Understanding and valuing the broader health system benefits of Uganda’s national Human Resources for Health Information System investment

Background\ud To address the need for timely and comprehensive human resources for health (HRH) information, governments and organizations have been actively investing in electronic health information interventions, including in low-resource settings. The economics of human resources information systems (HRISs) in low-resource settings are not well understood, however, and warrant investigation and validation.\ud \ud Case description\ud This case study describes Uganda’s Human Resources for Health Information System (HRHIS), implemented with support from the US Agency for International Development, and documents perceptions of its impact on the health labour market against the backdrop of the costs of implementation. Through interviews with end users and implementers in six different settings, we document pre-implementation data challenges and consider how the HRHIS has been perceived to affect human resources decision-making and the healthcare employment environment.\ud \ud Discussion and evaluation\ud This multisite case study documented a range of perceived benefits of Uganda’s HRHIS through interviews with end users that sought to capture the baseline (or pre-implementation) state of affairs, the perceived impact of the HRHIS and the monetary value associated with each benefit. In general, the system appears to be strengthening both demand for health workers (through improved awareness of staffing patterns) and supply (by improving licensing, recruitment and competency of the health workforce). This heightened ability to identify high-value employees makes the health sector more competitive for high-quality workers, and this elevation of the health workforce also has broader implications for health system performance and population health.\ud \ud Conclusions\ud Overall, it is clear that HRHIS end users in Uganda perceived the system to have significantly improved day-to-day operations as well as longer term institutional mandates. A more efficient and responsive approach to HRH allows the health sector to recruit the best candidates, train employees in needed skills and deploy trained personnel to facilities where there is real demand. This cascade of benefits can extend the impact and rewards of working in the health sector, which elevates the health system as a whole

Web-based visualization for 3D data in archaeology : The ADS 3D viewer

The solid geometry of archaeological deposits is fundamental to the interpretation of their chronological sequence. However, such stratigraphic sequences are generally viewed as static two-dimensional diagrammatic representations which are difficult to manipulate or to relate to real layers. The ADS 3D Viewer is a web-based resource for the management and analysis of archaeological data. The viewer was developed to take advantage of recent developments in web technology, namely the adoption of WebGL (Web Graphics Library) by current web browsers. The ADS 3D Viewer combines the potential of the 3D Heritage Online Presenter (3DHOP), a software package for the web-based visualization of 3D geometries, with the infrastructure of the Archaeology Data Service (ADS) repository, in the attempt to create a platform for the visualization and analysis of 3D data archived by the ADS. Two versions of the viewer have been developed to answer the needs of different users. The first version, the Object Level 3D Viewer, was implemented to extend the browsing capability of ADS project archives by enabling the visualization of single 3D models. The second version, the Stratigraphy 3D Viewer, is an extension which allows the exploration of a specific kind of aggregated data: the multiple layers of an archaeological stratigraphic sequence. This allows those unable to participate directly in the fieldwork to access, analyse and re-interpret the archaeological context remotely. This has the potential to transform the discipline, allowing inter-disciplinary, cross-border and ‘at-distance’ collaborative workflows, and enabling easier access to and analysis of archaeological data

Distribución y uso de modelos 3D en la web: ¿estamos listos?

[EN] Digital technologies are now mature for producing high quality digital replicas of Cultural Heritage (CH) assets. The research results produced in the last decade ignitedan impressive evolution and consolidation of the technologies for acquiring high-quality digital three-dimensional (3D)models, encompassing both geometry and color. What remains still an open problem is how to deliver those data and related knowledge to our society. The web is nowadays the main channel for the dissemination of knowledge. Emerging commercial solutions for web-publishing of 3D data are consolidating and becoming a de-facto standard for many applications(e-commerce, industrial products, education, etc.).In this framework, CH is a very specific domain, requiring highly flexible solutions. Some recent experiences arepresented, aimed at providing a support to the archival of archaeological3Ddata, supporting web-based publishing of very high-resolution digitization results and finally enabling the documentation of complex restoration actions. All those examples have been recently implemented on the open-source 3D Heritage Online Presenter (3DHOP)platform, developed at CNR-ISTI[ES] Las tecnologías digitales estánahora maduraspara producir réplicas digitales de alta calidad de valores activos del patrimonio cultural (CH). Los resultados de la investigación producidos en la última década han mostrado una evolución impresionante y una consolidación de las tecnologías para la capturade modelos digitales tridimensionales (3D)de alta calidad, que abarcanla geometríay el color.Lo que queda aún por resolver estárelacionado con la forma de distribuirlos datos y el conocimiento relacionado conla sociedad. La web es hoy en día el principal canal utilizado para divulgarel conocimiento. Las soluciones comerciales nuevas relacionadas con la publicación en la red de datos en 3D se están consolidando y convirtiendo en un estándar de facto para muchas aplicaciones(comercio electrónico, productos industriales, educación, etc.). En este escenario, el patrimonio culturales un dominio muy específico, que requiere soluciones muyflexibles.Se presentan algunas experiencias recientes, destinadasa proporcionar un apoyo al archivo de los datos arqueológicos3D, la publicaciónwebde los resultados de digitalización de muy alta resoluciónque permitenfinalmente la documentación de trabajos de restauracióncomplejos. Todos estos ejemplos se han implementado recientemente en la plataforma 3D Heritage Online Presenter(3DHOP)de código abierto, desarrolladaen el CNR-ISTI.The research leading to these results has received funding from the EU 7th Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 654119 (EC "PARTHENOS" project) and EU H2020 Programme (“EMOTIVE: EMOTIve Virtual cultural Experiences through personalized storytelling”, H2020-SC6-CULT-COOP-08-2016) under grant agreement no. 727188.Scopigno, R.; Callieri, M.; Dellepiane, M.; Ponchio, F.; Potenziani, M. (2017). Delivering and using 3D models on the web: are we ready?. Virtual Archaeology Review. 8(17):1-9. https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2017.6405SWORD1981

Effect of Alkylresorcinols Isolated from Wheat Bran on the Oxidative Stability of Minced-Meat Models as Related to Storage

Due to their antioxidant activity, alkylresorcinols (ARs) extracted from by-products could represent promising natural and innovative antioxidants for the food industry. This study tested the ability of ARs isolated from wheat bran to increase the shelf-life of minced-meat models stored at 4 °C for 9 days. Fifteen alk(en)ylresorcinols (C17–C25) were recognized by GC/MS, showing good radical-scavenging (200.70 ± 1.33 μmolTE/g extract) and metal-chelating (1.38 ± 0.30 mgEDTAE/g extract) activities. Two ARs concentrations (0.01% and 0.02%) were compared to sodium ascorbate (0.01% and 0.10%) on color (CIELAB values L*, a*, b*, chroma, and hue) and oxidative stability (lipid hydroperoxides, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)) of minced-beef samples. ARs-treated samples were oxidatively more stable than those formulated with sodium ascorbate and the negative control, with significantly lower contents of hydroperoxides and VOCs (hexanal, 1-hexanol, and 1-octen-3-ol) throughout the experiment (p < 0.001). However, no effect on color stability was observed (p > 0.05). Since 0.01% of ARs was equally or more effective than 0.10% sodium ascorbate, those results carry important implications for the food industry, which could reduce antioxidant amounts by ten times and replace synthetic antioxidants with natural ones

Antioxidant properties of ferulic acid-based lipophenols in oil-in-water (O/ W) emulsions

Butyl ferulate (BF) and octyl ferulate (OF) were investigated to enhance oxidative stability of 1.0% vegetable oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions at pH 3.5 and 7.0 at different concentrations (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 mg/L of emulsion). Particle size distribution, droplet surface charge, hydroperoxides (PV), hexanal and nonanal were monitored for 14 days at 35 °C. Higher concentrations of BF and OF generated smaller particles at pH 7.0 but not at pH 3.5. Control showed the highest negative surface charge (−58.38 ± 0.31 mV, pH 7.0) compared to BF and OF (−46.71 ± 0.06 mV at levels >0.10 mg/L). Both alkyl ferulates counteracted lipid oxidation, especially at pH 3.5, where PV decreased up to 96% compared to the control and delayed hexanal and nonanal formation. A low content of lipophenols allowed to achieve a tremendous shelf-life extension, demonstrating that BF and OF could be of great interest for food application

3DHOP una piattaforma flessibile per la pubblicazione e visualizzazione su Web dei risultati di digitalizzazioni 3D

3DHOP (3D Heritage Online Presenter) is an innovative technological solution for the advanced presentation of high-resolution 3D content on the Web. The design of this tool has been focused towards the Cultural Heritage (CH) field, even though its versatility makes it a general-purpose instrument. 3DHOP is particularly suitable for the online presentation of CH artifacts due to its main features: the capability to efficiently stream high-resolution 3D models (as the ones coming from 3D scanning which are usually employed in CH); the possibility to build integrated presentations schemes by interconnecting the viewer to the rest of web pages elements; and, finally, the ready-to-use templates and examples of configuration focused towards CH applications. In its design and development, we put particular attention on three factors: easiness of use, smooth learning curve and performances. 3DHOP is written in JavaScript and it uses the WebGL subset of HTML5 for efficient rendering. Thanks to its modular nature, and a declarative-like setup, it is easy to learn and may be configured and customized at different levels, making it accessible for people without skilled knowledge in Computer Graphics (CG) programming. In this paper we present capabilities and characteristics of the third release of this tool, using some examples based on real-world projects

Share - Publish - Store - Preserve. Methodologies, Tools and Challenges for 3D Use in Social Sciences and Humanities

Through this White Paper, which gathers contributions from experts of 3D data as well as professionals concerned with the interoperability and sustainability of 3D research data, the PARTHENOS project aims at highlighting some of the current issues they have to face, with possible specific points according to the discipline, and potential practices and methodologies to deal with these issues. During the workshop, several tools to deal with these issues have been introduced and confronted with the participants experiences, this White Paper now intends to go further by also integrating participants feedbacks and suggestions of potential improvements. Therefore, even if the focus is put on specific tools, the main goal is to contribute to the development of standardized good practices related to the sharing, publication, storage and long-term preservation of 3D data

An informatics agenda for public health: summarized recommendations from the 2011 AMIA PHI Conference

The AMIA Public Health Informatics 2011 Conference brought together members of the public health and health informatics communities to revisit the national agenda developed at the AMIA Spring Congress in 2001, assess the progress that has been made in the past decade, and develop recommendations to further guide the field. Participants met in five discussion tracks: technical framework; research and evaluation; ethics; education, professional training, and workforce development; and sustainability. Participants identified 62 recommendations, which clustered into three key themes related to the need to (1) enhance communication and information sharing within the public health informatics community, (2) improve the consistency of public health informatics through common public health terminologies, rigorous evaluation methodologies, and competency-based training, and (3) promote effective coordination and leadership that will champion and drive the field forward. The agenda and recommendations from the meeting will be disseminated and discussed throughout the public health and informatics communities. Both communities stand to gain much by working together to use these recommendations to further advance the application of information technology to improve health