Shippagan Gully is a highly dynamic tidal inlet located on the Gulf of St-Lawrence near Le Goulet, New Brunswick. This tidal inlet is highly unusual due to the fact that the inlet has two open boundaries with phase lagged tidal cycles that drives flow through the inlet. Over the past few decades, the shipping activities through the inlet have been threatened due to the narrowing of the navigation channel caused by deposited sediment on the east side of the channel. Many engineering projects have been undertaken at Shippagan Gully in order to try and mitigate the deposition problem. However, these attempts have either been unsuccessful or the engineered structures have deteriorated over the years. This study uses the CMS-Flow and CMS-Wave numerical models to provide guidance concerning the response of the inlet to various potential interventions aimed at improving navigation safety.

Living organisms are made up of a multitude of individual cells that are surrounded by biomolecules and fluids. It is well known that cells are highly regulated by biochemical signals; however it is now becoming clear that cells are also influenced by the mechanical forces and mechanical properties of the local microenvironment. Extracellular forces causing cellular deformation can originate from many sources, such as fluid shear stresses arising from interstitial or blood flow, mechanical stretching during breathing or compression during muscle contraction. Cells are able to sense variations in the mechanical properties (elasticity) of their microenvironment by actively probing their surroundings by utilizing specialized proteins that are involved in sensing and transmitting mechanical information. The actin cytoskeleton and myosin-II motor proteins form a contractile (actomyosin) network inside the cell that is connected to the extracellular microenvironment through focal adhesion and integrin sites. The transmission of internal actomyosin strain to the microenvironment via focal adhesion sites generates mechanical traction forces. Importantly, cells generate traction forces in response to extracellular forces and also to actively probe the elasticity of the microenvironment. Many studies have demonstrated that extracellular forces can lead to rapid cytoskeletal remodeling, focal adhesion regulation, and intracellular signalling which can alter traction force dynamics. As well, cell migration, proliferation and stem cell fate are regulated by the ability of cells to sense the elasticity of their microenvironment through the generation of traction forces. In vitro studies have largely explored the influence of substrate elasticity and extracellular forces in isolation, however, in vivo cells are exposed to both mechanical cues simultaneously and their combined effect remains largely unexplored. Therefore, a series of experiments were performed in which cells were subjected to controlled extracellular forces as on substrates of increasing elasticity. The cellular response was quantified by measuring the resulting traction force magnitude dynamics. Two cell types were shown to increase their traction forces in response to extracellular forces only on substrates of specific elasticities. Therefore, cellular traction forces are regulated by an ability to sense and integrate at least two pieces of mechanical information - elasticity and deformation. Finally, this ability is shown to be dependent on the microtubule network and regulators of myosin-II activity.

Modernist perspectives on work and leisure rooted within the post-war period have reflected a differentiated relationship between work and leisure (Parker, 1971; 1983; Wilensky, 1960). The impacts of globalization, de-regulation of the labour market and the rise of flexible accumulation of capital have altered traditional modernist notions of work and leisure (Rojek, 1995; 2001; 2005b; Schor, 1992). Recent literature demonstrates the manner in which leisure is re-appraised in the postmodern context (Blackshaw, 2010; Rojek, 1995; 2001; 2010b), providing new ways of understanding how leisure can engage with work (Bowers, 2011; Guerrier & Adib, 2009; Ravenscroft & Gilchrist, 2009). This dissertation examines meaningful work and its relationship to leisure amongst professional and knowledge workers in a not-for-profit and public sector organization. Three areas of investigation were pursued using qualitative approaches, consisting of in-depth semi-structured interviews. Article one comparatively examined experiences of meaningful work amongst workers from both organizations, and the extent to which experiences aligned to what is understood as a ‘liquid work’ organization (Clegg & Baumeler, 2010; Poder, 2007). Through an analysis of the factors that promote and hinder satisfaction, workplace satisfaction was primarily found within the not-for-profit sector organization, which more closely reflected a ‘liquid work’ organization. Article two examines leisure’s engagement with satisfying and productive forms of work through what is understood as a form of ‘civil labour’ (Rojek, 2001). Through an analysis of workers’ feelings towards work, different levels of engagement offer the potential for leisure to engage in productive and satisfying work. This was primarily evident amongst not-for-profit workers, whose engagement in work provided opportunities for developing social and cultural capital. Finally, article three examines the extent to which a de-differentiation of work and leisure (Rojek, 1993; 1995) is taking place amongst workers in the two settings. In comparatively examining workers’ perceptions of work and leisure, it is evident that a differentiation still exists. The discussion focuses on the relevance of workers’ experiences of work in producing different ways of understanding leisure in relation to work. The concluding chapter presents an integration of three articles, limitations, alternative methods and proposals for future research.

The Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (CCOFTA) came into force in August 2011 amidst concerns that the provisions protecting Canadian investment in Colombia could exacerbate the precarious human rights situation. The Agreement concerning Annual Reports on Human Rights and Free Trade between Canada and Colombia was negotiated to address such concerns by enshrining the first ever human rights impact assessment (HRIA) of a free trade and investment agreement (TIA) in an internationally binding instrument. This thesis builds on a growing body of international legal scholarship that has considered the duty of home states of private investors to regulate their activity in the host state so as to prevent them from causing or contributing to human rights and environmental harm. It examines state obligations found in human rights, environmental and general principles of international law to propose that while an obligation might exist for the home state to exercise unilateral regulation of its investors, in the presence of a TIA that could cause or enable private human rights or environmental harm, investor regulation through the TIA can be seen as duty for both the home and host states. In view of the absence of such regulation in the CCOFTA, this thesis will consider if the annual HRIA mechanism is an alternative for preventing human rights and environmental harm caused or enabled by the TIA. It is submitted that while HRIAs of TIAs are a novel concept for which little international practice exists, this mechanism has the capacity to provide concrete evidence of human rights or environmental harm caused or enabled by the TIA, but only if based on a methodological model that uses existing state international human rights law obligations as indicators to measure a change in the human rights situation, draws unequivocal causal links between the investment protection provisions and human rights indicators, and allows for broad public participation, especially from the most marginalized and underrepresented groups in the host state to validate its methodology and findings. While under international law all investment-exporting states might have a duty to conduct HRIA on the effects of a proposed TIA as part of the due diligence to prevent transnational harm, the enshrinement of such assessments in an internationally binding instrument triggers a duty for the home state to, on one hand use the HRIA mechanism to prevent transnational human rights or environmental harm and, on the other hand, structure its annual assessments according to the described model in order to give effect to the duty to prevent. Broad and inclusive participation of the local affected communities from the host state in the HRIA becomes an integral component of the home state duty to prevent that can be expected to reveal any negative effects on the human rights situation from the TIA provisions, as well as the type of action required from both states parties to address them.

In 1975, Sheehan conjectured that every simple 4-regular hamiltonian graph has a second Hamilton cycle. If Sheehan's Conjecture holds, then the result can be extended to all simple d-regular hamiltonian graphs with d at least 3. First, we survey some previous results which verify the existence of a second Hamilton cycle if d is large enough. We will then demonstrate some techniques for finding a second Hamilton cycle that will be used throughout this paper. Finally, we use these techniques and show that for certain 4-regular Hamiltonian graphs whose automorphism group is large enough, a second Hamilton cycle exists.

This thesis considers an approach to evaluate the effectiveness of risk communications for prescription drugs by performing interrupted time series analysis of prescription drug volumes prior to and after the risk communication date. The paper presents methods for detecting change in the presence of autocorrelation and techniques to reduce bias in estimation. Statistical results and data plots are presented for 63 data series. Size and power of the statistical techniques are considered, and a correspondence analysis between these statistical techniques and a small group of physicians is performed. The methods considered in this thesis correspond weakly with physician sentiment, and exhibit inflated type I errors in the presence of significant autocorrelation.

The problem of determining the eigenvalues of a vibrational system having multiple lumped attachments has been investigated extensively. However, most of the research conducted in this field focuses on determining the natural frequencies of the combined system assuming that the characteristics of the combined vibrational system are known (forward problem). A problem of great interest from the point of view of engineering design is the ability to impose certain frequencies on the vibrational system or to avoid certain frequencies by modifying the characteristics of the vibrational system (inverse problem). In this thesis, the effects of adding lumped masses to an Euler-Bernoulli beam on its frequencies and their corresponding mode shapes are investigated for simply-supported as well as fixed-free boundary conditions. This investigation paves the way for proposing a method to impose two frequencies on a system consisting of a beam and a lumped mass by determining the magnitude of the mass as well as its position along the beam.

Liquid biofuels produced from biomass have the potential to partly replace gasoline. One of the most promising biofuels is butanol which is produced in acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation. The ABE fermentation is characterized by its low butanol concentration in the final fermentation broth. In this research, the simulation of three in situ recovery methods, namely, vacuum fermentation, gas stripping and pervaporation, were performed in order to increase the efficiency of the continuous ABE fermentation by decreasing the effect of butanol toxicity. The non-integrated and integrated butanol production systems were simulated and optimized based on a number of objectives such as maximizing the butanol productivity, butanol concentration, and butanol yield. In the optimization of complex industrial processes, where objectives are often conflicting, there exist numerous potentially-optimal solutions which are best obtained using multi-objective optimization (MOO). In this investigation, MOO was used to generate a set of alternative solutions, known as the Pareto domain. The Pareto domain allows to view very clearly the trade-offs existing between the various objective functions. In general, an increase in the butanol productivity resulted in a decrease of butanol yield and sugar conversion. To find the best solution within the Pareto domain, a ranking algorithm (Net Flow Method) was used to rank the solutions based on a set of relative weights and three preference thresholds. Comparing the best optimal solutions in each case study, it was clearly shown that integrating a recovery method with the ABE fermentation significantly increases the overall butanol concentration, butanol productivity, and sugar conversion, whereas butanol yield being microorganism-dependent, remains relatively constant.

Purpose of study: Examine ASO (soft) and Malleoloc semi-rigid stirrup (SRS) ankle orthosis designs on ankle kinematics during field-sport movements: sprint, one-legged jump, and 45-degree cut. Participants: 13 competitive Ultimate players who regularly wore an ankle orthosis during physical activity. Methods: ASO or Malleoloc orthosis was randomly assigned to each person. Kinematic data were captured while the participants performed several trials for each movement in a motion analysis laboratory. Participants repeated the protocol with the other orthosis. Results: ASO allowed significantly more plantar-flexion during weight acceptance of the planting foot in cutting (p=0.038). In jumping, the Malleoloc allowed significantly more eversion-inversion range during stance (p=0.048) and eversion-inversion angular velocity from midstance to toe-off (p=0.026). Qualitative data also showed a significant preference for ASO. Conclusion: Hypotheses that ankle inversion and eversion would be greater with the ASO; and plantar-flexion and dorsiflexion would be greater with the Malleoloc were refuted.

The temporal relationship between two types of perfectionism— self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP)— and depressive symptoms was examined in a sample of 653 children across Grades 6 (depressive symptoms only), 7, and 8. A vulnerability model, in which perfectionism affects depressive symptoms, was compared to a scar model, in which depressive symptoms affects perfectionism, and to a reciprocal-causality model, in which both constructs concurrently affect each other across time. Cross-lagged paths analyses using structural equation modeling supported a scar model where increases in depressive symptoms lead to increases in SPP, but not SOP. The findings applied to both boys and girls. Results suggest that in childhood, depressive symptoms increase the perception that others are expecting excessively high standards from oneself and the need to satisfy this perception.