Tumour auto-contouring on 2d cine MRI for locally advanced lung cancer: A comparative study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Radiotherapy guidance based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is currently becoming a clinical reality. Fast 2d cine MRI sequences are expected to increase the precision of radiation delivery by facilitating tumour delineation during treatment. This study compares four auto-contouring algorithms for the task of delineating the primary tumour in six locally advanced (LA) lung cancer patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-two cine MRI sequences were acquired using either a balanced steady-state free precession or a spoiled gradient echo imaging technique. Contours derived by the auto-contouring algorithms were compared against manual reference contours. A selection of eight image data sets was also used to assess the inter-observer delineation uncertainty. RESULTS: Algorithmically derived contours agreed well with the manual reference contours (median Dice similarity index: ⩾0.91). Multi-template matching and deformable image registration performed significantly better than feature-driven registration and the pulse-coupled neural network (PCNN). Neither MRI sequence nor image orientation was a conclusive predictor for algorithmic performance. Motion significantly degraded the performance of the PCNN. The inter-observer variability was of the same order of magnitude as the algorithmic performance. CONCLUSION: Auto-contouring of tumours on cine MRI is feasible in LA lung cancer patients. Despite large variations in implementation complexity, the different algorithms all have relatively similar performance

Sexual selection drives the evolution of male wing interference patterns.

This is the author accepted manuscriptThe seemingly transparent wings of many insects have recently been found to display unexpected structural coloration. These structural colours (wing interference patterns: WIPs) may be involved in species recognition and mate choice, yet little is known about the evolutionary processes that shape them. Furthermore, to date investigations of WIPs have not fully considered how they are actually perceived by the viewers' colour vision. Here, we use multispectral digital imaging and a model of Drosophila vision to compare WIPs of male and female Drosophila simulans from replicate populations forced to evolve with or without sexual selection for 68 generations. We show that WIPs modelled in Drosophila vision evolve in response to sexual selection and provide evidence that WIPs correlate with male sexual attractiveness. These findings add a new element to the otherwise well-described Drosophila courtship display and confirm that wing colours evolve through sexual selection.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)Leverhulme Trus

Seeing is believing: the nocturnal malarial mosquito Anopheles coluzzii responds to visual host-cues when odour indicates a host is nearby

Background: The immediate aim of our study was to analyse the behaviour of the malarial mosquito Anopheles coluzzii (An. gambiae species complex) near a human host with the ultimate aim of contributing to our fundamental understanding of mosquito host-seeking behaviour and the overall aim of identifying behaviours that could be exploited to enhance sampling and control strategies. Results: Based on 3D video recordings of individual host-seeking females in a laboratory wind-tunnel, we found that despite being a nocturnal species, An. coluzzii is highly responsive to a visually conspicuous object, but only in the presence of host-odour. Female mosquitoes approached and abruptly veered away from a dark object, which suggests attraction to visual cues plays a role in bringing mosquitoes to the source of host odour. It is worth noting that the majority of our recorded flight tracks consisted of highly stereotyped ‘dipping’ sequences near the ground, which have been mentioned in the literature, but never before quantified. Conclusions: Our quantitative analysis of female mosquito flight patterns within ~1.5 m of a host has revealed highly relevant information about responsiveness to visual objects and flight height that could revolutionise the efficacy of sampling traps; the capturing device of a trap should be visually conspicuous and positioned near the ground where the density of host-seeking mosquitoes would be greatest. These characteristics are not universally present in current traps for malarial mosquitoes. The characterisation of a new type of flight pattern that is prevalent in mosquitoes suggests that there is still much that is not fully understood about mosquito flight behaviour

A cost-effectiveness analysis of provider and community interventions to improve the treatment of uncomplicated malaria in Nigeria: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: There is mounting evidence of poor adherence by health service personnel to clinical guidelines for malaria following a symptomatic diagnosis. In response to this, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that in all settings clinical suspicion of malaria should be confirmed by parasitological diagnosis using microscopy or Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT). The Government of Nigeria plans to introduce RDTs in public health facilities over the coming year. In this context, we will evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of two interventions designed to support the roll-out of RDTs and improve the rational use of ACTs. It is feared that without supporting interventions, non-adherence will remain a serious impediment to implementing malaria treatment guidelines. METHODS/DESIGN: A three-arm stratified cluster randomized trial is used to compare the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of: (1) provider malaria training intervention versus expected standard practice in malaria diagnosis and treatment; (2) provider malaria training intervention plus school-based intervention versus expected standard practice; and (3) the combined provider plus school-based intervention versus provider intervention alone. RDTs will be introduced in all arms of the trial. The primary outcome is the proportion of patients attending facilities that report a fever or suspected malaria and receive treatment according to malaria guidelines. This will be measured by surveying patients (or caregivers) as they exit primary health centers, pharmacies, and patent medicine dealers. Cost-effectiveness will be presented in terms of the primary outcome and a range of secondary outcomes, including changes in provider and community knowledge. Costs will be estimated from both a societal and provider perspective using standard economic evaluation methodologies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01350752

Exploiting Anopheles responses to thermal, odour and visual stimuli to improve surveillance and control of malaria

Mosquito surveillance and control are at the heart of efforts to eliminate malaria, however, there remain significant gaps in our understanding of mosquito behaviour that impede innovation. We hypothesised that a combination of human-associated stimuli could be used to attract and kill malaria vectors more successfully than individual stimuli, and at least as well as a real human. To test this in the field, we quantified Anopheles responses to olfactory, visual and thermal stimuli in Burkina Faso using a simple adhesive trap. Traps baited with human odour plus high contrast visual stimuli caught more Anopheles than traps with odour alone, showing that despite their nocturnal habit, malaria vectors make use of visual cues in host-seeking. The best performing traps, however, combined odour and visual stimuli with a thermal signature in the range equivalent to human body temperature. When tested against a human landing catch during peak mosquito abundance, this “host decoy” trap caught nearly ten times the number of Anopheles mosquitoes caught by a human collector. Exploiting the behavioural responses of mosquitoes to the entire suite of host stimuli promises to revolutionise vector surveillance and provide new paradigms in disease control

Germline-Focused Analysis of Tumour-Only Sequencing: Recommendations from the ESMO Precision Medicine Working Group.

It is increasingly common in oncology practice to perform tumour sequencing using large cancer panels. For pathogenic sequence variants in cancer susceptibility genes identified on tumour-only sequencing, it is often unclear whether they are of somatic or constitutional (germline) origin. There is wide-spread disparity regarding both the extent to which systematic 'germline-focused analysis' is performed upon tumour sequencing data and for which variants follow-up analysis of a germline sample is performed. Here we present analyses of paired sequencing data from 17,152 cancer samples, in which 1494 pathogenic sequence variants were identified across 65 cancer susceptibility genes. From these analyses, the European Society of Medical Oncology Precision Medicine Working Group Germline Subgroup have generated (i) recommendations regarding germline-focused analyses of tumour-only sequencing data, (ii) indications for germline follow-up testing and (iii) guidance on patient information-giving and consent

Structural Correlates of Taste and Smell Loss in Encephalitis Disseminata

BACKGROUND: Olfactory dysfunction in MS patients is reported in the literature. MRI of the olfactory bulb (OB) is discussed as a promising new testing method for measuring olfactory function (OF). Aim of this study was to explore reasons for and optimize the detection of olfactory dysfunction in MS patients with MRI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: OB and olfactory brain volume was assessed within 34 MS patients by manual segmentation. Olfactory function was tested using the Threshold-Discrimination-Identification-Test (TDI), gustatory function was tested using Taste Strips (TST). RESULTS: 41% of the MS patients displayed olfactory dysfunction (8% of the control group), 16% displayed gustatory dysfunction (5% of the control group). There was a correlation between the OB volume and the number and volume of MS lesions in the olfactory brain. Olfactory brain volume correlated with the volume of lesions in the olfactory brain and the EDSS score. The TST score correlated with the number and volume of lesions in the olfactory brain. CONCLUSION: The correlation between a higher number and volume of MS lesions with a decreased OB and olfactory brain volume could help to explain olfactory dysfunction

Measurement of the running of the QED coupling in small-angle Bhabha scattering at LEP

Using the OPAL detector at LEP, the running of the effective QED coupling alpha(t) is measured for space-like momentum transfer from the angular distribution of small-angle Bhabha scattering. In an almost ideal QED framework, with very favourable experimental conditions, we obtain: Delta alpha(-6.07GeV^2) - Delta alpha(-1.81GeV^2) = (440 pm 58 pm 43 pm 30) X 10^-5, where the first error is statistical, the second is the experimental systematic and the third is the theoretical uncertainty. This agrees with current evaluations of alpha(t).The null hypothesis that alpha remains constant within the above interval of -t is excluded with a significance above 5sigma. Similarly, our results are inconsistent at the level of 3sigma with the hypothesis that only leptonic loops contribute to the running. This is currently the most significant direct measurment where the running alpha(t) is probed differentially within the measured t range.Comment: 43 pages, 12 figures, Submitted to Euro. Phys. J.

A Measurement of Rb using a Double Tagging Method

The fraction of Z to bbbar events in hadronic Z decays has been measured by the OPAL experiment using the data collected at LEP between 1992 and 1995. The Z to bbbar decays were tagged using displaced secondary vertices, and high momentum electrons and muons. Systematic uncertainties were reduced by measuring the b-tagging efficiency using a double tagging technique. Efficiency correlations between opposite hemispheres of an event are small, and are well understood through comparisons between real and simulated data samples. A value of Rb = 0.2178 +- 0.0011 +- 0.0013 was obtained, where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. The uncertainty on Rc, the fraction of Z to ccbar events in hadronic Z decays, is not included in the errors. The dependence on Rc is Delta(Rb)/Rb = -0.056*Delta(Rc)/Rc where Delta(Rc) is the deviation of Rc from the value 0.172 predicted by the Standard Model. The result for Rb agrees with the value of 0.2155 +- 0.0003 predicted by the Standard Model.Comment: 42 pages, LaTeX, 14 eps figures included, submitted to European Physical Journal