The (d)evolution of a technological species: A history and critique of ecopsychology's constructions of science and technology.

In this paper, I aim to convey the history of ecopsychology's changing conceptualizations of science and technology and their role in facilitating engagement with the ecology movement. To do so, I compare ecopsychology's treatment of science and technology in two important publications: Gatherings, a non-peer-reviewed digital journal of the early 2000s that portrayed ecopsychology in humanistic, socially critical, and artistic terms; and Ecopsychology, a scholarly journal founded in 2009 that regarded ecopsychological questions as testable hypotheses, and distinguished itself from prior ("first generation") ecopsychology on the basis of its embrace of technological progress and the scientific method. As a part of this shift, ecopsychologists of the "second generation" championed the notion that humans are a "Technological Species," an ontological statement that naturalized the increasing sophistication of high technology as the result of inherent human drives, and established conceptual groundwork for studies that used consumer technology such as computers to mediate experiences of nature. In the final part of the paper, I critique the "Technological Species" proposition for obscuring the historical and material conditions that make the existence of consumer technology possible, such as the ecologically devastating mining of rare-earth metals on colonized land in Central and South America. I argue that, to be socially and ecologically accountable, ecopsychology should turn toward practices that help us make sense of consumer technology's place in systems of colonialist and ecological violence, process our place within these systems as users of consumer technology, and build community less dependent on technology.

Psychological distress and lifestyle disruption in low-risk prostate cancer patients: Comparison between active surveillance and radical prostatectomy.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify distress in men treated with radical prostatectomy (RP) or active surveillance (AS). METHODS: In a retrospective cross-sectional design, we assessed men through questionnaire and investigator-designed questions. RESULTS: RP patients worried more about cancer spread than AS patients. RP patients were influenced by friends for treatment decision, whereas AS patients were influenced by urologists. RP group report declines in intimacy and instrumental. AS men worried more about future health and dying than post-RP men. CONCLUSION: Fear of disease progression may be a motivating factor in choosing RP. AS patients adhere to their treatment decision in spite of distress.

Health-related quality of life following radical prostatectomy: long-term outcomes.

PURPOSE: To identify the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) domains that radical prostatectomy (RP) impacts most negatively and to define the recovery of these domains over 30 months of observation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 1,200 RP patients completed the Patient-Oriented Prostate Utility Scale-Psychometric (PORPUS-P; range 0-100, higher is better), a prostate cancer-specific HRQoL measure, prior to RP and at 0-3 (T1), 3-9 (T2), 9-18 (T3) and 18-30 (T4) months post-RP. HRQoL changes were examined using paired t tests and a mixed-effect growth curve model. Multivariable analyses were performed to investigate demographic and treatment factors predicting the change in HRQoL. RESULTS: Mean baseline PORPUS-P score, 83.1, fell to 66.5 (p < 0.001) at T1. Over time HRQoL improved but did not return to baseline (T4 mean 76.4, p < 0.001). Domain analysis revealed that sexual function (p < 0.001), sexual drive (p < 0.001), energy (p = 0.001) and bladder control (p < 0.001) failed to return to baseline at T4. Sexual function demonstrated the greatest impairment overall. The multivariable model revealed Black men experienced greater losses in global HRQoL compared with White men (coefficient -2.77, 95% CI -5.00 to -0.54, p = 0.015). High baseline HRQoL, pro-erectile aid use and bilateral nerve-sparing were significantly associated with smaller reductions in HRQoL post-RP. CONCLUSION: Overall HRQoL, sexual drive, sexual function, energy and bladder control do not return to preoperative levels within 30 months post-RP. Black patients experience the greatest reductions in HRQoL. HRQoL losses may be ameliorated by use of pro-erectile aids. These findings help to identify at-risk patient populations and inform survivorship programs.

Assessment of response of brain metastases to radiotherapy by PET imaging of apoptosis with ¹8F-ML-10.

PURPOSE: Early assessment of tumor response to therapy is vital for treatment optimization for the individual cancer patient. Induction of apoptosis is an early and nearly universal effect of anticancer therapies. The purpose of this study was to assess the performance of (18)F-ML-10, a novel PET radiotracer for apoptosis, as a tool for the early detection of response of brain metastases to whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten patients with brain metastases treated with WBRT at 30 Gy in ten daily fractions were enrolled in this trial. Each patient underwent two (18)F-ML-10 PET scans, one prior to the radiation therapy (baseline scan), and the second after nine or ten fractions of radiotherapy (follow-up scan). MRI was performed at 6-8 weeks following completion of the radiation therapy. Early treatment-induced changes in tumor (18)F-ML-10 uptake on the PET scan were measured by voxel-based analysis, and were then evaluated by correlation analysis as predictors of the extent of later changes in tumor anatomical dimensions as seen on MRI scans 6-8 weeks after completion of therapy. RESULTS: In all ten patients, all brain lesions were detected by both MRI and the (18)F-ML-10 PET scan. A highly significant correlation was found between early changes on the (18)F-ML-10 scan and later changes in tumor anatomical dimensions (r = 0.9). CONCLUSION: These results support the potential of (18)F-ML-10 PET as a novel tool for the early detection of response of brain metastases to WBRT.