Avances y desafíos de la protección radiológica en cardiología intervencionista pediátrica para Chile entre los años 2013-2021 / Updating radiological protection for interventional procedures in pediatric cardiology in Chile

RESUMEN: En el año 2013, se publicó un artículo acerca de lo realizado en Chile en temas de protección radiológica en cardiología intervencionista (CI) pediátrica. A continuación se muestra el trabajo de continuidad realizado en los últimos 8 años, destacando los principales resultados alcanzados y proponiendo mejoras en la seguridad y protección radiológica en esta práctica clínica. Desde el año 2013 se han seguido evaluando en términos de dosis de radiación y calidad de imagen, los sistemas de rayos X utilizados en Chile para procedimientos de CI pediátricos y, en particular, los equipos de los servicios de los Hospitales Luis Calvo Mackenna y Roberto del Rio. Se han medido las tasas de dosis de radiación dispersa a la posición habitual de los ojos y tobillos de los cardiólogos que operan los equipos de rayos X. También contamos con un conjunto de "Niveles de Referencia para Diagnóstico" clasificados por rangos de edad y peso, junto con la estimación de valores de dosis por órgano y dosis efectiva para los pacientes. Podemos afirmar que, actualmente, contamos con una metodología consolidada para caracterizar, en términos de dosis y calidad de imagen, los sistemas de rayos X. Sin embargo, sigue pendiente actualizar la normativa nacional que regula el uso seguro de las radiaciones ionizantes en medicina, como también aspectos de formación en protección radiológica para el personal médico implicado.

ABSRSCT: An article on the status of radiological protection during procedures of interventional cardiology in pediatric patients in Chile was published in 2013. The present article relates the continuing efforts to improve radiological protection highlighting their results and proposing additional measures to improve radiological protection during the procedure. Since 2013 we have continued the evaluation of radiation doses, image quality, and X Ray systems used in Chile. We have measured diffused radiation dose at operator´s eye and ankle levels to elaborate a "Reference guide" according to patient´s age and weight. However, we still lack a national regulatory norm for the X Ray systems to be used and for the appropriate training of those involved in procedures of interventional cardiology in pediatric patients.

Impactos da COVID-19 nos pacientes oncológicos: uma revisão sistemática / Impacts of COVID-19 on cancer patients: a systematic review

Introdução: Com a pandemia de coronavírus os pacientes oncológicos, que estão em tratamentos, nos quais a maioria são imunossupressores, se tornaram um grupo muito suscetível a formas graves da infecção. Logo, como forma de proteção e prevenção, a realização de exames de rastreio no ambiente hospitalar foi restringida, atrasando diversos diagnósticos e comprometendo a eficácia de tratamentos. Objetivos: Analisar a produção científica acerca do tema câncer e COVID-19, a fim de contribuir com informações sobre o assunto. Métodos: Revisão sistemática da literatura nas bases de dados SciELO, LILACS e PubMed. Os descritores utilizados foram "câncer" AND "COVID-19" de acordo com o Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) e seus equivalentes para a língua portuguesa, conforme os descritores de Ciências da Saúde (DeCS). Foram incluídos artigos originais em inglês e português, sem delimitação temporal. Resultados: Foram encontrados 1.606 artigos e, após utilizar os critérios de inclusão e exclusão, nove foram incluídos para análise na revisão. Dentre os temas centrais abordados pelos estudos selecionados estão o impacto da pandemia em algumas áreas de acompanhamento do paciente oncológico, como: tratamento, telemedicina, diminuição de funcionários no atendimento ao paciente com câncer, diminuição dos ensaios clínicos, redução dos recursos financeiros e apoio psicológico a essa população. Conclusão: A pandemia afetou diretamente o modo de vida desse grupo, que sofreu com uma redução no atendimento médico e nos recursos dispostos a eles. Portanto, nota-se a necessidade de prestar um cuidado mais específico a esses pacientes em situação tão delicada durante a pandemia.

Introduction: During the coronavirus pandemic, oncological patients, who are undergoing treatments in which the majority are immunosuppressant, have become a group very susceptible to severe forms of the infection. Therefore, as a form of protection, their going to hospital environments were restricted, delaying diagnosis and compromising the effectiveness of treatments. Objectives: This study aims to analyze the scientific about the production of the theme cancer and COVID-19 in order to contribute with informations on the subject. Methods: Systematic review of literature using the SciELO, LILACS and PubMed. The following keywords were used: "cancer" AND "COVID-19" according to the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and their translation to the Portuguese. Studies in English and Portuguese from inception were included. Results: 1,606 studies were screened and 9 were included in the systematic review after using the inclusion and exclusion criterias. Among the central themes addressed by the selected studies are the pandemic impacts in areas of monitoring oncological patients, such as: treatment, telemedicine, reduction of employees in the care of cancer patients, reduction of clinical trials, reduction of financial resources, and psychological support to that population. Conclusion: The pandemic directly affected the way of life of this group, which suffered from a reduction in medical care and the resources available to them. Therefore, there is a need to provide more specific care to these patients in such a delicate situation during the pandemic.

Area efficient camouflaging technique for securing IC reverse engineering.

Reverse engineering is a burning issue in Integrated Circuit (IC) design and manufacturing. In the semiconductor industry, it results in a revenue loss of billions of dollars every year. In this work, an area efficient, high-performance IC camouflaging technique is proposed at the physical design level to combat the integrated circuit's reverse engineering. An attacker may not identify various logic gates in the layout due to similar image output. In addition, a dummy or true contact-based technique is implemented for optimum outcomes. A library of gates is proposed that contains the various camouflaged primitive gates developed by a combination of using the metal routing technique along with the dummy contact technique. This work shows the superiority of the proposed technique's performance matrix with those of existing works regarding resource burden, area, and delay. The proposed library is expected to make open source to help ASIC designers secure IC design and save colossal revenue loss.

plano Nacional de vacinação contra a Covid-19 / national plan of vaccination against covid-19

Este documento apresenta o Plano Nacional de Vacinação contra a COVID-19 em Moçambique. A introdução de uma vacina segura e eficaz representa uma prioridade nacional para aliviar o impacto negativo da pandemia da COVID-19 a nível do sistema sanitário e socioeconómico. Na fase actual da pandemia, o principal objectivo da vacinação é proteger contra doença severa, hospitalização e morte que é fundamental para redução da morbi-mortalidade, alívio da pressão do Sistema Nacional de Saúde e também permitirá uma transição ao novo normal mais segura. No entanto, a eficácia da vacina para prevenção da transmissão ainda não está disponível e a evidência e por isso, as outras medidas de prevenção como o uso de máscaras, a lavagem das mãos, a desinfecção e o distanciamento físico deverão ser mantidas. A estratégia de procura da vacina adoptada pelo Governo de Moçambique compreende dois mecanismos: mecanismo COVAX para cobrir 20% da população total que estão em maior risco e mecanismo complementar de aquisição directa de doses adicionais de vacina para cobrir até 100% da população actualmente elegível a vacinação. O objectivo geral do Plano Nacional de Vacinação contra a COVID-19 é de fornecer directrizes para a implementação priorizada da vacinação contra a COVID-19 de forma segura e eficaz, assegurando a equidade e qualidade na oferta da vacinação. O Governo definiu critérios rigorosos de selecção e aprovação da vacina contra a Covid-19 a ser adquirida. Com vista a uma introdução bem-sucedida da vacina contra a COVID-19, sob a liderança de S. Excia. o Ministro da Saúde, foi estabelecido o Comité de Coordenação Nacional e Sub-comités Técnicos que irão assegurar a preparação e introdução desta vacina no Serviço Nacional de Saúde.

80 questions for UK biological security.

Multiple national and international trends and drivers are radically changing what biological security means for the United Kingdom (UK). New technologies present novel opportunities and challenges, and globalisation has created new pathways and increased the speed, volume and routes by which organisms can spread. The UK Biological Security Strategy (2018) acknowledges the importance of research on biological security in the UK. Given the breadth of potential research, a targeted agenda identifying the questions most critical to effective and coordinated progress in different disciplines of biological security is required. We used expert elicitation to generate 80 policy-relevant research questions considered by participants to have the greatest impact on UK biological security. Drawing on a collaboratively-developed set of 450 questions, proposed by 41 experts from academia, industry and the UK government (consulting 168 additional experts) we subdivided the final 80 questions into six categories: bioengineering; communication and behaviour; disease threats (including pandemics); governance and policy; invasive alien species; and securing biological materials and securing against misuse. Initially, the questions were ranked through a voting process and then reduced and refined to 80 during a one-day workshop with 35 participants from a variety of disciplines. Consistently emerging themes included: the nature of current and potential biological security threats, the efficacy of existing management actions, and the most appropriate future options. The resulting questions offer a research agenda for biological security in the UK that can assist the targeting of research resources and inform the implementation of the UK Biological Security Strategy. These questions include research that could aid with the mitigation of Covid-19, and preparation for the next pandemic. We hope that our structured and rigorous approach to creating a biological security research agenda will be replicated in other countries and regions. The world, not just the UK, is in need of a thoughtful approach to directing biological security research to tackle the emerging issues.

Ahorros de costes provinciales en los accidentes viales en España (2000-2014) / Provincial savings of costs in road accidents in Spain (2000-2014)

OBJETIVO: El objetivo de este estudio fue cuantificar los beneficios económicos conseguidos antes y después de la implantación del permiso de conducción por puntos en las vías interurbanas en España. MÉTODO: Estudio descriptivo a través de la construcción de tres indicadores que expresaron el ahorro de costes por el número de víctimas evitadas. Se definieron dos periodos respecto al objetivo y se recopilaron datos de muertos, heridos graves y heridos leves en vías interurbanas entre 1999 y 2014 para cada provincia española. Se utilizaron para cada provincia datos de su población, producto interior bruto o número de vehículos-kilómetros recorridos en sus vías (MVKR). La cuantificación del ahorro se obtuvo utilizando las cifras oficiales de los costes para cada tipo de víctima en precios de 2014. RESULTADOS: El ahorro por habitante en muertos en el periodo de vigencia del permiso de conducción por puntos se situó entre 3,89 euros y 19,65 euros anuales. El ahorro en heridos graves por MVKR se redujo un 15%-66% entre 2006 y 2014, lo que supone anualmente desde 449,15 euros a 1707,88 euros. CONCLUSIONES: Durante el periodo de vigencia del permiso de conducción por puntos las provincias españolas han conseguido importantes ahorros de costes

OBJECTIVE: To quantify cost savings obtained before and after the implementation of the penalty-points driving licence on the interurban roads in Spain. METHOD: Descriptive study through the construction of three indicators that expressed the cost savings by the number of victims avoided. We defined two periods according to the objective and collected data on fatalities, serious injuries and slight injuries on interurban roads in 1999-2014 for each Spanish province. Thus, data for its population, GDP or number of vehicles-kilometres travelled on its roads (MVKT) were used for each province. The quantification of savings was obtained using official figures of costs for each type of victim in 2014 prices. RESULTS: The cost savings per inhabitant on fatalities in the period of validity of the penalty-points driving licence was between € 3.89 and € 19.65 per year. Savings on serious injuries by MVKT were reduced by 15%-66% between 2006 and 2014, being from € 449.15 to 1707.88 € annually. CONCLUSIONS: During the period of validity of the penalty-points driving licence, the Spanish provinces have achieved significant cost savings

Implementation of a Preparedness Program to Address Violent Situations in Healthcare.

Workplace violence is one of the most complex and dangerous occupational hazards facing hospital healthcare workers today. The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends that all hospitals have a violence prevention program. The purpose of this article is to describe the development and implementation of a preparedness program to address violent situations in healthcare as an essential component of workplace safety. The foundational program elements are leadership involvement, policy development, organization assessment, response personnel deployment, education, data repository and culture shift. A triad leadership from patient safety, security and nursing led the program. Key implementation lessons involved coordination of change within and across multiple sites.

Balancing Patient Care and Force Protection at Military Medical Treatment Facilities.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify delays of care due to base access security protocols at a stateside military medical treatment facility (MTF) for patients with a time-sensitive medical condition who are seeking emergency medical care at the MTF. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed emergency medical services (EMS) run reports from January 1, 2017 to November 12, 2017 to hospital access points to assess patients who were initially denied access to the MTF. Time from EMS activation until patient delivery at the emergency department, number of time-sensitive complaints, number of time-sensitive conditions, and number of unauthorized access attempts are reported. RESULTS: During the 11-month period of review, 42 delays of care related to EMS activation by the sentry at hospital access points were identified. Of the 42, 14 were associated with a time-sensitive complaint, 2 with time-sensitive conditions, and none were unauthorized access attempts. CONCLUSION: We identify the potential for patient harm due to delays in care resulting from the security protocols at our MTF. A review of force protection requirements with consideration for their impact on patient safety, especially in cases of time-sensitive conditions, has been conducted.

Percepciones subjetivas del personal de enfermería sobre la Violencia en el lugar de trabajo, resultados preliminares / Workplace Violence among nursing staff subjective perceptions, preliminary results

ABSTRACT Introduction: Several studies have established the prevalence of workplace violence in the health sector being the nursing staff more likely to experience physical and non-physical violence than other health workers. Objective: Thus, we aimed to research the perceptions of workplace violence in nursing staff in association to type of violence, perpetrators, consequences and protecting measures available in the health institutions. Methods: The study was conducted with a phenomenological method in a major hospital in Quito, Ecuador. N=13/210 professional nurses were selected from a convenience sample and, before starting the discussion, were given information consent forms to sign. The considered selection criteria were being professional, over age 18, and being employers at the hospital as minimum 2 years. The technique selected in data collection was Focus Group Discussion. Results: showed that nursing staff had clarity about what constitutes violence in the workplace such as understanding about the magnitude of the problem, nurses affected by verbal abuse and threats mostly tried to ignore the situation because they considered this to be a typical incident in the workplace, they did not report the situation and it has caused underregistration. The aggressors were mostly staff members, supervisors and relatives of patients. Conclusion: The evidence allowed us to admit that the situation is a significance problem in magnitude and severity. Our recommendations will be oriented toward the implementation of a preventative and minimizing aggression program in the Hospital(AU)

RESUMEN Introducción: Varios estudios han establecido la prevalencia de la violencia en el lugar de trabajo en el sector salud, y es el personal de enfermería quien tiene más probabilidades de sufrirla. Objetivo: Investigar las percepciones de la violencia en el lugar de trabajo en profesionales de la enfermería en asociación con el tipo de violencia, perpetradores, consecuencias y medidas de protección disponibles en las instituciones de salud. Métodos: Estudio fenomenológico en un hospital de especialidades de Quito, Ecuador. N = 13/210 enfermeras profesionales se seleccionaron en una muestra de conveniencia. Antes de comenzar la discusión, se les proporcionaron los formularios de consentimiento informado. Los criterios de selección fueron: ser profesionales, mayores de 18 años y empleadas en el hospital con tiempo mínimo de 2 años. La técnica seleccionada en la recopilación de datos fue Grupo Focal de Discusión. Resultados: El personal de enfermería tenía claridad sobre lo que constituye violencia en el lugar de trabajo, como la comprensión de la magnitud del problema, las enfermeras afectadas por el abuso verbal y las amenazas intentaban ignorar la situación porque consideraban que se trataba de un incidente típico en el lugar de trabajo. No informaron la situación y causó un subregistro. Los agresores eran en su mayoría miembros del personal, supervisores y familiares de pacientes. Conclusión: La evidencia permitió admitir que la situación es un problema de importancia en magnitud y gravedad. Las recomendaciones estarán orientadas a la implementación de un programa preventivo en el hospital(AU)

Trends and Characteristics of Security Incidents Involving Aid Workers in Health Care Settings: A 20-Year Review.

INTRODUCTION: In recent years, several high-profile attacks on hospitals providing medical aid in conflict settings have raised international concern. The International Humanitarian Law prohibits the deliberate targeting of health care settings. Violation of this law is considered a war crime and impacts both those delivering and receiving medical aid. PROBLEM: While it has been demonstrated that both aid workers and health care settings are increasingly being targeted, little is known about the trends and characteristics of security incidents involving aid workers in health care compared to non-health care settings. METHODS: Data from the publicly available Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD) containing security incidents involving humanitarian aid workers world-wide were used in this study. The security incidents occurring from January 1, 1997 through December 31, 2016 were classified by two independent reviewers as having occurred in health care and non-health care settings, and those in health care settings were further classified into five categories (hospital, health clinic, mobile clinic, ambulance, and vaccination visit) for the analysis. A stratified descriptive analysis, χ2 Goodness of Fit test, and Cochran-Armitage test for trend were used to examine and compare security incidents occurring in health care and non-health care settings. RESULTS: Among the 2,139 security incidents involving 4,112 aid workers listed in the AWSD during the study period, 74 and 2,065 incidents were in health care settings and non-health care settings, respectively. There was a nine-fold increase from five to 45 incidents in health care settings (χ2 = 56.27; P < .001), and a five-fold increase from 159 to 852 incidents in non-health care settings (χ2 = 591.55; P < .001), from Period 1 (1997-2001) to Period 4 (2012-2016). Of the 74 incidents in health care settings, 23 (31.1%) occurred in ambulances, 15 (20.3%) in hospitals, 13 (17.6%) in health clinics, 13 (17.6%) during vaccination visits, and six (8.1%) in mobile clinics. Bombings were the most common means of attack in hospitals (N = 9; 60.0%), followed by gun attacks (N = 3; 20.0%). In health care settings, 184 (95.3%) were national staff and nine (4.7%) were international staff. CONCLUSION: Security threats are a growing occupational health hazard for aid workers, especially those working in health care settings. There is a need for high-quality data from the field to better monitor the rapidly changing security situation and improve counter-strategies so aid workers can serve those in need without having to sacrifice their lives.

A 1-GHz 64-Channel Cross-Correlation System for Real-Time Interferometric Aperture Synthesis Imaging.

We present a 64-channel 1-bit/2-level cross-correlation system for a passive millimeter wave imager used for indoor human body security screening. Sixty-four commercial comparators are used to perform 1-bit analog-to-digital conversion, and a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is used to perform the cross-correlation processing. This system can handle 2016 cross-correlations at the sample frequency of 1GHz, and its power consumption is 48.75 W. The data readout interface makes it possible to read earlier data while simultaneously performing the next correlation when imaging at video rate. The longest integration time is up to 68.7 s, which can satisfy the requirements of video rate imaging and system calibration. The measured crosstalk between neighboring channels is less than 0.068%, and the stability is longer than 10 s. A correlation efficiency greater than 96% is achieved for input signal levels greater than -25 dBm.

Security interventions for workplace violence in the emergency department.

OBJECTIVES: Despite a policy of zero tolerance towards workplace violence (WPV) in Australian public hospital EDs, the incidence of WPV continues to increase. The aim of this study was to characterise security responses to WPV within an adult level 4 ED. METHODS: A retrospective single-centre review of episodes of WPV perpetrated by adults occurring within the ED was conducted between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2015. Cases were identified using a prospectively recorded security register that records all events of security personnel attendance. The presence of police officers on initial presentation was the primary exposure variable. RESULTS: There were 1853 violent episodes committed by 1224 patients requiring security intervention during the study period, with half the episodes (n = 916; 49%) involving perpetrators who had committed at least two or more violent acts during the study period. Most cases (n = 1057, 57%; 95% CI: 55-59) occurred in the absence of police presence. Only 144 (7.8%) cases were managed by the presence of security personnel without physical security interventions. CONCLUSIONS: EDs should not rely on police response to prevent or handle violence. The finding of a high proportion of events being perpetrated by repeat offenders indicate that data sharing between EDs for identification of perpetrators of WPV can be useful for prevention of future episodes. ACEM policy for WPV in EDs should encompass further details on security credentialing and preventive strategies towards minimisation of WPV in the Australian EDs.

¿Es necesario proteger la infusión continua de morfina de la luz? / Is it necessary to protect continuous morphine infusion from light?

No disponible

Summary results of the 2014-2015 DARPA Chikungunya challenge.

BACKGROUND: Emerging pathogens such as Zika, chikungunya, Ebola, and dengue viruses are serious threats to national and global health security. Accurate forecasts of emerging epidemics and their severity are critical to minimizing subsequent mortality, morbidity, and economic loss. The recent introduction of chikungunya and Zika virus to the Americas underscores the need for better methods for disease surveillance and forecasting. METHODS: To explore the suitability of current approaches to forecasting emerging diseases, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) launched the 2014-2015 DARPA Chikungunya Challenge to forecast the number of cases and spread of chikungunya disease in the Americas. Challenge participants (n=38 during final evaluation) provided predictions of chikungunya epidemics across the Americas for a six-month period, from September 1, 2014 to February 16, 2015, to be evaluated by comparison with incidence data reported to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). This manuscript presents an overview of the challenge and a summary of the approaches used by the winners. RESULTS: Participant submissions were evaluated by a team of non-competing government subject matter experts based on numerical accuracy and methodology. Although this manuscript does not include in-depth analyses of the results, cursory analyses suggest that simpler models appear to outperform more complex approaches that included, for example, demographic information and transportation dynamics, due to the reporting biases, which can be implicitly captured in statistical models. Mosquito-dynamics, population specific information, and dengue-specific information correlated best with prediction accuracy. CONCLUSION: We conclude that with careful consideration and understanding of the relative advantages and disadvantages of particular methods, implementation of an effective prediction system is feasible. However, there is a need to improve the quality of the data in order to more accurately predict the course of epidemics.