Tar pollution event (2021) at the Southeastern Levantine oligotrophic basin, short-term impacts and operational oceanography perspectives.

The Levantine basin (LB) in the Southeastern Mediterranean Sea is a high-risk oil pollution hot spot owing to its dense maritime traffic and intense oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities. In February 2021 the Israeli LB shorelines were impacted by an exceptional tar pollution event (~550 tons; average distribution: ~3 kg tar m-1 front beach) of an unknown oil spill source. Here we report on the immediate numerical modelling assessment of the oil spill propagation and tar distribution; operational use of underwater gliders for tracking water column anomalies of dissolved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and turbidity signals; the beached tar composition and amounts and the short-term response of the microbial population along the ~180 km shoreline. This pollution event emphasizes the need for improving the early warning systems for oil spills and implementing continuous operational monitoring at high-risk, ecologically sensitive and valuable resource areas like the Israeli LB waters.

Normative values for female genital sensation.

OBJECTIVES: Neurologic disorders might be responsible for many cases of female sexual dysfunction. Yet, they are currently undiagnosed because of the lack of measurement tools to assess genital neural function. Therefore, our objective is to provide norms for sensory thresholds in the vagina and clitoris, for a wide range of patient ages. METHODS: Vaginal and clitoral warm, cold, and vibratory sensory thresholds were measured in 89 healthy paid volunteers by the method of limits. Normograms were derived from this group of healthy volunteers. An additional 61 patients were also tested, for a total of 150 individuals. Sixty-two individuals (42 healthy volunteers and 20 patients) from the total group were tested twice to provide test-to-test repeatability data across the range of clinical (normal and abnormal) responses. RESULTS: Normograms are presented, providing age-corrected upper and lower normal values, expressed as 95% confidence limits for warm, cold, and vibratory thresholds. Intertest repeatability is also reported. CONCLUSIONS: Thermal and vibratory thresholds of both the vaginal and clitoral region are clinically feasible, valid, and repeatable. These can be applied as a valuable diagnostic tool to assess neural dysfunction through sensory assessment of the female genitalia.