Prenatal diagnosis of Apert syndrome: report of two cases

Two de novo cases with Apert Syndrome detected prenatally are presented herein. In the first, fetal ultrasound findings of syndactyly of the hands, craniosynostosis and proptosis resulted in a prenatal diagnosis in the nineteenth week of gestation. This is the earliest prenatal diagnosis of this syndrome in a not-at-risk case. Following counseling, this pregnancy was terminated and subsequent pathological examination and DNA analysis confirmed the diagnosis of Apert Syndrome and coarctation of the aorta. In the second case, fetal ultrasound at 21 weeks' gestation revealed a hypoplastic left heart and clover-leaf skull. Following counseling, this pregnancy was also terminated. Further examination of the fetus and DNA analysis led to a diagnosis of Apert Syndrome. These cases emphasize the need to complete a thorough fetal ultrasound in cases with potentially lethal cardiac abnormality and the importance of incorporating a fetal pathologist, as well as a medical geneticist, in the investigations performed after delivery or pregnancy termination when a fetal abnormality is detected on ultrasound. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于绝对主成分-多元线性回归的滇池污染源解析

定量解析污染源是湖泊流域水环境管理的重要基础.基于滇池草海和外海多年水质监测数据,采用主成分分析（PCA）方法识别了主要水质指标的污染源类型,利用绝对主成分-多元线性回归模型（APCS-MLR）得到不同污染源对水质的贡献程度.结果表明,草海主要的污染源有农业面源、城市面源和内源3类,外海的主要污染源是农业面源、城镇生活污染源、城市面源和内源4类.与河流水污染源解析结果不同,底泥内源与气象因子对滇池主要水质指标的影响较大.     

Erythroid-specific antibodies enhance detection of fetal nucleated erythrocytes in maternal blood

Fetal nucleated erythrocytes (NRBC) in maternal blood are a non-invasive source of fetal DNA for prenatal genetic screening. We compared the effectiveness of three monoclonal antibodies for the separation of fetal cells from maternal blood by flow sorting. Mononuclear blood cells from 49 healthy pregnant women were incubated with antibody to CD 71, CD 36, and/or glycophorin A (GPA), employed singly or in combination with each other. These monoclonal antibodies recognize surface antigens on haematopoietic precursor cells. Successful isolation of fetal cells was defined as detection of Y chromosomal sequences in maternal blood from women carrying male fetuses, with absence of Y sequences when female fetuses were carried. Thus, gender prediction accuracy was used as a measure of fetal cell separation. Using anti-CD 71 to isolate fetal cells, gender prediction was 57 per cent correct; with anti-CD 36, it was 88 per cent correct. Anti-GPA, an erythrocyte-specific antigen, used alone or in combination with anti-CD 71 or 36, improved gender prediction to 100 per cent. We conclude that antibody to GPA improves the retrieval of fetal NRBC from maternal blood, permitting genetic analysis by the polymerase chain reaction.     

产α-淀粉酶菌株液体培养条件的探讨

目的是探讨在液体培养条件下枯草芽胞杆菌(B.subtilis HY-02)降解淀粉的影响因素。方法是设0、0.5%、1%、1.75%四种淀粉浓度的培养基,接种细菌后,在32℃的温箱、水浴、振荡三种条件下培养,连续检测α-淀粉酶活性及淀粉浓度。结果为温箱、水浴培养:96h后,1%淀粉瓶α-淀粉酶活性、分解淀粉最明显,1.75%淀粉瓶存在抑制酶活性的现象。振荡培养:1.75%淀粉瓶优于其他组。结论是初始淀粉浓度、培养方式对枯草芽胞杆菌α-淀粉酶活性影响较大,也直接影响了淀粉的分解。     

辛基酚的体内类雌激素活性评价

利用体内大鼠子宫增重试验检测辛基酚（OP）的类雌激素活性，并对其观测终点及影响因素进行了初步研究。结果显示，OP经大鼠体内染毒，可引起大鼠子宫湿重、子宫内皮细胞厚度、子宫腺数量明显增加，具有明显的类雌激素活性。三条染毒途径检测敏感度腹腔染毒＞经皮下染毒＞经灌胃染毒。     

四川妇女血清中多溴联苯醚的浓度水平与组成特征

用气相色谱-质谱的选择离子法测定四川省妇女血清中多溴联苯醚的质量浓度,并对其组成特征及主要来源进行了研究.在被测的11种多溴联苯醚当中,BDE-209是主要成分,质量浓度从0.12～2.38μg.L-1,中值为0.63μg.L-1,占多溴联苯醚总量的质量分数为63.57%～90.34%,其次是BDE-66、-99和-100,其它多溴联苯醚几乎没有检出,表明污染主要来自十溴联苯醚,其次是四溴和五溴联苯醚.实验结果与其它国家的数据相比,表明多溴联苯醚对普通妇女的污染在四川还处于一个较低的水平.     

沉积物中雌激素及壬基酚、辛基酚、双酚A的测定

近些年来雌激素及烷基酚类化合物由于其对水生生物的内分泌干扰作用越来越受到广泛关注.沉积物作为环境中有机污染物的重要储存库,研究目标物在其中的浓度分布对于探明此类物质在环境中的迁移转化具有重要意义.但沉积物中基质组成复杂而雌激素又痕量存在,这增加了前处理的难度.本研究从雌激素及烷基酚类化合物的理化性质入手,采用碱液提取、液液萃取和LC-MS/MS分析测定沉积物样品中的雌激素及壬基酚、辛基酚、双酚A.结果表明,经过优化的方法对7种目标物的回收率介于61.9%～93.7%之间.该方法能有效去除沉积物中那些不溶于强碱和既溶于酸又溶于碱的有机污染物,同时操作简单、成本低,但回收率高、检出限低,可广泛适用于河流沉积物样品及土壤样品的前处理.     

内分泌干扰物在城市污水处理厂中的行为和归趋：综述

内分泌干扰物作为一类新型污染物,由于其在环境水体中微量的浓度即可对野生动物产生内分泌干扰效应,因此引起了人们的广泛关注.本文以两类主要内分泌干扰物(即类固醇雌激素和酚类内分泌干扰物)作为研究对象,综述了它们在城市污水处理厂中的浓度水平以及相应的去除效率,并探讨了不同生物处理工艺、运行操作条件等对去除效率的影响.此外,通...     

Molecular characterization and developmental expression patterns of thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) and their responsiveness to TR agonist and antagonist in Rana nigromaculata

Considering some advantages of Rana nigromaculata as an experimental species, we propose that this species, like Xenopus laevis, could be used to assay thyroid hormone（TH） signaling disrupting actions. To validate the utilizability of R. nigromaculata, we investigated the responsiveness of R. nigromaculata to a TH receptor（TR） agonist（T3） and antagonist（amiodarone） by analyzing expression, based on characterizing TR cDNA and developmental expression patterns. With high levels of identity with the corresponding genes in X. laevis, both TRα and TRβ in R. nigromaculata exhibited roughly similar developmental expression patterns to those of X. laevis, in spite of some species-specific differences. Both TRα and TRβ expression had greater changes in the liver and intestine than in the tail and brain during metamorphosis. T3 exposure for 2 days induced more dramatic increases of TRβ expression in stage 27 than in stage34 tadpoles but not in stage 42 tadpoles, showing that the responsiveness of R. nigromaculata to TH decreased with development and disappeared at the onset of metamorphic climax.Corresponding to greater changes of TRβ expression in the liver and intestine than in the tail and brain during metamorphosis, the liver and intestine had higher responsiveness to exogenous T3 than the tail and brain. Amiodarone inhibited T3-induced TRβ expression. Our results show that R. nigromaculata can be used as a model species for assaying TH signaling disrupting actions by analyzing TRβ expression, and intestine tissues at stage 27 are ideal test materials due to high responsiveness and easy accessibility.