Overcoming language barriers in healthcare: A protocol for investigating safe and effective communication when patients or clinicians use a second language

Background Miscommunication in the healthcare sector can be life-threatening. The rising number of migrant patients and foreign-trained staff means that communication errors between a healthcare practitioner and patient when one or both are speaking a second language are increasingly likely. However, there is limited research that addresses this issue systematically. This protocol outlines a hospital-based study examining interactions between healthcare practitioners and their patients who either share or do not share a first language. Of particular interest are the nature and efficacy of communication in language-discordant conversations, and the degree to which risk is communicated. Our aim is to understand language barriers and miscommunication that may occur in healthcare settings between patients and healthcare practitioners, especially where at least one of the speakers is using a second (weaker) language. Methods/Design Eighty individual interactions between patients and practitioners who speak either English or Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese) as their first language will be video recorded in a range of in- and out-patient departments at three hospitals in the Metro South area of Brisbane, Australia. All participants will complete a language background questionnaire. Patients will also complete a short survey rating the effectiveness of the interaction. Recordings will be transcribed and submitted to both quantitative and qualitative analyses to determine elements of the language used that might be particularly problematic and the extent to which language concordance and discordance impacts on the quality of the patient-practitioner consultation. Discussion Understanding the role that language plays in creating barriers to healthcare is critical for healthcare systems that are experiencing an increasing range of culturally and linguistically diverse populations both amongst patients and practitioners. The data resulting from this study will inform policy and practical solutions for communication training, provide an agenda for future research, and extend theory in health communication.

An exploration of the attitudes and strategic responses of soleproprietor micro-enterprises in adopting information and communication technology

This article analyses longitudinal case-based research exploring the attitudes and strategic responses of micro-enterprise owners in adopting information and communication technology (ICT). In so doing, it contributes to the limited literature on micro-enterprise ICT adoption, with a particular focus on sole proprietors. It provides a basis for widening the theoretical base of the literature pertaining to ICT adoption on two levels. First, a framework is developed which integrates the findings to illustrate the relationships between attitudes towards ICT adoption, endogenous and exogenous influencers of these attitudes and subsequent strategic response in ICT adoption. Second, building upon this framework the article reveals the unique challenges, opportunities and implications of ICT adoption for sole-proprietor micro-enterprises. �� The Author(s) 2012

Architecture for real-time coordination of multiple autonomous mobile units

Interest on using teams of mobile robots has been growing, due to their potential to cooperate for diverse purposes, such as rescue, de-mining, surveillance or even games such as robotic soccer. These applications require a real-time middleware and wireless communication protocol that can support an efficient and timely fusion of the perception data from different robots as well as the development of coordinated behaviours. Coordinating several autonomous robots towards achieving a common goal is currently a topic of high interest, which can be found in many application domains. Despite these different application domains, the technical problem of building an infrastructure to support the integration of the distributed perception and subsequent coordinated action is similar. This problem becomes tougher with stronger system dynamics, e.g., when the robots move faster or interact with fast objects, leading to tighter real-time constraints. This thesis work addressed computing architectures and wireless communication protocols to support efficient information sharing and coordination strategies taking into account the real-time nature of robot activities. The thesis makes two main claims. Firstly, we claim that despite the use of a wireless communication protocol that includes arbitration mechanisms, the self-organization of the team communications in a dynamic round that also accounts for variable team membership, effectively reduces collisions within the team, independently of its current composition, significantly improving the quality of the communications. We will validate this claim in terms of packet losses and communication latency. We show how such self-organization of the communications can be achieved in an efficient way with the Reconfigurable and Adaptive TDMA protocol. Secondly, we claim that the development of distributed perception, cooperation and coordinated action for teams of mobile robots can be simplified by using a shared memory middleware that replicates in each cooperating robot all necessary remote data, the Real-Time Database (RTDB) middleware. These remote data copies, which are updated in the background by the selforganizing communications protocol, are extended with age information automatically computed by the middleware and are locally accessible through fast primitives. We validate our claim showing a parsimonious use of the communication medium, improved timing information with respect to the shared data and the simplicity of use and effectiveness of the proposed middleware shown in several use cases, reinforced with a reasonable impact in the Middle Size League of RoboCup.

Convergence of Smart Grid ICT architectures for the last mile

The evolution of the electrical grid into a smart grid, allowing user production, storage and exchange of energy, remote control of appliances, and in general optimizations over how the energy is managed and consumed, is also an evolution into a complex Information and Communication Technology (ICT) system. With the goal of promoting an integrated and interoperable smart grid, a number of organizations all over the world started uncoordinated standardization activities, which caused the emergence of a large number of incompatible architectures and standards. There are now new standardization activities which have the goal of organizing existing standards and produce best practices to choose the right approach(es) to be employed in specific smart grid designs. This paper follows the lead of NIST and ETSI/CEN/CENELEC approaches in trying to provide taxonomy of existing solutions; our contribution reviews and relates current ICT state-of-the-art, with the objective of forecasting future trends based on the orientation of current efforts and on relationships between them. The resulting taxonomy provides guidelines for further studies of the architectures, and highlights how the standards in the last mile of the smart grid are converging to common solutions to improve ICT infrastructure interoperability.

Las TIC en la administraci��n de la cadena de suministro y su incidencia en el desempe��o operacional

Las tecnolog��as de la informaci��n han empezado a ser un factor importante a tener en cuenta en cada uno de los procesos que se llevan a cabo en la cadena de suministro. Su implementaci��n y correcto uso otorgan a las empresas ventajas que favorecen el desempe��o operacional a lo largo de la cadena. El desarrollo y aplicaci��n de software han contribuido a la integraci��n de los diferentes miembros de la cadena, de tal forma que desde los proveedores hasta el cliente final, perciben beneficios en las variables de desempe��o operacional y nivel de satisfacci��n respectivamente. Por otra parte es importante considerar que su implementaci��n no siempre presenta resultados positivos, por el contrario dicho proceso de implementaci��n puede verse afectado seriamente por barreras que impiden maximizar los beneficios que otorgan las TIC.

Simulation in NS-2 of DNP3 protocol encapsulated over TCP/IP in smart grid applications

In dealing with computer networks, these allow the flow of information through the resources of various equipment's. This work describes the implementation through the encapsulation of Protocol DNP3, usually employed in Smart Grid communication, in a simulator of discrete events. The NS-2 is a simulator in open source of network events, that facilitate the development of communication networks scenarios considering the protocols involved, in wireless or wired technologies. The objective of this work is to develop the DNP3 protocol encapsulation over a TCP/IP in the in the discrete event Simulator NS-2, allowing an analysis of behavior of a middle or large network sized in Smart Grid applications. �� 2013 IEEE.

Research on policies and institutions to support small and medium scale enterprise in the Caribbean: Trinidad adn Tobago report

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago continues to provide support to SMEs in order to enhance their international competitiveness. The increasing effects of globalization and the reality of several trade agreements require that local businesses attain and maintain a level of competitiveness which ensures their continued survival and growth. This report examines in detail the policy environment within which these enterprises operate. It also examines the role of the key implementing agencies such as the BDC and NEDCO for government���s policy on the sector and also the role of the respective line ministries. These organizations strive to deliver value added technical, financial and export promotion services to its clients on a subsidised basis. The services offered reflect five key business areas such as financing, training, technical assistance, trade assistance, business re-engineering, project management and export promotion. In the case of the BDC its services target six sectors: food and beverage, metal processing, leisure marine, including yachting, information and communication technology/electronics, printing and packaging and entertainment. These said sectors are identified by the government, on the basis of a study which was done by TIDCO, for the promotion of a cluster development strategy. In the case of NEDCO it targets the following sectors: art and craft, food and beverages, fashion and fashion accessories, culture and ecotourism, bed and breakfast operations, indigenous entertainment and light manufacturing.

Modelo de simula����o NS-2 para o protocolo DNP3 sobre o protocolo de rede sem fio IEEE 802.15.4 para simula����o de baixo custo de aplica����o smart grid

P��s-gradua����o em Engenharia El��trica - FEIS

Design of high fidelity building energy monitoring system

Building energy meter network, based on per-appliance monitoring system, willbe an important part of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure. Two key issues exist for designing such networks. One is the network structure to be used. The other is the implementation of the network structure on a large amount of small low power devices, and the maintenance of high quality communication when the devices have electric connection with high voltage AC line. The recent advancement of low-power wireless communication makes itself the right candidate for house and building energy network. Among all kinds of wireless solutions, the low speed but highly reliable 802.15.4 radio has been chosen in this design. While many network-layer solutions have been provided on top of 802.15.4, an IPv6 based method is used in this design. 6LOWPAN is the particular protocol which adapts IP on low power personal network radio. In order to extend the network into building area without, a specific network layer routing mechanism-RPL, is included in this design. The fundamental unit of the building energy monitoring system is a smart wall plug. It is consisted of an electricity energy meter, a RF communication module and a low power CPU. The real challenge for designing such a device is its network firmware. In this design, IPv6 is implemented through Contiki operation system. Customize hardware driver and meter application program have been developed on top of the Contiki OS. Some experiments have been done, in order to prove the network ability of this system.

Integraci��n Wi-Fi en un proyecto ICT

La instalaci��n de Infraestructuras Comunes de Telecomunicaci��n (IICCTT) en el interior de las edificaciones para el acceso a los servicios de telecomunicaci��n facilit�� la incorporaci��n a las viviendas de las nuevas tecnolog��as de forma econ��mica y transparente para los usuarios. Actualmente, todos los edificios de nueva construcci��n deben presentar un proyecto ICT firmado por un Ingeniero T��cnico de Telecomunicaci��n de la especialidad correspondiente o un Ingeniero de Telecomunicaci��n. La legislaci��n que las regula afecta a todo tipo de viviendas con independencia del poder adquisitivo del comprador, y contribuye de manera decisiva a que disminuyan a corto y medio plazo las desigualdades sociales en lo relativo al acceso a servicios de telecomunicaci��n tales como telefon��a, Internet, telecomunicaci��n por cable, radiodifusi��n sonora y televisi��n anal��gica, digital, terrenal o por sat��lite, etc.. Desde 1997, el Colegio Oficial de Ingenieros de Telecomunicaci��n junto con otras organizaciones p��blicas y privadas ha participado en la elaboraci��n de la normativa aplicable a las Infraestructuras Comunes de Telecomunicaci��n, dando lugar al actual decreto, el Real Decreto 346/2011, de 11 de Marzo. El prop��sito general de este proyecto es dise��ar una red Wi-Fi a partir de las canalizaciones e instalaciones del proyecto ICT de un conjunto de viviendas unifamiliares, para que todas ellas dispongan de conexi��n a internet de forma inal��mbrica. Para llevar a cabo este dise��o, se ha realizado un estudio de las caracter��sticas del est��ndar IEEE 802.11, conocido como Wi-Fi, analizando las posibilidades de comunicaci��n inal��mbrica que ofrece, as�� como las limitaciones que presenta en la actualidad. Se ha analizado el proyecto ICT del conjunto de viviendas, estudiando la viabilidad de utilizar sus instalaciones para implementar la red Wi-Fi, a��adiendo tanto las canalizaciones como los dispositivos comerciales necesarios para llevar a cabo dicha implementaci��n. Adem��s, se ha estudiado la posibilidad de integrar la red Wi-Fi utilizando el cableado de televisi��n de la propia ICT. Por ��ltimo, se ha estudiado la gran importancia que al Hogar Digital se da en el Real Decreto 346/2011, de 11 de marzo, por el que se aprueba el Reglamento regulador de las Infraestructuras Comunes de Telecomunicaciones para el acceso a los servicios de telecomunicaci��n en el interior de las edificaciones, presentando los aspectos fundamentales que se persiguen con la domotizaci��n de la vivienda como mejora de vida de sus habitantes. Abstract The installation of Telecommunications Common Infrastructures (TCIs, in Spanish Infraestructuras Comunes de Telecomunicaci��n ���IICCTT-) in the buildings, in order to gain access to telecommunications services, facilitated the incorporation into the houses of new technologies in an economical and transparent way for users. Nowadays, every new construction building must have a TCI project signed by a Telecommunications Engineer or a Technical Telecommunications Engineer with the appropriate specialization. The legislation that regulates TCIs affects every kind of houses, independently of the buyer��s purchasing power, and contributes decisively to decrease in short and medium terms the social inequalities concerning the access to the telecommunication services, such as telephony, Internet, wired telecommunications, audible broadcasting and digital, analogical, land, satellite television, etc.. Since 1997, the Telecommunications Engineer Official College, together with other public and private organizations, has been elaborating the regulations for the TCIs, giving rise to the current decree, the Royal Decree 346/2011, of 11th of March. The general purpose of this project is to design a Wi-Fi network based on the canalizations and installations of the TCI project of a housing development, in such a way that every house is provided with a wireless connection to the Internet. In order to carry out this design, the characteristics of the standard IEEE 802.11, known as Wi-Fi, have been studied, analyzing the wireless-communication possibilities that it offers, as well as the constraints that it presents currently. The TCI project has been analyzed, studying the feasibility of using its installations to implement the Wi-Fi network, adding the canalizations and commercial devices required to execute the aforementioned implementation. Besides, the possibility of integrating the Wi-Fi network using the television wires of the TCI project has been investigated. Finally, it has been studied the great importance that has been given to Digital Home in the Royal Decree 346/2011, of 11th of March, that approves the regulatory Regulations of Telecommunications Common Infrastructures for the access to telecommunications services inside the buildings, presenting the essential aspects that are pursued with the house domotization as a way to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants.

Efficient Multi-hop Broadcast Data Dissemination in IoT and Smart Cities

Internet of Things (IoT) can be defined as a ���network of networks��� composed by billions of uniquely identified physical Smart Objects (SO), organized in an Internet-like structure. Smart Objects can be items equipped with sensors, consumer devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, or wearable devices), and enterprise assets that are connected both to the Internet and to each others. The birth of the IoT, with its communications paradigms, can be considered as an enabling factor for the creation of the so-called Smart Cities. A Smart City uses Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to enhance quality, performance and interactivity of urban services, ranging from traffic management and pollution monitoring to government services and energy management. This thesis is focused on multi-hop data dissemination within IoT and Smart Cities scenarios. The proposed multi-hop techniques, mostly based on probabilistic forwarding, have been used for different purposes: from the improvement of the performance of unicast protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) to the efficient data dissemination within Vehicular Ad-hoc NETworks (VANETs).

Building the hybrid organisation through ERP and enterprise social software

This research traces the implementation of an information system in the form of ERP modules covering tenant and contract management in a Chinese service company. Misalignments between the ERP system specification and user needs led to the adoption of informal processes within the organisation. These processes are facilitated within an informal organisational structure and are based on human interactions undertaken within the formal organisation. Rather than to attempt to suppress the emergence of the informal organisation the company decided to channel the energies of staff involved in informal processes towards organisational goals. The company achieved this by harnessing the capabilities of what we term a hybrid ERP system, combining the functionality of a traditional (formal) ERP installation with the capabilities of Enterprise Social Software (ESS). However the company recognised that the successful operation of the hybrid ERP system would require a number of changes in organisational design in areas such as reporting structures and communication channels. A narrative provided by interviews with company personnel is thematised around the formal and informal characteristics of the organisation as defined in the literature. This leads to a definition of the characteristics of the hybrid organisation and strategies for enabling a hybrid organisation, facilitated by a hybrid ERP system, which directs formal and informal behaviour towards organisational goals and provides a template for future hybrid implementations.

An��lisis de la informaci��n y documentaci��n cient��fica espa��ola sobre el fen��meno de las smart cities, el h��bitat de los nativos digitales

Estudiosos de todo el mundo se est��n centrando en el estudio del fen��meno de las ciudades inteligentes. La producci��n bibliogr��fica espa��ola sobre este tema ha crecido exponencialmente en los ��ltimos a��os. Las nuevas ciudades inteligentes se fundamentan en nuevas visiones de desarrollo urbano que integran m��ltiples soluciones tecnol��gicas ligadas al mundo de la informaci��n y de la comunicaci��n, todas ellas actuales y al servicio de las necesidades de la ciudad. La literatura en espa��ol sobre este tema proviene de campos tan diferentes como la Arquitectura, la Ingenier��a, las Ciencias Pol��ticas y el Derecho o las Ciencias Empresariales. La finalidad de las ciudades inteligentes es la mejora de la vida de sus ciudadanos a trav��s de la implementaci��n de tecnolog��as de la informaci��n y de la comunicaci��n que resuelvan las necesidades de sus habitantes, por lo que los investigadores del campo de las Ciencias de la Comunicaci��n y de la Informaci��n tienen mucho que decir. Este trabajo analiza un total de 120 textos y concluye que el fen��meno de las ciudades inteligentes ser�� uno de los ejes centrales de la investigaci��n multidisciplinar en los pr��ximos a��os en nuestro pa��s.

Designing a S2-Enterprise (Smart x Sensing) Reference Model

Part 11: Reference and Conceptual Models

Towards a Generic Enterprise Systems Architecture Based on Cyber-Physical Systems Principles

Part 7: Cyber-Physical Systems