Spatial distribution of bivalves in relation to environmental conditions (middle Danube catchment, Hungary)

The spatial distribution of bivalves in relation to environmental conditions was studied along a second- and third order stream – medium-sized river (River Ipoly) – large river (River Danube) continuum in the Hungarian Danube River system. Quantitative samples were collected four times in 2007 and a total of 1662 specimens, belonging to 22 bivalve species were identified. Among these species, two are endangered (Pseudanodonta complanata, Unio crassus) and five are invasive (Dreissena polymorpha, D. rostriformis bugensis, Corbicula fluminea, C. fluminalis, Anodonta woodiana) in Hungary. The higher density presented by Pisidium subtruncatum, P. supinum, P. henslowanum and C. fluminea suggests that these species may have a key role in this ecosystem. Three different faunal groups were distinguished but no significant temporal change was detected. The lowest density and diversity with two species (P. casertanum and P. personatum) occurred in streams. The highest density and diversity was found in the River Ipoly, in the side arms of the Danube and in the main arm of the Danube with sand and silt substrate, being dominated by P. subtruncatum and P. henslowanum. Moderate density and species richness were observed in the main arm of the Danube with pebble and stone substrate, being dominated by C. fluminea and S. rivicola. Ten environmental variables were found to have significant influence on the distribution of bivalves, the strongest explanatory factors being substrate types, current velocity and sedimentological characteristics.The project was financially supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund under the contract No. OTKA T/046180. Special thanks to the DanubeIpoly National Park for the help in field work.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A global research priority agenda to advance public health responses to fatty liver disease

Background & aims An estimated 38% of adults worldwide have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). From individual impacts to widespread public health and economic consequences, the implications of this disease are profound. This study aimed to develop an aligned, prioritised fatty liver disease research agenda for the global health community. Methods Nine co-chairs drafted initial research priorities, subsequently reviewed by 40 core authors and debated during a three-day in-person meeting. Following a Delphi methodology, over two rounds, a large panel (R1 n = 344, R2 n = 288) reviewed the priorities, via Qualtrics XM, indicating agreement using a four-point Likert-scale and providing written feedback. The core group revised the draft priorities between rounds. In R2, panellists also ranked the priorities within six domains: epidemiology, models of care, treatment and care, education and awareness, patient and community perspectives, and leadership and public health policy. Results The consensus-built fatty liver disease research agenda encompasses 28 priorities. The mean percentage of ‘agree’ responses increased from 78.3 in R1 to 81.1 in R2. Five priorities received unanimous combined agreement (‘agree’ + ‘somewhat agree’); the remaining 23 priorities had >90% combined agreement. While all but one of the priorities exhibited at least a super-majority of agreement (>66.7% ‘agree’), 13 priorities had 90% combined agreement. Conclusions Adopting this multidisciplinary consensus-built research priorities agenda can deliver a step-change in addressing fatty liver disease, mitigating against its individual and societal harms and proactively altering its natural history through prevention, identification, treatment, and care. This agenda should catalyse the global health community’s efforts to advance and accelerate responses to this widespread and fast-growing public health threat. Impact and implications An estimated 38% of adults and 13% of children and adolescents worldwide have fatty liver disease, making it the most prevalent liver disease in history. Despite substantial scientific progress in the past three decades, the burden continues to grow, with an urgent need to advance understanding of how to prevent, manage, and treat the disease. Through a global consensus process, a multidisciplinary group agreed on 28 research priorities covering a broad range of themes, from disease burden, treatment, and health system responses to awareness and policy. The findings have relevance for clinical and non-clinical researchers as well as funders working on fatty liver disease and non-communicable diseases more broadly, setting out a prioritised, ranked research agenda for turning the tide on this fast-growing public health threat

The adaptation and investigation of cone-beam CT reconstruction algorithms for horizontal rotation fixed-gantry scans of rabbits

Fixed-gantry radiation therapy has been proposed as a low-cost alternative to the conventional rotating-gantry radiation therapy, that may help meet the rising global treatment demand. Fixed-gantry systems require gravitational motion compensated reconstruction algorithms to produce cone-beam CT (CBCT) images of sufficient quality for image guidance. The aim of this work was to adapt and investigate five CBCT reconstruction algorithms for fixed-gantry cone-beam CT images. The five algorithms investigated were Feldkamp-Davis-Kress (FDK), prior image constrained compressed sensing (PICCS), gravitational motion compensated FDK (GMCFDK), motion compensated PICCS (MCPICCS) (a novel CBCT reconstruction algorithm) and simultaneous motion estimation and iterative reconstruction (SMEIR). Fixed-gantry and rotating-gantry CBCT scans were acquired of 3 rabbits, with the rotating-gantry scans used as a reference. Projections were sorted into rotation bins, based on the angle of rotation of the rabbit during image acquisition. The algorithms were compared using the structural similarity index measure root-mean-square error, and reconstruction time. Evaluation of the reconstructed volumes showed that, when compared with the reference rotating-gantry volume, the conventional FDK algorithm did not accurately reconstruct fixed-gantry CBCT scans. Whilst the PICCS reconstruction algorithm reduced some motion artefacts, the motion estimation reconstruction methods (GMCFDK, MCPICCS and SMEIR) were able to greatly reduce the effect of motion artefacts on the reconstructed volumes. This finding was verified quantitatively, with GMCFDK, MCPICCS and SMEIR reconstructions having RMSE 17-19% lower and SSIM 1% higher than a conventional FDK. However, all motion compensated fixed-gantry CBCT reconstructions had a 56-61% higher RMSE and 1.5% lower SSIM than FDK reconstructions of conventional rotating-gantry CBCT scans. The results show that motion compensation is required to reduce motion artefacts for fixed-gantry CBCT reconstructions. This paper further demonstrates the feasibility of fixed-gantry CBCT scans, and the ability of CBCT reconstruction algorithms to compensate for motion due to horizontal rotation.Mark Gardner, Owen Dillon, Chun-Chien Shieh, Ricky O’Brien, Emily Debrot, Jeffrey Barber, Verity Ahern, Peter Bennett, Soo-Min Heng, Stéphanie Corde, Michael Jackson, and Paul Keal