173 research outputs found

    A critical assessment of what influences and biases the financial decision-making behaviour of the millennial investor.

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    The study explored the research question: What are the key factors, drivers and biases that influence the confidence of financial decision-making behaviour of the millennial investor? The research aim was to identify key factors that influence financial decision-making of millennials. Emerging research on human decision-making behaviour is revealing generational changes in influences, technology, and communication needs. The COVID-19 Pandemic and the 2020 US stock market collapse, with subsequent record highs in six months, have indicated that traditional economic models may be insufficient in understanding millennial investor behaviour. The United States is set to see the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in history, $68 trillion, as baby boomers pass wealth to their millennial beneficiaries. This research found that millennial behavioural biases, key influences, an understanding of who and what they trust, and their financial education, is required for financial professionals to better communicate financial recommendations. To achieve the research goal, literature was reviewed on economic decision-making theory, Behavioural Finance with cognitive and emotional biases, along with the millennial discussion. Interconnected patterns and ten key themes emerged around their traits and characteristics. To establish a conceptual framework, a pragmatic paradigm was embraced. First, a Delphi study was performed with 27 leaders who provided views, and helped identify components of millennial decision-making. From those findings, a quantitative survey was developed using Likert statements, producing over 1,000 responses. Multivariant analyses were performed on the survey results testing the cogency of the conceptual framework. This research contributes to academic literature by contributing a framework for understanding the attributes that contribute to the confidence a millennial has in financial decision-making along with a practical framework for financial professional use. The findings indicate, that by understanding what drives financial decision-making confidence and behaviour, differentiated communication happens through a demonstration of aligned values and a customized delivery of information. This lays the foundation for a financial professional to build trust to attract, or retain millennial investors

    A General Theory Of Composition: Cross-modal Perception, Sound, Synergy and Meaning in contemporary composition practice.

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    Music extends beyond audibility. We perceive a performance – the work-on-stage – not only sonically but also visually and physically. Bridging science, phenomenology, eastern philosophy and music, A General Theory of Composition explores cross-modal perception and new synergies between musical and non-musical modes of creative expression through the media of sound, composition as a whole, and interdisciplinary research by posing the key-questions: What is SOUND? Where does SOUND begin, and where does it end? A General Theory of Composition, as a phenomenological investigation, reconfirms that the nature of both artistic practice and our sensory perception is holistic and reciprocally cross-modal. ‘Multi-sensory fluidity’ (Coessens), ‘sonic sensibility’ (Voegelin), ‘sensory substitution’ (McGann), naturally embedded in our modes of perception, suggest that our perception is always ‘embodied’ (Johnson) within its complex interdisciplinary Gestalt – composition as a whole. From this perspective the multisensory human body can be seen to engage meaningfully with the world via cross-modal listening, that promotes multi-sensory, psychosomatic reciprocal exchange between audible-visual-physical modes of perception. From the observation of my own artistic praxis, the holistic perspective of my theory brings forward the view on musical and/or any practice as a ‘lived experience’ (Stein) through theories of The Empathy Theory (Stein), Spheres of Human Essence (Walther), and The Speech Act Theory (Austin). It shares insights that: 1) sound/music, as language, is a phenomenon rooted in the philosophical domain; 2) there is no pure medium – all media are multi-modal, inter-subjective and reciprocally interconnected; 3) through the mode of ‘active listening’, as a means of communication, sound naturally crosses into other domains; 4) our perceptual modes intertwine, synthesise, and co-exist in a synergetic relationship within the complex chamber of our multi-sensory, psychosomatic, physical bodies. The exegesis is accompanied by two creative works, LIBERATO and SKETCHES, presented in three contextual subdivisions that collectively illustrate the workings of my theory and creative practice: the work-on-stage; cross-modal perception; expanded musical notation

    Image and radio-frequency data compression for OPS-SAT using FAPEC

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    OPS-SAT is an ESA technology demonstration cubesat which includes a colour camera, a Software Defined Radio (SDR) receiver and a powerful ARM processor. One of the experiments executed there is FAPEC, a high-performance and versatile data compression software. Among others, it features image compression and linear prediction coding algorithms, suitable for multi-band and baseband radio-frequency (RF) samples, respectively. Since its deployment on-board OPS-SAT in late 2020, FAPEC has allowed for downloading a large set of Earth Observation images. Recently, thanks to ESA Open Space Innovation Platform funds, these two algorithms from FAPEC are being improved to get better compression ratios and speeds, add video compression capabilities, and higher quality levels in case of lossy compression. A smart lossy approach is being developed for radio-frequency data, identifying the time segments with signal presence and quantizing noise-only samples to further reduce the size. In order to identify the really useful files to be downloaded from the satellite, on-board data analysis capabilities are being developed as well. In this work we present in-orbit results, recent developments and preliminary results obtained with the new algorithms on real data.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

    Les piliers perceptuels du cinĂ©ma d’animation

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    Toute discipline devrait reposer sur des bases thĂ©oriques solides ; mais ce n’est pas nĂ©cessairement le cas des Ă©tudes en animation. Au mieux, la pratique est encadrĂ©e par douze « principes » d’animation codifiĂ©s dans The Illusion of Life (1985) par deux animateurs de Disney, Ollie Johnson et Frank Thomas. Parmi ces principes, certains s’appliquent au cinĂ©ma en gĂ©nĂ©ral ou sont techniques ; alors que d’autres visent l’essentiel artistique de l’animation : comment produire des mouvements fluides, expressifs et crĂ©dibles. Les principes sont utilisĂ©s parce qu’ils fonctionnent ; mais personne du domaine n’a tentĂ© de dĂ©terminer les mĂ©canismes perceptifs qui expliqueraient pourquoi ils fonctionnent. Pire, la seule « thĂ©orie » gĂ©nĂ©ralement acceptĂ©e par le milieu prĂ©tend toujours que la « persistance rĂ©tinienne » explique la perception de mouvement au cinĂ©ma; et cette thĂ©orie a Ă©tĂ© dĂ©montrĂ©e fausse, il y a plus de quarante ans. Le premier objectif de cette thĂšse est d’identifier et de dĂ©crire les phĂ©nomĂšnes perceptifs sur lesquels l’art de l’animation repose ; et, deuxiĂšmement, de structurer ces connaissances avec de nouveaux concepts qui seront utiles sur le plan pratique, thĂ©orique et pĂ©dagogique. Cette thĂšse se veut transdisciplinaire et mobilise un ensemble important de connaissances hĂ©tĂ©roclites, traitantĂ  la fois de la vision et du cinĂ©ma. Le premier chapitre donne un aperçu des grandes thĂ©ories psychologiques et cinĂ©matographiques auxquelles nous nous rĂ©fĂ©rerons. Ensuite, les concepts psychophysiques et anatomiques Ă©lĂ©mentaires de la vision seront dĂ©crits au chapitre 2. Le chapitre 3 vise Ă  dĂ©mystifier la « thĂ©orie » de la persistance visuelle. Nous rappelons que l’Ɠil et la rĂ©tine se bornent Ă  transmettre une suite d’images au cortex qui utilise une sĂ©rie de procĂ©dĂ©s pour percevoir le mouvement. Au chapitre 4, nous Ă©tudierons deux types de mouvements animĂ©s (mouvement apparent de longue portĂ©e et de courte portĂ©e) et prĂ©senterons les axiomes qui les gouvernent. Le chapitre 5 amorce la deuxiĂšme partie de la thĂšse oĂč nous faisons le lien entre les mĂ©canismes de la vision et les principes d’animation de Disney. Nous prĂ©sentons un modĂšle de notre invention qui distingue une hiĂ©rarchie de cinq paliers perceptuels en animation : 1) le mouvement apparent (dĂ©crit prĂ©cĂ©demment) ; 2) le mouvement inanimé ; 3) le mouvement animé ; 4) le mouvement Ă©mouvant (c’est-Ă -dire les Ă©motions et performances) ; et 5) le monde (Umwelt) animĂ©. Ensuite, nous examinons quelques autres « principes » qui visent Ă  maximiser la qualitĂ© visuelle d’une animation, en particulier : la cadence, le tempo, et le principe de l’étirement et de la compression. Poursuivant dans cette voie, le chapitre 6 explore la question : « Ă  quel degrĂ© une animation doit-elle ĂȘtre rĂ©aliste pour fonctionner ? ». D’abord, nous explorerons le rĂŽle de l’exagĂ©ration (principe no 10), typique des cartoons ; puis les diffĂ©rences fondamentales entre un mouvement « animĂ© » effectuĂ© par une entitĂ© vivante, et les mouvements passifs associĂ©s aux objets « inanimĂ©s ». Il se trouve qu’une expĂ©rience positive repose sur une harmonisation perceptive des diffĂ©rents Ă©lĂ©ments d’un film en portant une attention particuliĂšre Ă  l’apparence des yeux des personnages, car des divergences de style peuvent provoquer le phĂ©nomĂšne de la « vallĂ©e de l’étrangetĂ© ». Enfin, au dernier chapitre, nous proposons quatre nouveaux concepts pratiques pour guider les animateurs Ă  crĂ©er des animations et des univers expressifs et convaincants. Ces derniers sont : 1) la molette de l’exagĂ©ration, 2) la pyramide de l’exagĂ©ration, 3) la cape de la crĂ©dibilitĂ© et 4) l’Umwelt animĂ©. Nous terminons la thĂšse en suggĂ©rant qu’il n’est plus suffisant pour l’animation de suivre des principes pratiques sans vraiment les comprendre. Il est grand temps que l’animation, Ă  la fois comme art et comme champ d’études, s’intĂ©resse aux principes et illusions qui l’animent

    Intertextual Readings of the NyāyabhĆ«áčŁaáč‡a on Buddhist Anti-Realism

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    This two-part dissertation has two goals: 1) a close philological reading of a 50-page section of a 10th-century Sanskrit philosophical work (Bhāsarvajña's NyāyabhĆ«áčŁaáč‡a), and 2) the creation and assessment of a novel intertextuality research system (Vātāyana) centered on the same work. The first half of the dissertation encompasses the philology project in four chapters: 1) background on the author, work, and key philosophical ideas in the passage; 2) descriptions of all known manuscript witnesses of this work and a new critical edition that substantially improves upon the editio princeps; 3) a word-for-word English translation richly annotated with both traditional explanatory material and novel digital links to not one but two interactive online research systems; and 4) a discussion of the Sanskrit author's dialectical strategy in the studied passage. The second half of the dissertation details the intertextuality research system in a further four chapters: 5) why it is needed and what can be learned from existing projects; 6) the creation of the system consisting of curated textual corpus, composite algorithm in natural language processing and information retrieval, and live web-app interface; 7) an evaluation of system performance measured against a small gold-standard dataset derived from traditional philological research; and 8) a discussion of the impact such new technology could have on humanistic research more broadly. System performance was assessed to be quite good, with a 'recall@5' of 80%, meaning that most previously known cases of mid-length quotation and even paraphrase could be automatically found and returned within the system's top five hits. Moreover, the system was also found to return a 34% surplus of additional significant parallels not found in the small benchmark. This assessment confirms that Vātāyana can be useful to researchers by aiding them in their collection and organization of intertextual observations, leaving them more time to focus on interpretation. Seventeen appendices illustrate both these efforts and a number of side projects, the latter of which span translation alignment, network visualization of an important database of South Asian prosopography (PANDiT), and a multi-functional Sanskrit text-processing web application (Skrutable).:Preface (i) Table of Contents (ii) Abbreviations (v) Terms and Symbols (v) NyāyabhĆ«áčŁaáč‡a Witnesses (v) Main Sanskrit Editions (vi) Introduction (vii) A Multi-Disciplinary Project in Intertextual Reading (vii) Main Object of Study: NyāyabhĆ«áčŁaáč‡a 104–154 (vii) Project Outline (ix) Part I: Close Reading (1) 1 Background (1) 1.1 Bhāsarvajña (1) 1.2 The NyāyabhĆ«áčŁaáč‡a (6) 1.2.1 Ts One of Several Commentaries on Bhāsarvajña's Nyāyasāra (6) 1.2.2 In Modern Scholarship, with Focus on NBhĆ« 104–154 (8) 1.3 Philosophical Context (11) 1.3.1 Key Philosophical Concepts (12) 1.3.2 Intra-Textual Context within the NyāyabhĆ«áčŁaáč‡a (34) 1.3.3 Inter-Textual Context (36) 2 Edition of NBhĆ« 104–154 (39) 2.1 Source Materials (39) 2.1.1 Edition of YogÄ«ndrānanda 1968 (E) (40) 2.1.2 Manuscripts (P1, P2, V) (43) 2.1.3 Diplomatic Transcripts (59) 2.2 Notes on Using the Edition (60) 2.3 Critical Edition of NBhĆ« 104–154 with Apparatuses (62) 3 Translation of NBhĆ« 104–154 (108) 3.1 Notes on Translation Method (108) 3.2 Notes on Outline Headings (112) 3.3 Annotated Translation of NBhĆ« 104–154 (114) 4 Discussion (216) 4.1 Internal Structure of NBhĆ« 104–154 (216) 4.2 Critical Assessment of Bhāsarvajña's Argumentation (218)   Part II: Distant Reading with Digital Humanities (224) 5 Background in Intertextuality Detection (224) 5.1 Sanskrit Projects (225) 5.2 Non-Sanskrit Projects (228) 5.3 Operationalizing Intertextuality (233) 6 Building an Intertextuality Machine (239) 6.1 Corpus (Pramāáč‡a NLP) (239) 6.2 Algorithm (Vātāyana) (242) 6.3 User Interface (Vātāyana) (246) 7 Evaluating System Performance (255) 7.1 Previous Scholarship on NBhĆ« 104–154 as Philological Benchmark (255) 7.2 System Performance Relative to Benchmark (257) 8 Discussion (262) Conclusion (266) Works Cited (269) Main Sanskrit Editions (269) Works Cited in Part I (271) Works Cited in Part II (281) Appendices (285) Appendix 1: Correspondence of Joshi 1986 to YogÄ«ndrānanda 1968 (286) Appendix 1D: Full-Text Alignment of Joshi 1986 to YogÄ«ndrānanda 1968 (287) Appendix 2: Prosopographical Relations Important for NBhĆ« 104–154 (288) Appendix 2D: Command-Line Tool “Pandit Grapher” (290) Appendix 3: Previous Suggestions to Improve Text of NBhĆ« 104–154 (291) Appendix 4D: Transcript and Collation Data for NBhĆ« 104–154 (304) Appendix 5D: Command-Line Tool “cte2cex” for Transcript Data Conversion (305) Appendix 6D: Deployment of Brucheion for Interactive Transcript Data (306) Appendix 7: Highlighted Improvements to Text of NBhĆ« 104–154 (307) Appendix 7D: Alternate Version of Edition With Highlighted Improvements (316) Appendix 8D: Digital Forms of Translation of NBhĆ« 104–154 (317) Appendix 9: Analytic Outline of NBhĆ« 104–154 by Shodo Yamakami (318) Appendix 10.1: New Analytic Outline of NBhĆ« 104–154 (Overall) (324) Appendix 10.2: New Analytic Outline of NBhĆ« 104–154 (Detailed) (325) Appendix 11D: Skrutable Text Processing Library and Web Application (328) Appendix 12D: Pramāáč‡a NLP Corpus, Metadata, and LDA Modeling Info (329) Appendix 13D: Vātāyana Intertextuality Research Web Application (330) Appendix 14: Sample of Yamakami Citation Benchmark for NBhĆ« 104–154 (331) Appendix 14D: Full Yamakami Citation Benchmark for NBhĆ« 104–154 (333) Appendix 15: Vātāyana Recall@5 Scores for NBhĆ« 104–154 (334) Appendix 16: PVA, PVin, and PVSV Vātāyana Search Hits for Entire NBhū (338) Appendix 17: Sample Listing of Vātāyana Search Hits for Entire NBhĆ« (349) Appendix 17D: Full Listing of Vātāyana Search Hits for Entire NBhĆ« (355) Overview of Digital Appendices (356) Zusammenfassung (Thesen Zur Dissertation) (357) Summary of Results (361

    Theatre, performance and digital culture

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    A thesis submitted to the University of Wolverhampton in partial fulfilment of the requirement of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.This thesis proposes that the theory of aesthetic agency derived from gaming in digital culture may be used as a lens through which live theatre and performance may be analysed. I argue that the aesthetics, immersion and play with identity in live theatre and performance are informed by digital culture through the behaviour and agency of the participants, be they audience or participants. Using a grounded theory methodological approach, four large-scale outdoor immersive productions and two traditional theatrical productions have been selected to provide a comparative analysis using aesthetic agency. Aesthetic agency is central to the analysis of immersion and play with identity in the productions selected. Comprising intention, perceivable consequence, narrative potential, transformation, co-presence and presence aesthetic agency is the feeling of pleasure audience and participants derive through the experience of live theatre and performance. Analysis using aesthetic agency in immersive productions examines qualities such as interaction and participation, discovery, understanding social rules, proximity to points of engagement within the performance, the use of narrative or gameplay, liminality and the suspension of disbelief and the use of physical or imaginary boundaries. Aesthetic agency in play with identity uses qualities of transportation, presence and co-presence and is analysed using themes of liminality, ritual, agency and memory which offer the opportunity of real experience within the virtual environments. The outcomes of the study highlight the opportunities to analyse and understand the meaning making process in live theatre and performance in a new manner through the lens of aesthetic agency derived from digital culture. Through examples, the outcomes show how digital culture theory may be used in live theatre and performance to examine and explain the experience for spectators and participants. The future use of aesthetic agency as a dramaturgical tool then becomes a possibility which may enhance the development process and enrich the subsequent experience of spectators and participants. Further, aesthetic agency may find utility as a dramaturgical tool when used to aid the creation of new live productions

    Intuition: The Experience of Formal Research

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    A new concept of Intuition, the Deep Unconscious is considered on the basis of the Paradigm of limiting generalizations. The book describes a high-level sketch. The results of the study can be used in education, economics, medicine, artificial intelligence, and the management of complex systems of various natures

    The paradox of fiction revisited: a cognitive approach to understanding (cinematic) emotion

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    The following project is intended as a contribution to the inter-disciplinary enterprise of cognitive film theory. Employing a cognitive approach, the project examines our capacity to respond emotionally to audiovisual fictions in general and cinematic fictions in particular. In order to structure and focus the investigation, the project centres on the paradox of fiction: namely, the question of why and how we respond emotionally to fictional characters and events, especially when we are consciously aware of their fictional - i.e., non-existent - status. (It also considers the related paradoxes of representation and empathy.) The main strategy for solving the paradox is to challenge the proposition that (cinematic) emotions require 'existence beliefs'; in tum, this strategy can be divided into 'direct' and 'indirect approaches', as exemplified by the 'seeing' and 'thought theories' respectively. An additional strategy is to revise the Cartesian framework which underlies the paradox as a whole. The first three main chapters explicitly address the direct approach. The process of direct engagement can be divided roughly into a 'seeing stage' and a 'reacting stage'. In light of this, Chapter 2 outlines a modular and computational view of the mind/brain, considering some of the ways in which we 'see' the world and the cinema. In a corresponding fashion, Chapter 3 outlines a multi-level model of the emotion system from a neurobiological perspective, considering some of the ways in which we 'react' to what we see. The function of Chapter 4 is to develop the multi-level model in question by adopting a connectionist and cognitive perspective, thereby tracing both an associative network and a cognitive appraisal route to (cinematic) emotion. The final main chapter - Chapter 5 - explicitly addresses the indirect approach. Given that appeals to 'thought' and 'imagination' are potentially problematic, it re-traces the simulative route to (cinematic) emotion, demonstrating how the multi-level model acts as both a constraint on, and an alternative to, emotional simulation

    Efficient Decision Support Systems

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    This series is directed to diverse managerial professionals who are leading the transformation of individual domains by using expert information and domain knowledge to drive decision support systems (DSSs). The series offers a broad range of subjects addressed in specific areas such as health care, business management, banking, agriculture, environmental improvement, natural resource and spatial management, aviation administration, and hybrid applications of information technology aimed to interdisciplinary issues. This book series is composed of three volumes: Volume 1 consists of general concepts and methodology of DSSs; Volume 2 consists of applications of DSSs in the biomedical domain; Volume 3 consists of hybrid applications of DSSs in multidisciplinary domains. The book is shaped decision support strategies in the new infrastructure that assists the readers in full use of the creative technology to manipulate input data and to transform information into useful decisions for decision makers

    Middle School Teacher Perceptions About Response to Intervention Instruction to Improve Literacy in English-Language Arts Classrooms

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    The local problem under study was that a non-Title I school implemented a 25-minute response-to-intervention (RTI) remediation block to address the fact that students were scoring below proficiency on literacy assessments; however, teachers were unsure of how to best use this time to improve literacy instruction and were unsure which RTI strategies would work best in the time provided. The purpose of this study was to examine teacher perceptions when implementing RTI strategies within the remediation period to improve student literacy. The conceptual framework for this qualitative study was based on Piaget, Vygotsky, and Dewey’s constructivism theory. The research questions addressed teacher perceptions of reasons for declining literacy rates and the effectiveness of the 25-minute remediation block and RTI interventions to improve student literacy. 10 Interviews were conducted with purposefully sampled participants who taught English-Language Arts at the focus school. Data were analyzed inductively using segment and thematic coding. Results indicated that teachers needed fluidity when implementing the 25-minute remediation period, instruction should be based on student need, and teachers felt they needed a “resource toolbox” to refer to for specific reading deficits. Using the findings of this study, secondary schools could provide school-wide professional development to improve teacher understanding when implementing a new program such as RTI. This study contributes to social change by potentially increasing teacher understanding of implementing RTI, which could, in turn, increase student literacy achievement since it may strengthen the effectiveness of implementing RTI in the secondary classroom
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