Pool of Dust Particles over the Asian Continent: Balloon-borne Optical Particle Counter and Ground-based Lidar Measurements at Dunhuang, China

Measurements of aerosols were made in 2001 and 2002 at Dunhuang (40 degrees 00'N, 94 degrees 30'E), China to understand the nature of atmospheric particles over the desert areas in the Asian continent. Balloon-borne measurements with an optical particle counter suggested that particle size and concentration had noticeable peaks in super micron size range not only in the boundary mixing layer but also in the free troposphere. Super-micron particle concentration largely decreased in the mid tropopause (from 5 to 10 km; above sea level, a.s.l.). Lidar measurements made during August 2002 at Dunhuang suggested the possibility that mixing of dust particles occurred from near the ground to about 6 km even under calm weather conditions, and a large depolarization ratio of particulate matter was found in the aerosol layer. The top of the aerosol layer was found at heights of nearly 6 km (a.s.l.). It is strongly suggested that nonspherical dust particles (Kosa particles) frequently diffused in the free atmosphere over the Taklamakan desert through small-scale turbulences and are possible sources of dust particles of weak Kosa events that have been identified in the free troposphere not only in spring but also in summer over Japanese archipelago. Electron microscopic experiments of the particles collected in the free troposphere confirmed that coarse and nonspherical particles observed by the mineral particle were major components of coarse mode (diameter larger than 1 microm) below about 5 km over Dunhuang, China.     

Land use as a mitigation strategy for the water-quality impacts of global warming: a scenario analysis on two watersheds in the Ohio River Basin

This study uses an integrative approach to study the water-quality impacts of future global climate and land-use changes. In this study, changing land-use types was used as a mitigation strategy to reduce the adverse impacts of global climate change on water resources. The climate scenarios were based on projections made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Kingdom Hadley Centre's climate model (HadCM2). The Thornthwaite water-balance model was coupled with a land-use model (L-THIA) to investigate the hydrologic effects of future climate and land-use changes in the Ohio River Basin. The land-use model is based on the Soil Conservation Service's curve-number method. It uses the curve number, an index of land use and soil type, to calculate runoff volume and depth. The ArcView programming language, Avenue, was used to integrate the two models into a geographic information system (GIS). An output of the water-balance model, daily precipitation values adjusted for potential evapotranspiration, served as one of the inputs into the land-use model. Two watersheds were used in the present study: one containing the city of Cincinnati on the main stem of the Ohio River, and one containing the city of Columbus on a tributary of the Ohio River. These cities represent two major metropolitan areas in the Ohio River Basin with different land uses experiencing different rates of population growth. The projected hypothetical land-use changes were based on linear extrapolations of current population data. Results of the analyses indicate that conversion from agricultural land use to low-density residential land use may decrease the amount of surface runoff. The land-use practices which generate the least amount of runoff are forest, low-density residential, and agriculture; whereas high-density residential and commercial land-use types produce the highest runoff. The hydrologic soil type present was also an important factor in determining the amount of runoff and non-point-source pollution. A runoff-depth matrix and total nitrogen matrix were created for Cincinnati and Columbus to describe possible land-use mitigation measures in response to global climate change. The differences in Cincinnati and Columbus were due to differences in geographic location, air temperature, and total runoff. The results of this study may be useful to planners and policy makers for defining the possible impacts of future global climate and land-use changes on water resources.     

Predator odour and its impact on male fertility and reproduction in Phodopus campbelli hamsters

 This study investigated the influence of cat urine odour in suppressing development and fertility in Campbell's hamster males. Exposure to this odour from postnatal day 11 until day 45 (sexual maturation) resulted in reduced sex organ weights, reduced testosterone levels and in an increase in abnormalities of the synaptonemal complex in both sex chromosomes and autosomes. Subsequent breeding experiments revealed a significant decrease in litter size. All these data indicate a severe effect of predator odour on the breeding success of potential prey species. It is assumed that these effects are caused by the sulphurous compounds in the urine; however, the underlying mechanisms are not yet known. Received: 31 January 2000 / Accepted in revised form: 6 June 2000     

Gold mining in Siberia and the Far East as a source of mercury contamination of the environment

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＳｉｂｅｒｉａａｎｄｔｈｅＦａｒＥａｓｔａｒｅｔｈｅｏｌｄｅｓｔａｎｄｔｈｅｒｉｃｈｅｓｔｇｏｌｄ ｍｉｎｉｎｇａｒｅａｓｏｆＲｕｓｓｉａ .Ｉｎｔｅｎｓｉｖｅｇｏｌｄ ｍｉｎｉｎｇｈｅｒｅｓｔａｒｔｅｄｉｎｔｈｅｂｅｇｉｎｎｉｎｇｏｆｔｈｅ 19ｔｈｃｅｎｔｕｒｙ(Ｖｙａｚｅｌｓｈｃｈｉｋｏｖ ,1963) .Ｆｏｒｔｈｅｍｏｓｔｐａｒｔｇｏｌｄ ｂｅａｒｉｎｇｏｒｅｓａｎｄｓａｎｄｓｗｅｒｅｐｒｏｃｅｓｓｅｄｗｉｔｈｔｈｅｕｓｅｏｆａｍａｌｇａｍａｔｉｏｎｍｅｔｈｏｄｆｏｒｇｏｌｄｅ…     

First-trimester prenatal diagnosis in quintuplets: A practical approach using step-by-step embryo reduction

A multiple pregnancy of high rank may occur in a couple at risk for a Mendelian disorder. Prenatal diagnosis is hampered by the difficulty of (1) obtaining chorionic villi from each zygote arid (2) unequivocally relating each sample to the corresponding embryo. The calculation of the genetic risk according to the number of zygotes led us to propose a diagnostic strategy based on embryo reduction, a technique initially designed to improve the perinatal outcome of multiple pregnancies with normal embryos. We report a case in which this approach allowed rational use of first-trimester chorionic villus sampling in a quintuplet pregnancy at risk for non-ketotic hyperglycinaemia, resulting in the selective birth of unaffected twins.     

石英羟基水-分子水的分馏系数与常规混合水δD分析的关系

采集了 4个不同地区花岗岩石英、热液脉石英 ,分析其中包裹体分子水与结构羟基水的含量、包裹体分子水的δDinclusion、结构羟基水的δDOH,计算了结构羟基水 包裹体分子水之间的D/H分馏系数αOH inclusion。考查了混合水 (结构羟基水 +包裹体分子水 )δDwhole water与单独包裹体水δDinclusion之间的差别 ,分析了这种差别与分馏系数αOH inclusion的关系。结果表明 :花岗岩样品中两种水之间的分馏系数小 ,分馏程度大 ,在常规分析中 ,若采用测定混合水δDwhole water值代表实际流体 (包裹体水 )δDinclusion值时 ,二者间有较大的差异。热液石英脉样品总体来说分馏系数接近于 1,分馏程度小 ,常规分析中引起的二者之间差异小。常规的分析方法用于分馏程度小的热液脉石英是可行的 ,但进行花岗岩石英水的氢同位素分析时有必要区分出包裹体水与羟基水。     

Amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein levels and prenatal diagnosis of autosomal trisomies

Pregnancies with fetal trisomy 21 have been associated with low amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein levels (AFAFP). This observation led to the suggestion that low AFAFP levels be used as a criterion for completion of a chromosomal analysis in patients who are not otherwise at increased risk for a fetal chromosome abnormality and in whom karyotyping might not have been completed for economic reasons. In order to assess the usefulness of such criteria, we reviewed the AFAFP levels of 90 cases of fetal trisomy 21, 23 cases of trisomy 18, and 10 cases of trisomy 13. These were compared with 2400 control samples with normal chromosome constitution. AFAFP levels were generally lower in pregnancies with trisomy 21, showing a median value of 0·72 MoM. However, 40 per cent of the trisomy 21 samples had AFAFP values greater than 0·8 MoM and 20 per cent were over 1·0 MoM. These data imply that over 50 per cent of Down syndrome cases might have been missed using a cut-off level of 0·70 MoM for completion of chromosome analysis. Using a higher cut-off level will leave only a small percentage of samples unkaryotyped. The distribution of AFP levels in trisomy 13 and 18 is no different from controls; we therefore believe that fetal karyotyping should be completed in every amniotic fluid sample obtained.     

Initial Homotypic Cell Pair Adhesion in Regenerating Hydra Facilitates Subsequent Adhesion of Homotypic Cells

 In Hydra vulgaris at the level of dissociated single cells endodermal cells adhere to each other more readily than to ectodermal cells at the initial adhesion. The time required for adhesion to occur between two adjacent cells is shorter for both endodermal and ectodermal homotypic cell adhesions once the initial adhesion of the first pair of cells has been established. It is confirmed that contact of an aggregated pair with additional homotypic cells facilitates the occurrence of homotypic adhesions; heterotypic adhesions are discouraged. This suggests that adhesion of homotypic cells contributes to an increased readiness for subsequent homotypic cells to adhere. Received: 25 August 1999 / Accepted in revised form: 11 January 2000