40 research outputs found
Implementation of GIS-Based Applications in Water Governance
__Abstract__
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are computer programs that are able to
bring large amounts of data of both the physical and the social system together in one
comprehensive overview shown digitally. GIS occurred very rapidly on the Dutch policy
agenda. In this paper we analyze how the fast introduction process of GIS-based
instruments in water management and more specifically in river flood management can
be explained. By applying a range of classical models on agenda-setting, we show the
important contribution of GIS to the water and flood issue in current spatial planning and
policy development in the Netherland
Obtaining Adequate Surgical Margins in Breast-Conserving Therapy for Patients with Early-Stage Breast Cancer: Current Modalities and Future Directions
Inadequate surgical margins represent a high risk for adverse clinical outcome in breast-conserving therapy (BCT) for early-stage breast cancer. The majority of studies report positive resection margins in 20% to 40% of the patients who underwent BCT. This may result in an increased local recurrence (LR) rate or additional surgery and, consequently, adverse affects on cosmesis, psychological distress, and health costs. In the literature, various risk factors are reported to be associated with positive margin status after lumpectomy, which may allow the surgeon to distinguish those patients with a higher a priori risk for re-excision. However, most risk factors are related to tumor biology and patient characteristics, which cannot be modified as such. Therefore, efforts to reduce the number of positive margins should focus on optimizing the surgical procedure itself, because the surgeon lacks real-time intraoperative information on the presence of positive resection margins during breast-conserving surgery. This review presents the status of pre- and intraoperative modalities currently used in BCT. Furthermore, innovative intraoperative approaches, such as positron emission tomography, radioguided occult lesion localization, and near-infrared fluorescence optical imaging, are addressed, which have to prove their potential value in improving surgical outcome and reducing the need for re-excision in BCT
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Darwinism, organizational evolution and survival: key challenges for future research
How do social organizations evolve? How do they adapt to environmental pressures? What resources and capabilities determine their survival within dynamic competition? Charles Darwin’s seminal work The Origin of Species (1859) has provided a significant impact on the development of the management and organization theory literatures on organizational evolution. This article introduces the JMG Special Issue focused on Darwinism, organizational evolution and survival. We discuss key themes in the organizational evolution research that have emerged in recent years. These include the increasing adoption of the co-evolutionary approach, with a particular focus on the definition of appropriate units of analysis, such as routines, and related challenges associated with exploring the relationship between co-evolution, re-use of knowledge, adaptation, and exaptation processes. We then introduce the three articles that we have finally accepted in this Special Issue after an extensive, multi-round, triple blind-review process. We briefly outline how each of these articles contributes to understanding among scholars, practitioners and policy makers of the continuous evolutionary processes within and among social organizations and systems
Puzzling about problems: the ambiguous search for an evidence-based strategy for handling influx of health technology
How to bring a technical artifact into use: A micro-developmental perspective
In order to understand how technical artifacts are attuned to, interacted with, and
shaped in various and varied classrooms, it is necessary to construct detailed accounts of the
use of particular artifacts in particular classrooms. This paper presents a descriptive account of
how a shared workspace was brought into use by a student pair in a face-to-face planning task.
A micro-developmental perspective was adopted to describe how the pair established a
purposeful connection with this unfamiliar artifact over a relatively short time frame. This
appropriation was examined against the background of their regular planning practice. We
describe how situational resources present in the classroom—norms, practices and artifacts—
frame possible action, and how these possibilities are enacted by the pair. Analysis shows that
the association of norms and practices with the technical artifact lead to a contradiction that
surfaced as resistance experienced from the artifact. This resistance played an important part in
the appropriation process of the pair. It signaled tension in the activity, triggered reflection on
the interaction with the artifact, and had a coordinative function. The absence of resistance was
equally important. It allowed the pair to transpose or depart from regular procedure without
reflection