Search results for "Percept"

Four steps to identify mechanisms of ICT4D: A critical realism-based methodology

2018

Barriers and facilitators of older people's mHealth usage: a qualitative review of older people's views

2018

The aim of this qualitative evidence synthesis is to identify and assess existing\ud evidence on barriers to and facilitators of older people’s usage of mHealth. Existing\ud literature identified many factors that affect people’s experiences and perceptions of\ud mHealth, which are in turn influenced by their personal circumstances and biography.\ud The following themes were identified using the thematic synthesis approach: (a)\ud perception of usefulness, (b) user requirements, (c) self-efficacy, (d) sense of self and\ud control, (e) privacy and confidentiality, and (f) cost. MHealth devices and services are\ud complex interventions that have to be integrated into an older person’s life in…

Evaluation of Perception Latencies in a Human-Robot Collaborative Environment

2020

The latency in vision-based sensor systems used in human-robot collaborative environments is an important safety parameter which in most cases has been neglected by researchers. The main reason for this neglect is the lack of an accurate ground-truth sensor system with a minimal delay to benchmark the vision-sensors against. In this paper the latencies of 3D vision-based sensors are experimentally evaluated and analyzed using an accurate laser-tracker system which communicates on a dedicated EtherCAT channel with minimal delay. The experimental results in the paper demonstrate that the latency in the vision-based sensor system is many orders higher than the latency in the control and actuat…

Adjusted bat algorithm for tuning of support vector machine parameters

2016

Support vector machines are powerful and often used technique of supervised learning applied to classification. Quality of the constructed classifier can be improved by appropriate selection of the learning parameters. These parameters are often tuned using grid search with relatively large step. This optimization process can be done computationally more efficiently and more precisely using stochastic search metaheuristics. In this paper we propose adjusted bat algorithm for support vector machines parameter optimization and show that compared to the grid search it leads to a better classifier. We tested our approach on standard set of benchmark data sets from UCI machine learning repositor…

2019

Final disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from nuclear power plants (NPPs) is an ethical issue with implications within and across generations. We address this issue from the perspective of nuclear communities that host nuclear waste disposal sites. These are primarily the communities that face injustice due to the potential radiological risks. A resident survey (n = 454) was conducted in two Finnish nuclear communities, i.e. Eurajoki and Pyhajoki, that are being considered as alternative sites for a second repository for SNF. The nuclear waste management (NWM) company Posiva is already building a repository in Eurajoki, the first in Finland. These communities are in different stages of th…

The role of social perception in disaster risk reduction: Beliefs, perception, and attitudes regarding flood disasters in communities along the Volta…

2017

Abstract People's perceptions of natural, spiritual, and social phenomena are socially constructed. Social perception is important because it helps people to make sense of the physical and social world and therein interact with it. Earlier research specializing in the study of human behaviour has emphasized a linkage between people's perceptions and their behaviour. In this article, the authors employ a similar theory with the intent of proposing a theoretical framework that examines the factors that influence people's perception and attitude (mitigation and response) towards the hazards they face. This discussion is done on the premise of “culture”, “experiences” and “disaster risk reducti…

Helices of disaster memory: How forgetting and remembering influence tropical cyclone response in Mauritius

2020

Abstract Tropical cyclones have had a considerable impact on Mauritius. Large cyclones are relatively rare, and in popular imagination are thought to hit Mauritius every 15 years. Yet it has been over 25 years since the last cyclone widely considered as ‘significant’. Critically, there is little known about the role of memory in responses to cyclones and details regarding responses to past cyclones in Mauritian history are scant. This article examines past experiences and impacts of cyclones in Mauritius, as well as contemporary perceptions of cyclone vulnerability and memories of historical cyclones. The analysis draws on both community interviews and archival research conducted in Mauriti…

Political interest furthers partisanship in England, Scotland, and Wales

2016

ABSTRACTAccording to much of the literature, partisanship in Britain exercises little independent influence on the vote but merely reflects voters’ prospective and retrospective evaluations of the parties’ performance with regard to their management of the economy, national security, and public services. In this view, partisanship comes close to Fiorina’s model of a “running tally” of political experiences. Similarly, Dalton’s notion of “cognitive mobilization” suggests that seeking out political information should undermine both the need for and the likelihood of party identification. Applying Mixed Markov Latent Class Analysis to the British Election Study Panel 1997–2000, we challenge th…

Local expert experiences and perceptions of environmentally induced migration from Bangladesh to India

2017

This study investigates local expert perceptions of the role of environmental factors, especially in terms of contemporary climate change, in population movements from Bangladesh to India. The aim is to delve into locally held understandings of the phenomenon and to gain a better understanding of these migration processes, which are actively intertwined with local experiences. Both Indian and Bangladeshi experts were interviewed using semi-structured, in-depth interviews in order to explore insights from locally held perceptions and understandings of contextual factors. In total, 10 Bangladeshi and 15 Indian experts were interviewed, covering different disciplines, sectors, regions and job …

Study of consumer perception of healthy menus at restaurants

2017

Abstract To improve food-away-from-home nutritional quality, not only must healthy food options be available but also consumers must respond by making those choices. However, this is not always possible, as consumers believe healthy foods are loss tasty. A new concept of gastronomy focused not only on sensations but also on nutrition and health is necessary. The aim of this research is to evaluate whether offering a healthy menu based on nutritional claims would be an interesting option for restaurants as well as to check the impact of proposed nutritional improvements on consumer’s acceptability of menus. 300 customers of a specific restaurant located in Valencia city center (Spain) partic…