Moreover, not all meteorological variables (in particular, such elements of the land water cycle as evaporation, soil moisture, and moisture fluxes into the soil) are simulated with sufficient

reliability (IPCC 2007). Thus, for example, the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change notes that ‘evaporation fields from the ERA-40 and NRA are not considered reliable because they are not well constrained by precipitation and radiation’. For this reason, the direct use of in situ data for model results validation is more reliable. Moreover, such data are already available for analysis. The Global Soil Moisture Bank (http://climate.envsci.rutgers.edu/soil/_moisture/) (Robock et al. 2000) exists, AZD5363 nmr where data on in situ records of soil moisture have been gathered for Russia, Ukraine, USA, China, Mongolia, Brazil and some other countries for more than 30 years. Pan evaporation is measured worldwide. In some countries (e.g. Russia and the United States) the time series of this variable span more than 40–50 years. It seems appropriate

to set up a World Centre for the accumulation of pan evaporation data (as well as lysimeter data used for monitoring actual evaporation) to make them available to the scientific community (similar to the Global R428 Soil Moisture Bank). The value of this information has already been tested in climatic change assessments (see Golubev et al. 2001). These variables are not simulated in the reanalyses: soil moisture, potential evaporation and evapotransporation are the most important elements of the terrestrial water cycle. Furthermore, soil moisture characterizes the amount of water accumulating within the active (1 m) soil layer, pan evaporation can be accepted as a potential evaporation estimate, Florfenicol and lysimeter measurements from natural surfaces (unfortunately, from a very sparse network) can be used as estimates of evapotranspiration. This paper assesses the changes in the first two characteristics – soil moisture and pan evaporation – as recorded by the network of long-term meteorological stations of the former USSR and subsequently of the Russian Federation, Belarus and the Baltic

States. Quite a large area of the drainage basin of the Baltic Sea lies in Russian territory. Soil moisture observations (from the 1970s to 2000/2001) are currently available from 14 long-term stations in this region. As far as pan evaporation is concerned, there are 4 stations in Russia with observations from the 1950s to 2008 and 8 stations in the former Soviet republics with observations from the 1950s to the mid-1990s; these data are used in this analysis (Figure 1). Soil moisture data are represented by 10-day observations on soil plots with natural (mostly meadows) vegetation and on fields with winter crops during the warm period (from April to August/September). In the cold season, these observations are made on the 18th or 28th day of each month.

The reaction was performed in a modified PBS (NaCl 140 mM, KCl 10 mM, MgCl2 0.5 mM, CaCl2 1 mM, glucose 1 mg/mL and taurine 5 mM), pH 7.4. Reactions were stopped by the addition of 26.8 units/mL of catalase. Cells were then centrifuged,

the supernatant (200 μL) was collected and added with 50 μL of solution containing 2 mM of 3,30,5,50-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB), 100 μM sodium iodide, and 10% dimethylformamide in 400 mM acetate buffer. After 5 min, absorbance was recorded at 650 nm in a microplate reader and a standard curve (1–40 μM of HOCl) was used to determine the concentration of hypochlorous acid. The measurement of MPO enzyme activity was performed by oxidation of luminol in the presence of H2O2 and PMA according to Hatanaka et al. (2006). Neutrophils (2 × 106 cells/well) were exposed for 30 min, at 37 °C, with or without 2 μM of astaxanthin; 100 μM of vitamin C and/or 20 mM of glucose, and 30 μM selleck chemicals llc of MGO in the presence or absence of Ku-0059436 clinical trial PMA. After incubation, the medium was immersed into ice and centrifuged at 500g for 10 min, at 4 °C, to separate the supernatant from the cells. The supernatant was used to measure MPO activity. The reaction was run in PBS, H2O2 (0.1 mM) and luminol (1 mM), at 37 °C, in a final volume of 300 μL. Chemiluminescence was

determined in a microplate reader. Results are expressed as relative luminescence unit (RLU) of degranulation. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), EC 1.1.l.49, is a key regulatory enzyme of the oxidative segment of the pentose-phosphate pathway. It produces FAD equivalent reducing agents in the form of NADPH to meet some cellular needs for reductive biosynthesis and as a contribution to the maintenance of the cellular redox state (Costa Rosa et al., 1995). The maximum activity of this enzyme was previously described (Guerra and Otton, 2011). The extraction buffer consisted of Tris-HCl (50 mM), EDTA (1 mM) at

pH 8.0. The reaction buffer used contained Tris-HCl (86 mM), MgCl2 (6.9 mM), NADP+(0.4 mM), glucose-6-phosphate (1.2 mM) and Triton X-100 0.05% (v/v) at pH 7.6. The total volume of the sample was 374 μL. The reaction was started by adding glucose-6-phosphate to the medium. The absorbance at 340 nm was analyzed in a microplate reader (Tecan, Salzburg, Austria), and the results are expressed as nmol/min/mg of protein. Cytokines IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α were assayed in cell culture supernatant with ELISA kits according to the manufacturer’s instructions (Quantikine, R&D System, Minneapolis, MN, USA). Neutrophils (1 × 106/mL) were cultured for 18 h in the presence or absence of LPS as a stimulus (10 μg/mL). Afterwards, cells were centrifuged (1000g, 4 °C, 10 min) and the supernatant was collected and stored at −80 °C until they are used for cytokines determination. The lower limits of detection for the ELISA analyses were as follows: 1.17 pg/mL for IL-6 and 1.95 pg/mL for IL1-β and TNF-α.

3). This reduction in anxiety levels may be related to

prevention of neurodegeneration, especially in limbic system areas, such as hippocampus, thalamus and amygdala (Fig. 1). Hippocampus projects to the prefrontal cortex and has some closely connected reciprocal projections to amygdala (Bannerman et al., 2004). Thus, both hippocampal and amygdalar lesions observed after SE, may potentially be accountable by altered emotionality of animals, mainly by strong connectivity between these two limbic structures which may have an important role in brain processes associated with anxiety-like behaviors (Bannerman et al., 2004). In addition to that, thalamocortical axonal projections are responsible for conveying peripheral sensory stimuli to primary sensory cortex (Wimmer et al., 2010). HIF inhibitor Current studies (Meyer et al., 2010a, Meyer et al., 2010b and Wimmer et al., 2010) show that ventral posteromedial thalamic nucleus (VPM) and posteromedial nucleus (POm) projections establish vertical axon bundles in the vibrissal cortex through two separate pathways, lemniscal (projection arising from VPM cells) and paralemniscal (projection from POm cells) (Jones, 2002). These two pathways can regulate the same neurons in vibrissal cortex simultaneously (Wimmer et al., 2010). The elevated

neuronal loss induced by SE in VPM could disrupt these regulatory processes, leading to changes in vibrissae perception, and, consequently, elevating the expression of anxiety-like behaviors in EPM task. Nevertheless, even if ketamine post-SE onset treatment SB431542 has completely avoided neurodegeneration, the anxiety-like behaviors found in these animals were only partially prevented,

many suggesting that SE can induce behavioral changes independently of neuronal death. Previous works using a model of febrile seizures found physicochemical alterations in hippocampal and amygdalar neurons which were not accompanied by significant DNA fragmentation (Bender et al., 2003, Chen et al., 2001 and Dube et al., 2000). In addition, Hoffmann et al. (2004) observed cognitive impairment in the water maze test in the LiCl–pilocarpine model even in absence of cell loss. In our study, ketamine-blockage of NMDAR in non-SE young rats resulted in enhanced anxiety levels later in life, which adds further support to the hypothesis that emotional behavioral changes can occur separately of neuronal death. Long-term consequences, such as altered emotionality, caused by ketamine in non-SE rats can be related to ketamine influence on physiological pathways. Blockage of NMDAR in normal conditions can affect physiological processes such as long-term responses and neural plasticity. A recent study observed pro-oxidant effects of ketamine on the central nervous system after a single ketamine administration which may be related to anxiety-like behaviors (da Silva et al., 2010).

The lead levels in mainstream smoke generated under ISO and HCI machine-smoking regimes are consistent with results obtained from smaller datasets [30], [46], [48], [61], [62], [64] and [66] and R428 narrower than the range of historical results provided in an early review [65]. If adjusted for nicotine yields, the range and median values for lead yields are very similar

under both regimes, suggesting that, in contrast to cadmium yields, lead yields behave in the same way as nicotine when machine-smoking conditions are changed. The arsenic levels in mainstream smoke (for the samples above LOQ) are slightly higher than previously reported for UK brands [62], or international brands from Philip Morris [61], while their distribution is clearly narrower than the span of historical data gathered in an earlier review in which levels up to 1400 ng/cigarette had been reported [65]. Even after nicotine normalization, the range of elements yields was wide, which was a consequence of the spread

of the elements levels in tobacco. Of particular interest in the market surveys data is the fact that, at equal nicotine transfer, the cadmium transfer in a sample containing activated carbon in the selleckchem filter is much smaller than that of a sample without carbon in the filter. No such trend could be observed in the data regarding either lead or arsenic. This is readily apparent by visually comparing

Galeterone Fig. 1 and Fig. 4 – showing cadmium transfer against nicotine transfer, to the similar plots obtained for lead and arsenic, or by directly comparing cadmium and lead transfers among all samples in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8. This effect can be quantified using the slopes of the regression lines reported in Table 6. Considering the ratio of slopes as the ratio of averaged yields of samples with equal nicotine transfer, the results correspond to cadmium yields reductions in the presence of activated carbon amounting to 57% in smoke generated under the ISO machine-smoking regime and 34% under the HCI machine-smoking regime. Direct comparison of cadmium and lead transfers (Table 7) shows that for smoke generated under the ISO regime cadmium transfer is about 22% lower than that of lead. It is 15% lower under the HCI regime; the more intense puffing and the suppression of the filter ventilation weaken the efficiency of cadmium filtration. As expected, in the presence of activated carbon this difference is substantially increased. The present results are in agreement with those reported in the survey of the Japanese market [63]. The mainstream smoke yields of cadmium, lead and arsenic from cigarettes with a very high load of activated carbon (80 mg) in the filter were compared to those of the matched control.

The rate of development of M184V, K65R and M184V or K65R mutations were stratified for detectable SGI-1776 in vitro viraemia at study entry (excluding those with missing baseline viral loads). In patients with VL > 50 at baseline, 27 cases of M184V were detected over 4219 person-years follow up giving an event rate of 0.64 (0.40, 0.88)/100 PYFU. 15 cases of K65R

were detected over 4228 person-years and 33 cases of either M184V or K65R were detected over 4218 person-years giving event rates of 0.36 (0.20, 0.59)/100 PYFU and 0.78 (0.52, 1.05)/100 PYFU respectively. In patients with undetectable virus at baseline, 4 cases of M184V were detected over 4109 person-years (event rate 0.1 (0.03, 0.25)/100 PYFU), 1 case of K65R was detected over 4109 person-years (event rate 0.00(0.00, 0.09)/100 PYFU) and 33 cases Small molecule library price of M184V or K65R were detected over 4218 person-years giving an event rate of 0.12 (0.04, 0.28)/100 PYFU (Table 3). Two-hundred and one patients receiving either 3TC, TDF and EFV or FTC, TDF and EFV for the first time experienced virological failure and had resistance tests performed at time of failure. Fifty three (26.4%) patients received 3TC-based regimens and 148 (73.6%) patients received FTC-based regimens. Of those receiving 3TC, 7 (13.2%), 12 (22.6%) and 15 (28.3%) patients had K65R, M184V and either K65R or M184V respectively. Of those receiving FTC, 13 (8.8%), 20 (13.5%) and 26 (17.6%) had K65R, M184V and either K65R or M184V

respectively. Although patients receiving 3TC-based regimens were more likely to develop resistance than http://www.selleck.co.jp/products/CHIR-99021.html those receiving

FTC-based regimens, this association was not statistically significant in univariable or multivariable analyses (Table 4). In our study, failing a 3TC/TDF containing regimen was not associated with increased detection of the M184V mutation when compared with an FTC/TDF containing regimen. Our results are in contrast with previously reported data2, 16 and 18 suggesting a lower rate of M184V mutation with FTC + TDF compared with 3TC + TDF. The overall event rate for the development of M184V mutation was lower than described previously2 and 16 at 0.38/100 patient years making it difficult to draw direct comparisons with other studies. Additionally, Maserati et al., found that the 3TC/TDF group were significantly more likely to have received a suboptimal antiretroviral regimen in the past which may have introduced a bias towards an increased detection of drug resistance.16 When restricted to patients who had resistance tests available at the point of failure, the K65R mutation developed in 13.2% of patients receiving 3TC and 8.8% of patients failing an FTC/TDF combination giving an event rate of 0.21/100 person years. This compares with the 9.3% increase of K65R from baseline described by the ARCA Collaborative Group16 but differs from the lower figures described in previous studies2 and 24 and with the trend to decreasing incidence reported by de Mendoza et al.,.

19 Iohexol has been used as a satisfactory marker of GFR in adults and children, based on its ready availability, exclusive elimination by the kidneys without further metabolism, and good agreement

with inulin and 51Cr-EDTA clearances. Indeed, iohexol has been heralded as the new gold standard measure of GFR and especially in children.9 and 20 In the present study, 8 of the 14 eGFR equations evaluated demonstrated better performance than the others compared CHIR-99021 solubility dmso with mGFR. These 8 were a mix of equations based on Scr only (3/5), Scys only (1/5), and a combination of both Scr and Scys (4/4). Further analysis demonstrated that only 3 specific multivariate equations had better performance than the univariate ones. These 3 equations all included Scr, Scys, gender, and a statural growth parameter. When used in unique patient populations (ie, those with single kidney, kidney transplant, and short stature), MK-2206 mw the 3 equations demonstrated high agreement with mGFR. There are only a few studies that have compared the applicability of eGFR equations based on different included variables in children. The performance

of Scr-based equations was studied in several articles.6, 12 and 13 The bedside CKiD formula (Schwartz et al4) is the most widely used formula for eGFR in children. However it was derived from data obtained in children with CKD mGFR between 15 and 75 mL/min/1.73 m2. Several recent studies validated new Scr-based formulas for children, which all outperformed the bedside CKiD formula compared with mGFR.6, 12 and 13 Sharma et al21 studied several Scys-based equations and found the accuracy of various Scys equations varied with the actual mGFR. In a study focused on children

with a solitary functioning kidney, the authors used 6 eGFR equations based on Scr, Scys, and a combination of both variables, and found the combined formula, Schwartz et al,11 had superior precision.22 For clinical practice, we need to identify the most accurate eGFR equation that can be applied to a diverse pediatric patient population. In adults, there are several large studies capable of validating the accuracy of eGFR equations. One recent example, the Chronic Kidney Disease PRKD3 Epidemiology Collaboration, developed an equation based on Scr in 2009 and 2 others in 2012 (based on Scys alone and combined creatinine-cystatin C). They tested the 3 equations in very diverse populations with CKD and normal kidney function and found the combined creatinine-cystatin C equation performed better than equations based on either of both markers alone when compared with mGFR.2 The combined equation is commonly used in adult hospitals as the method for eGFR in adults, replacing the popular Modification of Diet in Renal Disease eGFR.3 and 23 Similarly to others in adults and children, we found that all 3 combined (Scr with Scys) equations outperformed equations that used the Scr or Scys alone.

5 and Fig. 6D and F). Immune–endocrine

associations have not been sufficiently explored in human leishmaniasis. Herein, we found a reduction in plasma concentrations of DHEA-S, prolactin and testosterone, but not of cortisol and estradiol, in LCL patients. Plasma levels of cortisol, estradiol and prolactin correlated with at least one clinical marker. There is only one study addressing an immune–endocrine imbalance in human leishmaniasis (Gallindo-Sevilla et al., 2007); this study found lower serum levels of DHEA and cortisol in diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis (DCL) patients compared with LCL patients or healthy volunteers. When DCL patients were excluded from the study, there was a statistically GSI-IX mouse significant reduction of DHEA in LCL patients compared to age-matched controls. In our study, a decrease in levels of DHEA-S was observed together with reductions in levels of prolactin and testosterone. Concentrations of cortisol and estradiol were similar between LCL patients and NV. These results are consistent with other results described in the literature and indicate that infections do not lead to a

standard pattern in neuroendocrine alteration. In some cases, infection induces a reduction and in other cases, infection induces an increase in the same or different hormones. The endocrine imbalance observed during chronic infections could be the result of the activation of various neuroendocrine axes, such as the HPA axis (hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal) and the HPG axis (hypothalamus–pituitary–gonads)

by the immune system (Besedovsky et al., 1986 and Webster et al., 2002). Some cytokines, especially IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α, can act directly on the central SB431542 nervous system (CNS), resulting in the activation of neuroendocrine axes, mainly the HPA axis (Berkenbosch et al., 1987, Holsboer et al., 1988, Naitoh et al., 1988 and Sharp et al., 1989), and hormones can influence cytokine production (Besedovsky et al., 1986). Moreover, in some types of infections, the presence of microorganisms in the glands can affect hormone secretion (Reincke et al., 1998 and Corrêa-de-Santana et al., 2006). In LCL, parasites are present almost exclusively in the skin and draining lymph nodes (de Moura et al., 2005); therefore, the endocrine second imbalance seen in LCL is unlikely to be caused by the direct presence of the parasite but instead, may be due to the action of cytokines in the CNS or glands. Plasma concentrations of some hormones evaluated in this study correlated with clinical and/or immunological parameters. IFN-γ is the hallmark cytokine of a Th1 immune response and is strongly linked to protection against leishmaniasis. Cortisol showed a positive correlation with healing time and dose of Glucantime used in the treatment and a negative correlation with levels of IFN-γ. One of the major actions of glucocorticoids is to promote a shift from a Th1 to a Th2 cytokine response (Ramírez et al., 1996 and Ashwell et al., 2000).

cereus and Gram-negative E. coli were incubated with increasing concentrations of mono-PEG-StAP3 fraction for 6 h at 37 °C. Results obtained here show that mono-PEG-StAP3 was able to kill bacterial cells in a dose-dependent manner ( Fig. 4). The antibacterial activity of mono-PEG-StAP3 was more effective against B. cereus than E. coli. The IC50 values were approximately 13.2 and 96.2 μg/ml mono-PEG-StAP3, respectively ( Table 1). The IC50 values of mono-PEG-StAP3 PI3K Inhibitor Library mw were approximately 4 times

lower on B. cereus, and approximately 1.6 times higher on E. coli compared to the StAP3 native form [30]. The greater susceptibility of mono-PEG-StAP3′s antimicrobial effect on B. cereus compared to E. coli may be accounted for the bacterial cell membrane

composition. Gram-negative bacteria have a cytoplasmatic membrane and an additional outer membrane that surrounds the cell, providing a barrier to mono-PEG-StAP3, whereas Gram-positive bacteria have only cytoplasmatic membrane [65] and [66]. In comparison, PEGylation of antimicrobial peptides see more tachyplesin I, nisin, α-defensin, and magainin with 5 kDa PEG chains led to a drastic decrease or even a complete loss of their antibacterial activities [64], [67], [68] and [69]. Nevertheless, the extent of the reduction in activity is strongly dependent on the peptide/protein evaluated. It is possible that mono-PEG-StAP3 decreases its ability to efficiently permeate the outer membrane due

to a large steric hindrance of the PEG moiety, similar to that reported for PEGylated tachyplesin I and magainin [64] and [68]. Some antimicrobial peptides such as melittin, gramicidin S, CaLL, and surfactant protein B are also cytotoxic to mammalian cells, e.g. erythrocytes [70], [71], [72] and [73]. Therefore, only antimicrobial peptides/proteins and their derivatives with high antimicrobial activity and low cytotoxicity to the healthy eukaryotic cells are of practical interest. The hemolytic activity of mono-PEG-StAP3 fraction was tested in vitro on hRBC to investigate whether PEGylation affects the selective cytotoxicity of StAP3. As shown in Table 2, mono-PEG-StAP3 did not show significant hemolytic activity at all concentrations assayed. Several reports relate the hemolytic activity of antimicrobial peptides with their capacity to Buspirone HCl strongly interact with either membranes, containing cholesterol or not [74] and [75]. As for the case of antimicrobial peptides unable to lyse red blood cells [76], the presence of cholesterol into the LUVs membranes strongly diminishes the capacity of StAsp-PSI to produce leakage at all concentration assayed [29]. The presence of cholesterol in the membranes causes a reduction in the density of hydrophilic head groups at the interfacial region of the bilayer and an increase in the packaging of the phospholipid tails in the middle of the bilayer [77].

, 1983; Griffiths and Saker, 2003; Berry et al., 2009). Since that time a great deal of attention has been dedicated to cylindrospermopsin, although there is no data in the literature reporting the dose-dependence of human beings to that toxin. Poisoning resulted from recreation ( Chorus et al., 2000; Rao

et al., 2002) and possible accumulation in the food-web ( Saker and Eaglesham, 1999); transmission from mice females to their fetuses ( Paerl et al., 2001; Codd et al., 2005; Falconer and Humpage, 2006; Rogers et al., 2007) has also been reported. Owing to its high solubility in water and low rate of bio- Seliciclib research buy and photodegradation, significant amounts of cylindrospermopsin can be expected to occur in the water column (Wormer et al., 2008, 2010). The toxin concentrations in the European environment were found to amount up to 12.1 μg/L in Germany (Rücker et al., 2007), up to 9.4 μg/L in Spain (Quesada see more et al., 2006), and up to 18.4 μg/L in Italy (Bogialli et al., 2006). US EPA classified cylindrospermopsin as

a compound with high priority for hazard characterization (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2001). Despite considerable research, much remains to be disclosed with respect to the toxicity of cylindrospermopsin. It is known that the toxin irreversibly inhibits protein synthesis. However, the mechanisms involved in its toxicity and metabolism are not well understood. Terao et al. (1994) reported ribosome detachment from the rough endoplasmic reticulum, and the linkage of an active metabolite

of cylindrospermopsin to DNA or RNA, with consequent blockage of translation, was also suggested (Shaw et al., 2000). Cylindrospermopsin can also induce DNA fragmentation, chromosome losses, and possibly carcinogenicity (Humpage et al., 2000, 2005; Falconer and Humpage, 2001; Shen et al., 2002). Cylindrospermopsin toxicity seems to present two toxic responses (Falconer, 2008): The rapid toxicity appears to be mediated by CYP450 activation, which generates more toxic metabolites, while the longer-term toxicity is due to protein synthesis inhibition (Humpage et al., Methane monooxygenase 2005). Although lethal doses of cylindrospermopsin can damage the liver, kidney, lung, heart, stomach and the vascular system (Hawkins et al., 1985), there are no reports in the literature investigating in vivo pulmonary damage produced by sub-lethal doses of cylindrospermopsin. Moreover, the understanding of the effects of these doses of the toxin is relevant because human beings are often exposed to low doses of cyanotoxins. Hence, in the present study we aimed at verifying whether a single sub-lethal dose of cylindrospermopsin can induce lung injury, and establish its putative dependence on the time elapsed since exposure. BALB/c male mice (6–7 week of age) were purchased from CEMIB (Multidisciplinary Center for Biological Investigation, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil).

, 1999, Pavlakis et al., 2001 and Kingston, 2002). In these regions, large oil spills also challenge the best-laid contingency plans, as clean-up and recovery operations require a great number of specially trained emergency teams (Doerffer, 1992, De La Huz et al., 2005 and Kirby and Law, 2010). One of the most widely documented examples of the impact of oil spills on relatively confined, environmentally sensitive shorelines is the

MV Exxon Valdez accident of 1989, South Alaska ( Petterson et al., 2003). The effects of the MV Exxon Valdez on biodiversity, and on the health of the cleaning personnel, were felt in the Prince William Sound for decades after its sinking ( Palinkas et al., 1993b, Piatt and Anderson, 1996 and Petterson Wortmannin solubility dmso et al., 2003). Nevertheless, the published literature chiefly refers to open-sea accidents such the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico ( Camili et al., 2010 and Kessler et al., 2011), or the MV Prestige and MV Erika oil spills in the North Atlantic Ocean ( Tronczynski et al., 2004, Franco learn more et al., 2006 and Gonzalez et al., 2006). This narrow pool of information poses important constraints to emergency authorities, as

open sea accidents require emergency responses distinct from oil spills occurring in topographically confined seas. Oil spills in open seas have the potential to unfold relatively slowly, but spreading through large areas to hinder any spill containment procedures (see Galt et al., 1991 and Carson et al., 1992). In contrast, oil spills in confined marine basins will potentially reach the shoreline in just a few hours, as shown by the models in this paper, but potentially dispersing through relatively small areas. In the topographically Acetophenone confined Mediterranean Sea, to quickly assess shoreline susceptibility to oil spill accidents is paramount to the management of human resources and emergency plans by civil protection

authorities. Moreover, the coordination of emergency teams in all countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea requires a swift methodology to predict oil spill spreading, dispersion and advection in sea water. This paper presents a new method to help emergency-team response to oil spills in confined marine basins, using the island of Crete as a case-study (Fig. 1a and b). The method was developed under the umbrella of European Commission’s NEREIDs project to assist local authorities operating in Crete and Cyprus, Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The method results from the urgent need to coordinate local authorities and civil protection groups in this region when of maritime and offshore platforms accidents. Such a need is particularly pressing at a time when hydrocarbon exploration and production are being equated in deep-water regions of the Eastern Mediterranean (Cohen et al., 1990 and Roberts and Peace, 2007).