Rapid prenatal diagnosis of Patau's syndrome in a fetus with an abdominal wall defect by 72 hour culture of cells from amniotic fluid

A woman in the 32nd week of pregnancy was referred for investigation because of fetal abnormalities, including an abdominal wall defect, detected by ultrasonography. In view of the increased risk of chromosome abnormality, amniocentesis was performed to enable informed decisions about the management of the pregnancy and delivery to be taken. Cells from the liquor were inoculated into standard lymphocyte culture medium and incubated for 72 h. Slides with a high mitotic index and good quality metaphases, comparable to those from a blood culture, were obtained after harvesting. Cytogenetic analysis showed the karyotype to be 46,XY,—14,+t(13ql4q), which is consistent with Patau's syndrome. This technique appears to be an option for rapid karyotyping in cases of abdominal wall defect, where a chromosomal abnormality is suspected.     

Results of a questionnaire investigation on the management of environmental issues during conceptual design. A case study of two large made-to-order companies

This paper investigates the current treatment of environmental issues by two companies within the large made-to-order sector. Fifty questionnaires were issued to the design team of each company to assess current practice in the integration of environmental issues with design activities, awareness of environmental issues, awareness of existing environmental design tools and the preferred format for a potential clean design tool.     

EFFECTIVENESS OF POLYACRYLAMIDE (PAM) IN IMPROVING RUNOFF WATER QUALITY FROM CONSTRUCTION SITES1

ABSTRACT: Erosion from construction sites significantly affects water quality in receiving streams. A rainfall simulator was used to evaluate the effectiveness of different methods for controlling erosion from construction sites. Erosion control methods investigated included dry and liquid applications of polyacrylamide (PAM), hydroseed, and straw mulch. Fertilizer was also applied to each plot to examine the effectiveness of the methods in reducing nutrient losses in runoff. Runoff samples were analyzed for total suspended solids (TSS), nitrate, total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), ammonium, total phosphorus (TP), and orthophosphate. Among all treatments investigated, straw mulch was the most effective treatment for controlling TSS and nutrient losses during short term and long term simulations. The low liquid PAM (half the recommended PAM) treatment resulted in the highest reduction in runoff, TSS bound nitrogen, and total nitrogen (TN) concentrations and loadings. The study results indicate that a high application rate (twice the recommended rate) of PAM could actually increase runoff and TSS losses. At a low application rate, both liquid and dry PAM were effective in reducing TSS and nutrient losses in runoff. However, application of the liquid form of PAM to construction sites is more practical and perhaps more economical than applying the PAM in the dry form.     

Effect of fresh green waste and green waste compost on mineral nitrogen, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide from a Vertisol

Incorporation of organic waste amendments to a horticultural soil, prior to expected risk periods, could immobilise mineral N, ultimately reducing nitrogen (N) losses as nitrous oxide (N₂O) and leaching. Two organic waste amendments were selected, a fresh green waste (FGW) and green waste compost (GWC) as they had suitable biochemical attributes to initiate N immobilisation into the microbial biomass and organic N forms. These characteristics include a high C:N ratio (FGW 44:1, GWC 35:1), low total N (<1%), and high lignin content (>14%). Both products were applied at 3 t C/ha to a high N (plus N fertiliser) or low N (no fertiliser addition) Vertisol soil in PVC columns. Cumulative N₂O production over the 28 day incubation from the control soil was 1.5 mg/N₂O/m², and 11 mg/N₂O/m² from the control + N. The N₂O emission decreased with GWC addition (P < 0.05) for the high N soil, reducing cumulative N₂O emissions by 38% by the conclusion of the incubation. Analysis of mineral N concentrations at 7, 14 and 28 days identified that both FGW and GWC induced microbial immobilisation of N in the first 7 days of incubation regardless of whether the soil environment was initially high or low in N; with the FGW immobilising up to 30% of available N. It is likely that the reduced mineral N due to N immobilisation led to a reduced substrate for N₂O production during the first week of the trial, when soil N₂O emissions peaked. An additional finding was that FGW + N did not decrease cumulative N₂O emissions compared to the control + N, potentially due to the fact that it stimulated microbial respiration resulting in anaerobic micro sites in the soil and ultimately N₂O production via denitrification. Therefore, both materials could be used as post harvest amendments in horticulture to minimise N loss through nitrate-N leaching in the risk periods between crop rotations. The mature GWC has potential to reduce N₂O, an important greenhouse gas.     

Impact of “Designated Smoking Area” Policy on Nicotine Vapor and Particle Concentrations in a Modern Office Building

A series of measurements of nicotine vapor and particle concentrations were carried out in a modern office building. The measurement program was designed to document the impact of the new smoking policy (e.g. smoking restricted to two specific areas) on air quality in various parts of the building.

Measurements at over 30 locations examined areas where smoking was restricted, where smoking was permitted, and where an air handler shared the load of a designated smoking area. These measurements were taken at the same locations before and after the policy was Implemented.

The measurement results Indicated that: ? After the policy was implemented, general employee exposure to nicotine vapor (as a surrogate for all environmental tobacco smoke) was reduced by about 98 percent on most floors. Other patterns related to spillover from designated smoking areas and changes in the designated smoking areas themselves are described in the paper.

? Substantial reductions in exposure to nicotine vapor were found even for those general office areas which had the highest concentrations after the policy was implemented.

     

Hematology and Some Biochemical Parameters of Wild Rodents in Pistachio Gardens of Kerman Province, Southeast Iran

Wild rodents were collected using live snap traps in pistachio gardens of Kerman Province, Southeast Iran from 2007 to 2009, then some physiological parameters of them were measured. The samples were identified as follow: Nesokia indica, Meriones persicus, Meriones lybicus and Tatera indica. Blood samples were obtained from the heart, then the blood parameters (glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, total protein, HDL, red and white blood cell number) in wild species of rodents and laboratory rat were compared. The results showed that there were no significant differences in serum glucose, triglyceride, HDL and total protein levels among different experimental groups. The concentration of cholesterol in T. indica was more than that in N. indica (P < 0.01). The total numbers of red blood cells also showed significant difference between wild garden rodent species and laboratory rat (P < 0.01), while the numbers of white blood cells showed no significant difference.     

The Characterisation of Settled Dust by Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis

Settled dust has been collected inside the main foyers ofthree University buildings in Wolverhampton City Centre,U.K. Two of the three buildings are located in a streetcanyon used almost exclusively by heavy duty dieselvehicles. The dust was collected on adhesive carbonspectro-tabs to be in a form suitable for analysis byscanning electron microscope and energy dispersive X-rayanalysis. Using these analytical techniques, individualparticle analysis was undertaken for morphology andchemistry. Seasonal variations and variations due tolocation were observed in both the morphologicalmeasurements and chemical analysis. Many of the differencesappear attributable to the influence of road traffic, inparticular, the heavy duty diesel vehicles, travellingalong the street canyon.     

Entrainment mortality of Ichthyoplankton: Detectability and precision of estimates

The ability to detect and to develop a precise and accurate estimate of the entrainment mortality fraction is an important step in projecting power plant impacts on future fish population levels. Recent work indicates that these mortailities may be considerably less than 100% for some fish species in the early life stages. Point estimates of the entrainment mortality fraction have been developed based on probabilistic arguments, but the precision of these estimates has not been studied beyond the simple statistical test of the null hypothesis that no entrainment mortaility exists.The ability to detect entrainment mortality is explored as a function of the sample sizes (numbers of organisms collected) at the intake and discharge sampling stations of a power plant and of the proportion of organisms found alive in the intake samples (intake survival). Minimum detectable entrainment mortality, confidence interval width, and type II error (probability of accepting the null hypothesis of no entrainment mortality when there is mortality) are considered. Increasing sample size and/or decreasing sampling mortality will decrease the minimum detectable entrainment mortality, confidence interval width, and type II error for a given level of type I error.The results of this study are considered in the context of designing useful monitoring programs for determining the entrainment mortality fraction. Preliminary estimates of intake survival and the entrainment mortality fraction can be used to obtain estimates of the sample size needed for a specified level of confidence interval width or type II error. Final estimates of the intake survival and the entrainment mortality fraction can be used to determine the minimum detectable entrainment mortality and the type II error.     

Spatial variation of soil phosphorus within a drainage ditch network

Agricultural drainage ditches serve as P transport pathways from fields to surface waters. Little is known about the spatial variation of P at the soil-water interface within ditch networks. We quantified the spatial variation of surficial (0-5 cm) soil P within vegetated agricultural ditches on a farm in Princess Anne, MD with an approximately 30-yr history of poultry litter application. Ditch soils from 10 ditches were sampled at 10-m intervals and analyzed for acid ammonium oxalate-extractable P, Fe, Al (P(ox), Fe(ox), Al(ox)), and pH. These variables were spatially autocorrelated. Oxalate-P (min = 135 mg kg(-1), max = 6919 mg kg(-1), mean = 700 mg kg(-1)) exhibited a high standard deviation across the study area (overall 580 mg kg(-1)) and within individual ditches (maximum 1383 mg kg(-1)). Several ditches contained distinct areas of high P(ox), which were associated with either point- or nonpoint-P sources. Phosphorus was correlated with Al(ox) or Fe(ox) within specific ditches. Across all ditches, Al(ox) (r = 0.80; p < 0.001) was better correlated with P(ox) than was Fe(ox) (r = 0.44; p < 0.001). The high level of spatial variation of soil P observed in this ditch network suggests that spatially distributed sampling may be necessary to target best management practices and to model P transport and fate in ditch networks.     

SAOZ measurements of NO2 at Aberystwyth

We present in this paper fifteen years' measurements, from March 1991 to September 2005, of stratospheric NO2 vertical columns measured by a SAOZ zenith-sky visible spectrometer. The instrument spent most of its time at Aberystwyth, Wales, with occasional excursions to other locations. The data have been analysed with the WinDOAS analysis program with low-temperature high-resolution NO2 cross-sections and fitting a slit function to each spectrum. Because of a change in detector in May 1998 there is some uncertainty about the relative changes before and after this date, which are partially constrained by the results of an intercomparison exercise. However, the effect of the Mt Pinatubo aerosol cloud is very evident in the data from 1991-94, with a decrease of 10% in NO2 in the summer of 1992 (the SAOZ was located in Lerwick, Scotland during the winter of 1991-92 and observed very low NO2 values but these cannot be directly compared to the Aberystwyth data). To focus more on interannual and long-term variations in NO2, a seasonal variation comprising an annual and semi-annual component was fitted to the morning and evening twilight separately from 1995 to the present. This fit yielded average NO2 columns of 4.08 x 10(15) cm(-2) and 2.68 x 10(15) cm(-2) for the evening and morning twilight, respectively, with a corresponding annual amplitude of +/-2.08 x 10(15) cm(-2) and +/-1.50 x 10(15) cm(-2). Departures from the fitted curve show a trend of 6% per decade, consistent with that reported elsewhere, for the period 1998-2003, but in the past two years a distinct interannual variation of amplitude of approximately 8% has emerged.