VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Collection, Speciation and Aerosol Modelling for Volatile Organic Compounds

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are collected on the integrated organic gas and particle sampler (IOGAPS) to measure particle loss and collection efficiency. Particle loss increases with increasing flow rate while collection efficiency is a function of alkane volatility. Unresolved complex mixtures (UCMs) are then analyzed and quantified using the novel technique supersonic molecular beam gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (SMB-GC/MS), to develop accurate inputs in modelling the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Alkanes were segregated by carbon number, number of double bond equivalents, and chemical structure. With the most explicit compositional knowledge to date, these mixtures were modelled for their affinity towards formation of SOA. Unsaturated alkanes formed the most and relatively equal amounts of aerosol based on their degree of unsaturation while branched species formed the least. Increasing specificity in chemical structure led to increased computational demands while only general structural motifs were needed to form an accurate picture of aerosol formation.

Keywords: Aerosol Formation
Cold EI
Kinetic Modelling
Structure Elucidation
Advisor: Chan, Arthur W H
Towards Stochastic Finite Element Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Structures

Stochastic simulation is used primarily as a basis for the resistance models in a reliability analysis and is often used to calibrate many structural concrete building codes. This thesis outlines the implementation of stochastic simulation techniques into VecTor2, a NLFEA program for the analysis of reinforced concrete. Stochastic simulation was conducted on a subset of beams from the Toronto size effect series. The simulation results form the basis of a reliability analysis that computes the reliability indices for the CSA A23.3-14 and the ACI 318-14 codes. Additionally, an experimental program that assessed the spatial variability within monolithic concrete using nondestructive techniques is presented and discussed. Ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) measurements were taken on a grid for a large reinforced concrete specimen. Data were collected from cylinders to develop a regression model for strength versus UPV. Geospatial statistical methods were then employed to determine spatially variable material properties for a finite element model.

Keywords: Disturbed Stress Field Model
Finite Element Analysis
Reinforced Concrete
Reliability
Shear
Stochastic
Advisor: Vecchio, Frank J
A Simulator Study Evaluating the Efficacy of Group View Displays in Nuclear Control Rooms

Group View Displays (GVDs), have become prominent features in modern nuclear control room (NCR) designs. Despite their widespread implementation, an operating experience review by Myers Jamieson (2014) revealed that the efficacy of these GVDs has yet to be thoroughly evaluated. This thesis addresses this gap by presenting the analysis, design, and experimental results of a full-scale nuclear simulator study designed to evaluate the purported benefits of GVDs. The results of this study indicate that the current state of the art in NCRs can be improved upon. We found evidence suggesting that the dominant GVD solution in NCRs was outperformed in terms of communication by the experimental GVD alternative. Furthermore, we demonstrated marked situation awareness improvements fostered by the ecological display framework when compared against the advanced displays currently in use in NCRs. The implications, limitations, and recommendations for future work from this study are discussed.

Keywords: Cognitive Work Analysis
Control Room
Ecological
Group View Display
Human Factors
Interface
Advisor: Jamieson, Greg A
Exploring the Role of Social Work in Supporting People Affected by HIV-associated Neurocognitive Disorder (HAND)

It is estimated that 50% of the 75,500 people living with HIV/AIDS in Canada will be affected by at least an asymptomatic form of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorder (HAND). As the number of HIV-positive people over age 50 increases, social workers and other helping professionals need to adapt to meet people’s changing needs. Using a Participatory Action Research (PAR) framework, an explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was conducted to understand: a) concerns about living with HIV and changes in cognition; b) client knowledge and experience of social work; and c) gaps in current HIV-related programs and services related to cognitive health. Through a quantitative survey (n=108) and qualitative interviews (n=20), five key themes emerged regarding the duality of people’s perceptions and experiences, confusion about whether health issues were attributable to HIV or to aging, social work’s role as a necessary support service, and how knowledge and supports decrease stress and anxiety.

Keywords: Aging
Cognitive Health
HAND
HIV/AIDS
Older Adults
Social Work
Advisor: Craig, Shelley L
Watchorn, Jocelyn
Investigation of Creep Rupture Phenomenon in Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) Stirrups

Glass Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars offer a feasible alternative to typical steel reinforcement in concrete structures where there are concerns of corrosion or magnetic interference. In order to design safe structures for a service life of 50 to 100 years, the long-term material properties of GFRP must be understood. Thirty GFRP stirrups of three types were tested under sustained loading to investigate creep rupture and modulus degradation behaviour. The time to failure under varying sustained loads was used to extrapolate the safe design load for typical service lives. It was found that shear critical beams with shear reinforcement designed in accordance with CSA-S806 and ACI-440 provisions may be at risk of premature failure under sustained design loads. Analysis was based on finite element modelling and previously tested beams. Additionally, no moduli degradation was observed in this study. A cumulative weakening model was developed to potentially take into account fatigue loading.

Keywords: creep
fiber
glass
rupture
stirrup
sustained
Advisor: Sheikh, Shamim A
Traceless Automated Design Debugging of Liveness Properties Using Property Directed Reachability

The growth in complexity of digital hardware drives an increase in the importance of automated computer-aided design (CAD) tools. Verification consumes most of the design effort, with debugging accounting for half of the verification time. These are therefore important targets for automation. Traditionally, when a failure is detected through an observation value mismatch, an error trace is returned. The error trace can be used with a Boolean Satisfiability (SAT)-based automated debugging tool to aid the engineer in finding the error source. However, when a state is shown to be unreachable, no error trace is available to guide the tool. Debugging these errors is a manual process. This thesis presents two novel automated techniques to perform design debugging in the absence of an error trace. The use of PDR avoids the memory-intensive ILA representation, making it possible to solve larger problem instances. Experiments demonstrate the practicality of the proposed techniques.

Keywords: Debugging
Verification
Advisor: Veneris, Andreas
Exploring the Moral Space in Literacy Practices: A Fluid Model for the Actions of the Emotive Self in Adults' Responses to Fairy Tales

Bettelheim (1975) famously claimed that fairy tales support emotional health in children. He used psychoanalysis in his research, but a poststructural view of emotional, cognitive action allows for a new consideration of the self, as fluid and socioculturally situated. I use Taylor's (1989) framework to examine the response of one adult reader to her favorite fairy tale. In noting the qualitative estimations associated with the participant's orientations of self, I demonstrate a method for understanding the moral self as a cognitive act of self-optimization, using conceptual metaphor as evidence for these orientations (Lakoff, 1993). This novel approach to understanding the effect of fairy tales on the psyche has implications for the use of fairy tales in emotionally sensitive and supportive curricula, as well as for the general use of literature as a means of understanding, supporting, and expressing the self.

Keywords: case study
conceptual metaphor
fairy tales
literacy practice
self-examination
Advisor: Stagg Peterson, Shelley
The Critical Attributes and Design of a Music Partnership Study Guide

Abstract Community Arts Organizations such as symphonies and opera companies play an important role as partners in school education through the provision of concerts, artist residencies and mentorship programs. The curriculum that accompanies any partnership endeavor can dramatically impact the quality of the student's experience and subsequent learning. This thesis identifies that a successful music partnership study guide is relevant, prepares students for the concert experience, makes the music come alive, and builds teacher confidence. These attributes were determined through an analysis of artifacts from the study guide writing team, and a survey to a sample group of teachers whose students attended the performance associated with the study guide. The study examines how knowledge of these critical attributes affects the design process. For this part of the research I examine my own practice as a curriculum writer and use my working notes, emails, drafts, and final products as my data.

Keywords: arts integration
arts partnerships
concert study guides
music partnerships
opera
symphonies
Advisor: Cameron, Linda
Investigating Sensory Plasticity in Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy following Constraint Induced Movement Therapy

Children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (HCP) experience upper limb sensory processing and motor deficits. While constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) is effective in improving motor hand function in HCP, its impact on sensory function remains under-investigated. The present study evaluates the effectiveness of CIMT on sensory function in children with HCP using neuroimaging and clinical diagnostic tools. Ten children with HCP attended a three-week CIMT intervention with the integration of a sensory component to optimize potential sensory change. Both magnetoencephalography (MEG) and clinical sensory/motor assessments were completed at: baseline (one week prior to CIMT), one and six months post-baseline. Clinical sensory and MEG measures were compared between all three time points. CIMT did not result in significant changes in clinical sensory modalities or MEG somatosensory processing of the affected hand. This is the first study to investigate the effect of CIMT on sensory function utilizing clinical sensory measures and neural processing.

Keywords: constraint-induced movement therapy
hemiplegic cerebral palsy
magnetoencephalography
sensory function
Advisor: Fehlings, Darcy
Cheyne, Douglas
The Experiences of Female Teachers Returning to Work Following Maternity Leave: The Implications of Policy

Recovering from birth and caring for a newborn requires time away from other commitments, including one's job. For full-time teachers, the amount of protected time and how much of this time is subsidized varies depending on country, state and school board. For many reasons, women in the labour force face discrimination. Female teachers returning to work upon the completion of a parental leave are also confronted with a variety of new challenges. This study analyzes journal entries and photographs submitted by female teachers transitioning back to work following parental leave. The intention of the inquiry is to give women a platform upon which to share their stories. The findings are used to evaluate current parental leave policies in Canada and the U.S. and to recommend policies that may help to support this shift.

Keywords: Family Medical Leave Act
Maternity Leave
Parental Leave
Returning to Work
Working Mothers
Advisor: Gaskell, Jane
Is Corporate Social Responsibility an Effective Intervention for Sustainable Development? The Case of Canadian Mining Companies in Burkina Faso

Quite a number of Canadian mining companies claim that their corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts can contribute to sustainable development (SD). However, several studies suggest that CSR initiatives in Africa are yet to make a significant, long-lasting socio-economic contribution. This research focuses on six Canadian mining companies operating in Burkina Faso, a country in West Africa that has recently become a hotspot for gold extraction. By employing a qualitative content analysis method to analyze companies’ archives and other textual sources available within the public domain, through the theoretical lens of economic democracy, this study interrogates whether the current neoliberal CSR framework is an effective intervention to address Burkina Faso’s socio-economic challenges. The findings from this research reveal the contradictions between stated CSR intentions and the mining companies’ priorities, thus making noteworthy contributions to literature that investigates CSR and sustainable development in Africa’s natural resource sector.

Keywords: Africa
Burkina Faso
Corporate social responsibility
Economic democracy
Mining
Sustainable development
Advisor: Ryan, Sherida
Quarter, Jack
MR-based Mapping of Cerebral Hemodynamics in Children with Sickle Cell Disease

Sickle-cell disease (SCD) is the most common cause of stroke in children, which follows the exhaustion of vasodilatory capacity known as cerebrovascular reserve. Cerebrovascular reserve may be impaired in SCD due to chronic anemia and endothelial dysfunction, which may place SCD children at an increased risk for stroke. Therefore, we set out to assess cerebrovascular reserve in children with SCD using MR-based measures of cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR). We demonstrated that SCD children with a greater severity of anemia have higher cerebral blood flow and lower CVR. In addition, we have shown that SCD children on hydroxyurea or transfusion treatments have reduced severity of anemia and greater CVR than untreated patients. These results suggest that SCD children with greater severity of anemia access more of their cerebrovascular reserve in an attempt to maintain adequate oxygen supply and hydroxyurea or transfusion-treated patients have increased reserve, which may be beneficial in stroke prevention.

Keywords: Cerebral Blood Flow
Cerebrovascular Reactivity
Children
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Sickle Cell Disease
Stroke
Advisor: Kassner, Andrea
Acoustic Wave Biosensor for the Detection of the Breast Cancer Metastasis Biomarker Protein PTHrP

This manuscript illustrates the three stage development of a biosensor capable of detecting a breast cancer metastasis biomarker protein. In the first stage of development, a new reducing agent was discovered for the formation of antibody fragment antigen-binding (Fab’) units. This reducing agent, dithiobutylamine (DTBA), was found to be 213 times more efficient than the previously accepted leading reducing agent, dithiothreitol (DTT), at cleaving antibody F(ab)2 fragments. The second stage of development studied the anti-fouling properties of Fab’ fragments on various homogeneous and mixed alkylsilane monolayers. Immobilized Fab’ fragments were determined to impart anti-fouling properties onto these surfaces, making them ideal for use in biosensors. The last stage of development compared whole antibody and Fab’ fragment-based biosensors for the detection of the cancer metastasis protein in buffer, with the whole antibody-based biosensor yielding the lowest limit of detection of 61 ng/mL.

Keywords: Acoustic Wave
Antibodies
Biosensor
Breast Cancer
Metastasis
PTHrP
Advisor: Thompson, Michael
Romaschin, Alexander
Spatially Varying Saturation Pulse (SVSP) for Fat Suppression in Breast MRI

Achieving reliable fat suppression with high water signal in a clinically acceptable scan time remains a challenge in breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). To improve fat saturation in the presence of field inhomogeneity, a spatially-varying saturation pulse (SVSP) is proposed. This work introduces a design methodology for creating SVSPs and describes a practical implementation on a clinical whole body 1.5T MRI scanner. Both simulation experiments with a virtual breast phantom and 1.5T imaging experiments using a phantom test object containing both fat and water were used to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method. Initial results indicate that the proposed SVSP method can improve the reliability of fat suppression compared to Spectral Fat Saturation, while using similar pulse durations and exciting similar levels of water signal. SVSP shows promise in terms of its applicability to the clinical setting.

Keywords: breast imaging
fat suppression
MRI
spectral spatial pulse
Advisor: Beatty, Philip J
Cunningham, Charles
Intraspecific Variation in Leaf and Root Traits across Nutrient and Light Gradients in Coffee Agroforestry Systems

Functional traits can evaluate crop responses to farm-level management practices, however there are considerable uncertainties as to the extent and drivers of trait variation. In a coffee agroforestry system I examined three shade and four nutrient treatments, in order to i) quantify intraspecific trait variation of coffee leaves and roots along soil fertility and light gradients, and ii) test if the functional biology of coffee, as described by its position along a known functional trait spectra, is best predicted by soil nutrients or light. Low light led to high intraspecific variation within plant photosynthetic rates while high light systems resulted in reduced intraspecific variation across all leaf traits. High fertilization produced lower amounts of intraspecific root variation. Finally, functional traits correlated along a resource gradient as expected. Agroforestry systems then have the potential to increase within species variation, which has important long-term consequences for the structure and function of agroecosystems.

Keywords: agroforestry
coffee
Erythrina
functional traits
leaves
roots
Advisor: Isaac, Marney
Martin, Adam
Benefits and Challenges of Teacher Professional Learning in a Mathematics Intervention Study in the Early Years (JK-Grade 2)

Research shows spatial reasoning and an early start to mathematics are key predictors of later school success. This thesis explores educator learning in a professional learning intervention study, focusing on spatial reasoning tasks. A team of JK-Grade 2 teachers, early childhood educators and a math coach spent time implementing a series of playful, research-developed spatial reasoning tasks in mathematics. Educator learning throughout this process was considered, with particular focus on two cases: a kindergarten teacher and a math coach. Results indicate several benefits to educator learning, including learning by observing children, through implementation of research-developed tasks, about mathematics content, and through personal reflection. The co-creation of tasks was highlighted as extremely important for educator learning. It is important for educators to co-create tasks instead of simply implementing existing ones. This intervention study also highlighted some challenges of teacher professional learning, including time, administrator support, educator perceptions and implementation of tasks.

Keywords: early years math
intervention study
JK-Grade 2
Ontario
professional learning
spatial reasoning
Advisor: McDougall, Douglas
Shear Performance of Heavily Reinforced High-strength Concrete Coupling Beams

High-strength, heavily reinforced concrete coupling beams that have compact designs are critical to the building economics of high-rise structures. There is concern with these heavily reinforced designs that the phenomenon of concrete side cover spalling may occur as the coupling beams approach failure, causing an unintended loss of strength and stiffness. To investigate these consequences, four full-scale coupling beams with varying concrete strengths, reinforcement ratios, and side cover thicknesses were tested. It was observed that the concrete side cover spalled for all four specimens. In situations where the beam design capacity is close to the upper limits of shear capacity, a significant reduction in strength could occur as the concrete crushes before the stirrups yield. While the CSA Code had an average test-to-prediction ratio of 1.05 for the specimen peak load, the limits imposed by the ACI Code under predicted the peak load with test-to-prediction ratios as high as 1.45.

Keywords: Coupling Beams
Reinforced Concrete
Shear
Side Cover Spalling
Advisor: Collins, Michael P.
Bentz, Evan C.
An Examination of the Role of Silicate in Sodium Transport and Salinity Tolerance in Rice (Oryza sativa)

Silicate (Si)-mediated alleviation of salinity toxicity in rice is proposed to occur through a decrease in apoplastic sodium (Na+) transport. This is said to decrease shoot Na+ accumulation, a commonly proposed salt tolerance strategy. To investigate this, salt-tolerant (Pokkali) and salt-sensitive (IR29) rice cultivars were grown in 0 or 1.67 mM Si over a range of Na+ concentrations, and cultivar-specific effective concentrations of Na+ at which shoot fresh weight was decreased by 50% were determined. Within this experimental framework, salinity tolerance strategies were characterized using the radiotracer 24Na+ along with electrophysiological, photometric, and fluorescent dye measurements. Si treatment was found have no effect on transmembrane ion currents while decreasing shoot Na+ accumulation by over 50% in both cultivars. Si-treated IR29 exhibited lower apoplastic bypass and shoot Na+ flux. In Pokkali, examinations of Na+ influx, efflux, and shoot-to-root recirculation were unable to reconcile differences between shoot Na+ content and tracer-flux analyses.

Keywords: apoplastic bypass
rice
salinity
silicate
silicon
sodium transport
Advisor: Kronzucker, Herbert J
Prediction of Blast-induced Ground Vibration and Rock Fragmentation by Statistical and Combined Finite-discrete Element Modelling Methods for the McGill Utility Tunnel

The prediction of blast-induced ground vibration and rock fragmentation at the McGill Utility Replacement Tunnel was investigated using two techniques: empirical peak particle velocity prediction formulae and combined finite-discrete element method (FDEM) modelling. A statistical analysis of ten scaled-distance empirical formulae was performed by fitting them to 269 vibration recordings and assessing the quality of fit with seven statistical indices. In the FDEM studies, a transient blast loading function was developed for explosive product gases by idealizing explosive detonation and depressurization as the injection and expansion of gas into a borehole. With calibrated material properties and blast loading functions, stress-wave induced tensile and shear fracturing were replicated for a single blasthole. Moreover, synthetic fragmentation patterns and velocity-time histories were produced in simulations of blasting round BR-T66. The influence of free surface wave reflection and material impedance constrasts on ground motion amplification was investigated by comparing recorded and synthetic velocity-time histories.

Keywords: Blasting
Combined finite-discrete element modelling
Ground vibration
Rock fragmentation
Tunnelling
Advisor: Grasselli, Giovanni
Esmaeili, Kamran