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Purpose: We determined the response rate to and safety of a dual 5α-reductase inhibitor, dutasteride, in men with castration recurrent prostate cancer. Materials and Methods: A total of 28 men with asymptomatic castration recurrent prostate cancer were treated with 3.5 mg dutasteride daily (luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone treatment continued), and evaluated monthly for response and toxicity. Eligibility included appropriate duration antiandrogen withdrawal, baseline prostate specific antigen 2.0 ng/ml or greater and a new lesion on bone scan, increase in measurable disease using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors criteria, or 2 or more consecutive prostate specific antigen measurements increased over baseline. Outcomes were progression, stable disease, partial response (prostate specific antigen less than 50% of enrollment for 4 or more weeks) or complete response. Results: There were 25 evaluable men with a mean age of 70 years (range 57 to 88), a mean prostate specific antigen of 61.9 ng/ml (range 5.0 to 488.9) and mean Gleason score 8 (range 6 to 10), 15 of whom had bone metastases. Eight men had 10 grade 3 or higher adverse events using National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria, all of which were judged to be unrelated to treatment. Of the 25 men 14 had disease progression by 2 months, 9 had stable (2.5, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 8.5, 9 months) disease, 2 had a partial response and none had a complete response. Overall median time to progression was 1.87 months (range 1 to 10, 95% CI 1.15–3.91). Conclusions: Dutasteride rarely produces biochemical responses in men with castration recurrent prostate cancer. However, further study is warranted given its favorable safety profile. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The fluorochrome dye known as calcein (trade name SE-MARK; Western Chemical, Ferndale, Washington) is currently being tested to determine its utility for creating lethally and nonlethally detectable fluorescent marks on bony tissues of fish via batch immersion. The work is being done under an Investigational New Animal Drug (1NAD) exemption granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, conditions set forth in the INAD prohibit discharge of waste calcein solution from hatchery facilities, making calcein impractical for marking otoliths in certain fish (e.g., larval American shad Alosa sapidissima) due to the large volumes of wastewater created from the marking process. We performed simple laboratory tests that demonstrated the efficiency of activated carbon for removing the dye from solution; we also developed an adsorptive capacity model at calcein concentrations of 125 and 250 mg/L. Evaluation of a treatment column and a batch-type treatment showed that 7.3 and 6.6 g of carbon/L of used marking solution effectively removed the dye from 125- and 250-mg/L calcein solutions, respectively. We report that activated carbon treatment provides a practical means of eliminating calcein dye from used marking solutions. This treatment technique facilitates expanded use of SE-MARK by fisheries managers as a tool that can be used alone or in conjunction with oxytetracycline to produce unique marks in groups of fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Populations of Atlantic sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus are at historically low levels along the Atlantic coast of North America. Atlantic sturgeon is a long-lived species with a complex life history, making population assessment difficult. The purpose of this study was to determine seasonal habitat use by juvenile Atlantic sturgeon in the Hudson River estuary and provide recommendations for future population monitoring. Our study focused on Newburgh and Haverstraw bays in the Hudson River, as these are areas of known juvenile sturgeon concentrations. The habitat within each bay was coarsely stratified according to substrate (hard versus soft) and depth (deep versus shallow). Sampling occurred during fall 2003, spring and fall 2004, and spring and fall 2005. Fall sampling occurred from October through November and spring sampling occurred from March through April. We used anchored gill nets of 76-, 102-, and 127-mm stretch mesh fished together at a sampling site. A total of 562 individual juvenile Atlantic sturgeon were captured during the course of this study (14 were captured more than once), the majority (90%) coming from Haverstraw Bay. Soft and deep habitat comprised only 25% of the available habitat in Haverstraw Bay but yielded the greatest frequency of catches, the highest mean catch per unit effort (CPUE), and lowest variance of CPUE. Catch per unit effort was highest during spring seasons in soft-deep areas of Haverstraw Bay. These results suggest that future population monitoring should focus sampling effort in soft--deep areas of Haverstraw Bay to have the greatest statistical power in detecting population trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses convict labor policies in the United States. Topics discussed include: the motives of convict labor; the difficulties and the instruments of progress; the historic evolution of convict labor policies; a survey of the principal systems of convict employment; convict labor in the U.S. before the civil war; the leasing system; the protest of organized labor and of business associations; convict labor progress to 1900; and convict labor progress since 1900.