identifier: Al-Mashta, Sarmad  (2010) Integrated cost budgeting and cost estimation model for building projects.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Cost estimation is an essential skill in the construction industry. For each stage in the project life cycle, conceptual design till decommissioning, there are particular techniques to perform cost estimation. Starting from the preliminary design stage, cost estimates progressively become more detailed and more challenging as a task that requires more man-hours. Consequently, it is not feasible to be performed repetitively. Considering this, detailed cost estimates are only performed at specific points during the design and at the bidding; leaving gaps were project cost can grow out of control. This research proposes a methodology to develop an integrated cost budgeting and cost estimation model for building projects. The proposed model is implemented by integrating an automated quantity take-off system, with a relational database to generate cost estimate reports. The dynamic environment of the proposed model, streamlines the preparation of cost estimates in order to reflect, virtually instantly, the impact of changes in project scope on the cost. Accordingly, decision makers will be able to; venture various scenarios to meet the client budget without compromising the project quality, save tremendous amount of resource-hours allocated to prepare cost estimates and cut down design process cost. The benefits of such a model can extend well beyond the doors of engineering offices to tremendously reduce the time required by contractors for preparing bidding estimates.


identifier: Moradi, Maziar  (2010) Analytical modeling of drain-current characteristics of AIGaN/GaN HFETs with incorporation of the impacts of virtual-gate and transferred-electron effect.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract: GaN-based heterostructure field effect transistors (HFETs) have gained considerable attention in high-power microwave applications. So far, unsurpassed current levels and high output power at microwave frequencies have been achieved. However, the dominant factors limiting the reliability of these devices under high-power operation are still unsettled. Drain current collapse is one of the major encumbrances in the development of reliable high-power devices in this technology. In this thesis, an accurate and versatile analytical model based on the concept of virtual gate formation due to the existence of acceptor type surface states is developed to model the current-collapse phenomenon. The implementation of this simple and at the same time precise analytical model demonstrates superb agreement with the experimental observations of permanent/semi-permanent current collapse in AlGaN/GaN HFETs. An analytical model, with incorporation of transferred-electron effect, for drain-current characteristics of AlGaN/GaN HFETs is also presented. Oftentimes, the transferred electron effect is neglected in modeling the drain-current characteristics of III-V HFETs. The broader steady-state electron drift-velocity overshoot of GaN in comparison to other direct semiconductors such as GaAs and InP, in addition to the larger difference between the peak and saturation drift-velocity, and the wider bandgap of this semiconductor predict the importance of the incorporation of transferred-electron effect (Le. steady-state drift-velocity overshoot) in modeling the drain-current of these devices. Simulation results are compared with the results of the adoption of Ridley's mobility model which does not take into account the transferred-electron effect. Solving the Poisson's equation through a simple iterative method and considering the diffusion component of current are at the core of this model. The iterative nature of this approach has considerably relieved the outcome of the implementation from the choice of fitting parameters.


identifier: Rotenberg, Sivan  (2010) Psychometric properties of the diurnal cortisol profile in youth.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Cortisol is the end product of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA). It is released in a diurnal profile with a noticeable morning rise (cortisol awakening response) and decline throughout the day (diurnal slope). Cortisol is of interest to many researchers due to its association with negative physical and mental health consequences. For the diurnal cortisol profile to be considered a stable individual difference, it must be reliable to measure. Current knowledge of the reliability of the diurnal cortisol profile is almost entirely based on adults. The reliability in youth may differ due developmental factors, such as puberty, among other possible covariates. The present study evaluated the reliability of calculated indices and individual measures of the diurnal cortisol profile in youth aged 9 to 18 years. Three groups of youth collected five to six saliva samples per day over two to three days. Cortisol assays and calculated indices were conducted using standardized methods. Results indicated maximum peak cortisol level, the total cortisol concentration over a day (AUC TG ), and the cortisol awakening response relative to ground (AUCAG ) can be moderately reliably assessed in children and adolescents when sampled over two to three days. At least seven days are needed to obtain reliable measures of the change in cortisol concentration (AUCI , diurnal slope). Important covariates to consider include sleep duration, day of week, pubertal stage, time of awakening, and perceived stress. These findings suggest the diurnal cortisol profile in children and adolescents can be reliably assessed and reflects a stable individual difference. Methodological considerations and suggestions for future research are discussed.


identifier: Hubert, Michele  (2010) Understanding the influence of parenting on early childhood health and health care utilization.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The significant variability in the use of pediatric care points to a need for a greater understanding of factors that influence early childhood health care usage. Given parents' central role in child health and service use, the effects of several parental characteristics have been examined. However, little is known about the influence of general parenting behaviours on variations in service use. Aim: Using 250 parent-child dyads from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project, this study examined whether parental support, structure and control would influence rates of early childhood usage for different types of health services and whether these effects would be moderated by conditions of disadvantage typically associated with poorer health and service use. Results: Greater parental support increased children's rate of non-emergency care and decreased their hospitalizations rate; however, parental support was particularly important in conditions of disadvantage. For children of parents from impoverished backgrounds, more supportive parenting was associated with higher rates of non-emergency care and visits for ear infections and acute respiratory infections. In addition, greater parental structure decreased children's rates of ear infection and acute respiratory infections and tended to decrease children's rate of emergency room visit. Greater parental control decreased children's rate of emergency room visits and tended to decrease non-emergency care. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of considering broad parenting behaviours when examining variations in health and health care utilization in early childhood and it provides the theoretical basis for developing interventions aimed at parenting in high risk populations.


identifier: Cree, Tammy Lynda  (2010) All night long : an ethnographic account of Montreal client-oriented overnight workers.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This paper considers the particular challenges faced by overnight workers in Montreal. These include limited access to public childcare and public transportation, problematic shopping hours as well as safety issues. Overnight employment can also complicate social relationships, whether by preventing parents from attending their children's recitals or by preventing high school students from attending a school dance. This paper will discuss mechanisms such as shift-sleeping and rotational shifts employed by overnight employees to cope with their nocturnal schedule. An initial expectation that the focus of my analysis would be on the social exclusions faced by overnight workers, shifted to a focus on issues of inclusion, specifically how the overnight workers were able to achieve integration into a society organized principally in terms of daytime routines. Building upon existing theories of the city by Setha Low, such as the divided city and the contested city , this thesis looks at the ways in which overnight workers negotiate their experiences within the city of Montreal. Key Words: (1) Non-Standard Employment/ Shift Work (2) Security (3) Overnight Work (4) Wellness at the Workplace (5) Anthropology of Work (6) Integration/ isolation (7) Urban Spaces (8) Job Satisfaction


identifier: Maloney, Suzanne  (2010) Integrating the visual arts with a spiritually based curriculum : in, out and around the edges.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This qualitative inquiry involving six adult participants and two facilitators (one for the study portion and one for artmaking) is an examination using ethnographic methods to determine what are the challenges that educators face when using the visual arts with a spiritually based curriculum at a grass-roots community level. The project demonstrated the importance of art education in facilitating learning and meaning-making using the Ruhi Curriculum, a curriculum used by Bahá'i communities worldwide. This study concluded with three major challenges related to bringing visual arts education into a spiritually based curriculum. These challenges included: connecting the visual arts to the spiritual context being taught; integrating the activities of both the study group (study circle) and artmaking group to make connections between the text and the arts; and issues concerning the challenges of team or partnership teaching involving two instructors (facilitators) working together towards a common goal.


identifier: Bdiri, Taoufik  (2010) Positive data clustering using finite inverted dirichlet mixture models.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In this thesis we present an unsupervised algorithm for learning finite mixture models from multivariate positive data. Indeed, this kind of data appears naturally in many applications, yet it has not been adequately addressed in the past. This mixture model is based on the inverted Dirichlet distribution, which offers a good representation and modeling of positive non gaussian data. The proposed approach for estimating the parameters of an inverted Dirichlet mixture is based on the maximum likelihood (ML) using Newton Raphson method. We also develop an approach, based on the Minimum Message Length (MML) criterion, to select the optimal number of clusters to represent the data using such a mixture. Experimental results are presented using artificial histograms and real data sets. The challenging problem of software modules classification is investigated within the proposed statistical framework, also.


identifier: Alam, Arash Ashkan  (2010) Supplier selection problem ; an approach using genetic algorithms.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This research tackles a supplier selection problem composed of different suppliers with limited capacities, a client with deterministic multi-period demands and specific allowed inventory limit in each period for a single product. The objective is to select the most economical set of suppliers in order to meet the client's demand. A novel genetic algorithm and chromosome representation are proposed to find near optimal solutions. The performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with the exact approach using randomly generated data sets. In this supplier selection problem, initially proper population size is determined for three different problem sizes of small, medium and large; as the next step of the experiments, proper numbers of iterations for each problem size are found; finally, different mutation probabilities are tested for different problem sizes and the best mutation probabilities for each problem size are selected based on the calculated error. By the help of the results of the experiments and gathered information, proper population size, number of iterations, and mutation probabilities are recommended for problems with similar size and constraints. Key words: Supply Chain Management, Supplier Selection, Genetic algorithms, Optimization


identifier: Bergmame, Lana E  (2010) Physical activity and behaviour in the school context : implications for structured and unstructured physical activity settings.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Participation in physical activity play throughout the school day has been shown to foster improved classroom attention and behaviour among children (e.g., Jarrett et al., 1998; Pellegrini, & Davis, 1993); however, there is limited research examining the influence of intact, unstructured physical activity periods, such as recess, on children's subsequent classroom behaviours. Moreover, few studies have made behavioural comparisons of children within structured (i.e., Phys-Ed) and unstructured (i.e., recess) school physical activity contexts. As such, 21 elementary children ( M =10.14 years) were observed before, during, and after school recess as well as during a Physical Education class. Self- and teacher-reported behavioural measures (BASC-2; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004) and a short open-ended interview with children were also completed. Paired samples t-tests revealed no differences between children's frequency of problem and adaptive behaviour pre-recess and post-recess in the classroom. As well, no differences between children's observed behaviour patterns during structured versus unstructured physical activity periods were found. However, the results indicated that children displayed enhanced behaviour patterns, on average, during recess and Phys-Ed compared to classroom periods. In addition, children described positive and negative themes in relation to recess and Phys-Ed as well as behavioural similarities and differences across contexts. These findings provide school personnel with practical information regarding the influence of school physical activity periods on children's adaptive and problem behaviour within the elementary school setting.


identifier: Nouh, Mariam  (2010) Model-to-model transformation approach for systematic integration of security aspects into UML 2.0 design models.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Security is a challenging task in software engineering. Traditionally, security concerns are considered as an afterthought to the development process and thus are fitted into pre-existing software without the consideration of whether this would jeopardize the main functionality of the software or even produce additional vulnerabilities. Enforcing security policies should be taken care of during early phases of the software development life cycle in order to decrease the development costs and reduce the maintenance time. In addition to cost saving, this way of development will produce more reliable software since security related concepts will be considered in each step of the design. Similarly, the implications of inserting such mechanisms into the existing system's requirements will be considered as well. Since security is a crosscutting concern that pervades the entire software, integrating security solutions at the software design level may result in the scattering and tangling of security features throughout the entire design. Additionally, traditional hardening approaches are tedious and error-prone as they involve manual modifications. In this context, the need for a systematic way to integrate security concerns into the process of developing software becomes crucial. In this thesis, we define an aspect-oriented modeling approach for specifying and integrating security concerns into UML design models. The proposed approach makes use of the expertise of the software security specialist by providing him with the means to specify generic UML aspects that are going to be incorporated "weaved" into the developers' models. Model transformation mechanisms are instrumented in order to have an efficient and a fully automatic weaving process.


identifier: Veeren, Parianen  (2010) Partial acquisitions : anticipation of control offers?  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Between 1990 and 2005, 3,479 control offers were made for public U.S. targets. In only 1.21% of these cases, the control bidder had previously established a toehold. However, over that same period, we find a high incidence of partial acquisitions. Given the relative rarity of toeholds, are the partial acquisitions evidence of buyers establishing positions in anticipation of future control offers? We examine the long-run performance of targets in partial acquisitions prior to the transaction and find that partial acquisitions involving poorly-performing targets are more likely to be followed by control offers. However, in over 85% of these cases, the acquirer of control is not the same firm as the partial buyer. We find evidence suggesting that the abnormal return the time of the partial acquisition may be in anticipation of a subsequent control offer. We find preliminary evidence suggesting that bidders use substitution pricing in determining their offer premia when the control offer follows a partial acquisition. This substitution effect holds even when the control offer occurs between one and two years after the partial offer, and also if the control bidder is different from the partial acquisition bidder. These results suggest that firms are adjusting their control offer premiums in response to stock return movements that can be attributed to prior acquisition activity.


identifier: Leo, Alfin  (2010) Development of dynamic pressure sensor for high temperature applications.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Pressure measurement under high temperature environments is required in many engineering applications and it poses many practical problems. Pressure patterns are highly desirable for health monitoring for improved performance and accurate prediction of remaining life of systems used in various applications. Data acquisition in harsh environments has always been a major challenge to the available technology. Sensing becomes more intricate in case if it has to operate under extreme conditions of temperature. Propulsion system applications represent one such area that requires a sensor that is absolutely accurate and has utmost sensitivity coupled with the ability to withstand high temperature. The need for such sensors is driven by the dependence of the performance of propulsion system on pressure pattern encountered along the gas path. Associated with that, high resolution, small size, low time dependent drift and stable range of measurement will complete the performance of such Microsystems Sensors using the current technology are capable of reliable measurement for a limited time at an extremely high cost and are bulky thereby preventing online monitoring. Improvement in the durability of the sensors requires new technology and will definitely open new areas of research. A number of technologies have been lately investigated, these technologies targeting specific applications and they are limited by the maximum operating temperature. The objective of this research is to develop a dynamic pressure measurement system that would be capable of operating at high temperatures with the technology of the device based on Silicon Carbon Nitride (SiCN). The principle of operation is based on the drag effect. Silicon carbon-nitride (SiCN) is a material that has been little explored. The service temperature of SiCN is in the range of 1400°C. The structure is produced from a liquid polymer precursor that could be originally formed into any shape. The proposed micro sensor can measure dynamic pressure and detects flow which is very important to know as the flow continuity is critical in many applications. Furthermore pressure measurement can be used as a base for many aspects. For example the proposed micro sensor could be designed and packaged to be fitted in the gas turbine engine. The correlation of the acquired data from the sensors may provide valuable timely information on imminent instability in the gas flow, detect leakage, improve efficiency etc


identifier: Ghazal, Mohammed Asaad  (2010) Video object extraction in distributed surveillance systems.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Recently, automated video surveillance and related video processing algorithms have received considerable attention from the research community. Challenges in video surveillance rise from noise, illumination changes, camera motion, splits and occlusions, complex human behavior, and how to manage extracted surveillance information for delivery, archiving, and retrieval: Many video surveillance systems focus on video object extraction, while few focus on both the system architecture and video object extraction. We focus on both and integrate them to produce an end-to-end system and study the challenges associated with building this system. We propose a scalable, distributed, and real-time video-surveillance system with a novel architecture, indexing, and retrieval. The system consists of three modules: video workstations for processing, control workstations for monitoring, and a server for management and archiving. The proposed system models object features as temporal Gaussians and produces: an 18 frames/second frame-rate for SIF video and static cameras, reduced network and storage usage, and precise retrieval results. It is more scalable and delivers more balanced distributed performance than recent architectures. The first stage of video processing is noise estimation. We propose a method for localizing homogeneity and estimating the additive white Gaussian noise variance, which uses spatially scattered initial seeds and utilizes particle filtering techniques to guide their spatial movement towards homogeneous locations from which the estimation is performed. The noise estimation method reduces the number of measurements required by block-based methods while achieving more accuracy. Next, we segment video objects using a background subtraction technique. We generate the background model online for static cameras using a mixture of Gaussians background maintenance approach. For moving cameras, we use a global motion estimation method offline to bring neighboring frames into the coordinate system of the current frame and we merge them to produce the background model. We track detected objects using a feature-based object tracking method with improved detection and correction of occlusion and split. We detect occlusion and split through the identification of sudden variations in the spatia-temporal features of objects. To detect splits, we analyze the temporal behavior of split objects to discriminate between errors in segmentation and real separation of objects. Both objective and subjective experimental results show the ability of the proposed algorithm to detect and correct both splits and occlusions of objects. For the last stage of video processing, we propose a novel method for the detection of vandalism events which is based on a proposed definition for vandal behaviors recorded on surveillance video sequences. We monitor changes inside a restricted site containing vandalism-prone objects and declare vandalism when an object is detected as leaving the site while there is temporally consistent and significant static changes representing damage, given that the site is normally unchanged after use. The proposed method is tested on sequences showing real and simulated vandal behaviors and it achieves a detection rate of 96%. It detects different forms of vandalism such as graffiti and theft. The proposed end-ta-end video surveillance system aims at realizing the potential of video object extraction in automated surveillance and retrieval by focusing on both video object extraction and the management, delivery, and utilization of the extracted information


identifier: Khani, Mahboubeh  (2010) Magneto-rheological (MR) damper for landing gear system.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Depending on the different sink speeds, angles of attack and masses; aircraft landing gears could face a wide range of impact conditions which may possibly cause structural damage or failure. Thus, in hard landing scenarios, the landing gear must absorb sufficient energy in order to minimize dynamic stress on the aircraft airframe. Semi-active control systems are the recent potential solutions to overcome these limitations. Among semi-active control strategies, those based on smart fluids such as magneto-rheological (MR) fluids have received recent attraction as their rheological properties can be continuously controlled using magnetic or electric field and they are not sensitive to the contaminants and the temperature variation and also require lower powers. This thesis focuses on modeling of a MR damper for landing gear system and analysis of semi-active controller to attenuate dynamic load and landing impact. First, passive landing gear of a Navy aircraft is modeled and the forces associated with the shock strut are formulated. The passive shock strut is then integrated with a MR valve to design MR shock strut. Here, MR shock strut is integrated with the landing gear system modeled as the 2DOF system and governing equations of motion are derived in order to simulate the dynamics of the system under different impact conditions. Subsequently the inverse model of the MR shock strut relating MR yield stress to the MR shock strut force and strut velocity is formulated. Using the developed governing equations and inverse model, a PID controller is formulated to reduce the acceleration of the system. Controlled performance of the simulated MR landing gear system is demonstrated and compared with that of passive system


identifier: Pouso, Fernando Fernandez  (2010) Aggregate production planning with uncertainty for product recovery and remanufacturing.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In this research, we study product recovery and remanufacturing systems in uncertain environments. A mixed integer mathematical model for aggregate production planning is proposed. The objective is to minimize the total costs of recovering and remanufacturing end-of-life (EOL) products. Parameters such as functional costs and demands are considered uncertain. The model can be taken as a decision support tool by remanufacturing managers and to develop formal production planning and product recovery systems. The solution methodology based on possibilistic programming in Liang (2007) is applied to solve the model. The main advantage of this solution method is that it allows the decision maker to modify the parameters until a satisfactory solution is obtained. A numerical example problem is carried out to test the mathematical model with analysis of the computational results. Keywords: Remanufacturing systems; Possibilistic linear programming; production planning.


identifier: Chen, Chiu-Chih  (2010) A multi-frame super-resolution algorithm using pocs and wavelet.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Super-Resolution (SR) is a generic term, referring to a series of digital image processing techniques in which a high resolution (HR) image is reconstructed from a set of low resolution (LR) video frames or images. In other words, a HR image is obtained by integrating several LR frames captured from the same scene within a very short period of time. Constructing a SR image is a process that may require a lot of computational resources. To solve this problem, the SR reconstruction process involves 3 steps, namely image registration, degrading function estimation and image restoration. In this thesis, the fundamental process steps in SR image reconstruction algorithms are first introduced. Several known SR image reconstruction approaches are then discussed in detail. These SR reconstruction methods include: (1) traditional interpolation, (2) the frequency domain approach, (3) the inverse back-projection (IBP), (4) the conventional projections onto convex sets (POCS) and (5) regularized inverse optimization. Based on the analysis of some of the existing methods, a Wavelet-based POCS SR image reconstruction method is proposed. The new method is an extension of the conventional POCS method, that performs some convex projection operations in the Wavelet domain. The stochastic Wavelet coefficient refinement technique is used to adjust the Wavelet sub-image coefficients of the estimated HR image according to the stochastic F-distribution in order to eliminate the noisy or wrongly estimated pixels. The proposed SR method enhances the resulting quality of the reconstructed HR image, while retaining the simplicity of the conventional POCS method as well as increasing the convergence speed of POCS iterations. Simulation results show that the proposed Wavelet-based POCS iterative algorithm has led to some distinct features and performance improvement as compared to some of the SR approaches reviewed in this thesis.


identifier: Campeau, Pierre  (2010) Sweeping the ashes of a flame ; understanding the political economy of the OutGames.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The research contained in this thesis suggests multiple possible points of intersection between political economy and cultural studies. It looks at the production of the World OutGames in Montreal and the gay and lesbian commodity, and the subsequent effort to contain radical queer activism for the tourism industry and the local commercial media industry. This thesis examines the role of media in commodifying content, reflecting existing heteronorrnative ideologies and values. Specifically, this thesis examines the gay and lesbian commodity by the first World OutGames and its sponsors, and contrasts it with content analysis from local commercial media (including mainstream, free-weeklies, and gay media). The thesis concludes that the OutGames prioritized profits over activism, therefore dividing a seemingly cohesive community.


identifier: Avrith, Tanya Ann  (2010) Secondary school teachers' evaluations of an online community portal.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: If used effectively, computer supported learning environments (CSLE's) can be extremely useful communication and learning tools for both teachers and students. A template of an online community for the Lester B. Pearson School Boards computer supported learning environment, the Portal was created based on researched models. Secondary teachers at Riverdale High School in Pierrefonds, Quebec, were trained on the benefits and usages of the template so that they could integrate the design in their own curriculum. Teachers' attitudes and perceptions were examined prior to and after the training session. The template was tested out for a school year and suggestions for improvement of the design and training materials were documented. One of the teachers from the workshop was provided with follow-up training sessions where her perceptions, attitudes and feedback were examined. The researcher also actively participated in testing the template throughout the year in hopes of improving future template models and implementation strategies of the training itself


identifier: Crouse, Tara  (2010) The influence of ambient scent on hotel guests' responses.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In today's competitive hotel industry, strategic experiential branding has emerged as an effective approach to reach consumers' hearts, minds, and wallets. Strategic experiential branding entails the careful engineering of many factors to deliver a uniquely pleasurable and memorable guest experience. Atmospheric variables stand among the most important factors that hotel managers must attend to in creating such an experience. Recently, scent has emerged as an efficient way to create and brand a pleasurable hotel experience yet the bulk of scent research has focused only on a limited subset of responses associated with ambient scent and for the most part taken place in controlled laboratory settings. This thesis explores the use of ambient scent as a means to create a positive first impression in an urban hotel setting as well as a series of attitudinal, emotional, and behavioral responses associated with the scent. The first study is a survey of hotel managers' beliefs and opinions about the use of scent. The second study is a field experiment with three between-subject scent conditions. Findings reveal that a scent that matches the desired brand image leads to more favorable responses such as higher perception of comfort, higher perception of cleanliness and increased positive word of mouth intentions while the scent that did not match the desired brand resulted in higher levels of arousal. These findings contribute to the existing literature on scent as they aid hotel managers arid marketers in understanding how scent can be used in the hotel context


identifier: Golkar, Mahsa Aliakbar  (2010) Trajectory tracking and formation control of a platoon of mobile robots.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis is concerned with controlling a platoon of wheeled mobile robots (WMR), where the robots are aimed to follow a trajectory while they maintain their formation intact. The control design is carried out by considering unicycle kinematics for each robot, and the leader-follower structure for the formation. It is assumed that every robot except the one located at the end of each platoon can potentially be the leader to the one behind it. It is also assumed that each follower is capable of sensing its relative distance and relative velocity with respect to its preceding robot. The stability of the proposed control law is investigated in the case of perfect sensing and in the presence of input saturation. The impact of measurement noise on the followers is then studied assuming that a known upper bound exists on the measurement error, and a linear matrix inequality (LMI) methodology is proposed to design a control law which minimizes the upper bound on the steady-state error. The problem is then investigated in a more practical setting, where the control input is subject to delay, and that the tracking trajectory can be different in distinct time intervals. It is to be noted that delay often exists in this type of cooperative control system due to data transmission and signal processing, and if neglected in the control design, can lead to poor closed-loop performance or even instability. Furthermore, switching in tracking trajectory can be used as a collision avoidance strategy in the formation control problem. Delay dependent stability conditions are derived in the form of LMIs, and the free-weighting matrix approach is used to obtain less conservative results. Simulations are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the results obtained in this thesis.


identifier: Li, Wenxia  (2010) Optimal surrender and asset allocation strategies for equity-indexed insurance investors.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Equity-indexed annuity (EIA) products are becoming more and more popular since they were first introduced in 1995. The growing popularity stems from the fact that the EIAs allow investors to earn part or all the equity accumulated and enjoy a minimum guaranteed growth rate on the principal. An EIA investor may consider surrendering the contract before maturity and invest in the stock index in order to earn the full stock growth. He may also invest in a risk-free asset for protection from downside risk. We consider an EIA policyholder who seeks the optimal surrender strategy, and asset allocation strategy after surrender, in order to maximize his expected discounted utility at expiration of the contract that is either the maturity or his time of death, whichever comes first. We derive the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equations, satisfied by the optimal value function, and derive the optimal strategies. We find that the optimal surrender strategies appear in the form of a continuation region or two surrender boundaries. That is, the investor stays in the contract when the contract value is within the region. We also study the impact of product features, market assumptions and individual behavior patterns on the surrender boundaries


identifier: Franklin, Rosalind E  (2010) Places of everyday generosity : the philanthropy of New Foundlanders in Fort McMurray.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This qualitative study explores and interprets the dynamic interplay of place and everyday philanthropy. Drawing upon the life stories of Newfoundland migrants in Fort McMurray, Alberta, it proposes that philanthropy permits migrants to remain 'in place' in their homeland while serving as a way to reproduce their homeland in the adopted locality. The extent to which the institutions of family and community along with the particular time-space articulation of Athabasca Oil Sands industry constrain or permit this socio-spatial anchorage is examined. Tackling Fort McMurray's social segmentation of 'us' versus 'them', it contends that near strangers and distant actors create the oppositional tension for spatial pockets of intensified caring. Marie Callaghan, Brian Hatfield, Tina Burden and Andrew Bradbury left economically depressed Newfoundland to find work in oil-rich Fort McMurray, Alberta, some 4,000 kilometres away. Aged 19 to 59, fleeing 'home' at different economic downturns, at different ages, they have individually shared their unique and richly layered life stories. Augmenting these stories are archival research and participant observation. The research results are presented as triptychs. The researcher introduces the story space. A life story is offered. Lastly, the story is interpreted in relation to supplemental ethnographic research and theories of place, space, and generosity. The paper concludes by discussing the merits of research situated at the nexus of the arts and social science.


identifier: Ross, Andrew J  (2010) Probabilistic assessment of the rate of future climate change.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The chapters in this thesis examine the overall rate of future climate change as it relates to the concept of rapid climate change under a probabilistic framework for quantifying climate model uncertainty. The first study uses a simple climate model to estimate the likely range of rates of temperature change associated with the implementation and removal of climate engineering. We found that following the removal of climate engineering, high rates of temperature change were sustained for two decades; rates of change of 0.5 (0.3, 0.1) °C per decade were exceeded over a 20-year period with 15% (75%, 100%) likelihood. Our results suggest that climate engineering in the absence of deep emissions cuts could arguably constitute an increased risk of dangerous anthropogenic interference in the climate system. The second study uses an intermediate complexity climate model to assess the likelihood of varying climate system properties through the use of probability density functions of climate sensitivity and ocean diffusivity. We found that the most probable maximum rate of temperature change occurred between 0.3 and 0.5 °C per decade with a most likely value of 0.36°C per decade. Our results also suggest that changes in ocean diffusivity in the model have a significant effect on the rate of transient climate change in the upper end climate sensitivity simulations, but show little influence in the lower end. Many of the high rates of warming obtained in both studies could potentially cause widespread physical and biological damage, exceeding the adaptive capacity of healthy functional ecosystems.


identifier: RifaÏ, Oussama  (2010) Identification of novel chloroplast membranes involved in thylakoid biogenesis in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In chloroplasts, thylakoid membranes contain the complexes responsible for the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis. While much is known about their functioning, the biogenesis of these membranes and their different components is less well understood. Previous work using in situ approaches to confocal microscopy found evidence for the existence of a specific zone where the synthesis of thylakoid proteins takes place in the chloroplast of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii . Building on these findings, I used a modified approach of cellular subfractionation by sucrose-density gradient centrifugation to identify sites of thylakoid biogenesis in the chloroplast of this organism. I found evidence for the existence of distinct membrane fractions that might be involved in thylakoid biogenesis. Named high density membranes (HDM), they are higher in density than thylakoids and fractionate below them on a sucrose gradient. HDM's were found to be qualitatively different from thylakoids and contained markers of protein synthesis. Pulse-labelling experiments did not confirm that these membranes are involved in protein and lipid synthesis; however, these results also showed a departure from current models. Finally, these results suggest a potential role for these membranes in chlorophyll synthesis. We propose that these membranes are at the very least involved in the early steps of synthesis and assembly of thylakoid proteins. They are high in density in conditions of active thylakoid membrane biogenesis, whereas in the absence of thylakoid biogenesis they are not laden with ribosomes, RNA-binding proteins and newly-synthesized proteins and thus are light in density. The significance of my work is that it lays the groundwork for further characterization of HDM's in Chlamydomonas and higher plant species.


identifier: Solecki, Michal  (2010) Myostatin as a regulator of fiber size.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Myostatin as a regulator of fiber size

abstract: Myostatin is an important negative regulator of muscle mass. Disruption of the myostatin gene leads to dramatic increases of skeletal muscle mass. Skeletal muscle is highly plastic and adapts in response to changes in workload, activity and pathological conditions. In this thesis, I set out to investigate the underlying mechanisms involved in growth in the absence of myostatin. We used the myostatin knockout model in combination with synergist ablation or denervation to study growth and atrophy. During growth induced by functional overload, skeletal muscles increase their mass, midbelly and fiber cross-sectional area (CSA), and protein synthesis. The rapid growth also induces the activation and proliferation of satellite cells. In skeletal muscle, functional overload in myostatin knockout mice led to reduced growth in muscle mass and fiber size and a blunted switch of muscle fibers metabolic profile to a slower phenotype compared to their wildtype counterpart. Additionally, the distal portion of the plantaris was a region of major remodeling in both groups. Denervation through sciatic nerve section is an effective method to induce muscle atrophy. Following denervation, a rapid loss in muscle mass and fiber size occurs. Absence of myostatin did not prevent muscle mass and CSA loss in response to denervation. Moreover, no changes in the expression of MyHC isoforms were found. In conclusion, myostatin is not the only regulator skeletal muscle mass. In its absence, alternative strategies are employed to reach a different outcome of growth and no protection from muscle atrophy was observed suggesting other mechanisms at play. Show less You have requested "on-the-fly" machine translation of selected content from our databases. This functionality is provided solely for your convenience and is in no way intended to replace human translation. Show full disclaimer Neither ProQuest nor its licensors make any representations or warranties with respect to the translations. The translations are automatically generated "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" and are not retained in our systems. PROQUEST AND ITS LICENSORS SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTIES FOR AVAILABILITY, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, COMPLETENESS, NON-INFRINGMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Your use of the translations is subject to all use restrictions contained in your Electronic Products License Agreement and by using the translation functionality you agree to forgo any and all claims against ProQuest or its licensors for your use of the translation functionality and any output derived there from. Hide full disclaimer Translations powered by LEC. Translations powered by LEC.


identifier: Jafari, Saeid  (2010) Structural conrollability of multi-agent systems subject to partial failure.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Formation control of multi-agent systems has emerged as a topic of major interest during the last decade, and has been studied from various perspectives using different approaches. This work considers the structural controllability of multi-agent systems with leader-follower architecture. To this end, graphical conditions are first obtained based on the information flow graph of the system. Then, the notions of p -link, q- agent, and joint-(p, q ) controllability are introduced as quantitative measures for the controllability of the system subject to failure in communication links or/and agents. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the system to remain structurally controllable in the case of the failure of some of the communication links or/and loss of some agents are derived in terms of the topology of the information flow graph. Moreover, a polynomial-time algorithm for determining the maximum number of failed communication links under which the system remains structurally controllable is presented. The proposed algorithm is analogously extended to the case of loss of agents, using the node-duplication technique. The above results are subsequently extended to the multiple-leader case, i.e., when more than one agent can act as the leader. Then, leader localization problem is investigated, where it is desired to achieve p -link or q -agent controllability in a multi-agent system. This problem is concerned with finding a minimal set of agents whose selection as leaders results in a p -link or q -agent controllable system. Polynomial-time algorithms to find such minimal sets for both undirected and directed information flow graphs are presented


identifier: Ouellet, Alexandre  (2010) Assessing the carbon dynamics in natural and human-perturbed boreal aquatic systems.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Most lakes and reservoirs worldwide are supersaturated with respect to water concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) and methane (CH 4 ), two potent greenhouse gases (GHG). Although surface water GHG concentrations have been measured for more than three decades in lakes and reservoirs around the globe, the mechanisms leading to GHG supersaturation are still obscure, with the relative contributions of the different GHG producing processes hotly debated. In this study, we evaluated the terrestrial organic matter (OM) exports from land to aquatic systems, followed by its degradation and contribution to the surface freshwaters GHG concentrations. Natural lakes, reservoirs as well as lakes and reservoirs with a wood harvested watershed were sampled in the summer of 2007 and analyzed for a broad variety of bulk water chemical parameters and OM molecular proxies. In order to collect sufficient quantities of OM for the amino acid (AA) and lipid molecular analyses, a tangential flow filtration reverse osmosis systems (TFF-RO) was used following the evaluation of its performance for total OM possible molecular fractionation and recoveries using FTIR, stable carbon isotope signatures (e 13 C) and total organic carbon (TOC) concentrations. No significant sample fractionation or carry over was obtained with recoveries ranging between 94.6 and 106.9 % using the TFF-RO system. All lakes and reservoirs sampled in this study were supersaturated in CO2 and CH4 , with wood harvested water bodies and the reservoir having significantly higher water surface CO2 concentrations and emissions to the atmosphere compared to the natural lakes. The bulk water and OM chemical and isotopic analyses showed that the increase in terrestrial dissolved organic carbon and total nitrogen concentrations positively influenced bacterial OM degradation, which drove CO 2 production. Molecular analyses showed a direct relationship between the increases in bacterial biomarker abundances in the dissolved and sedimentary OM fractions, and higher water CO2 concentrations. This result suggests that OM bacterial oxidation is the most important process leading to GHG production in freshwater aquatic systems


identifier: Bedard, Roger  (2010) Using Boolean truth tables to evaluate property acquisition for private forest investment : a case study in Montreal's rural-urban fringe.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis offers a decision-making framework to select the best land near a city for private investment in multiple-use urban forestry. More specifically, this thesis postulates that privately financed forest restoration for multiple-use urban forestry can add green infrastructure to ecologically impoverished landscapes in a city's rural-urban fringe. A strategic framework simplifies complex decision-making in land selection problems, and here a multi-criteria Boolean algebraic truth table is used to create the framework. A truth table cell is set to either true (YES) or false (NO) by checking the land plot conditions against each land selection criteria. The selection criteria included biophysical factors, zoning types, and threat of takings. The approach is illustrated with a bottomland area along the St. Jacques River, in the City of La Prairie, in Montreal's rural-urban fringe. A major conclusion is that a Boolean decision-making framework may be useful to evaluate property acquisition before making private forest investments. Of the property selection criteria examined, stability of property rights may be the most important to consider first. While private investment in forest restoration for future uses could add new forests in urban areas, several important regulatory takings cases in the past 20 years in the Montreal region may discourage investors from making long-term investments. To encourage reforestation of underused degraded land, policy makers should consider regulatory reform, permitting multiple-use urban forestry near the city, and that this be combined with land tenure reform, thus encouraging private investment in green infrastructure.


identifier: Del Vecchio, Deanna  (2010) PhotoLit : self-expression through digital photography and creative writing.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Informed by the literature on community arts, critical pedagogy, and visual literacy, this thesis serves to summarize and analyze the teaching project I undertook for my thesis research. PhotoLit was a youth photography and creative writing workshop that I facilitated with a group of ten young people who recently immigrated to Toronto. The program aimed to engage the youth with creative means of expressing themselves and provide them with the tools and skills to think critically about their surroundings. PhotoLit was centred on the themes of self, family, and community. I used action research and reflective practice methodology to examine and improve my teaching practice.


identifier: Shabani, Arghavan  (2010) Development of impedimetric biosensors based on phage-modified microarrays, for the direct and spedific detection of bacteria.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Bacteriophages (or phages) are viruses that replicate only by entering specific host bacteria. This property has facilitated their application in specific pathogen detection. This thesis will address these issues with regard to the development of phage-based methods for the detection of bacteria. We present a novel approach for the specific detection of E. coli K12 and B. anthracis Sterne bacteria, using bacteriophages as probes. We have also adapted this system to allow for separation of specific bacteria in more complex (real) samples using phage-coated magnetic beads and a simple magnetic manipulation system. The bacteriophages were attached to electrochemically functionalized screen-printed carbon electrode (SPE) microarrays using two different methods. In the first method, T4 phage which specifically recognizes E. coli K12 , was immobilized onto SPE networks that were electrochemically functionalized using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide (EDC) in acidic media. In the second method, Gamma phage that specifically recognizes B. anthracis Sterne was immobilized onto SPE networks that were functionalized in two steps: by electrochemically generating phenyl-amino groups at the SPE surface, followed by reaction with glutaraldehyde to act as a linker. SPE surface functionalization and phage immobilization were confirmed using XPS and TOF-SIMS analysis. The phage-modified SPEs were then used to specifically detect target bacteria. Impedance measurements in the form of Nyquist plots (imaginary impedance (Z i ) versus real impedance (Z r )) show shifts due to binding of the bacteria to the phage. No significant change in impedance was observed due to binding of non-target bacteria strains. The presence of surface bound bacteria was verified by scanning electron and fluorescence microscopies. Based on these results, the feasibility of using these microarrays for the direct and specific impedimetric detection of bacteria has been demonstrated.


identifier: Chen, Guanqun  (2010) Optimization design of mth-band FIR filters with application to image processing.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Cone programming (CP) is a class of convex optimization technique, in which a linear objective function is minimized over the intersection of a set of affine constraints. Such constraints could be linear or convex, equalities or inequalities. Owing to its powerful optimization capability as well as flexibility in accommodating various constraints, the cone programming finds wide applications in digital filter design. In this thesis, fundamentals of linear-phase M th-band FIR filters are first introduced, which include the time-domain interpolation condition and the desired frequency specifications. The restriction of the interpolation matrix M for linear-phase two-dimensional (2-D) M th-band filters is also discussed by considering both the interpolation condition and the symmetry of the impulse response of the 2-D filter. Based on the analysis of the M th-band properties, a semidefinite programming (SOP) optimization approach is developed to design linear-phase 1-0 and 2-D M th-band filters. The 2-D SOP optimization design problem is modeled based on both the mini-max and the least-square error criteria. In contrast to the 1-D based design, the 2-D direct SDP design can offer an optimal equiripple result. A second-order cone programming (SOCP) optimization approach is then presented as an alternative for the design of M th-band filters. The performances as well as the design complexity of these two design approaches are justified through numerical design examples. Simulation results show that the performance of the SOCP approach is better than that of the SDP approach for 1-D M th-band filter design due to its reduced computational complexity for the worst-case, whereas the SDP approach is more appropriate for the 2-D M th-band filter design than the SOCP approach because of its efficient and simple optimization structure. Moreover, the designed M th-band filters are proved useful in image interpolation according to both the visual quality and the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) for the images with different levels of details.


identifier: Guo, Jiang  (2010) A network-based system for assessment and management of infrastructure interdependency.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Critical infrastructures (CIs) provide services that are essential to both the economy and well-being of nations and their citizens. Over the years, CIs are becoming more complex and interconnected, they are all interdependent in various ways, including logically, functionally, and geographically. The interconnection between CIs results in a very complex and dynamic system which increases their vulnerability to failures. In fact, when an infrastructure is experiencing failures, it can rapidly generate a cascade or domino effect to impact the other infrastructures. Thus, identifying, understanding and modeling infrastructure interdependency is a new field of research that deals with interrelationships between critical infrastructure sectors for disaster management. In the present research project, an integrated network-based analysis system with a user-friendly graphic user interface (GUI) was developed for risk analysis of complex critical infrastructure systems and their component interdependencies, called FCEPN (Fragility Curve and Extended Petri Net analysis). This approach combines: 1) Fragility Curve analysis of the vulnerability of the infrastructure, based on predefined "damage states" due to particular "hazards"; 2) Extended Petri Net analysis of the infrastructure system interdependency to determine the possible failure states and risk values. Two types of Extended Petri Net, Stochastic Petri Net and Fuzzy Petri Net were discussed in this study respectively. The FCEPN system was evaluated using the Bluestone Dam in West Virginia and Huai River Watershed in China as the case studies. Evaluation study results suggested that the FCEPN system provides a useful approach for analyzing dam system design, potential and actual vulnerability of dam networks to flood related impact, performance and reliability of existing dam systems, and appropriate maintenance and inspection work.


identifier: Elnady, Tarek  (2010) Experimental study of film cooling and heat transfer on a gas turbine vane with shaped holes.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Improving the film cooling technique provides more cooling capacity to withstand the harsh thermal environment in the next generation of gas turbines. A two-dimensional cascade has been designed and constructed in a subsonic wind tunnel in order to investigate the heat transfer of shaped holes over a gas turbine stator. An in-situ calibration technique has been developed to obtain the film cooling performance without disturbing the aerodynamic flow around the vane surface. Subsequently, the cooling performance of two types of shaped holes is measured at different positions over the entire surface. Firstly, a louver scheme was investigated on the convex surface of the suction side and on the concave surface of the pressure side. In addition, a proposed smooth expansion was investigated over the highly curved surface of the leading edge. The location of the hole has a high impact on the cooling performance due to the difference in curvature. The investigated blowing ratios slightly affect the cooling performance of the presented schemes due to the considerable reduction in the jet momentum that impedes the jet lift-off at exit. The shaped holes provide a higher net heat flux reduction compared with the similar cylindrical holes and other shaped holes in the literature. The contribution of this study will help to enhance the cooling performance in the next generation of gas turbines.


identifier: Rajamohan, Vasudevan  (2010) Vibration analysis and optimization of fully and partially MR-fluid treated multi-layer beams.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Magnetorheological (MR) fluid is known to exhibit rapid variations in their rheological properties when subjected to varying magnetic field and thus offers superior potential for applications in smart structures requiring high bandwidth. MR sandwich structures can apply distributed control force to yield variations in stiffness and damping properties of the structure, and thus provide enhanced vibration suppression over a broad range of external excitation frequencies. In this study, the governing equations of a three-layer beam structure employing MR-fluid layer as the mid-layer are presented in the finite element form and Ritz formulation. The validity of the finite element formulations is demonstrated by comparing the results with those obtained from the Ritz formulation and laboratory measurements performed on a prototype sandwich beam. Furthermore, the relationships between the magnetic field and the complex shear modulus of the MR material in the pre-yield regime is estimated through the free vibration experiment of the prototype MR sandwich beam. Simulations are performed to derive the essential properties (natural frequencies and loss factors), and the dynamic response of the multilayered structure as functions of the applied magnetic field and thickness of the MR-fluid layer under different boundary conditions. A concept of a partially-treated multi-layer MR fluid beam is proposed to achieve a compact and cost effective design. Laboratory experiments are performed on a partially treated beam and the data are used to demonstrate the validity of both the finite element and Ritz formulations. The properties of partially treated MR-fluid beams are evaluated to investigate the influences of the location and length of the treatment for different boundary conditions, and compared with those of the fully-treated beams. The damping performance of the partially treated MR multilayer beam is studied in terms of the modal damping factors corresponding to different modes that are evaluated using the principle of modal strain energy in the finite element model. The results showed enhanced stiffness and damping properties of the MR-treated beams with increasing magnetic field intensity. A design optimization problem is then formulated to achieve maximum modal damping factors by combining the finite element analysis with the genetic algorithm and sequential quadratic programming optimization algorithms. Optimal configurations of partially treated beams are identified for realizing maximum damping factors corresponding to the first five modes, individually or simultaneously. An optimal control strategy based on the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) IS subsequently formulated to achieve enhanced vibration suppression for the fully- and partially treated beams. A state estimator based on the flexural mode shapes (FMS) is introduced and implemented to synthesize a full-state feedback controller design. The validity of the proposed FMS-based LQR controller is demonstrated by comparing the results with those obtained with observer-based LQR controller. The effectiveness of both the control strategies is demonstrated by investigating the tip displacement response to an impulse and a white noise disturbance for different boundary conditions. The results show that the settling time, peak displacement and FFT amplitude corresponding to each mode of the system have significantly been reduced in the controlled structure. The closed loop power spectral density of the tip displacement response due to the white noise disturbance confirms the controllable capability of the LQR controller in semi-active control to attenuate the vibration of the MR sandwich beam under high band frequencies


identifier: Péron, Marie  (2010) Culture warriors : education and awareness at the Inaugural National Indigenous Art Triennial organized by the National Gallery of Australia, 2007-2009.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis discusses the inaugural National Indigenous Art Triennial: Culture Warriors organized and hosted by the National Gallery of Australia and provides a critical analysis of the National Indigenous Art Triennial: Educational Resource that accompanied the exhibition. The aim of this discussion and analysis is to identify elements from the educational program at the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) that effectively increase knowledge and appreciation of Indigenous art at the Gallery. The premise behind my analysis consists of the possibility and feasibility of using similar educational programs in a Canadian context. Using an exploratory approach, this thesis brings attention to elements that could potentially be of benefit to the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) in the development of future educational programs associated with Indigenous Art exhibitions. It is well-known that, in the past, the NGC has been criticized for its exhibition, collecting, and dissemination practices with regards to Indigenous art. Having undergone considerable changes since the 1990's, the NGC is beginning to look like a different institution especially with the establishment of an Indigenous Art Department in August 2007. One particular area criticized in the past about the NGC has been public access to and information about Indigenous art at the Gallery. As stated by Alfred Young Man, Department Head of Indian Fine Arts, at the First Nations University of Canada, in 2008; "There needs to be a better way for people who are looking for Aboriginal art at the National Gallery to find it, and learn about it." 1 Today, the NGC's mandate seeks to "increase the knowledge, awareness and appreciation of Indigenous art in Canada and internationally."2 With its Indigenous Art Department currently in a relative stage of infancy, it is a logical time to be looking at the educational tools being developed and implemented at similar institutions, such as the NGA, for ideas as to how the NGC can fulfill its present-day mandate. 1 Alfred Young Man, (Department Head, Indian Fine Arts, First Nations University of Canada) in discussion with Jacinthe Soulliere, June 2008 as quoted in her MA Thesis; The Stone that Cracked the Wall between the Institution and the First Nation Artist: the National Gallery of Canada, 1980-2008, (Montreal: Concordia University, 2009), 68. 2 National Gallery of Canada, A Brief History: National Gallery of Canada Indigenous Art Collection, (Ottawa: NGC, 2009), http://www.gallery.ca/irnages/History_IndigenousArt.pdf


identifier: Kuntz, Harry  (2010) Science culture in English-speaking Montreal, 1815-1842.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Most North American work on the history of science concentrates on the period of the 1840s and beyond, a time when permanent scientific institutions were founded and science emerged as a professional pursuit. The originality of this thesis lies in its examination of the earlier period and the demonstration that amid the large-scale social, religious, political and economic change in Montreal there was an emergent, amateur urban science culture and practice. Recent studies have emphasized the importance of the local setting and the factors there that facilitated or retarded the development of science culture, the practice of science and the growth of scientific institutions. This thesis examines the multiplicity of ways in which science became a part of the cultural attitudes of English-speaking Montrealers during the period from 181 5 to 1842. Attitudes toward science were shaped by public spectacles and lectures, informal and formal learning experiences, and by the growth of such institutions as libraries and scientific institutions. By 1835 a number of elementary and secondary schools included some science in the curriculum. Civic pride and emulation lay behind the founding of literary and scientific institutions in Montreal. Members of the Natural History Society of Montreal (NHSM), which was founded in 1827, sought to form a museum of natural history specimens found in the Canadas and to diffuse a knowledge of science among the public. The research for this thesis is based on a wide range of primary source materials, including the archives of the NHSM and the Montreal Mechanics' Institute (MMI) held respectively at McGill University and the Atwater Library, as well as contemporary newspapers, periodicals and other printed documents


identifier: Kyne, Rachel  (2010) Passages in the continuous present.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Passages in the continuous present

abstract: This manuscript of poems presents an experiential narrative of anorexia nervosa. Told in the first person, the speaker's passage into and through the disease is chronicled in terms that describe the physiological, emotional, behavioural, and linguistic elements at its heart. The speaker's search for meaning in her experiences is complicated by her obsessive thought patterns, degraded physical condition, and distorted subjective reality, a situation that renders seemingly direct perceptions and innocuous beliefs suspect. Her conflicting desires for self-annihilation, thinness, recovery, certainty, and some version of "health" are formally reflected in the fragmented and collagiste aspects of the manuscript's three sections. Poems addressing elements of home and family are placed in dialogue with travel poems, in which the speaker must navigate questions of aesthetic perception, cultural belief, and the possibilities of translating her own experience. A particular pressure is placed on language itself as a determinant of identity and value, as the speaker struggles to articulate a self that is separate from the disease that structures her thinking. Over the course of the manuscript, common tropes of disease as a battle or a teleological journey toward wellness are refuted, as the speaker comes to the realization that in her case, recovery is possible behaviourally, but not cognitively. The choice becomes to continue living in spite of her own perceptions of her body, and to locate meaning and identity outside of her own instinctive beliefs.


identifier: Hussain, Dema  (2010) Effects of estrogen on cognitive strategy and striatal dopamine transmission in female rats : the role of reproductive experience.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Estrogen (E) influences the cognitive strategy used by female rats when solving a maze. Nulliparous rats with high levels of E tend to use an allocentric (place) strategy whereas rats with low E levels are biased towards an egocentric (response) strategy. Furthermore, striatal-dependent response learning is sensitive to dopamine (DA) transmission in that brain area, and E changes DA release in the striatum. Recent findings suggest that reproductive experience may alter how E affects DA transmission. Here the effects of E on cognitive strategy was explored in nulliparous and primiparous rats solving at-maze task, and striatal DA release was measured after administration of an indirect DA agonist (amphetamine; 0.5 & 1 mg/kg) and an autoreceptor-activating dose of the DA agonist (apomorphine; 50 & 80 og/kg). As expected, ovariectomized (OVX) nulliparous rats receiving low 17Ý estradiol (E2) predominantly used a response strategy, whereas high E2 OVX rats did not; this pattern changed in low E2 primiparous rats. High E2 rats receiving the lower AMPH dose exhibited greater DA release than low E2 rats. Interestingly, there were also hemispheric differences in striatal DA response, which suggests possible lateralization in DA function. These findings suggest that parity changes how E affects the cognitive strategy used by females. They also show that E2 affects DA transmission in the dorsal striatum in a lateralized manner.


identifier: Andrus, Bruno  (2010) Histoire de la pratique artistique du verre soufflé au Québec (1960-1990).  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Karim, Rifat Ara  (2010) Improvement of lake water quality using sediment resuspension.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Lake Caron is a shallow and hypereutrophic lake situated 75 km from Montreal, QC, Canada. Phosphorus has been identified primarily responsible for lake eutrophication. Sediment acts as a source of phosphorus, so it is directly related to water quality. Phosphorus dynamics within Lake Caron were investigated, considering both water and sediments. To understand the burial and diagenesis and prediction of phosphorus, selective sequential extraction was performed for surface sediments. Core sediment samples were also collected along with surface sediment. Surface sediment resulted in 131 mg/g phosphorus whereas sediment from the bottom most layer resulted in 28.7 mg/g of phosphorus which is 64.5% less than the former one. Phosphorus distribution was also calculated on the basis of different particle sizes. Particles which are smaller than 45om showed a phosphorus value 37% higher on average than the particles larger than 75om. The vertical profile of the water column was also investigated and showed a 56.5og/L higher phosphorus concentration than in the hypolimnionetic zone. To improve the water quality, a resuspension technique was applied which had gained much interest due to its contradictory results in experiments done by various researchers. Resuspension was successfully able to improve the water quality by reducing phosphorus content in water by 96.7% compared with the actual concentration before resuspension.


identifier: Peters, Lindsay  (2010) Filming in the feminine plural : the ethnochoranic narratives of Agnès Varda.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The concept of the ethnochoranic narrative structure derives from Julia Kristeva's concept of the semiotic chora, in which the multifaceted aspects of identity converge to form a subjectivity made up of the self and the other, as represented through the maternal body. 'Ethno-,' refers to the ethnographic motivation behind Agnès Varda's films, from her neorealistic debut, La Pointe Courte (1954), to her consistent techniques of social observation throughout her documentary and narrative work. This study is an examination of how Agnès Varda uses a polyvocal, 'choranic' structure to produce ethnographic narratives of individuals and social causes. The thesis works from a single image taken from Cléo de 5 Ü 7 (1961) of a circular crack in a window in which a series of lines radiates from a single, centralized point. A crowd of men and women are reflected in the window. The superimposed web of cracks over the complex play of gazes is emblematic of Varda's modernist style and ironic treatment of gender issues. This project demonstrates the way in which Varda aestheticizes a pluralistic female experience, an approach which promotes the collective individuality of each woman. Filming in the Feminine Plural argues that the ethnochoranic narrative, as a cinematic activation of the fragmented, intricately woven female identity, responds to the feminist call for progressive aesthetic and sociocultural representations of female experience.


identifier: Symeonidis, Iphigenia Sofia  (2010) Technosciences in academia : rethinking a conceptual framework for bioinformatics undergraduate curricula.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This paper aims to elucidate guiding concepts for the design of powerful undergraduate bioinformatics degrees which will lead to a conceptual framework for the curriculum. "Powerful" here should be understood as having truly bioinformatics objectives rather than enrichment of existing computer science or life science degrees on which bioinformatics degrees are often based. As such, the conceptual framework will be one which aims to demonstrate intellectual honesty in regards to the field of bioinformatics. A synthesis/conceptual analysis approach was followed as elaborated by Hurd (1983). The approach takes into account the following: bioinfonnatics educational needs and goals as expressed by different authorities, five undergraduate bioinformatics degrees case-studies, educational implications of bioinformatics as a technoscience and approaches to curriculum design promoting interdisciplinarity and integration. Given these considerations, guiding concepts emerged and a conceptual framework was elaborated. The practice of bioinformatics was given a closer look, which led to defining tool-integration skills and tool-thinking capacity as crucial areas of the bioinformatics activities spectrum. It was argued, finally, that a process-based curriculum as a variation of a concept-based curriculum (where the concepts are processes) might be more conducive to the teaching of bioinformatics given a foundational first year of integrated science education as envisioned by Bialek and Botstein (2004). Furthermore, the curriculum design needs to define new avenues of communication and learning which bypass the traditional disciplinary barriers of academic settings as undertaken by Tador and Tidmor (2005) for graduate studies.


identifier: Yang, Zhuoxuan  (2010) Overexpression, purification and characterization of diverse oxygenases from fungi.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Bacteria and fungi are able to grow using diverse aromatic compounds as sole sources of energy and carbon (1) (2) . These abilities are of interest since many of these compounds are toxic to higher organisms, which cannot degrade them. While bacterial enzymes responsible for degradation of aromatics have been quite well studied, relatively little is known about their fungal counterparts. The aim of this thesis is to expand knowledge of aromatic compound degradation in fungi. cDNA libraries from 15 diverse fungal species are available from the Concordia fungal genomics group and within this database there are many BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) hits to genes encoding enzymes involved in aromatic degradation pathways. Using bioinformatics techniques, DNA sequences encoding putative mono- and dioxygenases that initiate aromatic compound degradation were identified. Genes encoding these enzymes were amplified and used to construct recombinant plasmids for overexpression of the corresponding proteins, which were then purified, characterized and compared to their bacterial counterparts. A putative salicylate hydroxylase from L. edodes , the shiitake mushroom, and a putative phenol hydroxylase and a catechol-1 ,2-dioxygenase from Gloeophyllum trabeum were expressed in E. coli . The putative salicylate hydroxylase was purified in good yield using two chromatographic steps. The purified protein contained a 1:1 ratio of non-covalently bound FAD (flavin adenine dinucleotide). Interestingly, salicylate was a non-substrate effector, stimulating production of hydrogen peroxide from NADPH and oxygen, rather than hydroxylated product formation. In contrast, 2-aminobenzoate was rapidly converted to 2,3-dihydroxbenzoate. Furthermore, spectroscopic probes of binding indicated that the modes of binding of salicylate and 2-aminobenzoate are quite different. Together, these results suggest that the enzyme is not a salicylate hydroxylase, and that the true substrate is an amino aromatic compound. The putative phenol hydroxylase from G. trabeum was also purified in good yield using two chromatographic steps and was found to contain 1 mol of FAD per mol of protein. Uncoupling assays and product analysis results suggest that the enzyme is a resorcinol-specific hydroxylase, while phenol is a non-substrate effector. The putative catechol-l,2-dioxygenase was purified using four chromatographic steps, however, no activity was observed under any condition. In summary, potential functions were elucidated for two new fungal flavoprotein hydroxylases, whose activities were not accurately predicted using sequence comparisons. Additional work will be required to further examine the activities of the putative catechol 1,2-dioxygenase.


identifier: Gravotta, Luciana  (2010) A role for dopamine in the regulation of clock genes : bilateral depletion of endogenous dopamine blunts the rhythm of PER2 expression in the dorsal striatum, the oval nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and the periventricular nucleus.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Recent studies have shown that clock genes influence the expression of enzymes involved in the regulation of dopamine levels, and that reciprocally, dopamine signaling can influence the expression of several clock genes. Although many studies have looked at the response of clock genes to increases in dopamine via the use of dopamine agonists or stimulant drugs that affect dopamine release and reuptake, very few have looked at the response to decreases in endogenous dopamine. The present thesis sought to examine the effect of intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of6-0HDA on the expression of the clock gene, PERIOD2 (PER2) in the dorsal striatum and the limbic forebrain. Specifically, PER2 expression was quantified in the suprachaismatic nucleus (SCN), the dorsal striatum, the oval nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNSTov), the central nucleus of the amygdala (CEA), the basolateral amygdala (BLA), and the dentate gyrus (DG); all areas that have been previously shown to express PER2 with circadian rhythmicity. Rats that received i.c.v. 6-0HDA injections showed bilateral depletion of dopamine throughout the basal ganglia and the extended amygdala as well as a blunted rhythm ofPER2 expression in the striatum and the BNSTov. A novel rhythm ofPER2 expression was observed in the periventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PV) of control rats and this rhythm was blunted in 6-0HDA lesioned rats. This interaction between dopamine and clock gene expression has implications for the study of circadian disruptions in mood disorders and in parkinson's disease.


identifier: Blue, Bruce Alexander  (2010) The Ram Cruiser tank : an ambitious failure.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: During the early years of the Second World War, Canada was cut off from Britain, its traditional supplier of war materiel. This forced the Canadian Army and the Mackenzie King government to attempt to arm itself using domestic resources as well as those of the then-neutral United States. One of the results of this policy was the Ram Tank, a design based upon the latest US medium tank in combination with the recent battle experience and expertise of British tank designers. Originally intended to arm Canadian and British formations, the Ram design was outstripped by faster and more responsive American technical innovation in the form of the Sherman tank. Though the Ram proved adequate for training, for conversion to an armored troop carrier, and gave useful experience for the later manufacture in Canada of self-propelled guns, it was an undoubted failure as a tank. This essay examines the reasons for that failure.


identifier: Gomrokchi, Maziar  (2010) A game theoretical approach for reputation propagation in online social networks.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Formation of mutual trust between users of an Online Social Network (OSN ) is a function of many parameters. One of these parameters that has been widely investigated is the reputation of users. Users interact with each other with different intentions and as a result of their interactions they propagate each other's reputation. In the absence of centralized trusted parties in OSN s, the only way for an agent to estimate others' reputation is the other agents' thoughts about that agent. Therefore, intention and behavior of agents in the propagation of each other's reputation become crucial. In this thesis, we propose a game theoretic model of reputation propagation among users in OSN s. We use this model to first study the dynamics of propagation and then analyze users' behavior with respect to their reputation in the network. To do so, we expose the Nash equilibria of the proposed game. Finally, we develop some experiments on the large-scale social network of Epinons and compare our findings in the theoretical part with the observations from the experiments.


identifier: Deng, Xi  (2010) Explanation and diagnosis services for unsatisfiability and inconsistency in description logics.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Description Logics (DLs) are a family of knowledge representation formalisms with formal semantics and well understood computational complexities. In recent years, they have found applications in many domains, including domain modeling, software engineering, configuration, and the Semantic Web. DLs have deeply influenced the design and standardization of the Web Ontology Language OWL. The acceptance of OWL as a web standard has reciprocally resulted in the widespread use of DL ontologies on the web. As more applications emerge with increasing complexity, non-standard reasoning services, such as explanation and diagnosis, have become important capabilities that a DL reasoner should provide. For example, unsatisfiability and inconsistency may arise in an ontology due to unintentional design defects or changes in the ontology evolution process. Without explanations, searching for the cause is like looking for a needle in a haystack. It is, therefore, surprising that most of the existing DL reasoners do not provide explanation services; they provide "Yes/No" answers to satisfiability or consistency queries without giving any reasons. This thesis presents our solution for providing explanation and diagnosis services for DL reasoners. We firstly propose a framework based on resolution to explain inconsistency and unsatisfiability in Description Logic. A sound and complete algorithm is developed to generate explanations for the DL language [Special characters omitted.] <math> <f> <sc>ALCHI</sc></f> </math> based on the unsatisfiability and inconsistency patterns in [Special characters omitted.] <math> <f> <sc>ALCHI</sc></f> </math> . We also develop a technique based on Shapley values to measure inconsistencies in ontologies for diagnosis purposes. This measure is used to identify which axioms in an input ontology or which parts of these axioms need to be repaired in order to make the input consistent. We also investigate optimization techniques to compute the inconsistency measures based on particular properties of DLs. Based on the above theoretical foundations, a running prototype system is implemented to evaluate the practicability of the proposed services. Our preliminary empirical results show that the resolution based explanation framework and the diagnosis procedure based on inconsistency measures can be applied in the real world applications


identifier: Abbadi, Eyad Mahmoud Aref  (2010) Phytoextraction of zinc from hydroponic solutions.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Heavy metals can have adverse health effects on both humans and biota if they exist in high concentrations in the soil or in water bodies. Rhizofiltration is a specific type of Phytoremediation which involves plants to extract contaminants from large wetland areas that have a low level of contamination. The objective of this research is to elucidate the interaction of the plant species Solanum lycopersicum (tomato plant) with the surrounding zinc contaminated solution, after being subjected to environments of darkness, illumination, and alternate current gradient. To perform this objective, tomato plants were grown in the hydroponic solutions containing 0, 100, 200 and 500 mg/L of zinc under illuminated conditions. Subsequently, these plants were grown in solutions of 100mg/L and were subjected to varied environmental conditions stated earlier. At the end of each experiment, which lasted seven days, concentration of zinc in plant roots, shoots and fruits were analyzed separately. The effects of plants and alternate current on solution pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were also investigated concurrently. It was found that the accumulated amount of zinc in plant roots is proportional to its concentration in hydroponic solution. However, the augmentation of zinc concentration in plant roots attains a plateau with increasing concentration of zinc in the hydroponic solution. As in roots, accumulation of zinc in plant shoots generally reached a saturation level of zinc when zinc concentration increased. However, in the fruit, zinc concentration appears to be not dependent on solution concentration of zinc. It was found that plants subjected to a light environment accumulated more zinc in their roots and shoots than plants subjected to a dark environment. Further, it was also noted that for the specific environment which consisted of an applied alternate current gradient of 1Volt/em at 16HZ, plant capability to extract zinc in both shoot and root was observed to be reduced. A brief series of tests related to the effect of nutrients on the uptake of zinc indicated that they modify the plant uptake of zinc.


identifier: Sadaghianizadeh, Amir  (2010) The impact of affect on assessment of group decision support systems.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis discusses the role of affect in users' assessment of a collaborative system. A web-based multi-attribute group decision support system (iMade) is developed that is characterized by both its adaptability for a variety of decision-making situations, and the resulted utility due to applying design science principles in constructing this artifact. We present findings of a controlled experiment designed to assess influence of affect and various other factors on adoption of information systems using a research model based on Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Although many researchers have extended the TAM model and studied various antecedents of using that system, no one has systematically studied the effect of group members' behavior and their interaction with one another on the evaluation of the system that they are engaged in. It is hypothesized that the system features by themselves are not the sole factors that affect the users' perception and their intention to use it; but, group interactions play an important role in the user's perceptions of the system (Etezadi-Amoli and Kersten, 2008, Etezadi, 2010). To test this phenomenon, a group decision problem was developed and an experiment was carried out using the iMade system. Thirty subjects assumed the role of three groups of stakeholders and negotiated along with two experimenters as a group, with the task of purchasing a fleet of taxicab; the experimenters were required to induce either positive or negative affect within the group. Analysis of the data clearly shows that group affect significantly influences users evaluation of the system


identifier: Higuera Silva, Angelica  (2010) Remember, remember the 6th and 7th of November : Colombia 1985 siege of the Palace of Justice.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In the morning of November 6th in 1985, during an impasse in negotiations with the government of President Belisario Betancur, M-19 guerrillas seized the Palace of Justice and held the entire Colombian Supreme Court hostage. The Army responded by destroying the building. More than a hundred people were killed, as well as eleven civilians- the cafeteria staff and some occasional visitors- who were made to disappear. What is puzzling is that these civilians were safely escorted outside the Palace of Justice, but perhaps because they were witnesses to what had gone on inside, they were made to disappear. The families of these people have struggled for over 25 years to find their loved ones. During a five month period in 2008 I studied the way in which some Colombians remembered or forgot this traumatic event that touched and changed their lives. It was through the use of methods such as interviews, focus groups, participant observation, walkabouts, visits to exhibitions related to forced disappearances and a course I took on "Violence, Memory and History" that I came to know their memories and stories and to understand their struggles for truth and justice. Furthermore, to guide my understanding I drew upon theories that highlighted the importance of memory in societies were social trauma occurred, societies in transition from repression to democracy. An extensive interdisciplinary study by Elizabeth Jelin, theories by Mario Amoros, Jorge Mendoza Garcia and Reyes Mata among others, guided this study. I was able to share in the continuous search process which is followed by the families of the disappeared. A search for truth and justice. However, and most importantly, the families struggle to develop ways to keep from forgetting, they share their stories with those who want to listen, and keep courageously trying to remember what cannot be forgotten.


identifier: Kiani Tallaei, Ali  (2010) Efficient and scalable techniques for minimization and rewriting of conjunctive queries.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Query rewriting as an approach to query answering has been a challenging issue in database and information integration systems. In general, rewriting of a conjunctive query Q using a set of views in conjunctive form consists of two phases: (1) generating proper building blocks using the views, and (2) combining them to generate a union of conjunctive queries which is maximally contained in Q . While the problem of query rewriting is known to be exponential in the number of subgoals of Q , there is a demand for increased efficiency for practical queries. We revisit this problem for conjunctive queries, and show that Stirling numbers can be used to determine the optimal number of combinations in the second phase, and hence the number of rules in the generated union of conjunctive queries. Based on these numbers, we introduce the notion of combination patterns and develop a rewriting algorithm that uses these numeral patterns to break down the large combinatorial problem in the second phase into several smaller ones. The results of our numerous experiments indicate that the proposed rewriting technique outperforms existing techniques including Minicon algorithm in terms of computation time, memory requirements, and scalability. On a related context, we studied query minimization, motivated by the fact that queries with fewer or no redundant subgoals can be evaluated faster, in general. However, such redundancies are often present in automatically generated queries. We propose an algorithm that, given a conjunctive query, repeatedly identifies and eliminates all the redundant subgoals. We also illustrate its performance superiority over existing minimization algorithms. It has been shown that query rewriting naturally generates queries with redundant subgoals. We also show that redundant subgoals in the input of query rewriting result in redundant rules in its output. Based on this, we investigate the impact of minimization as pre-processing and post-processing phases to query rewriting technique. Our experimental results using different synthetic data show that our query rewriting technique coupled with pre/post minimization phases produces the best quality of rewriting in a more efficient way compared to existing rewriting techniques, including the Treewise algorithm. It has been shown that extending conjunctive queries with constraints adds to the complexity of query rewriting. Previous studies identified classes of conjunctive queries with constraints in the form of arithmetic comparisons for which the complexity of rewriting does not change. Such classes are said to satisfy homomorphism property. We identify new classes of conjunctive queries with linear arithmetic constraints that enjoy this property, and extend our query rewriting algorithm accordingly to support such queries.


identifier: Bélisle, Deny  (2010) The impact of perceived complementarity on consumers' evaluation of bundles.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Bundling strategy is widely used in today products and services markets. While determining which products to bundle together is a critical decision to the success of this strategy, there is a lack of empirical evidence about what type of interrelationship among products drives value in a bundle. Most literature on contingency levels (i.e., products' complementarity, substitutability or independence) has focused on the development of theoretical models and simulations of economical models. The few empirical works in this area reported that bundles of complements are more likely to be purchased than bundles of independent products, without determining the underlying mechanism of this finding. In this dissertation, it is proposed that (1) perceived complementarity between bundled products is a key determinant for bundle value that exists to a certain extent in bundles from complementary, substitutable and independent product categories and (2) perceived complementarity is malleable depending on goals and contextual factors. The first objective of this research is to develop a reliable and valid scale assessing the extent to which bundled products complement each other (study 1) and distinguish perceived complementarity from the related constructs of substitutability and independence. In study 2, the proposed effect of perceived complementarity on bundle evaluation is tested, using the new measure developed in study 1 with a different sample and a new set of bundles from complementary, substitutable and independent product categories. In the second part of the dissertation, the author investigates how context and goals impact perceived complementarity between bundled products, thereby influencing bundle evaluation. The categorization literature provide important insight to the understanding of consumers' stable and flexible construction of product categories that can change bundle value depending on (a) which goal is salient to the individual in a particular situation (study 3) and (b) contextual factors such as image presentation format of the bundled products (study 4) and price discount strategy (study 5). Finally, boundary conditions of the impact of image presentation format on bundle value are examined in study 6. The theoretical and managerial implications of the six studies are finally discussed and their limitations and future research avenues are presented