BackgroundCosts of tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment may represent a significant burden for the poor and for the health system in resource-poor countries.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to analyze patients' costs of tuberculosis care and to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of the directly observed treatment (DOT) strategy per completed treatment in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.MethodsWe interviewed 218 adult patients with bacteriologically confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis. Information on direct (out-of-pocket expenses) and indirect (hours lost) costs, loss in income and costs with extra help were gathered through a questionnaire. Healthcare system additional costs due to supervision of pill-intake were calculated considering staff salaries. Effectiveness was measured by treatment completion rate. The ICER of DOT compared to self-administered therapy (SAT) was calculated.Principal FindingsDOT increased costs during the treatment phase, while SAT increased costs in the pre-diagnostic phase, for both the patient and the health system. Treatment completion rates were 71% in SAT facilities and 79% in DOT facilities. Costs per completed treatment were US$ 194 for patients and U$ 189 for the health system in SAT facilities, compared to US$ 336 and US$ 726 in DOT facilities. The ICER was US$ 6,616 per completed DOT treatment compared to SAT.ConclusionsCosts incurred by TB patients are high in Rio de Janeiro, especially for those under DOT. The DOT strategy doubles patients' costs and increases by fourfold the health system costs per completed treatment. The additional costs for DOT may be one of the contributing factors to the completion rates below the targeted 85% recommended by WHO.

The main aim of this paper is to present how to transform user requirements models into a software architecture for mobile applications.

The effective implementation of preventive conservation approaches demands the employment of standardized and robust tools able to integrate the data coming from multiple sources, inspection and diagnosis techniques, as well as to ensure the proper information transfer between expert and non-expert users. Aiming to make a step forward in the state of the art of current conservation approaches, a cutting edge Web-GIS technology resorting to the intuitiveness of 360° panoramas and 3D point clouds in combination with the Internet of Things is presented in this work, demonstrating how physical and digital worlds can be linked for proper documentation and management of cultural heritage. To validate such a pioneering approach, one of the most representative and complex heritage buildings of Spain is used as a case study: the General Historical Library of Salamanca.

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The main aim of this paper is to present how to refine software logical architectures by application of a recursive model-based transformation approach called 4SRS (four step rule set). It is essentially based on the mapping of UML use case diagrams into UML object diagrams. The technique is based on a sequence of steps that are inscribed in a tabular representation that is used to derive the software architecture for a focused part of the global system.