identifier: Legakis, Helen  (2008) Lifetime analysis for wireless sensor networks.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The communications industry anticipates that Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are the emerging technology to greatly affect society. A WSN is composed of numerous sensor nodes which have the ability to sense, compute and communicate in order to gather information about their surroundings. The efficiency of a given WSN is determined by its lifetime. Network lifetime is the duration of time for which it can maintain sensing coverage and network connectivity, which respectively involves the ability to detect an event in a region and to report the sensed data to its destination. In much related work, the network is considered unserviceable the moment when the entire area cannot be fully covered or when the network is not completely connected. However, in many application scenarios, as long as the percentage of disconnected sensor nodes and uncovered areas are above a threshold value, the utility of the network will not be harmed. This latter view will be applied in this thesis. We first derive the probability distribution of the lifetime of a single sensor node by modeling a sensor node as an M/M/ 1 queue which alternates between idle and busy periods. Then, the network connectivity probability is determined by discovering the percentage of sensor nodes that can communicate with the destination given that the monitored region is partially covered. The sensor nodes are randomly deployed in a grid-based network according to the Poisson distribution. Given the average of the number of sensor nodes in a cell, the connectivity probability of two adjacent cells is determined. From this result, we can then derive the probability that a sensor node can communicate with a sink. Finally, the results found for the probability distribution of the lifetime of a single sensor node and the network connectivity probability are integrated to determine the network lifetime.


identifier: Beaulieu, Stéphane  (2007) Eve's ritual : the Judahite sacred marriage rite.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract: There are many elements at play in the Genesis story of the Garden of Eden, all of which instigated a multitude and diverse range of interpretations. However, the text has only rarely been interpreted as possibly having a link to an ancient ritual. Remarkably, all of the elements present in the tale of Adam and Eve can be found in several Ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean sources, many of which have been interpreted as being associated with rituals.  What I propose for this thesis is that the written account of the Eden narrative could be both a record of an historical ritual, and an attempt to standardize a choice women's rite of passage that was used to attain an exalted status within the Israelite religious and social institutions.  For this, I investigate the development of the sacred marriage ritual in the nations surrounding Israel by defining its history, its purpose, and its main religious experts. I then explore the Israelite religious landscape around the time the text was composed to find the proper circumstances that would lend themselves to the existence of a Judahite sacred marriage rite akin to that of these other ancient cultures. Finally, using a comparative approach to the Eden text, that mainly relies on the Ritual School, I briefly explore the many elements at play in the tale and define their purpose in the ritual.


identifier: Gomaa, May  (2008) Multilayered space-time coding for MIMO systems.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Merging layered space-time coding (LST), which provides high data rate transmission with space-time block coding (STBC) provides transmit diversity and improved performance to wireless communication systems. This architecture is known as multilayered space-time coding (MLSTC). In this thesis we propose a decreased complexity minimum mean squared error (MMSE) detector based on the sorted QR decomposition (SQRD), intended for the detection of multi-user STBC systems. The proposed decoder has been proven to enhance the overall performance of the MLSTC architecture. It offers a lower computational complexity than that offered by conventional detectors such as group interference cancellation (GIC) detectors. In addition, the number of receive antennas required to perform detection is smaller than that required by the GIC detector. Further, in order for all groups, which can be viewed as individual users, to benefit from a similar performance, unequal power allocation strategy will be employed to the system. We also concatenate OFDM to the MLSTC scheme in order to combat a frequency selective channel. We then extend this scheme to space-frequency-time (SFT) codes in order to extract the maximum frequency diversity available from the channel. In this thesis, we also propose a new transceiver architecture for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. The proposed scheme borrows ideas from the MLSTC and threaded space-time coding (TSTC) schemes in an effort to maximize the diversity order while maintaining a low complexity detection. Specifically, the proposed scheme has a structure similar to that of the MLSTC while it employs a spatial interleaver (SI) in front of the MLSTC encoder. We analyze the proposed scheme where we derive an upper bound on the bit error rate and derive the diversity-multiplexing gain trade-off curve. We present several examples through which we demonstrate the superiority of the proposed scheme over existing schemes.


identifier: Baudouin, Suzelle  (2007) Une nouvelle approche pour l'enseignment des arts aux adultes basé sur le modèle "Art for Life".  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: En tant que professeur de dessin, je me suis questionnée sur l'intérêt très marqué de mes élèves pour l'hyperréalisme. Le principal but d'une oeuvre d'art est donc de transmettre un message à la fois personnel et social, amenant de ce fait la transformation de l'artiste aussi bien que du spectateur, et occasionnant une éventuelle reconstruction sociale.


identifier: Tong, Xin  (2008) Design and implementation of context calculus in the gipsy.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The Lucid programming language is a family of intensional programming languages supported by the General Intensional Programming System (GIPSY). Among all the Lucid variants, the notion of context is a core concept. After Lucx, a Lucid variant introduced by Wan in her PhD thesis, contexts can be declared explicitly and manipulated directly as first-class values. Lucx also enables a set of context calculus operators performed on contexts. Such new concepts have greatly contributed to the evolution of Lucid.  Upon these theoretical foundations, this thesis presents the integration into the GIPSY of Lucx's context and context calculus as defined in Wan's PhD thesis. We first provide the construction of Lucx's compiler, including building the parser and extending the existing semantic analyzer. Then we present how the concept of context has been abstracted into a new type variant of the GIPSY type system. After that, we specify how the context calculus operators have been implemented within the context type. And finally, we demonstrate our testing strategies on each component of Lucx to justify all the implementation efforts.


identifier: Jin, Jie  (2008) Regression model based automatic finite element mesh generation.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: A typical mesh generation problem consists of generating triangles, quadrilaterals, tetrahedron or hexahedron elements based on the predefined piece-wised boundary of a domain. A finite element mesh is a discrete representation of a geometric domain, resulting from the subdivision of the domain into patches referred to as elements.  In recent years, a variety of methods have been introduced to generate 2D quadrilaterals for the boundary by using some predefined 'if-then' rules until the whole domain is filled with required elements. However, it is difficult to define the rules to generate a good-quality element based on all boundary information. This thesis proposes a regression model-based element extraction method for automatic finite element mesh generation that needs information from the boundary as few as possible. The method represents the 'if-then' element extraction rules and trains the relationship behind these rules. The input for the regression model includes the coordinates of some boundary points while the output defines the parameters for extracting an element. To generate good-quality elements while keeping the updated problem still solvable, the design and definition of the regression model is more complex than those in the traditional classification methods. Numerical experiments on quadrilateral mesh generation based on design of experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in comparison with the results obtained from existing algorithms


identifier: Khoshdel Nikkhoo, Hani  (2008) Fault detection in trajectory tracking of wheeled mobile robots.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The problem of fault detection in nonlinear systems with application to trajectory tracking of nonholonomic wheeled mobile robots (WMRs) is addressed in this thesis. For the considered application, a nonholonomic wheeled mobile robot--having nonlinear kinematics--is required to follow a predefined smooth trajectory (in the absence of obstacles in the environment). This goal has to be accomplished despite the presence of faults that may occur in two of its major subsystems which are vital for navigation, namely the driving subsystem and the steering subsystem. These faults are assumed to be caused by actuator faults in either of these two subsystems. The problem addressed here is to detect the presence of faults and to determine the subsystem which has been affected by these faults. Toward this end, two different fault detection approaches are proposed and investigated. The first approach is based on system identification through Extended Kalman Filters (EKF) whereas the second one is based on system identification via artificial neural networks. In the former approach a novel method for residual generation is proposed while in the latter by utilizing the neural network's formal stability properties the desired performance can be guaranteed. Each of the proposed fault detection methods is studied subject to two different kinds of controllers (namely a dynamic linear controller and a dynamic feedback linearization based controller) and two different types of actuator faults (namely the Loss-of-Effectiveness fault and Locked-In-Place fault). In this way, the impact of the controller strategy on the fault detection approach is also investigated and evaluated.


identifier: Miners, Richard  (2007) Collected and connected : mindfulness and the early adolescent.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Using an event sampling procedure with a sample of 114 early adolescent boys and girls, the present study investigated three fundamental questions about the associations between mindfulness, social relations, stress, and emotional well-being. These questions concerned (a) the defining features of mindfulness as a state and trait construct, (b) whether mindfulness is naturally occurring or cultivated exclusively through "formal" practice, and (c) whether or not mindfulness is related to social functioning. Following a review of four conceptually- and empirically-related areas of inquiry, specifically perceived stress, emotion, mindfulness, and peer relations, a set of hypotheses were proposed and examined. As expected, mindfulness was observed to be both a state and trait. At the state level, perceived stress partially mediated between mindfulness and negative emotion. At the trait level, mindfulness was: positively correlated with positive emotion, friendship extensivity, and popularity; negatively correlated with perceived stress, negative emotion, anxiety, and depression. Trait mindfulness was observed to moderate the associations between (a) negative emotion and friendship extensivity, (b) depression and friendship extensivity, and (c) negative emotion and popularity. Trait mindfulness predicted state mindfulness, and it predicted state stress and state negative emotion, though not as well as state mindfulness. The following results were contrary to expectation. At the trait level, mindfulness: was not associated with age, did not moderate between perceived stress and emotional well-being, and did not moderate between perceived stress and social functioning. Finally, an unexpected and noteworthy finding was that mindfulness loaded on the same factor as stress, negative emotion, and depression ( preoccupied non-acceptance ; mindfulness loaded negatively, the other traits positively), and this factor was negatively associated with another factor, social competence . This finding suggests that mindfulness is associated with both emotional well-being and social functioning. In sum, these results suggest that mindfulness is a state and trait, naturally occurring, and related to interpersonal functioning in early adolescence. Implications, study limitations, and future directions are discussed.


identifier: Shiri-Varnaamkhaasti, Raheleh  (2007) A framework for hypothesis generation and knowledge discovery in medical domain literature.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The vast amount of information in medical domain and health sciences collected in databases such as MEDLINE is growing rapidly. There has been increased interest in discovering the so-called new public knowledge from such databases. Swanson proposed an approach, called the ABC model, for mining Undiscovered Public Knowledge (UPK) in medical literature. Since its introduction, several attempts have been made in adopting and using the ABC model. Extensibility would be a key feature making it easier to develop future extensions. Noting the increased interest in using the model, we investigate properties of a desired framework which can be easily extended and enhanced. The exploratory nature of UPK discovery requires that the data mining tools be interactive and flexible. Also, the large amount of data to be processed needs to be handled efficiently. We identify three basic requirements: flexibility, extensibility, and interactivity, and show they can be realized by taking advantage of the pipes and filters architecture. The efficiency of our framework is due to allowing concurrent execution of multiple threads, provided as an additional benefit of our architectural design. We have designed and implemented a running prototype, ExaminMED, which provides various features such as possibility of choosing filters, adding or removing terms, and comparing and combining the results of various searches. The proposed framework has essential ingredients as an effective tool for UPK discovery.


identifier: Huang, Guogui  (2007) Parametric modelling of APT cutters and accurate calculation of their area moments of inertia.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Due to cutting forces and the flexibility of the tool and its holder, the tool (or end-mill) deflects when it is engaging with the workpiece; unfortunately, large deflections can cost part accuracy, even break the tool. To produce high-precision parts, it is important to predict the deflections with high fidelity and then greatly reduce them through compensation in CNC tool paths. For this purpose, many research works have been successfully conducted on cutting forces prediction; however, another critical factor, the area moment of inertia of the tool, is always approximated, significantly reducing the accuracy of estimated deflections. The main reason for this is that the 3-D geometric model of end-mills is difficult to construct. To find the moment of inertia, in this work, first, a parametric model of APT cutters has been established and implemented in the CATIA CAD/CAM system by using its API. Then, a system of calculating the area moment of inertia for end-mills is built. Finally, a detailed discussion on the moment of inertia of end-mills is provided, along with comparison of this work with the existing methods. The major contributions of this work include the parametric end-mill modeling, which can automatically render the 3-D geometric model of an end-mill in seconds, and accurate calculation of the moments of inertia of end-mills. This work can be used, together with an existing cutting force calculation method, to accurately predict cutter deflections during milling in order to compensate them in CNC tool paths. It can also provide more precise 3-D solid models of end-mills for machining simulation by using finite element analysis.


identifier: LeBlanc, Natalie  (2008) An investigation of the space between the painting and the photograph : deconstructing the process and reflecting on the two media that constitute my art practice.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Painting from a photographic source had become a structure for me and I became intrigued as to how I interpreted it as an experience. By engaging in a hermeneutic-phenomenological study, I distinguished the spaces between the source and the product, and I revealed the meaning that is made from this process. By deconstructing and reevaluating my habitual way of creating a painting, I was able to understand the reasons why I use a photograph as reference in the studio. Since I take the photograph with the intention of painting it, I realized that the photograph not only informs my painting process, but the painting informs my photographic process as well. The two media are dependent on one another: the photograph is created for the painting; the painting is created in relation to it. They are different, yet similar, and there is a dialectical relationship between the two of them. My thesis question was: What is the dialogue between the painting and the photograph and how will exhibiting the two together emphasize the dialectical relationship that is present in my artistic process?


identifier: Gao, Bo  (2008) Implementation and validation of the general internet signaling transport protocol.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The IETF NSIS Working Group was created in 2001 and the WG is trying to standardize an IP signaling protocol using a two-layer signaling protocol suite, which was first introduced by B. Braden. In 2002, Xingguo Song in the High Speed Protocols Laboratory in Concordia University has done a verification using the formal modeling language SDL.  The main objective of the new signaling protocol suite is to overcome all of the drawbacks (Complexity, Scalability, Mobility Support, Messaging Reliability, etc.) that the Resource Reservation Protocol has. It should be applicable not only for Quality of Service but also other signaling application protocols.  In 2003, the NSIS Working Group produced a two layer Framework, which consists of a Transport Layer Protocol and several Signaling Layer Protocols. It also provided a premature but concrete solution for the NSIS Transport Layer Protocol, which is known as the General Internet Signaling Transport Protocol (GIST) now. While we were implementing the GIST, the specification of GIST has evolved into a very well defined Internet-Draft.  The main objective of my thesis is to design and develop an implementation of GIST to verify the GIST protocol stack and at the same time provide our own comments which could be useful to the NSIS WG


identifier: Goldfarb, Lilia  (2008) "Buying into sexy": preteen girls and consumer capitalism in the twenty-first century.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: We live in a hypersexualized society that infantilizes women and commodifies girls at the service of the capitalist system. In recent years, Quebec and other Western societies, have witnessed a rising concern about preadolescent girls showing signs of precocious sexualization. This issue, dismissed by some as a media moral panic and proof of girls' increased social power and agency, is taken very seriously by many others who worry about the impact it seems to be having on girls' well-being: unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), eating disorders, depression, self-harm, increased vulnerability to violence as well as a number of other negative health outcomes (APA, 2007).  As the media continues to represent women as sexual objects they foster early sexualization, since they not only sell products and audiences but also an ideology that normalizes sexualized attitudes and behaviours (Agger, 2006). On the one hand, the 21st century North American corporate culture "seduces" girls with offerings of glitter, popularity and fame through sexualized popular cultural icons, via the media, operating at the service of and controlled by powerful economic interests; on the other hand, girls are blamed for letting themselves be lured into dressing and/or acting in oversexualized ways. Girls are caught in the crossfire between competing scripts : "Be sexy! Popular girls are" and "Good girls don't". I have named girls' attempts to conciliate and harmonize these competing scripts into a coherent whole: Cultural Script Theory.


identifier: Lu, Shuo  (2008) Architecture design and access control of e-health portals.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: As an emerging form of enabling technology, Web-based e-Health portals provide patients easier accesses to their healthcare information and services. We design and implement such an e-Health portal which can integrate many backend medical services effectively. A major challenge in designing such a system is to meet critical security requirements, such as the confidentiality of patient data, the integrity of diagnosis results, and the availability of healthcare services. In this thesis I address the issue from the access control perspective. More specifically, I first propose a two-tier approach to access control for e-Health portals. The approach supplements existing Role Based Access Control (RBAC) capabilities with a rule-based access control module based on the classical Flexible Authorization Framework (FAF) model. I study conflict resolution and interaction between the two modules. I also address authentication for real-time services provided by remote service providers.


identifier: Mimidakis, Stergios  (2008) La justice, le progrès et la civilisation : la Trinité hugolienne dans Choses vues 1830-1848.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Victor Hugo se distingue de la plupart des artistes de son époque par son engagement politique et social. Au N'importe où hors du monde de Charles Baudelaire et l'art hermétique d'artistes tels que Théophile Gautier et Alfred de Vigny qui conseille la fuite spirituelle, Hugo oppose une littérature engagée à améliorer le monde physique et le sort de l'homme. Ce qui démarque Hugo des autres artistes de son époque est son espoir ; il n'abandonne jamais l'espoir que l'homme saura atteindre un jour le plein épanouissement spirituel qui lui permettra de voir au-delà des choses banales et de saisir une réalité métaphysique.  La problématique hugolienne consiste à concilier deux optiques divergentes sur la question de la civilisation, c'est-à-dire les éléments et les caractéristiques qui déterminent si une société constitue ou non une grande civilisation. L'idée hugolienne de la civilisation, ainsi que ses idées sur la justice et les progrès politiques et sociaux, facteurs concomitants de la civilisation, diffèrent grandement de celles qui dominent à l'époque. Mais le malaise hugolien provient non seulement de l'importante divergence entre son point de vue et celui qui domine: il provient également de l'ignorance de ses concitoyens de la possibilité qu'un point de vue différent du leur peut exister. Il est tourmenté de ce que ses concitoyens écartent l'idée qu'il puisse exister un vrai débat sur la signification de ces trois mots et par leur refus de considérer la vraisemblance que la société se déplace dans le mauvais sens, c'est-à-dire qu'elle régresse au lieu de progresser.


identifier: Khan, Farooq Ali  (2007) Software testing using context maps test cases.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In software industry the greatest amount of expenditure is in maintaining software developed poorly or specifications not met properly, this result in failures, budget overruns and unmet timelines. Software testing, if carried out properly, could actually resolve or mitigate these issues. However, in many cases the testing methodologies as well as the testing tools consider testing as a post development effort, which is conducted in isolation of the analysis and worse still, development itself. The efficacy of the testing as a guard against software and project failure is therefore not always realized, partly because of the absence of a tool based support for test cases, a tool which could be simple and yet effective.  We propose that contexts should be considered for testing and as such testing should not be considered as an isolated activity, but an umbrella or integrated activity, intrinsically linked and uses the output from different phases of software development lifecycle. For instance, the fact that context for testing is present in the test case would only make the testing easy and will help in creating a role for non testing teams including the users to participate in the success of the tests and a better product.  We use Context Maps to create Context Maps Test Cases (CMTC), for User Acceptance Testing in small customization projects to test defect fixes and enhancements in already developed software. CMTC helped in contriving the test case artifacts like test data, expected and actual output not just by testing team on the basis of documents, but also provide a role or channel for the end users as well as other stakeholders to share their thoughts, as to what constitute the best data to test the product with


identifier: Ostiguy, Caroline  (2007) Chronic stress and stressful life events in the offspring of parents with bipolar disorder.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The stress generation theory suggests that depressed individuals and children of depressed mothers are prone to create stressors that are interpersonal and dependent on their behaviour. Exposure to this "self-generated" stress is believed to increase the risk for onset and recurrence of depression. Much less is known about stress in the offspring of parents with bipolar disorder (OBD). As part of an ongoing longitudinal study, 37 OBD and 33 offspring of parents with no mental disorder (13 to 26 years old) were interviewed using the UCLA Life Stress Interview. Participants were asked about their current life circumstances (chronic stress) and negative events that occurred in the last year (episodic stress). The OBD reported more difficulties in both the interpersonal and non-interpersonal domains of chronic functioning than the offspring of parents with no mental disorder. The group differences in chronic functioning remained significant after controlling for the presence of affective disorders, indicating that the effect of risk status on chronic stress is independent of the problems associated with having a disorder. With respect to episodic stress, the OBD were almost 4 times more likely to have experienced an interpersonal stressful event of moderate to severe impact compared to the controls. There was no group difference between dependent and independent life events. Although the findings do not support the stress generation theory in the OBD, they suggest that elevated levels of episodic and chronic stress may be important premorbid markers of risk in high risk participants in adolescence and early adulthood.


identifier: Ratnayake, Kumara  (2007) Integrated sorting, noise estimation, object detection and contour analysis on one FPGA for video object segmentation.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Although solutions for robust video processing methods, such as compression or segmentation, have been considerably investigated using general-purpose processors (GPPs), these software implementations are too slow to achieve real-time performance due to the computational complexity and memory bandwidth involved in present complex video processing methods. As such, efficient hardware accelerations are inevitable for fast, video systems. The state-of-the-art, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) fill the gap between very inflexible, but high performance ASICs and flexible, yet performance-constrained GPPs. Thus, FPGAs are increasingly employed on hardware platforms in many signal and video processing applications.  This thesis proposes an FPGA-based architecture that integrates four video processing methods (sorting, noise estimation, object detection, and contour analysis) on one FPGA, which takes a video signal and outputs a, contour filled video sequence along with the corresponding contour chain codes. The proposed architecture aims at segmenting moving objects in video signals. A video object segmentation consists of several steps: pre-processing (e.g., noise estimation), object detection (i.e., separation of objects and background), and contour analysis. The proposed architecture is simulated, synthesized and verified for its functionality, accuracy and performance on an actual hardware platform consisting of a Xilinx Virtex-4 SX35 FPGA.  Compared to related work, our architecture obtains orders of magnitude performance improvements utilizing minimal hardware resources and power, and possesses key algorithmic features, which are inherently required in many video processing applications.


identifier: Leung, Brian  (2008) Medical data visualization for use in clinical research and practice.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The need for medical data visualization within the health care domain to support both clinical research and clinical practice is an important area of research. The need to support clinical research is great as new breakthroughs lead to more efficient and effective treatment for patients that can reduce hospitalization and improve health. With this in mind, this thesis aims to create a real-life software system for the purpose of supporting clinical research and clinical practice in a tertiary care hospital. In this undertaking we employ a combination of the known software engineering methods, namely eXtreme Programming (XP) and the Personal Software Process (PSP). As part of this thesis, we analysed the software requirements in support of clinical research and clinical practice based on which a software prototype is developed. The resulting software is a combination of two software modules: Electronic Flow Sheet (EFS) based on a metaphor used in the real world application and Query Module Processor (QMP) based on the clinical research practices of medical doctors. The software prototype was tested with a live database with real end-users and evaluated for its usability. The results of our evaluation show that our prototype does indeed satisfy the needs of clinical researchers and practitioners. According to our evaluation, our EFS performed better than the current methods used for many of the tasks the doctors did everyday and also scored well on the quality parameters of Efficiency, Affect, Helpfulness, Control and Learnability . We believe that the user centered approach practiced in this development allowed us to create a software adaptable for both clinical practice and research.


identifier: Fogels, Jacob L  (2008) Port governance and transhipment success : an international case-study comparison of the Freeport Container Port, Bahamas and the Port of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This paper examines the privatization and transhipment success at Freeport Container Port (FCP), Bahamas and Port of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (PPS). The thesis links port development and growth to the divergent governance structures of these two ports that share similar geographic advantages. FCP is located at the north-eastern apex of the transhipment triangle and is an example of a wholly private port, which is owned and operated by Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), a subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa. HPH is in a unique situation where they also act as the local government and own large expanses of land and an airport. This unparalleled level of private self-determination has allowed HPH to develop FCP into a very successful transhipment facility. PPS, on the other hand, has been struggling while its competitors continue to gain despite its strategic position at the south-eastern apex of the "Caribbean Transhipment Triangle." PPS, until recently, was owned and operated by Trinidad and Tobago's public port authority. Its restructuring program had lasted 13 years and did not meet the goals of the government. The traffic growth at PPS has paled in comparison to FCP, and the governance structures have played a key role in these differences.  Keywords: Freeport Container Terminal, Port of Port-of-Spain, Port Privatization, Caribbean, Transhipment


identifier: Coria-Avila, Genaro A  (2007) Behavioral, and neural mechanisms of conditioned partner preference in the female rat.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: We assessed the development of a conditioned partner preference in female rats towards males associated with paced copulation (PC), relative to nonpaced copulation (NPC). Chapter 1 assessed the behavioral mechanisms. Ovariectomized, hormone-primed females were conditioned to associate an odor or a strain of male with PC. A partner preference test occurred in an open field with two tethered males in opposite corners, one associated with PC and the other with NPC. Paired females (relative to unpaired or random-paired groups) developed a partner preference for PC-related males. They displayed more solicitations and hops and darts, and were more likely to choose the PC-related male for their first ejaculation. Similarly, strain conditioning produced partner preference towards the PC-related male, regardless of the strain; although females were more likely to receive their first ejaculation from the PC-related male only if it was of their own strain.  The experiments in Chapter 2 assessed neuroanatomical correlates. The brains of females in both paired and unpaired conditions were processed for Fos-immunoreactivity (Fos-IR) following exposure only to the conditioned stimulus (CS) associated either with PC or with NPC. The CS paired with PC induced more Fos-IR in the piriform cortex, the medial preoptic area, and the ventral tegmental area, compared to the induction by the same CS associated with NPC.  The experiments in Chapter 3 assessed neurochemical mechanisms. In Part 1, females were treated with the general opioid antagonist naloxone (4 mg/kg) before every conditioning trial, but were drug-free during the final partner preference test. Naloxone treated females did not develop a conditioned partner preference. In Part 2, females were treated with the dopamine antagonist flupenthixol (.25 mg/kg) before conditioning trials. Only Long-Evans females failed to develop an olfactory conditioned partner preference, just like naloxone-treated females. However, flupenthixol had no effect on conditioned preference for a strain of male in Wistar females.  The experiments in Chapter 4 depict preliminary data on the activation of oxytocin, vasopressin and gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons following exposure to the CS associated with PC. These data show trends toward a significant activation of Fos within oxytocin neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, and GnRH neurons in the anterior hypothalamus, in paired females exposed to the CS.  These results demonstrate that the sexual reward induced by PC can be associated with cues on a partner to develop a conditioned preference. When this occurs via olfactory conditioning of a neutral odor, the mechanisms depend on the interaction of opioids and dopamine in mesolimbic areas. However, the conditioning process for a strain of male appears to depend only on opioids.


identifier: Khan, Tareq Hasan  (2007) Automatic generation of transactors in SystemC.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: System-on-chip (SoC) is a major revolution taking place in the design of integrated circuits due to the unprecedented levels of integration possible. To specify, design, and implement complex SoC systems, the need arises to move beyond exist ing register transfer level (RTL) of abstraction. A new modeling method, transaction level modeling (TLM) has been proposed recently to fulfil this need. TLM modules communicate with each other through function calls and allow the designers to focus on the functionality, while abstracting away implementation details. At the RTL, however, different modules communicate through pin level signaling. SoC design methodologies involve the integration of different intellectual property (IP) blocks modeled at different levels of abstraction. Therefore a special module or channel is needed in order to link modules, IPs, designed at different levels of abstraction. This module, called transactor can be modeled using a finite state machine (FSM) providing a functional specification of the protocol's behavior. In this thesis, we propose to specify TLM-RTL transactor behaviors using the Abstract State Machine Language (AsmL). Based on AsmL specification, we have developed a methodology and tool that automatically generates SystemC code for the transactors. SystemC is a system level description language, which became IEEE standard recently. Along with the AsmL specification approach, we also proposed another approach where the transactor behavior can be described by drawing FSMs graphically and the tool will then generate SystemC code from the graphical FSM description automatically. The proposed approaches have been implemented and applied on several case studies including an UTOPIA standard protocol.


identifier: Lu, Yang  (2008) Efficient simulation of lens distortion in OpenGL.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In computer graphics, 3D objects are projected onto the viewing plane in either parallel or perspective mode. As far as perspective projection is concerned, traditional rendering engines are designed to carry out only linear planar projections, as in OpenGL. But what if we expect to get certain distorted views? For instance, we see distorted scenes when we look through a rain drop on the windshield. When we play video games, we also might want to have a pair of "magic" lenses that let us see a deformed virtual world. Currently the nonlinear projections and implementations still remain largely unexplored in 3D graphic environments.  In the first part of this thesis, several nonlinear projection models are investigated and an algorithm is presented to apply these models to perform nonlinear perspective projections and 3D view deformations in real time.  Wide-angle lenses are often used to take landscape photos and they are also useful for pictures of large groups of people, but usually they introduce "barrel" distortions into photos. Researches have been done to remove these distortions from the images. However, for some artistic reasons people may want to keep them. So can we simulate this effect in the computer graphics visual world?  I developed a polynomial approximation model and applied the real-time algorithm introduced in the first part of the thesis to achieve the barrel distortion effect of a wide- angle lens.  An experimental system based on the above algorithm and models has been developed to navigate 3D world with various deformed views.


identifier: Seto, Donny  (2008) Are pedestrian path choices during exploration contingent on measures of shape complexity and visual content of the environment?  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis investigates pedestrians' path choices when confronted with a decision point in a novel environment. The two main research foci were how different testing setups of virtual environment (VE) affect pedestrian path choice behaviour, and how the visual characteristics of Shape Complexity (SC) and Visual Content (VC) affect pedestrian path choice behaviour.  Two VE testing setups were tested: the type of VE environment and the sampling method. Both were found to have a medium effect on pedestrian path choices. Photorealistic Print VE and Quick Time Virtual Reality (QTVR) VE had an effect on the choices participants made. Testing in a group setting was also found to produce different results than in individual testing.  SC and VC have a significant role on pedestrian path selection. Overall, we compared behaviours in a VC-rich environment to those in a VC-poor environment, which made evident that VC is an important in formulating our path choice behaviour. Bi-variate correlation and multiple regression analysis showed that a number of SC and VC factors affect path choice behaviour. The significant SC factors were occluded edges, legibility, and links; while significant VC factors were colour, cobblestones and signage, people. Increasing our sensitivity to these factors in the guidelines governing the development and the design of urban pedestrian spaces will increase the success of future pedestrian-oriented spaces.


identifier: Laakso, Hanna Maria  (2007) Women in the chamber : the influence of the Strindbergian theatrical legacy on Danish dogma films.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In 1995 Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg wrote the Dogma Manifesto, a document that brought worldwide attention to Danish cinema through the Dogma films made according to the manifesto's rules. While the Danish Dogma films have been widely regarded as constituting the latest new wave movement, the films have not been studied in relation to the Scandinavian artistic and cultural traditions. Moreover, the actor's role in creating this new kind of cinema has also been ignored. By analysing the first six Danish Dogma films, this thesis explores the influence of the Strindbergian theatrical legacy on the Dogma filmmakers' approach to performance. The focus is on Dogma's representation of women and the performance of woman actors found in the films. First, the thesis compares the Dogma manifesto with Strindberg's manifesto of naturalism and studies the impact of these manifestos on redefining the female actor's craft. Second, the thesis argues that the Dogma films continue the Strindbergian chamber drama tradition; the use of authentic space is studied on a formal and thematic level, along with its influence on the creation of authentic performances. The discussion of chamber dramas segues into an examination of hysteria as a dramatic tool to analyse women's rebellion in a domestic space. Hysteria is also juxtaposed with another non-verbal dramatic means of expression, which is the use of silence in the women actors' performances. The discussion of dynamic use of silence and speech as well as the representation of words as an inauthentic means of expression is inseparable from an analysis of women, modernism and the use of close up capturing the actor's silent face. Finally, the interrogation of the use of words that hide ugly realities leads to an examination of construction of a hell-on-earth, transcendental experience within the realistic framework, the conflict between spiritual minds and sexual bodies. The thesis argues that the Dogma actors' performances of excess and theatricality mark a shift in the Scandinavian performance tradition: Moreover, it illuminates the importance of contextualizing women actors' performances culturally, nationally and historically.


identifier: Cancian, Sonia  (2007) Transatlantic correspondents : kinship, gender and emotions in postwar migration experiences between Italy and Canada, 1946-1971.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This doctoral dissertation examines the impact of migration experienced by migrants to Canada and loved ones in Italy through the lens of personal correspondence. It focuses on the three decades immediately following the Second World War when the largest migration of Italians to Canada took place. Through a detailed content analysis of over 400 private letters belonging to six families, the thesis examines how kin and lovers in Canada and Italy negotiated their separation as a result of migration.  The study addresses two main research questions: First, what do the private letters of individuals reveal about the impact of migration experienced by Italian migrants in Canada and their kin and lovers who remained in Italy during the postwar years? Second, what strategies and social, cultural and emotional responses to migration do the letters reveal from the viewpoint of these actors? The 800 letters in the original archive that I created, of which over 400 are the object of analysis, are for the purposes of this study primary sources that cast a new light on the most personal thoughts and feelings of diverse actors who engaged in the process of migration.  The thesis offers a twofold analysis of the letters. First, it examines the functional role of the letters and their materiality as objects that served to bridge distances between family members and lovers by communicating information, news, advice and affection. Second, the thesis analyzes the contents of the letters by focusing on three characteristic themes. First, it reveals the importance of kinship in migration and examines how networks of support and control were exerted through the medium of letters. Second, it shows how the realities of migration were constructed and experienced according to dominant gender norms. Finally, the thesis demonstrates the extraordinary range and intensity of emotions that characterized letter-writers' responses to migration and the experience of separation from family and loved ones. The thesis provides additional evidence for the obvious point that migration had an enormous impact on the lives of migrants and their families. But more importantly, it shows the various ways in which individuals attempted to comprehend, engage with, and explain the profound changes they experienced daily and over time


identifier: Jafroodi, Nima  (2008) A type system for the Erasmus language.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: A type system for the Erasmus language

abstract: Our objective is to construct a suitable type system for the Erasmus language by understanding the notion of type in programming languages, present a model of typed, polymorphic programming language that reflects recent research in type theory. This type system gives us a strong tool to explain the behavior of this language in a consistent framework by modeling features such as cells, processes, ports, protocols, messages, and message passing, which are the main heart of this programming language.  The Erasmus language belongs to process oriented programming languages which is being developed by Peter Grogono at Concordia University and Brian Shearing at The Software Factory in England. This language is mainly based on cells, processes and their interactions and like object oriented languages; it provides both a framework and a motivation for exploring the interaction among the concept of type, data abstraction, and polymorphism. We develop a n-calculus-based model for this type system that allows us to explore these interactions in the simple setting.  The evolution of languages from untyped universes to monomorphic and polymorphic type systems is reviewed. Different type systems of different programming languages are discussed and the mechanism for polymorphism such as overloading, coercion, subtyping, protocols satisfaction, and parameterization are also described.  The typed n-calculus is augmented to include binding of types by quantification as well as binding types by abstraction. This typed n-calculus is augmented by universal quantification to model generic functions with type parameters, bounded quantification to provide explicit subtype parameters. In this way we obtain a simple and precise characterization of a powerful type system that includes abstract data types, parametric polymorphism, and subtyping relations in a single consistent framework.  This augmented typed n-calculus is then used for the type system of the Erasmus language with which we are able to describe the features of this language, and a proof technique that will let us reason about the model


identifier: Wang, Hui  (2008) Distributed augmented reality for visualizing collaborative construction tasks.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Augmented Reality (AR) can provide better user experience of real time interaction. This technology can be used to support different engineering applications, such as construction, manufacturing and inspection. However, AR engineering applications have to overcome many challenges such as tracking and visulazation. In addition, outdoor mobile AR engineering applications bring in more issues, such as scalable tracking, mobility, etc. Furthermore, engineering constraints and reasonable user interaction in practice need to be considered and integrated.  In this research, we describe a new approach to simulate construction activities in outdoor environment using AR for multi-user collaboration. This approach intergrates several tracking techniques to suit the requirements of mobile outdoor AR systems. We also describe and evaluate system design challenges and possible solutions for simulating multi-user collaborative construction activities within a distributed AR environment. These challenges include tracking and registration, dynamic object modeling and constraints and user interaction.  The proposed approach is demonstrated by developing a prototype system which integrates a head-mounted display, a GPS receiver, a 3D motion sensor, and a portable computer to carry out a construction simulation which can be run in the outdoors. The prototype system is implemented in Java language. The results of the case study are discussed to evaluate the usefulness of the proposed approach.


identifier: Abdelhay, Khaled  (2008) 3D character animation using geometric constraints.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: 3D character animation is a very challenging field as it requires understanding of two different paradigms: fine arts and computer science. Currently there are many techniques used for animation authoring such as key framing, motion capture, non-linear editing, and forward and inverse kinematics.  A limiting factor shared between current animation techniques is that they represent animation as a series of translation and rotation without considering other important aspects such as the rational of the motion, geometrical constraints between characters acting in the scene, or even between a character and his environment. For example, "standing" on floor indicates that both feet touch and parallel to floor.  In this thesis I studied the foundations of classical and computer character animation, and then proposed using 3D geometric constraints as another method to represent animation. The method aims at capturing character's posture by a set of geometrical constraints and satisfying them using numerical methods. Maya plug-in has been implemented to build and solve symbolic geometric constraints for simple skeleton. The thesis includes a discussion on the results, usability and limitations of the proposed solution


identifier: Atkinson, Miriam  (2008) Caring for the land : Nemaska Cree strategies of resistance to the EM-1-A and Rupert Diversion Project in eastern James Bay, northern Quebec.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The social and environmental impacts of large-scale industrial development have had direct and extensive impacts on the Cree communities of eastern James Bay, northern Quebec. The signing of the 'New Relationship Agreement' between the Quebec Crees and Quebec Government (2002) formalized measures for local participation in overseeing the management of natural resources and development projects in the region. This initiative purports to provide Crees with a voice in decisions relating to projects that affect their lives and the lands they occupy. In return, the New Agreement paved the way for the development of the EM-1-A & Rupert Diversion Project and ensured the support of the regional Cree leadership.  This study presents the perspectives of the local Cree community of Nemaska on the potential impacts of the EM-1-A & Rupert Diversion Project and examines various political strategies that they have drawn upon to defend their land against the proposed hydroelectric expansion. My findings show that despite formidable obstacles, Nemaska Crees have demonstrated a remarkable capacity to engage a range of political strategies in an effort to voice their opposition to the EM-1-A/Rupert diversion project. Although construction of the river diversion project is now underway, and 'the battle to save the Rupert River' has been lost, this thesis affirms the role and significance of individuals and organizations operating at the local level in articulating and framing the implications of the ecological crises imposed by large-scale industrial development on the 'local'


identifier: Phillips, Thomas  (2007) Quiet amplification : the disenfranchisement of subjectivity and the reformation of lived experience.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Central among the claims of this project is the notion that as a theorist of subjectivity, one has an ethical obligation to nurture, rather than to merely dismantle, the self; this, to the extent that theory has an impact on the person whose daily existence is more or less defined by dominant world views that are in turn influenced by intellectual thought. To fulfill this obligation, I propose an elaboration of the general post-structuralist project as outlined in my opening chapters by examining what P. D. Ouspensky calls the "possible evolution" of a self without reverting to outdated models that neglect the effects of the socio-cultural environment. The initial thrust of this elaboration entails theoretical attention to the body, though my ultimate aim is to indicate the potentiality of aesthetic embodiment as lived experience. Though recent years have seen an increased interest in body theory, what remains on the periphery of much theoretical exploration is consideration of physical practices that shape and develop subjective experience. I attempt to compensate for this lack by examining creative texts (written, visual and sonic) that, I suggest, prompt self-knowledge of very particular varieties. My argument is that texts that challenge conventions of narrative or content and, by extension, the immediate experience of the observer, compel us to think and feel differently, as "new," embodied selves. The text thus functions as a tool (and thus a praxis) in a process of self-reformation. Where my project extends the theoretical work of its forerunners is in its consideration of a specialized form of religious practice that enlists the immediacy of embodiment and consciousness as a compulsory and highly disciplined source of self-knowledge. This work may be understood as a culmination (one culmination among many, I should add, whose lines intersect, and mutate, in conjunction with others--aesthetic, religious or otherwise) of my endeavor to delineate an art of living in the postmodern world.


identifier: Dogar, Asif  (2008) Model driven development for enterprise applications.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Model-Driven Development (MDD) is an approach to software development that advocates the use of models as the primary artifacts that drive the development process. Automation and abstraction are the two main pillars of MDD. Automation is mainly achieved in the form of code generation. Automated transformations are used to generate code from models. In this thesis, we establish that efficient code generation is a viable option and that it enhances productivity. Significant amount of code can be auto- generated if software patterns are automated using model transformations. We demonstrate the process of automation of a subset of enterprise-application patterns by making use of a state-of-the-art MDD tool called IBM Rational Software Architect. We illustrate the working and outcome of our automated patterns with the help of a case study: a Team Registration System.


identifier: Mowrey, Timothy R  (2008) Open federalism in an urban age : implications of recent trends in intergovernmental relations for municipal governance in Canada.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Cities are becoming more important in Canada and around the world as a result of urbanization and the evolution of the global economy. Everywhere, the emergence of pressing urban issues is confronting politicians with difficult policy problems that cut across formal jurisdictional lines. In Canada, the importance of cities is challenging the traditional intergovernmental arrangements of federalism. But the complex web of federal-provincial relationships that have been a feature of Canadian federalism are also being challenged by the 'open federalism' approach of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. This approach seeks to reduce rather than increase the scope of intergovernmental affairs, and suggests that urban issues are not the concern of the federal government since municipalities and their problems are the exclusive jurisdiction of the provinces. Using two case studies of key urban issues, public housing and public transportation, this thesis examines the evolving intergovernmental arrangements and growing problems in these program areas in Canada's three largest cities (Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver). It demonstrates that open federalism as an approach to urban issues is not likely to be effective. Rather, the overlapping jurisdictional challenges posed by urban issues, combined with the limited policy and fiscal resources available to Canadian municipal governments, appear to warrant a greater degree of multi-level governance, a finding consistent with trends elsewhere. In this regard, an updated version of cooperative federalism would seem to allow the federal government the greatest ability to articulate broad national policy objectives while engaging both provincial and municipal governments to ensure adequate and effective program implementation at the local level.


identifier: Molavi Zarandi, Marjan  (2007) Determination of mechanical properties of individual living cells.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In this thesis, a finite element and experimental modal analysis are employed to determine the mechanical properties of the living cells. Because the determination of mechanical properties of the living cells and particularly the natural frequencies are highly important to diagnose the health condition of cells, a comprehensive analysis is carried out to determine the natural frequencies of individual cells. Since many cells have a spherical shape, a spherical shape of the cell is considered for this analysis. The natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes are determined for specific type of cell whose elastic properties of cell have been measured experimentally. To validate the numerical analysis, an experimental set up is designed to measure the natural frequencies of some scaled up models of cell. In parallel, the numerical method that was used for cell modal analysis is employed to determine the natural frequencies of scaled up models of cell to show the agreement between the finite element and experimental analyses. For then, the FEA model is extrapolated to the biological cell. The results obtained from the finite element modal analysis of cell are compared to the latest reports available on the values of natural frequencies of cell.


identifier: Sultana, Razia  (2007) An exact algorithm for first order probabilistic logic.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Human beings often have to reason and make decisions based on uncertain knowledge of real world problems. Therefore, many artificial intelligence (AI) applications, such as expert systems, must have the ability to understand the way human beings reason from uncertain data or knowledge in order to reach a conclusion. Several approaches have been proposed in this respect to deal with various kinds of uncertainty in AI. Among these approaches, probabilistic theory is used in many research areas such as knowledge-based systems, data mining, etc. Nilsson revisited in 1986 the early work of Boole (1854) and of Hailperin (1976) on logic and probability. He proposed a generalization of logic in which the truth values of sentences are probability values. The main problem addressed by Nilsson is the probabilistic satisfiability ( PSAT) for both propositional and first-order logic: determine, given a set of sentences (i.e., clauses) and probabilities that these sentences are true, whether these probabilities are consistent. Since first-order logic is used in many AI applications due to its expressiveness to represent knowledge over propositional logic, our thesis proposes an extension of the mathematical modeling of PSAT to first-order logic, FOPSAT for short. We next propose an exact algorithm based on delayed column generation technique, to check consistency and, if consistency holds, to entail new probability values for an additional logical sentence to be true and such that the augmented set of sentences remains consistent. We illustrate the proposed algorithm on an example, and discuss its potential to solve medium size FOPSAT instances.


identifier: Moghareh, Soroush  (2008) Optimization and cost evaluation of RTM production systems.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In recent years, applications of composite materials have had significant growth in many industrial sectors. Light weight and high mechanical properties of composites supported by efficient manufacturing technologies such as resin transfer molding (RTM) make them better alternatives to metal products in several applications.  Cost analysis of composite manufacturing processes is important to increase their manufacturing competencies. Cost reduction of composite manufacturing processes offsets their high material cost drawback. Thus a competent manufacturing process, along with outstanding mechanical properties, makes composites desirable materials of choice.  A comprehensive production cost analysis for a hypothetical but realistic RTM manufacturing line is performed in this research. An optimized plant configuration is determined based on production volumes, resource utilization and material handling policies. Three different cases are studied to show how cost per item and profit values of the production behave on different production levels. In the first case production of a single product is studied while in the second and third cases two different products are assumed to be produced utilizing common facilities. An algorithm is proposed to search for optimal combination of production volumes of different products utilizing the common preconfigured production system. Cost fluctuations on different production volumes are analyzed to identify different factors which might influence the cost


identifier: Fay, Chris  (2008) The construction of municipal climate change policy : Calgary and Toronto's participation in the Partners for Climate Protection Program.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis explains variations in municipal participation in Canada's Partners for Climate Protection Program through an examination of the cases of Calgary and Toronto. I argue that this transnational municipal network and its members employ particular forms of discourse to frame climate change knowledge in a way that reflects the interests and constraints faced by municipal actors. Furthermore, the policy actions advocated by the program and implemented in Calgary and Toronto reflect these interests and constraints by detaching action on climate change from a necessity to respond to the problem, and instead focusing on the benefits of implementing particular solutions. On the one hand, therefore, the interests and constraints at the municipal level determine how the network frames climate change. On the other hand, I argue that this framing results in the need for the program to provide resources to its members in order to encourage participation, and that the perceived value of these resources explains the difference between program participation in Calgary and Toronto. My argument therefore provides an explanation of Partners for Climate Protection participation that considers the influence of both the network and its members in the construction of municipal climate change policy.


identifier: Chase, Stanley  (2008) Chronicles of teen participants from the Leave Out Violence (LOVE) photojournalism project.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The field of art education has long recognized the immense potential for both personal and social transformation that can be realized through the practice, teaching and learning of art. In this qualitative study, the personal lived experience of ten former Photojournalism Project participants is investigated using an interdisciplinary conceptual framework. This study is informed by my personal experience as co-founder and photography teacher of the Leave Out Violence (LOVE) Photojournalism Project started in 1995 at Dawson College in Montreal. This after-school project teaches photojournalism to adolescents, many of whom are labeled as being "at-risk," and whose lives have been affected by violence. Engaging in photography and writing, the participants explore and document the issues surrounding violence in their lives and in their community.  Drawing on the fields of art education, critical and social pedagogy, adolescent development and qualitative research, the lives of the teens are examined with the goal of understanding how involvement in a community-based arts project can play a significant role in shaping the fragile lives of teens as well shaping the photographs they produce while actively involved in such a project.  In order to gather data the methodology combined case study and image-based research methods. A series of three audio-taped interviews were conducted. The first and third interviews focused on the personal lives of the teens. The themes pursued in these interviews centered on family life, community, peer world and school. Participants were asked to recall their lives up to and including their participation in the Photojournalism Project. As well, the issues surrounding whether or not links could be found between media violence and youth violence were also explored. The second interview relied on photo elicitation. The study participants were asked to review their photographs taken during their participation in the LOVE project and to comment on their participation in the project. The photo elicitation technique produced the visual component of the study.  Findings to this study reveal that while there may be no quick solutions to the problem of being an "at-risk" youth affected by violence, a community-based project can offer a brief respite, in a safe and secure learning environment that helps to reduce the long-term negative consequences of experiencing violence allowing them to go on and have meaningful lives.


identifier: Sun, Tie An  (2008) Study of vehicle brake systems based on environment-based design method.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis is intended to validate and develop a progressive design method -- Environment-based Design (EBD). Designers often find them in predicament, where they struggle to develop expertise in the design process. The main reason is that they lack necessary guidance of an ideal design method. Many design methods have been developed, but none has achieved wide acceptance due to the limitations. Fortunately. the advent of Environment-based Design brings us new chance, though some effort still needs to make it optimized.  The case studies, simulative design of early mechanical brake system and analysis of vehicle brake system evolution, were used to explore the validity of EBD. Especially, existing work on Environment-based Design was summarized, by focusing on environment system analysis, design driving force identification, design requirement extraction and analysis, and design concept generation and evaluation. Principles of EBD were comprehensively applied and verified in the simulative design. Also, the vehicle brake system evolution was studied to investigate the laws or trends how products evolves.  The findings indicated that Environment-based Design is a valid design method, which is proved to be an effective tool for formalizing the design process. Design driving forces are conflicts between increasing human needs and current product functions. Design requirements can be obtained by analyzing product environment relations (including conflicts). A quality design concept should satisfy the design requirements, and remove the environment conflicts. Generally, EBD can greatly increase design effectiveness and efficiency


identifier: Beal, Vanessa  (2007) The weight of involvement load in college level reading and vocabulary tasks.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study provides some evidence in support of the Involvement Load Hypothesis proposed by Laufer & Hulstijn (2001) which claims that tasks inducing high levels of need , search , and evaluation of meanings of unfamiliar words are most effective for vocabulary acquisition. Immediate and delayed retention of ten unfamiliar words taken from a short story reading text were investigated in learning conditions of varying "Involvement Loads". These were: low, glossary provided; moderate, multiple choice glossary; high, dictionary based sentence production; and control, reading only. Participants were 118 students from seven intact ESL college level classes at a Montréal area college. On an immediate retention test, there was a statistically significant difference between the means from both the multiple choice glossary task and dictionary based sentence production task and the control group. For delayed retention, there was a statistically significant difference only between the means from the multiple choice glossary task and the control group results.  With a view to addressing unanswered questions in previous Involvement Load research regarding how learners undertake reading comprehension and vocabulary tasks, the present study included a qualitative aspect in which ten participants provided concurrent think aloud protocols whilst completing vocabulary reading tasks of moderate and high involvement loads. Think aloud protocols provided valuable insights into both search and evaluation strategies used in lexical intervention tasks; furthermore it was clear that metalinguistic knowledge of parts of speech and etymology were enabling strategies. The protocols also highlighted the relative weight of 'need' in calculations of task Involvement Load as participants indicated a clear preference for the structure and format of multiple choice glossary tasks


identifier: Mihandoust, Shahab  (2008) Multiple sink positioning in sensor networks.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: We study the problem of positioning multiple sinks, or data collection stops for a mobile sink, in a sensor network field. Given a sensor network represented by a unit disc graph G = ( V, E ), we say a set of points U (sink node locations) is an h -hop covering set for G if every node in G is at most h hops away from some point in U . Placing sink nodes at the points of a covering set guarantees that every sensor node has a short path to some sink node. This can increase network lifetime, reduce the occurrence of errors, and reduce latency. We also study variations of the problem where the sink locations are restricted to be at points of a regular lattice (lattice-based covering set), or at network nodes (graph-based covering set).  We give the first polynomial time approximation scheme ( PTAS ) for the h -hop covering set problem, the h -hop lattice-based covering set problem, and the h-hop graph-based covering set problem. We give a new PTAS for the lattice-based disc cover problem, based on a new approach deriving from recent results on dominating sets in unit disc graphs. We show that this gives a (3 + f)-approximation algorithm for the disc cover problem, and gives the first distributed algorithm for this problem. We give a (5 + f)-approximation algorithm for the h -hop covering set problem in unit disc graphs, that does not require a geometric representation of the graph. Finally, we give a (3+f)-approximation algorithm for the h -hop covering set problem for unit disc graphs that runs in time quadratic in the number of nodes in the graph, for any constant f and h . In addition to showing how well a lattice-based approach for a disc cover problem approximates the optimal solution, we prove a geometric theorem that gives an exact relationship between the side of a triangular lattice and the number of lattice discs that are necessary and sufficient to cover an arbitrary disc on the plane.


identifier: Mandel, Eliana  (2007) Vocabulary acquisition techniques for grade one : an experimental investigation of shared reading vs. reciprocal teaching.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The objective of the present study was to compare the effects of two different types of reading comprehension instruction on the vocabulary growth of first-grade children. The two instructional approaches-- Shared Reading (SR) (Coyne et al., 2004; Parkes, 2000) and Reciprocal Teaching (RT) (Palincsar & Brown, 1984)--are similar in several ways, but differ on features I propose are critical to the development of vocabulary in young children. More specifically, Reciprocal Teaching incorporates a larger degree of interaction between teacher and students compared to Shared Reading and also requires students to more actively apply novel words in classroom discussions. The differential effects of SR and RT are an important focus of research, not least because the results of the study promise to provide teachers with additional empirical evidence supporting the use of effective techniques for vocabulary acquisition.


identifier: Siavash, Ardavan Sufi  (2008) Finite element analysis of a plated mid-shaft fracture of the humerus.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Internal fixation with rigid metal plates is a widely accepted technique for the treatment of bone fractures. The objective of this study is to evaluate the response of bone, fracture plate, screws and callus at different stages of healing to various applied loads. A three-dimensional, half-symmetric finite element model was developed. The stress and strain states in the assembly were investigated for pure compression, pure tension, twisting moment and combination of compressive and shear forces, which generate a bending moment, simulating getting up from a chair, carrying a suitcase and turning a screw driver. Two types of commonly used fracture plates were compared: 316 stainless steel and Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy.  The results of this research showed that there is less stress shielding of the bone with the titanium alloy plate and screws than with the stainless steel ones. The maximum equivalent von-Mises stress was found to be less in compression and tension than in bending and twisting. The majority of load transfer within the assembly occurred in the screws. For large bending and twisting moments stresses can be higher than the strength of the stainless steel plate. Excessive loading should thus be avoided to prevent possible failure. The research further found that the relative motion between bone and fracture plate was largest during tensile loading


identifier: Smadi, Othman  (2008) Blood flow dynamics through a defective mechanical heart valve.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: A model of asymmetrical 2-D defective bileaflet mechanical heart valve was used to simulate steady and pulsatile blood flow through a defective mechanical heart valve under several flow and malfunction severity conditions. The calculations used Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with Newtonian blood properties. The results showed that the flow upstream and downstream of the defective valve is highly influenced by malfunction severity and this resulted in a misleading improvement in the correlation between simulated Doppler echocardiographic and catheter transvalvular pressure gradients. In this study, two potential non-invasive parameters were proposed using Doppler echocardiography and phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging, for an early detection of mechanical heart valve malfunction. Finally, the relation between the coherent structures downstream of the valve and the valve malfunction was shown and the significant impact of valve malfunction on platelet activation and as a consequence, on thrombus formation was also shown


identifier: Chen, Rui  (2007) Computation of invariant manifolds using AUTO-07p.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: There is much interest recently in the computation of invariant manifolds of vector fields. This thesis presents a continuation method for computing two-dimensional stable and unstable manifolds arising in dynamical systems.  The computations are illustrated using a well-known example, namely, the Lorenz system, for which detailed results are presented for the so-called "Lorenz manifold", i.e., the two-dimensional stable manifold of the origin, as well as for the two-dimensional unstable manifold of one of the two symmetric nonzero equilibria. A number of the infinitely many intersection curves of these manifolds are also determined accurately. All computations are carried out using the numerical continuation software AUTO, specifically its most recent version, AUTO-07p.  Various diagrams are given to illustrate the numerical results. Software based on OpenGL and Glut has been developed to visualize the numerically computed manifolds, using a triangulation of the data computed with AUTO.


identifier: Petersen, Brian A  (2007) Measuring e-learning program effectiveness : a stakeholder approach to scorecarding performance.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The ability of learning executives to understand how effectively their e-learning programs are contributing towards corporate business goals is a necessary and critical activity within organizations today. This research project investigated how different stakeholders within a corporate environment could develop key performance criteria (KPCs) that could be integrated into Thomas Gilbert's (1996) performance requirements model and was used to evaluate the effectiveness of an organizational e-learning program with the result being an e-Learning Effectiveness Index (e-LEI) scorecard. Concept mapping and pattern matching techniques was used in a single case study involving 39 employees that included performance designers, e-learning end-users and managers from a large retailing company to investigate stakeholder variation. End-user of the e-learning program responded through a survey to answer their perceptions regarding the effectiveness of the e-learning program and a scorecard was created called the e-learning effectiveness index (e-LEI). The central focus for the research involved answering the following three questions: (1) What key performance criteria (KPC) could contribute to developing a procedure to measure the effectiveness of an e-learning program within an organization? (2) To what extent do stakeholder groups differ in their perceptions about the KPCs and their importance in evaluating e-learning programs? (3) What and how could key performance indicators (KPI) integrated into Gilbert's performance model be used in the development of an e-Learning Effectiveness Index (e-LEI) scorecard?  The results of the study to question 1 showed that through the use of Trochim's concept mapping procedure, KPCs could be identified and ranked by importance then used as metrics in which to measure the effectiveness of an e-learning program. With regards to question 2, the study found clear differences between stakeholders perceptions on the importance of KPCs used for measurement benchmarks. Finally the results showed in answering question 3 that KPCs integrated into Gilbert's model of performance requirements can be used in the development of a balanced scorecard that provides management with insight on how effective their e-learning programs are operating


identifier: Lopez, John Alexander  (2007) rK-Hist : an R-Tree based histogram for multi-dimensional selectivity estimation.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Database query engines typically rely upon query size estimators in order to evaluate the potential cost of alternate query plans. In multi-dimensional database systems, such as those typically found in large data warehousing environments, these selectivity estimators often take the form of multi-dimensional histograms. But while single dimensional histograms have proven to be quite accurate, even in the presence of data skew, the multi-dimensional variations have generally been far less reliable.  In this thesis, we present a new histogram model that is based upon an r-tree space partitioning. The localization of the r-tree boxes is in turn controlled by a Hilbert space filling curve, while a series of efficient area equalization heuristics restructures the initial boxes to provide improved bucket representation. The proposed histogram works on an existing multi-processor platform that targets the relational database model (ROLAP).  Experimental results on real and synthetic data demonstrate significantly improved estimation accuracy relative to state of the art alternatives, as well as superior consistency across a variety of record distributions.


identifier: Liu, Qian  (2008) Securing telehealth applications in a Web-based e-health portal.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Telehealth applications can deliver medical services to patients at remote locations using telecommunications technologies, such as the Internet. At the same time, such applications also pose unique security challenges. First, the trust issue becomes more severe due to the lack of visual proofs in telehealth applications. The public key infrastructure (PKI) is insufficient for providing the same kind of trust a patient may attain during a face-to-face service. Second, telehealth services, such as tele-monitoring or tele-consultant, naturally demand a systematic organization of users, roles, resources, and flows of information. Existing access control mechanisms in an e-health system are usually incapable of dealing with such workflow-based services. This paper provides cost-efficient solutions to those issues in the context of a Web-based e-health portal system. First, we propose a PKI-like infrastructure for establishing trust between users using biometrics-based authentication and hierarchies of trust. Second, we develop an access control method for workflow-based telehealth services using a rule-based module already available in the portal system.


identifier: Quiroz, Javier  (2007) Automatic generation of behavioral specification in autonomic systems timed reactive model.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The Autonomic Reactive System Timed Reactive Model (AS-TRM) is the merging of two fields: Real Time Reactive Systems and Autonomic Systems. Autonomic Systems is a new research area conceived to deal with the growing complexity of nowadays Information Technology infrastructures. Time Reactive Systems are complex systems that interact with their environment using a stimulus-response behavior under strict timing constraints. The AS-TRM approach consists in generating a new breed of systems provided with autonomic self-management capabilities. Timed Reactive Object Model (TROM) formalism developed at Concordia University has been extended to model the reactive behaviour in autonomic systems. This thesis work is aimed at assessing the control on the behavioral correctness of the Autonomic Reactive Component layer in AS-TRM. An algorithm for generating an exhaustive behavior of an autonomic reactive component is presented; the algorithm guarantees the correctness of the component's behavioural specification by building the correct behaviour, timing constraints and system policies into the generated output. The specification of such behaviour is applicable to a variety of self-monitoring purposes concerning the autonomic reactive system control. Additionally, a method for assessing the critical time performance (minimum and maximum time delay) from the behavioural specification is provided. The methodology is illustrated on a case study.


identifier: Muhirwa, Jean-Marie K  (2008) The performance of foreign aid-funded distance education projects in Sub-Saharan Africa : a qualitative analysis.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: During the heydays of the Internet bubble, "bridging the digital divide" became something of a buzz phrase that triggered substantial funding effort in international development circles. Distance education (DE) was deemed the most cost-effective and cost-efficient way to improve poor countries' capacity building and development efforts. Using Grounded Theory methodology, this study analyzes the performance of three major foreign aid-funded projects: the African Virtual University (AVU), the Formation Ouverte et à distance (FOAD) and the Université numérique francophone mondiale (UNFM).  This study set out to explore whether these foreign aid-funded DE projects comply with principles of Instructional Design (ID) and Results-Based Management (RBM) and if they have the potential to live up to their promise of cost-effectiveness, cost-efficiency and economy of scale. Thirty-two in-depth interviews and non participant observations were conducted in the field in two higher education institutions in Mali and in Burkina Faso, the content recipients, and in one Canadian HE institution, the content provider.  Findings suggest that the performance of these projects suffered from the lack of Needs Analysis. It follows that current DE projects in SSA may not be sustainable. It is argued that an ecological (Bronfenbrenner) and systems (Banathy) approach of project design and management will help to improve the effectiveness of development projects in general in developing countries and DE projects in particular both in developed and in developing countries.


identifier: Eshkevari, Laleh Mousavi  (2008) Comprehension and change impact analysis of aspect-oriented programs through declarative reasoning.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In this dissertation, we discuss an approach to support declarative reasoning over aspect-oriented programs, where the AspectJ programming language is deployed as a notable (and representative) technology. The approach is based on (i) the transformation of source code into a set of facts, and (ii) the definition and implementation of relationships and dependencies between different elements of the system into rules, stored in a Prolog database. Declarative analysis allows us to extract complex information through its rich and expressive mechanisms. Our approach has two contributions. First, it can improve the comprehension of AspectJ programs, and it can be deployed for any AspectJ-like language, like e.g. AspectC#, AspectC++. The second contribution is the provision of change impact analysis for AspectJ programs. Our method is automated and tool support is available. Expected beneficiaries of our approach include system maintainers performing tasks during the "change planning" stage of evolution.


identifier: Ahmad, Tariq  (2008) Experimental investigations on thermal and hydrodynamic entrance regionis in microchannels using oPIV and TLC techniques.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Micro-systems are expected to have abundant applicability in the biomedical industry, where operations such as medical diagnostics or DNA synthesis and sequencing, could potentially be carried out on a hand-held device. Fully integrated micro-systems consist of several processes needed to carry out the analysis, such as mixing, reaction, and detection. These systems are projected to have significant advantages over traditional testing methods, such as smaller footprint areas, portability, and shorter analysis times. Micro-systems are comprised of micro-devices, which perform the desired processes. Micro-devices themselves, such as micromixers or micro-heat exchangers, are an arrangement of microchannels, which span only a fraction of a millimeter. Consequently, microchannels have recently received much attention in the research community. Essential for advanced design applications are flow and heat transfer analyses of microchannels, which are used to transport fluid within micro-systems and their integrated components.  The entrance region of a channel, where the flow is hydrodynamically, thermally, or simultaneously developing, is very important since the flow and heat transfer mechanisms are enhanced due to the developing nature of the flow. Through the use of state-of-the-art optical measurement techniques of micro-Particle Image Velocimetry (oPIV) and un-encapsulated Thermochromic Liquid Crystal (TLC) thermography, the hydrodynamic and thermal entrance regions in microchannels are experimentally investigated. New experimental data is obtained for both laminar and turbulent single-phase flow regimes, in microchannels ranging in hydraulic diameter from 100 om to 1 mm. To investigate the effects of dimensional scaling, the results are compared to the physical mechanisms, observations, and existing data for developing flows in conventionally-sized ducts and pipes. In addition, new empirical laminar entrance length correlations are proposed for microchannels.  In microfluidic devices and systems, channel lengths are expected to be extremely short, in which case developing flow may dominate the flow field over the entire microchannel length. The present study broadens the knowledge into the mechanisms of developing flow and heat transfer in microchannels. With further understanding of micro flows through experimental evidence, the applicability of complete microfluidic systems can be realized on a practical level


identifier: Rokita, Joanna  (2008) Multimodal biometric system based on face and hand images taken by a cell phone.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: One of the methods to improve the recognition rate of humans is multimodal biometrics, which is based on more than one physiological or behavioral characteristics to identify an individual. Multimodal biometrics improves not only the performance, but also nonuniversality and spoofing that are commonly encountered in unibiometric systems. In this thesis, we built a multibiometric system that works on face and hand images taken by a camera built into a cell phone. The multimodal fusion is done at the feature extraction level. The nine facial models are built according to the number of features / points extracted from the face. Active shape models method is applied in order to find the concatenated string of facial points in the eyes, nose, and mouth areas. The face feature vector is constructed by applying Gabor filter to the image and extracting the key points found by an active shape model. The hand feature vector contains nine geometric measurements, including heights and widths of four fingers, and the width of the palm. Support vector machine is used as a classifier for a multimodal approach. One SVM machine is built for each person in the database to distinguish that person from the others. The database contains 113 individuals. As the experiments show, the best accuracy of up to 99.82% has been achieved for the multibiometric model combining 8 eye points, 4 nose points, and 9 hand features.


identifier: Hong, Yuan  (2008) Preserving privacy in Web-based e-Health systems.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Safeguarding patients' private information is one of the most challenging issues in the design and implementation of modern e-Health systems. A patient's consent should usually be obtained before his/her private information can be disclosed. Recent advances in Hippocratic Databases (HDB) show a promising direction towards the enforcement of privacy policies in e-Health systems. With HDB, patients need to specify their privacy preferences about what data to be disclosed to which recipients for what purposes. However, this may become a daunting task in a complicated application that involves potentially a large number of combinations of data recipients, purposes, and granularities of data. This thesis tackles issues in applying the HDB design to e-Health systems. More specifically, I design an architecture for integrating APPEL preferences with HDB, extend the original HDB design to support fine-grained privacy authorizations demanded by patients and adapt the design to a multidimensional model; I propose a series of methods for patients to more conveniently specify their privacy preferences based on the hierarchies naturally existing in each dimension of a privacy preference, define meta-policies to resolve potential conflicts between preferences specified over time, and discuss how to represent such preferences with a snow-flake schema in backend databases. Finally, I illustrate the implementation issues and justify my designs with experimental results.


identifier: Amarasekera, Gowri S  (2007) Use of exchange traded derivatives by Canadian pension funds and investment management firms.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study examines the use of exchange traded derivatives by pension funds and investment management firms to explore the factors limiting the growth of Canadian exchange traded derivatives. Using survey data on investment management firms we investigate various aspects of derivatives use by these firms. An interesting finding is that even though a majority of the firms are permitted to use derivatives, only a few actually use them. This result implies that conclusions drawn with data from sources like N-SAR forms, which include information on permission to use different types of derivatives but not the actual use of such instruments, may be unreliable. The statistical analyses performed using the Canadian Pension Fund Investment Manager Database and the Canadian Pension Fund Database demonstrate that derivatives are used by a few large institutional investors with internal expertise and that exchange traded derivatives are less popular among them. We conclude that improved product designs and liquidity in the market may help increase trading on the Montreal Exchange. In addition, we believe that educating investors as well as investment professionals on derivatives is necessary for the development of the Canadian exchange traded derivatives market.


identifier: Baghramyan, Emin  (2007) The estimation of equity risk premium for Canada.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In this paper I assess the equity risk premium for Canada. In order to accomplish the task, I use three different procedures. The first procedure extends the seminal Mehra and Prescott (1985) article and examines whether the equity risk premium puzzle exists for Canada during the last fifty years. This approach incorporates the conventional parameters of risk aversion and the time discount factor generally accepted by the existing literature. Moreover, the estimates of those parameters are derived which correspond to the observed premium provided by Canadian equities over risk free debt.  The second procedure is based on Fama and French (2002). Different estimates of the risk premium are calculated using two growth models based on the growth rate of aggregate dividends and the growth rate of operating earnings. The third, and final, is the decomposition model based on the methodology employed by Dimson, Marsh and Staunton (2006).  The main results argue for the existence of an equity premium puzzle for Canada, as the estimated parameter of risk aversion of the average investor is unrealistically high. Additionally, the estimates of the expected risk premium in real values using the growth and decomposition models argue for a smaller magnitude the historical risk premium


identifier: Cao, Shen  (2007) The futures market efficiency of gold, silver and copper.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Gold, silver, and copper futures market efficiency is examined by looking at whether futures contract prices contain useful information about future spot prices.  The Fama and French (1987) regression approach is applied to test whether the futures price has forecast power on the spot price or if it contains information about the premium to be realized at maturity. The result suggests that the futures price of gold has some forecast power while the futures price of copper contains information about the time-varying premium.  Unit root and co-integration analysis indicates that futures prices and spot prices of gold, silver, and copper are co-integrated at 95% confidence level. This means that the futures contract prices are unbiased predictors of future spot prices. Thus, the efficiency of the gold, silver, and copper futures markets is supported.  The univariate GARCH test finds evidence of conditional time-varying volatility for both futures and spot series. Also, positive asymmetry where positive price shocks are associated with greater volatility increases than negative price shocks is revealed.  As the gold, silver and copper futures contract series and spot series are almost perfectly correlated, naïve or 1-1 hedging reduces almost all of the variance and realizes high hedging effectiveness. The strong correlation of futures and spot returns supports the hypothesis that futures markets are efficient.  Keywords: futures; market efficiency; GARCH; hedge effectiveness