Researchers develop an advanced computer simulator to help in decision-making processes (DSS, or decision support system) which could aid emergency service units in their operations management.

Health And Wellness Report

Medical Research  :  New Technology

Advanced computer simulator to manage hospital emergencies

by Staff Writers
Barcelona, Spain (SPX)

File image courtesy AFP.

Researchers of the group High Performance Computing for Efficient Applications and Simulation (HPC4EAS) of the Department of Computer Architecture and Operating Systems of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), in collaboration with the team at the Emergency Services Unit at Hospital de Sabadell (Parc Tauli Healthcare Corporation), have developed an advanced computer simulator to help in decision-making processes (DSS, or decision support system) which could aid emergency service units in their operations management.

The model was designed based on real data provided by the Parc Tauli Healthcare Corporation, using modelling and simulation techniques adapted to each individual, and which require the application of high performance computing. The system analyses the reaction of the emergency unit when faced with different scenarios and optimises the resources available.

The simulator was created by lecturer Emilio Luque, main researcher of the project; UAB PhD students Manel Taboada, lecturer at the Gimbernat School of Computer Science – a UAB-affiliated centre – and Eduardo Cabrera, trainee researcher; and Maria Luisa Iglesias and Francisco Epelde, heads of the Emergency Services Unit of Parc Tauli.

“Planning the use of resources available to an emergency unit staff is a complex task, since the arrival of patients varies greatly, not only during the day, but depending on the week, month, etc. That is why those in charge find it useful to have computer tools which simulate the effects of special situations, such as seasonal increases, epidemics, and so forth, in order to be able to identify the best combination of resources for each moment”, Emilio Luque explains.

The most outstanding part of the simulator is the precise representation of the behaviour of individuals who were identified and their interactions. “Several tries have been made to simulate emergency services, but using other types of methodologies which did not gather enough data on a system depending on human behaviour, which is based on the relation of individuals who act more or less independently in the decisions they make.

In addition to in depth knowledge of the methodology, there is also the need to have direct access to the information and data provided by the emergency services, with the aim of verifying and validating the work carried out. This data is very relevant and was not included in other simulators”, Manel Taboada states.

Researchers defined different types of patients according to their emergency level, and doctors, nursing teams, and admissions staff according to different levels of experience.

This permitted studying the duration of processes such as the triage (when the emergency level is determined), the number and type of patients arriving at each moment, the waiting period for each stage or phase of the service, costs associated with each process, the amount of staff needed to determine a type of assistance and, in general, all other quantifiable variables. The system not only helps to make decisions in real time, it also can help by making forecasts and improving the functioning of the service.

The complexity level of the model is very elevated: it takes into account the elements relevant for the functioning of emergency services, such as computer systems, support services for clinic diagnoses (laboratories, X-rays, etc.) and consultations made with specialists. This allows testing service resistance in case any of these elements fail.

Another advantage of the new system compared to previous models is its adaptability to all types of emergency services. “Since it is based on a very complex service as the one we have here at Parc Tauli, it is quite easy to adapt it to other hospitals through a ‘tuning’ process where the data is redefined”, Emilio Luque explains.

For now, the simulator has been used with level 4 and 5 patients – non-urgent patients according to the definition of the Spanish Triage System (SET). These represent almost 60% of total patients being attended, based on admission zones, triage and diagnosis-treatment processes.

The version currently being developed by researchers is taking into account more severely affected patients (SET levels 1, 2 and 3). In the near future, researchers aim to apply the system to other medical specialties, such as surgical areas and paediatrics.

The implementation was carried out using the Netlogo environment simulator, of demonstrated reliability and commonly used in the application of Individual-Based Modelling and Simulation Techniques in the field of social sciences.

 

Related Links
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
Hospital and Medical News at InternDaily.com

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If Your Normally Gentle Dog Turns Aggressive, This Could Be the Reason

 Health And Wellness Report

 

 

 

 Pet health

 

 

 

If Your Normally Gentle Dog Turns Aggressive, This Could Be the Reason

By Dr. Becker

If your normally laidback, affectionate dog shows sudden, random signs of aggression, it could be that he’s feeling pain somewhere in his body. According to a new study¹, dogs in pain are on edge and can react aggressively if they are touched.

Otherwise loving dogs can become violent from pain, and dogs that already have aggressive tendencies get even more aggressive.

“If the pet is handled when in pain, it will quickly act aggressively to avoid more discomfort without the owner being able to prevent it,” says study researcher Tomàs Camps. “Dogs that had never been aggressive before the onset of pain began to behave in this way in situations where an attempt is made to control them.”

Characteristics of Pain-Related Aggression

There are many factors that go into the making of an aggressive dog, including the mother’s health and well-being while she’s carrying the litter, how the puppy is handled during the neonatal phase, the age at weaning, whether the pup is appropriately and adequately socialized, diet, exercise, inherited traits, and whether the dog was trained using positive reinforcement techniques or active punishment.

However, the goal of the retrospective study, conducted at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, was to examine the main features of canine aggression brought on by a painful condition.

The subjects of the study were 12 primarily large breed dogs who were seen at the Veterinary Hospital of the Autonomous University for aggression-related problems during 2010 and 2011. The group included a giant schnauzer, Irish setter, pit bull, Dalmatian, two German shepherds, Neapolitan mastiff, Shih Tzu, bobtail, Catalan sheepdog, chow-chow and Doberman.

There were 11 males and one female, and all 12 dogs had been diagnosed with pain-related aggression. Eight of the 12 had hip dysplasia, though the specific painful condition did not appear linked to the type of aggressive behavior displayed.

The dogs’ owners completed a questionnaire to help determine in what situations the dogs were aggressive, their posture during an aggressive episode, the target of their aggression (usually the owner), level of impulsiveness (whether there were any warning signs prior to an aggressive episode), and the degree of aggressiveness exhibited before they developed a painful condition.

The dogs were categorized as to whether they were aggressive before they were in pain, or only after.

Dogs that were not aggressive prior to the onset of their painful condition were:

• More impulsive (attacked more often without warning)
• More often showed aggression as a result of being handled
• More often held their bodies in a defensive posture

According to study authors, “These results suggest that previous expression of aggressive behavior has a major effect on the pattern of pain-related aggression in dogs.”

The study further emphasizes the need for diagnosis of painful conditions in dogs and effective treatment for those conditions.

If Your Dog is Suddenly Behaving Aggressively …

I strongly encourage you to make an appointment with your vet to have your pet examined. A normally peace-loving dog who suddenly develops random episodes of aggressive behavior is very likely suffering from a painful condition that he needs help with – and the sooner, the better.

 

References:

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• ¹ Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, Volume 7, Issue 2, March-April 2012, Pages 99-102

The discovery of a new type of dinosaur egg represents proof in favour of the hypothesis that non avian theropods, the dinosaurs of the Cretaceous period, and birds could have had a common ancestor.

Fossil egg discovered in Spain links dinosaurs to modern birds

by Staff Writers
Barcelona, Spain (SPX)

Terra Daily / Early Earth

 

illustration only

Before her death in December 2010, Nieves Lopez Martinez, palaeontologist of the Complutense University of Madrid, was working on the research of dinosaur eggs with a very peculiar characteristic: an ovoid, asymmetrical shape.

Together with Enric Vicens, palaeontologist of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, the two scientists conducted an exhaustive analysis of their discovery, recently published in the journal Palaeontology.

The new type of dinosaur egg has been given the scientific name of Sankofa pyrenaica. The eggs were discovered in the Montsec area of Lleida, in two sites located on either side of the Terradets pass.

The South Pyrenean area is rich in dinosaur egg sites, most of which correspond to sauropod eggs from the upper Cretaceous, dating back more than 70 million years ago. During that period, the area was a coastal area full of beaches and deltas which won land from the sea through sediment accumulation.

Sand and mud from that period gave way, millions of years later, to the sandstone and marl where dinosaur remains now can be found. On the beach ridges and flat coastal lands is where a large group of dinosaurs laid their eggs.

The sites where the discoveries were made correspond to the upper Cretaceous, between the Campanian and Maastrichtian periods, some 70 to 83 million years ago.

The fossils found belong to small eggs measuring some 7 centimetres tall and 4 cm wide, while the eggshell was on average 0.27mm thick. Most of the eggs found were broken in small fragments, but scientists also discovered more or less complete eggs, which can be easily studied in sections.

The eggs found at the sites all belong to the same species. The main difference when compared to other eggs from the same period is their asymmetrical shape, similar to that of chicken eggs. The more complete samples clearly show an oval form rarely seen in eggs from the upper Cretaceous period and similar to modern day eggs.

Their shape is a unique characteristic of theropod eggs from the upper Cretaceous period and suggests a connection with bird eggs. Non avian dinosaur eggs are symmetrical and elongated. Asymmetry in bird eggs is associated to the physiology of birds: they take on this shape given the existence of only one oviduct which can form only one egg at a time.

In this case the isthmus, the region in the oviduct creating the eggshell membrane, is what gives the egg its asymmetrical shape. Thanks to this shape, the wider end contains a bag of air which allows the bird to breathe in the last stages of its development. This evolutionary step was still relatively underdeveloped in dinosaurs.

Thus, the egg discovered by UCM and UAB researchers in certain manners represents Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
between dinosaurs and birds. Only one other egg, discovered in Argentina and corresponding to a primitive bird from the same period, has similar characteristics.

The discover represents proof in favour of the hypothesis that non avian theropods, the dinosaurs of the Cretaceous period, and birds could have had a common ancestor.

 

Related Links
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
Explore The Early Earth at TerraDaily.com

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