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  • Visualizing a hypertext narrative.

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    Fraser, Jennifer
    Thesis Degree:
    Master of Architecture (M.Arch.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    Architecture
    Date Created:
    2000

  • The architecture of war : a conflict generated architecture

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    Al-Rawi, Reem
    Abstract:
    In cities of conflicts, the damage of war has become the visual common denominator that defines the region of destruction and vulnerability. According to Jonathan Budd, “the term 'Warchitecture' describes the condition of war waged specifically as the destruction of architecture."3 But the visual impact of such destruction is only the first stage in a long series of negative impacts which have social, cultural and humanitarian consequences. When the visual contact, or rather 'touch' with such conditions is made through the remains of destroyed architectural structures, it becomes understandable that it is architecture itself which is then responsible for the renewed existence, or the lack of, necessary elements that each society needs to restore and regenerate itself.
    Thesis Degree:
    Master of Architecture (M.Arch.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    Architecture
    Date Created:
    2010

  • Modifactured : hacking the tools of architectural design

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    Alford, Janak Babaji
    Abstract:
    This thesis considers the numerous, complex, and sometimes redundant tools of architectural design and attempts to unify them with a hacker approach. A hacker mentality allows one to consider the problems of design from the tools outward. Focusing on the ‘how’ instead of the ‘what’ to design, a hacker reconsiders the existing methods and concepts and recombines them to find new potential. Three hacker projects of architecture are considered: Katalogos, a tool to map and archive Internet media and references, nTerface, a hybrid drawing interface, and the Modifacture Machine, a fabricating instrument. Each ‘toolhack’ flows directly into the next, resulting in a critical practice that incorporates the best of human- and computer-assisted design in a singular process. Hacking the tools of design and manufacturing then becomes a way to reevaluate the looming challenges of energy generation and transportation. The hacker becomes a key individual in a de-globalized world.
    Thesis Degree:
    Master of Architecture (M.Arch.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    Architecture
    Date Created:
    2011

  • Architecture doubt uncertainty.

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    West, Mark
    Abstract:
    The drawings and accompanying text of this thesis describe a fictional culture (the Cypherians) possessed of an amorphous and indeterminant nature. Through this pretence the inevitable conditions of doubt and uncertainty confront the equally inevitable imperatives of determination and explanation. The charge of the enigmatic is thereby embraced, serving as the foundation for this work which is both descriptive of a condition of being and making, and speculative about its implications for an architecture which shares this same embrace.
    Thesis Degree:
    Master of Architecture (M.Arch.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    Architecture
    Date Created:
    1997

  • Canadian jobs amid a pandemic: examining the relationship between professional industry and salary to regional key performance indicators

    Resource Type:
    Report
    Creator:
    Patsula, Michael, Tran, Christopher, Wang, Christopher, Khalil, Hoda, Dick, Kevin, Melone, Benjamin, Wainer, Gabriel, and Anilkumar, Rahul
    Abstract:
    The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to massive rates of unemployment and greater uncertainty in the job market. There is a growing need for data-driven tools and analyses to better inform the public on trends within the job market. In particular, obtaining a “snapshot” of available employment opportunities mid-pandemic promises insights to inform policy and support retraining programs. In this work, we combine data scraped from the Canadian Job Bank and Numbeo globally crowd-sourced repository to explore the relationship between job postings during a global pandemic and Key Performance Indicators (e.g. quality of life index, cost of living) for major cities across Canada. This analysis aims to help Canadians make informed career decisions, collect a “snapshot” of the Canadian employment opportunities amid a pandemic, and inform job seekers in identifying the correct fit between the desired lifestyle of a city and their career. We collected a new high-quality dataset of job postings from jobbank.gc.ca obtained with the use of ethical web scraping and performed exploratory data analysis on this dataset to identify job opportunity trends. When optimizing for average salary of job openings with quality of life, affordability, cost of living, and traffic indices, it was found that Edmonton, AB consistently scores higher than the mean, and is therefore an attractive place to move. Furthermore, we identified optimal provinces to relocate to with respect to individual skill levels. It was determined that Ajax, Marathon, and Chapleau, ON are each attractive cities for IT professionals, construction workers, and healthcare workers respectively when maximizing average salary. Finally, we publicly release our scraped dataset as a mid-pandemic snapshot of Canadian employment opportunities and present a public web application that provides an interactive visual interface that summarizes our findings for the general public and the broader research community.
    Date Created:
    2022-06-08

  • Organized labour and the Laurier administration: the fortunes of a pressure group.

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    Atkinson, William David
    Thesis Degree:
    Master of Arts (M.A.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    History
    Date Created:
    1958

  • An examination of the role of the Board of Transport Commissioners for Canada as a regulatory tribunal.

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    Wright, Arthur Robert
    Abstract:
    In order to fully comprehend the working of an administrative board or tribunal it is first necessary to establish the principles which form the basis of their operations. The concept of justice and equanimity between parties has come down to us in the form or theory of "a rule of law”. In attempting to examine the role of the Board of Transport Commissioners in so far as it affects railways in Canada the concepts of natural justice and impartiality form the test pattern in the light of which the history, development, and operation of transportation is examined and the procedure, practice and problems of the Board are discussed. An examination of the historical development, character, functions and practices of the Board, bearing in mind the evolution of the transport industry and the requirements of a "rule of law” even in administrative or quasi-judicial bodies, leads to the conclusion that it cannot be described accurately by either "administrative" or "judicial" designations. It is, nevertheless, possible to devise a "rule of law" in the administrative sense. It is the central thesis of this paper that the Board of Transport Commissioners for Canada is a judicial body possessing those aspects of administrative tribunals which are conducive to flexibility and informality in the discharge of its supervisory and regulatory functions.
    Thesis Degree:
    Master of Arts (M.A.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    Public Administration
    Date Created:
    1962

  • The architect as creator of environments: Victor Gruen, visionary pioneer of urban revitalizations.

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    Azrieli, David J.
    Abstract:
    This thesis will examine the social considerations which underlie Victor Gruen’s approach to urban planning and design. Known as the creator of the modern enclosed shopping mall, Gruen’s efforts were also concentrated in the revitalization and redevelopment of a number of cities and towns. Gruen’s work is of particular interest because of its social component: his consideration for the human condition and his desire to improve man’s quality of life through the design of multi-functional architecture. The requirements of the eventual "user" were, therefore, of the utmost importance and Gruen’s feasibility studies employed multi-disciplinary teams in attempting to fulfil "user" needs. Gruen’s ideal urban core positioned the commercial center as the core’s focal point, serving as a catalyst for economic and recreational activity. His vision was modern equivalent of the European market square, drawing great numbers of people for the dual purpose of commercial and social exchanges.
    Thesis Degree:
    Master of Architecture (M.Arch.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    Architecture
    Date Created:
    1997

  • Aptamer Technology for Diabetes and Co-Morbidities

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    Ferguson, Madison Quinn
    Abstract:
    Given that the number of people who are diagnosed with diabetes continues to rise at an alarming rate, there is a pressing need for therapeutic interventions that are either more efficient or potentially curative. Furthermore, comorbidities such as kidney failure, thrombosis, thyroid dysfunction, Alzheimer's disease, and an increased risk of severe illness from common viral and bacterial infections are more likely to occur in people who have type 2 diabetes. The advancement of nanotechnology may lead to the diagnostics and therapies that could improve the survival and quality of life of patients with diabetes. Aptamers are oligonucleotides that have the ability to bind to a particular target with a high degree of specificity as well as affinity. Systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) is an in vitro evolution method that is responsible for the generation of aptamers. It has been shown that aptamers may function as medicines, diagnostics, theragnostics, targeted delivery vehicles, responsive materials and more. This work examines the application of aptamers to diabetes and related comorbidities. The selection and preliminary characterization of aptamers able to interact with Islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP), a potential causative factor in the development of type II diabetes, are described. An aptamer-based diagnostic for the acute kidney failure biomarker neutrophil gelatinase lipocalin protein is also developed. An aptamer-modified janus nanoparticle system is investigated as a potential theragnostic for thrombosis that could combine photothermal therapy and magnetic resonance imaging. Finally, aptamers for the spike protein component 2 of SARS-CoV2 and a database for aptamer selection experiments are briefly described.
    Thesis Degree:
    Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    Chemistry
    Date Created:
    2022

  • Using Bipartite Matching and Detection Transformers for Document Layout Analysis Transfer Learning

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    Wilson, Joshua Randy
    Abstract:
    Business documents represent useful information which could benefit from automatic interpretation. The task of document layout analysis seeks to identify and localize semantic structures in documents. Contemporary techniques approach this as a strictly visual task. However, recent progress in Natural Language Processing (NLP) has enabled the incorporation of language information. Multimodal techniques have been proposed for the task of document layout analysis. These models make use of region based object detection techniques which require defining surrogate tasks such as region proposals and non-max suppression. This thesis presents LayoutLMDet, a multimodal layout analysis model. LayoutLMDet approaches object detection as a direct set prediction task as described in "End-to-End Object Detection with Transformers". Using bipartite matching, LayoutLMDet removes the need for surrogate tasks, simplifying implementation. Leveraging a pretrained transformer encoder, LayoutLMDet is able to achieve a mean average precision of 49.5 on the DocLayNet test dataset. A qualitative comparison of LayoutLMDets performance on the DocBank dataset highlights the impact of data selection.
    Thesis Degree:
    Master of Applied Science (M.App.Sc.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    Engineering, Electrical and Computer
    Date Created:
    2023

  • Valuable Materials, Invaluable Relationships: Exploring Indigenous Culture and Sovereignty Through Moose and Caribou Hair Tufting in the NWT

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    Wenzel, Abra
    Abstract:
    Moose and caribou hair tufting is an important Subarctic women's artform in the Mackenzie Valley, Northwest Territories. However, tuftings and tufters have historically been identified following non-Indigenous ideologies rooted in colonialism and capitalist values, resulting in labels such as "craft", and "artisan", that are difficult to change. This practice has undervalued, if not dismissed, Indigenous artists, their artistry and by and large their art. This dissertation takes a multi-sited approach using archival records, museum objects, and interviews with tourism shop employees, and especially with tufting artists to elucidate the complex ways artists have employed their art to traverse cultural borders. In tracing the history of tufting, I discuss how women have used their artistry as acts of agential resistance to re-assert their own cultural and place-rooted relationships and meanings in the face of centuries of colonial violations. The central objective of my research is to make clear the dimensions of significance engaged with in hair tuftings by Dene, Métis, and Inuvialuit artists. I show how important values such as skill, landscape, and culture are a connected whole that is embodied within each tufting. A second objective is to uncover how important Indigenous values were and continue to be impacted by colonization. In my early chapters, I explain how Western values were imposed on Indigenous peoples and livelihoods. Thus, the Indigenous values attached to artistic making were regarded as inferior as viewed through Western critics' lenses. Third, I discuss the ways tufters have used their creations as sites of sovereignty to continuously negotiate and challenge colonial endeavors and carry these vital knowledges and values into the future. A critical outcome of this research has been the deconstruction of the colonial spaces that have silenced Indigenous peoples and their textile creations. Here I have offered a revisionist narrative that is informed by artists, Elders, and community members to provide a critical understanding of the multiplicity of values that are essential to Indigenous societies. Finally, this dissertation reflects on my positionality as an anthropologist and highlights to importance of "listening" as a methodology.
    Thesis Degree:
    Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    Anthropology
    Date Created:
    2023

  • Bring on the Apocalypse: Nostalgia and Tragedy in Hugo Santiago's Aquilea

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    Rojas Anaya, Daniel
    Abstract:
    Hugo Santiago's films about the apocalypse of the fictional city of Aquilea work as an allegory to Argentina's blood bath during General Onganía's and General Videla's dictatorships (1966-1983). Invasion (1969) and The Sidewalks of Saturn (1985) portray an obsessive nostalgia that motivates the character's ideological performance of memento mori and pro patria mori. These tropes perpetuate a tradition that I have coined as the defeated defender myth, which expresses the glorification of the willingness to self-sacrifice as a heroic act and is reminiscent of the Argentine emblematic gaucho-martyrs tradition. Thus, philosopher Steve Rose's model of suicide (2015) contributes to understanding the influence of nostalgia and future nostalgia in enforcing the major and minor phenomenological forces that shape these tragic identities. Ultimately, this thesis finds that this romanticization of self-sacrifice illustrates Hugo Santiago's project of constructing an insurrectionary national identity that conversely practices a murderous cult of memory.
    Thesis Degree:
    Master of Arts (M.A.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    Film Studies
    Date Created:
    2023

  • A Web Based Architecture to Operationalize Geospatial Simulation Environments

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    St-Aubin, Bruno
    Abstract:
    Simulation is inherently multi-disciplinary. It requires knowledge about the system under study, expertise in simulation theory to define models and programming skills to implement models. Geospatial simulation requires an additional layer of expertise in topology, geospatial data structures, spatial analysis, computational geometry, and other related topics. Commercial modeling and simulation software can be used to provide an environment to facilitate simulation studies for users. However, these software tend to be narrowly scoped to specific business applications and tightly couple model and simulator. As such, it is difficult to expand their usage and reuse them outside of the application domain they were intended for. The Discrete Event System Specification (DEVS) is a modular and hierarchical simulation formalism that clearly separates the model, simulator and experiments. It can be used break down the disciplinary silos within which single-use simulators are built and allow users to study real-world systems from a broad range of application domains. In this research, we present an architecture that facilitates the operationalization of DEVS based, geospatial simulation environments in multidisciplinary projects. The architecture relies on a clear definition of roles and responsibilities to leverage the different skillsets in an organization. It considers a series of business processes for modelers, subject matter experts, web developers and end users. It relies on a web-based architecture to provide simulation as a service capability and support users across the entire simulation lifecycle. It seeks to democratize DEVS simulation by making use of the strengths and skills available in larger organizations and by providing the necessary tools for collaboration. Importantly, it preserves key features of DEVS (genericity, modularity, flexibility, etc.) and encourages users to follow best practices in model documentation to foster model reusability and improve model discoverability. It relies on modeling and simulation as a service to overcome technological barriers of entry for DEVS simulation and provide a set of reusable tools to design simulation-based, web applications for end users.
    Thesis Degree:
    Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    Engineering, Electrical and Computer
    Date Created:
    2023

  • A Retrospective Longitudinal Study of Federally Incarcerated Men Eligible for Intermediate Mental Health Care: A Description of Services and Short-Term Outcomes

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    Petropoulos, Amanda
    Abstract:
    Intermediate care units have been proposed to meet the needs of incarcerated individuals with moderate mental health needs. Few studies have examined their profiles, and nature and effectiveness of interventions received. In the current study, the profiles of 295 incarcerated men in Canadian federal institutions were examined. File reviews were conducted over a 12 month period to extract treatment information as well as assess changes in number of incidents of self-harm, attempted suicide, overdose, and violence, and mental health needs. Coarsened exact matching and descriptive analyses revealed differences in the profiles across three treatment levels (mental health care delivered in: intermediate care units, treatment centres or mainstream institutions); roughly 30% improvement on all outcomes was observed across the groups. Overall findings highlight the need to further explore how best to meet the needs of incarcerated individuals assessed with moderate mental health needs, as this remains important for future management.
    Thesis Degree:
    Master of Arts (M.A.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    Psychology
    Date Created:
    2023

  • Exploring Latent Biometric Constructs in a Model Predicting Mental States of Aviators

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    Pejemsky, Anya Danilovna
    Abstract:
    Single-crew aircraft persistently have a high accident rate; these accidents are associated with high mental workload (MWL). The aviation industry would benefit from a passive MWL monitoring system that would predict flight performance. Passive biosensors offer an economical and non-intrusive method for indexing MWL. Many studies have overemphasized tonic data while ignoring phasic data. The present study explores the viability of a phasic data centered model in indexing MWL to predict flight performance. The study had non-pilots fly a simulator. Cardiovascular and epidermal data, objective and subjective MWL states, subjective reports of simulator sickness, and a variety of flight performance indicators were measured. The data were decomposed into several components to build formative latent variables that were pruned based on an objective MWL measure to then predict flight performance measures. The results indicate that phasic components explain more variance in flight performance than objective and subjective MWL and tonic data.
    Thesis Degree:
    Master of Arts (M.A.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    Psychology
    Date Created:
    2023

  • A Comprehensive Solution to Predict Short-term and Long-term user Intention with Environmental Context

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    Zhang, Hang
    Abstract:
    Prediction of user intention is an important task in business intelligence and analysis. Our research divides user intention into short-term and long-term, corresponding to the first purchase and repurchase scenarios respectively. To model short-term user consumption intention prediction, we present a comprehensive solution based on extracting user sequence behavior features and computing user different types of interest scores. At the same time, we take environmental context into consideration to explore the occurrence environment of user behavior. To detect long-term intention, we use a combined topic modeling method to extract aspects from user reviews with an unsupervised method. Our research builds a HGNN and RGCN using sentiment polarity, aspects, and items as nodes and edges of the graph neural network. This method entirely considers the close relation between user sentiment polarity change and item features, and the solution shows good performance when compared with the baseline model in the experiments.
    Thesis Degree:
    Master of Information Technology (M.I.T.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    Digital Media
    Date Created:
    2023

  • Space Architecture and the Development of a Martian Habitat using Computational Design

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    Zerrad, Yakine
    Abstract:
    Living in space is a subject that attracts the attention of many researchers, astronomers, entrepreneurs, and engineers because it allows the development of new technologies that will be available to humanity in the future. The idea of living beyond the earth is now connected to the planet of Mars, reaching which has become possible, and according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, humans can make the journey to Mars; the problem is related to money. The aim of my thesis is to enable students and other interested parties to acknowledge the three points of computational design, space architecture, and the planet Mars to help them to better understand the subject before moving to the design of the Mars habitat, called Z habitat. Moreover, through a series of workshops, I have created a framework that use Rhinoceros 3D and Grasshopper to design a habitat for Mars.
    Thesis Degree:
    Master of Architecture (M.Arch.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    Architecture
    Date Created:
    2023

  • Differential Introgression Between the Northern and Southern Extents of the Lodgepole x Jack Pine Hybrid Zone Suggests Environmentally-driven Selection and Local Adaptation.

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    Yaremchuk, Danya Daria
    Abstract:
    Lodgepole and jack pine form a mosaic hybrid zone in western Canada. Introgression occurs between lodgepole and jack pine through this hybrid zone by repeated backcrossing with advanced generation hybrid progeny. Using environmentally-associated SNPs identified by redundancy analyses, we examined patterns of introgression between the northern and southern extents of this hybrid zone to identify differential introgression. Through genomic cline analyses, we found extensive introgression of these SNPs through the hybrid zone. Twenty-eight SNPs had significantly different patterns of introgression between the northern and southern extents. Fine-scale patterns revealed several SNPs that were introgressing more frequently than expected, suggesting adaptive introgression. We found that adaptive introgression is occurring more frequently in the northern hybrid extent compared to the southern hybrid extent, suggesting different environmental pressures. Using gene annotations and major allele frequency maps, we identified evidence of differing environmental pressures resulting in putative local adaptation within this hybrid zone.
    Thesis Degree:
    Master of Science (M.Sc.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    Biology
    Date Created:
    2023

  • Simulating 3D Tailings Dam Breach With Thixotropic Bifurcation Rheology using the Material Point Method

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    Xia, Xuexin
    Abstract:
    Mining is a booming industry and it indirectly involves everyone living in modern society. Tailings, the primary solid waste generated as the side effect of extracting valuable minerals, often require vast facilities to store the large quantity of waste. Failure of tailings storage facilities often causes significant damage both environmentally and economically, and frequently results in fatalities. Nowadays numerical simulation of tailings flows resulting from potential failures has become widespread in practice to assist the design of tailings storage facilities. In this thesis, tailings runout simulations are attempted using a numerical method suitable for large deformation analysis (Material Points Method) employing an advanced rheological model. This study aims to simulate the runout of tailings dam breach incident such as Merriespruit in South Africa using realistic geotechnical properties and producing results that fulfill the expectations from both geo-mechanical and hydrodynamical requirements.
    Thesis Degree:
    Master of Applied Science (M.App.Sc.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    Engineering, Environmental
    Date Created:
    2023

  • Early life programming of neurodevelopment and growth: understanding nutritional, inflammatory, and placental contributions in complex pregnancies

    Resource Type:
    Thesis
    Creator:
    White, Marina
    Abstract:
    There is substantial evidence to show that inadequate nutrition in the periconceptional, pre- and post-natal periods can profoundly influence developmental and health trajectories of the embryo, fetus, and infant. However, improved knowledge on how nutritional factors may exacerbate, or lessen, suboptimal fetal and infant outcomes in pregnancies complicated by additional adversities is needed. To help address this knowledge gap, two core projects were undertaken to investigate relationships between perinatal nutritional factors (at the molecular, individual, and household levels), the placenta, and fetal or infant neurodevelopment and growth in: 1. pregnancies carrying a fetus with a neural tube defect (NTD), and 2. pregnancies affected by maternal HIV infection. In the first population, we show for the first time that fetal NTDs associate with placental maldevelopment and dysfunction, evidenced by an increased risk of placental pathologies and dysregulation in fundamental placental gene networks, including nutrient transport. Several dysregulated placental gene networks in fetuses with NTDs were sensitive to multiple nutrients, emphasizing the need for research to expand beyond a folic acid-centric view to identify new targets for NTD prevention and improve outcomes in fetuses with NTDs. In the second population, we found that infants who were exposed to maternal HIV infection and antiretroviral therapies in early life are susceptible to the adverse effects of suboptimal nutritional exposures both pre- and postnatally, evidenced by poorer growth outcomes in infants exposed to HIV and household food insecurity. We also found that there is potential for early life nutritional factors to be leveraged to improve outcomes in these infants. An integrated understanding of how nutritional exposures at the molecular, individual, and household/community levels contribute to fetal and infant programming in children exposed to suboptimal prenatal environments is key for developing interventions to improve developmental trajectories and lifecycle health globally.
    Thesis Degree:
    Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
    Thesis Degree Discipline:
    Health Sciences
    Date Created:
    2022