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The status of the cod stock in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) Subdivision (Subdiv.) 3Ps was assessed during a Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Regional Peer Review Process meeting held November 2-7, 2020. Total landings for the 2019-20 management year (April 1-March 31) were 3,499 t, or 59% of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC). This marks the tenth consecutive season that the entire TAC has not been taken. There was no DFO research vessel (RV) survey during spring 2020 due to the pandemic. Sentinel gillnet catch rates have been very low and stable since 1999. Sentinel line trawl catch rates were below average over 2011-18, but the 2019 catch rates were relatively high. An integrated state space model resulting from the 2019 3Ps Cod Framework meeting was used to assess the status of the stock and estimate fishing mortality. The Limit Reference Point (LRP) is 66,000 t of Spawning Stock Biomass (SSB). SSB at January 1, 2021, is estimated to be 25 kt (18 kt-35 kt). The stock is in the Critical Zone (38% of Blim [27-53%]) as defined by the DFO Precautionary Approach (PA) Framework. The probability of being below Blim is >99.9%. The estimated fishing mortality rate (ages 5-8) has generally declined, from 0.16 in 2015 to 0.11 in 2019. With an assumed catch of 2,702 t in 2020, fishing mortality (F) is projected to be 0.07 (0.05-0.09) in 2020. Natural mortality (ages 5-8) was estimated to be 0.43 (0.35-0.52) in 2019. Values of natural mortality (M) during the last four years are the among the highest in the time series. Recruitment (age 2) estimates have been below the long term average since the mid-1990s. Projection of the stock to 2023 was conducted assuming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the development of a state-space model (HYBRID) for the stock assessment of Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) Subdivision 3Ps cod stock. The HYBRID model fits to the DFO RV survey (1983-2005, 2007-19) as well as the following additional survey time series: the IFREMER (Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer, English: French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea) ERHAPS (Evaluation des Ressources Halieutiques de la région 3PS) survey (1978-91), the Groundfish Enterprise Allocation Committee (GEAC) survey (1998-2005), and the sentinel gillnet and line-trawl surveys (1995-2018). The HYBRID model also fits to fisheries data with the expectation that the model can separate fishing mortality from natural mortality. Fisheries catch-at-age is fit using continuation ratio logits, and the fisheries landings are fit via censored likelihood. The use of censored likelihood for fitting landings allows the inclusion of expert opinion on reliability of landings throughout the model time series. The HYBRID model presented here starts in 1959, which is the first year for which landings data are available. The HYBRID model allows exploration of different forms for parameterization of time-varying fisheries selectivity, natural mortality, and approaches for estimation of catch-at-age data. The model formulations also differ depending on the survey series used in fitting the model. Seventeen model formulations are presented. Alternate formulations based on fishing mortality included: 1. a logistic flat topped or dome selectivity with time-blocks 2. SAM (State-space Assessment Model, Nielsen and Berg, 2014) style Multivariate Normal random walk 3. a separable age-year correlated process for fishing mortality rate (F) similar to NCAM (Cadigan 2016), and 4. option to break the processes for F in years where important events (like a moratorium) have impacted the fishery. Alternate formulation based on natural mortality included: 1. invariant natural mortality across age and years, and 2. time-varying natural mortality related to fish condition. The different model formulations are compared and evaluated on the basis of AIC (Akaike Information Criterion) values and their performance in retrospective analyses. The meeting concluded that time-varying natural mortality is an important consideration for modelling the dynamics of 3Ps cod and selecting a population model for this stock. Following the evaluations of the alternate model formulations, model formulations 11 which includes fit to sentinel data series, has F modelled using an MVN Random walk with year break for the moratorium, and has time-varying natural mortality rate (M) was considered to have utility as an assessment model for 3Ps cod stock assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine the association between emotional intelligence, leadership involvement, and academic performance among student pharmacists., Methods: This was a retrospective, observational study that included all second-year student pharmacists in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years. Emotional intelligence was assessed using the Emotional Quotient Inventory, version 2.0 (EQ-i 2.0), with results reported for 15 skills of EQ. Leadership involvement was collected from student organizations as the number of officer positions held by each student throughout the PharmD curriculum. Academic performance was reported as the cumulative grade point average (GPA). The primary endpoint was the mean EQ-i 2.0 skill results compared between students with <2 and ≥2 leadership positions. The secondary endpoint was mean EQ-i 2.0 skill results of students with GPA<3.5 and GPA≥3.5. Bivariate logistic regression was used to analyze each outcome., Results: All 214 second-year students in both cohorts completed the assessment. Students who held ≥2 leadership positions on average had a higher social responsibility score than students with <2 positions. Students with GPA≥3.5 had an assertiveness score lower than students with GPA<3.5., Conclusion: The results indicated that students with higher social responsibility as an EQ skill were reported to have increased leadership involvement. Students with lower assertiveness as an EQ skill were reported to have GPA≥3.5. These findings demonstrate the importance of emphasizing social responsibility in the pharmacy curriculum., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Bioturbation in coastal sediments plays a crucial role in biogeochemical cycling. However, a key knowledge gap is the extent to which bioturbation influences bacterial community diversity and ecosystem processes, such as nitrogen cycling. This study paired bacterial diversity, bioturbation activity and in situ flux measurements of oxygen and nitrogen from bioturbated sediments at six estuaries along the East coast of Australia. Bacterial community diversity, composition and predicted functional profiles were similar across burrow and surface sediments but were significantly influenced by bioturbator activity (measured as number of burrows) at sites with higher fine grain content. Sediment oxygen demand increased with bioturbator activity but changes in nitrogen cycling (as measured by fluxes and predicted bacterial functional gene analysis) were more spatially variable and were unrelated to bioturbator activity and bacterial community shifts. This study highlights how bioturbator activity influences bacterial community structure and functioning and what implications this has for biogeochemical cycles in estuarine sediments., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Ana Bugnot, Paul Gribben, Katherine Dafforn reports financial support was provided by Australian Research Council. Julia Palmer reports financial support was provided by Macquarie University. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Phosphorus, a vital macronutrient, often limits primary productivity in marine environments. Marine Synechococcus strains, including WH8102, rely on high-affinity phosphate-binding proteins (PstS) to scavenge inorganic phosphate in oligotrophic oceans. However, WH8102 possesses three distinct PstS homologs whose substrate specificity and ecological roles are unclear. The three PstS homologs were heterologously expressed and purified to investigate their substrate specificity and binding kinetics. Our study revealed that all three PstS homologs exhibited a high degree of specificity for phosphate but differed in phosphate binding affinities. Notably, PstS1b displayed nearly 10-fold higher binding affinity ( K D = 0.44 µM) compared to PstS1a ( K D = 3.3 μM) and PstS2 ( K D = 4.3 μM). Structural modeling suggested a single amino acid variation in the binding pocket of PstS1b (threonine instead of serine in PstS1a and PstS2) likely contributed to its higher Pi affinity. Genome context data, together with the protein biophysical data, suggest distinct ecological roles for the three PstS homologs. We propose that PstS1b may be involved in scavenging inorganic phosphorus in oligotrophic conditions and that PstS1a may be involved in transporting recycled phosphate derived from organic phosphate cleavage. The role of PstS2 is less clear, but it may be involved in phosphate uptake when environmental phosphate concentrations are transiently higher. The conservation of three distinct PstS homologs in Synechococcus clade III strains likely reflects distinct adaptations for P acquisition under varying oligotrophic conditions. IMPORTANCE Phosphorus is an essential macronutrient that plays a key role in marine primary productivity and biogeochemistry. However, intense competition for bioavailable phosphorus in the marine environment limits growth and productivity of ecologically important cyanobacteria. In oligotrophic oceans, marine Synechococcus strains, like WH8102, utilize high-affinity phosphate-binding proteins (PstS) to scavenge inorganic phosphate. However, WH8102 possesses three distinct PstS homologs, with unclear substrate specificity and ecological roles, creating a knowledge gap in understanding phosphorus acquisition mechanisms in picocyanobacteria. Through genomic, functional, biophysical, and structural analysis, our study unravels the ecological functions of these homologs. Our findings enhance our understanding of cyanobacterial nutritional uptake strategies and shed light on the crucial role of these conserved nutrient uptake systems in adaptation to specific niches, which ultimately underpins the success of marine Synechococcus across a diverse array of marine ecosystems., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Despite being fundamental to multiple biological processes, phosphorus (P) availability in marine environments is often growth-limiting, with generally low surface concentrations. Picocyanobacteria strains encode a putative ABC-type phosphite/phosphate/phosphonate transporter, phnDCE, thought to provide access to an alternative phosphorus pool. This, however, is paradoxical given most picocyanobacterial strains lack known phosphite degradation or carbon-phosphate lyase pathway to utilise alternate phosphorus pools. To understand the function of the PhnDCE transport system and its ecological consequences, we characterised the PhnD1 binding proteins from four distinct marine Synechococcus isolates (CC9311, CC9605, MITS9220, and WH8102). We show the Synechococcus PhnD1 proteins selectively bind phosphorus compounds with a stronger affinity for phosphite than for phosphate or methyl phosphonate. However, based on our comprehensive ligand screening and growth experiments showing Synechococcus strains WH8102 and MITS9220 cannot utilise phosphite or methylphosphonate as a sole phosphorus source, we hypothesise that the picocyanobacterial PhnDCE transporter is a constitutively expressed, medium-affinity phosphate transporter, and the measured affinity of PhnD1 to phosphite or methyl phosphonate is fortuitous. Our MITS9220&#95;PhnD1 structure explains the comparatively lower affinity of picocyanobacterial PhnD1 for phosphate, resulting from a more limited H-bond network. We propose two possible physiological roles for PhnD1. First, it could function in phospholipid recycling, working together with the predicted phospholipase, TesA, and alkaline phosphatase. Second, by having multiple transporters for P (PhnDCE and Pst), picocyanobacteria could balance the need for rapid transport during transient episodes of higher P availability in the environment, with the need for efficient P utilisation in typical phosphate-deplete conditions., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Introduction: The purpose of this study is to evaluate emotional intelligence in doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students at various points in the curriculum., Methods: This was a cross-sectional, single site, observational study that included first- through fourth-year PharmD students, conducted from December 2021 to April 2022. The study used the Emotional Quotient Inventory, version 2.0 (EQ-i 2.0) to obtain student emotional intelligence scores. A survey in Qualtrics SM (SAP) was used to obtain baseline characteristics. The primary endpoint was the mean total EQ-i 2.0 scores comparing professional years. Secondary endpoints included mean EQ-i 2.0 scores in the composite scales of self-perception, self-expression, interpersonal, decision-making and stress-management. Change in EQ-i 2.0 scores was evaluated using descriptive statistics and analysis of variance. Multivariable regression analysis identified associations between baseline characteristics and EQ-i 2.0 scores., Results: A total of 137 (137/485, 28.2%) students completed the EQ-i 2.0 assessment. The mean (SD) total EQ-i 2.0 scores were 98.1 (15.5), 92.2 (15.9), 92.4 (12.9), and 103.5 (13.1), for first-, second- (P2), third- (P3), and fourth-year (P4) students, respectively. A statistically significant increase in total EQ-i 2.0 scores was noted in P4 students compared to P2 and P3 students. Work experience and leadership roles within student organizations may be associated with an increase in total EQ-i 2.0 scores., Conclusions: Emotional intelligence varied among students in different years of the pharmacy curriculum. P4 students were found to have the highest average emotional intelligence. The effect of curricular and co-curricular components on emotional intelligence development warrants further exploration., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: To explore the prevalence of generalized anxiety (GA) among doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students at an academic institution during the COVID-19 pandemic and use Alderfer's existence, relatedness, and growth (ERG) theory to elucidate which unsatisfied needs are predictive of higher levels of GA symptoms., Methods: This was a cross-sectional, single-site survey administered to first- through fourth-year PharmD students from October 2020 to January 2021. The survey tool included demographic information, the validated Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms-62 tool, and nine additional questions developed to assess Alderfer's ERG theory of needs. Predictors of GA symptoms were evaluated using descriptive statistics, multiple linear regression, correlation analysis, and multivariable analysis., Results: A total of 214 of 513 students completed the survey (42%) . Among students, 49.01% had no-clinical, 31.31% had low-clinical, and 19.63% had high-clinical GA symptoms. The relatedness needs, which included feeling disliked, socially disconnected, and misunderstood had the strongest correlation (65%) to GA symptoms and was most associated with GA symptoms (β = 0.56, P < .001). Students who did not exercise experienced more symptoms of GA (P = .008)., Conclusions: Over 50% of PharmD students met clinical cut-offs for GA symptoms and the relatedness need was most predictive of GA symptoms among students. Future student-centered interventions should aim to create opportunities that increase social connections, build resilience, and provide psychosocial support., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Hypoxia (low oxygen stress) is increasingly reported on coral reefs, caused by ocean deoxygenation linked to coastal nutrient pollution and ocean warming. While the ability to regulate respiration is a key driver of hypoxia tolerance in many other aquatic taxa, corals' oxyregulatory capabilities remain virtually unexplored. Here, we examine O 2 -consumption patterns across 17 coral species under declining O 2 partial pressure (pO 2 ). All corals showed ability to oxyregulate, but total positive regulation (T pos ) varied between species, ranging from 0.41 (Pocillopora damicornis) to 2.42 (P. acuta). On average, corals performed maximum regulation effort (P cmax ) at low pO 2 (30% air saturation, corresponding to lower O 2 levels measured on natural reef systems), and exhibited detectable regulation down to as low as <10% air saturation. Our study shows that corals are not oxyconformers as previously thought, suggesting oxyregulation is likely important for survival in dynamic O 2 environments of shallow coral reefs subjected to hypoxic events., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Marine cyanobacteria are key primary producers, contributing significantly to the microbial food web and biogeochemical cycles by releasing and importing many essential nutrients cycled through the environment. A subgroup of these, the picocyanobacteria (Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus), have colonised almost all marine ecosystems, covering a range of distinct light and temperature conditions, and nutrient profiles. The intra-clade diversities displayed by this monophyletic branch of cyanobacteria is indicative of their success across a broad range of environments. Part of this diversity is due to nutrient acquisition mechanisms, such as the use of high-affinity ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters to competitively acquire nutrients, particularly in oligotrophic (nutrient scarce) marine environments. The specificity of nutrient uptake in ABC transporters is primarily determined by the peripheral substrate-binding protein (SBP), a receptor protein that mediates ligand recognition and initiates translocation into the cell. The recent availability of large numbers of sequenced picocyanobacterial genomes indicates both Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus apportion >50% of their transport capacity to ABC transport systems. However, the low degree of sequence homology among the SBP family limits the reliability of functional assignments using sequence annotation and prediction tools. This review highlights the use of known SBP structural representatives for the uptake of key nutrient classes by cyanobacteria to compare with predicted SBP functionalities within sequenced marine picocyanobacteria genomes. This review shows the broad range of conserved biochemical functions of picocyanobacteria and the range of novel and hypothetical ABC transport systems that require further functional characterisation., (© 2021 The Author(s).)

Purpose: Hospital consolidation into larger, systemized health systems has enabled system-wide standardization of promotion processes, including pharmacy technician career ladders. However, whether system standardization affects the job satisfaction or outcomes of pharmacy technicians is unknown. The purpose of this project was to assess pharmacy technician perceptions and outcomes after systemization of a pharmacy technician career ladder., Methods: Pharmacy technician satisfaction scores and outcomes (promotion and turnover rates) were assessed in an eight-hospital health system before and after systemization of a pharmacy technician career ladder., Results: Two hundred and forty-nine pharmacy technicians were employed during the pre-intervention ( n = 104) and post-intervention ( n = 145) time periods. One hundred and twenty-three of 145 (84.83%) pharmacy technicians completed a job satisfaction survey after implementation of the system-wide technician career ladder. Overall satisfaction for the career ladder averaged 3.8 ± 0.61 or between neutral to positive satisfaction. There was no difference in total satisfaction regardless of teaching (3.8 ± 0.59) or community hospital (3.8 ± 0.63) location ( p = 0.53) or stratifying by Pharmacy Technician status. A total of 50 pharmacy technicians were hired during the study period, either during the pre-implementation ( n = 36) or post-implementation ( n = 14) time periods. Time to the first promotion averaged 1.73 ± 1.00 years in the pre-implementation period and 1.36 ± 0.55 years in the post-implementation period ( p = 0.20). Technician voluntary turnover was similar between the time periods., Conclusion: In conclusion, the standardization of a systems-level pharmacy technician promotion ladder from a single hospital to a systems-level was associated with positive job satisfaction and similar promotions and turnover rates as the historic, single hospital-based promotion ladder., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2021 The Authors.)

Purpose: To describe the development, design, and implementation of a pilot preceptor development bootcamp and feedback related to its feasibility and impact on operational pharmacy preceptors., Summary: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center designed and implemented a pilot preceptor development bootcamp for operational staff pharmacists serving as residency preceptors for longitudinal weekend staffing experiences. A systematic, multipronged approach was taken to identify preceptor development gaps and design a full-day bootcamp curriculum. The resultant curriculum was comprised of content in major functional areas including using the 4 preceptor roles, documenting performance, giving and receiving feedback, and dealing with difficult situations or learners. The impact of the pilot preceptor development bootcamp was assessed using survey methodology and qualitative feedback from debrief discussions., Conclusion: Implementation of a pilot preceptor bootcamp program addressing major areas of precepting skill was well received, resulted in positive feedback from operational pharmacy preceptors, and was feasible to implement at a large academic medical center., (© American Society of Health-System Pharmacists 2020. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Intermittently Closed and Open Lakes and Lagoons (ICOLLS) are important coastal systems that are periodically separated from the ocean by a sand barrier or a berm. In urban ICOLLs, continuous inputs of organic material and nutrients into coastal lagoons are contributing to eutrophic conditions that, together with natural environmental factors have implications for the resident sediment bacterial communities. We used molecular tools to investigate the ecological communities of four ICOLLs; Narrabeen, Dee Why, Curl Curl and Manly in Sydney, Australia, which have been subjected to increasing pressure from anthropogenic activities over the last century. We used targeted gene sequencing of the prokaryotic 16S ribosomal RNA gene to describe the bacterial diversity and community structure and discuss differences with respect to environmental factors at the ICOLL scale (e.g. size, shape, normalised N loading) and site scale (e.g. water and sediment quality) within each lagoon. Due to differences in hydrological patterns, we expected that sediment bacterial communities would be more heterogenous in displacement-dominated lagoons (Curl Curl and Manly) than the mixing-dominated lagoons (Narrabeen and Dee Why). Interestingly, we did not find strong relationships between the main bacterial groups and distance from the lagoon entrance (used as a proxy for salinity and silt) in the displacement-dominated lagoons. Moreover, we found that α diversity was highest in Narrabeen and Manly lagoons despite differences in lagoon size and shape. Furthermore, while bacterial community structure was similar in Curl Curl and Dee Why, communities in Manly and Narrabeen differed along temperature/TOC and salinity/silt gradients respectively. In Manly lagoon, we found relatively more anaerobic bacteria such as Epsilonbactereota which is involved in the oxidation and reduction of sulfur compounds. Moreover, we identified several bacterial taxa (including sulfur metabolising Chlorobiaceae) related to increasing TOC that could be investigated further as potential indicators of excess enrichment., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The effectiveness of a systematic, streamlined approach to optimize drug-drug interaction alerts in an electronic health record for a health system was studied., Methods: An 81-week quasi-experimental study was conducted to evaluate interventions made to medication-related clinical decision-support (CDS) alerts. Medication-related CDS alerts were systematically reduced using a multi disciplinary healthcare committee. The primary endpoint was weekly overall, modification, and acknowledgement rates of medication alerts after drug-drug interaction reclassification. Secondary endpoints included sub analysis of types of medication alerts (drug-drug interaction and duplicate therapy alerts) and alert use by providers (pharmacist and prescribers). Data was analyzed using interrupted time series regression analysis., Results: After implementation of the new alert system, total number of weekly inpatient alerts decreased from 68,900 (66,300-70,900) and 50,300 (48,600-53,600) in the postintervention period (p < 0.001). The perentage of alerts acknowledged weekly increased from 11.8% (IQR, 11.4-12.1%) in the preintervention period to 13.7% (IQR, 13.3-14.0%) in the postintervention period (p < 0.001). The percentage of alerts that were modified also increased from 5.0% (IQR, 4.9-5.3%) in the preintervention period to 7.3% (IQR, 7.0-7.6%) in the postintervention period (p < 0.001). Both increases were primarily seen with pharmacists versus other healthcare professionals (p < 0.001)., Conclusion: A committee-led systematic approach to optimizing drug-drug interactions facilitated a significant decrease in the overall number of alerts and an increase in both medication alert acknowledgement and modification rates., (© American Society of Health-System Pharmacists 2019. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)