An Aquatic Habitability Index is proposed, based on Quantitative Habitability Theory, and considering a very general model for life. It is a primary habitability index, measuring habitability for phytoplankton in the first place. The index is applied to some case studies, such as the habitability changes in Earth due to environmental perturbations caused by asteroid impacts.

Introduction: The life history of Aedes aegypti presents diverse challenges to its diuretic system. During the larval and pupal life stages mosquitoes are aquatic. With the emergence of the adult they become terrestrial. This shifts the organism within minutes from an aquatic environment to a terrestrial environment where dehydration has to be avoided. In addition, female mosquitoes take large ...

OBJECTIVE To study the effects of an aquatic therapy program with different frequencies (2 vs 3 days per week) in chronic low back pain. DESIGN [corrected] Non-randomized comparison trial. SETTING Sport and spa community health club. SUBJECTS Fifty-four adults with chronic low back pain (48.9 ± 10.0 years). INTERVENTION Eight-week aquatic therapy program. OUTCOME MEASURES Pain (visual...

1. The life stage suffering the highest predation rate is expected to have the highest escape performance unless developmental or functional constraints interfere. Peak aquatic escape performance in ephemeral pond-breeding amphibians is expected to develop early in the larval period, and metamorphosis is expected to reduce or completely disrupt aquatic escape performance. In anurans, exceptiona...

Surfactants have wide use all over world. This study summarizes the characteristics and classification of surfactants. Surfactants have wide application in commodity and industry. A large number of surfactant containing wastewater are discharged into the environment, resulting in harming aquatic life, polluting the water and endangering human health. Therefore, it is important to monitor and co...

Gravel-bed river floodplains in mountain landscapes disproportionately concentrate diverse habitats, nutrient cycling, productivity of biota, and species interactions. Although stream ecologists know that river channel and floodplain habitats used by aquatic organisms are maintained by hydrologic regimes that mobilize gravel-bed sediments, terrestrial ecologists have largely been unaware of the...

Water quality of the Babai River was assessed through surveying the aquatic invertebrate populations. Study was carried out at Royal Bardia National Park to observe the effect of irrigation dam on water quality through observing the aquatic benthic macro invertebrate’s composition and abundance. The Nepalese Biotic Score (NEPBIOS) method has been used for the biological water quality assessment...

Understanding phenotypic diversity requires not only identification of selective factors that favor origins of derived states, but also factors that favor retention of primitive states. Anurans (frogs and toads) exhibit a remarkable diversity of reproductive modes that is unique among terrestrial vertebrates. Here, we analyze the evolution of these modes, using comparative methods on a phylogen...

Diverse industrial wastes have aggravated the problem of water pollution. This problem becomes complex because of the non-degradability of inorganic pollutants like heavy metals. Metals have received particular attention among other non-degradable toxic chemicals because of their adverse effects on aquatic life forms. To control water pollution, the immediate problems have to be solved by adopt...

Hypersaline environments encompass aquatic and terrestrial habitats. While only a limited number of studies on the microbial diversity of saline soils have been carried out, hypersaline lakes and marine salterns have been thoroughly investigated, resulting in an aquatic-biased knowledge about life in hypersaline environments. To improve our understanding of the assemblage of microbes thriving i...