Communication Architecture for Tracking and Interoperable Services at Hospitals: A Real Deployment Experience

Any new hospital communication architecture has to support existing services, but at the same time new added features should not affect normal tasks. This article deals with issues regarding old and new systems’ interoperability, as well as the effect the human factor has in a deployed architecture. It also presents valuable information, which is a product of a real scenario. Tracking services are also tested in order to monitor and administer several medical resources

Transmisión y Monitorización Remota de Señales Respiratorias en Niños mediante SIP y tecnologías Web 2.0

Este artículo presenta el Sistema diseñado para permitir la monitorización remota de niños con problemas de apnea. El Sistema se ha diseñado en colaboración con el Hospital de LA PAZ, para identificar los elementos clave para detectar la apnea, incluyendo las señales que deben ser analizadas y las funcionalidades claves del sistema. En LA PAZ también se realizarán las pruebas reales de sistema final. El sistema desarrollado pretende mejorar la calidad de vida de los pacientes monitorizados por un lado y por otro mejorar el conocimiento sobre la apnea en pacientes reales mediante la recogida de gran cantidad de señales. La información se recoge y analiza en tiempo real para permitir una detección temprana de apneas. La información recogida por los sensores también se almacena en una Base de Datos central que permitirá un posterior análisis más profundo de las señales recogidas. El Sistema permite una visualización remota utilizando navegadores Web estándar, integrando tecnologías Web 2.

Monitorización Remota de Señales Respiratorias en Niños

Este artículo describe un sistema diseñado para permitir la monitorización remota de niños con problema de apnea y la detección temprana de la apnea. El Sistema se ha desarrollado en colaboración con los doctores del Hospital de la de LA PAZ para poder identificar las funcionalidades clave y las señales más adecuadas para el contexto del proyecto. El objetivo final del sistema es mejorar la calidad de vida de los pacientes que necesitan monitorización, así como aumentar la información recogida en un formato procesable que permita su posterior análisis con algoritmos más potentes que los utilizados en la actualidad. El desarrollo de algunos de estos algoritmos también forma parte del proyecto. El sistema recoge los datos en tiempo real a partir de monitores de uso normal en el entorno hospitalario, permitiendo mediante un análisis local de los datos la detección temprana de la apnea. En paralelo los datos son transferidos a una base de datos central, desde donde pueden ser procesados con algoritmos más potentes o visualizados mediante navegadores Web

Industry 4.0 Paradigm on Teaching and Learning Engineering

This paper evaluates the impact of the early adoption of Industry 4.0 tools and methods (industrial systems that enablemany innovative functionalities through their networking and their access to the cyber world) on engineering education. The proposed analysis considers two points of view: professors (teaching) and students (learning). In this context, two experiences were conducted: an advanced correction and validation system with real-time feedback and a virtual learning environment supported by a remote laboratory. In this paper two objectives are addressed: first the paper describes the proposed Industry 4.0 education tools, based on e-learning and cyber-physical technologies; second the performance of these tools is evaluated in a real context, where more than one hundred students were involved. The experience was deployed in subjects related to microcontroller programming in Telecommunication Engineering and Bioengineering degree programs. Results were evaluated using statistical methods. First evidences of the improvement in the students’ motivation, their academic results and their acquisition of Industry 4.0 competencies were obtained

A data-driven blockchain-based marketplace to promote transparency and accountability in City-Region Food Systems

In the last ten years, several new challenges have emerged regarding food: from the production crisis caused by wars and the climate change to the unsustainable food waste in the occidental societies or the health problems associated to processed food, additives and other equivalent substances. Resilient and sustainable food systems are needed to survive against all these risks. The Food and Agriculture Organization has envisioned that this only would be possible if we put together large urban centers, the conglomeration of smaller cities in their surrounds and the surrounding and interspersed peri-urban and rural hinterland in a unique City-Region Food System (CRFS). CRFS, however, will be only an opportunity if all food agents in the area collaborate together as part of the same network. This collaboration must overcome the potential conflict of interest and the lack of trust among the different agents, so transparency and accountability must be improved in all transactions. Therefore, in this paper we describe a data-driven blockchain-based marketplace where food agents in a CRFS can share and get transparent and accountable information about other industries, users, or producers in the region. To motivate food agents to join the platform, information in the marketplace is not free and consumers must pay a fee before getting it, generating new income flow for participants. The system is supported by Ethereum network and web technologies. An initial experience was carried out to validate the proposed marketplace in the context of a CRFS living lab in Spain

Flexible physical process control through predictor-corrector differential models in Industry 4.0 scenarios

Industry 4.0 refers a new era in the human societies characterized by a high efficiency, specialization and the use of innovative technological solutions such as Cyber-Physical Systems. Although high-level services are envisioned to be themain economic activity in the fourth industrial revolution, traditional industrial manufacturing processes will be still essential and strategic. However, in Industry 4.0 scenarios, these processes must be highly efficient, reducing in a relevant way the resource consumption and waste generation. In order to do that, very precise control solutions for physical processes are needed, so the process can be guided across the optimal physical path. Nevertheless, current control solutions cannot perform these actions, as they are not dynamic or flexible enough to adapt to the random evolution of natural phenomena quickly and precisely. Thus, in this paper it is proposed a new and more flexible control mechanism for physical processes in Industry 4.0 scenarios. The proposed solution models physical processes as differential systems where Taylor series are employed to represent the unknown interdependency of physical variables.Besides, variable parameters and adaptative control functions are introduced to make the differential model follow the real process evolution. Using numerical methods, the whole differential model may be solved to predict future states, which are later corrected considering the real process evolution. Finally, in order to evaluate the performance of the proposed technology, an experimental validation based on simulation tools is provided

Lightweight encryption for short-range wireless biometric authentication systems in Industry 4.0

Most recent solutions for users’ authentication in Industry 4.0 scenarios are based on unique biological characteristics that are captured from users and recognized using artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. These biometric applications tend to be computationally heavy, so to monitor users in an unobtrusive manner, sensing and processing modules are physically separated and connected through point-to-point wireless communication technologies. However, in this approach, sensors are very resource constrained, and common cryptographic techniques to protect private users’ information while traveling in the radio channel cannot be implemented because their computational cost. Thus, new security solutions for those biometric authentication systems in their short-range wireless communications are needed. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a new cryptographic approach addressing this scenario. The proposed solution employs lightweight operations to create a secure symmetric encryption solution. This cipher includes a pseudo-random number generator based, also, on simple computationally low-cost operations in order to create the secret key. In order to preserve and provide good security properties, the key generation and the encryption processes are fed with a chaotic number sequence obtained through the numerical integration of a new four-order hyperchaotic dynamic. An experimental analysis and a performance evaluation are provided in the experimental section, showing the good behavior of the described solution

e-Flow - Sistema Integral Inteligente de soporte a la evacuación (2º parte)

Este artículo trata dos temas estrechamente vinculados: por un lado, se presenta parte del trabajo realizado en la Tesis denominada “Modelo Híbrido de Ayuda al Capitán”, cuyos planteamientos han servido de base para la realización del proyecto de I+D+i denominado “e- Flow. Sistema integral de soporte a la evacuación”, segundo tema que se trata en este artículo. Se describirá una herramienta desarrollada para la creación de un modelo de las redes de evacuación (Macromodelo) y otra para realizar simulaciones de comportamiento de individuos (Micromodelo), se hablará de alternativas a los simulacros y se especificarán los requerimientos de una infraestructura física y de servicios para un sistema de ayuda al capitán. Sobre el proyecto e-Flow, se dará una visión general, describiendo la infraestructura física y de servicios. Se mostrará el potencial que puede suponer la implantación de un sistema cuyas posibilidades van más allá del soporte a la evacuación

Blockchain technologies for private data management in AmI environments

Blockchain enables the creation of distributed ledgers as a type of database that is shared, replicated, and synchronized among the members of a network. In this paper we analyze how distributed ledgers can be used for empowering end-users to self-manage their own data, enabling third parties to access those data under a cryptographic management model. We propose a use case where both blockchain and smart contracts are employed by using cryptographic technology to enable user empowerment of data management in AmI. Finally, we analyze strengths and weaknesses of the proposed scenario

Digital user-industry interactions and Industry 4.0 services to improve customers’ experience and satisfaction in the European bakery sector

Future Industry 4.0 is focused on improving production processes through the employment of digital services and technologies. One of the potential approaches to this new paradigm is the creation of information flows across the entire value chain to empower users, increase their knowledge about the product they are buying and feedback producers with data about the customers' opinions, preferences, and recommendations. To allow a transparent path for information in the value chain, new digital platforms and tools are needed to connect users, producers, and suppliers. DEMETER is a European project focused on improving the efficiency of agri-food sector, according to Industry 4.0 principles. In this paper, we are describing the use case of DEMETER project focused on bakery industry. Five different experiments focused on sharing four different information sources, together with the corresponding tools to guarantee the reliability and transparency of that information, are planned. Recently, results from the first experiment have been obtained and are reported in this paper. Results show how users' satisfaction highly increases when enriched and personalized production information about products is available through, for example, mobile applications. In the future, this mechanism will include more information from suppliers and other related agents to analyze if this also represents a relevant increase in the users' satisfaction