identifier: Patel, Vishal  (2008) CMOS negative resistance circuits.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: CMOS negative resistance circuits

abstract: Active resistors in VLSI technology have grown in stature as they enable the design of large resistive loads without using excessively bulky resistors, or a high voltage supply. Active resistors designed in CMOS technology have the property of being voltage controlled, which permits the design of negative resistance circuits. A negative resistance circuit has the property in which the current is a decreasing function of the input voltage, and has an I-V curve with a negative slope. They have the potential of being a key building block for larger electronic systems in VLSI technology, with applications in various fundamental circuits such as amplifiers and oscillators.  A detailed characterization of negative resistance circuits is presented in this thesis. Important large and small signal characteristics, including noise, linearity and power consumption are investigated. A strategy for designing wide bandwidth active resistors is proposed with supporting analysis. Key stability issues that have not previously been reported are brought forward and the stability of larger circuits that accommodate a negative resistor are investigated. To conclude the thesis, design applications in which negative resistors have been used to improve the performance of larger electronic systems are demonstrated. These include the design of a low phase noise current mode oscillator and a high bandwidth inverting feedback amplifie


identifier: Labban, Jihad  (2008) Dialogue games and trust for communicating agents.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract: Multi-agent applications are primarily based on agent interactions, which are constrained by the trust of participating agents. Two important issues in these applications are how agents can communicate in a flexible and efficient way and how an agent can authenticate information conveyed by other agents in the system. In this thesis, we present a new communication framework and trust model addressing these issues by considering three factors. The first factor is about the flexibility, complexity, soundness, and completeness of the communication protocol. The second factor is about the classification of agents from a trust point of view using direct interactions. The third factor is related to the categorization of the agent's chains through which the information is transmitted. Such a categorization is based upon the reliability of the agents in the chain. The model aims to examine all available data in order to determine the trustworthiness of agents as transmitters of information. This approach is the first attempt in multi-agent systems towards classifying agents in order to accomplish trust. We also propose a thorough set of criteria and policies to assign different degrees of trustworthiness to each agent and consequently to the chains in which they appear. Agents are considered autonomous and they interact flexibly using a set of logical rules called dialogue games. Termination, soundness, and completeness results of the communication protocol are proven and its computational complexity is addressed. The proposed approach is also evaluated.  Keywords: Trust, Dialogue Games, Multi-Agent Systems, Agent Types, Agent Characteristics, Chain of Agents


identifier: Sacramento, Ariel  (2008) Coded transmit diversity in CDMA over Nakagami-m fading channels.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: With applications such as video conferencing, extensive web browsing and live video streaming, future wireless systems become extremely demanding in terms of high data rates and improved signal quality.  In this thesis the performance of a space-time spreading transmit diversity scheme is examined over a frequency-flat Nakagami- m fading channel. The Nakagami- m channel model is considered as it is well known for modeling signal fading conditions ranging from severe to moderate, to light fading or no fading, through its parameter m.   We also propose in this thesis a coded transmit diversity scheme which is based on a combination of a convolutional code with a space-time transmit diversity scheme that uses direct-sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) for multiuser access.  Our focus will be on the uplink of the communication system. The space-time scheme employs N = 2 and N r antennas at the mobile station (MS) side and at the base station (BS) side respectively. DS-CDMA is used to support many users and a linear decorrelator detector is used to combat the effect of multiuser interference.  We study the performance of both the uncoded and coded transmit diversity schemes over slow fading and fast fading channels. In all cases, the investigations start by determining the probability density function (PDF) of the signal to interference and noise ratio at the output of the space-time combiner at the BS receiver side. Using this PDF we derive a closed-form (or an approximation) expression for the bit error rate (BER) of the system under consideration. The accuracy of the PDF and BER expressions are verified when compared to simulation results for different values of the fading figure m and for different combinations of transmit and receive antennas. In the case of the coded space-time transmit diversity scheme, the pairwise error probability and the corresponding BER upper bounds are obtained for fast and slow fading channels. The derived error bounds, when compared to system simulations, are shown to be tight at high signal-to-noise ratios.  Furthermore, our analytical results explicitly show the achieved system diversity in terms of the number of transmit and receive antennas and the fading figure m. When the coded space-time scheme is considered, its diversity is shown to be a function of the minimum free distance d free of the convolutional code used. Furthermore we show that the diversity of the different schemes considered is always independent of the system load


identifier: Mendhurwar, Kaustubha  (2008) New MOSFET modeling algorithms and their use in CAD of analog IC building blocks.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Analog integrated circuit (IC) design has undergone several technical advancements following Moore's law, and tends to become extremely challenging with the continued downscaling of the devices and supply voltages. However, not many sophisticated and detailed design tools are available to aid analog designers in exploiting the complete potential of these technical advancements. Most of the available commercial and in-house design tools model the basic building blocks ( e.g. transistor) and employ these device models to predict the performance of a complete circuit/system. As such, accuracies of these device models are crucial in order to develop efficient design tools. Typically, accurate models could be complex, while simple models could be inaccurate. As such, new modeling algorithms leading to simple yet accurate device models and satisfactory design tools continued to be in great demand.  In this thesis, neural networks that offer advantages like simple calculations and a wide spectrum of applications, are employed for the modeling purpose. Firstly, new modeling algorithms based on binning concepts that offer accurate device modeling over wider input parameter space of the problems that have outputs highly non-linear to one of the inputs are proposed. Both single and multi- dimensional modeling algorithms are developed, and illustrated through device modeling examples. A new neural modeling approach based on a correction model is then introduced for the first time to develop accurate device level models for highly non-linear input-output behaviours that are difficult/impossible to model with simple structures. The proposed approach simplifies the modeling process for a novice/inexperienced designer as it eliminates the need of in depth understanding of the neural network concepts by virtue of using well known simple 3-layer MLP networks. MOSFET modeling example confirms that the approach leads to accurate neural models while keeping the model structure simple.  Finally, device models developed using the aforementioned modeling algorithms are employed to build an accurate and extendable computer aided design (CAD) tool for the design of analog IC building blocks ( e.g. current sources/sinks, single stage amplifiers, simple and cascode current mirrors, voltage divider, differential amplifier, and three stage operational amplifier)


identifier: Van de Velde, Caroline  (2008) Tracking eye movements to uncover the nature of visual-linguistic interaction in static and dynamic scenes.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: These studies examined the role of sentence and visual context in the access to verb-complement information, using a new eye tracker and change blindness paradigm. Participants' eye movements were monitored as they viewed pictures of objects (Experiment 1) or dynamic scenes (Experiment 2), and listened to related sentences. In Experiment 1, two sets of sentences were contrasted, a highly constraining causative construction in which there was a close conceptual relation between the verb and its direct object (e.g., "The woman burned the candle ") and a neutral construction with a transitive perception verb (e.g., "The woman admired the candle "). Starting at three different points within the presentation of the verb (onset, middle, offset) and noun (onset, offset, offset+200 ms), participants' task was to look and indicate whether the target objects mentioned in the sentences (e.g., " candle ") were present in the visual displays. Results indicate that semantic information extracted at the verb can be used to constrain the domain of reference in the scene and in some cases predict the referent of the grammatical complement of the verb, depending on tasks demands, conceptual consolidation, of the scene, and the presence of competitor objects.  In Experiment 2, two different classes of verbs were contrasted, denominal and non-denominal verbs, which either implicitly (e.g., "The woman will iron the shirt ") or explicitly (e.g., "The woman will chop the vegetables with the knife ") named the instrument nouns. These movies were edited, unbeknownst to the participants, so that the real referents of the verb's grammatical object (e.g., " shirt/vegetables ") or instrument (e.g., " iron/knife ") gradually dissolved. Participants' task was to provide a detailed description of each scene, and later perform a recognition task. Although results indicate that information extracted from the sentence helped identify, describe and remember scene details, visual context seems to take precedence over linguistic input properties in guiding eye movements. In conclusion, the processor appears to incrementally integrate all available knowledge, linguistic and non-linguistic, with the aim to rapidly interpret the linguistic description of what we see in the world and how we may interact with it.


identifier: Sinha, Pavel  (2008) Algorithm and architecture for simultaneous diagonalization of matrices applied to subspace-based speech enhancement.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis presents algorithm and architecture for simultaneous diagonalization of matrices. As an example, a subspace-based speech enhancement problem is considered, where in the covariance matrices of the speech and noise are diagonalized simultaneously. In order to compare the system performance of the proposed algorithm, objective measurements of speech enhancement is shown in terms of the signal to noise ratio and mean bark spectral distortion at various noise levels.  In addition, an innovative subband analysis technique for subspace-based time-domain constrained speech enhancement technique is proposed. The proposed technique analyses the signal in its subbands to build accurate estimates of the covariance matrices of speech and noise, exploiting the inherent low varying characteristics of speech and noise signals in narrow bands. The subband approach also decreases the computation time by reducing the order of the matrices to be simultaneously diagonalized. Simulation results indicate that the proposed technique performs well under extreme low signal-to-noise-ratio conditions.  Further, an architecture is proposed to implement the simultaneous diagonalization scheme. The architecture is implemented on an FPGA primarily to compare the performance measures on hardware and the feasibility of the speech enhancement algorithm in terms of resource utilization, throughput, etc. A Xilinx FPGA is targeted for implementation. FPGA resource utilization re-enforces on the practicability of the design. Also a projection of the design feasibility for an ASIC implementation in terms of transistor count only is included


identifier: Zhang, Haining  (2008) A sample-decimation based fast preamble detection algorithm.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Random access is a commonly used multiple access scheme that allows multiple users to share the same resource in a distributed fashion. In a Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), the preamble of a random access channel (RACH) message is used by a mobile user to signal the base station for requesting network access or short data packets transportation. The base station is responsible in a timely fashion for detecting the preambles and informing the user whether the request has been granted or denied through the acquisition indication channel (AICH). Preamble detection is one of the most computationally intensive functional units of a base station. It has attracted many research attentions and investments in the past a few decades.  The drawback of the existing preamble detection (PD) algorithms for UMTS base-station is that either their computational complexity is high or the detection accuracy is low. The conventional full search PD algorithm gives the best result in terms of the detection probability, but its complexity is high. On the hand, the parallel-serial code phase detector PD algorithm provides a reduced computational complexity, but the detection accuracy becomes low. In this thesis, a sample-decimation based preamble detection technique is proposed in order to substantially reduce the computational complexity and at the same time retain a high detection accuracy. The proposed algorithm comprises two stages. Delay hypotheses or delay offsets which are unlikely to have a strong correlation power between the antenna samples and the locally generated preamble replica are identified and discarded in the first stage. The second stage operates on the remaining offsets and employs all the antenna samples within the preamble signal.  Extensive computer simulations are conducted under different levels of additive white Gaussian noise interferences. The results show that the proposed algorithm has a detection performance very close to that of the conventional full search PD algorithm, while at the same time it reduces the computational complexity by more than sixty percent


identifier: Afonso, Veronica M  (2007) Hormonal, neural, and experiential regulation of female-male mounting in the rat.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Yang, Linchuan  (2007) Ad-hoc wireless networking for supporting on-site communication.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Ad-hoc networks are self-organized wireless networks. They have the potential to be widely used in emergency salvation, construction sites, and military fields. However, the research about the efficient usage of ad-hoc networking in engineering applications is still limited. In this research, a new approach for investigating problems related to deploying ad-hoc wireless networks for supporting on-site communication and collaboration is proposed. Several modes of communication which are common in on-site applications are considered including location information, text messaging, voice and video communications, and file transmission. A prototype system is implemented for testing these modes based on available ad-hoc network protocols and using mobile devices. In addition, in order to verify our proposed approach, several tests are designed and implemented to demonstrate the usefulness of the prototype system. The results from the tests showed that our prototype system is applicable for ad-hoc wireless networks. Furthermore, a new protocol based on clustering to improve data accessibility in ad-hoc networks is tested using a simulation tool to study its performance under different scenarios. The simulation results showed the impact of the area size, wireless range, number of nodes, and node speed on data accessibility.


identifier: Islam, Md. Mezbahul  (2007) Thermodynamic modeling of the Mg-Cu-Y system.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Thermodynamic modeling of the Mg-Cu-Y system is carried out as a part of thermodynamic database construction for Mg alloys. This system is being modeled for the first time using the Modified Quasichemical model which considers the presence of short range ordering in the liquid.  A self-consistent thermodynamic data base for the Mg-Cu-Y system is constructed by combining the thermodynamic descriptions of the constituent binaries, Mg-Cu, Cu-Y, and Mg-Y using a suitable ternary extrapolation technique. All the three binaries have been re-optimized based on the experimental phase equilibrium and thermodynamic data available in the literature.  The constructed database is used to calculate and predict the thermodynamic properties, binary phase diagrams and liquidus projections of the ternary Mg-Cu-Y system. Calculated phase diagrams and the thermodynamic properties such as activity, enthalpy of mixing and partial Gibbs energy of the binary liquid alloys are found to be in good agreement with the experimental data reported in the literature. Moreover, for the Mg-Cu-Y ternary system, isothermal sections, vertical sections and polythermal sections are calculated, and the invariant reaction points are predicted for the first time


identifier: Dudeck, Marcie Rochelle  (2007) Understanding the relation among stressful life events, attachment and adjustment in adolescence.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Previous research has established that stressful life events are strongly linked with negative adjustment indices in adolescence (e.g., Compas & Phares, 1991; Kim, Conger, Elder, & Lorenz, 2003; Waaktaar, Borge, Fundingsrud, Christie, & Torgersen, 2004). Less is known about how different types of life stressors (i.e., dependent versus independent) impact adjustment over time for normative populations of adolescents. An important area for exploration is that of protective/vulnerability factors in adolescents who have endured stressful life events. A promising area of exploration is the moderating role of the adolescent-mother attachment relationship as a protective factor against stressful life events. Relatively little attention has been paid to distinguishing between negative and positive adjustment outcomes in exploring these associations. The purpose of this short-term longitudinal study was to investigate the role of attachment quality in the associations between stressful life events (dependent and independent) and adjustment outcomes (positive and negative) with a normative population of adolescents. Multilevel modeling was used to examine these interrelationships and adjustment growth curves.  A total of 183 adolescents (n = 96 girls; M age (entire sample) at T1 = 13.0 years, SD = 0.72; M age at T3 = 14.8 years, SD = 0.66) completed an attachment questionnaire, a stressful life events scale, and negative adjustment (depressive symptoms, delinquency) and positive adjustment (responsive caregiving, positive affect) questionnaires. Results indicated that both types of life stressors were important predictors of positive and negative adjustment outcomes. Consistent with previous findings, dependent life events were more strongly linked with depressive symptoms than independent life events. Independent life stress in interaction with attachment was significantly associated with changes in adjustment over time. Protective combinations of attachment with life stressors included lower attachment anxiety with higher independent life stress, which was associated with higher positive affect. More vulnerable combinations included higher attachment avoidance with higher attachment anxiety which was associated with the highest increase in delinquency over time. Results support the importance of specificity of life stressors and specificity of types of adjustment outcomes. Implications for adolescent intervention and prevention programs are discussed.


identifier: Yue, Hong  (2007) The John-Nirenberg inequality for Qa (Rn) and related problems.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The John-Nirenberg inequality characterizes functions in the space BMO in terms of the decay of the distribution function of their oscillations over a cube. In the first part of this thesis, separate necessary and sufficient John-Nirenberg type inequalities are proved for functions in the space [Special characters omitted.] . The results are a modified version of the conjecture made by Essén, Janson, Peng and Xiao, who introduce the space [Special characters omitted.] . The necessity for this modification is shown by two counterexamples.  The counterexamples provide us with a borderline case function for [Special characters omitted.] . In the second part, the discussion on the relation between the function and the space Q {460} in a wider range is presented. Moreover, the analytic and fractal properties of the function are studied and the fractal dimensions of the graph of the function are determined. These properties and dimensions illustrate some form of regularity for functions in [Special characters omitted.] .  Lastly, the relation between the tent spaces [Special characters omitted.] and L p , H p , and BMO for q ✹ 2 is discussed. By the theory of Triebel-Lizorkin spaces, a projection from [Special characters omitted.] to L p for 1 < p < {592}, to H p for p {600} 1, and to BMO for p = {592}, is shown to exist for 1 < q {600} 2.


identifier: Esfarjani, Sanaz Arabzadeh  (2007) Numerical simulation of two-phase flow in an effervescent atomizer for nano-suspension spray.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Liquid atomization is widely used in industrial applications such as aerospace, combustion, pharmaceutical, spray coatings, and surface engineering. The main concern of atomization is to have a controllable and uniform spray. In suspension plasma spraying technique, where the attempt is to reach nano-scaled uniform coatings, there is a vital demand to produce a uniform and non-pulsating spray. Effervescent atomizers, in which a gas is bubbled into the bulk liquid through an aerator, have shown to be a technological alternative to the conventional atomizers when atomization of liquids with large variety of viscosity and density is required. Thus, understanding the behavior of gas and liquid flow through the nozzle is crucial to predict the condition of outcoming spray.  The objective of this study is to numerically investigate the two-phase flow inside the effervescent atomizers. Using the incompressible Eulerian/Eulerian approach, the three-dimensional structure of two-phase flow inside an aerated-liquid injector is modeled. The behavior of liquid film in the discharge passage is investigated using different Gas to Liquid mass flow Ratios (GLR). These numerical results are compared with the experimental data available in literature. The effect of nano-sized solid particles concentration on the liquid film thickness at the exit of the atomizer is studied through the change in liquid bulk density and viscosity


identifier: Temcheff, Caroline Elizabeth  (2007) Pathways from aggression in childhood to family violence and poor health in adulthood : a 30-year longitudinal study.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The present investigation, comprised of two studies, was aimed at investigating one homotypic and one heterotypic outcome of childhood aggression. Study 1 examined the outcome of family violence, which is a homotypic outcome of aggression in childhood. Study 2 examined the heterotypic outcomes of adult health service usage and medical visits due to several health problems. Utilizing the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project, a study of individuals recruited as children in the 1970s from inner-city schools in Montreal, this study examined different pathways whereby aggressive behavioral styles in childhood may place individuals at risk for continuing patterns of violence towards children and spouses as well as poor adult health outcomes. In Study 1, childhood aggression directly predicted self-reported violence towards spouse for both sexes, with indirect routes through lowered educational attainment and marital separation. Aggression in childhood was also found to predict parents' self-reports of using violence with their children. For mothers, educational attainment and current absence of the biological father from the child's home also played important roles in predicting violent behavior towards offspring. Findings from this study provide evidence of both continuity of aggressive behavior and indirect risk paths to family violence, via lower educational attainment and parental absence. In Study 2, childhood aggression was also found to directly and positively predict medical service usage, as well as medical visits due to lifestyle-related illnesses, injuries and obstetric and gynecological problems, with indirect paths through educational attainment also present. Taken together, findings from these studies suggest that for both men and women, childhood aggression may be an identifiable precursor of family violence, child abuse, poor health and subsequent intergenerational risk to offspring.


identifier: Farber, Steven  (2008) Pressure loss modeling of non-symmetric gas turbine exhaust ducts using CFD.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In typical gas turbine applications, combustion gases that are discharged from the turbine are exhausted into the atmosphere in a direction that is sometimes different from that of the inlet. In such cases, the design of efficient exhaust ducts is a challenging task particularly when the exhaust gases are also swirling. Designers are in need for a tool today that can guide them in assessing qualitatively and quantitatively the different flow physics in these exhaust ducts so as to produce efficient designs.  In this thesis, a parametric Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based study was carried out on non-symmetric gas turbine exhaust ducts where the effects of geometry and inlet aerodynamic conditions were examined. The results of the numerical analysis were used to develop a total pressure loss model.  These exhaust ducts comprise an annular inlet, a flow splitter, an annular to rectangular transition region, and an exhaust stub. The duct geometry, which is a three-dimensional complex one, is approximated with a five-parameter model, which was coupled with a design of experiment method to generate a relatively small number of exhaust ducts. The flow in these ducts was simulated using CFD for different values of inlet swirl and aerodynamic blockage and the numerical results were reviewed so as to assess the effects of the geometric and aerodynamic parameters on the total pressure loss in the exhaust duct. These flow simulations were used as a data base to generate a total pressure loss model that designers can use as a tool to build more efficient non-symmetric gas turbine exhaust ducts. The resulting correlation has demonstrated satisfactory agreement with the CFD-based data


identifier: Wang, Ya Fang  (2007) On the distribution of discounted compound renewal sums with PH claims.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The family of phase-type (PH) distributions has many good properties such as closure under convolution and mixtures and have rational Laplace transforms. PH distributions are widely used in applications of stochastic models such as in queueing systems, biostatistics and engineering. They are also applied to insurance risk.  In this thesis, we discuss the moment generating function (m.g.f.) of a compound present value risk process with phase-type (PH) deflated claim severities under a net interest e = 0. This represents a generalization of the classical risk model e = 0.  A closed form of the m.g.f. of a compound Poisson present value risk process with PH deflated claims is obtained. We also consider the discounted compound renewal process and get homogeneous differential equations for its m.g.f. in the case of PH deflated claims. Applications and some numerical examples are given to illustrate the results.


identifier: Abolhassani, Babak Samareh  (2008) Two-phase flow modeling of cold spray process.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Laugesen, Nina  (2007) The relationship between adolescent worry, intolerance of uncertainty, and fear of anxiety.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The primary goal of this research was to investigate the relationship between worry, intolerance of uncertainty, and fear of anxiety in a community sample of adolescents. Study 1 examined the association between adolescent worry, intolerance of uncertainty, and fear of anxiety ( N = 258). The results showed that intolerance of uncertainty and fear of anxiety were strongly, uniquely, and specifically related to adolescent worry above and beyond shared variance with gender, depression, and trait anxiety. The interaction between intolerance of uncertainty and fear of anxiety did not significantly predict worry above their separate and unique effects. Study 2 sought to delineate the normative adolescent trajectories of worry, intolerance of uncertainty, and fear of anxiety over time, and explored the longitudinal nature of the associations between worry and intolerance of uncertainty, and between worry and fear of anxiety ( N = 338). Data were collected from each participant twice a year for five years. The findings revealed modest, concave upward (i.e. U-shaped) trajectories for adolescent worry, intolerance of uncertainty, and fear of anxiety over the 10 assessment points. Gender differences in these trajectories were observed, with girls reporting more worry and fear of anxiety than boys across the study period. Unexpectedly, intolerance of uncertainty increased between the midpoint and endpoint of the study for girls, but not for boys. Support was found for a bidirectional and reciprocal relationship between adolescent worry and intolerance of uncertainty, with change in one partially mediating change in the other, even when controlling for depression and trait anxiety. Conversely, adolescent worry and fear of anxiety showed a predominantly unidirectional relationship, with change in worry showing a stronger mediational effect on change in fear of anxiety than vice versa, a result which remained once the variance with depression and trait anxiety was partialled out. Overall, the findings highlight the important role of cognitive processes, such as intolerance of uncertainty and fear of anxiety, in our understanding of adolescent worry. These findings have important implications for our understanding of worry during this critical period of development.


identifier: Berndt, Eric  (2008) Beggin' for budgets : AIDS service organizations and the competition for funding in Alberta.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Public attention towards HIV/AIDS has shifted away from Western democracies in recent decades towards the global South. AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs) in the West, who were among the first in the world to respond to the epidemic, face increasing competition in relation to accessing nearly all of their traditional sources of funding. Within this thesis, the dynamics of competition for funding among ASOs operating in the province of Alberta is explored. Using Hilgartner and Bosk's (1988) public arenas model, I assume that the processes governing a social problem's rise and fall on the public agenda can be similarly applied to the study of non-profit funding. I introduce the concept of funding arenas to describe the location of financial resources available to ASOs in Alberta, and the social processes that influence successful competition therein. Seventeen interviews were conducted (N=17) with Executive Directors and other development staff from all thirteen ASOs operating in the province of Alberta. Content analyses of relevant ASO's funding documents are analyzed in conjunction with interview data. Two broad categorizations of five funding arenas are explored: government arenas and arenas of diverse competition. Cultural factors surrounding HIV/AIDS, including stigma, present various influences on the fund-seeking process in distinct funding arenas. In a critique of the public arenas model, I challenge the assumption that the objective conditions of a social problem bear little impact on the amount of attention it receives.


identifier: Wilson, Kathleen  (2007) Autonomy is the destiny of man : Castoriadis' sociology of the possible.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: While recent debates have focused on the theme of autonomy in Cornelius Castoriadis' works, few scholars have stressed the importance of the question of praxis through which the explicit development of autonomy is to be fostered. This thesis will tackle the question of normativity (in other words, the question "what is to be done?") which led Castoriadis to conceive his politics of transformative action as a creative praxis. Through a hermeneutical excursion into Castoriadis' early writings, as part of the collective Socialisme ou Barbarie: Organe de critique et d'orientation révolutionnaire (1949-1964), we will reveal the internal dynamic between organization and spontaneity, theory and practice. The new conception of revolutionary praxis, ontologically deviating from traditional Marxism, will be central to our analysis. We argue, following Castoriadis, that the aim of autonomy is the destiny of man.  After exploring a short biography of the author, and the revolutionary project of the collective in chapter 2, the general historical context of Marxism will take shape in chapter 3. In chapter 4 our analysis of Castoriadis' critique of bureaucratic capitalism, as manifested under the veil of existing socialism, will be elaborated. A look at Castoriadis' ideal society, in chapter 5, will illuminate the possible avenues for the future of society. Chapter 6 will tackle with the necessity of abandoning Marxism in the name of the revolutionary project of autonomy. Castoriadis' critical sociology of the possible, we will demonstrate, directly engages in the normative orientation of society towards greater autonomy


identifier: Grant, Marya  (2008) "A scanty plot of ground" : navigating identity and the archive in English Indian sonnets.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The motives informing an Indian author's desire to write English sonnets are complicated by the cultural influences of British imperialism and modern globalization. This thesis considers how English Indian sonneteers negotiate questions of identity - self, nation, and culture - through the sonnet form and to what end. This study considers the possible motives through the lenses of sonnet history, colonization, and postcolonial and sonnet theory.  This thesis explores how the English Indian sonneteer attempted to fuse cultural identity, nationalism and form in order to subvert the cultural inculcation of the British Raj and create a hybrid identity for emerging national self. It also explores the development of the alienated self created by colonization and modernism. This work considers colonial and postcolonial sonnets in relation to how themes of nostalgia, history, identity, and nation influenced the works of Anglo-Indian poets. Historical narratives, cultural identity and memory became sites of anxiety, self-elaboration and imagination. These concerns are worked out in the rhetorical space of Anglo-Indian sonnets in ways that simultaneously endorsed, rejected or rewrote the historical narratives that informed the speaker and created a dynamic, hybrid cultural identity


identifier: Rivlin, Tzvi R  (2007) 'this is nat language at any sinse of the world' : James Joyce in Trieste and late-Habsburg language skepticism.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: James Joyce lived in the Habsburg port of Trieste during the twilight years of the Empire. During this period he completed Dubliners , wrote A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and began writing Ulysses . Trieste, like many cities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (e.g., Prague and Budapest) felt the effect of a theoretical crisis that had taken root in Vienna, and owing mostly to political and cultural circumstances it manifested itself throughout the Empire. This study examines the discourse of language critique that flourished during that period in Austrian philosophy and literature to make a case for an interpretation of Joyce as an artist who work resonates with this discourse. Language critique was anti-metaphysical, stressed the historicity of language, drew limits to what could be said and relegated what was beyond those perceived limits to the ineffable. Parallel to this skepticism the critical modernism of Vienna condemned the ornament and imitation that was characteristic of Viennese art and life. In this atmosphere of linguistic skepticism literature was not impoverished but on the contrary was exalted as the only viable means through which ethics could be communicated. Epiphany, in the Joycean sense, was a central theme among these writers, who navigated their works between the Scylla of positivism and the Charybdis of mystical silence in response to the epistemological demand of language critique.


identifier: Yale, Ernesto  (2008) Jocay : a novel.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Jocay : a novel

abstract: Jocay is a South American novel written in English by a South American. The very articulation in English of a fiction that stems from the Spanish-speaking world is in itself a form of fiction, one of the many interacting in the novel. The unnamed first-person narrator grows up in the field of interaction of what is considered official reality with the fictive forces of superstition, religion, politics, dreaming and delusion. Since birth, life has placed him in different borderlands. He, a Mestizo adopted by impoverished former landowners, inhabits the borderland that separates his origins from his present reality, as the people who have adopted him live in a borderland between their former, privileged situation and their present.  He learns that Catholic priests have written a false history of his homeland, in which the natives appear as savages in need of religious indoctrination and colonization. But his godmother tells him that a defrocked priest has found evidence of an old civilization that contradicts the fictive official history. The narrator learns that superstition, a powerful traditional fiction, influences the thinking of uneducated people, who refuse to accept the authority of medicine--which, to some extent, is a fiction itself. Affected by the lack of a clear definition of reality, the narrator inhabits a world in which the real coexists with the supernatural and the fantastic.  He lives on the seashore, near a cliff with caves at its foot. Old natives believe there are forking paths in the caves, which lead to different versions of one's life. He experiences in this place a fictive correction of his reality: he encounters his birth parents, who apologize for having given him away. All along the novel the inward and subjective first-person narrator expresses his feelings and observations from his own, emotional point of view. This includes a series of paranormal experiences--like that of the cliff caves--in which he finds himself on the boundary between daydreaming and hallucination, while a hidden observer in his mind realizes that what is going on is not real. This means that he does not hallucinate, but experiences paranormal states triggered by sadness, frustration, fear of social contempt, loneliness and other powerful feelings.  The fictions that affect the narrator are manifestations of the forces that interact in his post-colonial society. The doctrines of the ruling class and the Catholic church fight against the radical stances of the dissident defrocked priest and the narrator's godmother, an impoverished former landowner who works as a public school teacher, and thinks that all children, regardless of their race and economic condition, have the right to education. When the narrator finishes high school he discovers how the leftist militant students oppose the Establishment. He finds himself, in the 1960s, in a political borderland between those faithful to the Establishment, and those who fight for a socialist political system.  In 1963-1964 the narrator works as a volunteer interpreter on board the hospital ship HOPE (Health Opportunity for People Everywhere). His interpretive work on the ship, where he lives in the borderland between the English and Spanish-speaking worlds, confirms to him that language is much more than words. Since early childhood, his girlfriend has been a mute girl, whose gestures he has learned to interpret. He has also had to decipher what a boy who suffered from Down syndrome and lived at his home, tried to tell him. Such interactions improved his communication skills. But his fascination with language does not come from his human relations alone. Since early childhood he has learned to understand his beloved dog's barking and movements, and the voice of nature articulated by the ebb and flow, the sea breeze and the heat of the sand.  When his experience on board the HOPE finishes, the narrator travels to the University of Arkansas, where he studies with a scholarship for a year. He then studies during another year at the University of Quito, Ecuador, and believes that he has obtained a scholarship to study in a socialist country. Upon his arrival in Prague he learns that his scholarship is a fiction, and finds himself at the point of deportation. He gets short-term visas while trying to get a scholarship. In his precarious situation his mind becomes a field in which present political realities and fictions interact with those affecting him since early childhood, until he turns over a new leaf.  N.B. Jocay, "the home of the fish," is the Amerindian name of Manta, Ecuador.


identifier: Boileau, Viviane  (2008) Charles Brockden Brown's narrative antidotes.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Charles Brockden Brown's novels-- Wieland, Or the Transformation ; Edgar Huntly, Or Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker ; and Ormond, Or the Secret Witness --tend to be dismissed for their narrative inconsistencies. Some critics, however, strive to justify recurring structural peculiarities and to accord more literary value to Brown's writing. This thesis, falling into the latter category, will study these three novels in terms of narrative diseases and antidotes. Indeed, their different exploitation of narrative breaks, switching verb tenses, and filter shifts demonstrate the use of narration in the search for effective cures. Influenced by the infection of story elements, the narrators of Wieland , Edgar Huntly , and Ormond emulate ventriloquism, somnambulism, and metamorphism, respectively. This mirroring of story elements becomes crucial in experimenting with the concoction of narrative remedies


identifier: Kalman, Ben  (2008) A near-life experience.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: A near-life experience

abstract: This thesis examines the correlation between film and poetry by amalgamating literary works with cinematic ones.  The first part, Rashomon 06 , updates the story of Rashomon as it would be told by writers such as Julio Cortazár and Alain Robbe-Grillet, and directors such as Martin Scorsese, Alain Resnais and Michaelangelo Antonioni - all filtered through the stylistic influence of Jeffrey Conway, Lynn Crosbie and David Trinidad's Phoebe 2002. It uses interludes to interweave a poetic essay on film and a quasi-Kunderan examination of the characters between testimonies of the various witnesses to the story in the style of Ryonosuke Akutagawa's In A Grove. The second part, A Near-Life Experience , updates William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet through a Baz Luhrmann-esque modernization, but by using characters from films that specifically deal with the themes of creation, dreams, and memory - and using a hybrid dialogue from the films and the original play.  I use pieces of existing creations and evolve them into something new in order to deeply examine the essence of the poet, through the outlook of dreams, surrealism, existentialism, imagination, characterization, cliché, and most importantly, poetry itself. The result is a look at how different writers from different eras, and their creations, might interact on an even surface, and at the ripples that the various poetic and philosophical themes create when made to collide.


identifier: Price, Terry  (2008) Empire of the North : nature and the hero in narratives of English exploration of the Arctic.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: England's search for the Northwest Passage marks an important dividing line in the development of the English narrative of exploration, for during the centuries in which England was deeply preoccupied with finding a passage to the riches of Asia the form came into its own as part of a significant literary genre. During this period of exploration, spanning from the 16 th to the 19 th century, major innovations came about thanks to such men as Richard Hakluyt, John Hawkesworth, George Back, David Thompson and Samuel Hearne, whose literary interventions helped elevate the explorer narrative to the rank it occupies today within Canada's collective imagination, and establishing its role within the nation's literature as a whole. These men's narratives, as well as those of others who explored the New World, stand as important reflections of their respective eras and are imbued with elements central to the literary construction of the New World. Nature, wilderness and landscape are at the heart of this process and of early literary representations of North American exploration literature. These three elements became vital factors both in the establishment of an early tradition linked to Britain in the Old World and to Canadian literature as we know it today. Exploration narratives act as literary vehicles distorted for the means of propaganda; as constructions of British heroes confronting the age-old struggle to survive and inscribing them into history; and as representations both of man's journey into the self and a European attempt to gain access to the worlds of the Other as understood by Frantz Fanon.


identifier: Cabral, Jean-Louis  (2007) Development of a new strategy for the modification of monolithic stationary phases used in capillary electrochromatography.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In the past two decades, growing research and commercial activity in the fields of biotechnology and medicine has spawned the development of minore efficient separation methods capable of handling increasingly complex and smaller samples. In this new research playpen, capillary electrochromatography (CEC), combining both electrophoretic and chromatographic separation mechanisms, has the potential of playing an important role. Nonetheless, the development and optimization of specialized electrochromatographic stationary phases capable of providing high separation efficiencies for specific applications, such as proteomics, is first required.  This Ph.D. research thesis reports on the development of multifunctional monolithic stationary phases employed principally in capillary electrochromatography. In order to enable the fabrication of such multifunctional monoliths, a simple and novel copolymer grafting followed by functionalization strategy for the adjustment of a monolith's properties was developed. The developed methodology was compared to the classical approach based on adjustment of individual polymerization conditions for the fine-tuning of monolithic support. The grafting approach enabled the efficient introduction of functional moieties on an existing monolithic stationary phase while retaining physical and morphological properties critical to its electrochromatographic properties. The classical approach would have required reoptimization of the polymerization conditions. To demonstrate that the developed technique allows easy fabrication of a multitask monolithic support, selected proteomics applications were developed.  One of these applications was the development of proteolytic microreactors fabricated via direct and linker-mediated immobilization of trypsin, a proteolytic enzyme, on a reactive monolith. The monolith was made reactive by photografting glycidyl moieties. The proteolytic reactors exhibited high proteolytic efficiency, reproducibility and stability. In addition to the enzymatic capacities the monolith preserved its electrochromatographic properties which could enable its implementation for on-line high-throughput digestion of minute amounts of proteins.  The same photografting methodology was used to produce boronate-functionalized monoliths for the (electro)chromatographic differentiation of glycosylated substrates from their non-glycosylated counterparts. Spectroscopic analyses clearly showed the efficient immobilization of boronate and resulted in efficient separation of glycosylated and non-glycosylated proteins.  Finally, an atomic force microscopy (AFM) characterization technique able to provide physical information in wetted and dry conditions was developed in order to address the general lack of information on structural and morphological properties of monolithic stationary phases in their working (electro)chromatographic conditions.


identifier: Zhu, Li  (2008) Design and implementation of microwave bandpass filters based on CRLH-TL and interdigital ring resonators.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Microwave printed filters are preferred in modern mobile and satellite communication systems due to low cost, compact size, and high accuracy. In order to facilitate circuit integration and achieve high information capacity in a communication system, volume miniaturization and bandwidth modulation of the filters becomes critical. Such requirements make design and implementation of filters extremely challenging. Hence, the work presented in this thesis is focused on two aspects, namely, compact printed filter design and effective bandwidth modulation techniques.  First, a simple composite right/left handed (CRLH) transmission line (TL) structure is proposed. Based on this structure, a bandpass filter which offers several advantages ( e.g. compact size and low loss over traditional filters) is designed. A CAD algorithm for automated CRLH filter design is also implemented, and demonstrated through a practical example. Second, a set of ring filters with adjustable bandwidths are proposed. These filters are implemented by a combination of hairpin resonators, interdigital capacitors and/or etched slots, leading to considerably wider bandwidths as compared to traditional ring filters. In addition, by changing the geometrical parameters of the interdigital capacitors and etched slots, the bandwidth can be easily adjusted for different applications. The filters feature two transmission zeros, whose locations can be accurately determined by means of the semi-analytical model developed as part of this thesis. The proposed filter units can be cascaded to obtain sharper cutoff frequency responses. Several these filters have been fabricated and tested using Anritsu 37369D vector network analyzer. The frequency responses from measurements are in good agreement with those from simulations in the 5-9 GHz range.


identifier: Ghobadi, Elham  (2008) Molecular dynamics simulation of lead germanate glasses.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In recent years, there has been a great deal of focus on the development of glass materials with low transmission loss in optical fibers. Although the glass forming ability and efficiency of lead germanate glasses, PbO.GeO 2 , for such applications have already been established, little is known about the structure of these glasses. Germanate glasses tend to exhibit anomalous properties as a function of their composition, referred to as 'germanate anomaly.' There is a controversy in the literature concerning the dominant coordination of germanium ions in these glasses at different lead oxide compositions and the structural mechanism by which 'germanate anomaly' occurs. In spite of numerous Raman, Infra-red (IR), neutron, and X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) studies of lead germanate glasses, a full understanding of short-range and medium-range order of these glasses is still lacking.  Using Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation with a two-body potential model, a composition study was performed on xPbO.(1-x)GeO 2 glasses with x=0.05-0.50 in order to investigate the structure of the lead germanate glasses at different lead oxide concentrations. The structural features of the germanate framework and the lead environment are calculated and represented by pair and cumulative distribution functions, ring statistics, bond angle distributions, and percentage of non-bridging oxygens (NBOs) at each lead oxide composition. The results of the MD simulations show no evidence of the germanate anomaly in the simulated lead germanate glasses and indicate that the germanate framework consists predominantly of GeO 4 units. Continuous formation of NBOs is observed with the addition of lead oxide. Through connectivity studies, the presence of a secondary lead framework is predicted.  To further enhance the potential model, lattice dynamics simulation using shell-model and a combination of two- and three-body potential model was used to generate crystal properties of {460}-quartz-like GeO 2 (infrared frequencies, lattice energy, bulk modulus, elastic constants, static dielectric constants, high frequency dielectric constants, and heat capacity at constant volume). This study suggests that it is possible not only to model, but also to predict various crucial properties of crystals by the use of appropriate potential models and computer modeling codes. The potential was also capable of reproducing the infrared frequencies, and elastic constants of rutile-like GeO 2 crystal.


identifier: Brouillette, Samuel  (2008) Of machos and macheteros : men's lives in the hills of Nicaragua.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis examines the lives of men in south-western rural Nicaragua. But contrary to anthropological analyses of masculinity focused on public performance or investigations of gender in Nicaragua centered on the concept of machismo, I use a materialist theoretical framework in studying the everyday interactions of men. Through participant-observation based field research, I was able to scrutinize some of the more important aspects of men's lives that have been overlooked by many scholars of masculinity such as household relations and the world of work. Although I also examined practices more typically associated with men in the literature such as drinking, fighting, and womanizing, I did this from the standpoint of vagancia, a local category of meaning used by men to understand such acts as temporary diversions and not as crucial components of their persona.  Through my research, I found that most of the men I encountered in rural Nicaragua derived their sense of manhood more from being able providers for their households or successful agricultural workers than from the performance of symbolic acts in a public setting. Moreover, men developed gender-based identities directly related with their work as macheteros (machete workers). Ultimately, this thesis demonstrates that if we want to better understand men in specific cultural settings, we should prioritize in our analyses the aspects of their lives they find most important and not reduce them to pre-conceived categorizations such as machismo that have little local relevance.


identifier: Nicolai, Vanessa  (2007) Last respects : exploring the place of funerals in a rural South African community.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The dramatic rise in AIDS-related deaths in South Africa in recent years is making funerals a prominent part of the cultural and economic landscape. In rural communities such as Hamburg, in the Eastern Cape, they tend to cost at least five times the monthly income of the entire household. Based on seven months of fieldwork, this thesis explores how funerals are conducted in Hamburg, as well as many people's ambivalence about the seemingly necessary expense involved. Funerals are found to be a site of tension tied to gender, inter-generational relations and material inequalities. They also reveal the extent to which HIV/AIDS is still taboo. At the same time, they perform an important cohesive role, helping to keep the community together in the face of difficult realties. Using the twinned cultural norms of 'helping each other' and `building the homestead,' the thesis examines the ways in which funerals are materially and symbolically engaged in a complex choreography that both contains and explores the potentially disruptive aspects of the present. Finally, it is shown how local practices and understandings related to funerals speak to broader issues in the building of a new South Africa.


identifier: Eze, Debie  (2007) Where Haitians are, where Haitians can come : belonging and cultural reproduction among Haitian immigrant Pentecostals in Canada.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study aims to investigate the connection between religion and immigration. It delves into immigrant religious institutions in an effort to discover how immigrant's sense of belonging to their host and home nations was formed after migration. Within this context, this study will show how religious sites can become powerful sites for cultural reproduction and ethnic identity reaffirmation.  Focusing on Haitian immigrants this work will shed some light on the origins of two Haitian Pentecostal congregations in Toronto and Montréal. It will also outline the manner in which members of these congregations conceptualize their belonging in Canadian society by deconstructing my collaborators accounts of their perceptions of the use of language in the church. In particular, I will be looking at the effects of transnationality and state policies. Lastly, the study will show that religion plays a fundamental role in shaping an immigrant's sense of belonging. It will do so by illustrating how ethnic identity reproduction, more specifically how the use of native vernaculars fortified congregant commitment to the institution, reproduce ethnic identity, and engendered a sense of community.


identifier: Al-Yassir, Nabil  (2007) Multifunctional catalysts used in the thermo-catalytic cracking of hydrocarbon feedstocks for the production of light olefins.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Light olefins such as ethylene and propylene, are considered the backbone of the petrochemical industry. They are the precursors of numerous plastic materials, synthetic fibers and rubbers. Commercially proven light olefin production technologies such as Steam Cracking (SC), Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC), and Deep Catalytic Cracking (DCC) are believed to have reached their full potential and cannot accommodate current demands of the petrochemical industry. The market demand for ethylene and propylene is projected to be about 140 and 90 million tons by year 2010, respectively. These current technologies cannot respond sufficiently to the rapidly growing demand for propylene, since propylene is only produced as a co-product of ethylene production. In addition, the high-energy consumption and the high GHG emissions are major setbacks for SC, which is regarded as the main light olefin technology. Thus, it is imperative that a new alternative should be developed in order to improve the production of light olefins. Thermo-Catalytic Cracking (TCC) has been recognized as a promising alternative route for light olefins production. Although, this process is still in the development stage, preliminary results show that the TCC offers several major advantages when compared to conventional SC: higher combined yields of light olefins, and significant energy savings.  In this dissertation, the TCC activities, kinetic study, and structural-textural-surface properties of different catalyst formulations, which have been investigated thoroughly for their potential use in the TCC process, will be discussed. We report on our efforts to date to develop a suitable and an efficient catalyst that is characterized by high activity, high selectivity to light olefins, and high stability. A particular formulation studied was the hybrid catalyst configuration in which two components, microporous (zeolite) and mesoporous co-catalyst (supported metal oxide (i.e. MoO 3 -CeO), were firmly bound to each other within a clay binder, such that a "pore continuum" effect was developed. Another version was the mesoporous supported bi-oxide catalyst, which is based on MoO-CeO 2 supported on high surface area-metal oxide. Explicitly, it was found that supported bi-oxide catalysts are quite active, stable and selective to light olefins in the Thermo-Catalytic Cracking of n-hexane, which was used as a model molecule for petroleum light naphtha. Furthermore, it was observed that the physicochemical properties and subsequently the catalytic performance of these catalysts were influenced by many factors. Yttria stabilized alumina aerogel, which was prepared via sol-gel synthesis using super critical drying techniques, was considerably more effective as a catalyst support. Our results showed unambiguously that yttria stabilized alumina aerogel did not only possess a high surface area, but also was thermally and hydrothermally stable. In addition, it demonstrated a high ability of inducing homogenous distributions of impregnated metal oxides at high calcination temperature. The latter has resulted in significant improvements in the dispersion degree of Mo, Ce and MoCe species, and the retardation of sintering and sublimation of Mo species. More significantly, it was found that the on-stream-long term stability and the selectivity to light olefins over aromatics were increased upon the addition of CeO 2 into the supported mono-oxide MoO 3 catalyst


identifier: Papadakis, Elena  (2008) Should aboriginal healing traditions be integrated into urban medical facilities?  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Should Aboriginal healing traditions be integrated into urban medical facilities? In spite of public and academic interest in bringing the two systems together, existing research on the topic shows how difficult integration would be due to historical/political, practical, and philosophical challenges. Not surprisingly, logistical measures for implementing the task have yet to be formalized. Based on 3.5 months of ethnographic fieldwork in a western Canadian city, this thesis explores what health administrators, people who use Aboriginal healing traditions, and people who practice Aboriginal healing traditions think about integration, and examines how attitudes within and about health care influence participants' views. Mobilizing anthropological concepts about biomedicine, bodily ways of knowing, sensorial dimensions of healing, and multiculturalism, I argue that prevailing attitudes, assumptions, and relations of power within health care culture, when combined with historical/political, practical, and philosophical challenges, seriously encumber the integration process. In conclusion, I suggest that Aboriginal healing traditions should only be integrated into urban medical facilities where health care providers and other staff relinquish the attitudes, assumptions, and relations of power that the biomedical paradigm upholds.


identifier: Pang, Hong  (2007) Cell-based representation and analysis of spatial resources in construction simulation.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Extensive research efforts have been made in construction simulation. Nevertheless, work space is neglected or not explicitly represented, and spatial conflicts are not considered in simulation tools. Accordingly, finding possible solutions to spatial conflicts is not integrated within the simulation. Spatial conflicts should be considered and properly resolved because they affect construction performance in terms of safety and productivity, especially when spatial constraints are crucial to the project. A conflict-free simulation provides a better means for the practitioners to check the simulation results and compare various solutions. In addition, explicit representation of space is required to support planners with the evaluation of spatial organization of more efficient and safer workspaces on construction sites. The objective of this research is to propose a cell-based simulation method considering spatial constraints for the decision-makers to perform efficient spatial evaluation of site layouts, to identify and resolve spatial conflicts during construction operations, and then to facilitate the optimization of the site layout and construction resources from a variety of requirement perspectives that planners would normally consider in a real project. This method consists of the pre-processing, main-processing and post-processing phases, integrating site layout planning, simulation and animation of the simulation results. In this method, the spatial constraints, site layout patterns and resource allocations can be explicitly represented by cells. Consequently, spatial conflicts can be detected and resolved.


identifier: Safatli, Donna  (2008) Butterflies, turbulence, growth : voices of love.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Almost everybody knows what love feels like. That euphoria. That torment. Those sleepless nights and restless days. Awash in ecstasy or apprehension, you daydream during class or business, forget your coat, drive past your turn, sit by the phone, or plan what you will say--obsessed, longing for the next encounter with "him" or "her." Then you meet again, his slightest gesture stops your pulse. Her laugh dizzies you. You take foolish risks, say stupid things, often hug and kiss--oblivious to the entire world as you tumble through a fever, breathless, etherized by bliss.  Despite thousands of poems, songs, books, operas, dramas, myths, and legends that have portrayed love since before the time of Christ, despite the countless times a man or woman has deserted family and friends, committed suicide or homicide, or pined away because of love, few sociologists have given this innate passion the study it deserves.  This study was carried out to determine how people felt about love and had experienced love and how it changed them. In-depth interviews were conducted with 7 men and 6 women in the Montreal region. The participants revealed their experiences with attraction, dating, love, and conflicts. I found that people's definitions and experience of love varied widely: they described love as warmth, being on the same wavelengths, chemistry, butterflies, like floating on a cloud, an addiction, a drug, like being the creator, weird, electrical and, if love is not working out, as a torment. The thesis discusses theories of love from Plato to courtly love to modern psychological theories of Clyde and Susan Hendricks, Elaine Hatfield and Susan Sprecher. Helen Fisher describes love as chemical; PEA; Zygmunt Bauman describes post modern love as liquid; Anthony Giddens compares romantic love to confluent love. My respondents discussed how love changed as they matured, has many phases and many levels. More research is required on this topic which has been sadly neglected in sociology and also on the many issues related to love, from conflict resolution to divorce--but this is a start.


identifier: Kocun, Marta  (2007) Single molecule force measurements of chitosan.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Chitosan, a glucosamine polysaccharide derived form chitin, was studied by AFM-based single molecule force spectroscopy. The goal of this study was to investigate chitosan's adhesive properties to various surfaces ( i.e. mica, glass, quartz, polytetrafluoroethylene and self-assembled monolayers) as well as obtaining its mechanical constants. The results obtained were in the form of force-extension curves and mathematical fits. Well-defined features, characteristic of single molecule adhesion and stretching, such as constant force plateaus and peaks, were observed in the force curves. The lengths of the constant force plateaus obtained are consistent with the lengths of chitosan strands observed in high resolution AFM images. The energy of desorption of single glucosamine residues from various surfaces was calculated. The values obtained were: 1.8 x 10 -20 J/glucosamine residue on self-assembled monolayers of mercaptoundecanoic acid:dodecanethiol (1:1000), 2.0 x 10 -20 J/glucosamine residue on quartz, 3.5 x 10 -20 J/glucosamine residue on polytetrafluoroethylene and 3.9 x 10 -20 J/glucosamine residue on self-assembled monolayers of dithiobis(succinimidyl undecanoate). The Kuhn length of chitosan (DDA 92%) was calculated, using the freely jointed chain model, to be 2.1 ± 0.9 nm which corresponds to a stiffness of approximately 4 glucosamine residues. These single molecule level results could be applied towards the preparation of novel, chitosan-based biomaterials.


identifier: Zhao, Qun  (2007) Solid acidic catalysts for the production of bio-substitutes for petrochemical intermediates.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Light olefins such as ethylene and propylene are the most important chemical monomers used for the production of plastics and synthetic fibres. They are usually obtained by cracking (steam cracking or fluid catalytic cracking) of hydrocarbons from petroleum gas oils, and are generally called petrochemical intermediates. As we know, ethylene can also be produced through dehydration of ethanol obtained by fermentation of biomass materials (bioethanol). This may be an alternative way for obtaining the petrochemical intermediates.  In the present work, catalytic dehydration of aqueous ethanol (ethanol in aqueous solution) over some solid acidic catalysts, such as dealuminated zeolite X(also called silica nanoboxes), silica nanoboxes acidified by incorporation of triflic acid, zeolite Y, zeolite USY (Ultra Stable zeolite Y), zeolite ZSM-5 etc. (all in acidic form) has been studied. Dealuminated zeolite X has been obtained by AHFS (ammonium hexafluorosilicate) dealumination technique and has been fully characterized. Influences of experimental conditions on the textural properties of the porous products in dealumination of NaA, NaX, NH 4 Y zeolites and Na mordenite by AHFS treatment have been investigated. It has been found that the decreasing order of the resistance to AHFS dealuminating action is as follows: Na mordenite > NH 4 Y zeolites > NaX zeolite > NaA zeolite; and only NaA and NaX zeolites can be used as starting materials for preparation of mesoporous aluminosilicates by pore enlargement technique of AHFS dealumination. Mesoporous materials obtained from X zeolite(also called silica nanoboxes) show a high hydrothermal stability and a quite interesting ion-exchange capacity.  Zeolite ZSM-5/50 (SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 ratio is 50) shows the highest catalytic activity mostly when compared to the faujasite type zeolites. The order of catalytic activity for the catalysts is explained by their surface acidity (density and strength). Therefore, the second part of this study was based on the zeolite ZSM-5. For the ZSM-5 series, an increase of SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 ratio leads to the decrease in catalytic activity because of a decrease in their surface acidity.  The effects of reaction temperature, the WHSV (weight hourly space velocity) and the concentration of ethanol in water on the total conversion of bioethanol and on selectivity to ethylene and propylene over zeolite ZSM-5/50 are also investigated. It has been found that with increasing reaction temperature, total conversion of bioethanol increases, and nearly reaches 100% at 250°C. In temperature range of 200-250°C, the main product is ethylene. When the reaction temperature is higher than 250°C, the selectivity to other light olefins such as propylene and BTX aromatics significantly increases due to the further conversion of ethylene on strong acid sites. At 275°C, the yield of ethylene plus propylene reaches a maximum value.  The results also show that the yield of ethylene decreases when the WHSV increases and the yield of ethylene slightly increases when the concentration of ethanol in water increases.


identifier: Booth, Jason D.M  (2008) Synthesis and characterization of oligonucleotides containing an O6 -deoxyguanosine-alkyl-O6 -deoxyguanosine interstrand cross-link.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Studies have shown that resistance to bifunctional alkylating agents used in the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia can result in diminished effectiveness of these therapeutics. To further understand this process we have developed clinically relevant models of cross-linked DNA duplexes to study the structure and repair of lesions induced by the bifunctional alkylating agents: busulfan and hepsulfam. To emulate the known deoxyguanosine- N 7 -alkyl- N 7 -deoxyguanosine lesion formed by hepsulfam and the unidentified lesion(s) formed by busulfan, we have designed three synthetic approaches leading to the synthesis of six stable deoxyguanosine dimers. General mono, bi and tripartite syntheses were developed for the preparation of 1,1 and l,3-deoxyguanosine- O 6 -alkyl- O 6 -deoxyguanosine cross-links employing 'fast-deprotecting' phenoxyacetyl protection at the N 2 position for facile removal. The O 6 -alkyl couplings are performed via a Mitsunobu reaction between a nucleoside and a mono-protected diol. The phosphoramidites of synthesized dimers were incorporated into one helical turn and 'sticky-end' DNA duplexes via solid-phase synthesis employing a DNA synthesizer. All duplexes were of defined structure and sequence for the purpose of further conformational analysis and enzymatic repair studies. Sequence composition was confirmed via enzymatic digestion and purity by subsequent HPLC analysis. A variety of methods including ultraviolet transition thermal denaturation (T m ), circular dichroism (CD) and gel electrophoretic studies were employed to characterize the cross-linked duplexes. CD and T m studies suggest little deformation from native B-form conformation for the hepsulfam mimics. Sufficient quantities of the mono and bipartate heptyl cross-linked duplexes were obtained for various structural studies with required quantities for biological investigations obtained for the monopartate synthesis.


identifier: Ye, Mengwei  (2007) Role of copper, zinc-superoxide dismutase in S-nitrosation and denitrosation of cysteine residues.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Selective inhibition of the S -nitroso- L -glutathione (GSNO) reductase activity but not the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity of Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) by the commonly used polyaminocarboxylate metal-ion chelators, EDTA and DTPA, is systematically investigated here. The effects of EDTA and DTPA on the Cu II d-d absorption of Cu II ZnSOD at 680-nm, on the reduction of Cu II ZnSOD by GSH, on the metal-loading of the enzyme, on the chemical modification of catalytic Arg141, and on the SOD and GSNO-reductase activities were studied. Binding to the enzyme was probed by measuring heat changes with ITC on titration of CuZnSOD and the metal-free EESOD with the chelators. The results reveal that EDTA and DTPA bind to the solvent-exposed active-site copper of one subunit without removing the metal. This induces a conformational change at the second active site that inhibits the GSNO-reductase but not the SOD activity of the enzyme.  The effects of the copper colorimetric reagents, neocuproine (neo), diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC), and cuprizone (cup), on the GSNO-reductase and the SOD activities of CuZnSOD were also examined. These chelators alter the Cu II d-d absorption of Cu II ZnSOD at 680 nm and give the absorption characteristic of their CuL 2 complexes. The GSNO-reductase activity of CuZnSOD was inhibited by the three colorimetric reagents in the order: DDC > neo > cup which mirrors the extent of CuL 2 formation. Incubation of CuZnSOD with 5 mM DDC also resulted in 90% loss of its SOD activity due to removal of {598}73% of the active-site copper. No loss of SOD activity resulted from CuZnSOD exposure to neo or cup. These results indicate that removal of the active-site copper is necessary for loss of SOD activity whereas association of the chelators with the active-site copper is sufficient for loss of GSNO-reductase activity.  Chemical modification at pH 8.0 of Arg- and Cys-containing peptides and CuZnSOD by phenylglyoxal (PGO), an arginine specific reagent, was re-evaluated. ESI-MS analysis shows that doubly PGO-labelled Arg and Cys residues were formed in the peptides but only singly PGO-labelled Arg residues formed in CuZnSOD. Loss of SOD activity of PGO-modified CuZnSOD was observed due to derivatization of its Arg residues by PGO. Labelling of multiple Arg residues in the enzyme is in disagreement with previous reports that Arg141, which is essential for SOD activity, was selectively PGO-modified.  Two to four free Cys residues per tetramer of commercial rat hemoglobin (Hb) from Sigma and of Hb isolated from rat red blood cells (RBCs) were determined by 5,5'-dithiolbis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB) titration and by ESI mass spectrometry using N -ethylmaleimide (NEM). Both CysÝ125 and CysÝ93 in rat RBC oxyHb were S -nitrosated and S -glutathiolated in GSNO/oxyHb (10:1) incubations with and without 20 oM bovine CuZnSOD indicating that this enzyme is not essential for S -nitrosation of rat Hb under the conditions used here. Based on the Saville assay, NO release from rat Hb-SNO in the presence of GSH was catalyzed by free copper ions and by CuZnSOD. As observed for the GSNO-reductase activity of CuZnSOD, Hb-SNO denitrosation was inhibited by the metal chelators confirming a catalytic role for copper. Combining the results presented in thesis with those obtained from the literature helps us understand the role of CuZnSOD in the formation of Hb-SNO and the release of NO from Hb-SNO.


identifier: Borokhovski, Evgueni  (2007) Explorations of the rapid automatized naming (RAN) task : what should the "A" in RAN stand for?  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This research explored the cognitive nature of the RAN (Rapid Automatized Naming) task, a test widely used to assess reading development. It addressed automaticity- and attention-based processing and their relative contribution to RAN task performance to better understand why the RAN task has the predictive value for reading development.  Study 1 (N=68) utilized two different indices of automatic stimulus recognition and an index of attention control as predictors of naming speed on the four original versions of the RAN task. The study found little support for an automaticity-based account of RAN task performance, but did support an attention-based account. Symbolic and non-symbolic RAN subtasks differed in terms of the role played by automatic and attention-based factors, and in terms of their correlations with reading speed.  Study 2 (N=16) used ten modified versions of the RAN task that manipulated attention and memory demands. Naming speed was sensitive to attentional demands and to stimulus familiarity, but not to factors of long-term memory retrieval.  Study 3 (N=97) provided additional information on the roles played by automatic and attention-based processing in RAN task performance, using new measures of these constructs. Attention came out as explaining a large proportion of the variance in naming speed; skill in automatic stimulus detection and in lexical access efficiency did not. Working memory was strongly associated with RAN task performance.  Finally, a meta-analysis on a representative sample of research data (65 studies reporting 530 coefficients of correlation between RAN tasks performance and different measures of reading, N=8555) revealed the average point estimates were r + = .345 and r + = .398, for cross-sectional and longitudinal research designs respectively. The moderator analyses showed that reading skills more closely associated with RAN task performance required expertise with printed text and depend on applying rules and building and managing associations. These regularities are largely consistent with the results of the three experimental studies.  Overall, these indicated that attention-based factors rather than automaticity underlie naming speed as measured by the RAN tasks, and these mechanisms presumably link RAN to reading performance. Implications for further research and educational practices are discussed.


identifier: Moran, Ernesto E  (2007) Mechanisms of hydrolysis and thiolysis of S-nitrosoglutathione.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Hydrolysis of three primary RSNOs, S -nitrosocysteine, S -nitroso- N -acetylated-cysteine, and S -nitrosoglutathione and two tertiary RSNOs, S -nitrosopenicillamine and S -nitroso- N -acetylated-penicillamine, was investigated in {598} 4 M H 2 SO 4 to determine the effects of structure on acid-catalyzed denitrosation. Rate increases of up to 38-fo1d resulted from dimethyl substitution at the C-SNO carbon. Electron donation from the methyl groups increased the proton affinity of the NITROSO sulfur, which was shown by computational methods to be the initial step in the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis. Only minor changes were observed in k obs due to N -acetylation, and activation energies of 25.7 ± 1.7 and 23.7 ± 1.3 kcal/mole were measured for S -nitroso- N -acetylated-cysteine and S -nitroso- N -acetylated-penicillamine, respectively.  Acid-catalyzed GSNO decomposition at pH 2.0 exhibited a sigmoidal decomposition curve typical of autocatalytic processes. Based on strong inhibition on removal of HNO 2 , N 2 O 3 , or oxygen from the solutions, a chain-reaction mechanism is proposed in which N 2 O 3 is the chain carrier. Reaction is initiated by HNO 2 formation on hydrolysis of the S-NO bond via nucleophilic attack at the nitroso N , and the overall reaction generates GSO 3 H, GSOSG, GSO 2 SG, in addition to HNO 2 as decomposition products.  Base-catalyzed GSNO hydrolysis was found to occur mainly via nucleophilic attack at the nitroso N forming a nitrosated disulfide intermediate that produces GSSG, GS(NO)S - , and a sulfur-free glutathionyl derivative as the GSX products NO 2 - was the main nitrogen product. The percent distribution of the GSX products varied with the OH - and GSNO concentrations. N 2 O was also detected and glutathionyl sulfenic acid GSOH was trapped with dimedone. Thus, base-catalyzed GSNO hydrolysis also proceeded via initial OH - attack at the nitroso sulfur forming nitroxyl (HNO), although this appears to be a minor pathway under our experimental conditions.  S -Nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) undergoes denitrosation at neutral pH in the presence of excess glutathione (GSH) even when protected from light and metal-catalyzed decomposition. The major glutathionyl product from these reactions is GSSG, and minor products include GS(O)NH 2 , GSN(OH)H, and GSOH. Detection of GS(O)NH 2 and N 2 O suggests that HNO is generated during the reaction. Retardation of GSNO decomposition on addition of dimedone suggests that the mechanism is partially autocatalytic.  The in-source fragmentation of reduced glutathione (GSH), S -nitrosoglutathione (GSNO), and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) in a Z-spray ESI source was investigated. The results show that the cone voltage is the major contributor to in-source GSX fragmentation. Cone-voltage-induced fragmentation of the three compounds was pH-dependent, and occurred via loss of H 2 O and cleavage of the peptide bonds into b and y ions. Loss of NH 3 was observed only for GSH at pH 2.5. Homolytic cleavage of the S-NO bond preceded fragmentation of the glutathionyl moiety, forming a GS + radical cation that yields fragment ions unique to GSNO. The results can be used to improve the detection and interpretation of mass spectra of samples containing mixtures of GSX compounds.  Direct measurement of underivatized S -nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) was achieved by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using mobile phases at neutral pH and employing UV spectrophotometric (HPLC/(UV) and electrospray mass spectrometric (HPLC/ESI-MS) detection. Using UV detection, the method is robust and exhibits good linearity in the range of 0.2-100 oM GSNO with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.2 oM GSNO. Attempts to improve sensitivity by using ESI-MS detection in an ion trap mass spectrometer resulted in the same LOD and linearity in the range of 0.2-10 oM GSNO


identifier: Zheng, Xi  (2008) Algorithms for multi-level frequent pattern minning.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Data mining is a database paradigm that is used for the extraction of useful information from huge amounts of data. Amongst the functionality provided by data mining, frequent pattern mining (FPM) has become one of the most popular research areas. Methods such as Apriori and FP-growth have been shown to work efficiently in order to discover useful association rules. However, these methods are usually restricted to a single concept level. Since typical business databases support concept hierarchies that represent the relationships amongst different concept levels, we have to extend the focus to discover frequent patterns in multi-level environments. Unfortunately, not much attention has been paid to this research area. Simply applying the methods from single level frequent mining (SLFPM) several times in sequence does not necessarily work well in multi-level frequent pattern mining (MLFPM).  In this thesis, we present two novel algorithms that work efficiently to discover multi-level frequent patterns. Adopting either a top-down or bottom-up approach, our algorithms make great use of the existing fp-tree structure, instead of excessively scanning the raw dataset multiple times, as would be done with a, naive implementation. In addition, we also introduce an algorithm to mine cross level frequent patterns. Experimental results have shown that our new algorithms maintain their performance advantage across a broad spectrum of test environments.


identifier: Phillips, Christine  (2008) Deconstructing globalization discourse, and unveiling its effects on education through critical pedagogy.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: A purposefully slippery and ambiguous definition of modern globalization is defining our epoch, rendering the perception of global citizens as powerless to affect it. In an attempt to unravel and understand globalization processes, a literature review of critical pedagogy was conducted in order to acquire the tools to investigate globalization critically. I examine processes of globalization and their effects on Western education, namely Canada and the U.S., and explore how critical pedagogy can be used as a tool to address some of the negative forces of globalization by acting as a vehicle for globalization from below.  The investigation into critical pedagogy researches the foundations of critical pedagogy and its key concepts, as well as today's most prominent critical pedagogues, and some critiques. Most importantly, it attempts to link the economic, political, and cultural forces of globalization to the dominant ideology and hegemony driving them.  This thesis hopes to contribute to the research in critical pedagogy's effectiveness by examining to what extent critical pedagogy is compatible with our modern epoch of globalization, and also to what degree the learner, I, was able to become critically conscious on the subject and thus in everyday life


identifier: McKerracher, Adrian  (2008) Towards a narrative pedagogy : how stories humanize representations of poverty.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: I examine and defend stories as learning opportunities and explore their impact on representations of poverty. First, I outline the territory of aesthetic education as demarcated by Maxine Greene and John Dewey. I explore the functions of two essential components of aesthetic experience, metaphor and imagination, arguing that stories have the capacity to link differences of circumstance and character by sharing common experience. Second, I direct the learning potential implicit in stories to education about poverty. I focus on the ways in which poverty is represented and how it is addressed by the international development efforts of wealthy countries. I explore the ubiquity of quantitative descriptions that probe solutions for poverty as if it were a problem of numbers. In this discussion, I contrast economic descriptions with narrative ones in an effort to understand how poverty can be re-envisioned to better represent the poor as people. Third, I combine the strengths of a narrative pedagogy with the need for re-representing poverty by viewing them through the lens of Paolo Freire's critical pedagogy. I examine the extent to which stories constitute opportunities for radical transformative education, opportunities which may contribute to a critical awareness of one's circumstances and one's agency to affect them. I conclude by arguing that stories should be a fundamental part of education about poverty because of their capacity to humanize representations of the poor through empathy. An original work of fiction is included and examined for the learning opportunities defended in the main argument


identifier: Brisna., Caxaj-Rowe  (2008) Towards an inclusive pedagogy to confront interlocking oppressions in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Although 1994 to 2004 was declared the International Decade of Indigenous People, and the deepening of inequalities in Guatemala between indigenous and Ladinos (mixture of Mayan and Spaniards) got national and international attention, their situation did not improve. However, social inequalities in Guatemala are not just based on ethnicity, since the United Nations Human Development Program (PNUD, 2005) reports inequalities based on gender, social class and geographic location as well. Although these large inequalities are not just between indigenous and Ladinos, but are multidimensional, the Guatemalan government has responded by permitting multicultural education in a few schools.  This thesis describes the results of qualitative research to examine the various oppressions present in Santiago Atitlán, as a microcosm of Guatemalan society, and with the goal of identifying a pedagogy better able to resolve these inequalities. The outcomes of the study are firstly to provide evidence that there are indeed multiple oppressions interlocking in Santiago Atitlán. Secondly, because these multiple oppressions intersect in both society and the individual, a multicultural approach calling for more tolerance to diversity is shown not to be enough to address these complexities.  This study concludes that any meaningful pedagogy has to consider the historic roots of inequality, the multiple oppressions interlocking in society and the individual, and the positionality of subjects. It must encourage critical self-reflection as an exercise preparing teachers to work with students and members of the community if the goal is, in fact, to eradicate all types of discrimination.


identifier: Lawrence, Dennis  (2007) A theological model for holiness ethics : Bonhoeffer, Webster and Levinas.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Through understanding modern applications of the historical "mark" of "holiness" of the Christian Church, Evangelical Christian disciples can find assurance that they are following God's will, that their behaviour coincides with God's revelation, and that they can advance the Church's mission.  Drawing on insights gleaned from three thinkers, a model for the practical involvement of "holiness ethics" in the modern church is advanced. Each thinker offers a key component to the model. Dietrich Bonhoeffer offers a way of understanding the worlds that provides a positive environment for church work. John Webster offers an inclusive understanding of God's holiness and how it flows to His human creatures. Emmanuel Levinas offers a manner of understanding how God's holiness-carrying people can be certain of where they need to be active in the world. Combined, the insights comprise a model that is practical, encouraging, and highly descriptive of the activity of the historical and modern evangelical church.  One result of this thesis is to offer encouragement to active evangelical Christian Church participants. In clearly understanding their world, themselves, and their activity, Christians can be confident that they are doing the right activities toward the right people in the right place and at the right time. Greater certainty about their carrying holiness, which is rooted above them, can impel sounder Christian activity. Implications of the practical holiness ethics model are outlined in the final chapter.


identifier: Foster, Judith Mary  (2008) Giving birth to God : the virgin empress Pulcheria and imitation of Mary in early Christian Greek and Syriac traditions.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Since the 1970's, more attention has been paid to the early cult of the Mary, as well as to empresses in the Eastern Roman Empire. The Empress Pulcheria (399-453 C.E.), who was the granddaughter of Theodosius the Great, has been portrayed as the earthly image of Mary. This portrayal was in the context of the controversy over the title of Mary the Theotokos, or birth-giver of God, and was due to reports made by the Patriarch Nestorius and those sympathetic to him that Pulcheria had said that she had given birth to God.  This study investigates the reported claim in order to establish whether it represents the patristic teaching of giving birth to Christ. I will do this by providing a survey of the cult of Mary up to the early fifth century; second, examining the theological trends and socio-religious climate from the mid-fourth to early fifth centuries; third, considering the foundational spiritual traditions of the empress Pulcheria; fourth, reviewing the development of the mystical teaching of giving birth to Christ, through Eastern Syrian, Cappadocian-Alexandrian and Constantinopolitan theologians.  The thesis demonstrates that the mystical teaching of giving birth to Christ was indeed followed by male and female ascetics, wives and mothers who took Mary for their model. The practice was Christ-centered and reflected an individualistic spirituality and also a collective solidarity with women, the sick, suffering and the enslaved. The report that Pulcheria had given birth to God, specifically reflects the burgeoning conflict over the Theotokos title.


identifier: Shimoni, Orit  (2008) Symbolic structure in ethics, language and revelation.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The linguistic articulation of ethical knowledge has been problematised in both philosophical and theological discourse: Not only are the claims of knowledge-possession that propositional language asserts illogical, they are manifestly dangerous. The totalitarian or authoritarian models that such claims stem from have been partially replaced in both fields by a new paradigmatic emphasis on the impossibility of full ethical knowledge. The realm of the unknown, or the 'other,' as it is referred to in the work of Emmanuel Levinas, signifies that beyond the ontological that is within our grasp, there is the realm outside of our subjectivity. In the truly ethical encounter, one is awakened to this realm.  Rather than reject religion as an authoritative institution, the aim of this dissertation is to show that within the tenets of divine revelation, in both Jewish and Christian understandings, there is the encouragement to embrace the realm of the unknown, that is, mystery. Theologically this is achieved through a structural emphasis on the symbolic, rather than the propositional. The symbolic mediates between the finitude of the subject and the vastness of the infinite.  Symbolic or metaphoric investigations of revelation have been made in order to answer to the problem of truth as authoritarian. This paper aims to uncover, through an analysis of ethics of the 'other', why and how such understanding and articulation of revelation are indeed more ethical. With this in mind, a symbolic approach to scripture as a source of ethics is recommended.