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Context: The legume shrub/tree leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit.) is highly regarded as a cattle fodder, although it is considered an environmental weed in many parts of Australia. Aims: We investigated the feasibility of developing a forage variety of triploid leucaena through interspecific hybridisation that is sterile (without seeds) as a strategy to mitigate its weed risk. Methods: A conventional breeding strategy was used to create triploid hybrids from hand-crosses between tetraploid and diploid species of leucaena. Molecular markers were developed to confirm successful crosses and flow cytometry was used to confirm the ploidy level. The plants are being evaluated for flowering behaviour, seed and herbage production across two environmentally diverse sites at Carnarvon and Kununurra in northern Western Australia. Key results: During 2018/19 and 2019/20, 2260 crosses between 45 different combinations of diploid females by tetraploid males and their reciprocals have created over 3000 putative triploid hybrid plants. This is the first time that triploids have successfully been created in Australia and 10 new parental combinations were created as a world-first. Conclusions: A cohort of sterile triploid plants has been identified and selections will be made based on their edible biomass productivity, insect tolerance, capacity for regrowth after cutting, nutritive value and plant chemistry (including anti-methanogenic responses). A sterile leucaena variety will have application not only in Australian grazing systems but also in other tropical regions of the world. Implications: A cost-effective technology for mass vegetative propagation of leucaena will be required for commercialisation of a sterile variety. The legume shrub/tree leucaena is highly regarded as a tropical cattle fodder, although it is considered an environmental weed in many parts of the world. In an Australian first, we report the successful creation of triploid leucaena germplasm through interspecific hybridisation. These give rise to sterile adults (without seeds), mitigating weed risk. Over 2000 hand-crosses between 45 different combinations of diploid and tetraploid leucaena species have created a cohort of sterile plants to evaluate for field performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decade, the implementation of immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors has determined a major change in the management of oncological patients. The challenges associated to the new therapeutic regimen have promoted adapted criteria for response assessment to interpret imaging findings and atypical patterns of response. Parallel to the new morphological criteria, also 18fluoro-deoxyglucose positron emission/computed tomography imaging has required novel approaches and specific guidelines on how to perform, interpret, and report the scan in patients with solid tumors under immune checkpoint inhibitors therapy. A summary of the novelties related to the new joint international European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM)/Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI)/Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine (ANZSNM) guidelines on immunotherapy is provided herein to elucidate most critical aspects in image interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]