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Efficient Limb Range of Motion Analysis from a Monocular Camera for Edge Devices.
Get PDFTraditional limb kinematic analysis relies on manual goniometer measurements. With computer vision advancements, integrating RGB cameras can minimize manual labor. Although deep learning-based cameras aim to offer the same ease as manual goniometers, previous approaches have prioritized accuracy over efficiency and cost on PC-based devices. Nevertheless, healthcare providers require a high-performance, low-cost, camera-based tool for assessing upper and lower limb range of motion (ROM). To address this, we propose a lightweight, fast, deep learning model to estimate a human pose and utilize predicted joints for limb ROM measurement. Furthermore, the proposed model is optimized for deployment on resource-constrained edge devices, balancing accuracy and the benefits of edge computing like cost-effectiveness and localized data processing. Our model uses a compact neural network architecture with 8-bit quantized parameters for enhanced memory efficiency and reduced latency. Evaluated on various upper and lower limb tasks, it runs 4.1 times faster and is 15.5 times smaller than a state-of-the-art model, achieving satisfactory ROM measurement accuracy and agreement with a goniometer. We also conduct an experiment on a Raspberry Pi, illustrating that the method can maintain accuracy while reducing equipment and energy costs. This result indicates the potential for deployment on other edge devices and provides the flexibility to adapt to various hardware environments, depending on diverse needs and resources.fals
Māori women's perspectives of raising a loved one who has autism (Takiwātanga) : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology, Massey University, Palmerston North, Manawatū, Aotearoa New Zealand
Get PDFThis thesis presents research that explored the understandings, worldviews, and approaches of eight Māori māmā (mothers) with children (tamariki) or adolescents (rangatahi) who have been diagnosed with autism (takiwātanga) in Aotearoa New Zealand. An interpretivist qualitative research design was utilised that combined methods from Western methodologies and Kaupapa Māori and Mana Wahine theory and research. The methodology was transformative (whakaahua) in nature, as the concepts behind the Western methodological tools were transformed into the concepts of te ao Māori (the Māori worldview) through the application of Kaupapa Māori and Mana Wahine theory.
Eight Māori māmā attended one of four small focus groups consisting of two māmā and the researcher, during which they were encouraged to create an artwork while telling their lived experience of takiwātanga through pūrākau (narratives). Over approximately four hours, the māmā were asked to describe how they navigated the New Zealand education and health systems, and their home and community, with their tamariki and rangatahi with takiwātanga.
The pūrākau revealed that the māmā had brought about a transformation of their own by resisting the Western deficit-based model of autism and drawing on their cultural understanding of takiwātanga to change their negative Western-based experiences into positive Indigenous-based ones. This led to the development of a model inspired by the taiaha, a Māori weapon of war, that demonstrates how a deficit-based Western ideology about autism can be transformed into a strengths-based Indigenous ideology about takiwātanga, from both the researcher’s perspective and that of the participants.
The findings also identified strong connections between the māmā and those professionals and others who supported them, whom they called “game changers”. Professionals who were not supportive were circumnavigated or dismissed as the māmā held onto their own expertise and developed their own knowledge about takiwātanga.
The te ao Māori concepts of whakawhanaungatanga (relationship building), manaakitanga (showing respect, generosity and care for others) and tuakana-teina (the relationship between an older [tuakana] person and a younger [teina] person) were woven throughout the pūrākau, which the māmā drew on to strengthen their mana wahine (power as women) and mātauranga wahine (female knowledge). The thesis concludes that cultural competence for registered professionals in education and health should include formal assessments of their knowledge of te ao Māori concepts such as manaakitanga, whakawhanaungatanga, and tuakana-teina in relation to takiwātanga
A systemic view of sustainable consumption behaviour in the context of disruption
Get PDFThe purpose of this paper is to provide a holistic exploration of sustainable consumption behaviour in the aftermath of a major disruption. Using Rasch Modelling, a hierarchy of sustainable consumption behaviours post-disruption was constructed (n=1005), consumers were grouped along the hierarchy based on the extent of their sustainable behaviour, and pre- and post-disruption behaviours were compared. The results indicate that consumer groups high in sustainable consumption behaviours further increased these behaviours post-disruption, whereas those with low sustainable consumption behaviours did not change. Our research finds that factors influencing sustainable consumption behaviour are complex and an external disruption did not lead to substantial behavioural change over time. The study makes an original contribution to theory by extending understanding of sustainability from a holistic perspective through the examination of a broad range of behaviours and multiple characteristics. Practically, the research is relevant for policy makers and those seeking to encourage sustainable behaviours.fals
Exploring data management challenges and solutions in agile software development: a literature review and practitioner survey
Get PDFContext: Managing data related to a software product and its development poses significant challenges for software projects and agile development teams. These include integrating data from diverse sources and ensuring data quality amidst continuous change and adaptation.
Objective: The paper systematically explores data management challenges and potential solutions in agile projects, aiming to provide insights into data management challenges and solutions for both researchers and practitioners.
Method: We employed a mixed-methods approach, including a systematic literature review (SLR) to understand the state-of-research followed by a survey with practitioners to reflect on the state-of-practice. The SLR reviewed 45 studies, identifying and categorizing data management aspects along with their associated challenges and solutions. The practitioner survey captured practical experiences and solutions from 32 industry practitioners who were significantly involved in data management to complement the findings from the SLR.
Results: Our findings identified major data management challenges in practice, such as managing data integration processes, capturing diverse data, automating data collection, and meeting real-time analysis requirements. To address these challenges, solutions such as automation tools, decentralized data management practices, and ontology-based approaches have been identified. These solutions enhance data integration, improve data quality, and enable real-time decision-making by providing flexible frameworks tailored to agile project needs.
Conclusion: The study pinpointed significant challenges and actionable solutions in data management for agile software development. Our findings provide practical implications for practitioners and researchers, emphasizing the development of effective data management practices and tools to address those challenges and improve project success.fals
Food Group Consumption and Nutrient Intake by Breastfeeding Women: Comparison to Current Dietary Guidelines and Nutrient Recommendations.
Get PDFBACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Optimal nutrition is essential for the health of breastfeeding women and their infants. This study aimed to assess food and nutrient intake and alignment with nutrition guidelines for breastfeeding women living in New Zealand.
METHODS: Seventy-six breastfeeding women were enrolled in the longitudinal Mother and Infant Nutrition Investigation study and completed a weighed four-day diet diary including supplement use at three months postpartum. The number of servings consumed for each food group were calculated based on the 2020 Eating and Activity Guidelines for New Zealand Adults. Nutrient intakes were compared to the nutrient reference values for Australia and New Zealand.
RESULTS: Overall, the percentages of women who met the recommended number of servings for fruits, vegetables, grain foods, meats and milk/milk products were 25%, 0%, 5%, 34%, and 13%, respectively. None of women met the current recommendations for all food groups. Many participants had intakes below the estimated average requirement or adequate intake and were at risk of nutrient inadequacy for vitamin E (55%), vitamin D (53%), manganese (61%), and selenium (55%).
CONCLUSIONS: Breastfeeding women had a low alignment with the current dietary guidelines and were at risk of an inadequate intake of vitamin E, D, manganese, and selenium. Research to investigate the barriers and enablers of healthy food choices is needed.fals
Exploring upstream affective influence: how followers can shape leader support
Get PDFPurpose
Little is known about how followers can influence leaders through affect display. This paper explores the relationship between follower affect and leader support through the mediating processes of leader social mindfulness and leader affect.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on two studies (Pakistan and New Zealand) and employs a multisource time-lagged design. Multilevel analysis was conducted using the MLwiN program to test hypotheses.
Findings
Follower positive affect has a beneficial impact on leader support behavior, and negative affect has a detrimental effect. Leader affect and social mindfulness partially mediate these direct relationships.
Practical implications
Leaders should acknowledge that followers, too, can influence them via affect display. Organizations need to train leaders to boost their emotional intelligence.
Originality/value
This research provides additional evidence on follower-leader influences. It adds to leadership literature by providing a novel understanding of the underlying mechanisms of how follower affect can shape leader factors.fals
Emulation of the subjective experience of visual dorsal stream dysfunction: a description of three in depth case studies
Get PDFThese case studies explore the subjective visual experiences of individuals with cerebral visual impairment (CVI), specifically dorsal stream dysfunction (DSD) characterized by simultanagnosia. Through three in-depth case studies, this work documents the challenges these individuals face when navigating cluttered environments. The individuals were asked to describe their visual experiences while watching videos of varying complexity, with the future aim of creating a simulation of simultanagnosia. This process revealed a dynamic constriction of their attentional visual fields as scene complexity increased, and vice versa. Notably, the volunteers experienced a phenomenon where their vision could “get stuck” on specific items, with an apparent concurrent reduction in their ability to perceive and describe visual information as visual clutter increased. These consistent observations indicate that the symptoms of simultanagnosia are not simply limited to perceiving one or two objects at a time but can vary dynamically in response to environmental complexity. They enhance our understanding of how DSD impacts visual search and perceptual experiences, prompting us to propose the term “simultanagnostic vision” to describe this more nuanced and dynamic manifestation of CVI. The results are critical for developing effective interventions and optimizing support strategies for individuals affected by DSD, particularly children at sensitive developmental stages. Furthermore, we recommend deeper investigation into how different visual processing streams in the brain interconnect and influence each other, which may open new avenues for targeted therapeutic interventions.fals
Material selection in the construction industry: a systematic literature review on multi-criteria decision making
Get PDFMaterial choice is critical for ensuring sustainability in the construction industry. Higher carbon embodiment materials contribute towards greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. Decisions on sustainable material selection depend on multiple criteria and variables, thus creating a difficulty to determine the best choice. Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) techniques have the potential to address this challenge. However, there is limited data that reviews MCDM in choosing building and construction materials. This study aims to review the MCDM methods employed in the sustainable selection of building materials within the construction industry. This systematic literature review (SLR) incorporates meta-analysis and thematic mapping through applying “PRISMA framework” and “Bibliometrix”, respectively. This study explored and analysed the records published from 2010 to 2023. This work identified the critical steps for addressing decision problems in building material selection: Establishing criteria, ranking the hierarchy, comparing the selection criteria, and enabling consistency indices. Moreover, one of the most used MCDM methods, i.e. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was particularly found particularly useful for the selection criteria and weight assignment of variables regarding the waste, recycled, and composite materials. The involvement of several criteria and alternatives raised the complexity of decision problems, leading to the use of Hybrid MCDM. Hybrid MCDM techniques possess the capacity guide informed decisions for the sustainable material selection in the construction industry.fals
‘One big team working together’ - Shifting narratives to encourage civic participation and collective action in disaster preparedness
Get PDFDisaster risks cannot be reduced by individual efforts alone and necessitate community participation and collective action. However, communicating and encouraging collective action is difficult. Existing studies show that stories and narratives are useful to convey complex less-understood phenomena, like disasters, in a comprehendible and relatable manner. As such, this paper explores existing disaster narratives and aims to understand how they encourage civic participation and collective action for reducing disaster risks. The findings show that the framing of disasters in mass media narratives are unlikely to encourage collective action as they do not emphasize citizen's agency and efficacy in reducing disaster risks. However, in the narratives shared at the local level between emergency management agencies and community members, there is currently a shift towards emphasizing community agency, efficacy, and responsibilities in reducing disaster risks. Four dominant themes are identified in these narratives: reframing the concept of heroes, promoting connection and care, emphasizing collective efficacy and collective responsibility. While the narratives are beneficial, they also cause some tensions, such as, confusion arising from lingering response-centric narratives; frustration around the collective responsibility narratives; and resistance to the current narratives as they are perceived as attempts by emergency management agencies to transfer emergency management responsibilities to people. The implications of the findings and the future directions are presented.fals
Borders and Confinement in Seafarers’ Realities
No full textSeafarers may come across as highly mobile beings, shifters and movers of global trade, criss-crossing the oceans and living cosmopolitan lives across many borders. And yet, their actual everyday lives are riddled with (im)mobilities and enclosures. This chapter is framed within mobility justice in exploring seafarers’ contrasting realities of mobilities and confinement, freedom and unfreedom, structure and agency, which are determined by the demands of globalisation that assumes uninterrupted trade flows, fluid contract arrangements and speed. The narrative of this scenario normalises 24/7 activities, quick-fix ‘borderless’ mobilities and individual agency that is subdued by the demands of trade and the confinement of the ship space. While these scenarios are quite problematic under usual conditions, the COVID-19 pandemic had exacerbated these situations. This chapter will highlight a number of injustices involved in seafarers’ mobilities to show the difficult and confined scenarios they have to endure.falseCham, Switzerlan