2,524 research outputs found

    Information actors beyond modernity and coloniality in times of climate change:A comparative design ethnography on the making of monitors for sustainable futures in Curaçao and Amsterdam, between 2019-2022

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    In his dissertation, Mr. Goilo developed a cutting-edge theoretical framework for an Anthropology of Information. This study compares information in the context of modernity in Amsterdam and coloniality in Curaçao through the making process of monitors and develops five ways to understand how information can act towards sustainable futures. The research also discusses how the two contexts, that is modernity and coloniality, have been in informational symbiosis for centuries which is producing negative informational side effects within the age of the Anthropocene. By exploring the modernity-coloniality symbiosis of information, the author explains how scholars, policymakers, and data-analysts can act through historical and structural roots of contemporary global inequities related to the production and distribution of information. Ultimately, the five theses propose conditions towards the collective production of knowledge towards a more sustainable planet

    Multidisciplinary perspectives on Artificial Intelligence and the law

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    This open access book presents an interdisciplinary, multi-authored, edited collection of chapters on Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’) and the Law. AI technology has come to play a central role in the modern data economy. Through a combination of increased computing power, the growing availability of data and the advancement of algorithms, AI has now become an umbrella term for some of the most transformational technological breakthroughs of this age. The importance of AI stems from both the opportunities that it offers and the challenges that it entails. While AI applications hold the promise of economic growth and efficiency gains, they also create significant risks and uncertainty. The potential and perils of AI have thus come to dominate modern discussions of technology and ethics – and although AI was initially allowed to largely develop without guidelines or rules, few would deny that the law is set to play a fundamental role in shaping the future of AI. As the debate over AI is far from over, the need for rigorous analysis has never been greater. This book thus brings together contributors from different fields and backgrounds to explore how the law might provide answers to some of the most pressing questions raised by AI. An outcome of the Católica Research Centre for the Future of Law and its interdisciplinary working group on Law and Artificial Intelligence, it includes contributions by leading scholars in the fields of technology, ethics and the law.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    "It's not a career": Platform work among young people aged 16-19

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    In the online gig economy, or platform work as it is sometimes known, work can be organised through websites and smartphone apps. People can drive for Uber or Deliveroo, sell items on eBay or Etsy, or rent their properties on Airbnb. This research examines the views of young people between the ages of 16 and 19 in the United Kingdom to see whether they knew about the online gig economy, whether they were using it already to earn money, and whether they expected to use it for their careers. It discovers careers professionals’ levels of knowledge, and their ability (and desire) to include the gig economy in their professional practice. This research contributes to discussions about what constitutes decent work, and whether it can be found within the online gig economy. The results point to ways in which careers practice could include platform work as a means of extending young people’s knowledge about alternative forms of work. This study also makes a theoretical contribution to literature, bringing together elements of careership, cognitive schema theory, and motivational theory and psychology of working theory, in a novel combination, to explain how young people were thinking about platform work in the context of their careers

    Handbook Transdisciplinary Learning

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    What is transdisciplinarity - and what are its methods? How does a living lab work? What is the purpose of citizen science, student-organized teaching and cooperative education? This handbook unpacks key terms and concepts to describe the range of transdisciplinary learning in the context of academic education. Transdisciplinary learning turns out to be a comprehensive innovation process in response to the major global challenges such as climate change, urbanization or migration. A reference work for students, lecturers, scientists, and anyone wanting to understand the profound changes in higher education

    Automatic Generation of Personalized Recommendations in eCoaching

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    Denne avhandlingen omhandler eCoaching for personlig livsstilsstÞtte i sanntid ved bruk av informasjons- og kommunikasjonsteknologi. Utfordringen er Ä designe, utvikle og teknisk evaluere en prototyp av en intelligent eCoach som automatisk genererer personlige og evidensbaserte anbefalinger til en bedre livsstil. Den utviklede lÞsningen er fokusert pÄ forbedring av fysisk aktivitet. Prototypen bruker bÊrbare medisinske aktivitetssensorer. De innsamlede data blir semantisk representert og kunstig intelligente algoritmer genererer automatisk meningsfulle, personlige og kontekstbaserte anbefalinger for mindre stillesittende tid. Oppgaven bruker den veletablerte designvitenskapelige forskningsmetodikken for Ä utvikle teoretiske grunnlag og praktiske implementeringer. Samlet sett fokuserer denne forskningen pÄ teknologisk verifisering snarere enn klinisk evaluering.publishedVersio

    Anime Studies: media-specific approaches to neon genesis evangelion

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    Anime Studies: Media-Specific Approaches to Neon Genesis Evangelion aims at advancing the study of anime, understood as largely TV-based genre fiction rendered in cel, or cel-look, animation with a strong affinity to participatory cultures and media convergence. Making Neon Genesis Evangelion (Shin Seiki Evangerion, 1995-96) its central case and nodal point, this volumen forground anime as a media with clearly recognizable aesthetic properties, (sub)cultural affordances and situated discourses

    Improvement of the diagnosis and management of cystic tumors of the pancreas

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    Pancreatic cancer is on its course on becoming the second cause of cancer related mortality. Although improvements have been made in the treatment arsenal, still only a minority of patients are able to receive treatment with curative intention. This can be attributed to the fact that most of the pancreatic cancers are diagnosed at a later stage when curative therapy is no longer possible. Thus, efforts are being made to find pancreatic cancer and its precursor lesions at an earlier stage. Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMN) is the most common type of cystic lesion which has the potential for malignant transformation. Hence, an accurate and early diagnosis of this entity could contribute to reverse the dismal trend of pancreatic cancer. Study I & II Aim: To identify and correlate risk factors for advanced histological findings in IPMN patients. Methods: These were retrospective studies in which patients undergoing resection for IPMN during 2008-2015 (study I) and 2004-2017 (study II) were included. Patients characteristics, radiological and histological data were prospectively collected. Results: One-hundred-fifty-two patients were included in study I and 796 patients in study II. In study I, main pancreatic duct (MPD) dilatation of 6-9.9 mm and >10 mm were associated with an increased risk of advanced IPMN histology, such as high grade dysplasia (HGD) and cancer, at odds of 2.92 (CI 1.38–6.20, p=0.005) and 2.65 (CI 1.12–6.25, p=0.02), respectively. In addition, jaundice and elevated levels of CA 19-9 were also associated with higher risk for HGD/cancer at odds of 15.36 (CI 1.94–121.22, p=0.009) and 4.15 (CI 1.90–9.05, p=0.0003), respectively. These associations remained significant at uni- and multivariable regression analysis. In study II, the results showed MPD-dilatation to be the lone significant variable associated with increased probability of HGD or IPMN-cancer at both uni- and multivariable analysis. MPD dilatation of 5-9.9 mm was associated with odds of 2.74 (CI 1.80–4.16) and 4.42 (CI 2.55–7.66) for HGD and IPMN-cancer respectively. MPD-dilatation over 10 mm was associated with greater odds of 6.57 (CI 3.94–10.98) and 15.07 (CI 8.21–27.65) for HGD and IPMN-cancer, respectively. A 5-7 mm diameter of the MPD was determined as the cut-off value to best discriminate between the lesions with low risk of malignancy to those with a high risk. Conclusions: Even a smaller dilatation of the MPD is associated with increased risk of HGD and IPMN-cancer. Dilatation of the MPD and elevated levels of CA 19-9 are important diagnostic markers of advanced histology, thereby facilitating proper selection of patients most suitable for surgery. Study III & IV Aim: To define and validate the metabolic profile of patients with IPMN and serous cystic neoplasm (SCN) and to correlate the metabolite levels to histology and grade of dysplasia. Methods: Plasma and cyst fluid were prospectively collected from patients undergoing resection for IPMN and SCN. Targeted and untargeted analysis of metabolites and lipids species were performed and correlated to histology and clinical parameters. Results: From a cohort of 35 patients in study III and 57 patients in study IV several metabolites and lipids were identified in both cyst fluid and plasma. In study III, the metabolic profile showed significant alterations in the lipid pathways. An integrated metabolomic and lipidomic analysis model was able to discriminate IPMN from SCN up to 100% accuracy. The results in study IV not only validated the results from study III but also found novel metabolites able to discriminate non-cancerous lesions (low-grade IPMN and SCN) from malignant (HGD and cancer). Furthermore, specific metabolites correlated to presence of bacteria sequences in the cyst fluid. Conclusion: Analysis of the metabolic profile in cyst fluid and plasma from IPMN patients has been able to discriminate IPMN from SCN with high accuracy and also to predict the degree of dysplasia within IPMN. This method has shown potential of clinical application which in turn could improve the diagnosis of pancreatic cystic lesions. Study V Aim: To investigate the rate of new recurrence and progression of known IPMNs in the remnant pancreas after pancreatic surgery and to investigate if the grade of dysplasia at first histology affects the risk of recurrence. Methods: This was a retrospective study in which patients undergoing an elective partial pancreatic resection between 2008 and 2017 were included. Patients who underwent total pancreatectomy and/or had less than 2 years of follow-up were excluded. Patient characteristics and data of radiology, histology and recurrence was collected prospectively. Clinical significant recurrence was defined as findings resulting in a change in the management of the lesion. Results: Overall 224 patients were included in the study. The overall recurrence rate was 44.6% (100/224), whereas the clinical significant recurrence rate was 30.8% (69/224). Patients older than 65 years presented 4.4 odds (CI 1.5-13.1) of recurrence and patients with “known IPMN left in remnant” had 2.6 odds (CI 1.12-5.9) of recurrence. Patients with LGD and HGD at first histology without concomitant PDAC had a clinical significant recurrence rate of 11.1% (15/135). No differences regarding risk of recurrence could be found when comparing patients with LGD to HGD (HR 1.1 [CI 0.5-2.2]). Conclusion: Patients with LGD and HGD at first histology harbor a not negligible risk of future malignant transformation and should not be overlooked. The risk is further increased if the patient is older and/or have a previously known IPMN in the remnant. The overall conclusion of the thesis is that the included studies have increased the knowledge on several aspects in the diagnosis and management of cystic tumors of the pancreas. A known radiological diagnostic marker, the dilatation of the main pancreatic duct, has been studied where the results show that even smaller dilatations over 5 mm may indicate malignancy. An upcoming field in metabolomics has been applied on pancreatic cystic neoplasms and has shown great potential as a future diagnostic method. Lastly, the post-operative management of IPMN patients has been studied where the results highlight the need for continued clinical surveillance due the risk of recurrence even after surgery

    Development and application of methodologies and infrastructures for cancer genome analysis within Personalized Medicine

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    [eng] Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has revolutionized biomedical sciences, especially in the area of cancer. It has nourished genomic research with extensive collections of sequenced genomes that are investigated to untangle the molecular bases of disease, as well as to identify potential targets for the design of new treatments. To exploit all this information, several initiatives have emerged worldwide, among which the Pan-Cancer project of the ICGC (International Cancer Genome Consortium) stands out. This project has jointly analyzed thousands of tumor genomes of different cancer types in order to elucidate the molecular bases of the origin and progression of cancer. To accomplish this task, new emerging technologies, including virtualization systems such as virtual machines or software containers, were used and had to be adapted to various computing centers. The portability of this system to the supercomputing infrastructure of the BSC (Barcelona Supercomputing Center) has been carried out during the first phase of the thesis. In parallel, other projects promote the application of genomics discoveries into the clinics. This is the case of MedPerCan, a national initiative to design a pilot project for the implementation of personalized medicine in oncology in Catalonia. In this context, we have centered our efforts on the methodological side, focusing on the detection and characterization of somatic variants in tumors. This step is a challenging action, due to the heterogeneity of the different methods, and an essential part, as it lays at the basis of all downstream analyses. On top of the methodological section of the thesis, we got into the biological interpretation of the results to study the evolution of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in a close collaboration with the group of Dr. ElĂ­as Campo from the Hospital ClĂ­nic/IDIBAPS. In the first study, we have focused on the Richter transformation (RT), a transformation of CLL into a high-grade lymphoma that leads to a very poor prognosis and with unmet clinical needs. We found that RT has greater genomic, epigenomic and transcriptomic complexity than CLL. Its genome may reflect the imprint of therapies that the patients received prior to RT, indicating the presence of cells exposed to these mutagenic treatments which later expand giving rise to the clinical manifestation of the disease. Multiple NGS- based techniques, including whole-genome sequencing and single-cell DNA and RNA sequencing, among others, confirmed the pre-existence of cells with the RT characteristics years before their manifestation, up to the time of CLL diagnosis. The transcriptomic profile of RT is remarkably different from that of CLL. Of particular importance is the overexpression of the OXPHOS pathway, which could be used as a therapeutic vulnerability. Finally, in a second study, the analysis of a case of CLL in a young adult, based on whole genome and single-cell sequencing at different times of the disease, revealed that the founder clone of CLL did not present any somatic driver mutations and was characterized by germline variants in ATM, suggesting its role in the origin of the disease, and highlighting the possible contribution of germline variants or other non-genetic mechanisms in the initiation of CLL

    Understanding and Managing Side Effects of Frequently used Anticancer Drugs

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    Expectations and expertise in artificial intelligence: specialist views and historical perspectives on conceptualisation, promise, and funding

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    Artificial intelligence’s (AI) distinctiveness as a technoscientific field that imitates the ability to think went through a resurgence of interest post-2010, attracting a flood of scientific and popular expectations as to its utopian or dystopian transformative consequences. This thesis offers observations about the formation and dynamics of expectations based on documentary material from the previous periods of perceived AI hype (1960-1975 and 1980-1990, including in-between periods of perceived dormancy), and 25 interviews with UK-based AI specialists, directly involved with its development, who commented on the issues during the crucial period of uncertainty (2017-2019) and intense negotiation through which AI gained momentum prior to its regulation and relatively stabilised new rounds of long-term investment (2020-2021). This examination applies and contributes to longitudinal studies in the sociology of expectations (SoE) and studies of experience and expertise (SEE) frameworks, proposing a historical sociology of expertise and expectations framework. The research questions, focusing on the interplay between hype mobilisation and governance, are: (1) What is the relationship between AI practical development and the broader expectational environment, in terms of funding and conceptualisation of AI? (2) To what extent does informal and non-developer assessment of expectations influence formal articulations of foresight? (3) What can historical examinations of AI’s conceptual and promissory settings tell about the current rebranding of AI? The following contributions are made: (1) I extend SEE by paying greater attention to the interplay between technoscientific experts and wider collective arenas of discourse amongst non-specialists and showing how AI’s contemporary research cultures are overwhelmingly influenced by the hype environment but also contribute to it. This further highlights the interaction between competing rationales focusing on exploratory, curiosity-driven scientific research against exploitation-oriented strategies at formal and informal levels. (2) I suggest benefits of examining promissory environments in AI and related technoscientific fields longitudinally, treating contemporary expectations as historical products of sociotechnical trajectories through an authoritative historical reading of AI’s shifting conceptualisation and attached expectations as a response to availability of funding and broader national imaginaries. This comes with the benefit of better perceiving technological hype as migrating from social group to social group instead of fading through reductionist cycles of disillusionment; either by rebranding of technical operations, or by the investigation of a given field by non-technical practitioners. It also sensitises to critically examine broader social expectations as factors for shifts in perception about theoretical/basic science research transforming into applied technological fields. Finally, (3) I offer a model for understanding the significance of interplay between conceptualisations, promising, and motivations across groups within competing dynamics of collective and individual expectations and diverse sources of expertise
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