This practicum intends to improve the landscape surrounding the Investors Group Field stadium at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It addresses the site’s current challenges, the proposed changes to the neighboring infrastructure, and how these improvements are better-suited to the daily lives of fans, residents, and University of Manitoba students. The design proposal further aims at creating a more welcoming and enjoyable experience for visitors first arriving at the stadium. Moreover, it shows how fans, residents, and University of Manitoba students would benefit from the interrelationship between Investors Group Field, University of Manitoba, and a changing new neighboring infrastructure — a “win-win” situation entitled Doppelpass (“one-two pass”). / May 2016

Over the past decades, anti-globalization groups have denounced trade as a major source of environmental degradation in both the developed and developing worlds. From heated debates on trade in endangered species to the more recent public concern about the global climate, the international community has been struggling over maintaining a balance between economic growth and environmental protection in the context of globalization. Drawing on panel data of more than 170 countries, my research investigates whether trade openness results in more environmental and climate degradation. More specifically, I look at how different levels of development interact with trade openness and domestic value added ratio. These interactions have important implications for environmental and climate outcomes. / Independent Study for the Degree of B.A., Professor David Deese.

No description available.

This thesis is about improving the suitability of the time domain Boundary Element Method (BEM) for predicting the scattering from surface treatments used to improve the acoustics of rooms. The discretised integral equations are typically solved by marching on in time from initial silence; however, this being iterative has potential for divergence. Such instability and high computational cost have prohibited the time domain BEM from widespread use. The underlying integral equation is known to not possess unique solutions at certain frequencies, physically interpreted as cavity resonances, and these manifest as resonant poles, all excited and potentially divergent due to numerical error. This has been addressed by others using the combined field integral equation; an approach built upon in this thesis. Accuracy and stability may also be compromised by poor discretisation and integration accuracy. The latter is investigated on real-world surfaces, demonstrating that the popular Gaussian integration schemes are not suitable in some circumstances. Instead a contour integration scheme capable of resolving the integrands‟ singular nature is developed. Schroeder diffusers are Room Acoustic treatments which comprise wells separated by thin fins. The algorithm is extended to model such surfaces, applying the combined field integral equation to the body and an open surface model to the fins. It is shown that this improves stability over an all open surface model. A new model for compliant surfaces is developed, comparable to the surface impedance model used in the frequency domain. This is implemented for surfaces with welled and absorbing sections, permitting modelling of a Schroeder diffuser as a box with surface impedances that simulate the delayed reflections caused by the wells. A Binary Amplitude Diffuser - a partially absorbing diffuser - is also modelled. These new models achieve good accuracy but not universal stability and avenues of future research are proposed to address the latter issue.

Nanoparticle toxicity has become a major topic of interest due to the inevitable exposure of these nanomaterials to both humans and the environment. Nanotechnology is a rapidly growing industry with diverse material resources and an extensive market for commercialization and introduction of nanomaterials into consumer products. The problem with this flourishing technology is that it has far outgrown research based on the safety and toxicity of the nanomaterials, which in bulk are generally nontoxic. The need for research in determining the toxic effects on cells and the implications it may have on the environment have grown but the different techniques, cell systems and nanoparticles employed are generally to diverse and conflicting in overall results that determination toxicity is nearly impossible. The need for a universal technique to study the interaction of nanoparticles with cells and decouple the molecular effects (chemical properties) from the“nanospecific" effects (including size, concentration, surface charge, functionality and polarity) is apparent. It is additionally necessary to determine the mechanisms associated with nanoparticle-induced cytotoxicity in order to better understand the problems posed to both human and environmental health and then develop new safer nanoparticles. Therefore, the focus of this study is to determine the nano-specific (physical) properties, including size and functionalization that cause toxicity, specifically through interaction with a cell membrane. A supported lipid bilayer (SLB) composed of L-α-phosphatidylcholine (egg PC) was used as a model cell membrane to test the effects of 2, 5, 10 and 40 nm gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Given the imminent exposure of nanoparticles to the environment it is important to determine how nanoparticles would behave in the presence of natural organic matter or polymers which are naturally present in environmental systems. Poly(methacrylic acid) (PMA) can be used to represent the polymers normally found in the environment. AuNPs were diluted in PMA in order to simulate fundamental environmental conditions. Analysis was done using a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D), which measures the frequency (f) and dissipation (D) changes directly associated with mass and conformation changes of the SLB. Different overtones for f and D allow for theoretical interpretation of changes correlated to different layers of the membrane. The 2 and 5 nm particles were found to interact strongly with the lipid bilayer by adsorbing to and/or partially/completely penetrating into the lipid bilayer presumably due to a hydrophobic coating caused by PMA adsorption to the NP surface. The penetration caused a much more rigid membrane due to higher lipid packing caused by nanoparticle addition. The 10 and 40 nm particles interaction with the bilayer were not affected by the presence of PMA. Both AuNP sizes removed mass from the membrane with losses similar in de-ionized water and PMA solution. Removal of membrane mass (lipids/hydration) caused a more flexible membrane. It was determine that sized is the limiting factor for nanoparticle solubilization into the membrane. It can be concluded from the results that size coupled with natural organic matter affects the cytotoxicity of the nanoparticles to the membrane. A study was done with 12 nm functionalized AuNPs in the presence of humic acid, a well-known and more complex and realistic model for natural organic matter. A PC lipid bilayer was used to simulate a model cell membrane and QCM-D techniques were utilized in the determination of toxicity and mechanistic interaction of nanoparticles with a lipid bilayer. Functionalized AuNPs were shown to decrease the rigidity of the lipid bilayer by increasing the dissipation and decreasing the mass associated with the adsorbed film (SLB). The presence of humic acid stabilized the nanoparticles and provided increased electrostatic repulsion which resulted in decreased mass losses from the membrane and much smaller decreases in membrane rigidity. It was concluded that presence of humic acid reduces the effects of functionalized nanoparticle interaction with a lipid bilayer. These results may mean that natural organic matter has the ability to reduce the cytotoxic effects of nanoparticles released into the environment. Overall, the QCM-D was found to provide valuable information regarding the possible toxic properties and mechanisms in which different gold nanoparticle interact with a supported lipid bilayer under environmental conditions. The information provided by the studies performed has shed much light on the interaction of gold nanoparticles with a supported lipid bilayer in the presence of model natural organic matter. The experiments done in this study are the first steps towards developing an assay with the ability to determine the toxic physical properties and mechanisms by which nanoparticles interact with lipid bilayers will greatly aid in development of non-toxic nano-materials. The technology and techniques used in this study will greatly improve the field by solidifying one technique to use in the quantitative approach studying nanoparticle/cell interactions. The use of AFM techniques in conjunction with the QCM-D would be highly beneficial by facilitating better understanding of the exact mechanisms by which nanoparticles induce cytotoxicity.

This narrative is retrospective and reflective as well as projective. The thesis of a PhD by publication does not inherently align with a principal proposition. The building, books, chapters and articles collected in this PhD have been shaped by interaction with varied professional, academic and cultural environments and milieus. Professional contexts that have triggered research questions and enriched research methodologies range from architectural practice to scholarly research and collaborative field research undertaken internationally; cultural milieus include Germany, Switzerland, the UK, and, recently, countries of the Global South. The work was not produced with a singular destination in sight; rather, it proceeds along a set of distinct, but interdependent vectors, through changes in direction, displaced vantage points, and transposition between corporeal, architectural and urban scales. This narrative juxtaposes, confronts and discusses the work collected in the portfolio, but does not seek to unify through imposing a singular thesis. The portfolio comprises of a building project, introductory essays to three edited books, three book chapters and nine journal articles, designed and built, written and published over a period of eighteen years from 1998 to 2016. The narrative reconstructs successive questions about diagrams that led to the building project, books, and articles, and the contexts which prompted the questions and frame the work. Rather than aligned to a linear narration, the work is presented along four parallel but interrelated paths of enquiry (Sections A, B, C, D) in which one output led to another, sometimes directly, at other times over detours and longer intervals. The work is introduced through four themes that cut across those paths. While framing and consolidating a retrospective view, the narrative of this PhD also exposes previously unrecognized resonances. New meaning arises from juxtaposition, grouping, contextualising and ordering of outputs and trajectories. In this sense, the retrospective view becomes prospective and projective.

Education delivered through the Internet known as E-learning is growing tremendously and attracts researchers’ attention in terms of its pedagogical merits. It is in that context of investigating the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for efficient learning that the current research was carried out. This study consists of a critical assessment at a Local Level of UNISA’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE1) in terms of Diana Laurillard’s Pedagogical Conversational Framework. It focuses on assessing how the E-learning platform (called SAKAI) used by UNISA supports the learning process of online students staying in Rwanda. A qualitative approach was followed and documentary analysis along with a questionnaire was used to collect useful data. Research findings are presented and discussed under two themes: the requirements for effective online learning and the use of the local UNISA’s VLE to support effective online learning of students based in Rwanda. It is revealed that effective online learning is a function of different aspects that can be grouped under three critical factors: Pedagogical, Technological and Managerial. Although, I have argued that the Pedagogical factor should be considered as the most important and guide all E-learning projects, the three factors mentioned are interrelated and interdependent. Findings about the use of the local UNISA VLE to support the learning process show that it provides sufficient tools to support all activities necessary for learning activities, as summarized in the Conversational Framework. However, the tools provided by the E-learning platform are underused by participants. Some necessary learning activities are not carried out, even though the E-learning platform used provides tools which could support those activities. The under usage of available tools is caused by two factors: inadequate consideration given to some necessary learning activities and the lack of skills on both usage of and information on the capability of UNISA’s VLE. These handicap the effective online learning. The gaps found in VLE used by UNISA are also mentioned. The research report ends with recommendations for more effective E-learning in local UNISA VLE. Further studies in related areas are suggested. 1

Le fonctionnement des systèmes cellulaires est largement conditionné par leurs topologies, c'est-à-dire les compartiments (caractérisés chacun par un type) qui les composent et les dispositions relatives les uns par rapport aux autres de ces compartiments. Cependant, on constate généralement une relative faiblesse dans la prise en compte de la topologie dans certains outils à base de règles pour la modélisation des processus biologiques, ces outils intégrant par ailleurs de bonnes capacités de simulation et d'analyse de modèles. Les travaux présentés dans cette thèse proposent une approche de modélisation qui consiste à définir les modèles en considérant d'une part un ensemble de règles génériques traduisant les comportements des types de compartiments en fonction des molécules et d'autre part l'abstraction d'une compartimentation cellulaire par un graphe d'échanges qui donne en particulier les voisinages existant entre les différents compartiments. Ces deux éléments sont couplés, ce qui permet d'obtenir un modèle intermédiaire qui est le résultat de l'instanciation des règles génériques en fonction des contraintes issues du graphe d'échanges. La traduction de ce modèle intermédiaire vers le langage de règles d'un outil cible (choisi entre BIOCHAM et PATHWAY LOGIC) constitue la dernière étape de modélisation et permet d'utiliser les capacités de simulation et d'analyse de modèles de cet outil. / The functioning of cellular systems is widely conditioned by their topology, that is compartments (characterized each by a type) which compose them and the relative position of these compartments with regard to the others. However, we notice generally a relative weakness in the consideration of the topology in certain tools for the rule-based modeling of biological processes, these tools integrating besides good capacities of models simulation and analysis. The works presented in this thesis propose an approach which consists in defining the models by considering on one hand a set of generic rules translating the behavior of the types of compartments according to molecules and on the other hand the abstraction of a cellular compartmentation by an exchanges graph which gives in particular the neighborhood existing between the various compartments. These two elements are coupled, what allows the obtention of an intermediate model which is the result of the instantiation of the generic rules according to the constraints stemming from the exchanges graph. The translation of this intermediate model towards the language of rules of a target tool (chosen between BIOCHAM and PATHWAY LOGIC) constitutes the last stage of the modeling and allows using the capacities of simulation and analysis of the chosen tool.

Mestrado em Controlo de Qualidade / MSc in Quality Control

A delay discounting survey was provided to 30 participants to assess hypothetical choices. Each question provided choices between using a complementary plastic bag and harming an ocean animal or purchasing a reusable bag and not harming an ocean animal. Participants were randomly assigned to complete a control or values-based activity. The values-based activity utilized Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to assist in identifying participants’ values and committed actions, whereas the control activity included a word association game. Discounting scores were calculated across delay discounting surveys conducted pre- and post-activity completion. The purpose of the study was to assess relationships between completion of activities (values-based or control) and discounting scores on items pertaining to environmental sustainability. Implications, limitations, and future directions are provided and discussed