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Advanced AI-based Methods for Automated and Accessible Slip Resistance Evaluation of Winter Footwear
Get PDFSlips and falls represent a major public health concern in Canada, leading to significant hospitalizations and healthcare costs. Slips are one of the leading causes of falls, which can result in severe injuries, such as strains, sprains, and back injuries. Footwear is a key factor in preventing such incidents, as it serves as the primary interface between the body and walking surfaces. Traditional methods for evaluating footwear slip resistance, such as human-centered and mechanical tests, are typically limited to laboratory settings and are labor-intensive. To address these challenges, this thesis introduces a novel computer vision–driven framework that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to assess and predict footwear slip resistance property. This thesis presents three main contributions: (1) development and prediction of machine learning models that estimate human-centered slip resistance scores using only mechanical test data, enabling manufacturers to estimate human trial outcomes without the need for specialized facilities using a web app. This solution empowers manufacturers to reduce development costs and improve product safety through a data-driven model. (2) Enhancing human-centered testing using computer vision. Our vision transformer model, which is trained on annotated video data, enables real-time and automatic slip detection, eliminating the inconsistency associated with human observers. Furthermore, by integrating participant anthropometrics and gait biomechanics with footwear characteristics, we aim to personalize transformer-based predictive models to estimate slip resistance scores across a more diverse population, thereby making our human-centered tests more generalizable. (3) We introduce a fused model to estimate the slip resistance of winter footwear directly from outsole images. Using image segmentation and convolutional neural networks, our approach identifies tread-ground contact zones and materials to predict slip resistance scores. This end-to-end pipeline is implemented in a mobile application, making safety evaluations accessible to the public and promoting informed footwear choices to reduce winter slip-and-fall injuries.
Los resbalones y caídas representan un importante problema de salud pública en Canadá, que conlleva a un número significativo de hospitalizaciones y altos costos para el sistema de salud. Los resbalones son una de las principales causas de caídas, las cuales pueden resultar en lesiones graves, como distensiones, esguinces y lesiones en la espalda. El calzado es un factor clave en la prevención de estos incidentes, ya que constituye la interfaz principal entre el cuerpo y las superficies de marcha. Los métodos tradicionales para evaluar la resistencia al deslizamiento del calzado, como las pruebas centradas en humanos y las pruebas mecánicas, suelen estar limitados a entornos de laboratorio y requieren gran esfuerzo. Para abordar estos desafíos, esta tesis introduce un novedoso marco impulsado por visión por computadora que utiliza inteligencia artificial (IA) para evaluar y predecir la resistencia al deslizamiento del calzado. Esta tesis presenta tres contribuciones principales: (1) Desarrollo y predicción de modelos de aprendizaje automático que estiman puntuaciones de resistencia al deslizamiento centradas en humanos utilizando únicamente datos de pruebas mecánicas, lo que permite a los fabricantes estimar los resultados de ensayos con personas sin necesidad de instalaciones especializadas mediante una aplicación web. Esta solución les permite reducir los costos de desarrollo y mejorar la seguridad del producto mediante un modelo basado en datos. (2) Mejora de las pruebas centradas en humanos mediante visión por computadora. Nuestro modelo de transformador visual, entrenado con datos de video anotados, permite la detección automática y en tiempo real de resbalones, eliminando la inconsistencia asociada a los observadores humanos. Además, al integrar parámetros antropométricos y biomecánica de la marcha de los participantes con las características del calzado, buscamos personalizar los modelos predictivos basados en transformadores para estimar puntuaciones de resistencia al deslizamiento en una población más diversa, haciendo que nuestras pruebas centradas en humanos sean más generalizables. (3) Introducimos un modelo fusionado para estimar la resistencia al deslizamiento del calzado de invierno directamente a partir de imágenes de la suela. Mediante segmentación de imágenes y redes neuronales convolucionales, nuestro enfoque identifica las zonas de contacto suela–suelo y los materiales para predecir puntuaciones de resistencia al deslizamiento. Esta canalización de extremo a extremo se implementa en una aplicación móvil, haciendo que las evaluaciones de seguridad sean accesibles al público y promoviendo elecciones de calzado informadas para reducir las lesiones por resbalones y caídas en invierno.Ph.D
Legal Silence, Worker Suffering: Law, Electronic Workplace Surveillance, and Amazon Warehouse Worker Injuries in Ontario
Get PDFIn the American and Canadian warehouses of the e-commerce giant Amazon, electronic workplace surveillance (“EWS”) technologies permit the unprecedented quantification and datafication of worker activity, enabling the setting and enforcing of unsafe productivity ‘quotas’ that lead to serious occupational injuries for warehouse workers. In this paper, I consider the roleof Canadian law – namely, the employment, privacy, and occupational health and safety legal regimes in the province of Ontario – in enabling, and in potentially constraining, this phenomenon in Ontario’s Amazon warehouses. In doing so, I identify the ‘legal silence’ that shapes the lived experiences of Amazon warehouse workers in Ontario; contribute to the emerging theorization, particularly from a legal perspective, of EWS as a factor impacting workers’ physical health; and propose legal reforms that would improve the safety and well-being of Amazon warehouse workers – and other similarly-situated workers – across the province.LL.M
“Drawing” Out Colonial Threads: Property, Law, and Inequality
Get PDFWhat happens when the subject of academic inquiry begins navigating the systems designed to dissect, distill, and disseminate us?
This dissertation acts as a bridge between worlds, temporalities, and epistemologies. It is grounded in decolonial, emancipatory praxis and outlines what it means to exist both as part of the world and as an observer of that same world.
This dissertation asks, “How do the enduring colonial logics which are embedded within the katchi abadi of Qayyumabad manifest in its criminalization, securitization, and displacement also mirror the racialized academic’s experience of navigating Western academia?”. In both of these contexts, exclusion and precarity are generally structurally reproduced through mechanisms that privilege colonial frameworks. These parallels demonstrate how South Asian land laws, steeped in colonial histories, intersect with the exploitative, positivist traditions of Western academic institutions, which erase and marginalize subaltern knowledge and alternative modes of knowledge production.
This dissertation challenges these interlinked systems of dispossession by using Qayyumabad as a case study to critique and disrupt the status quo. Through a multi-modal decolonial praxis that bridges socio-legal and artistic methodologies, it offers counter-narratives that unsettle colonial systems of land and knowledge governance. Drawing on the core principles of anti-colonial and subaltern studies, this work experiments with alternative ways of engaging with and resisting colonial structures. Ultimately, this dissertation seeks to reimagine frameworks of South Asian liberation and belonging by exploring how a multi-modal approach, utilizing paintings, poetry, fictional stories, and archives, challenges the erasure of lived experiences, amplifies marginalized voices, and reimagines decolonial possibilities.Ph.D
Fostering a Sense of Belonging: The Role of Principals in Ontario Elementary Schools in the Post-Pandemic Era
Get PDFThe role of an elementary school principal is both challenging and rewarding. This study examined how Ontario elementary school principals have fostered a sense of belonging since the COVID-19 global pandemic. Ontario schools experienced temporary closures, student learning was disrupted, and educators had to adapt to new challenges in a stressful environment for everyone involved. The effects of this global event continue to be felt today.Seventeen elementary school principals in Ontario were interviewed about their efforts to promote a sense of belonging within their schools. Despite numerous barriers, these school leaders are actively working to enhance belonging among students and staff. This study includes relevant literature and is guided by a socio-ecological framework. The findings underscore the significant challenges principals encounter when fostering school belonging, including: resistance to change, staff support with extra-curricular activities, long-term and short-term staffing, student underdeveloped social skills, and stakeholder opposition. The principals in this study value belonging in schools and continue to work with all stakeholders to make schools stronger, safer, and more connected than ever.Ed.D
RADICAL CHANGES IN THE SEISMIC DESIGN PHILOSOPHY BASED ON 2023 KAHRAMANMARAŞ EARTHQUAKES OBSERVATIONS IN TÜRKİYE
Get PDFThe two simultaneous earthquakes occurred in 2023 leading to over fifty thousand casualties in more than 250 thousand collapsed buildings in Türkiye. Despite modernizing the seismic code regularly, it has not been possible for Türkiye to mitigate the seismic risk. Two important and new observations were made in the aftermath of 2023 earthquakes: i- Structural wall systems exhibited superior performance with no record of collapse. ii- Several thousand buildings constructed after 2000 collapsed despite better seismic codes. This paper presents the background of the radical modifications for minimum structural wall amounts and maximum interstory drift ratio limits. First, the site observations for the performance of buildings with structural walls are presented. Based on seismic assessment of more than 30000 existing building plans, the relationship between maximum interstory drift demand and wall-column area ratio is examined. The proposed limits are compared to the risk levels of existing buildings for validation.The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the pdf file of the accepted manuscript may differ slightly from what is displayed on the item page. The information in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript reflects the original submission by the author
Bridging Indigenous knowledge systems and Western science for the co-management of wildlife in Canada: A systematic review
Get PDFDrawing upon Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and Western science (WS) can be a more equitable and effective approach that strengthens the evidence-base for wildlife management, decision-making, and conservation action. However, implementing this approach remains challenging. We systematically reviewed the published literature that reported empirical results on bridging IKS and WS in decision-making processes and the implementation of practices designed to influence interactions between people, wildlife, and habitats. The aim was to examine the relationship between wildlife management, co-management, and knowledge bridging in Canada. Our standardized search across bibliographic databases identified 21 articles, including 27 case studies for analysis. In addition to bibliographic and contextual information (e.g., location), we coded for 11 functional questions across categories: (1) decision-making; (2) implementation of practices; (3) achievement of impacts; and (4) enablers and barriers to success. Through our analysis, we make the case that effective knowledge bridging requires active participation of Indigenous Peoples throughout the wildlife management process, including setting objectives, selecting/designing, and implementing actions, followed by monitoring and evaluating performance. Our results identify key enabling features (e.g., cross-cultural competency, trust and relationship building, knowledge co-production) that need to be fostered alongside addressing barriers (e.g., epistemological/ontological divides, poor power sharing arrangements, communication difficulties) for equitable and effective mobilization of knowledge bridging in wildlife management.The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the pdf file of the accepted manuscript may differ slightly from what is displayed on the item page. The information in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript reflects the original submission by the author
Reconstructing the Monkey King in Jingju: Political Standardization, Ideological Rewriting, and the Transformation of Cultural Ecosystem in Xiqu Reform (1948–1956)
Get PDFThis thesis investigates the ideological reconstruction and standardization of the Monkey King’s stage image during the Xiqu reform (1948–1956) in the People’s Republic of China. Focusing on historical and textual analysis, ideological criticism, online archival research in mainstream media and newspapers, and contemporaneous cultural commentaries, as well as close readings of specific Jingju performance practices, the study explores how the Monkey King was transformed from a diverse stage figure into a politically standardized cultural symbol. And it also examines how institutional mechanisms and discursive power reshaped theatrical traditions and marginalized alternative styles. Ultimately, this paper argues that the Xiqu reform not only regulated artistic subjectivity but also engineered a new state-driven cultural ecosystem. The revolutionary reinterpretation of the Monkey King was not only a product of this reform but also profoundly shaped representations of the character across other media and art in contemporary China.M.A
Geoscientific Input Feature Selection for CNN-Driven Mineral Prospectivity Mapping
Get PDFIn recent years, machine learning techniques such as convolutional neural networks have been used for mineral prospectivity mapping. Since a diverse range of geoscientific data is often available for training, it is computationally challenging to select a subset of features that optimizes model performance. Our study aims to demonstrate the effect of optimal input feature selection on convolutional neural network model performance in mineral prospectivity mapping applications. We demonstrate results from both exhaustive and algorithmic feature selection methods in the context of copper porphyry prospectivity modeling and analyze the performance and stability of optimally trained models. Using the QUEST dataset from central interior British Columbia, such a feature selection technique improves model performance by 6.8% over models that use all available features, yet consumes around 2.2% of the computational resources needed to exhaustively search for the optimal feature subset
Molecular Evolution of GABAergic Signalling in the Anoxia Tolerant Western Painted Turtle Brain (Chrysemys picta bellii)
Get PDFAnoxia is the absence of oxygen, which in the mammalian brain leads to hyper-excitability and cell death; this cascade of events does not occur in the anoxia-tolerant brain of the western painted turtle, Chrysemys picta belli. The painted turtle has become an important model for studying brain, heart, and liver function in the absence of oxygen. γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter, and its concentration increases over 80-fold in anoxic turtle brain, which allows for a dominating Cl- conductance clamping the membrane potential near the reversal potential of the GABAA receptor. We know that whole-cell GABAA receptor currents increase with the onset of anoxia due to increased presynaptic GABA release; however, we do not know if this is the whole story. My research aimed to identify and elucidate the molecular and evolutionary mechanisms underlying increased GABAA receptor signalling critical in the anoxia-tolerant western painted turtle brain. Using electrophysiology and bioinformatics I demonstrate for the first time: 1) Alfaxalone is an effective anaesthetic agent for use in painted turtle brain whole-cell electrophysiology, due to its relatively short wash-out time; 2) GABAA receptor open channel time significantly increases up-to 13-fold with the onset anoxia, indicating that GABAA receptor kinetics are providing an adaptive mechanism to anoxia; 3) Phosphorylation via protein kinase C (PKC) mediated the altered channel kinetics observed in the GABAA receptor with the onset of anoxia; and 4) Select GABAA receptor genes have significantly elevated non-synonymous to synonymous substitution rates (dN/dS) in different testudine partitions, signifying positive selection acting on them, particularly in testudines. Together, this research significantly contributes to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the turtle’s naturally evolved response to anoxia, emphasizing the critical role of GABAA receptor kinetics and the potential underlying molecular evolutionary adaptations to the physiological phenotype observed during anoxia-tolerance. Ph.D
Carriers of Coloured Credentials: The Devaluation of foreign Credentials and its Impact on the Career Trajectories of Professional African Immigrant Women in the Canadian Labour Market
Get PDFThis thesis examined how the devaluation of foreign credentials impacts the career trajectories of African immigrant women from professional backgrounds in the Canadian labour market. The participants were professional women from different African countries and various professional backgrounds, resident in four Canadian provinces. They arrived in Canada with qualifications and years of experience in six broad professional categories: law, medicine, nursing, teaching, accounting & finance, and administration & human resources (HR). The thesis sought to reveal the role of the devaluation of their foreign credentials in determining the trajectory of their careers and how they negotiated this barrier. Discourses of devaluation/non-recognition of the foreign credentials of new immigrants in Canada have gained currency over the years; however, the experiences of professional African immigrant women with credential devaluation and their negotiation strategies have not received enough attention considering the increasing numbers of Africans in Canada. Using a qualitative phenomenological approach, I examined their experiences in the light of the points system of immigration, which gives premium points to applicants with high levels of education and work experience. Data was collected through in-depth interviews from a sample of 22 participants. The findings revealed a disruption in the career trajectories of professional immigrant women; their experiences were incongruous with the expectations derived from the point system. They encountered formal and informal modes of credential devaluation in the Canadian labour market through lengthy and expensive recredentialling processes as well as an intangible demand for Canadian work experience. The experience of credential devaluation for African immigrant women was not a one-time issue, it had initial and enduring dimensions that extended into their experiences on the job after accessing their preferred occupations.
The study also underscored the resilience and perseverance of African immigrant women in overcoming these devaluation barriers to forge ahead in their careers or chart new paths for themselves. Ultimately, these professional African immigrant women exercised agency in determining how to overcome systemic and institutionalized credential devaluation designed to lock immigrant women into low level, low paid jobs to rise into professional roles within the Canadian labour market.Ph.D