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SoftAdaClip: A Smooth Clipping Strategy for Fair and Private Model Training
No full textThis thesis introduces SoftAdaClip, a novel differentially private training strategy that replaces traditional hard gradient clipping with a smooth, tanh-based transformation. The method aims to improve both model utility and fairness by preserving informative gradients while maintaining strong privacy guarantees. Through extensive experiments on healthcare and tabular datasets, SoftAdaClip demonstrates significant improvements in accuracy and subgroup fairness compared to standard DP-SGD and Adaptive-DPSGD.Differential privacy (DP) provides strong protection for sensitive data, but often reduces model performance and fairness, especially for underrepresented groups. One major reason is gradient clipping in DP-SGD, which can disproportionately suppress learning signals for minority subpopulations. Although adaptive clipping can enhance utility, it still relies on uniform hard clipping, which may restrict fairness. To address this, we introduce SoftAdaClip, a differentially private training method that replaces hard clipping with a smooth, tanh-based transformation to preserve relative gradient magnitudes while bounding sensitivity. We evaluate SoftAdaClip on various datasets, including MIMIC-III (clinical text), GOSSIS-eICU (structured healthcare), and Adult Income (tabular data). Our results show that SoftAdaClip reduces subgroup disparities by up to 87% compared to DP-SGD and up to 48% compared to Adaptive-DPSGD, and these reductions in subgroup disparities are statistically significant. These findings underscore the importance of integrating smooth transformations with adaptive mechanisms to achieve fair and private model training
Building for the People, Building for the Planet: Mass Timber Solutions for Affordable, Sustainable, and Livable Housing in Moncton
No full textNew Brunswick is facing a severe housing shortage, especially in Moncton, where thousands await affordable homes. At the same time, the construction industry contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. This thesis explores how mass timber can address both the housing crisis and environmental concerns in Moncton. By examining initiatives like the 12 Neighbours project in Fredericton, which offers tiny homes but faces challenges with social integration, the study highlights the need for affordable housing that fosters a sense of community and enhances quality of life. A potential site in Moncton is identified, and a housing development is proposed near essential services and public transit. Mass timber presents benefits such as faster construction times and improved well-being for residents due to its natural properties. Despite obstacles like financing and limited local manufacturing, adopting mass timber could lead to more affordable, sustainable, and community-friendly housing solutions in Moncton
Copyright Advocacy Briefing: Strategies for Higher Education
No full textIn late 2023, the presenters released a white paper examining the key library/education-related questions and arguments that were discussed by the INDU committee and participants during the 2017 Copyright Act Review. This session will provide an overview of the findings, focusing on messaging that our sector can use to counter misconceptions around library copying practices and outlining our advocacy call to action.This session will provide an overview of the findings, focusing on messaging that our sector can use to counter misconceptions around library copying practices and outlining our advocacy call to action
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No full textResearch PosterBackground and Aims:
Inclusion of disabled children into mainstream education has become a focal point of educational reform, emphasizing disability-inclusive and disability-affirming practices. Inclusion is considered one of the social determinants of health and well-being, with social exclusion being a catalyst for health inequities. Despite these advancements, ableism continues to be a significant barrier to inclusion, leading to adverse effects on the health and well-being of disabled children. This study aims to explore how ableism in education shapes the inclusion, health, and well-being of school-aged disabled children.
Methods:
A critical interpretive synthesis (Dixon-Woods et al., 2006) of the literature on disability, inclusion, and primary and secondary education was conducted. A systematic search of five academic databases, Medline, ERIC, Scopus, CINAHL, and PsycINFO identified 25 peer-reviewed articles for analysis. Thematic analysis of the articles followed the Dixon-Woods et al. 2006 protocol, drawing on ableism as a sensitizing concept.
Results:
Thematic analysis generated five key themes: 1) systemic ableism and ruling relations, 2) interpersonal ableism and social relations, 3) internalized ableism and perceptions of self, 4) counteracting ableism through advocacy and supports, and 5) anti-ableism and actualizing inclusion. Systemic ableism manifested in institutional policies, exclusionary practices, structural barriers, and resource allocations. Interpersonal ableism was perpetuated through social exclusion and discriminatory attitudes. And internalized ableism led children to adopt negative perceptions of self. The effects of ableism were linked to negative health and well-being outcomes. However, disability-inclusive and disability-affirming practices and supports were linked to improvements in social inclusion and overall health and well-being.
Conclusions:
Ableism in education settings significantly impacts the health and well-being of disabled children. Disability-inclusive and disability-affirming practices, when effectively implemented, can mitigate these effects. This study highlights the need for systemic transformation to address the root causes of ableism in education and effectively promote the inclusion, health, and well-being of disabled children.This project was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Fatemeh Mahdizadeh Karizaki is supported by the Nova Scotia Graduate Scholarship-Doctoral
Anticipatory Locomotor Adjustments During Walking Over Unilateral Obstacles In Able-Bodied Participants
No full textWalking control was assessed by investigating the changes in net joint power while going over unilateral obstacles placed in the plane of progression. Participants performed obstructed walking trials across seven different obstacle heights (0 to 60 cm) while kinematic and kinetic data were collected. Anticipatory locomotor adjustments (ALA) were observed in both crossing and supporting legs. Notably, there were significant adjustments in the supporting leg with the emergence of a plantar flexor energy generation phase, accompanied by an increase in hip extensors energy generation at the onset of the stance phase for higher obstacles. Furthermore, a complementarity in the power bursts of the crossing leg muscles was noted. Specifically, the left leg exhibited a greater pulling motion at the knee due to an enhanced knee flexor energy generation. This thesis contributes to a greater characterization of ALA to unilateral obstacles and provides some evidence about the complementarity of these adjustments
Complex Gameplans and Contested Results: Urban Life, Youth Welfare, Nation Building, and Moving Sport Beyond the Ring in Late Colonial Lagos, 1930-60
No full textTo “Actualize” Users’ Fair Dealing Rights: Guidelines If Necessary But Not Necessarily Guidelines
No full textThe Supreme Court of Canada indicated in its 2021 York v. Access Copyright decision that “guidelines are important to an educational institution’s ability to actualize fair dealing for its students”. In this session, Howard Knopf will examine the Court’s rulings on fair dealing, the statute, and the role of guidelines in Canada’s post-secondary institutions.Howard Knopf will examine the Court’s rulings on fair dealing, the statute, and the role of guidelines in Canada’s post-secondary institutions
Beyond an Expectation of Harm: Redefining "Good Care" and Collective Re-Imagining of Liberatory 2SLGBTQIA+ Health Care
No full text2SLGBTQIA+ folx, experience discrimination on both the individual and systemic levels when accessing healthcare. This study explores barriers to care and definitions of “good care” from both the perspectives of 2SLGBTQIA+ service users and health care providers who serve them. This research engaged in a collective re-imagining of a liberatory health care system that seeks to foster dignity, joy, and well-being. The study involved 14 semi-structured interviews, with 7 service providers and 7 service users. Barriers to 2SLGBTQIA+ care included interpersonal discrimination, provider biases, and structural constraints. “Good care” conceptualizations emphasized increased interpersonal skills and institutional reform. Collective re-visioning of care systems centred reducing harm and fostering good care while engaging in abolition of the current healthcare. Participants advocated for widely available and accessible 2SLGBTQIA+ care that has many entry points while emphasizing the importance of educational and systemic transformation in the pursuit of community-created, community-led, and community driven care
SOVEREIGN DEBT AND THE ILLUSION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA: COLONIAL ROOTS AND NEO-COLONIAL DEBT TRAPS
No full textFocusing on Kenya as a case study, the thesis highlights how exogenous factors – such as loan conditionalities, debt restructuring, balance-of-payment surveillance, surcharges, and the quota system – and endogenous factors, including corruption and weak fiscal management, contribute to debt crises. The analysis demonstrates that while internal governance issues aggravate the problem, they are secondary to the overarching influence of the global debt architecture. The research underscores the implications of debt servicing on Africa's ability to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in addressing climate change, poverty alleviation, and human rights. Finally, this thesis, while integrating legal, economic, political, and historical perspectives, contends that the reform of international debt governance is essential for Africa’s sustainable development, arguing for the recognition of African voices in reshaping the debt architecture. It proposes comprehensive reforms to the global debt and financial governance system, advocating for equitable participation by African nations, debt transparency, and the prioritization of sustainable development. Ultimately, this study contributes to the discourse on fiscal justice, sovereignty, and sustainable development in Africa by situating debt within the broader context of historical and ongoing global inequities.This thesis critically examines the intersection of sovereign debt and sustainable development in Africa, focusing on how the global financial and debt architecture perpetuates colonial and neo-colonial inequalities. Through a theoretical framework grounded in TWAIL, the study reveals how Africa's unsustainable debt burdens stem from historical legacies of imperialism and the structural imbalances of contemporary global debt governance systems. The research explores the colonial origins of sovereign debt and its evolution into a neo-colonial tool for economic subjugation. It emphasizes how institutions like the IMF, the World Bank, and private creditors, through policies such as loan conditionalities, debt restructuring, balance-of-payment surveillance, surcharges, and the quota system, undermine the development agendas of African states. These policies often prioritize creditors' interests over human rights, economic equality, and environmental sustainability, creating a paradox where debt financing intended to support development instead exacerbates poverty and inequality
On Leveraging the Means of Production for Adaptive Reuse: Sustaining the Future of Derelict Industrial Buildings
No full textIn Montréal, the decline of industrialization has resulted in numerous abandoned buildings, symbolizing economic disinvestment in working class communities. This study aims to redefine production, in an architectural program, as a means to foster resilience and self-determination. Using the abandoned Canada Malting Silos malting factory in Saint-Henri (Montréal) as a case study, this thesis argues that urban agriculture systems can serve as design strategies for architectural adaptive reuse, transforming derelict sites into vibrant hubs for cooperative economies. The methodology combines a theoretical foundation rooted in Lefebvrian perspectives on the production of space with architectural approaches to adaptive reuse from architects Francoise Bollack and Emmanuelle Réal. Ultimately, this research aspires to contribute to the discourse on sustainable urban development by proposing a model that reconciles the legacies of industrialization with the imperatives of ecological stewardship and social equity