Clean Seas Project Harbour Survey Report (Ireland)

The aims of this EU co-funded INTERREG project were to help minimise waste discharge and loss from boats and harbours into the sea and to improve waste management practices in the Maritime INTERREG-IIA area. The project relied mainly on awareness raising work, including gathering and providing information on the level of littering, oil pollution and waste disposal methods, legislation and best practise. The partners - Keep Wales Tidy and Coastwatch Ireland - instigated and participated in clean up action and helped install model waste reception facilities. Harbours in Wales and Ireland were visited by a Galway Hooker - the Clionna na Toinne - Coastwatch Ireland’s “Green Boat”. Joint boat events were supplemented by individual initiatives on both coasts. The present report covers the final Irish partner contribution to the project.Funder: European Unio

High resolution propagation-based imaging system for in vivo dynamic computed tomography of lungs in small animals

We have developed an x-ray imaging system for in vivo four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) of small animals for pre-clinical lung investigations. Our customized laboratory facility is capable of high resolution in vivo imaging at high frame rates. Characterization using phantoms demonstrate a spatial resolution of slightly below 50 μm at imaging rates of 30 Hz, and the ability to quantify material density differences of at least 3%. We benchmark our system against existing small animal pre-clinical CT scanners using a quality factor that combines spatial resolution, image noise, dose and scan time. In vivo 4DCT images obtained on our system demonstrate resolution of important features such as blood vessels and small airways, of which the smallest discernible were measured as 55-60 μm in cross section. Quantitative analysis of the images demonstrate regional differences in ventilation between injured and healthy lungs.M. Preissner , R. P. Murrie, I. Pinar, F. Werdiger, R. P. Carnibella, G. R. Zosky, A. Fouras and S. Dubsk

In Vivo Time- Resolved Microtomography Reveals the Mechanics of the Blowfly Flight Motor

Dipteran flies are amongst the smallest and most agile of flying animals. Their wings are driven indirectly by large power muscles, which cause cyclical deformations of the thorax that are amplified through the intricate wing hinge. Asymmetric flight manoeuvres are controlled by 13 pairs of steering muscles acting directly on the wing articulations. Collectively the steering muscles account for <3% of total flight muscle mass, raising the question of how they can modulate the vastly greater output of the power muscles during manoeuvres. Here we present the results of a synchrotron-based study performing micrometre-resolution, time-resolved microtomography on the 145 Hz wingbeat of blowflies. These data represent the first four-dimensional visualizations of an organism's internal movements on sub-millisecond and micrometre scales. This technique allows us to visualize and measure the three-dimensional movements of five of the largest steering muscles, and to place these in the context of the deforming thoracic mechanism that the muscles actuate. Our visualizations show that the steering muscles operate through a diverse range of nonlinear mechanisms, revealing several unexpected features that could not have been identified using any other technique. The tendons of some steering muscles buckle on every wingbeat to accommodate high amplitude movements of the wing hinge. Other steering muscles absorb kinetic energy from an oscillating control linkage, which rotates at low wingbeat amplitude but translates at high wingbeat amplitude. Kinetic energy is distributed differently in these two modes of oscillation, which may play a role in asymmetric power management during flight control. Structural flexibility is known to be important to the aerodynamic efficiency of insect wings, and to the function of their indirect power muscles. We show that it is integral also to the operation of the steering muscles, and so to the functional flexibility of the insect flight motor

Quantification of muco-obstructive lung disease variability in mice via laboratory X-ray velocimetry

To effectively diagnose, monitor and treat respiratory disease clinicians should be able to accurately assess the spatial distribution of airflow across the fine structure of lung. This capability would enable any decline or improvement in health to be located and measured, allowing improved treatment options to be designed. Current lung function assessment methods have many limitations, including the inability to accurately localise the origin of global changes within the lung. However, X-ray velocimetry (XV) has recently been demonstrated to be a sophisticated and non-invasive lung function measurement tool that is able to display the full dynamics of airflow throughout the lung over the natural breathing cycle. In this study we present two developments in XV analysis. Firstly, we show the ability of laboratory-based XV to detect the patchy nature of cystic fibrosis (CF)-like disease in β-ENaC mice. Secondly, we present a technique for numerical quantification of CF-like disease in mice that can delineate between two major modes of disease symptoms. We propose this analytical model as a simple, easy-to-interpret approach, and one capable of being readily applied to large quantities of data generated in XV imaging. Together these advances show the power of XV for assessing local airflow changes. We propose that XV should be considered as a novel lung function measurement tool for lung therapeutics development in small animal models, for CF and for other muco-obstructive diseases.Freda Werdiger, Martin Donnelley, Stephen Dubsky, Rhiannon P. Murrie, Richard P. Carnibella, Chaminda R. Samarage ... et al

Quantification of heterogeneity in lung disease with image-based pulmonary function testing

Published: 27 July 2016Computed tomography (CT) and spirometry are the mainstays of clinical pulmonary assessment. Spirometry is effort dependent and only provides a single global measure that is insensitive for regional disease, and as such, poor for capturing the early onset of lung disease, especially patchy disease such as cystic fibrosis lung disease. CT sensitively measures change in structure associated with advanced lung disease. However, obstructions in the peripheral airways and early onset of lung stiffening are often difficult to detect. Furthermore, CT imaging poses a radiation risk, particularly for young children, and dose reduction tends to result in reduced resolution. Here, we apply a series of lung tissue motion analyses, to achieve regional pulmonary function assessment in β-ENaC-overexpressing mice, a well-established model of lung disease. The expiratory time constants of regional airflows in the segmented airway tree were quantified as a measure of regional lung function. Our results showed marked heterogeneous lung function in β-ENaC-Tg mice compared to wild-type littermate controls; identified locations of airway obstruction, and quantified regions of bimodal airway resistance demonstrating lung compensation. These results demonstrate the applicability of regional lung function derived from lung motion as an effective alternative respiratory diagnostic tool.Charlene S. Stahr, Chaminda R. Samarage, Martin Donnelley, Nigel Farrow, Kaye S. Morgan, Graeme Zosky, Richard C. Boucher, Karen K. W. Siu, Marcus A. Mall, David W. Parsons, Stephen Dubsky and Andreas Foura

Aromatase inhibitors versus tamoxifen in early breast cancer: patient-level meta-analysis of the randomised trials

Background The optimal ways of using aromatase inhibitors or tamoxifen as endocrine treatment for early breast cancer remains uncertain. Methods We undertook meta-analyses of individual data on 31 920 postmenopausal women with oestrogen-receptor-positive early breast cancer in the randomised trials of 5 years of aromatase inhibitor versus 5 years of tamoxifen; of 5 years of aromatase inhibitor versus 2-3 years of tamoxifen then aromatase inhibitor to year 5; and of 2-3 years of tamoxifen then aromatase inhibitor to year 5 versus 5 years of tamoxifen. Primary outcomes were any recurrence of breast cancer, breast cancer mortality, death without recurrence, and all-cause mortality. Intention-to-treat log-rank analyses, stratified by age, nodal status, and trial, yielded aromatase inhibitor versus tamoxifen first-event rate ratios (RRs). Findings In the comparison of 5 years of aromatase inhibitor versus 5 years of tamoxifen, recurrence RRs favoured aromatase inhibitors significantly during years 0-1 (RR 0.64, 95% CI 0.52-0.78) and 2-4 (RR 0.80, 0.68-0.93), and non-significantly thereafter. 10-year breast cancer mortality was lower with aromatase inhibitors than tamoxifen (12.1% vs 14.2%; RR 0.85, 0.75-0.96; 2p=0.009). In the comparison of 5 years of aromatase inhibitor versus 2-3 years of tamoxifen then aromatase inhibitor to year 5, recurrence RRs favoured aromatase inhibitors significantly during years 0-1 (RR 0.74, 0.62-0.89) but not while both groups received aromatase inhibitors during years 2-4, or thereafter; overall in these trials, there were fewer recurrences with 5 years of aromatase inhibitors than with tamoxifen then aromatase inhibitors (RR 0.90, 0.81-0.99; 2p=0.045), though the breast cancer mortality reduction was not significant (RR 0.89, 0.78-1.03; 2p=0.11). In the comparison of 2-3 years of tamoxifen then aromatase inhibitor to year 5 versus 5 years of tamoxifen, recurrence RRs favoured aromatase inhibitors significantly during years 2-4 (RR 0.56, 0.46-0.67) but not subsequently, and 10-year breast cancer mortality was lower with switching to aromatase inhibitors than with remaining on tamoxifen (8.7% vs 10.1%; 2p=0.015). Aggregating all three types of comparison, recurrence RRs favoured aromatase inhibitors during periods when treatments differed (RR 0.70, 0.64-0.77), but not significantly thereafter (RR 0.93, 0.86-1.01; 2p=0.08). Breast cancer mortality was reduced both while treatments differed (RR 0.79, 0.67-0.92), and subsequently (RR 0.89, 0.81-0.99), and for all periods combined (RR 0.86, 0.80-0.94; 2p=0.0005). All-cause mortality was also reduced (RR 0.88, 0.82-0.94; 2p=0.0003). RRs differed little by age, body-mass index, stage, grade, progesterone receptor status, or HER2 status. There were fewer endometrial cancers with aromatase inhibitors than tamoxifen (10-year incidence 0.4% vs 1.2%; RR 0.33, 0.21-0.51) but more bone fractures (5-year risk 8.2% vs 5.5%; RR 1.42, 1.28-1.57); non-breast-cancer mortality was similar. Interpretation Aromatase inhibitors reduce recurrence rates by about 30% (proportionately) compared with tamoxifen while treatments diff er, but not thereafter. 5 years of an aromatase inhibitor reduces 10-year breast cancer mortality rates by about 15% compared with 5 years of tamoxifen, hence by about 40% (proportionately) compared with no endocrine treatment. Copyright (C) Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group (EBCTCG). Open Access article distributed under the terms of CC BY