Marine protected areas, marine heatwaves, and the resilience of nearshore fish communities.

Anthropogenic stressors from climate change can affect individual species, community structure, and ecosystem function. Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are intense thermal anomalies where water temperature is significantly elevated for five or more days. Climate projections suggest an increase in the frequency and severity of MHWs in the coming decades. While there is evidence that marine protected areas (MPAs) may be able to buffer individual species from climate impacts, there is not sufficient evidence to support the idea that MPAs can mitigate large-scale changes in marine communities in response to MHWs. California experienced an intense MHW and subsequent El Niño Southern Oscillation event from 2014 to 2016. We sought to examine changes in rocky reef fish communities at four MPAs and associated reference sites in relation to the MHW. We observed a decline in taxonomic diversity and a profound shift in trophic diversity inside and outside MPAs following the MHW. However, MPAs seemed to dampen the loss of trophic diversity and in the four years following the MHW, taxonomic diversity recovered 75% faster in the MPAs compared to reference sites. Our results suggest that MPAs may contribute to long-term resilience of nearshore fish communities through both resistance to change and recovery from warming events.

Pre-hospital ambulance notification and initiation of treatment of ST elevation myocardial infarction is associated with significant reduction in door-to-balloon time for primary PCI.

BACKGROUND: Mortality in ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is strongly predicted by the time from first medical contact to reperfusion. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of pre-hospital diagnosis by paramedics in the field on the door-to-balloon (DTB) times of patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous intervention. METHODS: Paramedics in the field identified patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction on a 12-lead electrocardiograph, activated the cardiac catheter laboratory team from the field and initiated therapy with anticoagulants and antiplatelet agents in the pre-hospital setting. This cohort of patients was compared to a similar group of patients without pre-hospital diagnosis and notification. The primary outcome measure was DTB times. A secondary end point was mortality at 30 days and mortality at six months. RESULTS: A total of 281 patients, mean age of 61.1±12.9 years underwent primary percutaneous intervention with pre-hospital notification occurring in 63 cases. DTB times were lower in those with pre notification than in those without pre-hospital notification (40.4 vs. 75.6 minutes, p<0.001). This represented a 47.6% shorter DTB time. A non-statistically significant mortality reduction at one month and six months was observed in the pre-hospital notification group (1.6 versus 4.3%, p= 0.307 and 1.6 versus 6.4%, p= 0.203, respectively). CONCLUSION: Pre-hospital intervention at our centre had a powerful effect in reducing the time to reperfusion in patients with STEMI undergoing primary percutaneous intervention.