Options for Producing a Warm-Water Fish in the UK: limits to "Green-Growth"?

This paper explores the development of a sustainable production system for tilapia and the research implications involved with ensuring commercial viability of such a system for UK farmers. The tilapia is a warm water fish with firm texture, white flesh and mild taste quite similar to a cod or haddock. Whilst tropical in origin it is thought to be highly suitable for low cost aquaculture in temperate zones with the potential to be a more sustainable source of food with fewer environmental impacts than other substitutes. Drawing on a literature review and findings from technical trials the paper will review and compare two production systems - novel Activated Suspension Technology (AST) and conventional Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) - considering their feasibility in terms of potential and financial viability for scaling up to commercial production of tilapia and their environmental and sustainability benefits. The review concludes that AST based only on microbial floc is currently uncompetitive with RAS in a UK context although the approach has benefits that might be incorporated in a new generation of mixed systems. Refinement of such systems needs to occur with potential adopters and could be part of diversification of mixed farms. Such development might further enhance the ethical values of fish produced in small-scale, modular RAS

Definitive Treatment of Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer with Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy in a Community Cancer Center Setting

IntroductionSABR provides a superior NSCLC treatment option when compared to conventional radiotherapy for patients deemed inoperable or refusing surgery. This study retrospectively analyzed the rates of tumor control and toxicity following SABR treatment (Cyberknife system) of primary early-stage NSCLC in a community setting.MethodsOne hundred patients were treated between 2007 and 2011. Patients with T3-4 or N1-3 disease, metastasis, recurrent local disease, or a non-lung primary were excluded from analysis. All patients had biopsy proven disease. Staging included CT or FDGPET scan. Median dose was 54Gy (45-60); 18Gy (10-20) per fraction. Median PTV expansion was 8mm (2-10). Median BED was 151.2. Tumors were tracked via Synchrony, X-Sight Lung, or X-Sight Spine. Patients were evaluated for local control, overall survival, and toxicity. All local failures were determined by evaluating post treatment PET/CT.ResultsWith a median follow up of 27.5 months, the 1-, 2-, and 3-year local control rates were 100%, 93.55%, and 84.33%, respectively. Median survival was 2.29 years; actuarial 3- year survival was 37.20%. Grade-3 toxicity was observed in 2% of patients (pneumonia within two months of treatment, n=1; chronic pneumonitis requiring hospital admission, n=1). No patients demonstrated toxicity above Grade-3. Multivariate analysis did not show T-stage as an independent predictor of OS, though it did trend toward significance.ConclusionIn a community-center setting, definitive treatment of NSCLC with SABR for nonsurgical candidates and those who choose to forego surgery result in excellent and comparable rates of local control and toxicity compared to published series from large academic centers

Salvage fractionated Stereotactic Radiotherapy (fSRT) with or without chemotherapy and immunotherapy for recurrent Glioblastoma Multiforme: A single institution experience

Background: The current standard of care for salvage treatment of Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is gross total resection and adjuvant chemoradiation for operable patients. Limited evidence exists to suggest that any particular treatment modality improves survival for recurrent GBM, especially if inoperable. We report our experience with fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (fSRT) with and without chemo/immunotherapy, identifying prognostic factors associated with prolonged survival. Methods: From 2007 to 2014, 19 patients between 29 and 78 years old (median 55) with recurrent GBM following resection and chemoradiation for their initial tumor, received 18 – 35 Gy (median 25) in 3 – 5 fractions via Cyberknife fSRT. Clinical target volume (CTV) ranged from 0.9 to 152 cc. Sixteen patients received adjuvant systemic therapy with bevacizumab (BEV), temozolomide (TMZ), anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (125)I-mAb 425, or some combination thereof. Results: The median overall survival (OS) from date of recurrence was 8 months (2.5 – 61) and 5.3 months (0.6 – 58) from the end of fSRT. The OS at 6 and 12 months was 47% and 32%, respectively. Three of 19 patients were alive at the time of this review at 20, 49 and 58 months from completion of fSRT. Hazard ratios for survival indicated that patients with a frontal lobe tumor, adjuvant treatment with either BEV or TMZ, time to first recurrence >16 months, CTV < 36 cc, Recursive Partitioning Analysis (RPA) < 5, and ECOG (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group) performance status < 2 were all associated with improved survival (P <0.05). There was no evidence of radionecrosis for any patient.Conclusions: Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 1205 will establish the role of reirradiation for recurrent GBM, however our study suggests that cyberknife with chemotherapy can be safely delivered, and is most effective in patients with smaller frontal lobe tumors, good performance status or long interval from diagnosis

Lack of genetic influence on the innate inflammatory response to Helicobacter infection of the gastric mucosa

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a bacterial pathogen that resides at the gastric mucosa and has a world-wide prevalence of over 50%. Infection usually lasts for the life of the host, and although all infected individuals will develop histologic gastritis only a subset will develop symptomatic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, gastric MALT lymphoma, or gastric adenocarcinoma. The bacterial and host factors that determine clinical outcome and influence the development of widely varying diseases have not been elucidated. We compared disease in Helicobacter-infected SCID mice on different genetic backgrounds with their corresponding immunocompetent partners to determine if the genetics of the host significantly impacts the innate inflammatory outcome, independent of variations in bacterial virulence factors. BALB/c SCID and C57BL/6 SCID mice developed equivalent histologic gastritis by eight weeks of infection. Immunocompetent BALB/c mice and C57BL/6 mice developed significantly lower or higher degrees of inflammation respectively. Innate inflammation in immunodeficient mice on the C57BL/6 background remained low even in the absence of the regulatory cytokine IL-10. These results demonstrate that adaptive immunity is not required for the generation of low level inflammation in response to Helicobacter infection and that the degree of inflammation is consistent among different genetic backgrounds. Additionally, this inflammation is limited even in the absence of regulatory T cells