This dissertation is relevant to structural engineers focusing on seismic design of structures using reinforced masonry. Specifically the thesis focuses on the seismic performance of reinforced masonry shear walls as seismic force resisting systems. / Reinforced masonry (RM) has been gaining a wide acceptance in the low- and mid-rise construction market as an economic and durable structural system. However, challenges still exist in the area of seismic design because of the poor performance of unreinforced masonry during recent earthquake events in Iran 2003, Haiti 2010, Japan 2011, New Zealand 2011 and Nepal 2015. The dissertation investigated the seismic performance of six concrete block structural walls in an effort to evaluate their force-, displacement- and performance- based seismic design parameters. The walls fall under the ductile shear wall/special reinforced wall seismic force resisting system (SFRS) classification according to the current North American masonry design standards. More specifically, the dissertation is focused on evaluating if such walls, designed under the same prescriptive design provisions, having different cross-section configurations would possess similar seismic performance parameters. This was established through an experimental and analytical program by subjecting the walls to a displacement controlled quasi-static cyclic analysis. Different wall configurations were tested including, rectangular, flanged and slab-coupled walls. Test results confirmed that walls designed under the same SFRS classification, but with different configurations, have different seismic performance parameters that included ductility capacity; yield and post yield displacement; stiffness degradation; period elongation and equivalent viscous damping. The current North American masonry design provisions do not account for such difference in the ductility capacities between the walls. The thesis analyses were concluded by quantifying the seismic vulnerability of a RM SFRS comprised of shear walls similar to those tested, through the development of collapse fragility curves and the assignment of an adjusted collapse margin ratio, ACMR following the FEMA P-58 and P-695 guidelines. The system were deemed acceptable since the ACMR was greater than ACMR10% (2.35 > 2.31). Therefore, the selected RM SFRS which was designed to meet the prescriptive requirements of the ductile masonry walls classification of the CSA S304 (CSA 2014), shows potential capacity against collapse under high intensity earthquakes in one of the highest seismic zones in western Canada and it should be considered as a viable SFRS to be used in seismic design. The procedure described in the chapter can be adopted to investigate the collapse fragility of other SFRS in different seismic regions through careful selection and scaling of the ground motion records associated with such region's seismicity. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Incremental Phi* och Field D* är vägplaneringsalgoritmer som uppfyller två egenskaper. Den första är att deras vägar kan korsa en miljö i vilken vinkel som helst. Den andra är att de i en okänd miljö kan planera om sina vägar snabbt ifall de stöter på ett hinder. Detta kan vara användbart i realtidsstrategispel. Detta arbete testar därför deras förmåga att skapa korta vägar och att planera om vägar snabbt för att ta reda på deras styrkor och svagheter. Utöver detta testas också deras tider i den första sökningen de gör när miljön är outforskad samt i de fall där algoritmerna har visat sig ha svagheter, vilket är i tomma miljöer och i återvändsgränder. Resultatet är att Incremental Phi* hittar kortare vägar och planerar om vägar snabbare. Den får också kortare tider i en tom miljö, medan Field D* får bättre tider i den första sökningen och i återvändsgränder. / <p>Det finns övrigt digitalt material (t.ex. film-, bild- eller ljudfiler) eller modeller/artefakter tillhörande examensarbetet som ska skickas till arkivet.</p><p>There are other digital material (eg film, image or audio files) or models/artifacts that belongs to the thesis and need to be archived.</p>

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that affects academic, social, and health functioning. The psychometric properties of measures commonly used in diagnostic settings to assess the constructs of attention, hyperactivity, and executive functioning, including concurrent and incremental validity with other commonly used measures, are not well-established. Additionally, these specific psychometric properties within ecological samples of children and adolescents presenting to community-based clinics is infrequent. The purpose of this dissertation was to describe a sample of children and adolescents presenting to a community-based mental health clinic and to test the concurrent and incremental validity of parent- and teacher-report questionnaires and neuropsychological measures of inattention, hyperactivity, and executive functioning. Participants included a consecutive sample of 597 youth aged six to eighteen years presenting to a community-based mental health clinic for a psychological assessment between 2010 and 2019. Measures included the BASC (2nd and 3rd editions), Conners 3 (long and short forms), BRIEF (1st and 2nd editions), D-KEFS, NEPSY-II, and CPT (2nd and 3rd editions). Approximately 50% of individuals were diagnosed with ADHD. Correlations between attention, hyperactivity, and executive function constructs on questionnaires were significantly and moderately-to-strongly correlated (Spearman’s  = .27-.82) to each other (e.g., BASC Hyperactivity and Conners Hyperactivity/Impulsivity subscales) and across parent and teacher forms (e.g., Conners Parent Inattention and Conners Teacher Inattention subscales). Constructs measured by neuropsychological tests were not significantly correlated to similar constructs measured by other neuropsychological measures or questionnaires (e.g., inhibition measured by NEPSY-II Response Set and BRIEF Inhibition subscale; Spearman’s  = .02-.38). Logistic regression analyses suggested that measures such as the BASC, BRIEF, NEPSY-II, and CPT do not clinically significantly increase prediction of ADHD diagnosis above and beyond the Conners 3. Results indicate convergence of information with potential redundancy in the assessment and diagnosis of ADHD across questionnaire measures and informants. Questionnaires and neuropsychological measures were not correlated, suggesting they measure different constructs or different aspects of the same construct. Results indicate that clinicians may sufficiently rely on questionnaires and reduce the number of other neuropsychological measures administered during a diagnostic assessment without significantly reducing diagnostic accuracy. However, the value of evidence of symptoms in multiple settings and converging information should still be considered.

Denna uppsats är en fallstudie av integreringen av en policysektor med fysisk planering i en territorial governance-process. Fallstudien avser den regionala handlingsplanen för grön infrastruktur, som bland annat är avsedd som underlag för fysisk planering. Uppsatsen belyser vilken typ av kunskap som har mobiliserats, hur lärandet ser ut hos olika aktörer, om eventuella konflikter mellan fysisk planering och grön infrastruktur hanteras, samt rollen som formella och informella samverkansstrukturer spelar. Studien genomförs i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med planerare i sju kommuner i Stockholms län, samt med två handläggare på nationell nivå, och i form av en dokumentkartläggning. Det teoretiska ramverket baseras på territorial governance kombinerat med sektorintegrering, soft spaces och incremental governance. Empirin består av intervjuer och officiella dokument från Naturvårdsverket och regeringen. Uppsatsen visar vikten av att mobilisera kunskap om fysisk planering för sektorintegrering, liksom att bristande horisontell sektorintegrering i policyprocessen kan försvåra för den vertikala integreringen i användningen av det resulterande policydokumentet. Mångfalden av mellankommunala samverkansfora hanterar inte gränsöverskridande grön infrastruktur, och administrativa gränser tycks vara styrande. Slutligen så visar uppsatsen att tidsaspekten är viktig att ha i åtanke i analysen av territorial governance-processer givet incremental governance och institutionellt lärande.

Highway bridges are considered to be one of the most susceptible constituents of transportation networks when they are subjected to severe natural hazards such as earthquakes and environmental exposures like subfreezing temperatures. To facilitate and enhance pre-hazard event mitigation and post-hazard emergency response strategies, probabilistic risk assessment methodologies have attracted increased attention, recently. Seismic fragility assessment is one of the probabilistic techniques which predicts the damage risk of the structure for a given hazard level. While fragility curves can be developed using different methods, such as expert-based, empirical, experimental, analytical, and hybrid, analytical fragility curves are perceived to be the most reliable and least biased technique. Seismic isolation systems are prevalently used in bridge structures to mitigate the damage risk of bridge components against natural hazards. However, the effectiveness of implementing recently emerged isolators such as Stable Unbonded Fiber Reinforced Elastomeric Isolators (SU-FREI) should be examined by developing analytical fragility curves of retrofitted bridges and quantifying the mitigation in the damage probability of different bridge components. In this regard, incorporating the Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) is critical since the lateral response of bridges relies on the relative stiffness of bridge components, such as columns and isolators and the supporting soil. In addition, all bridge components are exposed to environmental stressors like subfreezing temperature that can alter the seismic response of bridges. In the first phase of this thesis, a seismic fragility assessment is carried out on an existing multi-span continuous reinforced concrete bridge. Two bridge representations are developed to simulate the as-built bridge along with its retrofitted counterpart utilizing SU-FREI. An Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) is conducted using 45 synthetic ground motion records developed for eastern Canada and damage limit states are applied to generate fragility curves and determine the probability of damage to different bridge components. Bridges are analyzed in longitudinal and transverse directions, independently, and component- and system-level fragility curves are developed. In the second phase, the previously generated bridge models are expanded to incorporate the SSI effects by introducing the pile groups under piers and abutments. Several interactions including deck-abutment, abutment-embankment, pile-soil, and pile-soil-pile interactions are considered. A significant challenge in this phase is the accurate simulation of the lateral and vertical behavior of pile groups since all pile groups comprised of closely-spaced vertical and battered piles. A ground motion suite consisting of 45 ground motions has been selected, which reflects the seismicity of the bridge site. IDA is conducted to monitor the seismic performance of the bridge from the elastic linear region up to collapse. Fragility curves, which serve as an important decision-support tool have been developed to identify the potential seismic risk of the bridge. In the third phase, a multi-hazard assessment is carried out by conditioning the previously developed bridge models (i.e. monolithic fixed-base, isolated fixed-base, monolithic with SSI, and isolated with SSI) to a range of room and subfreezing temperatures and applying a seismic excitation, simultaneously. The cold temperature behavior of the constitutive materials of different bridge components, namely, concrete, reinforcing steel, rubber, and the supporting soil are studied and reflected in the bridge models. IDA is performed and damage potential of different bridge components are quantified. In summary, it is demonstrated that SU-FREI is a competing alternative for seismic isolation of bridges by offering potentially less manufacturing time and cost, lower weight, and easier installation which is an attractive feature for accelerated bridge construction applications. In all three phases, it is shown that the bridges which are isolated using SU-FREI have improved seismic performance in comparison with monolithic bridges by exhibiting lower probability of damage to the primary bridge components like columns and pile caps and transferring the damage to less important components such as abutments at which damage does not cause bridge closure. In addition, it is shown that seismic isolation using SU-FREI can effectively mitigate the seismic demand and damage potential of the constitutive components of a bridge supported by weak soil. While occurrence of seismic events along with an environmental stressor such as cold temperature can drastically jeopardize the functionality of a bridge supported by weak soil, it is demonstrated that seismic isolation using SU-FREI can significantly alleviate the probability of damage to bridge components. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

No description available.

No description available.

In today’s competitive labor markets, successfully recruiting a large pool of skilled and qualified job applicants is a prime concern of many organizations. In Study 1, I focused on how organizations can successfully employ four traditional recruitment practices (sponsorships, job fair activities, word-of mouth endorsements and corporate advertisements) simultaneously to disseminate information about their positive recruitment brand images to job seekers to enhance organizational attraction. The results which supported all my hypotheses indicated that, communication of an organization’s brand images to job seekers through the simultaneous use of these four traditional recruitment practices can indeed influence job seekers’ positive perceptions of an organization and result in enhanced organizational attraction. In Study 2, which was built on findings in Study1, I theorized that social media may have become a prominent source of information for job seekers. In this study, I predicted that job seekers’ use of four social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and LinkedIn) in job search will explain incremental variance in organizational attraction over the use of traditional recruitment methods. I also predicted that job seekers’ utilization of social media in job search will be positively related to organizational attraction through enhanced perceptions of instrumental and symbolic attributes. Surveys for both studies were posted on and data collected from Amazon Mechanical Turk. Results from the second study were mixed; but the results confirm findings from prior research, which showed that the instrumental-symbolic framework can be used to predict potential job seekers’ perceptions of organizational attractiveness. Overall, results in the two studies reveal that organizations can better enhance recruitment by using a combination of social media and traditional recruitment methods to attract potential job seekers. / Business Administration/Human Resource Management

Electronic devices such as phones and computers use cryptography to achieve information security. However, while cryptographic algorithms may be strong theoretically, their physical implementations in hardware can leak unintentional side information as a byproduct of performing their computations. A device's security can be compromised from this leakage through side-channel attacks. Research in hardware security reveals how dangerous these attacks can be and provides security countermeasures. This thesis focuses on a category of side-channel attacks called fault attacks, and contributes a new fault attack method that can compromise a cryptographic device more rapidly than the previous methods when using practical fault injection techniques. We observe that as a circuit is further overclocked, new faults are often superimposed upon previous ones. We analyze the incremental changes rather than the total sum in order to extract more secret information. Unlike many previous methods, ours does not require precise fault injection techniques and requires no knowledge of when the internal state is in a specific algorithmic stage. Results are confirmed experimentally on hardware implementations of AES-128, 192, and 256. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations are regularly evaluated and critiqued by both scholars and policy-makers, however this scrutiny is commonly restricted to program- and project-level effects. This neglects the unique impacts that emerge from the individuals who populate interventions and those they encounter in conflict-affected communities. The objective of this research is to place these individuals, and their actions and relationships, at the centre of analysis and investigate their impacts independent of, or distinct from, program-level effects. Through the case study of south Lebanon and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), this dissertation explores the social and physical spaces that connect peacekeepers and Lebanese individuals in the course of their everyday lives and actions. Through the theoretical lenses of cultural peacebuilding and hybridity, I conceptualize the meaning of these relationships to the individuals involved, to the UNIFIL mission, and to peace at a broader level. This political ethnography undertakes a complex, relational approach to understanding intervention impacts and effectiveness, thereby 'peopling' a UN peacekeeping operation. Based on original empirical data consisting of 82 ethno-biographical interviews with Lebanese individuals and UNIFIL veterans, alongside 14 months of participant and field observation, I argue that Lebanese people agentially transform superficial, formal encounters with peacekeepers into substantial, impactful relationships through the Lebanese culture of hospitality. In informal, private and local spaces and contexts, 'thick' identities are enacted and cultural exchange occurs, which transforms and hybridizes the knowledges and identities of both peacekeepers and Lebanese people. Through this process of hybridization, interlocutors emerge who facilitate the connections of others in their social networks and function as bridges across the international-local divide. This hybridization augments UNIFIL's access to local knowledge, which improves local support and operational effectiveness. Further, the relationships and connections between peacekeepers and Lebanese people contribute to the restoration or amelioration of Lebanese human identity needs, which are threatened by the conflict with Israel and the ways in which it intersects with intrastate tensions. This constitutes incremental change productive to complex pathways toward peace in south Lebanon.