Organization of Multi-Agent Systems: An Overview

In complex, open, and heterogeneous environments, agents must be able to reorganize towards the most appropriate organizations to adapt unpredictable environment changes within Multi-Agent Systems (MAS). Types of reorganization can be seen from two different levels. The individual agents level (micro-level) in which an agent changes its behaviors and interactions with other agents to adapt its local environment. And the organizational level (macro-level) in which the whole system changes it structure by adding or removing agents. This chapter is dedicated to overview different aspects of what is called MAS Organization including its motivations, paradigms, models, and techniques adopted for statically or dynamically organizing agents in MAS.Comment: 12 page

Evaluation of Static Horizontal Louvers on Annual Daylighting Performance in Classrooms

Daylighting has a great impact on students’ health, learning performance, and productivity. The goal of this paper is to enhance daylighting performance by examining year-round daylighting performance of Southern facades in the case of one central window in a classroom located in Cairo, Egypt by using static external horizontal shading devices during the Fall, Spring and Summer semesters The scope of the study is to evaluate and assess the effect of the window-to-wall ratio (WWR) in addition to the louvers’ configurations of depth and count parameters of the classroom on annual daylighting performance metrics for classrooms’ southern facades by using Rhinoceros, Grasshopper interface and Honeybee Plus plugin which uses the Radiance engine for annual daylighting Simulations. Annual Sunlight Exposure, Spatial Daylight Autonomy and upper and lower limits of useful daylight illuminance are incorporated for an efficient annual daylighting performance. Based on geographical location and sun altitude angles that is gathered from ladybug tools, three alternative configurations of fixed horizontal louvers were investigated to evaluate the difference between them. Results show a low difference with the proposed louver configurations cases and a high reduction in annual sunlight exposure by 78% which complies with LEED v4 and IES-LM-83-12 criteria

Creativity as a Part of the Post-Pandemic Architectural Education: A Brief Discussion

The current study discusses the importance of the creativity in architectural education, with a focus on the challenges and their implications on students, educators, and institutions. This study revisits a vision of an educational model for post-pandemic architecture education and discuss the necessary approaches for educators and educational institutions to foster creativity. This study directly reacts to the demand on the pandemic's effect on conventional education by using an instructional approach. This paper contributes to reconceptualizing of a novel approach that is targeted to tackle architectural education challenges in a post pandemic age through foster creativity models. The proposed creativity models are creative and critical thinking, neutral and positive stress, and objective-based creativity. These models are further developed using a thematic analysis process to be integrated in the educational model

Privacy of Patients’ medical Data under the Corona Pandemic: A Comparative Study

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.” International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 1966, Article 17: “1. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home, or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honor or reputation. 2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.” It is an unimpeachable fact that the world went through complete mayhem overnight due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The wheel of the economy was completely paralyzed in all countries of the world, global stock markets collapsed and the price of a barrel of American oil fell below zero, for the first time in history, due to the repercussions of the global closure resulting from the virus. The world started to apply restrictive measures to contain the plague, including social distancing, the matter which adversely impacted the general psychological state in the world. Amid those events, new cases of coronavirus infection increased among the world, as they exceeded twenty-seven million infections and more than nine hundred thousand death toll -which caused chaos among the global medical community due to the rapid spread of the epidemic and the lack of providing medical supplies needed to combat it. Medical teams around the world have yet to come up with a vaccine to prevent this epidemic. It is well noticed from the audiovisual media across the globe and social media that there is lack of privacy to the news regarding the infected patients and their medical data, notably, if they are confirmed to be infected. Sometimes, their identity is revealed by their names and photos. In some cases, one would ponder, if it is permissible to reveal the identity of the person who is infected with the virus, including revealing his name, photo and personal data? - The issue of the electronic medical record (EHR) has also raised many questions about the medical privacy of patients with the spread of the new corona pandemic, especially with the spread of the idea of the electronic medical record in most countries and the ability of that record and the data it contains to violate publication and circulation quickly. - The spread of the new Corona epidemic also showed the effectiveness and success of the idea of telemedicine which in turn seriously contributed to limiting the spread of the virus, but it also contributed at the same time to the possibility of violating the medical privacy of patients from Through the means of communication between the treating physician and the institution of care and between the person receiving treatment. - We will try to answer all these questions, with the help of what the comparative legislation has concluded in this regar

Privacy of Patients’ medical Data under the Corona Pandemic: A Comparative Study

United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948, Article 12: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.” International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 1966, Article 17: “1. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home, or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honor or reputation. 2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.” It is an unimpeachable fact that the world went through complete mayhem overnight due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The wheel of the economy was completely paralyzed in all countries of the world, global stock markets collapsed and the price of a barrel of American oil fell below zero, for the first time in history, due to the repercussions of the global closure resulting from the virus. The world started to apply restrictive measures to contain the plague, including social distancing, the matter which adversely impacted the general psychological state in the world. Amid those events, new cases of coronavirus infection increased among the world, as they exceeded twenty-seven million infections and more than nine hundred thousand death toll -which caused chaos among the global medical community due to the rapid spread of the epidemic and the lack of providing medical supplies needed to combat it. Medical teams around the world have yet to come up with a vaccine to prevent this epidemic. It is well noticed from the audiovisual media across the globe and social media that there is lack of privacy to the news regarding the infected patients and their medical data, notably, if they are confirmed to be infected. Sometimes, their identity is revealed by their names and photos. In some cases, one would ponder, if it is permissible to reveal the identity of the person who is infected with the virus, including revealing his name, photo and personal data? - The issue of the electronic medical record (EHR) has also raised many questions about the medical privacy of patients with the spread of the new corona pandemic, especially with the spread of the idea of the electronic medical record in most countries and the ability of that record and the data it contains to violate publication and circulation quickly. - The spread of the new Corona epidemic also showed the effectiveness and success of the idea of telemedicine which in turn seriously contributed to limiting the spread of the virus, but it also contributed at the same time to the possibility of violating the medical privacy of patients from Through the means of communication between the treating physician and the institution of care and between the person receiving treatment. - We will try to answer all these questions, with the help of what the comparative legislation has concluded in this regard

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Sex difference and intra-operative tidal volume: Insights from the LAS VEGAS study

BACKGROUND: One key element of lung-protective ventilation is the use of a low tidal volume (VT). A sex difference in use of low tidal volume ventilation (LTVV) has been described in critically ill ICU patients.OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine whether a sex difference in use of LTVV also exists in operating room patients, and if present what factors drive this difference.DESIGN, PATIENTS AND SETTING: This is a posthoc analysis of LAS VEGAS, a 1-week worldwide observational study in adults requiring intra-operative ventilation during general anaesthesia for surgery in 146 hospitals in 29 countries.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Women and men were compared with respect to use of LTVV, defined as VT of 8 ml kg-1 or less predicted bodyweight (PBW). A VT was deemed 'default' if the set VT was a round number. A mediation analysis assessed which factors may explain the sex difference in use of LTVV during intra-operative ventilation.RESULTS: This analysis includes 9864 patients, of whom 5425 (55%) were women. A default VT was often set, both in women and men; mode VT was 500 ml. Median [IQR] VT was higher in women than in men (8.6 [7.7 to 9.6] vs. 7.6 [6.8 to 8.4] ml kg-1 PBW, P < 0.001). Compared with men, women were twice as likely not to receive LTVV [68.8 vs. 36.0%; relative risk ratio 2.1 (95% CI 1.9 to 2.1), P < 0.001]. In the mediation analysis, patients' height and actual body weight (ABW) explained 81 and 18% of the sex difference in use of LTVV, respectively; it was not explained by the use of a default VT.CONCLUSION: In this worldwide cohort of patients receiving intra-operative ventilation during general anaesthesia for surgery, women received a higher VT than men during intra-operative ventilation. The risk for a female not to receive LTVV during surgery was double that of males. Height and ABW were the two mediators of the sex difference in use of LTVV.TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered at Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01601223