Speculative Machines Exploring Contemporary Data Futures

This pictorial describes two projects that present alternative perspectives on the use – and misuse - of data in contemporary society. The first project, Do Not Fold, Spindle, Or Mutilate, takes a critical stance on the data that is collected while browsing the web through third-party tracking cookies. The second project, Terminal, speculates on a possible future in which data storage drives with vast capacities are readily available, reducing the reliance on cloud storage. By presenting these two viewpoints that challenge our preconceptions of data as a material in design process, it is hoped that designers can be inspired to create additional speculative interpretations on near-future data objects

Fringe Benefits

The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) is in a state of constant and massive growth in terms of population, development and economic investment. This growth has generated pressures both within and at the peripheries of the cities contained within the Golden Horseshoe as they develop outwards to their legal boundaries. This pressure has taken many forms, including an explosive and unaffordable housing market, transportation infrastructure that is already at or beyond capacity, and corporate development pressures to bulldoze and build over the Greenbelt, the provincially-protected ring of vital ecological systems and agricultural enterprises that surround the GTHA. While the province has established certain legal frameworks to mitigate the pressures of growth and manage its future manifestations, so long as the interests of powerful developers and corporations are at odds with the strategies contained therein, there remains a risk that these frameworks – and the public interests that they protect – will be undermined or repealed. This thesis is positioned at the boundary between rampant suburban development and the protected biological, agricultural and economic resources of the Greenbelt and lays out a case study for hybrid large format commercial retail development that addresses the needs of commercial land developers, a growing suburban population, a changing boundary landscape, and the ecological and agricultural interests of the Greenbelt

Speculative Machines Exploring Contemporary Data Futures

This pictorial describes two projects that present alternative perspectives on the use – and misuse - of data in contemporary society. The first project, Do Not Fold, Spindle, Or Mutilate, takes a critical stance on the data that is collected while browsing the web through third-party tracking cookies. The second project, Terminal, speculates on a possible future in which data storage drives with vast capacities are readily available, reducing the reliance on cloud storage. By presenting these two viewpoints that challenge our preconceptions of data as a material in design process, it is hoped that designers can be inspired to create additional speculative interpretations on near-future data objects

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE: EMANCIPATORY POSSIBILITIES IN CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

In this article, I argue that emancipatory possibilities for Mäori, the Indigenous people of New Zealand, rely on structural changes that enable them to have control over resources, decision making, and meaning, and that emancipation is a journey traveled by oppressed groups as they exercise their collective agency. The 1990s development of Pängarau, the national mathematics curriculum policy in the medium of Mäori, provides the context for this discussion. Recent developments indicate that state structures have shifted towards giving Mäori more control in curriculum writing. Key words: collective agency, state structures, Indigenous curriculum development, New Zealand education, Mäori education, mathematics education Dans cet article, l’auteure soutient que les possibilités d’émancipation des Maori, le peuple autochtone de la Nouvelle‐Zélande, reposent sur des changements structu‐ raux qui leur permettent d’avoir la haute main sur des ressources, la prise de déci‐ sions et l’orientation générale et que l’émancipation est un chemin parcouru par des groupes opprimés qui exercent une action collective. L’élaboration dans les années 1990 de Pängarau, la politique nationale relative à l’enseignement des mathématiques en maori, fournit le contexte de l’analyse présentée ici. Des faits récents indiquent que les structures de l’État évoluent vers la remise d’un contrôle accru aux Maori pour ce qui est de l’élaboration des programmes d’études. Mots clés : action collective, structures étatiques, élaboration de programmes d’études par des autochtones, éducation en Nouvelle‐Zélande, éducation dispensée aux Maori, enseignement des mathématiques

Opening Generative and Innovative Public Spaces for Disability Arts, Culture and Scholarship

In the wee and the waking hours, over some weeks, kilometers and metaphorical mountains, the unruly trio of Geoff Mc Murchy, Catherine Frazee, and Leslie Roman exchanged ideas across our locations – separated geographically but shared politically. We created a hybrid common space—one of commitment, imagination and perseverance that thrives best in the collective consciousness of social justice and movement-making..

Managerial roles of Ontario college presidents

This study examined the managerial roles of presidents at the tertiary level within the province of Ontario, Canada in an effort to understand the importance of their position at the apex of their educational institutions, as well as, reveal and substantiate the challenges faced by them within the context of the twenty-first century. In particular, the study aimed to identify the extent to which the new public management ideologies, that impacted over the past decade the area of higher education, influenced their managerial roles. Determining how college Presidents understand their role, particularly how they act in that role, is extremely important since there is evidence that they contribute significantly to the achievement of strategic goals of the colleges. Moreover, there are reasons to believe that the findings of this study will help the Board of Governors in making hiring decisions in the future, as well as, determine if particular training is required for the candidates chosen for such position. Central to this study was the Role Theory. The research model used was based on Mintzberg’s taxonomy of managerial roles. The study used a mixed research methodology for providing answers to the proposed research questions. According to the findings of this study, it can be concluded that the job of postsecondary college presidents has changed in the past two decades or so, to become more managerial in nature

TH17 Cells in Autoimmunity and Immunodeficiency: Protective or Pathogenic?

In 2005 a newly discovered T helper cell subset that secreted interleukin (IL)-17 became the center of attention in immunology. Initial studies painted Th17 cells as the culprit for destruction in many different autoimmune and auto-inflammatory diseases. Subsequently, the discovery of patients with primary immunodeficiencies in the IL-17 pathway taught us that Th17 cells have a critical role in defense against certain fungal and bacterial infections. Moreover, the paradoxical exacerbation of Crohn’s disease in the clinical trials of a Secukinumab (AIN457), a fully human neutralizing antibody to IL-17A, has cast into doubt a universal pro-inflammatory and harmful role for Th17 cells. Evidence now suggests that depending on the environment Th17 cells can alter their differentiation program, ultimately giving rise to either protective or pro-inflammatory cells. In this review we will summarize the evidence from patients with immunodeficiencies, autoimmune, or auto-inflammatory diseases that teaches us how the pro-inflammatory versus protective function of Th17 cells varies within the context of different human diseases

Smartphone Apps for Food Purchase Choices: Scoping Review of Designs, Opportunities, and Challenges

Background: Smartphone apps can aid consumers in making healthier and more sustainable food purchases. However, there is still a limited understanding of the different app design approaches and their impact on food purchase choices. An overview of existing food purchase choice apps and an understanding of common challenges can help speed up effective future developments.Objective: We examined the academic literature on food purchase choice apps and provided an overview of the design characteristics, opportunities, and challenges for effective implementation. Thus, we contribute to an understanding of how technologies can effectively improve food purchase choice behavior and provide recommendations for future design efforts.Methods: Following the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines, we considered peer-reviewed literature on food purchase choice apps within IEEE Xplore, PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect. We inductively coded and summarized design characteristics. Opportunities and challenges were addressed from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. From the quantitative perspective, we coded and summarized outcomes of comparative evaluation trials. From the qualitative perspective, we performed a qualitative content analysis of commonly discussed opportunities and challenges.Results: We retrieved 55 articles, identified 46 unique apps, and grouped them into 5 distinct app types. Each app type supports a specific purchase choice stage and shares a common functional design. Most apps support the product selection stage (selection apps; 27/46, 59%), commonly by scanning the barcode and displaying a nutritional rating. In total, 73% (8/11) of the evaluation trials reported significant findings and indicated the potential of food purchase choice apps to support behavior change. However, relatively few evaluations covered the selection app type, and these studies showed mixed results. We found a common opportunity in apps contributing to learning (knowledge gain), whereas infrequent engagement presents a common challenge. The latter was associated with perceived burden of use, trust, and performance as well as with learning. In addition, there were technical challenges in establishing comprehensive product information databases or achieving performance accuracy with advanced identification methods such as image recognition.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that designs of food purchase choice apps do not encourage repeated use or long-term adoption, compromising the effectiveness of behavior change through nudging. However, we found that smartphone apps can enhance learning, which plays an important role in behavior change. Compared with nudging as a mechanism for behavior change, this mechanism is less dependent on continued use. We argue that designs that optimize for learning within each interaction have a better chance of achieving behavior change. This review concludes with design recommendations, suggesting that food purchase choice app designers anticipate the possibility of early abandonment as part of their design process and design apps that optimize the learning experience