A17044 Community health workers for non-communicable disease interventions in the digital age

in Journal of Hypertension (2018, October)

Objectives: In this study, we review the evidence and discuss how the digitalization affects the CHWs programs for tackling non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs ... [more ▼]

Objectives: In this study, we review the evidence and discuss how the digitalization affects the CHWs programs for tackling non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). Methods: We conducted a review of literature covering two databases: PubMED and Embase. A total of 97 articles were abstracted for full text review of which 21 are included in the analysis. Existing theories were used to construct a conceptual framework for understanding how digitalization affects the prospects of CHW programs for NCDs. Results: We identified three benefits and three challenges of digitalization. Firstly, it will help improve the access and quality of services, notwithstanding its higher establishment and maintenance costs. Secondly, it will add efficiency in training and personnel management. Thirdly, it will leverage the use of data generated across grass-roots platforms to further research and evaluation. The challenges posed are related to funding, health literacy of CHWs, and systemic challenges related to motivating CHWs. More than 60 digital platforms were identified, including mobile based networking devices (used for behavioral change communication), Web-applications (used for contact tracking, reminder system, adherence tracing, data collection, and decision support), videoconference (used for decision support) and mobile applications (used for reminder system, supervision, patients’ management, hearing screening, and tele-consultation). Conclusion: The digitalization efforts of CHW programs are afflicted by many challenges, yet the rapid technological penetration and acceptability coupled with the gradual fall in costs constitute encouraging signals for the LMICs. Both CHWs interventions and digital technologies are not inexpensive, but they may provide better value for the money. [less ▲]

Acceptability and acceptance of autonomous mobility on demand: the impact of an immersive experience

Bachelor/master dissertation (2017)

Accurate error estimate in energy norm using a nearly-equilibrated kinematically-admissible displacement recovery technique

in Pimienta, P M (Ed.) 10th World Congress on Computational Mechanics (WCCM 2012) (2012)

Accurate evaluation of stress intensity factors using error estimation in quantities of interest based on equilibrated recovery

in Oliver, J; Jirasek, M; Allix, O (Eds.) et al Computational Modeling of Fracture and Failure of Materials and Structures. Proceedings of CFRAC 2011 (2011)

During the last years the use of error estimators which measure the error in a quantity of interest defined by the analyst, instead of the energy norm, have become increasingly popular as they provide an ... [more ▼]

During the last years the use of error estimators which measure the error in a quantity of interest defined by the analyst, instead of the energy norm, have become increasingly popular as they provide an error indicator for goal oriented adaptivity procedures. In this paper we propose an a posteriori recovery-based error estimation procedure which considers the stress intensity factor K typical of singular problems as the quantity of interest in finite element (FE) approximations. In general, error estimators in quantities of interest have been based on residual techniques and, although recovery techniques have been often preferred when considering the error in energy norm due to their robustness and simplicity, so far, there is no available procedure which considers an equilibrated recovery technique that can be used in standard FE frameworks. In [1] a standard SPR recovery technique is used to obtain an error measure of the J-integral, which is closely related to the value of the SIF. However, it does not consider any equilibrium constraints or the singularity near the crack tip, thus the obtained recovered stress field is not well suited for this kind of problems. The technique proposed herein relies on the enhanced superconvergent patch recovery technique presented in [2] to evaluate highly accurate recovered stress fields of the primal and dual problems, which are then used to obtain a sharp error estimate. The primal problem is simply the problem under analysis. To formulate the dual problem we consider the linear interaction integral representing K to obtain the applied loads of the dual FE approximation to solve. The high accuracy of the recovered stress fields for both the primal and dual solutions is obtained by decomposing the raw stress field obtained from the finite element approximations into singular and smooth parts, and enforcing the fulfilment of boundary and internal equilibrium equations. The results indicate an accurate estimation of the error in K for benchmark problems with exact solution. [less ▲]

An accurate, stable and efficient domain-type meshless method for the solution of MHD flow problems

in Journal of Computational Physics (2009), 228

The aim of the present paper is the development of an efficient numerical algorithm for the solution of magnetohydrodynamics flow problems for regular and irregular geometries subject to Dirichlet ... [more ▼]

The aim of the present paper is the development of an efficient numerical algorithm for the solution of magnetohydrodynamics flow problems for regular and irregular geometries subject to Dirichlet, Neumann and Robin boundary conditions. Toward this, the meshless point collocation method (MPCM) is used for MHD flow problems in channels with fully insulating or partially insulating and partially conducting walls, having rectangular, circu- lar, elliptical or even arbitrary cross sections. MPC is a truly meshless and computationally efficient method. The maximum principle for the discrete harmonic operator in the mesh- free point collocation method has been proven very recently, and the convergence proof for the numerical solution of the Poisson problem with Dirichlet boundary conditions have been attained also. Additionally, in the present work convergence is attained for Neumann and Robin boundary conditions, accordingly. The shape functions are constructed using the Moving Least Squares (MLS) approximation. The refinement procedure with meshless methods is obtained with an easily handled and fully automated manner. We present results for Hartmann number up to 105 . The numerical evidences of the proposed meshless method demonstrate the accuracy of the solutions after comparing with the exact solution and the conventional FEM and BEM, for the Dirichlet, Neumann and Robin boundary con- ditions of interior problems with simple or complex boundaries. [less ▲]

Active Popularity Learning with Cache Hit Ratio Guarantees using a Matrix Completion Committee

Scientific Conference (2020, October 08)

Edge caching is a promising technology to facethe stringent latency requirements and back-haul trafficoverloading in 5G wireless networks. However, acquiringthe contents and modeling the optimal cache ... [more ▼]

Edge caching is a promising technology to facethe stringent latency requirements and back-haul trafficoverloading in 5G wireless networks. However, acquiringthe contents and modeling the optimal cache strategy is achallenging task. In this work, we use an active learningapproach to learn the content popularities since it allowsthe system to leverage the trade-off between explorationand exploitation. Exploration refers to caching new fileswhereas exploitation use known files to cache, to achievea good cache hit ratio. In this paper, we mainly focus tolearn popularities as fast as possible while guaranteeing anoperational cache hit ratio constraint. The effectiveness ofproposed learning and caching policies are demonstratedvia simulation results as a function of variance, cache hitratio and used storage. [less ▲]

Adapting the IFM Framework to Functional Approaches Across Disciplines

in Proceedings of 19th International Conference on Engineering Design (2013)

Conceptual design is considered one of the most demanding design tasks requiring a joint effort of the involved designers, particularly in interdisciplinary design. The IFM framework intends to support ... [more ▼]

Conceptual design is considered one of the most demanding design tasks requiring a joint effort of the involved designers, particularly in interdisciplinary design. The IFM framework intends to support interdisciplinary collaboration of designers, by linking the different functional modelling perspectives, which are prominent in the different disciplines. The presented analysis aims to answer the question, which particular adaptations are required, in order to enable and improve the application of the IFM framework across disciplines. The paper presents a comparison of the framework with established functional approaches proposed in literature. It is shown, in which ways the specific contents addressed in the individual steps of the reviewed functional approaches can be mapped onto corresponding views in the IFM framework. The findings suggest that the IFM framework is interoperable with the reviewed functional approaches without necessitating fundamental changes. Furthermore, specific potentials for the improvement of its applicability across disciplines are derived. Finally, the paper discusses specific adaptations of the IFM framework, in order to improve its applicability. [less ▲]

Adaptive high-gain extended kalman filter and applications

Doctoral thesis (2010)

The work concerns the ``observability problem” --- the reconstruction of a dynamic process's full state from a partially measured state--- for nonlinear dynamic systems. The Extended Kalman Filter (EKF ... [more ▼]

The work concerns the ``observability problem” --- the reconstruction of a dynamic process's full state from a partially measured state--- for nonlinear dynamic systems. The Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is a widely-used observer for such nonlinear systems. However it suffers from a lack of theoretical justifications and displays poor performance when the estimated state is far from the real state, e.g. due to large perturbations, a poor initial state estimate, etc… We propose a solution to these problems, the Adaptive High-Gain (EKF). Observability theory reveals the existence of special representations characterizing nonlinear systems having the observability property. Such representations are called observability normal forms. A EKF variant based on the usage of a single scalar parameter, combined with an observability normal form, leads to an observer, the High-Gain EKF, with improved performance when the estimated state is far from the actual state. Its convergence for any initial estimated state is proven. Unfortunately, and contrary to the EKF, this latter observer is very sensitive to measurement noise. Our observer combines the behaviors of the EKF and of the high-gain EKF. Our aim is to take advantage of both efficiency with respect to noise smoothing and reactivity to large estimation errors. In order to achieve this, the parameter that is the heart of the high-gain technique is made adaptive. \textit{Voila}, the Adaptive High-Gain EKF. A measure of the quality of the estimation is needed in order to drive the adaptation. We propose such an index and prove the relevance of its usage. We provide a proof of convergence for the resulting observer, and the final algorithm is demonstrated via both simulations and a real-time implementation. Finally, extensions to multiple output and to continuous-discrete systems are given. [less ▲]

Adaptive Isogeometric analysis for plate vibrations: An efficient approach of local refinement based on hierarchical a posteriori error estimation

in Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering (2018), 342

This paper presents a novel methodology of local adaptivity for the frequency-domain analysis of the vibrations of Reissner–Mindlin plates. The adaptive discretization is based on the recently developed ... [more ▼]

This paper presents a novel methodology of local adaptivity for the frequency-domain analysis of the vibrations of Reissner–Mindlin plates. The adaptive discretization is based on the recently developed Geometry Independent Field approximaTion (GIFT) framework, which may be seen as a generalization of the Iso-Geometric Analysis (IGA).Within the GIFT framework, we describe the geometry of the structure exactly with NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines), whilst independently employing Polynomial splines over Hierarchical T-meshes (PHT)-splines to represent the solution field. The proposed strategy of local adaptivity, wherein a posteriori error estimators are computed based on inexpensive hierarchical h-refinement, aims to control the discretization error within a frequency band. The approach sweeps from lower to higher frequencies, refining the mesh appropriately so that each of the free vibration mode within the targeted frequency band is sufficiently resolved. Through several numerical examples, we show that the GIFT framework is a powerful and versatile tool to perform local adaptivity in structural dynamics. We also show that the proposed adaptive local h-refinement scheme allows us to achieve significantly faster convergence rates than a uniform h-refinement. [less ▲]

Adaptive multiscale simulation of material failure: applications to molecular-dynamics/continuum coupling, polycrystalline materials and Hydrogen cutting of Silicon wafers

Speeches/Talks (2014)