title: An Analysis of Urban Forest Policy: A Case Study of Three Mid-Size Cities in Southwestern Ontario

subject:
Urban Forest
policy
analysis
management

abstract: Supervised by Dr. Graham Whitelaw

abstract:
Urban forestry provides several benefits from improving the quality of life (Sanesi,
Colangelo, Lafortezza, Calvo, & Davies, 2017), providing economic benefits (Kim,
2016), and improving the quality of our environment (Dwyer, McPherson, Schroeder,
& Rowntree, 1992). Urban forest management plans and other plans and policies are
one way municipalities can manage these resources. In Canada only about 20% of
municipalities have urban forest management plans and they are missing largely in
smaller communities (Bardekjian, Kenney, & Rosen, 2017). Urban forestry is
becoming an incredibly important practice as our climate continues to change. Urban
forests contribute to making our cities more sustainable while reducing their
contributions to climate change (Escobedo, Kroeger, & Wagner, 2011), and reducing
climate change’s impact on the municipality (Dwyer, McPherson, Schroeder, &
Rowntree, 1992). This research examines urban forest management in Guelph,
London, and Waterloo, Ontario by comparing collections of policies related to the
urban forest from each municipality with a modified set of urban forest management
best practices. The original best practices were modified based on a literature review
to ensure that criteria were based on our current understanding of urban forest
management best practices. Based on the comparison of the related policies to the
modified set of best practices the three cities all show some strong policies in some
aspects of urban forest management and are generally headed in the right direction.
Some aspects of urban forest management policy are completely lacking throughout
the three cities in this study and each city, despite their strengths, have room to
improve. Based on this research the trend in Southwestern Ontarian mid size cities
appears to be headed in a positive direction where urban forest management is
improving, some cities are pushing for more and more progressive policies. Even
though there are many positives, urban forest management policies still require
improvement before we can expect to see the full benefit of our urban forests while
fully minimizing the costs associated with urban forest management.


title: The Potential Breach Vectors in Biosecurity Practices and the Issues Associated with Airplane Lavatory Waste

abstract: Biosecurity deals with the preventative measures to reduce the entrance of foreign bodies into a country that may be harmful to human health and the environment. Current preventative methods in Canada are not as thorough as countries such as New Zealand and Australia. Potential breaches in biosecurity may come from the outer body of an aircraft, through luggage and carry- on baggage, declaration card variations, and footwear contamination. Using the lavatory waste originating from the Toronto Pearson International Airport as a case study, this thesis investigates its processing to wastewater treatment plants as well as examining associated biosecurity risks. It was found that neither international nor domestic airplane lavatory waste is treated prior to municipal wastewater treatment. In addition, high wet weather flows (high rainfall and snow melt) may exceed a wastewater treatment plant’s capacity, leading to partial treatment. As such, foreign pathogens and microorganisms may survive and be transferred into Lake Ontario. Therefore, as global travel increases, the biosecurity risks of airplane lavatory waste may also increase.


title: Quality of Experience from Cache Hierarchies: Caching for Adaptive Streaming over Information-Centric Networks

contributor:
Hassanein, Hossam
Oteafy, Sharief
Computing

rights: Queen's University's Thesis/Dissertation Non-Exclusive License for Deposit to QSpace and Library and Archives Canada

rights: ProQuest PhD and Master's Theses International Dissemination Agreement

rights: Intellectual Property Guidelines at Queen's University

rights: This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner.

subject:
In-network Caching
Named Data Networking
Dynamic Adaptive Streaming
Cache Hierarchies
Quality of Experience

abstract:
Video traffic is growing in dominance in today’s Internet, prompting new challenges in timely delivery of video content. This demand motivates the development of Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH), as a de facto paradigm for streaming service. DASH attempts to maximize the video consumers' Quality of Experience (QoE) under varying network conditions. However, as an application-level solution, DASH is struggling to cope with both low-latency delivery and massive service requests. The emerging Information-Centric Networking (ICN) architecture, with its ubiquitous cache hierarchies, promises a scalable adaptive streaming service. However, current ICN caching capability is aimed at generic traffic, and lacks the optimization needed for video-specific applications. As the performance of existing caching schemes is discovered to decline as consumers dynamically select content encoded at different bitrates, DASH evidently clashes with caching hierarchies, which reinforces the need to explore novel caching schemes that can incorporate bitrate adaptation, as a controlling mechanism in DASH, to serve this dominating traffic.

In this dissertation, catering to adaptive video traffic is accomplished by caching mechanisms that emphasize various QoE measurements, such as video quality, bitrate oscillation, and rebuffering. Specifically, 1) the delivered video quality is enhanced by building a traffic model to estimate access delay under varying encoded bitrates. This delay is further used to optimize cache placement that causes the highest video throughput. 2) Bitrate oscillations and playback rebuffering are reduced due to our findings where bitrates should be prioritized in cache hierarchies. This is manifested in the design of a cache partitioning mechanism that safeguards cache capacity for specific bitrates. 3) Building on the premises of cache partitioning, the underlying dependency between cache hierarchies and bitrate adaptation is addressed for caching decisions that rely on instant video statistics. That is, instead of focusing on currently popular bitrates, bitrate adaptation predicts preferable rates in the future, and guides cache decisions that optimize the long-term performance under dynamic video requests. Extensive simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of proposed approaches in achieving significant improvements to QoE. These results suggest that cache hierarchies can better serve adaptive streaming when caching schemes capture, understand, and react to bitrate adaptation.

abstract: PhD


title: Computing Rovibrational Spectra of Small Polyatomic Molecules with Variational and Collocation Methods

contributor: Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy

subject:
Schroedinger Equation
Rovibrational
Spectra
CH3+
Variational
Collocation
Lanczos

abstract:
It is well-known that some deuterated isotopologues of interstellar molecules achieve a significantly higher deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio than the natural elemental abundance. CH3+ and its deuterated isotopologues are thought to be an important mediator of this process in warm interstellar regions and as such their detection is of interest. To assist in experimental observation, rovibrational calculations have been performed for all isotopologues of CH3+ up to J = 5. Rovibrational levels of CH2D+ and CD2H+ are computed for the first time. Vibrational states up to the 5000-6000 cm-1 range are assigned and their symmetry is determined. The J < 6 levels for the ground,  ν1, and  ν5 states of CH2D+, and the ground state of CD2H+ compared to observed levels all have a root-mean-square-error (rmse) of less than 0.1 cm-1. The rmse increases to over 0.5 cm-1 for the  ν1 mode of CD2H+, thought to be due to a perturbation with another band. Though prior analysis proposes the  ν2 +ν 3 overtone as most likely for a perturbing Fermi resonance, these calculations suggest 3ν 3 as the more probable candidate.
In addition, the progress on an additional project aimed at supplementing sum-of- products routines is outlined. Preliminary results for P2O look promising, and calculations are presently moving forward on a CH2O example to test the proposed idea.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Conflicting and Silent Voices: How Sustainable Agricultural Narratives Replace and Shape Policies in Ontario, Canada

subject: Field Crops

subject: Narratives

subject: Sustainable Agricultural Policy

subject: Agriculture and Agri-Food Systems

subject: Cumulative Environmental Challenges

subject: Ontario

subject: Canada

subject: Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES

subject: Research Subject Categories::NATURAL SCIENCES

subject: Research Subject Categories::FORESTRY, AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES and LANDSCAPE PLANNING

abstract: 4th Year Honour's Thesis in Environmental Science and Global Development Studies

abstract: Ontario’s agriculture and agri-food sector currently accounts for over one-quarter of all farms in Canada. However, the province does not have any official definition for sustainable agriculture, making it difficult if not impossible to address cumulative environmental challenges. Rather, Ontario has a piecemeal basket of agricultural policies, which encourage ineffective and unsustainable business-as-usual policies. As a result, multiple contrasting and competing visions are pushed by various stakeholders, most of whom favour larger conventional operations as opposed to smaller, more ecologically sound ones. Using Thompson et al. (2007)’s four types of sustainable agricultural narratives (Growth, Production-Innovation, Agroecology, and Participation), this paper will analyze what specific discourses take privilege over others, and how these discourses shape or maintain policies to their favour. In order to encourage an agricultural sector that is sustainable and equitable in the long run, Ontario must adopt a cohesive set of cumulative agricultural policies for its various eco-regions.


title: A Genealogy of Contemporary Indianness: A Foucauldian Analysis of Identity and Society in Anti-Colonization Politics

contributor:
MacDonald, Eleanor
Political Studies

subject:
Indigenous politics
Anti-colonization

abstract:
This dissertation examines the discursive construction of Indigenous identity under the conditions of colonization on Turtle Island. I investigate how the colonial discourse on Indianness discursively produced Indigenous subjectivity in the logics of race and culture. Using Michel Foucault’s genealogical method, I present a history of contemporary Indianness that saw the transformation of Indigenous communities and nations into Western colonial forms. I argue that, since the early encounters between European cultures and Indigenous nations, colonial impulses to consolidate territory and wealth in the ‘New World’ undertook the project of “othering” Indigenous peoples. From the days of the sixteenth century and lasting to this day, very technical details and knowledge about Indianness were discursively produced. This emergent discourse cast identity in a new form, expressing Indianness along cultural and racial dimensions, giving discursive life and political purchase to the colonial discourse on Indianness. Relying on the theory of Antonio Gramsci and the work of Edward Said, I analyze how the colonial discourse obtained cultural hegemony in Indian Country in the mid-twentieth century.

Following the moment of colonial cultural hegemony, I examine how the colonial discourse shaped debates and discussions internal to Indian Country. In this analysis, I investigate the discursive construction of types of Indians, as well as questions of where the racial and cultural boundaries between the colonizer and the colonized would lie. As I show, the discursive imaginings of real, authentic Indianness along racial and cultural lines were introduced in some Indigenous communities to produce divisions and distinctions within Indian subjectivity.  I use Foucault’s theoretical understanding of the link between discourse and power to explain how in some cases Indian Country has transformed into a disciplinary society. I discuss Foucault’s notion of biopolitics. I apply this theoretical concept to the racial organization of First Nations and other Indigenous communities, examining Indian Band membership codes to underscore the spread of biopolitics in Indian Country. This analysis is complemented by an inquiry into the proliferation of disciplinary institutions and practices in some communities of Indian Country. I demonstrate how Indigenous people were drawn into networks of power to normalize and produce authentic Indianness in accordance with the discursive tenets of traditionalism.

abstract: PhD


title: One Bad Board Away from Bankruptcy: Housing Co-operatives, Self-Management, and the Landlord–Tenant Relationship

contributor:
Day, Richard
Cultural Studies

subject:
housing
class
capitalism
co-operative movement
working-class
landlord-tenant
community-based research

abstract:
This thesis explores the development of the natural condition of co-operation into a large, apolitical movement and the effects of reshaping working-class people into co-operators. Semi- structured interviews, content analysis, and a limited autoethnography through a community- based action research paradigm, as well as a genealogical method, are used. A working-class analysis is applied throughout.
In Ontario, residents of housing co-operatives are not considered tenants, following a history of legislation, legal precedents, and lobbying efforts by the co-op housing federations. This fact is manifested through the use of language, the shaping of co-op resident subjectivities, legal protections for residents, and the shunning of traditional tenant organizing direct action tactics to fight evictions and harassment.
Six residents from five large-scale housing co-ops in Ontario participated in this research. Their experiences are compared and contrasted to the experiences of eight residents from seven housing co-ops in the Milton-Parc neighbourhood of Montreal. All 12 housing co-ops were created through state funding programs according to co-op corporation legislation. Residents of the Ontario co-ops expressed having few options when facing issues with their board of directors and staff. Residents are held responsible for the self-management of their housing project yet are encouraged to hire management staff. The Milton-Parc co-ops are small to medium-scale, they formed as a result of years of community organizing to save their neighbourhood from demolition, tenant participation is mandatory, there are no hired staff, and evictions are a lot less common. This research determines the landlord–tenant relationship is reproduced in all housing co-ops but is reshaped in order to circumvent class conflict. As such, traditional tenant organizing direct action tactics should be employed against co-op boards of directors and staff.

abstract: M.A.


title: Adam Smith as a Critic of Commercial Society

contributor:
Jainchill, Andrew
History

subject:
Adam Smith
Smith
Scottish Enlightenment
Moral Philosophy
Thesis
Rousseau
Mandeville

abstract: Popular contemporary views of Adam Smith paint the eighteenth-century intellectual as a staunch proponent of commercial society. However, an examination of Smith’s lesser-known works, and his cultural and intellectual influences, reveals a more complex picture of his attitude with respect to these concepts. This paper explores how Smith’s critique of commercial society was rooted in assumptions about the deleterious effects of the luxuries that proliferated within it. This paper will also take a look at how Smith’s assumptions about luxury were in line with eighteenth-century understandings of its harmful effects. Moreover, this paper interrogates Smith’s understanding of the concept of commercial society and traces a history of conceptualizations of luxury in Europe from the classical era to the eighteenth century. It will be argued that Smith grappled with Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s critique of this social form and conceded many of Rousseau’s points about its harmful effects, without fully adhering to Rousseau’s primitivist idealism. Ultimately, this thesis argues that Smith’s moral philosophy was inseparable from his political economy and that his thinking concerning commercial society was deeply impacted by David Hume, Bernard Mandeville, and Rousseau. It will be seen that although Smith was in many ways critical of commercial society, he came to see this social form as ‘better’ than previous forms of social organization, at the last. His perspective with respect to this social form was, therefore, rather nuanced

abstract: M.A.


title: Engaged Teachers Engaging Students: Elementary Pre-Service Teachers’ Social Constructivist Classrooms During Mathematical Problem Solving

contributor:
Pyper, Jamie
Education

subject:
problem solving
mathematics education
elementary mathematics
pre-service teachers
social constructivism

abstract:
The Ontario Ministry of Education has implemented numerous changes to elementary mathematics programs over the last four years. These modifications called for mathematics lead teachers in every elementary school, curricular changes, and an hour of mathematics learning time every day for every student in Grades 1 to 8. At one point, the proposed changes to the curriculum included a focus on skills that would better prepare students for the professional world, such as problem solving and communication. The Ministry of Education has long supported both problem solving and communication as integral processes in the teaching and learning of mathematics, however, not much is known about Ontario elementary pre-service teachers’ perceptions of problem solving and communication. Elementary pre-service teachers are an important group as they are developing their educational beliefs and practices through their teacher education programs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore elementary pre-service teachers’ perceptions of the relationship between communication and mathematical problem- solving learning contexts in the ongoing improvement efforts in mathematics education in Ontario.
Using a social constructivist conceptual framework, this qualitative case study utilized focus groups and one-on-one interviews with 15 elementary pre-service teachers in order to explore their perceptions of problem solving and use of communication in mathematics education. The data were collected in December of 2018 and were subsequently analyzed using a constant comparison method, which consists of creating open codes, building these codes into categories, and then finding emerging themes.
The analysis of the focus groups and interviews portrayed the elementary pre-service teachers’ perceptions and use of communication in mathematics education as well as their perceptions of mathematical problem solving in learning contexts. Furthermore, analysis of the focus group and interview data described how participants were thinking about mathematical problem solving and the nature of their communication in mathematical problem-solving learning contexts. An implication of this research is the improvement of our understanding of elementary pre-service teachers’ perceptions in teacher preparation programs. A recommendation for future research is to conduct a similar study with intermediate-senior mathematics pre-service teachers or elementary pre-service teachers in other teacher education programs in Ontario.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Culture War Commonalities: Personal Appearance in Commonwealth England

contributor:
Collins, Jeffrey
History

subject:
Early Modern England
Personal Appearance

abstract: The swift social, political, and religious changes that encompassed England’s Civil Wars, and later the Puritan-dominated Commonwealth, during the seventeenth-century led to a surge of moralist literature, published during a period with little to no press censorship. Against a backdrop of social upheaval and failing moral reformation, commentators increasingly perceived personal appearance as a source of moral failing throughout England. While the campaign of moral reformation at the time can most strongly be attributed to Puritan influences, on the interconnected questions of hair, dress, and cosmetics, political and religious fault-lines appear relatively few. While writers waged a propaganda war against one another through the press, when it came to the topic of appearance, their proscriptions appear have been largely similar. Though significant differences did still appear on a handful of key issues, it becomes apparent that few writers, regardless of how permissive or restrictive their ideologies may otherwise have been, were able to stomach the perceived, rising tide of subversive practices in self-presentation. Though these subversive practices could be leveraged as political insults in attempts to associate opposition with illicit fashion, this was not exclusive to any one side, nor did these insults necessarily reflect their intended target’s actual outlook. Fashion was a site of significant cultural tension and appeared as one battleground in the ongoing culture war of the time, but it was one in which moralists, pamphleteers, and other writers shared a familiar fear: that the age they were living in had become licentious, permissive, and morally backwards.

abstract: M.A.


title: The Role of Recombinant Oviduct-Specific Glycoprotein (OVGP1) During Early Events of Fertilization

contributor:
Kan, Frederick
Biomedical and Molecular Sciences

rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States

subject:
Oviductin
Oviductal Secretions
OVGP1
Sperm
Capacitation
Tyrosine
Phosphorylation
Recombinant Protein

abstract: The mammalian oviductal secretory cells synthesize and secrete a major glycoprotein known as the oviduct-specific glycoprotein (OVGP1) which is in abundance around the time of fertilization. In vitro studies carried out in various mammalian species have shown that native OVGP1 interacts with gametes and early embryos; this interaction can enhance the fertilizing capacity of sperm, increase cleavage rate of early embryos, and prevent polyspermy. However, functional and mechanistic studies of OVGP1 are hampered due to the difficulty in isolating and purifying OVGP1 from oviductal fluid. In the present study, we successfully produced and purified a secretory form of recombinant hamster OVGP1 (rHamOVGP1) and recombinant human OVGP1 (rHuOVGP1) from stably transfected HEK293 cells. Results from this study showed that both rHamOVGP1 and rHuOVGP1 can bind to their homologous sperm in both the head and tail regions. Both recombinant proteins can enhance sperm capacitation through the increase of tyrosine phosphorylation of sperm proteins. In hamsters, tyrosine phosphorylated (pY) proteins were located in the equatorial segment, mid-piece, and principal piece. One of the major hamster sperm pY proteins is likely to be AKAP83. In human sperm, pY proteins were located predominantly in the fibrous sheath of the principal piece. One of the identified major pY proteins was AKAP3. AKAP proteins play a role in regulating sperm capacitation and motility. Therefore, recombinant OVGP1s are capable of further enhancing sperm capacitation likely through the increase of the signaling events that lead to increased sperm motility. In addition, the presence of recombinant OVGP1s in the capacitating medium was able to further potentiate the sperm to undergo acrosome reaction. Furthermore, the present study showed that pre-treatment of the zona pellucida and/or sperm with recombinant OVGP1s can also increase the number of sperm bound to the zona pellucida of oocytes. Cryopreserved human sperm samples were also used in this study and found to benefit from the presence of rHuOVGP1 which resulted in increasing the sperm fertilizing capacity. It is envisaged that supplementing the conditioned medium used in assisted reproductive technology with rHuOVGP1 could be beneficial for enhancing the sperm fertilizing competence.

abstract: PhD


title: Impact of aerosols on surface solar radiation and gross primary productivity over cropland and grassland ecosystems in North China

contributor:
Chen, Dongmei
Geography and Planning

subject:
aerosols
surface solar radiation
gross primary productivity

abstract:
The increasing atmospheric aerosols from anthropogenic activities in North China are anticipated to change the proportion of direct and diffuse solar radiation in global solar radiation. These solar radiation variations can further influence the photosynthesis of the sunlit and shaded leaves, thereby affecting the terrestrial productivity. The goal of this research was to investigate the impact of aerosols on surface solar radiation and gross primary productivity (GPP) over cropland and grassland ecosystems in North China. Results suggest a significant (p < 0.05) increasing proportion of small-size anthropogenic aerosols from 2000 to 2016 and a significant (p < 0.01) increasing tendency of diffuse solar radiation but a significant (p < 0.01) decreasing tendency of direct solar radiation over the period of 1959-2016 in North China. Aerosols have contributed around 63% to the variations of diffuse solar radiation during 2000-2016. Besides, new empirical methods perform well in estimating direct solar radiation at monthly and daily level. By considering aerosols using the remote sensing-based aerosol optical depth (AOD), the estimation accuracy of diffuse solar radiation is significantly improved. The comparison of GPP under two aerosol scenarios suggests that the presence of aerosols has reduced GPP of the sunlit leaves due to the declined direct solar radiation but enhanced that of the shaded leaves on account of the increased diffuse solar radiation above and below the canopy over both ecosystems. The aerosol-effect on GPP is more significant (p < 0.05) over cropland ecosystem given the more complex canopy structure during the peak period of the growing season. Besides, an AOD value of 0.3-0.6 with a diffuse fraction (the fraction of diffuse solar radiation in global solar radiation) around 30-40% can increase total GPP over cropland ecosystem.
This study highlights the significant impact of aerosols on surface solar radiation and gross primary productivity of terrestrial ecosystem over the highly-polluted region. The new empirical methods have improved the estimation accuracy of diffuse solar radiation at monthly and daily level. Meanwhile, the BEPS improved by the new empirical method can better model the terrestrial GPP over polluted regions.

abstract: PhD


title: Getting One's Ducks in a Row: Conservation Units of Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima) Throughout North America

contributor:
Friesen, Vicki
Fortin, Marie-Josée
Biology

subject:
Common Eider
Conservation Genomics
Population Genomics
Ducks
ddRADseq
Conservation Units

abstract: Anthropogenic climate change is resulting in a variety of consequences for ecosystems and biodiversity. Collectively these changes are negatively impacting species survival and are increasing rates of extinction. Species can, however, adjust to environmental changes through range shifts, phenotypic plasticity, or genetic adaptation. To ensure successful species conservation in the face of climate change, it is now crucial that a species’ capacity for such change, as well as existing evolutionary differences among populations, are incorporated into species’ management plans. This is particularly important for species dependent on Arctic conditions because climate change will disproportionately affect these regions. Here, I evaluate the spatial genetic structure of a highly mobile Arctic breeding sea duck, the Common Eider (Somateria mollissima) by analyzing double-digest restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (ddRAD-seq) data from 320 ducks originating from 24 breeding populations spread across North America. I identify two evolutionarily significant units that show a clear west-east divide, which is suggestive of two distinct glacial refugia. I also identify five to six genetically distinct management units and detect five potentially adaptive units within North America. I also identify a pattern of isolation-by-distance across my entire study area and within the Eastern evolutionary significant unit. However, a similar pattern was not evident within the Western evolutionary significant unit. Taken together, my results reveal biologically important population genetic structure that must be considered for the successful long-term management of the eider. My thesis contributes to the growing body of literature aimed at better understanding the broad spectrum of genetic differentiation observed in avian populations that inhabit the Arctic, which will help better manage their conservation.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: EFFECT OF HYPORHEIC FLOW ON THE FATE AND BEHAVIOUR OF SPILLED OIL IN RIVERS

subject:
Oil
Hyporheic Flow

abstract: The growing global need for oil and oil products results in an increasing reliance on land-based transportation near sensitive freshwater systems. Of particular concern in Canada is the transport of diluted bitumen (dilbit), a mixture typically of 30% diluent and 70% bitumen. The varying proportions of hydrocarbons in dilbit cause challenges with determining how it will behave in freshwater environments. The hyporheic zone is the portion of sediments surrounding the river that is permeated with river water, and water flow through that zone may transport contaminants from trapped oil into the river. There are several influencing factors related to hyporheic flow, two of which are path length and flow rate. The goal of this project was to assess the extent to which polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAC) partition from trapped oil to interstitial waters under varying flow rates and path lengths. To test path length columns were cut to lengths of 15, 30, and 60 cm and were filled with gravel and loaded with a fixed amount of oil. The water flow rate through the columns was set to 20 mL/min and 40 mL/min. Water effluent samples were taken daily and the amount of PAC in the water was analyzed using fluorescence spectroscopy. The main findings of the experiment were that desorption columns were effective at trapping oil, the longer path length (60 cm) had lower total oil concentrations in the effluent, and the impact of flow rate had varying results on droplet compared to dissolved oil concentrations. These findings provide valuable information on the effect of a hyporheic flows path length and flow rate on spilled oil. This increased understanding can then be extended into real world scenarios and help improve risk assessments and spill clean-up strategies.

abstract: Dr. Brown, Dr. Hodson, PhD Candidate Julie Adams


title: Multi-Sensor 3D Model Reconstruction in Unknown Environments

contributor:
Noureldin, Aboelmagd
Givigi, Sidney
Electrical and Computer Engineering

rights: Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States

subject:
3D reconstruction
SFM
LiDAR
Perception
Computer vision

abstract:
Safe exploration and remote visualization for dangerous and unknown environments have been of a growing demand for several applications. Exploration of dangerous environments can be life threating if it directly involves a human being. Several approaches have been proposed and developed to allow human operators to explore unknown environments in a safe and efficient manner. 3D reconstruction utilizing vision systems is commonly used for object and environment reconstruction and visualization. Different single or multi-sensor vision systems can be utilized for object and environment 3D reconstruction. Single vision sensor systems are the most prone to failure due to environmental factors, that can cause reconstruction failure or degradation. The nature of the reconstructed scene also contributes to the success of the reconstruction process. On one side, Image-based reconstruction is widely utilized for 3D reconstruction which depends on RGB image footage. Despite the high accessibility of the technology and its relatively less expensive cost, it suffers from different failure scenarios. Low illumination and low textured scenes
are among the factors that can lead to reconstruction failure. On the other side, point cloud-based reconstruction is another approach that can be utilized using range sensors such as LiDARs. This method is relativity less accessible and more expensive. However, it offers robust performance in different scenarios. Similar to the image-based approach, point cloud-based methods have their limitations that mostly appear in highly reflective environments. This thesis presents a
multiplatform 3D reconstruction method operating from unmanned ground vehicles to increase system robustness and to introduce a safer reconstruction in unknown environments. The proposed system integrates low-cost RGB imaging camera with a 3D LiDAR for enhanced reconstruction. A novel toolchain is developed to reduce the processing time of the reconstruction operation. The robustness of the proposed method was examined over several test scenarios, which involves both indoor and outdoor reconstruction. The proposed methods have increased the reconstruction system robustness and reduced the computational complexity, resulting in increasing the overall system reliability.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Inclusive Autonomy: A Theory of Freedom for Everyone

contributor:
Kymlicka, Will
Philosophy

subject:
autonomy
liberty
rights
interests
animals
cognitive disability
domination
paternalism
adaptive preferences
relational autonomy
ableism
speciesism

abstract:
Persons with cognitive disabilities and nonhuman animals are denied the right to make personal choices because it is claimed that they are not autonomous, for autonomy requires the capacity to revise one’s preferences and to have second-order desires. In this thesis, I argue first that this account of autonomy (that I call ‘rational autonomy’) does not provide a satisfying foundation to the right to make personal choices and to the interest in liberty, even for the paradigmatic cases of humans deemed rational agents; second, I propose and develop a new conception, named ‘inclusive autonomy’, that is intended to do justice to rational agents, persons with cognitive abilities, and nonhuman animals.

This enquiry involves multiple steps. First, I criticize the way rational autonomy intends to support a right to make personal choices, by arguing it is empirically inaccurate, that it could be perfectionist or elitist if it is deemed as a requirement rather than a value to promote, and that it generally fails to explain why choices that have not been rationally revised cannot be protected by the right in question. Second, I argue that persons with cognitive disabilities and nonhuman animals also possess an interest in liberty, and especially an objective interest in non-domination, and for the same reasons as rational agents. Third, after assessing a few notable alternatives to rational autonomy, I identify four desiderata for a satisfying conception: the balance between the right to take risks and paternalism, the antidomination requirement, the anti-ableist requirement, and the social support requirement. Inclusive autonomy, defined as the ability to form subjectively defined goods, is equipped to address these desiderata if it is further supplied by an account of preference formation and a theory of paternalism. For these reasons, I explain how the structuring of opportunities and the interest in non-domination can help individuals to develop authentic preferences, even when they are unable to revise their desires; and I discuss three provisos—the competence threshold, the social support principle, and the limited intervention requirement—that impose conditions for paternalistic interventions while enabling agents to enjoy autonomy to the greatest extent possible.

abstract: PhD


title: Developing a Framework for the Reliability Analysis of Water Distribution Systems

contributor:
Filion, Yves
Civil Engineering

subject:
Mechanical Reliability
Hydraulic Reliability
Reliability Estimators
Stochastic Reliability
Pressure Driven Demands

abstract:
Being able to quantify the reliability of a water distribution system (WDS) is particularly important for decision makers as it allows to take objective decisions for the benefit of the population served by the system. The reliability of WDSs is an abstract concept that usually refers to the ability of the network to supply the water demanded by the consumers under different circumstances or conditions. However, setting explicit criteria to measure a system’s reliability has proven to be a challenging problem for researchers given the complexity and non-linearity of WDSs. To this point, no widely accepted measure methodology for reliability has been introduced in WDSs. Two main classes of reliability quantification methodologies can be identified in recent literature: 1) Stochastic Reliability Measures which quantify reliability based on probabilistic concepts and methods, and 2) Reliability Surrogate Measures which use easy to compute indexes, based on intuitive judgment, and that are expected to correlate with reliability.
This thesis develops two estimators of stochastic reliability (MRE and HRE – Mechanical and Hydraulic Reliability Estimators), that also work as reliability surrogate measures, getting important features from both types of reliability measures. To test their applicability, a framework to evaluate the reliability of realistic WDSs using pressure-driven analysis under extended period simulation is also developed. The framework includes the use of a method to produce synthetic networks, and its further application to complete five case studies based on real systems from Colombia. Then a method to perform pressure-driven analysis, under extended period simulation, using the proven network solver EPANET 2.0, is introduced. Additionally, given that an efficient optimization procedure was required to deal with the large case studies, a method named NSGA-II+OPUS was developed and tested.
Based on the results of a comparative and correlation analysis, it can be concluded that the proposed estimators are both easy to compute and implement in an optimization routine, and consistently representative of the reliability of the systems. Moreover, thanks to the new pressure-driven analysis method, the computation of stochastic reliability is accessible by an extensive evaluation of different functionalities.

abstract: PhD


title: A Prospective Non-Inferiority Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate the Effectiveness of a Five-Layer Polyurethane Foam Dressing for Wound Healing

contributor:
Woo, Kevin
Nursing

subject:
foam dressing
wound healing
polyurethane foam

abstract:
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine wound healing of acute and chronic wounds by comparing two five-layer polyurethane foam dressings.
Objectives: 1) Compare the changes in surface area for wounds treated with two different five-layer polyurethane foam dressings. 2) Compare the characteristics of wounds treated with two different types of five-layer polyurethane foam dressings.
Methods: A non-inferiority, pragmatic, open-label randomized controlled trial was conducted to explore the hypothesis that one five-layer foam dressing (Optifoam® Adhesive) is no less effective than another five-layer foam dressing (Mepilex® Border). Changes in wound surface area and in wound characteristics were assessed weekly for up to four weeks by calculating the decrease in wound surface area and completing a wound assessment tool.
Results: An initial sample size of 50 was calculated. Over an eight-month period, 18 participants were recruited from three different sites. Wounds in the Optifoam® group had a statistically significant faster decrease in wound surface area than wounds in the Mepilex® group: 0.96 cm2 per day compared to 0.26 cm2 per day (p = 0.004). The mean BWAT score for participants in the Mepilex® group was 24.1 (SD 6.6) and 24.5 (SD 6.1) in the Optifoam® group. This difference was within the non-inferiority limit that was set a priori. There were 18 participants enrolled in the study, only 5 participants completed all four weeks of the study. Due to the recruitment and retention issues, feasibility issues of conducting this research were also addressed.
Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, Optifoam® is not inferior to Mepilex® Border. More research is needed with adequate sample size to support these results.

abstract: MNSc.


title: The bio-political governance of pregnancy in Turkey through the current Family Medicine Model’s pregnancy-monitoring mandate

contributor:
Burfoot, Annette
Sociology

subject: pregnancy, bio-politics, governance, self-governance, Turkey, pregnant women, state

abstract: This dissertation examines the bio-political governance of pregnancy in Turkey with a focus on the current Family Medicine Model (FMM), which has a specific mandate to monitor pregnant women to increase their access to prenatal medical care, thereby decreasing national maternal and infant mortality rates. This mandate is fortified through official performance-based payment and warning-point schemas, which have economic incentives and disincentives to pressure medical professionals employed in the family health clinics to fulfill their pregnancy-monitoring responsibilities. I specifically examine the practices of the medical professionals who work under these performance regulations and the experiences of the pregnant patients who are in contact with the family health clinics and their further implications. Because of the inherent limitations in a solely discursive approach, which focuses on understanding the discourses and rationales of bio-political governance, I employ a feminist discursive-materialist approach, which combines the foucauldian productive-discursive notion of governance with a feminist materialist approach, thereby developing a critical relationship between the discursive and materialist aspects of political governance.  In addition to providing an understanding of the rationales and discourses that mediate the pregnancy governance through the Family Medicine Model’s pregnancy-monitoring mandate, I explore the materialist ramifications of this mandate for Turkish women in the axes of gender and class relations. I undertake this exploration at two different but related analytical axes: the state’s apparatus of the bio-political governance (by drawing on official regulation of the FMM and the practices and strategies used by medical professionals to comply with the regulation) and the techniques of self-governance (by drawing on the experiences of pregnant women in regarding health self-governance and the FMM’s pregnancy-monitoring mandate). The main finding of this dissertation is that the FMM’s pregnancy-monitoring mandate works both as a productive and a repressive apparatus of bio-political power with empowering and disempowering ramifications for Turkish women.  While this mandate increases some women’s access to prenatal medical care, it also perpetuates a gendered regime of surveillance in which women’s sexual and reproductive activities are under communal and state monitoring with critical implications.

abstract: PhD


title: Development of Large-Scale Particle Tracking Velocimetry: A Comparison Between 2D and 3D Techniques

contributor:
Rival, David E
Mechanical and Materials Engineering

subject:
PTV
Particle Tracking Velocimetry
Wind Measurements

abstract:
This study compares the three-dimensional version of a previously proposed large-scale particle tracking velocimetry (LS-PTV) measurement system with a simpler, less computationally expensive, two-dimensional version for use in in-situ measurements.
The LS-PTV (3D) system was used as a baseline for measuring wind flow over a flat roof in a 3m x 3m x 1.5m volume.
The LS-PTV (2D) system covered a 1.5m x 3m plane within the same volume.
A 3D ultrasonic anemometer was used outside of the measurement volume as a means to validate the LS-PTV measurements.
An analytical model of the bubbles used as tracer particles for the LS-PTV measurements determined that the bubbles were able to resolve fluid length-scales 0.25m or larger, which was within the size of the measurement volume.
Despite being more susceptible to errors due to incomplete background image subtraction, which was responsible for noise in the tracking algorithm, the LS-PTV (2D) system was able to track approximately 80% more bubbles and at a lower spatial uncertainty than the LS-PTV (3D) system.
The LS-PTV (2D) system was unable to measure an exact projection of the LS-PTV (3D) results, which was a result of the LS-PTV systems tracking different bubbles within the same flow field.
Both LS-PTV systems were found to measure the same velocities and Reynolds stresses within the field, and the missing vertical component from the LS-PTV (2D) measurements was deemed negligible.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Distributed Sensing to Assess the Behaviour of Dynamically Loaded Reinforced Concrete Beams

contributor:
Hoult, Neil
Civil Engineering

subject:
Cyclic Loading
Reinforced Concrete
Cracking
Strain
Assessment
Structural Health Monitoring
Fibre Optic Sensors
Deflections
Deep Beams
Dynamic Loading
Cyclic Loading
Beams

abstract:
The assessment of reinforced concrete (RC) structures has been inherently limited by the lack of adequate sensing technologies, which can capture both the global and localized behaviour of these complex composite systems. The inability to properly assess these structures, and understand their behaviour under static and dynamic loads, can result in costly rehabilitation or replacement of existing structures and potentially unnecessary conservativeness in future designs. To improve on traditional assessment methods, this thesis investigates the application of a new fibre optic sensing system, which is capable of accurately measuring dynamic and distributed strains throughout the length of a fibre optic cable.

An experimental campaign was conducted, which included the design, construction and testing of 4 slender and 4 deep RC beams. The purpose of these tests was to evaluate the durability and accuracy of dynamic distributed fibre optic sensors (DDFOS) under dynamic loading, as well as to utilize the DDFOS results to develop a better understanding of the behaviour of RC beams under both cyclic and ultimate loads. The results showed that the fibre optic sensors could withstand the repeated loading as well as ultimate loads while accurately measuring distributed strains along the steel reinforcement within the RC specimens. This data provided key insights into the change of load carrying mechanism (from beam action to arch action) as well as the failure mechanisms.

Two case studies were also conducted on existing RC beams within a building. The studies included the in-situ dynamic loading of the beams while monitoring them with both DDFOS technology and tradition discrete sensors. Jumping tests were carried out to provide dynamic loading on each beam. The detailed DDFOS data was assessed by comparing the results to the traditional sensors, and was used to determine critical performance metrics of the RC beams including: maximum strains, support conditions, and cracking behaviour. The data was further used to provide dynamic estimations of the changing distributed deflections and crack widths due to the application of the dynamic loads.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Vibroacoustic Analysis and Optimization of an Aft-Fuselage Mounted Twin-Engine Aircraft

contributor:
Mechefske, Chris K.
Kim, Il Yong
Mechanical and Materials Engineering

subject:
acoustics and vibrations
modal analysis
topology optimization
aircraft design
noise vibration and harshness

abstract: Aft-fuselage mounted twin-engine style aircraft dominate the business jet industry. This aircraft provides a decreased transmission path for structure-borne engine vibrations when compared to wing-mounted aircraft found predominantly in the commercial aircraft industry. Despite the widespread use of aft-fuselage mounted twin-engine aircraft, the literature investigating the vibroacoustic properties of this aircraft is sparse. This work aims to generate a thorough understanding of the structure-borne interior cabin noise for an aft-fuselage mounted twin-engine aircraft such that future aircraft design can mitigate cabin noise. Modifications to key fuselage components were performed, decreasing the modal density in the engine excitation frequency range. A novel model updating technique was introduced to the literature, allowing for refinement of both the experimental and computational data sets. The coordinate orthogonality check method was implemented to eliminate erroneous degrees of freedom from the experimental data set. A multi-objective model updating optimization technique using the pseudo-orthogonality check and the natural frequency difference between the computational model and the refined experimental model as objective functions was used to converge on the most accurate representation of the physical system. A novel substructuring technique was introduced into the literature, verifying the correlation between local and global fuselage modes, allowing for fuselage components to be analyzed in isolation with confidence the results will remain consistent when the component is assembled as part of a complete fuselage. A complete vibroacoustic analysis of the fuselage was performed, investigating the modal parameters, harmonic response to engine excitation, and the interior cabin sound pressure level. Two aircraft designs were considered: a single and a double bulkhead aft-fuselage mounted twin-engine aircraft. A new method of pressurization was introduced that decreased the peak displacement values of the pressurized bulkhead by a factor of two. Finally, the first successful topology optimization of a pre-stiffened aircraft bulkhead was performed, with the refined design reducing stiffener mass and eliminating all natural frequencies within 5% of the critical frequency plus a safety factor of two.

abstract: PhD


title: Model-driven Abusive Language Detection

contributor:
Skillicorn, David
Computing

subject:
Natural Language Processing
Text Classification
abusive Language

abstract: Abusive user-posted content has become a serious issue for many different forms of online communication, especially communication on social media platforms. While the effects of abusive content on society and governments are still being determined, we know that comments containing abusive language can damage lives and put targets of abuse at risk. To address this, we have developed a model-driven approach to abusive language detection. Our approach is based on motivators that are likely to lead to someone posting abusive content. Using the motivators as intermediate constructs of abusive language we develop several models based on othering, subjectivity, moods, and emotions. This model-driven approach first considers the processes that lead to a person posting an abusive comment and constructs a predictor based on each of the models. Each individual predictor is combined into a stacked predictor that is able to detect abusive language with an accuracy of 95% and an F1-score of 91. In addition to a strong abusive language detection technique, we explore how each intermediate construct contributes to our predictor and its role in abusive language.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Bi-Directional AC-DC Converters for Electric Vehicles

contributor:
Bakhshai, Alireza
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject:
EV Bettery Charger
Bi-directional AC-DC
E-Cap less
Resonant DAB converter
Double frequency ripple
single-stage AC-DC converter
Resonant converter control

abstract:
Transportation industry typically rely on conventional fossil energy resources such as petroleum. This source of energy, however, is neither renewable nor emission-free. Nowadays transportation sectors are replacing their conventional internal combustion vehicles by Electric Vehicles (EVs). Much research efforts have been devoted to improve EVs and EV infrastructure. EV battery and thus the on-board EV battery charger are among the most important parts of an EV.

There are specific requirements for EV chargers in terms of weight, safety, reliability, cost and efficiency. Meeting power quality standards imposed by grid and operation with wide range of DC voltage and current are among the other requirements.

In addition, EV battery chargers can be used for ancillary services and also feed the power back to the grid in peak hours and operate like a distributed energy storage for grid. This requires bi-directional power flow through the charger.

One problem associated with single-phase on-board EV battery chargers, is the low frequency power ripple that reflected in the DC-side. This double frequency ripple causes extra heat and reduces the life span of the battery. Another issue is the reliability reduction due to the use of unreliable electrolytic capacitors.  This thesis proposes a family of on-board Single-stage bidirectional battery chargers to handle a wide range of active and reactive power control. Single-stage power conversion is chosen due to lower component count, better efficiency and higher power density. All power converter topologies proposed in this thesis are operated under zero voltage switching (ZVS). In proposed converter topologies electrolytic capacitors are removed, while the battery current maintained DC and free from low frequency ripple.

The innovative resonant control schemes enable the proposed topologies to successfully perform complicated tasks of optimization, power transfer, cancellation of low frequency current ripple on the battery-side and maintaining ZVS for all the switching instants. The proposed dynamic controller uses a novel variable duty-cycle and variable phase-shift control to achieve the functionalities of the resonant circuit controller. A 1kW experimental setup with AC voltage of 230V and DC voltage of 200V-400V is developed to verify the viability of the proposed battery charging systems.

abstract: PhD


title: An Exploration of the Intestinal Bacteria of Two Anadromous Arctic Salmonids

subject: Fisheries Microbiomes Arctic

abstract:
In teleost fish, the microbiome plays a variety of roles in host physiology and adaptability to different environments. Anadromous fish (migrating to sea after maturation and returning to freshwater to spawn) are reported to experience turnover of their bacterial communities when transitioning between marine and freshwater environments. Microbiomes of Arctic salmonids are poorly studied, and cold-water environments may support colonization by different microbes. Additionally, anadromous Arctic salmonids perform seasonal migrations, escaping super-cooled seawater in winter. Therefore, it is of interest to determine if these fish experience repeated seasonal recolonizations. This thesis attempts to further understanding of Arctic salmonid microbiomes in two investigations.
	In the first investigation, anadromous Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) from the Kitikmeot region, Nunavut, were sampled and bacterial communities from the intestine characterized using 16S rRNA gene fragment analysis. Bacterial communities were compared across seasonal habitats within the char’s migration route. Communities showed differences between brackish and freshwater habitats, and between different temporal stages of freshwater residence. Brackish communities were broadly consistent with taxa seen in other anadromous salmonids, but were rich in psychrophiles at the genus level, including a putative symbiote, Photobacterium iliopiscarium occurring in >90% of fish from brackish waters. Freshwater communities were more variable and less consistent taxonomically with other salmonids, possibly reflecting char’s winter fasting behaviour. These results suggest that climate change could affect relationships between Arctic char and their symbiotes.
	In the second investigation, intestinal communities of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) were compared to char, with which they were sympatric and behaving anadromously. Lake whitefish appeared to experience similar community shifts with salinity, but community composition was significantly different from char, and at freshwater sites appeared to be more affected by geography. Lake whitefish communities were generally more diverse than in char and appeared to be more represented by groups known to contain opportunistic pathogens. Additionally, community diversity was more affected by feeding than in char. Together, the results suggested that lake whitefish in this environment, which is at their northern limit, exercise less selection on their intestinal communities than char, and this could reflect their on-going evolutionary adaptation to high Arctic microbes.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Driving Market Change: A Multi-Level Perspective on Institutional Disruption and Defense

contributor:
Handelman, Jay
Business

subject:
Marketing
Market Change
Market Disruption
Distribution
Market Dynamics

abstract:
In recent years, many industries – from transportation and accommodation to finance and automobiles – have been disrupted by platform businesses that ostensibly remove middlemen from market transactions. Much of this work can be traced to Silicon Valley-based firms that employ technology to connect consumers to one another or directly to companies, cutting out – or minimizing the role of – intermediaries in the process. Driven by an ideology that disdains hierarchy and favours direct connections, these market entrants have disrupted taken-for-granted practices in disparate industries that had long been home to intermediated market arrangements – arrangements which were themselves historically inscribed with ideology – ushering in an “era of disintermediation” (Houle 2011, p. 141). In some markets, this has provoked impassioned engagement from different actors in support of, or opposition to, the market entrant’s challenge. However, despite the spread of such disruptions, we still know relatively little about their dynamics, or the work done by different actors in responding to them.

Drawing on Wright and Zammuto’s (2013) multi-level conceptualization of field change and Bourdieu’s (1977) notion of doxa, I explore the ongoing disruption occurring in the field of automobile distribution spurred by the entry of Tesla Motors, a company that employs a direct-to-consumer model in a market long characterized by intermediated channels. Utilizing archival, interview, and netnographic data, I develop an account of the ideologically-driven institutional work conducted by different actors as they endeavor to bring about or prevent field-level change in the wake of this disruption.

I find marketers and consumers engaging in three novel forms of institutional work; in developing these findings, I also extend theorization around marketplace moralism and market-based social movements. In addition, I trace the development of this work over time to create an account of doxic market disruption. In discussing my findings, I outline implications for studies of market dynamics, marketing channels, institutional work, and cultural branding.

abstract: PhD


title: Interrogating the Double Standards of Accountability Standards in Global Development: The Cases of Malawi and the United Kingdom

contributor:
Soederberg, Susanne
Global Development Studies

subject: Global Development

subject: Accountability

subject: Malawi

subject: United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID)

subject: Corruption

abstract: Corruption is seen as major hindrance to development, and anti-corruption measures form a significant part of international development strategies. In 2013, the United Kingdom (UK)’s Department of International Development (DFID) suspended all general budgetary support to Malawi following the exposure of government corruption in the “Cashgate” scandal. This MA thesis examines the role accountability for corruption – as part of the good governance rhetoric – plays in the post-Washington Consensus (PWC) approach to development and asks what the UK’s suspension of aid to Malawi can tell us about the conceptualisation and application of accountability for corruption in contemporary aid relations. By undertaking an historical analysis of the development of the PWC’s focus on good governance and of the nature of accountability and then surveying contemporary documents addressing the UK-Malawi aid relationship, this research demonstrates that corruption serves a central role in the PWC as explaining why countries fail to develop and that a fundamental element of accountability within the good governance framework is that it is retroactive – that is, accountability mechanisms are triggered after wrongdoing. Cashgate and DFID’s response is then compared to the understanding of accountability for corruption DFID demonstrated in its documents and to the 2009 UK parliamentary expenses scandal. The MA thesis concludes that there are two significant inconsistencies in the theory and practical application of accountability for corruption: an internal inconsistency in that an application of the retroactive element of accountability contradicts the PWC’s use of corruption as the explanation for failed development; and an external inconsistency in that the retroactive element was adopted in the UK parliamentary expenses scandal but not in Cashgate. This contributes to the literature on the inherent shortcomings of the PWC’s approach to development and the impossible governance standards to which aid-recipient countries are held that donors do not themselves attain, and poses questions for how accountability should be applied in order to achieve true social justice, equality and prosperity.

abstract: M.A.


title: From The East And West Indies To The Mother Country: The House of Daljinder Kaur And Out Of Left Field

contributor:
Murray, Laura
Cultural Studies

subject: Immigration to Britain from Trinidad and the Punjab

subject: The Role of Site in Artistic Practice

subject: Cricket

abstract:
“From the East and West Indies to the Mother Country: The House of Daljinder Kaur and Out of Left Field” is a PhD research-creation project consisting of two outdoor installations and a written component. It takes as a departure point diasporic movements to Britain from the Punjab and Trinidad in the late 1940s through to the 1960s.
The House of Daljinder Kaur is a schematic representation of a house with a pitched roof, five windows and a door. The windows and doorway were filled with an array of many varieties of daffodils. Over the course of the summer, the bed was gradually subsumed by chili pepper plants and marigolds – “exotic” species that “polluted” the Englishness of the daffodils. The second installation, Out of Left Field, is a cricket pitch on a slope: a metaphor for an immigrant's difficulty in practicing his métier in a new homeland. Both works speak to the desire (from the migrants’ point of view) to be accepted by their former colonisers as genuine subjects with the same rights and respect as accorded to native born Britons.
The parallel discourse which accompanies the installations is built on a narrative scaffolding of two seminal moments in the history of immigration to Britain: the arrival of the SS Empire Windrush in 1948 and the influx of Punjabi Sikhs in the 50s. These groups came to ease the country’s Post WWII labour shortage and to provide remittances for their relatives back home. Through a series of interlinked texts, I examine the immigrant experience in that epoch from an autobiographical perspective, focussing on how place and memory play a role in the genesis of my current and previous artistic works. I also include imaginative portions that bring real characters together with invented personas to blur the boundaries between the real and the fictive. These pieces are contextualised in two essays: one that explores how several artists have worked with fictional characters, and the other that centres on the importance of geographical location as an intrinsic element in the concept and reception of site-specific work.

abstract: PhD


title: Imperceptible Pattern Embedding: Structured Light Steganography For Augmented Reality Applications

contributor:
Greenspan, Michael
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject:
PROCAM
Machine Vision
Steganography
Computer Vision
3D Imaging
Depth Sensing

abstract: In this work, we describe a novel PROCAM sensor which uses steganographic techniques to embed imperceptible patterns in structured light, allowing a projector to function both as a versatile display device and a sensor for augmented reality applications. The purpose of this technology is to enable a new generation of intelligent projectors with the capacity for self-calibration, responsive user-interaction and the ability communicate with peer devices. Our approach analyses input frames by transformation into the frequency domain where each frame is encoded with an imperceptible pattern. The encoded input frame is then returned to the spatial domain where it is projected and in turn recaptured by the PROCAM pair. We decode by filtering the image in the frequency domain and extracting the transformed encoded pattern which allows the estimation of the transformation incurred by projection or the extraction encoded data. It is hoped that the methodology described herein will enable future work in PROCAM AR calibration, stenographic communication, and environment sensing AR systems with the capacity responsive user-interfaces, be that through behaviour recognition or other forms of interaction. Our results show that the proposed system is capable of embedding patterns into input frames with only minimal alteration to the input image, and pattern extraction can be achieved reliably with minimal noise.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: The Role of Mode of Delivery in Postpartum Sexuality

contributor:
Pukall, Caroline
Psychology

subject:
postpartum
female sexuality
mode of delivery
C-section
sexual psychophysiological
psychophysical

abstract: This research program explored the role of mode of delivery in postpartum sexuality. The first study was an online survey of nulliparous individuals’ perceptions of how childbirth impacts sexuality (Chapter 2). The results indicated that approximately one in five nulliparous individuals perceive vaginal birth to be harmful to their future sexuality. The second and third studies (Chapters 3 and 4) took place in the Sexual Health Research Laboratory and empirically tested the hypothesis that the physiological impact of vaginal birth on the genitopelvic region is harmful to one’s future sex life using a mixed-methodology approach. These laboratory-based studies used self-report, sexual psychophysiological, and psychophysical methodologies to examine differences in self-reported sexual function, genital response, and genitopelvic sensitivity across three groups of women recruited from the local community: 1) women who were within two years of their first delivery and had a vaginal birth; 2) women who were within two years of their first delivery and had a C-section; and 3) an age-matched group of nulliparous women. The sexual psychophysiology study presented in Chapter 3 evaluated women’s sexual response genitally (using the laser Doppler imager) and subjectively (using continuous as well as discrete self-reported change scores of arousal ratings) while watching erotic audio-visual stimuli. Findings suggested that genital response may be impaired following a vaginal birth; however, subjective ratings of sexual arousal did not differ as a function of mode of delivery.  The study described in Chapter 4 assessed sensitivity of genitopelvic regions innervated by the pudendal nerve using quantitative sensory testing (QST) to measure sensory thresholds. Results from Chapter 4 do not provide support for the hypothesis that vaginal birth is associated with decreased genitopelvic sensitivity. Taken together, the findings from the current research program suggest that there is a sizeable minority of North American nulliparous individuals who subscribe to the belief that vaginal birth will be harmful to their future sex life; however, this belief was not substantiated by the empirical studies reported in Chapters 3 and 4. The disconnect has relevant implications to the conversation regarding the rising rates of C-sections worldwide.

abstract: PhD


title: Simulations and validation of an axial-flow pit turbine

contributor:
Rival, David
Mechanical and Materials Engineering

subject: CFD RANS Validation OpenFOAM Turbine Simulations

abstract: The geometric design of an axial-flow pit-turbine is essential as flow separation will decrease turbine efficiency. In this thesis, steady Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) simulations were conducted with a two-equation closure model and validated with experimental results. The research focuses on evaluating the performance of a k-omega Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model with wall functions in separated flows. RANS simulations were carried out in OpenFOAM using an unstructured grid for both lab and full-scale models of the pit-turbine. By testing a lab-scale model, Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was performed to provide insights into the flow behaviour in regions of separation. It was observed that the pressure results from the lab and full-scale RANS models were in agreement with experimental data except in regions of an adverse pressure gradient. The k-omega SST model is sensitive to wall-functions and therefore flow properties near the wall are incorrectly calculated in regions of flow separation. At sharp streamline curvatures, the pressure drop is overpredicted for both the lab and full-scale models. However, at very large Reynolds numbers for the full-scale turbine, the turbulence model underpredicts and delays flow separation at a larger radius of curvature when compared to experiments.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Advanced digital modulation formats for optical coherent transmission systems

contributor:
Cartledge, John
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject:
Optical coherent transmission systems
Digital modulation
Fiber nonlinear effects
Constellation shaping
Polarization-dependent loss

abstract:
Field modulation with coherent detection leverages the use of optical channel bandwidth and allows mitigating transmission impairments by exploiting the two quadrature components of the optical carrier and providing a linear electrical-to-optical (EO) and optical-to-electrical (OE) conversion. In addition, polarization multiplexing represents an effective means to double the information rate of single-polarization systems. The advent of high-speed digital signal processing (DSP) engines and high-speed data converters has enabled the reliable transmission of bit rate in excess of 400 Gbit/s at achievable symbol rate using spectrally efficient dual-polarization (DP) M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (DP-MQAM) and forward error correction (FEC) schemes. The evolution of such systems towards higher capacity depends on designing signaling schemes which increase the information rate in the presence of linear and nonlinear impairments. QAM constellation shaping has emerged as a practical approach for tailoring modulation formats to be more power efficient and more tolerant to fiber nonlinearities.

 The major contribution of this thesis is to extensively analyze the role of constellation shaping in boosting the transmission capacity of modern coherent systems. This includes describing a simplified approach to estimate the system performance of arbitrary modulation formats following nonlinear transmission. The approach employs well-established models for intra- and inter- nonlinear effects and hence requires less computational effort compared to the more accurate split-step Fourier simulation.
 Additionally, I proposed a novel framework for optimized constellation design. The framework uses genetic algorithms to optimize multidimensional QAM constellation subset selection and has the potential to provide a methodical alternative to existing non-trivial constellation design approaches. Using this approach, I could obtain optimized 4D and 8D constellations.  Finally, I thoroughly investigated the system performance of probabilistically shaped (PS) and uniform DP-64QAM constellations in the presence of polarization-dependent loss (PDL). An accurate simulation model was employed to evaluate the fluctuations of the bit-wise (BW) achievable information rate (AIR) due to PDL. Moreover, extensive laboratory experiments were conducted to demonstrate the statistical behaviour of the BW AIR. A single-span loop setup with partially automated equipment allowed accurate emulation of distributed link PDL as well as capturing a  sufficient number of PDL instances.

abstract: PhD


title: Partitioning resources through the seasons: a test of the competitive ability – cold tolerance trade-off hypothesis in seasonally breeding beetles

contributor:
Martin, Paul R
Biology

rights: Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States

subject:
ecology
Nicrophorus
closely related species
coexistence
cold tolerance
resource partitioning

abstract: Understanding the factors that maintain and constrain biodiversity and species coexistence is a major goal in ecology. Closely related species that use similar resources often differ in their seasonal patterns of activity, consistent with resource partitioning that is thought to facilitate coexistence. The factors that limit the distributions of these species across seasons, however, are unknown for the majority of species. In my second chapter, we conducted a large-scale survey of a diverse carrion beetle community in southeastern Ontario, Canada from April to October, and found evidence consistent with resource partitioning in Nicrophorus habitat generalists, but limited evidence for seasonal differences in abundance among habitat specialists. In my third chapter, we test one hypothesis that may explain seasonal differences in activity between two burying beetle species (Nicrophorus sayi, N. orbicollis) that co-occur, require carrion for food and reproduction, and differ in their seasonal patterns of activity. Specifically, we tested predictions of the competitive ability – cold tolerance trade-off hypothesis whereby adaptations to cold temperatures compromise competitive ability under warmer conditions, leading to the partitioning of resources along seasonal gradients. Consistent with our hypothesis, we found evidence that the late-season N. orbicollis is less able to function at the cold temperatures that characterize early spring, when the early-season N. sayi is most active. Contrary to our hypothesis, however, we found that the late-season N. orbicollis was not competitively dominant to the early-season N. sayi under warm conditions, but instead the larger beetle always won, regardless of species. Our survey data suggest that N. orbicollis is usually the larger species when competing for the same carrion later in the season, mostly because of its high abundance during this time. The larger size of N. orbicollis thus presents an intense competitive pressure that should limit N. sayi breeding later in the season. Overall, my thesis research provides evidence for seasonal partitioning of resources and the factors that constrain the seasonal distributions of two species. My work further suggests that seasonal partitioning of resources may contribute to maintaining local diversity within a diverse community of carrion beetles.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Multi-Stage Electrolysis for Reduction of Electricity Consumption in Hydrogen Production

contributor:
Pharoah, Jon G
Mechanical and Materials Engineering

subject:
Electrolysis
Stages
Electric work
CFD
Thermodynamics
Solid Oxide
Hydrogen

abstract:
A novel approach to perform electrolysis in stages is developed for reducing the share
of electric work in the process and replacing the same with thermal energy. The
study is divided into two parts, the first part is a theoretical study of electrolysis in
stages and the second part is a computational fluid dynamics study of the same. In
the first part the thermodynamics of single stage electrolysis is studied in detail by
performing parametric studies of varying steam utilization and inlet steam concentration.
Subsequently, a formulation for electrolysis in stages is developed in order
to calculate the utilization of each stage, keeping the inlet steam temperature and
electrolyte temperature for each stage constant. The utilization of each stage is calculated
such that overall utilization of the process is as desired. Electric and thermal
energy requirements of the process are determined and are compared with the case of
single stage electrolysis. The electric energy required for the process of 5 stages is 25.4
kWh (per kilogram of H2) which is substantially lower than the 50-65 kWh/kg used
by commercial electrolysers today. Electric energy savings of up to 1.2 kWh/kg are
predicted for a case with 5 stages as compared to single stage. These savings increase
with an increase in the number of stages and the required inlet steam temperature
is also reduced. The assumptions of this study are no Ohmic losses and constant
temperature electrolysis. In the second part, a detailed CFD study of staged electrolysis
is undertaken. The variation of temperature within the electrolyte is considered
along with Ohmic losses. The electric energy requirement for a 5 stage process was
found to be 25.5 kWh/kg. The electric energy savings in the CFD study are calculated
to be 5.7 kWh/kg for a case with 5 stages as compared to a single stage.
The higher energy savings are due to higher average electrolyte temperatures in the
CFD study as compared to theoretical value. Similar to the first study the electrical
energy savings increase as the number of stages increases.
Finally, a hypothesis for the case with an infinite number of stages is developed
in order to determine the absolute minimum work requirement for process in stages.
By taking this as benchmark the effectiveness of the staging process is determined as a ratio of the electric energy requirement in infinite stages to that in a given number
of stages. The study can be further enhanced by performing optimization to generate
minimum work for any given number of stages.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Evaluation of Open Source Software Platform For Transperineal In-Bore MRI-Guided Targeted Prostate Biopsy

contributor:
Mousavi, Parvin
Computing

subject:
Prostate Cancer
MRI
Open-Source
Targeted Biopsy

abstract:
Current targeted prostate biopsy methods often rely on commercial systems to support the procedure. These systems tend to lack the export of analysis results for secondary analysis studies used in research. Transperineal in-bore MRI-guided prostate biopsy (tpMRgBx) is one such targeted biopsy approach that lacks a commercial system to support the procedure. This work aims to investigate the use of open-source tools in creating an open-source platform that can support the tpMRgBx procedure while allowing access to the data necessary for analysis but also for comparison (to other targeted biopsy approaches).
An open-source platform, SliceTracker, was presented with support for all steps of the tpMRgBx research workflow. Evaluation metrics were defined for a retrospective and prospective study of patients who underwent tpMRgBx. Retrospective evaluation studied registration accuracy, effect of the segmentation approach, and re-identification time of biopsy targets. Prospective evaluation focused on total procedure time as well as biopsy target re-identification accuracy.
Results from the 73 retrospective and 10 prospective tpMRgBx cases showed success in the use of SliceTracker for supporting tpMRgBx. Mean Landmark Registration Error (LRE) for retrospective evaluation was 1.88 ± 2.63 mm and was not sensitive to the approach for prostate gland segmentation. For the prospective data, a target re-identification time of 4.60 ± 2.40 min and biopsy targeting error of 2.4 ± 0.98 mm was observed.
The proposed platform SliceTracker was successfully integrated into the clinical research procedure at the institution in this study, supporting hundreds of cases to date. It is extensible and supports uniform collection of research data. This work represents a stride towards facilitating comparison between targeted prostate biopsy methods and the goal of improving prostate cancer care. It also provides a platform that is better suited to support translation of the tpMRgBx procedure to other sites.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: N-heterocyclic Carbene Synthesis Towards Self-Assembled Monolayers on Gold

subject:
Chemistry
Self-Assembled  Monolayer

abstract: Modifying surfaces with self assembled monolayers (SAMs) is a simple and effective way to create functional materials. Traditionally compounds containing a thiol head group are used to generate SAMs on gold surfaces. However, a recent discovery by the Crudden lab demonstrated increased bond strength and surface stability of n heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) to a gold substrate. Here in we report the synthesis and modification of gold surfaces with NHCs containing unique functionality. Chemical synthesis was characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy techniques and SAM formation was analyzed using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). N,N’-Ditolyl-4,5(R,R)-diphenylimidazolium tetrafluroborate (19) is a known molecule with chiral functionality about the backbone and successfully formed a SAM on gold with a calculated carbon to nitrogen ratio of 29:2 from XPS analysis results. Iodine (31), triflate (34), hydrogen bicarbonate (35), and tetrafluoroborate (37) salts of N,N’-Diisopropyl[2,3-d]imidazoliumnaphthalene were synthesized in order to investigate the π-stacking of the naphthalene backbone when assembled on a gold surface. Unfortunately, from XPS analysis a full monolayer was never achieved. Finally, N,N’-Diisopropylnaphtho[2,3-d]imidazolium-4,9-dione salts: iodine (48), triflate (50), and tetrafluoroborate (49), were synthesized in an attempt to electrochemically probe the redox active quinone moiety once a SAM had formed on a gold surface. Compound 49 formed a monolayer on the gold surface with a carbon to nitrogen ratio of 16:2 from the XPS analysis results and compound 50 has a carbon to nitrogen ratio of 36:2. The electrochemistry experiments were performed using a monolayer of 50 on a gold electrode. The cyclic voltammogram revealed very minor features characteristic of the quinone moiety which indicates low molecular consistent with XPS results.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Does Gender Play a Role?: Judges and Trial Outcomes in Sexual Assault Cases in Canada

contributor:
Sytsma, Victoria
Sociology

subject:
Sexual Assault
Canada
Judge
Gender
Legal Actors
Canadian Criminal Justice System

abstract: Canada undertook a major reform of the laws surrounding rape beginning in 1983. As a result of this reform, rape was re-conceptualized as ‘sexual assault’, and laws surrounding consent and earlier sexual history were introduced in 1992. These changes were greatly influenced by feminist groups in the hope that victims of sexual violence would be more likely to come forward. However, sexual assault continues to be underreported in Canada and there is substantial attrition from the number of reported cases to the number of charged and convicted cases. Such attrition raises questions about other areas in which sexual assault legal reforms have not lived up to their promise. Media reports and some scholarly literature suggests inappropriate actions are or are likely occurring within the Canadian Criminal Justice System (CCJS) at the hands of judges; however, the present study indicates that such behaviours are infrequent. Through a cross-sectional exploratory study design with a content analysis of judge rulings, this study explores the impact of judge and victim gender on sexual assault trial outcomes. Further, the present study explores whether popular rape myths still embed themselves within the CCJS, despite legislative efforts to eliminate such myths.  Using the CanLII database, adult sexual assault cases within Canada between 2000 and 2018 with either a written verdict or sentencing decision (N=106) were identified and coded on a variety of variables. Results indicate that the gender of both the judge and the victim is not associated with trial outcomes, judges are not likely to use common rape myths—albeit it does occur from time to time, are likely to follow the CCC, and judges are more likely to use language that resembles the violent connotations of sexual assault rather than sexualizing the assault. These results may be cause for cautious optimism for policy-makers, researchers, and feminist advocates alike.

abstract: M.A.


title: Direct Energy Measurement of Short Hydrogen Bonds in Solution by 17O NMR Spectroscopy

contributor:
Wu, Gang
Chemistry

subject: Short Hydrogen Bond, 17O NMR, Density Functional Theory

abstract: Hydrogen bonding interactions are of paramount importance in many chemical and biological processes. Although the physicochemical parameters to identify hydrogen bonds (HBs) have been established in the literature, direct measurement of HB energies in solution has remained a significant challenge. In this thesis, we report a new 17O NMR method for directly measuring the energetics of intramolecular HBs in solution. The new method is based on determination of the rotational barrier of a carboxylate group in which one of the two oxygen atoms is involved in an intramolecular HB. We have applied this new approach to a variety of carboxylate monoanions that are known to have the shortest, thus the strongest, intramolecular HBs and obtained the HB energetic values between 7.0 ± 0.5 and 10.9 ± 0.5 kcal mol-1 in various protic and aprotic solvents as well as in protic solvents containing various amounts of water. We have also measured the energetics of breaking the elongated O−H covalent bonds in picolinic acid N-oxide (PANO), phenylmaleate, and citraconate in DMF, which were found to be 10.7 ± 0.5, 9.5 ± 0.5, and 10.2 ± 0.5 kcal mol-1, respectively. Since an elongated covalent O−H bond should be stronger than any H···O HB, the experimentally measured energetics of the elongated O−H covalent bond in PANO, 10.7 ± 0.5 kcal mol-1, may represent the upper limit of the HB energetics in solution. To supplement the experimental 17O NMR approach, we have combined density functional theory (DFT) calculations with the integral equation formalism polarized continuum model (IEFPCM) to determine the carboxylate rotational barrier and the corresponding HB energetics. The new experimental results reported in this thesis have significantly advanced our understanding of HB energetics. If one uses the common classification of strong HBs (12–24 kcal mol-1), our results immediately suggest that strong HBs do not exist in solution. Our findings have also put into question whether any HB in the transition state of enzymatic reactions can actually provide 10-20 kcal mol-1 for catalysis as proposed by Gerlt and Gassman.

abstract: PhD


title: Theory and Modelling of Pulse-Driven Quantum Dots in Nanophotonic Structures

contributor: Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy

subject:
Nanophotonics
Quantum Optics
Open Quantum Systems
Quantum Dots

abstract:
Quantum dots (QDs) integrated in nanophotonic environments provide an excellent platform for quantum information technologies and engineerable light-matter interactions. One application is a solid-state single photon source (SPS), where a QD in an optical cavity can be used to emit antibunched photons. This setup can provide photons on-demand if excited with a pulse, which renders the problem of modelling the QD SPS a genuinely time-dependent problem in quantum optics. Furthermore, the QD-cavity system interacts with its environment via electron-phonon scattering with the surrounding lattice as well as coupling to the photonic background, which causes decoherence and necessitates an open quantum system framework. In this thesis, we study pulse-driven QDs coupled to photonic environments and phonon reservoirs using an open system quantum optics approach, with a focus on elements unique to the time-dependent dynamics.
After introducing the necessary theoretical background, first we present an analysis of the impact of electron-phonon scattering on a proposal for a QD-cavity system which uses adiabatic passage to generate triggered single photons of orthogonal polarization to the excitation fields. Next, we provide an analysis of the resonance fluorescence spectrum of two-level systems (including QDs) driven by a pulse, with particular emphasis on where spectral asymmetries can arise. Last, we study resonantly excited QD-cavity SPSs with attention given to how the excitation pulse can affect the quantum dynamics and SPS figures-of-merit. We show that the excitation process can degrade the figures-of-merit to a degree comparable to the electron-phonon interaction. We also find that a dynamical decoupling effect between the QD and its environment plays a large role in suppressing multi-photon emission, and we demonstrate how this effect can be modelled by using a time-dependent and time-convolutionless quantum master equation which incorporates non-Markovian effects associated with the pulse. These findings have implications on both the theoretical understanding of pulsed QD light-matter interactions, as well as on how SPSs can be optimized.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Territorial Control and Minority Reforms: A Study of the Kurdish Borderlands in Turkey

contributor:
Moore, Margaret
Csergö, Zsuzsa
Political Studies

subject: Turkey; Kurds; territorial control; Kurdish Opening; minority reforms; civil war and political violence; peace processes; borders and borderlands; comparative territorial and border politics;  divided nations; Kurdish politics

subject: Ethnography;

abstract: This study seeks to explain the failure of the Kurdish Opening in Turkey. I theorize that an important, hitherto largely ignored, factor in explaining this failure is the state’s policy of territorial control, which has existed in parallel to the reform processes and peace talks. More specifically, I argue that territorial control is a key factor in explaining why minority policy reform failed to achieve its goals and hence, violence returned. For this analysis, I develop a typology of territorial control, which juxtaposes the lived experiences of people living alongside five forms of territorial control, identified as: expulsion and expropriation, securitization, border control, administrative control (right-sizing and gerrymandering) and nationalizing the landscape. My observation and documentation of the mechanisms and experiences of territorial control and the peace process are based on semi-structured in-depth interviews and participant observation during extensive fieldwork in conflict-ridden borderlands. This study reveals that the successes and failures of state strategy toward a minority population cannot be understood without an analysis of both state policies and people’s experiences. This study achieves a unique perspective that incorporates people’s perceptions and sentiments with theoretical and analytical premises.

abstract: PhD


title: Mundane Surveillance: Tracking mobile applications and urban accounting in Canadian Business Improvement Areas

contributor:
Murakami Wood, David
Sociology

subject:
Surveillance
Business Improvement Area
Business Improvement District
Accountability
Urban Assemblages
Mundane Governance
311
Mobile Applications
Platform Urbanism
Apps
Toronto
Vancouver

abstract: In response to splintering streetscapes and in order to remain relevant amidst “smart cities” and “urban big data”, Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) have moved away from clipboards and ledgers, to become early adopters of smarter urban technologies. Initially, BIAs began using social media metrics, pedestrian counters, closed-circuit television and i-beacons to collect data, demonstrate return on investment, and engage in their own corporate storytelling. Increasingly today, BIAs use geospatial applications and platforms to better monitor, manage and control the city and its assets. While much smaller in scope and aim than smart city ventures, these forms of entrepreneurial and platform urbanism are presented as ways of updating and automating BIA practices, making their mandates manageable, and promoting accountability across stakeholders. With seemingly mundane aims, how are these accountability relations enacted on the ground, and what do they do? My dissertation combines extensive document collection, conference ethnography, along with interviews and work-shadowing data in order to trace the mobility and use of geospatial applications and platforms by BIAs in Toronto and Vancouver. Focused on how BIAs created and manage value, and make their mandates doable, I illustrate how these technologies render, (ac)count for, police and govern urban spaces and populations. Cases of the actually existing smart city or ordinary smart city I contend these valuation devices, help transform matters of concern into matters of fact. I argue that these technologies not only make the spaces and materials of the city countable, but by extension, they also hold the users and uses of space to account. Data and the surrounding tellable stories promote relations of visibility and accountability that articulate and delegate work, stabilize knowledge claims and promote ontological politics that strengthens the authority of BIAs over the urban landscape.

abstract: PhD


title: Fine-Scale Ground Surface Vertical Displacement and Soil Water Processes in the Canadian High Arctic

contributor:
Lamoureux, Scott
Geography and Planning

subject:
permafrost
Arctic
soil water
ground surface vertical displacement

abstract: The fine-scale physical response of soils to thaw, ice content and soil water conditions in the High Arctic are poorly understood. This thesis introduces the topic and identifies knowledge gaps in the literature and secondly, addresses these gaps through the investigation of the spatiotemporal relationship between ground surface vertical displacement (GSVD) and active layer water level conditions during the summer thaw season at the Cape Bounty Arctic Watershed Observatory, Nunavut. GSVD and water level were monitored simultaneously at five measurement stations consisting of a new inclinometer system (accuracy ±0.15 mm) and a shallow subsurface well logged with pressure transducers. Diel cyclicity in both GSVD (± 0.5 mm) and water level (± 0.2 m) was present at two of the stations and synoptic scale variability characterized the others. The records indicate a close association between GSVD and water level at multiple short-term time scales. Active layer soil physics appear to be controlled by soil water content on both synoptic and diel timescales. Ground ice thaw appeared to be the primary source of water within the diel systems, while synoptic variability was associated with rainfall events. The diel systems were inferred to be primarily driven by large-scale (>258 m2) upslope contributing areas which facilitated diel water level and GSVD fluctuations due to the amplification of thaw-derived water accumulation downslope. These results improve our knowledge of the physical response of High Arctic soils to changes in soil water conditions and active layer thaw, critical for future landscape stability monitoring and geohazard prediction.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Exploring the Genomic Binding Landscape of the Oncogenic Transcription Factor TCF3-PBX1 in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

contributor:
LeBrun, David
Pathology and Molecular Medicine

subject:
chromatin immunoprecipitation
acute lymphoblastic leukemia
TCF3-PBX1
genome-wide
transcriptional regulation

abstract: Treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has become quite effective over the last two decades. However, further progress is limited by a lack of understanding of the biological processes that drive this disease. This understanding will be crucial for developing effective targeted therapies. The oncogenic transcription factor TCF3-PBX1 is expressed in 5% of ALL cases consequent to a somatic chromosomal translocation between chromosomes 1 and 19. It is broadly accepted that TCF3-PBX1 acts as a transcriptional activator resulting in dysregulated proliferation, survival and/or differentiation of hematopoietic cells. Studies have implicated the histone acetyltransferase p300 as an important player in mediating these transcriptional effects. However, the particular binding sites of TCF3-PBX1 and the genes affected have not been identified. We hypothesized that TCF3-PBX1 binds to B-lymphopoietic cis-regulatory regions, such as enhancers and promoters, via the PBX1 homeodomain and affects gene transcription by recruiting p300 in a manner that leads to leukemogenesis. Through the use of chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by DNA sequencing (ChIP-seq), this project identified over 3500 genomic regions where TCF3-PBX1 binds in a t(1;19)-bearing, ALL-derived cell line that expresses endogenous TCF3-PBX1. Most binding sites have characteristics associated with cis-regulatory elements, such as particular histone modifications, and are commonly occupied by B-lymphopoietic transcription factors and PBX family members. TCF3-PBX1 additionally recruits p300 to novel sites, which plays a role in increasing the expression of nearby genes. One hundred and sixty-three genes had nearby TCF3-PBX1 binding sites and were differentially expressed (determined using RNA-sequencing) upon short-hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown of TCF3-PBX1 in two cell lines, suggesting that they are direct transcriptional targets of TCF3-PBX1. Fifty-eight of these genes were additionally found to be differentially expressed between primary, patient-derived ALL samples that likely do, versus do not, harbor the t(1;19) translocation. Together, these results support our hypothesis described above and address the need to identify the transcriptional targets of the TCF3-PBX1 fusion oncoprotein. These target genes and their associated cellular pathways will inform future studies to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which TCF3-PBX1 disturbs lymphoid development in ALL and will contribute to the eventual development of novel treatments that target these mechanisms.

abstract: M.Sc.