A model for the evaluation of data quality in health unit website

This article presents a research work, the goal of which was to achieve a model for the evaluation of data quality in institutional websites of health units in a broad and balanced way. We have carried out a literature review of the available approaches for the evaluation of website content quality, in order to identify the most recurrent dimensions and the attributes, and we have also carried out a Delphi method process with experts in order to reach an adequate set of attributes and their respective weights for the measurement of content quality. The results obtained revealed a high level of consensus among the experts who participated in the Delphi process. On the other hand, the different statistical analysis and techniques implemented are robust and attach confidence to our results and consequent model obtained.

Mechanical Behavior of the Lamellar Structure in Semi-Crystalline Polymers

We have employed molecular dynamics simulations to study the behavior of virtual polymeric materials under an applied uniaxial tensile load. Through computer simulations, one can obtain experimentally inaccessible information about phenomena taking place at the molecular and microscopic levels. Not only can the global material response be monitored and characterized along time, but the response of macromolecular chains can be followed independently if desired. The computer-generated materials were created by emulating the step-wise polymerization, resulting in self-avoiding chains in 3D with controlled degree of orientation along a certain axis. These materials represent a simplified model of the lamellar structure of semi-crystalline polymers,being comprised of an amorphous region surrounded by two crystalline lamellar regions. For the simulations, a series of materials were created, varying i) the lamella thickness, ii) the amorphous region thickness, iii) the preferential chain orientation, and iv) the degree of packing of the amorphous region. Simulation results indicate that the lamella thickness has the strongest influence on the mechanical properties of the lamella-amorphous structure, which is in agreement with experimental data. The other morphological parameters also affect the mechanical response, but to a smaller degree. This research follows previous simulation work on the crack formation and propagation phenomena, deformation mechanisms at the nanoscale, and the influence of the loading conditions on the material response. Computer simulations can improve the fundamental understanding about the phenomena responsible for the behavior of polymeric materials, and will eventually lead to the design of knowledge-based materials with improved properties.

Improving fECG signal acquisition in the evaluation of fetal well-being

The ability to monitor fetal heart rate is vital during late pregnancy and labor in order to evaluate fetal well-being. Current monitoring practice is essentially based on external cardiotocography and, less frequently, during labor, invasive fetal scalp electrocardiography. Many current and envisaged applications could benefi t from simpler devices using a 3-lead ECG confi guration. We are designing a maternity support belt with an embedded wireless 3-lead ECG sensor, and have investigated the infl uence of the ground electrode position on signal quality. Data from over 100 pregnant women was collected with the ground electrode placed in 3 locations in order to determine optimum electrode placement and belt form factor.

The need for standardized tests to evaluate the reliability of data transport in wireless medical systems

Wireless medical systems are comprised of four stages, namely the medical device, the data transport, the data collection and the data evaluation stages. Whereas the performance of the first stage is highly regulated, the others are not. This paper concentrates on the data transport stage and argues that it is necessary to establish standardized tests to be used by medical device manufacturers to provide comparable results concerning the communication performance of the wireless networks used to transport medical data. Besides, it suggests test parameters and procedures to be used to produce comparable communication performance results.

Towards a model for the measurement of data quality in websites

Websites are, nowadays, the face of institutions, but they are often neglected, especially when it comes to contents. In the present paper, we put forth an investigation work whose final goal is the development of a model for the measurement of data quality in institutional websites for health units. To that end, we have carried out a bibliographic review of the available approaches for the evaluation of website content quality, in order to identify the most recurrent dimensions and the attributes, and we are currently carrying out a Delphi Method process, presently in its second stage, with the purpose of reaching an adequate set of attributes for the measurement of content quality.

Ex-ante evaluation by the media of the Guimarães 2012 European Capital of Culture

The nomination of Guimarães to host the 2012 European Capital of Culture (ECC) has put on the agenda of the city the need of measuring the effects that the implementation of this mega event could have in it and in the municipality a whole. The balance of the benefits and costs and an extended community involvement tend to reduce negative impacts and enhance positive ones. This chapter analyzes the involvement of population and local associations in the planning and organization of the 2012 Guimarães European Capital of Culture, using the coverage made during 2011 by local and national press of the mega event. A content analysis of the news published covering the period between January and December 2011 and using three newspapers was conducted. From those, two were local and weekly newspapers and one was a national daily one. Looking to data results, it can be concluded that it was poor the community involvement and, also, the one of the cultural associations in the organizations of the 2012 ECC. A strong negative reaction to the model choose to plan the mega event conducted by official organizers was found, which has cast doubts on the desirable participation of the residents and, consequently, on the success of the mega event, especially in a perspective of a medium and long term effects.

The use of quantitative performance information by local elected politicians in top managers’ performance evaluation: case studies

This paper studies the use of results oriented performance information (outputs and outcomes) by local elected politicians (aldermen) in top managers’ performance evaluation. The main goal is to understand the top managers’ performance evaluation process conducted by Portuguese aldermen and to identify the dominant evaluation style. In line with Bogt (2001), an exploratory field research was developed in three large municipalities: Porto, Braga and Matosinhos. We intend to answer the following research questions: to what extent are local politicians (aldermen) 1 using results information (about outputs and outcomes) to evaluate top managers’ performance? Do aldermen give any importance to quantitative output information and report them on current planning and control documents? Will the output performance information be used on performance evaluation in a different way concerning policy field (task orientation)? Based on the Hopwood evaluation styles (adapted from the private to the public sector by Bogt, 2001), we have found that the performance evaluation process of top managers is more featured by the ‘operations-conscious styles’ (or ‘implicit style’). Portuguese aldermen recognize the importance to quantify outputs and outcomes, but these days they focus on the information about activities and the realized operations when they evaluate performance. We haven´t found significant differences between different tasks (some exceptions for culture and environment areas). However, the municipality of Matosinhos paid more attention on quantitative performance information. This finding is reinforced by the quality of quantitative data on outputs reported on its management report. Generally speaking, aldermen are aware that more attention should be paid to quantitative information about results and performance, taking into account recent reforms introduced in Portuguese municipalities (PLG) on this field, but the ‘implicit’ style is dominant.

Semi-automatic 3D Segmentation Of Costal Cartilage In CT Data From Pectus Excavatum Patients

One of the current frontiers in the clinical management of Pectus Excavatum (PE) patients is the prediction of the surgical outcome prior to the intervention. This can be done through computerized simulation of the Nuss procedure, which requires an anatomically correct representation of the costal cartilage. To this end, we take advantage of the costal cartilage tubular structure to detect it through multi-scale vesselness filtering. This information is then used in an interactive 2D initialization procedure which uses anatomical maximum intensity projections of 3D vesselness feature images to efficiently initialize the 3D segmentation process. We identify the cartilage tissue centerlines in these projected 2D images using a livewire approach. We finally refine the 3D cartilage surface through region-based sparse field level-sets. We have tested the proposed algorithm in 6 noncontrast CT datasets from PE patients. A good segmentation performance was found against reference manual contouring, with an average Dice coefficient of 0.75±0.04 and an average mean surface distance of 1.69±0.30mm. The proposed method requires roughly 1 minute for the interactive initialization step, which can positively contribute to an extended use of this tool in clinical practice, since current manual delineation of the costal cartilage can take up to an hour.