Fuzzy Cognitive Map-Based Knowledge Representation of Hazardous Industrial Operations

Hazardous industrial operations are highly stochastic, still human-dependent, and risky. Operators working in such an environment must understand the complex interrelation between several factors contributing to safe and effective operations. Therefore, being able to predict the effects of their actions on provoking or mitigating possible accidents is crucial. This study aims to utilize fuzzy cognitive maps (FCM) to model the expert’s reasoning about occupational health and safety (OHS) in confined space. This knowledge is used by operators to build their mental models. The developed FCM displays all the possible incidents of a confined space and links these incidents with all their causing and preventing factors. This approach may facilitate the development of simulation-based training solutions and allow operators to act proactively during the operation

Screening high school students in Italy for sudden cardiac death prevention by using a telecardiology device. a retrospective observational study

BACKGROUND: In 2010, an Italian project was launched aimed at using a telecardiology device in order to perform early diagnosis of young students at risk of sudden cardiac death. METHODS: Our retrospective observational study was conducted on a population of 13,016 students, aged between 16 and 19 years, in different Italian regions. It consisted of analysis of data recorded during a telecardiology pilot study. The recorded data were electrocardiograms and data concerning lifestyle habits and family history of cardiovascular diseases. In total, 14 alterations in the electrocardiogram signal have been considered in this study. Some of these alterations are as follows: ventricular ectopic beats, atrioventricular block, Brugada-like electrocardiogram pattern, left anterior/posterior fascicular block, left/right ventricular hypertrophy, long/short QT interval, left atrial enlargement, right atrial enlargement, short PQ interval, and ventricular pre-excitation Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. On the basis of the collected data, we implemented this retrospective observational study. RESULTS: The analysed data showed that 13.60% of students had a family history for cardiovascular diseases, 22.43% reported smoking habits, 26.23% reported alcohol consumption, and 7.24% reported abuse of drugs. A total of 24% of students had at least one of the 14 electrocardiogram pathological alterations considered in our study and 32% had electrocardiogram values within the normal range. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective observational study analysed data registered during our telecardiology activity. This activity permitted to maximise data collection and minimise the costs for collecting such data. This activity of screening is being continued and in the next few years it will allow us to have a greater mass of data

How human factors affect the outcomes of disasters management on industrial sites

Modeling & Simulation plays a crucial role in the field of Industrial Disaster Management, especially because its outcomes are profoundly affected by human factors. The present research intends to show quantitatively how human behavior affect the outcomes of disasters management on industrial sites. A case study of a fire incident in an Ecuadorian public company engaged in the exploration and extraction of hydrocarbons is proposed. Pareto analysis combined to main effect and interactions effects plots clearly show to the reader how different factors (mostly related to the personnel\u2019s behavior and skills, interactions among workers and with the environment) affect the disaster evolutions and its outcomes in terms of loss of human lives, number of injured workers and evacuation times

Multimodality imaging in ICD implantation decision making: 123-iodine metaiodobenzylguanidine imaging and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging

Introduction: According to guidelines, implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is recommended in prevention of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in heart failure (HF) patients (pts). Guidelines have several limitations because ICD indication is based mainly on left ventricular ejection fraction (EF). Recently, 123-iodine metaiodobenzylguanidine imaging (123-I MIBG) seems to identify, independently from EF, pts at high risk of SCD (heart/mediastinum (H/M) ratio < 1.6 and a summed score (SS)> 26). Hypothesis: Our aim is to assess the role of 123-I MIBG combined with cardiac MRI to predict malignant ventricular tachyarrhythmia in HF pts. Methods: we enrolled 69 pts, consecutively admitted to our hospital with diagnosis of HF and EF<35%, NYHA class II and III, who underwent 123-I MIBG imaging and cardiac MRI. Summed score (SS) of 26 was used as cut-off to identify high risk (group 1) versus low risk (group 2) pts. Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) and number of segments with scars were evaluated in the 2 groups. All pts underwent to ICD implantation. We assessed ventricular arrhythmic (VA) events at 18 months follow-up. Results: 21 pts were included in group 1 and 48 pts in group 2. All baseline characteristics were similar in 2 groups. In group 1, H/M ratio was 1.47± 0.24 and in group 2 21.63 ± 0.27 (p=0.015). The percentage of the pts with LGE was 70.9 % in group 1 vs 39.1 % in group 2 (p=0.023). At 18 months follow-up VA events in group 1 were 19.05% vs 4.17% in group 2 (p < 0.037). Moreover VA events were statistically recorded greater in pts with both SS > 26 and LGE compared to pts with only SS >26 (46.7% vs 19.6%, p= 0.046). Conclusions: Our results seem to confirm that reduced 123-I MIBG uptake (H/M and SS) and presence of LGE are associated with the occurrence of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias in HF patients independently from EF. The use of integrated imaging could be a useful tool in the future to increase the specificity of the selection of pts for ICD therapy

ECG evaluation in 11 949 italian teenagers. results of screening in secondary school

Background: There is lack of evidence regarding the screening role of ECG for sudden cardiac death (SCD) prevention. Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of ECG abnormalities among teenagers according to sport participation and competitive status. Methods: Eleven thousand nine hundred and forty-nine Italian pupils from 179 secondary schools (13-19 years) were consecutively enrolled. ECG abnormalities were divided into minor and major. Medical history, clinical examination and sport activity information were acquired. Further evaluations were suggested in case of major ECG abnormalities. Follow-up was performed at 2 years. Results: N = 1945 (16%) pupils had ECG abnormalities. Major ECG abnormalities were detected in 13% of the cohort, minor in 34%. ECG abnormalities were more common in nonathletes compared with athletes. A diagnosis of cardiac disease was reached in 25 (1.6%) of the pupils with major ECG abnormalities. Conclusion: ECG abnormalities are common among young populations and more prevalent in nonathletes. Among pupils with major ECG abnormalities 1.6% had a cardiac disease diagnosis. Our results are in line with the data supporting ECG screening in the general young populatio

The history of rainfall data time-resolution in a wide variety of geographical areas

Collected rainfall records by gauges lead to key forcings in most hydrological studies. Depending on sensor type and recording systems, such data are characterized by different time-resolutions (or temporal aggregations), ta. We present an historical analysis of the time-evolution of ta based on a large database of rain gauge networks operative in many study areas. Globally, ta data were collected for 25,423 rain gauge stations across 32 geographic areas, with larger contributions from Australia, USA, Italy and Spain. For very old networks early recordings were manual with coarse time-resolution, typically daily or sometimes monthly. With a few exceptions, mechanical recordings on paper rolls began in the first half of the 20th century, typically with ta of 1 h or 30 min. Digital registrations started only during the last three decades of the 20th century. This short period limits investigations that require long time-series of sub-daily rainfall data, e.g, analyses of the effects of climate change on short-duration (sub-hourly) heavy rainfall. In addition, in the areas with rainfall data characterized for many years by coarse time-resolutions, annual maximum rainfall depths of short duration can be potentially underestimated and their use would produce errors in the results of successive applications. Currently, only 50% of the stations provide useful data at any time-resolution, that practically means ta = 1 min. However, a significant reduction of these issues can be obtained through the information content of the present database. Finally, we suggest an integration of the database by including additional rain gauge networks to enhance its usefulness particularly in a comparative analysis of the effects of climate change on extreme rainfalls of short duration available in different locations