The tidal range in the southern Baltic area is no more than 15 cm

The tidal range in the southern Baltic area is no more than 15 cm, while large-scale meteorological situations can excite a storm surge with water level changes of the order of 1.5 m within one day. The Darss-Zingst peninsula (Figure 1) on the southern Baltic was formed after the postglacial transgression (Schumacher 2002, Lampe 2002) and is composed of two main parts. The exterior part is a triangularly shaped barrier island with two ‘wings’ extending south-westwards (Fischland-Darss) and eastwards (Darss-Zingst), and a headland (Darsser Ort) linking the two wings in the north. The formation

of the barrier island is the result of a combination of climate change, hydrodynamics and sediment transport, which still remains active today. The interior part consists of a chain of lagoons (the ‘Darss-Zingst Bodden’), which are subject Selleck STI571 to progressive phytogenic silting-up. The westerly exposed coast of Darss and the northerly exposed coast of Zingst are characterized by strong abrasion of the cliff coast and the flat beach coast, as well as a rapid accumulation at the top of the headland (Darsser Ort) as a result of the abundant sediment supply brought by the wind-induced longshore currents. The eastern extension of the peninsula is the ‘Bock’ sand flat, which is separated from the southernmost tip of Hiddensee Island by a dredged channel. Bock Island is like a container,

where sediment transported southwards along Hiddensee and eastwards along Daporinad order the Zingst coast accumulates. The particular evolution of the Darss-Zingst Endonuclease peninsula may serve as a good example to study coastal evolution under long-term climate change, and has instigated several descriptive and conceptual studies in the last 100 years (Otto 1913, Kolp 1978, Lampe 2002, Schumacher 2002). In contrast to traditional geological and sedimentological studies based on field observation and analysis, morphodynamic modelling of coastal evolution based on process concepts is in its infancy, owing to its dependence on computer power, which has only recently become available. Process-based

models can be divided into three categories according to their object of study on different time scales: (1) real-time simulation on time scales from tidal to seasonal periods, (2) medium long-term simulation on time scales from annual, decadal to centennial and millennial periods, and (3) extreme long-term or geological time scale (longer than 10 000 years scale) simulation. Models for the first and third category are well developed today and a wide range of such models is available. However, the development of models for the second category (hereafter referred to as ‘long-term model’) has yet to reach maturity (Fagherazzi & Overeem 2007). A common way of simulating decadal-to-centennial coastal morphological evolution is to extrapolate the real-time calculation (the first type of model) to longer time periods.

Drying involves four main transport phenomena: internal and exter

Drying involves four main transport phenomena: internal and external heat transfer, and internal and external mass transfer. However, the numerical solution of the corresponding four classical partial differential equations requires considerable computing time (Karathanos & Belessiotis, 1999). Researches frequently use simple models to simulate the food drying curves that can adequately represent experimental results (Akpinar et al., 2003, Doymaz,

2004, Iguaz et al., 2003, Senadeera et al., 2003 and Sogi et al., 2003). selleckchem In this study, the mass transfer process will be defined as a function of Fick’s law combined with the microscopic mass transfer balance. It should be noted that the production and consumption of West Indian cherry have increased Talazoparib cell line in Brazil, and that there is a real possibility for Brazil to export this fruit. Therefore, it is even more important to carry out research on this fruit and to developed alternative processing technologies. The main objective of this work was to study water loss, solid gain, and weight and moisture reduction in West Indian cherry during the osmotic dehydration process, using real average moisture contents to estimate the diffusion coefficient of West Indian Cherry based on the inverse method. This paper describes

the internal changes and the kinetics of moisture change and moisture transfer during the osmotic dehydration of West Indian cherry. Fresh West Indian cherry (M. punicifolia L.) and chemicals products were purchased in a local Methocarbamol market in João Pessoa (Paraíba, Brazil). The fruits were selected visually based on their similar degree of ripeness (same skin color), apparent fruit quality (flawlessness), firmness, and similar size. The fruit’s average radius was approximately 8.5 mm. The sample’s dimensions were

measured with a Vernier caliper (SOMET) with 0.05 mm precision. The average initial moisture content determined after blanching was 91.7 kg kg−1 on a wet basis, determined by heating in a drying oven (LUFERCO, model 41181) at 65 °C for 24 h, following the 2002 AOAC method. Other materials used in this work were obtained in the same period in a local market too. The initial soluble solid content determined by refractometry was 6.30°Brix. The water activity of the West Indian cherry (aw = 0.989) was measured after blanching at final dehydration time using a dew-point hygrometer (Decagon C-X2, Aqualab, USA, with 0.001 precision) at 27 °C. Prior to their osmotic dehydration, the West Indian cherries were weighed and then blanched in boiling water for 1 min in order to increase the water permeability of the skin, followed by immediate cooling in a mixture of water and ice for 1 min to remove excess heat. After blanching, the fruits were drained on absorbent paper to remove excess water, weighed again, and immersed in an osmotic solution.

On the other hand, two classes of VSNs activated by the same pher

On the other hand, two classes of VSNs activated by the same pheromone could indicate a synergistic or additive model of neural coding. It has recently been demonstrated that pheromone concentration influences the probability of releasing Roxadustat order behaviour 17 and 18••], and that

VRs are represented in the VNO at very different abundances [19]. Multiple VRs that respond to the same pheromone may have evolved as a method of recruiting more VSNs to enhance sensitivity. From the perspective of a signaller, pheromone redundancy could maximise the dissemination of socially relevant information over time and space. Consistent with this, male urinary signals with very different physiochemical properties (volatile and non-volatile) appear to elicit an aggressive behavioural response in other male mice [20]. But until recently the redundancy of these this website two cues had not been tested directly. Now two studies have assessed the functional consequence of inactivating the VSNs that detect non-volatile peptides and proteins, while leaving those that detect organic volatiles intact 21 and 22•]. The aggressive response to the non-volatile cue was now lacking as expected, but the volatile cues also no longer promoted aggression even though the VSNs

that detect them were present and functional. In fact, a surprising number of behaviours were deficient in these animals (reviewed in [23]). This suggests that the circuitry downstream of different VSN populations integrate to generate male-male aggression. The behaviour released downstream of SE signalling via Vmn1r89 and/or Vmn1r85

appears to rely on similarly integrative circuitry ( Figure 1). SEs painted on the back of ovariectomized female mice did not induce mounting behaviour from males, but SEs blended with a distinct fraction of female urine did [13••]. The identity of the bioactive molecule(s) in this fraction (termed T16) remains to be identified, but it activates different VSNs from the SEs. Thus the SEs and T16 may be collectively considered a multi-component mouse pheromone produced by females in oestrus to promote male mounting. Importantly, the information coded in each component may Pregnenolone be distinct and hierarchical: T16 has the potential to report the sex of the signaller, while the SEs indicates her oestrus state [13••]. It will be interesting to determine whether these signals can elicit other behaviours relevant to the information they encode, either individually or in concert with additional components. Pheromones are widely considered to release innate or ‘hardwired’ reflexive behaviours (though, curiously, the classical definition of the term does not make this distinction 1 and 2]). Innateness is typically tested experimentally by demonstrating the behaviour occurs on the very first exposure to the pheromone, and thus is not a consequence of prior olfactory conditioning [24].

In this paper we have used extreme sea level events for the years

In this paper we have used extreme sea level events for the years 1948–2010 from two Estonian sites, Pärnu (Gulf of Riga) and Tallinn (Gulf of Finland), and tried to characterise the cyclones that could have generated sea level extremes. For our analysis of extreme sea level events, we chose the 20 highest sea level values from both stations, 31 events in total, as 9 of the days were the same for both sites (see

Table 1). The threshold for extreme sea level is + 100 cm and + 150 cm above the mean level at Tallinn and Pärnu PD0332991 respectively. Because of the river delta and the suitably orientated bay for heavy SW and W storms, high sea levels in Pärnu are naturally higher. The two most extreme sea level events at Pärnu occurred in October 1967 and Metformin January 2005 (see Figure 1 for the more detailed temporal variability of both cases). The values of these extremes were + 250 cm and + 275 cm, in October 1967 and January 2005 respectively. Averkiev & Klevannyy (2010) simulated extreme sea level events

for the entire Gulf of Finland using the BSM6 hydrodynamic model of the Baltic Sea with meteorological forcing from HIRLAM (SMHI). They used cyclone Erwin as a prototype for a ‘dangerous cyclone’, as almost all sea level measurement stations in the observed region registered historical maximum levels during its overpass. Those authors found the following properties of ‘dangerous cyclones’: coefficients a and b for the linear approximation (y = ax + b) of the cyclone’s track with a straight line in the longitudinal belt 10°E–30°E, and the latitude and longitude of the cyclone’s centre at the moment of its maximum depth (shown in Table 2). We compare these Thalidomide numbers with the values of real cyclones that can be associated with high storm surges

at Pärnu and Tallinn. The characteristics of real cyclones are taken from the database of cyclones described by Gulev et al. (2001). We used data regarding geographical coordinates, time, velocity and sea level pressures (SLP) of low pressure centres from the period 1948–2010. This database consists of the cyclone tracking output of the 6-hourly NCEP/NCAR reanalysis (Kalnay et al. 1996) of SLP fields using the software of Grigoriev et al. (2000). First, we separated cyclones lasting at least 48 hours that attained the minimum air pressure (< 1000 hPa) in the region under scrutiny: 10°E–30°E, 50°N–70°N. Then we approximated the trajectories of these cyclones with a straight line in the longitudinal belt from 0°E until 6 h after the lowest pressure was attained. Truncating the cyclone track at both ends offered us a better estimate of the cyclone’s direction in the area of interest, as the cyclone often turned sharply immediately after the instant of maximum depth had been achieved. By using this linear approximation it was easier to make comparisons and group the cyclone tracks.

Also, all sequences have a terminal Lys, but we do not know if th

Also, all sequences have a terminal Lys, but we do not know if they are removed

after post-translational processing as occurs in crotamine. All sequences described exhibited the characteristics of the β-defensin family, namely the six conserved Cys motif, small size (about 5 kDa), positive net charge, and high hydrophobicity ( Table 4). We analyzed three data sets by maximum parsimony: intronic sequences only, exonic sequences only, and the whole genes. In the case of snake β-defensin-like sequences, the best phylogenetic signal was obtained JQ1 using the concatenated exonic and intronic sequences. In contrast, Luenser et al. (2005) analyzed caprine and ovine β-defensin-like sequences and found a phylogenetic signal only when intronic sequences were used to construct the phylogenetic tree. Phylogenetic analyses were done using parsimony and probabilistic approaches obtaining

three topologies (Fig. 3, Fig. 4 and Fig. 5). The best substitution model obtained using TreeFinder resulted in two models, TVM for intron 1 and HKY for the other partitions (intron 2, exons 1, 2 and 3) and they were used for both maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses. All topologies showed three branches including non-β-defensins and β-defensin-like sequences of Crotalus and Lachesis and two lineages of Bothrops. RO4929097 The lineages were jararaca (B.jararaca_defensinB_01 and _02, B.atrox_defensinB_01, B.erythromelas_defensinB_01, B.pauloensis_defensinB_01, B.diporus_defensinB_03) and jararacussu (B.jararacussu_defensinB_01, B.leucurus_defensinB_01, B.neuwiedi_defensinB_02, B.mattogrossensis_defensinB_02 and 03), and the β-defensin-like genes of ‘neuwiedi’ (B. erythromelas, B. pauloensis, B. diporus, B. neuwiedi and B. mattogrossensis) and ‘atrox’ (B. atrox and B. leucurus) groups were recovered in Etomidate both branches. Maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses recovered B.neuwiedi_defensinB_02 together with B.matogrossensis_defensinB_01 and 02, both of the ‘neuwiedi’ group, though without support. The lineage jararaca which showed polytomy in Bayesian analysis, had low support in other analyses. The two paralogous β-defensin-like genes jararaca_01 and jararaca_02 may

have duplicated before the speciation of the ‘neuwiedi’, ‘jararacussu’ and ‘jararaca’ groups. The sequences B.mattogrossensis_defensinB_02 and _03 seem to be polymorphic sequences and not duplicated genes. In all trees, the low support of branches was probably due to lack of sequence sampling from other snake species groups as well in the same species and due to gene duplications. Thus, an increase in the number of sequences of the same species, and also a larger sampling in β-defensin-like sequences from other snake species, may improve the tree topology and branch support in future studies. The great number of gaps and only one sequence in that gap did not seem to affect the parsimony or Bayesian analyses but it seemed to be spurious in likelihood analysis.

There may be clues however from studies of Dll1 where

There may be clues however from studies of Dll1 where Neratinib in situ hybridisation indicates that high (and maybe stable) Delta expression occurs in supra-Paneth cell positions in cells that also express high levels of Atoh1 ( Figure 4) [ 13•]. Low-level oscillations may occur at the lower cell positions containing the intercalated, Lgr5+ population. Additionally, lower levels of Delta are seen in individual cells higher in the crypt and even on the villus (though the bHLH and Hes proteins are not), commensurate with Notch signalling playing roles later in the specification/differentiation programme (see below) [ 13•]. Notch also regulates

Ngn3, a bHLH that is absolutely required for secretory cells to adopt enteroendocrine fate [32]. The molecular mechanism of regulation of Ngn3 by Notch signalling is analogous to the regulation of Atoh1 as well as Ngn2 in the nervous system; where Notch activation inhibits Ngn3 expression, suppressing enteroendocrine cell formation and promoting alternate enterocyte or goblet fates [7, 33•• and 34]. It is striking that enteroendocrine numbers are limited but not eliminated by Notch activation in Ngn3 positive cells while Notch

activation driven by the villin promoter, that acts earlier in crypt specification results in complete enteroendocrine cell loss showing context-dependence of Notch sensitivity [33•• and 35]. In terms of plasticity the iterative role of Notch signalling means that find more the pathway is accessible to cells throughout the crypt to villus axis. After epithelial cell depletion, surviving cells have

a number of options to be restored to a stem cell state. At the level of an individual cell this may require regaining Cell press low-level oscillatory Notch signals associated with the poised state perhaps by altering the stability or post-translational regulation of the bHLH proteins that promote fate decisions [36]. Alternatively, in maturing enterocytes [37 and 38], upregulation of Hes family proteins could actively promote Ascl2 while suppressing Atoh1 expression and function. Notably the Ascl2 axis with potentially competing roles for elements of the Notch pathway also allows input and crosstalk from the Wnt pathway. Cell interactions favouring acquisition of stemness might include occupying a vacant cell position adjacent to a DeltaHi expressing cell to promote active Notch signalling in neighbours. The outline circuitry defined by the bHLH/Hes axis regulation can be fleshed out by a variety of post-transcriptional interactions and modification to limit or potentiate available Notch signalling in a context dependent manner. For example Notch transcript itself can be sequestered by regulatory microRNAs such as miR-34a. Downregulation of miR-34a following damage could promote not only acquisition of stemness but allow for rapid expansion of stem cells by symmetric divisions [39•].

Delivery of the anthracycline doxorubicin in tumor cells was inde

Delivery of the anthracycline doxorubicin in tumor cells was indeed sub-optimal in its unmodified form due to its non-specific distribution ABT-888 manufacturer in the untargeted regions, and hence severe side effects were observed [38]. Our in vivo studies have previously reported the tumor-specific bioaccumulation of the nanoparticles [26] and the current in vitro data presented here establish that PST-Dox nanoparticles readily delivers Dox into the human cancer cells as early as 2 h after

administration, probably owing to its small size compared with the clinically used analogue. In spite of the robust efficacy exhibited by the PST-Dox in vitro, we next evaluated antitumor effects in vivo in order to establish the therapeutic utility. DLA and EAC ascites tumor-bearing mice were evaluated on the 16th and 23rd day of the compound administration for the effects on body weight, tumor volume, viable

and non-viable tumor cell counts, and % ILS. Body weights were proportional to the age in weeks demonstrating no significant differences except in mice treated with Dox ( Table 1 for group 2; for others data not shown). Tumor reduction in DLA-bearing mice Selleckchem Obeticholic Acid in terms of tumor volume was evident in all the groups except group 1 in comparison to the control group ( Figure 4A; Table 1; Supplementary Tables 1 and 2). Tumor reduction was highly significant in PST-Dox treated mice in group 2 (P < .0001), followed by group 4 (P < .001) and group 3 (P < .001) in comparison to the control. Dox treatment also reduced DLA tumor volume significantly in at least three groups (group 2, P < .0001; group 4, P < .001; group 3, P < .001 vs. control). Although PST001 as a single agent was effective, reduction in tumor volume was significant only in group 4 (P < .001) and group Anidulafungin (LY303366) 2 (P < .001). As noted above, the compounds failed to reduce the tumor volume significantly in group 1, probably owing to a single day treatment regimen after tumor inoculation. Likewise, as observed in tumor reduction, % ILS was also highly significant in PST-Dox treated group 2, followed

by group 3 and group 4 (all three groups at P < .0001 vs. control) ( Figure 4B; Table 1; Supplementary Tables 1 and 2). Dox was also effective in increasing the life span in group 2, group 3 and group 4 (all three groups at P < .001), while PST001 was significant in group 4 and group 2 (P < .001). However, it is significant to note that PST-Dox also increased the life span in group 1 mice bearing DLA tumor (P < .01). The Kaplan-Meier survival curves of DLA mice treated with PST001, Dox or PST-Dox nanoparticles in different groups are shown in Figure 4C. PST-Dox treated mice group was highly significant (P < .001 vs. control), followed by Dox (P < .01) and PST001 (P < .01). Just as in the group 4, PST001 was slightly better than Dox with respect to the survival curves.

cyanea venom For the separation of blood cells from plasma by se

cyanea venom. For the separation of blood cells from plasma by sedimentation, fresh human O positive type blood was washed three times with Tris–saline (100 mM Tris–HCl, 150 mM NaCl, pH 7.4). Different concentrations of wasp venom prepared in Tris–saline were added to a 3% erythrocytes suspension in Tris–saline. The initial concentration of wasp venom was 1 μg/μL

and it was serially diluted in the same buffer to a final concentration of 0.78 × 10−2 μg/μL, in order to determine its HC50 (concentration that causes 50% haemolysis). This mixture was gently homogenized, incubated at room temperature for 60 min and centrifuged at 2000 g for 15 min. Aliquots of 200 μL of the supernatant were transferred into a microplate and measured for absorbance at 540 nm on a microplate reader

(Multiskan FC Thermo Scientific Model SN357-UV). Deionized water was used as positive control www.selleckchem.com/products/LDE225(NVP-LDE225).html (100% of haemolysis) and saline solution as negative control (0% of haemolysis). The experiment was performed in triplicate high throughput screening and the HC50 was determined by logarithmic regression. The antibacterial activity against Gram-positive (Enterococus faecalis ATCC 29212) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli ATCC 25922) bacteria was tested by the broth microdilution assay. The bacteria were grown in Luria-Bertani (LB) medium to the optical density of 0.5 at 600 nm. The highest concentration of the venom used was 100 μM. The positive control was carried out with the inoculum plus LB and the negative control with medium only. The spectrophotometric reading (595 nm) was performed after 12 h incubation time at 37 °C. The values for the lethality assay and their confidence limits were calculated by Probit analysis (Finney, 1971), using the software BioStat 5.8.4 version 2009. Analysis of variance (ANOVA), consequent T test (Tukey) and F test were performed for all variables with normal distribution and these data are shown as mean ± SEM. Data from oedema experiments were analyzed using two-way ANOVA and Bonferroni as post-test. In all cases the significance level was set

at 5%. During the lethality assay of the S. cyanea wasp venom in mice, it was observed that the doses of 200 and 1600 μg/mouse (n = 5) caused respectively 20% and 100% lethality of the animals tested. There was a clear dose-lethality Olopatadine dependence relationship, as increasing venom doses increased lethality ( Fig. 1). It was observed during the course of the experiments that the deaths occurred after the first hour of the challenge. The LD50 (limit of 95%) calculated by Probit analysis for the S. cyanea venom was 500.5 (169.8–923.23) μg/mice or 16.68 mg/kg of mice. The behavioural and physiological effects produced by S. cyanea venom in the mice during the first hour of injection included abdominal spasms, ataxia, defecation, dyspnoea, hyperactivity, hypoactivity, sweating and throes, as specified in Table 2. S.

If the second thoracentesis is negative, thoracoscopy for pleural

If the second thoracentesis is negative, thoracoscopy for pleural metastasis is recommended [21], [22] and [23]. In a study by Decker et al., large pleural effusion was always associated with poor prognosis even if cytologic analysis was negative for malignancy [24]. About 40% of patients with NSCLC have distant metastases at the time of presentation [25]. The most common sites for metastases

from lung cancer are adrenal glands, the liver, the brain and the bones [5]. Adrenal metastases are present in up to 20% of NSCLC patients at presentation [5]. Incidental benign adrenal nodules are also common in both general population and lung cancer patient. A small adrenal nodule with a Ku-0059436 purchase CT density measurement <10 HU on unenhanced CT assures the diagnosis of lipid-rich adenoma [26]. In most patients, the combination of CT criteria and FDG-PET findings will be sufficient to characterize adrenal nodules as benign or malignant [5]. MRI imaging with in-phase and selleck chemicals out-of-phase sequence can be utilized in equivocal cases. Adrenal CT, MRI and FDG-PET can potentially

rule in a benign lesion, but their specificity is insufficient to rule in malignancy [27]. Therefore, adrenal biopsy is recommended, particularly if this is the only finding that can render the disease inoperable [5]. Liver metastases can be reliably detected by CT and FDG-PET reaching a sensitivity and specificity of approximately 100% [7]. Abdominal MRI and liver biopsy are required for discordant or indeterminate results [27]. Bone metastases are common in lung cancer. Bone scintigraphy can detect bone metastases with high sensitivity but with a false-positive rate reaching 40% limiting its diagnostic accuracy [28]. FDG-PET is superior to bone scintigraphy with similar sensitivity and improved specificity and negative predictive value [27]. Therefore, bone scintigraphy is no longer indicated if FDG-PET/CT is obtained [5]. Brain metastases are most frequently aminophylline encountered in poorly differentiated tumors and adenocarcinomas [5]. Despite the

fact that MRI is more sensitive than CT in detecting more and smaller brain lesions, this observation was not shown in several studies to alter patient’s survival [4]. According to American College of Radiology (ACR) appropriateness criteria, cerebral imaging is used more effectively in symptomatic patients, those with advanced disease, and prior to treatment with a curative intent for T2 tumors and IIIA disease [27]. PET-CT is considered the most accurate imaging modality for the overall evaluation for lung cancer metastases. The diagnostic capabilities of FDG-PET/CT for preoperative staging of lung cancer are superior to that of PET alone or CT alone [29]. Due to normal cerebral grey matter avidity to FDG, PET has a low sensitivity (approximately 60%) for the detection of brain metastases, so dedicated brain imaging with CT or MRI remains necessary [4] and [5]. In a randomized clinical trial, Pischer et al.

The single biotic index is inadequate for describing what is goin

The single biotic index is inadequate for describing what is going on in the real world with its complex relationships among biotic and environmental variables, spatial and temporal natural variation, and multiple anthropogenic stressors, so the response is to multiply indices or to use indices selleck inhibitor to calculate super-indices which are of course even less revealing about what is actually going on. One has to ask where the supposed simplicity of indices has gone and why it wouldn’t have been better to utilize other approaches in the first place. Another problem with many indices is that they have bad statistical properties, especially those which are

ratios of variables (Sokal and Rohlf, 1973, Atchley et al., 1976, Green, 1979 and Jackson, 1997). For instance, many diversity indices are metrics that themselves are fractions or percentages of taxa out of some total. Green (1986) described how ANCOVA with log–log regression can be used to analyze ratio variables, and presented worked examples. A number of authors (e.g., Heltshe and Forrester, 1983 and Smith and Grassle, 1977) have discussed distributions of derived indices used as response variables, and have proposed nonstandard

procedures for analyzing them. However, one is still left with the sense that it ought to be possible to analyze good data using standard classical linear model normal distribution statistics, with simple transformations. Some feel that multivariate (MV) statistics are too difficult for standard use. Norris IBET762 (1995) thinks they are more sensitive for assessing perturbation than are metrics and indices, which he likes. The rest of the Reference Condition group (e.g.,

Reynoldson et al., 1997 and Bailey et al., 2004) obviously agree, as do we. However there is a common attitude that the implementation of MV approaches and assessment of their output are too complex to transmit easily to managers (Smith et al., 1999 citing Gerritsen, 1995). Perhaps what we need is better managers and better education of environmental scientists; in any case the Reference Condition approach with MV statistical implementation has spread widely (mostly outside the US) with support and funding from government “managers”. If indices must be calculated and click here presented then this should be done together with other statistical methods that retain more of the information in the biological data set, e.g., an appropriate combination of univariate (UV) and MV statistical approaches (cf. Green, 1979 and Chapman, 1996). For example, Reynoldson et al. (1997) found that precision and accuracy of MV methods were consistently higher than for multimetric assessment, but they recommended that they be used together. Smith et al., 1999 and Smith et al., 2001 used ordination to quantify a pollution gradient and then the tolerance of each species was estimated from its distribution along the gradient.