Towards a Smarter organization for a Self-servicing Society

Traditional social organizations such as those for the management of healthcare are the result of designs that matched well with an operational context considerably different from the one we are experiencing today. The new context reveals all the fragility of our societies. In this paper, a platform is introduced by combining social-oriented communities and complex-event processing concepts: SELFSERV. Its aim is to complement the "old recipes" with smarter forms of social organization based on the self-service paradigm and by exploring culture-specific aspects and technological challenges.Comment: Final version of a paper published in the Proceedings of International Conference on Software Development and Technologies for Enhancing Accessibility and Fighting Info-exclusion (DSAI'16), special track on Emergent Technologies for Ambient Assisted Living (ETAAL

An Architecture for Development of Ambient Assisted Living Applications: a Case Study in Diabetes

Advances in sensors, mobile and embedded devices have made possible patient monitoring and provided medical treatments and other assistance in health care. Aging populations will benefit from reduced costs and improved health care through assisted living based on these technologies. In this paper we present a monitoring and control architecture allow control of a patient’s disease trough mobile and biometric devices. Our architecture is based on an Ambient Assisted Living control that provides different modules organized in a final application embedded in the mobile devices. This application is compounded by aspects like control of measurement, data obtained and representation, generation of suggestions, prevention, and education control. We have explored the architecture by developing a final application and implementing them in a prototype system. Our system shows the feasibility and opportunity of an open approach to ambient assisted living architecture.Advances in sensors, mobile and embedded devices have made possible patient monitoring and provided medical treatments and other assistance in health care. Aging populations will benefit from reduced costs and improved health care through assisted living based on these technologies. In this paper we present a monitoring and control architecture allow control of a patient’s disease trough mobile and biometric devices. Our architecture is based on an Ambient Assisted Living control that provides different modules organized in a final application embedded in the mobile devices. This application is compounded by aspects like control of measurement, data obtained and representation, generation of suggestions, prevention, and education control. We have explored the architecture by developing a final application and implementing them in a prototype system. Our system shows the feasibility and opportunity of an open approach to ambient assisted living architecture

A case study in Diabetes

Advances in sensors, mobile and embedded devices have made possible patient monitoring and provided medical treatments and other assistance in health care. Aging populations will benefit from reduced costs and improved health care through assisted living based on these technologies. In this paper we present a monitoring and control architecture allow control of a patient’s disease trough mobile and biometric devices. Our architecture is based on an Ambient Assisted Living control that provides different modules organized in a final application embedded in the mobile devices. This application is compounded by aspects like control of measurement, data obtained and representation, generation of suggestions, prevention, and education control. We have explored the architecture by developing a final application and implementing them in a prototype system. Our system shows the feasibility and opportunity of an open approach to ambient assisted living architecture.Advances in sensors, mobile and embedded devices have made possible patient monitoring and provided medical treatments and other assistance in health care. Aging populations will benefit from reduced costs and improved health care through assisted living based on these technologies. In this paper we present a monitoring and control architecture allow control of a patient’s disease trough mobile and biometric devices. Our architecture is based on an Ambient Assisted Living control that provides different modules organized in a final application embedded in the mobile devices. This application is compounded by aspects like control of measurement, data obtained and representation, generation of suggestions, prevention, and education control. We have explored the architecture by developing a final application and implementing them in a prototype system. Our system shows the feasibility and opportunity of an open approach to ambient assisted living architecture

Inositols in Insulin Signaling and Glucose Metabolism

In the past decades, both the importance of inositol for human health and the complex interaction between glucose and inositol have been the subject of increasing consideration. Glucose has been shown to interfere with cellular transmembrane transport of inositol, inhibiting, among others, its intestinal absorption. Moreover, intracellular glucose is required for de novo biosynthesis of inositol through the inositol-3-phosphate synthase 1 pathway, while a few glucose-related metabolites, like sorbitol, reduce intracellular levels of inositol. Furthermore, inositol, via its major isomers myo-inositol and D-chiro-inositol, and probably some of its phosphate intermediate metabolites and correlated enzymes (like inositol hexakisphosphate kinase) participate in both insulin signaling and glucose metabolism by influencing distinct pathways. Indeed, clinical data support the beneficial effects exerted by inositol by reducing glycaemia levels and hyperinsulinemia and buffering negative effects of sustained insulin stimulation upon the adipose tissue and the endocrine system. Due to these multiple effects, myoIns has become a reliable treatment option, as opposed to hormonal stimulation, for insulin-resistant PCOS patients

Assistive robotics: research challenges and ethics education initiatives

Assistive robotics is a fast growing field aimed at helping healthcarers in hospitals, rehabilitation centers and nursery homes, as well as empowering people with reduced mobility at home, so that they can autonomously fulfill their daily living activities. The need to function in dynamic human-centered environments poses new research challenges: robotic assistants need to have friendly interfaces, be highly adaptable and customizable, very compliant and intrinsically safe to people, as well as able to handle deformable materials. Besides technical challenges, assistive robotics raises also ethical defies, which have led to the emergence of a new discipline: Roboethics. Several institutions are developing regulations and standards, and many ethics education initiatives include contents on human-robot interaction and human dignity in assistive situations. In this paper, the state of the art in assistive robotics is briefly reviewed, and educational materials from a university course on Ethics in Social Robotics and AI focusing on the assistive context are presented.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Barnes Hospital Bulletin

https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/bjc_barnes_bulletin/1179/thumbnail.jp

eDiab: A System for Monitoring, Assisting and Educating People with Diabetes

In this paper, a system developed for monitoring, assisting and educating people with diabetes, named eDiab, is described. A central node (PDA or mobile phone) is used at the patient’s side for the transmission of medical information, health advices, alarms, reminders, etc. The software is adapted to blind users by using a screen reader called Mobile Speak Pocket/Phone. The glucose sensor is connected to the central node through wireless links (Zigbee/Bluetooth) and the communication between the central node and the server is established with a GPRS/GSM connection. Finally, a subsystem for health education (which sends medical information and advice like treatment reminder), still under development, is briefly described.Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología TIC2003- 08164-C03-0

The poor children of the poor: Coping with diabetes control in a resource-poor setting

Background. Coping with diabetes control is difficult for newly diagnosed and experienced patients alike. Children with diabetes face severe challenges, as they may not yet have attained the necessary cognitive, fine motor or psychosocial skills required for performance of the tasks required from the diabetic patient. Most therefore require some adult assistance.Objectives. To establish whether paediatric diabetic patients are adequately supported by their families in terms of giving insulin injections and doing home blood glucose monitoring (HBGM), and whether insulin and the necessary equipment are appropriately stored in their homes.Methods. Patients attending a paediatric diabetes clinic were interviewed. The data collected included demographic variables, type of insulin, measurement of insulin doses, administration of insulin, and blood glucose monitoring tests.Results. Twenty-five subjects were interviewed: 18 measured the insulin themselves, five mothers and one aunt did so, and in one case the mother and patient did so together. The four children aged ≤10 years had their insulin measured by their mothers, but one had to administer the injection himself. Eight of the nine children aged 11 - 15 years measured and administered the insulin themselves; in four cases the doses were checked by an adult. The mothers of four children did the fingerpricks, and eight children were helped with measuring the results. Only two children aged 11 - 15 years had their doses checked by an adult.Conclusion. Adult assistance with regard to both insulin injections and HBGM is rarely forthcoming. The children seem not to besufficiently supported by their families

The poor children of the poor: Coping with diabetes control in a resource-poor setting

Background. Coping with diabetes control is difficult for newly diagnosed and experienced patients alike. Children with diabetes face severe challenges, as they may not yet have attained the necessary  cognitive, fine motor or psychosocial skills required for performance of the tasks required from the diabetic patient. Most therefore require some adult assistance.Objectives. To establish whether paediatric diabetic patients are adequately supported by their families in terms of giving insulin injections and doing home blood glucose monitoring (HBGM), and whether insulin and the necessary equipment are appropriately stored in their homes.Methods. Patients attending a paediatric diabetes clinic were interviewed. The data collected included demographic variables, type of insulin, measurement of insulin doses, administration of insulin, and blood glucose monitoring tests.Results. Twenty-five subjects were interviewed: 18 measured the insulin themselves, five mothers and one aunt did so, and in one case the mother and patient did so together. The four children aged .10 years had their insulin measured by their mothers, but one had to administer the injection himself. Eight of the nine children aged 11 - 15 years measured and administered the insulin themselves; in four cases the doses were checked by an adult. The mothers of four children did the fingerpricks, and eight children were helped with measuring the results. Only two children aged 11 - 15 years had their doses checked by an adult.Conclusion. Adult assistance with regard to both insulin injections and HBGM is rarely forthcoming. The children seem not to be sufficiently supported by their families