bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Aphthus stomatitis, smoking and emotional stress
Authors: MH Saka Sabah , IAL-Niaimi Ali
Published: March 2024

A 102 (68 males and 34 females) dental student and staff questioned whether or not having experienced aphthus ulceration (Au). A questioner form which shows later ni the text, was prepared. Data showed females experienced (Au) more than males and individual with blood group AB have higher liability than individuals with other blood groups. The inner site of the lip was the com monest site affected. Majority of individuals with (Au) were able to relate their condition to variable stress and emotional factors. Individuals with smoking habit are very rarely affected by Au.
The effect of residential factor on periodontal status among the primary school children in Ninevah Governorate/Iraq.
Authors: Y. Khamrco Tarik , Al-Deen A. Al-Mitres Ala'
Published: March 2024

The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of residential factor on periodontal status (oral hygiene, gingival health and calculus assessment) among the primary school children in Ninevah.                ·

An  oral health survey was conducted among 2640 primary school children aged 6 and 12 years old from 66 randomly selected schools in different geographical locations (urban, peri-urban and rural areas) ofNinevah Governorate.

Examination of  periodontal status was performed using WHO periodontal

probe. The indices used to assess the periodontal status are (plaque index, gingival index and calculus index).

The results showed th(lt (63.1%) of 6 year old and (29.5%) of 12 years old have a healthy gingiva. The prevalence of gingivitis was higher in rural than peri­

urban and urban, with significant differences while no significant between boys and girls.

The result indicated that the urban children have a lower significant mean gingival index score than peri-urban and rural areas.                               .

According to the geographical locations, the children in urban and peri-urban areas  have less  mean  plaque  index  than  rural areas  with  significant differences between children of urban and rural areas of 6 years old children only. According to the sex difference, there were no statistically significant differences between the boys and girls.

The study demonstrated that the mean of calculus index was almost similar in different areas for both 6 and 12 years old children, while according to the sex, the girls reported significantly lower mean that boys.
Prevalence and severity of dental caries (DMFS) in children and adolescent living in areas with neligible and above optimal natural fluoride contained in drinking water.
Authors: YKhamrco Tarik , Gh Al-Ajrab May
Published: March 2024

The purpose of the study was to determine the prevalence and severity of dental caries using DMFS index ni a group of school children lived ni area with neligible and above optimal natural fluoride contained drinking water ni Ninevah Governorate. The study si conducted among (1724) schools students aged 11-16 ycars from randomly selected schools (primary and intermediate) ni two provinces ni Ninevah Governorate. Nine hundred and eleven students who had lived since birth in area with neligible fluoride level (Talkaif) province (0.11-0.19 ppm) and (813) students lived continuously from birth in area with above optimal natural fluoride ni their drinking water (Sinjar province) (2.05-2.22ppm). WHO methodology (1997) has been used to assess the dental caries status using DMFS index for permanent teeth. The results show that in Sinjar province the mean DMFS for total sample were (24.0) and (36.2%) are caries free with no sex differences, while there is a significant increase in the mean DMFS with increase the age. On the other hand, ni Talkaif province hte results reveal higher DMFT (5-14) und lower percent of caries free students (19,1%) with high significant differences om Sinjar province. The mean DMFS reported more than twice ni Talkaif province an Sinjar province. The percentage of reduction of dental caries ni area with fluoride (Sinjar poovince) has been found to be (55.3%) compare ot area with neligible fluoride (Talkaif province)
A comparison of spreader penetration depth and load required in curved canal using two types of spreaders
Authors: M. Al-Zaka Lman
Published: March 2024

The aim of the present study was to compare nickel titanium and stainlesssteel spreaders penetration depth and load in lateral compaction. Thirty curved mesialcanals of extracted mandibular molars were used in the study. The canals wereprepared using step-back technique with Gates-Glidden. Afterward the teeth weredivided randomly into 2 groups. In part 1 of the study, the force required to inserteach spreader to within 1 mm of the working length in an empty canal was measured .In part 2, the force required to insert each spreader to within 2 mm of the workinglength was measured in canal containing a master cone. ln part 3, the depth ofpenetration of each spreader with a master cone in place using a 1.5 kg force wasmeasured. Using a t-test for paired samples, the results from pan 1 showed that nickeltitanium spreader required high significantly less force than stainless steels reader P<0.01 . ln part 2, a nickel titanium s reader re uired high si niticantl lessforce than a stainless steel spreader .As expected in part 3, a nickel titanium spreaderpenetrated to a significantly high depth than stainless steel spreader (P<0.0l
Traumatize anterior teeth, dento-facial anomalies among deaf person in the middle region of Iraq
Authors: Jafer Nada , Abdul Khaliq Alazawi Lamia
Published: March 2024

This study was designed to determine the type and prevalence of trumatic dentalinjuries, aenterio—posterior molar relation among (519) deaf persons and (532) schoolstudents at 5-16 years of age in the middle region of Iraq. The study showed that theprevalence of traumatic dental injuries were 6.94% for deaf persons and 5.83% forschools students. Males showed a higher percentage of traumatized teeth than females ininstitutions and school students. Enamel dentine fracture without pulp exposure was themost predominant type among deaf persons while simple enamel fracture was the mostpredominant among schools students. The majority of deaf persons and schools studentsdemonstrated normal type of occlusion 57.42%, 55.64% respectively. Deaf personshowed significantly with percentage of 4.62% mesial full cusp deviation from normal.antero·postrior molar relation compared to school students 2.07%
Survey on maloccluslon in Iraqi dental student sample
Authors: N. Al-Me‘mar Oqba , A. Mohammed Shahba’a
Published: March 2024

The aim of this survey is to investigate the prevalence of malocclusion anddifferent morphological features of dental occlusion in an Iraqi sample. The sampleconsisted of (218) dental student at college of Dentistry, Baghdad university, aged (18-21year) & of both sexes. Were clinically evaluated after exclusion of students who havereceived any type of orthodontic treatment. The students also divided into two groups, thegroup who have received extraction of any tooth and the other group who have noextraction. Ag,Of the sample (26.14%) had normal occlusion, (6o)05%) had CL.l malocclusionhad CL.II malocelusion and (0.45%) who had CLIII malocclusion. The )%3,77(differences in prevalence of maloeclusion was statistically significant between thesegroups. On the other hand. This statistical difference was significant in eases withextraction than those cases without extraction (P< 0.05). clearly, there is a need forfurther epidemiologeal research aiming to increase the knowledge a bout the prevalenceand type of malocclusion as well as the extent of need & demand for orthodontic treatment.
The periodontal health status of postmenopausal women and its relationship to bone mineral density
Authors: A Al-Safi Khulood , Latif Al-Juboury Abdul , Hilal Aboud Lena
Published: March 2024

The relationship between changes in postmenopausal women and periodontalcondition had been studied in many countries. It has been suggested that estrogendeficiency may play a role in periodontal disease following menopause. The aim ofthis study was to investigate the influence of postmenopausal alteration on the clinicalperiodontal parameters and teeth loss. In addition, to determine the relationshipbetween systemic bone mineral density and periodontal disease in postmenopausal.womenSixty Iraqi women in total were involved in this study, 20 women as a controlgroup of age (35-45) years and forty postmenopausal women divided into two.subgroups: groupl for age (50-60) years and group 2 of age (60-70) years:Questionnaire involved the following periodontal parametersPlaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP), pocketdepth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL). All these parameters were measured andtabulated according to redefined scores, or counts, and the data was analyzed.statistically- Fifteen of forty postmenopausal women, were examined using dual energy xray absorptiometry (DEXA) equipment to measure bone mineral density (BMD) inorder to determine the relationship between (BMD) and any of the above periodontalparameters. The means, Gl, BOP, PD and CAL were found to be significantly higher.)in the postmenopausal group than the control (P<0.05It was found that BMD is negatively associated with Gl, BOP, PD and CALbut the correlation is either of high significant or of slight of difference but notsignificant at (P<0.05). The clinical parameters may increase depending on theexpected negative effects during menopause further, it is concluded that BMD of the.lumbar spine is related to CAL, PD, number of teeth loss and to a lesser extent BOP
Deep Reinforcement Learning Controller Design for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Authors: Aboubih Ali
Published: March 2024

A Proximal Policy Optimization agent was trained to learn quadrotor dynamics, successfully selecting control outputs to stabilize the drone and track complex trajectories. The agent was trained to mimic a minimum snap trajectory. The UAV closely followed the path, maintaining desired speeds of 3.56 body lengths/second, and remaining within 0.5m of the path, in wind conditions up to 20 mph. The agent was also validated on other complex trajectories, still closely tracking them regardless of the path it was trained on. Compared to PID controllers, the RL controller had a faster response time, converging to the desired path quicker. PID tuning is high maintenance and is limited by linearization around hover state. This results in instabilities and overshoots not observed in the RL controller, as well as RL learning non-linear dynamics. However, the RL controller had noisy motor output, resulting in undesirable oscillatory behaviour not observed in PID.
The Effect of Rotors on the Aerodynamic Loads of a Quadrotor Fuselage
Authors: Li Shengxi (Grant)
Published: March 2024

Understanding the complex interactions between rotors and the fuselage is essential for designing the flight control system for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. This paper investigates the effect of rotors on the aerodynamic load of a quadcopter fuselage based on computational fluid dynamics simulations. Fuselage and the whole drone’s aerodynamics loads are studied along with the steady and transient-state simulation. Comparison between the plain fuselage and whole quadcopter was based on the computation results from different operating airspeeds and tilt angles. Drag coefficient was merely influenced, and in contrast, the rotors’ motion influenced the lift coefficient. Reasons for the impact of the rotor on the fuselage’s aerodynamic loads are discussed. Future work improvement and concluding of the analysis are presented.
Tactical Architecture: an Architectural Understanding of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans
Authors: Gunn Isabelle
Published: March 2024

In a society that is becoming increasingly transparent with regards to mental health and treatment, and living in a time of significant and extended military conflict, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is being more actively addressed. However, in this thesis I am specifically investigating the means by which architecture may be integrated into the therapeutic treatment of those who struggle with the condition. Through the understanding of the psychological disorder, phenomenology, the sense of self, memory, and the properties of therapeutic spaces it is possible to make beneficial design and programmatic decisions that can aid in the healing process which may be undertaken in a variety of approaches.
Speech Features for Monitoring Alzheimer’s Disease Using Random Forest Classifier
Authors: Hason Lior
Published: March 2024

Detecting Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and disease progression based on the patient's speech data can aid non-invasive, cost-effective, real-time early diagnostic and repetitive monitoring in minimum time and effort using machine learning (ML) classification approaches. The paper aims to predict early AD diagnosis and evaluate stages of AD through exploratory analysis of acoustic features, non-stationarity, and non-linearity testing, and applying data augmentation techniques on AD and cognitively normal (CN) spontaneous speech. After evaluating the proposed AD and AD stages classification models, an accuracy of 82.2% and 71.5% was achieved using the Random Forest classifier, respectively. This will enrich the Alzheimer’s research community with further understanding of methods to improve models for AD classification and addressing nonstationarity and non-linearity principles on audio features to determine the best-suited acoustic features for AD identification.
Domain Generalization Across Multi-centre Digital Pathology Images for Lymph Node Segmentation and Classification
Authors: Dambandkhameneh Fariba
Published: March 2024

Within the last few years, medical deep learning has experienced rapid advances, especially in the area of image interpretation. Using whole-slide images of histological lymph node sections, this thesis develops deep learning models and techniques for detecting and classifying breast cancer metastases. Pathologists would normally have to perform extensive microscopic assessments on this clinically relevant task. In patients with breast cancer, metastases in lymph nodes have therapeutic implications. So, an automated solution may remarkably reduce pathologists’ workload while at the same time reducing the subjectivity of their diagnoses. There are, however, still several significant challenges associated with the development and translation of medical deep learning systems. To begin with, developing large and well-annotated datasets is expensive and most often, the labels are imbalanced. In addition, it is difficult to transfer the performance of deep learning algorithms from one dataset and setting to another due to domain shift issues. Lastly, the results of deep learning systems should be comprehensible and applicable to clinical datasets. In order to enhance effectiveness in an unknown target domain and increase generalization, this thesis assesses ensemble learning by transferring prior knowledge from non-medical and medical sources. Although deep learning methods may be successful, they may not perform well in a clinical workflow. Many datasets are constructed from millions of patches of images, leading to a data curation bias; others only contain annotations at the slide-level, making it difficult to detect errors at the local level as long as the results are correct. As a way of alleviating the class imbalance and biased training data, this thesis proposes a cluster-based sampling method for whole-slide histopathology image analysis. With the proposed ensemble learning and sampling methods, cutting-edge machine learning architectures can be extended, and state-of-the-art performance can be achieved for both diagnostic test images and whole slide images.
Results in the sampling part show that using the same dataset, the results are roughly the same, regardless of sampling methods. However, the result of the unseen dataset falls dramatically when it is sampled randomly. By sampling separately, we reduce the probability of drops in the results for unseen datasets. Random selection gives a sensitivity of 0.82 on an unseen dataset, however sampling separately gives a sensitivity of 0.93. In random selection, dice index similarity is 0.83, whereas in sampling separately, dice index similarity is 0.90. Also, observing the slide level results in St. Michael’s hospital dataset, it can be concluded that we cannot decide about the best model and all the models give good results at least in one slide. So, combining the results from multiple configurations would give a more reliable and consistent result.
Principal Component Analysis of Quantitative Computed Tomography Features and Visual Emphysema Scores: Association With Lung Function Decline
Authors: Koo Meghan
Published: March 2024

Emphysema is characterized by the damage of the alveoli (air sacs) in the lungs and occurs in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). It is clinically evaluated visually by a radiologist who subjectively scores the severity of the disease on computed tomography (CT) images. However, there are limitations to this method, including inherent inter- and intra-observer variability. A solution to overcome these limitations is the use of fully automated and objective quantitative CT (QCT) measurements. However, it has been shown in literature that visual score outperforms single QCT measurements when predicting mortality, despite its subjectivity. In this thesis, we explore the use of multiple QCTs in combination by principal component analysis (PCA), and its ability to predict COPD disease progression (lung function decline), independent of visual scoring.
Acoustical Issues in Airport Passenger Terminals
Authors: Sonboli Ghazal
Published: March 2024

Acoustical comfort is one of the key factors in an airport passenger terminal. Speech intelligibility in the airports is often affected by high level of ambient noise and long reverberation time caused by reflective materials. The acoustical condition in passenger terminal of a large airport was investigated by conducting acoustical field measurements. Additionally, computer simulations were done to evaluate acoustical factors in selected spaces. The outcome of both field measurements and computer simulations was a detailed evaluation of existing acoustical condition, and were compared to the acoustical design requirements. Finally, based on the results, design recommendations were provided to improve acoustical conditions in the investigated airport.
Towards Comparing Critical Degree of Moisture Saturation (SCrit) in Historic Brick Samples for Different Freezing Rates and Minimum Temperatures
Authors: Karlova Marta
Published: March 2024

As more historical buildings are being retrofitted, it is becoming more important to have an efficient procedure to test historic masonry’s capacity to withstand freeze-thaw cycling. Frost dilatometry testing focuses on establishing a critical degree of saturation (Scrit) at which masonry will fail if subjected to freeze-thaw cycles. Past studies in frost dilatometry attempt to reduce the total laboratory testing time by modifying different parameters, such as the freezing rate. This MRP focuses on the relationship between Scrit and freezing temperature, and Scrit and freezing rate. Brick samples from three historic masonry sites in Toronto were saturated at varying moisture contents between 60% and 100%. Three freezing temperatures, -2C, -6C and -15C, and three freezing rates, -5C/hr, -12C/hr and -21o C/hr, were tested. The samples were initially subjected to 12 cycles; however, upon discovering that there was little correlation in the data, an additional 30-cycle frost dilatometry tests were performed. As a result of this study, it was found that there is repeatable correlation between Scrit and freezing rate, with lower freezing rates resulting in higher Scrit values. While freezing temperatures also affect Scrit values, a definitive correlation between Scrit and freezing temperature was not established as part of this work. However, it was noted that the lowest freezing temperature (-15C) produced data that was more precise, and therefore it was generally easier to establish a linear trend to determine the Scrit values at the lowest freezing temperature.
Reproducibility of Critical Saturation Measurements of Clay
Authors: DesRosiers Laura
Published: March 2024

While existing structures present an excellent opportunity for energy savings, it has been established that thermal upgrades to masonry buildings by interior insulation significantly increase the risk of freeze-thaw deterioration of the bricks. Before implementing such retrofits, it is important to understand the risk of damage to the masonry envelope. The critical saturation approach has been proposed as a method for conducting a risk assessment of the freeze-thaw resistance of in-service brick masonry. In order to produce valuable insights, any hygrothermal simulation and analysis relies on the input of accurate material and hygric properties and the outputs must be compared to well established targets. Therefore, it is of interest to verify the reproducibility of the experimental measurements of such properties. Factors such as operator, equipment, and procedural differences can produce deviations in measurements obtained from different laboratories. The critical degree of saturation is the principal metric in this risk assessment framework and is determined by an experimental methodology called frost dilatometry. As the critical degree of saturation is used as the threshold for risk in this limit state design process, it is important to understand the precision of this measured value. Frost dilatometry measurements were conducted at two different laboratories to examine the reproducibility of the critical saturation measurements for 30 brick samples. Dilation measurements are determined with an uncertainty of 50 microstrain. The data analysis methods are examined as a source of discrepancies between lab measurements. Procedural challenges and differences, such as specimen dimensions and number of freeze-thaw cycles, are examined. The saturated moisture content is determined by vacuum saturation. While the results between the two laboratories are generally in agreement, it is a source of error in comparisons of the critical saturation between labs. Correcting for differences in saturated moisture content, it was found that the measurement of the critical degree of saturation are in good agreement. The critical degree of saturation differs by 1-3% when expressed as a ratio of water content to the dry weight of the material indicating the reliability of critical degree of saturation measurements. While differences between the laboratories were small, the uncertainty of the critical degree saturation for both laboratories was large.
Optimal Intermittent Ultrasound-Assisted Latex Particle Fouling Remediation in Ultrafiltration
Authors: Al-Hasani Mohammed
Published: March 2024

The ultrafiltration process is a promising technology and considered the most effective method for diversified water and wastewater treatment. However, commercialization for this process has been limited due to the decline of the permeation flux. This decline is the result of membrane fouling that is an accumulation of suspended particles on the surface of the membrane. These particles will hinder the permeate solution that passes through the porous membrane. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of ultrasound (US) on the ultrafiltration process. Ultrasound has a cavitation effect that facilitates continuous membrane cleaning; collapse of cavitation bubbles produced can give the energy to remove particles from the membrane. The size and velocity of bubbles are determined by the US frequency and power, respectively. This research focused on using different frequencies (20 kHz, 28 kHz, and 40 kHz) and different power intensities (50 W, 60W, and 100 W). It was found that the flux enhancement at 20 kHz and 28 kHz were significant, while the flux enhancement at 100 kHz was not noticeable. Intermittent ultrasound was tested as to lower the cost of production and increase the lifetime of the membrane. Intermittent ultrasound was controlled by a timer with different time intervals (30 seconds on and 60 seconds off, 60 seconds on and 60 seconds off, and lastly, 90 seconds on and 90 seconds off,).The feed solid concentration used in the experiments was at 0.5wt% of latex paint. Ultrasound irradiation affected the cake layer resistance and concentration polarization which led to the reduction in the total resistance and increase in the permeate flux. Simultaneously, the flux at 20kHzand 28 kHz was higher than that at 40 kHz. Experimental results demonstrate the frequency at 28 kHz can produce better results in terms of enhancing the permeate flux. Overall, utilizing low frequency and low pressure can produce better results for enhancing the permeate flux and lowering the concentration of polarization and cake layer resistance.
Analyzing Building-level Water Consumption Patterns Before and After the Pandemic: A Campus Case
Authors: Azeem Varisha
Published: March 2024

Leak management is one of the major challenges that the water distribution system faces. Leakage issues necessitate long-term solutions rather than one-time fixes. It is crucial to find an efficient leak detection system, along with a thorough follow-up method to remediate the leak. This case study is carried out at the Victoria building on the Ryerson University Campus. This project is an attempt to conduct a thorough analysis of water consumption data and to discuss potential scenarios for water leak detection. Key components of water data analysis and leak detection are discussed in this report, including Minimum Night Flow, peak consumption, and continuous data monitoring. Water consumption patterns are investigated, a comparison is made between pre and postpandemic consumption patterns, and possible leaks are identified. A possible leak is discovered in the Victoria building, and the leak continued for alongtime as the building was temporarilyclosed because of the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
Load Distribution in Short and Medium Span, Shear-connected, Precast Beam Bridges Under CHBDC Truck Loading
Authors: Chatha Nouman
Published: March 2024

The 2019 Canadian Highway and Bridge Design Code recognized shear-connected Tee, DoubleTee and inverted-U precast beams to accelerate bridge construction. However, a simplified live load method of analysis of this type is yet unavailable. Therefore, a parametric study was conducted using the Orthotropic Plate Theory to determine the transverse vertical shear required to design the shear key between adjacent beams as affected by bridge span and width, flexuraltorsional parameter, and loading conditions. This study resulted in six charts for this shear force for one-lane to six-lane bridge configurations. Another parametric study was conducted to determine the truck load fraction carried by each beam, leading to empirical equations for moment and shear distribution factors required for beam design. Another analysis was conducted to investigate the applicability of the AASHTO Lever Rule method on this bridge type. Based on the analysis findings, this method was modified to include the effect of beam spacing and span and flexural-to-torsional stiffness ratio.
Analysis, Seismic Performance-based Assessment, and Design of Steel Endplate Connections and Buildings Equipped With Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) Bolts
Authors: Mohammadi Nia Majid
Published: March 2024

Smart materials can be used in structures to avoid damage due to earthquakes. Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) are the most popular smart materials used in structural systems. Unlike steel material, SMAs can dissipate induced cyclic energy without noticeable strength degradation and residual deformations. Proper implementation of SMA materials in steel structures, for example, in plastic hinge regions, can improve the seismic response of structures, especially reducing the residual deformations significantly. A structure capable of returning to its plumb position following a seismic excitation is called a self-centering structure. This dissertation investigates self-centering extended endplate connections equipped with SMA bolts. To this end, 3D finite element models are developed and extensively validated by comparing the finite element results with the experimental results. The developed finite element model is then used to perform sensitivity analyses using the Design of Experiments method. Next, a backbone curve is proposed for the SMA-based connections, and the influential factors obtained from the sensitivity analyses are used in another design of experiments to develop a new database and, consequently, predictive equations for the backbone curve parameters. The generated database based on the significant factors is used to train Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to develop more accurate predictive models while including the experimental test data. The trained ANNs are then used to develop a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for predicting the backbone curve of the connections. Additionally, the trained ANNs are used to conduct an optimization study to identify the optimal regions for the design parameters. Using the predictive tool, a phenomenological model for the SMA-based beam-to-column connections is developed in the OpenSees. The study illustrates the use of the predictive tool for accurate and efficient modeling of SMA-based connections and self-centering moment-resisting frames. The computation time for a typical SMA connection is significantly reduced from seven hours in ANSYS to only three minutes in OpenSees while providing the same level of prediction accuracy. Lastly, a performance-based seismic design is proposed. Two frames of 3- and 6-story height are designed using the proposed design framework to check the proposed design method against prescribed performance objectives.
Analysis of Methods for Reuse of Stormwater Runoff in an Urban Setting Through Comparison to the Toronto Green Standard
Authors: Del Gobbo Mark Anthony
Published: March 2024

The City of Toronto’s Toronto Green Standard (TGS) has recently been subjected to a review. Discussions are underway regarding its feasibility in practice, focused around determining what issues are associated with the TGS and how they can be eliminated. It is of utmost importance to alter the TGS as necessary, to obtain the results that were originally sought out by the City of Toronto. The task of this article is to explore what other municipalities in North America have done to promote sustainable site and building design. Through reviewing the policies that have been put in place by other municipalities, conclusions can be drawn to increase the feasibility of such measures in Toronto. These findings will then be used to make recommendations as to what the city can do to improve the current design requirements. Focus of discussions will be placed on the potential options developers could have in order to redirect and reuse stormwater more effectively.
Exploration of Trends in Professional Profile Pictures
Authors: Outh Soeun
Published: March 2024

This Major Research Paper explored the evolution of professional profile pictures, the influencers who determined original profile pictures, and the historical trends we continue to see in current professional profile pictures. Applying social identity theories, brand theories, and the study of facial appearances, known as physiognomy, this thesis explored professional profile pictures of multiple professions including journalists, faculty and staff at Canadian postsecondary education institutions, photographers, and a career coach. Applying an autoethnographic approach, this thesis is an initial conversation about the systems that created the professional profile picture and the trends that ensued.
Chasing the Mainstream: Corporate Social Advocacy and Online Content Governance
Authors: Hill Stephanie
Published: March 2024

Expectations that commercial actors will act responsibly and for the public good have precipitated a growing number of public controversies as companies either line up to demonstrate their commitment by taking sides on a social issue or are forced to respond to public pressure. These controversies can have knock-on effects for the governance of content and expression, as what is tolerated can easily shift in the face of the intense public criticism that surrounds these controversies.
Media and communications research has speculated on the role of the profit-motive in content moderation on social media but there are gaps in research directly addressing how the advertising industry attempts to institutionalize its interests in appropriate content, as well as in research extending the examination of professional communications beyond advertising-supported media to the wider environment of online content moderation. Given the high stakes of public interventions by commercial actors, a better understanding of their motivations and the regulatory implications of their actions is needed. This dissertation responds to the questions, what motivates corporate social advocacy? How does information circulate in advocacy events? What issues are compatible with corporate social advocacy? And what role does corporate social advocacy play towards governing online content? To answer these questions, it analyzes three public controversies over online content, representing the advertising-supported environment of social media and non-advertising supported environments such as online infrastructure services and gaming and provides a thematic analysis of the professional communications industry perspective on social advocacy controversy. It takes a framework based in a functional public sphere and draws on theories of economies of worth to position corporate social advocacies as “tests of justification” that are revealing of the normative standards applied to commercial advocacy and governance of content. It finds that while controversies can push companies beyond “owned” issues and change the treatment of certain content, the resource intensive and publicly damaging nature of the controversies incentivise controversy-averse approach to moderation, which can chill the creation of content seen as outside the mainstream.
Understanding, Interpreting and Learning Representations in Deep Neural Networks
Authors: Islam Md Amirul
Published: March 2024

Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have achieved state-of-the-art results in many computer vision tasks; however, DNNs have faced criticism for their lack of interpretability. Given the pervasiveness of DNNs in a multitude of applications, it is of paramount importance to fully understand the internal representations and behaviour of DNNs since safe and comprehensible utilization of DNN models is required before incorporating them into decision making processes for real-world applications. In this dissertation, we present several contributions towards understanding, interpreting, and learning representations in DNNs with an emphasis on studying absolute position information, interpreting latent representations to estimate certain semantic concepts, and learning robust representation. First, we study how much absolute position information is encoded in Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) as well as the source of this absolute position information. Our experiments reveal that a surprising degree of absolute position information is encoded in commonly used CNNs and zero padding enables CNNs to encode position information. Next, we analyze the relationship between boundary effects and padding in CNNs with respect to absolute position information. We also demonstrate how a CNN contains positional information in the latent representations if there exists a global pooling layer in the forward pass. We demonstrate that absolute position information is encoded based on the ordering of the channel dimensions, while semantic information is largely not. Second, we perform an empirical study on the ability of DNNs to encode shape information on a neuron-to-neuron and per-pixel level and show evidence that, while DNNs rely on texture information to recognize an object, a substantial amount of shape information is also encoded in DNNs. We further propose a new objective function for increasing a DNN’s ability to encode shape information by maximizing the mutual information between a network’s representations of two stylized images which share the same shape. Finally, we study the feature binding problem and present the first work which applies image blending to learn a robust representation for dense image labeling. Overall, we strongly believe the findings and demonstrated applications in this dissertation will benefit research areas concerned with understanding the different properties of DNNs.
Robust Deep Learning Models for Predicting the Trend of Stock Market Prices During Market Crash Periods
Authors: Ghasemieh Alireza
Published: March 2024

Investing in the stock market involves both opportunities and risks. However, the stock market may experience some fluctuations, which most investors regard as serious threats -- particularly when prices fall sharply due to external circumstances. At the beginning of 2020, as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, equity market indices fell sharply. During this time, many investors suffered significant losses. Despite substantial research in stock market forecasting and the development of various efficient models, existing methods fall short in proposing sustainable and stable models during a financial crisis. To address this research gap, we propose two novel deep learning models: a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)-based ensemble model, namely GAFECNN-Stacking and a stacking ensemble of enhanced WGANs-based model, namely GAFEWGAN, that maintains a high level of resilience to the stock market crash. The GAF-ECNN Stacking and GAF-EWGAN models achieved an average of 13.26% and 16.49% annual returns over 20 selected stocks.
The Interaction of Resilience Concepts and Flood Adaptation Strategies in Vancouver, British Columbia
Authors: Ventura Jacob
Published: March 2024

This study explores the interaction between adaptation, resilience, resident perceptions of risk management, and flood policy in Vancouver, British Columbia. A systematic policy analysis determines how four adaptation strategies (protect, accommodate, retreat, and avoid) are employed in the municipality and interprets the degree to which current flood risk reduction efforts are capable of enhancing resilience across three conceptualizations established in literature (resistance, recovery, and creative transformation). Survey analysis of how residents understand and prioritize the concept of resilience is then applied to policy analysis findings to reveal a misalignment of policy targets and expectations. Findings indicate that protect and accommodate strategies dominate policy to compensate for ongoing floodplain development while the retreat and avoid strategies are ignored despite their utility in addressing exposure. Such policy fails to align with resident perceptions that resilience defined by creative transformation should be the objective of flood adaptation efforts.
Evapotranspiration Rates of Representative Green Roof Systems and the Implications for Green Roof Policies
Authors: Wright Jeremy
Published: March 2024

Urban intensification, population growth and climate change are creating multiple issues within cities on a global scale. As more buildings are constructed to support increasing urban populations, cities are having a more difficult time managing sporadic weather events; especially managing stormwater from intense rainfall. Toronto currently has in place a mandatory green roof bylaw, that is designed to utilize shallow green roofs (GRs) on all new buildings as a measure to intercept rainfall and transpire the water back into the atmosphere. Four green roof modules with varying system buildups were constructed and instrumented on top of a downtown building to analyze how the amounts of retained rainfall and evapotranspiration varied amongst the systems. It was determined that the total evapotranspiration (ET) volume of blue/green roofs and vegetable producing green roofs were considerably higher than a traditional extensive green roof; 236% higher in the blue/green roof and 356% higher in the vegetable roof. It was also determined that unvegetated blue roof systems are also a viable method of managing stormwater on rooftops, with the blue roof module showcasing a total evaporation volume of 134 mm over the duration of the study. The results from this research exhibit that higher hydrological benefit can be derived from green roofs using blue-green technology or vegetable producing assemblies.
Analyzing the Residential Water Consumption Patterns of the City of Toronto and the Relationship With Demographic Variables
Authors: Sultana Mosammat
Published: March 2024

The aim of the thesis was to understand residential water usage in Toronto from 2001 to 2016 and to explore demographic and economic variables that might have affected use. Data were aggregated at the ward level and analyzed by multiple regression. The model explains that wards with high average household income use more water per capita. Water exhibited price elasticity, per capita water use decreased as price increased, but more so in low income wards than high income wards. Average household size had a positive effect on per capita water use; larger households use more water, not only in total, but per capita. Annual rainfall had a negative effect on per capita water use, perhaps due to decreased water demand for lawns and gardens. Interestingly, the percent immigrant had a negative effect on water use which suggests a stronger ethos of water conservation among newer Canadians.
Balancing the Paradox of Inclusivity and Exclusivity: How Luxury Fashion Brands Use Communications to Address Diversity and Inclusion
Authors: Zanotti Bianca
Published: March 2024

In the last decade, luxury fashion brands have been critiqued for design and marketing blunders involving racist imagery and cultural appropriation. These incidents were amplified during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, when luxury fashion brands that purportedly stood in solidarity with the movement were called out for past mistakes by a consumer base that is increasingly concerned with Corporate Social Responsibility and being “woke.” In moments of cultural and racial reckoning, luxury fashion brands are faced with a paradox: communicating values of inclusion while maintaining their exclusiveness. Using a case study approach focusing on Gucci, Prada and Burberry, this research analyzes the wording and structure behind communications of luxury fashion brands, particularly in regards to diversity and inclusion. Findings conclude that brands must follow a specific apology or acknowledgment structure when speaking about a crisis, but also reflect those communications internally to be deemed authentic by consumers.
“Now You See Me": Examining the Sartorial Practices of Young Migrant Muslim Women
Authors: Patel Rehab Mohmed
Published: March 2024

Sartorial practices of Muslim women are often viewed through a lens of fashion identity and religious identity. This research explored the intersectionality of young migrant Muslim women and how it shaped their lived experienced. This research methodological approach focused on a critical literature review, semi-structured interviews and wardrobe interviews. The critical literature review allowed an in-depth analysis of existing research surrounding different themes of the dressing practices of Muslim women in a Western context. In addition, the semi-structured interviews and wardrobe interviews allowed a personal in-sight in understanding how intersectional identities are presented through dressing practices. The findings indicate that the sartorial practices of young migrant Muslim women are impacted by gendered Islamophobia, intra-religious conflict, spatial visibility and challenging Western norms. It was uncovered that the participants engaged in situational dressing practices which allowed them to shape the perception of their identities. In doing so, they adjust their garment through spatial visibility.
Existing Within Capitalism: An Exploration of the Clothing Swap as an Anti-capitalist Fashion System
Authors: Lusson Dante
Published: March 2024

Our fashion industry is built to serve the needs of a capitalist society. Consumers searching for alternatives are often presented with one-stream solutions that cannot reverse the fashion industry’s crisis. This research paper proposes a new alternative for consumers- the clothing swap, an anti-capitalist fashion system. Two in-depth interviews with participants of the Canadian clothing swap community were conducted to understand how they fit into an anti-capitalist framework in the context of fashion. By drawing on the personal experiences of the interviewees, this research illuminates the impact that the clothing swap can have on its participants. Finally, this study proposes that a capitalist fashion industry does not serve the needs of all of its consumers and identifies the importance of seeking out alternatives that do, such as the clothing swap.
What (the H3ll) is Anti-fashion? a Philosophical Approach to a Cultural Phenomenon
Authors: Marginean Denisa
Published: March 2024

Anti-fashion has been dubbed the style of 2010s and 2020s, but what exactly is it? Through guided semi-structured conversations with seven fashion experts, this research project uses a creative investigative approach and narrative analysis in order to demystify anti-fashion imagery and its literature while also expanding its understanding to be more reflective of the many lived experiences of both maker and wearer, designer and consumer. Each person provided a reasoning and conceptualization of anti-fashion that was individual to their perspective. While some factors could be identified and grouped together, anti-fashion remains truly abstracted because it is ultimately a contextual philosophical exercise.
A Kinetic Flat-pattern Method for Childrenswear
Authors: Goronga Benedikte
Published: March 2024

This Major Research Paper examines the relationship between the moving body and alternative pattern drafting compared to traditional or conventional methods of creating patterns for childrenswear. Applying Rickard Lindqvist’s kinetic garment construction theory, this practicebased research developed functional kinetic pattern blocks. The aim was to identify differences between the kinetic and traditional pattern blocks and to determine if kinetic pattern blocks provide more room for movement. The research process involved the development of a grading method specifically for kinetic pattern blocks. Analysis of the kinetic and traditional blocks involved three methods: a visual analysis of the patterns, a wear test of muslins, and a fit model survey. Results indicate that the kinetic pattern blocks have more ease at the shoulder and armhole and that kinetic muslins provide a larger range of movement. Important contributions are the kinetic pattern blocks for childrenswear and a method for grading kinetic blocks.
Forecasting Sales and Developing a Newsvendor Model for Weather-sensitive Retail Products
Authors: Chan Horace
Published: March 2024

The sales of many retail products are affected by the weather. As the weather becomes more erratic due to climate change, retailers must respond by using weather information to help them plan their inventory. This thesis develops a sales forecasting model and an inventory planning model using weather information. The sales forecasting model is developed using several machine learning algorithms and several different sets of timeshifted weather features. Meanwhile, the inventory planning model is developed based on the Newsvendor model considering the demand-temperature relationship and solving the optimal order quantity. Both models are analyzed using sales data obtained from a large Canadian retailer. Using this data, important weather features are identified through analysis of the sales forecasting models. The results are then used in a numerical example and sensitivity analysis to demonstrate the proposed inventory planning model.