Abstract. A major challenge in mobile robotics is integration of methods into operational autonomous systems. Construction of such systems requires use of methods from perception, control engineering, software engineering, mathematical modelling, and artificial intelligence. In this paper

the fundamental technical components of such systems and illustrate the technical challenges in two different forms of electronic mirror systems for apparel shopping. The first example, the Responsive Mirror, is an intelligent video capture-and-access system for clothes shopping in physical stores that provides

this paper we present the actors and use cases of the ISTforCE environment, the overall multi-tier client-server architecture, the basic interoperability cases and the top-level GUI of the ISTforCE prototype

Abstract: Meningococcal conjugate vaccines have several advantages over polysaccharide vaccines, including the ability to induce greater antibody persistence, avidity, immunologic memory, and herd immunity. Since 1999, meningococcal conjugate vaccine programs have been established across the globe. Many of these vaccination programs have resulted in significant decline in meningococcal disease in several countries. Recent introduction of serogroup A conjugate vaccine in Africa offers the potential to eliminate meningococcal disease as a public health problem in Africa. However, the duration of immune response and the development of widespread herd immunity in the population remain important questions for meningococcal vaccine programs. Because of the unique epidemiology of meningococcal disease around the world, the optimal vaccination strategy for long-term disease prevention will vary by country.

Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000 but remains en-demic worldwide. In 2005, a 17-year-old unvaccinated girl who was incubating mea-sles returned from Romania, creating the largest documented outbreak of measles in the United States since 1996. Methods We conducted a case-series investigation, molecular typing of viral isolates, surveys of rates of vaccination coverage, interviews regarding attitudes toward vaccination, and cost surveys. Results Approximately 500 persons attended a gathering with the index patient one day after her return home. Approximately 50 lacked evidence of measles immunity, of whom 16 (32 percent) acquired measles at the gathering. During the six weeks after the gather-ing, a total of 34 cases of measles were confirmed. Of the patients with confirmed measles, 94 percent were unvaccinated, 88 percent were less than 20 years of age, and 9 percent were hospitalized. Of the 28 patients who were 5 to 19 years of age, 71 per-

contaminated water sources, displaced thousands of families and killed approximately 2,800 people. Local leaders distributed PūRw, a flocculent-disinfectant product for household water treatment, to affected populations. We evaluated knowledge, attitudes, practices, and drinking water quality among a sample of PūRw recipients. We interviewed representatives of 100 households in three rural communities who received PūRw and PūRw-related education. Water sources were tested for fecal contamination and turbidity; stored household water was tested for residual chlorine. All households relied on untreated water sources (springs [66%], wells [15%], community taps [13%], and rivers [6%]). After distribution, PūRw was the most common in-home treatment method (58%) followed by chlorination (30%), plant-based flocculation (6%), boiling (5%), and filtration (1%). Seventy-eight percent of respondents correctly answered five questions about how to use PūRw; 81 % reported PūRw easy to use; and 97 % reported that PūRw-treated water appears, tastes, and smells better than untreated water. Although water sources tested appeared clear, fecal coliform bacteria were detected in all sources (range 1 –.200cfu/100ml). Chlorine was present in 10 (45%) of 22 stored drinking water samples in households using PūRw.

. This controller shows how a modular system can easily be designed and implemented using our framework. A discussion is also given, comparing this framework with other similar proposals. 1 Introduction The motivation for pursuing research in the area of intelligent service robots is many-fold. Intelligent

In the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory (IRL) at Vanderbilt University we seek to develop service robots with a high level of social intelligence and interactivity. In order to achieve this goal, we have identified two main issues for research. The first issue is how to achieve a high level

for flexible integration between the sensor networks and applica-tions. Especially, this paper focuses on intelligent service management which is one of the main functions of USN middleware. Several applications in the sensor network environment support not only monitoring services, but also sensor

“natural’ ’ correspondence with data or services that have been replicated for availability or as part of a coherent cache. They can be used to support highly available security domains, and group mechanisms fit well with an emerging generation of intelligent network and collaborative work applications.