bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Spatial accessibility to mental health care in the City of Toronto
Authors: Ariwi Joseph
Published: May 2021

Mental illness refers to a wide range of disorders that affect mood, thinking and behaviour. One in five Canadians has mental health care needs, many of which are unmet (Smetanin et al., 2015). Within the City of Toronto, the provision of mental health care is delivered by over 100 public and private community service organisations and over 700 physicians with a psychiatric specialization - each providing community-based general or specialised care to residents in need. Research has shown that travel distance is an enabling factor of health service utilisation, thus equitable spatial access to services remains a key priority (Fleury et al., 2012). Using spatial quantitative methods, this study examines potential spatial accessibility to mental health services and specialist physicians within the City of Toronto, and levels of statistical association between access to care and prevalence of mental health crisis events. A wide range of datasets is analyzed including occurrence data for apprehensions under the Mental Health Act undertaken by the Toronto Police Service and the Canadian Marginalization Index. The enhanced two-step floating catchment area (E2SFCA) method is used to compute spatial accessibility to mental health services based four modes of transportation: driving, walking, cycling and public transit. Areas that are underserved by mental health specialists and mental health community services are identified and shown to have different income levels. This study provides spatial explicit patterns of accessibility to mental health services in Toronto, providing detailed data to inform planning and policy of mental health care delivery.
An Investigation of At-Intersection Collisions in York Region
Authors: Hutchinson Brianna
Published: May 2021

This paper will look to identify how the built environment can affect collisions at intersections. The Regional Municipality of York was used as the study area. York Region has areas of high-density traffic as well as rural regional road. Due to York Region’s proximity to Toronto there is also commuting traffic during rush hours. A literature review looked into different studies of traffic collisions. A focus of many was human factors, such as impaired driving, distracted driving and inexperience to name a few. For this paper, the focus is on the built features and how different design components of on intersection can affect the number of collisions. Using information from the literature review data was gathered for different built environment features, i.e. intersection type, bus stops and red-light cameras. Data was also gathered for collisions that occurred in York Region, this included the location, time of day, day of the week, and initial impact type. To evaluate how these features effected the number of collisions at an intersection, descriptive statistics, linear regression and qualitative analysis was used. The descriptive statistic shows an overview and percentage of accidents that occurred in separate groups. These groups include property damage, injury, and fatal accidents, traffic control types, and intersection types. Linear regression was used to determine which factors were increasing the number of accidents and which were helping to decrease accidents. Finally, qualitative analysis was used to study the intersections that had the top ten number of accidents that were fatal or injury. After completing the analysis, a case study was conducted on three intersections, one that has seen an increase in accidents one that has seen a decrease in accidents and finally one that has consistently had a high accident count. From all the information and analysis conclusions and recommendations were put forward to help improve road safety in York Region.
A Multi-Criteria Index For Wetland Reconstruction Site Suitability In Ontario's Mixedwood Plains
Authors: Medland Sarah
Published: May 2021

Significant wetland loss in Ontario has resulted in the loss of important ecosystem services which help to mitigate the effects of global change. This research aimed to create a multi-criteria index for identifying where suitable sites for wetland reconstruction are spatially distributed in Ontario’s Mixedwood Plains. The index is intended as a decision-making tool for reaching wetland reconstruction goals such as those outlined by the Ontario MNRF’s plan to restore historically lost wetland area and function. By incorporating ecosystem services, the index will indicate areas where wetlands would be most beneficial. The resulting index generated a raster with a range of suitability based on seven criteria. Soil drainage and Agriculture were the most important criteria and weighed most heavily in the index. Overlay analysis indicated that suitable sites were clustered in areas which had historically undergone wetland loss or are areas of existing wetlands.
An Application of K-Means Clustering on Tourist Activity in Maui Using Mobile Location Data
Authors: Brooker Anna Meg Sheilds
Published: May 2021

Mobile location data are a major form of Big Data that hold many possibilities for study and insight into human behaviour. This research used mobile location data to investigate the differences in the activity patterns of tourists in Maui, Hawai’i. Mobile data used in this study were app-based location data collected as a stream of mobile phone locations with a timestamp. Tourists were clustered using K-Means based on time spent at attraction types. Different travel experiences were analyzed based on traveler’s accommodation choices, the average distance travelled from accommodation to attraction, and vacation length, which all varied significantly between the tourist clusters. This work provided a new use for K-means clustering with mobile location data to provide insightful information to marketing professionals and tourism management bodies.
A Spatial Understanding of Well-Being in the City of Toronto
Authors: Shatrov Alexander
Published: May 2021

Social Capital is an emergent field of study that has the potential of applications in a wide variety of fields, from public health to economics, but most widely for human well-being. This study is a spatial and statistical analysis of the relation between commonly accepted indicators of wellbeing, commonly accepted indicators of social capital, and socio-economic factors within Toronto, as well as their respective spatial patterns. This research discovered that within Toronto there does not exist a clear link between wellbeing and social capital indicators, both in terms of statistical regression analysis and spatial pattern comparison. The results suggest that, at least within the context of Toronto, much of the research surrounding the effects of high social capital on wellbeing are not applicable, at least using the methods demonstrated in this study.
An Assessment Of Microalgal Biodiesel With Acetone, Butanol and Ethanol Using LIfe Cycle Assessment (LCA) Methodology
Authors: Dignan Cherilyn
Published: May 2021

Canada, as one of the largest producers and consumers of fossil fuels per capita on the planet, is attempting to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In order to accomplish this, fuel alternatives, such as biofuel, are required. Accordingly, this study uses LCA methodology to quantify the GHG impact of a unique biofuel production model. This unique model produces biodiesel (BD), acetone, butanol and ethanol (ABE) from microalgae and assesses the process GHG impact against other microalgal BD production processes. This study’s microalgal BD and ABE production process produces 76 kgCO2e per functional unit, whereas other comparable microalgal BD production processes produce between 3.7 and 85 kgCO2e. Overall, this study clarifies that without the development of versatile infrastructure to accommodate biofuel production, LCA studies will continue to find renewable fuel production processes net GHG positive for the simple reason that fossil resources are still the primary energy source.
A Concrete Approach: Recontextualizing Brutalism Through Threshold Design
Authors: Kotewicz David
Published: May 2021

The overcrowding, pollution and sprawl of the modern city outgrows and distorts its original framework. The building, land, and street relationship becomes a focal point in designing for the human scale. The existing urban fabric shifts along with society. Built many years ago, the buildings lack evident design strategies that successfully integrate the surrounding context with its architecture. By redefining threshold as a three-dimensional human experience rather than a point, line, or moment in space, the threshold and surrounding framework becomes significant in adapting the building to meet contemporary social agendas. There becomes a necessity to blur the boundaries between its architecture and environment integrating both the interior and exterior to appropriate the human scale. The ability to preserve these decaying forms through the means of threshold design will effectively contribute to Toronto’s Identity as a whole and successfully play a more significant role in an ever-changing modern city
The 3% problem: Why Are There So Few Females in Creative Advertising?
Authors: Yermus Aleeza
Published: May 2021

The purpose of this Masters Research Paper is to examine the role of women in the creative advertising industry. After extensive research into this area of study, it is evident that globally, women make up a very small percentage of the creative roles and executive positions within the advertising industry (Jean Grow & Tao Deng, 2014). Given this state of affairs, consciousness-raising movements like The 3% Conference, for example, (Jesse Thomas, 2012) have emerged in order to raise awareness of this problem and to promote change for women in the advertising industry in the United States and beyond.
The literature review that informs the original research conducted in this MRP will analyze the historical trends of women in the creative departments of the global advertising industry in practice and in popular culture and some of the factors that may contribute to this gender disparity – the objective was to examine and gain an understanding of why this gender gap persists. The data was then collected from three different media sources: the television show Mad Men, the documentary film Art & Copy and an online movement called The 3% Conference. My findings were derived from a series of content analyses that enabled me to determine how the media and online professional organizations like The 3% Conference portray women in creative advertising in North America. Lastly, the literature review was compared to the results from the data, to determine whether the media offers a reliable depiction of women in the creative advertising industry.
The morphology of Cannabis sativa L. Achenes
Authors: Naraine Steve Govinda Udai
Published: May 2021

Cannabis sativa L. has been domesticated for fibre, oilseed, and marijuana; it also occurs as ruderal plants. “Marijuana” refers to plants selected for high concentrations of the chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), while “hemp” refers to plants low in concentration of THC and which are domesticated for either stem fibre or oilseed. In my first chapter I review the botany of cannabis, taxonomy and origins, ethnobotany, and crop ferality. In my second chapter, I performed a study where achenes (“seeds”) from herbarium collections representative of these classes of C. sativa were assessed for variation in morphological characters and pericarp resistance to fracture. Multivariate analysis of the data revealed significant divergence among the groups. In contrast to ruderal plants, domesticated plants (hemp or marijuana) possessed achenes that are significantly longer, heavier, covered with a less adherent perianth, and lacking a pronounced basal attenuation. These characteristics reflect traits that are advantageous in domesticated plants, and are consistent with the "domestication syndrome”. Marijuana achenes, in comparison with hemp achenes, are shorter and darker. Achenes of fibre cultivars are larger than the achenes of oilseed cultivars. Achenes of dioecious oilseed cultivars are larger than the achenes of monoecious oilseed cultivars. We propose several mechanisms by which this phenotypic divergence may have occurred, including potential differences in outcrossing rate and the evolution of life history strategies among C. sativa groups that deserve further exploration. While only one species of Cannabis merits recognition, we postulate these phenotypic differences in C. sativa are a result of domestication for different purposes. In my final chapter I discuss the limitations and future studies. This work contributes a more complete understanding of cannabis morphology to the greater body of literature on plant domestication.
Order Selection in Unsupervised Learning and Clustering for Arbitrary and Non-Arbitrary Shaped Data
Authors: Shahbaba Mahdi
Published: May 2021

This thesis focuses on clustering for the purpose of unsupervised learning. One topic of our interest is on estimating the correct number of clusters (CNC). In conventional clustering approaches, such as X-means, G-means, PG-means and Dip-means, estimating the CNC is a preprocessing step prior to finding the centers and clusters. In another word, the first step estimates the CNC and the second step finds the clusters. Each step having different objective function to minimize. Here, we propose minimum averaged central error (MACE)-means clustering and use one objective function to simultaneously estimate the CNC and provide the cluster centers. We have shown superiority of MACEmeans over the conventional methods in term of estimating the CNC with comparable complexity. In addition, on average MACE-means results in better values for adjusted rand index (ARI) and variation of information (VI). Next topic of our interest is order selection step of the conventional methods which is usually a statistical testing method such as Kolmogrov-Smrinov test, Anderson-Darling test, and Hartigan's Dip test. We propose a new statistical test denoted by Sigtest (signature testing). The conventional statistical testing approaches rely on a particular assumption on the probability distribution of each cluster. Sigtest on the other hand can be used with any prior distribution assumption on the clusters. By replacing the statistical testing of the mentioned conventional approaches with Sigtest, we have shown that the clustering methods are improved in terms of having more accurate CNC as well as ARI and VI. Conventional clustering approaches fail in arbitrary shaped clustering. Our last contribution of the thesis is in arbitrary shaped clustering. The proposed method denoted by minimum Pathways is Arbitrary Shaped (minPAS) clustering is proposed based on a unique minimum spanning tree structure of the data. Our simulation results show advantage of minPAS over the state-of-the-art arbitrary shaped clustering methods such as DBSCAN and Affinity Propagation in terms of accuracy, ARI and VI indexes.
Dangerous time: a critical qualitative inquiry into early childhood educators' perspectives on planning time in southern Ontario
Authors: Johnston Lisa Kathleen
Published: May 2021

This critical qualitative inquiry lifts the silenced voices of early childhood educators about their perspectives on planning time. Planning time is essential for educators to plan and document ongoing curriculum-making. Yet, not all educators are afforded this time, exacerbating poor wages and working conditions and contributing to stress, burnout and high turnover rates. Framed with feminist poststructuralism and queer time, this study situates planning time within discourses of neoliberalism and developmentalism and reconceptualizes it as a dangerous site of transformation and activism. Nine ECEs participated in a focus group discussion, and two provided written responses. The findings support educators’ need for daily, ample time with their partners to plan and document curriculum along with a revision of unrealistic expectations. Moreover, this study discovers how educators are resisting oppressive power and discourses and identifies how they may further use the transformational document, How Does LearningHappen? as tool in their resistance.

Keywords: early childhood educators, planning time, transformation, resistance, neoliberalism, developmentalism
Mental health stigma on campus: the promotion of mental wellbeing to Ryerson students
Authors: Mihai Andreea
Published: May 2021

This MRP looks at the communication used in mental health campaigns for a post-secondary student audience, focusing on how language use and visual design choices impact the stigma associated with mental health. This MRP focuses specifically on the communications seen on Ryerson University’s campus in the 2016 – 2017 academic school year. A video available on Ryerson’s YouTube channel and a sample of posters available throughout campus were analyzed for language and visual design choices to determine how they fit within stigma management communication strategies and how those choices had the potential to influence perceived stigma in viewers."
Goffman’s (1963) theory on stigma and an individual’s identity was used to analyze the content of the video and posters. Goffman’s theory outlines the various stages of stigma that an individual experiences, and the impact of each stage on how that individual chooses to interact with others. Miesenbach’s (2010) model for stigma management communication, along with information from an expert interview with a front-line worker will also be used to analyze content in the video and posters. By understanding the communications around mental health through the lens of Goffman (1963) and Miesenbach (2010), it will be possible to understand how the communications are increasing or reducing the stigma around mental health. The analysis of the rhetoric in the
messages gives a hint as to how our culture reflects stigma in the messages created, and how this rhetoric may affect students in a culture. This research analyzes Ryerson’s mental well-being campaign for the purpose of identifying a list of best practices for communicating about mental health. The findings show that one of the campaigns accomplishes this better than the other. Effective mental well-being campaigns are those that incorporate elements that normalize discussion of mental health topics, offer strategies for dealing with mental health concerns and overall, promote a culture that prioritizes mental well-being.
Enacting Ethnicity of “Japanese Canadian” in Oral History: A Comparison Between the Japanese Canadian Sansei and the Ijusha Nisei
Authors: Kawai Shunya
Published: May 2021

This paper presents the non-essentializing analysis of ethnic identity formation in comparative research between two groups in the Japanese Canadian community: the Japanese Canadian Sansei and the Ijusha Nisei. Using an oral history approach to understand the development of ethnic identity, I discuss how the social assignment of “otherness” based on the corporeal difference has negatively influenced identity formation in both groups. My comparative analysis further uncovers some of the different strategies that each group takes against the racializing process. Whereas the Japanese Canadian Sansei claim their cultural citizenship in the history of Japanese Canadians by aligning their own personal past with the collective memory of Japanese Canadians, the Ijusha Nisei negotiate it by entitling themselves as a contemporary representative of the ideology of multiculturalism. Finally, understanding the different processes of ethnic identity formation and strategies of negotiation for social inclusion, I discuss the effects of the ideology of multiculturalism on cultural citizenship among Japanese Canadians.
The sexual health education experiences of Eritrean women in Toronto: an evaluation of the raising sexually healthy children (RSHC) Program
Authors: Keech Julie
Published: May 2021

Very few studies have focused on the health knowledge and practices of Eritrean women and their children in Canada. The research surrounding Eritrean women and their children’s awareness and exposure to sexual health education is even far more limited. This study aims to fill this gap in immigrant health research though an evaluation of the Raising Sexually Healthy Children (RSHC) Project, a sexual health education program for immigrant parents in Toronto. Evaluation is based on the Eritrean women’s experiences of the RSHC Program as well any challenges and benefits they encountered throughout its implementation. Six Eritrean women including four program participants as well as two program coordinators were interviewed. Findings indicated that despite the cultural taboo of discussing issues of sexual health, the women gained a greater sense of confidence, openness, and acceptance towards this topic. The study concluded that the RSHC program was successful in assisting the Eritrean women participants to develop effective sexual health communication with their children, family members, and wider community.
Does Pet Policy in a Condominium Building Impact Property Values?
Authors: Muraleedharan Anita P.
Published: May 2021

Pets are permitted in some condominium buildings and not in others. Pet owners will therefore be attracted more towards buildings that welcome pets than otherwise. However, the pet-related regulations may altogether restrict all sorts of pets, including small pets, such as cats, while others may include restrictions on the number of pets allowed per unit, certain breeds or set restrictions on the permissible size of a pet. These restrictions may impact the price of condominiums. Using a hedonic price model, this research paper analyses whether and by how much allowance for pets in the building impacts property values in downtown Toronto using condominium sales data from January 2016 to December 2017 and information derived from a pet policy questionnaire.
The findings suggest that the price differences are not statistically significant between buildings that allow pets or otherwise. In fact, the real price difference is observed for the degree of pet friendliness. Condominium buildings that allow two or more pets sell for higher prices than those that allow less than two pets. Furthermore, condominium buildings that allow two or more dogs sell for a higher price. Also, condominium buildings that impose weight, size or breed restrictions cost 5.7 percent more than those do not have those restrictions.

Keywords: hedonic price model, pet policy, condominiums, GIS, Toronto
Audiovisual Emotion Recognition Using Entropy-estimation-based Multimodal Information Fusion
Authors: Xie Zhibing
Published: May 2021

Understanding human emotional states is indispensable for our daily interaction, and we can enjoy more natural and friendly human computer interaction (HCI) experience by fully utilizing human’s affective states. In the application of emotion recognition, multimodal information fusion is widely used to discover the relationships of multiple information sources and make joint use of a number of channels, such as speech, facial expression, gesture and physiological processes. This thesis proposes a new framework of emotion recognition using information fusion based on the estimation of information entropy. The novel techniques of information theoretic learning are applied to feature level fusion and score level fusion. The most critical issues for feature level fusion are feature transformation and dimensionality reduction. The existing methods depend on the second order statistics, which is only optimal for Gaussian-like distributions. By incorporating information theoretic tools, a new feature level fusion method based on kernel entropy component analysis is proposed. For score level fusion, most previous methods focus on predefined rule based approaches, which are usually heuristic. In this thesis, a connection between information fusion and maximum correntropy criterion is established for effective score level fusion. Feature level fusion and score level fusion methods are then combined to introduce a two-stage fusion platform. The proposed methods are applied to audiovisual emotion recognition, and their effectiveness is evaluated by experiments on two publicly available audiovisual emotion databases. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms achieve improved performance in comparison with the existing methods. The work of this thesis offers a promising direction to design more advanced emotion recognition systems based on multimodal information fusion and has great significance to the development of intelligent human computer interaction systems.
Computed tomography noise reduction based on total variation minimization and morphological component analysis
Authors: Khodabandeh Aryan
Published: May 2021

X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) scans, while useful, emit harmful radiation which is why low-dose image acquisition is desired. However, noise corruption in these cases is a difficult obstacle. CT image denoising is a challenging topic because of the difficulty in modeling noise. In this study, we propose taking an image decomposition approach to removing noise from low-dose CT images. We model the image as the superposition of a structure layer and a noise layer. Total Variation (TV) minimization is used to learn two dictionaries to represent each layer independently, and sparse coding is used to separate them. Finally, an iterative post-processing stage is introduced that uses image-adapted curvelet dictionaries to recover blurred edges. Our results demonstrate that image separation is a viable alternative to the classic K-SVD denoising method.
Privacy-preserving public auditing with data deduplication in cloud computing
Authors: Alkhojandi Naelah Abdulrahman
Published: May 2021

Storage represents one of the most commonly used cloud services. Data integrity and storage efficiency are two key requirements when storing users’ data. Public auditability, where users can employ a Third Part Auditor (TPA) to ensure data integrity, and efficient data deduplication which can be used to eliminate duplicate data and their corresponding authentication tags before sending the data to the cloud, offer possible solutions to address these requirements. In this thesis, we propose a privacy preserving public auditing scheme with data deduplication. We also present an extension of our proposed scheme that enables the TPA to perform multiple auditing tasks at the same time. Our analytical and experimental results show the efficiency of the batch auditing by reducing the number of pairing operations need for the auditing. Then, we extend our work to support user revocation where one of the users wants to leave the enterprise.
Waterborne illness and injury: a feasibility study of a site-specific predictive model for beach water quality at Beachway Park in the City of Burlington
Authors: Sereshk Ramien
Published: May 2021

It is commonly assumed that the persistence model, using day-old monitoring results, will provide accurate estimates of real-time bacteriological concentrations in beach water. However, the persistence model frequently provides incorrect results.

This study: 1. develops a site-specific predictive model, based on factors significantly influencing water quality at Beachway Park; 2. determines the feasibility of the site-specific predictive model for use in accurately predicting
near real-time E. coli levels.

A site-specific predictive model, developed for Beachway Park, was evaluated and the results were compared to the persistence model. This critical performance evaluation helped to identify the inherent inaccuracy of the persistence model for Beachway Park, which renders it an unacceptable approach for safeguarding public health from recreational water-borne illnesses. The persistence model, supplemented with a site-specific predictive model, is recommended as a feasible method to accurately predict bacterial levels in water on a near real-time basis.
Twinning and texture development in an extruded AM30 magnesium alloy during compressive deformation
Authors: Sarker Dyuti
Published: May 2021

This study was aimed at evaluating the microstructure, mechanical behavior and texture response of extruded AM30 magnesium alloy in uniaxial compression with special attention to the effect of compressive strain amount, sample orientation, loading direction, compressive prestrain, and annealing. Compressive deformation along the extrusion direction (ED) resulted in sigmoidal true stress-true strain behavior together with three distinct stages of strain hardening, due to the presence of two sets of basal textures {0001}<2110> and {0001}<1010>, with caxes aligned nearly parallel to the normal direction (ND) of the extruded plate which facilitated the occurrence of {1012} extension twinning. The effect of in-plane loading direction, i.e., 0°,15°, 30°, 45° from the ED on the compressive flow behavior was investigated, which revealed nearly constant yield and ultimate compressive strengths but with a remarkable increase of fracture strain compared to the ED sample. The effect of pre-strain along the ED on the formation of twinning and texture was investigated during re-compression along the ED, transverse direction (TD) and ND. In the two-step ED-ED compression, the disappearance of twin boundaries or the coalescence of twins via twin growth was observed. After pre-strain along the ED, re-compression along the TD showed two seemingly opposite phenomena, i.e., the formation of new twins and de-twinning to be coexistent due to the presence of multiple sets of textures after the first-step pre-straining. The de-twinning activity decreased and the texture weakening was achieved with increasing pre-strain in the ED while doing recompression along the ND at a constant strain amount. Texture measurements revealed that the c-axes of hcp unit cells were always rotated towards the compression direction, regardless of compression in the ED, TD or ND. The annealing temperature and time also had a pronounced effect on microstructure and texture evolution. With increasing annealing time, the twins in the pre-compressed samples were observed to disappear gradually, as demonstrated by a decreased volume fraction of twins and weakened texture which became more randomly distributed. As a result, during re-compression along the ED, fewer twin formation and less intense texture were observed, resulting in a significant increase of ductility.
Fashioning sustainability: drawing lessons from the fair trade coffee industry
Authors: Pringle Anne
Published: May 2021

Due to the fashion industry’s global reach, spanning many jurisdictions, regulations are difficult to implement, monitor and enforce. Strict voluntary initiatives that focus on raising consumer awareness, thereby creating greater demand for eco fashion have greater potential to lead to reform within the fashion industry. To do so, voluntary initiatives must include clear labeling of ‘eco’ products and designer input, and include strict guidelines for company and designer standards. Standards must take the entire life cycle of a garment into consideration. Fashion can apply lesson from the fair trade coffee industry by appealing to consumers based on ethics and environmental responsibility through a trusted consumerfacing label. Fair trade was successful, in part, due to their recognizable label. Fair trade type certifications are most often business to consumer facing and provide consumers with the environmental and social information on the benefits of purchasing fair trade. Fair trade certification models have capitalized on large retailer involvement, allowing certifications to become mainstreamed and therefore more accessible for consumers.
Hybrid PD sliding mode control for robotic manipulators
Authors: Acob John  M
Published: May 2021

This thesis proposes a new control law for the purpose of providing improved tracking and contouring performance of robotic manipulators. The rationale behind the development of this controller involves the hybridization of existing proportional-derivative (PD) and sliding mode control (SMC) laws. The new control law retains similar ease of implementation as traditional PD/PID controllers with the added benefit of a nonlinear switching component inherent from sliding mode control systems. In addition, it eliminates the need for a priori knowledge of the system dynamics that are required in standard SMC laws. The stability analysis of the proposed control law is conducted through the Lyapunov method. Simulations using linear and nonlinear contours, and under varying dynamic conditions are performed in order to compare its performances to existing control schemes. The proposed hybrid PD-SMC control law is proven to provide good, robust tracking and contouring performance
Real time autonomous collision avoidance for unmanned aerial vehicles
Authors: Adhikari Min  Prasad
Published: May 2021

GeoSurv II is a jointly funded project of Sander Geophysics Limited (SGL) and NSERC to develop a fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), capable of autonomously performing high resolution geophysical surveys at low flight altitudes over poorly known terrain. This thesis is in support of achieving this objective.

In order to achieve such a level of autonomy, the UAV must be capable of avoiding stationary, pop-up and moving obstacles while flying at low altitude. Such obstacles may include power lines, communication towers, trees, unknown flight vehicles encountered while at flight or uneven terrains which creates the situation of the pop-up obstacles. In addition to that the UAV must be able to fly as close as possible to the reference trajectory for a given geophysical survey. The development and testing of a method capable of performing such an autonomous mission is the objective of this thesis.

In this thesis, a method is developed based on a spectral method known as Legendre Pseudospectral Optimal Control, because of its capability to directly incorporate all of the mission objectives, while respecting the UAV constraints (which other methods in the literature are not capable of). The method accounts the aircraft and obstacle constraints there by capable of avoiding obstacles with feasible maneuvers for the aircraft. The objective to remain as close to the reference trajectory is fulfilled by setting the area between the flight trajectory and reference trajectory as the cost of optimization of the optimal control problem. Five different scenarios presented in this thesis show the developed method's capability to avoid the stationary, pop-up and the moving obstacles successfully while remaining close to the reference trajectory.
Augmenting Causes: How Augmented Reality Enhances Cause-Related Marketing Campaigns
Authors: Fernandez Samantha
Published: May 2021

Augmented Reality (AR) is a useful tool for retailers to integrate social, environmental or political engagement into marketing goals. By creating interactive and augmented campaigns, brands have the opportunity to evoke emotion in their customers, and educate them on the subject they are supporting. This research paper focuses on how augmented reality (AR) can enhance cause-related marketing campaigns through print and packaging, and location specific in store AR experiences for consumers. AR can be used to enhance a cause-based marketing campaign by allowing users to overlay the digital world with the real world, and allows consumers to feel empathy and emotion towards the campaign because they can see it in their own environment. My research determines that mobility, connectivity, interactivity and modality are the key characteristics in making a successful AR cause-related campaign work. Mobility allows the campaign to be able to move around the store with the consumers, interactivity allowing consumers to experience the campaign, and play within it, connectivity making it shareable, and modality allowing the campaign to utilize different mediums such as video, audio, and 3D visuals to add depth the the campaign. Adding these four characteristics to a campaign augmenting packaging and print throughout a retail space allows consumers to experience the space in a new light and learn more about important causes the company supports.
To consider how AR can enhance cause-related marketing campaigns, this paper analyzed existing examples of AR marketing campaigns and categorized them based on two different definitions listing attributes: seven characteristics of interactive media, as outlined by Ana Javronik (2016), and four different types of AR marketing as outlined by Joachim Scholz and Andrew N. Smith (2016). Three existing AR campaigns were compared against the seven characteristics of AR to see if the technology can add value to cause-related campaigns. I then proceeded to design an idealized, hypothetical AR brand campaign for a location-specific, instore experience to engage customers while shopping. And, finally, I created simple prototypes of AR brand packaging to consider the feasibility of launching an interactive and informative instore advertising campaign, augmenting the brand label beyond a simple 2D package.
Advanced sun-sensor processing and design for super-resolution performance
Authors: Godard
Published: May 2021

The performance of conventional and parametric super-resolution algorithms for estimating sun position in a spacecraft sun-sensor was analyzed. Widely employed in other applications, parametric algorithms were examined to evaluate increase in system performance without affecting the cost of the sensor system. Using a simplified model of detector illumination simulations provided quantitative comparisons of algorithm performance. Simple sensor re-design was examined by using genetic algorithms as a heuristic to optimize the illumination pattern for a single axis digital sun-sensor. Findings show that, multiple narrow peak patterns provide subpixel accuracy in resolving the sun-angle. The optimal illumination pattern can be implemented by fabricating a replacement aperture mask for the sensor and this change can be made at a minimal cost. The super-resolution algorithms were tested with a component noise model and image degradation due to Earth albedo effects were examined. Parametric algorithms display very good performance throughout the test regime. The improvements are substantial enough to validate this approach worthy of future study.
Physical Activity and Healing through the Medicine Wheel
Authors: Lavallée Lynn F
Published: May 2021

[Introduction from 1st paragraph]
According to Wesley-Esquimaux and Smolewski (2004), Indigenous people have experienced unremitting trauma as a result of colonization. The un-remitting trauma of colonization included physical disconnection with children being removed from families and communities; mental disconnection with forced assimilation, forbidding the use of Aboriginal languages; changes in political and social structures; emotional disconnection by enforcement of the stereotypical view of “savage Indians” needing assimilation; and spiritual disconnection by banning of Indigenous cultural ceremonies (Chansonneuve, 2005).
Exploring consumer demand for networked services: the importance of content, connectivity, and killer apps in the diffusion of broadband and mobile services
Authors: Middleton Catherine A.
Published: May 2021

What drives consumers to adopt new networked services and technologies? This paper illustrates the differences between content is king and person-to-person communication is the killer app perspectives on what will drive the adoption of mobile technologies. Through an exploration of user and provider understandings of content and interactivity, it is demonstrated that demand for broadcast-type content (e.g., video on demand) is different than demand for connectivity services (e.g., messaging, e-mail). It is noted that content providers are reliant upon finding a content-based killer application to sustain their revenue streams (and thus endorse the content is king perspective), whereas network providers can thrive whether they focus on meeting consumer demand for content or demand for connectivity (or both). Consumer experience with earlier communication networks (e.g., telephone, Internet) demonstrates a strong demand for services that facilitate person-to-person communication.
A Canadian perception of the nursing practice, research, and theoretical implications associated with Autologous Cell Transplantation
Authors: Fredericks Suzanne
Published: May 2021

Heart failure is a progressive disorder. An estimated 400,000 Canadians are diagnosed annually with heart failure, and a quarter experience severe heart failure that is unresponsive to medical therapy. Autologous cell transplantation (ACT) has been proposed as a new approach for cardiac repair, and holds enormous potential for the regeneration of injured myocardium cells. Currently, ACT is under investigation in Canada. The use of ACT as a treatment alternative for heart failure patients has been established over the past 5 years across Europe and the United States. This paper will present a Canadian perception of the nursing practice, research, and theoretical implications associated with this new and innovative therapy.
Using knowledge translation as a framework for the design of a research protocol.
Authors: Fredericks Suzanne
Published: May 2021

Knowledge translation has been defined as the synthesis, dissemination, exchange and ethically-sound application of knowledge to improve health, resulting in a stronger health care system. This paper will describe the process of using an integrated knowledge translation approach to design a research protocol that will examine the effectiveness of a web-based patient educational intervention. It will begin with a description of integrative knowledge translation, followed by the presentation of a specific case example, in which integrative knowledge translation was used to develop a nursing intervention. The major elements of integrative knowledge translation that pertain to: need for a knowledge user, identification of the research approach, examination of study feasibility, and the presentation of outcomes will be addressed throughout this discussion.
A systematic review of web-based educational interventions
Authors: Fredericks Suzanne
Published: May 2021

A complement to in-hospital educational interventions is web-based patient education accessed during the home recovery period. While findings demonstrate the effectiveness of web-based patient education interventions on patient outcomes, they fall short of identifying the characteristics that are associated with desired outcomes. The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the characteristics of web-based patient education interventions that are associated with producing changes in self-care behaviours. A systematic review involving 19 studies was conducted to determine the most effective components of a web-based intervention. Findings suggest that the most effective form of web-based patient education is one that is interactive and allows patients to navigate the online system on their own. The findings from this systematic review allow for the design of a web-based educational intervention that will promote increased performance of self-care behaviours during the home recovery period.
How is your Toronto neighbourhood portrayed in the news? Check it out using these interactive maps
Authors: Lindgren April
Published: May 2021

Concerns about how neighbourhoods are portrayed in the news have surfaced regularly in the Toronto area over the years. But are those concerns valid? Interactive maps produced by the The Local News Research Project (LNRP) at Ryerson University’s School of Journalism are designed to help Toronto residents answer this question. The maps give the public access to data the research project collected on local news coverage by the Toronto Star and the online news website OpenFile.ca. The maps are based on the Toronto Star’s local news coverage published on 21 days between January and August, 2011.

Researchers have found that a two-week sample of news is generally representative of news coverage over the course of a year (Riffe, Aust & Lacy, 1993). The data for OpenFile.ca, which suspended publishing in 2012, were collected for every day in 2011 between January and August. Click here to see the maps or continue reading to find out more about news coverage and neighbourhood stereotyping, how the maps work, and the role of open data sources in this project.
Nurses and their ongoing engagement in nursing research: a brief commentary.
Authors: Fredericks Suzanne
Published: May 2021

This brief commentary is in response to the article titled: Engaging clinicians in research: Issues to consider (Dunning, 2013). The article presented an overview of nursing research that
included the various definitions of nursing research, a synopsis of the paradigms associated with nursing research, and a brief presentation of how nurses can engage in research.
Engaging in research is more than just producing evidence. It involves the active seeking out, critiquing, and application of research in the clinical setting. Many clinicians do not have the skills to be able to adequately read or interpret empirical evidence. I would argue that before a clinician can consider designing and implementing a study, they should have a solid understanding of the relationships between research and knowledge and theory and practice.
Computational intelligence in product design engineering: review and trends
Authors: Salustri Filippo A.
Published: May 2021

Product design engineering is undergoing a transformation from informal and largely experience-based discipline to a science-based domain. Computational intelligence offers models and algorithms that can contribute greatly to design formalization and automation. This paper surveys computational intelligence concepts and approaches applicable to product design engineering. Taxonomy of the surveyed literature is presented according to the generally recognized areas in both product design engineering and computational intelligence. Some research issues that arise from the broad perspective presented in the paper have been signaled but not fully pursued. No survey of such a broad field can be complete, however, the material presented in the paper is a summary of state-of-the-art computational intelligence concepts and approaches in product design engineering.
Keywords: Computational intelligence, engineering design, product engineering, decision making, design automation
The Syrian Refugee Crisis: A Short Orientation
Authors: Tyyskä Vappu , Blower Jenna , DeBoer Samantha , Kawai Shunya , Walcott Ashley
Published: May 2021

Introduction: Following decades of internal religious, political, and economic turmoil and international actions, a civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, sending unprecedented numbers of refugees to the surrounding countries, to Europe, and gradually to North America. While the international and Canadian communities are struggling to address this humanitarian crisis, background knowledge about the unfolding situation is needed. This report will provide: (1) a summary of the recent history of the Syrian crisis, starting in the 1970s; (2) an orientation to the Syrian refugee flows; and (3) an outline of the Canadian and international refugee resettlement efforts.