Rapid convergence of utility and mobility solutions enabled by data and the Internet of Things is future-proofing economies around the world, delivering liveability, sustainability and resilience, and importantly decreasing pressure on utility bills and infrastructure costs. Australians cannot miss out on the many benefits brought to families and businesses by the digitisation of infrastructure and services, not just reduced household bills but also the ability to generate income as prosumers, not consumers. Localised sustainable Next-Gen infrastructure and services are growing from within communities, creating a new class of consumer-the prosumer: where customers are more than consumers but also producers. Prosumers have the ability to generate free energy from the sun at home or office and sell the excess, recycle water and waste reaping the financial benefit, avoid the second largest household expense of a car by sharing mobility, and access shared data networks to plug in and play at little cost. Planning frameworks play a critical role in enabling a new utility prosumer future in Australia and reform of planning gateway processes is essential. This article highlights Sydney’s Central Park as a best practice urban infill development showcasing how the flows of water and energy are organised to provide enhanced sustainability, liveability and resilience for the local and neighbouring communities. Central Park proves the benefits of taking a precinct approach to utility and mobility services. It shows how these benefits can grow and be exported to neighbouring buildings and existing communities, in this case University of Technology driving inclusion and affordability. Central Park also demonstrates the opportunities to drive deeper socio/environmental benefits by enabling prosumer services through low-cost access to utility services and circular resource flows. Importantly, this article demonstrates that Central Park’s phenomenal sustainability benefits can be replicated at scale in land release communities, but planning reform is required.
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Abstract: Background: There has been a rapid increase in the population of senior citizens in many countries. The shortage of caregivers is becoming a pressing concern. Robots are being deployed in an attempt to fill this gap and reduce the workload of caregivers. This study explores how healthcare robots are perceived by trainee care professionals. Methods: A total of 2365 students at different vocational levels completed a questionnaire, rating ethical statements regarding beneficence, maleficence, justice, autonomy, utility, and use intentions with regard to three different types of robots (assistive, monitoring, and companion) along with six control variables: gender, age, school year, technical skills, interest in technology, and enjoying working with computers.
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This paper will describe the rationale and findings from a multinational study of online uses and gratifications conducted in the United States, Korea, and the Netherlands in spring 2003. A survey research method of study was conducted using a questionnaire developed in three languages and was presented to approximately 400 respondents in each country via the Web. Web uses and gratifications were analyzed cross-nationally in a comparative fashion and focused on the perceived involvement in different types of on-line communities. Findings indicate that demographic characteristics, cultural values, and Internet connection type emerged as critical factors that explain why the same technology is adopted differently. The analyses identified seven major gratifications sought by users in each country: social support, surveillance & advice, learning, entertainment, escape, fame & aesthetic, and respect. Although the Internet is a global medium, in general, web use is more local and regional. Evidence of media use and cultural values reported by country and online community supports the hypothesis of a technological convergence between societies, not a cultural convergence.
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This paper outlines the main differences between ecocentric and anthropocentric positions in regard to justice, exploring university students’ perceptions of the concepts of social and ecological justice and reflecting on how values assigned to humans and the environment are balanced and contested. Putting justice for people before the environment is based on evidence that biological conservation can disadvantage local communities; the idea that the very notion of justice is framed by humans and therefore remains a human issue; and the assumption that humans have a higher value than other species. Putting justice for the environment first assumes that only an ecocentric ethic guarantees protection of all species, including humans, and therefore ecological justice already guarantees social justice. This research shows that many students emphasize the convergence of social and ecological justice where human and environmental interests correspond. While not wishing to diminish the underlying assumptions of either ethical orientation, the common “enemy” of both vulnerable communities and nonhuman nature, as identified by students, is an ideology of economic growth and industrial development. http://dx.doi.org/10.13135/2384-8677/2688 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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In recent years, drones have increasingly supported First Responders (FRs) in monitoring incidents and providing additional information. However, analysing drone footage is time-intensive and cognitively demanding. In this research, we investigate the use of AI models for the detection of humans in drone footage to aid FRs in tasks such as locating victims. Detecting small-scale objects, particularly humans from high altitudes, poses a challenge for AI systems. We present first steps of introducing and evaluating a series of YOLOv8 Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) for human detection from drone images. The models are fine-tuned on a created drone image dataset of the Dutch Fire Services and were able to achieve a 53.1% F1-Score, identifying 439 out of 825 humans in the test dataset. These preliminary findings, validated by an incident commander, highlight the promising utility of these models. Ongoing efforts aim to further refine the models and explore additional technologies.
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The transition from institutional to community care for vulnerable people has been shaping the welfare system in Europe over the last decades. For the period of 2014-20 deinstitutionalization became one of the highlighted priorities of the European Commission in order to promote reforms in disability and mental health care in the convergence regions, too. Between 2007 and 2013, Estonia as many other Eastern European countries has implemented the first wave of deinstitutionalization and during the new EU budget period a second wave will be occurred in order to continue and hopefully complete the transition. In this study, we try to give an overview on the experiences of different European countries highlighting good practices and possible pitfalls. This study has been conducted at the request of the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs.
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A case study and method development research of online simulation gaming to enhance youth care knowlegde exchange. Youth care professionals affirm that the application used has enough relevance as an additional tool for knowledge construction about complex cases. They state that the usability of the application is suitable, however some remarks are given to adapt the virtual environment to the special needs of youth care knowledge exchange. The method of online simulation gaming appears to be useful to improve network competences and to explore the hidden professional capacities of the participant as to the construction of situational cognition, discourse participation and the accountability of intervention choices.
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In this article we focus upon a division between generalized schools of philosophical and ethical thought about culture and conservation. There is an ongoing debate playing out over conservation between those who believe conservation threatens community livelihoods and traditional practices, and those who believe conservation is essential to protect nonhuman species from the impact of human development and population growth. We argue for reconciliation between these schools of thought and a cooperative push toward the cultivation of an environmentally-focused perspective that embraces not only social and economic justice but also concern for non-human species. Our goal is to underline the ethics and tangible benefits that may result from combining the cultural data and knowledge of the social sciences with understanding of environmental science and conservation. We highlight instances in which social scientists overlook their own anthropocentric bias in relationship to ecological justice, or justice for all species, in favor of exclusive social justice among people. We focus on the polemical stances of this debate in order to emphasize the importance of a middle road of cooperation that acknowledges the rights of human and nonhuman species, alike. In conclusion, we present an alternative set of ethics and research activities for social scientists concerned with conservation and offer ideas on how to reconcile the conflicting interests of people and the environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2015.01.030 https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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The present study deals with the numerical modelling of hybridlaminated composites, which can be proved especially useful in theengineering and maintenance of advanced aerospace primary structures. Thelamina is comprised of continuous carbon fibers, thermosetting epoxypolymer matrix, as well as carbon nanostructures, such as graphene orcarbon nanotubes, inclusions. Halpin-Tsai equations combined with resultsobtained from nanomechanical analysis are employed in order to evaluatethe elastic properties of the carbon nanostructure/polymer matrix. Then, theobtained elastic properties of the hybrid matrix are used to calculate theorthotropic macro-mechanical properties of the unidirectional compositelamina. A hybrid composite plate is modelled as a 2D structure via theutilization of 4-node, quadrilateral, stress/displacement shell finite elementswith reduced integration formulation. The convergence and analysisaccuracy are tested. The mechanical performance of the hybrid compositesis investigated by considering specific configurations and applyingappropriate loading and boundary conditions. The results are compared withthe corresponding ones found in the open literature, where it is possible.
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Background: The present study investigates the suitability of various treatment outcome indicators to evaluate performance of mental health institutions that provide care to patients with severe mental illness. Several categorical approaches are compared to a reference indicator (continuous outcome) using pretest-posttest data of the Health of Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS). Methods: Data from 10 institutions and 3189 patients were used, comprising outcomes of the first year of treatment by teams providing long-term care. Results: Findings revealed differences between continuous indicators (standardized pre-post difference score ES and ΔT) and categorical indicators (SEM, JTRCI, JTCS, JTRCI&CS, JTrevised) on their ranking of institutions, as well as substantial differences among categorical indicators; the outcome according to the traditional JT approach was most concordant with the continuous outcome indicators. Conclusions: For research comparing group averages, a continuous outcome indicator such as ES or ΔT is preferred, as this best preserves information from the original variable. Categorical outcomes can be used to illustrate what is accomplished in clinical terms. For categorical outcome, the classical Jacobson-Truax approach is preferred over the more complex method of Parabiaghi et al. with eight outcome categories. The latter may be valuable in clinical practice as it allows for a more detailed characterization of individual patients.
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