bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Predicting Heart Rate Variability In Individuals With Insomnia
Authors: Lachowski Angela M.
Published: May 2021

Insomnia is a highly prevalent condition, affecting up to 30% of adults. Research has shown that insomnia may be an independent predictor of heart disease, which is the second leading cause of death in Canada. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a proxy of autonomic activity often used to estimate current heart health. The present study investigated whether sleep disturbance and psychological variables were independently associated with HRV in a highly characterized (n = 140) sample of people with insomnia. Whereas sleep disturbance as assessed by polysomnogram was not found to predict HRV, worry was associated with HRV in rapid eye movement sleep. Results suggest that sleep does not relate to HRV; rather, worry may be important to HRV, though the nature of this association remains unclear. Previous studies showing that sleep and HRV are related may have been due to inadequate assessment of comorbid psychiatric symptoms.
The immigration of Argentinean Jews to Winnipeg : Emigration and Successful Settlement
Authors: Covshoff Philip Reuben
Published: May 2021

Manitoba has strategized from 2002 onwards to incorporate a free-market approach into Manitoba's Provincial Nominee Programme in order to fulfill its labour market goals. In the grand scheme of attracting new Argentinean Jewish immigrants, it was an opportunity for these people to leave their homeland that was suffering under an economic depression and a currency crisis. Both the provincial government (through the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Programme) and an ethno-cultural institution (the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg) forged a partnership that matched these immigrants with jobs and also helped integrate them into the Winnipeg Jewish community. Seventeen interviews of Argentinean Jews now living in Winnipeg explained how they had a choice of emigrating to Spain, Israel or the United States but they selected Winnipeg and they give their reasons for doing so.
DeGreening: An Installation of Photographic Works
Authors: Pourghorbani Sadaf
Published: May 2021

This thesis is a supporting paper for a photographic exhibition that explores contemporary social and political issues in the country of Iran, through the depiction of a changing landscape. The work consists of photographs of the northern province of Gilan, Iran. As a critical body of work, the installation engages audiences to experience the changing environment and asks viewers to question the causes of the environmental changes in agricultural areas. A brief history of land use change in Iran during the White revolution is presented followed by a description of the current situation of farmlands in contemporary Iran. Goals for the project, methodology and issues of subjectivity are discussed. The shooting strategies, selection of the images, and presentation of the project is outlined. Finally, the essay discusses the project’s documentary relevance.
Optimal Control of Vapor Extraction of Heavy Oil
Authors: Muhamad Hameed
Published: May 2021

Vapor extraction (Vapex) process is an emerging technology for viscous oil recovery that has gained much attention in the oil industry. However, the oil production rates in Vapex are too low to make it attractive for field implementation. Although several researchers have investigated several aspects of Vapex, there are few reported attempts to enhance oil production in Vapex. This research aims to enhance the same using solvent injection pressure versus time as a control function. For this purpose, the necessary conditions for maximum heavy oil production are derived based on a detailed mass transfer model of the Vapex experiment carried out in this work. These conditions are then used to develop an optimal control algorithm to determine the optimal solvent injection pressure polices to maximize oil production in Vapex. The optimal policies successfully generate 20–35% increase in experimental oil production with propane and butane as pure solvents, and heavy oil of 14,500 mPa·s viscosity in lab scale reservoirs of 25 and 45 cm heights, and 204 Darcy permeability. The accuracy of optimal control is experimentally validated. The results show that the experimental oil production values from the optimal policies are within ± 5% of those predicted by the optimal control algorithm.
Who's Laughing Now? Survivors of Sexual Violence Joke About Rape
Authors: Frey Anna Lise
Published: May 2021

Survivors of sexual violence in Canada face a culture that is largely hostile to their voices and experiences. Despite this, some survivors turn to the public sphere to work through their trauma. This thesis presents interview data from seven survivors who have performed stand-up comedy about their own experiences with sexual violence. It weaves together critical and clinical trauma theories, feminist work on sexual violence, and communications theories about humour and joking to offer new insights into how cultural responses to sexual trauma can work to challenge dominant attitudes about rape. This thesis ultimately argues that the cognitive, linguistic, and affective strategies that joking encourages can guide survivors towards reconceptualising the traumatic events they’ve experienced and facilitate the integration of those traumas into their lives. By focusing on a novel aspect of survivors’ affective expressions – their fun – this analysis works to make better sense of peoples’ complex responses to trauma.
Elemental Mapping of Bone Strontium in Rats Treated with Strontium Ranelate and Strontium Citrate Using 2D Micro-XRF and 3D Dual Energy K-Edge Subtraction X-ray Imaging
Authors: Cardenas Daniel Arturo
Published: May 2021

Strontium-based medications, such as strontium ranelate, have been shown to have therapeutic effects in the treatment of osteoporosis, other strontium salts are assumed to have similar effects on bone health. The objective of this study was to compare the distribution of strontium in animal bones following administration of strontium ranelate and strontium citrate. Humerus bones were collected from female Sprague-Dawley rats that were dosed daily over ten weeks with strontium ranelate and strontium citrate, and no strontium (control). Bones were imaged using 2D micro-XRF and 3D dual energy KES X-ray imaging. The 2D imaging revealed differences in strontium and calcium levels between samples from treated and non-treated animals (푝 < 0.001). 3D images obtained showed that strontium was observed to be largely present in the trabecular regions under the epiphyseal plate with concentrations of approximately 5 to 15 mg/cm3 in the bones of both strontium treated groups. The thickness of the strontium layers below the growth plate in both the strontium ranelate and strontium citrate sample were not significantly different (푝 = 0.9201). Both imaging studies performed in this work showed that strontium from both salts is heterogeneously distributed in newly formed bone during treatment.
Optimization of hybrid energy storage system providing power curve smoothening in grid scale
Authors: Barai Gouri Rani
Published: May 2021

Efficient supply of electric energy, maintaining power quality, and addressing intermittency of
renewable energy and unpredictable demand fluctuations are challenges of a modern power
grid. An individual energy storage technology seldom provides all the desired characteristics
expected. A Hybrid Energy Storage System (HESS) including different types of energy storage
systems can address these challenges.

In this work a new formulation and algorithm was developed that optimally designs a grid-scale
HESS for desired performances such as peak load shaving and power demand curve smoothening
at the least capital cost. The proposed HESS comprised of a combination of Lithium Ion batteries,
Flywheels, and Ultracapacitor based Energy Storage Systems. Real and synthetic power demand
dataset representing different types of demand fluctuations were used in the analysis. The
proposed formulation and algorithm was able to optimally size HESS such that it costs the least
while performing in the desired manner.
Adaptive channel-superframe allocation (ACSA) for 20 GHz wireless networks
Authors: Veyseh Majid
Published: May 2021

Millimeter-wave (MMW) systems are high frequency wireless systems with a center frequency of around 60 GHz. This thesis deals with adaptive channel-superframe allocation (ACSA) for such system. An adaptive bandwidth or channel allocation algorithm is utilized in the piconet controller (PNC) and a new superframe structure is designed in order to distribute bandwidth among real-time (RT) and non-real-time (NRT) flows. We propose to serve RT and NRT flows separately in different channels instead of serving them in different times.
We also propose to 'change the sliced superframe of IEEE 802.15.3 to an adaptive unsliced superframe in order to decrease the TCP round-trip time. We simulated a MMW system with appropriate parameters using 802.15.3 MAC as well as ACSA MAC. We meaSured three performance metrics (throughput, delay and fairness), which we aimed to improve in our superframe design. The simulation results show that the adaptive superframe structure . could provide' throughput improvements not only for NRT flows, but also for RT flows.
The control algorithm in PNC could manage the bandwidth allocation in superframe and improve the throughput of RT flows. The channel access delay is improved by providing an unsliced superframe, which eliminated an imposed delay on TCP connections. Finally, the better distribution of bandwidth in ACSA MAC improves the fairness of the system. As a brief, the simulation results support the analysis of the proposed adaptive channelsuperframe
allocation algorithm, which could generally improve the quality of service for
MMW systems.
"Can I not wear my hijab in peace?" : understanding young Muslim girls reason for and experiences of wearing the hijab
Authors: Khan Farheen
Published: May 2021

The aim of this research paper was to explore the reasons for and experiences of young Muslim girls wearing the hijab. Their decision to wear the hijab is examined by exploring the concept of choice within the framework of socialization. The participants included 4 young Muslim girls in the age range of 11-13 wearing the hijab and attending Canadian public school. Focus group and individual interviews were used for data collection.

The results showed that religion was the primary reason why these girls chose to wear the hijab followed by their desire to develop a cultural identity and to represent Islam in the North American society. Family, peers and media were found to have an effect on their decision to wear the hijab. The girls narrated positive as well as negative experiences in and out of school, but were determined in their decision to wear the hijab and were happy with their decision. The implications and limitations of the study indicate a need for future research on this topic.
Portrait of a state : an examination of The face of Minnesota by John Szarkowski
Authors: McDonald Jessica S.
Published: May 2021

John Szarkowski was a photographer for nearly two decades before accepting his influential curatorial post at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1962. He published two books of his photographs in the 1950s, The Idea of Louis Sullivan (1956), and The Face of Minnesota (1958). Szarkowski's second book became a best seller in the months after its publication, but has received little critical attention in recent discussions of his photographic oeuvre. An examination of early correspondence, publishing records, and Szarkowski's own writings provides a framework for re-considering the significance of The Face of Minnesota, placing it within a period of innovation in the expanding field of photographically-illustrated books. The book is analyzed in terms of its roles as both celebration of the state and platform for the author's personal expression. The book's legacy is considered in terms of its reception since 1958.
Barriers vs. bridges: undocumented immigrants' access to post-secondary education in the United States and Canada
Authors: Armanyous Marietta
Published: May 2021

There is limited research available on the issue concerning undocumented immigrants’ access to post-secondary education in the Canadian context. This paper addresses this matter by highlighting the pro-access efforts currently being made in Canada and outlining various actions taken in the United States (US), which Canada can also implement. Guided by the human right to education as its theoretical framework, this paper examines the existing barriers to accessing post-secondary education that this particular marginalized group faces in Canada and the US. It assesses the policies that US state governments, US universities, and Canadian universities implemented (or plan to implement) to remove these barriers, thereby allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain formal post-secondary education.

Key Words: undocumented immigrants; post-secondary education; human right to education; Canada; United States
Flutter Suppression of an Airfoil Using Neuro-Fuzzy Control
Authors: Meng Chun
Published: May 2021

Flutter, a self-excited vibration of wings and control surfaces, can lead to catastrophic failure of aircraft structures. Classical methods have been applied successfully for flutter suppression and for increasing the flutter critical speed. With the demand of higher speed and more flexible aircraft, more advanced active flutter control techniques are required. In this study, a neuro-fuzzy methodology for flutter suppression of a two dimensional airfoil is explored. A MATLAB simulation environment is used for the modeling and analysis. The airfoil model is simulated according to a set of aeroelastic equations of motion. A neuro-fuzzy controller, called NEFCON, is then embedded in the airfoil model for increasing the flutter speed. NEFCON learns from the motion of the airfoil and automatically produces fuzzy rules. The simulation results show that these fuzzy rules can successfully increase the critical flutter speed. The performance of the fuzzy rules is tested with differential airfoil parameters.
Optimal Control Of Atmospheric Air Injection For Enhanced Oil Recovery
Authors: Booran Shahrad Khodaei
Published: May 2021

Gas-based enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes rely on the injection of gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and natural gas into heavy oil reservoirs to reduce inherent oil viscosity. Although these processes are very promising, they face the problem of limited and costly gas supply.

This study investigates the conditions, specifically temperature variation, under which freely available air at low temperatures, low pressures, and non-reactive environments for heavy oil recovery. To that end, preliminary experiments are carried out to demonstrate the possibility of beneficial effects of air temperature variation with time. Furthermore, this research aims to utilize the theory of optimal control to determine optimal air temperature versus time function to maximize the heavy oil recovery. For this purpose, the conditions necessary for optimal control are derived and utilized in a computational algorithm.

The preliminary experiments are executed by injecting air into a lab-scale heavy oil reservoir at different pressures (0.169-0.514 MPa absolute) and temperatures in the range of 25-90oC. Reservoirs of four different permeabilities (40-427 Darcy) are used in experiments. When air is injected with a periodic temperature variation between 90oC and 75oC that has an average of 78oC, the recovery is increased from 58.2% to 69.1% of the original-oil-in-place (OOIP) in comparison to that using constant temperature air injection at the maximum temperature of 90oC. That is a considerable improvement of oil recovery by 18.6%.

Furthermore, utilizing optimal control the optimal interfacial temperature versus time (control policy) is determined between 90oC and 82oC, which registers 20.66% increase in the oil recovery in comparison to that at the constant temperature of 90oC. The accuracy of optimal control is experimentally validated. The results show that the average relative difference between the predicted heavy oil recovery and the experimental value is a low value of 1.82%.
Public Opinion Towards Provincial Powers Over Municipalities: The Case of Toronto
Authors: Zhitomirsky Michal
Published: May 2021

This paper will analyze the case of redistricting in Toronto using data collected from the 2018 Canadian Municipal Election Study (CMES, n.d). The analysis will explore Torontonian public opinion using multivariate regression analysis in the following areas: support for provincial control over municipal matters in general, and support for the provincially imposed ward redistricting in 2018. Specifically, five central hypotheses will be tested through a series of ordered logistic regression models to determine the correlates of support for the exercise of provincial powers over municipalities and support for such powers using the recent redistricting in Toronto as a case study.
Revolution as festival architecture
Authors: Chiu Andrew
Published: May 2021

This thesis argues that if we as a society value the free expression of social and political matters, our built environment needs to provide more accessible opportunities for individuals or groups to produce their own spatial expression.

In contemporary societies, wealth presents the power to frame the spatial conditions of our living environment. The presence of commercial and economic power overshadows the needs for individual expression through the production of space.

Based on theories concerning the spatialization of power and the production of space developed by Michel Foucault and Henri Lefebvre, this thesis will propose an architectural response for the spatial existence of free expression in Toronto. It aims to manifest the power of civic action that transforms social and political narratives. In addition, it will propose an architectural intervention designed to express and facilitate the exercise of collective action that challenges the dominant narrative in society.
Profit maximization models for a two-level dual-channel supply chain
Authors: Batarfi Raaid
Published: May 2021

Internet-based technologies have changed the way firms do business and manage their supply chains. They have influenced customers’ purchase patterns, thereby motivating manufacturers to introduce online channels alongside traditional ones. Such structures are known as dual-channels. Nowadays, an increasing number of manufacturers offer a return policy to attract more customers and to stay competitive. Furthermore, learning-based continuous improvements help firms cope with market changes and be competitive, flexible and efficient. This thesis presents three main models:

The first model investigates the effect of adopting a dual-channel (comprised of a retail channel and an online channel) on the performance of a two-level (vendor-retailer) supply chain. The objective is to maximize the total profit of the system by finding the optimal markup margin and inventory decisions before and after adopting the dual-channel. The results show that adding an online channel would increase the profit of the system. However, it creates a conflict due to competition between the retail and online channels.

The second model studies a supply chain system, which is comprised of production, refurbishing, collection, and waste disposal processes. A return policy in which customers can return the purchased item for a refund is also considered. The purpose is to examine the effect of different return policies on the behavior of the system before and after adopting the dual-channel strategy. In both strategies, the model analyzes the change in the profit, the pricing and inventory decisions. The findings demonstrate that the more generous the return policy is, the higher the demand, the selling prices and the overall profit.

The third model investigates the effects of learning and forgetting in the vendor’s production processes. It also considers single- and dual-channel strategies. Each channel structure can adopt any of six inventory policies. Learning and forgetting effects are considered in all policies except one. The objective is to maximize the profit of the system by finding the joint optimal pricing and inventory decisions. The results suggests that learning, despite being impeded by forgetting, reduces inventory-related costs thereby allowing the chain to reduce the prices of its product(s), which increases demand and subsequently sales.
Architecture without barriers: designing inclusive environments accessible to all
Authors: Wong Hong-Li
Published: May 2021

In Canada, studies show there are changing demographics increasing the population, the
disability rate, and the aging population. This significantly impacts people and their interactions
within the built environment. Currently, there are many buildings meeting minimum accessibility
standards, though they continuously create poorly designed and inaccessible buildings to all.
Thus, integrating Inclusive Design (ID) allows for full participation within society. This prevents
discrimination and stigmatization. ID is an intervention respecting differences, associated with
gender, race, religion, as well as age and ability, by accommodating diverse needs of various
groups of people. This approach incorporates three design strategies, including visual, nonvisual,
and social aspects enhancing the concept of ID. They are accessible experience while
traversing in architecture as communication, responsive and adaptable environment through
multi-sensory experience, and secure architecture for social interaction. As a result, an inclusive
environment is created addressing equity and equality, which benefit everyone enhancing self-dignity, independence, and well-being.
Uncovering dress policy in Québec
Authors: Raymer Krista
Published: May 2021

By contrast with Canada, the provincial government of Québec has struggled to identify and articulate a "national" identity. The separatist Parti Québécois proposed the Charter of Values in 2013 in order to strengthen provincial claims to nationalism. Legislation within the charter potentially alters the appearances of the populace by defining acceptable forms of dress in a range of public spaces. It raises troubling questions concerning the role dress plays
in the bodily display of values and creation of national identity. Through a biopolitical approach, it is evident the Charter of Values is designed to eliminate the presence of hair and facial covering practices in public space. The policy prioritizes the pure laine identity, while marking those bodies dressed in a way that reference non francophone traditions and cultures as threatening to the security and cultural values of Québec. The critique of the proposed legislation exposes the role public policy plays in creating, maintaining, and perpetuating dressed identities in public space. The Charter of Values has and will continue to stigmatize those citizens who communicate non- pure laine identities through dress.

Key Terms:

Dress, Public Space, Public Policy, Charter of Values , Québec, Biopolitics, Multiculturalism
Criticisms of Normalized Marketing Strategies: An In-Depth Analysis of Inherent Racism and Gender Conformity in the World of RuPaul’s Drag Race
Authors: Houston Jeremy
Published: May 2021

This paper showcases how inherent racism and gender conformity are enforced by the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise via promotional material, episode content, types of queens featured and judges’ commentary between the first and ninth season of the television series. The research aims to understand how the shift from a once LGBTQ+ specific market to a mainstream audience has further perpetuated the idealized forms of beauty and femininity. The content analysis of the first and ninth season showcases how RPDR is seeking to fit a pre-constructed stereotype created by the ‘imagined’ heteronormative/cisgender audience since becoming mainstream. Viewers are comfortable with consuming content that exists in their current environment or in which they can relate to, which makes it difficult to celebrate queens that deviate from heteronormativity at the franchise level. With the shift from Logo TV to VH1, LGBTQ+ focused companies are losing opportunities for sponsorship and marketing directly to their intended niche audience. Overall, the television series is supposed to be put in place to celebrate LGBTQ+ culture and to be a progressive step in which minorities are being showcased in mainstream media, but they are not being conveyed in an accurate or justified manner. Queens such as Shea Couleé, Peppermint and Valentina are essentially robbed of their chance to win RPDR due to their race, and in Peppermint’s case specifically, her transness.
Sense of the past: historic house museums in Toronto, Canada, as forms of an urban heterotopia
Authors: Naumova Alevtina
Published: May 2021

Historic house museums allow for reconceptualization of the meaning of tangible objects around
us. We establish this new relationship with materiality through our sensory bodies. We conceive
of ourselves differently and allow ourselves to move and behave in ways that are not acceptable
in the world outside of the museum. We perform our new selves with permission granted by the
sense of place that cannot be understood other than through embodied experience–of things, of
selves, of the environment that brings it all together. In the coming together of all these elements
in the immediate, intimate present, the notion of the past is defined as cultural heritage as
mediated through the historic house museum curatorial work and space.

I approach historic house museums as socially created and lived kinds of spatiality and sites of
social practices and focus on the experiences of people that spend considerable amounts of time
there–the museum staff. As a researcher, I have inserted myself within the environment of a
historic house museum and attempted to open it to social inquiry through various ways of being
within it–observing, writing, interviewing, interacting, sensing, entering it and leaving it. I have
carried out a form of phenomenological ethnography, which included a two-year
autoethnographic study at the Mackenzie House Museum, in Toronto, Canada, where I
volunteered in the position of an interpreter and a historic cook; 24 participant observation visits
to other historic house museums in Toronto; and 13 in-depth unstructured interviews with
museum staff from various historic house museum sites in the city. The three methods addressed
the key conceptual clusters–emplacement, materiality, and performance, which form three
analytical chapters of the dissertation.

The dissertation positions historic house museums as forms of heterotopia that function as
contestations of the accepted spatial, social, and temporal norms within an urban environment.
These museums come forth as attempted reconstructions of anthropological places, in the form
of domestic sites that assert significance of material manifestations of familial relations and
historical heritage. These sites are immersive environments bridge the gap in the current
experience of body, time, and space.
A/R/Tography as a Method of Awe: an A/R/Tographic Inquiry of the Canadian North
Authors: Emily Pleasance
Published: May 2021

This thesis is a year-long inquiry on the Canadian North using the practice-based research
method a/r/tography. This a/r/tographic research on the Canadian North follows the method's three
modalities: theoria, praxis, and poesis. It concludes by presenting the North as a non-place, placeless, a
pseudo-place. Ultimately, this thesis contributes to a/r/tography's ongoing development as a research
methodology. I propose to expand the frames within which we conceptualize a/r/tography's theoria,
praxis, and poesis. The re-defining and re-organization of these three modalities opens a/r/tography to a
wider range of creators to allow for even more boundary-breaking work. In addition, I draw out the
possibilities of Lures as a hitherto unrecognized seventh conceptual practice embedded in a/r/tography.
Moreover, I describe a/r/tographers as child-voyagers who are able to momentarily dispense with their
perceptual frameworks and enter spaces that allow them to see the world anew. Most importantly, I reconceptualize a/r/tography as a method of awe.
Modeling and optimization of ethylene copoplymerization in high pressure reactor using difunctional initiators
Authors: Fard Pegah Khazraei Karimi
Published: May 2021

Free radical (co-)polymerization of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is carried out commonly in high pressure autoclaves or tubular reactors. The severe thermodynamic conditions of the process hinder ethylene from going to full conversion. One remedy to improve the monomer conversion is to investigate the effectiveness of initiators, such as difunctional organic peroxides. In the present work, a kinetic model based on a postulated reaction mechanism for free radical ethylene (co-) polymerization initiated by difunctional initiators is applied to analyze the dynamic behavior of a continuous LDPE isothermal autoclave reactor and a non-isothermal tubular reactor. The model describes the rates of initiation, propagation and the population balance equations. It predicts variations of the initiator and monomer concentrations and reaction temperature as well as molecular weight distribution of reactive macromolecular species. Variations of the pressure, velocity and transport/physical properties of the reacting mixture were accounted for in the tubular reactor. Model predictions are compared to experimental data collected from literatures for one monofunctional (dioctanoyl) and two difunctional initiators namely, (2,2-bis(tert-butylperoxy)-butane and 2.5-dimetyl hexane-2t-butylperoxy-5perpivalate).

In comparison with dioctanoyl peroxide, polymerization with difunctional initiators requires a lesser amount of initiators and gives higher ethylene conversion in a shorter time. The modeling of LSPE with difunctional initiators was then extended to ethylene copolymerization with vinyl acetate and butyl acrylate. The model helps to determine the influence of reactivity ratio on the end-use product properties. Details of modeling a multiple feed LSPE tubular reactor are included for both homo- and co-polymerization reactions. The effect of monomer and initiator injections on the productivity and (co)polymer rheology and composition are investigated as well.

Finally, an optimization method was applied to determine the optimal values of control variables via maximization of an objective function expressed in terms of monomer conversion, number average molecular weight, polydispersity and final desired composition of copolymer product. The results show that we can obtain a polymer with desired characteristics by proper manipulation of the control variables.
Deprivation and Deservingness: Exploring Basic Income in Response to Immigrant Poverty
Authors: Koughan Bethany
Published: May 2021

Research on the economic trends for immigrants to Canada shows a progressive trend towards impoverishment, particularly for racialized groups. This review presents the case that current responses to poverty in Canada are inadequate, and tend to perpetuate the cycles they seek to address by reifying group divides. Building on theories of social exclusion, this MRP explores the potential of basic income to create greater access to social and material capital for otherwise marginalized groups. Finally, by looking at current policy approaches to welfare, public attitudes towards redistribution, and historic BIG trials, the argument is made that with non-moral framing a basic income trial in Canada could be both politically feasible and destigmatizing.
Design and Development of Power and Attitude Control Subsystems for RYESAT
Authors: Alger Michael William Richard
Published: May 2021

This thesis describes the design and development of Ryerson University's first CubeSat (RyeSat) with a focus on power and attitude control subsystems. This satellite is intended to become the initial of a series of CubeSats built by Ryerson University to perform research in spacecraft control algorithms and actuators. RyeSat is built around a standard interface, which specifies both a data-bus and a switchable power supply system for non critical systems. To facilitate the development of this satellite a prototype power subsystem was created, programmed and tested. In addition to developing the system's architecture and power subsystem; analysis was preformed to size both reaction wheels and magnetic torquers. This analysis showed that a commercially available motor could be adapted to fulfill the attitude control requirements of a CubeSat and also showed that miniature magnetic torque rods would be more efficient that magnetic torque coils typically used on CubeSats. Finally, control laws for these actuators were designed and an adaptive nonlinear sliding mode controller for reaction wheels was applied to control the 3-axis attitude motion of RyeSat.
Influencing Attitudes and Preferences Toward Climate Change using a Multi-Player, Transportation Themed Board Game
Authors: Kjorven Alexandra Xiaoyi
Published: May 2021

Traditional tabletop board games have soared in popularity in recent years, and used often as tools for education and entertainment. Board games are an especially engaging format for studying themes of collective-action problem solving. This study looks at one of the most complex collective-action problems of this generation, climate change, and evaluates how individual attitudes and preferences may be altered by playing a board game specifically designed to influence how people relate to an issue. The board game Wheels was introduced and taught to 18 participants, who engaged in five separate playtesting sessions where observation, survey and interview data were collected. The study evaluates participants' attitudes and preferences toward certain transportation and climate change topics before and after playing the game. The game showed promise in changing players' preferences toward certain modes of transportation - increasing preferences toward electric vehicles and cycling, and decreasing preference towards gas powered cars. These findings indicate that the effective combination of select climate change game mechanics in a highly personalized theme may produce an engaging and entertaining experience that has the potential to transcend the game board and impact players' outlook upon real life choices.
Constructing ‘Canadians’: a discourse analysis of political constructions in the Discover Canada Citizenship Guide
Authors: Nagendran Sangeetha
Published: May 2021

Under Stephen Harper’s leadership, the Conservative government took active steps to maintain a particular Canadian identity. This notion is grounded in changes made to immigration policies and in Discover Canada, “where nation-specific definitions of citizenship” (Winter, 2014, p. 1) are outlined extensively. Discover Canada provides immigrants access to a specific construction of national history, while also highlighting Canada’s pride in its multiculturalism. Thus, when considering Discover Canada as a representation of Canada’s national identity, this MRP will interrogate the underlying discourses on which it is based by critically examining the guidebook. While the guidebook attempts to be inclusive—by including sections on ‘Aboriginal Peoples’ and ‘Diversity in Canada’— it paradoxically provides a romanticized vision of history that fails to recognize persisting social inequalities resulting from a deeply rooted history of colonialism and systemic racism. This problematic portrayal of Canadian history, identity and multiculturalism may significantly disservice immigrants who seek meaningful inclusion and representation in Canada.

Key words: Political constructions and representations; national identity; citizenship; racialized immigrants and minorities; multiculturalism.
AIDS In Action: A New Movement Led by Canadians Living With HIV & Its Implications on Critical Anti-oppressive Social Work Practice
Authors: Hui Sze Shing Christian
Published: May 2021

Conducted by an HIV+ activist-researcher, the study reported upon in this MRP aimed to 1) explore the challenges and opportunities faced by a new movement led by Canadians living with HIV to place the affected community of people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs) back to the forefront of the national HIV response; and 2) establish the key factors and conditions that may help strengthen this community-led effort. The qualitative study utilized the Positive People Centred Perspective as theoretical framework comprised of interviews with key Canadian HIV+ activists on their reflections of the recent efforts by the new Canadian Positive People Network (CPPN) to create a collective voice for Canadian PHAs and their views of the essential elements that are necessary for the network and movement to thrive. Results of the research will help strengthen the development of CPPN and inform critical, anti-oppressive social work practice and scholarship.
From social celebration to politics as usual : newspaper coverage of the Legislative opening in Ontario, 1900-2007
Authors: Cairns James Irvine
Published: May 2021

This dissertation analyzes twentieth century changes in the representation of political authority in Ontario. It does so by conducting narrative analysis and framing analysis of newspaper coverage of the ceremonial Opening of the Legislature. In contrast to standard political science approaches to this key civic ritual, the dissertation builds upon cultural theory that views news as central to the social construction of reality and addresses three research questions: In what ways has the meaning of the legislative opening been represented in mainstream Ontario newspapers? How have mass mediated processes of ritualization changed over time? And what do answers to the first two questions suggest about the development of popular conceptions of political legitimacy in Ontario? Textual analysis demonstrates that social knowledge about the legislative opening has changed significantly between 1900 and 2007. During the first half of the twentieth century, journalists approached and described the Opening of the Legislature as a Social Celebration: a popular festival at Queen's Park that was also a break from routine policy discourse and partisan battle. By contrast, by the 1970s coverage was organized around the Speech from the Throne. Increasingly aggressive journalistic tones and techniques represented the ritual as a performance of rationality--a special iteration of Politics as Usual. Once a celebration of social order centred around Ontario High Society, the legislative opening is now depicted as a debate among competing interests in Ontario society. While remaining critical of the emergent ritual of liberal-pluralism for its part in normalizing systems of inequality, the dissertation argues that changes in newspaper coverage both reflect and reinforce the rise of what Smith calls "electoral democracy", a conception of politics in which extra-parliamentary actors are legitimized as participants in government. At the level of scholarly practice, the study makes an original contribution to recent debates in media anthropology by using longitudinal textual analysis to study the ritualization of civic ritual; and shifts in news coverage are used to advocate further interdisciplinary studies of legislative politics in Canada.
Assessing Program Delivery from the Perspective of Service Providers: the Ontario Early Years Centres’ School Readiness Program
Authors: Saadati Ziba
Published: May 2021

This paper assesses the School Readiness program as delivered in two Ontario Early Years Centres (OEYCs) in Toronto. Information about program goals and delivery methods gleaned from interviewing three Child Development Consultants who ran the program in the last year is analyzed within the context of existing scholarship on and practices in early childhood learning and development. The interviewers' observations and comments form the basis for the assessment of the effectiveness of the OEYC School Readiness program. An important part of assessing effectiveness is determining whether the OEYCs and program workers have set clearly defined learning outcomes for program participants and how, if at all, the program measures these outcomes. In assessing program effectiveness, one of the factors considered is to what extent the OEYCs acknowledge and address the needs of an important demographic: immigrant children (and their support network of parents/caregivers and families). The observations and recommendations made in this study are intended to help service providers in the OEYCs develop a best practice model for program delivery, including arriving at a better sense of how they conceive of school readiness.
Energy analysis using carrier HAP program and Deep Lake Water Cooling (DLWC) feasibility analysis for Ryerson University
Authors: Rahman Md. Ziaur
Published: May 2021

The objective of this project is to determine the total annual energy summary in terms of cost and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission of 16 buildings at Ryerson University (RU). In addition, the Deep Lake Water Cooling (DLWC) feasibility analysis of RU is another objective of this project in terms of total energy consumption and amount of gas emission reduction. The total audit area of RU was 86% of the total campus area. Building energy simulation program, Carrier HAP (Hourly Analysis Program), has been used to make an integrated evaluation of building energy consumption. An energy simulation involves hour-by-hour calculations for all 8,760 hours in a year.
In this project, an energy audit was conducted for the 16 existing buildings to establish the base case model, "Ryerson University", to determine its annual energy consumption across all usage. There are two sources of energy used at RU. Electricity uses for lighting, plug load, miscellaneous and cooling, and remote steam is used for cooling and heating. For the base case model, total energy consumption was 251 TJ. To reduce the total energy consumption of the base case model, HVAC systems were investigated to analyze their energy-based performance and impact on the GHG emission. There is no Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) system coming from the investigation of HVAC system. The sensitivity analysis was conducted using HRV system with air system. By using HRV system with air system, total of 5.6% energy would be saved for cooling and 76% energy would be saved for heating of RU. The energy intensity was determined to be 1.04 GJ/m² only for 16 buildings of RU and comparatively it is lower than other universities in Canada which have a range of 1.64 GJ/m² to 2.26 GJ/m².
In the DLWC system, cool lake water at 4°C was used for building air conditioning. To reduce the cooling energy costs, DLWC system was considered as an alternative chilled water source. The Rogers Business Building (RBB) already has DLWC system. For DLWC system, chilled water was served by Enwave to the RBB. According to base case analysis of the RBB with conventional chillers, the electricity consumption was 924594 kWh for RBB due to chillers. With the implementation of DLWC system for the rest of the 15 buildings, total energy saving due to cooling would be 89.2% and GHG emission reduction would be 89% for CO₂, 70% for NOx and 70.4% for SOx due to elimination of chillers.
South Asian immigrant women & abuse : identifying intersecting issues and culturally appropriate solutions
Authors: Chokshi Ritu
Published: May 2021

The current discourse and media portrayal of abused South Asian women is largely around depicting a pathological community, placing the blame of domestic violence within the South Asian community as an inherent result of South Asian culture. This paper aims moves [sic] away from a simplistic cultural interpretation of violence and utilizes an intersectional perspective for understanding multiple oppressions faced by abused South Asian women. Mapping key intersecting issues and analysis of gaps in the service provision in the domestic violence sector are undertaken through an in-depth literature review. An exploratory and descriptive case study method is adopted to explore a community-based organization's approach to culturally appropriate domestic violence intervention in the South Asian community. Case study findings recommend utilizing a culturally appropriate approach for understanding, engaging and intervening in domestic violence cases in the South Asian community. Community development, strengthening the family and a non-blame approach to addressing violence is recommended through the case study.
Exploring the social and economic development impact of the Canadian Seasonal Agriculture Workers Program (CSAWP) for Jamaican migrant workers, their families and communities
Authors: Wright Paulette Carol
Published: May 2021

The enthusiasm of immigrant sending countries around migration and development hinges on the fact that the flow of money, knowledge and universal ideas can have a positive effect on development in these countries. The Canadian Seasonal Agriculture Workers Program (CSAWP) was established in 1966, most of the Social Science literature on this program has emphasized its exploitative and problematic aspects. Without dismissing the significance of the focus and results of other research, this paper examines the social and economic development impact of this program on households and communities in Jamaica. Research done by academics and an analysis of Jamaica‟s newsprint media done for this research reveal that the CSAWP has had positive development impacts. Findings suggest that the program is delivering social and economic benefits to migrant workers and their families. It has increased income, consumption, child schooling and improved health care. In addition to improving the standard of living for migrant workers and their families, the CSAWP has additional benefits at the community and national levels.
Bacterial survival at solid-air interfaces: from individual response to population ecology
Authors: Pashang Roshanak
Published: May 2021

Acclimation and flexible response mechanisms are ancient survival modes allowing prokaryotic cells to conquer diverse habitats and maintain viability in nature. Evidently, lack of water significantly impacts cellular response making it vital for individual cells to benefit from population support and access survival means available beyond the cell boundaries. Microscopy of dried bacterial cells at solid-air interfaces suggested that cell membrane breakdown didn’t occur for months. Viable counts for Gram-positive Arthrobacter spp. and Gram-negative Pseudomonas stutzeri were significantly higher for larger population density during prolonged periods of desiccation and nutrient starvation. Presence of homogenized cells extended short-term survival of Arthrobacter spp. cells, while heat-killed cells significantly extended viability of all populations. It appeared that huddled zombielike cells allow preservation and recycling of essential survival components within a population. Understanding population-mediated survival at solid-air interfaces is key for monitoring and controlling bacteria including in deep geological repositories for nuclear waste management.