2024-03-29T13:37:19Zhttps://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/oai/requestoai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/2192016-12-18T14:06:54Zcom_10012_1col_10012_6oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7292017-03-21T18:52:08Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9860col_10012_9862col_10012_6
An Identity Theory and Social Cognitive Theory Examination of the Role of Identity in Health Behaviour and Behavioural Regulation
Strachan, Shaelyn
The self has been identified as the ?psychological apparatus that allows individuals to think consciously about themselves? (Leary & Price Tangney, 2003, p. 8). Further, the self has been identified as a worthwhile construct of investigation in relation to health behaviour (Contrada & Ashmore, 1999). Two self-related variables that have been useful in the study of health behaviour are <em>identity</em> (e. g. Anderson, Cychosz, & Franke, 1998; Petosa, Suminski & Hortz, 2003; Storer, Cychosz, & Anderson, 1997) and <em>self-efficacy</em> (Maddux, Brawley & Boykin, 1995). Identity Theory posits that individuals regulate their behaviour in a manner that is consistent with their goal identity (Gecas & Burke, 2003). Social Cognitive Theory provides a means of measuring social cognitions that may be important in behavioural regulation relative to identity. Further, self-efficacy beliefs may influence individuals? persistence at aligning their identity and behaviour. Research to date has investigated the link between identity and exercise (e. g. Anderson, Cychosz & Franke, 1998; Petosa, et al. , 2003). Further, researchers are beginning to investigate the link between identity and other health behaviours (e. g. Armitage & Conner, 1999; Kendzierski and Costello, 2004; Storer, Cychosz, & Andersen, 1997). However, research has not utilized the predictive frameworks offered by Identity Theory and Social Cognitive Theory to investigate the relationships between identity, behaviour and behavioural regulation. <br /><br /> Study One investigated the role of identity and self-efficacy beliefs in the maintenance of vigorous physical activity. Results were consistent with both Identity Theory and Social Cognitive Theory. Individuals who strongly identified with the runner identity expressed stronger task and self-regulatory efficacy beliefs. They also exercised more frequently and for longer durations than did those who only moderately identified with running. <br /><br /> Study Two further explored the relationship between exercise identity, exercise behaviour and the self-regulatory processes involved in behavioural regulation. Identity Theory and Social Cognitive Theory were used as guiding frameworks for this investigation. High and moderate exercise identity groups were compared in term of their affective and cognitive reactions to a hypothetical behavioural challenge to exercise identity. Consistent with Identity Theory, results indicated that participants appeared to be regulating their behaviour in a manner that was consistent with their exercise identity. Specifically, in response to the behavioural challenge to identity, high exercise identity participants, in contrast to their moderate counterparts, showed (a) less positive and (b) greater negative affect about the challenge, (c) higher self-regulatory efficacy for future exercise under the same challenging conditions, (d) stronger intentions for this future exercise, as well as for (e) using self-regulatory strategies to manage the challenging conditions and (f) intending to exercise more frequently under those conditions. <br /><br /> Study Three investigated whether identity with <em>healthy eating</em> could also be useful in understanding behaviour and behavioural regulation. Similar to Study Two, extreme healthy-eater identity groups? reactions to a hypothetical behavioural challenge to identity were compared. Results were similar to Study Two. Participants responded in a manner that suggested that they would regulate their future behaviour relative to their healthy-eater identity. In response to the behavioural challenge to identity, individuals who highly identified as healthy-eaters expressed less (a) positive affect, greater (b) negative affect, (c) self-regulatory efficacy for managing their healthy eating in the future challenging weeks, (d) intentions to eat a healthy diet, (e) generated more self-regulatory strategies and had (f) stronger intentions to use those strategies in future weeks under the same challenging conditions than did individuals who moderately identified themselves as healthy-eaters. Further, prospective relationships between healthy-eater identity and social cognitive variables, and healthy eating outcomes were examined. As was found in Study One in the context of exercise, healthy-eater identity and social cognitions predicted healthy eating outcomes. <br /><br /> Taken together, the three studies suggest that identity may be important in understanding health behaviours and the regulation of these behaviours. Also, the present findings support the compatible use of Identity Theory and Social Cognitive Theory in the investigation of identity and health behaviour.
University of Waterloo
2005
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/729
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/729/1/smstrach2005.pdf
fb84c23e079c57af2b2d05b04d14631a
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/729/4/smstrach2005.pdf.txt
acb0ab8fb4cbd4271b103649542d160d
Copyright: 2005,
Strachan, Shaelyn. All rights reserved.
Health Sciences
Kinesiology and Sport
Identity
Self-Efficacy
Physical Activity
Eating
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7152017-03-21T21:34:30Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9860col_10012_9862col_10012_6
The Dilemma of Proxy-Agency in Exercise: a Social-Cognitive Examination of the Balance between Reliance and Self-Regulatory Ability
Shields, Christopher Andrew
Social Cognitive Theory (SCT: Bandura, 1997) has been used successfully in understanding exercise adherence. To date, the majority of the exercise research has focused on situations of personal agency (i. e. , self as agent: e. g. , McAuley & Blissmer, 2000). However, there are a number of exercise situations in which people look to others to help them manage their exercise participation by enlisting a <i>proxy-agent</i> (Bandura, 1997). While using assistance from a proxy can promote the development of self-regulatory skills, Bandura (1997) cautions that reliance on a proxy actually reduces mastery experiences which can result in an inability to self-regulate one?s behaviour. Although research examined proxy-agency in exercise (e. g. , Bray et al. , 2001), the issue of reliance on the proxy at the expense of the participant?s ability to adjust to exercise without that agent has not been investigated. This potential dilemma of proxy-agency in exercise was at the core of this dissertation and was investigated in a series of three studies. Study 1 investigated whether those who differed in preferred level of proxy-contact also differed in their social-cognitions both within and outside a proxy-led exercise context. In addition, the relationships between proxy-efficacy, reliance and self-efficacy were examined. Results indicated that participants who preferred regular contact with an exercise proxy had lower self-regulatory efficacy, lower task efficacy, and weaker intentions in a proxy-led exercise context. Further, high-contact participants were shown to be less efficacious in dealing with the behavioural challenge of sudden class elimination. It was also demonstrated that higher reliance on the instructor was associated with lower self-efficacy and higher proxy-efficacy. Study 2 served to extend the findings of Study 1 through the examination of behavioural differences characteristic of differential levels of preferred proxy contact and the reasons for use of proxy-agency. It was found that exercise class participants preferring high contact with a proxy found exercising independently more difficult than did their low contact counterparts. It was also found that when faced with class elimination, those preferring high contact chose a self-managed activity alternative less frequently than did those preferring low contact. High contact participants also reported feeling less confident, less satisfied and perceived their alternative activity as more difficult than did those preferring low contact. In examining the reasons for preferring high proxy-contact, results indicated that a preference for high contact was associated with having had less experience exercising independently and allotting more responsibility for in-class participation to the class instructor as compared to preferring low proxy-contact. Study 3 used Lent and Lopez?s (2002) tripartite model of efficacy beliefs to examine the associations between relational efficacies (i. e. , other-efficacy and relation inferred self-efficacy (RISE) beliefs, proxy-efficacy) and various social cognitions relevant to proxy-agency. Results revealed that relational efficacies were distinct yet related constructs which additively predicted self-regulatory efficacy, satisfaction, intended intensity and reliance. Relational efficacies were also shown to make unique contributions to the predictions of the relevant social-cognitions. It was also demonstrated that RISE beliefs were associated with the attributions participants made. Specifically, higher RISE beliefs was associated with making more internal, personally controllable and stable attributions. These results represent the initial examination of relational efficacy beliefs in the exercise literature and provide additional evidence of the proxy-agency dilemma in exercise. Taken together, the present series of studies both support theorizing by Bandura on the dilemma of proxy-agency and represent an extension of the existing literature of proxy-agency in exercise. Results suggest that seemingly healthy, regularly exercising adults who choose to employ proxy-agency may be at risk for nonadherence in situations of behavioural challenge. The current findings have important implications for exercise leaders and interventionists as they must be aware of the balance between helping and hindering.
University of Waterloo
2005
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/715
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/715/1/cashield2005.pdf
39dabbb6d9a71d9672aeec1f968e18d4
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/715/4/cashield2005.pdf.txt
d5acffb713ba45d89327f83b5efba0a7
Copyright: 2005,
Shields, Christopher Andrew. All rights reserved.
Health Sciences
Kinesiology and Sport
proxy
reliance
efficacy
exercise
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7272017-03-21T19:02:04Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9860col_10012_9862col_10012_6
Stabilization Strategies of the Lumbar Spine in Vivo
Grenier, Sylvain
In developing a method of quantifying stability in the lumbar spine Cholewicki and McGill (1996) have also broached the notion of sufficient stability, where too much stiffness (and stability) would hinder motion. Thus people highly skilled at maintaining stability may use different and optimal strategies, where <i>sufficient</i> stability is maintained. The purpose of this work was to explore the contributors to <i>sufficient</i> stability, how they coordinate and relate to injury mechanisms. This work represents a cascade of investigations where. 1) To explore the balance of various sources of stiffness and their effect on the critical load and post-buckling behaviour, simulations were undertaken where the buckled configuration of the spine was predicted and its stability in this new configuration was assessed. 2) The various sources of stiffness contributing to stability in the lumbar spine have been in some cases found to be deficient. The question of how these deficiencies place individuals at risk of instability, if at all, remains unresolved. A challenged breathing task was used to determine if there was a difference in stabilizing potential between healthy individuals and low back pain sufferers. Given that differences in stabilizing potential are apparent, several tasks which included a predetermined motor strategy, such as 3)pressurizing the abdomen and 4) abdominal hollowing vs. muscle bracing, were evaluated to determine if individuals can utilize motor strategies to augment stability. The stabilizing potential of abdominal pressure (IAP) and its interaction with muscle activation was evaluated. Some individuals are more skilled at stabilizing their lumbar spine than others. Some consciously controlled motor strategies are better stabilizers than others. These strategies highlight the relative contributions of various components (posture, passive tissue, muscle activation, and load) in that no single muscle dominates stability and IAP appears to augment stability beyond muscle activation alone. The margin of safety is considerable and depends on the task at hand, but it is possible to speculate on which tissues are at greatest risk of injury.
University of Waterloo
2002
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/727
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/727/1/sggrenie2002.pdf
e60551aa394c565182c95ea43729d652
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/727/4/sggrenie2002.pdf.txt
5123ed227e0ebc4ffa2ef7ed224b6e92
Copyright: 2002,
Grenier, Sylvain. All rights reserved.
Health Sciences
Kinesiology and Sport
spine stability
lumbar spine
low back
spine compression
motor control
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7212017-03-21T19:01:24Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9860col_10012_9862col_10012_6
Self-efficacy theory and the self-regulation of exercise behaviour
Angove Woodgate, Jennifer
Why are people unable to adhere to an exercise program? Adhering to an exercise program is complex, and exercisers struggle with a variety of challenges that require self-regulation (e. g. , making time, learning skills, changing behaviour). Bandura (1995b) has deemed the assessment of self-regulatory efficacy to manage the regular performance of health behaviours (e. g. , exercise) essential. Despite this recommendation, few components of self-regulation have been examined in the exercise and self-efficacy research to date (McAuley & Mihalko, 1998). Furthermore, major reviews of the exercise-related self-efficacy literature have demonstrated that task self-efficacy has been the predominant operationalization of the self-efficacy construct, and barriers self-efficacy has been the most prevalent operationalization of self-regulatory efficacy (Culos-Reed, Gyurcsik, & Brawley, 2001; McAuley & Mihalko, 1998). However, self-regulation of behaviour involves more than managing barriers and overcoming their limitations (Barone, Maddux, & Snyder, 1997; Brawley, 2005; DuCharme & Brawley, 1995). In order to examine other aspects of self-regulatory efficacy, self-efficacy theory was used as the underpinning for the three studies in this dissertation (Bandura, 1986, 1997). <br /><br /> In Study One an expanded operationalization of exercise-related self-regulatory efficacy was investigated. The construction of various self-regulatory efficacy indices was informed by self-regulation frameworks (Barone et al. , 1997; Baumeister et al. , 1994). These indices as well as barriers efficacy were used to prospectively predict self-reported exercise behaviour. The hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that the expanded self-regulatory efficacy variables (i. e. , scheduling, relapse prevention, goal-setting self-efficacy) explained a significant amount of variance in exercise behaviour. In addition, barriers efficacy also contributed significant, but modest, variance to the model. These results underscore McAuley and Mihalko?s (1998) recommendation that multiple measures of self-efficacy should be used to examine exercise behaviour. The findings also emphasize that a focus solely on barriers as the indicant of self-regulatory efficacy in exercise may be overlooking other aspects of the construct that contribute to prediction. <br /><br /> Study Two extended the descriptive findings of the first study and addressed a recognized research need (Dzewaltowski, 1994; McAuley & Blissmer, 2000; McAuley et al. , 2001). Specifically, this study examined the possibility of individual differences (i. e. , optimism, consideration of future consequences) influencing the relationship between self-regulatory efficacy and exercise behaviour. Results indicated that participants higher in optimism reported significantly greater self-regulatory efficacy and exercise intentions for intensity than did those lower in optimism. In addition, participants higher in consideration of future consequences (CFC) reported greater self-regulatory efficacy and exercise attendance than participants with moderate CFC. Finally, CFC significantly moderated the influence of various indices self-regulatory efficacy on subsequent exercise attendance. However the effect upon the prospective relationship was modest. <br /><br /> Whereas the first two studies examined the predictive relationship between self-regulatory efficacy and exercise behaviour, Study Three focused upon the influence of sources of self-regulatory efficacy in strengthening efficacy beliefs. This investigation concerned the effects of an acute manipulation of self-efficacy information in changing self-regulatory self-efficacy within a special population -- cardiac rehabilitation exercise program participants. According to theory, sources of self-efficacy information are common to task and self-regulatory efficacy (Bandura, 1997). <br /><br /> The study used a 2 (message condition) by 2 (time) design in which cardiac rehabilitation program participants were randomly assigned to conditions. Utilizing a written message employing the self-efficacy sources of verbal persuasion and vicarious experiences, self-regulatory efficacy for the scheduling of <em>independent</em> exercise was targeted within an ?efficacy enhancing? condition. This condition was compared to an ?information control? message of other information relevant to cardiac rehabilitation participants. As hypothesized, the efficacy-enhancing condition exhibited increased scheduling self-efficacy compared to the control condition. As well, exercise-related cognitions (i. e. , intentions for frequency, action plans, behavioural commitment to learning about independent exercise) were superior for the efficacy-enhancing condition participants compared to their control conditioncounterparts. <br /><br /> Taken together, the studies support and extend research on self-regulatory efficacy in the exercise domain. In part, this was accomplished by expanding the operationalization of exercise-related self-regulatory efficacy to represent more components of self-regulation than examined in the exercise literature to date. In addition, these studies extend previous descriptive research by examining the potential moderators of the influence of self-regulatory efficacy on exercise behaviour. Finally, the third study represented one of the first efforts to experimentally manipulate determinants of self-regulatory efficacy for independent exercise in a special population. It supported the hypothesis that informational determinants (i. e. , vicarious experience, verbal persuasion) can be acutely manipulated to increase self-regulatory efficacy among cardiac rehabilitation participants.
University of Waterloo
2005
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/721
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/721/1/jangove2005.pdf
665f25711ff817bb4ddab5e1223f1521
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/721/4/jangove2005.pdf.txt
0602c23623e7e604af47accba43759e1
Copyright: 2005,
Angove Woodgate, Jennifer. All rights reserved.
Health Sciences
Kinesiology and Sport
exercise
self-efficacy
self-regulation
physical activity
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7302017-03-21T19:03:16Zcom_10012_9860com_10012_1col_10012_9898col_10012_6
An Exploration of the Experiences of Community Integration for Older Adults with Mental Health Issues
Hebblethwaite, Shannon
Community integration is vital for older adults with mental health issues, both as a process and as an outcome. The process of deinstitutionalization has made community integration a primary concern for these individuals. Many researchers recognize the significant lack of community resources that have been established in order to accommodate individuals with mental health issues in the community (Davidson, Hoge, Godleski, Rakfeldt, & Griffith, 1996; Pedlar, 1992). Researchers and practitioners alike, however, lack a thorough understanding of the factors that contribute to the successful and lasting community reintegration of older adults with mental health issues. The purpose of this study was to provide an in-depth analysis of the experience of community integration for older adults with mental health issues. The study was guided by the conceptual framework of phenomenology, focusing on the lived experiences of these individuals (Patton, 2002). Utilizing qualitative methods, data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews, oral member checks and the maintenance of a reflexive journal. Participants in the study were five older adults who had been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, had received treatment on an inpatient geriatric psychiatry unit, and had returned to their homes in the community upon discharge from the hospital. The findings suggest that being healthy and concomitantly maintaining independence played a key role in the process of community integration for these older adults. Independence, from the perspective of these individuals was quite different from the definitions of independence commonly used in North American society. The older adults in this study did not adhere to the principles of autonomy and individualism in relation to independence. Instead, they accepted a certain degree of dependence in order to prevent or avoid future disability, relapse, and readmission to hospital. A number of factors contributed to their independence, both positively and negatively, including: being healthy; social support; a smooth transition from hospital to community; maintaining feelings of self-worth; solitude; the power of knowledge; feelings of burden; and managing stress. These findings point to an emerging model of community integration that incorporates the concepts of empowerment, recovery, inclusion, and independence. The experience of independence, as described by these individuals, evoked feelings of empowerment and was strongly associated with the concept of recovery. For these older adults, being healthy, and thus, independent, meant being integrated. The findings, as well as the process of conducting this research, have lead to a number of recommendations for future research and suggestions for practitioners and policy makers involved with these older adults.
University of Waterloo
2004
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/730
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/730/1/sphebble2004.pdf
5154ec5e3a4ec00f42a9c9381fe482d3
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/730/4/sphebble2004.pdf.txt
783bb1b5244bc97a5782c5a1141dfe7c
Copyright: 2004,
Hebblethwaite, Shannon. All rights reserved.
Public Health
Health Sciences
community integration
mental health
older adults
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7242017-03-21T19:02:58Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9860col_10012_9862col_10012_6
Determinants And Strategies For The Alternate Foot Placement
Moraes, Renato
Undesirable landing area (e. g. , a hole, a fragment of glass, a water puddle, etc) creates the necessity for an alternate foot placement planning and execution. Previous study has proposed that three determinants are used by the central nervous system (CNS) for planning an alternate foot placement: minimum foot displacement, stability and maintenance of forward progression. However, validation of these determinants is lacking. Therefore, the general purpose of the series of studies presented here is to validate and test the generality of the decision algorithm of alternate foot placement selection developed previously. The first study was designed to validate the use of a virtual planar obstacle paradigm and the economy assumption behind minimum foot displacement determinant. Participants performed two blocks of trials. In one block, they were instructed to avoid stepping in a virtual planar obstacle projected in the screen of a LCD monitor embedded in the ground. In another block, they were instructed to avoid stepping in a real hole present in walkway. Behavioral response was unaffected by the presence of a real hole. In addition, it was suggested that minimum foot displacement results in minimum changes in EMG activity which validates the economy determinant. The second study was proposed to validate the stability determinant. Participants performed an avoidance task under two conditions: free and forced. In the free condition participants freely chose where to land in order to avoid stepping in a virtual obstacle. In the forced condition, a green arrow was projected over the obstacle indicating the direction of the alternate foot placement. The data from the free condition was used to determine the preferred alternate foot placement whereas the data from the forced condition was used to assess whole body stability. It was found that long and lateral foot placements are preferred because they result in a more stable behavior. The third study was designed to validate the alternate foot placement model in a more complex terrain. Participants were required to avoid stepping in two virtual planar obstacles placed in sequence. It was found that participants used the strategy of planning the avoidance movement globally and additional determinants were used. One of the additional determinants was implementation feasibility. In the third study, gaze behavior was also monitored and two behaviors emerged from this data. One sub-group of participants fixated on the area stepped during adaptive step, whereas another sub-group anchor their gaze in a spot ahead of the area-to-be avoided and used peripheral vision for controlling foot landing. In summary, this thesis validates the three determinants for the alternate foot placement planning model and extends the previous model to more complex terrains.
University of Waterloo
2005
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/724
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/724/1/rmoraes2005.pdf
4e46fea7fd94e5c828e153cb501da184
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/724/4/rmoraes2005.pdf.txt
dc72b6847cca935ba6e97442ca193a59
Copyright: 2005,
Moraes, Renato. All rights reserved.
Health Sciences
Kinesiology and Sport
Human locomotion
alternate foot placement
gaze control
gait stability
movement planning
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7172017-03-21T14:04:55Zcom_10012_9860com_10012_1col_10012_9898col_10012_6
Exploring organizational commitment following radical change A case study within the Parks Canada Agency
Culverson, Dawn
Understanding how committed employees are within an organization is a valuable tool for managing and fostering a successful work environment. A continued appreciation of employee commitment is especially beneficial following organizational change as it has been shown that change inevitably impacts commitment levels to some degree. This study investigated organizational commitment within a subpopulation of the newly restructured Parks Canada Agency using an established survey instrument. The findings revealed that an employee's tenure and work location currently influences commitment levels among the sample that was surveyed. This study also found that commitment to the Parks Canada mandate significantly differs from the expressed commitment to the current state of the organization. An effort to improve the moderate levels of organizational commitment would be a valuable strategy for enhancing the employer-employee relationship and contributing to the positive effects of the organizational change.
University of Waterloo
2002
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/717
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/717/1/dculvers2002.pdf
dc8247d4d800285dbb08b3ffd3640706
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/717/4/dculvers2002.pdf.txt
c0417da8cdb8cb8343a5dc86cb57ae5f
Copyright: 2002,
Culverson, Dawn. All rights reserved.
Leisure
Recreation & Tourism
organizational commitment
organizational change
Parks Canada
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7262017-03-21T19:03:23Zcom_10012_9860com_10012_1col_10012_9898col_10012_6
?Never short of a smile?: A Content Analysis of Travel Guidebooks
Quinlan, Sarah
Guidebooks are argued to be significant elements of the tourism infrastructure (Koshar, 1998), influencing the perception of destinations and the travel practices of millions of tourists (Gilbert, 1999). Guidebooks have been depicted as mediators, interpreters, and communicators of place and people, yet the examination of these texts as part of tourism has received little attention in the academic literature. There are few studies focusing on what information guidebooks are presenting to tourists (Bhattacharyya, 1997; Lew, 1991; McGregor, 2000). <br /><br /> In pursuit of cultural, environmental, and leisure experiences, tourists are going all over the world and there is increasing concern over the economic, socio-cultural, and environmental impacts of this activity. Information on these impacts can be found in academic literature and government reports, but rarely is it presented to tourists. <br /><br /> The purpose of this study is to analyse and describe how travel guidebooks communicate information on socio-cultural, environmental, and other destination specific issues. The republic of Peru was the case study area for this research. <br /><br /> Destination data was collected through interviews with tourism representatives in Perú, Destination Management Organisation (DMO) website analysis, and participant observation. This data was analysed to provide a coding scheme for the current issues and impacts in Peru relating to tourism. This coding scheme was used to analyse the content of the most commonly used commercial guidebooks for Peru (Lonely Planet, South American Handbook, Rough Guide) to understand if and how guidebooks are addressing current issues in Peru tourism. <br /><br /> Qualitative content analysis of destination data resulted in 29 emergent categories which were evaluated based on theme distributions (socio-cultural, environmental, and other) and source information. Categories were grouped based on importance values to allow for further examination of the main issues and impacts involved in Peru tourism. <br /><br /> Qualitative analysis of guidebook content resulted in 4 additional categories for a total of 33 items. This was followed by quantitative analysis of guidebook content to better understand theme distributions, statement types, marketing communication types, and relationships with original category intentions. Guidebook content was organised into groups based on importance values and compared with the importance groups found in the destination data to determine differences in category relevance. <br /><br /> The implications of this research in presenting information to tourists are discussed in terms of their relevance to socio-cultural and environmental interpretation, marketing and communication theory, and responsible tourism. Similarities and differences found in comparing destination and guidebook data are examined. Findings and discussions based on this research indicate that the role of the guidebook is multi-dimensional. These texts, juxtaposed between host and guest, mediate and interpret ecological, cultural, and social information. Findings of this research suggest that though guidebooks are involved in persuasive messaging which raises issues of power and representation, guidebooks are the only popular tourist information source in Peru attempting to influence tourists to reduce cultural and environmental impacts. This discussion is followed by suggestions for future research in this area.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/726
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/726/1/sequinla2005.pdf
9765cbb4761c9d312216f64190d0fad7
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/726/4/sequinla2005.pdf.txt
908558449d00cf54f8e94e3a9e437f1c
Copyright: 2005,
Quinlan, Sarah. All rights reserved.
Leisure
Recreation & Tourism
Tourism
Guidebooks
Peru
Responsible Tourism
Tourist information
Content analysis
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7252017-03-21T19:03:07Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9915col_10012_9917col_10012_6
Comprehension of Online Cancer Information: A Propositional Assessment of Readability, Inferences, and Coherence
Ta-Min, Rachelle
This study was designed to examine the comprehension processes used when reading cancer information found on the Internet and its relation to readability. The focus of the research was on the utilization of an alternative methodology, propositional analysis, to provide indices of textual difficulty that complement standard readability formulas. Kintsch's (1998) framework about discourse comprehension was used to distinguish between textbase and situational factors influencing comprehension. <br /><br /> This study analysed the verbal protocols of 16 community dwelling older adults. They each read a pair of either breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer web pages at low and high readability levels. Propositional density and coherence were measured for the web pages; recall, concepts, inferences, and coherence were measured for the protocols. Coherence was also captured using network representations. The readability formulas used were the Flesch-Kincaid (F-K), Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) and SMOG. Results showed that propositional density did not agree with readability scores, and that the readability formulas did not even produce consistent results among themselves. Results also showed that readability was not associated with web page coherence. Analysis of the protocols revealed marked individual differences for the kinds of information recalled, the types of inferences made, and the coherence of mental models. Variations in background and personal interest appeared to influence whether superordinate or subordinate propositions were recalled. Dependence on prompted versus non-prompted interview questions also varied by individual. <br /><br /> The findings of this study suggest that propositional analysis should be considered as a complementary methodology to readability formulas. Relying solely on these formulas as an indictor of comprehension may mislead online health providers that their information will be understood. The findings also highlight that that individual create distinct and personalized mental models when presented with web pages that are influenced by text and situation based factors.
University of Waterloo
2006
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/725
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/725/1/rtamin2006.pdf
02025826a9fb0fdb5b4302611775ab45
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/725/4/rtamin2006.pdf.txt
2bf5e4d211b70164fdfc66889fd602a2
Copyright: 2006,
Ta-Min, Rachelle. All rights reserved.
Health Sciences
Comprehension
propositional analysis
readability
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7142017-03-21T19:02:49Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9915col_10012_9917col_10012_6
The Relationship Between Schools, Friends and Smoking Initiation in Elementary School Students
Atkinson, Christina
Smoking rates among senior students have been related to smoking initiation in younger students. Opportunities to select smoking friends may be one explanation, however our understanding of this process has been limited by cross-sectional designs. <br ><br /> The purpose of this longitudinal study was to determine whether senior student smoking rates a) predict smoking initiation in younger elementary school students, controlling for individual exposure to family and friends who smoke and b) are related to the selection of smoking friends, increasing risk of smoking initiation as a result. <br ><br /> This study involved secondary data analysis of 2798 students from 84 Ontario elementary schools involved with the Third Waterloo Smoking Prevention Project (WSPP3). Grade 8 students completed a questionnaire at baseline to obtain the percentage of senior students who smoke in each school. Students in grade 6 completed a similar questionnaire at baseline, and were surveyed again in grades 7 and 8. Multilevel regression analyses were used to examine school and individual characteristics simultaneously. <br ><br /> Each 5% increase in the senior student smoking rate at a school increased the risk that a non-smoking grade 6 student would try smoking more than once by grade 8 (OR 1. 05) and that a non-smoking grade 6 student with no smoking friends would gain a smoking friend by grade 7 (OR 1. 10). Students who remained non-smokers in grade 7 but gained a smoking friend were more likely to try smoking more than once by grade 8 (OR 4. 31). <br ><br /> In schools where a high proportion of senior students smoked, younger students were more likely to initiate smoking, and gain a smoking friend. Anti-smoking policies and interventions may be more urgently required in these schools to lower senior student smoking rates and reduce initiation among younger students. Tailoring the intensity and content of programs to match the needs of schools is one way to potentially maximize effectiveness.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/714
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/714/1/c3atkins2005.pdf
c024d7cf6d06aec8dde2c11c7a43cff4
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/714/2/c3atkins2005.pdf.txt
b8a23f63b6e76678cc0dc1fd4916fb40
Copyright: 2005,
Atkinson, Christina. All rights reserved.
Health Sciences
smoking initiation
school prevalence
social influences
peer selection
youth
longtitudinal
multilevel logistic regression
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7232017-03-21T21:34:26Zcom_10012_9860com_10012_1col_10012_9898col_10012_6
Unser Satt Leit: Our Sort of People - Health Understandings in the Old Order Mennonite and Amish Community
Wenger, Lisa M.
Our cultural orientation informs our fundamental understandings of health. It has the potential to guide how we define health, how we understand the determinants of well-being, and how we respond to illness. For researchers, the recognition of this reality is central to not only how we interpret our findings, but also to the ways in which we develop the approach, questions, and methods central to our research.
The Old Order Mennonites and Amish are a culturally, ethnically, and religiously distinct population existing within the North American society. This thesis sought to improve upon previous health-related research on this population by asking several basic questions: Among Old Order Mennonites and Amish, how is health perceived and 'good health' understood? What are the perceptions of the determinants of health? How is illness perceived? What is the response to illness? And how does culture relate to health in the Old Order community?
A hermeneutical approach was adopted to address these questions and a qualitative textual analysis of an Old Order magazine, <i>Family Life</i>, completed. To allow the voices of community members to guide understandings, a broad approach to health was adopted throughout the examination of two years of the publication (2001, 2000).
Findings indicate that in the <i>Family Life</i> writings health is primarily defined by an individual's ability to fulfill his or her role. A focus on nutrition and reproduction dominated discussions of the determinants of physical health and an individual's relationship with God was viewed by many as the central source of mental health or illness. Emotionally, analysis suggests that individuals may have a range of responses to illness including a desire to accept the experience of illness as a part of God's plan, a struggle to find this acceptance, and the incorporation of community and Divine support throughout this pursuit. Behaviourally, health information appears to be transferred through a variety of mediums including health practitioners, community members, and advertisements. Individuals expressed concern with appearing too quick to seek professional medical care and may incorporate a range of considerations into the decision of whether to begin, continue, or end medical treatments.
The textual analysis indicated that a mixture of methods may be adopted for achieving health. Individuals appear to care for themselves through home remedies or non-medical measures (including alternative treatments) for as long as possible. In situations of acute physical illness, however, there appears to be comfort with seeking formal medical care. Amidst limited discussion of a physiological root of mental illness, analysis suggested that the main method of treating mental illness is refocusing concentration toward God rather than the self.
In consideration of the cultural understandings guiding these submissions related to health and illness, there were two primary themes. The first is that God determines life and is an active and present force in the lives of individuals. The second theme is that the community responds to this belief in God's defining role in particular ways. More specifically, the Old Order orientation to life which includes a deferment of individual will to that of the authority of God and Community (<i>Gelassenheit</i>) and appreciation for a set of rules guiding behaviour (<i>Ordnung</i>), directs discussions and understandings of health in culturally-unique ways.
Overall, this study highlighted the distinct ways in which cultural perspective guides understandings of health and illness within the Old Order community.
University of Waterloo
2003
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/723
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/723/1/lmwenger2003.pdf
a0495af2a70a3451e565800393c63a38
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/723/4/lmwenger2003.pdf.txt
1c7ab5a446435608c28e4f075e6c9fe0
Copyright: 2003,
Wenger, Lisa M.. All rights reserved.
Sociology
health
culture
old order mennonites
old order amish
perspective
mental health
physical health
history
beliefs
practices
Family Life
community
qualitative
text analysis
hermeneutics
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7222017-03-21T14:01:39Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9915col_10012_9917col_10012_6
An Examination of Smoking-Related Behaviours and Self-Perceptions, and the Role of School Connectedness in Predicting Cigarette Use
Among Students at an Ontario University
Giesler, Jillian
<strong>Background. </strong> Post-secondary institutions account for more smokers than any other occupational setting in Canada (Hammond, 2005). Unfortunately, little is known about tobacco use among this distinct population of students. The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence of smoking and patterns of cigarette use among undergraduates at the University of Waterloo. The current study also sought to investigate the role of school connectedness in predicting students? smoking behaviours, and to explore the relation of student smoking status as determined by a behavoural measure and self-reported smoking status. <br /><br /> <strong>Methods. </strong> A secondary analysis of data collected using the University of Waterloo Tobacco Use Survey (2004) was employed for this research. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequencies, means, and percentages), non-parametric statistics (chi-square and Cohen?s kappa), principle components factor analysis and logistic regression in order to serve the exploratory purposes of the study. <br /><br /> <strong>Results. </strong> Overall, 17. 55% of the respondents reported current cigarette use (3. 37% daily; 14. 18% non-daily). Although most (85. 5%) students? self-perceptions remained as ?nonsmokers who never smoke? from university entrance to the study date, a greater proportion of students made a negative change in their self-perceived smoking status over this time period than a positive change (10. 13% vs. 4. 38%, respectively). Among students who perceived themselves as ?nonsmokers who never smoke? or ?ex-smokers? at university entrance, being more academically engaged predicted making a negative change in ones? self-perceived smoking status (OR= 1. 924, CI<sub>95</sub>= 1. 064-3. 480). Finally, the proportion of non-daily smokers differed between the two measures of smoking status. Many students classified as ?occasional smokers? using the behavioural measure actually perceived themselves as ?nonsmokers who smoke sometimes?. <br /><br /> <strong>Discussion. </strong> The results of this study provide valuable new insights into smoking among Canadian university students. Students who are more academically engaged may be at risk of initiating smoking, perhaps as a means of stress reduction. Furthermore, the adult measure of occasional smoking typically used in tobacco research may be insufficient to inform tobacco control efforts for this population as it results in different proportions of non-daily smokers when compared against students? self-perceived smoking status. The findings of this exploratory research await replication with larger samples and different measures. Implications of the results for practice and further research are discussed. <br /><br /> <strong>Conclusions. </strong> This strategy of assessing connectedness to school shows promise in predicting post-secondary students? cigarette smoking behaviours. The results also provide support for continued investigation into the best ways to measure and assess current cigarette use in this unique population.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/722
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/722/1/jbgiesle2005.pdf
7bde31581c4df2d994dc702596729d8a
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/722/4/jbgiesle2005.pdf.txt
11ba9901f0c70a732a5cd1c8ad555b42
Copyright: 2005,
Giesler, Jillian. All rights reserved.
Health Sciences
university students
undergraduates
young adults
tobacco use
cigarette use
smoking
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7162017-03-21T19:03:37Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9915col_10012_9917col_10012_6
Patterns and Behavioural Outcomes of Antipsychotic Use among Nursing Home Residents: a Canadian and Swiss Comparison
Arditi, Chantal
<b>Background. </b> Although antipsychotic medications are primarily intended to treat schizophrenia and psychotic symptoms in adults, they are commonly administered to nursing home residents as pharmacotherapy for "off-label" indications such as disruptive behaviour. However, clinical trials have demonstrated limited efficacy and serious side-effects of antipsychotics among the elderly. As previous studies have reported inappropriate use in several countries, their use in nursing home residents ought to be monitored to detect and reduce inappropriate administration. <br /><br /> <b>Objectives. </b> The aim of this study was a) to determine and compare prevalence rates of antipsychotic use in Ontario and Swiss nursing homes, b) to identify determinants of antipsychotics use in these two countries, by means of a cross-sectional design, and c) to investigate the impact of antipsychotic use on behaviours over time in Ontario and Swiss residents, by means of a longitudinal design. <br /><br /> <b>Methods. </b> This study involved secondary data analysis of 1932 residents from 24 nursing homes in the province of Ontario in Canada and 1536 residents from 4 nursing homes in a German-speaking canton in Switzerland. Residents were assessed with the Minimum Data Set (MDS) tool. Resident characteristics and prevalence rates were compared internationally with the chi-square test. Demographic and clinical determinants of antipsychotic use, as well as behavioural change associated with antipsychotics, were analyzed using logistic regression. <br /><br /> <b>Results. </b> Although Ontario nursing home residents had an overall heavier-care profile than Swiss residents, antipsychotics were administered to 25% of the Ontario residents compared to 29. 5% of the Swiss residents. The adjusted rate among residents without appropriate conditions was also lower in Ontario (14%) than in Switzerland (24. 5%). Apart from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and cognitive impairment, antipsychotic use was determined by a different range of characteristics in these two countries. Antipsychotic use was not predictive of behavioural improvement. <br /><br /> <b>Conclusion. </b> The high adjusted rates of antipsychotic use in Ontario and Swiss nursing home residents, as well as the presence of "inappropriate indications" and "facility" as determinants of their use, raise concerns about the appropriateness of their administration in both countries. Their lack of effectiveness to improve behaviours also questions their use as long-term treatment for behaviour disturbances. Changes in practice patterns and implementation of policies are warranted to reduce inappropriate prescribing practices to enhance the quality of care provided to residents in nursing homes.
University of Waterloo
2006
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/716
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/716/1/cmarditi2006.pdf
54aa90e0bfd7523941acf29add9ed6ad
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/716/4/cmarditi2006.pdf.txt
5c780ec8d95e502b3a603b3b54b0af6c
Copyright: 2006,
Arditi, Chantal. All rights reserved.
Health Sciences
antipsychotic
nursing home
quality indicator
Ontario
Switzerland
international comparison
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7202017-03-21T19:03:45Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9915col_10012_9917col_10012_6
A Comparison of Addiction and Efficacy Oriented Messages for Smoking Cessation
Baig, Fauzia Ashraf
Background: Tobacco use remains a major public health issue. Population-level efforts to curb tobacco use include media to promote smoking cessation. However, these campaigns (including tobacco package warning labels) commonly emphasize the addictiveness of nicotine and the difficulty of quitting with statements like ?nicotine is as addictive as heroin and cocaine?. Addiction oriented messages may have an iatrogenic effect on cessation by undermining behavioural precursors such as self-efficacy, cessation outcome expectations, behavioural control, and quit-aid efficacy. <br /><br /> Objectives: First, to determine the effects of addiction focused messages in comparison to efficacy enhanced messages and control messages on smokers? self-efficacy, cessation outcome expectations, behavioural control, and quit-aid efficacy. Second, to determine if the impact of addiction focused messages differ according to participant nicotine dependency level. <br /><br /> Methods: A sample of adult smokers (n>101) from Kitchener/Waterloo and Owen Sound were randomly assigned into one of three intervention conditions: addiction focused (M1), efficacy enhanced (M2), and control (M3). Outcome measures were collected at baseline, post intervention and 30-day follow-up and included: self-efficacy, outcome expectations, behavioural control, quit-aid efficacy, and outcome expectancies. The 30-day follow-up also included measures of smoking consumption, quit attempts and use of a quit-aid. <br /><br /> Results: Majority of the participants were males and between 18-25 years of age. Mean number of cigarettes smoked ranged from 12 to 15 across groups whereas the mean number of years smoked ranged from 12 to 17. General linear analyses revealed no significant effect of message type or nicotine dependence (as measured by the Fagerstrome Test for Nicotine Dependence) on the outcome variables of interest. However, when perceived addiction was substituted as the measure of nicotine dependence, the analysis revealed a main effect for nicotine dependence on self-efficacy post intervention and on cessation outcome expectations at follow-up. An interaction effect was found for outcome expectancy at post intervention. <br /><br /> Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that acute addiction oriented messages may not negatively impact smokers? self-efficacy, outcomes expectations, behavioural control, quit-aid efficacy, and outcome expectancies. However, this does mean that message orientation should be ignored when constructing smoking cessation messages. In fact, program designers are encouraged to employ messages that limit the use of addiction oriented statements such as ?nicotine is as addictive as heroin and cocaine?. Further research is required to examine the potential cumulative impact of addiction oriented messages on quitting behaviour and its precursors.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/720
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/720/1/fashraf2005.pdf
e07388b45ca8591ed5d22729d6a87274
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/720/4/fashraf2005.pdf.txt
8bbaa407a21452b1d0d0ee8e23f859c0
Copyright: 2005,
Baig, Fauzia Ashraf. All rights reserved.
Public Health
Health Sciences
smoking cessation
media campaigns
media messages
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7282017-03-21T19:03:30Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9915col_10012_9917col_10012_6
ASSESSING THE RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE NETWORK ENGAGEMENT QUESTIONNAIRE: CAN ENGAGEMENT PREDICT KNOWLEDGE USE IN A COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE?
Robinson, Sarah
A disconnect exists between research and practice that is impeding the flow of knowledge between researchers, practitioners and decision makers. This obstruction of knowledge is acting as a barrier to the use of evidence in decisions and also as a barrier to informing research of important questions that need answering through scientific investigation. This divide between research and practice can be crossed by building a bridge between researchers and practitioners across which knowledge can be transmitted, translated and exchanged. <br /><br /> A possible mechanism to understand the key contributors to bridge building is by using Wenger's Community of Practice model as a framework upon which to understand the importance of and how to build connections between research, policy and practice. The defining characteristic of a Community of Practice is the interaction between members in order to jointly determine and embrace goals, eventually resulting in shared practices. Crucial to the success of a Community of Practice is the engagement between community members. Without engagement, a Community of Practice can not share knowledge and achieve its negotiated goals. <br /><br /> This thesis studied a Community of Practice that is being deliberately formed to facilitate the development of a pan-Canadian population health research network. This network, CANSPANN (Canadian School Physical Activity and Nutrition Network) aims to bring together researchers, practitioners, and decision makers to create research programs studying the social-environmental influence of schools on youth physical activity and healthy eating that address priorities for policy and practice. <br /><br /> This thesis assessed if a quantitative questionnaire tool could validly and reliably measure the level of engagement between CANSPANN members. The questionnaire also aimed to determine if engagement predicted knowledge use. Eighteen items in the NEQ validly measure engagement of CANSPANN members. Sufficient content validly was established for these items. Of these eighteen items, only four subscales significantly predicted knowledge use. <br /><br /> Through reliability testing with qualitative interviews it was determined that the Network Engagement Questionnaire reliably measures engagement for CANSPANN members who are centrally involved. It is far less able to reliably measure engagement for peripheral members. Further testing with the NEQ is necessary in order to increase its reliability.
University of Waterloo
2006
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/728
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/728/1/sjrobins2006.pdf
e1be8b8dd7a287d2c097ae3cbfed6843
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/728/4/sjrobins2006.pdf.txt
f6d96ce0d5c322fba132afa16f7312a0
Copyright: 2006,
Robinson, Sarah. All rights reserved.
Health Sciences
engagement
community of practice
questionnaire
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7192017-03-21T19:03:40Zcom_10012_9860com_10012_1col_10012_9898col_10012_6
The Canadian Culinary Tourists: How Well Do We Know Them?
Ignatov, Elena
Culinary tourism is emerging as an important component of the rapidly growing cultural tourism market. It introduces tourists to new flavours and different traditions associated with the preparation, serving, and consuming of foods and beverages. Although food has been strongly linked to tourism in some European and Asian destinations for years, culinary tourism is a relatively new phenomenon in North America. Current research tends to focus on only one aspect of culinary tourism, wine, with most research done in Australia and New Zealand. Although growing, there is still little research in Canada, and it has also concentrated on the wine component of culinary tourism. However, those who engage in wine tourism may not necessarily be the same people who would engage in other culinary practices such as visiting farmer?s fairs and markets, browsing food stores featuring local and gourmet ingredients, or who seek out authentic cuisine in restaurants. This study examines the characteristics and composition of the Canadian culinary tourism market and also explores the relationship between food and wine tourism. The study is based on the Travel Activities and Motivations Survey (TAMS) dataset. The survey was carried out between September 1999 and April 2000 and involved a telephone interview followed by a mail questionnaire. The total number of completed mail questionnaires received was 5,740, generating a response rate of 23. 2%. The objectives of the study were to understand the similarities and differences between 1) Canadian culinary travellers and the rest of the Canadian traveling population; 2) culinary tourists engaging in food-related activities, those who participate in wine, and those who participate in both; and 3) to identify segments of culinary tourists with respect to cross-participation in each of the culinary related activities. The segments were compared in terms of demographics, psychographics, vacation and getaway trip characteristics, and media consumption habits. To accomplish the first two objectives, culinary-related activities were arranged in three groups: <br> <b>Group One</b>: farmer?s fairs/markets; shop/browse gourmet foods in retail stores or farms; pick-your-own farms/harvesting; <Br> <b>Group Two</b>: restaurant dining featuring regional or local cooking; restaurant dining at internationally acclaimed restaurants; staying at a cooking school; staying at a gourmet restaurant with accommodation on premises; <br> <b>Group Three</b>: touring a region?s wineries where one stays one or more nights; going to wineries for day visits and tasting; staying at a wine tasting school. ?Culinary travellers? were conceptually defined as those who had taken trips in Canada in the past two years preceding the survey, and had participated in at least one activity from both group one <u>and</u> two <u>or</u> had participated in at least one activity from group three. ?Food travellers? were defined as those who had traveled in Canada in the past two years preceding the survey and had participated in at least one activity from Group One <u>and</u> Two and had not engaged in any activities in Group Three; ?wine travellers? were those who had participated in at least one activity in Group Three and did not qualify as ?food travellers?; and ?food and wine travellers? were those who met the criteria of both ?food? and ?wine? travellers. A factor analysis was performed in order to establish which cuisine-related variables were closely related and what underlying dimensions might exist in culinary tourism activities. The next step was to perform a k-means cluster analysis of the factors in order to identify distinct groups of cuisine travellers. The resulting four clusters were labeled: ?rural?, ?sophisticated?, ?indifferent?, and ?true cuisine?. The results show that the Canadian culinary tourism market represents nearly 45% of Canadian travellers and exhibits characteristics and behaviours that clearly distinguish them from other tourists. Canadian culinary tourists tend to be females in their mid-forties, highly educated with above average incomes; they are highly diverse in their travel motivations, interests, and activities pursuits (both at home and while traveling); travel mainly in the summer months but also take trips in the other seasons; they are accompanied by a spouse/partner (no children) while traveling and stay at hotels/resorts/country inns or at the homes of friends and relatives. They exhibit high readership preferences for newspapers (daily and weekend) and travel publications, and are more likely to use the Internet as an information source. In all instances, the culinary segment represented the large majority compared to the non-culinary travellers. Two segments emerged as relatively consistent across the analyses involving the ?food?, ?wine?, ?food and wine?, and the ?rural?, ?sophisticated?, ?indifferent?, and ?true cuisine? segments. These segments were the ?food/rural? and the ?food and wine/true cuisine? groups. The ?food/rural? group are highly interested in the local, traditional country-style forms of cuisine associated with rural regions; they seem to enjoy being in rural areas and close to the sources of their daily food. They tend to be females, in their mid-forties, with secondary education and middle incomes; travel to strengthen family ties, and seek simpler holiday experiences associated with rural regions. In contrast, the ?food and wine/true cuisine? group is very diverse in their travel motivations and activities pursuits; they are highly involved in all aspects of culinary tourism and exhibit high cultural orientation and exquisite tastes; these are females, in their mid-forties, university graduates with incomes well above average. Another interesting finding is that wine tourists appear mostly interested in the wine itself; they are not really as active and diverse in their activities and interests as the food and food and wine enthusiasts. This may indicate that food and not wine is what motivates culinary tourists; rather, wine is only a supplement. The findings of the study led to a consideration of possible marketing implications and areas for future research have been provided.
University of Waterloo
2003
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/719
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/719/1/eignatov2003.pdf
be52369ab9edd768aabd4df992f0fb12
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/719/4/eignatov2003.pdf.txt
16c3d8782202ed2bdd3b778000524173
Copyright: 2003,
Ignatov, Elena. All rights reserved.
Leisure
Recreation & Tourism
culinary
cuisine
cultural
tourism
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7122017-03-21T19:03:56Zcom_10012_9860com_10012_1col_10012_9898col_10012_6
Voluntary Simplicity as a Value Orientation in the Lifestyle, Leisure, Well-being Relationship
Range, Bernhard H.
Leisure typically has been regarded as a positive component in people's lives, and evidence points to its central rather than peripheral role in lifestyle. Further, studies of leisure suggest it is conducive to psychological well-being, to physical health, and to the stability of social groups. The extent to which people are able to reach this potential very much depends on leisure's role in lifestyle, the experience of leisure, and whether conditions in a consumption-oriented society facilitate such positive outcomes. For many, leisure in consumption-oriented lifestyles holds symbolic meaning. Important aspects of personal identity and meaning are found in leisure-related possessions and through leisure activities pursued. For others, leisure represents an internal, inner-directed process through which activities or behaviours are intrinsically motivated, freely chosen, and ultimately satisfying.
In this study, lifestyle was conceptualized and operationalized using a 'voluntary simplicity' value orientation, focussing on four main value dimensions: (1) material simplicity, (2) self-determination, (3) ecological awareness, and (4) personal growth. The purpose of the study was to examine the role that lifestyle plays in the relationship between leisure and psychological well-being. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by adults enrolled in general interest and continuing education leisure courses. Five basic concepts were assessed in the questionnaire: (1) leisure participation, (2) importance of leisure activity to lifestyle, (3) leisure experience, (4) psychological well-being, and (5) lifestyle. The highest frequencies of leisure participation per month included reading books, magazines and newspapers, listening to music, and watching television and videos. Leisure experience was characterized by higher challenge and awareness, and lower boredom and anxiety. There was general support for voluntary simplicity values in lifestyle with personal growth, self-determination, and ecological awareness dimensions being higher and material simplicity values being the lowest.
Lifestyles that more strongly embraced voluntary simplicity were associated with higher levels of challenge and awareness, and lower levels of anxiety and boredom in the experience of leisure. The self-determination, ecological awareness, and personal growth dimensions of a voluntary simplicity lifestyle contributed to heightened positive affect within psychological well-being, while lower levels of material simplicity increased negative affect (decreased psychological well-being). When all factors are taken together, a significant proportion of variance in psychological well-being is explained by the <I><b>experience</b></I> of leisure, especially <I><b>high challenge</b></I>, and <b><I>not</b></I> by <I><b>leisure participation</b></I>, and by a <I><b>voluntary simplicity lifestyle</b></I> characterized by self-determination, ecological awareness and personal growth values in the <I><b>positive affect</b></I> dimension, and material simplicity values in the <I><b>negative affect</b></I> dimension of psychological well-being.
These results suggest that regardless of the type and intensity of leisure involvement, if through heightened awareness, higher challenge and lower anxiety are sought in leisure, especially as expressed within a voluntary simplicity lifestyle, then higher levels of psychological well-being may be achieved. Indeed, by reducing lifestyle complexity and lessening the focus on consumerism, the inherent value of leisure to well-being might well emerge to a greater degree.
University of Waterloo
2002
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/712
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/712/1/bhrange2002.pdf
9d6fd8e771bcb872abf088b6491da39d
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/712/4/bhrange2002.pdf.txt
fa17cd13e5819bab3d48fcbdd488fb80
Copyright: 2002,
Range, Bernhard H.. All rights reserved.
Leisure
Recreation & Tourism
voluntary simplicity
lifestyle
leisure
well-being
value orientation
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7182017-03-21T19:03:42Zcom_10012_9860com_10012_1col_10012_9898col_10012_6
Environmental Behaviour, Place Attachment and Park Visitation: A case study of visitors to Point Pelee National Park
Halpenny, Elizabeth A.
This thesis explores the relationship between place attachment and pro-environmental behaviour expressed by visitors to Point Pelee National Park. Place attachment, the functional, cognitive and emotional bond with a place, may play a role in promoting environmentally responsible behaviours. This may be especially true of place-specific pro-environmental behaviours; however place attachment may also have a "carry-over" effect in that its impact on individuals' self identity may also foster pro-environmental behaviour in individuals' every day lives. <br /><br /> An exploration of these relationships was achieved, first by measuring the intensity of place attachment and pro-environment behavioural intentions expressed by visitors to Point Pelee National Park. This was followed by an examination of the relationship between these two constructs using correlation analysis and structural equation modeling. Data was collected with a mail-based self-completed questionnaire. A quota sample of visitors to Point Pelee National Park was utilized. A response rate of 32% (<em>n</em> = 355) was achieved. <br /><br /> The relationship between place attachment and pro-environmental intentions was explored further through the measurement of several related variables. These factors include place satisfaction (based on an appraisal of nature, social and activity-based environments), motivation for visiting the park (related to social interaction and nature observation, as well as activity-based and learning opportunities), distance between the park and visitors' residences, membership in environmental organizations, and visitation patterns including visitation to the park during childhood, length of affiliation with the park, length of visit to the park, and frequency of visitation to the park. Theoretical and empirical research suggests that these factors may affect place attachment, pro-environment behavioural intentions, and/or the relationship between these two constructs. <br /><br /> Study results found positive associations between place attachment and all of these variables with the exception of visitation motives associated with learning and engaging in a favourite activity. The strongest predictive relationships were observed with anti-substitution (the inability of an individual to substitute the park for another destination because of a lack of resources such as time or money or a lack of awareness of comparable sites) followed by frequency of visits to the park; park commitment (based on Friends group membership and donations of time and money to the Friends group); Friends of Point Pelee (FoPP) membership; and park relationship (which was based on visitation to the park as a child and length of affiliation); and, satisfaction with the park. <br /><br /> Results support the proposition that place attachment has a strong positive association with both park-specific pro-environment behavioural intentions (e. g. , Write letters in support of Point Pelee N. P. and similar protected areas) as well as general pro-environment behavioural intentions (e. g. , Pay extra for transportation if it is environmentally-friendly). Place attachment strongly predicted park-specific, and moderately predicted general pro-environmental intentions. A number of other variables had an indirect effect on park-specific intentions; notable effects were demonstrated by frequency of visits; park relationship; visitation to the park as a child; place satisfaction; social satisfaction; FoPP membership; and, park commitment; anti-substitution. These affects were mediated by place attachment. After place attachment the strongest predictors of park-specific intentions were anti-substitution; frequency of visits; park commitment; and, general environmental commitment (which was based on membership in an environmental organization and donations of time and money to that organization). <br /><br /> Place attachment was not the only direct predicator of general pro-environmental intentions; general environmental commitment and membership in an environmental organization also directly predicted general pro-environmental intentions. Notable indirect effects, mediated by place attachment were produced by frequency of visits; park relationship; FoPP membership; park commitment; and anti-substitution. The strongest predictors of general pro-environmental intentions were general environmental commitment, followed by place attachment, membership in an environmental organization, and frequency of park visitation. <br /><br /> These findings correspond with much of the literature published on place attachment formation and the development of pro-environmental behaviours. The most notable contribution of this study is its comparison of place attachment's impact on general versus place-specific behaviours, and the role that several related variables play in this relationship.
University of Waterloo
2006
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/718
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/718/1/eahalpen2006.pdf
ff23540a919ead723cb0cd1737764749
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/718/2/eahalpen2006.pdf.txt
31bd86d6072f99b4a072afcda9a829b1
Copyright: 2006,
Halpenny, Elizabeth A.. All rights reserved.
Leisure
Recreation & Tourism
place attachment
environmental behaviour
protected areas
environmental attitudes
place
park visitors
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7112017-03-21T19:03:46Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9915col_10012_9917col_10012_6
Behavioural Responses of Artificially Reared Rats to Reward and Novelty
Lomanowska, Anna M.
Artificial rearing of infant rats is a useful method for studying the role of early experiences in neural and behavioural development because it permits precise control over key features of the early environment without maternal influence. The present thesis examined the behavioural response of artificially reared rats towards natural and drug-mediated rewards, as well as novel environments. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were separated from their mother and litter-mates starting on post-natal day five and reared artificially (AR, n = 39), or they were reared naturally with a foster mother and litter (MR, n = 43). On post-natal day 21, half the rats from each rearing group were housed in isolation and the other half were group-housed with 3-4 rats per cage. Following three weeks in their respective housing conditions, all rats were exposed to three behavioural tests in the following order: open field, elevated plus-maze and sucrose preference. Additionally, one of the two cohorts used in adolescent behavioural testing was later tested in adulthood for conditioned place preference in response to morphine injection (intraperitoneal, 10 mg/kg). Adolescent AR rats were found to be more active in the open field and in the elevated plus-maze than MR rats. Furthermore, although there were no differences between the groups in fearfulness in the open field, in their first experience on the elevated plus-maze AR rats were more anxious than MR rats in exploring the open arms. AR rats also showed increased preference for sucrose consumption relative to chow, although their overall caloric intake during the 1h test was lower than that of MR rats. In adulthood, AR rats displayed a stronger conditioned place preference response to morphine. There were no significant effects of housing condition on any of these outcome measures. These findings support the potential of this model to contribute to the understanding of the role of early experience in the development of behavioural motivation.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/711
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/711/1/amlomano2005.pdf
6e959800a9863a8baff81d372c6af71e
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/711/4/amlomano2005.pdf.txt
b85f6da997e350d71f2cac932391afee
Copyright: 2005,
Lomanowska, Anna M.. All rights reserved.
Health Sciences
rats
artificial rearing
early environment
development
reward
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7132017-11-13T18:35:58Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9915col_10012_9917col_10012_6
Critical Investigation of the Pulse Contour Method for Obtaining Beat-By-Beat Cardiac Output
Matushewski, Bradley
The purpose of this study was to explore the efficacy of two existing pulse contour analysis (PCA) models for estimating cardiac stroke volume from the arterial pressure waveform during kicking ergometer exercise and head-up tilt manoeuvres. Secondly, one of the existing models was modified in an attempt to enhance its performance. In part I, seven healthy young adults repeated two submaximal exercise sessions on a kicking ergometer, each with three different sets of steady-state cardiac output comparisons (pulsed Doppler vs. pulse contour). Across all exercise trials regression results were found to be PCA = 1. 23 x Doppler-1. 38 with an r2 = 0. 51. In part II, eight young and eight older male healthy subjects participated in a head-up tilt experiment. Cardiac output comparisons were again performed during the supine and tilt conditions using pulsed Doppler and pulse contour cardiac output. Regression results revealed that PCA performed best during supine conditions and preferentially on the older subjects. In all instances, impedance-calibrated pulse contour analysis will provide reasonable beat-by-beat cardiac output within very narrow confines and will result in a progressively more significant bias as cardiovascular dynamics change. In addition, it appears that heart rate variability negatively influences beat-by-beat pulse contour cardiac output results, further limiting application of existing models.
University of Waterloo
2001
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/713
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/713/6/Brad_Matushewski_thesis.pdf
ab3df4013f32b8458784aa7a31076814
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/713/7/Brad_Matushewski_thesis.pdf.txt
bf61c5d43fd99aebdd16623298372cb6
Copyright: 2001,
Matushewski, Bradley. All rights reserved.
Health Sciences
pulse contour analysis
cardiac output
Doppler
carbon dioxide rebreathing
exercise
head-up tilt
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7312017-03-21T19:05:57Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9890col_10012_6
Collaboration, Competition, and Coercion: Canadian Federalism and Blood System Governance
McDonald, Adam
The blood supply occupies a special place within the provincial public health systems: it is something that Canadians expect to be safe, well run, and available when needed. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Canadian blood system dealt with a significant crisis: a tainted blood scandal. The federal <i>Commission of Inquiry into the Blood System in Canada</i> issued a report condemning, among other things, the governance structure of Canada's blood system. As a result, the provincial and federal governments worked to make changes to the way they funded, oversaw, and regulated the blood industry in Canada. It appears that the changes they instituted resulted in an improved blood system and improved the relationship between the governments and the blood system. Traditional models of federalism do not account for how the federal and provincial governments interacted. In their response to a crisis that affected thousands of Canadians, there were elements of collaboration, competition, and coercion. It is possible that a new "mode" of federalism is emerging as a result of these changes; it is more likely, however, that the crisis <i>forced</i> the governments to collaborate and create a national system to supply Canadian needs.
University of Waterloo
2004
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/731
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/731/1/admcdona2004.pdf
728f234818c7ef4e8e87c0fe454aea70
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/731/4/admcdona2004.pdf.txt
e895ebfcad51acdf8bd735226ee3c944
Copyright: 2004,
McDonald, Adam. All rights reserved.
Political Science
federalism
politics
Canadian
blood
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7612017-03-21T19:06:00Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9882col_10012_6
?Zur Zeit Maler und Dichter? ?
DER DOPPELTE GEORGE GROSZ: INTERMEDIALE BEZÜGE ZWISCHEN
GROSZ? LYRISCHEM WERK UND AUSGEWÄHLTEN ZEICHNUNGEN
Holzheimer, Sandro
The following thesis examines the poetic oeuvre of George Grosz in relation to selected drawings from the same period of time. A survey of the research on George Grosz shows that the scholarly focus has so far mainly been on his work as a visual artist, whereas his published poems have not been treated with as much attention. Furthermore, there exists no in-depth analysis of possible intermedial relations between his poetic and visual works, although titles of poems and drawings, editorial characteristics of the publication of poems and drawings respectively, and the themes of both suggest a relation between the medially different artefacts of Grosz?s work. <br ><br /> The goal of this thesis is to analyse and interpret intermedial relations between Grosz?s poems and drawings and thus affirm their existence as a constituent element of his work. Following Jan Mukarovský?s suggestion of the dual character of content/theme and structure in every artefact, the thesis is subdivided into two separate analyses of content and structure of poems and drawings and their respective intermedial relations. The methodology used to analyse Grosz? work as an intermedial phenomenon draws from the theoretical background of both semiotics and intermediality. Of eminent importance for the methodology are thus Umberto Eco?s works on semiotics and Roland Barthes? works on semiotics in general and on the semantics of visual language in particular. Fernande Saint-Martin?s <em>Semiotics of Visual Language</em> (1990) serves as reference work for the analyses of the structural characteristics of Grosz? drawings and Roman Jakobson?s and Jirý Veltruský?s works on semiotics shed light on the structural differences between verbal and visual language. Furthermore, Irina O. Rajewsky?s systematic introduction to the field of intermedial research, <em>Intermedialität</em> (2002), provides an apparatus with which to categorize structural relations between poems and paintings. <br ><br /> The content analysis of poems and drawings focuses on certain recurrent topoi. These are the topoi of the big city, America and (circus) artists. The analyses show intermedial relations and are valuable for the (re-)interpretation of certain topoi, especially when it comes to the evaluation of the Americatopos. The most prominent and dominant topos in both media proves to be the big city. Overall, the analysis of thematic relations mirrors semiotic theory: poems as verbal artefacts are able to provide more content-information than the visual language of the drawings. <br ><br /> The structural analysis focuses on certain modes of visual representation as employed by the drawings, and sets out to show intermedial reverberations of the visual structures in the poems and how the verbal structures succeed in evoking certain structural characteristics of visual language in general of and Grosz?s drawings in particular. Whereas there is a semantic advantage of verbal language in the intermedial relations of the contents of the artefacts, the structural analyses show that it is visual structures that govern the relations between poems and drawings. Again, this can be put down to semiotic characteristics: visual language is less strucurally regulated than its verbal counterpart. <br ><br /> The conclusion tries to merge the results of the separate analyses by stating that intermedial relations exist and encompass the dualism of content and structure that makes up the artefacts. The specific character of the intermedial relations mirrors the characteristics of the two semiotic systems employed by drawings and poems, i. e. visual and verbal language. Finally, it is suggested that thematic and structural relations are mainly governed by the topos of the big city, which hence can be seen as the thematic and structural paradigm of the analysed poems and drawings by George Grosz and of their intermedial relations.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
de
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/761
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/761/1/sholzhei2005.pdf
4c2029b65b20379e3db722eaf382613f
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/761/4/sholzhei2005.pdf.txt
540c6a01161c2c02059843a3dd5dfce4
Copyright: 2005,
Holzheimer, Sandro. All rights reserved.
General Arts & Humanities
German Studies
George Grosz
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7352017-03-21T19:05:45Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9880col_10012_6
Impact de la dramatisation sur la prosodie du français langue seconde
Breakspear, Christopher
Prosody, the structures governing the pitch and rhythm of speech, is essential to the correct and authentic use of a language. Unfortunately, many students of a second language find it difficult to learn these patterns, particularly when they differ significantly from their mother tongue. Several pedagogical models are now widely used, but only within the confines of a conventional classroom environment. Dramatisation, the process of preparing a full theatrical performance, has already shown itself to be useful in the acquisition of second language grammar and vocabulary. This thesis demonstrates by means of a qualitative case study that this approach to language teaching also results in a statistically significant improvement in the area of prosody. The results were obtained by analysing the digitised speech of four students who participated in a course employing dramatisation in order to teach French as a second language.
University of Waterloo
2001
Master Thesis
fr
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/735
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/735/1/cmbreakspear2001.pdf
fafee477672d6041164254fd86ea4330
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/735/2/cmbreakspear2001.pdf.txt
945a7f14108e39b3ebc9f8bc9b0fd976
Copyright: 2001,
Breakspear, Christopher. All rights reserved.
French Studies
prosody
french as a second language
instrumental study
dramatisation
pedagogy
teaching
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7542017-03-21T19:05:35Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9884col_10012_6
Normalizing the Ideal: Psychology, the School, and the Family in Post-World War II
Gleason, Mona Lee
'Psychology and the Construction of the 'Normal' Family in Postwar Canada, 1945-1960,' investigates the manner in which psychological discourse constructed notions of the normal postwar family in Canada. Despite their pronouncements to the contrary, I argue that the psychologists' discussions of what constituted the normal family were shaped by and reflected their social values, and not so-called objective, scientific concerns. In psychological discourse, normal families were those that conformed to the idealized expectations constructed by the psychologists themselves. These expectations reflected the hegemony of the Anglo-Saxon middle-class point of view that dominated postwar Canadian society. Through its specialized discourse, psychology compared, differentiated, hierarchized, homogenized and excluded families and individuals. Together these techniques constituted its 'normalizing power. ' The study seeks to understand the role of professional social sciences in shaping the private experience of ordinary Canadians and the political uses to which the concepts of social scientific rhetoric are put. It suggests that social scientists endowed with the power to influence social convention determined acceptable ideas about the family and family life. This raises important questions about the political motivation of this expert intervention into the private lives of Canadians.
University of Waterloo
1996
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/754
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/754/1/mlgleaso1996.pdf
8c769ea195082a4c231e34a0ed17f45e
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/754/4/mlgleaso1996.pdf.txt
7aa5ade60f73e8978185a602e82bec41
Copyright: 1996,
Gleason, Mona Lee. All rights reserved.
History
Postwar
Canada
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7602017-03-21T19:06:02Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9876col_10012_6
Hoax, Parody, and Conservatism in Harry Potter
Dudink, Peter
This essay examines the ideology or value system implicit in Joanne Rowling's Harry Potter series. Many of the images in the series, despite being fantastic or empirically unprecedented, are minor transformations of popular books and of our very common physical and cultural reality. However, these imaginative transformations of mundane reality actually imitate, reiterate, and conserve common and contemporary secular values. On a third level the thesis will show that this conservation of contemporary secular values is undermined by a cynical and very subtle transformative element of satire, parody, and criticism.
Depending on the theme explored by the particular chapter, a different level of meaning might be evident. Chapter One discusses Rowling's parody of popular secular values. Chapter Two focuses on her parody of Christianity. Chapter Three focuses on Rowling's representations of nature and technology and on her parodic reversal of their traditional representation in similar literature. Chapter Four discusses how Rowling has made a critical appropriation of popular culture's reliance on thoughtless and 'instant' solutions, and discusses how she has made a mockery of her own hero, Harry Potter.
The conclusion discusses the value of literary devices that transform literal meanings and verbal images into new meanings and images, and concludes that Harry Potter should be read cautiously. A second conclusion is that the author's claim the series is incomplete is a hoax. This argument is defended with a demonstration that the existing four Harry Potter books form a complete unit, and with a reminder that an element of hoax pervades Rowling's entire series.
University of Waterloo
2002
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/760
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/760/1/pdudink2002.pdf
17c754ab11b30078eb362b168bbe2044
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/760/4/pdudink2002.pdf.txt
9eaead4bbc14fe6fac25471af80388fb
Copyright: 2002,
Dudink, Peter. All rights reserved.
English Studies
unimaginative
reiterations
of Western ideology
in imaginative literature
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7382017-03-21T19:07:45Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9888col_10012_6
Logic in Pictures: An Examination of Diagrammatic Representations, Graph Theory and Logic
Hawley, Derik
This thesis explores the various forms of reasoning that are associated with diagrams. It does this by a logical analysis of diagrammatic symbols. The thesis is divided into three sections dealing with different aspects of diagrammatic logic. They are (1) The relevance of diagrammatic symbols and their role in logic, (2) Methods of formalizing diagrammatic symbols, such as subway maps and Peirce's Existential Graphs through the means of Graph theory, (3) The conception of inference in diagrammatic logic systems.
University of Waterloo
1994
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/738
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/738/1/dhawley1994.pdf
1305df578b1adac4f8f0a9be512e2e54
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/738/2/dhawley1994.pdf.txt
5ad29fde1a23e8f170100255c9ec38c9
Copyright: 1994,
Hawley, Derik. All rights reserved.
Philosophy
diagrammatic
symbols
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7332017-03-21T19:07:25Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9882col_10012_6
Getrennt schreiben oder zusammenschreiben?
Eine Untersuchung zu den Regeln der Getrennt- und Zusammenschreibung der zusammengesetzten Verben
Kern, Beate Maria
This thesis explores the usage of the new spelling rules in the complex area of separate and compound spelling. This area was a main topic in the reform of German orthography 1996/98. The old rules can be characterized as a complex and incoherent system. The primary ambition in defining new rules for separate and compound spelling was to simplify the writing process in order to facilitate an easier usage of written language for the German speaking community. <br ><br /> The basic concept of the new rules is the declaration of separate spelling as the default, making compound spelling the exception. As a consequence, most words of the German vocabulary, which were spelled as compounds before, are now to be spelled separately. The publication of the new rules for this orthographic area in the year 1996 caused a lot of criticism amongst linguists, the main point of criticism being that words, which grew together on the basis of grammatical processes, had been robbed of their status as words. They are now word-groups in which the two parts do not belong together and have their own individual status and meaning in the sentence. These rules are in opposition to the productive tendency of ?Univerbierung? in the German written language. This means a process whereby words, which stand next to each other in a written text, grow together under special conditions. <br ><br /> This thesis has two main aims: The first aim is to define the system of separate and compound spelling as a combination of grammatical and orthographic aspects. It will be shown how grammatical categories are influencing the orthography of these words. Additionally, it will be shown how the new rules produce spellings which are grammatically incorrect. The second is to verify the prognosis that the new rules were not accepted by the German language community. This thesis presents the results of a corpus analysis drawn from the text corpora of contemporary German language which is available on the website of the <em>Institut für deutsche Sprache</em>. Articles from six different newspapers were analyzed to see if and how the new rules for the groups verb and verb, adjective and verb and noun and verb were used in these texts. The results of this research have been compiled for the period of time from August 1999 to December 2000 (Corpus 1) and August 1999 to June 2003 (Corpus 2). It was uncovered that for more than half of the analyzed verbs the new rules were not used consistently. The divergence from the spelling norms ranged from 10 to 50 percent. In particular the group adjective and verb showed a high deviation from the new rules for compound and separate spelling. These results can be explained both with semantic and syntactic reasoning.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
de
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/733
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/733/1/bkern2005.pdf
e2fdd0135e45b3269acc039fc16eb5c7
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/733/4/bkern2005.pdf.txt
b26bfe8a7e94e653c248d2ebc347c3ee
Copyright: 2005,
Kern, Beate Maria. All rights reserved.
German Studies
deutsche Orthographie
Rechtschreibreform
Getrennt- und Zusammenschreibung
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7472017-03-21T19:08:13Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9884col_10012_6
THE LIMITS TO INFLUENCE: THE CLUB OF ROME AND CANADA, 1968 TO 1988
Churchill, Jason L
This dissertation is about influence which is defined as the ability to move ideas forward within, and in some cases across, organizations. More specifically it is about an extraordinary organization called the Club of Rome (COR), who became advocates of the idea of greater use of systems analysis in the development of policy. The systems approach to policy required rational, holistic and long-range thinking. It was an approach that attracted the attention of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Commonality of interests and concerns united the disparate members of the COR and allowed that organization to develop an influential presence within Canada during Trudeau's time in office from 1968 to 1984. <br /><br /> The story of the COR in Canada is extended beyond the end of the Trudeau era to explain how the key elements that had allowed the organization and its Canadian Association (CACOR) to develop an influential presence quickly dissipated in the post-1984 era. The key reasons for decline were time and circumstance as the COR/CACOR membership aged, contacts were lost, and there was a political paradigm shift that was antithetical to COR/CACOR ideas. The broader circumstances that led to the rise and fall of the COR/CACOR's influential presence in Canada from 1968 to circa 1988 also provides a fascinating opportunity to assess political and intellectual tumult and change. <br /><br /> Specific organizations where the COR/CACOR's influential presence was felt included: the Ministry of State for Science and Technology, the International Development Research Centre, the Institute for Research on Public Policy, the Foundation for International Training, and the University of Guelph
University of Waterloo
2006
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/747
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/747/1/jlchurch2006.pdf
040c99a005d52d466d105619bfe37433
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/747/4/jlchurch2006.pdf.txt
9d7d7730938ff2f25bf9fca38bb083ce
Copyright: 2006,
Churchill, Jason L. All rights reserved.
History
Influence
systems analysis
Trudeau
public policy
scient technology
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7372017-03-21T19:08:33Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9892col_10012_6
Human smoking behaviour, cigarette testing protocols, and constituent yields
Hammond, David
The issue of how to test and ultimately regulate tobacco products represents a critical challenge for the public health community. Although the current international testing regime for conventional cigarettes is widely acknowledged to be seriously flawed, there is a lack of data to guide potential alternatives, particularly in the area of human puffing behaviour. The current study sought to: 1) collect naturalistic measures of smoking behaviour, 2) examine the extent to which levels of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide from each of five testing protocols were associated with measures of nicotine uptake among smokers, and 3) examine the validity of self-report measures of smoking behaviour. These questions were examined through two different studies. First, a field study of smoking behaviour was conducted with 59 adult smokers, who used a portable device to measure smoking topography over the course of 3 one-week trials. Participants were asked to smoke their usual ?regular-yield? brand through the device for Trial 1 and again, 6 weeks later, at Trial 2. Half the subjects were then randomly assigned to smoke a ?low-yield? brand for Trial 3. The smoke intake and constituent yield of each brand was then tested under five testing protocols: ISO, Massachusetts, Canadian, a Compensatory protocol, and a Human Mimic regime. Participants also completed self-report measures of puffing behaviour at recruitment and immediately following each of the three one-week smoking trials. Several of these self-report measures were subsequently included in the Waves 2 and 3 of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation (ITC) Survey?an international cohort survey of adult smokers from Canada, Australia, the US, and the UK. <br /><br /> The results of the field study indicate a high degree of stability in puffing behaviour within the same smoker over time, but considerable variability between smokers, including those smoking the same brand. Puffing behaviour was strongly associated with cotinine levels, particularly when included in an interaction term with cigarettes per day (<em>Part r</em> = . 50, <em>p</em><. 001). Smokers who were switched to a ?low-yield? cigarette increased their total smoke intake per cigarette by 40% (<em>p</em>=. 007), with no significant change in their in salivary cotinine levels. <br /><br /> The results indicate systematic differences between human puffing behaviour and the puffing regimes used by machine testing protocols. The puffing behaviour observed among participants during the one-week smoking trials was significantly more intense than the puffing parameters of the ISO and Compensatory testing regimes. When cigarette brands were machine tested using participants? actual puffing behaviour, the results suggest that participants ingested two to four times the level of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide indicated by the ISO regime, and twice the amounts generated by the Compensatory regime for ?regular-yield? brands. The Canadian and Massachusetts regimes produced yields much closer to the ?Human Mimic? yields, although nowhere near a maximum or intense standard, as they were designed to do. Only the nicotine yields from the Human Mimic regime were correlated with measures of nicotine uptake among smokers, and only moderately so (<em>Part r</em> = . 31, <em>p</em>=. 02). <br /><br /> Self-report measures of puffing behaviour collected during the field study were moderately correlated with physiological measures of puffing and exposure. Self-report measures of puff depth and puff number showed some promise as predictors of salivary cotinine, although the results are characterized by inconsistencies across models. The self-report measures included in the ITC survey were only weakly associated with age and cigarettes per day, with modest between-country differences. <br /><br /> Overall, this research highlights the importance of puffing behaviour as a determinant of smoke exposure, and provides strong evidence of compensatory smoking for ?low-yield? brands. The findings also highlight the variability in human smoking behaviour and the limitations associated with machine testing protocols. Perhaps most important, the findings underscore the immediate need to revise the ISO protocol, which systematically underestimates smoking behaviour among humans and exaggerates differences between cigarette brands.
University of Waterloo
2005
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/737
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/737/1/dhammond2005.pdf
11f7c4271266db1f21fdeef19da34c32
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/737/4/dhammond2005.pdf.txt
6af77fa5ac8329c0f8bc83441313104c
Copyright: 2005,
Hammond, David. All rights reserved.
Psychology
Tobacco
health policy
smoking behaviour
product regulation
cigarette yield
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7492017-03-21T21:35:23Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9892col_10012_6
Means-end Search for Hidden Objects by 6.5-month-old Infants: Examination of an Experiential Limitation Hypothesis
Menard, Karen
Three experiments were conducted to investigate the hypothesis that young infants? failures to search for occluded objects arises, not from deficiencies in their object representations, but from limitations in experience with the physical world. Successful means-end search is typically found at 8 months of age and is traditionally taken as the hallmark of object permanence. However, recent evidence suggests that infants much younger than 8 months of age are able to represent and reason about objects that are no longer visible. In Experiment 1, successful means-end search was found for 8. 5-, but not 6. 5-month-old infants in a traditional task, but younger infants showed successful search ability when the task was made familiar to them in Experiment 2 (i. e. , when the toy and occluder are first presented as a single composite object), and when they were given the opportunity to watch a demonstration of the solution to the task in Experiment 3. These results are taken as evidence for the ?experiential limitation? hypothesis and suggest that young infants are more apt at solving manual search tasks than previously acknowledged.
University of Waterloo
2005
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/749
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/749/1/krmenard2005.pdf
2bd7a1c1e13d9538ed7940820878841c
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/749/4/krmenard2005.pdf.txt
9e7968b59452cbfc29fa45764c2dd55c
Copyright: 2005,
Menard, Karen. All rights reserved.
Psychology
infant cognition
means-end reasoning
search
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7412017-03-21T13:24:30Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9878col_10012_6
ULTRA
Blunt, Gregory
This thesis paper is meant to serve as a supporting document for a thesis exhibition that was held the University of Waterloo Art Gallery. The show consisted of paintings on Plexiglas and sculptural installations with fluorescent lights. The aesthetic style of my paintings makes a strong reference to the visual vocabulary of computer software. More specifically, it mimics architectural computer vector graphics from the 1980s. There is a visual metaphor created in my paintings where it blueprint drawing has 'evolved' into computer vector graphics, ultimately though, nothing has changed. The images are still hand drafted with pencils and then hand painted. The lexicon of digital software is appropriated, but by transferring the images from the virtual space of the screen to a literal three-dimensional space, the meaning is discarded. They become generalized abstract signs that retain their connotations, but not their meaning and function. The work thus makes a simple point in its refusal to 'get digital. ' There is a fetishization of technology, yet simultaneously a refusal of it. Other concerns that I deal with in my work and thesis paper, include notions of good and bad taste, kitsch and the Camp aesthetic, science-fiction, nostalgia, representations of the 'future,' Suprematist painting, Minimalism, Design, and the utopian ideals of Modernism.
University of Waterloo
2006
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/741
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/741/1/gpblunt2006.pdf
28533e4cacf6e3edf515d6188de53975
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/741/4/gpblunt2006.pdf.txt
d80ad42b7ed9897b451c7adfca038636
Copyright: 2006,
blunt, gregory. All rights reserved.
Fine & Performing Arts
vector graphics
art
painting
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7562017-03-21T19:08:35Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9882col_10012_6
Patrick Süskind's <em>Die Taube</em> und <em>Die Geschichte von Herrn Sommer</em> - innere Zwänge, Selbstabgrenzung und Objektivierung als Konstituenten von Außenseiteridentitäten
Fleischer, Muriel Myriam
The following thesis examines Süskind?s novella <em>Die Taube</em> (1987) and his short-story <em>Die Geschichte von Herrn Sommer</em> (1991) with respect to the literary identities of the outsiders Jonathan Noel and Herr Sommer. The theoretical framework is based on the deep hermeneutic analysis of Alfred Lorenzer?s literary-psychoanalytic theory (1986) which affords one the opportunity of analyzing the personality and concept of life of the literary figures by examining their interactional patterns and relationship to society.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
de
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/756
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/756/1/mmfleish2005.pdf
00c3daf30dd4fa64ec7d183cc33f6de3
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/756/4/mmfleish2005.pdf.txt
aa1da4b8db9f4ad1f94b328554a8bd51
Copyright: 2005,
Fleischer, Muriel Myriam. All rights reserved.
German Studies
Patrick Sueskind
Die Taube
Die Geschichte von Herrn Sommer
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7572017-03-21T19:08:53Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9888col_10012_6
Occurrent Contractarianism: A Preference-Based Ethical Theory
Murray, Malcolm
There is a problem within contractarian ethics that I wish to resolve. It concerns individualpreferences. Contractarianism holds that morality, properly conceived, can satisfy individualpreferences and interests better than amorality or immorality. W hat is unclear, however, iswhether these preferences are those individuals actually hold or those that they should hold. The goal of my thesis is to investigate this question. I introduce a version of contractarian ethicsthat relies on ind ividual preferences in a manner more stringent than has been in the literatureto date.
University of Waterloo
1995
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/757
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/757/1/mmurray1995.pdf
199a20a44389ae0baae6a524dd17f71a
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/757/4/mmurray1995.pdf.txt
eae909d7c00e92ea51722624db2e15d2
Copyright: 1995,
Murray, Malcolm. All rights reserved.
Philosophy
contractarian
ethics
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7422017-03-21T19:08:19Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9882col_10012_6
Das Motiv der Werbung in deutscher und russischer Gegenwartsliteratur
- dargestellt anhand Raumers Viktor Vogel und Pelevins Generation P.
Durczok, Gregor
This thesis is a the comparative analysis of the motifs of advertising concepts as found in the German novel <em>Viktor Vogel</em>, by Alexandra Raumer, and the Russian novel <em>Generation P. </em>, by Viktor Pelevin. For reasons of readability, the work utilized is the German translation of <em>Generation P. </em> However, both the original Russian text and the German language film (which was produced prior to the German novel) have been used, and chapters regarding their interpretation are included. <br ><br /> The analysis of both novels contains discussion of the topic, function, and task of advertising in the text, as well as the manner in which marketing theory has influenced its literary manifestation. Additionally the relationships between advertising executives and clients are explored. <br ><br /> While the aspects aforementioned form the basis of the comparative analysis of <em>Viktor Vogel</em> and <em>Generation P. </em>, the thesis also includes work-specific researches. Regarding <em>Viktor Vogel</em>, the motifs of advertising found in the novel are compared to those which are present in the film. Likewise, concerning <em>Generation P. </em>, the advertisements in the Russian original are examined in comparison to its German language translation, and its interpretation is completed by a summary of the Russian advertising culture. <br ><br /> The results of this analysis concluded that in the work <em>Viktor Vogel</em> a strong measure of realistic and real-word advertising is maintained. Additionally, it is revealed that the focus of advertising in this work is primarily concerned with the internal processes of the marketing agency as opposed to actual advertisements, whose inclusion is solely for decorative purposes. The original movie, however, puts more emphasis on the depiction of the motif of advertising, providing more information than mere visual icons. <br ><br /> In contrast to these findings, the advertising found in <em>Generation P. </em> is in keeping with the absurd literary reality as created by Viktor Pelevin. The portrayal of advertisement activity is here strongly influenced by the economic changes that have taken place after the collapse of the former system. The advertising concepts in <em>Generation P. </em> complete three main tasks: the description of the environment, the development of the protagonists, and the representation of irony and satire. Advertising for foreign products concentrates on items, which enchance the prestige of the user (such as textiles, alcohol and cigarettes) and emphasize the actual product, whereas advertising dealing with genuine Russian items focus primarly on the service sector. Looking at the original text reveals significant differences between the German and the Russian edition which cannot to be put down to the high quality of the translation itself but are rather the result of later changes by Pelevin. It has become evident, that advertisements such as those found in the Russian novel encompass phenomena, which would be contrary to those which are used in the West.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
de
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/742
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/742/1/gsdurczo2005.pdf
f1d5571076b7529f30a2602a747b2227
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/742/4/gsdurczo2005.pdf.txt
16476bc516c7d5a86326006ab04cb3d6
Copyright: 2005,
Durczok, Gregor. All rights reserved.
German Studies
advertising
german literature
russian literature
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7622017-03-21T14:21:27Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9888col_10012_6
Conservative Contractarianism
Watson, Terrence
Moral contractarianism, as demonstrated in the work of David Gauthier, is an attempt to derive moral principles from the non-moral premises of rational choice. However, this contractarian enterprise runs aground because it is unable to show that agents would commit to norms in a fairly realistic world where knowledge is limited in space and time, where random shocks are likely, and where agents can be arbitrarily differentiated from one another. In a world like this, agents will find that the most "rational" strategy is to behave "non-rationally," imitating the behavior of others in their vicinity and preserving a limited sort of ignorance.
University of Waterloo
2004
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/762
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/762/1/t2watson2004.pdf
59b4afedbda4a8cbd74e799b343fcf6d
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/762/2/t2watson2004.pdf.txt
5f1780de86bad055f3677cc78f37097b
Copyright: 2004,
Watson, Terrence. All rights reserved.
Philosophy
Contractarianism
Gauthier
conservativism
evolutionary dynamics
computer simulations
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7582017-03-21T19:09:55Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9890col_10012_6
ECOLOGICAL CRISIS AND HUMAN NATURE: The Green and Liberal Approaches
Nestaiko, Marta
The concept of human nature profoundly shapes our understanding of how political and social life ought to be organised. This thesis examines the concept of human nature developed by the Green political perspective and its impact on the Green understanding of economy, society and technology. By comparing the Green and Liberal concepts of human nature (and by extension their respective conceptualisation of society, economy and technology), it is argued that the roots of present day environmental crisis could be traced to the Liberal concept of human nature and the Liberal conceptualisation of the relationship between humanity and nature.
University of Waterloo
2003
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/758
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/758/1/mnestaik2003.pdf
30f50d9cdb737fa67c7b2d0974ece9ae
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/758/4/mnestaik2003.pdf.txt
df9eaeed4864206350f61ac82c9cd201
Copyright: 2003,
Nestaiko, Marta. All rights reserved.
Political Science
Green political theory
Liberalism
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7402019-11-28T16:22:19Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9868col_10012_6
The Effects of Audit Methodology and Audit Experience on the Development of Auditors? Knowledge of the Client?s Business
Berberich, Gregory
This dissertation examines how differences between the strategic-systems audit approach and the traditional, transaction-based audit approach affect the content and complexity of client business knowledge in long-term memory, how these mental representations develop with experience, and how the representations affect risk assessment. Knowledge of the client?s business is essential to conducting an effective and efficient audit, but researchers have devoted little attention to how this knowledge is represented in memory and what effect it has on audit judgment. Moreover, proponents of the strategic-systems approach argue that this approach leads to the formation of a more-complex client business model and results in better audit judgments than the transaction-based approach. The study?s results contradict these claims, with the strategic-systems auditors having less-complex models than their TBA counterparts. Also, no experience-related differences were found in the client models, and risk assessments were only weakly affected by content and complexity differences between client models. After a variety of supplemental analyses, it was concluded that there is no evidence from this dissertation to suggest that the SSA methodology does not result in an auditor possessing an enhanced knowledge of the client?s business compared to that possessed by an auditor employing a traditional audit approach.
University of Waterloo
2005
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/740
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/740/1/gp2berbe2005.pdf
892b11c79c31491d18ff8ad6d68efd13
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/740/4/gp2berbe2005.pdf.txt
1bd154b8aa7d9312aff11591a577a5e4
Copyright: 2005,
Berberich, Gregory. All rights reserved.
Accounting
strategic-systems auditing
auditor expertise
knowledge
memory
judgment
Auditing
Methodology
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7432017-03-21T19:09:32Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9890col_10012_6
Democratic Equality and Responsibility: the Opportunity Costs of Primary Goods
Hill, James
This thesis first critically analyzes John Rawls?s second principle of justice as a democratic conception of equality and the challenge posed to that conception by Ronald Dworkin?s 'Equality of Resources. ' Democratic equality is defended over luck egalitarianism as an articulation of liberal egalitarianism. However, where Rawls deems social primary goods to be unconditionally regulated by institutions, Rawls is largely silent about the fair assignment of costs and burdens that correspond to the fair provision of opportunities and primary goods. Dworkin?s notion of 'opportunity costs' is argued to improve on the role of responsibility in democratic egalitarianism by making clear that the provision of primary goods creates costs and burdens within a system of social cooperation. The second section illustrates this argument by considering claims to self-government by Canadian Aboriginals. By formulating a distributive criterion that treats Aboriginal self-government as a primary good, I show that claims of culture and identity can be resolved responsibly within the framework of distributive justice.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/743
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/743/1/jahill2005.pdf
d29f576e9b7c16465f7e393912ed4253
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/743/4/jahill2005.pdf.txt
2e4d9b2b62a8a04468524b6f78e3e114
Copyright: 2005,
Hill, James. All rights reserved.
Political Science
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7482017-03-21T19:09:43Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9890col_10012_6
Against the Grain: Globalization and Agricultural Subsidies in Canada and the United States
Wipf, Kevin
This thesis investigates whether developments associated with globalization and regional integration have caused the levels of government support provided to agricultural producers in Canada and the United States to converge in a downward direction. The literature is sharply divided as to whether governments retain the ability to pursue an independent agricultural policy course. To shed light on this debate, the levels of government assistance payments made to farmers in six contiguous Canadian provinces and American states (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana) are compared over the 1990-2001 period. This time-frame allows for sufficient periods both before and after the establishment of NAFTA and the WTO to study the effects of these developments on the relevant policy outcomes. After outlining the programs and policy changes that drove the shifts in levels of government support provided to farmers, the paper argues that although the levels of government payments made to farmers in the six sub-units converged in the mid-1990s, they diverged thereafter. The evidence drawn from this examination supports the contention that governments do possess considerable room to manoeuvre in the agricultural policy making arena and significant ability to chart an independent policy course.
University of Waterloo
2003
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/748
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/748/1/kgwipf2003.pdf
db25a78d99844c2947aac1ab002eaa20
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/748/4/kgwipf2003.pdf.txt
cbfc39a6154c1b4b666fa6ac5a5f6138
Copyright: 2003,
Wipf, Kevin. All rights reserved.
Political Science
agricultural policy
subsidies
convergence
divergence
Canada
United States
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7392017-03-21T19:09:48Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9890col_10012_6
Healthy Competition: Federalism and Environmental Impact Assessment in Canada - 1985-1995
Greenwood, David
The effect of federalism on the development of public policy is a widely debated topic. In terms of environmental policy, this issue assumes greater importance because of the lack of clarity in the constitutional division of powers. It is the purpose of this research to examine environmental impact assessment (EIA) — one of the higher-profile aspects of environmental policy — in order to establish how intergovernmental relations in Canada have affected policy and process development in this area. It is hypothesized that unilateral federal action in this policy area contributes to a corresponding increase in the stringency of provincial EIA processes. To test this, a two-step analysis is adopted: first analyzing developments at both the federal and provincial levels from 1985-1995 — a period which witnessed exceptionally high levels of public concern for the environment and increased federal involvement in EIA — and second discussing key events and agreements which affected intergovernmental relations and determining whether these related to those developments identified. This research finds that greater federal involvement in EIA was a catalyst for some positive reform at the provincial level, although this result varied significantly between the provinces examined. Based on the evidence gathered, it is concluded that some form of intergovernmental collaboration and competition both have a place in the development of EIA policy and that neither should be pursued as an end in itself.
University of Waterloo
2004
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/739
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/739/1/djgreenw2004.pdf
ab259745a8230d376a7ff3adccb11b73
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/739/4/djgreenw2004.pdf.txt
2a89292b9621ca1e77e95f81b266b28e
Copyright: 2004,
Greenwood, David. All rights reserved.
Political Science
federalism
intergovernmental relations
canada
environmental assessment
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7342017-03-21T19:09:09Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9878col_10012_6
An Exhibition of Painting, Sculpture and Video
Baker, Charles
This M. F. A. thesis exhibition consists of painting, sculpture, and video completed over the last five months. In support of the exhibition, an artist's statement outlines my exploration of the interaction between artist and audience, stylization and mass production of image.
University of Waterloo
1997
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/734
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/734/1/cbaker1997.pdf
5f6e479bc96347af594c04b47ccfe6b8
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/734/4/cbaker1997.pdf.txt
920aa7a7923199d676068cdafe758979
Copyright: 1997,
Baker, Charles. All rights reserved.
Fine & Performing Arts
artist
audience
stylization
mass
production
of
image
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7322017-03-21T19:09:52Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9888col_10012_6
Exploring the Justifications for Human Rights
Christelis, Angela
In this paper the concept of a ?human right? is analysed and clarified. Some justifications for human rights ? such as natural rights theory, contractarianism, utilitarianism and rights as vital interests ? are explored with respect to their emphasis on rights as protected choices or protected interests. Finally, a vital interests view is defended in which the rights to subsistence, security, and liberty of movement and political participation form the set of our basic rights without which we cannot enjoy our other rights.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/732
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/732/1/anchrist2005.pdf
f49341d41dbcb5609d582d1b0bb3208b
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/732/4/anchrist2005.pdf.txt
686b2d0038276174918c389cb11f7355
Copyright: 2005,
Christelis, Angela. All rights reserved.
Philosophy
Human rights
natural rights
contractarianism
utilitarianism
vital interests
basic rights
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7452017-03-21T19:09:58Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9882col_10012_6
Inszenierungen von Erinnerung und kollektivem Gedächtnis. Hermann Hesses <em>Das Glasperlenspiel</em> als Gedächtnisroman.
Hamann, Jessica
This thesis examins various representations of individual memories and collective memory in Hermann Hesse?s <em>Das Glasperlenspiel</em> (1946). The analysis of Hermann Hesse?s novel basically pursues three different objectives: First, the narrative construction of the protagonists individual memories and how these are related to his self-perception. The theoretical framework for this purpose includes on the one hand narratological categories and on the other hand approaches which combine narratology and representations of memory in literature as for example Basseler?s and Birke?s (2005) contribution ?Mimesis des Erinnerns. ? Their understanding of the mimesis of remembering implies the construction of memories on different narratological levels like the level of the narrator and the one of the characters. <br ><br /> The second goal of this thesis, the analysis of the Glass Bead Game as a metaphor, is inextricably intertwined with Josef Knecht?s individual development but also initiates problems of collective memory and how they can appear in the extra-literary reality. The institution of the Glass Bead Game embraces the essential problems the province of Castalia suffers from: the exclusion of history results in corporate stagnation. Aleida and Jan Assmann?s theory of cultural memory offers a view of the Glass Bead Game-metaphor that illustrates the consequences of a radical separation of cultural memory and communicative memory. Thereby the transmission of meaning is cut off and the contents of cultural memory lose their significance for individuals in a particular society. <br ><br /> Last but not least it is discussed why <em>Das Glasperlenspiel</em> can be considered to be a ?Gedächtnisroman? (memory novel) and which narratological procedures of representation constitute it as such. The category of ?Gedächtnisroman? derives from Astrid Erll?s enhancements of Jan Assmann?s theory of cultural memory and emphasizes the social function of memory-narratives. In <em>Das Glasperlenspiel</em> two rhetorical modes, the cultural and the reflective mode, can be identified as being dominant. That leads to the conclusion, that <em>Das Glasperlenspiel</em> on the one hand formulates a collective memory that exists outside of historical time and on the other hand places it in the context of a cultural tradition through functionalising a variety of ?cultural paradigms?. In the reflective mode, the novel allows an observation of the contemporary ?Erinnerungskulturen? (communities sharing collective memories) to the reader and creates a fictional model of collective memory that exemplifies its problematic dimensions. <br ><br /> The cultural studies approach of this thesis and especially the combination with theories of collective memory extends the investigation of memory as an inner-literal phenomenon and involves ?Erinnerungskulturen? as space of effect of literary texts. In this respect literature is no longer only a written medium but literary texts get subsumable as cultural forms of expression that make the development and change of ?Erinnerungskulturen? observable. In this spirit, literature is not restricted to being a medium of ?Erinnerungskultur?, but also takes part in the generation of memory.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
de
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/745
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/745/1/jhamann2005.pdf
9435147853da1ffbaf134037179f6e16
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/745/4/jhamann2005.pdf.txt
c6b07edd37abb61580b9bb8389c398c2
Copyright: 2005,
Hamann, Jessica. All rights reserved.
German Studies
Gedaechtnis
memory
Hesse
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7552017-03-21T21:35:13Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9892col_10012_6
Auditory target identification in a visual search task
Lochner, Martin Jewell
Previous research has shown that simultaneous auditory identification of the target in a visual search task can lead to more efficient (i. e. ?flatter?) search functions (Spivey et al. , 2001). Experiment 1 replicates the paradigm of Spivey et al. , providing subjects with auditory identification of the search target either before (<em>Consecutive</em> condition) or simultaneously with (<em>Concurrent</em> condition) the onset of the search task. RT x Set Size slopes in the <em>Concurrent</em> condition are approximately 1/2 as steep as those in the <em>Consecutive</em> condition. Experiment 2 employs a distractor ratio manipulation to test the notion that subjects are using the simultaneous auditory target identification to ?parse? the search set by colour, thus reducing the search set by 1/2. The results of Experiment 2 do not support the notion that subjects are parsing the search set by colour. Experiment 3 addresses the same question as Experiment 2, but obtains the desired distractor ratios by holding the amount of relevantly-coloured items constant while letting overall set size vary. Unlike Experiment 2, Experiment 3 supports the interpretation that subjects are using the auditory target identification to parse the search set.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/755
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/755/1/mlochner2005.pdf
f60cfe8495c32ca91d7eac26f6e31850
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/755/4/mlochner2005.pdf.txt
79744fc5325497eac3f070038981b341
Copyright: 2005,
Lochner, Martin Jewell. All rights reserved.
Psychology
visual search
auditory target identification
search efficiency
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7362017-03-21T19:10:01Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9882col_10012_6
Vernichtetes Geld und vernichtendes Geld
Das Geldmotiv in den zwei zeitgenössischen Romanen "Die Nacht der Händler" von Gert Heidenreich und "MOI" von Heiko Michael Hartmann
Martin, Christine
The present work deals with the motif of money in contemporary German literature, taking as examples the two novels <i>Die Nacht der Händler</i> (1995) by Gert Heidenreich and <i>MOI</i> by Heiko Michael Hartmann (1997). This motif is investigated through an analysis based mainly on four monetary theories: Karl Marx's <i>Das Kapital</i>, Georg Simmel's <i>Philosophie des Geldes</i>, Niklas Luhmann's <i>Die Wirtschaft der Gesellschaft</i> and Jochen Hörisch's <i>Kopf oder Zahl. Die Poesie des Geldes</i>. Additionally, theorists such as Jean Baudrillard and Marshall McLuhan will be included in the work. Both relatively recent narratives choose to depict money as subject to dysfunction, and by this means show the dependence of western society on the monetary system. Following Jochen Hörisch's argument, this thesis shows that money is the leading medium of modern times: without it, the entire social system would collapse. Through its failure to function as expected, it becomes obvious that money (an artificial human invention) turns against its creator, since money is not only responsible for how people perceive reality but is also the determining factor for human conduct in western society. In depicting this dysfunction, both novels deal with money in its most prominent recent forms - in Heidenreich's novel, virtual money; in Hartmann's, the Euro. These new money form has a big impact on society, as the novels show. As <i>Die Nacht der Händler</i> demonstrates, money is nowadays the reality-generating medium, which has become congruent with the real reality (as far as it is generally perceivable). Money obscures reality; because it duplicates the world and yet remains an abstract medium, this doubling causes people to become estranged from the world, its objects and also themselves. This process culminates in the development of virtual money, which reduces everything to a binary code of zeroes and ones. The growing virtualization of other media further amplifies people's alienation. Because money is the ruling medium in our society, humanity is in the grasp of the "Midas touch," as described by Marshall McLuhan. Money encodes everything, even human conduct. According to Georg Simmel, in a monetarily-ruled society lack of character, recklessness and greediness increase, since this is what money requires. In a rationalized society one can only be successful who acts in selfish interests. The MOI-disease passed on by infected currency in Hartmann's novel is an ego-disease, because humans have become increasingly self-centered since the invention of money. Together with the new media, money causes the diminishment and brutalization of human relations, whereby the individual becomes more and more an object of money-ruled processes, as Hartmann in particular shows. Money thus destroys the subject. This thesis also shows, on the basis of the two novels, how money in modern times has come to replace the older medium of religion, as Jochen Hörisch has argued. Money creates an alliance with the new electronic media, thus strengthening its reality-generating abilities. It is no longer religion that is responsible for giving meaning to our lives, but rather this new alliance. Both novels demand a return to cultural roots: Heidenreich does so by opposing the counting (<i>Zahlen/Zählen</i>) in modern society with the old medium of narration (<i>Erzählen</i>). Hartmann, on the other hand, comes to the conclusion that real knowledge can only be reached by religion and philosophy, since they show the way to one's own real self.
University of Waterloo
2004
Master Thesis
de
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/736
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/736/1/crmartin2004.pdf
858a9531d689fa49e7ddc0126f277c57
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/736/4/crmartin2004.pdf.txt
a7585f327ef40d4acbb0874fe10040c7
Copyright: 2004,
Martin, Christine. All rights reserved.
German Studies
Geld
Motiv
Marx
Simmel
Luhmann
Hörisch
Religion
Medien
Gott
virtuelle Realität
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7632017-03-21T19:09:53Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9882col_10012_6
Wie lebendig ist die Popliteratur um die Jahrtausendwende? Judith Hermanns "Nichts als Gespenster" in Gegenüberstellung zu Christian Krachts "Faserland".
Klopprogge, Vera
The focus of this master?s thesis is on determining whether Judith Hermann?s book of collected short stories, <em>Nichts als Gespenster</em> (2003) can be assigned to the so-called category <em>Popliteratur</em> which had its climax in the 1990?s, or whether it advances this genre by focusing on new perspectives. To show this, Hermann?s short stories are compared with Christian Kracht?s <em>Faserland</em> (1995), which is a prime example of a pop-novel at the end of the last century. Thomas Jung?s criteria for <em>Popliteratur</em> serve as a methodology for the textual analysis. <br /><br /> In the first part of this thesis <em>Popliteratur</em> as literary phenomenon is introduced. In addition to a definition and its history from the 1960?s till nowadays, the focus is on <em>Popliteratur</em> of the 1990?s and its authors who do not just write but stage themselves in the media and in public. Furthermore from this, the existence of <em>Popliteratur</em> in the 21st century is discussed and categories of how it appears in new literary forms, e. g. ?Generation Golf? and ?Zweite Generation Pop?. This is followed by a consideration of how Popliteratur is assessed in literary studies and literary criticism. <br ><br /> In the second part of this thesis, Christian Kracht and Judith Hermann are introduced, followed by a comparison of <em>Faserland</em> and <em>Nichts als Gespenster</em> from the point of view of Jung?s criteria for <em>Popliteratur</em>, namely its topics, its language, narrative technique, construction of identity and its target group of readers. After the textual analysis, the question whether Judith Hermann?s work can be assigned to <em>Popliteratur</em> or whether she transforms this genre will be answered. <br ><br /> My conclusions are that Hermann advances <em>Popliteratur</em> in the 21st century by focusing on melancholia and self-reflexion more than on the provocation that was more typical of earlier <em>Popliteratur</em>.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
de
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/763
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/763/1/vkloppro2005.pdf
b66d78c4b017266d6413114bd9e24358
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/763/4/vkloppro2005.pdf.txt
4332d251b4df90ff6c46916de2f94f1f
Copyright: 2005,
Klopprogge, Vera. All rights reserved.
German Studies
Popliteratur
Literaturgeschichtsschreibung
Generation Pop
Generation Golf
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7532017-03-21T19:09:46Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9892col_10012_6
Reading aloud is not automatic: Processing capacity is required to generate a phonological code from print
Chan-Reynolds, Michael G.
The process of generating a phonological code from print is widely described as automatic. This claim is tested in Chapter 1 by assessing whether phonological recoding uses central attention in the context of the Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) paradigm. Task 1 was a tone discrimination task and Task 2 was reading aloud. Nonword letter length and grapheme-phoneme complexity yielded additive effects with SOA in Experiments 1 and 2 suggesting that <em>assembled phonology</em> uses central attention. Neighborhood density (N) yielded additive effects with SOA in Experiments 3 and 4, suggesting that one form of lexical contribution to phonological recoding also uses central attention. Taken together, the results of these experiments are <em>inconsistent</em> with the widespread claim that phonological codes are computed automatically. Chapter 2 begins by reconsidering the utility of ?automaticity? as an explanatory framework. It is argued that automaticity should be replaced by accounts that make more specific claims about how processing unfolds. Experiment 5 yielded underadditivity of long-lag word repetition priming with decreasing SOA, suggesting that an early component of the lexical contribution to phonology does not use central attention. There was no evidence of Task 1 slowing with decreasing SOA in Experiments 6 and 7, suggesting that phonological recoding processes are postponed until central attention becomes available. Theoretical development in this field (and others) will be facilitated by abandoning the idea that skilled performance inevitably means that all the underlying processes are automatic.
University of Waterloo
2005
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/753
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/753/1/mg2reyno2005.pdf
d33eecbe0ba4fd21c9ecbfa20b63581d
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/753/4/mg2reyno2005.pdf.txt
3fa1b76a4e8bdf3fe3798b93f6653656
Copyright: 2005,
Chan-Reynolds, Michael G.. All rights reserved.
Psychology
visual word recognition
reading aloud
nonword
attention
dual task
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7442017-03-21T19:10:05Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9892col_10012_6
Motivated Resistance to Counterattitudinal Arguments: The effects of affirmation, argument strength and attitude importance
Correll, Joshua
In this study we explored some of the factors associated with biased processing of attitude-relevant information. We were particularly interested in the possibility that a self-affirmation, by reducing self-evaluative concerns, might increase participants' willingness to impartially evaluate information that conflicts with their current views. We examined students' reactions to arguments about increasing tuition as a function of four factors: attitude importance, argument strength, the congruence of arguments with existing attitudes, and our experimental manipulation of affirmation. We found that affirmation reduced biased evaluation only for participants who rated the issue as important. We also found that affirmation dramatically impacted the perception of argument strength. Stronger counterattitudinal arguments were rejected by non-affirmed participants, who did not distinguish them from weak arguments, presumably because of the esteem threat posed by a strong ideological challenge. Affirmed participants, though, evaluated strong counterattitudinal arguments more positively.
University of Waterloo
2000
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/744
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/744/1/jcorrell2000.pdf
0f60cb906e53d05361a58ecebc660624
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/744/4/jcorrell2000.pdf.txt
a01291f1f609786a4b086d5feedc7498
Copyright: 2000,
Correll, Joshua. All rights reserved.
Psychology
self-affirmation
argument strength
attitude importance
attitude change
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7522017-03-21T19:10:13Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9882col_10012_6
Ding-Diskurs - die Darstellung der Dingwelt bei Wilhelm Genazino, beispielhaft an <i>Ein Regenschirm für diesen Tag</i> und <i>Eine Frau, eine Wohnung, ein Roman</i>
Fischer, Melanie
The following thesis examines the topos of "things" in literature. Herein we discuss concrete objects and how they are used and presented in contemporary prose. The primary works analyzed are both by Wilhelm Genazino, namely <i>Ein Regenschirm für diesen Tag</i> and <i>Eine Frau, eine Wohnung, ein Roman</i>, published in 2001 and 2003 respectively. The analysis of different "things" in the two novels by Genanzino affords one the opportunity of pursuing three different objectives. First, the topos is by its very nature an interdisciplinary one, and therefore the theoretical concepts from different disciplines are applied to the scholarly examination of "things" in literature. This theoretical framework is based on different aspects of the work of the philosopher Martin Heidegger, the media theorist Marshall McLuhan, the sociologist Norbert Elias, and the philosophical economist Karl Marx. Some specific characteristics of the presentation of "things" in literature such as "Tücke des Objektes" ("flaw of the object") and the fetishization of objects are also discussed. As a result, a new constellation of ideas is developed that has practical applications for the analysis of literature. The second goal of this thesis is to interpret the works of Wilhelm Genazino, a highly regarded author who has been largely ignored by literary scholars, by applying this new conglomeration of ideas. This interpretation concentrates on single concrete "things" that appear in the novels to establish their connotations for the narratives. "Things" become cultural or personal symbols, and the interpretation of them reveals another dimension to Genazino's prose. Last but not least it is shown that even small "things" (can) have a major impact in every form of media. This might well influence traditional interpretations of well known works in the literary canon. Four examples from world literature introduce the topic in order to give an overview of the different representations of the topos "thing". It becomes apparent that the symbolic meaning of things may change during epochs. Nevertheless these four examples introduce topoi, such as "transitorisches Objekt" ("transitional object"), which can also be found in the primary works of this thesis. The examples are taken from different epochs as well as from different cultural backgrounds to emphasize the intercultural premise of the theme. After introducing Genazino´s approach to the thing-discourse and defining his major ideas, a close reading that makes use of the analytical framework is employed to discuss and interpret the primary texts. It becomes apparent that "things", rather than plot or character, provide the major impetus to the narratives. The interdisciplinary approach of this thesis underscores the important contributions that an analysis of "thing discourse" can make to the study of literary texts and their importance to human existence. As the topic of discussion has been of intereset to scholars in several different scientific areas, it becomes clear that the interdisciplinary approach of analyzing texts may spread ideas concerning not only the works in question, but all disciplines involved as well.
University of Waterloo
2004
Master Thesis
de
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/752
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/752/1/m4fische2004.pdf
08ee4c23fadebf8fbbfacd9b3f2310e7
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/752/4/m4fische2004.pdf.txt
2b352f7eed8f207877d56dec5a9081c3
Copyright: 2004,
Fischer, Melanie. All rights reserved.
Philosophy
German Studies
Ding
Genazino
Diskurs
Fetisch
Zeug
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7502017-03-21T19:11:49Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9890col_10012_6
Change in International System: a Comparative Study of Hierarchic and Anarchic Systems
Yazgan, Korhan
This thesis focuses on change and persistence of the structure of the international system. It attempts to address the question why hierarchic structures prevailed during the Ancient and Classical eras (3000 B. C. ? 1500 A. D. ). The thesis compares and contrasts the Roman Empire (the Pax Romana period 1st century B. C. -3rd century A. D. ) and the Chinese Empire (the T?ang Dynasty 618-907 A. D. ) as hierarchic structures and the multi-state system of ancient Greece (8th-4th century B. C. ) and the multi-state system of ancient China (The Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Period 722-221 B. C. ) as anarchic structures. The thesis suggests that the moral purpose of the state, the competitive security environment, the desire for benefits and geopolitical and strategic advantages played the major role in the immediate transformation from anarchy to hierarchy. The thesis asserts that the generation of common goods, the decline in transaction costs and the success in securing the commitment of the members and the legitimacy of the system enabled and encouraged the persistence of hierarchic structures. It also re-emphasizes that whereas the persistence of hierarchic systems depends on the existence of several factors, only one factor can promote the persistence of anarchic structures e. g. the moral purpose of the state.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/750
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/750/1/kyazgan2005.pdf
c7311a97435be24e521f1b115e379497
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/750/4/kyazgan2005.pdf.txt
859d8af717b2fb816ae04e1daf786607
Copyright: 2005,
Yazgan, Korhan. All rights reserved.
Political Science
international system
structure
hierarchy
anarchy
ancient China
ancient Greece
the Roman Empire
the Chinese Empire
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7512017-03-21T19:12:03Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9882col_10012_6
Heritage Languages: The Case of German in Kitchener-Waterloo
Heffner, Lori
This thesis investigates the assimilation and/or integration of German families in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario into Anglo-Canadian culture. By administering questionnaires to and interviewing members in three three-generational families (n=29), different factors involved in an effort to ascertain what factors, if any, determine one's decision to pass on or continue learning German. The thesis proposes that if participants have a positive attitude towards German, i. e. , they see some use or value in it, then they will pass it on to the following generation.
The first chapter outlines the aims of the study, methodology, and important terms. The second chapter describes previous research on the topic of immigrant integration in more detail, explaining the influences of external agents such as the government, school system, and media, and more 'internal' agents such as one's circle of friends and other social contacts as well as the family. The third chapter describes the three families and summarizes the main characteristics of each generation. Chapter four reports the results of the questionnaires and interviews. Chapter five, the conclusion, suggests which individual factors need to be studied further.
The findings in this study suggest that there is no single factor which decides if those of German heritage decide to pass on their language or continue learning/using it themselves, or if they prefer to assimilate into Anglo-Canadian culture. Two factors did prove to be very important, namely the practicality of learning German, and how important one's heritage was to a participant. However, not even the presence of these two variables guaranteed a desire to continue learning German, demonstrating that numerous variables are taken into consideration when deciding whether to continue learning German and/or to pass it on to the next generation.
University of Waterloo
2002
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/751
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/751/1/ltheffner2002.pdf
f2e6b6af1a8deb49dab947c50355422f
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/751/4/ltheffner2002.pdf.txt
fb5023e06e669008571c71c55b60c1bc
Copyright: 2002,
Heffner, Lori. All rights reserved.
German Studies
heritage languages
immigrants
German
Kitchener
Waterloo
Canada
language shift
identity
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7592017-03-21T19:12:13Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9888col_10012_6
An Inquiry into Mental Variation
Kujundzic, Nebojsa
Although there are both common and specialised senses of the term variation, (the OED lists dozens) there seems to be no well defined use of this term in philosophy. The main task of my thesis is to demonstrate that variation can be defined as a cognitive technique. I suggest that variation has been frequently used by philosophers, although not always in an overt manner. Moreover, I attempt to show that it is reasonable to talk about the relative importance of variation by examining the role of variation in Locke's Essay, Husserl's and Reinach's phenomenology, cognitive science, and thought experiments.
University of Waterloo
1995
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/759
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/759/1/nkujundz1995.pdf
ae2c750028e67dd912ada2fb796db702
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/759/4/nkujundz1995.pdf.txt
609acab8f5f01a17656761e23816a3f8
Copyright: 1995,
Kujundzic, Nebojsa. All rights reserved.
Philosophy
Locke
Husserl
Reinach
phenomenology
cognitive
science
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7462017-03-21T19:11:39Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9865col_10012_9888col_10012_6
Rigid Designation, the Modal Argument, and the Nominal Description Theory
Isenberg, Jillian
In this thesis, I describe and evaluate two recent accounts of naming. These accounts are motivated by Kripke?s response to Russell?s Description Theory of Names (DTN). Particularly, I consider Kripke?s Modal Argument (MA) and various arguments that have been given against it, as well as Kripke?s responses to these arguments. Further, I outline a version of MA that has recently been presented by Scott Soames, and consider how he responds to the criticisms that the argument faces. In order to evaluate the claim that MA is decisive against all description theories, I outline the Nominal Description Theory (NDT) put forth by Kent Bach and consider whether it constitutes a principled response to MA. I do so by exploring how Bach both responds to Kripke?s arguments against descriptivism and highlights the problems with rigid designation as a purely semantic thesis. Finally, I consider the relative merits of the accounts put forth by Bach and Soames. Upon doing so, I argue that MA is not as decisive against description theories as it has long been thought to be. In fact, NDT seems to provide a better account of our uses of proper names than the rigid designation thesis as presented by Kripke and Soames.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/746
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/746/1/jisenber2005.pdf
8121f859faa007ab7833a2ee73253c5c
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/746/4/jisenber2005.pdf.txt
653d004b82fd8802a31c4ca5c08684c5
Copyright: 2005,
Isenberg, Jillian. All rights reserved.
Philosophy
Philosophy of Language
Description Theory of Names
Nominal Description Theory
rigid designation
Modal Argument
Saul Kripke
Scott Soames
Kent Bach
proper names
meaning
reference
semantic content
semantics
pragmatics
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8152017-03-21T19:12:30Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9914col_10012_6
Examining the Process of Automation Development and Deployment
Barsalou, Edward
In order to develop a better understanding of the process of development and deployment of automated systems, this thesis examines aspects of project execution and knowledge transfer in the context of a large automation project. <br /><br /> Background issues of project execution are examined, including the challenges of knowledge sharing in project development, as well as a brief discussion of measures of project success. The lifecycle of a large automation project is presented, including aspects of development and the development team, as well as design challenges inherent in the development process of a successful automation project which consisted of approximately 11,000 hours of combined effort by vendor and customer development teams. <br /><br /> Human factors aspects of large automation projects are explored, including an investigation of the workings of a large project team, by examining the cognitive aspects of the project team, as well as ecological aspects of the automation development process. <br /><br /> Using an interview methodology that can be termed the "echo method", project team members were interviewed in order to elicit helpful and unhelpful behaviours exhibited by other team members throughout the project. The results of these interviews are categorized and examined in the context of both knowledge management and social networks. Common themes in interview comments are identified, and related to both the areas of knowledge management and social networks. <br /><br /> Results indicated that team member experience and availability affect overall team performance. However, overlapping capabilities within a team were found to allow the team to adapt to changing circumstances, as well as to overcome weaknesses in team member availability. Better understanding of team interactions and capabilities supports improvements in project performance, ultimately delivering higher quality automation and streamlining the development process.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/815
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/815/1/elbarsal2005.pdf
55663552dac7e42f69b8edc75af004eb
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/815/4/elbarsal2005.pdf.txt
fc9619095706b18578e8d6ebd59356fb
Copyright: 2005,
Barsalou, Edward. All rights reserved.
Systems Design
Automation
Social Networks
Human Factors
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/9482021-05-20T14:29:37Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9912col_10012_6
Two-Dimensional Anisotropic Cartesian Mesh Adaptation for the Compressible Euler Equations
Keats, William Andrew
Simulating transient compressible flows involving shock waves presents challenges to the CFD practitioner in terms of the mesh quality required to resolve discontinuities and prevent smearing. This document discusses a novel two-dimensional Cartesian anisotropic mesh adaptation technique implemented for transient compressible flow. This technique, originally developed for laminar incompressible flow, is efficient because it refines and coarsens cells using criteria that consider the solution in each of the cardinal directions separately. In this document the method will be applied to compressible flow. The procedure shows promise in its ability to deliver good quality solutions while achieving computational savings. Transient shock wave diffraction over a backward step and shock reflection over a forward step are considered as test cases because they demonstrate that the quality of the solution can be maintained as the mesh is refined and coarsened in time. The data structure is explained in relation to the computational mesh, and the object-oriented design and implementation of the code is presented. Refinement and coarsening algorithms are outlined. Computational savings over uniform and isotropic mesh approaches are shown to be significant.
University of Waterloo
2004
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/948
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/948/1/wakeats2004.pdf
d82a1cf83c5195c52699c03df6e5fa6e
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/948/4/wakeats2004.pdf.txt
7465d214be3f97de7fc71afc3a7dff89
Copyright: 2004,
Keats, William A.. All rights reserved.
Mechanical Engineering
compressible flow
shock waves
mesh adaptation
Cartesian
euler equations
refinement criterion
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8952017-03-21T19:13:22Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9910col_10012_6
The Influence of Performance Measurement on Actor?s Perception of Task in Goal Oriented Systems
Bobinski, Michal
This thesis addresses the problem of the influence of a control system on the behaviour of an actor in a social or socio-technical system. In particular, the influence of a performance measurement mechanism on the behaviour of an actor and on the development of workarounds is being studied. <br /><br /> Current literature on those topics generally addresses only selected and rather obvious reasons for the existence of dysfunctional behaviour or the workarounds. However, no precise models of the cognitive processes or the explanation of the mechanisms, which govern this problem, are proposed in a satisfactory manner. In addition, most researchers have focused only on the system?s point of view of the task, paying less attention to the actors? perception of that task. Furthermore, the existing body of work mainly uses a case study format to explain the phenomenon or to validate the proposed solutions and theories. <br /><br /> In this thesis, the problem of the influence control system on the behaviour of the actor is framed in terms of four major concepts: (1) the concept of complexity of the task not being fully captured by the performance measurement mechanism; (2) the concept of an actor perceiving that extra complexity is not being captured by the system and thus choosing alternate paths other than the system-prescribed path; (3) the concept of a network of valence forces associated with alternate paths; and finally, (4) the concept of similarity judgment between the alternative paths and the system-prescribed path based on the actor?s model of the control system?s point of view. <br /><br /> This thesis develops the theoretical framework for analyzing and understanding the issues of dysfunctional behaviour and workarounds. It also presents an empirical experimental study in support of the theoretical discussion and the hypothesis. The experiment examines subjects? rating of quality, defined as a degree of similarity to a target object, of several objects on a page under various performance measurement conditions. The stimulus used for experiment was made up of two dimensional quadrangle figures, including rectangle, parallelograms and trapezes, in various shades of red colour.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/895
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/895/1/mpbobins2005.pdf
1a7f3163570945d0d38c5b4ccd23fdde
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/895/4/mpbobins2005.pdf.txt
19902389478cb138c8f0868397a6c542
Copyright: 2005,
Bobinski, Michal. All rights reserved.
Management
performance measurement
workarounds
organizational behaviour
experimental research
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/9502017-03-21T19:13:31Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9910col_10012_6
Researching the Researcher: A Social Network Analysis of the Multidisciplinary Knowledge Creation Process
Hung, Wilton
This research describes the relationship between several social network characteristics and knowledge creation outputs in the form of patented intellectual property of researchers by investigating the case of the University of Waterloo. Based on a literature review in the domains of social networks and knowledge creation, this research focuses on the position of knowledge creation between social closure theory and structural hole theory. These are the two seminal theories of the creation of social capital through social networks. From this body of literature, this thesis develops the research question involving five hypotheses. These hypotheses test whether network density, strength of relationships, diversity of relationships, and amount of research funding have a positive correlation with the number of patents held by the researcher, and whether network size has a negative correlation with number of patents held by a researcher. The data for this research comes from a variety of secondary sources including the University's Office of Research, UWDIR online directory, NSERC research awards search engine, and CIPO patent database. Using a combination of social network analysis and statistical regression analysis, this research shows that network density, diversity of relationships, and amount of research funding have a positive correlation with knowledge creation outputs, while network size has a negative relationship with knowledge creation outputs. Understanding the relationship that these social network factors have with the knowledge creation outputs can help the University develop strategies to help improve their knowledge creation processes, thereby putting the University in a stronger position to facilitate the development of patentable ideas and innovations by encouraging the development of research centres and institutes that intersect disciplinary boundaries.
University of Waterloo
2006
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/950
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/950/1/wcwhung2006.pdf
caa4d49796f8f8ab73521686b2601662
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/950/4/wcwhung2006.pdf.txt
d01df885a86304fd25bf39f33fda5ced
Copyright: 2006,
Hung, Wilton. All rights reserved.
Management
social networks
knowldge creation
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/9632017-03-21T19:13:43Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9908col_10012_6
RC Snubber Design using Root-Loci Approach for Synchronous Buck SMPS
Chen, Yen-Ming
This thesis presents an analytical approach using Root-Loci method for designing optimum passive series RC snubbers for continuous-current synchronous buck switch mode power supply (SMPS).
Synchronous buck SMPS is the most popular power converter topology found in modern consumer electronics. It offers relatively good efficiency to target the high-current and low-voltage requirements while it is also relatively inexpensive to implement.
Passive series RC snubbers are simple, efficient and cost-effective open-loop equalizer circuit for synchronous buck SMPS. Its purpose is to control and to balance between the rate of rise and the overshoots of transient switching waveform in order to optimize efficiency and reliability
Existing methods of RC snubber design are solely based on second-order approximation. It is investigated in this research that this approximation is highly inaccurate in SMPS applications because higher order equivalent models are required for the load path of the SMPS. The results using the RC snubbers obtained from existing method are shown to be unsatisfactory without correlation to the calculations and simulations based on second-order approximation. Optimum RC values obtained using Root-Loci approach presented in this thesis are shown to correlate to both Spice simulation and lab measurements.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/963
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/963/1/y6chen2005.pdf
58eeb7b631f5a12b14c3005b70e9290d
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/963/4/y6chen2005.pdf.txt
b5074fa73afb0897946f187cec42f021
Copyright: 2005,
Chen, Yen-Ming . All rights reserved.
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Snubber
RC snubber
Root-Loci
Root-Locus
Synchronous Buck SMPS
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8052017-03-21T19:13:50Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9908col_10012_6
Bottom-Gate TFTs With Channel Layer Deposited by Pulsed PECVD
Grant, David James
Nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) is a promising material for Thin-Film Transistors (TFTs) offering potentially higher mobilities and improved stability over hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H). The slow growth rate of nc-Si:H can be overcome by using pulsed Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD). Pulsed PECVD also reduces powder particle formation in the plasma and provides added degrees of freedom for process optimization. Unlike high frequency PECVD, pulsed PECVD can be scaled to deposit films over large areas with no reduction in performance.
For this thesis, silicon thin films were deposited by the pulsed PECVD technique at a temperature of 150 °C and TFTs were made using this material. Radio Frequency (RF) power and silane (SiH<sub>4</sub>) flow rate were varied in order to study the effect of different levels of crystallinity on the film.
Raman spectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), electrical conductivity, Hall mobility, optical band gap, and stability under light-soaking were measured using films of two different thicknesses, 50 nm and 300 nm. From the Raman data we see that the 50 nm films deposited with high hydrogen dilution are mostly amorphous, indicating the presence of a thick incubation layer. The 300nm samples deposited with hydrogen dilution, on the other hand, showed very high crystallinity and conductivity, except for 300-2 which was surprisingly, mostly amorphous. AFM and XRD measurements were also performed to confirm the Raman data and get an estimate for the crystallite grain size in the 300 nm samples. The conductivity was measured for all films, and the Hall mobility and carrier concentration was measured for one of the 300 nm films. The thin samples which are mostly amorphous show low conductivity whereas the thick high crystallinity films show high conductivity, and n-type behaviour possibly due to oxygen doping. The optical gap was also measured using Ultra Violet (UV) light and results indicate the possible presence of small crystallites in the 50 nm films. The conductivity's stability under light-soaking was measured to observe the material's susceptibility to degradation, and the 300 nm with high crystallinity were much more stable than the a-Si:H films. All the results of these measurements varied depending on the film and these results are discussed.
Bottom-gate TFTs were fabricated using a pulsed PECVD channel layer and an amorphous silicon nitride (a-SiN:H) gate dielectric. The extracted parameters of one of the best TFTs are <i>μ<sub>sat</sub></i> ≤ 0. 38 cm<sup>2</sup> V<sup>-1</sup> s<sup>-1</sup>, <i>V<sub>t,sat</sub></i> ≥ 7. 3 V, <i>I<sub>on/off</sub></i> > 10<sup>6</sup>, and <i>S</i> < 1 V/decade. These parameters were extracted semi-automatically from the basic Field-Effect Transistor (FET) model using a computer program. Extraction using a more complicated model yielded similar results for mobility and threshold voltage but also gave a large power parameter <i>α</i> of 2. 31 and conduction band tail slope of 30 meV. The TFT performance and material properties are presented and discussed.
On this first attempt at fabricating TFTs using a nc-Si:H channel layer deposited by pulsed PECVD, results were obtained which are consistent with results for low temperature a-Si:H TFTs and previous pulsed PECVD TFTs. The channel layer was mostly amorphous and non-crystalline, possibly due to the amorphous substrate or insufficient hydrogen dilution in the plasma. The 300 nm films showed, however, that high crystallinity material deposited directly on glass can easily be obtained, and this material showed less degradation under light-soaking than the purely amorphous counterpart. Pulsed PECVD is a promising technique for the growth of nc-Si:H and with further materials development and process optimization for TFTs, it may prove to be useful for the growth of high-quality nc-Si:H TFT channel layers.
University of Waterloo
2004
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/805
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/805/1/djgrant2004.pdf
97e57954d314a97a3f10e0a8b5b8794f
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/805/4/djgrant2004.pdf.txt
81df991ae6448aa84e25ba0221347d35
Copyright: 2004,
Grant, David James. All rights reserved.
Electrical & Computer Engineering
bottom-gate TFT thin film transistor pulsed PECVD plasma enhanced chemical deposition David Grant MVSystems Waterloo Masters
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8042017-03-21T19:13:51Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9908col_10012_6
Circuit Model Parameter Extraction and Optimization for Microwave Filters
Busuioc, Dan
This thesis presents a method for parameter extraction of circuit elements from microwave filters. This diagnosis method can be applied to a sufficiently large number of filters and it can also be used in conjunction with a neural network model for filter design, greatly reducing development time. This thesis is an introduction of parameter extraction and circuit modelling through use of neural networks. It also presents an implementation of the proposed method as well as numerical results and validation data. Detailed implementation code is presented in the appendix.
University of Waterloo
2002
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/804
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/804/1/dbusuioc2002.pdf
a740d954fe27d551f38509c4c2fbc12a
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/804/4/dbusuioc2002.pdf.txt
4d66cde5b6f748255ab1ea5ec4c3315d
Copyright: 2002,
Busuioc, Dan. All rights reserved.
Electrical & Computer Engineering
filters
circuit
modelling
optimization
neural
microwave
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/9232017-03-21T19:13:53Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9910col_10012_6
The Use of the Internet in Distributing Packaged Software
Hu, Shuangzeng
To reflect common practice in the software industry and extend transaction cost theory, this research developed building on previous research and empirically tested a model based on to identify conditions in which software vendors are likely to sell and distribute their packaged products directly to end-users through the Internet. How software firms distribute their products over the Internet is an important issue because software is a digital product, and the potential for the Internet to transform the distribution channel is considerable. Extant literature shows that Canadian software firms frequently choose direct instead of market channels. However, none of the existing studies focuses specifically on packaged software, or on the Internet as a distribution channel. Further, recent research on what products are suitable for distribution through the Internet does not address the case of packaged software. <ul> <li>Knowledge-based asset specificity, human asset specificity, and physical asset specificity are positively associated with the likelihood of using the Internet to distribute packaged software (H<sub>1</sub>, H<sub>2</sub>, and H<sub>3</sub>). </li> <li>The likelihood of using the Internet in delivering products has a positive relationship with the volatility of packaged software, its clients, and markets (H<sub>4</sub>); whereas this likelihood has a negative relationship with diversity (H<sub>5</sub>). </li> <li>Channel growth is positively associated with the online distribution of packaged software (H<sub>6</sub>); Channel volume is negatively associated with the likelihood that packaged software developers use the Internet to deliver products (H<sub>7</sub>). </li> <li>The rate of growth in gross sales has a positive relationship with the likelihood of online distribution by packaged software firms (H<sub>8</sub>); while the gross sales of a firm negatively are associated with this likelihood (H<sub>9</sub>). </li> <li>The use of the Internet in the distribution of packaged software is positively associated with the United States market and negatively associated with other national markets (H<sub>10</sub>). </li> </ul> The data to test these hypotheses were collected from Canadian software developers by a web-based survey. The information includes the distribution channels for their best selling product in its largest market, and Likert scales that measure forms of asset specificity, market uncertainty, and channel volume. The hypotheses are tested using logistic regression. The results provide support for hypotheses H<sub>5</sub>, H<sub>6</sub>, and H<sub>9</sub> whiles hypotheses H<sub>1</sub>, H<sub>2</sub>, H<sub>4</sub>, H<sub>7</sub>, H<sub>8</sub>, and H<sub>10</sub> are not supported. The result for H<sub>3</sub> is statistically significant, but the direction of the relationship is the opposite of the expectation. <br /><br /> The results of this study have implications both for theory and managerial practice. This research contributes to the literature a test of the ability of transaction cost analysis to explain the use of the Internet in distributing software. It also provides managers with reliable insights into some of the circumstances where packaged software developers may use the Internet to deliver their products. However, further research is required to verify the generalizability of the findings of this study.
University of Waterloo
2006
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/923
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/923/1/s2hu2006.pdf
ac912fd271dbd571c0269f7eacabdf7b
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/923/4/s2hu2006.pdf.txt
8145772db329f97da9b8842ba0a42429
Copyright: 2006,
Hu, Shuangzeng . All rights reserved.
Management
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7722017-03-21T19:15:09Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9914col_10012_6
Application of Data mining in Medical Applications
Eapen, Arun George
Abstract
Data mining is a relatively new field of research whose major objective is to acquire knowledge from large amounts of data. In medical and health care areas, due to regulations and due to the availability of computers, a large amount of data is becoming available. On the one hand, practitioners are expected to use all this data in their work but, at the same time, such a large amount of data cannot be processed by humans in a short time to make diagnosis, prognosis and treatment schedules. A major objective of this thesis is to evaluate data mining tools in medical and health care applications to develop a tool that can help make timely and accurate decisions.
Two medical databases are considered, one for describing the various tools and the other as the case study. The first database is related to breast cancer and the second is related to the minimum data set for mental health (MDS-MH). The breast cancer database consists of 10 attributes and the MDS-MH dataset consists of 455 attributes.
As there are a number of data mining algorithms and tools available we consider only a few tools to evaluate on these applications and develop classification rules that can be used in prediction. Our results indicate that for the major case study, namely the mental health problem, over 70 to 80% accurate results are possible.
A further extension of this work is to make available classification rules in mobile devices such as PDAs. Patient information is directly inputted onto the PDA and the classification of these inputted values takes place based on the rules stored on the PDA to provide real time assistance to practitioners.
University of Waterloo
2004
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/772
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/772/1/ageapen2004.pdf
3fc702b6de73fd732ace0131456e022f
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/772/4/ageapen2004.pdf.txt
00f8e2a15d24c63b3dda8c1193f26378
Copyright: 2004,
Eapen, Arun George. All rights reserved.
Systems Design
Data mining
Health Informatics
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8282017-03-21T19:14:28Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9910col_10012_6
Why Do Inventors Continue When Experts Say Stop?
The Effects of Overconfidence, Optimism and Illusion of Control
Adomdza, Gordon
Data shows that many inventors continue to expend resources on their inventions even after they have received expert advice suggesting that they cease effort. Using a sample of inventors seeking outside advice from a Canadian evaluative agency, this paper examines how overconfidence, optimism, and illusion of control explain this fact. While overconfidence did not have a significant effect on inventor's decisions, illusion of control and optimism did have an effect. An additional interesting finding is that the more time people have spent working on inventions, the more likely they are to discount this expert advice.
University of Waterloo
2004
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/828
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/828/1/gkadomdz2004.pdf
0a552f226107ab74fada17ee78f88f5a
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/828/4/gkadomdz2004.pdf.txt
abf62a8bf0885a48ead44b06d172bbe6
Copyright: 2004,
Adomdza, Gordon. All rights reserved.
Management
inventors
decision-making
cognitive biases
overconfidence
optimism
illusion of control
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8242017-03-21T19:17:34Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9910col_10012_6
EFFECTS OF TASK STRUCTURE ON GROUP PROBLEM SOLVING
Abimbola, Gbemisola
This thesis investigates the effect of problem structure on performance and behavioural variety in group problem solving. In addition, it examines the effects of problem solving strategy in group problem solving. <br /><br /> Previous researchers have focused their efforts on individual problem solving with minimal reference to groups. This is due to difficulties such as the presence of distributed information, the coordination of people and the large scale of work that typified group problems. Specifically, the effect of problem structure in group problems has been rarely studied due to the absence of an encompassing theory. <br /><br /> In this thesis, the effect of problem structure on group performance is studied using the fundamental characteristics of structure such as detour, redundancy, abstraction and degree of homogeneity. These characteristics were used in conjunction with existing problem solving theories (such as Information processing system, Gestalt approach and Lewin's lifespace approach) and Heider's balance theory to understand the effects of task structure on group performance and behavioural output. <br /><br /> Balance theory is introduced as a conceptual framework in which the problem solving process is viewed as a dynamic progression from cognitive imbalance towards a state of structural balance corresponding with the solution. This theoretical approach captures both incremental search processes and insight associated with cognitive restructuring, typical of existing problem solving approaches in the literature. It also allowed the development of unique measures for studying the effect of structure in group problem solving. <br /><br /> A Laboratory experiment was conducted using 153 undergraduate and 3 graduate students in groups of 4 subjects. The experiment examined the effect of task structure on groups' performance and behavioural variety. The stimulus used for the experiment was a categorization problem consisting of sixteen cards with two objects each shared equally among four participants. The objective was to form four groups of items with no cards left unused. The groups' performance data was collected and analyzed to verify the postulated hypotheses. <br /><br /> The results indicate that both increased problem structure complexity and the introduction of a restructuring dimension in the problem structure were associated with reduced performance and increased behavioural variety. With respect to problem solving strategy, early discussion in problem solving was associated with better performance and less behavioural variety. Finally, the results support the premise that group problem solving processes tend to be in the direction of attaining higher states of balance.
University of Waterloo
2006
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/824
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/824/1/gaabimbo2006.pdf
55f1832ddc1a5cebb091193dd546cd73
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/824/4/gaabimbo2006.pdf.txt
0d3b0e7aa665beeb42ad23fba4b561f4
Copyright: 2006,
Abimbola, Gbemisola. All rights reserved.
Management
Group
Task
problem structure
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8292017-03-21T21:35:28Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_6col_10012_9906
Risk-Based Decision Support Model for Planning Emergency Response for Hazardous Materials Road Accidents
Hamouda, Ghada
Hazardous Materials (HazMat) are transported throughout Canada in a great number of road shipments. The transportation of HazMat poses special risks for neighboring population and environment. While HazMat accidents are rare events, they could be catastrophic in nature and could result in substantial damage to nearby communities. Effective emergency response plays an important role in the safe transportation of HazMat. Transportation of HazMat involves different parties, including shippers, regulators, and surrounding communities. While the shipping party is responsible for safe delivery of HazMat shipments, it is the responsibility of local emergency service agencies to respond to accidents occurring within their jurisdictions. In this research, the emergency response to HazMat transport accidents is assumed to be delegated exclusively to specially trained and equipped HazMat teams. This research proposes a new comprehensive systematic approach to determine the best location of HazMat teams on regional bases utilizing HazMat transport risk as a location criterion. The proposed model is the first to consider emergency response roles in HazMat transport risk analysis, and was intended as an optimization tool to be used by practitioners for HazMat emergency response planning. Additionally, the proposed model can be used to assess risk implications in regards to current locations of HazMat teams in a region, and to develop effective strategies for locating HazMat teams, such as closing and/or relocating teams in the region. The model investigates how HazMat team locations can be tailored to recognize the risk of transporting HazMat and would provide a more objective set of input alternatives into the multi-criteria decision making process of regionally locating HazMat teams. The proposed model was applied to the region of southwestern Ontario in effort to illustrate its features and capabilities in the HazMat emergency response planning and decision making process. Accordingly, the model provided very useful insights while reviewing several HazMat team location strategies for the southwestern Ontario region and investigating tradeoff among different factors. This research contributes to a better understanding of emergency response roles by reducing HazMat transport risks, and will greatly benefit both researchers and practitioners in the field of HazMat transport and emergency response.
University of Waterloo
2004
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/829
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/829/1/gmhamoud2004.pdf
6e5e78440426c9e1b1f52b7714f17e4f
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/829/4/gmhamoud2004.pdf.txt
1a0be9868e76e3971f4569f6c0c58191
Copyright: 2004,
Hamouda, Ghada. All rights reserved.
Civil & Environmental Engineering
Transportation
Hazardous Materials
Quantitative Risk Assessment
Facility Location
Optimization
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/9532017-03-21T19:17:14Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9908col_10012_6
Design of A Saccadic Active Vision System
Wong, Winnie Sze-Wing
Human vision is remarkable. By limiting the main concentration of high-acuity photoreceptors to the eye's central fovea region, we efficiently view the world by redirecting the fovea between points of interest using eye movements called <em>saccades</em>. <br /><br /> Part I describes a saccadic vision system prototype design. The dual-resolution saccadic camera detects objects of interest in a scene by processing low-resolution image information; it then revisits salient regions in high-resolution. The end product is a dual-resolution image in which background information is displayed in low-resolution, and salient areas are captured in high-acuity. This lends to a resource-efficient active vision system. <br /><br />Part II describes CMOS image sensor designs for active vision. Specifically, this discussion focuses on methods to determine regions of interest and achieve high dynamic range on the sensor.
University of Waterloo
2006
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/953
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/953/1/ws2wong2006.pdf
e89329d3acc985c4a960b585a166d2da
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/953/4/ws2wong2006.pdf.txt
f9f667721e2f5af7378c36edb9c87951
Copyright: 2006,
Wong, Winnie Sze-Wing. All rights reserved.
Electrical & Computer Engineering
saccade
active vision
selective attention
saliency map
dynamic range
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8762017-03-21T19:17:23Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9912col_10012_6
Modeling of Thermal Joint Resistance for Sphere-Flat Contacts in a Vacuum
Bahrami, Majid
As a result of manufacturing processes, real surfaces have roughness and surface curvature. The real contact occurs only over microscopic contacts, which are typically only a few percent of the apparent contact area. Because of the surface curvature of contacting bodies, the macrocontact area is formed, the area where microcontacts are distributed randomly. The heat flow must pass through the macrocontact and then microcontacts to transfer from one body to another. This phenomenon leads to a relatively high temperature drop across the interface. Thermal contact resistance (TCR) is a complex interdisciplinary problem, which includes geometrical, mechanical, and thermal analyses. Each part includes a micro and a macro scale sub-problem. Analytical, experimental, and numerical models have been developed to predict TCR since the 1930's. Through comparison with more than 400 experimental data points, it is shown that the existing models are applicable only to the limiting cases and none of them covers the general non-conforming rough contact. The objective of this study is to develop a compact analytical model for predicting TCR for the entire range of non-conforming contacts, i. e. , from conforming rough to smooth sphere-flat in a vacuum. The contact mechanics of the joint must be known prior to solving the thermal problem. A new mechanical model is developed for spherical rough contacts. The deformation modes of the surface asperities and the bulk material of contacting bodies are assumed to be plastic and elastic, respectively. A closed set of governing relationships is derived. An algorithm and a computer code are developed to solve the relationships numerically. Applying Buckingham Pi theorem, the independent non-dimensional parameters that describe the contact problem are specified. A general pressure distribution is proposed that covers the entire spherical rough contacts, including the Hertzian smooth contact. Simple correlations are proposed for the general pressure distribution and the radius of the macrocontact area, as functions of the non-dimensional parameters. These correlations are compared with experimental data collected by others and good agreement is observed. Also a criterion is proposed to identify the flat surface, where the influence of surface curvature on the contact pressure is negligible. Thermal contact resistance is considered as the superposition of macro and micro thermal components. The flux tube geometry is chosen as the basic element in the thermal analysis of microcontacts. Simple expressions for determining TCR of non-conforming rough joints are derived which cover the entire range of TCR by using the general pressure distribution and the flux tube solution. A complete parametric study is performed; it is seen that there is a value of surface roughness that minimizes TCR. The thermal model is verified with more than 600 data points, collected by many researchers during the last 40 years, and good agreement is observed. A new approach is taken to study the thermal joint resistance. A novel model is developed for predicting the TCR of conforming rough contacts employing scale analysis methods. It is shown that the microcontacts can be modeled as heat sources on a half-space for engineering applications. The scale analysis model is extended to predict TCR over the entire range of non-conforming rough contacts by using the general pressure distribution developed in the mechanical model. It is shown that the surface curvature and contact pressure distribution have no effect on the effective micro thermal resistance. A new non-dimensional parameter is introduced as a criterion to identify the three regions of TCR, i. e. , the conforming rough, the smooth spherical, and the transition regions. An experimental program is designed and data points are collected for spherical rough contacts in a vacuum. The radius of curvature of the tested specimens are relatively large (in the order of m) and can not be seen by the naked eye. However, even at relatively large applied loads the measured joint resistance (the macro thermal component) is still large which shows the importance of surface out-of-flatness/curvature. Collected data are compared with the scale analysis model and excellent agreement is observed. The maximum relative difference between the model and the collected data is 6. 8 percent and the relative RMS difference is approximately 4 percent. Additionally, the proposed scale analysis model is compared/verified with more than 880 TCR data points collected by many researchers. These data cover a wide range of materials, surface characteristics, thermal and mechanical properties, mean joint temperature, directional heat transfer effect, and contact between dissimilar metals. The RMS difference between the model and all data is less than 13. 8 percent.
University of Waterloo
2004
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/876
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/876/1/mbahrami2004.pdf
41e800ca0d9590b5f8d5aec4eae041f1
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/876/4/mbahrami2004.pdf.txt
bc803c99881dcbff8f3f2c3058c9d002
Copyright: 2004,
Bahrami, Majid. All rights reserved.
Mechanical Engineering
Thermal Contact Resistance
Sphere Flat Contacts
Surface Roughness
Thermal Conductance
Pressure Distribution
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/9382017-03-21T19:17:28Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9914col_10012_6
Image Models for Wavelet Domain Statistics
Azimifar, Seyedeh-Zohreh
Statistical models for the joint statistics of image pixels are of central importance in many image processing applications. However the high dimensionality stemming from large problem size and the long-range spatial interactions make statistical image modeling particularly challenging. Commonly this modeling is simplified by a change of basis, mostly using a wavelet transform. Indeed, the wavelet transform has widely been used as an approximate whitener of statistical time series. It has, however, long been recognized that the wavelet coefficients are neither Gaussian, in terms of the marginal statistics, nor white, in terms of the joint statistics.
The question of wavelet joint models is complicated and admits for possibilities, with statistical structures within subbands, across orientations, and scales. Although a variety of joint models have been proposed and tested, few models appear to be directly based on empirical studies of wavelet coefficient cross-statistics. Rather, they are based on intuitive or heuristic notions of wavelet neighborhood structures. Without an examination of the underlying statistics, such heuristic approaches necessarily leave unanswered questions of neighborhood sufficiency and necessity.
This thesis presents an empirical study of joint wavelet statistics for textures and other imagery including dependencies across scale, space, and orientation. There is a growing realization that modeling wavelet coefficients as independent, or at best correlated only across scales, may be a poor assumption. While recent developments in wavelet-domain Hidden Markov Models (notably HMT-3S) account for within-scale dependencies, we find that wavelet spatial statistics are strongly orientation dependent, structures which are surprisingly not considered by state-of-the-art wavelet modeling techniques.
To demonstrate the effectiveness of the studied wavelet correlation models a novel non-linear correlated empirical Bayesian shrinkage algorithm based on the wavelet joint statistics is proposed. In comparison with popular nonlinear shrinkage algorithms, it improves the denoising results.
University of Waterloo
2005
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/938
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/938/1/szazimif2005.pdf
3250b64b3c772800dbfe711a3e519262
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/938/4/szazimif2005.pdf.txt
92bce3de6ee4276c63a63fac82849261
Copyright: 2005,
Azimifar, Seyedeh-Zohreh. All rights reserved.
Systems Design
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8252017-03-21T19:17:25Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9908col_10012_6
Alternative Models to Analyze Market Power and Financial Transmission Rights in Electricity Markets
Bautista Alderete, Guillermo
One of the main concerns with the introduction of competition in the power sector is the strategic behaviour of market participants. Computable models of strategic behaviour are becoming increasingly important to understand the complexities of competition. Such models can help analyze market designs and regulatory policies. In this thesis, further developments on the modelling and analysis of strategic behaviour in electricity markets are presented. This thesis work has been conducted along three research lines. <br /><br /> In the first research line, an oligopolistic model of a joint energy and spinning reserve market is formulated to analyze imperfect competition. Strategic behaviour is introduced by means of conjectured functions. With this integrated formulation for imperfect competition, the opportunity cost between generation and spinning reserve has been analytically derived. Besides, inter-temporal and energy constraints, and financial transmission rights are taken into account. Under such considerations, competition in electricity markets is modelled with more realism. The oligopolistic model is formulated as an equilibrium problem in terms of complementarity conditions. <br /><br /> In the second research line, a methodology to screen and mitigate the potential exacerbation of market power due to the ownership of financial transmission rights is presented. Hedging position ratios are computed to quantify the hedging level of financial transmission rights. They are based on the actual impact that each participant has in the energy market, and on the potential impact that it would have with the ownership of financial transmission rights. Thus, hedging position ratios are used to identify the potential gambling positions from the transmission rights bidders, and, therefore, used to prioritize critical positions in the auction for transmission rights. <br ><br /> In the last research line, alternative equilibrium models of markets for financial transmission rights are formulated. The proposed equilibrium framework is more natural and flexible for modelling markets than the classic cost-minimization markets. Different markets for financial transmission rights are modelled, namely: i) forwards, ii) options, and iii) joint forwards and options. Moreover, one-period, multi-period and multi-round markets for forwards are derived. These equilibrium models are proposed to analyze the bidding strategies of market participants. The potential impact of bidders on congestion prices is modelled by means of conjectured transmission price functions.
University of Waterloo
2005
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/825
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/825/1/gbautist2005.pdf
326c4ceb51e751a336d36f65b384adcb
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/825/4/gbautist2005.pdf.txt
59e23b8d482945e14f72397bd4ec616f
Copyright: 2005,
Bautista Alderete, Guillermo. All rights reserved.
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Electricity markets
market power
financial transmission rights
strategic behaviour
congestion management
spinning reserves
equilibrium models
Cournot
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8172017-03-21T19:14:09Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9902col_10012_6
Transforming Suburbia : The Networked Pedestrian Village of Bayview Hills
Cheung, Esther
The ubiquitous North American suburban model has created devastating challenges for successful community life in the twenty-first century. This thesis addresses those challenges through the transformation of the existing suburban model into networked pedestrian villages. The urban and architectural design strategies of the networked village reintegrate community programs, workplaces, and residences to create self-sustaining, socially integrated community life for the twenty first century. The specific suburban town of Richmond Hill was chosen to study how greater densification and mixed-use zoning are necessary at the regional scale. Within Richmond Hill, the neighbourhood of Bayview Hills is adapted through changes in building types, setbacks, street definition, and a central public space. The creation of the new village hall and community telecentre are necessary to define the central public space and to generate the successful urban transformation from suburban neighbourhood to networked village.
University of Waterloo
2004
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/817
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/817/1/escheung2004.pdf
6c71106387610a005ab940701c2dd565
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/817/4/escheung2004.pdf.txt
1c2e117e3d8c3daedaa5ccf4d321b8dc
Copyright: 2004,
Cheung, Esther . All rights reserved.
Architecture
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/9162017-03-21T19:17:20Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9908col_10012_6
Mixed signal design flow, a mixed signal PLL case study
Shariat Yazdi, Ramin
Mixed-signal designs are becoming more and more complex every day. In order to adapt to the new market requirements, a formal process for design and verification of mixed signal systems i. e. top-down design and bottom-up verification methodology is required. This methodology has already been established for digital design. The goal of this research is to propose a new design methodology for mixed signal systems. In the first two chapters of this thesis, the need for a mixed signal design flow based on top-down design methodology will be discussed. The proposed design flow is based on behavioral modeling of the mixed signal system using one of the mixed signal behavioral modeling languages. These models can be used for design and verification through different steps of the design from system level modeling to final physical design. The other advantage of the proposed flow is analog and digital co-design. In the remaining chapters of this thesis, the proposed design flow was verified by designing an 800 MHz mixed signal PLL. The PLL uses a charge pump phase frequency detector, a single capacitor loop filter, and a feed forward error correction architecture using an active damping control circuit instead of passive resistor in loop filter. The design was done in 0. 18- <i>µ</i> m CMOS process technology.
University of Waterloo
2001
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/916
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/916/1/rshariatyazdi2001.pdf
4b2ec91749a5959cec732afcf73161ec
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/916/4/rshariatyazdi2001.pdf.txt
4ce5033dc14115bae4176ec80b08c9f4
Copyright: 2001,
Shariat Yazdi, Ramin. All rights reserved.
Electrical & Computer Engineering
mixed signal design flow
behavioral modeling
phase locked loops
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/9102017-03-21T19:18:33Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9912col_10012_6
The Numerical Prediction of the Dent Resistance of Aluminum Structural Panel Assemblies
Hodgins, Blake
An examination of static and dynamic dent resistance of structural panel assemblies representing automotive hoods is described in this thesis. Fabricated panel assemblies incorporating typical components of real automotive parts were tested. The panel assemblies included an AA5754 inner panel using an array of teacup supports and an AA6111 closure panel joined with automotive mastic. The assemblies allowed for parametric assessment of numerous factors affecting dent resistance including: panel thickness, panel curvature, panel support configuration and dent site location. An extensive experimental program evaluated various panel combinations under both static and dynamic denting conditions. The measured results illustrate various trends of the different factors affecting dent resistance. The experimental database allows a qualitative assessment of dent resistance for full-scale automotive parts. The importance of support conditions is highlighted. The influence of mastic thickness is found to be a critical consideration. Numerical simulations of the dent test were undertaken using finite element techniques. The numerical predictions offer varying degrees of accuracy. The quantitative results are limited, due to numerical concerns, but the qualitative trends are generally well captured. As well, the relative importance of the various parametric factors is well represented in the numerical results. The interaction of the components at the teacup supports proved to critical to the predictive ability of the models. The method developed to model the interaction was somewhat limited by the available material models within the numerical code used, but offers promise for improved results in future simulations. The modelling method is readily transferred to full-scale automotive panels for assessment of dent resistance early in the design cycle.
University of Waterloo
2001
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/910
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/910/1/rbhodgins2001.pdf
669d5eb08415a4f0090292ade1253d66
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/910/4/rbhodgins2001.pdf.txt
6d6d8a7283f296ab6030f3d7c532201a
Copyright: 2001,
Hodgins, Blake. All rights reserved.
Mechanical Engineering
dent resistance
aluminum
structural panels
FEM
automotive
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/9572017-03-21T19:18:07Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9904col_10012_6
Hydrogenation of unsaturated polymers in latex form
Lin, Xingwang
Diimide generated from the hydrazine/hydrogen peroxide/catalyst system can be used to hydrogenate unsaturated polymers in latex form. As an economical and environmentally benign alternative to the commercial processes based on hydrogen/transition metal catalysts, this method is of special interest to industry. This thesis provides a detailed description of the diimide hydrogenation process. Reaction kinetics, catalysts and gel formation mechanism have been investigated. <br /> <br /> Four main reactions and a mass transfer process form three parallel processes in this system: diimide is generated at the interface of the latex particles; diimide diffuses into the organic phase to saturate carbon-carbon double bonds; diimide may be consumed at the interface by hydrogen peroxide, and may also be consumed by the disproportionation reaction in the organic phase. The two side reactions contribute to the low hydrogenation efficiency of hydrogen peroxide. Slowing down hydrogen peroxide addition and using stable interfacial catalysts may totally suppress the side reaction in the aqueous phase. The actual catalytic activity of metal ions in the latex depends on the hydrogen peroxide concentration and the addition procedure of reactants. Cupric ion provides better selectivity for hydrogenation than ferric ion and silver ion do. Boric acid as a promoter provides improved selectivity for hydrogenation and faster diimide generation rate. The side reaction in the rubber phase results in low efficiency and gel formation. The rate constants of the four reactions in this system are estimated. <br /> <br />It is shown that the hydrogenation of nitrile rubber latex with an average particle diameter of 72 nm is mainly a reaction-controlled process. Diimide diffusion presents limitation upon hydrogenation at high hydrogenation degree range. Antioxidants can not effectively inhibit gel formation during hydrogenation. Hydrogenation of a core-shell latex with NBR as the shell layer should be able to achieve a higher efficiency, a higher degree of hydrogenation and a lower level of crosslinking.
University of Waterloo
2005
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/957
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/957/1/x3lin2005.pdf
b1d72dfa2afa3126977f4ab1057082c3
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/957/4/x3lin2005.pdf.txt
2cc3520cf3fd596809e5102a2d0112f8
Copyright: 2005,
Lin, Xingwang. All rights reserved.
Chemical Engineering
hydrogenation
nitrile rubber
diimide
kinetics
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8012017-03-21T14:23:12Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9912col_10012_6
Numerical Prediction of Panel Dent Resistance Incorporating Panel Forming Strains
Thomas, Dylan
This thesis presents a numerical method of predicting both static and dynamic denting phenomena in automotive body panels. The finite element method is used as a predictive tool to assess panel performance prior to production of tooling. A custom software package has been developed to transform existing finite element forming models into ready-to-run finite element denting models, minimising the effort required to perform dent simulations. Over 50 multi-step finite element models were performed. Each of these models simulated the forming, springback and subsequent denting of either 1. 05mm thick AA5754, or0. 81mm, 0. 93mm or 1. 00mm thick AA6111 aluminum sheet. Experimental validation of dent predictions using this method has shown that the trends in both static and dynamic dent resistance have been captured quite well. These validation studies demonstrated the sensitivity of the results to various parameters such as panel thickness, pre-strain, curvature and thickness, as well as numerical formulation parameters. It has been determined that it is particularly important to use forming data within the denting models for accurate results to be obtained.
University of Waterloo
2001
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/801
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/801/1/d6thomas2001.pdf
3a3ee745f0e2a0b01e9fc0c06c628066
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/801/4/d6thomas2001.pdf.txt
25050e33b85520b86cdb013b66fca0d2
Copyright: 2001,
Thomas, Dylan. All rights reserved.
Mechanical Engineering
dent resistance
panel
FEM
automotive
aluminum
remeshing
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8492017-03-21T19:17:57Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9914col_10012_6
Understanding and Improving Undergraduate Engineering Education
Foster, Jason
This thesis seeks to understand the past and present state of engineering education and to plot a course for its future evolution. This research is limited to engineering education as it has taken place in North American universities during the last half of the 20th century. Within this context, broad trends are described. The description is supplemented with a case study of a unique and innovative engineering programme. The trends and case study form the foundation of a synthesis, and alternative vision, for higher education and engineering education. The intended audience of this thesis includes those who teach, design curriculum, or administer engineering education programmes. The description of the current state of engineering education contains analyses of the state and of the gaps within it. Both of these analyses are based almost exclusively on publicly available documentation. The present state of engineering is drawn from accreditation criteria. Critiques of the current state and suggestions for future change are drawn from reports commissioned by groups affiliated with professional engineering. The discussions identify recurring themes and patterns. Unlike the analysis of the literature, the case study merges interview evidence and personal experience with the available documentation. The synthesis and visions continue the trend away from formal sources towards experiences and beliefs. Engineering education research is in its infancy and shows few signs of maturing. There is no documented, common framing of engineering education nor have there been any efforts in this regard. Few sources address broad issues and those that do lack theoretical rigour. The visions for engineering education are simple amalgams of visions for the profession and for general higher education. The Department of Systems Design Engineering has enjoyed great past successes because of its unique vision that combines the theories of systems, complexity, and design with the discipline of engineering. Its recent decay can be traced to its faculty having collectively lost this vision. The original vision for Systems Design Engineering holds promise as a means to reinvent and reinvigorate both the engineering profession and engineering education. For this renaissance to be successful a theoretically rigorous research programme assessing the past, present, and future of engineering and engineering education must be developed.
University of Waterloo
2001
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/849
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/849/1/jafoster2001.pdf
767acb2c31f01ca666d1fd8940597029
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/849/4/jafoster2001.pdf.txt
ba84daca24708e73d0d8d1b694115ff0
Copyright: 2001,
Foster, Jason. All rights reserved.
Systems Design
engineering
education
design
systems
complexity
andragogy
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8412017-03-21T19:18:02Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_6col_10012_9906
Quantifying the Technical Efficiency of Canadian Paratransit Systems Using Data Envelopment Analysis Method
Yang, Jingtao
Paratransit service operators in Canada are under increasing pressure to improve the operational productivity of their services due to increased demand and tightening financial constraints. To achieve this, Paratransit operators need to know their performance as compared to peer systems and the best practices within the industry. This will enable each operator to identify where and how much improvement should be made in order to be on a par with the industry?s best practices. Little research effort, however, has been devoted to the issue of how to measure and compare paratransit efficiency in a consistent and systematic manner. <br /><br /> This research focuses on evaluating the level of efficiency of individual paratransit systems in Canada with the specific objective of identifying the most efficient service agencies and the sources of their efficiency. By identifying the most efficient systems along with the influencing factors, it is possible that new service policies and management and operational strategies could be developed for improved resource utilization and quality of services. To achieve this objective, this research applies the analysis methodology called Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach which is a mathematical programming based technique for determining the efficiency of individual systems as compared their peers involving multiple performance measures. Annual operating data from Canadian Urban Transit Association for Canadian paratransit systems of year 2001, 2002 and 2003 are used in this analysis. Regression analysis is performed to identify the possible relationship between the efficiency of a paratransit system and some measurable operating, managerial and other factors which could have an impact on the performance of paratransit systems. The regression analysis also allows for the calculation of confidence intervals and bias for the efficiency scores in order to assess their precision.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/841
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/841/1/j23yang2005.pdf
a04baebe7f83d3c33fc86fbedffb0a4e
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/841/4/j23yang2005.pdf.txt
94fd760f69df51b9effae81aafa48a14
Copyright: 2005,
Yang, Jingtao. All rights reserved.
Civil & Environmental Engineering
Technical Efficiency
Paratransit
Data Envelopment Analysis
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/9272017-03-21T14:22:51Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9908col_10012_6
Wavelet Filter Banks in Perceptual Audio Coding
Lee, Peter
This thesis studies the application of the wavelet filter bank (WFB) in perceptual audio coding by providing brief overviews of perceptual coding, psychoacoustics, wavelet theory, and existing wavelet coding algorithms. Furthermore, it describes the poor frequency localization property of the WFB and explores one filter design method, in particular, for improving channel separation between the wavelet bands. A wavelet audio coder has also been developed by the author to test the new filters. Preliminary tests indicate that the new filters provide some improvement over other wavelet filters when coding audio signals that are stationary-like and contain only a few harmonic components, and similar results for other types of audio signals that contain many spectral and temporal components.
It has been found that the WFB provides a flexible decomposition scheme through the choice of the tree structure and basis filter, but at the cost of poor localization properties. This flexibility can be a benefit in the context of audio coding but the poor localization properties represent a drawback. Determining ways to fully utilize this flexibility, while minimizing the effects of poor time-frequency localization, is an area that is still very much open for research.
University of Waterloo
2003
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/927
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/927/1/scplee2003.pdf
0791831dde1e3ea90e0519536364adfe
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/927/4/scplee2003.pdf.txt
1ad1bf1ec1c9a05129720187b3d3cdc0
Copyright: 2003,
Lee, Peter. All rights reserved.
Electrical & Computer Engineering
wavelet transform
wavelet filter bank
perceptual audio coding
time-frequency localization
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/9512017-03-21T19:18:08Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9910col_10012_6
The Role of Impression Management in Goal Setting
Chin, Weiman Raymond
This paper examines the effect of impression management on goal level and commitment to the goal. Participants involved in a goal-setting program in the United States were asked to complete a web survey regarding their desire to impress superiors and their commitment to the goal. The specific dependant measures were self-set goal and goal commitment. No statistically significant differences were found between high and low desires to manage impressions with respect to goal set, but a higher desire to manage impressions was positively correlated with a higher degree of goal commitment. This finding suggests that triggering impression management is beneficial for situations in which high goal performance is desired as it increases goal commitment. Future studies could verify these results using larger sample sizes and tackle such issues as goal performance.
University of Waterloo
2006
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/951
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/951/1/wrchin2006.pdf
b16013a1b82c27311350b34c1eb540e8
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/951/4/wrchin2006.pdf.txt
842b2674771a87c038f857aed180ed3d
Copyright: 2006,
Chin, Weiman Raymond. All rights reserved.
Management
Impression Management
Goal Setting
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8462017-03-21T19:18:12Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9910col_10012_6
Acceptance of a Remote Desktop Access System to Increase Workspace Awareness
Williams, Jennifer
Awareness systems are being designed and implemented to improve employee connections. This study examines the variables that affect the acceptance of an awareness system. The awareness system that was used for this research was a remote desktop access system. The independent variables investigated were the degree of detail that can be viewed on a desktop, whether the users can control who can access their desktops, whether the users can control when others have access to their desktops, the equality of access to others' desktops, and task-technology fit. In determining the effect of the independent variables on acceptance, the dependent variable, the mediating variables of privacy and fairness were taken into account. There was a preliminary survey conducted to determine appropriate situations to be used in the scenario descriptions for the survey for the main study. The methodology of policy-capturing surveys was utilized to conduct the survey for the main study in order to investigate the model developed in this study. The policy-capturing survey was pre-tested on University of Waterloo students. The main study was conducted in two different organizations, the subjects for the first study were employees from the Information Systems and Technology Department at the University of Waterloo and the subjects for the second study were employees from Ciber Incorporated. Results indicate that perceptions of privacy and perceptions of fairness have significant effects on acceptance. Also, perceptions of privacy and fairness are related to details in the design of the remote desktop access system. This research may be a contribution to this field since little research has been conducted in this area and implications can be drawn for future research on acceptance of awareness systems.
University of Waterloo
2000
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/846
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/846/1/j4willia2000.pdf
5dc2c227ff938ba3155e6fc65f584b1f
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/846/4/j4willia2000.pdf.txt
e6b5c89d46bb0ae260d6f45410c1db68
Copyright: 2000,
Williams, Jennifer. All rights reserved.
Management
awareness systems
privacy
fairness
acceptance
activity-based
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8472017-03-21T19:17:59Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9904col_10012_6
Robust Control Design of Gain-scheduled Controllers
for Nonlinear Processes
Gao, Jianying
In the chemical or biochemical industry most processes are modeled by nonlinear equations. It is of a great significance to design high-performance nonlinear controllers for efficient control of these nonlinear processes to achieve closed-loop system's stability and high performance. However, there are many difficulties which hinder the design of such controllers due mainly to the process nonlinearity. In this work, comprehensive design procedures based on robust control have been proposed to efficiently deal with the design of gain-scheduled controllers for nonlinear systems. Since all the design procedures proposed in this work rely strongly on the process model, the first difficulty addressed in this thesis is the identification of a relatively simple model of the nonlinear processes under study. The nonlinearity of the processes makes it often difficult to obtain a first-principles model which can be used for analysis and design of the controller. As a result, relatively simple empirical models, Volterra series model and state-affine model, are chosen in this work to represent the nonlinear process for the design of controllers. The second major difficulty is that although the nonlinear models used in this thesis are easy to identify, the analysis of stability and performance for such models using nonlinear control theory is not straightforward. Instead, it is proposed in this study to investigate the stability and performance using a robust control approach. In this approach, the nonlinear model is approximated by a nominal linear model combined with a mathematical description of model error to be referred to, in this work, as model uncertainty. In the current work it was assumed that the main source of uncertainty with respect to the nominal linear model is due to the system nonlinearity. Then, in this study, robust control theoretical tools have been especially developed and applied for the design of gain-scheduled Proportional-Integral (PI) control and gain-scheduled Model Predictive Control (MPC). Gain-scheduled controllers are chosen because for nonlinear processes operated over a wide range of operation, gain-scheduling has proven to be a successful control design technique (Bequette, 1997) for nonlinear processes. To guarantee the closed-loop system's robust stability and performance with the designed controllers, a systematic approach has been proposed for the design of robust gain-scheduled controllers for nonlinear processes. The design procedure is based on robust stability and performance conditions proposed in this work. For time-varying uncertain parameters, robust stability and performance conditions using fixed Lyapunov functions and parameter-dependent Lyapunov functions, were used. Then, comprehensive procedures for the design and optimization of robust gain-scheduled PI and MPC controllers tuning parameters based on the robust stability and performance tests are then proposed. Since the closed-loop system represented by the combination of a state-affine process model and the gain-scheduled controller is found to have an affine dependence on the uncertain parameters, robust stability and performance conditions can be tested by a finite number of Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs). Thus, the final problems are numerically solvable. One of the inherent problems with robust control is that the design is conservative. Two approaches have been proposed in this work to reduce the conservatism. The first one is based on parameter-dependent Lyapunov functions, and it is applied when the rate of change of the time-varying uncertainty parameters is <i>a priori</i> available. The second one is based on the relaxation of an input-saturation factor defined in the thesis to deal with the issue of actuator saturation. Finally, to illustrate the techniques discussed in the thesis, robust gain-scheduled PI and MPC controllers are designed for a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) process. A simple MIMO example with two inputs and two outputs controlled by a multivariable gain-scheduled MPC controller is also discussed to illustrate the applicability of the methods to multivariable situations. All the designed controllers are simulated and the simulations show that the proposed design procedures are efficient in designing and comparing robust gain-scheduled controllers for nonlinear processes.
University of Waterloo
2004
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/847
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/847/1/j5gao2004.pdf
0c8de1893d4d235f93812eeba82ee926
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/847/4/j5gao2004.pdf.txt
626a011c8c3042086b25a158773a7906
Copyright: 2004,
Gao, Jianying. All rights reserved.
Chemical Engineering
nonlinear process
gain-scheduling
robust control
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8632017-03-21T19:18:19Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9908col_10012_6
On The Engineering of a Stable Force-Directed Placer
Vorwerk, Kristofer
Analytic and force-directed placement methods that simultaneously minimize wire length and spread cells are receiving renewed attention from both academia and industry. However, these methods are by no means trivial to implement---to date, published works have failed to provide sufficient engineering details to replicate results.
This dissertation addresses the implementation of a generic force-directed placer entitled FDP. Specifically, this thesis provides (1) a description of efficient force computation for spreading cells, (2) an illustration of numerical instability in this method and a means to avoid the instability, (3) metrics for measuring cell distribution throughout the placement area, and (4) a complementary technique that aids in minimizing wire length. FDP is compared to Kraftwerk and other leading academic tools including Capo, Dragon, and mPG for both standard cell and mixed-size circuits. Wire lengths produced by FDP are found to be, on average, up to 9% and 3% better than Kraftwerk and Capo, respectively. All told, this thesis confirms the validity and applicability of the approach, and provides clarifying details of the intricacies surrounding the implementation of a force-directed global placer.
University of Waterloo
2004
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/863
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/863/1/kpvorwer2004.pdf
3d272728facd753156e5ca1152b2cf09
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/863/4/kpvorwer2004.pdf.txt
6a95f87c1bca3488570cef3695652c83
Copyright: 2004,
Vorwerk, Kristofer. All rights reserved.
Electrical & Computer Engineering
VLSI
CAD
placement
partitioning
quadratic
optimization
force
forces
BoxPlace
circuit
clustering
placer
FDP
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7712017-03-21T21:35:20Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9914col_10012_6
Modelling Framework for Radio Frequency Spatial Measurement
Wiles, Andrew Donald
The main crux of this thesis was to produce a model that was capable of simulating the theoretical performance of different configurations for a spatial measurement system using radio frequency technology. It has been important to study new modalities of spatial measurement since spatial measurement systems are an enabling technology that have allowed for the creation of better medical procedures and techniques, provided valuable data for motion capture in animation and biomechanics, and have improved the quality of manufacturing processes in many industries. However, there has been room for improvement in the functional design and accuracy of spatial measurement systems that will enhance current applications and further develop new applications in medicine, research and industry. <br /><br /> In this thesis, a modelling framework for the investigation of spatial measurement based on radio frequency signals was developed. The simulation framework was designed for the purpose of investigating different position determination algorithms and sensor geomatries. A finite element model using the FEMLAB partial differential equation modelling tool was created for a time-domain model of electromagnetic wave propagation in order to simulate the radio frequency signals travelling from a transmitting source antenna to a set of receiving antenna sensors. Electronic line signals were obtained using a simple receiving infinitesimal dipole model and input into a time difference of arrival localization algorithm. The finite element model results were validated against a set of analytical solutions for the free space case. The accuracy of the localization algorithm was measured against a set of possible applications for a potential radio frequency spatial measurement system design. <br /><br /> It was concluded that the simulation framework was successful should one significant deficiency be corrected in future research endeavours. A phase error was observed in the signals extracted at the receiving antenna locations. This phase error, which can be up to 40°, was attributed to the zeroth order finite elements implemented in the finite element model. This phase error can be corrected in the future if higher order vector elements are introduced into future versions of FEMLAB or via the development of custom finite element analysis software but were not implemented in this thesis due to time constraints. Other improvements were also suggested for future work.
University of Waterloo
2006
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/771
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/771/1/adwiles2006.pdf
5b81a0c45dd7b4d94ee16810ee8a6557
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/771/4/adwiles2006.pdf.txt
4a93606a2143721c8d1e87d31b2793bb
Copyright: 2006,
Wiles, Andrew Donald. All rights reserved.
Systems Design
spatial measurement
radio frequency
finite element method
time difference of arrival
wave propagation
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7832017-03-21T21:37:16Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9910col_10012_6
Interorganizational Partner Selection as Negotiation: A Study of Two Distance Education Consortia
Pidduck, Anne Banks
The choice of appropriate collaborative partners has consistently been reported as a key issue for contemporary managers. This study reports findings from a study which explored the process and criteria of partner selection - how and why partners are chosen. The results show multiple cycles of deal-making, partnership roles and organizational approval. Partner choice criteria focused on partnership requirements, but was influenced by additional factors. These results suggest that partner selection may be much more complex than previously recognized and could be better described as partner negotiation. <br /><br /> The researcher reviewed recent literature on partnerships, decision-making, and partner selection. Concepts from this previous work were updated with data from three initial interviewees experienced in university-industry partnerships. A conceptual Partner Negotiation Model was developed including three cycles of Deal-Making, Organizational Approval, and Partner Role/Selection. Our hypothesized Partner Choice Criteria centred on requirements, but were influenced by resource availability, social network, reputation, politics, and ambiguity. Two Canada-wide distance education consortia were identified as large-scale case studies for investigation of the research theory. A total of 34 informants were contacted. Written business plans, contracts, documents, partner network diagrams and 231 archival e-mails from 36 correspondents were collected and analysed for the two consortia. <br /><br /> The results showed strong support for partner selection included in negotiation cycles of deal-making and organizational approval. Partner choice criteria supported the need to meet documented requirements, but was also strongly influenced by resource availability, social network, and reputation. Additional issues of interest to the interviewees were motivation, operations, unit of partner, self-sustaining income, and integration to one consortium. As well, the Case Study Narratives offered deep, interesting insight into two specific cases of Canadian consortia. <br /><br /> The findings suggest that the formation of partnerships and the process of partner selection are both very complex. This research has provided new insights linking business negotiation concepts with partner selection. A model has been developed for viewing partner selection as negotiation. Three negotiation cycles of deal-making, organizational approval, and partner role/selection have been proposed. The research has identified four criteria that influence why specific partners are chosen ? requirements, resource availability, social network, and reputation. Finally, based on the complexities and issues from this work, a number of ideas for future research have been summarized.
University of Waterloo
2005
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/783
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/783/1/apidduck2005.pdf
2e95532b223105a126be554bbe599e35
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/783/4/apidduck2005.pdf.txt
ebbfa30f1103b2fb23179c61bcd89cc5
Copyright: 2005,
Pidduck, Anne Banks. All rights reserved.
Management
partner selection
alliance
distance education
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8702017-03-21T19:19:00Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9908col_10012_6
Fabrication of Novel Suspended Inductors
Woodward, Lisa
With the rapid growth in the wireless industry there has been increasing demand to make devices with better performance. This means lower power, lower voltage, smaller, and in general more efficient. This has lead to the interest in and necessity for good quality passive components. Good quality passive components make better filters, baluns, voltage controlled oscillators, and matching networks. There has been a lot of work over the last ten years focused on improving the quality of inductors. Typical inductors fabricated on silicon have Q factors of approximately 10. This is because silicon is conductive and therefore acts like a lossy ground plane and develops interfering currents. Improvements that have been attempted include thicker metal layers, thicker dielectric layers, patterned ground shields, as well as using multiple metal layers. These methods, however, still do not improve inductors to the quality of those built on insulating substrates such as glass. The main successful attempt on silicon has been where the inductor coil is released so that it is in the air supported by posts. In some work the inductor coil is raised 50 to 100µm above the underpass by methods like etching or photoresist molding. The suspended inductor approach was applied to an insulating substrate to fabricate and characterize unique suspended inductors and transformers. Inductors were released to have 1µm of air underneath the coil by the use of a release etch. Transformers were made in a similar way except two released layers where used. The top coil, done in plated gold, was released as well as an interconnection layer. Such a small air gap and the transformers with two released metal layers are a couple of the unique features of this thesis work. The devices were characterized up to 20GHz before and after release. An improvement in the peak Q factor (up to 70), as well as in the self-resonance frequency (up to 4GHz higher) was noticed after release. This is expected due to the reduction in parasitics. The results were then compared with simulations and a couple closed form expressions, both of which were able to give a reasonable accuracy. There was also success in getting good high frequency transformers.
Even though some good high-Q inductors were fabricated as part of this thesis, there is still further work that can be done. This includes packaging, integration with capacitors, and further optimization.
University of Waterloo
2004
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/870
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/870/1/lmataube2004.pdf
422050a227e017c9044d10fab808c3ea
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/870/4/lmataube2004.pdf.txt
7dc0bc8c8927c0d8811abaa5428d1c8a
Copyright: 2004,
Woodward, Lisa. All rights reserved.
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Inductor
Suspended
Modelling
Alumina
High Q
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8072017-03-21T19:19:33Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9908col_10012_6
An Efficient Computation of
Convex Closure on Abstract Events
Bedasse, Dwight Samuel
The behaviour of distributed applications can be modeled as the occurrence of events and how these events relate to each other. Event data collected according to this event model can be visualized using process-time diagrams that are constructed from a collection of traces and events. One of the main characteristics of a distributed system is the large number of events that are involved, especially in practical situations. This large number of events, and hence large process-time diagrams, make distributed-system observation difficult for the user. However, event-predicate detection, a search mechanism able to detect and locate arbitrary predicates within a process-time diagram or event collection, can help the user to make sense of this large amount of data. Ping Xie used the convex-abstract event concept, developed by Thomas Kunz, to search for hierarchical event predicates. However, his algorithm for computing convex closure to construct compound events, and especially hierarchical compound events (i. e. , compound events that contain other compound events), is inefficient. In one case it took, on average, close to four hours to search the collection of event data for a specific hierarchical event predicate. In another case, it took nearly one hour. This dissertation discusses an efficient algorithm, an extension of Ping Xie?s algorithm, that employs a caching scheme to build compound and hierarchical compound events based on matched sub-patterns. In both cases cited above, the new execution times were reduced by over 94%. They now take, on average, less than four minutes.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/807
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/807/1/dsbedass2005.pdf
8481583155ee3b9868000bbe0e4d69f4
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/807/4/dsbedass2005.pdf.txt
cc44eda6d3e840bd70c821fd93a92009
Copyright: 2005,
Bedasse, Dwight Samuel. All rights reserved.
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Event-detection
distributed systems
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/9032017-03-21T19:19:43Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9912col_10012_6
Development of a Human Body Model for the Analysis of Side Impact Automotive Thoracic Trauma
Forbes, Patrick
Occupant thoracic injury incurred during side impact automotive crashes constitutes a significant portion of all fatal and non-fatal automotive injuries. The limited space between the impacting vehicle and occupant can result in significant loads and corresponding injury prior to deceleration of the impacting vehicle. Within the struck vehicle, impact occurs between the occupant and various interior components. Injury is sustained to human structural components such as the thoracic cage or shoulder, and to the internal visceral components such as the heart, lungs, or aorta. Understanding the mechanism behind these injuries is an important step in improving the side impact crash safety of vehicles. This study is focused on the development of a human body numerical model for the purpose of predicting thoracic response and trauma in side impact automotive crash. <br /><br /> The human body model has been created using a previously developed thoracic numerical model, originally used for predicting thoracic trauma under simple impact conditions. The original version of the thorax model incorporated three-dimensional finite element representations of the spine, ribs, heart, lungs, major blood vessels, rib cage surface muscles and upper limbs. The present study began with improvements to the original thorax model and furthered with the development of remaining body components such that the model could be assessed in side impact conditions. <br /><br /> The improvements to the thoracic model included improved geometry and constitutive response of the surface muscles, shoulder and costal cartilage. This detailed thoracic model was complimented with a pelvis, lower limbs, an abdomen and a head to produce the full body model. These components were implemented in a simplified fashion to provide representative response without significant computational costs. The model was developed and evaluated in a stepwise fashion using experimental data from the literature including side abdominal and pelvic pendulum impact tests. <br /><br /> The accuracy of the model response was investigated using experimental testing performed on post mortem human subjects (PMHS) during side and front thoracic pendulum impacts. The model produced good agreement for the side thoracic and side shoulder pendulum impact tests and reasonable correlation during the frontal thoracic pendulum impact test. Complex loading via side sled impact tests was then investigated where the body was loaded unbelted in a NHTSA-type and WSU-type side sled test system. The thorax response was excellent when considering force, compression and injury (viscous criterion) versus time. Compression in the thorax was influenced by the arm position, which when aligned with the coronal plane produced the most aggressive form of compressive loading possible. The simplified components provided good response, falling slightly outside experimental response corridors defined as one standard deviation from the average of the experimental PMHS data. Overall, the predicted model response showed reasonable agreement with the experimental data, while at the same time highlighting areas for future developments. The results from this study suggested that the numerical finite element model developed herein could be used as a powerful tool for improving side impact automotive safety.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/903
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/903/1/paforbes2005.pdf
a35d03f8f4e8434137fc1dca228ca7de
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/903/4/paforbes2005.pdf.txt
ccc6e92e6238cfc6ed5c23e58c98d620
Copyright: 2005,
Forbes, Patrick. All rights reserved.
Mechanical Engineering
numerical thoracic model
side impact
trauma
injury
fracture
automotive
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/7842017-03-21T19:19:46Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9908col_10012_6
A Framework for Next Generation Enterprise Application Integration
Roszko, Andrew
In addition to storing 70-75% of their data and business logic in legacy mainframe systems, global corporations have countless custom applications and off-the-shelf ERP products residing within their networks. Increasing competition and shrinking budgets have left managers scouring for innovative, cost-effective methods to maximize the potential of these enormous sunk costs. There is, as a result, an overwhelming need to not only web enable these existing legacy assets in order to quickly and cost-effectively deliver data to both customers and business partners alike, but also to amalgamate these disparate systems into a unified, homogeneous, real-time enterprise. Integration efforts to date, focused predominantly on the development of proprietary point-to-point adapters, have unfortunately proven to be a daunting task with countless failed projects and losses in the millions. The advent of XML web services does, however, have the potential to revolutionize existing integration strategies; the cost savings and ease of implementation associated with wrapping virtually all systems, past, present and future, with standardized, code-independent, data-centric interfaces is truly astounding. As the future success of this platform is, however, strictly dependent upon the interoperability of its endpoints, we have proposed several fundamental amendments to the existing flawed WSDL specification. A generic reference architecture, leveraging both this improved web services model as well as established component middleware technologies, is then proposed for the web enablement of legacy assets on an enterprise scale. In order to ensure the adoption of this methodology, a toolkit designed to automate the transformation has also been devised. This new paradigm will not only allow information to flow freely from deep within the enterprise, but will ultimately serve as the cornerstone of a new generation of enterprise integration solutions.
University of Waterloo
2004
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/784
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/784/1/aprroszko2004.pdf
5c48d963d2ffcb20e12d06aca38cde79
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/784/4/aprroszko2004.pdf.txt
0decbe62894aeb7df254b8454838b1b0
Copyright: 2004,
Roszko, Andrew. All rights reserved.
Electrical & Computer Engineering
web services
XML
middleware
EJB
integration
WSDL
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8862017-03-21T19:20:57Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9908col_10012_6
An Automated Malignant Tumour Localization Algorithm for Prostate Cancer Detection in Trans-rectal Ultrasound Images
Li, Jim
The goal of this thesis is to design, implement and evaluate an automated algorithm to detect cancerous tissues and segment the malignant tumour in ultrasound images of the prostate. To accomplish this goal, first, the important image features which would lead to the optimal segmentation are identified. This work focuses on the local texture feature and spatial features. Various approaches to extract the local texture feature are explored, including grey-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), recurrent random-pulsed neural networks (RNN), and a novel wavelet-based filter. The spatial features are represented using conventional one dimensional fuzzy membership functions and novel multi-dimensional fuzzy membership functions. The texture and spatial features are combined using the fuzzy inference system. Two of the techniques investigated in this thesis could potentially constitute the basis for key paradigm shifts in medical imaging research. One of these is the idea that medical images in general, and ultrasound images in particular, contain information which are hidden from medical professionals due to limitations in the human visual system. This thesis shows that this information could be extracted using a computerized approach by separating the deterministic components in the image from the indeterministic components, or noise. The other idea concerns the representation of multidimensional statistical distribution information with fuzzy membership functions with the corresponding dimensions. This thesis shows that increasing the number of dimensions with which to represent the statistical distributions results in a more accurate mapping of information that relates to human anatomy, which is essentially 3D in nature. In the thesis, the natures of the various techniques are explored by testing on synthesized images. Then, these approaches are adapted to the ultrasonic prostate cancer segmentation problem and are evaluated with trans-rectal ultrasound images (TRUS). The segmentation using only texture features yields results with high sensitivity. When the spatial features are incorporated using the fuzzy inference system, the specificity of the diagnosis improves dramatically and the overall classification accuracy is also increased. Clinically, this automated diagnostic system could be used as a decision support tool for radiologists when identifying suspicious regions in the prostate from which to draw biopsy samples. The proposed system improves the consistency of the cancer detection process and could provide savings in both time and cost in the prevention and treatment of prostate cancer.
University of Waterloo
2004
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/886
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/886/1/mjli2004.pdf
2ed2994a784d6929b16442a1df37d765
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/886/4/mjli2004.pdf.txt
2bbd5b00f99c3437d7dcc2734cd4693b
Copyright: 2004,
Li, Jim. All rights reserved.
Electrical & Computer Engineering
prostate cancer
ultrasound
wavelet
fuzzy
neural networks
classification
image processing
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8482017-03-21T19:21:16Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9908col_10012_6
Design and Analysis of Intelligent Fuzzy Tension Controllers for Rolling Mills
Liu, Jingrong
This thesis presents a fuzzy logic controller aimed at maintaining constant tension between two adjacent stands in tandem rolling mills. The fuzzy tension controller monitors tension variation by resorting to electric current comparison of different operation modes and sets the reference for speed controller of the upstream stand. Based on modeling the rolling stand as a single input single output linear discrete system, which works in the normal mode and is subject to internal and external noise, the element settings and parameter selections in the design of the fuzzy controller are discussed. To improve the performance of the fuzzy controller, a dynamic fuzzy controller is proposed. By switching the fuzzy controller elements in relation to the step response, both transient and stationary performances are enhanced. To endow the fuzzy controller with intelligence of generalization, flexibility and adaptivity, self-learning techniques are introduced to obtain fuzzy controller parameters. With the inclusion of supervision and concern for conventional control criteria, the parameters of the fuzzy inference system are tuned by a backward propagation algorithm or their optimal values are located by means of a genetic algorithm. In simulations, the neuro-fuzzy tension controller exhibits the real-time applicability, while the genetic fuzzy tension controller reveals an outstanding global optimization ability.
University of Waterloo
2002
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/848
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/848/1/j5liu2002.pdf
a02c2fe5813033301f6429e831cdf892
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/848/4/j5liu2002.pdf.txt
fb112cb2b2ef27c45e603c70fc44089d
Copyright: 2002,
Liu, Jingrong. All rights reserved.
Electrical & Computer Engineering
fuzzy controller
neural network
genetic algorithm
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/9552017-03-21T19:21:21Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9910col_10012_6
Integration of Learning, Situational Power and Goal Constraints Into Time-Dependent Electronic Negotiation Agents
Mok, Wilson Wai Ho
In the past decade, electronic negotiation has become an important research topic in the field of information systems. A desirable goal of negotiation agents is to understand their owners' requirements, and to learn their opponents' behavior, thereby lessening the involvement of human beings. Studies on human negotiation bring out that several issues can affect a human's negotiation behavior, including learning an opponent's behavior, exerting power on an opponent, and setting an individual goal to improve the level of accomplishment. Research on incorporating these issues into negotiation agents is, however, still at an infancy state. We therefore take up this topic in this thesis. Researchers have proposed many different negotiation agents that follow a preset behavior based on human models of negotiation. In this thesis, we consider one such model, known as the time-dependent-tactical model, which is used by human negotiators and in which the values of the negotiating issues are determined based on the time elapsed in the negotiation. A learning mechanism for this model might be beneficial, because this model is frequently used in electronic negotiation. Thus, we propose heuristic algorithms that estimate the parameters of an agent's time-dependent-tactical model, and that then react to the estimated parameters for achieving higher negotiation performance. Besides learning, we incorporate two other factors that have been found to affect a human negotiation outcome. These are situational power, which represents differences in negotiators' status based on market conditions, and goal constraints, which stand for the levels of accomplishment negotiators try to strive for. To validate the impacts of learning, situational power and goal constraints in electronic negotiation, we first present how to integrate these features into negotiation agents, and then conduct simulations. With 187,500 simulation runs, we observe that our learning algorithms are effective in improving both individual and dyadic negotiation performances. For the effects of situational power and goal constraints, we obtain congruent results between human and electronic negotiations. By incorporating learning into situational power and goal constraints, we achieve significant joint effect between learning and situational power as well as that between learning and goal constraints. In summary, this thesis provides three primary contributions to the fields of information systems and electronic-commerce research. First, we have designed algorithms for learning an opponent's negotiation behavior. Second, our learning algorithms are found to be effective in improving negotiation performance. Third, we have shown how learning can be integrated with situational power and goal constraints, although this is not a major focus in this study. Finally, the agreement on the joint effects of learning, situational power and goal constraints between human and electronic negotiations suggests that our integrated design of the agent appears to be effective.
University of Waterloo
2002
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/955
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/955/1/wwhmok2002.pdf
9cbbc816bc2209bf197eac6f3cb94dec
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/955/4/wwhmok2002.pdf.txt
b5df06bb2dfbe2d0fd42805fca3d16a8
Copyright: 2002,
Mok, Wilson Wai Ho. All rights reserved.
Management
Learning
Situational Power
Goal
Electronic Negotiation Agents
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/9142017-03-21T19:22:33Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9912col_10012_6
Constitutive Behavior of Aluminum Alloy Sheet At
High Strain Rates
Smerd, Rafal
In this work, three aluminum sheet alloys, AA5754, AA5182 and AA6111, which are prime candidates for replacing mild steel in automobile structures, are tested in tension at quasi-static and high strain rates. <br /><br /> In order to characterize the constitutive response of AA5754, AA5182 and AA6111 at high strain rates, tensile experiments were carried out at strain rates between 600 s<sup>-1</sup> and 1500 s<sup>-1</sup>, and at temperatures between ambient and 300°C, using a tensile split Hopkinson bar (TSHB) apparatus. As part of this research, the apparatus was modified in order to provide an improved means of gripping the sheet specimens. Quasi-static experiments also were conducted using an Instron machine. <br /><br /> The experimental data was fit to the Johnson-Cook and Zerilli-Armstrong constitutive models for all three alloys. The resulting fits were evaluated by numerically simulating the tensile experiments conducted using a finite element approach.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/914
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/914/1/rosmerd2005.pdf
cddc4179971f7636eb73e781dd9e0919
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/914/4/rosmerd2005.pdf.txt
734748ca4d44cb9921e4c00f4328b5bb
Copyright: 2005,
Smerd, Rafal. All rights reserved.
Mechanical Engineering
High Strain Rate
Aluminum Alloys
Hopkinson Bar
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8582017-03-21T19:22:43Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9908col_10012_6
The Human Immune System: A Challenging Control Problem
Vale, Julie
This work deals with the control of the human immune system. A standard immune system model is modified by introducing control signals corresponding to drug cocktail and immune suppressor treatments. The ultimate objective is to use these control signals to 'cure' a chronically-ill patient. Control is challenging for this system due to nonlinearities and time delays. In fact, it is shown that fundamental aspects of the system dynamics are lost when the system is linearised; hence, control approaches involving linearisation are fruitless. Feedback linearisation and some optimal control methods are also investigated and shown to be infeasible. However, it is shown that, for certain parameter values and initial conditions related to the virus and patient, a specific open-loop control scheme using only the drug cocktail achieves the objective. It is also proven that, unfortunately, this control scheme fails for other parameter values and initial conditions. A two-stage open-loop controller that uses both control inputs is then proposed. It is shown in simulation that the two-stage controller works over a larger set of parameters and initial conditions than the single-stage controller, but a rigorous analysis of the two-stage controller remains elusive.
University of Waterloo
2004
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/858
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/858/1/jrvale2004.pdf
ece4236970bb4f8039c273a350042a45
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/858/4/jrvale2004.pdf.txt
6d089a4d503ea192ab3533c0a5c0a16c
Copyright: 2004,
Vale, Julie . All rights reserved.
Electrical & Computer Engineering
control
nonlinear
two-stage
time delay
immune system
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8372017-03-21T19:22:44Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9908col_10012_6
Efficient Analysis for Nonlinear Effects and Power Handling Capability in High Power HTSC Thin Film Microwave Circuits
Tang, Hongzhen
In this study two nonlinear analysis methods are proposed for investigation of nonlinear effects of high temperature superconductive(HTSC) thin film planar microwave circuits. The MoM-HB combination method is based on the combination formulation of the moment method(MoM) and the harmonic balance(HB) technique. It consists of linear and nonlinear solvers. The power series method treats the voltages at higher order frequencies as the excitations at the corresponding frequencies, and the higher order current distributions are then obtained by using the moment method again. The power series method is simple and fast for finding the output power at higher order frequencies. The MoM-HB combination method is suitable for strong nonlinearity, and it can be also used to find the fundamental current redistribution, conductor loss, and the scattering parameters variation at the fundamental frequency. These two proposed methods are efficient, accurate, and suitable for distributed-type HTSC nonlinearity. They can be easily incorporated into commercial EM CAD softwares to expand their capabilities. These two nonlinear analysis method are validated by analyzing a HTSC stripline filter and HTSC antenna dipole circuits. HTSC microstrip lines are then investigated for the nonlinear effects of HTSC material on the current density distribution over the cross section and the conductor loss as a function of the applied power. The HTSC microstrip patch filters are then studied to show that the HTSCinterconnecting line could dominate the behaviors of the circuits at high power. The variation of the transmission and reflection coefficients with the applied power and the third output power are calculated. The HTSC microstrip line structure with gilded edges is proposed for improving the power handling capability of HTSC thin film circuit based on a specified limit of harmonic generation and conductor loss. A general analysis approach suitable for any thickness of gilding layer is developed by integrating the multi-port network theory into aforementioned proposed nonlinear analysis methods. The conductor loss and harmonic generation of the gilded HTSC microstrip line are investigated.
University of Waterloo
2000
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/837
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/837/1/hztang2000.pdf
fb33d451c888da1b72e834f44951b2d2
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/837/4/hztang2000.pdf.txt
98c2c2e97758918a3e19652de2b17f7e
Copyright: 2000,
Tang, Hongzhen. All rights reserved.
Electrical & Computer Engineering
eigenvalues
hyperbolic polynomials
singular values
self-concordant barriers
variational analysis
spectral functions
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8232017-03-21T19:22:49Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_6col_10012_9906
An investigation of UV disinfection performance under the influence of turbidity & particulates for drinking water applications
Liu, Guo
UV disinfection performance was investigated under the influence of representative particle sources, including wastewater particles from secondary effluent in a wastewater treatment plant, river particles from surface water, floc particles from coagulated surface water, floc particles from coagulated process water in a drinking water treatment plant, and soil particles from runoff water (planned). Low-pressure (LP) and medium-pressure (MP) UV dose-response of spiked indicator bacteria <i>E. coli</i> was determined using a standard collimated beam apparatus with respect to different particle sources.
Significant impacts of wastewater suspended solids (3. 13~4. 8 NTU) agree with the past studies on UV inactivation in secondary effluents. An average difference (statistical significance level of 5% or α=5%) of the log inactivation was 1. 21 for LP dose and 1. 18 for MP dose. In river water, the presence of surface water particles (12. 0~32. 4 NTU) had no influence on UV inactivation at all LP doses. However, when the floc particles were introduced through coagulation and flocculation, an average difference (α=5%) of the log inactivation was 1. 25 for LP doses and 1. 12 for MP doses in coagulated river water; an average difference (α=5%) of the log inactivation was 1. 10 for LP doses in coagulated process water.
Chlorination was compared in parallel with UV inactivation in terms of particulate impacts. However, even floc-associated <i>E. coli</i> were too sensitive to carry out the chlorination experiment in the laboratory, indicating that chlorine seems more effective than UV irradiation on inactivation of particle-associated microorganisms. In addition, a comprehensive particle analysis supported the experimental results relevant to this study.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/823
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/823/1/g9liu2005.pdf
007b8a672209c27cc54e20cbe30afa5a
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/823/4/g9liu2005.pdf.txt
ac37bde9b7c9eb49a9d5ea95a02749e3
Copyright: 2005,
Liu, Guo. All rights reserved.
Civil & Environmental Engineering
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8542017-03-21T19:22:54Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9910col_10012_6
A Social Network Analysis of Corporate Venture Capital Syndication
Zheng, Ju Kimberly
The importance of social capital can be characterized by a well-known quote: "it's not just what you know, but whom you know". Firms with rich social capital are more informed, more capable, and more competitive, because networks of resources are within their reach. Social capital is embedded in social networks, and social network analysis is the chief topic of this research. The network being examined contains 1126 venture capital (VC) programs, 206 of them being corporate venture programs, and the rest consisting of independent venture capital firms. Venture programs co-invest in portfolio firms following an identifiable pattern. This research attempts to explain this co-investment pattern using social network analysis. Four attributes of social networks are explored during this analysis: prominence, range, brokerage, and cohesion. The findings of the corporate venture capital network provide a number of implications for the theory of social capital. The objective of the thesis is <em>using social capital to examine the syndication patterns in a corporate VC network</em>. The analysis of the corporate VC co-investment pattern supports four hypotheses. First, the corporate VC network is not cohesive. Second, most relationships in the network are indirect. Third, most prominent VCs are also the most powerful resource brokers in the network. Lastly, prominent VCs are likely to syndicate with other prominent VCs.
University of Waterloo
2004
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/854
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/854/1/jkzheng2004.pdf
90e61dfa4081400b4b898653d21143b5
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/854/4/jkzheng2004.pdf.txt
8dfc720debf2dcb14cef2734e5e72a02
Copyright: 2004,
Zheng, Ju Kimberly. All rights reserved.
Management
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8362017-03-21T19:22:56Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9912col_10012_6
Development of a PC-Based Object-Oriented Real-Time Robotics Controller
Tran, Hang
The industrial world of robotics requires leading-edge controllers to match the speed of new manipulators. At the University of Waterloo, a three degree-of-freedom ultra high-speed cable-based robot was created called Deltabot. In order to improve the performance of the Deltabot, a new controller called the QNX Multi-Axis Robotic Controller (QMARC) was developed. QMARC is a PC-based controller built for the replacement of the existing commercial controller called PMAC, manufactured by Delta Tau Data Systems. Although the PMAC has its own real-time processor, the rigid and complex internal structure of the PMAC makes it difficult to apply advanced control algorithms and interpolation methods. Adding unconventional hardware to PMAC, such as a camera and vision system is also quite challenging. With the development of QMARC, the flexibility issue of the controller is resolved. QMARC?s open-sourced object-oriented software structure allows the addition of new control and interpolation techniques as required. In addition, the software structure of the main Controller process is decoupled for the hardware, so that any hardware change does not affect the main controller, just the hardware drivers. QMARC is also equipped with a user-friendly graphical user interface, and many safety protocols to make it a safe and easy-to-use system. <br /><br /> Experimental tests has proven QMARC to be a safe and reliable controller. The stable software foundation created by the QMARC will allow for future development of the controller as research on the Deltabot progresses.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/836
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/836/1/httran2005.pdf
83ca7dcc8d364d7f33e12a5138ceb0a3
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/836/4/httran2005.pdf.txt
04e037bf8748710b769e0da954800db2
Copyright: 2005,
Tran, Hang. All rights reserved.
Mechanical Engineering
robotics
controller
PC-based
object-oriented
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/9242017-03-21T19:23:01Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9914col_10012_6
The Development of System Identification Approaches for Complex Haptic Devices and Modelling Virtual Effects Using Fuzzy Logic
Tam, Sze-Man Samantha
Haptic applications often employ devices with many degrees of freedom in order to allow the user to have natural movement during human-machine interaction. From the development point of view, the complexity in mechanical dynamics imposes a lot of challenges in modelling the behaviour of the device. Traditional system identification methods for nonlinear systems are often computationally expensive. Moreover, current research on using neural network approaches disconnect the physical device dynamics with the identification process. This thesis proposes a different approach to system identification of complex haptic devices when analytical models are formulated. It organizes the unknowns to be identified based on the governing dynamic equations of the device and reduces the cost of computation. All the experimental work is done with the Freedom 6S, a haptic device with input and feedback in positions and velocities for all 6 degrees of freedom . <br /><br /> Once a symbolic model is developed, a subset of the overall dynamic equations describing selected joint(s) of the haptic robot can be obtained. The advantage of being able to describe the selected joint(s) is that when other non-selected joints are physically fixed or locked up, it mathematically simplifies the subset dynamic equation. Hence, a reduced set of unknowns (e. g. mass, centroid location, inertia, friction, etc) resulting from the simplified subset equation describes the dynamic of the selected joint(s) at a given mechanical orientation of the robot. By studying the subset equations describing the joints, a locking sequence of joints can be determined to minimize the number of unknowns to be determined at a time. All the unknowns of the system can be systematically determined by locking selected joint(s) of the device following this locking sequence. Two system identification methods are proposed: Method of Isolated Joint and Method of Coupling Joints. Simulation results confirm that the latter approach is able to successfully identify the system unknowns of Freedom 6S. Both open-loop experimental tests and close-loop verification comparison between the measured and simulated results are presented. <br /><br /> Once the haptic device is modelled, fuzzy logic is used to address chattering phenomenon common to strong virtual effects. In this work, a virtual wall is used to demonstrate this approach. The fuzzy controller design is discussed and experimental comparison between the performance of using a proportional-derivative gain controller and the designed fuzzy controller is presented. The fuzzy controller is able to outperform the traditional controller, eliminating the need for hardware upgrades for improved haptic performance. Summary of results and conclusions are included along with suggested future work to be done.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/924
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/924/1/s2tam2005.pdf
c5163bb29ce8790d4530f8ab6211637b
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/924/4/s2tam2005.pdf.txt
36765f378ab178dd6bcc2b98cf9e423f
Copyright: 2005,
Tam, Sze-Man Samantha. All rights reserved.
Systems Design
System Identification
Haptic
Virtual Wall
Fuzzy Logic
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/9562017-03-21T19:23:03Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9914col_10012_6
Automatically Measuring Neuromuscular Jitter
Wang, Xin
The analysis of electromyographic (EMG) signals detected during muscle contraction provides important information to aid in the diagnosis and characterization of neuromuscular disorders. One important analysis measures neuromuscular jitter, which is the variability of the time intervals between two muscle fibre potentials (MFPs) belonging to the same motor unit over a set of discharges. Conventionally, neuromuscular jitter is measured using single fibre (SF) EMG techniques, which can identify individual MFPs by using a SF needle electrode. However, SF electrodes are expensive, very sensitive to needle movement and not easy to operate in practise. <br /><br /> A method is studied in this thesis for automatically measuring neuromuscular jitter in motor unit potentials (MUP), it measures jitter using routine EMG techniques, which detect MUPs using a concentric needle (CN) electrode. The method is based on the detection of near MFP contributions, which correspond to individual muscle fibre contributions to MUPs, and the identification of individual MFP pairs. The method was evaluated using simulated EMG data. After an EMG signal is decomposed into MUP trains, a second-order differentiator, McGill filter, is applied to detect near MFP contributions to MUPs. Then, using nearest neighbour clustering and minimum spanning tree algorithms, the sets of available filtered MUPs can be selected and individual MFPs can be identified according to the features of their shapes. Finally, individual MFP pairs are selected and neuromuscular jitter is measured. <br /><br /> Using the McGill filter, near MFP contributions to detected CN MUPs can be consistently detected across an ensemble of successive firings of a motor unit. The method is an extension of the work Sheng Ma, compared to previous works, more efficient algorithms are used which have demonstrated acceptable performance, and which can consistently measure neuromuscular jitter in a variety of EMG signals.
University of Waterloo
2005
Master Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/956
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/956/1/x35wang2005.pdf
9087c2fbfb4b890ccd3e7714707c76fc
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/956/4/x35wang2005.pdf.txt
7dd4f27c22b0aaae62deaa75386daf04
Copyright: 2005,
Wang, Xin. All rights reserved.
Systems Design
Jitter
EMG
MFP
oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/8812017-03-21T14:02:20Zcom_10012_1com_10012_9900col_10012_9910col_10012_6
Some Problems in One-Operator Scheduling
Baki, Mohammed Fazle
A flexible workforce or a versatile machine is employed to perform various types of operations. Often these resources are associated with setups. Whenever a worker or machine switches from processing one type of operation to another a setup time may be required although several operations of a same type can be processed in succession after a single setup. The presence of setups gives rise to the problem of choosing batch sizes that are neither too large nor too small. In the last one and a half decade, many researchers have addressed the problem of scheduling with batching. A majority of articles assumes that there is only one type of scarce resource, which is typically machine. Often there can be two scarce resources such as a worker and a machine or a machine and a tool. We propose a resource constrained scheduling model with a single operator and two or more machines. Whenever the operator changes machine, a setup time is required that may be sequence dependent or sequence independent. We consider the two cases of an open shop and a flow shop. In the open shop case, the order in which a job visits the machines is unrestricted. In the flow shop case, every job must visit the machines in the same order. We consider various scheduling objectives. For variable number of machines, many cases are intractable. We discuss some dominance properties that narrow down the search for an optimal schedule. We present a dynamic programming approach which solves a large number of cases. The running time of the dynamic program is polynomial for a fixed number of machines. For the case of two machines, we show that the dominance properties have a nice interpretation. We develop some algorithms and justify their use by establishing running times, comparing the running times with those of the existing algorithms, and testing the performance of the algorithms.
University of Waterloo
1999
Doctoral Thesis
en
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/881
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/881/1/mfbaki1999.pdf
918ff43b7e9a7860ab62852ebe01b0bd
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/881/4/mfbaki1999.pdf.txt
4d13de0a999f4dc3ec9e76743e9c4fb8
Copyright: 1999,
Baki, Mohammed Fazle . All rights reserved.
Management
Scheduling
Setup times
Batching
Polynomial time
NP-hard
Resource Constrained
uketd_dc///col_10012_6/100