An inventory for lateral input into the Sea Scheldt

By order of the Waterways and Maritime Affairs Administration, division Sea Scheldt, the Flanders Marine Institute developes a database containing information regarding the lateral input into the Sea Scheldt. Water quality and quantity data of tributaries, industrial discharges and input trough locks are gathered and compiled into a cohesive database. The parameters included are flow, biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended matter, Kjehldahl N, nitrate and nitrite, ammonium and oxygen concentration. By determination of the XY-coordinates for the different discharge locations, the data is linked to Arcview and can be visualized by making selections on a GIS-map. Easy access to the contained information is assured by the possibility of making selections on different levels: for every company, nature of discharge, time and place a query for water quality and water quantity data can be made. The aim is to provide a well-structured inventory of discharge data that is needed for ecological modelling purposes. The database is made structurally compatible with the OMES-database in which it will be incorporated

A taxonomic and biogeographic information system of marine species in the southern North Sea developed by Flanders Marine Institute

Aphia is a register of marine species that the Marine Data and Information Centre of the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) has built and maintains since its establishment nearly five years ago. This species register (Aphia) serves as a taxonomic backbone in the management of biological data obtained by our own efforts and those coming from various national and international projects and databases. Currently, Aphia holds 20,000 taxa, including 10,000 species names of which 2,200 are relegated to synonymy. Remaining names are those of higher hierarchical levels from the systematic classification. Besides pure taxonomy, Aphia contains about 3,000 vernacular names (mainly Dutch, English, French and German) and 4,000 notes regarding species biology, ecology, distribution, habitat, taxonomy and systematics among others. All the information is referred to its source, which can be a publication, an expert or a database. More recently, VLIZ started storing distribution records for the Southern North Sea. We now have nearly 40,000 distribution records for 400 localities. By screening literature, from recent works to those dating back to the mid nineteenth century, we intend to get a more complete overview of our current and historical biodiversity. In addition, documenting nomenclature changes, recording synonymy and storing every species record will help in correctly interpreting old and grey literature. The structure of the database corresponds to the international formats of both the European Register of Marine Species (ERMS) and the International Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). It will be possible to give taxonomic input to ITIS and ERMS. Our biogeographic system is now already linked with and provides data to the European node of the global Ocean Biogeographic Information System (EurOBIS).Maintaining our species register and storing biogeographic information is a work in progress, which falls within VLIZ’s core activities of documenting and integrating marine biodiversity data

Quantitative pretreatment VOI analysis of liver metastases 99mTc-MAA SPECT/CT and FDG PET/CT in relation with treatment response to SIRT

Using quantitive VOI analysis, the percentage Tc-99m-MAA uptake and SUVmax and mean values of liver metastases obtained prior to SIRT were related to treatment response using both a lesion-based and clinical dichotomous approach. Based on the VOI % of Tc-99m-MAA activity, the estimated Y-90-microspheres activity/cc (MBq/cc) was calculated from the effective dose injected. Baseline VOI FDG PET SUVmean and max values and estimated MBq/cc values were related to treatment response using a lesion-based approach (% change in SUVmean >= 50%) and a clinical dichotomous approach. Fifteen treatment sessions were analyzed (13 patients). Using the lesion-based approach (12 treatment sessions) 40 lesions responded and 37 did not. SUVmax and mean values proved significantly different between non-responding and responding lesions; 18:6 (SD 10.8) versus 13.5 (SD 8.4) for SUVmax (p = 0.02) and 11.4 (SD 3.8) versus 6.3 (SD 4.5) for SUVmean (p = 0.002). Using the clinical dichotomous approach (15 treatment sessions / 11 responding), 91 lesions were analyzed; 57 responded. VOI volumes and estimated Y-90-loaded glass microspheres activity (MBq/cc) did not differ between responders and non responders; 24 cc (SD 27) versus 21 cc (SD 21 cc) (p = 0.4) and 1.95 MBq/cc (SD 1.1 MBq/cc) versus 1.90 MB/cc (SD 2.7 MBq/cc) (p = 0.92). On the contrary, SUVmax and mean values proved significantly different between responders and non-responders; 23.7 (SD 9.8) versus 9.4 (SD 3.8) for SUVmax (p = 0.0001) and 13.1 (SD 8.1) versus 4.9 (SD 1.4) for SUVmean. Conclusion: These findings suggest that in patients presenting with high baseline SUVmax and mean values, the administration of higher activities or alternatively, other potentially more useful treatment options might be considered

Development of the ENCORA portal: an internet based facility supporting EU-wide contact search for ICZM related science, practice, and policy communities

One of the main objectives of the European FP 6 Coordination action ENCORA (=European Network for Coastal Research) is to address fragmentation of and difficult communication between coastal science, practice and policy across Europe. Together with the establishment of national, thematic and affiliated networks, ENCORA developed the ENCORA Portal to support dissemination activities and to share ICZM knowledge through the Web among scientists, practitioners and policy makers (users). The ENCORA Portal was built upon existing technologies and software tools integrating three main different, interlinked database systems. The Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) served as the searchable contact database of coastal professionals, institutes and projects. The different national and thematic ENCORA networks have started to feed the database and additionally an online edit tool is foreseen for the near future. A State of the Art Coastal Directory is embedded is the Wikipedia software and linked with the contact database. Striking about the ENCORA Portal is the link between registered users of the Coastal Wiki and the contact database, allowing only fully registered users to upload information in the Wiki Coastal Directory and hence allowing an improved authority and quality control. The link and synchronization between the different relational database systems was established through an in-house developed system and will serve as link to any future systems that may need quality control or authorization. A Thematic and National Forum which can be used as discussion and information exchange platform within the coastal community was also integrated in the Portal and is linked with the other systems. The ENCORA Portal can be consulted at http://www.encora.eu

ScheldeMonitor, het online informatiesysteem rond onderzoek en monitoring van het Schelde estuarium = ScheldeMonitor, the online information system on research and monitoring of the Scheldt estuary

The Scheldt estuary has been, and still is, the object of study in numerous fundamental and more applied scientific studies. Quasi-continuously the Scheldt estuary is monitored for all sorts of different parameters providing scientists and policy makers with the necessary data to base their conclusions and decisions. In the framework of long-term planning of the Scheldt estuary, which is a cooperation between Flanders and The Netherlands, the need was detected for an information system that gathers and gives access to all the information on the performed research and monitoring of the estuary on both sides of the border. The “Administratie Waterwegen en Zeewezen (AWZ)” for the Flanders region and “Rijkswaterstaat - Rijksinstituut voor Kust en Zee” for the Netherlands have assigned the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) the task to set up this information system.Since the launch of the website in april 2004, the ScheldeMonitor is now an online accessible information system for research and monitoring information regarding the Scheldt estuary. There is already a considerable amount of information in the database is gradually increasing. Based on the content, the available information has been classified into different contextual themes. The themes defined in ScheldeMonitor are: system characteristics, safety, shipping, waterway, nature, environmental quality, fish and fisheries, public administration and law, methods and techniques, social-economical system. Technically, the ScheldeMonitor was set up as a subset of the IMIS database. Using the IMIS system and its built-in possibility of assigning records to a predefined context, an information system equal to IMIS but containing information specific for the Scheldt estuary was realized. Like the IMIS system, the ScheldeMonitor presents its information in different modules, that are separately accessible for the user, but are closely interconnected and integrated. At the moment there are 6 information modules in the system: Persons, Institutes, Projects, Publications, Datasets, Conferences. Choosing for one of these modules, the information system tells the user who the main players are (Persons, Institutes), what projects are being carried out (Projects), what products are delivered (Publications, Datasets) and what events are being organised (Conferences). For each of the modules, the advanced search facilities ensure an efficient retrieval of the required information.The ScheldeMonitor website can be visited on following urls: http://www.scheldemonitor.be, http://www.scheldemonitor.nl or http://www.scheldemonitor.org

Europese duurzaamheidsindicatoren voor kustgebieden in Nederland: een eerste inventarisatie = European sustainability indicators for coastal zones in The Netherlands: a first inventory

The Directorate-General Water of the Dutch Ministry of Public Works and Water Management has appointed the National Institute for Coastal and Marine Management (RIKZ) and Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) to draw up an inventory of the ED sustainability indicators for its coasts. This document provides a first assessment of sustainability in our coastal zone from a common European point of view. It depicts the findings for the 27 EU sustainability indicators supported by a brief trend analysis where feasible