Toronto Metropolitan University Open Journals
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The barriers to healthcare access and their impact on health outcomes for people medically uninsured in Canada: A scoping review
No full textObjective: The objective of the scoping review was to summarize the current literature on the barriers to healthcare access and its impact on health outcomes for people who are medically uninsured (including those with precarious or no immigration status) in Canada; identify gaps in the existing knowledge; and highlight implications for practice and policy. Methods: We undertook a systematic search in the electronic databases of PsycInfo, MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL, ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health, Web of Science and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. Inclusion criteria consisted of articles published in English reporting information about barriers to healthcare access or its impact on health among people with precarious immigration status in Canada. Relevant themes emerging from the included studies were reviewed by the research team and organized into three levels of barriers to accessing healthcare. Results: Ten articles were included in this scoping review. Our review found that individuals living with precarious or no immigration status and being denied public health insurance experienced significant obstructions to accessing healthcare services, the result of policy, interpersonal and intrapersonal-level barriers. These barriers include ineligibility for provincial or federal healthcare insurance, negative interactions with healthcare providers, fear of interacting with public services and lack of sufficient income to pay for out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. This resulted in unmet healthcare needs, negative and worsening health outcomes, avoidance of formal healthcare institutions and reliance on emergency care services caused by delays in help-seeking. Conclusions: People who are medically uninsured in Canada experience avoidable negative health outcomes, including higher risk of death because of barriers to access to healthcare. Provincial healthcare insurance should be available for these vulnerable groups to avoid unnecessary health problems and complications and to reduce the burden on the healthcare system. New (im)migrants should receive education on their right to receive health services, and healthcare providers must receive training on how to best support the health and wellbeing of this population
Pedagogy of Belonging: Pausing to be human in higher education
No full textValuing care and self-care in higher education requires a conscious pause and rethinking of how we are together as educators and students. The pandemic caused various complexities, including changes in curriculum delivery, deadlines, and assessment modes, leading to feelings of overwhelm, anxiety, and change fatigue, which contributed to the emergence of panicgogy. This paper argues for the need to disrupt this way of being and experiencing the pandemic through valuing humanity and repositioning self-care and care by and for academics to inform their pedagogy. Presented is the narrative and the design story behind Pedagogy of Belonging (PoB), a systems informed framework that prioritizes relationships and humanizes teaching by placing students and educators at the center of curriculum and pedagogical decisions. PoB provides a pedagogical framework for progression throughout the teaching cycle. The paper suggests that PoB is a conscious pause, a contemplative practice that interrupts panicgogy, collective exhaustion, and disconnect in higher education. PoB repositions holistic education at the heart of what educators do, facilitating interconnectedness and encouraging a rethinking of care and self-care in higher education through the domain of belonging underpinned by relationships, engagement, and communication
Tech for Collaboration: How PGIS Can Mobilize Indigenous Natural Resource Management
No full textThe utilization of Indigenous Knowledge in natural resource management frameworks, including environmental assessments, is increasingly being recognized as an important asset by the environmental community. This is because Indigenous Knowledge, which has been developed over generations by Indigenous communities, can lead to the development of more effective and equitable resource management practices that are aligned with local needs, cultural values, and ecological knowledge. At the same time, Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PGIS) are also emerging as a valuable tool for storing and mobilizing information towards natural resource management. Considering shifts in the environmental community around natural resource management and the use of IK, and the potential of PGIS, the incorporation of Indigenous Knowledge into PGIS raises important ethical questions regarding knowledge ownership and sharing, and there are challenges and limitations to implementing Indigenous Knowledge-based PGIS platforms.
This research paper seeks to explore the application of Indigenous Knowledge in natural resource management through a scoping review or relevant literature, including case studies of PGIS platforms used by Indigenous communities, both in Canada and abroad. The paper addresses the following key questions:
How can Indigenous Knowledge be applied towards natural resource management frameworks and environmental assessments?
How can Indigenous knowledge be stored and mobilised within PGIS platforms for future generations?
What are the challenges and limitations surrounding the implementation of Indigenous Knowledge within PGIS platforms in natural resource management?
What are the ethics surrounding Indigenous Knowledge-based PGIS platforms?
The paper reveals that integrating Indigenous Knowledge into natural resource management frameworks can lead to sustainable management practices. The paper also demonstrates that PGIS platforms have the potential to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration among communities, but their implementation requires careful considerations of the challenges and limitations associated within Indigenous Knowledge-based systems. Balancing the need to share knowledge across communities with protecting intellectual property rights and the cultural significance of Indigenous Knowledge is crucial. The implementation of PGIS platforms also requires significant technological infrastructure and skills, requiring significant human resources, which can be challenging for Indigenous communities with limited resources
Crafting Attention in Immersive and Interactive Practices
No full textThis creation is part of the ongoing project “Positioning the Audience in Cinematic Virtual Reality”, supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey. The project engages with the attentional and corporeal resonance between spectators and visual experiences in participatory and immersive practices. In the continuing first phase of the project, we are designing and producing a VR creation that will then enable us to conduct audience research to focus on the attention practices of the viewers in the second phase. Hence, as a critical research-creation project it has two complementary and symmetrical foci that employ both theory and practice, and that are intertwined with one another. In tandem with making an interactive and photorealistic (cinematic) VR film where spectator crafts the very narrative unfolding by voluntary and involuntary attentional participation in a given scene, we are also developing a conceptual framework on how immersive and interactive technologies are conditioned by the freedom given to the spectator. As interdisciplinary project it brings together researchers from film studies, new media studies and psychology to develop a holistic understanding on the attention of spectator in moving image technologies.
In making, instead of using game-based interactivity technologies enabled by the controllers, the VR film uses gaze detection techniques and the attentional economy of the spectator as active defining element of the narrative unfolding. Combining both the bottom-up and the top-down attentional procedures it allows spectators to craft a circular experience and aims to problematize the craft of the spectator. In theory it aims to develop an historical and critical understanding of visual practices where spectator is the active producer of the optical experience in certain media ecology including technologies from proto-cinematic devices to the post-cinematic media constellation comprising video games, Virtual Reality etc. Therefore we aim to problematize and rend sensible the craft and the autonomy of the viewer by combining conventional academic research practices with artistic experimentation. The creation undertaken in the first phase of the research is aimed to result in multiple alternative designs, which will form the basis of our presentation at IFM2023.
Editorial: Exploring the Nexus of Care, Collaboration, and Craft
No full textWelcome to the proceedings issue of the annual Interactive Film and Media Conference, where we celebrate the dynamic relationships between care, collaboration, and craft across new media platforms, practices, and theories. This issue showcases video presentations of the papers that delve into these interconnected themes, offering a diverse range of perspectives and insights.
The nexus of care, collaboration, and craft is a fertile ground for exploring the crucial work of combatting polarization and embracing multiple voices, plural practices, and new ways of working together. In this fluid and adaptive landscape, the definitions and relationships of care, collaboration, and craft are not fixed but constantly evolving.
At the onset of the conference, we shared some exciting editorial news that reflects the dynamic nature of the interactive film and media field. As this field rapidly evolves, outpacing the traditional academic publishing world, we are committed to ensuring our publication remains at the forefront of innovation and inclusivity. In light of this, we have significantly changed our publishing approach.
 
A Black Feminist’s Critique of the Crooked Room of Medicine (CRoM): : Thick Studies Expanded and the Gender Race Weight Matrix as Praxis
No full textBlack women’s historical experiences in the US, including my own story, are akin to what Black feminist Melissa Harris-Perry in her book, Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America (2011), calls the crooked room. Applying Harris-Perry’s theorization of the crooked room to how medical institutions operate to cause Black thick women to be so quickly categorized as diseased, I have developed the concept of the Crooked Room of Medicine (CRoM) to describe the mental, emotional, and physical struggles Black women face at the intersection of race and gender stereotypes and false narratives particularly in medical settings. I utilize and build upon Black feminist theoretical frameworks as well as my own personal narrative to investigate how a society that is built on racialized and gendered systems has implications for how the large Black female body is interpreted as unhealthy and diseased when treated within these social and medical settings. Building on Tressie McMillan Cottom’s scholarship, I utilize a methodology of what I call Thick Studies to develop a Gender Race Weight (GRW) matrix from the crooked room of medicine, to map out our experiences and develop a theory that focuses on healing. The result of Black women’s disproportionately poor health outcomes is a result of a complex environment of barriers from quality health care, to racism, and stress correlated with the distinct social experiences of Black womanhood in U.S. society. Racism and gender discrimination have profound impacts on the well-being of Black women. I argue for a holistic health treatment that addresses mind, body, emotion, and spirit and for an acknowledgement of Black women’s knowledge of health and healing in relation to Black women, weight, and medical space
Correction of Derived Temperature Dependent Characteristic Material Properties of Thermoelectric Modules
No full textThermoelectric modules are integrated to various electronic components to keep their temperature in specific values in different ambient temperatures. Generally, it is seen that the performance curves are commonly given for one or two hot side temperatures in some of the datasheets. In thermal design simulations, thermoelectric modules can be generated manually or directly used from their libraries. Ansys ICEPAK requires three temperature-dependent equations for material properties (Seebeck coefficient (α), electrical resistivity (β), and thermal conductivity (γ)). In thermal design phase, to select appropriate thermoelectric modules these material properties are required. For the confidentiality, manufacturers cannot provide those characteristic material property values of thermoelectric modules. In this manuscript, a unique method for the derivation of characteristic material properties from the datasheet of thermoelectric modules is derived and applied. Material characteristics were estimated from two different performance curves by numerically in this study. Numerical calculations are accomplished in ICEPAK by using a thermoelectric module exists in the ICEPAK library. Because of similar results of numerical models, by using library of ICEPAK and by using the proposed method, it can be said that recommended equations are approved. This approximation can be suggested for the analysis includes different brand of TEC modules.
 
Comparison of the Direct and Indirect Cooling Systems on the Thermal Management of the EV Batteries
No full textNowadays Earth has many problems such as environmental pollution and climate change. These kinds of critical problems have been affecting Earth and its biological beings for long years. In this era, green and clean energy is crucial for the next generations. To overcome these problems some attempts have been playing a big role. One of these is the integration of the alternative energies into the lives of humans. With this trend, electric vehicles (EVs) have been occurring in the automotive industry. One of the most important challenges in the EVs is the thermal management. In this paper, the performance of the different cooling systems on the EV batteries was investigated by using numerical approach. According to the results, both of the configurations have different advantages against each other such as thermal distribution, materials, temperature change, maintenance, etc
Battery Thermal Management Systems For Electric Vehicles
No full textA large part of the automotive industry consists of internal combustion engine vehicles. However, due to the exhaustion of oil, increasing energy needs and environmental pollution, alternative energy sources have been sought. Therefore, interest in renewable energy and environmentally friendly vehicles is increasing. For this purpose, electric vehicles, which are more efficient than internal combustion engine vehicles, are being developed. One of the most important components of electric vehicles is the battery. It is known that battery systems are affected by temperature. At temperatures outside of the battery\u27s efficient operating range, energy and power capacity and lifespan considerably reduced. This situation necessitates an effective battery management system for the increasing number of electric vehicles in the market. In this review, the situations that may occur due to the heat generation of the battery during rapid charge and discharge and the solutions that can be done to prevent these situations are examined and discussed. Thereby battery thermal management systems are explained and the working principles of these systems are emphasized.
 
Analytical Design and CFD Simulation of Plate-Fin Heat Exchangers
No full textIn this study, a design procedure for plate-fin heat exchangers (PFHEx) with a crossflow arrangement and triangular offset-strip fins (OSF) was developed and validated with the help of a commercial CFD software, FloEFD. Before the CFD analysis, a mesh independency study was performed in order to support CFD results. Throughout the CFD analysis Lam-Bremhorst k-epsilon turbulence model was utilized, and a three-dimensional conjugate heat transfer problem was solved. Manglik and Bergles’ correlations for Colburn factor and Fanning friction factor were used to develop a MATLAB code. Numerical results of MATLAB code and CFD simulations are in good agreement with each other. Relative error at outlet temperatures are 6.14% and 3.81% for hot side and cold side, respectively. Temperature contours show that there is a two-dimensional temperature gradient across the heat exchanger, which is logical due to the crossflow arrangement of the heat exchanger