Techniques of rapid prototyping were introduced in the 1980s in the field of engineering for the fabrication of a solid model based on a computed file. After its introduction in the biomedical field, several applications were raised for the fabrication of models to ease surgical planning and simulation in implantology, neurosurgery, and orthopedics, as well as for the fabrication of maxillofaci...

Background Since 2005 lay representatives (‘Research Partners’ – RP) have been involved in the work of a clinical trials unit and academic research centre. Their roles can include attending trial management groups, reviewing documents and chairing and presenting at sub-committees. Where recruitment of RPs was once opportunistic, RPs are now more formally recruited in conjunction with a national...

One of the main challenges facing ubiquitous computing research and development is the difficulty of writing software for complex, heterogeneous distributed applications. In this paper, we evaluate automatic application partitioning as an approach to rapid prototyping of ubiquitous computing systems. Our approach allows developers to largely ignore distribution issues when developing their appl...