This paper presents a method for assessing the distance between a mobile robot and an obstacle. The idea is to make use of stereo cameras that are mounted on a pan-tilt platform (the pan-tilt device itself is mounted on a mobile robot). When an obstacle occurs, the pantilt device drives the stereo cameras to an orientation such that the left and right images of the obstacle are in a symmetrical...

With the ever-growing number of choices of educational software for children scholastic programs, the task of choosing software can be a nerve-wracking one. As computer use becomes more substantial in home and classroom learning, the selection of software endeavors even more importance. The key aspects for providing a better learning experience lies in choosing software that successfully combin...

Patient care practices often lag behind current scientific evidence and professional guidelines. The failure of such knowledge translation (KT) efforts may reflect inadequate assessment and management of specific barriers confronting both physicians and patients at the point of treatment level. Effective KT in this setting may benefit from the use of qualitative methods to identify and overcome...

Classically, risk is characterised by a point value probability indicating the likelihood of occurrence of an adverse effect. However, there are domains where the attainability of objective numerical risk characterisations is increasingly being questioned. This paper reviews the arguments in favour of extending classical techniques of risk assessment to incorporate meaningful qualitative and we...

BACKGROUND In the area of youth health, peers education is an approach to health promotion. Assess the training needs of peers educators clarifies the components, values, and quality of training protocols. Aim to that we conducted a participatory educational needs assessment of youth peer educators. METHODS Involving youth and key informants in direct collaboration with research team, a quali...

Environmental analysts are often hampered in communicating the risks of environmental contaminants due to the myriad of regulatory requirements that are applicable. The use of a qualitative, risk-based control banding strategy for assessment and control of potential environmental contaminants provides a standardized approach to improve risk communication. Presented is a model that provides an e...

not exclusively) qualitative. Of the last five winners of the ASME young researcher awards, four have been qualitative or strongly qualitative in nature, the other was action research with a strong qualitative component. I worry, however, that the pendulum has swung too far and others may share aspects of my concerns [13]. Yes, we are building theory but the value of a good theory is that it en...

Over the past few years, the significant increase of request for spatial information is observed. Land cover and land use dat abases are needed for land management, urban planning, agriculture, environment protection and many other purposes. New sensors are able to provide very high spatial, spectral and time resolution data, what made the representation of earth surface more accurate but at th...

Self-assessment helps learners to acquire self-confidence and gives them insightfulfeedbacks. There is no valid self-assessment inventory for learners of English foracademic purposes (EAP). This study aimed at developing an academicallyappropriate instrument to measure tertiary students’ English in academic situations.The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods in developing the se...

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