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Media Representation in Refugee Crises: A Comparative Analysis of Ukrainian and Palestinian Refugee Coverage in News Publications
Full text linkThis thesis examines the representation of Ukrainian and Palestinian refugees across three news outlets: CBC News, The New York Times, and Al Jazeera. Through a qualitative content analysis (QCA), the research draws on Stuart Hall's representation theory and Johan Galtung's peace journalism framework. While past studies documented how journalism has represented refugees fleeing war (Ajana et at., 2024; Greenbank, 2015; El-Nawawy & Elmasry, 2023; Hoffman & Hameleers, 2024; Elsamni, 2016), this research is motivated by a notable shift in 2022 when opinions positively changed in response to Ukrainians seeking refuge (Kapetanovic, 2022). The research also addresses the relative absence of scholarly attention to Palestinian refugees in news media. This is reflected in the analyzed sample articles where findings revealed significant disparities in news media representation. Ukrainian refugees were humanized through personal narratives, professional identities, and active agency in their lives and communities whereas Palestinian refugees were predominantly represented through statistics, collective representation, and limited agency. The study reveals a pattern of differential representation where Ukrainian refugees were depicted as educated contributors to society, in contrast to Palestinian refugees who were often framed as victims without individuality.
Additionally, the thesis highlights how the overall journalistic coverage of marginalized asylum seekers and refugees could be improved. It is important to note that the goal of this research is not to discredit the reporting on Ukrainian refugees. Instead, this thesis seeks to highlight the positive impacts such reporting may have had on the community while raising questions regarding the unequal coverage that communities in similar circumstances received. By identifying possible disparities in refugee representation, the research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of media representation and its effects
From Quick Clicks to Deep Deliberations: A Time-Phased Approach to Online Browsing and Purchase Amounts
No full textThis article develops and estimates a model of online purchase behavior using clickstream data from a branded merchandise store. The model links consumers’ purchase amounts to how they browse the website in three distinct windows—day-of, short-term, and long-term—before making a transaction. Focusing on session frequency, cart usage, and product detail views, we employ a finite mixture approach to account for unobserved heterogeneity across users. Our results reveal three distinct segments of online shoppers: low-spending task-focused buyers, moderate spending explorers, and high-spending advance planners. Each segment displays unique patterns of search depth, cart interaction, and timing. We find that day-of visits drive quick purchasing among lower spenders, whereas long-term browsing and comprehensive product
reviews play a critical role for high-value orders. These findings underscore the importance of segment-specific, time-targeted strategies for digital retailers seeking to enhance basket values and tailor website design to varying consumer needs
Interfacial Conformation of Polymer Chains and Its Impact on Film Properties
Full text linkPolymeric thin films, exhibiting unique optical, electrical, and mechanical properties, can be engineered for various technologies, including adhesives, membranes, optical systems, and electronics. The interfacial region between these films and their environment plays a crucial role in key processes such as nucleation, crystallization, adhesion, and wettability. The conformation of polymer chains near the interface significantly influences these processes. However, there is lack of studies that establish clear correlations between interfacial chain conformation and the macroscopic behavior of thin films. In this study, we employed sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy to investigate the interfacial conformation of polystyrene chains across various systems, establishing valuable relationships between substrate properties, interfacial chain conformation, and macroscopic thin film properties.
First, we examined the role of the polymer molecular weight in driving interfacial chain conformation. We found significant differences in the conformation of polystyrene chains near a metallic substrate, depending on the polymer molecular weight. Our analysis revealed that the balance between entropy and enthalpy during polymer adsorption plays a crucial role in determining the chain conformation.
Building on the previous findings, we explored the relationship between the polymer molecular weight, the interfacial environment (free and buried interfaces), the chain conformation and the dewetting behavior of thin films. Our study revealed that polystyrene chains of the same molecular weight adopt distinct conformations depending on the interface and that these differences in chain conformation play a key role in determining the dewetting behavior of thin films.
Lastly, we conducted a pioneering work demonstrating the potential use of SFG spectroscopy to determine the lamellar orientation at the surface of semi-crystalline thin films. This study broadens the scope of SFG spectroscopy and expands the range of analytical tools available for interfacial lamellar orientation analysis, particularly in complex systems, such as at buried interfaces.
This work provides valuable insights that enhance the fundamental understanding of interfacial properties, chain conformations, and the macroscopic behavior of thin films. By integrating innovative SFG spectroscopy applications with theoretical calculations, we have established a robust foundation for future studies in polymer science and materials engineering, driving advancements in thin film technologies and applications
Gamification: Increasing engagement in an English as a Second Language (ESL) elementary classroom
Full text linkThis study explores the effect of gamification on behavioural engagement and looks at the practicality of implementing game elements into classrooms from the teacher's perspective. The aim of this study was to explore if two game elements, narrative and choice, could be used in a classroom environment without increasing teachers' load while also behaviourally engaging students.
The two main research questions were: a) What impact do specific game elements (narrative and choice) have on the behavioural engagement of elementary school students in an ESL classroom setting? and b) What are the practical challenges and benefits of integrating game elements into elementary school teachers’ instructional strategies?
The teacher used gamified activities and scenarios to teach her regular classroom while the students participated in the activities. The activities were integrated into each class to be as inclusive of the material as possible, with a minimal amount of disruption. The participants were observed throughout each class and completed a questionnaire. Students and teachers had different questions, each targeting a different research question.
The students generally liked the activities, but the results were inconclusive regarding a change in their behavioural engagement. The biggest indicator of changes in the students' behavioural engagement was switching from structured to non-structured activities
Cryptocurrency’s Societal Impact: ESG Compliance, Gaming Economies, and Political Finance
Full text linkThis dissertation investigates the transformative role of cryptocurrency across three critical domains: environmental, social, and governance (ESG) compliance, blockchain-integrated gaming (GameFi), and political finance (PolitiFi). Through a thesis-by-article structure, it presents three complementary studies that together explore cryptocurrency’s broader societal impact and its implications for innovation in finance and governance.
The first article critically evaluates Bitcoin’s alignment with ESG criteria, challenging the dominant narrative that emphasizes its environmental footprint. Utilizing a novel forecast model, the study projects Bitcoin’s energy consumption and highlights overlooked contributions to financial inclusion, renewable energy integration, and governance transparency. This work offers insights into how Bitcoin’s environmental criticisms may be mitigated through technological advancements and innovative mining practices.
The second article examines the emerging GameFi sector, which bridges decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and gaming. By analyzing key developments such as play-to-earn models and blockchain gaming’s evolution, the study uses empirical methods to explore GameFi’s independence from traditional cryptocurrency markets. It reveals how GameFi redefines digital economies, providing new monetization opportunities and reshaping value exchange between players and developers.
The third article introduces PolitiFi, a novel category of cryptocurrencies linked to political campaigns and figures. Employing a Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model, the study investigates PolitiFi’s market dynamics and its rapid decoupling from traditional meme coins. It demonstrates PolitiFi’s potential to engage underrepresented voters, influence campaign strategies, and disrupt traditional political finance.
Together, these studies provide a cohesive examination of cryptocurrency’s societal contributions, addressing critical challenges and uncovering opportunities for its application in diverse fields. The findings contribute to academic discourse on decentralized technologies while offering practical implications for policy-making, sustainable finance, and digital innovation
Contesting the Legacy of South African Visual Culture: Black Queer Bodies in Zanele Muholi’s Self-Archive, Somnyama Ngonyama.
Full text linkThis thesis examines South African artist Zanele Muholi’s self-portrait series Somnyama Ngonyama (Hail the Dark Lioness) (2012–ongoing) as an alternative archive that inserts Black
Queer bodies into South Africa’s visual culture. Through over four hundred black-and-white self-portraits, Muholi reclaims agency over the historical erasure and misrepresentation of Black Queer individuals in South African archives. Their work challenges colonial and apartheid-era visual legacies by engaging with ethnographic photography, identity documentation, and institutionalized archives that have historically dehumanized Black South Africans and excluded Queer narratives. Situating Somnyama Ngonyama within the framework of Black, Queer, and archival practices, this thesis argues that Muholi’s work functions as a self-archive, challenging the rigid, exclusionary structures of South African records of Black
Queer experiences. By foregrounding the body as an archive of personal and collective experiences, Muholi’s series offers a sensorial and subjective mode of archiving that resists colonial and heteropatriarchal knowledge production. Ultimately, I argue that understood as a self-archive, Somnyama Ngonyama functions as an activist tool to insert the presence of Black Queer individuals in South Africa’s visual landscape
Questioning the Code of Rights and Responsibilities
Full text linkUniversity policies significantly affect university students’ academic lives. Concerningly, students do not engage with university policies even when they are directly provided (Jordan, 2001). This intrinsic case study bricolage employs Critical Pedagogy as its theoretical framework to explore how six students used Question Formulation Technique (QFT’) to engage and interact with their university’s Code of Rights and Responsibilities (the Code’) and each other in two peer groups of three students each in separate sessions. Data sources include participant-generated questions, an observation sheet, and individual post-session questionnaires. Both participant groups had difficulty self-organizing during QFT and engaging with the Code due to a lack of prior knowledge of its terms, structure, and origins. A modified Bloom’s Taxonomy (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001) and a Question Types and Purposes Rubric analyzed the generated questions to determine the questions’ cognitive levels and objectives. Data triangulation revealed that QFT allowed participants to dialogue with each other about the Code, and that most participants recognized their knowledge gaps concerning the Code and expressed intention to use QFT in the future unless they already used a preferred questioning technique. This study recommends providing university students with policy literacy instructional interventions and using QFT as a needs assessment tool
Novel Channel Estimation Methods for GFDM Systems in High Mobility Scenario
Full text linkHigh-mobility wireless environments—such as those experienced in vehicular or aerial networks—pose significant challenges to reliable communication. Rapid time variations and frequency dispersion in these environments lead to severe intersymbol interference and signal distortion. Conventional modulation schemes and channel estimation methods, which are often based on a time-frequency representation, struggle to maintain performance under such conditions. Generalized Frequency Division Multiplexing (GFDM) has emerged as a promising modulation technique for next-generation wireless networks due to its flexibility and efficient spectrum usage. However, its conventional formulation does not adequately address the dynamic nature of high-mobility channels.
This thesis presents a novel approach that redefines the GFDM system model in the delay-Doppler domain. The delay-Doppler domain offers a natural framework for representing channels in high-mobility scenarios, as it captures the sparse structure of the channel more effectively than the conventional time-frequency domain. By transforming the GFDM signal into the delay-Doppler domain, our method exploits the inherent sparsity of the channel, thereby enabling more accurate and efficient channel estimation. Additionally, a superimposed pilot scheme is introduced, whereby pilot symbols are embedded within the data-bearing frame. This strategy eliminates the need for dedicated pilot-only regions, thus significantly enhancing spectral efficiency.
Based on the new system model, we investigate two channel estimation methods. The first approach employs a compressed sensing technique using the Subspace Pursuit (SP) algorithm. This method reconstructs the channel vector from a limited number of measurements, leveraging the sparse nature of the channel. It offers low computational complexity, which is beneficial for real-time implementations. However, the SP algorithm requires prior knowledge of the channel’s sparsity level—a parameter that is often difficult to determine in practice.
To overcome this limitation, the second method adopts Sparse Bayesian Learning (SBL) for channel estimation. SBL integrates prior information about the channel’s sparse structure directly into a Bayesian inference framework, allowing it to both accurately estimate the key channel parameters and identify the positions of the non-zero elements without requiring a priori sparsity knowledge. Simulation results demonstrate that the SBL-based estimator outperforms the SP algorithm, particularly in scenarios where pilot overhead is constrained.
Building on these estimation techniques, the thesis further extends the proposed framework to incorporate reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS). RIS are composed of numerous passive reflecting elements that can dynamically adjust their reflection coefficients. By optimizing these coefficients, the RIS can steer the reflected signals to constructively combine with the direct path, thereby enhancing the overall channel gain and system capacity. Hence, a low-complexity phase optimization strategy is then employed to tune the RIS phase coefficients, maximizing the effective channel gain and improving the achievable rate.
The extensive simulation results presented in this thesis validate the performance of the proposed methods. Our findings indicate that the new GFDM system model in the delay-Doppler domain leads to significant improvements in channel estimation accuracy and robustness in high-mobility scenarios. The superimposed pilot scheme enhances spectral efficiency by embedding pilot symbols within the data frame, and the SBL-based channel estimator demonstrates superior performance over conventional greedy methods such as SP. Moreover, the integration of RIS with optimized phase shifts further increases the achievable rate and overall system capacity compared to systems with random phase configurations or without RIS support
Between the Lines: The Clothing of Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Full text linkAs a poet and playwright, Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) was one of the most famous women in America during her lifetime. This thesis examines Millay’s public and private personas as well as her relationship to homosexuality and heterosexuality, through the veil of her clothing. Millay was a complex person but if one only looks at her biography and not her clothing, one can argue she was quite a radical bohemian. However, in her private life, Millay’s writing and clothing reveal that she lived life following her passions, whereas in her public persona she was significantly more restrained within a conventional presentation. The separation Millay makes between her public and private lives, is made abundantly clear through her choice of clothing. As part of this thesis I have therefore, recreated, with video documentation of the process, two distinct ensembles worn by Millay. The first ensemble looks at Millay’s public persona in a fashionable and feminine tan linen dress from the most widely circulated image of her, taken by Arnold Genthe in 1914. The second ensemble is from a photograph taken by Berenice Abbott in 1925 that shows Millay with a bobbed haircut in a man’s shirt and tie, and a woman’s suit. This ensemble was chosen for the photograph that would appear in her first book after becoming the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1923. Perhaps this more masculine presentation was her way of holding her own among the previous all male recipients. A study of Millay's clothing offers valuable insights not only into how she chose to present herself to the world, revealing her desires, preferences, politics and nuanced aspects of her personality, but also how she chose to incorporate and respond to the culture and times as these changed over her lifetime
Risk-based Inspection Planning for Reinforced Concrete Bridges
No full textBridges are vital components of transportation systems. Bridge decks deteriorate faster than other bridge components due to their direct exposure to traffic loads, harsh environmental conditions, and de-icing chemicals. Inspecting these decks allows for the timely detection of defects, providing data for actionable maintenance decisions, and efficiently allocating resources. Accurate and cost-effective inspection faces many challenges, ranging from standardization of data collection, risk consideration, condition-based inspection frequency, and efficient utilization of Non-destructive Evaluation (NDE) methods.
This research presents an automated, risk-based inspection planning method for reinforced concrete bridges, focusing on bridge decks. This method integrates five main automated modules: (1) a data integration and standardization module, developed to automatically capture, structure, and integrate bridge data from diverse sources, including bridge inspection reports. It also standardizes inspection data into a ready-to-use format that supports direct, subsequent utilization in condition assessment and predictive modeling. It employs web scraping and rule-based data extraction techniques, in addition to text mining, natural language processing, and state-of-the-art large language models. (2) an automated, data-driven condition assessment module, developed to enable quantitative condition assessments of bridge decks using Bayesian belief networks. It makes use of the data generated in the first module. (3) a risk-of-failure module, developed to incorporate both the probability of failure and the consequences of failure, employing advanced ensemble machine learning and deep learning techniques, as well as a fuzzy inference system. (4) an NDE effectiveness module developed to assess the performance of NDE methods based on their respective accuracy, precision, speed, cost, and ease of use. It also evaluates the effectiveness of integrating multiple of these methods to optimize inspection quality and reliability. (5) a dynamic multi-objective optimization module for inspection planning, developed to strike a balance between the structural risk of failure, inspection effectiveness, and inspection costs (both direct costs and impact costs of inspections) under budgetary and operational constraints. This module enables data-driven decision-making to identify which bridges require inspections, the optimal timing for these inspections, and the most effective NDE method for each case.
The developed modules have been tested and validated utilizing inspection data of a set of bridges in Québec, Canada. The data comprises 4,119 bridge structures and 2,255 bridge inspection reports spanning a five-year period from 2018 to 2022. The developed modules demonstrated good performance with significant potential to improve bridge asset management practices. For instance, the defect-based condition assessment module achieved an accuracy of 94.6%, precision of 95.0%, recall of 94.7%, and F1 score of 94.1%. Inspection data was also transformed into a ready-to-use format with an accuracy of 98.79% for detecting and characterizing rebar corrosion, 99.09% for concrete delamination, and 98.64% for cracking, scaling, and spalling of concrete. The developed probability of failure model, as a part of the risk-of-failure module, achieved a mean accuracy of 98.84% with a 0.13% standard deviation. The developed inspection schedules effectively adopted inspection methods based on structural conditions, risk levels, and trade-offs among structural risk of failure, inspection costs, and inspection effectiveness. According to the developed schedules, high-risk bridges should receive more frequent and effective inspections earlier in the planning horizon, while bridges with lower risk need fewer, less intensive inspections. The developed method has the potential to improve inspection effectiveness, reduce costs, rationalize intervention planning (including associated budget and resource allocation), and enable broader, effective utilization of NDE methods