Multimedia Forensics: Preserving Video Integrity with Blockchain

Accepted version of manuscriptThis paper addresses some of the challenges of video forgery detection in multimedia forensics. It presents a solution that enhances video verification by utilizing the non-alterable features of blockchain technology and video hashing algorithms. The proposed approach is applicable in different application areas and can be used to increase video credibility, identify manipulations, and improve the storage process of tracking changes to video data. The paper describes our experiments and results of the proposed solution for video integrity preservation and verification, providing an alternative way to the quality assurance and security of video content in different industries.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1052729

A Human Rights-Based Perspective on Dried Fish Value Chains in Gujarat, India

Globally, small-scale fisheries provide livelihood and food security to some of the most marginalised and vulnerable populations. Recognising the importance of small-scale fisheries, there is an increasing policy focus on the opportunities and challenges in the sector. The dried fish economy in India is one such sub-sector of small-scale fisheries where women form a significant part of the workforce. Literature on dried fish is limited, and because the economy is informal, human rights challenges often remain invisible. This research focused on the dried fish value chain in Valsad District of India's Gujarat state. The purpose of the research was to map the dried fish value chain in Valsad District and assess human rights issues in this localised economy. Drawing on ethnographic data collected through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and a review of secondary sources, this research described the dried fish value chain in Valsad District. It assessed the procedural and substantive human rights of actors involved in dried fish processing and trade. Key findings from the research include the presence of a vibrant local dried fish value chain connecting coastal areas to the hinterland. Additionally, the research uncovered human rights challenges faced by actors in their daily struggles. The thesis concludes with recommendations for policymakers to integrate a human-rights-based approach in developing this crucial economy.Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of CanadaMaster of Arts in Environmental and Social Chang

Determining post pandemic organizational health in the education sector: A review of a school-based programming intervention

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a post-pandemic, school-based workshop programming intervention developed by a national mental health organization, to support education sector employees as they navigate post-pandemic challenges. Using a qualitative approach, data were gathered through post-workshop interviews conducted during the 2022-23 school year, and analysed according to five key indicators of organizational health: connectedness, organizational commitment, well-being, recovery and resilience. Findings indicate that while some participants continued to report role strain in each of these areas, highlighting the need for improved worklife balance, the workshop intervention positively influenced employee well-being through enhanced awareness of mental health resources and increased capacity for supportive dialogue with colleagues. This was notable specifically, when participants were aware of their emotional resilience and able to manage it effectively. The study highlights the vital role of sensemaking in helping education sector employees interpret complex or challenging situations. The research demonstrates that understanding these nuances can better inform future programming aimed at reducing further stress, minimizing additional burnout and preventing potential staff turnover. Accordingly, practical insights are suggested to guide the development of initiatives that enhance employee well-being, strengthen individual resilience and reinforce organizational commitment within the sector, factors that ultimately contribute to more sustainable and supportive work environments in education.This research is supported by the Canadian Mental Health Association.https://onlinesciencepublishing.com/index.php/ajel/article/view/1221/162

An All-In-One, Low-Cost Photogrammetry Rig for 3D Plant Modelling and Phenotyping

Photogrammetry, the science of generating 3D models of objects from photographs, offers a comprehensive method for acquiring, studying, and analyzing detailed information about the structure of objects. Utilizing the cost-effective Structure from Motion (SfM) technique, it is possible to generate 3D models from numerous 2D images taken from various angles. Point clouds represent a standard format for 3D data generated by depth sensors such as LIDARs and RGB-D cameras. Despite their utility, high-quality 3D scanners, costing upwards of $70,000, remain relatively expensive for many researchers and practitioners within the agricultural sector. In response, we have developed a low-cost, close-range photogrammetry rig, priced at$2,600, to support agronomists, plant scientists, and breeders. This work outlines the development of our device, which integrates a multi-camera system featuring the Arducam 64MP Autofocus Quad-Camera Kit, a rotary table from Ortery, and a Raspberry Pi for comprehensive control and processing. Our scanner efficiently captures detailed plant 3D data, offering a valuable tool for non-destructive, automatic, and robust 3D phenotyping. It is possible to use our device across various applications, including growth monitoring and the extraction of plant traits. Specifically, we have leveraged the device to measure the canopy volume of different wheat genotypes by computing the convex hull from the 3D data. Furthermore, through our photogrammetry rig, we have developed a high-throughput, quantitative trait index for wheat to identify distinct planophile and erectophile canopy architectures.MitacsMaster of Science in Applied Computer Scienc

Downtown Winnipeg Development Map: Significant Developments & Investments, 2005-2023

This Update to our Downtown Development Mapping revisits our previous work, bringing the analysis to the end of 2023. We have re-catalogued and mapped developments with improved information, taking note of new development planned while removing a few tentative or stalled projects

Milk-derived extracellular vesicles attenuate the Nuclear Factor kappa light-chain-1 enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) pathway

Pro-inflammation may influence developmental trajectories and long-term health outcomes in offspring and is closely associated with early-life stress exposures. Milk-derived extracellular vesicles (MEVs), are a group of non-nutritive bioactive components of mammalian milk that provide anti-inflammatory benefits to offspring during lactation to potentially offset altered developmental outcomes of gestational stress. Nuclear Factor Kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) is a central signal transduction cascade that regulates DNA transcription, inflammation, cytokine/chemokine production, and apoptosis. Specifically, NF-κB activation leads to the formation of the NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome. My thesis focuses on characterizing how MEVs interacts with NF-κB pathway and mitigate NLRP3 inflammasome formation and thereby help reduce pro-inflammation at the cellular and systems level. The thesis is comprised of two main objectives. Objective 1: A single dose of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) was used to induce acute polarization and pro-inflammation in human microglia clone 3 (HMC3) cells. MEVs anti-inflammatory effects were tested at 6, 12, and 24-hours post-MEV supplementation at the transcript and protein level. Objective 2: Perinatal diet stress was used to induce chronic, systemic pro-inflammation in neonatal rats. Female breeders were placed on a high-fat diet to induce an obesogenic phenotype and the neonates were treated with MEVs via oral gavage during key periods of early postnatal development. Hypothalamus and liver were assessed at the transcript and protein level. We found that MEVs attenuate NF-κB pathway activation and NLRP3 inflammasome formation at critical checkpoints in vitro and in vivo, with a more robust inhibition in response to acute stress in HMC3 cells.Master of Science in Bioscience, Technology, and Public Polic

The Limits of Recognition and Intellectual Freedom in Canadian Libraries

PhD Dissertation - University of Birmingham - School of Political Science and International StudiesCurrent debates within librarianship around intellectual freedom echo debates in broader society around free speech, cancel culture, and "culture war". This thesis argues that, far from being a transcendental value or purely intellectual concept, intellectual freedom is deeply implicated in political struggles over class, race, gender, and sexuality. Taking two recent controversies over the exclusion of trans and Indigenous people from Canadian libraries, this thesis links library policy and practice with longstanding tendencies within Canadian politics itself, in particular the hegemonic use of a form of communitarianism known as the politics of recognition. Once a pragmatic strategy to manage Canadian cultural and political demands of marginalized groups, in the 1990s the politics of recognition became a sophisticated political theory, one which informs Canadian politics (including the politics of libraries) to the present day. Applying a conjunctural analysis of the media, moral panics, and hegemony drawn from the work of Stuart Hall, this thesis offers a critique of Canadian politics and libraries as political institutions that focuses on three main areas: liberal individualism, bourgeois hegemony, and the politics of recognition which liberalism developed to neutralize the threat of radical difference. These interlocking strands paint a picture of Canadian libraries not as politically neutral organizations fostering individual freedom and unconstrained intellectual development, but as playing a specific role in the construction and maintenance of liberal hegemony which demonizes particular Others - like trans and Indigenous peoples - as part of a broader political strategy: the maintenance and survival of the liberal Canadian state itself. The concept of intellectual freedom in librarianship, in particular, can then more clearly be seen as a pragmatic tool in the service of the Canadian state's hegemonic strategy, rather than as a pure, timeless, apolitical concept

Strøby Egede, Vedbæk-Bøgebakken and Relationships among Scandinavian Mesolithic Skeletal Material

This paper derives from new work onMesolithic human skeletal material from Strøby Egede, a near coastal site in eastern Sjælland, with two foci. The first confirms sex identifications from original work carried out in 1986. The second, and central focus, re-examines comments by one of us (CM) based on work in 1992, and a new statistical analysis including data from the two Strøby Egede adults. In 1998 it was suggested that the Strøby Egede sample more closely resembled Skateholm, on the coast of Skåne in southern Sweden, than Vedbæk-Bøgebakken on Sjælland, fitting lithic patterns noted earlier by Vang Petersen. We revisit the 1998 suggestion below, comparing data from Strøby Egede to those available from southern Scandinavia and Germany, and suggest that the 1998 comment was, in all probability, incorrect. The analysis below suggests overall morphological similarity between individuals in eastern Sjælland and Skåne, while noting the existence of apparent outliers.https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-prehistoric-society/article/stroby-egede-vedbaekbogebakken-and-relationships-among-scandinavian-mesolithic-skeletal-material/C9DE161B90C64672BD84E24900686AC

The pro-survival effects of milk-derived extracellular vesicles in response to perinatal stress: Regulation of the heat shock response

Milk-derived extracellular vesicles (MEVs) are lipid-coated nanovesicles found in mammalian milk that survive intestinal degradation and cross complex biological barriers, including the bloodbrain barrier. MEVs have known cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory activity in peripheral organs, however, their biological functions remain unknown in the central nervous system. In this thesis, I investigated whether MEVs promote pro-survival responses by activating the heat shock response (HSR) in vitro (chapter 2) and in vivo (chapter 3). The HSR is a principal pro-survival mechanism responsible for refolding or degrading misfolded protein aggregates through the action of molecular heat shock protein (HSP) chaperones. Specifically, I investigated the interaction between MEVs and the HSR in immortalized human microglia clone 3 (HMC3) cells exposed to an acute stress (interferon-gamma), as well as in neonatal rats exposed to chronic stress (perinatal high-fat diet (mHFD) exposure). I found that MEVs promote the activation and maintenance of the HSR, specifically by upregulating the HSF1 transcription factor and by downregulating the negative regulators, Hsp70 and Hsp90. Interestingly, corresponding results were found across immortalized microglia and the prefrontal cortex of neonates. Collectively, I demonstrate that MEVs promote pro-survival in the context of alleviating neuroinflammation by activating HSF1-mediated pro-survival, and potentially prolonging HSR activity. The results presented here provide novel insights on cellular interactions between MEVs and the HSR.Master of Science in Bioscience, Technology, and Public Polic

We're the problem; mapping our way out of printing purgatory

This is the tale of a behavioural mapping exercise that revealed some uncomfortable truths about our library’s role in the student experience, and the journey that got us there; how we followed the data to discover the many ways our service design exacerbated student printing troubles, and how divergent UX helped us chart a course out of this mess.https://uxlib.org/uxlibs-the-books