Using whole body technologies to map the mobility of older adults

In this paper we describe the preliminary findings of two-year study that attempted to map the mobility of our oldest citizens using activity monitoring and location-aware technologies. We recruited a group of 100 adults aged between 72 and 92 years old, drawn from a 25 year longitudinal cohort, and collected lifestyle, nutrition, health and social engagement data. We also fitted a subset of the group with accelerometers and location-based tracking devices and asked them to wear these for a week in order that we could generate accurate, live mobility data and assess these data against self-reports. We are now using this data to describe the relationship between mobility, activity and physical and mental well-being, but in this preliminary paper, we outline some of the main challenges we encountered when trying to use these ‘whole body’ technologies to determine mobility

Absurdity and Metaphysical Rebellion in the Philosophies of Albert Camus and Omar Khayyam

The first time Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyiat were brought to the Western world, it was through a translation from their original Persian to English by Edward Fitzgerald in 1859. Over the next century, Khayyam’s verses saw extraordinary popular success among intellectuals both in England and beyond. This paper, however, explores what these verses meant to Persians in Omar Khayyam’s context, long before the quatrains reached the West. Although whether the meaning of his poetry is esoteric or hedonistic in nature is debated, his quatrains express an existential longing and grieving that can be compared to parallel feelings described by Albert Camus in The Myth of Sisyphus and The Rebel. In this project, I explore the similarities in the notion of the absurd as defined by Albert Camus with the expressions of absurd experience in The Ruba\u27iyat of Omar Khayyam. Through this exploration of the absurdist experience across cultures and centuries, I propose Omar Khayyam\u27s Ruba\u27iyat as an example that the spirit of metaphysical rebellion can exist in a non-Western context, and that it existed nearly a millennium before Albert Camus developed it as an idea in the 20th century

Increasing Use of Public Transit

The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) provides bus and rail service to Erie and Niagara Counties. In Erie County, this metro service is delivered via 38 interwoven bus routes and one light rail line. Service extends out to many of Buffalo’s outer-ring suburbs but is concentrated within City limits and runs most frequently during peak hours. The NFTA also provides special transit service to disabled riders, riders attending special events, and metro pass holders in need of emergency transportation. Riders have the choice of purchasing single passes, day passes, or month passes

Swift Glider

This model airplane is designed to resemble the Swift bird, which conveys information about NASA’s Swift gamma-ray burst Explorer mission. Educational levels: Informal education, General public