Prenatal diagnosis of neurofibromatosis type 1: From flanking rflps to intragenic microsatellite markers

Even though the neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) gene was cloned more than 3 years ago, the process of identifying mutations has not been fruitful, and genetic counselling is mainly based on the use of linked markers. Since 1990, we have analysed 130 NF1 families and have performed six prenatal diagnoses. In each case, genetic counselling has relied on linked markers and informativity was achieved in all of them. The use of intragenic microsatellite polymorphisms (IVS27AAAT2.1, IVS27AC28.4, IVS27AC33.1, and IVS38GT53.0) has increased the informativeness in our series of NF1 families to an average of 90 per cent, providing accurate diagnosis and confirmation of the disease status.     

催化超临界水氧化处理1,5-萘二磺酸

采用Mn2O3/γ-AL2O3和V2O5/γ-Al2O/为催化剂,在一连续流固定床反应器中进行了超临界水氧化1,5-萘二磺酸实验.实验结果表明,在380～440℃,24 MPa条件下,Mn2O3/γ-Al2O3和V2O5/y-Al2O3催化剂对1,5-萘二磺酸的氧化降解具有显著的促进作用,TOC去除率达到90%以上;催化剂的催化效果随反应温度的升高而增强,随pH值的降低而增强,随停留时间的延长先增强后趋于平缓.     

Cu／A1-Ce-PILC在丙烯选择性催化还原NO反应中的失活研究

采用聚合羟基复合阳离子合成交联黏土A1-Ce-PILC，经SO4^2-改性后，以浸渍法制备了铜基交联黏土催化剂Cu／A1-Ce-PILC，并将其应用于C3H6选择性催化还原NO的反应，350℃时NO转化率达到最大值56％，700℃时下降至22％．为探究催化剂高温失活的原因，采用XPS、TPR、TGA、Py-IR和DSC对反应前后催化剂的物化性能进行了表征．结果表明，经过H2预处理活化后活性组分Cu物种以Cu^＋形式存在，而高温反应后Cu物种除以Cu^＋和Cu^2＋ 2种形式存在外，还出现了少量CuO物种；高温反应过程中A1-Ce-PILC上结构羟基和SO4^2-流失导致催化剂表面酸性减弱；此外，还存在表面积炭覆盖了部分活性中心并堵塞了催化剂孔道的现象．这三者的共同影响促进了C3H6深度氧化，抑制了NO还原，从而导致催化剂的失活．     

Enzymatic degradation of poly([R,S] β-hydroxybutyrate)

The synthetic analogue of a bacterially produced polyester, poly(-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) was synthesized from racemic -butyrolactone using anin situ trimethyl aluminum-water catalyst. The polymer was fractionated into samples differing in molecular weight and isotactic diad content. The latter was closely related to degree of crystallinity. The biodegradation of these fractions were examined by monitoring mass loss over time in the presence of anAlcaligenes faecalis T1 extracellular bacterial poly(-hydroxybutyrate) depolymerase. The fraction with high isotactic diad tacticity content showed little or no degradation over a 50 hour incubation period, whereas the fraction of intermediate isotactic diad content degraded in a continuous steady fashion at a rate that was less than that for bacterial PHB. The low isotactic diad fraction underwent a rapid initial degradation, followed by no further mass loss. The presence of stereoblocks in the polymer structure of the various fractions was an influence on the degree of susceptibility towards degradation and is related to sample crystallinity.     

硝酸甲胺反应过程的安全性研究

用反应量热仪(RC1e)对硝酸溶液与一甲胺溶液在反应过程中的热安定性进行初步研究,分别测试不同反应温度、加料速度和初始硝酸浓度下反应的放热情况。实验结果表明:该中和过程反应迅速,在室温就能进行;与反应温度、加料速度相比,起始硝酸浓度对反应安全性影响最大,且硝酸浓度越高,反应的速度和反应的完全程度也越高。实验还表明:RC1e是研究反应过程中热安定性情况的有效工具,能通过反应过程的热量变化体现反应速率,所得结果对硝酸甲胺的工业化生产具有重要的参考价值。     

论高职高专英语教学改革——我院英语分级教学探索

根据目前我院英语教学状况,英语公共课有必要改革"单一目标"的教学模式,采用多目标个性化分层教学模式,提高学生英语素质.文中具体探讨了多目标个性化分级教学模式的内涵、实施的前提条件、依据及策略.     

Class: an Essential Aspect of Watershed Planning

A study of a watershed planning process in the Cache River Watershed in southern Illinois revealed that class divisions, based on property ownership, underlay key conflicts over land use and decision-making relevant to resource use. A class analysis of the region indicates that the planning process served to endorse and solidify the locally-dominant theory that landownership confers the right to govern. This obscured the class differences between large full-time farmers and small-holders whose livelihood depends on non-farm labor. These two groups generally opposed one another regarding wetland drainage. Their common identity as “property owner” consolidated the power wielded locally by large farmers. It also provided an instrument – the planning document – for state and federal government agencies to enhance their power and to bring resources to the region. The planning process simultaneously ameliorated conflicts between government agencies and the large farmers, while enhancing the agencies’ capacity to reclaim wetlands. In this contradictory manner, the plan promoted the environmental aims of many small-holders, and simultaneously disempowered them as actors in the region’s political economy. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Effectiveness of Africa's tropical protected areas for maintaining forest cover

The effectiveness of parks for forest conservation is widely debated in Africa, where increasing human pressure, insufficient funding, and lack of management capacity frequently place significant demands on forests. Tropical forests house a substantial portion of the world's remaining biodiversity and are heavily affected by anthropogenic activity. We analyzed park effectiveness at the individual (224 parks) and national (23 countries) level across Africa by comparing the extent of forest loss (as a proxy for deforestation) inside parks to matched unprotected control sites. Although significant geographical variation existed among parks, the majority of African parks had significantly less forest loss within their boundaries (e.g., Mahale Park had 34 times less forest loss within its boundary) than control sites. Accessibility was a significant driver of forest loss. Relatively inaccessible areas had a higher probability (odds ratio >1, p < 0.001) of forest loss but only in ineffective parks, and relatively accessible areas had a higher probability of forest loss but only in effective parks. Smaller parks less effectively prevented forest loss inside park boundaries than larger parks (T = ?2.32, p < 0.05), and older parks less effectively prevented forest loss inside park boundaries than younger parks (F_2,154 = ?4.11, p < 0.001). Our analyses, the first individual and national assessment of park effectiveness across Africa, demonstrated the complexity of factors (such as geographical variation, accessibility, and park size and age) influencing the ability of a park to curb forest loss within its boundaries.     

Why social values cannot be changed for the sake of conservation

The hope for creating widespread change in social values has endured among conservation professionals since early calls by Aldo Leopold for a “land ethic.” However, there has been little serious attention in conservation to the fields of investigation that address values, how they are formed, and how they change. We introduce a social–ecological systems conceptual approach in which values are seen not only as motivational goals people hold but also as ideas that are deeply embedded in society's material culture, collective behaviors, traditions, and institutions. Values define and bind groups, organizations, and societies; serve an adaptive role; and are typically stable across generations. When abrupt value changes occur, they are in response to substantial alterations in the social–ecological context. Such changes build on prior value structures and do not result in complete replacement. Given this understanding of values, we conclude that deliberate efforts to orchestrate value shifts for conservation are unlikely to be effective. Instead, there is an urgent need for research on values with a multilevel and dynamic view that can inform innovative conservation strategies for working within existing value structures. New directions facilitated by a systems approach will enhance understanding of the role values play in shaping conservation challenges and improve management of the human component of conservation.