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The use of regional citrate anticoagulation (RCA) in liver failure (LF) patients can lead to citrate accumulation. We aimed to evaluate serum levels of citrate and correlate them with liver function markers and with the Cat/Cai in patients under intensive care and undergoing continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration with regional citrate anticoagulation (CVVHDF-RCA). A prospective cohort study in an intensive care unit was conducted. We compared survival, clinical, laboratorial and dialysis data between patients with and without LF. Citrate was measured daily. We evaluated 200 patients, 62 (31%) with LF. Citrate was significantly higher in the LF group. Dialysis dose, filter lifespan, systemic ionized calcium and Cat/Cai were similar between groups. There were weak to moderate positive correlations between Citrate and indicators of liver function and Cat/Cai. The LF group had higher mortality (70.5% vs. 51.8%, p = 0.014). Citrate was an independent risk factor for death, OR 11.3 (95% CI 2.74–46.8). In conclusion, hypercitratemia was an independent risk factor for death in individuals undergoing CVVHDF-ARC. The increase in citrate was limited in the LF group, without clinical significance. The correlation between citrate and liver function indicators was weak to moderate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on oceanic island biodiversity have been the foundation for much theoretical work. However, seamounts are mostly underexplored, and little information is available about their potential as stepping stones for oceanic dispersal and their role in diversification. Here we used a genetic approach to test different models of marine dispersal between the continental coast and a volcanic ridge composed of seamounts and oceanic islands. We observed that the stepping stone model best fits our results, with one reef fish species displaying ongoing gene flow and another showing endemic lineages restricted to the islands and most isolated seamounts. The data also suggest that connectivity among remote regions could be influenced by Pleistocene sea level fluctuations and that a widespread genetic lineage was originated from an island endemic. Recent findings on island endemic species showed a similar pattern of both origin and export of genetic lineages, indicating that this process occurred multiple times in the Pleistocene. This study highlights the role of seamounts in supporting subpopulations that, in turn, allow island colonization, diversification, and a biodiversity feedback process that nourishes source populations with evolutionary novelty from peripheral regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For cardiovascular disease prevention, statins alone or combined with ezetimibe have been recommended to achieve low-density lipoprotein cholesterol targets, but their effects on other lipids are less reported. This study was designed to examine lipid changes in subjects with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) after two highly effective lipid-lowering therapies. Twenty patients with STEMI were randomized to be treated with rosuvastatin 20 mg QD or simvastatin 40 mg combined with ezetimibe 10 mg QD for 30 days. Fasting blood samples were collected on the first day (D1) and after 30 days (D30). Lipidomic analysis was performed using the Lipidyzer platform. Similar classic lipid profile was obtained in both groups of lipid-lowering therapies. However, differences with the lipidomic analysis were observed between D30 and D1 for most of the analyzed classes. Differences were noted with lipid-lowering therapies for lipids such as FA, LPC, PC, PE, CE, Cer, and SM, notably in patients treated with rosuvastatin. Correlation studies between classic lipid profiles and lipidomic results showed different information. These findings seem relevant, due to the involvement of these lipid classes in crucial mechanisms of atherosclerosis, and may account for residual cardiovascular risk. Randomized clinical trial: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02428374, registered on 28/09/2014. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanisms driving the ecology and biodiversity of seamount communities are still unclear. Here we analyzed the distribution and species traits of reef fish species recorded over seamounts, oceanic islands, and the continental shelf of the southwestern Atlantic Ocean to understand the influence of mechanisms of dispersal and establishment in these ecosystems. Species richness did not decrease with distance from the mainland, and community composition was not related to geographic position and geological history of seamounts and oceanic islands. Similarity among sites was explained by habitat heterogeneity, shallowest depth, and distance from mainland. Inter-site isolation had a significant influence on the spatial turnover of species. All species traits related to dispersal and establishment worked as ecological filters driving the composition of communities and distribution of species along seamounts and oceanic islands. We conclude that seamount communities are closely related to those of oceanic islands, with the stepping-stones (inter-site isolation) process being the most important one shaping species composition and distribution. Establishment and dispersal mechanisms, in combination with historical sea-level fluctuations, regulate the persistence of species and the similarity of communities among adjacent and environmentally similar sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors would like to correct the error in the publication of the original article. The corrected details are given below for your reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herbivorous fishes are an important component of coral reef systems worldwide, but their nutritional ecology is poorly understood, particularly the relationships between the taxonomic composition and the nutritional composition of their diets. We compared dietary composition with % carbon, % nitrogen and C:N ratios of diet in four species of nominally herbivorous fishes from the Southwestern Atlantic and used literature values to calculate proportional contributions of dietary items to total nitrogen intake. Both Sparisoma axillare (Labridae, Scarinae) and Acanthurus chirurgus (Acanthuridae) had a diet composed mainly of detritus, with contributions of red algae. However, the diet of S. axillare displayed higher %N and a lower C:N ratio, although animal material made only a slightly greater contribution to total nitrogen intake than in A. chirurgus. Kyphosus sectatrix (Kyphosidae) ingested mainly carbon-rich corticated algae, while Diplodus argenteus (Sparidae) had a varied, omnivorous diet. These results indicate that conventional diet analysis may not reveal important interspecific differences in nutrient intake and that a reassessment of the nutrient intake of different herbivorous fishes is required to fully understand their ecology. This finding highlights the fact that foods of nominally herbivorous fishes vary greatly in nutritional quality. Moreover, conventional dietary categories such as detritus may exhibit considerable heterogeneity in taxonomic and nutritional composition, suggesting a previously unrecognised level of dietary selectivity in this fish assemblage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many shark populations are in decline around the world, with severe ecological and economic consequences. Fisheries management and marine protected areas (MPAs) have both been heralded as solutions. However, the effectiveness of MPAs alone is questionable, particularly for globally threatened sharks and rays ('elasmobranchs'), with little known about how fisheries management and MPAs interact to conserve these species. Here we use a dedicated global survey of coral reef elasmobranchs to assess 66 fully protected areas embedded within a range of fisheries management regimes across 36 countries. We show that conservation benefits were primarily for reef-associated sharks, which were twice as abundant in fully protected areas compared with areas open to fishing. Conservation benefits were greatest in large protected areas that incorporate distinct reefs. However, the same benefits were not evident for rays or wide-ranging sharks that are both economically and ecologically important while also threatened with extinction. We show that conservation benefits from fully protected areas are close to doubled when embedded within areas of effective fisheries management, highlighting the importance of a mixed management approach of both effective fisheries management and well-designed fully protected areas to conserve tropical elasmobranch assemblages globally., (© 2024. Crown.)