Women and Climate Change Impacts and Action in Canada: Feminist, Indigenous and Intersectional Perspectives

The report was produced through a collaboration of the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women and the Alliance for Intergenerational Resilience, with funding from Adapting Canadian Work and Workplaces to Climate Change (ACW) and its predecessor project, Work in a Warming World (W3). The researchers found that women face a double threat from social-economic barriers that leave them bearing the brunt of climate change impacts, while being denied a role in developing policies and programs to mitigate climate change - the example given is employment in renewable energy, where women are underrepresented globally. The report points out that the need for women to be acknowledged as agents of change.Adapting Canadian Work and Workplaces to Respond to Climate Chang

Early Prostate Cancer (T1–2N0M0)

The definitive treatment of early stage prostate cancer with radiation therapy has progressed dramatically over the past two decades primarily due to the development and implementation of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) techniques and better definition of the role of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). IMRT has permitted the escalation of radiotherapy dose to the target tissues, namely, the prostate and proximal seminal vesicles, in an effort to improve tumor cell killing and local tumor control, while also reducing dose to nearby organs at risk (OARs) including the bladder, rectum, bowel, femoral heads, and penile bulb. Advances in image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) have improved the accuracy of the delivery of IMRT, reduced PTV margins, and consequently decreased acute and long-term side effects. This chapter will review the clinical evidence for the use of IMRT for early stage, clinically localized (T1–2N0M0) prostate cancer and will outline the processes involved in designing and implementing a safe and effective IMRT treatment plan

The GacA global regulator of Vibrio fischeri is required for normal host tissue responses that limit subsequent bacterial colonization

Harmful and beneficial bacterium?host interactions induce similar host-tissue changes that lead to contrasting outcomes of association. A life-long association between Vibrio fischeri and the light organ of its host Euprymna scolopes begins when the squid collects bacteria from the surrounding seawater using mucus secreted from ciliated epithelial appendages. Following colonization, the bacterium causes changes in host tissue including cessation of mucus shedding, and apoptosis and regression of the appendages that may limit additional bacterial interactions. We evaluated whether delivery of morphogenic signals is influenced by GacA, a virulence regulator in pathogens, which also influences squid-colonization by V. fischeri. Low-level colonization by a GacA mutant led to regression of the ciliated appendages. However, the GacA mutant did not induce cessation of mucus shedding, nor did it trigger apoptosis in the appendages, a phenotype that normally correlates with their regression. Because apoptosis is triggered by lipopolysaccharide, we examined the GacA mutant and determined that it had an altered lipopolysaccharide profile as well as an increased sensitivity to detergents. GacA-mutant-colonized animals were highly susceptible to invasion by secondary colonizers, suggesting that the GacA mutant\u27s inability to signal the full programme of light-organ responses permitted the prolonged recruitment of additional symbionts

Feasibility and Initial Dosimetric Findings for a Randomized Trial Using Dose-Painted Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging–Defined Targets in Prostate Cancer

To compare dosimetric characteristics with multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging–identified imaging tumor volume (gross tumor volume, GTV), prostate clinical target volume and planning target volume, and organs at risk (OARs) for 2 treatment techniques representing 2 arms of an institutional phase 3 randomized trial of hypofractionated external beam image guided highly targeted radiation therapy. Group 1 (n=20) patients were treated before the trial inception with the standard dose prescription. Each patient had an additional treatment plan generated per the experimental arm. A total of 40 treatment plans were compared (20 plans for each technique). Group 2 (n=15) consists of patients currently accrued to the hypofractionated external beam image guided highly targeted radiation therapy trial. Plans were created as per the treatment arm, with additional plans for 5 of the group 2 experimental arm with a 3-mm expansion in the imaging GTV. For all plans in both patient groups, planning target volume coverage ranged from 95% to 100%; GTV coverage of 89.3 Gy for the experimental treatment plans ranged from 95.2% to 99.8%. For both groups 1 and 2, the percent volumes of rectum/anus and bladder receiving 40 Gy, 65 Gy, and 80 Gy were smaller in the experimental plans than in the standard plans. The percent volume at 1 Gy per fraction and 1.625 Gy per fraction were compared between the standard and the experimental arms, and these were found to be equivalent. The dose per fraction to the OARs can be made equal even when giving a large simultaneous integrated boost to the GTV. The data suggest that a GTV margin may be added without significant dose effects on the OARs

Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI for automatic detection of foci i'?of residual or recurrent disease after prostatectomy/Dynamische kontrastmittelverstarkte MRT zur automatischen Erkennung von residualen oder rezidivierenden Krebsherden nach Prostatektomie

To access, purchase, authenticate, or subscribe to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00066-016-1055-z This study aimed to develop an automated procedure for identifying suspicious foci of residual/recurrent disease in the prostate bed using dynamic contrast-enhanced-MRI (DCE-MRI) in prostate cancer patients after prostatectomy. Data of 22 patients presenting for salvage radiotherapy (RT) with an identified gross tumor volume (GTV) in the prostate bed were analyzed retrospectively. An unsupervised pattern recognition method was used to analyze DCE-MRI curves from the prostate bed. Data were represented as a product of a number of signal-vs.-time patterns and their weights. The temporal pattern, characterized by fast wash-in and gradual wash-out, was considered the "tumor" pattern. The corresponding weights were thresholded based on the number (1, 1.5, 2, 2.5) of standard deviations away from the mean, denoted as DCE1.0, a[bar], DCE2.5, and displayed on the T2-weighted MRI. The resultant four volumes were compared with the GTV and maximum pre-RT prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level. Pharmacokinetic modeling was also carried out. Principal component analysis determined 2--4 significant patterns in patients' DCE-MRI. Analysis and display of the identified suspicious foci was performed in commercial software (MIM Corporation, Cleveland, OH, USA). In general, DCE1.0/DCE1.5 highlighted larger areas than GTV. DCE2.0 and GTV were significantly correlated (r = 0.60, p < 0.05). DCE2.0/DCA2.5 were also significantly correlated with PSA (r = 0.52, 0.67, p < 0.05). K.sup.trans for DCE2.5 was statistically higher than the GTV's K.sup.trans (p < 0.05), indicating that the automatic volume better captures areas of malignancy. A software tool was developed for identification and visualization of the suspicious foci in DCE-MRI from post-prostatectomy patients and was integrated into the treatment planning system. Ziel ErgebnisseAcademi

A meta-analysis of health-related quality of life after primary treatment for prostate cancer as measured by the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite

39 Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes are important in treatment selection for prostate cancer. The Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC) is a validated and widely-utilized HRQoL survey which accounts for newer radiotherapeutic, surgical, and hormonal treatment methods. We present a meta-analysis of patient reported HRQoL outcomes collected with EPIC and compare HRQoL trends with radiation therapy, surgery, or active surveillance as primary treatment. Methods: The PubMed database was systematically searched for all studies which presented data directly derived from the use of EPIC on patients with prostate cancer prior to 07/09/2014. All eligible studies were selected for either inclusion and analysis or exclusion based on pre-determined criteria. The data from included studies was compiled and a simulation-based estimation method using Approximate Bayesian Computation was performed to obtain missing standard deviation estimate. A longitudinal meta-analysis was conducted to estimate EPIC-profiles for each component using Bayesian p-spline method. Results: Over 4,000 studies were searched, 152 were deemed eligible, and 39 were included. The calculated mean summary score estimates are shown in the attached table. Conclusions: In the urinary domain, radical prostatectomy (RP) has lower acute scores than active surveillance (AS) or radiation therapy (RT) without long-term difference. In the bowel domain, RT has lower scores than AS or RP acutely and long-term. In the sexual domain, RT and RP have lower acute scores than AS. RP has lower scores than RT without long-term difference. In the hormonal domain, little difference was noted between modalities. [Table: see text