Search

In the era of ubiquitous computing, the challenges imposed by the increasing demand for real-time data processing, security, and energy efficiency call for innovative solutions. The emergence of fog computing has provided a promising paradigm to address these challenges by bringing computational resources closer to data sources. Despite its advantages, the fog computing characteristics pose challenges in heterogeneous environments in terms of resource allocation and management, provisioning, security, and connectivity, among others. This paper introduces COGNIFOG, a novel cognitive fog framework currently under development, which was designed to leverage intelligent, decentralized decision-making processes, machine learning algorithms, and distributed computing principles to enable the autonomous operation, adaptability, and scalability across the IoT-edge-cloud continuum. By integrating cognitive capabilities, COGNIFOG is expected to increase the efficiency and reliability of next-generation computing environments, potentially providing a seamless bridge between the physical and digital worlds. Preliminary experimental results with a limited set of connectivity-related COGNIFOG building blocks show promising improvements in network resource utilization in a real-world-based IoT scenario. Overall, this work paves the way for further developments on the framework, which are aimed at making it more intelligent, resilient, and aligned with the ever-evolving demands of next-generation computing environments.

A wide range of applications from multiple sectors already use ultra-wideband (UWB) technology to locate and track assets precisely. This is not the case, however, for first responder localization during emergency response (ER) operations, which are highly conditioned by procedural and environmental constraints. After analyzing these limitations and reviewing the current state-of-the-art solutions, this work presents a UWB-based indoor positioning system (IPS) that relies on the global navigation satellite system real-time kinematic (GNSS-RTK) technology to quickly, accurately, and safely deploy its required infrastructure on site. A set of tests conducted on a two-story building prove the suitability of such a system, providing an average accuracy of less than 1 meter for static targets and the ability to faithfully reproduce the path followed by a mobile target inside the building. The obtained results strengthen the presented approach and pave the way for more sophisticated UWB-based IPSs that would include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and/or mobile robots to speed up network deployment even more while offering additional ER services.

The use of the edible photosynthetic cyanobacterium Arthrospira platensis (spirulina) as a biomanufacturing platform has been limited by a lack of genetic tools. Here we report genetic engineering methods for stable, high-level expression of bioactive proteins in spirulina, including large-scale, indoor cultivation and downstream processing methods. Following targeted integration of exogenous genes into the spirulina chromosome (chr), encoded protein biopharmaceuticals can represent as much as 15% of total biomass, require no purification before oral delivery and are stable without refrigeration and protected during gastric transit when encapsulated within dry spirulina. Oral delivery of a spirulina-expressed antibody targeting campylobacter-a major cause of infant mortality in the developing world-prevents disease in mice, and a phase 1 clinical trial demonstrated safety for human administration. Spirulina provides an advantageous system for the manufacture of orally delivered therapeutic proteins by combining the safety of a food-based production host with the accessible genetic manipulation and high productivity of microbial platforms., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The concept of a Health Literate Healthcare Organization (HLHO) is a relatively new approach to health literacy that moves the focus from the individual patient to the overarching health care system. The HLHO-10 questionnaire was developed internationally to assess the 10 Attributes of HLHOs as described by participants of the Institute of Medicine Roundtable on Health Literacy. The purpose of this study was to establish reliability and validity of the HLHO-10 among a sample of United States hospitals. Reliability and validity were established through assessing the factor structure for the HLHO-10 and psychometric evaluation. The HLHO-10 was found to be reliable with a Cronbach's alpha of .855 and a two-factor structure was revealed through exploratory factor analysis. Additional research is needed to further validate use of the HLHO-10 in the U.S., but initial findings of this emerging tool are promising and timely as the issue of health literacy comes to the forefront of U.S. health care systems and associated regulatory agencies. [ HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice . 2022;6(2):e137-e141. ].

Background: There exists a paucity of literature about teenager health literacy in general and teenagers are likely to turn to the internet for health information. Therefore, they need good e-health literacy to properly understand and apply the information obtained. Yet, many have limited e-health literacy, lacking the knowledge and skills to filter and distinguish reliable from unreliable health information and searches return large amounts of information, making it difficult to recognize whether information is reputable and raising concerns regarding teenagers' safety. Brief Description of Activity: We developed a toolkit in collaboration with community-based organizations serving teenagers and teenagers themselves usable with brief training to present a 1-hour, interactive workshop. We transformed current adult information for locating and appraising online health information into a teenager friendly format using relevant health topics to engage participants., Implementation: We met teenagers in teenager-friendly settings where they already gather to engage them and leverage the relationship fostered within those settings to bridge positive and negative social determinant influences on health literacy and e-health literacy as well as cross potential cultural, economic, political, and demographic barriers. Using the "train the trainer" method to build sustainability, we trained teenagers and group leaders to use the toolkit to run workshops with teenagers and placed the components in an easily available online format., Results: After completing the workshop, teenager participants expressed a high level of confidence in using Medline Plus, locating health information online, identifying Truth versus Trash and making health decisions. Most teenagers reported they would recommend the WebLitLegit workshop to their friends and it improved their ability to find credible online health information., Lessons Learned: The workshop's practical application provided participants with real-life examples for evaluating online information using the "LEGIT" acronym. The integration of this community-based program fostered relationships between the teenager participants, community organizations, and university students and faculty. All of the organizations involved benefited through exposure to health literacy concepts and knowledge of evaluation criteria, which may help expand e-health literacy in the community because the students, teenagers, and community partners are able to sustainably share the toolkit within their social network. [ HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice . 2022;6(2):e151-e158. ] Plain Language Summary: Teenagers use the internet to find health information but have difficulty deciding if the information is correct and safe. WebLitLegit workshops help teenagers find correct and safe information to make health decisions. Teenagers completing the workshop thought their ability to find correct information and make good health decisions improved. This best practice adds to the literature by addressing needed teenager e-health literacy.

A short time after the official launch of WiFi 6, IEEE 802.11 working groups along with the WiFi Alliance are already designing its successor in the wireless local area network (WLAN) ecosystem: WiFi 7. With the IEEE 802.11be amendment as one of its main constituent parts, future WiFi 7 aims to include time-sensitive networking (TSN) capabilities to support low latency and ultra-reliability in license-exempt spectrum bands, enabling many new Internet of Things scenarios. This article first introduces the key features of IEEE 802.11be, which are then used as the basis to discuss how TSN functionalities could be implemented in WiFi 7. Finally, the benefits and requirements of the most representative Internet of Things low-latency use cases for WiFi 7 are reviewed: multimedia, healthcare, industrial, and transport.

Overview: In 2012, the Institute of Medicine Roundtable on Health Literacy established 10 attributes of a health literate health care organization that, if instated, would improve health information and empower patients to make more informed health decisions. Few studies have assessed how well organizations meet these attributes., Purpose: This study sought to describe the extent to which health care systems in North Texas were adopting policies and practices that address the 10 attributes of a health literate health care organization. More specifically, we sought to describe key organizational leaders' and clinicians' perceptions in this regard., Study Design and Methods: This was a mixed-methods study, conducted with a convenience sample of 74 key informants from 13 hospitals across five health care systems. Informants provided demographic data, and their perceptions of the extent to which their hospital met the 10 attributes were measured via the Health Literate Health Care Organization 10-item questionnaire (HLHO-10) and semistructured interviews., Results: Mean scores for HLHO-10 items ranged from 3.74 to 5.39, with 7 as a maximum score. Qualitative data provided richer content, elaborating on the survey results. Workforce training in health literacy, patient inclusion in health information development and evaluation, and communication about health care costs were rated the lowest and were described as issues of concern., Conclusion: Study findings indicated limited leadership and little systemic promotion of efforts to ensure health literate health care organizations, although individual health literacy champions sometimes stepped up with creative initiatives.

Objective: to verify the efficiency and usefulness of basic ultrasound training in trauma (FAST - Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma) for emergency physicians in the primary evaluation of abdominal trauma., Methods: a longitudinal and observational study was carried out from 2015 to 2017, with 11 emergency physicians from Hospital Universitário do Oeste do Paraná, submitted to ultrasound training in emergency and trauma (USET® - SBAIT). FAST results started to be collected two months after the course. These were compared with a composite score of complementary exams and surgical findings. Information was stored in a Microsoft Excel program database and submitted to statistical analysis., Results: FAST was performed in 120 patients. In the study, 38.4% of the assessed patients had a shock index ≥0.9. The composite score detected 40 patients with free peritoneal fluid, whereas FAST detected 27 cases. The method sensitivity was 67.5%, specificity was 98.7%, the positive predictive value was 96.4%, the negative predictive value was 85.39% and accuracy was 88%. All those with a positive FAST had a shock index ≥0.9. Fifteen patients with positive FAST and signs of instability were immediately submitted to surgery., Conclusions: the basic training of emergency physicians in FAST showed efficiency and usefulness in abdominal trauma assessment. Due to its low cost and easy implementation, this modality should be considered as a screening strategy for patients with abdominal trauma in health systems.