Endpoint entity

Analysis of effects A phase in an ecological risk assessment in which the relationship between exposure to contaminants and effects on endpoint entities and properties is estimated along with associated uncertainties. 

Conceptual model A representation of the hypothesized causal relationship between the source of contamination and the response of the endpoint entities. 

Endpoint entity An organism, population, species, community, or ecosystem that has been chosen for protection. The endpoint entity is 1 component of the definition of an assessment endpoint. 

In exposure assessment Organism, population, or community that is exposed to contaminants. Receptors may or may not be assessment endpoint entities. 

SWIM-TI infrastructure is a set of software components distributed in the network infrastructure, providing attributes for the collaboration between s3istems. These attributes are appropriate for the set of nodes in SWIM (endpoint entities) and common components (ensuring appropriate features in all distributed nodes in SWIM). Therefore, the idea of nodes in SWIM presents a set of features and capabdities of SWIM-TI infrastructure, allowing a given system the use of its solutions. 

Assessment endpoint An explicit expression of the enviromnental value that is to be protected, operationally defined by an ecological entity and its attributes. For example, sahnon are valued ecological entities reproduction and age-class structure are some of their important attributes. Together salmon reproduction and age-class structure form assessment endpoints. 

Once protection goals have been chosen, the selection of appropriate entities to protect in the environment (assessment endpoints) is important in assessing risk. Poorly selected assessment endpoints have resulted in more failures in the risk assessment process than any other possible errors in the process [14]. Assessment endpoints are explicit expressions of the actual valued ecosystem components (organisms, populations, or communities) or ecosystem functions that are to be... 

Assessment end points are explicit expressions of the actual environmental value that is to be protected and they link the risk assessment to management concerns. Assessment end points include both a valued or key ecological entity and an attribute of that entity that is important to protect and that is potentially at risk. The scientific basis for a risk assessment is enhanced when assessment end points are both ecologically relevant and susceptible to the stressors of concern. Assessment endpoints that also logically represent societal values and management goals will increase the likelihood that the risk assessment will be understood and used in management decisions. 

Assessment endpoint An explicit expression of the environmental value to be protected. An assessment endpoint must include an entity and specific property of that entity. 

On the other hand, several investigators (6, 7) have taken another approach, based on pattern recognition. These dichotomous models search for agreement between dependent variables i.e., whether a chemical entity or substructure can be associated with a particular toxic property. For example, certain N-nitrosamine groups are associated with tumors in animals. Since this consideration is not dependent on a relationship between the endpoint and the dose, the quantitative term is dropped from QSAR and the effort simply named SAR. This approach is best expressed by the dependent equation ... 

Problem formulation. Within this process all available information about a contaminated site is collected including the nature of the contaminants and their sources, obvious effects and potential receptors as well as environmental recipients. Within this very first stage of the risk assessment procedure, an assessment endpoint has to be determined. Assessment endpoints are the expression of an environmental value (represented by an ecological entity) that is at risk, e.g. a distinct population that faces harm due to pollution. It has to be emphasised that toxicity-test endpoints or other measurement endpoints (in general, measured effects under test conditions) in most cases do not represent assessment endpoints (response of population or ecosystem in the field). Measurement endpoints should be representative for assessment endpoints or have a known relationship to the assessment endpoint allowing the extrapolation of data. 

Carcinogenicity and mutagenicity are two of the most important endpoints in toxicity assessment of new chemical entities. Thus the ability to predict and minimize human health and environmental burden has accelerated rigorous QSAR analysis of specific classes of molecules in these areas. Many excellent reviews on this subject are available in the literature. ... 

Selecting assessment endpoints (e.g., a species, a functional group of species, a community or other entity of concern) are critical because they construct the... 

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