A Task-based Support Architecture for Developing Point-of-care Clinical Decision Support Systems for the Emergency Department

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to create a task-based support architecture for developing clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) that assist physicians in making decisions at the point-of-care in the emergency department (ED). The backbone of the proposed architecture was established by a task-based emergency workflow model for a patient-physician encounter. Methods: The architecture was designed according to an agent-oriented paradigm. Specifically, we used the O-MaSE (Organization-based Multi-agent System Engineering) method that allows for iterative translation of functional requirements into architectural components (e.g., agents). The agent-oriented paradigm was extended with ontology-driven design to implement ontological models representing knowledge required by specific agents to operate. Results: The task-based architecture allows for the creation of a CDSS that is aligned with the task-based emergency workflow model. It facilitates decoupling of executable components (agents) from embedded domain knowledge (ontological models), thus supporting their interoperability, sharing, and reuse. The generic architecture was implemented as a pilot system, MET3-AE – a CDSS to help with the management of pediatric asthma exacerbation in the ED. The system was evaluated in a hospital ED. Conclusions: The architecture allows for the creation of a CDSS that integrates support for all tasks from the task-based emergency workflow model, and interacts with hospital information systems. Proposed architecture also allows for reusing and sharing system components and knowledge across disease-specific CDSSs

A multiproxy approach to studying a large prehistoric enclosure in Ojców, Kraków Upland, Poland

Due to the presence of multiple caves and rock shelters as well as flint outcrops, Ojców Upland is a region with an exceptionally high concentration of prehistoric human settlement traces. It has attracted archaeologists for over 150 years, leading to what was considered to have been a proper prospection of the area. Nonetheless, the analysis of airborne laser scanning has recently brought surprising results. In the very centre of the upland, on the densely forested hill ‘Złota Góra’ (Golden Hill), the remains of an exceptionally large defensive structure in the form of several rows of embankments were found. The use of magnetic methods made it possible to confirm their anthropogenic origin and the likely type of embankment construction. In turn, the layout of embankments combined with the results of a surface survey and the analyses of the acquired artefacts and the settlement context speak in favour of linking this defensive structure with a high degree of probability with the Neolithic or Eneolithic, most likely the Lengyel-Polgár cycle or Baden culture. The presence of such a large fortification in the immediate vicinity of flint mines could shed new light on the image of the Late Neolithic-Early/Middle Eneolithic period in this part of Europe