Thesis (M. Eng.)--Carleton University, 1988. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-86). Also available on the World Wide Web.

The waves produced by a flap-type wavemaker, hinged in the middle, are modelled using first-order linear wavemaker theory. A simplified closed-loop, discrete-time system is proposed. This includes a proportional plus integral plus derivative (PID) controller, and the wavemaker in order to compare the actual wave spectral density with the desired wave spectral density at a single frequency. Conventional discrete-time control theory is used with the major difference being the use of a relatively long timestep duration between changes in waveboard motion. The system response is calculated for many controller gain combinations by the computer simulation program CBGANES. System stability is analyzed for the gain combinations by using two different methods. One method is an extension of the Routh criterion to discrete-time and the other is a state-space eigenvalue approach. The computer simulation and the stability analysis provide a means for selecting possible controller gains for use at a specific frequency in an actual wave tank experiment. The computer simulation performance response and the two stability analyses predict the same results for varying controller gains. It is evident that integral control is essential in order to achieve a desired response for this long duration timestep application. The variation in discrete timestep duration and in desired spectral density (an indirect indication of frequency variation) provide variation in the constraints on controller gain selection. The controller gain combinations yielding the fastest stable response at a single frequency are for large proportional gain and small integral and derivative gains. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Mechanical Engineering, Department of / Graduate

Chapter I of this thesis details contemporary historical views on the origins of the violin and its terminology. Chapters II through VI study the methodologies of makers from Italy, the Germanic Countries, the Low Countries, France, and England, and highlights the aspects of these methodologies that show influence from one maker to another. Chapter VII deals with matters of imitation, copying, violin forgery and the differences between these categories. Chapter VIII presents a discussion of the manner in which various violin experts identify the maker of a violin. It briefly discusses a new movement that questions the current methods of authentication, proposing that the dual role of "expert/dealer" does not lend itself to sufficient objectivity. The conclusion suggests that dealers, experts, curators, and musicologists alike must return to placing the first emphasis on the tradition of the craft rather than on the individual maker.

Published Article / The paper is concerned with the problem of Bayesian decision-makers seeking consensus about the decision that should be taken from a decision space. Each decision-maker has his own utility function and it is assumed that the parameter space has two points, Θ = {θ1,θ2 }. The initial probabilities of the decision-makers for Θ can be updated by information provided by an expert. The decision-makers have an opinion about the expert and this opinion is formed by the observation of the expert's performance in the past. It is shown how the decision-makers can decide beforehand, on the basis of this opinion, whether the consultation of an expert will result in consensus.

During the Arts and Crafts period, from about 1880 to 1930, popular perceptions of Native Americans and their basketry emphasized pristine cultures prior to the effects of contact with Europeans. Pasadena basketry collector and dealer Grace Nicholson used an ethnographic approach, along with mass-marketing, when selling Native Northwestern California baskets in order to cater to Arts and Crafts period collectors' expectations of traditional Indian baskets. In addition, Nicholson expanded her collecting methods to include documenting individual weavers in the field, though she rarely used this documentation as a sales strategy. Before Nicholson began traveling and collecting baskets directly from Native American weavers in Northwestern California, basketry from this region was almost always collected or sold as the work of an anonymous weaver. This approach—what I refer to as the ethnographic paradigm in the dissertation—featured the traditional, pre-contact context of the basketry, but not the documentation of individual innovation. Grace Nicholson started a new paradigm or model for collecting Native Northwestern California basketry through her select documentation of individual artists. Nicholson's documentation of Elizabeth Hickox, master weaver of Northwestern California baskets during the Arts and Crafts period, has been thoroughly addressed in Art Historical scholarship. I argue that Nicholson also recorded information about other Northwestern California weavers from Hickox's generation, such as Yurok weaver Nellie Cooper. In this dissertation, I demonstrate that the Nicholson archival collection, along with other important archival sources, can be used by researchers to help identify lesser-known Northwestern California weavers from the turn of the 20th century today. / Graduate

We must face the matter squarely that where there is something wrong in how we govern ourselves, it must be said that the fault is not in our stars but in ourselves. We know that we have it in ourselves, as Africans, to change all this. We must assert our will to do so – we must say that there is no obstacle big enough to stop us from bringing about an African renaissance – Nelson Mandela. Africa’s woes - social disequilibrium, civil wars, ethnic unrest, poverty, corruption, disease, bad governance, violations of human rights, decrepit institutions, are all public knowledge and are hardly new to academic discourse. They have been the subject of several studies and analyses by scholars, politicians and policy makers. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2010. / A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Prof. Edward K. Quashigah, Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana. 2010. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Transport plays a vital role in society, and energy for transport relies on fossil fuels. However, the future of the transport system is uncertain due to a concept relating to the diminishing supply of fossil fuels, termed ‘peak oil’. Transport policy makers have an important role to play in planning for a possible reduction in the availability of fossil fuels, however it remains unclear how they perceive the issue, exactly who or what influences their perception, and even if they are prepared (or not) to put in place measures that could minimise the potential impacts. It is vital that we understand all the factors and the actors involved in transport policy making, in order to understand why this issue is not currently widely accepted as part of mainstream transport policy. A conceptual model and theoretical framework have been developed to outline a method for gaining a better understanding of the characteristics of, and influences on, the transport policy makers at a local level, and how they view the peak oil problem. In order to test the theoretical framework, a series of case studies were conducted in three cities of varying sizes in New Zealand. The case studies involved interviews and surveys with transport policy makers. The results of the case study established that many technical staff have major concerns about peak oil but their concerns are not translated into policy because the majority of elected officials, who give the final approval on policy, believe that alternative fuels and new technologies will mitigate any peak oil impacts. This view is reinforced by a lack of scientific evidence to the contrary, and a lack of political and financial support from Central government to plan for peak oil. A change in attitude towards peak oil by Central government is a pre-requisite to introducing planning for peak oil at the local level in New Zealand.

This research is a nomadic inquiry into the ethics and aesthetics of three makers’ social and material practices. Deleuze’s concept of the nomad operated in multiple ways throughout the process, which was embedded in performative engagements that produced narratives of becoming. Over four months, I built relationships with three people as I learned about the ethico-aesthetic significance of their daily practices. The process started by interviewing participants in their homes and expanded over time to formal and informal engagements in school, community, and agricultural settings. I used Guattari’s ecosophical approach to consider how subjectivity was produced through spatial assemblages by spending time with participants, discussing material structures and objects, listening to personal histories, and collaboratively developing ideas. Participants included a builder who repurposed a missile base into a private residence and community gathering space, an elementary art teacher who practiced urban homesteading, and a young artist who developed an educational farm. The research considers the affective force of normalized social values, the production of desire by designer capitalism, and the mutation of life from neoliberal policies. Our experiences illuminate the community-building potential of direct encounters and direct exchanges. The project generates ideas for becoming an inquirer in the everyday and reveals possibilities for producing pedagogical experiences through collective and dissensual action. Ultimately, the project produces hope for performative and anti-disciplinary approaches to education, rupturing false divisions that fragment the force of thought, to produce, instead, aesthetic experiences that privilege processes and are based in direct and collective engagements with life.

The goal of this research is to develop an equation describing the two, dimensional motion of an inviscid incompressible fluid in the rectangular wavemaker of constant depth. The boundary value problem of the rectangle is transformed to the upper half plane with the use of Jacobian elliptical functions. The boundary value problem is then transformed to the unit disc. The solution to the mixed value problem of the disc is found using a general solution satisfying the Laplace equation in polar coordinates. In order to solve the coefficients of the general solution, a system of equations is developed using a method similar to the one applied for the coefficients of a Fourier series. The system is converted to matrix form and the coefficients are calculated using Mathematica. Four approximate solutions are calculated for depths of 3.96 m and 4.42 m with N equal to 2 and 10. / Graduation date: 1993