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Balancing Act: How students navigate work and study in Canada
Get PDFEducation is essential for personal and societal development, yet balancing academic responsibilities and employment remains challenging for students. This thesis investigates the complexities of work-study balance among Canadian students, encompassing both domestic and international cohorts. Utilizing JD-R (Job Demands Resources) theory and transactional theory of stress and its extension ie the Challege-Hindrance Framework, the thesis examines how work demands like perceived work overload and study demands like minimum credit requirements influence perceived degree completion. A quantitative online survey gathered data from 108 participants across various academic disciplines and employment sectors, including domestic and international students. Findings reveal that while perceived work overload alone does not directly predict degree completion, its impact is mediated by work-study conflict. International student status, despite unique challenges like visa restrictions, does not significantly alter this mediated relationship. Practically, the thesis underscores the need for tailored support mechanisms and flexible policies in educational institutions to foster a supportive work-study environment. The study acknowledges limitations in sample size and design, suggesting that future research employs longitudinal and mixed methods approaches to further explore these dynamics across diverse academic and cultural contexts
Glutamate Mediated Actions on Trace Memory: A Trimodal MRS-EEG-fMRI Imaging Study on Motor Sequence Learning
Get PDFInvestigating motor memory formation and consolidation is a central endeavor of contemporary neuroscience as it helps to understand motor skill learning as well as how to treat its related deficits. Evidence from the current research shows that a short exposure to a motor skill learning task creates modifications in the neurophysiological and hemodynamical processes in the task-related brain areas which are considered as formation of new memory representations. These modifications occur mainly through excitatory-inhibitory synaptic changes which are partly associated with the modulation of glutamate (the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system). Memory representations are susceptible to interference and can be diminished easily unless protected by a subsequent nap or overnight sleep in which the task-related neuronal activity will reappear and elicit plasticity. Eventually, behavioral enhancement can be expected after memory consolidation.
To further explain the motor skill learning in terms of the task-induced electrical, hemodynamic and metabolite activity of the human brain, we conducted a non-invasive study using multimodal brain imaging techniques under a motor sequence learning task whereby we could analyze the relationship between resting state spatiotemporal neuronal activity and the glutamate variations during one sleep-wake cycle. In this work, we demonstrated a conditional relationship between the dynamics of resting-state electrical activity and glutamate concentrations. This relationship was found in diurnal glutamate variations and Electroencephalography in the targeted Supplementary Motor Area in low gamma band (30-55Hz, p-value = 0.006) and overall band (0.5-55Hz, p-value = 0.014) as well as other motor network areas
The Impact of Natural Disasters on Stock Prices in China: A Comparative Analysis of State-Owned and Privately Owned Enterprises
Get PDFThis paper examines the impact of natural disasters on corporate stock price performance in China, with a particular focus on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and privately owned enterprises (POEs). Utilizing an event study methodology, we analyze the stock price reactions of Chinese companies to large-scale tropical cyclones from 2000 to 2022. Our findings indicate that these natural disasters have a significant negative impact on stock prices, particularly during the immediate impact period. SOEs, however, demonstrate greater resilience compared to POEs during the post-disaster recovery period, suggesting that political connections and government support provide advantages in mitigating market volatility. Cross-sectional regression analyses reveal that firms with high leverage, low profitability, smaller size, and low market valuation experience higher abnormal returns in the recovery phase, indicating a faster recovery rate. An industry-specific analysis further shows that the financial services sector performs better following natural disasters, potentially due to increased demand for financial products, access to government aid, and favorable investor sentiment
A Comparative Analysis of Oil and Natural Gas Price Forecasting Using Deep Learning, Ensemble Methods, and Bayesian Optimization
Get PDFThis study introduces a comprehensive framework for enhancing price forecasting in the oil (Brent and WTI) and natural gas (Henry Hub) markets, which play a critical role in the global economy. By integrating advanced deep learning models and ensemble methods, optimized through Bayesian Hyperparameter Optimization (BO), the research improves predictive accuracy. Utilizing an extensive dataset from January 2010 to February 2024, the models were trained and validated. Results indicate that, in the oil market, the weighted ensemble model combining LSTM and GRU performs best, leveraging the strengths of both models. In the natural gas market, post-optimization, CNN proves most effective in capturing the market's volatility and trends. XGBoost also demonstrates strong performance in both markets, balancing predictive accuracy with training efficiency. These findings offer valuable insights for risk management and decision-making in the energy sector
Molecular Doping of Organic Semiconductors: Role of Steric Hindrance
Get PDFThe p-doping of organic semiconductors, that is, conjugated organic molecules
(COMs) and polymers (COPs), is generally done using strong molecular acceptors as
dopants. In principle, high doping efficiency can be achieved with dopants of high
electron affinity (EA) to promote integer electron transfer between COP/COM and the
p-dopant. Common dopants of high EA (> 5 eV) are, however, often unstable, show
low solubility in common solvents with most COPs/COMs, and tend to diffuse through
the organic semiconductor owing to low molecular weight. Furthermore, their planarity
can promote the formation of ground-state charge transfer complexes (CPXs) with the
COPs/COMs, which is detrimental to doping efficiency due to fractional instead of integer
charge transfer. To address this issue, this thesis focuses on a new strategy towards
more efficient molecular p-dopants: The optimization of EA to promote integer electron
transfer is therein augmented by a novel strategy to inhibit CPX formation, which relies
on directed dopant design exploiting steric hindrance. First, to identify promising
alternative dopants with high EA, we systematically compared the interplay between
molecular EA and steric shielding of the core resulting from the peripheral substitution
of analogues molecules with cyclohexadiene and cyclopropane cores. To this end, we performed
a simple analysis based on Hammett parameters followed by density functional
theory (DFT) calculations on a library of modified doping agents. Second, based on the
outcome of the DFT pre-characterization we focused on cyclopropane core-based dopants
and synthesized and characterized 2,’,2”-(cyclopropane-1,2,3-triylidene)tris(2-(perfluoro
phenyl)-acetonitrile) (PFP3CN3-CP) as one of the most promising species. PFP3CN3-CP
has pendant functional groups that sterically shield its central core while still maintaining
a comparably high EA. By using various spectroscopy and electrical characterization
we demonstrate for the prototypical COP, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), that, indeed,
CPX formation can be inhibited by exploiting steric hindrance brought by PFP3CN3-CP.
It outperforms a planar dopant with similar EA, showing tenfold higher conductivity and
superior stability in aging experiments. Overall, this thesis introduces a novel strategy
for improving p-doping efficiency in organic semiconductors by incorporating steric
hindrance to prevent CPX formation. It advances the development of more efficient
p-dopants, contributing valuable knowledge to the field
Deservingness by Design? Temporal Governance in the Canadian Immigration System.
Get PDFThe scholarly fields of geography and sociology have identified time as an important factor shaping the policy design that instruct the flow of migrants, however this phenomenon remains sparsely investigated in the political science discourse. Considering this gap in the literature of migration studies and political science, this thesis operationalizes temporal governance in the Canadian policy design context as a tool of control and investigates its differential application in the categories of skilled migrants, family sponsorship and refugees and asylum seekers. To address this gap, I use Melanie Griffith’s coined term, “temporal governance” to assert that time is used as a policy tool to design permissive and restrictive eligibility criteria and it is used differently across Canada’s permanent immigration categories: economic migration, family sponsorship and refugee sponsorship. Second, I use Schneider and Ingram’s social constructions theory to assert that the temporally permissive and restrictive policy design reveals that the economic migration receives permissive policy treatment based on their positive social constructions and usefulness in achieving the state’s economic immigration objectives. Whereas family sponsorship and refugee sponsorship receive restrictive policy treatment due to their weak political associations. Ultimately, this policy design decides which categories are more “deserving by design”
Process Mapping for Interdisciplinary Aerospace Processes: A Case Study
Get PDFThe multidisciplinary nature of aerospace processes demands coordination across diverse functions, each contributing to the design, development, sustainment, and compliance of highly regulated aerospace products. These processes involve various interconnected and interdependent elements that influence execution, making it challenging to fully deconstruct and reveal the underlying complexities and interactions that shape the overall process.
This thesis explores a practical adaptation of a process mapping technique within the aerospace industry, focusing on a single case study at a Canadian aircraft maintenance company. Through this case study, the thesis illustrates how multiple process mapping approaches can offer different perspectives and enhance process transparency. A current-state manufacturing process is mapped at five different levels of detail: Level 1 provides a high-level overview of the process with milestones and principal tasks; Level 2 incorporates information flow through artifact types; Level 3 adds the roles and expertise required for each activity in the process; Level 4 introduces communication activities; and Level 5 details the working time for each activity.
By analyzing the results from each mapping level, the study evaluates the usability and benefits of incorporating different process elements. The findings show that process mapping is not only suitable for visualizing task-specific workflow but can be customized to meet other end-user needs. It was found that no single level of detail is entirely self-sufficient, and that combining elements such as information flow, roles, communication and time provides distinct perspectives offering value across a wide range of use cases and objectives
Microstructure, Mechanical, and Tribological Evaluation of Carbide-Based Wear-Resistant Coatings for Aerospace Applications
Get PDFThermally sprayed tribological coatings are extensively employed in aerospace applications to address critical issues including corrosion, erosion, oxidation, abrasive wear, and fatigue under different service conditions. Besides addressing these difficulties, these coatings are essential for improving the efficiency of gas turbine engines, thereby decreasing fuel consumption and emissions.
High Velocity Air-Fuel (HVAF) thermal spraying has become a promising method for producing carbide-based tribological coatings, offering significant advantages over other techniques such as Air Plasma Spray (APS) process. Its higher particle velocity and lower flame temperature result in denser coatings with reduced oxide content and enhanced hardness. These properties make HVAF an ideal method for developing advanced coatings that can effectively resist surface degradation caused by wear, corrosion, and erosion, even under extreme temperatures.
The objective of our research work is to investigate the tribological properties of thermally sprayed carbide-based coatings deposited by plasma spray and high velocity air fuel deposition processes. This work consists of two research studies, the first emphasize the influence of deposition processes (i.e., APS and HVAF) and binder content (i.e., pure carbide and cemented carbide) on the microstructural, mechanical, and tribological behavior of chromium carbide-based coatings at room temperature and 450 °C. The second study is a preliminary work that evaluates the microstructure of pure silicon carbide coatings deposited by suspension plasma spraying process.
The tribological test was performed using a ball-on-flat tribometer and the wear profiles were obtained using a laser confocal microscope. The Ex-situ characterization of the as-deposited coatings were performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), image analysis, and the Vickers microhardness test was performed on the cross-sections of the coatings at room temperature. The HVAF sprayed Cr₃C₂-25NiCr coating deposited with the 4L4 nozzle exhibits the lowest friction and improved wear resistance compared to all the tested APS coatings at room temperature and 450°C. Moreover, the second study has demonstrated that pure SiC coatings can be produced using suspension plasma spray (SPS) process and open pathway for future development of ceramic materials which are prone to decomposition
Life, Embodiment, and Recognition in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, ¶¶162-177
Get PDFThis paper offers a close reading of the transition into the “Self-Consciousness” chapter of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit. In this transition, Hegel articulates a concept of self-consciousness that is closely bound up with his concept of life. This paper’s central interpretive argument is that life plays an instructive role for self-consciousness, demonstrating to it that its most basic concept of selfhood is dependent upon the concrete, finite, embodied activity of organic nature. To this end, this paper asks what is required of Hegel’s concept of life such that it may play this role, explicating the concept of the living body presented at the beginning of the fourth chapter as a phenomenological object in which self-consciousness recognizes something of its own minimal conception of itself. In this moment of recognition, self-consciousness also grasps a constitutive difference that separates it from the living body, and this difference is a key condition of life serving its central instructive role. Contrasting this interpretation with recent scholarship on this passage, the paper argues that this concept of the living body and its instructive difference from self-consciousness suggest an approach to this chapter’s famous passages on recognition and the struggle of lord and bondsman that is grounded in self-consciousness’s recognition of life at the start of the chapter
Making/Meat/Matter
Get PDFMaking/Meat/Matter critiques the intersections of modernity, coloniality, and design within industrial animal-agriculture, exposing how Western ideologies drive exploitative practices that commodify both human and non-human life. This interdisciplinary thesis reveals how industrial systems perpetuate environmental degradation, inequality, and violence by reducing animals to resources and marginalizing communities within capitalist frameworks. Using Design Justice frameworks and ecofeminist theories, it advocates for ethical multispecies coexistence, sustainability, and social equity.
The thesis comprises two parts: Part I explores the historical and philosophical foundations of modernity, and its ties to colonial exploitation and industrial agriculture. It challenges the anthropocentric logic behind Western systems and their ecological harms. Part II translates these critiques into a design, a tabletop game called Making/Meat/Matter, which encourages players to examine industrial food systems and the ethical issues within.
This research-creation project bridges theory and practice by integrating design, sociology, marketing, and food studies to challenge entrenched systems and promote sustainable alternatives. By uniting these disciplines, Making/Meat/Matter positions design as a vehicle for interdisciplinary inquiry, using creative tools to engage with complex issues of identity, power, and ethical consumption. This synthesis expands the conversation on how design, when interwoven with diverse fields, can address contemporary social and environmental crises in industrial agriculture, food systems, and beyond