Institutional Response to Crisis

The Institutional Response to Crisis panel focuses on analyzing and understanding institutions and the crises they might face, more specifically the limits and opportunities for preparing for a crisis, responding to crises, and the long-term consequences of crises. The panelists provide both theoretical analyses and specific, personal experiences to discuss these points. As panel moderator Noah Pickus, the director of the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University stated in his opening: Crises are no rare thing in human history and it seems as if of late we turn around everyday and there\u27s another one that stares us in the face. Questions/themes/discussion topics Should institutions respond to crises? How do institutions respond to crises? Response to crisis as a springboard for long term change within an institution Leadership opportunities within a crisi

Socio-economic class, rurality and risk of cutaneous melanoma by site and gender in Sweden

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cutaneous melanoma (CM) is a cancer usually associated with high socio-economic level in the literature. Few studies have, however, assessed this relationship by gender and site or the association between CM and rurality.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A major-sized historical occupational Swedish cohort comprising 2,992,166 workers was used to estimate relative risk of cutaneous melanoma, broken down by gender and anatomical site, for occupational sectors (as a proxy of socio-economic class) and rurality. To this end, Poisson models were fitted for each site in men and women, including occupational sector and town size, with adjustment for age, period of diagnosis and geographical area as possible confounding factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>White collar workers presented a marked increased of risk in men in all melanoma cases, as well as in trunk, upper and lower limbs. This pattern was less clear for women, in which some heterogeneity appeared, as low risks in lower socioeconomic sectors in trunk, or risk excesses in white collar workers in lower limbs did not achieve statistical significance. Males also showed significant differences in risk by rural/urban distribution, but in women this association was limited to CM of lower limb. Risk of CM of head/neck did not vary by occupational sector or town size, thus depicting a specific epidemiological profile, which proved common to both sexes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>While differences in risk between men and women could suggest greater homogeneity in UV-exposure behaviour among women, the uniform risk pattern in head and neck melanoma, present in both sexes, might support the coexistence of different aetiological pathways, related to anatomical site.</p

Do sex and site matter? Different age distribution in melanoma of the trunk among Swedish men and women

BACKGROUND: Recent research on cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) points to the coexistence of several biological pathways linked to the anatomical site of the lesion, which could lead to this neoplasm. Although the different anatomical distribution of CMM by sex is usually attributed to gender-specific patterns of sun exposure, it has been suggested that an alternative explanation might lie in gender-specific site susceptibility. OBJECTIVES: This paper aimed at analysing the age distribution of CMM by site and sex to gain in-depth knowledge of differences between the sexes. METHODS: Using a large Swedish cohort comprising 2 992 166 workers, Poisson models were fitted to estimate age-specific incidence rates by site and sex, duly adjusted for several factors that might account for changes in environmental exposures (period, birth cohort, socioeconomic level, latitude and rurality). RESULTS: Incidence rates were 17.4 cases per 100 000 person-years in men and 16.5 in women. Sex differences were particularly striking for CMM of the trunk, where both crude and adjusted incidence rates displayed a steady increase with age in men, but reached a plateau in women at around four cases per 100 000 person-years from the 40-45-year age group (perimenopausal period) upwards. There was an almost fivefold increase in the sex ratio for this body site between the younger and older age groups, a difference which could not be attributed to period or cohort effects. CONCLUSIONS: If different aetiological pathways can be assumed to lead to melanoma, then disparities between men and women, particularly in CMM of the trunk, suggest that a possible interaction between site and sex should be borne in mind.S

Sonographic characteristics of squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to describe the sonographic characteristics of squamous cell cancer (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (AC) of the cervix using transvaginal ultrasound. METHODS: Women with early stage cervical cancer undergoing transvaginal ultrasound examination before surgery were prospectively included. The sonographic characteristics were assessed with regard to tumor morphology, vascularization, size, extension and location. Histological assessment of tumor subtype, size, growth pattern, extension and location was performed. Both sonographic and histological assessments were carried out according to a standardized protocol. RESULTS: Fifty-five women were recruited. Ten were excluded because no tumor was seen on ultrasound examination and five were excluded because radical surgery was aborted as a result of positive lymph nodes, detected using the sentinel node technique. Among the remaining 40 women, 20 had AC and 20 had SCC. At pathological examination, 34 women had tumors confined to the cervix, three had parametrial invasion and three had vaginal invasion. Hypoechogenicity was associated with SCC in 73% (11/15) of the women, while isoechogenicity indicated AC in 68% (13/19) of the women (P = 0.03). Mixed echogenicity (n = 4) showed a non-significant association with larger tumor volume (P = 0.23). Hyperechogenicity was found in two women, both of whom had the less malignant villoglandular AC. Color Doppler signals were found in all cases of AC and in 90% (18/20) of cases of SCC, compared with most normal cervical tissue in which virtually no detectable vascularization was found. CONCLUSION: We found that the sonographic appearance of SCC and AC differs. This knowledge should be useful in the clinical evaluation of cervical tumors

Integrated Molecular Analysis of Undifferentiated Uterine Sarcomas Reveals Clinically Relevant Molecular Subtypes

Molecular tumour pathology - and tumour genetic

Primary Melanoma Tumors from CDKN2A Mutation Carriers Do Not Belong to a Distinct Molecular Subclass

Dermatology-oncolog