bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Development of optical coherence tomography technique for clinical diagnostics and monitoring
Authors: Razani Marjan
Published: May 2021

This dissertation describes techniques that use Optical Coherence Tomography techniques developed for the detection of shear wave propagation in different phantoms, and the use of such waves to enhance the transport of nanoparticles in tissue equivalent phantoms. In the first study, we explored the potential of measuring shear wave propagation using optical co-herence elastography (OCE) in an inhomogeneous phantom and carotid artery samples based on a swept source optical coherence tomography (OCT) system. Shear waves were generated using a piezoelectric transducer transmitting sine-wave bursts of 400 μs duration, applying acoustic radiation force (ARF) to inhomogeneous phantoms and carotid artery samples, syn-chronized with a swept-source OCT (SS-OCT) imaging system. The phantoms were com-posed of gelatin and titanium dioxide whereas the carotid artery samples were embedded in propagating shear waves in inhomogeneous tissue equivalent phantoms and carotid artery samples using the ARF of an ultrasound transducer, and measuring the shear wave speed and its associated properties in the different layers with OCT phase maps. In the second study, we present a technique to image the enhanced particle displacement generated using an acoustic radiation force (ARF) excitation source. A MEMS-VCSEL swept source Optical Coherence Tomography (SS-OCT) system with a center wavelength of 1310 nm, a bandwidth of 100nm, and an A-scan rate of 100 kHz was used to detect gold nanoparticle displacement. ARF was applied after the nanoparticles diffused into a collagen matrix (of different collagen concen-trations and for a tissue engineered MCF-7 breast cancer cell construct). Differential OCT speckle variance images with and without the ARF were used to estimate the particle dis-placement. The images were used to detect the microscopic enhancement of nanoparticle displacement generated by the ARF. Using this OCT imaging technique, the enhanced transport of particles though a collagen gel after using an ARF excitation was imaged and analysed.
Optimized switch-level soft error detection based on advanced switch-level models
Authors: Chikhe Jalal Mohammad
Published: May 2021

Due to the reduction of transistor size, modern circuits are becoming more sensitive to soft errors. The development of new techniques and algorithms targeting soft error detection are important as they allow designers to evaluate the weaknesses of the circuits at an early stage of the design. The project presents an optimized implementation of soft error detection simulator targeting combinational circuits. The developed simulator uses advanced switch level models allowing the injection of soft errors caused by single event-transient pulses with magnitudes lesser than the logic threshold. The ISCAS'85 benchmark circuits are used for the simulations. The transients can be injected at drain, gate, or inputs of logic gate. This gives clear indication of the importance of transient injection location on the fault coverage. Furthermore, an algorithm is designed and implemented in this work to increase the performance of the simulator. This optimized version of the simulator achieved an average speed-up of 310 compared to the non-algorithm based version of the simulator.
Strategies for Effective Case Method Teaching in Large Undergraduate Business Classes
Authors: Moorhouse Michael
Published: May 2021

This study finds that the case method pedagogy, originally designed for use with graduate students, can also be effective in large, undergraduate business classes. While most of the case method research has historically focused on the graduate level, the method has now become popular for undergraduate teaching. There is a growing need for large class pedagogy and best practices due to the fast growing enrolment in North American business schools, and this study presents a preliminary opinion on how the case method could be adapted to meet the needs of large and diverse classes. The study reviews the challenges of teaching cases, and the challenges of using active learning techniques in large class teaching. The study presents a definition for “large” and “very large” classes in the context of case teaching, and suggests several practices from case-teaching instructors that can be used to teach the method effectively in these environments.
Who were the Hackney Flashers? The history and importance of a British Feminist Collective, 1974-1980
Authors: Dring Julie
Published: May 2021

The purpose of this project is to provide a resource for museum professionals who are working with materials related to the Hackney Flashers. The Hackney Flashers were a radical socialist-feminist collective that was active in northeast London in the 1970s. The goal is to provide a well-researched history of the collective, as well as address current issues surrounding exhibiting and archiving related materials. This has been done by balancing written sources with oral histories by surviving members of the collective. Imbedded in the Women’s Liberation Movement and the radical-feminist politics of 1970s Britain, the Hackney Flashers used photography to document women in their community in order to expose social inequality. Heavily influenced by the photomontages of John Heartfield, the collective collaged documentary photographs with cartoons, advertisements and text in order to provide a wider context than what documentary photography could provide on its own.
Migration and art: exploring experiential and theoretical connections
Authors: Hellreich Eva
Published: May 2021

How can arts-based methodologies offer unique insights into contemporary migration and settlement experiences? Informed by qualitative research and a literature review which analyzes identity theory, social construction theory, and Canadian art organizations which support newcomer artists, this paper explores the potential for the intersection of the arts in immigration and settlement assessment. An exploratory investigation of the theory of art as linked to migration is illuminated by the experiences of a group of artists who have gone through a significant migratory experience and share their reflections on being artists in Canada. This paper argues that analyzing art created by immigrant artists offers insight into the contemporary Canadian immigration experience which quantitative data is unable to capture. Learning about
the barriers which immigrant artists face through using arts-based research includes the subject in the research, thereby empowering and validating their lived experiences as valuable epistemologies and ontologies. Findings reveal the impact of acculturation on the identities of and opportunities available to immigrant artists in Canada.

Key Words: Immigrant Art; Immigration and Toronto; Place-making; Acculturation; Hybridity; Identity
Analysis of Neural Network Based Ciphers
Authors: Arvandi Maryam
Published: May 2021

Cryptography can be considered one of the most important aspects of communication security with existence of many threats and attacks to the systems. Unbreakableness is the main feature of a cryptographic cipher. In this thesis, feasibility of using neural networks, due to their computational capabilities is investigated for designing new cryptography methods. A newly proposed block cipher based on recurrent neural networks has also been analysed It is shown that: the new scheme is not a block cipher, and it should be referred to as a symmetric cipher; the simple architecture of the network is compatible with the requirement for confusion, and diffusion properties of a cryptosystem; the back propagation with variable step size without momentum, has the best result among other back propagation algorithms; the output of the network, the ciphertext, is not random, proved by using three statistical tests; the cipher is resistant to some fundamental cryptanalysis attacks, and finally a possible chosen-plaintext attack is presented.
Dynamic Finite Element (DFE) Formulation of Functionally Graded Beams
Authors: Gee Aaron
Published: May 2021

The Dynamic Finite Element (DFE) theory is applied to calculate the natural frequencies of Functionally Graded Material (FGM) beams. The formulation derived is based on Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and material grading is assumed to follow a power law variation through the thickness of the beam. Results from DFE are numerically validated against methods such as Classical Finite Element Method (FEM) and the Dynamic Stiffness Method (DSM), as well as other data found in literature. Commercial software was used to further validate the proposed DFE formulation. The test cases showed that DFE results displayed excellent agreement to published results. When compared to the FEM method, DFE showed higher accuracy while requiring fewer elements to converge to the solution. Finally some general comments are made on possible future research paths for DFE method on FGM beams.
Family involvement : an analysis of family day care services family centred child care policy
Authors: Falope Patricia Eno
Published: May 2021

This paper explores the concept of culture as the intrinsic foundation upon which societies organize child rearing routines and its impact on family involvement with early childhood education. Investigation was carried out through the lens of Family Day Care Services family centred child care policy. Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews with a convenience sample of eleven participants from West Africa and Sri Lanka, the study considered (a) the patterns of implementation of policy principles: (b) extents to which the ECE program reflected families' cultural practices and; (c) extends to which these factors impacted family involvement. Study findings indicated diversity between West African and Sri Lankan participants' perceptions with regard to cultural expectation of ECE programming and identified limitations in cultural communication transactions as a major hindrance to family involvement. Recommendations were made for teacher training, on-going parent board meetings, and further research to aid understanding of the communities served and give voice to families.
Environmental Injustices Experienced by Immigrants in a High-Rise Neighbourhood: Examining Conditions, Impacts, and Advocacy at Multiple Scales
Authors: Brown Emily Lauren
Published: May 2021

Low income, racialized, immigrant populations often experience inequitable exposure to hazardous housing and neighbourhood environments, while being excluded from decision-making processes that shape environmental changes in these spaces. While such trends have been documented in several locations, few studies explore the issue in-depth, from the perspective of the lived experiences of immigrants and newcomers facing substandard conditions across a variety of scales. Drawing on focus groups with immigrants living in the high-rise neighbourhood of Rexdale, Toronto and key informant interviews with social service agencies, this thesis examines how unjust environmental living conditions manifest across multiple scales (i.e. housing unit, high-rise building, high-rise neighbourhood) resulting in cumulative impacts and challenges. A procedural environmental justice lens is adopted to examine weather and how immigrants and newcomers are engaging in processes to improve their living conditions at a variety of scales, related obstacles and barriers, and opportunities for increasing immigrant influence over environmental conditions.
Black wealth mobility
Authors: Riley Tasha Sinclair
Published: May 2021

This is a narrative storytelling qualitative research study on Black wealth mobility. Through a Critical Race Theory and Anti-Black Racism lens, this study allows the experiences of Black social service workers to help understand the route and tools used when navigating wealth mobility, and creating a separate space to define the Black experience throughout this process. Existing research shows there are significant gaps in attaining wealth for Black communities, and very little surrounding solutions for these gaps. As social service providers, participants were able to not only make suggestions for social supports to be developed, but also to utilize counter-storying telling to pinpoint issues existing within the current social sector which also contribute to these gaps in Black communities. This research not only gave a space for Black bodies to express and share their experiences, but also a space to critically reflect on the work done in these communities.
Tailoring hydrogel microstructure via phase separation and kinetic trapping
Authors: Vieth Simon
Published: May 2021

Control of the microstructure of a biopolymeric phase-separated system is presented as part of an effort to develop a novel platform for controlled drug release. Under certain conditions, aqueous mixtures of biopolymers exhibit thermodynamic incompatibility and separate into distinct phases, each concentrated in one component and poor in the other. Upon initiation of phase separation (PS), droplets of one phase, the included phase, appear and ripen over time such that shared surface area with the continuous phase is minimized. Gelation is a means of halting droplet growth prior to bulk PS (BPS). The purpose of this research is to establish the means to dictate the microstructure of a PS system by: (i) understanding the effects of biopolymer concentration on PS temperature, TPS; (ii) modeling the growth of droplets within the included-phase; (iii) examining the efficacy of gelation as a means of trapping microstructure and (iv) investigating the characteristic microstructures of biopolymer systems undergoing a two-step temperature quench.
Application of least squares support vector machines in medium-term load forecasting
Authors: Afshin Mohammadreza
Published: May 2021

Power load forecasting is essential in the task scheduling of every electricity production and distribution facility. In this project, we study the applications of modern artificial intelligence techniques in power load forecasting. We first investigate the application of principal component analysis (PCA) to least squares support vector machines (LS-SVM) in a week-ahead load forecasting problem.

Then, we study a variety of tuning techniques for optimizing the least squares support vector machines' (LS-SVM) hyper-parameters. The construction of any effective and accurate LS-SVM model depends on carefully setting the associated hyper-parameters. Poplular optimization techniques including Genetic Algorithm (GA), Simulated Annealing (SA), Bayesian Evidence Framework and Cross Validation (CV) are applied to the target application and then compared for performance time, accuracy and computational cost.

Analysis of the experimental results proves that LS-SVM by feature extraction using PCA can achieve greater accuracy and faster speed than other models including LS-SVM without feature extraction and the popular feed forward neural network (FFNN). Also, it is observed that optimized LS-SVM by Bayesian Evidence Framework can achieve greater accuracy and faster speed than other techniques including LS-SVM tuned with genetic algorithm, simulated annealing and 10-fold cross validation.
Organic chemistry synthesis problem as artificial intelligence planning
Authors: Masoumi Arman
Published: May 2021

This thesis formulates organic chemistry synthesis problems as Artificial Intelligence planning problems and uses a combination of techniques developed in the field of planning to solve organic synthesis problems. To this end, a methodology for axiomatizing organic chemistry is developed, which includes axiomatizing molecules and functional groups, as well as two approaches for representing chemical reactions in a logical language amenable to reasoning. A novel algorithm for planning specific to organic chemistry is further developed, based on which a planner capable of identifying 75 functional groups and chemical classes is implemented with a knowledge base of 55 generic chemical reactions. The performance of the planner is empirically evaluated on two sets of benchmark problems and analytically compared with a number of competing algorithms.
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The influence of regulatory focus and self-discrepancy on cognition in younger and older adults
Authors: Lapp Leann K.
Published: May 2021

There exists substantial literature describing how the two motivational systems of promotion and prevention (Regulatory Focus Theory; Higgins, 1997) influence behaviour. However, the specific cognitive correlates of regulatory focus remain unclear. Furthermore, how regulatory focus may influence the course of cognitive aging is unknown. Experiment 1 compared healthy older and younger adults on Higgins' measure of self-discrepancy and explored relationships with cognition. Experiment 2 compared younger adults induced into either a promotion or prevention focus relative to a no-induction control condition on measures of cognition. The results from Experiment 1 revealed that while the magnitude of self-discrepancy remains constant across the lifespan, the evaluation and content of self goals changes with age. The results from Experiment 2 suggest that the effects of the regulatory focus induction are limited but specific to particular aspects of memory and perception. Overall, these findings may contribute to our understanding of aging and motivated cognition.
Extperimental Characterization of 3D Printed Thermoplastic Plates Subjected To Low Velocity Impact
Authors: Desu Hari Prasad Prudhvi
Published: May 2021

Poly Lactic Acid (PLA) is a biodegradable material which is being extensively used in
industrial applications. Due to its low glass transition temperature and cost, PLA is ideal as a feed stock in 3D printing applications. However, it has a brittle nature which makes it vulnerable to impact loads. In this paper, PLA is used to make 3D printed plates that are impact tested using an in-house low velocity impact test apparatus. A high-speed camera and an infrared thermography system are used to investigate the impact damage properties of the material. The plates manufactured with 0° orientation are used to conduct two different experiments; one with varying energies and the other with varying thickness at two different impact locations, namely at plate’s centre and close to a clamped edge. At 1 J impact energy, the plates showed a tensile crack behaviour (cracks between extrudates) and for 3 J energy it showed a mixed crack behaviour of tensile and shear (cracks along and across extrudates) with more energy dissipations than the 1 J impact. For the 1 J impact, more energy is dissipated at the centre of the plate (42.3%) than the impact close to a clamped edge (32.8%), whereas for the 3 J impact more energy is dissipated near clamped edges (97.1%) compared to the centre
of the plate (54.9%). Subsequently, the 3 J impact is used for the second experiment due to the higher energy dissipation. Finally, an experimental study is conducted on plates with varied layer thickness from 0.10 mm to 0.18 mm. Results show that the increase in layer thickness (decrease in number of layers) increases the impact absorption for plates impacted at their centre. For plates impacted near their clamped edge, a zig-zag impact damage pattern of increasing and decreasing magnitudes is observed, but the energy dissipation values are higher than the centre impacted plates.
Parent-child collaboration in health care decision making: perspectives of young people with chronic illness
Authors: Jackson Elana
Published: May 2021

This study explores the perspectives of young people with chronic illness on their participation in
health care discussions and decision making, with a specific focus on the role of parents in
facilitating participation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 participants
between the ages of 5 and 18. Participants were recruited from inpatient units at a pediatric
hospital. A range of chronic illnesses were represented among members of the sample, including
kidney failure, Crohn’s disease, organ transplant, and sickle cell anemia. Following data
collection, a focused analysis was conducted of participants’ statements related to parent
involvement in the health care decision making process. Salient themes that emerged from
analysis of the data reveal a complex and bidirectional process in which young people and
parents negotiate children’s participation in making decisions related to their health care. Based
on the findings, a collaborative-contextual model of decision making is proposed.
Dual citizenship in the context of globalization, identity and belonging debate
Authors: Rosic Igor
Published: May 2021

At the beginning of the 21st century, there seems to be a global shift in paradigms of identity and belonging. For a long time, both of these entities have been deemed to be fixed and one-dimensional, tied to a specific nation, state and territory. But, under the influence of globalization, notions of identity and belonging are undergoing some fundamental changes. In the interconnected and migratory world we are living in, transnational communities possess and nurture identities of multiple belonging. These global interconnections create new challenges for previous notions of exclusive belonging to a single state-territory, and by extension, citizenship as the ultimate form of political belonging to a nation-state. In this context, dual citizenship has emerged as a legal recognition of this situation. In this paper, I discuss various issues connected to dual citizenship and argue for the need for recognition of full dual citizenship by every country of the world.
Dynamic Modelling And Simulation of Rotating Biological Contactors
Authors: Abdullah Hafiz M.
Published: May 2021

Rotating  Biological  Contactor  is  a  remediation  technology  used  in  the  secondary treatment of wastewater (domestic  and biodegradable  industrial  wastes).  In  this  work,  a mathematical  model  for  rotating  biological contactors (RBC)  is  presented,  which encapsulates  the  consumption  of soluble substrate  in  the  developed  bio-film attached to the  disk  of a rotating  biological contactor.  The  model  describes  the  consumption  of the substrate and oxygen in  the bio-film,  and in the  trough assuming the liquid in the trough is completely mixed, and the rates of substrate and oxygen utilization within the bio-film follow  Monod  kinetics.    The  numerical  solution  of  the  model  agrees  with  the experimental  data  reported  by  other  workers.  The  simulation  also  predicts  the performance of RBCs in  the event of any fluctuations in the flow rate and concentration of the soluble BOD5 in the influent wastewater stream. The developed model can be used in the future to aid in the optimization of the performance of RBCs.
A novel predictive control strategy for neutral-point clamped converter with harmonic spectrum shaping
Authors: Rubinic Jaksa
Published: May 2021

This thesis proposes a new predictive control strategy to achieve fixed-switching frequency
operation for a neutral-point clamped (NPC) inverter. The classical fixed-sampling frequency
finite control-set model predictive control (FSF-FCS-MPC) operates with variable switching
frequency, and thus produces spread-spectrum in an output current. The classical method also suffers from high computational complexity as the number of converter voltage levels increases.
To overcome these issues, a high performance variable sampling frequency finite control-set model predictive control (VSF-FCS-MPC) strategy is proposed to control the power converters.
The proposed control technique combines the advantages of space vector modulation
(SVM) with a newly introduced mechanics to determine the appropriate sampling frequency. With these features the major requirements such as balancing of DC-link capacitor voltages, switching frequency minimization and common-mode voltage mitigation have been achieved with simultaneous elimination of even-order and inter-harmonics in the load current harmonic spectrum. The VSF-FCS-MPC strategy for current control with decoupled active/reactive power regulation of grid-connected multilevel converter was also analyzed.
Moreover, a novel DC-link voltage balancing technique is presented which eliminates the
need for balancing the capacitor voltages through cost function, and thus alleviates the weighting factor design. An introduction of SVM highly reduces the calculation time by considering only adjacent vectors, rendering FCS-MPC more suitable for implementation with multi-level converters with a number of voltage levels higher than three.
Finally, the proposed control technique has been validated through simulation and
experimental verification and a detailed comparison of VSF-FCS-MPC with FSF-FCS-MPC and
SVM is presented
Using honeypots in a decentralized framework to defend against adversarial machine-learning attacks
Authors: Younis Fadi
Published: May 2021

The market demand for online machine-learning services is increasing, and so to have
are the threats to them. Adversarial inputs represent a new threat to Machine-Learningas-
a-Services (MLaaSs). Meticulously crafted malicious inputs can be used to mislead and
confuse the learning model, even in cases where the adversary only has access to input and
output labels. As a result, there has been increased interest in defence techniques to combat
these types of attacks.

In this thesis, we propose a network of high-interaction honeypots as a decentralized
defence framework that prevents an adversary from corrupting the learning model, primarily
through the use of deception. We accomplish our aim by 1) preventing the attacker from
correctly learning the labels and approximating the architecture of the black-box system;
2) luring the attacker away, towards a decoy model, using HoneyTokens; and 3) creating
infeasible computational work for the adversary.
Design of wastewater treatment plant and nutrients recovery
Authors: Gupta Ashish Kumar
Published: May 2021

The objective was to design a municipal wastewater treatment plant with primary sedimentation and without primary sedimentation and then compare the savings in capital cost. The project discussed the design procures for the various units such as preliminary units, secondary units and tertiary units. The parametric cost estimation concept is utilized to arrive at the capital cost savings. The literature review includes the various methods to recover the nutrients from the wastewater. The literature review also includes various measures to be taken for performance improvement of municipal wastewater treatment plants. This project concludes that capital cost savings of about twenty percent can be achieved by not providing the primary sedimentation.
Heat transfer to small cylinders and flat strips immersed in a fluidized bed
Authors: Rosero Dennis
Published: May 2021

Fluidized bed heat treating systems have been used to heat treat low carbon steel wires for a number of years. Extending this application to high carbon steel wires and metal straps has been implemented with very little success due to the lack of knowledge of heat transfer coefficients or, alternatively, Nusselt number for small cylinders and flat strips. The objective of this study was to provide reliable data for predicting a suitable Nusselt number for small horizontal cylinders and flat strips at various orientations under conditions typically encountered in heat treating fluidized bed systems.
In this study, resistively heated small cylinders and flat strips ranging in diameter from 1.27 to 9.53mm and in width from 6.25 to 25.4mm respectively were immersed in a 311mm in diameter lab-scale fluidized bed. The bed consisted of fine alumina oxide sand of mean particle size ranging from 145 to 330[micro]m fluidized by air at ambient temperatures. The fluidized bed unit was capable of fluidizing rates ranging from 0.14 to 23 G/Gmf. The cylinder and flat strip samples were positioned horizontally in the bed. The flat strip samples were rotated around the length's center axis in 15° increments from a 0° horizontal position to a 90° vertical position.
The results showed that published correlations over-predict small cylinder Nusselt numbers over the entire fluidizing range; furthermore, their trends did not agree. Flat strip results demonstrated highest heat transfer rates at a vertical position. A correlation that predicts the mean Nusselt number within ±15% for both geometries was developed for operating conditions covered by the experiments.
Multi-Level Clustering Architecture and Protocol Designs for Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Okeke Barnabas C.
Published: May 2021

Wireless sensor network (WSN) consists of a number of sensors, which measure and gather data in a variety of environments. In a WSN, sensed data are collected at a centralized location, called sink, for processing and analysis. With limited transmission ranges, sensed data may require multiple relays to reach the sink. In this thesis, a novel system design for multi-level clustering (MLC) WSNs and its associated protocol operations are proposed.

Cluster-heads in the proposed design form a tree with a goal to reach all sensor nodes in the network. Subsequently, all sensed data in the tree are delivered to the sink. Energy savings is improved by exploiting sensor node redundancy in the WSN. To validate the proposed design, thorough simulations have been carried out. Upon comparing to the LEACH protocol, it offers consistent wider coverage area and longer life span of a WSN with proper settings of system parameters.
Opinion Mining For Employee Engagement: Are Surveys Extinct?
Authors: Westbury Paige
Published: May 2021

This major research paper investigates the possibility of measuring employee engagement through online job-review sites such as Glassdoor.com (Glassdoor). Using prevalent themes from the Gallup Q12 (Q12) engagement survey as independent variables, 106 Glassdoor reviews were deductively analyzed. Literature surrounding employee engagement theory, critical managerialism and the affordances of online review-forums has been reviewed and used in conjunction with thematic content analyses to guide and answer the following research questions:
1) What are the prevalent themes addressed by the Gallup Q12?
2) Are employees addressing the themes prevalent in the Gallup Q12 in their Glassdoor reviews?
3) Are there prevalent themes addressed in Glassdoor reviews other than those addressed by the Gallup Q12?
It was found that employee reviews left on Glassdoor do in fact address the themes in the Gallup Q12. However, each individual review only addressed a fraction of the 12 prevalent themes at a time. These findings suggest that while online review sites may not replace employee engagement surveys such as the Gallup Q12, they may provide useful insight into what factors should be addressed in employee engagement surveys.
An Inventory and Analysis of Sustainable Food System Projects Implemented at Canadian Universities
Authors: Buslovich Ruvena I.
Published: May 2021

The purpose of this project is to conduct an analysis of sustainable food system (SFS) projects implemented at Canadian universities. An inventory of SFS projects on Canadian university campuses was developed through a detailed content analysis of university websites. Gaps in the existing programs were explored through interviews with representatives from 40 of the 201 identified SFS projects. The interviews addressed project operations, definitions, motivations, approvals processes, challenges, lessons learned, project future, links to other projects, suggestions to other projects, and additional comments. These interviews found that even across different SFS project categories, there are strong common lessons and suggestions that can be applied to other existing or new projects, such as channeling passion into starting projects despite the obstacles faced, and building support networks. These results will help other SFS projects in their quest to address the environmental, social, and economic challenges faced by the parts of the food system: production, processing, access, distribution, consumption, and waste management.
Ideological and threat predictors of religious and diet-based prejudice in Canada
Authors: Asrani Vashisht
Published: May 2021

There is an increasing prevalence of negative attitudes toward vegans and vegetarians in North America. Religious reasons for diet might provide a buffering effect on prejudice towards these groups (MacInnis & Hodson, 2017). In the present thesis (Study 1), the role of socio-political ideology, threat perceptions and religious identity in understanding negative attitudes towards vegans and vegetarians, was investigated. Further, as imagined contact has been found to predict tolerant outgroup attitudes (Miles & Crisp, 2014), the relationship between imagined contact and attitudes towards vegans was studied (Study 2). Study 1 (n=406) and Study 2 (n=137) were both administered to undergraduate samples. In Study 1, religious identity had no buffering effect on attitudes towards vegans/vegetarians. Participants higher on ideology and threat held less favourable attitudes towards vegans and Sikh vegans/vegetarians. In Study 2, participants who imagined interacting with vegans reported liking them more (vs. control). Implications for future research are discussed.
An elemental architecture: water stewardship in Hiawatha First Nation
Authors: Pallett LeeAnn
Published: May 2021

Dozens of First Nations in Canada lack access to safe and secure water resources. This thesis proposes the decentralization of water treatment in First Nations, and explores how architecture might integrate and decentralize water collection, purification, and storage strategies in Hiawatha First Nation. It simultaneously explores the very deep and layered spiritual connection between women and water in Anishinaabe culture.
Feminist theory is used as a lens through which the research and design is approached. Synthesizing vernacular strategies with contemporary technologies led to the development of a regionally sensitive architecture that creates much needed space for purification, healing, and growth of the community and the individual.
The Pimaadashkodeyaang Cultural Centre in Hiawatha First Nation investigates Anishinaabe architecture and culture, feminist theory and space, and water and productive landscapes. Multiple design strategies emerged that inform how to design with water from both a pragmatic and mythopoetic perspective.
An Intelligent Aircraft Window System for Visual Comfort Control
Authors: Liu Jasper
Published: May 2021

The purpose of this thesis is to develop an intelligent aircraft window system for visual comfort control based on electrochromic windows that can change the transparency depending on passenger’s needs and visual comfort. In the current window system, window transparency is controlled manually. The system developed in this thesis is an automatic system. Under this development, a mock-up is set up to mimic a section of cabin with an electrochromic window along with a simulated sunlight source and several light sensors. To measure visual comfort, the daylight glare index (DGI) is adopted. Based on DGI, a fuzzy logic classifier is developed to evaluate visual comfort/discomfort. This is followed by developing a fuzzy logic controller that can automatically adjust the window transparency based on the measured DGI level and the rate of change of DGI. DGI set point for different individuals, the effect of illuminance and color temperature are also discussed
Aerodynamic analysis of multirotor vehicles using a higher-order potential flow method
Authors: Barcelos Devin F.
Published: May 2021

A higher-order potential flow method is adapted for the aerodynamic performance prediction of small rotors used in multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles. The method uses elements of distributed vorticity which results in numerical robustness with both a prescribed and relaxed wake representation. The radial loading and wake shapes of a rotor in hover were compared to experiment to show strong agreement for three disk loadings. The advancing flight performance prediction of a single rotor was compared to a single rotor was compared to a blade element momentum theory based approach and to experiment. Comparison showed good thrust and power agreement with experiment across a range of advance ratios and angles of attack. Prediction in descending flights showed improvements in comparison to the blade element momentum theory approach. The model was extended to a quadrotorm configuration showing the differences associated to vehicle orientation and rotor rotational direction.
A case of mistaken identity : reconceptualizing the citizen in multicultural Canada
Authors: Wong Winnie
Published: May 2021

As immigration continues to transform the ethno-racial composition of Canada, growing evidence of barriers to integration compels a re-evaluation of multiculturalism. Integration based on multicultural citizenship problematizes immigration by reproducing exclusionary nationalism and essentializing culturalism. The concept of citizenship preserves the myth of a national community although global issues manifest within national borders and local policies prioritize global capital. While multiculturalism implies cultural equality, the reality is a social hierarchy influenced by shifting identities resulting from migration and a constructed 'Canadianness' stemming from colonization. To replace the one-sided approach of immigrant obligation with mutual responsibility, integration must challenge the nationalist/culturalist tendencies of multicultural citizenship by reconceptualising the citizen from a critical transnational perspective that connects the local with the global. Therefore, this paper will present a revised concept of citizenship based on interdependency, which contradicts nationalism by localizing global inequality and challenges culturalism by globalizing local identities.
Evaluating the Effect of Implementing Biologically Realistic Delays on Hepatitis C Kinetics and Associated Estimates of Antiviral Efficacy
Authors: Shamloo Shabnam
Published: May 2021

Mathematical modelling of hepatitis C virus (HCV) decay under antiviral therapy has allowed for the determination of antiviral efficacy and other important parameters. Cur-rent models of HCV infection are based on a set of ordinary differential equations (ODEs)and assume that infectious cell lifespans are exponentially distributed over time, meaning that every infected cell has an equal probability of dying at any time. Here, we introduce a new model which: (1) allows for a realistic eclipse phase delay between the moment of cell infection and the release of new virus; and (2) considers both exponential and gamma-distributed delays for the time spent by cells in the infectious state, continuously producing virus. To allow for the simplest mathematical form, we consider a multiple-stage ODE model which yields gamma-distributed delays. Application of this model to viral titer data for patients undergoing antiviral therapy leads to different conclusions when predicting parameter values.
The Accommodating Showman
Authors: Allard-Buffet Veronique
Published: May 2021

Portable performance spaces played an indispensable role in the architectural development of the theatre venue. The Victorian age and the evolution of the roadway, have acted as the underpinning catalysts of its proliferation. Today, we continue to make use of temporary performance spaces; however their conception is often intended for the one-time use, or for a show specific purpose. Unlike some of their historical counterparts, little thought is granted to their reuse or adaptability. For an approach which ought to boast flexible qualities, their accommodating nature typically ends at their transportability, and their plan often finds itself restricted to an inflexible layout. This thesis will attempt to uncover how portable performance spaces can extend their adaptable nature beyond that of a simply changing site. By exploiting the pavilion’s notion of temporality, the onus will be placed on its ability to achieve multiple configurations, rather than solely in the pursuit of one fixed absolute.
Field Study of a Radiant Heating System for Sleep Thermal Comfort and Potential Energy Saving
Authors: Wang Christopher L. K.
Published: May 2021

As sleep is unconscious, the traditional definition of thermal comfort with conscious judgment does not apply. In this thesis sleep thermal comfort is defined as the thermal condition which enables sleep to most efficiently rejuvenate the body and mind. A comfort model was developed to stimulate the respective thermal environment required to achieve the desired body thermal conditions and a new infrared sphere method was developed to measure mean radiant temperature. Existing heating conditions according to building code conditions during sleeping hours was calculated to likely overheat a sleeping person and allowed energy saving potential by reducing nighttime heating set points. Experimenting with existing radiantly and forced air heated residential buildings, it was confirmed that thermal environment was too hot for comfortable sleep and that the infrared sphere method shows promise. With the site data, potential energy savings were calculated and around 10% of energy consumption reduction may be achieved during peak heating.
The voice and the void: the scream in 1950s American science fiction film
Authors: Hergott Melissa
Published: May 2021

In the United States, science fiction film rose to prominence as a critically recognized genre in the 1950s, a decade fraught with cultural complications and contradictions and also inspired by optimism and upward trajectory. Warren Susman characterizes the period as one marked by a "dual consciousness," a time when "the fulfillment of our sweetest desires [led] inevitably to the brink of danger and damnation"; the fifties, he writes, was an age of anxiety as much as it was a time of abundance, freedom, and possibility (30). For historian David Halberstam, while a retrospective examination of the decade suggests to some a "slower, almost languid" pace, social ferment "was beginning just beneath this placid surface" (ix). Throughout the decade, notions of national security played out in conflicting ways that traversed both the public and private spheres. Science fiction, a genre that coincided with massive industry changes that saw the development of a sizable low-budget, teen-oriented independent sector, resonated deeply with such opposing and anxiety-laden articulations of both public and private security. While most previous discussions of the genre tend to focus on such concerns in their public dimension (particularly as related to political unease during the Cold War), what follows will address sci-fi' s depiction of anxieties in that other, more private realm of American society, particularly in relation to the expression of gender, sexuality, and desire.

Cold War politics, the postwar consumer boom, re-entrenchment of family values and suburban home life, and industry upheavals in Hollywood are all important for understanding what is now thought of as the golden age of American science fiction film. These socio-political factors contextualize the genre's rise to prominence, its defining stylistic and thematic characteristics, and its treatment of gendered subjectivity. As we will see, while some science fiction films of the 1950s engaged or challenged cultural rhetoric related to expected norms of gendered behaviour, for the most part these films upheld the era's return to more traditional gender roles for men and women, an observation which has been taken up in the critical literature, particularly within feminist film scholarship. However, within this body of films exists a common and recurring convention that has been largely neglected by science fiction film scholars, one that warrants further study due to its implications for understanding the return to domesticity in the American postwar period. This filmic convention is the scream, a visual and aural articulation of fear expressed mostly by women (but also, and just as importantly, by men). Far from being a mere cheap gimmick employed by filmmakers alongside special effects and insatiable monsters, the scream provides valuable insight into the domestic ideologies that prevailed during the 1950s.
The Settlement experience of Salvadoran refugees
Authors: Escobar Olivo Veronica
Published: May 2021

This narrative qualitative study explored the lived experiences of Salvadoran refugees who came to Canada after fleeing the civil war in El Salvador. The research aimed to examine the experience of Salvadoran refugees who arrived between 1980 and 1992. During this period, the Canadian government enacted special measures which allowed for Salvadorans to seek refuge in Canada. The experiences shared by participants explored their experience with the traumas of war, migration and eventual settlement in Toronto. The theoretical framework drew on the coloniality of power and structuration theory. These experiences were considered within a broader context of what it meant to be a Salvadoran refugee in Toronto, both in ongoing connections to their country of origin and their country of settlement over thirty years later. The narratives of the participants provide insights into the complex negotiations into the experiences of refugees forced to flee and reorient themselves in a new society.

Key words: Salvadoran, refugees, experiences, civil war, identity, Latinx, Toronto
Pre-migration preparation and the labour market integration of skilled immigrants
Authors: Robbins Heather
Published: May 2021

Canada has been attracting higher numbers of skilled immigrants in order to address labour shortages and fuel economic growth, yet the labour market outcomes of this group remain disappointingly poor. While a variety of initiatives have been introduced by the federal government to address the situation once skilled immigrants have arrived in Canada, recent attention has focused on preparing them for the labour market while they are still in their home country. These pre-migration preparation initiatives consist of the provision of information, referral and path-finding via online resources and in-person services. This paper will examine each initiative in order to evaluate its content and delivery system and to determine how effectively pre-migration initiatives allow skilled immigrants to prepare for the Canadian labour market and to what extent they contribute to the improvement of labour market integration. The paper also considers the key role played by the regulatory bodies and employers.
Factors influencing turnover intentions of new graduate nurses employed in float pools
Authors: McDermid-Flabbi Sarah
Published: May 2021

Nursing turnover is a growing concern yet little is known about the turnover intentions of new graduate nurses (NGNs) employed in float pools. The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between job satisfaction, work environment and psychological capital and turnover intentions among NGNs employed in float pools in acute care hospitals. A descriptive crosssectional, correlational non-experimental design was utilized with a sample of 56 NGNs employed in the float pool at two quaternary Canadian hospitals. Data were collected using an online survey and analyzed using multiple hierarchical regression. Job satisfaction was found to be the most significant predictor of turnover intentions and the overall study model accounted for 25-27% of variance of turnover intentions. Further development of organizational strategies is needed to improve job satisfaction, reduce turnover and improve retention to optimize patient care delivery, prevent loss of valuable clinical expertise and reduce costs of turnover.