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Vagabond: housing for the mobile adult
No full textVagabond: Housing for the Mobile Adult
deals with the precarious housing of the mobile
adult. The mobile adult is a term coined by the
author to describe the age group of 20-34 years
old who are currently seeking social stability.
That is to achieve the milestones of marriage,
property ownership and income. However, the
lack of job opportunities, affordable housing and
high cost of living prolong their life goals.
This thesis addresses the current
inaccessibility of housing in Toronto and suggest
another way of providing opportunities for living
in the city. Its theory revolves around Zygmunt
Bauman’s Liquid Life and Charles Jenck’s
Adhocism, exploring the themes of integration
and alternative housing systems through ad-hoc
means. This thesis explores three scales. The
interior scale addresses the temporary state of
mobile adults and their need for mobility. The
architectural scale examines how the building
scale can integrate the mobile adult into an
existing neighbourhood and how architecture
can function as a social platform. The third scale,
the neighbourhood scale, explores urban infill as
an opportunity for housing development.Master of Architecture (M.Arch
Mixed-methods analysis of the predictive effects of personality on stress-related eating behaviour: an exploratory study of perfectionism, impulsivity, and emotional control
Get PDFMost individuals alter overall caloric intake and food choice while experiencing stress
and have a relatively consistent pattern of stress-related eating over time. There are many
important and contextually dependant factors that should be considered when examining the
effects of stress on eating behaviour changes including the recent investigation of the
predominant role of personality; however, there is limited research examining the predictive role
of personality to determine whether an individual will engage in stress over-eating or undereating behaviours. The present mixed-methods study investigated if personality traits of
perfectionism, impulsivity, and emotional control were correlated with stress-over or undereating. Quantitative data was obtained among 169 participants who provided self-reports of
individual levels of stress, stress-related eating, perfectionism, impulsivity, and emotional control
to explore if there was a correlation between the investigated variables. The findings revealed
significant direct predictive effects of emotional control on stress-related eating, however no
significant effects were found between stress eating and traits of perfectionism or impulsivity.
Qualitative data was obtained among 14 stress-over and under-eaters who were interviewed
regarding their stress-eating styles and perceptions of the effect of personality on their stressrelated eating changes to further explore how individuals perceived their personality traits to
drive their stress-over or under-eating behaviour. The findings revealed that stress over-eaters
may respond by eating to seek control and positive emotions where under-eaters may not
respond by eating as it is not a priority and they lack hunger. Future research should continue to
investigate the included personality traits using more specific psychometric measures to analyze
the variables more thoroughly before validating any conclusions.Master of Arts (MA) in Psycholog
Patterns and drivers of arsenic bioaccumulation in boreal freshwater fish of Ontario, Canada
No full textWild fish consumption can be an important pathway for metal exposure to subsistence and
recreational fishers. Elevated levels of arsenic (As) have been reported by monitoring programs
and previous research in several fish species in the province of Ontario, Canada. This is of
particular concern for First Nation communities in remote northern areas that rely on locally
sourced freshwater fish for subsistence. However, provincial monitoring for As in fish is less
extensive than for other contaminants (e.g. mercury) and less is known about how As behaves in
aquatic systems under various conditions. The goal of this thesis was to improve understanding
of patterns in As accumulation across freshwater systems. More specifically, I investigated the
spatial variability of total As in fish muscle and its ecological, physical and chemical drivers in
lakes and rivers across Ontario. To do this, I amalgamated As data from previous research and a
long-term contaminant monitoring program, resulting in a dataset of total arsenic concentrations
([As]) in 3200 fish across 30 species and 152 waterbodies sampled between 2008 and 2018.
Additional datasets of water chemistry parameters (e.g., pH, DOC), landscape variables (e.g.,
geology, watershed area), and stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes (measures of fish trophic
ecology) were also amassed from governmental and open-source databases to examine the
influence of these variables on As bioaccumulation in fish.
Results show that [As] were generally low across most fish species and most waterbodies
sampled. However, fish from large northern rivers draining into the ocean had up to 23-fold
higher concentrations of As compared to fish from landlocked sites. In general, [As] increased
slightly with fish size, although relationships varied among fish species and sites. Evidence of
biomagnification of As across fish species was also observed in several lake sites. Furthermore,
principal component scores, representing landscape and water chemistry variables, were related to [As] in fish, but the relationships varied among species. These results will help improve the
efficacy of fish contaminant monitoring in freshwater systems by identifying physical and
ecological variables related to higher concentrations of As in fish while also emphasizing the
value of repurposing existing datasets and utilizing open data sources.Master of Science (MSc) in Biolog
Detecting span in emails using advanced machine learning methods
No full textE-mail is one of the quickest and most professional ways to send messages from one
location to another around the world; however, increased use of e-mail has increased to received
messages in the mailbox, where the recipient receives a large number of messages, some of which
cause significant and varied problems, such as the theft of the recipient's identity, the loss of vital
information, and network damage. These communications are so harmful that the user has no way
of avoiding them, especially when they come in a variety of forms, such as adverts and other types
of messages. Spam is the term for these emails Filtering is used to delete these spam
communications and prevent them from being viewed. This research intends to improve e-mail
spam filtering by proposing a single objective evaluation algorithm issue that uses Deep Learning,
Genetic Algorithms, and Bayes theorem-based classifiers to build the optimal model for accurately
categorizing e-mail messages. Text cleaning and feature selection are used as the initial stage in
the modeling process to minimize the dimension of sparse text features obtained from spam and
ham communications. The feature selection is used to choose the best features, and the third stage
is to identify spam using a Genetic algorithm classifier, Support Vector Machine, Bayesian
Classifier, Nave Bayes, SVM, Random Forest, and Long-Short Term Memory classifier.Master of Science (MSc) in Computational Science
Embracing spectacle:immersing entertainment into an urban fabric
No full textThe City of Sudbury has struggled to maintain vibrancy in its downtown core.
Urban revitalization is critical to reestablish livelihood and draw people in through all
seasons. Vibrancy shall be restored through the analysis of existing interventions within
the city, the exploration of the current image of the city, and through the help of various
precedents which involve revitalization, entertainment and multi seasonal spaces. With
these explorations, an urban design strategy shall be proposed for Durham street,
including the partial enclosure of the street to vehicular traffic and the recovery of
surrounding alleys.Master of Architecture (M.Arch
Novel zooplankton community compositions in lakes that have recovered from acidification in Sudbury, Ontario
No full textBiomonitoring has repeatedly been proven to be an effective tool in assessing aquatic ecosystems
and is especially useful in historically stressed environments like Sudbury area lakes, that are on
an acid-recovery trajectory while facing contemporary changes including urbanization, calcium
declines, climate change and lake brownification. Due to the varied ranges of sensitivities among
different species, zooplankton are important bioindicator taxa of pelagic waters often used in
biomonitoring. Their crucial link between primary producers and fish communities also make
them important taxa for monitoring. After decades of water chemistry improvements in Sudbury,
crustacean zooplankton communities have sometimes lagged in recovery that may be attributable
to factors such as dispersal, residual metal toxicity, biotic resistance, and incomplete food webs. I
conducted a broad spatial survey of 58 historically acidified lakes and 24 reference lakes in the
Sudbury acid deposition zone and 5 remote reference lakes to understand the current variation in
pelagic zooplankton community compositions in lakes along numerous gradients of change to
and to determine the recovery status of zooplankton communities. My results show that
zooplankton communities in lakes that have chemically recovered from historical acidification
do not resemble reference compositions after over four decades since emission reductions,
suggesting a shift to alternate community compositions due to changing contemporary
environmental factors.Master of Science (MSc) in Biolog
Individual differences of career choice: the role of cognition, personality, executive function, motivation, and career values
No full textValues are self-referentially important to the individual reflecting their underlying beliefs
related to the meaningfulness placed on experience. Career values are the subjective importance
placed on the meaning pursuant to a career. Previous research has identified several factors (e.g.,
intelligence and personality) shown to be associated with career outcome and success. The purpose
of this study was to investigate the contribution that reasoning, working memory, executive
function, personality, and motivation have on an individual’s self-reported career values. To this
end, 42 participants (14 actively employed community members and 28 secondary and post-
secondary students) completed a series of performance-based measures and self-reported
inventories assessing the domains previously described. Results identified 4 career factors that
accommodated approximately 80% pf the variance shared between individuals. The 4 career
factors (Self-Directed, General Management, Skillful-Dedication, and Conservative) were
predicted by distinct performance-based variables, personality characteristics, and sources of
motivation. A strong emphasis on individual differences is discussed with respect to career values.Master’s of Arts (MA) in Applied (Clinical) Psycholog
A climate positive future: adapting and recovering the Dominion Wheel and Foundry Complex in Toronto through climate positive design
No full textThe impending climate crisis is becoming
increasingly concerning. Architecture and the
building industry play a large role. More than ever, it
is an architect’s responsibility to create sustainable
designs in order to mitigate climate change. This
calls into question what is considered sustainable.
The discourse on sustainability is ongoing and this
thesis attempts to expand on these arguments.
Sustainable architecture addressed in this thesis
deals with the adaptation of existing buildings to
reduce a city’s environmental impact. This thesis
supports the argument that buildings cannot be
sustainable on their own; the entire process and
context need to be considered, which means
adapting existing buildings and ensuring the
potential for further adaptation to changing social
and climatic conditions. Architects must work towards climate positive
designs to have a significant impact on the climate
crisis. This thesis project demonstrates how climate
positive design can be achieved through sustainable
adaptive reuse. This project proposes to adapt the
Dominion Foundry heritage complex in Toronto
into a climate positive community hub. Through
sustainable architectural and urban design, the
project will serve as a model to demonstrate and
educate the citizens of Toronto and beyond on
sustainable practices and advocate for a safer and
healthier future.Master of Architecture (M.Arch
Design for tomorrow: future-proof arctic architecture in cognizance of shifts in climate and regional livelihood
No full textAccelerating climate change is dramatically altering environments
worldwide, which also has significant impacts on cultural practices and
livelihoods in vulnerable regions. Warming at three times the global average,
the Arctic and its Inuit population are in a precarious state. This Thesis
thus focuses on the future-proofing of the Torngat Mountains National
Park Base Camp and Research Station (Nunatsiavut, Labrador). Informed
by predictive climate models and a review of architectural strategies to
respond to inevitable and expected climate change, the Base Camp is
redesigned to ensure short-term and long-term adaptability and resilience.
The design is simultaneously informed by land-based ecological and cultural
lessons, connecting the building back to the people and supporting the
traditional livelihood that is intrinsically linked to their land. The meeting
of researchers, Inuit, and tourists in this place should foster opportunities
to learn from one another about mitigating and adapting to changes to
preserve land and livelihood.Master of Architecture (M.Arch
Care & cure: reducing cognitive decline among elderly patients in healthcare settings by way of caring architectural principles
No full textIn hospitals, cognitive decline in patients 65 years and older is common which affects their entire wellbeing and recovery process. How can architecture uphold responsibility with the same gravity as the
Hippocratic Oath to “do no harm” for geriatric patients’ well-being to promote spaces for recovery while
diminishing prolonged acute care side effects, ensuring that cognitive decline is reduced among this
vulnerable population? The creation of an Integrative Geriatric Centre in Sudbury Ontario, Canada which
contains a geriatric assessment clinic, a geriatric recovery centre, and an integrated childcare facility will
provide betterment for seniors. These programmatic elements will use the ideologies of positive distraction
in intergenerational settings; biophilic design; and a framework for senior friendly hospital design. These
principles will help reduce cognitive decline as senior care continues its evolution into spaces filled with
therapeutic architecturally driven elementsMaster of Architecture (M.Arch