bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The CBC's "Seven wonders of Canada" : exclusionary aspects of a project of national identity
Authors: Starzynski Debbie
Published: May 2021

The topic of my major research paper is national identity in the context of cultural pluralism. The paper has as its goal a socio-cultural analysis of national belonging. Immigration policy as gateway has, historically, excluded certain groups from entry to the country; nationalisms have prevented some of those who have gained entry to the country from gaining entry to the nation. I argue that the CBC's"Seven Wonder of Canada" campaign is one such nationalism, revealing nationalist tropes which include the cultural centre's longstanding tradition of identifying with the landscape and its more recent tradition of identifying with multicultural ideology - in its construction of national identity. Ultimately, this paper demonstrates that the campaign reflects an a-historic notion of national identity in which both geography and multiculturalism are used by the cultural centre to exclude. The construction of an exclusionary notion of national identity is necessarily challenged by notions of cultural pluralism. In the context of imbalanced power relations, mainstream Canadians, the cosmopolite and the Other vie for a share of national space.
Machine To Machine Overlay Network Over Random Access Channel Of LTE For Smart City
Authors: Khan Nargis
Published: May 2021

The purpose of this dissertation work is to investigate the perspective of the application areas of machine to machine (M2M) communications specifically to build smart city. To have ubiquitous coverage over the city, we consider cellular infrastructure. We propose a M2M overlay network over the physical random access channel (PRACH) of LTE. Based on this architecture, we conduct a case study in a vehicular context and proposed a non-priority CSMA/CA based vehicular M2M (VM2M) overlay networks. The overlay architecture is implemented using a dedicated subset of preambles at the physical layer, and a carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) mechanism similar to the one used in IEEE 802.15.4 at the medium access control (MAC) layer. We evaluate the performance and interaction of regular human to human (H2H) traffic and VM2M traffic, in particular, the impact of RACH resource configuration and preamble format (PF) in large cells. We have shown that the proposed LTE based VM2M architecture is better suited for smart city scenarios with higher vehicular speed and larger distances without sacrificing performance of H2H traffic.

To transmit priority messages with high data rate and more reliably, we also propose a novel priority based CSMA/CA machine to machine (PM2M) overlay network over LTE. The PM2M overlay‘s MAC is more sophisticated with priorities. The architecture is same in the physical layer with dedicated preambles and in MAC layer priority based CSMA/CA is used, which is similar to the one of IEEE 802.15.6.

Finally, We propose an analytical model to evaluate the impact of error in the MAC layer of overlay networks during sensing the medium. We develop a 3 dimensional Discrete Time Markov chain (DTMCs) in order to model the backoff procedure of CSMA/CA mechanism with backoff error. We investigated the capacity of PM2M networks for with and without considering backoff error. We have shown that overlay network allows fair coexistence of PM2M and H2H traffic. To validate our scheme we compare the proposed approach with a reference approach. By performance evaluation, we have shown that PM2M overlay out performs compared with reference approach.
Adaptive Speech Analysis Techniques for Biometrics Applications
Authors: Mozaffar Tanweer
Published: May 2021

Using biometrics for personal identity authentication is becoming more reliable and accurate than current methods because it links the event to a particular individual (e.g. a password may be used by someone other that the authorized user), is convenient (nothing to carry or remember), accurate (provides positive authentication) and is socially acceptable. Adaptive frequency sub-band or time frame recombination approaches are introduced in this thesis.
Effect of heat treatment on mechanical properties of bio-medical Ti-6A1-4V eli alloy
Authors: Venkatesh Balaji Devatha
Published: May 2021

Effect of heat treatment on mechanical properties of bio-medical Ti-6A1-4V eli alloy
Yugoslavian immigrant youth and the negotiation of their identity within the Canadian context : the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder
Authors: Kondic Radmila
Published: May 2021

Within the Canadian context, there has been limited literature on the topic of immigrant youth from war-torn countries and the negotiation of their identity upon arrival to Canada. Furthermore, there is even less literature pertaining to the experiences of a particular group, for instance, the youth from Former Yugoslavia (Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Montenegro, and Macedonia). Through individual interviews, this study explored how Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) influences identity development and whether PTSD can create barriers to integration within the Canadian society. Elements such as family and language proved to be the most influential in helping research subjects integrate into the receiving society. Contrary to previous literature, the results of this study showed that going through trauma may not prove to be the ultimate detrimental factor in life; rather it can prove to be a catalyst for positive change and growth.

Keywords: Youth; immigrant; refugee; identity; Former Yugoslavia; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Parent's experiences with Strongstrart BC in four communities in British Columbia
Authors: Najeemudeen Safra
Published: May 2021

The literature has shown that early childhood programs are widely accepted as an intervention that is effective at improving outcomes for families. The current study explores parents’ experiences within a school-based family resource program initiative, StrongStart BC. This qualitative study draws on ecological systems and sociocultural theoretical perspective to examine parents’ perceptions of familial outcomes and program characteristics, in order to identify which characteristics are fundamental for successful outcomes. Thematic analysis was used to analyse focus group data gathered from four program sites as part of a larger study evaluating the effectiveness of StrongStart BC across British Columbia. Results indicate that successful familial outcomes from participation in family resource programs are influenced by a complex interplay of factors related to accessibility and pedagogical characteristics, with accessibility standing out as a fundamentally important consideration. Drawing on the broadly defined concept of accessibility, implications for school-based family resource programs are discussed and recommendations for practice, policy and future research are presented.
Gender, fashion and representation in nineteenth century British art
Authors: Monzavi Azadeh
Published: May 2021

This Major Research Project (MRP) examines the artistic production of British culture in the
second half of the Nineteenth Century from 1850–1900, while critically engaging with existing
nineteenth century art and literature, in order to deepen the understanding of the immense role
played by fashion in the lives of Victorian women. I have approached this research study not
through the examination of actual dress in its materiality, but instead, through its visual
representation in paintings. These sartorial embodiments of women’s dress could help extend our
understanding of artworks that are rooted in visual narratives—both literally and figuratively.
Thus, this project aims to re-imagine histories of art through the analysis of the clothed body of
women in nineteenth century paintings—for it is through their sartorial choices that women
defied the Victorian ideals of femininity and femaleness.
A Modest Referee: Measuring the UNESCO CCD’S Effect on Culture and Free Trade Agreement Negotiation
Authors: Braganza Chantal
Published: May 2021

The purpose of this research is to assess the effectiveness of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity of Cultural Expressions (CCD) as a trade instrument intended to protect local culture and cultural industries from free market influences. Much previous writing has pointed out flaws or weaknesses in its legal language and structure; few studies have been carried out on the way it has been cited and employed in actual trade negotiations and disputes. Through a recount of the its history, a close read of the original document of the CCD itself, and a case-study examination of two recently signed free trade agreements and a concluded international trade dispute, this research paper will show that the ways in which this nearly 15-year-old document has been employed does not quite live up to its intended purpose.

Keywords: cultural policy, free trade, UNESCO CCD, culture and trade disputes, cultural diplomacy, CETA, CPTPP
A rapidly-dissolving silica-silver bioactive glass for cariostatic applications
Authors: Arshad Saad
Published: May 2021

In this study, bioactive glasses were designed for the purposes of reducing the incidence of dental caries and lesion formation by supplying the teeth with therapeutic ions which may support remineralization and provide an antibacterial effect against oral cavity bacteria. Three glasses were synthesised through the melt quench method: Si-Control (SiO2-CaO-P2O5-Na2O), Si-02 and Si-05, where 0.2% and 0.5% Ag2O were substituted, respectively, for SiO2 in the control glass. The glasses were then ground, characterized and dissolved in tris buffer solution (pH=7.30) for 6, 12 and 24 hours, with the pH rise of the solution being recorded (7.48 for Si-Control, and 7.66 for both Si-02 and Si-05 after 24 hours) and the ions that were released into the tris buffer solution quantified. Samples of each glass were subsequently embedded into non-fluoridated toothpaste and samples of the paste were used to brush resin-mounted lamb molars after a 1.0M HCl overnight demineralization challenge. Knoop microhardness measurements were recorded before and after brushing to determine the presence of remineralization on the surface of the teeth (Percent Surface Hardness Loss of 37%, 35% and 34% for Si-Control, Si-02 and Si-05 respectively after 24 hours). Four oral cavity bacterial strains were isolated through swabs of the inner cheek, gums and teeth surfaces of three volunteers, and placed on agar discs. 0.5g of each glass were placed onto the discs and the resultant inhibition zones were measured after 6, 12 and 24 hours. Si-05 consistently performed better than Si-02 on all strains and timeframes, while Si-Control exhibited no antibacterial effect at any time point.
Using tomography, CFD, and dynamic tests to study the continuous-flow mixing of yield-pseudoplastic fluids
Authors: Patel Dineshkumar
Published: May 2021

The major technological challenges faced by modern chemical industries are non-ideal flows such as dead zones and channeling encountered in the mixing of fluids with complex rheology. These cause sub-optimal mixing and lead to low quality products and high costs of raw materials. Therefore, the core objectives of this study were to develop methodology and tools to design an efficient continuous-flow mixing system for the fluids with complex rheology using electrical resistance tomography (ERT), computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and dynamic tests. The xanthan gum solution, which is a pesudoplastic fluid with yield stress, was used to study the dynamic behavior of the continuous-flow mixing process. The power consumption, cavern size, mixing time, and the extents of channelling and the fraction of fully mixed volume were successfully determined using dynamic tests, ERT tests, and CFD simulations and used as mixing quality criteria.

A novel and efficient method was developed for flow visualization in the continuous-flow mixing of opaque fluids using 2D and 3D tomograms. A unique study on identifying the sources of flow non-ideality in non-Newtonian fluids with yield stress was done by visualizing the flow pattern inside the continuous-flow mixing vessel using 2D and 3D tomograms. The deformation of the cavern was analyzed and quantified in the continuous-flow mixing system for yield-pseudoplastic fluids using ERT. Moreover, the cavern volume was compared with the fully mixed volume and it was found that the latter was higher due to the extra momentum induced by the inlet-outlet flow. A novel study on exploring the effect of the rheological parameters of the pseudoplastic fluids with yield stress on the non ideal flows in a continuous-flow mixing system was performed using CFD. The CFD results revealed that the mixing quality was improved when the degree of the shear thinning was increased. The ratio of the residence time to the batch mixing time was evaluated to achieve ideal mixing for the continuous-flow mixing of yield-pseudoplastic fluids using dynamic tests and ERT. It was found that the ratio of residence time to the batch mixing time should be at least 8.2 or higher to achieve ideal mixing.
Development of a hybrid solar cascade heat pump heating system
Authors: Fine Jamie
Published: May 2021

Society’s use of fossil fuels has led to increasingly high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. These levels have been linked to global average temperature rises, and increases in the severity and frequency of major weather events. To combat these effects, nations around the world have committed to reducing their CO2 emissions, and transition to renewable energy. This thesis focuses on the development of a novel solar heating system, which combines a hybrid solar panel and cascade heat pump.
The thesis begins by presenting a high-level literature review of solar and heat pump technologies, followed by the initial design development of the system. Two design iterations are presented, illustrating that the final design was selected because it exhibits improved peak heat output, and reduced sensitivity to panel temperature.
Next, a manuscript-based chapter is presented that focuses on utilizing the proposed solar heating system for water distillation. Case studies are presented that compare the performance of the proposed system with a solar still at four different locations. The final conclusion from these studies is that using the proposed system offers area-based performance improvements of 780% compared to a basic solar still.
A second manuscript-based study is then presented, which focuses on utilizing the proposed solar heating system for domestic hot water production. Additional case studies are detailed that compare the proposed system to an evacuated tube design, and a single heat pump. The conclusions from these studies are that the proposed system exceeds the performance of the evacuated tube system by up to 64%, and that the proposed system is most beneficial during
seasons with higher average dry-bulb temperatures, and increased solar irradiation.
A final manuscript-based study is then presented, which focuses on a methodology for improving alternate mode thermal performance estimates for hybrid solar panels. The conclusion from this study is that the proposed methodology can successfully estimate thermal performance within 5% of actual values. Each of these studies contributes to the project goal of developing a novel solar energy heating system, which can be further developed to reduce global CO2 emissions,
and reduce the effects of climate change.
Under-Determined Blind Source Separation
Authors: Kafaiezadtehrani Mehrdad
Published: May 2021

The Under-determined Blind Source Separation problem aims at estimating N source signals, with only a given set of M known mixtures, where M < N. The problem is solved by a two-stage approach.

The rst stage is the estimation of the unknown mixing matrix. The contributions made unravel a more precise and accurate tool which directly relates to the initialization of the clustering algorithm. Di erent schemes such as segmentation, correlation and least square curve tting are used to take advantage of the sparsity of the sources. A signi cant addition involves applying linear transforms to produce a higher sparse domain.

Further, the second stage is the sparse source recovery using a Matching Pursuit algorithm. The contributions involve a Matching Pursuit algorithm with di
Public landscape: the reinvention of Toronto's Union Station & central railway lands
Authors: Payer Clayton Uilliam Hamish
Published: May 2021

There is concern for Toronto's outdated, underutilized, and underdeveloped transit hubs and their subsequent lack of developed public spaces. One such hub is Toronto's Union Station, central portal of the GTA's mass transit system. This site was selected for a comprehensive analysis and critique of the station's physiology, the urban morphology of its immediate context, and its future needs. Research found that the station and its context are poorly organized requiring a redesign to unify the disjointed characteristics of the site. A design proposal formulates a continuous surface of public space over a redesigned train hall that stretches over the rail lands to bind, connect, and integrate an urban park in order to reorganize the area existing venues and to recognize the station's importance as the region's and city's central transit hub.
Robustness assessment of a novel 4D optimization approach for lung cancer radiotherapy
Authors: Al-Ward Shahad M.
Published: May 2021

One of the main challenges to treatment of lung cancer with radiation therapy is the tumor motion due to respiration. Previously, a novel approach was developed to generate treatment plans which compensate for respiratory motion and its variations. The worst case method is based on combining two intensity maps from two 4D plans optimized on the two worst cases of motion variations. The worst case planning method was previously tested on simulated motion variations. The goal of this project was to further test the worst case approach on realistic patient motion variations and treatment planning data. Two approaches to combining worst case plans were investigated: the first method takes the average of the two intensity maps, and the second method takes the maximum intensity of the two intensity maps. The robustness of worst case plans was compared with ITV plans and nominal 4D plans on three different motion variation scenarios. Study 1 and 2 investigated the robustness of the worst case methods on amplitude variations and patient motion variations on simulated image data. Study 3 investigated the robustness of the worst case methods on patient motion variations using real patient image data. The average intensity worst case method was only robust to Study 3 motion variations. The maximum intensity worst case method, the margin based, and the nominal approaches were not robust to any of the motion variations. Further evaluation over a wide range of tumour sizes, motion amplitudes and variability is required to determine the clinical applicability of the worst case planning method.
Development of enantioselective intramolecular N-arylation reactions for the desymmetrization of achiral dinitrogen malonamide derivatives
Authors: Porosa Lukasz
Published: May 2021

An effective methodology for the enantioselective intramolecular (Buchwald-Hartwig) amidation of prochiral dinitrogen malonamide derivatives has been developed in quantitative yield and good enantioselectivities. The best result was obtained based on an enantiopure (R)-MOP/Pd(OAc)₂ catalytst system with either Cs₂CO₃ or K₃PO₄ in refluxing THF affording the 4-methoxybenzyl substituted diamide derivative, 3-methyl-N, 1-bis(4-methoxbenzyl)-2-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-3-carboxamide, in 99% yield and 75% enantiomeric excess. This example serves as a preliminary example of a desymmetrization of prochiral dinitrogen nucleophiles by preferential N-arylation. The intermolecular version of this reaction proved to be more challenging than its intramolecular counterpart and no coupling products were obtained. Other malonamide derivatives were prepared with a pendant bromovinyl substituent at the αposition and cyclized intramoleculary employing a mild Goldberg reaction to form 5-membered rings in good yield and unknown enantioselectivity.
Event boundary detection using autonomous agents in a sensor network
Authors: Jaffer Adil
Published: May 2021

We propose a novel approach to event boundary detection, where autonomous agents are deployed in order to minimize the number of transmissions required to discover an event boundary. The goal of our algorithm is to reduce the number of non-boundary node transmissions (i.e. nodes within the event area and not within transmission distance to the boundary), since the sensory data from these nodes are not required for event boundary detection. The algorithm works by first randomly generating a fraction of agents within the event nodes, then discovering and mapping the boundary, and finally reporting the aggregated results to the user. Simulations demonstrate that the algorithm exhibits O(n) efficiency relationship with the event area, which is an improvement over existing methods that show O(n²) relationships. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the boundary of an event may be successfully mapped using the proposed algorithm.
Cultivation of a cellulolytic microbial community under continuous flow conditions
Authors: Jenkins David
Published: May 2021

A stable microbial consortium capable of cellulose hydrolysis under initial aerobic conditions has been enriched in a continuous flow system. Anaerobic conditions were created and maintained within the flow system using only microbial metabolism. A DGGE community profile of samples taken throughout the enrichment process indicates that the community stabilized upon entry into the continuous flow system, and maintained function and members throughout. The effect of flow rate on cellulose degradation and end product production was assessed. The cellulose degradation rate was found to be notably faster at a flow rate of 0.1 ml/min (D 0.75/hr) than a flow rate of 0.2 ml/min (D1.50/hr). Furthermore, an ethanol to acetate ratio nearly 8 times higher than previously reported values in the literature was also observed at 0.1 ml/min (D0.75/hr). With reduced flow rate and high ethanol to acetate ratios, the enriched community may be well suited for consolidate bioprocessing.
A Simplified Technique for Thermal Analysis of a Fenestration system with a Venetian Blind
Authors: Shahid Hidayat Ullah
Published: May 2021

A simplified 1-D numerical model of a window and horizontal Venetian blind assembly has been developed. This model provides a realistic estimate of the advantage of using blinds to control the window heat gain or loss. The free convective heat transfer rate from an isothermal vertical surface adjacent to a set of horizontal louvres has been studied numerically. This configuration is an approximate model of an indoor window glazing with a Venetian-type blind. Knowledge of the effect of blinds on the free convection at the indoor window surface is important for understanding and predicting the impact of shading devices on the overall thermal performance of a window. The convective heat transfer results are used in the one-dimensional model of the complete fenestration system to study the effect on key performance parameters. The results show that louvred blinds can have a significant beneficial effect on window thermal performance.
Stolen glances: heist cinema and the visual production of deception
Authors: Holmes Nathan
Published: May 2021

The capacity to deceive figures into cinema's history in a number of interesting ways. For Melies, motion pictures allowed the technical production of deception and illusion for his "trick" films, and in popular mythology, frightened spectators fled an exhibition of Auguste and Louis Lumiere's L'Arrivee d'un train en gare de la Ciotat (1895) fearing the imminent arrival of the train at the theatre itself. While this latter story has been roundly discredited, it holds an important place in cinematic lore. In the various efforts of documentary filmmakers to negate the idea of objective truth, whether through direct cinema/cinema verite, the use of reflexive gestures, or subjective positioning, there is a sense of an imminent threat of deception in film's mediation of truth. As Tom Gunning (2004) and Rachel O. Moore (2000) have recently argued, even critical explorations of cinema, quite as much as filmmaking practices themselves, have held the medium in deep suspicion. In the screen theories derived from Lacan and Althusser that dominated 1970s film studies we see film scholars move towards a conception of film that sees deception and trickery - otherwise called "ideological mystification" - as an innate feature of the cinematic apparatus.

Despite, or perhaps because of, these ongoing concerns, there seems to be a civic-mindedness among critics, theoreticians, filmmakers, and film-watchers alike which holds that film should be able to present at least some verifiable truths and that filmmaking should still be able to provide a reliable document. However, since film is always a mediation of something else, the direct path to these truths - as the debates about documentary filmmaking and realism have shown - will always be complex, and, indeed, contingent upon the culture in which they find purchase. What is at stake then, is not so much what is real and what is not, but the conditions under which verisimilitude - the experience of reality - can be taken to occur and be produced. This paper is about some of the pleasures to be found in watching a cinematic depiction of theft. Theft is something we do not ordinarily see. In cinematic depictions of theft we are shown something that occurs underneath the surface of our everyday reality. Just as much as cinema is deceptive, therefore, so too can it penetrate and explore deceptive phenomena.
Modelling of heat recovery from suspended oil wells
Authors: England Steven James
Published: May 2021

A geothermal system for suspended oil wells is designed to produce 1.25MW of heat. After a review of literature, a concentric double pipe heat exchanger was the system chosen. A control volume model was created to calculate the heat transfer characteristics of the system. After completing the model a suspended oil well near Hinton, Alberta was selected as a candidate well for a geothermal system. The well contains 33 perforated sections which need to be closed off. Three designs to accomplish this are proposed. The model predicted that the best design uses cement squeezes to close off the perforations and produces a net energy of 2.4MW at its optimum operating condition, with a mass flow rate of 8.18kg/s. When producing 1.25MW of heat, the design has a net energy of 1.2MW. It is found that internal heat generation plays a large roll in these systems.
Experimental investigation of polyvinyl alcohol degradation in UV/H202 photochemical reactors using different hydrogen peroxide feeding strategies
Authors: Hamad Dina
Published: May 2021

Synthetic water-soluble polymers are popular in industry and they are produced in large scale owing to their wide spectrum of applications. In particular, the polyvinyl alcohol polymer (PVA), a well-known refractory pollutant, is abundant in wastewater effluents since it is heavily used in industry as paper coating and polarization layer in liquid crystal displays (LCDs). These polymers are non-biodegradable and contaminant to water resources. Alternatively, they can be effectively removed by advanced oxidation processes (AOPs).

This study investigates the photo-oxidative degradation of aqueous PVA solution in UV/H2O2 photoreactors and the effect of hydrogen peroxide feeding strategies on the photoreactor performance. The research covers thoroughly the impact of operating conditions on the polymer number average molecular weight (Mn), TOC content, and H2O2 residual under batch, fed-batch and continuous modes of operation. The experimental results show that the performance of the fed-batch photoreactor was higher than the batch system for similar experimental conditions revealing that the way H2O2 is fed into the system has a considerable effect on the PVA degradation.

The experimental result of batch system was used as a guide to develop a photochemical kinetic model of the PVA degradation in UV/H2O2 batch process that describes the disintegration of the polymer chains in which the statistical moment approach was considered. The model predictions are in good agreement with data.

Realizing the limitations of batch and fed-batch UV/H2O2 processes, an innovative continuous treatment technique was devised to enhance the process performance and to minimize UV dosage. Response surface methodology (RSM), based on Box-Behnken method, was adopted for design set of experiments required to determine the impact of operating variables and their interaction on the process performance.

Finally, the results show that Mn was reduced from 130 kg/mol to 24.9, 20.3, and 2.2 kg/mol, corresponding to percent TOC removal of 41.5, 64.2 and 94.4 and H202 residual of 17, 3 and 1% were achieved in batch, fed-batch (120-min), and continuous (30-min) UV/H2O2 photoreactors, respectively. In addition, the overall power consumption of the process was assessed to determine the economic incentive for continuous feeding strategy and ensure the possibility of the process scale-up.
Design, Construction and Evaluation of an Experimental Ceramic Membrane Facility With Investigation into Fouling Control
Authors: Shim Sarah
Published: May 2021

During the past decade, the growth in membrane research and technology advanced and multiplied in usage for many industries including water and wastewater. A major limitation of the application is due to membrane fouling.

In this work, the construction, start-up calibration and testing of a membrane unit as well as an examination into the fouling and cleaning aspect of the ceramic membranes are investigated. An aqueous solution containing precipitate is fed to the unit in order to observe fouling behaviour. Effluent wastewater from a bioreactor, CUBEN, is also tested with the unit and membrane cleaning is performed using various chemical agents. For both chemically enhanced backwash (CEB) and membrane soaking, hydrochloric acid cleaning agent (<1%w) produces best flux recoveries of 72.7% and 82%, respectively. All permeate effluent analysis, resulted in a suspended solids concentration <3mg/L and turbidities <1NTU, which both meet Ontario regulation limits.
Free-Space Optical Beam Steering for Wireless Communications
Authors: Mekhiel Christopher
Published: May 2021

The implementation of optical of wireless communications (OWC) requires the use of a light-emitting-diode (LED) or laser diode (LD). Due to significant path loss exhibited by these sources in an outdoor environment, an unobstructed point-to-point link must be maintained in order to increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the receiver. This thesis considers a solution to alleviate the fundamental limitations of the OWC channel in an outdoor environment
by investigating optical beam steering (OBS) to increase the signal strength in the desired direction. Conventional methods to implement on OBS use a microelectromechanical (MEMS) mirror or a spatial light modulator (SLM) which both suffer from low switching frequency. A high frequency OBS device can be created by using optical phased array (OPA). An electro-optic modulator (EOM) such as LiNbO3 can be used to create an OPA but can not be directly integrated in silicon. For monolithic silicon-on-insulator (SOI) solutions, previous literature uses thermo-optic couplers on SOI to implement the OPA, however this introduces the issue of thermal cross-talk. Therefore, this thesis focuses on the use of silicon as the EOM for use in an OPA to create a high frequency monolithic OBS.
Our contributions consist of providing a design method for a OBS SOI device which exhibits minimum internal cross-talk and provides propagation in free-space with high directivity and a wide steering range. Additionally, propose the use of an internal heterodyne optical phase locked loop (PLL) to stabilize the OBS instead of an external signal processor for phase correction. This optical PLL reduces beam jitter, minimizes beam squint, and provides active tracking for the output beam towards the receiver. We have also characterized a shadowing scenario in an OWC channel which OBS has the potential to alleviate. Moreover, we simulated the optical far-field radiation pattern from a SOI waveguide to free-space which has not been demonstrated in previous research. Finally, our simulation results of a SOI OPA demonstrates the coherent combining capability of OBS using MEEPTtm and the Optiwavetm suite.
Emerging Ghanaian and Nigerian Fashion Entrepreneurs: The Cultural considerations and Structural Challenges of Growing a Fashion Business in a Developing Economy
Authors: Waddell Annika
Published: May 2021

In 2016, Ghana’s capital city of Accra, located along the Atlantic coast, was touted as “Africa’s Capital of Cool” by the New York Times (July 2016), highlighting the growing number of boutiques, hotels and world-class restaurants. Just a couple of months earlier, on April 30, 2016, the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery had opened the first major UK exhibit dedicated to African Fashion. The book Fashion Cities Africa, edited by Eritrean-born journalist Hannah Azieb Pool, was released the same month, and shares insights into the aesthetics and designs emerging from Nairobi (Kenya), Casablanca (Morocco), Lagos (Nigeria) and Johannesburg (South Africa). Since the start of the millennium, fashion journalists (Suzy Menkes and André Leon Talley) have been discussing the prevalence of high-end African fashion designers such as Duro Olowu, Lisa Folawiyo, and Folake Folarin Coker.
Assessing the impact of select intestinal tract conditions on expression of lee encoded genes in enterohemorrhagic escherichia
Authors: Cojocari Veronica
Published: May 2021

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 strain 86-24 accomplishes successful infection upon creating attaching and effacing (A/E) lesions on the enterocytes found in the large intestine. The A/E lesion event is possible due to the type III secretion system (T3SS) spanning the EHEC inner and outer membrane. T3SS is a molecular syringe that enables EHEC to establish trans-kingdom interactions with human and other animal hosts. The assembly and regulation of the T3SS is poorly understood. GFP reporter assay experiments showed that short chain fatty acid (SCFA) mixes representative of the large intestine increase the activity of the esp promoter that precedes the espA gene, an important component of the T3SS. Attachment data experiments showed that EspA is essential for EHEC attachment to HEp-2 epithelial cells. The data shows that biochemical cues encountered by EHEC play a role in the regulation and assembly of the T3SS ultimately leading to A/E lesion formation.
Everything Irie: Examining the Occurrence of Jamaican Patois in the Greater Toronto Area
Authors: Taylor Danielle
Published: May 2021

This Major Research Project (MRP) examines the occurrence of Jamaican patois in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) among people of a Caribbean ethnic or cultural background. This project supplies data on the demographic characteristics of Jamaican patois speakers in the GTA and the situational contexts in which they use the language. The study has been developed as a pilot and foundation for further qualitative research in the field of communication to investigate the motivating factors of Jamaican patois use in the GTA.
This MRP uses the theoretical frameworks of Code Switching (Deubers, 2014; Langman, 2001), Communication Accommodation Theory (Giles, 2008; Gallois, Ogay & Giles, 2005; Giles & Ogay, 2007), and Co-Cultural Communication Theory (Orbe 1996, 1998) to analyze the answers received in response to a quantitative online survey questionnaire.
According to survey responses, participants adjust their use of Jamaican patois in the GTA as a means of assimilation and social conformity. Overall, research participants speak the most Jamaican patois at home and while socializing and/or engaging in activities outside of the home. Participants with a higher level of income and education speak less Jamaican patois regardless of physical or social contexts and a significant number of participants speak Jamaican patois if it works to their favour.
These findings indicate that, while Jamaican patois use by Caribbean’s in the GTA is associated with a lower level of income and education, the intra- and possibly intercultural affordances of the language merit further study.
Formation-Keeping Strategies At The Earth-Moon L4 Triangular Libration Point
Authors: Wong Frank Y. W.
Published: May 2021

This thesis examines the use of thrusters and solar sails for spacecraft formation keeping control at the Earth-Moon L4 point. Particular emphasis was placed on the study of underactuated control, in which fewer control inputs than the system's degrees of freedom are available. A linear LQR control scheme, an integral augmented sliding mode controller and a bang-bang controller were applied to the dynamic spacecraft system. The nonlinear controllers produced errors falling with tighter tolerances than the linear controllers in the perturbed environment. Performing similarly well as the underactuated thrusters system was the solar-sails-controlled spacecraft formation using a bang-bang controller. This shows that solar sails could be a viable propellantless technique for relative control. A linear control technique was able to bound errors to within a couple of hundred metres, using a hybrid propulsion system. Of the cases studied, only the fully-actuated thrusters-based system was able to explicitly track a circular trajectory, but had [Delta]V requirement of more than 100 times greater than that needed for tracking the natural, elliptical trajectory.
Philosophy, history and progress
Authors: Camporese Paolo Leone
Published: May 2021

In this thesis, I will explicate the commitments and consequences of three metaphilosophical views: Metaphilosophical Realism (MR), Metaphilosophical Skepticism (MS), and Metaphilosophical Pragmatism (MP). These three views will be distinguished on several grounds, including their views on truth, reason, and progress. I will show that MR views
philosophy’s relation to history as merely one as a form of pedagogy that is meant to give pupils the self-confidence to make sense of things in a particular way. For MS, philosophy lies forfeit to history, and historiography replaces philosophy as it shows an incommensurable plurality of ways of making sense. MP, however, takes historiography to
be an essential part of philosophy for it reconciles distinct ways of making sense by redescribing them. In order to make redescription palatable both to redescriber and redescribed, we must conceive of a way of making sense as a skill rather than a collection of propositions.
Code coagulation is an effective compilation technique for the JVM
Authors: Padmanabhan Shruthi
Published: May 2021

Compilers are the interface between programmers and computers. The output of a compiler
determines the speed of the resulting program as well as its energy footprint -- of
increasing importance in this world of climate change and battery-dependent computing.
Code coagulation has the potential to improve that performance, particularly relative to
(JIT) interpreters. Java and related languages are in wide use, so addressing their performance
has large potential impact. Optijava is an experimental compiler that applies
code coagulation to Java programs.
The use of indicators in sustainability reports produced by corporations operating in the Canadian oil sands industry
Authors: Dell’Aquila Jennifer Adelina
Published: May 2021

This thesis aims to explore and understand the use of indicators in sustainability reports
produced by 13 corporations operating in the Canadian oil sands industry. The literature
review demonstrated that little work has been done to understand the use of indicators
and reporting within this industry.

Three research questions are addressed through a content analysis of sustainability
reports. The analysis shows that when looking at indicators based on the common
themes or sustainability pillar they address, there appears to be consistency across the
industry. However, when looking at indicators individually, there is a great deal of
inconsistency making comparison of reports and benchmarking incredibly difficult.

This research has a number of practical implications, particularly, it is the first
comprehensive review of indicators being disclosed in the industry and can be used by
a variety of stakeholders. Further, this research sets the foundation for a number of
other possible streams of future research.
The Problematic Of Fashion In Nazi Germany: Two Case Studies
Authors: Duval-Bélair Lauriane
Published: May 2021

Whilst very few scholars have paid attention to the role fashion played within Nazi Germany, the topic is highly relevant. As this Master Research Project (MRP) theorizes and documents, the totalitarian regime considered fashion as a tool to extend political control as well as pervasive disciplining of the body and ultimately to manipulate women. At the same time, we also see telling contradictions. Whilst propaganda officially displayed an ideal “Aryan” woman, with her simple peasant dress or traditional dirndl, the practices of the state’s leaders’ wives diverged from the official female images promoted through propaganda. Indeed, Magda Goebbels (married to the Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels) and Eva Braun (Adolf Hitler’s mistress) remained highly fashionable, sporting the latest Parisian trends in their respective public and private spheres, pointing to the inherent duplicity of Nazi ideology and the practice of its leaders. Using Michel Foucault’s theory of power, which posits that power is anchored in the body, along with critical theories of Nazi totalitarianism and fashion theory, this research unpacks a corpus of archival images to bring to light how these women used fashion in ways that helped in the implementation and running of the fascist and murderous state. Throughout the reign of the National Socialist party, fashion and glamour remained a gendered tool in increasing the state's power. Far from innocent, fashion was implicated in the construction of fascist identity.
Nature Dazzles
Authors: Gómez-Durán Camilo
Published: May 2021

Bullying and violence against transitioning children and youth within the Canadian educational system still continues to be a serious cause of stress for children. This paper supports a short documentary film (29 minutes), which includes interviews with children, parents, and teachers about a weeklong program called Gender Splendour that has been held for the past seven years at The Grove Community School in Toronto. Amid workshops during a week in April, non-binary-conforming and cisgender identifying children have the opportunity to ponder, question, and defy gender stereotypes, which are prevalent in society, culture, and the media. A background of the director of the film informs his trajectory as an activist communicator. In addition, some of his inspirational sources are included. Notions playing in the documentary related to activism, reflexive ethnography, performativity, and participatory dynamics, are explained. Producing a documentary on the subjects of sexuality and children surely poses difficulties related to ethics, consent, and representation, on which the author comments.
Layered multiple description coding of multi-channel audio signals
Authors: Stojadinović Katarina
Published: May 2021

In this study, we investigate efficient coding of multi-channel audio signals for transmission over packet networks. The techniques studied and developed as part of this research are based on redundancy coding and aim to achieve robustness with respect to packet losses. The resulting algorithm also addresses the needs of network clients with varying access bandwidths; the algorithm generates multi-layer encoded data streams which can range from basic mono to full multi-channel surround audio. Loss mitigation is achieved by applying multiple description coding technique based on the priority encoding transmission packetization scheme. The hierarchy of the transmitted data is derived from a statistical analysis of the multi-channel audio signal. Inter-channel correlations form the basis for estimating the multi-channel audio signal form the received descriptions at the decoder.
The status of fashion: towards an autonomous existence
Authors: Bélanger Camille
Published: May 2021

The debate on if fashion can be considered art has been a topic of discussion for many years now. This MRP looks at reasons and factors that explain the greater acceptance of fashion as a form of art despite the disputed opinions on that question. While some scholars stressed what fashion can share with art, such as aesthetic qualities or strong conceptual frameworks, others pointed out the commercial implications of fashion to discredit its artistic potential or its presence in museums. Through an analysis of selected works from contemporary designers Viktor & Rolf, Alexander McQueen, and Hussein Chalayan, an examination of the phenomenon of the popularity of fashion exhibitions in art museums, and a study of the way the museum sees fashion through their collecting policies and curators’ opinions, this research clarifies why fashion gained a higher status in the Western culture despite its uneven reception in academia and the art world.
Re-contextualizing a visual history of Canada : the division of the National Film Board of Canada's Still Photography Division collection
Authors: Boileau-Matteau Valérie
Published: May 2021

This thesis examines the collection of photographs produced by the National Film Board of Canada's Still Photography Division between the years 1941 and 1984. As originally conceived, the Still Photography Division produced images of Canada and Canadians for promotional use by government departments and as stock images for magazines and newspapers. The collection was divided, initially in 1971, later in 1975, and finally in 1984. Photographs made before 1962 are housed at Library and Archives of Canada, those made after that date are in the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, founded in 1985.

The thesis is organized into two major parts. The first provides a brief history of the National Film Board of Canada's Still Photography Division, describing its mandate, purposes, and evolution. The second compares the use and presentation of the Still Photography Division material at Library and Archives of Canada and the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography in six areas: 1. Physical organizaation of the collections; 2. Physical housing of both prints and negatives in the collections; 3. Intellectual organization and access to the collections; 4. Public access to the collections; 5. Published information on the collections; 6. Public exhibitions and display.

This comparison allows one to see how the distinctive purposes, procedures, and practices of an archive and an art museum have been applied to the physical arrangement and intellectual organization of this collection of 'documentary' photographs, thereby revealing and highlighting the fundamental differences between these two types of cultural institutions in Canada.