identifier: Rahman, Md. Hafizr ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5154-0769 <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5154-0769>  (2020) Distributional Feature Mapping in Data Classification.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Performance of a machine learning algorithm depends on the representation of the input data. In computer vision problems, histogram based feature representation has significantly improved the classification tasks. L1 normalized histograms can be modelled by Dirichlet and related distributions to transform input space to feature space. We propose a mapping technique that contains prior knowledge about the  distribution of the data and increases the discriminative power of the classifiers in supervised learning such as Support Vector Machine (SVM). The mapping technique for proportional data which is based on Dirichlet, Generalized Dirichlet, Beta Liouville, scaled Dirichlet and shifted scaled Dirichlet distributions can be incorporated with traditional kernels to improve the base kernels accuracy.  Experimental results show that the proposed technique for proportional data increases accuracy for machine vision tasks such as natural scene recognition, satellite image classification, gender classification, facial expression recognition and human action recognition in videos. In addition, in object tracking, learning parametric features of the target object using Dirichlet and related distributions may help to capture representations invariant to noise. This further motivated our study of such distributions in object tracking. We propose a framework for feature representation on  probability simplex for proportional data utilizing the histogram representation of the target object at initial frame. A set of parameter vectors determine the appearance features of the target object in the subsequent frames.

Motivated by the success of distribution based feature mapping for proportional data, we extend this technique for semi-bounded data utilizing inverted Dirichlet, generalized inverted Dirichlet and inverted Beta Liouville distributions. Similar approach is taken into account for count data where Dirichlet multinomial and generalized Dirichlet multinomial distributions are used to map density features with input features.


identifier: Hajheidari, Peyman  (2019) Performance Enhancement of Cantilever Beam Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract:
During the last decade, driven by the need, energy harvesting has drawn considerable attention due to the cost-effectiveness and simplicity of the structure. The most important feature or advantage of energy harvesters is their energy sources which are coming from the energy that would be wasted otherwise to the ambient surroundings. Among the three types of energy conversion methodologies, piezoelectric energy harvesters (PEHs) have been highlighted as a self-power source of energy for small wireless sensors with low required power input due to their simple converting structure.
While conventional piezoelectric materials possess ideal sensing properties, the microfabrication of these structures typically requires access to the sophisticated equipment and cleanroom facilities. Moreover, the fabrication process is time-consuming and expensive, researchers found it interesting to resort to micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) designs with inexpensive, simple and green-based materials and simple fabrication techniques such as paper.
Generally, the paper-based devices have offered significant benefits but their recorded performance is significantly below that of the ones of the commercial smart structures. Their development is still in the early stage of growth and they need to be properly designed to satisfy the general requirements of the commercial products. Geometry optimization, sizing and functionalizing are among the strategies which can be adopted to boost the performance of all types of piezoelectric energy harvesters including the paper-based piezoelectric energy harvesters (PPEH).
Therefore, the major contributions of this work are improvement of the performance of piezoelectric energy harvesters using the geometry modification, sizing analysis and functionalizing. In this work, the governing equations of piezoelectric cantilevers based on both Euler-Bernoulli and Timoshenko beam theories are developed and solved using one type of element with a great rate of convergence called superconvergent element (SCE). The theoretical analysis was validated against results published in the open literature and the results indicate that the proposed method yields higher accurate results. Further, the effect of non-uniformity on the electrical output and efficiency of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters (PEH) are studied. Then, the influence of sizing and application of a series of piezoelectric cantilever energy harvesters on the performance of structure are studied. The effect of the shape of the piezoelectric elements is also investigated below. Eventually, development of functionally graded piezoelectric materials (FGPMs) for non-uniform beams are presented to evaluate the effect of functionalizing.


identifier: Goodine, Rebecca  (2020) ColorFull: A Research-Creation Game for Wellness Reflection.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
For all its frequency in North American popular culture, wellness media remains a contested product on behalf of public health officials, medical professionals, and designers alike. Central to this debate is whether wellness is a tool for capitalizing on misinformation and passivity, or if it plays a useful role in meeting actual social needs. Within the realm of game studies and design, critiques of emotional games and empathy games have run into similar pitfalls. The shared cultural popularizations of the ‘wellness’ and ‘emotional game’ movements form the starting point of my intersectional, experimental, creation-as-research intervention known as ColorFull, asking: What is the feeling of wellness, and how can one play with that feeling? ‘Wellness’ in this thesis is used as a malleable term for the broad, socially-dependent, and personally-significant factors that influence individual wellbeing.

In this thesis I review ColorFull’s development and public dissemination. The project began with a series of three participatory design workshops, which produced themes that were further developed with Reflective Game Design, Critical Play, Participatory Design, and “Radically Soft” praxis. This in turn helped build a physical card based drawing game, wherein group discussion and sharing promotes individual reflection on the user’s own conceptions of wellness. From testing this work, I created a set of my learned best practices useful for future emotional and/or wellness game designers.


identifier: Wang, Qimei  (2020) When Anthropomorphism Backfires: The Effects of Power and Brand Role amid Product Wrongdoings.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human features to nonhuman entities. Brand anthropomorphization, as a popular marketing strategy, has only recently begun to spur interests of researchers. However, its potential negative repercussions have so far received scarce attention. Consisting of two studies, this thesis seeks to look into that gap. Specifically, study 1 examines the effects of brand anthropomorphismand power on brand attitudes amid product wrongdoings. Study 2 investigates the influence of power and two specific types of anthropomorphization (brand as a partner or as a servant) in the same setting. Power is manipulated as a contextually malleable status. In both studies, we explored the moderating effects of two dimensions of Hofstede’scultural orientations: power distance and uncertainty avoidance. As inherent traits, they are measured at an individual level. The findings suggestthat marketers should be aware of consumers’ power status, cultural orientations and their combined implications when imbuing anthropomorphic features to their brand. For example, consumers in high-power positions (compared to those in low-power positions) are more sensitive towards product wrongdoings involving a human-like brand. Also, high-power-people possibly favor less a servant brand (compared to a partner brand) when it has done wrong. On the one hand, in the short term, the manipulation of power balance might help with the brand crisis. But on the other, ethics and social responsibilities should not be omitted when long-term consumer-brand relationship is considered, especially when an anthropomorphized positioning is concerned.


identifier: Li, Huan  (2020) What's in a package? Effects of color-shape congruence on consumer response to beverage products.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Confronting with various kinds of packaging design elements, consumers face the challenge of integrating meanings conveyed by different cues into a relatively holistic impression. Much work so far has focused on the examination of the importance of symbolic congruence among various marketing cues. However, controlled studies with respect to congruence effects of packaging cues on consumer responses are sparse. In an effort to fill this gap, the current study explores how a congruent or incongruent of symbolic meanings expressed by two visual packaging cues (i.e., package shape and label color) affects consumers’ cognitive (i.e., brand credibility), affective (i.e., brand aesthetics), and behavioral (i.e., purchase intention) responses. In addition, processing fluency and uncertainty avoidance are also included as measured factors to investigate the mechanism underlying the congruence effects and the possible moderation effects. The results of the experimental studies have revealed that brand credibility, brand aesthetics and purchase intention ratings are positively affected by the symbolic congruence of shape and color, and such effects are mediated by the extent to which people can process the information fluently (i.e., processing fluency). Moreover, it has been found that the influence of processing fluency on brand credibility is more prominent for individuals with high rather than low level of uncertainty avoidance. The results of the study might provide new insights to the domain of congruence effects as well as practical guidelines for the release of new fast-moving consumer products.


identifier: Di Lemme, Stephanie  (2020) Less total body fat and lower extremity fat are associated with more high-intensity running during games in female university soccer players.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between body composition and in-game physical performance measures in female collegiate soccer players. Body composition measures including total mass, fat mass, and lean tissue mass, both for the lower extremities and for total body were acquired in 10 players using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. In-game physical performance measures were collected using global positioning system (GPS) devices and included total distance covered and distance covered in 6 different speed zones. Data from fourteen regular season games were analyzed over the 1st half, 2nd half, and entire game. The level of significance was set at p<0.05. Players covered less distance in the 2nd half compared to the 1st half of the game (3356.5±1211.7m vs. 4544.7±495.2m, p=0.004). A repeated measures ANOVA revealed decreases in distance covered jogging, at low-intensity running, and at moderate-intensity running during the 2nd half compared to the 1st half of the game (p<0.001). Lower measures of total body fat mass, total body fat percentage and lower extremities fat mass were correlated to covering more distance at moderate-intensity and high-intensity running during the 2nd half and as well as the whole game (r values from -.644 to -.745, p values from <0.01 to 0.04). Our results suggest that body composition can influence the distance covered at moderate- and high-intensity running speed during competitive games. Training strategies that help reduce excess fat mass and incorporate high-intensity training bouts may be beneficial for female soccer players and contribute to overall team success.


identifier: Mehran, Max  (2020) ‘Tens, Tens, Tens Across the Board’: Representation, Remuneration, and Repercussion – RuPaul’s Drag Race from Screens to Streets.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Since its inception, RuPaul’sDragRace (DragRace) (2009-) has pitted drag queens against each other in a series of challenges testing acting, singing, and sewing skills. Drag Race continues to become more profitable and successful by the year and arguably shapes cultural ideas of queer performances in manifold ways. This project investigates the impacts of exploitative labour practices that emerge from the show, the commodification of drag when represented on screen, and how the show influences drag and queer performances off-screen. Through systemic content analysis, interviews, and observations, this thesis investigates the impact of the show and the evolution of Drag Race as a corporate empire. Aided by literature on television, labour, representation, and commodification, this project analyzes how Drag Race’s particular distortion of reality, undertaken as a generic norm of reality TV, not only commodifies and corporatizes drag for the benefit of the producers of the show, but also does a disservice to the art form and impacts upon the lives of the types of queer performers the show purports to capture.


identifier: dela Cruz, John Wayne  (2020) Teaching plurilingually: Perspectives and practices of ESL peers in a francophone Canadian college.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In recent years, Canada has been increasingly diversifying beyond its official English-French bilingualism (Statistics Canada, 2016). Such trend has led to proliferation of applied linguistics research on theories such as plurilingualism, which emphasizes the interrelated languages and cultures in the linguistic repertoire of second language (L2) learners, from which they can flexibly draw during L2 acquisition (Marshall & Moore, 2018). Yet, most mainstream L2 instruction remain monolingual: L2 learners’ plurilingual practices in classrooms - such as mixing languages - are often seen as a problem rather than an asset, and are often discouraged (Cummins, 2007; Cook, 2016; Piccardo, 2017). Using a mixed methods approach, this study investigated ESL tutors’ and tutees’ (N = 20) self-perceived plurilingual and pluricultural competence (PPC) and linguistic identities, and examined their plurilingual practices during tutoring sessions in a francophone college in Montréal. Data from questionnaires, the PPC scale (Galante, under review), field observations, and semi-structured interviews were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Three main results were found: (1) there was a significant positive relationship between low PPC scores and monolingual identity; (2) participants frequently engaged in plurilingual practices such as translanguaging, translations, and cross-linguistic analyses during tutoring sessions to facilitate L2 learning; and (3) participants engaged in plurilingual practices regardless of their PPC scores and linguistic identities. These findings have implications for how plurilingual peer-to-peer pedagogical interactions can inform mainstream L2 instruction and L2 classroom language policies.


identifier: Kortagere Sashidhar, Amitkumar ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2792-7856 <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2792-7856>  (2020) Emulation of Permanent Magnet Machines.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

title: Emulation of Permanent Magnet Machines

abstract:
Power hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL) based machine emulation is increasingly being recognized as an effective approach for simplifying the testing of electric drive systems. In machine emulation, a power electronic converter emulates the behavior of an electric machine. Since the motor is being emulated, several motor types/ratings, and its corresponding impact on the driving inverter and drive inverter controller can be studied before the actual motor is prototyped (developed). Furthermore, since the machine behavior is emulated, a dynamometer is not required to load the machine and operate it at it's required torque/speed. These two factors, reduce the time to market of the complete drive system significantly, when machine emulation is used. In addition, a machine emulator can also be used to study the response of the driving inverter and it's controller for several transient conditions which are typically avoided when testing on a physical machine, due to fear of equipment damage.

A PHIL based machine emulation is relatively a new technology and therefore there are several open research problems to address. Emulation accuracy is significantly dependent on the details of the machine model used for emulation. Another important research concern is the control strategy for the machine emulator and its interaction with the driving inverter controller.  It is necessary to ensure that the machine model detail is not compromised while developing a control strategy for the machine emulator. Validating the developed emulator system for a wide variety of transient drive behavior such as faults, emulation of different machine topologies, etc. is also another important research problem to address.

This PhD research work develops a PHIL based machine emulator system, which uses machine models based on look-up table data, generated from finite element analysis (FEA) tools. The usage of these machine models allows for the emulation of the machine`s magnetic (eg. saturation) and geometric (eg. cogging-torque) characteristics, thus greatly improving the emulation accuracy and utility. This PhD research work also develops a control strategy for the machine emulator. The interaction of the emulator control strategy in relation with the driving inverter control strategy is studied and considerations to ensure stable and accurate emulation are proposed. The proposed control strategy developed for the emulator also takes into account the electric drive system transient behavior during the event of driving inverter faults. Experimental setups of the developed emulator systems are used to emulate the behavior of a permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM), a variable-flux machine (VFM), an open-winding PM machine. The results obtained from the emulator system are compared with that obtained from a driving inverter feeding a prototype machine to validate the utility and accuracy of the developed emulator systems.


identifier: Zojaji, Pourya  (2020) Production of micro-mesoporous alternative carbonaceous adsorbents for high-efficiency sorption of the emerging organic micropollutants from wastewater effluent.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: A partial removal of emerging organic micropollutants (EOMs) in conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) results in their continuous release to the aquatic terrestrial systems. Subsequently, EOMs such as pharmaceutical compounds, their respective metabolites as well as hormones and herbicides need a complementary treatment, e.g. sorption. However, sorptive material supposes to follow sustainable development principles as much as possible. Thus, utilizing low-cost alternative precursors for the production of sorptive material was considered in this study. Wasted activated sludge (WAS) and wood waste were used as viable primary materials for this purpose. The main objective of the present work was to remove of EOMs from a WWTP’s effluent by an effective alternative carbon adsorbent derived from the blends of sludge and woodchips. The study consisted of three stages. In the first stage, the presence of thirty multi-class EOMs was investigated in a WWTP effluent and its vicinity in Saint Lawrence River (SLR). Subsequently, the most popular EOMs were classified, then, target compounds were selected to be exposed to adsorption process. In the second stage, an effective method to produce pore enriched activated carbon from single-step activation of sludge with the additive of wood residues was developed. The produced new adsorbent increased the surface area from 1320 m2/g to 1565 m2/g after combining sludge precursor with hardwood chips. Also, the strength of the surface acidity and yield of products were mounted after wood addition. In stage 3, the sorption of an anti-depressant, venlafaxine (VEN), from aqueous solution onto the new adsorbent derived from the mixture of sludge and hardwood residues (SS:HW) was compared with a commercial granular activated carbon (CGAC). Maximum sorption capacity of the SS:HW was measured 131.57 mg/g from Langmuir isotherm while this value was 25.57 mg/g for CGAC. Then SS:HW adsorption efficiency was successfully validated on real WWTP effluent; while CGAC failed to remove a mixture of EOMs from the real matrix. The results revealed the new micro-mesoporous sludge-based (SS:HW) adsorbent could serve as an efficient tool for polishing WWTP effluent and protecting the quality of surface water resources.


identifier: Mudrosky, Sarah  (2020) Pushover.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Pushover

abstract:
My thesis consists of a series of short stories that explore the intersectional cultural identity of the second-generation immigrant protagonist, 20-something Lauren. Mixing episodes from Lauren’s childhood and young-adulthood, the collection delves into ways that cultural heritage and family history can complicate the fashioning of one’s identity. The stories are set primarily in Montreal and the surrounding area.
The predominant use of first person point of view is intended to establish a strong voice for the main character, emphasizing the tension between Lauren’s tendency to over-think and her tendency for inaction. The reader is meant to feel immersed in her thoughts and her obsessive probing of the past.
Linked by common central characters, the stories deal with themes of home, belonging, inherited shame, and the complicated influence that ethnicity has on one’s identity and self-image.


identifier: Umucu, Gunes Ekin  (2020) PRICING OF CLIMATE RISK IN OPTIONS MARKET.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: I analyze the pricing of climate risk by studying on implied volatility in option markets before Atlantic Hurricane Season peaks. I find that climate risk is priced in the equity option market. Put options whose lives span peak period of hurricane season become more expensive compared to call options in hurricane season. In addition, price differences between OTM put options and ATM call options covering the peak period of hurricane season is higher than price differences of the same type of options in non-hurricane season. The results also suggest that hurricane season forecasts and property information of REITs in affected regions together influence the price of options through implied volatility skew of equity options.


identifier: Hooshyar Telegraphi, Amirreza ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3081-3868 <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3081-3868>  (2020) Mathematical Models for Designing Integrated Sustainable Manufacturing Systems.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Sustainability may be defined as the attentive endeavor in avoidance of the depletion of natural resources. Sustainability is progressively becoming a topic of substantial interest in both academic and manufacturing environments. Due to the profitability in conducting sustainable practices and the legal pressure from the governments, many companies are going to be engaged in the product recovery business for retrieving materials and value-added features in used products. In designing sustainable manufacturing systems, hybrid manufacturing-remanufacturing systems can be applied as a result of their social, economic, and environmental effects. A sustainable manufacturing system should work as a part of a sustainable closed-loop supply chain. Hence, sustainable practices should be applied in both closed-loop supply chains and manufacturing systems simultaneously. The premier goal of this dissertation is to apply sustainable practices in designing a network consisting of a manufacturing system in a closed-loop supply chain in view of realistic assumptions; for example, alternative process routings, contingency process routings, lot splitting, reconfigurations, machine adjacency requirements, machine failures, reliability of machines, and quality of the returned products, outsourcing, as well as stochastic and probabilistic parameters. Four models are developed in this dissertation. The first model is a mixed-integer mathematical model for a third-party remanufacturer in a remanufacturing facility with cellular layout to be as a part of a closed-loop supply chain. This mathematical model is solved using an exact solution procedure through the use of branch-and-bound and branch-and-cut of CPLEX.

The second model is the extension of the first model by taking operation sequences, machine adjacency constraints, alternative process routings, and outsourcing option of the part demands into consideration. This mathematical model is solved using an exact solution procedure through the use of branch-and-bound and branch-and-cut of CPLEX. The third model is a mixed-integer mathematical model which is developed for an original equipment manufacturer in a hybrid manufacturing-remanufacturing facility with cellular layout considering alternative and contingency process routings to be as a part of a closed-loop supply chain. This mathematical model is solved using an exact solution procedure through the use of branch-and-bound and branch-and-cut of CPLEX. The fourth model is a stochastic mixed-integer mathematical model which is developed for a third party remanufacturer in a remanufacturing facility with cellular layout to be as a part of a sustainable closed-loop supply chain. A queuing-based approach is considered for the model in a Jackson queuing network. To avoid a long waiting time of the parts in the queuing system, a chance-constrained is added to the mathematical model as well. This mathematical model is solved using an exact solution procedure through the use of branch-and- bound and branch-and-cut of CPLEX. The mathematical models in this dissertation are mainly targeted to be used in industry at the operational level which would lead to further industrial applications mostly at the design stage of integrated manufacturing and supply chain systems in addition to the possible applications at the operational level. All the models in this dissertation have been formulated, solved, analyzed, together with this, sensitivity analyses for representing the usability of the models in practice have been presented.


identifier: Palacios Moreno, Jorge Alberto ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8149-7706 <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8149-7706>  (2019) Characterization of Carbon-Nanotube-Reinforced-Polymer-Composite Material based on Multiscale Finite Element Model and Probabilistic Approach.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Carbon-Nanotube-Reinforced-Polymer-Composite (CNRPC) materials have generated widespread interest over the last several years in practical engineering applications, such as aeronautical and aerospace engineering structures. However, studies still need to be carried out to characterize their mechanical properties, especially the dynamic properties, and the effects of defects on the mechanical properties. Experimental investigations intended for this purpose have limitations and, in most cases, reliable cost-effective experimental work could not be carried out. Computational modelling and simulation encompassing multiscale material behavior provide an alternate approach in this regard to characterize the material behavior. A probabilistic approach serves as a suitable approach to characterize the effects of material and structural defects. The present thesis reports the development of a computational framework of the Representative Volume Element (RVE) of a CNRPC material model to determine its static and dynamic responses, and also for the evaluation of its static and dynamic reliabilities based on a probabilistic characterization approach. A 3D multiscale finite element model of the RVE of the nanocomposite material consisting of a polymer matrix, a Single-Walled-Carbon-Nanotube (SWCN) and an interface region has been constructed for this purpose. The multiscale modeling is performed in terms of using different theories and corresponding strain energies to model the individual parts of the RVE of the CNRPC material. The macroscale continuum mechanics is used for the polymer matrix, the mesoscale mechanics is used for the interface region, and the nanoscale-level atomistic mechanics is used for the SWCN. The polymer matrix is modeled using the Mooney-Rivlin strain energy function to calculate its non-linear response, while the interface region is modeled via the van der Waals links. The SWCN is first modeled as a space frame structure by using the Morse potential, and then as a thin shell based on a suitable shell theory. For this purpose, the suitability and the accuracy of popular shell theories for use in the multiscale model of the RVE are assessed.


identifier: Khattab, Lara  (2019) The Challenges to Democratization in the Global South: The Political Economy of Regime Change, Class Struggles, and Class Alliances in Egypt (1952-2016) and Brazil (1930-2016).  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis PeerReviewed

abstract: This research adopts a cross-regional comparative historical and a political economy approach to democratization processes in the Global South. It explains why in Egypt (1952-2016) and Brazil (1930-2016) where calls for democratization and regime change were preceded by class struggles and an impressive wave of working-class activism, the Brazilian working class broke free from corporatism and built a broad and strong alliance with other struggling social classes while the Egyptian working class was not able to fulfill this objective. While Brazil transitioned to a democracy until 2016, Egypt experienced the rise of the military to power since 2013. These different outcomes are explained by embedding the questions of working class organizing and the absence or presence of broad inter-class alliances in the will of the authoritarian leaders to leave power or to entrench authoritarian rule, as well as the will of the military in particular to tolerate or repress opposition. The dissertation assesses this question of military tolerance of opposition or lack thereof, by looking at the institutional, foreign policy and economic interests of the military. The analysis puts the focus on the way such interests evolved under authoritarianism and the way the military was constituted and shaped by capitalism and hence by its relationship with the owners of capital and labor. The research contributes to the comparative democratization literature by pursuing a multi-disciplinary approach that combines theoretical insights from comparative politics, political economy, critical history and geography as well as the regional Latin American and Middle Eastern literature. It also expands the geographical scope of the academic conversation by examining the challenges of democratization in post-colonial societies and by incorporating cases from the Arab world that had been hitherto unexamined by the democratization and regime change literature. The research combines historical, archival research with qualitative research methods including interviewing and fieldwork. Fieldwork in the two countries extended over a period of 8 months between December 2015 and December 2016.  Throughout this period of time, I have conducted 43 interviews with activists in the anti-corporatist labor movement, and social movements activists as well as experts who examined similar themes.


identifier: Funicelli, Michel  (2020) An Independent Validation And Extended Examination Of The Complex Trial Protocol, A P300-Based Concealed Information Test.  PhD thesis, Charles Sturt University.

abstract: The P300-based Concealed Information Test (CIT) is a memory detection technique where an examiner presents an examinee a crime relevant piece of information called ‘probe’ along with an assortment of neutral alternatives called ‘irrelevants’ while measuring P300 amplitudes. The Complex Trial Protocol (CTP) is a four-stimuli method of presenting probes and irrelevants while maintaining the examinee’s attention on the computer screen with the additional presentation of ‘target’ and ‘Non-target’ items. The CTP has only been validated once by a team of independent researchers. In addition, CIT examiners are often faced with examinees intent on using countermeasures (CM) meant to influence the test outcome in their favour. We presented a literature review in chapter 1 in relation to CIT & CTP related research. In chapter 2 our aim was twofold. First, to validate the CTP’s performance with autobiographical data, and then to test it with a novel mental (counting backwards) CM. We met both objectives by obtaining excellent detection results in terms of sensitivity (98%) and specificity (100%). The goal in chapter 3 was to verify if deep and shallow levels of processing (LOP) in a dual modality (words versus pictures) presentation had any influence on CTP results. Our findings pointed to the absence of an LOP effect on either verbal or visual stimuli, but we identified a pictorial superiority effect over words. Notwithstanding, these conclusions of our true positive (sensitivity) detection rates were unacceptably low, ranging from 7% (words) to 60% (pictures), while true negative (specificity) levels were excellent at 100%. Finally, in chapter 4 we exposed our participants to a mock terrorism scenario as we sought to explore the usage of three successive pictorial blocks of stimuli (mock bomb, mock crime scene, and male accomplice face) and to replicate the work of Hu, Bergström, Bodenhausen, and Rosenfeld (2015) and Ward and Rosenfeld (2017) on a memory inhibition CM. Depending on the stimuli type, our results showed diagnostic rates ranging from 64% to 79% in the innocent condition (true negatives), to 54% to 77% in the simply guilty group (true positives), and 71% to 93% in the guilty CM group (true positives). Experiment 4 highlights the importance of the careful selection of probe type for an effective CIT. Relative to participants in the two guilty groups, innocent persons unexpectedly reacted to the mock bomb, whereas the facial probe of a male accomplice produced better distinguishing results. Lastly, we successfully replicated findings on the memory inhibition CM.


identifier: Gagne, Collin  (2020) Effects of Ovarian Hormone Replacement on the Ovariectomized (OVX) Female Rat Response to Ketamine.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Ketamine has been shown to acutely and rapidly ameliorate depressive symptoms and suicidality. Given that women suffer from depression at two-times the rate of men, the current work first reviews the literature at the intersection between two  subjects: the neurobiological mechanisms of ketamine’s antidepressant effects, and how ovarian hormones might
interact with these phenomena. The neuroinflammatory hypothesis of depression is emphasized. Next, we investigated how the ovarian hormones 17β-estradiol and progesterone interact with ketamine’s effects on ovariectomized female Wistar rat behavior in the forced swim test. A secondary experiment analyzed the effects of ketamine on males, also in the forced swim test. No significant interaction or main
effects were found among the females, whereas ketamine significantly reduced immobility among the males. Locomotor activity recordings confirmed that ketamine’s effects in the forced swim test were not due to overall locomotor suppression.


identifier: Zegen Reich, Ben ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1192-499X <https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1192-499X>  (2020) Effect of Vapor Diffusion Port on the Hygrothermal Performance of Wood-Frame Walls.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Vapor diffusion ports (VDPs) that are drilled in the exterior sheathing of wood-frame walls are commonly used in wood-frame construction in the coastal region of British Columbia with the intention to improve the drying capacity of wood-frame exterior walls. This practice was originated following the systematic building envelope failures due to rain penetration that occurred in this region around 1985-1995. A previous laboratory study carried out by FPInnovations found that VDPs provided substantial improvement in the drying rates of OSB sheathed walls, but not for plywood sheathed walls. A more recent laboratory test using wood- frame walls with higher insulation levels in compliance with the current more stringent energy code found that VDPs did not significantly improve the drying rates. On the other hand, the provision of VDPs may allow moisture ingress into the wall assembly instead in a damp environment. The difference in these two studies in terms of test wall sizes, moisture sources, and test conditions may have attributed to the different findings. To provide a more comprehensive and systematic evaluation of the effect of VDPs, hygrothermal simulations using WUFI 2D are carried out in this study. The WUFI 2D model is firstly validated by comparing simulation results to measurements from tests carried out under laboratory conditions by using a wetted wood block installed inside each test wall assembly as a simulated moisture source. The simulation results agree well with the measurements. The validated model is then used for parametric study with different levels of rain leakage deposited on wall assemblies with and without VDPs using yearly weather data. The variables studied include types of exterior insulation, types of sheathing (OSB versus Plywood), types of sheathing membrane, and the location of rain deposition. It is found that VDPs have the ability to improve the rate of drying that is directly related to the moisture content of the wall assembly, although the improvement is moderate even for high moisture levels. As a result, moisture content levels in walls with VDPs are lower during the wet season but remain the same in other times of the year. In addition, the times to dry from high moisture content to safe levels is reduced by approximately 50% under high initial MC assumed in sheathing. Mold-index calculation shows that the improvements on drying provided by VDPs have little contribution from the perspective of mold growth risk. VDPs are found to be more beneficial in OSB sheathed walls than in plywood sheathed walls, and less beneficial when coupled with an exterior insulation layer, due to the lower overall moisture in such assemblies.


identifier: Fuakye, Eric Gyabeng  (2020) Higgs Boson Phenomenology in the Type II Two Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM).  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
We present a strategy to study the parameter space of the Type – II CP conserving Two Higgs Doublet Model with a softly broken Z2 symmetry by parametrizing the Higgs scalar potential in the physical basis. In this basis, the input parameters are the masses of the 4 scalar physical states, mH± , mA, mH , mh, the ratio of the Higgs vacuum expectation values, tanβ, two mixing angles, α and β, and the softly breaking parameter scale of the Z2 symmetry, M . Using the physical basis, we present numerical scans of the available 2HDM parameter region where we modify the Lilith program to study constraints from signal strength measurements of the 125GeV Higgs boson on the cos(β − α) and tanβ plane in the Type - II 2HDM.

We also impose certain theoretical constraints on the masses of H, A, and H± to eliminate all exotic decays, and to allow space for SM particle decays. From these results, we define three benchmark scenarios, namely the decoupling limit, near the decoupling limit, and the crescent limit. The crescent limit allows us to probe non-SM Higgs phenomenology that is of interest for future LHC Higgs searches. Our results suggest that in the crescent limit, when kinematically accessible H → hh, A → Zh and H± → W ±h should become high priorities in searching for additional Higgs bosons.

Keywords— 2HDM, Higgs Physics, Z2 Symmetry, Crescent limit, Lilith


identifier: Alodiby, Norah  (2020) Improving Students’ Critical Thinking Skills through Flipped Classrooms.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Abstract
Improving Critical Thinking Skills Through Flipped
Classrooms
Norah Alodiby
Flipped classrooms are generally characterized by its course structure comprising in-class and
out-of-class activities. It uses classroom time for students to actively engage in interactive
learning activities. In other words, a flipped classroom means that students take responsibility for
their own learning process. In flipped classrooms, students have more time and opportunity to
engage in different activities (reading, writing, debating, etc.) which results in improving their
critical thinking skills in general.
The course that has been investigated in this study is “Great thinkers, Great ideas, Great
debates: Big ideas that shape and have shaped modern civilization”. Students could register
under one of the following course codes: LBCL 298 /SCOL 398. The class was conceived by
Prof. Calvin Kalman principal of the Science collage; at that time, and Eric Buzzetti and Jarrett
Carty, principal and vice-principal respectively, of the Liberal Arts College.
This study attempts to answer the following question: What are the changes that occurred to
students’ Critical Thinking skills throughout the course? The data collected includes open-ended
questions interviews with both students and TAs, class observations, student writing products.
After qualitatively coding the student interviews, the remaining data sources were analyzed.
These were then triangulated with the interviews and each other in order to corroborate the
themes that emerged, as well as to enrich or expand the results.


identifier: Vedadinejad, Haleh  (2020) Chador | Veil–Tent Reconceptualizing the veil with a speculative and performative approach.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis is a research-creation project that aims to explore the veil beyond the controversial definitions and interpretations which have been ascribed to it, thereby to investigate the borders between inside and outside, men and women, human and non-human. This research, thus, speculates on the possibility of a composed veil, as a customizable boundary that can be personalized and co-created actively by its wearer through a performative approach. While the veil (chador in Farsi) negotiates privacy and interiority as a visible, personal space and boundary constructed directly on the body, at a larger yet still intimate scale, traditional Iranian architecture is also characterized by interiority and introverted spatiality as foundational principles. By positioning the body, the veil and Iranian residential architecture in mutual dynamic interaction, this research seeks to reconceptualize the veil as a ‘microcosmic dwelling place’ which defines an extension of privacy in public and emplaces the body within a context. Consequently, each phase of the research-creation project reveals particular material and spatial aspects of the veil, to constitute a multisensory environment that mutably reconstructs the boundaries between body and space. The composed veil, in this framing, no longer limited to any specific religion, or gender, or cultural context, could be redefined by that wearer as a means of individualized emplacement and engagement in a given social context.


identifier: Raddatz, Candace  (2020) Physiological Influences of Active and Passive Acute Mental Stress on Cardiac Repolarization: A Preliminary Investigation into Pathophysiological Mechanisms of Adult Cardiac Arrhythmias.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Background: Adult cardiac arrhythmias cause adverse health effects including death. While the underlying mechanisms of arrhythmiogenesis have yet to be elucidated, the cardiac autonomic nervous system (ANS) is suggested to play a notable role. As part of the stress response the cardiac ANS is activated under conditions of acute mental stress, yet, little is known about the cardiac ANS stress response and adult arrhythmiogenesis in acute mental stress conditions. This systematic review offers insight into the influences of acute mental active and passive stress and their potential roles in generating proarrhythmic environments, and provides a primary foundation for future clinical research investigating prospective arrhythmiogenic pathophysiological pathways for the prediction, prevention and treatment of adult arrhythmias.
Methods: An extensive literature search was performed by two independent reviewers using Pubmed, PsycINFO, and Scopus electronic databases (up to December 2018).  All English language articles which assessed adult cardiac electrophysiological, autonomic, and hemodynamic responses, to acute mental stress conditions were included.
Results: Eleven studies were identified; 5 studies included active stress tasks, 3 studies included passive stress tasks, and 3 studies included both active and passive stress tasks. Both active and passive stress were associated with pro-arrhythmic electrocardiographic changes, along with increased hemodynamic and autonomic responses.
Conclusions: Active and passive stress create a pro-arrhythmic environment through repolarization alterations, increased sympathetic nervous system activity, and concurrent diminished parasympathetic activity. Further studies should include distinctions between active and passive stress cardiac electrophysiology profiles to better understand how mental stress contributes to cardiac arrhythmia etiology.


identifier: Molander, Thomas  (2020) Rumble Hill.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Rumble Hill

abstract:
Rumble Hill is a novel set in the future in a small town in the middle of a desert where each year townspeople vote on the ten happiest and ten saddest people in the town. These lists dominate the town’s collective imagination. The unnamable narrator has just been named the fourth saddest townsperson and is distraught. He has lost his job working on a tube that snakes through the desert delivering water to the town. He spends his days answering questionnaires that the town sends him about the nature of his sadness. His life changes when he meets the town’s painter, who paints portraits of the ten happiest and ten saddest townspeople each year for the town’s records, but is creatively blocked. Together, the narrator and the painter decide to subvert the town’s happy/sad binary, plunging the town into chaos.

Rumble Hill is a novel of skepticism towards language and narrative. It examines the power of naming and styles of expression. It is a novel about climate change and environmental estrangement. It’s about the ability of stories and jokes to share otherwise non-communicable truths. It draws inspiration from the clipped, uncanny style of the English Standard Version translation of the parables of Jesus, the unfinished novels by Franz Kafka, and Robert Walser’s wandering, despondent first-person narrators.


identifier: Andres, Kelly  (2019) Radicle Assemblages.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

title: Radicle Assemblages

abstract: Radicle Assemblages explores aesthetic praxis through an experiential research-creation doctorate in the Interdisciplinary Humanities Fine Arts program. This studio-based project interwove diverse phenomena through speculative narratives inclusive of matter, thinking with techné, and in contemplation with living entities. The artworks that were developed in this study explored aesthetic modes of relational play among natureculture assemblages. The artworks acted as a form of dialogue to contemplate what would become defined as relations of tender curation. Individual gestures were composed for learning care and expanded perception through artistic experiments with domesticated natures such as houseplants, bacteria, algae, gastropods, and yeast (among others). The concept of tender curation emerged where what became a central component of an artwork required daily attendance. These experiences opened to a kind of tending that inspired affection and concern for the living creatures that were assembled within artworks. Another concept that formed was the radicle assemblage as a motif for thinking with differences among beings that are unique yet unfolding together in shared or common space. Comprehending subtle affects through interactions with vegetal life led to concern regarding personal and ethical implications of artworks that were composed with living phenomena. The living beings changed one another in their interactions. As a result, the artworks shifted over the duration of the study increasingly towards co-creative relations with domesticated, urbanized, or shared-territory beings as a way that incrementally expanded the artist-researcher’s ability to respond. Through practice and in the dissemination of multiple artworks, this research-creation doctorate eventually gravitated towards a post-anthropocentric art of response-responsibility. In this sense, the research-creation methodology evolved as a form of contemporary art practice that performed an expansion of possible social relations through generative propositions as incremental research.


identifier: Rapson, Natacha  (2020) Facilitation of immigrant integration in Canada: Storytelling for educational understanding.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
ABSTRACT
Facilitation of immigrant integration in Canada: Storytelling for educational understanding
After a review of three doctoral dissertations examining the differential adaptation and acculturation of African youth and adult immigrants and refugees to Canada and the U.S.A., several important factors are identified: language, cultural heritage, community support, schooling and academic concerns, cultural identity, social relationships and gender.  These same factors are also highlighted in the novels by Kim Thuy, telling through compelling vignettes the immigration and settlement story of a Vietnamese mother and her children as refugees in Canada.
Contrasting the academic research approach to the storytelling approach, the thesis makes the case for using authentic storytelling by immigrants and refugees for a better educational understanding and positive facilitation of acculturation and adaptation.
Five structured case studies/vignettes are then developed telling the stories of five different African immigrants to Canada and the United States.  In order to enact this storytelling approach with different stakeholders a framework of seven domains of inclusion developed by Dei and McDermott is proposed: 1. Representation; 2. language; 3. Family, community school interface; 4. Co-operative education; 5. Equity and values education; 6. Indigenous/community/local cultural knowledges; 7. Spirituality and learning.


identifier: Du, Meiqing  (2020) Corporate Governance and Inefficient Investment in Family Businesses.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In this paper, we examine the investment decisions of family businesses at the firm level. Specially, by extracting the value of inefficient investments from a series of OLS regressions, we test the influence of family governance factors on inefficient firm investments. We find that inefficient investments are common among family firms, and that the number and extent of underinvestments are higher than that of overinvestments. We further discover that a large percentage of family members on the board and family member CEOs reduce both overinvestments and underinvestments, whereas the performance of founders on the board exaggerates both a business’ underinvestments and overinvestments. Finally, free cash flows tend to cause overinvestments, and reduce underinvestments. Our findings indicate that family-related governance factors influence a firm’s investment decisions, both in terms of overinvestment and underinvestment.


identifier: Bagga, Rajni  (2020) Hydrothermal growth of zinc oxide nanorods doped with manganese.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: ZnO nanostructures can be grown using a variety of techniques. Using a hydrothermal method, ZnO nanostructures can be produced easily on a large scale due to the low temperature involved. ZnO is a well-studied wide-band gap (3.37 eV) n-type semiconductor material with significant properties such as a large exciton binding energy (60 meV). In this project we have chosen the hydrothermal method to synthesize undoped and manganese doped zinc oxide nanorods at different growth temperatures of {60}^0C, {70}^0C, {80}^0C, and\ {90}^0C respectively for 20h. We made a seed layer of ZnO on the Si substrate by annealing zinc acetate at {400}^0 C. The morphology of the nanorods was visualised by taking their side and top SEM images. Micro Raman Spectra shows the crystal orientation of the nanorods with respect to substrate and optical Raman-active modes of undoped and doped nanorods. Room-temperature micro-Photoluminescence spectra of nanorods shows the sharp near band emission at 383 nm and broadband defect emission in the visible range. From EPR spectroscopy we find out whether a significant amount of Mn was incorporated into nanorods. Our findings indicate that the presence of Mn in the growth medium results in improved morphology, even though at the lowest growth temperatures there is no clear incorporation of Mn into the nanorods. This implies that the presence of the Mn ions in the group medium is enough to increase the growth rates of ZnO, regardless of whether the ions are incorporated into the crystal or not.


identifier: Sohrabi Kashani, Ahmad ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3673-4132 <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3673-4132>  (2020) Nano-Bio-Interactions on Intracellular Plasmonics and Mechanobiology of Human Cells.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Cancer is a complex disease that originates from various mutations in cells, influencing cellular growth and proliferation. During cancer progression, the biophysical properties of cells, as well as their responses to surrounding mechanical stimuli, are altered. These alterations impact their interactions and communications with their microenvironment and enhance the motility of cancer cells, allowing them to detach from the primary tumor and invade other healthy tissues/organs. Progress in nanotechnology and nanoscience has resulted in the nano-bio-interaction field in which the interaction between nanoparticles and cells are studied to develop innovative nanomedicines to optimize and revolutionize classical methods for cancer treatment and management. While nanomedicines could directly and selectively target cancer cells and deliver anti-cancer reagents to cancer cells, their presence into cells (even without drugs) could cause significant changes in the mechanobiological properties of cells. Although many studies showed that nano-bio-interaction could induce cytoskeletal changes in cancer cells, it is not yet clearly known or understood how these changes could potentially influence cancer progression.
This dissertation focused on how cell-nanoparticle interactions and the resulting mechanobiological change in cancer cells would influence their cellular functions. Here, we utilized three different types of gold particles with different physicochemical properties to study their interactions with both healthy and cancer cells. In the first step of this research, we employed various nanotechnology and microscopic techniques including fluorescent imaging, SEM, Raman spectroscopy, dark-field imaging and hyperspectral imaging to study the behavior of gold nanoparticles in cells in terms of cellular uptake, cytotoxicity, internalization level, and subcellular localization. The findings revealed that all types of particles, sphere-shaped, star-shaped, and Swarna Bhasma, are non-toxic to the cells even with increasing doses and exposure times. Raman enhancement results highlighted the importance of nano-morphology in mediating changes in the affinity of gold nanoparticles to different chemical structures in cells, which is essential for developing nanomedicines. The hyperspectral technique was then utilized to detect particles in different regions of cells with measuring the intracellular plasmonic responses of nanoparticles. It was found that the regional-dependent plasmonic shifts of gold nanoparticles could be used to estimate the subcellular localization of nanoparticles. Nanospheres showed higher accumulation in cells, and they exhibited a greater plasmonic shift with more sensitivity to their neighboring medium compared to Swarna Bhasma and nanostars.
This dissertation then used Atomic Force Microscopy for mechanobiological measurements and to study their alterations upon incubation with gold nanoparticles. Imaging techniques confirmed morphological and cytoskeletal changes in cancer cells after uptake of gold nanoparticles. Migration assays revealed that nanospheres cause stronger changes than nanostars in the dynamic capability of cancer cells, by significantly slowing down their migration. In support of this, biomechanical measurements showed that internalized gold nanospheres reduce the elasticity of cancer cells by 66% more compared to nanostars. The same trend was also observed in the adhesion levels of treated cells. We observed that nanospheres are mainly distributed in regions where force is generated and translocated for cell migration, and their distribution reasons why their impacts are stronger than nanostars. Furthermore, our simulations showed that the bulk stiffness of cells has contradictory effects on cell deformation and overcoming forces at the cell-substrate interfaces required for cell migration. To approximate the migratory capability of cells, we defined a stiffness-dependent energy term, migratory index, to uniquely capture the effects of both phenomena. Our modeling revealed that there is an optimal stiffness value/range associated with maximal migration, and when bulk stiffness deviates from the optimal range, the rate of migration is predicted to decrease. Our experimental results showed that nanospheres could change the bulk stiffness of cancer cells outside of the optimal range for efficient migration, and we hypothesize that this could suppress their metastatic potential of cancer cells.


identifier: Salem, Christian  (2020) Machine Learning Based Detection of False Data Injection Attacks in Wide Area Monitoring Systems.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The Smart Grid (SG) is an upgraded, intelligent, and a more reliable version of the traditional Power Grid due to the integration of information and communication technologies. The operation of the SG requires a dense communication network to link all its components. But such a network renders it prone to cyber attacks jeopardizing the integrity and security of the communicated data between the physical electric grid and the control centers.
One of the most prominent components of the SG are Wide Area Monitoring Systems (WAMS). WAMS are a modern platform for grid-wide information,
communication, and coordination that play a major role in maintaining the stability of the grid against major disturbances.
In this thesis, an anomaly detection framework is proposed to identify False Data Injection (FDI) attacks in WAMS using different Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) techniques, i.e., Deep Autoencoders (DAE), Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM), and One-Class Support Vector Machine (OC-SVM). These algorithms leverage diverse, complex, and high-volume power measurements coming from communications between different components of the grid to detect intelligent FDI attacks. The injected false data is assumed to target several major WAMS monitoring applications, such as Voltage Stability Monitoring (VSM), and Phase Angle Monitoring (PAM). The attack vector is considered to be smartly crafted based on the power system data, so that it can pass the conventional bad data detection schemes and remain stealthy. Due to the lack of realistic attack data, machine learning-based anomaly detection techniques are used to detect FDI attacks. To demonstrate the impact of attacks on the realistic WAMS traffic and to show the effectiveness of the proposed detection framework, a Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) co-simulation testbed is developed. The performance of the implemented techniques is compared on the testbed data using different metrics: Accuracy, F1 score, and False Positive Rate (FPR) and False Negative Rate (FNR). The IEEE 9-bus and IEEE 39-bus systems are used as benchmarks to investigate the framework scalability. The experimental results prove the effectiveness of the proposed models in detecting FDI attacks in WAMS.


identifier: Moghaddass, Mahsa  (2020) Inverse Integer Optimization With an Application in Recommender Systems.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
In typical (forward) optimization, the goal is to obtain optimal values for the decision variables given known values of optimization model parameters. However, in practice, it may be challenging to determine appropriate values for these parameters. Assuming the availability of historical observations that represent past decisions made by an optimizing agent, the goal of inverse optimization is to impute the unknown model parameters that would make these observations optimal (or approximately optimal) solutions to the forward optimization problem. Inverse optimization has many applications, including geology, healthcare, transportation, and production planning.

In this dissertation, we study inverse optimization with integer observation(s), focusing on the cost coefficients as the unknown parameters. Furthermore, we demonstrate an application of inverse optimization to recommender systems.

First, we address inverse optimization with a single imperfect integer observation. The aim is to identify the unknown cost vector so that it makes the given imperfect observation approximately optimal by minimizing the optimality error. We develop a cutting plane algorithm for this problem. Results show that the proposed cutting plane algorithm works well for small instances. To reduce computational time, we propose an LP relaxation heuristic method. Furthermore, to obtain an optimal solution in a shorter amount of time, we combine both methods into a hybrid approach by initializing the cutting plane algorithm with a solution from the heuristic method.

In the second study, we generalize the previous approach to inverse optimization with multiple imperfect integer observations that are all feasible solutions to one optimization problem. A cutting plane algorithm is proposed and then compared with an LP heuristic method. The results show the value of using multiple data points instead of a single observation.

Finally, we apply the proposed methods in the setting of recommender systems. By accessing past user preferences, through inverse optimization we identify the unknown model parameters that minimize an aggregate of the optimality errors over multiple points. Once the unknown parameters are imputed, the recommender system can recommend the best items to the users. The advantage of using inverse optimization is that when users are optimizing their decisions, there is no need to have access to a large amount of data for imputing recommender system model parameters. We demonstrate the accuracy of our approach on a real data set for a restaurant recommender system.


identifier: Casilimas, Christiaan  (2020) A simulation study of capacity utilization in a third-party logistics provider warehouse.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
ABSTRACT

A simulation study of capacity utilization in a third-party logistics provider warehouse

Christiaan Casilimas Jacome

Nowadays companies focus more on their core business operations and subcontract third parties to perform services that were traditionally performed in-house. A third-party logistics provider (3PL) is an organization used to outsource elements of the supply chain like transportation and warehousing services. In 2019 this industry contributed about 90 billion CAD to the total Canadian GDP.
One of the biggest constraints in warehousing, is the effective management of warehouse capacity. Warehouses are physically limited by their layout, number of pallet positions, number of dock doors, size of the storage locations, size of the aisles, among others. Additional challenges may arise due to the seasonality of storage requirements. 3PL providers offering warehousing services are thus interested in determining at which levels of used capacity a warehouse is more profitable. This information can then be used to develop an order-accepting strategy for the company to be used during low and high seasons.
The main contribution of this thesis is to develop a simulation tool that provides a good starting point to answer these questions. In particular, the thesis focuses on a case study involving the operations of one particular 3PL warehouse with a major customer who moves only full pallets. This 3PL handles temperature sensitive products using a turret truck in a narrow aisle work environment.


identifier: Thompson, Althea  (2020) 'After that we wrote.': A Reconsideration of the Lives of Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, 1895-1918.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The tale of the reign of Tsar Nicholas II, the last Romanov emperor, is well known to history. Bloodshed, holy men, a domineering wife, and a haemophiliac son are recurring themes in studies of Nicholas’ reign. There is also a tendency to overlook the four girls in white dresses who appear on the margins of these narratives: the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia Nikolaevna, daughters of the tsar. This thesis aims to examine the lives of these four young women using translated versions of their diaries and letters, as well as memoirs and letters written by those closest to them; essentially, it asks what exactly a Russian Grand Duchess did every day. By reconsidering the tercentenary celebrations of the Romanov dynasty in 1913 as well as their activities on the home front during World War I, “‘After that we wrote.’: A Reconsideration of the Lives of Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, 1895-1918” sets out to tell Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia’s stories in their own words.


identifier: Amer, Amr  (2020) Automated segmentation and reconstruction of structural elements for indoor multi-level room environment.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: 3D laser scanners provide accurate as-built conditions for the surrounding environment in the form of 3D point cloud data. Although this technology has had high attention from the construction industry for the as-built documentation of buildings, the reconstruction process, especially identification and segmentation of the building elements, still has manual and labor-intensive tasks leading to time-consuming and human errors. In addition, it has not reconstructed the building elements successfully yet in multi-level building spaces. In an effort to address these issues, this research proposes an automatic 3D reconstruction framework that identifies, segments, and reconstructs vertical and horizontal building elements from the point clouds of multi-level building spaces. The proposed framework composes of: (1) identifying locations, diameters, lengths and the number of vertical building elements using Hough line and circle transform; (2) comparing the dimensions of the walls to determine single- or multi-level building spaces; (3) developing the region of interest defined by the building codes; (4) implementing plane RANSAC for not only segmentation of the vertical building elements but also identification and segmentation of horizontal building elements; and (5) reconstructing the segmented building elements into simple forms. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology has been validated with high accuracy and low deviation in three different building spaces at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.


identifier: Berger Lebel, Frederike, Kestenbaum, Rhiana and Dover, Geoffrey C.  (2020) Patient Outcomes Significantly Improve When Receiving Treatment by Athletic Therapy Students.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

creator:
Berger Lebel, Frederike
Kestenbaum, Rhiana
Dover, Geoffrey C.

abstract: Student-run clinics are beneficial and provide interactions between education and community. Treatment outcomes by students are rarely measured. To our knowledge, no studies evaluate student athletic therapist’s rehabilitation outcomes. The purpose of our study was to measure the improvement in function in injured patients seeking treatment at the student-run Athletic Therapy PERFORM Clinic. Main Outcomes and Measures: At baseline and at follow-up, student-treated patients completed one of three questionnaires to assess their injured level of function: Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) for low back injuries, Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS) for lower extremity injuries and Disabilities of the Arm Shoulder and Hand (DASH) for upper extremity injuries. Results: On average, patients received 4.7 ± 1.8 treatments across 48.8 ± 16.1 days. Overall, patients experienced a statistically significant increase in function between assessment and follow-up (18.8% ± 20.3, p < 0.001). Patients with an acute injury improved more compared to patients with a chronic pain injury (p < 0.001). While there was no significant difference in function at baseline between patients with acute injuries and chronic pain/injuries, there was a trend towards patients with an acute injury being less functional (p = 0.051). Discussion: Improvements in function in injured patients at this student-run clinic are similar to the minimal clinically important difference respective to each questionnaire. The clinic offers an additional benefit to patients with a robust cost-effectiveness ratio. Our results suggest that Athletic Therapy education should investigate the different needs of chronic injury patients in order to maximize improvements in function.


identifier: Carpenter, Frederic (Nick)  (2020) Arco - Part I "Ostinato".  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Arco - Part I "Ostinato"

abstract:
A great northern city is under siege. As it weathers its first dire winter, an orchestra of starving musicians is assembled to nourish the city with hope and the spirit of resistance. We need not look far beneath the gloss of this heroic narrative to find stories of acute desperation and moral collapse. While Maestro Prandius pushes his orchestra toward the performance of an ambitious new symphony, Bazkarian, a half-starved violinist, loses — through his own failure of courage
— his wife and daughters to the void of the state’s paranoid authority. Bazkarian struggles to restore his family. Meanwhile the orchestra of which he is a member lives its finest hour; howling their defiance from within the besieged city in a performance that echoes through the century.

Fifty years later and half a world from its birthplace, Maestra Cutwater is set to conducts an anniversary edition of the now famous symphony.

Arco - Part I is inspired by the Leningrad Radio Orchestra’s 1942 performance of Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony under the baton of Karl Eliasberg. Once joined by Part II, the play will arch time, place and context to interrogate the heroic retellings of this story and to explore the legacies of war and extreme privation. The play contains preternatural moments that remind us of the diaphanous membrane between myth and memory, and haunt the plot with hunger’s own
hallucinatory logic. Finally, Arco is about art as a substance of nourishment and the line beyond which it can no longer save the human body. Or soul.


identifier: Gamelin, Gabrielle  (2020) The influence of athlete fear avoidance on acute concussive symptoms.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: There are millions of concussions each year and the number of symptoms or severity of a sport related concussion vary significantly. Recently there is more evidence for fear avoidance being associated with the number of symptoms reported, in the chronic stage. The purpose of this thesis was to assess acute concussions in athletes using the SCAT5 as well as fear avoidance, catastrophizing, depression, and anxiety. Main Outcomes and Measures: We assessed 34 athletes’ concussions using the SCAT5, overall general health using the Short Form General Health Survey (SF36), pain catastrophizing using the Pain Catastrophizing Scale, fear avoidance using the Athlete Fear Avoidance Questionnaire (AFAQ), and anxiety and depression using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Questionnaire. Results: The participants had an average of 7.4   5.1 total number of symptoms and 16.3   17.0 symptom severity score on the SCAT5. The total number of symptoms reported on the SCAT5 was associated with the AFAQ score (r=0.493). The symptom severity score was associated with the AFAQ score (r=0.481). The total number of symptoms reported on the SCAT5 was associated with the HADS score (r=0.686). The symptom severity score was associated with the HADS score (r=0.602). The AFAQ score, HADS depression and HADS anxiety scores model was a significant predictor of the total number of symptoms reported on the SCAT5, accounting for 50.4% of the variance (p>0.001), and a significant predictor of the severity of symptoms reported on the SCAT5, accounting for of the 41% of the variance (p=0.001). Discussion: Our study identified a significant relationship between athlete fear avoidance and the number of concussion symptoms and the severity of the symptoms. A higher fear avoidance means that patients report more symptoms, and this relationship could explain why there is variability in the reporting of concussion symptoms.


identifier: Yessayan, Arda  (2020) Activating components of an inclusive learning framework for refugees: Confronting the challenges and proposing some strategies.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The world is witnessing the largest trans-border migration waves in history.  Immigrants and refugees from around the world are trying to build their lives in host countries.  Most are survivors of major traumas and they are trying to adjust to a new culture and learning a new language.  This is a literature-based thesis in view of activating some components for an inclusive learning framework for refugees.  After a review of Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory and Dewey’s Theory of Experience and Education, the focus is placed on the educational experiences and voices of adult refugees and their children with examples drawn from a variety of geographic and institutional contexts. These stories provide insight into some of the strengths and limits of existing educational programs to which adult and school aged refugees are exposed to in the host country.  The understanding of refugee expectations could be beneficial for educators as a way to facilitate the integration of the new learners in the new learning environment.  The crucial role of the community in helping the newcomers to integrate in the adoptive society is also examined. Finally, positive programs and strategies that have been introduced both at the individual and institutional levels are reviewed.  It emerges from this literature review that significant changes at all levels of the educational system are needed to better meet the needs of refugees.  Some strategies towards a more inclusive learning framework for refugees as well as education for all are illustrated in summary tables throughout the thesis.


identifier: Zhao, Sisheng  (2020) Machine Learning Methods for the Detection of Fraudulent Insurance Claims.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This thesis focuses on automotive fraudulent claims detection, a particular Property and Casualty (P&C) insurance product. By analyzing the customer's information, we try to define a model to determine if one customer has filed a fraudulent claim.

Two datasets used in this thesis. One of them is very imbalanced, as 6.1% of policyholders file fraudulent claims (coded as 1) and 93.9% of policyholders file normal claims (coded as 0). So, we need to deal with the imbalanced classes, by using rebalanced methods such as SMOTE and under-sampling. Then we use classical methods (naïve Bayes and logistic regression) and new data science methods (random forest and gradient boosting) to detect the fraudulent claims. During the process, we compare these methods to find which one performs better for this application.

In addition, the combination of SMOTE and clustering is also used to these two datasets, which is unusual in fraud detection. But the results have been improved a lot for all these four classification models. What is more, link analysis method has also been mentioned in the conclusion.

These methods have also been used to another dataset, which is not that imbalanced, with 24.7% of fraudulent claims and 75.3% of normal claims. The reason for using two datasets is to see if the degree of imbalance affects the performance of the oversampling, undersampling and different models. If so, then these methodologies will be more convincing. If not, we can dig deeper to find the reason.


identifier: Sargordi, Maziar  (2020) Flow characteristics downstream of twin pulsed orifice jets: application to mitral valve repair.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Mitral regurgitation is the most common valvular insufficiency and Edge-to-Edge Repair (ETER) is a common treatment. This research looks at simplified orifice configurations referred to as Single-Orifice (SO), Symmetric Double-Orifice (SDO) and Asymmetric Double-Orifice (ADO). This research builds on previous experiments performed by Anna Chtchetinina, the data collected are here further post-processed in order to reveal several critical flow characteristics. In the experiments, the unbounded flow is generated through a piston-cylinder setup and time-resolved particle image velocimetry is used for flow measurements. The velocity fields are extracted using a commercial software and then processed using custom-made codes.
Time-averaged velocity profiles of all the configurations show that the two jets merge at the downstream. Also, the investigation on the path of the vortices in the single-orifice configurations displays a steady streamwise velocity of the core through the experiments. The results obtained from analysing energy loss and time-frequency indicate that the symmetric double-orifice presents the most energy dissipation and turbulence among all the configurations. Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) revealed that the asymmetric configuration requires the least number of modes to be reconstructed up to the desired level of energy. POD applied to the strain rate showed that most of the dissipation in single-orifice configuration is present around the center of the vortices.


identifier: Mashayekh, Shamim  (2020) Study of Smoke Control in High-rise Buildings and Safe Evacuation of the Occupants.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Fire protection systems in high-rise buildings play an essential role in the safety of human beings. These systems are in place to control the fire, to notify the occupants in case of emergency, and to provide the necessary time for a safe evacuation. Every year many fire incidents are reported in residential high-rise buildings. As reports show, many civilians' deaths, injuries, and property loss are caused by the smoke from the fire. When a fire starts in a high-rise building, the first goal is to control the fire and to evacuate the occupants safely. Smoke control in high-rise buildings has always been a big challenge, and as the technology advances and buildings are built higher, this challenge gets even more complicated.
In the event of a fire, staircases are the main and most unique way of evacuation. New construction buildings that are designed based on the new code requirements are mostly equipped with fire protection systems such as sprinkler and standpipe systems, which provide a safer environment for occupants and fire department employees during the evacuation process. On the other hand, there are many existing buildings that do not conform to the new codes. The purpose of this research is to study the smoke control in a staircase shaft of a forty-five-story building using a pressurized system and to provide a reasonable method that can be used for both existing and new construction buildings during the evacuation process.
Using Fire Dynamic Simulation (FDS), a model of the building is prepared, and the theoretical data from the fire department is compared with the results of the smoke movements from the software. By using Pathfinder and based on the results from the fire incidents reported in high-rise buildings, the evacuation time of the same building is analyzed. The advantage of the smoke control using the ventilation system and its effect on the evacuation process is studied to prove that keeping the HVAC system in service during an emergency is necessary. Due to high cost and safety concerns, a real experiment cannot be conducted to validate the theoretical and FDS model results.  For future research and as a starting point for improving the emergency planning during an evacuation in the island of Montreal, a report of these analyses is gathered and presented to SFPE chapter St-Laurent located in Quebec and the fire department staffs at Service Incendies de Montreal (SIM).


identifier: Adrien, Emmanuelle ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4363-9755 <https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4363-9755>  (2020) Costs and Benefits of Telling Children the Quantitative Meaning of Manipulatives.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The objective of the present study was to identify the costs and benefits of directly telling students the quantitative referents for manipulatives compared to allowing them to construct meaning for the manipulatives in more open and exploratory learning environments. Sixty-five (N = 65) first graders were randomly assigned to one of three conditions that differed in the type of encoding instruction they received: direct instruction (DI), guided exploration (GE), or control. The overarching research question was: How do the ways in which children assign a quantitative referent to a target manipulative (DI vs. GE vs. control) influence their (a) learning, (b) near-transfer abilities, (c) symbolic flexibility and symbolic fluency through far-transfer tasks, and (e) problem-solving accuracy?

Results indicated that direct instruction seemed to be most beneficial for children’s learning. In terms of the learning assessment, children from the DI condition benefitted relative to children in the GE condition, in that they needed fewer items and less time before using the target manipulative in the prescribed way. Evidence suggested that children in the DI condition also outperformed their counterparts in the GE condition on a near-transfer task when looking at their initial responses, but when both initial and post-prompt responses were considered, the performance of children in the GE condition was not significantly different from the performance of children in the DI condition. In contrast, students who learned through guided exploration seemed to be more flexible in their use and interpretation of the manipulatives in the context of the far-transfer tasks than those who were told explicitly what the objects represented. The greater flexibility demonstrated by children in the GE condition also conferred an advantage on their accuracy when solving word problems with the manipulatives compared to children in the DI condition.

This study contributes to the existing literature in that it offers a nuanced view of the use of manipulatives in classroom contexts. Results suggest that teachers may wish to tailor their instructional methods to the learning objectives (e.g., learning, near transfer, far transfer) they have set for their students when using concrete representations with them.


identifier: Martindale, Rebecca  (2020) The Institution of Sport: Female Athletes, Media Representation and the Social Construction of a Dual Gender Identity.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The purpose of this study is to discuss the intersectionality of feminine identity and athletic identity, as well as the public representation of female athletes, labeling, and the construction of dual identities. Media images of elite female athletes were deconstructed in order to analyze how media images of female athletes mold and influence public opinion and discourse. The findings of this study discuss stereotypes of femininity, while deconstructing how the media influences the societal interpretation of femininity, and how this affects the advancement of women’s sport. This discussion concludes that femininity and appearance are at the root of how society understands and values female athletes. Successful female athletes automatically become representative of all women in sport, and their actions and public image on and off the field of play have a substantial impact on the sustainability and advancement of female sport in general.


identifier: Niedermayer, Kay Noele  (2020) Stitching Stories of Place: Art-led participatory process with Barefoot College.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This research-creation invited the collaboration of Barefoot College’s 2018-2019 solar engineering cohort to embark upon an art-led participatory process (ALPP) involving the making of a textile map and “Let Me Show You” moments of skillshare. The co-participants were women who travelled from around the world to gather for a six-month solar engineering program on a rural campus located in Rajasthan, India. Through this participatory process and our artful making, we shared stories of home and travel, and forged community, contributing to the social fabric of that place, for a while. This is an account of this research process, the feminist and Indigenous epistemologies that provided a theoretical groundwork, ALPP and emergent strategy that guided the methodology of the researcher, and the literature that contextualized this project. As with any socially-engaged arts project that seeks reciprocal relationships with community partners or participants, the outcomes of this research were necessarily emergent, guided by the interests of the group. Initial research questions concerning articulating and relating to place through textile mapping provided a departure point, but as we worked, a new research question came into focus: how can collective making serve to strengthen ties and encourage place-making in an ephemeral community context? Over the course of two months, we learned how textile practices (basket weaving, embroidery and natural dyeing) are a form of storytelling that can transcend spoken word and weave connection across difference, connection to one another, to our sense of place, to an expanded imagination.


identifier: Kim, Kevin  (2019) Empirical Evaluation Of Parallelizing Correlation Algorithms For Sequential Telecommunication Devices Data.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Context: Connected devices within IoT is a source of generating big data. The data measured from devices consists of large number of features from hundreds to thousands. Analyzing these features is both data and computing intensive. Distributed and parallel processing frameworks such as Apache Spark provide in-memory processing technologies to design feature analytic workflows. However, algorithms for discovering data patterns and trends over time series are not necessarily ready to cooperate issues such as data partition, data shuffling that rise from distribution and parallelism. Aim: This thesis aims to explore the relation between algorithm characteristics and parallelisms as well as the effects on clustering results and the system performance. Method: System level techniques were developed to address particularly the data partition, load-balancing and data shuffling issues. Furthermore, these techniques are applied to adopt clustering algorithms on distributed parallel computing frameworks. In the evaluation, two workflows were built in which each consists of a clustering algorithm and its corresponding metrics for measuring distances of any two time series data. Result: These system level techniques improve the overall performance and execution of the workflows. Conclusion: The distribution and parallel workflows address both algorithmic factors and parallelism factors to improve accuracy and performance of processing big time series data of connected devices.


identifier: Radford, Deanna  (2020) Poetry Formations in a Resonant Cloud.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Poetry Formations in a Resonant Cloud

abstract:
This poetry thesis undertakes to trace language-use in English surrounding cloud computing and cloud computing itself by considering its physical, historical, and environmental aspects. What began with the desire to find out what the term “the cloud” means and identify its material contours was a way of questioning my own and mass internet consumption; to make “the cloud” more visible in interest of climate crisis and to contribute new possibilities for understanding. This research-creation is guided by these sets of questions:

How is cloud computing marketed? The dominant narrative of “the cloud” centres lightness, access, ease, and ubiquity. It appears entrenched (it always has been and will be) and simultaneously in motion (it goes everywhere the user goes.) The implication is unsound.

What is cloud computing’s relationship to the Internet’s physical infrastructure? What are the physical components? Where do they come from? What happens when people finish using them? What sources of energy powers it? How does it intersect with the well-being of living things, of earth’s elements, and weather systems?

How is cloud computing connected to historical and social processes? How can the cloud be read in conjunction with colonialism, racism, decolonization, precolonial land use, global warming, “population displacement,” (UNESCO,) surveillance, and multinational violation of privacy and big data?

How is everyday human communication entangled with these concerns? How I might trace my personal position in this context? How can I show intimacy, disconnection, and links between people who benefit from operating within the cloud with those who are excluded?


identifier: Renaud, Jesse  (2019) Identifying the Developmental Origins and Predictors of Variability in Dispositional Optimism.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Dispositional optimism is a personality trait that reflects the generalized expectancy that positive, as opposed to negative, outcomes will occur in the future across a variety of domains (Carver & Scheier, 1985). Although numerous studies have demonstrated that dispositional optimism predicts greater well-being across the lifespan (Mens, Scheier, & Carver, 2016; Scheier, & Carver, 2018), a paucity of research has examined whether individuals’ levels of optimism fluctuate over time or the psychological factors that contribute to its development. Therefore, the aims of the research presented herein are to identify the developmental antecedents of dispositional optimism, whether levels of dispositional optimism change over time, and predictors of those fluctuations during periods of transition. This dissertation was conducted to address these gaps in the empirical literature on dispositional optimism. To examine these research questions, the results from two longitudinal prospective studies will be presented. Study 1 examines the role of early environmental experiences in childhood for predicting the development of optimism during the transition to early adulthood. The results from Study 1 show that greater maternal attachment security in childhood promoted greater optimism during the transition from late adolescence into early adulthood via higher levels of perceived internal locus of control. In addition, greater optimism contributed to higher levels of psychological well-being. Study 2 explores the extent to which dispositional optimism and its two subscales (optimism and pessimism) fluctuate over time in early adulthood, and whether individual differences in coping may predict those fluctuations. The results from Study 2 document that dispositional optimism and pessimism continue to undergo both short and long-term fluctuations during early adulthood. Moreover, these changes in optimism and pessimism are promoted by individual differences in the engagement in adaptive and maladaptive coping with contextual demands. Together, the findings from this research have important implications for enhancing our understanding of the precursors to the development of, and predictors of fluctuations in, dispositional optimism and psychological well-being. This knowledge provides a novel contribution to the specific literature on dispositional optimism, as well as the broader literature on predictors of personality development. Furthermore, this research demonstrates the importance of examining the development of personality traits, and optimism in particular, using a lifespan perspective.


identifier: Soffer, Guy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5637-8377 <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5637-8377>  (2020) Real-time Optogenetics System for Controlling Gene Expression.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Synthetic biology, which combines tools from engineering, molecular biology and computation, aims to
explore the biological systems available in nature and engineer new ones that can better serve our needs.
Yet, there are many challenges in designing and in building a biological system that will perform the desired
functions. Optimization of these newly engineered systems requires careful control over the levels and
timing of gene expression. Optogenetic tools are ideal to dynamically control gene expression since only
light is required to enable precise control and it provides a convenient interface between digital control
software and microbial culture. In this thesis, I present a fully automated closed-loop system which controls
gene expression and growth rates in Escherichia coli by using the engineered CcaR-CcaS two component
system that is activated or repressed by illumination of green or red light respectively. Using an in-house
designed computer-controlled light system, we periodically record culture density and fluorescence
measurements related to open- and closed-loop control of green fluorescent protein expression. We also
verify our experimental results with simulation models - with and without feedback. These results presented
here highlight the efficacy of our system, illustrating how it will potentially be used for other applications
that require gene expression control such as metabolic pathway engineering and designing biofuelproducing microbes.


identifier: Vzorov, Dariya (Dasha)  (2020) The Post-Soviet Digital Story of INRUSSIA.com: Alternativity, Soviet Nostalgia, and Transcultural Belonging in a Moscow Underground’s Online Platform.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
An account of an informal post-Soviet sociality and transcultural group identity of Russian creative youth emerging in and around INRUSSIA.com, an English-language
online publication based in Moscow as of 2016. Survey of cultural politics and economic development in contemporary Russia given the conditions of a media platform’s production. The complexity of (sub)cultural becoming in a (post)socialist context is addressed given the vexed relationships between creative classes, countercultural forces, and economic elites in the country. New methodologies are used to study online spaces, uncommon to research in Anglophone cultural studies. The textual and visual analysis of an active digital archive is contextualized by ethnographic research, semi-structured interviews, and participant observation. The analyses of cultural dynamics, political, and economic conflict (i.e. Euromaidan crisis), posits INRUSSIA.com as a contested political site, constituting a cultural “alternative” crucial to local neoliberalizing and gentrifying processes. Emergent cultural politics of an underground arts scene in Russia, on/offline, express marginal and alternative aspects. A nuanced engagement with Soviet past, genealogy of electronic music, queer performance, and combative geopolitics, fore-front regional arts collectives formed across the class and ethnic lines of the ex-Soviet bloc. An overlooked community’s contradictory alignment with the values of mainstream official policies in Russia, such as neo-nationalism post-Crimean referendum, underscores neoliberal ideologies and privatization practices, upheld by the oligarch funding sources leading cultural assemblages in Russia today. INRUSSIA.com, born of informal practices, is a part of the country’s economic formalization, attending to the state of amateur creative entrepreneurship in an alternative cultural scene in Moscow. A broad take on cultural transformations in and around Moscow via a specific case tackles pressing concerns in media studies: regional and global approaches, formal and informal cultural economies, creative industries, digital media objects, and methods of analysis in cultural studies – responding to the absence of English-language scholarship on contemporary Russian media and culture.