title: Exploring the Potential of an Interactive Geoscience Teaching Application for Dynamically Visualizing 3D Terrain in Undergraduate Classrooms

subject:
Geoscience Education
Terrain Visualization
Touch-Based
Game Engine
Erosion Visualization
User Study

abstract:
Students in the geosciences must develop the skills to visualize the Earth in 4D, and use those skills to interpret different geological processes. These take time to develop, which makes the experience of learning how geological processes behave difficult for novices. Currently available tools used to teach these processes in undergraduate education pose challenges for students as a result, and are often difficult to learn or require well developed mental modelling skills to interpret. Through interviews with educators in the geosciences, we determined a list of requirements that a new terrain visualization tool would need to address the shortcomings in the tools currently available to them. Based on these ideas, this thesis investigates the potential for a new terrain visualization tool in the geosciences that emphasizes approachable, interactive, dynamic, and 3D design and supports temporal change visualization.
We followed an iterative design process to develop a new tool that meets these requirements. This process included the development of a conceptual prototype, and the evaluation of both paper and software prototypes with friendly testers before finalizing the tool’s design. The tool’s performance with its target audience was evaluated by conducting a formal user study over remote video calls. Undergraduate participants taking courses in the geosciences were recruited to perform a series of tasks using the tool, and interviewed about their experiences. Transcripts from these study sessions were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis and paired with video recordings of each session to determine the tool’s strengths and weaknesses. This analysis concluded that the tool’s interactive 3D visualization was well received, and its familiar interface design allowed for an intuitive experience that encouraged exploration. More detailed terrain manipulation controls and accessible design considerations were identified as areas that could be improved. Temporal visualization was found to be difficult to present in an approachable manner, and further research is recommended to determine what students and educators find most effective. It is also recommended that a follow-up study be performed in collaboration with geoscience educators to iterate on and evaluate the tool in a classroom setting.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Gendering Spies: Characterizations of the Gouzenko Affair in the Press

contributor:
Dubinsky, Karen
Brison, Jeff
History

rights: Queen's University's Thesis/Dissertation Non-Exclusive License for Deposit to QSpace and Library and Archives Canada

rights: ProQuest PhD and Master's Theses International Dissemination Agreement

rights: Intellectual Property Guidelines at Queen's University

rights: This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner.

subject:
Cold War
Gouzenko
gender
Canada
post-war
World War II
Soviet Union
communism
spying
espionage
family
femininity
masculinity

abstract:
The Gouzenko Affair spy scandal took place in a barely post-war Canada that was still experiencing the instability created by the shift from total war to uncertain peacetime. However, despite the fact that this period of transition demonstrates some unique and fascinating cultural and social beliefs, it is largely unstudied by scholars. The Gouzenko Affair itself, in histories, is usually reduced to being solely about the actions of state and police.

However, the cultural mores of the time profoundly shaped how the public viewed both the titular Igor Gouzenko and those accused of being Soviet spies. Through press coverage of the Affair, it is possible to study the ways in which the news media—a major access point for studying public opinion—characterized those involved and therefore the ways in they were viewed by the public at large. I will primarily focus on the ways in which Gouzenko and those tried for spying enacted—and were portrayed as enacting—gender roles.

In Ottawa’s Evening Citizen and Montreal’s The Gazette newspapers, both of which contained significant coverage of the Affair and the following spy trials, there is a clear focus on gender and the ways in which those involved in the Gouzenko Affair fit or did not fit into expected roles and stereotypes. Member of Parliament Fred Rose—the most famous of the accused—initially appeared to embody the masculine ideals of post-war Canada. However, as his espionage trial continued, he became more and more passive, eclipsed by a new democratic hero in the defector Igor Gouzenko. On the other hand, the press struggled to make sense of the three women who were accused of being spies. They did not at all fit the Mata Hari stereotype of the femme fatale female spy nor the ideal of conventional women of the time, rendering them confusing figures in public opinion.

abstract: M.A.


title: Investigating the Therapeutic Efficacy of Aspirin and Oseltamivir Phosphate in Combination with Gemcitabine for the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer

contributor:
Szewczuk, Myron
Harless, William
Biomedical and Molecular Sciences

subject:
cancer research
drug repurposing
multistage tumorigenesis
targeted therapy
aspirin
oseltamivir phosphate
osmotic pump
continuous perfusion

abstract:
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies and is often referred to as the “silent killer.” In addition to its advanced-stage detection, there have been no significant improvements in patient survival rates or in the development of effective therapies, highlighting the urgent need for therapeutic options that target the aggressive nature of the disease. Several clinical challenges remain in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, attributed to the adaptive, self-sustaining, and invasive cancer cell program, whereby more aggressive phenotypes will survive and metastasize despite therapeutic intervention. Repeat instability emerges first, followed by more significant aberrations, with compensatory effects leading to robust tumor fitness maintained throughout tumor progression. Future studies must not rely on targeting a single oncogenic pathway but must suppress the multiple enabling hallmark(s) capabilities of pancreatic cancer cells. In the work presented in this thesis, a novel treatment approach targeting mammalian neuraminidase-1 (Neu-1) is hypothesized to ablate the compensatory effects of pancreatic cancer. Neu-1 plays critical roles in ligand-induced activation of several receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) and TOLL-like receptors (TLRs), all of which are upregulated and implicated in multistage tumorigenesis.
Here, we investigate the efficacy of repurposing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid; ASA) and anti-viral agent oseltamivir phosphate (OP) in combination with clinical standard chemotherapeutic agent gemcitabine (GEM) that may open a novel and promising clinical treatment approach for patients with pancreatic cancer. For the first time, we show that ASA targets Neu-1, representing a potential link between cancer, inflammation, and glycosylation. Furthermore, OP has been reported to target Neu-1 and shut down several tumorigenic pathways. In this work, the combination of ASA+OP in addition to GEM is proposed as a horizontal approach to target several key cancer-promoting pathways including epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), chemoresistance, hypoxia, cell signaling via the MAPK/Akt/mTOR pathway, cancer stem cell (CSC) enrichment, tumor progression, and metastases. The studies presented in this thesis stress the importance of the role of drug repurposing ASA and OP for cancer therapy that simultaneously targets multiple hallmarks of pancreatic cancer, highlighting the role that mammalian Neu-1 plays in cancer pathogenesis.

abstract: PhD


title: Primitive Reflexes and Self-Regulation: Correlations Between them and the Potential Impact of Rhythmic Movements on Both

contributor:
Shurr, Jordan
Education

subject:
Primitive Reflexes
Self-Regulation
Rhythmic Movements

abstract:
Self-regulation (SR), the ability to manage one’s attention, thoughts, behaviours, emotions, and social interactions, is essential for success at school. Unintegrated primitive reflexes make it more difficult for children to self-regulate. Although primitive reflexes are necessary for an infant’s survival, these reflexes typically become integrated in the first year of life as the child instinctively practices rhythmic movements. If these reflexes do not become integrated into daily functioning, they may impede the development of more mature reflexes, causing difficulties in social, emotional, and academic aspects of a child's life. This study analyzed connections among the Moro reflex (MR), Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (STNR), and Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex (TLR), the role that rhythmic movements play in integrating these reflexes, and behavioural, cognitive, and emotional SR abilities.
To study these connections, a quasi-experimental pre-post design was used. Seven kindergarten teachers led their classes in three rhythmic movement videos every day for eight weeks. These videos, from a program called Rockin’ Reflex, were designed to integrate primitive reflexes. Students’ primitive reflexes and SR skills were assessed both pre and post-intervention. There was a statistically significant improvement in post-intervention primitive reflex scores, suggesting that the rhythmic movements practiced in these videos helped integrate children’s primitive reflexes. There were also statistically significant improvements in behavioural, cognitive, and emotional self-regulation scores, suggesting that by integrating primitive reflexes, children were able to self-regulate better. In addition to statistical analysis, the social validity of this program was also assessed. Teachers provided feedback about the training and the program both pre and post-intervention by way of surveys. The teachers also interviewed several students about their impressions of the Rockin’ Reflex videos. This feedback was mostly positive as six of the seven teachers expressed their likelihood to use the program again and belief that it had some impact on students’ self-regulation abilities.
Although further research is required, this study suggests that unintegrated primitive reflexes make it more difficult for children to self-regulate. This study supports the idea that the primitive reflexes of school aged children can be integrated by practicing rhythmic movements which mimic those infants naturally do. The rhythmic movements practiced in the Rockin’ Reflex videos helped to integrate students’ primitive reflexes and improved SR skills. As these activities are easy to implement in the kindergarten classroom, they may help to close the gap in SR abilities when the child is just starting school.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Development of CO2-assisted separation techniques for the biomass conversion sector

contributor:
Jessop, Philip
Chemistry

rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States

subject:
switchable water
carbon dioxide
distillation
ethanol
baylis-hillman
acetone
high pressure switchable water
liquid expansion

abstract:
Using current technologies, obtaining chemicals from biomass is typically less environmentally friendly than from petroleum. In many cases, the most significant part of the environmental impact of biomass conversion is caused by the energetic requirements for separating intermediates or products from water. Water removal, via distillation and other drying processes, can account for up to 80% of the total energy consumption of certain biomass conversions. Unless the environmental and energetic costs of separating water from organic products can be lowered, bio-derived products will struggle to be greener and cheaper than fossil-derived products.

Carbon dioxide-assisted separations might be an alternative to promote more energetically efficient separations, especially in recovering low-volatility hydrophilic organic molecules from water. The techniques developed take advantage of previously described separations triggered by CO2. Two new methods are proposed: high pressure switchable water (HPSW) and solvent-assisted high pressure switchable water (SA-HPSW). These methods operate from the synergy between switchable water, CO2 expansion of liquids and liquid-liquid extraction while overcoming some drawbacks observed when those three techniques are performed separately. The ionogens used in HPSW and SA-HPSW were also recovered via reverse osmosis. In addition, the ionogens used in HPSW were also applied as a catalyst in a Baylis-Hillman type reaction. After conversion, the addition of CO2 aided the recovery of the desired product, highlighting the dual effect HPSW might have in organic reactions in water. Considerations were also made regarding the energy consumption of the processes, and comparisons were drawn with distillation.

This work was focused on biomass products considered in commercial applications. HPSW promoted the separation of acetone (one of the components of the acetone-butanol-ethanol process), isopropanol, and ethyl lactate. SA-HPSW was evaluated for ethanol recovery (which can be obtained via fermentation of sugars). Unfortunately, high energy consumption was calculated for the distillation required to purify the ethanol even after SA-HPSW had already been performed. SA-HPSW was also explored in the recovery of 1,4-butanediol, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol and 1,5-pentanediol, which are being explored as replacements for petroleum-derived chemicals. Finally, considerations were made regarding optimizations necessary to decrease the energy requirements for both HPSW and SA-HPSW.

abstract: PhD


title: Assessment of Executive Functioning Difficulties among ADHD Children through Task Performance in Minecraft

contributor:
Christou, Theodore
Education

subject:
Minecraft
ADHD
Executive functioning
Task performance
Virtual environment

abstract: Previous research suggests that children with ADHD and attention difficulties exhibit impairments in executive functioning, yet little is known of how executive functioning deficits influence task performance of ADHD children, particularly in a virtual environment. There is a need within the education community to understand how different children interact within virtual environments. As a popular choice among children, the massive multiplayer online (MMO) game Minecraft was chosen as the medium for this study. A quantitative analysis of player performance in Minecraft was conducted on 26 participants ranging in age from 8–13 years old, 5 of whom were identified by clinical practitioners as having ADHD. An attention difficulties scale (ADS) was developed and completed by the participants’ parents to compare children with executive functioning impairments across the ADHD and non-ADHD groups. Participants were asked to complete several tasks which were hypothesized to relate to executive functioning, and these tasks were combined into four measures. The ADS scores predicted two of the four measures. The distance walked measure (r=.40, β=.33) and the chest time measure (r=.31, β=.36) were predicted by ADS scores while the construction measure (r=.34, β=.39) and the distraction measure (r=-.18, β=-.08) were not predicted by ADS scores. After completing these tasks, participants were asked three qualitative questions related to their performance in the study. The stimulating nature of a video game environment may have contributed to the reduced performance gap between children with high and low ADS scores in the study.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Genomic correlates of the tumor immune microenvironment and response to therapeutic STING pathway activation in high grade serous ovarian carcinoma

contributor:
Koti, Madhuri
Biomedical and Molecular Sciences

subject:
ovarian cancer
STING pathway
tumor immune microenvironment
genotype
genetic alterations

abstract:
High-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSC) is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy, characterized by late diagnosis and high rates of recurrence. While most patients show initial sensitivity to platinum-taxane based chemotherapy, >80% relapse.  The vast tumor immune and genetic heterogeneity pose challenges in our understanding of their response to therapy. Emerging evidence suggests cancer cell intrinsic genetic alterations influence the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) and treatment response. Although TP53 is a universal mutation in HGSC, mutations in BRCA1, BRCA2, NF1 and PTEN also occur frequently, where tumors with the loss of DNA damage repair genes such as BRCA1/2 exhibit higher CD8+ cytotoxic T cell infiltration, chemosensitivity and favorable prognosis. However, immune states associated with mutations in NF1 and PTEN have not been fully characterized. The central theme of this research was to investigate the effect of cancer cell genetic alterations on interferon (IFN) activity and the associated tumor immune milieu. We specifically explored this in the context of cytosolic innate sensing cGAS-Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING) pathway, establishing the potential of re-sensitizing tumors with a suppressed TIME via exogenous STING pathway activation.

Our findings validate the immune heterogeneity in human HGSC tumors and report the prognostic relevance of immune checkpoints programmed death 1 (PD-1) and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1), which was dependent on their localization. Higher epithelial PD-1 and stromal PD-L1 associated with longer disease specific survival.  Next, we illustrated genotype-specific differences in IFN-1 gene signatures, the associated TIME and overall survival outcomes using Trp53, Brca1, Brca2, Nf1 and Pten mutations in the ID8 syngeneic murine model of HGSC. Differences in immune profiles of various metastatic sites was observed, with tumors along the uterine horn displaying significantly higher immune infiltration compared to those from peritoneal metastases. Lastly, we identified that Pten deficient ovarian cancer cells establish an immunosuppressed TIME driven by macrophage dominance in the malignant ascites. Exogenous STING pathway activation in mice injected with ID8-Trp53-/-; Pten-/- cells enhanced the sensitivity of tumors to chemotherapy and increased overall survival outcomes. STING pathway activation reprogrammed intraperitoneal M2-like macrophages into an M1-like phenotype and rescued CD8+ cytotoxic T cell activation. Overall, this thesis corroborates the immune heterogeneity observed in HGSC and identifies the importance of considering the influence of cancer cell intrinsic genetic alterations on the TIME state and therapeutic selection for combination therapies activating the STING pathway.

abstract: PhD


title: Marked Length Spectrum Rigidity of Anosov Manifolds

contributor:
Mansouri, Abdol-Reza
Mathematics and Statistics

subject:
Anosov
Length Spectrum
Marked Length Spectrum
Geodesic Flow
Riemannian
Anosov Flow
Anosov Geodesic Flow

abstract: We provide a proof that, for compact Riemannian manifolds with Anosov geodesic flow and non-positive curvature, two sufficiently close metrics with equal marked length spectrum will necessarily be isometric. To be precise, there exists an $N > 0$ depending only on the dimension of the manifold where we have the result holding in a sufficiently small $C^N$ -neighborhood of an arbitrary Anosov metric. The proof provided is a detailed version of Guillarmou and Lefeuvre’s 2019 proof including some additional calculations along the way. We also include a brief summary of some difficulties in generalizing the result. Chapters 2 and 3 provide the background on the topic as well as the relevant lemmas and propositions used in the proof with Chapter 4 providing the actual detailed proof of the result.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Interactions Between Memories During Learning: A Behavioural Measure of Representational Plasticity

contributor:
Wammes, Jeffrey
Psychology

subject:
memory
learning
hippocampus
representational change
plasticity

abstract: The capacity of human memory is enormous, but not unlimited. Because of the finite neural tissue in the hippocampus, memories are often encoded with overlapping patterns of activation, which can facilitate the cohesion of related memories, but also evoke competition between them. One theory of neuroplasticity, the non-monotonic plasticity hypothesis (NMPH), predicts that the initial degree of overlap or co-activation amongst memories may drive learning-related change; memories integrate at high co-activation, but due to competition, differentiate at moderate co-activation. As an alternate theory, recent evidence suggests a competitive differentiation (CD) mechanism whereby greater memory co-activation results in differentiation, not integration. We bridge these hypotheses by curating a stimulus set that samples a comprehensive range of visual similarity as a proxy for memory co-activation, and by using participants’ selections of incorrect memory lures as a novel behavioural index of integration and differentiation. Because they are theorized to differentially recruit trisynaptic and monosynaptic hippocampal pathways, respectively, we measured patterns of representational change in two major learning paradigms: episodic and statistical learning. We used a convolutional neural network to generate image pairs, which were embedded into a sequence where participants learned paired associates either episodically or statistically. Representational change was measured using a four-alternative forced choice task. Importantly, none of the options were the correct pairmate; rather, they were subtly shifted to be either more or less visually similar to the cue, signaling integration or differentiation respectively. Statistical learning followed an NMPH-consistent pattern, while episodic learning followed a more idiosyncratic pattern, where integration was attenuated at higher co-activation. When the experiment was repeated with a narrower similarity range, statistical learning followed a linear pattern that fits into the broader NMPH pattern, whereas episodic learning again showed integration attenuation at the end of the range, inconsistent with the broader pattern. This may suggest an additive influence of NMPH and CD at high co-activation. We also found that differentiation occurs at a lower level of co-activation in episodic compared to statistical learning. This work established a novel behavioural task for measuring subtle shifts in memory, and builds toward a general framework for learning-related representational change.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Comparative Legal and Regulatory Approaches to Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration

contributor:
Joshua, Karton
Law

subject: Third-party funding

subject: International Arbitration

subject: Arbitration Finance

subject: Model Law on Third-party funding

subject: Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration

subject: Security for costs

subject: Allocation of costs in arbitration

subject: Champerty and Maintenance

abstract:
In recent years, third-party funding (TPF) has become one of the topical issues within the global arbitration community. TPF is an arrangement between a party and a funder wherein it is agreed that the funder will cover the party’s legal costs and expenses in exchange for allocating to the funder a percentage of any proceeds derived from the arbitral proceedings. Despite the ethical and procedural issues thrown up by TPF, its popularity keeps increasing. This upward trajectory has raised national and international concerns and has triggered debates on the need for regulation. The paucity of empirical data on the use of TPF in international arbitration and the varying approaches to regulation by key stakeholders multiply the complexity of designing appropriate regulations. At the heart of these debates, however, is a consensus that, while the risks to arbitrators’ independence and the integrity of proceedings posed by TPF are real, arbitral awards must be insulated from frivolous challenges that would add cost and delays and undermine confidence in the arbitral process.

This thesis argues that with the availability of funding and the funder’s business expansion into several jurisdictions, the challenges created by TPF call for comparative law analysis – which by no means may only be looked at from an isolated national or local perspective. More so, country-by-country or institution-by-institution regulation of TPF in international arbitration is inadequate because that may encourage funders to engage in regulatory arbitrage. In providing ballast to this analysis, the thesis articulates new models and representations for assessing the theoretical underpinnings of TPF regulation, which are rooted in harmonization.

To achieve harmonization, the thesis proposes a model law on TPF (under the auspices of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law - UNCITRAL), which sets out the rules and standards for the regulation of the key stakeholders in the TPF relationship and serves as a legislative guide on TPF. The model law is intended to inform and assist TPF regulation worldwide by providing a reference tool for national authorities and legislative bodies when enacting TPF laws or assessing the effectiveness of their TPF regulations.

Presently, international arbitration is less regulated than domestic litigation, so there is potential for the fast growth of TPF in international arbitration and its accompanying ethical issues, rendering the proposed model law imminent and important.

abstract: PhD


title: Advancements in Self-assembled monolayers of N-heterocyclic carbenes

subject:
NHC
surface science
XPS

abstract:
Metals are an important part of our modern society. They make up fundamental components of our modern infrastructure including transportation, smart-phones, point-of care devices, electrical equipments and therapeutics (metallic nanoparticles). One of the main challenges we face is effective modulation of surface properties of metals. Modulation of surface properties by formation of strongly bound self assembled monolayers (SAMs) has received considerable interest in last 50 years. Self assembly of alkanethiolates on gold are one of the most studied systems, however, recently N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have gained considerable interest. NHCs are organic molecules that have been extensively been employed as ligands in transition metal complexes for last few decades. They form stable metal complexes compared to other ligands. In materials chemistry, especially for applications of SAMs, NHCs have important advantages compared to thiolate systems as the sterics and electronic properties of the carbenic carbon can be chemically tuned to serve variety of purposes. Given that they are a new ligand in field of material sciences, many fundamental properties of NHC-based SAMs are not well understood.
The work presented here is a detailed study in which I use combination STM, XPS, and RAIRS to study self assembly behaviour of NHCs on various metal surfaces. I have identified that adsorption of NHCs on surface is not straightforward process. I unravelled the reactivity of NHCs with oxidized Cu surfaces (outside of ultra-high vacuum conditions). On Pt and Ru, I observed that NHCs form strong bonds to the surface, but the overall stability of SAMs was highly temperature dependent. The results from these studies have resulted in guidelines for rational design of NHC-based SAMs for coinage and non-coinage metals.
Furthermore, I have used these data as guiding principles to design the first example of an NHC based broad spectrum electrochemical biosensor. NHC based biosensors have the ability to detect whole-cell bacteria from cultures as well as in real-life samples, with a linear response over a wide range of concentration. In addition, we have used NHCs for chemical functionalization of graphenes supported on metals. This type of chemical functionalization was found to be dependent on electronic interactions between graphene and metals.

abstract: PhD


title: The Illusion of Liberty: Examining the Experiences of Accused on Judicial Interim Release (Bail) in Canada

contributor:
Myers, Nicole
Sociology

subject:
bail
conditions of release
failure to comply
risk
preventative justice
presumption of innocence

abstract: Most accused who are arrested and held for a bail hearing in Canada are eventually released on bail and are generally subject to a number of conditions. While scholars have written about incarceration and release after sentencing, there is very little research on the experiences of those on judicial interim release (bail). Using data from interviews conducted with people who have been on bail in Ontario, Canada, this paper investigates the release experience. The aim of this research was to develop clear insights into the impact that supervision and conditions have on accused persons. Results suggest that the release experience is highly subjective and is often contingent on an accused’s social context, background, and lived experiences. Due to numerous highly normative assumptions held by the courts, society’s most marginalized and vulnerable often experience the most challenges and hardships on release. These data suggest that for some, there is often an illusion of liberty while on judicial interim release (bail) in Canada.

abstract: M.A.


title: THE ROLE OF AUDIT COMMITTEE CYBER RISK OVERSIGHT IN DATA BREACH DISCLOSURE

contributor:
Hou, Yu
Business

subject:
Audit Committee
Data Breach
Cyber Risk Oversight
Comment Letters

abstract: In response to growing levels of cyber risk, an increasing number of firms are delegating cyber risk oversight to audit committees. In this dissertation, I examine the role of audit committee (AC) cyber risk oversight in data breach disclosures in SEC filings. By examining breached firms’ disclosure policies, I find that firms with AC cyber risk oversight (1) are more likely to disclose data breaches in SEC filings, and (2) make timelier data breach disclosures in SEC filings. These empirical results support the monitoring role of AC cyber risk oversight. In addition, the effects of AC cyber risk oversight on the likelihood of data breach disclosures in SEC filings are strengthened when the firm is subject to potential regulatory actions. Further to this, AC cyber risk oversight reduces the likelihood that a firm will receive SEC comment letters relating to data breaches, regardless of whether the firm reports a data breach. Finally, all my main results survive in a battery of robustness checks using two-stage regressions and CEM/PSM matching samples, and are further validated in a placebo test. Overall, this dissertation enhances our understanding of how AC cyber risk oversight affects firm’s disclosure policies in relation to data breaches.

abstract: PhD


title: Uplink Cluster-Based Radio Resource Scheduling and Allocation for HetNet mMTC Scenarios

contributor:
Hassanein, Hossam
Zorba, Nizar
Electrical and Computer Engineering

rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States

subject:
Scheduling
Resource Allocation
Heterogeneous Networks
NB-IoT
Poisson Cluster Processes
4G
5G
OFDMA
NOMA

abstract: Current telecommunication networks face a surge in the number of connected Machine-type Communication (MTC) devices, creating an unprecedented disproportionate demand for existing resources, especially when working with a Heterogeneous Network (HetNet). This demand cannot be addressed adequately as the infrastructure's transition process between different generations is slow. Fourth Generation (4G) relies on Orthogonal Multiple Access (OMA), where a single user occupies its assigned sub-channel, and orthogonality offers interference-free communication for normally loaded scenarios but underperforms in overloaded scenarios. Whereas Fifth Generation (5G) is targeting more spectral efficiency by using the Non-orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) which is proposed to be used in future releases, allowing MTC devices to share the same resources in frequency and time. However, NOMA medium access techniques, in general, have a complex scheduler design as they group users/devices with aligned correlations, and then a challenging process is needed at the receiving side to decode messages from different devices. In this study, we formulate and simulate a 4G/5G Uplink scheduler that is based on dual NOMA-OMA. The objective is to achieve a tangible improvement in the spectral and scheduling efficiency of the network. We are able to optimize the system under HetNet objectives and clustering constraints in overloaded scenarios, to examine the limitations of both NOMA and OMA.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Saliency and Priority Representation in the Superior Colliculus

contributor:
Munoz, Douglas
Neuroscience Studies

subject:
eye movement
reward
oddball
pupil
lateral interaction
visual attention

abstract:
Animals must combine sensory information about the external world with internal goals and expectations to produce appropriate actions. Saliency maps, indicating areas that stand out from their surroundings, and priority maps, which combine saliency and behavioural relevance information (i.e. internal goals and expectations), are believed to guide visual attention. In this thesis, we looked at how these signals are represented in the midbrain superior colliculus (SC) and reflected in the pupil.
	In the first study, we investigated how salient, goal-irrelevant visual stimuli were represented in the SC and how that representation was affected by increasing the number of salient stimuli. We recorded neural activity from the SC while monkeys were shown a  homogenous array of visual stimuli with 0, 1, 2, or 4 goal-irrelevant oddball stimuli embedded in the array that were a different color and orientation.  SC neurons encoded the locations of the salient oddballs, but increasing the number of oddballs had minimal effect.
	In the second study, we examined priority representation in the SC by giving salient oddballs behavioural relevance and reward information. SC activity was recorded while monkeys were shown an array similar to the first study, but now, the monkeys must make an eye movement to one of the oddballs to receive a reward. The colour of the oddball indicated expected reward magnitude. We demonstrated how a priority signal evolved in the SC throughout the trial to correctly guide behaviour.
	In the final study, we used the pupil data recorded in the previous two studies to explore how saliency and priority influenced pupil size. Increasing the number of stimuli produced pupil constriction, while increasing reward magnitude produced pupil dilation. Combined with the SC activity patterns observed, these results suggest that how much of the SC is activated is correlated with pupil constriction while the strength of the activation was related to pupil dilation.
	Together, these studies provide an account of how saliency and priority information in a structured but cluttered scene is represented in the SC, and how these signals may influence pupil size. These data will be important to improve models of visuomotor orienting.

abstract: PhD


title: Variations in carbapenem resistance associated with the Verona integron-encoded metallo-beta-lactamase across the order Enterobacterales

contributor:
diCenzo, George
Biology

subject:
Antibiotic resistance
Antimicrobial resistance
VIM-1
carbapenemase

abstract: The Verona integron-encoded metallo-β-lactamase (VIM), encoded as a cassette within class 1 integrons, is found in gram-negative clinical isolates worldwide and has been linked to outbreaks in nosocomial settings. Here, we obtained six vim-1+ clinical isolates from the genera Escherichia, Klebsiella, and Enterobacter. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed that the minimum inhibitory concentrations of ertapenem, a clinically relevant carbapenem antibiotic, against these six isolates ranged from ≤ 0.25 μg/mL to > 32 μg/mL. Variations within vim-1 were not responsible for the phenotypic variation as whole genome sequencing showed that all strains contain identical vim-1 alleles with identical proximity to the promoter. However, other antimicrobial resistance genes, including additional β-lactamases, were identified in each strain that likely contribute to β-lactam resistance. A dendrogram of vim-1+ plasmids from these isolates produced using hierarchical clustering suggests both global dissemination of plasmids via horizontal gene transfer and autochthonous vertical spread within Ontario. To test the impact of genomic background on VIM-1 functionality, the vim-1 gene was cloned into a broad host range plasmid and introduced into laboratory strains of Escherichia coli DH5α and MG1655, and Klebsiella grimontii KP5022. Initial susceptibility testing revealed that the introduction of vim-1 alone was insufficient to confer carbapenem resistance in these strains. Next, KP5022 and DH5α vim-1+ strains were subjected to adaptive lab evolution experiments to identify epistatic mutations increasing ertapenem resistance. Sequencing data from evolved KP5022 and DH5α strains showed plasmid recombinations resulting in increased vim-1 copy number, although they were not resistant to ertapenem or meropenem. In contrast, when evolved plasmids were transformed into DH5α and subjected to adaptive lab evolution, evolved strains were extensively carbapenem resistant. Experiments suggest that chromosomal mutations contribute to increased resistance in the evolved DH5α vim-1+ strains. Sequence data showed that these mutations resulted in the deletion of nucleotides within ompC or deletion of the entire ompC gene, which encodes a non-specific outer membrane porin that plays a role in antibiotic transport into the cell. Overall, our results support the current literature on vim-1 in Ontario and find additional support for the role of gene epistasis in conferred resistance phenotypes of acquired genes.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: 2022: A Computational Odyssey - Towards a Deeper Understanding of Clustering Streaming Human Activity Recognition Data

contributor:
Zulkernine, Farhana
Computing

subject:
stream clustering
LSTM
CNN
HAR
Autoencoder
visualization
machine learning

abstract:
Global integration of 22-billion network-connected devices such as smartphones and smartwatches into commonplace life have inadvertently created various research initiations with the plethora of data streams being readily available. Human Activity Recognition (HAR) is one such example and understanding the hierarchy of human movements can have positive implications in elderly care, physiotherapeutic therapy, surveillance, and general healthcare, among others. However, the typical modalities for deep analysis - pure supervised learning - are limited to the classes provided during training and are incapable of relaying any hidden knowledge residing outside of the trained labels. Unsupervised learning methods, such as clustering, are not only well equipped to handle high-density data streams and address the challenges inherently prevalent in this medium of data, but are also capable of automatically extracting varying levels of abstractions from the data represented by the relationships within and between clusters.

This thesis presents a journey that begins with the hypothesis that time-series IoT data can be clustered to effectively identify human activity. However, experimental results ultimately evolves the question into \textit{what else is needed to allow effective clustering of HAR data for identifying human activity}. A subsequent exploration tries to answer two additional research questions: can deep learning approaches add a higher level of insight for time-dependent human movement sequences and uncover unintuitive knowledge regarding the actions, and can visualization allow for better understanding on the nature of human activities?

Starting with experiments on applying renowned stand-alone clustering algorithms onto a HAR data stream, we developed hybrid algorithms to extract important features for  human activity recognition from IoT sensor data, and concluded with an analysis of visualization algorithms that can be used for improving the interpretation of the clustering methods. Our work on clustering IoT HAR sensor data using extracted temporal features is novel and has not been done before. Not only do our machine learning pipelines meet or exceed the state-of-the-art results for HAR sequences, we also establish the first metric baseline for clustering. Our hybrid temporal-based architectures achieved the optimal results - extracting and returning exceptional temporal features for forming distinct clusters. The visualization of the temporally-reduced clusters asserts the necessity for supervised-learning-based temporal feature extraction to supplement unsupervised feature learning algorithms for clustering highly complex temporal-based HAR data. We demonstrate that our Temporal Feature Extraction architecture in combination with unsupervised learning models is capable of achieving comparable state-of-the-art classification accuracy and clustering scores of 93.8\% and 0.78 NMI and 0.548 ARI for the MobiAct v2.0 dataset, and 93.5\% accuracy with 0.99 NMI/ARI for the UCI HAR dataset.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Privacy and Fairness for Online Targeted Advertising

contributor:
Ni, Jianbing
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject:
Targeted advertising
privacy
cryptography
privacy-preserving
advertising
fairness

abstract:
Online advertising produces billions in revenue each year, which supports free web content providers through the sale of ad space. Targeted advertising, the most common form of online advertising, improves the accuracy of ads displayed and increases engagement with those ads. To facilitate targeted advertising, individual user information is collected by an ad exchange through tracking the user across the web. Ad exchanges manage the matching between advertisers and users by running internal auctions each time a user visits a web page.

Although the benefits of targeted advertising are numerous, there are serious security and privacy threats that affect the system participants. Web user privacy is threatened by the collecting and sharing of their information, which could contain sensitive information that could put the user at risk. Also, users have no way of knowing what information is collected about them, along with why the ad was served to them. Other concerns stem from the ad exchange running fair auctions for ad space. Advertisers have no way to ensure ads are selected fairly, allowing the ad exchange to make decisions that may benefit them, instead of adhering to a fair auction.

The goal of this thesis is to mitigate these privacy and fairness concerns of web users through novel cryptographic schemes. We present a privacy-preserving ad exchange protocol that allows the ad exchange to function without requiring the disclosure of user information to any party. To achieve this, a novel inner product encryption scheme is developed that allows pre-defined profiles, by both the user and advertisers, to be compared and the resultant ads displayed to the user. Secondly, we present a verifiable and privacy-preserving auction protocol that gives advertisers the ability to verify the result of an ad auction, ensuring that the auction ran fairly. This scheme utilizes order-revealing encryption with delegatable operations, alongside an asymmetric encryption scheme, to achieve our goals. Finally, we propose a verifiable and privacy-preserving ad exchange protocol that allows users to verify why they received an ad placement, thus giving the users more transparency and fairness in the advertising system.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Murphy, MacMurchy, and McClung: The Intersection of Eugenics and First-Wave Feminism

subject:
Emily Murphy
Nellie McClung
Helen MacMurchy
First Wave Feminism
Maternal Feminism
Eugenics

abstract: Feminists during the first wave made a significant contribution to Canadian society by promoting women’s equality. They worked towards better treatment for women through reforms that included the right to vote and dealt with societal issues such as drug abuse and alcoholism. However, there was a clear racial motivation underlying much of first-wave feminism. The prevalent racial ideology at the time was that only those with Anglo-Saxon ancestry were suitable candidates for Canada’s nation-building efforts. This made Canadian society an ideal setting for the adoption and spread of the ideas promoted by the eugenics movement. Whether or not first-wave feminists explicitly considered themselves eugenicists, they were nonetheless influenced by the movement to various degrees because of the eugenics’ prevalence and the racial climate of their day.


title: Relationships between Kinarm Standard Tests and School Success in Secondary Students

contributor:
Timmons, Kristy
Education

subject:
education
Kinarm
Developmental Coordination Disorder
Learning Difference
Movement Measure

abstract:
The complex nature of neurodiverse high school students requires access to information on many fronts. One area for assessment which has been largely ignored in the Ontario public school system is assessment of co-ordination and movement tasks. A diagnosis of developmental coordination disorder has been shown, in research, to consistently share a comorbidity of 50% with many common learning differences (Zwicker et al., 2012), despite this very few students will receive this diagnosis (Blank et al., 2019). This is partly due to the lack of standard assessment tools and criteria (Ricci et al., 2019). The Kinarm, a robotic assessment tool of upper body coordination, is a quick and objective measure of sensory, motor and cognitive functions (Dukelow et al., 2010). This research explores the use of the Kinarm as an assessment tool for high school students by examining: 1) how do Kinarm task parameters correlate to each other, 2) if there is a relationship between Kinarm task parameters and school success measures, and 3) if there is a relationship between Kinarm task parameters and a previously diagnosed learning disability or neurological disorder.
Thirty-eight high school students completed the Kinarm assessment between April and December 2019.  Data were also collected through a series of cognitive tasks as well as academic and testing scores from the participants’ Ontario Student Record. Visual exploratory analysis was conducted along with Pearson correlations (1-tailed). Despite a small sample size and limited number of neurodiverse participants this research showed moderate correlation between a variety of co-ordination tasks and cognitive/school scores. Kinarm tasks which showed the highest correlations were Ball on Bar, Object Hit, Object Hit and Avoid, and Trail Making. The two school measures with highest correlations were Rapid Digit Naming and TOWRE Word Reading. The correlations remained moderate after controlling for speed and continued to be evident after an adjustment for false discovery rate. Overall, this research confirms a relationship between co-ordination and measures of school success. It confirms the feasibility of using a robotic assessment with high school students. Future studies can explore the use of Kinarm with a larger sample size and larger number of exceptional learners. More detailed physical profiles of coordination for exceptional learners could focus movement interventions on specific areas of need, in order to increase their effectiveness.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Examining the Burnside Problem on Diff∞ ω (S2)

subject:
differential geometry
geometry
group theory
burnside problem
mathematics

abstract:
Let $G$ be a group. $G$ is called \emph{periodic} if, for every element $g \in G$, there is a positive integer $n \in \N$ such that $g^n = \id_G$, and \emph{periodic of bounded exponent} if one such $n$ works for all $g \in G$. A question of interest in group theory asks whether $G$ being finitely generated and periodic (possibly periodic of bounded exponent) is enough to ensure that $G$ is finite. While this question is settled for arbitrary groups, it is still mostly open in the case where $G$ is a nonlinear transformation group acting on a manifold.

We follow the proof from Hurtado et al. that, in the case of $\Diff_{\omega}^{\infty} (\Sp^2)$, every finitely generated periodic subgroup of bounded exponent is finite, providing additional context that was passed over in its original presentation. We then discuss the results from the appendix of that paper, before concluding with some remarks on how one might approach this type of problem.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: COVID and Clerkship: An Outcome Harvest of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Clinical Clerkship Curriculum at Queen’s University School of Medicine

contributor:
Stockley, Denise
Christou, Theodore
Education

subject:
Medical Education
Pandemic
Clerkship

abstract:
The final two years of the undergraduate medical program at Queen’s University School of Medicine are delivered in the clinical environment. Therefore, the global pandemic presented a novel challenge which required significant curricular adaptations. In 2020 and beyond, the medical literature exploded with new innovations in response to the pandemic. However, these articles illuminate a single innovation or trend.
     Using a novel research method called Outcome Harvesting (Wilson-Grau, 2019) and a social constructivist lens, the impact of the pandemic on clerkship at Queen’s University during the period from September 2019 to September 2020 was explored. Three questions were posed:
(1) what changes were made in the third-year clerkship curriculum at Queen’s University School of Medicine during the pandemic? (2) in what ways did the pandemic context influence those changes? (3) what were some consequences of those curricular changes?
	Through this research, 60 distinct outcomes (changes in behaviour(s), relationship(s), action(s), activity, policy, or practice) (Wilson-Grau, 2019), organized into nine larger, combined outcomes were found. Some of these outcomes were reflected in the literature, while others were unique to Queen’s University School of Medicine. Five outcomes of particular interest were selected and explored further.
	This is the first study to look at the impact of the pandemic on the entire clinical clerkship curriculum and one of only a few studies using this methodology in medical education. Results will hopefully inform future research on the use of this methodology in medical education. Individual outcomes may be of use to Queen’s University School of Medicine and other schools in curricular decision making and accreditation processes.

abstract: PhD


title: Two Steps Too Far: The Three-Step Theory and Suicidal Ideation in Adolescents Living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

contributor:
Tripp, Dean
Psychology

subject:
inflammatory bowel disease
adolescence
suicidal ideation

abstract: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a painful and chronic gastrointestinal condition with approximately one in four patients diagnosed during adolescence. The debilitating nature of the IBD coupled with the developmental stage of adolescence gives rise to poor psychosocial outcomes. Specifically, concern about suicidal ideation among patients living with the disease is growing and ideation-to-action frameworks have been recently investigated in the IBD literature. In a sample of adolescents living with IBD ,this study examined the prevalence of suicidal ideation and modelled Step One and Step Two of Klonsky and May's (2015) Three Step Theory (3ST) of Suicide. Adolescents, aged 16-21 years, completed an online self-report survey. First, according to the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire – Junior (SIQ-JR) cut off scores, 20.12% of adolescents living with IBD reported clinically significant suicidal ideation, and 32.32% reported elevated suicidal cognitions. Next, results largely supported Step One and Step Two of the 3ST; multiple regressions demonstrated pain and interpersonal hopelessness interacted to predict greater suicidal ideation and the same relationship was buffered by connectedness. However, IBD symptoms as a source of pain did not substantially contribute to the modelling of suicidal ideation in the context of the 3ST. Specifically, exploratory multiple regression revealed non-significant results apart from fatigue and suicidal ideation moderated by interpersonal hopelessness and thwarted belongingness. Finally, an exploratory commonality analysis suggested suicidal ideation may be best explained by the shared overlap of psychache and interpersonal hopelessness. The current suicidal ideation prevalence rate among adolescents living with IBD highlights the importance of routine screening for poor psychological wellbeing in allied health care settings. Additionally, the modelling of the theory-driven factors, psychache, interpersonal hopelessness, and connectedness, indicate clinical intervention targets for prevention of the development and exacerbation of suicidal ideation.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Exploring the Acute Influence of Blood Pressure Change on Arm Arterial Stiffness

contributor:
Pyke, Kyra
Kinesiology and Health Studies

subject:
Arterial stiffness
Blood pressure
Acute blood pressure change
Pulse wave velocity
Myogenic response
Venoarteriolar reflex
Elastic reserve
Sex comparison

abstract: Arterial stiffness is a clinically relevant measure of cardiovascular health, that can be manipulated via acutely altered blood pressure (BP). How fast a pressure wave moves through an artery (pulse wave velocity (PWV)) is commonly used to assess arterial stiffness (faster=stiffer).  Acutely elevated BP induced using maneuvers that change whole body blood pressure by increasing sympathetic nervous activity to the heart and blood vessels (sympathoexcitation) results in acute increases in arterial stiffness. Since these maneuvers operate systemically, it remains unclear how acute changes in pressure will impact arterial stiffness when only local factors are involved (residual capacity to stretch, myogenic responses and the venoarteriolar reflex). No study to date has explored whether acutely altering BP without sympathoexcitation, alters limb arterial stiffness, nor considered sex differences in this response. It is hypothesized that acutely elevating BP by moving the arm from above to below heart level will increase arterial stiffness through local mechanisms, with males experiencing greater increases in stiffness. Twenty healthy, young adults (10 males 21  1 years; 10 females 21  3 years [mean  SD]) participated in one laboratory visit where their forearms were manipulated into above (low forearm BP) and below (high forearm BP) heart level positions, creating local BP alteration without a stimulus for systemic sympathoexcitation. Forearm PWV and radial artery diameter were assessed in each position. Female participants were tested during the low estrogen phase of the menstrual or oral contraceptive pill cycle. As hypothesized, arterial stiffness was higher at a higher BP (p<0.001), however there was no effect of sex (p = 0.344). Artery diameter was lower at a higher BP (p = 0.015), consistent with local contraction of vascular smooth muscle. These results suggest that acutely elevating forearm BP increased forearm arterial stiffness through local vasoregulatory mechanisms, with no apparent sex differences.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: A journey through muddy waters: Storying Algonquin life and identity with Algonquin women and gender-diverse people from Mattawa and North Bay, Ontario

contributor:
Power, Elaine
Kinesiology and Health Studies

subject:
Algonquin
Indigenous identity
Storytelling
Comprehensive Land Claim

abstract: Algonquin identity and self-determination have been deeply impacted by colonialism in Algonquin territory for over 400 years. Settler colonialism has disrupted Algonquins’ connections to land, as well as our kinships, cultures, and communities – all of which impact who Algonquins are and how we govern our lives. Notably, assimilatory laws and policies such as the Indian Act have altered definitions of Indigeneity in Canada and imposed heteropatriarchal structures that dispossess and oppress Algonquin women and gender-diverse people in particular. Algonquin self-determination and governance have likewise been shaped by domestic laws, and problematically framed within discourses of Aboriginal rights and federal recognition. Now, as many Algonquins are engaging in community-building while strengthening cultural connections after histories of colonial dispossession, they are doing so in the context of a controversial Algonquin comprehensive land claim that further complicates identity and nationhood. During a time when many are speculating on the parameters of Indigeneity and citizenship, Indigenous feminist, anti-colonial storytelling with Algonquins offers a meaningful way explore identity and belonging specific to the Algonquin Nation. Therefore, this dissertation utilizes storytelling through the conversational method, rooted in an Anishinaabe research paradigm and supported by a ribbon skirt method of data analysis, to examine the impacts of colonialism, and, in particular, the Indian Act and the Comprehensive Land Claims Policy, on Algonquin identity and self-determination among 13 Algonquin women and gender-diverse people from Mattawa and North Bay, Ontario. Results demonstrate participants’ mixed views of the Algonquin land claim, with identified benefits and critiques predominantly related to Algonquin rights and title; self-determination and governance; resource extraction and economic expansion; identity; and the length and productivity of negotiations. Storied results also illustrate participants’ diverse, complex histories of displacement; unique journeys of cultural restoration and reclamation; expressions of anti-colonial gender and sexuality; embodiments of “mixedness”; and goals of community-building and knowledge transference to future generations of Algonquins in the area. Findings of this dissertation demonstrate the complications of Algonquin self-determination and identity, while exploring a good way forward in support of the Algonquin Nation.

abstract: PhD


title: Distributed Algorithms for Solving Linear Algebraic Equations & Convex Optimization Problems

contributor:
Guay, Martin
Chemical Engineering

subject:
Distributed Convex Optimization
Linear Algebraic Equations
Consensus
Least-Squares Solution
Distributed Algorithm

abstract:
This thesis investigates two problems in the area of distributed computation and decision-making over multi-agent networks: the problem of finding a solution for linear algebraic equations in a distributed way, and the distributed convex optimization problem.
We develop several consensus-based continuous-time coordination algorithms to compute a least-squares solution to a linear algebraic equation of the form $Ax = b$.  This system of linear equations is simultaneously solved by a group of $n$ agents, while each agent knows a proper subset of the rows of the augmented matrix $ [A  \,  b] $.  In other words, it is assumed that no agent has access to the information needed to solve the problem independently.  We show that, along the flows of the proposed algorithms, the local estimate of each agent converges exponentially to the exact (unique) least-squares solution, provided that the underlying communication network is fixed and strongly connected, and $A$ has full column rank.
Then, we consider the case where each agent is equipped with a private differentiable convex cost function. The goal of the agents is to collaboratively find the optimum of the sum of all local costs through peer-to-peer communications. We assume that the communication topology is fixed and strongly connected, and the local cost functions are strongly convex with globally-Lipschitz gradients. First, we propose two modified distributed gradient dynamics to solve the distributed convex optimization problem. These algorithms are inspired by the well known distributed subgradient method. We show that the proposed network flows are guaranteed to converge asymptotically to the global minimizer under given conditions. Next, we introduce two saddle-point type distributed algorithms to improve the rate of convergence of the aforementioned algorithms at no extra communication cost.  This results in an approximate saddle-point algorithm with a guaranteed exponential rate of convergence for distributed convex optimization over arbitrary strongly connected directed network.

abstract: PhD


title: Curation and Authentic Temporality: Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook’s The Class

contributor: Film and Media (Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies)

subject:
Curation
Time-Based Media
Temporality

abstract: This thesis is concerned with the relation between death and contemporary forms of curation which can be said to be moving into more temporary formats. As a component of the project, an installation of the artist Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook was made public at the Art and Media Lab at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts to explore the ideas put forward in this thesis. The installation, entitled Living Image, sought to affirm the concepts of imperfection, change, and mortality in relation to curation. I claim that Rasdjarmrearnsook’s work The Class is able to reveal an authentic temporality which acknowledges the human horizon of death. Through curating this work, I was interested in exploring the concept of the technological framing of the museum which rejects, or manipulates, the flow of time by concealing death and positing stable and historicist approaches towards artworks.

abstract: M.A.


title: The human brain in action: Coordination among neural systems for planning and adapting movements

contributor:
Gallivan, Jason
Flanagan, J. Randall
Neuroscience Studies

subject:
Motor learning
Functional MRI
Motor planning
Sensorimotor adaptation

abstract: Our ability to navigate and interact with the world around us depends on our brain's capacity to coordinate activity among its distributed and interconnected neural systems. This thesis explores key interactions that unfold in the brain as it prepares and adapts its movements. Here, a series of functional MRI studies examined human brain activity during behavioural tasks featuring real and virtual environments. The first and second of these studies investigated how the motor system influences sensory areas when preparing movements. Both studies used the same pair of delayed movement tasks to show that pre-movement activity in both auditory (Study 1) and somatosensory (Study 2) cortices carries motor-related information about the planned object-directed action. Specifically, left-versus-right hand movements, as well as eye-versus-hand movements, could be decoded from auditory and somatosensory regions well-prior to movement onset. Meanwhile, Study 3 examined widespread changes in functional brain architecture that occur when the brain is tasked with adapting to a changing environment. Leveraging recent approaches that characterize whole-brain connectivity patterns, we showed that adaptation depends on changes in how sensorimotor and visual areas functionally integrate with higher-order brain areas implicated in top-down control of behaviour. Further, we found that greater functional integration of sensorimotor areas was associated with improvements in initial learning performance across individuals. Overall, this thesis aims to further our understanding of the richly integrative nature of the human brain in action.

abstract: PhD


title: Community-Oriented Edge Computing Platform

contributor:
Hassanein, Hossam
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject:
Edge Computing
Extreme Edge
EEDs
Resource Allocation
Container Placement

abstract: The surging demand for Edge Computing (EC) to cope with the proliferation of latency-critical and data-intensive applications has inspired the concept of recycling ample yet underutilized computational resources of end devices, also referred to as Extreme Edge Devices (EEDs). However, maintaining data privacy and cost efficiency remain core challenges for the viability of EED-enabled computing paradigms. In this thesis, we propose the Community Edge Platform (CEP). CEP exploits business, institutional, and social relationships to build clusters and communities of requesters and EEDs to eliminate recruitment barriers and preserve privacy. Furthermore, CEP utilizes a hierarchical control paradigm to prioritize the enrollment of nearby devices as workers. CEP first seeks workers within the requester's cluster, which is composed of devices owned by the same user. In case of a lack of a suitable device, CEP resorts to devices in other clusters that belong to the requester's community. In addition to the underlying architecture and structure of CEP, we also consider the fact that community-imposed constraints on resource allocation can lead to unbalanced work distribution. To address this issue, we introduce the Community-Oriented Resource Allocation (CORA) scheme. CORA strives to resolve community restrictions, minimize the flowtime and makespan for the allocated services, while retaining a reasonable scheduler runtime for real-time resource allocation. Towards that end, we formulate the resource allocation problem as a Bipartite Graph Matching problem. Furthermore, we expose tuneable parameters that allow prioritizing flowtime or makespan, which makes CORA suitable for a wide variety of scenarios. A detailed comparative study demonstrates the leverage of CEP compared to 12 prominent edge computing platforms. Moreover, extensive simulations show that CORA outperforms six prominent heuristic-based resource allocation schemes by up to 28% and 6% in terms of average makespan and flowtime, respectively, while sustaining an adequate level of runtime.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: “I LOVE YOU, WHY DON’T YOU LOVE ME?:” READING UTOPIA IN CHINESE QUEER FEATURES

subject:
Queer Cinema
Chinese films
Queer utopia

abstract: This paper discusses queer utopianism in Chinese narrative films Farewell My Concubine (1993, dir. Chen Kaige), East Palace, West Palace (1996, dir. Zhang Yuan) and Lan Yu (2001, dir. Stanley Kwan). While they are stories about trauma and loss, there are ways to read them optimistically. And this kind of utopian reading, as Dina Georgis examines in her book The Better Story, allows for a better collective survival (Georgis 13). Using these films as examples and the scholarly works by Jose Muñoz and Petrus Liu as methods, I exhibit three different ways to explore the utopian qualities within each film and argue that they each provide gateways to an imagined queer future. For Farwell, I discuss how the film invites a queer spectator and looks at moments in film that are utopic for a queer audience. For East Palace, West Palace, I argue that the film stages a queer utopia with the portrayal of the main character A Lan and Xiao Shi, and that the film challenges the heteropatriarchal social structure and imagines an expansive queer future. For Lan Yu, I argue that director Stanley Kwan’s adaptation of the film from literature illustrate a brighter, more idealized space for queer people. My readings of the films show that they secure an access to the queer memories and spaces that are lost in mainstream history, and they help managing the loss to anticipate a better future.

abstract: M.A.


title: Examining the Effects of Patient Expectations, Therapeutic Alliance, and Pain Sensitivity on Treatment Response Following Lidocaine Infusion in an Interdisciplinary Chronic Pain Clinic

contributor:
Bisson, Etienne
Salomons, Tim
Neuroscience Studies

subject:
chronic pain
pain
expectations
therapeutic alliance
working alliance
central sensitization
lidocaine

abstract:
Introduction: Pain perception is a product of both incoming nociceptive input and top-down predictions (“expectations”). Expectations can be shaped by maladaptive patterns of thought which lead adults with chronic pain to expect negative pain outcomes, especially if they experience central sensitization.
Objectives: To address this in a clinical setting, we initiated an open-label, prospective cohort study of adults with chronic pain receiving an intravenous lidocaine infusion. We explored the influence of psychosocial factors on treatment outcomes, specifically whether: 1) patients’ expectations for treatment efficacy were associated with pain relief; 2) patients’ trust in their clinical team (“therapeutic alliance”) was associated with patients’ expectations and pain relief; and 3) central sensitization mediated the relationship between expectations and pain relief.
Methods: Patients scheduled for lidocaine infusion at the Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Chronic Pain Clinic or Kingston Orthopaedic Pain Institute were recruited. Measures of therapeutic alliance, expectations of treatment efficacy, and central sensitization were collected before and 8 weeks post-treatment, in addition to general health and other pain-related measures. Patients also reported their pain intensity daily for 8 weeks post-treatment to measure treatment response. Pain relief was computed by subtracting patients’ pre-treatment pain rating by their average pain over 8 weeks post-treatment. Comparative analyses, Pearson correlations, and a mediation analysis were performed.
Results: 67 participants completed the study, 46 of which completed the pain diary for ≥7 days. Average pain intensity over the 8 weeks post-treatment was significantly lower than pre-treatment pain intensity (t(45)=4.39, p<0.001, N=46). Expectations significantly correlated with pain relief (r=0.45, p<0.01, N=42), days of pain relief (r=0.33, p<0.05, N=42), and consecutive days of pain relief (r=0.39, p<0.01, N=42). Therapeutic alliance significantly correlated with expectations (r=0.29, p<0.05, N=58), pain relief (r=0.35, p<0.05, N=43), days of pain relief (r=0.37, p<0.05, N=43), and consecutive days of pain relief (r=0.32, p<0.05, N=43). Central sensitization did not mediate the relationship between expectations and pain relief.
Conclusions: This study elucidates the role of expectation effects and therapeutic alliance in enhancing treatment response following an intravenous lidocaine infusion. Our findings may allow for the optimization of clinical protocols to maximize the benefits of placebo analgesia.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Landscapes of Desire: A Visual Analysis of Salman Toor's Queer Utopia

subject:
Queer utopia
Diasporic imagination
Visual art
Queer aesthetics
Queer of Color

abstract:
This thesis explores the utopian potential of queerness. In doing so, I analyze the works by Pakistan-born, US-based visual artist Salman Toor that were exhibited in his latest show at the Whitney Museum that was up from November 13th, 2020, to April 4th, 2021. I argue Toor’s Whitney exhibition marks a vital moment in curation that heightens awareness of place and temporality in the service of creating a utopic practice of aesthetics emanating from a queer brown diasporic experience.
Salman Toor imagines a queer utopia by depicting brown men in moments of homosociality and self-love in private spaces of the diaspora in New York City.  Toor ruptures the notions of heteronormative race, gender, sexuality, and to some extent class and cultural affiliations by presenting his imaginations vis-a-vis non-human figures, which he calls marionettes. These lanky, slender, slouching figures bear the burden of queer of color utopian imaginations and help us exist in the here and now while forcing us to imagine, quoting Muñoz, the “horizon” (87).
Toor is a break within the formalist tradition of painting in the way that he uses his subjects, color, and its treatment. He rewrites what it means to be queer in the diasporic imagination of being a person of color. This thesis opens further avenues in research and analysis which can encapsulate larger debates and ideas about queer of color identity politics, and smaller, more specific debates about masculinity, homosociality, utopian imaginations, and hope in the diaspora.

abstract: M.A.


title: Electrochemical study of gold thiosulfate extraction process

contributor:
Ghahreman, Ahmad
Mining Engineering

subject:
Gold
Thiosulfate
Electrochemical Study
Eco-Friendly

abstract: Thiosulfate has received a specific attention in gold extraction industry as a non-toxic alternative lixiviant for cyanidation process. Barrick Gold Corporation has commercialized thiosulfate gold leaching process in Goldstike mine in Nevada, USA. However, there is still potential for technical improvements to achieve higher process efficiency. The purpose of this study is to examine gold thiosulfate leaching chemistry and to suggest strategies to improve gold extraction efficiency. In the current work, addition of Pb2+ to thiosulfate solution was proposed to increase the gold dissolution rate. It has been demonstrated that 100 mg/L of Pb2+ in 0.2 M thiosulfate solution significantly increased dissolved gold concentration from near 0 to 2 mg/L at an anodic potential of +0.1 V (Vs. Ag/AgCl). In another study, the effect of various mixing ratios of the alkaline and acidic pressure oxidation (POX) discharges was investigated by employing electrochemical methods and leaching experiments. Based on the electrochemical results, the higher ratio of alkaline POX discharge in the calcium thiosulfate (CaTS) slurry resulted in higher gold oxidation rates. However, leaching tests results showed higher gold recovery (75.5%) for the electrolyte containing acidic POX discharge due to the presence of more liberated gold particles, while increasing the alkaline POX discharge ratio decreased the gold recovery to 65.3%. In another part of the study, the effect of trithionate and tetrathionate was investigated on gold leaching process. The leaching and electrochemical results indicated that controlling the initial concentration of tetrathionate in the range of 50 to 100 ppm, and trithionate up to 50 ppm could enhance gold leaching kinetics by controlling surface passivation of reactive minerals. The optimum values of polythionates boosted gold leaching recovery from 583% to 632% and 642% in the presence of tetrathionate and trithionate, respectively. In the last part of this study, electrochemical and analytical techniques were employed to explore the effect of thiosulfate, sulfite, and a mixture of thiosulfate-sulfite species in the electrolyte on gold electrowinning process. It was found that the addition of sulfite to the electrolyte resulted in the formation of Au(S2O3) SO3)25- as the most stable gold complex which decreased the gold reduction rate. However, it restricted thiosulfate decomposition.

abstract: PhD


title: Readying to Call Down Thunderbolts: Nato Tactical Air Power During the Cold War, 1951-1990

contributor:
English, Allan
History

subject:
NATO
Cold War
air power

abstract: This dissertation examines the history of tactical air power in NATO, from its founding to the end of the Cold War. Based upon archival records from NATO, the member nations, and their air forces, as well as a broad survey of the literature of NATO, the Cold War, and air power, this dissertation examines not only what NATO created for its tactical air power, but considers what this can tell us about the broader history of the Cold War itself. The history of air power as it developed, especially in the Second World War, provides the background, as does the somewhat bizarre intellectual history of nuclear strategy. Successive chapters then study the evolution of NATO’s tactical air power in the early to mid-1950s, later 1950s, flexible response and then détente and the late Cold War eras. Two key themes emerge. Firstly, the interplay between emphasis upon conventional versus nuclear weapons. Broadly, NATO’s tactical air power had a conventional birth, shifted to emphasis upon nuclear weapons and then, in what turned out to be the Cold War’s final act, shifted back again to a strong conventional emphasis. But perhaps the major conclusion to emerge from this study is that the shifting back and forth was more complex than is suggested by the conventional wisdom, which tends to reflect a bird’s eye view of declaratory policy. In fact, there is clear evidence of significant differences between high policy and the military actuality of NATO’s tactical air forces, in particular during the 1960s. This dissertation thus makes a contribution to the study of the history of air power, NATO, and the Cold War more generally.

abstract: PhD


title: Modelling Intelligent Actions in Human Motor Control

contributor:
Rudie, Karen
Scott, Stephen H.
Electrical and Computer Engineering

rights: Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States

subject:
artificial intelligence
control theory
discrete-event systems
computational neuroscience
motor control
decision-making

abstract:
In developing artificial intelligence (AI) agents for the real world, we generally think that the artificial part will be the most difficult. After all, it has taken considerable technical advancements across several fields for us to begin building intelligent systems. Instead, the most challenging part is intelligence, a word that has proven ephemeral over decades of research. In this thesis, I define intelligence as the ability to adapt behaviours to achieve goals in a range of environments. Although this is a broad definition, in our quest to build AI agents we have an excellent source of intelligence that we can study: the human brain.
The brain is capable of producing intelligent behaviours in spite of a number of limitations, including the limited resolution of sensory systems and the need to discretize information. In this thesis, I demonstrate that we can study how the human brain produces intelligent behaviour by using rapid motor behaviour tasks, which require decision-making and motor control to occur in tandem. Using a large experimental data set, I establish that human rapid motor behaviours are fundamentally constrained by capacity limits. I use this insight to propose discrete-event systems (DES) models that incorporate capacity limits to model the brain’s success at producing intelligent behaviour.

Taken together, this thesis develops the argument that in order to build AI agents we must first understand intelligence. This requires us to account for an agent’s limited capacities and then ensure that these limits are incorporated into our models. This is the first work to use DES theory to model biological intelligence and I believe that building links between these areas will help us to develop control theory models inspired by the human brain, thereby allowing us to build AI agents for the real world.

abstract: PhD


title: Chinese Students' Conceptions of Feedback and the Relationships with Self-regulated Learning, Self-efficacy and English Language Achievement in the College English Course

contributor:
Cheng, Liying
Education

subject:
Feedback
Self-regulated learning
Self-efficacy
English language achievement

abstract:
In China, under the influence of examination-driven culture and teacher-centered way of learning, students’ self-regulated learning (SRL) capabilities, self-efficacy, and the actual English proficiency are greatly hindered. Given this situation, the Chinese Ministry of Education has promulgated the use of formative assessment in the College English curriculum at the tertiary level since 2004. Feedback, as an integrated part of formative assessment, is to facilitate learning and SRL. However, whether feedback could facilitate students’ SRL has not been fully investigated in this context in China. Therefore, this study first explored how students self-reported their conceptions of feedback, SRL, self-efficacy and second, the relationships among these constructs and their English language achievement in the College English course.
A questionnaire was used to collect data on students’ conceptions of feedback, SRL, self-efficacy and self-perceived English language proficiency. Their English test scores as an indicator of English language achievement were also collected. A total of 538 participants from a university in Northern China participated in this study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analyses, Pearson correlation analyses and multiple regression analyses.
The results found that Chinese students from the College English course reported a high level of conceptions of teacher and peer feedback, SRL and self-efficacy, yet a low level of Teacher/Peer Feedback Ignored. For the relationships among these variables, students’ conceptions of feedback contributed to SRL and self-efficacy. Besides, self-efficacy was found to be the strongest predictor for self-perceived English language proficiency and standardized English test scores, both indicators for English language achievement.
From the theoretical perspective, this study addressed the research gap in the literature by examining four constructs together, i.e., student conceptions of feedback, SRL, self-efficacy and English language achievement within a university context in China. From the pedagogical angle, the results can also support teachers on their feedback practices to facilitate students’ SRL, self-efficacy and learning.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Mindfulness-based interventions for older adults with late-life anxiety

contributor:
Finlayson, Marcia
Kessler, Dorothy
Aging and Health

rights: Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States

subject:
Late-life anxiety
Mindfulness
meditation
Randomized control trial
Systematic review

abstract:
Anxiety in older adults can be debilitating and affect every aspect of daily life including cognitive function, sleep, and stress management. Although the presentation of anxiety can vary, common symptoms reported to primary care providers are insomnia, agitation, and irritation. The prevalence of anxiety in Canada is reported at 6.4% affecting about 2.5 million people across the lifespan. In 2012, anxiety costed the Canadian healthcare system an estimated $119.8 million per 100,000 people, and this cost is expected to increase with the rapidly aging population. The use of pharmacotherapy for the first line treatment of anxiety in older adults is common, has limited effectiveness and produce side effects such as increased risk of falls leading to hospitalization. Older adults have expressed interest in receiving mindfulness-based interventions for anxiety as an alternative or complementary treatment.
     The overall purpose of this dissertation was to expand knowledge related to mindfulness-based group treatments for late-life anxiety. Two studies were conducted as part of this dissertation. The first was a systematic review of existing mindfulness-based interventions for late-life anxiety. The second study was a randomized control trial to test the feasibility and acceptability of Emotion-Focused Mindfulness Therapy (EFMT), a mindfulness-based intervention, in older adult populations with anxiety. The key findings indicated the feasibility and acceptability of EFMT delivered through video conferencing for older adults with anxiety. Although the trial was not planned to be powered to examine clinical changes, statistically significant reductions to anxiety were observed in the intervention group post intervention compared to the control group. There was also a statistically significant reduction in the use of memory strategies post-intervention. The findings from this thesis will inform further development and evaluation of mindfulness-based interventions to meaningfully impact the mental health care of older adults with late-life anxiety. Thus, the present dissertation contributes to an emerging body of international research and clinical practice supporting alternative interventions for late-life anxiety in primary care, and also contributes to laying the groundwork for future larger scale studies of EFMT.

abstract: PhD


title: The Impact of Lunch Timing on Nap Quality

contributor:
Dringenberg, Hans
Psychology

subject:
Sleep
Chrononutrition
Napping
Circadian Rhythms

abstract: The human sleep-wake cycle follows a regular circadian rhythm, which is controlled by an internal biological clock (the suprachiasmatic nucleus), as well as external cues that aid in maintaining the system’s precise rhythmicity. Previous research on one of these external cues, meal timing, has yielded inconclusive results as to whether eating shortly before sleep onset negatively impacts sleep quality. To date, few studies have examined the effect of meal timing on the quality of daytime naps. Here, we used polysomnographic methods (EEG, EOG, EMG) and subjective self-reports of sleep quality and fatigue to examine whether the timing of lunch (1 vs. 2 hour interval between lunch and napping) impacts nap quality. Results revealed that subjective ratings and objective polysomnographic measures (total sleep time, sleep efficiency, sleep onset latency) of sleep quality were higher in the 2-hour condition relative to the 1-hour interval. Together, these findings suggest that a longer time interval between food intake and a subsequent nap can improve sleep quality, leading to more restorative sleep. Future research should continue to identify conditions that improve nap quality, thus maximizing the well-documented beneficial effects of sleep on human health and cognitive functioning.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: How Can I Know You If I Don’t Know Myself? Low Awareness of Cognition as a Mechanism Underlying Poor Theory of Mind Accuracy In Depression

contributor:
Harkness, Kate
Psychology

subject:
Depression
Theory of mind
Egocentric bias

abstract: Depression is associated with lower accuracy in the ability to decode and reason about the mental states of others – “theory of mind.” Theory of mind judgements are made, in part, based on a heuristic that others’ mental states are similar to one’s own – “egocentric bias.” However, having an egocentric bias presupposes that one has sufficient awareness of one’s own mental states. The current study tested two primary hypotheses. First, we hypothesized that compared to never-depressed and past-depressed individuals, individuals with current depression will have poorer theory of mind accuracy, report greater difficulty accessing their own mental states, and show less evidence of an egocentric bias. Second, we hypothesized that difficulty accessing one’s own mental states and egocentric bias will significantly mediate the relation of depression group and theory of mind accuracy. The sample was comprised of 183 individuals (37 currently depressed, 76 past-depressed, and 70 never-depressed based on a structured diagnostic interview). Awareness of one’s own mental states was assessed with a novel self-report questionnaire. Egocentric bias and theory of mind decoding accuracy were assessed with the Dot Perspective Task and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, respectively. First, as hypothesized, currently depressed individuals reported significantly greater difficulty accessing their own mental states as compared to past-depressed and never-depressed individuals. However, contrary to my hypotheses, currently depressed individuals did not significantly differ from never-depressed or past-depressed individuals in terms of theory of mind decoding accuracy or egocentric bias. Further, difficulty accessing one’s own mental states and egocentric bias did not significantly mediate the relation of depression group and theory of mind decoding accuracy. Results suggest that depression may be associated with difficulty accessing one’s own mental states, which may have important implications for clinical conceptualizations of depression and treatment. Given the unexpected null findings, further research is needed to understand socio-cognitive mechanisms underlying theory of mind and its relation to depression.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Ex vivo Mechanical Testing and FEA Modelling of Bovine Trabecular Bone

contributor:
Ploeg, Heidi-Lynn
Pilkey, A. Keith
Lievers, W. Brent
Mechanical and Materials Engineering

subject:
Mechanical testing
Finite element analysis
Trabecular bone
Micro computed tomography
Ex vivo
Biomechanics

abstract: Osteoporosis, a disease characterized by bone tissue deterioration, primarily occurs in trabecular bone regions. Trabecular bone remodels in response to mechanical loads and is of interest to researchers for developments in osteoporosis treatments and improved patient-specific implant designs. Established methods for investigating trabecular bone remodelling include ex vivo experimentation and in silico finite element analysis (FEA). The first objective of this research was to measure change in apparent elastic modulus (Eapp¬) in response to mechanical compressive strain during a long-term ex vivo bone organ culture. The second objective was to test if modelled local mechanical stimuli were correlated with the measured change in Eapp. To achieve these objectives, trabecular bone cores (n=23) were excised from a viable bovine sternum and placed in bioreactors to maintain bone core viability for 21 days. Half the bone cores were cyclically loaded to stimulate bone growth. The “load” group increased Eapp by 53.4% over 21 days compared to 20.9% for the no-load control group (p=0.059), demonstrating the ability of ex vivo bone organ culture for characterizing the remodelling response. Following ex vivo testing, the remaining surviving bone cores (n=17) were micro computed tomography (µCT) scanned and their morphology was characterized. µCT-base FEA of the loaded bone cores (n=9) was performed to calculate the distributions of strain energy density (SED), von Mises stress (σVM), and maximum compressive principal strain (εmax). The εmax best predicted the 21-day change in Eapp (R2=0.72, p=0.005), showing that local mechanical stimuli can predict remodelling. Limitations of the experimental procedure included a small number of samples relative to the inherent variance in bone structure and cell viability, a single mechanical test at each time point, and not adjusting for end-artifacts. Other limitations included assumed homogeneous mechanical properties in FEA and the smoothed bone core surfaces to help with computational efficiency. Future work should modify the bioreactor design to reduce leakage, increase the number of samples, and perform dynamic histological analyses to compare regions of high growth rate to local stress-strain FEA results. Models should include heterogeneous mechanical properties, reduced element size, higher order shape functions, and investigate other remodelling criteria.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: A Quantification of Long Transient Dynamics

contributor:
Magpantay, Felicia Maria G.
Mathematics and Statistics

subject:
Differential equations
Transient dynamics
Transient centers
Transient centres

abstract: We present a systematic study of transient dynamics starting with a technical definition of transient points which are initial data of an autonomous system of ordinary differential equations that can lead to “long transient dynamics.” We then define transient centers, which are points in the state space that cause long transient behaviors, and reachable transient centers, which are transient centers that can be reached from initializations that do not need to be nearby. These points give rise to dynamics where a prescribed observable changes arbitrarily slowly for arbitrarily long time durations. We demonstrate the many interesting properties of transient centers, including how it easily translates from point to point: if an initial point is a transient center then so are all the points in its entire trajectory forward and backward in time, as well as any limit points. Finally, we also explore how these ideas are related to established concepts in dynamical systems such as slow-fast systems, turning points and Lyapunov regularity.

abstract: PhD


title: Transformative Opportunities through Decolonizing and Indigenizing Museums: People, Collections, Exhibitions

contributor:
Robinson, Dylan
Murray, Laura
Cultural Studies

subject: Decolonizing Museums

subject: Indigizenizing Museums

subject: Settler Colonialism

subject: Geology

subject: Museum Studies

subject: Geology Museum

subject: Enlightenment Era

subject: Curatorial Practice

subject: Abolition Dream Mapping

subject: Perpetual Conciliation

subject: Reconciliation

subject: UNDRIP United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

subject: TRC Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action

abstract:
The postponement of a new definition for the word museum at the International Council of Museums conference in September 2019, along with growing societal interest and attention to museums, memory institutions, and heritage spaces as locations for decolonizing opportunities, suggests that the first quarter of the 21st century has unsettled aspects of our world that were formerly taken for granted by some. Museums’ inheritance from past generations of assumed authority is being critically evaluated from multiple perspectives. Yet within the profession, aside from inclusive gestures like sharing authority for exhibition content about Indigenous topics with Indigenous experts, some museum staff, policies, and procedures remain firmly embedded in an ethos of colonial entitlement.
In what is now known as Canada, the worldviews of white, Euro-descended, settler populations tend to be presented as the norm, or assumed to be the perspective from which museum texts are written and consumed. This default position relies on the mistaken assumption that Euro-centric, Enlightenment-era worldviews, behaviours, and tendencies are the only ways through which the world can be observed, named, and ordered. As I demonstrate throughout this thesis, these beliefs foreclose upon and erase other possibilities of seeing, being, and living-in-relation with. My research presents decolonizing and Indigenizing approaches to ways of being and working in museums primarily for settler museum professionals; a case study of concealed power and authority in a museum using semi-structured community-based research interviews; and, aspirational imaginings of a geology museum in decolonizing and Indigenizing futures.

abstract: PhD


title: Exploring the Added Value of Early Childhood Educators’ Approaches to Assessment in Play-Based Kindergarten Education

contributor:
DeLuca, Chris
Education

subject:
play
assessment
early childhood education
early childhood educator
curricular stance

abstract:
As significant interdisciplinary research has demonstrated the value of early learning in the development of healthy cognitive and behavioural skills, kindergarten education has become an area of priority worldwide, with substantial revisions to early education policies and curricula throughout North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Research has shown the potential benefits for increased student learning and greater long-term success when Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) and certified teachers (CTs) collaborate to use play-based pedagogies and assessments to support learning. Despite the addition of ECEs into the kindergarten environment, an examination of how ECEs contribute to the assessment of student learning remains absent from existing research efforts.
This study aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of (a) ECEs’ conceptualized views of assessment within play-based kindergarten classrooms and how their conceptualized views of assessment align with their curricular stance, and (b) the factors that influenced a collaborative approach to assessment in play-based kindergarten classrooms.
A constructivist qualitative research design was used. Data were collected from 80 ECEs through two open forums at a Kindergarten Summit, along with post-forum questionnaires. Data collected were analyzed together using standard inductive descriptive coding techniques.
Results of this study revealed alignment between ECEs’ curricular stance and a developmentally appropriate approach to assessment. ECEs expressed priority for child-centred, collaborative, individualized, play-based approaches to classroom assessments. Findings from this research will inform the development and delivery of a collaborative team, highlighting the importance of trusting professional relationships wherein ECEs are considered valued contributors to the teaching and assessment process.
More broadly, findings from this study lay the foundation for future studies into the curricular stance of educators, the current conceptualized understanding of assessment embedded in play, and the role policies and systemic conditions play towards the collaborative effort of the kindergarten team.

abstract: PhD