TOWARD A POLITICAL CONCEPTION OF MINORITY RIGHTS: RECONCILING SOVEREIGNTY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND MINORITY CLAIMS

The question that I will explore in this research dissertation is whether one can defend the rights of homeland minorities as a progressive extension of the existing norms of human rights. This question calls for several deeper inquiries about the nature, the function and the underlying justifications for both human rights and minority rights. In particular, this research project will examine the following issues: on what normative grounds the available norms of human rights and minority rights are justified; if there is any methodic way to use the normative logic of human rights to support substantial forms of minority claims, such as the right to self-determination; whether human rights can take the form of group rights; and finally, whether there is any non-sectarian basis for justifying the minority norms, which can be acceptable from both liberal and non-liberal perspectives. This research project has some implications for both theories of minority rights and human rights. On the one hand, the research employs the topic of minority rights to shed light on deficiencies of the existing political theories of human rights. On the other hand, it uses the political theory to shed light on how existing theories of minority rights could be improved and amended. The inquiry will ultimately clarify how to judge the merit of the claim that minority rights are or should be a part of human rights norms.

CONSTITUTIONAL JUSTICE IN AFRICA: An Examination of Constitutional Positivism, Fundamental Law and Rights in Ghana and Nigeria

This work explores the idea of constitutional justice in Africa with a focus on constitutional interpretation in Ghana and Nigeria. The objective is to develop a theory of constitutional interpretation based upon a conception of law that allows the existing constitutions of Ghana and Nigeria to be construed by the courts as law in a manner that best serves the collective wellbeing of the people. The project involves an examination of both legal theory and substantive constitutional law. The theoretical argument will be applied to show how a proper understanding of the ideals of the rule of law and constitutionalism in Ghana and Nigeria necessitate the conclusion that socio-economic rights in those countries are constitutionally protected and judicially enforceable. The thesis argues that this conclusion follows from a general claim that constitutions should represent a ‘fundamental law’ and must be construed as an aspirational moral ideal for the common good of the people. The argument is essentially about the inherent character of ‘legality’ or the ‘rule of law.’ It weaves together ideas developed by Lon Fuller, Ronald Dworkin, T.R.S. Allan and David Dyzenhaus, as well as the strand of common law constitutionalism associated with Sir Edward Coke, to develop a moral sense of ‘law’ that transcends the confines of positive or explicit law while remaining inherently ‘legal’ as opposed to purely moral or political. What emerges is an unwritten fundamental law of reason located between pure morality or natural law on the one hand and strict, explicit, or positive law on the other. It is argued that this fundamental law is, or should be, the basis of constitutional interpretation, especially in transitional democracies like Ghana and Nigeria, and that it grounds constitutional protection for socio-economic rights. Equipped with this theory of law, courts in developing African countries like Ghana and Nigeria will be in a better position to contribute towards developing a real sense of constitutional justice for Africa.

TENDENCIA THATCHERITIS OR ENGLISHNESS REMADE: The Fictions of Julian Barnes, Hanif Kureishi and Pat Barker

Julian Barnes, Pat Barker, and Hanif Kureishi are all canonical authors whose fictions are widely believed to reflect the cultural and political state of a nation that is post-war, post-imperial and post-modern. While much has been written on how Barker’s and Kureishi’s early works in particular respond to and intervene in the presiding political narrative of the 1980s – Thatcherism – treatment of how revenants of Thatcherism have shaped these writers’ works from 1990 on has remained cursory. Thatcherism is more than an obvious historical reference point for Barker, Barnes, and Kureishi; their works demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of how Thatcher’s reworkings of the repertoires of Englishness – a representational as well as political and cultural endeavour – persist beyond her time in office. Barnes, Barker, and Kureishi seem to have reached the same conclusion as political and cultural critics: Thatcher and Thatcherism have remade not only the contemporary political and cultural landscapes but also the electorate and consequently the English themselves. Tony Blair’s conception of the New Britain proved less than satisfactory because contemporary repertoires of Englishness repeat and rework historical and not incidentally imperial formulations of England and Englishness rather than envision civic and populist formulations of renewal. Barnes’s England, England and Arthur & George confront the discourse of inevitability that has come to be attached to contemporary formulations of both political and cultural Englishness – both in terms of its predictable demise and its belated celebration. Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia and “The Body” speak to an alteration that has taken place in which historical Englishness and Thatcherism have become complementary rather than contrasting discourses. What Barker’s Border Crossing and Double Vision offer against this backdrop is a subtle interrogation of how renewal itself comes to be a presiding mode of cultural reflection that absorbs revolutionary possibility.

Making the Men of Tomorrow: American Science Fiction and the Politics of Masculinity, 1965 – 1974

Suggesting that the political diversity of American science fiction during the 1960s and early 1970s constitutes a response to the dominance of social liberalism throughout the 1940s and 1950s, I argue in Making the Men of Tomorrow that the development of new hegemonic masculinities in science fiction is a consequence of political speculation. Focusing on four representative and influential texts from the 1960s and early 1970s, Philip K. Dick’s The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch and Ubik, Robert A. Heinlein’s The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, and Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed, this thesis explores the relationship between different conceptions of hegemonic masculinity and three separate but related political ideologies: the social ethic, market libertarianism, and socialist libertarianism. In the first two chapters in which I discuss Dick’s novels, I argue that Dick interrogates organizational masculinity as part of a larger project that suggests the inevitable infeasibility of both the social ethic and its predecessor, social liberalism. In the next chapter, I shift my attention to Heinlein’s The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress as a way of showing how, unlike Dick, other authors of the 1960s and early 1970s sought to move beyond social liberalism by imagining how new political ideologies, in this case market libertarianism, might change the way men see themselves. Having demonstrated how the libertarian potential of Heinlein’s novel is ultimately undermined by its insistent and uncompromising biological determinism, I then discuss how Le Guin’s The Dispossessed uses the socialist libertarianism of the moon Anarres to suggest a more egalitarian form of masculinity, one that makes possible, to some extent at least, a future in which men might embrace not only the mutual aid of socialism, but also the primacy of individual rights that is at the heart of all forms of libertarianism and liberalism.

What's so funny? An evaluation of the relations among humour use, mirth, and depressive symptomatology

Humour production and showing mirth (i.e., smiling and laughing) confer prosocial advantages. However, there is a paucity of literature evaluating how humour manifests in psychopathology. Humour and mirth may be especially relevant in depression, wherein profound impairments are evident in emotional and social functioning. Chapters 2 and 3 present correlational and predictive relations of depressive, social anxiety, and social anhedonia symptoms with humour styles, and consider the role of motivational systems and expressivity of positive affect as they relate to humour. As expected, symptoms and avoidance-based motivation were positively related to maladaptive humour styles and negatively related to adaptive humour styles. Interestingly, the pattern of relations shifted when considered among individuals in a depressive episode; acutely depressed individuals generally shy away from any humour style rather than gravitating toward specific styles. In a mediation model, the inverse relation between depressive symptoms and affiliative humour was fully mediated by approach-based motivation and expressivity of positive emotions. Chapters 4 and 5 examined subjective and observed mirth responses (facial affect and laughter) demonstrated by depressed and healthy comparison groups. Relative to non-depressed individuals, depressed persons reported less enjoyment, lower ratings of funniness, and fewer instances and shorter durations of positive facial affect and laughter when viewing humourous videos. There was no significant change in retrospective ratings of enjoyment and funniness at a one-week follow-up. The pattern of responsivity by depressed persons shifted when they viewed humourous videos while hearing others laughing. Both groups demonstrated more mirth when hearing others laugh; there were no differences between groups on mirthful behaviours. The one exception was that the total duration of laugher produced by depressed individuals was shorter than that produced by individuals in the healthy comparison group. This research project demonstrates that facets of depressive symptomatology are differentially associated with humour use and depressed individuals show blunted emotional responsivity to humourous stimuli. However, the pattern of reduced affective responsivity is context specific in that it fluctuates in response to hearing others’ laughter. These findings have important implications for the conceptualization of depression and the subsequent avenues for the treatment of individuals with depression.

The Impact of Community Social Capital on the occurrence of Injuries in adolescents and falls in older adults: Population-based Studies Conducted in Canadian samples

The objectives of this thesis were to study specific Canadian populations in order to examine; (1) relationships between the neighbourhood-level social capital and injuries in youth, as well as (2) falls in older adults, and; (3) to address methodological issues relevant to the study of such relationships. The thesis is comprised of four manuscripts. The first addresses methodological issues surrounding the validation of neighbourhood-level variables for the study of adolescent health, and demonstrates the existence of structural confounding in the study of related etiological relationships. Informed by the latter, the second manuscript examines the association between neighbourhood-level social capital and injuries in youth, and demonstrates that lower levels of social capital are protective factors for girls but not for boys. Manuscript 3 uses an international database focused on older adults, and shows that our existing measure of social capital is valid at neighbourhood levels, but also that there is a high possibility for the existence of structural confounding among Canadian older adults. The fourth manuscript then examines the association between neighbourhood-level social capital and the occurrence of falls in older adults and determines that differences between neighbourhoods are important factors in the occurrence of falls, and that higher levels of social capital are a risk factor for falls. Taken together, results from this thesis provide a better understanding of the role of neighbourhood-level social capital on the occurrence of injuries in Canadian youth and on the occurrence of falls in older adults. Our contributions were important both methodologically and etiologically.

The SHIVir Survey: A Dynamical Catalogue of Virgo Cluster Galaxies and their Scaling Relations

By virtue of its proximity and richness, the Virgo galaxy cluster is a perfect testing ground to expand our understanding of structure formation in the Universe. Here, we present a comprehensive dynamical catalogue based on 190 Virgo cluster galaxies (VCGs) in the "Spectroscopy and H-band Imaging of the Virgo cluster" (SHIVir) survey, including kinematics and dynamical masses. Spectroscopy collected over a multi-year campaign on 4-8m telescopes was joined with optical and near-infrared imaging to create a cosmologically-representative overview of parameter distributions and scaling relations describing galaxy evolution in a rich cluster environment. The use of long-slit spectroscopy has allowed the extraction and systematic analysis of resolved kinematic profiles: Halpha rotation curves for late-type galaxies (LTGs), and velocity dispersion profiles for early-type galaxies (ETGs). The latter are shown to span a wide range of profile shapes which correlate with structural, morphological, and photometric parameters. A study of the distributions of surface brightnesses and circular velocities for ETGs and LTGs considered separately show them all to be strongly bimodal, hinting at the existence of dynamically unstable modes where the baryon and dark matter fractions may be comparable within the inner regions of galaxies. Both our Tully-Fisher relation for LTGs and Fundamental Plane analysis for ETGs exhibit the smallest scatter when a velocity metric probing the galaxy at larger radii (where the baryonic fraction becomes sub-dominant) is used: rotational velocity measured in the outer disc at the 23.5 i-mag arcsec^{-2} level, and velocity dispersion measured within an aperture of 2 effective radii, respectively. Dynamical estimates for gas-poor and gas-rich VCGs are merged into a joint analysis of the stellar-to-total mass relation (STMR), stellar TFR, and Mass-Size relation. These relations are all found to contain strong bimodalities or dichotomies between the ETG and LTG samples, alluding to a "mixed scenario'' evolutionary sequence between morphological/dynamical classes that involves both quenching and dry mergers. The unmistakable differentiation between these two galaxy classes appears robust against different classification schemes, and supports the notion that they are driven by different evolutionary histories. Future observations using integral field spectroscopy and including lower-mass galaxies should solidify this hypothesis.

Landscape Patterns of Permafrost Disturbance and Degradation in the Canadian High Arctic

Intensification of permafrost disturbances such as active layer detachments (ALDs) and retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS) have been observed across the circumpolar Arctic. These features are indicators of unstable conditions stemming from recent climate warming and permafrost degradation. In order to understand the processes interacting to give rise to these features, a multidisciplinary approach is required; i.e., interactions between geomorphology, hydrology, vegetation and ground thermal conditions. The goal of this research is to detect and map permafrost disturbance, predict landscape controls over disturbance and determine approaches for monitoring disturbance, all with the goal of contributing to the mitigation of permafrost hazards. Permafrost disturbance inventories were created by applying semi-automatic change detection techniques to IKONOS satellite imagery collected at the Cape Bounty Arctic Watershed Observatory (CBAWO). These methods provide a means to estimate the spatial distribution of permafrost disturbances for a given area for use as an input in susceptibility modelling. Permafrost disturbance susceptibility models were then developed using generalized additive and generalized linear models (GAM, GLM) fitted to disturbed and undisturbed locations and relevant GIS-derived predictor variables (slope, potential solar radiation, elevation). These models successfully delineated areas across the landscape that were susceptible to disturbances locally and regionally when transferred to an independent validation location. Permafrost disturbance susceptibility models are a first-order assessment of landscape susceptibility and are promising for designing land management strategies for remote permafrost regions. Additionally, geomorphic patterns associated with higher susceptibility provide important knowledge about processes associated with the initiation of disturbances. Permafrost degradation was analyzed at the CBAWO using differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (DInSAR). Active-layer dynamics were interpreted using inter-seasonal and intra-seasonal displacement measurements and highlight the importance of hydroclimatic factors on active layer change. Collectively, these research approaches contribute to permafrost monitoring and the assessment of landscape-scale vulnerability in order to develop permafrost disturbance mitigation strategies.

ROLE OF THE FRONTAL EYE FIELD, SUPERIOR COLLICULUS, AND BASAL GANGLIA IN FLEXIBLE SACCADE BEHAVIOR

A distributed network of cortical and subcortical brain regions mediates the control of voluntary behavior, but it is unclear how this complex system may flexibly shift between different behavioral events. This thesis describes the neurophysiological changes in several key nuclei across the brain during flexible behavior, using saccadic eye movements in rhesus macaque monkeys. We examined five nuclei critical for saccade initiation and modulation: the frontal eye field (FEF) in the cerebral cortex, the subthalamic nucleus (STN), caudate nucleus (CD), and substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) in the basal ganglia (BG), and the superior colliculus (SC) in the midbrain. The first study tested whether a ‘threshold’ theory of how neuronal activity cues saccade initiation is consistent with the flexible control of behavior. The theory suggests there is a fixed level of FEF and SC neuronal activation at which saccades are initiated. Our results provide strong evidence against a fixed saccade threshold in either structure during flexible behavior, and indicate that threshold variability might depend on the level of inhibitory signals applied to the FEF or SC. The next two studies investigated the BG network as a likely candidate to modulate a saccade initiation mechanism, based on strong inhibitory output signals from the BG to the FEF and SC. We investigated the STN and CD (BG input), and the SNr (BG oculomotor output) to examine changes across the BG network. This revealed robust task-contingent shifts in BG signaling (Chapter 3), which uniquely impacted saccade initiation according to behavioral condition (Chapters 3 and 4). The thesis concludes with a published short review of the mechanistic effects of BG deep brain stimulation (Chapter 5), and a general discussion including proof of concept saccade behavioral changes in an MPTP-induced Parkinsonian model (Chapter 6). The studies presented here demonstrate that the conditions for saccade initiation by the FEF and SC vary according to behavioral condition, while simultaneously, large-scale task dependent shifts occur in BG signaling consistent with the observed modulation of FEF and SC activity. Taken together, these describe a mechanistic framework by which the cortico-BG loop may contribute to the flexible control of behavior.

PROLINE-BASED CHIRAL STATIONARY PHASES: INSIGHTS INTO THE MECHANISM OF CHIRAL SELECTIVITY

Proline (Pro) is a unique amino acid that has been examined previously as a potential chiral selector for high-performance liquid chromatography. In recent years, a new class of promising Pro based enantioselective stationary phases has been studied and the longer peptides were found to be competitive with commercial chiral stationary phases (CSPs). Here, we aim to perform a comprehensive examination of a t-butoxycarbonyl- (t-Boc-) terminated monoproline selector. This selector was grafted through an amide linkage to an aminopropyl siloxane-terminated Si (111) wafer and to a silicon atomic force microscopy tip. To ensure a flat, homogeneous overlayer of selectors suitable for force spectrometric measurements, the prepared surfaces were characterized using XPS, AFM and contact angle measurements. Chemical force spectrometry (CFS) has been used to examine the chiral discrimination in our monoproline CSP by measuring the interaction forces between two D- or L-monoproline monolayers in water and in the presence of a series of amino acids in solution to explore the degree to which binding of amino acids impacts self-selectivity. Chemical force titration (CFT) has been used to observe the influence of variations in pH on the binding interaction of proline modified chiral surfaces. Here we aim to explore the connection between side-chain hydrophobicity and differences in the nature of the binding between different ionic forms of amino acids and the t-Boc-Pro interface, and thereby to gain insight into the mechanism of chiral selectivity. The CFS results show several trends for different proline selector/amino acid combinations and indicate that the binding characteristics of amino acid to the proline surface is strongly dependent on the amino acid side chain where hydrophilic side chain amino acids exhibit a selectivity opposite to that seen for those with hydrophobic side chains. The CFT studies also provide valuable insights into interactions between the proline selector and the amino acids under a wide range of pH conditions, indicating that protonated amine groups of alanine and serine are closely involved in the binding mechanism to proline surfaces. On the other hand, the presence of the second carboxylic group in aspartic acid plays an important role while interacting with proline.

Study of the Electrochemical, Physical and Morphological Characteristics of Anode Catalysts for Perfluorosulfonic Acid (PFSA) Membrane Water Electrolysers

A number of supported and un-supported Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) iridium based electrocatalysts for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Water Electrolysis (PEMWE) were synthesized using a polyol method. The electrocatalysts and the supports were characterized using a wide range of physical and electrochemical characterization methods. The effect of morphological characteristics of the OER electrocatalyst and the support on the OER activity was studied. The results of this thesis contribute to the existing research to reduce the cost of PEMWE by enhancing the utilization of precious metal for OER electrocatalysis. Iridium electrocatalysts supported on antimony tin oxide (Ir/ATO) were synthesized using the polyol method with two different heating techniques: conventional and microwave-irradiation. It was shown that the physical morphology and electrochemical properties of Ir/ATO synthesized with the two heating methods were comparable. However, the microwave irradiation method was extremely faster than the conventional heating method. Additionally, the effect of heat treatment (calcination temperature) on the morphology and OER activity of Ir/ATO synthesized electrocatalyst with the conventional polyol method. It was found that the iridium electrocatalyst synthesized with the polyol method, consisted of 1-5 nm particles, possessed an amorphous structure, and contained iridium with an average oxidation state of less than +4. Calcining the catalyst at temperatures more than 400 ºC and less than 700ºC: 1) increased the size of the iridium particles to 30 nm, 2) changed the structure of iridium particles from amorphous to crystalline, 3) increased the iridium oxidation state to +4 (IrO2), 4) reduced the electrochemically active surface area by approximately 50%, and 5) reduced the OER activity by approximately 25%; however, it had no significant effect on the physical and chemical morphology of the ATO support. Moreover, potential support metal carbides and oxides including: Tantalum Carbide (TaC), Niobium Oxide (Nb2O5), Niobium Carbide (NbC), Titanium Carbide (TiC), Tungsten Carbide (WC) and Antimony-doped Tin Oxide (ATO, Sb2O5-SnO2), were characterized, and used as support for the iridium OER electrocatalysts. TaC was found to be a promising support, and increasing its surface area by 4% improved the OER performance of the final supported catalyst by approximately 50%.

Expanding our Constitutional Horizons: A Comprehensive Study of Quasi-Constitutionality in Canada

A number of laws in Canada which uphold rights are referred to as quasi-constitutional by the courts in recognition of their special importance. Quasi-constitutional statutes are enacted through the regular legislative process, although they are being interpreted and applied in a fashion which has become remarkably similar to constitutional law, and are therefore having an important affect over other legislation. Quasi-constitutionality has surprisingly received limited scholarly attention, and very few serious attempts at explaining its significance have been made. This dissertation undertakes a comprehensive study of quasi-constitutionality which considers its theoretical basis, its interpretation and legal significance, as well as its similarities to comparable forms of law in other Commonwealth jurisdictions. Part I examines the theoretical basis of quasi-constitutionality and its relationship to the Constitution. As a statutory and common law form of fundamental law, quasi-constitutionality is shown to signify an association with the Canadian Constitution and the foundational principles that underpin it. Part II proceeds to consider the special rules of interpretation applied to quasi-constitutional legislation, the basis of this interpretative approach, and the connection between the interpretation of similar provisions in quasi-constitutional legislation and the Constitution. As a statutory form of fundamental law, quasi-constitutional legislation is given a broad, liberal and purposive interpretation which significantly expands the rights which they protect. The theoretical basis of this approach is found in both the fundamental nature of the rights upheld by quasi-constitutional legislation as well as legislative intent. Part III explores how quasi-constitutional statutes affect the interpretation of regular legislation and how they are used for the purposes of judicial review. Quasi-constitutional legislation has a significant influence over regular statutes in the interpretative exercise, which in some instances results in conflicting statutes being declared inoperable. The basis of this form of judicial review is demonstrated to be rooted in statutory interpretation, and as such it provides an interesting model of rights protection and judicial review that is not conflated to constitutional and judicial supremacy.

WIPO and the Reinforcement of the Nagoya Protocol: Towards Effective Implementation of an Access and Benefit Sharing Regime for the Protection of Traditional Knowledge Associated with Genetic Resources

Traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources (TKaGRs) is acknowledged as a valuable resource. Its value draws from economic, social, cultural, and innovative uses. This value places TK at the heart of competing interests as between indigenous peoples who hold it and depend on it for their survival, and profitable industries which seek to exploit it in the global market space. The latter group seek, inter alia, to advance and maintain their global competitiveness by exploiting TKaGRs leads in their research and development activities connected with modern innovation. Biopiracy remains an issue of central concern to the developing world and has emerged in this context as a label for the inequity arising from the misappropriation of TKaGRs located in the South by commercial interests usually located in the North. Significant attention and resources are being channeled at global efforts to design and implement effective protection mechanisms for TKaGRs against the incidence of biopiracy. The emergence and recent entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol offers the latest example of a concluded multilateral effort in this regard. The Nagoya Protocol, adopted on the platform of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), establishes an open-ended international access and benefit sharing (ABS) regime which is comprised of the Protocol as well as several complementary instruments. By focusing on the trans-regime nature of biopiracy, this thesis argues that the intellectual property (IP) system forms a central part of the problem of biopiracy, and so too to the very efforts to implement solutions, including through the Nagoya Protocol. The ongoing related work within the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), aimed at developing an international instrument (or a series of instruments) to address the effective protection of TK, constitutes an essential complementary process to the Nagoya Protocol, and, as such, forms a fundamental element within the Nagoya Protocol’s evolving ABS regime-complex. By adopting a third world approach to international law, this thesis draws central significance from its reconceptualization of biopiracy as a trans-regime concept. By construing the instrument(s) being negotiated within WIPO as forming a central component part of the Nagoya Protocol, this dissertation’s analysis highlights the importance of third world efforts to secure an IP-based reinforcement to the Protocol for the effective eradication of biopiracy.

The Influence of Healed Intrablock Rockmass Structure on the Behaviour of Deep Excavations in Complex Rockmasses

Conventional rockmass characterization and analysis methods for geotechnical assessment in mining, civil tunnelling, and other excavations consider only the intact rock properties and the discrete fractures that are present and form blocks within rockmasses. Field logging and classification protocols are based on historically useful but highly simplified design techniques, including direct empirical design and empirical strength assessment for simplified ground reaction and support analysis. As modern underground excavations go deeper and enter into more high stress environments with complex excavation geometries and associated stress paths, healed structures within initially intact rock blocks such as sedimentary nodule boundaries and hydrothermal veins, veinlets and stockwork (termed intrablock structure) are having an increasing influence on rockmass behaviour and should be included in modern geotechnical design. Due to the reliance on geotechnical classification methods which predate computer aided analysis, these complexities are ignored in conventional design. Given the comparatively complex, sophisticated and powerful numerical simulation and analysis techniques now practically available to the geotechnical engineer, this research is driven by the need for enhanced characterization of intrablock structure for application to numerical methods. Intrablock structure governs stress-driven behaviour at depth, gravity driven disintegration for large shallow spans, and controls ultimate fragmentation. This research addresses the characterization of intrablock structure and the understanding of its behaviour at laboratory testing and excavation scales, and presents new methodologies and tools to incorporate intrablock structure into geotechnical design practice. A new field characterization tool, the Composite Geological Strength Index, is used for outcrop or excavation face evaluation and provides direct input to continuum numerical models with implicit rockmass structure. A brittle overbreak estimation tool for complex rockmasses is developed using field observations. New methods to evaluate geometrical and mechanical properties of intrablock structure are developed. Finally, laboratory direct shear testing protocols for interblock structure are critically evaluated and extended to intrablock structure for the purpose of determining input parameters for numerical models with explicit structure.

Vortex evolution in the wake of accelerating low-aspect-ratio plates and three-dimensional bodies of revolution

To find examples of effecient locomotion and manoeuvrability, one need only turn to the elegant solutions natural flyers and swimmers have converged upon. This dissertation is specifically motivated by processes of evolutionary convergence, which have led to the propulsors and body shapes in nature that exhibit strong geometric collapse over diverse scales. These body features are abstracted in the studies presented herein using low-aspect-ratio at plates and a three-dimensional body of revolution (a sphere). The highly-separated vortical wakes that develop during accelerations are systematically characterized as a function of planform shape, aspect ratio, Reynolds number, and initial boundary conditions. To this end, force measurements and time-resolved (planar) particle image velocimetry have been used throughout to quantify the instantaneous forces and vortex evolution in the wake of the bluff bodies. During rectilinear motions, the wake development for the flat plates is primarily dependent on plate aspect ratio, with edge discontinuities and curvature playing only a secondary role. Furthermore, the axisymmetric case, i.e. the circular plate, shows strong sensitivity to Reynolds number, while this sensitivity quickly diminishes with increasing aspect ratio. For rotational motions, global insensitivity to plate aspect ratio has been observed. For the sphere, it has been shown that accelerations play an important role in the mitigation of flow separation. These results - expounded upon in this dissertation - have begun to shed light on the specific vortex dynamics that may be coopted by flying and swimming species of all shapes and sizes towards efficient locomotion.