Autonomic Role and Mission Allocation Framework for Wireless Sensor Networks.

Pervasive applications incorporate physical components that are exposed to everyday use and a large number of conditions and external factors that can lead to faults and failures. It is also possible that application requirements change during deployment and the network needs to adapt to a new context. Consequently, pervasive systems must be capable to autonomically adapt to changing conditions without involving users becoming a transparent asset in the environment. In this paper, we present an autonomic mechanism for initial task assignment in sensor networks, an NP-hard problem. We also study on-line adaptation of the original deployment which considers real-time metrics for maximising utility and lifetime of applications and smooth service degradation in the face of component failures. © 2011 IEEE

Dynamic update of discrete event controllers

Discrete event controllers are at the heart of many software systems that require continuous operation. Changing these controllers at runtime to cope with changes in its execution environment or system requirements change is a challenging open problem. In this paper we address the problem of dynamic update of controllers in reactive systems. We present a general approach to specifying correctness criteria for dynamic update and a technique for automatically computing a controller that handles the transition from the old to the new specification, assuring that the system will reach a state in which such a transition can correctly occur and in which the underlying system architecture can reconfigure. Our solution uses discrete event controller synthesis to automatically build a controller that guarantees both progress towards update and safe update

Postresectional lung injury in thoracic surgery pre and intraoperative risk factors: a retrospective clinical study of a hundred forty-three cases

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Acute respiratory dysfunction syndrome (ARDS), defined as acute hypoxemia accompanied by radiographic pulmonary infiltrates without a clearly identifiable cause, is a major cause of morbidity and mortality after pulmonary resection. The aim of the study was to determine the pre and intraoperative factors associated with ARDS after pulmonary resection retrospectively.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Patients undergoing elective pulmonary resection at Adnan Menderes University Medical Faculty Thoracic Surgery Department from January 2005 to February 2010 were included in this retrospective study. The authors collected data on demographics, relevant co-morbidities, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Physical Status classification score, pulmonary function tests, type of operation, duration of surgery and intraoperative fluid administration (fluid therapy and blood products). The primary outcome measure was postoperative ARDS, defined as the need for continuation of mechanical ventilation for greater than 48-hours postoperatively or the need for reinstitution of mechanical ventilation after extubation. Statistical analysis was performed with Fisher exact test for categorical variables and logistic regression analysis for continuous variables.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of one hundred forty-three pulmonary resection patients, 11 (7.5%) developed postoperative ARDS. Alcohol abuse (p = 0.01, OR = 39.6), ASA score (p = 0.001, OR: 1257.3), resection type (p = 0.032, OR = 28.6) and fresh frozen plasma (FFP)(p = 0.027, OR = 1.4) were the factors found to be statistically significant.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In the light of the current study, lung injury after lung resection has a high mortality. Preoperative and postoperative risk factor were significant predictors of postoperative lung injury.</p

Factors influencing physical activity and rehabilitation in survivors of critical illness: a systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies

PURPOSE: To identify, evaluate and synthesise studies examining the barriers and enablers for survivors of critical illness to participate in physical activity in the ICU and post-ICU settings from the perspective of patients, caregivers and healthcare providers. METHODS: Systematic review of articles using five electronic databases: MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Scopus. Quantitative and qualitative studies that were published in English in a peer-reviewed journal and assessed barriers or enablers for survivors of critical illness to perform physical activity were included. Prospero ID: CRD42016035454. RESULTS: Eighty-nine papers were included. Five major themes and 28 sub-themes were identified, encompassing: (1) patient physical and psychological capability to perform physical activity, including delirium, sedation, illness severity, comorbidities, weakness, anxiety, confidence and motivation; (2) safety influences, including physiological stability and concern for lines, e.g. risk of dislodgement; (3) culture and team influences, including leadership, interprofessional communication, administrative buy-in, clinician expertise and knowledge; (4) motivation and beliefs regarding the benefits/risks; and (5) environmental influences, including funding, access to rehabilitation programs, staffing and equipment. CONCLUSIONS: The main barriers identified were patient physical and psychological capability to perform physical activity, safety concerns, lack of leadership and ICU culture of mobility, lack of interprofessional communication, expertise and knowledge, and lack of staffing/equipment and funding to provide rehabilitation programs. Barriers and enablers are multidimensional and span diverse factors. The majority of these barriers are modifiable and can be targeted in future clinical practice

Mechanisms for environments in multi-agent systems: Survey and opportunities

The environment has been recognized as an explicit and exploitable element to design multi-agent systems (MAS). It can be assigned a number of responsibilities that would be more difficult to design with the sole notion of agents. To support the engineering of these responsibilities, we identify a set of mechanisms that offer solutions to software designers. We describe the mechanisms, their usage in representative projects, and potential opportunities for further research and applications. The purpose of this article is to clarify the notion of environment in terms of mechanisms, from their abstract description to their practical exploitation. Mechanisms are expected to provide agent-based software designers with a set of design elements to build MAS that take advantage of the environment