identifier: Shields, Norman Mark  (2004) The role of psychiatric distress and sociopathy in aftercare treatment outcome : a test of "matching hypotheses".  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Investigation into matching substance abusers attributes to aftercare treatment has yielded mixed results. The notion that substance abusers with greater psychiatric distress and sociopathy will benefit more from relapse prevention oriented aftercare remains uncertain. Moreover, indices of psychiatric distress during the early stages of intensive substance abuse treatment are suspect as withdrawal symptoms often complicate psychiatric symptom presentation. The present study examined these attributes as aftercare matching variables, including posttreatment degree of psychiatric distress. Additionally, the utility of qualitative appraisals of psychiatric severity and needs in predicting treatment outcome was investigated.  Substance abusers (N = 125; 66% male) were randomly assigned posttreatment to either 10-weekly sessions of Structured Relapse Prevention (SRP) or Twelve-Step Facilitation (TSF) aftercare treatment groups and followed-up over a six-month period. Post-intensive treatment degree of psychiatric distress and sociopathy were measured by the revised Symptoms Checklist-90 (SCL-90-R: Derogatis, 1983) and California Psychological Inventory, Socialization subscale (CPI-So: Gough, 1987), respectively. The Addiction Severity Index (ASI: McLellan et al., 1980) participant severity ratings were used to predict substance use and psychosocial functioning at follow-up.  The results indicated that although greater psychiatric distress and sociopathy contributed to poorer substance use and psychosocial functioning throughout the follow-up period, few interactions with aftercare treatment were noted. In fact, the few interactions noted contradicted the hypothesized effect. Participants with greater psychiatric distress benefited more (i.e., longer latency to lapse) from TSF than SRP. Participants with greater sociopathy reported less legal problems when assigned to TSF than those assigned to SRP. Both of these findings failed to support previous aftercare matching findings (R. Kadden et al., 1989).  The ASI participant severity rating (i.e., patient importance of treatment) for psychiatric status significantly predicted family/social adjustment at follow-up. Moreover, the qualitative appraisals of psychiatric needs were significantly correlated with quantitative psychiatric distress indices (i.e., SCL-90-R), thus contributing to the validity and utility of the ASI patient rating scales. These qualitative appraisals hold both empirical and clinical appeal.


identifier: Robertson, Clive  (2004) Movement + apparatus : a cultural policy study of artist-run culture in Canada (1976-1994).  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract: The terrain of artist-run culture in Canada and Québec discursively fabricates a network of artist-run production, presentation and distribution centres and collectives in the visual and media arts. Organized 'at a distance' from the state, this field of activity has been represented through depiction and delegation by national and regional representative associations and a significant body of theoretical and historical literature.  This study reads cultural studies and social movement theory to examine how this self-governing network and movement of cultural production interacted with and created its own policy apparatuses. The artist-run centre movement announces itself approximately at a mid-point in Canadian cultural policy development which spans fifty years from 1944-1994. The twenty-five year period covered by this thesis thus intersects with a substantial portion of Canadian cultural policy history. This thesis argues that the artist-run movement, in effect, advocated for and produced a hybrid model of aesthetic and social organization. I will further argue that in engaging with the state and its agencies, artists and artist organizations problematized the rights and responsibilities of cultural work and citizenship within a governmental framework.


identifier: Rogers, Randal Arthur  (2004) From the painted past to digital futures : (re)mediating the Canadian nation at Expo 2000.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: With the theme Humankind: Nature: Technology: A New World Arising , Expo 2000 was billed as the central event of the celebrations of the millennial year. As a "new world arising", Expo 2000 was to be an innovative model for universal exhibitions that would distinguish itself from the modernism within which expo originated by positioning sustainable development at the core of the event. Moving away from the tourist of former universal exhibitions, Expo 2000 interpellated its visitors as agents who had choices about the type of world they wished to "arise" in the future. In what I have termed a performative pedagogy of ethical action the tourist was transformed into a historical subject with an important role to play in sustaining the earth.  Canada, for its part, produced an enormous pavilion in an already existing trade fair space. It is this pavilion that forms the nucleus of the present dissertation, with three central chapters dedicated to each of the three thematic elements of the expo--humankind, nature and technology--and intersected by the three thematic areas of the Canada pavilion itself--"Spirit of Community", "Stewards of the Land" and "Connecting with the Future". Using historical traditions of national representation--landscape and multiculturalism--and modernizing these simultaneously, the Canada pavilion remediated the nation in ways that are problematic and productive simultaneously.  The Canada pavilion was very adept in its primary goal of educating its visitors about the nation by engaging pedagogical models that not only "taught" in traditional terms via the rationality of the mind, but also by engaging the body as a pedagogical site. As Walter Benjamin suggested many years ago, the subject is undergoing a complex refiguration through its engagement with technology. This point was mobilized in the pavilion to produce a pedagogical form that is new to universal exhibitions, a hybrid form that I have termed politicotechnoedutainment in an attempt to grasp the crossings and imbrications of pedagogical models used in the pavilion. How these were leashed to national forms proved to be a problem, but this dissertation argues that the resulting "confusion" on the part of visitors to the pavilion is productive both for universal exhibitions and nations, an entry point into the presupposition of seamlessness in national representation where an open-ended, unfixed and transitional model of representation and the nation might be productively established.


identifier: Gabriele, Sandra  (2004) "Gendering journalism (history) : the emergence of the woman journalist, Toronto, 1880-1895".  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This dissertation asks how the nineteenth century woman journalist emerged as a meaningful cultural and professional identity. As a cultural history it begins by considering the partisan newspaper as a cultural formation that, given its changing relations of production, came to position itself as independent and partisan simultaneously. Rearticulated as a paper of the people, its readership was revisioned as a family. The weekend edition became the location of new representational practices that were both entertaining and enlightening that materially effected this change in its identity and mission. As the public sphere was feminized by a multitude of reform initiatives and the private sphere was publicized and regimented through new domestic technologies and practices, the woman's page emerged as a space within the newspaper that helped to make sense of these changing relations, even as it altered them, while situating the newspaper within domestic relations. Within this cultural formation, the woman journalist emerged as a product of these conditions, even as she re-produced them. Using the journalism of two women journalists, Kit Coleman and Faith Fenton, as case studies, it argues that the format of the woman's page was a crucial site where these conditions coalesced, creating the conditions within which they could forge for themselves a professional identity. The woman's page spoke especially to the family's moral head of household in a highly personal voice that articulated the shifting relations between the public and private sphere. By constructing a knowing and authoritative voice through a series of gendered practices the woman journalist developed a highly intimate and personalized relationship with her readers that turned the woman's page into a domesticated space within the larger newspaper. This space was transformed, however, through her travels and social explorations which helped to broaden her journalistic authority using sensational techniques from the new journalism that were carefully negotiated within regimes of gender that were produced in part by the woman's page itself. These women had to negotiate continually the shifting intersections of journalism and gender, producing a journalistic practice that was historically contingent and was both the product of and produced a new gendered identity for women at the close of the century.


identifier: Carlevaris, Anna Maria  (2004) Cultivating heroes : from Dante and Caboto to Mussolini, the public art of Montreal's Italians in the 1920s-1930s.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The first commemorative public art works commissioned by the Italians of Montreal were produced in the period between the two world wars. They are Dante (1922), a bronze bust made by Carlo Balboni, originally located in Lafontaine Park; Giovanni Caboto (1935), a bronze statue by Guido Casini in what was once called Western Park; and a mural painting by Guido Nincheri completed in 1933 for the Church of Notre-Dame-de-la-Défense in the Mile End district. The works were made to mark historical anniversaries that were important to Italian national identity as it was developing during this period in Montreal, in Italy, and throughout the Italian diaspora. This geographically fragmented nationalism was made more complex still by the difficult social and economic realities of immigrant life. Given the precarious status of Italian immigrants, the valiant qualities and extraordinary achievements of the heroes represented in the artworks helped promote group solidarity and confidence. However, the cultural icons were also used to support the ambitions of the Italian elite who managed and directed the sponsorship of the works. The works were used to lobby for a greater share of social and political power both inside and outside the community. The two most important groups in Montreal, the English and the French, also benefited from these same historical icons in their competing efforts for political and cultural primacy in Montreal. All hoped to capitalize on the national pedigree these mythic figures seemed to confirm; a cultural heritage that was as much based on fiction as it was on history. The illustrated discussion examines the complex web of rhetorical conventions announced by art when it is made to speak in the public interest.


identifier: Morrissette, Mélanie  (2004) Culture chinoise, chorégraphie et cinéma d'arts martiaux.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Ce mémoire traite de l'histoire de la représentation des arts martiaux dans le cinéma chinois et hong kongais, à savoir comment chaque génération représente les scènes de combat et fait évoluer la représentation. L'utilisation du médium cinématographique et de la chorégraphie est au choeur de la transformation du genre, ils sont les fondements du cinéma d'arts martiaux et leur transformation a mené aux principaux courants de ce genre. Ainsi, la méthode utilisée sera l'analyse et l'interprétation de la chorégraphie selon les époques et son intime relation avec la mise en scène.  La chorégraphie est analysée par le biais de références culturelles complexes comme les traditions, les philosophies, les religions et les valeurs qui s'y rattachent; l'histoire générale de la Chine et celle des arts martiaux; les arts comme le kung-fu, l'opéra chinois, l'acrobatie, la littérature; l'histoire du cinéma hong kongais et le développement du genre; les différents cinéastes qui ont façonné les films d'arts martiaux.  Finalement, une méthode d'analyse de la chorégraphie a été élaborée afin de définir le type d'action représentée à l'écran et les différents concepts qui la composent. Ce mémoire tente de définir comment le cinéma d'art martiaux, qui est inclus au sein du cinéma de divertissement, a su défier la marche du temps et divertir le public depuis les débuts du cinéma. Cette thèse propose donc une réflexion sur la manière dont le cinéma transforme le spectacle de l'affrontement et réussi à distraire, génération après génération, les foules.


identifier: Rucinski, Krzysztof  (2004) History as ritual : camera movement and narrative structure in films of Miklós Jancsó.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Miklós Jancsó is one of the most important European auteurs. His committment to social and political issues within historical themes has been a constant concern of his artistic output. Jancsó's overall cinematic oeuvre has been influenced and shaped to a great extent by the volatile position that Hungary has had throughout the twentieth century as well as by the dynamics and fluctuations experienced by the whole region. This sense of forced embedding in an extremely difficult context has been shared by other East European artists, a Polish filmmaker, Andrzej Wajda, among them. This thesis demonstrates that both directors have expressed similar fascination with the history of their respective countries but within increasingly different stylistic and narrative frameworks.  At the age of eighty-two, Miklós Jancsó is still an active and successful filmmaker, while the films he has made over the last two decades are injustly understudied and marginalized. A thorough analysis of the artist's sophisticated camera movement and a unique approach to narrative structure and character formation in Jancsó's selected films seeks to enhance our knowledge of the director who--for fifty years--has been incessantly experimenting and reinvigorating his style while strictly adhering to his ethical, social and political convictions.


identifier: Jrade, Ahmad  (2004) Integrated conceptual cost estimating and life cycle costing system for building projects.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Cost estimates are considered the most important and critical mission during the life cycle of a construction project. Preparing reliable and accurate estimates to help decision makers is the most challenging assignment that cost engineers and estimators can face. For decades, the construction industry focused on acquiring the construction costs of building facilities, neglecting the associated costs of running and maintaining them. Currently, by contrast, owners are interested in investigating the economics of facility management, which are the cost of owning and operating the building over its useful life.  This thesis presents a methodology that can be used for an integrated conceptual cost estimating and life-cycle costing system for building projects. The methodology describes the development and implementation of a system that automates the preparation of conceptual cost estimates and forecasts future costs of running building projects. This methodology does so by joining Computer Integrated Construction (CIC) and Virtual Reality Environment (VRE). The system integrates relational databases, a preliminary estimate module, an AutoCAD module, a global module, a cost estimate forecasting and decision support-system modules, and life-cycle costing and sensitivity analysis modules.  A modification in building design will result in an automatic generation of a new conceptual estimate. Subsequently, this modified drawing can be virtually animated and visualized by using a Virtual Reality browser. Finally, once capital costs are identified, the system forecasts the cost of running and maintaining the new building during its expected service life. Then, after assigning the range of deviation, it applies a sensitivity analysis method to investigate the most sensitive parameters so that further attention can be directed.  Designing the system in a user-friendly environment allows owners and decision makers to envision the feasibility of new building projects within their anticipated life cycle. Moreover, it assists architects and cost engineers to generate conceptual cost estimates in a dynamic environment. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the usefulness and capabilities of the developed system.


identifier: Peters, Nigel William  (2004) Design and testing of prestressed concrete railway deck slabs.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Prestressed deck slabs fabricated from conventional strength concrete are frequently used in Railway bridge applications. The purpose of this research program was to assess the behaviour of precast, prestressed concrete railway deck slabs fabricated from high performance concrete (HPC). Six full scale slab specimens 3.7 m by 2.135 m, manufactured from concrete containing silica fume with compressive strengths of 80, 90 and 99 MPa, were tested to ultimate capacity.  A literature review was conducted on the mechanical properties and durability of high strength-high performance concrete. In addition, a laboratory test program was designed to determine the behaviour of the prestressed concrete slabs in flexural cracking, ultimate capacity, shear, ductility and bond development length of the strand.  The slabs were simply supported and a statically loaded at midspan, ⅜ span and �$1�


identifier: Bouguezel, Saad  (2004) New approaches for the design of low-complexity radix-based FFT and FHT algorithms.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The discrete Fourier transform (DFT) and discrete Hartley transform (DHT) play a crucial role in one- and multi-dimensional digital signal processing applications. Traditionally, the main concern in the design of fast Fourier transform (FFT) and fast Hartley transform (FHT) algorithms has been the reduction of the arithmetic complexity. However, with the recent advances in the digital technology and the present demands of such transforms in low-power high-performance real-time applications, a more comprehensive treatment of the computational and structural complexities must be considered in the design of the algorithms. The objective of this thesis is to design one- and multi-dimensional FFT and FHT algorithms that address the problem of reducing the number of arithmetic operations, data transfers, address generations, and twiddle factor evaluations or accesses to the lookup table, while possessing features such as simplicity, regularity, modularity, easy indexing scheme, and butterfly-style and in-place computations that are highly desirable characteristics for software or hardware implementations of the algorithms. To achieve these objectives, radix-based algorithms are proposed by introducing new decomposition strategies, efficient index mappings, and by an appropriate use of the Kronecker product.  A general decomposition method, which is based on the radix-2 approach, valid for any dimension and applicable to both the DHT and DFT, and which significantly reduces the complexity of the FHT algorithms, is proposed. This method enables us to develop multidimensional FHT and FFT algorithms. A new approach for computing the DFT and DHT using a unified structure is proposed by establishing a close relationship, valid for any dimension, between the radix-2 based FHT and FFT algorithms.  An efficient method, based on the radix-2 approach, for pruning output samples of a 1-D or 2-D DFT is proposed by grouping in its 1-D or 2-D FFT algorithm all the stages that involve unnecessary operations into a single stage and by introducing a new recursive technique for the computations required in the resulting stage.  A technique is presented to improve the performance of the radix-4, radix-8 and radix-16 FFT algorithms in terms of the number of twiddle factor evaluations or accesses to the lookup table without any increase in the computational or structural complexities of the algorithms.  In order to take advantage of the lowest structural complexity provided by the radix-2 approach and reduced computational complexity offered by the radix-4 approach, a technique suitable for combining these two approaches is introduced in order to develop efficient 3-D FFT and FHT algorithms.  A radix-2/8 approach for reducing the complexity in the computation of the 1-D DFT and DHT of lengths N = q {604} 2 m is proposed by appropriately mixing the radix-2 and radix-8 index maps. This approach is extended to 2-D and 3-D DFTs. It is shown that the proposed radix-2/8 approach is superior to all the other existing radix-based approaches in providing low-complexity 1-D, 2-D and 3-D FFT, and 1-D FHT algorithms.


identifier: Sadeghpour, Farnaz  (2004) A CAD-based model for site layout.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

title: A CAD-based model for site layout

abstract: Front-end planning of construction sites can have a significant impact on the safety and efficiency of site operations and/or the cash flow associated with resource management. A well-planned site can: (i) minimize travel time; (ii) decrease time and effort spent on material handling; (iii) increase productivity; and (iv) improve safety, and hence decrease construction cost and time. Despite its importance, it is often ignored in the planning phase of construction projects. In practice, space allocation on construction sites is typically carried out on a first-come-first-serve basis, which could result in chaotic sites and productivity losses.  This thesis presents an interactive CAD-based model, designed to support site layout planning and to provide a framework that meets the versatility needed in actual construction practice. The developed model performs its task at two levels: site representation, and site space analysis and allocation. The site representation is carried out using object-based concepts in an open architecture. The model offers three tiers of objects: (i) site objects, (ii) construction objects, and (iii) constraint objects. This classification assists in formalizing the representation needed for modeling construction sites. A formal structure for each tier of objects is proposed to facilitate the creation of new objects and reuse of domain knowledge. The space analysis and allocation is performed through a geometric approach, inspired by human reasoning, in search for the optimum or near-optimum location for temporary facilities.  The model has a number of interesting features: (i) it provides a flexible support of a wide range of objects for site planner. This permits the set up of different construction projects via selection of objects stored in their respective libraries; (ii) the model has a built-in feedback to support the development of new objects and/or updating existing ones. This allows for the gradual expansion and enrichment of the supporting libraries; (iii) the geometric space analysis is visualized graphically and provides a range of ranked near optimum solutions. This feature facilitates user's comprehension of, and interaction in the layout process; and (iv) the system allows site planners to define search criteria based on their knowledge and expertise. It also allows for generation of a number of what-if scenarios, utilizing different rules and comparing the final layout results.  A prototype of the developed model called CASL is implemented using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) in AutoCAD environment. AutoCAD is dynamically linked to the relational database of Microsoft Access, which hosts the object libraries. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)


identifier: Konjin, Mohammad Torabi  (2004) Multicarrier systems with antenna diversity for wireless commmunications.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Future wireless communications systems need a high quality of service coupled with high data rate transmission for multimedia services. Achieving this goal in the hostile wireless environment with its limited spectrum has several challenges and implies the necessity of a communication system that is able to increase the channel capacity and overcome the difficulties of the wireless transmission environment with reasonable system complexity. Two of the most enabling technologies for the next generation of wireless systems are orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) systems. MIMO systems have been originally designed for known flat fading channels. In this research, some novel MIMO-OFDM schemes for broadband wireless applications are developed and presented. The objective of the proposed schemes is to enhance the performance of OFDM systems over multipath fading channels by using antenna diversity techniques, and also to make MIMO systems applicable to frequency selective multipath fading channels. For the performance evaluation, both bit error rate (BER) and channel capacity analysis are considered. The channel capacity of MIMO-OFDM systems is analytically evaluated and it is shown that the channel capacity of the these systems can be dramatically increased as a function of the number of antennas. The BER performance of the MIMO-OFDM systems is analytically evaluated. New closed-form expressions for the BER performance of the MIMO-OFDM systems over frequency selective fading channels are derived. On the other hand, the growing popularity of both MIMO and OFDM systems creates the need for adaptive modulation to integrate temporal, spatial and spectral components together. The performance improvement offered by adaptive modulation over non-adaptive systems is remarkable. Furthermore, other dimensions such as frequency and space may yield further gains by providing additional degrees of freedom that can be exploited by adaptive modulation. In this research, a new adaptive modulation scheme for our MIMO-OFDM system (SFBC-OFDM) is presented. The proposed scheme exploits the benefits of space-frequency block codes (SFBC), OFDM and adaptive modulation to provide a high quality of transmission for wireless communications over frequency selective fading channels. It is shown that adaptive modulation can greatly improve the performance of the conventional SFBC-OFDM systems. Finally, a novel antenna selection algorithm is proposed for our MIMO-OFDM system. Three different forms of antenna selection are considered: transmit antenna selection, receive antenna selection, and joint transmit/receive antenna selection. The coding and diversity advantages of the MIMO-OFDM system with antenna selection are examined using average SNR gain, outage probability and BER analysis. The system performance of different forms of the proposed scheme is evaluated and compared. It is shown that the proposed scheme can greatly improve the performance of the conventional SFBC-OFDM systems.


identifier: Lepage, Claude  (2004) A tight two-way fluid-structure coupling for aeroelastic computations in the time domain.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: A three-dimensional implicit finite element Euler/Navier-Stokes solver based on the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation has been developed for fluid-structure interactions, moving and deforming bodies, and aeroelastic calculations. The flow solver is complemented by a built-in moving grid algorithm which allows the computational grid for the fluid to move simultaneously with the moving body, without the need for global mesh regeneration and solution interpolation. The flow solver is coupled to a stress solver in a tight fashion at each time step, although both solvers exist independently and are used as black boxes. The aerodynamic loads and the structural displacements are transferred between the two solvers in a conservative fashion using the concept of a virtual grid, which guarantees the conservative transfer of both the pressure and the viscous shear stresses and also lends itself to complex geometries featuring non-matching grids at the fluid-solid interface. The level of tightness of the coupling on the aeroelastic response is investigated and the efficiency and accuracy of different solution strategies are discussed. The technology has been validated on well documented aeroelastic configurations.


identifier: Di Girolamo, Rocco  (2004) Multiple access techniques for broadband multimedia satellite networks.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Access to multimedia services is currently being considered by both wireless and wireline operators. Although satellites cannot compete directly with other alternatives, they can provide benefits in certain niche markets due to their wide coverage area and distance insensitivity. It is the goal of these satellite operators to simultaneously maximize channel utility (and revenue) and to meet the stringent quality of service requirements of the new multimedia services. To achieve both of these objectives, an efficient multiple access (MAC) protocol is required.  Satellite MAC protocols have traditionally been based either on fixed assignment (for voice and video) and/or random assignment (for data). The unique feature of the newer multimedia services is that they generate a mix of these three traffic types, and moreover the traffic is much burstier than originally expected. As a result, the traditional protocols fail to provide the required performance. This work addressed this issue by proposing two new schemes--one based on combined free/demand assignment multiple access (CFDAMA) with a multi-frequency time-division multiple access (MF-TDMA) frame, and the other based on flow controlled random access with a multi-code time-division multiple access (MC-TDMA) frame. Performance results (for jitter-tolerant packet delay and real-time loss probability) show that both techniques perform well in a bent-pipe environment. For an on-board processing system, both protocols can be adapted to deal with possible congestion at the output of the on-board baseband switch. Performance of the modified CFDAMA scheme is superior to that of a rate-based technique proposed in the literature. For the proposed MC-TDMA system, soft blocking and congestion are both handled by controlling packet transmissions through a simple flow control parameter.  Performance evaluation of satellite multimedia networks is also a very important topic. Event-driven simulations (with OPNET) prove invaluable to evaluate protocol performance, but these have limitations with regards to flexibility and accuracy (especially in evaluating real-time loss probability). As a result, certain key measures were obtained through analysis. In particular, the Matrix Geometric approach was applied to the CFDAMA scheme to determine real-time loss probability and jitter-tolerant packet delay.


identifier: Bitsuamlak, Girma T  (2004) Evaluating the effect of topographic elements on wind flow : a combined numerical simulation-neutral network approach.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Wind pressures on buildings and other structures, pedestrian level winds, and wind-induced dispersion of pollutants in urban locations depend, among other factors, on the velocity profile and turbulence characteristics of the upcoming wind. These, in turn, depend on the roughness and general configuration of the upstream topography. Consequently, wind standards and codes of practice typically assume simplified upstream topography conditions of homogeneous roughness or provide explicit corrections only for a limited number of specific topographies such as single hills, valleys, or escarpments. For all other more complex situations, the practitioner is referred to physical simulations in a boundary layer wind tunnel (BLWT).  This thesis evaluates the effect of upstream topography on wind flow using two mathematical approaches: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Neural Network (NN) chosen in lieu of traditional BLWT test. CFD-based numerical simulation usually consists of discretizing and solving a set of partial differential equations (the so called Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations and standard k-[varepsilon] turbulence model) describing the wind flow over a number of different topographic elements. For this purpose a robust Grid Generator, suitable for geometries characterized by curves and slopes, and a specialized CFD tool have been designed using an object-oriented approach and implemented in C++ programming language. Emphasis has been given to several numerical details and to the incorporation of influential parameters such as ground roughness. The associated accuracy of the proposed CFD tool has been quantified and validated against the results of the extensive review carried out.  Despite continuous progress in hardware/software technology resulting in fewer resource requirements, the practical utilization of CFD-based numerical simulations to predict design wind load parameters is rather limited. To address this issue, a new combined CFD-NN approach in which the NN model is trained with CFD-generated data has been proposed and developed. Since the NN approach is defined on the basis of connections between system state variables (input, internal and output variables) with only limited knowledge of the "physical" behavior of the system, output variable values (speed-up ratio in the present case) are produced following input of simple geometrical parameters describing the topography and roughness of the ground.  In this combined approach, the domain expert first carries out the complex numerical simulations and validations, then trains the NN model and makes it available for use by the end user who avoids therefore dealing with complex numerical simulations. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)


identifier: Touhami, Souheyl  (2004) Optimization problems in cellular networks.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Over the last decade, the wireless telephony market has experienced significant changes due to an increase in consumer demand, competition and rapid technological changes which reduced the effective life cycle of network infrastructures. Under these conditions, sustaining the growth and profitability of operations has been increasingly dependent on the efficient management of the available resources. In this research, we examine optimization problems that arise in the design and upgrade processes of the wireless component of GSM type cellular networks, namely, the antenna positioning problem (APP) and the frequency allocation problem (FAP).  APP examines the deployment of antennas throughout the service area. We propose integrated problem formulations that bring together the variety of design criteria raised both by practitioners and in the academic literature. In addition, current practices mostly use a sequential decomposition of the design process whereby the APP solution becomes a fixed input to FAP, as the simultaneous optimization would be too complex to tackle for realistic instances. In order to integrate the design process, we propose a partial incorporation of frequency allocation considerations within APP, with a limited increase in problem complexity.  Frequency management focuses on allocating a very limited radio spectrum so as to optimize the quality of service. This problem is first examined in the context of static networks, for which we develop an adaptive Tabu Search algorithm that dynamically combines several operators and search mechanisms to minimize network interference. As for Frequency Hopping networks, frequency management also entails determining the hopping sequences in addition to determining the frequency allocation. We analyze this problem for three levels of network synchronization and develop heuristic procedures to determine the parameter setting that will optimize the hopping sequences. In addition, for fully-synchronized networks, we propose to sidestep the sequence generation procedure currently used in the GSM standard, to directly generate optimized sequences.  The optimization problems considered in this work are intractable, with realistic instances being of large size and being based on estimated data. Therefore, heuristic optimization techniques are considered for solving them. We use real-life networks provided by telecom operators to test the problem formulations and the proposed optimization algorithms.


identifier: Farah, Carlos Abou  (2004) Ultimate bearing capacity of shallow foundations of layered soils.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The ultimate bearing capacity of shallow foundations subjected to axial vertical loads and resting on soil consisting of two layers has been investigated for the case of strong cohesionless soil overlying weak deposit. In the literature, several theories can be found using simplified failure mechanisms together with a reduced level of the shear strength mobilization on the assumed punching shear zone. It can be reported that large discrepancies between the measured and the predicted values of the ultimate bearing capacities were observed.  In this thesis, stress analysis was performed on the actual failure planes observed in the laboratory. In this analysis, full mobilization of the shear strength on the failure planes was considered. New bearing capacity equation was derived as a function of the properties of the upper and lower soil layers, the thickness of the upper layer, the footing depth/width ratio and the angle of the failure surfaces with respect to the vertical. The available experimental data in the literature were used to validate the proposed theory. A design procedure is presented for practicing use.


identifier: Ibrik, Zafer  (2004) Potential effect of climate change on algal growth.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Algae was selected as an indicator of water quality and temperature was selected as the climate change component, in order to study the effect of temperature on algal growth. To achieve this goal, raw water samples were collected from two water treatment plants for a period of six months (started in June 2003).  Nitrate and phosphate concentrations were monitored, because they influence algal growth. The effect of temperature on nutrient levels was established for both plants, and the results showed that the maximum concentrations of nitrate and phosphate occurred in June and were 0.46 and 0.027 mg/l, respectively, whereas the minimum concentrations occurred in August were 0.2, and 0.006 mg/l.  Algae growth models (Michaelis-Menten kinetics and the Eppley temperature model) were applied to the data to compare the observed and calculated growth rates. The results showed that there will be a positive trend in algal growth.  Therefore algae could significantly impact on both treatment processes and public health in the future. Algae can decrease the treatment efficiency by clogging treatment units such as the screening unit. Also heavy loads of algae affect the filtration process by increasing the sedimentation rate. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)


identifier: Delisle, Claire  (2004) Leadership and the prison experience : the Irish Republican Movement, 1971 to the present.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The mass incarceration of Republicans in the North of Ireland was a policy decision that would have far-reaching consequences for the Republican Movement, the conflict and the peace process in Ireland. Addressing the Irish political prison experience serves as a contribution toward expanding discussion of prison resistance in general, and its impact on social movements and state policy. More specifically, this thesis traces the evolution in political thinking and resistance among the captives in three distinct periods of incarceration at Long Kesh, in order to show how their time in prison influenced the nature and quality of leadership in the Republican Movement. In so doing, it reveals how the trust born of solidarity and unity of action among prisoners enhanced leadership in the Movement by making it more diffuse. In the lead-up to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, it also reveals the extent to which the prisoners assisted the Adams-McGuinness leadership in persuading the Republican community to back the peace initiative. The educational and resistance elements of their captivity coalesced to form trained politicized volunteers capable of contributing to a sustained un-armed strategy, and assisting Sinn Fein in becoming a vibrant force in the new political configuration of the North.


identifier: Cohen, Mitchell  (2005) Culture, training and negotiations : a cross-cultural study in multi-cultural Montreal.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Peaceful and cooperative negotiation is difficult at the best of times. While both sides of the negotiation table may want to bargain and reach mutually beneficial outcomes, negotiations are usually confrontational environments. Negotiators may also not see the benefits that a more cooperative negotiation strategy would bring. An objective of this study is to examine how negotiators can behave cooperatively and reach mutually beneficial outcomes.  Business is internationalizing and the Canadian population is getting more culturally diverse. Conflict due to cultural differences may rise due to this diversification. Hofstede (1980) provided evidence that differences in cultural values effect behaviours. These different values and behaviours may result in different negotiation tactics that may make cooperation more difficult. This study also investigates how differences in individualism-collectivism may affect negotiation styles and outcomes.  Research has found that knowledge and experience may make a difference in reaching mutually beneficial outcomes. Therefore, this study explores the effectiveness of training negotiators to be more cooperative when negotiating thus reaching more integrative outcomes.  Results of the laboratory study found trust was related to higher cooperation, lower competitiveness and higher outcome integrativeness. Collectivist negotiators were less competitive and reached more integrative outcomes than their individualist counterparts. Training and experience was found to decrease competitive behaviour and increase the integrativeness of negotiation outcome, providing evidence that training and experience may therefore be used to overcome cultural predispositions that may impede reaching mutually beneficial outcomes. Implications for research and management are discussed.


identifier: Kamath, Reena  (2005) An analysis of high-tech mergers during the dotcom bubble.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The S&P500 index rose by an average of 26% per year between 1995 and 1999, while the tech-dominated NASDAQ composite index earned returns of approximately 42% per year. Subsequently, in 2000, the market index fell by almost 11%; at the same time, the NASDAQ fell by about 41%. These changes reflect the way in which investors perceived high-tech firms as highly performing firms to be targeted by acquiring firms.  In this paper, I examine the performance of bidders acquiring high-tech targets. First, I find positive abnormal returns for the bidders during 1996-2003. Using the market model and a control-firm approach, I find that abnormal returns were higher before the stock market crash of 2000. Second, I determine the relation between the characteristics of bidders and their excess returns. A positive relationship between managerial ownership and abnormal returns is observed. Third, I study the changes in the accounting-based performance measures of the bidders, and find that high-tech acquisitions completed before the crash were accompanied by poor post-acquisition performance, over a one-year comparison window. Finally, I also find evidence that cash-rich bidders acquired high-tech targets to seize growth opportunities, and as a result, earned high abnormal returns. Overall, my results suggest that investors were overoptimistic about the future performance of high-tech mergers, but have lowered their expectations over time


identifier: Iliev Gerov, Matey  (2005) The predictive power and economic effectiveness of trading rules strategies : application of VMA (p, q, r) and TRB (p, r, d) conditional models to Canadian equity market.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study evaluates the predictive power and economic effectiveness of ten variable-length moving average (VMA) and six trading range break-out (TRB) rules applied to S&P/TSX Composite Index. It is found that VMA rules do not generate random buy and sell signals, which is consistent with trading rules having predictive power. By capturing negative risk premia, the rules reduce risk and yield significant excess returns over a simple buy-and-hold-strategy. The effect of trading costs on profitability is nontrivial; break-even two-way transaction costs suggest the rules are effective only in a low-cost trading environment. The performance of the rules is consistent; the best and the worst performing rules in-sample remain so out-of-sample.


identifier: Majid, Kashef  (2005) Exploring the growth of the television audience for the Olympic Winter Games in "non-traditional" markets.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The spectator audience for the Olympic Winter Games has been increasing in countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, New Zealand, and South Africa. This phenomenon is noteworthy because, although these countries (termed 'non-traditional' markets) rarely participate in the Winter Games, they choose to watch them.  A preliminary analysis of the phenomenon revealed two frequently recurring themes: the Olympic Brand and the Experiential Aspect of viewing the spectacle. In-depth interviews with key producers of the Olympic Spectacle revealed two additional themes: Heroes and Myths and Identification. A hermeneutic analysis of the data identified the relationships between these four key themes. The Olympic Brand and the Experiential Aspect were the two primary themes but they were strengthened by the secondary themes of Heroes and Myths and Identification. When all of the relationships between the themes had been identified, a model was created to find a single abstract theme that captured the entire model. This abstract theme was Hope (a function of yearning and probability)


identifier: Leithman, Gillian  (2004) Retirement planning : do financial means influence life satisfaction? : a comparative study of male and female retirees.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: A substantial percentage of elderly Canadian women live below the low-income cut-off. Traditional gender roles, institutional barriers and a lack of financial confidence, have hindered many Canadian women from planning for their financial well-being in old age. The current investigation studied the extent of financial preparation for retirement in a sample of 149 active and healthy retired men and women 50 years of age and older. Financial satisfaction, regret and anxiety, and life satisfaction were the outcome variables studied. The analysis of the survey data revealed that women lag significantly behind men in their financial preparations for retirement and women tend to experience somewhat more financial anxiety. The incidence of financial regret and anxiety were not high in this sample. Interviews with a subset of 14 retirees suggested that people adapt psychologically to reduced financial circumstances. All the same, anxiety was associated with a decrease in life satisfaction and financial satisfaction for all retirees. Financial regret was negatively linked to life satisfaction for men and women. Interestingly, regret decreased the financial satisfaction of women but not men. Thus, women who have cause to regret previous saving decisions are at risk of decreased financial satisfaction and life satisfaction.


identifier: Vasylchenko, Olena  (2005) Relationship governance mechanisms of the IT outsourcing deals : transaction cost and relational exchange perspectives.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: As companies' budgets devoted to information technology (IT) outsourcing continue to expand, effective IT provider management becomes one of the most critical administrative skills of the 21st century (Heckman, 1999). Yet to this day, there is no agreement among researchers and practitioners with regard to the main research question of this thesis: How IT buyer-supplier relationships should be managed in order to ensure the relationship success?  Adopting an integrative approach to IT outsourcing governance based on both Transaction Cost and Relational Exchange perspectives, a novel IT outsourcing relationship management model is proposed in this thesis with a goal to investigate and explain how formal/contractual and informal/relational governance mechanisms employed by the parties of the IT outsourcing dyads may complement each other in their effect on the overall relationship success. The conceptual model is tested and further developed when applied to five cases of IT outsourcing deals in Canadian insurance and airline industries. The findings not only show support for the integrative approach to IT outsourcing, but also reveal how informal and formal governance mechanisms may complement each other by playing different roles within interorganizational financial, service, and informational exchanges. It appears that in the successful IT outsourcing deals the parties actively practice formal/contractual management of the financial exchanges between them, while resorting to informal/relational governance of interorganizational service exchanges. Well developed both formal and informal information exchanges between organizations seem to be essential to the IT outsourcing relationship success.


identifier: Lazrak, Skander  (2005) Market microstructure around three corporate announcements.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis examines various aspects of the market microstructure around three important corporate events. These important corporate events are stock splits, corporate acquisitions and earnings announcements. The second chapter (first essay) investigates the microstructure effects of stock splits. We find that the price range theory explains the stock splits of high price stocks and information plays an essential role in the explanation of stock splits for low price stocks. While global liquidity decreases post-split, trading activity as measured by the number of trades increases. The temporary component of the spread increases while the directional change for the permanent component is indeterminate. Uninformed traders intensify their trading activities relatively more than informed traders after stock splits. While the probability of new information arrival remains unchanged, the probability of a bad event and of informed trading decreases after stock splits. In addition, temporary volatility increases while true price volatility decreases post-split. Consistent with the extant literature, stock splits attract small or uninformed traders. Whether attracted by the lower per-share price, the newly promoted stock or the decrease in the probability of informed trading, uninformed traders are the essential cause of the increase in trading activity, trading cost and return volatility after stock splits. The third chapter (second essay) investigates the microstructure effects of acquisitions. The intensification of trading activity upon announcement of such offers is more dramatic for targets than for bidders. Investors are more inclined to sell targets upon announcement using direct market orders against ask limit orders when the tender offers involve cash due to portfolio rebalancing and profit realization motives. Liquidity improves for targets with a fall in trading costs, and with an increase in quoted dollar and share depth. Both trading costs and quoted depth fall continuously over the tender offer cycle to successful completion for the acquirers. Increased trading causes the temporary trading cost to fall farther for targets than for acquirers. Permanent trading costs decline over the tender offer cycle, and especially for targets for cash tender offers and for acquirers for share tender offers. These findings based on method of payment are related to the good and bad news, respectively, that are revealed by the announcement and realization of the tender offer, respectively. The fourth chapter (third essay) analyzes trading on the various trading venues for Canadian firms that are cross-listed on the main US trading venues around earning announcement dates. We first show that the Canadian trading venues lost their trade advantage in terms of trade cost compared to their US counterparts for trading Canadian cross-listed shares. However, the Canadian market still retains the dominant part of trade volume and Canadian dealers offer greater market depth. There is also no preference ordering among the top three US listing venues for Canadian shares based on trade cost. Both trading legs have similar proportions of informed trading during off-announcement days. They both react simultaneously to earnings news. However, on announcement day, most informed traders trade on the domestic Canadian market. We claim that the domestic Canadian market is much more informative during announcement dates than its US competitors


identifier: Reid, Susan E  (2005) Market vision for radically-new, high-tech products.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Market Vision (MV) and Market Visioning Competence (MVC) are critical concerns when developing successful, radically-innovative products. The inherent risks and rewards associated with such high-stake ventures require that firms create a long-term vision to guide their effort. A clear and compelling vision about the product-market opportunities associated with radically new ventures can help firms achieve a significant competitive advantage, which ultimately can lead to superior financial results.  Despite today's increased rate of discontinuous innovation and hence the importance of having effective MV and MVC, there are major gaps in this area of knowledge and research. Thus, the first objective of this dissertation is to develop an in-depth understanding of the concepts that entail MV and MVC for radically new high-tech products. In line with this, the research determines: the specific variables (and associated measures) that comprise these two concepts, to what extent they are distinct, and how they are related. The second objective is to test whether MVC and MV are linked to Early Performance in the development of radically-new, high-tech products.  Exploratory and objective empirical research, in addition to a literature review, helped define MV as "a clear and specific mental model/image that organizational members have of a desired and important product-market for a new advanced technology", and MVC as "a set of individual and organizational capabilities that enable the linking of advanced technologies to a future market opportunity". Based on samples of firms involved in early technology development, the measurement study suggests that four factors underly MVC (Networking, Idea Driving, Proactive Market Orientation Market Learning Tools) and five factors comprise MV (Clarity, Magnetism, Specificity, Form, Scope). Structural equation modeling demonstrates that MVC significantly and positively impacts MV and that each of these constructs significantly and positively influences separate elements of Early Performance. In addition, moderators were studied to explore their impact on the main structural relationships. This is the first empirical study to develop scales to measure each of these main constructs and to combine them in a comprehensive model with Early Performance metrics.


identifier: Mercado, Robert  (2005) The strains of cynical consciousness in Albert Camus.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The aim of this thesis is to determine that which constitutes cynical consciousness within the works of Albert Camus, as well as to consider the ways in which Camus' thought is guided by his intention to put forth a theory that is guided by humanistic valuations. It is therefore necessary to probe the interplay of the leading influences in Camus' intellectual make-up, which bring forth the tensions within Camus' humanistic project. It is shown that the strains of cynical consciousness arise from Camus' admiration for both the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche and the literature of Fyodor Dostoevsky, with Dostoevsky understood as being a particularly authoritative figure within Camus' intellectual and creative temperament. The argument, then, is that Camus' fiction can be understood as an internal dialogue between the precepts of his humanistic stance and Dostoevsky's Christian existentialist position. As a result, Camus' humanism is characterized by the concepts of rehabilitation and reform, and his literary works can thus be understood as a critical assessment of the Nietzschean ideas of affirmation and metaphysical rebellion. It is concluded that Camus' unfettered zeal for Dostoevsky's "literature of interiority" is likewise driven by the idea of metaphysical rebellion. At the same time, it is argued that the pervasiveness of both Nietzsche and Dostoevsky's influence on Camus' thought severely limits the viability of Camus' humanist ethics and therefore restricts Camus' creative license.


identifier: Haskins, Heather Victoria  (2005) Now you see them, now you don't : the critical reception of women's work at the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society, 1888-1916.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This preliminary study of the critical reaction to the work of women practitioners in the decorative arts in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods, has been undertaken in order to further an understanding of the voices which contributed to constructions of contemporary femininity. It investigates the reactions of critics to the work of 730 women who contributed to four exhibitions of the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society in London, held in 1888, 1890, 1903 and 1916. The press policy of the ACES, together with the context of contemporary art criticism practices and background information on the critics and periodicals used, are set out in Chapter 1. For each exhibition, critical reaction to women's work is summarised in a section of general comments on women's exhibits, and particularised with an indepth look at the reception of Kate Faulkner, May Morris, Una Taylor, Georgina Gaskin, Grace Christie and Phoebe Stabler. Periodicals which consistently reviewed women's work were from all classes, and criticism of women's decorative arts varied widely, but certain trends emerged which revealed greater support for women designers than makers, and more praise for women designers who worked in acceptable 'feminine' mediums of embroidery, jewellery, or gesso decoration. Often women were named but their work was not discussed. Women who collaborated with their husbands also found their contributions glossed over. Some women's work was discussed with feminised language, some with both masculine and feminine terms, and some with rather gender-neutral language. Formal analysis of women's decorative art was rare. Press notices of women's work dropped significantly between 1903 and 1916, due to a combination of factors. Overall the analysis of women's press reception at ACES was facilitated by knowledge of the critic and editorial policy of the periodical.


identifier: Browne, Meredith  (2005) The currency of the clinical photograph : science, photography and the dream of the legible body.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Clinical photographs, images of the body made under the auspices of science, have a powerful rhetorical effect. These seemingly objective representations have had the effect of constituting and legitimating definitions of normalcy, class, criminality, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality advanced by a range of scientific projects in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.  The development of a theoretical and methodological framework for the study of clinical photography occupies the first half of this project. Drawing on multiple disciplines, it addresses such central issues as: the rhetoric and culture of science, its relationship to the larger culture, the representation of difference, the currency of the photograph, and the role of the visual in the exercise of hegemonic power.  Three case studies using this framework follow. The first traces the range of meanings imputed to a single image between its 1878 creation and its current status as part of the Burns Archive. The second addresses the influence of modernist visual culture on the aesthetic reforms advocated in didactic manuals as part of the professionalization of clinical photography which followed World War Two. The third considers American psychologist William H. Sheldon's reliance on photography for his somatotype studies in which the definition of normal masculinity is the main, though unacknowledged, theme.  Finally, visual art practice, including my own, is considered as a complement to the scholarly approaches described above, in that both are avenues for the disruption of naturalized, common sense assumptions about human difference and the role of clinical photography in its definition.


identifier: Aftonomos, Anthony T  (2005) The stream of time irresistible : Byzantine civilization in the modern popular imagination.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Spanning a 1,123 year period between Late Antiquity and the Italian Renaissance, the Byzantine Empire was the legitimate continuation of the imperium Romanum . Although the main defender of Christianity against the encroachments of Islam in the 8 th - and 9 th -centuries and the bulwark of Western Europe until 1204, knowledge of Byzantine civilization among the general educated public remains vague, prompting the historian John Julius Norwich to refer to a "conspiracy of silence" regarding the teaching of Byzantine history in university curricula.  The reasons why the memory of Byzantine civilization has not remained prominent in the popular imagination are complex involving historical, cultural and religious factors. Hellenistic culture, and Roman legal and bureaucratic traditions within the framework of Christianity formed the unique character of Eastern Roman society. One peculiar aspect of the Byzantine religious, mystical world conceptualization which has confounded commentators since the Middle Ages is here termed as non-standard gender practices. Without an understanding of how integral these practices were to the order and functioning of the society, it is impossible to approximate an accurate rendering of Byzantine civilization. In Byzantium, these non-standard gender practices refer specifically to the influence of castrated males or eunuchs, and high-status women in governance and public life. Since Antiquity female presence in society was believed to exert an enervating effect on masculine vigor. With Christianity certain gendered states, sexual behaviors and practices came to be viewed as vitiated with a female anima, and this anima was cast by non-Byzantine chroniclers onto the whole of Byzantine civilization.  Much of our current understanding of  Byzantine civilization comes from works researched since the late 18 th -century European Enlightenment. Enlightenment intellectuals carried largely antithetical of views of clericalism and held the religiosity of the Byzantines in low regard. With the development of historiography as an academic discipline in the 19 th - and 20 th -centuries, historians have developed a more thorough understanding of Byzantine religious mysticism. This study finds that while the centrality of religion in Byzantine society is now better understood, the subject of non-standard gender practices remains problematic for scholars and colors the perception of Byzantium in the modern popular imagination.


identifier: Senack, Joy  (2004) Value, art and the market : a study in the political economy of value and the evolution of a modern art market.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Value is an ambiguous word. It is, at once, commonly used and understood, and yet one of the weightiest concepts in all of formal thought. Today, for many people, value and valuing have become synonymous with price and rare objects or even human attributes, which as a society we have endowed with an inherent sense of worthiness, seem to be reducible to a number. The purpose of this study is to investigate this connection between value and price through a case study approach which is both historical and constructive. More precisely, this study examines our underlying notions of value within the history of economic thought and aesthetics and their interplay in the evolution of a modern art market, in particular for painting. Within the context of contemporary economics, it suggests that art as a unique product of human genius, whose real (equilibrium) price is seemingly 'rudderless', may provide useful insights into broader questions regarding the basis of economic value. It argues that in order to gain a deeper understanding of value, art and the market, we need to look beyond the restrictiveness of economic models to the origins of our modern idea of art and to the art work's changing identity as a social-economic good. The underlying premise is that value is essentially socially constructed.


identifier: Wu, Kuo-Ting  (2005) Binary operation procedure for thinning process and its VLSI implementation in a pixel array circuit.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In this thesis, the design of a pixel array circuit for thinning process is presented. The research efforts of this work are on the two aspects: the processing algorithm and the circuit design. In the aspect of algorithm, a new thinning process is designed aiming at an easy implementation in a VLSI pixel array circuit. The computation is made in parallel and with a small number of direct data transfers among the neighboring pixels, which leads to a fast processing and fewer metal connections in the circuit. The effectiveness of the algorithm has been proved in the simulation.  The other aspect of this work is the design of a pixel array circuit implementing the image acquisition and the proposed thinning process


identifier: Shi, Hong Xia  (2005) Implementation of federated identity in multimedia messaging service using Liberty technology.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Multimedia messaging services (MMS) enrich the user experience and create a major new source of revenue for network operators as well as for content and service providers. The capability of multimedia messaging service center (MMSC) in delivering different types of digital content, such as music, images, and video, presents a huge opportunity for its use in mobile e-commerce. But in current e-commerce, separate logins are needed to access different service providers. This limitation prevents MMS to closely cooperate with other service providers.  The Liberty Alliance standards are intended to solve the problem of signing on repeatedly for each service provider. The Liberty Alliance defines the specifications to share identity information across service providers. However, these specifications have not been integrated into MMS.  This thesis is concerned with the design of a system wherein the MMS works with other service providers, MMS acting as Identity provider. When the user federates his/her account in MMS with the account at any of the service providers, he/she can send a service request to a service provider (SP) without being asked for his/her password with the service provider, and at the same time can have access to the MMS from web page of that service provider.  To demonstrate the feasibility of this design, a simulation system in compliance with Liberty single sign-on and federation protocol is developed in Java using a single service provider based on Liberty identity federation framework (ID-FF)


identifier: Zhang, Xiaojun  (2005) Wavelet domain image restoration using adaptively regularized constrained total least squares.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis is concerned with image restoration techniques using adaptively regularized constrained total least squares (ARCTLS) and wavelet transforms. The objective of the thesis is to improve the conventional ARCTLS algorithm by exploiting the subband properties of both the degraded image and the point spread function (PSF) of the degradation system.  First of all, two most frequently used restoration algorithms, namely, the regularized constrained total least squares (RCTLS) and its adaptive version (ARCTLS) are investigated. The solutions of the two techniques in the DFT domain are emphasized in order to reduce the computational complexity. It is shown that both techniques are very suitable for the degradation situation where the (PSF) and the observed degraded image are subject to the same type of error.  Secondly, a wavelet-domain image restoration technique using ARCTLS is presented. The 1-D and 2-D wavelet transform matrix representations are formulated for both the degraded image and the degradation convolution operator. A class of orthonormal wavelet based quadrature mirror filter bank is investigated and applied to the subband decomposition of the degraded image and the PSF as well such that the conventional ARCTLS algorithm can be employed for each subband image restoration.


identifier: Zhang, Yanxia  (2005) Stability investigation at resonance of surface micromachined comb drive for application as a power source.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis presents the results of an on-going research on fundamental issues related to comb drive and the feasibility of the microengine driven by the comb drives. Mechanical analysis and electrical properties are addressed and modeled. In order to suppress rotational motion due to the asymmetry, "balanced comb drive" with torque balance is proposed. Attention is mostly focused on the stability at high frequency in the cases where a cantilever is attached to the comb drive, either for transferring motion to coupling structure or for optical switching. Different measurement approaches in frequency domain are discussed. Theoretical formulas are derived and analyzed.  In this work, both balanced and unbalanced comb drives, with or without rack and pinion engagement are fabricated using MUMPs technology. Post-processing, including HF release, application of lubricant and bonding is carried out afterwards. Experiments in probe station and SEM, and frequency domain measurements at atmosphere are carried out. Balanced comb drives exhibit superior stability both in SEM observation and spectrum analysis


identifier: Zhang, Ting  (2004) Performance of distributed fiber Raman amplifiers with incoherent pumps.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In 2003, Ahura Company first introduced the high-power incoherent Raman pump, and illustrated the basic property of this pumping is to provide flat gain. After that, no paper relate to incoherent pumping has been published. In this thesis, distributed fiber Raman amplifiers (DFRAs) with incoherent pumping are investigated and the DFRAs performances are compared to those with the conventional coherent pumping for the first time. To achieve accurate modeling, a theoretical model, which includes effects of multiple-path interference (MPI), anti-Stokes, and Rayleigh scattering, is used, and a new Raman gain coefficient scaling method is employed in modeling. Theoretical modeling of incoherent pump is also given. First of all, these models are verified and proved to be accurate. Investigations are based on the above models for DFRAs with one or more incoherent pumps. By comparing the performance between the two types of DFRAs, we confirmed that DFRAs with incoherent pumping can have a much flatter gain than those with coherent pumping, and made the following contributions: (1) The gain ripple, the most important factor in the design of DFRAs, is reduced exponentially in dB with the increase of spectral width of incoherent pumps; while the average Raman gain, for the same pump power as coherent pumping, decreases linearly in dB and noise performance is degraded slightly due to the reduction of the Raman gain. (2) Keeping the spectral width un-changed and increasing the incoherent pump power improves the average Raman gain and noise performance, but noise is still slightly worse than coherent pumping for the same Raman gain level. (3) When multiple pumping is used, the number of pumping wavelengths is reduced significantly for the same gain ripple if incoherent pumping replaces coherent pumping.


identifier: Mansour, Tarek  (2005) Implicit geometric representation of gas turbine blades for optimal shape design.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This work is concerned with the development and integration of two geometric representations of turbine blade profiles that are appropriate for aerodynamic optimization. The first model is the Modified Rapid Axial Turbine Design (MRATD) model where the blade is represented by five low-order curves that satisfy fifteen designer parameters; this model is suitable for a global search of the design space. The second model is based on a Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline (NURBS) parametrization that implicitly represents the MRATD profile and the implied designer parameters; this model can be used for a local shape refinement. The two models are presented and are assessed for flexibility, accuracy and curve smoothness when representing several typical turbine blade profiles. The models are also assessed in terms of their effect on the blades aerodynamic performance as measured by the pressure distribution along the blade surfaces. The usefulness of the MRATD model is demonstrated in the global shape optimization of a subsonic cascade. The NURBS parametrization provides a means to control the blade profile locally, e.g., the blade curvature near a point smoothened by adjusting the NURBS control points and corresponding weights defining the given region. Finally, a 3D blade design model that uses the NURBS skinning technique is developed and assessed in terms of its precision and smoothness. This 3D model sets the foundation towards developing a robust scheme for 3D aerodynamic optimization.


identifier: Ibrahim, Md  (2005) Effect of notch size on the reliability of composite laminates based on stochastic finite element analysis and experimental investigation.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This work considers the reliability of notched composite laminates based on stochastic mechanics. The reliability of composite laminates with different notch sizes is evaluated using point stress criterion and average stress criterion. Reliability values are calculated based on the stresses developed over certain characteristic distances from the notch edge and the strength of the corresponding un-notched laminates. In practical applications, it is very difficult to achieve a perfect circular profile during the drilling operation on a composite laminate and also there is a possibility that the driven hole is offset from the desired location. These imperfections affect the reliability of the laminate. In the present work the perturbation in the circular profile of the hole is modeled using a hypotrochoid variation and further, the location of the hole center is modeled using a Gaussian random variable. Tests are conducted on specimens made of graphite/epoxy material to determine the material properties that are required for stochastic analysisn.


identifier: Arshad, Wasim  (2005) Static and buckling analyses of curved metallic and composite beams using hierarchical FEM.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The conventional finite element formulation has limitations in performing the static and buckling analyses of composite curved beams. The hierarchical finite element formulation provides us with the advantages of using fewer elements and obtaining better accuracy in the calculation of displacements, stresses and critical buckling loads. The hierarchical finite element formulation for uniform curved beams made of isotropic and composite materials is developed in the present work. Two sub-formulations of hierarchical finite element method viz. polynomial and trigonometric sub-formulations have been developed. The efficiency and accuracy of the developed formulation are established in comparison with the closed form solutions for uniform isotropic and composite curved beams. The central deflection values of uniform isotropic and composite curved beams are evaluated using the hierarchical finite element method. The critical buckling loads of composite curved beams are calculated based on the developed formulation and the results are validated with the approximate solution by the Ritz method. A detailed parametric study encompassing the influences of boundary conditions, laminate configuration, and the internal degrees of freedom is performed to see their effect on the central deflection and the critical buckling load. The NCT-301 graphite-epoxy composite material is considered in the analysis and in the parametric study.


identifier: Islam, A. S. M. Shawkatul  (2005) A comparative study of advanced suspension dampers for vibration and shock isolation performance.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Electro-Rheological (ER) and Magneto-Rheological (MR) fluid based advanced suspension dampers are emerging to be the next generation of suspension dampers. ER damper and MR damper have gained wide spread attention in academia as well in auto industries due to their attractive features and promising performance potential to overcome the limitations of existing dampers in market. This work presents a comprehensive study of four different suspension dampers, where each are modeled, validated and assigned a set of parameters to facilitate a comparison of performance. The dampers considered include linear passive damper, two-stage asymmetric non-linear damper, ER damper and MR damper. The vibration and shock isolation performance of the dampers are compared using a four degree-of-freedom pitch plane ride model. A wide range of performance measure is considered in this investigation, namely--sprung and unsprung mass responses, relative motions, drift, pavement load etc. The study reveals superior vibration and shock isolation performance of ER damper and MR damper for vehicle sprung mass compared to linear passive damper and asymmetric non-linear damper. Since the dampers are designed as symmetric in compression and rebound, they are immune from ride height drifting problem. At higher frequencies (above 10 Hz), the dampers transmit higher load to pavement compared to other two. The study suggests that asymmetricity should be included in the design of these dampers to achieve improved performance over the entire frequency range. A properly tuned MR damper with controller to provide asymmetric characteristics has the most potential for superior performance for all responses.


identifier: Komanduri, Vishnuvardhan Nagarajan  (2005) Dynamic behavior of drill-shaft-drive assembly subjected to cutting loads.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Drilling is one of the most important and common machining operations carried out in manufacturing industry. In drilling, the parameters such as hole-roundness, location and size, and interior surface finish are important for the proper functioning in the assembly. All of these parameters are related to the orbital motion of the drill during the drilling operation, which mainly arises from the lateral vibrations of the twist drill in a plane. In order to understand the dynamics of the process during drilling, a simplified two-dimensional model for the transverse motion of the drill rotating in a hole with clearance is employed. The model includes parameters such as the drill rotational speed, clearance between the drill and the hole, stiffness ratio of workpiece and drill, dry friction between the workpiece and the drill, and cutting force modulation factor. The effects of these parameters on the drill orbital motion and hole-quality of the workpiece are investigated.


identifier: Bhaskar, Avinash Kuppar  (2004) Synthesis of electrostatically actuated optical micromirrors.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) or Micro System Technology (MST) has gained a lot of focus in recent years from technologists, as it has evolved as a promising technology having applications in diverse fields such as telecommunications and medicine. Synthesis of one of the micro devices namely, the torsional micromirror that falls under the sub-category of Micro Opto Electro Mechanical Systems (MOEMS) is studied in this thesis. Synthesis involves the comprehensive design, fabrication of micromirrors validated with testing in the present work. The synthesis is carried out in the presence of electrostatic effects on micromirrors.  In the present work the effect of main and counter electrostatic fields on 90{493} and one dimensional scanning micromirrors are analyzed. In the case of 90{493} mirror, a stopper is introduced whose electrostatic field improves the tilting angle by increasing the net electrostatic force acting on the micromirror. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)


identifier: Rao, Nakka Purushotham  (2004) Design and fabrication of a micromachined tactile sensor for endoscopic graspers.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The present day endoscopic graspers are designed to be tooth-like in order to grasp slippery tissue during Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS). However they do not have any sensing device to provide the surgeons any tactile feedback. This thesis describes the design, fabrication and testing of a micro-machined tooth-like tactile sensor, which can be integrated with the tip of an endoscopic grasper.  The sensor consists of three parts; the first part is a 25-micron polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) film. The second part is made of a silicon substrate with cavities etched using anisotropic etching of silicon. The bottoms of the cavities are covered with a layer of aluminum. The two parts then are bond to each other in such a way that the lower aluminum layer of PVDF is facing the bottom of the cavities forming a parallel plate capacitor with the aluminum layer in the cavity. The third layer is a 0.5mm thick toothlike plexiglass glued on the top of the PVDF.  The static response of the sensor is obtained by applying a static force on the tooth and measuring the change in capacitance between the bottom electrode of the PVDF film and the electrode deposited on surface of the etched cavity. The dynamic response of the device is determined by applying a sinusoidal force on the tooth of the sensor and measuring the output voltage from the PVDF film. The experimental results are compared with both analytical and finite element results. The sensor exhibits high sensitivity and linearity. The sensor can also be integrated with a commercial endoscopic grasper without changing its original design.


identifier: Ge, Jianliang  (2004) Analysis and testing of MEMS structures subjected to random environment.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In many applications, MEMS structures are subjected to environments that are stochastic in nature. It could be random loading in the case of pressure sensors. On the other hand, due to random vibration of the body in which MEMS devices are attached, they are usually subjected to random base excitation. Therefore, in general MEMS structures are subjected to random environments which may be either random loading or random base excitation. Moreover, as the operating environments of MEMS structures are random, the performance response such as stress, strain, and displacement of the structures are consequently random. In order to explore the dynamic performance of MEMS structures under random environments, the concepts of spectral density function, variance and covariance and the finite element method have to be studied and employed. Random vibration models of multi-degree-of-freedom system and continuous structures have been developed and applied to MEM structures under random loading and base excitation. Experimental results are also conducted on typical MEM structures to verify the analytical model. Moreover, from application point of view the response of a tire pressure due to random pressure fluctuation inside the tire has been studied and a formulation has been proposed to obtain the spectral density function of the tire pressure with respect to the random pavement roughness. The reliability of MEMS structures in random environments has also been addressed briefly.


identifier: Shastri, Mayur Nishikant  (2004) Design optimization of fork and join open assembly systems via simulation metamodeling and genetic algorithms.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Fork and Join Assembly Systems are increasingly being used in modern manufacturing systems. Due to the complexities in their configurations, designing such systems for an optimal performance may pose a number of challenges. Because of the involvement of large system parameters and variables, designing an assembly system is not an easy task. This study presents a design optimization approach in Fork and Join Open Assembly Systems. Optimal buffer allocations to accommodate the work-in-process inventories in such systems are optimized in an attempt to maximize the overall system production rate. Fundamentally the problem is a stochastic, nonlinear, combinatorial optimization problem with discrete decision variables. Because of the nature of the problem, it is extremely difficult to find any closed-form expression to determine the expected value of the production rate. Hence discrete event simulation is used to estimate the expected value of the production rate. Then simulation model coupled with genetic algorithms is used to find optimal buffer configuration for maximum production rate. Results obtained proved the efficiency of simulation optimization method. However, simulation is extremely time consuming due to lengthy computational requirements for most of the real life problems. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)


identifier: Rum, Farshad  (2004) Discretized bounded sliding mode control for simulation of differential-algebraic systems.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Sliding mode control has recently proved to be a highly effective method for state space modeling of differential-algebraic equation systems (DAEs). Sliding control realizations have great potential for simulation since they allow more computationally efficient robust modeling approximations to be constructed for DAE systems. However, efficient discretization of such methods poses a significant problem due to the well known chattering phenomena that often occurs due to limited computational bandwidth. While some errors are inevitable due to limited bandwidth, the chattering phenomenon can be reduced by minimizing the frequency at which the system crosses the sliding surface. In this work, we find relations between controller parameters, error bounds, and the crossing frequency. They are then used to synthesize efficient discretized sliding mode realizations that optimize crossing frequency and the associated controller sampling period. Together, these results form an efficient discretized bounded sliding mode control approach for simulation of differential-algebraic systems.


identifier: Peña Coronel, José Marco Antonio  (2005) Biodynamic characterization of seated occupant under horizontal vibration /cJosé Marco Antonio Peña Coronel.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The seated occupant responses to whole body vibration have been widely investigated, mostly under vertical vibration stimuli. The vibration environment of heavy road and off-road vehicles also comprises significant components of horizontal vibration, with magnitudes either comparable to or higher than those of the vertical vibration. It is thus desirable to investigate the seated body responses to horizontal vibration. This study concerns with characterization of the biodynamic responses in terms of apparent mass and the power absorbed by seated human occupants exposed to longitudinal and lateral vibration in the 0.5-10 Hz frequency range under automotive seating postures. The measured data revealed consistent trends in view of the factors considered, namely, the posture (back supported or unsupported), as well as the direction, magnitude, type and frequency of vibration. The results suggest strong influence of the acceleration magnitude, the back support condition and the type of whole-body vibration. The peak magnitudes of APMS and absorbed power revealed good correlation with the body mass, suggesting increased energy absorption by heavier subjects. The vibration energy absorption properties of the seated body in the low frequency range revealed highest correlation with the anthropometric factors and the magnitude of the stimulus. The data is expected to serve as a basis for developing mechanical equivalent models of the occupant for seating dynamics applications, and to enhance knowledge on the human behaviour under exposure to horizontal vibration.


identifier: Yu, Hang  (2005) Free form sketching system for product design using virtual reality technology.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Computer Aided Design (CAD) systems are inadequate for conceptual design process particularly for sketching. Conventional paper sketching is commonly used for catching the initial inspirational imagination of designers. It is difficult for designers and decision-makers to understand stereoscopic impressions with a two-dimensional (2D) representation. Yet, such designs require a time-consuming process to replicate 2D sketches in computer, in three-dimensional (3D) form using one of the available CAD software. Hence, the demand for a system where the initial design process is performed directly in computer so that the design modifications and the format changes can be done efficiently has been increasing among designers. In this thesis, a free form conceptual design system that allows designers to perform conceptual design directly in computer is introduced. In this method, surfaces of products are created and modified directly and intuitively through control points in 3D space. The artist performs the design process freely and unconstraintly in 3D space by operating his/her hands wearing data gloves. In our system, conceptual design is simply realized in computer.


identifier: Tarczay, Anthony  (2005) Study of distributed occupant-seat interactions as an objective measure of seating comfort.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The automotive interior is characterized as a confined workspace into which the occupants are required to adapt in order to perform the normal driving and vehicular control tasks. As part of the interface between the driver and the automobile, the automotive seat must provide the occupant with a comfortable environment in which driving can be performed in a safe and comfortable manner. Prolonged exposure to excessive loading on the body in the seated position is related to discomfort and pain. Seating comfort has been found to be a complex function of the occupant anthropometry, the seated posture and many seat design factors. The characterization of the interactions between the occupant and the seat under various conditions thus constitutes an important goal for enhancing the knowledge of essential design factors that could yield improved seating comfort.  The occupant-seat interactions are investigated through measurement and analysis of the generalized and distributed contact forces and pressures at the body-seat-pan and body-backrest interfaces of a total of three different automotive seats. The contact force, contact area, and peak and mean pressure responses are analyzed as a function of the occupant anthropometry, the seated posture and the seat design features. Single and multi-factor statistical analyses are performed for the response data to identify the significance of the experimental factors considered in this study


identifier: Sun, Xiu Yu  (2004) Application of the design structure matrix methodology to the design of a motorized wheel.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Effective engineering management tools are imperative in today's competitive environment. The Design Structure Matrix (DSM) is a tool that is used to plan and organize the product development process efficiently. The DSM is based on information flows between activities in the development process. All design tasks and their relationships are expressed in matrix form. Through algorithms designed to reorganize the matrix, an efficient execution order of development activities can be proposed. In addition, the DSM has a numerical function that evaluates the design process quantitatively in order to estimate the total time required to complete a project. In this thesis, three design models are presented in the application of the DSM in the product development process of an actual product: a motorized wheel. The detailed process of applying the DSM method in the product development process will be presented.


identifier: Eid, Pedro Maroun  (2005) TViz : a taxonomy visualization tool.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: TViz : a taxonomy visualization tool

abstract: The Semantic Web is an emerging science in the world of computer information processing. RACER, a robust semantic web engine, represents the core of a semantic web system. The engine offers various inference services that return information about a given ontology, for instance, to compute its associated taxonomy of concept names. The taxonomy is generated in a form called the "TBox subsumption hierarchy" although it is not necessarily a true hierarchy. Since humans are more comfortable reading a graphical structure than a textual one, RACER needs a visualization tool in order to visualize taxonomies after processing them. Also, a graph delivers statistical information in addition to its easy interaction capabilities.  In this thesis, we present TViz, a tool capable of visualizing large numbers of nodes representing the TBox subsumption hierarchy, using the Cone Tree layout. TViz, customized for taxonomy visualizations, gets its input from a text file that is created after streaming the information from RACER. TViz consists of three components: (1) a parser that parses the information obtained from the RACER server using a specific grammar, (2) an engine that simplifies and changes the non-hierarchical structure into a hierarchical tree, and (3) a graphics engine that graphs the hierarchical tree using the Cone Tree layout. The graphics engine handles the graphics, the user interface, and tools and is written using OpenGL and GLUI multiplatform libraries. TViz implements useful tools for an easy exploration of a dense environment such as the Compass, the Local View and the Information Window and is implemented using standard C/C++ multiplatform libraries


identifier: Das, Kedar Chandra  (2005) Secured communication through NAT-PT.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Secured communication through NAT-PT

abstract: This thesis deals with the study of Network Address Translation-Protocol Translation (NAT-PT), its limitations, and the way of avoiding the drawbacks of the protocol. NAT-PT is a transition mechanism for establishing communication between an IPv6 network and legacy systems. RFC 2766 describes the semantics of this mechanism. However, the proposed mechanism as described by RFC 2766 has a number of serious drawbacks that are of primary concern to its users. Due to these limitations, this mechanism is not widely accepted by the Internet community. Some of the most critical limitations of the proposed NAT-PT have been identified as end-to-end security, scalability, DoS attacks, etc. NAT-PT does not allow network layer and, in some cases application layer end-to-end security. As a result, the use of NAT-PT increases the threats to the existing vulnerable network security. The current study addresses the security related drawbacks of the existing NAT-PT model, and proposes a modified NAT-PT model. The modified model is able to establish secured communication between IPv6 and IPv4 as well as to correct other problems that may arise from the use of the existing NAT-PT. In addition, the current study also outlines a formal validation of the NAT-PT model with a model checker tool SPIN, which is a very powerful validation tool for distributed systems


identifier: Ansari, Sabeel  (2005) A generalization of the face routing algorithm to some non-planar networks.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Since ad hoc networks run on limited resources, traditional routing algorithms designed for wired networks are not suitable for them. Routing algorithms which use the geographical location information of nodes are called position-based routing algorithms. In such algorithms, the ad hoc network is modeled as a geometric graph known as the unit disk graph. The FACE ROUTING algorithm is one such position-based routing algorithm which guarantees delivery without flooding control packets throughout the network. In this work, we propose an extension to the F ACE ROUTING algorithm for a particular set of non-planar graphs, called Face Routing On Networks with Crossings ( FRONC ). FRONC guarantees delivery on a network that can be obtained from a planar graph by the addition of disjoint crossing edges.