335 research outputs found
Nondestructive evaluation of residual stresses in nanostructured coatings by synchotron radiation:
No full textThis thesis presents a strain mapping in nanostructure Al2O3/TiO2 ceramic coatings on metallic Titanium substrates by synchrotron radiation. The mapping is obtained under various boundary conditions (tension/compression loads, four-point bending, etc.) and is accomplished using high energy (deeply penetrating) synchrotron white radiation with photon energies up to 200 keV to perform high precision x-ray diffraction on small volumes (1 µm to a few cm), which are then integrated into high resolution 3D maps of the strain fields. Strain mapping in conventional micro-size ceramic coatings are performed for comparison. The underlining structural and functional parameters in processing of these coatings, which result in dramatic improvements in their performance, are discussed. The thesis also presents mechanical properties such as elastic modulus, yield strength, etc., which are deduced from energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDXRD) strain mapping in conjunction with modeling.M.S.Includes bibliographical referencesby Nazia Ikram Ahmed
Erratum to: Epidemiology of Dementia: The Burden on Society, the Challenges for Research
Full text linkThe name of the Chapter 1 author had been inadvertently mentioned as M. Arfan Ikram.
This has been corrected and the name has been correctly updated to Ikram MA
Publisher correction: Novel pleiotropic risk loci for melanoma and nevus density implicate multiple biological pathways
Full text linkThe original version of this Article contained errors in the spelling of the authors Fan Liu and M. Arfan Ikram, which were incorrectly given as Fan Lui and Arfan M. Ikram.\ua0In addition,\ua0the original version of this Article also\ua0contained errors\ua0in the author affiliations which are detailed in the associated Publisher Correction
Impact of assistive technologies in supporting people with dementia.
Full text linkIn recent decades, many Assistive Technologies (ATs) have been developed to promote independence among people with dementia (PWD). Although there is a high rate of AT abandonment, only a handful of studies have focused on AT usability evaluation from the user point of view. The aim of this thesis is to empirically investigate the usability of ATs from the PWD and to measure its impacts on their lives. Following the Multi-methods research approach, the first part of the thesis uses secondary research methods including literature review and systematic mapping studies. The second part uses primary research methods including interviews (N=20) and questionnaire (N=327) based surveys for data collection and requirements elicitation. The third part is based on the design, development, and testing of an assistive software application through case studies (N=8). The first mapping study categorised existing general ATs into five major categories: robotics, monitoring, reminders, communication, and software. The second mapping study categorised software-based ATs into nine categories: cognitive help, reminders, health/activity monitoring, socialization, leisure, travel help, dementia detection, dementia prevention, and rehabilitation. The qualitative results showed that most of the PWD use ATs for socialization, and highlighted user interface efficacy, tailoring individual needs, and simplified functions as the major limitations of existing ATs. The quantitative results identified eleven factors for ATs usage: operational support, physical support, psychological support, social support, cultural match, reduced external help, affordability, travel help, compatibility, effectiveness, and retention. The statistical analysis showed that improved (social, psychological and travel) support and reduced need of external help for operating ATs, greatly impact AT effectiveness and retention. Based on PWD requirements, an assistive software application named E-Community for Dementia (ECD) was developed and tested through case studies involving 8 PWD and 40 volunteers. The participants were able to get their daily needed items in less time and with a friendlier manner through the help of their neighbours. The involvement of the caregivers for medication, meals, prayers etc. reduced significantly. The painting function helped evoke their memories, and encouraged them to perform activities from their youth. The news and weather functions kept them updated about the world around them. The travel tutor guided them in safe travel outside home and made sure that they got back home independently. The enhanced interaction between the PWD and their neighbours significantly reduced their social isolation. The results support the idea to create dementia-friendly communities at street levels, which is a cost-effective and reliable solution. The major outcomes from this thesis are AT categorization, evaluation of user experiences, factor identification and ranking, user requirements elicitation, assistive software application development, and case studies. This thesis helps considerably towards empirical investigation of the impact of ATs in supporting the PWD. The implementation of the ECD contributes towards the wellbeing of the PWD and saves costs spent on caregivers and carer companies. In future, the same study could be conducted in other settings to analyse the role of culture in AT acceptance
Italy
No full textIn January 1831, the Parisian printer Firmin Didot published a Manifesto announcing the imminent publication of the Egyptian and Nubian monuments by Jean-François Champollion and Ippolito Rosellini, based on the notes and images made during the 1828–29 Franco-Tuscan expedition (see p. 22). It contained a description of the work, equally divided between the French and the Italians, to be organised in three parts, to include albums of plates and volumes of texts in French and Italian, and to be issued in a series of fascicles. The death of Champollion in 1832, and subsequent conflicts between his brother Champollion-Figeac and Rosellini, stymied the joint project. Rosellini thus published his Monumenti dell’Egitto e della Nubia alone, in the face of many financial and interpersonal problems, between 1832 and his untimely death in 1843. The ninth and last volume of text and the third and last volume of plates, already prepared by the author, were posthumously published in 1844. This monumental work, presenting an extraordinary quantity of textual, archaeological and visual material, has been fundamental for the development of Egyptology in the Italian peninsula. Almost all the important Italian libraries subscribed to its fascicles, as attested by letters that Rosellini himself wrote to librarians and scholars all over Italy, asking them to sign the subscription Manifesto or informing them about the plans for the publication
Empirical analysis of assistive technology support to the people with dementia
No full textThis, paper showcases results from an empirical study conducted by involving the people with dementia (PWD). The different kinds of supports offered by the assistive technology (AT) to the PWD are analyzed along their impact on the success of such technologies. The technology usability questionnaire is used to collect data. The people having mild dementia who use AT participated in the survey. The results revealed four major AT supports named (social, operational, psychological and physical) for the PWD. Although all types of supports contribute positively, the social support shows the strongest impact for technology success. Further analysis indicates that the performance consistency of AT with the claims of its manufacturers determine its retention period. Social isolation and dependence on others usually demoralizes the confidence of the PWD, therefore more efforts are needed to enable social support through the use of AT for the wellbeing of the PWD
Impact evaluation of assistive technology support for the people with dementia
No full textThis study explores important factors of assistive technology (AT) and evaluates their relative impact on AT effectiveness and retention. Questionnaire based survey is used for data collection from 327 people with dementia (PWD). This empirical study uses statistical techniques including exploratory factor analysis for factor identification, linear regression for impact study, Kruskal Wallis H and Mann Whitney U tests for the statistical significant study in terms of demographic and characteristics. The exploratory factor analysis results into 11 factors: operational support, physical support, psychological support, social support, cultural match, reduced external help, affordability, travel help, compatibility, effectiveness and retention. The results reveal that social support, psychological support and travel help and reduced external help strongly impact on AT effectiveness and retention. The users are motivated by socialization support through using AT without any external help. The use of AT during travelling improves confidence of the PWD and helps them psychologically
Software based assistive technologies for people with dementia: Current achievements and future trends
No full textThe growth in dementia population poses an imperative need of developing new technologies for the wellbeing of the people with dementia. This paper presents empirical results for the 51 software based assistive technologies (SWAT) for the people with dementia from literature and commercially available SWAT. Although software technology usage is not a new field but the usage of software technologies have been very low in dementia care. It has great potential to help the people with dementia, but a lot of research still needed to be done. The software and assistive technology concepts follow almost similar definitions; therefore their combination can yield better results for helping the people with dementia. We investigate what SWAT exists for the people with dementia and what type of functions usually such technologies perform. The SWAT can particularly restore the confidence of the people with dementia by providing them cognitive, reminders, health monitoring, socialization, leisure, travel, dementia detection and prevention help etc. This paper also highlights five future research areas which still need extensive research efforts
A systematic mapping study on assitive technologies for people with dementia
No full textThis paper presents a systematic mapping study based on literature and industrial survey related to assistive technologies for people with dementia. The world population of the ageing people is increasing both in developed and developing countries, so does the number of people with dementia. Consequently assistive technologies are getting much importance from academic researchers and industry as an aid for people with dementia. Assistive technologies are helping people with dementia to perform activities which otherwise are not possible for them without external help. Systematic mapping studies are popular in other fields like software engineering, yet this methodology is mostly ignored in assistive technology research. Literature survey indicates that there is no systematic mapping study conducted so far on assistive technologies for people with dementia. Thus, we are motivated to conduct this systematic mapping study on assistive technologies for people with dementia. As per the study nature, we carried out a thorough literature and industrial survey. The results indicates that current available assistive technologies can be classified into five major types i.e. robotics, health monitoring, prompts and reminders, communication and software. There is rich literature available on first three categories while communication and software based assistive technologies need more attention, whereas the industrial focus is mostly on health monitoring and software based assistive technologies. The mapping study results emphasize the need for industry to invest more efforts in communication and software based assistive technologies
Motivational and De-motivational Factors for Software Engineers: An Empirical Investigation
No full textThis paper is based on an industrial survey conducted on software engineer motivation as previous research shows that motivation is amongst the most frequently highlighted causes of software projects failure. Motivation greatly impacts practitioner's productivity. Yet motivation is mostly ignored in software engineering literature and practice. Researchers have conducted studies on motivation in software engineering mostly in western culture. There have been very few studies on motivation of software engineers from Asia. We have not been able to find any empirical study conducted on this subject in South Asia, which is an important region in information technology industry worldwide. We therefore decided to conduct an empirical study in Pakistan to identify factors that motivate or de-motivate software engineers. Given the nature of the research we used an online questionnaire based on Job Characteristic Theory to identify (de)motivational factors that affect software engineers at work place. Results are based on 306 responses. Results are relatively different from previous studies as most of the previous work is done in western countries. These differences are analyzed in the light of Hofstede's Cultural Dimension 5 Dimensional Model. National culture impacts factors that (de)motivate software engineers in a country. Software companies should follow culture sensitive steps to deal with (de)motivational factors affecting their software engineers
- …
