Federated Learning on Knowledge Graphs via Contrastive Alignment   

In traditional knowledge graph embedding (KGE) Federated Learning (FL) frameworks, individual clients train their localized KGE models independently. A trusted server then collects and aggregates (e.g., by averaging) the locally computed embeddings to generate a consolidated shared model. This process ensures data privacy throughout the FL training process, as the server doesn’t require direct access to clients’ triplets. However, data heterogeneity (i.e., non-identically distributed data across clients’ knowledge graphs) poses significant challenges to the performance of FL global aggregation algorithms. To address these concerns, our approach introduces a KGE model-agnostic contrastive learning (CL) deep learning model for KGE learning in federated settings that aims at improving the model generality while preserving privacy. The proposed model leverages CL to bring the embeddings representing the same entity of different clients closer together and push the embeddings of different entities farther apart without disclosing to the server the associations between entities and clients.  We conducted extensive experiments on benchmark datasets and demonstrated that the proposed aggregation model outperforms state-of-the-art methods in knowledge graph FL settings. 

Civic Literacies: Addressing Challenges and Opportunities through Innovative Solutions

Civic education is a crucial part of democracy. Thus, understanding council or parliament agendas and motions exemplifies the advantages of embracing a diverse range of literacies, rather than adhering to a narrow perspective. However, a significant obstacle to comprehending political structures through civic education arises from the challenge posed by twenty-first century literacies, such as navigating online platforms. This difficulty is particularly pronounced for students with learning disabilities (LD). Hence, it’s imperative to explore innovative solutions to promote educational equity.  

One strategy to engage youth in civic education while fostering critical thinking and twenty-first century literacies, tailored to diverse learning styles, is through the strategic use of generative artificial intelligence. This approach follows a threefold theoretical model: first, analyzing the challenges faced by LD students in accessing civic learning opportunities via digital literacies; second, acknowledging the underestimated relevance of civic education to youth; and third, exploring the application of generative AI within sociocultural theory to develop targeted digital literacy plans that enhance civic knowledge for LD students.  

This analysis highlights potential opportunities, such as leveraging governments’ increasing adoption of digital technology to enhance transparency, such as by making recorded meeting proceedings available online. These platforms provide accessible resources for students to observe democratic processes firsthand, enabling them to form independent conclusions and bypassing misleading media narratives, thereby promoting their autonomy. Additionally, in line with open government movements, these platforms can readily integrate generative AI to create classroom activities that address barriers for LD students. 

From Creation to Litigation: The Evolving Landscape of Generative AI, Ethics, and Intellectual Property   

“Accompanying the rapid release and growth of Generative AI models in the market, since 2022, is an increasing number of intellectual property lawsuits pertaining to the training data of the Generative AI models, have been filed in the United States, against companies that have developed these Generative AI models. The legal issue of copyright infringement is a key component of many of the global Generative AI regulations, and raises ethical challenges in regards to the training data and the output of Generative AI.  On the other hand, the creative output from Generative AI as AI-generated material, in terms of text, audio, video and images, is also an issue of contention being dealt with by the U.S. Copyright Office.  

This paper examines the concept of the “author” through critical theories of Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault. A series of research questions are further investigated: What happens to the author when with the authorless works outputted by Generative AI models, such as ChatGPT?   If the data it was trained on was illegally sourced, then is the output automatically also illegal? Who owns the output in terms of copyright if it cannot be protected by copyright laws as there was no human author? This paper investigates the entanglements between the law, ethics and AI and provides an early overview of the concept of authorship in the age of Generative AI. 

Intention to use Robo-advisor   

Purpose: This study investigates the impact of attitudes toward artificial intelligence (AI) on the adoption of robo-advisors, automated tools providing personalized financial advice. It examines how Technology Readiness Index, Financial Knowledge, and Investing Experience influence this relationship.  

Methodology: Around 200 participants will be surveyed to assess their views on AI, technology readiness, financial literacy, and investment history. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) will analyze these factors to understand the dynamics influencing robo-advisor adoption, focusing on the role of individual attitudes and experiences.  

Findings: The research anticipates that positive perceptions of AI will correlate with a higher likelihood of using robo-advisors. Technological readiness and financial literacy are expected to moderate this inclination, suggesting those more comfortable and knowledgeable about technology and finance are more inclined to adopt AI-driven investment services. Investment experience is also predicted to be a significant factor.  

Value: The study aims to shed light on factors affecting robo-advisor acceptance, providing insights for enhancing user experience. It addresses the varied responses to AI in financial planning, recognizing the enthusiasm of some and the skepticism of others. By exploring how personal differences influence openness to new financial technologies, this research contributes significantly to the field. 

Examining the links between prenatal alcohol exposure, gut microbiota, and anxiety behavior   

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) has been shown to induce long-lasting alterations of emotionally driven behaviors in rodents including increased anxiety. The gut microbiota and gut-derived products such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) are highly involved in emotional regulation but also in the development of the brain regions involved. Therefore, alterations of the gut microbiota are a possible mechanism in which PAE could induce anxiety-behaviors. The current study sought to examine the long-term effects of PAE on anxiety-like behaviors and the gut microbiota by using a well-established rat model of PAE. Pregnant dams were randomly assigned to: PAE – liquid ethanol diet ad libitum or Control – pelleted control diet ad libitum. Open field and dark-light emergence were conducted to assess anxiety in adult male and female rats. Fecal pellets were collected for 16s rRNA sequencing to assess the gut microbiota and gas chromatography for SCFA concentration. PAE animals displayed increased anxiety-like behavior in the open field but altered anxiety behaviors in the dark-light emergence depending on sex. PAE did not alter bacterial diversity (α-diversity), community structure (β-diversity) of the gut microbiota, or concentration of SCFAs. However, PAE altered the abundance of several bacteria involved in emotional regulation, detected in phylum and genus rank. Lower concentration of various SCFAs including butyric acid correlated to anxious behavior but only in PAE females. These findings reveal mechanistic links between PAE, gut microbiota, and anxiety behavior, emphasizing the importance of sex during this investigation. Support: NIH/NIAAA R01 AA022460 and Azrieli Foundation to CR and TSB. 

Effects of cross-fostering on behaviour and neural development in Octodon degus pups.   

Parental care is essential for social, behavioural, and neural development in offspring. In rodents, parental separation affects the amount of parental care and progression of offspring development. Work to date has focused on maternal and paternal deprivation, but it is unclear how cross-fostering, another form of parental-offspring instability, can affect offspring brain development. Stress suppresses neurogenesis and increases inflammation and apoptosis in the hippocampus, but this can vary between sexes. This study investigated the effect of cross-fostering on hippocampal development in degu pups. Degus have precocial offspring allowing us to study the effect of disturbing early parental-offspring attachment on pup development. At postnatal day 8, pups were assigned to either control, partial cross-foster (one pup was switched), or full cross-foster (entire litter was switched) conditions. At weaning (5-weeks-old), offspring brains were collected for immunohistochemistry to examine hippocampal volume and apoptosis (pyknotic cells using Cresyl violet), expression of immature neurons (DCX) and microglia (Iba-1). Cross-fostering did not affect the care provided by parents, however, in offspring, frequency of play fighting was higher in partial cross-foster female pups compared to controls. Hippocampal volume and DCX expression were not affected by cross-fostering. In the dorsal hippocampus, full cross-foster pups had fewer ameboid microglia and fewer pyknotic cells compared to controls (analysis is ongoing for the ventral region) suggesting alteration in hippocampal inflammation and plasticity in both sexes. This study contributes to our understanding of how early life environments affect offspring brain development in both sexes. 

Mechanistic exploration of the endothelial cell-mast cell axis as a marker of cardiovascular health following adverse childhood experiences

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as abuse and neglect, are associated with an increased prevalence of chronic diseases in adulthood, including cardiovascular disease (CVD). ACEs are extremely stressful events, triggering a physiological stress response—the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis—helping the body to acutely cope with stress exposure.  The accumulation of ACEs dysregulates this stress response, resulting in systemic, low-grade inflammation. This chronic inflammation, which is neither temporally nor spatially controlled, is damaging to the body and is an immunological mechanism of interest linking ACEs to chronic health conditions in adulthood, including CVD. Mast cells (MCs) are dynamic immune cells abundant in connective tissues throughout the body. MCs in cardiac tissue regularly interact, and functionally coordinate with vascular endothelial cells (ECs) lining all blood vessels. ECs act as both physical barriers and gate keepers, mediating the passage of immune cells and molecules between circulating blood and surrounding tissue. When dysregulated, this process can lead to the development of CVD. This research will explore—in the context of ACEs—how MCs contribute to EC dysfunction by exposing vascular ECs and MCs, both on their own and together, to blood serum from individuals who have experienced high vs. low ACEs, measuring functional responses in gene expression. This will contribute to a transdisciplinary effort aimed at understanding how psychosocial stress created by ACEs translates physiologically to influence the mechanistic development of EC dysfunction and adult CVD through immune system dysregulation. 

Evaluating the Long-Term Cognitive and Inflammatory Consequences of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure in Aged Male and Female Rats   

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can have long-lasting detrimental effects in the developing brain. Among these effects are deficits in cognition and increased inflammation. However, little is known about how PAE-related cognitive deficits change as an individual ages. We filled this gap by using a PAE rat model and examining the relationship between inflammation and cognitive performance on learning and memory tasks in aged males and females. Pregnant rats were randomly assigned to: ad libitum PAE – liquid ethanol diet throughout gestation; or control – pelleted diet. Their offspring were subjected to the Barnes Maze and Novel Object Recognition (NOR) tasks at 6 and 12 months. Blood was collected following behavioural testing for analysis of peripheral cytokines. Analysis of NOR indicated that by 6 months, PAE females displayed recognition memory deficits. By 12 months, PAE males also exhibited deficits in recognition memory. Interestingly, at 12 months, control females displayed similar deficits in recognition memory alongside PAE females. Cytokine data indicated that all PAE animals had lower levels of IL-4 regardless of age. Moreover, PAE females at 12 months showed significantly lower levels of IL-10 compared to controls. Currently, analysis of Barnes Maze is ongoing but preliminary findings at 6 months indicate deficits in PAE animals. These findings suggest PAE resulted in sex-dependent cognitive deficits with PAE females showing earlier decline. PAE females displaying lower levels of IL-4 and IL-10, cytokines recognized for their anti-inflammatory properties could suggest a potential elevation in inflammatory responses. however, analysis of neuroinflammatory markers is ongoing for further validation. 

Understanding human-nature connections and stewardship in the Niagara Peninsula watershed   

Human-nature connection is crucial to human well-being, and deep nature connections have been linked to environmental stewardship behaviours. This presentation will provide an overview of a research collaboration between Brock’s Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, Niagara Parks Commission (NPC), and the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) to understand how conservation area users connect to nature in the Niagara Peninsula watershed and how park managers can support human connections to nature. This research also explores how newcomers to Canada connect to nature in Niagara.   

The project will proceed in three stages. In the first stage, a literature review will evaluate a) the impacts of educational, interpretation, and messaging in natural parks and b) recommendations for inclusion and access for diverse users of natural parks in Canada. In the second stage, a survey of park users will collect data about users’ demographic background, psychological profile, nature connections, and pro-environmental intentions and actions. Interviews with park staff who interact directly with park users and on-site participant observations will supplement survey data. In the third stage, a photovoice project, resulting in a public exhibit, will highlight the first-person nature experiences of newcomers to Canada in Niagara Peninsula parks and conservation areas.   

Research will be conducted in close consultation with NPC and the NPCA in order to provide actionable recommendations for how park management can foster nature connections, stewardship behaviours, and effective communication with diverse user groups. 

Woodland Management in Protocapitalist England: Glassenbury Estate, 1680-1790  

This paper deploys Historical GIS to map and analyze the practice of woodland management in the Glassenbury Estate of Cranbrook, Kent, from 1680-1790. By analyzing a large, focused body of archival and cartographic data this spatial history explores early modern woodland sustainability. England and its people relied on wood as a primary natural resource. Wood and timber fueled construction and transport, alongside industry and a range of domestic use. Public anxiety over threats to its supply were therefore ubiquitous. Polemicists accused various industries of fomenting shortages. The monarchy fruitlessly legislated various attempts at woodland conservation policy. Demand for secure timber supply for the Royal Navy, the most important tool of England’s empire building, fuelled concerns over timber scarcity and helped drive conquest of the Great Lakes region and the St. Lawrence Basin.  

But privately-held estates like Glassenbury, which made up a substantial part of England’s domestic wood and timber reserves, by and large had deliberate practices of – and motivations for – sustainable management of their own woodlands. Glassenbury’s keepers maintained careful records of forestry practice and the costs and income related to its trees and directed woodcutting around the landscape to serve various needs. They and others mapped the changing landscape over the decades, all of which adds up to a rich body of spatial historical data which reveals significant findings about the realities of woodland management in Protocapitalist England. 

Can we use spruce trees in southern Ontario as a tool to examine the atmosphere?  

Southern Ontario houses three nuclear generating stations as well as the urban centre of the City of Toronto. Canadian Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) nuclear reactors emit radiocarbon (14C), enriching the atmosphere with excess 14C. Conversely, urban areas are associated with higher carbon-12 and carbon-13 levels due to elevated fossil fuel contributions depleting the atmosphere of 14C (i.e., Suess Effect). The southern Ontario atmosphere is observed via two air samplers run by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), one in Toronto and one in Egbert. Although atmospheric monitoring is performed in proximity and on-site of the nuclear generating stations as well as in the City of Toronto, tree rings can be used as a proxy to expand the atmospheric carbon inventory because trees incorporate atmospheric carbon from each year in annually grown rings. Spruce trees (Picea spp.) observed in this study are in proximity to Bruce Nuclear Generating Station and in Toronto, where 14C-enrichment occurs at Bruce and Toronto mostly has 14C-depletion. The atmospheric inventory of Toronto is more complex as an urban setting in proximity to Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, thus certain years also have 14C-enrichment. Meteorological conditions are modelled for all sites. Sites closer to the nuclear generating stations have higher dilution factors and tree-ring 14C levels. Correlation between tree-ring 14C levels and air sampler 14C levels are confirmed between the ECCC Toronto air sampler and a tree in a nearby park. Therefore, tree rings can be used as a tool to observe atmospheric carbon in various southern Ontario settings. 

A study on sustainable food consumption: It’s the mindset that Matters.  

Food wastage and unequal resource distribution are the primary reasons why there is still hunger in the world, even though there is a surplus of food production (WFP, 2020). It was found that Canadian consumers as a demographic also massively contribute to annual household waste (Moore, 2017). Through targeted marketing efforts aimed at minimizing food waste, this work seeks to solve this issue.  

Drawing from the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly the goals 12 and 13 of promoting Responsible Consumption and Production and Climate Action, it explores the techniques used to reduce food waste. It particularly explores two marketing strategies that often appear in campaigns promoting sustainability, namely the use of message frames and the variation in construal level (Green and Peloza, 2014).  

The research is interested in exploring how these two interplay and which combination elicits the most responses in the context of food waste reduction campaigns, which is why it also forms the crux of the first hypothesis. Additionally, this work recognizes that factors like self-identity have a say in determining how responsive an individual is towards social marketing campaigns, which is why green role identity has been factored in the studies (Whitemarsh and O’ Neill, 2010).  

Consequently, our study aims to extend the scope of existing models that key researchers like White (2011) have used by gauging how the combination of message framing with appeal types affects pro-social behaviors, especially regarding food waste. Overall, it provides policymakers and communication strategists with actionable information to help them craft messages that minimize food waste and promote sustainable consumption. 

Effects of carnosic acid on adipocyte insulin resistance. Examination of the role of PKC and NF-kB signalling.   

Adipose tissue plays an important role in energy homeostasis, and its dysfunction leads to obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Elevated blood free fatty acids (FFAs) such as palmitate contribute to insulin resistance by activation signalling cascades such as c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), protein kinase C (PKC) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB). The aim of my research is to understand adipocyte biology and to find plant-derived chemicals with anti-diabetic properties. In the present study, we examined the effects of the plant-derived polyphenol carnosic acid (CA) on palmitate-induced insulin-resistance in 3T3L1 adipocytes. Exposure of cells to palmitate reduced the insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and the insulin-induced Akt activation. CA attenuated the deleterious effect of palmitate and restored the insulin-stimulated Akt activation, and glucose uptake. These effects of CA were similar to metformin, an established drug in the treatment of insulin resistance and T2D. The effects of palmitate on protein kinase C (PKC) and the NF-kB signalling cascade, both of which are implicated in palmitate-induced insulin resistance, are currently under investigation. Our data indicate that CA has the potential to counteract the palmitate-induced fat cell insulin resistance. Completion of the studies will provide a better understanding of the signalling molecules/cascades modulated by CA. 

Autophagy and Sestrin-2/LKB1/AMPK signalling mediate the effects of carnosic acid against lung cancer cells   

Despite established treatments, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality globally underscoring an urgent need to develop new treatments. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), comprising 80% of cases, frequently exhibits mutations in the tumor suppressor liver kinase B1 (LKB1). LKB1 activates AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), inhibiting mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), thereby activating autophagy through unc-51 like autophagy activating kinase 1 (ULK1). LKB1-dependent activation of AMPK is enhanced by the stress-induced protein sestrin-2. Previous studies showed rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) extract (RE) activates AMPK, inhibits mTORC1, and induces apoptosis of NSCLC cells. Here, we explore the anticancer potential of carnosic acid (CA), a RE polyphenol. CA inhibited H460 and H1299 NSCLC cell survival and proliferation, decreasing colony formation, crystal violet staining, and 3H-thymidine incorporation. Additionally, CA induced apoptosis of H1299 cells as indicated by decreased levels of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), increased levels of cleaved caspase-3, -7, and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), increased levels of Bcl-2-associated X protein (BAX), and increased nuclear condensation. This coincided with upregulation of sestrin-2 and activation of LKB1 and AMPK. Downstream of AMPK signaling, CA increased levels of autophagy marker light chain 3 (LC3)—an established marker of autophagy, and the antiproliferative effect of CA was blocked by the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3MA). Overall, these data indicate that CA inhibits NSCLC cell viability, and that the underlying mechanism of CA involves induction of autophagy through Sestrin-2/LKB1/AMPK signalling.

Prevention of Muscle Cell Insulin Resistance by Carnosic Acid   

Skeletal muscle accounts for around 80% of insulin-mediated glucose uptake in the postprandial state playing a predominant role in maintaining glucose homeostasis. Impaired insulin action, termed insulin resistance, leads to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Elevated levels of free fatty acids FFAs/palmitate, in the blood lead to insulin resistance and T2DM. Although metformin, a plant derived chemical is used in the treatment of T2DM, its use is associated with serious side effects and therefore, novel efficacious plant derived chemicals will provide huge benefits.  

In the present studies we are examining the antidiabetic potential of Carnosic acid, a diterpene found naturally in rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L). In the proposed study we will utilize muscle cells that over express the GLUT4 glucose transporter and the AS160 protein that plays a role in the insulin-stimulated glucose uptake (L6-GLUT4myc-AS160)  and cells that  over express GLUT4 and  the insulin receptor (L6-GLUT4myc-IR) and we will examine the potential of carnosic acid to attenuate  the palmitate-induced insulin resistance. Exposure of the L6 cells to palmitate (0.2 mM for 24 h) will abolish the insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, specifically through reduction in the phosphorylation /activation of Akt (Protein Kinase B) and AS160 as well as reduction in plasma membrane levels of GLUT4myc, indicating insulin resistance. Treatment of L6 muscle cells with carnosic acid is expected to attenuate these effects of palmitate and will restore the response of the cells to insulin. These studies are novel and will further contribute to finding new treatment strategies for insulin resistance and T2DM.

Allergic inflammatory phenotype of mast cells is regulated by JNK signaling during differentiation. 

Mast cells are tissue resident sentinel leukocytes present in anatomical positions that interface with the external environment. Despite their role in a myriad of biological processes and pathological conditions, the molecular mechanisms that control their development and function remain incompletely defined. Therefore, we sought to examine the role of the JNK node of the MAP kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway in IL-3 mediated mast cell differentiation. Hematopoietic progenitor cells were obtained from the bone marrow of C57BL/6 mice and cultured into bone marrow derived mast cells (BMMCs) in the presence of the JNK inhibitor JNK-IN-8 for 5 weeks. BMMCs treated with JNK-IN-8—during differentiation and subsequently withdrawn 1 week prior to assay completion—displayed reductions in c-kit expression on the cell surface, which could be first detected at week 3 of differentiation. When allergically activated through IgE and c-kit receptors, JNK-IN-8 differentiated BMMCs exhibited attenuated degranulation as measured through β-hexosaminidase release. JNK-IN-8 differentiated BMMCs also exhibited alterations in late phase inflammatory mediator secretion, which was characterized by a significant reduction of CCL1, CCL2, CCL3, IL-6, and TNF release. Dual stimulation conditions (IgE+c-kit vs. IgE) revealed that down-regulated c-kit expression contributed to attenuated cytokine secretion in JNK-IN-8 differentiated mast cells. Importantly, normally differentiated and fully mature BMMCs treated with JNK-IN-8 for 1 month following maturation did not exhibit altered c-kit expression or impaired mediator secretion, demonstrating that differentiation is a critical time point where impairment of JNK signaling leads to long-lasting changes to the activation-phenotype of the mature cell.

Assessing the Impacts of Carbon Taxation on Employment, GDP Growth, and Emissions Reductions   

The Canadian federal government’s introduction of the carbon tax in 2019 has sparked significant debate within Canada. This paper aims to uncover the impacts of carbon taxation impacts on employment, GDP growth, and carbon emissions reductions. By examining the data from several countries that have enacted carbon tax legislation, we can determine the environmental sustainability of carbon taxes and unravel the resulting economic impacts on employment and GDP growth. 

Railroad Transportation of Dangerous Goods in Canada: Data-Driven Risk Analysis and Emergency Management   

This study examines the key risk factors associated with the railroad transportation of hazardous materials (hazmat) and develops a data-driven risk analysis methodology using rail accident records between 1999 and 2023. As a first step, we will identify the primary factors that affect the hazmat release in transportation by rail, including time, location, activity, track, train, load, and weather-related attributes. Utilizing data analysis and different machine learning techniques, we intend to facilitate the development of a robust risk analysis methodology that will provide insight into effective risk mitigation and disaster prevention strategies within the rail transportation industry. We also aim to develop an effective risk-based emergency management framework that is specifically designed for hazmat transportation in Canada. The framework is intended to address hazmat-related emergencies through proactive risk assessment, incident response protocols, recovery strategies, or emergency preparedness that takes into account key risk factors identified during the risk assessment process.

Handover Decision-making in 5G Vehicular Networks using GNNs   

The rapid evolution of 5G technology has significantly impacted vehicular networks, offering seamless connections characterized by high bandwidth, low latency, and improved data rates. This progress is essential for real-time operations in smart vehicles and cities, enhancing traffic safety and entertainment service quality.  

However, challenges persist within vehicular networks. The limited coverage range of 5G necessitates base station densification for reliable connectivity, while frequent handovers, known as the “”ping-pong effect,”” disrupt network stability. Additionally, the susceptibility of 5G signals to obstructions and the inherent high mobility within vehicular settings exacerbate these issues, demanding proactive handover management methods. We need to minimize unnecessary handovers to prevent disruptions while simultaneously maintaining optimal levels of throughput and latency.  

Traditional models struggle to meet the multifaceted requirements of 5G networks, resulting in inefficiencies and compromised user experiences. To bridge this gap, our proposed research introduces a comprehensive strategy that integrates Lasso Regression for mobility prediction and Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) for edge prediction. Operating within a graph structure of towers and vehicles as nodes, with connections representing edges, our approach optimizes performance factors such as handover frequency, signal quality, data throughput, and tower load. Specifically, by incorporating throughput as a critical parameter, our method dynamically selects serving towers and predicts vehicle mobility to minimize tower load and maximize user experience. This transition from a purely user-centric approach to a combined base station and user equipment-centric perspective allows for more effective and context-aware handover decisions.

Advancement and trends in scientific creativity research: A rapid review of studies in three selected databases   

Promoting the development of scientific creativity remains one of the essential requirement for technological advancement and societal development because new and valuable insights are reached through the display of this competence. It is therefore pertinent to provide a robust analysis of the literature to reveal trends in conceptualization, pedagogical efforts, psychometric measures and factors affecting scientific creativity so as to promote our understanding and initiate future actions. Hence, this study employed the rapid review to analyze 34 studies based on a set of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Three themes: application of scientific knowledge, originality/novelty and usefulness in or relevant to the science community emerged for the description of scientific creativity. The most widely embraced definition and instrument is that of Hu and Adey (2002). Findings also showed that STEM based activity was the most popular in literature while other pedagogical efforts include project-based learning, inquiry based learning, 6E model, hands-on model and scientific toy design based learning. Culture, age and gender were identified as factors affecting the development of this science competence. This study therefore recommends that researchers should invest efforts into the design of psychometric measures for students at the higher education level, conduct more qualitative research to explain how culture affects scientific creativity and consider the effect of ICT based pedagogical approach since it is increasing becoming part of students’ lives. 

 I feel like I lost myself”: Teachers’ experiences during Covid-19   

This research is drawn from a larger longitudinal mixed-methods study which examined the perspectives of elementary and secondary teachers navigating their school environment, mental health, and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. This larger study included online surveys and interviews across three timepoints, participants responded to questions related to personality, social life, burnout, well-being, and experiences and feelings with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing on open response and interview data collected during the first timepoint (July-November 2021), this research examines the following research questions: (1) How do teachers describe their experience teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic? (2) What benefits (if any) did teachers experience while teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic?; (3) What challenges (if any) did teachers experience while teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic?; (4) Did any benefits or challenges reported by teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic vary as a function of teacher characteristics (e.g., gender, years of experience, elementary and secondary teacher status)? The participants included 197 teachers who were between the ages of 25 and 69 years old (164 women, 33 men) with 91% being white.  

The open-response and interview data were coded and both deductive and emergent themes were established. The results suggest that teachers experienced various challenges and benefit associated with adjusting to the constraints imposed by pandemic conditions and that while many of these challenges were shares experiences there were also distinct variations that seemed dependent on specific contexts. 

The Importance of Transdisciplinarity in Education   

In contemporary academe there are hostilities and tensions between disciplines that have different ontological, epistemological, and methodological system. For example, disciplines that use quantitative methods believe their way of learning and knowing is superior to those who use qualitative methods and those who use qualitative methods blame quantitative methods for excluding diversity as “outliers.” In this presentation I argue that these tensions are based in political, emotional, and ideological beliefs rather than logic, reason, and science. The future pursuit of knowledge is at risk of becoming stagnant because it continues to be exclusive to certain ideas. Keeping knowledge systems separate perpetuates status quo and the marginalization of certain groups. The resistance towards the synthesis of knowledge keeps a handful of disciplinary ideals at the forefront of power and this power is used to dictate to humanity, what they think knowledge, teaching, and learning should be. This denies many other knowledge systems a voice in learning, knowing, and contributing to research. Transdisciplinarity can be use to tear down the boundaries between disciplines and dissolve the barriers between qualitative and quantitative tensions. This presentation will define Transdisciplinarity and we will do a thought experiment on how it can be applied as a method in education. I will then suggest how transdisciplinarity can be used to break down the barriers between reductionism and systems theory and finally between quantitative and qualitative methodologies.  

Community Connected Experiential Learning: Change in the K-12 Classroom   

The purpose of my study is to identify the best ways to integrate community connected experiential learning with traditional learning methods and curriculum to provide students with rich, authentic, and engaging learning opportunities and pathway development. I want to create a framework that will guide teachers and administrators to continuously provide Kindergarten- Grade 12 (K-12) students with community connected experiences that will lead them to discover their career/ life/ pathways potential.   

A qualitative study was conducted with 18 K-12 educators from a school board in Ontario and data consists of semi structured interviews with selected administrators, consultants/ coaches and classroom teachers. Grounded theory methodology is being used to currently analyze and code results and although preliminary, there are several theoretical cornerstones emerging as answers to each of the study’s research questions:  

1a) What are the dominant strategies currently being utilized by teachers in a board in Ontario to integrate community connected experiential learning in the K-12 classroom?  

1b) How do teachers select experiential learning approaches and opportunities?   

1c) What constrains experiential learning in teacher practice and schools?  

2) What leadership strategies should be used at a school, board, and Ministry level to best be able to implement community connected experiential learning in teacher practice?  

3) What do teachers and administrators perceive as needs to implementing experiential learning that they are not currently receiving?  

This session will present the premise of the study situated in grounded theory methodology and briefly explore the data coding process. 

Exploring Risk-Taking and its Impact on Health in Adolescent Immigrants in Canada:  A Unique Focus on “The Healthy Immigrant Effect”  

The healthy immigrant effect (HIE) is a phenomenon where an immigrant comes to Canada in good health, and over time their health worsens because of different social and environmental influences. Risky behaviours such as smoking, drinking, and drug use are important factors that could affect the health of young people. This study explores how such risky behaviours impact the health of adolescent immigrants in Canada, and potentially act as intermediary determinants of health. It will examine patterns of risk-taking across different generations of immigrants. We want to understand how taking risks affects the health of immigrant teens and see if there are differences across generations, comparing those born outside Canada, with adolescents whose families have been here awhile, including those who were born in Canada. Adolescence is a critical stage of life, and health differences often emerge during this period. Our goals are to establish how overt risk-taking affects the health of immigrant adolescents. We specifically want to understand the relationship between generation status and taking risks, and whether differences in risk account for HIE. We predict that there will be a pattern of increased risk-taking and poorer health from 1st to 3rd generation immigrant teens. We will base the analysis on a 2022 national survey involving some 25,000 young Canadians. The analysis will provide critical findings on the health and well-being of specific at-risk groups of teenagers in Canada, and it will provide new evidence to improve their health by guiding public health policy and prevention plans. 

Challenging and Addressing Historical, Political, and Social Contexts to Improve Accessibility for Black Learners with Intellectual Disabilities in Higher Education  

Access to education is a human right, and exclusionary practices against disabled people are prohibited, as stated in legislation such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Although there is legislation in place mandating inclusion, students with intellectual disabilities have had the lowest engagement rates in postsecondary education due to significant barriers to access. Additionally, little is known about the experience of Black students who identify as disabled within higher education. Thus, an intersectional analysis is required to examine the compounding impact that disability and race can have on access. Further, it is essential to identify various contexts that result in exclusionary practices against racialized disabled learners. This master’s research project is a critical literature review that utilizes Critical Disability Studies and Disability Critical Race theory to identify and challenge the historical (e.g. past events, collective attitudes, and conditions), political (e.g. impacts of policies and legislations), and social (e.g. perceptions of normal vs. abnormal) contexts that create exclusionary and discriminatory practices for Black learners with intellectual disabilities when accessing higher education. Additionally, anti-ableist (e.g. practices that counter inequalities based on disability) and anti-racist (e.g. practices to promote racial equality) frameworks will be identified to create recommendations to increase the belonging of Black learners with intellectual disabilities in higher education. 

Investigating the Concordance of Internationalization Policies and the Experiences of International Students via the Lens of Transformational Leadership   

Embarking on this research journey has been deeply influenced by my own experiences as a former international student. Navigating the complexities of a foreign academic landscape has provided me with unique insights and perspectives, shaping the lens through which I approach this study. My firsthand encounters with the challenges and triumphs of international student life have fueled a personal commitment to investigating and contributing to the broader discourse on the subject.   

The growing literature on internationalization in Canada (Beck, 2012; Knight, 1997; Stein, 2017; Stein & de Andreotti, 2016) remains oriented toward the experiences of international students which indicates that there might an inconsistency among the international student experiences and the policies and practices regarding internationalization (Chen, 2006; Garson, 2016; Guo & Guo, 2017; Kenyon et al., 2012; Zabin, 2022a). This study explores the alignment between these internationalization policies (federal and institutional) and the lived experience of the international graduate students in a mid-sized southern Ontario university. The study is based on the theoretical framework of transformational leadership involving qualitative research designs and focuses on two different types of analysis: a multiple case study along with a comprehensive policy analysis.   

The study’s implications are to inform the institutional stakeholders and policymakers with action-oriented policy recommendations and its appropriate implementation to alleviate international students’ experience and sustain this enrollment by providing a more inclusive environment suitable for the academic and professional transformation.

An Examination of the Evolution of The Vertical Mosaic through the Lens of Whiteness Theory: Ethnic Socioeconomic Disparities among White European Immigrants in Canada  

The publication of John Porter’s seminal 1965 book The Vertical Mosaic spurred generations of scholarship on the persistence of ethnic inequality in Canada. I examine the experiences of European immigrants in Canada via a critical review of Vertical Mosaic-inspired research and contextualize the analysis within whiteness theory. I consider how class and power dynamics shaped the opportunities of various ethnic groups throughout Canadian history. I explore the historical perception of white ethnic groups as the racialized ‘other’, chronicling their gradual acceptance as ‘white’ and how this process has been influenced by the increasing presence of BIPOC populations. As European ethnic groups solidified their white identity, they largely achieved educational and socioeconomic equality with Canadians of British and the French origin, the groups Porter used as reference points in his examination of socioeconomic inequality. Many BIPOC groups, on the other hand, find themselves at the bottom of Canada’s new Vertical Mosaic. Juxtaposed against BIPOC Canadians, European immigrants gradually acquired a ‘white’ identity that facilitates their ability to assimilate while simultaneously experiencing displacement. Through a critical analysis of the Vertical Mosaic debate, I discuss the historically shifting disparities among white European ethnic groups amid the evolution of whiteness and racialization in Canada. My analysis offers insight into the process of racialization, along with the implications for the inclusion of racialized populations.
Informed by theories of race, racialization, whiteness and class, I seek to contribute to the literature on social inequality in Canada by critically analyzing the diverse and complex European immigrant experience.