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Abnormal airway dilatation, termed traction bronchiectasis, is a typical feature of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Volumetric computed tomography (CT) imaging captures the loss of normal airway tapering in IPF. We postulated that automated quantification of airway abnormalities could provide estimates of IPF disease extent and severity. We propose AirQuant, an automated computational pipeline that takes an airway segmentation and CT image as input and systematically parcellates the airway tree into its lobes and generational branches, deriving airway structural measures from chest CT. Importantly, AirQuant prevents the occurrence of spurious airway branches by thick wave propagation and removes loops in the airway-tree by graph search, overcoming limitations of existing airway skeletonisation algorithms. Tapering between airway segments (intertapering) and airway tortuosity computed by AirQuant were compared between 14 healthy participants and 14 IPF patients. Airway intertapering was significantly reduced in IPF patients, and airway tortuosity was significantly increased when compared to healthy controls. Differences were most marked in the lower lobes, conforming to the typical distribution of IPF-related damage. AirQuant is an open-source pipeline that avoids limitations of existing airway quantification algorithms and has clinical interpretability. Automated airway measurements may have potential as novel imaging biomarkers of IPF severity and disease extent.

Abnormal airway dilatation, termed traction bronchiectasis, is a typical feature of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Volumetric computed tomography (CT) imaging captures the loss of normal airway tapering in IPF. We postulated that automated quantification of airway abnormalities could provide estimates of IPF disease extent and severity. We propose AirQuant, an automated computational pipeline that takes an airway segmentation and CT image as input and systematically parcellates the airway tree into its lobes and generational branches, deriving airway structural measures from chest CT. Importantly, AirQuant prevents the occurrence of spurious airway branches by thick wave propagation and removes loops in the airway-tree by graph search, overcoming limitations of existing airway skeletonisation algorithms. Tapering between airway segments (intertapering) and airway tortuosity computed by AirQuant were compared between 14 healthy participants and 14 IPF patients. Airway intertapering was significantly reduced in IPF patients, and airway tortuosity was significantly increased when compared to healthy controls. Differences were most marked in the lower lobes, conforming to the typical distribution of IPF-related damage. AirQuant is an open-source pipeline that avoids limitations of existing airway quantification algorithms and has clinical interpretability. Automated airway measurements may have potential as novel imaging biomarkers of IPF severity and disease extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synchrotron x-ray diffraction (SR-XRD) and X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS) were used to investigate the crystal and electronic properties of boron-substituted CuFeO2 material at room temperature. Without boron substitution, the polycrystalline structures of the trigonal (rhombohedral) ' $R\bar{3}m$ R 3 ¯ m ' CuFeO2 (87.7%) and hexagonal 'P63/mmc' (12.3%), which were also present in each sample but in different proportions, were utilised to identify the base material. XRD patterns revealed that, beyond 10% boron substitution, the metal–oxygen bonds (Fe-O and Cu-O) weakened, resulting in the formation of new tetragonal 'I41/amd' CuFe2O4 crystals. Although the CuFeO2 structure was preserved, it is conceivable that the presence of other crystal structures could lead to the formation of new features. This state arose as a result of CuFe2O4 crystallization and the impact of boron activity on the surrounding oxygen structures. By measuring magnetisation at both swept temperatures (10–300 K) and applied magnetic fields (±30 kOe), the magnetic properties of the samples were investigated. In the 10–300 K temperature range, the polycrystalline samples exhibit a ferromagnetic property without a magnetic phase transition. This suggests that replacing B with Fe in CuFe1−xBxO2 does not influence the primary magnetic property of CuFeO2. The samples' saturation magnetisation (Ms) values gradually fall as the B substitution content increases with Fe. This is because there's a chance that the non-transition metal B in CuFe1−xBxO2 will boost antiferromagnetic superexchange Cu-O interactions while lowering the p-d exchange interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is rarer in children (chILD) than adults, but with increasing diagnostic awareness, more cases are being discovered. chILD prognosis is often poor, but increasing numbers are now surviving into adulthood., Aim: To characterize chILD-survivors and identify their impact on adult-ILD centers., Methods: European study (34 adult-ILD and chILD centers) reporting incident/prevalent cases of chILD-survivors from January to July 2023. Epidemiological, clinical, physiological and genetic data were collected., Results: 244 patients were identified with median (years) (IQR) age at diagnosis 12.5 (6-16), age at study inclusion 25 (22-33), 51% male, 86% non-smokers, median %-predicted FVC and DLCO 70 (47-89) and 48 (32-75) respectively; 32% were prescribed long-term oxygen; 227 (93%) were followed-up in adult centers whereas 17 (7%) never transitioned. Commonest diagnoses (82%) were chILD category B1, 35% (sarcoidosis, hemosiderosis, connective tissue disorders, vasculitis); A4, 21% (surfactant-related); B2, 14% (bronchiolitis obliterans, hypersensitivity pneumonitis); Bz, 13% (unclassified-ILD). Bz patients had the worst functional status. 60% of all patients were still being prescribed corticosteroids. Re-specification of diagnosis and treatment were made after transition for 9.8% and 16% of patients respectively. Not all chILD diagnoses were recognized in adult-ILD classifications., Conclusion: chILD survivors are seen in most adult-ILD centers and only a minority continue follow-up in pediatric centers. Survivors have a significant loss of lung function. The heterogeneity of their etiologies and therapeutic requirements has a real impact on adult-ILD centers. Re-specification of diagnosis and treatment may contribute to precision and personalization of management., (Copyright ©The authors 2024. For reproduction rights and permissions contact permissions@ersnet.org.)