A rapid exchange of information between European research institutes greatly enhances the national effectiveness of individual programmes to the prevention and treatment of cancer.
Hadronic radiotherapy uses particle beams to treat tumors located near critical body structures and tumors that respond poorly to conventional photon and electron beam radiotherapy. Initial research in hadronic radiotherapy was performed using accelerators built for physics research. The good results of the proton and ion therapy programs have enhanced the tendency to use protontherapy as a routine method. There are about 20 working protontherapy facilities (first, second and third generation) and more than 30 centers are planned. This book presents the first comprehensive overview of the field with a discussion on the fundamental basis of particle physics and radiobiology, as well as review of clinical and technical specifications and designs for proton radiotherapy. In particular, the current designs of proton and heavy ion accelerators, beam delivery systems, gantries, beam monitoring and dosimetry systems, control and safety systems, patient positioning and immobilization devices, and ancillary treatment facilities are widely discussed. Contents: Physical and Radiobiological Properties of Hadrons; Status of Clinical Research in Protontherapy; Hadrontherapy Facilities World-Wide; Requirements for Hadrontherapy Centers; Protontherapy Accelerators; Beam Transport and Delivery Systems; Proton Gantries; Radiation Detectors; Treatment Ancillary Facilities; Control System of the Protontherapy Center; Shielding for Proton Facility; Global Costs and Financial Analysis of the Activities of the Proton Center; Proposal of a Dedicated Protontherapy Facility. Readership: Engineers, medical physicists and physicians involved in the design and construction of radiotherapy accelerators, undergraduate and graduate students in high energy accelerator and biomedical physics, radiotherapists.
This open access book comprehensively covers the fundamentals of clinical data science, focusing on data collection, modelling and clinical applications. Topics covered in the first section on data collection include: data sources, data at scale (big data), data stewardship (FAIR data) and related privacy concerns. Aspects of predictive modelling using techniques such as classification, regression or clustering, and prediction model validation will be covered in the second section. The third section covers aspects of (mobile) clinical decision support systems, operational excellence and value-based healthcare. Fundamentals of Clinical Data Science is an essential resource for healthcare professionals and IT consultants intending to develop and refine their skills in personalized medicine, using solutions based on large datasets from electronic health records or telemonitoring programmes. The book’s promise is “no math, no code”and will explain the topics in a style that is optimized for a healthcare audience.
EUCAMBIS was established under BIOMED I in 1994 as an interdisciplinary consortium aiming to advance our understanding of the molecular and cellular bases of ageing of immunosenescence. The project sought to draw together scientists and clinicians from diverse fields including immunology, molecular biology, cell and tumour biology, geriatrics, endocrinology and transplantation biology in order to investigate the impact of ageing on immune responses. The papers collected in this volume illustrate the diversity of the work carried out by the members of EUCAMBIS during its three-and-a-half year existence. This introductory chapter attempts to summarize the results of some of the EUCAMBIS collaborations, with emphasis on the "workshop" approach which was aimed at analysing the expression of "growth arrest" genes in ageing human T lymphocytes.
This text describes the activities of current cancer research projects as well as the strengths and weaknesses within the specific domains of basic research, clinical research and screening, chemoprevention and epidemiological research. These reflections therefore bring together the experiences from different scientific and biomedical research teams and from most of the national cancer research organizations of the European Union who are also involved in the BIOMED programme.
Cancer is low or absent on the health agendas of low- and middle-income countries (LMCs) despite the fact that more people die from cancer in these countries than from AIDS and malaria combined. International health organizations, bilateral aid agencies, and major foundations—which are instrumental in setting health priorities—also have largely ignored cancer in these countries. This book identifies feasible, affordable steps for LMCs and their international partners to begin to reduce the cancer burden for current and future generations. Stemming the growth of cigarette smoking tops the list to prevent cancer and all the other major chronic diseases. Other priorities include infant vaccination against the hepatitis B virus to prevent liver cancers and vaccination to prevent cervical cancer. Developing and increasing capacity for cancer screening and treatment of highly curable cancers (including most childhood malignancies) can be accomplished using "resource-level appropriateness" as a guide. And there are ways to make inexpensive oral morphine available to ease the pain of the many who will still die from cancer.
The benefits for the professional working within a quality culture are manifold, but even more important, the patient is the final arbiter of quality care. Therefore patient centred aspects of treatment are focused upon in this manual. A quality manual intended for European use has to respect the national regulations and European diversity, and therefore needs to be flexible. The EOQM has been structured according to the treatment of the individual patient, which is what all professionals have in common, and which also is the most important target for quality improvement in orthodontic practice. The EOQM is primarily designed as a stimulus for the orthodontic professional to assess and improve the quality of orthodontic care. A Quality Improvement System (QIS) provides support for starting and maintaining activities. The manual provides tools to systematically assess and develop quality-related actions at individual (patient) treatment level and practice level. A systematic and comprehensive description of the treatment process is essential in order to provide a basis for establishing a QIS. Implementing a QIS will influence the provision of orthodontic care by: * Demonstrating the potentials for development of the organisational elements of orthodontics. * Planning and integrating systematic activities to monitor and improve treatment at the practice level and the patient-related level. Orthodontic treatment process is the central element in this manual. The route taken by an individual patient is described step by step. * Flowcharts describe the orthodontic treatment of the individual patient step by step. * Guidelines indicate what the professional should do at the various steps in order to follow the generally accepted objectives of orthodontics as described in the policy statements. * Indicators are tools to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of treatment. The indicators provide the professional with facts about own performance. The EOQM, provides the orthodontic professional with a model for incorporating quality improvement into daily practice, which is based on European orthodontic consensus and current principles of quality in health care. It can be incorporated in the quality initiatives that are already being developed nationally and vice versa.