DOC removals, however, ETSW successfully eliminated the filter ripening sequence. Phospholipids and adenosine tri-phosphate methods showed no correlation with DOC removal. On the other hand, dissolved oxygen uptake showed a direct correlation with DOC removals.


title: Changing Course: Commercializing Canadian Airport, Port and Rail Governance- 1975 to 2000

abstract: This thesis examines the historical public policy circumstances surrounding the Government of Canada’s decision to commercialize Canadian National (CN) Railways, as well as federal airports and ports over the period 1975 to 2000. Its focus is on testing one specific empirical hypothesis: That the commercialization of federal airport and port assets between 1975 and 2000 occurred primarily due to: (i) federal government concerns over the growing size of the national debt and deficit; and (ii) the emergence of the neoliberal ideology in Canada and its growing influence throughout federal policy making, as witnessed by the swift 1995 privatization of CN Railways.


title: Using Discourse Genres for Knowledge-Building Activity in a Government Organization

abstract: Building knowledge in professional organizations involves complex discursive practices. In 2014 a group of employees at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), including senior managers, project facilitators, and other staff members, collaborated in managing a communication problem involving PHAC’s scientists and policy writers, an effort known as the Science to Policy Project. This study investigates how an activity system, with its genre set, was used to build knowledge regarding the causes of the problem and also possible solutions. As well, the study looks at key genres from the government-wide genre system in which this activity of knowledge-building was situated. At the same time, the study describes PHAC’s attempt to implement a new organizational culture to facilitate the knowledge-building activity the employees were engaged in.


title: Basic Income and Housing Satisfaction:  Evidence from the Mincome Experiment

abstract: This thesis explores two related research questions concerning the Manitoba basic income experiment (Mincome). First, why did the experiment focus on the potential for labour market withdrawal in response to a guaranteed income? I place the history of the basic income idea in the context of the changing paradigm of knowledge and policy production beginning in the late-nineteenth century to show that incorporation into mainstream economic thought leads poverty and basic income researchers to focus narrowly on individual behaviour. Second, in response to the narrow focus on labour supply, I examine Mincome data and use a series of multiple regressions to explore the impact of a basic income on housing satisfaction. While the results are negative, the investigation highlights the importance of variegated knowledge production in the consideration of policy changes and outlines some areas in which future social experimenters might learn from Mincome and its U.S. variants.


title: Sex and LRRK2 Genotype Differences in Inflammation and Dopaminergic Neurodegeneration in a Multi-Hit Model of Parkinson's Disease

abstract: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a multifactorial condition precipitated by environmental insults in conjunction with genetic vulnerabilities, sex differences, and aging. The objective of the current thesis was to explicate potential additive/synergistic effects of genetic LRRK2 anomalies and environmental risk factors as they pertain to motor behaviour, nigrostriatal dopaminergic degeneration, and neuroinflammation. Moreover, since the male sex represents a significant risk factor in PD, sexual dimorphisms were addressed. To achieve this, male and female mice bearing the G2019S-LRRK2 mutation were exposed to a systemic lipopolysaccharide+paraquat (LPS+PQ) neurotoxicant challenge. Contrary to expectations, no additive/synergistic effects were observed between the G2019S mutation and LPS+PQ exposure. In fact, male G2019S mice appeared to be protected from the degenerative effects of LPS+PQ at this age. Moreover, an unanticipated sex by treatment interaction was found, such that female mice displayed greater deficits in gait and loss in nigral TH+ neurons compared to males.


title: A Method for Optical Tracking of On-Orbit Servicing Operations in Geostationary Orbit Using Speckle Interferometry

abstract: On-Orbit Servicing (OOS) missions in geostationary orbit with inter-satellite separations less than one kilometer pose a problem for ground-based electro-optical space surveillance sensors. The tight separations between space objects subtend angles comparable to the size of turbulence (seeing) cells of Earth’s atmosphere making classical ground-based space surveillance detection approaches problematic. Speckle interferometry using a cross-spectrum approach was explored in this research to overcome atmospheric turbulence and enable ground-based measurement of the relative positions of OOS satellites without use of adaptive optics. Field testing of this technique using a medium aperture telescope on co-located geostationary satellites, acting as OOS proxies, found that cross-spectrum speckle interferometry measurements can obtain in-track and cross-track relative position precisions better than 100 meters when the satellites’ apparent angular separations were less than 5 arcseconds. The cross-spectrum method was found to be susceptible to high fringe rotation rates inducing incorrect separation measurements during times when the co-located satellites were at their closest point of approach. While this effect produced spurious fringes during co-located satellite observation tests, this effect is not expected to be encountered during observation of a true OOS mission. Brightness differences did not pose a significant observational limitation as brightnesses of Mprimary = 10.2, Δm = 0.3 and Mprimary = 9.1, Δm = 1.5 were speckled successfully and relative position estimates obtained. Additional testing with small aperture telescope achieved similar brightness and positional measurement performance. Due to the plane-of-sky differential angle observations of the objects a partial observability condition is encountered where the radial component of the servicer’s motion requires more than three hours of observations to converge on a relative orbit solution. The near collinear alignment of the detector with the in-track and cross-track directions causes this partial observability condition. Fortunately, due to the dynamic coupling between the in-track and radial directions of relative orbital motion, the radial component can be estimated and the time to converge is largely dependent on the measurement precision.


title: Three Papers on Childhood Disadvantage and Child Policy in Canada

abstract: Over the past twenty years, child and family policy has become one of the most active areas of Canadian social policy. However, our understanding of whether children’s lives have actually improved is limited. This dissertation addresses this research gap in three papers that examine the politics of Canadian child policy, evaluate child policy outcomes, and explore the determinants of child well-being that policy attempts to affect. The first paper examines the evolution and politics of child policy in Canada from 1995- 2015. During this period, federal government spending targeted to families with children has more than doubled in real terms with a focus on increasing family income. To explain this focus, I identify four perspectives on the child in the Canadian political discourse: child as family responsibility, child as deserving poor, child as rights bearer, and child as investment. I argue that the scope of child policy in Canada has been constrained to a family income paradigm that sits at the intersection of these perspectives. The second paper evaluates the significant expansion of Canadian child benefits from 1994 to 2010. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) and the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics, I compare measures of poverty and inequality with indicators of young children’s well-being. I find young Canadian children have not seen significant change in their relative economic position. Indicators of children’s physical, emotional, developmental well-being and family context remain essentially stable, as do gaps between the outcomes of poor and rich children. Understanding how household income and socioeconomic (SES) status affect child outcomes is crucial for designing effective public policies to reduce the disadvantage of growing up in poverty. In the third paper, I use structural equation modeling of NLSCY data to disentangle the different pathways of income’s and other elements of SES’s effect on children’s cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavourial outcomes. Applying theories of family stress and family investment, the analysis examines children’s activities, parenting, and family functioning as potential mediators. I find that SES has a consistently larger effect on child outcomes than income, with parenting emerging as a key mediation pathway.


title: Three Essays on Chinese Two-Stage Firms in the U.S.

abstract: This study investigates the three puzzles with regards to a two-stage IPO strategy in the U.S., namely, underpricing, IPO timing, and long-term performance. Firstly, we find that a two-stage IPO strategy may be suitable for firms who expect to raise public equities, but are highly cost-sensitive. In such an IPO strategy, firms can significantly reduce IPO cost. The public status before IPO might cost extra due to filing cost, etc... We can consider it as the price of an option; an option to conduct IPO with lower cost. Secondly, we find two-stage firms are similar to the conventional IPO firms. They have similar long-term stock market performance, operating performance, use similar level of earnings management and have similar amount of frauds. Thirdly, through the investigation on two-stage firm’s earnings management, we find that higher earnings management relative to domestic firms, can increase IPO valuation and doesn’t affect after market performance. But higher earnings management relative to the firms in the listing country does not increase IPO valuation. Even worse, it reduces after market performance. Lastly, we find the two-stage firms with longer time interval between public listing and IPO are likely to have low IPO cost and low earnings management. The two-stage firms with CEO-chairman duality are likely to commit frauds and have long-term underperformance.


title: Class Implications of a Mortgaged Economy:  Reflections on Building a Sociology of Debt

abstract: This thesis examines the democratization of debt and its role in the formation and maintenance of the new middle class (NMC) in Canadian society. Through explicitly linking the concept of debt to the intensification of labour, class discourse evolves beyond the economic reliance on income and property holdings to encompass the social trade-offs that accompany the decisions to enter into debt relations and assume repayment obligations. Drawing on the history of debt and shifting moral views on debt it is shown how debt provides a common language that mitigates class conflict and creates the conditions for life-long employment as oversight mechanisms regulating indebtedness parallel changes that accompanied the transformation of work. A case study of microcredit further depicts how the extension of debt provides individuals with the capacity to create their own ‘risk-biographies’ within a limited set of outcomes. Semi-structured interviews with retirees were conducted to supplement the secondary research and focused on the ‘lived-class’ experience. The interviews were analyzed using a phenomenographic approach that explored how debt knowledge is acquired, transmitted and used to maintain middle-class lifestyles. Topics of investigation included first experiences with debt, views on debtors, co-signing loans, comfort levels with financial instruments such as stocks and overall financial awareness. The research findings provide the foundational elements for the continued evolution of the sociology of debt as a means to locate the NMC and to assess the collateral being deployed to remain in good standing.


title: Hybridity is Dead.  Long Live Hybridity!

abstract: In present cities, escalating land values and the growing pressure on developers to optimize the utilization of built areas are changing the way architects engage with projects in urban environments. Architectural ideas are now more likely to be driven by density, diversity and intensity of uses in order to revitalise urban centers. Some of the forms and ideas put forward by the Modern Movement failed to deal with urban engagement by imposing a segregation and rationalization of architecture which resulted in the alleged death of cities. The notion of hybridity has been blamed for the decline of Modernism and has been held responsible for some of its extremes. The thesis proceeds to explore the potential, and re-emergence, of hybrid architecture to create invigorating synergies between programs.


title: Aeromagnetic Surveying with Unmanned Aircraft Systems

abstract: UASs have been under rapid development for applications in the mineral exploration industry, mainly for aeromagnetic surveying. They provide improved detection of smaller, deeper and weakly magnetic targets. A traditional system flying an altitude of 100m above ground level can detect a spherical ore body at a depth of 40m and magnetic susceptibility of 10-4, with a radius of ~16m. A UAS flying at 50m or 2m altitude AGL would require the radius to be 11m or 5m, respectively. Using the Venturer fixed-wing UAS and the SkyLance rotary-wing UAS, two aeromagnetic surveys were performed. The Venturer was stable in flight with a fourth difference noise level within industry standards of ±0.05nT. A magnetic map was produced showing local variations. The SkyLance flew over a zinc deposit with 3 magnetic anomalies. It produced repeatable data that compared well with upward continuation maps of ground magnetic data.


title: Fourier-Bessel Analysis of Cylindrically Symmetric Dielectric Structures, Slot Channel Refractive Index Sensors

abstract: Maxwell’s wave equations can be solved using different techniques in order to extract optical properties of a variety of dielectric structures. For structures contain an extended axis which serve for reference for cylindrical symmetry, it is shown that an expansion of the fields and inverse of relative permittivity using a set of basis functions of Fourier-Bessel terms provide access to an eigenvalue formulation from which eigen-states can be computed. For cylindrically symmetric structures, computational technique provides a significantly reduced matrix order to be populated when compared to plane wave method applied to these structures. Steps used to convert Maxwell’s equation into an eigenvalue formulation are discussed and technique is tested on various dielectric structures. Several novel refractive index sensors based on slot channel configuration are presented and sensitivity of each structure is discussed. Using Fourier-Bessel technique eigenvalues are calculated and slot channel field profiles are plotted based on computed eigenvectors.


title: "The Kiss of Death Bestowed with Gratitude":  The Postwar Treatment of Canada's Second World War Merchant Navy, Redress, and the Negotiation of Veteran Identity

abstract: This thesis focuses on the Merchant Navy’s redress campaign and appraises shifting government attitudes towards the mariners in veterans’ legislation. It traces the wartime experience of the mariners and discusses their postwar treatment. By examining the factors that contributed to the mariners’ initial exclusion as veterans, this study sheds light on the complex process whereby the state evaluates and then reassesses what is owed to those who serve. It demonstrates that concepts of “veteranhood” are fluid, and, that in the case of the Merchant Navy, once neglected wartime narratives can be reincorporated into the nation’s military past. In the case of the Merchant Navy, renewed public engagement with Canada’s social memory of its involvement in two world wars helped the merchant seamen find an audience willing to validate their claims. This study of Merchant Navy redress serves as an exploration into the nature of the state-veteran relationship.


title: Detection of Forearm Muscle Fatigue During Piano Playing Using Surface Electromyography (sEMG) Analysis

abstract: Musculoskeletal injuries of the forearm, wrist, and hand are a significant problem for pianists. Approximately 60% of piano players experience playing-related injuries at some point in their careers; yet, the cause of injury is not well understood. Muscle fatigue may be a contributing factor. The focus of this work was to determine if muscle fatigue is detectable in the forearm muscles used for piano playing, if there is a difference in the development of muscle fatigue between pianists and non-pianists, and if there is an effect on how a pianist plays when their muscles are fatigued. A piano exercise and fatiguing exercise protocol were established and 11 pianists and 6 non-pianists were tested. Results confirmed that muscle fatigue is detectable in the forearm muscles used for piano playing and that there are differences in the development of muscle fatigue between pianists and non-pianists.


title: Case Studies in Transition: Multiplatform Publishing in Three Western Canadian Magazines

abstract: The media landscape in Canada has changed rapidly over the last 20 years with the rise of the Internet and digital platforms. This thesis explores how magazine publishers in Western Canada have adapted, adjusted to or accommodated the new digital reality. It uses case studies of three different magazines, Alberta Oil, a national business magazine on the energy sector, Avenue, an urban city magazine, and Western Living, a regional lifestyle magazine, to discover multiplatform publishing strategy. How are these publishers approaching, adapting to, or repositioning themselves for the digital reality? How are they dealing with transition and change? Lessons learned include use of social platforms, content native to digital platforms, alternative revenue streams, measurement and use of analytics data, and corporate culture that is innovation-friendly.


title: Effect of Pre-Oxidation and Thermal Exposure on the Microstructure of Superalloys and Thermal Barrier Coating Systems

abstract: Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) enable nickel-base superalloy gas turbine blades to run at their highest possible temperatures. Currently, a bond coat (BC) is utilized to adhere the yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) top coat to the nickel-base superalloy substrate. However, this increases cost. In this study, YSZ top coats were applied directly to the nickel-base superalloy René N5. The René N5 samples were pre-oxidized at 1150°C in atmosphere in order to form an α-Al2O3 layer to enhance bonding to the YSZ top coat. YSZ dense vertically cracked (DVC) and columnar morphologies were then applied. These samples were then cyclically and isothermally tested in atmosphere at 1150°C. Both SPS DVC and SPS Columnar coatings were found to have poor adhesion. The lack of adequate α-Al2O3 layer thickness, the rapid formation of spinel and the grit blasting process preceding coating deposition were determined to be the primary causes of poor performance.


title: Double Quadrature Mixer for Adaptive System-Level Spur Cancellation in UWB Radios

abstract: Direct Digital Synthesizers (DDS) are known to be very spurious due to the use of Digital-to-Analog Convertors (DAC). This thesis presents the phase behaviour of spurs of the commercial AD9912 DDS and its SpurKiller cancellation system. A great variation in spur phase and a large variation in its Spurious-Free Dynamic Range (SFDR) was observed. As a result, an adaptive system is proposed using a Double Quadrature Mixer and a variable phase Local Oscillator (LO). The system is tested at an Intermediate Frequency (IF) of 1.2 GHz, simulating the input of an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) radio. In simulation, an increase in SFDR of 29 dB resulted. In system prototype, an increase in SFDR of 10 dB was achieved. The spur-carrier phase offset was found to be unrelated to the phase of the Double Quad LO to achieve maximum spur reduction, and to be with great variation.


title: A 0.78mm²  Co-Channel Interference Canceller in 130nm SOI RF CMOS with Novel Passive Phase Shifters and Combiner Circuitry

abstract: An increasingly congested frequency spectrum has presented an unfortunate opportunity for two independent radios on the same device to exist co-channel. Currently, co-channel coexistence requires temporal scheduling to prevent co-channel interference from disrupting downlink communications. This work develops a method of front end co-channel cancellation within the receive chain of a co-channel transceiver to allow for simultaneous operation. An extremely compact co-channel interference canceller (CCIC) is presented. A polar modulator in a feed-forward path creates an inverted copy of the on-board interference signal at RF and recombines in the front end LNA for cancellation. The system contains novel phase shifters and digital capacitor architectures and a novel front end combination circuit. The system provides 6 bits of phase control and 5 bits of amplitude control and 25dB of cancellation is demonstrated. The measured IIP3 was +7dBm and the measured noise figure was 1.5dB with 14dB of LNA gain at 2.2GHz.


title: Numerical Investigation of a Novel RBCC Ejector Configuration Compared to a Traditional Circular Ejector

abstract: The rocket based combined cycle can be an alternative engine to power a vehicle into space. The engine has 4 stages and one of the more challenging stages to in crease performance is the ﬁrst stage, the ejector stage. One proposed method to increase performance is by achieving higher entrainment performance and mixing at low free-stream velocities. The Exchange Inlet is used as an alternative nozzle to achieve this performance. The Exchange Inlet is compared to a conical nozzle within a RBCC engine with computational ﬂuid dynamics at various pressures. The mixing and entrainment properties are compared between the two engine conﬁgurations and additional cases are investigated with shorter mixing sections to further investigate these properties. The Exchange Inlet is found to have better entrainment than the circular nozzle in all cases.


title: Sacred and Tradition:  Spaces for Internal and External Reflection

abstract: We have an unquenchable thirst to explore — to go beyond the known and to expand our knowledge of the universe. This thesis investigates sacred architecture as a setting that inspires reflection and contemplation, connecting humans to the knowledge that they seek. The design proposal consists of an obser¬vatory tower and underground chapels. The tower makes palpable the motion of the sun and the unchanging nature of the cosmos, while the underground chapels are designed as places for hermetic reflection the cultivation of a sense of presence through meditation, prayer or simple solitude. The project is a balance between traditional knowledge and contemporary architecture. Today, tradition is either marginalized as outmoded technology or fetishized as ‘heri¬tage’. In order to maintain tradition, it needs to be defended and explained. The design proposal explores the relationship between a human being and the universe — mediated by architecture, connected by light.


title: You Can't Spell Trust Without Rust

abstract: Rust is a new programming language developed by Mozilla in response to the fact that C and C++ are unsafe, inefficient, and unergonomic --particularly when applied to concurrency. Version 1.0 of Rust was released in May 2015, and appears to be performing excellently. Rust code is memory-safe by default, faster than C++, easier to maintain, and excels at concurrency. Yet little analysis exists of the semantics and expressiveness of Rust's type system. This thesis focuses on one of the core aspects of Rust's type system: ownership. Ownership is a system for expressing where and when data lives, and where and when data can be mutated. In order to understand ownership and the problems it solves, we provide a novel analysis of both in terms of trust.


title: Exploring the Impact of the Segregation Intervention Initiative on Offender Outcomes

abstract: Administrative Segregation (AS) is the correctional practice of removing offenders from the general inmate population, and relocating them to an isolated cell for up to 23 hours a day. This is done for the safety and security of the individual or the institution. There are concerns around the use of AS including its impact on mental health and the lack of access to services for offenders. The purpose of the Segregation Intervention (SI) is to help transition offenders out of AS and to change problem behaviours. The current study explored the impact of the SI with data drawn from a Canadian sample of offenders. SI participants (n = 292) were 2 times more likely to participate in and complete correctional programs within a 6-month follow-up period, compared to a matched group of non-participants (n = 292). SI participants were also 1.5 times more likely to be employed by the institutions.


title: Using Classification Trees to Link Serial Crimes

abstract: In the investigative setting, police must often decide whether multiple crimes have been committed by a single offender. Using a variety of statistical techniques, studies have shown that it is possible to link serial crimes in a relatively accurate fashion using behavioural information (i.e., a process often referred to as behavioural linkage analysis; BLA). Despite this, practitioners often resist using these techniques, in a similar fashion to how clinical psychologists often resist actuarial techniques. In an attempt to develop an approach to BLA that may be better received by end users, this dissertation explored how classification trees (CTs) can be used to link serial crimes. Specifically, three variations of a CT approach were explored: a standard, single CT, an iterative CT (ICT), and the combination of multiple standard CTs and/or ICTs (i.e., a multiple model approach). Using separate samples of serial break and enters from Saint John, New Brunswick (N = 170) and serial sexual assaults from Quebec (N = 260), the ability of these approaches to link serial crimes were compared to one of the most commonly employed statistical approaches to BLA: main-effects logistic regression analysis. Generally, results revealed that all statistical approaches achieved high (and similar) levels of predictive accuracy; however, a number of potential advantages of a simple, standard CT approach were identified (e.g., transparency and ease-of-use). The findings reported in this dissertation have implications for BLA researchers (e.g., how behavioural domains are defined, how crime samples are selected, etc.) and police practitioners (e.g., the availability of a userfriendly statistical linking tool, the need for better data collection protocols, etc.). However, before a CT-based approach to BLA is implemented in practice, future research is required to address some of the limitations of the current research.


title: An Examination of Dog Ownership in the Promotion of Walking as a Form of Physical Activity and Its Effects on Physical and Psychological Health

creator: Antonacopoulos, Nikolina Margaret Duvall

abstract: The low percentage of Canadian adults who are sufficiently active is of concern in light of the detrimental health consequences associated with insufficient physical activity. Two studies were conducted in order to explore dog walking as a means of obtaining physical activity and the possible health benefits from dog walking. In Study 1, dog walking was examined from three perspectives through a week-long study of 61 regular dog walkers. First, summary statistics revealed that slightly more than half of the time spent dog walking was at a moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA1) level and approximately 2 in 5 dog owners met the Canadian physical activity guideline through dog walking alone. Second, analyses revealed that an important factor affecting time spent dog walking at a MVPA1 level is the size of the dog, as it is a factor that individuals who are acquiring a dog can take into consideration. Another key finding was that all of the dog walkers reported that they walk their dog for its well-being, which indicates that dog walking is a purposeful physical activity. This suggests that dog walking should be promoted in terms of its benefits for the dog. Third, analyses comparing dog walkers' psychological health before and after their dog walks revealed an improvement on six out of seven psychological health measures. In Study 2, results from an 8-month longitudinal study revealed that, as hypothesized, participants who acquired a dog (n = 17) increased their MVPA1 from baseline to 8 months, while there was no change in the control group (n = 28). Contrary to expectations, although individuals in the acquired-dog group became more active over time, they did not experience any improvements in their physical or psychological health over the course of the study relative to the control group. Taken together, these findings suggest that promoting dog walking may be one way of increasing physical activity. The short-term health benefits that occur after dog walking need to be explored further, while the possible long-term health benefits need to be examined using a larger sample over a longer time frame.


title: Efficient Projection-Based Stability Guaranteed Model Order Reduction for Active Circuits

abstract: Moments matching model reduction method is an important tool for accelerating simulation of large scale system originating in circuit area. But this kind of method cannot guarantee the stability of the reduced model in the case of active circuits. To address this problem, a novel moments matching model reduction method is proposed in this thesis.


title: Non Reciprocal Passive Components on LTCC Ferrite Substrate

abstract: This thesis investigates passive components (mainly circulators) based on ferrite LTCC substrate. The external magnets used in conventional circulators must be strong to overcome the ferrite's demagnetization factor. The novel circulator presented herein uses an embedded winding within the ferrite to magnetize the material from the inside, thereby significantly reducing the demagnetization effects. Because of the controllability of the bias field, the resulting device is also multifunctional: when the windings are energized by a current, the device operates as a dynamic circulator in which the circulation direction can be changed by switching the direction of the current. If an external magnet is placed on the circulator, its operating frequency can be changed by adjusting the bias current. Unlike other LTCC circulators with external magnets, the proposed device can even operate as a power splitter by removing the bias current. A circulator prototype has been characterized in three states: unbiased, biased by windings and biased by windings and external magnets. When no current is applied, the transmission of each port is about -5 dB with return loss better than 20 dB at 14.8 GHz. When a current of 300 mA is injected into the windings, the measured insertion loss and isolation of the circulator are approximately 3 dB and 8 dB, respectively, whereas the return loss is better than 20 dB at 14.2 GHz. When external magnets are added in addition to the current of 200 mA, the insertion loss and isolation improve to 1.6 dB and 23 dB, respectively at 14.2 GHz. The variation of the circulator's working frequency is 0.6 GHz. This is achieved firstly by the change of internal magnetization M when current is less than 120 mA, then the heat due to the winding increases the ferrite's μeff leading to more frequency shifting. The total size (L*W*H) is 8mm*8mm*1.1mm.


title: The Women's Canadian Historical Society of Ottawa:  Constructing Public Memory and Preserving History in a Changing City, 1898-1932

abstract: This thesis examines the membership and work of the Women’s Canadian Historical Society of Ottawa from 1898 to 1932. Through commemorations, historical tableaux, exhibitions of artefacts, and the publication, Transactions, they participated in the construction of a nationalist and imperialist collective memory, celebrating connections to the British Empire, a mythologized settler past, and Ottawa’s evolution from lumber town to national capital. Analysis of the origins, class and ethnicity of the Society shows that French-Canadian participation fell and membership broadened as Ottawa became a government town. The thesis describes competition from the male-dominated Bytown Pioneer Association in 1923 over the commemoration of Colonel By, and it posits that the masculinization of the historical profession led the Society to abandon written accounts in Transactions, and focus upon the collection and display of artefacts in the Bytown Museum.


title: Microenvironment Analysis of Homes with Attached Garages using Volatile Organic Compound Source Apportionment Modelling

abstract: This thesis is based on an extensive air quality study in homes with attached garages conducted by Health Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. The thesis used source apportionment modelling to resolve sources that contribute to the home, garage and ambient volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations, providing insight to common sources and infiltration between these microenvironments. Six sources were identified for each sampling location including those related to global persistent compounds, fuel and other combustion processes, fuel evaporation and solvent use. The presence of these factors in more than one microenvironment combined with the statistical analysis conducted using correlations and ratios confirmed the likelihood of infiltration between the microenvironments. This research supplements the Health Canada study and provides an alternative avenue for reducing the VOC concentration in homes by providing the opportunity to eliminate point sources within the home and garage.


title: Query-Answer Causality in Databases and Its Connections with Reverse Reasoning Tasks in Data and Knowledge Management

abstract: Causality is an important notion that appears at the foundations of many scientific disciplines, in the practice of technology, and also in our everyday life. Causality is crucial to understand and manage uncertainty in data, information, knowledge, and theories. In data management in particular, there is a need to represent, characterize and compute the causes that explain why certain query results are obtained or not, or why natural semantic conditions, such as integrity constraints, are not satisfied. The notion of query-answer causality in database was introduced in [86]. This notion is shown to be general enough to be applied to a broad class of database-related applications, such as explaining unexpected answers to a query result, diagnosing network malfunctions, data cleaning, hypothetical reasoning [86, 87, 84, 88]. In this thesis, we establish and investigate connections between query-answer causality and other important forms of reasoning that appear in data management and knowledge representation, e.g. consistency-based diagnoses [103], database repairs and consistent query answering [3], abductive diagnosis [35, 43], and the view-update problem [20, 77, 78]. These problems are classified in [83] as reverse data management problems. The unveiled relationships allow us to obtain new results for query-answer causality and also for the above mentioned related areas. Furthermore, we argue that causality in data management can be seen as a very fundamental concept, to which many other data management problems and notions are connected. In fact, we suggest causality as a unifying framework for reverse data management problems.


title: Vanquishing the Victim: The Criminalization of HIV non-disclosure and transmission in Canada

abstract: This thesis examines the legal complexities surrounding the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure and transmission in Canada, where, by law, an HIV-positive person (PHA) is required to disclose his or her HIV status before engaging in sexual activities where a potential risk of exposure to the virus exists. In analyzing how HIV/AIDS is treated under the criminal code, the thesis will focus on the HIV narrative over the past three decades; the rationale behind HIV criminalization; how media coverage of HIV has incited bouts of moral panic in society; the historical legal framework; the evolution of HIV non-disclosure laws; how past precedents have affected cases heard to date; and, importantly, the role of public health and the consideration of human rights in relation to HIV criminalization.


title: Fighting Back After the Neoliberal Assault: Class Formation, Class Politics, and the Canadian Autoworkers

abstract: This dissertation examines the Canadian Autoworkers during an age of neoliberal globalization. The dissertation places emphasis on internal dynamics and the way these played a key role in shaping class formation within the union. Attention is focused on the CAW Council, an institution within the union that connects rank-and-file activists to the national leadership and acts as a ground for ‘mid-tier’ activists to organize, pursue strategy, and push for change within the union. A great deal of union policy and strategy was developed at Council, where the leadership would present reports, which were then subject to debate by the members. The dissertation argues that Council acted as an important meeting ground for members of the union to challenge the leadership. The dissertation also uses the CAW to look at how unions can constitute themselves as class actors but this does not mean that other identities were ignored. The CAW was frequently a leader on equity politics. Members of equity seeking groups pressed for inclusion within the structures of the union, and, in turn, the union was able to make gains for equity seeking members at the bargaining table. The equity politics of the CAW were based on the union shaping a common identity as members of the working class, while highlighting that equity seekers faced particular barriers on the job, in the union, and in the broader Canadian society. Attention is paid to the way the leadership embraced equity issues, often after being pushed by equity seeking activists, to and how they relayed the importance of equity issues to the broader union membership. In two areas – concessions bargaining and electoral politics – the union appears to have shifted from its original position. Although the CAW split from the international United Autoworkers over the issue of concessions at the bargaining table, the CAW ultimately accepted concessions. In addition, the CAW gradually embraced an strategy of strategic voting in response to the NDP’s inability to present a clear electoral alternative to neoliberalism. Both shifts reflected the union’s changing caluculus of how best to protect the automotive industry, and the jobs of its members.


title: Compact SOI Polarization Rotators Based on Asymmetric Periodic Loaded Waveguides

abstract: Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology is a promising platform for photonic applications with low-cost and large volume production due to its compatibility with the complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. However, the high index-contrast between silicon and the top cladding (SiO2 or air) of the SOI waveguides leads to considerable modal birefringence. Consequently, SOI based PICs are in general highly polarization-sensitive, making polarization management a necessity. In this thesis, two polarization rotator (PR) designs on the 220 nm SOI platform are demonstrated through numerical simulations and experiments. The demonstrated PR designs are based on asymmetrical periodic loaded waveguide structures. The demonstrated designs feature compact device footprint and can be fabricated by CMOS compactable process. Both designs have shown promising performance over the C-band wavelengths by simulations. However, the fabrication requirements are stringent for these two designs, thus the performance of the fabricated devices are limited by the current fabrication technology.


title: Eyewitness Identification of a "Familiar Stranger": The Influence of Personal Knowledge and Previous Interaction on Recall and Recognition Accuracy

abstract: The purpose of the present program of research was to examine the influence of a previous interaction and personal knowledge of a culprit on eyewitness recall and recognition accuracy. In the main study, participants (N=184) watched a video of a crime wherein the culprit was someone who: (1) they previously interacted with and, during that interaction, the culprit shared personal information about herself (more familiar condition), (2) they previously interacted with, although they received no personal information about the culprit (less familiar condition), or (3) they had no previous exposure to (stranger condition). There were no significant differences in participants’ recall accuracy across the conditions. However, participants in the more and less familiar conditions were significantly more likely to correctly identify the culprit from a target-present lineup; there were no significant differences in the target-absent lineup. Also, more and less familiar participants were significantly more confident in their ability to correctly identify the culprit prior to the lineup task and during the lineup task than those in the stranger condition. Moreover, the confidence-accuracy relationship was strongest for those in the more familiar condition. A follow up study, completed approximately 14 months after the original study, was conducted to examine the influence of familiarity and delay on eyewitnesses who initially provided a correct lineup response. Delay was associated with a significant decline in accuracy rates and confidence for those in all conditions. Overall, results indicate that previous interaction, regardless of whether personal information is shared, may enhance eyewitness identification accuracy only when the culprit is in the identification lineup (i.e., when the suspect is guilty). Also, more familiar eyewitnesses may have a better sense of their identification accuracy, as indicated by their confidence judgements.


title: Complex Fan Analysis : an Extension of ACT-R Fan Effect Model

abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine whether Anderson’s ACT-R fan model could account for the fan effect under more complex conditions. Specifically, overlapping datasets were used so that related facts learned in one experiment could potentially affect the fan in other experiments. The study of the overlapping datasets made it possible to study an inference task by combining facts learned in separate experiments. Four experiments with human subjects were carried out and human performance was compared to predictions from Anderson’s ACT-R fan model. The results showed ACT-R fan model could be used as a basic building block for explaining complex fan tasks (some high-level cognitive tasks); ACT-R fan model with no adjustments to the parameters provided a reasonable account for human performance across all of the experiments. The results suggest that recently learned related facts have an effect on the fan (Experiment 2). But, it was found that the related facts learned ten months earlier showed no interference due to fan but there was a main learning effect which affected reaction times (Experiment 4). In terms of relational inferences from overlapping datasets, the results indicated a dual retrieval process with additional search process is more consistent with Anderson’s fan model than with Radvansky’s mental models approach or a parallel retrieval approach. Both Radvansky’s mental models approach and a parallel retrieval approach predicted a single retrieval process (Experiment 3).


title: On The Control Of Opinion In Social Networks

abstract: Social networks are an ubiquitous element of our daily experience. A question that naturally arises in the operation of such networks is whether they can be controlled. With domains ranging from financial markets to extremism avoidance, the study of control of opinion in social networks is extremely relevant in modern social media culture. Automated control of the flow of information in large-scale non-deterministic social networks is a complex problem requiring both a search for the optimal configuration of connections to the network, and a behaviour that determines the required control signals. This thesis formalizes the Network Control Problem (NCP) as a means of describing the field of diverse social network control problems. To date, problems that can be described as NCP examples deal primarily with the configuration rather than behavioural component. The θ-Consensus Avoidance Problem (θ-CAP) is defined in this thesis as a novel NCP which has the objective of avoiding consensus in a social network of agents. It is an important problem representing the avoidance of extreme views that may lead to extreme behaviour, such as bubble or panic events in a socially-connected market. The θ-CAP is intended as a foundational benchmark problem in the NCP domain. Experimentation is developed to demonstrate the utility of the θ-CAP as a practical benchmark problem with scalable difficulty parameters. A number of heuristic and metaheuristic implementations of both configuration and behaviour are compared in this thesis. Special consideration is given to the application of evolutionary neurocontrollers toward learning to optimize the behaviour component. Analysis indicates a variety of conditions that affect the quality of given approaches, including network structure, instance difficulty parameters, and variations among control approaches. Consistent, observable trends were determined in the solution space that were verfied across behaviours, configurations, network structures, and objectives.


title: Abstract and Realistic Tree Modeling

abstract: Tree models are widely needed in 3D movies, games, and artistic presentations. Their styles abound. Due to the complexity and the variety of trees, realistic tree modeling remains a challenge. For automated methods, the objectives of speed and controllability are elusive. Data-driven and manual approaches have their own drawbacks: it is inconvenient to obtain laser scans or photographs of a desired tree, and human intervention can be costly. Another different style of trees, abstract trees, possesses stylized branches and aesthetic patterns. However, abstract tree modeling with an emphasis on branching structures receives less attention. Abstract trees in the art style of Gustav Klimt has never been explored in computer graphics. In this thesis we provide procedural methods in two regimes -- realistic tree modeling and abstract tree modeling. For realistic tree modeling, our work is based on the idea of using least-cost paths -- in a weighted graph the least-cost paths between selected endpoints and a root point form a tree structure. Through the sophisticated design of graph creation, endpoint placement, and the setting of edge weights, our tree modeling system is capable of generating a wide range of realistic tree models. For abstract tree modeling, we propose magnetic curves, a particle tracing method to create stylized trees in the art style of Gustav Klimt. The method is also versatile to create many aesthetic forms with curves. Overall, this thesis contributes effective procedural tree modeling methods, and the resulting high-quality results can be used in many computer graphics applications.


title: Trust and Risk in Website Legitimacy and Software Applications: Delving Into User Understanding of Internet Security Mechanisms

abstract: When people choose to visit a given website, they make a trust decision about the supplier and source. It appears that a large majority of users commonly place their trust in most, if not all, websites they encounter, and this causes significant security problems. Any solutions proposed to reduce the threat of malicious websites must include a consideration of the psychological processes of the end users. This thesis presents several studies with the aim of understanding how people interpret the available information when making a trust decision. This understanding will better support users in making appropriate decisions and should inform better design of security mechanisms. It was found that users show some understanding of some of the key concepts in Internet security, and often make reasonable decisions. However, there are important anomalies. For example, many users had important misunderstandings about malware, suggesting they had poor mental models about the capabilities of malware and the capabilities of antivirus software applications in protecting them from threats online. Moreover, participants showed lack of confidence across a range of issues, but in practice they were still willing to make decisions even with this uncertainty. Some evidence was found which suggests that users employ heuristics in making such decisions and judgments under uncertainty. Potential solutions to address this would include closed software markets with certificates, or improved design to help users build better mental models.


title: Case Study of a Multi-Stage Filtration System for Remote and Northern Communities in Canada

abstract: A pilot multi-stage filtration system for water treatment was operated at two sites with phosphorous nutrient limited and nutrient rich source waters. The system had two parallel treatment trains: Train 1 consisted of pre-ozonation, roughing filtration and slow sand filtration (SSF); and Train 2 consisted of pre-ozonation, roughing filtration and biofiltration (BF). Nutrient limited conditions exhibited lower DOC removals than nutrient rich conditions when ozone was present (9.3% vs 26% DOC removal, respectively). However, there was no difference in removal when no ozone was present (5.6% vs 6.4% DOC removal, respectively). At the nutrient limited site, there was no overall difference between removals in the SSF and BF under conditions with and without ozone (p>0.05). At the nutrient rich site applied ozone resulted in a difference in removal between the SSF and BF trains (p<0.05), while there was no difference between the trains when no ozone was present (p>0.05).


title: Surface Chemistry and Development of Group 11 and 13 Thin Film Vapour Deposition Precursors

abstract: Techniques for depositing thin films of metals or ceramics, such as atomic layer deposition (ALD) and chemical vapour deposition (CVD), are well established and used in a wide variety of industries and applications, such as for dielectric layers, passivation coatings, surface functionalization, conductive layers, catalysis, anti-reflection coatings, optical property modification, etc. These techniques make use of a series of vapourous precursor/solid substrate interactions, typically at elevated temperatures and low pressures, to ultimately deposit a thin, conformal, uniform film of desired material. The nature of this vapour/solid surface chemistry is paramount to determining the what material is deposited as well as its properties. Determining the specific chemistry occurring at the vapour/solid interface is not a trivial task and typically requires expensive and potentially complicated characterization techniques. ALD and CVD processes of novel materials typically suffer from purity and uniformity issues that prevents them from being widely adopted by industry. By experimentally determining the surface chemistry of these processes it is possible to logically assess and modify existing processes to address these issues. This work examined the surface chemistry of several group 11 and group 13 vapour deposition precursors using a variety of characterization techniques, primarily solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (SS-NMR). In group 11, several novel Cu ALD precursors were studied, including a copper(I)-tert-butyl-iminopyrrolidinate and several copper(I)-hexamethyldisilazide-N-heterocyclic carbene complexes, as well as a novel Au ALD precursor; a Me3AuPMe3 complex. Using ex situ characterization techniques such as SS-NMR (13C and 29Si), HR-NMR, EDX, and elemental analysis, the initial chemisorption of these precursors on high surface area silica (HSAS) was determined. In group 13, a gallium complex (acetamidinatediethylgallium(III)) was exposed to HSAS and the initial chemisorption mechanism was quantitatively determined by using 29Si SS-NMR and the techniques used to study group 11 complexes. This work demonstrates the novelty of using SS-NMR to examine the chemisorption mechanism of ALD precursors on high surface area substrates quantitatively. The nature of precursor chemisorption can be used to develop new precursors and new deposition processes with more efficient deposition (no impurities, higher growth rates, better uniformity) with the results gathered in this work.


title: Mountains, Molehills and Mediation: Exploring the Affordances, the Drawbacks and the Facilitation of Presence Via Face-to-Face Communication and Texting

abstract: This thesis explores how social and corporeal presence is facilitated via texting and face-to-face communication. Face-to-face communication is considered to be the preferred means of communication among many scholars due to its sensorial, co-present, human-based means of exchanging physical and social presence.Texting is but another form of communication that facilitates social presence via the dehumanized machine rather than the physical being itself. Ultimately, this thesis illustrates how one is the ruler of one’s own fate. It is the individual who is responsible for understanding the contextual strengths and weaknesses of each respective means of communication.


title: Minimizing nMOS Edge Leakage in Fully Depleted Silicon-on-Insulator CMOS Using Poly-Buffered LOCOS Isolation

abstract: A process has been designed, implemented and tested to minimize edge-leakage effects in fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD SOI) nMOSFET (nMOS) devices encountered in previous student project SOI CMOS fabrication runs in the Carleton University Microfabrication Laboratory. A layout with test arrays, including enclosed geometry transistors, was designed to perform a test fabrication run. The process uses optimized oxidation steps and Poly-Buffered LOCal Oxidation of Silicon (PBL) isolation with minimal mask steps and fabrication time. The fabricated test transistors revealed that some subthreshold edge leakage was still present in the nMOS devices. SEM imaging showed that the field oxide had been almost entirely unintentionally etched away during processing. This reduction in the field oxide thickness creates parasitic edge transistors. Sentaurus simulations imply that if not for this field oxide loss, the fabricated nMOS devices would have had minimal leakage with no kink in the subthreshold curve.


title: The President of the European Council and the Quest for an EU Democracy

abstract: This dissertation deals with the impact of institutional reform on the democratic process. In particular, it examines the effects of the office of the Permanent President of the European Council on the democratic process in the EU’s multilevel polity. The Office of the President of the European Council is the outcome of the reform of the European Treaties concluded at Lisbon in 2008.


title: Cretaceous (Albian to Cenomanian) Strata of Eagle Plain, Yukon: Subsurface Foraminiferal Biostratigraphy, Regional Correlations and Paleoenvironments

abstract: The Eagle Plain, located in the northeastern Yukon Territory, Canada, forms a northern segment of the Cretaceous Western Interior Sea. Its preserved mid-Cretaceous strata (Whitestone River Formation and Eagle Plain Group) document an active structural regime and sea-level fluctuations. Recent paleontological evidence suggested that Albian to Cenomanian aged strata are preserved. This study compares subsurface foraminiferal assemblages from two wells with those in outcrop, reported in previous studies, and integrates both with well log signatures. The emerging biostratigraphic framework correlates well with the fauna observed in outcrops. Three biostratigraphic zones are observed, suggesting an Early to early Late Albian age for the Whitestone River Formation. The studied well localities represent slope to distal shelf, and more proximal shelf settings. The Whitestone River Formation documents Albian sea-level fluctuations correlated to the Polar Sea, Western Interior Sea and globally. The latest Albian disconformity is believed to occur in the Fishing Branch Formation.


title: The Influence of Simulated Purge Flow on the Secondary Flow of a Low-Speed Turbine Cascade

abstract: The present thesis documents experimental measurements of a low-speed linear turbine cascade. The overall objective of the thesis was to enhance the understanding of turbine near endwall flows, termed secondary flows. Of particular interest were the loss generation and energy dissipation mechanisms present within the turbine blade row. Point measurements of the downstream pressure fields for different cascade configurations were made using a seven-hole pneumatic pressure probe. The generation of total pressure losses were examined in relation to the inferred secondary flow structures. Also, the corresponding turbulence field was measured for one of the cascade configurations using a hot-wire probe thereby providing insights into the role of the turbulence field in the generation of total pressure losses. The interpretation of the flow fields were aided with experimental oil film flow visualization and corresponding CFD simulations. In a real turbine engine there is an axial gap between the stationary and rotating bladerows. The term rim-seal refers to the geometry of the axial gap and the cooling flow, termed purge flow, which is typically injected into the mainstream from within the gap to prevent ingress of the hot mainstream gases. The present work examines the effects of the rim-seal geometry on the secondary flow and associated losses for different levels of purge flow. It was found that the presence of the rim-seal geometry significantly alters the secondary flow compared to that of a traditional flat endwalled turbine cascade. The addition of purge flow further enhances the secondary flow and the bladerow losses increase with increasing purge flow. It was therefore recommended that modern turbine designs consider both the rim-seal geometry and the purge flow during the design process. Previous studies have shown that a secondary loss mitigation technology, termed non-axisymmetric endwall contouring, significantly reduces the endwall losses generated through a turbine bladerow. The present work investigated a computationally optimized endwall design for the present turbine cascade for varying levels of purge injection. The experimental measurements found that the endwall contouring, with the upstream rim-seal geometry, was effective at reducing the bladerow losses for the range of positive net purge flows investigated.


title: The Marginalization of Child Care:  A Pilot Atlas of Child Care in Ottawa

abstract: Coming from an ‘ethic of care’ perspective, this study utilizes a critical feminist approach to examine the use of participatory mapping technologies as potential tools for social policy analysis. The purpose of this research is to address whether advances in online mapping technologies can assist governments and communities with generating more experiential evidence-based policy-making. Focusing on government child care programs and policies in the Ottawa area, a cybercartographic atlas was created using information from focus groups with parents and a review of current child care programs and policies. This Pilot Child Care Atlas was successfully able to incorporate all of the child care programs and policies researched while also allowing for the imputing of the experiences of parents from the focus groups. However, in order to fully assess the usefulness of this technology for social policy analysis further research is necessary where the atlas is made available to the community.


title: Hydrogen Sensing with Long-Range Surface Plasmon Membrane Waveguides

abstract: This integrated article thesis presents the full design, fabrication, characterization and testing of a long-range surface plasmon polariton (LRSPP) cladded membrane waveguide hydrogen gas (H2) sensor with integrated grating couplers. The sensor, which is the first of its kind to be demonstrated in the literature, features a thin gold (Au) stripe embedded in an ultra-thin free standing Cytop membrane with palladium (Pd) transducer. The design is performed through finite element method (FEM) optical modeling of the LRSPP waveguide and gratings. The non-trivial fabrication process utilizes facilities at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa and is presented in detail. The process involves multi-layer dielectric deposition, blind double-sided wafer alignment, multiple metal depositions using photolithography and ebeam lithography as well as a through-wafer silicon wet etch step. The devices are passively characterized using an optical cutback technique comparing the observed waveguide attenuation to that of simulated values showing good agreement. Sensing tests are performed with hydrogen concentrations up to 3%. A best detection limit of 290 ppm is observed with a response time of 7 s to 0.6% H2 (99.4% N2). The sensor has the capability of a higher dynamic range than other thin film sensors while other simple adjustments are discussed that can be applied to improve overall performance.


title: Statistical Properties of the Signal-to-Noise Crossover Dose Based on the Hill Model as a Point of Departure for Health Risk Assessment

abstract: No-observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL) and benchmark dose (BMD) are widely accepted points of departure for human exposure guidelines. BMD has considerable merits to the NOAEL. However, BMD estimates could be model dependent if the estimation requires extrapolation beyond the range of experimental data. Signal-to-noise crossover dose (SNCD) is recently introduced to overcome this limitation, where the focus was point estimation of the SNCD using NTP data sets. In this research, we introduce three new approaches to estimate the SNCD. Further to illustrate the characteristics of the BMD to SNCD, a new analytical approach to estimate the BMD is introduced and comparison of these PoDs is carried out using the NTP data sets. The first part involves estimation and assessment of Hill model parameters and an introduction of an analytical approach to estimate the benchmark dose. Accuracy and precision of these estimates are investigated for all possible combination of four shapes of the Hill curves, two dose levels and four number of trials per dose and effects of these factors on these estimates are reported. The second part includes estimation and assessment of SNCD using three different methods. Results show that the analytical approach with bias correction is the best. To estimate the realized bias, multiple regression equation as a function of Hill model parameters, number of dose levels, number of trials per dose and maximum dose; and additional five new approaches to estimate the bias are introduced and compared. Our analysis show that the best approach to estimate the bias is the multiple regression approach. It is used in the application of the above illustrated theories. The developed theories are applied in the analysis of NTP datasets and the corresponding PoDs are estimated. Comparison of BMD to SNCD, BMDL to SNCDL and computation of extra risks at SNCD and SNCDL are carried out to illustrate the advantages of one PoD over the other. Results show that SNCD0.67 is comparable to BMD10 and SNCDL0.67 to BMDL10 and confirming the conclusion that there is a need to choose smaller p (< 0.67) of SNCD which could be comparable to BMD05 or BMD01


title: Geophysical Identification and Characterization of Mafic-Ultramafic Intrusions in Plume Centre Regions

abstract: Gravity and magnetic data from the EGM2008 and EMAG2 datasets are used for a global study of geophysical anomalies in LIP plume centre regions with the goal of identifying mafic-ultramafic intrusions linked to those LIPs. Geophysical anomalies within eighteen LIPs are investigated. Four of these LIPs are selected for detailed modelling: the Mackenzie, High-Arctic, Kunene-Kibaran, and Deccan LIPs. Modelling supports that these anomalies are produced by large (radius >30 km) and generally deep-seated crustal intrusions, with densities consistent with mafic-ultramafic rock and magnetic susceptibilities consistent with serpentinized ultramafic rock. Modelling also indicates that these values remain consistent within a LIP, particularly regarding density and depth. Lastly, we recognize three types of spatial distributions for intrusions in plume centre regions: 1) intrusions that circumscribe the plume centre emplaced along circular fault systems, 2) intrusions emplaced along rifts, in some cases rifts that converge towards the plume centre, and 3) single/unclassified intrusions.


title: Event-Scale Hydrologic Response in Urbanizing Watersheds of the Canadian Great Lakes Basin and Associations with Fish Richness

abstract: The cumulative impacts of urban land use on stream flow regimes and lotic ecosystems are poorly understood. Moreover, flow assessments using daily or monthly flows cannot adequately characterize event-scale flow dynamics in urbanizing watersheds. Accordingly, this empirical research examined high temporal resolution (15-minute) growing season hydrologic records in the Greater Toronto Region, Canada. Hydrologic records were matched with rainfall records to include precipitation in models. The first phase of research identified temporal trends in total runoff, rising limb event flows and rising limb accelerations in two watersheds. Results indicated dramatic changes: over a 42-year period, total seasonal discharge increased 45% in the Don and Humber Rivers during a period of stable rainfall patterns. Peak event flows and event flow variability also increased temporally. The second phase of research comprised a spatial analysis of twenty-seven watersheds ranging from 38 km2 to 806 km2 undertaken along an urban land use gradient from less than 0.1% to 88%. Urban land use had a very strong influence on total runoff and event scale runoff. Changes in runoff characteristics began at urban cover under 4%. Event flow acceleration increased, causing maximum runoff to be reached sooner as urban cover increased. The total runoff model had an interaction between watershed size and urban land use. Smaller watersheds are disproportionately affected by urbanization, as also demonstrated by the fractal relationship of stream network length and watershed area. The third phase identified associations of fish species richness with event-scale hydrologic characteristics in eight watersheds using fish data spanning approximately five decades. Maximum event flow acceleration and skew in instantaneous runoff explained a higher proportion of variation than urban percent in empirical models. Historic fish data are difficult to obtain and pose analytical challenges. By using high temporal resolution flow data, the research provides a new understanding of changes in event-scale flow regime dynamics associated with urbanization and, in turn, association of event-scale hydrology with fish richness. Compromised hydrologic stationarity is attributable to urbanization.


title: Improved Time Representation in Discrete-Event Simulation

abstract: Discrete-Event Simulation (DES) is a technique in which the simulation engine plays a history following a chronology of events. The technique is called ”discrete-event” because the processing of each event of the chronology takes place at discrete points of a continuous time-line. In computer implementations, an event could be represented by a message, and a time occurrence. The message data type is usually defined as part of the model and the simulator algorithms do not operate with them. Opposite is the case of time variables; simulator has to interact actively with them for reproducing the chronology of events over R+, which is usually represented by approximated data types as floating-point. The approximation of time values in the simulation can affect the time-line preventing the generation of correct results. In addition, it is common to collect data from real systems to predict future phenomena, for example for weather forecasting. When collecting data using metrological instruments and procedures, the measurement results include uncertainty quantifications, usually defined as intervals. However, sometimes, answering a question requires evaluating the results of all values in the uncertainty interval. This thesis proposes data types for handling representation of time properly in DES, including irrational and periodic time values. Moreover, we propose a method for obtaining every possible simulation result of DES models when feeding them events with uncertainty quantification on their time component.


title: Monitoring Breathing Using a Doppler Radar

abstract: Correctional institutions are looking to adopt a non-obtrusive method for monitoring the vital signs of inmates in Canada. Doppler radar has been previously investigated as a potential method of vital signs detection and monitoring. This thesis presents an algorithm which uses the baseband output signal received by a Doppler radar to estimate the breathing rate from the detected motion associated with breathing. A reliability measure is provided with breathing rate estimates through the analysis of various signal quality indices. Results demonstrate that the algorithm is able to estimate the subject’s breathing rate (with high reliability) when the subject is motionless and breathing normally (mean error of 6 breaths per minute). The algorithm cannot accurately estimate the breathing rate when the subject is moving or holding their breath (mean error of 21 breaths per minute). During breath holds, it was found that the algorithm can likely estimate the subject’s heart rate.


title: Hunting for the SNARC: Spatial-Numerical Associations in an Order Judgment Task are Surprisingly Elusive

abstract: Spatial-numerical associations (SNA) have been studied in various numerical and non-numerical tasks. Classically, participants respond faster with their right hand to larger numbers and faster with their left hand to smaller numbers even when number identity is irrelevant. SNAs are often explained as activation of a left-to-right mental number line. SNAs may reflect magnitude processes, relative order, or both. In the present research, I explored the SNA in an order judgment task. In three experiments, participants judged whether three digit sequences were ordered or unordered. People with more efficient calculation skill are faster and more accurate on order judgments than those with less efficient skills. Thus this task is assumed to capture important aspects of the mental representation of numerical sequences. I hypothesized that participants would show a SNA similar to that in other number tasks (e.g., parity, number comparison), that is, faster right hand responses to number sequences that are assumed to activate the right side (e.g., 6 7 8) and faster left hand responses to number sequences that are assumed to activate the left side (e.g., 2 3 4) of the mental number line. In three experiments, ordered but not unordered sequences showed consistent evidence for a typical SNA. In Experiment 1, Asian-educated individuals showed a stable SNA effect on both ascending and descending sequences whereas Arabic-speaking participants showed no significant SNA effects. English-speaking participants showed a typical SNA on descending sequences and a reversed SNA on ascending sequences. In Experiments 2 and 3, individuals with better arithmetic fluency showed a typical SNA. In Experiments 2 and 3, analyses using a multi-factor ANOVA design did not show evidence for SNARC effects. Instead, SNARC effects were found only using slope analyses on differences in responses with the right versus the left hand. The results are discussed in relation to the processes involved in sequence judgments and how those might differ from the processes involved in other numerical tasks. In summary, the SNA was elusive, even though participants were quite sensitive to number magnitude and the task itself required order judgments, which presumably should have activated the mental number line.


title: Acoustic signalling in the destructive bark beetle genus Dendroctonus (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) with emphasis on Dendroctonus valens

abstract: Acoustic signalling is common in bark beetles (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) but has been underappreciated in the literature, resulting in many unanswered questions regarding their acoustic ecology. The goal of this work was to answer some outstanding questions in the economically important Dendroctonus genus using mainly Dendroctonus valens. Dendroctonus spp. produce complex and variable acoustic signals in many contexts. Addressing the question of why they signal, I found that during courtship the ultimate function of signals was linked to female mate choice. Not only did chirp characteristics correlate with signaller fitness, but females differentiated between and made decisions about potential mates based on chirp variability in courtship song performances. The question of how chirp variability is produced was then addressed. I found the proximate mechanism of chirp production is a form of ‘spring stridulation’, where elastic potential energy is stored as fuel for stridulation. Altering the number of times the energy store was reloaded during a chirp led to the variable pulse pattern of the distinct chirp varieties. Finally, I addressed the question of sexual dimorphism in sound production. I noted that females produced sound in the contexts of disturbance and territoriality and further that they do so by way of an alternative mechanism to that of sound production in males. However, female sounds were erratic and rare, and their presence did not evoke a conclusive behavioural response in conspecifics, leading to an overall lack of support for a communicative function of female sound. My thesis research forms the most comprehensive story of the ultimate and proximate nature of sound production in both sexes of a destructive group of tree-killing bark beetles.


title: The Spatial Ecology and Biological Responses of Wild Fishes Relative to Hydropower Development on the Winnipeg River

abstract: Wild fish population are often impounded by hydropower dams, which can restrict migration and habitat requirements, while making fishes susceptible to deleterious harm from entrainment through spillways and turbines, stranding from dewatering, as well as hydrokinetic developments that are being proposed for installment within tailraces. With applying acoustic biotelemetry and using model selection, I investigated the spatial ecology and biological responses from Lake Sturgeon and Walleye relative to hydropower developments on a large river. The results in chapter 2 document the spatial ecology of wild fishes within a run-of-river impoundment. In chapter 3, biotelemetry was used to investigate the risk of impacts from hydrokinetic turbines on wild fishes. This information will help to enhance management for Lake Sturgeon and Walleye populations that are impounded due to hydropower developments, and help guide best practices for commercial operations for hydrokinetic turbines that are placed within tailraces of hydropower stations.


title: Discrete Geometric Path Analysis in Computational Geometry

abstract: In this thesis, first, we study the weighted region problem (WRP), which is to compute a geometric shortest path on a weighted partitioning of a plane. Recent results show that WRP is not solvable in any algebraic computation model over rational numbers. Thus, scientists have focused on approximate solutions. We first study the WRP when the input partitioning of space is an arrangement of lines. We provide a technique that makes it possible to apply the existing approximation algorithms for triangulations to arrangements of lines. Then, we formulate two qualitative criteria for weighted short paths. We show how to produce a path that is quantitatively close-to-optimal and qualitatively satisfactory. The results of our experiments carried out on triangular irregular networks show that the proposed algorithm could save, on average, 51% in query time and 69% in memory usage, in comparison with the existing method. We also study some variants of the Frechet distance. The Frechet distance is a commonly used measure to capture the similarity of polygonal curves. Firstly, we study a robust variant of the Frechet distance since the standard Frechet distance exhibits a high sensitivity to the presence of outliers. Secondly, we propose a new measure to capture similarity between polygonal curves, called the Minimum Backward Frechet Distance (MBFD). More specifically, for a given threshold epsilon, we are searching for a pair of walks for two entities on the two input polygonal curves such that the union of the portions of required backward movements is minimized and the distance between the two entities, at any time during the walk, is less than or equal to epsilon. Thirdly, we generalize MBFD to capture scenarios when the cost of backtracking on the input polygonal curves is not homogeneous. Lastly, for a given graph H, a polygonal curve T, and a threshold epsilon, we propose a geometric algorithm that computes a path, P, in H, and a parameterization of T, that minimize the sum of the length of walks on T and P whereby the distance between the entities moving along P and T is at most epsilon.


title: Gas Turbine Engine Performance Estimation and Prediction

abstract: Modern health management approaches for gas turbine engines (GTE) aim to acquire precise information about the health state of the GTE components to optimize the maintenance decisions with respect to both the economy and safety. The task becomes more challenging for the GTE parts inaccessible to direct measurements with the available sensors of the GTE control system. This article-based thesis integrates a set of five coherent research work to address this problem. A detailed nonlinear thermodynamic model for single shaft GTEs is developed to predict the expected cycle parameters for the GTE in the healthy condition. In reality, the measured cycle parameters gradually deviate from the prediction due to performance deterioration. Physics-based performance indicators are defined based on the deviations in the measured performance parameters, compared to the respective model predictions. The indicators can effectively monitor the GTE performance deterioration in both short-term and long-term regimes. In the next step, effect of the air humidity is taken into account to enhance the GTE model, and it is shown that the enhanced model can improve the performance monitoring by reducing the uncertainties. In order to separate the effects of different fault modes, an inference-based model is developed to predict the short-term recoverable performance deterioration due to the compressor fouling under different ambient and operating conditions. For the long-term non-recoverable performance deterioration due to the degradation mechanisms in the turbine hot section, two steps are undertaken; 1) a state estimation framework is developed for nonlinear/non-Gaussian systems with non-uniform time steps to track a degradation symptom of the turbine, i.e., loss of isentropic efficiency, using the observable performance indicators, and 2) the state estimation framework is extended to multidimensional dynamical systems with stochastic inputs for simultaneous tracking of two degradation symptoms, i.e., loss of isentropic efficiency and increase of the mass flow, using the observable parameters, provided by the GTE operating system. The developed techniques and frameworks are verified and validated, using a set of three-year operating data from an industrial GTE in a power plant.