Edge enhanced depth perception with binocular meta-lens

The increasing popularity of the metaverse has led to a growing interest and market size in spatial computing from both academia and industry.Developing portable and accurate imaging and depth sensing systems is crucial for advancing next-generation virtual reality devices.This work demonstrates an intelligent,lightweight,and compact edge-enhanced depth perception system that utilizes a binocular meta-lens for spatial computing.The miniaturized system comprises a binocular meta-lens,a 532 nm filter,and a CMOS sensor.For disparity computation,we propose a stereo-matching neural network with a novel H-Module.The H-Module incorporates an attention mechanism into the Siamese network.The symmetric architecture,with cross-pixel interaction and cross-view interaction,enables a more comprehensive analysis of contextual information in stereo images.Based on spatial intensity discontinuity,the edge enhancement eliminates illposed regions in the image where ambiguous depth predictions may occur due to a lack of texture.With the assistance of deep learning,our edge-enhanced system provides prompt responses in less than 0.15 seconds.This edge-enhanced depth perception meta-lens imaging system will significantly contribute to accurate 3D scene modeling,machine vision,autonomous driving,and robotics development.

Optoelectronic Synapses Based on MXene/Violet Phosphorus van der Waals Heterojunctions for Visual‑Olfactory Crossmodal Perception

The crossmodal interaction of different senses,which is an important basis for learning and memory in the human brain,is highly desired to be mimicked at the device level for developing neuromorphic crossmodal perception,but related researches are scarce.Here,we demonstrate an optoelectronic synapse for vision-olfactory crossmodal perception based on MXene/violet phosphorus(VP)van der Waals heterojunctions.Benefiting from the efficient separation and transport of photogenerated carriers facilitated by conductive MXene,the photoelectric responsivity of VP is dramatically enhanced by 7 orders of magnitude,reaching up to 7.7 A W^(−1).Excited by ultraviolet light,multiple synaptic functions,including excitatory postsynaptic currents,pairedpulse facilitation,short/long-term plasticity and“learning-experience”behavior,were demonstrated with a low power consumption.Furthermore,the proposed optoelectronic synapse exhibits distinct synaptic behaviors in different gas environments,enabling it to simulate the interaction of visual and olfactory information for crossmodal perception.This work demonstrates the great potential of VP in optoelectronics and provides a promising platform for applications such as virtual reality and neurorobotics.

Intelligent Recognition Using Ultralight Multifunctional Nano‑Layered Carbon Aerogel Sensors with Human‑Like Tactile Perception

Humans can perceive our complex world through multi-sensory fusion.Under limited visual conditions,people can sense a variety of tactile signals to identify objects accurately and rapidly.However,replicating this unique capability in robots remains a significant challenge.Here,we present a new form of ultralight multifunctional tactile nano-layered carbon aerogel sensor that provides pressure,temperature,material recognition and 3D location capabilities,which is combined with multimodal supervised learning algorithms for object recognition.The sensor exhibits human-like pressure(0.04–100 kPa)and temperature(21.5–66.2℃)detection,millisecond response times(11 ms),a pressure sensitivity of 92.22 kPa^(−1)and triboelectric durability of over 6000 cycles.The devised algorithm has universality and can accommodate a range of application scenarios.The tactile system can identify common foods in a kitchen scene with 94.63%accuracy and explore the topographic and geomorphic features of a Mars scene with 100%accuracy.This sensing approach empowers robots with versatile tactile perception to advance future society toward heightened sensing,recognition and intelligence.

Perception of dental appearance and aesthetic analysis among patients,laypersons and dentists

BACKGROUND Current concepts of beauty are increasingly subjective,influenced by the viewpoints of others.The aim of the study was to evaluate divergences in the perception of dental appearance and smile esthetics among patients,laypersons and dental practitioners.The study goals were to evaluate the influence of age,sex,education and dental specialty on the participants’judgment and to identify the values of different esthetic criteria.Patients sample included 50 patients who responded to a dental appearance questionnaire(DAQ).Two frontal photographs were taken,one during a smile and one with retracted lips.Laypersons and dentists were asked to evaluate both photographs using a Linear Scale from(0-10),where 0 represent(absolutely unaesthetic)and 10 represent(absolutely aesthetic).One-way analysis of variance(ANOVA)and t-test analysis were measured for each group.Most patients in the sample expressed satisfaction with most aspects of their smiles and dental appearance.Among laypersons(including 488 participants),47 pictures“with lips”out of 50 had higher mean aesthetic scores compared to pictures“without lips”.Among the dentist sample,90 dentists’perception towards the esthetic smile and dental appearance for photos“with lips”and“without lips”were the same for 23 out of 50 patients.Perception of smile aesthetics differed between patients,laypersons and dentists.Several factors can contribute to shape the perception of smile aesthetic.AIM To compare the perception of dental aesthetic among patients,laypersons,and professional dentists,to evaluate the impact of age,sex,educational background,and income on the judgments made by laypersons,to assess the variations in experience,specialty,age,and sex on professional dentists’judgment,and to evaluate the role of lips,skin shade and tooth shade in different participants’judgments.METHODS Patients sample included 50 patients who responded to DAQ.Two frontal photographs were taken:one during a smile and one with retracted lips.Laypersons and dentists were asked to evaluate both photographs using a Linear Scale from(0-10),where 0 represent(absolutely unaesthetic)and 10 represent(absolutely aesthetic).One-way ANOVA and t-test analysis were measured for each group.RESULTS Most patients in the sample expressed satisfaction with most aspects of their smiles and dental appearance.Among laypersons(including 488 participants),47 pictures“with lips”out of 50 had higher mean aesthetic scores compared to pictures“without lips”.Whereas among the dentist sample,90 dentists’perception towards the esthetic smile and dental appearance for photos“with lips”and“without lips”were the same for 23 out of 50 patients.Perception of smile aesthetics differed between patients,laypersons and dentists.CONCLUSION Several factors can contribute to shape the perception of smile aesthetic.

Multimodal Sentiment Analysis Based on a Cross-Modal Multihead Attention Mechanism

Multimodal sentiment analysis aims to understand people’s emotions and opinions from diverse data.Concate-nating or multiplying various modalities is a traditional multi-modal sentiment analysis fusion method.This fusion method does not utilize the correlation information between modalities.To solve this problem,this paper proposes amodel based on amulti-head attention mechanism.First,after preprocessing the original data.Then,the feature representation is converted into a sequence of word vectors and positional encoding is introduced to better understand the semantic and sequential information in the input sequence.Next,the input coding sequence is fed into the transformer model for further processing and learning.At the transformer layer,a cross-modal attention consisting of a pair of multi-head attention modules is employed to reflect the correlation between modalities.Finally,the processed results are input into the feedforward neural network to obtain the emotional output through the classification layer.Through the above processing flow,the model can capture semantic information and contextual relationships and achieve good results in various natural language processing tasks.Our model was tested on the CMU Multimodal Opinion Sentiment and Emotion Intensity(CMU-MOSEI)and Multimodal EmotionLines Dataset(MELD),achieving an accuracy of 82.04% and F1 parameters reached 80.59% on the former dataset.

Insights into the enhancement of food flavor perception:strategies,mechanism and emulsion applications

The core drivers of the modern food industry are meeting consumer demand for tasty and healthy foods.The application of food flavor perception enhancement can help to achieve the goals of salt-and sugar-reduction,without compromising the sensory quality of the original food,and this has attracted increasing research attention.The analysis of bibliometric results from 2002 to 2022 reveals that present flavor perception enhancement strategies(changing ingredient formulations,adding salt/sugar substitutes,emulsion delivery systems)are mainly carry out based on sweetness,saltiness and umami.Emulsion systems is becoming a novel research foci and development trends of international food flavor perception-enhancement research.The structured design of food emulsions,by using interface engineering technology,can effectively control,or enhance the release of flavor substances.Thus,this review systematically summarizes strategies,the application of emulsion systems and the mechanisms of action of food flavor perception-enhancement technologies,based on odor-taste cross-modal interaction(OTCMI),to provide insights into the further structural design and application of emulsion systems in this field.

Cross-Modal Consistency with Aesthetic Similarity for Multimodal False Information Detection

With the explosive growth of false information on social media platforms, the automatic detection of multimodalfalse information has received increasing attention. Recent research has significantly contributed to multimodalinformation exchange and fusion, with many methods attempting to integrate unimodal features to generatemultimodal news representations. However, they still need to fully explore the hierarchical and complex semanticcorrelations between different modal contents, severely limiting their performance detecting multimodal falseinformation. This work proposes a two-stage detection framework for multimodal false information detection,called ASMFD, which is based on image aesthetic similarity to segment and explores the consistency andinconsistency features of images and texts. Specifically, we first use the Contrastive Language-Image Pre-training(CLIP) model to learn the relationship between text and images through label awareness and train an imageaesthetic attribute scorer using an aesthetic attribute dataset. Then, we calculate the aesthetic similarity betweenthe image and related images and use this similarity as a threshold to divide the multimodal correlation matrixinto consistency and inconsistencymatrices. Finally, the fusionmodule is designed to identify essential features fordetectingmultimodal false information. In extensive experiments on four datasets, the performance of the ASMFDis superior to state-of-the-art baseline methods.

Perceptions of Mothers with Preterm Babies towards Donor Breast Milk at Women and Newborn Hospital,Lusaka Zambia

Breast milk offers essential nutrients crucial for the development of the preterm immune system, thus reducing the incidence of infection and mortality often associated with prematurity. In the absence of breast milk, the preferred option is donated breast milk, the best alternative for hospitalized neonates whose mothers have insufficient breast milk or are unavailable. In Zambia, donor breast milk is unavailable. Instead, the protocol recommends the administration of formula milk. However, the use of formula milk in preterm babies is associated with an increased risk of necrotizing enterocolitis and sepsis. Zambia needs to establish a donor milk bank, hence the need to understand the perception of mothers towards donated breast milk. A qualitative descriptive case study utilized 10 focus group discussions with in-depth interviews, purposively selected using a variation strategy. Data was thematically analysed. Participants demonstrated potential acceptance to donor breast milk utilization, as more nutritional compared to formula despite lack of awareness. Concerns related to safety, quality, fear of disease transmission and discomfort feeding from a different bloodline were identified as hinderance to possible utilisation. These perceptions underscore the importance of educational initiatives aimed at dispelling myths and misconceptions surrounding donor breast milk and establishing donor breast milk programs. Therefore, the study recommends educational initiatives tailored to raise awareness to mothers about donor breast milk.

Evaluation of the Living Conditions and Health Perceptions of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Handlers in the Informal Sector in Dakar

Electrical and electronic devices are becoming an increasingly important part of our society. In Africa, and in Senegal in particular, the handling and management of electronic and electrical equipment (EEE) that has reached the end of its life is mainly informal. This professional environment is characterized by the disintegration of the sector and the social heterogeneity that can be found there. The objective of this study is to assess the standard of living of electrical and electronic equipment waste handlers in the Dakar region, as well as their perception of their health. A survey was used to obtain information on sociodemographic background, living arrangements, perception of health status, and good practices to be implemented in case of work-related health problems. Life style, perception of general health and health problems were ranged as excellent, very good, good, average and poor. Informal recyclers in the Dakar region lived mainly in rooms and buildings as tenants (49.1%), or in family homes (48.4%) before starting this activity, and 51.2% continue to live in rooms and buildings as tenants compared to 41.4% who still live in a family home. The perception of health status ranged from poor to excellent, and 4.9% believe that they are limited in work due to a disability or health problem. Informal work is a heterogeneous phenomenon that makes research and policymaking particularly complex. There are several external factors within informal WEEE re-cyclers that can cause health problems or functional disability. However, the living conditions and the perception they have of their state of health are contradictory to the working conditions and the social environment to which they belong. A biomedical approach would consolidate these achievements by confirming or invalidating them.

High-sensitive state perception method for inverter-fed machine turn insulation based on FrFT-Mel

Amidst the swift advancement of new power systems and electric vehicles,inverter-fed machines have progressively materialized as a pivotal apparatus for efficient energy conversion.Stator winding turn insulation failure is the root cause of inverter-fed machine breakdown.The online monitoring of turn insulation health can detect potential safety risks promptly,but faces the challenge of weak characteristics of turn insulation degradation.This study proposes an innovative method to evaluate the turn insulation state of inverter-fed machines by utilizing the fractional Fourier transform with a Mel filter(FrFT-Mel).First,the sensitivity of the high-frequency(HF)switching oscillation current to variations in turn insulation was analyzed within the fractional domain.Subsequently,an improved Mel filter is introduced,and its structure and parameters are specifically designed based on the features intrinsic to the common-mode impedance resonance point of the electrical machine.Finally,an evaluation index was proposed for the turn insulation state of inverter-fed machines.Experimental results on a 3kW permanent magnet synchronous machine(PMSM)demonstrate that the proposed FrFT-Mel method significantly enhances the sensitivity of turn insulation state perception by approximately five times,compared to the traditional Fourier transform method.

Relationship Between Individuals’Epidemic Risk Perception Within Living Space and Subjective Well-Being:Empirical Evidence from China after the First Wave of COVID-19

It is common to observe the epidemic risk perception(ERP)and a decline in subjective well-being(SWB)in the context of public health events,such as Corona Virus Disease 2019(COVID-19).However,there have been few studies exploring the impact of individuals’ERP within living space on their SWB,especially from a geographical and daily activity perspective after the resumption of work and other activities following a wave of the pandemic.In this paper,we conducted a study with 789 participants in urban China,measuring their ERP within living space and examining its influence on their SWB using path analysis.The results indicated that individuals’ERP within their living space had a significant negative effect on their SWB.The density of certain types of facilities within their living space,such as bus stops,subway stations,restaurants,fast food shops,convenience shops,hospitals,and public toilets,had a significantly negative impact on their SWB,mediated by their ERP within living space.Additionally,participation in out-of-home work and other activities not only increased individuals’ERP within living space,but also strengthened its negative effect on their SWB.

Perception of Medical Students towards Hepatitis B Virus Infection and Hepatitis B Vaccination in a Private Tertiary Hospital in Jos North Local Government, Plateau State, Nigeria

Background: Prevention is one of the safe schemes against the high prevalence of viral Hepatitis. Negative perceptions or perceptions about the risks of hepatitis B among medical students and health care workers may influence the behavioral pattern and adoption of preventive measures against the virus and can affect the uptake of the Hepatitis B vaccine. This study assesses the perception of medical students towards Hepatitis B virus infection and Hepatitis B Vaccination in a Private Tertiary Hospital in Jos North Local Government, Plateau State, Nigeria. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study done in August 2021 among 236 clinical medical students using a multistage sampling technique. Data was collected using an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire and analysed using the IBM SPSS 28 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). Ethical approval was granted by Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Ethics Committee, Jos, Plateau State. Results: Two-thirds of respondents were of the opinion that they are at risk of contracting HBV. Half were of the opinion that the risk is very much while a third believed the risk is moderate. Among those who think they are not at risk of contracting HBV, the majority felt so because they are vaccinated while 10.3% believe that they are safe. 43.2% of respondents think that HBV Vaccine is very effective in preventing HBV infection while 39.8% think it is slightly effective, and 7.6% think it is not effective. Almost all respondents, 99.2% are of the opinion that HBV Vaccination is important for students while 0.8% think it is not important. The majority of the respondents at 95.8% were willing to be screened for HBV. The majority (85.6%) of respondents are willing to pay for HBV Vaccine as against 14.4% of respondents who are not willing to pay. Conclusion: Summarily, 21 (8.9%) of the students had a negative perception of Hepatitis B Vaccination, and 215 (91.1%) had a positive perception of Hepatitis B Vaccination. Perception-sustaining events like seminars, workshops, road shows, and campaigns should be organized among students and health workers.

Clinical effects of detailed nursing management interventions on medication adherence and disease perception in patients with drugresistant tuberculosis

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis(TB)is a chronic respiratory infectious disease that considerably jeopardizes human health,and there is no effective vaccine suitable for its prevention in the entire population.AIM To investigate the promotion of medication adherence and disease cognition in patients with drug-resistant(DR-)TB using detailed nursing management.METHODS In total,114 patients with DR-TB who were diagnosed and treated at our hospital between January 2019 and January 2023 were included in this study.Patients in the control group(n=57)were managed with conventional nursing care,while those in the observation group(n=57)were managed with detailed nursing care.Medication adherence,disease awareness scores,medication safety,and nursing satisfaction were compared between the two groups after the intervention.RESULTS The post-intervention medication compliance rate was 91.23%in the observation group and 75.44%in the control group,with the former being 15.79%higher than the latter(P<0.05).There was no statistically significant difference in the disease awareness scores between the two groups before the intervention;the disease awareness scores of the observation group were significantly higher than those of the control group after the intervention(P<0.05).The incidence of gastrointestinal reactions,joint swelling and pain,hearing loss,electrolyte disorders,and liver and kidney function abnormalities were lower in the observation group than those in the control group.The total nursing satisfaction of the observation group was higher than that of the control group(P<0.05).CONCLUSION Implementation of detailed nursing management for patients with DR-TB can effectively improve medication adherence,enhance awareness of the disease,ensure safety of medication,and improve satisfaction with nursing care.

Cardiovascular health awareness,risk perception,behavioural intention and INTERHEART risk stratification among middle-aged adults in Malaysia

Objective:To investigate the interrelationship between cardiovascular health awareness,risk perception,behavioural intention,and INTERHEART risk stratification in a middle-aged adult population in Malaysia.Methods:A cross-sectional survey with convenience sampling was conducted during November 2022 and January 2023.Participants completed validated questionnaires assessing cardiovascular health awareness,risk perception of cardiovascular diseases,behavioural intention towards adopting healthy habits,and INTERHEART risk stratification score(IHRS)based on established risk factors.A total of 602 respondents were included in the final analysis.Data were analysed with independent t-test/one-way ANOVA or Mann-Whitney/Kruskal-Wallis to test the differences,Pearson correlation or linear regression test to analyze the association of independent and dependent variables.Results:There was a significant positive correlation between medical knowledge related to cardiovascular disease(CVD)and knowledge related to CVD risk prevention,risk perception,behavioural intention and IHRS(P<0.05,Pearson correlation).Notably,individuals with higher IHRS tended to have lower knowledge related to CVD and CVD risk prevention,risk perception,and behavioural intention.Males,laborers,active/former smokers,individuals with lower household income and educational levels,those involved in occupations not related to the healthcare sector,and those who did not receive the CVD health brochure or are unaware of health self-assessment tools are likely to have lower levels of knowledge,risk perception,and poorer behavioural intention regarding cardiovascular health(P<0.05,one-way ANOVA).While educational level,smoking status,awareness about CVD poster,self-assessment tools were repeatedly significantly associated with knowledge related to CVD and CVD risk prevention,risk perception,behavioral intention and/or IHRS(P<0.05,linear regression).Conclusions:These findings underscore the importance of promoting cardiovascular health awareness and risk perception among middle-aged adults to foster positive BI and reduce CVD risk.Tailored interventions targeting specific risk factors identified by INTERHEART may enhance risk stratification accuracy and facilitate targeted preventive strategies.

Correlation linking illness perception,negative emotions,and the post-operative recovery effect in patients with perianal disease

BACKGROUND Improvements in the standard of living have led to increased attention to perianal disease.Although surgical treatments are effective,the outcomes of postoperative recovery(POR)are influenced by various factors,including individual differences among patients,the characteristics of the disease itself,and the psychological state of the patient.Understanding these factors can help healthcare providers develop more personalized and effective post-operative care plans for patients with perianal disease.AIM To investigate the effect of illness perception(IP)and negative emotions on POR outcomes in patients with perianal disease.METHODS A total of 146 patients with perianal disease admitted to the First People's Hospital of Changde City from March to December 2023 were recruited.We employed a general information questionnaire,the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire(B-IPQ),and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale(HADS).We used the 15-item Quality of Recovery Score(QoR-15)to measure patients’recovery effects.Finally,we conducted Pearson’s correlation analysis to examine the relationship between pre-operative IP and anxiety and depression levels with POR quality.RESULTS Fifty-three(36.3%)had poor knowledge of their disease.Thirty(20.5%)were suspected of having anxiety and 99(67.8%)exhibited symptoms.Forty(27.4%)were suspected of having depression and 102(69.9%)displayed symptoms.The B-IPQ,HADS-A,HADS-D,and QoR-15 scores were 46.82±9.97,12.99±3.60,12.58±3.36,and 96.77±9.85,respectively.There was a negative correlation between pre-operative IP,anxiety,and depression with POR quality.The influence of age and disease course on post-operative rehabilitation effect are both negative.The impact of B-IPQ,HADS-A,and HADS-D on POR was negative.Collectively,these variables accounted for 72.6%of the variance in POR.CONCLUSION The quality of POR in patients with perianal disease is medium and is related to age,disease course,IP,anxiety,and depression.

Safety Evaluation and Improvement of Homestays from the Perspective of Tourists’Perception: A Case Study of Tangjiajia Hot Spring Village in Nanjing

Safety is one of the basic needs of tourists,and their sense of security is a necessary condition for the successful operation of homestays.Based on the theory of tourist perception,Nanjing Tangjiajia Hot Spring Village is taken as the research object.This paper analyzes the tourists’perception of homestay safety facilities and services through questionnaire survey,field investigation,interview,and other methods.It proposes strategies for improving homestay safety,aiming to provide safety management references for China’s homestay industry and promote its sustainable development.

Teachers’Perception for Evaluation of the Primary School Students With Final Grade

The most difficult and delicate part of the learning process is assessment.Assessment is difficult because during his/her accomplishment the teacher has to consider not only the acquisition of knowledge from students,but also the overall degree of development of their competencies.It is delicate,because through assessment we can influence the emotional side of students and their“willingness”to learn.Despite these facts,teachers need to evaluate students during the learning process.The purpose of the research is to find out what is the perception of teachers about the level of evaluation of students with final grade.The overall results showed that 89%of teachers agree,9%of them have a neutral attitude,and 2%do not agree that the evaluation of students with a final grade is done taking into account many aspects and using many methods,the overall average of the results,M=4.36.Based on the empirical results,it was found that teachers who have completed assessment training have a more positive approach to student assessment,as the average score is higher than teachers who have not completed assessment training.From the qualitative results it was understood that the Teachers did not encounter any difficulties during the assessment of the students.

Consumers’ Perception and Knowledge of Food Additives in Senegal: A Pilot Study

Food safety has become a major concern for consumers, as well as a priority for regulatory authorities. Faced with the growing industrial and domestic use of food additives, many questions are being asked and concerns are being felt by consumers around the world. Consumer perception defines the acceptability or rejection of food products, and has an impact on consumption patterns and behavior. To assess the level of knowledge and perception of food additives, a pilot study was carried out on a sample of 200 people in Dakar and Saint-Louis. A questionnaire was used to assess the acceptance or rejection, use and impact of food additives by consumers in Senegal. The results revealed several aspects. On the whole, the people surveyed expressed great mistrust and even rejection of these substances added to food products. This consumer perception is shared throughout the world, as indicated in numerous surveys. It also emerges from this study that, although most consumers are aware of the existence of these additives and their uses in the home, they feel that the use of these substances in industrial production is too excessive. What’s more, consumers associate food additives with numerous pathologies such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke and even sexual impotence. For some of these indexed pathologies, scientific studies have reached the same conclusions, although controversy still persists. On the other hand, for some of the other adverse effects mentioned, no cause-and-effect relationship has been scientifically demonstrated. In these latter cases, it seems that negative communication, misinformation and misconceptions have a major influence on consumer perception of food additives.

Impact mechanism of perception on the protection intention of tourist heritage sites:Taking the Hangzhou section of the Grand Canal as an example

Heritage tourism is a hot research topic in the academic field,and most scholars focus on the development model of heritage tourism and heritage conservation theory and methods,but less on the heritage tourists themselves.Based on the theory of planned behavior,the study introduces the variable of“perception”,and takes the Hangzhou section of the Grand Canal as a case study,and investigates tourists through literature,fieldwork and questionnaires.The study constructs a“perception-subjective norm-willingness to protect”model to explore the influence of tourists’“perception”and“subjective norm”on“willingness to protect”.The study found that:first,heritage tourists’perceptions significantly affect attitudes,subjective norms,perceptual behavior control and willingness to conserve.Second,tourists’attitudes,subjective norms and perceptual behavior control significantly affect their willingness to conserve.Third,heritage tourists’economic perceptions,social perceptions and emotional perceptions can affect willingness to conserve.The study provides references for relevant governments and tourism enterprises to conserve and develop the Grand Canal section.

Volcanic Risk Perception and Coping Strategies from Mounts Cameroon and Nyiragongo Eruptions, Central Africa: A Comparative Analysis

Approximately 2,000,000 people are exposed to volcanic risks in communities situated at the flanks of Mounts Cameroon (MC) and Nyiragongo (MN) volcanoes in Central Africa. This study therefore sought to investigate risk perception from four previous eruptions of MC, namely the 1959, 1982, 1999, and 2000 eruptions;and two previous eruptions of MN: 1977 and 2002. The study was initiated with co-design workshops held with major stakeholders in the cities of Buea and Goma at the flanks of MC and MN, respectively, in 2017, to develop the research objectives for the study. A non-random questionnaire survey was later conducted within 14 and 15 communities in Buea and Goma respectively, on the effects, perceived risks, and coping strategies for the chosen eruptions. Three age groups (18 - 30, 31 - 45 and >45 years) and gender (male and female) were considered. The population at the flanks of both volcanoes cited scientific and indigenous factors to be responsible for eruptions from these volcanoes. At MC and MN, ≥45% of the sampled participants (with a higher female population) perceived that the sampled eruptions posed a very high risk to the population. In terms of the effects, the age group of 18 - 30 was the least knowledgeable. In terms of direct effect on persons, over 90% of participants at MC and MN attested that they were overcome by fear/panic. On measures to cope with any likely eruption, the following order was established at the flanks of both volcanoes: sensitization of population, use of religious (prayers) and of traditional/indigenous strategies. In terms of future coping strategies, while the males at MC maintained sensitization as the favourite option, 62% of the males at MN opted for traditional/indigenous strategies. The female population at both MC and MN showed a higher preference for religious strategies like prayers.