Stomach content and stable isotope analyses provide complementary insights into the trophic ecology of coastal temperate bentho-demersal assemblages under environmental and anthropogenic pressures.

Assessing organic matter fluxes and species interactions in food webs is of main interest to understand the ecological functioning in bays and estuaries characterised by a wide diversity of primary producers and consumers. Demersal fish and cephalopod assemblages were studied across a network of 24 shallow subtidal stations in the bay of Saint-Brieuc for their diversity, stable isotope compositions and stomach contents. The community was composed of 21 taxa, eight species accounting for 94.4% of the total abundance. Three different assemblages were identified along bathymetric gradient and spatial patterns in fish dredging. Marine POM and SOM were the most likely bases of food webs regarding δ13C range displayed by fish and cephalopod without differences among assemblages. Amphipoda was the main prey item in stomachs leading to significant diet overlaps among fish species, with some variations in additional items. Sepia officinalis was characterised by a singular diet and very low dietary overlap with other species. Contrasted stable isotope values and niche overlaps among species were evidenced in the δ13C/δ15N space. Callionymus lyra and Buglossidium luteum, characterised by the widest isotopic niches, encompassed those of other species, except the singular 13C-depleted Spondyliosoma cantharus. Coupling taxonomic assemblages, stomach contents and stable isotope analyses help disentangling the resources uses and evidencing trophic pathways. Contrasts in fish and cephalopod demersal assemblages occurring at different depths not necessarily imply differences in the trophic resources uses in such complex shallow coastal ecosystems under anthropogenic influences.

[Clinical heterogeneity of Townes-Brocks syndrome]. / Hétérogénéité clinique du syndrome de Townes-Brocks.

BACKGROUND: Townes-Brocks syndrome (TBS) is a rare autosomal dominant entity mainly characterized by ano-rectal, ear and extremities abnormalities with variable clinical expression. CASE REPORTS: The first case had ear and extremities, but not anorectal, abnormalities; a Pierre-Robin sequence with esophageal atresia was also observed. The second case had the classical triad of abnormalities also associated with tetralogy of Fallot which has been only once reported in the literature. CONCLUSIONS: Both cases are other examples of the frequent clinical variability observed in this syndrome explaining diagnostic difficulties in the absence of a specific marker.

[Pregnancy in diabetic women. Apropos of 9 pregnancies. Management]. / La grossesse chez la femme diabétique. A propos de neuf grossesses. Conduite à tenir

Pregnancy in a diabetic woman carries with it a risk of intra-uterine death for the foetus. In this paper the authors report on 9 cases of pregnancy in diabetic women and the results obtained when a systematic management of the condition involving delivery before term, always by caesarean section, is carried out. It is absolutely vital to have perfect stabilisation of the diabetic state during the pregnancy, in order to do this the patient must be seen very often and brought into hospital early, soon after the 28th week. It would appear to us that caesarean delivery is the delivery of choice because it allows the extraction of a foetus in good condition, at a chosen time when a trained team is ready. It is essential to end the pregnancy somewhere between the 36th and 37th week of the pregnancy and sometimes even earlier if there is associated pathology such as toxaemia. This systematic method implies a constant check on the fetal well-being by oestriol estimations, although we realise that the levels are still low between the 7th and 8th month and that watching a graph that is steadily climbing allows the team to wait until the calculated date for bringing the pregnancy to its conclusion. In two cases the pregnancy was interrupted early because of variations in the graph; in one early delivery was justified by the development of toxaemia and in the other a moderate drop in the oestriol levels led us to intervene early. When there is a drop in the levels is it very important to ensure that is is due to fetal distress and not to daily physiological changes because the risk is of excessive prematurity if induction is carried out too soon.