Extreme flooding increases poaching mortality in the southernmost stronghold of the endangered marsh deer

Extreme stochastic perturbations can affect population dynamics, but quantitative assessments are scarce for threatened species. The 2015-2016 El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) caused extreme flooding in the Delta of the Paraná River in Argentina where the southernmost population of the regionally endangered marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) occurs. Using field surveys and data from informants, we studied the impact of this flood on the mortality, distribution, and abundance of this marsh deer population in an area of 1 236 km2. The occurrence of this extreme flood significantly increased marsh deer mortality. One hundred forty-two marsh deer deaths were recorded over the seven-month flood duration, with poaching accounting for 86.6% of deaths. Mortality of marsh deer was significantly higher near urban areas, embankments, and dirt roads, while mortality from poaching was higher in plantations and permanently inundated lands. Two areas of high spatial clustering of poaching mortality were detected, encompassing plantations with easy access or in proximity to urban areas, while embankments appeared to act as attractive population sinks. Flood-related mortality significantly decreased the occurrence of the species in the study area after the flood, but changes in relative abundance between periods were heterogeneous across the landscape, probably because of local migrations. Since climate change is expected to increase the global frequency and magnitude of extreme flood events, our study provides valuable information for mitigating the negative synergistic effects of extreme flooding on marsh deer, as well as for global wildlife populations subjected to periodic extreme floods.Las perturbaciones estocásticas extremas pueden afectar la dinámica de las poblaciones, pero las evaluaciones cuantitativas son escasas para las especies amenazadas. El fenómeno de “El Niño” de 2015-2016 causó inundaciones extremas en el Delta del río Paraná en Argentina, donde se encuentra la población más austral del ciervo de los pantanos (Blastocerus dichotomus), categorizada como En Peligro a nivel regional. En base a relevamientos de campo y datos de informantes, estudiamos el impacto de esta inundación sobre la mortalidad, distribución y abundancia de esta población de ciervo de los pantanos dentro de un área de 1 236 km2. La ocurrencia de esta inundación incrementó signicativamente la mortalidad del ciervo de los pantanos. Hemos registrado 142 individuos muertos durante los siete meses de duración de la inundación, y la caza furtiva representó el 86.6% de las muertes. La mortalidad del ciervo de los pantanos fue signicativamente mayor en proximidad a áreas urbanas, terraplenes y caminos vehiculares, mientras que la mortalidad por cacería fue mayor en plantaciones y terrenos permanentemente inundados. Se detectaron dos áreas de alta concentración espacial de mortalidad por cacería, que abarcaron plantaciones de fácil acceso o próximas a áreas urbanas, mientras que los terraplenes parecen haber funcionado como sumideros atractivos para los ciervos. La mortalidad relacionada con las inundaciones disminuyó signicativamente la presencia de la especie dentro del área de estudio luego de la inundación, pero los cambios en la abundancia relativa entre períodos fueron heterogéneos en todo el paisaje, probablemente como resultado de migraciones locales. Dado que se espera que el cambio climático aumente la frecuencia global y la magnitud de las inundaciones extremas, nuestro estudio proporciona información valiosa para mitigar los efectos sinérgicos negativos de las inundaciones extremas tanto en el ciervo de los pantanos como en poblaciones de otras especies sujetas a inundaciones extremas periódicas.EEA Delta del ParanáFil: Pereira, Javier A. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”; ArgentinaFil: Pereira, Javier Adolfo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Varela, Diego. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical; ArgentinaFil: Varela, Diego. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología Subtropical; ArgentinaFil: Varela, Diego. Asociación Civil Centro de Investigaciones del Bosque AtlánticoFil: Thompson, Jeffrey J. Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología. Guyra Paraguay; ParaguayFil: Thompson, Jeffrey J. Instituto Saite; ParaguayFil: Lartigau, Bernardo V. Asociación para la Conservación y el Estudio de la Naturaleza; ArgentinaFil: Fracassi, Natalia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Delta del Paraná; ArgentinaFil: Kittlein, Marcelo J. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC); ArgentinaFil: Kittlein, Marcelo J. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC); Argentin

Modelling of Tirapazamine effects on solid tumour morphology

Bioreductive drugs are in clinical practice to exploit the resistance from tumour microenvironments especially in the hypoxic region of tumour. We pre-sented a tumour treatment model to capture the pharmacology of one of the most prominent bioreductive drugs, Tirapazamine (TPZ) which is in clinical trials I and II. We calculated solid tumour mass in our previous work and then integrated that model with TPZ infusion. We calculated TPZ cytotoxicity, concentration, penetra-tion with increasing distance from blood vessel and offered resistance from micro-environments for drug penetration inside the tumour while considering each cell as an individual entity. The impact of these factors on tumour morphology is also showed to see the drug behaviour inside animals/humans tumours. We maintained the heterogeneity factors in presented model as observed in real tumour mass es-pecially in terms of cells proliferation, cell movement, extracellular matrix (ECM) interaction, and the gradients of partial oxygen pressure (pO2) inside tumour cells during the whole growth and treatment activity. The results suggest that TPZ high concentration in combination with chemotherapy should be given to get maximum abnormal cell killing. This model can be a good choice for oncologists and re-searchers to explore more about TPZ action inside solid tumour

Split Course Hyperfractionated Accelerated Radio-Chemotherapy (SCHARC) for patients with advanced head and neck cancer: Influence of protocol deviations and hemoglobin on overall survival, a retrospective analysis

BACKGROUND: The advantage of hyperfractionated accelerated radiation therapy for advanced head and neck cancer has been reported. Furthermore, randomized trials and meta-analyses have confirmed the survival benefit of additional chemotherapy to radiotherapy. We retrospectively analyzed the efficiency and toxicity of the Regensburg standard therapy protocol "SCHARC" and the overall survival of our patients. METHODS: From 1997 to 2004, 64 patients suffering from advanced head and neck cancer (88 % stage IV, 12 % stage III) were assigned to receive the SCHARC protocol. Around half of the patients were diagnosed with oro-hypopharynx carcinoma (52 %), one third with tongue and floor of mouth tumors (29 %) and one fifth (19 %) suffered from H & N cancer at other sites. The schedule consisted of one therapy block with 30 Gy in 20 fractions over a two week period with concomitant chemotherapy (d 1–5: 20 mg/m(2)/d DDP + 750–1000 mg/m(2)/d 5FU (cont. infusion). This therapy block was repeated after a fortnight break up to a cumulative dose of 60 Gy and followed by a boost up to 70 Gy (69–70.5 Gy). All patients assigned to this scheme were included in the survival evaluation. RESULTS: Forty patients (63 %) received both radiation and chemotherapy according to the protocol. The mean follow up was 2.3 years (829 d) and the median follow up was 1.9 years (678 d), respectively. The analysis of survival revealed an estimated 3 year overall survival rate of 57 %. No patient died of complications, 52 patients (80 %) had acute grade 2–3 mucositis, and 33 patients (58 %) suffered from acute grade 3 skin toxicity. Leucopenia was no major problem (mean nadir 3.4 g/nl, no patient < 1.0 g/nl) and the mean hemoglobin value decreased from 13.2 to 10.5 g/dl. Univariate analysis of survival showed a better outcome for patients with a hemoglobin nadir >10.5 g/dl and for patients who completed the protocol. CONCLUSION: The SCHARC protocol was effective in patients diagnosed with advanced head and neck cancer. It led to long-term disease control and survival in about 50 % of the patients with significant but acceptable toxicity. Most patients were not anemic at beginning of therapy. Therefore, we could assess the influence of pre-treatment hemoglobin on survival. However, a low hemoglobin nadir was associated with poor outcome. This result suggests an influence of anemia during therapy on prognosis

Experience Feedback Committee: a management tool to improve patient safety in mental health

BACKGROUND: A management tool, called the Experience Feedback Committee, has been applied for patient safety and successfully used in medical departments. The purpose of this study was to analyse the functioning of an Experience Feedback Committee in a psychiatric department and to explore its contribution to the particular issues of patient safety in mental health. METHODS: We conducted a descriptive study based on all the written documents produced by the Experience Feedback Committee between March 2010 and January 2013. The study was conducted in Grenoble University Hospital in France. We analysed all reported incidents, reports of meetings and event analysis reports. Adverse events were classified according to the Conceptual Framework for the International Classification for Patient Safety. RESULTS: A total of 30 meetings were attended by 22 professionals including seven physicians and 12 paramedical practitioners. We identified 475 incidents reported to the Experience Feedback Committee. Most of them (92 %) had no medical consequence for the patient. Eleven incidents were investigated with an analysis method inspired by civil aviation security systems. Twenty-one corrective actions were set up, including eight responses to the specific problems of a mental health unit, such as training to respond to situations of violence or management of suicide attempts. CONCLUSIONS: The Experience Feedback Committee makes it possible to involve mental healthcare professionals directly in safety management. This tool seems appropriate to manage specific patient safety issues in mental health. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12991-015-0062-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Adjuvant radiation therapy in metastatic lymph nodes from melanoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Purpose</p> <p>To analyze the outcome after adjuvant radiation therapy with standard fractionation regimen in metastatic lymph nodes (LN) from cutaneous melanoma.</p> <p>Patients and methods</p> <p>86 successive patients (57 men) were treated for locally advanced melanoma in our institution. 60 patients (69%) underwent LN dissection followed by radiation therapy (RT), while 26 patients (31%) had no radiotherapy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The median number of resected LN was 12 (1 to 36) with 2 metastases (1 to 28). Median survival after the first relapse was 31.8 months. Extracapsular extension was a significant prognostic factor for regional control (p = 0.019). Median total dose was 50 Gy (30 to 70 Gy). A standard fractionation regimen was used (2 Gy/fraction). Median number of fractions was 25 (10 to 44 fractions). Patients were treated with five fractions/week. Patients with extracapsular extension treated with surgery followed by RT (total dose ≥50 Gy) had a better regional control than patients treated by surgery followed by RT with a total dose <50 Gy (80% vs. 35% at 5-year follow-up; p = 0.004).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Adjuvant radiotherapy was able to increase regional control in targeted sub-population (LN with extracapsular extension).</p