title: Frequency of High Diagnostic Testing and its Association With the Specialist Interval in Ontario Symptomatic Breast Cancer Patients

contributor:
Groome, Patti
Public Health Sciences

subject:
Breast Cancer
Diagnostic Delay
Diagnostic Interval
Repeat Testing
Diagnostic Testing
Symptomatic Breast Cancer
Breast Neoplasm

abstract:
Purpose: The breast cancer diagnostic process is complex. Patients can receive various tests including mammograms, ultrasounds, MRI scans and biopsies. A protracted time to diagnosis can affect a patient’s prognosis and mental well-being. This thesis examined the association between high diagnostic testing and diagnostic delay and described high testing differences across Ontario Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs).
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of symptom-detected patients diagnosed in Ontario from 2007 to 2015 (N=38,590) using data from linked administrative datasets. Patients diagnosed from 2012 to 2015 were included in the LHIN-specific analyses. High testing was defined as patients having received > 2 days of mammogram appointments, > 2 days of ultrasound appointments, > 1 day of MRI appointments, or > 2 days of biopsy appointments. The outcome studied was whether patients had a specialist interval (time from first specialist test or consultation to diagnosis) longer than 30 or 90 days. Hierarchical logistic regression controlled for potential confounders and clustering by diagnosing institution.
Results: High diagnostic testing occurred in 13.4% of patients. Patients with high testing had higher odds of having a specialist interval longer than 30 days (adjusted OR=9.9; 95% CI: 9.2-10.7) and 90 days (adjusted OR=8.0; 95% CI: 7.4-8.7) compared to patients who received standard testing. High diagnostic testing varied by LHIN, ranging from 4.0% to 31.6%. Studying the LHINs indicated variation in high testing after controlling for potential confounders and that repeat breast ultrasound appeared to be driving the high testing rate.
Conclusions: This thesis provides evidence that there is a strong association between receiving a high amount of diagnostic testing and the time to a breast cancer diagnosis in symptomatic patients. Additionally, ultrasound is the diagnostic test repeated most often and the test that explains high test variation across LHINs. This information could help Ontario and other health care jurisdictions develop models of high-quality breast cancer care that also aim to reduce repeat diagnostic testing with the goal of shortening the time to diagnosis.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Teaching creative music: A case-study and action research examination of practices in creative music making

contributor:
Bolden, Benjamin
Education

rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States

rights: Queen's University's Thesis/Dissertation Non-Exclusive License for Deposit to QSpace and Library and Archives Canada

rights: ProQuest PhD and Master's Theses International Dissemination Agreement

rights: Intellectual Property Guidelines at Queen's University

rights: This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner.

subject:
Education
Music Education

abstract: Many scholars agree that creative music making can facilitate student agency development, increase a sense of belonging and foster creative expression. Creative music making allows students to bring their perspectives to the learning context through their own creations and explorations. In my own teaching practice, I have had difficulty implementing creative music making in a community music setting. Using a two-phase approach of multiple qualitative case studies, and action research, I examined teachers’ perspectives of creative music making, and ways I can improve my own teaching of creative music making. Findings revealed that teachers’ experiences with creative music making in their own music education played a crucial role in preparing them to teach creative music. Instructors conceptualized creative music making as activities that develop people’s agency through collaborative music creation, that have the benefit of creating a sense of belonging, while giving students the opportunity to contribute to their community. The implementation of creative music making seems to rely on connecting students to their wider community, which is achieved in part through incorporating their own musical tastes and experiences. Instructors indicated that balancing the learning goals of technical development with creative music making and exploration was an ongoing challenge.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Physical Modelling of Tailings Dam Breach

contributor:
Take, W. Andy
Civil Engineering

subject:
dam breach
tailings
mining
outflow hydrograph
physical modelling
overtopping

abstract: Tailings dams are constructed in stages, exhibit sediment deposits located in the reservoir upstream of the dam crest (beaches) generated from slurry deposition, and are commonly designed with shallower upstream slopes in contrast with conventional water storage dams. Current breach models for the failure mode of overtopping, used to inform flood routing and emergency preparedness plans, have been developed for water storage dams and have not been calibrated to the tailings dam case. This thesis presents the results of eleven 1m high homogeneous fine sand dams brought to failure by overtopping to investigate the influence of dam geometries varying from water storage dams to tailings dams on the outflow hydrograph. Laboratory observations indicate that the breach crest geometry can be described as a semi-ellipse, and that the size and shape of the breach crest controls instantaneous discharge during breach. This geometric relationship, coupled with an observed linear breach crest growth rate and a discharge equation were shown to permit an estimation of discharge from the onset of breach to peak discharge. Peak discharge was demonstrated to occur when the combination of breach crest length and depth of water flowing over the crest were at their maximum, given a finite reservoir volume. The reservoir storage function was shown to limit breach discharge when the reservoir elevation fell below the sum of the dam height below the breach crest location and maximum potential depth of water flowing over the breach crest. These findings enabled calculation of the maximum discharge rate and time to reach peak discharge, based on reservoir and dam upstream geometry. The presence of a shallowly sloping beach in the reservoir impacted peak discharge only in the case where the beach was intersected by the breach crest while the discharge rate was on the rising limb of the outflow hydrograph. A reduction in peak discharge was observed in tests where the beach height was greater than this threshold, including scenarios that resulted in an approximately 50% reduction in peak discharge rate.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: The Kneel for Social Justice: Colin Kaepernick, Megan Rapinoe, and The Black Lives Matter Movement

contributor:
King, Samantha
Kinesiology and Health Studies

subject:
Colin Kaepernick
Megan Rapinoe
NFL
National Anthem Protest
Black Lives Matter
Police Violence
Athlete Activism
Instagram
Discourse Analysis
Social Media

abstract: In 2016 Colin Kaepernick captured the attention of America when he did not stand for the playing of the national anthem before a National Football League preseason game to protest racist police violence. Shortly thereafter, Megan Rapinoe a female professional soccer player chose to support Kaepernick and knelt during the national anthem as well in protest. The media and public reaction towards the athletes was influenced by the racial landscape of the United States in 2016. This thesis is a critical discourse analysis of user generated comments on the social media platform Instagram in response to Kaepernick’s and Rapinoe’s protest to determine public perception of athlete activism, racism, and other social issues. Utilizing critical race theory, I argue that dominant discourses in opposition towards the athletes reflect colourblind ideologies and appear race-neutral, but in reality reinforce a white racial hierarchy. In addition, I contend that online social media platforms can function as spaces where hegemonic ideologies around race can be contested.

abstract: M.A.


title: CFD Modeling of a Liquid Desiccant Dehumidifier

contributor:
Harrison, Stephen
Boulama, Kiari Goni
Mechanical and Materials Engineering

subject:
Liquid Desiccant Dehumidifier
Heat Transfer
CFD
Fluent
Mass Transfer

abstract:
The demand for air conditioning is estimated to increase rapidly due to rising world population and the effects of climate change. It is expected that the use of air conditioners will increase by a factor of five by 2050, which stresses the need for more environmentally friendly and energy-efficient systems. In many locations, dehumidification is an important aspect of air conditioning, increasing energy consumption.  An alternative to conventional vapour-compression cooling systems are systems where the outdoor-air is dehumidified by a liquid desiccant solution.
Typical liquid desiccant dehumidifiers (LDD) pass building-air over a concentrated liquid desiccant solution that absorbs moisture from the air stream, decreasing the solution concentration. The solution is subsequently heated to drive off the moisture allowing it to be regenerated. The design of an efficient and compact dehumidifier section is crucial. To achieve this goal, a thorough understanding of the heat and mass transfer processes is required.
Therefore, this thesis presents an analysis of the heat and mass transfer in an idealized section of a LDD.  This was accomplished by modelling the flow of water and air in an adiabatic, vertical, parallel-plate channel. The effects of the inlet mass flow rate and temperature were investigated. The results show that the water temperature and inlet flow rate have a significant effect on the condensation processes. The inlet air flow rate was found to have the least impact on the performance.
Three cases were studied for a water/lithium-chloride liquid desiccant dehumidifier, i.e.  internally cooled parallel-flow and counter-flow, and adiabatic counter-flow. A parametric study indicated the best performance for the internally cooled (isothermal) case, however, for long channels, a uniform heat flux boundary condition should be better.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Mechanical Performance of PVC Pressure Pipes with a Bell-and-Spigot Joint

contributor:
Moore, Ian
Civil Engineering

subject:
Leakage
Differential Ground Settlements
Shear Forces and Rotations
Bell-and-Spigot Joints
PVC Pressure Pipes

abstract: Water is a valuable resource for society, but it is not always used sustainably. In various cities across the globe, a great deal of water has been leaking from pipe networks, for example, due to corrosion-induced leakage, poor installation, and the distortion and opening of joints resulting from ground deformation. In recent years, PVC pipes have often been the choice for buried water mains. These pipes generally use gasketed bell-and-spigot joints to connect many segments into a watertight infrastructure. The presence of joints, however, presents a challenge to the ability of these structures to remain sealed when subjected to permanent ground settlements. This research project evaluates the leakage performance, deformations, and loads that develop across the joint of two segments of 150-mm-diameter DR-18 PVC pipes connected by a bell-and-spigot joint, when subject to permanent ground deformation. A Four-Point Bending apparatus was designed and used to determine the flexural rigidity (EI) of the PVC pipes, and two different apparatuses – the Split-box and the Joint Testing Frame – were used to produce controlled differential distortion of the pipe joint and barrels. One experiment, which simulated a buried PVC pipe subject to a normal ground fault (as a proxy for various kinds of permanent ground motion), was executed using the Split-box. While the pipe joint did not leak under internal water pressure of 1034 kPa, demands on the joint, the rotations and shear forces, were identified and quantified up to maxima of 0.95° and 14 kN respectively for maximum fault offset of 120 mm. A series of tests was then executed using the Joint Testing Frame, examining the joint in a commonly used PVC pipe product. The pipe samples were pressurized to internal water pressures of from 15 kPa to 400 kPa and then tested up to joint leakage or the deformation limits of the pipe or testing frame. Novel shear force versus rotation envelopes for leakage were developed for the pipe product. These envelopes reveal a range of water pressures and shear and rotation demands that induce joint leakage and permit the further understanding of why the buried pipe joint did not leak.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Dynamic Access Control Framework for Internet of Things

contributor:
Hassanein, Hossam
Elgazzar, Khalid
Computing

subject:
Dynamic Access Control
Adaptive Access Policies
Machine Learning
Context-Aware Access Policies
Continuous Policy Enforcement

abstract: In the near future, IoT ecosystems will enable billions of smart things to interconnect and communicate information about themselves and their physical environments. The high density of smart things in these environments allows for fine-grained data acquisition, enabling the development of advanced services and new kinds of applications ranging from wearable devices to air conditioners to fully automated cars. However, the dense and pervasive collection, processing and dissemination of data can unleash sensitive information about individuals, raising non-trivial security and privacy concerns. One solution for IoT security and privacy is to restrict access to sensitive data using access control and authorization techniques. Although many basic principles of standard access control models continue to apply, the high dynamic nature of IoT environments,  resources limitation of IoT devices and vulnerability to physical and virtual attacks present unique challenges that render existing access control schemes unfit for IoT. This research introduces a holistic and dynamic access control framework for IoT environments. The framework consists of three components: an automatic and context-aware policy specification method, continuous policy enforcement mechanism and an adaptive policy adjustment technique. In response to access requests, the automatic policy specification component dynamically generates access control rules that grant access permissions based on predefined primitive facts. The primitive facts describe the attributes of the IoT devices registered to the system and the operational contexts under which these devices can interact. The continuous policy enforcement mechanism constantly monitors the compliance of the operational context while resource is in use, and re-evaluates ongoing access sessions in response to changes in operational contexts and/or access policies. The adaptive policy adjustment component assesses the access behavior of the IoT devices, adjusts the access control policies based on device behavioral patterns and recommends policy adjustments to the policy administrator for final approval. Experimental results show that the proposed framework provides higher adaptability to the dynamic security and privacy requirements of IoT deployments as well as better flexibility in access control policy management.

abstract: PhD


title: Emotion regulation success and strategy choice during adolescence

contributor:
Hollenstein, Tom
Psychology

subject:
Adolescence
Emotion Regulation

abstract: Emotion regulation (ER) involves the ways individuals influence which emotions they have, when these emotions occur, and how they are experienced and expressed. During adolescence, youth transition from a child-like form of ER to one that is more likely to resemble the ER tendencies of an adult. This maturation is essential for many aspects of development, as strong ER skills are critical for mental health, relationship quality, and academic success, especially in the emotionally volatile developmental period of adolescence. However, several questions remain regarding how ER is implemented, and how it changes, during adolescence. Specifically, it remains unclear which situational (e.g., controllability) and psychological (e.g., intensity) factors influence youth to choose specific ER strategies or contribute to a youth’s success when regulating their emotions. Moreover, it is also unclear how ER success and strategy choice change during adolescence, and which factors are associated with these changes. The proposed dissertation used experience sampling (Study 1) and longitudinal methodologies (Study 2) to examine the associations between ER success and strategy choice, and several candidate factors in order to begin to illuminate which situational and psychological factors contribute to ER success and strategy choice during adolescence. Study 1 results showed that situational factors influenced strategy choice and the likelihood of experiencing success. Situational factors also influenced the association between some strategies (reappraisal, suppression, and engagement) and success, meaning that the effectiveness of these strategies may be contingent on the situation within which they are implemented. Study 2 results showed that most ER variables did not show group-level significant change over time. However, individual-level analyses revealed that slope values for change in regulatory success were associated with changes in parental support, perceived stress, and mindset. Moreover, individual level changes in ER success were strongly predictive of later depression and anxiety symptom levels. Discussions focus on the general themes of the dissertation, such as the importance of the micro- and macro-level environment when conceptualizing and assessing ER, individual differences that emerge during development of ER, and the ambiguity of what constitutes healthy regulation.

abstract: PhD


title: Software Defect Prediction Using Rich Contextualized Language Use Vectors

contributor:
Cordy, James R.
Computing

subject: Software Code Profile

subject: Machine Learning

subject: Deep Learning

subject: Software Bug Prediction

subject: Software Defect Prediction

abstract:
Context. Software defect prediction aims to find defect prone source code, and thus reduce the effort, time and cost involved with ensuring the quality of software systems. Both code and non-code metrics are commonly used in this process to train machine learning algorithms to predict software defects. Studies have shown that such metrics-based approaches are failing to give satisfactory results, and have reached a performance ceiling. This thesis explores the idea of using code profiles as an alternative to traditional metrics to predict software defects. This code profile-based method proves to be more promising than traditional metrics-based approaches.
Aims. This thesis aims to improve software defect prediction using code profiles as feature variables in place of traditional metrics. Software code profiles encode the density of language feature use and the context of such use in Rich Contextualized Language Use Vectors (RCLUVs) by analysing the parse tree of the source code. This thesis explores whether code profiles can be used to train machine learning algorithms, and compares the performance of the derived models to traditional metrics-based approaches.
Methods. To achieve these aims the learning curves of several machine learning algorithms are analyzed, and the performance of the derived models are evaluated against traditional metrics-based approaches. Two benchmark bug datasets, the Eclipse bug dataset and the Github bug database, are used to train the models.
Results. The learning curves of the models show machine learning algorithms can learn from RCLUV-based code profiles. Performance evaluation against existing metrics-based approaches reveals that the code profile-based approach is more promising than traditional metrics-based approaches. However, the predictive performance of both metrics and code profile-based approaches drops in cross-version predictions.
Conclusions. Unlike traditional metrics-based approaches, this thesis uses vectors generated by analyzing language feature use from the parse trees of source code as feature variables to train machine learning algorithms. Experimental results using learning algorithms encourages us to use software code profiles as an alternative to traditional metrics to predict software defects.

abstract: PhD


title: The effects of subconcussive impacts on white matter integrity in the corpus callosum and corticospinal tracts

contributor:
Cook, Douglas
Neuroscience Studies

subject:
Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Football
Subconcussive Impacts
Corpus Callosum
Corticospinal Tract
GForceTracker

abstract: Over the course of a football season the athletes are subject to a large number of impacts ranging in magnitude. With these impacts failing to cause any clinical signs of concussion, they often get disregarded as non-injurious. Recent evidence shows that the cumulative effects of these impacts may cause microstructural damage within the brain. This study set out to examine the effects of these subconcussive impacts on two specific white matter tracts in the brain: the corpus callosum (CC) and the corticospinal tract (CST). 20 Canadian Univeristy level football players were followed for one season. These players were examined using diffusion tensor imaging at three time points: prior to any team sessions (preseason), following training camp (post-training camp), and following the last session of the season (post-season). Four DTI measures were analyzed: fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD), in order to asses white matter integrity. Players were separated into two groups based on impact exposure throughout the season. Results showed that the high exposure group had significantly lower FA (main effect of Group) in the CC and the bottom-left section of the CST. There was a significant decrease in FA over time in the top section of the left CST. There were no observed changes in MD, AD or RD. The changes found in this study indicate that despite no outward symptoms of injury (SRC), “silent” changes are occurring within the brain’s microstructures as a result of receiving numerous subconcussive impacts during a season of football.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Comprehensive analysis of the Ontario eligibility criteria for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome

contributor:
Feilotter, Harriet
Pathology and Molecular Medicine

subject: BRCA1

subject: BRCA2

subject: Genetic Testing

subject: Ontario

subject: Eligibility Criteria

subject: Germline Mutations

abstract:
Germline mutations in breast and ovarian cancer are rare, with approximately 10% and 13% being hereditary in origin, respectively. In 2001, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (MOHLTC), in an effort to contain costs, defined criteria to determine an individual’s eligibility for BRCA genetic screening. Using real-world data from Kingston General Hospital (KGH) and Mt. Sinai Hospital (Toronto), we assessed if the long-standing program that has been in use in Ontario for nearly two decades provides real-world evidence for their effectiveness. From our studies we have produced the following recommendations to expand and/or improve the existing eligibility guidelines:
1. Clinical geneticists and genetic counselors should adhere strictly to risk criteria guidelines as this appears to be an economical approach that should not reduce the effectiveness of screening;
2. Add an additional criterion to include probands who do not themselves have ovarian cancer but who have first degree relatives with ovarian cancer, may be useful.
3. Change the risk criteria #10 requirements to include an age cut-off that maximizes the capture rate of carriers while reducing noncarriers. Our data show this value to potentially be 60 years old;
4. Risk assessment tools should be applied rigorously and consistently for all patients. Standardizing these practices ensure a normalized approach for all patients;
5. Do not test individuals that fail to meet eligibility criteria nor risk assessment tool risk thresholds;
6. Objectively describing what constitutes “clinical suspicion” RC#13 may help standardize how this risk criteria is assigned across institutions.
7. Information collection and exchange of patient data within the context of BRCA1/2 screening should be standardized across all institutions in Ontario.

abstract: PhD


title: Understanding sources of variation in advertisement call attributes in spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer)

contributor:
Lougheed, Stephen C.
Biology

subject:
Heritability
Advertisement Call
Frog
Skeletochronology

abstract:
The mate recognition system is the foundation of biological speciation in frogs and toads. Sexual selection has been suggested to cause male call evolution, population divergence, and ultimately reproductive isolation. It is generally assumed that a significant fraction of variation in male call has an underlying genetic basis and that there is a link between call attributes and fitness. Yet these are largely unproved assertions in anurans, with many other factors contributing to diversity of calls within a male chorus. Anuran advertisement calls are important in studies of sexual selection, speciation, community acoustic partitioning, as well as phenological studies. In all of these, understanding heritability of calls is prerequisite to understanding evolutionary patterns and potential responses to selection. However, few studies have examined the heritability of advertisement calls in anurans. In general, we know that key aspects of anuran calls, including both temporal and spatial attributes, vary with body size, age, abiotic factors such as temperature and habitat type, and social context, including inter-male competition. In my thesis, I attempt to estimate the heritability of call attributes within a calling assemblage of a temperate treefrog, Pseudacris crucifer, and to quantify the relative contributions of different factors: body size, age, calling temperature and genetics. I used sonographic analysis to assess call variation, skeletochronology to estimate age, and a dataset comprising single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to estimate the relatedness of calling males. I used the animal model to evaluate those factors that may affect call variation. I found that body temperature to be the most important
factor, influencing all six call attributes, and that body size predicted variation in some call attributes. I had insufficient power to derive robust estimates of heritability. By investigating the genetic basis as well as environmental components of variation in advertisement calls, I gained insights on within-population variation and how selection might impact the evolution of anuran calls.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Democracy, Instrumentalism, and Power as a Trust: On the Foundations of Political Instrumentalism

contributor:
Sypnowich, Christine
Philosophy

subject:
Democracy
Democratic Theory
Justification of Democracy
Political Power
Political Instrumentalism
Democratic Instrumentalism
Distribution of Political Power
Sufficientarianism
Public Trust
Public Trust Instrumentalism

abstract: In this dissertation, I explore the theory of political instrumentalism and its application to the justification of democracy. I suggest that because of the dominance of intrinsic accounts of the justification of democracy in contemporary democratic theory, political instrumentalism has been wrongly dismissed or neglected. The result is that serious investigation into the foundations of political instrumentalism has not been widely pursued. I argue that we can find a compelling basis for political instrumentalism in a moralized view of political power as a public trust. I thus argue for a distinctive version of political instrumentalism which I call ‘public trust instrumentalism’. Public trust instrumentalism supports a broadly sufficientarian approach to justifying the distribution of political power, and therefore has important implications for our thinking about the justification of democracy.

abstract: PhD


title: Unpacking religious and secular binaries in public school sexuality education:  Conceptualizations of sexuality in Ontario Christians’ life narratives

contributor:
Airton, Lee
Education

subject:
Youth
Sexual Health Education
Politics
Public Discourse
Controversy
Evangelical Christianity
Secularism
Sex-Ed
Comprehensive Sexuality Education
Religion
Narrative Research
Life Story

abstract: In 2010, less than 48 hours after the first release of a new Health and Physical Education curriculum (HPE), Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty revoked the update, claiming the Liberal government, had ‘listened to the parents.’ In 2015, the Liberal government would eventually implement a revised HPE curriculum, much to the same social and cultural dissonance faced by the McGuinty government in 2010. Nine years later, and these curriculum concerns are still present. In August 2018, Conservative Premier Doug Ford, repealed the 2015 HPE curriculum, vowing to ‘put the rights of the parent first.’ Before the start of the 2019 school year, Ford’s second Minister of Education Stephen Lecce unveiled a ‘new’ HPE curriculum that largely mirrors the vilified 2015 document. During the history of Ontario’s curriculum controversy, Evangelical Christians have been frequently represented in mainstream media accounts of the conflict as a united opposition to comprehensive sexuality education. However, it is currently unknown whether the informal sexuality education that plays out across an Evangelical Christian’s life course is as categorically opposed to Ontario’s HPE curriculum as media representations suggest. This study explores how sexuality emerges in the ways Ontario Christians narrate their life stories.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Perennial Educational Tensions: Saint Gregory Palamas’s Approach to Byzantium’s Exothen and Kath’imas Educational Traditions & Its Consequences for Thinking with Byzantium in a Contemporary Context

contributor:
Christou, Theodore M.
Greenfield, Richard
Veniamin, Christopher
Education

subject:
Education
Philosophy of Education
History of Education
Byzantine Education
Epistemology
Gregory Palamas
Exothen
Secular
Pagan
Kath'imas
Religious
Spiritual
Tension
Byzantium
14th century

abstract:
The purpose of this dissertation is to help fill a long-standing gap in the field of history of education with respect to studies on the Eastern Roman Empire of Byzantium. In particular, this study examines a crucial episode in the thousand-year tension between the exothen (pagan/secular) and kath’imas (Christian/spiritual) educational traditions within Byzantium. Gregory Palamas, the Orthodox Christian saint and theologian, emerges from the mid-fourteenth century Hesychast Controversy with a clear principle for balancing the relationship of exothen and kath’imas education, which in theory, is ratified as the official position of the Orthodox Church in Byzantium thereafter.

There are four studies in this work representing the interplay of the three areas of academic specialization required for a comprehensive examination of this topic: historical, theological, and educational. Study 1 is an educational history of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and of Gregory Palamas and his detractors, which situates the historical and educational context of the entire topic. Study 2 examines the theoretical framework of a dual-epistemology that Palamas is employing when examining the purpose of education, the two types of Byzantine education—exothen and kath’imas, and the respective methodologies pertaining to their distinct areas of competency. Study 3 applies the principles of Palamas’s theoretical framework through examining the three aspects of Palamas’s educational philosophy. It also provides a description of the content of the exothen and kath’imas educational traditions of Byzantium. Study 4 provides the model for a hybrid curriculum theory based on two dominant schools of late twentieth century curricular thought in order to illustrate the parallel tensions in modern discussions with that of Palamas’s fourteenth century exothen and kath’imas traditions. The study highlights the perennial nature of the questions and tensions that surround education and curriculum theory.

abstract: PhD


title: Improving the Quality of Patient Reported Outcomes by Minimizing Missing Data

contributor:
Richardson, Harriet
Brundage, Michael
Public Health Sciences

subject:
Patient-Reported Outcomes
Randomized Clinical Trials
Clinical Research Associates
Missing PRO Data
Factors

abstract:
Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs) are often included as an endpoint in prospective studies. Clinicians use the study results to help individuals with cancer make informed decisions about treatment. Missing PRO data threaten the validity of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and can undermine scientific credibility of PRO-specific conclusions. The thesis goal was to use quantitative and qualitative approaches to identify causes of missing PRO data.

A systematic review of the literature identified 46 unique categories of factors reported to have an association with missing PRO data. These factors were organized into a framework having five main components: Instrument, Participant, Centre, Staff, and Study.

Cox regression examined the association of 15 factors with time to the first missing instrument in data from three RCTs: MA17 (breast cancer), PR7 (prostate cancer), and LY12 (non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma). Most factors did not have significant independent association with outcome, but a few did, depending on the RCT. Centre presence of a post-graduate residency training program (MA17, PR7) and geographic location (PR7, LY12) had a stronger association. Participant age (PR7) and baseline level of well-being (LY12), and centre level of activity (LY12) had a weaker association.

Interviews were conducted with 11 Clinical Research Associates (CRAs). Ten themes were identified in analysis based on descriptive phenomenology. The CRAs described their experience with different patterns of missing PRO data. PROs for routine clinical care compete with PROs for RCTs. Several important influences of missing PRO data were inherent to the instruments (quantity, repetition, wording of questions, and format), patients (characteristics, attributes of the cancer, and toxicity from the treatment), centres (deficiencies in research infrastructure), staff (developing relationships with patients), and RCTs (data capture in electronic versus paper format). Adapting the assessment schedule and providing sufficient time for the patient to complete the instrument were challenging for the CRAs, particularly at disease progression. There is a need for field guidance, and a motivation and knowledge base among CRAs to develop such guidance.

This dissertation provides evidence to facilitate understanding of which factors influence missing PRO data, so that steps can be taken to improve the quality of PROs by minimizing missing data.

abstract: PhD


title: Multivariate geostatistical simulation of compositional data using Principal Component Analysis

contributor:
Ortiz, Julian
Mining Engineering

subject:
Geostatistics
Multivariate Geostatistical Modeling
Principal Component Analysis

abstract:
In the mining industry, there is interest in the use of spatial processes to model spatially collected data. For the multivariate observations, we should model associations at a specific location and between locations, but also among variables. Common methods for multivariate modeling rely on the Linear Model of Coregionalization (LCM), which is limited in higher dimensions and generates models that do not properly reproduce the features of the original multivariate samples.
In this thesis we present a simple methodology for multivariate geostatistical modeling of compositional data using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). According to the methodology, grades are, first, transformed to log-ratios. Then, these log-ratios are linearly transformed to Principal Components (PCs). PCA tends to spatially decorrelate the factors, allowing for the independent simulation of each PCs, instead of requiring a co-simulation. Sequential Gaussian Simulation is performed independently on each Principal Component and the simulated factors are then back-transformed to simulated log-ratios, and these are finally back-transformed to grades.
Using a 6-dimensional data set from a Nickel-Laterite deposit, we demonstrate the difference between the proposed methodology and classical co-simulation. The statistics and the further validation of the back-transformed grades after PCA and Sequential Gaussian Simulation showed that the proposed methodology tends to respect the relationships between the variables whereas co-simulation of the grades tends to respect the statistics but the reproduced relationships are not representative.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Velocity Acquisition Methods for Stable Haptic Simulation Systems

contributor:
Hashtrudi-Zaad, Keyvan
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject:
Stability Analysis
Haptic Interfaces
Virtual Environments
Force Feedback
Uncoupled Stability
Passivity

abstract: Haptic simulation systems enable the perception of virtual environments through the sense of touch. These systems are composed of a haptic device through which an operator interacts with the virtual environment that is graphically and dynamically rendered in a computer. The stability of haptic simulation systems is compromised by the data acquisition sample and hold process that connects continuous and virtual worlds. Typically in these systems, the haptic device position is sampled and the velocity is estimated in discrete-time from the position samples in order to simulate the real environment dynamics and generate the environment force feedback. Velocity estimation in discrete-time domain limits the range of virtual environment dynamics that can be implemented in stable way. In order to increase the range, two velocity acquisition methods are investigated. First, sampling velocity directly from an analog gyro. Second, sampling analog  velocity approximation obtained from passing analog position through a high-pass  lter. Uncoupled stability and passivity criteria, considered as the most stringent stability conditions, are employed to analytically and experimentally evaluate the system stability and robustness of the proposed methods. Results indicate that the direct velocity measurement improves the stability, while the analog velocity approximation method offers a wide range of virtual environments that can be stably simulated.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Using 3D transperineal ultrasound imaging to study pelvic floor muscle functional characteristics in women with and without provoked vestibulodynia

contributor:
McLean, Linda
Pukall, Caroline
Rehabilitation Science

subject: Provoked Vestibulodynia

subject: Vulvodynia

subject: Transperineal Ultrasound Imaging

subject: Pelvic Floor Muscles

subject: Pelvic Floor Muscle Function

subject: Pelvic Floor Muscle Assessment

subject: Genito-Pelvic Pain and Penetration Disorder

abstract:
Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) is the most common form of chronic vulvar pain and cause of painful sexual intercourse in pre-menopausal women. Pelvic floor muscle (PFM) dysfunction is thought to play a role in the development and/or maintenance of PVD, and physical therapy is considered the best treatment approach to target PFM dysfunction.
The aims of this thesis work were (i) to use three-dimensional (3D) transperineal ultrasound imaging (TPUSI) to study PFM morphology and function in women with and without PVD in order to better understand how the PFMs may be involved in PVD and (ii) to understand the relevance of using 3D TPUSI in comparison with intra-vaginal palpation, for PFM assessment in women.
	Three studies were conducted. The first study established that there is very good inter-examiner reliability when using 3D TPUSI for measuring levator hiatal dimensions at rest, during maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) of the PFMs, and during maximal Valsalva maneuver (MVM), when trained examiners perform independent image acquisition and analyses. The second study compared levator hiatal dimensions at rest, on MVC, and on MVM, and transient changes in dimensions from rest to MVC and from rest to MVM, between women with and without PVD. Results revealed that women with PVD had smaller levator hiatus’ and less hiatal enlargement on MVM, in comparison to controls. Results also suggested that levator hiatal dimensions at rest may have an influence on the transient changes in dimensions on MVC and on MVM. The third study investigated the relationships among levator hiatal dimensions assessed using 3D TPUSI and PFM outcomes assessed using digital intra-vaginal palpation. Results revealed significant weak to moderate correlations between ultrasound and palpation outcomes, highlighting that 3D TPUSI and intra-vaginal palpation provide related but distinct information.
This thesis provides new information on the utility of 3D TPUSI for PFM assessment in women and on the differences in PFM morphological and functional characteristics between women with and without PVD. Future work may extend these findings to study the effects of physical therapy in the treatment of PVD using 3D TPUSI to determine if improvements in symptoms are associated with post-treatment changes in PFM morphological and functional characteristics.

abstract: PhD


title: Three Essays In Applied Econometrics

contributor:
Clark, Robert
Economics

subject:
Securitization
HARP
Refinance
Conforming Loans
Ontario Works
DCDP
TARP
Making Home Affordable
Mortgage Origination
ALMPs

abstract: In this thesis, I use both structural- and reduced-form econometric models to analyze economic issues relating to the mortgage and labour markets. In chapter 2, I use a dynamic discrete choice model to quantify the impact of the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) in the United States during the Great Recession, on mortgage default rates, as well as its monetary benefit to the government. I find that HARP led to a 71.6\% reduction in the total number of defaults and has saved the government US\$ 800 million. Furthermore, I also use the structural model to evaluate HARP under a counterfactual scenario of prolonged depression of house prices instead of the V-shaped recovery of house values we observed after the crisis. In chapter 3, I use a differences-in-differences (DiD) approach to establish the causal link between securitization and screening standards in the U.S. mortgage market. The estimation strategy exploits the discrete set of policy changes in the conforming loan limits that set the maximum loan size (conforming loans) that government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) can purchase and securitize. I find that GSEs' purchase eligibility has increased the probability of loan origination by $\sim3\%$. Chapter 4, co-authored with Jason Adams and David Ros\'{e}, investigates the efficacy of the Ontario Works' (OW) active labour market programs (ALMPs) in helping welfare recipients find and retain employment using an instrumental variables (IV) approach. We find that structured job search activities and other skills-enhancing ALMPs reduce spells by between 1.6 and 3.1 months, whereas programs such as placement services increase spell lengths considerably, but lead to lower return rates to OW one and two years after the end of their welfare spells.

abstract: PhD


title: Between the Dreamtime and the GPS / The Metaphysics of Indigenous Mapping

contributor:
Jessup, Lynda
Cultural Studies

subject:
Indigenous Aesthetics
Aboriginal Cartography
Indigenous Archives
Indigenous Studies
Senses of Place
Reconciliation
Cultural Studies
Design

abstract:
Although many scholars have written about the relationships
between land, mapping, power relations, and sovereignty, very few have
explored the relationship between the imbricated fields of Aboriginal
mapping, Indigenous aesthetics and placemaking, and the ways in
which Aboriginal maps, both customary and contemporary, contribute
to the conversation about remembering, Indigenous knowledge
production, and cultural survivance.1 If maps construct rather than
reproduce the world (Wood 2008: 92), how can the documentation
and creation of an Indigenous mapping archive assist in bringing
forward Indigenous worldviews, in particular those that emphasize the
significant interrelationships between land, aesthetics, and Indigenous
senses of place? To date no such archive exists. This doctoral project sets
out to conceptualize and design a mobile Indigenous mapping archive
that will carry within its walls an exhibition of Indigenous artists’ maps,
a mapping library, two digital interfaces, Indigenous teachings, and
ceremonial artifacts. The importance of this archive lies in its ability to
assist settler and Indigenous communities to mutually grapple with how
land matters to Indigenous Peoples in what is now known as Canada,
and specifically with the gap between “what is known and what is
merely seen” (Wood 2008: 92).

abstract: PhD


title: Athlete perceptions of "playing up" in youth soccer

contributor:
Côté, Jean
Kinesiology and Health Studies

subject:
Playing Up
Youth Sport
Positive Youth Development
Soccer

abstract: A common practice in sport is to “play up” youth athletes with exceptional sport-specific skills against older players with similar skill sets. Playing up is believed to facilitate expertise by exposing athletes to high intensities of practice and competition (Malina, 2010). However, the effects of playing up on youth’s athletic and personal development have not been evaluated. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate athletes’ experiences of playing up in soccer and their perceptions of how it may have influenced their sport-specific skill and psychosocial development. Seventeen athletes from four soccer clubs in Ontario, Canada, participated in semi-structured interviews in which they described their playing up experiences. Athletes discussed the decision for them to play up, their transition into a new team culture, and perceived changes in their development as athletes and as people. I performed an inductive thematic analysis of athletes’ interview transcripts to capture their playing up experiences (Braun et al., 2017). Athletes perceived playing up to involve a balance between challenge and progress that was facilitated by the social dynamics within their respective teams. Athletes struggled the most when coping with intensity, making mistakes, fighting for trust and respect, and fitting in. They also felt a sense of progress through being recognized, experiencing success, and pursuing professional aspirations. Overall, athletes desired playing up experiences that involved engaging in an inspiring learning environment, establishing quality relationships, and contributing to team learning. Future research is needed to evaluate playing up across contexts and explore ways to mobilize knowledge for sport practitioners.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Behavioral Modelling from Encrypted Remote Desktop Protocol Network Traffic

contributor:
Skillicorn, David
Computing

subject:
Traffic Classification
Cybersecurity
Encrypted Traffic

abstract: Traditional traffic monitoring relies on availability of unencrypted payload data inside of network packets, on which pattern match analysis is performed. With the growth in network traffic encryption, user behavioral monitoring has been severely hindered. Therefore, alternative methods are explored, such as machine learning for encrypted traffic classification which does not require decryption prior to analysis. In my study, I analyze encrypted Remote Desktop Protocol traffic from behavioral perspective on a network traffic dataset I generate. I develop a heterogeneous ensemble classification model that performs multi-label classification for five common RDP behaviors – Download, Browsing, Notepad, YouTube and Clipboard. The task is complicated as the data samples I generate may belong to one or more classes at the same time. I use Shapley Values to determine significant features and perform classification using the following techniques: SVM, KNN, Neural Network, Decision Tree, AdaBoost, Random Forest and XGBoost. The final model achieves a cross-validated minimum Precision of 97% and a minimum Recall of 94% for each of the five behavioral classes. Finally, I discuss some of the risks to privacy associated with the Remote Desktop Protocol traffic.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: End-to-End Quality Assurance of Complex Radiation Therapy Treatments

contributor: Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy

subject:
Film Dosimetry
Radiation Therapy
Gel Dosimetry
End-to-End Quality Assurance
3D Printing

abstract:
Radiation treatments have become increasingly complex, making quality assurance (QA) of radiation therapy deliveries of vital importance. In order to measure complex dose deliveries, it is crucial to have the proper dosimetric, readout, and analysis tools that can accurately report the delivered dose. While clinics generally perform a wide array of quality assurance testing on specific steps of the planning and delivery of the radiation, they seldom perform routine end-to-end testing of the entire treatment planning and delivery process. Such end-to-end tests are a valuable QA tool to help ensure that all individual components are working together to deliver the planned dose. Using an anthropomorphic phantom that incorporates several dosimeters (with fiducials for localization) for end-to-end QA can help to mimic a patient treatment and to study the overall geometric and dosimetric accuracy of an entire treatment process.

In this thesis, we look to perform comprehensive end-to-end quality assurance of radiation therapy treatments using point detectors, and two-dimensional (2D) and 3D dosimeters. Specifically, this work examines: (i) improving film dosimetry readout methods by testing the capabilities of our inhouse diffuse light field and camera film imaging system, as well as developing a new point source film scanner to eliminate stray light issues present in the diffuse light system, (ii) developing a streamlined gel dosimetry workflow and validating new gel dosimetry analysis software, (iii) using multiple dosimeters, coupled with commercial and in-house developed phantoms, to inform and verify clinical protocols and to commission new treatment
techniques, (iv) characterizing and benchmarking various 3D printing materials (for applications in 3D printed patient bolus and custom phantom manufacturing), (v) and developing an anthropomorphic head phantom that accommodates multiple dosimeters, using it to test a complete clinical treatment process from beginning to end (exactly like an actual patient would be treated), and involving clinical staff at each step of the process.

abstract: PhD


title: Examining What Institutional Structures and Forms of Leadership Support the Growth and Development of Non-Academic Professional Staff in Universities

contributor:
Stockley, Denise
Education

subject:
Leadership
Higher Education
Career
Profession
Identity
Growth
Case Study
Barriers

abstract: The study of career development pathways and support for the population of university employees who do not hold an academic appointment is lacking. Many departments across one eastern Ontario institution are coming to rely on non-academic professionals to help drive strategic objectives within their respective faculties. The goal of this study is to gain insight into the experiences of the career growth of this group in an effort to understand their career journeys. University environments have become more complex, there are higher expectations from stakeholder groups, and changes to funding models and international competition for the best students and faculty is continually on the rise. All of this change has resulted in increased performance pressure for not just the senior administration, but also for the professional staff who do not hold academic contracts but contribute in many areas to the institution’s success. An increase in postings for non-academic professional administrators to assume leadership roles in program management, strategic projects and many of the more functional areas of the university gives weight to the value that this particular population can bring to the environment. The challenge then becomes how can the institution best support the growth and development of this population, given that the human resource infrastructure currently in place in most higher education institutions has been structured around the support of academic faculty holding many of these leadership roles. Additionally, what changes are needed to meet the needs of this new generation of leaders?  Reflecting on my experiences in navigating my own career path is the catalyst for this research project, but with a specific goal of flushing out both the consistencies and differences between staff members across one university in Eastern Ontario in terms of their growth and development.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: A Narrative Approach to Understanding the Experience of Becoming and Being a Nurse: Professional Identity Formation Among New Nurses

contributor:
Tregunno, Deborah
Nursing

subject:
Narrative
Transition to Practice
Graduate Nurses
Professional Identity
Becoming

abstract: Research into how nurses form their professional identity is crucial to the development of the nursing profession as well as to understanding the factors that contribute to transition to practice and retention of new nurses. The purpose of this research was to explore the stories nurses tell to describe experiences of professional identity formation and transition to practice. Narrative methodology was used to understand transition to practice for newly graduated nurses and their experience of professional identity formation. This dissertation begins with an autobiographical reflection of my own journey of becoming and being a nurse. The research study includes the stories of five nurses who shared their unique experiences of becoming and being nurses. Participants were interviewed twice, and data was analysed using a three-dimensional narrative inquiry space of time, sociality, and place. Each story was organized by plotlines of beginning, becoming, and being nurses. Resonating narrative threads emerged and are presented as understandings across the five narrative accounts. In addition to the interpretations of each individual’s story of beginning, becoming, and being a nurse, threads that resonated across the stories include entering into the world of nursing, the journey to become a nurse, learning alongside others, and embodying nursing. The findings of this inquiry offer a new context for understanding professional identity formation and transition to practice in a way that preserves, values, and respects the voices and stories of the nurses themselves, while offering insight for nursing education, practice, and research.

abstract: PhD


title: And Chaos Whence? Canadian Energy Politics, 1973-1984

contributor:
Brison, Jeffrey
History

subject:
Canadian History
Oil Crisis
Energy Crisis
Forecasting
Uncertainty

abstract: This thesis investigates the impact of the 1973 oil shock, its sequel in 1979, and the counter-shock of the mid-1980s on Canada’s socio-economy. Over a decade of uncertainty, beginning when members of the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries rapidly increased the price of oil in the autumn of 1973, challenged the federal government’s ability to understand novel socioeconomic conditions and implement remedial policies. Chapter one examines socioeconomic projections developed in the early 1970s and offers an explanation as to how years of tranquility in global energy markets framed projections and decision-making. Chapter two reviews publications by various branches of the federal government to reveal the difficulty of reconciling political, economic, energy, and environmental concerns against the backdrop of global political and economic volatility. Chapter three examines the National Energy Program of 1980 that was partly premised on the global price of oil continuing to increase and capturing this windfall to fund various federal programs, only for the price of oil to rapidly deteriorate shortly after the program’s implementation. This thesis uses these cases to reflect upon how uncertainty is generated and the role of socioeconomic beliefs in shaping decision-making within a complex environment.

abstract: M.A.


title: Coupling reactions and hydrogenations catalyzed by abundant transition metal complexes

contributor:
Jessop, Philip
Chemistry

subject: Homogeneous Hydrogenation

abstract:
The field of homogeneous catalysis in the laboratory and on an industrial scale is dominated by transition metal catalysts. Most of these transformations require precious metal (PM) catalysts. However, due to their cost, toxicity, scarcity, and risk of depletion, research is underway to find chemistry that enables the replacement of PMs with abundant metal catalysts.
	Palladium (0) compounds have long been established as the catalyst of choice for most cross-coupling reactions. Lagging considerably behind the development of palladium-based systems, certain nickel-based compounds (particularly nickel compounds in (II) and (0) oxidation states) can also catalyze these reactions, potentially offering a lower cost and access to radical pathways. In this regard, the first half of the thesis describes the cross-coupling reactions by nickel-based catalysts. The study involves the comparison of Ni(0), Ni(I) and Ni(II) complexes containing triphenylphosphine (PPh3) ligands for their abilities to effect the various cross-coupling reactions. The Ni(0) complex was found to be catalytically active for representative Suzuki-Miyaura and Heck-Mizoroki reactions, and demonstrated comparable yields with many palladium-based catalysts. However, the Ni(I) complex seemed to convert to catalytically active Ni(0) species under Suzuki−Miyaura reaction conditions and it was found to be ineffective for Heck−Mizoroki cross-coupling. During this investigation, the paramagnetic Ni(I) complexes NiX(PPh3)3 (X = Cl, Br, I) were characterized for the first time by 1H NMR spectroscopy.
	The focus of the second half of the thesis is on the development of abundant-metal based homogeneous catalysts for the hydrogenation of amides. Catalysts were formed in–situ from abundant-metal salts and phosphine ligands, and these were screened for the deoxygenative hydrogenation of amides.  It was found that Co(BF4)2·6H2O with triphos (1,1,1-tris-(diphenylphosphinomethyl)ethane) and Yb(OTf)3·H2O as co-catalyst were found to be efficient for the hydrogenation of various amides.
	In the final chapter, 1st and 2nd row transition abundant-metal complexes, generated in-situ, were tested as catalysts for the hydrogenation of carboxylic acids. MoCl3 and MoCl5 in combination with tetraphos ligand resulted in hydrogenation of 2-phenoxyacetic acid in higher yields (> 95 %). Cobalt precursors Co(acac)2 and Co(OAc)2, in combination with dcpe ligand, and Co(BF4)2·6H2O with triphos ligand hydrogenated 3-phenylpropionic in greater yields.

abstract: PhD


title: The Spectacular Environmentalism of Cecil the Lion

contributor:
Hovorka, Alice
Geography and Planning

subject:
political ecology
animal geography
human-environment geography
conservation

abstract: In July 2015, Cecil the lion’s death sparked international furore over the practice of lion trophy hunting. Interest in the Cecil story was truly spectacular. The story cut across space and scale ensnaring actors from southern Africa, the United Kingdom, and North America, from rural African villagers and Western publics to an American celebrity and a billionaire philanthropist. This dissertation investigates the Cecil story - how it unfolded, and its implications for lion conservation – as a window through which to explore broader questions relevant to human-environment geography, particularly the fields of political ecology and animal geography. Broadly, it is concerned with how spectacular discourses of global environmental crises take shape, (mis)represent environmental problems, and (re)produce power in particular ways. This dissertation draws on reading across political ecology and animal geography. Through analysis of media, documents, events, and interviews using actor-network theory and discourse analysis, this dissertation traces the Cecil Moment, the Cecil Movement, and the dissonance between the two. It also connects insights from the Cecil story to conservation politics more broadly through comparative analysis. Ultimately, the research uncovers a shift in the politics of the Cecil story. It finds that the Cecil Moment operated to dismiss the anti-trophy hunting politics that sparked and fuelled it in the first place; yet, the momentum of the Cecil Moment was grasped and re-directed toward other lion conservation priorities. I argue that this re-direction was not neutral; rather, the Cecil Movement altered the politics of the Cecil Moment in a way that reproduced longstanding patterns of conservation injustice, wherein blame for biodiversity loss is directed away from powerful forces onto the racialized, rural poor from the Global South and wherein concern for individual animals is dismissed in favour of concern for species and populations. This research suggests that spectacular environmentalisms operate through more-than-human networks and mutable narratives that are not necessarily conducive to progressive transformation of environmental politics. Rather, they can entrench familiar patterns of conservation injustice, reproducing the power of already-empowered claims to authority, forms of knowledge, identities, and types of human-animal relationships.

abstract: PhD


title: Bare Majorities: On Voting in Constitutional Adjudication

contributor:
Webber, Grégoire
Law

subject:
Constitutional Adjudication
Voting Rules
Majority Rule
Supermajority Rules
Constitutional Courts

abstract:
In this thesis, I question the use of a majority voting rule (hereinafter 'majority rule') to control the constitutionality of legislation. This thesis mainly applies to jurisdictions that are generally considered 'well-functioning constitutional democracies,' such as Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Uruguay, and the US in the Americas; Japan, Mongolia, and Taiwan in Asia; and Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Portugal, Lithuania, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden in Europe. Specifically, I contend two things. First, constitutional courts' use of majority rule to control legislation's constitutionality is justified. Second, there are definitive reasons to contend that constitutional courts should use supermajority voting rules (hereinafter 'supermajority rules') to control such constitutionality.

This thesis is divided into eight chapters plus an appendix. In the first two chapters, I introduce this thesis and delineate its scope. In the third chapter, I present a brief history of voting rules in Western civilisation, from Ancient Greece to the Enlightenment. In the fourth chapter, I introduce the main features, properties, or characteristics of voting rules, with an emphasis on comparing majority rule with supermajority rules. In the fifth chapter, I analyse whether majority rule's properties provide conclusive reasons for using this voting rule to control statutes' constitutionality. (I conclude that they do not.) In the sixth chapter, I analyse whether the main constitutional adjudication theories provide conclusive reasons for using majority rule to control legislation's constitutionality. (I also conclude that they do not.) In the seventh chapter, I formulate a 'core case' for replacing majority rule with supermajority rules to control legislation's constitutionality. In the eight chapter, I address some practical issues related to the implementation of supermajority rules in constitutional adjudication. Finally, I formulate my general conclusion, along with presenting in the appendix information about the kinds of constitutional courts—and the kinds of societies—to which this thesis applies.

abstract: PhD


title: A New Approach to Preparing Bio-Synthetic Hybrid Materials Using Starch Nanoparticles

contributor:
Cunningham, Michael F.
Chemical Engineering

subject:
Starch Nanoparticles
Nitroxide-Mediated Polymerization
Grafting From
Grafting To
Pickering Stabilizers
Miniemulsion Polymerization
Emulsion Polymerization

abstract: Starch nanoparticles (SNP) are a new class of innovative biopolymers that can be obtained from native starch using different methods. Interest in bio-synthetic hybrid materials based on polysaccharides has been increasing in academia and industry in recent years. Previous studies have explored the modification of polysaccharides using different techniques to broaden their applications. Grafting from and grafting to with synthetic polymers, as well as etherification with small molecules were chosen in this work to modify the SNP. This work demonstrates the first successful nitroxide-mediated polymerization (NMP) grafting of SNP using both, the grafting from and the grafting to approaches. To graft synthetic polymers from the surface of the SNP, three steps were followed: 1) functionalization of SNP with vinyl benzyl chloride (VBC); 2) reaction of SNP-VBC with BlocBuilder MA (BB) to form an SNP-macroinitiator (SNP-BB); and 3) graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) with styrene (S), acrylic acid (AA) and methyl acrylate (MA) with SNP-BB. To graft synthetic polymers to the surface of SNP, again three steps were followed: 1) similar to the grafting from, functionalization of SNP with VBC; 2) synthesis of SG1-capped copolymers (macroalkoxyamines) via NMP using BB: P(MMA-co-S), poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate-co-styrene), P(DMAEMA-co-S), and poly(2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate-co-styrene), P(DEAEMA-co-S); and 3) reaction of the double bond of SNP-VBC with SG1-terminated macroalkoxyamines. 1H NMR, FTIR, TGA and elemental analysis were used to characterize the grafted SNP and confirm the success of the grafting from and grafting to reactions. The grafting of synthetic polymers such as P(MMA-co-S), PAA, PMA, P(DMAEMA-co-S) and P(DEAEMA-co-S) on hydrophilic SNP yields new bio-synthetic hybrid materials that could find use in paper coating latexes and other industrial applications. SNP were also modified with small molecules, such as octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA) and styrene oxide (STO), to change their hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance to make them Pickering stabilizers. Miniemulsion stability tests, emulsion polymerizations and miniemulsion polymerizations were conducted with SNP-STO for the first time. These new modified SNP showed the ability to partition at the oil-water interface, thereby providing stabilization to the system, which was not possible without the modification.

abstract: PhD


title: A Historical Analysis on Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) and Abed's Reception of Paulo Freire's Critical Literacy in Designing BRAC's Functional Education Curriculum in Bangladesh From 1972 to 1981

contributor:
Bruno-Jofre, Rosa
Education

subject:
Education
BRAC
Paulo Freire
Functional Education
Abed
Bangladesh
Conscientization
Poverty Alleviation

abstract: In this study, I examine the characteristics of the reception of Brazilian pedagogue Paulo Freire’s critical literacy by Building Resources Across Communities in Bangladesh (BRAC) from 1972 to 1981.The central questions of this study are: (1) how Dr. Fazle Hasan Abed, founding member of BRAC, read Freire within the context of his political intentionality and what he perceived were BRAC’s needs; and, (2) how Freire’s adult literacy theory was integrated in BRAC’s functional education curriculum design and practice. I argue that Abed was inspired by Paulo Freire’s pedagogical tenets in the planning and enactment of BRAC’s development initiatives to help the rural poor; however, Abed depoliticized and de-radicalized Freirean concepts when designing its functional education curriculum. Furthermore, his efforts at organizing the rural poor to generate income opportunities may have helped make the rural poor naïvely conscious. I also argue that although BRAC adapted Freire in its adult literacy curriculum, the program did not aim at the conscientization of its learners to challenge the oppressive social structure. Abed considered education as a tool of development within the frame of capitalism, not as an instrument for radical social transformation as Freire did. The political and social implications of specific processes of reception are illustrated through this comprehensive study on why and how Freire’s pedagogical principles were adopted and adapted by BRAC to develop their functional literacy curriculum. Development educators as well as popular educators, social reformers and social business entrepreneurs may gain a new perspective on the reception of Freirean pedagogical ideas.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Not a Joke: Women's work and feminist laughter in stand-up comedy

contributor:
Lord, Susan
Davies, Jacqueline
Cultural Studies

subject:
Critical Comedy Studies
Stand-Up Comedy
Feminism
Gender Studies

abstract:
Live feminist stand-up comedy, and the shared laughter it generates, is a potent form of popular cultural performance that has become increasingly politically relevant and commercially successful in contemporary North America. In this thesis, I take an interdisciplinary, mixed-method approach to studying the cultural and political work done by Ontario-based, women-identified stand-up comics and comedy producers. I engage with and extend the emerging field of critical comedy studies by drawing on a range of disciplines to analyze the affective politics of live feminist stand-up comedy. My position is informed by, and my writing integrates, the voices of contemporary and historical women-identified stand-up comics whom I have encountered through a variety of cultural texts, including: live and mediated performances, memoirs, interviews, histories, and anthologies. I interview a range of Ontario-based women-identified comics and critically reflect on performances I attended, recorded, and/or helped to produce. I focus in particular on explicitly feminist comedy events both produced and populated by women. These include: Yas Kween and SHADE, and those produced by the Hysterics Collective.
I argue that in writing and performing live comedy, comics claim positions of epistemic authority and affective and discursive power. They position themselves as experts on their own lives and subject positions, and they claim to know what will (and how to) make an audience laugh. On stage, in these spaces of authority, comics maintain discursive control over how they present themselves and their experiences. This is a powerful position that counters processes of cultural and political abjection. In generating laughter, comics affect (and are affected by) their audiences. I theorize this circulation of affect as politically powerful and personally meaningful. I reject the notion that a joke could be objectively funny or a comic universally appealing, and instead problematize social constructions of women as unfunny. Through autoethnography and reception studies, I argue that “getting” the joke and finding it funny (or not) depends on our interpretive repertoires. Additionally, I show that generating laughter takes work—work that is at once alienating and affirming, and almost always precarious.

abstract: PhD


title: Sheaves of Phi-Principal Parts

contributor:
Roth, Michael A.
Mathematics and Statistics

subject:
Mathematics
Algebraic Geometry
Enumerative Geometry

abstract: This thesis studies sheaves of phi-principal parts, a modification of the well-known sequence of sheaves of principal parts. In Chapter 1, we construct the sheaves of phi-principal-parts, and undertake their general study. Then, in Chapter 2, we apply these sheaves to the problem of counting how many Weierstrass points (counted according to their Weierstrass weight) are absorbed into a singularity in a curve degeneration, and, in Chapter 3, we apply these sheaves to the problem of counting lines in a linear system in a Grassmannian.

abstract: PhD


title: Liberal Order and Climate Control: Ontario Parks as Environmental Settler Colonialism

contributor:
Godlewska, Anne
Geography and Planning

subject:
Canadian Historical Geography
Canadian Political Ecology
Settler Colonialism
Ontario Historical Geography
Ontario Parks
Algonquin Park
Indigenous Land Dispossession

abstract: Ontario parks were born out of an oligarchic political structure in the 19th century that employed an enclosure-reserve practice to take control of wilderness lands for the preservation of lucrative timber resources, and bring those lands into a liberal order that functioned to help facilitate industrialization and build a home market. Economic resource interests were not the only motivations for park creation, as anxieties about climate and Indigenous land-use also motivated enclosure and land management. Bureaucrats had remarkable power to convince governments to create parks and reshape the land to meet British and Western European ideals, borrowing political practices (enclosure) and environmental ideas (e.g. regarding climate) from British colonial and European experiences. A form of climate control was employed to manipulate and re-construct parks and exclude certain people(s). This political-environmental interplay reveals Ontario parks as a form of early ‘Indian policy,’ as park creation relied on ethnocentric ideas about Indigenous land-use and ultimately led to the result that enfranchisement and civilization policies were designed to achieve: Indigenous land dispossession. Settler authorities’ ethnocentric disregard for Indigenous peoples and their relationship to the land created the conditions to construct parks as a settler colonial environmental institution designed to serve a liberal order and environmental ethnocentrism.

abstract: PhD


title: « Tu m'arracheras de moi » : la limite de la représentation dans la poésie de René Lapierre (1990-2008)

contributor:
Inkel, Stéphane
French Studies

subject:
poésie
poetry
poésie québécoise
Quebec poetry
représentation
representation
René Lapierre
Jacques Lacan
Slavoj Zizek

abstract: Les recueils de poésie publiés par René Lapierre de 1990 à 2008 participent d’un questionnement de la forme poétique, laquelle, en plus d’interroger la posture énonciative mise en scène par le texte, propose comme moteur dominant la juxtaposition et la multiplication des instances narratives et se construit en grande partie de fragments narratifs le plus souvent indépendants les uns des autres. Cette mise en présence des formes et de discours hétérogènes est elle-même productrice de sens. Les théories du philosophe slovène Slavoj Žižek, telles qu’elles sont formulées dans son ouvrage The Sublime Object of Ideology (1989), et notamment en ce qui a trait à l’idéologie, permettent d’éclairer certains des enjeux cachés de la représentation. La présente analyse se construit autour de trois notions centrales, empruntées par Žižek au théoricien français de la psychanalyse, Jacques Lacan, qui permettent d’explorer la façon dont le discours et son organisation sont constitutifs d’un horizon de sens unique à Lapierre. Dans un premier temps, la notion du Réel lacanien permettra de souligner la façon dont le discours poétique se bute toujours, dans les recueils étudiés, à un indicible autour duquel le texte se construit, un noyau déjà-toujours présent par rapport à la posture énonciative et impossible à approcher autrement que comme un vide au sein du discours. Dans un deuxième temps, la notion de la Chose (das Ding), issue des théories freudiennes, sera proposée comme moteur du sens et comme principe d’organisation du texte. La Chose, en effet, est identifiée comme étant centrale à la production du sens et à la représentation : elle participe à l’échelle du texte et du recueil à l’articulation des structures de sens qui, chez Lapierre, passent par une élimination de tout surplus. À la fin de ce parcours, par le biais de la notion de Sublime, l’analyse démontrera que la poésie de Lapierre cherche à dire sa propre limite, à mettre en scène un échec de la représentation.

abstract: PhD


title: The Hybrid Child Soldier Life Narrative:  Testimony, Witnessing, and the Limits of Humanitarian Sentiment in Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

contributor:
Bongie, Chris
English Language and Literature

subject:
Child Soldiers
Life Narrative
Witness
Testimony
Human Rights
Humanitarian
Memoir

abstract:
Testimonial literature bears witness to collective experiences of injustice and human rights violations, and it emphasizes the relationship between context and collective suffering.  The trauma memoir, in contrast, focuses on an individual experience of suffering and unfolds in a linear progression towards rescue, redemption, and recovery.  This study brings to the fore the generic hybridity of Ishmael Beah’s life narrative, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier (2007), as both trauma memoir and testimonial witness narrative, and, consequently, it addresses aspects of the text that are overlooked and understudied.  Taking up A Long Way Gone for its status as the exemplar of child soldier life narratives, this study highlights the narrative’s specificities in relation to this emergent body of literature.
Current scholarship on child soldier narratives focuses almost exclusively on fiction; if consideration is given to life narratives, they tend to serve a secondary comparative function or are used as contextual evidence.  Responding to this gap in literary studies, this study offers a sustained analysis of the rhetorical strategies and representational practices employed in Beah’s life narrative, examining how it mobilizes, on the one hand, humanitarian readings in appeals to sympathy and empathy, and, on the other hand, narrative acts of witnessing and ethical appeals that reveal the limits of affective responses.
This study is structured in two parts.  Part One establishes pertinent historical, cultural, and socio-political background and introduces the methodological framework.  Chapter One provides an historical and contemporary overview of child soldiery, including literary and cultural representations.  The second chapter explains the theoretical approach applied in this study, which hybridizes theories of the trauma memoir and testimonial literature.  Part Two is comprised of four chapters of in-depth analysis of A Long Way Gone.  Chapter Three locates the text within the context of civil conflict in Sierra Leone and considers how dominant representations and discourses of African child soldiers inform its marketing and reception in the West.  Chapters Four through Six offer a detailed textual analysis of Beah’s narrative of his pre-conflict childhood, experiences of child soldiery, and the post-conflict challenges of demobilization, rehabilitation, and reintegration.

abstract: PhD


title: Robust Multisensor-based Framework for Efficient Road Information Services

contributor:
Noureldin, Aboelmagd
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject:
Signal Processing
Machine Learning
Road Information Services
Sensor Fusion
Intelligent Transportation Systems
Route Planning
Integrated Positioning

abstract:
Next-generation intelligent transportation systems of future road traffic monitoring will be required to provide reports of road conditions. Monitoring road surface conditions benefits drivers and the community. Road surface anomalies contribute to increased risk of traffic accidents, reduced driver comfort and increased wear of vehicles. Municipalities usually inspect the road surface quality through manual eye inspection that is inefficient, exhausting and consumes resources.
    Motivated by the growing demand for efficient road information services for connected and automated vehicles, this thesis proposes a comprehensive framework for monitoring road surface conditions.  An intelligent and robust road surface monitoring system integrating vehicular and smart devices’ inertial sensors and GNSS receivers within and amongst vehicles is designed and developed in this research.
    To ensure rich data collections, land vehicles of different types are used in the road tests. A wavelet packet analysis was applied to the sensor measurements to separate the road anomalies’ signatures from both the vehicle motion dynamics and the sensor noise. Various feature extraction techniques were used to identify several types of road anomalies. The constructed features were utilized in building datasets of these road anomalies. The datasets were leveraged to build and assess the performance of a support vector machine classifier to detect and categorize multiple road anomalies of different severity levels.

    In order to overcome the GNSS receivers' challenges in geo-referencing the monitored anomalies,. In this framework, the vehicles’ onboard motion sensors are integrated with GNSS receivers to provide accurate, continuous, and adaptive resolution geo-referencing to the monitored anomalies. The road anomaly information is then utilized to provide assessment for the average quality of the road segments using a fuzzy inference system. The developed road segment quality database was then used by another fuzzy classifier that can be utilized in route planning to evaluate all possible routes and suggest the one of highest road quality.
    The future deployment of the system developed in this research will contribute to reducing congestion and accidents along the roads, enabling road labelling based on accessibility and conditions, providing personalized alerts and route recommendations, and improving road safety for all drivers.

abstract: PhD


title: Design for Additive Manufacturing Considering Optimization of Part Topology and Build Orientation

contributor:
Kim, Il Yong
Mechanical and Materials Engineering

subject:
Additive Manufacturing
Topology Optimization
Support Material
Supported Surface
Overhang Angle
Build Orientation
Design for Additive Manufacturing

abstract:
The primary driver for technological advancement in design methods is increasing part performance and reducing manufacturing cost. Design optimization tools such as topology optimization, provide a mathematical approach to generate efficient and lightweight designs; however, integration of design tools into industry has been hindered most notably by manufacturability. Innovative processes such as additive manufacturing (AM), have significantly more design freedom than traditional manufacturing methods providing a means to develop the complex designs produced by topology optimization. The layer-wise nature of AM leads to new design challenges such as the need for support structures that are influenced by part topology and build orientation. Reducing support structures will limit manufacturing time and cost, allowing industry to further utilize the benefits of topology optimization.
Previous works addressing approaches to limit supported surface area and support material often rely on the finite element discretization scheme, leading to a gap between solving academic and practical problems. Focusing on a practical design tool, this study presents an approach to simultaneously optimize part topology and build orientation with AM considerations. Utilizing the spatial density gradient in the topology optimization formulation, dependence on the finite element discretization scheme is mitigated. Both 2D and 3D academic test problems as well as an aerospace industry example, demonstrate the proposed methodology is capable of generating high quality designs. Depending on build orientation initialization and the test problem, support material reduction was on the order of 80%, with a tradeoff of less than 5% in structural performance.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Experimental Evaluation of Two Lining Methods Used for Pipe Rehabilitation

contributor:
Moore, Ian
Hoult, Neil
Civil Engineering

subject:
Buried Infrastructure
Civil Engineering
Polymer Spray-on Liners
Slip-Lining
PVC Liner
Grout Pressure
Trenchless Rehabilitation
Epoxy
Polyurethane
Pipe Rehabilitation
Grout
Peeling Force
Dolly Test
Tensile Fracture

abstract:
The goal of this research is to investigate two trenchless rehabilitation techniques, with the objective of developing a better understanding of potential failure mechanisms. The first experimental study involved the testing of two spray-on polymer liner materials (epoxy and polyurethane) that are applied to a concrete substrate to prevent leakage. The concrete specimens had circular plastic sheets attached to simulate areas of de-bonding before being sprayed with the liner. External water pressure was applied to the underside of the polymer liners to investigate the effect that the areas of ‘de-bond’ had on the failure pressure needed to induce tensile fracture of the polymer or peeling failure between the liner and substrate. The epoxy liner failed in tensile fracture while the polyurethane liner underwent peeling failure. Regardless of the failure mode, increasing the de-bonded area resulted in a lower failure pressure. It was also found that the tensile fracture strength can be conservatively estimated using flat plate theory. Additionally, it is suggested that peeling force can be related to adhesion strength, but only for similar liner-substrate systems.
The second experimental study investigated the response of a slip-liner to increasing fluid pressure, as would be experienced in a grouted slip-liner procedure. An experimental apparatus that enabled fluid pressure to be applied to the liner was developed and used to complete two tests on a PVC liner. The liner was tested in a vertical orientation to investigate the liner’s response to axi-symmetric fluid pressure while a horizontal test investigated the response to buoyancy loading coupled with fluid pressure. Each test was run until the critical buckling pressure was reached, marked by the formation of a buckling lobe. Bending moments were positive at the springlines and negative at the crown and invert as expected, and increases in thrusts at each 25 kPa load step showed good agreement with theory. Hydrostatic buckling pressures of the PVC liner were within -7% of the theoretical buckling models (using mean thickness), while peak critical liner buckling pressures were overestimated by +16% to +25%, implying that further work is required to extend the design theory to cover more geometries.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: An Evaluation Procedure For New Deposits In Brownfield Underground Mines

contributor:
De Souza, Euler
Mining Engineering

subject:
Feasibility
Scoping
Underground Mining

abstract:
An evaluation procedure for newly discovered deposits at brownfield underground mines has been developed and was tested with a case study. A review of current underground mining methods, rock mass classification systems, mining method selection tools and production rates was undertaken to determine the current state of knowledge. An evaluation procedure was then developed to guide on site engineers in selecting feasible underground mining method(s) and identifying a preferred method(s) based on economic analysis.
The procedure was calibrated with information from the literature review and then tested with a case study of the Bonanza Ledge deposit, recently mined by Barkerville Gold Mines, an exploration and mining company based in Wells, British Columbia. The procedure was then applied to the BC Vein deposit, currently under development by Barkerville Gold Mines. Application of the procedure to the BC Vein deposit allowed estimation of productivity rates and cashflows for technically feasible mining methods.
Based on analysis of productivity rates and cashflows, a recommended mining method was identified. This case application has demonstrated the effectiveness of the developed procedure for evaluation of brownfield projects.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Coding body and world for reaching movements

contributor:
Blohm, Gunnar
Neuroscience Studies

subject:
Reaching Movements
Coordinate Transformations
Neural Network
Motor Control
Signal Dependent Noise

abstract:
To reach to visual targets, we need to transform the visual representation into the coordinate system of the moving arm, i.e. coordinate transformations. Varying body postures such as lying or rolling the head leads to higher movement variability.  However, it is unknown how uncertainty in body posture estimations propagates to reaching movements. It has been speculated that higher movement variability is a by-product of noisy coordinate transformations stemming from the uncertainty in estimating the body posture.  In the first study, we investigated how uncertainty of body posture estimations effects action by our novel head roll and neck load paradigm. We showed that both rolling the head and loading the neck resulted in biased and more variable movements. Using our 3D computational model, we showed that higher movement variabilities resulted from uncertainties in coordinate transformations caused by head roll and neck load. In the second study, we asked whether the brain accounts for the increased movement variability caused by varying body postures. We showed that, rolling the head results in adapted movements, such as increased safety margins while passing an obstacle. In the third study we asked how humans incorporate information about surrounding visual objects, i.e. allocentric information, when reaching to a memorized object location.
We showed that the brain uses clustering mechanisms to efficiently memorize scene configurations, i.e. code allocentric information. By including the clustered allocentric information in reaching, our model predicts shifted reaching end points in the direction of shifted objects, comparable to human data. Lastly, we investigated the role of coordinate transformations in performing multisensory integrations at the neuronal level. We showed that a neural network trained to perform multisensory integrations replicates the neuronal activation associated with multisensory integrations. Our model behave comparable to a divisive normalization model but in a neurophysiologically feasible manner.  Together these studies suggest that coordinate transformations must be considered as noisy processes which have tangible effect on reaching movements. Since coordinate transformations are ubiquitous, this work represents a significant advance in our understanding of how the brain performs one of its most fundamental functions.

abstract: PhD


title: Mythical Families:  the Small Family Norm and Everyday Governance of Population in India, 1954-1977

contributor:
Pande, Ishita
History

subject:
Population Control
Postocolonialism
South Asia
Family Planning
Sterilizations
Nuclear Families
Urban History
Modernization
India

abstract:
In the first two decades of decolonization in India, the slogan ‘Hum Do Hamare Do’ (we two, our two) and its associated symbol ‘red triangle’ became synonymous with the nuclear family. This project traces the creation and circulation of this campaign in the postcolonial era of 1954-77. People remembered the first decades of modernity through this mythical small and happy family.
India was one of the first Asian countries to embark on a national population control programme in 1951. It embarked on non-aligned economic development with a firm belief in Malthusianism — the belief that unchecked population growth will outstrip the growth of resources leading to scarcity of and overcrowding. I argue that the resulting attempts at population control conjured up a family that existed only in the bureaucrat’s policy document, and ‘trickled-down’ to the masses. The notional small family ultimately extended beyond the bureaucrat’s policy papers. Through propaganda campaigns, counselling centers, demographic studies and urban architecture, this bureaucratic ideal of the small family was transmitted through to the masses. The counselling centers and the advocacy campaigns of the period not only focused on the medical aspects of human fertility, but also linked the very question of fertility to the socio-economic development of the recently decolonized nation.
Common people responded to Malthusianism through attempts to reduce family size, but their choices were not commensurable with the state’s desires. While people were accepting the symbol and its meaning slowly, the state encouraged contraception and eventually sterilizations, through the offer of monetary incentives or by coercive means. The statist push towards contraceptives must be understood as a response to the transnational context of the population programme, set within the power bloc politics of the Cold War. As family planning emerged as the central feature of governmental efforts to modernize the country, people were confronted with contradictory meanings of modernity. This project will trace the history of population control as it unfolded between the state’s five year plans and the people’s own desire for smaller families, through a focus on the  inverted red triangle and its popularity during this era.

abstract: PhD


title: Assessing the impact and delivery of the Transformational Coaching Workshop in Para sport

contributor:
Côté, Jean
Kinesiology and Health Studies

subject:
Coaching
Para Sport
Coach Development Program
Behaviour Change
Coach Education
Disability

abstract:
Few evidence-informed coach development programs are available for coaches of athletes with a disability (CAWAD; Cheon et al., 2015). Additionally, there is a general need to use behaviour change theories in designing and evaluating these programs (Allan, Vierimaa, et al., 2018). The Transformational Coaching Workshop (TCW) is one program designed through behaviour change theories that is effective in changing coaches’ leadership behaviours (Lawrason et al., 2019). However, the TCW has not been evaluated in the Para sport context. Thus, the study’s purpose was to assess the impact and delivery of the TCW for CAWAD.

Two workshops were delivered to CAWAD and 17 coaches participated in this study. Sixteen participants completed the capability-opportunity-motivation-behaviour (COM-B; Michie et al. 2011) questionnaire which assessed coaches’ perceptions of demonstrating transformational coaching behaviours and facilitating athletes’ quality experiences. Eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted to evaluate workshop delivery. Six Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were conducted to assess the differences in coaches’ COM-B measures from pre- to post-workshop. A thematic analysis was conducted to explore coaches’ feedback on the workshop delivery.

Generally, the workshops were positively received from coaches and were delivered as intended. Findings showed significantly higher differences in coaches’ perceived capability and opportunity to demonstrate transformational coaching behaviours, and coaches’ perceived capability to facilitate athletes’ quality experiences after attending the TCW. However, there were no significant differences in coaches’ perceived motivation to demonstrate transformational coaching behaviours, and coaches’ perceived opportunity and motivation to facilitate athletes’ quality experiences between pre- and post-workshop. Two themes developed from the coach feedback regarding (1) the workshop’s strengths, limitations, and areas to improve, and (2) the strengths and barrier of transformational coaching. The TCW’s strengths were that it was highly engaging, unique from other programs, and worth disseminating to others. However, the workshop was limited by coaches that were already transformational and could potentially benefit from further improving content and activities. The strengths of transformational coaching were that the behaviours matched coaches’ values and are easy to implement but can be limited by the barrier of time. Taken together, these study findings suggest the TCW could offer an evidence-informed program for CAWAD.

abstract: M.Sc.