In utero sonographic diagnosis of a communicating enteric duplication cyst in a giant omphalocele

Enteric duplications are rare lesions, and relatively few cases have been diagnosed prenatally. We present, to our knowledge, the first case of an associated communicating ileal duplication cyst in a huge omphalocele diagnosed prenatally. The prenatal ultrasound findings revealed four features of the cystic lesion including peristaltic movements of the cystic wall, communication between the cyst and normal bowel lumen, intra-cystic echogenic contents, and echogenic mesenteric tissue (fat) close to the cyst. These distinct characteristics helped us to make a firm in utero diagnosis. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prenatal diagnosis of a fetus harboring an intermediate load of the A3243G mtDNA mutation in a maternal carrier diagnosed with MELAS syndrome

We prenatally diagnosed MELAS syndrome in a fetus whose mother and older brother had the MELAS-specific A3243G mutation. The mutant mtDNA level of the amniotic fluid cells was not significantly different from that of the postnatal peripheral blood and hair follicle samples. The obstetrical course was uncomplicated except for transient exacerbation of the mother's diabetes, which required insulin control. At term, the infant was macrosomic, and the delivery was complicated by shoulder dystocia. MELAS syndrome in itself does not influence either the prenatal course of the mother or the fetal outcome. In contrast to the fulminating clinical course of this mother's first child, MELAS symptoms did not develop in her second child until age four, despite similar high tissue levels of mutant mtDNA. The phenotypic diversity in two offspring with similar higher levels of mutant mtDNA suggests that prenatal genetic diagnosis of cultured amniotic cells may yield results that are poor prognosticators of fetal outcome. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Photoassisted Fenton degradation of phthalocyanine dyes from wastewater of printing industry using Fe(Ⅱ)/γ-Al2O3 catalyst in up-flow fluidized-bed

Fe(II)/γ-Al2O3 powders synthesized using the dipping method were produced from a mixed aqueous solution containing aluminium oxide(γ-Al2O3) and iron(II)-precursor(FeSO4), and used for photoFenton degradation of phthalocyanine dyes(PCS) under ultraviolet(UV) irradiation in an up-flow fluidized bed. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, ESCA, BET, EDS and SEM. The results showed that Fe2+ion was compounded on the γ-Al2O3 carrier. The effects of different reaction parameters such as catalyst activity, dosage and solution pH on the decolorization of PCS were assessed. Results indicated that maximum decolorization(more than 95%) of PCS occurred with20 wt% Fe(II)/γ-Al2O3 catalyst(dosage of 60 g/L) using a combination of UV irradiation and heterogeneous Fenton system. The degradation efficiency of PCSincreases as pH decreases, exhibiting a maximum efficiency at pH 3.5. The recycled catalyst was capable of repeating three runs without a significant decrease in treatment efficiency, and this demonstrated the stability and reusability of catalyst.     

Neighborhood effects in bird distributions,Navarre, Spain

This study examines the role of neighborhood effects in the spatial distributions of selected bird species in Navarre, Spain. We employed a geographic information system (GIS) to organize the data on bird distributions and relevant environmental variables and to analyze their spatial patterns. Three bird species were selected for analysis: the European honey-buzzard (Pernis apivorus), the Eurasian hobby (Falco subbuteo), and the European pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca). Selected environmental variables of the study area were digitized to create a comprehensive data base and logistic regression models were used to evaluate the significance of each variable in the spatial distribution. The spatial patterns of bird distributions were used to extract topological relationships and to identify neighborhood effects. Although all the selected species illustrate a pattern of positive spatial autocorrelation in their distributions, the significance of neighborhood effects varies from species to species. Among the selected species, neighborhood effects are most evident in the distribution of the European pied flycatcher and are significant for the Eurasian hobby. The distribution of the European honey-buzzard is not much affected by neighborhood effects. The results suggest that examination of neighborhood effects is a prerequisite for modeling bird distributions.     

山梨醇型凝油剂的制备与性能

介绍了山梨醇型凝油剂的制备方法，以及其胶凝轻质渍及类油物质的性质。结果表明，此类凝油剂对汽油，柴油，机油以及基苯及苯系有机溶剂等的去除率达９０％以上。经生物毒性试验表明，不会对水中鱼类产生毒性效应，凝油后油凝体硬度可达３．９×１０＾４－９．８×１０＾４Ｐａ。可用于各种轻质油及类油物质泄漏等突发性事故的应急处理。     

Contaminated site remedial investigation and feasibility removal of chlorinated volatile organic compounds from groundwater by activated carbon fiber adsorption

Groundwater contaminated by dense, non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) such as chlorinated solvents has become a serious problem in some regions of Taiwan. The sources of these contaminants are due to industrial discharges. These chlorinated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been proven to be carcinogenic to humans. The groundwater is used for domestic drinking water supply in some cities of Taiwan and the severely contaminated groundwater has to be treated in order to meet the requirement of drinking water standards. This study covers two areas of work. In the first part, polluted groundwater samples were collected from the contaminated site and analytical results indicated measurable concentrations of 12 representative chlorinated VOCs in water samples. The primary VOCs detected included trichloroethene (TCE), tetrachloroethene (PCE), 1,1,2-trichloroethane (1,1,2-TCA), and 1,1-dichloroethene (1,1-DCE). Second, to remove VOCs groundwater was treated using adsorption on activated carbon fiber (ACF). This involved pumping groundwater through vessels containing ACF. Most VOCs, including TCE, PCE, 1,1,2-TCA, and DCE, were readily adsorbed onto ACF and are removed from the water stream. Our study showed that the technology was able to significantly reduce chlorinated VOCs concentrations in groundwater.     

Treatment of ethylether in air stream by a biotrickling filter packed with slags.

This paper reports results of studies using a biotrickling filter with blast-furnace slag packings (sizes = 2-4 cm and specific surface area = 120 m2/m3) for treatment of ethylether in air stream. Effects of volumetric loading, superficial gas velocity, empty bed gas retention time, recirculation liquid flow rate, and biofilm renewal on the ethylether removal efficiency and elimination capacity were tested. Results indicate that ethylether removal efficieincies of more than 95% were obtained with an empty bed retention time (EBRT) of 113 sec and loadings of lower than 70 g/m3/hr. At an EBRT of 57 sec, removal efficiencies of more than 90% could only be obtained with loadings of lower than 35 g/m3/hr. The maximum elimination capacities were 71 and 45 g/m3/hr for EBRT = 113 and 57 sec, respectively. The maximum ethylether elimination capacities were 71 and 96 g/m3/hr, respectively, before and after the renewal at EBRT = 113 sec. With an EBRT of 113 sec and a loading of lower than 38 g/m3/hr, the removal efficiency was nearly independent of the superficial liquid recirculation velocity in the range of 3.6 to 9.6 m3/m2/hr. From data regression, simplified masstransfer limited, and reaction- and mass-transfer limited models correlating the contaminant concentration and the packing height were proposed and verified. The former model is applicable for cases of low influent contaminant concentrations or loadings, and the latter is applicable for cases of higher ones. Finally, CO2 conversion efficiencies of approximately 90% for the influent ethylether were obtained. The value is comparable to data reported from other related studies.     

A study of the heavy metal concentrations of the Singapore River

The concentrations of lead, cadmium, copper, zinc, iron, and mercury in the water, sediment and biota of the Singapore River were determined. The concentration of the various metals in water showed significant variation at different sampling times and there was enrichment of lead content. The spatial patterns of metal distribution in the sediment could be due to the different pollution sources such as exhaust emission from boats and other environmental variables such as clay content of sediment or tide level. In the biota, higher amounts of metals were found in species inhabiting the river bed while organisms of higher trophic level such as free-swimming fishes and crabs accumulated lower amounts. In general, the flesh of fishes and crabs had the least content of metals compared to other tissues. The Concentration of various metals in bivalve, Mytilopsis sallei, which were found extensively in the river did not reflect the pollution distribution.     

Chemical compositions and radiative properties of dust and anthropogenic air masses study in Taipei Basin, Taiwan, during spring of 2004

Asia is one of the major sources of not only mineral dust but also anthropogenic aerosols. Continental air masses associated with the East Asian winter monsoon always contain high contents of mineral dust and anthropogenic species and transported southeastward to Taiwan, which have significant influences on global atmospheric radiation transfer directly by scattering and absorbing solar radiation in each spring. However, few measurements for the long-range transported aerosol and its optical properties were announced in this area, between the Western Pacific and the southeastern coast of Mainland China. The overall objective of this work is to quantify the optical characteristics of different aerosol types in the Eastern Asian. In order to achieve this objective, meteorological parameters, concentrations of PM₁₀ and its soluble species, and optical property of atmospheric scattering coefficients were measured continuously with 1 h time-resolved from 11 February to 7 April 2004 in Taipei Basin (25°00′N, 121°32′E). In this work, the dramatic changes of meteorological parameters such as temperature and winds were used to determine the influenced period of each air mass. Continental, strong continental, marine, and stagnant air masses defined by the back-trajectory analysis and local meteorology were further characterized as long-range transport pollution, dust, clean marine, and local pollution aerosols, respectively, according to the diagnostic ratios. The aerosol mass scattering efficiency of continental pollution, dust, clean marine, and local pollution aerosols were ranged from 1.3 to 1.6, 0.7 to 1.0, 1.4 and 1.4 to 2.3 m² g⁻¹, respectively. Overall, there are two distinct populations of aerosol mass scattering efficiencies, one for an aerosol chemical composition dominated by dust (<1.0 m² g⁻¹) and the other for an aerosol chemical composition dominated by anthropogenic pollutants (1.3–2.3 m² g⁻¹), which were similar to the previous measurements with high degree of temporal resolution.     

Partition of volatile organic compounds in activated sludge and wastewater

The Henry's law constant is important in the gas-liquid mass transfer process. Apparent dimensionless Henry's law constant, or the gas-liquid partition coefficient (K'H), for both hydrophilic (methanol, isopropyl alcohol, and acetone) and hydrophobic (toluene and p-xylene) organic compounds in deionized (DI) water, a wastewater with a maximum total dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content of 700 mg/L, and DI water mixed with a maximum activated sludge suspended solid (SS) concentration of 40,000 mg/L were measured using the single equilibrium technique at 293 K. Experimental results demonstrate that the K'H of any of the test volatile organic compounds varied among three situations. First, the K'H of the hydrophilic compounds in mixed liquor with the maximum SS concentration was 9-21% higher than those in DI water. Second, those for toluene and p-xylene were 77% and 93% lower, respectively, in the mixed liquor with the maximum SS concentration. Third, the K'H values of all of the test compounds in the wastewater were only 10% lower than those in DI water. A model was developed to relate K'H with wastewater DOC and the SS concentration in the activated sludge using an organic carbon-water partition coefficient and activated sludge-water partition coefficient as model parameters. The model was verified and model parameters for test compounds estimated.