identifier: Hussein, Bahira  (2010) Regulation of G1 phase and differentiation in Candida albicans by the cyclin CLn3p and MBF transcription factor complex.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The G1/S transition represents the stage in the cell cycle when cells either commit to mitosis and continue to proliferate, or embark on developmental pathways in response to environmental and internal cues. In the model yeast S. cerevisiae , the CDK Cdc28p and G1 cyclin Cln3p control passage through the G1/S transition by activating the transcription factor complex SBF/MBF, which is composed of the regulatory subunit Swi6p and the DNA-binding elements Swi4p (SBF) or Mbp1p (MBF). SBF/MBF in turn activates transcription of numerous genes to initiate cell proliferation. In the multi-morphic fungal pathogen C. albicans , the G1/S regulatory circuit and control of basic cell proliferation are poorly understood. Previously work demonstrated that the cyclin Cln3p was essential for growth of yeast cells but also linked to development of hyphae. To gain more insight on the circuitry governing the G1/S transition and identify potential mediators of Cln3p function, we obtained transcription profiles of cells depleted of Cln3p and characterized orthologues of Swi6p, Swi4p and Mbp1p. Our results confirmed that cells depleted of Cln3p were arrested in G1 phase, and provide the first picture of factors associated with the G1/S transition in white phase yeast cells. The data demonstrate that the emerging G1/S circuit contains unique features compared to those in other fungi, including the fact that Cln3p activity is mediated only in part by MBF, that Mbp1p does not playa significant role in regulating yeast cell proliferation, and that novel, fungal-specific factors may be associated with growth control. The data also identify potential factors involved in linking Cln3p and MBF activity with development of hyphae and possibly the opaque yeast state, through novel means. Overall, our results have laid the groundwork for constructing a framework of the G1/S regulatory circuit in C. albicans yeast cells, which will lead to a more comprehensive understanding of how basic cell proliferation in the pathogen is regulated and potentially linked with development, an important virulence-determining trait


identifier: Wu, Yhao Yang  (2010) Stock index prediction based on Grey theory, ARIMA model and Wavelet method.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract: In this thesis, we develop a new forecasting method by merging traditional statistical methods with innovational non-statistical theories for the purpose of improving prediction accuracy of stock time series. The method is based on a novel hybrid model which combines the grey model, the ARIMA model and wavelet methods. First of all, we improve the traditional GM(1, 1) model to the GM(1, 1, o, y) model by introducing two parameters: the grey coefficient and the grey dimension degree y. Then we revise the normal G-ARMA model by merging the ARMA model with the GM(1, 1, o, y) model. In order to overcome the drawback of directly modeling original stock time series, we introduce wavelet methods into the revised G-ARMA model and name this new hybrid model WG-ARMA model. Finally, we obtain the WPG-ARMA model by replacing the wavelet transform with the wavelet packet decomposition. To keep consistency, all the proposed models are merged into a single model by estimating-parameters simultaneously based on the total absolute error (TAE) criterion. To verify prediction performance of the models, we present case studies for the models based on the leading Canadian stock index: S&P/TSX Composite Index on the daily bases. The experimental results give the rank of predictive ability in terms of the TAE, MPAE and DIR metrics as following: WPG-ARMA, WG-ARMA, G-ARMA, GM(1, 1, o, y), ARIMA.


identifier: Mowchun, Trevor  (2010) Rights of passage : an aesthetic cultivation of contingency.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The connections between creativity, contingency and necessity, loosely with respect to modernism, have a peculiar if not puzzling way of hinging on the nature of moving images and the experience of being still while beholding them, one after another. If we accept, after T.J. Clark, that contingency "is an issue of representation [and] not empirical life-chances," then contingency can emerge as a historical process in which representation can be seen to adapt to various crises of meaning by becoming more and more susceptible to meaninglessness. The medium of the moving image along with the passive position required of its spectators is here understood as offering a kind of formal invitation to contingency, giving it a permanent place in the realm of hermeneutics in the form of a symbolic threat against the powers of human agency. The primary objective of this thesis is to raise the stakes of contingency within modem aesthetics and demonstrate some ways in which the plight of contingency can become the purpose of subjectivity and hence the very medium of self-realization


identifier: Howse, Erica  (2010) Postindians and Reservation X : individualism and community sovereignty in contemporary North American First Nations arts discourse.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The goal of this project is to consider the works of Gerald McMaster (Cree), an artist, curator and catalogue essayist, and Gerald Vizenor (Anishnaabek), a fiction and non-fiction writer as well as literary theorist, as methods for understanding and responding to Aboriginal demands for sovereignty, especially as re-presented in artworks and arts discourse. Their perspectives have been influenced and contextualized by postmodernism, and reflect two dominant strands within that field of thought: one which retains its connection to modernism in its search for meaning, and the other which denies meaning or truth though connects with modernism's focus on individuality. Ultimately, however, my intent is to recognize McMaster and Vizenor as word warriors for First Nations communities, to consider their, ideas as methods which relate postmodern theories to Aboriginal demands for sovereignty to artworks, and through my own engagement to contribute to the further dissemination of their work.


identifier: Mader, Brian J  (2010) Natural resistance of white spruce and the behavior of the eastern spruce budworm.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: A white spruce, Picea glauca (Moench) Voss. (pinaceae), plantation in southern Quebec contained two distinct types of trees: resistant and susceptible to attack by spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate if and how the pattern of feeding and oviposition preference are modified in response to past nutritional experience. Both lab-reared insects and field-reared insects, tested on artificial diet and foliage, respectively, failed to show differences in the pattern of feeding between groups with different nutritional experience. These findings suggest that the spruce budworm, like other specialists feeders, may not have evolved mechanisms of physiological or behavioral modification in response to previous nutritional stress. That being said, adult budworm, when reared on foliage from resistant trees, preferentially laid more eggs on foliage from susceptible trees but showed no significant preference when reared on foliage from susceptible trees. These findings illustrate that the presence of deterrent compounds on the surface of needles, coupled with larval experience, may be influencing adult oviposition preference. Both these findings have important implications for forest management strategies; plantations using mixed tree phenotypes may slow budworm adaptation to resistant trees.


identifier: Herascu, Nicoleta  (2010) Optical spectroscopy of photosynthetic complexes : focus on low-temperature protein dynamics.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: To perform photosynthesis, plants, algae and bacteria possess well organized and closely coupled photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes. The information on energy transfer processes and protein dynamics contained in the narrow zero-phonon lines at low temperatures is hidden under the inhomogeneous broadening. Thus, it is difficult to analyze the spectroscopic properties of these complexes in sufficient detail by conventional spectroscopy methods. In this context, high resolution spectroscopy techniques such as Spectral Hole Burning, Fluorescence Line Narrowing and Single Molecule / Single Complex Spectroscopy are powerful tools designed to overcome the inhomogeneous broadening difficulty. This thesis focuses mainly on the low-temperature protein dynamics of several photosynthetic protein complexes (LH2, CP43, CP29 and LHCII). The hole growth kinetics and the shape of the anti-hole due to the non-photochemical spectral hole burning have been explored, and interpreted within the framework of theoretical models describing spectral diffusion due to conformational changes between nearly identical substates on a multi-tier protein energy landscapes.


identifier: Reznichek, Zachary Anton  (2010) As if authenticity matters : the fall of contemplation and the rise of the social realm.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: As a corrupted byproduct of socioeconomic politics, curriculum philosophy is unsuitable to solve its own problems or reform itself Leaving the educational field, I consider the foundation of education through a political philosophy frame. Using Hannah Arendt's The Human Condition to differentiate between active living and merely existing, I explore the pre-Socratic definitions of authenticity, politics, freedom, plurality, public, private, labor, work and action. With this political framework, I investigate the rise of the social realm from the fall of the public and private realms in three key historic periods: Ancient Greece's 4thCentury B.C.E. shift from democracy to empire; the institution of neo-Platonism as Catholicism in the 4th Century A.D. to redeem the Roman empire; and the 19th Century lapse into modem consumerism from Marx's inability to reconcile the economic alienation of the Industrial Revolution. I show that the rise of Western society has galvanized essentialism and fostered a disconnect with authenticity and our human senses. I identify the anxiety created by the conditioned feeling that one cannot trust one's own senses is the catalyst of existentialism. I run authenticity through the existential frame of plurality, ambiguity and existential self-validation. It becomes evident that contemplation is the missing element in curriculum philosophy. I review two curriculum initiatives that I believe foster contemplation in students: Transcendental Meditation in schools and Outward Bound educational adventure trips. I make recommendations of how to combine authenticity, Transcendental Meditation, and Outward Bound into practical curriculum philosophy.


identifier: Tolwinski, Kasia  (2010) A fate worse than death : pregnancy weight gain and the thinness ideal.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This Master's thesis, entitled "A fate worse than death: Pregnancy weight gain and the thinness ideal," interrogates scientific discourse on pregnancy weight gain, focusing on medical literature published between 1990 and 2009. In 1990, the Institute of Medicine changed their official gestational weight gain recommendations out of fears that women were not gaining enough weight in pregnancy, resulting in low birth weights. More recently, a fervour surrounding the so-called childhood obesity epidemic has fueled much scientific debate about the possibility that women are gaining too much weight. Thus it is now being suggested that women's weight gain should be restricted to alleviate society's obesity. Although the experts' position on pregnancy weight gain shifts over time, consistent across the dataset (1990-2009) is an understanding of women's bodies as the origin of childhood health. I argue that medical discourse on weight gain in pregnancy has historically created an embodied ideal as a requirement of motherhood and femininity; more recently this ideal has necessarily been linked not only to dominant discourses of obesity, which is seen as costly, burdensome, and undesirable, but also to dominant notions of good motherhood. Building on Foucault's genealogical approach, this thesis examines the medical/scientific discourse, and its claims to truth that have the effect of responsibilising and normalising pregnant women, both in terms of the feminine and motherhood itself.


identifier: Soliman, Sherif  (2010) Performance of reinforced collapsible soils.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Geotechnical engineers face serious problems when construction sites contain collapsible soils, which are known by their strength when dry and experience sudden and excessive settlement when inundated. The amount of soil collapse depends on the extent of the wetting zone and the degree of saturation reached when the surface water is the source of inundation. On the other hand, full saturation of the collapsible soil and accordingly, the maximum collapse are expected when the source of inundation is the rise of groundwater table. In this thesis, experimental investigation was carried out on prototype set-up to simulate the case of a surface rigid strip footing resting on collapsible soils. The objective of this research has been to evaluate the collapse settlement of the footing when the collapsible soils are subjected to full inundation due to the rise of ground water table. The case of footings on homogeneous collapsible soils having various collapse potentials, heights and applied stresses were first examined. Then, the case of footing resting on partially replaced collapsible soils by compacted sand was tested to establish the optimum thickness of the soil replaced on the collapse settlement of these footings. In addition, tests were carried out on these footings where geosynthetic layers were placed at the interface between the replaced and the collapsible soil layers and within the replaced soil layer. Analytical and empirical models were developed to predict the collapse settlement of these footings for a given soil / replacement layer / geotextile layer conditions. Design procedures and charts were provided for practicing use.


identifier: Jalili, Amina  (2010) A hydraulic study of the exchange flow through the Burlington ship canal.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis is an investigation on the exchange flow through the Burlington Ship Canal, which connects Hamilton Harbour with Lake Ontario. During the summer months, heavily polluted Hamilton Harbour water flows through the canal into the lake, whereas fresh and oxygenated Lake Ontario water flows into the harbour. This exchange of the two water masses has important implications for harbour water quality. This thesis is probably the first modelling investigation of two-layer hydraulic exchange flow, which allows for the effects of both friction and time-dependent barotropic forcing at multiple frequencies. In the Burlington Ship Canal application we obtain predictions of exchange volume fluxes under a range of prevailing forcing conditions that are derived from field observations. Model results compare well with experimental and field data. [ Show less ] You have requested "on-the-fly" machine translation of selected content from our databases. This functionality is provided solely for your convenience and is in no way intended to replace human translation. Show full disclaimer Neither ProQuest nor its licensors make any representations or warranties with respect to the translations. The translations are automatically generated "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" and are not retained in our systems. PROQUEST AND ITS LICENSORS SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTIES FOR AVAILABILITY, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, COMPLETENESS, NON-INFRINGMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Your use of the translations is subject to all use restrictions contained in your Electronic Products License Agreement and by using the translation functionality you agree to forgo any and all claims against ProQuest or its licensors for your use of the translation functionality and any output derived there from. Hide full disclaimer Translations powered by LEC.


identifier: Hsiao, Wan-Ju  (2010) Margin requirements, price limits, and their relationship to Canadian agriculture futures price volatility.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Margin requirements for futures contracts represent the amount that traders have to deposit to protect the broker from default. Margin requirements may be used as a tool to prevent excessive volatility in the futures price by limiting excessive speculation in the futures market. Previous studies that examined the effectiveness of margin requirements upon price volatility have not found evidence that margins are able to stabilize the futures price volatility. However, none of these studies have considered the price limits specified by the futures exchange to reduce large movements in prices. Thus, the objective of this study is to examine two Canadian agriculture futures contracts--the canola and the western domestic barley futures contract which are traded on the ICE Futures Canada--over the period June 2002 through June 2009, to understand whether increases in margins are effective at stabilizing futures prices after considering the effect of price limits upon futures prices. The results show that increases in margins can reduce futures price volatility when price limits are taken into consideration for the canola contract, but not for the barley contract. Moreover, the existence of price limits appears to have a gravitation (destabilization) effect on canola futures price volatility but no effect on the barley futures price volatility.


identifier: Perialis, Melanie  (2010) The roots of early Christian imagery in the Roman Empire : archaeological and artistic evidence.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The Roman Empire was one of the most powerful and longest-lasting empires of all times. It was home to a multitude of people from different social strata and ethnicities, as well as various linguistic and religious backgrounds. This diverse cultural community allowed different religions to arise, to be known, and also to flourish. One of these religions was Christianity. Christianity had to find a way to adapt itself to its environment and to attract converts to its new worldview. This created the need for an approach to make the Christian message more readily accessible. Therefore, Christians started using images to represent Christian themes that could be more easily understood by the Gentiles and the first Christian converts from Judaism. The way in which Christianity manages to spread its message in an efficient manner is through decorative images in the baptisteries, prayer halls, burial places and mausoleums. Therefore, an examination of images and artifacts, which are still extant, will be performed in order to find the root of Christian representations that influenced Christianity and its way of worship. The artifacts that will be examined will come from the late 2 nd century through to the late 5th century


identifier: Crooks, Frank  (2010) Mass education in China under Mao.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Mass education in China under Mao

abstract: The purpose of this research paper is to examine the development of mass education and literacy training in the People's Republic of China (PRC) from its inception in 1949 until the end of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in 1977. Due to the vast size of the nation and the widely dispersed and varied make-up of the Chinese population, a diversity of educational programs and tools would be implemented by the educational policy makers in order to offer both formal and non-formal schooling to the population. Education under the leadership of Mao Zedong (Mao) in the PRC would be driven by two different, and often conflicting, policy objectives: the first objective of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was to equip the population with the academic skills necessary to create productive workers, and the second objective was to indoctrinate the population with correct political thought. While the PRC was able to effectively achieve universal primary school attendance by 1978, secondary and tertiary education was at that time generally only available in the urban and suburban areas. As over 80% of the population still lived in rural areas, access to secondary and tertiary education remained out of reach for the vast majority of Chinese people.


identifier: Pashak, Natasha  (2010) Almost outnumbered : the role of Alberta in the life and work of Marion Nicoll.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis examines Marion Nicoll's contribution to the cultural life of Calgary and Alberta and, in turn Canada, while situating Nicoll's painting practice within the broader context of North America in the 1950S and 1960s. It expands upon previous scholarship by including Marion Nicoll's role as teacher and community activist in addition to considering her craftworks, prints and paintings and by examining her many influences with particular attention paid to the role of place. This thesis proposes that an understanding of Alberta is integral to an understanding of Marion Nicoll's work. The text is structured in 4 parts. The introduction provides the theoretical framework for the thesis through a discussion of regionalism and modernism in North America. Chapter 1provides a biographical overview of Marion Nicoll's life and includes pertinent information about her grandparents and parents as well as significant events in Alberta history in order to provide context to the artist's life and achievements. Chapter 2 examines Nicoll's influences, with particular attention paid to the Arts & Crafts Movement and the Indian Space Painters. The third chapter includes an examination of 3 winter-themed works to indicate how an understanding of Alberta is integral to an understanding of Marion Nicoll's work


identifier: Secco, Maria Noel  (2010) Neo-Mexicanism and NAFTA : exhibiting national identity.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis examines the staging of a number of exhibitions of Mexican art in the United States during the years leading to the consolidation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Mexico, the United States and Canada. It focuses on the emergence and development during the 1980s of a group of painters denominated Neo-Mexicanists and their appropriation of recognized symbols of mexicanidad or 'mexicanness'. Mexican cultural institutions favored these artists to present a desired image of the country for a North American audience. Drawing from the work of scholars Roger Bartra and Néstor García Canclini regarding the construction of the Mexican character and the relation between popular culture and political power, this thesis considers the role of Neo-Mexicanists in the representation of contemporary Mexican national identity.


identifier: Berson, Amber  (2010) Image and memory : art about missing and murdered Aboriginal women.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis discusses the issue of femicide in Canada, exploring the cause and effect of violence towards Aboriginal women and considers where the media and the government have failed to help families of victims to create proper memorials for those killed and how artists have attempted to fill this void. I explore how three specific non-aboriginal artists have, in this absence, created memorial projects, with very different results. These artists are Betty Kovacic ( A Roomful of Missing Women ) whose work commemorates the Downtown Eastside murders and the Highway of Tears disappearances; Dianne Anderson (ProjectX ), who creates memorial performances for missing women in the Prairies; and Pamela Masik (The Forgotten ) who calls attention the Downtown Eastside murdered women. I am aware that other artists have created work on the subject, notably Rebecca Belmore, whose work Vigil is widely known and Stan Douglas whose series Every Building on 100 West Hastings documents the disappearances. However, I have chosen to focus my attention on lesser-known artists with whom I was able to discuss the work personally and whose work centers eliciting compassion for the victims and their families


identifier: Rizk, Amanda Katy  (2010) Acute affective and physiological response to different exercise-training protocols in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Current pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) guidelines advocate high-intensity exercise training for individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), yet this approach has been shown to be unachievable in a large proportion of patients. Alternative approaches, such as training at the ventilatory threshold, have been proposed as more tolerable, less unpleasant, and thus possibly easier to comply with for this clientele. This assumption needs to be verified. The purpose of the present study was to compare, in COPD patients, the acute affective and physiological response to high-intensity training (CT80) versus training at the ventilatory threshold (CTVT). Thirteen subjects were randomly assigned to perform 40 minutes (including warm-up and cool-down) of either high-intensity exercise training at 80% of peak work rate (CT80) or training at the ventilatory threshold (CTVT) on a cycle ergometer. Affective response to the exercise bout was measured using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and the Global Vigor and Affect Instrument (GVA). Physiological response to the same bout was measured breath by breath with a portable metabolic system. Repeated-measures general linear models and mixed models were conducted using SAS. Positive affect scores from the PANAS increased from pre-, to end-, to post-exercise (time effect) (F=17.56, p=0.0005), but this increase was significant for the CTVT group only (time by intervention interaction) (F=5.85, p=0.02). No significant time or interaction effect was observed for global affect or global vigor from the GVA. In addition, no significant difference in physiological response was observed between CT80 and CTVT. Results from this pilot study suggest that affect improves after an exercise-training bout in COPD patients, especially when the protocol used is CTVT. The acute physiological and symptomatic response to CT80 and CTVT appears to be similar. Keywords: COPD, affective response, physiological response, exercise training.


identifier: Zhao, Ludeng  (2010) Repairing web service compositions based on planning graph.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: With the increasing acceptance of service-oriented computing, a growing area of study is the way to reuse the loosely coupled Web services, distributed throughout the Internet, to fulfill business goals in an automated fashion. When the goals cannot be satisfied by a single Web service, a chain of Web services can work together as a "composition" to satisfy the needs. The problem of finding composition plans to satisfy given requests is referred to as the Web service composition problem. In recent years, many studies have been done in this area, and various approaches have been proposed. However, most existing proposals endorse a static viewpoint over Web service composition; while in the real world, change is the rule rather than an exception. Web services may appear and disappear at any time in a non-predictable way. Therefore, valid composition plans may suddenly become invalid due to the environment changes in the business world. In this thesis, techniques to support reparation for an existing plan as a reaction to environment changes are proposed. Approaches of repair are compared to ones of re-planning, with particular attention to the time and quality of both approaches. It will be argued that the approach advocated in this thesis is a viable solution to improve the adaptation of automated Web service composition processes in the context of the real world.


identifier: Liu, Shuai  (2010) Localizing unauthorized updates in published micro-data tables through secret order-based watermarking.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The study of micro-data disclosure issue has largely focused on the privacy preservation aspect, whereas the integrity of a published micro-data table has received limited attention. Unauthorized updates to such a table may lead users to believe in misleading data. Traditional cryptographic stamp-based approaches allow users to detect unauthorized updates using credentials issued by the data owner. However, to localize the exact corrupted tuples would require a large number of cryptographic stamps to be stored, leading to prohibitive storage requirements. In this thesis, we explore the fact that tuples in a micro-data table must be stored in a particular order, which has no inherent meaning under the relational model. We propose a series of algorithms for embedding watermarks through reordering the tuples. The embedded watermarks allow users to detect, localize, and restore corrupted tuples with a single secret key issued by the data owner, and no additional storage is required. At the same time, our algorithms also allow for efficient updates by the data owner or legitimate users who know the secret key. The proposed algorithms are implemented and evaluated through experiments with real data.


identifier: Abbondanza-Bergeron, Andréanne  (2010) The post-art school transition : a journey through incompatible worlds.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Through the combination of arts-based research and qualitative research, this thesis explores how artists react and adapt to the transition between art school and the professional art world. The research is done through a self-study and interviews with six young artists, recently graduated from university. The findings suggest that artists are social beings. They trained to be so at school in an environment that combines exchanges with peers, regularly-scheduled encounters, and available workspace. They then move to a professional art world, which they tend to approach with a pejorative view. The young artists also find themselves in a society where face-to-face contact and time for exchanges are less and less frequent. The transition can therefore come as a shock and most find it difficult. Students who have a strong personal artistic practice or those who have a job connected to the milieu seem to have an easier time negotiating this transition. What is the hardest is the loss of one's network of colleagues, teachers, and friends. A real post-art-school shock can be identified when this transition is combined with moving to another city, which is often the case for students who return to their home city or move to another place after their studies. This research suggests that an education more grounded in real life, with more information given on the career and business side of an art practice, as well as a focus on the development of a professional artistic practice, seems to be what could most improve the current art education curriculum. The emotional experience of the transition is embodied in this thesis' arts-based component, the artwork Disconversation II - Social Nest, presented at The Centre des arts actuels Skol, Montreal, February 18, 2010.


identifier: Frigault, Marcel  (2010) Measuring network security using Bayesian Network-based attack graphs.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Given the increasing dependence of our societies on networked information systems, the overall security of such systems should be measured and improved. Recent research has explored the application of attack graphs and probabilistic security metrics to address this challenge. However, such work usually shares several limitations. First, individual vulnerabilities' scores are usually assumed to be independent. This assumption will not hold in many realistic cases where exploiting a vulnerability may change the score of other vulnerabilities. Second, the evolving nature of vulnerabilities and networks has generally been ignored. The scores of individual vulnerabilities are constantly changing due to released patches and exploits, which should be taken into account in measuring network security. To address these limitations, this thesis first proposes a Bayesian Network-based attack graph model for combining scores of individual vulnerabilities into a global measurement of network security. The application of Bayesian Networks allows us to handle dependency between scores and provides a sound theoretical foundation to network security metrics. We then extend the model using Dynamic Bayesian Networks in order to reason about the patterns and trends in changing scores of vulnerabilities. Finally, we implement and evaluate the proposed models through simulation studies.


identifier: Martinez Santiago, Verónica  (2010) Indigenous people's historical background and their current participation within the Mexican educational system and society.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The intent of this study is to explore and analyze the historical facts that have subjugated indigenous people, their knowledge, culture and values in Mexico during the colonial period and what has been the role of education in perpetuating colonial legacies. The Spanish conquest in Mexico deeply transformed Mesoamerican civilizations by developing different methods of exploitation as well as the imposition of colonial institutions. However, colonial practices relied on complex ideological mechanisms of power that are analyzed through postcolonial theory in order to better understand how reality is socially constructed, rather than inherently assumed. Regarding education, this study portrays how education has been used to perpetuate social inequalities by excluding and marginalizing indigenous people in Mexico. In doing so, this thesis attempts to raise inquiry about social reality and the core educational issues that are at stake in developing educational policies and practices. Thus, it is expected that this study will contribute in shaping different educational avenues for social change.


identifier: Simpson, Ying  (2010) Field evaluation of ventilation wetting and drying of rainscreen walls in coastal British Columbia.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The climate in southern coastal British Columbia (BC) is characterized by a long rainy winter. Building envelope failures that have occurred in recent years in this region promoted the adoption of the rainscreen principle in both rehabilitation and new construction and are now mandatory in the wet regions of Be. In addition to the functions of a capillary break and drainage, drying in an air cavity behind the cladding of the rainscreen wall system may occur through cavity ventilation. Current practice varies in terms of cavity depth and vent heights for rainscreen walls clad with panel systems, especially with respect to the top slot vents. The awareness of potential drying provided by cavity ventilation initiated the idea of providing top vents on brick veneer walls recently in the BC construction industry. However, there exist different views on the drying provided by cavity ventilation based on existing research. Whether cavity ventilation would be beneficial for this climate remained open for discussion. To answer this question, a comprehensive research program was designed by Dr. Hua Ge with the candidate using a two-storey building envelope test facility at British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) which Dr. Hua Ge developed. The candidate investigated twelve wall specimens, six clad with brick veneer and six clad with fibre cement panels, installed on the southeast façade, which faced the prevailing wind-driven rain direction. The test variables include cladding type, air cavity depth and height, vent configurations and initial moisture load in plywood sheathing to evaluate the impact of cavity ventilation on the drying and wetting of test walls. The hygrothermal conditions across the wall assemblies were monitored for moisture content (both resistive and gravimetric), temperature, relative humidity, air speed in the cavity and pressure differentials between top and bottom of each cavity. The on-site weather conditions were measured including wind speed, wind direction, solar radiation, horizontal rainfall, and wind-driven rain. Indoor conditions were controlled at 22±1°C and 55±5% RH In this study, the drying and wetting rates of plywood sheathing in the test walls during the winter and spring seasons were quantified, under-cooling effects on the temperature of cavity-surfaces of claddings and plywood sheathing were analyzed and the daily hours of condensation on the cavity-surface of claddings for all test walls were calculated. Simulation and measurements of MC in plywood sheathing for two brick veneer walls and two fibre cement walls were compared.


identifier: Al Khalaf, Mohammad  (2010) The regulation of skeletal muscle growth via the myostatin signalling pathway.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Myostatin (Mstn) is a negative regulator of skeletal muscle fibre size and satellite cell proliferation whose role in mature fibre compensatory growth has not been fully characterized. Myostatin knockout (Mstn-/-) mice display consistently larger skeletal muscle masses, as well as an overall increase in size and number of myofibres within the muscle, compared to the wild-type mice. Previous research has shown that Mstn plays a major role in the attenuation of both the hypertrophic and hyperplasic pathways of myofibre growth. Immunohistochemical staining of overloaded plantaris muscles was performed to analyze phenotypic and morphological changes in wild-type and Mstn-/- muscles. Preliminary results of these analyses indicated a tendency for muscles from Mstn-/- mice to express an increased number of myofibres, whereas muscles from Mstn+/+ mice tended to display hypertrophied pre-existing mature myofibres as a response to the overload stimulus. Additionally, using semi-quantitative PCR and western blotting, changes were monitored, in mRNA transcripts and protein expression levels, for some of the major factors involved in muscle growth signalling. Our preliminary results also showed altered expression of genes and proteins that ultimately translate to increased satellite cell proliferation and maturation in Mstn-/- muscles. Taken together, myostatin's effect on muscle is most apparent in attenuating the hyperplasic growth response in stimulated muscle, and not the hypertrophic signalling pathway. This is the first in vivo study to specifically look at the function of myostatin in muscles that are induced to grow by means of functional overloading.


identifier: Sagheer, Malik Waqas  (2010) Novel word recognition and word spotting systems for offline Urdu handwriting.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Word recognition for offline Arabic, Farsi and Urdu handwriting is a subject which has attained much attention in the OCR field. This thesis presents the implementations of offline Urdu Handwritten Word Recognition (HWR) and an Urdu word spotting technique. This thesis first introduces the creation of several offline CENPARMI Urdu databases. These databases were necessary for offline Urdu HWR experiments. The holistic-based recognition approach was followed for the Urdu HWR system. In this system, the basic pre-processing of images was performed. In the feature extraction phase, the gradient and structural features were extracted from greyscale and binary word images, respectively. This recognition system extracted 592 feature sets and these features helped in improving the recognition results. The system was trained and tested on 57 words. Overall, we achieved a 97 % accuracy rate for handwritten word recognition by using the SVM classifier. Our word spotting technique used the holistic HWR system for recognition purposes. This word spotting system consisted of two processes: the segmentation of handwritten connected components and diacritics from Urdu text lines and the word spotting algorithm. A small database of handwritten text pages was created for testing the word spotting system. This database consisted of texts from ten Urdu native speakers. The rule-based segmentation system was applied for segmentation (or extracting) for handwritten Urdu subwords or connected components from text lines. We achieved a 92% correct segmentation rate for 372 text lines. In the word spotting algorithm, the candidate words were generated from the segmented connected components. These candidate words were sent to the holistic HWR system, which extracted the features and tried to recognize each image as one of the 57 words. After classification, each image was sent to the verification/rejection phase, which helped in rejecting the maximum number of unseen (raw data) images. Overall, we achieved a 50% word spotting precision at a 70% recall rate


identifier: Blaikie, Daniel  (2010) Hypergoods : diagnosis, not ontology.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Hypergoods : diagnosis, not ontology

abstract: The term 'hypergood' is ambiguous and short-lived in the work of Charles Taylor. This ambiguity is preserved in the secondary literature. I argue that a successful interpretation of the concept must be subject to three constraints, which I call the reasoning, regress, and problem constraints, respectively. My interpretation of the concept takes hypergoods to be contingent and reveals them as exemplary of much of what Taylor takes to be wrong with modern moral theory. Identifying the existence of hypergoods is thus a way of diagnosing an inadequate approach to moral life. The challenge is to preserve their force as moral sources without allowing them to dictate our meta-ethics and distort our moral predicament.


identifier: McClelland, William  (2010) "The shape and the violence" : modernity and the human condition in Timothy Findley's The Wars.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Through a close reading of Timothy Findley's 1977 novel The Wars this thesis explores the various ways in which modernity and the Great War (1914-1918) irrevocably altered the human condition. The seemingly instantaneous ubiquity of new technologies in the early twentieth-century (the mechanical, the electrical), mass production and the mass scaling of both industry and warfare changed life for everyone in the West. Commodification and mass consumption altered human relationships and behaviour, as did the arrival of the mechanical - especially in the form of the automobile - in the domestic sphere. The experience of time itself became corrupted, mutating the nature of sleep both at the front and at home while also accelerating personal relationships. Findley's novel also throws light upon the heightened fusion of sex and violence in the modem era. Most interesting, however, are the various human responses to modernity and the Great War which The Wars exhibits and the complex prognosis for humanity Findley delivers through a menagerie of fragile characters


identifier: Bérubé, Nicole  (2010) Explaining the relationships between age, job satisfaction, and commitment : an empirical test.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: A substantial body of research has established that both job satisfaction and organizational commitment are important work attitudes. Yet, while scholars have proposed some possible explanations for the positive relationship between age and job satisfaction, and between age and organizational commitment, these explanations have rarely been investigated directly. In addition, researchers who investigated reasons for demographic differences in job attitudes measured only chronological age, not subjective age (how old a person feels). The present study sought to redress this major shortcoming by testing alternative explanations for age-related differences in job satisfaction and commitment, and doing so by investigating both chronological age and subjective age. The study investigated four proposed mediators of the relationship between age and job satisfaction, and age and commitment. A survey was administered to 888 middle managers in a single large organization, and 458 usable questionnaires were obtained. The first proposed mediator, assessments about the employment relationship , emerged as a full mediator of the relationships between both chronological and subjective age, and affective commitment. In addition, it partially explained the relationship between both age measures and overall job satisfaction, as well as satisfaction with the work in the present job. In contrast, retirement reminders could not explain the relationship between age and continuance commitment because in this sample, tenure captured most of the variance in continuance commitment in the regression model. The next proposed mediator, recognitions from others about one's experience , partially mediated the relationship between subjective age and satisfaction with the work in the present job. Next, self-recognitions about one's work experience partially mediated the link between subjective age and affective commitment. However, recognitions by self and others did not explain the relationship between chronological age and either job satisfaction or affective commitment, emphasizing the importance of measuring subjective age in management studies. The findings also show that compared to chronological age, subjective age was a stronger correlate of overall job satisfaction, satisfaction with the work in the present job, and affective commitment, but a weaker correlate of continuance commitment. Subjective age contributed uniquely to predicting overall job satisfaction, satisfaction with work in the present job, and affective commitment, beyond chronological age.


identifier: Germain, L. Marie-France  (2010) Solidarity economy in Montréal : women's activism creating alternatives through the ethics of care.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The feminization of poverty has been, and still is, a problem in North America. Canadian public policies have a negative affect on women, especially those who are mothers, single or elderly. Large urban centres such as Montréal, Québec have a large proportion of women living on low incomes or on social assistance. Through participant observation at Food Central, a community organization, I interacted with these women and the women activists who work with them to assist in easing the difficulties women experience in providing for their families and themselves when household income is insufficient to cover monthly bills. My fieldwork was conducted from August 2008-March 2009, some of the most expensive months of the year for many women. Québec's history of social upheavals since the 1960s and its economic instability has created a situation that closely parallels Latin American countries. Both Québec and Latin American countries have increasingly large and popular activist organizations seeking social justice. Many of the grassroots Latin American activist organizations are creating alternatives to the globalized capitalist economy such as " economía solidaria " which is based on an ethics of care, reciprocity, and non-monetary forms of exchanges. This thesis presents the narratives and life stories of the women activists, volunteers and women who came to Food Central as clients to learn what alternatives to the formal economy if any, the women use as strategies of survival in a large city.


identifier: Langdon, Graeme  (2010) Juridically minded, justifiably frightened : academic legitimacy and the suspension of horror.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: As any reader of scholarly writing on the horror film knows, study of the genre tends to begin with tactful apologies and explicit declarations of the genre's academic legitimacy. Rhetorical maneuvers of this sort seem intended to reclaim horror from its law-fearing critics and its dubious status before the law. Yet, they betray a certain complicity between the academy and the law because they concede that something essential to the genre requires justification. In this thesis, I read Film Studies' general inability to analyze the horror film without recourse to such supplementary acts of justification through Giorgio Agamben's analysis of the aporetic structure of Western sovereignty (I998). According to Agamben, the force of law resides in its capacity to maintain itself in relation to an exteriority (18)." As I hypothesize, the academic justification of horror corroborates the marginality of the genre and affirms the sovereign soundness of interpretive thought in the face of an uninterpretable limit. This limit is the unreadable immediacy of horror's violence (its affect, or, appeal to the bare life of its audience), and like the homo sacer of Agamben's analysis, it is included in the form of its exclusion. The academic justification of horror admits something dubious about the genre, but suspends it beyond contemplation


identifier: Kantor, Rhonda  (2010) The nature of home-school relations at the secondary level.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: While much research is focused on family involvement in education at the elementary level, little attention has been paid to the relationship of the parent and teacher at the secondary level. Family involvement at the high school level is crucial, as it is the time that adolescents make decisions that affect their future, the future of their families and society as a whole. This thesis takes a sociological view that the relationship between parents and teachers is important to the education process, and that this relationship is based on how the roles of parent and teacher are constructed. This is a small-scale inquiry and suffers from the limitations of such studies. It is the study of four teachers and four parents of students attending public English high schools in the Montreal area. Identified are the elements parents and teachers perceive and experience as important to their, and each others, role. It was expected that there would be important differences between parents' and teachers' perceptions and expectations of each other's concerns and responsibilities, however, this was not the case. Parents and teachers largely agreed on the functions and characteristics of the roles: what differed was the emphases they placed on the specifics


identifier: Gallagher, Erin  (2010) Exploring progressivism in the Quebec Education Program.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Through the past two decades, Quebecers have borne witness to a ministerial overhaul of their education system that has resulted in the implementation of a new competency-based curriculum - the Quebec Education Program (QEP). This thesis begins with an overview of the historical context of this reform with particular emphasis on the shift from a church-based scholastic system to a largely secular state run model. The progressive foundations of the QEP will be presented through an overview of the historical trends in North American progressivism as well as through a discussion of John Dewey's, William H. Kilpatrick's and Herbert Kohl's educational philosophies in particular. The child-centered, cooperative and interdisciplinary learning environments proposed by these early progressive philosophers and implemented in the QEP will be highlighted with concrete classroom examples. By narrowing the focus of the analysis to the English Language Arts section of the QEP, the progressive elements of curricular implementation as well as the difficulty in incorporating these philosophies within the practice of student evaluation will be discussed. This thesis ends with a call for further research into the effectiveness of the QEP as well as for the formulation of clearly defined evaluation strategies consistent with the principles of progressive education.


identifier: Yang, Xiangjin  (2010) Investigation on moisture buffering of hygroscopic materials by full-scale experiments and HAM simulations.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The moisture buffering effect of interior hygroscopic materials can reduce the variation of indoor RH, thus to achieve a desired indoor environment and to obtain a better building envelope performance while saving energy consumed in operating HVAC equipment. Even though a large number of studies have been conducted to investigate the moisture buffering effect, additional studies are still required for several major questions including: 1) How to evaluate the impact of different parameters on moisture buffering potential under different conditions? 2) Is the local moisture buffering of surface materials influenced by non-uniform indoor conditions? 3) Can hygroscopic materials be categorized and ranked in order to achieve a better moisture buffering application? Aiming to answer these questions, this research is developed and carried out to define an index to quantitatively evaluate the impact of different parameters on moisture buffering potential of interior surface materials and furniture, to investigate moisture buffering of surface materials under non-uniform indoor conditions and to classify hygroscopic materials. These objectives are achieved through both experiments and simulations including 1) analysis of the moisture balance established in a full-scale experimental testing (28 cases) and whole building Heat, Air and Moisture (HAM) simulations (54 cases BSim simulations); 2) investigation of local moisture buffering of interior surface (WUFI) applied on test walls; and 3) analyses of moisture buffering capacity at material level using WUFI simulations. A new index, maximum accumulated moisture buffering value (MAMBV), is developed to quantify the impact of different parameters on the moisture buffering effect. The great advantage of this index is that it can provide a direct comparison of moisture buffering potential in different test scenarios. The parameters investigated include daily moisture load rate and schemes, ventilation rates, supply air conditions, volume rates, and different interior surface materials and furniture. The distribution of local moisture buffering of surface materials are analyzed for the first time and the locations where surface materials provide higher moisture buffering is identified. The moisture response, including moisture buffering capacity, moisture history effect, and time factor involved are fully investigated. Based on these analyses, hygroscopic materials are categorized into three groups, which are determined by materials' moisture capacity and vapor transfer resistance factor. This thesis presents a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of different parameters on the moisture buffering effect under realistic indoor conditions, advances the current understanding of moisture buffering capacity of materials, and brings foreword a new contribution toward moisture buffering design and application.


identifier: Bourne, Christopher  (2010) Across the great divide : Ankersmit's aesthetic gap and representative democracy.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis is an exploration of an aesthetic approach to political theory. In particular, I examine the concept of representative democracy in terms of philosophical aesthetics. Drawing inspiration from F.R. Ankersmit's Aesthetic Politics: Political Philosophy Beyond Fact and Value, I argue that there is a necessary 'distance' between citizens and their government, that, if ignored, can have totalitarian consequences. Understanding this distance, also known as the 'aesthetic gap,' requires an exploration of the notion of perspective. Ultimately, once both citizens and government begin to comprehend their particular perspectives, the question of what it means to be represented in a democratic regime becomes comprehensible. This awareness leads to interesting implications for the role of the political representative, and about the relationship between citizens and their governors


identifier: King, Martin  (2010) Speculative philosophy and the grounding of metaphysics.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: German idealism is in part characterized by its attempt to provide a justification for our knowledge of the world in response to David Hume's problem of induction. In looking at three major philosophers of this time period - Kant, Fichte, and Hegel- a pattern emerges among their respective treatments of metaphysical propositions and their methods of grounding metaphysics. Kant's method was to demonstrate the possibility of synthetic a priori propositions so as to divide objects epistemologically according to the possibility of their being known or not. This left human psychology uncomfortably split and so Fichte attempted a revision of Kant's system beginning with the assumption of unity in an immediately certain analytic proposition in order to rectify this. However, this limited the scope of his philosophy to a narrow subjectivism based on an ungrounded presupposition of the subject. Hegel's speculative proposition allowed his dialectics to be absolute and objective. It granted his philosophy the power not only to ground metaphysics, but to explain the entire history of human consciousness. As such, it is the culmination of Kant's response to Hume's attack working out its contradictions.


identifier: Tarasi, Fariba  (2010) Suspension plasma sprayed alumina-yttria stabilized zirconia nano-composite thermal barrier coatings : formation and roles of the amorphous phase.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Thermal barrier coatings have been used for the last half century to protect parts in high-temperature service from premature damage. Thermal barrier coatings are mostly produced by thermal spray techniques, especially plasma spray processes. They are widely used in the aerospace and automotive industries and in power plants, applications in which there is an ever-increasing demand for further improvement of functionality and durability. In the field of material design, use of composite coatings rather than monolithic material, and nano-structure instead of conventional grain sizes, are among the solutions most often considered. Suspension plasma spray is an innovative process for production of nano-structured thermal barrier coatings. This research project was directed toward a superior thermal barrier coating using suspension plasma spray deposition of the alumina-yttria stabilized zirconia composite material with nano-crystalline structure. Crystallization of the amorphous phase is introduced as a new route toward nano-crystallinity in ceramics, as was previously applied in the metals and alloys. The suspension plasma spray process was used in production of coatings with comparatively high amorphous content. The work concentrates on three major aspects of thermal barrier coating improvement. The primary focus of the project is amorphous phase formation and the roles it plays in properties and structure. This phase, which was found beneficial to nano-crystallinity, improves the mechanical properties after heat treatment. The second concentration is the suspension plasma spray process and the versatility of its resulting microstructures, and a comparison of suspension with the conventional plasma spray process. The third aspect is the properties of alumina-YSZ composite material as a choice for thermal barrier coating application. It was found that the material can compete with the present YSZ material in some aspects (e.g. thermal resistivity and hardness), but suffers from some other deficiencies (e.g. brittleness and high erosion rate). This suggests considering some other compositions of the composite, while continuing in microstructural improvement of this material for thermal barrier application.


identifier: Bazinet, Valérie  (2010) Figures d'altérité transformatrice : l'autre chez Victor-Lévy Beaulieu, Larry Tremblay, Dany Laferrière et Patrice Desbiens.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: L'étude de ce mémoire présente, à partir d'une réflexion inspirée de certains concepts de la psychologie sociale, le rapport de soi avec la figure de l'autre dans les écrits de quatre auteurs québécois. Puisque l'idée qu'on se fait de soi est en grande partie tributaire de ce que les autres en pensent, l'objet littéraire permet de voir que différentes réactions sont possibles lorsqu'il y a rencontre avec l'autre. Que la figure de l'autre soit fantasmée, parasitaire, usurpée ou qu'elle existe déjà en soi, elle permet toujours de transformer les narrateurs. L'étude des ± figures d'altérité transformatrice» chez Victor-Lévy Beaulieu, Larry Tremblay, Dany Laferrière et Patrice Desbiens remet en question l'évolution du concept de soi et celle de l'identité des narrateurs, et met en lumière les différents processus créateurs mis en oeuvre chez chacun des auteurs. Les oeuvres littéraires étudiées dévoilent le fait que c'est à travers elles que les quatre auteurs réussissent à faire évoluer le concept de soi qui les définit. Il est possible de dire que les auteurs réussissent là où leurs narrateurs ont échoué. Bien que la figure de l'autre permette une transformation, elle entraîne l'échec final des narrateurs à obtenir une identité assumée. Chacun d'entre eux se frotte à la figure de l'autre, mais ne réussit pourtant pas à évoluer.


identifier: Jarraya, Yosr  (2010) Verification and validation of UML and SysML based systems engineering design models.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In this thesis, we address the issue of model-based verification and validation of systems engineering design models expressed using UML/SysML. The main objectives are to assess the design from its structural and behavioral perspectives and to enable a qualitative as well as a quantitative appraisal of its conformance with respect to its requirements and a set of desired properties. To this end, we elaborate a heretofore unattempted unified approach composed of three well-established techniques that are model-checking, static analysis, and software engineering metrics. These techniques are synergistically combined so that they yield a comprehensive and enhanced assessment. Furthermore, we propose to extend this approach with performance analysis and probabilistic assessment of SysML activity diagrams. Thus, we devise an algorithm that systematically maps these diagrams into their corresponding probabilistic models encoded using the specification language of the probabilistic symbolic model-checker PRISM. Moreover, we define a first of its kind probabilistic calculus, namely activity calculus, dedicated to capture the essence of SysML activity diagrams and its underlying operational semantics in terms of Markov decision processes. Furthermore, we propose a formal syntax and operational semantics for the input language of PRISM. Finally, we mathematically prove the soundness of our translation algorithm with respect to the devised operational semantics using a simulation preorder defined upon Markov decision processes.


identifier: Shaayegan, Vahid  (2010) Linear viscoelastic behaviour and relaxation phenomena of immiscible blends : the application of creep.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Small-amplitude oscillatory shear (SAGS) and incomplete creep/recovery experiments were employed to characterize the rheological behaviour of immiscible blends of polypropylene (PP) with dispersed droplets of polystyrene (PS) at different concentrations of minor phase and compatibilization state. While the linear viscoelastic properties of polymers in the melt state contain valuable information, the plateau and terminal zones of some polymers, especially polymers with very long relaxation time processes, are not accessible with common rheological methods. Furthermore, the interface relaxation phenomena in immiscible blends occur at longer times compared with pure components. A combination of the measurements from dynamic experiments and creep measurements was used to broaden the window of the linear viscoelastic behaviour of neat components as well as the blends. A new experimental creep protocol for immiscible blends was proposed based on Boltzmann Superposition Principle to minimize the morphological modification when sheared. The SAGS results were compared with those obtained from creep/recovery tests and supported by means of morphological investigations and the application of the Palierne model for immiscible blends. The effect of blend composition and compatibilizer, here styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene (SEBS), on the relaxation spectrum of the blends was studied. The interfacial tension between phases was also determined using the Palierne model. It was found that the proposed creep method measures the linear viscoelastic behavior of the blends and well characterizes their long time behaviour. An extended composite retardation spectrum was constructed by combining the short-time information from SAOS tests with the long-time data from creep/recovery experiments. The obtained spectrum was then used to re-calculate a composite relaxation spectrum as well as other viscoelastic material functions. It was found that the extended composite relaxation spectra predicted the long time relaxation mechanisms and relaxation spectrum portions which are out of the validity limits of the SAOS experiments, and were not seen by the application of dynamic tests only.


identifier: Barsom, Maged Fouad Fahmy Naguib  (2010) Reduction of low-order harmonics and new topologies of current source converters.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Two CSCs related issues are investigated. The first is the reductions of Low Order Harmonics (LOH) in Low Switching Frequency (LSF) CSCs. High power CSCs operate with LSF. This is not an ideal scenario for Space Vector Modulation (SVM), resulting in non-characteristics LOH, 5 th and 7 th (HD 5-7 ). Researchers have attempted to reduce these harmonics by creating new sequences of space vectors (states) or different sampling techniques. New approaches based on the fact that HD 5-7 is affected by states ON times calculation process are proposed. Results show that by using a new technique called Record Middle (RM), one can obtain a smaller HD 5-7 . Also, results for calculating states ON times as the reference vector rotates by new SVM equations show that one can get a significant reduction in HD 5-7 . Another alternative effective with large overlap periods is minimizing LOHs in LSF-SVM-CSCs with Minimum Harmonic Tracking (MHT) technique. Fuzzy logic dependent states ON times calculation give fixed states ON times adjustment during steady state and fast response. Those techniques allowed the usage of reduced size ac-side filters with high cut-off frequencies. The second issue is on new hybrid current source converters (HCSCs). Three SCRs and four IGBTs HCSC has similar characteristics, less capital cost and less power losses compared to the 6-switches CSC. Two types of modulation are proposed. The first is Hard Switching Space Vector Modulation technique (HS-SVM). HS-SVM is presenting low maximum modulation index (m a.max ), resulting in LOH distortion and requiring multiple mandatory switching inside a cycle. The second modulation technique achieves line-commutation or soft switching (SS) of the SCRs whenever possible, thus being called Soft Switching Space Vector Modulation technique (SS-SVM). SS-SVM increases the m a.max while reducing LOH, the switching frequency and switching losses. Comparisons between the 6-switches CSC and the HCSCs are provided. Cost analysis showing the importance of HCSCs is carried out. A case study is presented to show that the HCSC is economically viable in medium and high power ranges. Besides having lower capital cost, the HCSC can operate with lower power losses than 6-switches CSC.


identifier: Benibgui, Michael  (2010) Mental health challenges and resilience in lesbian, gay, and bisexual young adults : biological and psychological internalization of minority stress and victimization.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study was a novel exploration of psycho-social and neuroendocrine factors that may contribute to mental health in LGB youth and young adults. Research suggests that, compared to their heterosexual peers, LGB youth and young adults report alarmingly elevated rates of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and attempts, and lower self-esteem in concert with a much higher incidence of victimization from family and peer-groups. Homophobic societal attitudes compounded with discrimination, marginalization, stigma, and victimization experienced by LGB individuals are thought to contribute to the development of internalized homonegativity (IH) and psychological distress. Research also suggests that victimization and social stressors can dysregulate cortisol activity, leading to increased risk for mood disorders. The main goal of the present study was to investigate the interplay of bio-psycho-social factors that are thought to contribute to positive and negative indices of mental health in a community sample of 63 LGB young adults in Montreal, Canada. Dysregulated diurnal cortisol activity and internalized homonegativity were postulated to function either as mediators or as moderators of the links between parental support, social support and LGB-related stress on the one hand, and depression, anxiety, suicidality and self esteem on the other. LGB young adults experiencing more LGB-related stress had more depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem. Interaction effects with parental and social support were also found. IH and cortisol were both positively correlated with LGB-related stress. IH and cortisol slope jointly predicted depression, but each uniquely predicted the other measures of mental health. LGB young adults experiencing varying levels of IH benefited from different social relationships. Cortisol slope also moderated the relations between support, victimization and mental health. These results are particularly striking given the overall high-level of mental-health of this particular sample. The findings of this study were in accord with diathesis-stress models of mental health. Implications for understanding the bio-psycho-social basis of mental health and promoting the well-being of LGB young adults were considered, as were limitations imposed by the sample and methodology.


identifier: Lysenko, Larysa V  (2010) Researching research use : an online study of school practitioners across Canada.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Because of its traditional role as an enabler of knowledge dissemination, education is expected to contribute substantially to the development of the knowledge economy. This means applying the knowledge that it generates through research to its own practice. Yet the literature shows that school practitioners do not express much demand for research findings, unlike doctors, engineers and other professionals. The purpose of this pan-Canadian online survey study is twofold. First, it investigates the extent to which school teachers, principals and professionals use research to inform their practice and indicates predictors of this use. Second, it tests the generalizability of a questionnaire originally developed within a provincial secondary school context. The 43-item questionnaire yielded 1,153 responses. Frequency of use of research-based information from a variety of sources and types of use were used as outcome measures. The questionnaire also explored practitioners' opinions about research, their attitudes towards research-awareness activities and their expertise to use research findings, as well as the constraints they contend with in everyday practice:- The results indicate that the three groups of practitioners either do not use educational research or use it infrequently. Although the respondents share neutral attitudes towards research, their comments add a negative connotation by qualifying research as irrelevant, and biased. The latent factor opinions about research is the greatest predictor, accounting for 9-16% of the variance in practitioners' use of research. The psychometric qualities of the questionnaire remain stable. Its internal reliability is 0.94. The four-factor solution explains 60% of variance and together with demographic variables predicts 22% of the frequency of use of research-based information. School leadership organizations, teacher education institutions and research-generating bodies stand to benefit from the study's findings, as they point to the necessity of increasing research relevance and accessibility, cultivating teaching as a research-based profession and building school capacity to use research. Future research should further explore the reasons why practitioners do not use research-based information and the ways to change school practitioners' negative perceptions of educational research. Refinements to the questionnaire and its cross-disciplinary comparison to other professions are also open for future inquiry.


identifier: McBrearty, Madeleine  (2010) Women, obesity, and weight loss : bridging the intention-behaviour gap.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: While the literature concerning obesity, weight management, and individual health-related behaviour change is considerable, the voices of women who have a lived experience of obesity and weight management are often neglected. The following is a report of a qualitative inquiry conducted to explore the weight loss process through the accounts of five obese women. The purpose of the research was to identify the factors that motivated these women to lose weight and elucidate the biopsychosocial factors that contributed to their engagement in a weight-loss program. A collective case study method was used to engage with the research participants who were in the action phase of a weight loss project, obese women who had effectively bridged the intention-behaviour gap towards weight loss. A narrative approach was used to gather the women's stories. Collected data were coded according to category strings and a grounded theory analytical framework was applied to the coded data. The findings from this inquiry, presented from a relational perspective, suggest that the women went through distinct phases of change: Decision-making, engagement, and action. The factors that influenced decision-making were outcome expectancies, an exacerbating condition, and atypical life events. Once a strong intention to lose weight had been formed, the socio-cognitive variables involved in the engagement process were self-directed intervening actions, self-efficacy, presenting opportunities, social support, program characteristics, and self-regulation. Finally, in addition to the factors that promoted intention formation and initiation, self-efficacy, positive outcomes, and the ability to recover from lapses and maintain the new weight-related behaviours helped the research participants sustain action. The change process issued from women's stories was referenced to the health action process approach (HAPA) and to other psychosocial models of individual health-related behaviour change. The report concludes with a brief discussion of the implications of the research findings for the wellness of obese women and ultimately for the design of health promotion programs geared to addressing issues related to women, body image, and obesity.


identifier: Ring, Angela J  (2010) Untangling the relations between the five factor model and schizotypal personality : two aspects of openness to experience make opposite predictions.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: There is growing evidence to support the use of dimensional models for the classification of personality disorders (PDs). The Five Factor Model (FFM) is one such model that has been proposed as a unifying system for both normal and abnormal personality description; however, the Openness to Experience (OE) domain remains problematic. Some studies fail to replicate the domain when taking into account PD pathology, while others find inconsistent results regarding schizotypal personality disorder (SZPD). These inconsistencies have led some authors to suggest that the OE domain may not be useful in describing PD pathology. The following studies examine a two-aspect structure of OE as one possible explanation for the previously inconsistent findings. It is suggested that OE can be decomposed into two distinct yet correlated aspects. There is evidence to suggest that OE relates to both a willingness, and capacity to be open to sensory awareness and subtle cues from the environment on the one hand, and the capacity to organize and integrate that information on the other hand. The current series of studies propose that inconsistent findings between OE and SZPD are the result of the facets of OE grouping together into two separate but related aspects. As such, the Openness Aspect (OA) is hypothesized to relate in a positive manner to SZPD, while the Intellect Aspect (IA) is hypothesized to relate in a negative manner to SZPD. This hypothesis was tested in both student and clinical samples using multiple regression analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. As predicted, results revealed consistent and unique associations for each aspect with SZPD, regardless of sample. Taken together, the studies described add to growing evidence that the FFM is a useful dimensional model for the integration of normal and abnormal personality description. Moreover, the findings presented here highlight the importance of considering multiple levels of personality structure, in that both facet and aspect level analysis revealed associations that domains were unable to capture.


identifier: Nicolaidou, Iolie  (2010) Relating elementary students' process portfolios to writing self-efficacy and performance.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Writing performance is essential for academic success at all levels. To help elementary school students become better and motivated writers, educators need to help them have functional writing self-efficacy beliefs that slightly exceed what a learner can actually accomplish. A suggested way to achieve this is having students create process portfolios to: a) document the writing process and their progress monitoring, b) have access to peers' work and c) receive feedback. This multiple case study explored the development of students' writing performance and writing self-efficacy beliefs through a one-academic-year implementation of process portfolios in three fourth grade elementary school classes (N=63 students) in Cyprus. The students of two fourth grade classes (n2=23, n3=20) created paper-based process portfolios, while in the researcher's class (n1=20) students created digital portfolios. The study explored how process portfolio affordances, such as a process approach in writing, progress monitoring (goal setting, reflection, self-evaluation), access to peers' work and feedback related to students' writing performance and self-efficacy and how this relationship changed over time. It relied on a mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) research methodology comprised of pre- mid-and post- portfolio implementation students' writing performance and self-efficacy tests, teachers' and students' interviews on their perceptions of portfolios and a portfolio artifact analysis. While there is much to understand regarding the impact of portfolios on students' writing performance and writing self-efficacy the results of this study produced several important findings and practical implications related to portfolio use and the added pedagogical benefits of portfolio affordances. The key findings revealed that students' writing performance increased over time. Learning gains were also found in students' ability to provide corrective feedback and constructive comments to their peers' work, to set goals, and to provide accurate self-evaluations of their work. Students' writing self-efficacy increased over time and became more accurate as it reflected students' actual performance by the end of portfolio implementation. Implications for practice and guidelines based on a bottom-up approach that could facilitate a large-scale implementation of digital and paper-based portfolios in Cyprus in the future are offered.


identifier: Wu, Yan  (2010) Finite element based interpolation methods for spatial and temporal resolution enhancement for image sequences.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Spatial resolution enhancement is a process for reconstructing a high resolution image from a low resolution image, whereas temporal resolution enhancement of encoded video aims of interpolating the skipped frames, making use of two successively received frames. In this thesis, a new image interpolation model, called the generalized image interpolation model , is developed in order to devise new techniques for spatial resolution enhancement of images, and temporal resolution enhancement of encoded video sequences. The interpolation model is based on the finite element method, and takes into account the unknown neighboring pixels, and therefore is capable of interpolating a collection of unknown pixels with an arbitrary shape, while providing a spatial continuity between the unknown pixels. Based on the generalized interpolation model, an edge-preserving iterative refinement scheme for spatial resolution enhancement of images is proposed. This scheme exploits not only the neighboring pixels whose values are known, but also takes into account those with unknown values. It is shown that the edge-preserving iterative refinement process maintains the smooth variation along a dominant edge in the up-scaled image. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme results in up-scaled images with subjective and objective qualities, which are better than those of the existing interpolation schemes. Further, the scheme is also shown to be capable of up-scaling an image by an arbitrary magnification factor, without resorting to extra steps, or the use of any conventional interpolation method. Next, error concealment-based MCI schemes are also presented for temporal resolution enhancement of encoded video sequences. These schemes are also based on the generalized image interpolation model, and need no pixel classification, thus reducing substantially the computational complexity. They are shown to be capable of concealing the errors in the homogeneous regions as well as in regions containing sharp edges. Experiments are carried out showing that the proposed schemes result in reconstructed frames having a better visual quality and a lower computational complexity than that provided by the existing techniques.


identifier: Wang, Tongyuan  (2010) Measures and adjustments of pattern frequency distributions.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Frequent pattern mining over large databases is fundamental to many data mining applications, where pattern frequency distribution plays a central role. Various approaches have been proposed for pattern mining with respectable computational performance. However, the appropriate evaluation of the pattern frequentness and the refinement of the mining result set are somewhat ignored. This has created a set of problems in conventional mining approaches which are identified in this thesis. Most conventional mining approaches evaluate pattern frequentness with an ill formed "support" measure, and generate patterns with full enumeration mode which produces excessive number of patterns in an application. Consequently, the mining result sets exhibit among other issues those of overfitting and underfitting, probability anomaly and bias for generated against original observations. Even worse, these results are delivered to users without any refinement. Overcoming these drawbacks is challenging, since these problems are rather philosophical than computational and hence their resolution demands a well established theory to reform the mining foundations and to pursue graceful knowledge degeneration. Based on the problems identified, this thesis first proposes a reformulation of the frequentness measure, which effectively resolves the probability anomaly and other related issues. To deal with the profound full enumeration mode, we first explore a set of properties governing raw pattern frequency distributions, such that a number of important mining parameters can be predetermined Based on these explorations, an approach to adjust the raw pattern frequency distributions is established and its theoretical merits are justified. This refinement theory shows that unconditional pattern reduction is achievable before domain constraints are imposed. The thesis then presents a maximum likelihood pattern sampling model and strategies to realize the adjustment. Findings presented in this thesis are based on known set theory, combinatorics, and probability theory, and they are theoretically fundamental and applicable to every item based or key words based pattern mining and the improvement of mining effectiveness. We expect that these findings would pave a way to replace the full enumeration pattern generation with selective generation mode, which would then radically change the state of the art of pattern mining.


identifier: Williamson, Maia  (2010) The Social stratification of the voiced interdental /ð/ in the battery dialect.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The social structure of a community has a significant influence on one's social network and identity. For instance, cohorts with multiple similarities in their social structure, especially those in low-status communities that are socially isolated, tend to have similar dialectal features (e.g., Chambers, 2003; Lippi-Green, 1989; Milroy, 1982). This study investigates the social and linguistic factors that contribute to the stratification of the voiced interdental /ð/ (a marker in Labovian terms) in the Battery, a small community outside of 81. John's, Newfoundland. Once a small fishing community known to be socially marginalized and segregated, the Battery is today a highly sought after area characterized by rampant development and expensive real estate, while still retaining some of its fishing village charm. This study adopts a variationist methodology for data collection and analysis, employing standard sociolinguistic interview protocols across a stylistic hierarchy to investigate the variable production of /ð/ and its less prestigious variant [d]. Results of the multivariate analysis (via Goldvarb X) demonstrate that there is possibly an intergenerational dialect shift with an increase in the use of the more prestigious variant [ð] from the older to the younger Battery natives. In addition, the results indicate a social stratification of /ð/ between members of the younger generation: Those still residing in the Battery pattern similarly to the older Battery natives in their use of the low-status identity marker [d], whereas those living outside of the community use the form significantly less. The results also reveal that there is significant variation in the use of /ð/ based on gender and style. The linguistic constraints that affect the variable production of /ð/ include word class and manner of articulation.


identifier: Splawinski, Tadeusz B  (2010) Post-fire and post-salvage regeneration dynamics of Picea mariana (black spruce) and Pinus banksiana (jack pine).  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The chapters in this thesis examine the post-fire and post-salvage natural regeneration dynamics of Picea mariana (black spruce) and Pinus banksiana (jack pine). The first examines the compaction of the post-fire organic layer by snow and its effects on seedling recruitment. We found that compression occured but at an insufficient rate to seriously increase seedling establishment. There was a positive relationship between the initial thickness of the burned organic layer depth and the subsequent amount of compression. The second chapter examines the post-fire abscission schedule of these two species. We found that seed abscission begins immediately following fire, with jack pine having a faster rate of abscission than black spruce. The third chapter presents a post-fire and post-salvage natural regeneration model that includes (1) the abscission schedule from Chapter two, (2) seed availability as a function of basal area, salvage proportion and timing; (3) seedling survivorship as a function of seed mass, seedbed type frequencies, first summer ash, and granivory; (4) seedling and seed mortality as a function of salvage operations; and (5) re-dispersal of salvaged seeds via a chipper. Simulations indicate that a delay in salvage timing and/or a reduction in salvage proportion can yield adequate natural regeneration densities, thereby foregoing the costly need to plant


identifier: Zhai, Kun  (2010) The social and morphological construction of a retail landscape in Tianjin, China.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The dramatic reform of the economy is a watershed in history of China that is denoted notably by the commodification of housing and land-use right. This work explores to what extent the change in the economic policy brings a corresponding change in a urban landscape. It inquires more specifically on how an urban landscape manifests shifts in the social and economic dimensions. This study zooms into an ordinary neighbourhood in Tianjin, China, to focus on the morphological and social production of a new retail landscape. By building a typology of six retail building types manifested at the periphery of large housing estates, it documents the genesis of a retail landscape and analyses its spatial relationships with the residential built environment. An investigation on the production process of each type provides an understanding of how a shift in political economy had its impact on the built environment. The results also speak about a continuous cultural model carried out in the morphological process in spite of the changing social environment. The results suggest a dialectic between the social and economic dimensions of city building and the material form. Keywords: morphological process, social production, retail landscape, China.


identifier: May, Evan F  (2010) For the good order to be had thereby : civic archives and the creation of conformity in late medieval London, c. 1475-1525.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Medieval cities were complex communities supervised and controlled by elite groups who sought to impose their conception of order upon them, a conception which included strict ideas of proper behaviour and social hierarchy as well as the prevention of criminal behaviour. How they were able to do so in the absence of coercive instruments such as a police force is an interesting problem, and there is little doubt that both royal authority and the members of the elite themselves expected that it was an achievable goal. This thesis explores a variety of strategies used by the government of late medieval London to maintain order in their city, including the mobilization of peer supervision and the craft guild system. Most significantly, I argue that the composition of the civic court records used as evidence in this study are themselves another tool used by London's mayor and aldermen to promote their ideals of correct behaviour, hierarchy, and deference in the mind of the reader, and therefore in their city at large. This argument has implications not only for the management of medieval urban communities, but also for the approaches taken by historians to medieval documents in general, which must be interrogated carefully to determine the agendas their creators may have had, so that these are not accepted unproblematically by the researching historian.


identifier: Endacott, Laura  (2010) The mother image.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: The mother image

abstract: "The Mother Image" is a corpus of work that explores my identity as a mother since the birth of the first of my two sons twelve years ago. I became interested in the social and cultural experience of contemporary motherhood based on my own trajectory and as it relates to family. The body of artworks I produced in conjunction with this written thesis was exhibited at The Quebec Craft Museum (Le Musée des maîtres et artisans du Québec) in Montreal, from September 24 th , 2009 to January 10, 2010. My French-Irish heritage is rooted in my Montreal ancestry and is emphasized within the museum space, an historical Neo-Gothic former Church. These specific histories act as a timeline that extends to my present day experience and includes them within the larger archive that is represented by the museum's collection. The encounter between my work and this space, further dialogues with the Christian elements of my Catholic background as they relate to both the architecture and the objects of the permanent collection found within this former church. My feminist research concerns itself with the woman both as an individual and a maternal subject. More specifically I am interested in the process of becoming that is particular to the feminine experience. By looking at the artworks of Canadian artists Kati Campbell, Aganetha Dyck and Jin-Me Yoon who also include the mother image in their works, I endeavor to position my perspective within a larger context. Further I examine the link between my fibre art practice and the history of women's textile crafts in Quebec, based on one of the textile objects found in the museum's collection. I also link this object to my own position as a Quebec-born Canadian woman whose history is intrinsically linked to this object's representation. iv


identifier: Godsall, David  (2010) Violet is hopeful for change : social media and Barack Obama's 2008 U.S. Presidential Election Campaign.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis explores the use of social media technologies like Facebook by Barack Obama's Presidential campaign and its supporters in the 2008 U.S. General Election. By investigating the social and technological forces driving ongoing changes in the modes of communication used by campaigns and supporters, I argue that the 2008 Presidential campaign was the first major American electoral event in which social media, as I define them, were a significant factor. I also examine the specific , structural and rhetorical properties of the campaign's communications strategy in order to determine what efforts to promote the flow of its messages into and throughout social mediascapes the campaign may have made. My primary research is composed of interviews with young Obama supporters volunteering with the campaign in New Hampshire in the final week of the election period. I conclude from this research that a potentially transformative pattern of communicating with the campaign and with peers characterizes the habits of political expression displayed and described by these young people. Using Facebook, my interview subjectes integrated political signifiers appropriated from the campaign's messaging and branding into their own identities, creating potentially powerful and pervasive new flows of influence within their online communitie.


identifier: Lévesque, Annick  (2010) An investigation of the conditions under which procedural content enhances conceptual self-explanations in mathematics.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The present study was an attempt to understand the nature of young children's self-explanation in the domain of procedural and conceptual knowledge in mathematics. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between task demands on three outcome variables: (a) quantity of self-explanation, (b) quality of self-explanation (procedural and conceptual), and (c) conceptual knowledge, or an understanding in mathematics of the concepts central to each task. Three different self-explanation tasks were developed for the present study. Each task was based on one of the following theoretical assumptions about the generation of self-explanation: (a) learning through discovery (Self-Explanation Task 1), (b) direct instruction (Self-Explanation Task 2), and (c) effect of surprise (cognitive conflict; Self-Explanation Task 3). Prior knowledge in mathematics was investigated as a possible moderating variable in the analyses. Thirty second-grade students were interviewed four times. In the first interview, the Number Knowledge Test (NKT) was individually administered to participants to measure their prior knowledge of counting, number, and quantity. In the second, third, and fourth interviews, one of the three self-explanation tasks was administered. A near transfer task was administered at the end of each self-explanation task to measure the knowledge of the concepts central to each. The data revealed that the task based on direct instruction produced the highest number of self-explanations compared to each of the other two tasks, regardless of prior knowledge. In addition, a significant interaction was found between task type and prior knowledge on the generation of conceptual self-explanations. Specifically, low prior knowledge students generated higher quality self-explanation (i.e., conceptual self-explanations) on the task based on discovery learning, whereas high prior knowledge students produced better quality self-explanations on the task based on surprise. No such interaction was found for procedural self-explanations, but the data revealed that the task based on direct instruction produced a higher number of procedural self-explanations compared to either of the other two tasks. Finally, the results indicated that there was a significant correlation between task type and conceptual knowledge, with evidence suggesting that the task based on surprise was more effective than the task based on direct instruction in enhancing conceptual understanding of key mathematical principles. A number of implications for the classroom are discussed, not least of which includes the importance of maintaining a prominent place in the mathematics curriculum for procedural instruction