Fetal cells and DNA in maternal blood

Although fetal cells have been known to escape to the maternal circulation for a number of years, research attempts to use them for prenatal diagnosis have not had any consistent success. This review attempts to trace the history of such attempts and to document their progress and reasons for success or failure. The opinions of recent conferences including that of the US National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, a sponsor of major US research in the field, are reported and discussed. It is concluded that although basic work has demonstrated the biologic availability of both fetal cells and their free DNA representatives in the maternal circulation at gestational ages relevant to prenatal diagnosis, much work remains to develop practical technology for their consistent recovery and assay. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

EMMC process for combined removal of organics, nitrogen and an odor producing substance

In order to improve the process performance regarding the removal of organics, nitrogen, and an odor-causing compound (sulfide) contained in domestic wastewater, an entrapped-mixed-microbial cell (EMMC) with and without humic substances for both fixed and moving carrier reactors and conventional suspended growth culture (i.e. conventional activated sludge process) were investigated simultaneously. Both synthetic (simulated to the organics concentration of general domestic sewage) and actual domestic wastewater were investigated under operational conditions of 12 h of hydraulic retention time (HRT) with 1 h of aeration and 1 h of non-aeration, and 6 h of HRT with continuous aeration, at a room temperature of 25 +/- 2 degrees C. It was found that entrapping humic substances in the EMMC carriers had no impact on the removal of organics, nitrogen, and the odor-producing compound. Additionally, the performance of the EMMC moving carrier system for the removal of these pollutants is similar to that of the EMMC fixed carrier system. In general, the EMMC associated systems which provide high solids retention time achieve a better removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrogen, and the odor-producing substance than the suspended growth system for both HRTs of 6 h (continuous aeration) and 12 h (1 h of aeration and 1 h of non-aeration). Both the fixed and moving carrier EMMC processes, therefore, have the potential for improvement or replacement of the existing conventional activated sludge process with regard to improving the effluent qualities (such as COD, nitrogen and odor-producing compound) for reuse/disposal.     

Cultured human-cell-based bioassay for environmental risk management

Among bioassays for evaluating various impacts of chemicalson humans and ecosystems, those based on culturedmammalian-cells can best predict acute lethal toxicity to humans. Weexpect them to be employed in the future in environmentalrisk management alongside mutagenicity tests and endocrine-disrupting activity tests. We recently developed adisposable bioassay device that immobilizes humanhepatocarcinoma cells in a small micropipette tip. Thisenables very quick (within 2 h) evaluation of acute lethaltoxicity to humans. For bioassay-based environmentalmanagement, 2 promising approaches have been demonstrated bythe US-EPA: toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) andtoxicity reduction evaluation (TRE). The Japanese Ministryof Environment has been supporting a multi-center validationproject, aimed at assembling a bioassay database. To makefull use of these resources, we present a numerical modelthat describes contribution of individual chemical toobserved toxicity. This will allow the selection of the mosteffective countermeasure to reduce the toxicity. Bioassay-based environmental risk management works retrospectively,whereas impact assessment using substance flow models andtoxicity databases works prospective. We expect that these 2approaches will exchange information, act complementarily,and work effectively in keeping our environment healthy inthe 21st century.     

Toxicological characterization of the landfill leachate prior/after chemical and electrochemical treatment: A study on human and plant cells

In this research, toxicological safety of two newly developed methods for the treatment of landfill leachate from the Piškornica (Croatia) sanitary landfill was investigated. Chemical treatment procedure combined chemical precipitation with CaO followed by coagulation with ferric chloride and final adsorption by clinoptilolite. Electrochemical treatment approach included pretreatment with ozone followed by electrooxidation/electrocoagulation and final polishing by microwave irradiation. Cell viability of untreated/treated landfill leachate was examined using fluorescence microscopy. Cytotoxic effect of the original leachate was obtained for both exposure periods (4 and 24 h) while treated samples showed no cytotoxic effect even after prolonged exposure time. The potential DNA damage of the untreated/treated landfill leachate was evaluated by the comet assay and cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) assay using either human or plant cells. The original leachate exhibited significantly higher comet assay parameters compared to negative control after 24 h exposure. On the contrary, there was no significant difference between negative control and chemically/electrochemically treated leachate for any of the parameters tested. There was also no significant increase in either CBMN assay parameter compared to the negative control following the exposure of the lymphocytes to the chemically or electrochemically treated landfill leachate for both exposure periods while the original sample showed significantly higher number of micronuclei, nucleoplasmic bridges and nuclear buds for both exposure times. Results suggest that both methods are suitable for the treatment of such complex waste effluent due to high removal efficiency of all measured parameters and toxicological safety of the treated effluent.     

玉兰油细胞的发育及其与器官结构发育的关系

利用石蜡切片法及半薄切片法对玉兰茎、叶、花和种子中油细胞的发育进行了研究，结果表明：在所研究的各器官中油细胞以相同的方式发生。油细胞原始细胞因其细胞质染色较深、细胞核大明显及液泡化程度低而易与周围组织细胞分辨，以后，原始细胞逐渐液泡化，最终形成一个中央大液泡，其细胞质及细胞核呈一薄层，当油细胞成熟时，其细胞质和细胞核解体，而大液泡充满整个油细胞腔，成为储油的囊，在一些油细胞中，可观察到怀形构造，但     

In situ removal of copper from sediments by a galvanic cell

This study dealt with in situ removal of copper from sediments through an electrokinetic (EK) process driven by a galvanic cell. Iron (Fe) and carbon (C) were placed separately and connected with a conductive wire. Polluted sediments were put between them and water was filled above the sediments. The galvanic cell was thus formed due to the different electrode potentials of Fe and C. The cell could remove the pollutants in the sediments by electromigration and/or electroosmosis. Results showed that a weak voltage less than 1V was formed by the galvanic cell. The voltage decreased with the increase of time. A slight increase of sediment pH from the anode (Fe) to the cathode (C) was observed. The presence of supernatant water inhibited the variation of sediment pH because H(+) and OH(-) could diffuse into the water. The removal of copper was affected by the sediment pH and the distribution of electrolyte in sediment and supernatant water. Lower pH led to higher removal efficiency. More electrolyte in the sediment and/or less electrolyte in the supernatant water favored the removal of copper. The major removal mechanism was proposed on the basis of the desorption of copper from sediment to pore solution and the subsequent electromigration of copper from the anode to the cathode. The diffusion of copper from sediment to supernatant water was negligible.     

联苯代谢对微生物的生长胁迫及分裂抑制

以联苯/多氯联苯降解菌株R04（Rhodococcus sp.R04）和几种模式微生物为研究对象，利用高效液相色谱、荧光显微镜、扫描电子显微镜等分析微生物在联苯及其代谢物培养条件下细胞分裂和形态的变化.结果表明联苯及其代谢产物对红球菌R04和几种模式微生物细胞的分裂有抑制作用，并对部分微生物形态有影响.与前体-联苯及其代谢产物2-羟基-6-酮基-6-苯基-2，4-己二烯酸相比，2，3-二羟基联苯对G⁺、G^-细菌，或是酵母细胞分裂都有较强的抑制和形态的改变.2，3-二羟基联苯导致R.R04和缺陷型R.R04细胞形成不完整隔膜的比例增加；造成96.4%的大肠杆菌BL21细胞表面凹陷，胞质内容物流失，菌体体积缩小；导致枯草芽孢杆菌89.6%的细胞体积明显缩小；导致金黄色葡萄球菌基本没有细胞能形成完整的分裂隔膜；导致红酵母细胞能进行出芽生殖的比例从64.2%降低到19.3%，但对其细胞形态无明显改变.联苯代谢物2，3-二羟基联苯对红球菌R04及其它微生物细胞分裂和增殖的抑制作用比其前体-联苯强，建议在研究环境化合物与微生物互作时，应考虑环境化合物代谢的毒性效应.     

纤维藻(Ankistrodesmus sp.)对镍的吸附、吸收作用及镍对其细胞形态结构影响

纤维藻（Ankistrodesmussp.）对镍毒作用反应敏感，对Ni     

Biodegradation and bio-sorption of antibiotics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs using immobilized cell process

In the present study, the removal mechanisms of four antibiotics (sulfamethoxazole, sulfadimethoxine, sulfamethazine, and trimethoprim) and four non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (acetaminophen, ibuprofen, ketoprofen, and naproxen) in immobilized cell process were investigated using batch reactors. This work principally explores the individual or collective roles of biodegradation and bio-sorption as removal routes of the target pharmaceuticals and the results were validated by various experimental and analytical tools. Biodegradation and bio-sorption were found as dominant mechanisms for the drug removal, while volatilization and hydrolysis were negligible for all target pharmaceuticals. The target pharmaceuticals responded to the two observed removal mechanisms in different ways, typically: (1) strong biodegradability and bio-sorption by acetaminophen, (2) strong biodegradability and weak bio-sorption by sulfamethoxazole, sulfadimethoxine, ibuprofen and naproxen, (3) low biodegradability and weak bio-sorption by sulfamethazine and ketoprofen, and (4) low biodegradability and medium bio-sorption by trimethoprim. In the sorption/desorption experiment, acetaminophen, sulfamethoxazole and sulfadimethoxine were characterized by strong sorption and weak desorption. A phenomenon of moderate sorption and well desorption was observed for sulfamethazine, trimethoprim and naproxen. Both ibuprofen and ketoprofen were weakly sorbed and strongly desorbed.