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In recent years, there has been increasing interest in developing detectors which are sensitive to sub-GeV dark matter and low-energy events from coherent neutrino scattering. Due to carbon's light atomic weight and its tendency to form crystals with high-energy, long-lived phonon modes, carbon-based crystals (including diamond and silicon carbide (SiC)) present themselves as natural target materials for scattering-based searches in this regime. We present our preliminary results in adapting our TES-based detectors to these substrates, specifically 4-H SiC and polycrystalline diamond. We focus on our fabrication efforts, specifically tuning the transition temperature ( T C ) of tungsten films sputtered on these materials, as well as our advancement toward fabricating and testing devices on these substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavily modified water bodies (HMWB) have been seriously affected by human activities and natural processes promoting their imbalance, and impacting their functioning and biodiversity. This study explores a new approach of monitoring and assessing water quality in Mediterranean reservoirs using phytoplankton communities across a disturbance gradient, according to water framework directive. Phytoplankton and environmental data were sampled in 34 reservoirs over 8 years. Two types of reservoirs were analyzed: Type1 "run-of-river reservoirs" (located in the main rivers, with a low residence time); and Type2 "true reservoirs" (located in tributaries, with high residence time). The transition from deeper and colder reservoirs (reference sites) to shallow and warmer (impaired sites) was clear in Type2, correlated to organic pollution and mineral gradients. Impaired sites from both types showed a higher richness of tolerant taxa. Principal response curve (PRC) provided a concise summary of phytoplankton temporal dynamics and assessed ecosystem health for Mediterranean HMWBs. PRC will provide a powerful tool for environmental quality assessment and be incorporated into monitoring and assessment programs. This approach can help policymakers to manage natural capital to achieve multiple objectives, mainly increasing ecosystem services, and improve readability and interpretation of spatial patterns in temporal changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) is an accepted alternative to thromboprophylaxis in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who are: (i) intolerant to oral anticoagulation (OAC) (e.g. life-threatening haemorrhage), (ii) non-adherent to OAC, or (iii) at a high bleeding risk with OAC. Improvement in LA mechanics was shown post-LAAO in the LAFIT-LARIAT study, using the Lariat device. No significant change was seen in LA mechanics after LAAO with the Watchman device in the LAFIT-Watchman study. The impact of LAAO with the Amplatzer or Amulet device on LA deformation mechanics has not been investigated. Purpose: To evaluate the impact of LAAO with the Amplatzer or Amulet device on echocardiographic LA deformation indices. Methods: All patients undergoing percutaneous LAAO from 2013 to 2021 at a single centre were included from an ongoing clinical registry. LA reservoir (εreservoir), conduit (εconduit) and contractile strain (εcontractile) and strain rate (SRreservoir, SRconduit, SRcontractile) were assessed with two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography from an apical four-chamber view. Conduit and contractile strain and strain rates were only recorded for patients without AF at the time of echocardiography. Changes in LA deformation indices over time were compared with a linear mixed model. Results: 28 LAAO recipients (mean age 73 ± 12 years, 68% male) were analysed. 5 (18%) patients had AF pre- or post-procedure. After a mean follow-up of 1.6 ± 1.4 months, the mean LA εreservoir increased from 10.15 ± 6.44% to 10.18 ± 8.72% (p = 0.985), the mean LA εconduit increased from 5.12 ± 5.48% to 5.31 ± 6.11% (p = 0.891) and the mean LA εcontractile decreased from 5.14 ± 4.32% to 4.95 ± 5.30% (p = 0.898). During the same time interval, the mean LA SRreservoir decreased from + 0.54 ± 0.23.s− 1 to + 0.48 ± 0.43.s− 1 (p = 0.566), the mean LA SRconduit remained stable: -0.47 ± 0.41.s− 1 to -0.47 ± 0.32.s− 1 (p = 0.997) and the mean LA SRcontractile decreased from − 0.66 ± 0.50.s− 1 to -0.55 ± 0.46.s− 1 (p = 0.660). Conclusion: No significant improvement in LA mechanical function was seen after LAAO with the Amplatzer or Amulet device. Different LAAO devices therefore appear to have divergent effects on LA deformation, the clinical implications of which may warrant further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health of the lower basin of the Volta River in Ghana was evaluated in January–February and May–June 2016 using physicochemical parameters and benthic macroinvertebrates sampled at 10 locations. Selected environmental variables were compared to accepted environmental water quality standard values where applicable. Principal component analysis (PCA) and redundancy analysis (RDA) were used to analyse the association between the benthic macroinvertebrates distribution and physicochemical variables. Pesticide concentrations were generally below the limit of detection 0.01 and 0.005 µg/L for organophosphate/synthetic pyrethroid and organochlorines respectively. Nutrient levels were also generally low; however, significant differences existed between the values of physicochemical parameters at the different sampling sites and seasons (Monte Carlo permutation test; p = 0.002), as well as between the abundance of macroinvertebrates at the different sites and seasons (p = 0.002). The environmental variables dissolved oxygen (DO), phosphate, pH, substratum (p < 0.05), turbidity, conductivity, total dissolved solids, total solids and nitrate (0.05 < p < 0.10) significantly explained the variation in macroinvertebrate composition between sampling stations in the Volta River. Polypedilum fuscipenne, was positively correlated with turbidity and DO concentrations; Physa sp., Centroptilum sp., Centroptiloides sp., Phaon iridipennis and juvenile fish were positively correlated with nitrate concentration and pH and negatively correlated with turbidity and DO. Polluted sites were dominated by the snail Lymnaea glabra. This demonstrates that physicochemical parameters and macroinvertebrates could be applied to describe the water quality and improve the biomonitoring for water resources management and the environmental protection in the Lower Volta River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composting has been recommended as a suitable alternative for recycling wastes and could improve tannery sludge (TS) before its use. However, the long-term application of composted tannery sludge (CTS) may bring concerns about its effects on soil properties and, consequently, on plants and environment, mainly when considering Cr contamination. In this study, we summarize the responses of soil chemical and biological parameters in a 10-year study with yearly applications of CTS. Chemical and biological parameters were assessed in soil samples, and the multivariate analysis method principal response curve (PRC) was used to show the temporal changes in all the biological and chemical properties caused by CTS. The PRC analysis showed different long-term response patterns of chemical and biological parameters according to the rates of CTS. Interestingly, Cr content increased strongly in the first 5 years and only increased slightly in the following 5 years. The yearly applications of CTS changed the biological and chemical parameters of the soil, negatively and positively, respectively. Organic matter, K and P, increased during the 10 years of application, while soil pH and Cr concentration increased, and soil microbial biomass and enzymes activity decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Partnership for Chemicals Risk Assessment (PARC) is currently under development as a joint research and innovation programme to strengthen the scientific basis for chemical risk assessment in the EU. The plan is to bring chemical risk assessors and managers together with scientists to accelerate method development and the production of necessary data and knowledge, and to facilitate the transition to next-generation evidence-based risk assessment, a non-toxic environment and the European Green Deal. The NORMAN Network is an independent, well-established and competent network of more than 80 organisations in the field of emerging substances and has enormous potential to contribute to the implementation of the PARC partnership. NORMAN stands ready to provide expert advice to PARC, drawing on its long experience in the development, harmonisation and testing of advanced tools in relation to chemicals of emerging concern and in support of a European Early Warning System to unravel the risks of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and close the gap between research and innovation and regulatory processes. In this commentary we highlight the tools developed by NORMAN that we consider most relevant to supporting the PARC initiative: (i) joint data space and cutting-edge research tools for risk assessment of contaminants of emerging concern; (ii) collaborative European framework to improve data quality and comparability; (iii) advanced data analysis tools for a European early warning system and (iv) support to national and European chemical risk assessment thanks to harnessing, combining and sharing evidence and expertise on CECs. By combining the extensive knowledge and experience of the NORMAN network with the financial and policy-related strengths of the PARC initiative, a large step towards the goal of a non-toxic environment can be taken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of herbicides is important for controlling weeds in crops. However, they can present impacts on soil properties, such as biological properties. In this study, we evaluated the responses of soil microbial biomass and enzymes activity to the application of the herbicides imazethapyr and flumioxazin and their mixture in an experiment under laboratory conditions, using soils with a different history of use. Soil microbial biomass C (MBC) decreased, while microbial biomass N (MBN) was not affected after the application of the herbicides as compared to the control. Soil respiration, respiratory quotient, and dehydrogenase (DHA) activity increased significantly after the application of the herbicides compared to the control. The hydrolysis of fluorescein diacetate (FDA) was not significantly different between the control and the herbicide treatments. The principal response curve showed the largest initial effects for the flumioxazin, followed by imazethapyr and their mixture. Flumioxazin had a different influence on soil respiration and respiratory quotient than imazethapyr and their mixture. Finally, the effects of herbicides on soil microbial biomass and enzymes are short-term as we observed recovery in the biological parameters over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the European Water Framework Directive is to ensure good ecological status for all European surface waters. However, although current monitoring strategies aim to identify the presence and magnitude of ecological impacts, they provide little information on the causes of an ecosystem impairment. In fact, approaches to establish causal links between chemical pollution and impacts on the ecological status of exposed aquatic systems are largely lacking or poorly described and established. This is, however, crucial for developing and implementing appropriately targeted water management strategies. In order to identify the role of chemical pollution on the ecological status of an aquatic ecosystem, we suggest to systematically combine four lines of evidence (LOEs) that provide complementary evidence on the presence and potential ecological impact of complex chemical pollution: (1) component-based methods that allow a predictive mixture risk modeling; (2) effect-based methods; (3) in situ tests; (4) field-derived species inventories. These LOEs differ systematically in their specificity for chemical pollution, data demands, resources required and ecological relevance. They complement each other and, in their combination, allow to assess the contribution of chemical pollution pressure to impacts on ecological structure and function. Data from all LOEs are not always available and the information they provide is not necessarily consistent. We therefore propose a systematic, robust and transparent approach to combine the information available for a given study, in order to ensure that consensual conclusions are drawn from a given dataset. This allows to identify critical data gaps and needs for future testing and/or options for targeted and efficient water management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ghana has implemented regulation on the registration, distribution and usage of pesticides in order to evaluate their environmental and human health effects. However, environmental monitoring and certified laboratories for pesticide analysis are lacking. Pesticide misuse, misapplication, contamination of the environment and human exposure still continue, and little is known to what extent pesticide registration, distribution and use is properly implemented in Ghana. This study aimed at investigating how the pesticide policy operates in Ghana, how state (policy; national/local) and non-state (importers, dealers' and farmers) stakeholders function, what their challenges are, and to which extend the policy objectives are achieved. A conceptual framework based on the contextual interaction theory (CIT) was developed, and a review of Ghana's pesticide policy implementation with two empirical field studies on state policy and non-state policy actors was conducted, supplemented with secondary data, and a number of interviews conducted with stakeholders and informants were used. Results indicate that pesticides are registered in compliance with the law. Non-state actors scored low with respect to their mandate which likely results in environmental and human health risks. Significant association existed between educational level attained and knowledge (χ2 = 3.614; P ≤ 0.05). Work experience or duration of farming also significantly influenced the knowledge of respondents (P < 0.001), as well as attitude (χ2 = 15.328; P < 0.05). Work experience/duration of farming also significantly influenced attitude at 95% confidence level (P < 0.001), and duration of farming was significantly associated with farm management practices at 5% level of significance (P ≤ 0.05), while state actors are not motivated and resourced. It is recommended to perform preliminary risk assessment to the aquatic environment, to derive threshold levels which are protective of communities, to screen farmers for pesticide exposure and poisoning, to develop well-targeted training programmes for pesticide retailers and farmers on pesticide use, personal protective device use, as well as pesticide management and law. Additionally, pesticide policy implementers have to be motivated and resourced to carry out their mandate, being to execute the pesticide legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure patterns in ecotoxicological experiments often do not match the exposure profiles for which a risk assessment needs to be performed. This limitation can be overcome by using toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic (TKTD) models for the prediction of effects under time-variable exposure. For the use of TKTD models in the environmental risk assessment of chemicals, it is required to calibrate and validate the model for specific compound-species combinations. In this study, the survival of macroinvertebrates after exposure to the neonicotinoid insecticide was modelled using TKTD models from the General Unified Threshold models of Survival (GUTS) framework. The models were calibrated on existing survival data from acute or chronic tests under static exposure regime. Validation experiments were performed for two sets of species-compound combinations: one set focussed on multiple species sensitivity to a single compound: imidacloprid, and the other set on the effects of multiple compounds for a single species, i.e., the three neonicotinoid compounds imidacloprid, thiacloprid and thiamethoxam, on the survival of the mayfly Cloeon dipterum. The calibrated models were used to predict survival over time, including uncertainty ranges, for the different time-variable exposure profiles used in the validation experiments. From the comparison between observed and predicted survival, it appeared that the accuracy of the model predictions was acceptable for four of five tested species in the multiple species data set. For compounds such as neonicotinoids, which are known to have the potential to show increased toxicity under prolonged exposure, the calibration and validation of TKTD models for survival needs to be performed ideally by considering calibration data from both acute and chronic tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High intensity agricultural production systems are problematic not only for human health and the surrounding environment, but can threaten the provision of ecosystem services on which farm productivity depends. This research investigates the effects of management practices in Costa Rica on on-farm insect diversity, using three different types of banana farm management systems: high-input conventional system, low-input conventional system, and organic system. Insect sampling was done using pitfall and yellow bowl traps, left for a 24-h period at two locations inside the banana farm, at the edge of the farm, and in adjacent forest. All 39,091 individual insects were classified to family level and then morphospecies. Insect species community composition and diversity were compared using multivariate statistics with ordination analysis and Monte Carlo permutation testing, and revealed that each of the management systems were significantly different from each other for both trap types. Insect diversity decreased as management intensity increased. Reduced insect diversity resulted in fewer functional groups and fewer insect families assuming different functions essential to ecosystem health. Organic farms had similar species composition on the farm compared to adjacent forest sites, whereas species composition increasingly differed between farm and forest sites as management intensity increased. We conclude that while organic production has minimal impact on insect biodiversity, even small reductions in management intensity can have a significantly positive impact on on-farm insect biodiversity and functional roles supported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The area around Lake Ziway in Ethiopia is going through a major agricultural transformation with both small-scale farmers and large horticultural companies using pesticides and fertilisers at an increased rate. To be able to understand how this influences the water quality of Lake Ziway, water quality data was gathered to study the dynamics of pesticide concentrations and physicochemical parameters for the years from 2009 to 2015. Results indicate that for some physicochemical parameters, including pH, potassium and iron, over 50 % of the values were above the maximum permissible limit of the Ethiopian standard for drinking water. The fungicide spiroxamine poses a high chronic risk when the water is used for drinking water, while the estimated intake of diazinon was approximately 50 % of the acceptable daily intake. Higher-tier risk assessment indicated that the fungicide spiroxamine poses a high acute risk to aquatic organisms, while possible acute risks were indicated for the insecticides deltamethrin and endosulfan. Longer-term monitoring needs to be established to show the water quality changes across time and space, and the current study can be used as a baseline measurement for further research in the area as well as an example for other surface water systems in Ethiopia and Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Costa Rica, considerable effort goes to conservation and protection of biodiversity, while at the same time agricultural pesticide use is among the highest in the world. Several protected areas, some being wetlands or marine reserves, are situated downstream large-scale banana farms, with an average of 57 pesticide applications per year. The banana industry is increasingly aware of the need to reduce their negative environmental impact, but few ecological field studies have been made to evaluate the efficiency of proposed mitigation strategies. This study compared the composition of benthic macroinvertebrate communities up- and downstream effluent water from banana farms in order to assess whether benthic invertebrate community structure can be used to detect environmental impact of banana farming, and thereby usable to assess improvements in management practises. Aquatic invertebrate samples were collected at 13 sites, using kick-net sampling, both up- and downstream banana farms in fast flowing streams in the Caribbean zone of Costa Rica. In total, 2888 invertebrate specimens were collected, belonging to 15 orders and 48 families or taxa. The change in community composition was analysed using multivariate statistics. Additionally, a biodiversity index and the Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP) score system was applied along with a number of community composition descriptors. Multivariate analyses indicated that surface waters immediately up- and downstream large-scale banana farms have different macroinvertebrate community compositions with the most evident differences being higher dominance by a single taxa and a much higher total abundance, mostly of that same taxon. Assessment of macroinvertebrate community composition thus appears to be a viable approach to detect negative impact from chemical-intensive agriculture and could become an effective means to monitor the efficacy of changes/proposed improvements in farming practises in Costa Rica and similar systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the risks of pesticides applied in rice-fish and rice farming, with and without integrated pest management (IPM) strategies, to non-target aquatic organisms in two provinces of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Pesticide inventories and application patterns were collected from 120 Vietnamese farmers through interviews. Risks were assessed using (1) Pesticide RIsks in the Tropics to Man, Environment, and Trade (PRIMET), a first-tier model, which calculates predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) of pesticides in the rice field, based on the compound’s physico-chemical properties and the application pattern, and then compares the PECs to safe concentrations based on literature data, and (2) species sensitivity distribution (SSD), a second-tier assessment model using species sensitivity distributions to calculate potentially affected fraction (PAF) of species based on the PECs from PRIMET. Our results show that several of the used insecticides pose a high risk to fish and arthropods and that the risks are higher among rice farmers than among rice-fish farmers. This study indicates that the PRIMET model in combination with SSDs offer suitable approaches to help farmers and plant protection staff to identify pesticides that may cause high risk to the environment and therefore should be substituted with safer alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The River Madre de Dios (RMD) and its lagoon is a biodiversity rich watershed formed by a system of streams, rivers, channels, and a coastal lagoon communicating with the Caribbean Sea. This basin sustains a large area of agricultural activity (mostly banana, rice, and pineapple) with intensive use of pesticides, continually detected in water samples. We investigated in situ the toxicological effects caused by pesticide runoff from agriculture and the relation of pesticide concentrations with different biological organization levels: early responses in fish biomarkers (sub-organismal), acute toxicity to Daphnia magna (organismal), and aquatic macroinvertebrate community structure. The evaluation was carried out between October 2011 and November 2012 at five sites along the RMD influenced by agricultural discharges and a reference site in a stream outside the RMD that receives less pesticides. Acute toxicity to D. magna was observed only once in a sample from the RMD (Caño Azul); the index of biomarker responses in fish exposed in situ was higher than controls at the same site and at the RMD-Freeman. However, only macroinvertebrates were statistically related to the presence of pesticides, combined with both physical-chemical parameters and habitat degradation. All three groups of variables determined the distribution of macroinvertebrate taxa through the study sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assesses the ecological risks (ERA) of pesticides to aquatic organisms in the River Madre de Dios (RMD), which receives surface runoff water from banana, pineapple, and rice plantations on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Water samples collected over 2 years at five sites in the RMD revealed a total of 26 pesticides. Their toxicity risk to aquatic organisms was assessed using three recent ERA models. (1) The PERPEST model showed a high probability (>50 %) of clear toxic effects of pesticide mixtures on algae, macrophytes, zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, and community metabolism and a low probability (<50 %) of clear effects on fish. (2) Species sensitivity distributions (SSD) showed a moderate to high risk of three herbicides: ametryn, bromacil, diuron and four insecticides: carbaryl, diazinon, ethoprophos, terbufos. (3) The multi-substance potentially affected fraction (msPAF) model showed results consistent with PERPEST: high risk to algae (maximum msPAF: 73 %), aquatic plants (61 %), and arthropods (25 %) and low risk to fish (0.2 %) from pesticide mixtures. The pesticides posing the highest risks according to msPAF and that should be substituted with less toxic substances were the herbicides ametryn, diuron, the insecticides carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, ethoprophos, and the fungicide difenoconazole. Ecological risks were highest near the plantations and decreased progressively further downstream. The risk to fish was found to be relatively low in these models, but water samples were not collected during fish kill events and some highly toxic pesticides known to be used were not analyzed for in this study. Further sampling and analysis of water samples is needed to determine toxicity risks to fish during peaks of pesticide mixture concentrations. The msPAF model, which estimates the ecological risks of mixtures based on their toxic modes of action, was found to be the most suitable model to assess toxicity risks to aquatic organisms in the RMD. The PERPEST model was found to be a strong tool for screening risk assessments. The SSD approach is useful in deriving water quality criteria for specific pesticides. This study, through the application of three ERA models, clearly shows that pesticides used in plantations within the RMD watershed are expected to have severe adverse effects on most groups of aquatic organisms and that actions are urgently needed to reduce pesticide pollution in this high biodiversity ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The antimicrobial triclosan (TCS) has been detected in household wastewaters (untreated and treated) and receiving environments across the globe. The toxic effects of TCS on temperate standard aquatic test organisms have been widely reported with microalgae being the most sensitive. However, environmental differences between tropical and temperate regions may have selected different trait compositions between these two regions, which in turn may lead to a difference in species sensitivity. Therefore, additional information is required to better characterize risks to organisms in tropics and ensure biodiversity in these regions is not adversely impacted. This study aims to supplement existing TCS toxicity data with five aquatic invertebrates found in tropics and to compare the sensitivity between aquatic invertebrate species from tropical and temperate regions. In addition, the effect of pH on the toxicity of neutral and ionized forms of TCS to microalgae (Chlorella ellipsoidea) was investigated. The reported 96-h LC50 values for the studied invertebrate species ranged from 72 to 962 μg/L. There was no significant difference between the sensitivity of aquatic invertebrate species from tropical and temperate regions. EC50 values for C. ellipsoidea, with and without pH buffer, were significantly different. The findings of this study can be used to support site-specific water quality criteria and environmental risk assessment for TCS in tropical regions. However, further chronic and semi-field experiments with TCS could potentially enable a refined assessment of direct and indirect effects on tropical aquatic communities and further explore functional endpoints of tropical ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composting has been suggested as an efficient method for tannery sludge recycling before its application to the soil. However, the application of composted tannery sludge (CTS) should be monitored to evaluate its effect on the chemical and microbial properties of soil. This study evaluated the time-dependent effect of CTS on the chemical and microbial properties of soil. CTS was applied at 0, 2.5, 5, 10, and 20 Mg ha and the soil chemical and microbial properties were evaluated at 0, 45, 75, 150, and 180 days. Increased CTS rates increased the levels of Ca, Cr, and Mg. While Soil pH, organic C, and P increased with the CTS rates initially, this effect decreased over time. Soil microbial biomass, respiration, metabolic quotient, and dehydrogenase increased with the application of CTS, but decreased over time. Analysis of the Principal Response Curve showed a significant effect of CTS rate on the chemical and microbial properties of the soil over time. The weight of each variable indicated that all soil properties, except β-glucosidase, dehydrogenase and microbial quotient, increased due to the CTS application. However, the highest weights were found for Cr, pH, Ca, P, phosphatase and total organic C. The application of CTS in the soil changed the chemical and microbial properties over time, indicating Cr, pH, Ca, phosphatase, and soil respiration as the more responsive chemical and microbial variables by CTS application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A broadly accepted framework for prospective environmental risk assessment (ERA) of sediment-bound organic chemicals is currently lacking. Such a framework requires clear protection goals, evidence-based concepts that link exposure to effects and a transparent tiered-effect assessment. In this paper, we provide a tiered prospective sediment ERA procedure for organic chemicals in sediment, with a focus on the applicable European regulations and the underlying data requirements. Using the ecosystem services concept, we derived specific protection goals for ecosystem service providing units: microorganisms, benthic algae, sediment-rooted macrophytes, benthic invertebrates and benthic vertebrates. Triggers for sediment toxicity testing are discussed. We recommend a tiered approach (Tier 0 through Tier 3). Tier-0 is a cost-effective screening based on chronic water-exposure toxicity data for pelagic species and equilibrium partitioning. Tier-1 is based on spiked sediment laboratory toxicity tests with standard benthic test species and standardised test methods. If comparable chronic toxicity data for both standard and additional benthic test species are available, the Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) approach is a more viable Tier-2 option than the geometric mean approach. This paper includes criteria for accepting results of sediment-spiked single species toxicity tests in prospective ERA, and for the application of the SSD approach. We propose micro/mesocosm experiments with spiked sediment, to study colonisation success by benthic organisms, as a Tier-3 option. Ecological effect models can be used to supplement the experimental tiers. A strategy for unifying information from various tiers by experimental work and exposure–and effect modelling is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behaviour links physiological function with ecological processes and can be very sensitive towards environmental stimuli and chemical exposure. As such, behavioural indicators of toxicity are well suited for assessing impacts of pesticides at sublethal concentrations found in the environment. Recent developments in video-tracking technologies offer the possibility of quantifying behavioural patterns, particularly locomotion, which in general has not been studied and understood very well for aquatic macroinvertebrates to date. In this study, we aim to determine the potential effects of exposure to two neurotoxic pesticides with different modes of action at different concentrations (chlorpyrifos and imidacloprid) on the locomotion behaviour of the water louse Asellus aquaticus. We compare the effects of the different exposure regimes on the behaviour of Asellus with the effects that the presence of food and shelter exhibit to estimate the ecological relevance of behavioural changes. We found that sublethal pesticide exposure reduced dispersal distances compared to controls, whereby exposure to chlorpyrifos affected not only animal activity but also step lengths while imidacloprid only slightly affected step lengths. The presence of natural cues such as food or shelter induced only minor changes in behaviour, which hardly translated to changes in dispersal potential. These findings illustrate that behaviour can serve as a sensitive endpoint in toxicity assessments. However, under natural conditions, depending on the exposure concentration, the actual impacts might be outweighed by environmental conditions that an organism is subjected to. It is, therefore, of importance that the assessment of toxicity on behaviour is done under relevant environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of the pesticide endosulfan on predator-prey interactions between catfish and Schistosoma host snails was assessed in static tank experiments. Hybrid catfish ( Clarias gariepinus × C. ngamensis) and Bulinus globosus were subjected to various endosulfan concentrations including an untreated control. The 48- and 96-h LC values for catfish were 1.0 and <0.5 µg/L, respectively, whereas the 48- and 96-h LC values for snails were 1137 and 810 µg/L. To assess sublethal effects on the feeding of the catfish on B. globosus, endosulfan concentrations between 0.03 and 1.0 µg/L were used. Predation was significantly greater ( p < 0.001) in control tanks than in all other treatments. There was progressively decreasing predation with increasing toxicant concentration. Biological control of Schistosoma host snails using fish may be affected in endosulfan-polluted aquatic systems of Southern Africa because it has been found present at concentrations that are indicated to cause lethal effects on the evaluated hybrid catfish and to inhibit the predation of snails by this hybrid catfish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to quantify the environmental fate of antimicrobials applied in Fenneropenaeus chinensis aquaculture production in China and to assess their potential risks for surrounding aquatic ecosystems, for the promotion of antimicrobial resistance in target and non-target bacteria and for consumers eating shrimp products that contain antimicrobial residues. For this, we first used the results of an environmental monitoring study performed with the antimicrobial sulfamethazine to parameterize and calibrate the ERA-AQUA model, a mass balance model suited to perform risk assessments of veterinary medicines applied in aquaculture ponds. Next, a scenario representing F. chinensis production in China was built and used to perform risk assessments for 21 antimicrobials which are regulated for aquaculture in China. Results of the model calibration showed a good correspondence between the predicted and the measured sulfamethazine concentrations, with differences within an order of magnitude. Results of the ecological risk assessment showed that four antimicrobials (levofloxacin, sarafloxacin, ampicillin, sulfadiazine) are expected to have adverse effects on primary producers, while no short-term risks were predicted for invertebrates and fish exposed to farm wastewater effluents containing antimicrobial residues. Half of the evaluated antimicrobials showed potential to contribute to antimicrobial resistance in bacteria exposed to pond water and farm effluents. A withdrawal period of three weeks is recommended for antimicrobials applied via oral administration to F. chinensis in order to comply with the current national and international toxicological food safety standards. The results of this study indicate the need to improve the current regulatory framework for the registration of aquaculture antimicrobials in China and suggest compounds that should be targeted in future aquaculture risk assessments and environmental monitoring studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of the present study were to present a methodology for toxicity tests that can be used when analytical resources to verify the test concentrations are limited, and to evaluate whether the sensitivity of a limited number of Ethiopian species to pesticides differs from literature values for, mainly, temperate species. Acute toxicity tests were performed using three Ethiopian aquatic invertebrate species, one crustacean ( Diaphanosoma brachyurum) and two insects ( Anopheles pharoensis and Culex pipiens) and using the pesticides endosulfan and diazinon. All species-pesticide combinations were tested in duplicate to estimate the consistency, i.e. the intra-laboratory variation, in test results. Daphnia magna was tested as well to allow the test results to be compared directly with values from the literature. Results indicate that the differences between the EC50s obtained for D. magna in this study and those reported in the literature were less than a factor of 2. This indicates that the methodology used is able to provide credible toxicity values. The results of the duplicated tests showed intra-laboratory variation in EC50 values of up to a factor of 3, with one test showing a difference of a factor of 6 at 48 h. Comparison with available literature results for arthropod species using species sensitivity distributions indicated that the test results obtained in this study fit well in the log-normal distribution of the literature values. We conclude that the methodology of performing multiple tests to check for consistency of test results and performing tests with D. magna for comparison with literature values to check for accuracy is able to provide reliable effect threshold levels and that the tested Ethiopian species did not differ in sensitivity from the arthropod species reported on in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schistosomiasis remains a global public health problem affecting about 240 million people. In Zambia, 2 million are infected while 3 million live with the risk of getting infected. Research and interventions relating to schistosomiasis are mainly linked to disease epidemiology. Malacological and ecological aspects of the disease are superficially understood. Developing effective control measures requires an understanding of interacting environmental and socioeconomic factors of host snails vis-a-vis schistosomiasis. Therefore, the present work involved collecting social and environmental data in a large field study in two zones in Zambia that are different in terms of temperature and rainfall amounts. Social data collected through questionnaires included demographic, educational and knowledge of schistosomiasis disease dynamics. Environmental data included physicochemical factors, aquatic plants and snails. Gender ( P < 0.001) significantly influences livelihood strategies, while age ( P = 0.069) and level of education ( P = 0.086) have a moderate influence in zone I. In zone III, none of these factors (age, P = 0.378; gender, P = 0.311; education, P = 0.553) play a significant role. Environmental parameters explained 43 and 41 % variation in species composition for zones I and III, respectively. Most respondents' (52 %, 87 %) perception is that there are more cases of bilharzia in hot season than in other seasons (rainy season 23 %, 7 %; cold season 8 %, 0 % and year round 17 %, 6 %) for zone I and zone III, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecological risk assessment of pesticides is generally based on toxicity data obtained from single-species laboratory experiments and does not take into account ecological interactions such as competition or predation. Intraspecific and interspecific competition are expected to result in additional stress and might increase the sensitivity of aquatic populations to pesticide contamination. To test this hypothesis, the effects of the fungicide carbendazim were assessed on the population dynamics of the micro-crustacean Daphnia magna under different levels of intraspecific and interspecific competition for an algal food resource, using the rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus as competing species. The experiments were performed in glass jars with three different carbendazim concentrations (i.e., 50, 100 and 150 µg/L), and had a duration of 25 days, with a 4-day pre-treatment period in which competition was allowed to take place and a 21-day exposure period. The endpoints evaluated were D. magna total population abundance and population structure. Results of these experiments show that competition stress on its own had a significant influence on shaping D. magna population's structure, however, a different response was observed in the intraspecific and interspecific competition experiments. The use of a 4-day pre-treatment period in the intraspecific experiment already led to an absence of interactive effects due to the quick abundance confluence between the different intraspecific treatments, thus not allowing the observation of interactive effects between competition and carbendazim stress. Results of the interspecific competition experiment showed that rotifers were quickly outcompeted by D. magna and that D. magna even profited from the rotifer presence through exploitative competition, which alleviated the original stress caused by the algal resource limitation. These experiments suggest that competition interactions play an important role in defining population-level effects of pesticides in a more complex way than was hypothesized ('increasing competition leading to a sensitivity increase'), as the interspecific experiment showed. Therefore, these should be taken into account in the extrapolation of single-species toxicity data to protect higher levels of biological organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this study were to assess the biological water of the Iranian Tajan River using different metrics, i.e., a Multimetric Macroinvertebrate Index (MMI) and a traits-based method. Twenty-eight physico-chemical parameters, 10 habitat factors, and abundance of macroinvertebrates were obtained for 17 sites. The Shahid-Rajaie dam divides the Tajan River into an up- and downstream part, with different land uses. Eighteen metrics were used to represent four components of ecosystem quality, including tolerance (Hilsenhoff, SIGNAL), diversity (Margalef, Shannon-Wiener, Simpson, and Evenness), abundance (total number of taxa, individuals, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera, EPT, and Insects), and composition of assemblages (% Ephemeroptera, % Plecoptera, % Trichoptera, and % EPT Taxa). The integrated MMI was calculated by averaging the obtained scores of all indices. In the next step, we gathered information on 22 biological traits of macroinvertebrates to evaluate whether (group of) traits could be identified that are indicative for specific or general stress. Result showed a decrease in MMI from upstream (very good water quality) to downstream (bad) due to human activities. Industrial activities like pulping and papermaking operations or sand mining in the downstream part had more effects than agriculture and fish ponds in the upstream part. A redundancy analysis biplot showed the variation between the modalities of trait of macroinvertebrates and their correlation with physico-chemical parameters in Tajan River. The findings show that traits can be indicative for different kind of stress but that more effort has to be put in gathering data sets to disentangle the effect of habitat quality, pollution, and the physico-chemical properties of high- versus lowland rivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesocosm experiments that study the ecological impact of chemicals are often analysed using the multivariate method 'Principal Response Curves' (PRCs). Recently, the extension of generalised linear models (GLMs) to multivariate data was introduced as a tool to analyse community data in ecology. Moreover, data aggregation techniques that can be analysed with univariate statistics have been proposed. The aim of this study was to compare their performance. We compiled macroinvertebrate abundance datasets of mesocosm experiments designed for studying the effect of various organic chemicals, mainly pesticides, and re-analysed them. GLMs for multivariate data and selected aggregated endpoints were compared to PRCs regarding their performance and potential to identify affected taxa. In addition, we analysed the inter-replicate variability encountered in the studies. Mesocosm experiments characterised by a higher taxa richness of the community and/or lower taxonomic resolution showed a greater inter-replicate variability, whereas variability decreased the more zero counts were encountered in the samples. GLMs for multivariate data performed equally well as PRCs regarding the community response. However, compared to first axis PRCs, GLMs provided a better indication of individual taxa responding to treatments, as separate models are fitted to each taxon. Data aggregation methods performed considerably poorer compared to PRCs. Multivariate community data, which are generated during mesocosm experiments, should be analysed using multivariate methods to reveal treatment-related community-level responses. GLMs for multivariate data are an alternative to the widely used PRCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current techniques for the ecological risk assessment of chemical substances are often criticised for their lack of environmental realism, ecological relevance and methodological accuracy. ChimERA is a 3-year project (2013-2016), funded by Cefic's Long Range Initiative (LRI) that aims to address some of these concerns by developing and testing mechanistic fate and effect models, and coupling of these models into one integrated platform for risk assessment. This paper discusses the backdrop against which this project was initiated and lists its objectives and planned methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological risk assessment (ERA) has followed a taxonomy-based approach, making the assumption that related species will show similar sensitivity to toxicants, and using safety factors or species sensitivity distributions to extrapolate from tested to untested species. In ecology it has become apparent that taxonomic approaches may have limitations for the description and understanding of species assemblages in nature. Therefore it has been proposed that the inclusion of species traits in ERA could provide a useful and alternative description of the systems under investigation. At the same time, there is a growing recognition that the use of mechanistic approaches in ERA, including conceptual and quantitative models, may improve predictive and extrapolative power. Purposefully linking traits with mechanistic effect models could add value to taxonomy-based ERA by improving our understanding of how structural and functional system facets may facilitate inter-species extrapolation. Here, we explore whether and in what ways traits can be linked purposefully to mechanistic effect models to predict intrinsic sensitivity using available data on the acute sensitivity and toxicokinetics of a range of freshwater arthropods exposed to chlorpyrifos. The results of a quantitative linking of seven different endpoints and twelve traits demonstrate that while quantitative links between traits and/or trait combinations and process based (toxicokinetic) model parameters can be established, the use of simple traits to predict classical sensitivity endpoints yields little insight. Remarkably, neither of the standard sensitivity values, i.e. the LC or EC, showed a strong correlation with traits. Future research in this area should include a quantitative linking of toxicodynamic parameter estimations and physiological traits, and requires further consideration of how mechanistic trait-process/parameter links can be used for prediction of intrinsic sensitivity across species for different substances in ERA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss the current design of the cold hardware and cold electronics to be used in the upcoming SuperCDMS Soudan deployment. Engineering challenges associated with such concerns as thermal isolation, microphonics, radiopurity, and power dissipation are discussed, along with identifying the design changes necessary for SuperCDMS SNOLAB. The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) employs ultrapure 1-inch thick, 3-inch diameter germanium crystals operating below 50 mK in a dilution cryostat. These detectors give an ionization and phonon signal, which gives us rejection capabilities regarding background events versus dark matter signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the effects of different time-varying exposure patterns of the strobilurin fungicide azoxystrobin on freshwater microsocosm communities. These exposure patterns included two treatments with a similar peak but different time-weighted average (TWA) concentrations, and two treatments with similar TWA but different peak concentrations. The experiment was carried out in outdoor microcosms under four different exposure regimes; (1) a continuous application treatment of 10 μg/L (CAT) for 42 days (2), a continuous application treatment of 33 μg/L (CAT) for 42 days (3), a single application treatment of 33 μg/L (SAT) and (4) a four application treatment of 16 μg/L (FAT), with a time interval of 10 days. Mean measured 42-d TWA concentrations in the different treatments were 9.4 μg/L (CAT), 32.8 μg/L (CAT), 14.9 μg/L (SAT) and 14.7 μg/L (FAT). Multivariate analyses demonstrated significant changes in zooplankton community structure in all but the CAT treated microcosms relative to that of controls. The largest adverse effects were reported for zooplankton taxa belonging to Copepoda and Cladocera. By the end of the experimental period (day 42 after treatment), community effects were of similar magnitude for the pulsed treatment regimes, although the magnitude of the initial effect was larger in the SAT treatment. This indicates that for long-term effects the TWA is more important for most zooplankton species in the test system than the peak concentration. Azoxystrobin only slightly affected some species of the macroinvertebrate, phytoplankton and macrophyte assemblages. The overall no observed ecologically adverse effect concentrations (NOEAEC) in this study was 10 µg/L. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The species sensitivity distribution (SSD) concept is an important probabilistic tool for environmental risk assessment (ERA) and accounts for differences in species sensitivity to different chemicals. The SSD model assumes that the sensitivity of the species included is randomly distributed. If this assumption is violated, indicator values, such as the 50% hazardous concentration, can potentially change dramatically. Fundamental research, however, has discovered and described specific mechanisms and factors influencing toxicity and sensitivity for several model species and chemical combinations. Further knowledge on how these mechanisms and factors relate to toxicologic standard end points would be beneficial for ERA. For instance, little is known about how the processes of toxicity relate to the dynamics of standard toxicity end points and how these may vary across species. In this article, we discuss the relevance of immobilization and mortality as end points for effects of the organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos on 14 freshwater arthropods in the context of ERA. For this, we compared the differences in response dynamics during 96 h of exposure with the two end points across species using dose response models and SSDs. The investigated freshwater arthropods vary less in their immobility than in their mortality response. However, differences in observed immobility and mortality were surprisingly large for some species even after 96 h of exposure. As expected immobility was consistently the more sensitive end point and less variable across the tested species and may therefore be considered as the relevant end point for population of SSDs and ERA, although an immobile animal may still potentially recover. This is even more relevant because an immobile animal is unlikely to survive for long periods under field conditions. This and other such considerations relevant to the decision-making process for a particular end point are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The risk assessment of pesticides for freshwater ecosystems in the Amazon has relied on the use of toxicity data and water quality criteria derived for temperate regions due to a lack of ecotoxicological studies performed with indigenous species. This leaves an unknown margin of uncertainty for the protection of Amazonian ecosystems, as differences in environmental conditions and species sensitivity are not taken into account. To address this issue, the acute toxic effects of malathion (an organophosphorus insecticide) and carbendazim (a benzimidazole fungicide) were assessed on five fish and five freshwater invertebrates endemic to the Amazonian region. Subsequently, the intrinsic sensitivity of Amazonian and temperate freshwater species was compared using the species sensitivity distribution (SSD) concept. Amazonian species sensitivity to malathion was found to be similar to that of their temperate counterparts, with LC50 values ranging between 111 and 1507 μg/l for fish species and 2.1-426 μg/l for arthropod species. However, Amazonian fish appeared to be slightly less sensitive for carbendazim than temperate fish with LC50 values ranging between 1648 and 4238 μg/l, and Amazonian invertebrates were found to be significantly more resistant than their temperate counterparts, with LC50 values higher than 16000 μg/l. The results of this study suggest that for these compounds, the use of water quality criteria derived with laboratory toxicity data for temperate species will result in a sufficient protection level for Amazonian freshwater organisms. Recommendations for further research include the validation of threshold concentrations derived with temperate standard test species and with the SSD model with semi-field experiments considering larger assemblages of indigenous species under local environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of the parasiticide ivermectin were assessed in plankton-dominated indoor microcosms. Ivermectin was applied once at concentrations of 30, 100, 300, 1000, 3000, and 10,000 ng/l. The half-life (dissipation time 50%; DT) of ivermectin in the water phase ranged from 1.1 to 8.3 days. The lowest NOEC that could be derived on an isolated sampling from the microcosm study by means of multivariate techniques was 100 ng/l. The most sensitive species in the microcosm study were the cladocerans Ceriodaphnia sp. (no observed effect concentration, NOEC = 30 ng/l) and Chydorus sphaericus (NOEC = 100 ng/l). The amphipod Gammarus pulex was less sensitive to ivermectin, showing consistent statistically significant reductions at the 1000-ng/l treatment level. Copepoda taxa decreased directly after application of ivermectin in the highest treatment but had already recovered at day 20 posttreatment. Indirect effects (e.g., increase of rotifers, increased primary production) were observed at the highest treatment level starting only on day 13 of the exposure phase. Cladocera showed the highest sensitivity to ivermectin in both standard laboratory toxicity tests as well as in the microcosm study. This study demonstrates that simple plankton-dominated test systems for assessing the effects of ivermectin can produce results similar to those obtained with large complex outdoor systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author discusses the environmental risk assessment of pesticides and the possibility of extrapolation among the climatic regions in Europe. He mentions the implementation of a new regulation on the setting of plant protection products at the market in North, Central and South Europe. He suggests the development of ecological settings for typical Mediterranean freshwater ecosystems when performing micro and mesocosm experiments in dealing with its various ecological features.

Parathion-methyl is an organophosphorous insecticide that is widely used in agricultural production sites in the Amazon. The use of this pesticide might pose a potential risk for the biodiversity and abundance of fish and invertebrate species inhabiting aquatic ecosystems adjacent to the agricultural fields. Due to a lack of toxicity data for Amazonian species, safe environmental concentrations used to predict the ecological risks of parathion-methyl in the Amazon are based on tests performed with temperate species, although it is unknown whether the sensitivity of temperate species is representative for those of Amazonian endemic species. To address this issue, the acute toxic effect (LC50–96 h) of parathion-methyl was assessed on seven fish and five freshwater invertebrate species endemic to the Amazon. These data were used to compare their pesticide sensitivity with toxicity data for temperate species collected from the literature. The interspecies sensitivity was compared using the Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) concept. The results of this study suggest that Amazonian species are no more, or less, sensitive to parathion-methyl than their temperate counterparts, with LC50 values ranging from 2900 to 7270 μg/L for fish and from 0.3 to 319 μg/L for freshwater arthropods. Consequently, this evaluation supports the initial use of toxicity data of temperate fish and freshwater invertebrate species for assessing the effects of parathion-methyl on Amazonian freshwater ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct and indirect effects of the fungicide carbendazim on ecosystem structure and functioning were studied ≤8 weeks after application (nominal concentrations: 0, 3.3, 33, 100, and 1000 μg/L) to outdoor microcosms in Thailand. Direct effects on macroinvertebrates are discussed in detail in a separate article. The present article presents the effects on other end points and discusses the hypothesized ecologic effect chain. Negative treatment effects on the zooplankton community were only recorded for the highest carbendazim treatment (NOECcommunity = 100 μg/L). The rotifer Keratella tropica, cladocerans ( Moina micrura, Ceriodaphnia cornuta, and Diaphanosoma sp.), and cyclopoid copepods were decreased or even eliminated at this treatment level. The decrease in zooplankton and macroinvertebrate abundances was accompanied by an increase in numbers of several tolerant invertebrates, presumably caused by a release from competition and predation. The death of sensitive invertebrates probably also led to an overall decreased grazing pressure because increased levels of chlorophyll- a and bloom of the floating macrophyte Wolffia sp. were noted. The increase in primary producers is discussed to be the probable cause of changes in physicochemical water conditions, eventually resulting in an anoxic water layer during the last 3 weeks of the experiment. This is likely to have resulted in decreased invertebrate abundances noted in that period. Furthermore, the decreased decomposition of Musa (banana) leaves observed 8 weeks after application is considered to be the indirect effect of a decreased microbial activity resulting from these anoxic water conditions, rather than a direct toxic effect of carbendazim. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite considerable increased pesticide use over the past decades, little research has been done into their fate and effects in surface waters in tropical regions. In the present review, possible differences in response between temperate and tropical freshwaters to pesticide stress are discussed. Three underlying mechanisms for these differences are distinguished: (1) climate related parameters, (2) ecosystem sensitivity, and (3) agricultural practices. Pesticide dissipation rates and vulnerability of freshwaters appear not to be consistently higher or lower in tropical regions compared to their temperate counterparts. However, differences in fate and effects may occur for individual pesticides and taxa. Furthermore, intensive agricultural practices in tropical countries lead to a higher input of pesticides and spread of contamination over watersheds. Field studies in tropical farms on pesticide fate in the enclosed and surrounding waterways are recommended, which should ultimately lead to the development of surface water scenarios for tropical countries like developed by the Forum for the co-ordination of pesticide fate models and their use for temperate regions. Future tropical effect assessment studies should evaluate whether specific tropical taxa, not represented by the current standard test species in use, are at risk. If so, tropical model ecosystem studies evaluating pesticide concentration ranges need to be conducted to validate whether selected surrogate indigenous test species are representative for local tropical freshwater ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A father and daughter both had multiple pathological fractures and nodal osteoarthropathy. The father, aged 50 years, had at least 20 healed fractures of the axial and appendicular skeleton, sustained by minor trauma over his 50-year lifespan, many of which had been surgically fixed prior to his first presentation to us. Fractures of the clavicles, thoracic cage and long bones of the arms and legs, had healed with malalignment and deformity. Healed fractures were complicated by ankylosis of the cervical vertebrae and both elbows. He also had osteoarthritis of the hands, with exuberant osteophytosis, and profound perceptive deafness. His general health was good, his intellect and facies were normal, and his sclerae were white. The daughter, aged 27 years, had sustained at least seven fractures of the axial and appendicular skeleton following trivial injuries, in distribution similar to those of the father.She had also experienced painful swelling of the fingers,which preceded progressive development of nodal osteoarthropathy.Her hearing was normal. In both individuals,biochemical and immunological investigations yielded normal results. It was not possible for molecular studies to be undertaken. Pedigree data were consistent with autosomal dominant transmission, and this disorder appeared to be a previously undocumented heritable skeletal dysplasia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on Chemical Risk Effects Assessment Models (CREAM), a project funded by European Commission through 7th Framework Programme. It notes that formulation of test guidance for Good Modeling Practice (GMoP), development of mechanistic ecological effect models, and provision of first-class training are among the aims and scope of CREAM. It also discloses the five elements for following GMoP as well as the five work packages of CREAM.

Phytoplankton communities are structured by factors acting over temporal and spatial scales. Identifying which factors are driving spatial patterns in aquatic communities is the central aim of ecology. In this study, data sets of phytoplankton communities and environmental data of two Portuguese reservoirs types (lowland “riverine reservoirs” and higher altitude “artificial lake reservoirs”) were used to determine the importance of environmental variables at different spatial (geographical, regional and local) and time scales (seasons, years) on the community structure. In all the data sets, the multivariate ordination technique Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) showed that regional and local scales explained the majority (9–18% and 13–19%, respectively) of the taxa variance. However, for “riverine reservoirs”, time variables were more important, explaining 27% of the variability in phytoplankton assemblages. Variance partitioning was used to assess the individual importance of the three spatial scales and time for the community structure of the two reservoir types. The majority of among-site variability (5.9–21.4%) was accounted for by time variables, with local, regional, and geographical scale variables accounting for 3.3–5.6%, 3.7–4.5% and 2.6–2.9%, respectively. The effects of different spatial scales on phytoplankton communities were clearly interrelated; thus, implying that phytoplankton assemblages are capable of detecting stress from catchment to site scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although chemical and biological monitoring is often used to evaluate the quality of surface waters for regulatory purposes and/or to evaluate environmental status and trends, the resulting biological and chemical data sets are large and difficult to evaluate. Multivariate techniques have long been used to analyse complex data sets. This paper discusses the methods currently in use and introduces the principal response curves method, which overcomes the problem of cluttered graphical results representation that is a great drawback of most conventional methods. To illustrate this, two example data sets are analysed using two ordination techniques, principal component analysis and principal response curves. Whereas PCA results in a difficult-to-interpret diagram, principal response curves related methods are able to show changes in community composition in a diagram that is easy to read. The principal response curves method is used to show trends over time with an internal reference (overall mean or reference year) or external reference (e.g. preferred water quality or reference site). Advantages and disadvantages of both methods are discussed and illustrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the effects of a single and a repeated application of the organophosphorus insecticide chlorpyrifos on zooplankton and phytoplankton communities in outdoor microcosms in Thailand. Treatment levels of 1 µg L-1 were applied once or twice with a 2-week interval. Both treatments led to a significant decrease in cladocerans followed by an increase in rotifers, although the extent by which species were affected was different. Ceriodaphnia cornuta was the most responding cladoceran after the first treatment, while Moina micrura responded most to the second. This is explained by differences in the growth phase of M. micrura at the time of application and an increase in Microcystis abundance over the course of the experiment. Several phytoplankton taxa either increased or decreased as a result of the chlorpyrifos-induced changes in zooplankton communities. Even though chlorpyrifos disappeared fast from the water column, effects on plankton communities persisted till the end of the experiment (42 days) when the insecticide concentrations had dropped below the detection limit. This was presumably due to the increasing population trend of Microcystis, favouring rotifers over cladocerans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a common, inherited cardiac muscle disease, is primarily caused by mutations in sarcomeric protein-encoding genes and is characterized by overgrowth of ventricular muscle that is highly variable in extent and location. This variability has been partially attributed to locus and allelic heterogeneity of the disease-causing gene, but other factors, including unknown genetic factors, also modulate the extent of hypertrophy that develops in response to the defective sarcomeric functioning. Components of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system are plausible candidate hypertrophy modifiers because of their role in controlling blood pressure and biological effects on cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the results of an evaluation of marine sediments using chemical measurements and bioassays. Four groups of chemicals, i.e., heavy metals, PAHs, chlorinated aromatic compounds, and tin compounds, were measured at 16 locations in the Wadden Sea, The Netherlands. Extractions of sediments from each location also were assessed using five bioassays. Our objective was to identify chemicals likely to pose biological risks, characterize the relation between bioassay results and particular classes of chemical(s) and determine ‘clean’ reference sites on the basis of the chemical and biological evaluations. A multivariate technique (Principal Component Analysis; PCA) was used to meet these objectives. Results of the PCA indicated that the response of the Microtox Solid Phase bioassay had a positive, significant relationship with the levels of PAHs and organotin compounds. The responses of the other bioassays did not consistently relate to the concentrations of the other measured chemicals. Our findings indicate that the organotin compounds may still be a stressor for aquatic invertebrates in the Dutch Wadden Sea. On the basis of the chemical and biological evaluations, four sites (Dantziggat, Malzwin, Richel and Lauwers) can be considered to be ‘clean’ reference sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the chronic effects of a mixture of the insecticides chlorpyrifos and lindane in freshwater microcosms. Chronic treatment levels corresponding to concentrations of 0, 0.005, 0.01, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.5 times the LC50 of the most sensitive standard test organism were evaluated. The zooplankton community structure was altered from the 0.05*LC50 treatment level upwards. Cladocerans were the most susceptible group, followed by Copepoda and Ostracoda. Rotifera increased in abundance at the higher treatment levels. Increased abundance of some phytoplankton taxa and increased chlorophyll-a levels were found at the two highest treatment levels, most probably a consequence of decreased grazing pressure. Threshold levels for the mixture, both at population and community/ecosystem level, corresponded well with those reported in the literature for the individual compounds. The overall risk assessment indicates no antagonistic or synergistic effects of the mixture at ecosystem level. It was found that the safety factors set by the Uniform Principles for individual compounds also ensure protection against chronic exposure to a mixture of insecticides at community level, though not always at species level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effects of chronic application of a mixture of the insecticides chlorpyrifos and lindane were studied in indoor freshwater microcosms. The exposure concentrations (based on 0, 0.005, 0.01, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.5 times the LC50 of the most sensitive standard test organism for each compound) were kept at a constant level for four weeks. The calculated mean concentrations for chlorpyrifos were found to be almost at their corresponding nominal level during the treatment period. The mean calculated lindane concentrations, however, were found to be 15–40% higher than intended. In the post treatment period both insecticides dissipated fast ( t1/2: chlorpyrifos 9 days, lindane 22 days) from the water phase. The concentrations of the mixture at the highest treatment level corresponded to 0.53 toxic units (TU) for Daphnia magna and 0.61 TU for the most sensitive fish. The decomposition of Populus leaves in litter bags was significantly lower at the three highest insecticide concentrations. The macroinvertebrate community was seriously affected at the three highest treatment levels, with Crustacea and the Chironomidae Corynoneura proving to be the most sensitive groups. Gastropoda and Oligochaeta were relatively insensitive and some taxa (e.g. Valvata piscinalis, juvenile Physa fontinalis, Nemertea and Stylaria lacustris) increased in numbers. The observed effects could be explained from the individual toxicity of the insecticides to the invertebrates, and did not indicate synergistic effects. A second paper (Van den Brink et al., 2002) addresses the effects on other endpoints, as well as the overall risk assessment of the insecticide mixture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]