Estimation and dynamics of above ground biomass with very high resolution satellite images in Pinus pinaster stands

Biomass estimation is a tool for evaluating stands and forest dynamics. Traditional indirect methods use forest inventories and allometric functions at tree level to evaluate biomass at plot level, and an extrapolation method to assess an area. The goal of this study was the development of allometric functions for Pinus pinaster with crown horizontal projection derived from very high spatial resolution satellite images as an independent variable, as well as their application to the analysis of above ground biomass dynamics. The fitted functions show a good performance. The function used to estimate the above ground biomass per grid in 2004, 2007 and 2011 for the study area enable the evaluation of their temporal dynamics. From 2004 to 2007 it decreased in 90.5% of the study area, due to forest fires and cuts to control the pinewood nematode; from 2007 to 2011 increased in 45.6% and decreased in 51.6%, the latter corresponding to cuts to control the aforementioned disease. In 76.4% of the burnt areas, natural regeneration resulted in an increase of above ground biomass. The method's main advantages are the simultaneous evaluation of small or large areas and, when implemented in a GIS, it allows straightforward monitoring over a short period of time

Quality in interventional cardiology: towards the future

A cardiologia de intervenção é, provavelmente, das áreas da medicina onde se verificaram, num curto espaço de tempo, desenvolvimentos extremamente importantes. Nos últimos 26 anos, assistiu-se a um crescimento exponencial do número de casos, operadores e centros onde se realiza este tipo de procedimento. Paralelamente, a última década foi pródiga em novos desenvolvimentos ao nível das técnicas de abordagem, materiais e protocolos de terapêuticas adjuvantes, que contribuíram para o alargamento do espectro de situações com indicação, clínica e angiográfica, devidamente estabelecidas. Sempre que se intervém ao nível da prestação de cuidados de saúde é desejável que haja benefícios para os doentes, mas, por vezes, também podem causar danos indesejáveis. O conceito de qualidade em saúde apresenta-se, nos dias de hoje, sob várias perspectivas, podendo assumir definições diversas. A Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), define qualidade como, «O modo como os serviços de saúde, com o actual nível de conhecimentos, aumentam a possibilidade de obter os resultados desejados e reduzem a possibilidade de obtenção de resultados indesejados». O estabelecimento de padrões de qualidade baseados nos resultados obtidos é uma forma racional, fiável e equitativa de diferenciar a qualidade dos cuidados prestados, apresentando, no entanto, algumas limitações devido à enorme diversidade de definições e formas de registo das variáveis em questão. A utilização da metodologia do risco ajustado para aferir o cálculo das diferenças entre doentes, no que respeita aos resultados, torna-se assim um imperativo, na era moderna da cardiologia de intervenção, para legitimar a comparação de resultados entre instituições e para uniformizar a informação, os critérios e as definições, permitindo desta forma estabelecer valores de benchmarking rigorosos e credíveis.ABSTRACT - Interventional cardiology is an example of a medical field in which rapid technological advances have taken place over a short period of time. In the 26 years since the inception of interventional cardiology, there has been an enormous increase in the volume of cases and the number of operators and sites performing coronary angioplasty. Coupled with this, in the last decade, we have witnessed tremendous developments in the techniques, materials and adjunctive therapy associated with a percutaneous coronary intervention. Health care interventions are intended to benefit patients, but they can also cause harm. The complex combination of processes, technologies and human interaction that constitutes the modern health care delivery system can bring significant benefits. However, it also involves an inevitable risk of adverse events that can, and too often do, happen. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has defined quality in health care as “the degree to which patient care services increase the probability of desired patient outcomes and reduce the possibility of undesired outcomes, given the current state of knowledge.” The establishment of quality standards based on patient outcomes data is a rational means of differentiating the quality of health care in the marketplace. Institutional variation in patients’ baseline clinical risks precludes the direct comparison of outcomes across institutions. The application of risk adjustment methodology to account for patient differences in these treatment outcomes is imperative for legitimate comparison of institutional results in the modern era of cardiovascular intervention. The aim of this paper is to promote reflection on the importance of quality in interventional cardiology and, simultaneously, to emphasize the role of health professionals in this regard, in daily practice and through their investigations. Another aim is to encourage the inclusion of risk adjustment methodology to account for patient differences, and consequently, to make an accurate assessment of the results obtained by different operators and institutions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Patient safety: the need for a national strategy

O tema da segurança dos doentes tornou-se, na última década, uma questão central nas agendas de muitos países da Europa e um pouco por todo o mundo. Quando se fala em segurança dos utentes/doentes, fica-se, à partida, com a ideia de que estamos perante um conceito pragmático e bem delimitado, logo fácil de identificar, analisar e propor mudanças no sentido da sua redução, ou eliminação. No entanto, a realidade apresenta algumas particularidades que tornam difícil a sua abordagem devido, essencialmente, à complexidade das organizações de saúde, ao carácter multifactorial das situações que estão por detrás das falhas de segurança, e, não menos importante, à sensibilidade do tema. De entre as várias acções desenvolvidas pelos diferentes governos destacam-se, como denominador comum, a criação de agências especializadas para estudar e propor medidas no sentido de inverter a situação; a implementação de um sistema nacional, de carácter voluntário, de reporte de eventos adversos, promoção de uma cultura de aprendizagem, em detrimento de uma cultura de culpabilização; enfoque na análise das raízes do problema; reforço da liderança e envolvimento de todos os actores que intervêm no processo de prestação de cuidados de saúde. A segurança dos doentes constitui hoje um sério problema de saúde pública que urge dar resposta. Torna-se assim necessário identificar áreas de actuação, hierarquizar intervenções, seleccionar indicadores que permitam monitorizar e avaliar essas intervenções, em termos de efectividade e eficácia das mesmas. Ou seja, importa definir uma estratégia que constitua o quadro de referência global que possibilite integrar, articular e orientar a acção dos diversos actores envolvidos com o objectivo primordial de reduzir ao máximo a probabilidade de ocorrência de danos nos doentes e, consequentemente, contribua para a prestação de cuidados de saúde de excelência, baseada na melhor evidência disponível.ABSTRACT - Patient safety has become a core issue for many modern healthcare systems. All healthcare systems around the world occasionally and unintentionally harm patients whom they are seeking to help. In recognition of this, patient safety has become a fundamental part of the drive to improve quality in many countries. The effects of harming a patient are widespread. There can be devastating emotional and physical consequence for patients and their families. For the staff involved too, incidents can be distressing, while members of their clinical teams can become demoralized and disaffected. Safety incidents also incur costs through litigation and extra treatment. Patient safety is nowadays a serious problem of public health, with several implications in different clinical areas and level of care. It is crucial to establish priorities, hierarchy's interventions and engaged all stakeholders who are involved in this big issue. In other words, it is important to define a strategy that could reflect a global framework, which allows us to integrate, articulate and be actors action-oriented, with the final aim of reducing the possibilities to harm patients. Consequently, these could contribute for a health care delivery of excellence and based on the best evidence. In the last few years, several studies have estimated that around 4% to 17% of patients have experienced an adverse event and that up to half of these incidents could have been prevented. Many of them have also shown that the best way of reducing error rates, is to target the underlying systems failures, rather than take actions against individual members of staff. We should recognize that healthcare will always involve risk, but that these risks can be reduced by analyzing and tackling the root causes of patient safety incidents. It is important to promote an open and fair culture and to encourage staff to report when things have gone wrong.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

When Cost-Efficient Technologies Meet Politics: A Case Study of Radical Wireless Network Implementation

Cost efficiency has been a dominant perspective in the traditional IT literature. However, in complex technology and business environment, the widely recognized cost efficient assumption of information technology has been increasingly challenged. Drawing from a case study of wireless network implementation situated in a politically sensitive workplace, this paper provided practice insights for IT managers in today’s networked economy. More specifically, stories experienced in the case study illustrated that despite well-calculated cost efficiency of wireless network infrastructure, the radical implementation process in the case organization encountered enormous challenges and opposition due to the fact that administrators failed to consider various stakeholders’ positions and interests. Eventually, the implementation objectives and outcome were considerably undermined. Implications from this empirical case research reemphasized the significance of understanding political forces situated in any business environment where different stakeholders hold conflicting interests. Lessons learned from the case story further encouraged IT managers and policy makers to better strategize emerging information technology in general and wireless networks in particular as the whole global society and business environment are increasingly facing an emerging wireless world

Sporadic multiprocessor Linux scheduler

The advent of multicore systems has renewed the interest of research community on real-time scheduling on multiprocessor systems. Real-time scheduling theory for uniprocessors is considered a mature research field, but real-time scheduling theory for multiprocessors is an emerging research field. Being part of this research community I have decided to implement the Sporadic Multiprocessor Linux Scheduler that implements a new real-time scheduling algorithm, which was designed to schedule real-time sporadic tasks on multiprocessor systems. This technical reports describes the implementation of the SMLS

Molecular analysis confirms Madeira as source for insular and continental introduced populations of Teira dugesii (Sauria: Lacertidae)

In this work, we use phylogenetic analyses to assess the putative origin of the Lisbon, Azorean, and Canarian populations. The identification of the origin of these three introduced populations is expected to provide insights into the invasion pattern of this species