Environmental Control of the Life Cycle of Dumontia contorta (Rhodophyta) Kept in Culture

Tetraspores of Durnontia contorta (Gmelin) Ruprecht from the Isle of Man (UK) germinate directly after release into discoid or globular microthalli. Under long-day conditions (16 : 8) and at higher temperatures (20 "C) these microthalli increase in diameter. However, under short-day conditions (8 : 16) and at lower temperatures (8", lZO, 16 "C) they give rise to macrothalli. This short-day effect is caused by photoperiodism, not by the lower light dosis. The macrothallus budding from the microthallus appears to be multiseriate in origin

The Life History of Desmotrichum undulatum (Phaeophyceae) and its Regulation by Temperature and Light Conditions

Plurizoids of Desmotrichum undulatum (J. Ag.) Reinke, grow into microthalli bearing macrothalli under a wide range of temperature (4 "-30 "C) and light conditions: short day (SD) 1000, 2000, 4000 Lux; long day (LD) 500, 1000, 2000 Lux. At 35 "C microthalli die. It is mainly the temperature which modifies the n~orphological expression of the macrothallus: (1) Higher temperatures (ca 20 "-30 "C) support the development of uniseriate macrothalli; lower temperatures (ca 4 "-16 "C) of pluriseriate ribbon-like thalli; and intermediate temperatures (ca 16 "-20 "C) of proximally pluriseriate and distally umseriate macrothalli. These morphological expressions form a graded series. (2) Higher temperatures promote the growth rate of macrotalli; the rapid growth is soon overtaken by intense zoidogeneses which ends the vegetative growth of very small microthalli. (3) Temperature influences the time span before the onset of zoidogenesis; the time span varies from ca 1 week at 20 "C to ca 13 weeks at 4 "C. The result is that at lower temperatures (4 "-12 "C) the final macrothalli size is much larger than at higher temperatures, not withstanding a lower growth rate. Under short-day conditions the onset of zoidogenesis IS advanced, particularly so at lower temperatures. Therefore, the largest macrothalli are formed at lower temperatures and under long-day conditions; this corresponds to late spring in nature. Maximum microthalli length in culture (at 8 "C) was ca 60 cm Such macrothalli conform to the description of Punctaria latifolia also in other respects. Therefore D, undulatum (including D. balticum and D scopulorum) is thought to be synonymous with P. latifolia. The seasonal occurrence of macrothalli (winter-spring) and the geographic distribution are in accordance with results obtained in culture

Deep-water macroalgae from the Canary Islands: new records and biogeographical relationships

Due to the geographical location and paleobiogeography of the Canary Islands, the seaweed flora contains macroalgae with different distributional patterns. In this contribution, the biogeographical relations of several new records of deep-water macroalgae recently collected around the Canarian archipelago are discussed. These are Bryopsidella neglecta (Berthotd) Rietema,Discosporangium mesarthrocarpum (Meneghini) Hauck, Hincksia onslowensis (Amsler et Kapraun)P.C. Silva, Syringoderma floridana Henry, Peyssonnelia harveyana J. Agardh, Cryptonemia seminervis(C. Agardh) J. Agardh, Botryodadia wynnei Ballantine, Gloiocladia blomquistii (Searles) R. E.Norris, PIahchrysis peltata (W. R. Taylor) P. Huv4 et H. Huv4, Leptofauchea brasiliensis Joly, and Sarcodiotheca divaricata W. R. Taylor. These new records, especially those in the Florideophyceae,support the strong affinity of the Canary Islands seaweed flora with the warm-temperate Mediterranean-Atlantic region. Some species are recorded for the first time from the east coast of the Atlantic Ocean, enhancing the biogeographic relations of the Canarian marine flora with that of the western Atlantic regions

Cisplatin-induced ototoxicity: the current state of ototoxicity monitoring in New Zealand.

Background: Many well-known pharmacologic agents have been shown to have toxic effects to the cochleo-vestibular system. Examples of such ototoxic agents include cisplatin and aminoglycoside antibiotics. Ototoxicity monitoring consists of a comprehensive pattern of audiological assessments designed to detect the onset of any hearing loss. Three main methods have emerged over the past decade, and include the basic audiological assessment, extended high frequency (EHF) audiometry, and otoacoustic emission (OAE) measurement. These measures can be used separately or in combination, depending on clinical purpose and patient considerations. It is suggested by the American Academy of Audiology Position Statement and Clinical Practice Guidelines: Ototoxicity Monitoring, that baseline testing be done in a fairly comprehensive manner, including pure-tone thresholds in both the conventional- and extended high frequency ranges, tympanometry, speech audiometry, and the testing of OAEs (AAA, 2009). Anecdotal evidence suggests that New Zealand Audiologists do not currently follow a national ototoxicity monitoring protocol. Therefore the main aim of this study was to explore the current status of ototoxicity monitoring within New Zealand. Hypothesis: It was hypothesized that hospital based Audiology departments across New Zealand each followed their own internal ototoxicity monitoring protocol based, to a large extent, on the guidelines proposed by the American Academy of Audiology and by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Method: Through the use of a Telephone Interview Questionnaire, 16 charge Audiologists were interviewed to establish their current state of knowledge regarding ototoxicity monitoring at 16 out of 20 district health boards in New Zealand. Enquiries about the current systems and procedures in place at their departments together with any suggestions and recommendations to improve on these systems were made. Results: This study found that only 9 of the 16 DHBs interviewed currently follow an ototoxicity monitoring protocol. Furthermore, other than initially hypothesized the origin of the protocols followed by the remaining 7 departments were reported to have ranged from independently developed protocols to historically adopted protocols. One department implemented an adapted version of a protocol by Fausti et al. (Ear and Hearing 1999; 20(6):497-505). This diversity in origin however, does confirm our initial suspicion that no universal and standardized monitoring protocol is currently being followed by Audiologists working in the public health sector of New Zealand

Resectability and Ablatability Criteria for the Treatment of Liver Only Colorectal Metastases:Multidisciplinary Consensus Document from the COLLISION Trial Group

The guidelines for metastatic colorectal cancer crudely state that the best local treatment should be selected from a 'toolbox' of techniques according to patient- and treatment-related factors. We created an interdisciplinary, consensus-based algorithm with specific resectability and ablatability criteria for the treatment of colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). To pursue consensus, members of the multidisciplinary COLLISION and COLDFIRE trial expert panel employed the RAND appropriateness method (RAM). Statements regarding patient, disease, tumor and treatment characteristics were categorized as appropriate, equipoise or inappropriate. Patients with ECOG≤2, ASA≤3 and Charlson comorbidity index ≤8 should be considered fit for curative-intent local therapy. When easily resectable and/or ablatable (stage IVa), (neo)adjuvant systemic therapy is not indicated. When requiring major hepatectomy (stage IVb), neo-adjuvant systemic therapy is appropriate for early metachronous disease and to reduce procedural risk. To downstage patients (stage IVc), downsizing induction systemic therapy and/or future remnant augmentation is advised. Disease can only be deemed permanently unsuitable for local therapy if downstaging failed (stage IVd). Liver resection remains the gold standard. Thermal ablation is reserved for unresectable CRLM, deep-seated resectable CRLM and can be considered when patients are in poor health. Irreversible electroporation and stereotactic body radiotherapy can be considered for unresectable perihilar and perivascular CRLM 0-5cm. This consensus document provides per-patient and per-tumor resectability and ablatability criteria for the treatment of CRLM. These criteria are intended to aid tumor board discussions, improve consistency when designing prospective trials and advance intersociety communications. Areas where consensus is lacking warrant future comparative studies.</p

Effects of Photoperiod and Temperature on Macrothallus Initiation in Dumontia contorta (Rhodophyta)

Gametophytic and sporophytic microthalli of Dumontia contorta from Isle of Man appear to persist indefinitely in the vegetative state at photoperiods of 14 h and longer, but form erect, branched, tubular macrothalli at photoperiods of 12 h or less. Responses of microthalli kept under different daylengths at 2,000 lux, and those of microthalli kept under daylength-adjusted light intensities, giving equal daily light doses, did not differ from one another. The critical daylength for this short-day response is approxin~ately 12 h. The response to short-day conditions was inhibited by a short white night-break of 0.25 h given in the middle of a 16 h dark period, irrespective of light intensity (2,000 or 180 lux); this suggests a genuine photoperiodic response as known from flowering plants. However, a relatively large number of short-day cycles (at least 31) are required to produce some effect. Macrothalli formation involves 2 separate steps. The first step (induction of macrothallus initials) depends entirely on daylength, the second (development of initials into macrothalli) on both daylength and temperature. This was deduced from the fact that macrothallus initials were formed under shortday conditions irrespective of temperature (4 to 24'), whereas macrothalli were formed from initials under short-day conditions but only at temperatures of 16" (critical temperature) or lower. At 26" microthalli died gradually. Like microthalli, macrothalli grow optimally at 16 to 18". It follows, therefore, that macrothalli cannot be expected to grow from macrothallus initials above 16" and under short-day conditions, since elongation of short cells in the f~laments of macrothallus initials (start of macrothallus growth) would be blocked. Elongation of these cells was probably also blocked by longday conditions because macrothallus initials did not grow out after transfer of microthalli from shortday to long-day conditions at 12