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- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Leibel, Miranda Sophia
- Abstract:
- This dissertation examines the child death inquiry as a performative ritual of liberal-democratic governance in the contexts of ongoing settler colonialism and the implementation of New Public Management in Canadian public policy. I ask: what is the performative work of public inquiries in constituting political relationships in contemporary Canada? I situate the child death inquiry as a particular form of public inquiry shaped by settler affective responses to Indigenous child deaths and assembled by contradictory logics that emphasize the universal generalizability of Indigenous loss, while articulating a specific and targeted anger with liberal, democratic governments, who ought to be accountable to their taxpaying-settler-publics. I trace the movement of figures as they are re/produced in the inquiry process: the 'Indigenous Public Child', the taxpayer-citizen and the benevolent settler public, and the ir/responsible government. I then consider how these relationships are produced, contested, and reaffirmed, as well as what kinds of impacts, concerns, and possibilities exist in the political spaces and relationships produced. I demonstrate how the dispositif of the child death inquiry moves from organizing hegemonic forms of visibility (through mainstream media), structuring the vocabulary of problematization (through legislative debate), establishing normative 'solutions' (through public reports), and articulating 'progress'(through policy commitments). The shift to private-sector-infused managerialism as a proposed solution to the contradictions of settler colonialism reflects a transformation from justice (as a political demand) to justness (as a technocratic form of 'resolution' and a commitment to continuous self-improvement). In Manitoba, one child becomes a symbolic stand-in for the various political failures of what is portrayed to be a bloated bureaucracy; in Alberta, government accountability comes to be framed through the quantification (and publicization) of child deaths; finally, in Ontario, the absence of the figure of the Indigenous Public Child, compounded by the pre-emptive commitment to self-improvement, reveals how the dispositif of the child death inquiry changes when the benevolent settler public does not accept moral responsibility for the Indigenous Public Child. Each case study demonstrates how, in different ways, lives and deaths are made to be public in the settler state, and to what end.
- Thesis Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Canadian Studies
- Date Created:
- 2022
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- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Venis, Robbie
- Abstract:
- Ceramic water filters (CWFs) are home-based drinking water treatment technologies promoted in rural and resource-restricted contexts due to their simplicity in terms of use, maintenance, and manufacture. However, cost, flowrate, breakage, and general misuse/disuse in the field are barriers to proliferation, adoption, and associated impact. This research addresses these limitations by evaluating technological innovations and participatory implementation in Tanzania. CWFs are produced by mixing clay, sawdust, water, and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), pressing the mixture into a pot shape, and firing it in a kiln. AgNPs are added to enhance disinfection but are among the most expensive of filter elements. Cost reduction is thus explored through investigation of AgNP replacement and/or supplementation with zinc oxide (ZnO). Metals are challenged in isolation and combination against E. coli within batch and filter phases and disinfection and elution are assessed across time and varying water qualities. Combined AgNP-ZnO treatment proved synergistic under all conditions, consistently outperforming either metal alone. Supplementing silver with zinc in CWFs can therefore simultaneously reduce cost while improving bactericidal efficacy. Sawdust size and proportion within CWFs also relate to flowrate, strength, and bacteria removal, yet the nature of these relationships is unclear. Modelling these performance measures is consequently challenging. CWF disks with varied material characteristics are therefore evaluated for flow, strength, and disinfection efficacy. Nested multiple regression analysis with possibility-based design optimization is then investigated as a novel approach to predicting filter performance with generalized porous media characteristics. Optimum material parameters that maximize flowrate while maintaining sufficient disinfection and strength are identified. Optimization results show flowrate may increase to >8 L/hr without compromising water treatment capacity or strength if is porosity is <48%, dry density is >1.2 g/cm3, and intrinsic permeability is <29 x 10-9 cm2. Finally, multi-year community engagement and participatory program development processes in Longido, Tanzania are described. Three education and CWF provision structures are subsequently evaluated. Filter adoption, breakage, and associated health are monitored over 27 months. Multi-week and repeated knowledge communication proved critical to promoting CWF usage, maintenance, and protection. Long-term participant engagement and support is necessary to promote CWF longevity and improve related diarrheal health.
- Thesis Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Engineering, Environmental
- Date Created:
- 2022
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- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Bashnick, Courtney Taylor
- Abstract:
- Autonomous rendezvous and docking, whereby two spacecraft come into close proximity and subsequently make mechanical contact, is used for on-orbit servicing missions. The safety of these missions is endangered by space debris and other hazards that pose a threat for collisions. The guidance algorithm onboard a spacecraft is responsible for planning a safe path to a target spacecraft and must actively avoid these hazards for the mission's success. This thesis presents a real-time optimal guidance algorithm for autonomous path-planning with moving obstacles based upon the Model Predictive Control framework. Numerical simulations are completed in two- and three-dimensions to prove the functionality of the algorithm. The current laboratory facility was upgraded to validate the real-time collision avoidance capabilities of the algorithm. The experiments are, to the best of the author's knowledge, the first to demonstrate the moving obstacle avoidance capabilities of a Model Predictive Controller for spacecraft rendezvous and docking.
- Thesis Degree:
- Master of Applied Science (M.App.Sc.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Engineering, Aerospace
- Date Created:
- 2022
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- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Gutland, Michael James
- Abstract:
- Hygrothermal models are important tools for assessing durability risks in building envelopes, such as biological growth (mould and wood rot fungi), corrosion and freeze-thaw action in masonry. Hygrothermal modelling of mass masonry wall assemblies are known to have numerous weaknesses and gaps in our understanding. These include uncertainties relating to model inputs, calibration against data measured in the field, poorly understood two and three-dimensional interactions between adjacent materials, and the effect of geometric irregularities, imperfections and decay. Combined, these uncertainties can lead to reduced confidence in the model's conclusion and alter our opinions on the durability risks and whether certain retrofits are appropriate or not. This integrated doctoral thesis examines how uncertainty factors into hygrothermal as demonstrated using a combination of simulation studies and on-site monitoring work. First, a methodology for integrating calibrated hygrothermal and energy models of the Southwest Tower of the East Block for the purpose of assessing durability is demonstrated. This project consisted of in-situ monitoring of the masonry and interior climate of the tower for over a year. The calibrated energy model was used as basis for estimating the net benefit of interior climate retrofits on the durability of the masonry. Second, the imperfect nature of the mortar-unit interface in masonry and how this affects moisture transfer into and out of the wall is examined. Simulations showed that modelling this interface explicitly as a fracture will increase water absorption during wetting periods, but also help slightly with releasing moisture under drying conditions. And third, the uncertainty in geometry and construction of the rubble core walls is examined. The examined walls have highly irregular geometry and are known to have significant voids. A Python script was developed to stochastically generate sections of walls with and without voids. A significant variation in state variables, and heat and moisture fluxes was found between stochastically generated geometries and this variation increased with the number of voids. Overall, this research contributes to efforts make hygrothermal modelling of masonry more accurate and intuitive and how establishing sound baseline models and uncertainty windows is key to confidently estimating the deterioration risk in masonry.
- Thesis Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Engineering, Civil
- Date Created:
- 2022
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- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Dugan, Jordan
- Abstract:
- Electromagnetic metasurfaces are 2D arrays of sub-wavelength resonating particles whose microscopic properties can be tailored to achieve a desired macroscopic field scattering response. Determining the scattered fields from large metasurfaces consisting of small resonators constitutes a multi-scale problem. To remedy this, metasurfaces are modeled as zero thickness sheets described using surface susceptibilities in conjunction with the GSTCs. Here, the GSTCs are implemented in an FMM-IE solver to simulate metasurfaces embedded in complex environments. While the FMM-IE-GSTC solver works well, the standard dipolar surface susceptibility model of metasurfaces is inadequate for modeling structures exhibiting spatial dispersion. These spatially dispersive structures can be modeled using surface susceptibilities that are rational polynomial functions of the transverse wave-vector leading to the extended GSTCs. In this thesis, the extended GSTCs are further developed to model non-uniform metasurfaces providing a computationally efficient zero thickness model for practical metasurfaces which is then integrated into the IE-GSTC solver.
- Thesis Degree:
- Master of Applied Science (M.App.Sc.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Engineering, Electrical and Computer
- Date Created:
- 2022
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- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Storosko, Iain
- Abstract:
- Organic farmers face many disadvantaging and marginalizing factors in their agricultural practices. Participatory plant breeding (PPB) is a method of crop breeding that pairs farmers' knowledge with the skills of formal plant breeders to bolster the insights generated by each partner. This study examines the potential of PPB programs to benefit Canadian organic farmers through a case study of the first-ever national PPB program. This study adopts a political ecology approach to analyse how PPB better meets the needs of organic farmers, compared to the dominant industrial seed systems. Farmers identified the networks and collaboration derived from the program to be as important as the actual materials developed. They also expressed the need for consistent institutional funding for PPB and organic agronomy. These findings will allow improvements to be made to the structure and methodologies of existing and new PPB programs to the benefit of all stakeholders.
- Thesis Degree:
- Master of Arts (M.A.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Geography
- Date Created:
- 2022
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- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Varga, Ksenia
- Abstract:
- Main group compounds can offer viable alternatives to transition metal catalysts, some of which are not optimal due to toxicity concerns, element endangerment, and non-sustainable extraction from Earth's crust. In this work, a series of dicationic 2,6-Bis(benzimidazole-2-yl) pyridine (BZIMPY) -bound phosphorus-based Lewis acids were synthesized, characterized and tested for catalytic reactivity. The BZIMPY ligand provides rigidity and tunability, the R' substituents on the phosphorus influence the electron-deficiency at the P atom, and the counter anions can influence the reactivity and stability of the dication.
- Thesis Degree:
- Master of Science (M.Sc.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Chemistry
- Date Created:
- 2022
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- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Czerwonka, Sara Emily
- Abstract:
- This thesis study investigates how the experience and mental models of novice players differ from experienced players, and how this information can be utilized to design more effective tutorials for these new players. To do this, an exploratory survey study about experiences related to difficulty and tutorials was presented. The results indicated support for hands on tutorials with gradual onboarding techniques. Participants also identified unfamiliar control schemes, game complexity, and assumed knowledge about video games as major barriers to entry for new players. To address this, a pilot user study was conducted to test the effectiveness of finger-based haptic cues in addition to the user interface as a novel technique to alleviate difficulty and aid learning for novice players in a first-person shooter game. Results indicated that the system produced somewhat positive effects on player performance, and the system was generally supported by players as a potential solution. However, there were several limitations impacting this study and the significance of its results.
- Thesis Degree:
- Master of Applied Science (M.App.Sc.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Date Created:
- 2022
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- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Easa, Hassan Khan
- Abstract:
- This thesis explores some extensions of the Standard Model in search of new physics. The research presented here concerns aspects of cosmology and collider physics. The research includes a combination of model building, constraints imposed by the current experimental data, and prospects of future experimental bounds. There is an aggregate of three main research projects composing this thesis. Firstly, the possibility of multiple hidden sectors to accommodate a successful framework to explain the abundance of matter over anti-matter and study prospects of a viable dark matter candidate. The evolution of cosmological history and the baryon asymmetry is studied thoroughly. The baryon asymmetry and the dark matter relic abundance are checked in light of the current cosmological data and a potential parameter space is computed. The analysis conducted reveals that a viable mechanism for the origin of matter and a feasible model for dark matter can be constructed considering the multiple hidden sectors framework. Secondly, we study the phenomenology of an extension of the Standard Model with fermionic top partners. The introduction of such new particles gives rise to rich collider phenomenology which is examined given the copious amount of data collected at the Large Hadron Collider. The discovery potential and the constrained parameter space for the proposed model are derived and discussed in great detail. The various available collider searches for top partners suggest that the limits obtained on the fully hadronic decay channels of the proposed model are less stringent compared to the traditional decay modes and the effects of future dedicated searches are outlined. Finally, a dedicated study analyzing some aspects of supersymmetric quantum chromodynamics (SQCD) like gauge theories is conducted. In particular, exploring the behaviour of a sub-category of SQCD theories which confines without chiral symmetry breaking for three quark flavours. The computations of the SQCD with the anomaly-mediated supersymmetry breaking effects lead to the conclusion that for the three flavour scenario, the scalar potential does not have a minimum away from the origin.
- Thesis Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Physics
- Date Created:
- 2022
-
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Johnston, Mackenzie Breanna
- Abstract:
- This series of studies investigated the relationships between self-compassion, physical activity, and autonomous motivation for exercise. The purpose of Study 1 was to examine if autonomous motivation for exercise moderates the association between self-compassion and physical activity in Carleton University students using a cross-sectional design. The goal of Study 2 was to test the effects of a 5-day self-compassion writing intervention on autonomous motivation and physical activity in first year university students at Carleton University. Autonomous motivation did not moderate the relationship between self-compassion and physical activity in Study 1 (B = -1.04, SE = 1.88, t(383) = -0.56, p = .57, 95% CI = [-4.75, 2.65]). The self-compassion intervention in Study 2 did not affect autonomous motivation, self-compassion, or physical activity across time (p < .05, η2 = .01 - .24). Researchers should replicate these findings with larger sample sizes and better measures of self-compassion and physical activity.
- Thesis Degree:
- Master of Arts (M.A.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Psychology
- Date Created:
- 2022