Self-Management GRID Services – A Programmable Network Approach

Due to the complexity and size of service oriented GRIDs, it is essential that GRID systems should be autonomous i.e. a self-management system is needed. This paper identifies the requirements of such a self-management GRID system and the required supporting services. This paper suggests that these supporting services should be deployed in the form of software modules through programmable techniques. This paper presents a communication protocol for dynamic self-configuration in programmable GRIDs as an example for supporting new network services

PMS97 - A Multi-Centre Retrospective Study To Describe The Impact on Healthcare Resource Use And Real World Effectiveness of Golimumab In Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) In UK Clinical Practice

Objectives Study aims were to describe the impact of Tumour Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) inhibitor golimumab on UK real-world healthcare resource use (HRU) and evaluate the clinical effectiveness of golimumab in the treatment of Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS). This abstract presents HRU data for the 6 months pre- and post-golimumab initiation as well as effectiveness data at 6 months post-golimumab initiation compared with the closest observation pre-golimumab initiation. Methods This multicentre observational study of consenting adult patients was carried out via retrospective medical chart review in six UK NHS hospital rheumatology departments between November 2015 and October 2016. Inclusion criteria included AS diagnosis, anti-TNF-α-naïve, received minimum three doses of golimumab for AS, and first dose at least 12 months before data collection. Effectiveness was measured using the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Spinal Pain Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI). Patients with missing data are excluded from the effectiveness analysis. Results The study enrolled 47 eligible patients, 74% male, mean age of 46.4 years, mean golimumab treatment duration of 2.3 years. A significant reduction of 30.4% (Mann-Whitney p<0.005) in mean number of rheumatology clinic visits (from 2.3 to 1.6) and a 27.3% reduction in mean number of clinical investigations (from 13.4 to 9.7) over the 12-month period was observed (Mann-Whitney p<0.05). 74% (32/43) of patients achieved a clinically meaningful change (BASDAI score reduced by 2 or more), and overall mean BASDAI score reduced by 3.9 points [n=43] (Mann-Whitney p<0.001). 75% (18/24) of patients achieved a reduction in spinal pain VAS by 2cm or more indicating a treatment response. Overall mean BASFI score improved by 4.1 points [n=26] (Mann-Whitney p<0.001). Conclusions Golimumab was associated with statistically significant reductions in HRU and clinically meaningful improvements in UK patients with AS during the first 6 months of treatment

A security architecture for future active IP networks

Active networks allow user-controlled network programmability. A security framework has to assure that our infrastructure will behave as expected and will efficiently deal with malicious attacks, unauthorized attempts to execute active code etc. We present here a security architecture that is designed within the FAIN project and aims at supporting multiple heterogeneous execution environments. We argue for the pros and cons as well as why we have selected the specific components and also take a look at their interworking in order to provide the security services to the execution environments of our active network node hosts

Multidisciplinary master design projects based on workshops for professionals

The growing complexity in (Dutch) building practice necessitates developments in other aspects, besides specialized and professional skills. Therefore a new integral approach in building design education has been developed in close cooperation with building design practice. In 2005, the building services chair of the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning of the TU/e commenced a multidisciplinary master project `Integral Design' focused on a sustainable climatic design. In this and the following Multidisciplinary Master projects students of architecture, building technology, structural engineering and building services participated. The students began with a two days learning-by-practice workshop which was implemented and tested in collaboration with experienced professionals from the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects (BNA) and the Dutch Association of Consulting Engineers (ONRI). This is one of the few projects in which the practical experience is transferred into the educational academic program; normally this process functions the other way around. The theoretical basis of the combined education of students and professionals is discussed and results presented. Quite remarkable is that these workshops by themselves have become part of the permanent professional educational program of the BNA

Permanent Professionals Education for Integral Design Collaboration

No abstract

Integral Building Design Workshops; comparing students and professionals

No abstract

Collaborative design management: Learning by doing

This paper presents a ‘learning by doing’ workshop approach for collaborative design management. The theory of the approach is presented in another paper on the conference. Here the set-up of the workshops used to implement and to test the theoretical approach are presented as well as the experiences of the participants. The project was done in close cooperation with the professional societies with in the building design field. More than hundred experienced professionals participated in the workshops and they now have become part of the permanent professional training program of one of the professional societies

Integrating Social Assistive Robots, IoT, Virtual Communities and Smart Objects to Assist at-Home Independently Living Elders: the MoveCare Project

The integration of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) frameworks with Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) has proven useful for monitoring and assisting older adults in their own home. However, the difficulties associated with long-term deployments in real-world complex environments are still highly under-explored. In this work, we first present the MoveCare system, an unobtrusive platform that, through the integration of a SAR into an AAL framework, aimed to monitor, assist and provide social, cognitive, and physical stimulation in the own houses of elders living alone and at risk of falling into frailty. We then focus on the evaluation and analysis of a long-term pilot campaign of more than 300 weeks of usages. We evaluated the system’s acceptability and feasibility through various questionnaires and empirically assessed the impact of the presence of an assistive robot by deploying the system with and without it. Our results provide strong empirical evidence that Socially Assistive Robots integrated with monitoring and stimulation platforms can be successfully used for long-term support to older adults. We describe how the robot’s presence significantly incentivised the use of the system, but slightly lowered the system’s overall acceptability. Finally, we emphasise that real-world long-term deployment of SARs introduces a significant technical, organisational, and logistical overhead that should not be neglected nor underestimated in the pursuit of long-term robust systems. We hope that the findings and lessons learned from our work can bring value towards future long-term real-world and widespread use of SARs