Copernicus-EMS mapping guidelines and best practice

This document contains the mapping guidelines for Copernicus Emergency Management Service (EMS) mapping production. It summarizes the JRC experience developed in the frame of Copernicus with respect to the challenging task of providing maps in support of the disaster risk management cycle. The main focus is on the rush mode mapping service, however the guidelines are applicable to the non-rush service as well. The document approaches the map per part component: title, cartographic information, overview maps, legend, and map frame, etc. Some specific and innovative elements are introduced, e.g. the summary table and the standard use of vector files. Particular attention is devoted to the consistency across the components that constitute the product. The structure and the schematic organization of the guidelines allow considering this document as a kind of practical handbook.JRC.G.2-Global security and crisis managemen

Formal quality assessment of Crisis Maps produced during 2005-2010 - Preliminary results and a proposal for rapid and cost-effective quality assessment

In the last decade, crisis maps have become increasingly a common support in the disaster preparedness and response cycle. In this work, five years of crisis maps from five world leader service providers have been explored and a way to extensively and quickly verify their quality is proposed. A sample of 255 maps has been assessed according to a checklist designed. The clarity of the content, the readability and usability of the maps and the respect of main cartographic standards have been assessed. The first analysis presented in this document highlighted that the basic characteristics expected in good maps are not always respected. The aim of showing current shortcomings in the crisis maps to the scientific community is to foster the improvement of their quality in the future.JRC.DG.G.2-Global security and crisis managemen

Validation Protocol for Emergency Response Geo-information Products

Europe is making a significant effort to develop (geo)information services for crisis management as part of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security GMES) programme. Recognising the importance of coordinated European response to crises and the potential contribution of GMES, the Commission launched a number of preparatory activities in coordination with relevant stakeholders for the establishment of an Emergency Response GMES Core Service (ERCS). GMES Emergency Response Services will rely on information provided by advanced technical and operational capabilities making full use of space earth observation and supporting their integration with other sources of data and information. Data and information generated by these services can be used to enhance emergency preparedness and early reaction to foreseeable or imminent crises and disasters. From a technical point of view, the use of geo-information for emergency response poses significant challenges for spatial data collection, data management, information extraction and communication. The need for an independent formal assessment of crisis products to provide operational services with homogeneous and reliable standards has recently become recognized as an integral component of service development. Validation is intended to help end-users decide how much to trust geo-information products (maps, spatial dataset). The focus, in this document, is on geo-information products, in particular those derived from Earth Observation data. Validation principles have been implemented into a protocol, as a tool to check whether the products meet standards and user needs. The validation principles, methods, rules and guidelines provided in this document aim to give a structure that guarantees an overall documented and continuous quality of ERCS products.JRC.DG.G.2-Global security and crisis managemen

2017 User Workshop of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service – Summary Report

This report summarises the User Workshop of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (EMS) – Mapping component which was held on 20-21 June 2017 at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, Italy. The User Workshop is the annual forum at which users, service providers, the Commission and other stakeholders exchange views and experiences of the Copernicus EMS - Mapping component. It was attended by 50 participants from across Europe, of whom eighteen were users of this service component. The focus of the User Workshop was on the two on-demand Mapping services - i.e. “Rapid Mapping” and “Risk and Recovery Mapping” - which provide geo-spatial information in support to all phases of disaster management. The information is mainly derived from satellite imagery and complemented by available ancillary data. During the first day of the Workshop, the focus was on providing insights in the technical and scientific capacity of the “Risk & Recovery” Mapping service, which delivers maps and analysis in support of disaster risk reduction, preparedness and prevention, recovery and reconstruction. The aim of this part of the Workshop was to increase awareness of this service module, which is less known than the “Rapid Mapping” service - the “24/7” (i.e. always on) service supporting emergency response operations. Users were invited to present their experience with both service modules, while a live demo of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), was made, in order to show the potential of these platforms in the context of the fast provision of airborne imagery in an emergency situation. The second day of the Workshop addressed the evolution of Copernicus EMS - Mapping. Two Horizon 2020 projects were introduced and discussed: while iREACT (http://www.i-react.eu/) looks at exploiting advanced cyber technologies for disaster management, E2mC (https://www.e2mc-project.eu/) focuses on exploiting social data and crowdsourcing for use in Rapid Mapping. Other evolution-related topics addressed were links with the two Copernicus EMS Early Warning Systems (i.e. the European Flood Awareness System and the European Forest Fire Information System), product dissemination and potential new products. All topics were further discussed in groups. As every year, the discussions at the User Workshop are summarised and processed by the JRC, with a view to guiding the overall evolution of the service. The workshop agenda and presentations are available at: http://emergency.copernicus.eu/mapping/ems/copernicus-ems-mapping-user-workshop-2017JRC.E.1-Disaster Risk Managemen

Drivers for emerging issues in animal and plant health.

The history of agriculture includes many animal and plant disease events that have had major consequences for the sector, as well as for humans. At the same time, human activities beyond agriculture have often driven the emergence of diseases. The more that humans expand the footprint of the global population, encroach into natural habitats, alter these habitats to extract resources and intensify food production, as well as move animals, people and commodities along with the pathogens they carry, the greater the potential for pathogens and pests to spread and for infection to emerge or re-emerge. While essential to human well-being, producing food also plays a major role in disease dynamics. The risk of emergence of pests and pathogens has increased as a consequence of global changes in the way food is produced, moved and consumed. Climate change is likely to increase pressure on the availability of food and provide newly suitable conditions for invasive pests and pathogens. Human population displacements due to economic, political and humanitarian crises represent another set of potential drivers for emerging issues. The overlapping drivers of plant, animal and human disease emergence and environmental changes point towards the concept of 'One Health'. This paradigm underlines the urgent need to understand the influence of human behaviour and incorporate this understanding into our approach to emerging risks. For this, we face two major challenges. One is cultural; the second is methodological. We have to look at systems not under the narrow view of specific hazards but with a wider approach to system dynamics, and consider a broad spectrum of potential outcomes in terms of risk. In addition, we have to make sense of the vast amounts of data that are available in the modern age. This paper aims to help in preparing for the cultural and methodological shifts needed in our approach to emerging risks

Unpredictability of Intravenous Busulfan Pharmacokinetics in Children Undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Advanced Beta Thalassemia: Limited Toxicity with a Dose-Adjustment Policy

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Análisis de la evaluación de daños en edificios basada en imágenes de satélite y aéreas en el ámbito de Copernicus EMS Mapping

El Servicio de Gestión de Emergencias de Copernicus (Copernicus EMS del inglés, Copernicus Emergency Management Service) es un programa financiado con fondos públicos de la Unión Europea y coordinado por la Comisión Europea que proporciona a todos los actores involucrados en la gestión de desastres naturales, situaciones de emergencia y crisis humanitarias información geoespacial, principalmente basada en imágenes de satélite. Incluye componentes de Alerta temprana y Monitoreo, y de Mapeo con un módulo de Validación encargado de la evaluación de la calidad de los productos y el fomento de su mejora, en el marco del cual se realizó este estudio. Dentro del portafolio de productos de mapeo, los productos de clasificación de daños tienen como objetivo evaluar la intensidad y distribución espacial del daño resultante de un evento en edificios, bloques de viviendas o usos del suelo. Las categorías de daños para edificios y bloques de viviendas se definieron inicialmente con base en la Escala Macrosísmica Europea-1998 (EMS-98, del inglés European Macroseismic Scale). Este artículo muestra la función doble del módulo de validación. Por un lado, el artículo muestra los resultados de la validación de cuatro mapas de daños en edificios realizados por Copernicus EMS y por otro analiza la aptitud de la Escala Macrosísmica Europea (EMS-98), concebida para asignar daño in situ, para categorizar daño en edificios a partir de distintos tipos de imágenes (imágenes de satélite, imágenes oblicuas y ortofotos). La principal conclusión es que las categorías EMS-98 no se pueden traducir directamente para la evaluación de daños con base en imágenes de satélite y, en su lugar, se podría utilizar un enfoque operativo, en línea con estudios anteriores

Position Paper of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology on Early Palliative Care in Oncology Practice (Simultaneous Care)

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Systematic versus on-demand early palliative care: results from a multicentre, randomised clinical trial

Background Early palliative care (EPC) in oncology has been shown to have a positive impact on clinical outcome, quality-of-care outcomes, and costs. However, the optimal way for activating EPC has yet to be defined. Methods This prospective, multicentre, randomised study was conducted on 207 outpatients with metastatic or locally advanced inoperable pancreatic cancer. Patients were randomised to receive ‘standard cancer care plus on-demand EPC’ (n = 100) or ‘standard cancer care plus systematic EPC’ (n = 107). Primary outcome was change in quality of life (QoL) evaluated through the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy – Hepatobiliary questionnaire between baseline (T0) and after 12 weeks (T1), in particular the integration of physical, functional, and Hepatic Cancer Subscale (HCS) combined in the Trial Outcome Index (TOI). Patient mood, survival, relatives' satisfaction with care, and indicators of aggressiveness of care were also evaluated. Findings The mean changes in TOI score and HCS score between T0 and T1 were −4.47 and −0.63, with a difference between groups of 3.83 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.10–7.57) (p = 0.041), and −2.23 and 0.28 (difference between groups of 2.51, 95% CI 0.40–4.61, p = 0.013), in favour of interventional group. QoL scores at T1 of TOI scale and HCS were 84.4 versus 78.1 (p = 0.022) and 52.0 versus 48.2 (p = 0.008), respectively, for interventional and standard arm. Until February 2016, 143 (76.9%) of the 186 evaluable patients had died. There was no difference in overall survival between treatment arms. Interpretations Systematic EPC in advanced pancreatic cancer patients significantly improved QoL with respect to on-demand EPC

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries