Space, Place, Common Wounds and Boundaries: Insider/Outsider Debates in Research with Black Women and Deaf Women

The chapter discusses issues of identity in research. It does this by examining the impacts of the identity of the researcher, participants, and the various identity interchanges that take place. This chapter draws on the perspectives and experiences of participants and researcher in a PhD study with five (Six Deaf women were interviewed but one withdrew due to a conflict of interest.) culturally Deaf (white) women and 25 Black (hearing) women discussing their world of work in UK public sector organizations. The theoretical framework of “Africanist Sista-hood in Britain” is that which underpins the positioning of the research and researcher. The chapter provides a reflexive account of the research but in a way that centralizes participant perspectives. Two goals have been achieved; firstly, it adds further contribution to the insider/outsider debate by adding participant perspectives on the issue, and secondly, it demonstrates the ways in which the theoretical framework of “Africanist Sista-hood in Britain” can be used in research not just with Black women but also via collaborative approaches with other social groups. In so doing, the chapter raises a number of important questions: Should researchers seek out participant perspectives on the insider/outsider debates in research? In what ways does the identity interchange between researcher and researched have an impact on the research process? What does Africanist Sista-hood in Britain have to offer to Black women and others carrying out research in the field

Real – Time Hand Gesture Tracking for Network Centric Application

This paper focuses on the Real – Time Gesture Tracking for Network Centric Application.  In it, human hand gesture was acquired using Kinect depth camera.  The user posed in front of the camera about 2 meters away from the camera mounted about 80 cm above ground level.  The acquired image is processed to extract the right hand joints vertical and horizontal coordinates, which is transmitted over a network medium.  The received information is then classified and assigned to a sub routine that is meant to perform a defined task. Keywords: Real – Time; Gesture; Network; Tracking; Human machine Interaction (HMI)

Design and Implementation of Automated Healthcare Software System for Outpatient Health Maintenance

Presented in this article is a software system that is aimed at automating health maintenance process for aged people.  The system simulates health parameter such as body temperature, pressure weight and height of patients.  The generated parameters are used to compute the Body Mass Index (BMI) of the patient.  These parameters are sent online to a remote central database of the health institution (hospital) using it.  Doctors assigned to particular patients can access the information and advice the patients on what to do.  The system is developed using web technology. Keywords: Automated, BMI, Healthcare, Sensor, Software Prototypin

Design and Implementation of Microcontroller Based Programmable Power Changeover

Power failure is a key issue in many developing countries of the world.  To sustain development, the need for alternative power supply becomes necessary.  Changing between the main supply line and the alternative supply poses yet another problem.  Many attempts have been made to develop automatic power changeover but without due consideration of the fact that there could be times when we need to regulate the behavior of the automatic change over.  This paper therefore presents the design and construction of microcontroller based programmable automatic power change over.  The paper discusses the design, construction and operation of a program controlled power change over system that allows users to select the mode they would prefer to have their change over operate.  Three modes were achieved, including auto mode, timed mode and manual mode, which were selected from push buttons.  LCD interface was used for the output display.  8051 microcontroller was used to implement the control program while modular methodology was adopted. Keywords: Microcontroller; power; change over; Programming; Automatic; Relay; Kick start; LCD

Africanist Sista-hood in Britain: Creating Our Own Pathways

Attempts have been made to provide an analytical framework for Black women that centralises our experiences and perspectives both as individuals and collectives. Much of this work has focused on Black feminism emanating from America, but this does not provide adequate reflection on the specific situation in Britain. Developments in Black British feminism have gone some way to address this,¹ however, it is the British context that brings with it issues of contestation around who is considered Black that are also translated into this discourse. Difficulties around the use of existing feminist frameworks with their roots embedded in racism and..