Author: blogger
A chance phone call from the Clinton Foundation in Mozambique has changed ours and their lives dramatically. It shows the power of creating appropriate and well constructed websites describing a companys services and products.
What was the problem and then the solution:
Delayed test results have often meant that HIV patients in Mozambique have failed to get timely treatment, particularly for preventing Mother to Child transfer (MTCT) of HIV on birth. However, having introduced and developed our new SMS printer technology with the Clinton Foundation and the Mozambique Ministry of Health the need to send tests to far away laboratories has reduced and has dramatically speeded up test results and HIV treatment for Mothers, Mothers-to-be and their newly born. After a successful 2009 pilot Mozambique has nationally rolled out our SMS printer technology and gateway, with Clinton Foundations help. This GSM network based printer and gateway technology transmits the results of mother and infant HIV tests electronically from two central reference laboratories in Maputo and the northern provincial capital, Nampula, to more than 275 health centres across the country. Previously, test samples and results took, on average, three weeks and up to several months to be transported to and from clinics via various means in remote parts of the country.
How did Sequoia and Clinton Foundation meet?
Because of this serious delay in test results the Clinton Foundation in Mozambique looked around for a technology based solution. They ended up contacting us in Reading having seen our website and enquired about using our SMS printer technology for sending health test data over the GSM network to speed up the time taken. After hearing what the program was about and the disastrous pass through rate from Mother to child for HIV we, at Sequoia, could only say yes to help with the program. Two years of concentrated work with the Clinton Foundation on the hardware and the required gateway software produced a successful pilot program. Subsequent research conducted by the Ministry of Health of Mozambique and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), after our SMS printer technology and gateway had been installed, showed that the time it took for clinics to receive test results from reference labs had dropped from an average of about three weeks to about three days after the printers were introduced. Research presented by the Ministry of Health and CHAI at the International AIDS Conference 2010 in Vienna, Austria, showed that this, in turn, reduced the time it took to start infants (and /or mothers to be) on antiretroviral (ARV) treatment by about 4 months. This is now part of the national prevention of mother-to-child (PMTCT) HIV transmission service within Mozambique. The number of infants starting treatment also increased by 60 percent.
How the SMS printer technology and gateway works:
Clinics across the country collect dried blood spot samples from infants and / or mothers to be and transport them to the nearest reference lab, where lab technicians conduct the HIV tests. Results are entered into the SMS printer database at the reference lab and then uploaded onto the Sequoia Technology online server (in Reading UK). The Sequoia gateway then uses the local MCEL GSM phone network to transmit results back to the appropriate clinic. Each clinic has a small thermal paper, GPRS enabled printer that receives the patient test data and prints out the HIV test results alongside a patient identification number. With interruptions in electricity and wireless network signal, the system has been designed to ensure 100 of the data is received by the appropriate printer completely intact – if printers are offline, results are safeguarded in an online gateway queue until the printer is available. The Sequoia Technology gateway shows the status of every printer whether on or not and the number of messages sent or in a queue waiting to be printed. The printer’s small size also makes storage easy in space-constrained clinics, which must also ensure that the printer is kept in a secure room to guarantee patient confidentiality.
Greater efficiency The introduction of SMS printers to clinics has not only meant that babies who test HIV-positive can be started on ARVs sooner – a potentially life-saving intervention – but has also reduced the numbers of new mothers who disappear from the clinics PMTCT program during the, previously, long wait times or after having spent time and money on multiple clinic visits to check for results. According to Mozambiques 2010 report to the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS), about 30 percent of babies born to HIV-positive mothers contract the virus, but only about 14 percent of these babies are tested for HIV before the age of 18 months. Without treatment one-third of HIV-positive babies will die in their first year of life, and almost half by the age of two. With our SMS printer technology in place now the clinics are being able to get to and test mothers-to-be ?for HIV and be able to prescribe AVR drugs in enough time to reduce the likelihood of mother to child transfer of HIV. Additionally further testing after childbirth can check the mothers viral load to ensure the right drugs are given when the mother is breastfeeding an additional way of MTCT of HIV. With our technology in place now, throughout Mozambique, the 30-40 or less if the pre and post birth testing and drug application takes place.
Our SMS printer technology and gateway is then a fast and accurate way of transmitting confidential health data to any remote location but crucially can be used for any disease Malaria, TB, HIV in fact anything that needs to be diagnosed in a lab. This technology forms a low cost and serious platform for countries to transmit diagnostic information quickly and accurately. Additionally, the gateway consolidates all information and therefore gives statistical data about disease spread and location and the quality of the health care across a complete country. Sequoia engineers took 2 years to perfect the gateway software with CHAI and MCEL to produce 100 full data quality and with printer / server buffering and handshaking to ensure the quality of data. Extensive testing took place in pilot phase of this project. Any authorized person can log on to the SMS2printer.co.uk website and retrieve the full data and visual map of where each printer is and the stats of how many messages have been sent / received / pending at each location.
Partnership – We continue to develop more capable GPRS enabled printers and are now working with CHAI in Kenya for potentially deploying a similar system in other African countries for the same health diagnostic transmission platform. Our association with the Clinton team in Mozambique continues and has become more of a partnership and further roll outs are planned as a result of the success so far.
Beginning from the fall semester in 2010, some American universities is going to adopt iPad in teaching activities. Insiders said that it is not only a try to promote educational business with high technology, but may also change the traditional teaching and learning method fundamentally. iPad is a touch-screen tablet PC with 9.7 inch screen and 680 gram. It is easy to be taken. It is one of the e-book that made by iPad company with the function of searching internet, sending and receiving e-mail, reading e-book and playing video or audio, etc.
Since iPad have been appeared on the market, college is also thinking what this small-screen but large-function facility can do for students. It is reported that some universities will adopt iPad in teaching activities. The list includes: American Oklahoma State University, Seton Hall University in Pennsylvania, Reed College, George Fox University, North Carolina State University, etc.
Most of the school which is going to carry out experimental plan will provide a free iPad tablet PC for each student. University of Maryland is also plan to buy a batch of them, put the two-year course of “digital culture and creation” into practice with 60 students to arouse students potential of exploiting new technology adequately. Green, the principal of information college item in American Scientific Research Institution, showed great affirmative attitude to the item. He said it is the process of exploring new teaching method; it is a sharing experiment between college and student, textbook publishing industry and e-book manufacturer.
Handy, one of the professors in Oklahoma State University, is in charge of the experimental work. He said their college choosing iPad to assist teaching activities is not to catch the vogue of high technology, but to evaluate whether iPad is good for teaching and learning or not, whether iPad can improve students learning, how iPad blends into students daily life. At the same time, it is going to verify whether iPad can save the cost of textbook, whether students can blend into commercial society well after graduate. Of course, they are also testing the limitation of iPad in teaching. According their plan, Handy said, they will blend iPad into the whole teaching and learning. Such as, student can buy digital textbook and put the whole book into iPad. It can save about $100 cost, but also it is easy to search internet anytime.
In addition, student can convert video to iPad about their course or the presentation files before their class. Handy said it is easy to load e-book or ipad video without heavy schoolbag. What is more important, students can keep closed contact with their classmates and teachers through IM Platform whether in the class or not.
Of course, there are some persons in the American academic field calling in question about the experimental plan. In the 2010 spring semester, Princeton University and George Washington University network got some wrong because of students plentifully using iPad. Whats more, students may play any kinds of game or entertainment when using their iPad which will affect their school work. Experts predict that iPad and other kinds of e-book will play an important role in future education. Such as online teaching. In addition, the influence of teaching method will be more obvious, it will fundamentally change the traditional teaching method and structure of textbook.
Traditionally, hotels were largely dependent on cards and paperwork at the front desk to keep in touch with old and current customers. They were largely at the mercy of the desires of vacationers to arrive, and on their own efforts and staff to be ready for potential surges or long droughts of occupancy. Luckily, such inconvenience and old-fashioned methods are long since past, thanks to advances in information technology.
The first area in which information technology became important was in regards to billing. Old-fashioned paper-based book-keeping was time consuming and inefficient, and was not able to quickly tell a hotel owner what the situation of their hotel was. Luckily, advances in modern record keeping allow for a hotel owner to keep track of what they have on hand, how much of it they have, and how much it costs. Accounting is complicated, but advanced accounting software, especially that tailored to the unique needs of the hospitality industry, helps to enable hotel owners to make smart decisions. Services and products that are no longer used can be quickly cut off to save money, while those who show demand can be increased in quantity or modified so as to reduce the heavy usage.
Most hotels are familiar with booking rooms and reservations over the phone, but information technology has expanded well beyond that. Hotels can now work with various online travel companies and booking services to have their rooms booked online, with no need to employ expensive staff. This also allows a hotel to advertise their open rooms and special deals directly to persons who would be most likely to purchase them, instead of wasting lots of money advertising in an unfocused manner. High quality information technology thus allows for better arrangement and management of bookings in order to allow a hotel to better maximize occupancy, and to know in advance when large groups or lean times are approaching. This allows a hotel manager to make plans regarding temporary staff, good times to renovate or expand, or other concerns, because he/she can determine the state of their hotel currently and for the next few months with only a few clicks on the computer.
The advances in information technology extend well beyond booking, however. The internet is essential for vacationers who wish to contact those back home, and for those traveling on business to get in touch with the office. Therefore, wireless internet has become a very common and very useful service for hotels to provide. Many business minded persons even require that a hotel offer internet services so that they can keep working while on the road. Luckily, such services are easy to provide, as all that is required is a wireless router and various devices to ensure the entire hotel is filled with the network. Modern advances in wireless internet also allow for the wireless internet provided for hotel visitors to be used to network the hotel itself. Security cameras, door locks, and other devices essential to hotel security and safety can be wired into the network, so that staff are alerted whenever a door is propped open, a fire alarm goes off or suspicious activity occurs. Though the hotel guests are wholly unaware of it, this sort of added safety and security keeps them safe, and in the event of a problem they will most certainly appreciate the benefits of such a system.
As advanced as it is, information technology in the hospitality industry is still going forward. Intelligent booking systems enable rapid and efficient guest feedback, along with the ability to predict who is likely to use the hotel again and inform them via e-mail or text messages when good deals arrive. Hotels with room service or other guest services can offer their menus online, allowing for quick updates, high-quality photos, and other ways to allow guests to see and order services before they even arrive. There are also advances in terms of payroll and inventory which make information technology a valuable asset for saving money and maximizing profits. The unique nature of the hospitality industry makes it a great place for new and emerging information technology, and forward-thinking hotel owners and managers are always looking for smart equipment and software to invest in.
The future of Blue Ray disc technology looks bright and rosy as witnessed by the fact that even in its present nascent stage it has already taken the DVD world by storm and is leading people to choose Blue Ray discs instead of DVDs. Unfortunately, most people still do not as yet know what Blue Ray disc technology and for many even the term Blue Ray does not have any meaning.
Even then, the future of blue ray disc technology is assuredly still going to remain bright and rosy. It is therefore a good idea to take the trouble of finding out more about this new improved DVD technology because without a shadow of doubt, the future of Blue Ray disc technology holds many promises.
Research and Development
In fact, Blue Ray disc technology has now emerged out of the shadows of being a research and development subject and major electronic companies including Sony and Hewlett Packard and even Toshiba are selling Blue Ray players and devices that are being lapped up by the more technologically aware buyers.
There should be no looking back for those companies that are making the Blue Ray disc because the response to this new technology has been positive and this bodes well for the future of Blue Ray disc technology. The Blue Ray disc does in fact mean getting vastly superior quality as well as higher storage that together can make you want to forget all about wanting to stick to using DVDs.
In fact, the Blue Ray disc is vastly different to the DVD as it uses lasers that are blue-violet in color and not red as is the case with DVDs. Another way of looking at Blue Ray discs is to consider them as being storage discs that cater to high definition audio and video. In addition, you can store far more data on a Blue Ray disc as compared to what the best DVDs can offer.
Typically, a single layer Blue Ray disc offers about twenty-five gigabytes of storage while a double layer Blue Ray disc offers twice this storage. And, this storage capacity will go up further with each future advance being made in Blue Ray technology – all of which will ensure that the future of Blue Ray disc technology will always remain bright.
Understanding modern Blue Ray player technology is essential if you want to choose the best Blue Ray player. Actually, the Blue Ray technology has already won the formats war and this new technology has started to hit the market and in the process is changing the ways that we watch movies and hear music. Nonetheless, it is still necessary to understand the nuts and bolts about this technology so that it becomes possible to pick the right Blue Ray disc for your home.
When to assume free of charge merchandise giveaways?
Product or service testing does not previous permanently. Often, the giveaways go on for a small period of time, which in most instances is appropriate all-around the merchandise launch date. Which is why now is the greatest time to look at and get your absolutely free apple iPad as a products tester.
How can you get a no cost apple iPad?
You have to keep in mind that just like most other stuff, there are scams concerned. Scammers cannot resist the possibility to make some funds off of unsuspecting shoppers. Reputable analysis firms who operate these promotional delivers on their web site, under no circumstances request for income. You do not have to shell out a cent for the product or service. You get the iPad for free. So, keep absent from suspicious internet sites that consult for income.
We all hear all those stories of the persons who win massive, and we see their faces as they battle to hold on to individuals obscenely substantial checks while we wonder what bank would acknowledge a examine that dimensions. We envy their good results and consider why can not that be me? Effectively as an alternative of dreaming about it getting you, why not make it a truth to be you.
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Even if you believe that you are the most unluckiest of people I bet even you would be in a position to enter and win free of charge stuff at minimum when. So what is the most effective way to be the winners of these giveaways?
It could be beneficial if you narrow down your lookup for no cost things to one particular merchandise of style of prize when seeking. Focusing in on a single factor at a time will enable you to uncover the most effective locations to search or to register to be the one particular to win totally free stuff. Make a listing of items that you want or want and lookup them on the net to uncover the free giveaway contests and competitions. Make your record nearly anything that you can think of, try not to limit your self to just a number of basics, go extravagant and all out for your wish list.
When you discover the absolutely free stuff world wide web web pages you can appear at them cautiously and read through the great print to make guaranteed that they are respectable contests and giveaways. You must do this properly ahead of you supply any data about yourself to any person. You don’t want to go in wanting to be the winner and appear out possessing misplaced your identity or private info. There are a good deal of legit corporations and giveaways out there you just have to be cautious.