Analyses of Socioeconomic Factors influencing on-farm Conservation of Remnant Forest Tree Species: Evidence from Ghana

The contribution of remnant trees in traditional agro forestry systems in recent times has attracted significant attention from policy makers, stakeholders, and academicians due to their important role in conserving biodiversity within agricultural systems, reserves of genetic resources and provision of other important environmental services. The study seeks to determine socioeconomic factors influencing farmers’ decision to maintain remnant trees in agricultural landscape. Data was solicited from 220 households in three rural communities through structured interviews and on farm visitations. We employed Poison and Negative Binomial Regressions to determine factors influencing rural farm households’ decision to retain remnants forest tree species in agro ecosystem. The regression results indicated that the key factors strongly affecting farmers’ on-farm conservation decision to retain remnant forest trees in agricultural landscape were age, gender, years of schooling, religion, land tenure, farmers’ perceptions to current environmental problems, distance to farm land, erosion and the size of the landholdings. The study recommends that forest governance with focus on collaborative forest resource management and equitable distribution of benefits generated from extraction of forest resources should be given high impetus in policy formulation. The needs and concerns of forest fringe communities should feature paramount in this regard

Tehdassimulointi osana valmistavan teollisuuden suunnittelua ja ohjausta

Neljäs teollinen vallankumous (Industry 4.0) on tuonut uusia kehittyneitä menetelmiä tuotannon suunnitteluun ja ohjaukseen. Nykyaikainen tietoteknologia on mahdollistanut simuloinnin hyödyntämisen eri toimialoilla. Varsinkin valmistavassa teollisuudessa se on ollut merkittävä työkalu tuotantoympäristön rakentamiseen, tarkasteluun ja parantamiseen. Tehdassimulointi on tietokonesimulointiin perustuva menetelmä, jonka avulla voidaan rakentaa, tutkia ja muokata tuotantojärjestelmiä muuttamatta niiden todellisia ominaisuuksia ja fyysistä kokoonpanoa. Tehdassimulaattorit ovat tietokoneohjelmistoja, joissa olemassa olevasta tai suunnitteilla olevasta reaalijärjestelmästä luodaan digitaalinen malli. Tuotantojärjestelmien mallintaminen virtuaaliympäristössä mahdollistaa tuotantoprosessien laaja-alaista tarkastelua, eri tuotantoskenaarioiden kokeiluja, edesauttaa nopeiden ja tehokkaiden päätösten tekemistä sekä helpottaa järjestelmien ja materiaalivirtojen rakentamista, ohjaamista ja optimointia. Tämän kirjallisuuskatsauksen tavoitteena on tutkia tehdassimuloinnin tuomia etuja ja sovelluskohteita valmistavassa teollisuudessa. Työssä tutustutaan simuloinnin keskeisiin käsitteisiin, tarkastellaan tehdassimuloinnin hyötyjä ja sovelluskohteita valmistavassa teollisuudessa, käsitellään oikeaoppista simulointimallin rakennuskehystä, tutkitaan mallin vastaavuutta todellisuuteen sekä vaikutusta päätöksentekoon. Tutkimusaihe rajataan tehdassimuloinnin hyödyntämiseen yksittäisen tuotantojärjestelmän rakentamisessa, tarkastelussa ja kehittämisessä. Lähteinä käytetään vertaisarvioituja tieteellisiä artikkeleja, konferenssijulkaisuja, kirjoja ja standardeja. Tärkeimpiä tutkimusaiheita ovat tehdassimuloinnin tuomat edut valmistavalle teollisuudelle, pätevän simulointimallin rakentaminen ja simulointimallin vastaavuus todellisuuteen. Tutkimustulokset kertovat minkälaista etua tehdassimulointi on tuonut valmistavan teollisuuden yrityksille. Sen ansiosta tuotantojärjestelmien suunnitteluajat sekä virheiden riskit ovat huomattavasti pienentyneet, ymmärrys järjestelmien toiminnasta lisääntynyt ja varmuus päätöksenteossa kasvanut. Pätevän simulointimallin rakentamiseksi on noudatettava simulointitutkimuksen periaatteita ja seurattava vaiheittaista mallinrakennuskehystä. Verrattaessa simulointimallia todellisuuteen päädytään päätelmään, ettei simulointimallin tarvitse toimia identtisenä kopiona järjestelmästä, vaan sen tehtävä on toimia yksinkertaisena kokeilumallina reaalijärjestelmästä

Preparedness for mass gatherings : rescue and emergency medical services’ workloads during mass gathering events

Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).Background: Mass gathering (MG) events may cause delayed emergency responses via various mechanisms and strain the resources of local emergency services. Therefore, preparedness, including adequate pre-planning and sufficient resourcing during MG events, is vital. The aim of this retrospective register study was to investigate the impact of MG events on the workload of rescue and emergency medical service (EMS) personnel during events to enable more precise and sufficient deployment of these authorities’ operative resources. Methods: The data from Finland covered of 25,124 EMS and rescue service missions during a three-year period (2015–2017), including data from nine MG events and reference material for the same weekdays two weeks before and after the event. The data were analysed through statistical and geospatial analyses. Results: Our findings showed that missions increased in most events included in this study. Analysis of the missions’ reasons showed that the categories of violence, traffic accidents and other accidents and injuries increased during events, with violence-related missions showing the highest relative risk (RR 1.87, 95% CI 1.43–2.44). In the four-grade (A–D) urgency grading, the analysis showed an increase in category C missions and a decrease in non-urgent category D missions. The analysis indicated an increase in missions during the evening and night-time. The geospatial analysis revealed dense hotspots of missions in the vicinity of the event area. Conclusion: The workload for EMS and rescue service personnel increases during MG events. Most of the increase is allocated to EMS staff, peaking in evening and night hours. The geospatial analysis showed hotspots of missions on the outskirts of the actual event area during events; thus, the workload can also increase for those authority resources that are not directly allocated to the event. Detailed information regarding workloads is valuable for the authorities that are responsible for resource planning and preparedness for MG events. Replicating the study internationally would improve the methodology for the future.Peer reviewe

Implementation of a new emergency medical communication centre organization in Finland - an evaluation, with performance indicators

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is a great variety in how emergency medical communication centers (EMCC) are organized in different countries and sometimes, even within countries. Organizational changes in the EMCC have often occurred because of outside world changes, limited resources and the need to control costs, but historically there is often a lack of structured evaluation of these organization changes. The aim of this study was to evaluate if the performance in emergency medical dispatching changed in a smaller community outside Helsinki after the emergency medical call centre organization reform in Finland.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A retrospective observational study was conducted in the EMCC in southern Finland. The data from the former system, which had municipality-based centers, covered the years 2002-2005 and was collected from several databases. From the new EMCC, data was collected from January 1 to May 31, 2006. Identified performance indicators were used to evaluate and compare the old and new EMCC organizations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 67 610 emergency calls were analyzed. Of these, 54 026 were from the municipality-based centers and 13 584 were from the new EMCC. Compared to the old municipality-based centers the new EMCC dispatched the highest priority to 7.4 percent of the calls compared to 3.6 percent in the old system. The high priority cases not detected by dispatchers increased significantly (p < 0.001) in the new EMCC organization, and the identification rate of unexpected deaths in the dispatched ambulance assignments was not significantly (p = 0.270) lower compared to the old municipality-based center data.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>After implementation of a new EMCC organization in Finland the percentage and number of high priority calls increased. There was a trend, but no statistically significant increase in the emergency medical dispatchers' ability to detect patients with life-threatening conditions despite structured education, regular evaluation and standardization of protocols in the new EMCC organization.</p

Association between physician's case volume in prehospital advanced trauma care and 30-day mortality: a registry-based analysis of 4,032 patients

BACKGROUND: Seriously injured patients may benefit from prehospital interventions provided by a critical care physician. The relationship between case volume and outcome has been established in trauma teams in hospitals, as well as in prehospital advanced airway management. In this study, we aimed to assess if a volume-outcome relationship exists in prehospital advanced trauma care.METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study using the national helicopter emergency medical services database, including trauma patients escorted from scene to hospital by a helicopter emergency medical services physician during January 1, 2013, to August 31, 2019. In addition, similar cases during 2012 were used to determine case volumes. We performed a multivariate logistic regression analysis, with 30-day mortality as the outcome. Age, sex, Glasgow Coma Scale, shock index, mechanism of injury, time interval from alarm to the patient and duration of transport, level of receiving hospital, and physician's trauma case volume were used as covariates. On-scene times, interventions performed, and status at hospital arrival were assessed in patients who were grouped according to physician's case volume.RESULTS: In total, 4,032 escorted trauma patients were included in the study. The median age was 40.2 (22.9-59.3) years, and 3,032 (75.2%) were male. Within 30 days, 498 (13.2%) of these patients had died. In the highest case volume group, advanced interventions were performed more often, and patients were less often hypotensive at handover. Data for multivariate analysis were available for 3,167 (78.5%) of the patients. Higher case volume was independently associated with lower mortality (odds ratio, 0.59; 95% confidence interval, 0.38-0.89).CONCLUSION: When a prehospital physician's case volume is higher in high-risk prehospital trauma, this seems to be associated with more active practice patterns and significantly lower 30-day mortality. The quality of prehospital critical care could be increased by ensuring sufficient case volume for the providers of such care. (J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2023;94: 425-432. Copyright (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.) LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic and Epidemiologic; Level III.Peer reviewe

Effects of Contaminated Soil on the Survival and Growth Performance of European (Populus tremula L.) and Hybrid Aspen (Populus tremula L. × Populus tremuloides Michx.) Clones Based on Stand Density

This study was conducted to assess the survival rates, growth, and chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm) of four hybrid aspen (14, 191, 27, 291) and two European aspen (R3 and R4) clones cultivated in creosote- and diesel oil-contaminated soil treatments under three different plant densities: one plant per pot (low density), two plants per pot (medium density), and six plants per pot (high density) over a period of two years and three months. Evaluating the survival, growth, and Fv/Fm values of different plants is a prerequisite for phytoremediation to remediate polluted soils for ecological restoration and soil health. The results revealed that contaminated soils affected all plants’ survival rates and growth. However, plants grown in the creosote-contaminated soil displayed a 99% survival rate, whereas plants cultivated in the diesel-contaminated soil showed a 22–59% survival rate. Low plant density resulted in a higher survival rate and growth than in the other two density treatments. In contrast, the medium- and high-density treatments did not affect the plant survival rate and growth to a greater extent, particularly in contaminated soil treatments. The effects of clonal variation on the survival rate, growth, and Fv/Fm values were evident in all treatments. The results suggested that hybrid aspen clones 14 and 291, and European aspen clone R3 were suitable candidates for the phytoremediation experiment, as they demonstrated reasonable survival rates, growth, and Fv/Fm values across all treatments. A superior survival rate for clone 291, height and diameter growth, and stem dry biomass production for clone 14 were observed in all soil treatments. Overall, a reasonable survival rate (~75%) and Fv/Fm value (>0.75) for all plants in all treatments, indicating European aspen and hybrid aspen have considerable potential for phytoremediation experiments. As the experiment was set up for a limited period, this study deserves further research to verify the growth potential of different hybrid aspen and European aspen clones in different soil and density treatment for the effective phytoremediation process to remediate the contaminated soil

Ohje ensihoitopalvelujen palvelutasopäätöksen laatimiseksi

Terveydenhuoltolaki (1326/2010) velvoittaa erikoissairaanhoidon järjestämisestä vastaavaa sairaanhoitopiirin kuntayhtymää tekemään alueensa ensihoitopalvelun palvelutasopäätöksen. Terveydenhuoltolain nojalla annetussa uudistetussa sosiaali- ja terveysministeriön asetuksessa ensihoitopalvelusta säädetään yksityiskohtaisemmin palvelutasopäätöksen laatimisesta. Tässä julkaisussa kuvataan ensihoitopalvelun palvelutasopäätöksen tausta, tavoitteet, sisältö ja raportointitavat. Ensihoitopalvelun suunnittelun lähtökohtana tulee olla samantasoisten palvelujen tarjoaminen riskeiltään ja palvelutarpeiltaan samanlaisilla alueilla. Sairaanhoitopiirit käyttävät tässä julkaisussa kuvattua valtakunnallista mallia palvelutasopäätöksen tekemisessä ja palvelutason seuraamisess