First-trimester prenatal diagnosis of aspartylglucosaminuria

Fetal aspartylglucosaminuria (AGU) was studied during the first trimester of pregnancy in six at-risk pregnancies using chorionic villus samples. The activity of aspartylglucosaminidase (AGA) was high in five cases, indicating an unaffected fetus. This was confirmed through delivery of healthy newborns with a normal pattern of urinary oligosaccharides. Low enzyme activity in an uncultured biopsy specimen and in cultured amniotic fluid cells in one case demonstrated that the fetus was affected. The pregnancy was terminated and the prenatal diagnosis was confirmed by showing reduced AGA activity in cultured fibroblasts of the fetus.     

A decision tree approach modelling functional group abundance in a pasture ecosystem

Decision tree, one of the data mining approaches, was used to model the relative abundance of five functional groups of plant species, namely high fertility response grasses (HFRG), low fertility tolerance grasses (LFTG), legume, moss and flatweeds in a New Zealand hill-pasture ecosystem using aboveground biomass. The model outputs were integrated with a geographic information system (GIS) to map and validate the predictions on a pasture. The decision tree models clearly revealed the interactions between the functional groups and environmental and management factors, and also indicated the relative importance of these factors in influencing the functional group abundance. Soil Olsen P was the most significant factor influencing the abundance of LFTG and moss, while soil bulk density, slope and annual P fertiliser input were the most significant factors influencing the abundance of legume, HFRG and flatweeds, respectively. Generally, slope and soil Olsen P were the two key factors underlying the patterns of abundance for these five functional groups. For the five functional groups studied, there was an overall predictive accuracy of 75%. Modelling functional group abundance simplified the investigation of the complex interrelationship between species and environment in a pasture ecosystem. The integration of the decision tree with GIS in this study provides a platform to investigate community structure and functional composition for a pasture over space, and thus can be applied as a tool in pasture management.     

Vocal acrobatics in a Chinese frog, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Amolops tormotus</Emphasis>

Although amphibians are highly vocal, they generally emit only a limited number of acoustic communication signals. We report here the extraordinarily rich vocal repertoire of Amolops tormotus, a ranid species in China. These frogs produce countless vocalizations, some of which share features of birdsong or primate calls, e.g., ultrasonic frequency components, multiple upward and downward FM sweeps, and sudden onset and offset of selective harmonic components within a call note. Frame-by-frame video analysis of the frog's calling behavior suggests the presence of two pairs of vocal sacs that may contribute to the remarkable call-note complexity in this species. Electronic supplementary material to this paper can be obtained by using the Springer LINK server located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00114-002-0335-x.     

Gro?forschung mit anderen Namen

Naturwissenschaften Aktuell

Großforschung mit anderen Namen     

Buchbesprechungen

The Science of Nature -     

Der gegenwärtige Stand des Ozon-Problems

The atmospheric minor constituents relevant to the ozone layer and their photochemistry are discussed. Mechanisms of a possible anthropogenic depletion of the ozone layer due to supersonic aircraft, nuclear weapons, nitrogen fertilizers, and chlorofluoromethanes, and natural depletion processes due to solar and cosmic effects, are reviewed. There have been considerable revisions to predicted ozone depletion rates due to newly determined reaction rate data and more realistic models.     

通过调节汽油中铅的使用来控制人体血铅浓度

在20世纪60～70年代,铅排放一直保持着最大速率,之后,由于工业国家采取了日益严格的政策来限制铅作为防爆剂在汽油中使用,使得含铅汽油已经变得很少见了.我们利用欧洲铅排放量(PbE)和空气浓度(PbC)的重建及对约1980年以来德国人体血铅浓度(PbB)的重复测定,建立了一个可由铅排放量(PbE)估计人体血铅浓度(PbB)的经验模型.采用这一模型有两种用途[1]估计六七十年代德国的PbB水平,当时铅排放量最大而人体血铅水平监测尚未开始.结果显示,血铅峰值已经达到了卫生官员认为对胎儿和儿童有潜在危害的平均水平.[2]估计PbB水平将如何因有关汽油中铅使用的法规的实施而变化.模型估计,如果没有或延迟法规,PbB水平将远远超过临界水平.因此,自20世纪70年代以来,德国制定的法规已经明显降低了铅对健康的危害.     

e-Serem – A Web-Based Manual For The Estimation of Emission Reductions From JI and CDM Projects

This paper presentse-SEREM (Smart Emission ReductionEstimation Manual), a cost-free, easilyaccessed and updated, web-based manual forestimating emission reductions from Joint Implementation (JI) andClean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects. e-SEREM's main functions arethe selection of a benchmark for a specificproject type in the power or heat sectorand the calculation of the annual andcumulative emission reductions accrued bythis project for its crediting lifetime.e-SEREM was developed in order to test itsapplicability and practicality in assistingproject developers and evaluators toelaborate baselines easily and calculatethe emission credits earned by candidate JIor CDM projects hosted in several countries.