cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
HIV oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) trials: A systematic review and systematic ethics appraisal
Creators: name: Kokolo, Madzouka B
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Health Sciences, Epidemiology.

description: BACKGROUND. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an experimental HIV prevention approach whereby antiretroviral pills are used before anticipated exposure. It is unclear how ethical considerations have been addressed by investigators. METHODS. A systematic review of PrEP controlled prospective studies was conducted. Pre-determined data items were extracted from registries, protocols, reports, and consent forms. Study characteristics, methods, and ethics considerations were synthesized. RESULTS. Among sixteen studies included, twelve involved resource-limited countries. Quality scores were generally high and overall risk of bias was low. Considerations for social value were the least reported whereas considerations for the fair selection of study population were the most reported. More ethics considerations tend to be reported with time. No meta-analysis was performed, as few data were available. CONCLUSION. As critical as clinical data generation is for scientific progress, ethics should be monitored and adequately reported, lest lack of consideration for key principles be uncovered after the facts.
The Onsager Algebra
Creators: name: EI-Chaar, Caroline
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Mathematics.

description: In this thesis, four realizations of the Onsager algebra are explored. We begin with its original definition as introduced by Lars Onsager. We then examine how the Onsager algebra can be presented as a Lie algebra with two generators and two relations. The third realization of the Onsager algebra consists of viewing it as an equivariant map algebra which then gives us the tools to classify its closed ideals. Finally, we examine the Onsager algebra as a subalgebra of the tetrahedron algebra. Using this fourth realization, we explicitly describe all its ideals.
Atomic-scale visualization of multiferroicity in monolayer NiI$_2$
Creators: name: Amini, Mohammad
name: Fumega, Adolfo O.
name: González-Herrero, Héctor
name: Vaňo, Viliam
name: Kezilebieke, Shawulienu
name: Lado, Jose L.
name: Liljeroth, Peter
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Progress in layered van der Waals materials has resulted in the discovery of ferromagnetic and ferroelectric materials down to the monolayer limit. Recently, evidence of the first purely two-dimensional multiferroic material was reported in monolayer NiI$_2$. However, probing multiferroicity with scattering-based and optical bulk techniques is challenging on 2D materials, and experiments on the atomic scale are needed to fully characterize the multiferroic order at the monolayer limit. Here, we use scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) supported by theoretical calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) to probe and characterize the multiferroic order in monolayer NiI$_2$. We demonstrate that the type-II multiferroic order displayed by NiI$_2$, arising from the combination of a magnetic spin spiral order and a strong spin-orbit coupling, allows probing the multiferroic order in the STM experiments. Moreover, we directly probe the magnetoelectric coupling of NiI$_2$ by external electric field manipulation of the multiferroic domains. Our findings establish a novel point of view to analyse magnetoelectric effects at the microscopic level, paving the way towards engineering new multiferroic orders in van der Waals materials and their heterostructures.
An Information-Theoretic Analog of the Twin Paradox
Creators: name: Kovačević, Mladen
name: Pinelis, Iosif
name: Kountouris, Marios
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Information Theory (cs.IT)
subject: Popular Physics (physics.pop-ph)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: 83A05, 94A24, 94A40

description: We revisit the familiar scenario involving two parties in relative motion, in which Alice stays at rest while Bob goes on a journey at speed $βc$ along an arbitrary trajectory and reunites with Alice after a certain period of time. It is a well-known consequence of special relativity that the time that passes until they meet again is different for the two parties and is shorter in Bob's frame by a factor of $\sqrt{1-β^2}$. We investigate how this asymmetry manifests from an information-theoretic viewpoint. Assuming that Alice and Bob transmit signals of equal average power to each other during the whole journey, and that additive white Gaussian noise is present at both sides, we show that the maximum number of bits per second that Alice can transmit reliably to Bob is always higher than the one Bob can transmit to Alice. Equivalently, the energy per bit invested by Alice is lower than that invested by Bob, meaning that the traveler is less efficient from the communication perspective, as conjectured by Jarett and Cover.
description: To appear in Europhysics Letters (EPL)
Automated ultrasonic classification of defects in aluminium die castings
Creators: name: Palanisamy, Suresh
name: Nagarajah, Romesh
name: Iovenitti, Pio
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: Casting is the most ancient metal-shaping technique exploited by man, and is the process of forming metal objects by melting metal and pouring into moulds[1]. There has always been the problem of discontinuities in castings such as irregularities, breaks, or gaps in the material structure. If the discontinuities are sub-surface they must be detected and identified before they can be eliminated. Automotive castings oen are subject to fluids under pressure which includes transmission fluid, engine oil and coolant. A common problem is fluid leakage through sub-surface discontinuities. Therefore, the detection of porosity and other discontinuities that cause leakage is of paramount importance in maintaining quality. Nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques (including ultrasonic, x-ray, liquid penetration, eddy current and magnetic particle testing) have previously been used in different areas of the casting industry[2]. Most of these techniques have experimented with machined castings. At present, in the automotive die casting industries, defective castings are detected off-line either through x-ray or leak testing of castings. The focus of this research work was to investigate the possibility of identifying sub-surface defects using ultrasonic inspection prior to machining the die castings. A difficulty with this technique is that a significant amount of ultrasonic energy is scattered by the rough surface of the as-cast components. Furthermore, the castings have variable internal grain size structure which leads to problems with scattering of the ultrasonic signal. Another major focus was to automate the defect classification of ultrasonic signals using various signal processing techniques. The objectives of this research program emphasized the necessity of obtaining an understanding of the casting process and use of ultrasonic inspection. Once the casting process and ultrasonic NDT methodologies are understood, then it should be possible to duplicate the expertise of a human inspector in the inspection area through an automated identification system. The experimental set-up and results obtained from ultrasonic immersion testing of the sample castings are also described in this paper. Finally, the results of an initial implementation of the inspection system are presented.
LongDocFACTScore: Evaluating the Factuality of Long Document Abstractive Summarisation
Creators: name: Bishop, Jennifer A
name: Xie, Qianqian
name: Ananiadou, Sophia
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Computation and Language (cs.CL)
subject: Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI)
subject: Machine Learning (cs.LG)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: I.2.7

description: Maintaining factual consistency is a critical issue in abstractive text summarisation, however, it cannot be assessed by traditional automatic metrics used for evaluating text summarisation, such as ROUGE scoring. Recent efforts have been devoted to developing improved metrics for measuring factual consistency using pre-trained language models, but these metrics have restrictive token limits, and are therefore not suitable for evaluating long document text summarisation. Moreover, there is limited research and resources available for evaluating whether existing automatic evaluation metrics are fit for purpose when applied in long document settings. In this work, we evaluate the efficacy of automatic metrics for assessing the factual consistency of long document text summarisation. We create a human-annotated data set for evaluating automatic factuality metrics, LongSciVerify, which contains fine-grained factual consistency annotations for long document summaries from the scientific domain. We also propose a new evaluation framework, LongDocFACTScore, which is suitable for evaluating long document summarisation. This framework allows metrics to be efficiently extended to any length document and outperforms existing state-of-the-art metrics in its ability to correlate with human measures of factuality when used to evaluate long document summarisation data sets. We make our code and LongSciVerify data set publicly available: https://github.com/jbshp/LongDocFACTScore.
description: This paper has been published in LREC-COLING 2024, Pages 10777-10789 and was presented as an oral presentation during the conference held in Turin, Italy. The published version is available at https://aclanthology.org/2024.lrec-main.941. 13 pages, 5 figures
First Line Manager Burnout
Creators: name: Nining, Sri
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 420505
subject: Nursing workforce
classificationCode: 350707
subject: Leadership

description: This project contains the following underlying data:research explanation for participantsinformed consentinterview guidelinesNvivo ResultTheme categorisationParticipant charactericCOREQ checklistAll the document are supplement to an article : An exploration of burnout among hospital first line managers during the COVID-19 pandemic
Combining Resonant and Tail-based Anomaly Detection
Creators: name: Bickendorf, Gerrit
name: Drees, Manuel
name: Kasieczka, Gregor
name: Krause, Claudius
name: Shih, David
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: In many well-motivated models of the electroweak scale, cascade decays of new particles can result in highly boosted hadronic resonances (e.g. $Z/W/h$). This can make these models rich and promising targets for recently developed resonant anomaly detection methods powered by modern machine learning. We demonstrate this using the state-of-the-art CATHODE method applied to supersymmetry scenarios with gluino pair production. We show that CATHODE, despite being model-agnostic, is nevertheless competitive with dedicated cut-based searches, while simultaneously covering a much wider region of parameter space. The gluino events also populate the tails of the missing energy and $H_T$ distributions, making this a novel combination of resonant and tail-based anomaly detection.
description: 13 pages, 15 figures
Assessment of a new GeoAI foundation model for flood inundation mapping
Creators: name: Li, Wenwen
name: Lee, Hyunho
name: Wang, Sizhe
name: Hsu, Chia-Yu
name: Arundel, Samantha T.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (cs.CV)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Vision foundation models are a new frontier in Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI), an interdisciplinary research area that applies and extends AI for geospatial problem solving and geographic knowledge discovery, because of their potential to enable powerful image analysis by learning and extracting important image features from vast amounts of geospatial data. This paper evaluates the performance of the first-of-its-kind geospatial foundation model, IBM-NASA's Prithvi, to support a crucial geospatial analysis task: flood inundation mapping. This model is compared with convolutional neural network and vision transformer-based architectures in terms of mapping accuracy for flooded areas. A benchmark dataset, Sen1Floods11, is used in the experiments, and the models' predictability, generalizability, and transferability are evaluated based on both a test dataset and a dataset that is completely unseen by the model. Results show the good transferability of the Prithvi model, highlighting its performance advantages in segmenting flooded areas in previously unseen regions. The findings also indicate areas for improvement for the Prithvi model in terms of adopting multi-scale representation learning, developing more end-to-end pipelines for high-level image analysis tasks, and offering more flexibility in terms of input data bands.
description: 8 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for the 6th ACM SIGSPATIAL International Workshop on AI for Geographic Knowledge Discovery
Meaning and Interchangeability
Creators: name: Gardner, Stephen
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Language, Linguistics.
subject: Philosophy.

description: This dissertation focuses on the notion of synonymy, or identity of meaning, applied to monadic predicates. Beginning with an examination of W. V. Quine's remarks about synonymy in "Two Dogmas of Empiricism," it then considers interchangeability salva veritate, interpreted in various different formal languages, as a possible criterion of synonymy. The languages considered have the structure of (i) first order logic, (ii) quantified modal logic, in particular S5, (iii) a language obtained by supplementing first order logic with doxastic operators of the form "Speaker s believes that ..." for each speaker of the language, and (iv) a quantified polymodal logic which contains both modal and doxastic operators. A positive result is achieved in that it is argued that synonymy can identified with interchangeability salva veritate in language (iv). Furthermore, ISV in (iv) is shown to correspond to a proposition in that language affirming that two predicates cannot possibly be the predicates of divergent beliefs.
title: The sociocultural value of upland regions in the vicinity of cities in comparison with urban green spaces
Creators: name: Schmidt, Katja
name: Walz, Ariane
name: Jones, Isobel
name: Metzger, Marc J.
Publisher: name: Universität Potsdam
Year: 2020

description: Mountain and upland regions provide a wide range of ecosystem services to residents and visitors. While ecosystem research in mountain regions is on the rise, the linkages between sociocultural benefits and ecological systems remain little explored. Mountainous regions close to urban areas provide numerous benefits to a large number of individuals, suggesting a high social value, particularly for cultural ecosystem services. We explored and compared visitors' valuation of ecosystem services in the Pentland Hills, an upland range close to the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, and urban green spaces within Edinburgh. Based on 715 responses to user surveys in both study areas, we identified intense use and high social value for both areas. Several ecosystem services were perceived as equally important in both areas, including many cultural ecosystem services. Significant differences were revealed in the value of physically using nature, which Pentland Hills users rated more highly than those in the urban green spaces, and of mitigation of pollutants and carbon sequestration, for which the urban green spaces were valued more highly. Major differences were further identified for preferences in future land management, with nature-oriented management preferred by about 57% of the interviewees in the Pentland Hills, compared to 31% in the urban parks. The study highlights the substantial value of upland areas in close vicinity to a city for physically using and experiencing nature, with a strong acceptance of nature conservation.
description: Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe, 920
The Red River Resistance of 1869--1870: The Machiavellian moment of the Metis of Manitoba
Creators: name: O'Toole, Darren
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: History, Canadian.
subject: Political Science, General.
subject: Native American Studies.

description: In October 1869, the fledgling Canadian federation was preparing for the transfer of Rupert's Land and the Northwestern Territory when the Metis set up a Provisional Government in order to resist what they saw as a unilateral annexation of their homeland. Although there were multiple references made to 'republicanism' during the Resistance, no scholar has ever explored whether republican conventions were actually present in political discourse in the District of Assiniboia prior to the Resistance and whether they were effectively activated during the Resistance. Working from the Cambridge School approach of discourse analysis, it first identifies the conventions of democratic rhetorical republicanism, which includes positive and negative liberty, the rule of law, the mixed and balanced constitution and citizenship, which in turn involves virtue, the militia and real property. It then looks at the gradual introduction in Assiniboia of republican discourse from multiple sources, including the United States, Lower Canada, Upper Canada, Ireland, France and Great Britain and its circulation throughout several practical political struggles during the period from 1835 to 1869. In doing so, it shows that certain 'organic intellectuals' acted as 'transmission belts' of republican conventions and that institutional structures were a factor that rendered the activation of such conventions almost inevitable. By the time the Resistance took place in 1869, a more or less fully developed republican paradigm formed part of the linguistic matrix and was available to political actors in Assiniboia. Finally, the thesis shows that republican discourse was effectively mobilised by identifying fragments of republican conventions that were harnessed in various speech-acts during the Resistance. It is argued that republican language was fundamental to the success of the ideological and political manoeuvres of the leaders of the Resistance as it was particularly effective both as an instrument of anti-colonialism and as a pragmatic ideal of self-government that sought to correct the iniquities of colonial government.
Where do I start with FAIRification of sensitive data?
Creators: name: Grau, Nina
name: Thorpe, Deborah
name: L'Hours, Hervé
name: David, Romain
name: Katharina, Katharina
name: Flohr, Pascal
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024

description: The “FAIR Implementation Workshop - Where do I start with FAIRification of sensitive data?” took place on 25th June at 14:00-15:15.

Sensitive data is ‘information that is regulated by law due to possible risk for plants, animals, individuals and/or communities and for public and private organisations’ (David et al, 2020). It is with these kinds of data in mind that the phrase “as open as possible and as closed as necessary” is now presented as part of the ‘Accessible’ principle of FAIR. There are many different types of sensitive data, and they exist in relation to many different contexts and disciplinary approaches. Perhaps most familiar to many will be personal data – for example, names collected during a survey or interview –  but there is also commercially sensitive information, data relating to the military or national security, and data about vulnerable species, and more.

This workshop presented a general overview of data sensitivity in relation to sharing and reuse; two presentations on aspects of sensitive data in different research areas; a focus on Persistent Identifiers and data handling of sensitive data; and an opportunity to join in the discussion with the presenters and with each other.

Visit the official event page to view the recording: https://fair-impact.eu/events/fair-implementation-workshops/where-do-i-start-fairification-sensitive-data
Stegostoma Muller and Henle 1837
Creators: name: Dahl, Rikke Beckmann
name: Sigsgaard, Eva Egelyng
name: Mwangi, Gorret
name: Thomsen, Philip Francis
name: Jørgensen, René Dalsgaard
name: Torquato, Felipe de Oliveira
name: Olsen, Lars
name: Møller, Peter Rask
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Elasmobranchii
Orectolobiformes
Stegostomatidae
Stegostoma

description: Stegostoma Müller and Henle, 1837
 Squalus Seba, 1759; Forster, 1781; Hermann, 1783; Bloch, 1784; Broussonet, 1784; Bonnaterre, 1788; Gmelin, 1789; Pennant, 1791; Shaw, 1804; Bleeker, 1852; Gronow, 1854.
 Scyllia van Hasselt, 1823.
 Scyllium Rüppel, 1837.
 Stegostoma Müller and Henle, 1837; Blyth, 1847; Günther, 1870; Garman, 1913; Whitley, 1939; Bass et al., 1975; Dingerkus, 1986; Compagno, 2001; Goto, 2001; Weigmann, 2016.
 Stegostonea Regan, 1929: 293, possible error for Stegostoma Müller and Henle, 1837.
 Stegastoma Herre, 1934: 10, possible error for Stegostoma Müller and Henle, 1837.
 Stegastoma Last and Stevens, 1994: 138 apparent error for Stegostoma Müller and Henle, 1837.
 Type species.— Squalus fasciatus Bloch and Schneider, 1801, by original designation, equals Squalus fasciatus Hermann, 1783.
 Number of recognized species.— 1.
description: Published as part of Dahl, Rikke Beckmann, Sigsgaard, Eva Egelyng, Mwangi, Gorret, Thomsen, Philip Francis, Jørgensen, René Dalsgaard, Torquato, Felipe de Oliveira, Olsen, Lars & Møller, Peter Rask, 2019, The Sandy Zebra Shark: A New Color Morph of the Zebra Shark Stegostoma tigrinum, with a Redescription of the Species and a Revision of Its Nomenclature, pp. 524-541 in Copeia 107 (3) on pages 2-3, DOI: 10.1643/CG-18-115, http://zenodo.org/record/13230842
Development of a pullout test method for adhesive applied roofing systems
Creators: name: Current, Jayson
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2009
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Civil.

description: A review of literature and standards revealed no standardized process exists for the evaluation or characterization of wind uplift resistance of Adhesive Applied Roofing Systems (AARS). It was determined that a pullout test method -- a test in which the adhered components of roofing samples were subjected to tensile loading until failure -- could be used to quantify wind uplift performance. From the literature study, critical variables were extracted. Among these were the pullout rate, the specimen size and the specimen attachment condition. After conducting a series of extensive pullout tests, data showed that the optimum pullout rate was 6.35mm/min. Additional tests showed that a specimen size of 300 mm x 450 mm with all flutes fastened provided the experimentally consistent data. Based on the investigation outlined above, the present study drafted a standard test method for the determination of the pullout resistance of adhesively applied roofing components. This contribution is being presented to the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) and American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM) for adoption of a standardized test method. The present study also implemented the standardized test procedure to characterize the pullout behaviour of a variety of different configurations. Over 400 specimens were constructed varying the deck type (steel & concrete), insulation facer (paper and acrylic facer) and coverboard (fiberboard and asphalt core board). Experimental results showed that the use of steel deck, paper faced polyisocyanurate, and asphalt core board yielded optimum pullout resistance. Alternative adhesion patterns were also tested and showed a maximum reduction of 60% from the optimized adhesion pattern.
Shedding a light on visual hallucinations in Parkinson's disease
Creators: name: Noordegraaf, Marina
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: visual hallucinations
Parkinson's disease

description: This is the visual CC BY 4.0 interpretation and simplification by @Sparks4PD of the closed access article by Powell, A., Ireland, C., Lewis, S. (2020). Visual hallucinations and the role of medications in Parkinson's disease: Triggers, pathophysiology, and management. The journal of neuropsychiatry. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.neuropsych.19110316 Apart from the poster/infographic, the 8 images which constitute the poster can be downloaded on its own as .png. The poster and/or images can be cited as indicated.
The potential of free and open source geospatial information technology to improve local level capacity for natural disaster management in developing countries
Creators: name: Herold, Sam
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2009
Subjects: subject: Geography.

description: Disasters are deadly and destructive events, particularly in developing countries, where there is an immediate need to improve natural disaster management capacity, especially at the local level where hazard vulnerability can most effectively be reduced. Since disasters and vulnerability vary spatially, all phases of the disaster management cycle can be improved through the effective use of geospatial information technology (GIT). However, developing countries face many barriers to GIT implementation, and solutions that take these barriers into consideration are required. In general, developing countries lag behind in terms of technology use, and highly technical solutions are not practical to acquire, use and maintain by the local level disaster management practitioner community. This thesis proposes that free and open source software (FOSS) offers a feasible technical solution, and explores the significance of recent developments in this software domain from a GIT and natural disaster management perspective. Specifically, FOSS-based GIT can provide a core set of functionality for the development of critical framework spatial datasets required for the subsequent use of GIT during all phases of the natural disaster management cycle. Using gvSIG, a mature and user-friendly FOSS-based geographic information system, this thesis demonstrates how local level capacity in developing countries can be improved to ultimately reduce natural hazard vulnerability and disaster impacts.
Fabrication of surface plasmon waveguides on Cytop
Creators: name: Daviau, Richard
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2009
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Electronics and Electrical.

description: This thesis discusses Surface Plasmon waveguides on Cytop and is divided into two topics. The first topic covers the fabrication and physical characterization of thin metal stripe waveguides on Cytop. The fabrication process is fully described and generally consists of a Cytop layer deposition and cure process and a bi-layer metal liftoff process. Physical characterisation was conducted on structures having undergone intermediate process steps and on finished structures, and results are presented and discussed. Optical microsope, SEM, AFM inspections and Metricon measurements were used to characterize the devices. Working waveguides on finished device wafers were confirmed by observing infrared images of output modes. The second topic describes and presents the attenuation measurements and the technique used for exciting the surface plasmons of the fabricated waveguides. The technique uses a tapered polarization maintaining optical fibre positioned in direct contact with the structure such that the slow mode of the fibre couples through partial modal overlap to the surface Plasmon propagating thereon.
Recovery and analysis of historical mine data in a three-dimensional environment: A case study - Heath Steele, Bathurst Mining Camp, northern New Brunswick
Creators: name: Vander Most, Anastasia
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2007
Subjects: subject: Geophysics.
subject: Engineering, Mining.

description: 3-D geographic information systems (GIS) provides a powerful tool for visualizing and interpreting the subsurface distribution of geology and hydrothermal parameters that are important in exploring for deposits concealed at depth. For the purpose of this study, restoration of a historical mine data set was undertaken with the goal of migrating information from paper records to fully linked data sets suitable for interpretation in 3-D GIS. Heath Steele, in the Bathurst Mining Camp, northern New Brunswick, is one such deposit with historical records that include the distribution of ore-associated iron formation, massive sulfides and host rocks. Structural and stratigraphic interpretations from previous studies and exploration programs were incorporated in the model, along with fabric measurements, regional geology, drillcore logs and geophysical data. This study shows how revisiting historical mine data in a 3-D environment can generate new knowledge about an ore deposit and particularly the spatial context of hydrothermal features in a complexly deformed setting that may aid future exploration.
Crowding Distance Based Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm  II for Multi-Objective Optimization
Creators: name: Abduselam, Fadlu Haseno
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: subject: Multi-objective optimization; evolutionary algorithms; NSGA-II; crowding distanc
subject: Applied mathematics

description: This thesis titled "Crowding Distance Based Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II for Multi-Objective Optimization" investigates the effectiveness of the NSGA-II algorithm, particularly focusing on the role of the crowding distance mechanism in maintaining solution diversity. The study provides a comprehensive review of multi-objective optimization techniques and evolutionary algorithms, highlighting how NSGA-II addresses the challenges of non-dominated sorting. MATLAB is used for the implementation, and the algorithm's performance is analyzed through benchmark problems. This research contributes to improving the understanding and application of NSGA-II for solving complex multi-objective optimization problems.
Cyclic behaviour of sand-steel interfaces: Experimental investigation and numerical simulation with a bounding surface model
Creators: name: Assane Oumarou, Tahirou
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2005
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Civil.
subject: Engineering, Mechanical.

description: The first objective of this research program was to investigate the cyclic behaviour of sand-structure interfaces. To achieve this objective a series of monotonic and cyclic tests were performed using a simple shear type interface apparatus. The influence of the initial sand density, the number of cycles, the initial normal stress, and the amplitude of displacement on the shear stress mobilized at the interface, the normal displacement, and the amount of slip taking place at the interface were determined. The second objective of this research program was to model the behaviour of interfaces with a bounding surface plasticity model. The model formulated by Dafalias and Manzari (2004) for the behaviour of sand was used to simulate the behaviour of interfaces. A parametric study was conducted to analyze the sensitivity of the model simulations to changes in the model constants. In addition, the model predictions and the experimental results were compared.
Expressive query translation in peer databases
Creators: name: Masud, Md. Mehedi
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2005
Subjects: subject: Computer Science.

description: Query processing in peer database systems has moved towards a new direction beyond mere file sharing and keyword-based information retrieval processes used in the first peer-to-peer systems to embrace data sharing and coordination across heterogeneous frontiers. The strong dynamics of peer-to-peer networks, coupled with the diversity of peer vocabularies, makes query processing in peer database systems a very challenging task. In this thesis, we propose a framework for translating expressive relational queries across heterogeneous peer databases. Our framework avoids an integrated global schema or centralized structures common to the involved peers. The cornerstone of the approach is the use of both syntax and instance level mappings that each peer constructs and shares with other peers. Based on this user provided mapping information, the algorithm applies generic translation rules to translate SQL queries. Our approach supports both query translation and propagation among the peers preserving the autonomy of individual peers. It combines two previous proposals for data sharing via query mapping across heterogeneous boundaries that were based on syntax and instance level mappings separately into a more general framework. We have developed a prototype as a query service layer wrapped around a basic service providing heterogeneity management. The prototype has been evaluated on a small peer-to-peer network to demonstrate the viability of the approach.
Interactions of LRRK2 in a Drosophila melanogaster model of Parkinson's disease
Creators: name: Kabbach, Ghassan
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Biology, Neuroscience.

description: Parkinson's disease is the most common movement disorder. A complex neurodegenerative disease, its cause and progressive nature are of unknown roots, making a final cure currently unattainable. Recently, mutations in LRRK2 have been deemed the most common cause of both familial and sporadic forms of Parkinson's disease. Itself a mysterious protein, it harbors pathogenic mutations in all of its complex functional domains. Here, we present a Drosophila melanogaster model of LRRK2 by creating four different human LRRK2 transgenic flies. Wild type LRRK2, and LRRK2 mutants I1122V, Y1699C, and I2020T have each demonstrated Dopamine neuron loss, complex behavioral and life span alterations, and a complex eye phenotype. Lastly, we have used the eye phenotype to conduct both a biased screen against recessive Parkinson's disease genes, and an unbiased screen against the Drosophila genome.
Cellular immune responses in HSV and CMV infections
Creators: name: Singh, Rekha
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2003
Subjects: subject: Biology, Microbiology.
subject: Health Sciences, Pathology.
subject: Health Sciences, Immunology.

description: The herpes simplex virus (HSV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) are the prominent members of the Herpesviridae family collectively responsible for the majority of herpes-related morbidity and mortality in humans. These viruses are therefore the subjects of this study that was undertaken to improve our understanding of the nature of immune response and the mechanism of viral modulation leading to suppression of viral replication or evasion of the host immune response in vivo. The present study has examined the T helper responses to HSV-2 and murine CMV (MCMV) and provides new insights into the nature and the modulation of the T helper responses by these viruses in vivo. B7-1/B7-2 costimulation of T cells by antigen-presenting cells is essential for T cell activation by antigen. HSV-2 infection affects the expression of both B7-1 and B7-2 on monocytes, the key antigen presenting cells in vivo, potentially in two ways with opposing outcomes. It abrogates or diminishes the IFN-gamma-upregulation of B7-1 (in 8 out of 9 patients) and B7-2 (in 6 out of 9 patients) on monocytes. However, the infection also augments the expression of B7-1 and B7-2 on monocytes through an IFN-gamma-independent mechanism (in 9 out of 9 patients). Although the clinical significance of these opposing effects is presently unclear, these may be related to the immunological mechanism or strategy leading to recurrent disease in immunocompetent hosts. Like HSV-2, infections with MCMV in mice also led to a predominant Thl type immune response characterized by high levels of IFN-gamma and low IL-4 production. Studies with specific MCMV mutants, containing Tn3 transposon in the open reading frame of M25, M27, M43, or m09 gene, led to the identification of M43 gene that specifically suppresses IL-4 response. The Tn3 disruption of M43, but not M25, M27 or m09, gene of MCMV led to a strong IL-4 response (p = 0.0002) despite the presence of a dominant IFN-gamma response. These results provide insight into the possible role of a herpesvirus gene that can profoundly modulate the nature of T helper response in vivo. The presence of a homologous genetic element in other herpesvirus genomes may explain the dominant Th1 immune response triggered by HSV-2 and possibly other herpesviruses. The obvious importance of this finding, beyond herpesvirus immunopathogenesis, lies in the ability of M43 and homologous genes to globally modulate the nature of cytokine response in vivo and suppress Th2 cytokine-mediated diseases. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Preparation and characterization of periodic mesoporous organosilicas
Creators: name: Wang, Wenhui
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2004
Subjects: subject: Chemistry, Organic.

description: Periodic mesoporous organosilicates (PMOs) are hybrid materials whose framework is comprised of alternating organic and inorganic species. These materials are prepared via supramolecular templating assembly using bridged silsesquioxanes (RO)3Si-R'-Si(OR) 3 as precursors, and surfactants as templates. This thesis is devoted to the preparation and characterization of phenyl- and ethenylene-bridged PMOs. The phenylene-containing precursor (bis(triethoxysilyl)benzene was synthesized by Barbier-Grignard reaction, whereas the ethylene derivative bis(triethoxysilyl)ethylene was prepared by self-metathesis reaction. They were characterized by 1H and 13C NMR, and mass spectrometry. The corresponding mesoporous materials were prepared using these precursors in the presence of different types of surfactants including oligomeric alkyl polyethylene oxide, triblock polyalkylene oxide copolymer and alkyltrimethylammonium surfactants. To obtain highly ordered mesoporous organosilicates, different synthesis conditions were employed and optimized. All materials were characterized using XRD, TEM, SEM, nitrogen adsorption, 29Si and 13C solid state NMR. In addition, some post-synthesis reactions using these materials were investigated.
Effect of non-uniform axial heat-flux distribution on critical heat flux
Creators: name: Yang, Jun
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2004
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Mechanical.

description: An experimental study of the effect of axial flux distribution (AFD) on critical heat flux (CHF) was conducted in directly heated tubes at the Freon-equivalent CANDU reactor conditions of interest. CHF measurements were obtained on test sections with four nonuniform AFD profiles as well as a uniform AFD profile using HFC-134a as a test fluid. Each of the non-uniform AFD test sections had a stepped cosine heat flux profile with approximately 16 heat flux steps. The test conditions covered a pressure range of 1662 to 2389 kPa, a mass flux range of 2827 to 4648 kg m-2 s -1 and an inlet quality range of -0.909 to -0.002. The results showed that the AFD has a strong effect on CHF at high dryout qualities. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Noisy transistor models for microwave circuit CAD
Creators: name: Yang, Xiuzhu
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2005
Subjects: subject: Engineering, System Science.

description: Because of their high performance, Metal-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MESFETs) and High-Electron-Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) are widely used in microwave and millimeter wave communication systems, particularly in low noise applications. Therefore, accurate noise models are essential to ensure robust simulation and optimization during the design process. The sophistication of modern communication systems urged the need of monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs), which contain several MESFETs or HEMTs on the same chip. As the chip density increases, the request for accurate MESFET or HEMT noise models becomes more pronounced. In this study, a new method has been developed to extract a 15-element small signal model of MESFET and HEMT devices. This method uses three sets of S-parameter measurements at different bias conditions. The technique consists of two major steps; in the first step, part of the bias-independent extrinsic parameters is evaluated in preparation to the second step. In the second step, all other parameters should be extracted at the bias point of interest using an optimization method. This method has been tested on S-parameters of a hypothetical device model with ideal and noisy data, compared with other optimization-based techniques, and shows reliable results and a unique solution for all parameter values. Another method has been proposed to extract the noise parameters of a packaged device at any frequency. This technique has also been tested on S-parameters of a hypothetical device model with ideal and noisy data, and compared with other noise parameter extraction techniques. The study shows consistent results and demonstrates its accuracy, simplicity and efficiency as a noise parameter extraction method of microwave/millimeter-wave transistors.
Adaptive environmental classification system for hearing aids
Creators: name: Lamarche, Luc
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2008
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Electronics and Electrical.

description: This thesis develops an adaptive environmental classification system for hearing aids. Two types of classifiers, minimum distance and Bayesian, are modified to include an adaptive layer that allows the classes to split or merge based on changes in the environment. In order to test the adaptability to the environmental change, both systems were first trained using two classes: Speech and Noise, followed by a testing period where, in addition to Speech and Noise, samples from a third class Music were introduced. Both systems were successful in detecting the presence of the new class Music and estimated its parameters obtaining an accuracy that is as high as the accuracy obtained through a non-adaptive supervised learning. In addition, the accuracy for the merging algorithm in both systems also met that of a non-adaptive system. In comparing the two systems, the adaptive Bayesian classification system resulted in a higher accuracy in classifying the environment into the three classes: Speech, Noise, and Music, following the adaptation process.
A framework for mobile e-commerce based on intelligent agents
Creators: name: Weng, Zhiyong
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2007
Subjects: subject: Computer Science.

description: Mobile e-commerce has offered new channels for trading products in e-marketplaces over mobile devices by applying the intelligent and mobile agent technologies. These existing e-commerce applications have two specific limiting factors. First, it is difficult for them to be integrated together due to the lack of common communication languages and interaction protocols. Secondly, they might cause expensive participation cost because mobile devices are required to maintain a longtime connection with the network when mobile agents are employed. This thesis proposes a feasible FIPA-compliant framework to address these problems. The standard agent communication language and interaction protocols defined by the FIPA specifications are incorporated in the framework. This enables agents to talk in multiple marketplaces. The use of mobile agents is improved to reduce connection time and simplify the manipulation of mobile devices.
Detrital zircon geochronology and sedimentary provenance of the fossiliferous Ediacara Member, South Australia
Creators: name: Reid, L. M.
name: Payne, J. L.
name: Tucker, N. M.
name: Jago, J. B.
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2025
Subjects: subject: Evolutionary Biology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Ecology
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified

description: The Ediacara Member of the Rawnsley Quartzite hosts the Ediacara biota in South Australia. These fossils are internationally recognised as representing the earliest complex life on Earth, with the South Australian section representing the global boundary stratotype section and point of the Ediacaran Period. Constraining the age, provenance and depositional environment of the sediments that host the fossils is therefore of great value. The Rawnsley Quartzite is also the terminal package of Neoproterozoic sediments in the Flinders Ranges region, and therefore a comprehensive understanding of sediment provenance and paleoenvironments will aid basin and paleoenvironment reconstruction. This study focuses on detrital zircon from a broad geographic spread of sites across the region of Ediacara Member deposition. LA-ICP-MS zircon U–Pb analysis yielded a total of 924 concordant zircon grains. The primary peak in age probability distributions is centred between ca 1260 and 1060 Ma with smaller peaks in the ranges of ca 640–620 Ma and ca 1800–1480 Ma. The youngest concordant zircon is 574 ± 8 Ma, and the youngest statistically coherent group is 623 ± 5 Ma (n = 4). We concur with previous studies that the primary sediment sources are the uplifted regions of the Petermann and Paterson orogens, which correlate to the basement provinces of the Musgrave and Rudall provinces, respectively. Younger detritus may have been sourced from the Mount Arrowsmith Volcanics (ca 585 Ma) in the Koonenberry Belt, western New South Wales. New detrital zircon U–Pb geochronology data collected for Ediacara Member, South Australia. Analysis has yielded 924 age concordant analyses. Main peak in age probability distributions is centred between ca 1260 and 1060 Ma with smaller peaks in the ranges of ca 640–620 Ma and ca 1800–1480 Ma. Likely Australian source for Ediacara Member sediment.
Multi-camera system design, calibration and three-dimensional reconstruction for markerless motion capture
Creators: name: Beriault, Silvain
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2008
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Electronics and Electrical.
subject: Computer Science.

description: Recently, significant advances have been made in many sub-areas regarding the problem of markerless human motion capture. However, markerless solutions still tend to introduce major simplifications, especially in early stages of the process, that temper the robustness and the generality of any subsequent modules and, consequently, of the whole application. This thesis concentrates on improving the aspects of multi-camera system design, multi-camera calibration and shape-from-silhouette volumetric reconstruction. In Chapter 3, a thoughtful system analysis is first proposed with the objective of achieving an optimal synchronized multi-camera system. Chapter 4 proposes an easy-to-use multi-camera calibration technique to estimate the relative positioning and orientation of every camera with sub-pixel accuracy. In Chapter 5 a robust shape-from-silhouette algorithm, with precise voxel coloring, is developed. Overall, the proposed framework is successful to reconstruct various 3D human postures and, in particular, complex and self-occlusive pianist postures in real-world (minimally constrained) scenes.