167 research outputs found
Azadeh Westergaard Flora Stieglitz Straus Award 2025 Acceptance Speech
No full textAuthor Azadeh Westergaard wins the Flora Stieglitz Straus Award 2025 for The One and Only Googoosh: Iran\u27s Beloved Superstar from Bank Street College Children\u27s Book Committee
The Flora Stieglitz Straus Award
Established in 1994 to honor Flora Straus, who led the Children’s Book Committee for many years, this award is presented annually for a distinguished work of nonfiction that serves as an inspiration to young people. Flora Straus stood for the values of courage, hard work, truth, and beauty while adapting to a changing world. She believed that books about varying cultures enrich and help all children in their growth. She championed diverse opinions and points of view and was a person of high principles, unfailing courtesy, and deep understanding.https://educate.bankstreet.edu/cbc_awards/1021/thumbnail.jp
Professional development through mentoring:Final evaluation of the pilot mentoring programme of the European society of radiotherapy and oncology
Get PDFThe European SocieTy for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) organized a one-year pilot mentoring programme. At evaluation after one year, both mentors and mentees scored the programme with a median score of 9 on a scale of 10. All of the mentors indicated that they wanted to participate again as mentors.</p
Assessing glucose metabolism in tumor and normal tissues for patients with lung cancer following fractionated radiotherapy
No full textQualitative study on diversity, equity, and inclusion within radiation oncology in Europe
Get PDFOrganizational culture plays a major role in prioritizing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) objectives by aligning individual values of employees with organizational values. However, effective strategies to create an inclusive organizational culture, in which these values are aligned, remain unclear. The European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) launched a qualitative study, as a follow-up of the previous project on DEI that highlighted low levels of inclusion and work engagement among radiation oncology (RO) professionals in Europe. The aim of the current study was to gain an understanding of how DEI could be improved within RO departments by creating a more inclusive organizational culture.Materials and Methods: A qualitative research study was conducted by enrolling RO professionals from four selected European countries through an open call at the ESTRO platform. Respondents who filled in an online survey and met the inclusion criteria, such as experiencing low DEI levels at work, were invited for an online semi-structured interview. Interview transcripts were analyzed thematically with an abductive approach via concepts in relation to “DEI”, “work engagement”, “organizational culture” and “professional values”. Results: Twenty-six eligible respondents from Great Britain, Italy, Poland, and Switzerland were interviewed. The thematic analysis identified cases in which limited engagement at work emerged when the personal values of RO professionals conflicted with dominant organizational values, hampering DEI. Three conflicts were found between the following personal vs. organizational values: 1) self-development vs. efficiency, 2) togetherness vs. competition, and 3) people-oriented vs. task-oriented cultures. Conclusions: Awareness should be raised on how organizational values can conflict with professionals’ values to improve inclusion and engagement in the workplace. Additionally, efforts should be focused on tackling existing power imbalances that hamper effective deliberation on the organizational vs. personal-value conflicts
Corrigendum to “The association of food consumption and nutrient intake with endometriosis risk in Iranian women: A case-control study” [Int J Reprod BioMed 2019; 17: 661-670]
Get PDFThe authors have been informed of an error that occurred on page 661 in which the word “Iran” has been missed in the affiliation of the third author (Azadeh Mottaghi), which should be corrected as: “Research Center for Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases, Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran”. On behalf of the author, the publisher wishes to apologize for this error. The online version of article has been updated on 15 November 2022 and can be found at https://doi.org/10.18502/ijrm.v17i9.5102
Radiotherapy-related lymphopenia in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer receiving palliative radiotherapy
No full textBackground: Lymphopenia during radiotherapy (RT) may have an adverse effect on treatment outcome. The aim of this study is to investigate associations between lymphopenia and RT parameters in patients with advanced lung cancer. Moreover, to investigate the prognostic role of lymphopenia, blood protein levels, and treatment and patient-related factors. Material and Methods: Sixty-two advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients were retrospectively analyzed. Blood counts were available prior to, during, and after RT (3Gyx10). For each patient, a thoracic volume of interest (VOI) –including thoracic soft tissue and trabecular bone– was obtained by applying a CT window of −500 to 1200 HU in the planning CT. Dose parameters from thoracic VOI and other regions including lungs and vertebrae were calculated. Association between risk of lymphopenia ≥ G3 (lymphocytes at nadir according to CTCAE v4.0) and therapeutic parameters was investigated using Logistic regression. Relationships between overall survival (OS) and RT dose parameters, baseline blood counts and protein levels, and clinical factors were evaluated using Log-rank and Cox models. Result: Mean thoracic RT dose (odds ratio [OR] 1.67; p = 0.04), baseline lymphocytes (OR 0.65; p = 0.01), and corticosteroids use (OR 6.07; p = 0.02) were significantly associated with increased risk of lymphopenia ≥ G3 in multivariable analysis. Worse OS was associated with high mean thoracic RT dose, high CRP/Albumin, large tumor volume and corticosteroids use (p < 0.05, univariate analysis), but not with lymphopenia ≥ G3. CRP/Albumin ratio > 0.12 (hazard ratio [HR] 2.28, p = 0.03) and corticosteroid use (HR 2.52, p = 0.01) were independently associated with worse OS. Conclusion: High thoracic RT dose gave a higher risk of lymphopenia ≥ G3; hence limiting dose volume to the thorax may be valuable in preventing severe lymphopenia for patients receiving palliative fractionated RT. Still, lymphopenia ≥ G3 was not associated with worse OS. however, high baseline CRP/Albumin was associated with poorer OS and may carry important information as a prognostic factor of OS in advanced NSCLC receiving palliative RT.</p
Spatial Integration and Asymmetric Price Transmission in Selected Iranian Chicken Markets
Get PDFThis study evaluates pattern of price adjustments in selected spatially separated chicken markets in Iran using weekly price data from 1998:17 to 2006:41 including 441 observations in total. The results of Tsay’s test suggest that threshold behavior characterize spatial price linkages among the selected markets that imply on using the threshold models. We use the multi-dimensional (two and three regime) threshold cointegration of TAR and M-TAR models. Our results confirm the different speed of adjustment in response to positive and negative shocks in every case. We also utilize impulse response function to investigate dynamic patterns of adjustments in response to shocks.Spatial Integration, Price Transmission, Threshold Autoregression, Chicken, International Relations/Trade, Marketing,
Unemployment insurance in Algeria : implications for a labor market in transition
Get PDFTo predict how Algeria's unemployment crisis will evolve, the author evaluates the Algerian unemployment insurance system's ability to finance itself, to affect employment decisions, and promote enterprise restructuring. The main conclusion is that industrial restructuring has serious and persistent implications for the labor market. In an environment where many equilibria are possible, there is a real danger of reaching a high unemployment equilibrium. The big-bang experience of structural adjustment in Central and Eastern Europe transition economies resulted in large-scale unemployment. Despite considerable restructuring progress, structural rigidities still exist in the labor market, and long-term unemployment has persisted. One advantage of the big-bang approach is adjustment speed, but the resulting unemployment may be too costly for Algeria's economy, especially if it persists. A more modern mixed bang approach would incorporate active employment measures to mitigate entrenched unemployment. The policies will maintain or enhance human capital through work, so idle workers don't lose their skills. Flex-time arrangements would help workers maintain an attachment to the labor force. However minor, such work would help workers avoid the traps of long-term unemployment. Two striking conclusions emerge from the Central and Eastern European experience: a) unemployment is not essential to enterprise restructuring and labor market adjustment;and b) growing long-term unemployment is self-fulfilling and results in higher and persistence unemployment. Although active employment measures are costly and have relatively low rates of return in the short run, they can be marginally effective as part of a long-term strategy.Health Economics&Finance,Labor Policies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Labor Markets,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Labor Markets,Economic Theory&Research,Health Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform
Radiotherapy-related lymphopenia in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer receiving palliative radiotherapy
No full textBackground
Lymphopenia during radiotherapy (RT) may have an adverse effect on treatment outcome. The aim of this study is to investigate associations between lymphopenia and RT parameters in patients with advanced lung cancer. Moreover, to investigate the prognostic role of lymphopenia, blood protein levels, and treatment and patient-related factors.
Material and Methods
Sixty-two advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients were retrospectively analyzed. Blood counts were available prior to, during, and after RT (3Gyx10). For each patient, a thoracic volume of interest (VOI) –including thoracic soft tissue and trabecular bone– was obtained by applying a CT window of −500 to 1200 HU in the planning CT. Dose parameters from thoracic VOI and other regions including lungs and vertebrae were calculated. Association between risk of lymphopenia ≥ G3 (lymphocytes at nadir according to CTCAE v4.0) and therapeutic parameters was investigated using Logistic regression. Relationships between overall survival (OS) and RT dose parameters, baseline blood counts and protein levels, and clinical factors were evaluated using Log-rank and Cox models.
Result
Mean thoracic RT dose (odds ratio [OR] 1.67; p = 0.04), baseline lymphocytes (OR 0.65; p = 0.01), and corticosteroids use (OR 6.07; p = 0.02) were significantly associated with increased risk of lymphopenia ≥ G3 in multivariable analysis. Worse OS was associated with high mean thoracic RT dose, high CRP/Albumin, large tumor volume and corticosteroids use (p 0.12 (hazard ratio [HR] 2.28, p = 0.03) and corticosteroid use (HR 2.52, p = 0.01) were independently associated with worse OS.
Conclusion
High thoracic RT dose gave a higher risk of lymphopenia ≥ G3; hence limiting dose volume to the thorax may be valuable in preventing severe lymphopenia for patients receiving palliative fractionated RT. Still, lymphopenia ≥ G3 was not associated with worse OS. however, high baseline CRP/Albumin was associated with poorer OS and may carry important information as a prognostic factor of OS in advanced NSCLC receiving palliative RT
Corporate communication as a governance mechanism: A content analysis of corporate public disclosures
No full textCorporate communication efforts have mainly been viewed as a by-product of governmental regulations and board of directors’ oversight. In this paper, we examine the role of corporate communication as a stand-alone governance mechanism. We introduce a new business-related dictionary and conduct automated textual analysis of over 150,000 electronic documents filed by a sample of firms listed on the S&P/TSX Composite Index from 1999 to the end of 2014. Our findings demonstrate the governing role of corporate communication by documenting the adverse market effects of deviations from the expected level of communication. Moreover, as a governance mechanism, corporate communication shows substitution/complementary relationships with other established governance mechanisms. In addition, we find a non-linear relationship between a firm’s communication efforts and its value and risk levels. Results are robust after controlling for major corporate events (M&A, spin-offs, financial distress and bankruptcy, and significant lawsuits). These findings contribute to corporate governance literature and the understanding of agency theory predictions of communications and disclosures’ economic effects
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