21793 research outputs found
Sort by
Essays on Examining Financial Markets' Dynamics and Forecasting by Deep Learning and Econometrics Models
Get PDFUnderstanding the dynamics of financial markets specially during financial crises and being able to forecast these markets are crucial for policymakers and investors. This dissertation aims to explore the dynamics of Crude oil, Gold, Silver, and Cryptocurrency markets from various perspectives.
The first topic of the dissertation involves comparing the dynamics of cryptocurrencies, crude oil, and gold markets before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This topic comprises two research studies: First, we investigated the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the return-volume and return-volatility relationships of crude oil, gold, and ten-most traded cryptocurrency markets. The findings of the first study enable policymakers and investors to better react to the dynamics of digital currencies, and commodity markets during financial crises. Then, using statistical and econometrics methods, we examined the interactions between these markets before and after the COVID-19 pandemic and investigated whether gold or crude oil can play a safe-haven role for cryptocurrency markets during the pandemic crisis. This study assists hedge fund managers or individual investors to adapt their risk exposure to crude oil, gold, and cryptocurrency markets during the financial crises.
For the second topic, several deep learning, machine learning, and hybrid models are adapted to improve the forecasting of crude oil, gold, and silver markets. For this purpose, I implemented sixteen different deep learning and machine learning models on historical price data and compared the prediction performance of these models across four different input sequence lengths to find the optimal settings in forecasting each market. The findings of this study assist investors, policymakers, and governmental agencies to effectively anticipate market trends and make informed timely decisions regarding crude oil, gold, and silver markets.
Lastly, I propose three graph-based neural networks models to predict the direction of price movements in crude oil, gold, and silver markets using a comprehensive set of features such as historical price data, global macroeconomic factors, supply and demand-related factors, other financial markets, and technical indicators. The proposed graph-based models consider the relationship among various factors that can affect the direction of price movements in crude oil and precious metal markets and can be considered as a feature extraction module for predicting the future trend of crude oil, gold, and silver markets
Theological Reflections on Online Christian Neo-Tribes: A Case Study Using r/DankChristianMemes
Get PDFThis thesis investigates collective identity in spaces dedicated to Christianity, utilizing the subreddit` r/DankChristianMemes as a case study. Drawing from the postmodern sociological theory of neo-tribalism, with specific emphasis added to its usage in qualitative studies of offline Christian micro-groups, this thesis explores how r/DankChristianMemes demonstrates a particular form of Christian neo-tribalization on the Internet. It does so by using multimodal theolinguistic analysis and a functional approach to language, thereby using three categories of the functionality of religious language (the axiomatic, social cohesive, and emotive) to establish empirical evidence for what constitutes the group’s puissance1 and sociality – both Maffesoli-an terms denoting the group’s raison d’être and methods of establishing a process of identifying one’s self with the group. The findings reveal that from the sociological perspective, r/DankChristianMemes creates an inclusive environment for fellowship among varying groups of Christians and non-Christians, centered upon humor using Christian language, images, and references. The group also creates grounds for collective identity by mocking and critiquing certain forms of Christianity, both denominational and cultural. From a theological perspective, this thesis concludes that r/DankChristianMemes demonstrates itself to be what Maffesoli terms an “interstitial utopia,” where Christians may gather to practice the Christian ethic of permeability (the crossing of boundaries), as well as a specific process of theological belonging that Lucien Richard terms “the dialogical process.
Soundwalking as a Means of Building Intergenerational Bridges and Community
Get PDFWhat might the soundscape of a rural historic bridge tell us about ourselves? This thesis examines how soundwalking created opportunities for intergenerational connection, by inviting participants living in a common geographical area to explore a particular bridge, its soundscape and oral history. The historic Avoca Bridge, located in the rural community of Avoca in Quebec’s Lower Laurentians, is the materialization of commonality between members of different generations as they cross over the Rouge River. During the fall of 2023, I led a research-creation intervention with five older adults and one teenage participant, during which they were introduced to amplified and deep listening, and learned about the oral history of the Avoca Bridge. The culminating activity was a soundwalk on the bridge, where participants used digital voice recorders and headphones to amplify the site-specific soundscape. This paper is divided into three chapters. Chapter 1 explores delay as affective response, and as a sound effect. Chapter 2 examines material aspects of the bridge and how these are parallel to participants’ responses. Chapter 3 offers a brief history of soundwalking, with particular attention to Andra McCartney’s seminal work on the practice, followed by a discussion of theoretical and methodological considerations relating to the use of amplification. The overall experience is described and examined through excerpts from participant-created audio recordings, recorded group conversations, and my own notes. The notion of a society where beneficial intergenerational connections are made possible thanks to an interruption to age-segregated practices is explored
Precarious Sounds: Labour in the Live Music Industry
Get PDFWhen the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of live concerts, thousands of industry workers across North America, including myself, were left unemployed. This research-creation project investigates the structural problems exposed by the pandemic and presents the personal histories of eight industry workers to better understand (and critique) pre-existing precarious labour conditions within the North American live music industry. Interviews were conducted with both musicians and behind-the-scenes workers, namely a sound technician, a tour manager, a promoter, a booking agent, a venue owner, and a music non-profit organization worker. These interviews were then assembled into podcast episodes. The podcast form was selected to create a dialogue between researcher and participant, while making the information easily accessible to non-academic audiences. Using Brooke Erin Duffy's concept of "aspirational labour" (2015) and the idea of creative precarity developed by Hesmondhalgh (2018), Ross (2008), and Curtin & Sanson (2016), this thesis demonstrates that the return of concerts post-pandemic uncovered significant flaws in the music industry. Workers are primarily self-employed and cannot access traditional workplace benefits such as weekly salaries, healthcare plans or retirement funds. They also work long hours in precarious conditions in the hopes of obtaining more lucrative opportunities. Yet, the pandemic-induced pause on live events has prompted many workers to reconsider fair treatment, leading to organized efforts to challenge these conditions
Is a Job (Like) a Jail? Differences in Metaphor Versus Simile Processing and Comprehension in L1 and L2 English Speakers
Get PDFWhen listeners hear a metaphor such as jobs are jails, they typically understand the intended meaning even though such sentences are not literally true. Within psycholinguistics, there has been a lingering debate over how such phrases are understood, and how they differ from other related forms, such as similes (e.g., jobs are like jails). Accordingly, pragmatic theorists suggest that literal meaning of metaphors must first be rejected in order to attain understanding of intended metaphorical meaning from context and world knowledge. In contrast, direct-access theorists argue that both metaphor and simile are understood automatically, without prior parsing of literal semantic meaning. Relevant here, relatively little research has ascertained what meanings are attained during the time-course of metaphor or simile processing, and further, how this differs between first and second language speakers (henceforth, L1 and L2, respectively). To pursue this issue, this thesis presents three studies that investigate both the moment-by-moment online processing of metaphors and similes and their ultimate comprehensibility, in both L1 and L2 English speakers. STUDY 1 describes two cross-modal lexical decision experiments spanning four time points during the course of processing (vehicle word onset, vehicle recognition point, 500ms and 1000ms post-recognition point) in two samples of L1 English speakers, comparing the priming of literal and figurative meanings of metaphors and similes in high- and low- aptness and familiarity conditions. It showed that aptness and familiarity modulated which meanings were activated during metaphor and simile processing, and that literal meanings were activated faster and lingered later than figurative meanings. STUDY 2 repeated the same experimental design in a sample of L2 English speakers, with four time points collapsed into two (early and late) to determine whether L2 speakers process metaphors the same way L1 speakers do. We demonstrated that L2 speakers did not appreciably prime figurative or literal meanings during online processing of metaphors, and only primed literal meanings while processing similes. STUDY 3 probed whether L1 and L2 speakers found metaphors and similes globally comprehensible when aptness and familiarity were manipulated and when given ample time to make offline judgments about these sentences. It found that L1 speakers judged highly familiar metaphor more comprehensible than similes that had the same constituents. However, L2 speakers preferred simile when sentence familiarity was high or aptness was low. Together, STUDIES 1 to 3 highlight that online processing and offline comprehension of metaphor and simile differed according to language background and sentence attributes. Specifically, familiarity was important for both online processing of metaphor and simile for L1 speakers. In contrast, L2 speakers relied more heavily on semantic decomposability to make sense of figurative expressions
Dynamic Management of Virtual Machine and Container Scheduling in Multi-Cloud Data Centers
Get PDFEfficiently managing virtual resources is a critical component of server virtualization technology. The scheduler is crucial in strategically distributing Virtual Machines (VMs) and containers across diverse computing nodes, responsible for the allocation and the placement of VMs and containers on different computing nodes, and the migration of deployed ones between different nodes. In this thesis, we propose novel solutions in scheduling virtual resources, particularly in the management of VMs and containers deployed across multi-data center cloud environments. The proposed solutions leverage mathematical models, machine learning techniques, and blockchain technology to optimize scheduling decisions, enhance server consolidation, minimize energy consumption, and secure container scheduling. We introduce mathematical models for live VM migration techniques used in simulating and studying live VM migration in cloud systems environments. We present a novel distributed scheduling model that leverages blockchain technology to facilitate efficient sharing of VM status across multiple data centers. This enables prompt Local Area Network (LAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN) scheduling decisions for VMs. Additionally, we employ machine and deep learning techniques in a VM migration prediction service to identify the most suitable live migration method for each VM based on its unique characteristics. Our blockchain-based model reduces the total messages exchanged for the VM migration with percentages ranging from 0.5% to 22% and the total communication delay by 8% to 72% compared to a REST-based distributed model. The proposed blockchain-based distributed model also reduces the number of communication messages by 41.79% to 49.85% and total delay by 2% to 12% compared to a VPN-based centralized model. The Service Lvel Agreement (SLA) compliance rate of the proposed VM migration prediction service ranges from 18% to 94.9% for different machine learning algorithms and SLA policies. The proposed solution reduces the total migration time by 14% to 79% and the downtime by 64% to 99%. Furthermore, we present a novel two-stage container scheduling solution that addresses node imbalances and efficiently deploys containers as an optimization problem, integrating various objective functions and constraints to enhance server consolidation and minimize energy consumption. The confidentiality of migrated containers is ensured through encryption, and the associated costs of the proposed attributes-based encryption model are incorporated into the optimization constraints. The proposed solution's efficacy is demonstrated in its ability to efficiently deploy containers in multi-data center cloud environments and seamlessly migrate them between hosts within the same data center or across different data centers. The results show optimal consolidation with a reduction in the number of running hosts, ranging from 4% to over 18%. Additionally, the solution promotes minimal total power consumption with savings ranging from 3.5 to 16.25 megawatts, while also ensuring balanced server loads, highlighting the effectiveness of the proposed container scheduling approach
Improving the Experience for People with Mobility Issues in Urban Open Spaces in Montréal to Increase Inclusivity
Get PDFUrban open spaces play a pivotal role in the vitality of a city. It is imperative that these areas are designed to accommodate all members of the community. Among the groups deserving special consideration in urban planning are the elderly, individuals in wheelchairs, and parents with strollers, as they often encounter challenges related to mobility that hinder their access to public spaces.
This study endeavors to enhance the urban experience for individuals with mobility issues in Montreal's open spaces, thereby fostering greater inclusivity. The research aims to pinpoint areas of concern and overlooked aspects within these spaces, with the overarching objective of enhancing comfort and accessibility for individuals with diverse needs.
Through the development of prototypes and informative diagrams, this research seeks to illustrate practical solutions for mitigating barriers encountered by our target demographic in real-world scenarios. By observing public behavior in Montreal's urban spaces, we aim to provide actionable insights for urban designers, architects, and policymakers.
Ultimately, this research is poised to make significant contributions to the creation of more inclusive and accessible public spaces, catering to the needs of an aging population and promoting the well-being of all citizens
Exploring How Body Diversity Impacts the Effectiveness of Marketing Communications
Get PDFPast research on body diversity has largely focused on the positive impact plus-size models in media have on consumers’ self-esteem and body image, but the impact of these diversity efforts on consumer responses to marketing communications and the advertised brands is less conclusive. This research aimed to understand why (and when) consumers may react more positively (or negatively) to body diversity and investigates the underlying psychological mechanism involved in the effect. To address this question, I employed experimental methods across one pre-test and three studies, one exploratory (Study 1) and two confirmatory (Study 2a and 2b). Participants in these studies were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk and were asked to evaluate a sponsored social media post featuring either a plus-size or thin model advertising a luggage (Studies 1 and 2a) or an app (Study 2b). Along with a significant main effect of model size on attitudes and marginally significant main effects on behavioral intentions and purchase likelihood, an exploratory serial mediation effect was found through participants’ opinion of the model and their perceived persuasion intent of the post. Study 2 aimed to replicate and confirm these findings. Study 2a used the same stimuli (i.e., carry-on luggage) to closely replicate Study 1, while Study 2b conceptually replicated it using a lower-involvement product (i.e., a mobile game app). Both Study 2a and 2b replicated the serial mediation effects found in Study 1. Finally, theoretical and managerial contributions are discussed
The Chair That Wanted to Be a Table: A Personal Exploration of Alternative Dining Experiences in Reaction to Industrialized Agricultural Practices
Get PDFThis research-creation approach to critical design finds itself at the intersection of agriculture, the built environment of the dining room, and queer philosophy. Adopting lenses from queer design theory to rethink domestic hierarchy, the work confronts consumer responsibilities, the importance of traditional crafting methods, industrialized agriculture, and intimacy surrounding food.
This research investigates the role tangible intermediaries—such as furnishings and instruments—play in the association of value onto ingredients we consume as sustenance, and onto community-based dining rituals. Through a critical point of view, the research investigates the possibilities of augmenting value in food through collaborative approaches of dining. Current food consumption habits are forcing agricultural practices to work in irreversible ways, against nature, to yield maximum results, without considering future implications, and so, this study asks: How can the proposal of alternative furnishings and tools shift consumers’ perception of food origin, value, and consumption rituals in domestic settings?
Stemming from this research is a series of homeware, dining instruments, and foraging tools that provoke reflection regarding our habits related to consumption of food, with the intention of creating additional value to its origin. Ultimately, this work aims at highlighting the value of community-based alternatives, for a more sustainable and more inclusive tomorrow. The research proposes an intimate reflection of consumption and access to sustenance through methods such as thinking through making and autoethnography
Learning with artificial intelligence: how students decide and then use AI
Get PDFThis thesis investigates the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in education, focusing on how and why students incorporate AI tools like ChatGPT into their studies. While AI's impact on the workplace has been extensively researched, its role in education remains less understood. This study addresses this gap through a qualitative analysis of 27 students' experiences with AI in their academic pursuits.
The research reveals that students engage in complex ethical decision-making when choosing to use AI, balancing its potential for educational advancement against concerns about skill development and managing academic pressures. Two primary patterns of AI usage emerge: replacement and support.
By comparing AI use in education with its application in the workplace, this thesis highlights the unique challenges and opportunities presented by AI in academic settings. The findings have significant implications for students, educational institutions, and society at large, emphasizing the need for responsible AI use, clear guidelines, and the importance of preparing students for an AI-driven future while maintaining core educational values.
This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge on AI in education