Public opinion and environmental policy output: a cross-national analysis of energy policies in Europe

This article studies how public opinion is associated with the introduction of renewable energy policies in Europe. While research increasingly seeks to model the link between public opinion and environmental policies, the empirical evidence is largely based on a single case: the US. This limits the generalizability of findings and we argue accordingly for a systematic, quantitative study of how public opinion drives environmental policies in another context. Theoretically, we combine arguments behind the political survival of democratic leaders with electoral success and environmental politics. Ultimately, we suggest that office-seeking leaders introduce policies that seem favorable to the domestic audience; if the public prefers environmental protection, the government introduces such policies in turn. The main contribution of this research is the cross-country empirical analysis, where we combine data on the public's environmental attitudes and renewable energy policy outputs in a European context between 1974 and 2015. We show that as public opinion shifts towards prioritizing the environment, there is a significant and positive effect on the rate of renewable energy policy outputs by governments in Europe. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic, quantitative study of public opinion and environmental policies across a large set of countries, and we demonstrate that the mechanisms behind the introduction of renewable energy policies follow major trends across European states

Successful radiopeptide targeting of metastatic anaplastic meningioma: Case report

A patient with anaplastic meningioma and lung metastases resistant to conventional treatment underwent radiopeptide therapy with 177Lu- DOTA-octreotate in our institute. The treatment resulted in significant improvement in patient's quality of life and inhibition of tumor progression. This case may eventually help to establish the value of radiopeptide therapy in patients with this rare condition

Prognostic value of gross tumor volume delineated by FDG-PET-CT based radiotherapy treatment planning in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer treated with chemoradiotherapy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We aimed to assess whether gross tumor volume (GTV) determined by fusion of contrast-enhanced computerized tomography (CT) and 18F-fluoro-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography-CT (FDG-PET-CT) based radiotherapy planning could predict outcomes, namely overall survival (OS), local-regional progression-free survival (LRPFS), and progression-free survival (PFS) in cases with locally advanced pancreas cancer (LAPC) treated with definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 30 patients with histological proof of LAPC underwent 50.4 Gy (1.8 Gy/28 fractions) of radiotherapy concurrent with continuously infused 5-FU followed by 4 to 6 courses of maintenance gemcitabine. Target volume delineations were performed on FDG-PET-CT-based RTP. Patients were stratified into 2 groups: GTV lesser (GTV_L) versus greater (GTV_G) than cut off value determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, and compared in terms of OS, LRPFS and PFS.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Median GTV delineated according to the FDG-PET-CT data was 100.0 cm³. Cut off GTV value determined from ROC curves was 91.1 cm³. At a median follow up of 11.2 months, median OS, LRPFS and PFS for the entire population were 10.3, 7.8 and 5.7 months, respectively. Median OS, LRPFS and PFS for GTV_Land GTV_Gcohorts were 16.3 vs. 9.5 (<it>p </it>= 0.005), 11.0 vs. 6.0 (<it>p </it>= 0.013), and 9.0 vs. 4.8 months (<it>p </it>= 0.008), respectively.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The superior OS, LRPFS and PFS observed in GTV_Lpatients over GTV_Gones suggests a potential for FDG-PET-CT-defined GTV size in predicting outcomes of LAPC patients treated with definitive C-CRT, which needs to be validated by further studies with larger cohorts.</p

The Role and Limitations of 18-Fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose Positron Emission Tomography (FDG-PET) Scan and Computerized Tomography (CT) in Restaging Patients with Hepatic Colorectal Metastases Following Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: Comparison with Operative and Pathological Findings

BACKGROUND: Recent data confirmed the importance of 18-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in the selection of patients with colorectal hepatic metastases for surgery. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy before hepatic resection in selected cases may improve outcome. The influence of chemotherapy on the sensitivity of FDG-PET and CT in detecting liver metastases is not known. METHODS: Patients were assigned to either neoadjuvant treatment or immediate hepatic resection according to resectability, risk of recurrence, extrahepatic disease, and patient preference. Two-thirds of them underwent FDG-PET/CT before chemotherapy; all underwent preoperative contrast-enhanced CT and FDG-PET/CT. Those without extensive extrahepatic disease underwent open exploration and resection of all the metastases according to original imaging findings. Operative and pathological findings were compared to imaging results. RESULTS: Twenty-seven patients (33 lesions) underwent immediate hepatic resection (group 1), and 48 patients (122 lesions) received preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy (group 2). Sensitivity of FDG-PET and CT in detecting colorectal (CR) metastases was significantly higher in group 1 than in group 2 (FDG-PET: 93.3 vs 49%, P < 0.0001; CT: 87.5 vs 65.3, P = 0.038). CT had a higher sensitivity than FDG-PET in detecting CR metastases following neoadjuvant therapy (65.3 vs 49%, P < 0.0001). Sensitivity of FDG-PET, but not of CT, was lower in group 2 patients whose chemotherapy included bevacizumab compared to patients who did not receive bevacizumab (39 vs 59%, P = 0.068). CONCLUSIONS: FDG-PET/CT sensitivity is lowered by neoadjuvant chemotherapy. CT is more sensitive than FDG-PET in detecting CR metastases following neoadjuvant therapy. Surgical decision-making requires information from multiple imaging modalities and pretreatment findings. Baseline FDG-PET and CT before neoadjuvant therapy are mandatory

An HDG Method for Dirichlet Boundary Control of Convection Dominated Diffusion PDE

We first propose a hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) method to approximate the solution of a \emph{convection dominated} Dirichlet boundary control problem. Dirichlet boundary control problems and convection dominated problems are each very challenging numerically due to solutions with low regularity and sharp layers, respectively. Although there are some numerical analysis works in the literature on \emph{diffusion dominated} convection diffusion Dirichlet boundary control problems, we are not aware of any existing numerical analysis works for convection dominated boundary control problems. Moreover, the existing numerical analysis techniques for convection dominated PDEs are not directly applicable for the Dirichlet boundary control problem because of the low regularity solutions. In this work, we obtain an optimal a priori error estimate for the control under some conditions on the domain and the desired state. We also present some numerical experiments to illustrate the performance of the HDG method for convection dominated Dirichlet boundary control problems

Fluoro-deoxi-glucose uptake and angiogenesis are independent biological features in lung metastases

Neoangiogenesis and enhanced glucose metabolism in neoplasms are likely to be activated by the same biochemical stimulus; hypoxia. A correlation between these two parameters has been postulated. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between Fluoro-desoxi-glucose uptake at positron emission tomography scan and angiogenesis in lung metastasis. Fluoro-desoxi-glucose activity, expressed as a standard uptake value, and microvessel intratumoural density, were retrospectively calculated in a series of 43 lung metastasis resected in 19 patients. Primary sites were colorectal cancer in 16 metastases, sarcoma in eight, gynaecological in four and other sites in 15. The correlation between the two parameters was tested by logistic regression and multivariate analysis. Positron emission tomography scan was positive in 17 patients (sensitivity 89%). No correlation was observed between standard uptake value and microvessel intratumoural density in this series of lung metastasis. Positron emission tomography negative and positive nodules presented comparable value of microvessel intratumoural density (12.9 vs 11.3). Standard uptake value was significantly correlated with nodules size and was higher in colon cancer metastasis than in sarcoma ones. Microvessel intratumoural density was independent from nodule size but significantly higher in sarcoma than in colon cancer metastasis. The lack of correlation was confirmed by multivariate analysis after adjustment for tumour type and nodules size. The present study demonstrated that positron emission tomography scan is positive in a high proportion of patients regardless of microvessel density. Glucose uptake and angiogenesis appear to be independent biological features in lung metastasis. This observation may have implications for future antiangiogenic therapies

FDG PET and PET/CT: EANM procedure guidelines for tumour PET imaging: version 1.0

The aim of this guideline is to provide a minimum standard for the acquisition and interpretation of PET and PET/CT scans with [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). This guideline will therefore address general information about [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) and is provided to help the physician and physicist to assist to carrying out, interpret, and document quantitative FDG PET/CT examinations, but will concentrate on the optimisation of diagnostic quality and quantitative information