This paper proposes the use of ubiquitous computing and multi-agent systems to obtain information related to the locomotion of people with visual impairments on public spaces; and use that information to evaluate the accessibility of such spaces.

Every day, the emergency departments in our country receive a large number of patients that have thought about or attempted suicide. Unfortunately, these patients are very often reluctant to maintain a regular follow-up in mental health services. In this study we describe an original program to encourage assessment and treatment of suicidal patients, particularly when they receive medical treat...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the frequency and severity of accidents to children in schools. METHODS Retrospective analysis of accidents occurring in school over a six month period and resulting in attendance at an accident and emergency department. Comparison was made with accidents occurring in public places, RESULTS During the study period there were 127 school and 251 public place accidents...

Research shows that pedestrians, similar to drivers, experience reduced situation awareness, distracted attention and unsafe behavior when talking or texting on their mobile phones. The present study centered on injuries related to mobile phone use among pedestrians. It used data from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission on injuries in hospital emergency rooms from 2004 through 2010. It fo...

OBJECTIVES A systematic review and a meta-analysis were performed to determine the association between public smoking bans and risk for hospital admission for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). BACKGROUND Secondhand smoke (SHS) is associated with a 30% increase in risk of AMI, which might be reduced by prohibiting smoking in work and public places. METHODS PubMed, EMBASE, and Google Scholar...

The emergence of the World Wide Web provides a unique opportunity to connect robots to the Internet, enabling people all over the World to control them and monitor their operation. This paper describes a series of Web interfaces, designed to remotely operate mobile robots in public places through the Web. The design of these interfaces specifically addresses issues such as low bandwidth of Inte...

In this paper, we present our recent experiences with QuiXote, a mobile robot for guided tours inside public buildings. The most relevant results obtained during last year are presented, underlying learned lessons during experimentation. The purpose of the work presented here is to deploy a feasible autonomous robot for tour guiding, interacting directly or remotely with visiting people. Key-Wo...