title: Systems and models for secure fallback authentication

subject:
Geographic authentication
Fallback authentication
Autobiographical authentication
Known adversary

abstract:
Fallback authentication (FA) techniques such as security questions, Email resets, and SMS resets have significant security flaws that easily undermine the primary method of authentication. Security questions have been shown to be often guessable. Email resets assume a secure channel of communication and pose the threat of the avalanche effect; where one compromised email account can compromise a series of other accounts. SMS resets also assume a secure channel of communication and are vulnerable to attacks on telecommunications protocols. Additionally, all of these FA techniques are vulnerable to the known adversary. The known adversary is any individual with elevated knowledge of a potential victim, or elevated access to a potential victim's devices that uses these privileges with malicious intent, undermining the most commonly used FA techniques.
An authentication system is only as strong as its weakest link; in many cases this is the FA technique used. As a result of that, we explore one new and one altered FA system: GeoPassHints a geographic authentication system paired with a secret note, as well as GeoSQ, an autobiographical authentication scheme that relies on location data to generate questions. We also propose three models to quantify the known adversary in order to establish an improved measurement tool for security research. We test GeoSQ and GeoPassHints for usability, security, and deployability through a user study with paired participants (n=34). We also evaluate the models for the purpose of measuring vulnerabilities to the known adversary by correlating the scores obtained in each model to the successful guesses that our participant pairs made.


title: Using consumer-grade brain-computer interface devices to capture and detect unaware facial recognitions

subject: BCI EEG Unaware Facial Recognition

abstract:
The brain's natural reaction to viewing and processing faces in an aware manner
is an area of research that has been explored for previously, however the brain's
unaware reactions to these stimuli prove to be fairly less explored. An experiment
was performed where recruited participants viewed images of individuals' faces while
their brains' electroencephalography signals were recorded using a consumer-grade
BCI device. The chosen images were assigned one of three classes of recognition,
corresponding with what we expect the images to be recognized as: No Recognition,
Possible Unaware Recognition, and Possible Aware Recognition. Using modern filtering and analysis techniques, it was found that, in effect, using consumer-grade
brain-computer interface devices, the three previously-defined classes of recognition
are easily identified, both with the human eye and machine learning tools, and previous efforts to detect unaware/subconscious facial recognition have been improved on
using a variety of methods for data manipulation.

abstract: University of Ontario Institute of Technology


title: Stereoscopic depth axis interaction: A study of performance and engagement in stereoscopic 3D games.

subject:
Stereoscopic 3D
Depth cues
Game design
User experience
Engagement

abstract:
Game developers strive to maximize immersion and engagement,
to emotionally involve the audience in their material. One technique
used to increase engagement is the development of new technologies,
such as Stereoscopic 3D. Stereoscopic 3D (S3D) creates the impression
of depth (stereopsis) in  at images by providing additional binocular
depth cues, such as convergence and binocular disparity. In this thesis,
we explore the effects that S3D has on the player experience in an
attempt to uncover design methodologies that can help game developers
develop more effective content. Three experiments were designed
and conducted to examine the effects S3D has on player experience and
game design: i) Engagement in Stereoscopic 3D Games, ii) S3D Depth-
Axis Interaction for Video Games: Performance and Engagement, iii)
Depth Representation and Player Performance with Depth-Axis Interactivity.
We hypothesized that S3D technology would increase immersion
and engagement, and new mechanics that exploit the depth axis would
be effective.
The results of these studies suggest that S3D does not increase
user engagement, and is consistent with prior research that suggest
the impact of S3D is dependent on the game. They also demonstrate
that developers can design unique experiences in stereoscopic 3D, but
there may be additional ways to represent depth. The results suggest
developers need to adjust the difficulty of their game when including
stereoscopic 3D, depending on the interactions of their game. It is our
recommendation that developers continue to explore the affordances offered
by stereoscopic 3D to create unique experiences, but its inclusion
is dependent on their specific game.


title: Access control obligation specification and enforcement using behavior pattern language

subject:
Access control
Obligation
Behavior
Language

abstract:
Increasing the use of Internet-based devices offers novel opportunities for users
to access and share resources anywhere and anytime so that such a collaborative
environment complicates the design of an accountable resource access control system.
Relying on only predefined access control policies based on an entity's attributes,
as in traditional access control solutions, cannot provide enough flexibility to apply
continuous adjustments in order to adapt to any kind of operative run time conditions.
The limited scope and precision of the existing policy-based access control solutions
have put considerable limitations on adequately satisfying the challenging security
aspects of the IT enterprises.
In this research, we focus on the obligatory behavior that can play an important
role in access control to protect resources and services of a typical system. Since
traditional access control is performed only once before the resource is accessed by
the subject, the access control system is unable to control the fulfillment of obligation
while the access is in progress. Practically, such a requirement is implemented in
hard-coded and proprietary ways. Consequently, the lack of sophisticated means
for specification and enforcement of obligation in access control system decreases its
flexibility and may also lead to the security breach in sensitive environments.
We provide a descriptive language that is capable of defining a variety of complex
behavior patterns based on a sequence of user actions. Such a description can be used
to specify different elements of the obligation in order to attach to a policy language,
and it is also used to generate queries for behavior matching purposes.
Moreover, we propose a behavior pattern matching framework to approve the
fulfillment of the obligation by looking into the audit logs. However, this method is
extremely inadequate for ongoing obligations. Therefore, we proposed a compliance
engine by utilizing complex event processing in order to make a decision to revoke
or continue the access in a timely manner. We implemented both frameworks that
can be used to approve the obligation fulfillment as well as to evaluate the expressive
power and complexity of our proposed language.


title: STDMn+p0: a multidimensional patient oriented data mining framework for critical care research

contributor:
McGregor, Carolyn
Catley, Christina
Eklund, Mikael
James, Andrew

subject:
Neonatal intensive care
Critical care
Multidimensional algorithms
Patient characteristics
Clinical decision support systems

abstract: In the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) environment, critical care and treatment directly correlate to the multidimensional development of an infant and are influenced by attributes such as gender and gestational age (GA). Recent literature on guidelines developed for neonatal intensive care; do not take the gender or the GA of the infant into account. The exponential activity of a growing neonate in its early stages of life needs to be captured and embedded into algorithms designed to extract patterns of predictive temperament within the NICU domain. The STDMn+p0 framework presents an extended multidimensional approach with the ability to create patient characteristic clinical rules. Further defining NICU algorithms, through the extended use of attributes to include gender and GA, and using these new algorithms in clinical decision support systems increases the accuracy and thereby minimizes the risk of adverse events.


title: Radiation response and optical characterization of carbon based thin-films prepared by saddle field plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

contributor:
Gaspari, Franco
Waker, Anthony
Shiell, Rayf

subject:
PECVD carbon thin-film
Nan-crystalline diamond
Diamond like carbon
Radiation detection

abstract: Carbon based thin-film materials have been attracting a lot of attention in many research fields due to their unique material properties. Detection of ionizing radiation is an important application that carbon and diamond based materials, which offer a promising detection material with low manufacturing cost and a variety of physical characteristics for different detection applications. In the current study, the direct current (DC) saddle field Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) method was used to prepare a set of nano-crystalline diamond samples. The relation between the deposition pressure, the gases mixing ratios and the resultant film characteristics were studied. The optical, microstructure and electronic properties of the prepared samples were studied using Raman spectroscopy, FTIR, UV-Visible spectroscopy and I –V characteristics methods. It was found that, an increase in the hydrogen content in the gas mixture leads to a decrease in the crystallinity of the resultant film. A set of samples were selected with different crystalline content and defect DOS to investigate the impact of these parameters on the material’s radiation response. It was determined that, the sample with relatively high degree of crystallinity and with the presence of defects close to the valence show promising responses for radiation detection applications. We attributed this results to the fact that, transport is dominated by electrons and shallow defects near the conduction band act as electron traps. On the other hand, hole-traps near the valence band do not have the same impact on the overall transport properties


title: Influence of sinusoidal motion on Stirling engines

subject:
Stirling engine
Efficiency
Thermodynamics
Sinusoidal

abstract: Stirling engines have a high potential to produce renewable energy due to their ability to use a wide range of sustainable heat sources and their high theoretical efficiencies. They have not yet achieved widespread use and commercial Stirling engines have had reduced efficiencies compared to their ideal values. This work shows that a substantial\ amount of the reduction in efficiency is due to the operation of Stirling engines using sinusoidal motion and quantities this reduction. A discrete model was developed to perform an isothermal analysis of a 100cc alpha-type Stirling engine with a 90_ phase angle offset, to demonstrate the impact of sinusoidal motion on the net work and thermal efficiency in comparison to the ideal cycle. The model was adapted to analyze beta and gamma-type Stirling configurations, and the analysis revealed similar reductions due to sinusoidal motion. Lastly, a mechanically plausible arrangement is presented and analyzed to demonstrate that non-sinusoidal operation can be accomplished.


title: Development and assessment of renewable energy based integrated systems for dimethyl ether production

subject:
Dimethyl-ether
Exergy
Desalination
Multi-generation
Renewable energy

abstract: Dimethyl-ether (DME) is considered to be one of the most promising, renewable alternative fuels. This thesis studies, develops, analyzes and assesses the performance of three dimethyl-ether production integrated systems, where dimethyl-ether is produced from carbon dioxide and renewable hydrogen. The three systems are fully operated by waste heat and renewable energy. The first system consists of a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer system, carbon capturing system and heat recovery from cement furnace, methanol synthesis system and dimethyl-ether synthesis system. The second system consists of a solar heliostat field, solid oxide steam electrolyzer, carbon capturing and heat recovery system from steel furnace, methanol synthesis system and dimethyl-ether synthesis system. The third system consists of gas turbine cycle, Cu-Cl thermochemical hydrogen production cycle, carbon capturing system and heat recovery from gas turbine exhaust gas, methanol synthesis system, dimethyl-ether synthesis system and multi-effect desalination system. Modeling studies and simulations are performed using both Aspen Plus, and Engineering Equation Solver software packages. These three systems are thermodynamically assessed based on energy and exergy efficiencies. The overall system's energy and exergy efficiencies resulted in 40.46 % and 52.81 for the first system, 28.75% and 32.54% for the second system, and 39.72% and 55.2 % for the third system.


title: Examining interview ground rules in formal interviews with children

subject:
Investigative interviews
Ground rules
Child witnesses
Mock jurors’ perceptions

abstract: Within the context of formal interviews with children, accuracy and clarity are paramount. Thus, protocols for interviewing children establish ground rules to encourage children to, for example, say “I don’t know,” “I don’t understand,” or correct interviewer mistakes as necessary. Interview ground rules are intended to facilitate children’s success during formal questioning. Despite widespread recommendation and use of such instructions, relatively little is known regarding children’s understanding and implementation of these rules; and adults’ perceptions of children’s application of the ground rules have yet to be investigated. The current thesis fills crucial gaps in the literature regarding the ground rules for interviews with children, particularly the “I don’t understand” rule. Three studies are presented. Study 1 tested a novel intervention aimed at increasing children’s appropriate use of the “I don’t understand” rule. Results indicate that child age and “I don’t understand” rule reminders impacted children’s clarification requests to tricky questions in that older children and children who received such reminders requested clarification more frequently than younger children and children who did not receive reminders. Study 2 investigated individual differences (age, ADHD diagnosis, and executive functioning) in how children understand the ground rules and whether, how, and under what circumstances children apply the ground rules. Results demonstrate that children did not differ based on individual differences in ADHD diagnosis or executive functioning with respect to ground rule understanding or application but older children did exhibit a significantly higher degree of ground rule understanding than younger children. Study 3 examined adult perceptions of children’s use of the “I don’t understand” rule compared to the “I don’t know” rule, including how many times they applied either rule in an investigative interview about sexual abuse. Results indicate that the child who applied either ground rule only once during their interview was viewed more positively than the child who applied either ground rule multiple times, though the type of rule applied by the child had little impact on mock jurors’ perceptions. Together, the proposed studies yield valuable insights into the widely used but under-researched ground rules for conducting interviews with children.


title: Predicting mobile application power consumption

subject: Prediction Mobile Power Smartphone

abstract: We present an analysis of battery consumption to predict the average consumption rate of any given application. We explain the process and techniques used to gather the data, and present over 25000 readings collected over 3 months. We then use iterative proportional fitting to predict the consumptions rates, discuss the issues with the collected data, and highlight the attempts made to alleviate the problems. Lastly, we discuss the limitations and challenges of this approach, and suggest changes that may be required in order to produce more accurate results.


title: A systems approach to assessing the sustainability of hybrid community energy systems.

contributor:
Dincer, Ibrahim
Rosen, Marc

subject:
Energy system
Index
Life-cycle assessment
Sustainability
Weighting factor

abstract:
The goal to achieve a sustainable society that will endure over the long term is
generally regarded as a positive evolutionary course. One of the challenges with this
goal is developing a quantitative assessment of the sustainability of a system. Despite
the different measures available in the literature, a standard and universally accepted
index for assessing sustainability does not yet exist. This thesis develops a novel
Integrated Sustainability Index (ISI) for energy systems that considers critical
multidimensional sustainability criteria. The originality of this new index is that it
incorporates fundamental thermodynamic, economic, and environmental constraints to
combine indicators from multiple dimensions into a single-score evaluation of
sustainability. The index is therefore unique because it can assess sustainability relative
to an ideal reference state instead of being limited to ranking systems via relative
assessments.
The ISI of an energy system is determined by normalization, weighting, and
aggregation of sustainability indicators. Indicators are normalized relative to sustainable
threshold values and weighted based on time, space, and receptor (i.e., human or
ecosystem impacts) criteria. Aggregation yields an ISI between zero and one, where one
represents a sustainable system. The ISI is calculated for several different case studies
spanning a range of fossil- and renewable-based energy systems. Each is designed as a
stand-alone system to meet the energy needs of a small community in Southern
Ontario. The analysis shows that of the various alternatives, a solar-photovoltaichydrogen
system has the best ISI, which ranges from 0.65-0.90 and is a 4-25%
improvement over the reference, gas-fired system. For the solar-photovoltaic-hydrogen
system and many others, climate change and ozone layer depletion indicators have the
strongest effect on ISI. Affordability, commercial viability, and land area indicators are
also critical for other energy systems. The ISI is expected to prove useful as a high-level,
multi-criteria decision analysis tool for understanding and fostering sustainable energy
systems, alone or in concert with other approaches.


title: The acute response to high intensity interval exercise in adults with exercise induced bronchoconstriction

subject:
Bronchoconstriction
High intensity interval exercise
Lung function
Affect
Perceived exertion

abstract:
INTRODUCTION: Exercise induced bronchoconstriction (EIBC) occurs as a result of
airway cooling and drying in adults with airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR). Continuous
exercise leads to a significant decline in lung function; however, interval exercise may
allow ventilation to recover and prevent EIBC. PURPOSE: To determine the acute
response of lung function and the subjective perceptions during and after a bout of high
intensity interval (HIIE), moderate intensity interval (MIIE), and moderate intensity
continuous (MICE) exercise in adults with AHR. METHODS: Participants completed an
acute bout of HIIE, MIIE, and MICE. Lung function was assessed pre and post-exercise
while late phase symptoms were reported using a log and subjective responses were
assessed during each minute of exercise. RESULTS: Thirteen participants with EIBC
completed all protocols. Lung function was significantly lower following the MICE and
perceptions of effort and dyspnea were higher. CONCLUSION: It appears HIIE is well
tolerated among adults with AHR.


title: Health service utilization among demented individuals with or without mood disorders in Canada

subject:
Alzheimer's disease
Dementia
Mood disorders
Health service utilization

abstract:
Aim: To assess how comorbid mood disorders were associated with health service utilization of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias in a Canadian household population.
Methods: The study utilized a population-based secondary data analysis approach, using data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) 2011-2012 annual component.
Results: Mood disorders were found to be more prevalent among persons with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias compared to those without (26.7% vs 7.7%). Multivariable analysis showed that individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias and a comorbid mood disorder were more likely to use community and medical mental health services (AOR: 1.79, P=0.030) (AOR: 6.58, P=0.000).
Conclusion: The increased usage of health services in persons with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias and a comorbid mood disorder exhibit the importance of understanding the needs of these individuals to help shift public policy. This will aid researchers in developing and implementing improved services.


title: Design and control of resilient interconnected microgrids for reliable mass transit systems

contributor:
Gaber, Hossam
Milman, Ruth

subject:
Interconnected microgrids
Resilience
Hierarchical control
Game theory
Railway electrification

abstract: Mass transit systems are relied on a daily basis to transport millions of passengers and bring billions of dollars' worth of economic goods to market. While some forms of mass transit rely on a fuel, electrified railway systems are dependent on the electric grid. The electric grid is becoming more vulnerable to disruptions, due to extreme weather, changing supply and demand patterns, and cyber-terrorism. An interruption to the energy supply of a railway infrastructure can have cascading effects on the economy and social livelihood. Resilient interconnected microgrids are proposed to maintain reliable operation of electrified railway infrastructures. An engineering design framework, and supporting methods and techniques, is proposed for an electrified railway infrastructure to be upgraded from its existing form, to one with resilient interconnected microgrids. The sizing of the interconnected microgrids is performed using an iterative sizing analysis, considering multiple resiliency key performance indicators to inform the designer of the trade-offs in sizing options. Hierarchical control is proposed to monitor and control the interconnected microgrids. A multi-objective problem cast in the tertiary level of control is proposed to be solved using game theory. The proposed designs are modelled and simulated in Simulink. Four case studies of railway infrastructures in Canada and the United Kingdom are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed designs. While results for each case study vary, resilient interconnected microgrids for railway infrastructures demonstrates a reduced dependence on the electric grid. The examples here are all scalable and can perform within the framework of any available energy system. The results are both extremely impressive and promising towards a more resilient and stable energy future for our railway and other critical infrastructures.


title: Factors affecting the impact of general elective courses which include physical activity on post-secondary student mental health

subject:
Post-secondary
Mental health
Physical activity
Exercise
General elective course

abstract:
Post-secondary students are vulnerable to depression, anxiety and stress when faced with academic pressures. Physical activity can be beneficial in alleviating mental health symptoms, therefore, physical activity was built into curriculum of an Ontario Post-secondary general elective course. This thesis aim was to assess whether including physical activity would act as a protective barrier, mitigating further symptoms and lead to improved mental health in students.
The physical activity course did not lead to improvements in mental health scores over a single semester. This may be because students who selected the physical activity course showed lower rates of anxiety and stress at baseline, so they may be already benefitting from exercise.
Student answers to open ended questions indicated that tertiary administrators need to consider a wider variety of physical activity courses. This caters to a wider range of interests and abilities, leading to better outcomes by improving adherence, accessibility and self-efficacy.


title: Development of conformal reconfigurable metamaterial-based antennas

contributor:
Roy, Langis
Wang, Ying

subject:
Antennas
Liquid metal
Metasurface
Microfluidics
Reconfiguration

abstract:
Antennas are vital components of any wireless communication device. There has been a wide demand for novel flexible and reconfigurable wireless devices as a result of the rising user applications. This thesis presents the design of flexible low-cost antennas using metamaterial loadings with performance characteristics that can be reconfigured by employing microfluidics. In applications such as biomedicine, this work presents an inkjet-printed dipole antenna on flexible Kapton-foam substrate to be used on lossy host structures. The concept of Artificial Magnetic Conductor (AMC) unit cells is investigated for best impedance and gain performance. When integrated with a dipole radiator, the fabricated AMC-backed antenna maintains broadside radiation with gains of up to 4.8 dBi under planar and bending conditions, and on a lossy blood bag.
Antenna reconfiguration is then proposed by developing reconfigurable metasurface loadings implementing continuous-flow microfluidics and digital microfluidics. In the latter technique, a frequency reconfigurable AMC is designed using a pixelized approach with liquid metal interconnects. Simulations show that the pixelized design demonstrates switching by electric actuation between 2.45 GHz and 5 GHz depending on the state of the liquid metal interconnects. On the other hand, a multifunctional reconfigurable metasurface based on liquid metal injection (pressure) is presented. The reflective metasurface formed by two switchable microfluidic layers – top layer comprising an array of meandered half-rings and the lower layer, straight meander lines - can be reconfigured into four polarization states. The proposed metasurface becomes a reflector with emptied channels, whereas exhibits linear to cross polarization conversion (or linear to circular polarization conversion) properties when the top (or bottom) layer is filled with liquid metal alloy. The experimental results confirm the simulation results over the 8 GHz to 12 GHz test band.
The compactness, structural flexibility and multifunctionality of the proposed designs make them suitable candidates for modern integrated antenna array systems.


title: Modulation of corticospinal excitability during arm cycling in humans

contributor:
Power, Kevin
Murphy, Bernadette

subject:
Cycling
Supraspinal
Spinal
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
Transmastoid electrical stimulation

abstract:
Animal studies have shown that the basic pattern for locomotor activities are
generated via neural networks found in the spinal cord, referred to as central
pattern generators (CPGs) (Grillner, 1981). In humans, accumulating research
evidence suggests that primates, including man, have a similar locomotor centre as
animals that controlled by CPGs (Petersen et. al., 1998). It’s indicative that CPGs are
sufficient to enable locomotion in quadrupeds; however a more extensive cortical
input is involved in the production of locomotion and/or cycling in humans (Zehr et.
al 2004). Advanced methods such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and
transmastoid electrical stimulation were implemented to examine supraspinal and
spinal excitability, and bridge the gap between animal and human research.
Therefore, this thesis set out to determine changes in corticospinal excitability in
biceps brachii during different motor outputs, including those generated by spinal
CPGs.
The major findings from the present study suggest that corticospinal excitability is
enhanced, in biceps brachii, during the initiation of the flexion phase of arm cycling
when compared to an intensity matched contraction. The results also proposed that
spinal mechanisms are the dominant factors which drive task- and phase-dependent
modulation of corticospinal excitability during arm cycling.


title: Conceptualizing Silk Road as countercultural rebellion

contributor:
Genosko, Gary
Downing, Steven

subject:
Silk Road
Durk market
Bricolage

abstract: Silk Road (SR) is an anonymous online illicit marketplace (OIM) that is often cited as an example of criminal innovation. I add that SR is more than just a marketplace and should be considered as a demonstration of rebellion. The aim of this research is to critically co-construct a definition of SR with the members of the discussion forum. Through a virtual ethnography of the SR discussion forum, I qualitatively analyzed the textual data in order to conceptualize SR as what Robert Merton (1938) describes as rebellion and what Howard Becker (1963) refers to as pure deviance. In addition, an epistemological bricolage with the works of Jean Baudrillard, Pierre Bourdieu, and Michel Foucault was established to guide explanations of cultural exchange, relational trust, and the spatial dynamics of SR. I postulate that SR is more than an online illicit marketplace; it is a virtual heterotopic space and cryptocommunity that exists in countercultural rebellion against the hegemony of control societies. The findings of this study provide a new qualitatively rich conceptualization of SR.


title: Experimental study of applying grooves on semi-tubular blank sheet metal using incremental sheet forming.

subject:
Incremental sheet forming
Sheet metal forming
ISF
Architectural products
Manufacturing

abstract:
Incremental sheet forming (ISF) was a flexible sheet metal forming process which utilized a variety of forming tools, materials, and dies. ISF was implemented to develop a series of column covers which visually replicated the style of Doric columns. They were produced experimentally out of AA3003-H14. The results from executing various toolpaths strategies were discussed.
This research introduced to the ISF field deforming non-planar material, using higher strength alloys, forming previously strained material, and applying multiple grooves.
The toolpath strategies employed different configurations of the groove forming order, tool utilization and number of passes. Forming successive grooves distorted the previously made grooves. It was shown that the order of forming grooves significantly affected the shape accuracy.
After forming nine grooves, the springback increased the part span by an average of 33%. It was a 2-6% increase from the parts formed with five grooves. This demonstrated a significant amount of springback.

abstract: University of Ontario Institute of Technology


title: Pure culture and metagenomic approaches to investigate cellulose and xylan degradation

contributor:
Strap, Janice
Bonetta, Dario

subject: Lignocellulose Cellulase Xylanase Metagenomics Actinomycete

abstract: Lignocellulose is composed of lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose. Lignocellulose waste is a sustainable and renewable resource available for use in biotechnological applications. Efficient enzyme production and enzymes with high catalytic activity are needed for the use of lignocellulose. The study of cellulases and xylanases that degrade cellulose and xylan into constituent monosaccharides is required to advance industrial application of these enzymes. The use of a traditional pure culture approach to discover and characterize cellulases and xylanases from novel actinomycete isolates and the use of metagenomics to uncover previously unidentified cellulase genes was undertaken. Actinomycetes were cultivated from soil samples and the isolate with the best cellulase and xylanase activity was subjected to strain improvement through protoplast fusion. Enhanced enzymatic activity was found in one fusant. Differential release of sugars from xylan was observed through gas chromatographic analysis between the parental and fusant cultures. Genome shuffling was observed in 16S rRNA genes after protoplast fusion. Finally, one putative endo-β-1,4-glucanase was discovered in a metagenomic library created from cellulose-enriched potting soil.


title: Investigation of three integrated energy systems with desalination, heat storage, thermochemical cycles and heat upgrade

subject:
Solar energy
Desalination
Geothermal energy
Heat upgrade
Heat storage

abstract: This thesis study proposes three different novel renewable energy-based multigeneration integrated systems with molten salt heat storage and desalination options where copper-chlorine (Cu-Cl) and magnesium-chlorine (Mg-Cl) thermochemical water-splitting cycles for hydrogen production are used. System 1 integrates the wind, solar and geothermal energies with high temperature electrolysis, methanol synthesis and multi-effect desalination. Systems 2 and 3 have two variants such that the first variant considers integration of solar and geothermal-energies with multi-effect desalination and thermochemical hydrogen production through Cu-Cl and Mg-Cl cycles respectively. The second variant of systems 2 and 3 replaces the solar thermal energy with mercury-based heat pump system to provide the required heat for the respective thermochemical cycles. Systems are presented and analyzed thermodynamically through energy and exergy approaches to be compared with each other in terms of their energy and exergy efficiencies. A series of parametric studies have been conducted for all the systems in order to see the effects of different operating conditions on energy and exergy efficiencies and system outputs. Five case studies have been performed by considering Vancouver, Canada to produce five useful outputs to meet the needs of a community. These commodities are electricity, freshwater, space heating, hot water, hydrogen and methanol (only for the first system). According to thermodynamic analysis, the second variant of system 3 is capable of achieving an overall energy efficiency of 49.58% and an overall exergy efficiency of 59.23% for the system which uses heat upgrading options from geothermal energy to meet the high-temperature requirement of the thermochemical Mg-Cl cycle chosen as a hydrogen production method at 25 °C ambient temperature and 101 kPa ambient pressure. At the same time, the second variant of system 3 has 47012 kW exergy destruction rate which is the lowest one when compared to other evaluated systems.


title: Immunomodulatory effects of dietary fibre supplementation: effects on cytokine and antibody production and lymphocyte population profiles

subject:
Gastrointestinal microflora
Fermentable carbohydrate polymers
Gut microflora
Mucosal immune system
Wheat bran fibre
Intestinal microflora
Intestinal bacteria
Dietary fibre
Immune system
Oat bran fibre

abstract: Gastrointestinal microflora has been shown to have a bi-directional relationship with the host immune system. A variety of fermentable carbohydrate polymers largely pass through the small intestine, providing fermentable substrates for gut microflora. Dietary fibre supplementation may provide a strategy for manipulating the intestinal bacterial profile, changing the interaction with the mucosal immune system, thereby modulating the host immune system. We used a BBc rat animal model to evaluate the effects of oat bran and wheat bran dietary fibre on the immune system. Previous collaborative efforts have shown that these dietary fibres can change the intestinal microflora, with wheat bran fibre showing a greater ability to influence colonic microbial community diversity. We have shown that dietary wheat bran fibre led to reduced IL-4 levels in the liver and T lymphocyte numbers in the Mesenteric Lymph Node and may be involved in reduced IgA levels in the cecal contents. In addition, IgA in the cecal contents was decreased while MLN B cell numbers increased in response to dietary wheat bran fibre. It was observed that neither wheat bran or oat bran treatments exerted any pro-inflammatory effects, with oat bran actually improving antioxidant status. These results suggest that both oat and wheat bran fibre treatments induce changes in the intestinal microflora, and that the microflora changes due to wheat fibre are associated with immunomodulatory effects on the host. This type of dietary fibre supplementation could ultimately provide a potential strategy for promoting health through microflora-associated effects on the immune system.


title: Energy management system of a microgrid with distributed generation

subject:
Particle swarm optimization
Differential evolution

abstract: An Energy Management System (EMS) is required to control the flow of power and match generation with the load within a microgrid during grid-connected and islanded modes of operation. In grid-connected mode, a microgrid draws/supplies power from/to the main grid, depending on the generation and load requirements, and with suitable market policies to maximize the efficiency/cost etc. Likewise, it can separate itself from the main grid whenever a drastic power quality event (such as a fault occurs in the main grid) and continues to supply power to critical loads. An optimization algorithm is needed to minimise the cost of the energy drawn from the grid, generated within the grid and consumed by the loads. In this thesis, two optimization techniques namely Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Differential Evolution (DE) are used to optimize an EMS for a generic MG comprised of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant, Diesel generator, Natural gas-fired generator, Photovoltaic (PV) generator and Wind generator. The EMS is tested for both grid-connected and islanded modes of operation to demonstrate the effectiveness of the optimization algorithms. In grid connected mode, the comparison of the most optimal utilization of grid during on- and off-peak hours and achieve the lowest operational cost. Likewise, for islanded mode of operation the comparison between the utilization of the three generators to match the load demand and achieve the lowest operational cost.


title: Durham Region healthy sex youthality project: youth's perspectives of sexual health needs in Durham Region

subject:
Sexual health
Education
Youth
CBR

abstract:
According to Durham Region Public Health Department, 40% of youth, aged 15-19
years, living in Durham Region said that they had engaged in sexual intercourse in the last year,
with 570 youth becoming pregnant. In Durham Region 2.3/100,000 youth between the ages of 15
and 24 years are infected with HIV/AIDS annually. Chlamydia rates have also been steadily
increasing with 1,250 cases reported in 2009 in Durham Region, with the rates of STIs in Canada
being the highest in youth ages 15 to 24 years.
This study was undertaken as a capacity building venture to engage youth in Durham
Region and allow them to identify their sexual needs and priorities for HIV prevention and
healthy sexual development. The study also had four objectives: (1) To assess whether youth
know about the sexual health services that are available to them; (2) To discover how youth
perceive the sexual health services they are aware of; (3) To identify where youth currently
receive sexual health resources; and (4) To understand where, how and from whom youth would
like to receive sexual health resources.
The Durham Region Healthy SexYouthality Project was a community-based research
study conducted by the Durham Region Healthy SexYouthality Coalition. The Project was a
qualitative research study that employed focus group sessions to engage youth in discussions
pertaining to their sexual health. The study sample included 32 participants ranging from 15 to
24 years of age, with the mean age of 18.96 years. Of the 32 participants, 19 were female, 12
were male and 1 identified as transgender. The coalition identified four populations within
Durham Region; urban, rural, semi-rural and LGBTQ youth, which resulted in 10 focus groups.
The size of each meeting ranged from four to nine participants and each was audiotaped. The
data was transcribed and then analyzed using open coding with the NVivo 9 software.
Several themes about sexual health services emerged from the study. They include: lack
of knowledge of services, the need for increased awareness; the perceptions youth have about
health services including that they are inaccessible, not anonymous, not confidential, not
knowledgeable, are judgemental but are youth-friendly; where youth currently receive
information including the internet, media, friends/peers, school, parents and health professionals;
and how youth would prefer to receive sexual health education such as through trustworthy
internet sources, improved sexual education in schools and new community programs.
In conclusion, youth in Durham Region need more information about the sexual health
services that are available to them and changes need to be made to make them more accessible,
anonymous and confidential. Youth also prefer to access information about sexual health through
convenient and reliable sources and it is up to organizations working with youth to ensure that
these needs are best being met.


title: Cortical adaption influences excitability in the dominant and non-dominant hands following complex novel motor training

subject:
Primary motor cortex
Laterality
Handedness
Motor training
Plasticity
Motor Excitability

abstract:
The primary motor cortex (M1) can dynamically control the magnitude of motor refinement through motor plasticity. Plasticity can be investigated by looking at changes to motor excitability, which has been established to be stronger in the non-dominant hemisphere of right
handed participants. However, it is unclear if these differences in excitability following a training task would still be present if participants performed a task that was equally as difficult for both the dominant and non-dominant hands. Thus, the first goal of this thesis was to develop and validate a novel motor training task designed to be equally challenging for both hands.  Participants were required to trace a novel sinusoidal pattern, varying in both amplitude and frequency that was mirrored in both the right and left hand. The time course of learning was plotted over two separate training sessions. The second study then utilized this task to answer the question of which hemisphere has a greater plastic potential, determine by quantifying changes motor excitability, and the time-course over which these changes occur. Motor cortical excitability before and after learning was investigated using recruitment curves which evoke MEPs at 7 different stimulation intensities in order to better capture a more robust measure of
hemispheric excitability for both the left and right hand.
The training task was indeed novel as it equally challenged both the dominant and non-dominant hands of a healthy right handed population and lead to remarkably similar learning curves over
six blocks of learning and similar retention. In the second study, only the dominant hemisphere had significant decreases in excitability following the motor learning task. A secondary study indicated that the time-course over which these changes occurs suggests that when learning a novel training task which the participant is naïve to, motor training and increases to performance have a rapid onset as changes to excitability were only seen on the first day of training. This may
indicate that even though the non-dominant hemisphere has greater initial excitability, the dominant hemisphere has a greater ability to modulate excitability levels showing a greater potential for plastic adaption.


title: Group representation learning for group recommendation

subject:
Group recommendation
Social choice
Deep learning
Group implicit feedback
Representation learning

abstract: Group recommender systems facilitate group decision making for a set of individuals (e.g., a group of friends, a team, a corporation, etc.). Existing group recommendation methods mostly learn group members' individual preferences and then aggregate them into a group preference. This thesis takes a different approach. We focus on making recommendations for a new group of users whose preferences are unknown, but we are given the decisions/choices of other groups. By formulating this problem as group recommendation from group implicit feedback, we focus on two of its practical instances: Given a set of groups and their observed decisions, group decision prediction intends to predict the decision of a new group of users whereas reverse social choice aims to infer the preferences of those users involved in observed group decisions. These two problems are of interest to not only group recommendation, but also to personal privacy when the users intend to conceal their personal preferences, but have participated in group decisions. To tackle these two problems, we propose and study DeepGroup – a deep learning approach for group recommendation with group implicit data. We empirically assess the predictive power of DeepGroup on various real-world datasets, group conditions (e.g., homophily or heterophily), and group decision (or voting) rules. Our extensive experiments not only demonstrate the efficacy of DeepGroup but also shed light on the privacy-leakage concerns of some decision making processes.


title: Heat-transfer analysis of double-pipe heat exchangers for indirect-cycle SCW NPP

contributor:
Harvel, Glenn
Pioro, Igor

subject: Generation IV reactor

subject: SuperCritical water-cooled nuclear reactor

subject: Thermodynamic cycle

subject: Heat exchanger

abstract: SuperCritical-Water-cooled Reactors (SCWRs) are being developed as one of the Generation-IV nuclear-reactor concepts. SuperCritical Water (SCW) Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) are expected to have much higher operating parameters compared to current NPPs, i.e., pressure of about 25 MPa and outlet temperature up to 625 oC. This study presents the heat transfer analysis of an intermediate Heat exchanger (HX) design for indirect-cycle concepts of Pressure-Tube (PT) and Pressure-Vessel (PV) SCWRs. Thermodynamic configurations with an intermediate HX gives a possibility to have a single-reheat option for PT and PV SCWRs without introducing steam-reheat channels into a reactor. Similar to the current CANDU and Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) NPPs, steam generators separate the primary loop from the secondary loop. In this way, the primary loop can be completely enclosed in a reactor containment building. This study analyzes the heat transfer from a SCW primary (reactor) loop to a SCW and Super-Heated Steam (SHS) secondary (turbine) loop using a double-pipe intermediate HX. The numerical model is developed with MATLAB and NIST REFPROP software. Water from the primary loop flows through the inner pipe, and water from the secondary loop flows through the annulus in the counter direction of the double-pipe HX. The analysis on the double-pipe HX shows temperature and profiles of thermophysical properties along the heated length of the HX. It was found that the pseudocritical region has a significant effect on the temperature profiles and heat-transfer area of the HX. An analysis shows the effect of variation in pressure, temperature, mass flow rate, and pipe size on the pseudocritical region and the heat-transfer area of the HX. The results from the numerical model can be used to optimize the heat-transfer area of the HX. The higher pressure difference on the hot side and higher temperature difference between the hot and cold sides reduces the pseudocritical-region length, thus decreases the heat-transfer surface area of the HX.


title: Improved design of three-degree of freedom hip exoskeleton based on biomimetic parallel structure

subject:
Hip exoskeleton
3 DOF
PUU
Parallel
Kinematics

abstract:
The external skeletons, Exoskeletons, are not a new research area in this highly
developed world. They are widely used in helping the wearer to enhance human strength,
endurance, and speed while walking with them. Most exoskeletons are designed for the
whole body and are powered due to their applications and high performance needs.
This thesis introduces a novel design of a three-degree of freedom parallel robotic
structured hip exoskeleton, which is quite different from these existing exoskeletons. An
exoskeleton unit for walking typically is designed as a serial mechanism which is used
for the entire leg or entire body. This thesis presents a design as a partial manipulator
which is only for the hip. This has better advantages when it comes to marketing the
product, these include: light weight, easy to wear, and low cost. Furthermore, most
exoskeletons are designed for lower body are serial manipulators, which have large
workspace because of their own volume and occupied space. This design introduced in
this thesis is a parallel mechanism, which is more stable, stronger and more accurate.
These advantages benefit the wearers who choose this product.
This thesis focused on the analysis of the structure of this design, and verifies if
the design has a reasonable and reliable structure. Therefore, a series of analysis has been
done to support it. The mobility analysis and inverse kinematic solution are derived, and
the Jacobian matrix was derived analytically. Performance of the CAD model has been
checked by the finite element analysis in Ansys, which is based on applied force and
moment. The comparison of the results from tests has been illustrated clearly for stability
iii
and practicability of this design. At the end of this thesis, an optimization of the hip
exoskeleton is provided, which offers better structure of this design.


title: Design and optimization of a three-fingered robot hand

subject:
Robot
Under actuated
SLA
Dexterity
Genetic

abstract:
Humanoid robots have proven to be very useful and could revolutionize the way humans
live. Knowing human anatomy and behaviour helps improve a robotic mechanisms
ability to perform human tasks. The following thesis introduces the concept of a threefingered
robot hand and its driving mechanism. The hand includes two fingers and a
thumb. Using the concept of “an under actuated system”, each finger consists of three
revolute joints which are driven by two actuators and tooth belt transmission system. The
thumb has two joints but only one joint is active and actuated by one motor. The passive
joint is designed to set the initial position of the thumb on the piano key if necessary.
Required angle of rotation for each joint has been calculated through Inverse Kinematics.
Once the fingertip presses the piano key, it should apply 1N force to play a note. Force
Sensing Resistors at each finger tip, as a control method, are introduced to the system to
accurately measure the amount of applied force from the finger tip on the key and
increase the angle of rotation of the motor if needed. Stress and deformation of the joints
have been studied through Finite Element Analysis. A prototype model, consisting of a
single finger was built to better understanding the functionality of the concept. Analysis
of this model, led to necessary modification of the transmission system and some design
revisions to each link. Genetic Algorithm using MATLAB was used to optimize the
performance Index of a finger. Finally the hand assembly including all the components
and driving mechanism was constructed and experimented in the playing mode.


title: Joint spatial and layer attention for convolutional networks

contributor:
Qureshi, Faisal
Derpanis, Kosta

subject:
Computational Attention
Convolutional Neural Networks
Reccurent Neural Networks
Neural Networks
Image-Based Camera Localization

abstract:
In this work, we propose a novel approach that learns to sequentially attend to different
Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) layers (i.e., “what” feature abstraction to attend to) and different spatial locations of the selected feature map (i.e., “where”) to perform the task at hand. Specifically, at each Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) step, both a CNN layer and localized spatial region within it are selected for further processing. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach on two computer vision tasks: (i) image-based six degree of freedom camera pose regression and (ii) indoor scene classification. Empirically, we show that combining the “what” and “where” aspects of attention improves network performance on both tasks. We evaluate our method on standard benchmarks for camera localization (Cambridge, 7-Scenes, and TUM-LSI) and for scene classification (MIT-67 Indoor Scenes). For camera localization our approach reduces the median error by 18.8% for position and 8.2% for orientation (averaged over all scenes), and for scene classification it improves the mean accuracy by 3.4% over previous methods.


title: Comprehensive Investigation on Content-based Medical Image Retrieval using Radon Barcodes

subject:
Content-based medical image retrieval
Radon barcodes
Image processing

abstract: Content Based Medical Image Retrieval (CBMIR) systems are vital to the underlying operation of medical databases because they allow quick search and retrieval of medical images. Radon Barcode (RBC)s are binary complementary feature vectors which increase the speed of CBMIR systems through smaller feature vector size and low retrieval error. We explore further improving the efficiency and accuracy of RBCs by optimizing the way they are extracted from medical images. Through the addition of image pre-processing, novel barcoding techniques, and improved distance evaluation methods, we improved RBC utility in CBMIR applications. Image pre-processing techniques such as histogram equalization and adaptive thresholding reduced the retrieval error of generated RBCs. We also introduce several novel barcode generation techniques such as Binary Coded Decimal Radon Barcodes (BCDRBC), Difference of Radon Projections Barcodes (DRPBC), and Difference of Radon Projections Soft Hash Barcode (DRPSHBC) which decreased both retrieval error and barcode size.


title: Policing mental health: an exploratory study of crisis intervention teams and co-response teams in the Canadian context

contributor:
O'Connor, Christopher
Frederick, Tyler
Perry, Barbara

subject:
Policing
Mental health
Person with mental illness (PMI)
Co-response
Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)

abstract: Due to an increase in interactions between the police and persons with mental illness (PMI), police services have begun deploying specialized mental health responses to more adequately address these calls. One of these responses is a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) that is comprised of officers who are specially trained on mental health; another is a co-response where an officer is paired with a mental health specialist. Currently, little is known about these responses within Canada, therefore, this thesis employs a mixed methodology in order to explore the use of these responses nationwide. The results indicate that most of the participating services have some form of specialized response, and that these responses experience many successes and challenges – the latter of which may prevent or limit any potential successes. Recommendations and a call for future research are made which may assist Canadian police services in mitigating these challenges.


title: A new method of modelling tuneable lasers with functional composition

subject:
Tuneable lasers
Nonlinear Schrodinger equation
Laser cavity

abstract:
A new nonlinear model is proposed for tuneable lasers. Using the generalized nonlinear Schrodinger equation as a starting point, expressions for the transformations undergone by the pulse are derived for each of the five components (gain, loss, dispersion,
modulation, and nonlinearity) within the laser cavity. These transformations are then composed to give the overall effect of one trip around the cavity. We first examine the linearized version of the model which is solved analytically. Then the full nonlinear model is solved numerically. A consequence of the nonlinear nature of this model is that it is able to exhibit wave breaking which prior models could not.
We highlight the rich structure of the boundary of stability for a particular plane of the parameter space.


title: Investigation of KimiaNet's and DenseNet's deep features in lung cancer subtypes

contributor:
Rahnamayan, Shahryar
Tizhoosh, Hamid R.

subject:
Histopathology
Content-Based Image Retrieval
Deep Neural Networks
Lung cancer
Deep features

abstract: Deep neural networks (DNN) have extended applications in the _eld of digital pathology. One of which is to act as feature extractors for content-based image retrieval (CBIR) systems. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate how these deep features work and attribute these features to histologic patterns. This study showed that the median of deep feature value could serve as a simple yet efficient representation of whole slide images (WSI). Through exploring deep features of lung cancer, it was discovered that some of these deep features have strong correlations with either lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) or lung squamous carcinoma (LUSC). A deep feature-specific visualization technique was proposed for analyzing deep features at WSI-level. These prominent deep features were also generalizable to cancers of other organs, namely kidney and brain. However, deep features did not exhibit a potential for cancer grade and somatic mutation state classification.


title: Promising practices used by International Medical Graduate Physicians to increase cervical screening in South Asian and Chinese immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area

subject: Cervical screening

subject: South Asian

subject: Chinese

subject: Immigrant

subject: International Medical Graduate (IMG) Physician

abstract: Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers, with Pap tests being a widely accessible form of screening throughout Canada. However, participation in cervical cancer screening is historically lower in South Asian and Chinese immigrants. Previous literature showed that the risk of being under-screened is even higher for these women if they receive care from a provider that is from a culturally congruent region. This investigation aimed to qualitatively explore this phenomenon through the perspective of South Asian and Chinese International-Medical Graduate (IMG) physicians. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to identify barriers to cervical screening faced by South Asian and Chinese immigrants across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), as well as promising practices that are currently being used by IMG physicians to increase cervical screening participation among their patients. Several barriers to and interventions designed to screening were identified at the individual, community, and health care provider level. Promising interventions include linguistically and culturally appropriate health education and access to a female provider.


title: Picky eating redefined: exploring the extreme food behaviour and feeding environment challenges in children with autism spectrum disorder.

subject:
Food behaviours
Feeding environments
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
Qualitative
Children

abstract: The most recent evidence indicates that 1 out of every 68 children has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014) emphasizing the importance of understanding ASD from multi-disciplinary perspectives. This qualitative, exploratory study focused on parental experiences with food behaviours and feeding environments of preschool-aged children diagnosed with ASD. Semi-structured one-on-one, interviews were conducted with 8 parents. Findings identified challenges to feeding/eating; the perceived influence of these challenges on the health of each child; and factors affecting care/supportive services. Recommendations call for increased knowledge and education related to the food behaviours and feeding environments experienced by families of children with ASD and individuals providing care to children with ASD. Areas for future research include exploring the severity of feeding challenges; specialized education of supportive service providers, dietitians, parents and families; and the use of effective strategies when facilitating feeding; and the effect of ASD on children’s health outcomes.

abstract: University of Ontario Institute of Technology


title: Coordinated control of active safety systems for multi-trailer articulated heavy vehicles

contributor:
He, Yuping
Ren, Jing

subject: MTAHV

abstract:
To improve the directional performance of multitrailer articulated heavy vehicles (MTAHVs), the
model-based active safety systems, including the active trailer steering, trailer differential braking
and the active roll control are developed. The active safety systems are integrated and coordinated
for optimal overall performance. The coordinated control system is designed in a modular,
hierarchical and multilevel approach. At the upper level, a moment controller is designed to
stabilize the yaw and the roll dynamics. At the intermediate level, an allocator is designed to
distribute the demanded moments to the actuating systems. At the lower level, the active
suspension system realizes the demanded roll moment, and the active trailer steering and the trailer
differential braking share the demanded yaw moment. The directional performance of the MTAHV
with the coordinated control system is evaluated in closed-loop simulations. A unified driver
model for road vehicles is developed to ‘drive’ the vehicle in the closed-loop simulations.
Considering the characteristics of the single unit and the multiunit vehicle drivers, a set of design
parameters are introduced to govern the characteristics of the driver model to mimic human drivers
in driving single unit and multiunit road vehicles, especially to simulate MTAHV drivers’ driving
performance under a high-speed evasive and a low-speed path-following maneuvers, respectively.
The directional performance of the MTAHV with the coordinated control system and the driver
model may be valuated and optimized using a genetic algorithm with the performance measures
in the time-domain and the frequency-domain, thanks to the introduction of the automated
frequency response measuring method (AFRM) into the articulated heavy vehicle dynamics. The
proposed design methods/techniques and findings derived from the research will contribute to the
advancement of active safety systems for MTAHVs.


title: The female family annihilator, restructuring traditional typologies: an exploratory study

subject:
Multiple murders
Gender
Mass murder
Female offenders
Family annihilators

abstract: Although both female and male mass murderers have been studied, less attention has been paid to women who commit mass murder. Current literature suggests mass murders committed by women, regardless of offender choice, are well planned, predisposing factors and precipitating events prior to the offence have been noted. This study explored the patterns among the crimes of female family annihilators. This study focuses on an exploratory sample of North American cases, occurring between 1970 and 2010, where females were identified as killing four or more family members during what has been described as a single homicidal event. Using a North American database of newspaper accounts, patterns are uncovered by comparing variables including, but not limited to: motive, number of victims, method of murder, age of offender and victim age. The findings suggest that a clearer profile and set of definitions need to be adopted in discussions of female family annihilators. Practical and theoretical implications will be discussed.


title: Augmenting free-form annotations with digital metadata for close reading of poetry

subject:
Free-form annotation
Close reading
Digital pen-and-paper system
Digital humanities

abstract: Many people, literary critics in particular, practice close reading, making annotations by hand while performing a detailed analysis of a text. Current digital tools for literary criticism,however, have many limitations with respect to annotation. In this work, we present an ethnographic study of 14 professional literary critics performing free-form annotations in the context of literary criticism, and a subsequent tool, MetaTation, for enhancing the close reading process, based on our findings. Our study revealed a set of cognitive processes supported through free-form annotation that have not previously been discussed in this context. We derived design guidelines for digital tools which augment active reading and annotation. The resulting system, MetaTation, uses an interactive pen-and-paper system with a peripheral display to provide analytic support while minimizing interference to the cognitive processes that guide the work flow. Through turning paper-based annotations into implicit queries, MetaTation provides well-organized and relevant supplemental information in a just-in-time manner.


title: Neural markers of antisocial behaviour in offenders and their relationship with risk-factors of offending

subject: Offenders fMRI Resting-state Meta-analysis Risk-factors

abstract: The relationship between neural integrity and offending patterns has been increasingly evaluated to better understand the mechanisms that predispose towards offending behaviours. While this work has made inroads into establishing the neural underpinnings of offending behaviour, some important knowledge gaps remain. First, the extent to which neural abnormalities extend across both rest and task-based contexts in offenders remains unclear. Thus, Studies 1 and 2 compared whole-brain resting-state power spectra (rs-PS) between offenders and non-offenders, and Study 3 performed a meta-analysis of task-based neural activity differences between offenders and non-offenders. Results from Studies 1 and 2 indicated that offenders were characterized by decreased rs-PS in five (Study1) and six (Study2) of the eight evaluated resting-state networks compared to non-offenders (which occurred as a result of both decreased low-frequency activity and increased high-frequency activity). In Study 3, offenders presented aberrant task-based activity in the left IFG and increased activity in the left MOG compared to non-offenders. Thus, some dysfunctions spanned across both resting-state and task-based metrics (i.e., within left IFG and left MOG), suggesting stable abnormalities between offenders and non-offenders, while rest-related dysfunctions were more extended than those observed in offenders’ task-based activity. In addition, this work aimed to assess the degree to which offenders’ aberrant neural processes were influenced by several antisocial and criminogenic variables (e.g., psychopathic traits, drug use and features of criminal history). In Studies 1 and 2, cocaine use and number of criminal convictions predicted rs-PS disruptions, but psychopathy and cocaine-dependence status did not. In Study 3, activity within left MOG and left PCC appeared more specific to offenders with violent offence histories, while left IFG activity appeared to be more specific to contexts within which cognitive processes (rather than emotional processes) were interrogated. Overall, this work uncovered several regions of abnormal neural activity, across two different neuroimaging modalities, that differed between offenders and non-offenders. Potentially, the application of neurophysiological treatments (e.g., neurofeedback) to these sites could have treatment or rehabilitative benefits. Nonetheless, these results suggest that neural disruptions are not uniform across offenders, but rather vary as a function of antisocial/criminogenic features and processing type.


title: Interactive visualization of the collaborative research network

subject:
Data visualization
Multidimensional scaling
DBLP
Collaborative research network
Graphs

abstract: Social networks have been evolving over the past few years, leading to a rapid increase in the number and complexity of relationships among their entities. In this research, we focus on a large scale dataset known as the Digital Bibliography and Library Project or DBLP, which contains information on all publications that have been published in computer and information science related journals and conference proceedings. We model the DBLP dataset as a social network of research collaborations. DBLP is a structured and dynamic dataset stored in the XML file format; it contains over 850,000 authors and 2 million publications, and the resulting collaboration social network is a scale-free network. We define DBLP collaboration social network as a graph that consists of researchers as nodes and links representing the collaboration or co-authorship relationships among the researchers. In this work, we implement a data analysis algorithm called Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) to represent the degree of collaboration among the DBLP authors as Euclidean distances in 2-dimensional space in order to analyze, mine and understand the relational information in this large scale network in a visual way. MDS is a useful technique for data visualization and graph drawing methods, but it has high computational complexity for large scale graphs such as the DBLP graph. Therefore, we propose different solutions to overcome this problem, and improve the MDS performance. In addition, as the quality of the MDS result is measured by a metric known as the stress value, we use the steepest descent method to minimize the stress in an iterative process called stress optimization in order to generate the best geometric layout of the graph nodes in 2-dimensional space. We also propose a solution to further enhance the graph visualization by partitioning the graph into sub-graphs and using repelling forces among nodes within the same sub-graph. Finally, we developed a new visualization tool that can handle the large scale of the DBLP graph, and provides the user a number of significant features that allow them to explore, navigate and sift for information through the graph, such as graph scaling and graphical search functionality.


title: Energy-efficient relay cooperation for lifetime maximization

subject:
Energy-efficient power allocation
Lifetime maximization
Amplify-and-forward
Prediction-based
Stochastic shortest path
Prediction-based relay selection
Multiple source destination
Max-min approach
User-priority based approach.

abstract:
We study energy-efficient power allocation among relays for lifetime maximization
in a dual-hop relay network operated by amplify-and-forward relays with battery
limitations. Power allocation algorithms are proposed for three different scenarios.
First, we study the relay cooperation case where all the relays jointly support
transmissions for a targeted data rate. By exploring the correlation of time-varying
relay channels, we develop a prediction-based relay cooperation method for optimal
power allocation strategy to improve the relay network lifetime over existing methods
that do not predict the future channel state, or assume the current channel state
remains static in the future.
Next, we consider energy-efficient relay selection for the single source-destination
case. Assuming finite transmission power levels, we propose a stochastic shortest path
approach which gives the optimal relay selection decision to maximize the network
lifetime. Due to the high computational complexity, a suboptimal prediction-based
relay selection algorithm, directly coming from previous problem, is created.
Finally, we extend our study to multiple source-destination case, where relay selection
needs to be determined for each source-destination pair simultaneously. The
network lifetime in the presence of multiple source-destination pairs is defined as the
longest time when all source-destination pairs can maintain the target transmission
rate. We design relay-to-destination mapping algorithms to prolong the network lifeii
time. They all aim at maximizing the perceived network lifetime at the current time
slot. The optimal max-min approach and suboptimal user-priority based approach
are proposed with different levels of computational complexity.


title: An investigation of land-use impacts on water quality and algal communities in the Nottawasaga River and low-order streams of the Nottawasaga Valley Watershed

subject:
Land-use
Water quality
Phytoplankton
Periphyton
Nottawasaga River

abstract:
The Nottawasaga Valley Watershed (NVW) is a large catchment south of Georgian Bay that drains a primarily agricultural region including one of the largest wetland complexes in Southern Ontario, the Minesing Wetlands (MW). The MW are designated both provincially and internationally significant due to its large area and high biological diversity. Agricultural practices have been a large influence on the Nottawasaga River ecosystem throughout history, but intensification of agricultural demands have put stress on surface water quality across the river network. In order to understand how ecosystem health may be impacted from current agricultural land-use, baseline water quality and phytoplankton data were collected monthly (June-September 2014) over 15 sites across the Nottawasaga River continuum. In addition, first- and second-order streams directly influenced by agricultural land-use runoff were assessed for impacts to surface water quality and periphyton biomass across the NVW.
Water quality across the Nottawasaga River exhibited large amounts of variation, with Innisfil Creek having a disproportional influence on suspended sediment related impacts to water quality. Agricultural and urban land-use were positively correlated with many water quality parameters, whereas natural land-use features (i.e. forest, water and wetland land-use) were negatively correlated with many water quality parameters. Principal components analysis revealed that sites upstream of the MW exhibited higher values associated with nutrients and suspended sediments, while those downstream of it exhibited higher values associated with decreased riparian vegetation. Redundancy analysis reinforced that upstream sites are highly influenced by urban and agricultural land-use, linking these to impacted water quality. Algal community structure and biomass were variable, but consistently were maintained at oligotrophic levels, dominated by pollution tolerant bioindicator taxa.
Water quality of the low order streams across the NVW was highly variable, with differences in multiple water quality parameters found even when agricultural type was the same. Many of the sites had high concentrations of nutrients linked with agricultural land-use, but limited statistically significant relationships could be attributed to the different agricultural types. Water quality variation was important in describing the variation in fatty acid composition of periphyton biomass, as described by redundancy analysis. Total chlorophyll content was directly linked with increases in certain fatty acid proportions, some of which can be classified as essential fatty acids.


title: Blurred lines: perceptions of sexual consent and the role of mental illness

subject:
Mental illness
Sexual consent
Bipolar Disorder

abstract:
Sexual activity can be a pleasurable and critical element of self-expression. However, research
has found that mental illness is a condition that may affect the ability to sexually consent.
Despite this fact, sexual consent remains under-studied and under-theorized when considering
the various ways it can be influenced. Bipolar Disorder is especially concerning, as it is
characterized by symptoms of thought disorder patterns, perception alterations, mood
oscillations, and impulsivity. Consequently, individuals are particularly susceptible to bias when
judging situations. The aim of this study, then, is to explore the relationship between mental
illness and sexual behaviour. Specifically, perceptions of sexual consent and the role of Bipolar
Disorder were examined among university students. The study is intended to determine if an
individual’s mental health status was related to perceptions of capacity to sexually consent. In
other words, I sought to determine if individuals self-reporting a clinical diagnosis would be
more likely to proceed with a sexual interaction knowing their partner had a mental illness,
compared to individuals who had never experienced symptoms of a disorder who may be more
fearful. Additionally, it was examined if students’ sexual decision-making was influenced more
by some disorders over others (e.g., Bipolar Disorder, Depression and Schizophrenia). The
findings of this study demonstrates that there is a need for greater research examining people’s
understanding of sexual consent, and capacity to consent, especially in the context of mental
illnesses such as Bipolar Disorder.


title: Analyzing the impact of BYOD in secondary school English classrooms

subject:
BYOD
Computers
Secondary school
Modern learning
OTO

abstract: There is limited research on Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs. This study explored the impact of a BYOD program on secondary school students’ engagement, learning process, and learning performance in English classrooms. Five grade 9 English classes (n = 80) from a suburban high school, with students between the ages of 13 and 16 years old, participated in the study. A mixed-methods design was used, with quantitative and qualitative data collected from four surveys administered throughout the course. The results indicated that students were positive about the impact of the overall BYOD program. Students reported that computer use positively-impacted engagement, but also asserted that computer use resulted in some distraction. Students indicated that the learning process improved in a BYOD setting, with contributing factors including increased accessibility, understanding, communication, management, collaboration, and feedback. Some students noted that several technical issues impeded their learning process. Finally, students reported that computers enhanced learning performance, including student productivity, the overall quality of student work, and student writing. Future research should explore the impact of specific teaching and learning strategies in a BYOD program on students’ engagement, learning process, and learning performance in K-12 classrooms in a broader range of subject areas.


title: Transmutation rates in the annulus gas of pressure tube water reactors

subject:
Annulus gas
CANDU
Fuel channel
MCNP
Neutron flux
Pressure tube reactor
Supercritical water reactor
Transmutation

abstract:
CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium) reactor utilizes Pressure Tube (PT) fuel channel design and heavy water as a coolant. Fuel channel annulus gas acts as an insulator to minimize heat losses from the coolant to the moderator. Since fuel bundles are continuously under high neutron fluxes, annulus gas nuclides undergo different nuclear transformations generating new composition of the gas that might have different physical properties which are undesirable for the annulus system. In addition, gas nuclides become radioactive and lead to an increase of the radioactive material inventory in the reactor and consequently to an increase of radiation levels.
Pressure Tube Reactor (PTR) and Pressure Tube Supercritical Water Reactor (PT SCWR) fuel channel models have been developed in Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) code. Neutron fluxes in the fuel channel annulus gas have been obtained by simulating different types of neutron sources in both PTR and PT SCWR fuel channels. Transmutation rates of annulus gases have been calculated for different gases (CO2, N2, Ar and Kr) at different pressures and temperatures in both fuel channels. The variation of the transmutation rates, neutron fluxes and gas densities in the annulus gas have been investigated in PTR and PT SCWR fuel channels at constant pressures and different temperatures. MCNP code along with NIST REFPROP [14] and other software tools have been used to conduct the calculations.


title: Towards measuring privacy

subject: Privacy Measurement States

abstract:
The acceptable threshold for privacy is an individual choice, informed by culture, tradition and experience.  That it is important, conversely, is self-evident.  We use it to moderate personal information disclosure, how we choose to act and dress every day.  However, the debate about privacy has struggled because of an incomplete scholarship that often halts with the question ‘what is privacy?’  Similarly, the affirmative statement ‘privacy is dead’ is often made without further explanation of what we have lost.
This thesis provides a clarification of privacy by presenting a formal model and tool for precise discussion.  It can be implemented, for example, in a mobile application or embedded on a website.  The utility of the formal model is supported by survey research of professionals in the field and those with no particular related work experience.  The formal model has given us several insights to how privacy behaves enabling progress towards an interdisciplinary understanding of terminology.  In particular, it demonstrates and solves for the problem of transitivity in privacy because it can follow each personal information disclosure as it travels beyond the data subject through a network of people, processes and technologies.
In addition to the formal model and observations about the behaviour of privacy, a contribution of this thesis is its review of computer science literature specifically for contributions to privacy research, an assessment of current privacy practitioner methods, a study of privacy impact assessment practices at Ontario hospitals, and a detailed exploration of the possibilities of future work.


title: Characterization of novel genetic alleles of cellulose synthase

subject:
Cellulose
Cellulose synthase
Flupoxam
MbyTH

abstract:
Cellulose is the most abundant polymer on earth. Despite this, relatively little is known about the proteins and biochemical mechanisms governing cellulose biosynthesis. Only in the past 10 years since the sequencing of the Arabidopsis thaliana genome have we begun to unravel the full complexity of this process in plants. A chemical genetics screen using the cellulose biosynthesis herbicide flupoxam was undertaken to identify potentially novel proteins involved in this process. Despite falling short of identifying these new players, six novel mutations were identified on Cellulose Synthase (CESA) 1
and 3 leading to flupoxam resistance. Two of these mutations were positionally cloned using Next-Generation Mapping (NGM) technology, while the others were identified using sequencing. The mutations led to both decreased cellulose crystallinity as well as enhanced cellulose hydrolysis. Future research will fully characterize using additional enzymatic hydrolysis methods and gas chromatography. The second aspect of the project involved the development of a membrane yeast two hybrid (MbyTH) for use with primary cell wall cellulose synthases. Paired interaction studies determined that CESA1 interacts strongly with itself. Also, CESA3 interacts strongly with itself. However,
interaction between CESA1 and 3 was weak. It is possible that a tertiary protein is required in order for this interaction to occur. Also, a weak interaction between CTL1/Pom1 (Chitinase –like protein 1) was observed with CESA3. An interaction trap using either CESA1 or 3 as bait may elucidate additional proteins involved in the process of cellulose synthesis.


title: A molecular characterization of agonists that bind to Hco-UNC-49, a GABA-gated chloride channel from Haemonchus contortus

subject:
Haemonchus contortus
GABAA agonists
GABAA receptors
Homology modelling
Cys-loop receptors

abstract: Haemonchus contortus is a blood feeding parasitic nematode infecting ruminants causing anemia and poor health at great economic cost. The ability to pharmaceutically control infection has been challenged by the rapid development and spread of drug resistance. The discovery of new targets is therefore required for sustainable parasite control. UNC-49 is a nematode ligand-gated ion channel that plays an important role in muscle contraction required for normal locomotion. However, little is known regarding its sensitivity to different agonists and how they interact with the binding site. This thesis describes an investigation into the efficacy of a range of classical GABA receptor agonists on Hco-UNC-49 expressed in Xenopus oocytes. The results of our electrophysiological recordings indicate that there is a size requirement for full agonism of the Hco-UNC-49 binding site. Furthermore, a number of molecules that are known to act on vertebrate GABA receptors have no effect on Hco-UNC-49. This suggests that the binding site of nematode GABA receptors does exhibit some unique properties. These findings could possibly be exploited to develop new drugs that specifically target GABA receptors from parasitic nematodes.


title: Linear synchronous motor based propulsion for the futuristic hyperloop transportation system

subject:
Hyperloop
Three–phase inverter
Field-oriented control
Propulsion system
Linear synchronous motor

abstract: Current trends are leading towards an electrified future of transportation. Its popularity amongst the public is continuously increasing this trend. Today, the demands for an economical, carbon conscience and faster mode of transportation is imperative. Thus, the proposal for a new mode of transportation known as the Hyperloop has been popularized. Although, there are only some reports regarding its design. More specifically, reports regarding the propulsion system design methodology for the Hyperloop is lackluster. This thesis provides an initial steppingstone to a modeling and simulation study for the propulsion system in a Hyperloop. PSIM is used to develop the model and design the full power system and controller. To verify and validate the design, hardware in the loop technology is used. The controller implemented is tested through a Texas Instrument digital signal processor. The Typhoon real time verification shows matching results with the PSIM offline simulation model.


title: An openflow-based wireless user management system

subject:
QoS
SDN
User management
Load-balancing
IEEE 802.11

abstract: The degradation of the end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) on wireless users is becoming a common issue for IEEE 802.11 infrastructure-based networks in crowded areas. In response, network providers usually increase coverage and capacity to serve the ever-increasing simultaneous connections and traffic loads. However, wireless users still experience unacceptable QoS at the application layer (i.e.: video and audio streaming). In many cases, this issue is due to the nature of the IEEE 802.11 standard that makes wireless users select the target AP to camp on based on signal strength, regardless of traffic load supported by the AP at the moment. This thesis tackles the issue from a different perspective than previous works, by employing an SDN framework on an integrated wireless/wired environment. Thereby, we present the development and implementation of a system that performs user management by analyzing the network load from the Openflow statistics, as well as, the wireless information collected from the associated users. In order to analyse the behaviour of the proposed user migration algorithm, we evaluate the system under scenarios with different traffic load and user session duration. From the experiments, we observed that in several cases, wireless users get a considerable QoS improvement at the application layer when the system is activated. Based on the results, we present an analysis on how and when user migration in multi-AP IEEE 802.11 networks is most effective.


title: Investigation of sustainable hydrogen production from steam biomass gasification

subject:
Gasifier
Gasification
Biomass
Hydrogen
Thermodynamics
Energy
Exergy
Exergoconomics
Efficiency
Water gas shift
Steam methane reformer
Hydrogen Cost.

abstract:
Hydrogen is a by-product of the gasification process and it is environmentally friendly with respect to pollution and emission issues when it is derived from a CO2-neutral resource such as biomass. It is an energy carrier fuel and has flexibility to convert efficiently to other energy forms to be used in different energy applications like fuel cells.
The proposed research presents literature on previous gasification studies regarding hydrogen production from biomass and updates the obtained results. The main objectives of the thesis are: a) to study hydrogen production via steam biomass (sawdust) gasification; b) to evaluate the produced hydrogen by performing comprehensive analysis by using thermodynamic, exergoeconomic and optimization analyses. Despite details specific to the gasifier, in general, there is a special need to theoretically address the gasifier that gasifies biomass to produce hydrogen. This further study of gasification aspects presents a comprehensive performance assessment through energy and exergy analyses, provides results of the optimization studies on minimizing hydrogen production costs, and provides a thermo-economic analysis for the proposed systems (Systems I, II and III). This thesis also includes the results from the performed study that aims to investigate theoretical hydrogen production from biomass (sawdust) via gasification technology.
Results from the performed parametric study show that the gasification ratio increases from 70 to 107 gH2 per kg of sawdust. In the gasification temperature studied, system II has the highest energy efficiency that considers electricity production where it increases from 72 % to 82 % and has the lowest energy efficiency that considers hydrogen yield where it increases from 45 % to 55 %. Also, it has the lowest hydrogen cost of 0.103 $/kW-h. The optimization results show that the optimum gasification temperatures for System I, System II and System III are 1139 K, 1245 K and 1205 K, respectively.


title: Novel tele-operation of mobile-manipulator systems

subject:
Mobile-manipulator systems
Algorithmic singularities
Jasper Mobile-Manipulator

abstract:
A novel algorithm for the simplified tele-operation of mobile-manipulator systems is
presented. The algorithm allows for unified, intuitive, and coordinated control of
mobile manipulators, systems comprised of a robotic arm mounted on a mobile base.
Unlike other approaches, the mobile-manipulator system is modeled and controlled
as two separate entities rather than as a whole. The algorithm consists of thee states.
In the  rst state a 6-DOF (degree-of-freedom) joystick is used to freely control the
manipulator's position and orientation. The second state occurs when the manipulator
approaches a singular configuration, a con guration where the arm instantaneously
loses a DOF of motion capability. This state causes the mobile base to proceed in
such a way as to keep the end-effector moving in its last direction of motion. This
is done through the use of a constrained optimization routine. The third state is
triggered by the user: once the end-effector is in the desired position, the mobile
base and manipulator both move with respect to one another keeping the end-effector
stationary and placing the manipulator into an ideal configuration. The proposed
algorithm avoids the problems of algorithmic singularities and simplifies the control
approach. The algorithm has been implemented on the Jasper Mobile-Manipulator
System. Test results show that the developed algorithm is effective at moving the
system in an intuitive manner.

abstract: University of Ontario Institute of Technology


title: Development of multi-wheel drivetrain control system for future electric combat vehicle

subject:
Combat vehicle
electric
Control system

abstract: In modern times, electric vehicle and autonomous driving control technology have been rapidly evolving for use in civilian passenger vehicles. They bring forth many benefits in improved mobility, cost savings and life-preserving benefits – all of which can be extended to military vehicles. In this thesis, a comprehensive drivetrain control system for a future fully-electric 8x8 multi-wheeled combat vehicle with autonomous navigation functionality is developed. The proposed combat vehicle is equipped with eight independently-actuated wheels using individual in-wheel driving motors and linear actuators for steering. The control system is intended to harness the flexibility of the electric drivetrain to enable different driving configurations over a range of conditions to maximize mobility, deployability and survivability. The system comprises of autonomous navigation via path preview sensors and a driver model, torque vectoring and skid steering through a single LQR-based active yaw controller, and feedforward zero side-slip rear-wheel steering control. Separate feedforward controllers were also developed for skid steering and rear-wheel steering to mimic existing mechanical implementations for comparison. Vehicle performance evaluation using the control system was divided into low-speed autonomous operation and high-speed manned operation. Under low-speed autonomous operation, the control system achieved stable skid steering up to 40 km/h with significantly reduced driver input effort compared to a conventional combat vehicle. In high-speed manned operation, the LQR torque vectoring controller performed well in stabilizing the vehicle motion over reduced friction conditions. Feedforward zero-side slip control steering the fourth axle improved cornering precision and yaw response below 50 km/h, and improved lateral motion stability steering all wheels up to a recommended operating speed of 80 km/h.


title: Investigating the effectiveness of a gymnastics intervention on motor skills and balance of children ages 5-9 with autism spectrum disorder

subject:
Autism spectrum disorder
Motor skills
Balance
Gymnastics
Motor skill interventions

abstract: Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) usually display motor skills and balance that are delayed and less proficient compared to their peers with typical development (TD). However, very little research has focused on implementing interventions targeting motor skills and balance of children with ASD. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a gymnastics intervention on motor skills and balance of children ages 5-9 with ASD compared to a fine motor intervention. Participants were randomly assigned into the gymnastics or fine motor group. The results indicated that overall motor skills, as well as motor skill subtests and subscales slightly improved for both groups following the intervention. In addition, manual dexterity significantly improved for the fine motor group following the intervention (p=0.03). The results also indicated small improvements in some sections of the balance assessment for both groups following the intervention. The results of this study indicate that a six-week gymnastics intervention, once a week for 45 minutes per session, did not lead to a significant improvement in motor skills or balance of children ages 5-9 with ASD. More research is needed on the effect of gymnastics interventions with a higher dosage and intensity, as well as a larger sample size.


title: A temporal topic model for social trend prediction

subject:
Topic model
Social trend prediction
Twitter data
Content-based model

abstract:
Social media provides increasing opportunities for users to voluntarily share their thoughts and concerns in a large volume of data. While user-generated data from each individual may not provide considerable information, when combined, they include variables which can convey significant events. In this thesis, we pursue the question of whether social media context can provide socio-behavior ``signals'' for scio-economic index prediction. The hypothesis is that crowd publicly available data in social media, in particular Twitter, may include predictive variables which can indicate the changes of socio-economic indexes.
We developed content-based and user-centric prediction models where the objective is to employ Twitter content to predict whether the rates increase or decrease for the prospective time-frame. In order to collect Twitter data, we developed an activity-based sampling approach to collect credible users. The intention is to target users who are historically active rather than those who do not have enough contributions in the past.
Since our problem has a sequential order, extracting meaningful patterns from historical tweets involves temporal analysis. Prediction models require to address information evolution, in which data are more related when they are close in time rather than further apart. We introduced a four-phase temporal topic detection model to infer predictive hidden topics. The model includes document partitioning, topic inference, topic selection, and document representation phases. In fact, a dynamic vocabulary is built to detect emerging topics. The extracted topics are compared over time to select more diverse and novel topics in each time consideration. The selected topics as predictive features are then applied in the proposed prediction models. The prediction models were evaluated for crime prediction in Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. The conducted experiments revealed the correlation between features extracted from the content and crime rates directions. The findings indicate that, extracted topics from content of active users achieved better performance compared to other features such as auxiliary ones. Overall, the proposed models in Twitter data collection and temporal topic detection have contributions in user-based sampling approaches and sequential topic detection problems, respectively.S