Integrity monitoring for undifferenced and uncombined PPP under the local environment

Integrity monitoring of precise point positioning (PPP) can provide tightly guaranteed absolute position error bounds for safety-critical applications. However, complex local environment makes PPP integrity monitoring much more challenging, such as urban canyons. Significant prone multipaths and low observation redundancy are main difficulties to the accuracy and the reliability of PPP. Therefore, we proposed a solution separation-based integrity monitoring algorithm, which is based on a single and dual frequency-mixed undifferenced and uncombined PPP model considering compensation for the multipath error distortion by Gaussian overbounding. Both the static and the kinematic data are utilized to test the proposed algorithm. The results show that the proposed algorithm can produce adequate protection level in horizontal and vertical directions. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm can obtain smoother protection level and positioning error under the dynamic local environment, and effectively suppress the misleading information.

Relation of corona-specific health literacy to use of and trust in information sources during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background COVID-19 has developed into a worldwide pandemic which was accompanied by an «infodemic» consisting of much false and misleading information. To cope with these new challenges, health literacy plays an essential role. The aim of this paper is to present the findings of a trend study in Switzerland on corona-specific health literacy, the use of and trust in information sources during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their relationships. Methods Three online surveys each with approximately 1′020 individuals living in the German-speaking part of Switzerland (age ≥ 18 years) were conducted at different timepoints during the COVID-19 pandemic, namely spring, fall and winter 2020. For the assessment of corona-specific health literacy, a specifically developed instrument (HLS-COVID-Q22) was used. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate data analyses have been conducted. Results In general, a majority of the Swiss-German population reported sufficient corona-specific health literacy levels which increased during the pandemic: 54.6% participants in spring, 62.4% in fall and 63.3% in winter 2020 had sufficient corona-specific health literacy. Greatest difficulties concerned the appraisal of health information on the coronavirus. The most used information sources were television (used by 73.3% in spring, 70% in fall and 72.3% in winter) and the internet (used by 64.1, 64.8 and 66.5%). Although health professionals, health authorities and the info-hotline were rarely mentioned as sources for information on the coronavirus, respondents had greatest trust in them. On the other hand, social media were considered as the least trustworthy information sources. Respondents generally reporting more trust in the various information sources, tended to have higher corona-specific health literacy levels. Conclusions Sufficient health literacy is an essential prerequisite for finding, understanding, appraising, and applying health recommendations, particularly in a situation where there is a rapid spread of a huge amount of information. The population should be supported in their capability in appraising the received information and in assessing the trustworthiness of different information sources.

TERMINOLOGICAL CHAOS IN LABELLING FALSE ONLINE CONTENT

The study deals with the issue of misleading information in the Internet environment. The authors define and analyse basic terms denoting various methods of disinformation. They point to the fact that there are specific terms and phenomena forming the thematic axis of the current discourse on disinformation practices in online media. They state that there is quite a lot of chaos in the field of terminology. This is the reason why they critically reconsider the existing knowledge related to disinformation, such as fake news and the like. The ambition of the authors is the conceptualisation of disinformation methods in the context of a broadening of genres and social background. They emphasise the need to research the issue because the information quality of various blogs, posts, comments, etc. raises many unanswered questions or incorrect answers. In their analysis of the issue, they use the basic methods of logical analysis, the hermeneutic approach, as well as selectively chosen examples of individual typological variants of disinformation.

The impact of misinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic

<abstract> <p>Since the inception of the current pandemic, COVID-19 related misinformation has played a role in defaulting control of the situation. It has become evident that the internet, social media, and other communication outlets with readily available data have contributed to the dissemination and availability of misleading information. It has perpetuated beliefs that led to vaccine avoidance, mask refusal, and utilization of medications with insignificant scientific data, ultimately contributing to increased morbidity. Undoubtedly, misinformation has become a challenge and a burden to individual health, public health, and governments globally. We performed a literature search of databases such as Pubmed, Google, GoogleScholar. The key descriptors used for the search purposes were “COVID-19”, “Coronavirus”, “SARS-CoV-2”, “communication”, “healthcare”, “misinformation”, and “social media”. This literature review aims at providing an overview and summary regarding the role of media, other information outlets, and their impact on the pandemic. The goal of this article is to increase awareness of the negative impact of misinformation on the pandemic. In addition, we discuss a few recommendations that could aid in decreasing this burden, as preventing the conception and dissemination of misinformation is essential.</p> </abstract>

EXPLORING CUSTOMERS’ ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOURS TOWARDS USING MOBILE MARKETING BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER VISITING RESTAURANTS IN SAUDI ARABIA

Contemporary tourism has seen the adoption of mobile applications to discover and market attractions such as restaurants and hotels, yet few academic studies focus on customer attitudes and behaviours towards the usage of mobile marketing for restaurants in non-western cultures, like Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian Government’s announcement that its borders are opening to international tourists marks a significant opportunity for the hospitality businesses. This study provides insight into customers’ attitudes and behaviours towards using mobile marketing channels when deciding on restaurants. Qualitative research using semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten Saudi customers who frequently utilised their smartphones to decide on restaurants. Thematic analysis identified positive attitudes towards using mobile marketing for restaurants which considered factors like usefulness, ease of use, time and money savings, while misleading information and massive advertising resulted in negative attitudes. Furthermore, the research highlights customers’ main mobile marketing activities before, during, and after their visits to restaurants. This research provides the initial findings identifying opportunities for businesses as a result of the adoption of these technologies.

Empathy reduces susceptibility to false memory

Psychological and physiological evidence has demonstrated that the underlying mechanisms for empathy and for autobiographical memories were related to a great extent. However, whether the facilitative effect of empathy on memory also applied to misinformation was unknown. To test this, we used a misinformation paradigm on a sample of 51 participants aged 20–27. The participants viewed videos that evoked different degrees of empathy, and then were fed misleading information. The participants’ susceptibility to misleading information was lower for the videos that provoked a high degree of empathy compared to the videos that provoked a low degree of empathy. Based on our data, we conclude that empathy can prevent people from being misled by false information.

Frequent Hospital Users with Limited English are Vulnerable to COVID-19 Misinformation: Results from A Cross-sectional Survey

BackgroundSuccessful public health responses to pandemics rely on individuals being able to access, clearly understand and easily interpret relevant information about symptoms, prevention, testing and containment strategies. Accessing and interpreting information during the pandemic has been difficult for many populations, particularly those experiencing social or economic disadvantage. The aim of this study was to understand how a population of frequent hospital users originating, from a disadvantaged population, have accessed and interpreted information during the COVID pandemic in Melbourne.MethodsCross sectional telephone survey of 200 frequent hospital users (115 with limited English proficiency) informed by the World Health Organisation’s “Rapid, simple, flexible behavioural insights on COVID-19”. Primary outcome measures included knowledge of symptoms, preventive strategies, government restrictions aimed at containment, and belief in misleading information. Secondary outcome measure was perceived trustworthiness of information which was measured using content analysis of open-ended questions. ResultsOverall, the survey participants had poor understanding of misleading information (69%). 41.2% were unable to accurately identify symptoms, while 35.8% were unable to identify preventative strategies. Just under 1/3 (30.2%) were unable to describe government restrictions. English-speaking participants were almost three times (OR 2.69, 95%CI 1.47;4.91) more likely tohave adequate knowledge about symptoms, were twice as likely to understand local restrictions (OR 2.10 95%CI 1.06; 4.19) and were 11 times more likely to recognise information that was misleading or incorrect (OR 11.52 95%CI 5.39; 24.60) than those with limited English. 50% of those surveyed stated that theytrusted all information that they read or heard, with on 20% stating that they were uncertain or untrusting of some information.ConclusionLimited English proficiency was strongly associated with inadequate knowledge of COVID-19 and much greater likelihood of believing widely circulating misinformation. In order to reduce transmission, morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19, health authorities must tailor health messaging to disadvantaged populations to ensure they have adequate access, and understanding, of the information.

Do not fear your robot overlords: What a robot looks like does not affect how much they mislead you

<p>Would you believe what a robot tells you? A robot is essentially a high functioning computer and so, on the one hand, you should have no problem believing the information it provides. But on the other hand, what robots look like have been to shown to affect how you would feel about them. Robots that look almost—but not quite—human have been shown to elicit feelings of unease and mistrust. How much do these feelings of mistrust in turn make these humanlike robots believed less? Across two experiments, we answered that question by showing people a video of a crime and then having them read a witness statement containing misleading information. This statement was ostensibly prepared by a robot that appeared human, robotic, or a morph of the two. Contrary to our predictions, what a robot looks like did not affect how misled people were, even when we drew attention to how much people trusted their robot source. These results suggest that even though people may not like, or trust, certain robots, they will still believe what they say.</p>

Do not fear your robot overlords: What a robot looks like does not affect how much they mislead you

<p>Would you believe what a robot tells you? A robot is essentially a high functioning computer and so, on the one hand, you should have no problem believing the information it provides. But on the other hand, what robots look like have been to shown to affect how you would feel about them. Robots that look almost—but not quite—human have been shown to elicit feelings of unease and mistrust. How much do these feelings of mistrust in turn make these humanlike robots believed less? Across two experiments, we answered that question by showing people a video of a crime and then having them read a witness statement containing misleading information. This statement was ostensibly prepared by a robot that appeared human, robotic, or a morph of the two. Contrary to our predictions, what a robot looks like did not affect how misled people were, even when we drew attention to how much people trusted their robot source. These results suggest that even though people may not like, or trust, certain robots, they will still believe what they say.</p>