title: Reading Lips: Exploring Emotive Responses to Labiaplasty

abstract:
Reading Lips focuses on emotional responses to bodily transformation, and how responses to bodies are shaped by being ‘orientated’ in particular ways. The form of transformation being focused on is labiaplasty, which is a surgical procedure that seeks to improve the aesthetic of the labia minora and majora. I argue that subjects who have considered and undergone labiaplasty are responded to in particular ways because of our social positions and facets of identity- which I refer to as ‘orientations’ -and that labiaplasty leaves ‘impressions’ on those who come into contact with it. I discuss
visceral responses of shame and disgust, and I focus on where and how empathy and agency are expressed and attributed to individuals who choose labiaplasty. I critically approach labiaplasty through a feminist lens while also incorporating lived experience with the procedure, as well as attending to the larger processes that shape responses to it.


title: The Effect of Testing Direction on DHC Growth Rate Using Zr-2.5Nb Plate

abstract:
Delayed Hydride Cracking (DHC) is a fracture mechanism responsible for several failures of Zr-2.5Nb CANDU pressure tubes. The crack velocity is directionally dependant. Disk-shaped hydrides preferentially form on certain crystallographic planes that are hypothesized to be responsible for the difference in DHC growth rates. If bulk hydrides slow crack growth, no directional difference in crack velocity will be observed when no bulk hydrides are present. When bulk hydrides are present the crack velocities should begin to diverge as temperature is decreased. In this study, DHC crack velocities
are determined using cantilever beam specimens with cracks propagating in both the longitudinal and through-thickness directions with and without bulk hydrides present, i.e., below and above TSSP. The DHC crack velocities in the longitudinal direction were observed to be higher than the corresponding through-thickness crack velocities with or without bulk hydrides present. Thus, the bulk hydride hypothesis is disproved. Alternative hypotheses are presented.


title: A Qualitative Study of Fathers' Experiences of Depression After Having or Adopting a Child

abstract:
To gain insight into the lived experiences of paternal postpartum and post-adoption depression, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 4 biological and 3 adoptive fathers who self-identified as primary caregivers and experienced depression within 12 months of having or adopting their child(ren). A thematic analysis revealed commonalities and unique aspects of biological and adoptive fathers’ experiences of depression, as well as society’s influence on their experiences of depression. Commonalities included the impact of Significant Stressors and Expectation-Reality Asymmetry on
fathers’ experiences of depression, while biological fathers had difficulty being Mentally Present with their Children, and adoptive fathers had a Strong Need to Teach their Children. Fathers also described how aspects of society such as Social Expectations of Parents and their Unmet Support Needs perpetuated their depression. These findings are discussed in relation to research regarding mothers’ experiences of PPD, and their implications for practice and research are discussed.


title: Grounding Responsibility: Helen Steward's Libertarianism and a Hemi-Incompatibilist Alternative

abstract:
This project has two purposes. The first is to evaluate Helen Steward’s libertarian account, as presented in A Metaphysics for Freedom, and assess its ability to help ground moral responsibility. The second is to provide an alternative, Hemi-Incompatibilist account of a variety of responsibility that is compatible with the denial of agent causal control.
     An overview of a selection of accounts from the moral responsibility debate is provided, followed by a discussion of Helen Steward’s account specifically. I then present my Hemi-Incompatibilist account, followed by the brief
investigation of two similar views. I conclude that Helen Steward’s libertarian account does not succeed in lending support to those hoping to ground a deserts-based variety of responsibility. I show that my Hemi-Incompatibilist account grounds another variety of responsibility, responsibility qua onus, that supports normative prescriptions and proscriptions despite the denial that agents possess regulative control.


title: Geology and geochemistry of the Raglan Hills Metagabbro

abstract: The four distinct gabbroic rock types identified within the Raglan Hills metagabbro were derived from a heterogeneous metasomatized depleted mantle, were produced under variable melting conditions, and the intrusion was emplaced into supracrustal calcitic metacarbonate rocks at roughly 1229 Ma.  The intrusion was later deformed and metamorphosed during the Shawinigan and Ottawan orogenic events.  Sparse magmatic Ni-Cu sulphide occurrences were hydrothermally altered during metamorphism and locally upgraded in structurally controlled veins.


title: Model-based dose calculations for eye plaque brachytherapy

abstract:
Eye plaque brachytherapy is a common treatment for uveal melanoma. Despite treatment outcomes comparable to those for enucleation, doses are currently calculated using the TG-43 formalism, which assumes a homogeneous water environment. This work aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of dosimetry using model-based dose calculations for ocular brachytherapy. A representative model of the human eye and surrounding tissues is developed, and dose is calculated for a range of plaque models encountered in clinical practice for three photon-emitting radionuclides, I-125, Pd-103 and Cs-131.
Doses to ocular structures for the full eye model are compared to those for a homogeneous water phantom, both including and excluding (TG-43) inter-seed and eye plaque effects. Doses for the full eye model simulations are shown to deviate significantly from simulations that assume the eye to be water equivalent, with and without the plaque, highlighting the need for accurate model-based dose calculations in ocular brachytherapy.


title: Phase Transformation, Texture and Mechanical Anisotropy in Zirconium Alloys

abstract:
In CANDU® reactors, zirconium alloys are used for three tubing components. Zircaloy-4 is used for the fuel sheaths. Zr-2.5Nb alloy is used for the pressure tubes, and Zircaloy-2 is used for the calandria tubes. These three tubes are manufactured using different processes, and they have different crystallographic textures and microstructures due to the different processes used to manufacture the tubes. These tubes normally operate at low temperatures (< 350°C). In a hypothetical loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA), these tubes may be subjected to high temperatures up to 1000°C or higher. During the temperature transient, a phase transformation occurs that changes the microstructure which affects the material‘s high-temperature deformation behaviour.
This thesis investigated the texture evolution, phase transformation and mechanical anisotropy in as-manufactured and two modifications ('A' and 'B') of CANDU Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube materials using neutron diffraction during heating up to 1050°C and on cooling. These investigations provided a further understanding of the anisotropic deformation behaviour observed in high temperature-ramped tensile  deformation tests. The stable evolution of the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) α-Zr texture  and changes in volume fraction of body-centered cubic (bcc) β-Zr, resulting from  temperature changes during heating (or cooling) has provided key information to help  explain the mechanical anisotropy response of as-manufactured pressure tube material. CANDU-type Zircaloy-4 fuel sheaths with as-manufactured and two simulated braze  zone microstructures (one for the spacer location and the other simulating the heat-affect- zone) were also investigated. An in-situ approach has been developed using SELFPOLY  (a polycrystalline model) to determine the Kearns (texture) numbers and Hill's anisotropy  factors with texture (Orientation Distribution Function) data obtained on fuel sheaths  with previously known anisotropy factors measured using strain tests. The same  approach was applied to the two modified Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube materials for  comparison with the mechanical anisotropy of differently textured fuel sheaths. Further  research work to validate the anisotropy factors are suggested using ballooning tests on  fuel sheaths and high temperature-ramped tensile tests on the two modified pressure tube  materials.
CANDU® (CANada Deuterium Uranium) is a registered trademark of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited.


title: Human Nature in Hobbes and Thucydides

abstract:
As a close reader, translator, and self-professed admirer of Thucydides, Thomas Hobbes was heavily influenced by the former’s account of human nature, provided in his History of the Peloponnesian War. In fact, many scholars (in both political theory and international relations) have been keen to point out just this. Passages, they argue, such as the Plague at Athens and the Civil War at Corcyra, both of which reveal human nature at its darkest, undoubtedly shaped Hobbes’s own understanding and conception of man, the most comprehensive account of which appears in the first part of his most famous and mature work, Leviathan. What many of these scholars fail to acknowledge, however, is thatfor all of their similarities Thucydides’ account of human nature is also somewhat different from that of Hobbes. Indeed, although Thucydides often describes man at his worst, his History also provides moving examples of man at his best. In contrast to passages such as the Plague at Athens and the Civil War at Corcyra, passages such as the Mytilenean Debate and Pericles’ Funeral Oration highlight the human concern and capacity for virtue and justice, and indicate a recognition on the part of Thucydides (as opposed to Hobbes) that, despite what the primordial imposes on human beings they nevertheless and at the same time yearn for something higher.
The purpose of this thesis, then, is to account for this fundamental, yet often overlooked difference. In it, I essentially argue that the difference between Thucydides and Hobbes on the question of human nature can be explained best by looking to Aristotle and Hobbes’s attack on him. More specifically, I argue that Hobbes’s rejection of Aristotle’s political science, moral and political psychology, and account of human nature underlying it, is also and at the same time what necessarily handcuffs him from acknowledging as natural certain aspects of the human condition that Thucydides, like Aristotle, does. Finally, I argue that for this reason, Hobbes’s attack on Aristotle also qualifies, in some ways, as an attack on that thinker he admired most: Thucydides.


title: Beyond the Uncanny Valley:  A Theory of Eeriness for Android Science Research

abstract:
The “Uncanny Valley” (UV) theory predicts that highly realistic human-like artifacts, e.g. robots and animated characters, sometimes elicit eeriness in human subjects. But in spite of a rapidly growing body of interdisciplinary research on the UV, a lack of consensus concerning the cause(s) of this phenomenon persists. Therefore in what follows, I undertake a conceptual “overhaul” of the UV theory in order to facilitate an account of the UV phenomenon. Drawing from philosophical and empirical research, I demonstrate that: (1) eeriness is best understood as anxiety caused by uncertainty
concerning the ontological nature of the artifact; and (2), that the misfiring of cognitive and affective empathic abilities – viz. an inconsistency between a subject’s perception of the artifact’s apparent animacy and mentation, and her knowledge that artifacts ought not possess such attributes – is the primary causal mechanism of the UV phenomenon. Finally, I revise the UV theory accordingly.


title: Application of Alamouti Coding to Two-Way Relaying

abstract:
In wireless communications systems, large scale fading (i.e., path-loss and shadowing) can significantly attenuate the transmitted signal power and consequently degrade the wireless link quality between two nodes. One cost-effective solution to the problem of large scale fading is to use a relay. A relay is an access point that is used to assist two nodes in exchanging their messages and to improve the link quality between them. Recently, the use of multiple antenna techniques with relaying has attracted the attention of many researchers, and it has been shown that the combination of multiple
antennas and relaying can significantly improve the system performance.
In this thesis, we study the performance of two-way relaying (TWR). We limit our study to the case where the nodes and the relay are equipped with only two antennas and they use Alamouti coding for transmission. We consider different TWR schemes using Alamouti coding. Firstly, we integrate Alamouti coding with the traditional four-phase relaying scheme, in which eight time slots are required to exchange four symbols between the nodes, and the relay uses the detect-and-forward (Det&F) strategy to re-transmit the
received symbols. Secondly, we use Alamouti coding in three-phase relaying. In this scheme the nodes require three phases (i.e., 6 time slots) to exchange their symbols, and the relay uses either the XOR-and-forward (X&F) strategy or the Det&F strategy. Lastly, we combine Alamouti coding with two-phase relaying scheme, in which the nodes require two phases (i.e., 4 time slots) to exchange their symbols. In this scheme, the relay uses minimum mean square error detection to estimate the transmitted symbols from the nodes, and it uses either the X&F strategy or the Det&F strategy
to broadcast the combined symbols.
We derive closed-form expressions of the average end-to-end bit error rate for these schemes for the case when M-QAM with Gray mapping is used. In the derivation, we assume the channel is modeled as Rayleigh fading channel, and it is assumed to be perfectly known to the receiver. To confirm our analysis, we compare the analytical results with simulation results, and it is shown that the analytical and simulation results have an excellent agreement.


title: The Embodiment of Post-Concussion Syndrome: Reflexive Research, Acting Athletes, Managing Medical Professionals, and Moral Trepidation

abstract:
A phenomenological investigation to explore the embodied experience of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) from the perspective of high-level concussed athletes and managing medical professionals. Semi-structured, one-on-one interviews were conducted with six athletes and five medical professionals to provide a partial actors-first perspective of post-concussion syndrome (PCS), which has been lacking within both the medical and social science literature to date. Supplementing this will be a brief consideration of how the media has driven public discourse, instigating a moral trepidation
crystallizing around the uncertainty of possible long-term health consequences of repeated mTBI. This moral trepidation is experienced most viscerally by the parents of Canadian athletes. Seeking to describe the embodied experience of others is partial, I hope to draw from my own experiences with mTBI as a means of providing an experiential bridge of understanding to an illness that is described by medical professionals as being especially ambiguous.


title: Propriety, Performance and Desire:  An Analysis of Consumer Culture in Early Nineteenth Century Britain

abstract:
This thesis argues that the development consumer culture in early nineteenth century Britain formed part of a broader conservative response to a series of severe and sustained political, economic, social, intellectual and military upheavals that followed the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. It argues that the early nineteenth century in Britain represents a moment where the demands of expanding productive forces and consumers coalesced with the anxieties caused by successive internal and external crises to produce a marketplace that was at once a source of liberation and excitement for
those wishing to engage in aesthetic pleasure-seeking through consumption, but also heavily intruded upon by a resurgent conservative discourse desiring to restore and maintain socio-economic and cultural stability in the nation.


title: Rough Around the Edges: Subliminal Taste and Decay in the Resuscitation of the Ruins of Modernity

abstract: What is it about the old that possesses the potential to inspire emotional and reflective states? Whether to do with embodiments or symbols of the past, or of our embodied reactions to the materialities born of time and use, that which evades our direct reflection empowers architecture to effect us in various dimensions of space. The dialectics of ruination have profound significance in the project of modernity where architecture has become the embodiment of the human resistance against the process of aging and the procession of time. Modernist ideologies have struggled against nature in the denial of mortality, and in this negation of time risk a discontinuity with the past, a repetitive state of newness and a perpetual present. The ruin is perhaps our most apt resource for resistance to this acceleration of the new. Our approach to their embodiments is of profound significance to the welfare of aesthetics.


title: CityBreeder: City Design with Evolutionary Computation

abstract:
Cities are complex entities which play important roles in the lives of the many people who
inhabit them. The process of creating city designs is a complex, time-consuming endeavour,
pursued by several dierent groups. Though procedural techniques have been developed
to speed up this process, virtually none enable the creation of designs based on multiple
existing designs. This thesis presents CityBreeder, a system which enables the rapid, userguided development of city designs based on the blending of multiple existing city designs.
Almost no previous research has been conducted regarding this capability.
This capability is achieved through the use of Evolutionary Computation, which is used
to discover the genetic representation of existing city designs derived from real city data
obtained from OpenStreetMap. Once discovered, these cities can be `bred' together, creating
new ospring designs. More of this thesis is concerned with the rst portion of this task:
the discovery of the genetic representations of real city designs. The combination of these
cities is given less attention, but is explored through several demonstrations which show this
capability is achieved.
More specically, CityBreeder employs Genetic Programming on a layered quadtree genotype representation to create phenotype city designs consisting of road layouts comprised of
nodes and edges. Additionally, a genotype-to-phenotype expression mechanism, genetic operators and a tness function employing computational geometry techniques are presented
and tested, all of which are tailored to the city design context. Experiments and examples
are shown which analyze the system's representation and operators using simple, articially
constructed data, as well as through experiments showing the system functioning with data
derived from real cities.


title: Characterizing Migration Behaviour of Adult Fraser River Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) During Costal and Estuarian Passage Using Acceleration Transmitters

abstract:
Though behaviour during the reproductive migration of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) has been studied during upriver migrations, equivalent information for coastal marine migrations has been difficult to obtain. Newly developed acoustic acceleration transmitters provided a possible tool for the study of swim speed and depth of salmon in both marine and freshwater. In Chapter 2, I used swim tunnel respirometry and demonstrated that these transmitters could be used to predict swim speed and energy use from acceleration output. In Chapter 3, I tagged ocean migrating sockeye salmon (O. nerka)
with these transmitters and tracked swim speed and depth as they crossed several acoustic receiver lines in coastal waters and the lower Fraser River. Using statistical models developed in Chapter 2, I examined how environmental factors influenced swim speed, and depth.  These are the highest temporal and spatial resolution data collected on coastal migration behaviour of adult sockeye salmon, to date.


title: Platform Strategies in the Electronic Design Automation Industry

abstract:
Platforms – architectures of related standards that allow modular substitution of complementary assets – feature prominently in technology-intensive industries.  The motivations for firms to adopt a particular platform strategy and the ways in which platform strategies change over time are not fully understood.  This thesis examines the platform strategies of three leading vendors in the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry from 1987 to 2002.  It employs a two-part research design: (i) pattern-matching to operationalize and test a three-stage explanation previously developed by West
(2003) to account for the evolution of platform strategies by firms in the computer industry, followed by (ii) explanation-building to account for differences between observations and the expected pattern.  The pioneering EDA firm matches the expected pattern, but two other firms bypass stage one to enter at stage two with open standards.  All three firms later move to stage three simultaneously by adopting hybrid open source strategies.


title: Quantitative Multiplexed Multi-pinhole Small-Animal SPECT

abstract:
Small-animal microSPECT is an important research tool for the development of clinical diagnostic tests, evaluation of novel pharmaceuticals, and basic science research. Experimentally quantifying the accuracy of microSPECT — the reproducibility of measurements made using microSPECT, and how well the reconstructed microSPECT data correlates to the true tracer distribution — is therefore essential. Photon attenuation and scatter complicate the problem of acquiring quantitatively accurate information from SPECT.
In this work, the reproducibility of cardiac measurements made in rats using the nanoSPECT/CT scanner (Bioscan, Washington, DC) is first evaluated without scatter or attenuation correction. For relative perfusion measurements of rat myocardia, normal databases for 99mTc-tetrofosmin and 201Tl imaging are created and it is shown that the relative myocardial perfusion measurements made using either tracer are reproducible over repeated scans and over multiple rats with standard deviations of 3% and 4% respectively.
Attenuation and scatter compensation are implemented in the SPECT reconstruction algorithm to evaluate the accuracy of using nanoSPECT to recover absolute tracer
concentrations in phantoms and in vivo. With attenuation and scatter compensation, absolute tracer concentration is measured using SPECT images with systematic and random uncertainties as low as 1% in phantoms, relative to dose calibrator measurements. The systematic and random uncertainties for measurements of total cardiac tracer uptake in vivo compared to well chamber measurements ex vivo were as small as –1% and 3% respectively.
Reevaluation of the reproducibility of the cardiac measurements with attenuation and scatter correction demonstrates that neither correction strongly influences
the relative perfusion measurements or their reproducibility. However, it is shown that attenuation correction does significantly modify the relationship between body weight and absolute tracer uptake.


title: Tracing social capital within a firm: A relational capital perspective

abstract:
This study analyzes the effects of relationship capital (RC) on the growth of firms. Social capital (SC) scholars suggest that a firm’s relationships drives its growth strategies, but extant literature on SC fails to explain how relational aspect of SC leads to growth of a firm. Built on the resource based theory of the firm and knowledge of SC, this research defines RC as improved capabilities of the firm in combining various resources, and tests whether the existence of RC in the relationships of a firm affects its growth strategy performance. The results from 347 European firms suggest
that relational perspective of SC improves firms’ capability to achieve growth and plays a positive role in small firms’ competitiveness. The study also opens up some research avenues for an investigation of the effects of trust and commitment, as the two constructs of RC, on a firm’s capabilities.


title: Structural, Geochronological, and Thermochronological Constraints on the Evolution of Orogenic Infrastructure in the Thor-Odin – Pinnacles Area of Southeastern British Columbia.

abstract: The Thor-Odin dome is a basement-cored tectonothermal culmination in the southeastern Canadian Cordillera containing high grade metamorphic rocks, tectonically overlain by a heterogeneous tract of polydeformed medium to high grade metamorphic rocks exposed in the footwall of the Columbia River fault system. The Thor-Odin and Frenchman Cap domes comprise Paleoproterozoic “basement” gneiss infolded with Proterozoic to Paleozoic metasedimentary “cover” rocks. Detrital zircon geochronology from three samples of the inferred basal quartzite within the Thor-Odin dome contain two separate maximum depositional age populations at <1.65 Ga and <1.1 Ga, suggesting two temporally separate quartzite units, neither of which is correlative with the basal quartzite in the Frenchman Cap dome, c. 1.85 Ga. A Neoproterozoic to Cambrian panel structurally overlies the dome, as evidenced by a <600 Ma quartzite on Mount Symonds. Middle Jurassic, or younger, quartzites are present at Plant Creek, representing a transposed terrane boundary and the accretion of rocks on to the Laurentian margin. Four tectonothermal domains were defined based on timing of metamorphism, deformation and cooling, structural and petrographic data, and 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology. The structurally highest domain (Whatshan – Pinnacles) was polyfolded in the Late Cretaceous. The second highest domain (South Fosthall) was penetratively deformed in the mid-crust at c. 73 – 64 Ma. Deformation ended in the rocks of the South Fosthall area after c. 64 Ma, but continued in the structurally lower third domain (North Fosthall – Cariboo Alp). The North Fosthall– Cariboo Alp domain became suprastructure relative to the deforming rocks in the structurally lowest domain (Thor-Odin dome) after c. 58 Ma. The Thor-Odin dome remained in the infrastructure until c. 52 Ma. Exhumation and cooling through 500 ⁰C in the upper part of the structural section was ongoing during the last stages of transposition and folding in the dome in the Late Paleocene to Early Eocene. All the rocks cooled through 300 ⁰C together between 52.5 – 51 Ma. Extensional structures were active at all structural levels by c. 51 Ma, reflecting a regional switch from transpression to transtension, expressed as crustal scale extension and exhumation via the east-dipping Columbia River and west-dipping Okanagan Valley extensional fault systems.


title: Frequency Multiplication Techniques for Sub-Harmonic Injection Locking of LC  Oscillators and its Application to Phased-Array Architectures

abstract: A frequency multiplication and phase steering technique that utilizes the injection locking phenomena of LC local oscillators (LO) is reported. The potential application of this technique to LO-path based phase-shifting in RF/millimeter-wave integrated phased-array architecture is proposed. Advantages and disadvantages of the proposed technique are discussed in reference to those of the recently reported architectures in the literature. A high-order harmonic synthesis approach is introduced at the core of the proposed frequency multiplication technique for which a mathematical formulation is provided to highlight the underlying principles and trade-offs. Architectural variations on the high-order harmonic synthesis approach are also introduced and contrasted. The proposed multiplication and phase steering techniques have been investigated and prototyped in a main stream 130-nm CMOS process. Simulation and measurement results of the prototype are provided to substantiate the proposed techniques. Measurement results include output phase noise performance of -115 and -107.17 dBc/Hz, maximum phase shift errors of 2.35- and 2.1-degrees after calibration, extracted peak-to-null ratios of > 28 dB and current consumptions of 26.8 mA and 30.3 mA at 18.31-GHz and 21.51-GHz, respectively.


title: Third Party Citizen Reactions to Interventions in a Genocide: The Influence of the Social Categorization of Victims and the Norm of a Responsibility to Protect

abstract: Groups involved in ongoing genocidal conflicts may appeal to third parties, who are neither perpetrators nor victims, as potential allies. Three studies investigated social psychological factors that influence citizens of a third party country to support interventions in a genocide. Study 1 (n=135) examined the impact of social categorization on endorsement of prosocial actions, and the mediating role of psychological antecedents (e.g., perception of complicity in the genocide due to inaction, perception that the ingroup could be held accountable for their inaction, and guilt for the situation of the victims and for the ingroup’s inaction). Framing the genocide in terms of the victimization of particular individuals appears to be more effective in eliciting appraisals and emotions that encourage support for intervention. Study 2 (n=100) built on the results of Study 1 to explore whether the impact of recategorization of the victims as humans (versus outgroup members) on prosocial actions and its antecedents was moderated by individuals’ evaluation of human beings (humanity-esteem). The moderation hypothesis was not supported; yet, portraying the victims as a part of a common humanity was linked to greater feelings of guilt for the victims’ plight. In addition, the more people held humans in high esteem, the more likely they were to endorse government intervention. Study 3 (n=321) assessed whether the relations among complicity, feelings of guilt and prosocial actions were altered when competing behavioral norms were made salient (i.e., the norm of a responsibility to protect versus the norm of non-intervention in a sovereign country). It appears that people were more likely to comply with norms that prescribed demanding actions (e.g., the protection of others) when there were no alternative norms that provided an escape from such obligations. The implications of these findings for citizen support for international interventions in genocidal conflicts are discussed.


title: Hand-Me-Down Housing:  City Housing Stock Revisited

abstract: In the 20th Century, and especially following World War II, responsibility for affordable housing fell to public housing providers. Canada’s public housing stock is currently in need of major life-cycle reinvestment, as much of it is over 40 years old. Government funding for new public housing has long since dissipated and funds to maintain what was built in the post-war decades are in extremely short supply – exacerbated by waning political support for government-sponsored housing. Municipal housing authorities like the Ottawa Community Housing Corporation (OCH) have been directing an increasing percentage of their resources to the maintenance of aged housing. Working within limited mandates and budgets, housing authorities must find creative ways both to renew their stock and address longstanding problems in the process. This thesis investigates how the challenges facing a physically and socially tarnished public housing stock may present opportunities to experiment with new, more economically and socially sustainable approaches to neighborhood redevelopment.


title: Using Geometric Computation for Characterizing and Visualizing Geological Structures

abstract: We present several image processing methods which extract additional geological information from 3 dimensional (3D) laser images of rock faces at the outcrop scale. The geological information we are interested in extracting is fracture orientation, surface roughness and specific rock feature detection. Fracture orientation is important in determining the strength of intact rock masses as well as the stresses it has received. The surface roughness is also important in determining the strength and stability of rock masses. The strength and stability of rock masses is especially important for safe mining environments. The specific rock feature we aim to detect is known as the shatter cone. Detecting shatter cones was explored to determine if 3D images could be used to extract a specific rock type. Two different methods for fracture orientation mapping is presented. Three different roughness measures are proposed. One method for specific rock detection is explored.


title: Electrostatic Discharge Protection for a 10 GHz Low Noise Amplifier

abstract: ESD protection can adversely cause degradation of IC performance, particularly on radio frequency (RF) ICs. These types of ICs are the most affected by the introduction of ESD protection, which cause the degradation of RF parameters. As a result, reduction of the RF performance degradation is highly desired and was the focus of this study.Two 10 GHz narrow band LNAs, one with ESD and another without ESD protection were designed and implemented in 0.13 µm RFCMOS technology. The ESD protection used encompasses PI topology ESD protection, comprising the primary ESD protection diodes, LNA gate inductor, secondary ESD protection diodes, and power clamps. The desired level of ESD protection for the LNA was 2000 V for the Human Body Model (HBM).


title: Search for the Standard Model Higgs boson in the vector boson fusion-mediated diphoton decay channel using multivariate analysis techniques

abstract: A search for the Standard Model Higgs boson in the diphoton decay channel is presented using multivariate analysis techniques, with a focus on the vector boson fusion (VBF) production mechanism. Data events are separated into signal (VBF Hyy) and background-like categories using a gradient boosted decision tree, with the optimized analysis applied to the full 2011-2012 dataset, corresponding to 4.8 fb-1 of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV pp collisions, and 21 fb-1 of sqrt(s) = 8 TeV collisions. The best fit invariant mass for events categorized as VBF Hyy is found to be mH = 123.5 GeV, with a local significance of 2.9 sigma. The best fit signal strength for the W, Z-mediated Hyy decay (VBF + associated production) is found to be mu = 1.72, which agrees with Standard Model predictions within 2 sigma.


title: A New Polygon Nesting Trees Data Structure to Construct a Physical Polyhedral Object

abstract: We present a new data structure known as Polygon Nesting Tree Data Structure that has the capacity to output a polygon nesting tree at the given height h of a polyhedron. The data structure can produce a set of polygon nesting trees which is then sent to a layered manufacturing printer to produce the object. The thickness of a layer is controlled by composing a number of nesting trees where a higher number of nesting trees would improve the resolution of the polyhedron. Furthermore, we show some results of the implemented polygon nesting tree data structure slicing several polyhedra. The newly developed data structure can be used to solve other related problems.


title: A Longitudinal Study of Dynamic Risk, Protective Factors, and Criminal Recidivism: Change Over Time and the Impact of Assessment Timing

abstract: Risk assessment and risk management are central to most decisions made about offenders, particularly when considering community release after a period of incarceration.  Although the field of risk assessment has progressed considerably, there remain limitations within current practices.  The present research uses a variety of sophisticated statistical techniques to examine the systematic assessment and reassessments of risk in a large sample (N = 3498) of New Zealand parolees.  The validity of the Dynamic Risk Assessment for Offender Re-entry (DRAOR), a measure of dynamic risk and protective factors, was assessed across time in all offenders released on parole.  The measure demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties, although future research should seek to refine the subscales as suggested by its factor structure.  Beyond validating the DRAOR, this study showed that reconvictions and criminal reconvictions during a two-year follow-up period can be accurately predicted from dynamic risk factors and protective factors (as measured by the DRAOR).  Stable and acute dynamic risk scores decreased over time while protective factor scores increased, suggesting that the DRAOR is sensitive to change.  Recidivists differed from non-recidivists in stable dynamic risk and protective factors in the month prior to follow-up end and in acute dynamic risk in the second month prior to follow-up end.  Reconvictions were accurately predicted from monthly average Stable Risk beginning at parole start and continuing for 12 months of assessments, while Protective Factors were predictive for the first 4 months only.  These results indicate that the DRAOR has promise as a valid tool for risk assessment and risk management. The findings of this study highlight the mechanisms by which risk changes over time and provides support for a transitional model of offender re-entry focusing on dynamic risk and protective factors.


title: The Analysis of Error Floor and Graphical Structure of LDPC Codes

abstract: In this thesis, we analyze the graphical structure of trapping sets and study their relationships to short cycles and to the code parameters such as block length and degree distributions. As a result, we develop new characterizations of trapping sets and novel techniques to efficiently find them.Our study on short cycles leads to two efficient algorithms for counting them in the Tanner graph of LDPC codes, one for Tanner graphs of general LDPC codes, and one tailored for Tanner graphs of practically important quasi cyclic (QC) protograph LDPC codes.We show that for sparse graphs, the proposed algorithms significantly outperform the existing techniques, in terms of computational complexity and memory requirements. For QC protograph LDPC codes, we also derive bounds to describe the relationships between the size of the shortest cycles in the Tanner graph and some of the code parameters such as the lifting degree, and the size of the base graph. These bounds are in some cases tighter and in some other cases more general than existing bounds.Our analysis of the graphical structure of trapping sets and their relationships to short cycles results in an efficient algorithm for finding the trapping sets of LDPC codes. The algorithm is universal in the sense that it can be applied to an arbitrary graph (regular or irregular) and that it can be tailored to find a variety of important graphical objects, such as absorbing sets. The algorithm is significantly faster than similar existing search algorithms.We also devote special attention to elementary trapping sets (ETS), which are known to be the main cause of error floor for many LDPC codes. Our study leads to a simple characterization of ETSs by introducing a new property called layered superset (LSS) property. This characterization corresponds to a simple search algorithm that starts from the short cycles of the graphand finds all the ETSs with LSS property in a guaranteed fashion.


title: The Social Constructions of Hoarding Behaviour: Accumulation and Discard in Liquid Modern Consumer Society

abstract: ‘Hoarding’ has become a household term that refers to a high level of accumulated goods. This behaviour has been promoted as a social problem through medical and moral discourses. The recent inclusion of ‘hoarding disorder’ in the DSM-V solidifies an acceptance of hoarding as a mental health disease. Moral discourses promoted through reality television shows such as A&E’s Hoarders perpetuate ideologies about normal levels of cleanliness and organization, and promote hoarding intervention using professional organizers. Both framings of the problem focus on individual level behaviours while overlooking social structures. An analysis of hoarding behaviour that addresses changes in consumer culture and the advent of liquid modernity brings forth a new perspective of the behaviour as a problem. The contradictions between time and space reveal that hoarding may stem from changes in society. This allows for further consideration of the behaviour as a problem, and widens the potential for future research.


title: Training Our Bodies to Defend Ourselves: Self-defence Training as Embodied Learning

abstract: This thesis examines how self-defence training changes participants’ experiences of, and responses to, lived vulnerability to interpersonal violence as seen through gender. Fieldwork for this thesis took place in both an eight-week women’s self-defence class and a twelve-week advanced (co-ed) self-defence class; taught by the same studio. Participants in these classes cultivated a variety of body-habits that will be explored in terms of training perception; control over one’s affective responses to threats; and control over aggressive/threatening situations as a whole.While other studies of self-defence featuring women tend to focus on describing the benefits of the practice for female survivors of sexual violence, this study is broader in scope. It examines how these benefits come about through a phenomenological analysis of the habits taken up in self-defence training, and it offers commentary on how gender norms are addressed, taken up, or challenged through the practice of self-defence.


title: NOVEL SPECT RNA QUANTIFICATION OF MECHANICAL DYSSYNCHRONY FOR THE PREDICTION OF CRT RESPONSE

abstract: Mechanical dyssynchrony (MD) occurs when different regions of the heart wall contract out of phase, often leading to congestive heart failure (CHF). Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is a medical intervention for CHF that resynchronizes the heart, reducing MD. However, CRT provides no clinical benefit in 20-50% of recipients. Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) radionuclide angiography (RNA) is an imaging technique that is capable of quantifying MD by accurately assessing cardiac wall motion. In this thesis, new methods of quantifying MD with SPECT RNA were developed and evaluated as a means to predict response to CRT. Novel Fourier-analysis (FA) amplitude values were compared to left ventricular (LV) scar size in the lateral wall to determine whether they can serve as surrogate markers for predicting response to CRT. Moderate but significant correlations were shown to exist between amplitude- and scar-based parameters.  Lateral wall amplitude analysis was equivalent to lateral wall scar analysis for predicting response to CRT, but there were indications that amplitude may also be partly complementary to scar.Novel MD parameters were developed using FA amplitude parameters and by developing novel clustering algorithms. These novel MD parameters were evaluated alongside pre-established FA phase-based parameters in both global and segmental regions for their ability to predict CRT response. In both FA and cluster analysis, several septal wall parameters were significantly predictive of CRT response. Based on the area under a receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), there was an indication of improved predictive ability using cluster analysis (AUC=0.82) over scar analysis (AUC=0.73) and FA (AUC=0.78), but differences were not significant in the small test population.  Novel amplitude-based FA parameters and cluster analysis approaches provide promising tools for the assessment of MD and the prediction of CRT response with SPECT RNA.


title: Change in Defensive Functioning Over the Course of Group Psychodynamic Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Women With Binge Eating Disorder

abstract: This study examined change in defensive functioning during group psychodynamic interpersonal psychotherapy (GPIP) for women with Binge Eating Disorder (BED). Women with BED (N = 102) received 16-weeks of GPIP. Participants were assigned to a high or low attachment anxiety condition based on pre-treatment attachment anxiety scores. Three group therapy sessions (sessions 3, 8, and 16) from each of 12 groups were video recorded, transcribed, and participants were rated on an observer rating scale of defensive functioning, the Defense Mechanism Rating Scale. Defensive functioning was reliably assessed in this group therapy context and improved significantly during treatment. Change in defensive functioning was significantly associated with better self-esteem and lower interpersonal problems but only for women with high attachment anxiety. GPIP to improved defensive functioning, and change in defensive functioning for women with BED and high attachment anxiety is an important aspect for improving their self esteem and interpersonal problems.


title: Between Pre-Objectivity and Objectivity: A Phenomenological Study of Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapists' Experiences of Healing in Music

abstract: Following four months of fieldwork at the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy in New York City, this thesis investigates the experiences of Nordoff-Robbins music therapists who work with “hard to reach” clients from a phenomenological perspective. The “hard to reach” client is conceptualized as having a disorder of communication which therapy restores. Based on therapists’ experiences, three phenomenological problems are addressed: the problem of training therapeutic habits of perception, the problem of creativity, and the problem of language to describe lived experience in music. It was found that creative music therapists learn to listen and respond with clinical intention, guiding the pre-objective, synaesthetic perception of the client. In improvisation, determinacy and indeterminacy are negotiated with each musical expression, moving between pre-objective and objective experiential realms. Finally, therapists’ lived experience is partial and indeterminate and is expressed through metaphor and poetics to best capture the pre-objective experience of the world.


title: An Absorbed Dose to Water Primary Standard for Ir-192 Brachytherapy

abstract: The goal of this work was to develop an absorbed dose to water primary standard for Ir-192 brachytherapy by using a Fricke dosimeter. The radiation chemical yield (G-value) of the Ferric ions in the Fricke solution was measured at Co-60 and 250 kVp X-ray, yielding 1.610 ± 0.010 μmol J-1 and 1.602 ± 0.009 μmol J-1 respectively. A log-linear interpolation was conducted based on the two standard beam values to realize the radiation chemical yield at Ir-192 energy of 1.605 ± 0.005 μmol J-1. A PMMA holder was developed for irradiations using an Ir-192 brachytherapy source and a final uncertainty on the dose to water at the reference position of 0.7 % was achieved, in agreement with NRC air-kerma based standards at the 2σ level.


title: Evaluating Risk Assessments Among Sex Offenders: A Comparative Analysis of Static and Dynamic Factors

abstract: In two studies, the predictive accuracy and the incremental validity of different dynamic risk assessment measures were examined. In Study 1, the Dynamic Risk Assessment for Offender Re-Entry (DRAOR), which is a measure of dynamic risk and protective factors, was examined with a sample of 203 male adult sexual offenders. The results demonstrated that the DRAOR significantly predicted technical violations, but failed to significantly predict sexual recidivism. Further, the DRAOR made a significant incremental contribution over the Static-99R for predicting technical violations. In  Study 2, the Stable-2007 and Acute-2007, which were designed to assess dynamic predictors of sexual recidivism among male adult sexual offenders, were examined with a sample of 207 sex offenders. Results showed that both dynamic measures significantly predicted technical violations, but demonstrated weak predictive accuracy for sexual reoffense. The Stable-2007 and Acute-2007 also added incremental validity to the prediction of technical violations over and above the Static-99R.


title: Measurements and Monte Carlo simulations for reference dosimetry of external radiation therapy beams

abstract: About 50 % of cancer patients receive some form of radiation therapy over the course of treatment.  The accuracy of external beam radiation therapy relies on careful reference dosimetry, the calibration of treatment machine output.  A comprehensive investigation of reference dosimetry of photon and electron beams is presented using measurements and Monte Carlo simulations, with specific focus on the determination of accurate beam quality conversion factors, kQ, which are needed to convert the reading of an ionization chamber calibrated in a cobalt-60 reference field to the absorbed dose to water in a clinical beam.  Measurements of kQ factors for plane-parallel chambers are determined as the ratio of absorbed dose calibration coefficients, traceable to the Canadian primary standard water calorimeter, in a cobalt-60 beam to those from linac photon beams.  The poor repeatability of these measurements indicates that plane-parallel chambers may not be suitable for reference dosimetry without a cross-calibration procedure.  With the EGSnrc code system, kQ factors are calculated as the ratio of the absorbed dose to water and the absorbed dose to the gas in fully modelled ionization chambers in clinical photon and electron beams to that in a cobalt-60 beam.  Calculated kQ factors for all chambers are within 0.7 % of those recommended by current dosimetry protocols although individual correction factors, used to explain the differences between kQ factors, are up to 1.7 % different.  Systematic uncertainties in calculated kQ factors are less than 0.5 % using realistic assumptions and generally less than 1 % with conservative assumptions.  Excellent agreement is observed when comparing the measured kQ factors of this work and from the refereed literature to the present calculated values.  This comparison is used to establish that the upper limit of (W/e)air variation with photon beam quality is 0.36 % with 95 % confidence.  The level of agreement between measured and calculated kQ factors and the low systematic uncertainties in Monte Carlo calculated kQ factors give great confidence in adopting these calculations for updated reference dosimetry protocols.


title: The Blue Line on Thin Ice: Police Use of Force in the Era of Cameraphones, 'Citizen Journalism', and YouTube

abstract: In today's urban environments the ubiquity of camera phones and the entrenchment of both 'citizen journalism' and Web 2.0 media into social life and socio-political discourses have exponentially increased the public's exposure to police violence. This thesis investigates the impact on contemporary policing of the 'new visibility' of police conduct. Findings emerged from the surveying of 231 front-line officers in Toronto and Ottawa, follow-up interviews with 20 of these officers, and interviews with 8 policing officials in those two cities. It was determined that widespread video oversight of policing and the ability of citizens to disseminate imagery through social media is profoundly embedded in the consciousness of operational officers and has resulted in various behavioural changes through the deterrence of certain 'performances', including significant moderations in police use of force practices. Technological innovations have enabled transformative changes in the public-police relationship and power dynamic through a democratizing social levelling.


title: Validating Phenomenological Aspects of the Mental Imagery Experience through Meta-Analysis: Beyond Global Assessment of Imagery Ability

abstract: Two assessments of mental imagery vividness were compared through meta-analysis, the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ), and trial-by-trial ratings of vividness. Each vividness assessment was further divided into behavioural/cognitive or neuroscientific measures. It was found that the average effect size magnitude for trial-by-trial vividness exceeded that of the VVIQ for behavioural/cognitive, but not neuroscientific measures. However, the average effect sizes magnitude for neuroscientific measures was generally greater than behavioural/cognitive ones. Additionally, the average effect sizes magnitude for trial-by-trial vividness ratings was generally greater than the VVIQ. It is suggested that trial-by-trial ratings, in conjunction with neuroscientific measurement, may provide a more precise and reliable measure of mental imagery vividness. Despite face validity, unique observations correlating trial-by-trial vividness ratings with the VVIQ were weak to moderate on average. Theoretical considerations on the empirical validity of the construct of vividness are discussed.


title: Interactions of BLADE-ON-PETIOLE1 and 2 with TALE Homeobox Genes in the Regulation of Flowering and Inflorescence Architecture in Arabidopsis Thaliana

abstract:
Plants have evolved a diversity of inflorescence architectures and variations in flowering time to maximize reproductive success within their environment. BLADE-ON-PETIOLE 1, 2 (BOP1/2) are a class of BTB-ankryin transcription factors. BOP activity is concentrated at meristem-organ junctions (“lateral organ boundaries”) where it functions to control the morphology of leaves, flowers, fruits, and inflorescences.
Gain-of-function BOP1/2 plants mimic loss-of-function in KNOX and BELL three-amino-acid-loop extension (TALE) homeodomain proteins. BEL1-like (BELL) genes PENNYWISE (PNY) and
POUNDFOOLISH (PNF) are required for Arabidopsis thaliana competence to flower, whereas the KNOTTED1-like HOMEOBOX (KNOX) gene BREVIPEDICELLUS (BP) in conjunction with PNY control internode elongation and stem patterning in inflorescences. In this thesis, I used BOP gain-of-function as an approach to uncover interactions with TALE homeobox genes in regulation of flowering and inflorescence architecture.
Firstly, I showed that BP/PNY in stems and PNY/PNF in meristems restrict BOP1/2 expression to boundaries to promote flowering, internode elongation and vascular patterning. Secondly, I identified lateral organ boundary genes KNOTTED-like from ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA6 (KNAT6) and ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA HOMEBOX GENE1 (ATH1) as required by BOP1/2 to antagonize BP/PNY activity through reciprocal regulation of downstream target genes, including biosynthetic enzymes required for lignin deposition in stems. Lastly, BOP1/2 lack a DNA-binding domain and associate with promoter DNA by binding to TGACG (TGA) bZIP transcription factors. I identified TGA1 and TGA4 bZIP factors required by BOP1/2 to exert changes in flowering and inflorescence architecture.
Collectively, these findings shed light on how interplay between BOP1/2 and KNOX-BELL complexes in the meristem and lateral organ boundaries governs flowering and inflorescence architecture in a model plant species.


title: Critical Geopolitics and the Construction of Security in South Asia

abstract: The study demonstrates how the security of the south Asian region, specifically within the context of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, is an epistemological question. This is especially so in how cultural and political identities are structured, how the politics and power nexus works in the region by distinguishing ‘We’ and ‘They’, and in how hegemonic power is a concern in establishing any security concept in the region. The thesis examines contemporary discourses of identity, danger, threat, and imagined community as part of a broader discussion of critical geopolitics, specifically popular geopolitics. Discourse analysis acts as a method for studying how identities are formed and transformed in a historical context, how danger and threats are securitized and how ‘the other’ is used to construct security concepts from South Asian  perspectives. Foreign policies and security narratives are not only indispensable for examining South Asian security concepts; images and other forms of representation are also important in shaping the patterns of security, identity, security integration and social order. Popular culture and visual media, such as films and cartoons, are deeply rooted in geopolitical discourse. They can reinforce or contest geopolitical images and representations, and are able to provide a framework for interpreting and understanding geo-historical and contemporary events. Visual media are involved with learning and social mobilization and they may influence and inspire national and regional institutions to reshape the traditional structure of security in the South Asian region. Finally, the research contributes to the field of the geographical dimensions of security emphasizing that the role of popular geopolitics is indispensable to understanding the essentially contested concept of security in South Asia.


title: Monte Carlo dose calculations for breast and lung permanent implant brachytherapy

abstract: Current clinical practice for dose calculations for brachytherapy utilizes the TG-43 formalism where absorbed dose is calculated in a homogeneous water environment. The formalism does not account for the effect of tissue heterogeneities, interseed attenuation, and the finite dimensions of patients causing significant errors in calculated doses for low-energy permanent implant brachytherapy. As an alternative, Monte Carlo (MC) dose calculations model radiation transport and dose deposition in non-water media but have only seen recent application to brachytherapy; issues relating to accurate MC calculations for permanent brachytherapy are unresolved and, in some cases, are completely unexplored. This thesis investigates the accurate application of MC dose calculations for permanent implant breast and lung brachytherapy.MC calculations of permanent implant breast brachytherapy have commonly used a single tissue with a composition averaging that of fibroglandular and adipose tissues. Changes in dose due to segmenting gland and adipose tissues and calcifications are determined and results suggest that averaged tissues produce inaccurate photon energy fluences and thus, in most cases, are unsuitable for calculating doses.The first investigation of patient-specific MC dose calculations for permanent implant I-125 lung brachytherapy is presented where the modelling choices that significantly affect doses are determined and deviations of up to 36% from TG-43 calculated doses are found. CT image artifact reduction and organ-constrained tissue assignment are studied to find improved techniques for modelling patients. MC calculations are used to determine that current lung brachytherapy treatment planning practices are insufficient for producing dose distributions in patients since implant deformation and patient tissues significantly change planning dose distributions. Finally, current and novel radionuclides for permanent implant lung brachytherapy are explored.


title: Stressed Mice Alter Caloric Preference for Carbohydrate Rich Diets: The Role of Ghrelin During Stress

abstract: Under chronic social stress conditions, mice show a preference for carbohydrates. In this present thesis we hypothesize that this behavior is critical for blunting the stress response and that ghrelin contributes to this change in preference. Using the chronic social defeat stress paradigm, we showed that stressed mice increase their total caloric intake, particularly the intake of carbohydrate rich diets and sucrose solutions over palatable high fat diets. Furthermore, mice that are prevented from increasing their caloric intake show exaggerated hormonal responses to the social stressor. Finally, mice with mutations to the ghrelin receptor gene (GHSR KO) do not show increased caloric intake and show more depressive like symptoms in spite of increasing their consumption of a sucrose solution. This data suggests that stress increases the intake of carbohydrate rich foods to attenuate the endocrine response to social stress and that ghrelin plays an important role in this process.


title: Modeling, Dynamic Simulation and Design of Magnetic Sensors Based on Magnetic Tunnel Junction Technology

abstract: Spintronic devices, with the integration of magnetic materials and microstructures， have been enabling people to make use of the electron spin and charge properties in many applications. Few works, however, have been carried out in modeling these devices based on magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) technology. Accordingly, this thesis proposes a novel modeling approach as well as an iterative simulation methodology for MTJs. A more comprehensive electrical tunneling model is established for better interpreting the conductance and current generated by the electron tunneling, and this model can also facilitate the iterative simulation of the micromagnetic dynamics. Given the improved tunneling model and the iterative dynamic simulation, the electric characteristics of an MTJ with an external magnetic field can be conveniently computed. Finally, the magnetic sensor design based on the MTJ technology and the fabrication methods are presented. These works would lay a foundation for the future development of new spintronic devices.


title: A Disciplined Healing: The New Language of Indigenous Imprisonment in Canada

abstract: This study examines emerging positivist criminological and penal discourse shaping the appearance of Correctional Service Canada’s (CSC) ‘Aboriginal Corrections’ programme for Indigenous prisoners.The expansion of criminological research and penal policy has produced a ‘regime of truth’ governing notions of ‘criminality’ of Indigenous prisoners within federal prisons and suggests that ‘criminality’ is treatable through ‘healing’ models. One consequence of integrating elements of healing into penal policy is the extension of penal power to diagnose ‘criminality’ based on social positioning within colonial history. Following a Foucauldian framework, this thesis problematizes the arrival of healing-based discourses in penal practice. It is shown that CSC’s absorption and re-appropriation of historical colonial harms as ‘criminogenic’ risk/need precursors to ‘criminality’ indicates a recoding of history and ‘Aboriginality’ as targets for ‘correctional therapy’. The thesis proposes that ‘healing’ for Indigenous prisoners in Canadian penitentiaries represents a continuity of colonial projects and an intensification of disciplinary power.


title: Examining the Relationship Between Working Memory Capacity, Team Situational Awareness and Team Performance in Extreme Work Teams

abstract: Extreme work teams such as the ones found in the military, police, and firefighter domains rely heavily on team situational awareness (TSA).  In these domains, a lack of TSA has been associated with the loss of life.  While there are several factors which may contribute to TSA and team performance (e.g. communication), selecting the right individuals with the right cognitive abilities may also play an important role.  This study, therefore, examined the relationship between a team’s mean working memory capacity (WMC), TSA, and team performance.  Results showed that while within-team WMC differences were not associated with TSA or team performance, teams with a higher mean WMC did have a positive relationship with TSA, team specific queries, and had higher overlapping correct SA.  A positive relationship was also found between TSA and two separate forms of team way-finding performance. Keywords: working memory capacity, team situational awareness, team performance


title: German Identity in the Context of the European Union Enlargement Eastward: A Step Closer to Germanness?

abstract: In its quest for an “ever closer Union,” the EU is progressively building power in the sphere of politics, financing, security, and identity formation. This case study of German national identity explores the impact of intensified Europeanization on the (trans)formation and expression of notions such as national identity, consciousness, and the feeling of national belonging. For several decades, Germany has been hailed as an exemplary EU supporter with low levels of national attachment. However, an in-depth analysis of the German media narrative surrounding identity (trans)formation in the context of the EU eastern enlargement reveals surprising insights, which challenge Germany’s Europeanness, while German citizens increasingly appear to perceive German national identity and pride as positive concepts. This development has coincided with the rise of Euroscepticism in the EU. This master thesis explores a tenuous connection between these two developments and the factors at play.


title: Anomaly Detection for Mobile Device Comfort

abstract: In this work, we utilize the data that can be collected via some of the sensors found on modern smartphones to find anomalies in the behaviour of a smartphone user and the current context. This can be done to prevent the mobile phone from being compromised physically or to warn the user when he/she is behaving "unusually."We apply the "time slice" notion to existing anomaly detection methods, evaluate our approach on two published data sets, and confirm that it is feasible to use our approach on smartphones with modest hardware.Our work is part of Marsh et al.'s Device Comfort paradigm, which is an application of computational trust to mobile device security, where the mobile device is able to have a varying level of "trust" in its user based on behavioural biometrics, and the contexts in which the user interacts with the mobile device.


title: Aircraft APU Starter Health Monitoring and Failure Prognostics

abstract: Auxiliary power unit (APU) is a gas turbine engine on aircraft that provides energy for functions other than propulsion. Its starter is a crucial component that outputs assistant power to support the APU starting process. Starter performance degradation significantly impairs the whole APU life and raises risks for the aircraft flight. The aim of this thesis is to propose a framework for enabling the online detection and prediction of starter degradation. An online classifier based on moving autocorrelation is designed to detect the initial phase of degradation for the starter’s failure. Also, a particle filtering based approach with an associated system state model is proposed to achieve the fault diagnostics and failure prognostics. The results demonstrate that a condition based maintenance program for the APU starter can be implemented to avoid unnecessary economic losses and to enhance aircraft operating safety.


title: Three Essays on Real-Financial Linkage in Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Models

abstract: In this thesis, I contribute to the growing literature on the linkage between real and financial sectors in a New-Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) framework. The first chapter of this thesis shows that financial frictions can mitigate an important puzzle related to investment-specific technology shocks. Evidence from estimated DSGE models and SVAR analysis suggests that investment shocks are an important source of business cycle fluctuation in the post-war U.S. economy. In most theoretical models, however, consumption falls on impact, contradicting its observed co-movement with output. This chapter shows that introducing financial frictions alongside endogenous capacity utilization in a New-Keynesian model can produce a positive consumption response to an investment shock. The second chapter documents a new challenge for a class of models with binding borrowing constraints related to government spending shocks. We highlight that DSGE models with housing and collateralized borrowing  predict a fall in both house prices and consumption following positive government spending shocks. In contrast, we show  house prices and consumption in the U.S. rise after identified positive government spending shocks, using a structural vector auto-regression methodology and accounting for anticipated effects. The final chapter of this thesis develops a search-theoretic banking model in a New Keynesian DSGE framework that can simultaneously explain cyclical movements in interest spreads and flows in gross loan creation and destruction, that were recently emphasized in the literature. Search frictions in the banking sector generates a counter-cyclical interest spread that amplifies business-cycles. In addition, the model generates responses in gross loan destruction and net loan flows to a credit supply shock that can qualitatively match empirical responses estimated in a vector auto-regression framework.


title: While the Future Awaits: Essays on Anticipation, Duchamp and Contemporary Cuban Art

abstract: Anticipation is a basic human condition central to the formation of experience and expectation. This thesis investigates the presence of anticipation within specific continental philosophical traditions and key art histories of the 20th and 21st century. The first chapter focuses on the development of anticipation within particular philosophical traditions and asks what it means to treat anticipation historically and thus open to repetition. It does so by positioning the idea of anticipation within theorizations of the modern, the postmodern, and the contemporary. The second essay argues that Marcel Duchamp’s painting Coffee Mill (1911) develops, perhaps for the first time, an anticipatory logic central to the artist’s oeuvre and legacy. The final essay investigates Duchamp’s legacy using two Cuban case studies of contemporary Cuban art: the practices of artist Flavio Garciandía in the 1970s and Sandra Ceballos’ art space (Espacio Aglutinador) since the 1990s.


title: Regulation of Anti-Apoptotic Pathways in Skeletal Muscle and Liver of an Estivating Species, Xenopus laevis

abstract: This study investigated the anti-apoptotic pathways activated during dehydration and estivation of the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis. Staying immobile for a significant period of time can cause serious tissue atrophy in non-adapted animals. To preserve skeletal muscle and liver mass, certain metabolic pathways with functions in cell preservation and protection must be activated. This study focused on two families of transcription factors, NF-κB and STAT whose target genes include those with anti-apoptotic functions. The data indicated an upregulation of the NF-ᴋB pathway in liver of dehydrated frogs along with downstream targets Bcl-xL and c-IAP. STAT3 appeared to be active in liver whereas STAT5 was active in skeletal muscle. Relative levels of the NF-κB and STAT downstream target Bcl-2 were elevated in response to dehydration. Analysis of pro- and anti-apoptotic microRNAs indicated that these contribute to post-transcriptional regulation of mRNA transcripts that encode proteins with roles in cell survival.


title: Regulation of Protein Translation and Cell Cycle Processes by Reversible Protein Phosphorylation in Response to Dehydration in the African Clawed Frog

abstract: The primarily aquatic African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, has adapted to endure substantial dehydration, partly by entering a state of hypometabolism. This thesis focuses on two processes targeted by the central protein kinase Akt (that is inhibited during dehydration) – protein translation and the cell cycle. Results suggest that dehydration leads to mTORC1 inhibition via PRAS40 activation in both liver and skeletal muscle, thereby suppressing protein synthesis. Suppression of Akt also allows activation of p21 and p27 cell cycle inhibitors to promote cell cycle arrest in liver. Analysis of multiple protein components shows that cell cycle arrest is actively facilitated in liver, but not in muscle. Regulation of liver kinases and phosphatases led to hypophosphorylation of Rb which inhibits E2F1-induced transcription of genes required for cell cycle progression. Overall, during dehydration, frogs suppress protein translation in liver and muscle, and show regulated cell cycle arrest in liver, a proliferative tissue.


title: Concurrent and Predictive Links Between Children's Classroom Experiences, Academic Engagement, and Anxious Solitude in Elementary School

abstract: The primary goal of this dissertation was to examine the predictors and outcomes associated with behavioural academic engagement in childhood. Behavioural academic engagement can be described as attention, participation, and on-task behaviour in the classroom (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004). Many factors have been found to predict behavioural engagement, such as classroom factors (e.g., teacher-child relationships, peer relationships, class climate), socio-demographic factors, and child factors (e.g., gender, anxious solitude). Although many educational outcomes are strongly inter-associated, the current dissertation examined the mediating role of academic engagement on the relation between classroom experiences and academic achievement. In addition, the moderating role of child factors was examined on the relations between classroom experiences and academic engagement. For the current study, data on N = 779 children were drawn from the National Institute of Child and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) data set. A series of moderated-mediation models were examined at both grade 1 and grade 3. Finally, predictors of change in engagement over time were examined. Among the results, support for the differential susceptibility hypothesis (Belsky, 1997) was found, indicating that anxious solitary children may be more reactive (both positively and negatively) to elements of the classroom environment. In addition, some gender effects were found, suggesting that anxious solitary boys may be at a particularly elevated risk for academic problems. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for future research and educational policies concerning the structure of the classroom environment.


title: Social Media and Crisis Communication: Theories and Best Practices

abstract: Communication experts have argued that crises are no longer a matter of “if” but “when” in corporate life. Corporations must be ready to respond to a crisis with the greatest proficiency, for it can easily damage an organization’s image, identity, and reputation. It is for this reason that the field of crisis communications has developed theories and strategies to guide organizations through periods of crisis. However, most of these theories are based on traditional models of communications that emphasize a one-way flow of information from a single communicator to a mass audience. Social media has destabilized established frameworks for crisis communication. This thesis explores how experts in crisis communication conceptualize the disruptive effects of social media on crisis communication. The study presents findings that will contribute to both scholarship and professional practice.


title: Steady-State Simulation of Microwave Photonic Systems

abstract: The past decade has seen intense activity in the field of microwave photonics in which optical components are used to generate, distribute, control and process microwave and millimeter-wave signals. This has led to the co-existence of electrical and optical components at the level of the integrated circuit. The existence of electrical and optical devices at the same design level requires design tools that can handle components belonging to both physical domains simultaneously for performing system simulation. The technique presented in this thesis addresses this need by presenting a method to perform steady-state simulation of optical-electrical systems using Harmonic Balance (HB). One of the unique features of this method is that it includes phase of the optical signal in finding the steady-state solution of the system.  Several examples are presented that demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method and where possible the results are compared with existing techniques.


title: Effects of a Number Game and a Spatial Game on Number Line Estimation

abstract: The goal of the present study was to examine whether young children benefited from having an explicit midpoint reference on the number line after training on ordinal knowledge.  Preschool-aged children (N = 84; M = 53 months old) were exposed to one session of ordinal training or spatial training.  The results show that children who received ordinal training showed near transfer to an ordinal task and far transfer to a number line task.  The results also show that children showed more improvements in the version of the number line task where an explicit midpoint reference was presented than no midpoint was presented.  In contrast, children who received spatial training only showed near transfer to a 2-D mental rotation task.  These results indicate that the ordinal knowledge of the number system is crucial for successful estimation on the number line task.


title: Development of Wearable Ultrasonic Sensors for Monitoring Muscle Contraction

abstract: This thesis presents the development of a wearable ultrasonic sensor to monitor muscle contractions. A flexible and lightweight ultrasonic sensor was constructed using a PVDF film. A numerical simulation model of the sensor, based on Mason’s model, was developed. The performance and frequency characteristics of the developed sensors were investigated. The results of the numerical simulations and experiments show that the developed sensor operates in dual frequencies due to the effect of the non-piezoelectric layers. The ultrasonic signal strength of the sensor with respect to the sensor size was also investigated.Muscle contractions were monitored by the developed sensor. The muscle thickness changes measurement has been used to monitor muscle activities during contractions. The flexibility and lightweight of the sensor allows the sensor to be attached to the body area of interest without restricting the underlying tissue movements, which is not feasible using a conventional handheld ultrasonic probe.


title: Reification and Alternatives to Development

abstract: This thesis evaluates the post-development concept of “alternatives to development” from the perspectives of critical political economy and Western Marxism. Post-development theorists have long critiqued how development depoliticizes social life and suppresses alternative political imaginations. In formulating alternatives to this mode of social change, they emphasize place-based politics of cultural difference, premised on notions of coloniality, economic difference and autonomy. As I demonstrate, these theoretical positions are limiting, for they unnecessarily close off post-development theory from potential strategies and allies. Alternatively, I argue that the Marxist concept of reification provides an alternative analytical framework which transcends these limitations. By highlighting the role of capitalist class relations in shaping subjectivity and limiting political imagination, the concept of reification thereby illuminates the conditions which make thinking and acting “otherwise” materially possible, while expanding the scope for social action beyond the margins of the capitalist world system.


title: Improving Mental Models of Computer Security Through Information Graphics

abstract: Many users have difficulties making effective security decisions. Education is one way to improve users' mental models of computer security, but a common challenge is that users are not motivated to learn about security. We propose that a visual approach to education can improve comprehension and engagement with security information. This thesis examines whether information graphics form an effective, memorable, and persuasive method of communication to increase computer security understanding and improve user behaviour. Guided by visual-textual strategies developed in education literature, we designed seven pieces of instructional materials that help end-users learn about password guessing attacks and antivirus protection. These include five infographics and two interactive comics. Five one-week user studies with a total of 145 participants show that information graphics led to superior learning outcomes and a better user experience than existing text-alone approaches. Participants showed an increase of comprehension, retention, and improved behaviour after one week.


title: Bayesian Model Selection and Parameter Estimation for Strongly Nonlinear Dynamical Systems

abstract: In this thesis, a Bayesian framework for model selection and parameter estimation is reported to tackle strongly nonlinear systems using noisy observational data. The model selection task involves estimating the posterior probabilities of each proposed model based on observations. To evaluate the probability of a model, the evidence is computed using the Chib-Jeliazkov method that makes use of Metropolis-Hastings samples of the posterior distribution of the parameters. The parameter estimation algorithm entails a state estimation procedure carried out by non-Gaussian filters.  When the measurements are sparse, the nonlinearity in the model or measurement operator introduces non-Gaussian features in the system state. The Ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) and Particle filter (that uses EnKF for the proposal density) handle the state estimation problem. The methodology is illustrated with two numerical examples, namely the Double-Well system and a mass-spring-damper system having multiple types of nonlinearities such as freeplay, cubic stiffness and hysteresis.


title: Spatial and Temporal Variability of Lake Accumulation Rates in Subarctic Northwest Territories, Canada

abstract: We examined the spatial and temporal variability of Holocene lake sediment accumulation at 22 sites from 18 lakes transecting boreal forest, tree line, and tundra zones in the central Northwest Territories, Canada. Over 140 radiocarbon dates were obtained, and accumulation rates (AR) were calculated at 100-year intervals from age-depth models constructed using the modeling software Clam. Sites with the shortest mean AR of 25±10yr/cm(1σ) occur primarily in the boreal zone. Sites with moderate (70±22yr/cm) and long (160±56yr/cm) AR are north of the treeline and display higher variability, strongly influenced by bathymetry. Many age-depth models are characterized by fluctuations in ARs that coincide with paleogeographical changes associated with proglacial lake evolution during the early Holocene, and subsequent climate changes inferred from proxy data. The insights gained on the spatial and temporal trends in ARs across the region are valuable for developing higher resolution age-depth models using the Bayesian software Bacon.


title: Verifying Real-Time Embedded Software by Means of Automated State-based Online Testing and the SPIN Model Checker—Application to RTEdge Models

abstract: Verifying a real time embedded application is very challenging especially since one has to consider timing requirements in addition to functional ones. Through online testing, the risks of failure in real time applications are reduced. During online state-based testing the generation and execution of test cases happens concurrently: test case generation uses information from a state-based test model in combination with observed execution behaviour. This thesis describes a practical online testing algorithm that is implemented in the state-based modeling tool RTEdge developed at Edgewater Computer Systems Inc. In addition, thanks to RTEdge’s mechanism to map the state model to Promela, thereby allowing the use of the SPIN model checker, when additional coverage is needed after the online testing procedure, SPIN is used to generate additional test cases that will increase coverage. The case studies show that our online testing algorithm produces a test suite that achieves high model coverage.


title: "Ableism at Work: How the Social Construction of Learning Disabilities and its Hegemonic Discourse Reinforces Disabling Barriers, Stifles Creativity and Prohibits Constructive Dialogue in the Workplace."

abstract: The traditional learning disability discourse situates learning difficulties as biological ‘deficits’ within an individualist context.  Problems for adults with learning disabilities at work arise when ableist attitudes of non-learning disabled people intersect with creative problem-solving techniques used by employees with learning disabilities.  Such techniques are viewed as a disruption to the hierarchical nature of dichotomous, non-learning-disabled/learning-disabled relationships.  A social constructionist theoretical lens was used to argue that ableist work environments handicap people with learning disabilities.  A qualitative, criterion-based sampling method involving six participants provided data for a content analysis, juxtaposed with a secondary literature review interwoven with the findings.  While participants struggled with aspects of their work, attitudinal barriers of the workplace were the primary ‘deficits’ because they restricted participants from using coping strategies that worked for them. Thus, individual narratives in research could largely inform future policy-making decisions and social work practice.


title: Password Managers: Comparative Evaluation, Design, Implementation and Empirical Analysis

abstract: Passwords continue to prevail as the primary method for user authentication, despite well-known drawbacks. Password managers offer improvement without the deployment barrier of server-side changes. This thesis examines password managers to alleviate some of the deficits of password authentication, while retaining the deployability advantages of passwords.In order to provide more fine-grained comparative evaluation of password managers, we extend the Usability-Deployability-Security framework of Bonneau et. al. by adding additional evaluation properties which allow differentiation of password managers by characteristics not measured by the more general UDS.We introduce and evaluate the security of dual-possession authentication, an authentication approach offering encrypted storage of passwords and theft-resistance without the use of a master password. We further introduce Tapas as a implementation of dual-possession authentication leveraging a desktop computer and a smartphone. Tapas requires no server-side changes, no master password, and protects stored passwords in the event either device is stolen.


title: Delay Asymmetry Correction Model for IEEE 1588 Synchronization Protocol

abstract: The thesis proposes a delay asymmetry correction (DAC) model to enhance the IEEE 1588 synchronization protocol. The purpose of this work is to mitigate the effects of unpredictable packet delay variations (PDV), which cause asymmetric link delays on timing packets, in order to improve the synchronization accuracy of the slave clock with respect to the master clock. This is done by computing the time difference between the master and the slave clock asymmetric communication link delays. The NS-2 results indicate that the proposed solution achieves high synchronization accuracy of the slave clock in the presence of various bi-directional traffic loads, network congestions, and temporary network outage. Furthermore, the solution also improves the slave accuracy when there is a routing path change due to the failure in the network. However, the proposed solution does not perform well when it is incorporated with the AOCM model.


title: Unsaturated Flow in Hydrating Porous Media:  Application to Cemented Paste Backfill

abstract: Sustainability of hardrock mining is contingent upon delivering a high quality cemented paste backfill (CPB) that is self-sustaining during ore recovery.  The integrity of CPB systems hinges on how quickly in excess pore-water pressures (PWPs) dissipates.  Consolidation and self-desiccation are critical factors that determine how rapid PWPs expel in hydrating CPB.  Current models characterize stress distributions in CPB based on fully saturated / undrained conditions.  Recent studies suggest that such conditions are not entirely valid.  This research therefore, describes PWP behaviour in CPB by using an unsaturated flow theory framework that takes into account self-desiccation.  The analyses involved capturing the experimental lower and upper bound water-retention properties of CPB.  These properties are then used to solve a modified 1-D unsaturated flow equation of hydrating CPB material.  Numerical predictions of PWPs in a column test were well simulated when comparing these results with the experimental measurements.


title: Film, Fear and the Female: An Empirical Study of the Female Horror Spectator

abstract: This thesis combines feminist theoretical frameworks of analysis with original, empirical research to examine the under-representation of the female horror spectator in critical discourse. The merging of theory and empirical data allows for an in-depth study of the psychological motivations of the female spectator's relative absence from theoretical study. Drawing heavily upon the work of Brigid Cherry, Justin Nolan and Gery Ryan, this project comparatively assesses fandom as exemplified by the female spectator. Utilizing a sample of twenty-two, self-identified female horror fans, the findings of this project support the hypothesis that female horror fans prefer intellectually stimulating films and narratives, regardless of the inclusion of graphic violence. Challenging a variety of misconceptions about horror spectatorship, the present project opens a new line inquiry into a field of investigation previously considered unworthy of study.


title: Incorrigible While Incarcerated: Topic Modeling Mainstream Canadian News Depictions of Ashley Smith

abstract: Ashley Smith, who is typically presented in the media as mentally ill, was nineteen years old when she died from self-strangulation in an Ontario women’s prison on October 19th, 2007. In this thesis, I explored how Ashley Smith’s actions and death were portrayed in four mainstream Canadian newspapers (Globe and Mail, Telegraph-Journal, Toronto Star and National Post). My aim in this thesis is to critically analyze patterns of stereotypes of mental illness present in these news articles and connect these patterns to labeling theories. To accomplish this goal, I used a mixed methods approach that combined computerized topic modeling with critical reading. Topic modeling revealed three variables that affected topic weight: the timing of the news coverage, newspaper political affiliation and circulation/location. These three variables also impacted how these newspapers depicted Ashley Smith as mentally ill, through their use of generic and/or negative terminology, medicalization and vulnerability stereotypes.


title: Building an Engaged University: The River Building as a  Spatial Reflection of Carleton University’s Social Mission

abstract: This thesis explores the use of space to identify the similarities and differences between the rhetoric of engagement within the university and the practices on the ground. This research emerges from tensions between shifts in the structure and purpose of the university as a social institution and a growing commitment to engagement evident in the rhetoric of the university. This thesis analyzes Carleton University’s proposed commitment to engagement, as presented in its strategic and academic plans, and the conceptions of engagement that are reflected in and supported by the design, mandate, and administration of the River Building. This thesis concludes that only studying the rhetoric of the university does not present an accurate picture of the university and that space can be used to further identify the similarities and differences between this rhetoric and the practices and policies implemented in a particular space of the university.


title: Whether Angel or Devil:  Law's Knowing and Unknowing of Veiled Muslim Women in the Case of R v. N.S.

abstract: In this thesis, I examine the recent Canadian Supreme Court case of R v. N.S., wherein a woman sought to have her right to wear a face-veil while testifying affirmed by the Court, under her Charter rights to freedom of religion. This case involves questions of religious freedom and fair trial rights, the rights and roles of sexual assault victims and witnesses, and the bounds of accommodation and toleration. I argue that the discourse in the case, from legal actors such as counsel for N.S. and the accuseds, Crown attorneys, and the justices of the Court, operates as a lens through which conceptions of identity, otherness, nationhood, and veiled Muslim women become refracted and known. Ultimately, I claim that these forms of knowledge not only construct and reinscribe binary modes of thinking about veiled Muslim women, but also allow for and result in the eliding of N.S.’s subjectivity and agency.


title: Modeling of Commuters’ Mode Choice and Office Location/Relocation Preferences of Business Firms for Informed Decision-Making and Planning: Applications of Stated Preference Methodology

abstract: Stated preference (SP) methodology is used to examine the mode choice preferences of commuters considering the addition of a non-existent Light Rail Transit (LRT) system. The study also investigates how telecommuting may influence the location/relocation of offices within a multinucleated region. Two separate surveys were carried out: A survey on commuters’ mode choice; and a survey on office location/relocation preferences within the Ottawa municipal area. Surveys elicited SP responses to a number of hypothetical scenarios defined according to the principles of SP experimental design. Additional information about the characteristics of commuters and companies was also obtained. Discrete choice analysis was used to estimate the parameters of the utility function using data collected from the surveys. The innovation in this research is the use of these SP methodologies to understand the role of certain factors in commuters’ mode preferences and the location/relocation preferences of office space within an urban area.


title: Effects of visual storage and spatial processing on pursuit tracking: Task interference in the cockpit

abstract: Visual tracking is the ability to visually follow moving targets and often involves pursuit tracking where actions from the body are made in response to visual input from the environment. Visual and pursuit tracking are used in everyday life (e.g., watching a bird fly, catching a ball), and in complex tasks like piloting aircraft (e.g., flying in formation, instrument flight). The present work examines how working memory supports pursuit tracking to better understand what does and does not interfere with pursuit tracking. In two experiments, secondary tasks designed to selectively tap visuospatial storage and processing in working memory were tested for task demands. In the following two experiments participants completed a computer-based pursuit-tracking task paired with secondary visuospatial storage and processing tasks. The secondary processing task interfered with pursuit tracking whereas the secondary storage task did not. Implications for working memory research and for multitasking in the cockpit are discussed.


title: The Cross-Pressure of Flannery O'Connor

abstract: This thesis examines Charles Taylor’s concept of “cross-pressure” as illustrated in Flannery O’Connor’s two novels, Wise Blood and The Violent Bear It Away. Taylor argues that ever since the emergence of “exclusive humanism” humanity has been forced to inhabit an “open space” in which the “cross-pressure” of world views has characterized its experience and rendered any form of “naïve faith”  impossible. This thesis will illustrate how O’Connor’s novels reflect this “open space” and the “cross-pressure” with which it is assailed, subjecting characters and reader alike to a fundamental ambiguity concerning the structure of reality. Accordingly, it will argue against the situating of O’Connor’s work strictly within the limits of grotesque realism and in favor of situating it on the border of the grotesque and the fantastic, this latter being characterized as obliging the reader “to hesitate between a natural and supernatural explanation of the events described”.


title: Seeking Scent with Robotics for Planetary Exploration

abstract: This thesis presents the work towards analyzing the odour source localization problem found in nature as a suitable analogy for planetary exploration missions. The contributions are models of two environments for which the analogy may be relevant, the training of a recurrent neural network that replicates simple forms of odour source locational strategies found in nature, and the analysis and advancement of a source likelihood map algorithm for predicting the location of a chemical source given individual detection events. Two missions that may be suitable for using the odour source localization analogy are locating methane sources on Mars and choosing a landing site for exploration of Enceladus' postulated subsurface ocean. The details in training recurrent neural networks for simple moth behaviours is shown and the results using the dynamic Mars methane plumes are discussed. The advancement of a binary chemical detection and source-localization method is shown, which improves accuracy.


title: Experimental Study of Hollow Fibre Reinforced Polymer Piles in Soft Clay

abstract: In this thesis, a research program aimed at investigating the performance of fiber reinforced polymers (FRPs) piles in soft clays is presented. FRP materials have experienced a surge in interest during the recent decades due to their favorable properties such as resistance to corrosion and degradation in comparison to steel and concrete particularly in harsh or contaminated soil conditions such as waterfront applications. The results of this experimental program indicate that for all of the FRP pile interfaces tested the interface shear strength is higher or at least on par with steel pile interfaces. The findings presented in this work show that the FRP piles are a viable alternative to steel piles. Further studies in the form of full scale pile load tests are needed in order to corroborate the results presented herein.