Real-time Information Exchange Research Articles

Arizona Sonora Binational Cases: five years of surveillance

Objective: To describe 5 years of binational infectious disease surveillance using the binational variable in the medical electronic surveillance system in ArizonaIntroduction: Infectious diseases can spread across borders. (1) The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) collects information on binational infectious disease cases and shares it with Mexico. Infectious disease investigation in Arizona is enhanced by using an electronic surveillance platform known as the Medical Electronic Disease Surveillance Intelligence System (MEDSIS), and in 2010 a specific variable for binational cases with Mexico was added to the platform. ADHS also maintains a binational case definition in the state reportable communicable morbidities manual. Arizona partners with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine (DGMQ), US Mexico Unit (USMU), in a monthly binational case reporting project, and shares information with the Ministry of Health of the State of Sonora, Mexico, (SON MOH) to reinforce ongoing communication, to establish baseline disease patterns, and to help detect binational outbreaks. In 2007, the Ministry of Health of the State of Sonora began to use the MEDSIS system for real-time secure case notification, and secure file sharing, using the Arizona’s Health Services Portal and secure e-mail accounts for confidential communication between both states.Methods: From 2011 to 2015, the ADHS Binational Border Infectious Disease Surveillance (BIDS) program maintained a database to collect information on binational cases with Mexico, and coordinated regularly with SON MOH to investigate and respond to binational cases and outbreaks. In addition, a SAS program was created to search for possible binational cases not designated as binational using variables such as an address in Mexico and Mexican citizenship. The ADHS BIDS program investigated all suspected binational cases with Mexico and classified them as binational according to the case definition established by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE). The ADHS BIDS program also shared binational cases from Mexico with CDC DGMQ USMU through an Epi-X Forum and with SON MOH through MEDSIS or secure e-mail.Results: Between 2011 and 2015, the ADHS BIDS program investigated 2,158 possible binational cases with Mexico. From those, 70.44% (n=1520) were classified as binational with Mexico according with the CSTE case definition. The majority of cases were classified as binational because of travel to Mexico (n =1089, 71.6%), with 59% traveling to Sonora (n =641). The majority of cases during those 5 years were enteric diseases (n=1086, 71.4%), followed by vector borne diseases (n =131, 8.6%). Most of the binational cases reported had symptom onset between June and August, following the seasonality of both southbound travel and enteric diseases. Regular communication with Sonora facilitated detection of an average of three binational outbreaks per year. All confirmed binational cases were reported to CDC DGMQ USMU and SON MOH.Conclusions: Continuous sharing of infectious disease surveillance information between both states is essential in understanding the magnitude and types of reportable diseases in the Arizona/Sonora border region. Proper use of the binational MEDSIS variable enables a quicker identification of binational status, allowing for the prompt investigation of possible binational cases and detection of binational outbreaks. Binational outbreaks led to collaborative Arizona/Sonora investigations on several occasions, strengthening our relationship, coordination, collaborations, and understanding of the surveillance system used by SON MOH. Real-time exchange of information using the same secure surveillance system enables better situational awareness, more timely and accurate binational communication, and binational collaborations.

Efficient and incentive compatible exchange of real-time information

We consider the problem of coordinating the exchange of real-time information. For example, a US Department of Transportation pilot program seeks to reduce traffic accidents by allowing each vehicle to transfer crash-relevant information (e.g. position, speed, braking status) to and from neighboring vehicles. Time is of the essence: vehicle information becomes stale quickly. Electronic files are the medium of information and corrupt/useless when partial; hence, we model them as discrete, indivisible objects. Furthermore, each agent may perfectly replicate an object in his possession and transfer it to another agent. However, replication and transfer takes time (e.g. due to bandwidth constraints), and scarcity arises due to fact that information quickly becomes valueless. How should agents transfer such objects? We study efficiency, strategy-proofness, withholding-proofness, and introduce a new axiom based on the concept of reciprocity. Our results are as follows: when each agent owns one object and consumes only one object, we identify a family of rules satisfying all four axioms. If each agent owns a bundle of objects and consumes a bundle, then the four axioms are incompatible. If agents live in a network, then for a large class of incomplete networks, efficiency is only compatible with strategy-proofness.

From global action against malaria to local issues: state of the art and perspectives of web platforms dealing with malaria information

BackgroundSince prehistory to present times and despite a rough combat against it, malaria remains a concern for human beings. While evolutions of science and technology through times allowed for some infectious diseases eradication in the 20th century, malaria resists.ObjectivesThis review aims at assessing how Internet and web technologies are used in fighting malaria. Precisely, how do malaria fighting actors profit from these developments, how do they deal with ensuing phenomena, such as the increase of data volume, and did these technologies bring new opportunities for fighting malaria?MethodsEleven web platforms linked to spatio-temporal malaria information are reviewed, focusing on data, metadata, web services and categories of users.ResultsThough the web platforms are highly heterogeneous the review reveals that the latest advances in web technologies are underused. Information are rarely updated dynamically, metadata catalogues are absent, web services are more and more used, but rarely standardized, and websites are mainly dedicated to scientific communities, essentially researchers.ConclusionImprovement of systems interoperability, through standardization, is an opportunity to be seized in order to allow real time information exchange and online multisource data analysis. To facilitate multidisciplinary/multiscale studies, the web of linked data and the semantic web innovations can be used in order to formalize the different view points of actors involved in the combat against malaria. By doing so, new malaria fighting strategies could take place, to tackle the bottlenecks listed in the United Nation Millennium Development Goals reports, but also specific issues highlighted by the World Health Organization such as malaria elimination in international borders.

Practical Implementation of Multi-User Transform Domain Communication System for Control Channels in Cloud-Based Cognitive Radio Networks

Evolving from cognitive radio networks (CRNs), the concept has developed into a new paradigm of cloud and big data-based next-generation CRNs due to huge amount of data processing, complicated spectrum resource scheduling, and real-time information exchange. In cloud-based CRNs, control channels are needed for CR nodes to perform certain handshakings for network self-organization, spectrum sensing, network coordination, and flexible data connections. This paper investigates a transmission scheme for control channel (CC) in cloud-based CRNs, which is over several noncontiguous spectral holes. Transform domain communication system (TDCS)-based transmission scheme with spectrally-constrained sequence design is presented for CC. A practical testbed design for TDCS-based CC with multiple National Instruments PXIe devices and six universal software defined radio reconfigurable input/output devices is presented. Details of system design as well as main implementation challenges are described. Bit-error rate of the system is validated through both theoretical analysis and simulation results under realistic channel conditions.

Design of college students' physique monitoring and service platform based on computer and network

The problem of college students' physique has become a serious problem which restricts the cultivation of high-competent talents in China. In view of the existing deficiencies in the monitoring platform of students' physique, we fully utilise the advanced technology of computer and internet development and follow the basic principles of economical practicality, scalability, user-friendliness and real-time information exchange to establish monitoring and service platform for college students' physique. It will have far-reaching practical significance to fulfil the expected goals in different levels such as teaching management, campus sports, and students' individual physical intervention in all universities through the basic and extended functions of 'platform' such as basic assessment, testing organisation, data management, information release, fitness guidance, and printout. The main design idea of the platform, the function realisation, and the design expansion and operation method of each module will provide reference for universities to establish their own physique monitoring and service platform in line with their own requirements.

Design of college students' physique monitoring and service platform based on computer and network

The problem of college students’ physique has become a serious problem which restricts the cultivation of high-competent talents in China. In view of the existing deficiencies in the monitoring platform of students’ physique, we fully utilize the advanced technology of computer and Internet development and follow the basic principles of economical practicality, scalability, user-friendliness and real-time information exchange to establish monitoring and service platform for college students’ physique. It will have far-reaching practical significance to fulfill the expected goals in different levels such as teaching management, campus sports, and students' individual physical intervention in all universities through the basic and extended functions of “platform” such as basic assessment, testing organization, data management, information release, fitness guidance, and printout. The main design idea of the platform, the function realization, and the design expansion and operation method of each module will provide reference for universities to establish their own physique monitoring and service platform in line with their own requirements.

Informaciono-komunikaciona tehnologija u nastavi istorije

Based on the teaching experience, the study of literature and theoretical knowledge, the paper discusses the possibilities of using computers and digital media by foreign teachers and students in the preparation for teaching history, about the ability of students to learn using information technology at school, in extracurricular activities, and homework. Highlights of the use of electronic media in the teaching of history are the high availability of documents (texts, photographs, maps) and the abundance of information of scientific, journalistic, and informative character. In addition to the ability to search the databases and sites available on the Internet, computer technology enables fast and high-quality word processing, creation of new documents and presentations, creation of diverse databases, real-time information exchange of documents, personal communications, printing of text, etc. Working with electronic devices and digitized documents enables students to study with the application of multiple sources of knowledge, exploiting personal interests and abilities, and provides numerous opportunities for active and creative learning. Besides the numerous advantages, it is important to mention some restrictions on the use of electronic media in the teaching of history, in the first place, the availability of documents and the interpretation of the history by questionable scholars (truthfulness), as well as the fact that the teacher does not have an insight in how students use the document available on the Internet.

Stability analysis on a dynamical model of route choice in a connected vehicle environment

Research on connected vehicle environment has been growing rapidly to investigate the effects of real-time exchange of kinetic information between vehicles and road condition information from the infrastructure through radio communication technologies. A fully connected vehicle environment can substantially reduce the latency in response caused by human perception-reaction time with the prospect of improving both safety and comfort. This study presents a dynamical model of route choice under a connected vehicle environment. We analyze the stability of headways by perturbing various factors in the microscopic traffic flow model and traffic flow dynamics in the car-following model and dynamical model of route choice. The advantage of this approach is that it complements the macroscopic traffic assignment model of route choice with microscopic elements that represent the important features of connected vehicles. The gaps between cars can be decreased and stabilized even in the presence of perturbations caused by incidents. The reduction in gaps will be helpful to optimize the traffic flow dynamics more easily with safe and stable conditions. The results show that the dynamics under the connected vehicle environment have equilibria. The approach presented in this study will be helpful to identify the important properties of a connected vehicle environment and to evaluate its benefits.

XML interoperability standards for seamless communication: An analysis of industry-neutral and domain-specific initiatives

Attaining seamless interoperability among heterogeneous communication systems and technologies remains a great challenge in todays’ networked world. Real time information exchange among heterogeneous and geographically distributed systems is required to support the execution of complex e-business scenarios supported by cross-organizational business processes. XML emerged as a foundation for performing e-business, receiving an increasing adoption in the new market economies. Several interoperability standards emerged, which provide specifications on performing business-to-business e-business, what information to share, when and how. The aim of this article is to present an up-to-date review of current XML-based industry-neutral and domain-specific standardization initiatives towards seamless communication, discussing their commonalities and differences, and highlighting directions for further research and development work. An overview of the main standards’ elements is also made, analyzing how different initiatives address them.As numerous standardization initiatives are quickly emerging and changing, it is not easy to understand them. By analyzing the most commonly referred XML-based standards for interoperability, this article has two main contributions. First, it provides an up-to-date review of the most relevant industry-neutral and domain-specific standardization initiatives aiming at achieving seamless interoperability among communication systems. Second, by comparing these initiatives, a set of recommendations is advanced towards improving further interoperability developments, offering a unique niche for researchers, practitioners and developers to make significant contributions.

Design an intelligent real-time operation planning system in distributed manufacturing network

PurposeWith the new generation Industry 4.0 coming, as well as globalization and outsourcing, products are fabricated by different parties in the distributed manufacturing network and enterprises face the challenge of consistent planning of semi-finished product in each manufacturing process in different geographical locations. The purpose of this paper is to propose a real-time operation planning system in the distributed manufacturing network to intelligently control/plan the manufacturing networks.Design/methodology/approachThe feature of the proposed system is to model and simulate large distributed manufacturing networks to streamline the mechanical and production engineering processes with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, which can keep track of process variants. To deal with concurrency and synchronization, the hierarchical timed colored Petri net (HTCPN) formalism for modeling is selected in this study. This method can help to model graphically and test the discrete events of concurrent operations. Fuzzy inference system can help for knowledge representation, so as to provide knowledge-based decision assistance in distributed manufacturing environment.FindingsIn this proposed system, there are two main sub-systems: one is the real-time modeling system, and the other one is intelligent operation planning system. These two systems are not parallel in the whole systems while the intelligent operation planning system should be embedded in any stage of the real-time modeling system as needed. That means real time modeling system provides the holistic structure of the studied distributed manufacturing system and realize real-time data transfer and information exchange. At the same time the embedded intelligent operation planning system fulfill operation plan function.Originality/valueThis new intelligent real-time operation system realizes real-time modeling with RFID-based HTCPN and smart fuzzy engine to fulfill intelligent operation planning which is highly desirable in the environment of Industry 4.0. The new intelligent manufacturing architecture will highly reduce the traditional planning workload and improve the planning results without manual error interference. The new system has been applied in a practical case to demonstrate its feasibility.

Numerical Simulation of a Radiant Floor Cooling Office Based on CFD-BES Coupling and FEM

In this paper, in order to accurately simulate building thermal performance, a coupling strategy between the hourly Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation of the indoor airflow in a room and the dynamic Building Energy Simulation (BES) of the heat transfer through its envelope based on real-time information exchange is developed, and the radiation heat transfer among the internal surfaces of its envelope is also calculated. The governing equations are solved by Finite Element Method (FEM). Then, the developed program is applied to co-simulate an office room with a ventilating and radiant floor cooling system. The results show that the dynamic heat transfer characteristics of the external wall and the indoor air in the room change with outside weather conditions in detail.

Port-IO: an integrative mobile cloud platform for real-time inter-terminal truck routing optimization

Besides the transport of containers between transshipment areas, an increasing amount of containers needs to be moved to value-added logistics and auxiliary service areas leading to additional container flows within a seaport. Both real-time information exchange and optimization are necessary to efficiently coordinate actors and container movements being involved in respective inter-terminal transport (ITT). However, there is no decision support system facilitating real-time planning and management of ITT taking advantage of modern information technologies and optimization algorithms. In this paper, we formulate the inter-terminal truck routing problem as a novel optimization problem and propose two greedy heuristics and two hybrid simulated annealing algorithms. The computational experiments, conducted using real locations from the Port of Hamburg (Germany), are evaluated extensively. They indicate that the proposed hybrid simulated annealing algorithms are able to report feasible and improved routes within seconds. The optimization component is embedded into a scalable cloud platform that integrates both real-time data from truck drivers using a mobile app and current traffic data. As such, the proposed mobile cloud platform realizes the vision of a decision support system facilitating real-time communication and context-aware ITT planning for reducing costs and the carbon footprint.

Cyber-physical systems: a case study of development for manufacturing industry

Manufacturing industry worldwide is now faced with various issues such as diversification of customers' need, rising labour costs, soaring energy resources costs, environmental pollution, and escalating uncertainties. To resolve these issues, global manufacturing enterprises and developed countries are leading the development of Smart Manufacturing System (SMS). Smart Manufacturing (SM) connects all of procurement, production, logistics, service, and product to the network, and controls the entire production processes in real-time on the basis of unified environment of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). CPS for manufacturing enables optimisation of product development and total control of production system through real-time exchange of all information required for production based on Internet of Things (IoT). In order to establish CPS in manufacturing companies, legacy systems and engineering tools need to be connected to cloud computing and IoT, and real-time information exchanges from the shop-floor level to the business level need to be enabled. This paper investigates current issues of a CPS application in manufacturing enterprises and introduces a CPS development case based on IoT platform Thingworx and a reference model.

A Three-Dimensional Adaptive PSO-Based Packing Algorithm for an IoT-Based Automated e-Fulfillment Packaging System

With the development of online shopping and the demand for automated packaging systems, we propose an Internet of Things (IoT)-based automated e-fulfillment packaging system and a 3-D adaptive particle swarm optimization (PSO)-based packing algorithm. The proposed system leverages the IoT to connect the data collection and conversion layer, the packaging management layer, the decision-making layer, and the application layer. A cyber network connects each robot, sensor, and smart machine to achieve high velocity, flexibility of procedures, and real-time information exchange. When customers order merchandise online, the orders are received and rearranged, and the deployment of items in a box is planned by the system. The proposed packing algorithm controls the arrangement of items. It compares the size and volume of items and boxes to choose a box of suitable size, as well as deciding on the optimal arrangement of items. This algorithm solves the difficult 3-D Multiple Bin Size Bin Packing Problem (3-DMBSBPP) by integrating an adaptive PSO-based configuration algorithm. Our simulation results show that the packing algorithm can deploy items appropriately, with all items packed inside their box without overlap and with an overall center-of-gravity close to the bottom center of the box. When all the items cannot be packed into a single box, the proposed dividing strategies split the items into groups to pack into two or more boxes of similar size. Furthermore, comparing with the real packages we assessed, the proposed algorithm has a competitive performance. Lastly, our robotic experiments show that the proposed packing algorithm can be implemented and executed by a robot and a manipulator. It also demonstrates the efficiency of this system, in which all devices communicate well with each other and the robots accomplish the packaging task successfully and cooperatively.

Cyber security of IP-based data communication network for power system operations

With the proliferation of Smart Grid technologies and IP-based Process Control and Condition Monitoring Systems for power system operations, bulk electric system (BES) is now more dependent on real-time information exchange between control centre and remote end Intelligent Electronic Devices (IED's) for monitoring and optimizing the transmission and distribution of electricity. Because of this, there are growing concerns on cyber security issues that brought by these technologies. It was noted that attention has been drawn to the security framework for engineering applications/systems and their own local area network (LAN), but the security and reliability of the communication channels for supporting these applications/system have been taken for granted. This paper summarizes how The Hongkong Electric Co., Ltd. (the Company) has designed and built an IP-based Data Communication Network (DCN) for engineering applications with due consideration on the system security and reliability.

Output optimized electret nanogenerators for self-powered long-distance optical communication systems.

High-speed optical communication systems are built for real-time, massive and remote information exchange. However, any power outage will paralyse the systems and cause a huge loss. Here we constructed a self-powered long-distance optical communication system (SLOCS) utilizing output enhanced parallel connected electret nanogenerators (NGs) as a backup power for the power outage. The output current of the electret NG was promoted from 1.45 μA to 8.14 μA through optimizing the thickness of the electret film. In the SLOCS, a coded message was successfully transmitted for 50 meters by pressing electret NGs. The as-fabricated SLOCS paves the way to a simple and cost-effective strategy for developing a reliable emergency communication system in case of power outage, simultaneously promoting the progress of self-powered electronics.

Threshold-Based Random Charging Scheme for Decentralized PEV Charging Operation in a Smart Grid.

Smart grids have been introduced to replace conventional power distribution systems without real time monitoring for accommodating the future market penetration of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). When a large number of PEVs require simultaneous battery charging, charging coordination techniques have become one of the most critical factors to optimize the PEV charging performance and the conventional distribution system. In this case, considerable computational complexity of a central controller and exchange of real time information among PEVs may occur. To alleviate these problems, a novel threshold-based random charging (TBRC) operation for a decentralized charging system is proposed. Using PEV charging thresholds and random access rates, the PEVs themselves can participate in the charging requests. As PEVs with a high battery state do not transmit the charging requests to the central controller, the complexity of the central controller decreases due to the reduction of the charging requests. In addition, both the charging threshold and the random access rate are statistically calculated based on the average of supply power of the PEV charging system that do not require a real time update. By using the proposed TBRC with a tolerable PEV charging degradation, a 51% reduction of the PEV charging requests is achieved.

Cloud-based multi-agent architecture for effective planning and scheduling of distributed manufacturing

In modern world, manufacturing processes have become very complex because of consistently fluctuating demand of customers. Numerous production facilities located at various geographical locations are being utilised to address the demands of their multiple clients. Often, the components manufactured at distinct locations are being assembled in a plant to develop the final product. In this complex scenario, manufacturing firms have to be responsive enough to cope with the fluctuating demand of customers. To accomplish it, there is a need to develop an integrated, dynamic and autonomous system. In this article, a self-reactive cloud-based multi-agent architecture for distributed manufacturing system is developed. The proposed architecture will assist manufacturing industry to establish real-time information exchange between the autonomous agents, clients, suppliers and manufacturing unit. The mechanism described in this study demonstrates how the autonomous agents interact with each other to rectify the internal discrepancies in manufacturing system. It can also address the external interferences like variations in client’s orders to maximise the profit of manufacturing firm in both short and long term. Execution process of proposed architecture is demonstrated using simulated case study.

On Throughput Maximization of Time Division Multiple Access With Energy Harvesting Users

In this paper, we consider a multiple-access channel, where multiple users equipped with energy harvesting batteries communicate to an access point. To avoid consuming extra energy on competition for the channel, the users are supposed to share the channel via time division multiple access (TDMA). In many existing works, it is commonly assumed that the users' energy harvesting processes and storage status are known to all the users before transmissions. In practice, such knowledge may not be readily available. To avoid excessive overhead for real-time information exchange, we consider the scenario where the users schedule their individual transmissions according to the users' statistical energy harvesting profiles. We first study the optimal transmission scheme in the case where each node has an infinite-capacity battery. By optimization theory, we show that, to maximize the average system throughput, all the users should transmit at an identical optimal power, which solely depends on the energy harvesting rate per time slot. We then study the equal-power TDMA scheme in the case where each node is equipped with a battery of finite capacity. The system is formulated as a polling system consisting of multiple energy queues and one server. By the Markov chain modeling method, we derive the performance of equal-power TDMA in this case, in terms of the energy loss ratio and average system throughput. In addition, we develop an algorithm to efficiently compute the optimal transmission power in the finite-capacity battery case. We also consider an equal-time TDMA scheme, which assigns equal-length subslots to each user, and analyze its system performance. It is found that equal-power TDMA always outperforms equal-time TDMA in the infinite-capacity battery case, whereas equal-time TDMA exhibits compatible or even slightly better performance in some scenarios when the batteries have finite capacities.

Strategic Lean Management: Integration of operational Performance Indicators for strategic Lean management

Lean manufacturing has been widely used to increase operational excellence and performance in manufacturing systems. Nevertheless, this approach presents several limits, such as the lack of alignment between lean objectives and strategic management of a company, and the lack of justified measurements for futures Lean implementations. Nowadays, it remains difficult to evaluate the leanness of a manufacturing system due to the lack of relevant indicators and methods to evaluate them. This paper presents framework to overcome these limits: the Lean & Six-Sigma Framework (LSSF). It allows a company to evaluate, justify and enable future lean implementation in line with strategic missions and objectives of the company. This framework is based on real time information exchange with several information systems such as the Manufacturing Execution System and the Enterprise Resources Planning.