Institutional change through exposing data: the James Cook University Research Portfolio

Even within a single department in an institution, research-related data exists everywhere: different formats, inconsistent databases, separate environments. In a typical situation, this data unlikely to be directly accessible, nor visible to, or perhaps even known to exist by the person or group that it pertains to. This leads to a number of problems: access, being a difficult, disjointed experience for those who seek the information; poor quality or incompleteness, as the information may be hidden and not maintained; and a potential lack of consistency across different uses of the data. Through exposing useful data from primary sources in a logical and consistent fashion, great improvements across a research institution are possible

The potential of combined mutation sequencing of plasma circulating cell-free DNA and matched white blood cells for treatment response prediction

Highly sensitive mutation detection methods enable the application of circulating cell-free DNA for molecular tumor profiling. Recent studies revealed that sequencing artifacts, germline variants, and clonal hematopoiesis confound the interpretation of sequencing results and complicate subsequent treatment decision making and disease monitoring. Parallel sequencing of matched white blood cells promises to overcome these issues and enables appropriate variant calling

Photoperiodic encoding by the neuronal network of the suprachiasmatic nucleus

The biological clock in mammals is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and regulates daily and seasonal rhythms. The research presented in this thesis consists of behavioral and electrophysiological experiments to investigate the SCN as a pacemaker of daily and seasonal rhythms. We investigated the activity of single neurons and small groups of neurons in the SCN and their role in photoperiodic adaptations. We found that single cells in the SCN do not code for the length of day, but that photoperiodic encoding is a property of the SCN neuronal network.This work was supported by program grant "From Molecule to Cell" by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), grant number 805.47.212 and by "Entrainment of the circadian clock" EUCLOCK program of the European Union.UBL - phd migration 201

Conversion and conflict in Palestine : the missions of the Church Missionary Society and the protestant bishop Samuel Gobat

On 30 December 1846 Samuel Gobat (1799-1879) arrived in Jerusalem. This was the start of almost thirty-five years in office as bishop of the Protestant bishopric in Jerusalem. Throughout his episcopate Gobat closely cooperated with the missionaries of the Church Missionary Society (CMS), who were on the same wavelength in their missionary activities and objective: the evangelization of Christians from other churches. Gobat and the CMS missionaries had a shared background in the intercontinental Evangelical movement. Evangelicalism strongly influenced their missionary work, expectations and the way they perceived the other churches. Their writings contain many manifestations of their Evangelical principles regarding their work in the mission field and reflect a strong rivalry with the other denominations. Their accounts are interspersed with criticism of the other churches in Palestine. This constant censuring of the other churches and the efforts to make converts among their members resulted in conflicts ranging from small wrangles to terrible riots. The missionaries__ Evangelicalism and the rivalry they felt were inextricably bound up with each other. This book concentrates on both the influence of the Evangelical principles on the missionary efforts of Gobat and the CMS missionaries, and the competition they experienced with the other churches.LEI Universiteit LeidenCollege van Bestuur van de Universiteit Leiden als een Leidse aanvulling op de Aspasiafondsen van NWO.Modernity (Religion and Modernity

Optical and Functional Imaging in Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in men and women, and is the leading cause of cancer related death. In industrialized countries the mortality rate of lung cancer is higher than the mortality rate of breast, colorectal and prostate cancer combined 1. When lung cancer is diagnosed at an early stage patients are considered to have the best overall survival rate 2. Unfortunately, only a minority of patients is currently diagnosed at a curable stage of disease. The lack of specific symptoms at an early stage of the disease, the rapid growth of tumor cells and the metastatic behavior of lung tumors are the main reasons for a diagnosis at an advanced stage. Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) can be divided into three major histological subtypes: squamouscell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and large-cell carcinoma 3. Eighty-five percent of the lung cancer patients are diagnosed with NSCLC, and 75% of the patients are diagnosed with an incurable stage IIIB or IV disease 4, 5. Fifteen percent of the lung cancer patients have small-cell-lung cancer (SCLC) and the 5-year survival for them is even lower than for NSCLC 6. Whereas originally smoking is at the root of all types of lung cancer, the incidence of lung cancer in never smokers increases 7. Smoking is most strongly linked with SCLC and squamous-cell carcinoma 8, 9, although after the introduction of filter cigarets an increased incidence of adenocarcinomas was observed 10. This resulted in a change in ratio of adenocarcinomas-squamous cell carcinomas towards adenocarcinomas 8, 11. In some countries squamous cell carcinoma is still the most common histological type of lung cancer in male patients, e.g. France (41%) and United Kingdom (40%). In other countries adenocarcinoma is the most common type e.g. USA and Canada 12. In patients without a smoking history adenocarcinoma is most common 13-16. Despite new insights and improved medical treatments, lung cancer remains the type of cancer with the highest mortality. Additional studies are needed to improve detection of lung cancer in an early (pre)malignant stage to improve survival. Improved pretreatment staging of lung cancer is necessary to prevent under- or over treatment. Furthermore a better understanding of tumor behavior improves treatment modalities. In this introduction the histological subtypes of lung cancer, the microenvironment of lung cancer and systemic treatment modalities are described. Furthermore several imaging techniques to analyze the microenvironment of lung cancer tissue are discussed

Multiple Cutaneous (pre)-Malignancies

__Abstract__ The three most common cutaneous malignancies are derived from melanocytes and keratinocytes (ordered in decreasing aggressiveness): melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC). This thesis focuses only on these three types of cancer and their precursors. The incidence rates of the three most common skin cancers are rising and show large variations between countries. The majority of skin cancer patients have a relatively good prognosis, which has implications for treatment, follow-up strategies and risks of developing multiple cutaneous (pre)-malignancies. Important topics like follow-up and early detection of skin cancer remain a subject of debate. In this thesis the burden of multiple cutaneous malignancies and their consequences for patients, doctors and health care systems are described. The first part encompasses a large systematic review and meta-analysis and two large population-based cohort studies to investigate risks of developing a melanoma, SCC or BCC after a melanoma or keratinocyte carcinoma (including SCC and BCC). This information could serve as information for health care systems. Further, secondary prevention seems pivotal in this patient group. In the second part time trends of thin melanomas in The Netherlands were analyzed and the prevalence of actinic keratosis (AK), its risk factors and association with skin cancer in an elderly population were investigated (the Rotterdam Study, a Dutch population-based cohort study). In the third part conditional survival of melanoma in The Netherlands was described. It gives a more optimistic message of their future to melanoma survivors than the traditional survival rates and could reduce anxiety concerning their melanoma diagnosis in the past. Also survival of patients with multiple melanoma were compared with patients with single primary melanoma using time-varying co-variates in a Cox proportional Hazard model. This thesis contributes to the current knowledge on the occurrence of multiple cutaneous malignancies and associated mechanisms of field cancerization and overdiagnosis and could therefore be used as material for patient education and follow-up strategies