Integrated system architecture for decision-making and urban planning in smart cities

Research and development of applications for smart cities are extremely relevant considering the various problems that population growth will bring to large urban centers in the next few years. Although research on cyber-physical systems, cloud computing, embedded devices, sensor and actuator networks, and participatory sensing, among other paradigms, is driving the growth of solutions, there are a lot of challenges that need to be addressed. Based on these observations, in this work, we present an integrated system architecture for decision-making support and urban planning by introducing its building blocks (termed components): sensing/actuation, local processing, communication, cloud platform, and application components. In the sensing/actuation component, we present the major relevant resources for data collection, identification devices, and actuators that can be used in smart city solutions. Sensing/actuation component is followed by the local processing component, which is responsible for processing, decision-making support, and control in local scale. The communication component, as the connection element among all these components, is presented with an emphasis on the open-access metropolitan area network and cellular networks. The cloud platform is the essential component for urban planning and integration with electronic governance legacy systems, and finally, the application component, in which the government administrator and users have access to public management tools, citizen services, and other urban planning resources15

MatGrafvoice : mathematical Treatment System and Tactile Visualization of Mathematical Functions Through of a Braille Printer

Orientador: Luiz Cesar MartiniDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica e de ComputaçãoResumo: Nesta dissertação de mestrado, desenvolveu-se uma ferramenta de informática, chamada de MatGrafvoice, para o tratamento de funções matemáticas, assim como a sua visualização tátil através de uma impressora Braille. Ela tem por finalidade facilitar o aprendizado e a interpretação de funções, através dos gráficos táteis gerados pelo usuário deficiente visual. Por outro lado, o aplicativo também vai auxiliar na comunicação escrita entre pessoas com deficiência visual alfabetizadas em Braille e pessoas sem deficiência que não conhecem o sistema Braille. As características do aplicativo, que visam a acessibilidade, como o sintetizador de fala, o editor de texto e menus interativos, foram desenvolvidas priorizando a pessoa com deficiência visual total, porém possui características, desenvolvidas baixo padrões de acessibilidade, permitem seu uso por pessoas com deficiência visual parcial ou ainda por pessoas que enxergamAbstract: In this master thesis, has been developed a software tool called MatGrafvoice for the treatment of mathematical functions, as well as its tactile visualization via a Braille printer. The tool is designed to facilitate learning and interpretation of functions, through the tactile figures generated in the software by the visually impaired user. On the other hand, this software will also allow a written communication among visually impaired people with Braille skills, people without any visual problem, and people who has no experience in Braille. The accessible features of the application such as speech synthesizer, text editor and interactive menus have been developed giving priority to the person with full visual impairments, but this software developed under standards for blind people, allows its use by people with partial visual impairment or even by people without any disability at allMestradoEngenharia de ComputaçãoMestra em Engenharia ElétricaCNP

Dos son multitud: nuestras duplas favoritas

Varios de los amantes del cine que escriben en esta revista nos traen un mágico repertorio de sus duplas favoritas, de diez en diez. De comienzo a fin, desde la etapa muda hasta nuestros tiempos digitales. Al final, revisaremos las duplas más votadas

We can do it!: nuestros personajes femeninos favoritos

Las siguientes listas son el resultado de una tarea tan formidable como personal: elegir nuestros personajes femeninos favoritos de toda la histor ia del cine. Desde la época muda hasta nuestra era digital, recorr iendo géneros yépocas distintas, diecinueve colaboradores nos dan su opinión

We can do it!: nuestros personajes femeninos favoritos

Las siguientes listas son el resultado de una tarea tan formidable como personal: elegir nuestros personajes femeninos favoritos de toda la historia del cine. Desde la época muda hasta nuestra era digital, recorriendo géneros y épocas distintas, diecinueve colaboradores nos dan su opinión

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P < 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)