Wireless Sensor Networks, Real-Time Locating Systems and Multi-Agent Systems: The Perfect Team

This paper presents a project aimed at combining wireless sensor networks and real-time locating systems by means of a multi-agent platform based on virtual organizations. This approach makes use of the n-Core platform to provide the basic sensing and locating infrastructure. Several case studies are presented in order to facilitate the comprehension of the goals of this project

Riesgo de sangrado y complicaciones ginecoobstétricas en una paciente con déficit de factor XIII. Presentación de un caso y revisión de la literatura

ResumenLa deficiencia de factor XIII de la coagulación es un trastorno raro de la coagulación, entre los que están la afibrinogenemis y los de factor II, V, V+VIII, VII, X y XI. Estos son son anormalidades de la hemostasia con herencia autosómica recesiva; su prevalencia es de 1 en 500,000 a 2 millones de personas. Por su rareza, tipo y severidad de las hemorragias y lo poco claro que es el defecto molecular y su manejo son un reto diagnóstico y terapéutico. Para algunas de estas deficiencias no existen concentrados del factor de coagulación implicado disponibles, por lo que es necesario utilizar derivados sanguíneos o medicamentos hemostáticos alternativos, lo que puede generar complicaciones, en ocasiones fatales; estas complicaciones pueden ser minimizadas evaluando en cada caso el riesgo de sangrado o de trombosis seleccionando comotratamiento alternativas diferentes a los derivados de la sangre, o incluso no administrando tratamiento en los episodios hemorrágicos leves. En este artículo se describe el caso de una paciente con diagnóstico de déficit de factor XIII que debutó con hematuria y complicaciones ginecoobstétricas; hay historia familiar de consanguinidad y de déficit de factor XIII; recibió manejo con crioprecipitados y antifibrinolíticos y profilaxis con crioprecipitados durante el transcurso de su segundo embarazo, lográndose un producto a término con un parto por cesárea sin complicaciones hemorrágicas o trombóticas.[Sossa CL, Jiménez SI, Rincón IM, Pérez CA, Galvis HD. Riesgo de sangrado y complicaciones ginecoobstétricas en una paciente con déficit de factor XIII. Presentación de un caso y revisión de la literatura. MedUNAB 2008; 11:185-190].Palabras clave: Trastorno de la coagulación, Deficiencia factor XIII

Supporting Context-Aware Collaborative Learning Activities by CAFCLA

The integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in daily life has improved the learning process by means of context-aware technologies. Through the use of technology, new ways of learning has emerged allowing to become the learning process more ubiquitous. However, it is necessary to develop new tools that can be adapted to a wide range of technologies and different application scenarios. This paper presents CAFCLA, a framework that allows developing context-aware learning applications. CAFCLA integrates different context-aware technologies, so that learning applications designed, developed and deployed upon it are dynamic, adaptive and easy to use by users such as students and teachers

Cloud-IO: Cloud Computing Platform for the Fast Deployment of Services over Wireless Sensor Networks

In the recent years, a new computing model, known as Cloud Computing, has emerged to react to the explosive growth of the number of devices connected to Internet. Cloud Computing is centered on the user and offers an efficient, secure and elastically scalable way of providing and acquiring services. Likewise, Ambient Intelligence (AmI) is also an emerging paradigm based on ubiquitous computing that proposes new ways of interaction between humans and machines, making technology adapt to the users’ necessities. One of the most important aspects in AmI is the use of context-aware technologies such as Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) to perceive stimuli from both the users and the environment. In this regard, this paper presents Cloud-IO, a Cloud Computing platform for the fast integration and deployment of services over WSN

Improving Context-Awareness in a Healthcare Multi-Agent System

Context-aware technologies allow Ambient Assisted Living systems and applications to automatically obtain information from users and their environment in a distributed and ubiquitous way. One of the most important technologies used to provide context-awareness to a system is Wireless Sensor Networks. This paper describes last improvements made on ALZ-MAS, an Ambient Intelligence based multi-agent system aimed at enhancing the assistance and healthcare for Alzheimer patients. In this sense, a new ZigBee platform is used to improve ALZ-MAS. This platform provides the system with new telemonitoring and locating engines that facilitate the integration of context-awareness into it

Implementing a hardware-embedded reactive agents platform based on a service-oriented architecture over heterogeneous wireless sensor networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) represent a key technology for collecting important information from different sources in context-aware environments. Unfortunately, integrating devices from different architectures or wireless technologies into a single sensor network is not an easy task for designers and developers. In this sense, distributed architectures, such as service-oriented architectures and multi-agent systems, can facilitate the integration of heterogeneous sensor networks. In addition, the sensors’ capabilities can be expanded by means of intelligent agents that change their behavior dynamically. This paper presents the Hardware-Embedded Reactive Agents (HERA) platform. HERA is based on Services laYers over Light PHysical devices (SYLPH), a distributed platform which integrates a service-oriented approach into heterogeneous WSNs. As SYLPH, HERA can be executed over multiple devices independently of their wireless technology, their architecture or the programming language they use. However, HERA goes one step ahead of SYLPH and adds reactive agents to the platform and also a reasoning mechanism that provides HERA Agents with Case-Based Planning features that allow solving problems considering past experiences. Unlike other approaches, HERA allows developing applications where reactive agents are directly embedded into heterogeneous wireless sensor nodes with reduced computational resources