identifier: Potié, Chantale  (2015) To Make Sense of a World: Translation, Germaine Koh, Globalization.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis proposes that Vancouver-based artist Germaine Koh’s (b. 1967) practice demonstrates the political and ethical dilemmas of translation within a globalized world. Here, translation is understood as a practice that aims to question means of navigating and interpreting through globalization’s afforded networks; it tries to make sense of global macro problem areas at micro levels. As I argue, Koh’s work tries to make sense of the social matter emerging from increasingly estranging geo-political, geo-economic, and geo-cultural realities. I have divided my text into four parts to I explore the ways in which Koh’s work performs acts of translation. In part one of this thesis, Translation: Prayers, I define and consider translation as the practice of interpreting and/or converting under two basic orders: 1) those that pertain to meaning and form; and 2) those that pertain to movement and positioning. In part two, Globalization: Alienation, I delineate the global world I am referring to and demonstrate how translation functions in terms of mobility. In part three, Social: Connections, I engage with Koh’s work to consider how globalization uses translation as a tool to foster both social alienation and social interdependency. And in part four, The Double Bind, I elaborate upon the central contradiction at hand, where translation surfaces as both the problem and the solution. Indeed, Germaine Koh’s work exposes the contradictions of translation and of globalization. In that translation is able to afford globalization its reach and ability to communicate across languages and currency, this text questions whether translation can accordingly perform critical efforts against globalization.


identifier: Joshani, Azadeh  (2015) Investigating organic matter preservation through complexation with iron oxides in Lake Tantaré.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract: The biogeochemical cycles of iron (Fe) and organic carbon (OC) are closely interconnected. The concentration of reactive Fe is tightly controlled by soluble organic ligands in oceanic waters. In soils, Fe stabilizes OC by forming aggregates that shield OC from degradation. In sediments however; the role of Fe in the preservation of OC is only starting to be explored. To quantify the amount of OC retained in the solid phase through its interaction with Fe, an approach based on the reductive dissolution of reactive solid phase Fe, was applied. In this work, we investigated Fe-OC interactions in lake sediments, using sediments collected from Lake Tantaré, a system with two basins characterized by contrasting redox conditions in the summer. These contrasting redox conditions provided an opportunity to assess the importance of oxic/anoxic interfaces in the formation of stable OC-Fe complexes. We found 30.1 ± 6.4% of OC directly associated with Fe minerals. We characterized the Fe-associated and the non-Fe-associated OC pools at the elemental (OC, TN), isotopic (δ13C, δ15N) and functional group (FTIR) levels. We found large differences in OC:Fe and TN:Fe ratios among the two basins which were not related to differences in OM chemical composition but rather to differences in reactive iron concentrations stemming from the higher abundance of mackinawite (FeS). Since the affinity of OM for mackinawite is much lower than for iron hydroxides, using OC:Fe and TN:Fe ratios as a diagnostic tool for the type of OM-Fe interactions should be done with care in anoxic environment.


identifier: Geng, Xi  (2015) Innovation and Corporate Governance.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Innovation and Corporate Governance

abstract: We examine the impact of corporate governance on firms’ innovation. We find that the presence of more anti-takeover provisions impedes firms’ innovation efforts, and thereby, is associated with lower levels of innovation. We also find that boards that have a majority of outside directors or female directors are positively and significantly associated with innovation. Our results show that firms with female CEOs or concentrated ownership structures tend to undertake smaller innovative projects and generate fewer patents, which could be the result of risk aversion. Finally, our results also show that the presence of anti-takeover provisions not only decreases innovative activities directly, but also impedes the efficiency of the monitoring by directors and strengthens the degree of risk aversion of blockholders.


identifier: Xiang, Lin  (2015) Convertible Bond Issues and Institutional Investors.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: We examine the influence of institutional investors on the issuance of convertible bonds using a sample of convertible bonds offered between 1995 and 2014 in the US market. We use delta of the convertible bond, the sensitivity of convertible bond value to the underlying stock price, to categorize the convertible bonds into equity-like or debt-like.  Based on an extended pecking order theory of Myers and Majluf (1984), equity-like convertible bonds are issued by firms that suffer less information asymmetry problems and debt-like convertible bonds are issued by firms that suffer less agency cost problems. We find that institutional ownership is positively related with delta.  A detailed analysis of testing the relation of different horizons of institutions on delta reveals that dedicated and transient institutions are positively related to delta and are effective in mitigating the asymmetric information problem. Quasi-indexer institutions, on the other hand, have more impact on alleviating the agency cost problem.  Institutions with investment style of growth also are positively related with delta, while value-oriented institutions are negatively related with delta, a lower probability of conversion into equity. The results are consistent with the common view that firms with more growth potential tend to issue more equity-like convertible bonds to mitigate the underinvestment problem and avoid the debt overhang problem (Myers, 1977). We also document that stockholders’ reactions to convertible debt announcements are more negative with a higher institutional investor participation.


identifier: Paradis, Alexandre  (2015) Integrating hydrogeomorphological concepts in management approaches of lowland agricultural streams in Quebec: Perspectives, problems and prospects.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: River management in agricultural settings has undergone profound changes in recent years, particularly in the Midwest. A better integration of hydrogeomorphological principles has led to novel approaches with the two-stage channel design for small agricultural streams being among the best examples. The applicability of these innovative techniques in Quebec remains to be tested. We conducted detailed analyses of streams in agricultural areas located in Montérégie (Quebec) to determine the impacts of a change in the trapezoidal channel profile. A particular emphasis was put on the subsurface drainage outlets which often limit the degree of adjustment of these small streams. These impacts were analyzed by hydrodynamic modeling (HEC-RAS) and a hydraulic geometry approach. Findings confirm the improvement of surface drainage for high magnitude floods, but also identify a potentially endemic problem in Quebec where, due to the rectangular shape of agricultural fields (an inheritance from French settlements), very deep subsurface drainage outlets are in conflict with natural floodplain generation within the straightened channels. Alternative measures to accommodate for natural fluvial adjustments while maintaining drainage efficiency were explored. One potential approach would be to create small pocket wetlands along the streams that would provide increased heterogeneity and limit the need to dredge agricultural streams over long distances. Lastly, crop yields within fluvial corridors were greatly influenced by flood connectivity, with markedly reduced yields in near-stream zones. This indicates that acquisition costs for critical riparian land could be greatly diminished for many of the critical areas needed for hydrogeomorphological processes to operate.


identifier: Rouse, Trevor  (2015) Selected Stories.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Selected Stories

abstract: Selected Stories is a collection of stories about solitary drifters and domestic disasters, failed relationships and failed dreams. It responds to humanist notions of agency which link insight and change, often considered the motors of narrative. The characters in these stories are everyday losers haunted by the desire to break free of their natures and alter their circumstances. Their actions bring change, but too often the “insights” driving these actions are illusory, and the changes are unexpected and undesirable. Genuine insights, when they occur, are messy and half-formed, and defy the characters’ attempts to articulate them or apply them to their actions. The limited, often unreliable, access given to the characters' thoughts and motivations reflects their inability to perceive their lives as coherent narratives.


identifier: Nguyen, Duy Nhat  (2015) Adaptive Traffic Control System: Design and Simulation.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Traditional traffic control infrastructures have not changed much in the last several decades, while the volume of traffic has increased disproportionably to infrastructure improvement.
A solution to mobility cannot be addressed by simply improving the technology of a single vehicle any further.
A solution is to enable people to reach their destinations safely and in optimal time, given the topology of road networks.
This thesis offers such a solution based on an adaptive traffic control algorithm which takes the road network topology and dynamically varying traffic streams as input, and guarantees dependable and optimal mobility for vehicles.
The algorithm calculates dependable passages for vehicles to cross road intersections, and enables point-to-point travel by minimizing travel time and maximizing fuel consumption.
The adaptive algorithm is embedded in the Arbiter, managed by an Intersection Manager at every road intersection.
A distributed traffic management architecture, consisting of a hierarchy of road managers, is proposed in the thesis.
Extensions to the adaptive algorithm and the architecture are given.
The extended algorithm will efficiently function under exceptional situations, such as bad weather, road repairs, and emergency vehicle mobility.
The extended architecture is expected to have autonomic computing properties, such as self-healing, self-recovery, and self-protection, and Cyber-physical system properties, such as tightly-coupled feed-back loops with all entities in its environment.
A simulator has been implemented, and simulated results reveal that the adaptive algorithm is far superior in performance to fixed-time control systems.


identifier: Almoabadi, Afaf  (2015) Electrochromic Properties of Vanadium Pentoxide Nanostructured Thin Films.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
ABSTRACT
Electrochromic Properties of Vanadium Pentoxide Nanostructured Thin Films
Afaf   Almoabadi
The focus of this work is the improvement of the electrochromic properties of vanadium pentoxide thin films in order to expand its use. Indeed, because of its rather poor electrochromic properties, until now, vanadium pentoxide has only been used as a storage material in an electrochromic device, in conjunction with tungsten oxide, molybdenum oxide etc. To this purpose, vanadium pentoxide thin films were prepared under different conditions and characterized by using optical and electrochemical methods. Films were deposited on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates by dip-coating at both room- and sub-zero temperature (-100C) and porosity in the sol-gel prepared vanadium pentoxide film was created by using templating methods. The morphology, optical and electrochromic properties of the macro- and mesoporous films, prepared in the presence of structure-directing agents such as polystyrene microspheres and triblock copolymer, have been compared with those of dense films. By using various methods to remove the template material, it was shown that the morphology of the vanadium pentoxide film can be controlled and new nanostructures can be created. The transformation of the lamellar into a nanorod structure, observed when the film is heated at 425-500◦C for several hours, resulted in the development of an elegant method for the synthesis of vanadium oxide nanostructures. The electrochromic performance of the nanorods prepared through the thermal treatment was found to be superior to that of the vanadium pentoxide with the layered structure, especially in the near-infrared region, demonstrating their potential for electrochromic applications. The structure, morphology, optical and electrochromic properties of dense and porous vanadium oxide films, coated at low temperature were also determined and compared to those of the corresponding films, deposited under room-temperature conditions. The results indicated that in the films coated at -100C, a residual compressive stress exists that originates from a non-uniformity in depth of the film, most probably, due to the formation of micro voids during the deposition. The micro voids are preserved during the heat-treatment of the films. The “micro void” morphology was found to account for the considerably improved electrochromic properties of the sub-zero dip-coated films.  Low-temperature coated films, heated at 4500C for several hours, undergo the transformation from a layered to a highly uniform nanorod structure with important potential optoelectronic applications. The overall aim of this work is thus to evaluate how the morphology of vanadium pentoxide thin films is instrumental in obtaining a material with a high lithium ion intercalation capacity. With an appropriate morphology, the performance of vanadium oxide as electrochromic material and as cathode in lithium ion batteries can be improved significantly. For this purpose, both layered (dense and porous) and nanorod films were prepared and characterized. Scanning electron microscopy, cyclic voltammetry and electrical impedance spectroscopy measurements were used for the characterization of the different V2O5 films.


identifier: Beck, Nicholas  (2015) Multivariate Risk Measures and a Consistent Estimator for the Orthant Based Tail Value-at-Risk.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Multivariate risk measures is a rapidly growing field of research. The advancement of dependence modelling has lent itself to this progress. Presently, a variety of parametric methods have spawned from these developments, extending univariate measures such as Value-at-Risk (VaR) and Tail Value-at-Risk (TVaR) to the multivariate context. With the inception of these measures comes the requirement to estimate them. In particular, the development of consistent estimators is crucial for applications in financial and actuarial industries alike. For adequate sample sizes, consistent estimation allows for accurate evaluation of the underlying risks without pre-imposition of a statistical model.

In this thesis, several risk measures are presented in the univariate case and extended to the multivariate framework. Quantifying the dependence between risks is accomplished through the use of copulas. Several families of copulas, elliptical, Archimedean and extreme value, and examples of each are presented along with properties. With these dependence relations in place, multivariate extensions of VaR, TVaR and Conditional Tail Expectation (CTE) are all presented. Much of the focus is given to the bivariate lower and upper orthant TVaR. In particular, we are interested in developing consistent estimators for these two measures. In fact, it will be shown that the presented estimators are strongly consistent for the true parametric value. To accomplish this, the strong consistency of the orthant based VaR curve, which can be shown in two ways, is used in tandem with the dominated convergence theorem. With strong consistency established, some numerical examples are then presented demonstrating the strength of these estimators.


identifier: Lam, Tze Chun Angel  (2015) IDENTIFYING CONFIGURATIONS OF PLUS-ENERGY CURTAIN WALLS FOR THE PERIMETER ZONE USING THE ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (ANOVA) APPROACH.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Curtain walls are believed to be “energy sinks” because of their low thermal performance, however, the integration of energy generating technologies such as photovoltaic (PV) panels may enable converting curtain walls to “plus-energy” curtain walls. The “plus-energy” curtain wall is defined as the energy generated by the curtain wall façade exceeds the energy consumption of a perimeter zone office. To design plus-energy curtain walls, design parameters of curtain walls are prioritized by sensitivity analysis and the most critical design parameters corresponding to specific energy efficient measures that bring major energy benefits with minor modifications are identified.

An office unit with five adiabatic faces and one exterior façade completed with curtain walls is developed as the energy model in EnergyPlus. The indoor environmental parameters are set based on ASHRAE energy standard.

In this study, global sensitivity analysis is conducted to prioritize the energy impact of ten design parameters, U-value of glazing, solar heat gain coefficient of glazing, visible transmittance of glazing, U-value of spandrel panel, U-value of frame, window wall ratio, infiltration, depth of overhang, inclination of overhang, and effective efficiency of photovoltaic panels. The three most significant design parameters are identified for four orientations. Plus-energy curtain wall configurations at different window-to-wall ratio (WWR) and orientations are identified according to the total sensitivity indices.  The significance of this study is to provide design recommendations of plus-energy curtain wall configurations under different WWRs and orientations, which are not covered in the current design guidelines.


identifier: Wernike, Denise  (2015) Studying Ventral Enclosure during C. elegans Epidermal Morphogenesis.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Tissue morphogenesis is essential for metazoan development, yet is poorly understood as it requires the coordination of multiple cellular events such as migration, adhesion and shape changes. Furthermore, cells from neighboring tissues also must be coordinated during development, but few studies have addressed this. Caenorhabditis elegans is an ideal model to study tissue morphogenesis, since tissues are formed in a highly reproducible manner from a relatively small number of cells of known origin.

	I study C. elegans ventral enclosure, when epidermal cells migrate over the ventral side of the embryo using cues from the underlying neurons. F-actin accumulates into a supracellular ring along the margins of the ventral epidermal cells, which was predicted to close by non-muscle myosin contractility. We found that anillin (ani-1), an actomyosin binding protein, and RhoA (rho-1), an upstream regulator of myosin contractility, are required for ventral enclosure. Interestingly, we found that anillin is required for neuroblast cytokinesis, and non-autonomously facilitates ventral epidermal cell migration. We also found that ventral enclosure phenotypes caused by ani-1 depletion were alleviated or strengthened by mutants that altered actomyosin contractility. Based on these data, we hypothesized that myosin contractility regulates ventral enclosure, and that tissue-tissue interactions are crucial for this process.
Further studies revealed that myosin is indeed required for ventral enclosure. In ventral epidermal cells, myosin localizes as foci in a pattern reminiscent of F-actin. However, myosin also localizes as dynamic foci that form intercellular networks in the neuroblasts, and we found that myosin is required in the neuroblasts for ventral enclosure. In the area underlying the ventral epidermal pocket cells, neuroblasts organize into a rosette-like pattern, and their exposed surface area decreases as the epidermal cells are drawn together. Interestingly, myosin distribution is altered in epidermal cells when neuroblast shape is altered, suggesting that they sense changes in neuroblast tension.
We propose that mechanical forces in the neuroblasts may influence actomyosin in the epidermal cells to facilitate ventral enclosure. This work emphasizes the importance of the interplay between different cell types during tissue morphogenesis, where contractility could be uniquely organized in non-epidermal tissues.


identifier: Warren, Bradley  (2015) Somewhere Between Fiction and Fiction: Disentangling Partial-Geometric Narratives in the Cinema of Hong Sang-soo.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Predominantly linear narrative arrangements used to direct the spectator's comprehension are but one of many options made available to filmmakers. Opposing this convention, the films of South Korean director Hong Sang-soo are characterized by their complex narratives as much as the romantic triangles that inhabit them. This thesis addresses the “optional path” narratives observable in Hong's films, which deny the audience the ability to reconstruct an objective, verifiable timeline. Whereas established theories of film narratives foreground the limitations placed on storytelling in order to guide comprehension, key works in Hong's cinema will be understood to adopt a “partial-geometric” model that emphasizes the agency of the spectator in creating meaning in the film text. A style-based narratological approach, operating under Formalist assumptions, will be interrogated for the fissures that emerge when it is applied against these texts. The objects of study are understood as realizing multiple diegeses, or story worlds, the boundaries of which are made speculative through the use of space. Although building upon the existing narratological insights of key scholars David Bordwell and Edward Branigan, this thesis will instead distance itself from limiting narrative frameworks in favor of optionality. The spectator is able to attribute or disarticulate the “truth value” of key events, and is encouraged to recognize the unlimited narrative arrangements and their own subjective agency. This thesis will also make initiatives to extend its insights beyond the borders of Hong's filmography, recognizing film festivals as a discursive site for expanding narrative models.


identifier: Webb, Nancy  (2015) In Search of the New Sensibility: Susan Sontag Writing on Art in the Sixties.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis will offer an in-depth examination of Susan Sontag’s collection of essays Against Interpretation with the aim of illuminating the process of writing about art. Echoing Sontag’s own aesthetic concerns, this thesis focuses more intently on the form of her writings than their content. Her essays are compared to the work of other writers such as Roland Barthes, Clement Greenberg and Chris Kraus and contextualized within a mid-century modernist moment of ocularcentric criticism. Sontag’s writing style is examined in relation to autobiography, the dilution of the self within the text and performative writing modes. This thesis also delves into the phenomenological underpinnings of Sontag’s writings, asking: how does the body inform the writing process? This line of questioning charts unknown territory by looking at how the use of amphetamines affected Sontag’s critical prose, while investigating the cultural importance of speed in the 1960s. The essays in Against Interpretation are also measured against the concepts of intimacy and eros and how these intersect with feminist discourse, queer subcultures and Sontag’s own sexuality. Navigating the terrain of Sontag’s critical prose, this thesis demonstrates how her early essays on art set a precedent for meaningful art writing.


identifier: Allen, JoDee  (2015) Break the Game: A Practice-Based Study of Breaking and Movement Design for Video Games.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: As players go through a circular pattern of experiencing games they pass through: observation, interpretation, hypothesis making, decision-making then finally acting upon decisions. Their successes and failures help the player construct an understanding of the game world, and as a result increases their confidence in their ability to make informed decisions when faced with game play challenges. In order for a player to be emotionally absorbed by the game’s story they must be fully immersed in the action. In order to achieve this, all aspects of the game must reinforce the narrative design and sculpt a world in a way that makes the player feel as if they were living in the shoes of the character/avatar. When successfully applied this allows the player to have an emotional experience at which point they are more likely to fully invest in the story of the game through autonomous, authorial, and asynchronous play. This thesis proposes that the control scheme design for games with gesture interfaces which require a more global embodiment from the players should actively reinforce the narrative and in so doing reflect the feel of the game more completely.


identifier: Hernandez Mada, Genaro  (2015) Monodromy Criterion for the Good Reduction of Surfaces.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Let p>3 be a prime number and K a finite extension of Q_p. We consider a proper and smooth surface XK over K, with a semistable model X over the ring of integers OK of K. In this thesis, we give a criterion for the good reduction of XK for the case of K3 surfaces, in terms of the monodromy operator in the second De Rham cohomology group.
We don't use trascendental methods nor p-adic Hodge Theory as in other works concerning this problem. Instead, we first get a p-adic version of the Clemens-Schmid exact sequence and use it to study the degree of nilpotency of the monodromy operator N on the log-crystalline cohomology group of the special fiber Xs of the semistable model X.
By the work of Nakkajima, we can assume that Xs is a combinatorial K3 surface. Then, we prove that Xs is of type I iff N=0; Xs if of type II iff N is not zero and N^2=0; Xs is of type III iff N^2 is not zero. In particular, this implies that XK has good reduction if and only if the monodromy operator on its second De Rham cohomology is zero.
Finally, we also give some ideas on how to address the same problem for the case of Enriques surfaces. In particular, we prove that we are reduced to the case of K3 surfaces.


identifier: Dermardiros, Vasken  (2015) Modelling and Experimental Evaluation of an Active Thermal Energy Storage System with Phase-Change Materials for Model-Based Control.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This thesis presents an experimental and numerical investigation of an active thermal energy storage (TES) system utilizing phase change material (PCM). The PCM-TES intended for building integration consists of PCM panels with active air circulation between the panels. Air is drawn through a channel to charge and discharge the PCM enabling the system to be used for both heating and cooling purposes – conditioned air, room air or outdoor air for night cooling can be utilized. This creates the possibility of a low thermal mass building to operate more like a high mass building and thereby gaining advantages commonly associated with traditional TES systems such as an ability to incorporate peak load reducing and shifting strategies without the significant weight of a traditional high mass building.

A prototype PCM-TES is built and tested in an environmental chamber. The experimental data collected is used for model validation. A 30th order non linear model with varying thermal capacitance {C(T)} is developed and compared for fitness to experimental data. A simplified 2nd order model is shown to adequately predict the dynamic response of the system for thermal charging/discharging and can be incorporated into model-based control systems, which are effective in peak load reducing and shifting strategies. Simplified models are easier to implement and calibrate since they contain fewer parameters to adjust which could be learned in real time (online calibration) by using measurements from the building automation system to compensate for installation and construction tolerances.

The model was extended to investigate the effect of increasing the exposed surface area to the air stream by having more air circulation channels while keeping the total air mass flow rate and convective heat transfer coefficients constant. Increasing the exposed area resulted in faster responding systems.

A case study was simulated to demonstrate the use of the simplified 2nd order non-linear PCM-TES model for heating peak load reduction. The PCM-TES was shown to reduce the peak by at least 50% for the simulated conditions.


identifier: Porter, James  (2015) Fabrication and Magnetotransport Studies of Bi2Se3 Topological Insulator Transistors.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Topological insulators (TI) are a unique class of materials that can support 2-dimensional (2D) metallic states on the surfaces of 3-dimensional insulating crystals.  These 2D surface states are predicted to be spin polarized and topological, leading to potential applications in spintronics and quantum computing.  While signs of surface transport have recently been observed in magneto transport experiments, many applied and theoretical questions remain to produce robust Bi$_2$Se$_3$ transistors.  We first present the fabrication methods we developed to create high quality devices.  We address the first main road block the community is facing to explore topological charge transport: making low resistance contacts to TI's.  Using our devices, we then explore magneto transport.  At cryogenic temperatures we observe the classical Hall effect as well as Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations consistent with the presence of Landau levels and surface transport in Bi2Se3 thin crystals.  We focus on a thin crystal made of two regions with two thicknesses.  We use our data to address the second major roadblock faced by the TI community: bulk-defect conduction versus surface transport.  We discuss the evidence we have to support 2D surface transport in our devices, and the outlook for the exploration of the topological aspects of these surface states.


identifier: Chauvin, Alexandre  (2015) Individual Differences in Proactive and Reactive Control in Bilinguals.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This study investigated individual differences in bilinguals’ use of proactive and reactive control processes during an executive control task (the AX-CPT) in relation to aspects of the bilingual experience (e.g., second language proficiency). Participants were presented with cue-target letter pairs, one letter at a time (AX, AY, BX, or BY; B and Y are any letter other than A or X) and were instructed to press the “yes” button for AX pairs and the “no” button for any other pair. They completed three blocks which varied in terms of the most frequent trial type (AX-70% vs. AY-70% vs. BX-70%). Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 15 young adult bilinguals during the AX-CPT. The N2, an ERP related to conflict detection, was analyzed in conjunction with behavioural performance.

Individual variations in cognitive control strategy were differentially associated with aspects of bilingualism in the AX-70 and AY-70 blocks. In the AX-70 block, greater engagement of proactive control was associated with shorter overall reaction times (RTs), lower accuracy, and enhanced conflict detection. In the AY-70 block, a proactive strategy was associated with lower accuracy, but similar RTs compared to a reactive strategy.

Different patterns of association were found between self-reported language-switching behaviours and cognitive control strategy in the AX-70 block compared to the AY-70 block.

The results support the idea of individual differences in the relative use of proactive and reactive mechanisms in bilinguals. These differences were related to aspects of language-switching which is an important source of interindividual variability among bilinguals.


identifier: Wall, Aimee  (2015) Autofiction in translation: Translating Vickie Gendreau’s Testament.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Autofiction in translation: Translating Vickie Gendreau’s Testament
Aimee Wall

Vickie Gendreau’s first novel is a “testament” in both title and act. Written in the face of the author’s imminent death following her diagnosis with an inoperable brain tumour, Testament is a challenging autofiction that inverts the elegy and plays with the form of the testament – a novel about the carrying out of her own last testaments that is a testament in itself. A text that challenges the distinctions of fiction and autobiography, its hybrid of forms and traditions presents a particular set of challenges for its translation into English.
My thesis project addresses my translation of Testament. Two excerpts of my translation are prefaced by a commentary in which I contextualize the novel as a text drawing on traditions of autofiction, elegy, and the testament and trace out a context for this work in English. I examine the challenges that arise in its translation and how I’ve chosen to address them, including cultural references, linguistic hybridity, wordplay and puns, and issues of gender in translation.

Autofiction en traduction: Traduire le Testament de Vickie Gendreau
Aimee Wall

Le premier roman de l’auteure Vickie Gendreau est un « testament » en titre ainsi qu’en acte. Face à la mort imminent à la suite de son diagnostic avec une tumeur de cerveau, Gendreau a écrit Testament, une autofiction ambitieuse qui inverse l’élégie et joue avec la forme du testament – un roman dont le sujet est un testament qui est un testament en soi. Un texte qui défie les distinctions entre la fiction et l’autobiographie, cet hybride des formes et traditions présente des défis particuliers en traduction vers l’anglais.
Mon projet de mémoire traite la traduction de Testament. Deux extraits de la traduction sont précédés d’un commentaire critique où je présente le roman comme texte qui s’inspire des traditions de l’autofiction, de l’élégie, et du testament, et je propose un contexte pour le roman en anglais. J’examine les défis de la traduction et comment je les ai résolues, y compris des références culturelles, l’hybridité linguistique, des jeux de mots et des questions de genre en traduction.


identifier: LeClair, Samantha  (2015) Translating Literary Multilingualism in Jean-Simon DesRochers' Le Sablier des solitudes.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
It is becoming clear that a new era of multilingualism has begun, if indeed the world was ever truly otherwise. This can be seen in the language(s) now being used in literature both internationally and in Quebec specifically. The province’s unique linguistic and cultural situation is reflected in the bi- and multilingual literature produced over the last century and a half. These works are increasingly open to the inclusion of languages other than French, particularly English. This poses a challenge for translators in English Canada, who must attempt to convey the linguistic alterity that is erased by the act of translation.
	Drawing on Berman’s deforming tendencies and Sternberg’s methods for recording polylingual discourse in the novel, this thesis will examine the specific areas of concern when translating Quebec’s bi- and multilingual literature for an English Canadian audience and methods for creating a hybrid text, one possible solution to this challenge. Lazer Lederhendler’s translation of Tarmac by Nicolas Dickner will be analyzed as a potential model for translators. The thesis will then discuss possible translations for several bilingual passages taken from Jean-Simon DesRochers’ novel Le Sablier des solitudes. Though the novel is written primarily in French, many characters are bilingual and interact with anglophones; the thoughts and dialogue for one major character, a Texan, are recorded entirely in English. Translating this linguistic alterity for an English Canadian audience will require the use of each of Sternberg’s techniques. The translated excerpt will then be presented as a whole.


identifier: Pearce, David  (2015) Mathematics for Engineers and Engineers' Mathematics.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This thesis is composed of two parts. In the first part, the mathematics that engineering students and mathematics students are to be taught and expected to learn is identified by means of an analysis of the content of the courses each group of students has to take, and of the types of tasks each group is given in the final examinations of these courses. The aim is to determine if there are any significant differences between the education of the two groups.

In the second part, I demonstrate how professional engineers use mathematics to develop mathematical models that can be applied in solving tasks in their professional practice. Examples of mathematical models from the studies of statics, mechanics of materials, and structural analysis are presented, culminating in a discussion of the use of matrices in matrix structural analysis and the physical representation of eigenvectors and eigenvalues and what they mean to a structural engineer.

The comparison, analyses, and demonstrations are performed from an anthropological point of view using the Anthropological Theory of the Didactic (ATD). From this perspective it will be shown that the similarities between the mathematical praxeologies of engineers and mathematicians are limited principally to the tasks and techniques, while the differences are found in the level of the technology and theory.


identifier: Sundberg, Ross  (2015) Bande à Part: The Development of a Music Application for L2 French Learners.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The goal of this research was to develop a mobile music application for L2 learners of French. Music is able to offer language learners a wealth of benefits such as repetitive exposure to the L2 in an enjoyable way; yet tools that aid learners with music are sparse (Engh, 2013). This research adopts current SLA theory and principles set forth by Doughty and Long (2003) to guide the development of a tool in the form of a web-based music application, Bande à Part. Some of these principles suggest that technology can help learners through textual enhancements (e.g., gender highlighting, subtitles and translations) and grading content for proficiency level. For the evaluation of Bande à Part, the study adopted Doughty and Long’s (2003) principles for developing L2 learning in a CALL environment as well as Nation’s (2007) four strands for designing a balanced language curriculum for L2 education. Lastly, some of the future directions for the application and its limitations are highlighted and discussed.


identifier: Kirsh, Jessica  (2015) Breathing Life into the Virtual: Towards Intersubjective Intimacy in Mixed Reality Art.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Breath can bridge bodily and psychological boundaries between the subject and object, Self and Other, human and computer. By creating an interactive zone between the virtual and the real, Mixed Reality artworks have the potential to recontexualize breathing as a synchronized mode of communication. The following three projects, ALIBI (2002) by Calgary collective The Einstein Brain Project, Mobile Feelings (2002-4) by Austrian artists Christa Sommerer and Laurent Migonneau, and Coexistence (2001) by Los Angeles-based artist Rebecca Allen, facilitate interpersonal relationships between human and machine or between two humans that contribute to a shared embodied experience and intersubjective intimacy. By experimenting with new technologies such as anatomically-lifelike body interfaces, haptic mobile devices or force feedback game pads, these artists explore ways in which a person’s biological imprint can be measured through their breath, as well as how participants react and understand each other through the exchange of biodata, without any need for physical contact or verbal language. By analyzing these works through phenomenological and neuroscientific discourse, this thesis seeks to provide a nuanced discussion about the levels of intimacy, emotion, or embodied connection felt by the individuals participating in these hybrid environments in the context of today’s hypermediated world.


identifier: Stepic, Nikola  (2015) Kinship as a Strategy for Living: Screening the Queer “Family”.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The evolving representations of queer people in moving images have taken the form of a homecoming, especially in light of recent law changes that pertain to same-sex marriage in the United States, and the media’s concurrent readiness to recast sexual minorities in the roles of husbands, wives, fathers, mothers and children. The queers’ cinematic and televisual journey from periphery to center has effectively become a journey back to the privileges and comforts of familial life, and a domesticity that remains at the core of American culture.
In light of this transition, this thesis seeks to explore the presence of kinship in queer urban communities in the period from the 1970s to the 1990s. While the queer cultural output of this period seeks to establish the queer identity independent of, or in opposition to, heteronormativity, the idea of family is absorbed and transformed as part of a larger community-building process. In the queer milieu, family is appropriated, emulated and enacted as much as it is escaped, negotiated and subverted. In order to demonstrate the diversity of the queer “family,” this study engages with three major filmic case studies –The Boys in the Band (dir. William Friedkin, 1970), Parting Glances (dir. Bill Sherwood, 1986) and Paris Is Burning (dir. Jennie Livingston, 1990). These films are analyzed for their capacity to give shape to queer kinship as conceptualized in queer theory, film theory, queer history and criticism, psychoanalysis, and dramatic theories. Through these filmic case studies, the queer “family” is located and investigated in three distinct contexts – that of American family drama, the AIDS epidemic and performance documentary.


identifier: Zadin, Abedalmotaleb  (2015) CONNECTION SURVIVAL USING POSITION-BASED ROUTING IN MOBILE AD HOC NETWORKS.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Connection Survival using Position-Based Routing in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Abedalmotaleb Zadin
Concordia University, 2015

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) have witnessed a tremendous growth in the recent
years thanks to technological advancements and energy saving techniques that have
made possible the creation of autonomous mobile communicating systems. Still,
MANETs face many challenges in terms of stability, power consumption and quality
of service. Typically, stability is assured through the use of reliable communication
channels protected by failure recovery protocols.

In this thesis, we examine the stability problem by the elaboration of new position based
routing algorithms that maintain stable connections between nodes in MANETs.
The positions of the nodes are updated by the regular beacon broadcasts. Specifically,
we have extended the backup path mechanism used by Yang et al.'s 2011 Greedy-
Based stable multi-path Routing protocol (GBR), that have been recently used in
MANETs. In terms of stability alone, our algorithms have explored using more
general backup paths; re-establishing broken paths from the last reachable node;
or using a conservative range for neighbor next-hop selection. The latter protocol
(GBR-CNR), using a Conservative Neighborhood Range (CNR), is the most efficient
in simulations.

To be able to accommodate energy constraints typical in MANETs, we study
energy efficient variations of these stable position-based routing algorithms. We study
the use of Dynamic Transmission Ranges (DTR) or energy-aware neighbor next-hop
selection, such as the LEARN algorithm, to assure energy efficiency while preserving
connection stability. Out of all the algorithms considered, the combination of CNR
and DTR, GBR-CNR-DTR, outperforms the rest in simulation.

Concerning the Quality of Service (QoS), we consider variations of GBR-CNR
that improve QoS through the reduction of interference that affect the quality of
communications. We develop stable communication protocols that mitigate interference
between mobile nodes by minimizing the number of corrupted packets through
the use of different techniques such as defining new methods to choose the hereafter
hop in a communication process.

Overall, this thesis presents several new stable position-based routing algorithms
that improve energy consumption and QoS in MANETs. Several of the introduced
algorithms are shown to have better capabilities than previously published algorithms
as demonstrated in the simulation results.


identifier: Alrawashdeh, Hatem ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9802-3213 <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9802-3213>  (2015) Wind pressures on flat roof edges and corners of large low buildings.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The present wind tunnel study examines the suitability of the current wind provisions in wind codes and standards for the design of roof zones of flat-roofed low-rise buildings with large dimensions. Current wind codes and standards have load provisions dealing with low buildings of common configurations. Large buildings, say 100 m long, have not been considered when these provisions were established. As a result, the interaction between wind and buildings of such geometries should be investigated for the assessment of current wind provisions in terms of their applicability to such configurations.
Nine large low-rise buildings of 5, 7.5 and 10 m high with flat roofs have been tested in a typical open country exposure in the Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel of Concordia University. The models have been tested for wind directions ranging from 0° to 90° at increments of 15°. The buildings have large square plan with equivalent full-scale horizontal dimensions ranging from 60 to 180 m.
Local roof pressure coefficients have been obtained from the wind tunnel measurements. Moreover, area-averaged negative peak pressure coefficients have been established using numerical integration of individual pressure coefficients. The effects of building dimensions on the generated roof pressures have been addressed in this study.
This thesis presents a comparative study based on code provisions and experimental results. The first part compares the application of the current code roof zone systems and the design wind pressures specified in codes and standards. The second part of the study compares the experimental results with the respective values specified in code/standard provisions in terms of wind pressures and roof zone sizes to assess the suitability of these provisions. These comparisons show significant differences in the patterns of the design pressure coefficients among the current wind codes and standards.
Application of the current provisions of ASCE 7-10 and NBCC 2010 on building geometries of large roofs and low height may lead to considerably conservative and uneconomic roof design. An exception for very long low buildings, as far as the determination of the sizes of roof edge and corner zones is concerned, has been recommended to rectify the deficiency of wind codes and standards for these building geometries.


identifier: Haley, Francis  (2015) The Cycling of Organic Carbon in the St. Lawrence Estuary.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The St. Lawrence River is one of the most important in the world in terms of water discharge to the global ocean. Several studies have been made to describe the environment, from its water dynamics to the activity of its phytoplankton communities. Despite this, a thorough characterization of the St. Lawrence Estuary (SLE) with respect to its organic carbon (OC) sources and sinks has not been done, and shortcomings pertaining to information needed for a comprehensive OC budget for the SLE have not been identified. Using samples collected over several sampling missions since 2003, quantitation and characterization of organic matter (OM) has been performed on dissolved, particulate and sedimentary samples. Measurements, using a DOC-analyzer coupled to an isotope mass spectrometer (IRMS), and elemental analyzer (EA) coupled to an IRMS, have shown that dissolved OC (DOC) and particulate OC (POC) concentrations decreased closer to the St. Lawrence Gulf. In addition, DOC, POC and sedimentary OC (SOC) samples closer to the gulf showed 13C enrichment in, and a decrease in C/N atomic ratios in particulate samples. Parallel to these trends, an increase in Fe-OC association was observed. In this thesis, major sources and sinks have been identified and a gradual shift from terrestrial to marine OM characteristics have been observed in carbon stable isotope signatures, C/N atomic ratios and degree of Fe-OC association. Furthermore, a simple budget was constructed to help direct future research efforts towards a more complete understanding of the SLE.


identifier: Michaud O'Grady, Liam  (2015) "La répression, ça finit par donner des résultats" : The displacement and erasure of street culture in downtown Montréal 1995-2010.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Between 1995 and 2010, drug users, sex workers and street involved people in downtown Montréal faced a period of significant structural and social change. This period of change was characterized notably by several distinct waves of police repression, significant municipal development and revitalization, as well as the closure and expropriation of a range of commercial and indoor spaces central to the organization and composition of street culture, including hotels, bars, rooming houses and peepshows. These structural shifts downtown resulted in the displacement and dispersal of street involved communities outside of the downtown core, and represented a profound reorganization of the social relations of street culture. This included the loss of informal supportive networks, the disintegration of pre-existing social bonds, and the undermining of certain social practice.

These structural shifts downtown also resulted in a reorganization of institutional relations between the Direction de santé publique, and streetwork practice in downtown Montréal, creating important implications for HIV and HCV prevention. The loss of contacts caused by the displacement process contributed to the rise of instrumentalism in streetwork practice, growing exigencies around statistical monitoring, and a progressive shift toward prise en charge approaches. These shifts confronted streetworkers both with pragmatic questions about the organization of their labour, as well as ethical questions about their relationship to street milieus, and streetwork practice in the context of a remade urban landscape.

Inspired by grounded theory method, this thesis employs semi-structured qualitative interviews with streetworkers employed between 1995 and 2010. This analysis describes how the displacement of street culture and the transformation of street-level social relations was achieved, and how this process was driven by specific institutional and social policy. It provides an assessment of the impacts and implications of displacement and social transformation on street involved communities, and on street level social relations. In the process, this analysis raises epistemological questions about how cultural erasure is achieved. It asks how specific notions of street culture as essentially disorganized enable certain kinds of interventions, and ultimately enable displacement. It also raises the question regarding the importance of daily social relations and social bonds of street culture in HIV and HCV prevention, as well as the role of community organizations and streetwork practice in the face of displacement and structural change.


identifier: Rounis, Efstratios Dimitrios  (2015) Multiple-inlet Building Integrated Photovoltaics: Modeling and Design including Wind Effects.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Air-based, open loop Building Integrated Photovoltaic/Thermal (BIPV/T) systems have proven to be an efficient means for generating renewable energy. They produce electrical energy, converting part of the incident solar radiation, and recover part of that radiation that turns to heat, while acting as the outer shell of the building. However, for the typical BIPV/T design with air entering at the bottom of the installation, flowing within a continuous air channel and exiting at the outlet of the system high PV temperatures may still occur. This is due to the fact that as air moves inside the air channel it accumulates heat and the heat exchange efficiency between the PV panels and the flowing air drops along the flow path of the air channel. In large building integrated PV installations, high PV temperatures may lead to quicker PV panel degradation, as well as lower electrical efficiency.
A multiple-inlet BIPV/T system aims to increased heat extraction from the PV panels, with the introduction of several intakes of fresh air along the height of the installation. This may lead to lower and more uniform PV temperatures, enhanced PV panel durability and higher electrical and thermal performance.
This study presents the development of a methodology for the modelling and design of multiple-inlet systems, as well as a numerical study of such a system. The modelling component consists of two aspects, namely, the fluid mechanics and the energy balance of the system. A flow model was developed, based on flow networking techniques, in order to assess the inlet flow distributions. The flow model incorporates wind effects in the form of exterior pressures, acquired through wind tunnel testing. The inlet flow distributions were used in a modified energy balance model that accounts for the flow conditions of the inlets and the air channels of the system. This was an improvement on the assumption of uniform flow from all the openings of the system, which has been common in the limited number of studies of multiple-inlet systems so far.
The developed models were applied for the numerical investigation of variations of multiple-inlet BIPV/T systems for a potential retrofit project on an office building in Montreal. The investigation was carried out assuming summer and winter conditions, as well as several cases of wind direction and velocity. A multiple-inlet system with optimized geometric features of the inlets was found have up to 1% higher electrical efficiency and 14% to 25% higher thermal efficiency than that of a single-inlet system, also resulting in lower and more uniform PV operating temperatures. The latter can be a crucial factor for the durability of large building integrated PV installations.


identifier: Shirgir, Samira  (2015) Issuing a Convertible Bond with Call-Spread Overlay: Incorporating the Effects of Convertible Arbitrage.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
In recent years companies issuing convertible bonds enter into some transactions simul-
taneously in order to mitigate some of the negative impacts of issuing convertible bonds
such as the dilution of existing shares. One of the popular concurrent transactions is a
call-spread overlay which is intended to reduce the dilution impact. This thesis explores
the motivation for using these combined transactions from the perspective of the issuers,
investors, and underwriters. We apply a binomial method to price the convertible bonds
with call-spread which are subject to default risk. Based on previous empirical studies
convertible bond issuers experience a drop in their stock price due to the activities of
convertible bond arbitrageurs when the issuance of convertible bonds is announced. We
propose a model to estimate the drop in the stock price due to convertible bond arbitrage
activities, at the time of planning the issue and designing the security that will be offered.
We examine the features of the model with simulated and real-world data.


identifier: Turcotte-Summers, Jonathan  (2015) “Students” as Nodal Point of Identity: Analyzing the Discourses of Quebec’s News Media and Students in the 2012 Printemps Érable.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis presents a comparative discourse analysis of Quebec’s news media and students in the context of the 2012 student strike and more broad-based uprising known as the Printemps érable (Maple Spring). More specifically, the analysis concerns how educational issues were represented in the discourse of the news media compared to that of students, as expressed in mainstream newspapers and student association press releases, respectively. It also addresses the role of these discourses in either reproducing or contesting hegemonic political and economic ideologies. The discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe (1985) is operationalized as the primary methodological framework for this study, focusing on the articulation of polysemic signifiers as moments and nodal points. Ten texts were selected from The Gazette and ten from La Presse, as well as ten press releases from the FECQ/FEUQ and ten from the CLASSE. Analysis reveals that the signifier “students” represents a nodal point of identity or master signifier central to each discourse, as they fail to conform to notions of a common media or student discourse. The discourse of The Gazette may be described as that of an illiberal or neoliberal democracy, while those of La Presse and the FECQ/FEUQ are more or less both liberal democratic and neoliberal capitalist. The discourse of the CLASSE is identified as postliberal, with features of direct and participatory democracy, and though it reproduces few neoliberal articulations it also contests few. In the end, challenging the political order appears more practicable than challenging the economic one.


identifier: Samiee Daluie, Alireza  (2015) Integrated Production-Distribution Planning Under Congestion and Carbon Emission Constraints.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The global warming, which is caused by increasing concentrations of carbon emissions, mainly results from human activities such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation. In order to alleviate global warming and its adverse effects, many countries including the United States and the European Union members have attempted to enact legislation or design market-based carbon trading mechanism for controlling carbon emission. Analyzing the impact of such governmental legislations on supply chain operations has particularly been noticed both in theory and practice. This implies that firms need to incorporate the governmental regulations into their decision making process. This thesis presents an integrated model of production-distribution planning in supply chains considering congestion and carbon emission capacity constraints. The objective of the model is to minimize the sum of production, inventory, and transportation cost subject to emission capacity constraints. Our model adopts a Carbon Cap regulation policy that requires the total carbon emission resulting from production and distribution of commodities from facilities to demand points to be constrained. Considering congestion at the production facilities for work in process (WIP) inventory, which may increase nonlinearly after a certain level of utilization (i.e. critical utilization), leads to a nonlinear multi-period mixed integer program. We then develop a robust approach that captures the uncertainty in estimating the emission of each of the logistic activities. We propose a Lagrangian relaxation approach and a heuristic to build feasible solutions which solves large instances. Finally, computational results on a set of instances are reported to assess the performance of the proposed MIP formulation and of our algorithmic approach.


identifier: Rotenberg, Sivan  (2015) The Inter-Relation of the Cardio-Autonomic Nervous System and HPA-Axis and its Association with Cardiovascular Precursors in Children.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Stress, via the activation of the stress response system, has been linked to the emergence of cardiovascular precursors. The majority of studies relating the autonomic nervous system and the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis, the two main branches of the stress response system, to stress and cardiovascular precursors have focused on examining each branch of the stress response system in isolation. However, considering only these singular associations disregards the structural and functional inter-connection between the stress response systems. Examining the inter-relation between the stress systems among children and adolescents is particular opportune given the emergence of cardiovascular precursors early in the life course. The objective of the current research program was to examine the patterning of the cardio-autonomic nervous system and HPA axis, and whether the inter-relation between these stress systems was associated with cardiovascular precursors among children.
    Three studies were conducted.  Study 1 demonstrated the patterning of the stress response system, and found that the inter-relation between stress systems better accounted for the relation between stress and the stress response system than either system alone. Extending these results, Study 2 demonstrated that the inter-relation between stress systems was associated with cardiovascular precursors in a population-based sample of children.  Exposure to stress moderated the association between inter-relation of stress systems and cardiovascular precursors, which was more robust among children with greater stressful life events. Study 3 replicated these results in a sample of children at-risk for obesity, and demonstrated that the inter-relation between stress systems was related to cardiovascular precursors among at-risk children with greater stress exposure.
Overall, this research program found that the inter-relation between the stress systems was related to cardiovascular precursors, and children’s environmental exposure to stressful events influenced these associations. Future studies should consider using an inter-relation approach, which may provide greater insight into the association between stress and cardiovascular health than considering the stress systems independently.  The patterning of the stress response system has implications for future studies examining how stress “gets under the skin” to promote the development of disease.


identifier: Khosrowshahi Asl, Ehsan  (2015) Dynamic Formation and Strategic Management of Web Services Communities.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
In the last few years, communities of services have been studied in a certain numbers of proposals as virtual pockets of similar expertise. The motivation is to provide these services with high chance of discovery through better visibility, and to enhance their capabilities when it comes to provide requested functionalities. There are some proposed mechanisms and models on aggregating web services and making them cooperate within their communities. However, forming optimal and stable communities as coalitions to maximize individual and group efficiency and income for all the involved parties has not been addressed yet. Moreover, in the proposed frameworks of these communities, a common assumption is that residing services, which are supposed to be autonomous and intelligent, are competing over received requests. However, those services can also exhibit cooperative behaviors, for instance in terms of substituting each other. When competitive and cooperative behaviors and strategies are combined, autonomous services are said to be "coopetitive". Deciding to compete or cooperate inside communities is a problem yet to be investigated.

In this thesis, we first identify the problem of defining efficient algorithms for coalition formation mechanisms. We study the community formation problem in two different settings: 1) communities with centralized manager having complete information using cooperative game-theoretic techniques; and 2) communities with distributed decision making mechanisms having incomplete information using training methods. We propose mechanisms for community membership requests and selections of web services in the scenarios where there is interaction between one community and many web services and scenarios where web services can join multiple established communities. Then in order to address the coopetitive relation within communities of web services, we propose a decision making mechanism for our web services to efficiently choose competition or cooperation strategies to maximize their payoffs. We prove that the proposed decision mechanism is efficient and can be implemented in time linear in the length of the time period considered for the analysis and the number of services in the community. Moreover, we conduct extensive simulations, analyze various scenarios, and confirm the obtained theoretical results using parameters from a real web services dataset.


identifier: Brunsdon, Eric  (2015) Dispersal and density-dependent growth of early juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): Can density manipulations via stocking technique improve restoration?  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Dispersal from nesting sites and habitat selection are essential for the fitness of young individuals and shapes the distribution, growth and persistence of populations. These processes are important to consider when releasing captive bred young individuals into the wild to restore extirpated or depleted populations. However, few studies have evaluated how manipulating densities during release affects the dispersal and growth of individuals with respect to crucial life history traits. I manipulated the density of young-of-the-year (YOY) Atlantic salmon to evaluate the effect of two stocking techniques on the life history characteristics of surviving fish. Salmon were either point-stocked (all fish released in a small area at the upstream end of a reach) or spread-stocked (fish were released evenly over the entire reach) in 14 reaches of the Boquet River, New York. I used snorkeling and electrofishing surveys to characterize the density, dispersal, growth and survival of salmon stocked via each technique. Density decreased and growth rate increased with distance downstream in point-stocking reaches, whereas density and growth were relatively constant within spread-stocking reaches.  Overall, density, growth and survival did not differ between the two stocking techniques due to the greater-than-expected degree of dispersal observed in point-stocking reaches. YOY dispersed up to 1600m, with 41% moving over 200m downstream. Growth rate of individual fish was density-dependent, following the negative power curve observed in previous studies. My results provide insights into how the growth and survival of released individuals are altered via stocking techniques, ultimately shaping their distribution and persistence.


identifier: Little, Geoffrey  (2015) An Extensive and Unknown Portion of the Empire: The Montreal Natural History Society’s Survey of Rupert’s Land, 1827-1830.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Shortly after it was founded in May 1827, the Montreal Natural History Society constituted an Indian Committee to study the “the native inhabitants...and the Natural History of the Interior, and its fitness for the purposes of commerce and agriculture.” The Interior was Rupert’s Land, the territory to the west and the north of Montreal governed by the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC). In 1828 the Committee had a survey containing 253 questions on the climate, geography, inhabitants, and resources of Rupert’s Land distributed to HBC traders and individuals living in the Interior, along with instructions on how to prepare specimens to send to the Society’s museum. Intervention by the HBC’s Governor and London Committee meant that no replies were received in Montreal and the Society’s project was unrealized.

This thesis explores the Society’s interest in the development of the Interior as well as in gathering data about its Aboriginal population within the contexts of westward expansion across North America and Aboriginal policy in Upper and Lower Canada and the United States after the end of the War of 1812. It also examines the history and practice of natural history in the early nineteenth-century Anglo-American world and efforts by the Society to establish itself as a node within international scientific networks. This study fills a gap in the history of science and western exploration in pre-Confederation Canada and will help historians understand how the Montreal Natural History Society imagined an Interior transformed through settlement, commerce, and agriculture into a productive, peopled, and civilized part of the British Empire.


identifier: Stella, Stella Carolina  (2015) Creating an Academic Business English List: a Corpus Based Study.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Past studies have shown that second language (L2) learners need to know between 95% to 98% of the vocabulary in a text in order to understand its content (e.g. Hirsh & Nation, 1992; Laufer, 1989; Laufer & Ravenhorst-Kalovski, 2010; Nation, 2006; Schmitt et al., 2011; Stæhr, 2008). Other studies tried to identify exactly what words these students need to know in order to achieve this level of comprehension, and researchers created frequency lists that could be used to teach vocabulary (e.g., Browne, Culligan, & Phillips, 2013; Nation, 2012; West 1953). However, as General English (GE) frequency lists are not very efficient for teaching specialized vocabulary, other lists were created in order to solve this issue (Coxhead, 2000; Hsu, 2011a; Konstantakis, 2007). This thesis study investigated the vocabulary needed by undergraduate students in business in order to understand their textbooks at this 95-98% level of text coverage. A corpus based on undergraduate business core courses textbooks was compiled by the researcher in order to extract a list of the most used vocabulary excluding the BNC/COCA 3K and proper nouns (which are considered to be already known by these learners). The Academic Business English List (ABEL) was created, and it consists of 840 word families which cover 2.86% of the ABEL corpus. With knowledge of these 840 word families, the BNC/COCA 3K and proper nouns, text coverage reached 96.94%. The ABEL list can be used by materials creators and business English teachers in order to prepare students for their undergraduate business programs.


identifier: Zhu, Ran  (2015) Broadband Linearization Technologies for Broadband Radio-over-Fiber Transmission Systems.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Wireless access networks consist of three sections, i.e., back-haul, front-haul, and wireless transmission, where the front-haul transmission systems are to distribute radio frequency (RF) signals to antenna towers. For current low-capacity wireless access, RF signals over coaxial cables, digital fiber-optic transmission, microwave point-to-point transmission, and narrowband radio-over-fiber (RoF) transmission have been used for the front-haul transmission systems. However, with the increase of demand of high capacity wireless access and also use of massive multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, low-cost, simple and broadband front-haul transmission systems are required in current 4G and in particular the future 5G wireless.
RoF transmission system, which is based on optical subcarrier modulation, combines the advantages of both optical fiber and radio transmission, where the optical fiber has low loss, low cost, extremely high capacity, lightweight, and immunity to electromagnetic interference, and the radio transmission simplifies remote radio units (RRUs) at antenna towers. Furthermore, radio transmission based front-haul is transparent to RF signal frequency and wireless protocol, i.e., upgradable, in addition to simplified RRUs.
Unfortunately, RoF is an analog optical transmission, and it is well known that any analog transmission is susceptible to nonlinear distortion. To be more specific, nonlinear distortion is the major limit for RoF transmission. In fact, all inline functional optical and electrical components used in RoF transmission systems may induce the nonlinear distortion. Specifically in RoF based front-haul systems, two key functions, i.e., RF power amplification and optical subcarrier modulation, are the main factors in introducing nonlinear distortions. The nonlinear distortions from RF power amplifiers (PAs) have been studied for decades. Therefore, the nonlinear distortions from the optical subcarrier modulation are the main concern in this thesis. The nonlinear distortions include harmonic distortions (HDs) and intermodulation distortions (IMDs). For narrow band RF signals, the HDs can be suppressed by RF filtering, but it may be impossible for the IMDs to be filtered out. For broadband RF signals, both HDs and IMDs could fall in the passband of RF signals and introduce crosstalk, and therefore both of them are required to be suppressed, i.e., linearization required.
In the past decades, linearization for RF PAs has been investigated extensively, mainly focusing on signal processing based linearization, i.e., digital linearization. Unfortunately, the digital linearization is typically limited to the RF signals with up to 20 MHz bandwidth. Based on the current technologies of signal processing hardware, linearization for 1 GHz RF signals can be done, but the complexity and cost are beyond the practical applications. In order to explore broadband RoF transmission systems that support broadband front-haul, simple, low cost, and broadband linearization is pivotal.
In this thesis, two linearization technologies for RoF transmission systems are investigated comprehensively, i.e., analog predistortion circuit (PDC) and dual wavelength optical linearization. Two novel PDCs are designed and investigated to suppress 3rd order IMD (IMD3) of RoF transmission systems. The PDCs have the advantages of broad bandwidth, compact size, and low cost. The first PDC is designed to have a bandwidth from 7 to 18 GHz, using two zero-bias Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) Schottky diodes as predistorter. The linearization using this PDC is verified in externally modulated RoF transmission systems. When a Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) is used for the optical subcarrier modulation, the input power at 1 dB compression point (P1dB) of the RoF transmission system is improved by 0.4 and up to 2.2 dB from 7 to 18 GHz. The spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) is improved by more than ~10 dB from 7 to 14 GHz and ~6 dB from 15 to 18 GHz. When an electro-absorption modulator (EAM) is used, the input P1dB is improved by 0.8 and up to 3.8 dB from 8 to 17 GHz. The SFDR is improved by more than ~9 dB from 7 to 14 GHz and ~4 dB from 15 to 18 GHz.
The second PDC is designed to have an ultra broad bandwidth from 10 MHz to 30 GHz, using a dual Schottky diode as the predistorter. The linearization using this PDC is investigated in both directly and externally modulated RoF transmission systems. The SFDR at 8 GHz is improved by 11.9 dB for a directly modulated RoF transmission. The SFDR is improved by more than 10 dB from 1 to 5 GHz and more than 5 dB from 1 to 30 GHz for an externally EAM modulated RoF transmission. Similarly, the SFDR is improved by more than 12 dB from 2 to 5 GHz and more than 5 dB from 2 to 30 GHz for an externally MZM modulated RoF transmission. When WiFi signals are transmitted over the externally modulated RoF systems for back-to-back (BTB) and 20 km single mode fiber (SMF), the error vector magnitudes (EVMs) are improved by 0.4 and up to 5.1 dB by using the PDC.
Dual wavelength linearization (DWL) technique is investigated compressively to suppress 2nd and 3rd order nonlinearities of externally modulated RoF transmission systems simultaneously, including HDs and IMDs. The linearization is verified in both EAM and MZM modulated RoF transmission systems. Theoretical analysis is given for the first time to understand DWL technique. The experimental results agree with the theoretical analyses. In the externally EAM modulated RoF transmission systems, when the 2nd order nonlinearity is maximally suppressed, 11.5 and 1.8 dB improvements of the SFDRs with respect to HD2 and HD3 respectively are achieved by using DWL simultaneously. 8.5 and 1.3 dB improvements of the SFDRs with respect to IMD2 and IMD3 respectively are also achieved. Correspondingly, 3 and 4 dB improvements of the input and output P1dBs respectively are obtained. When the 3rd order nonlinearity is maximally suppressed, the SFDRs with respect to HD3 and IMD3 are improved by 8.1 and 20.4 dB, respectively, and corresponding 7.7 and 11.7 dB improvements of the input and output P1dBs respectively are achieved. Furthermore, IMD5 is also suppressed, and the SFDR5 with respect to IMD5 is improved by 7.1 dB. Moreover, the RoF transmission of WiFi signals at 2.4 and 5 GHz are also linearized by using DWL technique. 3.5 dB at 2.4 GHz and 2.8 dB at 5 GHz improvements of the EVMs are obtained.
For an externally MZM modulated RoF transmission system, DWL is also investigated theoretically and experimentally.  In the system, it is found that the SFDRs with respect to HD2 and HD3 are both improved at the same time when the even order nonlinearities are suppressed, in which the power of the RF signal and 3rd order nonlinearity is increased by the same level. Thus, the SFDR3 is still improved even the 3rd order nonlinearity is increased. Compared to using a single 1553 nm laser, the SFDRs with respect to HD2 and HD3 are improved by 38.4 and 12.1 dB.


identifier: Eshaghi, Mehdi  (2015) Vibration Analysis of MR Fluid Sandwich Plates and Identification of Optimal MR Fluids Treatments.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The MR fluids can change their rheological behavior rapidly and reversibly under an applied magnetic field. Due to their unique characteristics, these promising controllable fluids can be effectively utilized in devices and structures in a reliable and fail-safe manner to suppress vibration with minimal power requirement. While modeling of MR dampers and their integration in systems and structures to control vibration have been widely studied, there are relatively few studies on MR based sandwich structures. MR sandwich structures can provide better vibration control capability as their damping and stiffness characteristics can be simultaneously varied. Considering this, the main objectives of this dissertation are to develop accurate models to predict the vibration characteristics of MR based sandwich plates under varying magnetic field and also develop design optimization strategies to identify optimal MR fluids treatments.
     MR fluids typically experience low shear strain in sandwich structures and thus they operate in pre-yield region and behave like visco-elastic materials. In this study, first MR fluids have been accurately characterized in pre-yield region. Particularly new frequency-magnetic flux dependent constitute models for both loss and storage moduli have been proposed. To accomplish this, an experiment is conducted on a sandwich beam structure with aluminum face layer and MR fluid as the core layer, under different magnetic field densities. The frequency response characteristics of the sandwich cantilevered beam are subsequently measured under harmonic base excitations. Dynamic responses of the structure are also obtained using the developed finite element (FE) model. The frequency and field dependent complex shear moduli of the MR fluids (MRF 132DG and MRF 122EG) are then identified by minimizing the error between natural frequency and damping parameters obtained by experiment and FE model. The validity of the proposed constitute models is demonstrated by comparing the FE model results with the experimental data for a copper sandwich structure comprising the two MR fluids.
     Next, the characterized MR fluids have been used as the core layer in the fully and partially treated sandwich plates. The goal is to predict the dynamic responses of the MR sandwich plates under different levels of magnetic field. To accomplish this, finite element and Ritz models based on the classical plate theory are formulated to obtain governing equations of motion of the multi-layer rectangular and circular sandwich plates fully and partially treated with MR fluids as the core layer under different boundary conditions. Extensive experimental studies have been conducted to validate the developed models. Then, the validated models have been effectively utilized to conduct comprehensive investigation on the effect of MR fluid properties, geometry of the face layers, thickness of the core layers and magnetic flux density on vibration suppression capability of the sandwich plate structures. Finally, an optimization problem is formulated based on genetic algorithm (GA) to identify optimal locations for the MR fluid treatments, resulting in maximum variations in the stiffness and damping of the structure, corresponding to the lower three modes of flexural vibration in response to the applied magnetic field. The effects of shear deformation on the vibration properties of fully and partially treated sandwich structures are discussed, comprehensively.


identifier: Vakilinia, Shahin  (2015) Performance Modeling and Optimization of Resource Allocation in Cloud Computing Systems.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Cloud computing offers on-demand network access to the computing resources through virtualization. This paradigm shifts the computer resources to the cloud, which results in cost savings as the users leasing instead of owning these resources. Clouds will also provide power constrained mobile users accessibility to the computing resources. In this thesis, we develop performance models of these systems and optimization of their resource allocation.
In the performance modeling, we assume that jobs arrive to the system according to a Poisson process and they may have quite general service time distributions. Each job may consist of multiple number of tasks with each task requiring a virtual machine (VM) for its execution. The size of a job is determined by the number of its tasks, which may be a constant or a variable. In the case of constant job size, we allow different classes of jobs, with each class being determined through their arrival and service rates and number of tasks in a job.  In the variable case a job generates randomly new tasks during its service time. The latter requires dynamic assignment of VMs to a job, which will be needed in providing service to mobile users. We model the systems with both constant and variable size jobs using birth-death processes. In the case of constant job size, we determined joint probability distribution of the number of jobs from each class in the system, job blocking probabilities and distribution of the utilization of resources for systems with both homogeneous and heterogeneous types of VMs. We have also analyzed tradeoffs for turning idle servers off for power saving. In the case of variable job sizes, we have determined distribution of the number of jobs in the system and average service time of a job for systems with both infinite and finite amount of resources. We have presented numerical results and any approximations are verified by simulation. The performance results may be used in the dimensioning of cloud computing centers.
Next, we have developed an optimization model that determines the job schedule, which minimizes the total power consumption of a cloud computing center. It is assumed that power consumption in a computing center is due to communications and server activities. We have assumed a distributed model, where a job may be assigned VMs on different servers, referred to as fragmented service. In this model, communications among the VMs of a job on different servers is proportional to the product of the number of VMs assigned to the job on each pair of servers which results in a quadratic network power consumption in number of job fragments. Then, we have applied integer quadratic programming and the column generation method to solve the optimization problem for large scale systems in conjunction with two different algorithms to reduce the complexity and the amount of time needed to obtain the solution. In the second phase of this work, we have formulated this optimization problem as a function of discrete-time. At each discrete-time, the job load of the system consists of new arriving jobs during the present slot and unfinished jobs from the previous slots. We have developed a technique to solve this optimization problem with full, partial and no migration of the old jobs in the system. Numerical results show that this optimization results in significant operating costs savings in the cloud computing systems.


identifier: Porter, James  (2015) Fabrication and Magnetotransport Studies of Bi2Se3 Topological Insulator Transistors.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Topological insulators (TI) are a unique class of materials that can support 2-dimensional (2D) metallic states on the surfaces of 3-dimensional insulating crystals.  These 2D surface states are predicted to be spin polarized and topological, leading to potential applications in spintronics and quantum computing.  While signs of surface transport have recently been observed in magneto transport experiments, many applied and theoretical questions remain to produce robust Bi$_2$Se$_3$ transistors.  We first present the fabrication methods we developed to create high quality devices.  We address the first main road block the community is facing to explore topological charge transport: making low resistance contacts to TI's.  Using our devices, we then explore magneto transport.  At cryogenic temperatures we observe the classical Hall effect as well as Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations consistent with the presence of Landau levels and surface transport in Bi2Se3 thin crystals.  We focus on a thin crystal made of two regions with two thicknesses.  We use our data to address the second major roadblock faced by the TI community: bulk-defect conduction versus surface transport.  We discuss the evidence we have to support 2D surface transport in our devices, and the outlook for the exploration of the topological aspects of these surface states.


identifier: Radu, Ioana  (2015) Miyupimaatisiiun in Eeyou Istchee: Healing and Decolonization in Chisasibi.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This research is about ongoing processes of decolonization that are taking place in Indigenous communities across the globe and in the academia. Its twofold purpose is to explore the connections between autonomy and wellbeing in Indigenous contexts through a case study in the Cree Nation of Chisasibi, Eeyou Istchee (James Bay, northern Quebec) and to elucidate the decolonizing research paradigm developed in collaboration with the community.

This study shows that approaches to decolonization and healing are varied, transitional, relational and creative. They are specific to particular nations, communities, groups within communities, and individuals. Often they are informed by personal histories, experiences and ontologies that come together to inspire and build opportunities for change and living a good life. It also seeks to caution against prescriptive and normative approaches to Indigenous-settler relations that bracket everyday experience and local processes of resurgence all the while bringing attention to how structural and institutional forces frame local action.

The collective effort in Chisasibi implies that everyone is doing their part in decolonizing the mind, body and spirit of the community, the best way they know how. It is about each individual finding what they hold sacred and honoring it in everyday actions. Even though decolonization is only rarely expressed as such, for those that have been involved with this project, decolonization means caring and loving for one another and invigorating the body with the effort of surviving on the land. It includes openness to the world and the recognition that decolonization is a collective and creative undertaking, of making something new from the everyday encounters, and more importantly, of creating inclusive spaces for these encounters to continually take place.


identifier: Durning, Matthew  (2015) A Direct Ridership Model for Rail Rapid Transit in Canada.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Rail rapid transit forms the backbone of many public transportation systems in cities globally moving people at both high speed and at high capacity.  As cities seek to alleviate problems of congestion and environmental pollution many are constructing or expanding urban and suburban rail networks including in Canada where in 2015 numerous projects were underway or recently completed.  Traditionally travel choices have been considered to be products of time and monetary cost academics and researchers have resented strong evidence also linking travel behaviour to factors including the built environment, station amenities, and street networks.
This thesis links local station level factors, including built form, street network, station amenities and service, and socioeconomic characteristics, and rail rapid transit ridership in Canada.  A direct ridership model (DRM) approach is used with OLS, robust, and two-stage least squares regression and bootstrapping is used to enhance the models.  Data was collected for from 342 station locations in Canada’s five largest metropolitan areas with an average weekday ridership of over 3 million.  Average weekday station boardings were used as the dependent variable and 53 socioeconomic, built environment, and system attributes were chosen as potential explanatory variables that were chosen after a review of the DRM and travel demand literature.  The study yielded three sets of models with an adjusted r-squared values ranging between 0.650 and 0.864.  Canadian rail rapid transit stations were tested together and separately as urban and suburban service types.  The most important factor identified in the models was the supply of transit service, followed by inter-modal connections (bus stops for urban stations and primarily parking for suburban stations), and residential population density.  Socioeconomic factors of the population in the area surrounding stations were not found to be significant.  The absence of socioeconomic variables in the final model indicates that planners and policy makers have significant scope to exert influence over transit use through land use planning, design, and service features.


identifier: McNabb, Heather  (2015) Visions of Canada: Photographs and History in a Museum, 1921-1967.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
ABSTRACT

Visions of Canada:  Photographs and History in a Museum, 1921-1967

Heather McNabb, PhD.

Concordia University, 2015

	This dissertation is an exploration of the changing role of photographs used in the dissemination of history by a twentieth-century Canadian history museum.  Based on archival research, the study focuses on some of the changes that occurred in museum practice over four and a half decades at Montreal’s McCord Museum.  The McCord was in many ways typical of other small history museums of its time, and this work illuminates some of the transformations undergone by other similar organizations in an era of professionalization of many fields, including those of academic and public history.
 Much has been written in recent scholarly literature on the subject of photographs and the past.  Many of these works, however, have tended to examine the original context in which the photographic material was taken, as well as its initial use(s).  Instead, this study takes as its starting point the way in which historic photographs were employed over time, after they had arrived within the space of the museum.   Archival research for this dissertation suggests that photographs, initially considered useful primarily for reference purposes at the McCord Museum in the early twentieth century, gradually gained acceptance as historical objects to be exhibited in their own right, depicting specific moments from the past to visitors.  By the early nineteen-sixties, after the arrival of a significant collection of historic photographs, and following the influence of major exhibitions of photography such as Edward Steichen’s The Family of Man, the
perspective of museum staff had changed.  In the wake of a Cold War rise in nationalism, and the enthusiasm of the years leading up to the centennial of Canadian Confederation, the historical photographs in this collection began to be used in ways that reflected some of the concerns of the present, connecting various audiences with issues of modernity, place, identity, and Canadian history.


identifier: Zhan, Yu  (2015) Novel functions of the pyrenoid and the large subunit of ribulose-1, 5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This thesis describes my research in the cell and molecular biology of the chloroplast of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Following a general introduction to all relevant topics in Chapter 1, Chapters 2 to 4 present different projects, each with the organization of a publication.
        Chapter 2 describes my investigation of the management of oxidized RNA in the chloroplast a semi-autonomous, bacterial-type cell organelle. I show that the large subunit of Rubisco, RBCL, has a “moonlighting” function in controlling the level of oxidized RNA in the chloroplast. I also show in this chapter that a complex of RBCL, correlates with the RBCL moonlighting function, with results of native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and size-exclusion chromatography. The identification of this RBCL complex and aggregated form is a step towards understanding how RBCL mitigates RNA oxidation.
         Results of immunofluorescence microscopy reveal that oxidized RNA localized in the pyrenoid, a chloroplast micro-compartment where CO2 is assimilated by the Calvin cycle enzyme Rubisco. This finding, together with previous research of chloroplast stress granules, provoked my interest in the potential functions of pyrenoid in RNA metabolism and led me to undertake a proteomic characterization of this microcompartment. Chapter 3 reports a partial pyrenoid proteome. I optimized the subcellular fractionation methods to obtain pyrenoid-enriched fractions and devised a means of identifying contaminant proteins, by preparing equivalent fractions from mutants that lack a pyrenoid. Results of bioinformatic analyses of this pyrenoid proteome further substantiate its role in RNA metabolism, and also confirm its long-suspected role in starch metabolism. The results also suggest additional unexpected possible functions in translation, lipid metabolism, chlorophyll biosynthesis and stress responses.
      Chapter 4 describes results that further support the role of the pyrenoid in chlorophyll synthesis and reveal other new and unexpected findings. The localization of chlorophyll synthesis could closely relate to the assembly of photosystem or light harvesting complex proteins. These results also give hints regarding the location(s) of thylakoid biogenesis. My work reveals a novel function of the photosynthesis protein RBCL in the control of oxidized RNA and the important potential functions of the pyrenoid, in RNA metabolism and chlorophyll biosynthesis.


identifier: Hasan, Mohammad Sabbir  (2015) Abrasion on Concrete Surfaces Caused by Hydraulic Loading with Water-Borne Sands.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Hydraulic structures play an important role in regulation and transport of water in reservoirs as well as open channels. They are also useful for flow measurement. Examples of such structures include spillways, stilling basins, weirs, gates, and culverts. These structures commonly have concrete surfaces. Under the impacts of water flow, the concrete surfaces suffer inevitably from abrasive erosion. This is particularly problematic for ageing structures under the impacts of flowing water with suspended sediment in high concentrations. Severe abrasion can cause structural deterioration, leading to a shortened service life. It may not be possible to completely prevent abrasion in hydraulic structures. However, it is possible to reduce abrasion by using proper repairing materials. This study is aimed at investigating different types of repairing materials, with respect to their suitability as a protective layer on existing concrete surfaces. This study takes the experimental approach. Concrete specimens of cylindrical shape were cast using four types of materials: 1) a premium quality concrete mix of Portland cement, 2) latex modified repair material, 3) silica fume fibre-reinforced repair material, and 4) fly ash fibre-reinforced repair material. The concrete specimens were allowed to harden for a period of up to 28 days. A series of laboratory experiments were carried out, where the flat circular surface at the top of the concrete cylinders was subject to direct impact (for 3 to 9 hours) from a high-speed jet of a sand and water mixture from a nozzle. Material mass loss was determined as well as the depth of jet-induced abrasion on the top surface, abraded surface topography and abraded material volume, were measured using 3D scan technology. These measurements were analyzed using ArcGIS tools, and MATLAB functions. Evaluations of how well the concrete specimens resisted abrasive erosion were determined through comparisons. The results show that in terms of abrasion resistance, the silica fume material is the best among the four types of materials, whereas the concrete mix is the poorest. The results also show that abrasion resistance of the concrete specimens increases when they have had sufficient time to age to their maximum structural integrity. A longer exposure to jet flow leads to higher abrasion. This study is perhaps the first to combine 3D scan and ArcGIS technologies to investigate abrasion depth and volume of different concrete materials. This study has led to the development of effective methods for data analysis and interpretation.