A study of osteological and molecular differences in populations of Aphanius fasciatus Nardo 1827, from the central Mediterranean (Teleostei, Cyprinodontidae)

Nine populations of Aphanius fasciatus Nardo, 1827 from the central Mediterranean were analysed by examining the mitochondrial control region and the morphology of the bony elements of the skull and vertebral column, to study the degree of intraspecific differentiation of A. fasciatus considering the level of isolation of the different populations and the palaeogeographic history of the central Mediterranean area. Both the molecular and morphological analyses differentiate between the populations, even if the topologies of the two trees are different. Molecular and osteological investigations have consistently demonstrated a well-supported differentiation of the south-eastern Sicilian populations both within the same group (Tigano et al. in Ital J Zool 71:1124–1133, 2004a; Tigano et al. in Abstract volume XI European Congress of Ichthyology, Tallin, Estonia, 2004b), and from the populations from western Sicily, Tunisia and the island of Malta. The molecular results show that the nine populations are characterised by haplotypes that are well defined in relation to a probably limited gene flow; while, as regards the morphological data the differentiation found could be explained in terms of the geographic isolation of the various populations, although the influence of environmental factors, which differ greatly between the various sites where the populations live, cannot be ruled out.     

First-trimester diagnosis of Bartsocas–Papas syndrome (BPS) by transvaginal ultrasound: case report and review of the literature

Initially described in 1972, Bartsocas–Papas syndrome (BPS) is an autosomal recessively inherited disorder combining multiple pterygia, ankyloblepharon, cleft lip and palate, filiform bands between the jaws, syndactyly, and other anomalies. Although described as lethal, review of the literature reveals three individuals who survived into childhood with this condition. We describe a fourth surviving patient and what we believe to be the first prenatal diagnosis of BPS in the first trimester. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of human footprint and biophysical factors on the body-size structure of fished marine species

Marine fisheries in coastal ecosystems in many areas of the world have historically removed large-bodied individuals, potentially impairing ecosystem functioning and the long-term sustainability of fish populations. Reporting on size-based indicators that link to food-web structure can contribute to ecosystem-based management, but the application of these indicators over large (cross-ecosystem) geographical scales has been limited to either fisheries-dependent catch data or diver-based methods restricted to shallow waters (<20 m) that can misrepresent the abundance of large-bodied fished species. We obtained data on the body-size structure of 82 recreationally or commercially targeted marine demersal teleosts from 2904 deployments of baited remote underwater stereo-video (stereo-BRUV). Sampling was at up to 50 m depth and covered approximately 10,000 km of the continental shelf of Australia. Seascape relief, water depth, and human gravity (i.e., a proxy of human impacts) were the strongest predictors of the probability of occurrence of large fishes and the abundance of fishes above the minimum legal size of capture. No-take marine reserves had a positive effect on the abundance of fishes above legal size, although the effect varied across species groups. In contrast, sublegal fishes were best predicted by gradients in sea surface temperature (mean and variance). In areas of low human impact, large fishes were about three times more likely to be encountered and fishes of legal size were approximately five times more abundant. For conspicuous species groups with contrasting habitat, environmental, and biogeographic affinities, abundance of legal-size fishes typically declined as human impact increased. Our large-scale quantitative analyses highlight the combined importance of seascape complexity, regions with low human footprint, and no-take marine reserves in protecting large-bodied fishes across a broad range of species and ecosystem configurations.     

Reservoir Sedimentation Rates in the Little Washita River Experimental Watershed,Oklahoma: Measurement and Controlling Factors

Forty‐five flood control reservoirs, authorized in the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act 1954, were installed by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) between 1969 and 1982 in the Little Washita River Experimental Watershed (LWREW), located in central Oklahoma. Over time, these reservoirs have lost sediment and flood storage capacity due to sedimentation, with rates dependent on upstream land use and climate variability. In this study, sedimentation rates for 12 reservoirs representing three major land use categories within LWREW were measured based on bathymetric surveys that used acoustic profiling system. Physiographic and climate attributes of drainage area of surveyed reservoirs were extracted from publicly available data sources including topographic maps, digital elevation models, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service soils, and weather station databases. Correlation, principal component analysis, and stepwise regression were utilized to analyze the relationship between normalized reservoir sedimentation rates (ReSRa) and the drainage area characteristics to determine the major variables controlling sedimentation within the LWREW. Percent of drainage area with extreme slopes, saturated hydraulic conductivity, and maximum daily rainfall event recorded in spring explained most of the variability in ReSRa. It was also found that percent reduction in reservoir surface area can be used as a surrogate for estimating ReSRa. The implications of the results are discussed.     

The Hourglass: A Conceptual Framework for the Transport of Biologically Active Compounds from Agricultural Landscapes

Recent research has suggested that the fate of biologically active compounds (BACs) originating from point sources such as wastewater treatment plants is fundamentally different from that of similar compounds released from nonpoint sources through runoff from agricultural landscapes. Downstream from wastewater treatment plants, BACs will degrade via a variety of mechanisms; however, their concentration in the water adjacent to the point of discharge may not decrease over time, as the compounds are continually released. In contrast, in agricultural systems, BACs are episodically introduced to surface water during snowmelt and rainstorm events, and under these circumstances, may be found in water for only hours or days after a storm event. Recent research in our laboratories as well as others, has suggested that sediments play an important role in the persistence of herbicides and steroids in watersheds after nonpoint source loading events. Conceptually, the sediment serves as both a sink and a source, equilibrating with BACs during storm events then slowly releasing them back into the water over time, long after the initial pulse of chemicals has moved downstream.     

Unexpected removal of the most neutral cationic pharmaceutical in river waters

Contamination of surface waters by pharmaceuticals is now widespread. There are few data on their environmental behaviour, particularly for those which are cationic at typical surface water pH. As the external surfaces of bacterio-plankton cells are hydrophilic with a net negative charge, it was anticipated that bacterio-plankton in surface-waters would preferentially remove the most extensively-ionised cation at a given pH. To test this hypothesis, the persistence of four, widely-used, cationic pharmaceuticals, chloroquine, quinine, fluphenazine and levamisole, was assessed in batch microcosms, comprising water and bacterio-plankton, to which pharmaceuticals were added and incubated for 21 days. Results show that levamisole concentrations decreased by 19 % in microcosms containing bacterio-plankton, and by 13 % in a parallel microcosm containing tripeptide as a priming agent. In contrast to levamisole, concentrations of quinine, chloroquine and fluphenazine were unchanged over 21 days in microcosms containing bacterio-plankton. At the river-water pH, levamisole is 28 % cationic, while quinine is 91–98 % cationic, chloroquine 99 % cationic and fluphenazine 72–86 % cationic. Thus, the most neutral compound, levamisole, showed greatest removal, contradicting the expected bacterio-plankton preference for ionised molecules. However, levamisole was the most hydrophilic molecule, based on its octanol–water solubility coefficient (K _ow). Overall, the pattern of pharmaceutical behaviour within the incubations did not reflect the relative hydrophilicity of the pharmaceuticals predicted by the octanol–water distribution coefficient, D _ow, suggesting that improved predictive power, with respect to modelling bioaccumulation, may be needed to develop robust environmental risk assessments for cationic pharmaceuticals.     

Modeling change in forest biomass across the eastern US

Environmental and Ecological Statistics - Predictions of above-ground biomass and the change in above-ground biomass require attachment of uncertainty due the range of reported predictions for...     

Evaluation of endocrine disruption and dioxin-like effects of organic extracts from sewage sludge in autumn in Beijing,China

Study on effective disposal and utilization of sewage sludge has recently been the target of growing interest in China. However, potential risks are associated with the use of sludge due to its contamination with toxic organics, heavy metals and pathogenic microorganisms. In this study, a screening assessment was conducted on sewage sludge samples collected from 17 different sewage treatment plants in Beijing, based on a batch of in vitro bioassays, including a set of recombinant gene yeast assays for endocrine disruption, and an ethoxy resorufin-O- deethylase （EROD） assay using H4IIE cells for aryl hydrocarbon receptor （Ah-R） agonistic activities. Our results suggested that moderate levels of estrogen receptor agonistic activities （0.9 ng E2. g-1 to 6.8 ng E2. gl, dw）, but relative higher androgen receptor antagonistic activ- ities （nd to 45%）, progestin receptor antagonistic activities （nd to 80%） and Ah-R agonistic activities （1390 to 6740 pg 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin （TCDD）·g-1, dw） were found in sewage sludge samples. However, there were no significant correlations between the toxic effects of sewage sludge and the sewage treatment processes. In addition, the 17β-estradiol （E2） equivalent quantity （EEQ） level of the sewage sludge was increased after the composting treatment, whereas the 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodi- benzo-p-dioxin toxic equivalent quantity （TEQ） level of sewagesludge composted was much lower than that of sewage sludge.