Breeding performance of seabirds reflects conditions in the marine environment, and seabirds are often considered suitable indicators because they are sensitive to variations in food supply and relatively easy to observe. However, any individual parameter (e.g. breeding success of a particular species at one site) may also be affected by drivers other than food supply, and selecting a suitable ...

The current study examines the effect of subchronic exposure to a mixture of Aroclor standards on thyroid hormone physiology and metabolism in juvenile sea bass. The contaminant mixture was formulated to reflect the persistent organic pollution to which the European sea bass population could conceivably be exposed (0.3, 0.6 and 1.0 μg Σ7PCBs per g food pellets) and higher (10 μg Σ7PCBs per g fo...

A wide variety of organisms show morphologically plastic responses to environmental stressors but in general these changes are not reversible. Though less common, reversible morphological structures are shown by a range of species in response to changes in predators, competitors or food. Theoretical analysis indicates that reversible plasticity increases fitness if organisms are long-lived rela...

Fish are highly nutritious food items. In most countries, fish is one of the significant sources of animal protein and essential nutrients for the maintenance of health and protection from different types of diseases, such as blood pressure, cancer and heart stroke [1]. Sea food products reduce vulnerability to hunger by providing a complementary food source when other food sources, such as agr...

Populations of sea urchins often fluctuate greatly in density. The density of sea urchins is usually inversely correlated with the abundance of macrolagae. It is argued that fluctuations in density are a predictable consequence of the unique morphology and physiology of sea urchins. An extraordinary ability to accomodate food Limitation through variations in growth rate means that surv~vorship ...

As an illustration of the usefulness concept water-agro-food systems, this paper describes mechanisms behind nitrogen cascade from agricultural soils to coastal sea rivers through aquifers, riparian wetlands, and streams estuary, for case study Seine river watershed its receiving sea. It is stressed that structure agro-food system, i.e. way food production trade, as well consumption waste manag...

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE Intestinal parasitic and bacterial infections constitute a major health issue in developing countries. The present study investigates and assesses infection rates among food handlers with intestinal parasites and microbial agents in luxurious hotels in the Dead Sea area of Jordan. METHODS A total of 901 stool samples were collected from food handlers (35 females and 866 mal...

Adult Paracentrotus lividus were exposed to a 14C-labelled PCB congener (PCB#153) using two different exposure modes: (1) the surrounding sea water and (2) the food (viz. the phanerogam Posidonia oceanica and the brown alga Taonia atomaria). Uptake kinetics from water and loss kinetics after single feeding were followed in four body compartments of the sea urchins (body wall, spines, gut and go...

Background: Staphylococcus aureus, a Gram-positive bacterium, is the most prevalent   food-borne pathogen in most regions of the world. The current study was carried out with the aim of S. aureus isolation from shrimps sold in Tehran, Iran. Furthermore, the genes of mecA as indicator of methicillin-resistant S. aureus, sea, seb, and tsst encoding enterotoxins were studied in the S. au...

Sea cucumbers have been valued for many centuries as a tonic and functional food, dietary delicacies and important ingredients of traditional medicine in many Asian countries. An assortment of bioactive compounds has been described in sea cucumbers. The most important and abundant secondary metabolites from sea cucumbers are triterpene glycosides (saponins). Due to the wide range of their poten...