Maternal liver transplant: Another cause of discordant fetal sex determination using cell-free DNA

Noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) can very accurately determine fetal sex during pregnancy. We present an exceptional case where NIPT contradicts the ultrasound-based sex determination. The pregnant woman was recipient of a liver transplant from a male donor. Graft-derived cell-free DNA released into the maternal circulation clouded the NIPT-based sex determination. Hence, NIPT is not advisable when the pregnant mother underwent an organ transplant.     

The honey bee’s tremble dance stimulates additional bees to function as nectar receivers

If a forager bee returns to her hive laden with high-quality nectar but then experiences difficulty finding a receiver bee to unload her, she will begin to produce a conspicuous communication signal called the tremble dance. The context in which this signal is produced suggests that it serves to stimulate more bees to function as nectar receivers, but so far there is no direct evidence of this effect. We now report an experiment which shows that more bees do begin to function as nectar receivers when foragers produce tremble dances. When we stimulated the production of tremble dances in a colony and counted the number of bees engaged in nectar reception before and after the period of intense tremble dancing, we found a dramatic increase. In two trials, the number of nectar receivers rose from 17% of the colony’s population before tremble dancing to 30–50% of the population after the dancing. We also investigated which bees become the additional nectar receivers, by looking at the age composition of the receiver bees before and after the period of intense tremble dancing. We found that none of the bees recruited to the task of nectar reception were old bees, most were middle-aged bees, and some were even young bees. It remains unclear whether these auxiliary nectar receivers were previously inactive (as a reserve supply of labor) or were previously active on other tasks. Overall, this study demonstrates that a honey bee colony is able to rapidly and strongly alter its allocation of labor to adapt to environmental changes, and it further documents one of the communication mechanisms underlying this ability. Received: 31 May 1996/Accepted after revision: 9 August 1996     

Dynamics of mercury fluxes and their controlling factors in large Hg-polluted floodplain areas

Environmental pollution by mercury (Hg) is a considerable environmental problem world-wide. Due to the occurrence of Hg volatilization from their soils, floodplains can function as an important source of volatile Hg. Soil temperature and soil water content related to flood dynamics are considered as important factors affecting seasonal dynamics of total gaseous mercury (TGM) fluxes. We quantified seasonal variations of TGM fluxes and conducted a laboratory microcosm experiment to assess the effect of temperature and moisture on TGM fluxes in heavily polluted floodplain soils. Observed TGM emissions ranged from 10 to 850 ng m⁻² h⁻¹ and extremely exceeded the emissions of non-polluted sites. TGM emissions increased exponentially with raised air and soil temperatures in both field (R²: 0.49-0.70) and laboratory (R²: 0.99) experiments. Wet soil material showed higher TGM fluxes, whereas the role of soil water content was affected by sampling time during the microcosm experiments.     

Recommendations on chemicals management policy and legislation in the framework of the Egyptian–German twinning project on hazardous substances and waste management

The sustainable management of chemicals and their associated wastes—especially legacy stockpiles—is always challenging. Developing countries face particular difficulties as they often have insufficient treatment and disposal capacity, have limited resources and many lack an appropriate and effective regulatory framework. This paper describes the objectives and the approach of the Egyptian–German Twinning Project under the European Neighbourhood Policy to improve the strategy of managing hazardous substances in the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) between November 2008 and May 2011. It also provides an introduction to the Republic of Egypt’s legal and administrative system regarding chemical controls. Subsequently, options for a new chemical management strategy consistent with the recommendations of the United Nations Chemicals Conventions are proposed. The Egyptian legal and administrative system is discussed in relation to the United Nations’ recommendations and current European Union legislation for the sound management of chemicals. We also discuss a strategy for the EEAA to use the existing Egyptian legal system to implement the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, the Stockholm Convention and other proposed regulatory frameworks. The analysis, the results, and the recommendations presented may be useful for other developing countries in a comparable position to Egypt aspiring to update their legislation and administration to the international standards of sound management of chemicals.     

Synthesis of fluorinated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (F-PBDEs) as internal standards for environmental analysis

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have become widely distributed as environmental contaminants due to their wide-spread use as flame retardants. Their structural similarity to other halogenated organic pollutants, for example polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), has led to speculation that they may have similar toxicological properties and effects. Recent focus on PBDEs as possible priority pollutants has also led to an increasing need for reference standards of PBDEs for toxicological studies and for environmental analysis. In this work we synthesized a series of fluorinated PBDEs (F-PBDEs) which can be used as possible internal standards, as an alternative to high-cost alternatives, such as the (13)C-labelled analogues. F-PBDEs have been synthesized by using different coupling reactions and by bromination of fluorinated starting materials.     

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans, biphenyls, naphthalenes and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in the edible fish caught from the Baltic Sea and lakes in Finland

A total of 156 fish composite samples were collected from five areas of the Baltic Sea and from three lakes and analysed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The European Union's maximum permissible level for PCDD/Fs, 4 pg WHO-TEQ/g fresh weight (fw), was exceeded in salmon, river lamprey and Baltic herring. In other species from the Baltic Sea, the 90th percentile was 3.42 pg WHO(PCDD/F)-TEQ/g fw. In the lake fish, the concentrations of PCDD/Fs, PCBs and PCNs were only 29-46% of those in the same species caught from the Baltic Sea, whereas the concentrations of PBDEs in the lake fish were as high as in the Baltic Sea fish. Dioxin-like PCBs contributed to the total dioxin-like toxicity of PCBs and PCDD/Fs by 49+/-12% in all the analysed samples.     

Antioxidant and biotransformation enzymes in Myriophyllum quitense as biomarkers of heavy metal exposure and eutrophication in Suquía River basin (Córdoba, Argentina)

We report the evaluation of changes in water quality, increasing pollution level, of a section of Suquía River basin (Córdoba, Argentina) by using Myriophyllum quitense as bioindicator in addition to the measurement of chemical parameters, combined with chemometrics (ANOVA, Cluster and Discriminant Analysis). Myriophyllum quitense was collected upstream from Córdoba city at an unpolluted site of Suquía River basin. After collection plants were transplanted to different sites with different pollution levels. Subsequent to transplantation plants were weekly collected from the original site as well as from transplantation stations. Water quality was evaluated throughout the transplantation experiment, while the use of this macrophyte as bioindicator was verified through the activation of its antioxidant defenses and biotransformation system. Myriophyllum quitense reacts to the pollution stress increasing the activity of glutathione-S-transferases (CDNB and Fluorodifen), glutathione reductase (GR) and peroxidase (POD). Elevated enzyme activities agreed to different pollution levels, especially inorganic nitrogen loads combined with elevated lead and aluminum concentrations, all of them originated by anthropogenic activities, thus presenting Myriophyllum quitense as a good biomonitor for assessment of water quality in this polluted aquatic ecosystem.     

PCDD/Fs and PCBs in Baltic herring during the 1990s

Baltic herring samples caught from the Baltic Sea during the spring periods of 1993-1994 and 1999 were analysed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB). For analyses, 1570 individual herring were combined to 120 pools. Correlations between concentrations of congeners 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD, 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDF, 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF, and 2,3,4,6,7,8-HxCDF, and age of herring were the strongest (r>0.8) followed by correlations between PCB congeners PCB 105, 118, 126, 156, 169 and 180 (r>0.7), and age of herring. Due to higher fat percentage in herring in the Gulf of Bothnia the concentrations of PCDD/Fs and PCBs on fresh weight (fw) basis were higher than in herring in the Gulf of Finland. The concentrations of WHO(PCDD/F)-TEQs ranged from 1 to 27 pg/g fw, depending on the age and catchment area of herring, and concentrations of WHO(PCB)-TEQs reached 32 pg/g fw. Between the two studied time points no clear downward trend in concentrations was observed.