Workshop on Assessing the Impact of Fishing on Oceanic Carbon (WKFISHCARBON; outputs from 2023 meeting)

Rapports Scientifiques du CIEM. Volume 6, nº 12The Workshop on Assessing the Impact of Fishing on Oceanic Carbon (WKFISHCARBON) was set up to provide ICES and stakeholders with a summary of knowledge on the role of fishing in the process of carbon budgets, sequestration and footprint in the ocean. The workshop addressed the potential impact of fishing on the biological carbon pump (BCP), the possible impacts of bottom trawling on carbon stores in the seabed, as well as considering emissions from fishing vessels. The overall aim was to generate proposals on how to develop an ICES approach to fishing and its role in the ocean carbon budget, and to develop a roadmap for a way forward. The main findings were that knowledge of the BCP in the open ocean was reasonably well developed, but that key gaps existed. In particular, information on the biomass of mesopelagic fish and other biota, and of some of the key processes e.g. fluxes and fish bioenergetics. Knowledge is much weaker for the BCP in shelf seas, where the bulk of fishing occurs. In particular, while biomass of fish was often well quantified, unlike the open ocean, the understanding of the important processes was lacking, particularly for the fate of faecal pellets and deadfall at the seabed. There is extensive scientific knowledge of the impact of fishing on the seabed, but what is un-clear is what it means for seabed carbon storage. There have been numbers of studies, which give a very divided view on this. There has also been open controversy about this in the literature. Physical disturbance to the seabed from fishing can affect sediment transport and has the potential to facilitate remineralization, but precise impacts will depend on habitat, fishing métier, and other environmental factors. From this, it is clear that more research is needed to resolve the controversy, and to quantify the impacts from different fishing gears and on different substrates or habitats in terms of carbon storage. There has been much more research on minimizing fuel use by fishing vessels, and hence emissions, but this has mainly focused on fuel efficiency, fuel use per unit of landed catch, and less on the total emissions. Baselines for fuel use are available at the global level, but are lacking at the national and vessel level. There is a need for standardization of methodologies and protocols, and for improving the uptake of fuel conservation measures by industry, as well as for improving the uptake of existing and potential fuel conservation and efficiency measures by industry. Finally, a roadmap was proposed to develop research and synthesis, on the understandings of the processes involved, the metrics and how to translate this into possible advice for policy-makers. To that end, a further workshop was proposed in 2024.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

LVMPD Gang Violence Reduction

To combat the increase in gang member involved violence, the LVMPD has developed a three-prong crime reduction strategy that includes the following components: 1) focused deterrence, 2) hotspots, and 3) place-based interventions. The first component – focused deterrence – includes the uses of offender notification meetings to direct intensive enforcement and deterrence messaging on identified gang members (see Braga and Weisburd, 2012). The second component – hotspots – involves the deployment of saturation patrols to specific locations identified as hotspots with persistent violence problems that generate a disproportionate amount of crime (see Braga, Papachristos, and Hureau, 2014). The third component – place-network investigations – targets the criminogenic place networks at crime hot spots using situational crime prevention to alleviate the conditions at these locations, which contribute to why they have stable levels of violence over extended periods of time (see Clarke, 1995). To evaluate the impact of these various components on incidents of violent crime, a mixed method approach will be used. The first component will be evaluated using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design to determine the influence of offender notification meetings on levels of re-arrest of gang members, as well as the impact on overall violence. The second component will also be evaluated using a RCT design to assess reductions in violent crime in treatment hot spots (i.e., street segments). A quasi-experimental design and additional qualitative techniques will assess the effectiveness of the situational crime prevention strategies

Cognition, Emotional Health, and Immunological Markers in Children With Long-Term Nonprogressive HIV

HIV-infected children with long-term nonprogressive (LTNP) disease eventually convert to a progressive disease type, yet the extent to which these children experience the cognitive and emotional symptoms observed in typical progressive HIV (Progressors) is unknown. Eighty-eight LTNPs, 53 Progressors, and 323 healthy controls completed annual assessments of cognitive and emotional health as part of a prospective study. The 2 HIV-infected groups and the healthy controls were matched on age and sex distribution at enrollment. Plasma HIV RNA, T-cell counts/percentages, activated monocytes, perivascular monocytes, and markers of macrophage activation (sCD163 and sCD14) were compared by progression subtype. Cognitive and emotional outcomes were compared using cross-sectional linear regression analysis and longitudinal sensitivity models. LTNPs exhibited the same cognitive phenotype and emotional dysregulation as Progressors, with worse outcomes in both groups compared with controls. In addition, cognitive and emotional symptoms were evident before children reached the minimum age for LTNP designation (8 years). Baseline plasma HIV RNA, sCD163, activated monocytes, and perivascular monocytes were lower in LTNPs versus Progressors, with no difference in T-cell counts/percentages or sCD14 levels. Most LTNPs converted to a progressive disease subtype during the study, with similar cognitive and emotion profiles between these subgroups. Pediatric LTNPs experience cognitive and emotional difficulties that mirror symptoms of progressive disease. The abnormalities are present at young ages and persist independent of plasma T-cell counts. The findings highlight the neurodevelopmental risk of pediatric HIV, even in those with early innate disease contro

Early Convalescent Plasma for High-Risk Outpatients with Covid-19.

BackgroundEarly administration of convalescent plasma obtained from blood donors who have recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) may prevent disease progression in acutely ill, high-risk patients with Covid-19.MethodsIn this randomized, multicenter, single-blind trial, we assigned patients who were being treated in an emergency department for Covid-19 symptoms to receive either one unit of convalescent plasma with a high titer of antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or placebo. All the patients were either 50 years of age or older or had one or more risk factors for disease progression. In addition, all the patients presented to the emergency department within 7 days after symptom onset and were in stable condition for outpatient management. The primary outcome was disease progression within 15 days after randomization, which was a composite of hospital admission for any reason, seeking emergency or urgent care, or death without hospitalization. Secondary outcomes included the worst severity of illness on an 8-category ordinal scale, hospital-free days within 30 days after randomization, and death from any cause.ResultsA total of 511 patients were enrolled in the trial (257 in the convalescent-plasma group and 254 in the placebo group). The median age of the patients was 54 years; the median symptom duration was 4 days. In the donor plasma samples, the median titer of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies was 1:641. Disease progression occurred in 77 patients (30.0%) in the convalescent-plasma group and in 81 patients (31.9%) in the placebo group (risk difference, 1.9 percentage points; 95% credible interval, -6.0 to 9.8; posterior probability of superiority of convalescent plasma, 0.68). Five patients in the plasma group and 1 patient in the placebo group died. Outcomes regarding worst illness severity and hospital-free days were similar in the two groups.ConclusionsThe administration of Covid-19 convalescent plasma to high-risk outpatients within 1 week after the onset of symptoms of Covid-19 did not prevent disease progression. (SIREN-C3PO ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04355767.)

Long-term cost-effectiveness in the veterans affairs open vs endovascular repair study of aortic abdominal aneurysm: A randomized clinical trial

Copyright 2016 American Medical Association. All rights reserved. IMPORTANCE: Because of the similarity in clinical outcomes after elective open and endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), cost may be an important factor in choosing a procedure. OBJECTIVE: To compare total and AAA-related use of health care services, costs, and cost-effectiveness between groups randomized to open or endovascular repair. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This unblinded randomized clinical trial enrolled 881 patients undergoing planned elective repair of AAA who were candidates for open and endovascular repair procedures. Patients were randomized from October 15, 2002, to April 15, 2008, at 42 Veterans Affairs medical centers. Follow-up was completed on October 15, 2011, and data were analyzed from April 15, 2013, to April 15, 2016, based on intention to treat. MAINOUTCOMES ANDMEASURES: Mean total and AAA-related health care cost per life-year and per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). RESULTS: A total of 881 patients (876 men [99.4%]; 5 women [0.6%]; mean [SD] age, 70 [7.8] years) were included in the analysis. After a mean of 5.2 years of follow-up, mean life-years were 4.89in the endovascular group and 4.84 in the open repair group (P =.68), and mean QALYs were 3.72 in the endovascular group and 3.70 in the open repair group (P =.82). Total mean health care costs did not differ significantly between the 2 groups (endovascular group, $142 745; open repair group,$153 533; difference, -$10 788; 95$29 796 to $5825; P =.25). Costs related to AAA, including the initial repair, constituted nearly 40$57 501; open repair group, $57 893; difference, -$393; 95% CI, -$12 071 to$7928; P =.94). Lower costs due to shorter hospitalization for initial endovascular repair were offset by increased costs from AAA-related secondary procedures and imaging studies. The probability of endovascular repair being less costly and more effective was 56.8% when effectiveness was measured in life-years and 55.4% when effectiveness was measured in QALYs for total costs and 31.3% and 34.3%, respectively, for AAA-related costs. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this multicenter randomized clinical trial with follow-up to 9 years, survival, quality of life, costs, and cost-effectiveness did not differ between elective open and endovascular repair of AAA