Accuracy and precision of a new, portable, handheld blood gas analyzer, the IRMA®

Objective. The accuracy and precision of the new IRMA® (Immediate Response Mobile Analysis System, Diametrics, Inc.®, St. Paul, MN) handheld blood gas analyzer was compared with that of two benchtop blood gas analyzers. The IRMA consists of a notebook-sized machine and disposable cartridges, each containing a pH, a CO 2 and an O 2 electrode, and provides bedside (point-of-care) blood gas analysis. Methods. A total of 172 samples (arterial and mined venous) were obtained from 25 informed, consenting patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass. The pH, PCO 2 and PO 2 of each sample was determined on four blood gas analyzers: NOVA Statlabs Profile 5 (NOVA Biomedical, Waltham, MA), the ABL-50 (Radiometer, West Lake, OH), and two IRMA machines. Linear regression and bias ± precision were determined, comparing each of the analyzers with the NOVA. Results. All three machines showed a similar, high degree of correlation with the NOVA for pH, PCO 2 , and PO 2 . The bias and precision of the IRMA machines compared with the NOVA was similar to that of the ABL compared with the NOVA for pH (NOVA:ABL −0.005 ± 0.011; NOVA: IRMA 1 = 0.0026 ± 0.025; NOVA: IRMA 2 = 0.0021 ± 0.025), for PCO 2 (NOVA:ABL = −1.4 ± 1.3 mmHg; NOVA: IRMA 1 = −1.3 ± 1.9 mmHg; NOVA: IRMA 2 = −1.2 ± 2.1 mmHg) and PO 2 (NOVA:ABL = 3.6 ± 21.1 mmHg; NOVA: IRMA 1 = 3.4 = 19.9 mmHg; NOVA: IRMA 2 = 6.3 ± 20.9 mmHg). The bias found for pH, PCO 2 , and PO 2 was not affected by extremes of temperature (range 25.5–40°C) or hematocrit (range 11–44%) for any machine. Conclusions. The new technology incorporated in the IRMA blood gas analyzer provides results with an accuracy that is similar to that of benchtop analyzers, but with all of the advantages of point-of-care analysis.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43058/1/10877_2005_Article_BF02221753.pd

Dynamics of Stony Coral and Octocoral Juvenile Assemblages Following Disturbance on Patch Reefs of the Florida Reef Tract

In January 2010, reefs in the Upper and Middle Florida Keys experienced prolonged exposure to extremely cold water temperatures, below lethal thresholds for many reef organisms including corals. We examined post-disturbance juvenile assemblages of stony corals and octocorals on eight patch reefs, four of which were categorized as high impact and four as low impact, based on declines in stony-coral cover following disturbance. We established permanent quadrats to conduct field surveys in spring and fall of 2012 and 2013. Overall, juvenile abundances of both stony corals and octocorals were greater on low-impact sites, suggesting that those sites had higher recruitment and juvenile survival than high-impact sites. Juvenile assemblages also showed a regional pattern, with more stony corals on Middle Keys sites and more octocorals on Upper Keys sites. The stony-coral juvenile assemblage was dominated by Siderastrea siderea (46%) and Porites astreoides (19%), whereas previously abundant species such as Orbicella annularis were nearly absent (\u3c3%). Octocoral juveniles were dominated by Antillogorgia spp. (25%), Gorgonia spp. (21%), Eunicea spp. (19%) and Erythropodium caribaeorum (14%). Overall, post-disturbance juvenile assemblages displayed a wide range of octocoral genera, but only a few select stony-coral species, which exhibited either opportunistic or hardy life-history characteristics