modelling and simulation for major incidents

In recent years, there has been a rise in Major Incidents with big impact on the citizens health and the society. Without the possibility of conducting live experiments when it comes to physical and/or toxic trauma, only an accurate in silico reconstruction allows us to identify organizational solutions with the best possible chance of success, in correlation with the limitations on available resources (e.g. medical team, first responders, treatments, transports, and hospitals availability) and with the variability of the characteristic of event (e.g. type of incident, severity of the event and type of lesions). Utilizing modelling and simulation techniques, a simplified mathematical model of physiological evolution for patients involved in physical and toxic trauma incident scenarios has been developed and implemented. The model formalizes the dynamics, operating standards and practices of medical response and the main emergency service in the chain of emergency management during a Major Incident

The Influence of Sociodemographic Factors, Lifestyle, and Risk Perception on Dietary Patterns in Pregnant Women Living in Highly Contaminated Areas: Data from the NEHO Birth Cohort

During pregnancy, maternal nutrition and lifestyle play a critical role in influencing fetal development and newborn health outcomes. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors influencing the adherence to dietary patterns in pregnant women living in highly contaminated areas, and whether women with higher environmental risk perception manifest different nutritional behaviors during pregnancy. Food consumption data on 816 pregnant women from the Neonatal Environment and Health Outcomes (NEHO) residential birth cohort were analyzed. Dietary patterns were computed by principal component analysis. A multinomial logistic regression was also applied to identify sociodemographic, lifestyle, and pregnancy-related determinants of adherence to dietary patterns during pregnancy. Three patterns of food consumption—explaining 24.9% of the total variance—were identified as “prudent”, “high energy”, and “vegetarian” patterns. Results suggest that food choices during pregnancy follow a social gradient and align with other health behaviors during pregnancy: older, better educated, and physically active women with higher risk perception are more likely to follow healthier dietary patterns. Knowledge about what is eaten can contribute to dietary choices. Interventions to improve the prenatal nutrition knowledge of pregnant women are needed, especially concerning younger mothers and those with lower educational levels