Surveillance software based on agents system

The Applied Artificial Intelligence group has developed a surveillance system based on the agents theory and multiagents system in the Distributed Artificial Intelligence. The system allows that each data acquisition source could operate independently, but coordinated by a central host. The technology improves the surveillance process, reducing the human attention and introducing automatic alarms. They are looking for technical cooperation of partners interested in the technology.Contrato Programa de Comercialización e Internacionalización. Sistema Regional de Investigación Científica e Innovación Tecnológica. (Comunidad de Madrid; Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Disease surveillance and patient care in remote regions: an exploratory study of collaboration among healthcare professionals in Amazonia

The development and deployment of information technology, particularly mobile tools, to support collaboration between different groups of healthcare professionals has been viewed as a promising way to improve disease surveillance and patient care in remote regions. The effects of global climate change combined with rapid changes to land cover and use in Amazonia are believed to be contributing to the spread of vector-borne emerging and neglected diseases. This makes empowering and providing support for local healthcare providers all the more important. We investigate the use of information technology in this context to support professionals whose activities range from diagnosing diseases and monitoring their spread to developing policies to deal with outbreaks. An analysis of stakeholders, their roles and requirements, is presented which encompasses results of fieldwork and of a process of design and prototyping complemented by questionnaires and targeted interviews. Findings are analysed with respect to the tasks of diagnosis, training of local healthcare professionals, and gathering, sharing and visualisation of data for purposes of epidemiological research and disease surveillance. Methodological issues regarding the elicitation of cooperation and collaboration requirements are discussed and implications are drawn with respect to the use of technology in tackling emerging and neglected diseases

Avian Influenza, an International Concern

The spread of the virulent highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 Asian strain (HPAI H5N1) throughout Asia and into Europe and Africa since 2004 has resulted in the loss of millions of domestic birds and caused concern about its zoonotic potential. Though the significance of wild birds in the transmission of HPAI H5N1 remains unclear, wild birds are known to be the source of some outbreaks and can serve as an important sentinel for introduction of the virus to new areas due to expansive migration movements. The comprehensive HPAI H5N1 surveillance program, established in 2006 by the USDA and USDI Fish and Wildlife Service in cooperation with the states and tribes, monitors both wild and domestic bird populations to ensure the earliest detection of HPAI H5N1 incursion into the United States. Montana is a priority state in nationwide surveillance because it borders Canada and is divided by the Pacific and Central Flyways. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services, and USDI Fish and Wildlife Service have conducted AI surveillance in Montana during the last 4 yrs using multiple sampling strategies to optimize the chance of detecting HPAI H5N1. Surveillance targets specific species spatially distributed across the state and temporally distributed across the sampling period. The primary emphasis on wild populations included systematic transects on populations of high priority for morbidity and mortality, along with opportunistically found dead birds, as well as the collection of swab samples from live and hunter-harvested waterfowl. Whereas low pathogenic avian influenza was found in samples each year as expected, no sample tested positive for HPAI H5N1

AWARE: Platform for Autonomous self-deploying and operation of Wireless sensor-actuator networks cooperating with unmanned AeRial vehiclEs

This paper presents the AWARE platform that seeks to enable the cooperation of autonomous aerial vehicles with ground wireless sensor-actuator networks comprising both static and mobile nodes carried by vehicles or people. Particularly, the paper presents the middleware, the wireless sensor network, the node deployment by means of an autonomous helicopter, and the surveillance and tracking functionalities of the platform. Furthermore, the paper presents the first general experiments of the AWARE project that took place in March 2007 with the assistance of the Seville fire brigades

Digital Peacekeepers, Drone Surveillance and Information Fusion: A Philosophical Analysis of New Peacekeeping

In June 2014 an Expert Panel on Technology and Innovation in UN Peacekeeping was commissioned to examine how technology and innovation could strengthen peacekeeping missions. The panel\u27s report argues for wider deployment of advanced technologies, including greater use of ground and airborne sensors and other technical sources of data, advanced data analytics and information fusion to assist in data integration. This article explores the emerging intelligence-led, informationist conception of UN peacekeeping against the backdrop of increasingly complex peacekeeping mandates and precarious security conditions. New peacekeeping with its heightened commitment to information as a political resource and the endorsement of offensive military action within robust mandates reflects the multiple and conflicting trajectories generated by asymmetric conflicts, the responsibility to protect and a technology-driven information revolution. We argue that the idea of peacekeeping is being revised (and has been revised) by realities beyond peacekeeping itself that require rethinking the morality of peacekeeping in light of the emergence of \u27digital peacekeeping\u27 and the knowledge revolution engendered by new technologies

Focus on Mainland Tanzania:(Progress & Impact Series)

Tanzania's National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) has provided strong, stable leadership in coordinating malaria control activities since 1995. Because of continuity and focus on programme implementation, both the number of partners and resources have been growing, most notably over the last seven years. Between 2003 and 2010, about US$ 450 million in external funding was allocated to scale up the malaria control programme. These increasing contributions have been used to deliver preventive and curative services. 18 562 571 insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) were distributed between 2007 and 2010 through mass campaigns and the national voucher scheme. Indoor residual spraying (IRS) began in 2007 and had expanded to cover 94% of the targeted structures in 18 districts by March 2011.Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and artemisininbased combination therapies (ACTs) have been deployed to reach half of the population so far, and health workers have been trained in using them. Efforts have also been made to make these new treatments available in the private sector, where up to 40% of the rural population seek care for fever. This deployment of interventions has resulted in improved coverage. 63% of households owned at least one ITN in 2010, compared with 23% in 2004–2005. 64% of all children under five and 56% of all pregnant women nationwide used an ITN the night before the 2010 survey—a more than twofold increase since 2007. In addition, between 2001 and 2006, Tanzania changed its recommended antimalarial drug from chloroquine to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) to ACTs, thereby providing access to more effective antimalarials. Because of good coverage results, the Tanzanian government has been able to reduce disease burden and save lives. In the Ifakara surveillance area, the prevalence of parasitaemia in children under five was reduced by more than 5-fold, from 25% in 2004–2005 to less than 5% in 2010. Nationally, severe childhood anaemia was halved, dropping from 11% in 2004–2005 to 5.5% in 2010. All-cause under-five child mortality fell by 45% between 1999 and 2010—from 148 deaths per 1000 live births in 1999 to 81 per 1000 live births in 2010. According to the Lives Saved Tool (LiST estimation model), the lives of 63 000 children under five have been saved by malaria control interventions since 1999. Tanzania's improved malaria and health indicators are all signs that malaria control efforts are working and delivering results. Consideration of other factors that might explain the declines in all-cause under-five mortality leads to the conclusion that the improvement in child health is due in large part to malaria control efforts. The country is also achieving equitable impact on major mortality and malaria coverage indicators. With demonstrated ability to deliver and achieve impact on child survival, Tanzania has articulated even more ambitious malaria control goals: universal ITN coverage, IRS in half of the country, and enhanced diagnosis and ACT treatment of all malaria cases. This will require increased funding and a strengthened health infrastructure. If challenges of resource mobilization, boosting the work force, and strengthening the health system can be met, Tanzania will have paved the way towards unprecedented public health achievements and protection of its population against a major scourge.\u

Embodied Evolution in Collective Robotics: A Review

This paper provides an overview of evolutionary robotics techniques applied to on-line distributed evolution for robot collectives -- namely, embodied evolution. It provides a definition of embodied evolution as well as a thorough description of the underlying concepts and mechanisms. The paper also presents a comprehensive summary of research published in the field since its inception (1999-2017), providing various perspectives to identify the major trends. In particular, we identify a shift from considering embodied evolution as a parallel search method within small robot collectives (fewer than 10 robots) to embodied evolution as an on-line distributed learning method for designing collective behaviours in swarm-like collectives. The paper concludes with a discussion of applications and open questions, providing a milestone for past and an inspiration for future research.Comment: 23 pages, 1 figure, 1 tabl

A Novel Airborne Self-organising Architecture for 5G+ Networks

Network Flying Platforms (NFPs) such as unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned balloons or drones flying at low/medium/high altitude can be employed to enhance network coverage and capacity by deploying a swarm of flying platforms that implement novel radio resource management techniques. In this paper, we propose a novel layered architecture where NFPs, of various types and flying at low/medium/high layers in a swarm of flying platforms, are considered as an integrated part of the future cellular networks to inject additional capacity and expand the coverage for exceptional scenarios (sports events, concerts, etc.) and hard-to-reach areas (rural or sparsely populated areas). Successful roll-out of the proposed architecture depends on several factors including, but are not limited to: network optimisation for NFP placement and association, safety operations of NFP for network/equipment security, and reliability for NFP transport and control/signaling mechanisms. In this work, we formulate the optimum placement of NFP at a Lower Layer (LL) by exploiting the airborne Self-organising Network (SON) features. Our initial simulations show the NFP-LL can serve more User Equipment (UE)s using this placement technique.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, conference paper in IEEE VTC-Fall 2017, in Proceedings IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC-Fall 2017), Toronto, Canada, Sep. 201