bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Experimental and Computational Investigation of Spoiler Deployment on Wing Stall
Authors: Lindsay Scott
Published: May 2021

Upper surface flaps commonly referred to as spoilers or drag brakes can increase maximum lift, and improve aerodynamic efficiency at high, near-stall angles of attack. This phenomenon was studied experimentally and computationally using a 0.307626 m chord length NACA 2412 airfoil in six different configurations, and one baseline clean configuration. A wind tunnel model was placed in the Ryerson Low Speed Wind Tunnel (atmospheric, closed-circuit, 3 ft × 3 ft test section) at a Reynold’s number of approximately 780,000 and a Mach number of 0.136.
The wind tunnel study increased the lift coefficient by 0.393%-2.497% depending on the spoiler configuration. A spoiler of 10% chord length increased the maximum lift coefficient by 2.497 % when deflected 8º, by 2.110% when deflected 15º, and reduced the maximum lift coefficient by 2.783% when deflected 25º. A spoiler of 15% chord length produced smaller maximum lift coefficient gains; 0.393% when deflected 8º, by 1.760% when deflected 15º, and reduced the maximum lift coefficient by 4.475% when deflected 25º. Deflecting the spoiler increased the stall angle between 37.658% and 87.544% when compared with the clean configuration. The drag coefficient of spoiler configurations was lower than the clean configuration at angles of attack above 18º. The combination of the increased lift and reduced drag at angles of attack above 18º created by the spoiler configurations resulted in a higher aerodynamic efficiency than the clean configuration case. A 10% chord length spoiler deflected at 8º produced the highest aerodynamic efficiency gains.
At low angles of attack, the computational study produced consistently higher lift coefficients compared with the wind tunnel experiment. The lift-slope was consistent with the wind tunnel experiment lift-slope. The spoiler airfoil stall behaviour was inconsistent with the results from the wind tunnel experiment. The drag coefficient results were consistent with the wind tunnel experiment at low angles of attack. However, the spoiler equipped airfoils did not reduce drag at high angles of attack. Therefore, the computational model was not valid for the spoiler configurations at high angles of attack.
Gone With the Madness
Authors: Farrokhi Sardar
Published: May 2021

Gone with the Madness is a photographic book project that offers a critical yet intimate experience of contemporary Iranian society as it has evolved in the years since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In development for almost a decade, the project juxtaposes exterior urban landscapes of major Iranian cities with images of interior, private and social life in these cities, drawing the viewer’s attention to the dualities and contradictions inherent in every aspect of life in Iran today.
Newcomer youth: how integration pitfalls may lead to participation In illegal activities
Authors: Godwin Zainab
Published: May 2021

Newcomer youth’s migration and integration experience is a topic with depths that are yet to be discovered. However, to enhance the integration experience, it is crucial that we look into the existing pathways and barriers to successful integration. Through a combination of primary research with 2 staff who work with newcomer youth in conflict with the law and 2 additional studies discussing integration barriers for newcomer youth, this study analyzes the systemic and individual barriers that may further marginalize newcomer youth and potentially result in their involvement in illegal/delinquent behaviours. Utilizing multiple theoretical frameworks, the research concludes that through gaps in the system (especially the education system), newcomer youth are vulnerable to illegal and delinquent behaviours as they settle and integrate in their new home country.

Keywords: Newcomer youth, barriers, settlement, integration, criminal justice system, delinquency, illegal activities.
Social listening Integrating Facebook into Business-to-Business (B2B) Communications
Authors: Desjardins Carley
Published: May 2021

This study builds on the motivation to integrate social media into corporate communications and attempts to understand analytically what works and does not work in terms of the corporate engagement of new communications technologies. The purpose of this study is to better understand the ways in which an organization integrates social media into their communication efforts with an emphasis on feedback within these settings. Of particular importance to this concept of feedback is not just how an organization speaks to their audience within a social media setting, but how they manage listening within the same context; how does audience/stakeholder response filter back through corporate channels when received through social media networks? The specific purpose of this MRP is to observe social listening, that is, how information and communication flows between social media and corporation, with an emphasis on message transmission, processing, and feedback and feed-forward processes through the theoretical lens of autopoiesis, a micro-theory within the larger communications theory of cybernetics. Facebook, in particular, is understood as an autopoietic system. This investigation was undertaken in the form of a case study involving the corporate Facebook page of EMC Corporation, a Fortune200 company. All observation for this study occurred on the Internet and data was collected by taking screenshots of EMC’s official Facebook page. These screenshots were analyzed through the lens of autopoiesis and by using methods from discourse analysis.
Modeling of Doubly Fed Induction Generators for Distribution System Power Flow Analysis
Authors: Dadhania Amitkumar
Published: May 2021

Large-scale integration of Wind Generators (WGs) with distribution systems is underway right across the globe in a drive to harness green energy. The Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) is an important type of WG due to its robustness and versatility. Its accurate and efficient modeling is very important in distribution systems planning and analysis studies, as the older approximate representation method (the constant PQ model) is no longer sufficient given the scale of integration of WGs.

This thesis proposes a new three-phase model for the DFIG, compatible with unbalanced three-phase distribution systems, by deriving an analytical representation of its three major components, namely the wind turbine, the voltage source converter, and the wound-rotor induction machine. The proposed model has a set of nonlinear equations that yields the total three-phase active and reactive powers injected into the grid by the DFIG as a function of the grid voltage and wind turbine parameters. This proposed model is integrated with a three-phased unbalanced power flow method and reported in this thesis. The proposed method opens up a new way to conduct power flow studies on unbalanced distribution systems with WGs.

The proposed DFIG model is verified using Matlab-Simulink. IEEE 37-bus test system data from the IEEE Distribution System sub-committee is used to benchmark the results of the power flow method.
Modelling and experimental investigation of ARGET/AGET atom transfer radical polymerization systems
Authors: Massicotte Ethan
Published: May 2021

Activators Generated by Electron Transfer (AGET) and Activators Regenerated by Electron Transfer (ARGET) Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP) are emerging topics within the polymerization field. These techniques allow for better control over polymer structure and polymer size distributions than conventional polymerizations. However, investigations into these processes are lacking, especially from a modelling point of view. Therefore, a kinetic model of the ARGET ATRP of butyl methacrylate (BMA) in a solution medium and Hybrid Monte Carlo model of the AGET ATRP of butyl acrylate (BA) in a dispersed system were developed and compared with data. In addition, an experimental investigation of the AGET ATRP of BA was carried out to study the kinetic aspects of this polymerization. The results of these studies demonstrate that both models have relatively strong predictive powers, and that different kinetic regimes appear to be available within the dispersed system studied experientially.
Light shapes space: how light influences our perception of space
Authors: So Hoi Ting Iris
Published: May 2021

The role light that plays in architecture is not simply to brighten a room to enable people to see, but also to create atmospheres and define spaces. The quality of light affects our perception of space. Light has the power to enhance our experience of spaces by increasing pleasure and comfort. Conversely, light can make spaces uncomfortable for users. This thesis demonstrates how light with materiality and tectonic qualities can create different tactical and atmospheric conditions to strategically enhance the relationships of user to space and user to nature. By considering light in design, architects can turn light into a design feature and use it to create a variety of spatial perceptions. Light can define a room’s characteristics and create atmosphere so that people feel connected to that space through association with natural lighting phenomena. Consequently, lighting can be used as a tool to enhance the user’s experience with architecture
Enhancement of CN Tower lightning current derivative signals using a modified power spectral subtraction method
Authors: Mehmud Huma
Published: May 2021

Lightning current measurements are possible using instrumental tall structures or rocket-triggered lightning. The CN Tower has been a source of lightning current data for the past 15 years. A major portion of research on the natural lightning is focused on developing lightning protection systems, and in order to do so, an accurate knowledge of the characteristics of lightning, including the return-stroke current, is required. The CN Tower is a transmission tower and it is expected that the recorded lightning current signals be corrupted with different kinds of noise. This makes it difficult to extract the return-stroke current waveform parameters (peak, 10-90% rise-time to peak, maximum steepness, pulse width etc.) from the measured waveforms. In this project, an over-subtraction and residual noise reduction based power spectral subtraction method has been developed in order to de-noise the lighting return-stroke current derivative signals measured at the CN Tower. In order to evaluate the proposed de-noising technique, the derivative of Heidler function is used to model the measured return-stroke current derivative signal. The measured current derivative signal is simulated using the Heidler derivative model after artificially corrupting it with noise signals measured at the CN Tower in the absence of lightning. A modified spectral substraction method (MSS) is proposed and applied to the de- noise the simulated current derivative signal and the resultant waveform is compared with the Heidler derivative model, which enabled accurate evaluation of the proposed method. The result of the evaluation show a substantial improvement in the signal peak-to-noisepeak ratio(SPNPR) of up to 32 dB depending on the level of vthe noise signal, which is added to the Heidler derivative function. Furthermore, 95.7%-98.5% recovery of the peak of the original Heidler derivative function was obtained. For further evaluation of the new MSS method, the conventional spectral subtraction (SS) method is applied for de-noising the same simulated current derivative signals, which produced a substantially lower SPNPR of up to 16 dB with a peak recovery of 93.3%- 97.5% of the original Heidler derivative model. The poposed method is successfully used to substantially remove the noise from the lightning current derivative signals measured at the CN Tower.
Visualizing The Big Three: Geospatial Interpolation Of Heavy Metal Sediment Contamination In Lake Erie
Authors: Mitchell Danielle E.
Published: May 2021

A wealth of resources for economic prosperity have driven development along the shorelines of the Great Lakes for over 150 years. The rapid growth of industrial, agricultural, and residential land use has degraded many natural components of lake ecosystems, including sediments and water quality. In this dissertation, spatiotemporal patterns of non-essential heavy metal sediment contamination in Lake Erie will be examined from historic and contemporary sediment surveys. Three inter-related studies explore innovative methods for improving the validity and overall usefulness of sediment contamination maps that could be used by a variety of stakeholders in pollution control efforts throughout the Lake Erie basin. First, sediment survey designs are analyzed for their utility in creating valid interpolated surfaces from which spatiotemporal comparisons of mercury sediment contamination can be compared over time. The next study explores how ancillary sediment variables and contamination categorization methods can support interpolated maps of cadmium sediment contamination from low-density sediment surveys. The final study introduces a novel method of three-dimensional geovisualization to enhance the geographic representation of lead sediment contamination patterns throughout the Lake Erie basin. Innovative research methodologies designed for this dissertation may be applied to sediment contamination studies in other Great Lakes. The visualization techniques employed in mapping sediment contamination patterns provide strong scientific evidence for spatiotemporal change in non-essential heavy metal pollution throughout Lake Erie. Combined, the research findings and maps produced throughout this dissertation can contribute to the growing body of knowledge used in environmental decision making for pollution control in the Great Lakes basin
Theory and application of encrypted sequential data processing: search and computation
Authors: Poon Hoi Ting
Published: May 2021

Cloud Computing has seen a dramatic rise in adoption in the past decade amid se-
curity and privacy concerns. One area of consensus is that encryption is necessary, as
anonymization techniques have been shown to be unreliable. However, the processing of
encrypted data has proven to be difficult. Briefly, the goal is to maintain security over
remotely stored and accessed data while achieving reasonable storage cost and perfor-
mance. Search is the most basic and central functionality of a privacy-protected cloud
storage system actively being investigated. Recent works have looked at enabling more
specialized search functions. In this thesis, we explore the problem of searching and pro-
cessing of sequential data. We propose three solutions targeting textual data, with em-
phasis respectively on security, storage cost and performance. Our first solution achieves
a high level of security with reduced communication, storage and computational cost
by exploiting properties of natural languages. Our second solution achieves a minimal
storage cost by taking advantage of the space efficiency of Bloom filters. Both propos-
als were also first to enable non-keyword search in phrases. Using a subsequence-based
solution, our final phrase search scheme is currently the fastest phrase search protocol
in literature. We also show how sequential data search schemes can be extended to in-
clude auditing with minimal additional cost. The solution is capable of achieving proof
of retrievability with unbounded number of audits. A sample application which enables
searching and computing over target values of encrypted XML files is also demonstrated.
In terms of media, we describe an encrypted cloud media storage solution that simultane-
ously protects user privacy and enables copyright verification, and is the first to achieve
security against dishonest participants. We also describe a framework where practical
scalable privacy-protected copyright detection can be performed. Finally, an application
of sequence querying over generic data in the form of an Anti-Virus over encrypted cloud
storage is demonstrated. A private scanning solution and a public Anti-Virus as a ser-
vice solution are described, noting that the technique can be conceptualized as a generic
pattern matching solution on encrypted data. We also include some directions on future
work and unexplored applications.
The Development of an Off-Peak Ground Pre-Cool Control Strategy for Hybrid Ground-Source Heat Pump Systems
Authors: Alaica Adam Alexander
Published: May 2021

Hybrid Ground-Source Heat Pump (HGSHP) systems have been introduced as a remedy to overcome the current financial hurtles associated to the installation of geo-exchange technology. However, there still remains potential for increased economic feasibility of geo-exchange through proactive operation prefaced with higher level control. This study introduces a control strategy referred to as an off-peak ground pre-cool, employing time-of-use conscious operating logic capable of facilitating artificial bore-field pre-conditioning to improve a geo-exchange system’s
cooling mode performance. Artificial pre-conditioning of a system’s bore-field introduces the potential to improve the bore-field’s thermal characteristics in a controlled manner. With improved thermal characteristics a bore-field can be exploited more efficiently during the following peak periods; introducing additional economic incentives by reducing peak power consumption attributed to space cooling. This study presents a multifaceted approach which intends to
concurrently address improving system economics and aid in the balancing of the electrical grid.
From tradition to change: a study of journalistic trends in digital news reporting
Authors: Lee Jennifer
Published: May 2021

The birth of the World Wide Web has made it convenient and cheaper to produce and transfer information to the receiver. Many online news sites provide information for free and the Internet and social media have brought on the affordance to self-publish and engage with the media. New media tools have made it easier to produce a variety of
online blogs, magazines, digital papers and content aggregators. In the wake of the information era, journalism has developed into niche news sites, producing different types of news writing.

By analyzing news accounts from the same event, this Major Research Paper compares how news language, content and structure deviate between traditional and alternative online news sites. The study reveals that alternative news sources tend to report their news in a more subjective manner, deviating from the goal of being objective, a fundamental element in traditional journalism. Analysis of how information is structured in the news articles also reveals that alternative news sites deviate from traditional forms of the inverted pyramid style (Kovach and Rosenstiel, 2007, p. 82), reporting in a narrative, chronological fashion.
Multi-Channel Wireless Mesh Networks With TCP Proxies
Authors: Kohn Adam
Published: May 2021

Wireless mesh networks based on 802.11 technology could potentially be an inexpensive means of constructing large-scale wireless infrastructure networks. Wireless mesh networks attempt to capitalize on multiple hop communication to achieve transmissions over relatively larger distances. One fundamental concern is that multi-hop wireless networks may suffer heavily from co-channel interference. If multiple channels from the 802.11 spectrum are employed across adjacent links of communication, the interference effects can be mitigated. In practice, either overlapping channels or independent orthogonal channels can be assigned to the different links with varying effects. Topology control can be used to help manage these channels to limit the interference effects while providing for the necessary capacity and scalability requirements. By means of analyses and testbed experiments, I have validated that the introduction of multiple channels can improve overall system performance. With respect to the end-users, end-to-end performance over multiple wireless hops should be the primary concern. Under UDP-based communication sessions, network congestion is not the main contributor to transport layer performance degradation. Upon further investigation, TCP performance degrades exponentially with hop count, because it incorrectly interprets lost packets as a sigh of network congestion. Since TCP performance weakens for connections with more wireless hops, I further evaluate if network performance can be improved by adding an n-hop TCP proxy service. These proxies have the effect of breaking long connections into shorter connections with tighter transport layer control. A trade-off between the number of proxies and the hop count between proxies becomes evident through testbed evaluation. Analyzing various mesh characteristics and the relationships between MAC and transport layers can help establish a suitable protocol for future work.
Evaluating the Daylighting Potential in the Monetary Times Building
Authors: Syed Abdul W.
Published: May 2021

Daylighting design is not just to install large windows and provide maximum daylighting. As a result, uncontrolled daylighting creates over brightness and glare near perimeter zones, increases cooling load in cooling season, increases energy consumption and outweighs the benefits of daylighting. The purpose of daylighting design strategies is to provide controlled daylight with uniform and adequate levels of illuminance in the space. In this paper, problems with daylighting in the Monetary Times Building at Ryerson University have been studied and daylighting design strategies have been evaluated.

The study results showed that the employed daylighting design strategies in the MON building could be saved up to 135038.4 KWh/year or 61.76 KWh/m
Biodegradation of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Microplastics by Baceterial Communities From Activated Sludge
Authors: Torena Patricia
Published: May 2021

The emerging accumulation of microplastics (MPs) within global waters and the risks they pose to both humans and aquatic species are of increasing concern, yet suitable technologies to remove MPs are lacking. In this study, bacteria with potential to degrade MPs were isolated from activated sludge as promising biocatalysts for the removal of MPs in water. The bacterial communities in activated sludge were first screened for their potential to degrade thermallytreated MPs from PET. The consortium exhibited growth on a mineral medium with PET MPs as the sole carbon and energy source, indicating the presence of degrading bacteria. To further assess its biodegradability potential, the consortium was put through a CO2 evolution test where the degradation of MPs was monitored through measuring the CO2 evolved. The test was carried out in an experimental device that was engineered and constructed according to ISO 14852. The biodegradation extent was further validated through assessment of morphological and structural changes on the MPs by means of scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses. Upon incubation, the consortium degraded 17 % of PET MPs. Three bacterial strains within the consortium were isolated and identified as
Lysinibacillus macroides RW13-2, Bacillus cereus SEHD031MH and Agromyces mediolanus PNP3. The latter two thrived individually with PET while only B. cereus showed enzymatic activity during a clear-zone test. The examined bacterial strains possess a promising PETdegrading activity that can be further investigated and applied to the elimination of MPs in water/wastewater through innovative and effective technologies
Photochemical degradation of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) using UV/H₂0₂
Authors: Kakar Durkhani
Published: May 2021

The oxidation of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) by advanced oxidation processes in water was investigated. The degradation of BTEX by UV-185 and UV-254 nm in conjunction with H₂O₂ was studied. It was observed that the recommended H₂0₂ concentration to degrade 100 mgTOC/L of BTEX was 250 mg/L and 300 mg/L for UV-185 and UV-254 nm, respectively. In addition, it was observed that using the lamps in series did not have any advantages in the TOC removal of BTEX. Under acidic condition, pH 3, UV-185/H₂O₂ removed 10% more than UV-254/H₂O₂. At the recommended H₂O₂ concentration, 90% of BTEX mineralization was occurred with UV-185 nm/HO₂ under acidic condition of pH 3. It was observed that 21-32% BOD/TOC ratio of BTEX was decreased with an increase in residence time (within 140 min) in the photoreactor.
How does the professional identity of teachers from India change when they work as early childhood educators in Ontario?
Authors: Alwani Preeti
Published: May 2021

Many Early Childhood Educators (ECE) in Toronto are foreign-educated teachers. They take up this profession because they cannot enter the teaching profession. Training as ECEs takes a shorter time, has lower entry requirements, and is more affordable. The case studies undertaken for this project are based on qualitative data collected by interviewing and observing two former teachers from India, now working as ECEs in a for-profit daycare. The data shows that because of low compensation rates, poorer working conditions, and lack of appreciation, community and respect, especially compared to what they received in India, these teachers report a downward spiral in their professional identity. Their daily routines and practices follow the norms in childcare centers, but they feel as though their employers and parents do not value them. As a
result, these ECEs struggling to suppress their dominant teacher identity, think of themselves simply as ‘babysitters’ and do not value the work they do.
A comparison of bottom-up methods for estimating institutional building energy use to inform resource and emission reduction strategies
Authors: Mendieta Christopher Xavier
Published: May 2021

Bottom-up engineering models are an emerging approach for evaluating energy efficiency solutions at district or regional scales. More flexible than statistical models, bottom-up models allow planners to quantitatively evaluate energy efficiency and supply options, leading to more effective policies and energy demand solutions that better reflect our changing climate. This thesis compares two bottom-up methods for exploring resource and emission reduction strategies in the institutional sector: the Wireframe method and the Reference method. These methods are compared by predicting the annual consumption of post-secondary student residences in Southern Ontario and measuring the error of each, compared with the 2013 mandatory energy report data from the Ministry of Energy of Ontario. Both methods produced aggregate energy error ranges of 5% to 12% in a detailed analysis, suggesting that they are both effective for large-scale energy reduction studies.
Probabilistic learning curve and real options approach to the valuation of cross-training with product life cycle
Authors: Muttulingam Thanasiri
Published: May 2021

Learning and forgetting are two important characteristics in manufacturing environments where workers are cross-trained to increase their flexibility of adapting to different tasks. Cross-training is introduced by industries so that one worker can work on multiple stations. This thesis develops two models: (i) a probabilistic learning curve approach to the production lot size problem to determine the economic manufactured quantity (EMQ); (ii) a real options approach to the valuation of cross-training with product life cycle. Different workers perceive the complexity of a certain task differently and each worker will have his/her learning curve with its individual characteristics. So, it is more realistic to assume that the learning curve characteristics are random variables with given probability density functions. Furthermore, for the second model, the demand of the product follows three-regime product life cycle. Each regime is modeled by a geometric Brownian motion. The net present value (NPV) is calculated using the real options. The results show that there is a significant change in the NPV compared to standard model with simplified assumption
Hybrid Rocket Engine Research In Support Of Prototype Development & Testing
Authors: Trumpour Adam P.
Published: May 2021

This thesis gives a detailed overview of the design of a small hybrid rocket engine (HRE) that is being built in support of propulsion research activities at Ryerson University, and examines the various research-related issues surrounding the operation and performance of an HRE.

The engine design work is undertaken with gaseous oxygen (GOX) as the oxidizer and paraffin and polyethylene as the intended fuels, but the system is readily adaptable to other propellant combinations for future investigations. Particular emphasis was placed on the design and analysis of the GOX injector and the nozzle. The injector orifice design was supported by CFD analysis as well as cold-flow testing. The nozzle was initially designed and fabricated from graphite, but a water-cooled copper design is also considered for those occasions when a fully reusable, non-eroding nozzle is desirable for accurate engine performance measurements. The preliminary nozzle design is supported by a steady-state CFD analysis of the nozzle flows and associated heat fluxes.

The overall engine design is further evaluated by examination of internal ballistic simulation results, with respect to such factors as expected performance (chamber pressure, thrust, specific and total impulse) for a given oxidizer mass flow rate and nozzle throat size. The requirements for expected future studies, such as for evaluating engine operation and performance below and above the stoichiometric length of the given engine, have been incorporated where possible into the present design.
Bile salts differentially enhance resistance of enterohemorrhagic escherichia coli 0157:H7 to human cationic antimicrobial peptides
Authors: Gadishaw-Lue Crystal
Published: May 2021

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) causes severe food and water-borne illness associated with diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis (HC), and hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). Previously, we reported that treatment of EHEC with a physiologically relevant bile salt mixture (BSM) upregulates genes encoding a two-component system (TCS) (basRS) and a lipid A modification pathway (arnBCADTEF). The current study examines the effect of BSM treatment on EHEC resistance to human cationic antimicrobials, human defensin, HD-5 and cathelicidin, LL-37. Results show a significant increase in resistance to HD-5 when EHEC are pre-treated with BSM as compared to untreated EHEC. The BS-induced resistance phenotype is lost in each of the arnT and basS mutants. Interestingly, BSM treatment does not affect resistance to LL-37. The results of this study provide evidence that BS serve as an environmental cue by triggering changes via a TCS that result in protective modifications of the bacterial outer membrane, thereby increasing resistance to HD-5.
Germanium glass polyalkenoate cements for cranioplasty fixation
Authors: Khader Basel A.
Published: May 2021

Glass polyalkenoate cements (GPCs) have potential for skeletal cementation. Unfortunately, commercial GPCs all contain and subsequently release aluminum ions, which have been implicated in degenerative brain disease. The purpose of this research was to create aluminum free GPCs constructed from silicate (SiO2)-calcium (CaO)-zinc (ZnO), glasses mixed with polyacrylic acid (PAA200) in order to evaluate the potential of these novel GPCs for attaching titanium miniplates directly to the skull, a clinical procedure known as cranioplasty. Three glasses were formulated: KBT01 SiO2-CaO-ZnO-sodium (Na2O) glass, KBT02 SiO2-CaO-ZnO-Na2Ogermanium (GeO2), with a 0.03 mol% GeO2 substitution for ZnO and KBT03 SiO2-CaO-ZnONa2O- GeO2, with a 0.06 mol% GeO2 substitution for ZnO in glass structure. X-ray diffraction
(XRD) and particle size analysis (PSA) confirmed that all glasses were completely amorphous with similar mean particle sizes. Each glass in the series was mixed with 50 wt% a patented SiO2- CaO-ZnO-strontium (SrO) glass composition, BT101, and subsequently mixed with PAA200 at 50 wt% addition to produce a series of cements. The addition of Ge to the glass series resulted in decreased working times (~142 s to 112 s) and setting times (~807 to 448 s) for the cements
manufactured from them. This was due to the increase in crosslink formation during the setting reaction between the Ge-containing glasses and the PAA200. Regarding ion release, Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) determined Zn2+ ion release to be 9.56, 8.02 and 5.83 ppm after 30 days for KBT01, KBT02 and KBT03 cements respectively. Germanium ions were not released from the KBT01 cement since the glasses it was formulated from did not contain Ge4+. KBT02 and KBT03 cements released 1.23 ppm and 1.94 ppm of Ge4+ ions after 30 days. The mechanical properties (compressive ~ σc, and biaxial flexural strength ~ σf) of the resulting cements were of the resulting cements were examined over three time modalities, 1, 7 and 30 days. σc of the cements ranged from ~27- 56 MPa, while σf ranged from ~17-33 MPa. Both strength modalities increased with maturation and increasing Ge content, as Ge may facilitate improved chemical bonding between the COO- groups, thus creating stronger cements in KBT02 and KBT03. The bond strength of the titanium
cylinder (Ti) to the bone that it was attached to by the cements increased from ~0.23MPA to 0.63 MPa respectively from placement up to 14 days maturation. Failure of these constructs occurred at the interface between the Ti cylinder and the cement. The results of this research indicate that, due to their novel composition, Ge-based GPCs have suitable handling properties, strengths and adhesiveness for potential in cranioplasty fixation.
Data Denoising By Noise Invalidation
Authors: Nikvand Nima
Published: May 2021

In this thesis, the problem of data denoising is studied, and two new denoising approaches are proposed. Using statistical properties of the additive noise, the methods provide adaptive data-dependent soft thresholding techniques to remove the additive noise.

The proposed methods, Point-wise Noise Invlaidating Soft Thresholding (PNIST) and Accumulative Noise Invalidation Soft Thresholding (ANIST), are based on Noise Invalidation. The invalidation exploits basic properties of the additive noise in order to remove the noise effects as much as possible. There are similarities and differences between ANIST and PNIST. While PNIST performs better in the case of additive white Gaussian noise, ANIST can be used with both Gaussian and non Gaussian additive noise. As part of a data denoising technique, a new noise variance estimation is also proposed. The thresholds proposed by NIST approaches are comparable to the shrinkage methods, and our simulation results promise that the new methods can outperform the existing approaches in various applications.

We also explore the area of image denoising as one of the main applications of data denoising and extend the proposed approaches to two dimensional applications. Simulations show that the proposed methods outperform common shrinkage methods and are comparable to the famous BayesShrink method in terms of Mean Square Error and visual quality.
Understanding the childbirth experiences of childhood sexual abuse survivors: a phenomenological study
Authors: Mathewson Caitlin
Published: May 2021

This study describes the childbirth experiences of survivors of childhood sexual abuse using an interpretative phenomenological approach. Data collection involved in-depth, semi-structured interviews of four women who gave birth to a baby within the last five years. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, three superordinate themes emerged: control, anxiety, and detachment. This contributes to the current body of research by extending knowledge on what it means to experience childbirth for survivors of childhood sexual abuse, told by the woman herself. These findings are especially important in understanding what is required in providing safe, sensitive care for all childbearing women, and has important implications for practice, education, and further research.
The role of the lipid kinase PIKfyve in the endosomal and phagosomal systems in macrophages
Authors: Kim Grace H.E.
Published: May 2021

Macrophages engulf pathogens into phagosomes for degradation through a process known as phagocytosis. Nascent phagosomes progressively mature and fuse with early and late endosomes and lysosomes to form phagolysosomes, where pathogens are degraded by hydrolytic enzymes. Phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate [PtdIns(3)P] and phosphatidylinositol 3,5-bisphosphate [PtdIns(3,5)P2] are signaling lipids that recruit a unique set of effector proteins involved in distinct stages of membrane traffic to govern the function of early and late endosomes, respectively. Phagosome maturation requires the transient expression of PtdIns(3)P on early phagosomal membranes. Subsequently, PtdIns(3)P can be converted to PtdIns(3,5)P2 by the lipid kinase PIKfyve. Thus, it remains unclear if the role of PtdIns(3)P in phagosome maturation is direct and/or indirect, through the synthesis of PtdIns(3,5)P2. The role of PtdIns(3,5)P2 in the endosomal system in macrophages also requires further investigation. My thesis employs a pharmacological approach to address the role of PIKfyve in macrophage biology. In general, PtdIns(3,5)P2 appears to principally coordinate the later stages of endosome and phagosome maturation.
Sexual Subversives or Lonely Losers? Discourses of Resistance and Containment in Women's Use of Male Homoerotic Media
Authors: Cormier Nicole Susann
Published: May 2021

Very little academic work to date has investigated women’s use of male homoerotic media (for notable exceptions, see Marks, 1996; McCutcheon & Bishop, 2015; Neville, 2015; Ramsay, 2017; Salmon & Symons, 2004). The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the potential role of male homoerotic media, including gay pornography, slash fiction, and Yaoi, in facilitating women’s sexual desire, fantasy, and subjectivity – and the ways in which this expansion is circumscribed by dominant discourses regulating women’s gendered and sexual subjectivities. The dissertation begins with a review of the existing scholarship on women, pornography, and male homoerotic media, followed by an in-depth analysis of online texts discussing women’s use of these media. The analysis explores what subject positions are (un)available to women who use these media. Using a Foucauldian, feminist poststructuralist discourse analytic framework, online editorial articles and internet forum discussions were explored using an immersion/crystallization approach, revealing three broad thematic queries posed by online interlocutors: a) whether women as a generalized category use male homoerotic media, b) establishing boundaries constructing and constraining a normative woman user, and c) interrogating why women are drawn to male homoeroticism. A variety of discourses were deployed pertaining to each of these themes, some of which served to align women’s use with dominant heterosexual, patriarchal, postfeminist, and neoliberal imperatives, while others subverted these imperatives and broadened the availability of sexual subjectivities for women. The tensions between these competing discourses mark male homoerotic media as a fertile site of resistance and expansion of sexual power and possibility for women.
Demand driven operations management in motion picture exhibition
Authors: Inglis Katherine Goff
Published: May 2021

New opportunities for operational efficiency in movie exhibition exist as a result of recent developments in the industry, such as the mass-scale conversion to digital cinema, the explosion of customer data sources, and the availability of new channels for watching movies. This dissertation begins with an industry overview and discussion of these trends. A review of existing research on forecasting and scheduling problems in movie exhibition is utilized to identify eight factors for decision support systems for operations management in motion picture exhibition. A prototype decision support system (DSS) is constructed using customer loyalty and point of sale data from Cineplex Entertainment. The DSS that is built considers six out of the eight decision support factors that are identified through four modules. The first module projects audience composition for new release movies using loyalty data and identifies a set of the most important movie attributes for each age group. The second module leverages output from the first module with additional data to forecast ticket sales for individual theatre locations. In constructing the second model three different methods (gradient boosted regression, random forest and traditional multiple regression) are tested and the best performing method is utilized in the DSS. The third module applies the attendance forecasts to make labour recommendations. The fourth module uses output from the second module and extends the micro forecast with a concession food demand forecast which is applied to labour recommendations. The DSS is tested empirically in two different ways; firstly forecasted box office sales are compared to actual box office sales to demonstrate that the forecasts being produced are reasonably accurate. Secondly, the labour recommendations from the DSS are compared to the recommendations from the existing DSS at Cineplex and against the theatre manager’s schedules. The DSS performs better than the current schedule and the theatre manager schedule. The labour recommendations with and without the fourth module are compared to demonstrate the incremental value of the concession food module. The study concludes by highlighting further opportunities to extend the system as well as context for practical applications in the motion picture industry.
Analysis of the impacts of extreme weather events on Ontario’s electricity grid using agent-based modeling
Authors: Saeed Ailiya
Published: May 2021

Extreme weather events have increased and are causing severe impacts on the electricity grid. Heat waves and ice storms are becoming more intense and frequent in Ontario, Canada. During an extreme weather event, the electricity demand fluctuates and the reliability of the electrical grid decreases due to equipment failure and shortage of electricity supply, which leads to blackouts. An initial stage simulation model is developed using the computational technique agent-based model. This thesis analyzed the impact of extreme weather events based on severity and frequency levels on two sector of Ontario’s electricity grid which are generation plants and distribution network. The simulation output showed multiple grid failures in different regions during extreme severity levels and increased frequencies of weather events. The model also showed heat waves and ice storms resulting differently depending on the month, extreme temperature months were more prone to failures than average temperature months.
Urban Connective Syntax: Re-Imagining the Connective Relationshops of Social Space in Toronto’s Downtown Core
Authors: Smart Derek
Published: May 2021

Urban metropolitan city-centers offer the most complex, socially connective environments in the built world. The social structures fundamentally embedded in city life are, however increasingly being overshadowed by an isolating system of city
densification. The City of Toronto, as a territory of exploration, is one of many cities that are evolving a dense array of restrictive boundaries that increasingly challenge human connectivity, and the deep-rooted ability of these environments to establish vibrant city life. It is the role of architecture to mediate the relationships between the public and private territories and to understand how these environments are utilized and engaged by the surrounding context. This thesis has extracted critical environmental components exemplified in city, community, and building territories, and has re-integrated these defining characteristics into an alternative design strategy that establishes a balanced symbiotic relationship between the private and public realms of Toronto’s future City Core.
Punishing the Mentally Ill: Human Rights Concerns in Canadian Immigration Detention Policy & Practice
Authors: Peoples Laroux
Published: May 2021

Canadian prisons house persons who have never committed a crime but who have immigration problems and mental illness. This paper explores why this is happening by reviewing current immigration legislation, past policy shifts, public opinion about immigrants and persons with a mental illness, and the role of political elites and the media in shaping the issues.
Musicianship and neural synchronization at multiple timescales
Authors: Nespoli Gabriel A.
Published: May 2021

Auditory events can be considered to have spectral energy at short and long timescales, corresponding to the musical phenomena of pitch and pulse. Neural synchronization—when neurons synchronize their firing with external oscillatory stimuli—can be measured using spectral EEG at both subcortical and cortical levels. It has been shown that subcortical synchronization to tones is more robust in musicians than nonmusicians, suggesting a type of experience-dependent plasticity; a similar test for long timescales has not been investigated. In the current study, EEG was measured from musicians and nonmusicians while they listened to an isochronous sequence of tones. Neural synchronization at short timescales was found to be stronger in musicians. Additionally, the extent of synchronization correlated with the current level of musical engagement. These findings indicate that the experience-dependent plasticity observed in musicians manifests itself at multiple cortical levels corresponding to oscillations at different timescales present in music.
Assessing behavioural and physiological responses of three aquatic invertebrates to tributyltin and atrazine in a multi-species, early warning biomonitoring technology
Authors: Marshall Gillian Claire
Published: May 2021

Recent global events and anthropogenic changes to the natural environment have raised concerns about the quality of drinking water consumed by the public throughout the world. Traditional chemical testing is slow and is not performed for all possible contaminants, necessitating the development of innovative new technology to detect and mitigate threats to human health. The development of a multi-species, early-warning biomonitoring technology, based on behavioural and physiological changes in aquatic organisms, greatly furthers this goal. In this study, changes in movement behaviour and respiration rates were examined in three aquatic species, Daphnia magna, Hyalella azteca and Lumbriculus variegates, exposed to varying concentrations of TBT and atrazine, using digital video analysis and direct oxygen measurement. Different parameters of movement were examined and evaluated for inclusion in a multi-species, early-warning biomonitoring technology and the utility of incorporating these parameters into a model to determine classes and concentrations of various contaminants is discussed. An evaluation of whether or not direct measurement of oxygen consumption rates is feasible and useful for inclusion in a multi-species, early-warning biomonitoring technology is also discussed.