Targeted treatment of advanced ovarian cancer: spotlight on rucaparib.

The last 2 years have ushered in a new era in ovarian cancer therapy with the US Food and Drug Administration\u27s (FDA) approval of poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors (PARPi). One of the deadliest cancers that women experience, ovarian cancer, is most often diagnosed in advanced stages. Although cytoreductive surgery and (platinum/taxane-based) chemotherapy can place the majority of patients into remission, most will experience a relapse of their disease in their lifetime. This has led to studies exploring the benefits and efficacy of maintenance treatment. This review will briefly discuss the history of maintenance therapy as well as focus on the FDA\u27s approval of rucaparib and its companion tumor profiling test, in the US. It will describe how women with deleterious mutations in th

Vertical migration, feeding and colouration in the mesopelagic shrimp Sergestes arcticus

Intraspecific variation in vertical distribution, timing of vertical migration, and colouration of the mesopelagic shrimp Sergestes arcticus were studied in the >400 m deep part of Masfjorden, Norway. Very few individuals were caught in the upper strata during daytime, and larger individuals occurred deeper during the day than smaller ones. Vertical migration was prominent and no overall trend of increasing length with depth was found at night. Small individuals arrived in the upper layers earlier than larger ones. Animal colouration assessed by digital photography revealed significant variance in individual redness. Depth of capture was the most important factor explaining colouration, with increasing degree of redness with depth. Assessing the gut fullness of the transparent shrimps provided a rapid way of estimating feeding activity and showed that feeding took place mainly at night

Potential Alternatives to the Disputes in the South China Sea:An Analysis

*高世明,博士,台湾海洋大学海洋事务与资源管理研究所助理研究员。电子邮箱:[email protected]。**NathanielS.Pearre,特拉华大学地球、海洋和环境学院海洋科学和政策系。［文摘］本文的目的是分析和提出解决南(中国)海主权争端僵局的潜在替代方案。该地区的背景和现状表明,主权争端不太可能在可预见的未来得到解决。基于国际法的传统争端解决机制,包括外交谈判和第三方仲裁,尽管被许多外交官和学者所推荐,但至少在不久的将来不太会在南(中国)海起到作用。由于在贯彻实施这些机制方面可能存在的困难,油气储备“共同开发冶以及海洋环境和共享资源“区域合作冶被提了出来,作为规避这些主权争端的备选方案。然而,本文认为,油气储备的共同开发在不久的将来同样不太可能起到作用,因为它也有与传统机制同样的弱点,任何解决方案都可能受到主权的影响。另一方面,合作已被公认为国际法和国际关系中的一个必要和基本原则,加之周边各方根据《联合国海洋法公约》和许多其他国际环境公约做出了许多“公域冶合作的法律承诺,该地区有关公域的一些合作活动通常都是在双边或多边的基础上 开展的。尽管在最终解决主权争端上没有进展,但对所有相关国家而言,在不久的将来,南(中国)海的区域合作也许是一种可行的替代方案。一如既往,所有各方的政治意愿对这种努力的成功是至关重要的。［Abstract］The purpose of this article is to analyze and propose potential alternatives to the stalemate of sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea.The background and status quo in the region suggest that sovereignty disputes are not likely to be settled in the foreseeable future.Although recommended by many diplomats and scholars,traditional dispute settlement mechanisms under international law,including diplomatic negotiation and third-party arbitration,will not likely work in the South China Sea,at least in the near future.Due to the probable difficulties in implementing either of the mechanisms,“joint development”of oil and gas reserves and“regional cooperation”on the marine environment and shared resources have been recommended as alternatives to circumvent these sovereignty disputes.Nevertheless,this article finds that joint development of oil and gas reserves is similarly unlikely to work in the near future because it suffers the same weakness as traditional mechanisms,in that any resolution may have sovereignty implications.On the other hand,cooperation has been recognized as a necessary and fundamental principle in international law and international relations.In addition,there are many legal commitments by bordering States/regions to cooperate on the commons under United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and many other international environmental conventions.Some cooperative activities related to the commons are regularly carried out on bilateral or multilateral bases in the region.Notwithstanding the lack of progress toward final settlement of sovereignty disputes,regional cooperation in the South China Sea may be a workable alternative for all States concerned in the near future.As always,the political will of all parties is paramount to the success of such an endeavor

Large scale patterns in vertical distribution and behavior of mesopelagic scattering layers

Recent studies suggest that previous estimates of mesopelagic biomasses are severely biased, with the new, higher estimates underlining the need to unveil behaviourally mediated coupling between shallow and deep ocean habitats. We analysed vertical distribution and diel vertical migration (DVM) of mesopelagic acoustic scattering layers (SLs) recorded at 38 kHz across oceanographic regimes encountered during the circumglobal Malaspina expedition. Mesopelagic SLs were observed in all areas covered, but vertical distributions and DVM patterns varied markedly. The distribution of mesopelagic backscatter was deepest in the southern Indian Ocean (weighted mean daytime depth: WMD 590 m) and shallowest at the oxygen minimum zone in the eastern Pacific (WMD 350 m). DVM was evident in all areas covered, on average ~50% of mesopelagic backscatter made daily excursions from mesopelagic depths to shallow waters. There were marked differences in migrating proportions between the regions, ranging from ~20% in the Indian Ocean to ~90% in the Eastern Pacific. Overall the data suggest strong spatial gradients in mesopelagic DVM patterns, with implied ecological and biogeochemical consequences. Our results suggest that parts of this spatial variability can be explained by horizontal patterns in physical-chemical properties of water masses, such as oxygen, temperature and turbidity.En prensa2,927

The Submarine Volcano Eruption off El Hierro Island: Effects on the Scattering Migrant Biota and the Evolution of the Pelagic Communities

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Vertical distribution of fish larvae in the Canaries-African coastal transition zone, in summer

13 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables.-- Printed version published Jul 2006.This study reports the vertical distribution of fish larvae during the 1999 summer upwelling season in the Canaries-African Coastal Transition Zone (the Canaries-ACTZ). The transition between the African coastal upwelling and the typical subtropical offshore conditions is a region of intense mesoscale activity that supports a larval fish population dominated by African neritic species. During the study, the thermal stratification extended almost to the surface everywhere, and the surface mixed layer was typically shallow or non-existent. Upwelling occurred on the African shelf in a limited coastal sub-area of our sampling. The vertical distributions of the entire larval fish population, as well as of individual species, were independent of the seasonal thermocline. Fish larvae and mesozooplankton were concentrated at intermediate depths regardless of the thermocline position, probably because of its weak signature and spatial and temporal variability. Day/night vertical distributions suggest that some species did not perform diel vertical migration (DVM), whereas others showed either type I DVM or type II DVM. The opposing DVM patterns of different species compensate for each other resulting in no net DVM for the larval fish population as a whole.Fieldwork was carried out as part of the CANIGO project, funded by the EU, and of the "Pelagic (EU-CICYT 1FD97-1084)" project from the Spanish Ministry of Education and the European Union