Effects of 4-nonylphenol exposure in mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and crabs (Carcinus aestuarii) with particular emphasis on vitellogenin induction

Since it is often difficult to estimate possible adverse effects due to contamination in selected ecosystems, multi-species biomonitoring may provide more information, taking into account different routes of exposure, ecological roles and metabolic capabilities of animals. In this context, we exposed for 7 days the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis and the crab Carcinus aestuarii to 4-nonylphenol (NP), a well-known xenoestrogen. In mussels (0–0.2 mg NP l⁻¹), we measured NP bioaccumulation in soft tissues and vitellogenin (Vg)-like protein levels in digestive glands from both males and females by the alkali-labile phosphate assay (ALP). As no reference data were available for crab exposure, the NP 96-h LC₅₀ value was previously determined. Then, in sublethally exposed (0–1.0 mg NP l⁻¹) male crabs, NP bioaccumulation and Vg levels were measured in hemolymph, gonads and digestive gland. Bioaccumulation of NP increased from 43 to 371 μg g⁻¹ d.w. in mussels, and from 3.6 to 37 μg g⁻¹ d.w. in crabs, depending on the NP concentration in water. Dose-dependent Vg-like protein induction was observed in both species, appearing to be related to NP bioaccumulation, although a partial decrease was recorded at the highest concentration tested. A similar trend was observed in both digestive gland and gonad of exposed crabs; Vg increased to a lesser extent, although significantly, in hemolymph. Results demonstrated that NP induces Vg synthesis both in male and female mussels, as well as in male crabs. On the basis of the responsiveness of both species investigated, a multi-species approach is indicated in biomonitoring programmes.     

Analysis of rainfall seasonality from observations and climate models

Two new indicators of rainfall seasonality based on information entropy, the relative entropy (RE) and the dimensionless seasonality index (DSI), together with the mean annual rainfall, are evaluated on a global scale for recently updated precipitation gridded datasets and for historical simulations from coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation models. The RE provides a measure of the number of wet months and, for precipitation regimes featuring a distinct wet and dry season, it is directly related to the duration of the wet season. The DSI combines the rainfall intensity with its degree of seasonality and it is an indicator of the extent of the global monsoon region. We show that the RE and the DSI are fairly independent of the time resolution of the precipitation data, thereby allowing objective metrics for model intercomparison and ranking. Regions with different precipitation regimes are classified and characterized in terms of RE and DSI. Comparison of different land observational datasets reveals substantial difference in their local representation of seasonality. It is shown that two-dimensional maps of RE provide an easy way to compare rainfall seasonality from various datasets and to determine areas of interest. Models participating to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project platform, Phase 5, consistently overestimate the RE over tropical Latin America and underestimate it in West Africa, western Mexico and East Asia. It is demonstrated that positive RE biases in a general circulation model are associated with excessively peaked monthly precipitation fractions, too large during the wet months and too small in the months preceding and following the wet season; negative biases are instead due, in most cases, to an excess of rainfall during the premonsoonal months.     

A Grid platform for the European Civil Protection e-Infrastructure: the Forest Fires use scenario

During the full cycle of the emergency management, Civil Protection operative procedures involve many actors belonging to several institutions playing different roles. In this context the sharing of information is a vital requirement to make correct and effective decisions. Therefore a European-wide technological infrastructure providing a distributed and coordinated access to different kinds of resources (data, information, services, expertise, etc.) could enhance existing Civil Protection applications and even enable new ones. In the recent years Grid technologies have reached a mature state providing a platform for secure and coordinated resource sharing between the participants in the so-called Virtual Organizations. Moreover the Earth and Space Sciences Informatics provide the conceptual tools for modelling the geospatial information shared in Civil Protection applications during its entire life cycle. Therefore a European Civil Protection e-infrastructure could be based on a Grid platform enhanced with Earth Sciences specific services. However Civil Protection applications stress the requirements of Earth Sciences research applications, for example in terms of real-time support. Therefore a set of high-level services specifically tailored for such applications must be built on top of the Grid platform. As a result of a requirement analysis, the FP6 project CYCLOPS has proposed an architectural framework for the future European Civil Protection e-Infrastructure. In this architecture a layer of high-level services tailored to Civil Protection applications is built on top of the EGEE Grid middleware. This architectural approach has been tested implementing a prototype of a grid-enabled RISICO, the application for wild fire risk assessment used by the Italian Civil Protection.     

Primary Production and Growth Dynamics in Posidonia oceanica

Abstract. Studies on leaf growth and production were performed in two stands, at depths of 5 m and 22m, in the Posidonia oceanica (L.) D elile bed off Lacco Ameno, Ischia (Gulf of Naples). Experiments were carried out in situ from May 1988 to August 1989 at monthly intervals.
Leaf growth and production profiles differed in the two stands investigated. Growth rates were higher at 5 m, with a peak in autumn (5.8 mg · shoot^-1· d^-1) and another in March (3.8 mg · shoot^-1· d^-1). At 22 m the maximum rate occurred in May (3.9 mg · shoot^-1· d^-1). These differential growth rates resulted in a delayed maximum leaf surface and biomass at the deep stand, where lower irradiance values and different temperature patterns were also found. The biomass of epiphytic algae showed trends similar to those of leaves; however, there were remarkable differences in the values between the two stations and for the two investigated years.
The production data of the present study are compared with those of other reports, and it is shown that growth processes are greatly influenced by physical factors.     

Can starvation influence cellular and biochemical parameters in the crab Carcinus aestuarii?

Crustacea experience periods of starvation during moulting or when limited food availability occurs. The effects of starvation on Crustacea physiological responses have been demonstrated, whereas the effects of starvation on Crustacea immune parameters remain to be more fully studied. In the present study the effects of starvation on immune parameters and antioxidant enzyme activities of the crab Carcinus aestuarii were evaluated for the first time. Treated crabs were starved for 7 days, whereas control crabs were fed daily with mussels. Total haemocyte count (THC), haemocyte diameter and volume, haemocyte proliferation, cell-free haemolymph (CFH) glucose and total protein levels, and phenoloxidase (PO) activity in both haemocyte lysate (HL) and CFH were measured in crabs. In addition, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities were evaluated in both gills and digestive gland from crabs, in order to evaluate whether starvation induced oxidative stress in C. aestuarii. THC increased significantly in starved crabs, with respect to controls, whereas no significant variations were observed in haemocyte diameter, volume and proliferation. In CFH of starved animals glucose concentration significantly increased, whereas total protein concentration significantly reduced. A significantly higher PO activity was recorded in HL from starved crabs, than in control crabs. Conversely, PO activity did not vary significantly in CFH. Starvation did not cause significant alterations in antioxidant enzyme activities in both gills and digestive gland. Results obtained demonstrated that starvation influenced crab immune parameters, but did not induce oxidative stress. Results also indicated that C. aestuarii can modulate its cellular and biochemical parameters in order to cope with starvation.     

Immunotoxicity of the xenoestrogen 4-nonylphenol to the cockle Cerastoderma glaucum

The in vivo effects of 4-nonylphenol (NP) on functional responses of haemocytes from the cockle Cerastoderma glaucum were investigated after 7 days exposure to sublethal NP concentrations (0, 0+acetone, 0.0125, 0.025, 0.05 and 0.1 mg/l NP). Haemocytes from both controls and exposed cockles were collected, and the effects of NP on total haemocyte count (THC) and volume of circulating cells, intracellular superoxide anion () levels, acid phosphatase and lysozyme-like activities in both haemocyte lysate (HL) and cell-free haemolymph (CFH) were evaluated. Exposure of cockles to 0.1 mg/l NP significantly increased THC (p < 0.05) with respect to controls. Analysis of haemocyte size frequency distribution showed that the haemocyte fraction of about 7–8 μm in diameter and 250 femtolitres in volume increased markedly in cockles exposed to the highest NP concentration tested. Apoptosis resulting in cell volume reduction in NP-exposed animals cannot be excluded. No statistically significant variation in intracellular levels was observed. Conversely, significant increases (p < 0.05) in acid phosphatase activity were observed in CFH from 0.05 and 0.1 mg/l NP-exposed animals; no significant differences in enzyme activity were recorded in HL. Lysozyme-like activity also increased significantly in CFH from cockles exposed to 0.05 mg/l NP (p < 0.05) and 0.1 mg/l NP (p < 0.001). Instead, lysozyme-like activity decreased significantly (p < 0.05) in the HL of animals exposed to 0.05 mg/l NP. Our results suggest that NP induces variations in the functional responses of haemocytes of C. glaucum, mainly by reducing cell membrane stability and promoting cell degranulation.     

The role of the Pernicana Fault System in the spreading of Mt. Etna (Italy) during the 2002–2003 eruption

Flank instability and collapse are observed at many volcanoes. Among these, Mt. Etna is characterized by the spreading of its eastern and southern flanks. The eastern spreading area is bordered to the north by the E–W-trending Pernicana Fault System (PFS). During the 2002–2003 Etna eruption, ground fracturing along the PFS migrated eastward from the NE Rift, to as far as the 18 km distant coastline. The deformation consisted of dextral en-echelon segments, with sinistral and normal kinematics. Both of these components of displacement were one order of magnitude larger (~1 m) in the western, previously known, portion of the PFS with respect to the newly surveyed (~9 km long) eastern section (~0.1 m). This eastern section is located along a pre-existing, but previously unknown, fault, where displaced man-made structures give overall slip rates (1–1.9 cm/year), only slightly lower than those calculated for the western portion (1.4–2.3 cm/year). After an initial rapid motion during the first days of the 2002–2003 eruption, movement of the western portion of the PFS decreased dramatically, while parts of the eastern portion continued to move. These data suggest a model of spreading of the eastern flank of Etna along the PFS, characterized by eruptions along the NE Rift, instantaneous, short-lived, meter-scale displacements along the western PFS and more long-lived centimeter-scale displacements along the eastern PFS. The surface deformation then migrated southwards, reactivating, one after the other, the NNW–SSE-trending Timpe and Trecastagni faults, with displacements of ~0.1 and ~0.04 m, respectively. These structures, along with the PFS, mark the boundaries of two adjacent blocks, moving at different times and rates. The new extent of the PFS and previous activity over its full length indicate that the sliding eastern flank extends well below the Ionian Sea. The clustering of seismic activity above 4 km b.s.l. during the eruption suggests a deep décollement for the moving mass. The collected data thus suggests a significant movement (volume >1,100 km³) of the eastern flank of Etna, both on-shore and off-shore.Editorial responsibility: R. Cioni     

Intercomparison of the northern hemisphere winter mid-latitude atmospheric variability of the IPCC models

We compare, for the overlapping time frame 1962–2000, the estimate of the northern hemisphere mid-latitude winter atmospheric variability within the available 20th century simulations of 19 global climate models included in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—4th Assessment Report with the NCEP-NCAR and ECMWF reanalyses. We compute the Hayashi spectra of the 500 hPa geopotential height fields and introduce an ad hoc integral measure of the variability observed in the Northern Hemisphere on different spectral sub-domains. The total wave variability is taken as a global scalar metric describing the overall performance of each model, while the total variability pertaining to the eastward propagating baroclinic waves and to the planetary waves are taken as scalar metrics describing the performance of each model phenomenologically in connection with the corresponding specific physical process. Only two very high-resolution global climate models have a good agreement with reanalyses for both the global and the process-oriented metrics. Large biases, in several cases larger than 20%, are found in all the considered metrics between the wave climatologies of most IPCC models and the reanalyses, while the span of the climatologies of the various models is, in all cases, around 50%. In particular, the travelling baroclinic waves are typically overestimated by the climate models, while the planetary waves are usually underestimated, in agreement with what found is past analyses performed on global weather forecasting models. When comparing the results of similar models, it is apparent that in some cases the vertical resolution of the model atmosphere, the adopted ocean model, and the advection schemes seem to be critical in the bulk of the atmospheric variability. The models ensemble obtained by arithmetic averaging of the results of all models is biased with respect to the reanalyses but is comparable to the best five models. Nevertheless, the models results do not cluster around their ensemble mean. This study suggests caveats with respect to the ability of most of the presently available climate models in representing the statistical properties of the global scale atmospheric dynamics of the present climate and, a fortiori, in the perspective of modeling climate change.