About MacSphere

MacSphere is McMaster University's Institutional Repository (IR). The purpose of an IR is to bring together all of a University's research under one umbrella, with an aim to preserve and provide access to that research. The research and scholarly output included in MacSphere has been selected and deposited by the individual university departments and centres on campus.

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THE ROLE OF EXTERNAL MEMBERS IN COMPETENCE COMMITTEES
(2026) Eskandar Nadeen
Introduction: Competency-based medical education (CBME) is transforming residency training by emphasizing outcomes, including the knowledge, skills, and professional behaviours required for high quality patient care. In Canada, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) has implemented Competence by Design (CBD) as its national CBME framework. Within CBD, competence committees (CCs) play a critical role in reviewing residents’ progress and making decisions about their advancement. An increasing number of residency programs have begun to include external members in their CC meetings, such as faculty from other departments, researchers, or non-physician healthcare providers (e.g., nurses or social workers). However, scholarly attention to how program CC members and residents perceive external members and the challenges external CC members encounter has been limited. Methods: This qualitative case study was conducted at McMaster University across multiple residency programs. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with program CC members, external members, and residents, as well as direct observations of CC meetings. All interviews were transcribed, and data were analyzed inductively using Yin’s “working your data from the ground up” strategy. Transcripts were coded and organized; themes were iteratively developed, reviewed, and refined. Results: Five themes were developed: 1) Multiple models and roles of external CC members, 2) Preference for one type of external CC member’s expertise over another, 3) External CC members as promoters of integrity, 4) Facilitators for the inclusion of vi external CC members in CCs, and 5) Practical challenges and structural constraints in the inclusion process of external members in CCs. Conclusion: The findings of this work confirm that external CC members are perceived to be a positive addition to CCs, enhancing decision-making processes. The findings have also identified multiple facilitators and challenges to the inclusion of external members in CCs.
WAVEFORM DESIGN FOR MONOSTATIC DOWNLINK INTEGRATED SENSING AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
(2026) Liang, Runchen
With the opportunities provided by higher frequencies, larger bandwidths, and intelligence, Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) is widely recognized as one of the new applications that will drive the development of future generations of wireless networks. This thesis focuses on dual-function radar-communication systems, in which a single waveform is synthesized to achieve both the communication and sensing functions. The thesis develops design techniques for that waveform, aiming to jointly optimize communication and sensing performance, under practical constraints that facilitate implementation. A progressive three-part framework is proposed, covering robust extended linear precoding, hybrid linear-nonlinear precoding, and unstructured direct waveform design. First, to address the sensitivity of the extended linear precoding scheme to imperfect knowledge of the environment, in Chapter 2 we develop a robust design that seeks jointly optimal transmit and radar receive beamformers in the presence of uncertainty. The method maximizes the worst-case Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR) in the radar return signal, while ensuring communication users meet their SINR targets with a given probability of outage. Numerical results show that our proposed method can achieve better performance than approaches that are based on heuristic modifications of designs that assume perfect knowledge of the environment. The extended linear precoding architecture used in the robust design facilitates design techniques that are based on statistical models for the communication symbols. That is sufficient for design objectives that are functions of the transmit covariance. However there are several important sensing objectives and implementation constraints that are functions of the waveform itself, and not simply its covariance. In scenarios where those objectives and constraints are important, nonlinear precoding has the potential to provide significantly better performance. The existing approaches to nonlinear precoding take a block-by-block symbol-dependent design approach, and may require adaptation of the communication receivers in each symbol block. Therefore, in Chapter 3 we develop a design technique for hybrid linear-nonlinear precoders (HLNP) that fuses the operational simplicity of statistics-based design of linear precoders and the degrees of design freedom provided by symbol-dependent nonlinear precoding. We evaluate this design approach using a problem that seeks to minimize a simplified Cramer-Rao bound on angle estimation of multiple point targets. Our experimental results show that the proposed method achieves essentially the same performance as an existing symbol-dependent hybrid linear-nonlinear precoding, while being able to directly control the transmitted waveform and maintaining receiver adaption on the time scale of environment coherence time. Finally, in Chapter 4 we introduce a new approach to unstructured direct waveform design. Unlike existing approaches, which require the receivers to have fixed equalizers, or to update the equalizers for every data block, the proposed design allows the equalizer at each receiver to be adapted at the scale of the coherence time, using the conventional dedicated downlink training, while maintaining the ability to explicitly control the transmitted waveform. In an example employing sensing objectives obtained from a Bayesian Cramer-Rao bound, the proposed approach demonstrates performance that is close to the methods with equalizer adaption at the time scale of the data block, better than the methods with constant equalizers, and better than symbol-dependent linear precoding techniques.
What is the impact of a Capacity-Builder? An evidence-based account of nonprofit organizational impact
(Prepared by the McMaster Research Shop for Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion, 2025-08) Gowrikanthan, Namagal; Gupta, Ribhav; Mishra, Shraddha; Patel, Anjali; Denga, Ver-Se
The Hamilton Center for Civic Inclusion (HCCI) positions itself as a “connector” or “incubator” within Hamilton’s nonprofit ecosystem. Their work may be reflected across three defined organizational models: intermediary, network weaver and collective impact backbone organization. In the increasingly competitive landscape of nonprofit funding, successfully communicating the impact of their work is challenging compared to, for instance, a direct service provider. HCCI’s impact is essential. By using jurisdictional scan and literature review methodology, we investigated two questions whose answers would inform the way that HCCI communicates their value and impact to potential funders and other stakeholders. Firstly, we sought to understand how similar organizations define their work and synthesized model definitions and goals that are shared between each type of organizational model. Then, we investigated the evidence-based impact of each organizational model on their nonprofit ecosystem and community, with a specific focus on how each model advances equity.
Rapid evidence profile #95: Exploring the impact of exercise as a treatment for people living with mental health conditions
(2025-09) Bain T; Whitelaw H; Waddell K; Dass R; Sivanesanathan T; Bhuiya AR; Alam S; Grewal E; Osorio-Bustamante D; Saleh R; Wu N; Wilson MG
An overview of the best available research evidence from around the world (i.e., evidence syntheses) and local research evidence (i.e., single studies) and may include a scan of experiences from other countries and from Canadian provinces and territories, about the impact of exercise as a treatment for people living with mental health conditions in response to a decision-maker’s request.
CHILD DEVELOPMENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES IN CANADA
(2026) Jezrawi, Rita
Educational and developmental trajectories can be modified with early identification of needs and early interventions to support children in meeting developmental milestones. The goal of the dissertation was to explore the health and social outcomes of children with parent-reported, diagnosed, or teacher-identified neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) in Canada. This was done through three studies: 1) a quantitative regression study on developmental and academic outcomes from kindergarten to Grade 6 in Ontario, 2) a realist review of literature from the last decade on child development programs in Ontario and Manitoba; 3) a quantitative multilevel model approach to examine changes in prevalence rates of developmental outcomes over time in neighbourhoods in Ontario and Manitoba. The identification of developmentally vulnerable subgroups in these studies could help stakeholders decide on where and how universal and targeted policy solutions could be implemented. These studies provide more empirical support for early intervention programs and early entry to special education to ensure students develop the skills they need. Meaningful participation in school, community, and home is important for child and family development, and these studies show that meaningful participation can be facilitated by healthcare and community providers, educators, policymakers, and parents themselves. Including two provinces in two of the three studies allowed us to compare provincial health and educational policies and describe possible ways interprovincial variance exists in services and childhood outcomes. The results also showed socioeconomic and geographic inequities experienced by families and neurodiverse children between and within provinces. Additionally, the dissertation shows that a diagnosis of either autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or other NDD is associated with varied developmental and educational outcomes. Fundamentally, this dissertation showcases the necessity for collaboration in child developmental health and education sectors to provide more seamless communication and support services across schools, clinics, and community agencies.

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