Prenatal diagnosis of primary anophthalmia with a 3q27 interstitial deletion involving SOX2

We report an interstitial deletion of chromosome 3q26-q28 in a fetus in which anophthalmia had been detected prenatally. FISH analysis, using BAC clones encompassing the SOX2 locus, showed that SOX2 gene was involved in the chromosomal breakpoint of the deletion. This case confirms that haploinsufficiency for SOX2 plays a crucial role in human eye development and emphasizes the necessity of careful chromosomal analysis, including FISH analysis of the 3q region, in case of prenatal discovery of anophthalmia. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

青海典型内陆河流域地表水溶解性养分组成及分布特征

为了解青海典型内陆河地表水溶解性养分组成及分布特征,对青海巴音河、格尔木河及小柴旦湖流域地表水进行了采集,分析了地表水溶解性养分的组成及含量。结果表明:巴音河流域溶解性养分N、Si可能受水库滞留效应影响;克鲁克湖有较高的NH_4~+-N含量,主要与渔业养殖有关;格尔木河流域溶解性养分含量从上游到下游有升高的趋势,可能与流域内地形差异以及水体沿途蒸发作用有关;托素湖和小柴旦湖溶解性养分含量远远高于河流,主要与湖泊水体蒸发强烈导致的养分含量浓缩有关。研究区水体溶解性养分含量均大于受限阈值,但河流DIN/SRP 10、DSi/DIN 1,表现为N相对不足,湖泊DSi/SRP 10、DSi/DIN 1,表现为Si相对不足。主成分分析表明河流、水库以及克鲁克湖为Ⅰ～Ⅱ类水体,托素湖、小柴旦湖为Ⅴ类水体。     

青海省西宁市和天峻县大气颗粒物中有机氯农药和类二噁英多氯联苯的水平与分布

本研究测定了青海省西宁市与海西蒙古族藏族自治州天峻县夏、冬两季大气颗粒物中有机氯农药(OCPs)和类二噁英多氯联苯(DL-PCBs)的浓度水平.结果表明,青海省大气颗粒物中OCPs主要为DDTs、HCHs.西宁市DDTs和HCHs的平均水平分别为:35 pg·m-3、5.9 pg·m-3(夏季)和93 pg·m-3、11 pg·m-3(冬季),天峻县DDTs和HCHs的平均水平分别为:83pg·m-3、6.4 pg·m-3(夏季)和28 pg·m-3、6.7 pg·m-3(冬季).与亚洲其它地区相比,青海省大气颗粒物中OCPs处于较低水平.西宁市大气颗粒物中DL-PCBs的平均水平分别为:0.52 pg·m-3(夏季),0.99 pg·m-3(冬季),天峻县为:0.58 pg·m-3(夏季)、0.52 pg·m-3(冬季).西宁市夏、冬两季OCPs的平均水平均大于天峻县,而两地DL-PCBs的平均水平相当.本研究中高原地区DL-PCBs的分布特点及变化规律与极地地区的研究相比存在一定的相似性,而DDTs和HCHs则存在差异性.     

A new report of mesomelic camptomelia,polydactyly and Dandy–Walker complex in siblings

Two male siblings with several malformations are reported. The anomalies detected in both fetuses were mesomelic camptomelia, postaxial hexadactyly and Dandy–Walker complex. There was only one similar previous report in the literature. This combination could represent a specific pattern of malformation or a new syndrome, with different variants. The parents' consanguinity and the recurrence in a subsequent pregnancy suggest an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Oil dependency,political institutions,and urban–rural disparities in access to electricity in Africa

In line with the resource curse literature, this paper examines the effect of oil dependency on the disparities in access to electricity between urban and rural areas in Africa, conditional on the quality of political institutions. Based on data from 36 African countries over the period 2000–2017, our investigation suggests that oil rents (% of GDP) increase urban–rural disparities in access to electricity. However, the quality of institutions shapes the effect of oil dependency on these disparities. Specifically, a 10% increase in the institutional quality score reduces the adverse effects of oil rent on electricity access disparity by around 19%, and the negative impact of oil dependency on urban–rural disparities is reversed when institutional quality reaches a score of 52% on a scale from 0 to 100. The robustness tests support these results and call for strengthening the quality of institutions to overcome the resource curse in Africa.     

Dynamic pressure induced by a methane–air explosion in a coal mine

The hazardous effect of dynamic pressure and strong gas flows induced by a methane–air mixture explosion in underground coal mines is studied. The dynamic pressure effect of a methane–air explosion was analyzed by numerical simulation, in a duct and tunnel. Compared to the overpressure generated by an explosion that can act on a body, the dynamic pressure caused by the high-speed flow of the gaseous combustion products can cause serious damage as well. At the structural opening of a coal mine, the destruction caused by the dynamic pressure induced by a methane–air explosion is more serious than the overpressure. For a tube or tunnel partially filled by a methane–air mixture, the dynamic pressure is lower than the overpressure in the region occupied by the flammable mixture. Beyond the premixed region, the dynamic pressure is of the same order of magnitude as the overpressure.     

A strategy for wildlife management in depopulating rural areas of Japan

Former ranges of wild animals have been reestablished in many developed countries. However, this reestablishment has led to increasing human–wildlife conflict in agroforest ecosystems. In Japan, human–wildlife conflict, such as crop raiding by and ecological impacts of wild ungulates and primates, is a serious problem in depopulated rural areas due to these animal range expansions and increased abundances. Japan's human population is predicted to decline by 24% by 2050, and approximately 20% of agricultural settlements will become completely depopulated. In this scenario, anthropogenic pressures on wildlife (e.g., hunting and habitat alteration) will continue to decrease and human–wildlife conflict will increase due to increasing wildlife recovery. Japan's local governments plan to slow range recovery, prevent species reestablishment, or remove recolonizing large mammals through lethal control. This strategy, however, is not cost-effective, and workforce shortages in depopulated communities make it infeasible. Moreover, the suppression of wildlife prevents the recovery of ecological functions and thus would degrade regional biodiversity. The declining pressure on wildlife that accompanies human depopulation will prevent the restoration of any past states of human–wildlife interaction. We suggest human-used areas in rural landscapes be aggregated in compact cities and that in transition zones between human settlements and depopulated lands that land-sharing approaches be applied. Concentrating management efforts in compact cities may effectively decrease human–wildlife conflict, rather than intensifying human pressures. Reforestation of depopulated lands may lead to recovery of wildlife habitats, their ecosystem functions, and regional biodiversity due to minimization of negative anthropogenic effects (land-sparing approach). Balancing resolution of human–wildlife conflict and ecological rewilding could become a new, challenging task for regional wildlife managers.     

青藏高原东部几种自然土壤放线菌的生态分布

采用常规方法研究了青藏高原东部几种自然土壤中放线菌区系及与土壤养分的关系.结果表明①供试土壤有机质、全氮、速效氮、速效钾及速效磷含量变异很大,其变异系数分别为71.9%,60.8 %,65.8%,53.5 %及130.6%.pH差异很小,平均值为8.16,变异系数为6.5 %.②供试土壤放线菌数量n(cfu)=(8.2～1 472.7)×104 g-1.放线菌组成以链霉菌为主,其次为小单孢菌,二者分别占土壤放线菌总数的41.7%～90.9%及 0～53.6%,其平均值和变异系数分别为82.2%和18.0%及10.3%和154. 2 %.沼泽土中小单孢菌占放线菌总数的53.6%,盐化土中无小单孢菌.高山草甸土、森林棕褐土、黑钙土及灰钙土中分别出现链孢囊菌属与马杜拉菌属、间孢囊菌属、诺卡氏菌属及链孢囊菌属.③在链霉菌属中,可划分10个类群,其中白孢类群、灰褐类群、金色类群、粉红孢类群为优势类群,分别占链霉菌总数的23.3 %～57.0%, 2.7%～32.8 %,5.8%～63.7 及2.3% ～24.6%,其次为淡紫灰类群和灰红紫类群,6个类群共占链霉菌总数的70.3%～100%.盐化土和黑钙土分别为链霉菌数量与类群最少和最多的土壤生态体系.④供试土壤按植被、土壤形成条件及土壤性质分为高山草甸土、森林棕褐土、黑钙土、灰钙土、栗钙土、盐化土、风沙土及沼泽土8种生态类型、盐化土、风沙土和沼泽土3种生态型中放线菌的生物多样性较其余5种生态型差. 表5 参16