title: An Empirical Study Investigating the Predictors of Software Metric Correlation in Application Code and Test Code.

abstract: On non-trivial software, the large test code base needs adequate maintenance similarly to the application code. Using complexity metrics on large software reveals that Application code is more complex than test code but not necessarily so much more, Test code is not as simple as it should be and may therefore be very complex to maintain, and open source software are not adequately tested. While a number of authors hypothesize and experimentally confirm that CC has a very strong correlation with LOC, justifying the use of LOC in place of CC (and Halstead Effort), this strong correlation is prevalent only in production code as results indicate a very weak correlation in test code between LOC, CC and Halstead Effort. The kind of code, the kind of software and the kind of metric determines the extent of monotonicity software metrics and would be inappropriate to substitute one metric with another.


title: From mother to Mother Nature: The role of interpersonal attachment in human–nature relations

abstract: Over the past two decades, environmental psychologists have become increasingly interested in the concept of nature connectedness: the degree to which people feel connected to the natural world. Nature connectedness has been shown to predict a variety of important individual differences, including stronger proenvironmental attitudes and behaviours, and greater well-being. Despite the increased attention that this topic has recently received, there is a dearth of research that has comprehensively examined how people's relationship to nature might be related to and influenced by social relationships and contexts. In this dissertation, I consider and test the applicability of attachment theory to human-nature relations. Across two studies, I examined whether interpersonal attachment orientations (i.e., attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance) are associated with nature connectedness at the trait-level. I also investigated whether momentary activation of specific attachment-related schemas influence people's motivation to connect with nature, and whether dispositional attachment orientations and nature connectedness moderate the impact of these temporarily activated schemas on motivation to connect with nature. Evidence for relationships between interpersonal attachment orientations and nature connectedness at the trait-level were weak and inconsistent across the two studies. Motivation to connect with nature did not differ across experimental conditions in either study, but some evidence was found for interpersonal attachment orientations moderating the effect of some of the experimental conditions. In general, the current research did not provide clear and consistent evidence for a link between how people relate to close others and how they relate to nature, or for attachment-related contexts impacting people's motivation to connect with nature. Based on these results, one could conclude that attachment theory appears to have limited relevance for understanding human-nature relations. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.


title: Analysis of Differences Between Human Alternative Splicing Protein Isoforms and Their Links to Diseases

abstract: Alternative Splicing (AS) is a process that is believed to have links to some diseases in humans. Although AS was discovered in the 1970s, not much research has been conducted on its role in functional implications on the proteome level. This study aims to use PIPE, a protein-protein interaction prediction algorithm, along with a tissue expression dataset to build a pipeline that differentiates between AS isoform products by analyzing their sequence, functional, and tissue expression changes. The study found that there is a statistically significant overlap between PIPE-predicted protein-protein interaction (PPI) network changes and tissue expression changes of alternatively spliced isoforms (ASIs) relative to their canonical isoforms (CIs) with a p-value of 0.0000825. Finally, our study results suspect that LMO2, THOC2, and UBE2L3 are genes that have links to different disease such as basel-type breast cancer, intellectual disability (ID) and numerous autoimmune diseases mirroring similar findings from literature studies.


title: Risk Classification and Municipal Policing in Canada: Altered Practice and Innovation

abstract: In the current Canadian carceral system, categories of risk related to reoffending are assigned to individuals based on their behaviours and traits inside and outside carceral institutions. This dissertation examines the complex history and application of how classifications are generated to understand how the police take up these classifications in their work toward ensuring public safety as they supervise certain high risk individuals in the community. An 'action in practice' methodology (actor network theory) was adopted in this project whereby voluminous government-produced records were analyzed and interviews were used to capture the experiences of police officers in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and how their work relates to risk classification practices for the supervision of individuals classified as 'high risk to reoffend' in the community. This research captures how police officers self-identify and define their roles in risk classification practices through which both actions of replication of carceral risk classifications and altered policing practices have emerged. This original research makes visible how police officers' processes and practices exist within the parameters of the current carceral risk classification system. By challenging positivist, realist notions that risk is a negative and calculable construct, this research instead engages with constructivist risk theory, drawing specifically from Ulrich Beck's risk society theory. The resulting analysis utilizes narratives, stories, and experiences of risk as defined by the police in their writings and conversations to construct a more comprehensive understanding of risk classification practices at the level of municipal policing. This dissertation is organized into four core chapters addressing: (1) risk is essentially a psychological-statistical construct premised on individual traits or behaviours or combinations thereof; (2) risk classification practices are legitimized by a system-wide deference to those who claim to possess expert or scientific knowledge on risk; and (3) the lived realities of high risk individuals, the police, and Canadian communities more generally spotlight the inapplicability of risk classifications in alternate contexts outside of carceral institutions. The findings from this research contribute new sociological insights into the reality of altered practices and innovations in policing today through a focused case study of a municipal police force in Canada.


title: Controlling VR Games: Control Schemes and the Player Experience

abstract: Control schemes are central to the user experience in video games as they determine the quality of a user's interaction with the game world. Since the 1990's, desktop 3D games have adopted the "mouselook" scheme, in which the mouse simultaneously rotates the camera view, aims and steers the avatar. However, virtual reality games do not yet have a standard control scheme and require a different approach in order to integrate input from the head-mounted display, an additional input device not present in desktop 3D games. To address this gap, we conducted two mixed-methods studies to evaluate the usability of control schemes for controller-based VR games in the FPS genre. User study 1 showed that "coupled" control schemes were most usable. Study 2 showed that both the coupled and "decoupled" schemes were usable, although some users found the decoupled scheme disorienting.


title: The State and Islam in Soviet Central Asia

abstract: This study explores the relationship between Islam and the Soviet state from World War II to the 1980s. The Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakhstan SADUM, a centralized Islamic institution in Central Asia, played a key role in this relationship. SADUM represented an attempt to harmonize the contradictory worldviews of Islam and socialism and promote a new vision of Islam to the domestic and international Orient. The Soviet state's interaction with Islam and its institutional basis follow the trend of modernizing Muslim states in the Middle East. Secular states like Turkey and Egypt had been experimenting with modern institutions similar to SADUM to promote state-controlled Islam. SADUM's exchanges with these counterpart institutions from Middle Eastern countries and its domestic role in Central Asia as a religious authority highlight the Islamic image of the Soviet Union.


title: Segregated vs. Integrative Service Design in Disability Sport Culture: A Case Study on Recreational Sport Services in Higher Education

abstract: This research aims to investigate the existing service design of athletic services offered at a higher education facility to a) develop insight on how such services may be related to concepts of segregated and integrative recreational physical activity and b) to help us understand how these services may be impacting persons with disabilities. A multi-method qualitative approach was used to develop an understanding of the perspectives and experiences of participants. The results of the methods show that, overall, segregation seemed to have a negative connotation while integration had positive associations for participants. In this case study, the services were available for all and hence, did not illustrate segregation; however, service aspects involved did play a role in favoring concepts of segregated participation. The information from the study, specifically the individual voices of participants may inform future studies related to designing fitness services for people with disabilities.


title: Technoeconomic Analysis of Air Based Solar Assisted Heat Pump Water Heaters for Canadian and American Cities

abstract: Heat pump water heaters (HPWHs) have limited market share in Canada and the United States largely due to their space cooling effect which increases heating costs throughout winters in these countries. Coupling a HPWH with solar collectors lessens the space cooling effect during cold-climate heating seasons while also improving HPWH performance year-round in cold and moderate climates. This study experimentally and numerically examined air-based solar collectors and their impact on HPWHs with the objective of determining the feasibility of solar assisted HPWHs in Canada and the United States in terms of energy performance, greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reductions, and economics. The results indicate that the space cooling effect of HPWHs can be mitigated by coupling the HPWH with a solar collector in all configurations studied. The locations with the best energy, GHG reductions, and economic performance are indicated, including financial subsidies that could be introduced to increase economic feasibility.


title: «Qui ne risque rien, n'a rein» : Conflict, Distributional Outcomes, and Property Rights in the Copper- and Cobalt -Mining Sector of the DRC.

abstract: The Democratic Republic of Congo is rich in the copper and cobalt for which there is high demand on the world market. In southeastern DRC, large-scale mining (LSM) has a long history, with a recent resurgence following the end of the second civil war in 2003. This revival of LSM investment resulted in the displacement of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) by companies. These conflicts, which have received significant attention in academic literature and policymaking, are sometimes conceptualised as pitting LSM companies against artisanal miners in continuous conflict. Yet structural factors are necessary, but not sufficient to explain the variability of conflict at and around LSM sites. Here, I link conflict incidence to the interactions between three key facets of the property rights (PR) regime at and around LSM sites: corporate enforcement, authorised clandestine extraction, and unauthorised clandestine extraction. I contend that the property rights regime is characterised by overlapping claims that reflect the persistence of clandestine mining within LSM concessions, linked to the fact that outside actors push into the not-quite-hermetic space of the mine. Conflict often erupts in a context of strategic (c)overtness when the cost of providing PR and enforcing informal agreements becomes prohibitive for reasons indirectly linked to resource access, including security guards' need to protect their employment, and companies' reputational concerns. The different security forces that govern authorised clandestine mining also use a range of forceful and non-forceful tactics to "close" LSM sites to unpaid access by artisanal miners, but do not always succeed. The interactions of the different facets also have consequences in terms of the distribution of resources among a range of actors and groups including women, different categories of traders, and ethnic communities. This research highlights that corporate PR are in fact negotiated and contested: the public security forces and other government actors define and enforce other PR, not just companies' property rights, in contexts of "illegality". These findings provide a more fine-grained explanation for LSMASM conflict and why artisanal miners frequently operate peacefully at LSM sites, including through local conflict resolution mechanisms that reduce transaction costs hindering agreement. My findings have relevance for many other areas in resource-rich African countries where artisanal miners operate "illegally".


title: Gaussian Quantum States in Discrete Phase Space

abstract: Gaussian states play a central role in continuous quantum mechanics, and an appropriate generalization might play a similar role in discrete quantum mechanics. A common-sense discretization of these turns out to be trivial. In this work, we describe two new discretizations based on recent developments in discrete phase space methods. We also extend existing notions of convergence between continuous and discrete systems and apply some of them to our constructions. Accompanying this work is a numerical software package "qWeyl" which we use to give examples and provide visualizations.


title: Understanding User Trust Processes in Internet Applications

abstract: People appear to be inconsistent when deciding what to trust online. They are cautious in onlinedating platforms but are often naive and careless when acessing online services. We conductedtwo user studies to better understand this difference: one on evaluating online dating profiles andanother on evaluating online service portals. We found that users follow the same trust processeswhile using different online platforms. The inconsistent observed behavior is due to people havingthe option of conversing with a potential date online; with online services, sensitive informationmust be given without any identity-confirming dialog. To bridge this gap we propose an authenti-cation browser which allows the user to verbally interact online platforms in order to ask identity-confirming questions of the service before authenticating to the service. Here we present the resultsfrom our user studies and an initial design for an authentication browser extension.


title: Multi-Layer Aperiodic Dielectric Stack Structures for High Performance Electromagnetic Spectral Shaping from mm-Wave to mid-IR Frequencies

abstract: Multi-layered stacked dielectric devices provide spectral shaping for filtering or beam emission purposes. An algorithm, based on the genetic algorithm optimization routine and the transmission line model of dielectric slabs, was used for the design process in two projects. The first focused on the design and fabrication of a periodic structure for bandpass filtering at millimeter-wave (aperiodic demonstrated in simulation). The fabricated structure was measured with a center frequency of 57 GHz with an insertion loss of less than 1 dB, and a 3-dB bandwidth of 4.5 GHz. The second focused on the design, fabrication, and thermal testing of a 7-layer aperiodic thermal emitter consisting of alternating layers of silicon and silicon dioxide and backed by a metallic ground plane. An emittance of 0.7 and Q-factor of 113 is achieved at 70°C. Superior performance of aperiodic structures over their periodic counterparts is demonstrated using numerical examples.


title: Sensory Substitution: Situational Awareness and Resilience using Available Sensors

abstract: This thesis proposes 1) the concept of sensory substitution to provide data extraction from multiple sensors, 2) data analytics approaches in scenarios, and 3) response vectors where rapidly deployable fixed and mobile sensors (such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles [UAVs] as a flying sensor platform) and emerging human-in-the-loop sensing are used. A "resilience feedback loop" is used throughout to improve each of these approaches. This data can provide actionable intelligence for public safety and critical infrastructure systems. This thesis presents an algorithm called sensory substitution and resilience feedback, which improves situational awareness by solving two key design challenges - limitations on deployment of new infrastructure (sensors), and limited response vectors - using sensors in-place as a source of new information. In Internet of Things (IoT) environments, numerous sensors may be available - although required sensors may not. Sensory substitution can be a solution. To make a system resilient, any smart environment or system should provide redundancies. Sometimes adding hardware/sensors is not possible, so software must simulate other sensors, creating a multi-sensory approach, with a single sensor type. A commonly found measurement system for an application is to use a sensor designed to measure quantity X. In many real-world applications, modification constraints may limit the ability to deploy new hardware. In many cases, a sensor for X is present, though the measurement need is quantity Y. How can a sensor for X act as a substitute for Sensor Y to provide some of the missing information? An agile IoT approach can be a solution. In an effort for additional improvement for increasingly deeper situational awareness, a system called sensory substitution is developed for multiple sensing systems and generalized as part of an Agile IoT approach. However, an Agile IoT system can present privacy and security concerns. With such ubiquitous sensing, seemingly innocuous data could actually "leak" information. Since additional data can be collected with sensors already in-situ, relevant privacy and security implications are discussed.


title: Model Comparison and Sparse Learning of Nonlinear Physics-Based Models Using Bayesian Inference

abstract: This thesis addresses the issue of overfitting while calibrating over-parameterized physical models with noisy and incomplete observations. A Bayesian inversion framework is augmented with model comparison and sparse learning algorithms to identify the optimal model nested under an over-parameterized model. The work is performed in three stages. First, the evidence-based Bayesian model comparison is implemented to rank competing models whereby the evidence is estimated using stationary samples from the posterior parameter probability density function (pdf) generated using a parallel and adaptive Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampler. Second, the concept of automatic relevance determination (ARD) is exploited to reformulate the model comparison problem into a sparse learning problem to alleviate the practical issues of 1) sensitivity of model evidence to prior pdf, and 2) overlooking nested models excluded in the candidate model set. ARD operates by assigning a zero-mean and unknown precision (hyperparameter) prior pdf to questionable model parameters. This ARD-based sparse learning approach is implemented using an MCMC-based evidence estimator and a gradient-free evidence optimizer to compute the optimal hyperparameters, which thereby picks out the optimal nested model. Third, a semi-analytical approach of nonlinear sparse Bayesian learning (NSBL) is proposed to alleviate the computational burden of the MCMC sampling within an optimization task. The analytical tractability of Bayesian entities is enabled by the Gaussian mixture-model approximation of the posterior parameter pdf without the ARD priors. A multistart Newton's method is designed to expedite the non-convex, unconstrained maximization of evidence using semi-analytically computed gradient and Hessian information of evidence. Each of the three proposed approaches is applied to model the complex physics behind a nonlinear aeroelastic oscillator observed in a wind-tunnel. Furthermore, several numerical studies are reported in this thesis to demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of NSBL in pruning redundant parameters from nonlinear physics-based models, leading to enhanced generalization capabilities of the predictive model.


title: Integration of Electronics and Planar Waveguide Photonics in the Silicon-on-Insulator Platform

abstract: The overall goal of this research project is to develop new techniques for the monolithic integration of electronic and optical waveguide devices in the SOI platform. We have focused on designing and demonstrating monolithic integrated waveguide photodetectors and transimpedance amplifiers since these components will be vital to most systems. In the absence of a commercial foundry SOI technology offering conventional CMOS electronic devices integrated with photonic components, we have taken two different approaches towards the integration of amplifiers and photodetectors. First, we implemented lateral bipolar junction transistors (LBJTs) and Junction Field Effect Transistors (JFETs) in a widely used commercial foundry SOI photonics technology lacking MOS devices but offering a variety of n- and p-type ion implants intended to provide waveguide modulators and photodetectors. Based on knowledge of device doping and geometry, simple compact LBJT and JFET device models for circuit simulation were developed. These models were then used to design basic transimpedance amplifiers integrated with optical waveguides, which were fabricated along with a suite of test devices. Experimental test results for the completed structures are reported and used to refine the compact device models. The second approach has been to show how low-loss optical waveguides can be integrated in a simple fully-depleted SOI CMOS technology used for in-house student project fabrication in the Carleton University Microfabrication Facility. In particular experimental and theoretical results are given for loss and photoresponse for Schottky diode photodetectors integrated with these waveguides. A CMOS transimpedance amplifier is also demonstrated in this technology.


title: Transformation and Effects of Silver and Copper Oxide Nanoparticles during Treatment and after Land Application of Sludge

abstract: The increasing antimicrobial application of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs) in industries has led to significant quantities being released into wastewater and sludge. This has raised significant concerns about their impact on soil biological activities after sludge land application. This thesis evaluates the transformation of AgNPs and CuONPs and their impact on the bacterial community during sludge treatment (anaerobic digestion, chemical conditioning, and lime stabilization) and subsequent land application. Land application of sludge was simulated in the laboratory using soil microcosms over 105 days. Bacterial population and diversity were assessed through examining specific phyla or the overall bacterial composition in the sludge and soil. The results showed that AgNPs in sludge went through dissolution, agglomeration, and surface coating. During sludge anaerobic digestion, AgNPs and CuONPs at 2, 10 and 30 mg/g TS sludge had no significant impact on the overall bacterial community structure at phylum and genus levels. AgNPs and CuONPs also did not significantly impact the biogas generation over time, except for sludge reactor that had higher concentration of CuONPs (30 mg NPs/g TS), which showed significant reduction in biogas generation over time. After applying the anaerobically digested sludge on soil, AgNPs at 20 mg/kg soil had no significant impact, while the concentrations of AgNPs at 300 mg/kg soil and CuONPs at 20 and 300 mg/kg soil decreased the average relative abundance of highly abundant phyla and genera, and lowered the population of the plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) by 10.5, 18, 42 and 41%, respectively, suggesting that CuONPs pose higher toxicity. Sludge chemical conditioning using ferric chloride, alum, and synthetic polymer efficiently removed AgNPs from the aqueous phase and concentrated them in sludge solid. Lime stabilization also removed AgNPs through association with lime molecules and sludge solids. The presence of AgNPs at 2 mg/g TS sludge showed no significant impact on the population of the phyla Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria in soil that received untreated, conditioned or lime stabilized sludge. This thesis presents important findings that can serve as a foundation for risk assessment of nanoparticles toxicity in soil and potentially plant systems.


title: An Undetectable Work-Ethic: Design Activism’s Detour into Subcultures of Queer Disability and Innovation.

abstract: LGBTQ communities globally continue to gain momentum in social acceptance yet continue to be challenged in their pursuits of equality. This research inquiry seeks to acknowledge and illuminate Design-Activism's relevancy among LGBTQ communities with a focus on Activism, Entrepreneurship and (Invisibility) Disability Culture. This study uses a mixed methods approach to understand Design-Activism's capacity towards accessing new and alternative modes of social inclusion. Drawing from theoretical and design-driven generated forms of knowledge, this study aligns pre-assumed disconnected concepts and highlights the unnoticed interconnectedness. Discovered are the boundaries and forces needed to expand Design's potential role towards championing Design beyond traditional commercial applications, with a concentrated effort towards service gaps and accessibility. LGBTQ communities, although historically antagonized, demonstrate genuine insights and contributions towards the practice of Design Activism, thus revealing much more about people and the importance of Design.


title: The Muslims of China and the "Frontier Question" after Empire: Revisiting Ma Zhongying's 1931 Invasion of Republican Xinjiang

abstract: This thesis examines the roles that Chinese-speaking Muslims, or Dungans, played in twentieth-century China's empire-to-republic transition, from the abdication of the last imperial dynasty in 1912 to the military expeditions of Chinese-speaking Muslims in republican China's northwestern frontiers in the 1910s-1930s. Focusing on the context behind a Chinese Muslim invasion from Gansu province into neighbouring Xinjiang in 1931, it argues that such Chinese Muslim interventions along the borderlands of China's cultural-political cores facilitated the integration of post-imperial territories into the new republican state. Ultimately, the Gansu Muslim invasion of Xinjiang emerged from the long-standing roles of Chinese Muslims as frontier intermediaries, which had roots in the last dynasty's attempts to govern its distant and majority-Turkic dominion in Xinjiang, and continued to evolve in the 1910s-1930s as republican Chinese authorities sought to re-assert control over the border regions of the former empire.


title: Vertex-Based Facial Animation Transfer System for Models with Different Topology; A Tool for Maya

abstract: The transfer of realistic facial animations between two 3D models is limited or too cumbersome for general use. In this paper, we target the transfer of facial expression animation and facial animation sequences within the 3D software modelling tool Autodesk Maya to eliminate some of the issues that animators come across while creating animations, along with making their process much faster and efficient. While current animation transferring processes in Maya work well, the downfall of these methods is that they only work properly if the source and target models have the same vertex count, vertex order, and topology. We propose a system that eliminates these issues in order to achieve smooth and realistic animations while maintaining a 3D model- agnostic focus; the system features facial animation transfer between different models. The system is purely vertex-based; this helps to speed up the process since no rigging is necessary.


title: Gradual Saliency Detection in Video Sequences Using Bottom-up Attributes

abstract: The demand for video streaming is growing every day which implies a higher demand for new video transmitting and compression techniques to avoid massive data traffics over telecommunication networks. In this dissertation, we studied saliency detection topic in order to apply it to video streaming problem to be able to transmit different regions of video frames in a ranked manner based on their importance (i.e., saliency). Salient areas are the regions of interest that stand out relative to their surroundings and consequently absorb more attention. To determine the salient areas within a scene, visual importance and distinctiveness of the regions must be measured. The lack of a comprehensive and precise biologically-inspired study on the saliency of bottom-up stimuli prevents us to justify the level of importance for different stimuli such as color, luminance, texture, and motion on the human visual system (HVS). To overcome this barrier, we investigated the bottom-up features using an eye-tracking procedure and human subjects in video sequences to provide a ranking saliency system stating the most dominant circumstances for each feature individually as well as in combination with other features. The experiment was performed under conditions in which we had no cognitive bias in order to speed up the video streaming procedure. Next, we introduced a gradual saliency detection framework both for still images and video sequences using color, texture, and motion features (based on our experimental estimations) in this dissertation. In our algorithm, we proposed new feature maps for color and texture features and we also improved the optical ow field estimation in our motion map. Finally, different feature maps were combined and classified as different saliency levels using a Naive Bayesian Network. This work provides a benchmark to specify the gradual saliency for both static and dynamic (i.e., moving backgrounds) scenes. The main contribution of this work is to create the ability to assign a gradual saliency for the entirety of an image/video frame rather than simply extracting a salient object/area which is widely performed in the state-of-the-art.


title: Of Vice and Men: An Ethnographic Content Analysis of the Manosphere

abstract: Using an ethnographic content analysis, I examine masculinities on eight websites from the manosphere. I document how the men on these websites are reacting and acting to maintain and expand their power. The power these men cling to is not just gendered, patriarchal power. Rather, the hegemonic ideal was a white, heterosexual masculinity (WHECM) that included evangelical Christian and colonial-capitalist lines of force that leverage eugenics' notions of family. WHECMs often expressed their masculinity in sexist and misogynistic ways, their sexuality in homophobic and transphobic ways, and their whiteness in racist and anti-Semitic ways. Further, WHECMs anointed themselves as supreme by thinking that their race, gender, and sexuality reflect the sacrifice and sacredness of Christ, situate themselves as purveyors of Truth, or both. I develop a conceptual model to explain the emotional backlash that WHECMs release in response to the denigration of their exaltation and the subsequent loss of patriarchal, racial, and heteronormative dividends. WHECMs' backlash begins as paranoia. They concoct narratives that they are under attack by an elite who are weaponizing identity politics. Under a perceived attack, men on the manosphere backlash through an emotional border work that segregates WHECMs via emotional exclusion of Others and emotionally incarcerating men within racist, misogynistic, and homophobic walls. The emotional erection and reinforcement of borders makes the Other proximate and causes reactions of discomfort for WHECMs. This discomfort is then read as an attack, which increases their paranoia, making the paranoia-border work-discomfort system recursive. I explicate five strategic actions WHECMs on the manosphere advocate to reclaim, maintain, and expand their power. WHECMs encourage propagating the white race with pliant white women who hold the white man in esteem. WHECMs encourage democratic consumption that includes boycotting companies and culture that champion progressive ideals. WHECMs advocate for trolling marginalized people and using racist, anti-Semitic, and misogynist memes. Viewed as under attack in a racial holy war (RAHOWA), WHECMs also promote violence and killing. Finally, WHECMs withdraw. Sometimes this takes the form of distancing and dissociation to assuage their complicity. Other times withdrawal takes the form of abandonment of responsibilities within society.


title: "Go for the Failure": Modernist Feminist Failure and the Fiction of Vita Sackville-West, Sylvia Townsend Warner, and Jean Rhys

abstract: This dissertation analyzes the gendered and often contradictory representations of women's failure in the fiction of Vita Sackville-West, Sylvia Townsend Warner, and Jean Rhys who, I argue, each critique and expand the possibilities of modernist aesthetics and feminist expression through their depictions of the politics and pleasures of women's failure. I bring these authors together because they differ significantly in their aesthetics, feminist interventions, and relationship to "high" modernism. These differences enable them to challenge the modernist canon in distinct ways, and reveal how the institutional formation and biases of "modernism" have failed them. My reading of failure takes up Jack Halberstam's recuperative reading in The Queer Art of Failure (2011), where failure is re-read as a queer and feminist subversion of heteropatriarchal expectations. However, I problematize a purely affirmative ideal of failure by examining narratives of both liberating and oppressive failure. Sackville-West and Warner create protagonists who enthusiastically embrace failure as an alternative source of identification that is less bound to patriarchal ideals and norms of domination; as such, these protagonists carve out their own livable spaces—no matter how fleeting or compromised—within oppressive structures. In contrast, Rhys depicts failure as a decisively destructive social identifier thrust upon marginalized women who lack the social power to recuperate that label into a feminist identification. By putting constructive and devastating accounts of "failed" women in dialogue, I assert that embracing failure is a privileged form of feminist resistance. In turn, these authors critique the material conditions of women's subjugation in the early twentieth century at the same time that they challenge literary modernism and early feminism. These authors willfully "fail" literary conventions for their own political and aesthetic aims, and their protagonists "fail" and expand the possibilities of early feminist discourse through their ambivalent and even resistant approaches to first-wave feminist orthodoxy. Ultimately, this dissertation examines not only the narrative possibilities of women's failure but also the debates about the meanings of modernism and feminism, from the early twentieth century to today.


title: Ka-band Single-ended 3-Stack Power Amplifier in 45-nm RF-SOI

abstract: With the allocation of Ka-band as one of the frequency bands for the upcoming 5G mmWave wireless communication, it is anticipated that there will be a massive increase in the demand for cost-effective mmWave power amplifiers (PAs) that can potentially be integrated in the RF front-end modules (RF-FEMs) of billions of 5G handsets and small-cell radios. More...


title: Combining Node and Variable Selection Heuristics for Faster MIP Solutions

abstract: The Node selection (NS) and variable and direction selection (VDS) heuristics significantly affect the time to find the MIP integer-optimal solution when using branch and bound method. In this thesis, various variable and direction selection methods are tested coupled with the node selection heuristic by Wojtaszek and Chinneck[2010]. Rules are developed to select VDS / NS configuration depending on MIP characteristics. Empirical results show a new VDS / NS configuration outperforms the state of the art as well as the VDS / NS configuration found by Wojtaszek and Chinneck. The hypothesis that a feasibility - oriented VDS coupled with a good NS heuristic will provide the fastest MIP solution time is disproved. A new hybrid VDS/NS selection heuristic is developed and shown to provide better results than any individual VDS/NS configuration or the state of the art default configuration.


title: Spinning Violence: Examining Competing Discourses of State Force and Indigenous Identity in Mi'kma'ki, 2013

abstract: Violence features prominently in settler-colonization and Indigenous struggle, whether in brute physical manifestations or over discourses that discipline and regulate Indigenous lives. In 2013, land and water protectors on Mi'kma'ki territory stood against extractivist activities on their lands in the form of shale-gas exploration, and faced a violent early morning raid by the RCMP. This dissertation identifies and analyzes discourses of violence that emerged from Mi'kmaq defenders and state authorities during the conflict over land and water protection in 2013, asking whose interests were/were not being served in the discourses reproduced about projects of colonization and land/water protection. Further, it asks how discourses of violence are challenged or subverted and what hope they offer to ongoing projects of land and water protection. I rely on literature that theorizes violence within and outside of colonial contexts in order to adopt a multi-pronged analytic approach to violence that includes physical, symbolic, and systemic understandings and to explore how they manifest discursively. Further, I employ concepts of resurgence and refusal to help understand Indigenous responses to extraction activities on their territories and the discourses that emerge as a result. The methods used for this dissertation draw on Linda Tuhiwai Smith (1999) and Margaret Kovach's (2009) work, situating research with Indigenous peoples as a long-term relationship that begins before the research takes place and continues long after. Through an examination of state documents accessed through access to information requests, a review of related news coverage, and interviews and participant observation with community members, this dissertation notes the emergence of two competing discourses of violence. One discourse recognizes state-colonial violence and the violence caused by extractivist activities on Mi'kma'ki territory as the result of ongoing settler-colonialism. By contrast, another discourse emerges that describes Mi'kmaq reactions to extractivist activities on their ancestral territories as forms of violence against the state, and in a paternalistic turn, Mi'kmaq peoples themselves. Following a long historical pattern, this discourse of violence describes protectors as violent criminals, exacerbates divisions that leave little room for negotiation, and reinforces settler-colonial state governance over peaceful co-existence between sovereign peoples as outlined in treaty agreements.


title: Inverse Visual Question Answering with Multi-Level Attentions

abstract: Inverse Visual Question Answering (iVQA) is a contemporary task emerged from the need for improving visual and language understanding. It tackles the challenging problem of generating a corresponding question for a given image-answer pair. Current state-of-the-art iVQA models use the conventional way of representing images by using a convolutional neural network (CNN) to extract visual features. Although some models leverage semantic concepts as an enhancement for the answer cue, they give the same importance weights to these concepts without considering their correlation with the answers. Moreover, the existing iVQA models mainly rely on the conventional recurrent neural networks for question modelling. Nevertheless, the attention-based sequence learning mechanism for question modelling which could help to reduce model parameters remains unexplored. In this research, we address these issues by developing two novel deep multilevel attention models for the task of inverse visual question answering.


title: Water Harvesting:  Architecture towards an ecologically integrated community

abstract: This thesis presents a proposal for the integration of domestic dwellings with a locally-scaled, water harvesting infrastructure on an agricultural site on the Naramata Bench of the South Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. In this design scheme, rain and meltwater are harvested on site and directed to both agricultural irrigation and non-potable domestic use. The design proposal is a response to the possibility of future water scarcity in the Okanagan Valley and to the regions complex housing conditions. The design scheme is discussed with respect to the Classical Greek philosophy of the oikos and the stewardship values that are embedded in it.


title: Connected and Autonomous Vehicles for Intelligent Transportation Systems

abstract: In order to overcome the shortage of transportation, modern technologies are proposed by the researchers. In particular, there is a phenomenal burst of interest in smart vehicles. Despite the benefits of smart vehicles, significant challenges remain to be addressed. An important problem is sign recognition in the presence of noise (sever weather condition). Moreover, redundancy in data recording ensures a more reliable detection. Besides using cameras, LiDARs are also used in autonomous vehicles. In this thesis, we propose solutions to address recognition as well as measures to improve  recording redundancy. This main three stages are: 1-implementing a testbed which is a Toyota equipped with necessary software-hardware, 2-proposing a neural network algorithm to recognize the road and traffic signs even in the presence of 90% noise (sever weather condition), 3- equipping the vehicle with LiDAR system that improves data recording capability. All the stages are supported by practical and simulation results.


title: Secondary Metabolite Biosynthesis during Vegetative Incompatibility in Cryphonectria parasitica, Causal Agent of the American Chestnut Blight

abstract: Vegetative Incompatibility (VI) can occur when filamentous fungi fuse during the asexual (mitotic) growth phase. In Cryphonectria parasitica, VI is modulated by six vic loci; hyphal fusion between strains that differ at one or more vic loci results in cell death. VI is considered an immune-like response that restricts heterokaryon formation and transmission of deleterious cytoplasmic elements through unknown mechanisms. A transcriptomic analysis of vic3-associated incompatibility identified a set of differentially expressed genes within biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). Using UPLC-HRMS, we detected significant shifts in secondary metabolite production during vic3 incompatibility. Among these metabolites, HPLC purification and NMR structure elucidation revealed that a new variant of calbistrin is linked to VI-upregulated BGCs, as is a farnesyl-S-oxide analog resembling mating pheromones. Similarly, detection of putative lysophosphatidylcholines and other modified lipids implicates membrane alteration during VI. Together, these findings suggest VI involves synthesis of novel secondary metabolites and complex membrane-associated signaling.


title: Comparative Analysis aimed at optimization and visualization of BIM for VR applications.

abstract: In this thesis, we explore the proper visualization of Autodesk Revit data inside virtual reality applications by presenting a new optimization framework as a plugin inside Autodesk 3DS Max. This plugin leverages new Autodesk APIs, in conjunction with Maxscript to read and translate BIM data from Revit, while preserving its metadata, materials and textures. Multiple model optimization procedures are then applied automatically, most importantly an LOD system for every model. To test our proposed framework, we conducted a comparative analysis of quantitative data gathered from multiple virtual reality applications running inside an Oculus Quest VR device. Results show that the applications developed using our proposed framework performed better than the applications developed using the Datasmith toolset (current industry standard), both in terms of higher average frames per second and lower GPU usage.


title: Advanced Parametric Modeling and Yield Optimization Approaches for Microwave Passive Components

abstract: Parametric modeling and yield optimization techniques play important roles in electromagnetic (EM)-based microwave component design. In the first part of this thesis, we propose a novel training approach for parametric modeling of microwave passive components with respect to changes in geometrical parameters. In the proposed approach, the EM responses of passive components versus frequency are represented by pole-zero transfer functions. The relationships between the poles/zeros in the transfer function and geometrical variables are learnt by neural networks. A novel sensitivity-analysis-based pole/zero-matching algorithm is proposed have fast and reliable predictions for the poles/zeros subject to large geometrical variations, consequently increasing the accuracy of the overall model. In the second part of this thesis, we propose a novel surrogate-assisted yield-driven EM optimization approach combining parallel space-mapping (SM), trust region algorithm, and polynomial chaos expansion (PCE). In this approach, a novel trust region algorithm is proposed to increase the robustness of the SM surrogate in each iteration during yield optimization. The parallel computation method is used to train the surrogate to be valid in a larger neighborhood. The PCE approach is incorporated into the proposed technique to further speed up yield verification on the fine model. The proposed technique can achieve a higher yield increase with shorter CPU time by reducing the number of SM iterations. As a further advancement, in the third part of this thesis, we propose a novel non-surrogate-based approach to yield-driven EM optimization based on PCE. We first formulate a novel objective function for yield-driven EM optimization. We then derive the sensitivities of the objective function. These sensitivities are then used in gradient-based optimization algorithms to find the optimal yield solution iteratively. Using the proposed objective function, the number of EM simulations required to find the update direction and suitable step size for the change of the nominal point is reduced at each iteration of optimization. This allows the proposed technique to achieve similar yield increase using much fewer EM simulations or greater yield increase using similar number of EM simulations. All the proposed approaches are illustrated by microwave examples.


title: Examining the Effects of Perceived Telepresence, Interactivity, and Immersion on Pilot Situation Awareness During a Virtual Reality Flight Exercise

abstract: Flight simulators that use virtual reality (VR) displays are becoming more prevalent in the aviation domain, enabling situation awareness (SA) training and assessment paradigms that integrate a broad range of aircraft types and flight environments. Research has identified three key components of user psychological experiences during VR exposure that may affect cognitive performance: immersion, telepresence, and interactivity. The primary objective of this study was to validate and quantify the effects of these VR experience constructs on pilot SA at the levels of information processing and comprehension. Effects of age and experience were also explored, as these factors are known to influence achievement of SA. Findings from this research will provide insight into the ways in which pilots' psychological experiences of VR flight simulators affect their cognitive processing. Moreover, the results of this work will inform the design of improved VR systems for the training and assessment of pilot SA.


title: Lacustrine Arcellinida (Testate Lobose Amoebae) as Bioindicators of Arsenic Contamination: A new tool for Environmental Risk Assessment

abstract: Gold mining in northern Canada, while profitable, has left a legacy of arsenic (As) contamination, especially in lakes. Arcellinida, lacustrine benthic protozoans, have great As-biomonitoring potential that has yet to be exploited by lake restoration initiatives. This research aims to further develop Arcellinida as a robust tool for monitoring As contamination and remediation efficacy in impacted lakes. In Chapter 2 a novel Arcellinida sample processing protocol, using chemical deflocculation, was developed to determine optimal approaches for reducing residual organic matter in lake sediments with minimal Arcellinida test degradation. The results revealed that treatment with 5% potassium hydroxide led to the highest reduction in observed organic content and rate of test damage. In Chapter 3 results of a study where Arcellinida were examined from 22 near-surface sediment samples (top 1 cm) collected from similar environments in two eastern Canadian lakes was carried out to evaluate faunal assemblages homogeneity in these targeted environments, and to assess the sensitivity of Arcellinida assemblages to inter-annual environmental variability. The results of this study confirmed the faunal homogeneity of assemblages in limnologically similar environments and demonstrated the sensitivity of Arcellinida assemblages to environmental changes at inter-annual time scales. In Chapter 4 an inter-lake survey of 91 lakes in the Yellowknife area, Northwest Territories (NT), Canada, was conducted to quantify the response of arcellinidan to gold mining-derived As contamination and to statistically determine As-tolerance limits of different Arcellinida species. The results demonstrate the applicability of using Arcellinida to delineate the spatial extent of As contamination and the reliability of using As tolerance-limits-based Arcellinida groups to infer As contamination levels in lake sediments. In Chapter 5 the arcellinidan response to intra-lake changes in As contamination, derived from two former gold mines, was investigated in 40 near-surface sediment samples from two lakes in the low Arctic, central NT (Tundra Mine) and in a boreal setting, southern NT (Giant Mine). It was demonstrated that Arcellinida assemblages responded differently to the impact of As, likely due to different As mineralization in each lake, which was in turn a by-product of employing different ore-processing techniques at the former gold mines.


title: The White of the Wampum: Possibilities for Indigenous-Non Indigenous Relationships in Canadian Settler Narratives (circa 2012) and Indigenous Storywork

abstract: The Two Row Wampum is held up to inspire relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada rooted in respect and responsibility. However, Indigenous-non-Indigenous relations have been characterized by the deracination of Indigenous relational self-determination. In this dissertation, I juxtapose settler colonial representations (circa 2012) with Indigenous stories of Indigenous-non-Indigenous relationships. I offer Foucauldian discourse analyses of selected settler colonial representations to show how they displace and erase Indigenous relational self-determination. I also look beyond the constraints of settler discourse to offer readings of Indigenous stories guided by storywork. Storywork is an Indigenous method of reading stories as pathways towards respectful relationships between all beings of creation. These pathways are grounded in what Vanessa Watts calls place-thought, Indigenous understandings of the relational knowledge embedded in the living network of relations that make up Indigenous traditional territories. I focus on 2012 because of the intensity of settler discourse and Indigenous resistance during this year. During 2012, the Canadian government and the CBC produced commemorations of the War of 1812, the CBC's 8th Fire documentary and website were featured on CBC.ca, and national media produced representations of Indigenous activism, which emerged in 2012 under the banner of Idle No More. I show how these selected settler colonial representations legitimize liberal democratic forms of governance and advance the demands of the neoliberal capitalist resource economy. The problem is that these political and economic discourses often undermine and efface Indigenous relational self-determination. I juxtapose settler representations of the War of 1812 with Odawa Scholar Cecil King's historical account, Balancing Two Worlds (2013); national media representations of Indigenous activism with Lee Maracle's novel, Sundogs (1992); and 8th Fire's representation of reconciliation with The Eeyouch of Eeyou Itschee (2010-2015), a documentary series produced by the Cree peoples of Quebec about their relations with settler governments. I aim to unsettle settler colonial productions of state sovereignty, liberal democratic institutions, and global market capitalism and to gesture towards possibilities of Indigenous-non-Indigenous relationships rooted in traditional understandings of the white of the wampum: Indigenous-non-Indigenous relationships based in respect and responsibility between self-determining peoples.


title: Design, Fabrication and Calibration of Compliant, Multi-Axis, Fiber-Optic Force/Torque Sensors for Biomechanical Measurements

abstract: This thesis presents the design, fabrication and characterization of various prototypes of multi-axis, compliant force and torque sensors based on fiber-optic sensing technology, the novel calibration methodologies and the experimental results. A compliant 3-axis, intensity modulated-based, fiber-optic force sensor that simultaneously measures normal and shear forces was designed, prototyped and successfully calibrated. A nonlinear Hammerstein-Weiner model (NLHW) was able to characterize the linear and nonlinear behaviour of this prototype. The optimized results have shown a reduction of over 40% in the Root Mean Square Errors (RMSE) in comparison with the linear estimation models. For biomechanical applications such as ground reaction force and gait measurements, the sensor must be able to measure the complete degree of freedom of any force or torque applied at a certain point. Therefore, a wearable compliant 6-axis force and torque sensor was developed and prototyped. It combines two different force sensing technologies: the 3-axis fiber-optic based force sensor and a pressure sensor matrix. The sensor was capable of accurately measuring the full ground reaction force and moment in real-time with minimal gait disturbance. To enhance the durability, avoid the necessary multi-stage conditioning circuits and their resulting extra electronic components, a 6-axis force and torque sensor that is fully optical has been developed and characterized. The sensor is cost-effective, lightweight and flexible with a large force and torque measurement range suitable for biomechanics and rehabilitation systems. A novel calibration methodology which splits the calibration procedure into two estimation models that work simultaneously as a single calibration system named Least Squares Decision Trees (LSDT). Using LSDT, the estimation speed increased by 55.17% and the RMSE reduced to 0.53%. To improve sensor portability, further reduce size and eliminate electromagnetic interference effects as well as enhance sensor biocompatibility, a non-conductive, electrically passive, fiber Bragg grating (FBG) based normal and shear force sensing elements were designed, fabricated and calibrated. The sensing elements are small size, lightweight and compliant. The results achieved from the proposed calibration method have revealed an improvement from an R-squared value of 93% to 100% when compared to a data obtained using a linear least squares method.


title: Analysis of Microstructure Evolution and Mechanical Properties of Linear Friction Welded Titanium Alloys

abstract: Two titanium alloys, Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo were linear friction welded in similar and dissimilar combinations to analyze the effects of stress relieve annealing on the mechanical and microstructural properties and to compared the results with as-welded state. For the selected set of weld parameters, high-quality welds were obtained with minimal defects. Scanning electron and optical microscopes were used to study the microstructures at various weld zones. Mechanical properties were determined by micro-indentation hardness, tensile, and fatigue testing and compared. Formation of martensite at the weld zone was mainly the reason for high strength of the weld in the as-welded condition. The local mechanical properties were determined by the digital image correlation (DIC) technique showed the overall local strain concentration of the welds in the as-welded and stress relieved conditions. The fractographic analysis performed on both the tensile and fatigue samples using electron microscope showed the characteristic features of ductile fracture.


title: Folate induced mutagenesis and identification of folate-specific mutation spectra in somatic cells

abstract: Folate is an essential water soluble B-vitamin required for the de novo synthesis of purines and dTMP and the synthesis of methionine. Folate intake,, generally folate deficiency, has been associated with CRC and ALL risk. Here, we used the MutaMouse model to determine the mutagenic potential of dietary FA in the colon, and to determine if there is a tissue- and diet-specific effect induced by FA intake in colon and bone marrow. Male mice were fed experimental FA defined diets (deficient, control, supplemented) for 20 weeks from weaning. NGS was used to sequence the lacZ reporter gene and we determined the FA-induce mutation spectra in both tissues. Here, we demonstrated, for the first time, the mutagenic potential of FA-intake, the FA-induced mutation spectra by different FA intake levels and that the mutagenic potential of FA is tissue-specific.


title: Background Rejection in Two-Phase Xenon using Scintillation Pulse-Shape Discrimination for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay Searches

abstract: This work attempted to identify measurable differences in the pulse shapes of one and two electron scintillation events in liquid xenon, with the goal of developing a technique for improved background rejection in neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νββ) experiments. A system was constructed to generate one and two electron events using gamma rays from an external thorium-228 source. Sodium iodide counters were used to tag one and two electron events, which were produced from Compton scattering and pair-production of the thorium gamma respectively. A novel cryogenic compatible silicon photomultiplier was used to measure the light from scintillation events and it was demonstrated that the system could trigger on coincidence between the scintillation and event tag signals. No conclusions could be made on the timing structure of events, based on long decay times in the photomultiplier and electronics, and suggestions are made for future improvements.


title: Motion Compensation and Robotic Control of Maritime Cranes

abstract: Maritime operations occur in a rapidly changing and extremely dangerous environment. To improve handling of cargo while at sea, this thesis develops a method for combining active-heave compensation and anti-pendulum control for a combined world-frame compensation system. State estimation algorithms are applied using low-cost inertial sensors attached to the deck of the ship and to the body of the load. The control system is validated with physical experiments on a test-scale motion platform, as well as hardware-in-the-loop test-scale simulations. The results show potential for 49.2-99.5% reduction in settling time, 41.1-98.4% reduction in distance travelled, and 34.6-84.0% reduction in root-mean-squared error for energy dissipation tests; as well as potential improvements in set-point tracking performance compared to uncompensated cases when base excitation is applied.


title: Union Participation Through a Generational Cohort Lens: Improving Participation Across Cohorts

abstract: This thesis consists of three mixed-method (interview, survey) research papers that share a common goal - to increase our understanding of the extent to which generational cohort impacts union participation and more broadly, renewal. Paper one sets the context for the thesis, exploring differences in attitudes towards and perceptions of unions between Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1979), and Millennials (1980-2000). Overall, we found that Boomers differ significantly from Gen Xers and Millennials, while the latter two groups were more alike than different. Specifically, Boomers' attitudes and perceptions towards/of unions were typically more positive than those of Gen Xers and Millennials. Further, Boomers appeared to connect to unions on both ideological and instrumental levels, while Gen Xers and Millennials appeared to connect mostly based on the instrumental gain unions can provide their members. Paper two seeks to learn more about how union members of different cohorts conceptualize different levels of participation activity (ie: Active, Passive, Inactive), comparing these emic conceptualizations to the etic understanding of active and passive participation found in the union literature. While we found a need for more nuance in the area, we generally found that union members' etic conceptualization of active and passive participation overlap with the etic descriptions of these concepts held by researchers within the union literature - those who the literature would say participate more actively described their own participation as active, while those who participate more passively tended to describe their activity as such. Paper three compares the state of current union communication practices with our participants' preferences, identifying any gaps, while also exploring what each cohort believes the union is doing well and where it needs to improve with respect to informing members about participation opportunities. We found that generally, union members would like to see the union employ more communication technology such as texts and emails in their communication with members, and more outreach in the form of face-to-face communication. Younger members (Gen X, Millennials) were more likely to want better use of communication technology than were Boomers, while Boomers were more likely to want more face-to-face communication.


title: User Acceptance of Online Tracking if 'Forgetting' was an Option

abstract: Users are constantly bombarded with targeted ads based on their online behavior. Researchers have found that users often feel uncomfortable when they see targeted ads based on sensitive topics. The hypothesis behind this study is that perhaps the problem isn't the tracking, per se, but the retention of so much information about users in an opaque fashion. Hence this thesis aims to understand if giving users fine-grained control over retention of online tracking data (related to specific targeted ads) would change the acceptability of online tracking. We decided to test this hypothesis by conducting two user studies on views of online tracking and data retention and whether a hypothetical "forget" option that deleted all data related to the displayed ad would change those views. Our results indicate that such control does make online tracking more acceptable to users.


title: Securitizing the Canadian Family Through Transnational Reproductive Governmentality and Citizenship

abstract: This thesis puts top-down and bottom-up understandings of Canadian reproductive biopolitics into dialogue by acknowledging the link that reproductive citizenship forges between familial and national reproduction. I focus on procreative practice of transnational surrogacy, using intersectional governmentality as a lens for critical policy analysis and a critical discourse analysis. This approach allows me to make three main arguments. First, I determine that the Government of Canada relies on a decentralized and globalizing regime of government to manage such families. Second, to secure the nation-state from possible threats, this system of governance can lead to citizenship deprivation for children born through transnational surrogacy. Thirdly, despite the Government of Canada framing the families as a threat and the possible complications that their offspring face, Canadian families whose children were produced transnationally can act as securitized governmental actors through a negotiation of state regulation and employing state legitimated bio-political discourses.


title: Advances in LCMS Analysis of Lipids and Xenobiotics via Improvements in TrEnDi Derivatization

abstract: Mass spectrometry (MS) has become a critical technology for the analysis of complex mixtures by scientists across many fields of research. Its ability to identify and quantify barely comprehensible amounts of biomolecules has allowed for a deeper understanding of biological systems previously thought possible. The interaction between proteins, lipids, metabolites and DNA, etc. collectively called "omics", heavily relies on the use of diagnostics tools like mass spectrometry to gain a superior understanding of how humans are affected by disease and environmental exposure to xenobiotics. This thesis is focused on chemical derivatization techniques to improve the MS analysis of lipids and the commonly used pesticide, glyphosate. Chemical derivatization, or alternatively the application of chemical reactions to biologically relevant molecules is used to amplify the precision and accuracy of MS analyses. The primary Chemical derivatization technique outlined here is Trimethylation Enhancement using Diazomethane (TrEnDi) whereby analytes undergo methylation to uniformly produce net positively charged species that contain amine functional groups. Glycerophospholipids, are a highly diverse class of biomolecules that can be readily methylated to net positively charged cations to greatly improve ionization efficiency prior to MS analysis. We successfully applied 13C-TrEnDi with improved conditions to methylate plasmalogen lipid species with no acidic cleavage of vinyl ether moiety. The identification of twenty-nine 13CH3 plasmalogen lipids were observed from a complex lipid extract and shows increased signal-to-noise ratios compared to their unmethylated counterparts. Furthermore, a novel apparatus for delivering a small amount of diazomethane (DZM) to lipid samples was developed to decrease the handling of the hazardous reagent. Micro-scale delivery of diazomethane (iTrEnDi) was determined to be less effective than in solution derivatization of lipid samples but had greatly reduced the safety concerns associated with large-scale DZM preparations. The most commonly used herbicide glyphosate and its major degradation product aminomethylphosphonic acid have been scrutinized for their long-term health effects and environmental impacts. Both compounds are challenging to analyze via classical LCMS methodologies due to low molecular weight, high polarity and anionic nature. Herein, iTrEnDi modification was used to produce permethylated GLY and AMPA with improved LC and ionization characteristics.


title: Capturing the Void(ed): Muslim Detainees, Practices of Violence, and the Politics of Seeing in Guantánamo Bay

abstract: This dissertation explores how political and legal violence against "Muslim" subjects and bodies - specifically, male ones - are enacted, sustained, and justified. Through a conceptual argument that accounts for the ways in which "Muslimness" is constructed through and against the body, it argues that central to these processes are visual practices; more precisely, visual practices that operate in tandem with circuits of violence. As a particularly visceral instantiation of these relations, an analysis of images of the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base and its detainees encapsulates the central claim of this project: that the relationship between legal and political power, violence, and specific kinds of subjects and bodies both emerges from and is dependent upon particular practices of visuality that make and unmake subjects and bodies in distinct and meaningful ways. This has implications for not only how we understand these relationships, but also in regard to how we understand the subjectivities and materialities of those who are the targets of such violent practices.


title: Constrained Statistical Inference for Categorical Data

abstract: Advancements in statistics are normally geared to addressing topics that will either address an existing gap in the field or to render analysis results more accurate/reliable. This work aims to add to existing research by extending from binary Generalized Linear Model (GLM) and Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) to a multinomial logit, multivariate GLM (MGLM) and multivariate GLMM (MGLMM), subject to ordered equality and inequality constraints. We extended the maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) and likelihood ratio hypothesis testing (LRT) methods for the binary and multinomial GLM and GLMM subject to linear equality and inequality constraints on the parameters of interest. These methods will build on existing literature to allow for more options in hypothesis testing and the construction of confidence intervals. The innovative procedures take advantage of the gradient projection (GP) technique for the MLE, and chi-bar-square statistics for constrained LRTs. The model presented in this thesis yields accurate results since parameter orderings or constraints often occur naturally; and when this occurs, we optimize the efficiency of a statistical method by incorporating the parameter constraints into the MLE and hypothesis testing. More specifically, we use ordered constrained inference for multinomial data whereby including equality and inequality constraints adds value to our predictions. Using real-world data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), the methodology of using constraints showed significant improvement on methodology that does not, which substantiates the added value of the work presented here. This work contributes to the field by dealing with inequality constraints in MGLMM, specifically multinomial data, which is the most challenging problem in constrained inference. This helps improve results for researchers in both scientific and non-scientific fields. Keywords: constrained/restricted statistical inference, optimization algorithms, gradient projection theory, quadratic programming, multinomial logit, projective geometry, convex cone.


title: Multi-Agent Fuzzy Reinforcement Learning for Autonomous Vehicles

abstract: This thesis investigates how the evader in a pursuit-evasion differential game can learn its control strategies using the fuzzy actor-critic learning algorithm. The evader learns its control strategies while being chased by a pursuer that is also learning its control strategy in two pursuit-evasion games; the homicidal chauffeur game and the game of two cars. The simulation results presented in this thesis prove that the evader is able to learn its control strategy effectively using only triangular membership functions and only updating its output parameters. When compared with the simulation results from [1], the approach in this thesis saves a significant amount of computation time. This thesis also introduces fuzzy-actor critic learning to an inertial missile guidance problem. The missile solely relies on its own control surfaces to intercept the target. Proportional navigation is one of the techniques in literature that can successfully guide the missile to the target.


title: Improving Automatic Tuning of Hadoop and Spark by Analysing Container Performance Metrics

abstract: This research introduces novel container performance metrics and proves that these metrics are beneficial in the development of automatic tuning systems. Hadoop and Spark show different patterns in the static and dynamic values of container creation rate, container completion rate, container average response time and relative standard deviation of response-time(RSD). By applying five kinds of machine learning algorithms, container creation rate was found to be the most sensitive metric to identify and classify the workload type at an average accuracy of 83%. RSD can be used to detect workload transitions with an average accuracy of 74%. Our research results will decrease tuning overhead and promote the development of automatic tuning systems.


title: Development of a Novel Distributed Wearable Sensor Platform

abstract: Recent advancements in low-power, low-cost, miniaturized sensor technology have propelled wearable electronics into the mainstream. Wearable devices like smartwatches are now commonplace, finding applications in health and fitness, sports, personnel tracking, and human computer interfaces. Many of these systems, however, are consumer oriented, with closed environments and limited access to sensor data, greatly restricting their use as exploratory tools for researchers. In this work, we describe the development of a novel wearable sensor platform that attempts to overcome many of the limitations of existing systems while adding new features to improve and simplify experimental designs. Following a clear set of guidelines, the system was built, validated, and tested in a real-life experiment to assess its effectiveness and ease of use. The developed platform consists five nodes that communicate wirelessly with a central hub using Bluetooth, sending raw sensor data, which is then visualized and analyzed using a graphical software interface.


title: An Evaluation of Various Carbonaceous and Synthetic Adsorbents for the Treatment of Sulfolane

abstract: Sulfolane is an industrial solvent used in a variety of applications. Improper handling, storage, and disposal of pure sulfolane solvent and sulfolane-containing wastes have created contaminated sites. The objective of this research was to investigate the adsorption of sulfolane on a wide variety of adsorbents. In some experiments, the solution consisted of either diisopropanolamine or benzene. It was observed that while the adsorption capacity of GACs and Ambersorb 560 were comparable, the adsorption equilibrium was established much faster on GACs than on Ambersorb 560. The major solutes in groundwater influenced sulfolane adsorption. Additionally, diisopropanol and benzene inhibited sulfolane adsorption. Another objective was to develop a method for the analysis of sulfolane in aqueous solution. The method developed herein is highly reproducible and has a detection limit (MDL) of 30 µg/L, and a quantitation limit (MQL) of 70 µg/L.


title: Modelling ice island calving events with Finite Element Analysis

abstract: Ice islands, massive tabular icebergs, are known to fracture (calve) into fragments as they drift. One proposed calving mechanism occurs when a large protuberance, known as a ram, develops along the submerged edge of the ice island and induces a bending stress due to its buoyancy. To examine the relationship between rams and ice island fracture, polygons of ice islands derived from remote sensing imagery were used to create 3-D representations with synthesized rams. Associated stress and fractures were predicted using a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and the results were compared to polygons of the actual fractured pieces. Modelled ice islands calve accurately when a synthesized ram is placed only along the edge that breaks off. An empirical model was developed to predict stress magnitude, which indicated the length of the ram, ram extent, and the ratio of ram volume to total ice volume play a central role in calving.


title: Terrain Draping and Following Using Low-Cost Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems for Geophysical Survey Applications

abstract: Collecting high-resolution aeromagnetic data require sensors to be active at lower above ground level altitudes. Cost associated is the driving factor for pursuing remotely piloted aircraft systems. Operators have been considering these systems to complement manned aircraft surveillance missions. To provide accurate aeromagnetic readings, remotely piloted aircraft must fly low at constant above ground level altitudes and therefore follow the terrain. A low-cost, non-proprietary terrain following system for remotely piloted aircraft is being developed to measure ground and surface altitude, fly at specific above ground level altitudes, and follow preloaded flightpaths from a smoothed terrain drape to maximize the quality of aeromagnetic data. Using digital elevation models, a smooth flightpath is predetermined so remotely piloted aircraft can follow the terrain without exceeding its structural loads or flight envelope; this process creates a terrain drape profile, which is loaded onto the autopilot system to follow the ground at the desired altitude.


title: User Awareness of Privacy Risks Related to the Collection of Fitness Tracker Data

abstract: Personal data collected by fitness trackers can leave users open to security and privacy threats, often without their knowledge. We explored whether increasing user awareness of security and privacy risks might prompt users to take action to protect their personal information. First, we conducted an online survey with 212 fitness tracker users to understand participants' knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to security and privacy with their fitness trackers. We designed information posters based on our results and conducted a second in-person study with 34 participants. Overall, we found users have distinct sharing preferences for specific types of data and for specific recipients; and they exhibit contradictory behaviour. We demonstrate that it is possible to change fitness trackers' users reported privacy behaviours by showing them information posters. Overall, our findings show fitness tracker users require a greater awareness of protection practices and can benefit, if provided with information.


title: A Study Of The Xenon Vapour Pressure Isotope Effect

abstract: The goal of this research was to study the xenon vapour pressure isotope effect (VPIE) and this was done to explore the feasibility of doing the Xe enrichment, using a 1.83 m high, cryogenic distillation column at Carleton University. One of the famous isotopes for the 0vββ decay detection is 136Xe which is not easily available in pure form, and it is available from the Centrifuge systems in Russia. Therefore, the VPIE of xenon isotopes were needed which have not been measured to date. The VPIE from this work would be 5.28 x 10-5 while the theoretical value reported by Tew is 5.17 x10-5 per mass unit. Thus, the experi-mental and theoretical values agree with the accuracy of the present slope measurement. Moreover, the data demonstrate for the first time the linear dependence of the VPIE across a range of isotopes, and this is consistent with the theoretical predictions.


title: Geology and Geochemistry of the 25 Ma Underdown Caldera Tuffs and the Tuff of Clipper Gap, Western Nevada Volcanic Field, North-Central Nevada

abstract: The Underdown Caldera Complex is a 25.0 Ma caldera in the Western Nevada Volcanic Field formed during the mid-Cenozoic Ignimbrite Flare-up, one of the largest expressions of continental volcanism in geological time. Intracaldera and associated outflow tuffs are characteristically crystal-poor, except for one crystal-rich intracaldera tuff representing a later stage of explosive volcanism. Outflow tuffs extend to the east and west of the caldera, representing multiple phases of intracaldera tuffs. Post-deposition alteration of ignimbrites has altered Sr isotopic ratios, and caused rare earth element enrichment in the Tuff of Clipper Gap. Sr and Nd isotopic compositions of the ignimbrites show a relation to lavas collected from the margins of the caldera, and trace element ratios suggest similar origins of the lavas and ignimbrites from a mixture of mantle and crustal sources. Pb isotopes plot on mixing lines formed by a mantle-derived source and either a local sedimentary or granitoid unit.


title: Towards Real-time sludge dewatering process optimization using ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry and torque rheology

abstract: The treatment of biosolids is becoming a larger focus of wastewater treatment facilities due to the growing associated costs and optimization potentials. Presently, most operations are controlled manually, which often results in sub-optimal process performance. The goals of this research were to develop systems to optimize sludge treatment processes. The first study in this thesis analyzed and improved the sensitivity of UV-Vis spectrophotometry for the detection of polymer in dewatered sludge supernatant. The second study developed a two-stage in-line and real-time optimum polymer dose monitoring system. This system employed torque rheology as the upstream monitor and UV-Vis spectrophotometry as the downstream monitor relative to the dewatering process. Laboratory scale experiments found the system to be generally reliable and accurate. The third study developed a method for nutrient recovery optimization in sludge supernatant after dewatering. This method employed UV-Vis spectrophotometry as a monitor for struvite formation through magnesium addition.


title: Investor and Firm Perspectives on Impression Management in Earnings Press Releases: Insights from TSX Venture Exchange Firms

abstract: The TSX Venture Exchange, one of the global leaders in providing opportunities to raise equity capital for small and emerging firms, plays an important role in the Canadian economy. However, TSX Venture Exchange firms have not yet received significant attention from academic scholars. This study examines 1,317 earnings press releases (EPRs) of TSX Venture Exchange firms to investigate whether, and how, low-visibility firms engage in impression management practices. It also explores investor perspectives on impression management by examining stock market and online investment discussion board reactions to apparent impression management. Overall, findings of this study indicate that low-visibility firms use various impression management strategies such as tone management, readability manipulation, causal reasoning, and the emphasis of positive performance by thematic manipulation, reinforcement, and repetition in their EPRs. Results of stock market reaction tests suggest that tone management and emphasis of positive performance positively affect cumulative abnormal return around the issue of EPRs; however, these effects dissipate or reverse in the longer-term. Similarly, online investment board participants are initially drawn to EPRs which emphasize positive performance and abnormally high positive tone around the issuance of EPRs. However, in the longer-term, discussion participants pay less attention to those EPRs and switch their interest to EPRs with higher reading complexity. Drawing on literature on impression management, firm visibility, and investor reaction, this study makes four important contributions to the existing literature. First, it exclusively focuses TSX Venture Exchange firms to study impression management practices of low-visibility firms. Second, this research offers a broad examination of firms' engagement in impression management practices by examining several impression management strategies together. Third, this study combines both the firm and the investor perspectives on impression management to effectively study impression management and its consequences. Finally, it analyzes online investment discussion board data to explore investors' reactions to apparent impression management, in addition to investigating stock market reaction. This study benefits low-visibility firms, individual investors and academics by expanding their knowledge of impression management and its consequences. Findings can also help financial regulators make policy decisions and educate investors on impression management and its consequences.


title: Semantics-Guided Exploration of Latent Spaces for Shape Synthesis

abstract: We introduce an approach to incorporate user guidance into shape synthesis approaches based on deep networks. Our main idea is to allow users to start an exploratory process of the shape space with the use of high-level semantic keywords. Specifically, the user inputs a set of keywords that describe the general attributes of the shape to be generated. Next, we map the keywords to a subspace of the latent space that captures the shapes possessing the specified attributes. The user then explores only the subspace to search for shapes that satisfy the design goal. Our technical contribution is the introduction of a label regression neural network coupled with a shape synthesis neural network. The label regression network takes the user-provided keywords and maps them to the corresponding subspace of the latent space, where the subspace is modeled as a set of distributions for the dimensions of the latent space.


title: An Exploration of Factors Related to Design Implementation in the Canadian Federal Public Service

abstract: When government organizations are able to turn a good design into something that people can use, the potential for benefit is high. But in order to implement that design, change has to happen. There are theories in change management literature that focus on factors that may determine if the people within an organization, or the organization itself, might be able to make change happen. Given the relationship between design and change, change management theory is likely an important consideration during the design process. This case study examines formulas proposed to explore an organization's ability to change found in change management literature, uses participant inquiry to improve our understanding of factors that may affect the success of design projects within the Canadian Federal Public Service, and aims to find a formula that could be used during the design process to explore factors related to design project success.


title: Adaptive Learning For Model Driven Control Of Cloud Applications

abstract: System performance tracking, planning and on-demand provisioning are common techniques employed today for management of cloud applications. This work explores the use of machine learning algorithms to tune Kalman filters, which track system performance metrics to make predictions about the future state of running applications. The benefit of accurate predictions is to enable planning algorithms, for example model-based schemes like layered queueing networks, to determine potential system choke points with high granularity and specificity. The focus of this work is to evaluate the impact of long short term neural networks on improving the accuracy of Kalman filter predictions via tuning, to use these predictions to drive layered queueing network model driven decision control actions, and to evaluate the performance of this controller in different virtual machine types in the cloud. In addition, a new scheme for layered queueing network model parameter tracking using principal component analysis is proposed and evaluated.


title: An Engineer’s Guide to Public Engagement in Renewable Energy Projects

abstract: This thesis examines the public engagement process for renewable energy projects, focusing on the extent to which public engagement factors into the technical design of the projects. This interdisciplinary research features a two-part literature review, summarizing the key academic literature on public engagement and engineering design, respectively. The resulting insights are distilled into eight guidelines directed to engineers looking or needing to incorporate public engagement into their design processes for renewable energy projects. A case study of the renewable energy landscape in Eastern Ontario under the Green Energy Act tests the validity and applicability of the guidelines. The analysis is based on consultation reports from eight solar and wind projects, supplemented by eight interviews with renewable energy stakeholders in the same geographical area. This research has implications for renewable energy projects, for policymakers, and for the engineering profession, particularly in the context of current initiatives to improve public engagement processes.


title: Field Scale Flow Modeling of Thixotropic Mine Tailings Using the Material Point Method

abstract: Understanding free surface flow of mine tailings is necessary to plan deposition operations in tailings' storage facilities (TSF), and is important to predict the consequences of a dam break. Proper understanding of deposition operations has probably hindered adoption of alternative tailings technologies, wheras recent failures of tailings impoundments have had catastrophic consequences. Tailings exhibit thixotropic properties - their behavior is a function of the material's stress history. A thixotropic constitutive model has been implemented into an open-source Material Point Method (MPM) framework. The results were validated with previous experimental data at laboratory scale with good agreements. Large-scale simulations were done for 2D and 3D cases. The thixotropic model was able to model self-forming channels seen during field scale deposition. Dam break events also scaled differently from laboratory scale experiments with thixotropy. This can possibly be an element that explains longer runouts then initially predicted with standard rheology.


title: Using a Heated Column Experiment to Investigate the Long-Term Effects of Thermal Recovery Operations on the Release, Mobilization, and Attenuation of Arsenic in Groundwater

abstract: Steam assisted gravity drainage is a form of thermal recovery technology used for unconventional oil. It can result in the heating of surrounding sediments and associated porewater and has the potential to mobilize otherwise immobile groundwater contaminants, such as arsenic. The current study was conducted to continue with the analysis of geochemical reactions within a column to gain a better understanding of the long-term effects of thermal recovery operations on groundwater contamination, with an emphasis on arsenic. A temperature range of 50 °C to 90 °C was implemented within a heated section of the column to mimic thermal influence on an aquifer adjacent to a steam assisted gravity drainage well. During the year-long study, aqueous concentrations of silica, arsenic, aluminum, titanium, and zinc were found to increase within the heated section of the column. This suggests that thermal recovery operations do have the potential to mobilize contaminants in groundwater.


title: Validating a Measure of Client Change

abstract: While risk assessment has been most used as an evaluation of which offenders are most likely to re-offend, there are also various models explaining the process of client change which is thought to further describe who is at risk. While elements of change have been validated, there is no one assessment which assesses a client's position in the process of changing from an antisocial offender into a prosocial individual. The current research therefore attempted to validate the Client Change Scale (CCS), which is a theoretically and empirically supported measure for quantifying client change. Parole decision with offenders in the California parole system was used as a proxy measure of recidivism. Results indicated that while the CCS was reliable and correlated with risk, it didn't provide a good model and didn't predict decision independently. Further research is needed to assess the CCS' ability to predict recidivism directly for differing populations.


title: Mad and/or bad? Jurors' attitudes towards women and men who plead insanity

abstract: Women are more likely to be perceived as having a mental disorder than men are (McGlynn, Megas, & Benson, 1976). Accordingly, legal decision-makers are more likely to attribute a woman offender's actions to mental illness in comparison to offenders who are men in insanity trials (see Yourstone, Lindholm, & Svenson, 2008). The purpose of this dissertation was to examine mock jury deliberations in a fabricated Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder case. I first examined the impact of defendant gender on jurors' expressions of stereotype content (warmth and competence words) and affect. I used an exhaustive Stereotype Content domain dictionary to guide my directed quantitative content analysis of mock jurors' group deliberations. I used the Linguistic Inquiry Word Count program (LIWC; see Pennebaker, Francis, & Booth, 2001) to comb deliberation transcripts to examine mock jurors' affect towards the defendant (based on the language they used). Second, I examined how juror gender relates to verdict decisions; third, I examined how juror gender relates to speaking roles in deliberations. Fourth, I conducted a thematic analysis of the deliberations and examined how themes related to defendant and juror gender. Overall, these studies did not find significant differences in jurors' use of stereotype content language or affect for men and women defendants. Moreover, I did not find a significant difference in the deliberation styles of women and men jurors. Through the thematic analysis, I found that jurors were generally focused on the mental health status of the defendant and the legitimacy of the NCRMD plea. The present research is of particular importance in Canada, where there is generally no procedural allowance for psycho-legal scholars' questioning of jurors about their social attitudes (e.g., about women) before the trial and about their deliberations after the trial. As such, this dissertation provides a unique and exploratory "inside look" into how prospective jurors' stereotypes and prejudices about the defendant's gender may factor into deliberations in NCRMD trials.


title: Using experimental evolution to understand the persistence of bet-hedging traits in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

abstract: A bet-hedging strategy sacrifices fitness in average environments in exchange for increased fitness in rare but calamitous environments. It is unclear how such strategies can persist when selection is expected to improve suboptimal traits in the short-term. Bet hedging can persist if the ability to adaptively track environments is constrained in the short-term. To test this hypothesis, we evolve bet hedging under fluctuating selection of heat shocks using Saccharomyces cerevisiae and ask whether it has evolved as a constraint on adaptive tracking. We select for the retention of the bet-hedging trait through continual reduction in the frequency of heat shocks across two evolution regimes, viz. Regime-A (high frequency heat shocks) and Regime-B (low frequency heat shocks). We observed the retention of heat shock tolerance in lines from Regime-B but not Regime-A, suggesting the evolution of a constraint on adaptive tracking in lines from Regime-B relative to lines from Regime-A.


title: Electoral Competition: New Measures and Applications

abstract: The thesis presents three papers on electoral competition. In the first chapter, a quantitative measure of political competition is computed for Canadian parliamentary elections over the history of the modern Canadian state from 1867 to 2011. The measure of political competition, electoral risk, measures the probability that the incumbent government will lose the next election. The extent to which the economic indicators can be used in an explanation of electoral success is investigated. Current measures of electoral competition are improved upon and demonstrated to be robust. Amongst conflicting recent literature, this paper offers evidence of the continued existence of the 'economic voter' in Canada. In the second chapter, I examine the length of a Canadian parliament. The methodology employed uses survival analysis, allowing for the estimation of the dynamic probability that an incumbent government will call an election. The analysis incorporates principal components, along with other covariates, such as measures of political competition, to accurately estimate when an election is called. An optimal stopping rule is employed for the election decision and a Cox proportional hazard model is used to estimate the hazard function. The results show that Canadian governments engage in election timing and they are influenced by the prevailing level of electoral competition as measured by the probability of losing the next election. In the third chapter, I examine several indexes of political competition. I consider these indexes as reflecting different dimensions of an underlying degree of competition using a multiple-indicators multiple-causes model (MIMIC). A variety of economic and socio-political causal variables are employed in the models and investigated for significance. The resulting index of political competition for Canada shows that competition was highest from the 1950s to the early 1980s, before the level of competition decreased for 20 years until the early 2000s. In addition, the estimated indexes show that political competition has been elevated for the period of 2004 to 2015.