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"Eder, Christina"
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Political Trust and Disenchantment with Politics
Political Trust and Disenchantment with Politics contributes fresh empirical findings to research on the relationship between trust and participation. The results indicate that the citizens of European societies and beyond are far from an universal retreat from the political sphere.
eBook
Public opinion in policy contexts. A comparative analysis of domestic energy policies and individual policy preferences in Europe
Recent research and real-world processes suggest that effective climate change mitigation policies are not feasible without at least a certain degree of public support. Hence, we investigate the link between existing domestic energy policies and individual policy instrument preferences in 21 European countries. We assume a policy feedback perspective and, thus, start from the idea that the current domestic energy context influences what future policies are possible and preferred by citizens. High political trust and strong climate change attitudes are expected to strengthen this relationship. Our results do not lend support to a general link between existing policies and future policy preferences. However, we find evidence of a positive policy feedback in individuals with strong climate change attitudes and/or high levels of political trust, which, depending on each country’s current energy policy, either hinders or facilitates the energy transition.
Journal Article
Functional imaging in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: correlation of PET/CT and diffusion-weighted imaging at 3 Tesla
Purpose
The purposes of this study were: (a) to prospectively assess the correlation between apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values and maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax) in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (SCC); and (b) to assess ADC and SUVmax values in relation to different tumour grades and stages in our patient population.
Methods
The study group comprised 31 consecutive patients with biopsy-proven head and neck squamous cell carcinoma who were examined using a 3T MRI scanner with a 16-channel head and neck coil. In addition to routine sequences, axial (DWIBS) and sagittal (DW-EPI) diffusion-weighted sequences were obtained using b-values of 0 mm
2
/s and 800 mm
2
/s. The ADC maps were calculated automatically. The ADC values of the tumours were measured with three regions of interest (ROIs) of standard size, and an ROI covering the entire tumour. In all patients, contrast-enhanced, whole-body
18
F-FDG PET/CT was performed within 2 weeks of the MRI examination. SUVmax was measured for every tumour using a 3-D freehand ROI that covered the entire tumour. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA was used for group comparisons. The Spearman rank correlation test was performed for ADC values.
Results
Mean ADC values in the 31 SCC were 0.902 (±0.134) with a ROI of standard size, and 0.928 (±0.160) with the large ROI measurements on the axial DWIBS sequence. The ADC values of the tumours were significantly higher when measured with the sagittal DW-EPI sequence: 1.051 (±0.211) and 1.082 (±0.208). We observed no significant differences in ADC values and SUVmax between the various T stages or histological grades of the tumours. SUVmax values (26.5±12) did not correlate with ADC values on DWIBS or EPI.
Conclusion
There is no correlation between the FDG uptake and the ADC value in head and neck SCC. The three different tumour grades and four tumour stages present in our study population could not be differentiated based on ADC values or SUV.
Journal Article
FAIR national election studies: How well are we doing?
Election studies are an important data pillar in political and social science, as most political research investigations involve secondary use of existing datasets. Researchers depend on high-quality data because data quality determines the accuracy of the conclusions drawn from statistical analyses. We outline data reuse quality criteria pertaining to data accessibility, metadata provision, and data documentation using the FAIR Principles of research data management as a framework (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability). We then investigate the extent to which a selection of election studies fulfils these criteria using studies from Western democracies. Our results reveal that although most election studies are easily accessible and well documented and that the overall level of data processing is satisfactory, some important deficits remain. Further analyses of technical documentation indicate that while a majority of election studies provide the necessary documents, there is still room for improvement.
Journal Article
Vote, party, or protest: The influence of confidence in political institutions on various modes of political participation in Europe
Although the study of the relationship between political confidence and political participation has produced contradictory results thus far, it has established, nevertheless, that this relationship depends on the exact nature of the participation: voting, party engagement and protesting. On the basis of these findings, to further specify the nature of this relationship, we make a second distinction between confidence in representative and implementing institutions. We assume that context matters, so our multi-level approach includes individual level data from the 1999 to 2001 and 2008 to 2010 waves of the European Values Study (EVS), as well as national-level data. Our results show that different types of confidence in institutions have unique effects on these three modes of participation and that these findings hold over the last decade. While confidence in parliament is the key to the elite-driven modes of participation, grassroots-driven modes are triggered by a lack of confidence in the implementing institutions.
Journal Article
Betulinic Acid a Radiosensitizer in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Lines
Background and Purpose:
Betulinic acid, a pentacyclic triterpene, is a new cytotoxic compound active on melanoma, neuroblastoma, glioblastoma and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cells. In combination with irradiation it has been shown to have an additive effect on growth inhibition in melanoma cells. In this study, the radiosensitizing effect of betulinic acid on sequential irradiation was investigated in HNSCC cell lines.
Material and Methods:
Two HNSCC cell lines, SCC9 and SCC25, were treated with increasing doses of betulinic acid and sequentially irradiated with a single boost of 4 Gy from a conventional radiation source. The cells were counted, the surviving fraction was determined, and colony-forming assays were performed.
Results:
It could be shown that betulinic acid alone inhibits cell survival, affects cell survival additively in combination with irradiation and decreases clonogenic survival in both cell lines when applied alone.
Conclusion:
Betulinic acid could be a promising treatment agent in radioresistant head and neck cancer. A combination of betulinic acid with radiotherapy seems to be beneficial.
Journal Article
Radiosensitization of head and neck cancer cells by the phytochemical agent sulforaphane
Background and Purpose
Sulforaphane is a naturally occurring compound found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables. Recently it gained attention because of its antiproliferative properties in many cancer cell lines. The aim of this study was to investigate whether sulforaphane could act as a radiosensitizer in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell lines.
Materials and Methods
Four head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell lines (i.e., (HNSCC) SCC9, SCC25, CAL27, and FADU) were treated with sulforaphane and subsequently irradiated. Then proliferation and clonogenic assays were performed. Apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. Possible regulation of Akt and Mcl-1 was investigated by western blotting.
Results
Sulforaphane and radiation in combination leads to stronger inhibition of cell proliferation and of clonogenic survival than each treatment method alone. Western blot analysis of Akt and Mcl-1 showed no changed expression.
Conclusion
Sulforaphane is a promising agent in the treatment of head and neck cancer due to its antiproliferative and radio-sensitizing properties. A combination of sulforaphane and radiation decreases clonogenic survival. Apoptosis is not regulated through Akt or the Mcl-1 protein.
Journal Article
Comparative analysis of clinical and pathological lymph node staging data in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients treated at the General Hospital Vienna
Results from publications evaluating discrepancies between clinical staging data in relation to pathological findings demonstrate that a significant number of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients are not correctly staged. The aim of this retrospective study was to analyze potential discrepancies of radiological assessment versus pathological data of regional lymph node involvement and to compare the results with data published in the literature.
In a retrospective analysis we focused on patients with HNSCC routinely treated by surgery plus postoperative radiotherapy between 2002 and 2012. For inclusion, complete pre-operative clinical staging information with lymph node status and patho-histological information on involved lymph node regions as well as survival outcome data were mandatory. We included 87 patients (UICC stage III-IV 90.8%) for which the aforementioned data obtained by CT or MRI were available. Overall survival rates were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The Pearson correlation coefficient and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (non-linear relationship) was calculated.
Discrepancies at the level of overall tumour stage assessment were noticed in 27.5% of all cases. Thereof, 5.7% were assigned to patho-histological up-staging or down-staging of the primary tumour. At the lymph node level, 11.5% of the patients were downstaged, and 10.3% were upstaged.
The study showed that in approximately one-fifth (21.8%) of the patients, lymph node assessment by CT or MRI differs from the pathologic staging, an outcome that corresponds well with those published by several other groups in this field.
Journal Article
How Party Systems Shape Local–National Gender Gaps
Women’s representation is highest in local assemblies in some countries, while others display the largest share of female office-holders at the national level. Drawing on a new data set mapping the representation of women at all four levels of government in Germany during the 2000s, we argue that differences in party system configurations across echelons explain these distinct patterns and provide evidence for this claim. We show that left-wing parties, the main source of female office-holders, perform better at higher echelons, while minor parties and independent representatives, which favour male candidacy, win more seats at the lowest levels of government.
Journal Article