bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Role of Visuals in Defining Fashion Lifestyle Brand Identity
Authors: Taylor Sophie
Published: May 2021

Fashion brands continue to diversify their product lines into other markets, including beauty, homegoods, interiors, and architecture. Using symbolic preference formation theory, this study analyzed several successful fashion lifestyle brands’ visuals in order to identify required elements of cohesive branding systems, starting with Paul Poiret and Jeanne Lanvin, leading up to Diane von Furstenberg (DVF), Marchesa, and Ralph Lauren. Consumers express their personal identity through apparel and home décor, and brand visuals are created to influence purchasing decisions by depicting products as fitting with a desired lifestyle. Case studies focused on how fashion brands have evolved to represent lifestyle and examined the role visuals play in defining a distinctive, cohesive identity across a constellation of products. The research utilized two types of secondary sources: printed and digital. Media such as advertisements, websites, packaging were examined in order to compare product categories, theme, motif, style and colour use in order to create guidelines for creative brand visuals.
The influence of aliphatics on soot inception modelling
Authors: Ceranic Nemanja
Published: May 2021

Soot models have been investigated for several decades and many fundamental models exist that prescribe soot formation in agreement with experiments and theories. However, due to the complex nature of soot formation, not all pathways have been fully characterized. This work has numerically studied the influence that aliphatic based inception models have on soot formation for coflow laminar diffusion flames. CoFlame is the in-house parallelized FORTRAN code that was used to conduct this research. It solves the combustion fluid dynamic conservation equations for a variety of coflow laminar diffusion flames. New soot inception models have been developed for specific aliphatics in conjunction with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon based inception. The purpose of these models was not to be completely fundamental in nature, but more so a proof-of-concept in that an aliphatic based mechanism could account for soot formation deficiencies that exist with just PAH based inception. The aliphatic based inception models show potential to enhance predicative capability by increasing the prediction of the soot volume fraction along the centerline without degrading the prediction along the pathline of maximum soot. Additionally, the surface reactivity that was used to achieve these results lied closer in the range of numerically derived optimal values as compared to the surface reactivity that was needed to match peak soot
concentrations without the aliphatic based inception models.
The influence of moral credentials and sociopolitical ideology on the negative spillover of environmental behaviours
Authors: Currie Shannon
Published: May 2021

The present thesis investigated whether negative spillover of environmental behaviours (i.e., when engaging in one green behaviour decreases engagement in subsequent pro-environmental behaviours) can be explained within the framework of the moral credentials phenomenon (i.e., when engaging in one moral behaviour reduces engagement in further moral behaviours). Specifically, the goal was to test whether a boost in self-esteem following a green behaviour increased the likelihood of a moral credential negative spillover effect, and whether this effect was more likely for left-wingers (vs. right-wingers), because they perceive green behaviours as more moral. Study 1 found, as predicted, that left-wingers (vs. right-wingers) perceived green behaviours as more moral and that positive feelings associated with engaging in green behaviours mediated this relation. Furthermore, Study 2 found there was a marginally significant moral credential negative spillover effect. However, the proposed moderating effect of political orientation and mediating effect of self-esteem were not found.
Information exchange : the effect of new information typologies on library architecture
Authors: Friesner Mark Lawrence
Published: May 2021

This thesis document investigates contemporary forms of information media and their effects on library architecture. The reseach portion of this document concludes with a design project that illustrates a solution to programmatic infill imposed upon academic libraries built prior to the rise of digital media. The casualties of injecting additional porgram elements into older libraries are the print collections. Many such libraries have adopted roles resembling community centres and have lost space devoted to quiet study and book stacks.

The driving concept for this project was to return the program of the Ryerson University Libary to a state closer to its original design. By reintroducing lost collections and quiet work areas, the interactive and digitial program elements are forced outside the walls of the original building. This expelled program has been reformatted into a new archetype and is skinned as such, creating an additional university building focused on information exchange.
Integrating human factors aspects into performance optimization models of a serial assembly system
Authors: Sobhani Ahmad
Published: May 2021

This dissertation investigates the effects of human factors (HF) of the working environment on the performance of an operation system. Poor HF design of the workplace interrupts the balance of the working environment and reduces employees' overall work performance creating a substantial economic burden on organizations. This thesis focuses on integrating HF aspects into performance optimization models of the serial system. For this reason, a modeling framework has been developed for hierarchical consideration of HF consequences at the individual, workstation and system levels. The developed framework provides a road map for the three analytical phases of this PhD research.

In the first analytical phase, a two-state Markov chain is developed to quantify the connection between Work-related Ill Health (WIH) risk factors (ergonomic conditions in the workplace) and employee health-state in a probabilistic way. Subsequently, an optimization model is developed to minimize the total cost of the assembly system with regard to employee health-related productivity loss. Numerical results indicate that there is between 0.5% and 8% difference in the optimal cost of the system with and without including HF effects.

In the second analytical phase, a three health-state Markov chain models the connection between HF aspects of the workplace and the employees' work-related productivity and quality variations. Results show between 0.02% and 32% increase for the optimal total cost when both employee productivity and quality losses due to poor HF design of the workplace are integrated into the optimization model.

In the third analytical phase, the uncertainty involved in customer demand is considered by developing a two-regime switching model, using a pentanomial lattice. The developed modeling approach investigates the effects of both work-related employee performance variation and demand behavior on the optimal cost of the serial assembly system. Results show that a prediction of the demand distribution throughout the product life cycle is necessary to reduce the over/under cost estimation of the system, due to the stochastic behavior of the demand.

This research opens a new window for considering HF intervention not only as occupational health and safety but also as operation improvement method leading to design safer and more efficient systems.
Of resilence and empowerment : a single case study exploring the mental health of a Jewish woman who immigrated to Canada as an independent applicant
Authors: Feldman Melissa
Published: May 2021

This was a single case study, which explored the mental health issues affecting a Jewish woman who immigrated to Canada as a principal applicant. The study looked at the coping strategies “Cecile,” a 69-year-old participant who emigrated from Czechoslovakia in 1986, used during her integration vs. settlement process. There were three semi-structured interviews.

The theory of intersectionality was used to examine the intersecting impact of social identities such as racialized status, ethnicity, gender and class have on the participant’s mental health. Cecile provided insight into the resilience of Jewish immigrant women.

The social identities Cecile identified with were Judaism, professional status, citizenship, country of origin and immigrant status. The results also show that Cecile displayed resilience in overcoming obstacles. Further research is needed to understand whether other women who have immigrated as independent applicants, Jewish or not, share this resilience.

Key Words: Case Study, Mental Health, Resilience, Intersectionality, Coping Strategies
Adaptive multimedia data hiding and watermarking
Authors: Li Kan
Published: May 2021

Watermarking is a technique of hiding a message about a work of media within that work itself in· the purpose of protecting the digital information against illegal duplication and manipulation. The objectives of this study are to analyze the robustness and distortion performance of watermarking system and to explore watermarking schemes which balance the robustness-distortion tradeoff optimally.

In this thesis, We present a detector algorithm to adaptively extract spread spectrum watermark by filtering the watermarked images with Wiener filter. Two optimization algorithms for quantization watermarking are proposed. First one optimizes uniform quantization based look-up table embedding which minimizes watermarking distortion. Secondly, we analyze the robustness-distortion tradeoff and formulate the robustness-distortion tradeoff into a Lagrangian function. Hence optimal quantizers for watermarking subject to given robustness or fidelity constraint are achieved.
Energy efficient scheduled directional medium access control protocol for wireless sensor networks
Authors: Akbar Asif
Published: May 2021

Directional antennas have numerous advantages over traditional omnidirectional antennas, which include more spatial reuse, extended range, less interference, and less energy consumption. Directional antennas introduce deafness and new hidden terminal problems. Deafness may cause more collisions, and hidden terminal problems may result in more retransmissions, poor quality of service, more energy consumption, and less packet delivery ratio. Hence, it is important to design of an effective medium access protocol specifically for directional antennas in order to reap the benefits of directional antennas while managing deafness and hidden terminal problems, otherwise the challenges can adversely affect system performance. In wireless sensor networks, the sensors are battery powered with limited supply of energy. Therefore, energy efficient protocols and solutions are immensely important with the desired goal of extending the network lifetime longer than what is possible through the omnidirectional antennas. In this thesis, I have proposed an energy efficient scheduled directional medium access control protocol (DTRAMA) which is specially designed for the wireless sensor nodes which use directional antennas in wireless sensor networks. It is a traffic adaptive scheduled medium access protocol in which nodes create their transmission and sleep schedules on the basis of their traffic. Scheduled medium access for packet transmission is used to address the deafness and hidden terminal problems caused by the use of directional communication in contention based MAC protocols. Use of directional antenna reduces interference which indirectly improves packet delivery ratio by improving the signal to noise ratio and by reducing the packet error rate. DTRAMA is energy efficient: firstly because the nodes use directional data communication which requires lower node transmit power than the omnidirectional data communication for the same transmission range; and secondly, because the nodes schedule their sleep period to reduce idle listening and overhearing which improves energy efficiency. In DTRAMA, sleep schedule of the node is traffic adaptive which is essential to maximize the sleep period. The node, by using spatial reuse checks, reuses the wireless medium to the maximum extent to reap the spatial reuse benefits of the directional antenna. The nodes reduce their packet latency through spatial reuse. Through simulation and by using different topologies, I have compared the performance of DTRAMA with those of omnidirectional schedule MAC protocol (TRAMA) and contention based directional MAC protocol (DMAC), which clearly shows that DTRAMA outperforms TRAMA and DMAC in packet delivery ratio and outperforms TRAMA in terms of packet latency.
Time, Commodification, and Videogames: a Comparative Study of Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Pokémon Go
Authors: Ross Alexander
Published: May 2021

Time has played a crucial role in the development of the videogame industry, particularly how games are developed, distributed, marketed, and sold. This paper critically examines how time has been commodified in the “premium” and “freemium” variants of the videogame industry through a comparative analysis of two representative games — Animal Crossing: New Leaf (2012-2013) and Pokémon Go (2016). It draws on a combination of critical political economy and textual analysis to demonstrate how the production, distribution, and consumption of these videogames is affected by how they commodify time. Time is money for the videogame industry and this has had a negative effect on digital play, by creating games that expect a significant investment of time and money for the player to fully enjoy their promised virtual rewards.
Optical navigation for nanosatellite star trackers
Authors: Zhang Harry (Ming Qi)
Published: May 2021

This thesis looks at the effectiveness of using nanosatellite class star trackers to perform optical navigation. Although star trackers used for these missions lack the accuracy and sensitivity of sensors employed on larger spacecraft, they offer great resolution relative to its compact size.
Two Extended Kalman Filter-based navigation filters illustrate the applications of this class of sensor. The first filter looks at horizon-based techniques using observations of Mars and its moons to assist the navigation filter in a hyperbolic approach. Results show low position (< 300 m) and velocity (< 0:15 m/s) errors as spacecraft reaches periapse.
The filter formulation serves as a basis for a design case study exploring different possible sensor configurations for this mission type. The second filter looks at landmark-based techniques using absolute and relative landmarks as observations. Measurement frequency appears as a key parameter in this study, simulation results show position errors in the order of tens of kilometers, or better even if absolute landmarks are only available every 30 minutes. The accuracy of the results are validated through series of Monte Carlo simulation.
Engagement Detection Framework for Hand Gesture and Posture Recognition
Authors: Toghi Ghassem
Published: May 2021

Hand gesture and posture recognition play an important role in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) applications. They are main attributes in object or environment manipulations using vision-based inter- faces. However, before interpreting these gestures and postures as operational activities, a meaningful involvement with the target object should be detected. This meaningful involvement is called engagement. Upper-body posture gives significant information about user engagement.
In this research, for our first contribution, a novel multi-modal model for engagement detection, called Disengagement, Attention, Intention, Action (DAIA) framework is presented. Disengagement happens when the user is disengaged from the target object. Attention occurs when user pays attention to the target, but doesn't have the intention to take any actions. In Intention state, the user intends to perform an action, but still does not.
Action state is when the user is performing an action with hand. Using DAIA, the spectrum of mental status for performing a manipulative action is quantized in a finite number of engagement states. The second contribution of this research is in designing multiple binary classifiers based on upper-body postures for state detection. 3D skeleton data is extracted from depth image and is used to extract body posture information. Combining the output of all binary classifiers in an order makes engagement feature vector. Moreover, This feature vector could be extended using other channels of biometric information such as voice or gaze. However the engagemnet classifiers recognize the state change with acceptable accuracy, minor changes in body postures or false detection of joint locations for some milliseconds may result in transition to another states. For removing this unwanted noise and increasing the accuracy of the system, an Finite State Machine (FSM) is designed based on the properties of human activities. The design of Engagement FSM is our third major contribution. Finally, rotation matrix is used to increase the number of samples for training the deep learning classifier for hand posture recognition.
Hyphen: a short documentary film
Authors: Mankassarian Tamar
Published: May 2021

"In an effort to increase representation and visibility of the “in between” people and connect my experience to others I began interviewing individuals who were also culturally hybridized. The final iteration of these interviews became a short documentary film titled “Hyphen”, which attempts to represent the perspective of experiencing the world through a fractured/divided sense of self, how people create a sense of belonging for themselves and ultimately how they try and bridge the gaps of understanding between the divided worlds they embody. In this essay I intend to elaborate on my theoretical and field research leading up to the film, my influences and considerations when forming it and finally evaluate its final impact as a finished product."--Introduction.
Barn Adaptation: A Proposal To Protect Rural Architecture
Authors: Stewart Ashley D.
Published: May 2021

The countryside that surrounds the Greater Toronto Area possesses a significant amount of Canada's prime farmland. However, to accommodate urban growth, this precious resource is being converted to provide urban developments.

The area of interest for this thesis is the rural-urban fringe, a zone of transition between working farms, rural communities and urban residential developments. The developments that are built in this area illustrate a common development approach, the elimination of all obstacles, including farmland and rural architecture.

This thesis introduces the concept of an alternative approach for suburban development, one that presents a compromise between rural and urban needs. At the heart of this concept is the design project, the adaptive reuse of a barn that serves as a tool to communicate the unique qualities of these monumental buildings. It also identifies the need to rethink suburban development approaches to include the preservation of rural architecture and prime farmland.
Doubly flawed: Canada's refugee determination system in a post 9/11 era
Authors: Virgili Sandra-Marie
Published: May 2021

Canada’s refugee determination system not only remains vulnerable to terrorist exploitation but also fails to assist legitimate refugees in a post 9/11 era. Through conducting an analysis of the Immigration Act, this paper exemplifies how, historically, Canada has had difficulty in regulating refugee migration into the country. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act was implemented as a means of overhauling the Immigration Act, making for a more secure Canada. Although this newer legislation is successful in maintaining the rights of refugees, especially with the verdict of Singh v. Minister of Employment and Immigration, it still lacks numerous safeguards. The lack of an adequate detainment policy, manifestly unfounded policy, the designated country of origin policy, the appeals process, and delayed deportation of foreign nationals leaves the system vulnerable to abuse by terrorists. Ultimately, Canada has become a potential base for terrorists who have access to the entire international community within the safety of Canadian borders.
Multichannel spectrum sensing over correlated fading channels with diversity reception
Authors: Al-Juboori Salam
Published: May 2021

Accurate detection of white spaces is crucial to protect primary user against interference
with secondary user. Multipath fading and correlation among diversity branches
represent essential challenges in Cognitive Radio Network Spectrum Sensing (CRNSS).
This dissertation investigates the problem of correlation among multiple diversity
receivers in wireless communications in the presence of multipath fading. The work
of this dissertation falls into two folds, analysis and solution. In the analysis fold,
this dissertation implements a unified approach of performance analysis for cognitive
spectrum sensing. It considers a more realistic sensing scenario where non-independent
multipath fading channels with diversity combining technique are assumed. Maximum
Ratio Combining (MRC), Equal Gain Combining (EGC), Selection Combining (SC)
and Selection and Stay Combining (SSC) techniques are employed. Arbitrarily,
constant and exponentially dual, triple and L number of Nakagami-m correlated
fading branches are investigated. We derive novel closed-form expressions for the
average detection probability for each sensing scenario with simpler and more general
alternative expressions. Our numerical analysis reveals the deterioration in detection
probability due to correlation especially in deep fading. Consequently, an increase in
the interference rate between the primary user and secondary user is observed by three
times its rate when independent fading branches is assumed. However, results also
show that this effect could be compensated for, through employing the appropriate
diversity technique and by increasing the diversity branches. Therefore, we say that
the correlation cannot be overlooked in deep fading, however in low fading can be
ignored so as to reduce complexity and computation. Furthermore, at low fading, low
false alarm probability and highly correlated environments, EGC which is simpler
scheme performs as good as MRC which is a more complex scheme. Similar result are
observed for SC and SSC. For the solution fold and towards combatting the correlation
impact on the wireless systems, a decorrelator implementation at the receiver will
be very beneficial. We propose such decorrelator scheme which would significantly
alleviate the correlation effect. We derive closed-form expressions for the decorrelator
receiver detection statistics including the Probability Density Function (PDF) from
fundamental principles, considering dual antenna SC receiver in Nakagami-m fading
channels. Numerical results show that the PDF of the bivariate difference could be
perfectly represented by a semi-standard normal distribution with zero mean and
constant variance depending on the bivariate's parameters. This observation would
significantly help simplifying the design of decorrelator receiver. The derived statistics
can be used in the problem of self-interference for multicarrier systems. Results also
show the outage probability has been improved by double, due to the decorrelator.
An Investigation Into Surface Modificatin Of Polyethylene Film By Ozonation
Authors: Patel Dipak P.
Published: May 2021

The aim of this study was to investigate the hydrophilic modifications of the polymer films by ozonation. In this study, the polymer films (LD+LLDPE) were ozonated in gas phase and in aqueous phase, respectively. The surfaces of the polymer films were investigated in terms of peroxide generation, contact angle measurement, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and tensile strength measurements. 

Experimental results indicated that the amount of peroxide groups generated increased with ozonation time and applied ozone dose. It was also observed that the efficiency of ozonation was similar for gas phase ozonation, and aqueous ozonation. Catalyst screening revealed that Fe (III) and Cu (II) were both effective in accelerating peroxide generation. 

The hydrophilicity improvement of the film after ozonation was confirmed by contact angle measurements and Fourier transform infrared measurements. The LD+LLDPE films kept good tensile strength after ozonation. Even after 120 min ozonation at 1.0 wt% applied ozone dose, 85% of the tensile strength still remained. 

The application of catalyst to modify polymer film is the first of its kind. In this study, the approach proved to be successful for LD+LLDPE films.
Towards Development of Policies Enhancing Single Family Residential Dwelling Energy Efficiency in the Ontario Building Code : a Holistic Approach Which Can Support More Aggressive Requirements
Authors: Moroz Brian
Published: May 2021

Towards Development of Policies Enhancing Single Family Residential
Dwelling Energy Efficiency in the Ontario Building Code: a Holistic Approach Which Can Support More Aggressive REquirements
Pure-culture and mixed community biofilm responses to carbon-starvation and UV-C exposure
Authors: Lane C Alexia
Published: May 2021

Biofilms are known to contribute to disease through inherent protective mechanisms and propagation strategies. These multi-cellular systems also play essential roles in numerous environmental processes. The current study investigated the responses of a mixed community biofilm to carbon-starvation, and measured the effects of UV-C on pure-culture biofilms at different stages of maturity by monitoring metabolic and cell yield responses. Carbon dioxide production and biofilm-derived planktonic cell yield were used at the measurement parameters. The mixed community rapidly responded to induced carbon-starvation under continuous flow conditions by remaining metabolically inactive throughout the 96 and 120 h starvation periods, only to promptly return to a metabolically active state upon the reintroduction of carbon. The effects of UV-C on pure-culture biofilms was negligible, with no log activation being achieved, and metabolic activity remaining static.
The end(s) of analogue: access to CBC/Radio-Canada Television Programming in an era of digital delivery
Authors: May Steven James
Published: May 2021

This dissertation studies the political economy of public television access in Canada as manifest in the country’s 2011 digital television/télévision numérique transition. Specifically, this dissertation scrutinizes the provision of access to television programming offered by Canada’s national public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Société Radio-Canada (CBC/Radio-Canada), and how CBC/Radio-Canada’s response to Canada’s 2011 digital television transition corresponds with its mandate under the Broadcasting Act to ensure that its programming is “made available throughout Canada by the most appropriate and efficient means and as resources become available for the purpose” (Canada, 1991). Drawing from research interviews conducted with disconnected analogue over-the-air (OTA) CBC/Radio-Canada television-viewing households and members of CBC/Radio-Canada Management involved with the public broadcaster’s response to Canada’s digital television transition deadline, this
dissertation finds competing accounts of how public television delivery is linked to the provision of access to the public broadcaster’s television programming in the digital age. While interviewed members of CBC/Radio-Canada Management describe an inefficient analogue OTA public television delivery system that would be best superseded by more efficient modes of digital delivery, OTA CBC/Radio-Canada television-viewing households describe an analog
OTA CBC/Radio-Canada television service that had been providing access to CBC/Radio Canada television programming and describe a digital disconnect following CBC/Radio Canada’s digital television transition. This dissertation questions the post-analogue public television delivery operations of CBC/Radio-Canada; mainly that public television delivery cost savings achieved as a result of CBC/Radio-Canada’s response to Canada’s digital television transition deadline have resulted in gaps in access to CBC/Radio-Canada television programming by some Canadian households as articulated through this dissertation’s Public Media Access Puzzle Sieve (Public M.A.P.S.) model. The Public M.A.P.S. model offers a means by which to both anticipate and assess levels of access to public media based on the model’s elements of access related to cost, availability, functionality, opportunities for à la carte service, and access to locally relevant feed(s). In the case of CBC/Radio-Canada, gaps in household access to the public broadcaster’s digital television programming as identified by the Public M.A.P.S. model help to underscore deficiencies in Canada’s post-analogue television system, the information communication technology (ICT) sector, and domestic spectrum management practices.
Architectural Coalescence : a Focus on Connectivity and Flow Within Socio-Spatial Networks
Authors: Chang Jason
Published: May 2021

This thesis stems from an analysis of spatial morphology of the urban campus. The organization of the urban campus provides pockets for social interactivity amid public, private, and interstitial realms. Availability of collective activity contributes to the positive student experiences by fostering social interactivity and communal growth. Encouraging forms of collective activity, as well as connecting user circulation, plays a significant role in making students feel they are part of a larger whole. The focus is placed on how architectural design can provide the potential to explore the in-between condition of the public and private. This interstitial condition may be used as a platform to connect the two realms. Testing methods of socio-spatial and circulatory reconfiguration of Ryerson’s Kerr Hall may improve the understanding of how the built form impacts the movement
and experience of user flow within the condition of the urban campus.
Clique Listing Algorithms and Characteristics of Cliques in Random Graphics
Authors: Patel Sonal
Published: May 2021

In this thesis we address three main problems in clique detection in the area of Graph Theory. i) Most of current methods for clique detection are time consuming (can take exponential time to the size of input graph), so there is a practical limit on size of input graph. In this thesis we propose three different methods for estimating the number of cliques. We examine these methods for various graphs and conclude that they efficiently find the number of cliques within 5% error typically. ii) We compare various versions of the Bron-Kerbosch (BK) clique listing algorithm to discover a method of combining the best features of different versions. We test our new versions of BK for various inputs. iii) We study the characteristics of cliques in random graphs as a function of size and density.
Deployment of virtual machines for tiered applications in cloud systems with optimized resource allocation based on availability SLAS
Authors: Sakhamuri Praneeth
Published: May 2021

Deploying and managing high availability-tiered application in the cloud is challenging, as it requires providing necessary virtual machines to make the application available. An application is available if it works and responds in a timely manner for varying workloads. Application service providers need to allocate specified number of working virtual machine copies for each server with at least a given minimum computing power, to meet the response time requirement. Otherwise, we may end up with response time failures. This thesis formulates an optimization problem that determines the number and type of virtual machines needed for each server to minimize the cost and at the same time guarantees the availability SLA (Service-Level Agreement) for different workloads. The results demonstrate that a diverse approach is more cost-effective than running on a single type of virtual machine, and buying only the cheapest virtual machines for an application is not always economical.
Light and Shadow Expression: Contrast, Luminosity, Porosity
Authors: Huynh Victor Hieu
Published: May 2021

The pervasive use of glass curtain wall and artificial illumination has saturated contemporary architecture with light, depriving users of the potential experiences achieved through the articulation and interplay of light and shadow. The evaluation of light through quantifiable metric design evaluation denies users of qualitative lighting design expression that influences spatial perception and user experience, engaging the eye, mind and body over the course of the day. Homogeneous and standard lighting solutions deny users sensorial and perceptual stimulation developed through lighting variability and contrast.
This thesis reconciles the use of light and shadow as an architectural design medium to support and enrich the mundane office working environment, establishing a relationship between light, the built environment, and its users. The expression of sunlight, artificial light, architectural form, the physical properties of material, and spatial ambiance improves the architectural experience and spatial perception throughout the day.
Struggling with Simulations: Decoding the Neoliberal Politics of Digital Games
Authors: Murphy David Thomas
Published: May 2021

As a creative industry currently rivalling film and television, digital games are filled with a variety of political tensions that exist both between and within particular works. Unfortunately, internal discrepancies are often dismissed as indicators of political ambivalence, or treated as formal flaws that need to be overcome. To address this gap, this dissertation draws from game studies, media studies, and political economics to investigate the contradictory relationships between popular games and neoliberalism, specifically in relation to playful forms of resistance
and critique that emerge during gameplay.
Part I develops this study’s methodology by drawing from corresponding uses of assemblage theory, specifically articulated in Ong (2006, 2007), Lazzarato (2012, 2015), and Gilbert’s (2013) control society approaches to neoliberalism and Taylor (2009), Pearce and Artemesia’s (2009) digital ethnographic approaches to play. Derived from the French agencement, assemblage theory emphasizes heterogeneous relations in constant states of becoming that are understood as being real. Part II implements the aforementioned methodology by examining some of the most popular gaming franchises produced to date, with each demonstrating emergent political correlations and dissonances springing from relationships between different ludic and narrative components.
BioShock (2007–2013) and Red Dead Redemption (2011) are narratively structured by neoliberal discourse, yet each storyline fails to correspond with the resistant political logic embedded in their respective rule systems. Conversely, Call of Duty (2004 – present) attains a high level of political cohesion that does not result in a better playing experience, as much as it contributes to conflicts amongst publishers, developers, and fans. Finally, Minecraft (2009–present) provides a fascinating example of a game that representationally reinforces neoliberalism while simultaneously affording the creation of new digital objects, including objects that give players the opportunity to understand and appreciate the computational infrastructures that a neoliberal emphasis on source code takes for granted. This dissertation, as a result, charts the growing connections between emergent gameplay and new forms of resistance
and critique—connections that contribute not only to game studies, but also to the study of digital media and the interdisciplinary study of neoliberalism.
Why my Avatar looks like me: a study of identity in Dungeons & Dragons
Authors: Livingstone Pamela
Published: May 2021

The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of premade characters and visual aids on character connection in the analog role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. Four participants gathered together to play the game of Dungeons & Dragons once a week for one month in May 2015. After the in-game research in-person interviews were conducted and the data was then coded in NVivo for major themes in relation to character connection. Research was also pulled from auto-ethnographic reflections to round out the data. The results of the data suggest that the participants felt that character customization, narrative, character backstory, as well as visuals played an important role in their ability to build a strong connection to their gaming avatar. Join the journey of four warriors building connection to their characters as they look to close the rift in the Shadowfell of the Keep.
Vehicle Position Tracking Using Kalman Filter And CWLS Optimization
Authors: Farhi Lubna
Published: May 2021

Vehicle position estimation for wireless network has been studied in many fields since it has the ability to provide a variety of services, such as detecting oncoming collisions and providing warning signals to alert the driver. The services provided are often based on collaboration among vehicles that are equipped with relatively simple motion sensors and GPS units. Awareness of its precise position is vital to every vehicle, so that it can provide accurate data to its peers. Currently, typical positioning techniques integrate GPS receiver data and measurements of the vehicles motion. However, when the vehicle passes through an environment that creates multipath effect, these techniques fail to produce high position accuracy that they attain in open environments. Unfortunately, vehicles often travel in environments that cause multipath effect, such as areas with high buildings, trees, or tunnels. The goal of this research is to minimize the multipath effect with respect to the position accuracy of vehicles.

The proposed technique first detects whether there is disturbance in the vehicle position estimate that is caused by the multipath effect using hypothesis test. This technique integrates all information with the vehicle's own data and the Constrained Weighted Least Squares (CWLS) optimization approach with time difference of arrival (TDOA) technique and minimizes the position estimate error of the vehicle. Kalman filter is used for smoothing range data and mitigating the NLOS errors. The positioning problem is formulated in a state-space framework and the constraints on system states are considered explicitly.

The proposed recursive positioning algorithm will be comparatively more robust to measurement errors because it updates the technique that feeds the position corrections back to the Kalman Filter as compared with a Kalman tracking algorithm that estimates the target track directly from the TDOA measurements. It compensates the GPS data and decreases random error influence to the position precision.

The new techniques presented in this thesis decrease the error in the position estimate. Simulation results show that the proposed tracking algorithm can improve the accuracy significantly.
What Empowers or Disempowers Sikh Women after Migrating to Ontario, Canada?
Authors: Virk Rajinder Kaur
Published: May 2021

Sikh women are known for their valour and bravery in India. But many negative stereotypes are attached to their identity in Canada. They are often labelled as submissive and docile. This research has focused on empowering and disempowering factors experienced by Sikh women in Ontario, Canada. There is a substantial amount of literature on South Asian women’s experiences but there is a lack of literature, particularly focusing on Sikh women’s empowerment. In this study in person interviews were conducted with three Sikh women who were between the ages of 30-40 years and have immigrated to Canada from Punjab, India and have lived in Ontario for five years or more. Qualitative research was conducted using a narrative methodology. Recruitment emails were used to select study participants. The goal of this research is to add to existing social work literature. Findings will aid settlement agencies in
understanding the needs of Sikh women, after they migrate to Canada and what challenges are faced by them. This, in turn, will help settlement workers to provide culturally competent support to Sikh women. This study will also help challenge some of the negative myths about Sikh women.
Fashioning The Crazy Ex Girlfriend: Costume Design as mad Resistance in the Post Network era
Authors: Ghanem Michel
Published: May 2021

Until the relatively recent proliferation of feminist criticism, television studies and fashion studies have both been marginalized as frivolous and unimportant. Mental health research, now known within Disability Studies as Mad Studies, considers alternative methodologies rooted in anti-oppression against the representation of madness on television. These various fields, particularly research on madness, have been hidden discourses—whether feared (disability) or gendered feminine and therefore identified as non-consequential (fashion and television). Within these areas of research, intersectional perspectives have been neglected, which has allowed popular culture to perpetuate tired tropes and stereotypes in relation to the way mad individuals have been depicted, written, and importantly, costumed.

I unpack these complexities through Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015–2019) as a subversive example of costume design’s resistant possibilities. I analyze pivotal themes in the series by putting episode scenes, specific ‘looks,’ and an original interview with costume designer Melina Root into dialogue. Ultimately, as I argue, fashion on television, with its rising budgets and production quality, is complicit in the construction of on-screen female identities, particularly in regards to problematic ‘crazy woman’ tropes and othering representations of madness.
Removal of Arsenic, Cadmium and Lead from Synthetic Stormwater by Two Low-Cost Adsorbents: A Kinetic and Equilibrium Study
Authors: David Jason
Published: May 2021

The adsorption isotherms and kinetics of two low cost adsorbents, Ladybug Sand and Greensand, were determined from multi-solute batch experiments using prepared synthetic stormwater containing arsenic, cadmium and lead. The adsorption equilibrium data were fit to the Langmuir, Freundlich and Henry isotherms using both nonlinear and linear regression techniques. Kinetic data were obtained at two different stormwater concentrations. The kinetic curves were fit to the pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and homogenous surface diffusion model (HSDM). A solution to the HSDM was achieved using the user-oriented numeric solution proposed by Zhang et al. (2009). From the fitted kinetic models the reaction constants, k1 and k2, as well as the surface diffusion coefficient (Ds) were determined. The maximum service lives of adsorbent columns comprised of Ladybug Sand or Greensand were calculated using the equilibrium column model (ECM) to evaluate the feasibility of the adsorbents for use in advanced stormwater treatment.
Model-Based Segmentation and Analysis of Knee Sound Signals
Authors: Parveen Farhana
Published: May 2021

The motivation of the work is to develop a signal processing methodology for noninvasive diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis in an early stage. The sound signal that is emitted from knee when it moves is called Vibroathrographic (VAG) signal. Analysis of this sound signal will help in diagnosis of the knee joint problems. In this project a model based approach for sementing the VAG signals, followed by feature extraction and classification is proposed. This could be used to get some indication whether the signal is from a normal knee or from an abnormal knee. The proposed scheme also has the capability for finding the depth of severity of the damage and it can also localize the angle range of the knee swing, where the damage has occurred. As a result, the project gave an accuracy of 70.4% with leave-one-out method. After doing the classification using the segments, finally it has been calculated how many segments from each signal has been correctly identified. A total of 30 knee sound signals from normal and abmoraml knees has been used in this work and out of that 26 signals has been classified properly (either normal or abnormal) and 4 signals got misclassified with a successful classification accuracy of 86.7%.
Suburban / urban grafting: towards an architectural and urban hybrid
Authors: Kotsampouikidis John
Published: May 2021

Land is a finite resource which does not support the low density suburban model on a large scale. The alternative, the urban condition, does not satisfy the needs of families. The goal is to define a middle ground, to create a hybrid, by taking the best qualities of the suburbs and urb to develop a new vision for the city. Is it possible to combine the typological characteristics and spatial qualities of the suburbs in an urban format where the disadvantages of the suburbs are mitigated by the multiplicity of urbanity? For the purpose of this thesis the design proposal is tested on Ijburg, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The resultant hybrid is manifested through the mixing of different housing typologies both suburban and urban in conjunction with and elevated street which provides private access to individual units and public access to recreational and leisure facilities.
Perceptions of Anxiety Symptoms and Disclosure of Anxiety by Others Among Individuals With High Versus Low Levels of Social Anxiety
Authors: Gee Bethany A.
Published: May 2021

The present study investigated people's perceptions of anxiety symptoms and the disclosure of anxiety by others, and how one's own level of social anxiety affects these perceptions. Participants high (n=80) or low (n=83) in social anxiety were randomly assigned to watch one of four videos in which the target individual either appeared or did not appear anxious, and either disclosed or did not disclose her anxiety. Participants rated the target individual on various characteristics, and completed measures of their own level of social anxiety, perceived similarity to the target individual, and reasons for their ratings. Results indicated that participants negatively evaluated others who looked anxious on the qualities of awkward, socially skilled, and weak, and the disclosure of anxiety partially helped to decrease these negative judgements. Participants' own level of social anxiety did not affect the judgements. These findings may inform the process of cognitive restructuring.
Adaptive Exposure Fusion for HDR Imaging
Authors: Patel Sidhdharthkumar
Published: May 2021

HDR images are usually generated by fusing sequence of images captured with variable exposure time.
Exposure Fusion is a technique that directly fuses the exposure shots into displayable image. This thesis proposes a novel Exposure Fusion algorithm that directly fuses exposure bracketed shots into a displayable image. Most techniques targeted for direct fusion do not have an effective exposure control mechanism and are only designed for exposure sequence containing adequate number of exposure shots.
The proposed algorithm offers a novel approach that adaptively adjusts its parameter for the best viewing
experience even for exposure sequence that do not contain adequate number exposure shots. An online
user survey showed that the proposed method gave consistent superior results when compare with other
methods of similar nature. The survey results were also compared against state of the art evaluation metrics (TMQI and HDR-VDP) and the survey results contradicted the evaluation metric.