identifier: Kunin, Daniel  (1998) The interaction of psychomotor stimulants and sedative hypnotics in the conditioned taste aversion paradigm.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Specific pairs of drugs such as cocaine and ethanol and nicotine and ethanol are widely used by humans. A variety of existing studies have reported behavioral and pharmacological interactive effects between these pairs of drugs. The present thesis was designed to further examine the potential interactive effects between these pairs of drugs as reflected in two variants of the Conditioned Taste Aversion (CTA) paradigm. Experiment 1 examined the potential for cocaine and ethanol to interact pharmacologically in the pretreatment CTA procedure. These results revealed that while cocaine and ethanol may interact pharmacologically, their interaction was asymmetrical and therefore not cocaethylene mediated. Experiment 2 examined the potential for nicotine and ethanol to interact pharmacologically in the pretreatment CTA procedure. These results demonstrated that nicotine and ethanol interacted pharmacologically in an asymmetrical fashion. Together, these pretreatment effects indicated a pharmacological specificity between pairs of drugs as reflected in their interaction. Experiments 3 and 4 were conducted in order to assess whether cocaine and ethanol as well as nicotine and ethanol were functionally related and endowed with overlapping stimulus properties as reflected in the pre-exposure CTA paradigm. These results demonstrated that both pairs of drugs were functionally related and endowed with overlapping but non-identical stimulus properties. That is, cocaine less effectively disrupted CTA to ethanol while ethanol more effectively disrupted CTA to cocaine. Similarly, nicotine effectively disrupted CTA to ethanol while ethanol less effectively disrupted CTA to nicotine. Taken together, these asymmetrical pre-exposure effects were thought to be related to the self-administration potential of these drugs.


identifier: McLaren, Lindsay  (1998) Excessive commitment to exercise and the relationship between dietary restraint and perfectionism : a case of moderation or mediation?  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract: Although excessive exercise and the personality characteristic perfectionism are both prevalent in eating disordered patients (especially in anorexia nervosa), the association between these two factors and the characteristic feature of dietary restraint has not been systematically investigated in a nonclinical population. The aim of the present study was to contribute to the understanding of this association by: (a) investigating the relationship between perfectionism and dietary restraint; and (b) exploring the moderating and/or mediating role of excessive commitment to exercise in this relationship. A university student sample of 269 women and 152 men completed paper and pencil questionnaires of dietary restraint, excessive commitment to exercise, and multidimensional perfectionism. Multiple regression analyses designed to test moderating and mediating models (Baron & Kenny, 1986) showed that higher perfectionism and more excessive commitment to exercise predicted more dietary restraint among both men and women ($p<.01$). No evidence was found to support the moderating role of excessive commitment to exercise on the relationship between perfectionism and dietary restraint. However, regression tests for mediation indicated that among women, excessive commitment to exercise mediated the relationship between self-oriented perfectionism and dietary restraint, and its inclusion significantly reduced the strength of two other relationships: between socially-prescribed perfectionism and dietary restraint, and between self-presentational perfectionism and dietary restraint. In men, excessive commitment to exercise mediated the relationship between self-oriented perfectionism and dietary restraint, but only when Body Mass Index (BMI) was controlled. The conclusion is that excessive commitment to exercise may explain some aspects of deviant eating symptomatology


identifier: Aysola, Prasad  (1998) Pulse microwave mediated sample clean-up method to analyse trace metals, PCBs and pesticides, and for treatment of organic wastes.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: A procedure is described for open vessel pulse microwave wet ashing system. In wet ashing procedure organic matrix in biological tissues is digested in acid. This step must precede trace metal analysis by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Conventional wet ashing procedure using hot plate takes several hours. Digestion of animal and plant tissues by 5.0 ml, 10.0 ml or 20.0 ml of $\rm H\sb2SO\sb4$ (95.0-98%)/HNO$\sb3$ (69-71%) (v/v) (1:1) acid mixture were effectively achieved by pulse microwave treatment using domestic grade microwave oven. Samples are subjected to 10s (method A) or 6s (method B) microwave heating followed by dormant time of 3 minutes for a total microwave heating time of less than 20 minutes. Data will be presented to show how conditions were chosen. The temperature of digestion mixture was maintained $<$100$\sp\circ$C. The effect of pulse time variation and acid mixture volume variation was studied in detail.


identifier: Sriram, Thottam Ranganathan  (1998) A multimedia authoring tool for Web based learning.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Internet is a network infrastructure that connects millions of computers and users worldwide. Increasing interest and access to the worldwide web have made the web as a potentially suitable medium for Computer Aided Learning (CAL). A web based presentation (courseware) is a collection of individual web pages having spatial and temporal objects in it. Spatial objects need to be organised in a two dimensional space, and temporal objects need to be sequenced. Our aim in this thesis is to provide an authoring toolkit which supports the author as much as possible to think in high-level domain oriented terms from which we generate a set of low-level spatial and temporal constraints automatically.  A syntax-directed translation and a grammar are used for this purpose. We have developed a grammar that is suitable for specifying the spatial and temporal constraints in a page. A Concept Graph Model, which is a directed acyclic graph is used to organise a web based presentation of the courseware. The authoring and presentation tool kits developed as part of this thesis work are evaluated by applying them to a real life problem. In this application, the author has developed a courseware on Assembly Language for a first year course in Computer Science. The input for the authoring too], in this case, were made available by the author as Microsoft Word document and as slides in Microsoft Power Point. The authored material is used by about twenty five students as a way of evaluation. The conclusions are, it is relatively easy to develop courseware using our authoring toolkit and incremental development of the courseware is simple . The authored courseware is found by students to be very useful in Computer Aided Learning


identifier: Barnes Rose, Constance  (1996) Getting out of town.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Getting out of town

abstract: This collection of stories is centered around Nancy McKinnon, a young woman who unconsciously struggles to break free of the close-knit yet restricting society she was born into. Set in small-town Nova Scotia, these stories offer a glimpse into a world where traditional and conservative values prevail and any personal change or growth that transgresses these values is restricted. As the daughter of the Police Chief, Nancy feels a strong urge to rebel, and in the course of doing so, becomes involved in destructive relationships with emotionally desperate men. Nancy eventually recognizes that hope for freedom can come about when she severs herself not only from the people she is deeply involved with, but from the entire community as well. It is primarily through first person stories which explore Nancy's voice and sensibility that the texture of her world is felt by the reader.


identifier: Di Fazio, Roberto  (1999) People's perception of others' experienced emotions as a function of the others' status.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: High-relative to low-status individuals have greater prestige and are provided greater deference. The present research addressed the hypotheses that the status of individuals determines for others (a) the likelihood of the individuals encountering specified emotion-eliciting situations, and (b) the emotions they will experience following their encounter of the elicitors. In Study 1, participants rated the likelihood of high and low-status individuals encountering specific emotion-eliciting situations. As expected, participants considered lower status individuals as more likely to encounter the negative elicitors of anger, disgust, fear, and sadness, along with surprise elicitors. Higher status individuals were perceived as more likely to encounter the happiness elicitors. Results for the love elicitors were mainly in keeping with expectations that high- and low-status individuals are perceived as equally likely to encounter love elicitors. In Studies 2 and 3, participants rated the emotional experience of high- and low-status individuals following their encounter of the negative and positive elicitors considered in Study 1, and surprise. Participants perceived that following the encounter of negative elicitors, high- relative to low-status individuals experience more anger, disgust, and surprise. No difference emerged in participants' perception of high- and low-status individuals' emotional experience following their encounter of surprise elicitors. Participants perceived that following the encounter of positive elicitors low-relative to high-status individuals experience more fear and surprise. Study 4 addressed an alternative explanation for the results of Studies 2 and 3. With few exceptions, a group conflict perspective was not capable of explaining the results of Studies 2 and 3. Overall, the present studies further clarify how the status of individuals affects how they are perceived by others. Peoples' perceptions of high- and low-status individuals' emotional experience seem best explained from a perspective that considers both the potency of the emotion experienced and the status of the individual who is described to have encountered an elicitor.


identifier: Peters, Patricia L  (1999) Assortative mating among men and women with histories of aggressive, withdrawn, and aggressive-withdrawn behaviour.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The purpose of the present study was threefold. The first aim was to examine the continuity of aggressive and withdrawn behaviour among men and women who had been identified as showing elevated levels of these behaviours in childhood. The second aim was to investigate the occurrence of above chance levels of similarity between these individuals and their spouses on the behaviours of aggression and withdrawal. Finally the study examined whether relationship satisfaction varied as a function of couple similarity on aggression and withdrawal. The principal question of assortative mating was investigated within a longitudinal, community-based sample of men and women with histories of aggressive and/or withdrawn childhood behaviour. Using peer nominations, 1,770 boys and girls were originally identified at ages 7, 10, and 13 as being highly aggressive, withdrawn, both aggressive and withdrawn, or non-deviant (contrast group). At the time of the present study, the original participants were in their mid- to late 20's and many were involved in marital or co-habiting relationships. Of these original participants, 112 women and 99 men completed self-report measures of aggressive, deviant, and withdrawn behaviour, along with their partners. Couples also completed ratings of their satisfaction with the relationship. With respect to behavioural stability, results indicated a moderate degree of continuity in aggressive behaviour from childhood to early adulthood for our female participants, but less so for our male participants. In contrast, both genders showed a significant association between childhood social withdrawal and self-rated introverted behaviour in adulthood. Support was found for the hypothesis that partners in intimate relationships resemble each other in terms of their aggressive and deviant behaviour. Couples were not similar in shy, withdrawn behaviour, but did resemble one another in internalizing symptoms. Support was not found for the hypothesis that couple similarity on aggressive and withdrawn behaviour would be associated with relationship satisfaction.


identifier: AlGattus, Said S  (1999) Experimental investigation of noise reduction in supersonic jets due to jet rotation and to nozzle geometry changes.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The present work deals with two different methods used for noise reduction in supersonic jets. The first method employed consisted of a swirl chamber, which produced axisymmetric jets with a tangential velocity component. This component was found to affect the structure of the jet cell and the internal oblique shocks formed inside. In the second method, the nozzle exit plane of the cylindrical chamber was perturbed such that the nozzle's exit lip was not lying in one plane perpendicular to the axis of symmetry of the nozzle.  These two methods were investigated experimentally via spark Schlieren photography, static, Pitot and sound pressure measurements. Schlieren photography was employed to visualize the flow and shock structure associated with any of the above changes. Static and pitot pressure measurements were carried out to obtain the velocity distribution whereas sound pressure measurements were used to determine the resulting gain in noise reduction. The introduction of a small flow rotation was found to weaken the internal shock strength and to reduce the cell length and screech noise generated. Increasing the flow rotation beyond a certain limit was found to effect the shock structure without any noticeable noise reduction. Sinusoidal perturbation was found to affect the symmetry and strength of the oblique shocks in the supersonic cells. A considerable noise reduction was also noted with perturbation amplitude equal to 12.5% of the nozzle inside diameter. Larger perturbation did not result in a further noise reduction. In the first and second methods, a maximum noise reduction of 12 dB and 8 dB were measured, respectively.


identifier: Houghten, Sheridan  (1999) On combinatorial searches for designs and codes.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Searches for designs and codes may be divided into two broad categories: those which attempt to prove the existence of a design or code with a given set of parameters, and those which attempt to enumerate designs or codes with a given set of parameters. In this thesis we consider computer searches for several designs and one code. The also consider computational techniques which one may generally employ in such searches.  A 2-(28, 12, 11) design is both quasi-derived and quasi-symmetric, with intersection numbers a = 4 and b = 6. We consider the problem of embedding such designs with an automorphism of order 7 without fixed points or blocks, as derived designs in a symmetric 2-(64, 28, 12) design. We find that four 2-(28, 12, 11) designs could not be embedded, thus providing the first examples of quasi-derived quasi-symmetric designs which are not derived designs.  The smallest case with the parameters k = 6 and n = 1 for which it is not known if a ( v , 6, 1) design exists is the case v = 46. One may partition the search for a (46, 6, 1) design into two cases. A search assuming the first of these cases revealed no designs. We examine the remaining case, presenting detailed information on how one may structure a search, and present estimates of the time required to complete the search.  The largest minimum weight of a self-dual doubly-even binary ( n, k, d ) code is d = 4 [ n /24] + 4. Of such codes with length divisible by 24, the Golay Code is the only (24, 12, 8) code, the Extended Quadratic Residue Code is the only known (48, 24, 12) code, and there is no known (72, 36, 16) code. For any non-zero weight w of such a code, the codewords of weight w form a 5-design. One may partition the search for a (48, 24, 12) self-dual doubly-even code into 3 cases. A search assuming one of the cases found only the Extended Quadratic Residue Code itself. We consider the remaining 2 cases, giving information on how a search may be structured for each of these cases, and present estimates of the search size and time.  Estimation is of great importance in these types of searches, as it not only indicates if a search is feasible with the given resources, but also may indicate necessary areas of improvement in our algorithms. We examine methods of obtaining estimates of the size of a search and of the time required to complete a search, including a demonstration of a conversion of the former type of estimate to the latter.


identifier: Ayiku, Robert Kingsley  (1998) Symbolic meanings in the Ghanaian arts : a step towards developing cultural literacy.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: While the cultural policy adopted by Ghana on her attainment of political independence aims to offer the Ghanaian people opportunities to revive, preserve, and develop their indigenous culture, not much has been done in terms of documenting the Ghanaian cultural arts for both cultural record and educational purposes. This is because most of the experts of indigenous Ghanaian cultural matters are illiterates. These cultural experts depend mainly on an oral tradition for transmitting information about their culture. Communal beliefs and values, and ideas about cultural behaviours and actions, cultural symbols and images are passed on to the younger generations through stories, proverbs, and folk songs, among others. The people of Ghana have a characteristic of thinking about the world in which they live in symbolic terms. Thus, they use a wide range of symbol systems in accordance with various aspects of their social and cultural life, including the practice of their arts. Indeed, Ghanaian artistic expression is mostly symbolically oriented, serving to represent communal beliefs that are deeply rooted in historical, philosophical, social, religious, economic, and political values which form the basis of all major areas of Ghanaian cultural knowledge that gave birth to their arts. The national call for cultural revival, as well as a new urge for cultural identity among Ghanaians, today, has resulted in an urgent need for a research to document various aspects of the Ghanaian culture for use as educational and reference material to augment the oral tradition which is becoming increasingly inadequate in meeting the educational needs of the people. This study identifies and interprets the meanings of some symbolic key expressions as they are found in particular examples of the indigenous cultural arts of Ghana, namely: the visual, performing, and verbal art forms. The documentation includes the social and cultural significance (relevance) and aesthetic attributions of these symbolic artistic expressions and art forms to the people of Ghana. The documentation is done in a way that makes it applicable for arts education in Ghanaian schools.  The Ghanaian cultural arts have been incorporated as an interdisciplinary study under a curriculum enrichment programme--a supporting content of the general education programme--rendering instruction in them to become an ancillary activity. This disparity between the goals of general education and arts education has resulted in the latter being relegated to the peripheries of the general school curriculum. The study, therefore proposes teaching and learning strategies for using the documented materials in the Primary, Junior Secondary, and Senior Secondary School levels of education in Ghana, using a discipline-based art education (D.B.A.E.) approach which integrates studio practice (art-making) with the historical, aesthetics, and critical domains of the arts.  The resulting body of literature on the Ghanaian arts together with the suggested approaches to teaching and learning result in an arts education programme that is appropriate for Ghanaian schools. By studying the arts in relation to their own cultural context students will understand the arts they have been living with as part of their lifestyle. Their artistic skills and practices, imaginations, knowledge, and judgement will be grounded in their own cultural assumptions. In this way, students will understand and acquire the relevant literacy for effective participation in, and appreciation of their own culture.


identifier: Leclerc, Josée  (1999) Devant l'objet de l'art, une lecture psychanalytique du dessaisissement : la question du sujet soumis à l'atteinte et à l'exigence de penser.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Comment témoigner de l'effet parfais singulier, du texte ou de l'image de l'art lorsqu'il s'agit de privilégier une lecture résolument psychanalytique? Comment dépasser le commentaire psychanalytique ±sur» l'art et éviter le piège de la ±psychanalyse appliquée»? Poser comme prémisse qu'on ne saurait témoigner de l'art qu'à partir de l'effet qu'il produit, qu'on ne pourrait en rendre compte que du lieu depuis lequel celui-ci nous atteint, c'est reconnaître qu'il s'agit de la position obligée de tout sujet de la pensée psychanalytique. Privilégier la notion freudienne de l'inquiétante étrangeté ( Unheimliche ) permet de proposer une lecture de ce qui, de l'art, se présente dans un effet d'étrangèreté. La Darstellung freudienne, la présentation, devient ici postulat de recherche afin de penser ce qui ressortit à un registre qui n'est pas celui de la représentation. L'hypothèse suivante est développée, à savoir qu'un tel effet, parce que se situant hors de la logique de la signification et au-delà de la représentation proprement dite ouvrirait en quelque sorte sur une dimension fondatrice: celle par laquelle le sujet se constitue, sujet ouvert ou divisé par le champ de l'altérité. Cette dimension, bien que fondatrice, parce que fondatrice, échapperait irrémédiablement à toute saisie directe, et ne saurait être pensée que depuis une position de sujet à l'atteinte . Non pas seulement théorique, mais imposant nécessairement une pratique. l'enjeu de cette thèse consiste à mettre au travail, dans ma pensée et dans mon écriture, ce paradoxe d'une atteinte qui échappe résolument à toute atteinte directe mais qui impose l'exigence de penser.


identifier: Pinsonneault, Michael  (1999) Social dimensions of Hollywood movie music.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis argues that various processes based in the social dimensions of our lives affect film accompanists, composers, and their work in a direct and pertinent fashion. Mediating social influences act upon the relationships between film musicians and the institutions or formations within which they function, and reflect the economic and political preoccupations of those collective bodies. These same factors also produce effects in the realm of social subjectivity, informing the internal attitudes of film accompanists and composers toward their metier and toward the individuals and groups with whom they interact in the course of making music for motion pictures. Social considerations further affect the processes in which film musicians produce the actual notes, timbres and styles heard in live accompaniments and on soundtracks, shaping the structures, idioms, instrumental media, and conventions that have evolved in mainstream film music over its century-long history. Finally, various residual and emergent elements are shown to challenge and redefine dominant film musical practice in different ways. In the former case, the coexistence of live performance and reproduced motion pictures during the silent era, and the echoes of live musical reception sensed when attention-demanding background music or commercial tunes are heard on soundtracks, are seen as bringing residual influences to the fore at times in Hollywood movies. In the latter case, general cultural shifts in postmodern society, indicating the evolution of more actively engaged forms of reception and participation and a related desire for greater personal expression and participation among a critical mass of people, are explored as emergent trends transforming standard film musical practice and reception in a number of respects.


identifier: Scheffer, Carole  (1999) Architectural postcards and the conception of place : mediating cultural experience.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: By radically altering accessibility to architectural images, the postcard has promoted the dissemination of diverse values and ideas that both mediate and are mediated by the cultural experience of architecture and place. This symbiotic process is explored by examining different types of architectural images in postcard form, and considering how they have been used and interpreted.  Numerous cultural factors influencing the production of both the architecture and its image are discussed, highlighting how they promote particular conceptions of place. With ample illustrations, the postcard is seen as an amalgam of several functions: communication agent, propaganda vehicle, metaphor for place, object of desire and catalyst for memories. It is also the subject of individual interventions that produce the divergence between intended and received meanings and values.  Exploring the postcard's role in the conception of place, its significance, its associations, its diverse meanings and contradictions, form the core of this study.


identifier: El-Fiki, Hana A  (1999) Code-mixing of Arabic and English in a university science-teaching context : frequency, grammatical categories, and attitudes.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study explores a language contact phenomenon in the monolingual Arabic-speaking country of Libya. It investigates aspects of Arabic-English code-mixing in a university scientific and technical teaching context. While the language policy in Libya is one which promotes the maintenance and purification of Arabic, and there are ideological barriers against the use of foreign languages (Al-Galley, 1989), English is a guest language that plays an important role in attaining some educational goals, especially at post-secondary levels. For the purpose of this investigation, code-mixing is defined as: the verbal behavior of embedding English words, phrases, sentences, or constituents in Arabic-based instruction. The present study addressed itself to three questions: (1)  To what extent does the phenomenon of code-mixing exist in the language of instruction ? (2)  Which grammatical categories are susceptible to being rendered by English ? and (3)  What are the general trends of students' attitudes toward code-mixing ? (Abstract shortened by UMI.)


identifier: MacDougall, James  (1999) Italian creations : elaborations of collective identity in Milan, Italy.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This work is an Anthropological study of local elaborations of Italian national identity based on fieldwork primarily undertaken in Milan, Italy from May through August 1997. In this work I examine ways in which a localized network of individuals variously construct a sense of intimacy within the collective identity of an Italian national community and the ways in which national identity intersects with affiliation with other collective identities. These are considered in relation to the contradictions within Italian society that belie the nation-state model, which proposes a congruity between a uniform population and the institutions of governance. These contradictions include the proposed oppositional dichotomy between the people and the state, of a northern and southern Italy, of various regional distinctions as well as the separatist politics of the Lega Nord. Further the local elaborations of Italian identity are considered in relation to 'non-Italian' engagements, such as with the European Community, American cultural presence and immigration from around the world into Italy. The contingent and inconsistent ways in which individuals situate themselves within a variety of collective identities is compared to the contradictory ways in which the same individuals represent identities as coherent categories. Ultimately it is proposed that an individual sense of a national identity is no more necessarily uniform than that of the nation itself.


identifier: Mau, Stephen Christopher  (1999) The professional knowledge base for teaching : a philosophical justification for a plurality of ways of knowing.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis discusses how the related fields of educational inquiry and teacher education have been captured by a foundational view of what constitutes acceptable research methodology and adequate professional knowledge for teaching. The positivistic paradigm of educational inquiry employs the scientific method to obtain general laws explaining classroom phenomena. These generalizations are then taught to teachers as technical rules for sound pedagogy. This positivist/technicist paradigm has maintained its hegemonic status in education despite recent-challeages from competing research paradigms, and charges that general rules often fail to guide practice in unique contexts.  I begin by demonstrating how the foundationalism of the positivist/technicist paradigm in education is a manifestation of the modern rational-scientific quest for certainty: a movement which cleaned the slate of 'unscientific' propositions, and advocated the utilization of rational synthesis and scientific method to build a systematic body of positive knowledge. Next, I show how logical empiricists have misrepresented the beginnings of modernity and the development of science in order to sustain this modern worldview. Following that, three 20th century versions of scientific rationalism are examined to show how each successive tradition weakened the certainty of scientific knowledge. Next, insurmountable impediments to certain knowledge are discussed to demonstrate how rationalism has recently been challenged by a more humanistic view of science and philosophy. Finally, the postpositivistic philosophy of science is examined as a justification for the existence of a plurality of paradigms in educational research, and a multitude of knowledge forms to guide teaching practice.


identifier: Punja, Zahra A  (1999) Implementation of a new Web-based health monitor initiative : identification of positive as well as restricting factors in a small community.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This project involved the development of a unique web-based environment to help patients understand and manage their disease. The project's main objectives were to help patients gain easy and direct access to the database of disease information (disease synopsis, a list of books and medical literature, and direct links to other credible websites) and the disease's respective health self-monitoring form. This website was unique because it was first of its kind to have an on-line individualizable and printable health management form for physicians to give to their patients. Furthermore, this website also served as a supplementary tool for patients to get general information and resources for their diagnosis.  In this study. there were three main phases. The first phase was the needs analysis, which surveyed patients and physicians from a rural Connecticut community. The second phase involved the pedagogical and technical development of the on-line Health Monitor Initiative (HMI). The last phase involved the evaluation of the HMI system.


identifier: Birrell, Heather  (1999) I know you are, but what am I? : stories.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This fictional work is a collection of short stories that revolves around characters wrestling with complex personal relationships. Straining to overcome their cynicism and not be merely "clever" about love and friendship, they find themselves caught in self-conscious quests, which, in turn, leave them dizzy with options, scared, and to some extent paralyzed by what they perceive to be ambiguous situations. The stories are set in large Canadian cities, and these settings play an important yet subtle role in the lives of the characters, who struggle with issues of alienation and urban decay.


identifier: Bobker, Danielle  (1999) Unmasked : towards a restoration discourse of female libertinism.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis attempts to deconstruct the Restoration double standard which linked male promiscuity to libertinism, and female promiscuity to prostitution. The emphasis is placed on assessing the sexual ideologies embedded in some of the literature of the period. The impact of socioeconomic status in shaping the contrasting identities of the libertine and the prostitute is also considered. In the first three chapters, the literary analysis is framed by brief portraits of historical libertine women. In the latter part of the thesis, consideration is given to the significance of a libertine identity as a model for female authorship during the Restoration, and a suggestion is made regarding the role of the female libertine in the development of early eighteenth-century notions of gender and class.


identifier: McLinton, Jason  (1999) Civic historical imagery and the construction of identity in York, c.1486-c.1603.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The author examines the effect that the English Reformation had on the civic historical imagery of York. This imagery was the outward physical manifestation of collective memory. The changes which the Reformation affected to civic drama, processions, regalia and record-keeping, to name but a few, are considered at length. For the elite of a great many English urban communities, the break with Rome meant a break with politically-useful Catholic traditions, traditions which were geared to instill civic order and deference. Many of them responded by creating a new civic and secular imagery, but York already had strong civic and secular traditions by the time of the split with Rome in 1534. Though a shift in emphasis had certainly occurred from the religious to the secular, York's historical imagery remained remarkably similar throughout the sixteenth century.


identifier: Helland, Christopher  (1999) Science and the sacred : new technologies within new religions : a reaction to secularization and a reinterpretation of myth.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study is a social historical examination of the use of science and technology within new religious belief systems. The emphasis is placed upon the incorporation of scientific method, scientific findings, scientific theory, scientific terminology, and technological components within the rhetoric and praxis of historical and contemporary new religions.  The purpose of this study is to examine the social factors that have influenced the amalgamation between religion and science within these groups. Exploring both the secularization theory and the rise of scientific ideology as sources that instituted this combination, I will demonstrate that new religious movements incorporating science within the belief system are representing a direct reaction to these phenomena. By relying upon the work of theorists, combined with primary source material from three new religious movements, I hope to demonstrate that this appearance represents a current religious reaction to contemporary Western culture.


identifier: Kolhatkar, Madhuri  (1999) Web-mediated communication at workplace : a case study at US WEST Communications.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Information technologies such as the Web-Mediated Communication (WMC) are changing the way people think, work, collaborate and coordinate at the workplace. Corporations and organizations seeking to gain competitive edge are looking at Web-mediated communication technologies to make organizational communication more effective. Whereas the impact of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) technologies has been studied extensively (Hiltz & Turoff 1978, Sproull & Kiesler 1991, December 1996), the impact of Web-mediated communication technologies on the workplace is relatively a new phenomenon, and as such has received little attention (Jackson 1996). This paper examines the effects of using the intranet-based Web as a medium of communication through a case study at US WEST Communications Inc.--a telecommunications company based in Englewood, Colorado. It examines the human impact on employees at the workplace and discusses the threats and opportunities of Web-mediated communications.


identifier: Lorkovic, Edvard  (1999) Facing inequality : Rawls, Sen and Cohen on the space of egalitarian justice.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study explores the evaluative spaces in which egalitarians work. Beginning with John Rawls' theory of political justice (i.e., justice as fairness), the thesis examines critiques of Rawls' scheme of primary goods by Amartya Sen and G.A. Cohen and their respective egalitarian evaluative spaces--capabilities and midfare. It is suggested that these spaces are helpful extensions of Rawls' scheme, however, they are not decisive against it. Contrary to Sen's and Cohen's critiques, Rawls' theory and its scheme of primary goods should not be understood as a resource based egalitarian theory. Rather, a Rawlsian egalitarian evaluation will include resource, welfare and capability or midfare considerations. Finally, it is intimated that an approach which remains broad rather than focusing on one egalitarian target will be the most helpful in facing inequalities in the world.


identifier: Proulx, Olga J  (1999) Species, stand, and regional response to forest damage in southwestern Quebec following the 1998 ice storm.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The response of four tree species, Acer saccharum Marsh., Acer rubrum L., Populus tremuloides Michx., and Betula populifolia Marsh. to ice storm damage was studied in the Northern Hardwood Forest of southwestern Quebec, Canada. The focus of the study was the analysis of tree damage resulting from ice accumulation ranging from 2 to 88 millimeters radial thickness at the species, stand, and regional levels, and to assess the role of the combined effect of ice and wind stress. The study showed that ice accumulation was the primary determinant of tree damage (measured as the mean percent of canopy removed) and that individual species respond differently to ice-loading stress. Stand position (edge versus interior) did not influence susceptibility to damage. The study also showed that smaller stems are more inclined to suffer bending injury, and larger stems are more prone to snapping and crown loss damage. Finally, the research demonstrated that wind was not a significant factor influencing forest periphery damage, but tree damage in forest interiors is influenced by the combined effect of ice accretion and wind-loading. The results of the study offer a unique perspective on tree response to a single ice storm in which stem damage is linked to specific ice accretion measurements over a widespread area.


identifier: Del Vecchio, Anne-Sophie  (1999) Effects of selective neurotensin receptor antagonists on responding for brain stimulation reward.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Electrical stimulation of the medial mesencephalic central gray produces a strong rewarding effect, and laboratory animals can easily be trained to produce an operant response to obtain such a stimulation. Previous studies have shown that the rewarding effect of mesencephalic electrical stimulation is potentiated by intracerebroventricular and by ventral mesencephalic microinjections of neurotensin (NT); these findings suggest that this neuropeptide may be an important component of the mesencephalic reward-relevant pathway. The present work was aimed at testing this hypothesis by studying the effects of systemic administration of two selective NT antagonists, SR-48692 and SR-142948a, on responding for medial mesencephalic electrical stimulation. The curve-shift method adapted to operant responding for brain stimulation reward was used to assess reward and performance changes following intra-peritoneal injections of four doses (40, 80, 160, and 3000 og/kg) of SR-48692, three doses (40, 160, 640 og/kg) of SR-142948a, and the vehicle. Results show that SR-48692 and SR-142948a did not alter rewarding effectiveness of the stimulation nor the maximal rates of operant responding at any of the doses tested. These results raised the following hypotheses: (1) NT is not a component of the reward-relevant pathway activated by mesencephalic electrical stimulation; (2) reward-induced by mesencephalic electrical stimulation is not under tonic control of endogenous NT; and (3) NT is a component of the reward-relevant pathway but it acts through subtype(s) of NT receptor(s) that is/are not antagonized by SR-48692 and SR-142948a.


identifier: Saltaris, Christina  (1999) The influence of intellectual stimulation on the cognitive functioning of high-risk preschoolers : implications for the transmission of risk across generations.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The present study explored the role of intellectual stimulation as a potential mediating variable in the relationship between risk status within the parent generation and outcome in the offspring generation. Two main questions were addressed: (a) Within a high-risk sample, to what extent does intellectual stimulation, measured as maternal teaching style and quality of the home environment, influence the cognitive functioning of preschool-age children? (b) Does maternal childhood risk status predict the quality of maternal teaching and home environment? These questions were examined within a subsample of high-risk mothers and their preschool-age children from the Concordia High Risk Project, a twenty-year longitudinal investigation of lower SES individuals identified in childhood as being highly aggressive and/or withdrawn. These individuals have been shown to be at risk for various health and psychosocial difficulties during childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. Recently, evidence of a process of transfer of risk across generations has been gathered. Controlling for maternal education, current SES, and parenting stress, parental intellectual stimulation was shown to predict scores on a standardized measure of children's intellectual functioning. Further, mothers' childhood aggression directly predicted their teaching style while interacting with their offspring, suggesting continuity in problematic interpersonal style. In addition, both childhood aggression and social withdrawal indirectly threatened optimal home environment, by contributing to a pathway of psychosocial difficulties experienced by mothers. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the study of pathways through which risk status is transmitted from one generation to the next.


identifier: Duranceau, Richard C  (1999) Golden promises, empty realities? : trust, commitment and control in the workplace.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis examines the issues of trust, commitment and control in the workplace. More specifically, the thesis examines the role of employee involvement programs as managerial strategies to gain the trust and commitment of labour. An examination of selected managerial texts suggests that employee involvement programs benefit management and labour. Management benefits from higher productivity, improved product quality and greater profitability. Labour gains a more humane work-place, greater job autonomy, and higher job satisfaction. It has been asserted that employee involvement programs can lead to a more harmonious relationship between management and labour. This study was based upon previously published secondary data as well as interview data from managers and workers in 16 telecommunications plants. It was found that claims of the proponents of employee involvement programs have been overstated. The empirical evidence suggests the relationship between employee involvement and productivity is mixed. For labour, it appears that some workers benefit from employee involvement programs but many other workers do not. Many workers complain about work intensification, increased stress and disenchantment with managerial promises about more worker autonomy and a more humane workplace. It is concluded that there remain a number of issues that may hinder a genuine cooperative relationship between management and labour.


identifier: Yang, Li  (1999) Regulation of transcription of SerA in Escherichia coli K-12.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The serA gene in Escherichia coli encodes 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase, which is the first enzyme in the serine biosynthesis pathway. Previous studies have determined two different transcription initiation sites for the serA gene, corresponding to the promoters of serA P1 and P2, and suggested that P1 and P2 were regulated by leucine responsive regulatory protein (Lrp) by different mechanisms. However, very little is known about how the two promoters function in different cell growth conditions, and whether other regulator(s) are involved in expression and regulation of serA . In this study, I confirm that Lrp activates P1 but represses P2 in glucose minimal medium by studying native and mutant promoters as serA::IacZ operon fusions. Transcription can take place from both P1 and P2 promoters when Lrp is absent. Furthermore, my study demonstrates that the cyclic AMP (cAMP) receptor protein-cAMP (cAMP-CRP) complex may positively regulate serA by activating P2 and is mainly functional in the absence of Lrp.


identifier: Goutaland, Christine  (1999) Product and service intangibility : a study of its dimensions and consequences on product/service evaluation.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: As new information technologies have been developed during the last decade, so has a new generation of products that are called "information products". Since these products are highly intangible, this renews the debate about intangibility as defined in the marketing literature, which has traditionally considered it as a unidimensional construct and has associated it almost exclusively with services.  The objectives of the study were to show that intangibility is rather a subjective, multidimensional construct and that it influences product/service evaluations. A review of the literature about intangibility and its potential consequences served to build a model for the intangibility construct.  A questionnaire survey was conducted with university students and multiple regressions were used to test the proposed model. Results showed that intangibility is rather a multidimensional construct, composed of three instead of two dimensions, as expected. Moreover, some products appear to be less tangible than many services. Managerial implications are that services marketing should not be approached from the physical intangibility perspective, but rather from the mental intangibility point of view, since it is this latter dimension that causes more difficulty of evaluation. In addition, further studies should be done to confirm the existence of a new category of intangible products often called "information products"


identifier: Lin, Yi  (1999) POMA : a zonal model for airflow and temperature distribution analysis.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: A zonal model is a new kind of numerical model to simulate the airflow and temperature distribution within a room by means of personal computers. It is an intermediate model between multizone and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model. Compared to multizone models, zonal models can provide engineers with an estimated view of airflow and temperature distribution within a room. which cannot be predicted by multizone models. Zonal models have advantages over CFD models in their simple use. time-saving characteristics and satisfactory precision.  In this thesis, a thorough review of zonal models is presented. Based on the review work. the development of a new zonal model. P[barbelow]ressurized zO[barbelow]nal M[barbelow]odel with A[barbelow]ir diffusers ( POMA ), for the analysis of airflow and temperature distribution within a room was proposed. POMA model overcomes some limitations of the previous zonal models.  There are two kinds of ventilation situations. i.e. natural and forced ventilation, which POMA can handle. In the forced ventilation, to specify the supply airflow conditions. a new method which takes advantage of the existing diffuser characteristic equations was proposed. This method is proven to be applicable.  POMA was applied to four case studies in two kinds of ventilation strategies, i.e. natural ventilation and forced ventilation. POMA's predictions were then compared with measurements and/or Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model predictions. A good agreement between the predictions of POMA and CFD model and/or measurement results demonstrates POMA is a practical tool for the analysis of airflow and temperature distribution within a room.


identifier: Marceau, Medgar L  (1999) Nonintrusive load disaggregation computer program to estimate the energy consumption of major end-uses in residential buildings.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The objective of this thesis is to develop a methodology and the related computer program for the nonintrusive load disaggregation of total-household electric load into its end-uses. The computer program estimates the energy consumption of individual electric appliances in a house based on the analysis of the current measured at the house-power source interface using a minimum number of sensors. The program, written in the C programming language, is based on the analysis of total-household electric current data collected over a period of one year from a house in Montréal. The nonintrusive load disaggregation computer program can be incorporated into an Energy Monitoring and Management System (EMMS). An EMMS will (i) continuously monitor and quantify the real long-term energy impact of renovations, purchases, aging appliances, and changes in occupant behaviour, (ii) increase the home owner's awareness of actual energy performance, and (iii) provide helpful recommendations to the home owner for improving the energy performance of the house.  The program estimates the contribution of selected appliances to the total energy consumption of the house. The contribution of an appliance to the total energy consumption is called the appliance energy share. The results show that for most of the appliances the difference between measured and estimated energy shares is less than 5%


identifier: Muhsin, Ali Eltayeb  (1999) Reduction of excess fan power due to economizer damper pressure losses.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: An air conditioning system economizer, investigated in this thesis, consisted of three dampers, an outdoor air, a recirculation, and a discharge damper. The purpose of an economizer is to control the ratio of the outdoor air flow rate to the recirculation air flow rate. The dampers were opposed blade type and had equal sizes. They were coupled through a control system.  Two control strategies were investigated. In the first strategy, the three economizer dampers were coupled so that the outdoor air and discharge damper open as the recirculation damper closes. In a second strategy, the discharge damper was always open during operation and the outdoor air and recirculation dampers were coupled so that the outdoor air damper opens as the recirculation damper closes. The two coupled dampers control strategy will require slightly less power than three coupled damper strategy.  The study showed that the linearization of throat area versus control signal is the most important factor for reducing power, whether the three coupled it is or two coupled dampers control strategy is used. linearization provides good control of the air flow rates, from 0% to 95%. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)


identifier: Crelinsten, Rohana  (1999) Maori stereotypes, governmental policies and Maori art in museums today : a case study of the museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Maori art in New Zealand museums has a long history extending back to the first contacts made between Maori (New Zealand's Native peoples) and Europeans. The Europeans settled in New Zealand with a colonialist attitude, leading to the notion that the Maori people would soon be extinct. This promoted the vigorous collection of various samples of Maori material culture. Museums were then established to store these artefacts. Governmental policies dating back to the turn of the century, gradually influenced the ways in which museums dealt with these Maori holdings.  The current situation in New Zealand, particularly at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is largely a reaction to the past. Maori people are demanding that they have more say in the treatment of their taonga (treasures). Slowly, through decades of debate and reworking of policies, new standards are developing for the ways in which New Zealand museums collect and exhibit Maori art. This on-going process is a result of the enhanced sense of empowerment of Maori people in New Zealand today. Art educators in museums and schools can look to museums such as Te Papa Tongarewa for inspiration and guidance.


identifier: Sita, F. Aurelio  (1999) Cognitive functioning, cardiovascular activity, and state affect in men with and without a parental history of hypertension.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The present study investigated cognitive functioning in young normotensive males with and without a parental history of hypertension (PH+ and PH-, respectively). Cardiovascular and state affect responses at rest and during testing were examined in order to determine whether they can account for any parental history group differences in cognitive functioning. PH+ participants performed more poorly on Block Design, Visual Span, and Sternberg Memory Search Task when compared to PH- individuals. Also, PH+ participants reported higher anxiety and irritability during Block Design than PH- participants. PH+ participants performed more poorly on Block Design even after controlling for group differences in state affect responses. There were no parental history group differences in resting cardiovascular activity and cardiovascular reactivity during testing. However, cardiovascular activity at rest, and to a lesser degree, cardiovascular reactivity during testing were related to test performance for the entire sample. More specifically, decreased baseline peripheral resistance and increased baseline cardiac activity were related to better test performance. During testing, only increased cardiac reactivity was related to better test performance. The present results suggest that parental history group differences in cognitive functioning are independent of cardiovascular activity and state affect, even though cardiovascular activity may be related to cognitive functioning.


identifier: Fragoulis, Tess  (1999) Painting circles : a novel.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Painting circles : a novel

abstract: Painting Circles is a novel-length manuscript in seven sections. It tells the story of Ariadne, a young Greek-Canadian woman who returns to her homeland to live out her fate, which is related to that of her mythological namesake. In Athens she falls obsessively in love with Yannis, a musician and junkie, her addiction to him mirroring his own to heroin. After the gravest of his betrayals, she takes a job in a jazz bar on the fictional island of Nysas. The interplay between the mythological character (Ariadne of Crete) and her modern day counterpart (Ariadne of Montreal) is central to the novel, as it allows for an exploration of the archetypal, or essential, stories upon which we consciously or unconsciously model our lives (though Painting Circles is not a strict allegory, the similarities between the myth and the novel's story are evident). Only through will can the contemporary Ariadne break out of the predetermined and well-trodden path laid out for her by myth. The novel also reveals, through the contemporary character, the aftermath of the mythological character's abandonment. In myth, Ariadne's story always ends on the beach in Naxos where the hero, Theseus, left her. In Painting Circles, both Ariadnes' stories begin on that deserted beach.


identifier: Ilnicki, Diann  (1999) Drawing on dreams : an art therapy contribution to group dream work.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Ullman's model of group dream work (1979, 1988, 1990), developed outside the clinical setting, is identified as a safe and effective means of cultivating self-understanding. This approach organizes the participation of all members in promoting one dreamer's discovery of the dream's metaphoric representation. The integration of a drawing response to the target dream represents an art therapy contribution to this approach to dream work. The individual drawings extend the possibility for each member to recognize projective and introjective resonances with the dream, thereby enhancing self-awareness. The model's fundamental endorsement of the dreamer's control over the process, and his or her authority over the dream's meaning, suggests that this approach, although not intended for clinical use, may be potentially beneficial for patients diagnosed with an eating disorder, given an underdeveloped sense of agency specific to this population. The collected data offers evidence of this hypothesis. Discussion of selected clinical illustrations provides support for positioning this integrated model at the end stage of treatment, rather than the beginning, as was the case in this study. It is suggested that there may be advantages in modifying the placement of the drawing response, as well as its application within the dream work. Consideration is given to the adaptation of this integrated model of dream work and drawing for use by more severely symptomatic patients.


identifier: Field, Ann-Marie  (1997) Collapsing the universal : towards a framework for understanding the politics of difference in liberal democratic states.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The main focus of this research is to determine how liberal-democratic states can best address issues of substantive equality and social justice in a context of difference. This essay engages in a critical understanding of the link between difference, citizenship, public policy and the state. It explores whether the state is capable of acknowledging "difference". Concluding that the state treats individuals identically, it is suggested that liberal democratic states may be a key component in the marginalization of individuals differing from the norm. Three theoretical reconceptualizations of the state are explored. All three models are attempts to imagine a state capable of recognizing differences and, therefore, offering all of its citizens a sense of inclusion in the polity. This is followed by a discussion on violence, as an extreme example of the marginalization of individuals with particularistic identities. One should conclude from the presented understanding of violence that the state itself is an agent of violence against individuals differing from the norm, for the state allows violence against the Other to continue unchecked, and in certain instances promotes it. The objective of this theoretical endeavor is two fold. First, it will seek to understand how the state itself is an agent for the marginalization of individuals with particularistic identities and of violence against the Other. Secondly, it will suggest possible avenues for further research on solutions towards breaking this cycle of exclusion and violence. The urgency for such research lies in the fact that we are all witnesses to, or victims of, "violence" against the Other; this serves as a reminder that, although we have come a long way in halting certain types of human rights violations, social justice has not been achieved in our present liberal-democracies.


identifier: Mills, Josephine  (1999) Public occupations : art theory, cultural methodology, and social change.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Various combinations of the terms "public" and "art" circulate in news sources, gallery publications, art magazines, and theoretical texts. Within this area of art theory, criticism, and discussion, the designation public functions as a "discursive operator" (J. M. Berthelot) because similar assumptions about identity and belonging (particularly gender and sexuality) are central to, yet evaded within, its multiple uses. To address patterns of arguments as well as particular examples, I analyse discourses around the topics of public art, public-site art practice, public(s) for galleries or art projects, and public funding of the arts. My focus is on Canadian art events in relation to primarily Canadian and American art theory, criticism, and newspaper content. I draw on a variety of feminist, cultural, and political theories in order to analyse art theory in relation to art projects and in relation to other cultural forms. My approach and discussion has two significant levels: one, the dissertation produces a complex analysis of the imbrication of cultural identity and notions of public within representations and discourses that combine public and art; and two, my research process works with the notion of the archive (M. Foucault) and creates a methodology for the analysis of contemporary cultural events which cut across disciplinary and media boundaries.


identifier: Tilden, Joanne  (1999) Toddlers' reasoning about the origins of human actions, emotions, and knowledge.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Considerable research effort has been devoted to discovering and mapping out children's understanding of mental phenomena. Developmental psychologists have assessed children's ability to attribute mental states as well as their tendency to explain and predict human actions and emotions in terms of pre-existing mental states. Based on empirical findings obtained to date, it is believed that children come to understand human desires before they acquire a similar understanding of beliefs. In addition, it has been suggested that most children under the age of 3 years operate without any conception of belief (Wellman, 1993; Wellman & Woolley, 1990).  The present study which consisted of three experiments aimed to test young children's understanding of beliefs and desires, with an emphasis on how these states relate to a person's actions, emotions, and perceptual experience. Experiment 1 examined 18- to 30 month-old infants' understanding of the link between seeing and knowing, and their understanding of the link between surprised reactions and belief violations. Experiments 2 and 3 were created to assess 18- to 30-month-old children's understanding that desires guide actions and the knowledge that happy and sad reactions depend on the outcome of a person's pre-existing desires. In order to assess knowledge of these relationships, toddlers were administered a modified version of the preferential looking task that included videotaped stories involving actors and objects. The results of this series of experiments suggested that children as young as 18 months are "desire-psychologists" in the sense that they are able to relate another person's actions and emotional responses to that person's pre-existing desires. In contrast, children of that age showed no recognition that surprised reactions are associated with violations in a person's knowledge state, and no understanding of the link between seeing and knowing. Because of children's unanticipated bias for looking at the surprised expression, it is not possible to conclude presently whether children under 3 operate without a conception of beliefs.


identifier: Million, Margaret Mary  (1999) Changing forms of parish renewal : toward a restructuring of the parochial model, 1950-1999.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis will study the phenomenon of Catholic parish renewal movements before and after the Second Vatican Council. It will focus on four renewal movements: the Redemptorist Mission, Cursillo, Charismatic Renewal and RENEW. Although these renewal movements were operative in both Europe and the Americas, this study will be limited to the Island of Montreal and the effect that the movements had on the life of those parishes which experienced them. A history of each of the movements studied will, however, be outlined in order to situate the milieu of its origin.  Renewal movements stimulate the latent piety of the individual and there is evidence of a resurgence of popular devotional practices. This thesis will examine both collective and individual forms of worship by describing communal devotion and personal piety. It will do so by looking at some of the more popular devotional practices such as the veneration of saints and the cult of Mary. It will also examine the efficacy of parish renewal movements and the impact that clerical leadership had on success or failure.  An introductory chapter will posit the theory held by acknowledged sociological experts that religion is a social and individual phenomenon. It will outline movements which formed communities and examine those which were grass roots movements and those which were organised by church authorities. It will also describe some of the forms that devotional practices took and try to analyse their persistent hold on the piety of devotees. The second chapter will begin the examination by describing the Redemptorist Mission Movement, pre-Vatican II and the present efforts to re-vivify the movement according to post-Vatican II norms. Subsequent chapters will investigate the Cursillo movement, the Charismatic Movement and RENEW.  The epilogue will show how renewal movements, and the subsequent devotional life of the membership, nourish the community and prepare participants for leadership roles in the parish setting. It will illustrate the role the importance of Pastoral Care in the restructuring of parishes into Small Church Communities (SCC)


identifier: Al-Hussein, Mohamed  (1999) An integrated information system for crane selection and utilisation.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis presents a methodology for crane selection, location, and utilization on construction sites. It first describes the current practices and discusses the factors that are considered in the selection process, then it introduces a crane selection methodology. This methodology was used in the development of a computer-integrated system, designed to support users in the selection and location of appropriate cranes for their construction projects. The system integrates a relational database, a selection module, an optimization routine, and 3D-graphics and animation module. The developed system provides its users with powerful graphics capabilities, featuring a multimedia environment and a practical user-friendly interface. The system offers the flexibility in using metric and empirical units and can be run in a network environment. Its database system can accommodate different types of commercially available cranes, and powerful storage, sorting, and query routines. The system was implemented using MS-Visual Basic, MS-Access DBMS, AutoCAD, and 3D-Stodio. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the use and capabilities of the developed system.


identifier: Liang, Hong  (1999) Minimum error tool path generation method and an interpolator design technique for ultra-precision multi-axis CNC machining.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis investigates an ultra-precision multi-axis CNC machining problem encountered in machining sculptured surfaces. Conventional multi-axis CNC machining uses straight line segments to connect consecutive data points, and uses linear interpolation technique to generate the command signals for positions between machining data points. However, due to the multi-axis simultaneous and coupled translational and rotational movements, the actual machining motion trajectory is a non-linear curve. The non-linear curve segments deviate from the linearly interpolated straight line segments, resulting in non-linearity errors, which in turn cause obstacles to ensuring high precision machining.  The problem in multi-axis CNC machining is that non-linearity errors result in total machining error which is beyond the range of the machining tolerance. The problem arises from the fact that the linear interpolation technique generates commands for positions along a straight line segment, while rotational movements superimposed onto translational movements cause the cutting point moving along a curved machining motion trajectory. The machining motion trajectory depends on both multi-axis CNC machine tool configuration and the machining rotational movements. The machining rotational movements are kinematically related to cutter orientation variations. Thus, The factors causing the multi-axis CNC machining error problem are the spatially varying cutter orientations and the utilization of linear interpolation method.  A novel off-line tool path generation methodology for is developed and reported in this thesis in order to solve the non-linearity error problem in ultra-precision multi-axis CNC machining. The new off-line tool path generation method reduces non-linearity errors by modifying cutter orientation changes based on machine kinematics and machining motion trajectory. A software routine for implementing the new tool path generation methodology is developed. A simulation of the process for machining a sculptured surface by applying the novel methodology illustrates that it increases machining precision considerably.  A novel interpolator design technique for solving the non-linearity error problem in ultra-precision multi-axis CNC machining is also presented. A 3D circular interpolation principle is developed which is capable of tracking spherical curves with low position errors and uniform feedrates. On the basis of this (3D circular) interpolator, a combined 3D linear and circular (L&C) interpolator is proposed for five-axis CNC machining. The proposed 3D L&C interpolator is able to drive the pivot of rotational movements along a predesigned 3D curve and conduct the cutting point along a linear spatial path, so that the elimination of non-linearity errors in five-axis CNC machining is achieved. A software interpolation routine of the 3D L&C interpolator is developed, and a computer simulation illustrating the machining of a sculptured surface validates the novel technique


identifier: Kristmanson, Mark  (1999) Plateaus of freedom : nationality, culture and state security in Canada, 1927-1957.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis examines the relationship between national culture and state security in mid-twentieth century Canada. Using records opened through Access to Information it challenges received interpretations regarding the origins of official multiculturalism and federal cultural institutions. Drawing a distinction between nationalism and nationality, it argues that Canada's 'national culture' evolved continuously with the grid of national security states. The argument proceeds by way of micronarratives and close archival readings of textual and audio-visual sources.  Part 1 asks how landscape was inhabited, culturally? Aboriginal artforms and European landscape art are juxtaposed with military reconaissance and 'remote sensing' to trace the formation of a 'citizen-observer' attuned to the nation's need for protective sentience. Painter A. Y. Jackson's 1927 Arctic Patrol marked a limit in that subjective construction; Grey Owl's residencies in National Parks gestured towards an alternative cultural inhabitation of landscape, questing beyond aboriginal or settler stereotypes for a hybrid mode of observation.  Part 2 argues that multicultural states are, of necessity, security states. Political theory grounds special rights in cultural specificity but it disavows concomitant security measures directed towards ethnocultural minorities. Liberal and poststructuralist theories are counterposed to inquire why there was no right not to be a citizen. Culture and security formed a conceptual device, sensing and regulating 'alien' phenomena, but also producing a 'state' of anxiety marked by official secrecy and compromised civil liberties.  Canadian Multiculturalism derives from wartime security concerns. Idiosyncratic British Intelligence veteran Tracy Philipps embarrasses nationalist historiography by connecting Canada's early multiculturalism policies to an anglomorphic censorship-propaganda-intelligence complex. During the National Film Board's 'red scare' (1948-53), the RCMP misrecognized the NFB's security dimension even as Norman McLaren's 1952 Oscar-winning Neighbours obliquely pointed it out.  Whenever culture and security intersect, citizens 'remember-to-forget'. In Part 3, counterintelligence expert Peter Dwyer's amateur play delineates two forms of secrecy and solves a riddle concerning suspected spy Harry Dexter White. Dwyer drafted legislation to found the Canada Council even as he shaped the emerging security state. His role in the 1945-46 Gouzenko Affair suggests that, contrary to prevailing accounts, the defection was a propaganda coup inspired by British Intelligence. Despite catastrophic consequences of Cold War for 'progressivism', the Canadian activities of performer/activist Paul Robeson opened a "third space" between nationality and nationalism.


identifier: Balazovjech, Tina  (1999) Inclusion at the elementary school level : the effects on nondisabled students.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis set out to determine if nondisabled children, who participate in inclusive educational settings, are affected by the presence of special needs children in the classroom. This study examined this issue by administering a Likert-type questionnaire to 33 elementary school teachers and 61 Grade 6 students. The participants were also asked for comments in order to expand on their opinions. It was found that, overall, inclusive settings have a positive effect on nondisabled students. However, negative effects were reported in terms of academic progress, and teacher time and attention. The findings suggest that the current policies regulating inclusive classrooms are not sufficient. Better regulations in terms of class size, number of children with disabilities, type of disabilities present, and amount of resource support are needed. Limitations of this study and questions for further research are also discussed.


identifier: Goffredo, Marisa  (1999) Language acquisition after the critical period : a case study of an adolescent with an intellectual disorder.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: A 15-year-old adolescent with an intellectual disorder received intensive parent-implemented cognitive-behavioral treatment (Zelazo et al., 1984) designed to elicit expressive language skills. The results indicate the acquisition of imitative and spontaneous words and word approximations, and the acquisition of spontaneously generated two- and three-word approximation phrases with correct word order. Finally, increased attention, impulse control, language comprehension, and attention to and compliance with verbal instructions were evident during the post-treatment conventional assessment. The findings suggest the beginning of the use of verbal communication in an adolescent beyond the critical period for language acquisition and the acquisition of the prerequisites necessary for success on conventional tests of mental development. The usefulness of the notion of a critical period for language acquisition is discussed.


identifier: Benjamin, Amanda  (1999) The Workers' Educational Association : a study in social change and resistance in Canadian working class culture.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis examines the effects of the Workers' Educational Association of Toronto (WEA) on social change in Canada between 1917-1945. This study attempts to establish the social importance of this organization in the history of adult education in Canada. The WEA was an educational organization that attempted to provide a link between labour and learning by making educational opportunities available to the working class. The data for this study were obtained from an analysis of the Ontario and Canadian WEA archives. The thesis first examines the history of the WEA and demonstrate its place in the history of adult education in Canada. Secondly, this study suggests that the WEA was the impetus for change in Canada, and in particular for Toronto's working class. The study found that the WEA used a form of critical pedagogy to achieve its goals which brought about social change. This study reinforces the usefulness of critical pedagogy as an approach for adult education when social change is an objective.


identifier: Burton-Smith, Deborah  (1999) Learning outcomes of leisure travel : explorations towards the development of educational programs.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis explores the learning outcomes, potential benefits and related learning needs of "baby boomer" women to gain an understanding of the impact of leisure travel from a woman's perspective and to gain insights into strategic educational applications.  Qualitative research, based on the philosophy of phenomenology, was used. Eight women from the baby boomer generation with some travel experience were interviewed in depth over a three month period. Each woman's travel experiences were unique, ranging from Caribbean sun vacations to European excursions to safaris through Africa.  Study participants were all affected by the tumultuous times in which they were born. They were eager to speak about their travels because it afforded them an opportunity to reflect and to reminisce about their lives as they remembered them, their reality.  Several common themes emerged, including the effects of early socialisation and their current family situation; their ideas of the ideal travel companion and their thoughts on group travel. Leisure travel as a priority and as an opportunity for liberation and escape were two other common themes.  The perceived learning outcomes of the participants included empowerment, a boost to self-confidence and self-esteem, as well as practical knowledge and a change in attitudes and behaviours.  The literature, combined with the candid interviews of the study participants, offered insights into how to enhance the outcome of the travel experience through a travel program. Pre-travel preparation, the actual journey and post travel reflection, as well as recognising the peculiarities of the adult learner are essential. Last, but certainly not least, the experience must be fun.  The study confirmed that although motives for travel varied there was one common outcome--they learned.


identifier: Stephenson, Valerie  (1999) Equal to the challenge : reconstructing ways of thinking, knowing and doing, Re: the schooling of young black women in Metro - Montreal.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis examines the implications of status-quo-ism in Metro-Montreal's school system. Addressing minority and power issues, it explores the influence of curriculum, pedagogy and environment on the school experiences of young Black females. As these young women attempt to participate in the social and academic milieu of the school, are their behaviour patterns circumscribed by racial, gender, or class biases?  What are the social, emotional and psychological ramifications, and how do these influence their academic progress and subsequent efforts to become constructive contributors to society? This study is written from the perspective of a Black, female teacher of West Indian origin and is based on the experiences of nine young Black women and three young Black males who have been educated in the schools of Metro-Montreal. It draws on the insights of Canadian, American and British educators such as George J. Sefa Dei, bell hooks, and Heidi Safia Mirza on female and black issues, and offers an interpretation of classroom dynamics which reveals some unique pedagogical challenges faced by today's educators. Most importantly I explore the negative consequences of educators' failure to rise to these challenges on students' ability to maximize their potential.


identifier: Morrison, Scott  (1999) Media and milieux : exploring the foundations of learning community.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In light of the conceptual ambiguity and rhetoric surrounding the term "learning community", this thesis elaborates conceptual foundations for the term. Drawing upon sociological and anthropological literature, the thesis presents community in structural-functional and psycho-social dimensions. In the relationship between these dimensions, the former is argued as both the medium and the milieu for the latter. As an integral aspect of community practice, learning recapitulates the psycho-social dimension of community. Current theories of learning are presented as being either "partitioned" or "situated" based upon their underlying conception of the relationship between individuals and culture. Educational design is discussed in terms of these relationships. A partitioned model of the learning implies the design of a medium urn between individuals and culture and a situated model implies the design of a milieu where individuals can experience culture. Consequently, design of learning community should be based on the design of both the media and milieux for learning. Two models of learning communities are examined in terms of how they reflect this conceptual framework. For further illustration, a prototypical learning community design is presented as an appendix to this conceptual analysis.


identifier: Nisan, Yael Haviva  (1999) Evaluation of the project management training course @ IMS Health Canada.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The purpose of the present thesis was to carry out an evaluation of the Project Management training course at IMS Health Canada (Intercontinental Medical Statistics). The evaluation methodology was based on Kirkpatrick's Four-Level Evaluation model (1975). It involved measuring participants' reactions to the training course (Level I), learning gains from the training (Level II) and behavior change, regarding the degree to which participants applied what they learned to their job performance (Level III). Evaluation data were gathered from all past participants in the training using a survey form, interviews, and a focus group, as well as through interviews with their supervisors and the training instructor.  Participants, supervisors and the training instructor found the training to be very basic in nature. It provided participants with a necessary project management methodology and terminology, which assisted them in defining, and to a lesser extent, planning projects. Data revealed that the Project Management course should include future instruction on how to implement IMS-type projects and use a Project Management (PM) software, in order to enable participants to carry out projects and manage project contingencies effectively


identifier: Goldstein, Jonathan  (1999) I found your address in a fortune cookie : a novel.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: I Found Your Address in a Fortune Cookie is a short novel documenting a man's life from childhood to death-bed. It is structured as a series of fragments that, while not strictly chronological, play off one another to create an emotional landscape. The narrative voice shifts between the first and third person.  Although going about his life with the semblance of routine, Joshua, the protagonist, is thirsting for something unnamable. His desire runs from mundane, sensual pleasures like lying in bed or drinking coffee to desires for which there are no easy names, like the desire to escape the body. The novel is composed of a series of romantic relationships that span Joshua's early adolescence to his middle age. Approaching death, he withdraws into a dream world in which the messiah has arrived; but even salvation offers little in the way of providing a bottom line to existence. The messianic age proves only to be a continuance of the mundane.


identifier: Keightley, Liane  (1999) It's the going away and not the arriving.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The stories in this collection are filtered through the perspectives of women, all in their early through late twenties, and all of whom suffer in varying degrees from estrangement and anomie. Language often proves insufficient, with a consequent breakdown in communication. That which remains unsaid becomes the impetus behind action. Yet communication, however inadequate, allows the women in particular in these stories to develop an intimacy with one another that both consoles and drives the story. Time is often fractured, temporarily held at bay. Typical measures of time are absent from the characters, lives. Many of the characters have left the city, have left "home", for more rural and unfamiliar settings. Implicit in this move is the idea that characters in fact lack a sense of "home". This is true in varying degrees from story to story. This relocation represents a retreat from the familiar rather than a movement towards the unfamiliar. Reiterated in this movement is the degree of dislocation felt by the characters and the attempt, however temporary or unintended, to escape the self.


identifier: Maika, Frances Mary  (1999) Lifesaving.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Lifesaving

abstract: This thesis is a collection of poetry, prose poetry, short prose reflections, and sudden fiction that examines violence and its repercussions, animal life, and unexpected joy.  In the lined poems, rhythm and syllabic liaison are as important to me as the line. In the prose poetry, phrase and syllable are key to rhythm, and while my choice to use predominantly prose and prose poetry in the thesis is organic to the topics treated, it has also been influenced by my ambivalence toward the line. And so I work primarily with the paragraph, the phrase, the sentence and the syllable. I try to privilege rhythm and sound where possible because I want these words to be felt in the body where love first happens, and where violence from fists and words forces lifesaving to begin.  The thesis is divided into three sections. The first two sections are a journey through infatuation, love, habit, violent confrontation, to an unknown end, and focus on human relationships. The final section is more eclectic and talks about fruit, dogs, deer, illness, municipal politics, and fish who have rhythm. Images from the natural world are common to all three sections, as are animal encounters.


identifier: Sherwood, Barrie  (1999) Mr. Walker's pillow book.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Mr. Walker's pillow book

abstract: This attractive novel is, ostensibly, the English translation of an ancient Japanese manuscript with an introduction and footnoted commentary by the translator. Leonard Walker is an archaeologist who has discovered The Pillow Book of Lady Kasa , a diary-like manuscript dating from the Nara Period (AD 710-794). In his work as translator and commentator, Mr. Walker is not as rigorously objective nor as truthful as one might expect of a respected scholar. His own history intrudes the pillow book, bringing up questions as to its authenticity and the role it may be playing in revealing the details of his own life. This particular, peculiar, and charming arrangement for a novel is, in a sense (though theirs was a Siamese evolution), necessitated by Walker's character. Only in the interplay between his slipping devotion to scholarship and his unsettling nostalgia is his personality revealed.


identifier: Lévy, Charles  (1999) De la rédemption au messianisme : circonscription du thème de la rédemption en explorant la nécessité du rôle de l'humain dans la perspective messianique maïmonidienne.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Nous avons fait le choix du thème de la rédemption dans le schéma de pensée du judaïsme rabbinique en vue de cerner une certaine nuance qui fonde un aspect essentiel dans l'élaboration d'une perspective tant historique que théologique de cette notion quasi universelle qu'est le messianisme. En fait, nous voudrions amorcer notre mémoire en ayant recours à une terminologie particulière, celle de "la rédemption" pour aboutir à une autre formulation, celle du "messianisme". Ces deux notions feront ainsi l'objet, dans la présente étude, d'une certaine circonscription visant à définir leurs spécificités à la fois communes et divergentes, de manière à mieux apprécier les diverses acceptions qui sont associées aux termes précités. Ainsi, la "rédemption" dans son sens large sera d'abord examinée pour ensuite isoler le caractère essentiel du rôle de l'humain dans le processus rédempteur, rôle que nous situerons surtout à partir des écrits maïmonidiens.


identifier: Bowen, Arabella  (1999) Contrasting identities / competing rhetorics : Anglophones' challenge to Québec's national project.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis explores the ways that Quebec's anglophones were constituted as national and political subjects by Quebec's national project and the manners in which these constitutions inform anglophone politics today. First, the policy papers tabled by the Parti Québécois and the Liberal Party of Quebec in advance of the 1980 referendum on sovereignty-association are analyzed to reveal the ideological effects these contained regarding the status of English-speaking residents of the province. Pursuant to which, the period following the 1995 referendum is analyzed. After a narrow vote for continued union with Canada, a new politics emerged from anglophones whereby they reappropriated the terms of their constitution to enact a performative contradiction which sought to challenge the Québécois nationalist discourse. Specifically, this thesis argues that the subject positions attributed anglophones by the national project are dualistic and dissimilar, prompting two distinct rhetorical claims in one public sphere. Conclusions are drawn with respect to the success of anglophones' reappropriations, and suggestions are formulated as to the ways in which anglophones might better optimize their performative contradiction in the future.


identifier: Dumouchel Connock, Sonia M. I  (1999) The Amazon in antiquity and on television : deployments of a figure within gender (re)negotiations.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Throughout history, the figure of the Amazon has captured the human imagination. In this study, I argue that the popularity of the Amazon is in large part due to her importance as a site of the continuous process of gender negotiation. After drawing upon the work of feminists such as Simone de Beauvoir, Teresa de Lauretis and Judith Butler in order to establish a position from which to address gender and the important questions of gender subversion and transformation, I examine, using the method of discourse analysis, the textual figure of the Amazon and its participation in the construction and deconstruction of gender identities and relations. Who are the Amazons? How does the figure of the Amazon, in its multiplicity, indeterminacy, and instability, play in ancient and modern discourses of gender? What investments has it borne in the past and what promises, if any, does it hold for a feminist political project of gender transformation and subversion? These questions guide my examination of the performance of the Amazon in the works of ancient Greek writers, artists, geographers and historians, and the American television show Xena: Warrior Princess.


identifier: Fawcett, Linnet  (1999) Writing themselves into the text : letters to Ms., 1993-1998.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis examines the important and oft-neglected role of the Letter to the Editor in women's magazine culture. It does so through a textual analysis of letters and editorials in Ms ., an American feminist magazine which has, since its inception in 1972, set itself up as an alternative to "traditional" and "glossy" women's magazines. Informed by existing studies on historical and contemporary women's magazines, this thesis demonstrates how Ms ., with its unique way of addressing the reader and soliciting reader response, encourages its readers to become active participants in both the making and shaping of the text, and in the political process beyond the magazine. It shows how readers, through their letters, contribute to the on-going dialogue that is feminism, and forge connections to other readers. Paying close attention to how readers negotiate belonging to Ms . and build a sense of solidarity with others within this textually based medium, this thesis posits that it is through epistolarity, not the shared act of reading, that community is constituted. In drawing attention to the centrality of the Letter to the Editor in Ms ., this thesis raises our awareness of the non-participatory reality of most women's magazines.


identifier: Cameli, Luisa  (1999) Age-related differences in semantic priming : evidence from event-related brain potentials.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The goal of this study was to test whether semantic priming in response to a word that immediately follows a related sentence or single-word is age-invariant. This was done using the N400 event-related brain potential (ERP). N400 amplitude varies inversely with semantic priming (Kutas, 1980), and this effect is larger for sentence primes than for word primes (Kutas, 1993). ERPs were recorded while 20 older ( M = 71.5, SD = 6.4) and 20 young ( M = 23.0, SD = 2.3) subjects read word-pairs and highly constrained sentences. Each final word varied on the degree of relatedness to the preceding context, with some being highly related (BC), moderately related (R), or unrelated (U). An Age X Context X Relatedness repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted on N400 amplitude at the .05 level of significance. Significant results were further analyzed with Tukey A post-hocs also conducted at the .05 level of significance. In young subjects, N400 amplitude showed the expected N400 effect gradient (U > R > BC) in both the sentence and word-pair contexts. N400 responses in older subjects showed no discrimination between the conditions (U = R = BC) for the word-pairs and limited discrimination (U > BC) for the sentence endings, indicating that older subjects were able to benefit from the constraints of a sentence context. These results provide electrophysiological evidence of age-related changes in semantic priming, and are interpreted in the context of the inhibition-deficit hypothesis (Hasher & Zacks, 1988) whereby older adults fail to inhibit related but irrelevant items in working memory.


identifier: Mueller, Devin  (1999) Cocaine conditioned place preference : expression, endurance, extinction, and drug-induced reinstatement.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The expression, maintenance, and extinction of a cocaine-induced conditioned place preference was studied using a three-chamber 'unbiased' apparatus. During training, rats were given four 20 minute pairings of one chamber with cocaine (Experiment 1, 3 and 4: 10 mg/kg, IP; Experiment 2: 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg, IP) and four of the other with saline on alternate days. In 15 minute tests for preference rats were placed in the centre choice region drug-free with access to the entire apparatus. In Experiment 1, rats demonstrated a conditioned place preference for the cocaine-paired side, accompanied by a decrease in chamber transitions over the duration of the test. In Experiment 2, after training at all doses, strong preferences for the cocaine-paired chamber were evident. The preference was maintained in tests given at 2, 4, and 6 weeks. In Experiment 3, after training, rats were given repeated tests in a non-drugged state (extinction). In Experiment 4, extinction training consisted of pairing each chamber with saline on four occasions. Both methods led to the abolition of the conditioned place preference. Following extinction in both experiments rats were given a priming injection of cocaine (5 mg/kg, IP) which reinstated the conditioned place preference. These results indicate that the development, maintenance, and extinction of a conditioned place preference follow the principles of associative learning and suggest that this procedure can be used to study drug-induced reinstatement.