This dissertation study the effectiveness of antenna switching diversity for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems such as in IEEE 802.11. One of the ways to exploit the multiple antenna configurations is to use antenna switching diversity. Antenna switching diversity is used in wireless systems to combat the effect of fading, as we can combine multiple independent copies of the same signal into a total signal with high quality. In this work, we implement and compare the performance of two systems, antenna switching diversity system and single-input single-output (SISO) system. We firstly study the performance of the antenna switching diversity system as we increases the number of antennas compared to the performance of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or gain of the system. The performance of antenna switching diversity is studied on several difference configurations such as receive diversity where there are multiple receive antennas, and transmit diversity where the there are multiple transmit antennas. The study is performed on eight (8) antenna switching, on either the transmit or receive side. The implementation of antenna switching diversity system shows that there are definite improvement on signal-to-noise ratio (gain) value compared to single-input single-output system signal-to-noise ratio (gain).

Native prairie grasses of western Canada have the potential for development as turf and forage grass cultivars for semiarid environments. Nuttall’s salt-meadow, or alkali grass (Puccinellia nuttalliana (Shultes) Hitchc.), is a native grass species in North America well known for its salt tolerance. Little information is available about the genetic diversity of natural populations of this species. Understanding the genetic diversity of this species is a prerequisite for developing populations for forage or turf use in western Canada. The objectives of this study were to assess the variation in agronomic/morphological characters and AFLP markers of collections of Puccinellia and identify promising populations and genotypes for turf and forage utilization. A four replicate randomized complete block field nursery of twenty-four collections from western Canada was established in 2010. Plant height, tiller number, crown diameter, dry matter yield, seed yield, and leaf related characters were measured for each collection in the summers of 2011 and 2012. Considerable phenotypic variation was detected among and within the twenty-four populations. Promising populations and genotypes were identified with respect to their superior turf and forage related characteristics. The amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technique was used to assess the comparative genetic diversity of the collections. Five AFLP primer pairs were employed to screen 15 genotypes from each population, and 185 polymorphic AFLP bands were scored for each sample. Their frequencies of occurrence ranged from 0.02 to 0.99 with a mean of 0.61. The analysis of molecular variance revealed more than 96% of the total AFLP variation resided within populations. Populations were not highly differentiated with only 4% of the total AFLP variation residing among populations. A Mantel test revealed a significant but low correlation between genetic and geographic distances (r=0.293; P=0.024) and non-significant correlation between genetic and phenotypic distances (r=0.070; P=0.282). Implications for P. nuttalliana conservation, germplasm sampling, and cultivar development are discussed.

The roles and responsibilities of planners in managing culturally diverse cities are beginning to be articulated in the literature. "Visioning,"as planners have used it in recent years, has the potential to help realize "multicultural planning" because of its intentions to involve broad public participation and represent diverse interests, thereby promoting equity and facilitating democracy. This exploratory study examines how the City of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada has involved ethnocultural groups through a visioning process. To date, four Vancouver communities containing a sizeable immigrant population have participated in preparing plans for their neighbourhood through the city's Community Visions Program. Information for this study was gathered through a critical review of planning-related documents and key informant interviews with staff and community participants (including those of visible minority background) in the Visions Program. Results from the data collection were grouped into main themes and triangulated for analysis. Results indicate that visioning, as it has been used in Vancouver, is capable of being a useful technique in carrying out multicultural planning. There is evidence that planners have learned a great deal from engaging in multicultural planning, as seen through the increased success of outreach in the latter two communities to undergo the Visions Program. This suggests that Vancouver's visioning exercise will improve simply by virtue of continued outreach. However, it is important to differentiate between the public consultation process and the resultant products in regard to policy and land use change. There appears to be more general satisfaction with the inclusive visioning process than with the end results. Empirical research suggests that if planners are serious about engaging in a multicultural planning process, they will need to guarantee some tangible results that can be seen in the community and that acknowledge and respect cultural diversity.

This dissertation study the effectiveness of antenna switching diversity for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems such as in IEEE 802.11. One of the ways to exploit the multiple antenna configurations is to use antenna switching diversity. Antenna switching diversity is used in wireless systems to combat the effect of fading, as we can combine multiple independent copies of the same signal into a total signal with high quality. In this work, we implement and compare the performance of two systems, antenna switching diversity system and single-input single-output (SISO) system. We firstly study the performance of the antenna switching diversity system as we increases the number of antennas compared to the performance of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or gain of the system. The performance of antenna switching diversity is studied on several difference configurations such as receive diversity where there are multiple receive antennas, and transmit diversity where the there are multiple transmit antennas. The study is performed on eight (8) antenna switching, on either the transmit or receive side. The implementation of antenna switching diversity system shows that there are definite improvement on signal-to-noise ratio (gain) value compared to single-input single-output system signal-to-noise ratio (gain).

When the case for organizational change is presented as a “vision,” is action to support the change more likely? This notion was tested in two studies in the context of diversity issues at work. Diversity was selected as the context because Canadian workplaces are becoming increasingly diverse, and organizations are confronted with the challenge of addressing diversity issues appropriately and effectively. Moreover, theoretically critical features of visions, such as a connection with personal values, may be present in a vision of diversity. It was hypothesized that a vision—a picture of a desirable future state—may be more effective when it is aligned with individuals’ self interests and personal values. In Study 1, small groups of undergraduate male and female students (N=221) were presented with a vision of a proposed Employment Equity (EE) program that focused on raising women's employment rates. Self-interest was captured in the design as the interaction of participant gender with extent of employment change for women (small vs. large) resulting from the implementation of the EE program. Value orientation was captured by participants’ importance ranking of social justice on a pre-study measure. Verifying the self interest manipulation, men were seen to perceive that this program would influence their career advancement negatively and this effect was significantly stronger in the condition with the large increase in women’s employment. The most striking finding emerged with the three-way interaction between gender, social justice orientation, and the extent of employment change condition as these variables affected participants’ willingness to support the proposed EE program. Men who placed lower value on social justice showed a straightforward self-interest effect, with lowest support for the policy occurring when the increase in the women’s employment rate was greater. In contrast, men with higher social justice value were more favourable toward the policy that produced a greater change in women’s employment rates. For these men, personal values seemed to trump self-interests. Results involving positive affect mirrored the pattern of these results. Compared to a small employment increase for women, a large mandated increase in women’s employment led men who placed lower value on social justice to report feeling less positive. However, men who placed higher value on social justice reported feeling more positive when the mandated increase in women’s employment was large. Study 2 further examined the role of values in responding to a vision involving diversity. It was hypothesized that when values guide behaviour, the underlying motivation is relatively autonomous. That is, instead of yielding to guilt or social pressure, the values-guided person acts to attain identity fulfillment. To investigate this matter, undergraduate students (N=475) were randomly assigned to watch either a visionary presentation about promoting workforce diversity or a business case presentation. The visionary presentation described a prejudice-free, inclusive workplace; the business case covered the legalities of diversity. It was found that participants whose values were diversity-oriented felt more “inspired” than other participants overall, and this effect was significantly stronger in the vision condition. The primary difference in findings between experimental conditions involved the association between a measure of autonomous motivation and participants’ reports of intended action. A positive, significant association was obtained in the vision condition; no significant association was obtained with the business case. These results are understandable from the conditional nature of autonomous motivation as assessed here. That is, in both conditions, some people (i.e., autonomously motivated people) said that if they acted to promote diversity, it would be in order to promote their personal values. However, it was only in the vision condition in which the connection of diversity-promotion action to personal values was made salient. Thus it appears that a vision can influence behaviour by inducing autonomously motivated people to recognize this connection. The vision was not more influential overall in motivating participants to support the proposed cause. Nonetheless results indicated that a vision can be a complementary tool in a diversity change implementation by sparking an interest to act within the right people. Taken together, the findings from these two studies indicate that a key way a vision motivates behaviour is by forging the link between values and a course of action.

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, so called OFDM, has found a prominent place in various wireless systems and networks as a method of encoding data over multiple carrier frequencies. OFDM-based communication systems, however, lacking inherent diversity, are capable of benefiting from different spatial diversity schemes. One such scheme, Cyclic Delay Diversity (CDD) is a method to provide spatial diversity which can be also interpreted as a Space-Time Block Coding (STBC) step. The main idea is to add more transmit antennas at the transmitter side sending the same streams of data, though with differing time delays. In [1], the capacity of a point-to-point OFDM-based channel with CDD is derived for inputs with Gaussian and discrete constellations. In this dissertation, we use the same approach for an OFDM-based single-input single-output (SISO) two-user interference channel (IC). In our model, at the receiver side, the interference is treated as noise. Moreover, since the channel is time-varying (slow-fading), the Shannon capacity in the strict sense is not well-defined, so the expected value of the instantaneous capacity is calculated instead. Furthermore, the channel coefficients are unknown to the transmitters. Thus, in this setting, the probability of outage emerges as a reasonable performance measure. Adding an extra antenna in the transmitters, the SISO IC turns into an MISO IC, which results in increasing the diversity. Both the continuous and discrete inputs are studied and it turns out that decoding interference is helpful in some cases. The results of the simulations for discrete inputs indicate that there are improvements in terms of outage capacity compared to the ICs with single-antenna transmitters.

The roles of urban public spaces in urban cores are being re-assessed across many North American cities. Public spaces within downtown cores are essential in ensuring the long- term viability of such urban centers economically and socially. Public spaces have been researched by utilizing a number of theories and frameworks in the past few decades, most notably through a socio-cultural lens. Another possible method of assessing what makes a great public space in a downtown core is by looking at how diverse a range of activities and uses it provides. The City of Vancouver’s downtown core has undergone massive redevelopment schemes in the past two decades. The downtown area has been transformed into a hub that not only retains major commercial and retail functions in the City but also boasting an active and increasing residential population living in mixed-use high density condominiums. Downtown Vancouver’s public spaces have also been increasing in number during the past two decades, on par with promoting a more active outdoor lifestyle for both residents and visitors. Assessing the degree to which the range of uses and activities meet the diverse range of users’ expectations and requirements is a possible method of analyzing these spaces’ viability in the public realm. Data for this research was collected by reviewing previous literature, unobtrusive observation and mapping of activities, compiling contextual maps of surrounding areas and usage maps for each selected public space, administering on-site user surveys, and conducting semi-structured interviews with professional and academic actors involved with planning, maintaining, and designing public spaces. Through conducting this research, it was found out that while some public spaces in Downtown Vancouver are more successful in terms of being used in a variety of ways, others are less so. Downtown Vancouver was also found to be lacking central public spaces such as plazas and squares, as these spaces would provide for a wider range of activities in the public realm. A number of strategies need to be taken by planners, officials in the City, and other actors in order to ensure more diverse range of activities in Downtown Vancouver’s public spaces in the future.

The focus of this thesis is to explore the composition of the Skunk works’ innovation team, which directly influences team performance. Such research is important in order to understand how the Skunk works team deals with innovation. Specifically, how the team’s size, diversity and the roles of team members can influence its performance and have an effect on its success. During the time when we were looking for the definition of Skunk works we mostly found that it is a small group of highly qualified and skilled people in different fields. However, we did not find so many theories about the composition of Skunk works teams. This was due to the high level of secrecy in this field, because Skunk works was originally used only for military purposes. To have a more clear view, we decided to use theories from different research fields, such as research about Skunk works itself, and about team and team composition. We found that it is quite easy to find literature about the role of the leader as a member of the innovation team, who can also be known as the “champion”. However, on another hand we found that it is quite difficult to find information about the whole team, specifically about roles in the team. We believe that, even though the leader has a key role, a well-balanced combination of roles should be also taken into consideration in such teams. The research method deployed in this thesis is multiple-case study, where we have used three cases which are operating in different companies and industries, such as entertainment, scientific research and industrial manufacturing, as well in different geographical positions, such as Sweden and Spain. We have collected data via interviews and secondary data, where we interviewed a representative of these three companies via personal interviews and by e-mail. The findings from this thesis provide evidence that the team composition elements, such as roles in the team, as well its size and diversity can influence on further efficiency of the team. During our research we found that all three companies, especially teams in those companies, could be good examples of Skunk works. Moreover, during the research we found that our findings can be in line with existing studies, that it is unnecessary that the project should be in total secret or fully mandated and that there are a lot of other types of Skunk works teams as well. Also during the research we confirmed with other present studies required characteristics for the “champion” and for other team members. Another finding was about the optimal number of team members in a Skunk works team. The main conclusions drawn from this thesis are that firstly, the composition of a Skunk works team can influence the further team productivity and success of the project. Secondly, that the optimal size of team should not exceed ten people. Thirdly, we can conclude that properly chosen roles as well as characteristics of team members can have an influence on the further success of an innovation project. / Antonio Estevez Luna

Caryl Phillips’s novel Crossing the River deals with European colonialism and the consequences of it. Crossing the River is a novel which embraces characters from colonized cultures as well as characters from colonizing cultures. Following a timeline that begins in 1752 and ends in 1963, the novel shows slavery in progress as well as what transpires in the aftermath of slavery        In this essay I will argue that Caryl Phillips demonstrates the complexity of colonialism and slavery in his novel Crossing the River; he approaches the two concepts from different perspectives and shows us that colonialism and slavery are complicated concepts. Caryl Phillips uses narrative to demonstrate the negative sides of colonialism and slavery, to show that the negative aspects of the two concepts can affect not only the colonized people but also the colonizing people.        Colonialism, in its traditional sense, is present in some of the novel’s episodes but slavery, in different forms, appears in all episodes. Nevertheless, all episodes in Crossing the River have a common origin; which Phillips reminds us about by using the relationship between plot and story. Diversity is an important theme in the novel. From a narrative perspective, Crossing the River has a diversity of narrators who tell their stories as well as other persons’ stories. There are female narrators as well as male ones; some narrators are known while other narrators are unknown. The ways the episodes are told are diversified. Some of the episodes follow a chronological line (“The Pagan Coast” and “Crossing the River”) while other episodes jump back and forth in time (“West” and “Somewhere in England”). The forms of narration are diversified, not only between the individual episodes but also within some of the episodes. Crossing the River plays with diversity in several layers. The structure of the novel is as diversified as the number of narrators, a diversity of ways of dealing with the main themes results in a diversity of fates for Phillips’s characters. Caryl Phillips combines structure with content to demonstrate that colonialism and slavery are problematic concepts: the negative consequences of the two concepts can, in different ways and in different degrees, affect colonized people as well as those responsible for colonialism.

This study explores how the unique history, culture, and traditions of Texas A&M University shape students’ perceptions and understandings of diversity and diversity programs. I examine these issues through participant observation of Texas A&M’s football traditions and in-depth, semi-structured interviews with members of the student body. In response to increased media scrutiny, public pressure, and scholastic competition, the current administration has embraced a number of aggressive initiatives to increase diversity among members of the student body. The collision between decades of tradition and the administration’s vision for the future has given rise to tension between members of the student body and the administration, which I argue is due, at least in part, to the culture that began developing at Texas A&M during the middle of the twentieth century as students began reacting to the prospect of change. I conclude that this historical and cultural context continues to impact modern campus life through students’ dedication to tradition. In addition, I suggest that current students tend to assign different meanings and values to the concepts of both tradition and diversity than either faculty members or administrators do, creating tensions that have not been comprehensively examined or understood within the context of the Texas A&M community. Based on these findings, I suggest that proponents of diversity can improve the diversity project at Texas A&M University by giving students more responsibility for diversity programs, emphasizing the process (rather than the results) of diversification, attempting to eradicate all forms of intolerance and injustice on campus, and insisting on a policy of mutual respect.