The Trophic status of Bidighinzu Reservoir (Sardinia) before and after the diversion of waste waters

The purpose of this paper was to assess the effect of the diversion of wastewater on the trophic status of Lake Bidighinzu, a hypertrophic man-made lake in Northern Sardinia, used as a drinking water reservoir. There have been problems with potabilization since the early years of the diversion operation, particularly in the summer-autumn period. Data available (August 1978, February 1979 and March 1985) before the reservoir (1987) were compared with those collected during a study carried out in the annual cycle immediately after (1988-1989) and after some years (1994 and 1996-1997). The study examined the dynamics of temperature, main nutrients (total phosphorus, nitrate and ammonia), chlorophyll-a and phytoplanktonic biomass. No particular variation in the water nutrient availability emerged from the comparison between these two situations - especially for total phosphorus, whose annual mean concentrations were similar in the two annual cycles (386 mg P m-3 in 1988-1989 and 305 mg P m-3 in 1996-1997). Chlorophyll- a and biomass were high during each period of study (annual mean values were 17 mg m-3 and 3.7 mg l-1 in 1988-1989 and 11 mg m-3 and 4.6 mg l-1 in 1996-1997). However, peaks were never higher than values recorded in August 1978 (112 mg m-3 and 133 mg l-1) due to an extraordinary bloom of Ceratium hirundinella (O.F. Müller). Species composition of phytoplankton was typical of highly trophic conditions and was frequently characterised by the presence of Cyanophyceae and Bacillariophyceae. Results demonstrated that, ten years after construction of the by-pass, the lake had shown no improvement in its trophic status. This might depend on many factors, among which the most likely might be the non-use or partial use of the diversion system, which allows the sewage to continue to flow into the lake and keep its trophic status almost unchanged

The trophic status of Bidighinzu Reservoir (Sardinia) before and after the diversion of waste waters

The purpose of this paper was to assess the effect of the diversion of wastewater on the trophic status of Lake Bidighinzu, a hypertrophic man-made lake in Northern Sardinia, used as a drinking water reservoir. There have been problems with potabilization since the early years of the diversion operation, particularly in the summer-autumn period. Data available (August 1978, February 1979 and March 1985) before the reservoir (1987) were compared with those collected during a study carried out in the annual cycle immediately after (1988-1989) and after some years (1994 and 1996-1997). The study examined the dynamics of temperature, main nutrients (total phosphorus, nitrate and ammonia), chlorophyll-a and phytoplanktonic biomass. No particular variation in the water nutrient availability emerged from the comparison between these two situations - especially for total phosphorus, whose annual mean concentrations were similar in the two annual cycles (386 mg P m-3 in 1988-1989 and 305 mg P m-3 in 1996-1997). Chlorophyll-a and biomass were high during each period of study (annual mean values were 17 mg m-3and 3.7 mg l-1 in 1988-1989 and 11 mg m-3and 4.6 mg l-1 in 1996-1997). However, peaks were never higher than values recorded in August 1978 (112 mg m-3and 133 mg l-1) due to an extraordinary bloom of Ceratium hirundinella (O.F. Müller). Species composition of phytoplankton was typical of highly trophic conditions and was frequently characterised by the presence of Cyanophyceae and Bacillariophyceae. Results demonstrated that, ten years after construction of the by-pass, the lake had shown no improvement in its trophic status. This might depend on many factors, among which the most likely might be the non-use or partial use of the diversion system, which allows the sewage to continue to flow into the lake and keep its trophic status almost unchanged

Epidemiology of pemphigus in Turkey: One-year prospective study of 220 cases

Pemphigus is a group of rare and life-threatening autoimmune blistering diseases of the skin and mucous membranes. Although they occur worldwide, their incidence shows wide geographical variation, and prospective data on the epidemiology of pemphigus are very limited. Objective of this work is to evaluate the incidence and epidemiological and clinical features of patients with pemphigus in Turkey. All patients newly diagnosed with pemphigus between June 2013 and June 2014 were prospectively enrolled in 33 dermatology departments in 20 different provinces from all seven regions of Turkey. Disease parameters including demography and clinical findings were recorded. A total of 220 patients were diagnosed with pemphigus during the 1-year period, with an annual incidence of 4.7 per million people in Turkey. Patients were predominantly women, with a male to female ratio of 1:1.41. The mean age at onset was 48.9 years. Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) was the commonest clinical subtype (n=192; 87.3%), followed by pemphigus foliaceus (n=21; 9.6%). The most common clinical subtype of PV was the mucocutaneous type (n=83; 43.2%). The mean Pemphigus Disease Area Index was 28.14±22.21 (mean ± Standard Deviation).  The incidence rate of pemphigus in Turkey is similar to the countries of South-East Europe, higher than those reported for the Central and Northern European countries and lower than the countries around the Mediterranean Sea and Iran. Pemphigus is more frequent in middle-aged people and is more common in women. The most frequent subtype was PV, with a 9-fold higher incidence than pemphigus foliaceus.   </p

A MSFD complementary approach for the assessment of pressures, knowledge and data gaps in Southern European Seas : the PERSEUS experience

PERSEUS project aims to identify the most relevant pressures exerted on the ecosystems of the Southern European Seas (SES), highlighting knowledge and data gaps that endanger the achievement of SES Good Environmental Status (GES) as mandated by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). A complementary approach has been adopted, by a meta-analysis of existing literature on pressure/impact/knowledge gaps summarized in tables related to the MSFD descriptors, discriminating open waters from coastal areas. A comparative assessment of the Initial Assessments (IAs) for five SES countries has been also independently performed. The comparison between meta-analysis results and IAs shows similarities for coastal areas only. Major knowledge gaps have been detected for the biodiversity, marine food web, marine litter and underwater noise descriptors. The meta-analysis also allowed the identification of additional research themes targeting research topics that are requested to the achievement of GES. 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license.peer-reviewe

Large-scale patterns in summer surface water phytoplankton (except picophytoplankton) in the Eastern Mediterranean

The phytoplankton community structure (except picophytoplankton) and its relationship with environmental parameters were assessed in the surface waters of the Eastern Mediterranean from inshore to offshore areas during the summer for three years. A total of 105 phytoplankton species in six different algal classes, Dinophyceae (54%), Bacillariophyceae (43%), Haptophyceae (5%), Dicthyochophyceae (1%), Euglenophyceae (1%) and Chrysophyceae (1%), were observed in the Eastern Mediterranean. There were three main phytoplankton groups: the aquaculture area (AQ) group, represented by 11 stations; the coastal water (CW) group, represented by 18 stations; and the open-water (OW) group, represented by 43 stations, showing features typical of the Mediterranean coastal and open-water sites and the predominance of dinoflagellate species over other groups in oligotrophic eastern Mediterranean open waters. The OW group had the highest species richness and dinoflagellates were the most important component of these assemblages and there were differences in the dominant groups from the inshore to the offshore waters. Diatom species richness increased while dinoflagellate species numbers decreased in inshore waters that are nutrient-rich due to anthropogenic activities. There were also significant spatial differences in water conditions, including nutrients and water transparency, which were respectively higher and lower between inshore and offshore areas in the Eastern Mediterranean mainly as the result of local anthropogenic factors. Multiple post hoc comparisons (Tukey's HSD, p 0.001, R = 0.25) as several coastal stations were not affected by human activities and exhibited a relatively open-water character due to their hydrological conditions. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Second Habitat Record of Polykrikos hartmannii W. Zimm. (Dinophyceae) in the South Aegean Sea, Eastern Mediterranean

Polykrikos hartmannii, a harmful and ichthyotoxic marine dinoflageallate, has been widely distributed in temperate and tropical waters. In this study, P. hartmannii, previously recorded from fossil's, is recorded for the first time in the South Aegean Sea, Eastern Mediterranean from living cells. This study provides information on the new distribution areas of the species in the south-eastern Aegean Sea