identifier: Sey, Albert Adu <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Sey=3AAlbert_Adu=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Response of methane emission and dissolved organic carbons to warming and nitrogen fertilization in boreal peatlands.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Although most sources of greenhouse gases (GHG) have been extensively studied, relatively little is understood about the interactive effect of warming and nitrogen addition on methane (CH₄) emissions from boreal peatland. Since methane is a considerably more potent GHG compared to carbon dioxide (CO₂), studies investigating what physical and biological factors control methane emissions in boreal peatlands are becoming increasingly important as an increase in temperature increases the rate of CH₄ emission as well as enhancing the decomposition of dissolved organic matter (DOM). In this experiment, I investigated the response of CH₄ emissions and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations and optical characteristics to warming and nitrogen fertilization in boreal peatlands as a result of global climate change at a peat bog complex in western Newfoundland, Canada. I found that climate warming increased CH₄ emission and DOC concentration at 40 cm peat depth. In contrast, nitrogen (N) addition did not increase CH₄ emission in a boreal peatland. However, the interactive effect of warming and nitrogen addition decreased the rate of CH₄ emission due to the reducing effect of N-addition which counteracted the positive effect of warming in increasing the rate of CH₄ emission from boreal peatlands. This unexpected trend suggests unforeseen factors are involved in the process of methanogenesis that were beyond the scope of this experiment. However, the interactive effect of warming and N addition synergistically increased the DOC and total nitrogen (TN) concentrations at the 40 cm depth due to root exudates favoring DOC mineralization in boreal peatlands. The results further indicate that specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA₂₅₄) increased peat aromaticity. Furthermore, fluorescence index (FI) indicated the peat was of microbially (1.53-1.65) processed dissolved organic matter (DOM) over vascular plant derived DOM in peatland. Humification index (HIX) values for the treatment effects ranged between 0.15-0.17, indicating the peat carbon was not highly degraded and composed of less condensed molecules, indicating a decrease in recalcitrant humified carbon production.


identifier: Folkins, Maggie <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Folkins=3AMaggie=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Using underwater video observations to improve capture efficiency of fishing gear.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract: High incidental catches of Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) in Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) longline fisheries has led to studies on the feasibility of capturing halibut with baited pots. In this study I compare catch data among six experimental pots and examine video of halibut interacting with pots. Catch rates of halibut did not differ among treatments and pots did not produced substantial amounts of bycatch. Video observations revealed that halibut become entangled by their teeth significantly more often in entrance funnels constructed with 50 mm than with 19 mm netting, resulting in 45% higher entry rates in the latter. Most (80%) halibut approached pots against the current following the scent of the bait. I recommend that future studies consider a four-entrance pot to ensure an entrance is aligned with bottom currents. To reduce likelihood of entanglement, I recommend 19 mm netting for entrance funnels, 100 mm polyethylene for exterior panels, and 19 mm polypropylene for parlour entrances for pots targeting halibut.


identifier: Huang, Qian <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Huang=3AQian=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Drinking tea in St. John's: a study of diasporic Chinese tea drinking and ethnic identity.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Although tea has been an important part of Chinese people’s lives for thousands of years, and is often taken along by Chinese tea-lovers when they move to Canada, little attention has been paid to the tea culture of Chinese immigrants in North America, especially from a folkloristic perspective. This thesis, therefore, explores Chinese tea culture by taking St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador as the research location. Drawing on historical sources, recorded interviews, and participant observation, this study shows that Chinese residents of St John’s negotiate two different tea cultures. By placing their traditional tea drinking practices and the local tea drinking customs into different categories of their food system, Chinese immigrants and students use tea drinking to help define and construct their Chinese identity in the multi-ethnic context of St John’s. Through an analysis of Chinese tea, this thesis hopes to contribute to the study of Chinese foodways and to further the understanding of cultural ethnicity in North America more generally.


identifier: Sharpe, Stephen <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Sharpe=3AStephen=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Examining Google classroom capabilities to help to provide principles of universal design for learning.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
Inclusive education allows every student to participate in learning activities and teachers to
exercise new approaches to ensure students’ means to communicate their knowledge. Universal
Design for Learning’s mandate is to ensure that all students in a classroom can access and learn
from the curriculum. Assistive technology, when employed through a Universal Design for
Learning (UDL) framework, can play a key role in connecting all students to curriculum and
Google Classroom meets the guidelines recommended by the Center for Applied Special
Technology (CAST). These guidelines include: multiple means of representation to give
learners various ways of acquiring information and knowledge, multiple means of expression to
provide learners alternatives for demonstrating what they know, and multiple means of
engagement to tap into learners' interests, challenge them appropriately, and motivate them to
learn. The current study focuses on Google Classroom as assistive technology in inclusive
classrooms through data collected in formal and informal interviews with teachers and a focus
group with students. This study is designed to better understand the benefits and challenges
associated with the use of Google Classroom within the framework of UDL. While Google
Classroom is still new and its use in the inclusive classroom is not perfect, it was perceived by
both teachers and students as an effective classroom technology to meet the needs of each learner
in the classroom. Data collected from the current study could help educational stakeholders make
appropriate decisions regarding educational technology in the future.


identifier: Van Drecht, Leigh <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Van_Drecht=3ALeigh=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology and Hf isotope geochemistry of the Laberge Group: synorogenic siliciclastic record of early Mesozoic crustal thickening and tectonic evolution of the Whitehorse trough in the northern Canadian Cordillera.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
The Laberge Group consists of synorogenic, marginal-marine to deep-marine
strata that were deposited in the Whitehorse trough of central Yukon during the collision
of the northern Intermontane terranes along the western Laurentian margin. New detrital
zircon U-Pb-Hf data from Laberge Group rock units constrain the Early to Middle
Jurassic depositional ages and provenance of Whitehorse trough strata and determine
their relationship to the unroofing history of adjacent basement successions. The
Whitehorse trough initiated in the Sinemurian as a long, narrow basin that subsequently
grew to the west, east, and south by Aalenian time and was sourced by Paleozoic Yukon-
Tanana and Stikinia basement rocks and their synorogenic Late Triassic-Early Jurassic
plutonic suites. Late Triassic-Middle Jurassic detrital zircon grains from the northern apex
of the Whitehorse trough record an excursion to subchondritic Hf(t) values that coincides
with the burial of Intermontane terranes and may record crustal thickening proximal to
northern regions of the basin.


identifier: Beklo, Parisa Fathi Ahad <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Beklo=3AParisa_Fathi_Ahad=3A=3A.html>   (2019) On microstructure and corrosion behaviour of AlSi10Mg alloy fabricated by direct metal laser sintering.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) is an additive manufacturing technique that creates near-net-shape functional components by selectively melting metal powders in two dimensions layer by layer using a high power laser as a heat source. The current thesis details (i) the corrosion behavior and microstructure of DMLS-AlSi10Mg_200C versus die cast A360.1 aluminum, confirming that the corrosion resistance of the alloy processed through DMLS was significantly better than the cast counterpart, (ii) effects of surface finishing procedure, i.e. grinding, polishing, and sandblasting, on corrosion behavior of DMLS-AlSi10Mg_200C Alloy vs die-cast A360.1 aluminum, highlighting a better corrosion resistance of DMLS-AlSi10Mg_200C than its cast counterpart with similar surface finish, and (iii) the microstructure and corrosion behaviour of AlSi10Mg alloy with low surface roughness fabricated by direct metal laser sintering, elucidating the dominant impact of the alloy’s microstructure on controlling the electrochemical performance of the as-printed samples than their surface roughness.


identifier: Debnath, Suborno <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Debnath=3ASuborno=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Failure assessment of cast iron water mains using fracture mechanics.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
Cast iron was one of the most dominated materials for municipal water mains in the last century.
Cast iron pipes are being gradually replaced by ductile iron, steel or plastic pipe due to their poor
performance. However, a significant portion of cast iron pipelines is still in service for the
municipal water distribution system. Many of these pipelines are deteriorated due to corrosion and
often fail. The remaining strength assessment of these pipelines is required for maintaining the
integrity of municipal water distribution systems. Researchers employed conventional continuum
mechanics approach for the assessment of cast iron water mains. However, the continuum
mechanics based modelling was found to be unsuccessful explaining some failure mechanisms
observed in the field. The fracture mechanics approach could be used to investigate the failure
mechanism of the pipelines. The major challenges in the application of fracture mechanics include
i) availability of a tool for calculating the fracture parameters and ii) availability of material
parameter for fracture mechanics based strength assessment. In this study, mechanical properties
for cast iron pipe materials are explored for fracture mechanics based strength assessment.
Uniaxial tensile tests are conducted to understand the stress–strain response for stress–deformation
analysis to calculate the fracture parameter. The influence of the rate of loading on stress–strain
behavior and loading-unloading responses are investigated. Fracture toughness is also determined
by using a simplified chevron notch method. The parameters obtained from the test are used in
finite element analysis to determine the fracture parameters of cast iron pipes. Numerical
techniques for finite element modelling are developed for the assessment of fracture parameter
(i.e., stress intensity factor). The stress intensity factors for different shapes of corrosion defects
are examined. The employed fracture mechanics approach is found to successfully explain the
failure mechanism of cast iron pipes observed in the field.


identifier: McTamney, Alexandria <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/McTamney=3AAlexandria=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Detecting wild fish and zooplankton near fish farms during and after fallow periods in Southern Newfoundland.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
From November 2016 until September 2017, acoustic Doppler current profilers
were deployed in two neighboring bays in Southern Newfoundland, East Bay and
Cinq Island Bay. We set out to determine the in
uences that aquaculture had on
wild fish abundance in the ecosystem during fallow periods. Fallow periods describe
the times when farms were not stocked with fish. It was hypothesized that during a
time where a fish farm was newly inactive there would be a different abundance of
wild fish nearby than during a time when the farm was active. In our study, both
East Bay and Cinq Island Bay were fallow prior to November until June/July of the
following year. After that time, fish farms were restocked with Atlantic Salmon. The
acoustic Doppler current profilers were configured to collect data without the typical
averaging of acoustic pings into ensemble averages. This processing allowed for the in-
struments to act as fish detecting sonars. We calculated volume backscatter strength,
fish counts, fish depths and target strengths of detected fish. Fish schools and diur-
nal migration patterns occurred frequently and on some occasions, high backscatter
intensities persisted for several hours. Depths of fish appeared to be similar during
November, December, January, March and April. Summer months of June, July, Au-
gust and September had opposing depth distributions. In Summer months, there were
fish primarily at shallow depths and in Winter months fish were primarily at deeper
depths. Summarizing the entirety of the time series resulted in depths distributions
throughout the entire water column in East Bay suggesting that diel vertical migrat-
ing species were commonly present. In contrast to this, Cinq Island Bay showed fish
primarily at 50 meters, indicating that a different fish species frequented this area. Similar results from target strength distributions suggested two species or behaviors
present in East Bay and one species present in Cinq Island Bay. Shifts of fish types
or behaviors in East Bay occurred during the same time periods as the beginning
of fish farm activity and also the start of the Summer season. Both bays displayed
concurrent increased fish counts in January and May with a larger wild fish abun-
dance in East Bay than in Cinq Island Bay. The amount of fish in both bays differed
during and after fallow periods which coincided with seasonal changes. Because of
this timing, distinguishing the effects of fallow periods from seasonal changes was not
possible. This study demonstrates the value of using acoustic monitoring methods
for collecting data from aquaculture sites. Altering future studies to include longer
time series, simultaneous fish sampling and multiple acoustic Doppler current profil-
ers in each bay could provide additional important data that may lead to concrete
conclusions about aquaculture in
uences on wild fish species.


identifier: Huang, Linkai <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Huang=3ALinkai=3A=3A.html>   (2019) The comparison of forecasting performance of historical volatility versus realized volatility.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
When forecasting stock market volatility with a standard volatility method (GARCH),
it is common that the forecast evaluation criteria often suggests that the realized
volatility (the sum of squared high-frequency returns) has a better prediction performance
compared to the historical volatility (extracted from the close-to-close return).
Since many extensions of the GARCH model have been developed, we follow the
previous works to compare the historical volatility with many new GARCH family
models (i.e., EGARCH, TGARCH, and APARCH model) and realized volatility with
the ARMA model. Our analysis is based on the S&P 500 index from August 1st, 2018
to February 1st, 2019 (127 trading days), and the data has been separated into an estimation
period (90 trading days) and an evaluation period (37 trading days). In the
evaluation period, by taking realized volatility as the proxy of the true volatility, our
empirical result shows that the realized volatility with ARMA model provides more
accurate predictions, compared to the historical volatility with the GARCH family
models.


identifier: Pollock, Nathaniel James <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Pollock=3ANathaniel_James=3A=3A.html>   (2019) The social context and epidemiology of suicide in Labrador.  Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
In Canada, many Inuit and First Nations populations have elevated rates of
suicide, though there is substantial variation at the community level. The factors that
contribute to suicide are complex and entrenched in colonization. Labrador is a
circumpolar region in eastern Canada where suicide has been a persistent social problem
in Inuit and Innu communities since the 1970’s. As a result, suicide prevention has
become a policy and program priority.
Indigenous leaders and health system stakeholders in Labrador identified a need
for local evidence on suicide to inform community programs and services. The aim of this
thesis was to examine the social context and epidemiology of suicide in the region. To
this end, we established research partnerships with community members, Indigenous
governments, and the regional health authority. Within a population health approach
founded on the principles for ethical research involving Indigenous peoples, we integrated
community-based methods with qualitative and epidemiological study designs.
This work began with a series of community consultations which engaged health
and social service providers to better understand research priorities related to suicide. In a
qualitative study, we then used focus groups to gather information about local risk and
protective factors for suicide. Participants viewed suicidal behaviour, problematic alcohol and substance use, and mental disorders as the downstream outcomes of social inequity
and historical trauma. To build on this knowledge, we conducted a population-based
observational study to investigate disparities in suicide mortality between Innu and Inuit
communities and the general population of the province. The results showed that the
suicide rate was higher in Labrador (31.8 per 100,000 person-years) than in
Newfoundland (8 per 100,000 person-years); at the subregional level, suicide rates were
elevated in Inuit and Innu communities, at 165.6 and 114.0 suicide deaths per 100,000
person-years.
To put the data from Labrador in a global context, we undertook a systematic
review on the incidence of suicide among Indigenous peoples worldwide. Suicide rates
were elevated in many Indigenous populations, though rate variation was common.
Strikingly, rate disparities in Labrador were among the highest globally. Recognizing
challenges related to monitoring suicide, we analyzed the public health approach to
suicide surveillance in Canada. To improve surveillance capacity, we proposed strategies
such as integrating Indigenous identifiers into national data sets and building an inclusive
data governance model to better track progress in suicide prevention in Indigenous
communities. This thesis concludes with a discussion of the scholarly contributions of
this work and identifies opportunities for future research.


identifier: Ash, Nicole <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Ash=3ANicole=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Stressors for intermediate/secondary teachers in Newfoundland and Labrador and their impact on effective teaching.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
This qualitative study examined the causes of stress for teachers teaching in the Eastern
region of the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District and the effects of these
stressors on effective teaching. Interviews were completed, either face to face or via email,
with 18 participants all of whom were teaching intermediate or high school in the region at the
time of the interview. These participants all had varying teaching subjects and amounts of
experience. Participants gave their thoughts and opinions on the causes of stress in the
teaching profession, the impact of this stress on effective teaching, and what could be done to
combat this stress.
Responses underwent qualitative analysis and a number of themes emerged. The study
was driven by two primary research questions: 1. what are the major stressors facing teachers
in Newfoundland and Labrador and 2. How do these stresses impact a teacher’s ability to
effective teach? The sub-research questions were as follows:
1. What do teachers feel are the biggest sources of stress in their profession?
2. What do teachers do to cope with these stresses?
3. Do teachers feel the amount of stress is changing in their profession?
4. Do teachers feel the sources of stress are changing in their profession?
5. What role has technology played in the stresses in the classroom?
6. What impact do these stressors have on effective teaching in the classroom?
7. What do teachers think can be done about the stresses in the classroom?
The study found that teachers experience a large amount of stress related to their
profession on a regular basis and this amount of stress seems to be increasing yearly. The
study’s findings included a definition of stressor as defined by the participants, a discussion of
the sources of stress and how they impact effective teaching, and suggestions on how to lessen
the amount of stress faced by teachers and minimize the impact on effective teaching.


identifier: Misiuk, Benjamin <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Misiuk=3ABenjamin=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Investigation and integration of spatial analyses in benthic habitat mapping with application to nearshore Arctic environments.  Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
The field of benthic habitat mapping has entered an era of automated statistical methods
that have increased the capacity to produce maps as marine management tools. Spurred by
a confluence of advances in acoustic remote sensing, open-source statistical tools, GIS, and
computing power, these methods facilitate quick and objective mapping of habitats and
physical seabed characteristics. Their performance and accessibility have led to widespread
uptake, yet key spatial issues associated with these methods have not fully translated into
the benthic habitat mapping workflow. Towards establishing “best practices”, this thesis
explores the application of several spatial concepts to benthic habitat mapping using three
Canadian Arctic case studies.
Relationships between seabed morphology and benthic habitats are well-established.
Though recognized as a critical element in the field of geomorphometry, the scale
dependence of these relationships is commonly neglected in habitat mapping. Chapter 2
provides evidence of the scale dependence of benthic terrain variables and demonstrates
methods for testing and selecting from among many variables and scales for modelling the
distribution of sediment grain size near Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut.
Given challenges associated with marine data collection that are pronounced in the Arctic,
benthic habitat maps commonly utilize multi-year and multisource datasets. Despite
apparent advantages, there can be substantial challenges associated with the compatibility
and spatial properties of such data. Chapter 3 demonstrates that spatially autocorrelated
samples are likely to inflate estimates of predictive performance and uses a spatial resampling strategy to estimate and correct for inflation in a multi-model Arctic clam
habitat map near Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut.
Classified seabed maps are a common requirement for marine management and one of two
broad approaches are often selected to produce them. Chapter 4 examines differences
between classification and continuous modelling approaches in a spatial context to produce
classified seabed sediment maps for inner Frobisher Bay, Nunavut. Non-spatial methods
failed to indicate whether models could extrapolate to unsampled areas, which was a
requirement for this study. When evaluated in a spatial context, the qualities of the
classification approach made it more suitable, which was a function of ground-truth dataset
characteristics and the predictive goals of the model. Non-spatial techniques may be
appropriate for interpolation, but the ability to extrapolate needs to be examined in a spatial
context.


identifier: Elruby, Ahmed Youssri <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Elruby=3AAhmed_Youssri=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Micro-macro investigations on the mechanical behavior and material failure using the framework of extended finite element method (XFEM).  Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: The current dissertation provides developments on mechanical behavior and material failure modeling utilizing the framework of extended finite element method (XFEM). Different types of materials, i.e., brittle and ductile were numerically investigated at different length scales. Plain epoxy resin representing the brittle behavior was prepared and tested using digital image correlation (DIC) displacement measurement system on an Instron© load-frame under different types of loading. Advanced technology methods such as optical and scan electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the failure mechanisms of the tested specimens. Also, computed tomography (CT) scans were used to identify the void content within the epoxy specimens. In addition, fracture surfaces were also CT scanned to further investigate epoxy’s failure mechanism closely. On the other hand, relevant reported testing results in the literature regarding low and high strength steel materials were used to represent the ductile behavior. Different micromechanical methods such as unit cell (UC) and representative volume element (RVE) were employed in the framework of finite element method (FEM) or XFEM to numerically obtain mechanical behaviors and/or investigate material damage from a microscopic point of view. Several algorithms were developed to automate micromechanical modeling in Abaqus, and they were implemented using Python scripting. Also, different user-defined subroutines regarding the material behavior and damage were developed for macroscopic modeling and implemented using Fortran. A chief contribution of the current dissertation is the extended Ramberg-Osgood (ERO) relationship to account for metal porosity which was enabled by utilizing micromechanical modeling along with regression analyses.


identifier: Illawathure, Chameera <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Illawathure=3AChameera=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Improving the GPR reflection method for estimating soil moisture and detection of capillary fringe and water table in a boreal agricultural field.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: The objective of this thesis was to monitor the soil moisture (SM) and water table depth (WTD) in an agricultural field using ground-penetrating radar (GPR). First, SM was estimated using hyperbola-fitting method (27-50 cm depth range) and compared with vertically installed 30 cm long Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) probe data. TDR-measured and GPR-estimated SM were not significantly different, and the root mean square error (RMSE) was 0.03 m3 m-3. Second, the depth of the capillary fringe (DCF) was estimated distinguishing the reflections from the top of the capillary fringe in a GPR radargram. A site-specific strong linear relationship (R2 = 0.9778) of DCF and measured-WTD was developed. RMSE between GPR-based WTD and actual WTD was 0.194 m. Proposed average capillary height for the particular site throughout the growing season (0.741 m) agrees with the existing literature and would be beneficial for the agricultural water management in the region.


identifier: Trueman, Samantha Cristine <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Trueman=3ASamantha_Cristine=3A=3A.html>   (2019) A pilot study on gonad enhancement in kelp-fed Newfoundland green sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Sea urchin gonads, also known as “roe” or “uni”, are a highly prized delicacy in Asian and European seafood markets. Green sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis, produces one of the finest and most widely marketed roe in Asia, including top markets in Japan and Korea. Green sea urchin is abundant throughout eastern Newfoundland and holds a large potential for sea urchin roe enhancement and aquaculture, however no such industry has been developed despite initial research attempts in the late 1990s. In order to examine the use of locally abundant kelp as a feed option for sea urchin gonad enhancement, a 34-week experiment was carried out during which we maintained groups of green sea urchins from southeastern Newfoundland in flow-through tanks at ambient sea temperature and fed ad libitum with three locally abundant kelp diets: (1) kelp combo (Alaria esculenta and Laminaria digitata); (2) L. digitata; and (3) Agarum clathratum. Gonadosomatic index (GSI), gonad colour and gonad texture were assessed after 12 and 34 wk of feeding, and gonad taste after 34 wk. Feeding sea urchins a kelp combo or L. digitata resulted in the highest GSI and best quality gonads at 34 wk, however only L. digitata yielded market-quality roe at 12 wk. Although GSI was higher after 34 wk, gonad quality did not improve with the longer feeding duration and therefore results suggest that 12 wk or fewer may be enough to produce market-quality roe, therefore potentially lowering production costs. Collectively, results suggest that green sea urchins fed locally abundant and easily accessible kelp species produce large volumes of high-quality roe, however, determining the best diet to further improve roe colour and texture requires further research.


identifier: Adrugi, Wesam <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Adrugi=3AWesam=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Experimental measurements and modeling of liquid-liquid Taylor flow in mini-scale tubing.  Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Immiscible two-phase segmented flow in a mini / micro scale channel is a promising area for heat transfer enhancement. A segmented flow, also known as a slug flow, plug flow or Taylor flow is a series of moving liquid segments separated by a liquid medium. A literature review of the research reveals large gaps in the knowledge base of liquid-liquid Taylor flows and calls for further investigation. Earlier studies have reported that introducing two immiscible liquids into mini / micro scale channels significantly increases heat transfer rate. The main focus of this research is on modeling liquid-liquid Taylor flows using an experimental approach based on the concept of the internal fluid flow and a dimensionless analysis for reducing experimental data. The purpose of this study is to investigate the fluid dynamic and thermal characteristics of liquid-liquid Taylor flows in small-scale tubes that will lead to better understanding on this process. Therefore, the heat transfer and pressure drop in two-phase liquid-liquid Taylor flows inside mini-scale tubing have been examined using a wide range of geometrical and operational parameters such as Capillary number, Prandtl number and minichannel geometries. Proposed models for each of these geometries have been developed to predict the heat transfer behaviors and pressure drop for low Reynolds number flow conditions. The effect of internal circulation and boundary layer renewal within the flow components is clearly presented. Namely, it is shown that cause significant thermal enhancement. The intensity of these circulations is a function of different parameters, including the flow conditions, channel geometry, and liquids employed. The effects of all of these parameters on heat transfer and pressure drop have been studied experimentally and are presented in this dissertation. Furthermore, this study demonstrates how heat transfer enhancement results due to varying the slug lengths of each phase in the liquid-liquid Taylor flow. New experimental data for liquid-liquid Taylor flows in straight, curved, and coiled mini scale tubes were obtained using low viscosity silicone oils segmented by water at varying volume fractions. The results of this thesis are of fundamental and practical relevance for the analysis and design of small systems and devices incorporating liquid-liquid Taylor flow regimes. The novel results were obtained with carefully controlled flow cell slug lengths and volume fractions, which show a significant impact on the rate of laminar heat transfer and pressure drop. Analytical models for each of these geometries have been developed. Dimensionless heat transfer rate and pressure drop results show good agreement with proposed analytical models. The proposed models’ predictions for the heat transfer and pressure drop agree with the new experimental data within ± 20% or less.Liquid-Liquid Taylor Flow


identifier: Chowdhury, Muhammad Sifatul Alam <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Chowdhury=3AMuhammad_Sifatul_Alam=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Design and performance evaluation of different power pad topologies for electric vehicles wireless charging systems.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Range limitations and charging of electric vehicles (EVs) are major concerns in the modern electrified transportation systems. In this thesis, design and performance analysis of three power pads considered for EV’s wireless charging systems are carried out. In particular, a comparative performance analysis is conducted for circular and double D (DD) power pads, and a new power pad named DDC power pad is designed by combining these two power pads. Wireless charging systems of EV’s are developed, mainly based on the inductive power transfer (IPT) system where the power is transferred through electromagnetic induction. A systematic approach to power pad design is presented in detail and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) recommended practice J2954 is followed for designing the physical dimension of these power pads. To this end, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) tool ANSYS Maxwell 3D is used for simulation. Extensive simulation studies are carried out to verify the efficiency of the proposed DDC power pad. It is found that the proposed DDC power pad offers significantly improved performance compared to the existing circular and DD power pads under various misaligned positions.


identifier: Chaulk, Pamela <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Chaulk=3APamela=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Time-place learning: can rats time both periods of food availability and non-availability?  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Animals learn and use information about the times and locations of food availability. The goal of the current study was to determine how rats time spatially and temporally predictable periods during which no food is available. The first experiment consisted of a daily time-place learning (TPL) task, with sessions conducted on a plus maze at three times each day. The rats learned to avoid the lever that did not provide reinforcement and had longer latencies to first lever press at non-reinforced times of day. Skip session probes showed that the rats tended to use a circadian timing strategy to solve the task. The second experiment consisted of an interval TPL task conducted in an operant box with four levers. Depending on group assignment, the rats experienced breaks between lever activation of either 0 s, 30 s, or 60 s. All rats learned the task, showing both anticipation and anticipation of depletion of a lever’s active period. Despite having learned the task, there was no evidence that the rats timed the break periods. Probe tests revealed that the rats used an interval timing strategy to solve the task. Breaks in reinforcement did not prevent the rats in either experiment from learning the respective TPL tasks.


identifier: Chaulk, Anne-Marie <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Chaulk=3AAnne-Marie=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Contributions of light- and food-entrainable oscillators to learning daily time-place tasks.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Time-place learning (TPL) is the automatic encoding into memory information regarding the time and place of biologically significant events. Involvement of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and the food-entrainable oscillator (FEO) in a daily TPL task was examined. Lesions eliminated the ability to use the SCN in SCNx rats, while unpredictable meal times prevented the use of the FEO in FEOx rats. Rats able to use either oscillator were expected to learn the task. Rats that could only use the SCN, or “master” circadian oscillator, were expected to perform better than rats that could only use the FEO. The ability to use both oscillators could enhance performance or impair learning due to suppression of one by the other. Impairment was expected for rats that could use neither oscillator. No differences were found between the groups, indicating that the use of neither oscillator may be necessary, and that there may be no benefit to having the ability to use either, or both. However, it is likely that unsuccessful lesions affected the results. Unexpectedly, FEOx rats preferred ordinal timing, contradicting previous findings. Replication of this study would be beneficial.


identifier: Alsharawneh, Anas <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Alsharawneh=3AAnas=3A=3A.html>   (2019) The effectiveness of the Canadian triage guidelines in improving the treatment outcomes of cancer patients with febrile neutropenia.  Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
Background: Febrile neutropenia (FN) is among the most common side effects related to
cancer treatment and a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Patients with FN are
at a higher risk of developing life-threatening sepsis without prompt treatment.
Purpose: To evaluate the quality of emergency care of cancer patients with FN.
Specifically, the study aimed to examine the effectiveness of triage on select treatment
outcomes for patients with FN as specified by the Canadian triage guidelines.
Methods: A retrospective cohort design was employed to collect data over five years from
the emergency department (ED) records of all adult cancer patients with FN in one urban
health care organization in Atlantic Canada.
Results: The Canadian triage guidelines identify the acuity and urgency of FN. The
guidelines, however, do not translate well in practice as two-thirds of the patient sample
were inappropriately triaged (mal-triaged) to less urgent triage categories. Mal-triage was
significantly associated with delayed times for physician initial assessment,
administration of antibiotics, and decision about admission. Additional factors that
contributed to the quality of ED care of cancer patients with FN were also examined.
Conclusion: The results of our quality evaluation provided evidence that improvements in
a number of the quality dimensions have the potential to enhance the care provided to
individuals with FN. Our results established an initial understanding of the factors that
influence the mal-triage of patients with FN. Improving triage decision-making is an
essential first step but this will not completely improve the quality of care in the ED for
clients presenting with FN until problems in other parts of the system are resolved to
address the health care outcomes and needs of this vulnerable population.


identifier: Cowan, Jessica <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Cowan=3AJessica=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Educational and school psychologists' use of theory in practice.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
The current research explored the reports of Educational and School Psychologists in
Atlantic Canada regarding their use of theory in practice, the importance of formal use of theory
in practice, as well as the specific theories used to inform their practice. All English speaking
school districts in Atlantic Canada were invited to participate in the current study. Educational
and School Psychologists employed by the school districts who approved the research received
an e-mail invitation to complete a survey. The survey was gathering information on the use of
theory in practice, the importance of formal theory in practice, and specific theories used in
relation to the established standards of practice for Educational and School Psychologists
identified by the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District. The results indicated a
variety of theories being implemented by the participants in the study. Results also demonstrated
that formal theory was being used by the majority of Educational and School Psychologists in
the sample. The current thesis explores these findings in relation to current research and
discusses potential ideas for future research in this area.


identifier: Angadi, Kanachi <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Angadi=3AKanachi=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Natural variations in underwater noise levels in the Eastern Grand Banks, Newfoundland.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
“The topic of underwater noise pollution due to oil & gas exploration is a genuine con-
cern to scientists and researchers. Studying acoustic propagation from noise sources has
become one of the standard environmental impact assessment criteria for offshore devel-
opments. Lower level noise is also a concern when persistent and higher than naturally
occurring background noise. The natural environment contributes sound through wind
and wave motion, currents, precipitation, and sea ice. A two-month autonomous acous-
tic monitoring program was conducted in 2015 on the Grand Banks, as part of a study to
understand the impact of seismic surveys off the coast of Newfoundland. This study aims
to use that data to improve our understanding of the ambient soundscape and relate the
observations to known relationships between noise levels and wind and rainfall rates. A
challenge with the present data is that the observations are made in shallow water where
bottom and surface reflections act to increase expected natural sound levels. This increase
in sound levels interferes with algorithms used to relate wind and rain to noise levels. An
analytical model was used to adjust noise levels accounting for the shallow water envi-
ronment. The corrected data were evaluated using algorithms for Weather classification
developed by Nystuen which were used to identify the data points with sound levels asso-
ciated with shipping, drizzle, rain and near surface bubbles. The shipping contamination
was removed from the data sets and resulting sorted data was used to estimate wind speeds
that were compared to independent observations obtained from model data provided by
Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada.”


identifier: Sultana, Kaniz Ronak <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Sultana=3AKaniz_Ronak=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Investigation of transient phase change phenomena of water droplets for marine icing applications.  Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
Icing reduces the stability, reliability, productivity and safe operation of offshore exploration vessels, icebreakers and marine structures. A better understanding of the fundamentals of ice accumulation on variable surfaces will be helpful for developing solutions to reduce or prevent ice accretion on offshore vessels and marine structures. The main way that ice accretes on vessels and offshore structures is the solidification of wave-generated saltwater spray. Additionally, in cold climate conditions, vessels and offshore structures can also experience atmospheric or fresh water icing. This research investigates the primary cause of both ice accretion processes. Results were analyzed in terms of pre-impact and post-impact processes.
The pre-impact results of a single water droplet suggest the droplet is not in thermal equilibrium with ambient air. Additionally, the nucleation process can occur at higher temperatures than its equilibrium freezing point. Furthermore, it predicts that the nucleation temperature is controlled by the droplet’s volume and the atmospheric temperature. Larger sized droplets have a higher nucleation temperature than smaller sized droplets. Moreover, internal circulation can enhance heat transfer from the droplet to the surrounding air and can accelerate nucleation in cold environmental conditions, as well as influence the fragmentation process. It was observed that the drag force is not only a function of droplet size, but also of ambient temperature and internal circulation.
The post-impact results show that for a droplet impacting on a semi-infinite medium, the thermal penetrated depth is minimal. Therefore, during the post-impact study, the substrate can be considered as an isothermal surface. Furthermore, the droplet solidification process is primarily affected by droplet size, spreading area, surface temperature and pre-impact velocity. The lower the object temperature, the faster the cooling rate. Additionally; the larger the droplet size, the more time it takes to solidify.
Experimental studies on droplet impact behaviour on both bare and coated substrates were analyzed. The experiments suggest that a lower spreading and longer freezing time occur more frequently on coated substrates than on uncoated substrates. The main reasons for this are surface roughness, contact angle hysteresis, surface energy, surface properties, the thickness of the coatings and droplet-substrate surface tension. The new experimental data and numerical predictions presented in this thesis will help to develop superior and more accurate ice prediction and prevention models.


identifier: Sule, Idris Olusola <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Sule=3AIdris_Olusola=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Safety and reliability assessment of managed pressure drilling in well control operations.  Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Managed pressure drilling (MPD) is a technique utilized in drilling to manage annular pressure, hold reservoir influx, and divert mud returns away safely from the rig floor through a closed loop system. Thus, MPD plays key roles in well control operations and in drilling deepwater wells. However, despite the operational, safety, and economic benefits, limited information is available on understanding the complexity of MPD system. Furthermore, the oil and gas industry currently relies on a flow monitoring system for earlier kick detection but faces severe flaws and limited progress has been made on approach that monitors kick from downhole due to the complexity of offshore drilling operations. Thus, the main objective of this research is to assess the safety and reliability of MPD. In this research, following novel contributions have been made: several dynamic downhole drilling parameters have been identified to enhance earlier kick detection technique during drilling, including about 33 – 89% damping of bit-rock vibrations due to gas kick; a reliability assessment model has been developed to estimate the failure probability of an MPD system as 5.74%, the assess the increase in reliability of kick control operation increases from 94% to 97% due to structural modification of the MPD components, identify that MPD operational failure modes are non-sequential, and identify that an MPD control system is the most safety-critical components in an MPD system; an automated MPD control model, which implements a nonlinear model predictive controller (NMPC) and a two-phase hydraulic flow model, has been developed to perform numerical simulations of an MPD operation; and lastly, an integrated dynamic blowout risk model (DBRM) to assess the safety during an MPD operation has been developed and its operation involves three key steps: a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) model, a numerical simulation of an MPD control operation, and dynamic risk analysis to assess the safety of the well control operation as drilling conditions change over time. The DBRM also implemented novel kick control variables to assess the success / failure of an MPD operation, i.e. its safety, and are instrumental in providing useful information to predict the performance of / diagnose the failure of an MPD operation and has been successfully applied to replicate the dynamic risk of blowout risk scenarios presented in an MPD operation at the Amberjack field case study from the Gulf of Mexico.


identifier: Shouldice, Emma <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Shouldice=3AEmma=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Simulating turbulence measurements in high flow ocean regions with an acoustic backscatter model.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
Measurements of ocean turbulence are essential in understanding ocean mixing
and bottom stress. These measurements of turbulence are also needed when es-
tablishing loading forces on marine structures especially where they are deployed in
regions of high turbulence. In particular, there is a need for accurate measurements
of turbulence in regions where in-stream tidal turbines are being deployed. This
study reports on two broadband Doppler sonar systems, the 1 MHz Signature Nortek
AD2CP and the Workhorse 600 kHZ ADCP. The ability of these devices to collect
accurate velocity measurements in tidal regions has been tested in the field (McMillan
et al., 2016; Shcherbina et al., 2018); however we lack a way to directly validate the
accuracy of these field measurements. This difficulty is addressed through the use of
a three-dimensional numerical model of acoustic backscatter (Zedel, 2008, 2015). De-
velopments to the model were completed for the present turbulence study, including
the integration of data from a computational fluid dynamics simulation and an up-
grade to the signal processing technique. The model can be used to simulate Doppler
Sonar measurements in flows similar to those observed in regions where in-stream
tidal turbines are deployed. The resulting model simulations show that turbulent
structure can be resolved by both broadband Doppler systems, but that the 1 MHz
Nortek AD2CP, which has a faster sampling rate, yields higher resolution results.
This thesis discusses the uncertainty of the simulated results using quantitative tools
and draws comparisons to an experimental study published by McMillan et al. (2016).


identifier: Yusuf, Babatunde Olaiya <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Yusuf=3ABabatunde_Olaiya=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Elastic properties prediction for drilling and subsurface evaluation for the Grand Banks and Niger Delta.  Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
Formation bulk density (RhoB) is an essential parameter which can provide very useful information required for planning the position of a new well and properly characterize a reservoir for effective field development. Several correlations had been developed in the past decades to estimate bulk density. A previous study done using data from the Grand Banks reveal that the prior density-velocity relations could not predict density accurately in the five wells studied. The two major problems with these empirical relationships are: (1) they were developed primarily for clean formations and they have failed to produce reasonable estimates in non-clean/mixed-lithology formations; (2) they are not applicable to rocks that contain micro-cracks/fractures. There is no single model that has dealt with these two problems. In this thesis, a new formation bulk density prediction method that can be applied to clean formations, non-clean/mixed-lithology formations and rocks that contain micro-cracks is proposed. The model is validated with additional laboratory measurements on cores and field-tested with field wireline log data from the Niger Delta and Grand banks basins.
The most reliable method of deriving the shear wave velocity is by estimation from compressional wave velocity. Most old wells lack shear wave velocity data and for the wells drilled recently, the need to verify poor quality data makes the development of models very important. A region-specific model is proposed for more accurate derivation of shear wave velocity from compressional wave velocity applicable to the Grand Banks. This model was found to predict better than prior models.
Poisson’s ratio is commonly utilized in estimation of fracture pressure. There is need to develop a correlation specific for the Grand Banks. The availability of sufficient well data, a depth trend of Leak-off-test (LOT) data and series of Modular Dynamic Formation Tester (MDT) type data were used to establish a depth trend of fracture pressure and pore pressure profiles to aid successful well planning. The application of outputs from these models and correlations to subsurface reservoir characterization and field development was tested using the Excess Pressure (EP) methodology.


identifier: Frizzell, Lynn Marie <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Frizzell=3ALynn_Marie=3A=3A.html>   (2019) An investigation of the effects of background television on attention, performance, learning and executive functioning in preschoolers.  Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Given the omnipresence of television in children’s lives, it is important to know what effect it may have on attention, executive functioning (EF) and learning. This study investigated effects of background television (BTV) on attention to, and memory for, storybook details, a puzzle strategy, and performance on an EF task in 108 preschoolers during an adult-child interaction. Parents reported children’s BTV exposure and screen media use and rated their everyday EF. Results showed BTV reduced attention to all tasks but only on more challenging tasks was performance also affected. BTV interfered with encoding such that delayed but not immediate story recall was diminished. On the easier puzzle task, scores were equal across BTV conditions. On the EF task, children were slower, more variable, less accurate and less able to detect errors with BTV present. Very few children learned any BTV programming content, and nothing without performance cost. These results align with a limited capacity theory of attention and EF, and suggest that children can maintain performance when task demands and distractor salience combined do not overtax cognitive resources. Children with higher EF managed BTV better, though they too scored lower in its presence, suggesting EF becomes depleted when taxed. Parent reports revealed clusters of factors that correlated with EF. Specifically, in homes where BTV was more frequently on, children also watched more TV, used more devices and more often had a bedroom TV. These children were also judged by their parents as less distracted by BTV, even though they had lower EF according to task scores and parents’ own ratings on a standardized measure. BTV practices may reflect parenting styles. Parents who limit BTV may provide more of the kind of structure, such as rules and routines, that scaffolds EF development and the transition from other- to self-regulated. BTV interfered with stable, sustained, focused and shared attention on the kinds of tasks that require the most attention and effort and thus are most likely to drive cognitive development. Shared viewing of high quality children’s programming can be a part of the optimal caregiving environment, but BTV should not be.


identifier: Halder, Biplab Kumar <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Halder=3ABiplab_Kumar=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Promoting women's reproductive health: why autonomy matters.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Community health clinics in Bangladesh are well known for their reproductive health care services such as maternal health care and counselling on contraceptive methods. However, since women’s reproductive health conditions determine their overall well-being, community clinics’ reproductive health care services require a critical analysis. Within a social justice framework, this thesis argues that women’s autonomy should receive adequate attention in providing reproductive health care for them, and that it currently does not. I analyze community clinics’ activities in the areas of both reproductive health care and health research. While acknowledging the positive aspects of the system at the macro level, I conclude that community health clinics lack an appreciation for women’s autonomy in promoting women’s reproductive health, despite the strong moral reasons for considering women’s autonomy as a paramount concern.


identifier: Moshtagh, Bahareh <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Moshtagh=3ABahareh=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Production of biosurfactants using industrial waste streams as substrates.  Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
Surfactants have a widespread household and industrial applications such as pharmaceutical, cosmetic, petroleum, agriculture, environmental, health care, and food industries. Chemical surfactants can be toxic and non-biodegradable. Biosurfactants which are produced with microorganisms are biodegradable and potential substitute to chemically synthesized surfactants. Large-scale production of biosurfactants is limited due to high costs associated with production. These costs
could be decreased by using industrial wastes and by-products as substrates in the
growth medium and additionally reduce the environmental impacts of the wastes.
Another useful method for achieving economic viability for biosurfactant production
is optimization of the cultural conditions such as temperature, pH, agitation, aeration,
and medium compositions.
The effectiveness of different local industrial waste streams for biosurfactant production was assessed using some indigenous Bacillus subtilis, Rhodococcus erythropolis and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus strains. The potentiated waste streams regarding appropriateness for microbial growth and biosurfactant production were obtained including brewery waste, glycerol from the conversion of fish oil to biodiesel, fish wastes, waste cooking oil and produced water. The waste streams were treated, centrifuged and filtered through membrane filters. According to the appropriate medium composition for each strain, which was derived from other studies, different mineral salts and trace elements were added to the waste streams. The cultivations were performed in flasks containing 50 mL medium and stirred in a rotary shaker at 30°C and 200 rpm for several days.
Biosurfactant productivity was evaluated by surface tension and emulsification index measurement. After running numerous tests for biosurfactant production, low production rate sources of carbon were omitted from further studies, and suitable levels or concentrations of effective waste streams for each strain, as well as some other cultivation conditions, were identified. Also, the appropriate composition for the medium was derived through these pre-tests. Eventually, indigenous Bacillus subtilis N3-1P strain with the brewery waste and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus P1-1A strain with the refined waste cooking oil as the sole carbon sources yielded the best results and were chosen for further studies. Appendix I demonstrates a comprehensive explanation of the initial tests.
The medium and cultivation conditions optimizations were conducted in a series of experiments. Different factors have been chosen to facilitate a higher production rate of the biosurfactant such as carbon source concentration, nitrogen source concentration, NaCl concentration, agitation speed, temperature, and initial pH. Finally, response surface methodologies employing the Design Expert software were used to optimize different parameters. The optimizations were performed separately on the two selected strains with their appropriate waste streams as carbon sources. The predicted responses were validated experimentally under the optimum conditions.
The indigenous Bacillus subtilis N3-1P and the brewery waste as carbon source were used to model the biomass growth, biosurfactant production, and substrate utilization by fitting the experimental data to the Logistic, Contois and Luedeking-Piret models using the MATLAB software and regression analysis. The achieved models can be used for simulating the large-scale production of biosurfactants.
The results of these studies confirm that the local brewery waste and the refined waste cooking oil can be used as the sole carbon sources for biosurfactant production by indigenous Bacillus subtilis N3-1P and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus P1-1A, respectively. Using these sustainable and inexpensive carbon sources reduces costs associated with biosurfactant production and helps to generate an environmentally friendly way for waste treatment and disposal. Also, finding the optimum conditions for different parameters and using the simulated models can decrease the production costs and be useful tools for understanding the cultivation process and scaling up the biosurfactant production. The economically produced biosurfactants would have the ability to be used as an effective method to minimize the impacts of spilled oil in offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.


identifier: Logan, Gabrielle S. <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Logan=3AGabrielle_S=2E=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Imaging rates and appropriateness for patients with low back pain as ordered by primary care physicians.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Choosing Wisely recommends reducing unnecessary radiological imaging for low back pain. This thesis explored imaging appropriateness for low back pain compared to these recommendations in Newfoundland and Labrador and globally. A minor part included a descriptive study to provide age-sex standardised rates of lumbar spine Computed Tomography in the Eastern Health Region. The main thesis portion focused on imaging appropriateness and included two main studies; a systematic review and meta-analysis of lumbar spine x-ray and CT appropriateness, and a medical record review of lumbar spine CT referrals. The systematic review and meta-analysis, conducted using the PRISMA statement, found that 44% of x-rays and 54% of CTs were appropriate. The medical record review conducted in 2016 in Eastern Health included 3,595 lumbar spine CTs referrals. It found 5.5% were appropriate, 75.8% were potentially appropriate, and 16.8% were inappropriate. Unnecessary imaging occurs despite guidelines advising against them. Future research to understand why physicians order imaging for back pain patients and effective reduction interventions are necessary.


identifier: Benkaroun, Jessica <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Benkaroun=3AJessica=3A=3A.html>   (2018) Genetic and evolutionary dynamics of avian influenza A virus in wild birds.  Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Influenza A virus (IAV) is the prototype of the family Orthomyxoviridae, a group of segmented, negative-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses. The virus circulates in wild bird species but does not usually cause severe disease in these hosts. However, highly pathogenic forms exist and have caused numerous deaths in wild and farmed birds. The eastern coast of Canada represents an interesting location for the study of IAVs in their natural reservoir as it has a large number of bird breeding colonies and migratory bird connections with the mainland of North America and Eurasia. Previous research on IAV ecology and transmission has shown that migratory birds in this region move the virus around the globe and contribute an important facet to IAV dynamics. My thesis focuses on the study of the virus genetics and evolutionary dynamics in different wild bird species. By applying high-throughput next-generation sequencing technologies, I characterized complete IAV genomes from different wild bird species from Newfoundland and Labrador and conducted in-depth analyses of the virus genomic structure. My study revealed that the structure of the virus genome is conserved among similar avian hosts. I also demonstrated though experimental mutation studies that a change of host can causes major changes in the viral genome. I also explored evolutionary patterns in the viral genomic non-coding regions (NCRs), and found that variation in the NCR sequences is correlated with the original host species and geographic origin. Finally, I analyzed IAVs from Laridae family hosts (gulls and terns) and demonstrated that these hosts are important for the transmission of IAVs around the globe and to other hosts and participate in the generation of pandemic viruses. Overall, my results contribute to give a better understanding on the evolution and geographic patterns of influenza A viruses in their natural hosts.


identifier: Apatinga, Gervin Ane <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Apatinga=3AGervin_Ane=3A=3A.html>   (2019) "Suffering in silence": a qualitative inquiry of sexual violence against married women in Ghana.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
Although a global problem, sexual violence against women is more pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet academic scholarship on this important topic remains scant. In particular, little attention has been given to the lived experiences of sexual violence from the perspective of married women. This gap is problematic as previous studies suggest that sexual violence is commonplace among married than single women in sub-Saharan Africa, requiring immediate research and policy attention. Contributing to the limited but growing body of literature, this study examined the lived experiences and perspectives of married women who suffered sexual violence in the Eastern Region of Ghana, one of the areas with the highest or most prevalent incidents of male-partner violence in the country.
A qualitative research approach with Heise’s social-ecological framework was employed to better understand sexual violence in Ghana. Specifically, the study used fifteen qualitative recorded in-depth interviews purposively held with Ghanaian women who had experienced sexual violence in their marriages to answer two main research questions: (1) what are the reasons for married women’s experience of sexual violence? (2) how does sexual violence affect married women?
Results from the thematic analysis showed that several driving forces and motivations triggered sexual violence against married women. Some of the reasons participants identified were macro-level and exosystem issues including cultural beliefs about gender division of labour, some traditional marriage practices, poverty and adherence to traditional masculine norms. Other explanations were micro-level and ontogenic issues comprising substance use, past experiences of violence and extramarital sexual affairs on the part of husbands. Due to itsperpetration, participants indicated that women did not experience only sexual violence but also physical violence and verbal violence. The results showed that the experiences of married women following sexual violence and other forms of abuse were physical injuries, psychological problems, sexual, reproductive health problems, and suicidal ideations. These negative health outcomes significantly undermined women’s economic activities and depleted their income.
Overall, the findings demonstrate that sexual violence among married women is a chronic experience, with severe implications for their health and well-being. Thus, campaigns against marital violence and domestic abuse should make sexual violence a priority. It is also important that legal and policy frameworks are strengthened to address the aetiology of male-partner sexual violence against women in Ghana.


identifier: Reefat <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Reefat=3A=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Effective fine structure constant.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

title: Effective fine structure constant

abstract: In this thesis, we use the dispersive approach to calculate the effective fine structure constant. In this calculation, a truncated self-energy and triangle topology is considered up to Next-to-Next to Leading Order (NNLO). We have used the dispersive approach for two-loop self energy to evaluate a NNLO (two loop) contributions and a result obtained is rather compact expressions using only two loop Passarino-Veltman function basis. For the triangle topology, we have used a bulk approximation technique. The numerical result was obtained using the LoopTools and ColliersLink packages in Mathematica.


identifier: Duchemin, Peter George Alexander <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Duchemin=3APeter_George_Alexander=3A=3A.html>   (2019) The art of hidden causation: magic as deep mediation.  Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.


identifier: Zinterl, Maike Gail <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Zinterl=3AMaike_Gail=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Non-Markovian open quantum systems.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

title: Non-Markovian open quantum systems

abstract:
We examine different nonlinear open quantum systems and calculate the non-Markovianity
based on the distinguishability between two density matrices. We show that for a single
spin (qubit) coupled to a bosonic field the non-Markovianity depends on the spectral
density function and can take on any number N with 0 ≤ N ≤ 1, meaning the dynamics
can be Markovian or highly non-Markovian. For the main result we consider a system of
Ntot identical spins coupled to an environment in the mean-field way. Each spin is coupled
to a local and the common reservoir. There are only indirect interactions between the
spins through the common reservoir. In limit Ntot → 1 the subsystem consisting of a
fixed set of n particles reduces to a factorized state in which each factor is a single spin
evolving according to a nonlinear Hartree-Lindblad equation which is exactly solvable. For
non-stationary initial spin states the non-Markovianity diverges. In this instance we can
never approximate the dynamics of the quantum system by a Markovian master equation
and this implies that in the mean field models, memory effects are significant.


identifier: Mitterauer, David <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Mitterauer=3ADavid=3A=3A.html>   (2019) "A single white line running through a web of blackness": racism's occlusion from the Anti-Tom novel to Charlottesville.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: This MA thesis discusses how romance as a literary form makes the Anti-Tom novel a malleable rhetorical vehicle to carry white supremacist ideology. Drawing on an interdisciplinary framework of postcolonial theory and race studies, the thesis analyzes antebellum Anti-Tom novels (Sarah J. Hale’s Liberia [1853]; Caroline Lee Hentz’s The Planter’s Northern Bride [1854]; and Charles Jacobs Peterson’s The Cabin and Parlor [1852]) and expands the genre’s definition to include Thomas Dixon’s The Leopard’s Spots (1902) and contemporary white-supremacist science fictions (William Luther Pierce’s The Turner Diaries [1978]; Ellen Williams’ Bedford: A World Vision [2000]; and Ward Kendall’s Hold Back This Day [2001]). The primary concerns of this thesis are to understand how the American slaveholding past signifies in the present political moment, to understand why the removal of the General Robert E. Lee statue catalyzed the violent riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, and to understand the affective preconditions Donald J. Trump created for this violence through racist rhetoric. The thesis argues that the pastoral romance changes in each new context. In the antebellum Anti-Tom novel it is tied to an idealized white plantocratic identity that is juxtaposed with the specter of black insurrection. In Dixon, open violence becomes a constitutive part. In the science fictions, violence becomes an intrinsic component of whiteness itself. The exploration permits inter alia an understanding of how Civil-War monuments can be detached from their historical contexts and repurposed for a current political movement. The thesis calls for opening a serious inquiry by legislators, academics, and teachers into white-supremacist literature rather than eschewing white-supremacist artefacts for fear of radicalization (or out of revulsion). It is in literature that white-supremacist ideologues communicate with a wider public by abandoning the obscurity of white-supremacist sophistry and drawing on existing literary traditions.


identifier: Poulos, Steven <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Poulos=3ASteven=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Embryo development under context of hybridization and a review of regional patterns in hybrid frequency of Atlantic salmon and brown trout.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Reproductive isolating mechanisms that maintain the integrity of species sometimes fail, resulting in hybridization. Such isolating mechanisms occur pre- and post-gamete release, and influence nuances of sperm phenotype that may affect offspring development. Hybridization between congeneric Atlantic salmon and brown trout occurs in their native range of sympatry in Europe, and via human introductions of brown trout in North America. It is known in other hybrid systems that pre-zygotic post-copulatory isolation via cryptic female choice perhaps mediated by ovarian fluid can bias fertilization towards conspecific sperm. Anthropogenic hybridization of these species in the invaded range of North America is not well understood. This provides an opportunity to understand mechanisms of isolation between the species. Therefore, I explored 1) developmental characteristics of offspring sired from sperm exposed to conspecific and heterospecific ovarian fluid and 2) developmental characteristics of pure salmon, pure trout, and bidirectional hybrids in two fluctuating temperature regimes. Ovarian fluid had no effect on the development of offspring, however, hybridization did. Hatch success of hybrids was high, supporting previous work. Although effect sizes were small, hybridization generally caused earlier hatching for each female, and hybrids produced with salmon eggs suffered the fastest rate of mortality shortly after hatching relative to hybrids of trout eggs. This is important, for previous work reported hybrids produced from trout eggs die shortly after hatching.


identifier: Alvandi, Amirhossein <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Alvandi=3AAmirhossein=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Estimation of population proportion with ranked set samples in the presence of multiple concomitants.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Ranked Set Sampling (RSS) design as one of the most renowned cost-effective sampling methods, have found a wide range of applications from agriculture to medical research. This statistical approach is commonly used in situations where measuring a variable of interest is expensive and time-consuming, however, small ordered sets of sampling units can be produced utilizing some source of auxiliary information as the ranking criterion. These concomitant variables may include any easily measurable characteristic of the units such as visually assessed cytological characteristics of patients. When ranking the units in a set, it is often unfeasible to assign unique ranks to all units. To provide some flexibility, we allow declaring ties among the individuals, and utilize the tie structure data for estimation purposes. Several authors have applied this sampling method to the problem of population proportion estimation. Throughout this thesis, we discuss various estimation procedures for population proportion using Partially Rank Ordered Set (PROS) sampling method which accomplishes the tie declarations by dividing sampling units into partially ranked subsets. We also discuss an estimation procedure that use logistic regression proportion estimates for ranking the sampling units. However, the most important contribution of our research is to extend six non-parametric and maximum likelihood population proportion estimators to incorporate the ranking information obtained from multiple sources. Through extensive simulation studies, and real data analysis, we investigate the performance of eight proportion estimators under various settings of ranking quality, and tie structures among the ranks. We show the universal superiority of RSS-based estimators over their counterparts using Simple Random Sampling (SRS), and the significant improvement in the estimation efficiency by combining the tie structure information of multiple concomitant variables.


identifier: Wang, Luyi <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Wang=3ALuyi=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Paleoenvironmental changes across the Late Cambrian–Early Ordovician in western Newfoundland.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: The Martin Point section (western Newfoundland, Canada) spans the uppermost Cambrian Broom Point and Martin Point members of the Green Point Formation (upper Furongian). The investigated interval (~ 90 m) consists of rhythmites of thinly-bedded marine carbonates (lime mudstones) alternating with green and black shale and thin conglomerate beds. Samples were extracted from the micritic carbonates and their preservation was petrographically and geochemically examined. The δ¹³Corg profile exhibits a positive shift (~ 2 ‰) associated with the globally well documented negative δ¹³Ccarb excursion at the HERB (Hellnmaria – Red Tops Boundary) and correlates with similar distinct shifts in the Al, Si, and ΣREE components, thus suggesting contributions from detrital organic matter relatively depleted in ¹²C likely induced by an eustatic sea-level drop and enhanced terrigenous inputs. Similarly, the δ¹⁵Norg variations are consistent with the proposed sea-level drop. This is also correlated with positive shifts on the Fe and Mn profiles reflecting overprinting of terrigenous inputs rather than reflecting the fluctuations in redox conditions.


identifier: Chassé, Maeghan <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Chass=E9=3AMaeghan=3A=3A.html>   (2019) There's no place like home: a study on World War II war brides and their families in Northwestern Ontario.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
During the Second World War an estimated 48,000 women, mostly from the United Kingdom,
met and married Canadian soldiers who were stationed overseas (Oosterom 2011, 26). These
women immigrated to Canada as new wives and new mothers and came to be known as “war
brides.” This research examines war brides who settled in Northwestern Ontario and explores
how these women created home and community in their new environments, as well as how they
made meaning in their lives through traditional expressive culture. Consequently, this study is as
much about war bride families as it is about war brides-- perhaps even for so. In this study I ask:
How were war brides able to create “home” in a new country so far away from their families?
And, how did ideas of home get passed on to the children of war brides? Most importantly, I
ponder the concept of “home” and how it is understood differently by so many people. These
questions are explored through three folklore genres: foodways, family narrative, and material
culture.


identifier: Wu, Ruiwen <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Wu=3ARuiwen=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Evolution dynamics of some population models in heterogeneous environments.  Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
Spatial and/or temporal evolutions are very important topics in epidemiology and
ecology. This thesis is devoted to the study of the global dynamics of some population
models incorporating with environmental heterogeneities.
Vector-borne diseases such as West Nile virus and malaria, pose a threat to public
health worldwide. Both vector life cycle and parasite development are highly sensitive
to climate factors. To understand the role of seasonality on disease spread, we start
with a periodic West Nile virus transmission model with time-varying incubation
periods. Apart from seasonal variations, another important feature of our environment
is the spatial heterogeneity. Hence, we incorporate the movement of both vectors and
hosts, temperature-dependent incubation periods, seasonal fluctuations and spatial
heterogeneity into a general reaction-diffusion vector-borne disease model. By using
the theory of basic reproduction number, R₀, and the theory of infinite dimensional
dynamical systems, we derive R₀ and establish a threshold-type result for the global
dynamics in terms of R₀ for each model.
As biological invasions have significant impacts on ecology and human society, how
the growth and spatial spread of invasive species interact with environment becomes an
important and challenging problem. We first propose an impulsive integro-differential
model to describe a single invading species with a birth pulse in the reproductive stage
and a nonlocal dispersal stage. Next, we study the propagation dynamics for a class
of integro-difference two-species competition models in a spatially periodic habitat.


identifier: Newell, Christopher J.H. <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Newell=3AChristopher_J=2EH=2E=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Silence.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

title: Silence

abstract:
25-year-old Michael Healey has been sober for several years. He tries to stay away from
drugs and alcohol, despite bouncing in a St. John’s nightclub. He struggles to stay afloat
financially despite the lack of work, resorting to anything that pays. He’s living a life he
thinks he’s supposed to live— in public, anyway. And still, it’s a precarious juggling act.
One day, Michael stumbles onto an old family secret: back in 1949, his great-grandfather,
Harlan Hynes, was arrested for killing his great-grandmother, Allison. What he discovers
about the past sends him on a path towards either self-discovery or potential selfdestruction.
An emotional, disturbing journey takes him from the clubs on George Street
to the memories he left back home in Grand Falls-Windsor, as he seeks to understand the
forces that shaped his life. In the process, Michael digs up other secrets he’s hidden even
from himself. Now he just has to survive them. Here is a study of the ramifications of
child sexual abuse, toxic masculinity, particularly as it touches down in outport
Newfoundland, and ultimately how harrowing recovery might be.


identifier: Harris, Lucas <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Harris=3ALucas=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Aligning citizen science and extended producer responsibility policy for marine plastic reduction.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
To address plastic pollution in the marine environment, policy interventions need
to be focused upstream, at the point of production. Extended producer responsibility
(EPR) is a promising upstream strategy to address plastic marine debris, as it shifts the
responsibility for waste management of a product or its packaging from local
governments to producers. This provides incentives to producers to prevent waste from
being generated in the first place (i.e. source reduction), and reduces material going to
landfill or leaking into the environment by funding, creating or expanding infrastructure
for post-consumer recycling. However, EPR programs are not currently designed to
measure this effect of marine plastic pollution prevention. At first glance, citizen science
data appears to be a good option to evaluate EPR, since there are a several types of
monitoring programs in operation with various pre-existing data sets that track some
packaging items. Yet, this information has never been used for this purpose before. This
research focuses on British Columbia (BC), the first and only coastal jurisdiction in North
America to implement an 100% industry-funded EPR program for packaging and printed
paper (PPP) material in 2014. Packaging materials, including food wrappers, plastic and
glass drink bottles, bottle caps, plastic grocery bags and plastic lids, all featured in the top
ten most frequently found items during marine litter surveys. There are also eight
organizations actively conducting citizen science shoreline monitoring activity in BC,
making it an ideal candidate for analysing the potential of citizen science data. This
research uses both quantitative and qualitative methods. Using various mixed-effect and
linear models to analyze pre-existing citizen science data sets, generated with
standardized data collection frameworks, demonstrated that there has been no decrease in packaging debris levels on shorelines after the introduction of EPR in 2014. However,
qualitative analysis demonstrated that the characteristics of the citizen science data,
structure of the EPR policy in BC and nature of plastic marine debris limit the ability to
use the data for this particular purpose. Additionally, citizen science organizations are
migrating away from standardized data collection frameworks in order to develop
systems that are customized to the specific needs in their community, thereby further
limiting data sets that may be used for analysis of EPR. Many of these organizations are
choosing to adapt their data collection approaches to align with municipal waste
management options available to them. This has led to the creation of a diverse
patchwork of information across the province. As a result of this study, it is clear that for
upstream policy interventions, such as EPR, to determine if it is affecting packaging
pollution levels downstream on shorelines, it needs to develop and implement its own
benchmarking and monitoring program, tailored to address its specific requirements of
data resolution.


identifier: Robinson, Olivia <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Robinson=3AOlivia=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Forty voices.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

title: Forty voices

abstract:
What does it mean to have a voice? For twenty-one year-old Linnet, her voice is all she
has. Since she was young, singing has been the lens through which she interprets the world. But
at the beginning of her third year of university, her voice fails her and she has to learn what it
might be like to live without it.
Through her relationships with the women in her life, Linnet tries to come to terms with
what the loss of her voice means for her future. Set over the course of one week, with flashbacks
to earlier in her life, Linnet deals with the immediate aftermath of losing her voice and tries to
decide whether to remain in Ottawa with her girlfriend or return home to Prince Edward Island.


identifier: McEwen, Jim <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/McEwen=3AJim=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Fearnoch.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

title: Fearnoch

abstract:
Fearnoch is the story, or stories, of the inhabitants of Fearnoch, Ontario, a fictional
rural Ottawa Valley town on the cusp of disaster. It is an interconnected gathering
of small stories swept together and dependent on each other. A boy watches pigs getting
castrated and worries about his aging father. A young woman is nervous to return home,
having not delivered on her promise. A socialist government employee plots a revolution
and feuds with his former friend, a conservative farmer. And a depressed man tries to
find his spine while working at the Fearnoch dump. They love each other; they hate each
other; they forget and they remember. The disputes between the townspeople swell into a
catastrophe that cuts through town. Before the end, each character remembers their humility,
the humanity in their neighbour and their place as a piece of something bigger
than themselves.


identifier: Ali, Mohammad Zawad <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Ali=3AMohammad_Zawad=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Induction motors fault diagnosis using machine learning and advanced signal processing techniques.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
In this thesis, induction motors fault diagnosis are investigated using machine learning and advanced signal processing techniques considering two scenarios: 1) induction motors are directly connected online; and 2) induction motors are fed by variable frequency drives (VFDs). The research is based on experimental data obtained in the lab. Various single- and multi- electrical and/or mechanical faults were applied to two identical induction motors in experiments. Stator currents and vibration signals of the two motors were measured simultaneously during experiments and were used in developing the fault diagnosis method. Signal processing techniques such as Matching Pursuit (MP) and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) are chosen for feature extraction. Classification algorithms, including decision trees, support vector machine (SVM), K-nearest neighbors (KNN), and Ensemble algorithms are used in the study to evaluate the performance and suitability of different classifiers for induction motor fault diagnosis. Novel curve or surface fitting techniques are implemented to obtain features for conditions that have not been tested in experiments. The proposed fault diagnosis method can accurately detect single- or multi- electrical and mechanical faults in induction motors either directly online or fed by VFDs.
In addition to the machine learning method, a threshold method using the stator current signal processed by DWT is also proposed in the thesis.


identifier: Daly, Jack Ryan <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Daly=3AJack_Ryan=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Impacts of international trade policy on fisheries-dependent coastal communities: a Newfoundland case study.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: This thesis examines how international trade policy impacts fisheries and local fishing communities. The case study for the research is the Canada-European Union (EU) Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which came into effect in 2017. The study region is the Great Northern Peninsula (GNP), on the northwest coast of Newfoundland, Canada, where fishing communities depend on the export-oriented fisheries. By means of interactive governance theory, an institutional analytical approach is employed to examine the change in the fisheries and the governing system that CETA may bring, as well as the compatibility between the policies and principles of CETA with those governing the case-study region. Subsequently, informant interviews were conducted with fish harvesters, community members, and local and provincial governments to gauge initial responses to CETA and the change that it has already induced. Results indicate that CETA impacts governing interactions in the case-study region by first, expanding market access, and second, by weakening regionally specific protections of the inshore fishery. Furthermore, initial responses show that current stressors facing the region, including lack of adequate resource access and processing sector vulnerability, may be exacerbated, rather than mitigated, by CETA. This research highlights the importance of an early appraisal of the overall impact of trade policy from the governance perspective and according to local communities that are directly and indirectly affected by such policy. Specifically, the research offers: (1) a methodological approach to assess international trade policy through a governance lens; (2) an illustration of interactions between international trade and coastal communities; and (3) a broadening of discussion about implications of the seafood trade and international trade policy at all levels.


identifier: Connors-Stack, Margo <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Connors-Stack=3AMargo=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Plebian born: an examination of the life of T.M. White (1861-1938) through the lens of class, gender and melodrama.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: T. M. White (1861-1938) was a St. John’s wheelwright, actor, labour leader, political hopeful and civil servant. His was the life of an ordinary person, a liminal man aspiring to middle class respectability. This biographical microhistory illuminates aspects of the culture of the time and place viewed through the trifold lens of class, gender (masculinity) and melodrama. Through White’s involvement in the Total Abstinence and Benefit Society and the Mechanics’ Society, the role of volunteer associations as an educative and socializing force for working class men is evident. Also, White’s activities with the Mechanics’ Society and the Newfoundland Industrial Workers Association provide snapshots of the early days of the burgeoning labour movement. Similarly, White’s involvement in amateur theatre provides a window into a segment of local theatre culture. Finally, White’s attempts to attain elected office and his lawsuit against businessman R. G. Reid provide a view of the political culture of the era as it impacted an individual.


identifier: Rahimipour Anaraki, Javad <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Rahimipour_Anaraki=3AJavad=3A=3A.html>   (2019) From fuzzy-rough to crisp feature selection.  Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract:
A central problem in machine learning and pattern recognition is the process of
recognizing the most important features in a dataset. This process plays a decisive
role in big data processing by reducing the size of datasets. One major drawback of
existing feature selection methods is the high chance of redundant features appearing
in the final subset, where in most cases, finding and removing them can greatly
improve the resulting classification accuracy. To tackle this problem on two different
fronts, we employed fuzzy-rough sets and perturbation theories. On one side, we used
three strategies to improve the performance of fuzzy-rough set-based feature selection
methods. The first strategy was to code both features and samples in one binary
vector and use a shuffled frog leaping algorithm to choose the best combination using
fuzzy dependency degree as the fitness function. In the second strategy, we designed
a measure to evaluate features based on fuzzy-rough dependency degree in a fashion
where redundant features are given less priority to be selected. In the last strategy,
we designed a new binary version of the shuffled frog leaping algorithm that employs a
fuzzy positive region as its similarity measure to work in complete harmony with the
fitness function (i.e. fuzzy-rough dependency degree). To extend the applicability of
fuzzy-rough set-based feature selection to multi-party medical datasets, we designed
a privacy-preserving version of the original method. In addition, we studied the
feasibility and applicability of perturbation theory to feature selection, which to the
best of our knowledge has never been researched. We introduced a new feature
selection based on perturbation theory that is not only capable of detecting and
discarding redundant features but also is very fast and flexible in accommodating the special needs of the application. It employs a clustering algorithm to group likely-behaved
features based on the sensitivity of each feature to perturbation, the angle of
each feature to the outcome and the effect of removing each feature to the outcome,
and it chooses the closest feature to the centre of each cluster and returns all those
features as the final subset. To assess the effectiveness of the proposed methods,
we compared the results of each method with well-known feature selection methods
against a series of artificially generated datasets, and biological, medical and cancer
datasets adopted from the University of California Irvine machine learning repository,
Arizona State University repository and Gene Expression Omnibus repository.


identifier: Martina, Stefanie Dawn <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Martina=3AStefanie_Dawn=3A=3A.html>   (2019) Effects of ambient lighting on performance and learning of underwater helicopter escape sequences during simulation training.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: This project aimed to evaluate effects of ambient lighting during practice and performance of dry, simulated helicopter escape sequences. Participants were randomized to one of the following groups to practice a standard helicopter underwater escape sequence: Light (with room lights on), Dark (with room lights off), or Graduated (in the light for the first half and then in the dark for the second half of the trials). Following practice, participants had a minimum of thirty minutes break, followed by retention testing in the dark and then in the light. Dependent measures included accuracy, movement time, state anxiety index, breathing rate, and heart rate variability. Results indicated that participants performed more accurately during the dark retention trial than during the light retention trial. This could be due to increased arousal elicited by performance in the dark or, alternatively, may suggest that performance of helicopter escape sequences is not visually mediated. Anxiety level did not differ between conditions. Based on findings, it appears that training in the light is suitable for potential performance in the dark.