Poots launches £18m state-of-the-art Telemonitoring NI service

Health Minister Edwin Poots today marked the roll-out of a ground-breaking hi-tech scheme which will enable more patients to monitor their health in their own homes. Following funding of £18m from the Department of Health, the newly named Centre for Connected Health and Social Care (CCHSC), part of the Public Health Agency, worked in partnership with business consortium TF3to establish the innovative Telemonitoring NI service. The service is now being delivered by the TF3 consortium in partnership with the Health and Social Care Trusts.Remote telemonitoring combines technology and services that enable patients with chronic diseases to test their vital signs such as pulse, blood pressure, body weight, temperature, blood glucose and oxygen levels at home on a daily basis. The service will now be rolled out to 3,500 patients across Northern Ireland per annum for a period of six years.Mr Poots today visited the home of Larne pensioner Michael Howard who has Chronic Pulmonary Obstructive Disorder (COPD) to hear how Telemonitoring NI has changed his life.During the visit Mr Poots said: "Chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and COPD affect around three quarters of people over the age of 75. This is the generation from whom transport and mobility pose the biggest problems. The Telemonitoring NI service will allow thousands to monitor their vital signs without having to leave their own homes."It means that patients are able to understand and manage their condition better. Many say it has improved their confidence and given them peace of mind. With a health professional monitoring each patient's health on a daily basis, there is less need for hospital admission. Carers are also better informed with the pro-active support provided. It means earlier intervention in, and the prevention of, deterioration of condition, acute illness and hospital admissions."Telemonitoring NI is an excellent example of how the Health Service can innovateusing modern technology to deliver a better service for our patients."Eddie Ritson, Programme Director of CCHSC, PHA, said: "The roll-out of Telemonitoring NI represents a significant step towards providing quality care for the growing number of people with heart disease, stroke, some respiratory conditions and diabetes who want to live at home while having their conditions safely managed."This new service will give people more information which combined with timely advice will enable patients to gain more control over their health while supporting them to live independently in their own homes for longer."A patient will take their vital sign measurements at home, usually on a daily basis. and these will automatically be transmited to the Tf3 system. The resulting readings are monitored centrally by a healthcare professional working in the Tf3 triage team. If the patient's readings show signs of deterioration to an unacceptable level, they will be contacted by phone by a nurse working in a central team and if appropriate a healthcare professional in the patient's local Trust will be alerted to enable them to take appropriate action."Families and carers will also benefit from the reassurance that chronic health conditions are being closely monitored on an ongoing basis. The information collected through the service can also be used by doctors, nurses and patients in making decisions on how individual cases should be managed. "Using the service, Mr Howard, 71, who has emphysema - a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath - monitors his vital signs using the new technology every weekday morning. The information is monitored centrally and if readings show signs of deterioration to an unacceptable level, Mr Howard's local healthcare professional is alerted."Taking my readings is such a simple process but one that gives me huge benefits as it is an early warning system to me and also for the specialist nurses in charge of my care. Without the remote telemonitoring I would be running back and forward to the GPs' surgery all the time to have things checked out," he explained."Having my signs monitored by a nurse means any changes in my condition are dealt with immediately and this has prevented me from being admitted to hospital - in the past I've had to spend six days in hospital any time I'm admitted with a chest infection."The telemonitoring is not only reassuring for me, it also gives me more control over managing my own condition and as a result I have less upheaval in my life, and I'm less of a cost to the health care system. Most importantly, it gives me peace of mind and one less thing to worry about at my age."Patients seeking further information about the new telemonitoring service should contact their healthcare professional.

El impacto de las TIC en la empresa turística : el caso de Cataluña

En aquest article s'aporten proves de l'impacte positiu que té l'aplicació de les tecnologies de la informació i la comunicació (TIC) en l'empresa turística catalana. La transcendència que en els darrers anys ha adquirit el mercat turístic català en el context europeu el converteix en un laboratori d'anàlisi idoni per al sector. Els resultats obtinguts posen de manifest que l'ús d'aquestes tecnologies s'acompanya d'un major grau d'internacionalització de l'empresa, el desenvolupament de canvis organitzatius i la implantació de noves estratègies competitives, cosa que dóna lloc a un model de negoci allunyat de les concepcions tradicionals del sector. A més, l'ús estratègic de les TIC afavoreix l'ús de mà d'obra més qualificada, un servei més personalitzat i una major proximitat a proveïdors i distribuïdors. Tanmateix, és en el procés d'innovació empresarial on l'impacte positiu de les TIC és percep més, atès que el seu ús ha contribuït a superar alguns dels obstacles existents, a interioritzar el procés en el si de l'empresa i a fer més partícips els mateixos treballadors, i això ha donat com a resultat una àmplia diversitat d'innovacions de tota mena (de producte, de procés i organitzatives). La participació en xarxes de cooperació, el fet de tenir treballadors amb un nivell educatiu elevat i l'aplicació intensiva de les TIC han estat elements indispensables en aquest procés innovador. Finalment, gràcies a l'ús de les TIC i el seu impacte en la innovació, però també al canvi organitzatiu dins l'empresa, s'han millorat els registres de productivitat, amb la qual cosa s'afavoreix una major competitivitat en un context canviant i de forta pressió de l'entorn.

A quality-based cost distribution charging scheme for QoS multicast networks

This paper presents a new charging scheme for cost distribution along a point-to-multipoint connection when destination nodes are responsible for the cost. The scheme focus on QoS considerations and a complete range of choices is presented. These choices go from a safe scheme for the network operator to a fair scheme to the customer. The in-between cases are also covered. Specific and general problems, like the incidence of users disconnecting dynamically is also discussed. The aim of this scheme is to encourage the users to disperse the resource demand instead of having a large number of direct connections to the source of the data, which would result in a higher than necessary bandwidth use from the source. This would benefit the overall performance of the network. The implementation of this task must balance between the necessity to offer a competitive service and the risk of not recovering such service cost for the network operator. Throughout this paper reference to multicast charging is made without making any reference to any specific category of service. The proposed scheme is also evaluated with the criteria set proposed in the European ATM charging project CANCAN

Resource dimensioning aspect of heterogeneous traffic with different service requirements: Integration versus segregation

In this paper, we consider the ATM networks in which the virtual path concept is implemented. The question of how to multiplex two or more diverse traffic classes while providing different quality of service requirements is a very complicated open problem. Two distinct options are available: integration and segregation. In an integration approach all the traffic from different connections are multiplexed onto one VP. This implies that the most restrictive QOS requirements must be applied to all services. Therefore, link utilization will be decreased because unnecessarily stringent QOS is provided to all connections. With the segregation approach the problem can be much simplified if different types of traffic are separated by assigning a VP with dedicated resources (buffers and links). Therefore, resources may not be efficiently utilized because no sharing of bandwidth can take place across the VP. The probability that the bandwidth required by the accepted connections exceeds the capacity of the link is evaluated with the probability of congestion (PC). Since the PC can be expressed as the CLP, we shall simply carry out bandwidth allocation using the PC. We first focus on the influence of some parameters (CLP, bit rate and burstiness) on the capacity required by a VP supporting a single traffic class using the new convolution approach. Numerical results are presented both to compare the required capacity and to observe which conditions under each approach are preferred

An improved method for discovering link criticality in transport networks

Quantitatively assessing the importance or criticality of each link in a network is of practical value to operators, as that can help them to increase the network's resilience, provide more efficient services, or improve some other aspect of the service. Betweenness is a graph-theoretical measure of centrality that can be applied to communication networks to evaluate link importance. However, as we illustrate in this paper, the basic definition of betweenness centrality produces inaccurate estimations as it does not take into account some aspects relevant to networking, such as the heterogeneity in link capacity or the difference between node-pairs in their contribution to the total traffic. A new algorithm for discovering link centrality in transport networks is proposed in this paper. It requires only static or semi-static network and topology attributes, and yet produces estimations of good accuracy, as verified through extensive simulations. Its potential value is demonstrated by an example application. In the example, the simple shortest-path routing algorithm is improved in such a way that it outperforms other more advanced algorithms in terms of blocking ratio

Adding new components to the knowledge plane GMPLS over WDM networks

A recent study defines a new network plane: the knowledge plane. The incorporation of the knowledge plane over the network allows having more accurate information of the current and future network states. In this paper, the introduction and management of the network reliability information in the knowledge plane is proposed in order to improve the quality of service with protection routing algorithms in GMPLS over WDM networks. Different experiments prove the efficiency and scalability of the proposed scheme in terms of the percentage of resources used to protect the network

Estimation of the probability of congestion using Monte Carlo method in OPS networks

In networks with small buffers, such as optical packet switching based networks, the convolution approach is presented as one of the most accurate method used for the connection admission control. Admission control and resource management have been addressed in other works oriented to bursty traffic and ATM. This paper focuses on heterogeneous traffic in OPS based networks. Using heterogeneous traffic and bufferless networks the enhanced convolution approach is a good solution. However, both methods (CA and ECA) present a high computational cost for high number of connections. Two new mechanisms (UMCA and ISCA) based on Monte Carlo method are proposed to overcome this drawback. Simulation results show that our proposals achieve lower computational cost compared to enhanced convolution approach with an small stochastic error in the probability estimation

La force motrice hydraulique au service du développement économique helvétique : L'exemple du réseau d'eau sous pression à Lausanne 1868-1914

The success story of hydroelectricity long influenced and dominated Swiss scholarly literature devoted to the history of technology. This means of conducting power, which emerged at the end of the 19th century and is still dominating today, has attracted much more attention than technologies that have been shadowed by its success. In spite of their important contribution to Swiss economic development, the distribution networks of pressurized water have been neglected by scholars. This article contributes to close this historiographic gap by analyzing the introduction of pressurized water distribution in 1876 in Lausanne, in the context of the building of the first Swiss cable funicular between Lausanne and Ouchy. This article shows how pressurized water distribution transformed socio-economic practices in the urban areas in which it was adopted. Indeed, this innovation, which allowed the use of distant hydraulic resources, enabled the rationalization of industrial and artisanal production as well as improved the density of the urban industrial base. By facilitating the introduction of electric lighting, pressurized water networks played a key role in the early development, and further successes, of the Swiss hydroelectric industry.

Reasons for deploying an e-reader loan service at the UOC Library

The presentation will focus on the reasons for deploying an e-reader loan service at a virtual university library as a part of an e-learning support system to aid user mobility, concentration of documentary and electronic resources, and ICT skills acquisition, using the example of the UOC pilot project and its subsequent consolidation. E-reader devices at the UOC are an extension of the Virtual Campus. They are offered as a tool to aid user mobility, access to documentary and electronic resources, and development of information and IT skills. The e-reader loan service began as a pilot project in 2009 and was consolidated in 2010. The UOC Library piloted the e-reader loan service from October to December 2009. The pilot project was carried out with 15 devices and involved 37 loans. The project was extended into 2010 with the same number of devices and 218 loans (October 2010). In 2011 the e-reader loan service is to involve 190 devices, thus offering an improved service. The reasons for deploying an e-reader loan service at the UOC are the following: a) to offer library users access to the many kinds of learning materials available at the UOC through a single device that facilitates student study and learning; b) to enhance access to and use of the e-book collections subscribed to by the UOC Library; c) to align with UOC strategy on the development of learning materials in multiple formats, and promote e-devices as an extension of the UOC Virtual Campus, and d) to increase UOC Library visibility within and beyond the institution. The presentation will conclude with an analysis of the key issues to be taken into account at a university library: the e-reader market, the unclear business and license model for e-book contents, and the library's role in promoting new reading formats to increase use of e-collections.

Designing business models of cloud platforms

Cloud computing and its three facets (Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)) are terms that denote new developments in the software industry. In particular, PaaS solutions, also referred to as cloud platforms, are changing the way software is being produced, distributed, consumed, and priced. Software vendors have started considering cloud platforms as a strategic option but are battling to redefine their offerings to embrace PaaS. In contrast to SaaS and IaaS, PaaS allows for value co-creation with partners to develop complementary components and applications. It thus requires multisided business models that bring together two or more distinct customer segments. Understanding how to design PaaS business models to establish a flourishing ecosystem is crucial for software vendors. This doctoral thesis aims to address this issue in three interrelated research parts. First, based on case study research, the thesis provides a deeper understanding of current PaaS business models and their evolution. Second, it analyses and simulates consumers' preferences regarding PaaS business models, using a conjoint approach to find out what determines the choice of cloud platforms. Finally, building on the previous research outcomes, the third part introduces a design theory for the emerging class of PaaS business models, which is grounded on an extensive action design research study with a large European software vendor. Understanding PaaS business models from a market as well as a consumer perspective will, together with the design theory, inform and guide decision makers in their business model innovation plans. It also closes gaps in the research related to PaaS business model design and more generally related to platform business models.

Resource management research in Passive Optical Networks (PON)

Next Generation Access Networks (NGAN) are the new step forward to deliver broadband services and to facilitate the integration of different technologies. It is plausible to assume that, from a technological standpoint, the Future Internet will be composed of long-range high-speed optical networks; a number of wireless networks at the edge; and, in between, several access technologies, among which, the Passive Optical Networks (xPON) are very likely to succeed, due to their simplicity, low-cost, and increased bandwidth. Among the different PON technologies, the Ethernet-PON (EPON) is the most promising alternative to satisfy operator and user needs, due to its cost, flexibility and interoperability with other technologies. One of the most interesting challenges in such technologies relates to the scheduling and allocation of resources in the upstream (shared) channel. The aim of this research project is to study and evaluate current contributions and propose new efficient solutions to address the resource allocation issues in Next Generation EPON (NG-EPON). Key issues in this context are future end-user needs, integrated quality of service (QoS) support and optimized service provisioning for real time and elastic flows. This project will unveil research opportunities, issue recommendations and propose novel mechanisms associated with the convergence within heterogeneous access networks and will thus serve as a basis for long-term research projects in this direction. The project has served as a platform for the generation of new concepts and solutions that were published in national and international conferences, scientific journals and also in book chapter. We expect some more research publications in addition to the ones mentioned to be generated in a few months.

The Swiss Business Elite (1980-2000): How the Changing Composition of the Elite Explains the Decline of the Swiss Company Network

In this paper we analyse the decline of the Swiss corporate network between 1980 and 2000. We address the theoretical and methodological challenge of this transformation by the use of a combination of network analysis and multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). Based on a sample of top managers of the 110 largest Swiss companies in 1980 and 2000 we show that, beyond an adjustment to structural pressure, an explanation of the decline of the network has to include the strategies of the fractions of the business elites. We reveal that three factors contribute crucially to the decline of the Swiss corporate network: the managerialization of industrial leaders, the marginalization of law degree holders and the influx of hardly connected foreign managers.

Completing contracts ex post: How car manufacturers manage car dealers

This article illustrates how contracts are completed ex post in practice and, in so doing, indirectly suggests what the real function of contracts may be. Our evidence comes from the contracts between automobile manufacturers and their dealers in 23 dealership networks in Spain. Franchising dominates automobile distribution because of the need to decentralize pricing and control of service decisions. It motivates local managers to undertake these activities at minimum cost for the manufacturer. However, it creates incentive conflicts, both between manufacturers and dealers and among dealers themselves, concerning the level of sales and service provided. It also holds potential for expropriation of specific investments. Contracts deal with these conflicts by restricting dealers decision rights and granting manufacturers extensive completion, monitoring and enforcement powers. The main mechanism that may prevent abuse of these powers is the manufacturers reputational capital.

State of Iowa Directory of certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprises, September 2007

The Iowa DOT takes affirmative action to ensure that Disadvantaged Business Enterprises have the maximum practical opportunity to get Iowa DOT contracts for construction, professional, and technical service. The Iowa DOT also has taken specific steps to ensure there is no discrimination in the awarding and administering of contracts. The department's DBE Program, which has been developed under this policy, is administered by the Office of Contracts.

Median problems in networks

The P-median problem is a classical location model par excellence . In this paper we, firstexamine the early origins of the problem, formulated independently by Louis Hakimi andCharles ReVelle, two of the fathers of the burgeoning multidisciplinary field of researchknown today as Facility Location Theory and Modelling. We then examine some of thetraditional heuristic and exact methods developed to solve the problem. In the third sectionwe analyze the impact of the model in the field. We end the paper by proposing new lines ofresearch related to such a classical problem.