Volunteer to live-tweet and upload to the APSR's social networking site (SNS) accounts during the APSR Congress 2019 in Hanoi.

We are looking for a volunteer to contribute to the APSR's Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts at the APSR Congress 2019 in Hanoi.

This is an open invitation for any young APSR member who is attending the Congress, to apply for this volunteer position. The successful applicant will be offered complimentary registration of the APSR Congress 2019 Hanoi, or a refund if already registered

Basic qualifications:

• Must be APSR member
• Aged 25-35
• Excellent writing skills for Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
• Good English skills
• Planning to attend all (or most) of the APSR Congress on 14-17 November 2019

Roles and responsibilities:

• Upload around 20 live-tweets and news items each day to the APSR's SNS accounts at Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, about sessions such as the:
  • opening ceremony
  • workshops
  • major sessions
  • presidential lecture
  • Harasawa and Woolcock memorial lectures
  • APSR young investigator sessions
  • assembly meetings
  • notices from the APSR booth
  • notices from the venue
  • closing ceremony
  • etc.
• contact the APSR Secretariat staff each day to agree the next day's schedule and receive any special instructions, either at the APSR booth or if that is not possible, by email to the APSR Secretariat APSR@theapsr.org

To apply for this opportunity please send to the APSR Secretariat APSR@theapsr.org:

• a brief (one page) curriculum vitae
• the dates you will attend the congress
• your Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts for the APSR Secretariat to see your past tweets and uploads

Application deadline: 7 November 2019

If you have already paid for your registration, the Secretariat will give you a refund. Please bring evidence of the (unsponsored) amount you paid.

Feel free to contact the Secretariat APSR@theapsr.org if you have any queries.

We are looking forward to working with you!

The Annual General Meeting of the APSR will be held during the 24th Congress of the APSR in Hanoi, Vietnam.

16:30-17:00, Thursday 14 November 2019
Meeting room, P.207, 1st Floor
National Convention Center, Hanoi.

The agenda includes reports from the APSR President Dr Kwun Fong, the APSR Treasurer Dr Chunxue Bai, and Respirology Co-Editors in Chief Dr Philip Bardin and Dr Paul Reynolds

We are looking forward to seeing you in Hanoi!

All APSR Assembly members are invited to attend the APSR 2019 Assembly Award Meetings where special presentations will be given.

Thank you to all Assembly members who kindly contribute to Assembly activities, helping to improve lung health in the AP region. In recognition of the important work and research by younger members, Assembly Travel Awardees are invited to present a 3-minute presentation of their work at their Assembly Meeting at the 2019 Congress in Hanoi

Please come and witness the great ideas of the next generation of APSR researchers.

(If you are not yet an Assembly member, please click here to join and help our communities improve lung health.)s

Assembly meeting schedule

Recently I performed a literature search for drugs approved for treating pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in APSR countries as a consequence of marketing from pharmaceutical companies.

Although the ESC/ERS guidelines and summary of the NICE conference recommended upfront combination therapies for PAH, in 45% of countries even sequential combination therapies are not yet available. The best treatment of PAH, intravenous epoprostenol, is approved in only six countries. There are no approved drugs in 29% of APSR countries, and the treatment in these countries is similar to that in Western countries in the 1990s.

Many PAH patients need PAH drugs to survive and therefore we need to work with government and pharmaceutical companies to achieve approval of these drugs at a low price.

The results of my literature search are to be presented at symposium 35 (Pulmonary Circulation) on Sunday morning at the 24th APSR meeting in Hanoi. We will also discuss the problems that may occur during treatment of pulmonary hypertension and also the cooperation in our group for management of pulmonary hypertension in the assembly meeting. Please join us at the pulmonary circulation assembly meeting on Saturday afternoon in Hanoi.

Invitation to the Pulmonary Circulation Assembly Meeting of APSR2019 in Hanoi.
Date/Time; 17:30-19:00, Saturday, 16 November 2019
Venue; P.257, 1st Floor

Thank you for your kind consideration and looking forward to seeing you in Hanoi.

Sincerely yours,

Pulmonary Circulation Assembly Troika

Your advice and opinions have been heard, and the next stage is to consider when the assembly pairs shown below should merge.

Current projects and plans will run their course, and will hopefully produce an even greater result with a broader range of expertise after the mergers.

Mergers currently being considered;

The question now is; what is the best time to effect the merger? The timing will affect the current assembly leaderships.

As you know, each assembly has a Head, who serves a two-year term and whose term may be extended for a further two years. The Head-Elect will become Head when the current Head retires.

When two assemblies merge there will be just one Head. Therefore only one of the two waiting Heads-Elect can become the new Head. A solution is to defer the mergers until after the Heads-Elect have served their terms as Head, which raises two questions:

1. Should the assemblies merge be as soon as possible, by limiting the current Heads to just one term, and the Heads-Elect to serve as Head for just one term?
   
   or
2. Should the current Heads and Head-Elects complete their terms and extend for a further term if required?

We want to be fair to the Heads and Heads-Elect who have volunteered their time for their important roles, yet we also need to support you, as members of assemblies, to have the best assembly to further your goals.

Please give us your opinion on the survey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/Assemblyproposal. It takes just a few seconds.

If you have any questions or comments, please email the Secretariat at suga.konno@theapsr.org. Be assured that your opinion carries weight!

Agenda

1. Assembly award
2. Feedback from Executive and Committees
3. Assembly and group
4. Vienna Congress 2020: opportunities for proposals
5. Barcelona Congress 2022: opportunities for proposals
6. Scientific activities: ERS Grant
7. Educational events

1. ERS Best Abstract Grant in Pulmonary Rehabilitation and Chronic Care went to Jessica A Walsh from the UK for her abstract "Gait speed and mortality in COPD".
2. There were two feedback points from the Science Committee:
   • increasing interest in pragmatic trials and applied research/delivery of care
   • e-health/m-health should be the key focus of the ERS Congress in 2021 (Barcelona)
3. ERS membership (Total): 37,581

   Assembly 1	General Pneumology:	6,424
   Group 1.01	Clinical Problems	5,101
   Group 1.02	Rehabilitation	671
   Group 1.03	Primary Care	608
   Group 1.04	M-health/e Health (newly formed)	44

   There is a group leader for each group who are elected after a fixed term of office. Each group is responsible for the proposal of education topics for the ERS annual congress and other educational events, and vetting of congress abstracts. The newly-formed group 1.04 is gaining in importance and its membership is expanding rapidly. It has proposed an ERS Research Seminar on "Digital Health Interventions in Respiratory Medicine" to be held at the end of 2020. Group 1.04 and 1.02 collaborated to perform monthly update on telemedicine and Rehabilitation and Chronic care.

4. Proposed topics for Vienna 2020 ERS Congress
   • Symposium, PG courses, meet the Experts, skill workshop – closed

   • Group 1.01	Grand round on multi-morbidities in respiratory diseases
     Group 1.02	Year in review on the diagnosis and treatment of ILD
     Group 1.04	Hot topic on medical device legislation

     Grand rounds
   • Year in review
   • State of the art
   • Hot topics
   • Abstracts and Cases
5. Proposed topics for Barcelona 2021 ERS Congress

   • Group 1.01	Adverse drug reactions
     Group 1.02	Clinical challenges in patients with overlapping lung diseases
     Group 1.03	WHO sustainable development goals
     Group 1.04	Artificial intelligence/e-Health

     Symposia
   • PG courses
   • Meet the expert
   • Skills workshops
   • Grant rounds
   • Year in review
   • State of the art
   • Hot topics
   • Abstracts and Cases
6. & 7. Funding programme for research and fellowship opportunities and a few educational courses presented.

My impression of the ERS General Pneumology Assembly is that it has a well-developed infrastructures and is forward-looking. The Assembly has made significant contributions to the construction of the scientific programme of the ERS annual congress and other educational events. With the rising importance of M-health and e-health, we may follow ERS' footstep to include these topics in our proposal for the preparation of the APSR Clinical Respiratory Medicine Assembly symposia for the coming APSR Congress.

Continuing this series, we are delighted to share a tribute to Prof. Toshihiro Nukiwa, prepared by Dr Asif Mujtaba Mahmud.

This series complements our APSR Members' Honour Roll, on which as a member, you are welcome to add your appreciation of your mentor(s) at any time.

Prof. Nukiwa

Prof. Toshihiro Nukiwa graduated from the Department of Medicine, Tokyo University in 1973, and joined the Graduate course of Biochemistry at Kyoto University in 1974. After completion of his senior residency in pulmonary medicine at the Jiichi Medical University, Prof. Nukiwa dedicated himself to research in molecular biology. He studied as a Visiting Associate from 1984 to 1987 at the pulmonary branch of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, USA. He pioneered the mutational analysis of the alpha 1 anti-trypsin (A1AT) gene under the supervision of Prof. R G Crystal. He also identified the A1ATSiiyama deficiency gene back in Japan.

In 1993, he took over as Professor and Chairman of the department of Respiratory Medicine of the Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University – the same year of my induction as a doctoral student. In order to stay abreast of the advances in molecular biology taking place in the 90's, he brought about sweeping reforms in the department renaming it as the Department of Respiratory Oncology and Molecular Medicine. He has been an invaluable source of inspiration since then and I feel greatly privileged to have received the able tutelage of Prof. Nukiwa. He guided and motivated me while fondly referring to me as his first ryugakusei (foreign student). I was particularly impressed by his innovative chart rounds for thorough discussion on patients. To overcome clinically challenging problems like IPF, he strongly emphasized on the role of a multidisciplinary approach, which has become the standard of care today

As we see our IPF patients responding to Pirfenidone, I am reminded of Prof. Nukiwa's outstanding contribution as the Chair of the Japan national project which conducted RCT on pirfenidone, paving the way for its global acceptance as an anti-fibrotic drug. He is acknowledged as an expert on IPF worldwide.

By launching the North East Japan Study Group which promoted precision medicine using targeted therapy for NSCLC, he has set up a fine example of taking research from the bench to the bedside for the welfare of patients.

During an extensive academic career, which culminated in his appointment as Emeritus Professor of Tohoku University in 2011, he has mentored a vast number of doctoral students and fellows from Japan, Indonesia and other countries. His academic footprints are thereby visible all across the Asia-Pacific region.

Prof. Nukiwa has eagerly facilitated the promotion of scientific exchange and clinical expertise by inviting pulmonologists from Bangladesh during his tenure as Chairperson of the Japanese Respiratory Society (JRS) Congress in Tokyo in 2007, and President of the APSR Congress in Yokohama in 2013, in addition to his big role as the Treasurer of the APSR from 2011 to 2012. His kind active participation at International Conferences on Lung Health organized by the Bangladesh Lung Foundation in Dhaka has served as a source of inspiration to many budding pulmonologists of Bangladesh.

As the Editor in Chief of Respiratory Investigation, the official English journal of the JRS, he has made significant contributions to the advancement of science. He has authored around 300 papers. From 2014 to 2017, he also led research on TB at the Research Institute of Tuberculosis, managed by Japan Anti-TB Association (JATA).

He received the Kumagai Award of the JRS in 1992 and the Michiyoshi Harasawa Award of the APSR in 2007 as recognition of his outstanding contribution to respiratory medicine. He has served as a role model to many pulmonologists as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the JRS (2008–2010).

Dr Mahmud

Prepared by Dr Asif Mujtaba Mahmud, MBBS, DTCD, PhD
Consultant, Respiratory Medicine, Asgar Ali Hospital, Dhaka
Secretary General, Bangladesh Lung Foundation
Former Associate Professor of Respiratory Medicine, Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), Mahakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Dr Mahmud retired as Associate Professor of Respiratory Medicine in 2017. He obtained his doctoral degree from Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine in 1997 under the tutelage of Prof. Toshihiro Nukiwa. Dr Mahmud has served as an Advisor on the Regional Advisory Committee for MDR-TB of the WHO South East Asia Region and is the current Secretary General of the Bangladesh Lung Foundation; a partner of the APSR as an en bloc member society.

The October issue (Vol 11.10) features Bronchial infection, pneumonia, bronchiolitis and/or bronchiectasis:

• A small-molecule fusion inhibitor of influenza virus is orally active in mice.
• Duration of antibiotic treatment for common infections in English primary care: cross sectional analysis and comparison with guidelines.
• Use of Radiography in Patients Diagnosed as Having Acute Bronchiolitis in US Emergency Departments, 2007-2015.
• Effector T_H17 Cells Give Rise to Long-Lived T_RM Cells that Are Essential for an Immediate Response against Bacterial Infection.
• Omadacycline for Community-Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia.
• Dynamics of IFN-β Responses During Respiratory Viral Infection: Insights for Therapeutic Strategies.
• Multiple Respiratory Microbiota Profiles Are Associated With Lower Airway Inflammation in Children With Protracted Bacterial Bronchitis.
• Bronchiectasis in India: results from the European Multicentre Bronchiectasis Audit and Research Collaboration (EMBARC) and Respiratory Research Network of India Registry.
• Precision mouse models with expanded tropism for human pathogens.
• Inhaled liposomal ciprofloxacin in patients with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis and chronic lung infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ORBIT-3 and ORBIT-4): two phase 3, randomised controlled trials.

The following cases have been selected for inclusion in the December 2019 Respirology Case Reports, Volume 07 Issue 9

Case Reports

Autumn Respiratory Seminar
Highlights

• Symposium on Thoracic Malignancy
  • Diagnostic and Therapeutic Biomarkers in Lung Cancer
  • Interventional Pulmonology for Diagnosis of Lung Cancer
  • Management of Mesothelioma and Related Pleural Complications
• Memorial Session - Tribute to Dr William Chen
• Professor Wah-kit Lam Young Investigator Awards
• Luncheon Symposium - What is the "IMPACT" of Triple Therapy in COPD Treatment?
• Symposium on Airway Diseases and IPF
  • Patients' Perspectives on COPD: What is the Best Clinical Outcomes?
  • Differential Diagnostic Approach to IPF: Bringing Together Clinical and Radiologic Clues
  • GINA Practice Guideline
• Symposium on Update on Respiratory Infections
• Update on IDSA/CDC Influenza Treatment Guideline
• Update on ATS/IDSA Community Acquired Pneumonia Treatment Guideline
• The New Antiviral Agent for Influenza Baloxavir

Click here for full details

Lisa Roscoe of FIRS has provided the following World Lung Day (WLD) Update (as of 26 September 2019)

Highlights

• In 2019 we had 147 WLD partners, a 110% increase on last year.
• Take up of WLD by organisations and individuals on social media greatly increased on last year. WLD posts seen by 13 million, an increase of 86%.
• Editorial content referencing WLD increased by 246%. This news coverage gave an estimated reach of 39.55 million.
• Charter for Lung Health now has 6,193 signatures.

Details

• WLD partners at 147. Increase of 110% on last year.
• Much improved and expanded toolkit this year, including infographics and the WLD pledge campaign. WLD toolkit being used and shared by partners and societies. Toolkit page viewed 4,848 times since new website launched (22 June).
• Toolkit images have been translated into Spanish and Portuguese.
• Partner events added to the toolkit.
• Four journals agreed to make free content available for WLD (European Respiratory Society Publications, Respirology, Thorax and BMJ Open Respiratory Research).
• Increased FIRS social media activity on Facebook and Twitter (large increasing can be attributed in some part to the longer lead time this year, last year activity started from 1st July).
  • Activity on Facebook up by 353% on last year. Reach (people seen posts) increased from 3,937 to 26,907, a 583% increase. Engagement (likes, comments and shares) increased from 124 to 1,386, an increase of 1,017%.
  • Activity on Twitter up by 69%. Impressions increased from 50,125 to 72,837 a 45% increase. Total engagements increased from 866 to 1,469, a 70% increase.
• World Lung Day or #WorldLungDay used in 3,030 social media posts, increase of 118%. These posts had an estimated reach of 13 million, an increase of 86%.
• There were 45 news items referencing World Lung Day, an increase of 246%. These gave an estimated reach of 39.55 million.
• Charter for Lung Health at 6,193, an increase of 615 since last year.

* = unknown

A study has shown that the amount of fat in airways increases with body mass index.

Excess weight is hard on the heart, but new research shows it may also harm your lungs.

The study found that higher amounts of fat collect in the airways of overweight and obese people, which may help explain why they're more likely to have wheezing and asthma.

In the study, the investigators analyzed lung samples donated by 52 people for research after their death. Of those, 16 died of asthma, 21 had asthma but died of other causes, and 15 had no asthma.

The findings showed, for the first time, that fatty tissue accumulates in the walls of airways and that the amount of fat in airways increases with body mass index (an estimate of body fat based on weight and height).

The researchers also found that higher levels of fat change the normal structure of airways, resulting in lung inflammation, according to the report published 17 October in the European Respiratory Journal.

"Being overweight or obese has already been linked to having asthma or having worse asthma symptoms. Researchers have suggested that the link might be explained by the direct pressure of excess weight on the lungs or by a general increase in inflammation created by excess weight," explained study co-author Peter Noble. He's an associate professor at the University of Western Australia in Perth.

"This study suggests that another mechanism is also at play. We've found that excess fat accumulates in the airway walls where it takes up space and seems to increase inflammation within the lungs," Noble said in a journal news release.

"We think this is causing a thickening of the airways that limits the flow of air in and out of the lungs, and that could at least partly explain an increase in asthma symptoms," Noble added.

Thierry Troosters, president of the European Respiratory Society, said, "This is an important finding on the relationship between body weight and respiratory disease because it shows how being overweight or obese might be making symptoms worse for people with asthma."

Troosters, who was not involved in the study, added, "We need to investigate this finding in more detail and particularly whether this phenomenon can be reversed with weight loss. In the meantime, we should support asthma patients to help them achieve or maintain a healthy weight."

(Extracted 18 October from www.upi.com/Health_News/2019/10/18/Fat-collects-in-lungs-of-overweight-people-raising-asthma-risk/3631571417919

I was grateful to be invited to speak at the APSR-ISRD Joint Session at the American Thoracic Society International Conference 2019 in Dallas. The ATS IC draws over 15,000 experts in the field of respiratory health with specialties including basic sciences, clinicians, educators, and exhibitors focused on a range of disciplines. The conference was the perfect forum for experts from all over the world to converge and exchange knowledge in the field of respiratory medicine.

Being part of the APSR-ISRD session was a fantastic opportunity to liaise with my regional peers. Thereby expanding my knowledge and providing an opportunity to make contacts within the Asia Pacific. I was invited to give a talk on "Small airway fibrosis in COPD is mediated by histone acetylation" which was an update on my PhD work carried out under the supervision of A/Prof Brian Oliver at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research and University of Technology Sydney. I also presented these findings during a poster discussion session where thoughtful and insightful examination of my and my peers' work took place. I found that attending the ATS International Conference 2019 in Dallas to be a valuable experience, providing me with an opportunity to liaise with and learn from leaders in the field of respiratory medicine.

A warm welcome to the following members who have recently joined APSR assemblies. They will undoubtedly enjoy working with and networking with their assembly colleagues.

The following members have kindly sent their donation towards the Society's goals, as outlined at apsresp.org/members/donors.php.

• Dr Norbert Berend FAPSR
• Dr Kwun Fong FAPSR
• Dr Moo Suk Park
• Dr Farida Anggraini Soetedjo FAPSR

The APSR is profoundly grateful for their generosity.

Congratulations to the following members who have recently become Fellows of the APSR:

• Dr Arpan Shah FAPSR
• Dr Farida Anggraini Soetedjo FAPSR

If you have news or announcements that may be of interest to other APSR members, please send details to Bulletin Coordinator Dr Arata Azuma (a-azuma@nms.ac.jp) or APSR Bulletin (bulletin@apsresp.org).