bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Do Not Disturb/Please Clean Room: The Invisible Work and Real Pain of Hotel Housekeepers in the GTA
Authors: Liladrie Sirena
Published: June 2021

The hotel industry in the GTA is dependent on cheap, racialized and gendered work; the result has been significant poor health outcomes for immigrant women of colour who are over represented in this industry. This paper explores the larger structural processes intensified by neoliberal globalism that leads to the racialized segregated labour of immigrant women of colour working as hotel housekeepers. This will begin by critically analyzing the organization of the economy and the "global city" through a feminist political economy approach and by linking the downward trajectory in immigrant health to the Health Immigrant Effect and gaps in the Population Health Approach. This will be highlighted by personal narratives from immigrant women of colour currently working as housekeepers in the GTA, who have shared their stories and how they are actively contesting and negotiating with their spaces of precarious employment to promote and increase health and well being at work, in their homes and within their communities.
Least Square-Support Vector Machine Based Modeling for Electric Arc Furnaces
Authors: Vakilian Leyla
Published: June 2021

The process of making steel from the scrap metal by means of electric arc furnaces (EAF) has been used extensively in the industry. Accurate modelling of EAFs is, therefore, desired to assess their operations and their impacts on the electrical network. A number of approaches have already been used to model the v-i behavior of electric arc furnaces including mathematical methods and data-driven models. The objective of this thesis is to investigate the data-driven modelling methodologies, in particular, least square support vector machine (LS-SVM). The results obtained show that the proposed method with radial base function kernel provides the model to predict both arc current and arc voltage of EAFs.
The access(ibility) of films in artist-run centres
Authors: Simmons Deidre
Published: June 2021

This thesis considers how artist-run centres are creating access to their film collections by using the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre (CFMDC) as its case study. It looks at current literature on accessibility, including controlled vocabularies, keywords, folksonomies, and social tagging, and how two other institutions- Institut National de l’Audiovisuel (INA), located in Paris, France and IsumaTV, located in Igloolik, Nunavut, Canada- are currently creating access to their film collections to discover how different forms of accessibility are being used in real time. It looks at how the CFMDC is currently creating access to its film collection and finally, recommends the ways accessibility at an artist-run centre could be improved to help the artist-run centre reach a wider audience, help the researcher in the search and retrieval process, and to keep the film object itself accessible.
Federal-provincial immigration agreements : an analysis of Québec, Ontario and Manitoba
Authors: Zammit Andrea
Published: June 2021

The goal of this paper is to uncover the underlying factors that have lead [i.e. led] to the different federal-provincial immigration agreements. This is the crux of my research question: What accounts for the differences between the federal-provincial agreements on immigration? From my research it has become very clear that historical institutionalism or institutional relations, as well as institutional capacity, politics and political relations and to an extent the economic differences between the provinces are all factors that account for the variations in the bi-lateral agreements between the government of Canada and the different provinces. These factors help to explain why Québec has been able to negotiate the most complete policy and why the other provinces, with particular emphasis on Manitoba and Ontario, have not been able to negotiate similar bi-lateral agreements.
Semi-automated Extraction of Urban Road Networks by Geometric Analysis of IKONOS Imagery
Authors: Dong Haibin
Published: June 2021

This thesis addresses the topic of semi-automated extraction of urban road networks from high-resolution satellite imagery. Research on this topic is mainly motivated by the use geographic information systems in transportation (GIS-T), and the need for reliable data acquisition methods and to update GIS-T databases. To this end, 1-m spatial resolution IKONOS imagery provides a new data source to collect the spatial models of citywide road networks. In this thesis, a novel methodology of a semi-automated road extraction using high-resolution satellite imagery over urban areas is developed. The main objective of this research is to extract urban road networks from a single IKONOS image. To detect the road features from a highly complex scene, a multiscale analysis of the optimal image was performed. To extract roads and their networks, the knowledge of road geometry is exploited in an interactive environment. The key advantage of the developed method is the full employment of a human and a computer's abilities for fast and precise road extraction from high-resolution satellite imagery. The results show that the presented method enables reliable road extraction over urban areas. The potential applications exemplified in case studies indicate that the high-resolution satellite imagery offers an efficient and precise source for geographic and transportation databases. Based on this research, the limitations and future work for the prototype system are discussed.
Serviceability and flexural strength of lightweight floor made of cold formed steel joists.
Authors: Rehman Quzzafi
Published: June 2021

The use of cold-formed steel (CFS) is becoming popular in residential and commercial building as a cost-effective alternative to traditional wood materials. CFS provides high strength-to-weight ratio, resulting in permitting lighter structure and longer spans. If proper design considerations are not made, this longer span and lighter structure can result in vibration serviceability issues that may affect building occupant comfort. The available design methods to calculate the dynamic properties of floor systems (i.e. Canadian Wood Council Method, CWC; Applied Design Council Design Method, ATC; and Eurocode, EC5) are used for the design of light-frame timber-based systems, CFS C-shape joists, and structural steel and concrete floor systems. The applicability of such methods to I-shape CFS joists is as yet unavailable. In addition, the North American Code for Cold-formed Steel structural Members (CSA-S136-07) provides specifications of ultimate and serviceability limit state design of C-shape joists rather than I-shape joists. As such, this research was divided into three parts. Part 1 presented the results of laboratory and field study on the vibration of a recently developed CFS I-shape joist called “iSPAN.” The main objective of the first part was to understand the dynamic characteristics of iSPAN floor system, recommend an adequate model for predicting the dynamic response and modal properties of floor systems, and correlate its results with engineered wood I-joists in order to aid the design process. Part 2 presented comparison between the experimental findings and available code provisions for the design of CFS joists at ultimate and serviceability limit states. The effect of web utility holes was also considered on the dynamic properties, and ultimate strength of iSPAN joists. Part 3 presented a finite-element modeling and its verification with the experimental findings of the tested samples. Also, part 3 extended the finite element modelling to analyse I- and C-shape CFS joists to determine their ultimate strength and serviceability, with and without the presence of utility holes in the webs. Since CSA-S137-07 does not provide design provisions for the edge-stiffened (i.e. lipped) holes, a practical-design-oriented parametric study, using the finite-element modelling, was conducted on CFS I- and C-shape members with circular, slotted and tri-slotted, edge-stiffened, holes under flexural loading. The optimized profile of the edge-stiffened holes was obtained using the elastic-buckling analysis. The post-buckling finite-element analysis was then utilized to determine member flexural strength as affected by utility hole geometry and web depth. Results showed that the edge-stiffened holes can significantly improve the flexural strength of CFS joists. The data generated from the parametric study was used to develop new design provisions to predict the flexural strength of such joists with the presence of edge-stiffened holes.
Synchronous collaborative 3D GIS with agent support
Authors: Chang Zheng (Eric)
Published: June 2021

3D geographical information systems (GIS) software tools that support synchronous collaboration efforts among distributed decision-making participants can be very useful in many application areas, such as urban planning, engineering design, disaster and emergency management, and subsurface resources management. Although research has been extensively carried out in related fields such as groupware system, collaborative virtual environments and collaborative industrial design, a comprehensive study has not been found in the 3D GIS field. The scientific goal of this research is to add synchronous collaboration capability to the Internet-enabled 3D GIS environment. More specifically, the ojbective of this research is to investigate methods and key technologies to design a synchronous collaborative Internet-enabled 3D GIS environment (SC3DGIS).

In this thesis, two basic questions for synchronous collaborative 3D GIS are presented: 1) What are the special functions and usability for SC3DGIS compared to traditional and mainstream GIS applications? 2) What are the special problems in design and development of SC3DGIS when considering it as a specific type of synchronous collaborative system? In answering the above two questions, a conceptual framework is developed to investigate main aspects which play core roles in reflecting the features of SC3DGIS. The more detailed system requirements are further analyzed through a case study. The prototype design adopts two layer structures - the shared 3D environment layer and the agent assistant layer. The shared 3D environment adopts a semi-replicated architecture, while in the agent assistant layer, a multi-agent method is used to solve the complex interactions between users and the shared understanding of all parties in the framework. Two walkthroughs are presented to validate the usability of the prototype.

The results of this research indicate that 1) adding synchronous and collaborative capabilities to a 3D GIS environment can significantly improve the efficiency and satisfaction of decision-making for the geographically-distributed people; 2) the events transferring method and semi-replicated architecture are more suitable for synchronous collaborative 3D GIS than a display imagery transferring method and centralized architecture because of the highly interactive 3D contents; 3) a 3D data model for collaborative purposes require explicit data state presentations, such as color and style; 4) a social collaboration model and its ontology presentation and shared catching method keep the distributed system consistent and understandable; and 5) a multi-agent method sitting on a shared 3D view can be very helpful in assisting group users to carry out more complex communications, such as discussions and making deals.
Analytical modeling of the contact pressure at the steel-concrete interface
Authors: Bhaskar Sini
Published: June 2021

This research studies the effect of corrosion on bond strength at the steel-concrete interface in a reinforced concrete member. Bond stress, which can be defined as the shear stress which develops along the lateral surface of the bar, is expressed as a function of contact pressure at the steel-concrete interface. An analytical model of bond which describes the contact pressure between the reinforcing bar and concrete in a reinforced concrete member is developed. The expression for the reduction in contact pressure due to the accumulation of corrosion products is then developed using the model developed for the uncorroded reinforcing steel bar. The developed analytical model was implemented in a finite element analysis, which was conducted using ABAQUS, of pull-out specimens conducted by Amleh (2000). A reasonable good agreement between the experimental and finite element analysis results was obtained.
Ethnic identity and cultural misattribution in early Ottoman photography
Authors: Tavukciyan Cassandra
Published: June 2021

When photography was first introduced in the Ottoman Empire, Islamic laws forbade the production of images of sentient beings and therefore the practice of photography to the Muslim majority. Non-Muslim minorities, in particular the Armenians, thus became significant producers of photographic practices and traditions in the late Ottoman Empire. Until the present, however, cataloguing practices have not reflected the complexity of Ottoman society, resulting in an
inadequate if not misleading representation of Armenian photographers, and their contributions. Using the photographs of Gabriel Lekegian, Pascal Sébah and Jean Pascal Sébah housed in the New York Public Library this thesis investigates the extent to which the Armenian community was involved with the development, production and circulation of Ottoman photography and argues for the inclusion of their ethnic identities in catalogue records so as to begin to identify the distinct characteristics or aesthetic qualities inherent in the Armenian photographic tradition.
A forested urban park : what is the value of Allan Gardens to the City of Toronto?
Authors: Sabir Senna
Published: June 2021

The purpose of this study was to conduct an assessment of Allan Gardens' urban forest and to investigate the value of environmental and aesthetic benefits it provides the City of Toronto. This project used the Street Tree Resource Analysis Tool for Urban Forest Managers (STRATUM) model to assess forest structure, function, and monetary value of benefits. Soil in Allan Gardens was also investigated to determine the growing conditions for park trees. Results indicate that Allan Gardens maintained 309 trees that provide $60,407 annually in net annual environmental and property value benefits to the City of Toronto. Soil conditions in the park were found to be highly variable, where some locations were highly compacted and may be restricting tree root growth. To sustain and enhance these benefits in the future, Toronto's urban forest requires dedicated management and maintenance that includes new plantings, but prioritized protection and maintenance of existing trees and soil.
Comparative study of methane oxidation within various biofilter media
Authors: Nourbakhsh Sepideh
Published: June 2021

A considerable fraction of the methane gas generated by landfills can be oxidized by the landfill cover. In this study, the use of disposable sawdust material to utilize and reduce methane gas from the landfill gas (LFG) was demonstrated. Three laboratory scale bioreactors were constructed to reflect the performance of sawdust with respect to the compost and sand (control media). Patterns of methane (CH₄) oxidation were evaluated through the degree of methane oxidation in correlation to the bacterial development in all three media. Later, the use of nutrients during the respiration of the bacteria was interpreted through the analysis of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and biomass growth variations. The overall methane oxidation efficiency in the sawdust medium was 60% with a biomass content of 238 g/m³, whereas the compost medium had 86% methane oxidation efficiency with a 539 g/m³ biomass content. Furthermore, the COS and BOD removal were 2555 mg/L and 332 mg/L from the compost, and 1984 mg/L and 156 mg/L from the sawdust respectively.

The overall results of this study indicated that the sawdust material can be used as a biofilter media for methane utilization from the landfill. The oxidation capacity of sawdust could be accelerated by adding necessary nutrients to this media before implementation. Moreover, the oxidation rate variance between compost and sawdust may be eliminated over time due to nutrient exhaustion in the compost media, and/or production of usable carbon with decomposition of the sawdust media.
"To see some few proofs of enormous wickedness": The Use of Photographs and Wood Engravings of Prisoners of War in Six American Civil War Publications, 1864-1865
Authors: McKibbon Emily
Published: June 2021

This thesis addresses the use of a set of photographs of returned prisoners of war (POWs) published both as tipped-in albumen prints and as wood engravings in six different publications from 1864 and 1865, including three versions of Narrative of Privations and Sufferings of United States Officers and Soldiers while Prisoners of War in the Hands of the rebel Authorities, one pamphlet, and two magazine articles, The discussion focuses on the dissemination of these images by the United States Sanitary Commission, the ways in which the photographs were presented in the individual publications that contained them, the decisions that the engravers made in translating the photographs into wood engravings and the visual codes that informed the photographs and the related engravings. The illustrated essay situates these photographs and wood engravings within the political context of the American Civil War and the history of photography in the 1860s. The dissemination of photographic imagery via wood engravings before the widespread use of halftone reproductions, beginning in the 1880s, is presently under researched. The paper encourages consideration of wood engravings when examining the history of photographic reproduction during this transitional time period.
A Complex-Lamellar Description Of Boundary Layer Transition
Authors: Kolla Maureen L.
Published: June 2021

Flow transition is important, in both practical and phenomenological terms. However, there is currently no method for identifying the spatial locations associated with transition, such as the start and end of intermittency. The concept of flow stability and experimental correlations have been used, however, flow stability only identifies the location where disturbances begin to grow in the laminar flow and experimental correlations can only give approximations as measuring the start and end of intermittency is diffcult. Therefore, the focus of this work is to construct a method to identify the start and end of intermittency, for a natural boundary layer transition and a separated flow transition. We obtain these locations by deriving a complex-lamellar description of the velocity field that exists between a fully laminar and fully turbulent boundary condition. Mathematically, this complex-lamellar decomposition, which is constructed from the classical Darwin-Lighthill-Hawthorne drift function and the transport of enstrophy, describes the flow that exists between the fully laminar Pohlhausen equations and Prandtl's fully turbulent one seventh power law. We approximate the difference in enstrophy density between the boundary conditions using a power series. The slope of the power series is scaled by using the shape of the universal intermittency distribution within the intermittency region. We solve the complex-lamellar decomposition of the velocity field along with the slope of the difference in enstrophy density function to determine the location of the laminar and turbulent boundary conditions. Then from the difference in enstrophy density function we calculate the start and end of intermittency. We perform this calculation on a natural boundary layer transition over a flat plate for zero pressure gradient flow and for separated shear flow over a separation bubble. We compare these results to existing experimental results and verify the accuracy of our transition model.
Adapting River Bridge Infrastructures To Climate Change
Authors: Ifelola Akinola
Published: June 2021

Climate change forecasts project up to 20% increase in precipitation for southern Ontario based on several climate change scenarios and models and an unpredictable change an average wind speed that may range from 5% reduction to 15% increase by the year 2100 compared to 1971 to 2000 reference period. Average annual air temperatures are predicted to increase between 2.5 and 3.7°C by 2050 from baseline average between 1961 and 1990.

This research studied the impact of climate change on bridge infrastructure using the Portage bridge on the Ottawa river in southern Ontario as a case study. Result shows that increase in precipitation due to climate change will cause 0.3m/s increase in stream velocity and about 0.85m increase in water level for a 100-year storm. This increase will result in scour depths at bridge piers to increase by 0.86 m while bending moments on piers increased by 21 kNm. Shear forces also increased by 43 kN.
Modeling intra-urban human activity patterns using crowdsourcing GPS and Geosocial Media Data
Authors: Huang Wei
Published: June 2021

The way people live in cities forms human activity patterns, which affects how urban systems work. Therefore, it is essential to understand human activity patterns, where precise prediction of human movements and mechanistic modelling of human activity patterns are the two keys. Most of existing work on prediction of human movements cannot deal with activity changes, leading to a negative impact on the predictive accuracy. Furthermore, the majority of current work on modelling human activity patterns are mainly researched from spatiotemporal perspectives, but the motivation behind is usually being neglected, which is crucial to understanding activity changes. The objective of this study is to develop models and methods to better understand human activity patterns using crowdsourcing and geosocial media data. Thus, in this thesis, a method is first developed to detect activity changes, based on which a Markov chain-based model is developed to predict human movements. Then, semantics is introduced to uncover the motivation associated with the corresponding spatiotemporal patterns, which can infer what people do and discuss in a location at a specific time. Finally, human activity patterns are modelled from both spatiotemporal and semantic perspectives.
A 6-year GPS dataset of human movement in Beijing, China was used to evaluate the proposed predictive model. The results show that the predictive model can yield accurate prediction of the movement for those users who have significant activity changes (with R2 improved from 0.295 to 0.762). A whole-year geo-tagged tweets posted within Toronto, Canada was acquired to analyze human activity patterns. A network model was finally created by the proposed approach to represent human activity patterns. The experimental findings demonstrate that most of the individuals (61%) have a regular activity pattern, while only a small number of people (10%) have a different activity pattern from the mass. With the inclusion of semantic information together with the spatiotemporal data as well as detecting the activity changes, such an approach can enhance the capability of human mobility and activity modelling, and thus pave the way for a more mechanistic understanding of how urban systems are being shaped, as well as how their sub-systems/components interact.
Smart Transit Dynamic Optimization and Informatics
Authors: Sabarshad Hamid Reza
Published: June 2021

With the popularity of Big Data and urban informatics, there is increasing interest in ways to use real time data to improve transportation system operations. In many real-wold applications, demand is revealed dynamically over time, and consequently the routes are determined dynamically as well. In this thesis, contributions are made to several key components of a “smart” transit system framework where dynamic operations are driven by real time information.
The first component is in dynamic routing and pricing of a fleet of vehicles. A new dynamic dial-a-ride policy is introduced that features non-myopic pricing based on optimal tolling of queues to fit with the multi-server queueing approximation method. By including social optimal pricing, the social welfare of the resulting system outperforms a pricing policy based on the marginal cost increase of a passenger over a range of test instances. In the examples tested, improvements in social welfare of the non-myopic pricing over the myopic pricing were in the 20% - 31% range.

The second component is in the informatics. Effective dynamic optimization of a system (routing, scheduling, fare setting, etc.) requires effective short term prediction of traveler/customer arrival using real-time data. Several recent methods for arrival process prediction, both offline and online, are investigated using real taxi data from New York. An experiment is conducted using the same data set to draw comparisons for arrival process modeling, suggesting that the temporal seasonal factors method from Ihlers et al. (2006) is more effective as an offline approach and the IntGARCH method from Matteson et al. (2011) is more effective as an online approach.

The third component investigated is in the prepositioning of idle vehicles. Vehicles that are positioned at locations that take into account future demand can lead to reduced wait times for passengers and improved level of service. A dynamic relocation model is proposed that includes queueing delay to approximate the congestion effect of future demand. A linear problem is formulated based on Marianov and Serra’s (2002) work. By varying customer arrivals, the approach provides a new managerial tool to find the optimal service level.
Contextualizing the Rhode Island School of Design group portfolios and the state of art photography in the 1960s and 1970s
Authors: Andrews Rachel E.
Published: June 2021

The students and faculty of the Rhode Island School of Design produced fourteen annual group
portfolios between the years 1967-1981. The George Eastman House collection contains nine of
the fourteen group portfolios created. The group portfolios add to the discourse surrounding
university photographic education programs in the late 1960s and 1970s. The tradition of annual
university group portfolios creates a tangible link between photographic education programs, the
photography market, and collecting art photography. The Rhode Island School of Design group
portfolios demonstrate that professional art photographers taught photography to make a living
while inspiring the next generation of art photographers. The seriousness of teaching
photography further validated photography as an art form. Also during this time, the number of
university photography programs increased, the photography market flourished, and institutions
developed independent photography departments. The combination of these factors progressively
led to photography’s acceptance as an autonomous artistic medium.
Enhanced Stewardship Over Scarce Non-Profit Resources : Restructuring Non-Profit Accountability to Give Clients Greater Voice
Authors: Wall Steven
Published: June 2021

This study examines the accountability profiles of 44 non-profit social services organizations operating in the City of Toronto from the perspectives of Senior Executives working within them. Not unexpectedly, this study confirms an accountability bias based on an imposed system of accountability dominated by upward financial accounting to government funders. This paper suggests that non-profit organizations must move beyond imposed systems of accountability to achieve a more productive, better balanced and holistic accountability. A proposal is forwarded for enhanced stewardship over non-profit resources through a strategy that calls for non-profit organizations to reorient their accountability profiles to give clients greater voice through mechanisms of downward accountability. This study provides an introductory framework for accountability to clients, as well as an inventory of the downward mechanisms of accountability found in the 44 non-profit social services organizations studied.  
The amenability of pre-treated source separated organic (SSO) waste for ethanol production
Authors: Mirzajani Mina
Published: June 2021

Every year, millions of tonnes of municipal solid waste are generated in the city of
Toronto from residential and non-residential sources. A large fraction of the municipal
solid waste is composed of organic materials. This valuable resource has traditionally
been disposed of in landfills, which in turn contributes to the pollution of the
environment and the generation of green house gases. This places a great emphasis on the
need for the design and implementation of more sustainable waste management practices
and the adequate supportive infrastructures in order to achieve sustainability.

The city of Toronto has been experiencing a huge challenge over the past few years
regarding its waste problem, and having inadequate infrastructure for effective waste
management practices. In the year 2000, the City of Toronto established a goal of 100%
waste diversion by the year 2010 (Task Force, 2001). In the year 2005, the City of
Toronto collected approximately 100,000 tonnes of source separated organic waste (SSO)
from single-family households (Butts, 2005). SSO is an excellent source of fermentable
carbohydrates including free sugars, starch, cellulose, hemicellulose and other degradable
organic materials. However, the main obstacle is the release of some of its carbohydrates,
such as cellulose and hemicellulose, from their bondage to lignin before conversion to
fermentable sugars. Cellulose and hemicellulose in SSO are bonded to lignin and are not
easily separated and fermented to ethanol. Therefore, for utilizing SSO as a feedstock for
ethanol production, a deep understanding of the nature of lignocellulosic materials is
essential in order to overcome the challenges in the biological conversion to ethanol. As
an initial part of a multi-staged project, this thesis is to examine the potential of SSO for
utilization as a feedstock for ethanol production. A set of experiments were conducted on
SSO in order to determine the amenability of SSO to ethanol production The
experimental results show a relatively high amount of carbohydrates in the SSO samples,
indicating potential of SSO to be utilized as an ethanol production feedstock. Comparing
result of the characteristics study with other cellulosic feedstocks, indicates that SSO has
a reasonable amount of fermentable sugars and can be utilized for ethanol production
instead of using other cellulosic feedstocks such as herbaceous energy crops. A
technology for the biological conversion of SSO to ethanol was proposed based on the
current techniques and the results from the characterization study on SSO.

It is foreseen that the findings of this study will enhance the overall understanding of the
nature of SSO and the possibility of using it for ethanol production, and provide technical
data and information for the decision makers in the assessment of the potential of SSO
for ethanol production.
American family slideshows : 1952 - 1967
Authors: DiCocco Jennifer
Published: June 2021

Vernacular photography has been a popular topic of research within the platforms of the history of photography and sociological studies and, in its print form, has increasingly seen its value rise in the marketplace. However, the family slideshow has been largely excluded from these various sites of attention. This thesis explores the family slideshow as a cultural product of mid-twentieth-century America. The slideshow is analysed in terms of how it was presented to and consumed by families in the 1950s and 1960s. The main section of this thesis provides an analysis of a case study carried out regarding the slideshow. The case study collected oral histories from four individuals on their experiences with producing and viewing slideshows in the mid-twentieth century. The analysis provides qualitative research on the consumption, production and viewing of the slideshow as a popular medium for family snapshots.
Structural behaviour of insulated foam-timber panels under gravity and lateral loading
Authors: Abbasi Hassan
Published: June 2021

A Structural Insulated Panel (SIP) is a structural element of expanded polystyrene insulation (EPS) core sandwiched between two oriented-strand boards (OSB). This research proposes SIPs in low-rise residential construction (i.e. houses and low-residential building), replacing the traditional conventional joist floors and stud walls. This research investigates (i) developing expressions for flexural, compression, monotonic racking and cyclic lateral load capacities of SIPs as compared to the joist/stud wall construction. In this study, the proposed design of SIPs was based on (i) generally established theory for analysis, (ii) assessment of full-scale SIP panels by a loading tester, and (iii) computer modeling using the finite-element modeling. The research program included (i) testing SIP walls in axial compression and bending, (ii) racking and cyclic testing on SIP shear walls, (iii) development of finite-element computer models of the tested SIP panels and verifying those using experimental findings, (iv) correlation between experimental findings and design equations for strength and serviceability available in the literature and wood design Standards. Modification factors of these equations were developed to allow structural engineers to design SIP panels in residential construction more economically reliably. Experimental results showed that SIP panels are being “as good as” the conventional wood-framing of identical sizes, with respect to flexural, compressive, racking and cyclic loading. Also, results showed SIP walls have a greater ability to dissipate energy under racking and cyclic loading that the stud wall system. Therefore, SIP walls can be used so efficient in seismic zones. Based on cyclic lateral load test results, the values of ductility-related force modification factor (Rd) for stud wall, short SIP wall and long SIP wall were calculated as 8%, 22% and 14% lower than the NBCC required value for anchored wall (Rd = 3.0), respectively. In addition cyclic lateral load test results showed that the values of over-strength-related force modification factor (Ro) for stud wall, short SIP wall and long SIP wall were observed to be 17%, 20% and 14% higher than the recommended value of NBCC (Ro = 1.7) for anchored wall, respectively. So, it is concluded that the over-strength factor indicates a confident reserve of resistance in interconnected wall segments.
Development of Optimal Control Scheduling for Short-Term Work Zones for Freeway Maintenance
Authors: Pilanavithana Udila Shalitha
Published: June 2021

The sustained deterioration of the freeway infrastructure of a nation has resulted in an increase in the number, duration, and scope of maintenance projects. In order to enhance the mobility and safety of freeway segments plagued by work zone activities, transportation agencies and professionals have been exploring the potential benefits of efficient and economical maintenance scheduling. This thesis proposes systematic methodology for the optimization of work zone scheduling based on analytical and simulation models to estimate total project cost. Multi-regression models were developed using microsimulation and embedded them into the costs models and costs were predicted. Solver optimizer was used to find the optimal start and end times, productivity indices, and corresponding sub-sectional lengths of project by minimizing the total project cost. Case studies were conducted to assess the performance of the proposed methodology. Lastly, conclusions were made to support transportation agencies in the development of work zone management plans.
Case studies on estimating crash modification factors for treatment combinations with empirical investigation of dual rumble strip application in Ontario
Authors: Eskandar Mark
Published: June 2021

Crash modification factors (CMFs) are used to quantify the impact of safety treatments. These treatments are often used in combination and so the need for estimating CMFs for simultaneous applications arises. Applications of new heuristic methods in combining treatments showed mixed results, indicating a need for sound judgement in their usage. A case study for centreline and edgeline rumble strips on Ontario highways resulted in combined CMFs of 0.805, 0.79, 0.743, 0.799, and 0.689 for total, injury, PDO, single vehicle, and approach & sideswipe crash types, respectively. The estimates were comparable to the CMFs estimated in other research for actual dual rumble strip application. CMFs developed separately for tangent and curved segments showed that both rumble strip types are more effective on curved segments.
Factors Influencing the Diffusion of Battery Electric Vehicles in Urban Areas
Authors: Mashayekhi Morteza
Published: June 2021

Purchasing a battery electric vehicle is a type of pro-environmental behavior but the impact of such behavior on the environment becomes significant and beneficial only if a large number of individuals buy it. Therefore, getting battery electric vehicles diffused in a social system is a critical task which needs a special attention from consumers as well as governments and suppliers. This thesis aims to find out all factors influencing the rate of adoption of a battery electric vehicle by using the main constructs and important concepts of theory of diffusion of innovations proposed by Rogers (1962). The results indicate that seven factors influence the rate of adoption of a battery electric vehicle including social pressure, social prestige, usefulness for environment, difficultly of use, price, perceived risk, and knowledge and information about battery electric vehicles. Based on these factors, a road map and a set of policies to accelerate the rate of adoption of battery electric vehicles were proposed.
Structural health monitoring of two-way slabs based on random decrement technique
Authors: Pourrastegar Azita
Published: June 2021

The current research attempts to explore the feasible use of a Structural Health Monitoring method for a two-way slab system through the effective vibration based damage diagnostic technique of Random Decrement (RD). Experimental investigations have been conducted on a total of four reinforced concrete two-way slab specimens. The slabs behaviour was examined under static loading. The results were presented in terms of load-deflection relationship at service and ultimate load, crack pattern and failure modes. At each stage of loading, the ambient vibration excitation test has been performed to investigate the extent of damage at the cracking, yield, and ultimate states through changes in dynamic parameters obtained from RD signatures. Additional applications of RD technique were performed on two-way slabs, first, to explore the location of damage by Multi-Channel Random Decrement using FBG sensor arrays. Secondly, RD technique was utilized to evaluate the extent of damage under successive equal dynamic impacts.
Volatile Fatty Acids Recovery In A Reactive Primary Clarifier: A Pilot Case Study
Authors: Ponzelli Michele
Published: June 2021

Although the aim of primary clarifiers remains to remove particles, the removal of settleable solids affects downstream processes that rely on readily biodegradable oxygen demand (rbCOD) in proportion to nutrient removal demands. However, through some process modification the primary clarifier can be looked at as a physico-biochemical reactor able to accomplish: removal of settleable solids; increase rbCOD concentration in the primary effluent. Pilot-scale experiments were conducted at the 12 m³ water resource recovery facility of Université Laval to determine the effect of different factors on the fermentation process in a primary clarifier. The results showed that providing a sludge retention time larger than one day and a low recirculation flow rate from the bottom of the clarifier of about 15% of the influent flow rate are crucial factors for increased rbCOD concentration. They can lead to a VFAs yield up to 90 mgCH3COOHequivalent/gVSS, along with a 70% solids removal efficiency.
Glimpses of foreign lands and people : William Wisner Chapin's early photographs of Korea
Authors: Yang Soohyun
Published: June 2021

This thesis focuses on a description and analysis of 130 hand-colored lantern slides of Korea made by William Wisner Chapin (American, 1851-1928) that are housed in the permanent collection of George Eastman House. In addition, it critically examines Chapin's National Geographic Magazine article, "Glimpses of Korea and China", published in November 1910. Both the lantern slides and the article were products of Chapin's 1909 world tour. This paper is not intended as an overview of the representation of early twentieth century Korea, nor is it a study of the lives of Korean people. It is a study of American society and popular culture at the turn of the last century through an examination of one person's photographs and their subsequent uses. It contextualizes the lantern slides by exploring the histories of lantern slides and the National Geographic Magazine, as well as illustrated travel lectures and travelogues, in an effort to consider the ways the lantern slides would have been understood at the timed of their creation and initial consumption. Ultimately, this thesis demonstrates that lantern slides are important and valuable historical objects, and that they are worthy of scholarly attention. In addition to the essay, the thesis includes a cataloguing of Chapin's lantern slides of Korea, providing a glimpse of early twentieth century Korea.
A prototype of web-based PPGIS for municipal planning using open source software
Authors: Ma Xiaohong (Serena)
Published: June 2021

Web-based Public Participation Geographic Information System (WebPPGIS) is inherently about empowering GIS and Web technology and enabling the public users to use the technology to capture their local knowledge and immerse them into the spatial decision making process. However, there have [sic] some common barriers to WebPPGIS implementation such as lack of communication mechanism for the public; lack of friendly use interface for the non-expert public users; and the cost of the GIS software packages etc.
This thesis presents the results of a research project, aiming at overcoming the above barriers and implementing a practical WebPPGIS. General requirements of WebPPGIS are summarized based on the analysis of current researches and a prototype is implemented to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach. Also this thesis illustrates that Open Source Software (OSS) is a competetive solution for developing cost-effective WebPPGIS. Further, the evaluation of the prototype has been performed against the requirements
Hydrocarbon contamination, assessment and remediation practice
Authors: Kazem Nizar
Published: June 2021

Organic chemicals are used in all types of industries including but not limited to automotive and engine repair, dry cleaning, asphalt operations, dye manufacturing, agricultural activities, and food processing. The usage of organic chemicals is of increasing concern to regulators because of the contamination of soil and groundwater resulting from the mishandling and disposal of these chemicals. Typically, drums, underground and aboveground tanks are used to store these organic chemicals. The presence of large amount of chemicals, gasoline, and diesel fuel on-site is considering an indicator of the potential for soil and groundwater contamination.

Due to leaking UST or surface spills of organic chemicals and its constituent it becomes the common culprits of soil and groundwater contamination. The first step toward implementing a remediation is to provide for [...] a better understanding of the physical properties of the organic chemicals themselves.

This study reviews the chemistry of hydrocarbon and the fundamental concepts and principles of geology and hydrogeology, since the media where the contamination is taking place, and followed by a discussion of the fate and transport of contaminants in the subsurface, from an industry and regulatory point of view. The types and design of remediation system was overlooked and applied in a real case of study of Phase I, II and [III] Environmental Site Assessment.

This study concluded with an overview of the application of the remote sensing in the environmental industry and its future potential involvement in the environmental site assessments, Phase I through Phase III audits.
Corrosion Resistance Of High-Performance Composite Beams
Authors: Hossain Mohammad Ali
Published: June 2021

The research concentrated on the corrosion resistance of reinforced self-consolidating concrete (SCC), lightweight SCC (LWSCC), fiber reinforced LWSCC (FRLWSCC), Engineered cementitious composite (ECC) and composite (ECC-SCC/LWSCC) beams. The performance of corroded beams were analyzed based on current measurements, half-cell potential readings, crack pattern/width, rebar mass loss and diameter reduction from accelerated corrosion tests. Corroded and their companion uncorroded beams were tested to failure under four-point loading to evaluate load-deflection response, crack pattern, 1st flexure/diagonal cracking load, failure load and failure modes. Composite beams with higher ECC layer thickness exhibited superior corrosion resistance than their lower thickness counterparts and full depth SCC or LWSCC counterparts as well as performance of beams with ECC wrap was better than those with layer. Overall, ECC beams can be a superior alternative of their conventional counterparts and ECC can be used as layer or
wrapping in conventional/LWSCC beams to enhance corrosion resistance and structural performance
A Finding Aid for 25 Years of Advertisements in the Kodak Advertising Collection, George Eastman Archives and Study Center
Authors: Fay Sarah
Published: June 2021

This project is a finding aid for twenty-five years of Kodak Advertisements, which encompasses a written description of the project, an analysis of the results, and the finding aid itself. The finding aid presents an index of each advertisement published between the years of 1900 to 1925 from the Kodak Advertising Collection binders at the George Eastman Study Centre in the George Eastman House Museum of Photography and Film in Rochester, New York. The finding aid pays particular attention to imagebased advertisements, slotting them into one of seven categories: women, children, family, farmers, travel and outdoors, labor, and soldiers. 
User-defined B-Spline template snake
Authors: Dehmeshki Hoda
Published: June 2021

This thesis has created a new Snake model that overcomes many of the limitations of the traditional finite difference snake. This new deformable model combines a novel user initialization process with a finite element B-spline snake to create a powerful semi-automatic segmentation method. Using the simple but powerful initialization process, the user recognizes critical points and regions in a specified order, and transfers this knowledge to the model. By drawing lines across the object of interest, importatn information pertaining to the global shape of the object, such as width and symmetry, is imparted to the model.

The snake is parameterized using minimum number of model degrees of freedom necessary and these degrees of freedom are placed in optimal positions around the object, based on the critical points and features recognized by the user via the input lines. Thus, the model is more like a deformable template than a local snake model - it is less sensitive to noise and more amenable to propagation to subsequent image slices in a volume image or time series. Unlike a traditional deformable template model however, it is constructed and positioned by the user rather than preconstructed and automatically initialized by the segmentation system. The template snake isinitialized very close to the object boundary and is very similar in shape. Furthermore, it is "aware" of its position with respect to the object. This thesis also describes the computation of the external image forces and how the known initial position and shape of the snake can be used to design object-specific image forces.