Search results for "Human factors"
showing 10 items of 795 documents
Surviving task interruptions: Investigating the implications of long-term working memory theory
2006
Typically, we have several tasks at hand, some of which are in interrupted state while others are being carried out. Most of the time, such interruptions are not disruptive to task performance. Based on the theory of Long-Term Working Memory (LTWM; Ericsson, K.A., Kintsch, W., 1995. Long-term working memory. Psychological Review, 102, 211-245), we posit that unless there are enough mental skills and resources to encode task representations to retrieval structures in long-term memory, the resulting memory traces will not enable reinstating the information, which can lead to memory losses. However, once encoded to LTWM, they are virtually safeguarded. Implications of the theory were tested in…
How communities' perceptions of disasters influence disaster response: managing landslides on Mount Elgon, Uganda
2014
The aim of this paper is to assess the role of people's perception in disaster management. It is based on a study carried out along the slopes of Mount Elgon in Eastern Uganda. People living in the study area have experienced a number of landslides, but the landslide in 2010 had the most far-reaching effects on community livelihoods and resulted in a major setback to development efforts in the area. Experiences of landslides have enabled the local people to develop a number of interpretations of the causes and effects of the phenomena. The study revealed that community members did not share uniform perceptions. Whereas some members advanced technical or physical explanations for the 2010 di…
Exploring the role of the sharing economy in disasters management
2020
Abstract Improvements in information and communications technologies (ICTs) have facilitated the inclusion of the sharing economy (SE) in societies more than ever. In the aftermath of recent disasters, the SE played significant roles to help the affected people and support official responders. However, the literature has not effectively explored these roles, and thus, no framework can support the systematic inclusion of the SE in disasters management. This paper aims to address the gap through a two-stage exploratory research approach. First, we conduct a systematic literature review to identify the extent to which the SE is taken into consideration in disasters. After that, we investigate …
Experimental analysis of occupational whole-body vibration exposure of agricultural tractor with large square baler
2015
Abstract This study investigates longitudinal whole-body vibration in agricultural tractors powering a large square baler. The aim is to test the hypothesis that four-wheel drive has an influence on the longitudinal dynamic response. A number of experimental measurements are carried out on a specific vehicle combination driving uphill and downhill. The whole-body vibration exposure is measured at the operator seat under different conditions. The statistic results show a significant difference on the whole-body vibration exposure depending on operating conditions. Driving uphill and downhill with four-wheel drive activated showed the highest difference with increased vibration level at downh…
Is naturalistic driving research possible with highly instrumented cars? Lessons learnt in three research centres.
2011
This paper provides an overview of the experiences using Highly Instrumented Cars (HICs) in three research Centres across Europe; Spain, the UK and Greece. The data collection capability of each car is described and an overview presented relating to the relationship between the level of instrumentation and the research possible. A discussion then follows which considers the advantages and disadvantages of using HICs for ND research. This includes the obtrusive nature of the data collection equipment, the cost of equipping the vehicles with sophisticated Data Acquisition Systems (DAS) and the challenges for data storage and analysis particularly with respect to video data. It is concluded th…
Welcome to MTI—A New Open Access Journal Dealing with Blue Sky Research and Future Trends in Multimodal Technologies and Interaction
2016
In this era of massive use of computers and other computational devices (e.g., low-cost wearable sensors, smartphones, other smart devices, etc.), the nature of digital data is becoming more complex and heterogeneous.
Ergonomic Risks in the Printing Company and Workers’ Wellbeing
2014
The aim of the study was to analyze the ergonomic risks in the printing company and to study the impact of ergonomics risks on employees’ wellbeing. The study involved 67 company workers aged 18 to 67 years. In the study, physical load evaluation methods and questionnaire on welfare and psychoemotional risks at work, adopted by Swedish Environmental Research Institute, were used. It was proved that production workers were subjected to increased physical workload. At work they are exposed to physical pressure on hands, shoulders and back. The workload is more affected by the increase in work tension due to limited time of order execution. It was concluded that ergonomic risks partly affect e…
Identifying causes, dynamics and consequences of work accidents in forest operations in an alpine context
2016
Abstract In a sustainable perspective, where wood harvesting and use perfectly respond to environmental needs, social sustainability and related health and safety of forest workers cannot be disregarded. The aim of this study was the analysis of the accidents records in public companies in the Province of Trento, in Northern Italy, regarding forest operations in the period 1995–2013. Several information were available thanks to the up-to-date accident books compiled by each company. With an average Frequency index in the examined period of 88 injuries per million hours worked, forest operations were confirmed as one of the most dangerous works along all productive sectors. Monday had a sign…
GA-based Off-Line Parameter Estimation of the Induction Motor Model Including Magnetic Saturation and Iron Losses
2020
This paper, starting from recent papers in the scientific literature dealing with Rotating Induction Motor (RIM) dynamic modelling, as a first step, improves its space-vector dynamic model, including both the magnetic saturation and iron losses; The main original aspects of the proposed model are the following: 1) the magnetic saturation of the iron core has been described on the basis of both current versus flux and flux versus current functions, 3) it includes the iron losses, separating them in hysteresis and eddy current ones, 4) it includes the effect of the load on the magnetic saturation. Afterwards, it proposes an off-line technique for the estimation of electrical parameters of thi…