Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Getting The Temperature Just Right Helps People With Dementia Stay Cool, Paul Cooper, Federico Tartarini, Richard Fleming

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Everyone knows how bad it feels when the temperature is uncomfortably hot or cold. For most of us it doesn't last long as we can take simple steps to get comfortable, such as putting on clothes, opening a window, or switching on a heater. But what happens when you can't control the temperature where you live? This problem is faced by many residents of aged care facilities, and can be particularly difficult for those living with dementia. To find out how these residents cope we recently carried out a three-year research project on the effects of indoor environment in aged …

River Basin Management In The Twenty-First Century:Understanding People And Place, Victor Roy Squires Dr

Victor Roy Squires Dr

The book is written by leading authorities on the current and latent issues relating to river basin management (RBM) and brings to the reader an up to date analysis and provides a window into this important subject. A key aspect of the work is that of achieving balance. Technical approaches can address some issues such as hydropower generation, flood mitigation, provision of water for irrigated agriculture to feed burgeoning populations, recreation and navigation, etc. but balancing these is the negotiated outcome of social processes. Ultimately it is these social processes that are the hard part, and often the stumbling block, …

Fall Risk Assessment In Older People Using Inertial Sensors, Maryam Ghahramani, Fazel Naghdy, David Stirling, Golshah Naghdy, Jan Potter

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Abstract of paper that was presented at The 12th National Conference of Emerging Researchers in Ageing.

Location And Tracking Of Mobile Devices: Überveillance Stalks The Streets, Katina Michael, Roger Clarke

Professor Katina Michael

During the last decade, location-tracking and monitoring applications have proliferated, in mobile cellular and wireless data networks, and through self-reporting by applications running in smartphones that are equipped with onboard global positioning system (GPS) chipsets. It is now possible to locate a smartphone-user's location not merely to a cell, but to a small area within it. Innovators have been quick to capitalise on these location-based technologies for commercial purposes, and have gained access to a great deal of sensitive personal data in the process. In addition, law enforcement utilise these technologies, can do so inexpensively and hence can track many …

The Future Prospects Of Embedded Microchips In Humans As Unique Identifiers: The Risks Versus The Rewards, Katina Michael, M.G. Michael

Professor Katina Michael

Microchip implants for humans are not new. Placing heart pacemakers in humans for prosthesis is now considered a straightforward procedure. In more recent times we have begun to use brain pacemakers for therapeutic purposes to combat illnesses such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s Disease, and severe depression. Microchips are even being placed inside prosthetic knees and hips during restorative procedures to help in the gathering of post-operative analytics that can aid rehabilitation further. While medical innovations that utilise microchips abound, over the last decade we have begun to see the potential use of microchip implants for non-medical devices in humans, namely for …

Slides: Natural Gas: Game Changer Or Runner Left On Base? Working To Get It Right In Co!, Gary Graham

Drawing the Blueprint for a Sustainable Natural Gas Future (January 18)

Presenter: Dr. Gary Graham, Director, Lands Program, Western Resource Advocates

21 slides

People Plus: Is Transhuman The Next Stage In Our Evolution?, Katina Michael

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Inviting artificial intelligence into our bodies has appeal - but it also carries certain risks. I have often wondered what it would be like to rid myself of a keyboard for data entry, and a computer screen for display. Some of my greatest moments of reflection are when I am in the car driving long distances, cooking in my kitchen, watching the kids play at the park, waiting for a doctor's appointment or on a plane thousands of metres above sea level. I have always been great at multitasking but at these times it is often not practical or convenient …

Pedestrian Lane Detection For Assistive Navigation Of Blind People, M Le, Son Lam Phung, Abdesselam Bouzerdoum

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Navigating safely in outdoor environments is a challenging activity for vision-impaired people. This paper is a step towards developing an assistive navigation system for the blind. We propose a robust method for detecting the pedestrian marked lanes at traffic junctions. The proposed method includes two stages: regions of interest (ROI) extraction and lane marker verification. The ROI extraction is performed by using colour and intensity information. A probabilistic framework employing multiple geometric cues is then used to verify the extracted ROI. The experimental results have shown that the proposed method is robust under challenging illumination conditions and obtains superior performance …

Slides: Rifle, Silt, New Castle Community Development Plan: A Collaborative Planning Approach To Natural Gas Development, Peggy Utesch

Best Practices for Community and Environmental Protection (October 14)

Presenter: Peggy Utesch, Movin' Forward Consulting

25 slides