An invertebrate multimetric index to classify the ecological status of small coastal lagoons in the Mediterranean ecoregion (MIBIIN)

2012 ◽  
Vol 63 (9) ◽  
pp. 801 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paloma Lucena-Moya ◽  
Isabel Pardo
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Lagoon ◽  
Coastal Lagoons ◽  
Ecological Status ◽  
Multimetric Index ◽  
Common Boundary ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Boundary Limits ◽  
Tolerance Ratio ◽  
Individual Metrics

Despite the requirements of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) to protect water bodies, suitable indices of quality designed specifically to assess coastal lagoons (transitional waters) remain absent. In the present study, we developed a multimetric index of the Balearic Island based on invertebrate communities (MIBIIN) to assess the ecological status of small coastal lagoons (i.e. up to 4-m depth and <2.5 km2), a common ecosystem within the Mediterranean ecoregion. Thirty-four coastal lagoons were sampled on six occasions between 2005 and 2008. A multimetric index for each salinity type of coastal lagoon (oligohaline-MIBIIN, mesohaline-MIBIIN and euhaline-MIBIIN) was developed. The individual metrics, and hence the MIBIINs, fulfilled the normative definitions established by the WFD (abundance, diversity and sensitive : tolerance ratio), responded to gradients of disturbance and discriminated reference from non-reference sites. Common boundary limits for the three MIBIINs were established (high/good = 0.930, good/moderate = 0.730, moderate/poor = 0.500, poor/bad = 0.250). Unlike other metrics used in coastal lagoon evaluation, the MIBIINs were developed exclusively for coastal lagoons, including oligohaline freshwater environments. Although the MIBIIN is yet to be validated with an external dataset, these findings suggest the potential for this new multimetric index to be used in similar systems in the Mediterranean ecoregion.

scholarly journals Association of the Chronotype Score with Circulating Trimethylamine N-Oxide (TMAO) Concentrations

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1671
Author(s):  
Luigi Barrea ◽  
Giovanna Muscogiuri ◽  
Gabriella Pugliese ◽  
Chiara Graziadio ◽  
Maria Maisto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Diet ◽  
Metabolic Profile ◽  
Cardiometabolic Risk ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Biological Rhythms ◽  
Unhealthy Lifestyle ◽  
Gut Dysbiosis ◽  
Study Population ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Individual

Individual differences in the chronotype, an attitude that best expresses the individual circadian preference in behavioral and biological rhythms, have been associated with cardiometabolic risk and gut dysbiosis. Up to now, there are no studies evaluating the association between chronotypes and circulating TMAO concentrations, a predictor of cardiometabolic risk and a useful marker of gut dysbiosis. In this study population (147 females and 100 males), subjects with the morning chronotype had the lowest BMI and waist circumference (p < 0.001), and a better metabolic profile compared to the other chronotypes. In addition, the morning chronotype had the highest adherence to the Mediterranean diet (p < 0.001) and the lowest circulating TMAO concentrations (p < 0.001). After adjusting for BMI and adherence to the Mediterranean diet, the correlation between circulating TMAO concentrations and chronotype score was still kept (r = −0.627, p < 0.001). Using a linear regression analysis, higher chronotype scores were mostly associated with lower circulating TMAO concentrations (β = −0.479, t = −12.08, and p < 0.001). Using a restricted cubic spline analysis, we found that a chronotype score ≥59 (p < 0.001, R2 = −0.824) demonstrated a more significant inverse linear relationship with circulating TMAO concentrations compared with knots <59 (neither chronotype) and <41 (evening chronotype). The current study reported the first evidence that higher circulating TMAO concentrations were associated with the evening chronotype that, in turn, is usually linked to an unhealthy lifestyle mostly characterized by low adherence to the MD.

scholarly journals Monitoring Skeletal Anomalies in Big-Scale Sand Smelt, Atherina boyeri, as a Potential Complementary Tool for Early Detection of Effects of Anthropic Pressure in Coastal Lagoons

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 159
Author(s):  
Chiara Leone ◽  
Francesca De Luca ◽  
Eleonora Ciccotti ◽  
Arianna Martini ◽  
Clara Boglione
Keyword(s):  
Early Detection ◽  
Habitat Degradation ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Coastal Lagoons ◽  
Ecological Status ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressures ◽  
Morphological Examination ◽  
Skeletal Anomalies

Mediterranean coastal lagoons are increasingly affected by several threats, all concurrently leading to habitat degradation and loss. Methods based on fish for the assessment of the ecological status are under implementation for the Water Framework Directive requirements, to assess the overall quality of coastal lagoons. Complementary tools based on the use of single fish species as biological indicators could be useful as early detection methods of anthropogenic impacts. The analysis of skeletal anomalies in the big-scale sand smelt, Atherina boyeri, from nine Mediterranean coastal lagoons in Italy was carried out. Along with the morphological examination of fish, the environmental status of the nine lagoons was evaluated using a method based on expert judgement, by selecting and quantifying several environmental descriptors of direct and indirect human pressures acting on lagoon ecosystems. The average individual anomaly load and the frequency of individuals with severe anomalies allow to discriminate big-scale sand smelt samples on the basis of the site and of its quality status. Furthermore, a relationship between skeletal anomalies and the environmental quality of specific lagoons, driven by the anthropogenic pressures acting on them, was found. These findings support the potentiality of skeletal anomalies monitoring in big-scale sand smelt as a tool for early detection of anthropogenic impacts in coastal lagoons of the Mediterranean region.

scholarly journals Multivariate Statistical Analysis Applied to Water Quality of a Tropical Coastal Lagoon, Cartagena, Colombian Caribbean

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Ildefonso Baldiris-Navarro ◽  
Juan Carlos Acosta-Jimenez ◽  
Angel Dario Gonzalez-Delgado ◽  
Alvaro Realpe-Jimenez ◽  
Juan Gabriel Fajardo-Cuadro
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Principal Components Analysis ◽  
Principal Components ◽  
Coastal Lagoon ◽  
Coastal Lagoons ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Environmental Data ◽  
Fecal Coliforms ◽  
Components Analysis

Coastal lagoons are one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world, because of population growth, habitat destruction, pollution, wastewater, overexploitation and invasive species which are the main causes of their degradation. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the water quality behavior in a stressed coastal lagoon in Cartagena, Colombian Caribbean. Environmental data was analyzed using hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, and also Principal components analysis (PCA). The study was focused on water parameters such as dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), salinity, pH, total dissolved solids, total coliforms (TC), Fecal coliforms (FC), ammonium (NH4+) and total phosphorus (TP). The analysis was conducted in line with the Colombian national water standard. Results showed that BOD5, COD, phosphorus, and coliforms are out of the limits for these variables in Colombia and are reaching levels that may be a threat to human health. Principal components analysis detected five components that explained 79.4% of the variance of data and showed that anthropogenic and temporal factors might be affecting the variation of the parameters.

scholarly journals PORTABLE ART OBJECTS DISCOVERED IN THE UPPER PALEOLITHIC OF ROMANIA

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.-C. Nitu ◽  
O. Cirstina ◽  
F.-I. Lupu ◽  
M. Leu ◽  
A. Nicolae ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Aesthetic Value ◽  
Art Objects ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
New Findings ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Individual

In addition to their undeniable aesthetic value, ornaments are the element that may differentiate the various social groups or individuals belonging to certain groups. More specifically, body decoration is closely related to social identity. The ornament, as a form of communication, has a certain advantage over other means of communication because, once displayed, perhaps even more than language itself, the individual wearing it need not make any effort to deliver his/her message, social sta-tus, their belonging to a group etc. The first adornments used during the Paleolithic are beads, while perforated shells are among the earliest examples of this sort. In a few cases, the perforated shells come from species rarely used in the Paleolithic, brought from long distances, in terms of the settlements in which they were found so, apart from individualizing and characterizing a certain group, they may represent important documents regarding migrations over wide areas and even regarding the origin of a culture. This is shown by new discoveries made in an early Gravettian layer at the Poiana Cireului site (Piatra Neam, north-eastern Romania), dated between 30 ka and 31 ka BP (Niu et al., 2019). The ornaments discovered here include a unique association of perforat-ed shells represented by three species of mollusks: Lithoglyphus naticoide, Litho-glyphus apertus and Homalopoma sanguineum (an exclusively Mediterranean spe-cies). This occupation differs from Central and Eastern European Gravettian tradi-tions through the symbolic behavior of the communities, defined by the use of perfo-rated shells of freshwater and marine (Mediterranean origin) mollusk belonging to species very rarely used in the Palaeolithic. Poiana Cireului is one of the very few Gravettian sites where perforated Homalopoma sanguineum shells were found and is the only Gravettian settlement where Lithoglyphus naticoides shells were used. We present the ornaments discovered and the results of analysis performed to identify the perforation methods and the use-wear traces. The presence of a Mediterranean species at the Poiana Cireului settlement located more than 900 km from the nearest source suggests the connection of communities here with the Mediterranean area. In the light of these new findings, the origin and diffusion of the Gravettian from the Mediterranean to the east of the Carpathians are a hypothesis that should be considered. Niu, E.-C., Crciumaru, M., Nicolae, A., Crstina, O., Lupu, F. I., Leu, M. (2019). Mobility and social identity in the Early Upper Palaeolithic: new personal ornaments from Poiana Cireului site (Piatra Neam, Romania). PLOS ONE, 14 (4), e0214932. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214932

scholarly journals PERSONAL ORNAMENTS DISCOVERED IN THE EARLY UPPER PALEOLITHIC OF POIANA CIREȘULUI-PIATRA NEAMȚ (ROMANIA)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.-C. Nitu ◽  
O. Cirstina ◽  
F.-I. Lupu ◽  
M. Leu ◽  
A. Nicolae ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Aesthetic Value ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
New Findings ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Early Upper

In addition to their undeniable aesthetic value, ornaments are the element that may differentiate the various social groups or individuals belonging to certain groups. More specifically, body decoration is closely related to social identity. The ornament, as a form of communication, has a certain advantage over other means of communication because, once displayed, perhaps even more than language itself, the individual wearing it need not make any effort to deliver his/her message, social sta-tus, their belonging to a group etc. The first adornments used during the Paleolithic are beads, while perforated shells are among the earliest examples of this sort. In a few cases, the perforated shells come from species rarely used in the Paleolithic, brought from long distances, in terms of the settlements in which they were found so, apart from individualizing and characterizing a certain group, they may represent important documents regarding migrations over wide areas and even regarding the origin of a culture. This is shown by new discoveries made in an early Gravettian layer at the Poiana Cireului site (Piatra Neam, north-eastern Romania), dated between 30 ka and 31 ka BP (Niu et al., 2019). The ornaments discovered here include a unique association of perforat-ed shells represented by three species of mollusks: Lithoglyphus naticoide, Litho-glyphus apertus and Homalopoma sanguineum (an exclusively Mediterranean spe-cies). This occupation differs from Central and Eastern European Gravettian tradi-tions through the symbolic behavior of the communities, defined by the use of perfo-rated shells of freshwater and marine (Mediterranean origin) mollusk belonging to species very rarely used in the Palaeolithic. Poiana Cireului is one of the very few Gravettian sites where perforated Homalopoma sanguineum shells were found and is the only Gravettian settlement where Lithoglyphus naticoides shells were used. We present the ornaments discovered and the results of analysis performed to identify the perforation methods and the use-wear traces. The presence of a Mediterranean species at the Poiana Cireului settlement located more than 900 km from the nearest source suggests the connection of communities here with the Mediterranean area. In the light of these new findings, the origin and diffusion of the Gravettian from the Mediterranean to the east of the Carpathians are a hypothesis that should be considered. Niu, E.-C., Crciumaru, M., Nicolae, A., Crstina, O., Lupu, F. I., Leu, M. (2019). Mobility and social identity in the Early Upper Palaeolithic: new personal ornaments from Poiana Cireului site (Piatra Neam, Romania). PLOS ONE, 14 (4), e0214932. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214932

Classification of the Oxbow Lakes of the Hármas-Körös River and Determination of Ways for Further Exploiting the Various Water Regions in the Light of the Water Framework Directive

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Józsa Vilmos ◽  
Jacek Kozłowski ◽  
Anna Zróbek-Sokolnik ◽  
Krzysztof Kozłowski ◽  
Piotr Dynowski
Keyword(s):  
Fishery Management ◽  
Ecological Status ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Oxbow Lakes ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Juvenile Stages ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The City

Hármas-Koros river lies between the mouth of the Tisza and the city Békés. In the nineteenth century, the work of regulatory her bed was made, which resulted in 44 oxbow lakes were created, of which 36 still exist till today. In presented work 14 oxbow lakes was selected and the following objectives were carried out: 1. The classification of oxbow lakes based on selected criteria: the manner and intensity of water exchange, sediment thickness, redox potential, usage, ichtiofouna. 2. The assessment of the state of spawning and its impact on ichtiofauna. 3. Determination the best methods of water management in particular types of oxbow lakes, which could stop their further degradation. The obtained results led to the following conclusions: - Tested oxbow lakes belong to different categories - Anthropogenic factors had a negative effect on the conditions of fish reproduction and survival of their juvenile stages. - The management of fisheries was not a factor differentiating the individual water regions, but had an impact on the ecological status. - For the maintenance and/or improvement of the natural environment of the individual oxbow lakes significant impact may have fishery management, carried out in the following years.

scholarly journals Multi-Biometric System Based on Cutting-Edge Equipment for Experimental Contactless Verification

Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (17) ◽  
pp. 3709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukas Kolda ◽  
Ondrej Krejcar ◽  
Ali Selamat ◽  
Kamil Kuca ◽  
Oluwaseun Fadeyi
Keyword(s):  
Hamming Distance ◽  
Blood Stream ◽  
Data Generation ◽  
Biometric System ◽  
Biometric Verification ◽  
Verification Methods ◽  
Theoretical Evidence ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Modified Hausdorff Distance ◽  
Individual Metrics

Biometric verification methods have gained significant popularity in recent times, which has brought about their extensive usage. In light of theoretical evidence surrounding the development of biometric verification, we proposed an experimental multi-biometric system for laboratory testing. First, the proposed system was designed such that it was able to identify and verify a user through the hand contour, and blood flow (blood stream) at the upper part of the hand. Next, we detailed the hard and software solutions for the system. A total of 40 subjects agreed to be a part of data generation team, which produced 280 hand images. The core of this paper lies in evaluating individual metrics, which are functions of frequency comparison of the double type faults with the EER (Equal Error Rate) values. The lowest value was measured for the case of the modified Hausdorff distance metric - Maximally Helicity Violating (MHV). Furthermore, for the verified biometric characteristics (Hamming distance and MHV), appropriate and suitable metrics have been proposed and experimented to optimize system precision. Thus, the EER value for the designed multi-biometric system in the context of this work was found to be 5%, which proves that metrics consolidation increases the precision of the multi-biometric system. Algorithms used for the proposed multi-biometric device shows that the individual metrics exhibit significant accuracy but perform better on consolidation, with a few shortcomings.

scholarly journals Lagoon Resident Fish Species of Conservation Interest According to the Habitat Directive (92/43/CEE): A Review on Their Potential Use as Ecological Indicator Species

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2059 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Facca ◽  
Francesco Cavraro ◽  
Piero Franzoi ◽  
Stefano Malavasi
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Coastal Lagoon ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Coastal Lagoons ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Ecological Indicator ◽  
Habitat Directive ◽  
Population Extinction

Transitional waters are fragile ecosystems with high ecological, social and economic values, that undergo numerous threats. According to the information provided by European Member States in the framework of the European Directive 92/43/EEC (Habitat Directive), the main threat to these ecosystems is represented by morphological and hydrological changes. The present work focuses on six lagoon fish species included in the Habitat Directive annex II (species requiring conservation measures: Aphanius fasciatus, A. iberus, Knipowitschia panizzae, Ninnigobius canestrinii, Valencia hispanica and V. letourneuxi) that spend their entire life cycle in the Mediterranean priority habitat 1150* “Coastal lagoons”. The overview of the current scientific literature allowed us to highlight how the presence and abundance of these species may provide important indications on the conservation status of coastal lagoon habitats. In fact, their occurrence, distribution and biology depend on the presence of peculiar structures, such as salt marshes, small channels, isolated pools and oligohaline areas. Coastal lagoon fragmentation and habitat loss have led to a significant reduction in genetic diversity or local population extinction. Although Aphanius and gobies have been shown to survive in eutrophic environments, it is clear that they cannot complete their life cycle without salt marshes (mainly Aphanius) and wetland areas (mainly gobies).

scholarly journals Ideal point error for model assessment in data-driven river flow forecasting

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 3049-3060 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. W. Dawson ◽  
N. J. Mount ◽  
R. J. Abrahart ◽  
A. Y. Shamseldin
Keyword(s):  
River Flow ◽  
Ideal Point ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Model Assessment ◽  
River Flow Forecasting ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Measure Of Performance ◽  
Individual Metrics ◽  
Naive Model ◽  
The Ideal

Abstract. When analysing the performance of hydrological models in river forecasting, researchers use a number of diverse statistics. Although some statistics appear to be used more regularly in such analyses than others, there is a distinct lack of consistency in evaluation, making studies undertaken by different authors or performed at different locations difficult to compare in a meaningful manner. Moreover, even within individual reported case studies, substantial contradictions are found to occur between one measure of performance and another. In this paper we examine the ideal point error (IPE) metric – a recently introduced measure of model performance that integrates a number of recognised metrics in a logical way. Having a single, integrated measure of performance is appealing as it should permit more straightforward model inter-comparisons. However, this is reliant on a transferrable standardisation of the individual metrics that are combined to form the IPE. This paper examines one potential option for standardisation: the use of naive model benchmarking.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document