identifier: Elamari, Khalid Ibrahim  (2011) Using Electric Water Heaters (EWHs) for Power Balancing and Frequency Control in PV-Diesel Hybrid Mini-Grids.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
ABSTRACT- Electricity is usually supplied by diesel generators in remote communities at high costs. In such a case, renewable energy sources (RESs), such as wind and photovoltaics (PV), can be cost effective to meet part of the energy needs. However, the integration of RESs may lead to large power fluctuations and to the operation of the diesel genset under-loaded. Traditionally, energy storage devices have been used to provide power smoothing and frequency regulations, but this solution is quite costly.
In this thesis, electric water heaters (EWH) are used to assist with power balancing and frequency regulation and to prevent the diesel genset from operating under-loaded, in a PV-diesel hybrid mini-grid.
The characteristics of the diesel genset, PV, and the EWH are studied.  An EWH is modeled using Matlab/SIMULINK. Approximate linear equations are derived and used for estimating the amount of power an EWH can take or drop, by varying the set point temperature Td.
A review of methods used to control the EWH are then presented. A basic integrated control of the EWH, which varies the set point temperature (Td), using the system frequency is studied. Issues using this control in a small power system are investigated, and a modified integrated control is proposed to solve them.
The effectiveness of basic and modified integrated controls is validated using a hybrid PV-diesel mini-grid benchmark implemented in PSCAD. Moreover, the impact of the PV on fuel consumption, and frequency variations is observed. Simulation results indicate that the modified integrated control is effective for frequency regulations, peak shavings, and for preventing genset operates under loaded.


identifier: Huang, Jinzi  (2011) Modeling Multi-Agent Systems with Category Theory.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract:
The rapidly growing complexity of integrating and monitoring computing systems is beyond the capabilities of even the most expert systems and software developers. The solution is systems must learn to monitor their own behaviors and conform to the requirements – a vision referred to as Autonomic Computing. Reactive Autonomic Systems Framework (RASF) is introduced for real-time reactive systems, which contain autonomic self-managing properties and are adaptive to their environments.

The goal of this thesis is about modeling Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) with Category Theory (CAT).  MAS is introduced as the realization of Reactive Autonomic Systems, and Jadex is used as a representation of MAS approach. This thesis respects Belief-Desire-Intension (BDI) agent architecture, models the entire Multi-Agent Systems (MAS), zooms into individual intelligent agent, analyzes the relationships among agent plans, goals and beliefs, and provides a fully formal CAT representation on MAS structure. Furthermore, this thesis proposes a formalization of fault-tolerance property of MAS using CAT.


identifier: Faddoul, Jocelyne  (2011) Reasoning Algebraically with Description Logics.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Semantic Web applications based on the Web Ontology Language (OWL) often
require the use of numbers in class descriptions for expressing
cardinality restrictions on properties or even classes. Some of these
cardinalities are specified explicitly, but quite a few are entailed and
need to be discovered by reasoning procedures. Due to the Description
Logic (DL) foundation of OWL, those reasoning services are offered by DL
reasoners. Existing DL reasoners employ reasoning procedures that are
arithmetically uninformed and substitute arithmetic reasoning by "don't
know" non-determinism in order to cover all possible cases. This lack of
information about arithmetic problems dramatically degrades the
performance of DL reasoners in many cases, especially with ontologies
relying on the use of Nominals and Qualied Cardinality Restrictions.

The contribution of this thesis is twofold: on the theoretical level, it
presents algebra�ic reasoning with DL (ReAl DL) using a sound, complete,
and terminating reasoning procedure for the DL SHOQ. ReAl DL combines
tableau reasoning procedures with algebraic methods, namely Integer
Programming, to ensure arithmetically better informed reasoning. SHOQ
extends the standard DL ALC with transitive roles, role hierarchies,
qualified cardinality restrictions (QCRs), and nominals, and forms an
expressive subset of OWL. Although the proposed algebraic tableau is
double exponential in the worst case, it deals with cardinalities with
an additional level of information and properties that make the calculus
amenable and well suited for optimizations. In order for ReAl DL to have
a practical merit, suited optimizations are proposed towards achieving
an efficient reasoning approach that addresses the sources of complexity
related to nominals and QCRs. On the practical level, a running
prototype reasoner (HARD) is implemented based on the proposed calculus
and optimizations. HARD is used to evaluate the practical merit of ReAl
DL, as well as the effectiveness of the proposed optimizations.
Experimental results based on real world and synthetic ontologies show
that ReAl DL outperforms existing reasoning approaches in handling the
interactions between nominals and QCRs. ReAl DL also comes with some
interesting features such as the ability to handle ontologies with
cyclic descriptions without adopting special blocking strategies. ReAl
DL can form a basis to provide more efficient reasoning support for
ontologies using nominals or QCRs.


identifier: Yi, Jie  (2011) Residual Stress and Distortion Measurements on Induction Hardened AISI 4340 Discs.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Darveau, Jessica  (2011) À l’origine d’un malaise : L’équivocité au cœur des œuvres de Yannick Pouliot.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Garabito Campos, Cristina Alejandra  (2011) In Search of Connections Between the Acquisition of Lexical Phrases and Autonomy, Motivation, and Working Memory Ability.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Tayaran, Elham/ET  (2011) Investigation of the Critical Factors in the Early Stage of the Innovation Process in Biotechnology: A System Dynamics Approach.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Scott, Brittany Eve  (2011) Comparing Older and Younger Siblings’ Teaching Strategies and their Use of Internal State Language during Naturalistic Home Observations.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The bidirectional nature of siblings’ influence on each other’s cognitive development was examined within the context of naturalistic teaching. The purpose of the present study was to compare 38 sibling dyads from four to seven years of age on measures of teaching strategies, initiation of teaching, learner’s response to teaching, and children’s use of internal state language. Pearson correlations revealed that the older sibling’s age was not related to these variables, while younger siblings’ age was negatively associated with their use of positive feedback. No gender effects were found using a series of t-tests. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare older and younger siblings’ teaching strategies. Results indicated that older siblings used more demonstration, positive feedback and negative feedback compared to younger siblings during teaching. Significant main effects were found for children’s use of internal state language, who initiated teaching, and learner response. Overall, both siblings’ referenced more goals than cognitions during teaching. Furthermore, the majority of sibling teaching sequences were initiated by the teacher rather than requested by the learner. Older siblings’ references to cognitions were positively associated with younger siblings’ active involvement and younger siblings’ use of planning was positively correlated with their older siblings’ active involvement. These findings have a number of implications for understanding how siblings contribute to each other’s social-cognitive development.


identifier: Oliveira, Claudia  (2011) Fathoming the Unfathomable: Gertrude Kearns and the Visual Representation of the Genocide in Rwanda.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The visual representation of genocide demands a response to many thought-provoking questions.  For instance, how should one consider the use of mass murder as the subject for a work of art?  How does one confront the ethical dilemma of aestheticism in artworks that depict human suffering?  How can an artist avoid exploiting its human subject or sensationalizing genocide?

The following text aims to consider the ethics of visual representation of genocide and apply this theoretical framework in the consideration of a series of works, UNdone: Dallaire/Rwanda by artist Gertrude Kearns, which concerns the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.  Through her use of camouflage-patterned nylon canvas, Kearns has produced a powerful yet subdued depiction of the atrocities committed by the génocidaires.  This text suggests that the artist has incorporated former Lieutenant General Roméo Dallaire in her work in order to, in part bypass the challenges of secondary witnessing and encourage viewer identification and projection; a notion based on Marianne Hirsch’s theory of ‘Postmemory’.   Drawing from various email exchanges, an extensive interview with the artist and research material (Holocaust and Rwanda-related), the following text will consider the UNdone: Dallaire/Rwanda series as a defiant example of contemporary art; one which serves as a testament to our common humanity and the horrors of our complicity.


identifier: ZHU, Jiang  (2011) Machining Feature Based Geometric Modeling of Twist Drills.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Afroze, Niema  (2011) Performance Evaluation of a New Multi-Environment Wastewater Treatment System for the Removal of Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus from Synthetic and Real Agricultural Wastewaters.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: A new integrated multi-environment wastewater treatment technology was evaluated for simultaneous removal of organic carbonaceous compounds as well as inorganic contaminants, notably nitrogen and phosphorus from synthetic and hog wastewater. The influent concentrations of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus during the reported experiments on synthetic wastewater were in the range of 500 to 4000 mg/L, 42 to 200 mg/L, and 16 to 40 mg/L, respectively. The treatment system operated with food-to microorganisms (F/M) ratio of 0.95 to 3.4 (d-1) and SRT of 10 -200 days, producing removal efficiencies of 83.3% -99% for COD ,65.9%-85% for total nitrogen and 10%-100% for total phosphorus. The very high removal efficiencies obtained in this study show the proper performance of the integrated treatment system. The influent concentrations of hog waste were in the range of 1000 to 2400 mg/L, 200-230 mg/L, and 40-48 mg/L for COD, total nitrogen and total phosphorus, respectively. The system operated with organic loading rates of 0.51 to 1.43 kg COD/m3.d, nitrogen loading rates of 0.07 to 0.16 kg TN/m3.d, and phosphorus loading rates of 0.015 to 0.035 kg TP/m3.d. The solid retention time and hydraulic retention time were in the range of 12 to 33 days and 1.43 to 1.74 days, respectively. The overall COD/N/P and BOD/N/P ratio were maintained at the range of 27:4.5:1 to 70:3.64:1 and 26:4.5:1 to 69:3.64:1, respectively, for the maximum removal of contaminants along with food-to-microorganism ratio (F/M) of 1.04 to 2.57 d-1 in the mixed liquor. The removal efficiencies of COD, BOD, N and P for hog waste were in the range of as 60%-89%, 40%-89%, 10%-69% and 14%-40%, respectively. The increasing trend of contaminant removal efficiency with time during the treatment of hog waste suggests that higher removal efficiencies would be obtained if the treatment system had operated for a longer period.


identifier: Ing, Wendy  (2011) An Investigation of the Validity of the Computer Program "Domains of Mathematical Teaching" as a Tool to Examine Teachers' Instructional Practices.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The study's objective was to collect evidence that would lend support to the validity of the Domains of Mathematical Teaching (DMT) software tool for observing teacher practices in the elementary mathematics classroom. Specifically, one teacher's practice in her mathematics classroom was examined using two methods of observation: the DMT and video recordings. Percent frequencies derived from data from the two observation methods were compared in four DMT categories: Teacher Elicitations, Direct Instruction, Context of Teacher's Task Presentation, and Classroom Organization. Further, the two sets of data were used to create two teaching profiles, called Procedural and Reform, which were based on Baroody's (2003) framework depicting mathematics instruction. The profiles were created using three teacher practice measures – Focus, Methods, and Classroom Organization – and the two methods of observation were compared to investigate the extent to which the DMT reflects video analyses.
Results indicated that the DMT and video were strongly positively correlated for three of the four targeted DMT categories (p < .01). Moreover, the DMT generated a similar profile of instructional practice as the video recordings in each of the three teacher practice measures. Taken together, the findings provide strong support that the DMT may be used instead of video recordings to obtain data on teacher practices in the elementary mathematics classroom.


identifier: Reinaldo, Tonkoski  (2011) Impact of High Penetration of Photovoltaics on Low Voltage Systems and Remedial Actions.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Residential rooftop photovoltaics (PV) systems have great potential to supply part of the growing energy demand. However, its non-dispatchable, fluctuating, and intermittent characteristics may negatively impact the power quality and reliability (PQR) of low voltage (LV) distribution feeders. Large amounts of non-dispatchable PV sources, if integrated in a distributed way, can reverse the power flow in the feeder and lead to overvoltages. In diesel-based autonomous systems with high-penetration of PVs, the reduction in net load can significantly increase the wear and tear on the diesel genset(s). Therefore, connection of only a modest amount of PV is currently allowed at the LV level without a prior impact-assessment study.
This thesis focuses on the detrimental impact of high penetration of PVs on LV systems and on the remedial actions that can be taken to increase PQR and the displacement of fossil fuels in diesel-based autonomous systems. Two scenarios are considered.
First is the possibility of overvoltages in LV grid connected systems during periods of high PV generation and low load. The solutions used in medium-voltage feeders need to be revisited in light of the mostly resistive characteristics of LV feeders. An alternative is to use active power curtailment (APC) techniques. A droop-based APC approach, in which all inverters use the same droop coefficients, is analyzed. However, this strategy results in more APC in the PV inverters located near the end of the feeder than in the ones in the beginning. A new approach is proposed that allows equal sharing of the APC. A one-year simulation study assessed the overvoltage occurrences, the sharing of the burden for overvoltage prevention per house, and the total energy yield of the feeder using a benchmark based on typical parameters of Canadian LV feeders.
The second scenario involves the impact of high-penetration PV systems in diesel-based autonomous LV systems, which are typical of remote communities. The use of APC of PV inverters is discussed, focusing on reducing the frequency variations and ensuring the diesel genset's minimum load, and can improve fuel consumption. This theoretical analysis is validated by simulations. Fuel consumption and yearly energy yields are estimated using statistical information about the load and solar irradiation.


identifier: Cross, Wasontiio S.  (2011) Louis Karoniaktajeh Hall and the Art of Resistance.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis examines the artistic output of Louis Karoniaktajeh Hall (1918-1993), a Kanien’keha:ka man who played multiple roles in the rejuvenation of the traditional Haudenosaunee/Longhouse culture. Hall was best known as a political leader who played an integral role in the revival of Haudenosaunee spiritual traditions in his community, Kahnawake Mohawk Territory. He was also involved in the repossession of traditional Mohawk territory in New York State in 1974. Hall was an avid reader of historical and philosophical texts, and he penned several self-published newsletters and books which were disseminated not only in Kahnawake but to surrounding Native communities. However, with all these accomplishments, his artistic career has been overlooked in the canons of art history. The most recognizable work he produced would be the Warrior Flag, which garnered international attention when it was used during the blockades and protests in both Kanesatake and Kahnawake territories during the 1990 Oka Crisis. However, his work was much more varied than this one piece and  his artistic practice deserves special attention. With the exception of the flag, his work has not been shown in any galleries nor does it appear in the several surveys of contemporary First Nations art. The richness of his work, which takes on characteristics of advertising design, political propaganda, and historical painting, should be considered as a unique and integral part of Aboriginal and North American art history.


identifier: Alavi, Ali  (2011) Remediation of a heavy metal and PAH-contaminated sediment by a rhamnolipid foam.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Industrial contaminants have long term and sometimes irreversible adverse effects on humans, animals and the ecosystem. As a result attention has been focused on the effects of these contaminants. One of the concerning environmental issues these days is contaminated sediments. The presence of aquatic organisms in sediments makes them important in the well-being and health of these organisms. If sediments become contaminated, they can pose a threat to sediment dwelling habitants and through these microorganism that can be spread even to humans. Nowadays a major concern that government regulators and related industry can face is the protection and investigation of the quality of aquatic sediments. A protection that can be done through different pathways includes remediation.
An investigation was made into evaluating the capability of a rhamnolipid biosurfactant (JBR425) in the form of a foam for treatment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contaminated fresh water sediments that also have elevated levels of Pb, Zn and Ni. Studies commenced by evaluating foam characteristics followed by performing column tests. To do this, dewatered non-dried sediments were put in a column and the biosurfactant was injected in the form of a foam or a liquid solution. The pressure gradient was monitored during flushing tests to avoid possible problems due to high pressure. Foam quality of the rhamnolipid varied between 85% and 99% with stabilities from 15 to 43 min. PAH and metal removal were then evaluated for sediment samples from sector 103 of the Port of Montreal in Montreal, Quebec with different initial concentrations of target contaminants. Among PAHs, pyrene; benz(a)anthracene and chrysene had concentrations above thresholds according to Quebec Sediment Quality Criteria. Highest removal for PAHs was obtained by a 99% quality foam produced by 0.5% rhamnolipid solution after 20 pore volumes. Removal efficiency (due to mobilization) for the biosurfactant foam was 44.6% of pyrene, 30% of benz(a)anthracene and 37.8% of chrysene while total removal efficiency (mobilization + volatilization) for the biosurfactant foam was 56.4% of pyrene, 41.2% of benz(a)anthracene and 45.9% of chrysene. With biosurfactant liquid solution at the same pH as above mentioned foam (pH 6.8), maximum removal (mobilization) was 31.4% of pyrene, 20.5% of benz(a)anthracene and 27% of chrysene. Here no volatilization of PAHs was observed. Deionized water (DI) did not remove any PAH. For metals, highest removal was achieved using 0.5% rhamnolipid foam (99% quality, pH 10.0). These were 53.3% of Ni, 56.8% of Pb and 55.2% of Zn. Removal efficiencies were reduced between 11% - 13% for metals when a 0.5% rhamnolipid solution was used. DI water removed only 16% for both Pb and Ni individually and 17% of Zn at pH 10.0. From these analyses, lower pH (6.8) rhamnolipid showed higher removal efficiencies for PAHs while it was not as successful for metals. As for metals, pH 10 was proven to be the best. It is concluded that, rhamnolipid foam could be a non-toxic and effective method of remediating PAH and heavy metal contaminated soil/sediments. Further efforts will be required to optimize the performance of the foam.


identifier: Tang, Mengjue  (2011) A Comparison of Two Nonparametric Density Estimators in the Context of Actuarial Loss Model.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: D'Amico, Stephanie/ A  (2011) Reviewing Realism: Eric Fischl, Will Cotton and the Legacy of American Photorealism.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis positions realist painting as a site of visual innovation and critical reflection in a cultural climate dominated by advanced representational technologies. Focusing in particular on the work of Eric Fischl and Will Cotton, I examine how these contemporary realist painters establish a dialogue with current visual technologies. I also posit and explore these artists’ inheritance of a set of concerns from the American Photorealist painters of the 60s and 70s— a group of artists who I suggest have been misconstrued as the regressive anomaly during an otherwise avant-garde art historical moment. Through an extended consideration of the questions and visual strategies shared by Cotton, Fischl, and the American Photorealists, I demonstrate how their respective visions of “realism” reflect a critical awareness of the technological and socio-cultural changes unique to their respective historical moments.


identifier: Zisis, Ioannis  (2011) Wind Load Paths on Wood Buildings.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

title: Wind Load Paths on Wood Buildings

abstract:
Wind-induced natural disasters have been frequently reported as some of the most fatal and costly catastrophes. Of particular intensity was the disastrous effect on low-rise residential properties that suffered in several cases from a complete damage. The intense research efforts of the wind engineering community contributed significantly towards the development of more complex yet safer wind standards and building codes of practice. Numerous studies have been carried out focusing on the estimation of wind-induced envelope pressures using in most cases wind tunnel experimental techniques and less often field studies. A key component that has not yet been investigated adequately is the flow of wind-induced forces through the structural system and their attenuation due to dynamic and other structural aspects of light frame construction.
The field monitoring of a low-rise wood building provided valuable information related to its wind-induced structural response. The building was equipped with a state-of-the-art data acquisition system to monitor weather, pressure and force data. In addition, detailed wind tunnel tests on a scaled model and finite element analysis were used to study the wind effects in a simulated environment.
Despite the vast amount of field data that were acquired, only a limited number was qualified as stationary and considered for further interpretation. The analysis revealed a non-uniform upstream exposure which was incorporated in the wind tunnel experiments and improved the agreement between the two experimental approaches. Of particular importance were the findings related to wind-induced uplift force distribution, especially those related to the attenuation of the wind load. For this analysis, data from pressure taps and foundation load cells were considered and incorporated in the finite element analysis. A significant reduction was identified as the wind-induced load is transferred through structural and non-structural elements to the foundation level. This attenuation was evident in the field data but was not predicted by finite element analysis, indicating that wind design practices based on static analysis of structural systems will tend to conservatively estimate actual building performances. Another interesting finding was that the wind load is transferred predominantly to the two side walls whereas the end walls have a significantly smaller contribution. Last but not least, the comparisons of the findings to current wind provisions, such as ASCE 7 and NBCC, revealed that in certain cases the recommended by the standards values could underestimate the total uplift wind force.


identifier: Qi, Jianlong  (2011) Inferring regulation programs in a transcription regulatory module network.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Cells have a complex mechanism to control the expression of genes so that they are capable of adapting to environmental changes or genetic perturbations. A major part of the mechanism is fulfilled by transcription factors which can regulate the expression of other genes. Transcriptional regulatory relationships between genes and their transcription factors can be represented by a network, called a transcription regulatory network.

Many algorithms have been proposed to learn transcription regulatory networks from  gene expression data.  In particular, the module network method, a special type of Bayesian networks, has shown promising results.  In a module network, a regulatory module is a set of genes that show similar expression profiles and are regulated by a shared set of transcription factors (i.e., the regulation program of the module).  This method significantly decreases the number of parameters to be learned. Module network learning consists of two tasks: clustering genes into modules and  inferring the regulation program for each module.  This thesis  concentrates on designing algorithms  for the latter task.

First,  we introduce a regression tree-based Gibbs sampling algorithm for   learning regulation programs in module networks. The novelty of this method is that a set of tree operations is defined for generating new   regression trees from a given tree.  We show that the set of tree operations is sufficient to generate a well mixing Gibbs sampler even for large datasets.

Second, we apply linear models to infer regulation programs. Given a gene module, this method partitions all experimental conditions into two condition clusters, between which the module's genes are most  differentially expressed. Consequently, the process of learning the regulation program for the module becomes one of  identifying transcription factors that are also differentially expressed between these two condition clusters.

Third, we explore the possibility of integrating results from different algorithms. The integration methods we select are union, intersection, and weighted rank aggregation. The experiments in a yeast dataset show that the union and weighted rank aggregation methods produce more accurate predictions than those given by individual algorithms, whereas the intersection method does not yield any improvement in the accuracy of predictions. In addition, somewhat surprisingly, the union method, which has a much lower computational cost than rank aggregation, archives comparable results as given by rank aggregation.


identifier: Beauregard, Julien  (2011) L’oubli et les indéterminations de lecture dans Le Voyeur d’Alain Robbe-Grillet, La Clef de Junichirô Tanizaki et Trou de mémoire de Hubert Aquin.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Reed, Matthew  (2011) A Public Haunted House: the Uncanny Urban Space on Screen.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
ABSTRACT

A Public Haunted House: the Uncanny Urban Space on Screen

Matthew Reed

This thesis investigates how specific urban built forms have been used to unsettle cinema audiences at certain points in cinematic and architectural history. Drawing upon Freud’s theory of the uncanny in combination with extensive architectural criticism and discourse on cinema and its intersection with the city, I argue that uncanny architecture provides a fundamental critical framework for representing, expressing and dramatizing fear towards the metropolis. Divided into three chapters I analyze three different architectural epochs revolving around a historical narrative of the emergence, decay and absence of architectural Modernism. Beginning in Weimar Berlin I examine Walter Ruttmann’s exploration of first wave Modernity in Berlin, Symphony of a Great City (1927) and his exploitation of the primal, mystical uncanniness hidden within a city of proposed rationality, functionalism and strict geometry. I then turn to the architecture of British brutalism and explore a shining modernity decayed into neo-gothic ruins, in Andrea Arnold’s Red Road (2006) in which a British audience is haunted by the ghost of an earlier social idealism. I then conclude by moving to contemporary Tokyo in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse (2001) and confront the uncanniness endemic in a city invested so heavily in non-human technology and “non-architecture”. Throughout I argue that the metropolis will always find a way to haunt itself. Ideas of transience, death and spatial disorientation will remain fixed foundations for any developed city and that the urban uncanny is a malleable, shifting condition, consistently capitalized on by the cinema.


identifier: Garner, Martin Sartini  (2011) Lafayette Parish.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: Lafayette Parish


identifier: Salman, Alaa  (2011) Reliability-Based Management of Water Distribution Networks.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Reliability-Based Management of Water Distribution Networks
Alaa Salman, Ph.D.
Concordia University, 2011
Canada’s civil infrastructure systems have been in use for over 79 % of their expected service life. Municipalities in Canada have noted that 59% of their water systems needed repair and the condition of 43% of these systems is unacceptable. Therefore, a significant volume of rehabilitation projects are necessary to improve infrastructure performance. Reliability and criticality
assessments (RCA) as well as the ability to determine the most suitable methods of rehabilitation are urgently needed in order to allocate the available budget efficiently. The research presented in this thesis aims at developing a priority index (PI) for intervention that considers the combination of RCA for water networks. Sound techniques are utilized to develop the PI such as reliability theory, simple multi-attribute rating technique (SMART), and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP).
The reliability assessment encompasses two levels: (1) segment and (2) subnetwork reliabilities. The priority index (PI) for intervention is crucial to schedule
segment rehabilitation. Simple Multi Attribute Rating Technique (SMART) is used to select the most suitable methods of rehabilitation for these components.
Selection of a rehabilitation method is based on several factors: (1) technical feasibility, (2) whether the selection is contractually acceptable, (3) cost
iv effectiveness, (4) environmental impact, and (5) whether the rehabilitation method is a new technology or not. The output of rehabilitation selection model is the method of rehabilitation for components coupled with the associated costs and durations for rehabilitation activities for each sub-network. The final stage of this research is to schedule these rehabilitation activities. Scheduling of the rehabilitation activities related to water main networks depends mainly on available budget and planning time. Other factors, such as network reliability, criticality, location, contract size, and rehabilitation method(s), also
affect the scheduling process. This research presents a method for optimizing the scheduling of rehabilitation
work for water distribution networks. The method utilizes unsupervised neural networks (UNNs) and Mixed Integer Non Linear Programming (MINLP) and performs the scheduling in two stages. In the first stage, UNNs are used to group
water mains according to their locations and rehabilitation methods. In the second stage, MINLP is used to determine the number of rehabilitation contract packages and to generate an optimized schedule based on these packages
considering network reliability, criticality, contract size, and planning time. Data on water network are collected from the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Four
sub-networks are selected randomly from the entire network to represent four types of land use; undeveloped, residential, park, and commercial/industrial. The
data is used as a test bed to validate and demonstrate the use of the developed research methodology. An automated tool (DSSWATER), based on the developed methodology, is developed to assist users and decision makers. The
developed models and tools are expected to be beneficial to municipal engineers and managers as well as to academics.


identifier: Lebedinskaia, Natalia  (2011) Doubled Sense of Resistance: The Makortoff Family Collection of Photographs of Doukhobor Daily Life 1920 – 1950.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The Makortoff Family Collection consists of 153 photographs taken in the Doukhobor communities in the British Columbia Kootenay Mountains from the 1920s, through the 1950s. The Collection was compiled in 2002 by Teryll Plotnikoff, who selected the images from her family’s pictures to be added to the Doukhobor Historic Collection at Simon Fraser University. By engaging with these family snapshots and the accompanying guide, this thesis brings to the fore the role of personal agency in negotiating between assimilation and resistance within the Doukhobor communities in British Columbia. This reading contributes to the history of the Doukhobors, a Russian Christian group that originally relocated to Canada in the 1890s, and its role in the development of Canadian multiculturalism. The family snapshots in the Makortoff Family Collection represent a state of transition from the traditional Doukhobor way of life, narrating aspects of modernity adopted by the community; they are thus speaking to a doubled sense of resistance, simultaneously to the Canadian mainstream and to the Doukhobor traditions brought from Russia. By insisting that their subjects continue to maintain agency, I choose to view these snapshots not only as historical documentation, but also as active participants in the acts of reading and writing of their own histories.


identifier: Grosman, Paul D.  (2011) Using agent-based modelling to evaluate mitigation measures for moose-vehicle collisions.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In northern countries, moose vehicle collisions (MVCs) are often associated with the presence of salt pools near highways. Mitigation measures such as designing compensation salt pools further away from the highway and building fences along highways can be used. Fences are very efficient in reducing MVCs, but wildlife passages are required in order to increase highway permeability. Agent-based modelling (ABM) was used to study the effect on moose movement behaviour near highways of roadside salt pool removal and displacement and to estimate the required density of underpasses in fenced areas. ABM was applied to Highway 175 (Québec) where an extensive telemetry dataset on moose movement was available. The movement rules were based on cover and food quality in GIS forest polygons. Model moose had salt pool spatial memory (SPSM) and, in most cases, road avoidance (RA) behaviour, the opposing effect of which on the number of road crossings was investigated. Completely removing roadside salt pools with no compensation salt pools resulted in the highest highway crossing reductions (by 79%). A conceptual framework was also designed for investigating the movement of moose along fences using ABM. The current spacing of wildlife passages along Highway 175 is markedly larger than the recommended allometric spacing (i.e. based on home range size). The objective was to assess the impact of wildlife crossing distances on highway permeability. Because of the lack of telemetry data near fences, probabilistic and fuzzy-logic approaches were proposed to determine movement rules of the model moose. Once the model is implemented, it is anticipated that permeability will increase with decreasing distances between passages, and that a plateau may be observed once the allometric distance is reached.


identifier: Mihaylova, Tsvetelina  (2011) Internet Poker Gambling Among University Students: A Risky Endeavour or a Harmless Pastime?  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Two recent phenomena have marked gambling on university campuses: an increase of Internet gambling and a surge of interest in poker (McComb & Hanson, 2009). Accompanying them, greater participation and problem gambling rates among university students have been observed (Griffiths & Barnes, 2008; Wood et al., 2007). This thesis aims to describe online poker gambling patterns and the associated risks among university students, and to determine if the Internet as a context is linked to a greater risk of problematic and excessive gambling engagement and related problems. It compares online to offline poker players. The sample (N=1,256) was drawn from the University Student Gambling Habit Survey 2008 (ENHJEU) conducted among undergraduate students in three universities and three affiliated schools in Montreal, Canada. The analyses revealed that compared to offline poker players online poker players were more likely to be male and born outside of Canada. Their gambling patterns also suggested greater gambling engagement. Online poker players were much more likely than offline poker players to be identified as problem gamblers and to report problems in various major life areas. Virtually no differences were found in co-occurring risky behaviours, such as smoking, alcohol and substance use between the two groups. The findings point to an increased risk for gambling and other problems associated with the Internet and poker gambling for university students. Discussed are potential reasons including the enabling nature of the Internet setting with respect to gambling, as well as the prevailing perception of poker as a skill-based gambling format.


identifier: Zorin, Petr  (2011) The discrete spectra of Dirac operators.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

title: The discrete spectra of Dirac operators

abstract:
A single particle is bound by an attractive central potential and obeys the Dirac
equation in d spatial dimensions. The Coulomb potential is one of the few examples
for which exact analytical solutions are available. A geometrical approach called \the
potential envelope method" is used to study the discrete spectra generated by potentials
V (r) that are smooth transformations V (r) = g(-1/r) of the soluble Coulomb
potential. When g has de�nite convexity, the method leads to energy bounds. This
is possible because of the recent comparison theorems for the Dirac equation. The
results are applied to study soft-core Coulomb potentials used as models for con-
�ned atoms. The spectral estimates are compared with accurate eigenvalues found
by numerical methods.
iii


identifier: Plumb, Leslie  (2011) Transversal Entanglements; Research-Creation and the design process for Inflexions.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Transversal Entanglements: Research Creation and the design process for Inflexions
Leslie Plumb

This thesis or more appropriately, this written component of my thesis, is a continuation of the agency  Research-Creation brought to the design process of Inflexions. Inflexions  is an open source interdisciplinary journal for Research-Creation, sponsored by SenseLab . Research-Creation -as it is engaged by this journal- “should be understood as a method of intuition, a technique for expanding perception that puts it into immediate contact with sensation” (Thain 2008, 3). Here, I work to foreground what Alanna Thain is here calling a technique and what Andrew Murphie elsewhere calls a “technics” of distributed agency (Murphie 2009: 2). I suggest that such a technics provoked a transversal and relational design process. This is explored through the Deleuzian and Guittarian concepts of “the relation”, “inflection”, “rhythm”, “becoming”, and the virtual and actual. Further elaborations are made expanding on Erin Manning’s
concept of the “elasticity of the almost” and “preacceleration”. The exploration is invested in bringing new methods of viewing and experiencing to works online that are activated by the relational movements and milieus of the Web.


identifier: Esmail, Waheeda  (2011) The Transcendence and Immanence of the Divine in the Bahir and Ibn al-Arabi’s Thought.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This study is a comparative analysis of Jewish and Islamic mysticism through a focus on the Bahir—an early Kabbalist text—and Ibn al-Arabi, a major figure of Islamic mysticism. Roughly contemporary to one another (12th-13th centuries) and emerging in relative proximity (Southern France and Southern Spain), these two systems of thought share remarkable similarities, which this study explores and analyzes through the lens of the following question. How did the authors of the Bahir and Ibn al-Arabi negotiate the tensions that arose between traditional concepts of divine transcendence and their own mystical conceptions of divine immanence? The authors of the Bahir and Ibn al-Arabi both belonged to monotheist traditions that emphasized the transcendence of the divine; however, both systems of thought also posited a cosmogony that included a concept of divine immanence. This study shows that the resemblance between these two thought systems is not limited to the structure of their cosmogonic systems, but extends to the way in which each resolved this tension.


identifier: Alston-O'Connor, Jessa  (2011) Consuming Culture: Negotiating Asian Canadian Identities Through Food Culture and Art.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Herbert, Rhiannon  (2011) Elephant in the City: Visual Culture and the Aethetic Elsewhere of Indian Restaurants in Montreal, QC.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This work is a comparative analysis of the visual culture of Indian restaurants in two neighbourhoods on the island of Montreal, Quebec.  This project conceives of visual culture as that which constitutes the dialectical and dynamic exchange of visual knowledges in social, cultural and urban contexts, and in doing so, frames the research process as being engaged with the production and reproduction of such knowledges.  Through photographing and analyzing the street front aesthetics of these restaurants, the work explores the role of the visual in projecting ethnicized identities that engage the imaginations and expectations of culturally and historically positioned gazes within the context of consumption, culinary tourism, and place branding. This work is a unique contribution to the literatures of Indian restaurants as the first to be conducted in Montreal, as well as being a contribution to the growing field of visual culture as both a subject and methodology, reflexively problematizing the positioned gaze of the photograph and the authoritative categorizations of academic authorship.


identifier: Lessard-Berger, Charlie  (2011) The Halls of Horror: An Analysis of Set Design in Universal Studios' Horror Films of the Early Thirties.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Glean, Jodie  (2011) An Examination of the Representation of African Canadians in the Montréal High School History Textbook, Panoramas Volumes One and Two.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Canadian culture is largely depicted as a tapestry of different cultures woven into one. However, there is a growing awareness that the history taught in schools is not reflective of this cultural tapestry. The omission and erasure of topics addressing the presence and experiences of Blacks in Canadian history are particularly pervasive. My research examines the representation of African Canadians in the textbook Panoramas, an assigned high school history textbook used in Montréal. I will specifically examine and analyse the extent to which African-Canadians are included in and excluded from the textbook through the use of written and graphic texts. I will also discuss the potential effects of the lack of representation on the concept of 'identity and belonging' in the Canadian context. My research will firstly demonstrate that not only is history important to identity formation, it is a key component. Secondly, it will reveal that there is a gross exclusion and misrepresentation of the experiences of African Canadians in the textbook, and finally it will establish that issues of race and racism, as they affect African Canadians, still have not found a place of priority in the Québec historical discourse. The results of my research will open a dialogue on the need for an in-depth analysis of the current curriculum, textbooks and pedagogies used in Quebec schools, for omissions and biases of experiences around race, gender, sexuality and other differences. It will also continue the discussion on incorporating Afrocentric education as it provides the frame work to depoliticise culture and issues of identity.


identifier: Verwey, Michael A  (2011) Region-specific effects of restricted feeding on daily rhythms of the clock proteins, Period1 and Period2, in the forebrain of the male Wistar rat.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Circadian rhythms are driven by clocks and oscillators, which are distributed throughout the brain and body, and rely on daily rhythms in the expression of canonical clock genes such as Period1 (PER1) and Period2 (PER2).  In rodents, restricted feeding (RF) schedules limit food-access to a single meal each day and entrain circadian rhythms in food-anticipatory activity.  The dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus (DMH) is one brain area where daily rhythms in PER1 and PER2 are adjusted in response to RF, and this shift is potentially involved in generating food-entrained rhythms in behavior.  The limbic forebrain, which is important in the regulation of motivation and emotion, also exhibits daily rhythms of PER2 expression that are adjusted by RF.  The elucidation of RF-induced changes in the daily rhythm of PER1 and PER2 expression not only helps to identify brain areas that could be involved in the generation of food-entrained circadian rhythms, but also helps to define the nature and importance of these region-specific circadian rhythms.  The experiments in the present thesis use male Wistar rats in order to study RF-induced changes of daily rhythms of PER1 and PER2 protein expression in the DMH, limbic forebrain and the “master” light-entrained clock, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN).  These studies demonstrate a nucleus-specific response to RF, which is associated with to the start-time, predictability, and duration of the daily RF meal.  In the DMH, RF-induced rhythms of PER1 and PER2 expression were not strictly food-entrained, nor were they associated with the generation of circadian rhythms in food-anticipatory running-wheel activity.  In the limbic forebrain, daily rhythms of PER2 expression in the oval nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNSTov) and the central nucleus of the amygdala (CEA) appeared to become food-entrained.  Also in the limbic forebrain, daily rhythms of PER2 expression in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and dentate gyrus (DG) were adjusted in response to daytime food-access, which is a novel feeding time for these nocturnal rodents.  Finally, daily rhythms of PER1 and PER2 expression in the SCN failed to respond to RF and, instead, remained in synchrony with the environmental light-dark cycle.  In summary, these studies show that RF has widespread effects on the daily rhythms of PER1 and PER2 expression in brain areas that are not traditionally linked to the regulation of circadian rhythms, per se, but are instead associated with the regulation of motivation, arousal, emotion, and learning.


identifier: Donia, Magda  (2011) Do Motives Matter? Uncovering the Value of Motives Underlying Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCB).  PhD thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Raad, Yasmine  (2011) Comparison theorems for the principal eigenvalue of the Laplacian.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

type: Thesis PeerReviewed

abstract:
We study the Faber - Krahn inequality for the Dirichlet eigenvalue problem of the
Laplacian, ﬁrst in $R^N$ , then on a compact smooth Riemannian manifold M . For the
latter, we consider two cases. In the ﬁrst case, the compact manifold has a lower bound
on the Ricci curvature, in the second, the integral of the reciprocal of an isoperimetric
estimator function of the Riemannian manifold is convergent. In all cases, we show
that the ﬁrst eigenvalue of a domain in $R^N$ , respectively M , is minimal for the ball
of the same volume, respectively, for a geodesic ball of the same relative volume in
an appropriate manifold $M^∗$ . While working with the isoperimetric estimator, the
manifold $M^∗$ need not have constant sectional curvature. In $R^N$ , we also consider the
Neumann eigenvalue problem and present the Szeg¨
o - Weinberger inequality. In this
case, the principal eigenvalue of the ball is maximal among all principal eigenvalues
of domains with same volume.


identifier: Ammar, Marwan  (2011) Formal Verification of Time-Triggered Ethernet Protocol using PRISM Model Checker.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Villain, Julie / VJ  (2011) The Impact of the Urban Form on the Spatial Distribution of Commercial Activities in Montreal.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This thesis investigates Montréal’s commercial arteries through a morphological analysis. The purpose of this research is to explore the impact of spatial determinants pertaining to street permeability and street centrality on the nature and spatial distribution of retail activities along a commercial artery.
This study develops a typology of commercial streets combining both commercial and morphological characteristics. A first analysis is performed at the global level, highlighting the existence of a relationship between the urban form and the nature of commercial offer. A similar analysis is then carried out on a finer scale, focusing on internal street segments, and reveals the presence of regularities in the spatial distribution pattern of commercial activities, convenience retail in particular.
This research provides a better understanding of how commercial streets function within our cities by emphasizing the significance of the built environment and the spatial structure to explain local commercial streets’ underlying dynamics. Furthermore, the results contrast with recent commercial revitalization strategies that focus on economic (commercial mix), physical (urban design) and social (consumers’ habits) considerations to ameliorate the local commercial environment and address urban sustainability issues.


identifier: MacDougall, Kent/P  (2011) The Urban Landscape Mosaic, Assessing Barriers and their Impact on the Quality of Urban Form: A Montreal Case Study.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis discusses the adaptation of landscape fragmentation analytical methods to the study of urban form. It posits that together, the natural and human-made barriers create a network that delineates the inhabitable spaces that accommodate residential and other associated urban functions, thus creating an "urban landscape mosaic" composed of threads and meshes. A taxonomy of urban barriers is proposed that distinguishes first order quasi-impermeable barriers (rivers, escarpments, railroads, highways, etc.) and second order boundaries such as thoroughfares and large parks. A case study in Montréal illustrates how first order barriers and second order boundaries together form a morphological matrix that orders the space. It sheds light on how urban landscape fragmentation analyses could reveal the existence of recognizable patterns and dimensional thresholds and allow for the empirical exploration of spatial relationships between the barriers and boundaries matrix and some of the characters of the form at the scales of the urban organism and of the urban tissue.


identifier: August, Elana G.  (2011) Emotion Self-Regulation Behaviour during Mother-Child Interactions in High-Risk Preschoolers: Influences of Context, Maternal Risk, and Longitudinal Relations.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Hamati, Karim  (2011) The Role of Emotional Vs. Successful Intelligence in New Venture Creation.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
The question of why some people are better than others at creating new ventures has received considerable attention in the entrepreneurship literature. Two streams of research, focused on successful intelligence – a combination of analytical, practical and creative abilities – and emotional intelligence, have studied the influence of each type of intelligence on the success of a new start-up in silos.
This research aims to build on the literature to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the nature of relationship between emotional and successful intelligence, and their impact on the success of a new venture. It does so by exploring three variations of the potential relationships between these variables: 1- emotional intelligence, along with successful intelligence, directly affects new venture creation, 2- successful intelligence mediates the relationship between emotional intelligence and new venture creation, and 3- emotional intelligence moderates the relationship between successful intelligence and new venture creation.
Fifty-seven entrepreneurs who own ventures in their start-up phase completed online tests of successful and emotional intelligence, and reported on the performance of their venture. Findings from this study revealed no significant relationships for any of the three models tested. However, they suggest a possible moderation effect of emotional intelligence on the relationship between successful intelligence and new venture creation. The study also revealed unexpected findings between entrepreneurial past experience, successful intelligence and self-reports of venture performance, a research avenue that may be worthy of further investigation.


identifier: Ganchev, Antoniy  (2011) Selfish Misbehavior in 802.11 Wireless Networks.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Media access protocols in wireless networks require each contending node to wait for a backoff time chosen randomly from a given range, before attempting to transmit on a shared channel. However, selfish stations might try to acquire an unfair portion of the channel resources, at the expense of the cooperating nodes, by not following the protocol specifications. For example, they might choose smaller backoff values more often than would be dictated by pure chance. In this thesis, we study how to detect such misbehavior as well as how nodes might be induced to adhere to the protocol.

We first introduce a game-theoretic framework that models an abstracted version of the medium access protocol as a strategic static game. We are interested in designing a game which exhibits a unique Nash equilibrium corresponding to a pre-specified full-support distribution profile. In the cooperation inducement context, the Nash equilibrium for the game would correspond to protocol compliance on behalf of the participating nodes. We identify an exact condition on the number of players and the number of their strategies that must be met to guarantee the existence of such a game.

Further, we propose a new protocol called XVBEB in order to determine based on the stations' backoff values choices whether they are behaving accordingly or selfishly. We describe how to deduce the backoff values in XVBEB based on observations of transmissions by nodes in the network and the collision timeline, which is rarely feasible with  the IEEE 802.11 backoff procedure. Given a set of backoff values used by an XVBEB node, we describe how to conclude with a specified level of certainty whether the node is indeed adhering to the protocol.

Finally, we evaluate the performance of a network of XVBEB nodes and compare it against a standard IEEE 802.11 network. Simulation results show that the throughput of XVBEB is better than that of 802.11 for saturated CBR traffic. Furthermore, XVBEB also exhibits lower packet loss, delay and delay variation than 802.11 for both VBR and VoIP traffic for a variety of load conditions.


identifier: Pipe, Olivia C  (2011) On Dresses and Diadems: Female Discourse and the Politicized Body in Jana Sterbak’s Thread Drawings and Artworks.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: This thesis investigates the motivations and manifestations of female discourse and body politic in Czech-Canadian artist Jana Sterbak’s sketches and artworks from the 1980s.The analysis focuses on four artworks: Corona Laurea (1983), Hot Crown (1983-98), I Want You to Feel the Way I Do… (The Dress) (1984-85) and Standard Lives (1988). I argue that by analyzing the sketches as a separate entity and then in juxtaposition to the artwork, one can grasp the deeper, concealed meanings which Sterbak has hidden through the use of subversive text, imagery and material substance. This usually has to do with the traditionally feminine forms of clothing and adornment, specifically dresses and crowns in what are some of the artist’s most recognizable artworks.  In this thesis, supported by the concepts of narratology developed by Mieke Bal and the relationship between language and the female body as Lesley Jeffries and Jane Ussher have explored in their research, I will examine Sterbak’s on-going reflections on the politics of the female body that begin with the artist’s initial conception in the process of what she calls her “thread drawings.”


identifier: Froschauer, Christina  (2011) Talking Back to the West: Contemporary First Nations Artists and Strategies of Counter-appropriation.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Over a twenty-year period, renowned artists such as Edward Poitras, Robert Houle, Jim
Logan, Kent Monkman, among others, appropriate renowned colonial landscape
paintings and art historical canonical works, and then alter them to include First Nations
narratives, as methods of critiquing the exclusionary nature of grand colonial narratives
and their associated historical, art historical and, by extension, anthropological
discourses. Using counter-appropriation as an artistic strategy, they critique: the West’s
disregard for First Nations histories in North America; Art History’s past failures to
classify their art objects as Fine Art; and contemporary cultural constructions of
“Indianness” originating from colonial history and ideologies about the “Vanishing
Race.” With their works, the artists offer their viewers insight into First Nations histories
and stories, thereby enriching the multiple narratives and pluralist discourses existent in
North America.


identifier: Richter, Steve  (2011) From Self-Discipline to Self-Realization: Emotion Management in the Montreal Race Riots of 1969 and 2008.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Chandrasekaran, Arvind  (2011) Cavitation Assisted and Enhanced Valveless Micropumping Integrated Optical Detection based Micro-Total Analysis System (mTAS): Design, Modeling, Fabrication and Testing.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: SUN, XUAN  (2011) Validation of Environment Based Design (EBD) through Applications of Design Chain Management and Quality Management System.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Neumark, Erwin  (2011) The Effects of Acute Tryptophan Depletion and Psychological Traits on Cardiovascular and Mood Responses to Interpersonal Conflict.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: The present study investigated the effects of serotonin and psychosocial factors including Cook-Medley hostility, Trait anger, Trait anxiety, and Beck depression scores on cardiovascular and mood responses to interpersonal stress. Eighty-five males and females participated in either an acute tryptophan depletion, a procedure that lowers brain serotonin levels, or a sham tryptophan depletion. They were subsequently exposed to an interpersonal conflict stressor. Cardiovascular and mood measures were recorded at baseline, post-depletion pre-stress, during the stressor, and during recovery. All participants exhibited heightened cardiovascular responses as well as increased anxious, hostile, and depressed mood to the interpersonal conflict. Effects of depletion on cardiovascular reactivity were observed exclusively during recovery. Effects of depletion on negative mood were found at rest and during stress with increased negative affect in the depleted versus balanced condition. Interactions between tryptophan depletion and psychological factors other than hostility were also observed. Greater negative mood responses were found in depleted individuals with high scores on anger, anxiety, and depression factors. Overall, these findings suggest that the effect of serotonin on the stress response may be modulated by psychological factors. Implications for future research on the interaction between serotonin, psychological factors, cardiovascular reactivity, and mood are discussed.


identifier: Guo, Rui  (2011) The Determinants of U.S. Equity Index Funds Flows.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Existing studies on fund flows focus on actively managed funds and S&P 500 index funds. This thesis examines the determinants of funds flow for a sample of 211 U.S. index funds representing eight different underlying indexes over a period of approximately 16 years. We find that performance in general has a positive effect on fund flows. Fund fees (including expense ratios and front-end loads) are negatively related with fund flows. The association between fund flows and tracking error depends upon time period with a positive relation over the most recent subperiod and a negative relation over the earlier subperiod. We find that institutional and retail investors have different funds-flow responses to performance, tracking errors and fund fees. While some determinants affect the sensitivity of flows to performance ranges, these influences are not robust since they do not persist for all types of performance measures.


identifier: Alshanyour, Ahed  (2011) Cross-Layer Design for QoS Routing in Multi-Hop Wireless Networks.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) are gaining increasing popularity in recent years because of their ease of deployment. They are distributed, dynamic, and self-configurable without infrastructure support. Routing in ad hoc networks is a challenging task because of the MANET dynamic nature. Hence, researchers were focused in designing best-effort distributed and dynamic routing protocols to ensure optimum network operations in an unpredictable wireless environment. Nowadays, there is an increased demand on multimedia applications (stringent delay and reliability requirements), which makes a shift from best-effort services to Quality of Services.

Actually, the challenge in wireless ad hoc networks is that neighbor nodes share the same channel and they take part in forwarding packets. Therefore, the total effective channel capacity is not only limited by the raw channel capacity but is also limited by the interactions and interferences among neighboring nodes. Thus, such factors should be taken in consideration in order to offer QoS routing. While, some of the distributed QoS route selection algorithms assume the availability of such information, others propose mechanisms to estimate them.

The goals of this thesis are: (i) to analyze the performance of IEEE 802.11 MAC mechanism in non-saturation conditions, (ii) to use the analysis in the context of multi-hop ad hoc networks, (iii) to derive theoretical limits for nodes performance in multi-hop ad hoc networks, (iv) to use the multi-hop analysis in QoS route selection.

We start the thesis by proposing a discrete-time 3D Markov chain model to analyze the saturation performance of the RTS/CTS access mode. This model integrates the backoff countdown process, retransmission retry limits, and transmission errors into one model. The impact of system parameters (e.g., number of nodes, packet size, retry limits, and BERs) are analyzed. Next, we extend the 3D model to analyze the performance under non-saturation conditions and finite buffer capacity using two different approaches. First, we extend the 3D model into a 4D model to integrate the transmission buffer behavior. Second, we replace the 4D model by an M/G/1/K queueing system model with independent samples from the saturation analysis. The latter model gives similar results as the former but with a reduction in the analysis complexity. Next and by means of the non-saturation analysis, we proposed an approximate mathematical model for multi-hop ad hoc networks. Furthermore, we proposed an iterative mechanism to estimate the throughput in the presence of multiple flows. Finally, we used the multi-hop analysis to propose a QoS route selection algorithm. In this algorithm, we concentrate on the throughput as a QoS parameter. However, the proposed algorithm is valid to be used with other QoS parameters, such as packet delay, packet loss probability, and fairness. Analytical and simulation results show the deficiency of the current route selection algorithm in AODV and at the same time verifies the need for QoS route selection algorithms.


identifier: Zhao, Yan  (2011) Essays On Small Open Economy Models.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

title: Essays On Small Open Economy Models


identifier: Mohd Abul Basher, Abdur Rahman  (2011) Mining Chat Logs to Extract Information about Authors and Topics for Crime Investigation.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Cybercriminals have been using the Internet to accomplish illegitimate activities and to execute catastrophic attacks. Computer Mediated Communication, such as online chat, provides an anonymous channel for predators to exploit victims. In order to prosecute criminals in a court of law, an investigator often needs to extract evidence from a large volume of chat messages. Most of the existing search tools are keyword-based, and the search terms are provided by an investigator. The quality of the retrieved results depends on the search terms provided. Due to the large volume of chat messages and the large number of participants in public chat rooms, the process is usually time-consuming and error-prone. This thesis presents a topic search model to analyze archives of chat logs for segregating crime-relevant logs from others. Specifically, we propose an extension of the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA)-based model to extract topics, compute the contribution of authors in these topics, and study the transitions of these topics over time. In addition, we present another unique model for characterizing authors-topics over time. This is crucial for investigation because it provides a view of the activity in which authors are involved in certain topics. Experiments on two real-life datasets suggest that the proposed approach can discover hidden criminal topics and the distribution of authors to these topics.


identifier: Hyslop, Megan J  (2011) When We Grow a Garden Together: A Love Story.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This story moves between a back alley in Montréal and a farm in BC, a mountain in a city and the forests of Ontario. For me it has been a healing and liberating journey.  It is a reflection of an unfurling into myself, into my relationship to the earth, and into myself as the earth.  It is an exploration of the power of creativity, questions, stories, community, and our wise animal bodies.  It is a series of my discoveries to enjoy the process and the mystery of community projects, to take the time to nurture the human connections that provide the foundation for collective projects to flourish, to find balance, symbiosis, and true safety.  This story is also my invitation to others into acts of courage, presence, and perseverance to create a life-loving culture of place and relatedness in this time of transition and transformation.
I use literature from permaculture and natural farming, sacred activism, psychology, storytelling, and holistic education; these texts complement my reflections on a neighbourhood project that is transforming an underutilized back alley into a social, artistic, and food-growing space, as well as my own wilderness explorations and farming experiences.  The book ends with personal reflections from neighbours who participated in the alley project.  “We need new love stories,” a friend of mine said recently.  This one was ripe with uncertainty, emotion, holy chaos, and heart.  Enjoy.


identifier: Naderi, Nona  (2011) Automated Extraction of Protein Mutation Impacts from the Biomedical Literature.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Mutations as sources of evolution have long been the focus of attention in the
biomedical literature. Accessing the mutational information and their impacts
on protein properties facilitates research in various domains, such as
enzymology and pharmacology. However, manually reading through the rich and fast growing repository
of biomedical literature is expensive and time-consuming. A number of manually curated
databases, such as BRENDA (http://www.brenda-enzymes.org), try to index and provide this
information; yet the provided data seems to be incomplete. Thus, there is a
growing need for automated approaches to extract this information.
In this work, we present a system to automatically extract and summarize impact
information from protein mutations.
Our system extraction module is split into subtasks: organism analysis,
mutation detection, protein property extraction and impact
analysis. Organisms, as sources of proteins, are required to be extracted to
help disambiguation of genes and proteins. Thus, our system extracts and
grounds organisms to NCBI. We detect mutation series to correctly ground our detected
impacts. Our system also extracts the affected protein properties as well as the magnitude of the
effects.
The output of our system is populated to an OWL-DL ontology, which can then be queried to provide structured information. The performance
  of the system is evaluated on both external and internal corpora and
  databases. The results show the reliability of the approaches. Our Organism
  extraction system achieves a precision and recall of 95%
and 94% and a grounding accuracy of 97.5% on the OT corpus. On the manually
annotated corpus of Linneaus-100, the results show a precision and recall of
99% and 97% and grounding with an accuracy of 97.4%.
In the impact detection task, our system achieves a precision and recall of
70.4%-71.8% and 71.2%-71.3% on a manually annotated documents. Our system grounds the detected
impacts with an accuracy of 70.1%-71.7% on the manually annotated documents
and a precision and recall of 57%-57.5% and 82.5%-84.2% against the BRENDA data.


identifier: Li, Yang  (2011) An Experimental and Numerical Study of the Influence of Room Factors and Hygroscopic Material of Wood Paneling on the Indoor Environment.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Moisture level inside buildings is a key factor influencing the durability of construction, indoor air quality, living comfort, and energy consumption. Previous studies found that this level was related to the room factors including moisture loads and ventilation conditions and to the moisture ab/desorption capacity of hygroscopic material utilized in interior of the building. The phenomenon of the indoor humidity level influenced by the dynamic moisture interaction process between hygroscopic material and indoor air has been recognized as moisture buffering effect. Some materials’ buffering properties at the material level have been intensively measured. However, there has not been enough information and testing standard for evaluating material buffering performance at the room level. Meanwhile, the material buffering properties may not be directly representative of the material buffering performance at the room level because the moisture buffering effects are influenced by room factors. This thesis reports on an experimental investigation of the impact of room factors on moisture buffering performance of wood paneling utilized as inner layer of the wall assembly and on the study of the indoor humidity level influenced by room factors and moisture buffering effect of the hygroscopic material. The experimental study presents the moisture responses of wood paneling by moisture ab/desorption kinetic curves, and finds that the buffering effect caused by hygroscopic material is related to not only the buffering performance of the material but also to the characteristics of the building structure. Under the experimental test conditions, the room characteristics can cause up to 8% variation in RH levels and wood paneling can moderate these variations by up to 30%.
The experimental results showed that to predict indoor humidity levels, the moisture interaction between the wood paneling and indoor air was not negligible, and the room factors dominated the variation of the indoor environment. To further investigate the indoor humidity level influenced by room factors that could not be studied in the experiment and to explain the influences by the mechanisms of HAM transport, a numerical model that coupled the governing equations of momentum, heat, and moisture transport in whole building simulation domain was established. This model which took into account the heat/moisture interaction between indoor air and envelope overcomes the limitations existing in currently available numerical models of coupling moisture transport in the building envelope with indoor CFD simulation and has great application potential in whole building HAM transport studies. The application of this model presented in this thesis includes the investigation of the indoor environment influenced by moisture loads and ventilation designs, the heat/moisture transport through wall system, and the potential damage caused by moisture.


identifier: McGowan, Viola  (2011) No One Has a Monopoly Over Sorrow: Representing Trauma and the Everyday in Contemporary Art.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This study aims to situate the contemporary art practices of American sculptor Dario Robleto and Canadian photographers Carlos and Jason Sanchez as explorations of trauma and fragmentation. As such, their artworks are transformed to function as relics and memento mori in order to refer to or negotiate past traumatic events. Examining the artists’ practices through the lens of trauma theory, notions of the fragment and relics, this thesis investigates how they might relate to a larger history of trauma and how the construction of narrative is used to bring self-awareness to the viewer’s sense of mortality and collective experience.
There are three main sections to this critical analysis, all of which employ psychoanalytical theory, socio-political theory, aesthetic theory, material culture theory, as well as theories of photography and sculpture, in order to frame the Sanchez and Robleto artworks as significant interventions from an art historical perspective as well as from a thanatological and anthropological perspective. Within this, notions of testimony, temporality and memory are investigated as they are activated through the sculpture, photography and installation examined in this thesis. The biographies of objects are also underscored in the analysis of the artists’ creations as they illuminate commodity situations, socio-economic structures and psychological perception.
Witnessed in these artworks are elements of everyday situations and everyday objects that erupt with the imprint of trauma. While engaging with concepts of reenactment, Robleto and the Sanchez brothers approach commemoration in a way that is simultaneously romantic and unsettling, revealing conflicts between social structures and material intervention.


identifier: Burisch, Nicole J.  (2011) The Dematerialization of the Craft Object: Performance Art and Contemporary Craft.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: Craft and performance art are both experiencing renewed significance within contemporary art. Correspondingly, practices, exhibitions, and works that combine features of both craft and performance art are appearing in the form of collaborative crafting, documentation of crafting events, live and public performance of craft work, and crafting as a tool for social and political projects. This thesis addresses the intersections of craft and performance art in select artworks and curatorial strategies from the exhibitions Common Threads at the Illingworth Kerr Gallery in Calgary (2007), She Will Always Be Younger Than Us at the Textile Museum of Canada in Toronto (2009), and Gestures of Resistance at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland (2010). Centering on presentations that foreground the performance of crafting or craft-making as the central mode of the work, I argue that a comprehensive reading of these works must situate them not only within the history of craft, but also within the history and theories of performance art. By examining and drawing upon the history and strategies of performance art, this thesis proposes that the incorporation of performance art into craft calls into question the traditional view of craft as an object-centred practice. The notion of a dematerialized craft practice is considered in light of recent developments in craft theory that propose thinking about craft not as a set of objects or materials, but rather as form of knowledge or a as subject.


identifier: Vouyoukas, Eleftherios  (2011) The Influence of Sexual Activity on Athletic Performance.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Nguyen, Huu-Quoc Thang  (2011) An Investigation of Decoding Complexity and Coding Rate Performance of Raptor Codes.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This thesis examines two aspects of wireless transmissions using Raptor codes: (i) decoding complexity and (ii) rate performance.

First, observing that the high complexity of Raptor decoding process is mainly due to the required number of decoding attempts, a strategy is proposed to reduce the decoding complexity by choosing an appropriate time to start the first decoding attempt and thus keeping a small number of decoding attempts. Simulations results show that the proposed strategy, when combined with a decoding algorithm, can achieve a significant reduction in Raptor decoding complexity. Another threshold strategy is also investigated, aiming to further reduce the decoding complexity by providing only "reliable" bits for Raptor decoding process. The effect of this considered strategy can be interpreted as simulating a better transmission channel and techniques to estimate its effective channel quality improvement are developed and evaluated.

Second, the Raptor coding rate performance over Nakagami-m fading channels and in a cooperative relaying network using Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) is studied.  The simulation results show that the Raptor-coded BPSK scheme can provide a transmission rate closely approaching the channel capacity for different fading conditions at low SNR. For cooperative relaying network using Raptor-coded BPSK scheme, two cooperative protocols are considered: the existing Time Division (TD) and the modified Phase-2 Simultaneous Transmission (PST). Their performance is investigated in terms of average time and energy required for a successful transmission under various conditions of the Relay-Destination (RD) link. The simulation results show that the PST protocol often outperforms the TD protocol in terms of average transmission time and the TD protocol only has lower average transmission energy when the RD link's quality is better that of the Source-Destination (SD) link.


identifier: Khaddam, Maya  (2011) TWO FACES OF FACEBOOK: THE INFLUENCE OF OTHER- VERSUS SELF-BENEFIT APPEALS AND SELF-DETERMINED MOTIVATION ON THE PROSOCIAL BEHAVIORAL INTENTIONS OF GENERATION Y (GENYS).  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
ABSTRACT

Two Faces of Facebook: The Influence of Other- versus Self-Benefit Appeals and Self-Determined Motivation on the Prosocial Behavioral Intentions of Generation Y (GENYS)

Maya Khaddam

This research is the first to focus on Generation Y (GENYS) and their motivation to engage in prosocial behavior in the context of an event for the cause of breast cancer, and in the social media (SM) environment of Facebook. Federal and Provincial Governments are reducing their financial contributions to social research and cultural causes. As a result, prosocial behavior is becoming a relationship/strategic marketing issue. Many associations and organizations are struggling to find new constituencies to support social causes and to engage in relevant prosocial behaviors, such as monetary contributions and volunteer efforts. GENYS represent the second largest population after baby boomers. They are an important constituency for marketers of social causes.
Experimental and correlational approaches were used to study the dispositional and contextual factors determining online, cause and event related prosocial behavior intentions. In the experimental approach, we attempted to shed light on the contradiction of whether GENYS are mainly self- or other-oriented toward a social cause. We presented them with either a self-benefit or other-benefit Facebook page appeal for a fund raising event for the cause of breast cancer. The results indicated that an other-benefit Facebook page appeal was more effective in encouraging prosocial behavior intentions. In the correlational approach, we used the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to investigate GENYS motivation (controlled vs. autonomous) for prosocial behavior in the SM environment. The results showed that autonomous motivation is more likely to encourage prosocial behavior intentions among GENYS. Moreover, other dispositional characteristics (e.g. personality, gender) and contextual variables (e.g. proximity to the cause of breast cancer, importance of social media for social causes) were investigated. Results indicated that proximity to the cause and the perceived importance of social media for the support of a social cause were two elements that need to be taken into consideration when determining predictors of prosocial behavior intentions. No significant effects on prosocial behavior intentions were found for personality traits or for gender. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed, and limitations and suggestions for future research are presented.

Keywords: relationship marketing, social marketing, motivation, Self-Determination Theory, social media, Generation Y.


identifier: Rababah, Mahmoud  (2011) A Practical and Optimal Approach to CNC Programming for Five-Axis Grinding of the End-Mill Flutes.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
For a solid carbide tapered end-mill, every flute includes a flute surface and a rake face along a helical side cutting edge, and the end-mill core is at the center and is tangent to all the flutes. The flutes significantly affect the tools cutting performance and life, and the core radius mainly affects the tools rigidity. Mainly, two methods are adopted in industry to grind the flutes; these are: the direct method and the inverse method. In the direct method, a flute is ground using a standard grinding-wheel moving in multi-axis machining to generate the rake face and the flute surface. However, the flute is the natural outcome of the grinding process without any control. On the other side, the inverse method employs the concept of inverse engineering to build a grinding-wheel that accurately grinds the end-mill flutes. This yields a free-form grinding-wheel profile that is used on a 2-axis grinding machine; however, the flute shapes are only exact on one section of the end-mill; when the grinding-wheel moves along the side cutting edge to smaller sections; the deviation of the generated flute from the designed one will be increased. Thus, neither can this method grind the rake face with the prescribed normal rake angle, nor generate the side cutting edge in good agreement with its design. Moreover, the grinding-wheel profile is very difficult and expensive to make.

To address these problems, a practical and optimal approach for five-axis grinding of prescribed end-mill flutes is proposed by; first, establishing a 5-axis flute grinding theory describing the wheels locations and orientations during grinding the rake faces with constant normal rake angles; Second, introducing a simple grinding-wheel consisting of lines and circular arcs; and finally, applying an optimization algorithm to optimize the grinding-wheel shape and path. Overall, this approach significantly advances the CNC programming technique for the 5-axis flute grinding, and can substantially increase the quality of the solid carbide end-mills and lays a good foundation for the CAD/CAE/CAM of end-mills. The advantages of this approach over the other approaches are verified using computer simulation.


identifier: Coles, Robert C.  (2011) For the Record: Memory and the Second World War Paintings of Carl Schaefer, RCAF.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
ABSTRACT

		  For the Record: Memory and the Second World War Paintings of

				        Carl Schaefer, RCAF

      Rob Coles

	Although the Second World War ended over sixty five years ago, veteran’s memories of the conflict continue to shift in focus with the passing of time. During the war Carl Schaefer (1903-1995) served with the RCAF as an official war artist attached to bomber, fighter, and coastal commands in Europe. This thesis compares Schaefer’s war diary and letters written during the war with two interviews conducted with the artist many years after the war. The comparison yielded some interesting discrepancies in Schaefer’s memory of his role as an official war artist. During the war, Schaefer emphasized in his diary and letters the main goal of the war art program: accurate images of Canada’s involvement in the war for the historical record. In the two post-war interviews, however, Schaefer’s memory of his role had shifted when he mentioned that he considered his war-time work as art, rather than historical records.

The reasons for the shift in Schaefer’s memory are complex and varied. In order to understand the process by which his memory of the war altered over time, I have consulted theories written by several oral historians. The key reason for the shift in memory is that Schaefer, like other war veterans, sought to establish meaning for his role in the war that would give him a feeling of composure, thus helping him feel good about his life. The shift in Schaefer’s memory also offers clues regarding the context of the interviews conducted after the war.


identifier: Polosa, Marina  (2011) Artistic and Educational Innovation in Action: Reflecting on Room 13, Proboscis, and enquire’s Northeast Cluster 2.1.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Soren, Maya/M  (2011) Reclaiming Le 9e: Public Heritage at the Eaton’s Ninth Floor Restaurant, Montréal.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract: In 1931 Eaton’s matriarchal figure Lady Flora McCrea Eaton (1880-1970) oversaw the opening of the Eaton’s Ninth Floor Restaurant, Le 9e, designed by the famous French architect Jacques Carlu after her favourite ocean liner L’Île-de-France. In 2000 Le 9e was officially declared a Québec heritage site by the Ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition féminine after operating at the corner of rue University and rue Ste-Catherine Ouest in Montréal for nearly seventy years. The present owner, property management company Ivanhoe Cambridge, denies all access to the public as well as to professionals working in the heritage industry. Drawing on interdisciplinary primary resources such as Carlu’s architectural plans, photographs, archival records and Lady Eaton’s autobiography, this research investigates the site’s heritage value within a broader historical context. Representing an emerging culture of luxury and transatlantic travel amongst the middle class in the 1930s, Le 9e is one of the last surviving Art Deco interior spaces in Montréal. Reaching beyond the restaurant’s architectural value, Lady Eaton’s crucial role in choosing the Art Deco style and her management of the restaurant allows for a new interpretation of the restaurant’s heritage value as well as a rethinking of the notion of biologically determined “separate spheres” for men and women. The site’s social and cultural value as a gendered space is especially highlighted, contributing equally to the site’s heritage value and to the growing discourse of feminist architectural history.


identifier: Ajam, Wafik M.A.  (1986) Finite Element Study of the Post-Buckling Behaviour of Plate Girder Panels Under Shear Load.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
This study used the finite element method to analyse a single panel with stiffeners along all four edges subjected to imposed shear displacements.

The analysis clarifies the stress distribution from initial buckling until the failure load, and shows that although the theories used in the design of plate girders under shear loading may give satisfactory values, the model used if very far from the real behaviour. For plate girders used in structural engineering the capacity is reached when first yield in shear in the tension corners occurs, without any of the diagonal tension assumed in most of the theories.

The ultimate load capacity of shear webs in a plate girder is modelled as the sum of the shear strength of the web and the bending strength of the flanges. After initial buckling the web provides an increasing shear resistance, without any contribution from flange blending until the first shear yielding occurs in the tension corners. After this yielding occurs, the flanges bend and the capacity of the web may be further increased as a result of the normal force at the boundary created by the bending rigidity in the flange.

In this study a new simple equation is developed to predict the ultimate shear force for rectangular panels.


identifier: Pop, Rodica  (2011) Understanding of ISO 9000 Standards through Recursive Object Modeling (ROM).  Masters thesis, Concordia University.


identifier: Khurshid, Noorulain  (2011) Towards Specifying Swarm-based Systems Using Categorical Modeling Language: A Case Study.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
One of the solutions to the software complexity crisis of this era is the proposition of self-managing systems like autonomous and autonomic systems. The idea has gained wide acceptance in the IT industry but it has also introduced the challenge of specification and development of such systems. Swarm intelligence is finding its applications in research and design of self-managing systems because of the coincidental resemblance between the two domains. However, specification of a swarm-based self-managing system is faced with the difficulty of specifying the complex evolving behavior.
This thesis presents an adaptation of a mathematical technique known as Category Theory to serve as a ‘reasoning and modeling’ paradigm for specifying high-level behavioral patterns of a swarm-based self-managing systems. The crux of this paradigm is the formal categorical modeling language (CML). CML syntax and semantics have been defined using an EBNF-based context-free grammar. The language helps to generate a formal specification of different scenarios/behavioral patterns of a swarm-based system. Moreover, a prototype tool has been implemented as part of this research work to serve as a modeling tool based on CML. In this thesis, NASA’s ANTS-based Prospecting Asteroid Mission (PAM) serves as a case study to analyze the applicability and usability of CML as a formal method of choice.


identifier: Martin, Edouard Philippe  (2011) Comparative Performance of Different Statistical Models for Predicting Ground-Level Ozone (O3) and Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) Concentrations in Montréal, Canada.  Masters thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Ground-level ozone (O3) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are two air pollutants known to reduce visibility, to have damaging effects on building materials and adverse impacts on human health. O3 is the result of a series of complex chemical reactions between nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the presence of solar radiation. PM is a class of airborne contaminants composed of sulphate, nitrate, ammonium, crustal components and trace amounts of microorganisms. PM2.5 is the respirable subgroup of PM having an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 μm. Development of effective forecasting models for ground-level O3 and PM2.5 is important to warn the public about potentially harmful or unhealthy concentration levels.

The objectives of this study is to investigate the applicability of Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), Principle Component Regression (PCR), Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS), feed-forward Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and hybrid Principal Component – Artificial Neural Networks (PC-ANN) models to predict concentrations of O3 and PM2.5 in Montréal (Canada). Air quality and meteorological data is obtained from the Réseau de surveillance de la qualité de l’air (RSQA) for the Airport Station (45°28′N, 73°44′W) and the Maisonneuve Station (45°30′N, 73°34′W) for the period January 2004 to December 2007. Air pollution data include concentration values for nitrogen monoxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and 142 different volatile organic compounds. Meteorological data include solar irradiation (SR), temperature (Temp), pressure (Press), dew point (DP), precipitation (Precip), wind speed (WS) and wind direction (WD).

Analysis of the available volatile organic compound data expressed on a propylene-equivalent concentration indicated that m/p-xylene, toluene, propylene and (1,2,4)-trimethylbenzene were species with the most significant ozone forming potential in the study area.

Different models and architectures have been investigated through five case studies. Predictive performances of each model have been measured by means of performance metrics and forecast success rates. Overall, MARS models allowing second order interaction of independent basis functions yielded lower error, higher correlation and higher forecast success rates. This study indicates that models based on statistical methods can be cost-effective tools to forecast ground-level O3 and PM2.5 in Montréal and to provide support for decision makers in protecting human health.


identifier: Hazegh Fetratjoo, Mohammad  (2011) A framework for automatic modeling of underground excavations in homogeneous rock mass.  PhD thesis, Concordia University.

abstract:
Determining the optimum excavation sequence in mining or civil engineering requires using stress analysis methods to repeatedly solve large models. Time consuming preparation of the model and lengthy computations, often measured in days, can have major impacts on successful ongoing operation of an underground mine, where stope failures can cost millions of dollars and perhaps result in closure of the mine. Widespread acceptance of new tunneling methods such as NATM which depend heavily on numerical stress analysis tools and the fact that the effects of excavation at the face of the tunnel are distinctively three dimensional necessitates the use of 3D numerical analysis of these problems.

A framework was developed to facilitate efficient modeling of underground excavations and to create an optimal 3D mesh by reducing the number of surface and volume elements while keeping the result of stress analysis accurate enough at the region of interest, where a solution is sought. Fewer surface and volume elements means fewer degrees of freedom in the numerical model. The reduction in number of degrees of freedom directly translates to savings in computational time and resources. The mesh refinement algorithm is driven by a set of criteria that are functions of distance and visibility of points from the region of interest and the framework can be easily extended by adding new types of criteria. A software application was developed to realize the proposed framework and it was applied to a number of mining and civil engineering problems to investigate the applicability, accuracy and efficiency of the framework. The optimized mesh produced by the framework reduced the time to solution significantly and the accuracy of the results obtained from the optimized mesh is comparable to the accuracy of the input data for mining engineering problems.