CE14005

Acoustic surveys on blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) spawning aggregations in the north east Atlantic have been carried out by the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) Norway since the early 1970s. The 2014 survey was part of an international collaborative survey using the vessels RV Celtic Explorer (Ireland), RV Fridtjof Nansen (Russia), RV Tridens (Netherlands) and the RV Magnus Heinason (Faroes). The total combined area coverage extended from the Faroe Islands in the north (62° N) to south of Ireland (52° N), with east -west extension from 4°-19° W. International survey participants meet shortly after the survey to present data and produce a combined relative abundance stock estimate and report.The combined survey report is presented annually at the WGIPS meeting held in January. The information presented here relates specifically to the Irish survey

Celtic Sea Herring Acoustic Survey Cruise Report 2022, 09 - 29 October 2022

In the southwest of Ireland and the Celtic Sea (ICES Divisions VIIaS, g and j), herring are an important commercial species to the pelagic and polyvalent fleet. The local fleet is composed of dry hold polyvalent vessels and a smaller number of large purpose built refrigerated seawater vessels (RSW). The stock is composed of both autumn and winter spawning components with the latter dominating. The fishery targets pre-spawning and spawning aggregations in Q3-4. The Irish commercial fishery has historically taken place within 1-20nmi (nautical miles) of the coast. However, since the mid-2000s RSW fleet have actively targeted offshore aggregations migrating from summer feeding in the south Celtic Sea. In VIIj, the fishery is traditionally active from mid-November and is concentrated within several miles of the coast. The VIIaS fishery peaks towards the year end in December, but may be active from mid-October depending on location. In VIIg, along the south coast herring are targeted from October (offshore) to January at a number of known spawning sites and surrounding areas. Overall, the protracted spawning period of the two components extends from October through to February, with annual variation of up to 3 weeks. Spawning occurs in successive waves in a number of well known locations including large scale grounds and small discreet spawning beds. Since 2008 ICES division VIIaS (spawning box C) has been closed to fishing for vessels over 15m to protect first time spawners. For those vessels less than 15m a small allocation of the quota is given to this ‘sentinel’ fishery operating within the closed area. The stock structure and discrimination of herring in this area has been investigated recently. Hatfield et al. (2007) has shown the Celtic Sea stock to be fairly discrete. However, it is known that fish in the eastern Celtic Sea recruit from nursery areas in the Irish Sea, returning to the Celtic Sea as young adults (Brophy et al. 2002; Molloy et al., 1993). The stock identity of VIIj herring is less clear, though there is evidence that they have linkages with VIIb and VIaS (ICES, 1994; Grainger, 1978). Molloy (1968) identified possible linkages between young fish in VIIj and those of the Celtic Sea herring. For the purpose of stock assessment and management divisions VIIaS, VIIg and VIIj have been combined since 1982. For a period in the 1970s and 1980s, larval surveys were conducted for herring in this area. However, since 1989, acoustic surveys have been carried out, and currently are the only tuning indices available for this stock. In the Celtic Sea and VIIj, herring acoustic surveys have been carried out since 1989. Since 2004 the survey has been fixed in October and carried out onboard the RV Celtic Explorer. This year, the survey was conducted onboard the RV Tom Crean. Survey design and geographical coverage have been modified over the time series to adapt to changes in stock size and behaviour. Since 2016, the wider core distribution area has been surveyed by means of two independent surveys and supplemented with small high resolution adaptive surveys focusing on areas of high abundance

CE14016

In the southwest of Ireland and the Celtic Sea (ICES Divisions VIIaS, g & j),herring acoustic surveys have been carried out since 1989. This survey was undertaken in early October. The geographical confines of the annual 21 day survey program have been modified in recent years to include areas to the south of the main winter spawning grounds in an effort to identify the whereabouts of winter spawning fish before the annual inshore spawning migration. Spatial resolution of acoustic transects has been increased over the entire south coast survey area. The acoustic component of the survey has been further complimented since 2004 by detailed hydrographic and marine mammal and seabird surveys

Ternary structure reveals mechanism of a membrane diacylglycerol kinase

Diacylglycerol kinase catalyses the ATP-dependent conversion of diacylglycerol to phosphatidic acid in the plasma membrane of Escherichia coli. The small size of this integral membrane trimer, which has 121 residues per subunit, means that available protein must be used economically to craft three catalytic and substrate-binding sites centred about the membrane/cytosol interface. How nature has accomplished this extraordinary feat is revealed here in a crystal structure of the kinase captured as a ternary complex with bound lipid substrate and an ATP analogue. Residues, identified as essential for activity by mutagenesis, decorate the active site and are rationalized by the ternary structure. The g-phosphate of the ATP analogue is positioned for direct transfer to the primary hydroxyl of the lipid whose acyl chain is in the membrane. A catalytic mechanism for this unique enzyme is proposed. The active site architecture shows clear evidence of having arisen by convergen

Evaluation of a pilot educational program on safe and effective insertion and management of peripheral intravenous catheters

Peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) insertion and subsequent care have been highlighted as areas for improvement in the management of intravascular devices; however, only the fundamentals of PIVC care are routinely taught to registered nurses in Australia. In 2013, a vascular access-focused elective postgraduate course, Peripheral Intravenous Access and Care (8035NRS) was commenced for students enrolled in any of the Griffith University master's degree programs. It was developed with the intent to translate research knowledge into practice by providing access to the latest research findings and current best practices in peripheral intravenous access. Topics covered preinsertion, insertion, and postinsertion care and were developed for the online environment, which is known to be conducive to individual student learning styles. Learning activities included viewing short videos delivered by local and international clinical researchers. This course is the first known university-provided, postgraduate academic course on this subject in Australia, and possibly 1 of the few available internationally. The course succeeded in its aim of increasing knowledge and skills about safe, evidence-based PIVC insertion and care to registered nurses. Its development and implementation at the postgraduate level may be regarded as a strategy to provide a greater understanding regarding scope and relevance for nursing practice and for informed decision making on optimum integration at the undergraduate level. This ultimately will increase positive patient outcomes and the patient experience of vascular access

CE21012

In the southwest of Ireland and the Celtic Sea (ICES Divisions VIIaS, g & j), herring are an important commercial species to the pelagic and polyvalent fleet. For a period in the 1970s and1980s, larval surveys were conducted for herring in this area. However, since 1989, acoustic surveys have been carried out, and currently are the only tuning indices available for this stock. In the Celtic Sea and VIIj, herring acoustic surveys have been carried out since 1989. Since 2004 the survey has been fixed in October and carried out onboard the RV Celtic Explorer. The geographical confines of the annual 21 day survey have been modified in recent years to include areas to the south of the main winter spawning grounds in an effort to identify the whereabouts of winter spawning fish before the annual inshore spawning migration. Spatial resolution of acoustic transects has been increased over the entire south coast survey area. The acoustic component of the survey has been further complemented since 2004 by detailed hydrographic, marine mammal and seabird surveys. Survey design and geographical coverage have been modified over the time series to adapt to changes in stock size and behaviour. Since 2016, the wider core distribution area has been surveyed by means of two independent surveys and supplemented with small high resolution adaptive surveys focusing on areas of high abundance

A time and motion study of peripheral venous catheter flushing practice using manually prepared and prefilled flush syringes

Peripheral venous catheters (PVCs) are the simplest and most frequently used method for drug, fluid, and blood product administration in the hospital setting. It is estimated that up to 90% of patients in acute care hospitals require a PVC; however, PVCs are associated with inherent complications, which can be mechanical or infectious. There have been a range of strategies to prevent or reduce PVC-related complications that include optimizing patency through the use of flushing. Little is known about the current status of flushing practice. This observational study quantified preparation and administration time and identified adherence to principles of Aseptic Non-Touch Technique and organizational protocol on PVC flushing by using both manually prepared and prefilled syringes

CRISPR/Cas9 mediated targeting of microRNA-24 improves the bioprocess phenotype of Chinese Hamster Ovary cells

Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells are the prominent cell line used in biopharmaceutical production. Although optimisation efforts have led to a vast increase in productivity, CHO cells yield less than other expression systems like yeast or bacteria. To improve yields and find beneficial bioprocess phenotypes, genetic engineering plays an essential role in recent research. The miR-23 cluster with its genomic paralogues (miR-23a and miR-23b) was first identified as differentially expressed during temperature shift, suggesting its role in proliferation and productivity. The common approach to deplete miRNAs is the use of a sponge decoy which, requires the introduction of reporter genes. As an alternative this work aims to knockdown miRNA expression using the recently developed CRISPR/Cas9 system which does not require a reporter transcript. This system consists of two main components: the single guide RNA (sgRNA) and an endonuclease (Cas9) which induces double strand breaks (DSBs). These DSBs can result in insertion or deletion (indels) of base pairs which can disrupt miRNA function and processing. A CHO-K1 cell line stably expressing an IgG was used for knockdown experiments. SgRNAs were designed to target the seed region of miR-24-3p and stable mixed populations were generated. It was shown that miRNA expression for miR-24-3p as well as miR-24-5p was significantly reduced in mixed populations. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Zero-heat-flux and esophageal temperature monitoring in orthopedic surgery: An observational study

Purpose: Perioperative hypothermia prevention requires regular, accurate, and consistent temperature monitoring. Zero-heat-flux (ZHF) thermometry offers a non-invasive, measurement method that can be applied across all surgical phases. The purpose of this study was to measure agreement between the zero-heat-flux device and esophageal monitoring, sensitivity, and specificity to detect hypothermia and patient acceptability amongst patients undergoing upper and lower limb orthopedic surgery. Patients and Methods: This prospective, observational study utilized Bland–Altman analysis and Lin’s concordance coefficient to measure agreement between devices, sensitivity and specificity to detect hypothermia and assessed patient acceptability amongst 30 patients between December 2018 and June 2019. Results: Bias was observed between devices via Bland Altman, with bias dependent on actual temperature. The mean difference ranged from −0.16°C at 34.9°C (where the mean of ZHF was lower than the esophageal device) to 0.46°C at 37.25°C (where the mean of ZHF was higher than esophageal device), with 95% limits of agreement (max) upper LOA = 0.80 to 1.41, lower LOA = −1.12 to −0.50. Seventy-five percentage of zero-heat-flux measurements were within 0.5°C of esophageal readings. Patient acceptability was high; 96% (n=27) stated that the device was comfortable. Conclusion: ZHF device achieved lesser measurement accuracy with core (esophageal) temperature compared to earlier findings. Nonetheless, due to continuous capability, non-invasiveness and patient reported acceptability, the device warrants further evaluation. Title Registration: The study was registered at www.ANZCTR.org.au (reference: ACTRN12619000842167).</p

Nursing and midwifery practice for maintenance of vascular access device patency. A cross-sectional survey

AbstractBackgroundUp to 85% of hospital in-patients will require some form of vascular access device to deliver essential fluids, drug therapy, nutrition and blood products, or facilitate sampling. The failure rate of these devices is unacceptably high, with 20–69% of peripheral intravenous catheters and 15–66% of central venous catheters failing due to occlusion, depending on the device, setting and population. A range of strategies have been developed to maintain device patency, including intermittent flushing. However, there is limited evidence informing flushing practice and little is known about the current flushing practices.ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to improve our understanding of current flushing practices for vascular access devices through a survey of practice.MethodA cross-sectional survey of nurses and midwives working in the State of Queensland, Australia was conducted using a 25-item electronic survey that was distributed via the local union membership database.ResultsA total of 1178 surveys were completed and analysed, with n=1068 reporting peripheral device flushing and n=584 reporting central device flushing. The majority of respondents were registered nurses (55%) caring for adult patients (63%). A large proportion of respondents (72% for peripheral, 742/1028; 80% for central, 451/566) were aware of their facility's policy for vascular access device flushing. Most nurses reported using sodium chloride 0.9% for flushing both peripheral (96%, 987/1028) and central devices (75%, 423/566). Some concentration of heparin saline was used by 25% of those flushing central devices. A 10-mL syringe was used by most respondents for flushing; however, 24% of respondents used smaller syringes in the peripheral device group. Use of prefilled syringes (either commercially prepared sterile or prefilled in the workplace) was limited to 10% and 11% respectively for each group. The frequency of flushing varied widely, with the most common response being pro re nata (23% peripheral and 21% central), or 6 hourly (23% peripheral and 22% central). Approximately half of respondents stated that there was no medical order or documentation for either peripheral or central device flushing.ConclusionsFlushing practices for vascular access device flushing appear to vary widely. Specific areas of practice that warrant further investigation include questions about the efficacy of heparin for central device flushing, increasing adherence to the recommended 10mL diameter syringe use, increased use of prefilled flush syringes, identifying and standardising optimal volumes and frequency of flushing, and improving documentation of flush orders and administration