207 research outputs found
Performance of <sup>18</sup>F-fluciclovine PET/MR in the evaluation of osseous metastases from castration-resistant prostate cancer
No full textA Sustainable Energy Transition Case Study on Aruba
No full textThis research identifies opportunities to accelerate the SET towards a 100% RE based on Aruba. This thesis is structured in three parts: 1) a literature review to assess the main relevant theories. 2) A conceptual framework combining the Strategic Niche Management and the Multi-level Perspective is developed to analyse and compare case studies of RE technologies (Solar PV Rooftops, Electric Vehicle and Wind Turbines), including the external factors enabling or constraining this SET. 3) Finally, a roadmap is provided to accelerate the SET on the island of Aruba. Data collection is through literature review, desk research and semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in the actors’ group (government, market and society).The main research question: What is constraining the SET on the island of Aruba, and how can this be accelerated?To accelerate the SET: at the regime level, the government should introduce an independent entity and an energy policy where the network-related is aligned to support the targets and expectations. At the niche level, utility managers should implement energy storage and intelligent infrastructure to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels and enable demand-side management to create more room for RE penetration. At the landscape level, raising awareness, organise town hall meetings with pilot projects and demonstrations is necessary for society. Due to the limited space and land on the island, environmental impact assessments are required to mitigate the impact during the development process and avoid social resistance. The education system should be upgraded to create new experiences, knowledge and information for local society. Hence, introducing a technical university is required but generally to change the teaching practice locally. The government’s responsibility is to stimulate more research, create more RE demonstrations, and create funds.The research conducted by the universities, local and international, could ultimately improve regulatory measures. Utility and RE companies’ managers should consider that new business models will be necessary to survive in the new RE business environment. Other RET should also be explored, primarily because the current RET outcomes are unknown. The SET can be accelerated towards a 100% RE-based island by adopting these measures.Management of Technology (MoT
Radiomics in esophageal and gastric cancer.
No full textEsophageal, esophago-gastric, and gastric cancers are major causes of cancer morbidity and cancer death. For patients with potentially resectable disease, multi-modality treatment is recommended as it provides the best chance of survival. However, quality of life may be adversely affected by therapy, and with a wide variation in outcome despite multi-modality therapy, there is a clear need to improve patient stratification. Radiomic approaches provide an opportunity to improve tumor phenotyping. In this review we assess the evidence to date and discuss how these approaches could improve outcome in esophageal, esophago-gastric, and gastric cancer
Role of 68Ga and 18F PSMA PET/CT and PET/MRI in biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer: a systematic review of prospective studies
No full textOBJECTIVE: To systematically review the prospective literature on the role of 68Ga and 18F PSMA PET/CT and PET/MRI as a tool for functional imaging in prostate cancer biochemical recurrence (BCR), particularly with respect to detection efficacy and impact on management. METHODS: We performed a systematic literature search using PubMed in July 2021, focusing on original prospective studies looking at PSMA PET/CT and PET/MRI in BCR. RESULTS: We included 20 prospective studies reporting on 68Ga and 18F PSMA PET/CT and PET/MRI. Pooled PSMA PET positivity was 66.6% out of 2110 patients. The only factor consistently reported as associated with PSMA PET positivity was PSA level at the time of the study. Analysis of PSMA PET positivity rates in differing PSA ranges confirmed increasing positivity with increasing PSA levels. No significant adverse reactions were reported in the 20 studies, but only 6 studies mentioned safety or adverse reactions. A major change of management occurred in 42.7% of all patients scanned with PSMA PET/CT and more specifically 63.2% of those patients positive on PSMA PET/CT. There are no long-term studies that prove a survival benefit from these changes in management. CONCLUSION: There is prospective evidence for efficacy of PSMA PET/CT and PET/MRI in localizing disease recurrence in BCR, which increases with increasing PSA level at the time of scanning. There are no reported significant adverse effects related to the PSMA PET ligands. There is evidence of major change in management but no evidence for whether this achieves any improvement in outcome.</p
Body image and the media: the media's influence on body image
No full textPlan BMedia images of the unattainable thin body can be found almost anywhere. These media images are seen on billboards, magazines, in commercials and in ads. There has been continual interest in women’s body image throughout the years. Women’s self-esteem, eating patterns and how these two concepts are affected by what a women sees in the media have been researched. This line of research is important because discovering the link between poor body image and the media’s portrayal of women could allow for success interventions to be evaluated and implemented. An intervention could lead to fewer cases of anorexia and bulimia and could lead to increased self-esteem and a more positive body image amongst women. The purpose of this study was to substantiate the media’s influence on body image. Forty-three University of Wisconsin Stout undergraduate students voluntarily participated in the study. The control subjects participated by filling out the Body Image States Scales (BISS). The experimental subjects viewed 120-second power point presentation showing media images of women followed by completion of the BISS. The BISS consists of six questions, rated on a likert type scale that inquires about the subject’s feelings regarding their physical appearance at a particular moment in time. Data analysis using independent sample t-tests was used in this study. Analysis suggested that individuals who viewed the media images of women felt less physically attractive than the individuals who where not exposed to the media presentation. Also, individuals who viewed the media presentation felt worse about their looks than those individuals who did not view the media presentation. Additional findings suggested that overall the two groups’ satisfaction with their body, looks and attractiveness were not found to be significantly different. The four questions that did not reveal significant findings dealt with more specific aspects of body image. For example, body shape, size and weight were a few of the specific aspects that were questioned. In the future, replication of this research with a wider pool of subjects perhaps internationally, using a pre-test post-test design, or exposing the experimental group to the thin ideal for a longer period of time is recommended
Validation of new image-derived arterial input functions at the aorta using 18F-fluoride positron emission tomography
No full textObjectives (i) To validate two new image-based methods for finding the plasma arterial input function (AIF) and evaluate the performance of these and two similar techniques against arterial sampling. (ii) To evaluate the performance of all four image-derived AIF (IDAIF) methods against arterial sampling for measuring the 18F plasma clearance (Ki) to the lumbar spine.Methods Eight healthy postmenopausal women had a 18F-fluoride positron emission tomography scan of the lumbar spine. Venous blood samples were used to estimate the IDAIFs from: (i) a fixed population-based partial volume correction (PVC) factor method, (ii) a variable PVC factor method, (iii) the Chen method, and (iv) the Cook–Lodge method. Continuous arterial sampling and the respective Ki values were used as the gold standard against which the performance of the IDAIF methods was compared.Results The IDAIFs were compared with direct arterial sampling in terms of the area under the curve values. The percentage root mean square error in area under the curves compared with arterial sampling were: (i) fixed PVC: 12.7%, (ii) variable PVC: 12.0%, (iii) Chen: 39.0%, and (iv) Cook–Lodge: 17.3%. There were small but significant differences in the Ki values found by all four methods compared with arterial sampling. Bland–Altman plots of Ki values showed the best agreement for the variable and fixed PVC methods with a standard deviation of 0.0026 and 0.0030 ml/min/ml, respectively.Conclusion The differences in the Ki values obtained at the lumbar spine using direct arterial sampling and any of the IDAIF methods at the aorta were clinically nonsignificant. The variable PVC and fixed PVC methods performed better than the Cook–Lodge and Chen methods
INDIGENOUS LAND TENURE AND LAND USE IN ALASKA: COMMUNITY IMPACTS OF THE ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT
No full textThrough the utilization of qualitative methods such as archival analysis, semi-structured interviewing, comparative and extended case studies, and observation, this paper closely examines two related Alaska Native communities. Our purpose is to document the impact of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) on land tenure, land use, and community structure. In all, 41 interviews were conducted, focusing on the following issues: (1) the role of the tribal government in relation to the regional and village corporate structure; (2) the recent changes in traditional land uses; and (3) how group decisions are made regarding land management and distribution of resources. By locating ANCSA within a broader context of economic, political, and cultural globalization that seeks to substitute traditional collective rights in land with individual tenure in a "free market" economy, the findings of this research may carefully and cautiously be applied beyond North America to other indigenous-state struggles regarding control of land and resources.United States. -- [Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act], Indians of North America -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Alaska, Land tenure -- Law and legislation -- Alaska, Indians of North America -- Alaska -- Claims, Indians of North America -- Land tenure -- Alaska, Indians of North America -- Alaska -- Government relations -- History, Land Economics/Use,
Just as I am: a life of J.R. Darling, by Peter Gronn
No full textDespite contemporary philosophical and epistemological attempts to question and in some cases undermine the role of biography in our understandings of the past, there remains, still, a strong element of such an approach in the history of education. Perhaps, given the often cyclical nature of education, this wider desire speaks to Thomas Carlyle’s assertion that understanding the human motivations and personal events of historical figures – and taking into account the vastly different contexts in which they lived and worked – aids us in ‘uncover[ing] something about [our] true nature’ (On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic In History, London, 1888, p. 2) As such, comparatively recent works in the field such as those of Gary McCulloch (Cyril Norwood and the Ideal of Secondary Education, 2007) in relation to Cyril Norwood, Jane Martin (Making Socialists: Mary Bridges Adams and the Fight for Knowledge and Power, 1855–1939, Manchester, 2010) writing on Mary Bridges Adams and my own (Edmond Holmes and Progressive Education, London, 2016) discussion of Edmond Holmes have sought critically to re-interrogate the importance and legacy of their respective subjects through the lens and method of the biographer. Adding to that tradition comes this magisterial tome whose focus is James Darling (1899–1995), the celebrated headmaster, teacher, broadcaster and educational theorist. Whilst it may be an overused epithet, it is perhaps possible to go so far as to call this account ‘definitive’ for this is an old-fashioned biography of the very best kind; when the author early on laments the absence of records pertaining to ‘Details of diet and household expenditure’ and ‘family members’ health’ (p. 5), one is immediately aware of the attention to ephemera present here. No archive or cache is left unturned and the minute chronicling of events and decisions and the vast cast of characters give this book a feel of the Victorian ‘three-decker’
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