Biology of the suprabenthic mysid Schistomysis assimilis (Sars, 1877) on Creixell beach, Tarragona (northwestern Mediterranean)

The suprabenthic mysid Schistomysis assimilis (Sars, 1877) was sampled monthly during 1991- 1992 in the surf zone of Creixell beach (Tarragona, Spain, northwestern Mediterranean) in order to describe its life history and estimate its secondary production. In the unstable coastal soft-bottom environment studied, this resident mysid is one of the suprabenthic community's dominant species. Demographic analysis suggests that it is a trivoltine species with a potential longevity of less than one year. According to the size frequency method, its annual production was estimated at 103.55 mg/5 m², with a P/B̅ ratio of 9,12.El misidáceo suprabentónico Schistomysis assimilis (Sars, 1877) ha sido muestreado mensualmente durante 1991 y 1992 en la zona de rompientes de la playa de Creixell (Tarragona, España) (Mediterráneo noroccidental) con el fin de describir su ciclo de vida y estimar su producción secundaria. Este misidáceo residente es uno de los principales componentes de la comunidad suprabentónica previamente reconocida en los fondos de esta playa. El análisis demográfico de la población sugiere que es una especie trivoltina con una longevidad potencial de menos de un año. Utilizando el método de Hynes, la producción anual estimada es de 103,55 mg/5 m² con una tasa P/B̅ de 9,12.Instituto Español de Oceanografí

Temporal changes in the structure of the suprabenthic community from Hendaya beach (southern Bay of Biscay): A comparison with a northwestern Mediterranean beach community

In 1991-1992, the suprabenthic communities from Hendaya and Creixell beaches (southeastern bay of Biscay and northwestern Mediterranean, respectively) were monthly sampled in order to analyse and compare their qualitative and quantitative structural evolution during an annual cycle. The suprabenthos of Hendaya and Creixell beaches shows a similarity rate of 33.3 % for genera and 11.8 % at the species level, mainly amphipods and mysids. The presence of vicariant especies, especially of the genera Schistomysis, Cumposis and Eurydice indicates a certain degree of biogeographical isolation between the suprabenthos of dissipative type beaches from southeastern Bay of Biscay to northwestern Mediterranean.Las comunidades suprabentónicas de las playas de Hendaya y Creixell (sudeste del golfo de Vizcaya y noroeste del Mediterráneo, respectivamente) han sido mensualmente muestreadas con el objetivo de analizar y comparar su evolución estructural (cualitativa y cuantitativa) durante el ciclo anual 1991-1992. En el suprabentos de las playas de Hendaya y Creixell se han detectado un 33,3 % de géneros y un 11,8 % de especies comunes, principalmente, anfípodos y misidáceos. La presencia de especies vicariantes de los géneros Schistomysis, Cumposis y Eurydice, cuyas respectivas poblaciones son abundantes en ambas playas, revela cierto grado de aislamiento biogeográfico que puede ser, hasta cierto punto, extrapolable al suprabentos de las playas de tipo disipativo localizadas entre la zona sur del golfo de Vizcaya y el noroeste del Mediterráneo.Instituto Español de Oceanografí

On the structure of the neritic suprabenthic communities from the Portuguese continental margin

This work presents the investigations made on the neritic suprabenthic communities of the Portuguese margin (continental shelf and upper slope) exposed to seasonal upwelling. These communities were sampled during the AVEIRO-94 cruise at 5 sites located along an E-W bathymetric transect from 21 to 299 m depth using a suprabenthic sled with superposed nets. In the 0 to 100 cm water layer, the total densities ranged from 700.2 to 13591.7 ind. 100m(-2). During daytime, the motile fauna was mainly concentrated within the 0 to 50 cm water layer (76.2 to 97.2% of the total abundance). The night-time sample at the shallower site showed a more even distribution of the fauna in the near-bottom water layers (nocturnal migratory behaviour of some motile species). The Shannon diversity (H') values ranged from 1.84 to 3.54 for the shelf sites and increased at the upper slope site (4.15). Mysids and amphipods were generally dominant except for at the middle part of the shelf where the latter was replaced by euphausiids. The suprabenthic fauna off Aveiro was compared with similar data from the same bathymetric sampling levels off Arcachon (Bay of Biscay). Multivariate analysis showed that differences in faunal composition between the 2 geographic areas were smaller than depth-related variations within geographic areas. The results were discussed in relation to other suprabenthic communities from the northeastern Atlantic.Programa de Cooperação Oceanológica Luso-FrancesaJNICT/Embaixada de FrançaFrench CIRMAT-CNR

Rôle du bentos dans le régime alimentaire des poissons démersaux du secteur Sud Gascogne

The diet of 34 demersal fishes from the continental shelf and top of the Atlantic slope is studied by analysis of digestive contents. All fishes from this area are stenophagous predators (7 ichthyophagous fishes, 1 concholophagous fish} or euryphagous predators (26 demersal fishes). The small motile benthic crustaceans (Mysidacea, Amphipoda, young Decapoda Natantia and Brachyurans) are the most important food for euryphagous fishes during the first years of their life near the sea floor. This special fauna, now called "suprabenthos", is not well sampled by traditional benthic gears. A new suprabenthic sledge is proposed for quantitative samplings of the motile freeswimming crustaceans

Spatial and seasonal changes of brackish peracaridan assemblages and their relation to some environmental variables in two tidal channels of the Ria de Aveiro (NW Portugal)

The shallow-water fauna of 2 main channels in the Ria de Aveiro (Canal de Ovar and Canal de Mira) was sampled between June 1995 and June 1996 using a suprabenthic sled. Samples were collected monthly at 5 stations and every third month at 11 other stations, covering both channels from the lower to the upper reaches. The channels differ in their hydrodynamics, in the distribution of the sediment environments and in the salinity gradient, thus providing an invaluable example for field studies. The results presented herein concern peracaridan crustaceans. Multivariate analysis (MDS, ANOSIM and UPGMA) of the faunal data showed significant differences between the 2 channels. Spatial and seasonal variations within the channels were also significant. The distinctive structural features were the higher number of species and overall dominance of mysids in the Canal de Mira as opposed to the dominance of amphipods and higher densities in the Canal de Ovar. In both channels there was a spatial pattern of high densities in areas with a rich sediment environment (fine sediments, high organic content, more diversified and stable food sources). Specific life cycle features, unfavourable temperature and salinity conditions, and probably also increased predation pressure induced a general impoverishment of the peracaridan assemblage during winter. Amphipods (mainly epibenthic and tube dwellers) and mysids (characteristic suprabenthic) showed defined spatial and seasonal patterns. Amphipods dominated the areas with more stable food sources, while the highly motile mysids succeeded in colonising and dominated in more dynamic and unpredictable environments. Density fluctuations of amphipods and mysids occurred seasonally in non-coincident cycles. On the whole, mysids were dominant during winter and spring and amphipods during summer and autumn.Centro das Zonas Costeiras e do Mar - CZCMPRODEP - C.3/94. No. 1

The non-indigenous Paranthura japonica Richardson, 1909 in the Mediterranean Sea: travelling with shellfish?

An anthurid isopod new to the Mediterranean Sea has recently been observed in samples from three localities of the Italian coast: the Lagoon of Venice (North Adriatic Sea), La Spezia (Ligurian Sea) and Olbia (Sardinia, Tyrrhenian Sea). The specimens collected showed strong affinity to a species originally described from the NW Pacific Ocean: Paranthura japonica Richardson, 1909. The comparison with specimens collected from the Bay of Arcachon (Atlantic coast of France), where P. japonica had been recently reported as non-indigenous, confirmed the identity of the species. This paper reports the most relevant morphological details of the Italian specimens, data on the current distribution of the species and a discussion on the pathways responsible for its introduction. The available data suggest that the presence of this Pacific isopod in several regions of coastal Europe might be due to a series of aquaculture-mediated introduction events that occurred during the last decades of the 1900s. Since then, established populations of P. japonica, probably misidentified, remained unnoticed for a long time

Sequential adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy in endometrial cancer--results from two randomised studies.

INTRODUCTION: Endometrial cancer patients with high grade tumours, deep myometrial invasion, or advanced stage disease have a poor prognosis. Randomized studies have demonstrated prevention of loco-regional relapses with radiotherapy with no effect on overall survival. The possible additive effect of chemotherapy remains unclear. Two randomized clinical trials (NSGO-EC-9501/EORTC-55991 and MaNGO ILIADE-III) were undertaken to clarify if sequential combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy improves progression-free survival in high-risk endometrial cancer. The two studies were pooled. METHODS: Patients (n=540; 534 evaluable) with operated endometrial cancer FIGO stage I-III with no residual tumour and prognostic factors implying high-risk were randomly allocated to adjuvant radiotherapy with or without sequential chemotherapy. RESULTS: In the NSGO/EORTC study, combined modality treatment was associated with a 36 % reduction in the risk for relapse or death (HR 0.64, 95 % CI 0.41-0.99; P=0.04); two-sided tests were used. The result from the MaNGO-study pointed in the same direction (HR 0.61), but was not significant. In combined analysis, the estimate of risk for relapse or death was similar but with narrower confidence limits (HR 0.63, CI 0.44-0.89; P=0.009). Neither study showed significant differences in overall survival. In combined analysis, overall survival approached statistical significance (HR 0.69, CI 0.46-1.03; P = 0.07) and cancer-specific survival was significant (HR 0.55, CI 0.35-0.88; p=0.01). CONCLUSION: Addition of adjuvant chemotherapy to radiation improves progression-free survival in operated endometrial cancer patients with no residual tumour and high risk profile. A remaining question for future studies is if addition of radiotherapy to chemotherapy improves the results

Histone deacetylases as new therapy targets for platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer

Introduction: In developed countries, ovarian cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women. Due to the nonspecific symptomatology associated with the disease many patients with ovarian cancer are diagnosed late, which leads to significantly poorer prognosis. Apart from surgery and radiotherapy, a substantial number of ovarian cancer patients will undergo chemotherapy and platinum based agents are the mainstream first-line therapy for this disease. Despite the initial efficacy of these therapies, many women relapse; therefore, strategies for second-line therapies are required. Regulation of DNA transcription is crucial for tumour progression, metastasis and chemoresistance which offers potential for novel drug targets. Methods: We have reviewed the existing literature on the role of histone deacetylases, nuclear enzymes regulating gene transcription. Results and conclusion: Analysis of available data suggests that a signifant proportion of drug resistance stems from abberant gene expression, therefore HDAC inhibitors are amongst the most promising therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. Together with genetic testing, they may have a potential to serve as base for patient-adapted therapies

Development and validation of a multivariable risk prediction model for serious infection in patients with psoriasis receiving systemic therapy

BACKGROUND: Patients with psoriasis are often concerned about the risk of serious infection associated with systemic psoriasis treatments. OBJECTIVES: To develop and externally validate a prediction model for serious infection in patients with psoriasis within 1 year of starting systemic therapies. METHODS: The risk prediction model was developed using the British Association of Dermatologists Biologic Interventions Register (BADBIR), and the German Psoriasis Registry PsoBest was used as the validation dataset. Model discrimination and calibration were assessed internally and externally using the C-statistic, the calibration slope and the calibration in the large. RESULTS: Overall 175 (1·7%) out of 10 033 participants from BADBIR and 41 (1·7%) out of 2423 participants from PsoBest developed a serious infection within 1 year of therapy initiation. Selected predictors in a multiple logistic regression model included nine baseline covariates, and starting infliximab was the strongest predictor. Evaluation of model performance showed a bootstrap optimism-corrected C-statistic of 0·64 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0·60-0·69], calibration in the large of 0·02 (95% CI -0·14 to 0·17) and a calibration slope of 0·88 (95% CI 0·70-1·07), while external validation performance was poor, with C-statistic 0·52 (95% CI 0·42-0·62), calibration in the large 0·06 (95% CI -0·25 to 0·37) and calibration slope 0·36 (95% CI -0·24 to 0·97). CONCLUSIONS: We present the first results of the development of a multivariable prediction model. This model may help patients and dermatologists in the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland to identify modifiable risk factors and inform therapy choice in a shared decision-making process

SCOTROC 2B: feasibility of carboplatin followed by docetaxel or docetaxel–irinotecan as first-line therapy for ovarian cancer

The feasibility of combination irinotecan, carboplatin and docetaxel chemotherapy as first-line treatment for advanced epithelial ovarian carcinoma was assessed. One hundred patients were randomised to receive four 3-weekly cycles of carboplatin (area under the curve (AUC) 7) followed by four 3-weekly cycles of docetaxel 100 mg m−2 (arm A, n=51) or docetaxel 60 mg m−2 with irinotecan 200 mg m−2 (arm B, n=49). Neither arm met the formal feasibility criterion of an eight-cycle treatment completion rate that was statistically greater than 60% (arm A 71% (90% confidence interval (CI) 58–81%; P=0.079; arm B 67% (90% CI 55–78%; P=0.184)). Median-dose intensities were >85% of planned dose for all agents. In arms A and B, 15.6 and 12.2% of patients, respectively, withdrew owing to treatment-related toxicity. Grade 3–4 sensory neurotoxicity was more common in arm A (1.9 vs 0%) and grade 3–4 diarrhoea was more common in arm B (0.6 vs 3.5%). Of patients with radiologically evaluable disease at baseline, 50 and 48% responded to therapy in arms A and B, respectively; at median 17.1 months' follow-up, median progression-free survival was 17.1 and 15.9 months, respectively. Although both arms just failed to meet the formal statistical feasibility criteria, the observed completion rates of around 70% were reasonable. The addition of irinotecan to first-line carboplatin and docetaxel chemotherapy was generally well tolerated although associated with increased gastrointestinal toxicity. Further exploratory studies of topoisomerase-I inhibitors in this setting may be warranted