identifier: Baradaran-Noveiri, Pouya  (2020) A BIM-Based Approach for Optimizing HVAC Design and Air Distribution System Layouts in Panelized Houses.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In a centralized air distribution system, the designed ductwork layout impacts the system performance and the construction time and cost. Engineers face various challenges, including spatial limitations, leading them to use assumption-based design methods to balance their design with construction requirements. As a result of this shortcoming, insufficient design details for construction and improper coordination between designers and trade workers will occur, increasing the project duration and risk for conflicts. As the construction industry shifts towards off-site and fast-paced construction methods, the design processes must comply with construction requirements to ensure a smooth transition from conventional methods to off-site construction. This research provides a scientific and systematic method for design and optimization of the HVAC air distribution system in terms of the ductwork layouts, and sizes and types of ducts to standardize the construction processes for time and cost reduction in the off-site environment. The proposed methodology utilizes Building Information Modeling for coordination of the air distribution system using a 3D database. Furthermore, a trained genetic algorithm processes the data and identifies alternative solutions. As the final step, the algorithm generates the optimal air distribution system in the BIM 3D environment for a visual assessment and detailing. The results are verified based on existing case studies in the Canadian prefabricated, panelized construction company. The potential benefits include 23% savings in duct material whilst providing an integrated design solution with 32% less conflicts per day comparing to traditional design methods, which can potentially save about $10,119.5 and 175 man-hours per week.


identifier: Hernandez, Antonia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3026-7614 <https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3026-7614>  (2020) Sexcams in a Dollhouse: Social Reproduction and the Platform Economy.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract:
Once a peripheral phenomenon on the Web, sexcam platforms have been gaining social and economic importance, attracting millions of visitors every day. Crucial to this popularity is the technical and economic model that some of those sites use. Sexcam platforms combine the practices of labor and user-generated platforms. As platforms, they mediate between users and providers, becoming the field where those operations occur. Sexcam platforms, however, are more than intermediaries, and their structures incorporate and reproduce discriminatory conventions.

Sexcams in a Dollhouse: Social Reproduction and the Platform Economy is a research-creation project exploring digital labor through the American sexcam platform Chaturbate.com. Rather than treating this platform as an exception, this project invites the consideration of Chaturbate as a paradigmatic instance of work in the context of platform capitalism. Sexcam platforms, this research argues, illustrate recent changes in the notions of what is work and what is leisure, what generates value, or the shifting nature of social relations through social media.

Using a made-up dollhouse as an interface and stage, this project set up a series of performative interventions on the sexcam platform. Through humorous yet critical play, these pieces asked about the situation of social reproduction on the platform economy, the role of maintenance practices in the generation of value, and the incorporation of new technological infrastructures into daily life.


identifier: Skaik, Noha  (2020) Exploring the requirements and regulation of anillin as a target of the chromatin pathway in mammalian cells.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis explores the requirement of anillin, a cytokinesis regulator, in different human cell types and the mechanism that regulates anillin function. Cytokinesis is the process that physically separates a cell into two daughter cells. It takes place during mitotic exit to complete the cell cycle. Cytokinesis is spatiotemporally controlled to ensure that each daughter cell inherits the proper distribution of genomic and cytoplasmic content. Dysregulation of cytokinesis is correlated with diseases such as cancer. In metazoan cells, cytokinesis relies on the assembly and ingression of an actomyosin ring that pinches in the overlying membrane. Anillin is a scaffold protein with multiple binding partners that crosslinks the actomyosin ring to the membrane. Multiple conserved mechanisms regulate cytokinesis, and some mechanisms may be favored over others depending on the cell type. Our lab recently discovered a chromatin-based pathway that regulates ring assembly and position through anillin. We propose that this pathway is more strongly required in cancer cells with high aneuploidy, which typically arises during cancer progression. In support of this model, we found that anillin depletion causes a higher incidence of cytokinesis failure in cancer cells with higher aneuploidy. Using CRISPR-Cas9 to endogenously tag anillin, we define the thresholds of anillin required to support cytokinesis in different cell types. We also explored the mechanism regulating anillin function, and found that the chromatin pathway controls phospholipid binding required for the cortical recruitment of anillin. My findings revealed how the chromatin pathway controls the molecular function of anillin for cytokinesis.


identifier: Ajayi, Oreoluwa Albert  (2020) A function approximator approach to nonlinear systems analysis.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: A novel fuzzy inference system is introduced with desirable approximation properties for highly nonlinear systems that can be expressed in linear parameter varying form. This fuzzy inference system uses a hashing function to eliminate unnecessary computations and is compared with existing fuzzy inference systems. Furthermore, an application to nonlinear systems state estimation is provided, and the result is compared with that of the extended Kalman filter. The main benefit of this novel fuzzy inference system is its suitability to resource-constrained embedded control and estimation applications. Furthermore, multidimensional sampling is applied to the state-space variables and it is shown that (de)fuzzification in control systems and (de)modulation in communication systems are analogous. Finally, the values of fuzzy submodels as quantum mechanical objects are explored, for stability analysis and feedback controller synthesis for a class of nonlinear systems, using artificial intelligence approaches. Simulations confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


identifier: Musano, Camillia  (2020) CRISPR-Cas9 and Genetic Modifications: The Science, the Ethical Questions and Theological Reflection.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Genetic engineering has been a subject of interest to ethicists and theologians specifically with genetic modifications using CRISPR-Cas9. The way CRISPR functions is that it can cut a specific DNA sequence and then it can silence or insert and delete genes. This scientific method can help treat or prevent diseases by removing the DNA sequences that causes them. Furthermore, CRISPR could also be used to enhance genetic traits through this kind of gene editing. The ethics surrounding CRISPR has been a growing concern, specifically whether someone has the right to intervene in a person’s DNA without their consent, such as in utero. In addition, there have also been concerns on how genetic modifications affect our autonomy, moral agency, actions and society as a whole. Theological reflection on genetic modifications asks deeper questions. We begin to see how genetic modification can affect the foundations of Christianity in healthcare. Moreover, theology explores the question of whether or not it is moral for a human to play God and what a future might be like with genetically modified individuals. This leads us to reflect on what it means to be human once our bodies are changed in this way. Genetic modifications provoke differing views among many people and this thesis will explore the different perspectives in order to come to a deeper understanding of what is at stake.


identifier: Kodippili, Dulani P. A.  (2020) Sol-gel derived nano-silica suspensions for inclusion in cement paste.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Nano-silica (NS) is one of the most widely used nanomaterials in the cement industry, the addition of which delivers many advantages in improving the properties of hardened cement. It has been proven that NS can increase the strength, reduce the permeability, increase the durability, and reduce the CO2 emissions by lessening the usage of cement. However, the associated problems such as the agglomeration of NS and uneven dispersion of NS in the cement pastes limit its potential benefits.
These problems were addressed in this research by optimizing the method of NS incorporation. NS was synthesized by the sol-gel method and was utilized in cement as a suspension of calcium hydroxide. The hydration of cement with the sol-gel derived NS was studied using various techniques such as isothermal calorimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, mercury intrusion porosimetry, scanning electron microscopy, non-evaporable water content measurements, and X-ray diffraction with Rietveld refinement as well as mechanical properties. The optimum amount of NS was determined to be approximately 4% and perhaps as low as 2% if ultra sonification is utilized. It was shown that the NS synthesized by this method increased the rate of hydration by 12% in two days in terms of energy. Calcium hydroxide consumption and refinement of the microstructure and pore structure improved until this optimum amount. Moreover, the mechanical strength was improved up 35% in two days and 50% in seven days. The limitations of the NS usage can be minimized by this novel approach of NS incorporation.


identifier: Levy, Matthew  (2020) The Relationship between Weight Bias Internalization and Healthy and Unhealthy Weight Control Behaviours.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Introduction: Weight bias internalization (WBI) is associated with disordered eating symptomology and motivation to control weight. However, the relationship between WBI and specific weight control behaviours and how these behaviours differ between men and women is not well understood. Weight perception has also been shown to be associated with weight control, but has been understudied in adult populations. The objectives of this study were to determine (1) the relationship between WBI and weight control behaviours, (2) whether weight perception is independently associated with weight control behaviours and (3) whether these relationships differ between sexes.
Methods: Canadian adults (N=161; 52.8% women; mean body mass index [BMI]=26.5±4.99 kg/m2) completed questionnaires pertaining to WBI, weight control behaviours (healthy, unhealthy, extreme) and weight perception (accurate, under-, or over-estimation compared with objectively measured BMI). The cross-sectional relationship between (1) WBI or (2) weight perception with the total number of healthy and unhealthy or extreme weight control behaviours, and likelihood of performing specific weight control behaviours were assessed with linear and logistic regression models, respectively. These regression models were adjusted for age, sex, race and weight perception. Subsequent analyses were stratified by sex.
Results: WBI was associated with an increased likelihood of performing exercise for weight control in the full sample (OR=2.20, p<0.05); increased likelihood of skipping meals in women (OR=2.51, p<0.01), and consuming little amounts of food in men (OR=2.33, p<0.01). Weight perception was not associated with weight control behaviours.
Conclusions: WBI was associated with various weight control behaviours and differed by sex. This study highlights WBI and its relationship with weight control behaviours. Future longitudinal research should be conducted to further understand the behavioural and health effects of WBI.


identifier: Fazeli, Sasan  (2020) Development of UVC advanced oxidation photolysis combined with membrane electro- bioreactor for simultaneous removal for emerging contaminants and reduction of by-products.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Development of UVC advanced oxidation photolysis combined with membrane electro- bioreactor for simultaneous removal for emerging contaminants and reduction of by-products

The continuous discharge of emerging contaminants (ECs) to the aquatic ecosystem generate concerns due to their unpredictable risks to human and environment. The presence of ECs in source water attributed to the conventional wastewater treatment facilities which are not fundamentally designed to completely eliminate these micropollutants at low concentrations.
The aim of this research was to enhance the wastewater treatment to the level of its potential reuse as a source of water. The investigations were conducted at lab and pilot scale in 8 phases and several stages. Initially, the removal of selected ECs was optimized. Subsequently, the by-product formation and their identification were conducted. Then, the study focused on the by-product removal. In subsequent phases, the optimal technological parameters were verified in natural conditions, at the pilot scale in AOP (advance oxidation process) and AO-MEBR (membrane electro-bioreactor) facilities. Such approach permitted to study the removal of sulfamethoxazole (SMX), 17- alpha ethynyl estradiol (EE2), caffeine (CAF) and paracetamol (PCM) from various aqueous solutions (DI water, river water, effluent after wastewater treatment, and wastewater). A developed model investigated the effect of technological parameters on pharmaceuticals’ removal efficiency and on by-product abatement.
The results showed superior removal efficiency (99%) by both UV/H2O2 AOP and UV/O3 AOP of SMX, PCM, CAF and EE2 in comparison to sole UVC photolysis (30-40%). UV/O3 AOP demonstrated an elevated rate and removal by 10-15% higher than ozonation alone. The target ECs such as SMX, PCM were removed by more than 80% in effluent and more than 90% in river water during 60 minutes. The differences in the ECs  and their byproducts removal from various aqueous matrices were discussed from the matrix properties perspectives,  particularly non-target constituents (EfOM, NOM and sacavengers) present at different amounts in target matrices. The influence of operational parametrs (oxidant and UV doses, exposure time, pH) was defined, where particular usefulness of Surface Response Methodology was underlined. Overall, the SMX and by-products’ abatement (99.99%) in different matrices by AO-MEBR hybrid system was evident.
Four major SMX by-products (BP-99, BP-270, BP-288, BP-172) identified by LC-MS-MS, revealed longer lifetime and stability even after parent SMX ion removal. By applying optimal technological parameters, i.e. pH, oxidant dose and aeration rate, the by-products amounts were successfully controlled. Degradation mechanisms, reaction pathway and evolution of by-products during treatment in various aqueous solutions were conducted. Particular attention was paid on the effect of OH scavenging, the role of non-target constituencies, operation parameters, as well as aeration and superoxide radicals. Furthermore, the toxicity was decreased and energy consumption for target pollutant removal was minimized (20-25%).
The AO-MEBR system not merely improved the quality of effluent with respect to refractory organic pollutants, but also likely promoted by-products and toxicity mitigation as well as saving energy leading to improved potential of water recovery from sewage.


identifier: Maxwell, Stephanie  (2020) The Clinical Use of Key Modulation by Music Therapists in Canada: A Modified Grounded Theory Study.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The purpose of this research was to gather the perspectives of Canadian music therapists on their clinical use of key modulation in music therapy. Key modulation is the shift from one tonal centre to a new one, and it is a musical element that is often discussed in the training of music therapists. However, no literature to date clearly articulated potential clinical benefits of using key modulation in music therapy. The research question that guided this inquiry was: ‘’How do music therapists in Canada use key modulation in their clinical practice?’’ Using a modified grounded theory methodology to generate more information about this specific phenomenon, three experienced music therapists took part in semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed using Neumann’s (2006) procedures of open coding, axial coding and selective coding. Five main themes emerged as a result of the analysis process:  Music therapists used key modulation as (a) a source of change, (b) to enhance the aesthetic experience, to (c) encourage connection, (d) to support emotional experiences and as an indicator of the (e) therapists’ musical path. The discussion chapter interpreted key findings including that client’s awareness of key modulation as a source of change was supported by the literature. Additionally, the prevalence of key modulation in the popular music idiom was discussed as it related to music therapists’ clinical practice. The implications of the research for education, clinical practice and suggestions for further research are presented.


identifier: Broydell, Jennifer  (2020) Ambivalent Attachments: Love, Sex and Family in Works by Catherine Opie, Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: As the mainstream gay, lesbian and bisexual rights movement began to prioritize marriage equality and other forms of legal relationship recognition in the 1990s, some queer people were concerned about the repercussions of such campaigns. This thesis research examines two bodies of work by artists who self-identify as lesbian or queer women: the first two photographs in Catherine Opie’s Self-Portrait series, Cutting (1993) and Pervert (1994), as well as Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan’s Object/Subject of Desire (1993). These works by Opie, Dempsey and Millan appear to manifest ambivalence about these contentious debates, which I seek to better understand. I engage with texts by a number of queer theorists, including Michael Warner, Lisa Duggan, Jack Halberstam, Lauren Berlant and Heather Love. Ultimately, the objective is not to argue that these works align with either side of the subcultural divide, but to show that identity and desire are more complex than binary thinking may suggest.


identifier: Abdel Khalek, Nada  (2020) Learning-Based Approaches for Intelligent Cognitive Radio.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Today with the growing demand for more data transmissions and increased network capacities, cognitive radio technology is ever more relevant. Traditional static spectrum allocation is no longer a feasible option. Through dynamic spectrum access, cognitive devices are able to tap into unused licensed spectrum bands. Thus, improving the spectrum utilization efficiency and fueling spectrum scarce applications. Cognitive Radio (CR) networks consist of smart radio devices that have the ability to sense and adapt to the rapidly changing radio environment. A cognitive device goes through a process of intelligent decision-making, which intrinsically shapes them into smart devices.

Motivated by the superior performance of machine learning in various research paradigms, a cooperative Secondary Network (SN) is proposed that operates under a hybrid underlay-interweave access model. By taking advantage of both access models, the SN maximizes its throughput. A detection problem is formulated for each access model and Machine Learning (ML) techniques are applied to the SN, namely Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Naive Bayes' (NB) to classify the state of the channel. The multi-class SVM (MSVM) algorithm is reformulated and used to further classify the state of each primary user in the network. The performance of the hybrid network is evaluated based on the Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) and classification accuracy. In addition, we show that the accuracy of the MSVM is improved through the cooperation of the secondary users. Our results show that the proposed ML-based hybrid model is robust to low Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) environments, and yields an improved performance compared with traditional cooperative sensing techniques. Moreover, we show that the Gaussian SVM surpasses other proposed learning algorithms achieving as high as an 80% detection rate with as low as 10% false alarm.

Energy detection-based spectrum sensing, relies on measuring the energy level in the spectrum, and accordingly deciding the current occupancy state of the channel. Therefore, CR devices are required to determine the corresponding channel state given a measured energy level. CR networks that use supervised learning techniques to perform the sensing task require data examples of energy levels and the corresponding channel state for training purposes , i.e., labeled data. Having readily available labeled data is a complex task for CR networks, since it requires cooperation from both primary and secondary users. Such cooperation violates the ground rules for the interweave and underlay CR access models. Tackling the problem of labeled data scarcity in practical CR applications, we propose a two-stage learning framework for cooperative spectrum sensing. The algorithm combines the superior performance of the SVM algorithm and low cost training data of the GMM. Thus, rendering the two-stage learning framework suitable for practical CR applications. Finally, a system model is proposed and the performance of the system is evaluated based on the ROC for its upper and lower performance bounds. Additionally, our results show that the two-stage learning attains a higher detection performance compared with using the GMM algorithm.


identifier: Nordstrom, Alexandra  (2020) Labours of Love and Activism on the Prairies: the Sioux Handcraft Co-operative’s Artistic Production, 1960-1980.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Although Indigenous women living on the prairies fostered and maintained prolific creative practices throughout the mid-twentieth century, their work and artistic production is rarely discussed in art historical discourses and/or included within the ‘canons’ of Indigenous and other art histories. Accordingly, this thesis focuses on the Sioux Handcraft Co-operative (SHC), their artistry, and their work as a community-engaged creative enterprise. I examine how the collective responded to a growing need for economic support in Indigenous communities, especially for Indigenous women, in the context of a developing professional craft sector in Canada. Addressing the intersections between craft, community, home-enterprise, and gendered labour, I argue that the SHC’s artistry functioned as a social agent for cultural continuity and economic freedom all the while resisting and challenging assimilation into the colonial society.


identifier: Nibandhe, Aditya  (2020) Simulation-based Design Methodology for a Solar assisted Solid Desiccant Cooling System in Hot and Humid Climates.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Solar assisted Solid Desiccant Cooling (SDC) systems are effective solutions for hot and humid climates. Unlike conventional cooling systems that cool and dehumidify simultaneously, SDC systems handle sensible and latent load separately, assuring more accessible, economical and efficient air conditioning. Air-based flat-plate Photovoltaic Thermal (PV/T) collectors can provide low grade thermal energy for SDC operation. However, PV/T collectors optimized for increasing the outlet air temperature adversely affect the electrical performance and material integrity of the photovoltaic (PV) modules. As a result, an auxiliary heater (AH) is commonly employed to boost the outlet air temperature to the required level to support the SDC system’s operation; increasing the input power requirements of the integrated system.
This research investigates a Photovoltaic Thermal Solar Air Heater (PVT SAH) assisted Solid Desiccant Cooling (SDC) system for daytime operation in hot and humid climates. The objective of the research is to develop an integrated design methodology for the complex system.
An integrated energy model of a roof mounted PVT-SAH assisted SDC system for an archetypical low-rise mixed-use building in India is developed. First, three configurations of the integrated system are compared and an appropriate configuration is identified. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to investigate the correlation between the design parameters and the objective functions, and specify the ranges of inputs for the optimization study. A multi-objective optimization study is conducted to investigate the design solutions that reduce the solar assisted SDC system’s reliance on auxiliary heater, and optimize the solar energy gains (electrical and thermal) for space cooling application.
The integrated system configuration with proposed modifications achieved upto 135% improvement in COPth and upto 48% reduction in unmet hours over the typical system configurations. As per the sensitivity analysis, the collector area, air mass flow rate, and channel height are the most important design parameters. The optimization study results show that AH energy consumption is more sensitive to the air mass flow rate for larger collector areas. In contrast, the PV electrical energy gain is more sensitive to the collector areas.
The integrated PVT-SAH assisted SDC system shows a great potential to reduce both energy consumption and peak demand. The design methodology proposed in this study will facilitate the design and application of an integrated PVT-SAH assisted SDC system in hot and humid climates.


identifier: Morgan, Rauscher  (2020) Expressing Tacit Material Sensations from a Robo-Sculpting Process by Communicating Shared Haptic Experiences.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
A sculptor's sense of touch is paramount because we experience sculpting in the iterative process of making new objects. Making sculpture is a process of expressing the inner 'tacit-self' by way of tangible material interactions that become shared artefacts. The existence of tacit- tactile awareness indicates a natural world of personal haptic experience that this thesis will attempt to unpack. Tele-haptic solutions are presented in the form of two robotic sculptures, Touchbot #1 and Touchbot #2. Touchbots (collectively) are the study objects that this practice- based art-research thesis produced, to ask the question:
Is it possible to create a machine that could capture and retransmit tacit-tactile experiences within the artistic act of sculpting, through material engagement, from a sculptor's hand to a non-sculptor's hand?
Research, conducted and presented, aims to demonstrate that robotic haptic feedback is a vehicle for communicating 'touch' messages through mechanical transmission during sculptural actions (demonstrated through participant interviews and video observation analysis).
Additionally, an epistemological context for exploring 'hands-on' knowledge and practice deficits in machine-assisted object modelling is presented including: Michael Polanyi's Tacit Dimension (Polanyi, 2009), David Gooding's Thing Knowledge (Gooding, 2004, p. 1) and Lambros Malafouris' "Material Agency" and material culture (Malafouris, 2008, pp. 19-36). Intersecting bodies of knowledge weave a common thread to support developing a method of communicating tacit sculptural information using haptic touch experience.
Unfortunately, there exists more tele-haptics and telerobotics technology for industrial applications than artworks using the same technology. For instance, 'rapid prototyping' technology—such as 3D printers—is removing human tactile-material interaction from object making altogether. In response to the technological obstacle of expanding contemporary interactive sculpture, haptics is applied to include real-time, iterative, robotically assisted object modelling. A review of contemporary haptic technology demonstrates a gap in our understanding
iii
of embodied knowledge transference. A shortlist of contemporary artists and their works that address the communication of tacit-haptic experiences is also offered, highlighting the importance of exploring embodied knowledge transfer.


identifier: Gibson, Kenneth  (2020) Addressing Deficits: How Crowdfunded Journalists Find Success in a Restructuring Media Industry.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This thesis examines crowdfunded journalists’ beliefs about the most effective ways to appeal to potential financial supporters and successfully meet their funding goals. In the wake of continually worsening economic restructuring in the journalism industry and the disruption of journalism’s perennial advertising-based business model (Anderson, Shirky, & Bell, 2014; Kaye & Quinn, 2010), crowdfunding has emerged over the last decade as a possible alternative business model (Hunter, 2016). The financial crisis has resulted in cutbacks in coverage and staff, and an erosion of journalism’s societal role as the fourth estate (Gasher et al., 2016; McChesney & Pickard, 2011; Mensing, 2007; Picard, 2014; Public Policy Forum, 2017).
	The existing literature on what motivates people to support crowdfunded journalism has looked at the question primarily from supporters’ point of view (Aitamurto, 2011; Jian & Shin. 2015). However, there has been little research on what crowdfunded journalists themselves think are the best ways to motivate or appeal to potential financial supporters. Using in-depth, semi-structured interviews (as per Castillo-Montoya, 2016 and Leech, 2002) with 10 Canadian journalists who have engaged in crowdfunding for new media outlets, this thesis examines key value propositions the journalists use to motivate their audiences, the general obstacles they face when convincing their audience to pay, as well as promotional techniques and other related practices that contribute to successfully reaching their funding goals. The interviews were analyzed thematically (as per Guest, MacQueen, & Namey, 2012) using a constant comparative method and open coding to track emerging themes. The results show that respondents are crafting value propositions by alluding to deficits created by industry restructuring, and the negative impact this restructuring has on democratic society.


identifier: How, Brian  (2020) Heuristic conjectures for moments of cubic L-functions over function fields.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Let Lq(s. χ) be the Dirichlet L-function associated to χ, a cubic Dirichlet character with conductor of degree d over the polynomial ring Fq[T]. Following similar work by Keating and Snaith for moments of Riemann ζ-function, Conrey, Farmer, Keating, Rubinstein, and
Snaith [Con+05] introduced a framework for proposing conjectural formulae for integral moments of general L-functions with the help of random matrix theory.

In this thesis we review the heuristic found in [Con+05] and apply their work in order to propose moments for Lq(s, χ), cubic L-functions over function fields. We find asymptotic formulae when q ≡ 1 (mod 3), the Kummer case, and when q ≡ 2 (mod 3), the non-Kummer case. Moreover, while the authors of [Con+05] provide only the framework for proposing (k, k)-moments of primitive L-functions, we extend their work following the work of David, Lalin, and Nam to propose (k, l)-moments of cubic L-functions where k ≥ l ≥ 1 [DLN]. Furthermore, we provide explicit computations that elucidate the combinatorics of leading order moments and find a general form as well.


identifier: Özdal, Özer ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0575-797X <https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0575-797X>  (2020) Phenomenology of new physics beyond the Standard Model: signals of dark matter and new gauge bosons at colliders.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
In this PhD thesis we investigate various aspects of phenomenology of new physics beyond the Standard Model (SM) in the context of extensions of supersymmetric \& non-supersymmetric realisations.

In extensions of supersymmetric realisations, we first study the low scale predictions of the supersymmetric standard model extended by $U(1)_{B-L}\times U(1)_{R}$ symmetry, obtained from $SO(10)$ breaking via a left-right supersymmetric model, imposing universal boundary conditions. We find that the lightest neutralino or sneutrino emerge as dark matter  candidates, with different  low scale implications. Secondly, we perform a comprehensive analysis of the secluded UMSSM model, consistent with present experimental constraints. In this model the additional $Z^\prime$ gauge boson can be leptophobic without resorting to gauge kinetic mixing and, thus lowering the LHC bounds on its mass. Thirdly, we  test $E_6$ realisations of a generic $U(1)'$ extended Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (UMSSM) against all currently available  data, from space to ground experiments, from low to high energies. Large gauge kinetic mixing implies that the $Z'$  boson emerging from the breaking of the additional $U(1)'$ symmetry is rather wide since it decays mainly into $WW$ pairs.

In extensions of non-supersymmetric realisations, we study mass bounds of the $W_R$ gauge boson in generic  left-right symmetric models. Assuming that the gauge bosons couple universally to quarks and leptons, we allow different gauge couplings $g_R \ne g_L$ and mass mixing, $V_{CKM}^L \ne V_{CKM}^R$ in the left and right sectors. $W_R$ mass bounds can be considerably relaxed, while $Z_R$ mass bounds are much more stringent. In addition, we perform a consistent analysis of the alternative left-right symmetric model emerging from $E_6$ grand unification. We show that the exotic neutrino inherent to this class of models, the scotino, is a viable candidate for dark matter satisfying relic density and direct detection constraints.


identifier: Siaw, Leona  (2020) Seam Stress: Garment Work and Gendered Labour Struggle in 1980s Montreal.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

format: text text

abstract: Montreal’s garment industry was the largest in Canada until most of its factories closed or relocated in the 1980s and 1990s, but it did not go out quietly. Staring down the barrel of rapid, state-sanctioned deindustrialization, 9,500 members of the Quebec ILGWU, most of them immigrant women, launched an industry-wide strike in August of 1983, the first in 43 years, as well as the last. Using the strike as a springboard, this thesis combines oral history interviews and archival material with historical, geographical, and feminist literatures to understand how women workers experienced and contested garment deindustrialization in 1980s Montreal. The result is a graphic novel about garment work and feminist labour struggle, for public consumption. This thesis adds much-needed female perspective to a growing body of work around deindustrialization and its contestation within history and geography. Conceptually and politically, it seeks to recast the Mile End and Mile-Ex as a site of feminist, working-class struggle, placing gentrification in conversation with deindustrialization while offering a primer on place-based labour organizing during a time of unprecedented capital mobility.


identifier: Bonoan, Julienne Therese, Weladji, Robert B., Body, Guillaume, Holand, Øystein and Røed, Knut  (2020) Social Network Analysis of female reindeer (Rangifer tarandus): Do females assort based on relatedness and age during the rut?  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

creator:
Bonoan, Julienne Therese
Weladji, Robert B.
Body, Guillaume
Holand, Øystein
Røed, Knut

abstract: Understanding the drivers of how animals socialize and associate with each other in a population has insights into the ecology, biology, and behaviour of its members. Social Network Analysis (SNA) has been growing in popularity as a tool to understand the social patterns of animal populations, where multiple factors such as age and relatedness affect social patterns. The effect of genetic relatedness and age on the social patterns of an animal population exhibiting fission-fusion group dynamics (i.e. frequent changes in group membership) was assessed using a semi-domestic herd of female reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), situated in Kaamanen, Finland. Analyses were done using SNA in 2009 and 2011 during the breeding season (or rut), using GPS data. We found that females had distinct social groups (or communities) and associated non-randomly in both years; however, females did not spatially assort into communities based on genetic relatedness and age. Although age did not influence community structure, age affected association levels, where females socialized with others significantly less after the age of 7. We concluded that although genetic relatedness and age may not explain the non-random spatial associations between female reindeer during the rut, there may be other factors yet to be discovered that could play a role in their social organizations. Overall, our results provided insights into the social patterns of a population exhibiting fission-fusion group dynamics.


identifier: Sucapane, Daniella  (2020) Plant-based or meat alternative? How the naming and packaging of plant-based meat alternatives influence consumers' product perceptions.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: There has been a rise in the marketplace of newer generation plant-based meat alternative products that cater to flexitarian and meat eating consumers, as they try to resemble real meat as much as possible. However, there is little research on these ambiguous food products. The goal of this thesis was to better understand how marketing and packaging elements influence consumers’ perceptions of plant-based meat alternatives (e.g., taste, health, and environmentally friendly perceptions, predicted consumption, etc.). Online experiments manipulating product names and packaging colors were used to test the hypotheses. Study 1 found that a product named plant-based was viewed as more environmentally friendly and healthier, and had a higher trial likelihood than the product named meat alternative. Mediation analyses revealed that perceived product health and environmental friendliness mediated the relationship between product name and predicted quantity consumed, such that the plant-based name resulted in more positive perceptions but decreased predicted consumption. Study 2 found an interaction effect between product name and package color on trial likelihood, predicted satiety, and environmental goals, with marginal effects of perceived environmental friendliness. The product named meat alternative paired with a red product package resulted in higher ratings of trial likelihood, perceived environmental friendliness, and environmental goals, while the product named plant-based with a red product package was rated as being more satisfying. A moderated-mediation revealed an interaction effect of product name and packaging color on predicted consumption through environmental goals. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, as well as directions for future research.


identifier: Lakshmanan Thirunavukkarasu, Sudershan  (2020) Caught-in-Translation (CiT): Detecting Cross-level Inconsistency Attacks in Network Functions Virtualization.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
By providing network functions through software running on standard hardware, Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) brings many benefits, such as increased agility and flexibility with reduced costs, as well as additional security concerns. Although existing works have examined various security issues of NFV, such as vulnerabilities in VNF software and DoS, there has been little effort on a security issue that is intrinsic to NFV, i.e., as an NFV environment typically involves multiple abstraction levels, the inconsistency that may arise between different levels can potentially be exploited for security attacks. Existing solutions mostly focus on verification, which is after the fact and cannot prevent irreversible damages. Further adding to the complexity, the different abstraction levels can be managed by multiple service providers, which may render the data required for verification inaccessible. Moreover, many existing solutions are limited to a single abstraction level and disregard the multi-level nature of NFV.
In this work, we propose the first NFV deployment model to capture the deployment aspects of NFV at different abstraction levels, which is essential for an in-depth study of the inconsistencies between such levels. We then present concrete attack scenarios in which the inconsistencies are exploited to attack the network functions in a stealthy manner. Based on the deployment model, we study the feasibility of detecting the inconsistencies through verification. Furthermore, by drawing an analogy between multi-level NFV events and natural languages, we propose a Neural Machine Translation (NMT)-based detection approach, namely, Caught-in-Translation (CiT), to detect cross-level inconsistency attacks in NFV. Specifically, we first extract event sequences from different abstraction levels of an NFV stack. We then leverage the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) to translate the event sequences from one level to another. Finally, we apply both similarity metric and Siamese neural network to compare the translated event sequences with the actual sequences to detect attacks. We integrate CiT into OpenStack/Tacker, and evaluate its performance using both real and synthetic data. Experimental results show that CiT outperforms traditional anomaly detection and provides an accurate, efficient, and robust solution for detecting inconsistency attacks in NFV.


identifier: Klohn, Bonnie  (2020) Welcoming the Wild Salmon Caravan: Socially Engaged Art as a Decolonizing Practice.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The Wild Salmon Caravan (WSC) is an Indigenous led socially engaged art project designed to celebrate and call for the protection of wild salmon in so-called BC, and particularly in Secwe̓pemcul’ecw. I use critical reflection (Morely, 2008) to gain insights from my involvement organizing arts-build workshops, festivities and building relationships through this annual event since 2016. The Cross Cultural Protocol (Morrison, 2016) and the Cross Cultural Interface Framework developed by Dawn Morrison and the Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty provided the scaffolding for reflections on my research questions: “What do the Cross Cultural Protocols teach non-Indigenous people about acting as an ally?” and, “How does socially engaged art such as the WSC contribute to public pedagogy regarding decolonization?” In the research findings, I share stories that relate to each of the 12 Cross Cultural Protocols and identify the points of entry, interface, contradiction and strategy present in each narrative that helped me to understand how, as a non-Indigenous person, I can better act as an ally, as the protocols urge us to do. I also find that the WSC, as a socially engaged art project contributes to public pedagogy regarding decolonization through healing multiple facets of self-in-relation (Graveline, 1998): self, family, community, agency and the world. Along with personal reflection, the research findings resulted from learning through semi-structured dialogues with Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants of the WSC, and are presented using métissage (Hasbe-Ludt, Chambers & Leggo, 2009) and writing as a method of inquiry (Richardson & St. Pierre, 2005). As such, my own voice in the research findings is woven together with historic documents, Indigenous poetry, stories and Secwe̓pemc voices.


identifier: Ghosh, Trisha  (2020) Artificial Genetically Encoded Peptides and Proteins as Next-Generation Therapeutics: Selection of ligands for Mycobacterium tuberculosis UDP-Galactopyranose Mutase as Potential Inhibitors.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Peptides and small proteins provide a dynamic platform for drug discovery and therapeutics. They
have a wide range of applications including inhibition of protein-protein interaction, inhibition of transporter
and enzyme activity, imaging, and as co-crystallisation ligand for structural studies. In this study, we employed
in vitro selection of ligands, using mRNA display, from an artificial genetically encoded library of
peptides/proteins to identify candidates that bind the enzyme Mycobacterium tuberculosis UDPGalactopyranose mutase (MtUGM). The enzyme catalyzes the reversible conversion of UDP-galactopyranose
(UDP-Galp) to UDP-galactofuranose (UDP-Galf), which is then assembled as the galactofuran layer in
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) cell wall. Cell wall biosynthesis is essential for Mtb survival and
pathogenicity, deletion in genes involved in this process have proven lethal. We successfully identified
macrocyclic peptides (MCPs) and affibodies specific for MtUGM from a library with a diversity >1012 clones
through random non-standard peptide integrated discovery (RaPID) system and mRNA display, respectively.
Enrichment of positive binders was observed for both selection processes suggesting binding specificity.
Previous studies reveal that natural product-like MCPs can inhibit enzyme activity; their small size,
conformational stability and high affinity for the target makes them attractive ligands. Thus, we hypothesize
that identified MCPs may show inhibition of MtUGM thereby halting cell wall biosynthesis. Discovered
affibodies will be used for structural analysis of MtUGM. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported
tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mtb to be one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with increasing incidences
of drug resistant strains necessitating discovery of novel therapeutics. Through our study, we present a novel
approach for discovering peptide/protein-based ligands for MtUGM and hope to develop an assay for
screening MCPs for potential inhibitors.


identifier: Coombs, Keenin R.  (2020) Mismatch between calf paternity and observed copulations between male and female reindeer (Rangifer tarandus): are female reindeer polyandrous?  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In polygynous systems, such as that exhibited by reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), mate choice can be difficult to disentangle from male intrasexual competition because male behaviour may constrain female choice.  Polyandry may provide an avenue for female mate choice, though it is difficult to identify using behavioural estimators alone.  Molecular techniques address this issue by affording ecologists an opportunity to reassess mating systems from a genetic perspective.  We assessed the frequency and possible explanations for polyandry in reindeer using a genetic approach to determine the success of observed copulations in a semi-domesticated herd in Kaamanen, Finland.  Behavioural and genetic data were synthesized with population characteristics over a seven-year period to test the hypothesis that, if present, polyandry in reindeer is driven by sexual harassment from sub-dominant males.  Finally, we test for prevailing patterns in the mating order of females to address the feasibility of polyandry as a mechanism for defense against male infertility or post-copulatory selection.  We observed polyandry in 42% of females, with as many as 60% exhibiting polyandry in certain years.  We found no evidence that polyandry resulted from sexual harassment by sub-dominant males, suggesting that it is likely a deliberate strategy among females.  Female preference for larger males persisted despite polyandrous behaviour, however, we found no influence of male body mass on mating order, or of mating order on match/mismatch.  Consequently, neither post-copulatory selection nor defense against infertility can be ruled out as a driver of polyandry among female reindeer.


identifier: Naik, Sachin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3121-1084 <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3121-1084>  (2020) Microbiomics of Populus.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

title: Microbiomics of Populus

format: text spreadsheet

abstract:
Species of the genus Populus, commonly known as poplars, are one of the most widely used groups of forest trees in North America and Europe. Poplars play a significant ecological role as a pioneer species in the boreal forest, and as a dominant species in riparian forests where they serve as rich wildlife habitats. Numerous natural and artificial hybrids of poplars with superior qualities are widely used in commercial plantations. However, many hybrid poplars are susceptible to the leaf spot and stem canker causative pathogenic fungal species, Sphaerulina musiva which limits the utility of hybrid poplars as plantation trees. At present, there is no control measure to combat the disease caused by S. musiva. The plant microbiome—mainly endophytic microbes—are known to interact with pathogenic microbes and play a crucial role in the ecology and evolution of plants. Understanding the endophytic microbial associations in Poplars along with their interactions with S. musiva is invaluable for developing new methods for combating the stem cankers caused by this pathogen. In the present study, we found a number of endophytic microbes in Poplars that inhibit the fungal pathogen S. musiva and may serve as a potential source to develop biocontrol agents against S. musiva.

In the first study (Chapter 2), we characterized the endophytic fungal community in Populus species in the Gault Nature Reserve in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec. We investigated the dual culture interactions of endophytes against S. musiva. We isolated 367 endophytic fungal isolates grouped into 46 genera. Alternaria was the dominant and most common genus isolated. We found certain genera of endophytic fungi were unique to specific Populus species. Only a few endophytic fungi exhibited antagonistic activity against S. musiva and showed differential competitive ability. The endophytic fungus Fusarium sporotrichioides showed the strongest antagonistic activity against S. musiva and can be used as a potential source to develop a biocontrol microbe against S. musiva.

In the second study (Chapter 3), we investigated interactions between Bacillus velezensis EB14, an endophytic bacterial strain isolated from poplars, and S. musiva. We found significant inhibition of S. musiva by the endophytic bacterium, B. velezensis. We also discovered the production of anti-fungal Iturin compounds (iturin A1, subtulene A, iturin A2, iturin A9 and fengycin) along with four unknown compounds in Bacillus velezensis. In addition, we found that B. velezensis EB14 exhibited varying level of competitive ability against the endophytic fungal microbiome of Populus.

In the third study (Chapter 4), we elucidated the evolutionary relationships of the isolated Bacillus strain EB14, and performed a comparative genome analysis of the Bacillus velezensis EB14 strain with its closest relatives. We report the 4.07Mbp draft genome of Bacillus velezensis EB14.  This genome encodes 12 secondary metabolite gene clusters which includes Surfactin, Rhizoactin, Bacillibactin, Fengycin, Bacillaene, Difficidin, Macrolactin, and Bacilysin. The presence of genes involved in plant bacterial interactions further validates the potential of using Bacillus velezensis EB14 strain to develop as a biocontrol microbe in forestry and agriculture. Furthermore, pan and core genome analysis revealed that Bacillus strains associated with plants possessed genes involved in cell wall degradation, polyketide synthesis, and environment sensors. Most of these genes were clade specific and found in B. amyloliquefaciens, B. siamensis, and the conspecific group of B. velezensis.

The last chapter (Chapter 5), examines one of the most perplexing questions in endophyte biology: How and why do endophytes produce metabolites similar to host plant derived secondary metabolites? Here, we review the endophyte literature on secondary metabolite production and show that detailed studies are required for conclusive demonstration of metabolite production, as well as to explain the adaptive significance of production of these metabolites by endophytic fungi.


identifier: Heydari, Atefeh  (2020) Walking through the gardens: A case study of Iranian community gardeners in three urban community gardens, in Montreal, Canada.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis examines the place-making strategies employed by some Iranian immigrants in three urban community gardens in Montreal, Canada. I argue the practices of place-making within the garden is a complex and multilayered process in which heterogeneous actors (human and non-human) play central roles. Prosaic pleasures invoked through enchanting encounters and childhood memories of a beloved garden motivate some people to spend their time and energy within the garden in the hope of re-enchantment. In this theoretical synthesis, I examine how, through inhabiting the garden, these gardeners develop a sense of belonging and attachment to Canada as their new home. I demonstrate that place-making within a community garden goes beyond altering the physical landscape of the garden. Through the process of constructing an alternative home within the community garden, immigrants form family-like relationships, improve their health and well-being, and also cultivate a sense of stability and belonging. This thesis examines the entangled relationships between humans and non-humans within the community gardens. I propose that place-making within the community garden is not just a human achievement, but rather it is co-constructed by heterogeneous actors. It is notable that this thesis acknowledges that a human is the most powerful actant in the process of place-making. However, it also highlights the roles of non-humans as it would be a huge omission if we did not credit the active positions of non-humans in our lives.


identifier: Gailloux, Chantal ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0273-8514 <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0273-8514>  (2020) The Conflicting Politics of Commoning – Property Relations and Political Practices of Community Gardens in East Harlem, NYC, in the Context of the Affordable Housing Plan.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This dissertation examines the property relations and political practices of eight community gardens in East Harlem, New York City, that are threatened with eviction by “Housing New York,” a citywide affordable housing plan, leading to a contentious land use conflict.

Property relations in community gardens take place among a broad set of actors, like gardeners, passers-by, and neighbours, but also developers, city officials, and city workers who all interact regularly and throughout the eviction process.  These property relations consequently reveal how such urban spaces are contested.  Keeping with Verdery (2001), Moore (2001), and Riles (2004), property relations – intertwined with power relations – point to the political practices to represent and assert their claims to a property in formal institutions and public review processes but also during daily interactions or direct actions.

During the yearlong multi-sited ethnography I executed in 2016-2017, I examined the gardeners’ property relations to better understand the contention between the City’s formal legal ownership rights versus the gardeners’ embodied and moral sense of ownership of the same space, which are two competing and asymmetrical authorities pitted against each other.  To do so, I inquired how gardeners negotiate normative conceptions of property aesthetics and liberal citizenship while also scrutinizing the City-led land use public review process.  I argue property relations are a way of negotiating power, be they on private, collective or commons property.  Negotiating power here means as much producing or maintaining power as it does mitigating it.

As such, this dissertation illustrates how race has been and still is at the heart of American property (Bhandar, 2018; Roy, 2017; Harris, 1993).  Community gardens have acted as spaces at the margins in the sense suggested by both Das (2004) and hooks (1989).  Commoning gardens are community-led margins that act simultaneously as sites of resistance and repression and engage in partnerships with the State for self-creation and maintenance.  Thus, community gardens as margins are an ideal vantage point from which to explore the inner workings of the State and the capitalist public-private production of the urban space.


identifier: Sinz, Sam  (2020) The Role of Informal Social Interactions in Predicting Team Cohesion and Performance.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In a world where teamwork and performance are essential components of any organization, it is essential to understand the phenomena that lead to an effective and sustainable work environment. Organizations need to perform well to achieve their objectives. While most scholars agree that team cohesion is a precursor of team performance, this relationship has not been fully established. Furthermore, the antecedents of team cohesion are poorly understood. The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate the role of informal social interactions inside and outside the workplace in predicting team cohesion, and address gaps in the literature, in a quest for consensus on the relationship between team cohesion and team performance. Relying on the social identity theory, this paper develops eight hypotheses to shine light on the link between social interactions and team performance. Using survey data from 141 employees around the world, this empirical study obtains significant evidence of a positive relationship between informal interactions both inside and outside the workplace and team cohesion. The results of the analysis further confirm a positive relationship between team cohesion and team performance, and the mediating role of team cohesion. Managers should promote social interactions inside and outside the workplace amongst team members to increase team cohesion and performance. Focusing on the bigger picture, this thesis concludes with a presentation of the implications and limitations of the study. Specifically, the rise of virtual interactions in a post-pandemic society and the effects of national culture in the global landscape are discussed.


identifier: Noel, Alex  (2020) Pulpy Pedagogies: Following the Paper Trail in Art Education.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: What is the pedagogical value of making something? Historically speaking, “making” things has been a fundamental and necessary part of daily life, but the modern convenience of technology has allowed us to bypass many of these previously embedded processes. While the normative view of art education is virtually synonymous with making, in practice there is progressively more emphasis directed towards conceptual development. The following text is an account of my wayfaring journey through reconnecting with material practices as a way to identify their continued value and relevance to art pedagogy. Through a descriptive account of learning “from within” practice, I illustrate the generative potential of papermaking, and—more generally—making things. Furthermore, I offer a novel approach to research-creation through the practice of hand papermaking. I conclude by raising ethical concerns regarding material practice and considerations for future research trajectories.


identifier: Remz, Sean  (2020) Interethnic Relations, National Identifications, and ‘Bystanders’ to the Holocaust in the Northeastern Hungarian borderlands.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This thesis addresses the conceptually ambiguous matter of the bystander during the Holocaust in the borderlands of ‘Greater Hungary,’ tracing the longer-term historical trajectory that led to a variety of responses to the ghettoization, plunder, and genocidal deportation of the Jews of Subcarpathia, (Southern) Maramuresh, and Northern Transylvania. It uses dozens of memoirs of Holocaust survivors from irredentist Hungary in order to explore this topic, while also taking note of the self-identification of these survivors.

	This primary source evidence suggests that non-perpetrator ethnic Magyars who were neither peasant nor aristocratic tended to participate in the plundering of Hungarian Jewry. Conversely, it reveals that ethnic Romanians of Maramuresh provided support for ghettoized Jews, while Ruthenians often displayed an emotional distance from them. The specific history of these emotions requires analysis of language and education politics in interwar Czechoslovakia, and of the Hungarian invasion of autonomous Subcarpathian Ruthenia in 1939.

	The causal factors explaining this ethnic difference in the behaviour of Holocaust bystanders arise from the relationship between a given ethnonational group and statehood. The Hungarian state explicitly privileged Magyars in the distribution of the plunder it allotted in 1944. Romanians in Southern Maramuresh and the northern partition of Transylvania awaited the return of the Romanian state, and perceived Hungarian authorities’ anti-Jewish persecution and genocidal opportunism as imbricated with the xenophobia against themselves. The Ruthenians’ national ambiguity and interethnic relations forces us to focus the conceptual debates around the viability of the term ‘bystander’ primarily on them.


identifier: Morgan, Rauscher  (2020) Expressing Tacit Material Sensations from a Robo-Sculpting Process by Communicating Shared Haptic Experiences.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
A sculptor's sense of touch is paramount because we experience sculpting in the iterative process of making new objects. Making sculpture is a process of expressing the inner 'tacit-self' by way of tangible material interactions that become shared artefacts. The existence of tacit- tactile awareness indicates a natural world of personal haptic experience that this thesis will attempt to unpack. Tele-haptic solutions are presented in the form of two robotic sculptures, Touchbot #1 and Touchbot #2. Touchbots (collectively) are the study objects that this practice- based art-research thesis produced, to ask the question:
Is it possible to create a machine that could capture and retransmit tacit-tactile experiences within the artistic act of sculpting, through material engagement, from a sculptor's hand to a non-sculptor's hand?
Research, conducted and presented, aims to demonstrate that robotic haptic feedback is a vehicle for communicating 'touch' messages through mechanical transmission during sculptural actions (demonstrated through participant interviews and video observation analysis).
Additionally, an epistemological context for exploring 'hands-on' knowledge and practice deficits in machine-assisted object modelling is presented including: Michael Polanyi's Tacit Dimension (Polanyi, 2009), David Gooding's Thing Knowledge (Gooding, 2004, p. 1) and Lambros Malafouris' "Material Agency" and material culture (Malafouris, 2008, pp. 19-36). Intersecting bodies of knowledge weave a common thread to support developing a method of communicating tacit sculptural information using haptic touch experience.
Unfortunately, there exists more tele-haptics and telerobotics technology for industrial applications than artworks using the same technology. For instance, 'rapid prototyping' technology—such as 3D printers—is removing human tactile-material interaction from object making altogether. In response to the technological obstacle of expanding contemporary interactive sculpture, haptics is applied to include real-time, iterative, robotically assisted object modelling. A review of contemporary haptic technology demonstrates a gap in our understanding
iii
of embodied knowledge transference. A shortlist of contemporary artists and their works that address the communication of tacit-haptic experiences is also offered, highlighting the importance of exploring embodied knowledge transfer.


identifier: da Estrela, Chelsea  (2020) Change of Heart: Parenting Stress and Distress, and Associations with Heart Rate Variability.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Challenging parent-child interactions can be an important source of stress and distress for parents. Family stress models highlight that there is substantial individual variability in adjustment to parenting stressors. The current dissertation sought to examine whether parent self-regulation, as indexed by heart rate variability (HRV), is an inter-individual factor that predicts variability in the association between parenting stressors and parent mood disturbances. The first study tested whether there was an association between parenting stressors and parent’s self-regulatory capacities (i.e., parent HRV), and whether the marital context within which these stressful parent-child interactions occurred moderated this effect.  Findings from this study, derived from a sample of 80 cohabiting heterosexual couples with preschool children, suggested that parenting stressors are associated with reduced parent self-regulation capacities and that fathers are especially vulnerable to the marital context within which this occurs. In the second study, using a daily diary design and the same sample as in the first study, we tested whether parent HRV moderated the association between parenting stressors and mood disturbances. Between- and within-person analyses indicated that the strength of the positive association between daily parenting stress and negative mood increased with decreasing HRV, suggesting that depleted parent self-regulatory capacities may index vulnerability to stress-related disturbances in negative mood. In the third and final study, sleep reactivity was identified as a potential pathway through which lower HRV confers greater risk for stress-related mood disturbances. The results from the moderated mediation model with 125 mothers of adolescents with developmental disorders and 97 mothers of typically developing adolescents, suggested that lower HRV is a potential biomarker of increased sleep reactivity which in turn increases the risk for elevated parent depressive symptoms associated with parenting stress. Taken together, these studies suggest that parent self-regulation capacities, as indexed by HRV, is a resource that may help identify which parents adapt, and which parents have difficulty adapting to, parenting stressors.


identifier: Farahbakhshtooli, Armin  (2020) Collapse Assessment of Steel Plate Shear Walls.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Steel Plate Shear Walls (SPSWs) are commonly used in low- to high-rise buildings as the lateral load resisting system. Most commonly used SPSWs in multi-storey buildings are unstiffened, stiffened, and composite SPSWs. Unlike unstiffened SPSWs, very little research has been conducted to assess the seismic performance of stiffened and composite SPSWs. The stiffened and composite SPSWs have been proved to provide higher level of ductility due to the fact that they can prevent the buckling of thin infill plate, while increasing the initial stiffness and energy absorbance capacity of the whole system. The objective of current study is to assess the seismic performance and collapse capacity of stiffened and composite SPSWs. In the current research work, two types of composite SPSWs (traditional and innovative) are considered. In innovative composite SPSW, there is a small gap between reinforced concrete (RC) panel and surrounding boundary members, while in traditional one, RC panel is in direct contact with surrounding boundary members. In the first step, a reliable macro-modelling approach was developed for each type of SPSWs considered in this study. The validity of the proposed macro models was then investigated against available experimental data. Several multi-storey stiffened and composite SPSWs were designed according to CSA S16-14 and NBC 2015. To estimate the seismic response parameters (i.e., ductility-related force modification factor and overstrength-related force modification factor) for designing stiffened and composite SPSWs, nonlinear static pushover analysis and incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) have been performed on all archetypes using OpenSees following the procedure presented in FEMA P695. Quantification of seismic parameters of stiffened and composite SPSWs, including period-based ductility, overstrength, and collapse margin ratio has been conducted to better understand the seismic response and collapse capacity of the SPSW system. The results showed that all archetypes provide significant safety margin against collapse (large collapse margin ratio values) and satisfy the requirements of FEMA P695. Seismic response sensitivity of traditional composite SPSWs to the variation of post-yielding parameters (i.e., ductility capacity and post-cap stiffness ratio) in infill plate and variation of post-cracking parameters (i.e., shear strain correspond to maximum shear stress, yielding shear strain, and residual stress) in shear behavior adopted for RC panel are further investigated. The study showed that the capacity of composite SPSW is more sensitive to the variation of post-yielding parameters of the infill plate, while the variation of post-cracking parameters of the concrete panel has a minor effect on overall performance of the composite SPSW system.
Steel plate shear wall with regularly spaced circular perforations has recently been developed. While the current edition of AISC 341-16 and CSA S16-14 have adopted perforated SPSW in their design standards, no simple numerical model is currently available for this SPSW system. In this study, a reliable macro-modelling approach was developed for regularly spaced circular perforation and was validated against available experimental results. Nonlinear seismic response of perforated SPSWs was studied through conducting a series of time history and incremental dynamic analysis to better understand the overall performance of the system when subjected to strong ground motions.


identifier: Bregu, Ornela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8337-2376 <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8337-2376>  (2020) Mixture-Based Clustering for High-Dimensional Count Data Using Minorization-Maximization Approaches.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The Multinomial distribution has been widely used to model count data. To increase
clustering efficiency, we use an approximation of the Fisher Scoring as a learning algorithm, which is more robust to the choice of the initial parameter values. Moreover,
we consider the generalization of the multinomial model obtained by introducing the
Dirichlet as prior, which is called the Dirichlet Compound Multinomial (DCM). Even
though DCM can address the burstiness phenomenon of count data, the presence of
Gamma function in its density function usually leads to undesired complications. In
this thesis, we use two alternative representations of DCM distribution to perform
clustering based on finite mixture models, where the mixture parameters are estimated using minorization-maximization algorithm. Moreover, we propose an online
learning technique for unsupervised clustering based on a mixture of Neerchal- Morel
distributions. While, the novel mixture model is able to capture overdispersion due
to a weight parameter assigned to each feature in each cluster, online learning is able
to overcome the drawbacks of batch learning in such a way that the mixture’s parameters can be updated instantly for any new data instances. Finally, by implementing
a minimum message length model selection criterion, the weights of irrelevant mixture components are driven towards zero, which resolves the problem of knowing the
number of clusters beforehand. To evaluate and compare the performance of our
proposed models, we have considered five challenging real-world applications that
involve high-dimensional count vectors, namely, sentiment analysis, topic detection,
facial expression recognition, human action recognition and medical diagnosis. The
results show that the proposed algorithms increase the clustering efficiency remarkably as compared to other benchmarks, and the best results are achieved by the
models able to accommodate over-dispersed count data.


identifier: Hadavi, Shiva  (2020) Predicting activity noise levels in occupied classrooms by means of cluster analysis.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Educators have developed innovative teaching strategies in order to maximize learning outcomes in classrooms. Active learning classrooms are new learning spaces that facilitate the teaching strategies with enhanced students’ engagement and collaborative discussions. Previous studies showed that the design of learning spaces impacts on students’ achievement. However, acoustic requirements of the active learning classrooms have not been investigated yet. This study aims to estimate activity noise levels by means of unsupervised learning methods, while active learning is practiced in classrooms. Three clustering algorithms, including K-means clustering, Gaussian mixture model, and spectral clustering algorithms, are employed to analyze the continuous one-third octave band sound pressure levels (SPLs). The data were being collected from five active learning classes and two traditional lecture classes at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. Based on the spectral characteristics of the speech and non-speech signals, and by using the results of previous studies, a unique decision chart is developed in this study in order to assign the activities in to the clusters obtained from the algorithms.  Employing the algorithms along with the decision chart, predicts the acoustic levels of assorted class activities such as lecturer's speech, students’ group work and ambient condition. The predicted activities and their corresponding acoustic levels are then compared with the actual results obtained by the researcher during the measurements and the performance of each algorithm is evaluated. Lastly, this study compares the developed method to predict activity noise levels in occupied classrooms with the two other methods proposed in previous studies and the advantages and disadvantages of the developed method are further discussed. The results obtained from employing the Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) along with the developed decision chart, indicates the best performance among the other methods investigated in this study.


identifier: Zhou, Rui  (2020) MobiLogLeak: A Study on Data Leakage Caused by Poor Logging Practices.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Logging is an essential software practice that is used by developers to debug, diagnose and audit software systems. Despite the advantages of logging, poor logging practices can potentially leak sensitive data. The problem of data leakage is more severe in applications that run on mobile devices, since these devices carry sensitive identification information ranging from physical device identifiers (e.g., IMEI MAC address) to communications network identifiers (e.g., SIM, IP, Bluetooth ID), and application-specific identifiers related to the location and accounts of users.
This study explores the impact of logging practices on data leakage of such sensitive information. Particularly, we want to investigate whether logs inserted into an application code could lead to data leakage. While studying logging practices in mobile applications is an active research area, to our knowledge, this is the first study that explores the interplay between logging and security in the context of mobile applications for Android. We propose an approach called MobiLogLeak that identifies log statements in deployed apps that leak sensitive data. MobiLogLeak relies on taint flow analysis. Among 5,000 Android apps that we studied, we found that 200 apps leak sensitive data through logging.


identifier: Sgro, Michael  (2020) Identification and characterization of the 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid and quinic acid catabolic pathway genes in Aspergillus niger.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Plants produce an abundant supply of many aromatic compounds including those derived from the aromatic polymer lignin, which comprises approximately 25% of biomass on land, and quinic acid, which can comprise up to 10% of the weight of dry leaf litter. Many aromatic compounds have industrial applications, e.g. as building blocks for plastics, biofuels, drugs, preservatives, flavoring agents, or antioxidants. Many fungal species are able to degrade aromatic compounds and utilize them as a carbon source. While aromatic metabolism is well understood in bacteria, the central pathways remain poorly understood in fungi and the genes involved largely unknown and lacking proper annotation. In this study, we have used data from comparative transcriptomics and the characterization of knockout mutants by growth phenotype and metabolic analysis to determine the genes and enzymes involved in each step in the catabolism of quinic acid and its derivative 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger. The genes encoding quinate dehydrogenase, protocatechuate-3,4-dioxygenase, 3-carboxy-cis,cis-muconate cyclase, 3-carboxymuconolactone hydrolase/decarboxylase, β-ketoadipate CoA transferase, and β-ketoadipyl-CoA transferase in Aspergillus niger were determined to be NRRL3_08520, NRRL3_01405, NRRL3_02586, NRRL3_01409, NRRL3_01886, and NRRL3_01526, respectively. Two quinic acid transporters, NRRL3_11036 and NRRL3_05631, were also identified. NRRL3_05631 is a previously uncharacterized gene which functions at a lower pH than NRRL3_11036. Continued research will determine the entire metabolic network formed by the catabolic pathways of the other central aromatic intermediates, providing a comprehensive understanding of fungal aromatic metabolism for the first time. Knowledge of these pathways and the genes involved can lead to improved production of various valuable compounds, utilization of lignin, bioremediation or tolerance of toxic aromatic compounds.


identifier: McCarthy, Margaret  (2020) Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Moderates the Association Between Stress and Insomnia.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The Spielman 3P model of insomnia proposes that precipitating factors, such as stress, may contribute to the development of insomnia in good sleepers. Previous research has found that respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) may also interact with stress to exacerbate sleep disturbances, resulting in lower subjective sleep quality in good sleepers. The goal of this study is to examine the association between stress, RSA, and sleep quality among individuals with an insomnia disorder. It is hypothesized that RSA will moderate the association between stress exposure and subjective and objective measures of sleep quality among individuals with primary insomnia. Sixty-two individuals with chronic insomnia participated in this cross-sectional study. They completed the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to assess subjective sleep quality, as well as a daily stress diary for fourteen consecutive days. Objective sleep efficiency was calculated from polysomnography recording during an overnight study at the laboratory. RSA was collected during a five-minute resting baseline task. Results indicated that RSA moderated the association between daily stress and PSQI and ISI scores, with individuals with lower RSA exhibiting a stronger association between daily stress and worst subjective sleep, compared to those with high RSA. RSA did not moderate the association between average daily stress and sleep efficiency in the present sample. These results suggest that among the subset of patients with low RSA, stress exposure may perpetuate subjective sleep complaints.


identifier: Goswami, Riddhi  (2020) Printed Dually Polarized Gap Waveguide and Horn Antenna based on Hard and Soft Surfaces.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Polarization diversity is one of the methods used to increase channel capacity in a given spectrum. Usually, for a dually polarized system, two circuits are used each for one polarization, particularly for printed thin circuits. To carry dually polarized signals through the guiding structure made with metallic walls, the guiding structure must be at least a half wavelength width in the two planes. Conventionally, for medium gain level, horn antennas are designed by flaring metallic waveguide (square waveguide for dual polarization), which requires physical contacts to join the four walls. A flat horn can be used by flaring only two sides of the waveguide. If a standard waveguide is used, an H-plane horn is created for single linear polarization.  A substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) based printed horn antennas are designed with a dielectric as a propagation medium that makes it a lossy structure. SIW must be a have half-wavelength wide to support the TE10 mode, but it will be singly polarized. Thus, for a dually polarized horn, the waveguide height and width must be at least a half wavelength, which provides an elliptic beam. Alternatively, a novel dual-polarized horn antenna is introduced to support TEM modes without having any limitations on width and height dimensions. It allows the wave to propagate in the lossless air-filled medium. To design this horn antenna, a thin dually-polarized guiding structure is proposed. To realize that, the boundary conditions at all four walls are altered. A study of different boundary conditions (PEC, PMC, Hard, Soft) is described to show that only the hard surface can support both vertical and horizontal polarization in guided structures with dimensions less than the half wavelength. Based on the concept of a hard surface, the new dually-polarized periodic structure is designed. This structure is used to develop a compact dual-polarized waveguide. To verify the polarization performance of dual-polarized waveguide, several Ortho Mode Transducers (OMT) transitions are simulated. After that, the dual-polarized waveguide is flared to design a horn antenna that supports V-TEM and H-TEM to achieve uniform amplitude distribution at the aperture of the horn antenna.  With the advantage of uniform field distribution, the horn antenna achieves a narrow beamwidth with a radiation efficiency of around 80%.


identifier: Liu, Bingjie  (2020) Examining the Effect of Payment Transparency on Pain of Paying.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This article examines how payment transparency affects consumers’ pain of paying and spending behaviours. Through one pilot study and two main studies, we provide some empirical evidence that low-transparency instruments do a better job of mitigating the pain of paying than transparent ones, encouraging consumers to spend more. In the pilot study, participants spent more when payment transparency decreases. However, the difference was not statistically significant. Study one replicates and supports the long-established finding that credit cards facilitate significantly more spending than cash, but no other results were found significant. Payment transparency did not have a systematic impact on consumers’ willingness to pay, and the moderation role of the pain of paying was not observed. Study two provides further evidence that there is a negative relationship between payment transparency and willingness to pay. For Chinese, mobile payments promoted more spending than debit/credit cards and cash. On the contrary, for Canadians, mobile payments were not superior to debit/credit cards, but credit cards facilitated spending most. We identified that individual characteristics like debt aversion (negatively) and impatience (positively) directly impact willingness to pay. Moreover, debt aversion moderated the payment transparency effect for Chinese subjects – those with a strong debt aversion spent significantly more when using opaque payment methods than transparent ones, and those with a low debt aversion spent similar amounts regardless of payment modes. This paper contributes to the payment transparency and the pain of paying literature by investigating different payment methods, including the overlooked mobile payment, and their impact on consumers’ consumption behaviours.


identifier: Mokhtarpour, Keivan  (2020) Data-Driven Modelling of Multiphase Flow Systems.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Dynamical systems specifically in the field of fluid mechanics are composed of underlying complicated governing phenomena originated from nonlinearities and instabilities. Encountered with the challenge of analyzing vast amount of data, the concept of reduced order modelling (ROM) was emerged to map the high resolution spatio-temporal data onto a low-dimensional space using the most prominent embedded features. This dissertation considers two ROM techniques of proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) and dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) applied to liquid injection systems. These approaches have been widely used to tackle the challenges of analyzing spatio-temporal coherence of dynamical systems. Despite the numerous works implementing POD and DMD, there has been a lack of physical meaning for the modes generated by them. An interpretation of POD and DMD modes is provided in this thesis by the recognition of dominating features. The main focus will be primitively on benchmark problems to validate the efficacy of the methods and consequently to the liquid jets exposed to air crossflows in a hierarchical scheme. A grasp of the prominent spatial structures and their corresponding leading dynamic frequencies will be provided through the analysis of POD and DMD frequency spectra. Effects of several different factors such as the gaseous Weber number, liquid-gas momentum flux ratio and the injector aspect ratio are investigated in this study. Finally, the power of ROM techniques to create features for machine-learnt classifiers that are sufficient for categorization of sundry types of flow regimes is investigated in a supervised manner. These classifiers are opted from a range of classical machine learning algorithms like support vector machines (SVM) and random forest (RF) that have been extensively employed for classification tasks in the recent years. The best combination of reduced order models with the machine learning algorithms are presented.


identifier: Miselis, Bartosz  (2020) Seeing Through Models’ Eyes: Decomposing Latent Representations of Convolutional Networks.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
“To comprehend inner data representations constructed by convolutional networks” is an ambitious task attracting a constantly growing number of researchers across the globe. The joint effort has led to the broad space of interpretability techniques that roughly fall into two groups: attribution and feature visualization. The former shines the light on “where” the algorithm looks, while the latter reveals “what” the network sees. Combining them into rich interfaces provides new ways to understand convolutional networks and develop deeper intuitions about their complex behavior.
In this thesis, two novel techniques are proposed to advance the analyses in the field of interpretability: Latent Factor Attribution (LFA) and Distilled Class Factors Atlas. LFA identifies distinct concepts in the activation tensor using matrix decomposition and estimates their influence on the classification result. Distilled Class Factors Atlas then aggregates these concepts and presents them in an interactive, exploratory interface that makes it possible to see the entire class of images through the model’s eyes by leveraging feature visualization. Both techniques introduced in this thesis extend the holistic view on latent representations of convolutional networks by enabling the collective perspective on the patterns that recur in the activation tensors.


identifier: Golkhoo, Farzaneh  (2020) Material Management Framework utilizing Near Real-Time Monitoring of Construction Operations.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Materials management is a vital process in the delivery of construction facilities. Studies by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) have demonstrated that materials and installed equipment can constitute 40– 70% of the total construction hard cost and affect 80% of the project schedule. Despite its significance, most of the construction industry sectors are suffering from poor material management processes including inaccurate warehouse records, over-ordering and large surpluses of material at project completion, poor site storage practices, running out of materials, late deliveries, double-handling of components, out-of-specification material, and out of sequence deliveries which all result in low productivity, delay in construction and cost overruns. Inefficient material management can be attributed to the complex, unstructured, and dynamic nature of the construction industry, which has not been considered in a large number of studies available in this field.
The literature reveals that available computer-based materials management systems focus on (1) integration of the materials management functions, and (2) application of Automated Data Collection (ADC) technologies to collect materials localization and tracking data for their computerized materials management systems. Moreover in studies that focused on applying ADC technologies in construction materials management, positioning and tracking critical resources in construction sites, and identifying unique materials received at the job site are the main applications of their used technologies. Even though, various studies have improved materials management processes copiously in the construction industry, the benefits of considering the dynamic nature of construction (in terms of near real-time progress monitoring using state of the art technologies and techniques) and its integration with a dynamic materials management system have been left out. So, in contrast with other studies, this research presents a construction materials management framework capable of considering the dynamic nature of construction projects. It includes a vital component to monitor project progress in near real-time to estimate the installation and consumption of materials. This framework consists of three models: “preconstruction model,” “construction model,” and “data analysis and reporting model.” This framework enables (1) generation of optimized material delivery schedules based on Material Requirement Planning (MRP) and minimum total cost, (2) issuance of material Purchase Orders (POs) according to optimized delivery schedules, (3) tracking the status of POs (Expediting methods), (4) collection and assessment of material data as it arrives on site, (5) considering the inherent dynamics of construction operations by monitoring project progress to update project schedule and estimate near real-time consumption of materials and eventually (6) updating MRP and optimized delivery schedule frequently throughout the construction phase.
An optimized material delivery schedule and an optimized purchase schedule with the least cost are generated by the preconstruction model to avoid consequences of early/late purchasing and excess/inadequate purchasing. Accurate assessment of project progress and estimation of installed or consumed materials are essential for an effective construction material management system. The construction model focuses on the collection of near real-time site data using ADC technologies. Project progress is visualized from two different perspectives, comparing as-built with as-planned and comparing various as-built status captured on consecutive points of time. Due to the recent improvements in digital photography and webcams, which made this technology more cost-effective and practical for monitoring project progress, digital imaging (including 360° images) is selected and applied for project progress monitoring in the construction (data acquisition) model. In the last model, which is the data analysis and reporting model, Deep Learning (DL) and image processing algorithms are proposed to visualize and detect actual progress in terms of built elements in near real-time. In contrast with the other studies in which conventional computer vision algorithms are often used to monitor projects progress, in this research, a deep Convolutional Auto-Encoder (CAE) and Mask Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (R-CNN) are utilized to facilitate vision-based indoor and outdoor progress monitoring of construction operations. The updated project schedule based on the actual progress is the output of this model, and it is used as the primary input for the developed material management framework to update MRP, optimized material delivery, and purchase schedules, respectively. Applicability of the models in the developed material management framework has been tested through laboratory and field experiments. The results demonstrated the accuracy and capabilities of the developed models in the framework.


identifier: Zamirian, Ladan  (2020) Process Improvement for Plywood Product Manufacturing Using Design of Experiments.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Delamination is the most common defect in plywood manufacturing. In this thesis, a simulation study of plywood pressing process is conducted to study the impact of critical parameters causing delamination of a certain type of plywood product in mass production. This research work is conducted on specifically the adhesive and pressing step as most of the delamination defects are observed. The modeling of the hot
pressing of veneers inside a frequently used mold is performed by ABAQUS/Explicit and COMSOL software and the results are presented. A multi-factor experimental design methodology is used to analyze computer simulation results in determining the relations between the level of delamination and some of the controllable factors. A multivariate non-linear regression is established based on the results of experimental
design and analysis. The regression model can be used to find optimized parameter values in minimizing the level of delamination with significant effects. Numerical examples based on real production settings were used to validate and verify the developed regression model. The solution approach including numerical simulation, experimental design, and non-linear regression can easily be extended for process improvement of similar plywood production systems.