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An early-warning risk signals framework to capture systematic risk in financial markets
Get PDFDespite extensive research on the relationship between systematic risk and expected returns, there exists limited knowledge of how early-warning risk signals could capture investors’ expectations about changes in systematic risk. Leveraging on graph theory and covariance matrices, this study proposes a novel framework to develop risk signal patterns. Our approach not only discerns high-risk periods from calmer ones but also elucidates the pivotal role of interconnections among securities as indicators of systematic risk. The findings offer actionable insights for timely portfolio management and risk management responses in periods of transitions towards higher systematic risk. Moreover, by leveraging on graph theory, regulators can take timely decisions about how much liquidity to inject into the markets during periods of uncertainty. This study contributes to the literature by establishing a novel framework on linking investors’ expectations and expected changes in systematic risk
Middle aged women and their physical activity leisure selves
Get PDFExercise participation can be difficult for women during the transitional stage of middle age, due to physiological, psychological and social changes. This study explored the perceptions of women aged 40–54 in London UK, to leisure exercise from within their whole life contexts. Using a lifecourse framework, nine women, self-reported exercisers and non-exercisers were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Thematic Analysis surfaced three inductive themes: (1) being middle aged, (2) perceptions of physical activity levels, (3) being an exerciser and one deductive theme (4) on health messaging. Novel findings suggest that perceptions of personal physical activity are relative to the participants historically perceived levels and suggest a discrete ‘closed system of fitness improvement’. The significance of this is that it may uncover determinants that cannot be seen by traditional objective measures for improvement and adherence. Also, participants found it difficult to find appropriate age and fitness level classes and all participants thought targeted health campaigns were not meant for them but for others. Organisations and fitness professionals, tasked to encourage participation, might consider these findings when designing facilities, classes and messaging to encourage participation
The open letter as decolonial feminist method: observations and attempts
Get PDFIn this text, I reflect and expand on three questions that I was invited to submit to Ariella Aïsha Azoulay on occasion of the publication of her book The Jewelers of the Ummah: A Potential History of the Jewish Muslim World. In her book, Azoulay deploys the form of the open letter addressed to her actual and chosen kin, in an effort to revisit, examine, and repair the disruption of Jewish-Muslim life in the Maghreb and the Middle East by two interlaced colonial projects: the French rule of North Africa and the Zionist colonisation of Palestine. Book launch organiser and chair Nondumiso Msimanga requested that questions be submitted in the form of open letters to Azoulay, to reflect the author’s own deployment of the open letter. By examining a range of experimentations with the epistolary form and specifically the open letter, and by writing open letters of my own that probe the intersections of Azoulay’s and my preoccupations, namely obstacles and allies in the act of creation, and a migrant feminist politics of refusal, I propose the open letter as a method with rich decolonial feminist potential
Dipti Desai and Stephen Duncombe: The Activism of Art - A Decentred Anthology [Book review]
No full textThis book is a self-described ‘decentred anthology’ on the subject of art and activism, these terms being defined in the broadest possible sense. Working from the assumption that an anthology which strove for comprehensiveness would reproduce the logic of imperialism – in their words ‘a neat typology that allows for dissection and division’ or ‘a detailed map made ready for conquest and control’ – the editors Dipti Desai and Stephen Duncombe affirm that the collection is ‘more akin to an Australian Aboriginal Walkabout: a practice of mobility amongst sites that allows for a passage from one state of understanding to another’. Nevertheless, their introduction opens with two epigraphs which appear to stake out the coordinates of the book: one from Plato, who affirms the risk to society of art, and thus its activism, and another from Audre Lorde, for whom art’s activism in this sense renders it a ‘vital necessity’. Moreover, the editors explicitly frame their effort as an expansion of the canon, insofar as included alongside writers familiar from myriad readers on the subject are ‘voices, positions and perspectives not usually included in discussions on arts and activism’
Making sense of critical and creative thinking within an early childhood studies seminar – a phenomenological contribution to intercultural pedagogy
Get PDFThe ultimate aim of this Doctoral programme is to enhance undergraduate experience, development, and achievement on a BA Early Childhood Studies (ECS) course, for which the researcher serves as the course leader. The findings may also prove to be useful for designers and tutors on similar courses. The study employs a phenomenological analysis to investigate the sense-making and meaning-making processes of Early Childhood Studies undergraduates in a typical seminar class, exploring the contextualisation of critical and creative thinking, as well as the cultural aspects of being a learner. A proposed conceptual framework for sense-making and meaning-making may be conducive to providing more holistic, culturally relevant seminar pedagogies, leading to greater student engagement and cultural awareness. These are necessary for students’ personal and professional development, ultimately contributing to a narrative of decolonisation and sustainability.
In contrast to a predominantly empirically researched, skill-based view of critical and creative thinking, this research takes an interpretivist, phenomenological approach to studying the sense-making of Early Childhood undergraduate students during a seminar class. The methods adopted include class observations of fifteen students working in small groups, and post-seminar video-stimulated interviews with six of the students. This is followed by a focus group of seven students to capture elements of their sense and meaning-making within their ‘lived experience’ of the seminar class. The findings identified that students are involved in ongoing sense-making during their seminar. Students are provoked by the resources provided by their tutor to participate in embodied sense-making. They participate in complex social ‘weaving’ to create a basis for their sense-making. This weaving involves: humour, controlled attention and validation, strained camaraderie between peers, and tacit negotiation of agency with the tutor (employing effort, engagement, and focus). Higher-order critical and creative thinking is rarely evidenced in the seminar, but a form of ‘creative sense-making’ arises from playful uncertainty. A form of ‘critical sense-making’ is seen to result in response to questions, as well as from tutor requests for feedback, which induce tension. If a tutor can recognise the characteristics of critical and creative sense-making within a seminar class, it could provide a starting point for scaffolding higher-order critical and creative thinking alongside intercultural dialogues. An intercultural, pedagogical framework is proposed, complementary to a sense-meaning and meaning-making perspective, which could encourage a more open dialogue for making meaningful links between cultural identity, critical and creative thinking
An existential inquiry exploring the lived experiences of individuals hearing voices
Get PDFThis qualitative research aimed to investigate how individuals make sense of their hearing-voice experience, including any perceived connection between trauma and hearing voices, while also considering the situational and social factors that may shape their experience. The research aimed to create a meaningful narrative that explores various aspects of hearing voices, focusing on voice-hearers who have experienced trauma. Using Reflexive Thematic Analysis to answer the question: “How do adult survivors of trauma make meaning of their voice-hearing experience”?, this study investigated the multifaced experience of hearing by developing four interrelated themes: “Navigating the Good, the Bad, and the Useful Voices”, Is it trauma speaking?, “From powerless to reclaiming control” and “Between Stigma and the need for Compassion”. This research addressed gaps in the field by emphasising the complexity of the hearing-voices experience, which shapes the personal identity of voice hearers, along with the impact of traumatic circumstances and social factors surrounding voice-hearing. Despite limitations stemming from subjectivity and small, purposeful sample size, the thesis advanced the understanding of the complex dynamics underlying the relationship between voice hearers and their voices and their need to address both external and internal stigma. It highlighted a gap in professional skills, calling for more humanistic and flexible approaches that consider individuals' interpretations of their experiences and emphasise the need for trauma-informed practices. Overall, this study offered a subjective yet valuable perspective on the experience of hearing voices, highlighting that reducing stigma and fostering empathy are key to improving voice hearers' well-being. This study framed hearing voices as a form of interpersonal communication that requires social connection and understanding
Monadic pseudocomplemented distributive lattices
No full textIn this paper, we study the variety of pseudocomplemented distributive lattices with existential and universal quantifiers, called monadic pseudocomplemented distributive lattices. We introduce the variety of monadic KAN-algebras, which turns out to be different from the class studied in [Gomez C., Marcos M., San Martín H.J.: \textit{On the relation of negations in Nelson algebras}. Rep. Math. Logic \textbf{56} (2021), 15--56], and prove that the category of monadic pseudocomplemented distributive lattices is equivalent to the category of centered monadic KAN-algebras, extending the results given in [Calomino I., Pelaitay G.: \textit{A new categorical equivalence for Stone algebras}. Accepted in Mathematica Slovaca (2025)]
Sustainable urban development through emerging technologies, process improvement, and citizen commitment
No full textIn order to fight imminent global warming and to diminish anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, positive energy districts (PED) have gradually been acknowledged and grown in significance regarding the European (EU) energy transition policy agenda, as an achievable solution towards a zero-emissions future. PEDs have brought about a shift from focus on individual buildings to neighbourhoods. Thus, a relatively new focus area at EU level, regarding the energy transition process and sustainable urban development, has developed. The aim of the EU is to become climate-neutral by 2050. The intention of creating 100 PEDs by 2025 and their alignment with the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDG) are encouraging means to accomplishing the goal. Nevertheless, the intention raises questions regarding the way of realizing fast, coherent and comparable PED adoption across diverging environmental and sociocultural contexts. The emphasis of this study lies on how to attain Sustainable Urban Development through emerging technologies, process improvement, and citizen commitment employed in the PED adoption. The PED concept is a complex undertaking that requires a systemic, holistic, and integrated approach for its design, implementation, and operation, addressing multiple interconnected aspects. This study aims to clarify different PED aspects by carrying out a factor analysis incorporating sociocultural, technological, economic, environmental, political, legal, ethical, and demographic (STEEPLED) PED features. In this study the focus is on PED opportunities and PED challenges. Ultimately the findings of this study will enhance understanding and knowledge about critical factors in the creation, implementation and operation of PEDs, and to further progress research and development in this important contemporary field
TravQuery: a customer support chatbot based on Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)
No full textLarge language models (LLMs) can streamline information search, enhancing user productivity and experience. LLMs have revolutionised how users interact with information. LLMs, such as OpenAI’s GPT series, have revealed ground breaking results in natural language generation and comprehension. These models can obtain valuable insights from that data to accomplish specific goals and tasks through flexible adaptation. However, LLMs have difficulty responding accurately to queries and may exhibit “hallucination”, where they provide responses that contain false information. Techniques such as Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) have been developed to address these challenges. A personalised customer support chatbot using the RAG model for a travel system named TravQuery is presented in this paper. The TravQuery chatbot is trained on a synthetic travel-based Question Answer dataset. A RAG architecture retrieves the most relevant document from the provided dataset and presents it to the Llama 2 LLM to generate an accurate response. This approach reduces the likelihood of hallucinations and facilitates the creation of more accurate responses. The model leveraged the RAG architecture to achieve an accuracy rate of over 70%. This demonstrates the chatbot’s ability to deliver high-quality, contextually relevant interactions within the travel domain. The outcomes of TravQuery are compared with the ChatGPT-3.5 model to evaluate the difference in the responses produced by both models