263134 research outputs found
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Toxiciteitsvermindering van Radiotherapie bij Slokdarmkanker: Van Verbeterde Voorspelling tot Verfijnde Behandeling
No full textThe standard treatment for locally advanced esophageal cancer consists of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery. However, this trimodality treatment comes at a price of increased toxicity. Nowadays, radiation treatment is delivered using photon-based radiotherapy. The latter is characterized by an energy deposition that follows a decreasing exponential as a function of the penetration depth into the patient. Subsequently, significant doses are absorbed by organs located upstream and downstream of the tumor. Proton therapy is an innovative modality with the property of depositing a narrow peak of energy at the required depth (Bragg peak), thus reducing doses to the surrounding healthy organs. Our research group participates in the European, multicenter, randomized phase III PROTECT (PROton versus photon Therapy for Esophageal Cancer: a Trimodality strategy) trial. The general aim of this trial is to show a reduction in radiotherapy-related toxicity by replacing photon-based radiotherapy with proton therapy. This research project aims at using the results of the PROTECT trial to compare our previously published predictive models with the observed outcomes after photon-based radiotherapy and proton therapy. Moreover, we aim to identify imaging and biological markers predictive for toxicity and outcome. The latter will be studied on serial blood samples and biopsies taken from the patients randomized in the trial. The identified markers will then be used to enrich our current prediction models. Upon validation, these prediction models will enable an evidence-based selection of patients who will benefit most from proton therapy.status: Accepte
CowBase - A Library for Automatic Milking System related Data Handling and Curation in Python
No full textsponsorship: Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)|1SE0922N, Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)|1SB2923N, Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)|1S82021N, Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship|HBC.2016.784.0774, KU Leuven (KUL)|C3/19/037, KU Leuven (KUL)|C24E/22/007, Ghent University|BOF.PDO.2023.0005.01status: Accepte
Op duizend tongen: Paratekstuele zichtbaarheid van literaire vertalers in de achttiende-eeuwse Noordelijke Nederlanden
No full textThrough the lens of translators, this project seeks to shed new light on the construction of authority in the literary field of the 18th-century Low Countries. It will compare, for the first time, the Southern and Northern Netherlands in a large-scale systematic study of the previously overlooked but substantial share of translations. Combining quantitative data analysis with qualitative textual analysis, we will innovatively chart the performative agency of translators on three levels: 1) the macro-level of the literary field in which translators strive to acquire an established position; 2) the meso-level of translator types (hackwriters, debutants and women writers) and 3) the micro-level of specific agents and their careers. In doing so, the project tests the hypothesis that 18th-century literary translations were actively used in practices of self-representation and authority building. By shifting the focus to these long neglected and presumably 'non-original' works, this project not only proposes a new and historical perspective on literary career building but also drastically revises Netherlandish literary historiography.status: Accepte
Health Technology Assessment van een beslissingsondersteunend systeem om antimicrobiële resistentie aan te pakken
No full textI will be part of a research team collaborating in a national multicentre prospective trial (ARON study) on the antibiotic prescribing rate in acutely ill children across Belgium. Children become ill quite often, mainly caused by infections, most of which can be managed safely in the community without the need for antibiotics. However, many children have prescribed antibiotics which contributes to antimicrobial resistance and reinforces health-seeking behaviour. The ARON study aims to strengthen the assessment of acutely ill children in primary care, by introducing an evidence-based decision support system that can help GPs decide when to withhold antibiotic treatment. This will be done by describing and evaluating how the intervention has impacted GP behaviour and decision-making. I will mainly focus on theory and methods of health technology assessment, process evaluation and cost-effectiveness analysis and apply these to the concrete intervention.status: Accepte
Geavanceerde tactieken voor het anonimiseren van datasets
No full textThe volume of data that is collected each year grows rapidly and has led to the development of data-driven ecosystems, where information - often of sensitive nature - is leveraged to improve productivity and services. Although companies traditionally relied solely on internal data sources, there is a tendency to combine internally collected data with external data sources. This means that data processors enrich internal data with data that is kept at the premises of external data owners. However, uncontrolled release of sensitive data is often undesirable. Releasing fine-grained sensitive data can undermine the competitiveness of companies, potentially leading indirectly to loss of consumers or reputational damage. Moreover, privacy regulations stipulate constraints on the release and processing of sensitive personal data. Hence, controlled release of data is a necessity in many scenarios. Statistical dataset anonymization is a promising privacy-enhancing approach to support this and the core research field of this thesis. It consists of controlling data flows by transforming sensitive datasets - in which the identity of individuals can be linked to sensitive information - to anonymized ones, before the data is actually released to data processors. However, thoughtless dataset transformations can undermine the utility of the data that is actually exchanged.
This PhD dissertation exactly focuses on the tension between the conflicting concerns of data owners and data processors. More specifically, this PhD dissertation introduces novel tactics to improve the privacy-utility balance during dataset anonymization, thereby mainly relying on machine learning mechanisms. We demonstrate their feasibility by applying the proposed tactics in settings where data processors want to rely on external sensitive data sources to train machine learning algorithms. We further propose tactics to reconcile the machine learning pipeline in the presence of sensitive yet valuable data from external data owners, and compare mechanisms for statistical dataset anonymization with synthetic data approaches. This dissertation further results in guidelines that can be applied by data owners and data processors. By increasing the privacy-utility balance of released sensitive datasets, this PhD dissertation facilitates collaborations between data owners and data processors ultimately increasing the competitiveness of both stakeholders. The former increases revenues while being compliant with privacy regulation while the latter can build more effective machine learning models due to external data sources.
The use-cases that were tackled and experiments that were elaborated in the context of this thesis have shown that intelligent anonymization tactics can effectively improve the privacy-utility balance and that revising the machine learning pipeline can be a real added value when dealing with sensitive data. We have also shown that partial automation of the anonymization pipeline is possible, but manual steps remain necessary for some tasks. Finally, synthetic data gains high attraction by industry today. However, experiments across various datasets and application domains have shown that synthetic datasets not necessarily outperform traditional statistical anonymization techniques.status: Publishe
De benadering van de VS en de EU ten aanzien van de bescherming van persoonsgegevens: “Een botsing van getijden of een convergentie van golven ?” Een juridische verkenning van de verschillen en convergenties tussen de Verenigde Staten en de EU.
No full textIn today's digitized world, personal data is requested and collected everywhere. With the emergence of the internet and devices that are connected to the internet, such as smartphones, smartwatches or even smartfridges, the collection of personal data has expanded to an unprecedented scale. Due to globalization, personal data flows are occurring between the EU and the United States, since most big tech companies are located in the United States but sell their devices and offer their services also in the EU. In order to protect citizens' personal data, attempts have been made to reach an agreement between the EU and the United States. Two transatlantic frameworks were already invalidated by the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the question remains whether the third attempt will survive the CJEU's scrutiny.
Upon closer inspection, the underlying problem appears to be the different qualification and legal framework used for personal data (protection) in the EU and the United States, defining it respectively as a fundamental (human) right and a commercial asset. This research aims at determining the strengths and weaknesses of both approaches with a specific focus on transatlantic data privacy. It has to be understood first where these different qualifications come from and on which value judgments they are based: thereto the genesis and evolution of both systems' approach is analyzed. The question is approached through functional comparative law research conducted on three levels to reflect the perspectives of the three main stakeholders: the private sector, civil society, and the public sector, consisting of government intelligence and law enforcement agencies. These approaches are subsequently contextualized in today's globalized and digitized world to determine whether a roadmap can be developed for the United States and the EU to co-exist in the area of data privacy and transatlantic data flows.status: Publishe
Digital games, a missed target of the Digital Services Act?
No full textThe EU Digital Services Act (DSA) introduces various protective measures for users of online platforms.
However, its scope is constrained by the definition in Art. 3(i) of the Act, which excludes a wide range
of digital services, including most digital games. Consequently, players, including children, might not
always benefit from the full extent of protection offered by the DSA even though they face comparable
risks that the Act aims to address. This paper examines the definition of «online platform» to clarify the
specific circumstances under which the rules of Chapter III, Section III of the DSA may apply to digital
games. The analysis indicates that, depending on their features, some games may qualify for protection,
while others are clearly excluded. Additionally, the applicability of the DSA to a substantial range of games
relies largely on regulatory interpretations which creates risk of fragmentation and uncertainty for the
gaming sector. As a conclusion, the paper highlights the inconsistency of conditioning the application
of Arts. 25‑28, 34 and 35 of the DSA to the user’s ability to disseminate information to the public as
the principal feature/functionality of the service since such requirement is not correlated with the harms
addressed by these provisions.status: Publishe
Non-consensual Dissemination of Sexts: A Scoping Review of Associated Factors With Perpetration and Victimization
No full textNon-consensual dissemination of sexts refers to the non-consensual sharing of intimate or sexual photos
or videos of an individual previously obtained through sexting. This scoping review examines the factors
associated with perpetration and victimization of this behavior among adolescents and young adults.
The analysis of 63 quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods studies revealed that non-consensual
dissemination of sexts is a form of online sexual gender-based violence and that a variety of factors
related to sociodemographics, interpersonal relations, personal characteristics, mental health, sexuality,
online behavior, perceptions of non-consensual dissemination of sexts, deviant and criminal behavior,
and other factors are associated with it. Furthermore, the review shows that most of the identified factors
are associated with perpetration of the behavior. Fewer factors have been found to be associated with
victimization of non-consensual dissemination of sexts. Overall, more attention has been paid to risk
factors than to protective factors for involvement in these behaviors. Based on these findings, some
recommendations for future research are formulated. In terms of education and prevention, it would be
particularly interesting to focus on peer norms and pressure, gender and sexual role dynamics and
stereotypes, and ideas, norms and attitudes towards sexting and non-consensual dissemination of sexts
in particular. In terms of support, it is particularly important to focus on the (mental health)
vulnerabilities of young people involved in the behavior.sponsorship: Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G0B5922Nstatus: Accepte
