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Biological Indicators (biological + indicator)
Selected AbstractsBehavioral and Biological Indicators of Impulsivity in the Development of Alcohol Use, Problems, and DisordersALCOHOLISM, Issue 8 2010C.W. Lejuez Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are a devastating public health problem. The construct of impulsivity is biologically based and heritable, and its various dimensions are relevant for understanding alcohol use. The goal of the current manuscript is to review recent behavioral and biological research examining various dimensions of impulsivity and their relation to AUDs from risk for initial use through dependence and relapse. Moreover, we also highlight key psychological variables including affective processes as they relate to current use and early indications of alcohol problems, as well as psychopathology, violence, and aggression in relation to AUDs. Each section includes a critical summary and we conclude the review with future directions focused on issues relevant to measurement, causality, and intervention. Throughout the review, we attempt to be as specific as possible about the dimensions of impulsivity being referenced, while attempting to draw parallels and highlighting differences as the existing literature allows. [source] Assessing biotic integrity in a Mediterranean watershed: development and evaluation of a fish-based indexFISHERIES MANAGEMENT & ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2008M. F. MAGALHÃES Abstract, Biological indicators for Mediterranean rivers are poorly developed. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the Index of Biotic Integrity approach (IBI) with fish assemblages in the Guadiana catchment, a typical Mediterranean watershed in Southern Portugal. Reference sites were selected from a set of 95 sites, using a multivariate approach. Fifty-five candidate metrics were screened for range, responsiveness, precision and redundancy. Final metrics included: proportion of native fish, number of intolerant and intermediate species, number of invertivore native fish, number of phyto-lithophilic and polyphilic species, and catches of exotics. The IBI scores correlated with composite gradients of human impact and differed significantly between reference and non-reference sites. Application of the IBI to an independent validation set with 123 sites produced results congruent with the development set and repeatable assessments at 22 sites showed concordance in IBI scoring. This application highlights the effectiveness of the IBI approach even with fish assemblages of limited diversity and ecological specialisation as in Mediterranean streams. [source] Palaeoenvironmental context of the Late-glacial woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) discoveries at Condover, Shropshire, UKGEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, Issue 4 2009J. R. M. Allen Abstract In 1986/1987 the remains of several mammoths, Mammuthus primigenius (Blumenbach), were discovered on the spoil heap of an actively working gravel pit at Condover, Shropshire, England. The discovery of the remains posed two questions that could be addressed by analyses of biological proxies. First, as none of the bones was found in situ it was necessary to confirm the stratum in which the remains occurred. Second, what was the environment in which these animals lived and died? A range of biological indicators was used to address these questions, including pollen, spore and algal, plant macrofossil, invertebrate, anuran and biological mineral analyses. Multivariate statistical analyses of palynological and Pediastrum data, along with evidence from the Coleopteran assemblages, support the attribution of the mammoth bones to a unit of dark grey clayey sandy silt, although they may have lived at the time of the overlying green detritus mud. The palaeobiological data supports the correlation of these sediments to the Devensian Late-glacial. The mammoths entered this basin at the start of the Late-glacial Interstadial (Greenland Interstadial 1e) (ca. 14,830,3930 cal. year BP; 12,300,±,110 14C year BP) and became mired in soft cohesive sediments. Palaeotemperature reconstructions, based on the Coleopteran assemblages, from the time when the mammoths actually became mired, show that the climate was temperate with mean July temperatures between 15 and 19°C and mean January temperatures between ,13 and +6°C. Biological indicators from the sediments encasing the mammoths indicate that the landscape surrounding the basin was treeless and dry, contrasting with rich vegetation within the basin itself that had possibly attracted the mammoths to the site. Evidence of sedimentary disturbance suggests that the mammoths caused large-scale bioturbation of the deposits making palaeoenvironmental interpretations difficult. Fossils of terrestrial blowflies, carcass and dung beetles show that some of the decaying corpses must have lain exposed on the land surface for sufficient time for the soft parts to have rotted away and skin and bones to have become desiccated before many of them sank into the dark grey clayey sandy silt. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Biological indicators of prognosis in Ewing's sarcoma: An emerging role for lectin galactoside-binding soluble 3 binding protein (LGALS3BP)INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 1 2010Diana Zambelli Abstract Starting from an experimental model that accounts for the 2 most important adverse processes to successful therapy of Ewing's sarcoma (EWS), chemoresistance and the presence of metastasis at the time of diagnosis, we defined a molecular signature of potential prognostic value. Functional annotation of differentially regulated genes revealed 3 major networks related to cell cycle, cell-to-cell interactions and cellular development. The prognostic impact of 8 genes, representative of these 3 networks, was validated in 56 EWS patients. High mRNA expression levels of HINT1, IFITM2, LGALS3BP, STOML2 and c-MYC were associated with reduced risk to death and lower risk to develop metastasis. At multivariate analysis, LGALS3BP, a matricellular protein with a role in tumor progression and metastasis, was the most important predictor of event-free survival and overall survival. The association between LGALS3BP and prognosis was confirmed at protein level, when expression of the molecule was determined in tumor tissues but not in serum, indicating a role for the protein at local tumor microenvironment. Engineered enhancement of LGALS3BP expression in EWS cells resulted in inhibition of anchorage independent cell growth and reduction of cell migration and metastasis. Silencing of LGALS3BP expression reverted cell behavior with respect to in vitro parameters, thus providing further functional validation of genetic data obtained in clinical samples. Thus, we propose LGALS3BP as a novel reliable indicator of prognosis, and we offer genetic signatures to the scientific communities for cross-validation and meta-analysis, which are indispensable tools for a rare tumor such as EWS. [source] A cautionary note on the use of species presence and absence data in deriving sediment criteriaENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 2 2002Katherine Von Stackelberg Abstract In recent years, a variety of approaches to deriving sediment quality guidelines have been developed. One approach relies on establishing an empirical relationship between the concentration of a contaminant in sediment and the condition of some biological indicator, for example, combining measured sediment concentrations of contaminants combined with data on colocated benthic species to measure in situ community effects of contamination. Biological threshold concentrations derived in this manner are being considered or have already been adopted by some regulatory agencies as a means for deriving sediment guidelines (e.g., Canada's Provincial Sediment Quality Guidelines). In order to test the validity of this method, we constructed several Monte Carlo simulations to illustrate that the methodology used to develop these guidelines is flawed by the effects of sampling and statistical artifacts that emerge from undersampling a lognormal density function. As a case study, this paper will present the screening level concentration method used by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (Toronto, ON, Canada) and provide the results of several probabilistic exercises highlighting these issues. We present a word of caution on the applicability of methods that rely exclusively on statistical and mathematical relationships between invertebrate data and sediment concentrations to derive sediment quality guidelines. [source] The effects of social status on biological aging as measured by white-blood-cell telomere lengthAGING CELL, Issue 5 2006L. F. Cherkas Summary Low socio-economic status (SES) is associated with a shortened life expectancy, but its effect on aging is unknown. The rate of white-blood-cell (WBC) telomere attrition may be a biological indicator of human aging. We tested the hypothesis that SES is associated with telomere attrition independent of known risk factors influencing the aging process. We studied 1552 female twins. A venous blood sample was taken from each twin and isolated WBCs used for extraction of DNA. Terminal restriction fragment length (TRFL) was measured. Questionnaire data were collected on occupation, education, income, smoking, exercise, height and weight. Standard multiple linear regression and multivariate analyses of variance tested for associations between SES and TRFL, adjusting for covariates. A discordant twin analysis was conducted on a subset to verify findings. WBC telomere length was highly variable but significantly shorter in lower SES groups. The mean difference in TRFL between nonmanual and manual SES groups was 163.2 base pairs (bp) of which 22.9 bp (,14%) was accounted for by body mass index, smoking and exercise. Comparison of TRFL in the 17 most discordant SES twin pairs confirmed this difference. Low SES, in addition to the harmful effects of smoking, obesity and lack of exercise, appears to have an impact on telomere length. [source] Mats of Beggiatoa bacteria reveal that organic pollution from lumber mills inhibits growth of Zostera marinaMARINE ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2006Joel K. Elliott Abstract The objectives of this study were to determine the distribution and abundance of Zostera marina (eelgrass) in relation to the distribution of the mat forming bacteria Beggiatoa spp., and the levels of sulfide and organic material (wood waste) in the sediment. Underwater videography and intertidal surveys were used to map the distribution and abundance of Z. marina beds and Beggiatoa in the nearshore area of Commencement Bay, WA (USA), a location that has a long history of sawmill activity. Zostera marina occurred from the intertidal to ,6 m mean lower low water (MLLW) on sandy substrates in areas with low levels of sulfide (<50 ,m) and organic material (<5 % total volatile solids). Areas with high sulfide levels (>200 ,m) occurred where there were significant amounts of organic material in the sediments, which was found to be wood waste that had been discarded from sawmills. Zostera marina was absent from the intertidal and occurred at lower densities in areas with high sulfide levels. In contrast, mats of Beggiatoa were only found in areas where the sulfide levels were >1000 ,m and there were significant deposits of wood. Thus, the negative correlation between the distribution and abundance of Z. marina and Beggiatoa suggests that the presence of Beggiatoa mats could be used as a biological indicator of inhibiting levels of hydrogen sulfide in the marine environment. [source] Physiological and growth responses of the montane bryophyte Racomitrium lanuginosum to atmospheric nitrogen depositionNEW PHYTOLOGIST, Issue 1 2003I. S. K. Pearce Summary ,,The effects of nitrogen (N) deposition on the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum within montane heath in Scotland were investigated over 5 yr. ,,Permanent field plots were sprayed with KNO3 or NH4Cl solutions, at doses equivalent to 10 and 40 kg N ha,1 yr,1, in 3,6 applications each summer. ,,Racomitrium growth and cover were severely reduced by N addition, whilst the proportion of dead shoots greatly increased. N dose decreased inducibility of shoot nitrate reductase activity (NRA), suggesting that N saturation of Racomitrium occurred, and caused an increase in potassium leakage. At high dosage, effects of NH4+ were more detrimental than NO3,. ,,Physiological responses to N indicate that the habitat's critical load (CL) is exceeded by addition of 10 kg N ha,1 yr,1. The differential toxicity of the two forms of N suggests that predominant ion type in deposition should be taken into consideration when CLs are set. In contrast to tissue N, NRA correlated well with shoot growth, and may thus be a useful biological indicator of moss condition. [source] Normal head-hair length is correlated with its diameterCLINICAL & EXPERIMENTAL DERMATOLOGY, Issue 6 2004J. Nissimov Summary Shed head-hair fibres of young (16,20-year-old), nonalopecic women (n = 25), exhibiting both exogen clubs and anagen tips (EA) were studied. Such fibres are shown, for the first time, to comprise , 44% of shed hair and to form a uni-modal, positively skewed distribution with a mean length of 16.7 ± 4.9 cm, which is also correlated with the length of the haircut. As individual fibres exit the skin in early anagen VI, their major-axis diameters increase rapidly to maxima at about 25% of their total potential length and subsequently decrease to their exogen clubs, at a rate of 1.31% per cm (n = 28). EA diameters are further correlated with their lengths. Maximal and proximal diameters increase by 1.40% per cm and 1.02% per cm increments in fibre lengths, respectively (P < 0.0001 each; n = 14), these changes being also different from each other (P < 0.001). Besides identifying and characterizing a new class of normal hair (EA) which will probably feature prominently in future hair research, this study reveals several other important aspects of hair growth: (i) the classically described concept of hair miniaturization in androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is excessively broad and should therefore be revised; (ii) female AGA need not necessarily require a mechanism for rapid miniaturization as recently proposed; and (iii) the putative large variability of normal hair diameters is significantly overestimated, which further opens the field of hair diameter evaluation as a biological indicator of disease and physiological function. [source] Palaeoenvironmental context of the Late-glacial woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) discoveries at Condover, Shropshire, UKGEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, Issue 4 2009J. R. M. Allen Abstract In 1986/1987 the remains of several mammoths, Mammuthus primigenius (Blumenbach), were discovered on the spoil heap of an actively working gravel pit at Condover, Shropshire, England. The discovery of the remains posed two questions that could be addressed by analyses of biological proxies. First, as none of the bones was found in situ it was necessary to confirm the stratum in which the remains occurred. Second, what was the environment in which these animals lived and died? A range of biological indicators was used to address these questions, including pollen, spore and algal, plant macrofossil, invertebrate, anuran and biological mineral analyses. Multivariate statistical analyses of palynological and Pediastrum data, along with evidence from the Coleopteran assemblages, support the attribution of the mammoth bones to a unit of dark grey clayey sandy silt, although they may have lived at the time of the overlying green detritus mud. The palaeobiological data supports the correlation of these sediments to the Devensian Late-glacial. The mammoths entered this basin at the start of the Late-glacial Interstadial (Greenland Interstadial 1e) (ca. 14,830,3930 cal. year BP; 12,300,±,110 14C year BP) and became mired in soft cohesive sediments. Palaeotemperature reconstructions, based on the Coleopteran assemblages, from the time when the mammoths actually became mired, show that the climate was temperate with mean July temperatures between 15 and 19°C and mean January temperatures between ,13 and +6°C. Biological indicators from the sediments encasing the mammoths indicate that the landscape surrounding the basin was treeless and dry, contrasting with rich vegetation within the basin itself that had possibly attracted the mammoths to the site. Evidence of sedimentary disturbance suggests that the mammoths caused large-scale bioturbation of the deposits making palaeoenvironmental interpretations difficult. Fossils of terrestrial blowflies, carcass and dung beetles show that some of the decaying corpses must have lain exposed on the land surface for sufficient time for the soft parts to have rotted away and skin and bones to have become desiccated before many of them sank into the dark grey clayey sandy silt. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Water Framework Directive: ecological classification of Danish lakesJOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2005MARTIN SØNDERGAARD Summary 1The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires that all European waterbodies are assigned to one of five ecological classes, based primarily on biological indicators, and that minimum good ecological quality is obtained by 2015. However, the directive provides only general guidance regarding indicator definitions and determination of boundaries between classes. 2We used chemical and biological data from 709 Danish lakes to investigate whether and how lake types respond differently to eutrophication. In the absence of well-defined reference conditions, lakes were grouped according to alkalinity and water depth, and the responses to eutrophication were ordered along a total phosphorus (TP) gradient to test the applicability of pre-defined boundaries. 3As a preliminary classification we suggest a TP-based classification into high, good, moderate, bad and poor ecological quality using 0,25, 25,50, 50,100, 100,200 and > 200 µg P L,1 boundaries for shallow lakes, and 0,12·5, 12·5,25, 25,50, 50,100 and > 100 µg P L,1 boundaries for deep lakes. Within each TP category, median values are used to define preliminary boundaries for the biological indicators. 4Most indicators responded strongly to increasing TP, but there were only minor differences between low and high alkalinity lakes and modest variations between deep and shallow lakes. The variability of indicators within a given TP range was, however, high, and for most indicators there was a considerable overlap between adjacent TP categories. Cyanophyte biomass, submerged macrophyte coverage, fish numbers and chlorophyll a were among the ,best' indicators, but their ability to separate different TP classes varied with TP. 5When using multiple indicators the risk that one or more indicators will indicate different ecological classes is high because of a high variability of all indicators within a specific TP class, and the ,one out , all out' principle in relation to indicators does not seem feasible. Alternatively a certain compliance level or a ,mean value' of the indicators can be used to define ecological classes. A precise ecological quality ratio (EQR) using values between 0 and 1 can be calculated based on the extent to which the total number of indicators meets the boundary conditions, as demonstrated from three Danish lakes. 6Synthesis and applications. The analysis of Danish lakes has identified a number of useful indicators for lake quality and has suggested a method for calculating an ecological quality ratio. However, it also demonstrates that the implementation of the Water Framework Directive faces several challenges: gradual rather than stepwise changes for all indicators, large variability of indicators within lake classes, and problems using the one out , all out principle for lake classification. [source] Biomarkers as biological indicators of xenobiotic exposureJOURNAL OF APPLIED TOXICOLOGY, Issue 4 2001Fernando Gil Abstract The presence of a xenobiotic in the environment always represents a risk for living organisms. However, to talk about impregnation there is a need to detect toxicity in the organism, and the concept of intoxication is related to specific organ alterations and clinical symptoms. Moreover, the relationship between the toxic levels within the organism and the toxic response is rather complex and has a difficult forecast because it depends on several factors, namely toxicokinetic and genetic factors. One of the methods to quantify the interaction with xenobiotics and its potential impact on living organisms, including the human being, is monitoring by the use of the so-called biomarkers. They can provide measures of the exposure, toxic effect and individual susceptibility to environmental chemical compounds and may be very useful to assess and control the risk of long-term outcomes associated with exposure to xenobiotic (i.e. heavy metals, halogenated hydrocarbons, pesticides). Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A new European testate amoebae transfer function for palaeohydrological reconstruction on ombrotrophic peatlands,JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, Issue 3 2007Dan J. Charman Abstract Proxy climate data can be obtained from reconstructions of hydrological changes on ombrotrophic (rain-fed) peatlands using biological indicators, such as testate amoebae. Reconstructions are based on transfer functions, relating modern assemblage composition to water table and moisture content, applied to fossil sequences. Existing transfer functions in Europe and elsewhere are limited geographically and there are often problems with missing or poor analogues. This paper presents a new palaeohydrological transfer function based on sampling raised mires from across Europe. Relationships between assemblages and hydrological variables are described using ordination analyses. Transfer functions are developed for depth to water table (n,=,119) and moisture content (n,=,132) with root mean squared errors (RMSEP) of 5.6,cm and 2.7% respectively. Both transfer functions have an r2 of 0.71, based on ,leave one out' cross-validation. Comparisons with an existing transfer function for Britain show that the European transfer function performs well in inferring measured water tables in Britain but that the British data cannot be used to infer water tables for other European sites with confidence. Several of the key missing and poor analogue taxa problems encountered in previous transfer functions are solved. The new transfer function will be an important tool in developing peat-based palaeoclimatic reconstructions for European sites. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Modern distribution of saltmarsh testate amoebae: regional variability of zonation and response to environmental variablesJOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, Issue 5-6 2002Dan J. Charman Abstract Sea-level reconstruction from biological indicators in saltmarsh sediments requires an understanding of the modern ecology of the organisms concerned. Previous work suggested that testate amoebae are a potential new group of organisms to use for sea-level reconstruction, especially combined with diatoms and foraminifera. This paper analyses data from three saltmarshes on the Taf estuary, South Wales, the River Erme, Devon, and at Brancaster, Norfolk (UK) to (i) test for the presence and zonation of testate amoebae in relation to elevation; (ii) examine the similarity of zonation patterns between marshes; and (iii) explore the relationship between assemblage composition and a wider range of environmental variables. In addition we provide an update on the identification of testate amoebae on saltmarshes. Our results confirm that at all sites the primary environmental gradient is tidal inundation. Major changes in taxa along the tidal gradient are similar except for the lowest elevations, where different taxa become dominant at different sites. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) shows that assemblage composition is also strongly related to other variables, independent of the tidal position. Salinity, particle size and organic matter content are particularly important, and there is a statistically significant geographical effect on assemblages. Relationships between sea-level and assemblage composition are often stronger for individual sites, suggesting that local data sets should be used for quantitative sea-level reconstructions. However, the combined data set would provide more robust estimates of past sea-level change from fossil data. Other environmental variables explain as much of the variability in species assemblages as tidal parameters and should be considered more often in sea-level reconstructions based on microfossil indicators. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Assessment Tools for Urban Catchments: Developing Stressor Gradients,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 2 2009David W. Bressler Abstract:, This is the first in a series of three articles designed to establish empirically defined biological indicators and thresholds for impairment for urbanized catchments, and to describe a process by which the biological condition of waterbodies in urbanized catchments can be applied. This article describes alternative gradients of urbanization for assessing and selecting a nationally applicable biological index (article 2 ,Purcell et al., this issue) and defining the potential of biological communities within a gradient of cumulative stressors (article 3 ,Paul et al. this issue). Gradients were designed to represent the most prominent mosaic of stressors found in urban settings. A primary urban gradient was assembled based on readily obtained information of urbanization to include three broad-scale parameters: percent urban land use/land cover, population density, and road density. This gradient was used as the standard by which alternative urban gradients, which included fine-scale instream chemical and hydrologic parameters, were assessed. Five alternative gradients were developed to provide numerous environmental management options based on availability of data from water program resources. The urban gradients were developed with the intent that they be applied throughout the country; therefore, data from three different regions of the United States (Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Pacific Coast) were used to validate the urban gradient model. Our study showed that a relatively straightforward stressor gradient consisting of human population density, road density, and urban land use is useful in providing a framework for developing relevant biological indicators and evaluating the potential of biological communities as a basis for assessing attainment of designated aquatic life use. [source] Short-term variation in the ecological status of a Mediterranean coastal lagoon (NE Iberian Peninsula) after a man-made change of hydrological regimeAQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, Issue 7 2008Anna Badosa Abstract 1.The Ter Vell (NE Iberian Peninsula) is a eutrophic coastal lagoon that has been mostly flooded by excessive irrigation water during recent decades. During 2001 and 2002 the lagoon was subject to several water management actions, the main consequence of which was a change in the hydrological regime due to drastically reduced irrigation water inputs to the lagoon. 2.In order to comply with the Water Framework Directive, all the management actions in an ecosystem should be focused on protecting and, where necessary, improving its ecological status. 3.The aims of this study were (1) to analyse whether the hydrological change caused by management actions have affected the ecological status of the lagoon, and (2) to discuss the suitability of several physicochemical and biological indicators for the assessment of the ecological status in this kind of coastal ecosystem. 4.After the change in the hydrological regime, a general improvement of the ecological status was observed mainly as a result of the significant decrease in the nitrogen Trophic State Index and in the abundance of rotifer indicative of eutrophy, and in turn by the significant increase in the water quality index QAELS, based on crustaceans and insect assemblages. 5.Contradictory results emerged with regard to some of the indicators used. After the hydrological change, the increase in the phosphorus Trophic State Index was related with the fact that Mediterranean confined coastal ecosystems are typically P-enriched. In contrast with general assumptions, low diversity and richness of the zooplankton and the dominance of a few species have been related with an improvement of the ecological status after the hydrological change, when freshwater inputs were reduced and the lagoon became more confined. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||||||||