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In this thesis, a novel framework for planning and investment studies pertaining to the implementation of system-wide conservation voltage reduction (CVR) is presented. In the CVR paradigm, optimal voltage profiles at the load buses are determined so as to yield load reductions and hence energy conservation. The system modifications required for CVR is known to be capital intensive; therefore, the proposed model determines the system savings and the appropriate price incentives to offer industries such that a minimum acceptable rate-of-return (MARR) is accrued. In this model, the industrial facilities are represented by a combination of constant impedance, constant current, and constant power loads. A detailed case study for Ontario, Canada, is carried out considering that industrial loads are investing in CVR implementation to reduce their energy costs. The optimal incentives that need be offered by the system planner, over a long-term horizon and across various zones of Ontario, are determined using the presented mathematical model. Furthermore, a comprehensive risk analysis, comprising sensitivity studies and Monte Carlo simulations, is carried out considering the variations in the most uncertain model parameters. In this work, it is shown that savings from CVR are enough so that incentives are not required in Ontario. Sensitivity analysis shows that electricity price and project cost have the highest impact on the incentives, and that electricity price and industrial demand have the most effect on system savings. Monte Carlo simulations show that the expected energy cost savings result in expected incentive rates to be relatively low compared to the average electricity price in Ontario. CVR is shown in this thesis to be a low cost Demand Side Management program to implement from the perspective of the power system planner, and a worthwhile investment for the industrial load.

The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the use of dynamic excitation as a method for stiffness and strength grading of wet side boards of narrow dimensions. The need for such an investigation has previously been identified in an ongoing research project in which the possibility to use side boards as lamellae in wet glued glulam beams is investigated.      The assessment of the dynamic excitation method was carried out by means of experimental work and measurements.. The approach was quantitative in the sense that the data was collected through experiments performed on a rather large population and that the results were analyzed using statistical methods.      To investigate the effect of moisture content on stiffness of narrow dimension, side boards, the stiffness was measured in three states: - in wet state, before splitting the boards, - in wet state, after splitting the boards, and - in dry state (splitted boards).      The conclusion, after calculations and analysis of all the results, was that the natural frequency and stiffness of wet boards could, with a high degree of reliability, be predicted by use of the dynamic excitation method. There was a strong correlation in stiffness between wet state split boards and dry state split boards, with a coefficient of determination of 0.93.

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.

This thesis addresses two main issues: first, forecasting short-term electricity market prices; and second, the application of short-term electricity market price forecasts to operation planning of demand-side Bulk Electricity Market Customers (BEMCs). The Ontario electricity market is selected as the primary case market and its structure is studied in detail. A set of explanatory variable candidates is then selected accordingly, which may explain price behavior in this market. In the process of selecting the explanatory variable candidates, some important issues, such as direct or indirect effects of the variables on price behavior, availability of the variables before real-time, choice of appropriate forecasting horizon and market time-line, are taken into account. Price and demand in three neighboring electricity markets, namely, the New York, New England, and PJM electricity markets, are also considered among the explanatory variable candidates. Electricity market clearing prices in Ontario are calculated every five minutes. However, the hourly average of these 5-minute prices, referred to as the Hourly Ontario Energy Price (HOEP), applies to most Ontario market participants for financial settlements. Therefore, this thesis concentrates on forecasting the HOEP by employing various linear and non-linear modeling approaches. The multivariate Transfer Function (TF), the multivariate Dynamic Regression (DR), and the univariate Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) are the linear time series models examined. The non-linear approaches comprise the Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS), and the Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) neural networks. Multivariate HOEP models are developed considering two forecasting horizons, i.e. 3 hours and 24 hours, taking into account the case market time-line and the ability of market participants to react to the generated forecasts. Univariate ARIMA models are also developed for day-ahead market prices in the three neighboring electricity markets. The developed models are used to generate price forecasts for low-demand, summer peak-demand, and winter peak-demand periods. The HOEP forecasts generated in this work are significantly more accurate than any other available forecast. However, the accuracy of the generated HOEP forecasts is relatively lower than those of the price forecasts for Ontario's neighboring electricity markets. The low accuracy of the HOEP forecasts is explained by conducting a price volatility analysis across the studied electricity markets. This volatility analysis reveals that the Ontario electricity market has the most volatile prices compared to the neighboring electricity markets. The high price volatility of the Ontario electricity market is argued to be the direct result of the real-time nature of this market. It is further observed that the inclusion of the just-in-time publicly available data in multivariate HOEP models does not improve the HOEP forecast accuracy significantly. This lack of significant improvement is attributed to the information content of the market data which are available just-in-time. The generated HOEP forecasts are used to plan the short-term operation of two typical demand-side case-study BEMCs. The first case-study BEMC is a process industry load with access to on-site generation facilities, and the second one is a municipal water plant with controllable electric demand. Optimization models are developed for the next-day operation of these BEMCs in order to minimize their total energy costs. The optimization problems are solved when considering market price forecasts as the expected future prices for electricity. The economic impact of price forecast inaccuracy on both the case study is analyzed by introducing the novel Forecast Inaccuracy Economic Impact (FIEI) index. The findings of this analysis show that electricity market price forecasts can effectively be used for short-term scheduling of demand-side BEMCs. However, sensitivity to price forecast inaccuracy significantly varies across market participants. In other words, a set of price forecasts may be considered ``accurate enough'' for a customer, while leading to significant economic losses for another.

Smart cards are small, portable, tamper-resistant computers used in security-sensitive applications ranging from identification and access control to payment systems. Side-channel attacks, which use clues from timing, power consumption, or even electromagnetic (EM) signals, can compromise the security of these devices and have been an active research area since 1996. Newer ``contactless'' cards communicate using radio frequency (RF), without physical contact. These contactless smart cards are sometimes grouped with radio frequency identification (RFID) devices in popular usage of the term. This thesis investigates devices that use the ISO 14443 (proximity card) protocol, a large class of contactless/RFID devices. Although contactless smart cards are increasingly common, very few reproducible practical attacks have been published. Presently, there are no known documented side-channel attacks against contactless Java Cards (open standard multi-application cards) using generic unmodified hardware. This thesis develops a research-friendly platform for investigating side-channel attacks on ISO 14443 contactless smart cards. New techniques for measurement and analysis, as well as the first fully documented EM side-channel monitoring procedure, are presented for a contactless Java Card. These techniques use unmodified, commercial off-the-shelf hardware and are both practical and broadly applicable to a wide range of ISO 14443 devices, including many payment cards and electronic passports.

Although there have been tremendous improvements in crash safety there has been an increasing trend in side impact fatalities, rising from 30% to 37% of total fatalities from 1975 to 2004 (NHTSA, 2004). Between 1979 and 2004, 63% of AIS≥4 injuries in side impact resulted from thoracic trauma (NHTSA, 2004). Lateral impact fatalities, although decreasing in absolute numbers, now comprise a larger percentage of total fatalities. Safety features are typically more effective in frontal collisions compared to side impact due to the reduced distance between the occupant and intruding vehicle in side impact collisions. Therefore, an increased understanding of the mechanisms governing side impact injury is necessary in order to improve occupant safety in side impact auto crash. This study builds on an advanced numerical human body model with focus on a detailed thoracic model, which has been validated using available post mortem human subject (PMHS) test data for pendulum and side sled impact tests (Forbes, 2005). Crash conditions were investigated through use of a modified side sled model used to reproduce the key conditions present in full scale crash tests. The model accounts for several important factors that contribute to occupant response based on the literature. These factors are; the relative velocities between the seat and door, the occupant to door distance, the door shape and compliance. The side sled model was validated by reproducing the crash conditions present in FMVSS 214 and IIHS side impact tests and comparing the thoracic compression, velocity, and Viscous Criterion (VC) response determined by the model to the response of the ES-2 dummy used in the crash tests. Injury was predicted by evaluating VCmax, selected for its ability to predict rate-sensitive soft tissue injury during thoracic compression (Lau & Viano, 1986). The Ford Taurus FMVSS 214 and Nissan Maxima IIHS tests were selected from side impact crash test data found in the NHTSA database because they included factors not present in standard side impact test procedures. These factors were; the presence of door accelerometers used to provide input velocities to the side impact model and the use of a ES-2 (rather than the SID) to facilitate comparison of VC response to the human body model. Also, the two crash test procedures (FMVSS 214 & IIHS) were selected to ensure accurate side impact model response to different impact scenarios. The side impact model was shown to closely reproduce the timing and injury response of the full-scale FMVSS 214 side impact test of a Ford Taurus, as well as the IIHS side impact test of a Nissan Maxima. The side impact model was then used to investigate the effects of door to occupant spacing, door velocity profile, armrest height, seat foam, restraint system, and arm position. It was found that the VCmax was controlled by both the first and second peaks typically found in door velocity profiles, but the effect of each varies depending on the situation. This study found that VCmax was reduced by 73-88% when door intrusion was eliminated compared to the VC response incurred by an intruding door. Also, the presence of a deformable door based on physical geometry and material characteristics rather than a simplified rigid door reduced VCmax by 16% in this study. The study on seat foam determined that significant effects on VC response can be made by modest adjustments in foam properties. Low stiffness seat foam was found to increase VCmax by 41% when compared to the VC response when using high stiffness foam. Arm position has been proven to be a relevant factor in side impact crash. Positioning the arms parallel to the thorax, in the “down” position, caused a 42% increase in VCmax when compared to the VC response determined with the arms positioned at 45 degrees. Finally, although restraint systems have limited influence on side impact crash safety compared to front and rear impacts, this study found that the presence of a pre-tensioning restraint system reduced VCmax by 13% when compared to the VC response of an un-belted occupant. It should be noted that the current study was limited to velocity profiles obtained from a specific FMVSS 214 test and therefore results and observations are restricted to the confines of the input conditions used. However, the side impact model developed is a useful tool for evaluating factors influencing side impact and can be used to determine occupant response in any side impact crash scenario when the appropriate input conditions are provided.

Thoracic injury is the most dominant segment of automotive side impact traumas. A numerical model that can predict such injuries in crash simulation is essential to the process of designing a safer motor vehicle. The focus of this study was to develop a numerical model to predict lung response and injury in side impact car crash scenarios. A biofidelic human body model was further developed. The geometry, material properties and boundary condition of the organs and soft tissues within the thorax were improved with the intent to ensure stress transmission continuity and model accuracy. The thoracic region of the human body model was revalidated against three pendulum and two sled impact scenarios at different velocities. Other body regions such as the shoulder, abdomen, and pelvis were revalidated. The latest model demonstrated improvements in every response category relative to the previous version of the human body model. The development of the lung model involved advancements in the material properties, and boundary conditions. An analytical approach was presented to correct the lung properties to the in-situ condition. Several injury metric predictor candidates of pulmonary contusion were investigated and compared based on the validated pendulum and sled impact scenarios. The results of this study confirmed the importance of stress wave focusing, reflection, and concentration within the lungs. The bulk modulus of the lung had considerable influence on injury metric outcomes. Despite the viscous criterion yielded similar response for different loading conditions, this study demonstrated that the level of contusion volume varied with the size of the impact surface area. In conclusion, the human body model could be used for the analysis of thoracic response in automotive impact scenarios. The overall model is capable of predicting thoracic response and lung contusion. Future development on the heart and aorta can expand the model capacity to investigate all vital organ injury mechanisms.

Mitigating injury in side impact has been an important topic of research for decades. In the mid 1980’s the American government began a program intended to improve the crashworthiness of vehicles in side impact. This program ultimately led to the introduction of a dynamic side impact test (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 214), which new vehicles must pass, along with a very similar test aimed at consumer awareness (New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) side impact test). The work presented in this thesis involved the study and simulation of these tests to evaluate occupant response in side impact, with a focus on the thoracic response. In the first portion of the work presented here, an in-depth study of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) crash test database was performed. In this study the results of the side impact crash tests of 72 vehicles were examined to understand the general trends seen in this type of testing with regards to vehicle velocity, side intrusion, and occupant injury prediction. A series of average velocity profile curves was created from accelerometer data at 18 measurement points on each vehicle crash tested. Additionally the injury criterion measured by the front seat occupant was plotted against several vehicle variables (such as mass and occupant arm to door distance) to study the effect these variable had on the injury predicted by the occupant. No single variable was shown to have a strong correlation to injury, although increasing door intrusion distance, peak lateral velocity, the Head Injury Criterion (HIC), and pelvic acceleration were found to positively correlate to thoracic injury. In addition, increasing vehicle model year, vehicle mass, and arm to door (AD) distance showed negative correlations with thoracic injury. Following the survey of the NHTSA database, a finite element model of the NHTSA side impact test was developed. This model included a full scale Ford Taurus model, a NHTSA barrier model and three side impact anthropometric test device (ATD) occupant models, each representing a different 50th percentile male dummy. Validation of this model was carried out by comparing the simulated vehicle component velocity results to the corridors developed in the NHSTA crash test database study as well as comparing these velocities, the vehicle deformation profile, and the occupant velocity, acceleration and rib deflection to several Ford Taurus crash tests from a similar vintage to the finite element model. As this model was intended as a ‘baseline’ case to study side impact and occupant kinematics in side impact, side airbags were not included in this model. A lack of experimental data and a lack of consensuses within the automotive crash community on the proper method of modeling these devices and their effectiveness in real world impacts also led to their exclusion. Following model validation, a parametric study was carried out to assess the importance of the initial position of the occupant on the vehicle door velocity profile and the predicted occupant injury response. Additionally the effect of the door trim material properties, arm rest properties and the effect of seat belt use were studied. It was found that the lateral position of the occupant had an effect on the door velocity profile, while the vertical and longitudinal position did not. The use of seatbelts was shown to have no significant effect in these simulations, due to minimal interaction between the restraint system and occupant during side impact. Furthermore, there was a general decreasing trend in the injury predicted as the initial position of the occupant was moved further inboard, down and forward in the vehicle. Stiffer interior trim was found to improve the injury prediction of the occupant, while changing the material of the foam door inserts had no effect. It was found that in general the occupant remained in position, due to the inertia of the occupant, while the seat began moving towards the centerline of the vehicle. Future considerations could include more advanced restraint systems to couple the occupant more effectively to the seat, or to develop side interior trim that engages the occupant earlier to reduce the relative velocity between the occupant and intruding door. Overall, the model correlated well with experimental data and provided insight into several areas which could lead to improved occupant protection in side impact. Future work should include integrating side airbags into the model, widening the focus of the areas of injury to include other body regions and integrating more detailed human body models.

Certification programs have grown exponentially over the past decade to respond to the increasing demand for more green and sustainable modes of operation from the part of customers. These schemes can be used as powerful tools to assist in the conservation of natural, human and cultural resources, helping better protect popular tourist destinations for future years to come. However, despite their potential to help codify important principles such as ecotourism and sustainable tourism, certification programs are currently facing several challenges that are hindering their overall practices. Much of the present tourism literature has examined the environmental aspect of these programs and the monitoring challenges they are currently facing. However, little research has explored the socio-cultural side of certification programs even if current literature increasingly demonstrates the strong connection that exists between environment, community and local culture when aiming to properly develop tourism in host destinations. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the importance and feasibility of adopting socio-cultural criteria in existing certification programs as to achieve proper sustainability. This goal is attained by using a qualitative research approach and by examining Green Globe certified hotels on the island of Barbados. The results of this research confirms that the culture, history, geography and/or policies of a tourist destination can shape and influence certification programs and their overall practices. This study also provided several examples of social and cultural actions that hotels could adopt, or have already adopted, demonstrating that it is feasible for certification programs to require tourism businesses to adhere to socio-cultural criteria before achieving certification. Moreover, results revealed several benefits that the accommodation sector can gain by becoming environmentally, socially and culturally responsible. The main conclusion of this study is that socio-cultural practices are necessary components to properly achieve newer designations of ecotourism and sustainable tourism, and therefore, certification programs need to include and/or make mandatory socio-cultural criteria in their programs. It is hoped that this information can provide guidelines on how to further implement both environmental and socio-cultural criteria for both certification programs and the accommodation sector. Although this research revealed interesting information on the socio-cultural aspect of these programs, much remains to be examined on this matter and recommendations for future studies are suggested at the end of this thesis.