Genital invasion or perigenital spread may pose a risk of marginal misses for Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) in anal cancer

Background: While intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in anal cancer is feasible and improves high-dose conformality, the current RTOG/AGITG contouring atlas and planning guidelines lack specific instructions on how to proceed with external genitalia. Meanwhile, the RTOG-Protocol 0529 explicitly recommends genital sparing on the basis of specific genital dose constraints. Recent pattern-of-relapse studies based on conventional techniques suggest that marginal miss might be a potential consequence of genital sparing. Our goal is to outline the potential scope and increase the awareness for this clinical issue. Methods: We present and discuss four patients with perigenital spread in anal cancer in both early and advanced stages (three at time of first diagnosis and one in form of relapse). Genital/perigenital spread was observed once as direct genital infiltration and thrice in form of perigenital lymphatic spread. Results: We review the available data regarding the potential consequences of genital sparing in anal cancer. Pattern-of-relapse studies in anal cancer after conventional radiotherapy and the current use of IMRT in anal cancer are equivocal but suggest that genital sparing may occasionally result in marginal miss. An obvious hypothesis suggested by our report is that perigenital lymphovascular invasion might be associated with manifest inguinal N+ disease. Conclusions: Local failure has low salvage rates in recent anal cancer treatment series. Perigenital spread may pose a risk of marginal misses in IMRT in anal cancer. To prevent marginal misses, meticulous pattern-of-relapse analyses of controlled IMRT-series are warranted. Until their publication, genital sparing should be applied with caution, PET/CT should be used when possible and meeting genital dose constraints should not be prioritized over CTV coverage, especially (but not only) in stage T3/4 and N+ disease

Renewable energy projects and species protection. A comparison into the application of the EU species protection regulation with respect to renewable energy projects in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark and Germany

Renewable energy projects, such as offshore and onshore wind and solar farms, including the necessary infrastructure, have an impact on biodiversity. Given the status of biodiversity across Europe, and the ambitions for the maintenance of species, limiting the impact of renewable energy generation units on biodiversity is of fundamental importance. This study offers an insight into the incorporation of species protection aspects in current permit practices, and contributes to the discussion on dealing with species protection issues in the process of upscaling sustainable energy facilities

Floating macro litter in European rivers - top items

The JRC exploratory project RIMMEL provides information about litter, mainly plastic waste, entering the European Seas through river systems. RIMMEL has collected data on riverine floating macro litter inputs to the sea. Data acquisition was based on the Riverine Litter Observation Network (RiLON) activities, which collected data from rivers in the European marine basins over a period of one year (September 2016 – September 2017). Data was collected by visual observations and documented with the JRC Floating Litter Monitoring Application for mobile devices, allowing a harmonized reporting, compatible with the MSFD Master List of Categories for Litter Items. This report includes the Top Items lists of riverine floating macro litter, based on the total amount of litter items identified during RiLON activities and ranked by abundance. Top Items lists have been elaborated considering the whole database for the European Seas and further detailed for each individual European regional sea: Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and North-East Atlantic. The North-East Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea regions showed similar litter categories in their Top 20 Items. These two regions provided most of the available data, influencing the general Top Items list. In the Black Sea and Baltic Sea regions, where data availability was limited, the Top Items lists showed more differences among the different regions. Overall, the general Top Items list for the European Seas showed a predominance of plastic item categories (artificial polymer materials). As a whole, plastic items made up to 80.8% of all objects, with plastic and polystyrene fragments comprising 45% of the identified items in the database. Additionally, Single Use Plastics such as bottles, cover/packaging and bags were also ranked among the most frequently found floating litter. The similarities in the Top 10 and Top 20 items for the different regions, and the appearance of Single Use Plastics scoring high in the ranking, support the need for common actions against plastic pollution at EU level.JRC.D.2-Water and Marine Resource

Konfliktmanagement am Arbeitsplatz : wirkt sich Mediationstraining auf das Kommunikations- und Verhandlungsverhalten in Konfliktsituationen aus?

Soziale Kompetenzen spielen in der Arbeitswelt eine bedeutende Rolle, denn nicht nur von Führungskräften, sondern auch von MitarbeiterInnen wird zunehmend ein konstruktiver Umgang mit herausfordernden zwischenmenschlichen Situationen erwartet. Hinzu kommt die Digitalisierung, welche auf die Art und Weise, wie kommuniziert und verhandelt wird, enormen Einfluss nimmt. Eine oftmals massive Diskrepanz zwischen Anforderungen und tatsächlichen Kompetenzen unterstreicht die Notwendigkeit wesentlicher Schlüsselkompetenzen wie etwa der Kommunikations- oder Konfliktlösungsfähigkeit. MediatorInnen sind bezugnehmend auf diese heute so wesentlichen Kompetenzen als gut geschulte Berufsgruppe zu betrachten. Die vorliegende Arbeit geht anhand eines Rollenspiels im Online-Chat der Frage nach, ob sich Mediationstraining auf das Kommunikations- und Verhandlungsverhalten in Konfliktsituationen am Arbeitsplatz sowie auf die Selbst- und Fremdeinschätzung Mediativer Kompetenzen auswirkt. ^Zehn gebriefte Stooges nahmen hierbei mehrmals als dieselbe Konfliktpartei an den Rollenspielen und Fremdeinschätzungen dieser Kompetenzen teil. Die zweite Konfliktpartei bildeten einerseits 31 MediatorInnen und andererseits 30 Personen ohne Vorwissen zu mediationsspezifischen Themen. Es zeigte sich, dass MediatorInnen nicht nur deutlich positiver sowie weniger negativ kommunizieren und verhandeln als Personen der Kontrollgruppe, sondern Konflikte auch schneller und effizienter lösen. Darüber hinaus erzielten MediatorInnen tendenziell bessere Verhandlungsergebnisse und zeigten sich insgesamt als kommunikativer. Weiters überschätzten sich Personen der Kontrollgruppe hinsichtlich ihrer Mediativen Kompetenzen, während die Selbst- und Fremdeinschätzung der MediatorInnen höher und kongruenter ausfiel. ^Die vorliegende Arbeit liefert somit auf explorativer Basis einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Forschung rund um die stark vernetzten Themen Digitalisierung, Soziale Kompetenz, Konflikte, Kommunikation und Verhandlung.Social skills play a prominent role in the work place, since not only executives, but also employees are expected to handle challenging interpersonal situations in a constructive manner. Furthermore, digitization enormously impacts the way people communicate and negotiate with each other. Massive discrepancies between requirements and actual competences occur frequently and therefore underline the necessity of essential key competences such as com-munication- or conflict ability. Mediators are considered a well-trained professional group relating to these important skills. Based on a role play via online-chat, this master thesis follows the question of whether mediation training influences the communication- and negotiation behavior in a workplace-related conflict situation, as well as the self- and external assessment of mediative competences. In these role plays, ten briefed stooges participated several times as the same conflict party, rating their counterparts competencies afterwards. The second conflict party consisted of 31 mediators and 30 persons without previous knowledge on communication, conflict management or mediation. Results show, that mediators communicate and negotiate not only in a more positive and less negative way than non-trained persons, but also solve conflicts faster and more efficiently. Furthermore, mediators tend to achieve better negotiation results and are overall more communicative. Moreover, non-trained people overestimate their mediative competences, while the mediators self- and external ratings are higher and more congruent. On an exploratory basis, the present master thesis provides an important contribution to research around the strongly connected topics of digitiza-tion, social competence, communication and negotiation.vorgelegt von Eva Absenger, BSc sowie von Julia Köck, BScAbweichender Titel laut Übersetzung des Verfassers/der VerfasserinZusammenfassungen in Deutsch und EnglischKarl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Masterarbeit, 2018(VLID)242973

Antibiotic susceptibility data of 106 <i>E</i>. <i>coli</i> isolates from 47 German pig farms.

<p>Antibiotic susceptibility data of 106 <i>E</i>. <i>coli</i> isolates from 47 German pig farms.</p

Distribution and combinations of β-lactamase genes in 106 <i>E</i>. <i>coli</i> identified from 47 German pig farms.

<p>Distribution and combinations of β-lactamase genes in 106 <i>E</i>. <i>coli</i> identified from 47 German pig farms.</p

Antibiotic susceptibility data of 106 <i>E</i>. <i>coli</i> isolates from 47 German pig farms.

<p>Antibiotic susceptibility data of 106 <i>E</i>. <i>coli</i> isolates from 47 German pig farms.</p

Cross-border comparison of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and AMR prevention measures: the healthcare workers’ perspective

Background: Cross-border healthcare may promote the spread of multidrug-resistant microorganisms (MDRO) and is challenging due to heterogeneous antimicrobial resistance (AMR) prevention measures (APM). The aim of this article is to compare healthcare workers (HCW) from Germany (DE) and The Netherlands (NL) on how they perceive and experience AMR and APM, which is important for safe patient exchange and effective cross-border APM cooperation. Methods: A survey was conducted amongst HCW (n = 574) in hospitals in DE (n = 305) and NL (n = 269), using an online self-administered survey between June 2017 and July 2018. Mann-Whitney U tests were used to analyse differences between answers of German and Dutch physicians (n = 177) and German and Dutch nurses (n = 397) on 5-point Likert Items and Scales. Results: Similarities between DE and NL were a high awareness about the AMR problem and the perception that the possibility to cope with AMR is limited (30% respondents perceive their contribution to limit AMR as insufficient). Especially Dutch nurses scored significantly lower than German nurses on their contribution to limit AMR (means 2.6 vs. 3.1, p ≤ 0.001). German HCW were more optimistic about their potential role in coping with AMR (p ≤ 0.001), and scored higher on feeling sufficiently equipped to perform APM (p ≤ 0.003), although the mean scores did not differ much between German and Dutch respondents. Conclusions: Although both German and Dutch HCW are aware of the AMR problem, they should be more empowered to contribute to limiting AMR through APM (i.e. screening diagnostics, infection diagnosis, treatment and infection control) in their daily working routines. The observed differences reflect differences in local, national and cross-border structures, and differences in needs of HCW, that need to be considered for safe patient exchange and effective cross-border APM