Immunotherapy of Genitourinary Malignancies

Most cancer patients are treated with some combination of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Despite recent advances in local therapy with curative intent, chemotherapeutic treatments for metastatic disease often remain unsatisfying due to severe side effects and incomplete long-term remission. Therefore, the evaluation of novel therapeutic options is of great interest. Conventional, along with newer treatment strategies target the immune system that suppresses genitourinary (GU) malignancies. Metastatic renal cell carcinoma and non-muscle-invasive bladder caner represent the most immune-responsive types of all human cancer. This review examines the rationale and emerging evidence supporting the anticancer activity of immunotherapy, against GU malignancies

Hatchery management techniques for tiger-tail seahorse (Hippocampus comes)

Seahorse culture has been practiced throughout the world to meet the demand for global trade and reduce the pressure on wild stocks through overexploitation. Development of culture techniques for seed production of seahorses is one of the most effective measures to avoid such anthropological repercussions on the wild stocks, and is currently being conducted at SEAFDEC/ AQD with the aim to produce seed for stock release to protect these internationally threatened and overexploited species in Southeast Asia. This paper describes the breakthroughs in seahorse breeding and nursery rearing. So far, we have developed water and feeding management schemes that resulted in improved reproductive performance of broodstock and higher survival and growth rates in newborn and juvenile seahorses. We highlight the concern of providing desirable food organisms and maintenance of suitable water quality in order to maintain maximum efficiency in the management of the seahorse hatchery. Newborn seahorses fed with formalin-treated food organisms and reared in UV-treated seawater had significantly higher survival and daily growth rate based on stretched height and body weight than those fed with untreated food organisms and reared in both chlorinated and sand-filtered seawater. Broodstocks fed with mysid shrimps showed higher brood size and shorter parturition interval. Thus, improved reproductive performance as well as survival and growth of newborn seahorses were largely influenced by refinement of hatchery management techniques

Rapid Increase of the Serum PSA Level in Response to High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Therapy may be a Potential Indicator of Biochemical Recurrence of Low- and Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer

Objectives To determine the incidence and magnitude of the rapid increase in the serum PSA (riPSA) level after high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy for prostate cancer, and its correlation with clinical factors. Methods A total of 176 patients with localized prostate cancer underwent HIFU therapy. Serum riPSA was determined on the basis of the same criteria as those for “PSA bounce”, ie, an increase of ≥0.2 ng/ml with a spontaneous return to the prebounce level or lower. Patients were stratified according to neoadjuvant PSA level, T stage, risk group, age, Gleason score, pretreatment PSA level, post-treatment PSA nadir, and number of HIFU sessions. Results riPSA was seen in 53% of patients during a median follow-up period of 43 months. A PSA nadir was achieved within 3 months for 85.1% of the treatments. In all cases, onset of riPSA was seen two days after HIFU therapy, and the median magnitude was 23.69 ng/ml. A magnitude of >2 ng/ml was seen in 89.4% of cases. Univariate analysis revealed that patients with riPSA were associated with usage of hormonal therapy and the post-treatment PSA nadir level. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that riPSA and the number of HIFU sessions were predictors of biochemical recurrence. A significant statistical association was found between the presence of riPSA and the risk of biochemical failure only in the low- and intermediate-risk group. Conclusion Patients treated with HIFU who experience post-treatment riPSA may have an increased risk of biochemical recurrence, especially in non-high-risk patients

Economics of Community-Based Stock Enhancement of Abalones in Sagay Marine Reserve, Negros Occidental, Philippines

Abalone, Haliotis asinina, is a high value shellfish for export trade that provide cash income to fishing households in some coastal communities in the Philippines. Stock enhancement is one of the fisheries management strategies that enable recovery of overfished stocks through release of juveniles and consequent stock increase through recruitment. This option is frequently associated with high investments, often using government funds, and involves critical participation of fishers and other fishery stakeholders. With the primary goal of developing a community-based stock enhancement protocol that will contribute to rehabilitation of abalone stocks and supplement fishing incomes, hatchery-bred abalone juveniles were released in a stock enhancement demonstration site in coral patches around Barangay Molocaboc, an island within the Sagay Marine Reserve in the Visayan Sea in central Philippines. This paper aims to estimate the costs and benefits of producing abalones for commercial trade through community-based stock enhancement. Results of a seven-year community-based stock enhancement activity showed that the strategy is feasible under tri-party stakeholder collaboration involving: (1) an organized group of fishers and traders that executes the project activities, (2) the relevant local government for oversight and regulatory functions, and (3) a technical donor organization that provides science-based project advice. Community-based stock enhancement proved economically viable considering lower cost and ease of abalone grow-out in near-shore reef areas. It also offered equitable economic opportunities that benefit women, older men and children that may glean abalones in coral patches in intertidal zones instead of diving for abalones in remote reef areas.Keywords: Fisheries Economics, Fisheries Enhancement and Alternative Livelihoods, Modeling and Economic Theor

A preliminary study on the diagnosis of coral reef healthiness and establishment of coral replenishment technology

Abstract only.Field surveys for coral reef through line-intercept-transect (LIT) and temperature profiling using data-loggers were done at three layers of 5, 10, and 15 m depths in coral reef areas, Nogas Island, Anini-y, Antique, Philippines. Preliminary data based on the LIT survey showed that both coverages of substrates by any type of organism and by Scleractinia decreased in the deeper layers. For Scleractinia, Porites sp. occurred predominantly in all the depth layers with the occurrence decreasing with depth. Temperature fluctuation was largest in the 5 m depth layer, where effects of tidal level were also confirmed. While the average temperature decreased with depth, this did not differ beyond 1°C between 5 and 15 m layers during November 2012 to March 2013. Fragments of the Porites sp. and Acropora sp. were sampled and transferred to aquaria at the Tigbauan Main Station of SEAFDEC/AQD. Acropora sp. sampled from the deepest layer alone showed bleaching and thereafter, a part of the fragments regained the color. Experimental trials to clarify the effects of ocean acidification and warming on the health of the coral using the live fragments of Porites sp. showed decreasing trends in both photosynthetic rates and daily growth rates in acidic condition (pH = 7.6), while decrease of zooxanthellae density was observed under warmer conditions (31°C ) for one month. A new methodology for the determination of density of zooxanthellae was established using the fragments of Porites sp. In this study, the need for studies on several coral communities as well as further basic research on coral biology, particularly, responses to the changing environments are discussed for diagnosis of coral reef healthiness and establishment of effective coral replenishment technology

Community-based stock enhancement of abalone, Haliotis asinina in Sagay marine reserve: Achievements, limitations and directions

The Sagay Marine Reserve (SMR) under the National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS) is one of the many reef areas in the Visayan Sea in the central part of the Philippine archipelago. The SMR covers 32,000 ha or 59% of coastal waters north of the mainland Sagay City. Donkey’s ear abalone is one of the most sought mollusks traded by small-scale fishers in Molocaboc Island located within the SMR. High buying prices in local and international markets compared with other fish catch motivated fishers to target abalone and caused its overfishing. SEAFDEC/AQD, with support from the Government of Japan Trust Fund (JTF), conducted a community-based stock enhancement through a tri-party collaboration between the fisherfolks of Molocaboc Island, the Sagay local government at the village and city levels, and SEAFDEC/AQD. The study showed that the decision and implementation of stock enhancement and the definition of its objectives and relevance involves the strong engagement with stakeholders. For over a period of eight years (2007-2014), we learned that stock enhancement necessarily involve high financial investments and enormous transaction cost over a long period of time which are often not affordable to local governments of coastal communities in Southeast Asia. Thus, community-based collaborations may help achieve enhancement and restocking goals.The authors thank the SEAFDEC/AQD and the GOJ-TF for the support and funds provided to this study (8100-T-FD-SE0206 and SE01-M2010T); the Molocaboc fisherfolks organized as BFARMC; and the local government of Sagay City through the PAMB-SMR and the staff of SEAFDEC/AQD abalone hatchery

Social preparations towards community-based approach to stock enhancement in Sagay Marine Reserve, Philippines

Stock enhancement involves a set of management approaches which include the release of hatchery-produced aquatic organisms to enhance or restore fisheries. Stock enhancement of various species has a long history in developed countries and it showed that releases have the potential to yield substantial benefits for various fishery stakeholders. While the biological objectives of stock enhancement were often successfully achieved in most of these enhancement initiatives, some results showed that actual social gains in terms of yields, distribution of benefits and institutional sustainability are often inconclusive. The high cost of stocking accrues to the government which means these are supported by public funds. Meanwhile, benefits are dissipated across various stakeholders, some of them did not at all contribute and participate in the stocking program. In such government-initiated and publicly-funded stock enhancement programs, the lack of sense of stewardship among direct fishery stakeholders was observed to have contributed to a vicious cycle of excessive extraction of fishery resources for individual economic benefits. Developing countries such as the Philippines would be confronted by budgetary limitations if it has to adopt the stocking strategies applied in developed countries. Thus, with reference to the success of co-management approaches for managing fishery resources in the Philippines, a community-based strategy for enhancement of fishery stocks was explored. SEAFDEC/AQD, with support from the Government of Japan Trust Fund, initiated a community-based approach to stock enhancement in Molocaboc, an island barangay or village within the Sagay Marine Reserve (SMR). The initiative aims to ensure that its goals and strategies are within the social milieu of local stakeholders, i.e. fisherfolks are without financial assets to contribute or pay for the enhancement of the fishery and stock enhancement is often not a priority approach to address fishery resource depletion for most local governments. However, the social assets of fishing communities could be explored to implement stock enhancement. This paper describes the social preparation executed from 2007 to 2011 in order to orient a fishing community such as Molocaboc towards a successful enhancement of overfished species. Initially, the project focused on donkey s ear abalone Haliotis asinina to provide an example for other species. Abalone or kapinan in the vernacular is one of the over-extracted fishery resources in Sagay City. It is one of the high-priced catch among fishers in coastal communities in the Philippines. High buying prices compared with other fish catch motivated small-scale fishers to target abalones and caused its overfishing

Surgical correction of buried penis after traffic accident – a case report

BACKGROUND: Buried penis, most commonly seen in children, is particularly debilitating in adults, resulting in inability to void while standing and it also affects vaginal penetration. We report a case of buried penis due to a traffic accident, which caused dislocation of the fractured pubic bone that shifted inside and pulled the penis by its suspensory ligament. CASE PRESENTATION: A 55-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with a chief complaint of hidden penis while in the sitting position. He had suffered a pelvic fracture in a traffic accident four years previously, and his penis was covered with suprapubic fat when he was in a sitting position. He was unable to have sexual intercourse. We performed a penile lengthening procedure, including inverse V-Y-plasty of the dorsal skin of the penile root, suspensory desmotomy and fat removal, under general anesthesia. There was a good cosmetic result with satisfactory penile erection, which allowed successful sexual intercourse after surgery. CONCULSION: We performed penile elongation surgery with inverse V-Y-plasty of the dorsal skin of the penile root, suspensory desmotomy, and fat removal. Surgical treatment of buried penis achieves marked aesthetic and functional improvement, and benefits the majority of patients, resulting in satisfactory erection and successful sexual intercourse