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Quand le plastique envahit l’écriture de soi : l’exemple de Karl Ove Knausgård
No full textIn “Quand le plastique envahit l’écriture du quotidien : l’exemple de Karl Ove Knausgård,” Camille Deschamps Vierø considers the Anthropocene through the optic of plastic in the works of the Norwegian author, Karl Ove Knausgård. Tracing plastic through Knausgård’s årstidencyklopedien, or “encyclopedia of seasons”—four autobiographical books titled for the four seasons—Deschamps Vierø shows how this operates simultaneously on the personal and planetary scales through its impossibly long decomposition time. This reading extends to environmental critiques in the text, which appear, sometimes banally and at other times socio-politically, like plastic itself, strewn through the author’s life writing
A Fate for Fire”: A Review of Knife on Snow by Alice Major
Get PDFA review of Knife on Snow, by Alice Major
Thermokarst can stimulate tall shrub productivity and plant-soil feedbacks in the low-Arctic tundra
No full textWarming temperatures are exacerbating permafrost thaw disturbances in the Arctic. Permafrost thaw disturbances are facilitating tall, deciduous shrub expansion. However, potential productivity differences between shrubs that colonize disturbed areas and those in undisturbed tundra remain understudied. More productive shrubs optimize for fast growth over leaf longevity, meaning they may produce more abundant and higher quality litter which could accelerate decomposition rates and lead to faster nutrient cycling. Faster nutrient cycling could create a positive feedback loop between shrubs and soil, maintaining greater ecosystem productivity. I measured in situ soil characteristics and physiological and structural shrub functional traits for green alder (Alnus alnobetula) and dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa) growing in polygonal terrain (troughs and centers) and thaw slumps (within the thaw slump or an undisturbed control) in the low Arctic tundra of Northwest Territories, Canada. I also conducted a laboratory litter incubation experiment to assess the potential of accelerated nutrient-cycling in disturbances. I found that soil characteristics were altered in disturbances compared to controls. Thaw slumps displayed dramatic differences compared to undisturbed tundra, and polygonal terrain troughs had deeper active layer thickness than more-stable centers. Shrub traits did not differ between polygon centers and polygon troughs, however, in thaw slumps shrubs were significantly more productive than in undisturbed tundra. I found greater rates of litter decomposition in polygon troughs compared to centers, and greater decomposition of litter from thaw slumps compared to litter from undisturbed tundra regardless of the incubation substrate (disturbed vs. undisturbed). My results suggest that the effects of ice-wedge degradation in polygonal terrain troughs may be limited to increases in active layer thickness and litter decomposition, while large-scale thaw slump disturbances will increase soil nutrient availability and active layer thickness, stimulate productive shrub trait expression, and enhance decomposition rates of shrub litter. The increase in shrub productivity in thaw slumps marks a shift in ecosystem structure and function, while increases in decomposition may lead to faster nutrient cycling in polygonal terrain troughs. My findings suggest positive feedback between thaw slumps, shrub productivity, and decomposition which could reinforce or enhance the dominance of tall shrubs and contribute to tundra shrub expansion
Limiting H1N1 Replication Via the dsRNAi Pathway Using Sequence-Specific LdsRNA
No full textThe seasonal influenza virus causes a common respiratory illness that can be life threatening to the immunocompromised, the very young, and the elderly. The current strategies for avoiding a serious influenza virus infection are good hygiene practices and the annual influenza vaccine. Unfortunately, last year’s influenza virus vaccine effectiveness ranged between 32-60% for children and adolescents and 46-54% for adults. These low efficacy rates are due to the vaccine often targeting hemagglutinin, a highly variable surface protein. This thesis seeks to create a prophylactic treatment via the RNA interference (RNAi) response that targets the virus’s conserved genes that are integral for replication, to be complementary to vaccines. The RNAi response is an innate immune response triggered by long (\u3e30 bp) double stranded RNA (LdsRNA), which is made by viruses, but not healthy cells. In dsRNAi, viral LdsRNA is recognized and cleaved into small interfering (si)RNAs which are then used to bind complementary viral mRNAs and prevent protein translation, ultimately stopping viral replication. This study aimed to determine the optimal target gene for RNAi-mediated H1N1 replication inhibition. DsRNA was synthesized by in vitro transcription to target two integral H1N1 genes: the nucleoprotein (NP) and part of the RNA polymerase (PB1). MDCK cells were treated with these dsRNAs and infected with a human influenza A virus (IAV), strain H1N1/09/Cal. After 48 hours the media was collected and the viral titre quantified by a TCID50 assay. Both NP and PB1 LdsRNA showed a sequence-specific knockdown in viral titres suggesting that LdsRNA treatments are effective in triggering the RNAi response to protect against the virus. Western blots and RNAi inhibition experiments using a chemical inhibitor (aurintricarboxylic acid; ATA) were performed to support this hypothesis. The western blot results were inconclusive but the ATA antiviral trials show loss of protection with ATA suggesting the RNAi pathway is involved. This research aims to bring us a step closer to an effective RNAi-based prophylactic treatment for influenza virus infections
Understanding Gap Crossing Decisions Across the Lifespan
No full textBy 2063, it is expected that one in four Canadians will be over the age of 65 (Government of Canada, 2022), demonstrating the urgent need to understand how aging impacts safety in everyday environments. Older adults (OA) are disproportionately represented in pedestrian fatalities, in part due to age-related declines in visuomotor integration. Much of what is known about risky pedestrian behaviour is derived from simulator-based studies examining street crossing decisions, which have provided valuable insights into the perceptual, cognitive, and motor abilities that increase collision risk. However, our understanding of how people use optical information to guide behaviour when navigating closing gaps, and how this ability changes across the lifespan, remains limited. Furthermore, few studies have directly examined the cortical activity underlying gap crossing decisions, which may offer insight into why errors occur. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to take an integrative approach across two studies, to examine age-related differences in: 1) the use of visual information to guide speed adjustments while navigating closing gaps in virtual reality, and 2) cortical activation associated with decisions of gap passability.
In Study 1, 15 younger adults (YA; 21.7 +/-1.3 yrs) and 15 OA (69.4 +/-3.8 yrs) completed a virtual path crossing task, by walking through an intersection while virtual pedestrians (VPs) approached from either side at various speeds, creating shrinking gaps. Participants were asked to adjust their own speed as necessary to avoid collisions. Results revealed that YA modulated the onset, magnitude, and rate of speed change based on the VP speed, demonstrating efficient use of visual cues to inform their behaviour. Alternatively, OA used a fixed “one solution fits all” approach, initiating speed changes with consistent timing and larger magnitudes across all conditions, placing them at greater risk in faster gap-closing scenarios.
To better understand the cognitive demands underlying these behaviours, Study 2 involved a treadmill-based version of a similar task. Thirteen YA (22.5 +/- 3.9 yrs) and 14 OA (69.7 +/- 3.3 yrs) indicated whether approaching VP gaps were passable. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), cortical activity was measured during decision-making. Although both groups made similar decisions with comparable response times, OA exhibited greater and more sustained activation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, suggesting an increased need for cognitive resources compared to YA. This finding may reflect reduced neural efficiency or a compensatory response to maintain task performance.
Together, these studies demonstrate that aging affects both the behavioural strategies and neural processes involved in path crossing decisions. Recognizing how older adults perceive, process, and respond to dynamic environments can inform the design of safer public spaces and targeted interventions that promote mobility, cognitive efficiency, and independence across the lifespan
Crime Modeling Using An Integrated CNN–LSTM Architecture with Embedded Self-Excitation
No full textIt is often assumed that natural phenomena occur randomly over time. However, careful analysis reveals that these events typically form some series or sequences and exhibit distinctive temporal patterns. These patterns are not exclusive to nature. They also appear in human activities, often studied under the concept of bursty human dynamics. The statistical methods analyzing bursty human dynamics not only capture overall trends or seasonality but also explore how past events influence future ones. It makes the analysis more realistic and the results more closely aligned with reality. Bursty human dynamics can be studied at two levels: the individual level and the societal level. This research focuses on individual- level activities, with a particular emphasis on crime analysis. The Major Crime Indicator (MCI) dataset is used for crime analysis. It is an open data provided by the Toronto Police Service via its Public Safety Data Portal. The dataset includes crime records from January 2001 to June 2024, comprising 396,735 observations across 25 variables. It documents five major crime types that occurred in the Greater Toronto Area: Assault, Break and Enter, Auto Theft, Robbery, and Theft Over. The relationship between past and future events can take various forms, which may be additive, multiplicative, linear, or non-linear. To capture these relation- ships, numerous methods have been developed and successfully applied across var- ious fields. These different methods can be categorized into traditional statistical approaches, machine learning, and deep learning models. However, most of the methods are unable to capture dependencies among the events. Usually, classic self-exciting point processes are used to develop more realistic models considering exogenous and endogenous factors. However, these types of models exhibit several drawbacks, such as the ignorance of non-linear dependencies, the inhibition effect among events and the parametric forms. Machine learning models are least reliable for temporal data because they do not consider temporal properties and hence fail to capture any patterns. Although deep learning models can capture non-linear or multiplicative factors, they are unable to model self-excitation among events and cannot capture inhibition effects. Hence, to overcome these limitations, in this research, a more sophisticated
approach is explored by embedding a non-linear self-excitation effect in deep learn- ing models. The proposed Convolutional Neural LSTM Hawkes Model takes advantage of two powerful deep learning structures, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Long-Short-Term Memory (LSTM), as well as classic Hawkes processes. To include the endogenous factor in the model, it expands the standard LSTM architecture. The basic Convolutional Neural Network helps extract important in- formation and patterns from the data. The feed-forward neural network is replaced by a modified version of LSTM. Triggering effects are modeled in LSTM by embed- ding a self-excitation gate. The proposed architecture is different from the typical LSTM model. The model has two forget gates and two input gates. These gates are used to evaluate the baseline and excitation terms by determining two different cell states. The additional excitation gate is used to calculate the decay rate for the excitation effect on which the updated hidden state at each step will depend. The expanded range of triggering effects over R can be achieved by using tanh activation function. This research aims to predict future crime occurrence more accurately and cap- ture complex patterns. This work adds to the field of crime forecasting by introduc- ing a powerful deep learning approach that benefits from both statistical insights and the adaptability of neural networks
Nature for All? Assessing Equitable Public Access to National Urban Parks in Canada: A Comparative Analysis
No full textThe number of health challenges is rising both globally and in Canada. Research consistently shows that time spent in nature can mitigate some of these health challenges, offering significant mental, physical, and well-being benefits. Parks and protected areas in Canada, including the expansion of the National Urban Park (NUP) program by Parks Canada, provide valuable opportunities for nature-based engagement. However, access to these spaces is unjust, as many individuals face structural, intrapersonal, and interpersonal constraints. While prior studies have explored the motivations and well-being outcomes of women and Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) individuals, there remains a limited understanding of the constraints they face in accessing parks and protected areas. Additionally, limited research has examined the constraints experienced by parents and their children. This study analyzed data from a Canadian household survey conducted by ParkSeek, using SPSS v28. The sample included 227 respondents from Whitchurch-Stouffville (located near the existing Rouge NUP) and Victoria (site of a proposed NUP). The analysis examined how ten sociodemographic variables – particularly gender identity, ethnic background, and family structure – influenced motivations, perceived health and well-being outcomes, and constraints to accessing parks and protected areas. Four important findings emerged: (1) respondents were significantly motivated by group togetherness and perceive strong social well-being benefits; (2) women in Whitchurch-Stouffville experienced more structural and intrapersonal constraints than men, while women in Victoria faced greater constraints than men across all three constraint categories; (3) BIPOC respondents at both sites reported higher levels for all three constraint categories compared to white/Caucasian respondents; and (4) parents and children aged under 18 were constrained by a lack of time and competing preferences. These findings advance knowledge on motivations, health and well-being outcomes, and constraints in the context of parks and protected areas. They can help encourage individuals to visit parks and protected areas for health and well-being benefits, while also informing Parks Canada of recommendations regarding access to these areas, including existing and proposed NUPs
The Progressive Potential of the Horror ARG: A Digital Ethnographic Analysis of Instagram Account sabrinamiller230
No full textAlternate reality games (ARGs) are transmedia games that exist and operate utilizing a number of digital communication platforms. These games see players employing their digital literacy skills in order to solve narrative puzzles and craft theories with other ARG players – through engaging with the alternate reality fiction presented to them. sabrinamiller230 is a horror themed ARG that takes the appearance of an Instagram profile and presents players with a speculative alternate reality world featuring an alien who critiques humanity’s many injustices. This research paper seeks to address a key problem regarding the lack of digital ethnographic studies of ARG communities and their player cultures. This paper argues that players who engage with the sabrinamiller230 ARG, by contributing to the page’s many comment sections, are primed to imagine and work towards the possibility of potential progressive futures. In locating the progressive elements of sabrinamiller230 and how they work to internalize progressive sentiments in the ARG’s player culture, this study combines research methods of passive digital ethnography and auto-ethnography in observing sabrinamiller230 players. By having players deconstruct notions of justice through engagement with sabrinamiller230 gameplay, players are able to ‘rehearse’ the collective imagining of more equitable progressive futures
Introduction
No full textThis is the introductory chapter of Graphic Refuge Visuality and Mobility in Refugee Comics by Dominic Davies and Candida Rifkind.
Graphic Refuge is the first in-depth study of comics about refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, and detainees by artists from the Global North and South. Co-written by two leading scholars of nonfiction comics, the book explores graphic narratives about a range of refugee experiences, from war, displacement, and perilous sea crossings to detention camps, resettlement schemes, and second-generation diasporas.
Through close readings of work by diverse artists including Joe Sacco, Sarah Glidden, Don Brown, Olivier Kugler, Jasper Rietman, Hamid Sulaiman, Leila Abdelrazzaq, Thi Bui, and Matt Huynh, Graphic Refuge shows how comics challenge dominant representations of the displaced to bring a radical politics of refugee agency and refusal into view. Beyond simply affirming the “humanity” of the refugee, these comics demand that we apprehend the historical construction of categories such as “citizen” and “refugee” through systems of empire, settler colonialism, and racial capitalism. The comics medium allows readers not only to visualize the lives of refugees but also refocuses the lens on citizen non-refugees—“we who can sleep under warm cover at night”, as Vinh Nguyen writes in his foreword—and interrogates their perceptions, aspirations, and beliefs.https://scholars.wlu.ca/books/1007/thumbnail.jp