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Temperature fluctuations impact the distribution of various marine fish species and typically result in distributional changes, seeing either a geographical expansion or, possibly, a retraction. Survival and fitness in the new habitat depend, however, on the species' adaptability capacity. Here, we describe changes in geographical distribution of Icelandic haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) based on annual survey data for a 38-year period, 1985–2022. Most of the stock is in the warm waters off the south and west coasts of Iceland (south area), but a small proportion in colder water masses off the north and east coasts (north area). Due to high recruitment, density increased greatly in both areas in the years 2001–2005. Haddock density was usually higher in the south area in 1985–2004, in the north area in 2005–2014, but similar in both areas in 2015–2022. Haddock condition was found to be influenced by both temperature and haddock density. Density-dependent factors influenced haddock mean weight, which dropped considerable during times of high haddock density. Capelin was of great importance as a diet, especially in the south, where stomach fullness decreased considerably when capelin was not a part of the diet. Food availability seems to be highly variable between the two areas but more stable in the north, where fluctuations in capelin fullness were small. Even though favourable environmental conditions may result in increased haddock density in the colder waters in the north, lower condition indicates that the northern area may be less suitable for this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eight mature Icelandic geldings were used in an experiment arranged as a change-over design to evaluate the effect of feeding level on the digestibility of a high-energy haylage-only diet. The horses were fed a low feeding level 10.7 g dry matter (DM)/kg body weight (BW) (maintenance) and a high feeding level 18.1 g DM/kg BW (1.5 × maintenance) during two 23 days experimental periods. Total collection of faeces was performed for 6 days at the end of each period to determine the coefficient of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD). The CTTAD for DM, organic matter, neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre and energy was higher in horses fed at the low level of feed intake, while feeding level did not affect the CTTAD of crude protein. The largest difference in CTTAD between feeding levels was found for NDF. The content (/kg DM) of digestible energy in the haylage was 11.3 MJ at the low level of feed intake and 10.6 MJ at the high level of feed intake. It can be concluded that feeding level has a large impact on the digestibility and energy value of early cut haylage in Icelandic horses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determines the crustal structure beneath 14 broad-band seismic stations, deployed in western, eastern, central and southern Iceland, using surface wave dispersion curves and receiver functions. Implementation of a method to invert receiver functions using constraints from genetic algorithm inversion of surface waves; Uniformity of the thickness of the upper crust as defined by the velocity horizon.

Objectives: Minimally invasive cardiac surgery techniques are increasingly used but have longer cardiopulmonary bypass time, which may increase inflammatory response and negatively affect coagulation. Our aim was to compare biomarkers of inflammation and coagulation as well as transfusion rates after minimally invasive mitral valve repair and mitral valve surgery using conventional sternotomy., Design: A prospective non-randomized study was performed enrolling 71 patients undergoing mitral valve surgery (35 right mini-thoracotomy and 36 conventional sternotomy procedures). Blood samples were collected pre- and postoperatively to assess inflammatory response. Thromboelastometry (ROTEM) was performed to assess coagulation, and transfusion rates were monitored., Results: The minimally invasive group had longer cardiopulmonary bypass times compared to the sternotomy group: 127 min ([115-146] vs 79 min [65-112], p  < 0.001) and were cooled to a lower temperature during cardiopulmonary bypass, 34 °C vs 36 °C ( p  = 0.04). IL-6 was lower in the minimally invasive group compared to the conventional sternotomy group when measured at the end of the surgical procedure, (38 [23-69] vs 61[41-139], p  = 0.008), but no differences were found at postoperative day 1 or postoperative day 3. The transfusion rate was lower in the minimally invasive group (14%) compared to full sternotomy (35%, p  = 0.04) and the chest tube output was reduced, (395 ml [190-705] vs 570 ml [400-1040], p  = 0.04)., Conclusions: Our data showed that despite the longer use of extra corporal circulation during surgery, minimally invasive mitral valve repair is associated with reduced inflammatory response, lower rates of transfusion, and reduced chest tube output.

Patients with aortic root abscesses experience increased morbidity and mortality compared to those without abscess in aortic valve infective endocarditis. The superior intervention for patients with aortic root abscess is not determined. This research investigates the degree to which increased morbidity and mortality of aortic root abscess, and to describe perioperative characteristics and outcomes of root operations versus root-sparing repairs of aortic root abscess. All patients who underwent surgical treatment of active aortic valve endocarditis between 2011 and 2022 at a single institution were reviewed, yielding 218 patients, of whom 64 had perivalvular abscess. Patients were treated with either simple (root-sparing) or complex (root replacement) techniques. Patients with abscess demonstrated significantly higher rates of previous cardiac surgery, redo endocarditis surgery, aortocavitary fistula, heart block, and prosthetic valve endocarditis. One quarter of abscesses were not detected on preoperative imaging. Presence of abscess was a significant predictor of operative mortality. Prosthetic valve endocarditis was a significant predictor of complex repair in patients with abscess. Five-year survival was similar between simple and complex repair groups in patients with abscess. Aortic root abscess confers significant morbidity and mortality, and measures should be taken to ensure early detection and treatment of this condition., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: PV is a consultant for Medtronic Aortic Inc and Terumo Aortic Inc. AG is a consultant for Medtronic Strategic Surgical Advisory Board and Edwards Lifesciences. AA is a consultant for JOMDD. All other authors have no competing financial interests to report., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

A major global catastrophe would likely disrupt trade in liquid fuels. Countries dependent on imported oil products might struggle to sustain industrial agriculture. Island nations importing 100% of refined fuels are particularly vulnerable. Our case study aimed to estimate the agricultural land area and biofuel volumes needed to feed the population of New Zealand in the absence of trade. Results showed that stored diesel would quickly be exhausted with ordinary use (weeks) and even with strict rationing (months). To preserve fuel, we found that farming wheat (requiring as little as 5.4 million liters [L] of diesel per annum) was more fuel-efficient than potatoes (12.3) or dairy (38.7) to feed the national population under a climate-as-usual scenario. In a nuclear winter scenario, with reduced agricultural yields, proportionately greater diesel is needed. The wheat would require 24% of current grain-cropped land, and the canola crop used as feedstock for the required biofuel would occupy a further 1%-7%. Investment in canola biodiesel or renewable diesel refineries could ensure supply for the bare minimum agricultural liquid fuel needs. Were subsequent analysis to favor this option as part of a fuels resilience response and as a tradeoff for routine food use, expansion in refining and canola cropping before a catastrophe could be encouraged through market mechanisms, direct government investment, or a combination of these. Logistics of biofuel refining scale-up, post-catastrophe, should also be analyzed. Further, biodiesel produced in normal times would help the nation meet its emissions reduction targets. Other countries should conduct similar analyses., (© 2024 Society for Risk Analysis.)

Background: The Duke criteria for diagnosing infective endocarditis (IE) were recently updated by the International Society for Cardiovascular Infectious Diseases (ISCVID) with the purpose of enhancing diagnostic specificity and sensitivity. This study investigated the performance of the Duke-ISCVID criteria in relation to previous criteria., Method: This retrospective single centre cohort study included patients referred to the Lund IE Team (LIET) between 2017 and 2022, and compared episodes classified according to the 2000 modified Duke, European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 2015, and 2023 Duke-ISCVID criteria. The LIET's decision to treat episodes as IE served as the reference standard., Results: The study cohort comprised 661 episodes of potential IE. The LIET classified 498 (75%) episodes as IE. The Duke-ISCVID criteria classified a slightly higher proportion of episodes as definite IE (56.4%) compared to the ESC 2015 criteria (54.9%), and the modified Duke (51.1%). The Duke-ISCVID criteria had higher sensitivity (72.5%) for definite IE compared to ESC 2015 (70.7%, p  = .57) and modified Duke (66.1%, p  = .033). The specificities were similar for the Duke-ISCVID criteria (92.6%), compared to ESC 2015 (93.9%, p  = .83) and the modified Duke criteria (95.0%, p  = .49). When considering both definite and possible IE positive, specificity for all criteria was low: 32.5% for the Duke-ISCVID criteria, 41.7% for ESC 2015 ( p  = .086), and 42.3% for modified Duke criteria ( p  = .11), while the sensitivity was not significantly lower., Discussion: The Duke-ISCVID criteria demonstrated slightly improved sensitivity for diagnosing IE whereas specificity remained unchanged. Further refinement of the Duke-ISCVID criteria is needed to balance sensitivity and specificity.

Introduction: Postcardiotomy veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-A-ECMO) is associated with significant mortality. Identification of patients at very high risk for death is elusive and the decision to initiate V-A-ECMO is based on clinical judgment. The prognostic impact of pre-V-A-ECMO arterial lactate level in these critically ill patients has been herein evaluated., Methods: A systematic review was conducted to identify studies on postcardiotomy VA-ECMO for the present individual patient data meta-analysis., Results: Overall, 1269 patients selected from 10 studies were included in this analysis. Arterial lactate level at V-A-ECMO initiation was increased in patients who died during the index hospitalization compared to those who survived (9.3 vs 6.6 mmol/L, p < 0.0001). Accordingly, in hospital mortality increased along quintiles of pre-V-A-ECMO arterial lactate level (quintiles: 1, 54.9%; 2, 54.9%; 3, 67.3%; 4, 74.2%; 5, 82.2%, p < 0.0001). The best cut-off for arterial lactate was 6.8 mmol/L (in-hospital mortality, 76.7% vs. 55.7%, p < 0.0001). Multivariable multilevel mixed-effect logistic regression model including arterial lactate level significantly increased the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (0.731, 95% CI 0.702-0.760 vs 0.679, 95% CI 0.648-0.711, DeLong test p < 0.0001). Classification and regression tree analysis showed the in-hospital mortality was 85.2% in patients aged more than 70 years with pre-V-A-ECMO arterial lactate level ≥6.8 mmol/L., Conclusions: Among patients requiring postcardiotomy V-A-ECMO, hyperlactatemia was associated with a marked increase of in-hospital mortality. Arterial lactate may be useful in guiding the decision-making process and the timing of initiation of postcardiotomy V-A-ECMO., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.