title: Undergraduates' Perceptions Towards Psychology As A Science: Differentiating Explicit Responses From Implicit Associations

abstract: Research has primarily adopted explicit measures to examine students' scientific attitudes towards psychology (Friedrich, 1996). Such measures have been found to be influenced by social desirability characteristics, however (Bartels et al., 2009). Moreover, explicit measures that are more direct tend to yield less scientific attitudes towards psychology compared to less direct ones (Hartwig & Delin, 2003; Provost et al., 2011; Webb, 1988). In this experiment, introduction to psychology students and upper year psychology students completed a go/no-go LDT to explore students' implicit attitudes towards psychology (Perea et al., 2002). Using this procedure, psychology's implicit associations with "science", methodological terminology, as well as scientific and psychological attributes were assessed. The data showed that implicit "science-psychology" and "psychology-methods" associations increase with greater exposure to the psychological curriculum. These results suggest that students' propensity to associate psychology with science after obtaining greater psychology-specific education can be observed at an implicit level.


title: The Future of Yogad: An Appreciative Inquiry on Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education Classroom Practices in the Philippines

abstract: This study centers on the present practices found across several top-performing public schools listed under the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) program in the Philippines, more than five years after its implementation. Explored through the narratives of Ilokano and Ibanag educators in Isabela, this inquiry examined their teaching approaches, classroom strategies, and instructional materials, among others. Using a two-level inductive analysis method, themes related to indigenous ways of teaching and learning were determined, in order to create a potential model for other heritage languages in the area, such as Yogad. Cooperative learning, stakeholder partnerships, as well as contextualized and localized materials dominated the discussion. Implications and recommendations were made, to promote the continued success of the nation's ongoing educational mandate. Keywords: mother tongue education, multilingualism, indigenous education, appreciative inquiry


title: Sea-ice topographic surveying using Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry conducted from small UAVs

abstract: The heterogenous topography of sea-ice is difficult to measure, monitor and predict. Recent technological improvements have enabled the development of structure from motion (SfM) surveying using small unmanned aerial vehicles (sUAVs). sUAV-SfM surveying was evaluated as a low-cost technique of obtaining sea-ice topography. Field data collection was conducted in Frobisher Bay and consisted of several sUAV-SfM surveys at the sub-kilometre- and kilometre-level spatial scale. RMSE values of 87 mm and 80 mm were obtained, respectively, for comparing the sUAV-SfM to a reference dataset and for comparing among individual sUAV-SfM surveys. The technique was successful at detecting, measuring and visualizing sea-ice features, such as pressure ridges. When compared to established techniques at similar spatial scales, sUAV-SfM was generally superior in terms of cost, simplicity, flexibility and ground resolution, but it suffered from low reliability due to accuracy issues with low-cost GPS receivers.


title: P2PSIP over MANETs: Approaches to a Secure Implementation

abstract: We propose two different approaches to implement the peer-to-peer (P2P) version of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), focusing on private (e.g. military) networks. Both inspired by state-of-the-art approaches, one uses a flooding-based name resolution mechanism while the other instead makes use of a distributed hash table (DHT). We then provide a security solution built on top of both approaches using an offline public key infrastructure (PKI) and redundancy to ensure data integrity and availability. This is similar to one existing solution in particular - the RELOAD standard - but we also tackle issues that affect it notably by being careful with the redundancy scheme. We then present results from performing experiments in a simulator for both of our approaches, demonstrating that they do not suffer from some of the issues affecting other state-of-the-art solutions including RELOAD.


title: Effect of Non-Thermal Ultrasound on Inulin from Jerusalem Artichoke and Its Application in Dairy Industry

abstract: To investigate the effect of ultrasound on the inulin from JA, JA powder, Purified JA inulin (PJAI) was treated with 20KHz ultrasound compared with chicory inulin (CI). Ultrasound treatment time had a positive linear relationship with reducing sugar content of these samples. Also, determined by HPLC and GPC, for PJAI, there was a negative linear relationship between high degree of polymerization (DP) inulin with ultrasound treatment time (R2=0.9169), and a positive linear relationship between low DP inulin with ultrasound treatment time (R2=0.9738), which was not observed for inulin from chicory. Furthermore, JA powder was added into whey and milk and treated with 20KHz ultrasound to investigate the structure change. Ultrasound changed the microstructure of milk resulting in a flatter surface for milk and whey. Ultrasound combined particles of milk and whey This kind of phenomenon was much more obvious only for milk when mixed with JA powder.


title: Design and Analysis of Novel Metallic Structural Concepts for Lightweight Freight Railcars

abstract: A typical hopper railcar was selected for the case study in this thesis. The solid model of the railcar was created using CATIA, and a preliminary stress analysis was conducted to illustrate the highly stressed areas of the railcar body. Material selection process was done using CES Software, and a third generation aluminum-lithium alloy, i.e. Al 2099, was selected as an alternative to conventional steel. The new material led to 66% weight reduction on the body as compared to conventional steel railcar bodies. Then, a sandwich panel was developed and optimized for the floor panel made of the newly selected material. By that, a 12.5 % weight reduction can be achieved on the body made of Al 2099. Finally, the proposed design was validated using finite element simulations and by comparing their results with the exact analytical solutions.


title: Modelling and Simulation of Marine Cables with Dynamic Winch and Sheave Contact

abstract: Cable-sheave systems are commonly used on marine vessels for lifting and towing applications. As a result of the motion of the vessel, the cable can detach from the surface of the sheave. This thesis presents a simulation of a towed cable system which includes the interaction of the cable with the sheave surface in order to examine variations in the contact between the cable and the sheave. A three-dimensional description of the sheave geometry is implemented in order to accurately model the contact forces as the vessel undergoes six degree-of-freedom motion. To assess the performance of the model, the simulated cable behavior is compared to small scale experimental measurements. Finally, a case study was performed to demonstrate the usage of the simulation to examine variations in cable tension and contact forces for a full-scale system. The method demonstrated can be used in future studies to examine cable detachment behavior.


title: Seasonal Spatial Ecology of Juvenile Muskellunge and Northern Pike in Upper St. Lawrence River Nursery Bays: Applied Perspectives

abstract: Nursery habitat requirements for age-0 Esox spp. in the upper St. Lawrence River are well understood; however, little is known about the influence of physical habitat on their spatiotemporal ecology during fall and winter periods. A hatchery study evaluated biologically relevant endpoints post-implantation of a mini-acoustic transmitter in age-0 Muskellunge. Neither tag expulsion nor mortality were observed, nor influence of tag presence on short-term growth rates. Applying this tool to evaluate their ecology, I captured and tagged age-0 Muskellunge (Esox masquinogy) and Northern Pike (Esox lucius) from August to October in natal bays. Detection data, modeled against environmental covariates, found deeper littoral regions were used by both species, and complex interactions between covariates influenced spatial trends during this critical period. With similar overwintering spatial ecology between these congeneric competitors, overwintering microhabitat use studies in association with water level management may confirm habitat overlap and inform wetland restoration efforts.


title: Re-examining Tricky Dick and the Pink Lady: Helen Gahagan Douglas, Gender, and New Deal Liberalism in the United States Senate Election in California, 1950

abstract: This thesis examines the 1950 United States Senate election in California that pitted the New Deal liberal Helen Gahagan Douglas against the hard-line anti-communist Richard Nixon. By considering the election within the context of a changing economic landscape, the push to re-traditionalize gender norms following the upheaval of wartime the Douglas - Nixon senate race is a powerful example of how the subtle use of gender and sexism in political contests has historically been used to discredit women candidates. In this thesis I work to situate the Douglas vs. Nixon race within the broader nexus of American anti-communism and the politics of containment while combating some of the historical myths surrounding Douglas to demonstrate the extent to which gender and the re-orientation of liberal political philosophy in the postwar period contributed to the political defeat of one of the most promising political women of the twentieth century.


title: Do Butterflies Use "Hearing Aids"?Investigating the Structure and Function of Inflated Wing Veins in Nymphalidae

abstract: Many butterfly species within the subfamily Satyrinae (Nymphalidae) have been informally reported to possess a conspicuous "inflated" or "swollen" subcostal vein on each forewing. However, the function and taxonomic diversity of these structures is unknown. This thesis comprises both experimental and comparative approaches to test hypotheses on the function and evolution of these inflated veins. A laser vibrometry study showed that ears in the common wood nymph, Cercyonis pegala, are tuned to sounds between 1-5 kHz and the inflated subcostal vein enhances sensitivity to these sounds. A comparative study showed that all species with inflated veins possess ears, but not all species with ears possess inflated veins. Further, inflated veins were better developed in smaller butterflies. This thesis provides the first evidence for the function of inflated wing veins in butterflies and supports the hypothesis that they function as aids to low frequency hearing.


title: Analysis of Radiographic Contrast Markers for X-ray Digital Image Correlation of Tissue-Simulants Under Dynamic Load

abstract: The study of traumatic brain injury is critical to the improvement of protective equipment. Numerical models of brain deformation require real-world data for validation. In preparation for upcoming cadaver studies, a novel method of measuring displacement and strain fields of optically inaccessible internal planes using high-speed X-ray, embedded contrast markers and digital image correlation (DIC) is presented herein. An uncoupled scintillator and optimally-selected high-speed camera enable continuous X-ray imaging through a human head at 10,000 fps. As varying composition creates radiographic contrast, contrast within a human brain is limited, therefore, artificial contrast markers are required. Markers must be dynamically coupled to the bulk material and provide sufficient X-ray contrast. An analytical tool was developed to design of contrast markers. The impact of contrast-to-noise ratio and out-of-plane motion on DIC accuracy were quantified. Finally, a feasibility study using a biofidelic headform subjected to a NOCSAE drop test is presented.


title: Existence of Solutions Via a New Variational Principle for Nonlocal Semilinear Elliptic Equations

abstract: The aim of this thesis is to prove the existence of a weak solution for semilinear fractional elliptic equations given by \begin{eqnarray*}\left\{ \begin{array}{ll} (-\Delta)^s u=|u|^{p-2} u+ f(x),& \quad x\in \Omega,\\ u=0, & \quad x \in \R^n \backslash \Omega, %0, & \quad x \in \partial \Oemga, \end{array} \right. \end{eqnarray*} where $(-\Delta)^s$ denotes the fractional Laplace operator with $s \in (0,1],$ $n > 2s,$ $\Omega$ is an open bounded domain in $\R^n$ with $C^2$-boundary and $f \in L^2(\Omega).$ We are interested in extending this result for $s \in (0, 1]$ to $p$ greater than the critical Sobolev exponent where the compact embedding fails to hold. We shall make use of a new variational principle presented in \cite{Mo1} that allows one to deal with problems well beyond the compact structure.


title: Lexical Bundles within English for Academic Purposes Written Teaching Materials: A Canadian Context

abstract: Research surrounding lexical bundles in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) is fundamental to the academic success of students pursuing postsecondary education. Recent studies suggest that awareness of the presence and function of lexical bundles in academic English is beneficial to students and teachers, and leads to a deeper understanding of the construction of discourse (Biber, 2004). Using corpus linguistics, this study presents the degree to which students of an English Second Language Acquisition (ESLA) program at a mid-sized Canadian university encounter four-word lexical bundles in their written teaching materials. The study uses functional taxonomy to classify the lexical bundles of the Moynié corpus I created. The results indicate the need for further research to assess the frequency of lexical bundles amongst all registers that students come across in their academic studies. This is to ensure the students achieve fluency in English, and can competently understand, recognize and utilize lexical bundles.


title: Resisting the Pied Piper: Colorful Defense Mechanisms in Insect Eggs, with a Focus on Stink Bugs (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)

abstract: How can immobile life stages such as eggs protect themselves against physical and biological threats? One protective adaptation that has evolved to help them survive is egg coloration. In this thesis, I begin by reviewing the studies looking at adaptive insect egg coloration and distinguish what is known based on scientific evidence versus untested hypotheses. I then move on to testing whether the eggs of the Harlequin cabbage bug are chemically defended, in an attempt to link glucosinolate sequestration to possible aposematic egg coloration. I argue that the nymphs are not only chemically defended, but also use tonic immobility as an alternative antipredation strategy until sufficient compound sequestration is achieved. Finally, I assess the selective pressures behind the evolution of egg color polymorphism in the Spined soldier bug. I demonstrate that frequency-dependant predation is necessary to select for approximately equal frequencies of the two main morphs observed in nature.


title: The Pragmatics of Requesting in the Canadian Workplace: A Comparative Investigation of Requests Presented in Workplace ESL Textbooks and Oral Discourse Completion Task Responses

abstract: Within the workplace, pragmatic competence contributes to the performance of difficult speech acts such as requests (Wigglesworth & Yates, 2007). A prevalent concern in teaching second language (L2) pragmatics involves pedagogical materials (Bardovi-Harlig, 2017). Although previous research has found discrepancies in pragmatic language seen in L2 textbooks and elicited responses via discourse completion tasks (DCTs) (e.g. Pablos-Ortega, 2011), workplace language textbooks have seldom been investigated. Therefore, the present study used speech act typologies (Alcón, Safont & Martínez-Flor, 2005; Trosborg, 1995) and criteria for conventional expressions (Bardovi-Harlig, 2012) to identify the most frequently-occurring requests in 17 workplace language textbooks. The same process was applied to 30 native English speakers' elicited, audio-recorded oral DCT responses. Significant differences were found in the frequency of request types identified in the textbooks and elicited responses. The results suggest that workplace language textbooks provide insufficient pragmatic input for L2 learners who are preparing for the workplace.


title: Bend Passwords for People with Vision Impairment

abstract: Passwords help people avoid unauthorized access to their personal devices but are not without challenges, like memorability and shoulder surfing attacks. Little is known about how people with vision impairment assure their digital security in mobile contexts. We conducted an online survey with 325 people who are blind or have low vision and found they are concerned about entering passwords in public because of the risk of others observing their passwords. We also found PINs, commonly required on smartphones, are considered insecure and poorly accessible. To solve those issues, we investigated the usability of bend passwords, a recently proposed method for authentication that uses a combination of pre-defined bend gestures performed on a flexible device. We designed a new deformable prototype and ran a user study with 16 vision-impaired participants, finding that bend passwords are as easy to learn and memorize as PINs, but are faster to enter than PINs.


title: What's Behind the Label? A Qualitative Study of Critical Thinking Exercises in Two Popular English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Textbooks

abstract: A review of the theoretical literature suggests three rival approaches to critical thinking: informal logic (e.g. D'Angelo, 1971; Ennis, 1987; Scriven, 1976), centred on generalizable cognitive abilities; epistemological (e.g. McPeck, 1981; Moon, 2008; Paul & Elder, 2016), centred on acquiring disciplinary knowledge and a relativist worldview; and critical pedagogy (e.g. Benesch, 2001; Canagarajah, 2005; Giroux, 1994), centred on neo-Marxist social transformation. This qualitative study employed deductive and inductive coding strategies (Pingel, 2010; Saldan͂a, 2016) to determine the extent to which these three critical thinking approaches were evidenced in exercises labelled as critical thinking in two popular English for Academic Purposes (EAP) textbooks. The textbook analysis revealed three major findings: the abilities targeted were frequently inconsistent with those abilities identified in the theoretical literature, the importance of subject-specific background knowledge was undermined, and there was a lack of concern for social transformation. The study concluded by offering several implications.


title: Gatekeepers of Ambition: Test-Taker Preparation Practices on Two High-Stakes Language Proficiency Tests

abstract: This mixed-methods study with an exploratory convergent design (Creswell, 2009) investigated the test preparation practices, reasons for test choice, perceived performance, and reported emotional experience of 33 participant test takers on two high-stakes language proficiency tests. The findings indicated a variety of practices employed in taking the tests (i.e. IELTS and TOEFL iBT), including, in order of prevalence: seeking information from former test takers, using test preparation books/practice tests, and using online resources. Perceived performance and emotional experience during reading sections were rated most negatively. The two main concerns the participant test takers had were the speeded nature of the reading and writing sections of the test, and test administration factors. These findings shed light on the mechanism of washback (i.e. the effect of high-stakes tests on teaching and learning). Both test preparation practices and test takers' opinions of tests have implications for the validity of inferences drawn from tests.


title: Development of Mailed Dosimetric Audit for External Beam Radiation Therapy Using Alanine Dosimeters

abstract: This project's aim is to provide the basis for an on-demand dosimetry service for the independent check of dose delivery in external beam radiation therapy in Canadian cancer centres. The service will use mailed alanine dosimeters, and therefore the main focus of the project was to develop a low dose, clinically applicable, alanine dosimetry protocol. Alanine dosimetry was originally developed for industrial uses of radiation (kGy dose levels) and there are a series of hurdles that have to be overcome to achieve acceptable accuracy at clinically realistic doses (a few Gy). Techniques for the correct readout procedure, choice of dosimeter, sample handling and detector operation were developed and/or adopted from the literature with the aim of obtaining dose measurements with an overall uncertainty below 1%.


title: Identification and Investigation of Novel DNA Damage Repair Genes Via Network Analysis

abstract: While most DNA lesions are repaired faithfully and without genotoxic effect, double-stranded breaks (DSBs) are exceptional. The deleterious potential of a misrepaired DSB represents a severe threat to cellular integrity. Repair machinery defects are frequently observed in tumorigenic and oncogenic cells. General DNA damage repair mechanisms involve homologous recombination (HR), or non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). Ongoing identification of new players in DSB repair leads us to believe there are more undiscovered genes in this pathway. The highly complex and conserved nature of DSB repair across eukaryotic and mammalian cells presents an opportunity for identification of novel genes through a computationally-directed approach. Employing a 'guilt-by-association' model, we analyzed experimental and predicted interaction networks in S. cerevisiae to identify previously uncharacterized genes involved in repair. Three novel genes were discovered to influence repair- GAL7, YHI9, and YMR130W. The results of this study implicate all three in the DNA damage response network.


title: Disability Friendly Virtue Ethics

abstract: Disability friendly virtue ethics calls for an accessible world. With the help of Aristotle I argue that to be fully virtuous one must be able to flourish. I also argue that all disabled people have the potential to flourish and be fully virtuous, including those with profound intellectual impairments. I point to systems of oppression and discrimination against disabled people and argue they are wrong in part because they block flourishing. By imagining a world where disabled people, and all people, can flourish I identify seven virtues that would most encourage removal of barriers to the flourishing of people with disabilities. Disability friendly virtue ethics is grounded in Aristotlian virtue ethics and includes insights from disability theory and activism.


title: Exploring the Reality of the Knowledge Level: Pragmatism Embodied

abstract:
Allen Newell's Knowledge Level (KL) theory is a philosophical position on the reality of knowledge best understood through Pragmatism—specifically, the view that the practical effects of general concepts are indelibly linked with the reality of those concepts. The reality of the KL is context-dependent and task-specific based on its practical effect—goal attainment. The patterns it identifies are real, because they endure and are interpretable across individuals. The reality of these patterns links the KL to similar theories describing behavior.
Viewing the KL as real enables more precise testing of cognitive theories by computationally modeling the mechanisms they explain. The KL elucidates the dynamic role values play in the use of knowledge to achieve goals and how goals are re-prioritized in light of as new knowledge. This has applications to predictive behavioral analysis because it shows how manipulation of agent's knowledge and/or goals enables influence, deception, and propaganda efforts.


title: Modeling Meaning: A Kantian Intervention in Vector Space Semantics

abstract: This thesis discusses the implementation of a set of logical forms to enrich the way meaning is modeled in a vector-based system of conceptual memory. Vector-space models can account for a variety of psycho-linguistic phenomena by representing relationships between concepts as distance in a high-dimensional space. But they lack logical organizational structure without which inferential operations are impossible. Augmenting cognitive architectures with innate, logical structures might be the key to resolving this issue. But proposing such structures risks over-attributing the complexity of behavior to complexity in the architecture. I propose using Kant's critical work for a strong theory to select a minimal set of logical forms. The system is implemented onto vector space architecture in a model (Kantian-HDM) created in R programming language and has been published on GitHub. The results of the simulation run in the model are presented along with a description of inferential behavior exhibited.


title: The Biology and Ecology of the Diamondback Moth, Plutella xylostella (L.) in Eastern Ontario Revisited

abstract: Diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella Linnaeus (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) is a globally distributed pest on brassicaceous crops. This study aimed to follow up with aspects of earlier research, mainly to revisit the potential for overwintering of diamondback moth in the Ottawa area, to investigate present day population dynamics using a life-table approach and to use next generation sequencing to describe the diamondback moth microbiome. A review of the literature has reaffirmed that diamondback moth may not be capable of overwintering in Ottawa with populations likely migrant-driven. The population dynamics and parasitoid community appear to be unaltered after 65 years. The microbiome of diamondback moth larvae was dominated by Enterococcaceae, a family of bacteria hypothesized to aid in resistance and detoxification. This can provide opportunities for the introduction of new biological control agents and tools for diamondback moth management in the future.


title: Real-Time Outlier (Anomaly) Detection Over Data Streams

abstract: Outlier detection has become an increasing challenging data-mining task in modern applications due to the fact that the data may come in the form of streams rather than batches. In this thesis, we will present two online algorithms to detect outliers over data streams, based on the sliding window approach, to address all the challenges when processing data over streams. Both algorithms keep statistical summaries of previous windowed data in memory that help with the decisions of future data and do not require a secondary memory. Proved by different datasets, our proposed methods can detect outliers accurately over data streams, where data distribution may change over time.


title: The Effects of Early-Life Phthalate Exposure on Prefrontal Cortex Mediated Behaviours

abstract: Phthalates are synthetic chemicals added to plastics to increase their flexibility, however they easily migrate out of the plastic into the environment. Previous research has shown that early life exposure to DEHP results in altered neurodevelopment. DEHP was administered once daily from P18-23. Wildtype C57Bl/6 and transgenic AldHl1- L10:GFP mice were used to assess behaviour and astrocytic changes in the PFC, respectively. Behavioural and histological measurements were assessed at P29 and P49 in males and females. Our results suggest that male mice exposed to DEHP exhibit acute hyperactivity and decreased anxiety. These effects were not seen at P49, and no differences were seen at either time point in females. No changes in astrocyte number or astrocyte activation were observed. In conclusion, early-life DEHP exposure appears to have acute anxiolytic effects only in males, and these effects do not seem to be mediated through astrocytic changes in the PFC.


title: Combining Species Distribution Models and Value of Information Analysis for Spatial Allocation of Conservation Resources

abstract: Managers often have incomplete information needed to make decisions about threatened species management, and do not have the time or funding needed to obtain complete information. Value of Information (VOI) analysis has the potential to assist managers in making the decision to monitor or manage, but it has not been applied to assessing spatial allocation of monitoring. I use data from SDMs to apply VOI across a landscape. I determine in which situations one should monitor before purchasing land for conservation, and when one should act based on current information. I found the optimal decision for management units was to act based on current information when survey accuracy was > 0.60. At accuracy > 0.60, it was most effective to monitor the majority of units. My results suggest that if managers can utilize VOI to more efficiently monitor, it can lead to protecting more threatened species occurrences.


title: An Appetite for Invasion: invasive lionfish have lower costs of digestion at high temperatures and a feeding physiology that may drive their impact

abstract: Species invasions threaten global biodiversity, but the physiological underpinnings of invasive characteristics are poorly understood. Specific Dynamic Action (SDA), the increase in metabolic rate associated with feeding and digestion, is a physiological process that strongly influences an animal's feeding ecology in concert with aerobic scope, or the range between its minimum and maximum physiologically possible metabolic rates. Both of these characteristics are temperature-dependent and may represent ecologically relevant responses to temperature changes. I investigated the relationship between SDA, aerobic scope, and temperature in lionfish (Pterois spp.), an invasive species of major concern to western Atlantic marine ecosystems. I collected lionfish from reefs in The Bahamas and used intermittent-flow respirometry to calculate their SDA and aerobic scope at two ecologically relevant temperatures (26° and 32° C). My results suggest that lionfish possess physiological traits that facilitate their invasiveness, and that they may benefit from warming ocean temperatures from climate change.


title: Plasma-Sprayed and Sintered Silver-Based Antimicrobial Coatings for Industrial and Biomedical Application

abstract: Bacteria are ever-present in many industries, especially food and water processing, and medicine. Bacteria can colonize the surfaces of equipment and implants, risking potential infection. An antimicrobial coating that could be applied to an alloy would prove invaluable in these industries. This thesis suggests using silver as an active antibacterial agent and details the experimental data and analysis of coatings produced via plasma-spraying and sintering. The coatings were applied to cobalt chromium, an alloy used in both industries. The plasma-sprayed coatings used cobalt chromium as a base metal, containing 0%, 2%, and 5% silver by weight. The sintered coatings had a greater adhesion strength than the plasma-sprayed coatings (25.86 MPa versus 24.66 MPa in the 2% silver coating). The plasma-sprayed coatings saw no leaching of silver in sterile water, and the 2% and 5% silver plasma-sprayed coatings reduced bacteria proliferation relative to the 0% (99.9% and 63.4% reduction).


title: A Hermeneutical Solution to the Problem of Philosophic Education

abstract: This Thesis examines the problem of philosophic education. It outlines a problem of philosophic education that comes out of ancient and modern scholarship concerning the initiation into philosophy. Essentially every philosopher and scholar who has looked at it is unable to describe the conditions of what a philosophic education is. The problem gets originally illuminated out of the Laws and Republic of Plato. The final chapter of the thesis looks at the dialogue Gorgias and adopts a hermeneutical interpretation of the text to see what the conditions might be for a philosophic education to be possible.


title: Simple Adaptive Control for Spacecraft Trajectory Tracking Under Uncertainties and Perturbations

abstract: Orbital debris is a growing problem that poses a collision risk to spacecraft and is expected to worsen exponentially as each collision between two bodies fragments them into three or more. Active removal of debris is necessary to prevent runaway growth in the number of objects but removal is complicated by the presence of perturbation forces and lack of knowledge of debris parameters such as mass. Capturing and towing debris will require a control strategy that can perform trajectory tracking that is robust to these uncertainties. This thesis presents the use of Simple Adaptive Control (SAC), a direct adaptive control method, to perform trajectory tracking in the presence of mass and perturbation uncertainties. A new laboratory facility was developed to perform simulations and experiments. Both simulation and experimental results agree that SAC is a viable control strategy for this purpose that significantly outperforms a PD controller.


title: Backtracking Algorithm-Aided Design of a 10-Bit SAR ADC

abstract:
A 10-bit SAR ADC was designed in a 130 nm CMOS process. The reference voltage generator in the ADC is made with an array of 25 unit capacitors, in comparison to binary-weighted SAR ADCs, which would use 1024 unit capacitors. The capacitor array is controlled using a state machine whose logic was determined and automatically generated using a recursive backtracking algorithm.
Schematic-level simulation results for the ADC predict an effective number of bits (ENOB) of 9.39, worst case integral non-linearity (INL) and differential non-linearity (DNL) of 1.15 and 1 least significant bit (LSB), respectively, and average power consumption of 1.65 µW at 10 kSps. The Walden figure of merit is calculated to be 246 fJ/conv-step. The core layout area is 0.458 mm^2.


title: Number-Theoretic Sequence Design for Uncoordinated Resource Block Assignments in Relay-Assisted Machine-Type Communication Systems

abstract:
Terminal relaying offers effective means for realizing machine-type communication (MTC) systems. However, coordinating these relaying terminals (RTs) becomes a cumbersome task as the number of RTs increases. In the absence of channel state information, the efficient utilization of RTs requires a mechanism by which RTs can autonomously assign available resource blocks (RBs) to large numbers of uncoordinated MTC devices with minimal conflicts. Unlike random RB assignments, using prescribed assignment sequences provides an opportunity for obtaining performance gains. However, realizing these gains requires optimizing RB assignments over a large set of sequences. One technique for selecting assignment sequences is based on an exhaustive search of exponential complexity over sequences generated by multiplicative cyclic groups. This technique restricts the RB assignment sequence length and does not consider sequences generated using other group operations.
In this thesis, we use group isomorphism to eliminate the constraint on the sequence length and to show that the optimal assignment sequences generated by a specific cyclic group are globally-optimal over the set of all cyclically-generated sequences. We also develop a greedy algorithm with polynomial complexity for the sequential selection of assignment sequences in systems with large numbers of RTs. This algorithm is further simplified by invoking the graphical representation of cyclic groups to enable its application in massive MTC systems. To further improve performance, we extend the RB assignment sequences set by considering multi-generator sequences. In particular, the Chinese remainder theorem (CRT) is used to combine cyclically-generated sequences into longer ones. This combining process introduces additional degrees of freedom in sequence generation, thereby enriching the set of assignment sequences. We then use group isomorphism to show that the set of pseudonoise maximal length sequences (M-sequences) constitutes a subset of the cyclically-generated sequences set and that their performance is upper bounded by that of cyclically-generated and CRT-based sequences. This isomorphism is also used to extend the ease of generation property of M-sequences to their corresponding cyclically-generated supersets. Finally, we compare the correlation properties of CRT-based, Zadoff-Chu (ZC), and M-sequences and discuss the applicability of the CRT-based sequences for synchronization signalling in practical systems with large carrier frequency offsets.


title: The Professionalization of Canadian Correctional Officers: 1920s – 1960s

abstract: Prison guards play a key role in prisons as they are situated directly between prisoners and prison administration. This project examines the early history of the professionalization of Canadian prison guards. It looks at early discussions amongst prison and government officials, efforts that were taken to create training programs and the implementation of those programs. The discussions of prison guard training began to increase in the 1920s in Canada, but it was not until the 1930s that we begin to see efforts to try to gather information to produce training programs. These efforts came at a time when prison conditions were at an all-time low across the country resulting in multiple riots and disturbances. Due to major media coverage and multiple government investigations, over the next few decades, different programs were developed. By the 1950s Canada saw its very first prison guard training school.


title: Snow Accumulation in the Niaqunguk (Apex) River Watershed near Iqualuit, Nunavut, Canada

abstract: Spring snowmelt is the largest input to Arctic hydrological systems. The spring snow distribution is extremely spatially variable and difficult to quantify. This study used field measurements and models to characterize and quantify the spring snow distribution in the 52 km2 Niaqunguk River watershed near Iqaluit, Nunavut. Three models were assessed for their ability to replicate spatial patterns and estimate total watershed snow storage. Two semi-distributed terrain-based models were calibrated, and a fully distributed process model, SnowModel, was run. All 3 successfully replicated spatial patterns and provided reasonable quantitative estimates, except for SnowModel's poor performance in 2015. SnowModel is useful for studying mid-winter processes, but requires user technical capacity and high-quality meteorological observations lacking for much of the Arctic. By comparison, the semi-distributed models provide an accurate estimate without high technical or meteorological data demands, and provide a framework to guide stratified snow surveying.


title: Development and Evaluation of ATLAS Inner Tracker Strip Sensors and Strip Detector Modules

abstract:
The ATLAS Inner Tracker strip detector collaboration will be producing more than 20,000 silicon strip detector modules in anticipation of the high luminosity upgrade for the LHC (HL-LHC). The HL-LHC will achieve approximately 200 proton-proton collisions per 25ns with the center of mass energy 14TeV at the center of the ATLAS detector with the goal of improving the precision of physics measurements of known interactions and of potentially discovering unknown physics processes. To achieve this, the ATLAS collaboration aims to upgrade the ATLAS Inner Detector (ID) with the new all silicon radiation hard Inner Tracker (ITk) based on new technology developed since the installation of the ATLAS detector.
This M.Sc. thesis contains the details of the development and evaluation of the prototype silicon strip sensors for the ATLAS ITk. In addition, this thesis presents the development of the assembly technique for the silicon strip detector modules for the ATLAS ITk.


title: Pseudoclefts

abstract: This thesis proposes syntactic and semantic analyses for the two kinds of pseudoclefts, predicational and specificational. I suggest that although the two are syntactically quite different they are similar in their semantics. Predicational pseudoclefts are analyzed as predicational copular clauses with a free relative subject and a predicative counterweight. In contrast, I adopt a deletion-based approach to specificational pseudoclefts, in which the pre-copular constituent is left-dislocated and the counterweight is a fragment of an underlying CP. Semantically, I propose that the wh-clause in predicational pseudoclefts denotes an individual, while in specificational pseudoclefts it denotes a question. The analyses of both wh-clauses involve the maximal informativity operator, MAXINF. In the former, MAXINF operates over predicates and in the latter it operates over sets of propositions. The aim of this thesis is to account for the differences between predicational and specificational pseudoclefts while also highlighting their similarities in an intuitively satisfying manner.


title: Keeping the Inter-Agency Peace? A Comparative Study of Swedish, German, and British Whole-of-Government Approaches in Afghanistan

abstract:
This study seeks to improve understanding of whole-of-government (WOG) approaches, as applied by nations that contribute civilian personnel and military forces to multinational peace operations. How do national WOG models vary, at country capitals and in the mission area? Why do WOG approaches vary - in time, as well as within and across countries? Focusing on the ISAF mission, this study develops a measuring tool for levels of civil-military coordination, and compares the experiences of Sweden, Germany, and the United Kingdom in Afghanistan, between 2001 and 2014. It then tests theories of bureaucratic politics, strategic culture, and principal-agent models to tease out the reasons for variation across the three case studies.
The results indicate that the structure of the political institutions in each country was a key determinant of WOG coherence. The German and Swedish coalition governments required excessive collective bargaining over all aspects of the Afghanistan engagement. This resulted in low to medium-level WOG models. By contrast, in the British single party majority system, WOG advances hinged upon the priorities of a single individual - the incumbent Prime Minister. Despite bureaucratic resistance, focusing events and negotiations over side issues allowed for progress in civil-military coherence. In the mission area, the degree of control headquarters exercised over deployed staff affected cooperation dynamics. On average, Swedish and German civilian ministries granted personnel less discretion to engage with the military than British departments. Finally, cultural factors indirectly shaped WOG narratives in each country.


title: The Sound of Home: Tuareg Women’s Tendé Drumming in France and Belgium

abstract: This thesis combines anthropological and ethnomusicological theories and methods to analyze how tendé drumming evokes contested and contradictory notions of home and identity for Tuareg women. Using data obtained during fieldwork in France and Belgium, I investigate how the tendé's place-making capacities and its relationship to Tuareg women's normative social roles have been disrupted, leading to ongoing debates as to whether to replicate, adjust, or put aside tendé drumming in Europe in the face of these disruptions. In the context of radical change, it is possible to recognize the anxiety migrants face when they are forced to evaluate old ways of constructing Tuareg identity and decide if they are viable in a new place. I use the concept of imperfect translation to describe the fragmented way the practices and meanings embedded in the tendé drum are moved into a diaspora context.


title: Clustering Profiles in Generalized Linear Mixed Models Settings Using Bayesian Nonparametric Statistics

abstract: Generalized linear mixed models are used to model clustered and longitudinal data in which the distribution of the response variable is a member of the exponential family. This thesis introduces a novel method for simultaneous clustering of such data and estimation of parameters of the underlying generalized linear mixed models. Generalized linear mixed models consist of two sets of parameters: fixed effects parameters that associate covariates to the response at the population level, and random effects parameters that associate covariates to the response at the individual level. We introduce a method that identifies homogeneous groups in the data based on similarities among random effects parameters that are obtained when homogeneous groups are modeled using generalized linear mixed models. We achieve this by placing a Dirichlet Process prior on random effects parameters, which induces clustering of random effects and subsequently the clustering of profiles. As a result, our method simultaneously groups profiles into clusters and estimates model parameters of each cluster without assuming that the number of clusters is known in advance. We have tested our method on both simulated data and data from public health domain. In simulations, we have shown that the method manages to recover the correct number of clusters, successfully clusters profiles and correctly estimates model parameters. In public health clustered data, our method produces parameter estimates that are very close to those obtained by a frequentist maximum likelihood method, while identifying groups of homogeneous health regions that reveal certain properties of the underlying survey population that cannot be easily obtained using other methods. Similar methods have been proposed for longitudinal data with continuous responses. This thesis extends these models in novel ways to clustered and longitudinal data, where the distribution of the response variable can be any member of the exponential family.


title: Mapping the Zirconium-Hydrogen Phase System

abstract: There are economic incentives to extend service of CANDU nuclear reactors in Ontario because of their reputation for safety and reliability. Ageing pressure tubes made of zirconium alloys are vulnerable to failure by Delayed Hydride Cracking, which limits the amount of hydrogen, stress, and temperature history permitted during operation. Recreating reactor end-of-life conditions for testing purposes requires a method of adding hydrogen quantitatively into zirconium alloys without modifying irradiation damage.  The thesis demonstrates a promising mechanical hydriding technique that is  suitable for adding hydrogen beyond the solubility limit into irradiated zirconium alloys at 200 °C within hours. Predictions are 99 % accurate with a precision of 3 % based on mass-balance. The technique can be used to map the Zirconium-Hydride phase system. Results attributed to the delta solvus have been measured and agree with reported values.


title: Less is More Work: A Governmentality Analysis of Authenticity Within Minimalism Discourse

abstract:
At its core, this is a project about the contemporary crisis of authenticity. Using minimalism discourse as a site to explore this crisis, my research into the minimalist lifestyle and its critique of consumerism is guided by two questions. First, how is the concept of authenticity mobilized within minimalism discourse? And second, how does the notion of authenticity contribute to governing the minimalist lifestyle and shaping the minimalist subject? To explore these questions a selection of self-help texts, or pedagogical lifestyle resources, are used. The discursive sites explored herein include guru books, Reddit forums, a documentary, Instagram posts, TED talks, and media coverage on the minimalist lifestyle. These diverse data sites are analyzed using mixed- methods including discourse analysis, frame analysis, and elements of grounded theory, and are shaped by a governmentality approach to theory and methodology.
The notion of authenticity is used to help naturalize governmentality and consumer culture. Minimalism, while offering a critique of consumerism, mobilizes authenticity in much the same way. The use of the rhetoric of authenticity within minimalism discourse takes the form of critique in three primary ways: (1) minimalists often express nostalgia for a pre-consumerism past, (2) minimalists tend to prioritize experiences over objects and (3), minimalists tend to distinguish between needs and consumer culture-created artificial wants in such a way that wants are deemed superfluous to living a fulfilling and meaningful life. What can be seen in minimalism discourse is a complex lifestyle oriented around highly intentional consumption practices and critical of individual participation in mass-consumption. Within this discourse, the rhetoric of authenticity is used as both a critique of consumerism and a justification for a highly regimented and responsibilized way of life that is, I argue, an example of governmentality in action at the level of the individual. It is my contention that through the incorporation of the rhetoric of authenticity, contemporary minimalism embodies neoliberal ways of thinking about the self as a project requiring continuous work.


title: Learning to Dive:  The Digital Restitution of Lot 3317

abstract:
This project heuristically explores the history of the St. Lawrence Seaway and of the villages displaced by the construction of various locks, channels and canals prior to its opening in 1958.
This thesis begins with a review of the techniques involved in the digital restitution of sub-merged artefacts, followed by the replication of a chosen site. As a proof of concept, the data will then be used as a model to explore methods in creating and validating heritage values, while valourizing assets as a cultural resources for use in the future.
More importantly, the content produced will demonstrate that there are benefits in maintaining a link between the lost villages and the historical lore of existing communities. As a design paradigm, this project will invite individuals to reflect on the physical, representational and political attributes that the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project helped define.


title: Mechanisms Associated with Success and Failure of the Anadromous Migration of Atlantic Salmon

abstract: Nearly every animal accomplishes life history tasks that enable growth and fecundity, factors that determine the ultimate fitness of an individual's life, by moving. Migration allows individuals to maximize their potential fitness by exploiting temporal differences in productivity of discrete habitats. Migratory species have high cultural and ecological importance as vectors linking and fertilizing separate ecosystems; however, their reliance on multiple habitats and long-distance movements exposes them to stressors. I applied electronic tagging to observe the behaviour of wild Atlantic salmon, a migratory fish threatened by climate change, habitat destruction, disease, and overexploitation. Observations were applied to evaluate how stressors affected migration success. Atlantic salmon were generally tolerant to stressors as they migrated upriver to spawning grounds. Resumption of migration was delayed for stressed salmon relative to a control group (Chapter 2) and captured salmon selected spawning grounds significantly lower in the river than expected based on the distribution of uncaught fish (Chapter 3). Salmon also exhibited movement away from holding sites when captured late in the season (Chapter 4) but the extent of movement was not significantly different from expected based on observations in Chapter 3. Ultimately, most salmon survived stressors and many were recaptured by recreational anglers (Chapter 5); mortality was best predicted by water temperature at capture (Chapter 6). Selection against some migratory behaviours such as early run timing is ongoing, but stabilizing selection for large body size is predicted to preserve migration phenotypes in Atlantic salmon. Oncoming changes to climate, however, were predicted to delay the freshwater entry of salmon (Chapter 7) and may result in multiple stressors during migration. Further research is needed into the cumulative effects of multiple stressors and how they may operate on imperiled salmon populations. Long-term consequences may manifest through carryover effects that reduce the probability of overwinter survival and iteroparity, insidious consequences that should be further investigated. This thesis provides a framework for addressing questions about the survival, delay, and extent of movement of animals encountering anthropogenic stressors during migration. Future work may follow this model to investigate migration and evaluate the impact of stressors on migration success.


title: Investigating the Role of the Growth Hormone Secretagogue Receptor in Food-Motivated Behaviours

abstract: Ghrelin is a peptide produced in the gut that stimulates food intake. Action of ghrelin on its receptor, the GHSR, contributes to food motivated behaviours. Studies have found that the GHSR facilitates the activity of mesolimbic DA circuitry, promoting intake of highly palatable sugar or fat rich foods. Understanding what makes such foods attractive and rewarding may allow for behavioural, genetic, or pharmacological therapeutics to mitigate problematic overconsumption. The primary goals of this dissertation were to determine the consequences of interrupted GHSR signaling on food motivated behaviours, including binge-like feeding, and to examine whether GHSR in the VTA are an important neural substrate for the development and maintenance of such behavior. Operant responding for sucrose on a PR schedule of reinforcement, a measure of motivation to obtain a food reward, was diminished when rats lacked functional GHSR. These rats also spent less time in an environment previously paired with sucrose, suggesting a possible reward deficit as a result of loss of GHSR. GHSR null mice also consumed less sucrose in a two-bottle choice test in their home cage, and rescue of GHSR in the VTA was able to restore their preference for sucrose to the level of WT mice, implicating the VTA as a key node for GHSRs influence on preference for sweets. In a limited access model of high-fat binge eating, we found that GHSR KO mice binged less on fat than WT mice. Though, in our subsequent study, we found less robust effects of genotype on binge eating behavior, and rescue of GHSR in the VTA did not influence binge eating of fat. Further, pharmacological antagonism of the GHSR was not sufficient to reduce binge eating of high-fat in mice once established, indicating that the VTA is not the primary site of GHSRs influence on fat bingeing. Further studies examining ghrelin and the GSHR as moderators of food reward behavior are warranted, as it is likely that signaling through the GHSR promotes the associative learning induced by palatable food cues, as well as the motivation to obtain such foods, which may facilitate overconsumption.


title: Social Determinants of Health Among Off-Reserve First Nations, Métis and Inuit Youth in Canada

abstract: This study uses data from the 2012 Aboriginal Peoples Survey to examine associations between the social determinants of health and two health outcomes among off-reserve First Nations, Métis and Inuit youth in Canada aged 12 to 18. The selected measures of health are excellent/very good health, and a diagnosed mood and/or anxiety disorder. Measures of socioeconomic status, the physical environment and the school environment were examined, including measures specific to the experiences of Indigenous peoples such as intergenerational trauma and cultural continuity. Findings show that a distinctions-based approach to quantitative research about Indigenous peoples is crucial, as associations between health and the social determinants differ by Aboriginal identity group and by health outcome. This study indicates that a wholistic and historical understanding of colonization is crucial for understanding outcomes, and a social determinants approach shifts the focus from individual behaviour to an examination of the structural barriers to good health.


title: Design and Construction of a Guarded Hot Plate Apparatus to Evaluate the Thermal Resistance of Vacuum Insulated Panels using a New Accelerated Ageing Procedure

abstract: To meet the energy and space requirements of today's building market, builders are looking for new materials and practices to insulate their walls. Vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) have shown potential to meet or exceed today's high insulating levels while keeping the thickness of the building envelope down. One of the problems facing owners and builders wanting to use VIPs is their unknown service life. Recent research has focused on developing methods to accelerate ageing in order to determine the service life of VIPs. However, a disconnect exists between results obtained from accelerated ageing and real time degradation (due to moisture accumulation). To study the effect of moisture on thermal performance, VIPs from two manufacturers were held in a climate chamber at 30 and 90% relative humidity for 30 days. The panels tested saw a mass increase of 0.05% and 0.2% and a thermal resistance decrease of 5% and 6.5%, respectively.


title: Investigating the Effects of Genetic Background on the Fitness of Quinolone Resistance Mutations in Escherichia Coli

abstract: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major threat to public health. The fitness of AMR strains is determined partially by epistasis - resistance mutations may have different effects on different genetic backgrounds. I investigated the effects of genotype on the fitness of AMR in E. coli. Quinolone resistance alleles of the gyrA gene (S83L, D87N, and S83L-D87N) were transferred into a collection of knockout strains. Genetic interactions that affected fitness, both positively and negatively, were common and a variety of synthetic lethal/sick interactions were found. A number of the lethal interactors were involved in DNA repair and replication, much like gyrA itself. In subsequent validation assays, 21 of 33 strains showed a deficit in at least one fitness-related phenotype. The interactions identified here may elucidate gene functionality, and identification of synthetic lethal interactions of AMR mutations may lead to drug targets that can specifically kill resistant bacteria.


title: Properties of Interleaved Sequences Created from M-Sequences

abstract: Maximal-length sequences or m-sequences over a finite field F(q) are a well-known and studied class of sequences with desirable properties such as balance of both individual elements and tuples. Interleaved sequences are created by combining a base sequence of period s and a shift sequence e of length T, consisting of elements from Z(q) plus an element of infinity. This thesis examines interleaved sequences to determine which properties of m-sequences are preserved when the m-sequence is used as a base sequence. First an equivalence relation on shift sequences is defined, with two operations that can be applied to these sequences. Palindromic sequences are defined, and the exact conditions for the interleaved sequence to also be palindromic are given. We prove that the length of the interleaved sequence is ST/n when n|T and gcd(n,s)=1. The results of experimentation on using the interleaved sequences to construct covering arrays are given.


title: Just Another PR Tactic?: Discourse, Expertise, and Social License in the “License to Farm” Campaign

abstract: Social license is the need for, and attempt to, garner and maintain public approval of industry/corporate practices. The License to Farm campaign responds to the public pushback regarding industrial farm practices, and claims to educate the public on Canadian farming. in I analyze the campaign to reveal the discursive reproduction of power in the campaign materials. I seek to answer: How are representations of expertise employed to legitimize industrial farming as the dominant agricultural practice? The project relies on the science and technology studies framework and draws on critiques of industrial farming. I employ a mixed methodology including critical discourse analysis and Actor Network Theory. The project uncovers how the License to Farm campaign is less about educating the public and more of a public relations tactic (an iteration of the social license approach) used to negatively portray the critical consumer, and positively the proponents of industrial farming.


title: Does Context Matter? Investigating Factors Related to Students’ Academic Achievement in Classroom and Online Courses

abstract: The aim of this thesis is to broaden the understanding of the relationships between target psychological constructs (i.e., self-regulation, motivation, self-theory of intelligence) and grades in a classroom setting as well as whether those target constructs are predictive of online course grades. We do so by collecting information from a large sample of undergraduate university students enrolled in either a traditional classroom or an online course and by analyzing the data using hierarchical regression analysis. In the present thesis, we demonstrate the strength of self-regulation and motivational constructs to positively influence classroom grades and present evidence that the constructs accounting for a significant amount of variance in classroom course grades are not applicable for explaining variance in online course grades. We discuss the implication of our findings as well as study limitations and point out potential direction for future work.


title: The Exhibition of Art in Montreal’s Department Stores, 1900–1945

abstract: This thesis is the first historical study to engage with the overlooked topic of art exhibitions held in Montreal's department stores between the beginning of the century and the end of the Second World War. Although Montreal was home (though not concurrently) to fifteen department stores, this thesis is limited to Dupuis Frères, Henry Morgan & Co., Ogilvy's and the T. Eaton Co.. They created an image of themselves not only as spaces for retail, but as active cultural actors within the larger phenomenon of the visual arts in Montreal. By the 1930s, they were essential parts of the Montreal art scene. By examining these stores' display of art, and by setting this activity within the larger context of opportunities to view visual art in the city, this thesis recuperates the role of department stores in Montreal as active agents in the production, circulation and consumption of art.


title: 2D Selection in Virtual Reality with Head Mounted Displays

abstract: We present an evaluation of a new selection technique for virtual reality (VR) systems presented on head-mounted displays. The technique, dubbed EZCursorVR, presents a 2D cursor that moves in a head-fixed plane, simulating a 2D desktop-like cursor for VR. The cursor can be controlled by any 2 degree of freedom (DOF) and 3/6DOF input device. We conducted two experiments based on ISO 9241-9. In the first study, we compared the effectiveness of EZCursorVR using six different controllers. Results indicate that the mouse offered the best performance, while the position-control joystick performed the worst. In the second study we evaluate EZCursorVR using three different transfer functions using the mouse with different degrees of cursor acceleration. Results indicate that, despite previous research, constant acceleration performed better than the other two transfer functions. We believe that future evaluation needs to be conducted to evaluate different acceleration curve steepnesses using the same transfer function.


title: Personality and Daily Alcohol Use Across University: Interactions with Academically Intense Events Predicting Alcohol Use Problems

abstract: Extraversion and neuroticism are associated with alcohol use problems in university. Students higher in extraversion have heavier alcohol use, while neuroticism is not consistently associated with alcohol use. This study examined the hypothesis that students higher in neuroticism may drink in anticipation of stressors, namely tests and assignments, using archival data taken from the University Life Study, a longitudinal study assessing alcohol use across four years of university, with daily diary bursts each semester. Students higher in extraversion had heavier alcohol use and had increased alcohol use problems. Neuroticism was not associated with drinking outcomes, drinking before a test or assignment, or alcohol problems. Students lower in extraversion, or higher in introversion, who consumed relatively more alcohol before tests and assignments had more alcohol use problems at the end of university. Drinking alcohol in anticipation of stressors can increase alcohol dependence risk for students lower in extraversion.


title: "ITT: Rape Analysts": Hosting Negotiations of Consent, Kink, and Violence in Virtual Space

abstract: This project examines the use of virtual space in navigating the meaning of consent after the fact. Recently, some individuals have begun to interrogate their own past sexual experiences through the use of online sex education forums, blogs, and subreddits. Through this process of eliciting community feedback, many have (re)framed these experiences as consensual or nonconsensual. Using data that was obtained from five distinct Reddit communities (or subreddits), comprised of 66 posts and over 4,000 comments, this thesis examines this process as both an extralegal, reflexive negotiation of consent, and a user-constructed virtual trial. This discussion posits that the use of these spaces (rather than traditional legal/institutional resolutions) is a response to the significant changes in how consent has been conceptualized within the mainstream; this is exemplified through academic literature theorizing consent and the shifts in Canadian governance of sexual assault.


title: A Theoretical and Experimental Investigation on Ejector Acoustics and Ejector Silencer Design

abstract: Ejectors are common devices used across many industries, however, they are often plagued by the presence of low frequency pressure pulsations causing both broadband and tonal noise. This thesis presents a theoretical and experimental investigation into the acoustics of an ejector-silencer combination with the emphasis placed on silencer design. More specifically, the noise generated by jet noise, the diffuser and natural modes are explained and estimated. The noise generation mechanisms of impingement tones and edgetones are presented but accurate predictions are found to be hard to make. An outline of the experimental facility is followed by the mechanical, acoustical and aerodynamic design details of the roughly 70:1 ejector scale model. A detailed analysis on the primary nozzle control and calibration is presented before diving into an aerodynamic and acoustic characterization of both the ejector and the wind tunnel facility. From experimentation, it is found that the placement of a perforated


title: Decay Predictions for the Georgi-Machacek Extended Higgs Particle Model

abstract: The Georgi-Machacek (GM) model is a theoretical particle model which hypothesizes the existence of additional Higgs particles, the most notable of which is a Higgs particle with a double electric charge (+2e). The GM model thus serves as a useful prototype for determining the experimental behaviour of models which contain doubly-charged Higgs particles. To aid in the search for such particles, we have utilized the public code GMCALC to conduct a systematic study of a benchmark for the GM model. We have computed a complete set of predictions for particle behaviour, primarily decay rates and branching ratios. We have also made improvements to the GMCALC code so that it will be able to compute decay rates more accurately and efficiently in the low-scalar-mass region of parameter space. We will present these results below.


title: Lay Theories and Attitudes About Psychopathy

abstract: It is known that psychopaths receive harsher sentences than those who do not have the psychopathic label. And yet, jurors, or laypeople more broadly, do not have a thorough conception of psychopathy. Thus the goals of this research were to examine laypeople's understanding and attitudes about psychopathy, and to test if an educational experimental manipulation can improve laypeople's understanding of this disorder. Study 1 revealed that in a sample of 286, lay participants have misconceptions and a number of inaccurate attitudes about psychopathy. In Study 2, a sample of 259 lay participants was randomly assigned to watch a control video describing dog training myths or a video describing psychopathy myths. Compared to a control video, watching a short educational video about psychopathy helped improve lay participants' conception and misguided attitudes about psychopathy. This has promising implications for reducing mental health stigma and its associated negative consequences.


title: Jet Energy Resolution Measurement of the ATLAS Detector Using Momentum Balance

abstract:
During 2015 to 2017, the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider has recorded 80fb-1 of proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. By far, the most common final state objects procured in these collisions are collimated showers of hadronic particles known as jets. In addition to their abundance, jets play key roles in many physics phenomena of interest at the LHC. Thus, accurate understanding of the detector's jet measurements is essential.
In this thesis, the jet energy resolution of the ATLAS detector is measured. Two novel techniques are developed to improve on precision of previous measurements. First, different sets of triggers are combined to increase the amount of useable data. Second, a new statistical fitting procedure based on convolution is implemented to determine the detector response. These methods are demonstrated to accurately measure the jet energy resolution.


title: Left Nationalism and Global Solidarity: Strategy, Identity, and the Fight to Save GM Oshawa

abstract: The effects of globalization on working people and their organizations in the Global North have been the subject of a great deal of research over the past thirty years. Unions face increasing pressure to reduce labour costs under the threat of mass job losses, as production has been increasingly relocated to the Global South in search of greater profitability. In that context, a number of union strategies have emerged for confronting global capital, broadly belonging to one of two categories: left nationalism and global solidarity. This paper studies a 2016 campaign by an autoworkers' union local to save the General Motors facility in Oshawa, Ontario. I set the campaign in conversation with the union's Global Solidarity policy, and argue that a number of contradictions exist in the union's current strategy, connecting those contradictions to the union's collective action frame, and assessing the prospects for a more effective strategy moving forward.


title: Advanced Monte Carlo Dose Calculations for Eye Plaque Brachytherapy

abstract: Eye plaque brachytherapy is a radiation therapy technique designed for treating ocular cancers. Current clinical radiation dose evaluations for eye plaque brachytherapy involve considerable assumptions, resulting in inaccurate doses. This thesis aims to advance dose evaluations for eye plaque brachytherapy by implementation of detailed models for various photon and beta plaques in the egs_brachy Monte Carlo code. Calculated dose distributions are verified against published results. These plaque models and dose distributions will be distributed to the medical physics community. Dose distributions are calculated for different scenarios (clinical assumptions; plaque in water; plaque in realistic eye model). These results confirm the importance of model-based calculations for photon plaques and show that modelling tissues should be considered for beta plaques. Finally, dose distributions for photon and beta plaques are compared, demonstrating the potential of model-based dose evaluations in future studies.


title: Perceptions of Indigenous Peoples in Canada: Modern Racism, Benefit Finding, and Moral Obligations for Descendants of Residential School Survivors

abstract: Victimization of Canada's Indigenous peoples is increasingly salient, due to more consideration of the legacy of Indian Residential Schools (IRS). Four studies investigated how this might impact Canadians' moral expectations of Indigenous peoples. Unlike previous research, participants were members of the historical perpetrator group, and the effects of the historical victimization are ongoing. After the presentation of information about the IRSs, participants completed a meaning-making task, followed by a survey assessing victim moral obligations, modern racism and benefit finding. Manipulations occurred in the group for whom meaning was to be made, the discursive framing of Indigenous peoples, or the victim group considered. These manipulations were meant to test the effects of focusing on the implications of the IRS for perpetrator or victim groups, and of the varied media discourses about Indigenous peoples. Across all studies, modern racism predicted greater moral obligations for victims, and benefit finding mediated this relationship.


title: Using Species Distribution Models to Predict Suitable Habitat for Threatened Plant Species of Southern Ontario

abstract: Surveys are required to locate previously unknown occurrences of threatened species. To optimize efficiency of species-at-risk surveys, I used species distribution models for 22 rare plants throughout southern Ontario to predict the best possible survey locations among individual 1-ha pixels. For each pixel, I weighted model outputs by accuracy and species rarity to create an efficiency value. Based on efficiency values, I conducted field surveys in multi-species cells, "MSC" (areas with high predicted efficiency for multiple species) and in single species cells, "SSC" (areas with high probability for only one species) to determine the utility of multi-species survey optimization. MSC were over two times more likely to have at least one threatened plant species discovered than SSC. Efficiency ranks were also useful in directing surveyors toward incidental discoveries of other rare species that were not modeled. This technique can help direct surveys to more efficiently find threatened species occurrences.


title: Personal Self-Expansion and Romantic Relationship Well-Being

abstract: The goal of this study was to examine how individual self-expansion (i.e., growing as a person by learning new information and seeing the self in a new light) can be integrated into and benefit a romantic relationship. Undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either a week-long self-expanding activity or a control activity to examine the effects on relationship quality. Contrary to predictions, people in the self-expanding activity condition did not have higher relationship quality scores than participants who engaged in the control activity. However, participants who completed the self-expanding activity did share their activity with their partner more often and shared it more enthusiastically with their partner. Participating in a self-expanding activity alone may not be beneficial to a relationship, but through sharing it may benefit the individual in other ways.


title: Negotiating Chineseness in diaspora : traditional Chinese medicine and memory in Hong Kong and the greater Toronto area, 1960-2018

abstract: In this essay and documentary film, I explore the notion of "Chineseness" in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) through the lived experiences of Chinese diaspora in Hong Kong and the Greater Toronto Area. I conducted an oral history project with eight individuals who shared their perceptions and memories of TCM. I interpret their stories through the theoretical frameworks of diaspora, affect, and performance, and situate them within the translocal history of TCM from China to its cultural peripheries. I argue that Chineseness emerges in liminal spaces and is narrated and negotiated in uneven and sometimes contradictory ways and explore ways TCM inscribes and transmits cultural knowledge in family. This inquiry has implications for policymakers and change makers who are able to integrate cross-cultural perceptions and practices into private and public healthcare systems in Ontario.


title: Overheating Prediction and Management of Lithium-Ion Batteries

abstract:
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries have been widely used in portable devices and electric vehicles as power sources due to their high energy density, long lifespan, no memory effect, and low self-discharge rate. However, when overheating occurs, the performance, reliability, durability, and safety of Li-ion batteries can be seriously deteriorated.
Overheating of Li-ion batteries typically takes place during normal high-rate discharges and abnormal discharges such as short circuits. For high-rate discharges, the parasitic heat generation of Li-ion batteries can accelerate the capacity fading. In abnormal discharges, the overheating issue becomes more severe, and the battery temperature could even reach the threshold for exothermic reactions and trigger thermal runaway.
In this thesis, phase change material (PCM)-based and heat pipe-based battery thermal management (BTM) systems were designed to dissipate the heat generated by cylindrical and prismatic batteries respectively during normal discharges. The proposed PCM-based BTM system was developed through innovatively embedding PCM cores in the cylindrical battery centers. Compared to conventional PCM-based BTM systems using PCM externally to batteries, the proposed design consumes less PCM while achieves better cooling effects. For prismatic batteries, ultra-thin heat pipes were sandwiched between the batteries to manage their temperature rises. The implementation of heat pipes notably alleviates the heat accumulation in battery packs, and the cooling performance can be further enhanced when an evaporative cooling strategy is applied to dissipate the heat.
Regarding the more severe overheating issues caused by abnormal discharges, internal and external short circuit experiments were performed on Li-ion batteries, and a modified electrochemical-thermal coupling model was developed to simulate the short circuits. Good correlations were found between experimental and numerical results for non-thermal runaway batteries. For batteries with thermal runaways, the model can predict whether and when the thermal runaway will occur. Besides, strategies that can hinder thermal runaway and its propagation in battery packs were also investigated and verified through experiments.


title: How Developmental and Behavioural Plasticity in the Field Cricket is Influenced by the Acoustic Social Environment and Anthropogenic Noise

abstract: The social environment is an important driver of developmental plasticity in juveniles and behavioural plasticity in adults. An individual's ability to accurately assess cues during development and predict its future social dynamics plays an important role in ensuring that its phenotype at adulthood will match their anticipated environment. However, because the overall plasticity of an individual is the result of a concomitant interaction between development, environment, and behaviour over the entire lifetime, constraints arising from development may hinder adult behaviour. My dissertation examines the influence of the developmental social environment on life-history traits and fitness-conferring adult behaviours to enhance our understanding of how these two life phases interact in the fall field cricket Gryllus pennsylvanicus. Through play-back experiments that altered the density of adult male acoustic signals, my findings reveal that male and female development time decreases and female residual mass at adulthood increases in higher perceived population densities. Contrary to my expectations, neither adult male aggressive nor mate attraction signalling were significantly influenced by developmental social environments. Adult female mate preference behaviour was influenced by developmental social environment, as females raised in social isolation were more responsive than females raised exposed to signals. Furthermore, the acoustic social environment experienced during development had significant indirect effects on all adult behaviours through constraints imposed on adult body size. Crickets reared in the high density environments developed faster, and a faster development time resulted in larger body sizes. Because body size significantly influenced male aggression and signalling behaviour, and female mate preference behaviour, the ability to express behavioural plasticity at adulthood may have been limited. However, my experiment that switched acoustic social environments between juvenile and adult stages showed that males who experienced a switched environment were able to adjust specific aspects of their signalling to match the unanticipated adult social dynamics. I also examined whether anthropogenic noise pollutes the bioacoustics network. Anthropogenic noise influenced male development time and signalling behaviour, and female residual mass and preference functions. Further, anthropogenic noise sometimes interacted with the acoustic social environment experienced during rearing, causing individuals to be mismatched with their social environment in adulthood.


title: Empirical Model for Snow/Ground Reflectivity Prediction

abstract: The thesis describes the development of an empirical model for predicting snow/ground reflectivity. The new model is derived based on point measurements of global horizontal and reflected solar radiation taken for a fifteen-month period (December 2016 - April 2018), at Carleton University, Ottawa. An algorithm is developed for three periods: ground free of snow, non-melting or snow accumulation, and snow melting. The main predictors of reflectivity were found to be the following: zenith angle, cloud cover, snow age, and the difference between the ambient temperature and a threshold temperature which signals the beginning of daily snow melting.


title: Transcultural Bodies: A Comparative Approach to Dissident ‘Minor’ Women’s Writings in Portuguese, Italian, and Spanish

abstract: Postcolonial criticism has been academically defined by an over-reliance on Anglophone texts creating a new type of dominant discourse under which other postcolonial contexts get subsumed. This dissertation is a comparative study of transcultural literary works written by women in Portugal, Spain, and Italy as well as these countries' former African colonies Mozambique, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, and Somalia. It brings into conversation Lusophone, Hispanophone, and Italophone texts by Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida, Isabela Figueiredo, Dulce Maria Cardoso, Paulina Chiziane, Igiaba Scego, Ubah Cristina Ali Farah, Guillermina Mekuy, and María Nsue Angüe in order to highlight their shared preoccupations with breaching national myths, countering stereotypes, and historical redress. In other words, the aim of my project is to show how these texts contest Eurocentric national representations and propose new ways of belonging, insisting on the plurilingual and multifaceted realities of a world increasingly shaped by migration and diaspora. I use a postcolonial lens in my commitment to dismantling imperial narratives but I also shed light on it by drawing attention to the 'minority' status of these less canonical literatures and the silenced voices they bring into light. I follow the 'minor' transnational model of Lionnet and Shih to illustrate the productivity and creativity of horizontal transcolonial perspectives. My first approach to demonstrating the common dissident nature of these texts focuses on language. I outline how the writers use particular language-related strategies to resist and decolonize different regimes of authority and carve out rebellious forms of agency and subjectivity. Beyond language, I move on to explain how texts negotiate cultural difference through the category of the 'racialized' body marked by gender, race, and social status, specifically analyzing how signifiers of 'otherness' such as hair and skin colour both inform and disrupt lingering imperial narratives. Thirdly, by drawing on social history's attention to common people's voices, I look at these texts as repositories of national and transnational memory and present their contribution to rewrite historical representations of the South, which refers both to Africa and to the peripheral position of Southern Europe in the West.


title: SB-MBBR Technology: Treatment Strategies for Nitrification in Elevated Carbon Concentration Industrial Wastewater

abstract: The design and operational strategies of a sequencing batch moving bed biofilm reactor (SB-MBBR) to achieve nitrification in a food processing effluent characterized with high C:N:P ratio was investigated. The SB-MBBR operated an anaerobic/aerobic/anoxic (AOA) stage sequence aimed at removing both carbon and nutrients from the effluent. The potential to utilize an SB-MBBR has not been previously investigated for the treatment of cheese making effluent. Carbon removal was feasible in the SB-MBBR (98% removal) directly with two operational strategies further investigated for nitrification. The two strategies investigated were extending the aeration cycle and utilizing a second SB-MBBR in series to achieve nitrification. The first operational strategy required 33 days for the system to adapt and for nitrification to occur. The time required to achieve nitrification rendered this option infeasible. The second operational strategy confirmed that separating the carbon and ammonia removal resulted in the high removal of both compounds.


title: The sedimentological and Arsenic contamination history of Frame Lake, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada

abstract: Frame Lake, a small (88.4 ha), shallow (< 6.5m), high-latitude lake near Yellowknife was selected to test the feasibility of using sub-bottom profiling to estimate total volumes of heavy metal contaminated sediments in lacustrine environments. Physical and ICP-MS analyses were carried out on freeze cores collected from Frame Lake, sedimentological marker beds and 14C dating was used to chronologically constrain depositional history. ICP-MS results showed high levels of arsenic contamination (~1538 µg g-1) in recent sediments results in distinct seismic reflectors, which contrasts sharply with measured Holocene values of 16 µg g-1 (n=41, ± 5.4 SD). Comparison of core data against sub-bottom profiler transect results permitted an interpolated reconstruction of contaminated sediments throughout the lake. Based on our analysis, a minimum of ~230,000 m3 of contaminated sediments would need to be dredged from Frame Lake to achieve a minimum residual sediment arsenic concentration of < 150 µg g-1.


title: Active and Multi-View Machine Learning for microRNA Prediction

abstract: This thesis explores two emerging trends in semi-supervised machine learning to maximize the utility of both labelled and unlabelled training data. Specifically, this thesis explores the application of active learning and multi-view co-training to microRNA prediction for the first time. Results show that our active learning approach is able to greatly improve classification performance using a small number of labeled instances, outperforming state-of-the-art methods under equivalent training data constraints. Multi-view co-training results also demonstrate improved performance compared to single view classifiers and yield high classification performance using a minimum number of labeled instances for classification. This thesis demonstrates that semi-supervised machine learning is likely to be useful in creating predictors of novel miRNA, particularly for species where few training exemplars are available.


title: Effects of Sensors, Age, and Gender on Fingerprint Image Quality

abstract: The performance of the widely used fingerprint recognition system is heavily influenced by fingerprint quality which in turn is impacted by different factors. Many different algorithms were developed to measure fingerprint quality. This thesis analyzes the impact of different sensors, fingerprint quality algorithms and demographic factors on fingerprint image quality. Three different fingerprint quality algorithms are tested: vendor specific ones from each sensor manufacturer, NFIQ1 and NFIQ2. Our results showed that fingerprint quality decreases with age and males have better fingerprint quality than females on most sensors. The multispectral sensor has the best and stable fingerprint image quality. NFIQ2 worked well with all the tested sensors while NFIQ1 produced anomalous results on sensor 2, 3 and 9. Vendor quality scores from some sensors are either constant or not usable. These findings can help in selecting sensors for biometric systems with targeted subjects and in improving fingerprint sensor design


title: Automatic Radar Modulation Classification

abstract:
Automatic modulation classification is concerned with identifying the modulation present on a radio wave. This can be any type of radar or communication signal. It is employed in fields such as cognitive radio for communications, radar analysis for electronic warfare.
This thesis is dedicated to classifying a variety of modulations used in modern radar. These include unmodulated, various types of frequency modulation, and phase shift keyed waveforms. This task is accomplished through feature extraction and machine learning techniques. The objective is to determine a suitable method applicable for real-time implementation in a complex electronic warfare environment.
Three techniques are proposed: a decision tree combined with Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network, a Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network, and a Convolutional Neural Network. The simulation results show that the decision tree achieves a low classification performance, the Multilayer Perceptron achieves good results in a controlled environment, while the Convolutional Neural Network achieves generalizable results.


title: Ice island deterioration

abstract:
Ice islands are large, tabular icebergs that calve from ice shelves and floating ice tongues. Their drift and deterioration is of concern to offshore industry and influences the dispersal of freshwater from Earth's major ice sheets. However, the analysis and modelling of ice island deterioration is constrained by a lack of systematic studies using field and remotely sensed data.
The aim of this thesis is to improve our understanding of ice island deterioration through the use and development of novel techniques and datasets. It uses complementary field and remotely sensed datasets in three studies that individually focus on vertical deterioration (i.e., thinning), small-scale areal deterioration (e.g., wave erosion), and large-scale areal deterioration (i.e., fracture). The study subjects are ice islands in eastern Canadian waters that calved from the Petermann Glacier of northwest Greenland between 2008 and 2012.
The vertical deterioration of a grounded Petermann ice island (PII) was quantified with stationary ice penetrating radar (IPR), mobile IPR and ablation stake data measurements collected over three field campaigns. Derived basal ablation was used to calibrate a basal ablation model, which was applied in a separate study to quantify the spatial distribution of meltwater from the drift and deterioration of hundreds of PIIs. This study used the Canadian Ice Island Drift, Deterioration and Detection Database, which was generated through the analysis of thousands of RADARSAT-2 synthetic aperture radar scenes. The database was also used to evaluate the fit of statistical distributions to the size-frequency distributions of PIIs. The results indicate that fracture remained an influential deterioration process over the monitoring period. A third study found that deterioration on the order of 40 cm could be detected under optimal conditions with aerial photogrammetry with structure-from-motion processing and that this technique was superior to laser scanning.
This thesis presents new insights into ice island deterioration processes. It also documents new techniques for measuring deterioration and contributes pertinent information to two major ice island research themes (i.e., hazards and freshwater vectors). Finally, many results and future research directions are applicable to ice island research conducted in both Polar Regions on planet Earth.


title: Mathematical Modeling and Testing of a Loop Heat Pipe Using a Two – Way Pressure Regulating Valve

abstract: A loop heat pipe (LHP) is a heat transfer device that uses the vaporization of a working fluid to transfer heat from an evaporation section to a condensing section. The operating characteristics of a LHP with a two-way pressure regulating valve (PRV) is experimentally investigated using a flight-qualified LHP. Experiments suggest that an orifice within the PRV causes a premature start-up. It is determined that the LHP is unable to control the evaporator temperature to 31 ℃ roughly after 130 W under test conditions. The LHP is found to be more sensitive to changes in sink temperatures when operating at higher powers. A steady-state LHP model is developed and was found to compare well with experimental results. It is determined that modeling the effects of the PRV on the LHP operation is not feasible using measurements due to the extreme sensitivity of the model to small changes in fluid pressure.


title: The Power of Non-Literal Language: An Enquiry Into the Meaning of Metaphor

abstract: In this thesis, we will survey and critically analyze the philosophical discourse on metaphor as it has been traditionally defined by three main theories: the pseudo-semantic theory of Max Black, the non-cognitive theory of Donald Davidson, and the pragmatic theory of John Searle. With this critical analysis, we will see how these three philosophers have contributed to our understanding of what metaphors are, what metaphors mean, where the "power" of metaphors lie, and how we can restrict our possible interpretations of a metaphor. From here, we will see how the leading theory in the philosophy of metaphor, Relevance Theory, has attempted to accommodate for the virtues and vices of these three theories and some of the resistance that this theory has been met with.


title: Reducing Energy Consumption in Residential Buildings: The Impacts of Occupant Behaviour and Engaging Control Systems

abstract: In Canada, buildings account for 35% of energy consumption and hold the largest opportunity for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Occupant engagement poses one of the best solutions to reducing building energy consumption, with studies showing annual energy consumption can vary by up to 150% between active and passive occupants. In this thesis, an occupant-in-the-loop smart home energy system is designed and tested to explore how such systems can reduce building energy consumption through automation and occupant engagement. Simulation studies and a 125-participant survey were conducted to understand how to engage occupants to take action and their impact on home energy consumption. Insights from these studies were used to develop the smart home control system and reinforce design decisions. Testing results show 250 kWh of plug-load energy reduction and reinforce this projects conclusion that occupant-in-the-loop smart home energy systems can provide energy savings and increased occupant energy awareness/engagement.


title: Utilizing Hybrid Plasmon Modes to Probe Nanoparticle-Polymer Interfaces

abstract: Nanoparticle-polymer composite materials have widespread applications in fields such as: sensing, electronics, and biology, due to their desirable physical properties. However, many fabrication techniques render little control over nanoparticle incorporation, and homogeneity of the resulting material. This thesis focuses on the thermally induced embedding of silver nanocubes (AgNCs) into polymer surfaces. The AgNCs were deposited onto polymer films, through a Langmuir approach, which allows fine control over nanoparticle density in the monolayer. The AgNC monolayer was then heated above the glass transition temperature of the polymer, which facilitates the irreversible incorporation of the AgNCs into the polymer. Embedding of the AgNCs were monitored in real-time, through spatially separated hybrid plasmonic resonances supported by the AgNCs when deposited onto the polymer film, which allowed the determination of a surface layer on top of the bulk polymer with enhanced mobility as well as diffusion constants for the embedding process.


title: Stereotypes and the Familiar-Stranger: The Role of Previous Contact and Gender Stereotypes on Eyewitness Recall and Recognition Accuracy

abstract: The present study examined the influence of prior familiarity with a perpetrator and gender stereotypes on eyewitness recall and identification accuracy. Participants (N = 257) watched a crime video where the perpetrator was either someone they had never met before (unfamiliar/stranger condition), or was someone with whom they had a 1 minute exposure to prior to the crime (familiar condition). In the familiar conditions the 1 minute exposure included the target talking about their occupation; this occupation was either consistent or inconsistent with gender role stereotypes. There were no significant differences in recall or identification accuracy between the familiar or stereotypes conditions. However, when participants were asked to rate the degree to which they viewed the target as stereotype consistent versus inconsistent, higher stereotype consistency ratings were associated with reporting more total descriptors and higher proportions of correct descriptors. Conversely, lower stereotype consistency ratings predicted more correct identification decisions.


Allozyne variation and genetic divergence within and between populations of the cave spiders Meta Menardi (Latreille) and Meta Bourneti Simon


R.M.P. : a flexible ring management package for small computer interactive graphics applications


Living by the skin of one's teeth : the troubled history of Content magazine


Father J. Murray Abraham


Hypnosis and imagery in the treatment of warts


The total synthesis of 11-nor-9-ketohexahydrocannabinol


CounterDESIGNING the urban cycle


Tree-based multiple-hop distributed hierarchical agglomerative clustering protocol for wireless sensor networks


Pirate City : a proposal for a floating, mobile, modular architecture


An investigation of acoustical coupling of the in-the-ear hearing aid to the telephone