Relative to a passive viewing condition, deploying object-based a

Relative to a passive viewing condition, deploying object-based attention resulted in widespread activation in early visual and occipitotemporal cortex as well as in regions of the frontoparietal network. Across all regions of interest (ROIs), overall response magnitude did not reflect which of the two triangles was currently task-relevant. In contrast, multivariate classification analyses revealed that distributed

patterns of activity in a number of ROIs, including IPS and FEF, did differ depending on which triangle was attended. Akin to theories of space-based and feature-based EX 527 supplier attention, these results support the hypothesis that source regions in the frontoparietal network generate object-specific biasing signals that modulate sensory processing of objects in visual cortex. However, future studies utilizing methods such as TMS that allow for stronger causal inferences regarding the functional relationship between frontoparietal and visual regions are needed to further corroborate this supposition. To date, there are no published studies that implicate the frontoparietal attention network in the selection at the level of object categories. However, it is conceivable that at least a subset of regions within the network are also involved in the generation of category-specific control signals. For instance, a series of monkey physiology studies using a delayed-match-to-category

paradigm has revealed that neurons in LIP can flexibly encode information about category membership 33, 34 and 35]. Interestingly, Sirolimus category-specific responses were maintained during a delay period, in the absence of any visual stimulation, reminiscent of an attention signal. Further support that the network is involved in the control of category-based attention derives from

a preliminary report that activation patterns within posterior IPS regions carry information about the current attentional set during a real-world visual search task [K.N. Seidl-Rathkopf. et al., abstract 43.562, 14th Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, St. Pete Beach, FL, May 2014]. In many of the imaging studies described Tangeritin above — spanning all forms of top-down selection — broad swaths of the frontoparietal network are implicated as contributors to attentional control 6••, 24•• and 25••]. This suggests that these complex attention mechanisms are likely supported by distributed networks across sites of control. A handful of human studies have utilized either functional or structural connectivity methods in an effort to elucidate distributed networks within frontoparietal cortex 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41], and often broad connectivity patterns between FEF and IPS are revealed. However, in many cases IPS is not fully parcellated (as with, e.g., topographic mapping), limiting the interpretability of the results.

This number was divided by the known total number of PBL added, t

This number was divided by the known total number of PBL added, to obtain the percentage of the see more PBL that had adhered. At the endothelial layer, the PBL count was divided into those which were phase bright (above EC; fraction X) and those which were phase dark (migrated just below EC; fraction

Y). From these counts and the sum of PBL further into the gel (fraction Z), the percentages of adherent PBL that had undergone transendothelial migration ((Y + Z) / (X + Y + Z)) × 100% and the percentage of migrated cells that had penetrated into the collagen gel (Z / (Y + Z)) × 100% were calculated. The vertical position of those cells within the gels was also recorded. This was done by counting PBL in 18 μm ‘slices’ made up from 5 consecutive images (starting after the image of the endothelial monolayer referred to above), and assigning them a depth equal to the midpoint of that slice. The average depth of penetration was calculated by multiplying the midpoint depth by the number of cells found within that slice (averaged for the 5 fields), summing these values, and dividing the sum by the total number

of cells in the stack. The total gel thickness was also measured (from endothelial layer to base of dish), and the proportion of PBL within the upper and lower halves of the gel was also calculated. In addition, fibroblasts in the gel were counted and depth assigned in a similar manner; these large extended cells could appear in multiple images, and their nucleus was used to assign location. Several variants on this procedure were used for comparison. PBL were added to HUVEC on ‘empty’ gels, or added to Gefitinib order gels which contained fibroblasts but did not have an endothelial layer, or added to empty gels. Incubation and analysis of numbers and position of cells were carried out essentially as before. Percentage of PBL entering the gels in the latter cases (without a HUVEC layer) were calculated from the total number Protein kinase N1 added to the top of the gel or relative

to the blank gel control. In separate assays, with HUVEC cultured on filters above gels (Fig. 1C), PBL were added to the filter and incubated as above for 24 h. At that time, non-adherent cells were washed from the filter and counted, the filter was removed, and the gel was then analysed as above for the number and position of PBL on or in it. In some cases, the culture was then returned to the incubator, and position of PBL re-evaluated after a further 20 h. At the end of the imaging of gels, constructs in which endothelial cells were cultured on the surface of the gel were treated with dispase II (1 mg/ml; Sigma) for 15 min to dissociate the endothelial monolayer and lymphocytes associated with it. After microscopic check of dissociation, the cells were collected using two washes with M199BSA. For gels without endothelial monolayers, non-adherent cells were collected from the top by two similar washes.

unkrauttagung de 7th INTERNATIONAL IPM SYMPOSIUM 2012 – March USA

unkrauttagung.de 7th INTERNATIONAL IPM SYMPOSIUM 2012 – March USA, in planning phase E. WolffE-mail: [email protected]

*8th CONGRESO ARGENTINO DE ENTOMOLOGIA 17–20 AprilBariloche, ARGENTINA Info: http://tinyurl.con/659gqpz VI INTERNATIONAL WEED SCIENCE CONGRESS 17–22 JuneDynamic Weeds, Diverse Solutions, Hangzhou CHINA H.J. Huang, IPP, CAAS, No. 2 West Yuanmingyuan Rd., Beijing 100193, CHINA Fax/voice: 86-10-628-15937 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.iwss.info/coming_events.asp 2nd MEETING OF THE TEPHRID WORKERS OF EUROPE AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST 02–06 July Kolymbari Crete, GREECE Info: [email protected] 2nd INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM–TEPHRITID WORKERS OF EUROPE, AFRICA, AND Ceritinib research buy THE MIDDLE EAST 03–06 July Kolymbari, Crete, selleck chemicals GREECE N. Papadopoulos E-mail: [email protected]: www.diptera.info/news.php *8th MEETING OF TEPHRID WORKERS OF THE

WESTERN HEMISPHERE 30 July–03 AugustPanama City, PANAMA Info: www.8twwh.org *JOINT MEETING ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETIES OF CANADA and ALBERTA 04–07 NovemberEdmonton, ALB, CANADA Info: www.esc-sec.ca/annmeet.html 2013 INTERNATIONAL HERBICIDE RESISTANCE CONFERENCE 18–22 February Perth, AUSTRALIA S. Powles, AHRI, School of Plant Biol., Univ. of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy., Crawley, Perth 6009, WA, AUSTRALIA Fax: 61-8-6488-7834 Voice: 61-8-6488-7870 E-mail: [email protected] AMERICAN PHYTOPATHOLOGICAL SOCIETY ANNUAL MEETING 10–14 August Providence, RI, USA Info: APS, 3340 Pilot Knob Rd., St. Paul, MN 55121, USAFax: 1-651-454-0755 Voice: 1-651-454-3848 E-mail: [email protected] eltoprazine Web: www.apsnet.org Full-size table Table options

View in workspace Download as CSV “
“Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder that affects approximately 10%−15% of the population in Western countries.1 IBS is characterized by recurrent abdominal discomfort and pain associated with altered bowel habits.2 Currently, IBS subtypes are determined by stool consistency pattern and include diarrhea (IBS-D), constipation , or mixed constipation and diarrhea. IBS can negatively impact an individual’s quality of life and results in significant direct and indirect costs.3 Current safe and effective pharmacologic treatments for IBS-D are limited and include antispasmodics, antidepressants, antidiarrheal agents, and alosetron.4 Opioid receptors, including μ, δ, and κ, are expressed along the gastrointestinal tract and play a key role in regulating gastrointestinal motility, secretion, and visceral sensation.5 and 6 Exogenous opioids reduce gastrointestinal transit through activation of μ-opioid receptor (MOR) and can treat diarrhea in acute situations.7 Agents that simultaneously activate MOR and antagonize δ-opioid receptor (DOR) have differential gastrointestinal effects and can possess increased analgesic potency compared with pure MOR agonists.

No association with the diagnosis of major depressive episode dur

No association with the diagnosis of major depressive episode during the course of IFN-α therapy was observed genotype or allele-wise (p > 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analyses including fibrosis, current major depression, current anxiety disorder,

report of psychiatric treatment, current suicide risk, current BDI and HADS scores, as well as the genotype groups and genetic ancestry estimations, confirmed the lack of association Selleck BMS-354825 between the rs10089084 (OR = 1.17; 95% CI = 0.56–2.45; p = 0.676) and the rs3824259 polymorphisms (OR = 1.10; 95% CI = 0.50–2.41; p = 0.810), and the diagnosis of IFN-α-related depression. The enzyme IDO is known to act by metabolizing tryptophan in serotonin and kynurenine. Although the role of IDO in IFN-α-induced depression is supported by many

studies (Wichers and Maes, 2002, Bonaccorso et al., 2002, Capuron and Miller, 2004 and Comai et al., 2011), to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the influence of the genetic variants of this enzyme and the diagnosis of major depression during the course of IFN-α therapy. Contrary to our hypothesis, no association between the rs3824259, rs10089084, and rs35099072 polymorphisms and IFN-α-related depression was indentified. We accounted for the potential bias related to population stratification Selleckchem Cyclopamine in the Brazilian ethnically heterogeneous population using thirty-five AIMs that show large differences in allele distribution among the three main ethnic groups (European, African and Indigenous). However, the inclusion of the estimated ancestry did not affect the genetic association results.

It is important to note that the high level of admixture found in our sample has a strong influence on the haplotype structure of the gene, and therefore other SNPs in and around the gene should be further evaluated before any conclusion regarding the effect of the IDO gene variation in the predisposition of IFN-α-related depression can be reached. In addition, power calculation revealed that the total sample has approximately 80% power to detect differences in genotype group frequency > 18%, assuming the frequency of 46.8% and 63.5% of the CG/GG and GT/GG genotype groups among individuals who have not developed IFN-α-related depression, for the rs10089084 and rs3824259, respectively. The fact that oxyclozanide an association between these polymorphisms and the diagnosis of depression related to IFN-α therapy was not found in our HCV patients suggests that other genetic variations either influence or are influenced by IDO and its metabolites’ actions. Indeed, polymorphisms of pro-inflammatory cytokines that may be associated to the overstimulation of IDO, such as IL-6 (Bull et al., 2009) and IL-28B (Lotrich et al., 2010), of the IFN-α-receptor 1 (Yoshida et al., 2005), the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) (Bull et al., 2009 and Lotrich et al., 2009), and the serotonin-1A receptor gene (HTR1A) (Kraus et al.

Alimentary-dependent diseases are currently called “epidemics” of

Alimentary-dependent diseases are currently called “epidemics” of civilization, as evidenced by an increase in of their frequency and severity

as well as by many long-term adverse health effects [5], [6], [7], [8] and [9]. About 35% of diseases in children aged less than 5 years are associated with certain nutritional disorders. WHO estimated that globally in 2012, 162 million children under five were stunted and Wnt inhibitor 51 million had a low weight-for-height ratio, mainly as a consequence of improper feeding or recurrent infections, while 44 million were overweight or obese. Few children receive nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods. In many countries only a third of breastfed infants aged of 6–23 months receive complementary feeding which is appropriate to their age criteria of dietary diversity and feeding frequency [17]. According to a national population-based study in the U.S. that evaluated feeding habits of children during the first 4 years of life in 2008 comparing to 2002 the proportion of infants who were breastfed at 8 and 12 months as well as the average age of children at the time of solid food introduction increased. However, the level of unmodified cow’s milk consumption during the first year of life (17% in 2008 vs. 20% in 2002) and skim milk intake in the second year of life (20–30% vs. 20–40% respectively) did not change [18]. Consumption of fruits and vegetables

Epacadostat by all children aged 6 months – 4 years remained insufficient also. Specifically, 30% of them did not eat any vegetables and 25% – any fruits on the survey day [19]. At the same time, fried potato was the favorite vegetable dish in children older than 2 years. The diet of many children aged 1–3 years did not contain enough vitamin E, potassium and dietary fiber, but

too much sodium, and some of them did not consume enough iron and zinc [18]. The ratio between separate nutrients was broken, in particular, the diet proportion of fat did not provide 30–40% of energy needs, primarily due to excessive protein intake [20]. In children older 12 months the diet diversity was becoming narrower with a negative tendency to increase the proportion of nutritionally inadequate snacks, sweets, sugary and carbonated beverages. The study conducted in 2012 in Russia also found a high Branched chain aminotransferase prevalence of various nutritional violations leading to the emergence of various deficient conditions in children aged of 13–36 months [21]. Taking into account the importance of balanced nutrition in early childhood, its impact on the subsequent formation of the body tissues and maintaining health, epidemiological observational studies for comprehensive assessment of nutrition in young children are of paramount importance. Nowadays in Ukraine we are limited with scientific data about nutritional status of young children, prevalence of eating behavior disorders and deficits in basic macro- and micronutrients in children’s diet.

In short, livelihood and socio-economic outcomes from MPAs vary w

In short, livelihood and socio-economic outcomes from MPAs vary widely and can range from very positive to very negative depending on the context and inputs. In order for MPAs to be successful over the long-term, both substantive outcomes and procedural inputs need to be taken into account. One shortcoming of much prior research on MPA effectiveness is that outcomes are measured without adequate information about whether or which management actions are being taken. Achieving Selleck CAL-101 outcomes requires attention to three categories of inputs: governance,

management and local development. Why these three categories? First, they correspond with three complementary but distinct strands of literature on creating effective PAs and MPAs. All three categories are important considerations to ensure the longevity, and thus effectiveness of MPAs [9] and [101]. Second, governance and local development considerations are often encompassed conceptually under management, which is problematic for several reasons: (a) subsuming governance or development under the auspices of management does not do justice to the full complexity of governance Epacadostat research buy or development processes; (b) different individuals or organizations may be better positioned – in terms of knowledge, skills, and affiliations – to

address each category of inputs (e.g., managers may not have the training or skills to support development initiatives); and, (c) governance is an umbrella term which refers to the institutions, structures and processes which determine how and whether management can function effectively to address societal or environmental issues whereas management is the “resources, plans, and actions that are a product of applied governance” [102].

A more in depth discussion of governance is provided in Section 3.2. Third, there are inherent feedbacks between the three categories of inputs (Fig. 2). The relationship between environmental conservation cum management tuclazepam and local livelihoods and socio-economics is not linear with improvements in one resulting in the other (or vice versa). The interdependency between conservation and local development demands that both are addressed simultaneously while also confronting procedural or governance considerations. Governance institutions and processes, for example, provide a supportive policy environment for effective management and enable the achievement of beneficial development outcomes. Governors, which refers to the individuals who are responsible for creating legislation, policy and institutions, are also responsible for establishing “good” procedures – fair, equitable, participatory, legitimate, transparent, accountable, integrated, adaptable – for development and management. Successful development is important as it provides the finances needed for both governance and management, engenders support for MPA management, and contributes to the effectiveness and sustainability of governance structures.

Likewise, the volume of enhancing tumor [qEASL (cm3)] did not sho

Likewise, the volume of enhancing tumor [qEASL (cm3)] did not show any statistically significant difference (P = .270), while the percentage of enhancing tumor [qEASL (%)] decreased significantly (P = .016), reflecting tumor necrosis induced by TACE.

As opposed to the target lesions, non-target lesions showed statistically significant increase in all conventional this website criteria as well as in vRECIST and qEASL (cm3), while the percentage of enhancing tumor [qEASL (%)] remained stable. Table 5 summarizes the tumor response in all patients according to target and non-target lesions. No new lesion appeared in the study population between the pretreatment and 3 to 4 weeks posttreatment MR imaging. When using WHO measurements, six patients (40%) had SD and the remaining nine patients (60%) had PD. According to RECIST, eleven patients (73%) had SD and four patients (27%) had PD. Thus, the use of both

anatomic conventional criteria did not classify any patients as responders after TACE and no comparative survival analysis between Olaparib responders and non-responders could be performed. When stratifying according to the EASL guideline, one patient (7%) showed PR, one patient (7%) had SD, and thirteen patients (86%) had PD. According to mRECIST, four patients (27%) showed PR, five patients (33%) had SD, and six patients (40%) had PD. The overall rate of responders was higher for mRECIST as compared to EASL (27% and 7%, respectively). When quantifying tumor response with vRECIST, nine patients (60%) showed SD and six patients (40%) showed PD. When using qEASL (cm3), four patients

(26.7%) showed PR, four patients (26.7%) had SD, and seven patients (46.6%) had PD. As for qEASL (%), five patients (33.3%) showed PR, nine patients (60%) had SD, and one patient (6.7%) had PD. At the time of the redaction of the present study, all patients were dead. The median overall survival of the entire cohort was 5.6 months (95% CI = 2.6 months, 12.2 months). All patients were non-responders using the anatomic criteria WHO, RECIST, and vRECIST; thus, no stratification was possible and no survival data could be calculated. For DAPT concentration the remaining criteria, Figure 2 illustrates the survival analysis according to the target lesion response and Figure 3 illustrates the survival analysis according to overall response (target and non-target lesions). Whether using the analysis based on target lesions or the overall response, there was no significant difference in responders and non-responders as assessed according to EASL and mRECIST (Table 6). However, quantitative volumetric assessment according to qEASL (cm3) was the only criteria that showed a significant difference in responders and non-responders according to response based on target lesions with a median survival of 3.6 versus 40.5 months (HR = 0.00; 95% CI = 0.00-0.34; P < .001), respectively, and according to overall response with a median survival of 4.

La pubblicazione prevede un sistema di peer review rivolto in par

La pubblicazione prevede un sistema di peer review rivolto in particolare a giovani ricercatori desiderosi di divulgare i loro primi risultati scientifici. Sono graditi studi empirici sia di ordine qualitativo sia quantitativo, così come saggi teorici, filosofici, programmatici, sociologici o di storia delle scienze, provenienti

da tutte le aree dell’educazione scientifica (scienze della vita, fisica, chimica, scienze della terra e integrate) e destinati a gruppi di discenti di ogni età. In questo senso, PriSE vuole accomunare ricercatori alle prime armi e ricercatori con esperienza, insegnanti e persone impegnate in ambito scolastico, intenzionati a dare delle risposte ai quesiti scientifici illustrati sopra e a proporre Doxorubicin ic50 soluzioni

per uno sviluppo sostanziale dell’educazione scientifica nella scuola e al di fuori di essa, nell’ottica di coinvolgere un gran numero di nazioni e comunità linguistiche. Urs Crizotinib chemical structure Kocher Andreas Müller Nicolas Robin Markus Wilhelm The Editors:Urs Kocher, Scuola universitaria professionale della Svizzera italiana, LocarnoAndreas Müller, Université de Genève Nicolas Robin, Pädagogische Hochschule St. GallenMarkus Wilhelm, Pädagogische Hochschule Luzern “
“Several recent reviews point out that context-based approaches and real-life connections are currently considered as a central issue in science education in general (Fensham, 2009 and Bennett et al., 2007) and in physics education in particular (Taasoobshirazi and Carr, 2008, Kuhn, 2005, Kuhn, 2010, Kuhn and Müller, 2005a and Kuhn and Müller, 2005b). In a broad understanding of the term, context based science education (CBSE) is defined as “using concepts and process skills in real-life contexts that are relevant to students from diverse backgrounds” (Glynn and Koballa,

2005, p. 75). Making (or trying to do so) science issues relevant to students themselves, their families and their peers is opposed to the wide-spread perception of especially physics (or more generally: science) as being dry, impersonal and Sodium butyrate irrelevant, and this is supposed to have positive effects both on motivation and learning (Bennett et al., 2007). PISA (OECD, 2006) follows a similar understanding of CBSE, repeatedly emphasizing the importance of tasks and problems “that could be part of the actual experience or practice of the participant in some real-world setting”, and it “places most value on tasks that could be encountered in a variety of real-world situations” (as can be seen also from the very items used in the study). Moreover, PISA points out the following feature of context-based learning: problems encountered in real-world settings are usually not stated in the disciplinary terms to be learned or applied. Thus, a kind of “translation”, i.e. a terminological and conceptual reframing is initiated, representing an important step of cognitive activation.

Along this salinity gradient, the basin of the Gulf of Riga has o

Along this salinity gradient, the basin of the Gulf of Riga has one of the lowest macrovegetation species diversities. The Gulf of Riga has a surface area of 17913 km2, a volume of 406 km3, a maximum depth of 52 m and an average depth of 23 m. The average salinity in the gulf is 5.6. Outside the straits, the currents in the practically tideless buy GSI-IX Estonian coastal sea are meteorologically driven and generally neither persistent nor strong (Suursaar et al.

2012). Because of the semienclosed configuration of the study area and the presence of some shallow bays exposed to the direction of the strongest expected storm winds, the sea level variability range is up to 4 m in Pärnu Bay and about 3 m elsewhere in the gulf (Jaagus & Suursaar 2013). As a result of the small area of the gulf (140 × 150 km2), significant wave heights (Hs) may reach

4 m when a storm wind blows from the direction of the longest fetch for a particular location (Suursaar et al. 2012). Long, relatively calm periods are interspersed with occasional wind and wave storms without a noteworthy swell-component. In general, the swash climate associated with low-energy dissipative beaches (with wide surf zones and flat beach profiles) supports an abundant coastal life (Lastra et al. SB431542 supplier 2006). As the beach type changes towards reflective conditions with short surf zones, coarse bottom substrates and steep slopes, the increasingly inhospitable swash climate gradually excludes sensitive species. The specific study locations at Kõiguste (58°22′N, 22°59′E), Sõmeri (58°21′N, 23°44′E) and Orajõe (57°57′N, 24°23′E; Figure 1) are predominantly low-energy beaches with low-lying hypsometric curves. The bottom substrate varies between sandy and morainic (Martin 1999). According to earlier studies, the three areas showed slightly different patterns of phytobenthic communities. While the Kõiguste area was characterised by high coverage and biomass, the other areas had a lower coverage and biomass of benthic vegetation (Martin 2000). According to previous studies, the most frequent

species were filamentous algae such as Ceramium tenuicorne (Kützing) Waern, Polysiphonia fucoides (Hudson) Greville, Pilayella second littoralis (Linnaeus) Kjellman and Battersia arctica (Harvey) Draisma, Prud’homme & H. Kawai in the Gulf of Riga ( Martin 1999). Recently, the filamentous red alga P. fucoides occurred most frequently and with high coverage in all the areas studied ( Kersen 2012). Sampling of the seabed phytobenthic community was carried out in three areas (Kõiguste, Sõmeri and Orajõe) in the northern Gulf of Riga (Figure 1) in May, July and September 2011. In each area, macrophyta were observed along three parallel transects placed perpendicularly to the shoreline with a distance of 500 m between the transects. The length of the transect was 2–4 km depending on the area. The depth intervals of the sampling sites along the transects were 1–1.5 m.

(1997)) was moderately but statistically significantly correlated

(1997)) was moderately but statistically significantly correlated with shell length of D. polymorpha (Spearman r = 0.421, n = 240, p < 0.001 for C. acuminatus and Spearman r = 0.318, n = 240, p < 0.001 for Ophryoglena selleck products sp.). As concluded by the corresponding Poisson log-linear models, the numbers of ciliates were also positively associated with water temperature, but not salinity ( Table 1 and Table 2). In addition to the host-specific C. acuminatus and Ophryoglena sp., we occasionally encountered zebra mussels whose mantle cavities contained live nematodes. These unidentified

worms were observed in D. polymorpha collected from August to October, and were consistently found only in molluscs with shell length > 15 mm. The number of nematodes in infected zebra mussels never exceeded 1, with the prevalence of infection being 10% in August and September, and 15% in October. Although Dreissena polymorpha has been present in the Curonian Lagoon for about 200 years ( Leppäkoski & Olenin 2000), our study is the first report of endosymbionts in the mollusc from this part of the Baltic Sea, and also the first record of the ciliates Conchophthirus acuminatus and Ophryoglena sp. in

Lithuanian populations of zebra mussels. There have been occasional studies of the parasites of D. polymorpha in Lithuania related to the cytogenetics of the trematodes Phyllodistomum folium Olfers, 1817 and Bucephalus polymorphus Baer, 1826, hosted by the mollusc in freshwater lakes; however, no data on the levels of Anti-infection Compound high throughput screening infection have been reported for these parasites ( Petkevičiūtė et al., 2003 and Stunžėnas et al., 2004). In the 1950s, a study similar to ours was conducted by Raabe Inositol oxygenase (1956) in the brackish Vistula Lagoon (0.5–6.5 PSU (Chubarenko & Margonski 2008)) of the Baltic Sea, Poland. The author found two species of ciliates infecting

zebra mussels, i.e. C. acuminatus and Hypocomagalma dreissenae Jarocki & Raabe, 1932. The presence of C. acuminatus in both the Curonian and Vistula Lagoons is not surprising and in line with the ubiquitous distribution of this protozoan in European populations of D. polymorpha ( Molloy et al., 1997, Karatayev et al., 2007 and Mastitsky et al., 2008). There could be two major reasons for the absence of H. dreissenae in our samples, the first one being the ecology of this ciliate. H. dreissenae prefers saline waters ( Raabe, 1956 and Jankowski, 2001), so that the rather low salinity levels in the central part of the Curonian Lagoon ( Figure 2) as compared to the truly brackish Vistula Lagoon ( Raabe, 1956 and Rolbiecki and Rokicki, 2008) could have prevented H. dreissenae from developing a detectable population. The second reason could be associated with the dissection technique used in our study: H. dreissenae are of rather small size (length 32–50 μm; Molloy et al. 1997), which makes it difficult to detect this ciliate without histological analysis. In contrast, Ophryoglena sp.