Fishing for an Asian Carp Needle in a Haystack

The state and federal agencies who collectively participate in the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee have all gone fishin’ this week.  It may be August, but this isn’t a pleasure trip:  they are looking for live Asian carp in Lake Calumet after recent environmental DNA (“eDNA”) sampling has shown that some of the fish are likely present in the area.

Ramping up the conventional monitoring (fishing and netting) in Lake Calumet is a logical response to these positive eDNA results.  Short of poisoning every fish in Lake Calumet, there is not much else that the agencies could be doing at this point…  and I can understand the agencies’ not wanting to undertake (and spend money on) another fish poisoning operation at this stage.

The problem, though, is that the Regional Coordinating Committee once again talking about this fishing operation like it is somehow going to prove whether live Asian carp are present in the area.  As I’ve blogged about in the past, the Army Corps and other agencies have frequently downplayed, or written off entirely, the significance of positive eDNA results in an apparent effort to convince the public that they have the invasion under control.

These agencies should know better, though, because both Government experts (such as Duane Chapman of USGS) and outside experts (such as University of Notre Dame Professor David Lodge) have said that the conventional monitoring techniques are unlikely to succeed in catching Asian carp in the Chicago waterway system when they are present only in small numbers – and that eDNA is a better tool for determining whether carp are present.

As John Dettmers of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission recently pointed out in a live chat sponsored by the Detroit Free Press (I imagine John was typing fast, which explains the two typos):

    I think that the Asian carp that have been caught in Lake Erie were caught essentially by luck. We know that conventional fishing gear is very ineifficeint [sic] when trying to colelct [sic] Asian carp when only a few are present. Nevertheless, fishing gear does capture Asian carp now and then, as happen[ed] last July in Lake Calumet.

In other words, fishing for Asian carp in the Chicago waterway system is kind of like using a pitchfork to search for a needle in a haystack.

It’s true that the eDNA results, without more, cannot tell you exact number or location of carp that are being detected, but the only plausible explanation for explaining the positive eDNA hits is the presence of some live Asian carp in the Chicago waterway system.  Although a number of other possible explanations have been offered to explain the positive eDNA results, I agree with David Lodge’s view:  none of those alternative explanations seem plausible, much less likely, given the overall pattern of positive results that has been detected.

Cannulas Less Traumatic Than Needles for Administering Fillers

It's time to consider being blunt with your aesthetic patients, at least in terms of how you

administer filler products for facial and hand rejuvenation.

"The blunt cannula is really an exciting tool for us," Dr. Susan H. Weinkle said at the South

Beach Symposium.



Instead of multiple puncture wounds with needles, Dr. Weinkle creates one entry point with a

percutaneous stick of a 26-gauge needle. Then she inserts a cannula. "You can treat the

midface [and then] you can turn the cannula and treat all along the cheekbone and the

zygomatic arch. Then, through the same injection point, you can turn the cannula south and

treat the nasolabial fold."

Less trauma, lower risk for bruising, and quicker downtime are among the advantages, compared

with multiple needle injections, Dr. Weinkle said.

Less precise delivery of the filler – because the cannula holes are not at the tip like a

needle – is a drawback, but not a significant one, she added.

Cannulas already have gained popularity in Europe and South America. "We are not learning

this as quickly as our colleagues," she said.

"A year ago, I went to an exciting meeting in Paris where I heard a little about cannulas."

Dr. Weinkle brought some back to her private practice in Bradenton, Fla., with the best

intentions, but did not use them. "This year I went back to the same meeting in January, and

I decided I did not want to be left behind."

Filler augmentation of the dorsal side of the hands is another procedure that is well suited

to the use of these blunt cannulas, Dr. Weinkle said.

Patience is advised when the technique is tried for the first time. "It's not always easy.

You're not going to love it right away. You have to finesse the cannula through the skin."

However, she added, "Don't get discouraged."

These are not cannulas that are used for liposuction, but newer products that are

specifically designed for use in soft tissue. Only one such cannula – CosmoFrance Inc.'s

DermaSculpt microcannula, a 1.5 inch, 27 gauge cannula with a nonbruising blunt tip – is

currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States.

"More are coming. We will have shorter, fatter, thicker, thinner, and different gauge

cannulas," Dr. Weinkle said. "We're going to see some of the companies that provide fillers

for us adopting this. Maybe we'll find one needle and one cannula in the future in our

packaging."

"This is the wave of the future. We really want to embrace new and exciting things," she

said.

Cannulas Less Traumatic Than Needles for Administering Fillers

It's time to consider being blunt with your aesthetic patients, at least in terms of

how you administer filler products for facial and hand rejuvenation.

"The blunt cannula is really an exciting tool for us," Dr. Susan H. Weinkle said at

the South Beach Symposium.



Instead of multiple puncture wounds with needles, Dr. Weinkle creates one entry point

with a percutaneous stick of a 26-gauge needle. Then she inserts a cannula. "You can

treat the midface [and then] you can turn the cannula and treat all along the

cheekbone and the zygomatic arch. Then, through the same injection point, you can

turn the cannula south and treat the nasolabial fold."

Less trauma, lower risk for bruising, and quicker downtime are among the advantages,

compared with multiple needle injections, Dr. Weinkle said.

Less precise delivery of the filler – because the cannula holes are not at the tip

like a needle – is a drawback, but not a significant one, she added.

Cannulas already have gained popularity in Europe and South America. "We are not

learning this as quickly as our colleagues," she said.

"A year ago, I went to an exciting meeting in Paris where I heard a little about

cannulas." Dr. Weinkle brought some back to her private practice in Bradenton, Fla.,

with the best intentions, but did not use them. "This year I went back to the same

meeting in January, and I decided I did not want to be left behind."

Filler augmentation of the dorsal side of the hands is another procedure that is well

suited to the use of these blunt cannulas, Dr. Weinkle said.

Patience is advised when the technique is tried for the first time. "It's not always

easy. You're not going to love it right away. You have to finesse the cannula through

the skin." However, she added, "Don't get discouraged."

These are not cannulas that are used for liposuction, but newer products that are

specifically designed for use in soft tissue. Only one such cannula – CosmoFrance

Inc.'s DermaSculpt microcannula, a 1.5 inch, 27 gauge cannula with a nonbruising

blunt tip – is currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United

States.

"More are coming. We will have shorter, fatter, thicker, thinner, and different gauge

cannulas," Dr. Weinkle said. "We're going to see some of the companies that provide

fillers for us adopting this. Maybe we'll find one needle and one cannula in the

future in our packaging."

"This is the wave of the future. We really want to embrace new and exciting things,"

she said.

Dr. Weinkle said she had no relevant financial disclosures.