A New Multidisciplinary Home Care Telemedicine System to Monitor Stable Chronic Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Patients: A Randomized Study

BACKGROUND: Antiretroviral therapy has changed the natural history of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in developed countries, where it has become a chronic disease. This clinical scenario requires a new approach to simplify follow-up appointments and facilitate access to healthcare professionals. METHODOLOGY: We developed a new internet-based home care model covering the entire management of chronic HIV-infected patients. This was called Virtual Hospital. We report the results of a prospective randomised study performed over two years, comparing standard care received by HIV-infected patients with Virtual Hospital care. HIV-infected patients with access to a computer and broadband were randomised to be monitored either through Virtual Hospital (Arm I) or through standard care at the day hospital (Arm II). After one year of follow up, patients switched their care to the other arm. Virtual Hospital offered four main services: Virtual Consultations, Telepharmacy, Virtual Library and Virtual Community. A technical and clinical evaluation of Virtual Hospital was carried out. FINDINGS: Of the 83 randomised patients, 42 were monitored during the first year through Virtual Hospital (Arm I) and 41 through standard care (Arm II). Baseline characteristics of patients were similar in the two arms. The level of technical satisfaction with the virtual system was high: 85% of patients considered that Virtual Hospital improved their access to clinical data and they felt comfortable with the videoconference system. Neither clinical parameters [level of CD4+ T lymphocytes, proportion of patients with an undetectable level of viral load (p = 0.21) and compliance levels >90% (p = 0.58)] nor the evaluation of quality of life or psychological questionnaires changed significantly between the two types of care. CONCLUSIONS: Virtual Hospital is a feasible and safe tool for the multidisciplinary home care of chronic HIV patients. Telemedicine should be considered as an appropriate support service for the management of chronic HIV infection. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical-Trials.gov: NCT01117675.

High-Definition Video Distribution in 802.11g Home Wireless Networks

Multimedia distribution through wireless networks in the home environment presents a number of advantages which have fueled the interest of industry in recent years, such as simple connectivity and data delivery to a variety of devices. Together with High-Definition (HD) contents, multimedia wireless networks have been proposed for several applications, such as IPTV and Digital TV distribution for multiple devices in the home environment. For these scenarios, we propose a multicast distribution system for High-Definition video over 802.11 wireless networks based on rate-limited packet retransmission. We develop a limited rate ARQ system that retransmits packets according to the importance of their content (prioritization scheme) and according to their delay limitations (delay control). The performance of our proposed ARQ system is evaluated and compared with a similarly rate-limited ARQ algorithm. The results show a higher packet recovery rate and improvements in video quality for our proposed system.

Testing of fluorescent DC lamps for Solar Home Systems

With the advent of the Universal Technical Standard for Solar Home Systems, procedures to test the compliance of SHS fluorescent lamps with the standard have been developed. Definition of the laboratory testing procedures is a necessary step in any lamp quality assurance procedure. Particular attention has been paid to test simplicity and to affordability, in order to facilitate local application of the testing procedures, for example by the organisations which carry out electrification programmes. The set of test procedures has been applied to a representative collection of 42 lamps from many different countries, directly acquired in the current photovoltaic rural electrification market. Tests apply to: lamp resistance under normal operating conditions; lamp reliability under extreme conditions; under abnormal conditions; and lamp luminosity. Results are discussed and some recommendations for updating the relevant standard are given. The selected technical standard, together with the proposed testing procedures, form the basis of a complete quality assurance tool that can be applied locally in normal electrical laboratories. Full testing of a lamp requires less than one month, which is very reasonable on the context of quality assurance programmes

‘This square is our home!’: the organisation of urban space in the spanish 15M movement

Why should a progressive planner/urbanist pay attention to the Spanish 15M movement? From a disciplinary standpoint, its most complex and interesting aspect, which could hypothetically be transferred to other contexts (as in fact happened in the Occupy Wall Street and Occupy London movements), is its 'spatiality'. This article analyses the spatial practices of the so called #spanishrevolution, one of the 2011 social movements that showed the possibility for a new collective appropriation and self-management (autogestion) of urban public space. Although the political goals of the movement were vague at the time of its inception, the practices and spatial imaginaries deployed by it have become consolidated and proven to be yet another of its more successful facets in promoting the spreading and organisation of the protest, making it a phenomenon that calls for reflection on the part of urban thinkers and planners.

Fiabilidad y costes de mantenimiento en un programa de electrificación rural de 13.000 solar home systems

La electrificación rural fotovoltaica ha experimentado últimamente un salto de escala tanto en la dimensión de sus programas como en sus sistemas de gestión. Garantizar la calidad técnica ya no se reduce solamente a la fase de diseño e instalación, sino también a la de operación y mantenimiento. El presente trabajo trata de caracterizar la fase de operación del programa de electrificación rural fotovoltaico de Marruecos sobre el cual se ha llevado a cabo un exhaustivo estudio de fiabilidad de los distintos componentes que integran los sistemas solares (SHS), así como una evaluación de los costes unitarios ligados al mantenimiento, analizando su impacto en la estructura general de costes del programa. Los resultados van dirigidos hacia la caracterización de un modelo de la estructura de mantenimiento que logre asegurar la sostenibilidad de este tipo de programas.

A knowledge based framework to support active aging at home based environments

Information and Communication Technologies can support Active Aging strategies in a scenario like the Smart Home. This paper details a person centered distributed framework, called TALISMAN+, whose aim is to promote personal autonomy by taking advantage of knowledge based technologies, sensors networks, mobile devices and internet. The proposed solution can support an elderly person to keep living alone at his house without being obliged to move to a residential center. The framework is composed by five subsystems: a reasoning module that is able to take local decisions at home in order to support active aging, a biomedical variables telemonitorisation platform running on a mobile device, a hybrid reasoning middleware aimed to assess cardiovascular risk in a remote way, a private vision based sensor subsystem, and a secure telematics solution that guarantees confidentiality for personal information. TALISMAN+ framework deployment is being evaluated at a real environment like the Accessible Digital Home.

Enhancement of a body area network to support smart health monitoring at the digital home

The deployment of home-based smart health services requires effective and reliable systems for personal and environmental data management. ooperation between Home Area Networks (HAN) and Body Area Networks (BAN) can provide smart systems with ad hoc reasoning information to support health care. This paper details the implementation of an architecture that integrates BAN, HAN and intelligent agents to manage physiological and environmental data to proactively detect risk situations at the digital home. The system monitors dynamic situations and timely adjusts its behavior to detect user risks concerning to health. Thus, this work provides a reasoning framework to infer appropriate solutions in cases of health risk episodes. Proposed smart health monitoring approach integrates complex reasoning according to home environment, user profile and physiological parameters defined by a scalable ontology. As a result, health care demands can be detected to activate adequate internal mechanisms and report public health services for requested actions.

LED bulb lamps technical specification and testing procedure for solar home systems.

With the consolidation of the new solid state lighting LEOs devices, te5t1n9 the compliance 01 lamps based on this technology lor Solar Home Systems (SHS) have been analyzed. The definition of the laboratory procedures to be used with final products 15 a necessary step in arder to be able to assure the quality of the lamps prior to be installed [1]. As well as with CFL technology. particular attention has been given to simplicity and technical affordability in arder to facilitate the implementation of the test with basie and simple laboratory too15 even on the same SHS electrification program locations. The block of test procedures has been applied to a set of 14 low-cost lamps. They apply to lamp resistance, reliability and performance under normal, extreme and abnormal operating conditions as a simple but complete quality meter tool 01 any LEO bulb.

Hacia "augmented home": hitos antecedentes

Una vez que el tiempo ha superado al espacio, la casa del futuro es ampliada en torno al recorrido del ipad y el smartphone evolucionado que se convierte en interfaz entre el cuerpo y la ciudad. Augmented home se entiende como el tiempo doméstico en un sistema integrado de cuerpo e información.

Electrificación rural fotovoltaica "Solar Home Systems". Fiabilidad y costes de mantenimiento

La electrificación rural fotovoltaica ha experimentado últimamente un salto de escala tanto en la dimensión de sus programas como en sus sistemas de gestión. Garantizar la calidad técnica ya no se reduce solamente a la fase de dise~o e instalación, sino también a la de operación y mantenimiento. El estudio del Instituto de Energfa Solar de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid trata de caracterizar la fase de ope ración del programa de electrificación rural fotovoltaico de Marruecos sobre el cual se ha llevado a cabo un exhaustivo estudio de fiabilidad de los distintos componentes que integran los denominados Solar Heme 5ysrems (SHS). Ase como una evaluación de los costes unitarios ligados al mantenimiento, analizando su impacto en la estructura general de costes del programa. Los resultados van dirigidos hacia la caracterización de un modelo de la estructura de mantenimiento que logre asegurar la sostenibilidad de este tipo de programas energéticos.