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Growing evidence suggests that anthropogenic litter, particularly plastic, represents a highly pervasive and persistent threat to global marine ecosystems. Multinational research is progressing to characterise its sources, distribution and abundance so that interventions aimed at reducing future inputs and clearing extant litter can be developed. Citizen science projects, whereby members of the public gather information, offer a low-cost method of collecting large volumes of data with considerable temporal and spatial coverage. Furthermore, such projects raise awareness of environmental issues and can lead to positive changes in behaviours and attitudes. We present data collected over a decade (2005–2014 inclusive) by Marine Conservation Society (MCS) volunteers during beach litter surveys carried along the British coastline, with the aim of increasing knowledge on the composition, spatial distribution and temporal trends of coastal debris. Unlike many citizen science projects, the MCS beach litter survey programme gathers information on the number of volunteers, duration of surveys and distances covered. This comprehensive information provides an opportunity to standardise data for variation in sampling effort among surveys, enhancing the value of outputs and robustness of findings. We found that plastic is the main constituent of anthropogenic litter on British beaches and the majority of traceable items originate from land-based sources, such as public littering. We identify the coast of the Western English Channel and Celtic Sea as experiencing the highest relative litter levels. Increasing trends over the 10-year time period were detected for a number of individual item categories, yet no statistically significant change in total (effort-corrected) litter was detected. We discuss the limitations of the dataset and make recommendations for future work. The study demonstrates the value of citizen science data in providing insights that would otherwise not be possible due to logistical and financial constraints of running government-funded sampling programmes on such large scales.

In many parts of the world, excess growth of Eichhornia crassipes (Pontederiaceae) poses a serious threat to aquatic environments. In Cameroon, where manual clearing is still undertaken, little is known about fungal diversity associated with the plant, or its potential for biological control. Surveys of the Wouri River Basin in the Littoral Region of Cameroon were conducted during a rainy season (May–October 2014) and a dry season (November 2015–April 2016) at various sites, to identify fungi associated with water hyacinth. Fungi were isolated and identified from symptomatic plant parts collected. In the rainy season, 130 fungal isolates belonging to 12 genera were identified morphologically, whereas 299 isolates belonging to 23 genera were identified during the dry season. With the exception of Fusarium oxysporum and Phytophthora sp., the genera represented new records for Cameroon, and Chaetomium strumarium, Colletotrichum gloesporioides, C. acutatum, C. dematium, Curvularia pallescens and Pytomyces chartarum were considered new host records for E. crassipes in Africa. Isolates of Acremonium zonatum, Chaetomium strumarium, Alternaria eichhorniae, Phytophthora sp. and Rhizoctonia sp. showed the highest frequency of occurrence on E. crassipes in the Wouri River Basin and, given their record as plant pathogens, could be potentially useful in the development of mycoherbicides for this weed in Cameroon.Keywords: biological control, fungal diversity, mycoherbicides, water hyacinth

Objective: Digistain is a new technology platform that enables imaging and quantification of a newly conceived biomarker for grading breast carcinoma in routinely processed, unstained paraffin sections without the use of traditional stains or contrasting agents. By recording a unique optical signature to analyze the chemical make-up of a biopsy quantitatively, the technique is unaffected by the subjectivity of traditional grading. Within minutes of loading a slide it yields a highly reproducible and user independent numerical score reflecting the cellularity of the tumour and its nuclear: cytoplasmic ratio. We report here our findings using an objective technique to grade breast tumours using quantitative criteria. Method: H&E stained sections from excision biopsies of 105 cases of invasive breast carcinoma were reviewed and graded using the ElstonEllis grading system. Unstained sections from each case were loaded into the Digistain platform to yield a numerical score - the Digistain Index (DI). Results: The cases were grouped according to histological grading. Mean DIs was calculated for each grade (1,2 and 3) to be 0.56, 0.61, and 0.68 respectively with a maximum standard error of 0.02. The DI spread within each grade was less than that across the three grades, thus validating this index as a viable grading indicator within the context of this study. Conclusion: We believe the new Digistain approach provides for the first time a cost effective and quantitative measure of tumour grade. This can be developed to deliver an effective assessment of prognosis and recurrence risk beyond traditional qualitative measures based on H&E staining protocols.

BACKGROUND: Aromatase inhibitors are more effective than is tamoxifen in prevention of breast-cancer recurrence, but at the expense of increased musculoskeletal side-effects, such as carpal tunnel syndrome. The aim of this study was to assess risk factors and the prognostic value of musculoskeletal symptoms during treatment with the steroidal aromatase inhibitor exemestane or with tamoxifen after 2-3 years of tamoxifen. METHODS: In the Intergroup Exemestane Study, postmenopausal women treated for early invasive breast cancer who remained disease free and on treatment after 2-3 years of tamoxifen were randomised to switch to exemestane or to continue tamoxifen for the remainder of the 5-year period of endocrine treatment. The primary endpoint for this retrospective analysis was occurrence of carpal tunnel syndrome and any musculoskeletal events, analysed in the safety population, which consisted of all patients who had received any trial treatment. As well as case-report forms, questionnaires were distributed retrospectively to gain more details of cases of carpal tunnel syndrome. The relation between musculoskeletal symptoms reported by 6 months from randomisation and survival from 9 months onwards was assessed by Cox proportional hazards models. The trial is registered, number ISRCTN11883920. It has completed accrual and follow-up is continuing for enrolled participants. FINDINGS: After a median follow-up of 91·0 months (IQR 83·0-99·2), carpal tunnel syndrome had been reported for 66 (2·8%) of 2319 patients in the exemestane group compared with 13 (0·6%) of 2338 in the tamoxifen group (odds ratio [OR] 5·23, 99% CI 2·39-11·49; p

© The Author(s) 2019., Approximately 30% of ERα breast cancer patients relapse with metastatic disease following adjuvant endocrine therapies. The connection between acquisition of drug resistance and invasive potential is poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrate that the type II keratin topological associating domain undergoes epigenetic reprogramming in aromatase inhibitors (AI)-resistant cells, leading to Keratin-80 (KRT80) upregulation. KRT80 expression is driven by de novo enhancer activation by sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP1). KRT80 upregulation directly promotes cytoskeletal rearrangements at the leading edge, increased focal adhesion and cellular stiffening, collectively promoting cancer cell invasion. Shearwave elasticity imaging performed on prospectively recruited patients confirms KRT80 levels correlate with stiffer tumors. Immunohistochemistry showed increased KRT80-positive cells at relapse and, using several clinical endpoints, KRT80 expression associates with poor survival. Collectively, our data uncover an unpredicted and potentially targetable direct link between epigenetic and cytoskeletal reprogramming promoting cell invasion in response to chronic AI treatment., L.M. was supported by a CRUK fellowship (C46704/A23110). Y.P. was supported by a CRUK Studentship (PS2099). A.J.F. and F.C. are funded by the Institute of Cancer Research, London (UK). F.C. is also funded by Worldwide Cancer Research (Grant 15-0273), Cancer Research UK (C57744/A22057) and the Ramon y Cajal Research Program (MINECO, RYC-2016-20352).