identifier: Kouider, Abbad  (2016) Cultural Manifestations in Literary Translation from Arabic into English and French The Case of the English and French Translations of Ahlem Mostaghanemi’s novel Thakirat al-Jassad.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The present study deals with translating Arabic literature into English and French, and its main aspects, issues and effects on the representation of Arab culture in the West. It is essentially inspired by Lawrence Venuti’s ideas on translation and the “formation of cultural identities”.  The case being discussed is the translation of Ahlem Mosteghanemi’s Thakirat Al-Jassad into English and French by two translators: Raphael Cohen and Mohamed Mokaddem. The comparative analysis of their versions shows the similarities and differences in the ways they render the cultural peculiarities, the social and political critiques as well as the discursive and linguistic aspects of the Arabic text.
       This study explains the means, methods and strategies the translators of this novel used in dealing with such cultural elements. The study also investigates and analyses the effects of using domesticating and foreignizing translation strategies on the quality of translation, its fidelity, consequences and acceptance. Analysing a great number of translation situations that involve cultural elements in Thakirat Al-Jassad, shows that the most successful translations are the ones that use foreignizing translation strategies.


identifier: Shamieh, Hadi  (2017) Modelling, Design Optimization and Control of Magneto Rheological Brakes for Automotive Applications.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract: The braking system is one of the major factors affecting a vehicle’s performance. The future of the automotive industry thrives by the creation of a greener, more efficient and lightweight braking mechanisms. Research on utilizing electromechanical brakes have shown potential due to their superior performance and controllability. The magnetorheological Brake (MRB) is a promising electromechanical brake which can provide variable damping through variation of the MR fluids’ apparent viscosity and yield strength using the applied magnetic field. Fast response time, low power requirement and large dynamic range are among unique features of MRBs making them an ideal candidate for vehicle applications. While some design configurations have been proposed for applying MRBs in the automotive industry, the commercial application has not yet been fully realized mainly due to the existence of their zero-field viscous torque. The focal purpose of this study is to propose and develop a novel real-size vehicle model of the MRB design with absolutely no energy loss in terms of viscous torque generation. The design is achieved using permanent magnets which force the MR fluid volume to shift locations between the brake’s operating modes – ‘on’ and ‘off’ – to allow complete de-coupling. The performance of the proposed design compared with the conventional design is demonstrated on a 2-disk-type MRB configuration.  The Herschel-Bulkley constitutive model is adopted for the MR fluid to derive the mathematical equations governing the systems’ braking torques as a function of the rotational speed, geometric properties, and applied electrical current. The MR fluid selected for the proposed designs is MRF-132DG from Lord Corporation. Analytical magnetic circuit analysis of the MRB design has been conducted which allows to approximately derive the relation between the magnetic field intensity and the electric current as a function of number of coil turns and the brake’s geometric variables. The analytical model is then verified using an electromagnetic finite element model developed in open source FEMM software. An equation relating densities of the materials used in the MRB and their corresponding dimensions is also derived to estimate the weight of the proposed MRB. Subsequently, a multidisciplinary design optimization problem has been formulated to identify the optimal brake geometrical parameters to maximize the dynamic range of the MRBs under weight, size and magnetic flux density constraints. The optimization problem has been solved using Genetic Algorithm (GA) followed by the Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) technique implemented in the MATLAB environment to achieve the true global optimal design. It is shown that the proposed MRB design provides better performance specifications under the required design constraints while having zero viscous torque generation making it suitable for application in real commercial vehicles. Finally, a simple dynamic quarter-vehicle model integrated with the optimally designed MRB has been considered to investigate the brake performance in automotive application. A PID control scheme has been designed for optimal wheel slip control over different road surface conditions. The objective is to obtain the highest value possible for the road-friction coefficient. This is possible through regulating and maintaining the slip ratio to a desired value whether driving on dry, wet, snowy or icy roads. The controller is purposed to enhance the overall braking properties of a vehicle through reducing the stopping distance and time, enhancing stability, and avoiding wheel lockup.


identifier: O'Byrne, Jordan  (2016) Cross-frequency coupling and sleep-dependent declarative memory consolidation: sleep states as opponent processes.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Cross-frequency coupling (CFC) binds neuronal oscillations in sleep and wake, but the mnemonic function of these interactions remains unclear. We recorded scalp electroencephalography from 10 human participants while they slept following a declarative word pair learning task or a non-learning control task. In non rapid-eye-movement sleep (NREMS), delta-sigma phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) was marginally increased in central regions after learning, and its learning-related change in frontal regions was strongly predictive of recall performance the next morning. We observed opposite effects for CFC in rapid-eye-movement sleep (REMS). Delta- and theta-gamma PAC were still significantly increased after learning at fronto-central locations, but the frontal increase was negatively correlated with subsequent recall performance. Importantly, characteristics of the coupled oscillations (delta/slow waves and sigma/spindles in NREMS, and delta, theta and gamma in REMS) showed no learning-related effect. Only their synchronization was mnemonically significant. We propose that NREMS and REMS are opponent processes in their effect on declarative memory consolidation. Whereas NREMS integrates new memories to the knowledge network and stabilizes learned associations through temporally ordered thalamo-cortico-hippocampal reactivations, REMS brings out weak links and encodes them through hippocampo-cortical delta- and theta-gamma PAC, thus weakening the accuracy of waking memories. This interplay is analogous to the trade-off between exploration and exploitation in decision-making research and artificial intelligence.


identifier: Al Lafi, Ghassan  (2017) 3D Thermal Modeling of Built Environments Using Visual and Infrared Sensing.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Infrared thermography (IR) is a modern, non-destructive evaluation technology for monitoring and assessing built environments. It mainly relies on measuring surface temperature to identify any potential defects or damages. Currently, IR has been introduced widely in applications such as facility condition assessment and energy performance analysis of existing buildings. However, most of the current practices in IR rely only on 2D thermal images which are time-consuming and labor-intensive. On the other hand, the rapid improvement of high-defined IR cameras has become a powerful tool in infrared sensing. Accordingly, this has facilitated its implementation in 3D thermal modeling techniques to replace the current 2D approach in thermal inspection and building energy efficiency. Yet, further studies need to be performed to overcome 3D thermal modeling limitations such as the high cost, slow process, and the need of highly trained professionals.
The main objectives of this research are to (a) test the potentiality of using 2D visible and thermal images which were collected separately through digital and infrared cameras respectively, for the 3D thermal modeling of built environments, and (b) investigate the efficiency of the proposed methodology by comparing it to a developed experimental design in terms of evaluating density, time, and cost. In specific, the visible images were used in modeling 3D point clouds by applying the structure from motion (sfm) approach. In parallel, the overlapping thermal images were stitched to form a thermal panoramic image that covers a large surface area with an accurate temperature representation. The stitched thermal images were then mapped to the reconstructed 3D point cloud in order to generate both thermal and metric measurements of built environments. Correspondingly, the output was compared to another 3D thermal point clouds which were developed by a laser scanner and an infrared camera. The comparison was conducted by means of evaluating density, time, and cost. Finally, the comparison results of three different built environments in the city of Montreal, Canada; demonstrate that 3D thermal modeling using separate 2D thermal and visible images was able to generate a dense geometric and thermal information of built environments. Also, this approach is affordable in terms of cost and time.


identifier: Beattie, Colin J.  (2017) Experimental study of air-to-air heat/energy exchangers for use in Arctic housing.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
ABSTRACT
Experimental study of air-to-air heat/energy exchangers for use in Arctic housing
Colin J. Beattie
The thesis presents the experimental results of an air-to-air heat/energy exchanger (HEE), tested with four different cores, to assess the performance under Arctic climate conditions.  Four per-formance indicators are presented: (i) the outlet supply air temperature; (ii) the exhaust air flow rate; (iii) the sensible and latent heat transfer effectiveness; and (iv) UV-value. The mass of ice formed within the core was also measured at the end of each experiment. The experiments are separated into three phases: Phase 1 with one HEE without recirculation defrost, Phase 2 with one HEE with recirculation defrost, and Phase 3 with two HEEs in parallel with alternating recir-culation defrost.  Correlation−based models were developed that predict the change in heat transfer effectiveness in terms of the change in exhaust air mass flow rate, inlet supply air temperature and core type.  The experiments with recirculation defrost proved that the factory-set defrost times are a conservative approach that manages the formation of frost. Because of the reduced operating time as controlled by the timer, all cores have almost the same sensible heat transfer effectiveness. The use of vapour-permeable cores reduced the rate of frost growth and the amount of frost at inlet supply air temperatures where core frosting was a concern.  The rate of core frosting was dependant on the inlet supply air temperature.  Frost formation impeded the transfer of heat between the two airstreams and reduced the adjusted sensible and latent heat transfer effectiveness for all cores.  Recirculation defrost effectively managed the formation of frost in all tested exchanger cores for the duration of the tests at inlet supply air temperature down to −35°C.  However, the use of recirculation defrost intermittently interrupts the supply of outdoor air resulting in reduced ventilation rates.  The use of two heat/energy exchangers with alternating recirculation defrost adequately managed core frosting while providing a continuous supply of outdoor air.


identifier: Khodaverdi-Khani, Mahmoud  (2017) The Relationship between Hypnotisability, Working Memory, and the Process of Automatization.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Abstract
The Relationship between Hypnotisability, Working Memory, and the Process of Automatization

Mahmoud Khodaverdi-Khani
Concordia University, 2017

		The literature on hypnosis indicates that high hypnotizable (HH) people tend to follow suggestions more attentively and be less distracted by peripheral information than low hypnotizable (LH) people. Neuro-psychological measures of attention, however, seem to indicate that HHs may demonstrate less efficient executive functions. To compensate this limitation, HHs may have learned to allocate all of their attention to the task at hand and learned to automatize some aspect of information processing. In experiment one, the relationship between working memory and the degree to which participants react to hypnotic suggestions was investigated.  Thirty-eight participants who underwent the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotisability Form A (HGSHS: A) in small group sessions were assessed on a forward and backward digit span, and a reading span tests. The results showed that hypnotisability correlated negatively with the digit span backward and the digit span total tests.  In experiment 1b, ten HH and ten LH participants underwent the same procedure as in experiment one with the exception that the reading span was replaced by the N-back test. The results of this experiment replicated the magnitude, direction, and significance of the relationship between hypnotisability and measures of working memory (WM).  The analysis of N-back data further revealed a distinction between storage and processing involved in WM, pointing to a dynamic interaction with the automatization of attentional processes.  To further investigate the role of WM in the process of automatization, in experiment two, participants’ WM was loaded with zero, three, or five digits while they were performing a visual search task over five sessions.  It was hypothesized that if the process of automatization is due to the limited resources available to participants then participants in the high load condition would reach automaticity over the 5 sessions regardless of their hypnotisability level.  In addition, it was expected that the HH group would reach automaticity in fewer sessions than the LH or the MH groups regardless of the load condition they were in.  Support for the two hypotheses was obtained when the coefficients of variability were analyzed. Across sessions, HHs significantly decreased their coefficients of variability, indicating that more than a simple improvement in speed of processing was at play in their responses. Experiment 2b, following the same methodology, replicated the key findings of experiment 2.  These results are discussed in the context of two-process theory and their applicability to the study of hypnotisability and automatization.  The current results suggest that individual differences in hypnotisability may be in part linked to variations in WM resources and a more efficient automatization process of information.


identifier: Smith, Trevor James ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5393-8359 <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5393-8359>  (2017) Open Geospatial Viticulture: Determining the Mesoscale Impact of Climatic Change for Quebec's Winegrowing Bioclimatology.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The combined utilization of climate scenarios, climate models and Geographic Information Systems  [GIS] represent the most reliable tools  to spatially determine the potential impacts of climate change in the near to end-of-century time horizons. With affordable computation, massive and open online courses, open access journals, cloud-based data visualization platforms, countless repositories of environmental and climate data available through the Internet, and the Free and Open Source [FOS] software movement, geospatial analysis is becoming an increasingly accessible field for professional researchers, the technically inclined, and the general public.

I present here a Master's thesis that has been developed primarily using FOS software and openly accessible environmental data with few usage restrictions. The analysis is a multi-criteria-based suitability and climate categorization of Southern Quebec for European V. vinifera wine grape viticulture. Using several openly available GIS data sources, I identify and categorize the wine regions of Quebec according to a series of climate metrics developed specifically for wine studies. My analysis is based on both NASA Daymet present-day satellite-observed climate grids (Thornton et al., 2015) and ClimateNA (Wang, Hamann, Spittlehouse, & Carroll, 2016), a statistically downscaled gridded data set of 30-year climate normals extending from years 1980 to 2100 for two climate change scenarios, the Representative Concentration Pathways scenarios [RCP] 4.5 and 8.5 (Moss et al., 2010). I perform my analysis by examining the results of these viticultural metrics and climate variables both at the regional scale and at locations of presently-operating vineyards. All results are determined spatially using QGIS (QGIS Development Team, 2016) and other Open Source GNU/Linux utilities (Debian Project, 2015).

My results show that present-day Saint Lawrence Seaway Valley barely exceeds the needed thermal suitability threshold for V. vinifera viticulture with most of Montérégie and Estrie at or below most “Cool Climate” categorizations and other agricultural zones are located well below climatic suitability for European viticulture. For future projections both RCP scenarios mirror an increase of ~200 growing degree-days [GDDs, ºC] from 1981-2010 to the 2011-2040 period and strongly diverging for periods afterwards. Results using the RCP 4.5 “Stabilization” show present-day vineyard locations may experience an increase in climate region category by roughly one or two climate categories (“Temperate” and “Warm”), while the RCP 8.5 “Business as Usual” scenario shows some present vineyard locations may become unsuitably hot with “Warm” viticultural climates extending above 50 ºN.

I also present an extended literature review and methodology chapter that summarizes and explores my experience in employing almost exclusively FOS software and unrestricted data. This chapter is structured in a non-traditional fashion and is meant to provide an introductory background and discussion of the history of Open Source/Data/Access and Open Government movements. An extended methodology explores FOS software, Open Data resources, and showcases an example methodology for an agriculturally-focused FOS-GIS analysis. While the FOS movement is not presently capable of replacing all proprietary tools or present models of knowledge dissemination, Open Source approaches and a fostering of the Open ecosystem can be greatly beneficial for both the individual and at societal levels.


identifier: Fanous, Michael  (2016) Study on Optical Properties and Biocompatibility of Different Polymer-Gold Nano-Composite Platforms for Opto-Micro Fluidic Applications.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Microfluidic and microphotonic devices have become increasingly effective for diagnostic, clinical, and biochemical applications. Such technologies usually contain polymer materials, as their properties make them highly desirable for sensing possibilities. A useful addition to these materials are gold nanoparticles (GNP), which hold unique localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) properties that are affected by their structure, shape, distribution, and their degree of penetration into the surrounding medium. These characteristics, in turn, depend on the thermal history of the sample, that is, the extent and duration of heating of the polymer-GNP systems.

In this undertaking, thermally tunable gold-polymer nanocomposite platforms, which have customizable properties, are fabricated for emerging opto-fluidic applications. This is achieved using a thermal convection method using six polymer films: poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA), SU-82, poly (styrene) (PS), poly (dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS), cyclic olefin copolymer (COC), poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). In order to increase the plasmonic sensitivity of the platforms, the nanocomposites are, subsequently, subjected to heat treatment with incremental heating in the range of 80-2000C. It is found that, among the polymers studied in this work, PVA and SU-82 show the largest shift of the Au LSPR band upon incremental heating as well as the highest plasmonic sensitivity. To test the biocompatibility of these different polymers, tagged antibodies are immobilized on the functionalized polymer films, and then the corresponding antigens are allowed to interact with the antibodies.  The results of this work will be helpful in selecting a suitable material for both microfluidic and microphotonic experiments.


identifier: Ao, Dan  (2017) Mongolian-medium schools in Tongliao: Language of instruction between 2007 and 2015.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Abstract
Cultural diversity is one of the main topics in today’s world. As a country with 56 ethnic groups, China’s diversity is a potential source of both joy and worry. The joy comes from the rich and diverse cultures brought by the 56 ethnic groups. However, China also has to face the reality that some of these ethnic cultures are vanishing. One measure to sustain China’s ethnic diversity, ethnic education, has been getting increased academic and government attention in recent years.
This thesis is grounded in the theory of ethnic education. By employing a qualitative descriptive research method, I describe the language of instruction of Mongolian-medium schools in Tongliao from 2007 to 2015. Then, by employing a qualitative narrative research method, I explore reasons for the varied patterns. Finally, by discussing the problems in the current Mongolian-medium education system, I suggest relevant solutions.


identifier: Luderowski, Muriel  (2017) Sound, Deindustrialization, and Gentrification: The Changing Aural Landscape of Pointe-Saint-Charles.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The development of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada during the 1850s established Pointe-Saint-Charles as a critical rail hub and positioned Montreal as the nexus for Canada’s growing railway system. The rail yards and surrounding industries attracted thousands of workers and their families. The sounds of engines, factory whistles, and the shunting noises of train cars being latched together formed a distinctive new soundscape that would come to define Pointe-Saint-Charles. This blue-collar community would continue to thrive as a seat of industrial activity in Montreal until the Saint Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959, which allowed much commercial traffic to bypass Pointe-Saint-Charles.
The ensuing years were a time of change in this area as the neighborhood transitioned from an almost exclusively working-class enclave to a mixed, low-income and middle-class population. In 2015, in response to perceived demands from local residents, the Agence métropolitaine de transport announced that it would build a sound berm along rue de Sébastopol to dampen the sound of train traffic. This proposal was met with confusion by many long-time residents who felt that the train sounds were a vestige of Pointe-Saint-Charles’ working-class past and a defining part of the neighborhood. The berm, a large and imposing physical barrier, has profoundly altered the landscape of rue de Sébastopol. Its physical presence is in conflict with the existing architecture and cultural landscape of the street and the neighborhood. In this thesis, I explore the spatial, sensorial (the importance of engaging the senses within a broad consideration of a place), and symbolic effect of the berm on the community and aural landscape of Pointe-Saint-Charles as a window into the profound impact of the aural landscape on its environment.


identifier: Si Tu, Sui Jiang  (2017) Evaluation of Energy and Airflow Performance of Data Centers with Centralized Thermosiphon.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The need of fast and uninterrupted online services and applications in our daily life leads to rapid expansion in both quantity and capacity of data centers to handle these huge amounts of digital information. However, the energy use associated with hundreds of information technology (IT) equipment running 24/7 in data centers creates a huge burden to the global economy and environment. Globally, electricity consumption of data centers accounts for about 238 billion kWh per year which is corresponding to about 1.3% of total global electricity consumption. In a typical data center, about 30-50% of its total energy is dedicated to remove the heat from running the IT equipment all year round. Conventional cooling energy saving strategy is to utilize outdoor air directly to cool the IT equipment when outdoor temperature is lower, which known as direct airside free cooling. However, the main concerns about this approach is the breakdown of IT equipment due to poor outdoor air quality. This could be a limiting factor in certain locations for using the direct free cooling system. Therefore, an indirect free cooling approach is more interested to be used under poor outdoor air environments.

In this thesis, an indirect airside free cooling based on thermosiphon loop is proposed and investigated to reduce energy consumption and improve the IT equipment reliability in a novel vertical data center (VDC) which is designed by Vert.com Inc. An energy model was established to evaluate the energy performance of this new proposed design in different selected cities across North America. The energy results show that approximately 41% to 59% of an annual overall HVAC energy are saved with the thermosiphon free cooling system depending on the local climate conditions in comparison to the data center without any free cooling implementations.

Analysis of indoor airflow distribution was also conducted in this VDC project because it can help to optimize different design options and enhance cooling efficiency. Unlike other typical data centers that are designed horizontally and occupied a large footprint like warehouses, the proposed data center in this study is designed vertically like a tower with a compact rectangular form. In this thesis, two proposed locations of the indoor thermosiphon heat exchangers were compared and analyzed through CFD simulation. The simulation results indicate that there are many turbulent flows developed inside the building, especially at 90° bends, which can affect the air distribution uniformity and cooling performance through the heat exchanger.


identifier: Côté-Hamel, Maryse  (2016) Tell Me at What Time You Usually Wake up, I’ll Tell You What Type of Traveller You Are: An Investigation of the Influence of Chronotype and Time-Of-Day on Travellers’ Behavioural Intentions, Satisfaction and Lifetime Value for a Tourist Destination.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Individuals differ in their chronotype, which ranges on a continuum from extreme morningness to extreme eveningness (Natale and Cicogna, 2002). Individuals exhibiting extreme morningness, also called larks, rise in the early hours of the morning and go to bed early at night, while those exhibiting extreme eveningness, also called owls, rise in the late hours of the morning and go to bed late at night (Horne and Österberg, 1976, 1977).

This thesis addresses a call from marketing scholars to better understand intra-day consumer behaviours and preferences, by investigating two time-related variables, chronotype and time-of-day, within the context of tourism.

Indeed, tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world (World Tourism Organization 2016). Given the active role of travellers as co-creators of their tourism experiences as well as the high level of competition and seasonality of the tourism industry, it is essential for tourist destinations to consider the specific characteristics and time preferences, based on their chronotype, of travellers when designing experiences. Doing so may contribute to the optimization of consumer overall satisfaction and ensure revisitation and positive word-of-mouth.

Therefore, this thesis examines the influence of chronotype and time-of-day on travellers’ behavioural intentions, overall satisfaction with a tourist destination and lifetime value for a tourist destination. It consists of two studies using a survey methodology. Study 1 focuses on 1982 consumers who travelled to the tourist destination under investigation at some point in the past, regardless of the year of their last trip. Study 2 focuses on 1483 consumers who travelled to the tourist destination under investigation within the past eight months. Results demonstrate that chronotype influences behavioural intentions and several indicators of consumer lifetime value, and that time-of-day moderates the influence of chronotype on the likelihood of visiting the tourist destination.

The findings of this thesis fall into the Transformative Consumer Research perspective, which aims at optimizing consumers’ decision quality and protecting their interests (Mick, Pettigrew, Pechmann and Ozanne, 2011). They contribute to the limited theoretical literature on chronotype within the field of marketing. It is hoped that they will help consumers understand that their chronotype influences their behavioural intentions and their “value” in the eyes of tourist destinations. They suggest that consumers could optimize their decisions by synchronizing the timing to their chronobiological nature. This strategy is referred to as the synchrony effect (May, Hasher and Stoltzfus, 1993; May and Hasher 1998). The findings could thus pave the way for future public policy to protect at-risk consumers at non-optimal chronobiological times-of-day. It is also hoped that they will contribute to the evolution of the social responsibility of tourism destinations, in order to develop stronger consumer relationships and consumer satisfaction based on a mutual understanding of the influence of chronotype and time-of-day on behaviours.


identifier: Nouh, Lina  (2017) BinSign: Fingerprinting Binary Functions to Support Automated Analysis of Code Executables.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Software reverse engineering is a complex process that incorporates different techniques involving static and dynamic analyses of software programs. Numerous tools are available that help reverse engineers in automating the dynamic analysis process. However, the process of static analysis remains a challenging and tedious process for reverse engineers. The static analysis process requires a great amount of manual work. Therefore, it is very demanding and time-consuming. One aspect of reverse engineering that provides reverse engineers with useful information regarding a statically analyzed piece of code is function fingerprinting. Binary code fingerprinting is a challenging problem that requires an in-depth analysis of internal binary code components for deriving identifiable and expressive signatures.
Binary code fingerprints are helpful in the reverse engineering process and have various security applications such as malware variant detection, malware clustering, binary auditing, function recognition, and library identification. Moreover, binary code fingerprinting is also useful in automating some reverse engineering tasks such as clone detection, library function identification, code similarity, authorship attribution, etc. In addition, code fingerprints are valuable in cyber forensics as well as the process of patch analysis in order to identify patches or make sure that the patch complies with the security requirements.
In this thesis, we propose a binary function fingerprinting and matching approach and implement a tool named BinSign based on the proposed approach that enhances and accelerates the reverse engineering process. The main objective of BinSign is to provide an accurate and scalable solution to binary code fingerprinting by computing and matching structural and syntactic code profiles for disassemblies while outperforming existing techniques. The structural profile of binary code is captured through decomposing the control-flow-graph of a function into tracelets. We describe the underlying methodology and evaluate its performance in several use cases, including function matching, function reuse, library function detection, malware analysis, and function indexing scalability. We also provide some insights into the effects of different optimization levels and obfuscation techniques on our fingerprint matching methodology. Additionally, we emphasize the scalability aspect of BinSign that is achieved through applying locality sensitive hashing, filtering techniques, and distributing the computations across several machines. The min-hashing process is combined with the banding technique of locality sensitive hashing in order to ensure a scalable and efficient fingerprint matching process. We perform our experiments on a database of 6 million functions that includes well-known libraries, malware samples, and some dynamic library files obtained from the Microsoft Windows operating system. The indexing process of fingerprints is distributed across multiple machines and it requires an average time of 0.0072 seconds per function. A comparison is also conducted with relevant existing tools, which shows that BinSign achieves a higher accuracy than these tools.


identifier: Serag, Ahmed  (2016) A Customer-driven Decision Making Framework for Drinking Water Systems.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
According to the 2013 ASCE infrastructure report card, the USA potable water system needs
an investment of $384.2 billion over the next 20 years to meet current and future needs. The
American infrastructure, which has a GPA of D+ and rated as poor, needs an investment of $3.6
trillion for all infrastructure assets by 2020. One of the key proposed solutions was to prioritize
the maintenance of infrastructure considering the Level of Service (LOS). Most of research works
on water distribution network (WDN) focused on the condition or performance of water systems
creating a gap between municipal goals and public expectations. It is evident that there is a lack of
research in the area of LOS and its link with WDN condition. There is a vital need in municipalities
to link renewal plans with the Level of Service. Therefore, the main objectives of the present
research are to: 1) identify and study the factors that impact the LOS, 2) establish an assessment
model for LOS in the WDN, and 3) map the LOS to WDN condition.
Building upon recent work on the LOS of drinking water supply systems, the present research
identifies LOS factors based on the review of water supply system (WSS) performance indicators
from literature and experts in the domain. It consequently develops a framework that is dependent
on two main models: (1) Best-Worst Method (BWM) model that determines the LOS of a WSS
considering the relative weight of importance of the identified LOS factors and (2) Artificial Neural
Network (ANN) model that maps the WDN condition to LOS. Using the water network data set
of the city of Montreal, the framework is tested and the impact of pipe material and environmentalconditions on breakage rate is studied. This research proves that breakage rate varies significantly
for different pipe materials and neighborhood areas with different environmental conditions. Questionnaire
responses from the industry experts show that supply pressure and continuity, quality of
supplied water, and customer complaints are the main factors that govern the quality of service.
They also show that water quality is the most important factor to the LOS among the other significant
factors. The relationship between WDN condition and LOS is determined considering the
metrics of water quality, customer complaints, as well as pressure and continuity of water supply.
An Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) model is developed in which the above metrics are considered
the input variables and the LOS total score resulting from the developed BWM model is the
output variable. The model is cross-validated using the embedded validation in the used software
resulting in an R2 value of 0.871, which reflects a good representation of the relationship between
the inputs and the outputs. Municipal management teams will be able to connect the technical
world of condition assessment of WDN to the customer world by adopting a customer-oriented decision
making process. This enables them to understand the customer perception of the provided
service, optimize the budget allocation process and forecast the LOS based on the network condition.
It also opens perspectives to key issues for future research work to diagnose the customer
perception of municipal infrastructure performance.
iv


identifier: Albahri, Ameen Hamza  (2017) Simulation-based optimization for the placement of surveillance cameras in buildings using BIM.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Many companies and organizations highlighted the importance of developing various security monitoring systems for the purpose of protecting their assets against any undesirable events. The process of installing surveillance cameras inside buildings is complex and costly. One of the most important issues that can affect the cost of surveillance cameras in buildings is finding the best placement of cameras. Individuals who are responsible for the camera installation are facing great challenges due to the large number of variables related to this problem. Finding effective scientific methods to address this problem can lead to increasing the efficiency of the camera placement through maximizing the coverage and minimizing the cost. Furthermore, available methods did not take into consideration the impact of different elements (e.g. the HVAC system) that can affect the camera placement.
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is becoming an indispensable process for the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. In terms of security management, BIM technology can improve the performance of security systems during the design phase because of its ability to identify various elements that surround the 3D surveillance cameras in the form of geometrical and non-geometrical entities. iv

The objectives of this research are: (1) to develop a method that can help in calculating the coverage of surveillance cameras inside buildings; (2) to investigate the impact of the building elements on the camera configurations, parameters and coverage using BIM; (3) to develop a method that can find the near-optimum types, number and placement of fixed cameras inside a building; and (4) to develop a method that can find the near-optimum placement and movement plan of a Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) camera inside a building.
A method is developed to calculate the camera coverage inside buildings using BIM and a game engine for the purpose of automating the calculation process and achieving accurate results. This method includes a sensitivity analysis for evaluating the suitable cell size in order to cover the monitored area. Also, the research proposes a novel method using BIM, which provides a new opportunity to better optimize the number and locations of cameras by exploiting the rich information available in the model. The near-optimum results aim to maximize the cameras’ coverages and to minimize their costs. BIM is used to define the input of the optimization process and to visualize the results. The method uses Genetic Algorithm (GA) to solve the optimization problem. Finally, the research addresses the placement problem for a PTZ camera. PTZ cameras are used as an addition to fixed cameras in order to ensure the detection of dynamic activities. The research extends the previous method to optimize the placement and movement plan of a PTZ camera inside a building. Several case studies are used to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed methods. The proposed methods can help individuals who are responsible of the camera installation to efficiently determine


identifier: Alibeyg, Armaghan  (2017) Hub Network Design Problems with Profits.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In this thesis we study a new class of hub location problems denoted as \textit{hub network design problems with profits} which share the same feature: a profit oriented objective. We start from a basic model in which only routing and location decisions are involved. We then investigate more realistic models by incorporating new elements such as different types of network design decisions, service commitments constraints, multiple demand levels, multiple capacity levels and pricing decisions. We present mixed-integer programming formulations for each variant and extension and provide insightful computational analyses regarding to their complexity, network topologies and their added value compared to related hub location problems in the literature. Furthermore, we present an exact algorithmic framework to solve two variants of this class of problems. We continue this study by introducing joint hub location and pricing problems in which pricing decisions are incorporated into the decision-making process.  We formulate this problem as a mixed-integer bilevel problem and provide feasible solutions using two math-heuristics. The dissertation ends with some conclusions and comments on avenues of future research.


identifier: Wang, Yuan  (2017) The effects of CEO’s divorce on firm’s performance: an empirical research of US firms.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: To empirically examine the effects of CEOs’ private lives on firms’ performance, I use CEOs’ divorce events as a proxy and collect all CEO divorce cases in the U.S. market from 1980 to 2013. I predict that divorce stress negatively affects CEOs’ ability to make benign strategic decisions, thereby negatively influencing firms’ performance. I find that divorced firms have worse performance than their counterparties before divorce events end and such events motivate CEOs to re-devote themselves to their job post-divorce. The boards of shareholders also use equity-based compensation as a valuable method to incentivize divorced CEOs due to their substantial loss of outside wealth. Furthermore, divorced CEOs reduce their risk tolerance and become more risk averse as they lose wealth and become less diversified in their portfolios.


identifier: Rothwell, Tracy  (2017) Is There a Time and Place for Transformational Leadership? The Daily Impact of Leader Behaviors on Follower Task Performance.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The purpose of this study was to weigh the value of Transformational Leadership (TFL) and Contingent-Reward Leadership (CRL) behaviors in determining followers' objective task performance. Past empirical evidence has suggested that TFL behaviors were relatively less important for influencing individual task performance in comparison to CRL behaviors. This study was designed to test the boundaries of this empirical conclusion. There were two main goals: 1) to investigate the daily effects of TFL and CRL behaviors on follower task performance given a "chaotic" work context, and 2) to address a temporal issue related to the measurement of TFL and its influence on individual task performance. Daily data were collected from a sample of 46 Canadian tree planters over a period of nine work days. The sample was composed of novice and experienced personnel. The data were hierarchically cross-classified, with days nested within individuals, and individuals nested between leaders. Hierarchical multiple regression and PROCESS moderation analysis results point to short-term effects of CRL and long-term effects of TFL for influencing task performance in both groups. Interestingly, the vision item from the inspirational motivation dimension of TFL demonstrated both a significant daily and lingering association to the task performance of novice and experienced tree planters. Implications of the results for leadership theory and practice are discussed, along with a review of the study strengths and limitations. To conclude, the author offers suggestions for the direction and focus of future leadership research given the changing nature of 21st century work environments.


identifier: Brault, Annabelle  (2017) Resource-Oriented Music Therapy in Pediatric Oncology: A Philosophical Inquiry.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The purpose of this philosophical inquiry was to make a case for the clinical relevance of a Resource-Oriented approach in pediatric oncology music therapy, and then propose a conceptualization of this approach using Rolvsjord's (2010) four characteristic statements of the resource-oriented approach as guiding principles. The characteristics are: (a) the nurturing of strengths, resources, and potential, (b) collaboration rather than intervention, (c) the view of the individual within their context, and (d) the view of music as a health resource. Background information instrumental in the development of this philosophical inquiry was explored and presented. This included a description of the pediatric oncology context, the needs of children with cancer and their families, and salient tenets of the approach. The pediatric oncology music therapy literature was systematically reviewed using the four defining statements of the Resource-Oriented approach to argue its relevance in the pediatric oncology context. The characteristics were first explicated, then used as a lens to explore the four categories of needs (physical, emotional, social, and developmental) of children with cancer and their family. From this critical analysis, parallels between the literature and the resource-oriented approach were identified, while new insights emerged. This philosophical inquiry provides a conceptual framework that may serve as a starting point for those wanting to explore a Resource-Oriented approach and discourse within problem-oriented and/or biomedical contexts.


identifier: Ruivivar, June  (2017) Gotta speak real English: Foreign accent and L1 speakers' perceptions of nonstandard grammar.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Spoken grammar is known to deviate from commonly taught rules of written grammar. For example, Carter and McCarthy (1995) have observed frequent use of topic fronting (this film, have you seen it?) and sentence-initial ellipsis (didn’t expect to see you here) in spoken English. Consequently, several scholars have called for greater attention to spoken grammar in language teaching (e.g., Carter & McCarthy, 1995; Cullen & Kuo, 2007). However, none of these calls have considered potential barriers that learners might encounter when using spoken grammar with L1 speakers.
The present study compares how non-expert L1 English speakers (those without prior linguistic training) perceive the grammatical acceptability of these nonstandard forms when produced by speakers with foreign accents. Ten L1 Tagalog speakers and five L1 English speakers recorded 60 sentences containing one of four spoken grammar constructions: topic fronting, sentence-initial ellipsis, historical present, and disjointed descriptions. These samples were rated for accentedness by 10 raters, which yielded three groups of five: non-accented, moderately accented, and heavily accented. Another group of 10 raters rated the samples on grammaticality, segmental accuracy, and word stress accuracy, using a computer-based sliding scale. The two latter measures helped prevent raters from confounding grammar and pronunciation issues (Varonis & Gass, 1982). A one-way ANOVA revealed a significant effect of foreign accent on perceived grammaticality, with heavily accented speakers receiving harsher judgments than both moderately and non-accented speakers on syntactically equivalent productions. Implications for spoken grammar pedagogy and future research on grammatical perception and spoken grammar are discussed.


identifier: Alwaqfi, Asif  (2017) A Refactoring Technique for Large Groups of Software Clones.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Code duplication, also known as software clones, is a persistent problem in software systems that is usually associated with error-proneness and poor software maintainability. Despite the fact that clone detection is a mature research field, clone refactoring has not been equally investigated. Clone refactoring requires the unification and merging of duplicated code, which is a challenging problem because of the changes that take place on the initial clones after their introduction.

In recent years, more research works attempted to address the challenges around clone refactoring by applying different techniques; however, they suffer from poor accuracy or performance issues, especially for large clone groups containing more than two clone instances. We contribute to this field by proposing an automated approach that a) finds refactorable subgroups (consisting of three clones or more) within the original group of clones, b) finds the statements that to be merged and extracted in a fast yet accurate way, and c) assesses the refactorability of clone subgroups.

We evaluated our approach in comparison to the state-of-the-art, and the results show that we have a high accuracy in matching the clone statements, while maintaining high performance. In a case study, where we carefully examined all clone groups in project JFreeChart 1.0.10, we found that around 49% of the 98 clone subgroups are actually refactorable. Finally, we conducted a large-scale study on over 44k clone groups (13.6k groups containing 3 clones or more) detected by four clone detection tools in nine open source projects to assess the refactorability for clone groups. The outcome of this study revealed the presence of 2,833 refactorable clone subgroups that contain in total 13,398 clone instances.


identifier: Salvi, Emilie  (2017) Learning Beyond Borders: Exploring the stories of participants in a Canadian International Youth Internship Program (IYIP).  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The present qualitative research is primarily centered on interviews with five interns who participated in Canada’s 2013 International Youth Internship Program (IYIP) for a period of six months. The research seeks to explore learning acquired by participants in IYIP programs based on their own narratives, and to make recommendations to be integrated into strategies for more effective IYIP planning. Specifically, it investigates the level of participant satisfaction in reaching two out of the three IYIP objectives for Canadian youth: preparing for future employment and promoting Canada’s international development efforts at home and abroad. An experiential and critical learning theoretical lens is applied to that end.
The findings reveal that participants gained professional and personal competencies following their experiences and these gains indeed helped them to prepare for future employment or academic field of study. The findings also show little attention is paid to promoting Canada’s international development efforts, both at home and abroad. Rather, participants were moved by their experiences in their host communities and they discovered some new strengths and experienced personal growth.  Unforeseen key findings emerged as well when some participants disclosed their lack of faith in Canada’s IYIP model, particularly their discomfort in imposing their values on host communities. Recommendations and suggestions for further research point towards a revised and enhanced strategy for a more enriching IYIP.


identifier: Puranik, Tejas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6753-7986 <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6753-7986>  (2017) Community Detection In Evolving Networks.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Most social networks are characterized by the presence of community structure, viz. the existence of clusters of nodes with a much higher proportion of links within the clusters than between the clusters. Community detection has many applications in many kinds of networks, including social networks and biological networks.  Many different approaches have been proposed to solve the problem. An approach that has been shown to scale well to large networks is the Louvain method, based on maximizing modularity, which is a quality function of a partition of the nodes.

In this thesis, we address the problem of community detection in evolving social networks. As social networks evolve, the community structure of the network can change. How can the community structure be updated in an efficient way? How often should community structure be updated? In this thesis, we give two methods based on the Louvain algorithm, to determine when to update the community structure. The first method, called the Edge-Distribution-Analysis algorithm, analyzes the newly added edges in order to make this decision. The second method, called the Modularity-Change-Rate algorithm, finds the rate of modularity change in a given network, and uses it to predict whether an update is required.

Due to the sparsity of real datasets of evolving networks, we propose three models to generate evolving networks: a Random model, a model based on the well-known phenomenon of homophily in social networks, and another based on the phenomenon of triadic and cyclic closure. Starting with real-world data sets, we used these models to generate evolving networks. We evaluated the Edge-Distribution-Analysis algorithm and Modularity-Change-Rate algorithm on these data sets. Our results show that both our methods predict quite well when the community structure should be updated. They result in significant computational savings compared to approaches that would update the community structure after a fixed number of edge additions, while ensuring that the quality of the community structure is comparable.


identifier: Pirniya, Gounash  (2017) Reliable Location Allocation Routing Design under Disruption: An Improved Column Generation Decomposition Approach.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Every year, various human actions (e.g., terrorist attacks, strikes, etc.) and natural disasters (e.g., earthquakes, hurricanes, and etc.) cause disruptions in supply networks, and as the result, huge financial and humanitarian loss. Not only they brought loss of services to the system, they, depending on the type, partial or complete, may result in facility failures, roads failures or both, simultaneously. Therefore, having reliable systems are essential in order to reduce risks as well as cost in case of failures. Motivated by the importance of considering the failure in design level, we, in this thesis, focused on problem of locating facilities, allocating demand points to the facilities, and defining the rout among them while considering the complete failure in the elements of the network. The Reliable Location/ Allocation/ Routing Problem (RLARP) formulation which is Mixed Integer Programming model is proposed, taking into account failures in facilities and routs in different scenarios as failure sets. Along with bringing in trustworthy systems, we also contribute an exact decomposition methodology and propose a Column Generation model to tackle the complexity. The idea is to define a supply chain network at the design level to be robust against worst case failures and disruptions scenarios. To the best of author’s knowledge, the Column Generation technique has not been applied previously to solve RLARP problems in the literature. In addition, we consider the facility and transportation method failures in our model, despite the fact that mostly either facility failures or transportation failures are taken into account in the literature. Various data sets designated for validating Column Generation and RLARP formulation proposed in this thesis. Eventually, we compare the performance of CG and RLARP models over a range of instances. Results suggests that CG technique performs significantly better than solving the RLARP model with a general optimization solver (CPLEX) in terms of computational time and the size of instances that can be solved.


identifier: Browne, Kathleen  (2017) Effectively communicating masculine and feminine brand personality traits using brand logo designs.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This research aims to further explore and clarify the roles of visual design elements in brand logos and their ability to influence brand gender perceptions. In an improvement on past research, this study clearly delineates the independent effects of type font, colour hue, and colour brightness in brand logos on creating brand femininity and masculinity perceptions. Using a between-subjects design with an online panel of American consumers, the study finds that display fonts, blue hues, and dark brightnesses in brand logos significantly enhance brand masculinity perceptions while script fonts, pink hues, and light brightnesses in brand logos significantly enhance brand femininity perceptions. This research is the first in the brand gender literature to uncover strong main effects for all three of these design elements. Individual-level uncertainty avoidance, Masculine and Feminine Gender Trait Index, and participant-identified sex are also tested as moderators and the main and interaction effects of these participant traits on brand gender perceptions are discussed. The results of this research provide theoretical contributions to brand personality, evolutionary psychology, and sensory marketing literatures. Limitations, future research ideas, and managerial implications conclude the discussion of this research.


identifier: Chou, Chih-Lin  (2017) Potential for Adapting Music Therapy Improvisation within a Suzuki-based Music Lesson Context for Children of Chinese Immigrants.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This research considered the cultural and value systems of children from Chinese immigrant families to make a case for the adaptation of a music therapy improvisation within a context of music lessons, to enhance emotional skills and to promote parent- child relations, of children in this population. The purpose of this research was to examine the questions: Why is music therapy improvisation, provided by a credentialed music therapist to children of Chinese immigrants, better applied within music lessons that embrace the Suzuki music education philosophy, than through clinical music therapy sessions? In what ways will this develop a child’s emotional skills and promote parent- child relations for this population? Philosophical inquiry was used to explore these questions and to evaluate the underlying positions. Information central to support the positions was found using three main strategies: investigating traditional Chinese family values and related issues; examining the Chinese traditional role of music and Suzuki music educational philosophies; and evaluating the theoretical concepts and techniques of improvisational music therapy, all of this framed by the researcher’s experiences with children of Chinese immigrants in Montreal. This study required a literature review that spanned many areas and disciplines, across two cultures and languages. These are understood by the author’s experiences as a Chinese mother/music teacher/music therapist living in the Western culture, which might have influenced her direction of thinking when drawing the conclusion. Findings revealed that when collectivism is present in a cultural context, to enhance the emotional skills and parent-child relationships of children of Chinese immigrants, music therapy improvisation provided by a credentialed music therapist could be better applied in Suzuki-based music lessons than in the clinical setting. Study limitations and implications for future music therapy practice and research were identified.


identifier: Westby, Margaret Jean Mather  (2017) Empowering the female machine: remapping gender dynamics in technologically augmented dance.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Empowering the Female Machine: Remapping Gender Dynamics in Technologically Augmented Dance Performance makes a “mess” of dance through the framework of feminist Science and Technology Studies (STS). Briefly defined, the practice and performance of technologically augmented dance combines human and machine-based actions, where a feedback loop occurs between technical apparatuses and a body in motion in real-time. My research question asks: in collaborative projects involving dance and technology, how do issues of agency, materiality, and gendered subjectivity arise, operate, and govern both research and development and the production processes? I argue for a historical account of gender, technology, and dance and question the very terms of relationality by articulating these dynamics that occur through particular modern and postmodern epistemic regimes. As a female dancer and technologist, my experience produces a unique form of situated knowledge and kinesthetic sense that serves as my foundation of analysis.

Through the lens of artistic practice, I weave together four distinct narratives to illustrate the complexities arising from distinct social contexts of technologies and bodily techniques in operation from the early twentieth-century to the present times. First, the historical work of modernist artist Loïe Fuller, in particular her 1895 Fire Dance, complicates notions of femininity by transforming the performance space into an entanglement of agents. Second, Yvonne Rainer’s 1966 Carriage Discreteness from 9 Evenings outlines the shift into early computational machinery and the Space Age where her work was a successful intervention into queering technology, dance, and gender in the performance event. Third, Troika Ranch’s 2009 loopdiver, with dancer and choreographer Dawn Stoppiello and musician and computer programmer Mark Coniglio, reveals the persistence of control in the digital era in the process and development of their work and highlights an emotive and female-centric experience of a cyborgian body. Finally, my own research-creation practice Orbital Resonance (2014) will address current issues in collaborative artistic practice that combines a multiplicity of gender identities and expressions through an interdisciplinary approach. Through these artistic works, my goal is to reveal a feminist STS method of making and doing the act of technologically augmented dance performance.


identifier: Nguyen, Philon  (2017) Approaches to Quantifying EEG Features for Design Protocol Analysis.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Recently, physiological signals such as eye-tracking and gesture analysis, galvanic skin response (GSR), electrocardiograms (ECG) and electroencephalograms (EEG) have been used by design researchers to extract significant information to describe the conceptual design process. We study a set of video-based design protocols recorded on subjects performing design tasks on a sketchpad while having their EEG monitored. The conceptual design process is rich with information on how designer’s do design. Many methods exist to analyze the conceptual design process, the most popular one being concurrent verbal protocols. A recurring problem in design protocol analysis is to segment and code protocol data into logical and semantic units. This is usually a manual step and little work has been done on fully automated segmentation techniques. Also, verbal protocols are known to fail in some circumstances such as when dealing with creativity, insight (e.g. Aha! experience, gestalt), concurrent, nonverbalizable (e.g. facial recognition) and nonconscious processes. We propose different approaches to study the conceptual design process using electroencephalograms (EEG). More specifically, we use spatio-temporal and frequency domain features. Our research is based on machine learning techniques used on EEG signals (functional microstate analysis), source localization (LORETA) and on a novel method of segmentation for design protocols based on EEG features. Using these techniques, we measure mental effort, fatigue and concentration in the conceptual design process, in addition to creativity and insight/nonverbalizable processing. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of such approaches.


identifier: Dou, Yi  (2017) Artifact Analysis and Removal of Electroencephalographic (EEG) Recordings.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Electroencephalography (EEG) technique has been widely used in continuous monitoring the brain activities in academic research and clinical applications. In cognitive neuroscience research, the electrical brain signals can be used to measure mental effort of subjects. However, the presence of artifacts is a constant problem when recording brain activities, which will obscure the underlying neural dynamics and therefore make it difficult to interpret EEG signals accurately. These unwanted signals or artifacts have different effects depending on their sources of generation. Among them, the motion of the subject is one of the major contributors to physiological artifacts that causes most of the contaminations to the underlying brain activities. It is quite challenging to correct the myogenic activity from EEG background potentials due to its wide spectral distribution overlapped with typical bands of brain waves related to cognitive activities, and the spatial distribution over the entire scalp of human. As such, this thesis focuses on the analysis and removal of motion artifacts from EEG signals.
The preliminary investigations include the movement-triggered artifact identification and the analysis of the characteristics of the motion artifact. According to the recorded video, the contaminated epochs are extracted from the original EEG signals. A set of features of the movement-triggered artifacts are proposed based on power spectral density and wavelet transform. Statistical analysis is performed to distinguish the segments that contain motions. Two typical methods of artifact removal are then studied, and the efficiency to correct this type of artifact is validated by comparing the extracted features of non-movement segments and the contaminated segments. The result shows that the tested artifact removal methods cannot completely remove movement artifacts, which also infers the potential relation between motion and mental activities.


identifier: Gaspar, Mark  (2017) Conditions of Uncertainty: The Social and Political Dimensions of Risk Management in the Transition to the Biomedical Era of HIV Prevention.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The HIV prevention field in Canada has failed to achieve a stabilising point, a lack of consensus on the effectiveness of risk management strategies, in its third decade, the transition to the biomedical era of HIV prevention. Under these conditions of uncertainty we have witnessed epistemic and social and political uncertainties proliferate. Experts debate long-standing and emerging prevention strategies. Newly produced knowledge complicates our understanding of gay male HIV prevention but often lacks appropriate validity and generalizability. Governing practices are implemented to respond to this knowledge, but in conflicting ways. For everyday social actors, these uncertainties morph into complicated forms of experiential uncertainty.

I first present this dissertation as a work of critical social science on HIV. Drawing from critical studies on risk and uncertainty I then produce an original analytic framework termed the uncertainty triad. I then examine biomedical and public health research and critical perspectives on gay male HIV prevention, arguing that the field cultivates uncertainty to “beat-up” the epidemic.

I then present data from 33 in-depth interviews conducted with young HIV-negative gay men to discuss their everyday confrontations with serostatus uncertainty (an inability to confirm one’s HIV-negativity). This is a move away from analysing motivations for condomless anal sex and focusing exclusively on “high risk men.” To avoid exclusively tapping into the HIV epistemic community, the interviewees hadn’t previously participated in a research interview about HIV and had no regular involvement with an AIDS service organisation.

I then present an original theory on risk disposition, which investigates a social actor’s processes of risk reflexivity and his tolerance to serostatus uncertainty. Social conditions affecting the experiences of health maintenance, institutional navigation and sexual practice can shape tolerance to serostatus uncertainty by minimising or fostering anxiety. Drawing on the notion of sexual practice over sexual behaviour, I then examine HIV-negative gay men’s confrontations with HIV-related ethico-political challenges such as HIV stigma, serosorting and the criminalisation of HIV non-disclosure. I argue that biomedical optimism does not necessarily lead to the abandonment of condoms among HIV-negative gay men and that many remain sceptical of the prevention benefits of HIV treatments.


identifier: Nitka, Danit  (2017) The Role of Cognitive Processes in Social Anxiety Risk for Problematic Drinking.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Alcohol consumption peaks in university and is tied with numerous and often severe negative alcohol-related consequences (NACs) (e.g., blacking out; unplanned sex). Social anxiety (SA) is highly comorbid with alcohol use disorders in later adulthood, yet during the undergraduate years the link is less clear. On the one hand, those high in SA may use alcohol to relieve tension in anxiety-provoking social situations. On the other, they may be particularly attentive to potential NACs (e.g., saying regretful things) and avoid drinking. This theoretical complexity is reflected by a mixed empirical literature, with evidence for positive, negative, and null associations between SA and problematic drinking. Despite research efforts to elucidate this pathway to problematic drinking, how risk unfolds and who high on SA is at risk remain unclear. The primary goal of this dissertation was to clarify SA risk for problematic drinking. To meet this goal, in-the-moment cognitions and key moderators were incorporated into models of risk. Study 1 sought to investigate the interactive effects of SA, impulsivity, and mood on positive alcohol-related cognitions, as they unfold in-the-moment during a drinking episode. It was hypothesized that when in an anxious (vs. neutral) mood, and following a priming dose of alcohol, those high on SA and impulsivity would activate positive alcohol-related cognitions (i.e., tension reduction, social facilitation). In partial support of hypotheses, following a priming dose of alcohol, those high on SA and impulsivity activated social facilitation and enhancement (but not tension reduction) alcohol-related cognitions. Surprisingly, this effect was observed in the neutral but not anxious mood condition. The second study tested individual subjective evaluations of NACs as moderating SA risk for problematic drinking. It was hypothesized that individuals high on SA who evaluate NACs less negatively would be at risk for experiencing NACs but not drinking heavily. Supporting the hypothesis, those high on SA demonstrated risk for experiencing NACs if they evaluated these consequences to be less negative. The findings contribute to a mixed but evolving picture of SA risk pathways to problematic drinking. In addition to advancing extant theoretical models, results have clinical implications for interventions targeting SA-motivated undergraduate drinking.


identifier: Uscatescu, Irina  (2017) A prospective analysis of the functional impact of patients in an interdisciplinary cancer rehabilitation program in a tertiary care hospital setting.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Introduction: The number of cancer survivors is increasing and the need for multidisciplinary cancer rehabilitation centers is on the rise. The Cancer Rehabilitation and Cachexia Clinic at the McGill University Health Centre, aims to provide personalized, multidisciplinary care by introducing the concept of three patient streams based on symptom progression: restorative, supportive and cachexia. Patients at this clinic are seen by five cancer care specialists whose goal is to improve quality of life while restoring or maintaining their functional abilities. The present study evaluated the functional outcomes of the patients who participated in the multidisciplinary cancer rehabilitation clinic in 2014.
Objectives: To evaluate the functional improvement in the hand grip strength, six minute walk test, sit to stand test and the single leg stand test, of patients who took part in the interdisciplinary cancer rehabilitation clinic.
Methods:  115 patients with cancer were referred to the Cancer Rehabilitation and Cachexia Clinic from January to December 2014. Physical functional was assessed at baseline visits, follow-up visits and at the end evaluation, by performing the had-grip strength test, 6 minute walk-test, sit-to-stand test, and single leg stand test. The data was analysed for each dependent variable to determine if any baseline differences existed among the three program streams (restorative stream, supportive stream, cachexia stream) and to measure if the patients improved their functional status pre-post rehabilitation after completing the respective assigned streams.
Results: There were 48 patients assigned in the cachexia stream, 28 patients in the restorative and 39 in the supportive stream. The most predominant type of cancer was lung cancer.  At baseline, the cachexia stream had significantly lower weight, BMI and higher WBC compared to the restorative stream. At baseline, patients in the supportive stream had a significant higher percentile HGS when compared to the cachexia stream (p<0.05). Although not statistically significant, all three streams slightly improved their hand-grip strength while being part of the program.
Conclusion: Overall function of the groups did not show improvement based upon the 6MWT and HGS.  However, the supportive stream did show improvement in their percentile HGS.  Thus, the interdisciplinary rehabilitation services demonstrated only mild improvements in the supportive but no measureable differences in the restorative or cachexic patient groups.


identifier: Huang, Jingmin  (2017) The Impact of Affective Events on Employees’ Psychological Well-being: Personality and Servant Leadership as Moderators.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Organizations are dynamic entities, and such dynamism is reflected in the emergence of significant events. These events, be it positive or negative, can influence employees. However, there is little discussion about how they become meaningful and come to impact employees, which hinders the progress in the understanding of organizational behaviors. This paper addresses this gap by applying Affective Events Theory (AET) to further our understanding of how events in the workplace trigger influence employees’ workplace psychological well-being. More specifically, this paper studies the impact of positive and negative events on employees’ psychological wellbeing, accounting for the moderating effects of their personality traits and servant leadership. This paper contributes to our understanding of the impact of work events, personality and servant leadership in influencing employees’ psychological wellbeing by (a) testing the relationship between work events and employees’ psychological wellbeing; (b) identifying the moderating effects of personality and servant leadership.


identifier: majidi ivari, sareh  (2017) Use of the LDPC codes Over the Binary Erasure Multiple Access Channel.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Wireless communications use different orthogonal multiple access techniques to access a radio spectrum. The need for the bandwidth efficiency and data rate enhancing increase with the tremendous growth in the number of mobile users. One promising solution to increase the data rate without increasing the bandwidth is non-orthogonal multiple access channel. For the noiseless channel like the data network, the non-orthogonal multiple access channel is named: Binary Erasure Multiple Access Channel (BEMAC). To achieve two corner points on the boundary region of the BEMAC, a half rate code is needed. One practical code which has good performance over the BEMAC is the Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes. The LDPC codes receive a lot of attention nowadays, due to the good performance and low decoding complexity. However, there is a tradeoff between the performance and the decoding complexity of the LDPC codes.  In addition, the LDPC encoding complexity is a problem, because an LDPC code is defined with its parity check matrix which is sparse and random and lacks of structure.
This thesis consists of two main parts. In the first part, we propose a new practical method to construct an irregular half LDPC code which has low encoding complexity. The constructed code supposed to have a good performance and low encoding complexity. To have a low encoding complexity, the parity check matrix of the code must have lower triangular shape. By implementing the encoder and the decoder, the performance of the code can be also evaluated. Due to the short cycles in the code and finite length of the code the actual rate of the code is degraded. To improve the actual rate of the code, the guessing algorithm is applied if the Belief Propagation is stuck. The actual rate of the code increases from 0.418 to0.44. The decoding complexity is not considered when the code is constructed.
Next in the second part, a regular LDPC code is constructed which has low decoding complexity. The code is generated based on the Gallager method. We present a new method to improve the performance of an existing regular LDPC code. The proposed method does not add a high complexity to the decoder. The method uses a combination of three algorithms: 1- Standard Belief Propagation 2- Generalized tree-expected propagation 3- Guessing algorithm. The guessing algorithm is impractical when the number of guesses increases. Because the number of possibilities increases exponentially with increasing the number of guesses. A new guessing algorithm is proposed in this thesis. The new guessing algorithm reduces the number of possibilities by guessing on the variable nodes which are connected to a set of check nodes. The actual rate of the code increases from 0.41 to 0.43 after applying the proposed method and considering the number of possibilities equal to two in the new guessing algorithm.


identifier: Thibeault, Charles-Antoine  (2017) Addressing Joint Attention Deficits with Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Music Therapy Intervention Research Study.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study involved the development of a 12-month music therapy program addressing joint attention deficits for children 1 to 6 years old diagnosed with or suspected of having Autism Spectrum Disorder. As joint attention plays a key role in the development of social communicative skills such as language and theory of mind, its deficit can have a great impact on the life of children diagnosed with autism. Although many interventions have been developed to address this deficit in fields such as psycho-education and education, little is available in the field of music therapy. Moreover, of those interventions developed in music therapy, few involved external settings, such as homes and schools. This study used an intervention research methodology to provide appropriate guidelines for intervention with children with autism to address joint attention deficits. These guidelines include such elements as goals and objectives, including addressing joint attention responses and initiations, treatment duration, setting, intervention agent, specificities of sensory interventions with children with autism, and pertinent musical components. Results indicate that the inclusion of siblings and the use of improvisational music therapy could favor positive results. Potential implications for music therapy practice as well as areas for future research are discussed.


identifier: Trinh, Trang  (2016) An Experimental Study: Ambient Scent, Competition, and Human Crowding in the Retail Environment.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This thesis investigates the topic of human crowding in the retail environment and the affective and behavioural consequences it has on consumers. We are particularly interested in whether the arousal component of two different scents (lavender and grapefruit) and the presence or absence of competition, reduces the dissatisfaction and avoidance behaviour that consumers display when they experience human crowding.
Results support our hypothesis and show that a relaxing scent could be used to control for human crowding. The negative effects of human crowding are mitigated in the condition where the pleasing properties of the environmental manipulation (i.e. relaxing scent and no presence of competition) lower the displeasure generated by human crowding.
The thesis contributes to the research on the effects of ambient scent by considering the application of scent in conjunction with the human crowding component of the retail environment. Furthermore, this is—to our knowledge—the first study to use the presence of real people to simulate human crowding. Previous studies on the topic had participants look at pictures of a crowded settings, instead of immersing them in one.
Future research should replicate this study and expand on the scent selection, to ensure that the pleasing effect still holds for multidimensional scents.


identifier: Zentner Zuniga, Daysi Lissett  (2017) Colombian Youths’ Descriptions of Their Responses to Peer Provocation: Associations with Dyadic Gender Composition.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate adolescents’ descriptions of responses to provocation within same- and mixed-gender peer dyads. We examined (1) the types of provocations youth described, (2) the types of responses desired and enacted following these provocations, and (3) the reasons youth described for enacting or not enacting their responses to provocations. Ninety-six adolescents (M age = 15.9 years; 49 girls) from an urban sample in Colombia were interviewed about two experiences in which they were provoked by a peer (one when they forgave the offender and one when they did not). Generally, analyses failed to reveal significant gender effects for many types of provocations, responses, and reasons. However, some of the notable gender effects included: provocations related to physical attributes were most often described in mixed-gender dyads. Boys reported general offensive behaviours, whereas girls reported more gendered provocations. Participants identified girls as engaging in relationship based provocations. Boys described more retaliatory responses in same-gender dyads, but used avoidance strategies in mixed-gender dyads; whereas girls described more powerless responses in cross-gender dyads, and more withdrawal strategies in same-gender dyads. Male participants enacted retaliatory responses more often compared to girls, especially within same-gender dyads. These findings were sometimes qualified by event type (i.e., forgiveness vs. nonforgiveness). Reasons for enacting or eschewing responses to provocations were overall consistent with gendered patterns observed in previous research on cultures of honour. Findings provide information on the prevalence and influence of gendered beliefs, norms, and behaviors in youths’ experiences of conflict resolution.


identifier: Gauthier, Alex  (2017) Ré-énoncer la voix scots de Trainspotting au moyen du Québec et de la sociolinguistique appliquée.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
En 1993, Irvine Welsh chamboulait le lectorat anglophone en publiant Trainspotting, un roman coup-de-poing qui brisait les conventions de l’écriture anglaise en codant l’orthographe pour imiter le sociolecte scots. Trois ans plus tard, Trainspotting était traduit en français. En 2011, une retraduction française était publiée à Paris. Dans les deux versions, le codage de la langue, si important et si lourd de sens pour l’auteur et dans le récit, n’existe plus. Le présent mémoire se penche sur les effets de cette absence dans les versions françaises et propose une solution à la problématique du sociolecte en traduction.

Dans un premier temps, j’analyse l’oeuvre et ce qui l’entoure, de son auteur à l’importance de Trainspotting en littérature anglophone, en passant par le contexte d’écriture, la structure, la langue et les personnages. Suivent une critique des deux traductions parisiennes, guidée par les notions de voix poétique d’Henri Meschonnic et d’éthique de Michael Cronin, ainsi qu’un survol des contextes sociohistoriques de la France, du Québec et de l’Écosse, lequel m’amène à proposer une variante du français québécois comme apte à traduire le sociolecte
scots. Enfin, à l’aide de 13 phénomènes morphosyntaxiques et phonologiques tirés d’études sociolinguistiques du français québécois et du eye dialect, j’élabore une « systématique de la déformation » qui vise à recréer la voix, au sens meschonnicien, de l’oeuvre, c’est-à-dire la force expressive et la polyphonie de la langue codée ainsi que son effet désorientant.


identifier: Adler, Jordan Z.  (2017) Trees Before Walls: Alternative Cinematic Perspectives of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Amidst the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there is a need to concentrate on efforts between local citizens to find a hopeful common ground through dialogue, peace-building, and nonviolent activism. The five non-fiction films examined in this thesis attempt to add nuance to our understanding of the contested region through resisting a polarized political rhetoric that has defined much mainstream coverage of the violence and ethnic struggle. Cultural scholars, through examining Israeli and Palestinian cinema as separate and oppositional entities, further fail to dissolve barriers that contribute to intensified misconceptions of the Other. Therefore, this investigation will align with the aims of “post-Zionism,” an ideology that attempts to move beyond the original tenets of Zionism, embrace the multicultural makeup of Israel-Palestine, and address under-seen, marginalized perspectives of the country’s history. The five post-Zionist documentaries analyzed, made during a period of intensified conflict and stalled peace talks in the early twenty-first century, examine a formidable array of viewpoints while questioning and deconstructing Israeli myths.


identifier: Papadopoulos, Loukia  (2016) A “Successful” Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) is a bankable NAMA.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
National Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) have gained a reputation as an effective tool for mitigating emissions in developing nations while supporting their economic growth. These actions, an outgrowth of earlier similar initiatives, have been rising in popularity in the last few years. There are currently 17 NAMAs in implementation out of 178 in development and 31 feasibility studies (numbers as of October 2016) and that number is constantly growing. As more and more countries get involved, it is important to examine what criteria comprise a “successful” NAMA. Successful in this context means one that is successful in attracting the investors and technical supporters it needs to get implemented while effectively mitigating emissions (the main inherent goal of a NAMA). The mitigation question though need not be addressed as by definition when implemented all NAMAs do effectively mitigate emissions. With the vast majority of NAMAs still not implemented, this question is difficult to answer. Additionally, NAMAs are viewed differently by different entities such as supporting organisations and financiers. The definition of NAMAs provided by the UNFCCC itself includes several criteria that must be met by a project in order to be considered a NAMA. However, these criteria are not necessarily related to a NAMA’s success but refer more to environmental, social or economic development. So what criteria actually influence the acquisition of successful NAMA support? This paper examines this question through key player interviews, surveys, analysis of NAMAs in implementation, and case study analysis. I examine different criteria influencing NAMAs as well as those comprising a NAMA; both inherent in the NAMA definition such as the potential for mitigation and others such as the role of financing and supporting organisations. The purpose is to determine what in essence allows NAMAs to be deemed attractive enough to financiers and all supporting bodies that they can finally make it to the implementation stage without compromising their goals. By following the patterns revealed through this research, rating both the importance of inherent criteria to NAMAs definition and the rest of the criteria addressed in NAMA proposals, and then comparing these two groups, a trend emerges, one that very likely holds the key to effective NAMA implementation. The problem lies in a struggle for the initiatives to leverage private finance due to the fact that they are not always structured or presented as ‘bankable’: i.e. initiatives that generate adequate levels of revenues with a strong level of certainty. When it comes to financing, the bottom line always prevails and that is that an
attractive return on investment is a requirement for investors. The principles of economics remain the same even in green economies. To ensure successful funding of NAMAs, the public sector would be wise to promote NAMAs that guarantee attractive risk/return ratios for the private investor.


identifier: Chhatwal, Kyl  (2017) Tenderness, and Other Stories.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Tenderness, and Other Stories

abstract:
This thesis takes the form of a collection of short stories titled Tenderness, and Other Stories. The stories represent a conscious effort to vary perspective, style, voice and character. For example, the collection includes a first-person narrative told from the point of view of a somewhat unreliable young Indian-Canadian female philosophy student, as well as a fairly straight third-person objective narrative, focalizing on a young male traveller of indeterminate origin backpacking through southern Africa. In Tenderness, the longest and most ambitious of the four stories in this collection, the setting and the number of characters are deliberately restricted, in order to present a controlled environment in which to experiment with perspective, and to give each of the three characters reasonably even-handed treatment.
These stories are often preoccupied with identity, contingency, and the boundary between truth and storytelling (or mythmaking). Three of the four stories use the existing canon of literature, philosophy, and even cultural anecdote—i.e. D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover; Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex; a famous remark by the British explorer David Livingstone—as echo chambers in which to amplify the story’s particular thematic concerns. In writing short fiction this way, I am attempting to use stories as conduits into the broader conversations raised by existing (and often very old) cultural works, as well as reframing these works in a way that is contemporary, and hopefully meaningful.


identifier: Jones, Alan  (2017) “Notre Valérie Nationale”: The films de fesses as a catalyst of socio-cultural transformation during Quebec’s Quiet Revolution and beyond.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The  films de fesses  are a cycle of French-language sexploitation films produced in Quebec in the late sixties and early seventies. They were an unforeseen consequence of the vast social and political changes that occurred in the 1960s. During this period, Jean Lesage’s Liberal government commenced a period of secularization in the province that became known as the Quiet Revolution. At the same time, the sexual revolution was challenging norms in most of the Western world, including Quebec. Between 1963 and 1967, Quebec went from having the most draconian, punitive censorship regime in Canada to the most liberal and relaxed. The end of this period also marked the creation of the Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC), which financed “commercially-calculated” projects, including sexploitation films.
Firstly, I will examine how the first of these films,  Valérie  (Denis Héroux, 1969), became a sensation upon its release and invoked sentiments of national pride. The director bragged that he wanted to “ déshabiller la petite québécoise ,” and one television personality started referring to its beauty contest-winning star, Danielle Ouimet, as “ Notre Valérie nationale ,” a sex idol that Quebec could call its own. The film follows the titular character as she is “rescued” from a Catholic orphanage by a man on a motorcycle, until she arrives in Montreal and becomes a sex worker. Promoted as an allegory for Quebec’s maturation, both sexually and politically, the film stoked controversy as conservative members of the press criticized it for its overtly commercialized sexuality. Nevertheless, it was followed by a cycle of films that followed the same narrative and thematic template, pitching young against old, metropolitan against rural, secular against religious.
Secondly, I will explore the high-profile censorship case that emerged in 1971 when a priest from Quebec City filed criminal complaints against  Après-ski  and  Pile ou face , two  films de fesses  that both featured full frontal nudity (both male and female). These affairs pitched the authority of Quebec’s provincial Bureau de surveillance du cinéma against the federal criminal code, and put fear into the hearts of exhibitors and distributors. Still, it provoked a public debate in Quebec’s tabloids and media which I argue normalized anti-censorship opinions in the province. Overall, I hope to show how seemingly marginal works of art, such as the  films de fesses , had an outsized effect on the socio-cultural fabric of the province.


identifier: Hernandez Molina, Javier Enrique  (2017) New Immigrants’ Perceptions of Ethnic Small Businesses.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Recent immigrants in pro-immigration countries face the burden of economic instability due to lack of host country work experience, resulting in job search in the unskilled labor market as cashiers, grocery packers or waiters. At the same time, many other immigrants have taken on entrepreneurship by starting businesses that reflect deep linkages to their mother country (nationalism) in terms of products, network and cultural work environment, establishing a source of unskilled employment for other immigrants. However, there are both practical and theoretical needs to understand intergroup phenomena occurring when an immigrant intends to apply for work in a business of different ethnicity. This paper explores job seekers’ perceptions of nationalistic ethnic businesses concerning intergroup feelings (prejudice and group competition), social identity issues (nationalism) and perceived job opportunities. Results on an experiment of immigrants in Montreal indicated that, consistent with the main hypothesis, nationalistic businesses are deemed more prejudiced by job seekers than non-nationalistic ones. Interestingly, the evidence also suggested that job seekers regard each business ethnicity differently and that those prior ethnic impressions affected levels of expected prejudice. Moreover, individual variables such as job seeker’s openness to experience and ethnic identification revealed marginally significant impact on perceived prejudice. This work helps enlighten literature in intergroup conflict in the context of job search and ethnic business and enhance literature on immigrant experience. Important practical implications for recent immigrants, ethnic businesses and immigration policies are discussed in favor of reducing perceived prejudice in multicultural countries.


identifier: Querel, Louis-Philippe  (2017) WarningsGuru - Analysing historical commits, augmenting software bug prediction models with warnings and a user study.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The detection of bugs in software is divided into two research fields. Static analysis report warnings at the line level and are often false positives. Statistical models use historical change measures to predict bugs in commits at a higher level. We developed a tool which combines both of these approaches.

Our tool analyses each commit of a project and identifies which commit introduced a warning. It processed over 45k commits, more then previous research. We propose an augmented bug model which includes static analysis measures which found that a twofold increase in the number of new warnings increases the odds of introducing a bug 1.5 times. Overall, our model accounts for 22% of the deviance which is an improvement over the 19.5% baseline. We demonstrate that we can use simple measure to predict new security warnings with a deviance explained of 30% and that recent development experience and more co-developers reduces the number of security warnings by 8%.

We perform a user study of developers who introduced new warnings in 37 projects. We found that 53% and 21% of warnings in Findbugs and Jlint respectively are useful. We analysed the time delta between the introduction and response of the developer to the notification of the warning. We hypothise that remembering the context  of the change as an impact on the perceived usefulness given useful warnings had a median of 11.5 versus 23 days for non useful warnings