identifier: Rajput, Amandeep  (2014) Siblings’ Interpretations of Conflict: The Link Between Relationship Quality and Conflict Strategies?  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Research demonstrates that children who have a positive sibling relationship quality also employ more constructive conflict strategies, however, the mechanism underlying this association is unclear. Peer research suggests that children’s interpretation of disputes is associated with the way conflict is resolved, however, the interpretive processes underlying sibling disputes are understudied. This study adapted methodological approaches frequently used in peer research (i.e., hypothetical provocation scenarios in which the perpetrator’s intent is ambiguous) for use with siblings. We expected that children’s attribution of intent would explain the link between sibling relationship quality and conflict strategies employed during sibling disputes. A total of 122 six-to eight-year-old children (62 younger and 60 older siblings; 49 girls) were presented with ambiguous provocation scenarios and asked to attribute their siblings’ intent. Responses were coded as accidental, instrumental, hostile, or Machiavellian. Questionnaires assessed conflict strategies, types of aggression, and sibling relationship quality. Results revealed that children attributed more hostile intent to older siblings and instrumental intent to younger siblings. Moreover, when children had a more negative relationship quality with their siblings they also reported using fewer constructive strategies and engaged in more aggressive behaviors. In addition, sibling relationship quality was negatively associated with hostile intent and positively linked to instrumental intent. Furthermore, children who attributed more instrumental intent also used more constructive conflict strategies. Finally, attributions of intent did not explain the link between relationship quality and conflict strategies employed. This study suggests that methodologies commonly used with peers can be adapted to further our understanding of conflict processes among siblings.


identifier: Mohajerani, Mohammadhossein  (2014) Frequency-Domain System Identification for Unmanned Helicopters from Flight Data.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract: Developing accurate and realistic models for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is a central task in effective controller design, autopilot design, and simulation model validation. System identification methods have been extensively used as reliable and less expensive alternatives for conventional analytical modeling for large-scale aircraft in the past. Yet, there is limited work on the identification of mathematical models for small-scale unmanned helicopters. This thesis focuses on development of a system identification tool for rotary-wing UAVs based on frequency-domain non-parametric and parametric identification methods. The tool, which is designed to be embedded in the computer simulation software available for a UAV platform, employs nonlinear parameter estimation and optimization techniques with the purpose of predicting dominant dynamics of the UAV from measured responses and controls. The real flight data acquired from the testbed have been used for testing and verifying the developed system identification tool. The testbed is a commercially available radio-controlled helicopter, Trex-700, equipped with MP2128G2Heli MicroPilot autopilot, and the flight tests are conducted by MicroPilot in hover regime to excite attitude dynamics of the vehicle. The identification results using the developed tool are validated with CIFER framework which is a highly reliable tool in aircraft system identification. The results demonstrate excellent prediction capability of the developed tool for model identification of the testing UAV platform.


identifier: Bataineh, Ahmed  (2014) Specifying and Verifying Contract-driven Composite Web Services: a Model Checking Approach.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: As a promising computing paradigm in the new era of cross-enterprise e-applications, web services technology works as plugin mode to provide a value-added to applications using Service-Oriented Computing (SOC) and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). Verification is an important issue in this paradigm, which focuses on abstract business contracts and where services’ behaviors are generally classified in terms of compliance with / violation of their contracts. However, proposed approaches fail to describe in details both compliance and violation behaviors, how the system can distinguish between them, and how the system reacts after each violation. In this context, specifying and automatically generating verification properties are challenging key issues. This thesis proposes a novel approach towards verifying the compliance with contracts regulating the composition of web services. In this approach, properties against which the system is verified are generated automatically from the composition’s implementation. First, Business Process Execution Language (BPEL)that specifies actions within business processes with web services is extended to create custom activities, called labels. Those labels are used as means to represent the specifications and mark the points the developer aims to verify. A significant advantage of this labeling is the ability to target specific points in the design to be verified, which makes this verification very focused. Second, new translation rules from the extended BPEL into ISPL, the input language of the MCMAS model checker, are provided so that model checking the behavior of our contract-driven compositions is possible. The verification properties are expressed in the CTLC logic, which provides a powerful representation for modeling composition contracts using commitment-based multiagent interactions. A detailed case study with experimental results are also reported ins the thesis.


identifier: Rajasingam, Arison  (2014) Design, Synthesis and Fabrication of Phenolic Thin Films.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: We present the synthesis and characterization of novel phenolic surfactants 12,12'-disulfanediylbis(dodecane-12,1-diyl) bis(3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoate) and 12-mercaptododecyl 4-hydroxybenzoate. These molecules combine the phenolic functionality of tannins found in nature with self-assembly and organizational properties of surfactants. The surfactants consist of a (C12) hydrophobic, ω-thiol or disulphide functionality: both commonly used anchors in self-assembly onto gold surfaces. Our modular synthetic route addressed the purification challenges often encountered by using acetyl protecting. Our synthetic strategy unraveled sodium thiomethoxide’s ability of unmasking the thiol moiety and simultaneously deprotecting acetyl protecting groups in the presence of an internal ester. This provides an efficient procedure that can be used to synthesize similar surfactants. The synthesized surfactants were studied at the air-water interface by plotting isotherms that showed the thiol and disulfide group had a significant effect at air-water interface. Lower collapse pressure was obtained for thiolated or disulfide surfactant in comparison with the surfactant to its non-thiolated equivalent. We present Langmuir-Schaefer deposition and mixed monolayer as to produce films with varied density by depositing at different pressure. Controlling monolayer density and optimizing the spacing requirement for the interaction of phenol head group with for example proline rich proteins.


identifier: Rebbani-Gosselin, Meriem  (2014) The Pursuit of Hegemony: School Shootings as Cultural Scripts.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
ABSTRACT

The Pursuit of Hegemony - School Shootings as Cultural Scripts

by Meriem Rebbani-Gosselin

As attested by the amount of related media coverage, school shootings seem have become an important public concern in the last decade. While this phenomenon has enjoyed a wide coverage in the media, there is only a limited amount of scholarly research available on the subject. Furthermore, research on Canadian school shootings is practically inexistent. Focusing on the Dawson school shooting as a case study, this thesis hypothesizes that the repetitive occurrences of school shootings reveal a deeper social malaise regarding masculinity in North America. By carefully studying school shooting occurrences from 1996 to 2006 as well their news media coverage, this thesis proposes that we gain important insights into the culture of masculinity and gender relations in contemporary North America.


identifier: Etemadi, Reza  (2014) A GUI Driven Platform for Implementing Evolutionary Algorithms in Java.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
CodeMonkey-GA (CM) is a GUI driven software development platform that enables non-experts and experts alike to turn an evolutionary algorithm design into a working Java program, with a minimum amount of manual coding. CM is provided as a framework and plug-in application for the Eclipse platform for non-commercial uses.
We compare some of the most popular frameworks and platforms for evolutionary computation. We discuss their shortfalls and justify the need for still another platform. Hence, we present CodeMonkey-GA: its concept, internal architecture and design. We provide an overview of the graphical user interface (GUI) of the platform followed by examples of evolutionary algorithm applications, all generated using CodeMonkey’s Eclipse application.
Through several examples we demonstrate the ease of use and (to some degree) the applicability of the CM application. The Ackley function is a well-known test function for optimization; the Traveling Salesman Problem is a famous example of NP-Complete problems; the Knapsack problem is an example of combinatorial optimization. In all three cases, CM is used to develop working Java programs that provided satisfactory solutions, which are as good as, or better than the given solutions. Critically, in all cases, not a line of code was entered or altered – bar the fitness function – by the user.


identifier: Esteki, Kambiz  (2014) DEVELOPING NEW ANALYTICAL AND NUMERICAL MODELS FOR MR FLUID DAMPERS AND THEIR APPLICATION TO SEISMIC DESIGN OF BUILDINGS.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Magnetorheological (MR) and Electrorheological (ER) fluid dampers provide a fail-safe semi-active control mechanism for suppressing vibration response of structures as these smart fluids can change their apparent viscosity immediately under the influence of magnetic and electrical fields, respectively. MR based damping devices have recently received appropriate attention as they have less power demand, provide better dynamic range and are less sensitive to the temperature and external contaminants as compared to their ER counterparts.
This thesis studies physics-based modeling of MR fluid dampers and their application in seismic design of buildings. In the first part of thesis, MR damper modeling and its related subject are studied, while in the second part of the thesis, application of MR dampers in tuned mass damper and bracing system is investigated.
The existing models, namely the phenomenological models for simulating the behavior of MR and ER dampers rely on various parameters determined experimentally by the manufacturers for each damper configuration. It is of interest to develop mechanistic models of these dampers which can be applied to various configurations so that their fundamental characteristics can be studied to develop flexible design solutions for smart structures. This research presents a formulation for dynamics analysis of ER and MR fluid dampers in flow and mix mode configurations under harmonic and random excitations. The procedure employs the vorticity transport equation and the regularization function to deal with the unsteady flow and nonlinear behaviour of ER/MR fluid in general motion. Using the developed approach, the damping force of ER/MR damper can be evaluated under any type of excitations.
While tuned mass dampers are found to be effective in suppressing vibration in a tall building, integrating them with semi-active MR based control system enables them to perform more efficiently under varying external excitations. To study the application of MR damper in tuned mass damper, a forty-storey tall steel-frame building assumed to be located in the Pacific Coast region of Canada (Vancouver), designed according to the relevant Canadian code and standard, has been studied with and without semi-active and passive tuned mass dampers. The response of the structure has been studied under a variety of ground motions with low, medium and high frequency contents to investigate the performance of the optimally designed semi-active MR based tuned mass damper in comparison to that of a passive tuned mass damper. It has been shown that the semi-active MR based system modifies structural response more effectively than the conventional passive tuned mass damper in both mitigation of the maximum displacement and reduction of the settling time of the building.
Finally, the effectiveness of MR damper in structural bracing has been examined. Two steel building structures, five and twenty-storey building designed according to Canadian national building code, have been modeled using the finite element method. These building structures have been equipped with MR dampers in different floors appropriately based on the seismic floor-shear distribution. The governing equations of motion of the structures integrated with MR dampers have been cast into the state space representation for the implementation of the full state LQR combined with clipped optimal control strategies.  The response of building structures under passive on and active controlled modes have been obtained for low, medium and high frequency content seismic records and compared.


identifier: Brindamour, Amelie  (2014) A Multidisciplinary Place-Specific Art Course Outline for the CEGEP Level.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis takes a close look at art practices investigating the physical, experiential and social dimension of place, and at how these art forms could be better integrated in the CEGEP Visual Arts program in Quebec. It consists of a research-creation project involving a heuristic study, which resulted in the design of a place-specific course outline for this teaching-level. The following research question guided my investigation “how can an enhanced understanding and explication of my endeavor in creating a place-specific body of work contribute to the design of a place-oriented art course outline for young adult learners?” I first assessed different kinds of artistic approaches by conceiving four projects inspired by my explorations of Park Jarry in Montreal, which culminated in a more ambitious body of work. The analysis of the documentation gathered during this process established a correlation between the art-making session, an enhanced connection to the place, as well as an improved pedagogical understanding of this art form. This manifested itself in the adaptation of the artworks into four assignments. The first project aims for students to become more familiar with the given area through an exploration, documentation and research exercise. It is followed by an activity based on the movement of process art. The third activity proposes to explore the techniques of pinhole cameras and cyanotype. Finally, the final project encourages students to investigate more in depth an element of the place. The thesis text includes photographic documentation of the artworks and a full-fleshed syllabus.


identifier: Dey, Sandip  (2014) Seismic performance of Composite Plate Shear Walls.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Composite plate shear wall (C-PSW) is a lateral resisting system primarily used to resist wind and earthquake loadings.  A composite steel plate shear wall system consists of a steel plate shear wall with reinforced concrete panels attached to one side or both sides of the steel infill plates by bolts or shear studs.  Research on composite plate shear walls is still in the initial stage and a significant amount of research is needed before it can be adopted by the Canadian steel design code, CAN/CSA S16-09.  This study evaluates performances of one 6-storey and one 4-storey C-PSW under spectrum compatible seismic records for Vancouver. A nonlinear finite element model which includes both material and geometric nonlinearities is used for this study. The model is first validated using the results from a quasi-static test. The study describes details of the validation of the finite element model by comparing the results from quasi-static experimental program with finite element analysis results. Excellent correlation between the test results and the finite element analysis results is observed. With the validated finite element model, the performance of 4-storey and 6-storey C-PSWs were studied under spectrum-compatible seismic records. Nonlinear seismic analysis shows that C-PSWs, in high seismic region, behave in a stable and ductile manner. Dynamic analysis showed that major portion of the shear is taken by the steel infill plate, which confirms the intended design philosophy of C-PSWs.
      A series of C-PSWs with different geometry were designed and analysed to estimate the fundamental periods. It is observed that the current code formula predicts periods that are generally shorter than the periods obtained from finite element analysis. In addition, the effectiveness of a simple shear flexure cantilever formulation for determining fundamental periods of C-PSWs was studied.

      Shear studs spacing and concrete panel thickness are two important parameters that influence the performance of the composite plate shear wall. Currently there are no guidelines on what would be the minimum or maximum spacing of the shear studs. A rational method based on classical buckling theory of stiffened plate for determining shear stud spacing and thickness for the reinforced concrete panel is presented in this research.


identifier: Elguebaly, Tarek  (2014) Unsupervised Selection and Estimation of Non-Gaussian Mixtures for High Dimensional Data Analysis.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Lately, the enormous generation of databases in almost every aspect of life has created a great demand for new, powerful tools for turning data into useful information. Therefore, researchers were encouraged to explore and develop new machine learning ideas and methods. Mixture models are one of the machine learning techniques receiving considerable attention due to their ability to
handle efficiently and effectively multidimensional data. Generally, four critical issues have to be addressed when adopting mixture models in high dimensional spaces: (1) choice of the probability density functions, (2) estimation of the mixture parameters, (3) automatic determination of the number of components M in the mixture, and (4) determination of what features best discriminate among the different components. The main goal of this thesis is to summarize all these challenging
interrelated problems in one unified model.
In most of the applications, the Gaussian density is used in mixture modeling of data. Although a Gaussian mixture may provide a reasonable approximation to many real-world distributions, it is certainly not always the best approximation especially in computer vision and image processing applications where we often deal with non-Gaussian data. Therefore, we propose to use three
highly flexible distributions: the generalized Gaussian distribution (GGD), the asymmetric Gaussian distribution (AGD), and the asymmetric generalized Gaussian distribution (AGGD). We are motivated by the fact that these distributions are able to fit many distributional shapes and then can be considered as a useful class of flexible models to address several problems and applications involving measurements and features having well-known marked deviation from the Gaussian shape.
Recently, researches have shown that model selection and parameter learning are highly dependent and should be performed simultaneously. For this purpose, many approaches have been suggested. The vast majority of these approaches can be classified, from a computational point of view, into two classes: deterministic and stochastic methods. Deterministic methods estimate
the model parameters for a set of candidate models using the Expectation-Maximization (EM) framework, then choose the model that maximizes a model selection criterion. Stochastic methods such as Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) can be used in order to sample from the full a posteriori distribution with M considered unknown. Hence, in this thesis, we propose three learning techniques capable of automatically determining model complexity while learning its parameters. First, we incorporate a Minimum Message Length (MML) penalty in the model learning step performed using the EM algorithm. Our second approach employs the Rival Penalized EM (RPEM)
algorithm which is able to select an appropriate number of densities by fading out the redundant densities from a density mixture. Last but not least, we incorporate the nonparametric aspect of mixture models by assuming a countably infinite number of components and using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulations for the estimation of the posterior distributions. Hence, the difficulty of choosing the appropriate number of clusters is sidestepped by assuming that there are an infinite number of mixture components.
Another essential issue in the case of statistical modeling in general and finite mixtures in particular is feature selection (i.e. identification of the relevant or discriminative features describing the data) especially in the case of high-dimensional data. Indeed, feature selection has been shown to be a crucial step in several image processing, computer vision and pattern recognition
applications not only because it speeds up learning but also because it improves model accuracy and generalization. Moreover, the learning of the mixture parameters ( i.e. both model selection and parameters estimation) is greatly affected by the quality of the features used. Hence, in this thesis, we are trying to solve the feature selection problem in unsupervised learning by casting it as an estimation problem, thus avoiding any combinatorial search. Finally, the effectiveness of our approaches is evaluated by applying them to different computer vision and image processing
applications.


identifier: Gao, Yuan  (2014) Enhancement of wastewater treatment under low carbon/nitrogen ratio by using submerged membrane electro-bioreactor (SMEBR).  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The submerged membrane electro-bioreactor (SMEBR) system has been proven to be effective for wastewater treatment, especially for nutrient removal. In this study, the SMEBR treatment efficiency was compared to conventional MBR treatment applied to the same municipal wastewater. The study was carried out in two side by side continuous flow reactors with the volume 14 liters over 6 months in lab. The changes in sludge quality, effluent quality and operational condition were recorded for both reactors while different C/N ratios (from 3 to 1) had been applied. The results proved that under an adequate dissolved oxygen and current density, the use of SMEBR under the low C/N ratio could improve total nitrogen and phosphorus removal by 30% (more than 50% of TN removal) and more than 99% respectively compared to MBR. Meanwhile, under the low C/N ratio, research has proven the SMEBR’s high tolerance and fast recovery from the shock loading condition, helped balancing pH in the sludge, reduced membrane fouling and improved sludge dewatering properties. The results from this study show the possibility of the application of SMEBR to a variety of municipal wastewater.


identifier: Ebadi, Ashkan  (2014) Impact of Funding on Scientific Output and Collaboration.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This dissertation reports the results of a comprehensive quantitative analysis of the inter-relations among research funding, scientific output, and collaboration. The research employed various methods and methodologies (i.e. data and text mining, statistical analysis, social network analysis, bibliometrics, survey data analysis, and visualization techniques) to investigate the impact of influencing factors on researchers’ performance, their amount of funding, and collaboration patterns. Moreover, a machine learning framework was suggested and validated for scientific evaluation of the researchers based on their productivity and level of funding. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) was selected as the source of funding in this research since it is the main federal funding organization in Canada and almost all the Canadian researchers in natural sciences and engineering receive at least a basic research grant from NSERC. The required data on the scientific publications (e.g. co-authors, their affiliations, year of publication) was collected from Elsevier’s Scopus. SCImago was selected for collecting the impact factor information of the journals in which the articles were published in as well as the annual citation counts of publications. The data was gathered and integrated for the time span of 1996 to 2010. The most significant contributions are: 1) the unique data extraction and gathering procedure that enhanced the accuracy of the target data, 2) the comprehensive triangulation technique which was employed in this research that included various methodologies and used new variables for assessing the inter-relations, 3) the proposed machine learning framework for classifying researchers and predicting their productivity and level of funding.


identifier: Luka, Mary Elizabeth  (2014) Towards Creative Citizenship: Collaborative Cultural Production at CBC ArtSpots.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This dissertation develops the concept of creative citizenship, which suggests that artists and creative workers who engage in collaborative media production and dissemination practices –particularly in public broadcasting and digital media – are also preoccupied with the dynamics of civic engagement. Their responsibility is to their artwork and to audiences through networked flows of social relations and production approaches. Revisiting literature on cultural citizenship (Hermes 2005, Murray 2005, Uricchio 2004) and the precarity of creative work in the broadcast business (Cunningham 2013, Mayer 2011, Spigel 2008), creative citizenship concerns itself with production practices linking narrowcast audiences, media workers and cultural facilitators to a range of participatory creative activities in mediated sites of engagement. A nuanced understanding of collaborative practices in the long-running television and Internet Canadian public broadcasting project, CBC ArtSpots (1997-2008), helps rethink recent cultural studies of production. The research involved attends to convergence culture concerns, grapples with gender issues, investigates the activation of policy, and animates artistic interventions. ArtSpots was an innovative, collaborative public broadcasting initiative that produced over 1,200 short videos, several long-form documentaries and a substantial array of virtual and media-based materials for exhibitions, online and mobile devices. It involved more than 1000 cultural leaders and creators in its production and dissemination and featured over 300 artists.

The investigation of ArtSpots in this dissertation generates insights into the transition to a digital media production and multi-modal diffusion environment in the realm of the Canadian media industry at the turn of the 21st century. Contextualizing this work in relation to the cultural economy of creative labour and media production helps show how media and art is produced and shared in public broadcasting. The author’s own professional and reflexive work and networks as the founder of ArtSpots act as catalysts to crystallize the research, grounding analysis in a distinctive expertise about the relationship of Canadian art to the broadcasting industry, and pointing to exciting implications of creativity and collaboration as core commitments and practices in media production and distribution today.

Keywords: creative citizenship, cultural production, media studies, public broadcasting, creative labour, innovation, collaboration


identifier: Pineda, Adolfo Robin  (2014) The Essayistic Films of Olivier Smolders: Desire and Drive.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Abstract

The Essayistic Films of Olivier Smolders: Desire and Drive
Robin Pineda

This thesis focuses on two short films by Belgian director Olivier Smolders: Adoration from 1987 and L’Amateur from 1996. As of the time of writing, there is no critical work engaging in depth with the director’s work. By means of textual analysis both films are defined in this thesis as investigations produced by and about desire.
To flesh out this theme, the two films are placed in the context of the burgeoning field of study of the essay film. While not necessarily essay films in and of themselves, the films are highly personal works that have an essayistic dimension incorporated into their structure, and they can thus be thought of as investigations into the acquisition and presentation of knowledge and experience related to desire.
Several terms are borrowed from Lacanian psychoanalysis (filtered through Žižek, Fink & McGowan) and used not necessarily to explain the work psychoanalytically, but as dynamic elements that help reveal the structural components of desire that structure both films. The essayistic is imagined as stemming out of an essayistic drive, a compulsive attempt at gathering visual knowledge that causes the author to inscribe that very desire into the structure of the film.
Because these films are investigations into the use of the camera and cinematic practices as ways of mediating desire, they are important works that comment on the place and function of cinematic practices of the gaze, performance, and desire in contemporary visual culture.


identifier: Bastani, Arash  (2014) Developing a framework to design a building envelope integrated with PCM.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
While space conditioning load contributes largely to the grid critical peak, shifting it partially or entirely to the off-peak period could have significant economical impact on both energy supply and demand sides. This shifting technique is accomplished by storing energy during off-peak periods in order to be utilized during peak periods. The building envelope integrated with phase change material (PCM) can provide latent heat thermal energy storage (TES) distributed in its entire surface area and inhibit the enhanced thermal mass in light weight buildings. Selecting the most appropriate PCM wallboard based on its thickness and thermo-physical properties, is the main target; yet, there is a lack of an appropriate design tool. Accordingly, this dissertation focuses on the development of a design framework to quantify and qualify the application of PCM wallboards in a building envelope in order to efficiently shave and shift the demand peak.
	In this study, the non-dimensionalized analysis was conducted, and the dimensionless numbers influencing the thermal behavior of a PCM wallboard were identified. Moreover, the correlations between the dimensionless parameters and the performance of the PCM wallboard were determined through a comprehensive parametric study. Consequently, these correlations were presented as the design framework to select and size a PCM wallboard. The tool consists of a number of charts identified as the extension of the well-known Heisler chart of transient temperature and heat transfer for materials that undergo the phase transition.
	Finally, the developed design framework was applied to select and size three PCM wallboards for an existing residential house, and TRNSYS simulation software was used to study the thermal performance of the house furnished with the PCM wallboard. The application of PCM wallboards was evaluated for both charging and discharging periods at three different outdoor climates: cold, very cold, extremely cold. It was observed that the tool can appropriately size the wallboards to efficiently store energy and postpone the peak. In addition, the wallboard with the thickness identified by the framework provides the longest shift of load compared to other simulated sizes of the same material. Moreover, the building refurbished with either one of those PCM wallboards was able to have longer shift of load and lower daily energy consumption than the conventional gypsum board.


identifier: Kiani, Isar  (2014) Mavenism, its Antecedents and Market Helping Behaviour.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The primary objective of this thesis is to understand the antecedents of Mavenism and to investigate how Mavens engage in providing market information to other customers. Mavens are individuals who go out of their way to help others make better choices about products and services, without having immediate or long-term personal gain in mind. Due to the nature of the help that Mavens provide to other customers, they become trusted sources of information and therefore, influential in the turns that general customer preferences take. Consequently, it is important that marketers find a better understanding of who Mavens are, and how they exert their influence.
 In this thesis, building on Geller’s (1995) Actively Caring Model, an examination of the antecedents of Mavenism and the factors that contribute to Mavens taking action to help others is investigated through three studies. The Actively Caring Model mainly focuses on the antecedents of altruistic behaviour. Throughout this thesis, it is argued that the selfness nature of Mavens’ actions and their lack of concern over their personal gain cannot be explained except through altruism. Therefore, the Actively Caring Model and its various dimensions have been used to investigate the antecedents of Mavenism.
The first study of this thesis focuses on Personal Empowerment, Self-Esteem, and Belongingness as three antecedents of Mavenism. For this investigation, the structural model of the theoretical model was constructed and tested using a PLS-SEM software, SmartPLS 2.0. Personal Empowerment was modeled as a second-order formative construct formed by Optimism, Self-Efficacy, and Personal Control. The results of the analysis confirmed the three dimensions of interest as antecedents of Mavenism.
In Study 2, the factors that moderated the effect of the three previously studied antecedents were investigated. Building on existing literature, Gender, Religiosity, and Culture (collectivism vs. individualism) were included as moderators in the structural model.  The findings generally supported the moderating role for all three moderators, although the moderating effect of Gender on the influence of Self-Esteem, and the moderating role of Religiosity on the influence of Personal Empowerment were found only marginally significant.
Finally, Study 3 of this thesis focuses on the outcomes of Mavenism, namely the acts of recommendation. In this study, the factors that further encouraged, or even inhibited Mavens from acting out and making recommendations were investigated. The findings showed that individuals who are less Susceptible to Interpersonal Influence are more likely to act out and take action than those who are more Susceptible to Interpersonal Influence. Additionally, the finding showed that while lower Self-Esteem Mavens are less likely to make recommendations, availability of Media that requires less face-to-face interaction may compensate for their lower Self-Esteem and lead to their increased Helping Behaviour through recommendations.
This thesis makes several theoretical contributions in establishing factors that influence Mavenism and the subsequent Helping Behaviour. It also sheds light onto the traits of Mavens and allows marketers to have a better understanding of the existing potentials, and the factors that should be noticed to turn those potentials into reality.


identifier: Islam, A K M Kausarul  (2014) Sharing Public Space in an Informally Developed Historic City–the case of Old Dhaka.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Multiple ethnic and religious groups share the limited public space of Old Dhaka for socio-cultural, religious, commercial activities and also for everyday traffic. Shared understanding across religious and cultural groups of the purposes of certain streets, negotiation between users of the street, and tacit agreement on spatial use, describe some of the mechanisms that allow the very intensive use of the street network.  Yet this sharing of the public space co-exists with a sense of belonging and spatial focus for Old Dhaka communities. This thesis examines these mechanisms of space sharing firstly by trying to understand how local groups perceive the streets and their degree of involvement in the activities that take place there. Secondly, the details of space self-management are examined in a sample of streets. Thirdly, the roles of informal communications between authorities, landholders and street users were assessed.

Old Dhaka, has almost no shared public spaces except its community streets. Competition for the available space by myriad groups has led to a highly complex spatial and temporal formula for sharing all of the important streets. For commercial use, the rule of sharing space between formal and informal sectors is highly uniform in practice. This necessary sharing of space explains the remarkable social harmony of this crowded and diverse urban community. This harmony, however, is challenged by the increasing heterogeneity of the community and a tendency to territorialize parts of this shared public space.

Innovative methods for capturing the use of space were necessary in this research and were developed prior to entering the field. Indeed, there are only rare examples in the literature. Existing major behavior recording methods are either too descriptive or abstract and also lack transferability. This thesis developed a method for recording behavior that fulfils a need in existing methods. Unobtrusive observation, key informant interviews, structured questionnaires, and a photographic survey were the major methods of investigation and data collection. This research provides insights on the mechanisms of space sharing as well as the control system, motivations for personal choices and a spatially based sense of belonging.

Key words: Behavior pattern, shared space, urban street, spatial qualities


identifier: Sharifi, Farid  (2014) Cooperative Coverage Control of Multi-Agent Systems.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In this dissertation, motion coordination strategies are proposed for multiple mobile agents over an environment. It is desired to perform surveillance and coverage of a given area using a Voronoi-based locational optimization framework. Efficient control laws are developed for the coordination of a group of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) with double-integrator and non-holonomic dynamics. The autonomous vehicles aim to spread out over the environment while more focus is directed towards areas of higher interest. It is assumed that the so-called ``operation costs'' of different agents are not the same. The center multiplicatively-weighted Voronoi configuration is introduced, which is shown to be the optimal configuration for agents. A distributed control strategy is also provided which guarantees the convergence of the agents to this optimal configuration. To improve the cooperation performance and ensure safety in the presence of inter-agent communication delays, a spatial partition is used which takes the information about the delay into consideration to divide the field. The problem is also extended to the case when the sensing effectiveness of every agent varies during the mission, and a novel partition is proposed to address this variation of the problem. To avoid obstacles as well as collision between agents in the underlying coverage control problem, a distributed navigation-function-based controller is developed. The field is partitioned to the Voronoi cells first, and the agents are relocated under the proposed controller such that a pre-specified cost function is minimized while collision and obstacle avoidance is guaranteed. The coverage problem in uncertain environments is also investigated, where a number of search vehicles are deployed to explore the environment. Finally, the effectiveness of all proposed algorithms in this study is demonstrated by simulations and experiments on a real testbed.


identifier: Cloutier-Trépanier, Béatrice  (2014) Vernaculars of Leisure and Festive Aesthetics: On the Contemporary Art Museum as a Social Host.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis examines relational art practices in the institutional context of the contemporary museum. Inscribed within the critical discourse surrounding Nicolas Bourriaud’s Relational Aesthetics, this thesis argues that institutionalized relational practices, specifically in the form of bars by artists, embody a tactic for the commissioning museum to diversify its cultural undertakings by acting as a welcoming social host. In light of Bourriaud’s discussion of the optimization of cultural forms and the reparation of social bonds by artists in recent art, Dean Baldwin’s artwork Ship in a Bottle, an installation produced for the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MACM) and presented in conjunction with the second edition of Québec’s Triennale Le travail qui nous attend (2011), acts as a relevant case study to consider the implications of this theory on the cultural industry and the role of the museum. Enriched by an interview with MACM curator Mark Lanctôt, this examination posits that the museum appropriates the ethos of the fête (Henri Lefebvre) and presents it as relational art and a model of sociability. Arguing the annihilation of the fête’s critical potential and problematizing it, I then discuss the productivity of leisure and entertainment as introduced by the Experience Economy (Pine and Gilmore). I especially focus my attention on how this economic model’s emphasis on experience is aligned with the cooptation of relational practices by institutions in need of diversification. By offering a leisure activity conceptualized as an artwork, the museum instrumentalizes the aesthetics of Ship in a Bottle and appropriates the tropes of everyday life the artwork references. Through embodied leisure activities such as sipping cocktails, the museum positions itself as a welcoming host for casual and pleasurable sociability, and as such legitimizes its mandate of providing easily accessible cultural products.


identifier: Akbari, Ehsan  (2014) Soundscape Compositions for Art Classrooms.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis explores ways in which the process of listening, recording, and editing everyday soundscapes can be incorporated in the art classroom. For this study, I designed and carried out two series of educational workshops; firstly, with a group of students at an all-girls high school in Montreal; and secondly, with a group of art and music teachers from QAIS (Quebec Association of Independent Schools). The data generated from these workshops has been used to develop adaptable educational interventions for teaching this process for Art Education. The data also indicates that this creative practice has a number of salient features for learning and art education. For one, listening deeply to familiar spaces such as a school or classroom can shift and expand our conscious awareness of these surroundings. Furthermore, using technological devices to listen, record, and edit sound can allow students to experience quotidian environments in a different way. This can deepen students’ engagement with common environments by asking them to notice and creatively explore the sounds that define their daily experiences. This artistic and educational approach is grounded in a theoretical understanding of consciousness as a unity that integrates images, smells, textures, thoughts, feelings and memories to experience the world. Thus, the thesis calls for an approach to Art Education that is open to sensory multiplicity in exploring everyday experiences. Sound is a crucial component of such experiences; and as such, it warrants study in art classrooms.


identifier: Ling, Ethan A.  (2014) Community Benefits Agreements: Representation, Collaboration, and the Role of Government in U.S. CBAs.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Over the past forty years, government at all levels has shifted from a managerial to an entrepreneurial style of governance, to varying degrees.  This neoliberal shift in rule, which espouses market deregulation, corporate tax reduction, funding cuts, privatization of public services, increased competition for global capital, and the clawback of social assistance programs, has been promoted as a cure for the ailing economy.  At the municipal level, expansion of the economic development agenda and an “open for business” mentality has dominated the local planning agenda for many years.  ‘If it’s good for the economy, it’s good for the city’ is increasingly the basis on which development projects are planned, subsidized and constructed.

However, the negative externalities that are caused by these large, often publicly funded, projects are forcing citizen groups to seek innovative ways to have their voices heard.  Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) are becoming an ever more popular tool for community coalitions who desire more input and participation in the planning and development process.  CBAs are negotiated agreements between parties involved in a development project which ensures the direct delivery of some of the economic benefits that are often advertised, but rarely materialize, in large-scale development projects.

This work looks at ten U.S. CBAs and explores the themes of representation, collaboration, and the role of government within the individual cases.  Comparing the academic and practical literature that is emerging, this research demonstrates that the success of any given CBA is tied to a community organization's ability to mobilize the local and non-local resources and alliances that can best support their context-specific needs, and it illustrates the varied means by which this mobilization is achieved.


identifier: Krivdova, Zofia  (2014) “Steeling the Gaze: Collaborative curatorial practices and Aboriginal art”.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This thesis studies the exhibition Steeling the Gaze: Portraits by Aboriginal Artists that ran from Fall 2008 to Spring 2009 at the National Gallery of Canada in collaboration with the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography. Curated by Steven Loft, a Mohawk-Jewish curator in his second year of a two-year curator-in-residence program at the National Gallery, and Andrea Kunard, a non-Native curator at the CMCP, the exhibition featured portraits by twelve First Nations and Métis artists.
Steeling the Gaze challenged curatorial and institutional authority at the National Gallery of Canada. The exhibition was a collaborative project on many levels, and was a major advance on the part of the CMCP and the NGC, and the curators working there, because it challenged conventional modes of display of work by Indigenous artists. The exhibition shifted several protocols about curatorial and institutional authority. One of the main contributions of Steeling the Gaze was its exploration of collaboration across many different realms – curatorial, institutional, curator-artist relations, and artist-artist relations. My thesis will examine the collaborative practices employed in Steeling the Gaze and will consider how this approach could be a useful model for exhibitions of Aboriginal art in mainstream art institutions.


identifier: Saberi Derakhtenjani, Ali  (2014) A study of different modeling approaches for model-based building thermal control.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This thesis presents an assessment of different modeling methodologies for
developing dynamic thermal models for buildings and discusses the benefits of each for
model-based thermal control in buildings. The modeling section consists of two main parts:
(1) the development of a detailed dynamic thermal model by means of frequency domain
techniques and transfer functions (2) the development of low-order, grey-box, RC
(resistance-capacitance) thermal network models with parameter optimization. The models
are verified with experimental data from the Environmental Chamber (EC) test facility at
Concordia University. Environmental Chamber is an experimental facility that is designed
to test and calibrate building dynamic thermal models and technologies. The advantages of
each of the modeling approaches for understanding the thermal behavior of the
Environmental Chamber are discussed.
A detailed frequency domain model is developed from the application of first principle
heat transfer equations to study the thermal characteristics of the system. A
detailed lumped parameter finite difference model (LPFD) is used as a tool to calculate
required data for the frequency domain model that was not available through experiment.
LPFD model also provides significant insight into the actual behavior of the chamber under
transient conditions.
Then, the creation of low-order, grey-box, RC circuit model for the Environmental
Chamber is explained, as well as a methodology for optimizing the circuit parameters to
find the “effective” resistances and capacitances for a defined objective which is the fit
between measured and simulated air temperature. The challenges encountered while using
experimental data to perform optimization for the low-order RC circuits are discussed.
Such low-order models that capture the important physics of the problem are best suited to
real time MPC in building automation systems in which they can be actually implemented.
Finally, an analytical frequency domain model is developed for a thermal zone in
an experimental facility (one of Hydro-Québec's Twin Houses in Shawinigan). The effect
of different floor coverings on the thermal response of the zone is investigated by means
of the frequency domain model. Also, using the frequency domain model, the effect of
increasing the thermal mass and thermal conductivity of the materials used in the zone on
the thermal response of the zone is investigated. The importance of studying the magnitude
of the zone transfer function for effective thermal storage in the zone in an important certain
frequency range is demonstrated. The key advantage of frequency domain modeling for
evaluating design options without any need to perform simulation is presented.


identifier: Bruce, Halina  (2014) Cognitive Compensation Among Older Adults in the Context of an Unpredictable Platform Perturbation.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Research has revealed an increasing interdependence between cognitive and both auditory and motor functioning with age (Baltes & Lindenberger, 1997) with correlational work suggesting an association between hearing loss and falls (Viljanen et al., 2009). The current study was designed to experimentally investigate cognitive capacity as a candidate underlying this association. Twenty-nine younger adults (M = 21.83, SD = 3.01) and twenty-five older adults (M = 65.32, SD = 3.26) were recruited to balance in response to a platform perturbation and perform a cognitive task alone and concurrently. These tasks were also completed in noisy conditions to simulate age-related hearing loss. We hypothesized that older adults would show greater dual-task costs than younger adults and that performance costs would be exacerbated by attentional load (i.e., dual-tasking) and auditory challenge (i.e., noise). It was also hypothesized that older adults would prioritize balance over cognitive performance. Results revealed that cognitive performance was negatively impacted by age and noise but not by attentional load, with the effect of auditory challenge exacerbated among older adults. Postural data was analyzed for a subset of thirteen younger (M = 22.54, SD = 2.50) and thirteen older (M = 65.31, SD = 4.05) adults. While differences were found in response to task manipulations in both the reflexive and voluntary portion of the response among younger adults, older adults demonstrated a conservative response suggesting postural prioritization. These findings complement epidemiological work linking hearing loss and mobility decline, and are novel in providing experimental evidence that implicates cognitive capacity as an underlying factor.


identifier: Afana, Ali  (2014) Collaborative Distributed Beamforming for Spectrum-Sharing Systems.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The scarcity of  bandwidth has always been  the main obstacle for providing reliable high date-rate wireless links, which are in great demand to accommodate nowadays and immediate future wireless applications. In addition, recent reports have showed inefficient usage and  under-utilization of the available bandwidth. Cognitive radio (CR) has recently emerged as a promising solution to enhance the spectrum utilization, where it offers   the ability for  unlicensed users to access  the licensed spectrum  opportunistically. On one hand, by allowing  opportunistic spectrum access, the overall spectrum utilization can be improved. On the other hand, transmission from cognitive nodes can cause severe interference to the licensed users  of the spectrum. This requires cognitive radio networks (CRNs) to consider two essential design targets, namely, maximizing the spectrum utilization and minimizing the interference caused to the primary users (PUs). Such interference can be reduced through proper resource allocation, power control or other  degrees of freedom techniques such as beamforming.

In this thesis,  we aim to use joint distributed beamforming and cooperative relaying in  spectrum-sharing systems in an effort to enhance the spectrum efficiency and improve the performance of the secondary system. We investigate a one-way cooperative spectrum-sharing system in the presence of one PU and multiple PUs. We study two relaying  schemes, namely,   decode-and-forward (DF) and amplify-and-forward  (AF) relaying in conjunction with distributed optimal beamforming. We employ  zero forcing beamforming (ZFB) as a sub-optimal scheme, and compare both approaches through simulations.  For both schemes,  we  derive  closed-form expressions and asymptotic expressions for the  outage probability and  bit error rate (BER)  over independent and identically distributed Rayleigh fading channels for binary phase shift keying (BPSK) and M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM) schemes.  Numerical results    show the effectiveness of the combination of the cooperative diversity and distributed beamforming in compensating for the loss in the secondary system's performance due to the primary user's co-channel interference (CCI).

To further improve the spectrum efficiency, we employ distributed beamforming in two-way AF cooperative spectrum-sharing systems in the presence of multiple PUs. For this system, we investigate the transmission protocols over two, three and four time-slots.   Our results show that the three time-slot protocol outperforms  the two time-slot and four time-slot protocols in  certain scenarios where it offers a good compromise between bandwidth efficiency and system performance.

We extend the two-way relaying system to the DF scheme, where two practical two-way relaying strategies are investigated, namely, DF-XORing (bit-wise level) and DF-superposition (symbol-wise level).  For each relaying strategy, we derive general optimal beamforming  vectors and sup-optimal ZFB vectors at the relays. Employing  ZFB, we present an analytical  framework of the secondary system considering the effect of the primary-secondary mutual CCIs.   Our results  show that, when the received signals at the relays are weighted equally, the DF-XOR always outperforms both DF-superposition and  AF relaying.

In the last part of the thesis, we consider a limited feedback system model by assuming partial channel state information (CSI) of the interference channel between  the secondary relays and primary receiver. In particular, the CSI feedback is limited only to  the quantized channel direction information (CDI).  To investigate the effect of the quantized CDI on the secondary system's performance, we derive closed-form expressions for the outage probability and the  BER considering the mutual secondary-primary CCI. In the simulation results, we compare the  system performance of the limited feedback with the perfect CSI. Our results show that the performance improves as the number of feedback bits increases.


identifier: Arian, Zohreh  (2014) New configuration of submerged electro-bioreactor (SMEBR) for nutrient removal in water recovery.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Submerged Membrane Electro-Bioreactor, or SMEBR, is a compact hybrid unit that biological process, membrane filtration and electrokinetic phenomena are carried out for wastewater treatment. In this novel submerged membrane electro-bioreactor, interactions of three fundamental processes -- biodegradation, membrane filtration and electrokinetics -- control the removal of nutrients. This thesis focuses mainly on nutrients (total nitrogen and phosphorus) removal by new design of the electro-bioreactor with multiple electrical units.
Two new configurations of electro-bioreactor were tested upon different technical parameters and operating conditions.  In the SMEBR system, relationship between different levels of current density and electrode configuration played an important role for nutrient removal. Based on the results obtained in this study, under the best operating conditions the average removal of ammonia, nitrates, phosphorous and COD reached 98%, almost 100%, 93%, and 97% respectively. Nitrogen was removed by transformation of ammonia nitrogen into the nitrogen gas through nitrification and denitrification process. The SMEBR system could accomplish almost complete nitrification of ammonium and denitrification of nitrate. Phosphorous was removed by the formation of aluminum phosphate. COD was removed through oxidation of biomass and microbial activities in the electro-bioreactor.


identifier: Lees, Juliette  (2014) Consideration of Uncertainties in Environmental Protection Plans and Follow-up Programs in Canadian EIA.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The rationale for project-based environmental impact assessment (EIA) is to provide stakeholders and decision-makers with a complete understanding of a proposed project as well as a realistic representation of impacts on environmental processes. Environmental processes are known to be unstable, complex and sometimes hard to predict leading to the uncertainties about impacts. In project-based EIA, environmental processes tend to be simplified. Classifying uncertainties and evaluating their implications have been identified as an urgent need. Predictions about the kinds and severity of a project’s impacts are often wrong and mitigation measures less effective than anticipated. This study aims to evaluate the extent to which uncertainty is considered and addressed in Canadian EIA practice. Environmental protection plans (EPPs) and follow-up programs present opportunities for proponents to disclose and address uncertainties raised during the environmental impact predictions. Twelve Canadian Environmental Impacts Statements (EISs), post the Canadian Environment Assessment Act in 1995 and prior to the 2012 Canadian environmental legislation Act, were reviewed. This study shows that in the EPPs and follow-up programs, uncertainty is never discussed in depth. There is a lack of suitable terminology and consistency in how uncertainty is disclosed reflecting the need for explicit guidance. When uncertainty is acknowledged, the authors took various approaches to address it. Seven kinds of approaches were identified in the reports. However, uncertainties were still never addressed in depth. This research clearly demonstrates that project-based Environmental Protection Plans and follow-up programs in Canadian EIA are not as transparent with respect to uncertainties as they should be, and that uncertainties generally need to be better considered and communicated to stakeholders and decision-makers.


identifier: Chandler, Harry  (2014) The Third World First Nations Reserve: Framing Crises on First Nations Reserves In Canadian Newspaper Coverage.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study is an examination of recent Canadian newspaper coverage of First Nations reserves, specifically focusing on whether this coverage marginalizes Aboriginals through the use of ethnocentric language, stereotypes and news frames that conform to a larger historical-colonial discourse of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Using a combined methodology of critical discourse analysis and frame analysis, this research examined the press coverage of the water crisis of 2005 on the Cree First Nation reserve of Kashechewan and the housing crisis on the neighboring reserve of Attawapiskat in 2011.  Both of these incidents warranted significant press coverage and drew national attention to the conditions of Canada’s First Nations reserves. Examining selected newspaper coverage of these events in The Globe and Mail and The National Post, this study determined that the newspapers framed these reserves in such a way that emphasized their poverty and hopelessness, equating them with Third World nations, thereby serving to further marginalize Aboriginal people. A comparative analysis of the coverage using the Aboriginal newspaper The Wawatay News established a counter frame to those of Canada’s mainstream newspapers.


identifier: Ahmed, Moonsharin  (2014) The Half Life of Gems.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: The Half Life of Gems

abstract:
The Half Life of Gems follows two cousins in the Haidar family, Nadim and Abrar, during their summer visit to their ancestral home in Ujjalpur, Bangladesh. Abrar Haidar is the son of Zohair Haidar, a successful RMG (Ready Made Garments) manufacturer. Abrar is struggling to find the courage to tell his father he doesn’t want to run the family business. Moreover, he hopes to marry Sadaf, but he is clueless about her feelings towards him. It doesn’t help that Sadaf’s father dislikes Abrar, and is critical of the exploitative nature of the garments industry. Abrar’s cousin Warda holds him responsible for ruining the Pan Art Competition at school, and greatly affects his summer holiday. Soon he realizes a man is stalking him, and he learns that his father had history with Qazi, an infamous war criminal.
Meanwhile, Nadim Haidar plots revenge against Abrar due to past grudges. Nadim aspires to be a detective and the story of a robbery during the Bangladesh Liberation War inspires him. One night as Nadim lays in wait for Abrar, Nadim spies on a servant named Shakil hiding something in the forest surrounding their house. He becomes obsessed with trying to solve the mystery. Abrar gets involved against his will and realizes the situation is more sinister than it seems. He is torn between confronting and protecting his father as he delves deeper into the past.


identifier: Surette, Susan  (2014) Canadian Ceramic Relief Murals: Studio Craft and Architecture – A Case Study of the Sturdy-Stone Centre Murals, 1975-1983.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The modernist Sturdy-Stone Centre’s monumental ceramic mural project is the subject of this case study that examines its agency. Initiated in 1975 by the Saskatchewan government for their new Saskatoon office building it was commissioned in two stages and completed by 1983. Six designer/makers executed two exterior and six interior relief murals in a variety of styles, making this the largest and arguably most eclectic ensemble created by studio ceramicists for any building in Canada. Despite local interest at the time of its reception this remarkable project has remained at the periphery of art, ceramic, craft, and architectural discourses. To address the agency of these murals throughout their lives this study adopts an interdisciplinary approach that promotes their integration into architectural, ceramic, sculpture, and craft histories. It argues the decorative and ornamental aspects of these murals transmit intellectual content through their sensuality and visual and material delight.
The first section, “A Social and Material Complex,” presents an overview of the development of this unique project as group formations, methodologically using a combination of sociology and material culture. These groups comprise the government with its attendant political and social agendas, arts and crafts organizations and their aesthetic concerns, and the physical unit created by the building and the murals. A particular concern is the implication of ceramics as the designated mural material.
The second section, “The Lives of the Murals,” looks at the biography of each mural, arguing they emerged from and contributed to political and cultural ideologies active in Saskatchewan, including discourses of multiculturalism and socialism. Each chapter combines the biographies of the murals with those of their makers, from their commissioning to their installation. An important aspect in each discussion is the co-constitution of the murals and their makers, as suggested by a postphenomenological approach. This involves taking into account a variety of group formations involving, among other things, materials, technology, tools, architectural spaces, humans, and ideas. As agents these murals promote the professionalism of ceramic practices and dialogically address issues touching the rural and urban, local and global, vernacular and modern, and fine art and folk craft.


identifier: Karim Lee, Ali  (2014) Application of PCM to shift and shave peak demand: Parametric studies.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Space conditioning is a main contributor to energy usage in buildings. In Quebec, electric baseboard heaters are the predominant household space-heating systems, in the other words, electrical energy is the main source of energy used for space heating. Thus in such a cold climate like Quebec, residential peak heating demand is a significant contributor to high and critical electricity grid peak periods. Reducing peak heating demand by shifting a portion of peak heating demand to off-peak period is thus of high interest. On the supply side, this strategy requires less generated power, and on the demand side it helps downsize heating systems. One possible approach to shifting peak heating demand to off-peak time is to store thermal energy during off-peak periods and release the stored energy during peak periods. To adopt this approach, set-point temperature of heating systems can be lowered during the peak period, while a release of stored energy maintains the indoor temperature within the desired comfort zone. This capability could be implemented using the concept of latent heat, offered by phase-change-material (PCM)–impregnated building wallboard, such as PCM-gypsum wallboard. In this thesis, a PCM module within TRNSYS software is first validated with experimental data, available in literature, for a simple case of one cubicle. The code is then applied to a typical one-story residential building, also modeled in TRNSYS. Later, several parametric studies are carried out to investigate the influence of PCM’s thermal properties and convective heat transfer coefficient on the rate of PCM’s thermal discharge and its resulting improvement in indoor air condition. The simulation results reveal that it is possible to maintain a trade-off between shifting the peak heating demand and preserving thermal comfort by applying PCMs with proper characteristics. It was observed that improving thermal conductivity of PCM has a negligible impact on heat discharge during peak time. Simulations also show that the PCM melting temperature range should be chosen closest to the assigned set-point temperature. It has been shown that increasing the thickness of the PCM layer more than a certain value, 0.013 m, has no effect on thermal storage or, therefore, on PCM thermal discharge. Investigation of interior convective heat transfer on PCM discharge reveals that for a specific climate and PCM wallboard, there is a threshold for effective performance of PCM. For a building located in Montreal, it was shown that with a typical PCM-gypsum wallboard, the interior heat transfer coefficient has to be at least 6.6 W/m2K to sustain the desired thermal comfort. Finally, thermal behavior of the building integrated with PCM wallboards was assessed in three different climates and by applying two different PCM-gypsum wallboards. It was found that PCM wallboard selection and set-point temperature control strategy must be considered according to the outdoor weather conditions.


identifier: Khazraei Vizhemehr, Ali  (2014) Predicting the performance of activated carbon filters at low concentrations using accelerated test data.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Indoor air quality (IAQ) is a major concern in non-industrial buildings since it can remarkably influence buildings occupants’ health, comfort and productivity. Adsorption-based granular activated carbon (GAC) filters are one of the common types of air purifying devices. They are considered to be an effective approach in maintaining IAQ by removing volatile organic compounds (VOC) which are the most conspicuous gaseous contaminants inside the buildings. Predicting the breakthrough time of filters is necessary for scheduling their maintenance and/or regeneration. However, determining their replacement time at low concentrations of contaminants similar to those encountered indoors is still questionable.
The main objective of this study is to develop and validate a reliable procedure to predict the long-term breakthrough time of GAC filters, when exposed to low indoor concentrations, using accelerated tests at high concentrations.
A comprehensive time-dependent model was proposed for predicting the performance of an in-duct GAC filter under the conditions relevant to the actual applications. The model integrates both pore diffusion and surface diffusion phenomena. Good agreement between the model prediction and the experimental data was observed at high concentration levels (down to 5ppm). Simulation results also indicated that the surface diffusion has a dominant role during VOC adsorption on activated carbon.
Furthermore a simplified framework featured by three practical pathways was developed for the estimation of the performance of an in-duct GAC filter. The developed framework is based on the dry air VOC adsorption isotherm and empirical breakthrough models. VOCs concentrations typically encountered in indoor environment are very low thus increasing the influence of humidity on filter performance. Therefore, the framework was then extended to the humid conditions.
A series of experiments was carried out on a small-scale experimental set-up (ASHRAE Standard 145.1) for a large range of VOC concentration levels, and also on a full-scale set-up (ASHRAE Standard 145.2) at different relative humidity levels. MEK, n-hexane and toluene were used as challenge gases.
The results showed that the developed framework can predict the breakthrough curve at very low concentrations (down to 1 ppm) with confidence for both dry and humid air conditions. Non-concentration dependent parameters extracted from empirical equations play an important role in developing the framework. However, these indicators do not remain constant in the presence of relative humidity. The overall mass transfer coefficient (in Wheeler-Jonas equation) and proportionality constant (in Yoon-Nelson equation) (both as a function of adsorption capacity) are influenced by humidity.
Using the proposed framework reduces the experimental work required by the user to predict GAC filter service life so that one can extrapolate data to untested vapor concentration and relative humidity levels.


identifier: Koroleva, Tatiana A.  (2014) (Un)Disciplined Bodies: Ascetic Transformation in Performance Art.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This dissertation investigates different modalities of self-transformation enacted in ritualistic performance art by the examination of the work of three contemporary performance artists – Marina Abramović, Linda Montano and Ron Athey. Drawing on theoretical models of ritual, in particular the model of ascetic ritual developed in the works of Gavin Flood and Richard Valantasis, Georges Bataille’s theory of sacrifice, concepts of wounded healing by Laurence J. Kirmayer and Jess Groesbeck, and recent studies of ascetic self-injury in psychiatry and psychoanalysis, I argue that ritualistic performance provides a useful model of the therapy of the body that undermines rigid models of the individual self. Ritualistic performance employs a variety of methods of re-patterning of the dominant standard of individuality and formation of alternative model of the body associated with the ascetic self. In view of significance of the transcendence of the body in the work of these artists I employ a theory of “transformation” to reflect upon performative methodology developed in the artworks of Abramović, Montano, and Athey.


identifier: Alem, Ali  (2014) A novel method to fabricate open-cell silicon nitride foams with a high and controlled level of porosity.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
There is a significant lack of study on silicon nitride (Si3N4) foams. This is due to the fabrication issues and difficulties of working with silicon nitride powder. In this study a new fabrication procedure has been designed to fabricate highly porous and homogeneous silicon nitride foams with open-cell structures and controlled porosity levels. The combination of three methods including the sacrificial template method, gel-casting, and reaction bonding techniques resulted in the fabrication of reaction bonded silicon nitride (RBSN) foams. The fabrication procedure was studied and optimized in terms of suspension preparation and rheology, gel-casting parameters, and also reaction bonding conditions. The results revealed that pH 8.5 and the presence of 1.5 wt% DS001 would lead to the highest suspension stability. Therefore, the least sediment height and the highest zeta potential would be obtained. Si-PMMA suspensions showed a near Newtonian behavior at pH 8.5 and for 60 wt% solid. The gel-casting parameters including the monomer content, the ratio of monomer to cross-linker, the gelation time, and the sample warpage were also studied. Based on the result the optimum monomer to crass-linker weight ratio was selected to be 15:1. After nitridation, the foams have a precisely controlled level of porosity, which can be controlled between 41 vol% to 87 vol%. The pore interconnectivity was examined both before and after nitriding and showed complete interconnectedness in the foam porosity.
The parameters influencing the mechanical strength of the RBSN foams were also investigated. These considerations include the foam porosity, homogeneity, gel-casting parameters, and nitriding conditions. Depending on the foam porosity, the strength can vary between 1 MPa and 18 MPa. It was also observed that for high Si/PMMA ratios, a monomer content of more than 25 wt% in the premix solution is required. Otherwise, the foam strength drops significantly due to inhomogeneities formed in the cast body. In terms of the effect of nitriding conditions on the foam strength, maximum strength was obtained under N2-H2 atmospheres rather than N2. Extensive investigation on the nitridation process also revealed that the high porosity level of the foam and consequently its large surface area significantly affect the nitriding mechanisms and microstructures compared to conventional RBSN ceramics. It was observed that α- and -Si3N4 form based on specific reactions and each phase has distinct morphologies depending on the nitriding reactions.
The effect of iron disilicide (FeSi2) on the properties and microstructure of the fabricated RBSN foams was studied in the next step of the investigation. It was observed that the addition of 1 wt% of FeSi2 significantly increases the foam strength regardless of the nitriding condition. After the addition of FeSi2, a maximum strength of 3.41 MPa was achieved under a N2 atmosphere at 1390°C with a foam of 71 vol% porosity. FeSi2 also affects the α/ phase ratio considerably. It was observed that a considerable increase in the α-Si3N4 content occurs up to 1 wt% FeSi2 while the β-Si3N4 content starts to increase thereafter. The XRD and microstructural analysis showed that α-Si3N4 is present in the form of both matte and whiskers while β-Si3N4 forms as whiskers and large faceted angular grains.
The influence of α- and -Si3N4 seeds has also been investigated. It was observed that both α- and -seeds improve the foam strength by 30% and 85%, respectively. The optimum contents of the α- and -seeds correspond to the maximum foam strength which was observed for 5 wt% α-Si3N4 and 10 wt% -Si3N4 seeds. The vapor phase reactions were also enhanced by the addition of -seeds resulting in a significant increase in the -whisker content of the microstructure.
Sintered reaction bonded silicon nitride (SRBSN) foams were also fabricated via sintering of RBSN foams in the presence of MgO as a sintering aid. The effect of different amounts of MgO on the foam microstructure and porosity was also studied both before and after sintering. The addition of MgO resulted in significant changes to the microstructure of the RBSN and SRBSN foams. MgO stopped whisker-forming reactions during nitriding; therefore, foams with clean porosity and without the presence of whiskers were produced. The SRBSN foams can have a maximum of 85 vol% porosity and the foam microstructure contained only -Si3N4 grains embedded in an amorphous intergranular phase.


identifier: Breitkreutz, Sara  (2014) Stories of Place: Urban Community and Contested Space in Montreal's Cabot Square.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Cabot Square is a public space in west downtown Montreal. The Square has long been the site of controversy, as it is both a neighbourhood park and a gathering place for people experiencing various forms of homelessness and socio-economic marginalization. In 2008, the City of Montreal's Ville-Marie Borough released an urban planning document called the PPU Quartier des Grands Jardins (Arrondissement 2008), which included provisions to revitalize the Square, along with plans to build a set of condominiums across the street, carried out in 2012. The revitalization of the Square was initiated subsequently in 2014. Fieldwork was conducted between 2012 and 2014 in Cabot Square and the surrounding area in order to understand the ways in which the Square functions as a gathering place, and to learn from the experiences of people who spend time there, as well as the outreach workers and community organizers who support them. Theorizing space and place according to the work of Casey (1997), Massey (1994; 2005), and Ingold (2009; 2011), this thesis tells a story of Cabot Square as a gathering place with processual, relational, and political dimensions. Place is presented as an emergent human experience generated by paths of wayfaring and practices of relationality, and contested by divergent claims to boundaries and belonging. This conceptual frame aligns itself closely with the ways Cabot Square is experienced by those who linger in it, but differs from the view taken by urban planners and city employees who have been involved in the PPU Quartier des Grands Jardins. The argument of this thesis is that different conceptions of place affect the ways spaces are designed, used, regulated, and experienced, and that consideration of the processual, relational, and political aspects of place might inspire more sustainable and equitable urban development projects in the future.


identifier: Korniakova, Elena  (2014) Canadian and Russian Animation on Northern Aboriginal Folklore.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Aboriginal legends depict the relationships between humans and nature as deeply symbolic and intertwined. When adapted to films by non-Aboriginal filmmakers, these legends are often interpreted in ways which modify human-nature relationships experienced by Aboriginal peoples. I explore such modifications by looking at Canadian and Russian ethnographic animation based on Northern Aboriginal folklore of the two countries. In my thesis, I concentrate on the analysis of ethno-historical and cinematic traditions of Canada and Russia. I also explore the Canadian and Russian conventions of animated folktales and compare ethnographic animation produced by the National Film Board of Canada and Russian animation studio Soyuzmultfilm. The research findings and personal interviews with Canadian and Russian filmmakers contribute to the development of an essay film The Raven, which exemplifies my own creative take on the subject matter.


identifier: Sandhu, Prit-Kamal Singh  (2014) Characterization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae tRNA nucleotidyltransferase variants.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Yeast cells exhibit a temperature-sensitive phenotype at 37°C due to an ATP(CTP): tRNA  nucleotidyltransferase variant containing a glutamate to phenylalanine substitution at position 189.  This amino acid alteration in conserved motif C results in weakened thermal stability and reduced enzyme activity in the tRNA nucleotidyltransferase.  When the arginine at position 64 of this enzyme is changed to tryptophan, enzyme activity is increased and the temperature-sensitive phenotype is suppressed such that the yeast can grow at the restrictive temperature.  This suppressor mutation is found associated with the highly conserved motif A which plays a crucial role in catalysis.  Here the roles of glutamate 189 and arginine 64 in tRNA nucleotidyltransferase activity are explored.  The data presented here show that the decrease in enzyme activity in the enzyme bearing the glutamate to phenylalanine substitution at position 189 results from an approximately 70-fold decrease in catalytic activity (kcat) and a less than 2-fold change in apparent tRNA binding (KM).  Moreover, they show that the subsequent arginine to tryptophan substitution at position 64 results in an approximate 6-fold increase in enzyme activity as compared to the glutamate to phenylalanine substitution variant with no apparent change in KM.  Interestingly, the arginine to tryptophan substitution alone shows no major change to either apparent kcat or KM as compared to the native enzyme.  Based on these observations, molecular modeling suggests that the glutamate to phenylalanine substitution in motif C affects catalysis by altering the organization of catalytic residues in the head and neck regions of the protein.  Substitution of glutamate at position 189 by a larger amino acid produces steric repulsion that disturbs the precise positioning of motif A and B residues leading to a reduced kcat.  These data also suggest that the organization of the head and neck regions of the protein do not play a major role in tRNA binding.  Finally, the suppressor mutation resulting in the change of arginine 64 to tryptophan allows the catalytic residues of motifs A and B to be shielded from steric hindrance leading to the measured increase in kcat that restores viability at the restrictive temperature.


identifier: Chavez Yanez, Mauricio  (2014) A Comprehensive Numerical Study of the Effects of Adjacent Buildings on Near-Field Pollutant Dispersion.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Air pollution is a major concern in industrialized countries. In dense urban areas, the most common sources of pollutants are the exhaust stacks, ventilators, and cooling towers located on top of buildings. Depending on wind characteristics and flow re-circulations induced by adjacent buildings, effluents can be transported toward fresh air intakes and contaminate indoor air causing health problem to the buildings’ occupants. This particular urban pollution case is known as re-entrainment of pollutants. Unfortunately, the available dispersion models are not adapted to analyse such problems, since they were developed for an isolated building configuration. The present research aims to investigate pollutant aerodynamics and re-entrainment potential for non-isolated building configurations using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques.
To do so, the steady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approach was evaluated and compared with wind tunnel data and ASHRAE-2011 dispersion model results. The best numerical model possible was defined by performing a sensitivity analysis on the effect of meshing, turbulence model, convergence criteria and turbulent Schmidt number (Sct). For passive scalar transport, it was observed that RANS underestimates dilution when using the standard Sct = 0.7, perhaps due to the inherent incapacity of RANS in reproducing unsteadiness of flow. However, a sensitivity analysis showed that a better agreement is obtained with Sct = 0.3, which is within the range of values suggested in the literature.
Furthermore, a comparative performance evaluation of steady and unsteady approaches was carried out. Three unsteady modelling techniques were compared: unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS), Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) and Large Eddy Simulation (LES). The flow pattern within the wake of a two-building configuration was evaluated and dispersion of pollutants compared against wind tunnel data. The influence of meshing size, time step and inlet boundary conditions was discussed. URANS using the Realizable k-ɛ model, fails to reproduce unsteadiness, and dilution values converge to the same RANS results but DES captures well the unsteadiness of the flow. LES dilution predictions are not satisfactory in all locations, perhaps because the mesh used was not sufficiently refined near the walls. It was concluded that under these specified computing conditions, DES showed results closer to experimental data than all other approaches considered.
Finally, RANS was selected to perform a series of simulations for three non-isolated building configurations: a building located upstream of an emitting building, a building located downstream of an emitting building and an emitting building between two tall buildings. After performing a parametric analysis of geometric characteristics of adjacent buildings, a guideline for safe placement of intakes on buildings façades was proposed.
In line with the previous results, this thesis provides three relevant contributions. First, in terms of numerical simulation, the thesis contributes with insights concerning computational simulation for pollutant dispersion in urban areas. Second, additional information in terms of normalized dilution values, contours and streamlines for different building configurations (isolated and non-isolated) is given in order to better comprehend the pollutant dispersion in the urban environment. Third, the thesis offers a guideline with practical recommendations regarding safe placement of intakes to avoid pollutants re-ingestion. These results are also a source of data to code and standard writing bodies.


identifier: Lipski, Gloria  (2014) Finding Where I Fit: An Autoethnography on Integrating Ethnomusicology into Music Therapy.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Music therapy researchers and theorists throughout the field are calling for collaboration with ethnomusicologists (Ansdell, 2004; Bright, 1993; Bruscia, 2002; Chiang, 2008; Moreno, 1995; Rohrbacher, 1993, 2008; Ruud, 2010; Stige, 2002, 2005).  Through autoethnography research, exploring and describing my own narrative of hybridization, bringing ethnomusicology into music therapy, I hope to illuminate some new understandings relevant to the discussion of theoretical integration.  This research highlights perceived differences in academic culture between the two disciplines, in particular the uncritical academic environment of music therapy and the hypersensitivity to cultural issues in ethnomusicology that may contribute to philosophical hesitation towards ‘doing something’ with music, as music therapy of course must do.  Relevant theoretical activities and approaches are identified, possibly expanding the view of ethnomusicology’s role in music therapy as being beyond one of simply providing cross-cultural information.


identifier: Bachand, Felix-Herve  (2014) An Evaluation of the Influence of a Document's Text-Type on the Use of Discourse Relations.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In this thesis, we will discuss the work we have conducted on the relationship between discourse relations in English documents and their associated text-types. Obtaining an understanding of the text-type of a given document is a step towards identifying its larger discourse schema which, in turn, is instrumental in effectively identifying discourse relations. In order to study the relationship between discourse relations and discourse structures, and the text-type of a document, we have created a corpus of documents belonging to seven distinct text-types, from which we extracted discourse relation annotations using already existing parsers. Utilizing the data obtained, we have studied various ways in which discourse relations and text-types are linked in an effort to better understand how discourse schemas can be identified and subsequently utilized in the automatic extraction of discourse relations. Our experiments have shown that the classification of documents within our seven text-types is still better performed with a bag-of-words approach, but the results obtained with the automatically extracted discourse relations suggest that there is in fact a link between text-types and the use of specific discourse relations. We also found that the various text-types are identified with varying accuracy, with text-types such as 'explanation' and 'report' being harder to identify, regardless of the methods used. Finally, our results also show that the cue phrases used to identify explicitly stated discourse relations are amongst the more informative features of our better performing bag-of-words model, and can be utilized to reduce the feature space of this particular model.


identifier: Sawchyn, Christina  (2014) Genome-wide analysis of trimethylated lysine 4 of histone H3 (H3K4me3) in Aspergillus niger.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Aspergillus niger is a commercially important producer of enzymes and organic acids. In this study, I have examined the distribution of trimethylated lysine 4 of histone H3 (H3K4me3) in the A. niger genome. I performed chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq) to determine the genomic regions enriched for nucleosomes with this histone modification. I have conducted an analysis of the resulting peaksets to determine the optimal peak finding parameters for use in the detection of H3K4me3 ChIP-enriched regions in A. niger. As H3K4me3 was previously widely reported to mark actively transcribed genes, genome-wide ChIP-seq maps for maltose and xylose growth were compared with transcriptome data generated under the same growth conditions. Almost all genes that contained H3K4me3 are actively transcribed. However, nearly a third of all actively transcribed genes are not associated with H3K4me3. In addition, H3K4me3 is not associated with the majority of genes differentially expressed on maltose or xylose growth. Chromosomal maps revealed that this histone modification is non-randomly distributed in the genome. In particular, H3K4me3 is enriched at pericentromeric regions, but absent at the centromere and at regions proximal to the telomeres. Finally, H3K4me3 occasionally localized to actively transcribed regions not predicted to contain a gene model. The results of this study suggest that H3K4me3 is positively correlated with transcriptional activity, but is not a definitive marker of active gene expression. Furthermore, this modification is highly locally organized along A. niger chromosomes. Epigenetic phenomena in A. niger warrant further study to determine their significance in genome regulation.


identifier: Spensieri, Daniel  (2014) Investigating the Potential Effectiveness of Two Therapeutic Targets, Utrophin and HSP70, in the Treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Duchenne muscular dystrophy is an incurable, genetic neuromuscular disorder that causes progressive, severe muscle wasting in young men and eventually leads to early death. The disease is caused by a mutation in the gene encoding the cytoskeletal protein dystrophin, which leads to stress induced sarcolemmal tearing. Abnormally high levels of intracellular Ca2+ in muscle cells is a main feature of the disorder as it triggers many secondary effects that are detrimental to the proper functioning of skeletal muscle. Both utrophin and HSP70 have been suggested to have potential therapeutic potential as a result of their preferential expression in the relatively damage-resistant slow, oxidative fibres. In my studies, I found that by forcing transgenic expression of the Ca2+ chelator parvalbumin in slow fibres, utrophin expression in slow fibres was blunted without altering HSP70 expression. In this case, the slow fibres showed increased signs of stress and damage therefore suggesting that endogenous HSP70 alone may not spare dystrophin deficient muscle fibres. These results indicate that utrophin (but not HSP70) is a potential therapeutic target that will prevent muscle degeneration in patients with DMD.


identifier: Scarcello, Sabrina  (2014) The Influence of Dyadic Coping on Inflammation in the Context of Chronic Parenting Stress.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Social relationships are postulated to benefit health through direct and stress-buffering effects. Positive dyadic coping, a spousal support process in which a couple works together to cope with the stressors that one or both partners are facing, is associated with reduced psychological distress. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the association between dyadic coping and inflammation, which is elevated under chronic stress and increases risk for health threats. It was hypothesized that positive dyadic coping would buffer the impact of chronic stress on perceived stress, and in turn reduce inflammation. Forty-four parents of children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder completed questionnaires that assessed relationship satisfaction, social support, and dyadic coping. Daily diaries assessed the occurrence of child behavior problems. Circulating C-reactive protein (CRP) was assessed using ELISA on dried blood spots. Hierarchical linear regression models evaluated the main and interactive effects of child behavior problems, and positive and negative dyadic on circulating CRP. Moderated mediation analyses evaluated the conditional indirect effect of dyadic coping on circulating CRP through perceived caregiving burden. Positive dyadic coping, but not negative dyadic coping, was uniquely associated with circulating CRP. Positive dyadic coping, but not negative dyadic coping buffered the impact of chronic stress on perceived caregiving burden. However, perceived stress did not explain the association between positive dyadic coping and inflammation. These data suggest that positive dyadic coping is a unique interpersonal process that reduces psychological distress and inflammation. Future research should evaluate interventions aimed at improving positive dyadic coping and inflammation among couples experiencing chronic stress.


identifier: Lawandi, Alexander  (2014) Investigating Potential Interactions Between Neurohypophyseal Peptides, their Drug Analogs, and Coagulation Factor VIII.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The neurohypophysis is known to secrete vasopressin during times of severe haemorrhage, and oxytocin during labour and delivery, events in which blood loss also occurs. Evidence suggests that there may be an interaction between these peptides and the coagulation cascade, and currently, desmopressin, a drug analog of vasopressin, is a first line therapy for mild Hemophilia A, a common coagulopathy. In this work, interactions between vasopressin and oxytocin with a crucial member of the coagulation cascade, the cofactor Factor VIII, were investigated using fluorescence spectroscopy, interference immunoassays, commercially produced Factor VIII activity kits, and equilibrium dialysis. The results suggest not only that the peptides interact with the coagulation factor, but do so in a way that enhances its activity and prolongs its active form half-life, as seen through the enhancement of the activity of the FXase complex by assay. This theory was then expanded to study the analogs of vasopressin and oxytocin, desmopressin and carbetocin, drugs currently used clinically in the treatment of hemorrhagic conditions. Similar results were obtained. On the whole, these results indicate a potential newly discovered role for the neurohypophyseal hormones, as well as their drug counterparts being used in clinical practice today and may suggest an expanded clinical use in the control of severe haemorrhage.