89 research outputs found
Staging of axillary lymph nodes and clinical impact of nodal recurrence in breast cancer.
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127372.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, 09 juli 2014Promotor : Wilt, J.H.W. de Co-promotor : Strobbe, L.J.A
Locoregional endpoints in breast cancer research: Better, faster & stronger results
No full textThis dissertation provides new insights into the outcome measures used in breast cancer research. Results are often expressed in terms of five-year survival rates or five-year local recurrence rates. Although it may seem obvious that researchers use these terms in an identical manner, it is shown that many different definitions are in use. As a result, we are comparing apples and oranges. The first part of this dissertation presents a first step towards uniform definitions of outcome measures, allowing the comparison of results to become more accurate. The second part of this dissertation focusses on different types of breast cancer based on, for instance, hormone sensitivity and shows that they are associated with different recurrence rates and different recurrence intervals. These differences may have an impact on follow-up care
STACKED: The building design, systems engineering and performance analysis of plant factories for urban food production
No full textExpanding cities across the world rely increasingly on the global food network, but should they? Population growth, urbanisation and climate change place pressure on this network, bringing its resilience into question. For decades urban agriculture has been discussed in popular media and academia as a potential solution to improve food security, quality and sustainability. The new idol in this discussion is the plant factory: A fully closed system for crop production. Arrays of LEDs provide light and hydroponics provide water and nutrients to vertically stacked layers of crops, hence the term vertical farming. The plant factory features more extensive climate control than high-tech greenhouses. The question remains whether this level of climate control is necessary, effective and/or efficient. The scope of this research is therefore to investigate the potential and limitations of plant factories for urban food production. The STACKED method was developed to address the performance of plant factories across multiple scales, from leaf to facility to city. The role of plant processes in the total energy balance was outlined first. Performance was assessed by analysing the resource requirements, including energy, electricity, water, CO2 and land area use, for the production of fresh vegetables. The impact of façade and cooling system design was analysed in detail. Lastly, the effects of local food production on the urban energy balance were assessed for various scenarios. The results of this dissertation can serve as a foundation for future studies on the application of plant factories in both theoretical and real world applications.Expanding cities across the world rely increasingly on the global food network, but should they? Population growth, urbanisation and climate change place pressure on this network, bringing its resilience into question. For decades urban agriculture has been discussed in popular media and academia as a potential solution to improve food security, quality and sustainability. The new idol in this discussion is the plant factory: A fully closed system for crop production. Arrays of LEDs provide light and hydroponics provide water and nutrients to vertically stacked layers of crops, hence the term vertical farming. The plant factory features more extensive climate control than high-tech greenhouses. The question remains whether this level of climate control is necessary, effective and/or efficient. The scope of this research is therefore to investigate the potential and limitations of plant factories for urban food production. The STACKED method was developed to address the performance of plant factories across multiple scales, from leaf to facility to city. The role of plant processes in the total energy balance was outlined first. Performance was assessed by analysing the resource requirements, including energy, electricity, water, CO2 and land area use, for the production of fresh vegetables. The impact of façade and cooling system design was analysed in detail. Lastly, the effects of local food production on the urban energy balance were assessed for various scenarios. The results of this dissertation can serve as a foundation for future studies on the application of plant factories in both theoretical and real world applications.A+BE | Architecture and the Built Environment No 5 (2021)Climate Design and Sustainabilit
VERTICAL - The re-development of vacant urban structures into viable food production centres utilising agricultural production techniques
No full textProblem definition and objective. Population growth and rapid urbanisation may result in a shortage of food supplies in the future. Existing high-rise buildings may offer opportunities for the solution of this problem. The objective of this study was to investigate aspects of the requirements, design and energetic performances in the re- development of existing high-rise structures into vertical farming facilities. Study design. Literature review, followed by prospective performance analysis and feasibility study. Setting. Two representative office buildings in Delft, the Netherlands and in Wan Chai, Hong Kong SAR are selected as case studies. Main outcome measures. Production efficiency is expressed in production capacity, energy use and production output. Energy, taken as the performance indicator, is expressed as energy expenditure per production area. Results. Design guidelines were formulated according to data from the relevant literature. For both case studies the key features proved to be spatial layout, façade construction and production density. The split-production zone with a transparent non-insulated façade and a single production layer offers the best performance in terms of cooling energy use and total energy use, relative to the production area. However, for achieving maximum production in the existing buildings we prefer a design with a similar façade construction and layout but with four stacked production layers.Building TechnologyArchitectural Engineering and TechnologyArchitecture and The Built Environmen
Charge carrier mobility in disordered organic blends for photovoltaics
No full textCharge transport in disordered organic blends is studied theoretically by numerically solving the Pauli master equation. The influence of morphology, disorder, electric field, and charge carrier concentration on blend mobility is assessed. Important differences between neat materials and blends are found. The dependence of mobility on charge carrier concentration is more pronounced in blends and it is influenced by the electric field strength. At low charge carrier densities, blend mobility is found to decrease with increasing field. Additionally, the impact of the volume ratio of the constituent materials and their domain size on the mobility is presented. Especially for strongly disordered materials charge transport is favored by relatively large domains. To compare these theoretical findings with existing experimental mobility data, the current density in a space-charge-limited device is computed. The author finds that, for the parameters and morphologies studied, the apparent mobility in such a device decreases with increasing bias voltage.
CTE-STEM 2022: Proceedings of Sixth APSCE International Conference on Computational Thinking and STEM Education 2022
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Factors influencing the decision to pursue immediate breast reconstruction after mastectomy for breast cancer
No full textBACKGROUND: Immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) after mastectomy has shown to be oncologically safe and to improve quality of life in breast cancer patients. However, most women undergoing mastectomy do not undergo IBR. In this study, we aim to identify breast surgeon-related factors in considering IBR and factors affecting patients' decision to choose for IBR. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of the records of breast cancer patients who underwent mastectomy with or without IBR between 2010 and 2013. We documented all information whether or not a patient underwent IBR after mastectomy. RESULTS: Of 437 patients, 97 (22.2%) underwent IBR, 89.8% of which received tissue expanders. Patient who did not undergo IBR had a higher age (62.2 versus 51.9 years, P<0.001) and higher body mass index (BMI) (27.0 versus 24.3, P<0.001). Hundred three patients declined IBR, mainly because considering reconstruction as too much trouble. In 128 cases the breast surgeon did not offer IBR, mostly because of the predicted need for post mastectomy radiation. Approximately 11% of the patients were not informed about IBR. CONCLUSIONS: Anticipated radiation therapy, higher age and higher BMI were important breast surgeon-related factors in refraining from IBR. Almost one third of all patients declined IBR. In almost 10% of all patients, IBR was not discussed
An overview of the features influencing pain after inguinal hernia repair.
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69778.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)Pain is a prominent issue in inguinal hernia repair research as its persisting appearance is a severe complication. The interest is also urged by the combination of a high number of repairs with an estimated risk for chronic postoperative pain of 11%. Almost every healthcare provider could encounter this complication. Pain is a complex study subject, mostly defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. Various explanatory factors for pain following hernia repair have been reported. Most investigators, however, discuss only a few aspects. In the present review, these factors are collected to provide a more holistic synopsis of pain following hernia repair. It may be a resource for understanding this and other postsurgical pain
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