The U.S. military has an increased need to rapidly identify nonconventional adversaries. Dismount detection systems are being developed to provide more information on and identify any potential threats. Current work in this area utilizes multispectral imagery to exploit the spectral properties of exposed skin and clothing. These methods are useful in the location and tracking of dismounts, but they do not directly discern a dismount's level of threat. Analyzing the actions that precede hostile events yields information about how the event occurred and uncovers warning signs that are useful in the prediction and prevention of future events. A dismount's posturing, or pose, indicates what he or she is about to do. Pose recognition and identification is a topic of study that can be utilized to discern this threat information. Pose recognition is the process of observing a scene through an imaging device, determining that a dismount is present, identifying the three dimensional (3D) position of the dismount's joints, and evaluating what the current configuration of the joints means. This thesis explores the use of automatic pose recognition to identify threatening poses and postures by means of an artificial neural network. Data are collected utilizing the depth camera and joint estimation software of the Kinect for Xbox 360. A threat determination is made based on the pose identified by the network. Accuracy is measured both by the correct identification of the pose presented to the network, and proper threat discernment. The end network achieved approximately 81% accuracy for threat determination and 55% accuracy for pose identification with test sets of 26 unique poses. Overall, the high level of threat determination accuracy indicates that automatic pose recognition is a promising means of discerning whether a dismount is threatening or not.
Background Promoting the health and social participation of adolescents with intellectual disability is important as they are particularly vulnerable to encountering difficulties in those areas. Integration of these individuals in integrated sports is one strategy to address this issue.Methods The main objective of this study was to gain a better understanding of the factors associated with the integration of adolescents with intellectual disability in sports alongside their non‐disabled peers. Individual interviews were completed with 40 adolescents with intellectual disability and their parents, while 39 rehabilitation staff participated via either a discussion group or self‐administered questionnaires. The Disability Creation Process (DCP) theoretical model was used to frame the analysis and the presentation of the findings (The Quebec Classification: Disability Creation Process. International Network on the Disability Creation Process/CSICIDH, Québec, QC, 1998).Results Various personal and environmental factors that have an impact on integration in sports were identified by participants. For example, attitudes, practical support, individuals' experiences in sports and in integrated settings as well as behaviour control emerged as important elements to consider.Conclusions Integration in integrated sports can engender a lot of benefits for individuals with intellectual disability, their parents and non‐disabled athletes. However, many barriers need to be removed before such benefits can be more widely realized.
Access to primary healthcare is an important challenge in many countries, posing significant problems for population health and health equity. While family physicians' (FPs) dedication is considered essential to increase access to primary care, several indications of a certain demobi-lization, even a deeper disengagement, among FPs has emerged. Using a specific case, that of FPs in the province of Quebec (Canada), this article aims to capture the processes that lead these professionals to redefine their work engagement by exploring various tensions that permeate their practice and impact meaning at work. The findings presented in this article are based on the analysis of 35 individual semi-directed interviews with FPs from three labor market integration cohorts (early-, mid- and late-career) working in various care settings. Our findings suggest that the tensions experienced related to the representation of family medicine, career expectations and personal aspirations lead many FPs to redefine their work engagement over the course of their professional journey. While physicians consistently demonstrate strong commitment to their patients, many disengage from work environments that impose practices contrary to their professional values and how they define high-quality family medi-cine, as well as conditions that hinder their involvement in family life.
PurposeThis paper is motivated by the need to assess the risk profiles associated with the substantial number of items within military supply chains. The scale of supply chain management processes creates difficulties in both the complexity of the analysis and in performing risk assessments that are based on the manual (human analyst) assessment methods. Thus, analysts require methods that can be automated and that can incorporate on-going operational data on a regular basis.Design/methodology/approachThe approach taken to address the identification of supply chain risk within an operational setting is based on aspects of multiobjective decision analysis (MODA). The approach constructs a risk and importance index for supply chain elements based on operational data. These indices are commensurate in value, leading to interpretable measures for decision-making.FindingsRisk and importance indices were developed for the analysis of items within an example supply chain. Using the data on items, individual MODA models were formed and demonstrated using a prototype tool.Originality/valueTo better prepare risk mitigation strategies, analysts require the ability to identify potential sources of risk, especially in times of disruption such as natural disasters.
In 2003, the government of Quebec established the Agreement for the Complementarity of Services Between the Health and Social Services Network and the Education Network to define principles and obligations for inter- agency collaboration aimed at students with special needs and their families. This study documents the perspectives of organisation members from both networks. One hundred eighty-one participants were interviewed regarding their perceptions of inter-agency collaboration and related difficulties. Findings reveal that although network members are committed to collaborate in concordance with the Agreement, significant obstacles hinder an effective partnership, including an overall lack of coherence and gaps in the conditions required for an effective partnership, as well as insufficient awareness of the Agreement.
De nombreux élèves québécois ayant des incapacités et des difficultés d'apprentissage ont besoin de soutien pour maximiser leur participation scolaire. C'est ainsi que le Québec s'est doté de services d'adaptation scolaire et de différents mécanismes correspondant à la condition de chaque enfant. Or, pour les accompagner de façon optimale, une collaboration interréseaux doit exister afin de répondre adéquatement et au moment opportun à leurs besoins qui sont parfois complexes. Pour cela, les intervenants du réseau de l'éducation doivent établir des partenariats avec ceux de la santé et des services sociaux. Dans le but de consolider les actions à poser conjointement, un partenariat renouvelé a été établi en 2003, soit l'Entente de complémentarité des services entre le réseau de la santé et des services sociaux et le réseau de l'éducation (MELS, 2003). Cette entente unique vise, entre autres, l'atteinte d'une vision commune des besoins des élèves ayant des besoins particuliers et de leur famille et l'engagement de différentes instances pour favoriser la réussite scolaire (MELS, 2003). Ce texte présentera une recherche portant sur l'analyse de la mise en oeuvre et des retombées de cette Entente. En effet, plus de deux cent cinquante intervenants, gestionnaires et partenaires des deux réseaux ont été interrogés afin d'en explorer les différentes facettes. Les défis liés à l'Entente seront présentés, tout comme les pistes de solutions pour consolider la collaboration entre les deux réseaux.
In the United States, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and disability. Suboptimal diet quality is responsible for a greater percentage of CVD‐related morbidity and mortality than any other modifiable risk factor. Further troubling are the stark racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in diet quality. This represents a major public health concern that urgently requires a coordinated effort to better characterize the barriers to healthy dietary practices in population groups disproportionally affected by CVD and poor diet quality to inform multifaceted approaches at the government (policy), community environment, sociocultural, and individual levels. This paper reviews the barriers, opportunities, and challenges involved in shifting population behaviors, especially in underserved populations, toward healthy dietary practices. It is imperative that public health policies address the social determinants of nutrition more intensively than previously in order to significantly decrease CVD on a population‐wide basis.