Year: 2024, 2024
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Smit, AJ, Thesis advisor (ths): Wang, Xiaoying, Degree committee member (dgc): Wang, Xiaoying, Degree committee member (dgc): Pollanen, Marco, Degree committee member (dgc): Kong, Jude, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>This thesis is focused on studying the population dynamics of a predator-prey system in a patchy environment, taking anti-predation responses into consideration. Firstly, we conduct mathematical analysis on the equilibrium solutions of the system. Using techniques from calculus we show that particular steady state solutions exist when the parameters of the system meet certain criteria.… more Year: 2024, 2024
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The Multidimensional Inventory of Personal Intelligence (MIPI) was designed to measure three related dimensions of the personal intelligence (PI) construct: emotional intelligence (EI), social intelligence (SI), and motivational intelligence (MI). The MIPI has psychometric properties and a theoretical structure that improves on the shortcomings of existing trait EI measures. The aim of… more Year: 2023, 2023
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Baxter, Sean Andrew, Thesis advisor (ths): Hurley, Richard, Degree committee member (dgc): Srivastava, Brian, Degree committee member (dgc): McConnell, Sabine, Degree committee member (dgc): Pazzi, Richard, Degree committee member (dgc): Parker, James, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Video games have always been intrinsically linked with the technology available for the progress of the medium. With improvements in technology correlating directly to improvements in video games, this has recently not been the case. One recent technology video games have not fully leveraged is Cloud technology. This Thesis investigates a potential solution for video games to leverage… more Year: 2023, 2023
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This thesis explores the shot-term relationship between exposure to ambient air pollution and human health through metrics such as mortality and hospitalization in Canada. We begin by detailing the organization and interpolation of air pollution data from its partially quality-controlled source form. Analyses of seasonal, regional and temporal trends of all major components of PM2.5, was… more Year: 2023, 2023
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This thesis presents an approach for automated grading of UML Use Case diagrams. Many software engineering courses require students to learn how to model the behavioural features of a problem domain or an object-oriented design in the form of a use case diagram. Because assessing UML assignments is a time-consuming and labor-intensive operation, there is a need for an automated grading… more Year: 2022, 2022
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Medication used to treat human illness is one of the greatest developments in human history. In Canada, prescription drugs have been developed and made available to treat a wide variety of illnesses, from infections to heart disease and so on. Records of prescription drug fulfillment at coarse Canadian geographic scales were obtained from Health Canada in order to track the use of these… more Year: 2022, 2022
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Paramedic data has significant potential for research. Paramedics see many patients every year and collect a wide variety of crucial data at each encounter. This data is rarely used for good reason: it's messy and hard to work with. But like theunderdog character in a classic movie, with a little bit of work and a lot of understanding, paramedic data has significant potential to… more Year: 2022, 2022
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Sturgeon, Robert Carl, Thesis advisor (ths): Hurley, Richard T, Degree committee member (dgc): De Grande, Robson, Degree committee member (dgc): Parker, James DA, Degree committee member (dgc): McConnell, Sabine, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>In this thesis, we present a framework to model user object-level request patterns in the World Wide Web.This framework consists of three sub-models: one for file access, one for Web pages, and one for storage sites.
Web Pages are modelled to be made up of different types and sizes of objects, which are characterized by way of categories.</p><p>We developed a discrete event… more Year: 2022, 2022
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Objective: To improve on several methodological issues and research gaps regarding current literature investigating the stability of ADHD symptomatology across adulthood and relationships between the two core ADHD symptom dimensions (i.e., inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity) and multiple life outcomes in adults. Method: A large sample of postsecondary students were initially… more Year: 2022, 2022
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This thesis is part of an industry project which collaborates with an aviation technology company on pilot performance assessment. In this project, we propose utilizing the pilots' training data to develop a model that can recognize the pilots' activity patterns for evaluation. The data will present as a time series, representing a pilot's actions during maneuvers. In this… more Year: 2022, 2022
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>I drew on Bourdieu's theory of capital and theorized that different forms of economic, cultural and social capital which injured workers possessed and/or acquire over their disability trajectory may affect certain outcomes of permanent impairments. Using data from a cross-sectional survey of 494 Ontario workers with permanent impairments, I measured workers' different… more Year: 2021, 2021
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p> The cost of reproduction refers to the use of resources for the production of offspring that decreases the availability of resources for future reproductive events and other biological processes. Models of sex-allocation provide insights into optimal patterns of resource investment in male and female sex functions and have been extended to include other components of the life history,… more Year: 2021, 2021
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Using quarterly data from the six largest Canadian banks, we investigate the relationship between regulatory capital ratio and on-balance sheet liquidity created in the Canadian economy by "Big Six". We find a significant positive relationship between Tier 1 capital ratio and on-balance sheet liquidity creation for Canadian big six banks, implying that large banks in Canada… more Year: 2021, 2021
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Shamess, Dean Skinner, Thesis advisor (ths): Cater, Bruce, Degree committee member (dgc): Lew, Byron, Degree committee member (dgc): Parker, James, Degree committee member (dgc): Pollanen, Marco, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Universities produce a significant and increasing share of basic research that is later commercialized by firms. We argue that the university's prominence as a producer of basic research is the result of a differential efficiency in research production that cannot be replicated by firms or individual agents - teaching. By using research accomplishments to signal knowledge and… more Year: 2021, 2021
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The residential sector is a major consumer of electricity, and its demand will rise by 65 percent by the end of 2050. The electricity consumption of a household is determined by various factors, e.g. house size, socio-economic status of the family, size of the family, etc. Previous studies have only identified a limited number of socio-economic and dwelling factors. In this thesis, we… more Year: 2021, 2021
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Higher education is important. It enhances both individual and social welfare by improving productivity, life satisfaction, and health outcomes, and by reducing rates of crime. Universities play a critical role in providing that education. Because academic institutions face resource constraints, it is thus important that they deploy resources in support of student success in the most… more Year: 2020, 2020
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Depression during the transition into adulthood is a growing mental health concern, with overwhelming evidence linking the developmental risk for depressive symptoms with maternal depression. In addition, there is a lack of research on the protective role of socioemotional competencies in this context. This study examines independent and joint effects of maternal depression and trait… more Year: 2020, 2020
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The digital typesetting of mathematics can present many challenges to users, especially those of novice to intermediate experience levels. Through a series of experiments, we show that two models used to represent mathematical structure in these typesetting applications, the 1-dimensional structure based model and the 2-dimensional freeform model, cause interference with users'… more Year: 2020, 2020
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Forecasting future values of time series has long been a field with many and varied applications, from climate and weather forecasting to stock prediction and economic planning to the control of industrial processes. Many of these problems involve not only a single time series but many simultaneous series which may influence each other. This thesis provides methods based on machine… more Year: 2020, 2020
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have reached human-level performance in numerous tasks in the domain of computer vision. DNNs are efficient for both classification and the more complex task of image segmentation. These networks are typically trained on thousands of images, which are often hand-labelled by domain experts. This bottleneck creates a promising research area: training accurate… more Year: 2020, 2020
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The spectrum of a given time series is a characteristic function describing its frequency properties. Spectrum estimation methods require time series data to be contiguous in order for robust estimators to retain their performance. This poses a fundamental challenge, especially when considering real-world scientific data that is often plagued by missing values, and/or irregularly… more Year: 2020, 2020
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Little is actually known about how people cognitively process and integrate information when solving complex mathematical problems. In this thesis, eye-tracking was used to examine how people read and integrate information from mathematical symbols and complex formula, with eye fixations being used as a measure of their current focus of attention. Each participant in the studies was… more Year: 2020, 2020
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This thesis presents an exploration of the requirements for and development of a software tool to calculate Certified Emission Reduction (CERs) credits for afforestation and reforestation projects conducted under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). We examine the relevant methodologies and tools to determine what is required to create a software package that can support a wide variety… more Year: 2020, 2020
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii Equation, describing the movement of parti-</p><p>cles in quantum mechanics, may not be solved analytically due to its inherent non-</p><p>linearity. Hence numerical methods are of importance to approximate the solution.</p><p>This study develops a discrete scheme in time and space to simulate the solution</p>… more Year: 2020, 2020
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Research and development activities conducted at universities and firms fuel economic growth</p><p>and play a key role in the process of innovation. Specifically, prior research has investigated the</p><p>widespread university-to-firm research development path and concluded that universities are</p><p>better suited for early stage of research while… more Year: 2020, 2020
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Databases containing information such as location points, web searches and fi- nancial transactions are becoming the new normal as technology advances. Conse- quentially, searches and cross-referencing in big data are becoming a common prob- lem as computing and statistical analysis increasingly allow for the contents of such databases to be analyzed and dredged for data. Searches… more Year: 2020, 2020
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Learning how to model the structural properties of a problem domain or an object-oriented design in form of a class diagram is an essential learning task in many software engineering courses. Since grading UML assignments is a cumbersome and time-consuming task, there is a need for an automated grading approach that can assist the instructors by speeding up the grading process, as well… more Year: 2020, 2020
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>In this thesis, a new sinc-collocation method based upon derivative interpolation is developed for solving linear and nonlinear boundary value problems involving differential as well as integro-differential equations. The sinc-collocation method is chosen for its ease of implementation, exponential convergence of error, and ability to handle to singularities in the BVP. We present a… more Year: 2020, 2020
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The purpose of this research is to apply four methods on two data sets, a Synthetic</p><p>dataset and a Real-World dataset, and compare the results to each other with the</p><p>intention of arriving at methods to prevent fraud. Methods used include Logistic Regression,</p><p>Isolation Forest, Ensemble Method and Generative Adversarial Networks.</p… more Year: 2019, 2019
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The Air Health Trend Indicator (AHTI) is a joint Health Canada / Environment and Climate Change Canada initiative that seeks to model the Canadian national population health risk due to acute exposure to ambient air pollution. The common model in the field uses averages of local ambient air pollution monitors to produce a population-level exposure proxy variable. This method is applied… more Year: 2019, 2019
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This thesis utilized a unique data-set, the Quinte Longitudinal Survey, to explore relationships among precarious employment and a range of mental health problems in a representative sample of Ontario young adults. Study 1 focused on various behavioural addictions (such as problem gambling, video gaming, internet use, exercise, compulsive shopping, and sex) and precarious employment. The… more Year: 2019, 2019
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>While existing models of emotional intelligence (EI) generally recognize the importance of social competencies (SC), there is a tendency in the literature to narrow the focus to competencies that pertain to the self. Given the experiential and perceptual differences between self- vs. other-oriented emotional abilities, this is an important limitation of existing EI models and assessment… more Year: 2019, 2019
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>A comparison of two high performance computing clusters running on AWS and Sharcnet was done to determine which scenarios yield the best performance. Algorithm complexity ranged from O (n) to O (n3). Data sizes ranged from 195 KB to 2 GB. The Sharcnet hardware consisted of Intel E5-2683 and Intel E7-4850 processors with memory sizes ranging from 256 GB to 3072 GB. On AWS, C4.8xlarge… more Year: 2019, 2019
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>In recent years, we have observed an unprecedented rise in popularity of AI-powered systems. They have become ubiquitous in modern life, being used by countless people every day. Many of these AI systems are powered, entirely or partially, by deep learning models. From language translation to image recognition, deep learning models are being used to build systems with unprecedented… more Year: 2019, 2019
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Support Vector Machines (SVMs) are a deterministic, supervised machine learning algorithm that have been successfully applied to many areas of research. They are heavily grounded in mathematical theory and are effective at processing high-dimensional data. This thesis models a variety of galaxy classification tasks using SVMs and data from the Galaxy Zoo 2 project. SVM parameters were… more Year: 2019, 2019
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Public transportation systems play important role in the quality of life of citizens</p><p>in any metropolitan city. However, public transportation authorities face</p><p>criticisms from commuters due to irregularities in bus arrival times. For example,</p><p>transit bus users often complain when they miss the bus because it arrived too</p><p… more Year: 2019, 2019
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The AeolianBox is an educational and presentation tool extended in this thesis to </p><p>represent the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) flow over a deformable surface in the </p><p>sandbox. It is a hybrid hardware cum mathematical model which helps users to visually, </p><p>interactively and spatially fathom the natural laws governing ABL airflow. The… more Year: 2019, 2019
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The conversion of historical analog images to time series data was performed by using deconvolution for pre-processing, followed by the use of custom built digitization algorithms. These algorithms have been developed to be user friendly with the objective of aiding in the creation of a data set from decades of mechanical observations collected from the Agincourt and Toronto geomagnetic… more Year: 2018, 2018
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>With wide applications in many fields such as engineering, physics, chemistry, biology and social sciences, semi-linear equations have attracted great interests of researchers from various areas. In the study of existence of solutions for such class of equations, a general and commonly applied method is the compression cone method for fixed-point index. The main idea is to construct a… more Year: 2017, 2017
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Online behavioural advertising (OBA) is an advertising technique which relies on collected customer information and online activity to serve people with more relevant ads. On November 16th, 2013, Bell Canada launched their first OBA program via Bell Mobility: the Bell Targeted Ads Program, or BTAP. My thesis provides an ethical analysis of BTAP and shows that Bell undermined and violated… more Year: 2017, 2017
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Trait Emotional Intelligence (EI) includes competencies and dispositions related to identifying, understanding, using and managing emotions. Higher trait EI has been implicated in post-secondary success, and better career-related decision-making. However, there is no evidence for whether it predicts the pursuit of post-secondary education (PSE) in emerging adulthood. This study… more Year: 2017, 2017
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Using data drawn from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board's (WSIB) Survey of Workers with Permanent Impairments, this thesis explores if and how the human capital associated with education mitigates the realized work-disabling effects of permanent physical injury. Using Cater's (2000) model of post-injury adaptive behaviour and employment dynamics as the structural,… more Year: 2017, 2017
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>In this thesis, we study modelling with non-linear ordinary differential equations, and the existence of positive solutions for Boundary Value Problems (BVPs). These problems have wide applications in many areas. The focus is on the extensions of previous work done on non-linear second-order differential equations with boundary conditions involving first-order derivative. The… more Year: 2017, 2017
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Volatility modelling is an important task in the financial markets. This paper first evaluates the range-based DCC-CARR model of Chou et al. (2009) in modelling larger systems of assets, vis-à-vis the traditional return-based DCC-GARCH. Extending Colacito, Engle and Ghysels (2011), range-based volatility specifications are then employed in the first-stage of DCC-MIDAS conditional… more Year: 2017, 2017
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This thesis proposes an agro-ecological zoning (AEZ) methodology of southern Ontario for the characterization and mapping of agro-ecological zones during the historical term (1981-2010), and their shifts into the long-term (2041-2070) projected climate period. Agro-ecological zones are homogenous areas with a unique combination of climate, soil, and landscape features that are important… more Year: 2016, 2016
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This thesis is intended to support dependent-on-crops farmers to hedge the price risks of their crops. Firstly, we applied one-factor model, which incorporated a deterministic function and a stochastic process, to predict the future prices of crops (soybean). A discrete form was employed for one-month-ahead prediction. For general prediction, de-trending and de-cyclicality were used to… more Year: 2016, 2016
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>We propose a stochastic weather model based on temperature, precipitation, humidity and wind speed for Qatar, as a representative arid region, in order to obtain simulated values for a drought index. As a drought index, the Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI) is commonly accepted in agriculture and is used to measure drought severity. It can be used to price weather derivatives to help… more Year: 2016, 2016
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>In the context of Real-Time Bidding (RTB) the machine learning problems of</p><p>imbalanced classes and model selection are investigated. Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) is commonly used to combat imbalanced classes but a shortcoming is identified. Use of a distance threshold is identified as a solution and testing in a live RTB environment shows significant… more Year: 2016, 2016
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>In this work, various aspects of neural networks, pre-trained with denoising autoencoders (DAE) are explored. To saturate neurons more quickly for feature learning in DAE, an activation function that offers higher gradients is introduced. Moreover, the introduction of sparsity functions applied to the hidden layer representations is studied. More importantly, a technique that swaps the… more Year: 2016, 2016
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Built upon remote sensing and GIS littoral zone characterization methodologies of the past decade, a series of loosely coupled models aimed to test, compare and synthesize multi-beam SONAR (MBES), Airborne LiDAR Bathymetry (ALB), and satellite based optical data sets in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, eco-region. Bathymetry and relative intensity metrics for the MBES and ALB data sets… more Year: 2016, 2016
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>We investigated if the performance of selected supervised machine-learning techniques could be improved by combining univariate outlier-detection techniques and machine-learning methods. We developed a framework to discover class-specific thresholds in class probability estimates using univariate outlier detection and proposed two novel techniques to utilize these class-specific… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Beland, Jacques Alain Gerard, Thesis advisor (ths): McConnell, Sabine, Thesis advisor (ths): Irwin, Judith, Degree committee member (dgc): Abdella, Kenzu, Degree committee member (dgc): Hurley, Richard, Degree committee member (dgc): Bauer, Michael, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) have been applied to many areas of research. These techniques use a series of object attributes and can be trained to recognize different classes of objects. The Self-Organizing Map (SOM) is an unsupervised machine learning technique which has been shown to be successful in the mapping of high-dimensional data into a 2D representation referred to as a map… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This paper investigates the effect of listing a stock on the S&P 500 Index on the stock's volatility, using various econometrics models: GARCH and EGARCH. The study mainly addresses three issues; firstly, it analyzes stock volatility in two sub-periods, secondly, it determines whether the announcement can account for the fluctuations in the price of the stock, and finally, it… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>With the exponential growth of the Internet, performance is an issue as bandwidth is often limited. A scalable solution to reduce the amount of bandwidth required is Web caching. Web caching (especially at the proxy-level) has been shown to be quite successful at addressing this issue. However as the number and needs of the clients grow, it becomes infeasible and inefficient to have just… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This thesis presents a technique to produce signatures from topologies generated by the Growing Neural Gas algorithm. The generated signatures have the following characteristics: The signature's memory footprint is smaller than the "real object" and it represents a point in the n x m multidimensional space. Signatures can be compared based on Euclidean distance and… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Population aging has become a worldwide concern since the nineteenth century. The decrease in birth rate and the increase in life expectancy will make China's population age rapidly. If the growth rate of the number of workers is less than that of the number of retirees, in the long run, there will be fewer workers per retiree. This will apply great pressure to China's public… more Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>ABSTRACT</p><p>The Propensity Toward Extremist Mind-Set as Predicted </p><p>by Personality, Motivation, and Self-Construal</p><p>Nick Fauset</p><p>Multivariate regression analyses were used to determine the effects of Personality (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness), Motivation (External, Amotivation,… more Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Dobosz, Rafal, Thesis advisor (ths): McConnell, Sabine, Thesis advisor (ths): Hurley, Richard, Degree committee member (dgc): McConnell, Sabine, Degree committee member (dgc): Hurley, Richard, Degree committee member (dgc): Hajibabaei, Mehrdad, Degree committee member (dgc): Cater, Bruce, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>As the generation of genetic data accelerates, Big Data has an increasing impact on the way bioinformatics software is used. The experiments become larger and more complex than originally envisioned by software designers. One way to deal with this problem is to use parallel computing.</p><p>Using the program Structure as a case study, we investigate ways in which to… more Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This thesis focuses on the design of a modelling framework consisting of loose-coupling of a sequence of spatial and process models and procedures necessary to predict future flood events for the years 2030 and 2050 in Tabasco Mexico. Temperature and precipitation data from the Hadley Centers Coupled Model (HadCM3), for those future years were downscaled using the Statistical Downscaling… more Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Health literature has long noted a positive correlation between health and levels of education. Two competing theories have been advanced to explain this phenomenon: (1) education "causes" health by allowing individuals to process complex information and act on it; and, (2) education and health are merely correlated through some third underlying characteristic.</p><p… more
