University of Ulster

The winners of the 2023 WorldSkills UK Industrial Robotics competition, held in conjunction with FANUC UK, have been announced at an awards ceremony in Manchester. Representing the best of the UK’s rising robotics talent, Hannah Currie and Peter O’Neill from Northern Regional College in Northern Ireland beat over 50 young apprentices and students to take gold at the national finals, which were held over three days in November at FANUC’s UK headquarters in Coventry. The duo now have the chance to represent Team UK at the WorldSkills International Industrial Robotics competition in 2024. The five teams that made it to the UK national finals were tasked with accurately programming a FANUC ER4-iA robot according to a brief set by the company’s technical team. This involved picking and placing parts and incorporated sensors and pneumatics components, as well as an extension task to create a digital twin. The teams were judged on a variety of skills such as accuracy of programming and equipment installation, as well as teamwork, safety, time management and documentation. The winning team triumphed with an overall score of 97%. The benefits to young people of taking part in the WorldSkills UK competition are myriad: from increasing their confidence, challenging their technical skill level and learning how to work as a team, to boosting their CV and helping them stand out when applying for future roles in the industry. Winner Hannah Currie is currently in the second year of a Foundation Degree in Engineering and is pursuing a Higher Level Apprenticeship in Engineering with Wrightbus, where she is employed as a Manufacturing Technician. After receiving her award, Currie commented “It involved a lot of extra work, but it was well worth the effort as the skills we developed and the knowledge we picked up along the way will always stay with us and help us in our careers.” Teammate Peter O’Neill trained as a welder with McAuley Engineering and completed a Foundation Degree in Engineering at Northern Regional College. He is now a second-year BEng Mechanical Engineering student with Ulster University and has encouraged other students to get involved in the WorldSkills UK competition: “You will learn new skills which could open future job opportunities. Participating in WorldSkills and qualifying for the national finals is something that will stand out on a CV.” The finals were judged by a panel of experts from FANUC UK comprising competition organiser and technical manager, Paul Coombes; technical sales support engineer Dan Dunn; Fintan Collins, FANUC UK Academy trainer; and former WorldSkills UK finalist Hara Konstantelia, now a FANUC technical sales support engineer. Konstantelia commented “Having seen both sides, I believe that the WorldSkills UK initiative is a great way of getting young people into robotics engineering by showing them what projects involve and what programming is. It teaches industry-level skills that are a really useful preparation for a career in automation.” As a WorldSkills UK partner, FANUC is keen to inspire the next generation of robotics engineers and believes the programme is a great way to do this. “We want to engage with young people and enthuse them about robotics engineering as a career choice, so it was great to see so many talented entrants for this year’s contest,” said Paul Coombes. “The standard of the finalists was extremely high, and it was an honour to crown Hannah and Peter the winners with an outstanding score of 97%. The competition will soon be opening for entries for 2024, so if you know a young person who might like to give robotics a try, please encourage them to enter. There are no downsides to taking part!” Ben Blackledge, chief executive, WorldSkills UK said: “This is a life-changing moment for these young engineers. They are the new generation of high flyers that will give UK employers a competitive edge. Our finals, in partnership with FANUC UK, not only celebrate the best in young talent, but also provide a vital opportunity to see how skill development in the UK stacks up both domestically and against our international neighbours. Skills will continue to be a key differentiator for business both at home and abroad and through our programmes we are working to ensure that all apprentices and students across the UK can gain access to high-quality technical education and apprenticeships that lead to real success for them and the UK as a whole.”

Independent, peer-reviewed studies shows 86 per cent of forces on the head in community rugby are the same or less than those experienced in general exercise such as running and jumping. Most contact events in men's and women's elite rugby do not result in players experiencing significant force, according to new research. World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont has welcomed results from the largest ever studies into the forces experienced by rugby players. The results, which provide players and parents with greater clarity and confidence than ever before into the benefits and safety of rugby, are a first anywhere in world sport. The Otago Community Head Impact Detection study (ORCHID) a joint project between World Rugby, Prevent Biometrics, New Zealand Rugby, Otago Rugby and the University of Otago, has published the first independent, peer-reviewed findings into community rugby following almost two years of trail-blazing research. The study measures over 17,000 separate head acceleration events across more than 300 players from senior rugby through to U13s level. This work was followed by the Elite Extension of the ORCHID study in partnership with the Ulster University and Premiership Rugby. Further updates into the women's community game are currently being prepared for peer review and publication. Both studies used smart mouthguard technology, supplied by Prevent Biometrics, to understand the forces on the head experienced by players both in matches and training situations. The mouthguards measure g-forces which are experienced for less time than it takes to blink, using technology independently verified both in research laboratories and on the field of play. The ORCHID paper shows that in the men's community game: The Elite Extension study also showed that: World Rugby has already used preliminary findings from the ORCHID study to inform trials of a lower tackle height in the community game. The international federation has also expanded and enhanced the range of training for players and coaches available for free online including the Tackle Ready and new Breakdown Ready programmes. At the elite level, in a world first, World Rugby announced in October that smart mouthguards will be added to the Head Injury Assessment (HIA) protocols from January 2024. Dr Melanie Bussey, Associate Professor in Biomechanics at the University of Otago said, "Our ultimate goal as researchers is to make a meaningful impact through our work. Therefore, we are extremely pleased to see our work integrated into new strategies and guidelines designed to enhance player safety. We appreciate World Rugby's approach, which granted us the time to ensure robustness in our analysis and the autonomy to let the data speak for itself." "Looking ahead, we believe that Smart mouthguard technology holds immense potential for advancing player safety and performance analysis in rugby and beyond. Our research has opened doors to a wealth of insights, and we are committed to further exploring this innovative field. We envision continued collaboration with World Rugby and other stakeholders to harness the full potential of this technology, driving advancements that will benefit players and the sport as a whole. The journey has just begun, and we are excited to embark on it." Dr Gregory Tierney, Assistant Professor in Biomechanics at Ulster University said, "These studies put in the groundwork so that we can now monitor player head impact exposure in rugby and develop strategies to ensure the game is played in the safest possible manner. Smart mouthguards can aid sideline medical decision making and it is exciting that our research has contributed to World Rugby implementing the technology into the Head Injury Assessment protocol." World Rugby Sir Bill Beaumont welcomed the world-leading study: "Using the latest research and technology is at the heart of our six point plan to make rugby the most progressive sport in the world on player welfare. These studies are concrete proof that World Rugby us putting our time, energy and efforts in to back up our words and the insights gained are already helping us make evidence-led moves to make the sport even safer, we will never stand still on player welfare. "I'd like to thank the players all across the world who took part in the study, what they have helped to shed light on will be invaluable in advancing player welfare in rugby at all levels. Using this data we can say with some certainty that community and elite level rugby are very much the same game, but played very differently. World Rugby Chief Medical Officer Dr Eanna Falvey said "It is encouraging to see that alongside our recent research into the health benefits of rugby, we now have the data that offers a more complete picture of what it is like to play our sport. These studies gives us the ability like never before to understand the causes of head impacts and accelerations and we will leave no stone unturned, making whatever changes may be needed to reduce large forces to the head in our game." New Zealand Rugby General Manager Community Rugby Steve Lancaster said: "New Zealand Rugby has an absolute commitment to making the game as safe as possible and reducing the risk of injury to our participants at all levels. We believe that there are so many benefits to playing rugby and are committed to balancing those with the need to respond to the research and risks in an appropriate way. "We're particularly proud that our New Zealand rugby community has been at the forefront of this research, and we are already seeing this contribution make a material difference through initiatives like the reduced tackle height in community rugby that has been positively received." The studies into come in the wake of recent World Rugby commissioned research which shows that playing rugby provided USD 1.5bn in preventative healthcare savings around the world, 30 per cent reductions in levels of childhood obesity, 15% reduction in heart disease and 33 per cent reduction in mental illness amongst adults.

Seattle, Sept. 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avalyn Pharma Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on development of targeted therapies for life-threatening pulmonary diseases, and collaborators made several presentations at the congress of the European Respiratory Society (ERS), demonstrating that treatment with AP01 (inhaled pirfenidone) preserved forced vital capacity in participants with different forms of pulmonary fibrosis in the ongoing AP01-005 open label extension study, which followed the successful Phase 1b ATLAS study in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients. Forced vital capacity (FVC) measures the amount of air a person can forcibly exhale and is used by physicians to monitor progression of pulmonary fibrosis. Dr. Alex West, interstitial lung disease lead at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, London and an investigator in the ATLAS study made a podium presentation of 48-week results from the AP01-005 study. Participants with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) who were treated with AP01 experienced a less profound reduction in FVC than has been reported with oral pirfenidone. Adults treated with AP01 also reported markedly lower rates of nausea, rash, diarrhea, dyspepsia and vomiting compared to the published side-effect profile of oral pirfenidone. Mild cough was the most commonly reported adverse event (AE) among ATLAS and AP01-005 participants. Dr. West also presented a poster that compared findings from AP01-005 participants with progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) to published results of PPF patients treated with oral nintedanib, the only medication currently approved for PPF. It was found that PPF patients treated with AP01 reported substantially lower incidence of nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and decreased appetite than did participants in oral nintedanib studies. Further, consistent with the experience of participants with IPF, the AP01-005 participants with PPF also experienced a slower decline in FVC (-31.7mL) over 48-weeks of treatment than has been reported in the literature for PPF patients administered oral nintedanib (-80.8mL). Dr. Nazia Chaudhuri, a consultant in respiratory medicine at the Ulster University School of Medicine in Ireland and an investigator in the ATLAS and AP01-005 studies, presented a late-breaking poster describing a meta-analysis that was conducted to compare FVC findings from the IPF patients enrolled in ATLAS to pooled placebo results compiled from four published studies of oral pirfenidone and oral nintedanib in adults with IPF. Dr. Chaudhuri’s analysis suggests that 100mg AP01 BID has superior efficacy when compared to placebo. Specifically, when compared to the placebo arm of the ASCEND study of oral pirfenidone, AP01 would have had a statistically significant benefit in FVC (p=0.0007) vs placebo. Similarly, statistical significance would also be observed vs the placebo arms of the INPULSIS-1, INPULSIS-2 and INBUILD studies of oral nintedanib. “The consistent trend towards stabilization of lung function across the ATLAS and AP01-005 studies indicate to us that AP01 is reaching the lungs with sufficient concentrations and is having the intended effect in participants with both idiopathic and progressive forms of pulmonary fibrosis,” explained Howard M. Lazarus, M.D. FCCP, Avalyn’s chief medical officer. “These efficacy results, combined with the continued strong tolerability profile across patient populations support our continued clinical development of AP01 in adults with pulmonary fibrosis.” Avalyn expects to announce next steps in the clinical development of AP01 in the coming months. ERS Presentation Details: Poster Title: Nebulised Pirfenidone in Non-Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) Progressive Pulmonary Fibrosis (PPF): First Look at FVC DataLocation: PA405 in session 58Day/Time: September 10, 8:00 - 9:30 a.m. Presentation Title: Nebulised Pirfenidone in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF): First Look at FVC DataLocation: OA2581 in session 267Day/Time: September 11, 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. Poster Title: Inhaled Pirfenidone (AP01) Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) Data from the ATLAS Study vs Placebo from 3 Historical Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) Randomised Controlled Trials Location: PA3485 in session 349Day/Time: September 11, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. Copies of all presentations are available on the Avalyn website. About the ATLAS StudyThe open-label ATLAS study enrolled 91 adults with IPF who were intolerant of or ineligible for oral pirfenidone or nintedanib. The ATLAS study assessed the safety, tolerability and efficacy of two AP01 doses (50 mg QD or 100 mg BID) in patients with IPF. Of the 91 participants who enrolled, 77 (85%) completed 24 weeks of treatment. Following review of week 24 data, the DSMB recommended all participants transition to the higher dose of AP01. Dosing continued in the ATLAS study through week 72, after which all participants were eligible to participate in the AP01-005 open-label extension study. Of the 55 who reached week 72, 41 (75%) continued into the open-label extension (AP01-005). An additional 59 AP01-naïve adults with either IPF or PPF were also recruited to participate. To date, 100 individuals have enrolled in the open-label extension, 8 of whom have been on study medication for over three years. About Avalyn PharmaAvalyn is a biopharmaceutical company developing targeted therapeutics for the treatment of rare respiratory diseases including pulmonary fibrosis and other interstitial lung diseases (ILD). Pulmonary fibrosis is characterized by scarring, decline in lung function, reduced exercise capacity and quality of life, and is associated with increased mortality. Currently approved therapeutic options slow pulmonary fibrosis progression but are associated with significant toxicities, which restrict their use and dosing. Avalyn is developing a pipeline of inhaled therapeutics designed to reduce systemic exposure and deliver medication to the site of disease. AP01, Avalyn’s lead candidate, is an inhaled formulation of pirfenidone optimized for delivery via inhalation. In recent clinical studies of AP01 assessed in 150 individuals with different forms of pulmonary fibrosis – idiopathic (IPF) and progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) -- AP01 demonstrated the potential to improve both efficacy and safety over existing therapy. More information can be found at www.avalynpharma.com.