OPUS: Open Ulethbridge Scholarship
Open ULeth Scholarship (OPUS) is the University of Lethbridge's open access research repository. It contains a collection of materials related to research and teaching produced by the academic community.
Self-archiving your research in OPUS is one way to meet Open Access policies of granting agencies. It is important to retain your final, post-peer-reviewed drafts for submission to OPUS, as this is often the only version publishers will allow to be archived. Click here for information on the U of L Open Access Policy.
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Nondual metaphysics: connections between Shankara's Advaita Vedanta and the thought of René Guénon
(Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept of Religious Studies, 2023) Freihaut, Forrest D.; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Rodrigues, Hillary
This thesis analyzes the metaphysical interpretations of Shankara and René Guénon and the methods they promote regarding spiritual realization. Shankara was an 8th-century Indian spiritual teacher whose method and teachings were associated with Advaita Vedanta, a philosophic tradition originating from Upanishadic texts. René Guénon (1886 -1951) was a French philosopher who pioneered the Traditionalist school of thought. Guénon’s interpretation of reality argued an all-pervading unitive metaphysic principle that shares notable similarities with Shankara’s Advaita Vedanta. Through comparative exegesis, this thesis demonstrates that Shankara and Guénon share significant parallels in certain aspects, such as their conceptualization of ultimate reality and their views on the role of the guru. Additionally, this analysis reveals stark contrasts found among their works, such as their differing emphasis on theory and their views on initiation and lineage. In addition to analyzing their interpretations of reality, this study offers insights into Shankara and Guénon’s respective lives and unique positions in history. The intention of this thesis is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the similarities and differences between Shankara and René Guénon and provide valuable insights into their approaches to spiritual realization and how they conceptualize reality.
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Robust maximum covering location problem (RMCLP)
(Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Mathematics and Computer Science, 2023) Jafaripour, Saeid; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Benkoczi, Robert
The Maximum Covering Location Problem (MCLP) is a widely recognized optimization problem used in facility location planning. The objective of this problem is to minimize costs while maximizing accessibility to customers. In this thesis, the MCLP is being solved as an optimization problem under uncertain customer benefits in a network, to minimize regret, which is the difference between the cost of the optimal solution under the worst- case scenario and the cost of the current solution under the worst-case scenario.
Three algorithms were implemented to solve the problem and find the optimal solution, including an exact algorithm and two approximate algorithms. The algorithms were evalu- ated using various instances, including the OR-Library and randomly generated instances. The results indicate that the exact algorithm is better at minimizing regret, but it is unable to solve large instances within the allotted time limit. Also, one of the approximate algo- rithms based on a Mean-Scenario, which is a 2-Approximation general algorithm, indicates very competitive results to obtain the Min-Max Regret. The observations of this thesis confirm the results of related research for both the exact algorithm and the Mean-Scenario algorithm, which rely on standard and general methodologies. Also, the solutions obtained by the other approximate algorithm based on randomized rounding are within only nine percent of the Mean-Scenrio algorithm results, which proves the value of this approach.
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A quantum accelerated approach for the central path method in linear programming
(Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Mathematics and Computer Science, 2023) Adoni, Vijay; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Gaur, Daya
The central path method is a crucial technique used in the optimization of linear programs. The method relies on classical computation which hits its limit for large instances, generally used in practice, in terms of efficiency. In this thesis, a proposal is made to explore the use of quantum algorithms to enhance the central path method’s performance when solving linear programs. We will go through the potential benefits and limitations of replacing the iterative equation-solving step with the HHL quantum algorithm, the Newton’s step for solving a set of nonlinear equations, and converting the nonlinear set of equations to bilinear equations with the help of McCormick relaxations. The aim of this thesis is to perform extensive experimentation on several types of efficient instances using each of the proposed algorithms and to evaluate their effectiveness through numerical simulations to find a promising approach for the central path method.
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Settler colonialism, race & space: articulating the criteria and disparities of municipal in(ex)clusion in Lethbridge, Alberta
(Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Political Science, 2023) Moncrieff, Allison K.; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Belanger, Yale
This Master of Arts thesis aims to discover if criteria for inclusion is present within the City of Lethbridge through surveying business owner and City Council perspectives on the community’s former supervised consumption site (SCS). My research complements and builds upon previous academic work done in Lethbridge and shows that Indigenous inclusion is interpreted through a settler colonial lens which alternatively seeks to reinforce Indigenous exclusion. Inclusion premised through a settler colonial ideology and intent – or, as I have coined, in(ex)clusion - undermines the cultivation of authentic municipal inclusion. The SCS case study highlights the range of settler transfers that emerge when normative expectations about Indigenous social participation are challenged or unmet. Settler colonialism’s presence in municipal environments demands greater study if, in the spirit of reconciliation, authentic municipal inclusion is to develop.
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Improving faithfulness in abstractive text summarization with EDUs using BART
(Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Mathematics and Computer Science, 2023-04-27) Delpisheh, Narjes; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Chali, Yllias
Abstractive summarization aims to reproduce the essential information of a source document in a summary by using the summarizer's own words. Although this approach is more similar to how humans summarize, it is more challenging to automate as it requires a complete understanding of natural language. However, the development of deep learning approaches, such as the sequence-to-sequence model with an attention-based mechanism, and the availability of pre-trained language models have led to improved performance in summarization systems. Nonetheless, abstractive summarization still suffers from issues such as hallucination and unfaithfulness. To address these issues, we propose an approach that utilizes a guidance signal using important Elementary Discourse Units (EDUs). We compare our work with previous guided summarization and two other summarization models that enhanced the faithfulness of the summary. Our approach was tested on CNN/Daily Mail dataset, and results showed an improvement in both truthfulness and good quantity coverage of the source document.