Review of article describing an inventory system that was created within the library and to show the cost-effectiveness of using the inventory system compared to the price of reacquiring mis-shelved books.
Mexico City has long been known as one of the world’s largest mega-cities. Although, the city’s growth rates have slowed since the 1980s, this process is not manifested evenly in spatial terms. Peripheral municipalities continue to grow at higher rates, including those municipalities in the southern part of the Federal District that contain its remaining conservation land. This growth is largely, but not exclusively, driven by the ongoing search for housing among lower-income households in the form of irregular settlement. Over time, this incremental pattern of settlement expansion has fragmented conservation land and impaired its ecological functioning. Given their role in land use planning with the reintroduction of elected local governments in the Federal District in 1997, this situation has placed municipalities quite literally at the ‘‘frontlines” of this planning and sustainability challenge. This paper examines the approach for managing land use regularization processes related to irregular settlement in conservation land adopted by the municipality of Xochimilco in its 2005 urban development plan, with reference to the experience of a specific case study community. Based on a series of interviews with residents and planning officials, the paper documents the highly-negotiated nature of ‘‘normative” planning that focuses on mitigating the impact of settlement in the conservation zone rather than stopping it completely. Given the enormous social pressures to access land for housing, the paper concludes that realistic efforts to preserve the remaining conservation land must involve a more comprehensive approach that better integrates environmental and social equity issues within and among municipal and upper-levels of government.
Poster presentation “Graduate students and copyright: informing graduate students about copyright issues in relation to their thesis” by Emma Cross given at the Canadian ETD and Open Repositories Workshop held May 10-11, 2010 at Carleton University. Poster describes a project to promote awareness of copyright issues amongst graduate students at Carleton University Library and the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research.
Several studies have discussed the need for reliable uniform testing of Conducted Energy Weapons (CEWs) independent of the manufacturer. We propose a test proceedure that will enable organizations across Canada to test CEWs in a reliable, repeatable manner. This proceedure includes, but goes beyond, the one proposed by the manufacturer. Test results so obtained will also enable: 1. acceptance and regular validation of function of weapons in inventories of police service; 2. post incident testing to determine whether the weapon was functioning normally; 3. collection of weapons data across Canada to allow research on trends with age of weapon or other factors related to performance. The authors represent a group of subject matter experts who have been involved in research on or testing of CEWs.
In this thesis, we present algorithmic solutions to shortest path queries on polyhedral surfaces and in polygonal domains. The research problems addressed in this thesis and shortest path problems in general are fundamental problems in geographic information systems (GIS) and computational geometry.We present novel algorithms that answer approximate shortest path queries between any pair of points lying on a polyhedral surface P consisting of n positively weighted triangular faces. The cost of a path, denoted by ||π||, in P is defined as ||π| |= Σni=1wi|πi|, where |πi| = π∩fidenotes the Euclidean length of the subpath of π within face fiwhose weight is wi.Our all-pairs query algorithm takes as input an approximation parameter ε ∈ (0,1) and a query time parameter q, in a certain range, and builds a data structure APQ(P, ε; q) for answering ε-approximate distance queries in O(q) time. When the surface P is homeomorphic to a planar domain, we present a space-efficient algorithm which exploits the planarity of P. As a building block of APQ(P, ε; q), we develop a single-source query data structure SSQ(P, ε; a) which answers ε-approximate distance queries from a fixed point a to any query point in P in logarithmic time. These proposed algorithms are important extension, both theoretically and practically, to the extensively studied Euclidean distance case. They are based on a novel graph sparator algorithm which extends and/or generalizes many previously known results.Moreover, we consider queries between arbitrary pairs of objects lying on P, where query objects are points, segments, faces, chains, regions and sets of these. We present generic algorithms which provide approximate solutions.Lastly, we consider shortest path queries in a polygonal domain PD having n vertices and h holes. A skeleton graph is a subgraph of a Voronoi diagram of PD. Our new algorithm utilizes a reduced skeleton graph of PD to compute a tessellation of PD. It builds a data structure of size O(n2) in O(n2log n) time to support distance queries for any pair of query points in PD in O(h log n) time.
While studies have consistently found positive effects of forest amount on bat abundance, the effects of forest fragmentation (breaking apart of forest, independent of amount) are less certain. The purpose of this study was to examine how forest amount and forest fragmentation independently affect bat abundance. I conducted acoustic bat surveys at the centres of 22 landscapes throughout eastern Ontario, where landscapes were chosen to avoid a correlation between forest amount and fragmentation (number of forest patches). I found that the effects of forest amount on bat relative abundance were mixed across species (one positive, two negative), and that forest fragmentation, independent of amount, had a positive effect on the relative abundances of three species. I suggest that the mechanism driving the positive responses to forest fragmentation is higher landscape complementation in more fragmented landscapes; that is, increased access to foraging sites from roosting sites.
The focus of this thesis was to optimize Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) technologies and develop AFLP-based genetic markers to address specific life-history questions related to the damselfly, Nesobasis rufostigma. Optimization of AFLP marker production targeted small (< 0.25 mm3) tissue samples and focussed on several key steps in the process. In order to reduce the number of analyzable markers to a more manageable number, a process was developed and evaluated by which discrete PCR-based markers were obtained from AFLPs. The genetic markers developed in this study were used to assess life-history questions such as relatedness, paternity and mode of reproduction with the damselfly N. rufostigma. Through genotypic comparisons of female adults and their offspring it was established that N. rufostigma reproduces sexually, and not via parthenogenesis, as originally hypothesized. These comparisons also suggested that some broods were sired by multiple males.
The landscape is not natural as we perceive it to be; it is a product of human thought and action. As such manipulation occurs, the very artifact from which Canadians derive their national identity is being lost. Preservation of that identity and history now requires that human-made artifacts no longer act independently of the seemingly natural landscape. Instead, a truly contemporary understanding of our surroundings must engage the opposition between nature and artifice. This thesis investigates how architecture could become a didactic spectator of contemporary surroundings which integrate and announce the relationship between the natural and artificial, while also preserve and reveal memory native to a site.
Tensegrity systems are composed of high strength to weight mechanisms. They achieve this strength by replacing heavy elements in tension with lightweight cables. This property has led to the application of tensegrity theory to many holds, ranging from architecture to robotics. The greatest difficulty for those wishing to exploit the benefit of tensegrity systems, is the unintuitive way in which the subelements of a tensegrity are connected to form a stable configuration. In this thesis, a new method for determining these stable configurations is developed, thereby providing a more intuitive tool for designing tensegrity systems. This novel approach is called the geometric intersection method, and is based on determining the common intersection point between three constraint surfaces, each of which represent one of the element lengths in the tensegrity system. The geometric intersection method was found to be algebraically equivalent to an established form finding method by deriving the established method from the geometric intersection method. This result was further reinforced by evaluating the two methods using several different tensegrity systems. While the two methods are algebraically equivalent, the geometric intersection method is derived using geometry instead of vector analysis. This difference arguably makes the geometric intersection method more intuitive, because it provides a visual rationale for how the element lengths affect the final configuration of the tensegrity system, and when the combination of these parameters will result in a configuration that has no real physical significance. It was also found that the geometric intersection method is easier to adapt to new tensegrity configurations than either of the most closely related form finding methods.
Every second counts. For an athlete racing against the clock, even hundredths of a second can make the difference between a podium and a top 10 finish. For a speed skater, more than 80% of the resistance to motion comes from the aerodynamic drag on the body.The speed at which the skater is racing, the fluid density and the characteristic dimensions of the human body, which can be approximated as a combination of multiple circular cylinders, define Reynolds numbers that can be in the critical range. The critical Reynolds number range is characterized by an important reduction of the drag coefficient due to the transition of the flow from laminar to turbulent in the boundary layer. Depending on the body shape and proportion, the velocity, the wind turbulence and the surface roughness of the fabric covering the athlete, the drag area coefficient can be reduced to a minimum value.This experimental research was performed in a wind tunnel. Measurement of drag and manipulation of the state of the flow were carried out around life-size mannequins for three different positions of a speed skater: sidepush, gliding and cross-over leg. Innovative technology using surface pressure measurement through fabrics with a variety of surface roughness allowed a comprehensive study of the flow to capture the state of the boundary layer in the critical Reynolds number range at the surface of the model. Local measurements indicated the contribution of each part of the body to the total drag and the parts that were Reynolds number dependent.The experimental results have shown that it was possible to reduce the drag of a speed skater by 15% using appropriate surface roughness for the fabrics but moreover they indicated clearly the importance of correctly simulating parameters that affect drag reduction. The development of the flow around non-circular cross-sectional shape and the flow interaction between different parts of the body dominated the location of the transition, corresponding to a different position than for a single bidimensional circular cylinder. Manipulation of drag reduction in laminar flow led to an error of 5 to 30% in the targeted range of speeds compared to the results obtained with a representative wind turbulent flow.
The city exists in two forms: the tangible and the intangible. The tangible city is the physical form of the built environment and the intangible city is the perception of that same physical space. These two forms interact in a continuous dialogue of corporeal experience and mental understanding.The Industrial Revolution undermined the art of crafting in North America and, as a result, city design disengaged the imagination and grew to scales beyond corporeal perception. The thesis reacts to these developments by choreographing the dialogue in order to enhance a user's interaction with the city and synchronize physical manipulation with psychological understanding.Critical to the analysis is the role of the corporeal unit as the vessel of cognitive and spatial understanding. Using Marco Frascari's depiction of the detail as the means through which the interplay of construction (tangible) and construing (intangible) is made manifest, along with Kevin Lynch's analysis of urban images, the thesis will choreograph the conversation between these two forms of the city. The thesis aims to invigorate the intangible essence of the city and understand the mental mind frame as a key factor in urban involvement. Through mapping the chosen site is evaluated and the intangible made manifest. The phenomena of ghosts and the imagination, which perpetuate mental imagery and create internal landscapes of physical associations, will guide the project of architecture in examining the role of the dialogue as a means of assimilating the dweller to the project and the project to the city.
Mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways are crucial regulatory pathways in defense and development in plants. The ability to rapidly activate and deactivate MAPK pathways in response to changing conditions allows plants to adapt to a changing environment. tMEK2 is an important MAPK kinase in tomato plants and based on a high protein sequence similarity of 74.8% it may be closely related to an Arabidopsis thaliana MAPKK AtMEK1. AtMEK1 is a defense response gene that is capable of activating the MAPK proteins AtMPK3, AtMPK4, and AtMPK6. More information about the activity and roles of AtMEK1 is needed and to provide more information several tests were undertaken, examining AtMEK1's response to stresses through the use of knockout mutants of AtMEK1. We found that there was reduced response in AtMEKl knockouts in response to a synthetic auxin, an auxin transport inhibitor, as well as fungal toxin fumonisin B1. AtMEK1 mutant plants showed resistance to salt during both germination and adulthood. There was no visible difference in response to either cold or heat stress between wild type and knockout plants. AtMEK1 knockout Arabidopsis were also capable of bolting under short day conditions, unlike wild type plants. This shows that AtMEKl plays a role in a variety of developmental and stress response pathways.
Dye flow visualization analysis of the leading edge vortex (LEV) in hawkmoth, locust forewing and locust hindwing models reveal a dual vortex system with a minor vortex travelling along the leading edge of the wing at a zero angle relative to the leading edge and a primary vortex traveling from wing base to wing tip at a non zero angle relative to the leading edge (θ). The overall trends for all planforms are as follows: As angle of attack (α) increases, detachment point (r/R) decreases and θ, ellipse size, distance between leading edge and vortex centre (x) and the height of the vortex centre above the wing surface (y) all increase. As Reynolds number increases, r/R and θ decrease. With a change in axial flow (offset condition), r/R decreases and the θ, ellipse size, x and y all increase.
Sex is normally thought to function as a mechanism that injects heritable genetic variation into populations. But genetic mixing does not occur with self-fertilizers, and self-fertilizers have probably persisted since early eukaryotic evolution. I discuss the purpose of sex without genetic mixing and proffer that sex is a conservative mechanism that decreases heritable genetic variation. Syngamy (nuclear/pronuclear fusion/association + "mixing" of chromosomes) is a lesser-understood and lesser-studied aspect of sex. I propose that syngamy is a type of cell division that evolved from meiosis. In most metazoans, diploidy is restored via a cell division rather than through fusion event. I propose that meiosis and syngamy are pleiotropically controlled, and that they hypothetically share at least two homologous features that neither share with mitosis: (1) the requirement for membrane fusion/association, and (2) some products of the division are ontogenetically discarded.
Protein inhibitor of activated STAT3 (PIAS3), a regulator of the JAK/STAT pathway, binds to and blocks the DNA-binding activity of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3). PIAS3 has the potential to be hydroxylated at a specific proline residue, in an amino acid sequence known to be involved in oxygen-dependent post-translational modification of certain proteins, and which may lead to ubiquitination and degradation by the proteasome under normoxia. Alternatively, hydroxylation may affect PIAS3 function, such as its inhibition of STAT3-DNA binding. PIAS3 protein expression was found to be stable regardless of oxygen concentration. However, PIAS3 function increased under hypoxic conditions. Mutation of a specific proline residue was observed to affect the function of PIAS3 in cell growth and proliferation. Protein-protein interactions with PIAS3 were found to change under hypoxic conditions. These results suggest the function of PIAS3 is altered under low oxygen conditions.
The problem addressed by this thesis is whether globally consistent mapping can be practically achieved for the underground mining industry with little to no infrastructure and no a priori knowledge of the environment. This thesis has specific application to an underground global positioning system (UGPS) research project that is currently underway at MDA Space Missions of Brampton, ON. Using developed methods and algorithms from the mobile robotics literature, a tailored mapping algorithm was constructed for the effective and accurate mapping of large scale passageway environments. Following the use of a simulated environment for both feasibility tests and algorithm validation, the developed algorithms were applied to three real data sets, each having unique characteristics. Two of the data sets were obtained from underground mines courtesy of Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB of Orebro, Sweden. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of the produced pose estimates and maps provided clear indications about where the developed algorithms perform well, and also identified possible areas of future research. Finally, the successful integration of the generated maps into MDA's localization research was achieved.
This study examines Canadian federal government laboratories to betterunderstand their institutional variety, changes in their institutional form, and theirinstitutional design space. Three research questions are addressed: 1) h o w have theinstitutional forms of government laboratories been reconfigured during the period 1990-2005? 2) what are the laboratories' mandates and h o w do these reconfigurations affectthe labs' ability to fulfill their mandates? and 3) h o w might science policy analysis bettertake account ofthe importance, diversity and complexity of government laboratories?Three main arguments are advanced through the analysis of the evolution ofCanadian science policy and through case studies of three Environment Canadalaboratories. The first argument is that the traditional "make or buy" and related quasimarketlens on policy analysis related to government laboratories does not adequatelycapture the increasingly formal network-based approaches, both within the federalgovernment (intra-sector networks) and with other sectors (inter-sector networks), to thedelivery of government science. Accordingly, a broader "make, buy, or collaborate" mixof choices is called for.The second argument is that government laboratories as institutions exhibit aremarkable degree of diversity that is often not clearly reflected in Canadian sciencepolicy. Policy analysis suffers from a failure to:• understand the multiple (and potentially conflicting) mandates of governmentlaboratories;appreciate that formal policy-induced networks are not necessarily the same as theinformal networks that have long characterized scientific activity; and,recognize that formal networks and quasi-market approaches, while valuable andappropriate in many ways, can create problems for the labs in delivering theirdiverse mandates.The third argument is that policy and institutional analysis of governmentlaboratories requires an analytical approach that considers their core features ashierarchies, quasi-markets and networks in the context of their mandates, but that goesbeyond this basic framework to differentiate inter-sectoral and intra-sectoral networks andreveal the more complex "institutional design space" for government laboratories. Aspecific purpose of this study, therefore, is to develop a typology that can be useful ingathering more policy-relevant information about government laboratories and indesigning informed policies for the provision of government science.
Insects provide a unique opportunity to study unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms during flight. One of these mechanisms, rotational lift, has been shown to be important for Drosophila in flight and it is an open question as to whether rotational lift is important for other insects. In this study, we seek to determine whether tethered locusts (Locusta migratoria) actively control the timing of wing rotation relative to the stroke reversal (i.e. flip their wings) in order to augment lift and the produce of steering torques during intentional steering maneuvers. Dual highspeed digital cinematography sequences of tethered flying locusts were stimulated unilaterally with high-frequency sounds in a subsonic wind tunnel. These sequences were used to compute left and right forewing stroke kinematics in 3D. Our results show: 1) that locusts either rapidly pronate both forewings prior to the stroke reversal during an attempted turn (22 of 47 trials) or rapidly pronate one forewing in advance of the stroke reversal and one wing after the stroke reversal (12 of 47 trials), 2) during an attempted turn, locusts pronate the wing on the outside of the turn path earlier than the wing on the inside of the turn path, and 3) the wing-flip is rapid (44 800 ± 16 704°s"1) and is completed within 5.11 ± 4.33 % of the wing stroke duration. This study supports the hypothesis that locusts are generating steering torques by changing the timing of the establishment of angle of attack for the downstroke.
This is a case study of how the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved a proposal by cable and satellite service providers to distribute the Arabic-language TV news channel Al Jazeera. Pro-Israel lobbyists opposed it. Unprecedented restrictions in the CRTC's July 2004 decision required Canadian carriers to block any possible abusive comment found within Al Jazeera programming before distributing it. Despite demand for daily news from the Arab world, Canadian carriers have yet to offer the channel to any would-be subscriber. This thesis suggests that the Commission calculated such a result to avoid violation of Canada's hate laws and to protect the regulator against a Charter of Rights and Freedoms challenge based on freedom of expression by those wishing to receive Al Jazeera. Losing such a challenge could have weakened CRTC power when changing global technology and market development were leading many to question its role and relevance.
As the senior population in Canada ages, the need for costly healthcare monitoring increases and the expected workloads of many of the hospitals and nursing care facilities across the country begin to exceed the personnel available. There is therefore an increasing interest in smart home technology which can provide automated monitoring of the health and well-being of seniors. This thesis presents the design of a smart home system which uses unobtrusive pressure sensing and incorporates context-awareness in the monitoring of an occupant's functional mobility. To validate the design, clinical trials were conducted with both healthy adults and mobility-impaired seniors, thereby simulating the decline in an occupant's mobility over an extended period of time due to underlying conditions.The proposed system design includes several algorithms to extract features from pressure sequences recorded during sit-to-stand (SiSt) transfers. The first was designed to detect and characterize regions of interest from pressure images recorded from sensors placed under a bed mattress. The algorithm allowed the observation of mobility-impaired cases as well as the automated classification of symmetry with an accuracy of 93%. An algorithm was also designed to analyze the sagittal center of pressure trajectory during SiSt transfers from a bed. This allowed the extraction of significant clinical features and enabled the automated detection of mobility impairment with an accuracy of 92%. A third algorithm measured the duration of the SiSt transfer using both bed and floor pressure sequences. The durations displayed significant differences between the healthy (2.31 s for young adults, 2.88 s for seniors) and mobility-impaired (3.57 s for post-stroke, 5.35 s for post-hip-fracture) participant groups. These results compared closely to those found in recently published literature using more obtrusive methods of data collection.Various sources of context-awareness were introduced into the monitoring system design including context from pressure sensors embedded in the grab bars of a lavatory commode. A simulated context-aware environment was designed to demonstrate the function of the monitoring system using sequences collected from participants during the various clinical trials. The environment illustrated the effects of incorporating context-awareness through simulated scenarios of occupant behaviour and samples of corrected classification.
