title: Protecting the providers of Indigenous maternal care

abstract: Place is a powerful ontological force which is constitutive of health and well-being for Indigenous peoples. Colonial violence dis-places relationships to land, bodies, and community, leading to the unacceptable and pervasive health inequities suffered by many Indigenous peoples living in the territories now known as Canada. This thesis describes acts of resistance to this dis-place-ment by providers of Indigenous maternal care in their advocacy to return birth to community. By mapping the spatio-legal dimensions of the Indigenous maternal care landscape in Ontario and Québec, this thesis investigates how (neo)colonial governance comes to bear on experiences of providing maternal care. Grounded in the analysis of primary data from interviews with six Knowledge Holders, the findings of this research articulate divergent ontologies of governance within systems of Indigenous and state law.


title: Characterization and Application of Novel Structure Switching Aptamers for Aflatoxins

abstract: Aflatoxins are a class of mycotoxins that are of great agro-economic importance. Due to their health implications, and large economic burden, aflatoxins have become the most studied group of mycotoxins. A specific interest in rapid, robust, and cost effective, on-site sensing platforms for mycotoxin contaminants has been shown. Aptamers are functional oligonucleotide sequences that are selected to bind a cognate ligand with high affinity and selectivity. Novel structure switching aptamer candidates for total aflatoxin were previously selected. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays, melting temperature, and circular dichroism along with predictive structural characterization techniques were used to help elucidate the aptamer candidate's structural biases for G-quadruplex formation. Two candidates were determined to bind aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) with high affinity using microscale thermophoresis. Using the AFB1 binding aptamers, progress has been made towards developing FRET-based signalling sensors that leverage the structure-switching properties of the aptamer.


title: Electrophysiological Profile of Differentiating Human Central Canal Ependymal Stem-Progenitor Cells

abstract: Stem cell transplant and niche manipulation therapies are a promising tool for repairing damage from SCI and other neurodegenerative conditions. Since immunocytochemistry alone cannot adequately determine whether stem cells have differentiated into mature neurons, we used patch-clamp electrophysiology to assess passive and active electrical properties of spinal cord central canal stem cells. Human epSPCs differentiate towards a majority neuronal fate, with no action potential firing from two to ten weeks in vitro regardless of differentiation media. Passive membrane properties failed to reach typical mature neuron levels. The majority of cells showed voltage-dependent spontaneous synaptic currents with reversal near 0 mV, outward rectification, and decay kinetics consistent with excitatory glutamatergic responses. In future, research will examine the required timeline and most effective differentiation media for development of active membrane properties. Identification of receptor subtypes responsible for observed synaptic currents is required. This will inform future stem cell-based treatments of neurological disorders.


title: An Experimental Evaluation of Fixed and Fluidized Beds of Zeolite 13X for the Application of Compact Thermal Energy Storage

abstract: A bench-scale adsorption-based TES system was designed, constructed, instrumented, and commissioned. In demonstrating this technology, the objective of this research was to obtain thermodynamic data for the adsorption of water vapour onto zeolite 13X under fluidization to evaluate fluidized beds as potential reactor or adsorber designs. Multiple adsorption experiments were performed on samples of an 8x12 and 60x65 mesh zeolite 13X molecular sieve, comparing the effects of air flow rate and concentration of water vapour on the breakthrough and temperature lift on the energy density of fixed and fluidized adsorbent beds. The concentraion of water vapour at the inlet or relative humidity of the air was shown to be one of the most significant parameters for controlling the delivery temperature of each bed. The results of the experimental data are were then considered in scaling the adsorbent beds to meet a range of heating loads.


title: Comparison of Finite and Infinite Mixture Models for Capturing Compositional Heterogeneity Across Sites

abstract: Phylogenetic modelling of evolutionary processes across sites from sequence alignments has garnered increasing attention over the last few decades. One approach adopts the view that the heterogeneity across observations is a result of the data set having been emitted from several different models, each drawn from a distribution. Finite mixture models provide discretizations of the unknown distribution into a set of sub-models, or components. Choosing a level of discretization is done from a set of likelihood-based model comparisons. We use Bayesian cross-validation to compare a range of finite mixture models, along with the infinite mixture modelling approach known as `CAT', and gamma-distributed rates across sites approach. Using simulations and real alignments, our findings indicate that the improvement in model-fit from finite mixture models is attained when the number of components is between 20 and 60. The magnitude of improvement is dependant on whether or not the gamma approach is invoked.


title: Contribution of Boundary Genes to Fruit Patterning and Dehiscence in Arabidopsis Thaliana

abstract: Fruit production is an evolutionary innovation that allows for seed dispersion. Brassica members including the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana produce dry fruits that shatter when ripe, a process called dehiscence. The Arabidopsis fruit is a pod composed of two fused valves whose margins are joined to a central seed-bearing replum. The valve margins are specialized zones for dehiscence, related to boundaries that separate leaves from the shoot apical meristem. BLADE-ON-PETIOLE1/2 (BOP1/2) co-activators interact with Clade I TGA transcription factors to promote the activation of three-amino-acid-loop-extension (TALE) homeobox genes, important for boundary development. My data show that boundary genes enhance the expression of valve margin identity genes. Further, boundary genes are constrained to the valve margin by mechanisms similar to valve margin identity genes. Finally, boundary gene mutations modulate replum width and generate shatter-resistant fruits. Manipulation of this pathway provides a new potential strategy for optimizing pod shatter in crops.


title: UHF / VHF Antenna Design and Analysis for Automatic Deployable Emergency Beacons

abstract: This thesis focuses on antenna designed for Cospas-Sarsat (C/S) first generation beacons at two frequencies of operations, 121.5 MHz and 406 MHz. A variant of an Alford-loop antenna was designed and shown to have a maximum gain of 2 dBi with an omnidirectional pattern in the horizontal plane while the concept of switching phase relationship of signals illuminating two vertically stacked loop antennas was demonstrated. A size reduction of about 50% was achieved by folding the corners of the loop while maintaining the current phase along the loop constant. Additionally, a novel horizontally polarized compact slotted-loop antenna was introduced using the theory of slots and loop antennas resulting in an omnidirectional pattern in the azimuth plane having a maximum gain of 1.8 dBi. These antennas were designed to meet specifications imposed by C/S T.001 and ED-62A (Standards developed by EUROCAE).


title: Revisiting the Intrinsic Integration Hypothesis

abstract: The Intrinsic Integration Hypothesis proposes that educational games that use the core game mechanisms to teach the learning material are not only more fun to play, but also more effective at communicating the target knowledge. My thesis tests the Intrinsic Integration Hypothesis with two educational versions of Battleship that were designed for my experiment. This study examined the learning gains and motivation of 58 participants who interacted with either the intrinsic or extrinsic version for 35 minutes. The results contradicted previous findings in support of the Intrinsic Integration Hypothesis: participants reported that both games were similarly motivating as measured by questionnaire data, and participants who practised with the extrinsically-integrated version of the game learned more as measured by pretest to posttest gains. This work contributes empirical data to the debate concerning intrinsic integration, and it raises concerns about the need for transfer and increased cognitive load in these educational games.


title: Quality of Experience-Aware Progressive Video Caching and Adaptive Device-to-Device Video Streaming for Cellular Networks with High User Density

creator:
Al-Habashna, Ala&#039
a

abstract:
The increasing popularity of video streaming is escalating the growth of data traffic over cellular networks. Consequently, new techniques are much needed to help serving this increasing video traffic. Furthermore, the new techniques should consider the complex, dynamic, and delay-sensitive nature of video streaming traffic to support good Quality of Experience (QoE) video streaming services over cellular networks.
The work in this thesis is focused on proposing algorithms and techniques to enhance the delivery of video contents and to improve the QoE of video streaming over cellular networks with high user density. First, we propose two algorithms for progressive caching of video segments in User Equipments (UEs) and Device-to-Device (D2D) transmission of video contents among UEs in the cell. The algorithms are employed, by the Base-Station (BS), to send segments of video files to selected UEs in the cellular network (called Storage Members (SMs)), to cache and forward the segments to requesting UEs using D2D communication. We study the performance of both algorithms in terms of the hit ratio as well as the achieved data rates.
The parameters of the wireless communication on the Radio Access Network (RAN) between the BS and UEs have an effect on video streaming QoE. As such, we analyze the impact of the wireless transmission parameters in Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) networks on video streaming QoE. We consider both cell-level and link-level parameters. Moreover, we propose an architecture for improving the QoE of video streaming in cellular networks with high user density. The architecture employs the aforementioned algorithms. Furthermore, the architecture employs Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH); an adaptive video streaming technique. We study the improvements achieved by the proposed architecture in terms of many video streaming QoE metrics. Thereafter, we improve the operation of the proposed architecture by introducing QoE awareness to both caching and distribution of video segments. We employ QoE awareness in three aspects of the proposed architecture; cellular resource allocation, caching of video segments, and SM assignment optimization. We analyze the improvements achieved by each QoE awareness technique in terms of video streaming QoE metrics.


title: Electrothermal Analysis of Gallium Nitride Island Transistor eHEMT Devices for Fault Tolerant Design

abstract: A full 3D thermal simulation structure was built using Atar based on the GS66516T device from GaN Systems with individually controllable generation regions for each island transistor in an array. The thermal model was linked to electrical SPICE models in OptiSPICE to produce an electrothermal simulator to be used to investigate the device behaviour when cells in the array are deactivated. The individual simulations were all verified against models, previous simulations, and physical testing to ensure that the simulations behaved accordingly. The results of the electrothermal simulation verification showed that there was a less than 5% error between the measured and simulated values, providing an accurate simulation of the electrothermal behaviour of the GS66516T device. Electrothermal simulations were then run for various cases of random cells deactivated. From the simulations, data was gathered and interpreted to show the possibilities of the electrothermal simulations for determining device behaviour with cells deactivated.


title: Domain Redistribution in Lipid Bilayers in the Presence of the Antimicrobial Lipopeptide Fengycin

abstract: The general objective of this research was to gain insight into the mechanisms of action of the antimicrobial cyclic lipopeptide fengycin on model membranes. Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy was used to visualize and analyse lipid phase separation within supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) of various compositions. The initial research investigated the influence of protocol parameters on fluorescent probe distribution and lipid domain appearance within SLBs. The influence of sonication and extrusion during liposomal preparations, choice of solid support containment, and ratio of unsaturated and saturated phospholipids (DOPC:DPPC) in SLBs were assessed. Liposomal solutions passed through an extruder after sonication saw a decrease in TR-DHPE aggregates. Bilayers composed of a 3:1 DOPC:DPPC with 0.8% mol TR-DHPE produced bilayers with even fluorescence, distinct phase separations, and limited photobleaching. Using this optimized protocol, ergosterol was incorporated into the bilayers and domain redistribution was evaluated after the addition of fengycin. SLBs containing higher concentrations of ergosterol were more tolerant to changes induced by fengycin. Following the analysis of these ternary SLBs, extracted lipids from molds with different fengycin sensitivity were use in the preparation of SLBs. Bilayers composed of Alternaria solani lipids were most tolerant to fengycin. A. solani also contained the highest level of ergosterol compared to Fusarium sambucinum and Pythium sulcatum. The redistribution of lipids phases it these membranes could also be attributed to the readsorption of phospholipid-fengycin micelles produced during bilayer solubilization. Overall, the results of these works confirm that ergosterol plays a key role in the antimicrobial activity of fengycin. An increase in ergosterol content strongly correlates with an increase in ordered phases, potentially promoting membrane insolubility as seen in surfactant resistant membranes.


title: Disregarding Linguistics: A Critical Study of Google Translate's Syntactic/Semantic Errors in Rendering Multiword Units in English to Persian Translations

abstract: Translations rendered by machine translation have been found to be error-prone when translating medical communication language. Issues are especially frequent when Persian is either the source or target language. The source of errors has been attributed to machine translation's utilization of word-for-word translation and disregard for the formulaic nature of language. The aim of this research was, then, to investigate how multiword units (MWUs) of formulaic language (FL) are processed by a commonly used machine translator, Google Translate (GT). To do this, a medical-specific corpus was created to identify non-transparent MWUs. Adopting the framework by Simpson-Vlach and Ellis' (2010) n-gram criteria for MWUs, 20 frequently occurring MWUs were identified in the corpus. A comparison of GT's results with manual translations suggests that GT did not take FL into consideration in 50% of the data. These findings have implications for improving the accuracy of machine translation algorithms and reducing processing time.


title: An Experimental Study of Novel Cold Worked Penetrative Reinforcement of GFRP/ Aluminium Bonded Joints

abstract: Stronger, lightweight materials exhibiting fail-safe failure modes are becoming a necessity amidst concerns of dwindling energy sources, and rising pollution levels. The requirement for stronger and lighter materials has given rise to the implementation of fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) used in conjunction with metals. Bonding of composite materials to metals is challenging. One of the ways to improve the bonding is to use penetrative reinforcements, instead of chemical treatment. The processes required to produce such modified surfaces is costly for full-scale implementation. The use of a cold working to form penetrative reinforcements provides an environmentally friendly method. The investigation of the properties of this technology employed on a single shear lap joint is investigated to determine ultimate strength, fatigue performance, impact fatigue, and finally failure modes under different surface configurations. Use of a novel tumbling method to test impact fatigue is developed and test results are reported.


title: Aeroelastic oscillations of a pitching cantilever wing with structural geometric nonlinearities: theory, numerical simulation and global sensitivity analysis

abstract: The focus of this thesis is the aeroelastic dynamics of a rectangular cantilever wing with a NACA 0012 profile, whose base is free to rotate rigidly about a longitudinal axis. The wing is analytically modelled as part of a project to simulate the dynamics of an aeroelastic wind tunnel model. Structural geometric nonlinearities capture the essential effects of large deformation. The derivation closely follows common approaches from the literature, however new inertial terms arise from the kinematics of the added rigid body degree of freedom in pitch. Using an unsteady linear aerodynamics model, it is observed that the system undergoes coalescence flutter. The post-flutter behaviour is dictated by the structural geometric nonlinear terms which limit the oscillations to a limit cycle. Global sensitivity analysis is performed to study the effect of parametric uncertainty introduced by the rigid body base rotation on the flutter speed and associated frequency.


title: Mass Spectrometry Based Method Development for Monitoring Degradation of Coffee Beans and Mechanistic Exploration into Methylation Enhancement of Phospholipids Using Diazomethane

abstract: Mass spectrometry is a powerful analytical tool with endless potential for developing new scientific methods and making new discoveries in science. In part I of this work, headspace GCMS was used to monitor and identify volatile chemicals, attributing to the unique flavours in roasted coffee, which diminished as the coffee beans aged. These flavour components were shown to vary in relative abundance randomly over time and the extent to which they varied was seemingly random as well. Though strong conclusions could not be made, comparing the change in peak area over a period of months appears to be an optimistic method to use in order to evaluate the coffee's quality with measurable accuracy. In part II of this work, nanoESI mass spectrometry was used to show mechanistically how diazomethane methylates phospholipids. The methylation of sphingomyelin and phosphatidylethanolamine were shown to undergo complete conversion in different solvent mixtures.


title: Moving Identities: An Exploration of the Lived Experiences of Chinese International Students at a Private School in Ontario

abstract: The growing trend of Chinese international student migration to Ontario has become a hot topic of discussion among government officials, the news media, and in the education sector. Through these discussions, the Chinese youth who participate in this temporary educational migration are framed as both psychologically fragile due to separation from families or culture, and hardworking, responsible economic assets. This process of framing becomes even more complex when we consider the discourses of globalization and neoliberalism in the global education industry and the industries that surround it. This thesis examines how Chinese youth navigate and form their own identities through their experiences of coming to study at a private school in Ontario.


title: Invisible or Networked? Exploring Dynamics of Social Capital and Networking Among Urban Refugees in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

abstract: Policy in refugee hosting states plays a significant role in how urban refugees plot their exile strategies. However, there is a divide between refugee policy as written and the manner in which it is experienced. As such, there is variation in how refugees manage their social networks in exile. This thesis analyzes the social capital and livelihood procurement strategies of urban refugees in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It will illustrate how capital and pre-exile experiences create variation in social and livelihood strategy in exile, as well as demonstrate how political factors are limited in accounting for strategy differences. While refugees are regarded as a uniform group, strategies differ as conditioned by relative accumulation of capital. The unequal possession of capital creates a distinct refugee geography. Given the multitude of refugee groups that inhabit the city, Dar es Salaam provides a rich setting for exploring the drivers of these social nuances.


title: Design and Construction of a Compact, Modular Fusion Testbed and Proton Source

abstract: Design and construction of a Penning Ion Generator (PIG) plasma source with an Einzel focusing lens and a testbed for fusion experiments was undertaken. The unloaded vacuum chamber achieved a clean vacuum with an ultimate pressure of 4x10⁻⁸ Torr and a background gas of CO and H₂O as measured by a Residual Gas Analyzer (RGA). The plasma source operated with both argon and nitrogen feed gasses and a maximum current of 2.9µA at an acceleration potential of approximately 5kV was achieved.


title: Plasmonic Core/Half-Shell Nanoparticles: Exploring Half-Shell Growth for Gold, Titania, Silica and Cuprous Oxide onto Silver Nanocubes

abstract: Core/shell nanoparticles have often been studied due to their attractive optical, electronic, and catalytic properties. By coupling these core/shell features with physical anisotropy of the shell, complex nanostructures with unique properties can be formed. This research investigates the synthesis and plasmonic properties of silver nanocube/metal and oxide core/shell nanoparticles with full or partial shells of gold, titania, silica, and cuprous oxide. The resultant shells had quite distinct morphologies dependant on the shell material chosen. While the gold and titania shell growths are incomplete at this time, silica and cuprous oxide provided positive results. The AgNC/silica core/shell nanoparticles exhibited a complete and conformal coverage of silica. The AgNC/cuprous oxide core/shell nanoparticles formed had a distinct half-shell morphology with either pyramidal or cubic half-shells. Furthermore, the cuprous oxide half-shells caused significant modifications to the localized surface plasmon resonance of the AgNC core and resulted in in-solution hybridization of the plasmon modes.


title: Aerodynamic Design of a Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Radial Inflow Turbine Using Meanline and Computational Methods

abstract: Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (S-CO2) power cycles have gained interest in recent years because they have theoretically been shown to provide higher efficiency than more conventional cycles for heat source temperatures above around 800 K. The main benefit of a S-CO2 power cycles is the low compressor work when it is operated near the critical point, but this provides design challenges. Specifically, properties of S-CO2 vary rapidly, making the computational modelling challenging. The present work presents the aerodynamic design of a radial in-flow turbine for a 10 MWe S-CO2 power cycle. A radial in-flow turbine is designed using literature recommendations and then evaluated with computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The turbine off-design performance is characterized with off-design CFD simulations to create performance maps. Overall, the present work details the aerodynamic design of a radial turbine for operation in a 10 MWe S-CO2 power cycle based on meanline and computational methods.


title: Charge-Steering Latches

abstract: Wireline transceivers are explored to understand their limitations and how performance can be pushed. This exploration leads to the revelation that charge-steering based transceivers have a high potential. An in-depth transient analysis of the basic charge-steering latch is presented, providing new insight into the operation of charge-steering circuits. This insight is utilized to develop design equations for the basic charge-steering latch. The design equations lead to improvement in charge-steering latch design of as much as 350%. Several new charge-steering latch topologies are also proposed. The transient analysis and design equations are extended to one of these latches. Post-layout simulations of these latches are done in 28nm FD-SOI CMOS and 65nm CMOS. The new design equations and latch topologies enable the use of charge-steering latches at 28Gb/s and beyond, at new levels of performance. Power savings of as much as 40% are demonstrated by the new topologies.


title: The Effect of External Tag Variation on Profile Drag of Fusiform Teleost Fish

abstract: The use of external active and passive tags to study locomotion, behaviour, and survival of fish has been common practice for decades. However, if tags significantly impact the organism's routine behaviour, tagging data may not accurately represent the general, untagged population. This study aimed to identify the effects of different external tags on profile drag (as a proxy for cost of transport) of fusiform teleost fish and how different tag attributes (tag size, antenna length, tag shape) affect drag. The results demonstrated that large, cylindrical tags located anteriorly increase drag more than if they are moved posteriorly, and that small, tapered shaped tags placed at locations other than at the base of the dorsal fin are the least drag-inducing.


title: Bridging the Gap Between GUI Functional System Testing and Functional System Logic Testing

abstract: Graphical User Interface (GUI) accounts for half or more of the amount of source code in modern software. Software verification of GUI-based software has been discussed in literature. GUI testing and system testing are two tools used in software verification of GUI-based software. Static analysis is a tool for software verification that can study relationships between inputs and executed parts of software code. The thesis bridges the gap between system testing and GUI testing through static analysis. Specifically, it introduces the use of static analysis combined with system tests to verify the GUI-based Software Under Test (SUT). The static analysis will be applied on the source code of the GUI part of the SUT. System tests will be applied on the source code of the non-GUI part of the SUT.


title: The Empire of the Old Bailey Online: Why Zero Matters

abstract: Can the methods of digital, quantitative analysis today be made to communicate with earlier eras of quantitative history? This thesis isolates one database and tests ways in which it can analyze its data to make a meaningful comparison with the quantitative analysis John Beattie performed in the 1980s on records from Surrey and Sussex. I am concerned with what we learn from this process. With certain caveats, a quantitative approach to the Old Bailey records does not generate findings for London that are significantly different than Beattie's. Even if my current results are to accept the null hypothesis, the importance of "zero" in this case becomes that we now know where not to focus our research - not on looking for statistical difference in crime between these two areas in this period, instead focusing on qualitative data regarding the people who experienced crime in this historical context.


title: Impacts of Early Life Adversity on Microbiota and Immune Functioning in Individuals with Major Depressive Disorder

abstract: Early life stress may contribute to depression vulnerability, possibly through immune system development and gut microbial colonization patterns. Increased pro-inflammatory cytokines and differences in gut microbiota composition have been seen in depressed individuals. The current study investigated inflammatory and bacterial profiles of 39 individuals with a current major depressive episode and 43 healthy volunteers with varying severity of childhood trauma. Plasma interleukin (IL)-6/IL-10 ratios was positively correlated with depression severity, and childhood trauma explained variance in severity of symptoms above and beyond that accounted for by the IL-6/IL-10 ratios. Expression of Faecalibacterium prausnitzi (F. prausnitzi) in stool was decreased in depressed participants compared to healthy controls. Importantly, this relationship was significant only in participants who had experienced moderate-to-severe physical neglect. These findings suggest a relationship between particular gut bacteria and depressive symptoms that is dependent on the presence of specific types of early life trauma.


title: Place d'Orleans Reinvente:  A Senior-Centric Vision for a Suburban Mall

abstract: Taking the now forty year-old suburban Ottawa's Place d'Orléans mall as its subject, this thesis critically reconciles current mall-transformation strategies with place-specific environmental, social and cultural sensibilities. Accepting the suburban mall's privileged role in seniors' lives, the thesis pursues the mall's radical reconfiguration into both ideal setting for senior living and relevant landscape for younger generations. Through strategic removals and additions, and via the "spatialization" of the mall's roof, a reinvented Place d'Orléans master plan and mall will organize commercial spaces, social programs, and housing. An interior urban forest and an agriculture production complex open the mall's mass, while naturalized parking lots reactivate local marshlands and their relationship to nearby housing. By considering future changes in transportation habits and parking requirements, and taking the new LRT station into account, the proposal aims to reconnect Place d'Orléans mall to its broader environment, and, ultimately, to reverse the effects of urban sprawl.


title: Quality Assessment of Volunteered Geographic Information:  An Investigation into the Ottawa-Gatineau OpenStreetMap Database

abstract: Within the realm of Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), reliability and quality of the geographic information continues to be a pressing concern. Many VGI projects do not have standard geospatial data quality assurance procedures and the reliability of such contributors remains in question. This study investigates the quality of VGI by analysing OpenStreetMap (OSM) data in Ottawa-Gatineau. First, a review of past publications into quality assessment of OSM data is examined. Next, a comparative analysis of OSM data is conducted relative to an authoritative dataset. The OSM historical information of map features and contributors is inspected to gain an understanding of how users are contributing to the database and their ability to do so accurately. Overall, OSM data in the context of Ottawa-Gatineau is comparable to or surpasses authoritative dataset quality and clustering contributors based on historical information can help identify tendencies within a contributor base.


title: Exploring Virtual Reality Flight Training as a Viable Alternative to Traditional Simulator Flight Training

abstract: Participants flew three predefined circuits in a traditional flight simulator graphics condition (Broad Angle Display System, (BADS)), and conducted the same flight path and tasks using a VR graphics environment. The exploratory hypotheses in this research are that there would be no differences in the user experience, cognitive workload, and performance, between the two graphics conditions. User experience was gathered by a questionnaire probing motion sickness and other VR usability metrics. Cognitive load was gathered from a subjective rating in a questionnaire, derived from peripheral detection task, and by continuously measuring participant's physiological indices, including heart rate and galvanic skin response. Performance was obtained from flight path and airspeed deviations, and from flying precision.


title: Touching Theory: AIDS Activism and Disability Justice

abstract: This thesis is grounded in critical disability studies and queer phenomenology to identify and analyze the social relations of touch surrounding 1980s and 1990s AIDS activism. I analyze a collection of interviews with AIDS activists across Canada, acquired through the AIDS Activist History Project. Using these interviews, I identify and analyze the various modalities of touch deployed in state, medical, and activist responses to HIV and AIDS. This analysis reveals that state and medical acts of oppressive touch were ultimately driven by the impetus to quarantine people living with HIV and AIDS away from society, and ultimately, away from their communities. These acts of oppressive touch were challenged and resisted by liberatory touch, which manifested through informal care networks that were organized around people living with HIV and AIDS. The thesis concludes by emphasizing the radical potential of care, interdependence, and ultimately, disability justice, amidst broader attempts to eradicate difference.


title: The Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Programs: A Meta-Analysis of Recidivism and Other Outcomes

abstract: Restorative justice (RJ) is an alternative approach to the traditional criminal justice system (CJS) that focuses on repairing harm. Despite the recent proliferation of RJ programs, research suggests that their efficacy depends on various factors such as study methodology. The goal of the present study was to synthesize previous research on the effects of RJ in reducing recidivism as well as improving other outcomes. The findings from 59 studies on 67 samples examining the effectiveness of RJ programs were analyzed. The results revealed that RJ was associated with significant moderate reductions in general recidivism and improvements in satisfaction, procedural justice, offender accountability, offender attitudes, and reoffence severity. There were significant sample, study, and program moderators for general recidivism and victim procedural justice. Taken together, the results provide moderate support for the efficacy of RJ programs in reducing recidivism and suggest their potential for improving other outcomes over traditional CJS approaches.


title: Examining Gendered Treatment Barriers Among People With Substance Use and Co-Occurring Mental Health Problems

abstract: Despite the increasing rates of substance use by women, they continue to be underreported in substance use services. Factors related to women's relationships, family responsibilities, and stigma may provide insight into some of the barriers encountered by women. This study compared men and women on general and women-predominant barriers. In addition, this study investigated whether these barriers differed among individuals who use opioids compared to those who use other substances only. In total, 100 self-identifying men and women were recruited from a substance use service in Ontario. Participants completed a questionnaire package which measured demographic information, substance use, mental health and barriers. Although men and women encountered similar general barriers, women experienced significantly more women-predominant barriers. In addition, women reported higher levels of perceived stigmatization compared to men. Barriers did not differ among individuals who used opioids compared to other substances.


title: Technology, Hegemony, and Citizenship

abstract: Political theorists in the tradition of Martin Heidegger and Jacques Ellul describe technology as a systematic, efficient, and autonomous force that is reordering society. This paper considers how such a view of technology impacts our understanding of modern citizenship, as well as two major critiques that seek to preserve the possibility of citizenship in spite of technological progress. My thesis is that when theorists consider technology to have the power to reorder society, they think this reordering will lead to ever greater homogenization. Alexandre Kojève interprets homogenization as a prerequisite to political satisfaction, while Edmund Burke thinks that homogenization will collapse due to its own internal logic. The thinkers who deal with technology and citizenship seek to avoid tyranny, but they cannot do so while accepting homogenization as the probable outcome of technological progress. We are left with the problem of recovering political agency through convention rather than scientific power.


title: The Effects of Biodiversity and Natural Environment on Satisfaction

abstract: This project focused on how the nature in city neighbourhoods influences the happiness of residents. Residents of Ottawa (n=1035) were surveyed about their life satisfaction and their thoughts of the environment surrounding their homes. The survey responses were compared to nature near their homes, including bird diversity, tree canopy cover, and distance to water. Neighbourhood satisfaction was positively related to bird species richness, even before participants were prompted to consider nature. In addition, satisfaction with the local nature increased with bird species richness and tree canopy cover. The quality rating of local nature in comparison to other areas increased with tree canopy cover and nearness to water. Nature was considered more important when choosing where to live for participants living in neighborhoods with high tree canopy cover and close to water. The results create a compelling argument for city planners to maintain urban nature.


title: Mass Fatality Management: Issues in Identifying and Repatriating Following Mass Fatalities Abroad

abstract: Globalization has led to an increase in foreign nationals, including Canadians, perishing abroad as a result of a mass fatality event (MFE). Despite ongoing efforts to establish comprehensive mass fatality management plans (MFMP), there isn't an effective "one-size-fits-all" model. Due to the complexity and numerous factors following MFEs, there is a need for ongoing innovation regarding MFMP. I will use the New Haven School of International Law decision-making model as it provides a structured framework in which previous MFM decisions can be appraised, and proposals can be made. Following the analysis of three MFE case studies, I provide recommendations regarding mass fatality management (MFM), with specific considerations paid to various legal issues surrounding jurisdiction over the deceased. I will analyze decisions made by international actors regarding recovery and the forensic identification of deceased following these three events in an effort to illustrate the requirement for flexible and agile MFMP.


title: Indigenous Involvement in the Canadian Species at Risk Recovery Process

abstract: Many countries, including Canada, are beginning to recognize the vital roles of Indigenous Peoples in threatened species recovery. To determine whether official recognition is translating into actual involvement of Indigenous Peoples in species recovery planning, I examined recovery documents for species under the Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA). I scored each document for the level of involvement with Indigenous Peoples. I analyzed the data using permutation-based ANOVAs and post hoc pairwise permutation tests to determine the impact of region, taxonomic group, and responsible agency on scores. Fifty two percent of documents suggested no Indigenous involvement, despite a legal requirement to consult. Documents for species in central Canada and Quebec indicated significantly lower levels of involvement than in other regions. Documents for less iconic taxonomic categories such as mosses indicated lower levels of involvement than for fish and mammals. These regional and taxonomic discrepancies may suggest priorities for immediate improvement.


title: Distributed Learning-Based Cooperative Spectrum Sensing for Cognitive Internet of Things Systems

abstract: Cognitive radio (CR) can be seen as a solution to spectrum scarcity caused by Internet of Things (IoT), where multi-band cooperative spectrum sensing (CSS) is the key. However, conventional CSS techniques have to be improved to fulfill IoT requirements. One of the main challenges is cooperative secondary users (SUs) scheduling to sense channels. Hence, we propose a novel heterogeneous multi-band multi-user CSS (HM2CSS) scheme. HM2CSS allows heterogeneous SUs to sense multiple channels and selects cooperative SUs in two stages. Then, diffusion learning is used to exchange locally sensed information among cooperative SUs and decision on channels availability is made. Simulation results illustrate that HM2CSS improves detection performance and CRN throughput compared to existing schemes. It provides fair energy consumption for CSS for all channels. Nevertheless, HM2CSS has its own drawbacks yet to overcome. Hence, future research insights are given to overcome the drawbacks of HM2CSS and existing multi-band CSS schemes.


title: A Biologically Plausible Neuron Model of Mental Rotation

abstract: This thesis presents a biologically plausible account of mental rotation. To this end, there is evidence that mental rotation is a spatial imagery task that can invoke a variety of strategies, depending on the nature of the stimuli. This thesis uses simple but unfamiliar stimuli, which engenders a continuous, whole-unit rotation. The model is comprised of 43,000 simulated neurons spread across a variety of neuron ensembles. These ensembles work together to form a neuronal representation of the spatial map entailed by the stimuli, then rotates that spatial map into a series of new orientations according to simulated movement along an intended axis of rotation. Two sets of simulations were run: one focusing on the biological accuracy of spatial maps, with the second focusing on the biological accuracy of neurons. Overall, both sets of simulations were able to re-produce the reaction times found in behavioural studies of mental rotation


title: A DHT-Based Routing Solution for Hierarchical MANETs

abstract: This thesis presents an effective routing solution for the backbone of hierarchical MANETs. Our solution leverages the storage and retrieval mechanisms of a DHT to make routing information available in a decentralized fashion, while supporting different forms of node and network mobility scenarios effectively. We do so by splitting a flat network into clusters, each having a gateway who participates in a DHT overlay. These gateways interconnect the clusters in a backbone network. Two routing approaches for the backbone are explored: flooding, which we use as a base approach, and our solution, which is DHT-based. We compare the performance of our solution against the flooding approach via experimentation in a simulator. Our results show that our DHT-based solution, even in the presence of mobility, achieved above 90 % success rates and maintained very low and constant round trip times, which was not the case with the flooding approach.


title: Sites of Grave Meaning: The Heritage of Human Remains on the Rideau Canal

abstract: The Rideau Canal in south-eastern Ontario falls under three major heritage designations. However, the cemeteries that house the bodies of the labourers who built the Canal are left out of official heritage discourses of the Canal for several reasons including: a lack of historical and archaeological research on the Canal labourers after their deaths; specific cultural and geographical conditions under which labourers were interred, which have led to misconceptions of "unmarked" and "forgotten" cemeteries and; the inability of current policy and legislation used to administer the Canal to recognize human remains as contributing to heritage value. This thesis demonstrates how the bodies of Canal labourers currently contribute to the heritage value of the Canal and their own local communities both in terms of tangible and intangible cultural heritage, and advocates for a shift towards a new heritage discourse of the Canal which recognizes this contribution.


title: Novel Solutions and Applications to Elevator-like Problems

abstract: This thesis concentrates on a subfield of AI, the field of Learning Automata (LA). We intend to use these tools to tackle a specific set of problems referred to as Elevator-Like Problems. We considered a problem that involves the problem of optimizing the scheduling of elevators. In particular, we are concerned with determining the Elevators' optimal ``parking" locations. Problems with similar characteristics are referred to as Elevator-like Problems. In our case, the objective is to find the optimal parking floors for the set of elevators to minimize the passengers' Average Waiting Time. We provided two novel LA-based solutions for two settings, the single-elevator and the multi-elevator. The first pair are L_RI-based solutions, and the second pair incorporate the Pursuit concept to improve the performance, yielding the PL_RI-based solutions. The results demonstrate that our solutions performed better than those used in modern-day elevators, with near-optimal results, and up-to 90% performance increase.


title: Playing with Pleasure and Anxiety:  Dark Play, Transgression, and Kink in Grand Theft Auto 5

abstract: This project aims to explore how the lessons learned about feminist media analysis in the sex wars can help us develop more nuanced understandings of transgressive video games. Radical feminist approaches to pornography tend to focus on harm and use media-effects research to support their claims; I argue that these same arguments are being played out in a new arena: anti-violence in video games advocacy. Using autoethnography, hermeneutical textual analysis and in-depth interviews, I aim to re-read one particularly contentious title, Grand Theft Auto 5, in a way that acknowledges the complicated and contingent pleasures of transgression. Using a kink-informed lens, I push back against essentializing cause-and-effect readings of transgressive gameplay including GTA 5's interactive violence, rape fantasy, and cross-racial play. In doing so, I aim to present "not only a critical but a political interrogation" of radical feminist approaches to video games.


title: Simulation Of Damage Vibration Response Of Structures With Realistic Field Uncertainties

abstract: The concept of Pseudo load is introduced and explained in this thesis. A methodology based on Pseudo load has been developed that can reliably simulate the damage response of structures with realistic noise and uncertainties observed in the field. The method is applied and tested on numerical examples with field captured vibration data having realistic noise and uncertainties as well as on random data. It is shown that the Pseudo load method is effective in preserving the influences of noise and uncertainties in the simulated damage vibration response of the example structures. The limitations in the developed Pseudo load methodology are identified and resolved. The methodology is implemented on the Confederation Bridge to obtain simulated field damage responses of the bridge for further research on the development of vibration based structural health monitoring algorithms and tools.


title: Development of a Method for Registering Surface of Left Atrium determined by LGE-MRI to Electroanatomical Maps

abstract: Abnormal electrical conduction and excitability associated with fibrosis in the left atrium (LA) may serve as a substrate for atrial fibrillation (AF). Electroanatomical voltage mapping systems (EAMs) have become a dominant facilitator to treat AF with surgical ablation assisted by additional diagnostic imaging modalities. Importantly, AF has been associated with structural changes to the extracellular matrix of the myocardium, including increased collagen deposition-a process known as fibrosis. Late gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (LGE-MRI) may aid in guiding AF cardiac ablation therapy by determination of fibrosis in the LA. To locate fibrosis for cardiac ablation, however, precise registration between EAMs and LGE-MRI data is crucial. The purpose of this thesis was to develop a method for registering EAMs with late gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance image (LGE-MR) images.


title: Don’t Put All Of Your Eggs In Two Baskets: Exploring The Potential Benefits Of Multiple Role Priorities Among Employees in Dual-Earner Partnerships

abstract: Traditionally, work-life balance researchers have aligned their studies with the scarcity hypothesis by focusing on work and family roles, the conflict that occurs between them, and how this conflict drains employee resources. More recently, studies have started to move into expansionist theories that look at a variety of roles that characterize "life" more broadly, under the assumption that roles can enrich one another. The current study examines the relationships between work, family, and personal role centrality and enrichment in dual-earner couples. The quantitative evidence supports the expansion hypothesis in finding that employees who prioritize multiple roles perceive higher levels of resources like social support, skills, affect, and capital, than those that do not. Further, mediation analyses found that these resources positively impact employees' perceptions of career satisfaction, life satisfaction, and balance, with social support and positive affect being the most consistent and strongest mediators, respectively.


title: Development and Design Optimization of High Fidelity Reduced Order Models for Dynamic Aeroelasticity Loads Analyses of Complex Airframes

abstract: Identification of aircraft critical loads envelope requires a lengthy and rigorous analysis procedure that includes simulating the aircraft at thousands of load cases identified in the certification requirements. Imposing a Global Finite Element Model (GFEM) in this process is computationally very expensive, hence, Reduced Order Models (ROM) of airframes are commonly employed in the static and dynamic aeroelasticity load analyses. This thesis presents two high fidelity ROM methodologies, one based on Hybrid Stick Model (HSM) approach and other, Optimized Stick Model (OSM), based on stick model optimization to match a set of eigenvalues and eigenvectors of GFEM. A case study is employed where the HSM and OSM along with the conventional Stick Model (SM) are employed in the dynamic aeroelasticity loads analyses of a Bombardier aircraft platform. Results obtained show that the HSM and OSM have superior dynamic characteristics compared to the conventional SM.


title: Land Claims and Liberal Modes of Governance: An Analysis of Post-Comprehensive Land Claims Institutions in Canada

abstract: This thesis applies a governmentality/Foucauldian lens to the Comprehensive Land Claims (CLC) regime of governance in Canada. More specifically, I engage an interpretative-empirical analysis of the Nunavut Land Claim and to a lesser extent the Algonquin Agreement in Principle. The object of my research is to add to literature critical of land claims. I look to unpack and explore an underdeveloped area of the CLC regime - the impact of colonial liberal institutions in post-CLC indigenous community. I argue that a governmentality lens can call into question the normative expectations for Indigneous communities that flow from CLCs.


title: Walls of Red Wing: An Examination of Culturally-Informed Sentencing, Risk/Need Factors, and Treatment for Peoples of Indigenous Heritage in Canada's Criminal Justice System

abstract: Given the over-representation of Indigenous peoples in the criminal justice system, steps have been taken to enhance the cultural relevance of sentencing, assessment and treatment. Specifically, changes to legislation and sentencing (e.g., s. 718.2 [e] of the Criminal Code, introduction of conditional sentence orders), as well as operational changes (e.g., creation of culturally-relevant programming), were introduced to address over-representation. More recently, the question of whether commonly-used risk assessments contain cultural-bias when applied to Indigenous peoples has been argued before the Supreme Court (i.e., Ewert v. Canada, 2018). To better understand the potential impacts of these legislative and operational changes, and seek to better understand the potentially unique causes of criminal behaviour for Indigenous peoples, three studies were conducted. Study 1 examined the application of conditional sentence orders (CSOs) with a sample of Indigenous offenders (n = 749) compared to Caucasian offenders (n = 1,625). It was found that Indigenous individuals received shorter CSOs and had a higher likelihood of being convicted of breach. However, no differences regarding the number and type of optional supervision conditions were found between groups, after controlling for individual-level factors (e.g., risk level, severity of offence). Study 2 identified and examined culturally-relevant risk/need factors with an Indigenous Advisory Group (N = 51). The process of co-development and thematic analysis resulted in the Culturally-Relevant Factors Questionnaire, consisting of 12 themes (e.g. residential school experience, stability of upbringing, experience of discrimination, extreme poverty). The questionnaire was administered to a sample (N = 36) of Indigenous males on community supervision. Lastly, Study 3 consisted of a meta-analysis examining the effectiveness of culturally-relevant correctional programming with Indigenous offenders. Results based on seven studies (N = 1,731) indicated that Indigenous offenders who participate in these programs have significantly lower odds of recidivism (odds ratio = 0.72) compared to Indigenous offenders who participate in generic programs. The implications of the three studies lend support to increasing the cultural relevance of sentencing, assessment, and programming. Furthermore, they highlight the need to better understand potentially unique or salient factors that can enhance the effectiveness of strategies for Indigenous peoples in the criminal justice system.


title: An Evaluation of Ontario-Based Website Accessibility - A Comparison with US Findings

abstract: Over 1 in 6 people worldwide, have some form of disability. (World Health Organisation, 2016) Access to websites is seen as a fundamental aspect of a modern information society recognised by the United Nation Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (United Nations, 2006). Despite decades of advocacy and a wealth of guidelines, testing studies suggest that most websites are still not accessible. This study evaluated and compared the accessibility of 50 of the most important websites in Ontario with those in the Baltimore area. Findings showed that the Ontario websites were less accessible than those in the Baltimore area study, despite longer exposure to the same accessibility rules. This suggests that there may be other factors that determine a website's level of accessibility. This paper discusses these potential explanations such as legislation, guidelines, implementation, awareness, and incentives for web developers.


title: Three Catholic Congregations in a Nineteenth-Century Canadian City: Providing Social Services, Claiming Space for Women in Kingston, 1841-1874

abstract: This thesis examines three Roman Catholic congregations of women, the Congregation de Notre-Dame, the Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph, and the Sisters of Providence, and the services they provided between 1841 and 1874 in Kingston, Canada West and Ontario. A careful reading of the personal written records of Kingston's women religious, informed by gender analysis, reveals their role in the building of hospitals, schools, and orphanages, and their dedication to bettering the lives of the disadvantaged and indigent. These contributions aligned with the larger goals of the provincial government and ecclesiastical authorities. Kingston's women religious established multiple institutions, faced unspeakable risks to their health, and overcame overt anti-Catholicism in carrying out and expanding the city's social services.


title: The Effects of Dietary Nutrient Balance on Life-History Traits and Sexual Selection in the Field Cricket, Gryllus Veletis

abstract: Nutrition is an important driver of biological variation. Macronutrients such as protein and carbohydrates, and elemental nutrients such as phosphorus, are known to affect animal fitness traits. No study, however, has investigated the importance of phosphorus relative to dietary protein or carbohydrates, or their interactive effects, on animal performance. To advance our understanding of the impact of nutrition on individual fitness, my thesis examined the influence of dietary protein, carbohydrate, and phosphorus balance on fitness-related life-history traits, including those involved in intra- and inter-sexual selection, of Gryllus veletis field crickets. My findings revealed that adult lifespan, weight gain, males' acoustic mate attraction signals, and females' egg production were maximized on diets with different protein:carbohydrate ratios, such that not all fitness traits could simultaneously be maximized on the same diet. Similarly, juvenile females could not simultaneously maximize their growth, development rate, survival, and dispersal capability at adulthood on the same dietary protein:carbohydrate ratio. Adult males and females also had different optimal nutrient intake ratios for reproductive performance. My results support theoretical predictions for the condition-dependence of traits involved in inter- and intra-sexual selection; both male mate attraction signals, and female sexual responsiveness and preferences for such signals, were influenced by dietary protein:carbohydrate ratio. However, male aggressiveness in agonistic contests with rivals was not influenced by dietary nutrient balance. Contrary to my expectations, dietary phosphorus had little influence on fitness traits, with the exception of a negative influence of high phosphorus diets on male mate attraction signals. When given a choice between diets containing differing but complementary nutrient compositions, both adults and juveniles demonstrated an ability to regulate their protein and carbohydrate intakes, but not their phosphorus intake. These self-selected diets often represented a compromise between the differing nutrient requirements of multiple fitness traits. Overall, my findings suggest that environmental heterogeneity in nutrient availability is an important driver of variation in animal fitness, and highlight the importance of disentangling the influences of different nutrients on animal fitness traits.


title: Knowledge of Number Integration

abstract:
What are the roles of cardinal and ordinal processing in the development of arithmetic? In the present dissertation, cardinal knowledge is defined as the ability to determine the quantitative information of number symbols whereas ordinal knowledge is defined as the ability to determine the relative relationship among number symbols. This dissertation includes two studies examining the development of the relations among cardinal, ordinal and arithmetic skills, both concurrently and predictively, for children in the early grades of elementary school. In both studies, children completed a number comparison task (e.g., which number is bigger, 4 or 5?) as an index of their cardinal knowledge. They also completed two novel order tasks: (a) missing number (e.g., which number is missing, 1 _ 3 4?), and (b) number ordering (i.e., order the three digits from the smallest to the largest, e.g., 4 5 3 or 2 7 9). Furthermore, children completed two measures of inhibitory control. Last, children's arithmetic skill (e.g., solving problems such as 4 + 5 or 7 + 6) was measured.
In Study 1, I evaluated the internal consistency and validity of the novel order measures for children entering grades 1 to 3 (n = 70). In Study 2, multi-group path analysis showed that for children in grade 1 (n = 66), number ordering was strongly predicted by number comparison, but not by the missing number task or inhibitory control. Moreover, performance on the number comparison and missing number task independently predicted addition. Further, performance on the number comparison task uniquely predicted the growth of addition. In contrast, for children in grade 2 (n = 80), variance in the number ordering task was shared among the number comparison, missing number, and inhibitory control tasks. Number ordering uniquely predicted addition concurrently and it also predicted the growth of addition.
I interpret the different patterns of results from grades 1 to 2 as reflecting different ongoing processes of integration of symbolic numerical associations. These findings suggest that development of number competence involves the integration of cardinal, ordinal, and arithmetic associations in an extensive network of relations among numbers.


title: Equity in International Education: An Autoethnographic Exploration of Intercultural Competence and the Experiences of International Students in Canada

abstract: Canada's government and universities have been successful in placing Canada as a top competitor in the international education global market. These efforts have caused significant increases in the numbers of international students choosing Canadian universities today. As a result, universities in Canada are facing an equity dilemma, balancing their structures, policies, and processes, with their responsibility to international students. Through an autoethnographic account of international student stories in a Canadian university, this thesis addresses the opportunities for equity, in developing the intercultural competence of universities. These student experiences of Canada's academic culture, university support services, and financial policies, constitute critical areas of inequity in international student success. By increasing the effectiveness of those facing and managing the intercultural barriers experienced by international students, universities can improve equity within international education in Canada.


title: Reactive Transport Modeling of a Historic Waste Rock Pile at the Detour Lake Gold Mine

abstract: One of the potential byproducts of waste rock is Acid Mine Drainage (AMD), also called Acid Rock Drainage (ARD), from the dissolution of sulfides which can release acidic and metalliferous effluent into the environment. This thesis presents a model of a 1-D, 17 m high, theoretical waste rock pile with a non-reactive cover that would have existed 30 years in the past at the Detour Lake property. Since short term predictions of ARD are difficult due to the heterogeneous nature of waste rock and the seasonal variety from one year to the next, the model simulates 30 years of exposure to atmospheric conditions. The project utilizes hydrological and mineralogical work previously done on site along with 30 years of meteorological data to build the model. Similar procedures may be used to model the long-term generation of AMD on other sites and act a tool to test waste rock management strategies.


title: The initial biometerology of the constructed Sandhill Fen Watershed in Alberta, Canada

abstract:
Resource extraction has led to the loss of boreal landscapes. Recently, novel integrated landscapes have been constructed to return ecological functions lost due to disturbance. The Sandhill Fen Watershed (SFW) is one of the first of two such projects in the boreal plains ecozone. The SFW is a mix of upland, midland and lowland topographical features designed to develop into integrated boreal plains ecosystems. This thesis quantifies the initial carbon cycling dynamics within the SFW and contextualizes this development with studies on conventional reclamation projects and undisturbed ecosystems.
Construction, vegetation seeding and planting of the SFW was mostly completed by 2012, and an initial wetting occurred in 2013. Methane fluxes remained low over the first three years. However, mobile ions of sulphur declined over this same period and could indicate shifting reduction-oxidation conditions favourable for future rates of methanogenesis. In the lowland, biogeochemical fluxes were indicative of highly reduced soil conditions. This was confirmed in 2015 with reduction-oxidation potential monitoring. Downscaled eddy covariance flux measurements showed that vegetation increased evapotranspiration (ET) rates in the lowland relative to non-vegetated water surfaces. Since there were no other substantial outflows of water from the SFW, greater rates of ET may lower the water table in the future and limit the carbon storage potential of the ecosystem through peat accumulation. Measurements of the CO2 exchange between the surface and the atmosphere showed that, with no other substantial carbon outputs, by its third year the SFW lowland had become a net carbon sink and had daily, monthly, and annual carbon cycling behaviour similar to undisturbed boreal wetlands. Net sequestration of CO2 in the lowland occurred because the design of the SFW promoted saturated anoxic conditions which suppressed soil respiration while also promoting hydrophytic vegetation productivity. Since past efforts to restore degraded wetlands have not always succeeded in recreating carbon cycling functions similar to those of undisturbed wetlands, the SFW may be an effective approach to achieve post-mining landscape closure.


title: Comparison of Approaches to Category Partition Specifications, Selection Criteria, and the Impact of the ‘Error’ and ‘Single’ Annotations using Industrial Case Studies

abstract: Given the significance of software testing, many methods such as black box testing have been introduced in order to make testing as efficient as possible. Experimental evidence is required to attest to the validity of such methods. In this thesis, we conducted experiments on twenty four test suites generated from two case studies targeting a real industrial system for generating financial reports. The experiments aim to evaluate the effectiveness of different Category Partition (CP) specifications on the same problem as well as that of the 'Single' and 'Error' constraints on the same CP specifications. The experiments also evaluate the effectiveness of the three selection criteria of Base-Choice, Each-Choice, and Pair-Wise. The effectiveness is measured in terms of cost, which is the number of generated test cases, fault detection of errors created by mutating code under test, and code coverage using Visual Studio.


title: An Active Inductor and Tunable Bandpass Filter in GaN

abstract:
This thesis presents the design and implementation of an active inductor using gallium nitride technology. This design is largely motivated by the lack of high quality varactors in GaN. Active inductors are therefore proposed as an alternative to varactors as an impedance tuning mechanism in GaN which will act as the building block for tunable circuits such as VCOs, filters, phase shifters etc. The fabrication of such tunable circuits in GaN will in turn allow for highly integrated complete RF systems on chip in GaN.
Furthermore, the design and implementation of a tunable bandpass filter with amplitude and frequency control making use of the aforementioned active inductor is presented. The active inductor's measured tuning range at 3.5GHz is 8 to 20nH with a quality factor greater than 200. To the authors' knowledge, this is the fifirst active inductor and bandpass fifilter implemented in GaN.


title: Improving Utility Patent Value by Design: Future Business Competitiveness Through Multi-Stakeholder Engagement for Patent Content Creation

abstract:
Growth through innovation is critical to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and the use of patents is necessary to attract needed funding. This research inquiry considers product development stakeholder's knowledge to increase the relevance of patent disclosures for more successful patents and business competitiveness. The research uses a mixed method questionnaire to gain insight from a broad selection of product development experts. Stakeholder salience concepts are applied to identify stakeholders with forward looking patent attribute awareness. Insight generation techniques applied to the data indicate that extended stakeholders have important knowledge to improve SME patent disclosures. Key barriers to the acquisition of this knowledge are identified as well as solution approaches that include interdisciplinary activities. The industrial designer is identified as having attributes and knowledge that could effectively assist the cross-boundary communication needed to acquire new knowledge from extended product development stakeholders.
Keywords: designer, stakeholders, salience, boundary objects, patents, patent disclosure.


title: Exploring the Affordances of Online Learning Environments: 3DVLEs and ePortfolios in Second Language Learning and Teaching

abstract:
Post-secondary education is facing unprecedented and exciting change with the emergence of online learning platforms such as 3-dimensional virtual learning environments (3DVLE) and ePortfolios as extensions of the physical classroom. This dissertation explored the affordances of these two online learning environments in the context of second language learning and teaching. The concept of affordance is defined in this dissertation as a characteristic of the space that facilitates learning. Upon a review of 3DVLE and ePortfolio studies, five key affordances were identified which have been linked to reported learning benefits. To position the affordances in practice and for research purposes, this dissertation reviewed the theoretical landscapes from the fields of education, second language acquisition (SLA), and computer assisted language learning (CALL).
This manuscript dissertation includes one unpublished article, one published article and two published chapters. The unpublished article provides context for the trajectory of research included herein (Hartwick, 2017). The published article (Hartwick, 2018) investigates research methods used in traditional classroom-based interaction studies to identify suitable approaches for studies in 3DVLEs. The published chapters are case studies of the two online learning spaces. In the first instance, we explored learning theories in relation to affordances of 3DVLEs to substantiate practice (Hartwick & Savaskan Nowlan, 2018). The second chapter describes an ePortfolio practice done-well based on evidence from student surveys and instructor assignments (Hartwick, McCarroll, & Davidson, in press). To further our understanding of learning potential in these spaces, research is best situated at the intersection of theoretical elements (e.g., critical thinking, Dede, 2007) and characteristics of affordances (e.g., immersion, Dalgarno & Lee, 2010). Early studies suggest that the affordances of 3DVLEs and ePortfolios will facilitate achievement of 21st century skills such as self-reflection, when practice is done well (Hartwick & Savaskan Nowlan, 2018; Hartwick, McCarroll, & Davidson, in press).


title: The Ottawa Valley Journal and The Modern Countryside:  A City-Country Newspaper and The New Journalism in Eastern Ontario, 1887 to 1925

abstract:
Studies of the press as a modernizing agent in the first two decades of the twentieth century usually look at the mass media of the city dailies. I argue that the country edition of an Ottawa daily, the rural Journal, equally was a modernizing agent. It involved itself in the definition of expert knowledge at the agricultural fair, in demonstrating professional road-building to rural residents, and in mobilizing producers against the middlemen and "poor business practices" of the global cheese market. These stories give insight into how a city-run newspaper dressed itself in rural clothing while presenting a model of modernity.
In 1899 the newspaper was renamed from the Ottawa Semi-Weekly Journal to the Ottawa Valley Journal as a statement that it was a newspaper for rural residents. In 1917, it became the Ottawa Farm Journal with the intent of being a regional farm paper. But what made the rural Journal special was activism in the style of the 1890s urban New Journalism. The first two editors made news and not just reported it, but with differing approaches. Herbert Cowan was a city man who relied on the authority of experts for his initiatives. Robert Faith was a farm boy come to the city who saw himself as the voice of the farmer, following his own conscience on what was right.
The determination to be modern on their own terms led many of the readers to resist a hegemonic definition of modern based on technology and increased managerial government. They were interested in Cowan's spectacles of modernity but did not alter their behaviour. They responded to Faith's calls for mass protests as these expressed their ambivalence to "progress" and yet his "agitations" did not change rural conditions. Nonetheless, the rural Journal campaigns told readers that farm issues were important and affirmed readers' aspiration to be modern as well as their unease over the resulting sense of disruption. In doing so, the newspaper helped keep alive a radical spirit in the countryside but it was a spirit which did not challenge the capitalist structures in which producers were enmeshed.


title: Being Part of the Land:  The Responsibility-Based Yucatec Maya Land Ethos

abstract:
For millennia Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas have had spiritual relationships with their lands and the beings on them. Today, a variety of political, social and environmental factors are redefining many Indigenous groups' land-based sustenance practices and livelihoods. Through these changes and new developments, however, scholars have found cultural continuity. My doctoral research describes the land ethos of the residents of the Mayan community of Xuilub (Yucatan), Mexico, and explains how it is understood and put into practice by its members. This project, informed by postcolonial theory, Indigenous geographies, and Indigenous knowledges (IKs) research, is part of a broader attempt to decolonize colonial histories and understandings about Indigenous peoples and their relationships with their territories. Through experiential learning and interviews over five trips to the area from 2014-2016, I have come to understand the Mayan land ethos as "being part of the land." I argue that this land ethos is guided by the cultural precept of 'responsibility-based thinking.' This ethos reflects a non-hierarchical view of the place of humans within a larger society (or Circle) of all beings on the land, and speaks to the importance of ceremony, offerings, and reciprocal relationships. Furthermore, this worldview is not static, but is well suited to integrating new knowledges and innovations and adapting to changing social and environmental conditions, and is strongly connected to cultural identity and place. The Maya land ethos can be described as a spiritually informed way of seeing the world that informs and mediates personal and collective conduct by instilling in an individual and, by extension, a community, a sense of duty or responsibility to be part of the land, rather than a sense of having rights to or on it.
This dissertation contributes to broader scholarly efforts to achieve deeper understandings of IKs, from a more Indigenous-centred research approach (and research questions), with the ultimate goal of expanding the disciplinary perspectives of postcolonial scholarship and Indigenous geographies. Such a responsibility-based mindset has the potential to enhance current mainstream (rights-based) environmental policy frameworks.


title: A Disconnect Between What She Wanted To Do And Her Ability To Act Upon It: Complexities Of Agency In Discourses Of Treatment For Youth With Eating Disorders

abstract: This project analyzes the discourses circulating about young people with eating disorders (ED) in popular and legal materials. Through use of discourse analysis through a Foucauldian lens, I have determined major themes in how we make sense of involuntary treatment, in particular. In analyzing cases from the Ontario Consent and Capacity Board (CCB) and newspaper articles from The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Sun, and National Post I drew out common narratives and themes. Agency, not surprisingly in the current medico-political context was noted throughout all texts, and was found to be alongside or in opposition to, discourses of protection. I drew out three themes which framed this overarching tension. My analysis reveals that there remain fundamental tensions in how we understand the young person with an eating disorder and how they should be treated.


title: FSM Testing Based on Transition Trees and Complete Round Trip Paths Testing Criteria

abstract:
State machine testing has received genuine attention in the literature. Among the studied testing strategies are complete round-trip paths and transition trees that cover round-trip paths in a piecewise manner. Although trees are claimed to be equivalent to complete round-trip paths testing, there is anecdotal evidence that this is not the case. The core contribution of this thesis is therefore an empirical comparison between the effectiveness of the complete round-trip paths test suites and the transition trees test suites on the one hand and the effectiveness of the different techniques used to generate transition trees (breadth first traversal, depth first traversal, and random traversal) on the other hand. The comparison is conducted using four experimental objects and a significant number of test suites. Other contributions include constructing a reusable experimental setup and developing our automatic toolchain including novel algorithms to generate the different types of test suites. We also evaluate the effect of the structure of the transition trees as well as the state machine on the fault detection capability of the resulting test suites.
Our results demonstrate that covering round-trip paths in a complete manner is not equivalent to covering them in pieces. In addition, using statistical analysis, we prove that the different types of transition trees and even every single tree has different fault detection capability. Then, we show that neither the average length of the test cases in a test suite, nor the standard deviation of the test cases length, nor the number of complete round-trip paths included in a transition tree affects the effectiveness of the test suite. We also show that the effectiveness of the complete round-trip test suites is proportional to the connectivity of the finite state machine of the system under test.


title: Multilevel Polar Coded-Modulation for Wireless Communications

abstract:
In wireless channels, the signal quality degrades mainly due to the additive noise and the random variation of attenuation of the signal, known as fading. The additive noise can be compensated to some extent using forward error correction (FEC) coding and automatic repeat request (ARQ). The fading can be compensated not only with FEC codes and ARQ schemes but also using spatial diversity and multiplexing achieved by employing multiple antenna systems, known as multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. MIMO schemes fall into different categories based on system requirements, e.g., space-time block codes (STBCs) and limited feedback schemes.
FEC codes, as a method of substantial performance improvement, are employed in most modern communication systems. However, the optimal design of the concatenation of FEC codes and modulation schemes for different applications is an open problem. Polar codes are a new class of FEC codes that benefit from simple rate matching and a variety of low-complexity decoders which facilitate the design of efficient systems. Multilevel coding with multistage decoding (MLC/MSD) is a low-complexity capacity achieving coded-modulation technique that can be designed efficiently for polar codes due to the conceptual similarity.
In this thesis, in order to achieve low-arithmetic-complexity/high-performance coded-modulation schemes for wireless channels, multilevel polar coded-modulation (MLPCM) schemes are designed and analyzed. To this end, new methods are proposed to decrease the MSD log-likelihood ratio estimation complexity and to improve the set-partitioning based bit-to-symbol mapping (SPM) design. Furthermore, some novel methods are proposed for the low-memory-space/low-arithmetic-complexity design of polar codes in additive white Gaussian noise and slow fading channels. In addition, a set of algorithms are proposed to design MLPCM based on the throughput for hybrid ARQ and channel-adaptive schemes. Moreover, to design the signal for MLC/MSD, a variety of multidimensional constellations are optimized using union bounds on the error rate of uncoded MIMO schemes, and their performance in the presence of polar codes is evaluated. Finally, MLPCM is designed in slow fading channels by optimizing STBCs based on the outage probability, generating SPM based on a bound on the outage, and the joint optimization of polar codes and STBCs.


title: Digital Nationalisms: Identity, Strategic Communication, and Global Internet Governance

abstract:
A growing number of states in the twenty-first century have reimagined and rearticulated the role of digital technologies as indispensable to the nation's economic, cultural, and political success—and sometimes survival—under the conditions of digital globalization. Digital nationalism refers to this shift in the national state's imagination of digital technologies vis-à-vis their national Selves, as well as attendant discursive and material efforts at constructing and strategically communicating their national digital identities. On the one hand, this is a global trend, which is rooted in the rationalist imaginary and posits digital technological development as critical to economic growth and overall national well-being. On the other hand, and this is the crux of the argument underlying this dissertation, national cultural identities shape the specific logics and language of respective national digital rhetoric and policies.
To illuminate the workings of digital nationalism, the dissertation examines how Estonia's and Russia's conduct in the domain of global internet governance—the design and administration of legal and technological architectures of the global internet and surrounding geopolitical debates—reflect their national identity visions. The dissertation argues that Estonia's championing of the "internet freedom" narrative is meant to bolster its central identity aspiration of symbolically and institutionally "returning to Europe" after half a century of the Soviet rule, while Russia's championing of "internet sovereignty" contributes to its identity narrative of a resurgent great power following its geopolitical decline in the first post-Cold War decade.
The dissertation offers a critical cultural approach to the study of digital technological politics and aims to contribute to our understanding of the logics of digital globalization and global internet governance, contemporary nationalism, and socio-political trajectories in post-socialist Europe.


title: Applying Data Preparation Methods to Optimize Preterm Birth Prediction

abstract: The purpose of this work was to develop an accurate prediction model which can process information contained in antenatal databases to determine whether a baby will be born prematurely. The focus was on improved data preprocessing to add to methods developed by previous students in the Carleton MIRG (Medical Information technology Research Group) lab. The machine learning classifiers used included Decision Tree (DT) classifiers (for feature reduction) and the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) classifier (for model evaluation). Missing values and class imbalance was dealt with by applying software packages in the R statistical programming language. The final sensitivity and specificity results for the BORN (Better Outcomes Registry and Network) database were: Parous 89.2%, and 67.8%, Nulliparous 89.0% and 71.5%, and for PRAMS (Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System) database: Parous 84.1% and 71.4%, Nulliparous 83.8% and 76.0%. An accurate predictive tool will allow caregivers to implement preventative treatment strategies.


title: The Demand for Military Spending in Sub-Saharan Africa

abstract:
This dissertation examines military spending in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It comprises three chapters. Chapter one uses documents and key informant interviews to examine four important issues related to Uganda's defence budget: the process leading to its formulation, the key actors involved in that process, the structure of military expenditures, and the internal and external threat environment. The analysis shows that defence spending in Uganda generally follows a process of intra-governmental bargaining with political oversight. Despite the government's military roots, and the President's ultimate control over military spending, the defence budget has not overwhelmed other government priorities. In addition, the nature and level of internal and external threats to Uganda do not seem to pose a serious challenge to its security. While there are several perceived threats that may influence Uganda's defence budget, the limited volatility of military spending over time suggests that overall there is a perception that Uganda's government has been able to provide a reasonable level of security without compromising its obligations to promote social and economic development as well.
Chapter two examines empirically the factors associated with the level and changes in military budget in Uganda, using an auto-regressive distributed lag model. The analysis shows that there is a long-run relationship between Uganda's military expenditure and real GDP, net official development assistance and security dynamics at regional level. Detailed analysis about which neighbour's military spending affects Uganda, however, is often different from expectations based on the interviews.
Chapter three uses panel data to examine military spending in a sample of 30 of Sub-Saharan African countries for the period of 1988-2016. Two distinct specifications are performed, a fixed effects model and a dynamic panel data model. The results of different regressions show that the size of the economy, demography, military spending of neighbouring countries, and the lagged of military spending are the most important explanatory variables. Furthermore, the estimations of the fixed effect models show that the nature of the political regime and civil war also influence the defence budget. However, the estimations of the dynamic panel models fail to corroborate this influence.


title: Simplifying Layered Queueing Network Models

abstract: The amount of detail to include in a performance model is usually regarded as a judgment to be made by an expert modeler and the question "how much detail is necessary?" is seldom asked and is difficult to answer. However, if a simpler model gives essentially the same performance predictions, it may be more useful than a detailed model. It may solve more quickly, for instance, and may be easier to understand. Or a model for a complex sub-system such as a database server may be usefully simplified so it can be included in larger system models. This research proposes an aggregation process for layered queuing models that reduces the number of queues (called tasks and hosts/processors, in layered models) while preserving the total execution demand and the bottleneck characteristics (the highest saturated resource(s)) of the detailed model. This thesis demonstrates how the simplification process can greatly reduce the number of tasks and processors with a very small relative error. The application of proposed simplification process is applied on a number of case studies. A Java application called "LQN model simplifier" was built that takes an LQN model as input and generates a series of simplified models after applying simplification operations to the original model.


title: The Role of microRNAs and Alternative Polyadenylation in Modulating the P53 Response

abstract: The p53 protein is an important tumor-suppressor that is negatively regulated by MDM2, itself a p53-induced protein. Here we used nutlin-3A, a reversible inhibitor of MDM2, to activate the p53 response in HCT116 cells and isogenic miRNA-processing defective Drosha and Dicer knockout sublines, to determine the role of miRNAs in this feedback loop. We provide evidence that miRNAs inhibit MDM2 mRNA and protein levels when cells are exposed to nutlin-3A twice, separated by a period of recovery. Surprisingly, MDM2 transcripts with the longest 3'UTRs escaped miRNA-mediated repression, while specific isoforms with shorter 3'UTRs were attenuated in parental cells and over-expressed in the miRNA processing defective knockouts. We propose that miRNA recognition sites are placed in a more accessible context within these shorter 3'UTR variants. Thus, polyadenylation site selection represents a novel regulatory mechanism in the p53 response, with the potential to impact the p53-MDM2 feedback loop and p53-mediated tumor suppression.


title: Evaluating Time-Dependent Changes in Food Seeking Following Periods of Forced Abstinence and Associated Changes in the Nucleus Accumbens

abstract: Incubation of craving is a phenomenon whereby responding for cues associated with reward (food and drugs) increases over extended periods of abstinence. Evaluating the mechanisms of food craving has implications in understanding how consumption of foods high in certain macronutrients (fat, sugar) may contribute to continued cravings and subsequent weight gain. The primary goals of this thesis were to examine if forced abstinence from different food rewards resulted in a continued/or delayed craving response by utilizing different behavioral designs (contingent vs non-contingent) and examining associated changes in nucleus accumbens (NAc) immediate early genes, dendritic spine density, and AMPA receptor protein expression. Food self-administration (operant conditioning), classical conditioning, and conditioned place preference (CPP) were utilize for the investigation of incubation of food craving. Abstinence from self-administration of purified pellets was the only food group to display an incubation of craving response. Self-administration of chocolate flavored pellet, sucrose, or chocolate sucrose pellets did not result in an incubation response but did result in consistent responding at all abstinence periods which was associated with elevated dendritic spine density for chocolate flavored pellets. The type of behavioral design affected association FosB labelling as rats that underwent classical conditioning displayed significantly lower FosB in the NAc compared to operant trained rats and food restricted controls. CPP for chocolate flavored pellets or milk chocolate chips showed that the type of food reward can affect the possibility of a place preference response, milk chocolate did not produce CPP. The CPP model was unable to produce an incubation of craving response which may have resulted from the rewarding properties of the food choice and number of training sessions. Exposure to rewarding cues rapidly increased GluR1 expression, but this was not specifically associated with an incubation of craving response, thus the functional significance has yet to be elucidated. The present thesis has highlighted that foods of different macronutrient composition and/or flavors and the use of different behavioral designs can affect the potential for an incubation of craving response and associated NAc changes.


title: The Death Drive in Psychoanalysis: Decoding Three Prominent Theories from Spielrein, Freud and Klein

abstract: The death drive is a concept used by a number of psychoanalytic theorists with very little consensus on what this drive actually is or does. When each psychoanalyst makes use of the term it is unclear whether they are even referring to the same thing. In this thesis, three main theories on the death drive from Sabina Spielrien, Sigmund Freud, and Melanie Klein are examined. This thesis seeks to make sense of what exactly each thinker believes the death drive to be despite the complexity and sometimes lack of clarity in their works. Throughout each chapter, comparisons and differences between each psychoanalyst are drawn in order to find what is held in common between them. By tackling each theory this way, this thesis seeks to formulate some idea of what can be said concretely about the death drive.


title: The Effect of Environmental Heterogeniety on the Fitness of Antibiotic Resistant Escherichia Coli

abstract: The cost of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the reduction of fitness of a resistant mutant relative to a susceptible strain in the absence of drug. Costs of resistance are usually estimated in a single environment and on one genetic background; these fitness estimates may not be representative of what happens in nature. I measured the fitness of AMR E. coli strains in different environments, including medically and ecologically relevant ones. To do this, a collection of AMR strains of Escherichia coli bearing a single resistance mutation were competed against their ancestral strain in 10 different media. The results of this study indicate that laboratory media does not predict fitness in natural environments. We found environments in which resistance alleles suffered no cost, suggesting that these mutants may persist for long periods of time. Data on the fitness of AMR pathogens across environments will help manage their spread.


title: Local-Scale Association of Boreal Birds with Clearcuts Does Not Translate to the Landscape Scale

abstract: Common Nighthawk and Eastern Whip-poor-will, species-at-risk, use clearcuts locally; however this has not been tested at landscape-scales. I asked: Are landscapes with more clearcut associated with higher occupancy of these species? Occurrence of neither species was significantly affected (n=49) by clearcuts in the surrounding landscape, at any spatial extent. However, Common Nighthawk occupancy was lower in landscapes with more, older clearcuts, and both species occupancy was higher in landscapes with more wetland, significantly for Eastern Whip-poor-will. I propose these species nest on clearcuts because they are like other open habitats (i.e. wetlands). However, clearcuts may offer less insect prey than wetlands and therefore do not act as similar foraging habitat. Thus, clearcuts may be ecological traps, attracting birds to nest in lower quality habitat. I demonstrated that local-scale habitat associations do not necessarily translate to the landscape-scale. This suggests conservation of wetlands are important for persistence of boreal bird species.


title: The effect of scale on the relative importance of climatic and biotic variables influencing methane fluxes from an Arctic wet sedge meadow

abstract: Methane fluxes (FCH4) from an Arctic wet sedge meadow at Daring Lake, NT, Canada were examined during the growing seasons of 2008-2017 over several temporal and spatial scales. The largest methane emissions (seasonal averages of of 118 - 277 mg CH4 m-2 d-1) were recorded at the plot scale mid-summer using manual chamber methods and were associated with wetter locations with more sedges. Plot-scale FCH4 were negligible where shrubby peat soils were raised above the water table. Ecosystem-scale FCH4 measured on a quasi-continuous basis employing an eddy covariance technique were roughly 50% of plot-scale FCH4. Moisture, temperature and vegetation-related variables explained up to 80% of temporal FCH4 variability (p<0.001). Both magnitudes of FCH4 and relationships with driving variables were not consistent between scales and measurement techniques, demonstrating both the importance of scale in deducing all processes influencing FCH4 variability and the difficulties in upscaling FCH4 at this heterogeneous wetland.


title: Framework for Ensuring the Ongoing Maintenance of Existing Buildings Applied to a National Capital Commission Case Study

abstract: All buildings deteriorate over time. If neglected, the severity of their deterioration and the repair work required increases. The deterioration of buildings, however, can be slowed with ongoing maintenance. This research created an informative, user-friendly, and uniform workflow that can ensure the ongoing maintenance of buildings, with Header House as a case study. The framework begins with research and surveying the building. As-built and condition drawings and a BIM are produced. A seismic analysis was also conducted for a range of values and connectivity conditions. The drift of the building was not sensitive to these range cases, while the acceleration and base shear were affected by the change in stiffness. The results determined that Header House requires no seismic interventions. A monitoring program and maintenance plan were then created based on the information gathered. The process is repeated every five years to ensure that the building continues to be maintained.


title: Regulation of glutathione-based antioxidant defenses in response to dehydration stress in the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis

abstract: The African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis) needs efficient antioxidant defenses to mitigate oxidative damage and endure dehydration stress under arid conditions in its natural environment. Two enzymes that aid glutathione-based antioxidant defenses, glutathione reductase (GR) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), were purified from liver of control and dehydrated (~35% total body water lost) frogs. Kinetic analysis revealed that GR was positively regulated in response to dehydration to regenerate GSH, particularly when physiological urea concentrations were high. G6PDH from dehydrated frogs showed lower affinity for glucose-6-phosphate than control but was strongly activated in the presence of high ATP. Both enzymes showed regulatory modification by reversible protein phosphorylation that affected substrate affinities. Dehydration also induced other PTMs including protein sumoylation, cys-nitrosylation, and acetylation that could affect kinetic properties and protein stability. This thesis provides novel insights into the regulation of glutathione-based enzymatic defenses against dehydration-induced oxidative stress.