Memorial

“Inclusive” research has long been championed by scholars and activists in the fields of critical disability and critical gerontology. Despite this, there remain gaps in knowledge, with a notable paucity of research on the intersection of old age and neurodiversity. Debates persist regarding what counts as “inclusive” and how to assess the catalytic and transformative potential of “inclusive” research beyond the level of rhetoric, particularly in the context of interviewing people with experiences of intense social exclusion. Studies on aging with neurodiversity remain influenced by biomedical discourses insofar as the focus on “comorbidity” often overshadows the exploration of sociopolitical factors. The ways in which this research creates conditions of hyper/visibility (reduction of people to their “pathology” as patients or clients) and in/visibility (disregard for their voices, strengths, and agency) are cause for great concern. Our paper asks 3 related questions: (1) What counts as “inclusive” research on aging with neurodiversity? (2) Is it possible to move towards “transformation” in the operationalization of such research? (3) How do we do it? Using our research by way of illustrative example, we hope to create a dialogue with the reader about the possibilities and pitfalls of “inclusive” intersectional research praxis.

Complex fluids such as colloids and emulsions are ubiquitous in biopharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and the oil industry, but controlling their viscosity can pose a significant challenge. Low viscosities are ideal for mixing, high viscosities are helpful for pharmaceuticals, and switchable viscosities are useful for smart materials. One strategy to make multipurpose fluids is to make nonequilibrium modifications to the microstructure of colloids and emulsions using external fields, which can result in emergent changes in their rheological characteristics. We introduce an experimental technique, electrorheoimaging (ERI), which directly visualizes microstructure during rheological measurements while simultaneously applying an electric field. We also introduce a continuous phase that lowers electrohydrodynamic thresholds and enables experiments at modest field strengths, revealing behaviors previously inaccessible in laboratory settings. Using this combination of technique and material design, we observe shear-induced banding that only appears in the presence of electric depending on the frequency of the electric field, at either high or low shear rates. These microstructural transitions produce dramatic, reversible viscosity modulation—not only increases, but also decreases, including negative intrinsic viscosities. Frequency control enables instantaneous switching among multiple effective viscosities spanning a 30-fold range, establishing ERI as a powerful tool for probing and controlling rheology in field-responsive soft materials.

This article examines relationships between federal government funding and reported spending by charities on what the Canada Revenue Agency defined as “political activities” over the period 2003–2017. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many charities in Canada see dependence on government funding by other charities as a factor that limits policy engagement. Comparative research generally suggests that government funding is positively associated with policy engagement by charities, but also that it channels charities away from outsider or contentious forms of advocacy toward less confrontational, insider strategies. The CRA data on political activities analyzed here adds important insights because it tracks outsider advocacy involving public calls to action, which government funding is expected to constrain. This analysis finds that charities with federal funding were more likely to report political activities than those with no federal funding, but only to a point and with important differences based on the size of charities.

The proposed presentation will discuss the potential for sustainability indicators to support more participatory governance in rural and resource-based regions. Sustainability indicators (SIs) are a widely-used tool for communities and regions to identify locally-defined measures of well-being and monitor their progress over time. However, their use in rural communities is limited, with most SI frameworks originating from urban areas or international tools. One positive outcome of many SI initiatives, including those in rural and resource-based regions, is the initiation of dialogue among diverse stakeholders in communities where indicators are developed, often leading to improved relationships, trust, and social learning. In this way, SIs have much in common with the concept of collaborative governance, an approach to shared decision-making that is well suited for supporting regional-scale rural development based on collaboration between different communities, sectors, and levels of government. The primary focus of the presentation will be on discussing the results of a meta-analysis that examines SI initiatives in rural communities and regions of North America. This meta-analysis includes existing examples of local monitoring initiatives that have used indicators of sustainability in rural and resource-based regions. The presentation will discuss the analytical framework that was developed to examine these initiatives, which draws from literature on governance, social learning, and sustainability monitoring. Preliminary findings of the meta-analysis will also be shared, with an emphasis on initiatives that were effectively integrated into local governance processes.

Co-management is a governance system which is consisted with the sharing responsibilities, entitlements, decentralized institutional rules and agreements between the state and local community for maintaining certain resources. Community owned renewable energy (CRE) is such kinds of collaborative energy management where both state, regional and others nongovernmental organizations has been involved. However, very few numbers of study focus on the co-management aspects of CRE. This study explores the patterns of co-management including policy regulations, ownership structure, stakeholder’s participations and decision making process of CRE both in Canada and EU by the summative content analysis method. Study found that different EU countries have applied miscellaneous effective policy tools like Feed-in-Tariff, Feed-in-Premium, Community and Renewable energy scheme, Local energy activism. Consequently, manifolds energy cooperative and community based ownerships have been developed and local residence could be engaged in highest level of participation ladder. Where as most of the Canadian renewable energy policies are more technocratic and accelerating “energy developer” oriented commercial ownership. Therefore, public participation of these renewable energy project is like "Decide-announce-Defend”. Strong decentralized governance, awareness rising and policy reformation should be increased for prolific renewable energy co-management.

Abstract Icebergs impose a significant threat to shipping, offshore oil operations, and underwater pipelines. Detecting and monitoring icebergs in the North Atlantic Ocean is particularly challenging due to frequent cloud cover. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) has emerged as an effective solution for addressing these challenges. This study presents a novel method for detecting icebergs under varying sea conditions using C-band dual-polarimetric imagery from the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) using the data collected along Canada’s east coast during iceberg-prone seasons in 2022 and 2023. Our approach processes large SAR images by dividing them into 100 x 100-pixel patches, each covering an area of 5 km x 5 km, and identifies icebergs within each patch. The method combines statistical features, which highlight subtle patterns in RCM imagery, with high-dimensional features extracted from three pre-trained convolutional neural network (CNN) models. These features are further enhanced with climate parameters and classified using the LightGBM algorithm. To further reduce false alarms (FAs), a Constant False Alarm Rate (CFAR) postprocessing step was applied, enhancing the reliability of the detection process. The proposed approach demonstrates exceptional performance, achieving a 99.08% accuracy rate, a false alarm (FAs) rate of only 1%, and an AUC value nearing 1.

This study investigates the relationship between U.S. and Japanese interest rates, emphasizing their domestic and international effects and their influence on other key economic indicators. By analyzing 30 years of data, including interest rates, Consumer Price Index (CPI), Producer Price Index (PPI), and unemployment rates for both countries, the research uncovers a significant correlation between the economic shifts in the U.S. and Japan. The findings demonstrate the interconnectedness of these two major economies, where changes in one countrys interest rates often lead to measurable impacts in the others economic performance. This research underscores the critical role of coordinated policy decisions between major economies, such as the U.S. and Japan, in maintaining global financial stability. The results suggest that synchronized economic policies are essential for mitigating potential adverse effects on global markets, highlighting the need for international collaboration in monetary policy to sustain economic equilibrium in an increasingly interconnected world.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is characterized by focal inflammatory activity in the central nervous system and a diffuse, compartmentalized inflammation that is the primary driver of neuroaxonal damage and worsening disability. It is now recognized that higher-efficacy disease-modifying therapies (HE-DMT) are often required to treat the complex neuropathological changes that occur during the disease course and improve long-term outcomes. The optimal use of HE-DMTs in practice was addressed by a Canadian panel of 12 MS experts who used the Delphi method to develop 27 consensus recommendations. The HE-DMTs that were considered were the monoclonal antibodies (natalizumab, ocrelizumab, ofatumumab) and the immune reconstitution agents (alemtuzumab, cladribine). The issues addressed included defining aggressive/severe disease, patient selection of the most appropriate candidates for HE-DMTs, baseline investigations and efficacy monitoring, defining suboptimal treatment response, use of serum neurofilament-light chain in evaluating treatment response, safety monitoring, aging and immunosenescence and when to consider de-escalating or discontinuing treatment. The goals of the consensus recommendations were to provide guidelines to clinicians on their use of HE-DMTs in practice and to improve long-term outcomes in persons with MS.