A Compact Representation of Histopathology Images using Digital Stain Separation & Frequency-Based Encoded Local Projections

In recent years, histopathology images have been increasingly used as a diagnostic tool in the medical field. The process of accurately diagnosing a biopsy sample requires significant expertise in the field, and as such can be time-consuming and is prone to uncertainty and error. With the advent of digital pathology, using image recognition systems to highlight problem areas or locate similar images can aid pathologists in making quick and accurate diagnoses. In this paper, we specifically consider the encoded local projections (ELP) algorithm, which has previously shown some success as a tool for classification and recognition of histopathology images. We build on the success of the ELP algorithm as a means for image classification and recognition by proposing a modified algorithm which captures the local frequency information of the image. The proposed algorithm estimates local frequencies by quantifying the changes in multiple projections in local windows of greyscale images. By doing so we remove the need to store the full projections, thus significantly reducing the histogram size, and decreasing computation time for image retrieval and classification tasks. Furthermore, we investigate the effectiveness of applying our method to histopathology images which have been digitally separated into their hematoxylin and eosin stain components. The proposed algorithm is tested on the publicly available invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) data set. The histograms are used to train an SVM to classify the data. The experiments showed that the proposed method outperforms the original ELP algorithm in image retrieval tasks. On classification tasks, the results are found to be comparable to state-of-the-art deep learning methods and better than many handcrafted features from the literature.Comment: Accepted for publication in the International Conference on Image Analysis and Recognition (ICIAR 2019

Observations from the EEFIT-TDMRC Mission to Sulawesi, Indonesia to Investigate the 28th September 2018 Central Sulawesi Earthquake

On the 28th September 2018 at 17:02 local time, an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 Mw hit Indonesia, with epicentre located 78km north of the city of Palu on Sulawesi Island. The earthquake ground shaking triggered four substantial landslides and several instances of liquefaction and land subsidence. Furthermore, a localised tsunami was triggered in Palu Bay, likely due to subsea landsliding. These hazards caused damage to over 70,000 properties and the deaths of at least 4,438 people. The UK Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team (EEFIT) and Indonesian Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation Research Centre (TDMRC) conducted a joint reconnaissance mission to areas affected by the earthquake. This paper presents their main findings regarding these multiple hazards and their impacts on the built environment

Effect of Pulsed or Continuous Delivery of Salt on Sensory Perception Over Short Time Intervals

Salt in the human diet is a major risk factor for hypertension and many countries have set targets to reduce salt consumption. Technological solutions are being sought to lower the salt content of processed foods without altering their taste. In this study, the approach was to deliver salt solutions in pulses of different concentrations to determine whether a pulsed delivery profile affected sensory perception of salt. Nine different salt profiles were delivered by a Dynataste device and a trained panel assessed their saltiness using time–intensity and single-score sensory techniques. The profile duration (15 s) was designed to match eating conditions and the effects of intensity and duration of the pulses on sensory perception were investigated. Sensory results from the profiles delivered in either water or in a bouillon base were not statistically different. Maximum perceived salt intensities and the area under the time– intensity curves correlated well with the overall perceived saltiness intensity despite the stimulus being delivered as several pulses. The overall saltiness scores for profiles delivering the same overall amount of sodium were statistically not different from one another suggesting that, in this system, pulsed delivery did not enhance salt perception but the overall amount of salt delivered in each profile did affect sensory perception

A stochastic local search algorithm with adaptive acceptance for high-school timetabling

Automating high school timetabling is a challenging task. This problem is a well known hard computational problem which has been of interest to practitioners as well as researchers. High schools need to timetable their regular activities once per year, or even more frequently. The exact solvers might fail to find a solution for a given instance of the problem. A selection hyper-heuristic can be defined as an easy-to-implement, easy-to-maintain and effective 'heuristic to choose heuristics' to solve such computationally hard problems. This paper describes the approach of the team hyper-heuristic search strategies and timetabling (HySST) to high school timetabling which competed in all three rounds of the third international timetabling competition. HySST generated the best new solutions for three given instances in Round 1 and gained the second place in Rounds 2 and 3. It achieved this by using a fairly standard stochastic search method but significantly enhanced by a selection hyper-heuristic with an adaptive acceptance mechanism. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Osteological and Soft-Tissue Evidence for Pneumatization in the Cervical Column of the Ostrich (Struthio camelus) and Observations on the Vertebral Columns of Non-Volant, Semi-Volant and Semi-Aquatic Birds

© 2015 Apostolaki et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License [4.0], which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The attached file is the published version of the article

Plantar plate pathology is associated with erosive disease in the painful forefoot of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Background: Disease-related foot pathology is recognised to have a significant impact on mobility and functional capacity in the majority of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The forefoot is widely affected and the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joints are the most common site of symptoms. The plantar plates are the fibrocartilaginous distal attachments of the plantar fascia inserting into the five proximal phalanges. Together with the transverse metatarsal ligament they prevent splaying of the forefoot and subluxation of the MTP joints. Damage to the plantar plates is a plausible mechanism therefore, through which the forefoot presentation, commonly described as ‘walking on pebbles’, may develop in patients with RA. The aims of this study were to investigate the relationship between plantar plate pathology and clinical, biomechanical and plain radiography findings in the painful forefoot of patients with RA. Secondly, to compare plantar plate pathology at the symptomatic lesser (2nd-5th) MTP joints in patients with RA, with a group of healthy age and gender matched control subjects without foot pain. Methods: In 41 patients with RA and ten control subjects the forefoot was imaged using 3T MRI. Intermediate weighted fat-suppressed sagittal and short axis sequences were acquired through the lesser MTP joints. Images were read prospectively by two radiologists and consensus reached. Plantar plate pathology in patients with RA was compared with control subjects. Multivariable multilevel modelling was used to assess the association between plantar plate pathology and the clinical, biomechanical and plain radiography findings. Results: There were significant differences between control subjects and patients with RA in the presence of plantar plate pathology at the lesser MTP joints. No substantive or statistically significant associations were found between plantar plate pathology and clinical and biomechanical findings. The presence of plantar plate pathology was independently associated with an increase in the odds of erosion (OR = 52.50 [8.38–326.97], p < 0.001). Conclusion: The distribution of plantar plate pathology at the lesser MTP joints in healthy control subjects differs to that seen in patients with RA who have the consequence of inflammatory disease in the forefoot. Longitudinal follow-up is required to determine the mechanism and presentation of plantar plate pathology in the painful forefoot of patients with RA

Pharmacologically directed strategies in academic anticancer drug discovery based on the European NCI compounds initiative

Background: The European NCI compounds programme, a joint initiative of the EORTC Research Branch, Cancer Research Campaign and the US National Cancer Institute, was initiated in 1993. The objective was to help the NCI in reducing the backlog of in vivo testing of potential anticancer compounds, synthesised in Europe that emerged from the NCI in vitro 60-cell screen. Methods: Over a period of more than twenty years the EORTC—Cancer Research Campaign panel reviewed ~2000 compounds of which 95 were selected for further evaluation. Selected compounds were stepwise developed with clear go/no go decision points using a pharmacologically directed programme. Results: This approach eliminated quickly compounds with unsuitable pharmacological properties. A few compounds went into Phase I clinical evaluation. The lessons learned and many of the principles outlined in the paper can easily be applied to current and future drug discovery and development programmes. Conclusions: Changes in the review panel, restrictions regarding numbers and types of compounds tested in the NCI in vitro screen and the appearance of targeted agents led to the discontinuation of the European NCI programme in 2017 and its transformation into an academic platform of excellence for anticancer drug discovery and development within the EORTC-PAMM group. This group remains open for advice and collaboration with interested parties in the field of cancer pharmacology

The epidemiology, healthcare and societal burden and costs of asthma in the UK and its member nations: analyses of standalone and linked national databases

Background There are a lack of reliable data on the epidemiology and associated burden and costs of asthma. We sought to provide the first UK-wide estimates of the epidemiology, healthcare utilisation and costs of asthma. Methods We obtained and analysed asthma-relevant data from 27 datasets: these comprised national health surveys for 2010–11, and routine administrative, health and social care datasets for 2011–12; 2011–12 costs were estimated in pounds sterling using economic modelling. Results The prevalence of asthma depended on the definition and data source used. The UK lifetime prevalence of patient-reported symptoms suggestive of asthma was 29.5 % (95 % CI, 27.7–31.3; n = 18.5 million (m) people) and 15.6 % (14.3–16.9, n = 9.8 m) for patient-reported clinician-diagnosed asthma. The annual prevalence of patient-reported clinician-diagnosed-and-treated asthma was 9.6 % (8.9–10.3, n = 6.0 m) and of clinician-reported, diagnosed-and-treated asthma 5.7 % (5.7–5.7; n = 3.6 m). Asthma resulted in at least 6.3 m primary care consultations, 93,000 hospital in-patient episodes, 1800 intensive-care unit episodes and 36,800 disability living allowance claims. The costs of asthma were estimated at least £1.1 billion: 74 % of these costs were for provision of primary care services (60 % prescribing, 14 % consultations), 13 % for disability claims, and 12 % for hospital care. There were 1160 asthma deaths. Conclusions Asthma is very common and is responsible for considerable morbidity, healthcare utilisation and financial costs to the UK public sector. Greater policy focus on primary care provision is needed to reduce the risk of asthma exacerbations, hospitalisations and deaths, and reduce costs

Is Sustained Virological Response a Marker of Treatment Efficacy in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Viral Infection with No Response or Relapse to Previous Antiviral Intervention?

Background: Randomised clinical trials (RCTs) of antiviral interventions in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection use sustained virological response (SVR) as the main outcome. There is sparse information on long-term mortality from RCTs.  Methods: We created a decision tree model based on a Cochrane systematic review on interferon retreatment for patients who did not respond to initial therapy or who relapsed following SVR. Extrapolating data to 20 years, we modelled the outcome from three scenarios: (1) observed medium-term (5 year) annual mortality rates continue to the long term (20 years); (2) long-term annual mortality in retreatment responders falls to that of the general population while retreatment non-responders continue at the medium-term mortality; (3) long-term annual mortality in retreatment non-responders is the same as control group non-responders (i.e., the increased treatment-related medium mortality “wears off”).  Results: The mean differences in life expectancy over 20 years with interferon versus control in the first, second, and third scenarios were -0.34 years (95% confidence interval (CI) -0.71 to 0.03), -0.23 years (95% CI -0.69 to 0.24), and -0.01 (95% CI -0.3 to 0.27), respectively. The life expectancy was always lower in the interferon group than in the control group in scenario 1. In scenario 3, the interferon group had a longer life expectancy than the control group only when more than 7% in the interferon group achieved SVR.  Conclusions: SVR may be a good prognostic marker but does not seem to be a valid surrogate marker for assessing HCV treatment efficacy of interferon retreatment. The SVR threshold at which retreatment increases life expectancy may be different for different drugs depending upon the adverse event profile and treatment efficacy. This has to be determined for each drug by RCTs and appropriate modelling before SVR can be accepted as a surrogate marker