Summary Background EUROCARE is the largest population-based cooperative study on survival of patients with cancer. The EUROCARE project aims to regularly monitor, analyse, and explain survival trends ...and between-country differences in survival. This report (EUROCARE-4) presents survival data for eight selected cancer sites and for all cancers combined, diagnosed in adult (aged ≥15 years) Europeans in 1995–99 and followed up until the end of 2003. Methods We analysed data from 83 cancer registries in 23 European countries on 2 699 086 adult cancer cases that were diagnosed in 1995–99 and followed up to December, 2003. We calculated country-specific and mean-weighted age-adjusted 5-year relative survival for eight major cancers. Additionally, case-mix-adjusted 5-year survival for all cancers combined was calculated by countries ranked by total national expenditure on health (TNEH). Changes to survival were analysed relative to cases diagnosed in 1990–94. Findings Mean age-adjusted 5-year relative survival for colorectal (53·8% 95% CI 53·3–54·1), lung (12·3% 12·1–12·5), breast (78·9% 78·6–79·2), prostate (75·7% 75·2–76·2), and ovarian (36·3% 35·7–37·0) cancer was highest in Nordic countries (except Denmark) and central Europe, intermediate in southern Europe, lower in the UK and Ireland, and worst in eastern Europe. Survival for melanoma (81·6% 81·0–82·3), cancer of the testis (94·2% 93·4–95·0), and Hodgkin's disease (80·0% 79·0–81·0) varied little with geography. All-cancer survival correlated with TNEH for most countries. Denmark and UK had lower all-cancer survival than countries with similar TNEH; Finland had high all-cancer survival, but moderate TNEH. Survival increased and intercountry survival differences narrowed between the data for 1990–94 and 1995–99 for, notably, Hodgkin's disease (range 66·1–82·9 IQR 72·2–78·6 vs 74·0–83·9 78·6–81·9), colorectal (29·4–56·7 45·8–54·1 vs 38·8–59·7 50·7–57·5), and breast (61·7–82·7 72·3–78·3 vs 69·3–87·6 76·6–82·7) sites. Interpretation Increases in survival and decreases in geographic differences over time, which are mainly due to improvements in health-care services in countries with poor survival, might indicate better cancer care. Wealthy countries with high TNEH generally had good cancer outcomes, but those with conspicuously worse outcomes than those with similar TNEH might not be allocating health resources efficiently.
Summary Background More effective treatments have become available for haematological malignancies from the early 2000s, but few large-scale population-based studies have investigated their effect on ...survival. Using EUROCARE data, and HAEMACARE morphological groupings, we aimed to estimate time trends in population-based survival for 11 lymphoid and myeloid malignancies in 20 European countries, by region and age. Methods In this retrospective observational study, we included patients (aged 15 years and older) diagnosed with haematological malignancies, diagnosed up to Dec 31, 2007, and followed up to Dec 31, 2008. We used data from the 30 cancer registries (across 20 countries) that provided continuous incidence and good quality data from 1992 to 2007. We used a hybrid approach to estimate age-standardised and age-specific 5-year relative survival, for each malignancy, overall and for five regions (UK, and northern, central, southern, and eastern Europe), and four 3-year periods (1997–99, 2000–02, 2003–05, 2006–08). For each malignancy, we also estimated the relative excess risk of death during the 5 years after diagnosis, by period, age, and region. Findings We analysed 560 444 cases. From 1997–99 to 2006–08 survival increased for most malignancies: the largest increases were for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (42·0% 95% CI 40·7–43·4 to 55·4% 54·6–56·2, p<0·0001), follicular lymphoma (58·9% 57·3–60·6 to 74·3% 72·9–75·5, p<0·0001), chronic myeloid leukaemia (32·3% 30·6–33·9 to 54·4% 52·5–56·2, p<0·0001), and acute promyelocytic leukaemia (50·1% 43·7–56·2 to 61·9% 57·0–66·4, p=0·0038, estimate not age-standardised). Other survival increases were seen for Hodgkin's lymphoma (75·1% 74·1–76·0 to 79·3% 78·4–80·1, p<0·0001), chronic lymphocytic leukaemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (66·1% 65·1–67·1 to 69·0% 68·1–69·8, p<0·0001), multiple myeloma/plasmacytoma (29·8% 29·0–30·6 to 39·6% 38·8–40·3, p<0·0001), precursor lymphoblastic leukaemia/lymphoma (29·8% 27·7–32·0 to 41·1% 39·0–43·1, p<0·0001), acute myeloid leukaemia (excluding acute promyelocytic leukaemia, 12·6% 11·9–13·3 to 14·8% 14·2–15·4, p<0·0001), and other myeloproliferative neoplasms (excluding chronic myeloid leukaemia, 70·3% 68·7–71·8 to 74·9% 73·8–75·9, p<0·0001). Survival increased slightly in southern Europe, more in the UK, and conspicuously in northern, central, and eastern Europe. However, eastern European survival was lower than that for other regions. Survival decreased with advancing age, and increased with time only slightly in patients aged 75 years or older, although a 10% increase in survival occurred in elderly patients with follicular lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and chronic myeloid leukaemia. Interpretation These trends are encouraging. Widespread use of new and more effective treatment probably explains much of the increased survival. However, the persistent differences in survival across Europe suggest variations in the quality of care and availability of the new treatments. High-resolution studies that collect data about stage at diagnosis and treatments for representative samples of cases could provide further evidence of treatment effectiveness and explain geographic variations in survival. Funding Compagnia di San Paolo, Fondazione Cariplo, European Commission, and Italian Ministry of Health.
Summary Background Cancer survival varies widely between countries. The CONCORD study provides survival estimates for 1·9 million adults (aged 15–99 years) diagnosed with a first, primary, invasive ...cancer of the breast (women), colon, rectum, or prostate during 1990–94 and followed up to 1999, by use of individual tumour records from 101 population-based cancer registries in 31 countries on five continents. This is, to our knowledge, the first worldwide analysis of cancer survival, with standard quality-control procedures and identical analytic methods for all datasets. Methods To compensate for wide international differences in general population (background) mortality by age, sex, country, region, calendar period, and (in the USA) ethnic origin, we estimated relative survival, the ratio of survival noted in the patients with cancer, and the survival that would have been expected had they been subject only to the background mortality rates. 2800 life tables were constructed. Survival estimates were also adjusted for differences in the age structure of populations of patients with cancer. Findings Global variation in cancer survival was very wide. 5-year relative survival for breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer was generally higher in North America, Australia, Japan, and northern, western, and southern Europe, and lower in Algeria, Brazil, and eastern Europe. CONCORD has provided the first opportunity to estimate cancer survival in 11 states in USA covered by the National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR), and the study covers 42% of the US population, four-fold more than previously available. Cancer survival in black men and women was systematically and substantially lower than in white men and women in all 16 states and six metropolitan areas included. Relative survival for all ethnicities combined was 2–4% lower in states covered by NPCR than in areas covered by the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program. Age-standardised relative survival by use of the appropriate race-specific and state-specific life tables was up to 2% lower for breast cancer and up to 5% lower for prostate cancer than with the census-derived national life tables used by the SEER Program. These differences in population coverage and analytical method have both contributed to the survival deficit noted between Europe and the USA, from which only SEER data have been available until now. Interpretation Until now, direct comparisons of cancer survival between high-income and low-income countries have not generally been available. The information provided here might therefore be a useful stimulus for change. The findings should eventually facilitate joint assessment of international trends in incidence, survival, and mortality as indicators of cancer control. Funding Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, GA, USA), Department of Health (London, UK), Cancer Research UK (London, UK).
A native isolate of the colonial benthic diatom Staurosirella pinnata was cultivated for biosilica production. The silicified cell walls (frustules) were used as a source of homogeneous and ...structurally predictable porous biosilica for dye trapping and random laser applications. This was coupled with the extraction of lipids from biomass showing potential to fabricate photoactive composite materials sustainably. The strain was selected for its ease of growth in culture and harvesting. Biosilica and lipids were obtained at the end of growth in indoor photobioreactors. Frustules were structurally characterized microscopically and their chemistry analyzed with Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. Frustule capacity of binding laser dyes was evaluated on a set of frustules/Rhodamine B (Rho B) solutions and with respect to silicon dioxide and diatomite by Fluorescence Spectroscopy demonstrating a high affinity for the organic dye. The effect of dye trapping property in conveying Rho B emission to frustules, with enhancement of scattering events, was analyzed on Rho B doped polyacrylamide gels filled or not with frustules. Amplified spontaneous emission was recorded at increasing pump power indicating the onset of a random laser effect in frustule filled gels at lower power threshold compared to unfilled matrices.
Circular economy thinking has become the subject of academic enquiry across several disciplines recently. Yet whilst its technical and business angles are more widely discussed, its philosophical ...underpinnings and socio-economic implications are insufficiently investigated. In this article, we aim to contribute to their understanding by uncovering the circular economy role in shaping a
new vision
, highlighting the social and economic dimensions of future imaginaries and the mechanisms that can enable them to bring about change in the social context. We believe that defining the vision that the circular economy is contributing to shape is key to explain its conceptual framework and activities. Drawing on the concept of
fictional expectations,
we uncover one of the plausible social dimensions inherent to the circular economy thinking thereby opening up a new perspective on the current debate in the circular economy literature wherein authors, by contrast, are emphasising the lack of an explicit social dimension.
Fictional expectations
are introduced to refer to those imaginaries of the future that can catalyse social action in the present and counteract
societal addictions
, in which modern society seems to be trapped. We show how a circular economy inspired vision can be instrumental to the emergence of a fictional expectation that can provide
therapies
to the current
societal addiction
of wasteful production and consumption systems. This philosophical background allows us to provide, in conclusion, a new conceptualisation of the circular economy as a cognitive framework instrumental to the emergence of a future imaginary.
Business models have become the subject of increasing attention amid management practitioners and researchers since the early nineties and business model innovation has emerged as a distinctive field ...of academic enquiry. More recently, business model innovation for the circular economy has caught the attention of business leaders and academics alike as the circular economy promises to deliver economic prosperity within ecological limits. Yet research on circular business models is nascent and the business literature gives limited attention to the challenges deriving from circular economy implementation. Using an integrative research approach and particularly, drawing on both paradox theory and circular economy principles and loops, this article provides a preliminary, conceptual systematisation of the typology of organisational tensions in circular economy implementation. It also discusses the relevance of these tensions from a business model perspective. As a result, this article contributes to circular economy research wherein challenges are mostly analysed at the macro level and in the absence of a specific theoretical anchoring.
•Studies of tensions in circular business model implementation are limited.•A framework of tensions in circular business model implementation is built.•Paradox theory underpins the conceptual framework.•Organisational paradoxes are linked to circular economy principles and loops.
Circular modes of production, known as the circular economy, are welcomed in political and business circles to overcome the shortcomings of traditional linear operating models. This article presents ...preliminary propositions concerning implications for the development of what we term 'circular supply chains', defined here as the embodiment of circular economy principles within supply chain management. Our propositions are based on the following arguments: a shift from product ownership to leasing and access in supply chain relationships; the relevance of structural flexibility and start-ups in regional or local loops; open and closed material loops in technical and biological cycles; closer collaboration within and beyond immediate industry boundaries and public and private procurement in the service industry as a lever for the scaling up of circular business models. We discuss what these circular economy principles mean in terms of supply chain challenges and conclude with limitations and future research agenda.
Broad consensus seems to have emerged on the circular economy as a plausible and desirable solution to build prosperity while respecting ecological boundaries. However, its implementation in industry ...is slow paced. Whilst the systemic nature of the innovation required and barriers to implementation in complex sustainability transitions partially explain why this is the case, reflecting on the contribution of the growing scholarly literature on circular business models to orient management practice is also relevant. In fact, despite the existence of a fairly voluminous scholarly literature on the subject, practitioners are either uncertain or struggling about how to implement circular economy strategies and models. Using an integrative research approach to theory building and drawing on systems theory, this article proposes a resilient complex adaptive system view of circular business models. The resulting framework is a stepping‐stone to overcoming conceptual ambiguities and construct fallacies in the way circular business models are typified.
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•PMMA@EosinY nanoparticles have been synthesized (RH 215–530nm).•Microribbons have been fabricated by room temperature convective self-assembly of nanoparticles.•Higher suspension ...concentration produces larger and thicker ribbons.•Deposited volume up to ∼198μL results in higher ribbon thickness.•Material presents the green iridescence due to the photonic crystal stop band.
A modified emulsion synthesis of poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) with the Eosin Y (EY), commercial chromophore, yields dye doped polymeric nanoparticles (PMMA@EY). A systematic investigation on the experimental parameters (monomer and initiator concentration, reaction time and MMA/EY molar ratio) has been explored to modulate physico-chemical properties of the dye doped polymeric colloids. Spherical shaped particles, doped with EY (0.5–3.0wt%; loading efficiency η=11–15%), with controlled diameters in the range 240–510nm, low dispersity and ζ-potential values in the range between −42mV and −59mV, have been synthesized and characterized by means of UV–Vis spectrometry, Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), laser Doppler electrophoresis and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Microribbons based on PMMA@EY nanoparticles have been fabricated by room temperature self-assembly of aqueous colloidal suspension on highly wettable glass substrates. Surface chemical treatment assisted the formation of long (up to few centimeters) regular ribbons with rectangular section. Lateral size and height of the structures have been controlled by changing the suspension concentration and/or the deposition volume: the higher suspension concentration produces larger and thicker ribbons and the higher deposited volume produces thicker ribbons (up to 23μm with 198μL of a 3wt% suspension). Moreover, a transition from a film-like to a ribbon-like growth has been observed with increasing nanoparticles concentration. Short range ordering and photonic crystal features have been maintained in the fluorescent ribbon microarchitecture, resulting in a self-assembled material with excellent potential for the development of mirror-less and random lasers.
PurposeThis article develops conceptual and paradigmatic clarity in the circular economy literature from a management studies perspective.Design/methodology/approachThis article uses a systematic ...literature review for analysing how circular economy is currently understood. It also reflects on how to establish paradigmatic anchoring of the circular economy in the management field.FindingsMultiple definitions of the circular economy exist, but they depict the circular economy narrowly and fail to incorporate aspects of competitiveness and profitability. Additionally, most of sustainability management research displays shortcomings in the way this literature frames the organisation–nature relationship.Research limitations/implicationsThis article aims to support conceptual and theoretical development in the circular economy literature and highlights opportunities for enhanced competitiveness and profitability deriving from circular business model innovation. However, further research is welcomed to assess this connection.Practical implicationsThe conceptualisation of the circular economy proposed in this study emphasises aspects of competitiveness and profitability, which is of relevance to management practitioners.Originality/valueThis study addresses current shortcomings in how the circular economy is conceptualised. As a result, it proposes a more comprehensive conceptualisation which also includes competitiveness and profitability aspects and, thereby, is relevant from a management studies perspective. It also provides paradigmatic anchoring to the circular economy concept by suggesting that the sustaincentric paradigm, which has received limited scholarly attention so far, is suitable to inform circular economy research and practice.
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