Grundlagen der Supraleitung

Superconductivity was discovered almost 70 years ago by Kamerlingh Onnes. Many generations of physicists and solid-state physicists got involved in the interpretation of this exciting phenomenon. Nevertheless, the potential use of superconducting materials in technical applications — e.g., in magnets for particle accelerators or fusion reactors — was demonstrated only recently. The purpose of this contribution is a discussion of the fundamental properties of these materials, a prerequisite for an understanding of their application.     

Die Bestimmung der Herkunft der Marmore von Büsten der Münchener Residenz

51 Greek, Roman and Renaissance marble busts from the Antiquarium of the Residenz in Munich were studied for their C- and O-isotopic composition. Apart from some overlapping values, this technique permits — contrary to microscopic and chemical methods — localization of different Turkish, Greek and Italian marble deposits.     

3-to-1: unraveling structural transitions in ureases

Ureases are nickel-dependent enzymes which catalyze the hydrolysis of urea to ammonia and carbamate. Despite the apparent wealth of data on ureases, many crucial aspects regarding these enzymes are still unknown, or constitute matter for ongoing debates. One of these is most certainly their structural organization: ureases from plants and fungi have a single unit, while bacterial and archaean ones have three-chained structures. However, the primitive state of these proteins — single- or three-chained — is yet unknown, despite many efforts in the field. Through phylogenetic inference using three different datasets and two different algorithms, we were able to observe chain number transitions displayed in a 3-to-1 fashion. Our results imply that the ancestral state for ureases is the three-chained organization, with single-chained ureases deriving from them. The two-chained variants are not evolutionary intermediates. A fusion process, different from those already studied, may explain this structural transition.     

Bioindikatoren für erhöhte Metallgehalte in Fließgewässern

Lawful arguments of food research require an information of the concentrations of heavy metals in fishes. Whereas for the control of emissions and of river pollution the analysis on heavy metals in excellent indicator organisms — as specific submerged water plants or fish food (zoobenthic) organisms — is generally more sensitive and therefore more suitable. With analytical results there is no successive accumulation of metals in the aquatic food chain — that means no biomagnification — determinable. By the analysis of some bioindicators the degree of the environmental load due to heavy metals can be estimated. With this ecological method we are able to detect the emissions' locality and their producers.     

重金属Cd、Zn、Pb复合污染对土壤酶活性的影响

采用回归正交设计方案 ,研究了潮褐土中Cd、Zn、Pb复合污染对 4种土壤酶活性 (过氧化氢酶、脲酶、碱性磷酸酶、转化酶 )的影响 .结果表明 ,在复合效应影响中 ,重金属对土壤酶活性的抑制效应顺次为Cd >Zn >Pb ;同时 ,Cd、Zn、Pb复合污染对 4种土壤酶活性的影响效应存在着明显差异 .其复合污染对脲酶表现出协同抑制负效应的特征 ;对过氧化氢酶表现出一定的屏蔽作用 ;对转化酶和碱性磷酸酶活性影响则主要随着Cd浓度的增加而显著降低 .离子冲量与土壤脲酶活性之间呈显著负相关 ,用脲酶活性作为预测土壤重金属Cd、Zn、Pb复合污染程度的主要生化指标具有一定的可行性     

福建泉州西湖水体中硝化作用的研究

文章系统研究了富营养化湖泊——泉州西湖水体中硝化作用的2个过程,即氨氧化和亚硝酸盐(NO2--N)氧化的发生规律。结果表明:西湖水体中,氨氧化和亚硝酸盐氧化都是以颗粒态活性为主,但是与氨氧化过程相比,亚硝酸盐氧化的颗粒态活性部分相对较少;水体中总氨氧化潜力显著高于总亚硝酸盐氧化潜力(配对t-检验,p<0.05);偏相关分析表明,水体中NO2--N浓度与总氨氧化潜力显著正相关(p<0.05),说明高速率的氨氧化过程一定程度上导致了NO2--N的积累。西湖水体中存在的高浓度氨氮一方面促进了氨氧化细菌的活性,导致高氨氧化潜力,另一方面却对亚硝盐氧化过程产生了部分抑制,导致低亚硝酸盐氧化潜力,使亚硝酸盐氧化过程成为硝化作用的限制性步骤。     

厌氧氨氧化电子受体的研究

在无机条件下,以该课题组已经培养出来的厌氧氨氧化污泥作为接种污泥,分别以硫酸盐、硝酸盐和亚硝酸盐为电子受体来研究氨的氧化反应。从去除速率的角度来看,以NO2--N、NO3--N和SO42--S为电子受体的反应器,分别在运行的第24.5天、40天和31天时达到0.030 0 kg/(m.3d)NH4+-N去除速率,则氧化氨的能力由大到小依次是:亚硝酸盐>硫酸盐>硝酸盐;从标准吉布斯自由能变化来看,3种反应都是可以发生的;以亚硝酸盐为电子受体的反应过程是一个消耗酸度的生物过程,而以硫酸盐为电子受体的反应过程是一个消耗碱度的生物过程。     

Challenges in providing residual risks in carrier testing

The probability an individual is a carrier for a recessive disorder despite a negative carrier test, referred to as residual risk, has been part of carrier screening for over 2 decades. Residual risks are calculated by subtracting the frequency of carriers of pathogenic variants detected by the test from the carrier frequency in a population, estimated from the incidence of the disease. Estimates of the incidence (and therefore carrier frequency) of many recessive disorders differ among different population groups and are inaccurate or unavailable for many genes on large carrier screening panels for most of the world's populations. The pathogenic variants detected by the test and their frequencies also vary across groups and over time as variants are newly discovered or reclassified, which requires today's residual carrier risks to be continually updated. Even when a residual carrier risk is derived using accurate data obtained in a particular group, it may not apply to many individuals in that group because of misattributed ancestry or unsuspected admixture. Missing or inaccurate data, the challenge of determining meaningful ancestry-specific risks and applying them appropriately, and a lack of evidence they impact management, suggest that patients be counseled that although carrier screening may miss a small fraction of carriers, residual risks with contemporary carrier screening are well below the risk posed by invasive prenatal diagnosis, even if one member of the couple is a carrier, and that efforts to provide precise residual carrier risks are unnecessary.     

Das RÄtsel der Exoelektronen Historie,gegenwärtiger Stand,Lösungsvorschläge

This paper deals with the history of exoelectron emission (EE), as well as with the experimental results and the attempts to explain them. The author concludes that thermally and optically stimulated EE (TSEE, OSEE) are different phenomena and that OSEE is mere photoeffect. The source of the energy causing the emission has been heatedly discussed. The author believes that most of the models can be ruled out by the fact that the activation energies do not depend on the nature of the metal nor on its oxide. He supposes the simplest model—direct thermal emission from surface traps—to be right. The author concludes that none of the excitation processes produces electron traps, as is often assumed. They only fill existing traps with electrons, e.g., radiation, mechanical treatment or a simple dip in water.     

The Toronto Region Sustainability Program: insights on the adoption of pollution prevention practices by small to medium-sized manufacturers in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)

The Toronto Region Sustainability Program (TRSP) is a multi-year action-and-results oriented program which provides small to medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SME) (defined as <500 employees at facility level) in the GTA with pollution prevention (P2) technical assistance, coupled with a financial incentive to address the root causes of their pollutants and waste streams and improve their environmental performance. The program has been successful in establishing partnerships with three orders (levels) of government and a third party delivery agent—the Ontario Centre for Environmental Technology Advancement (OCETA)—to achieve significant reductions in pollutants/waste generation and to promote the implementation of pollution prevention practices within SME manufacturing facilities. This paper shares insights on how the program works and uses case studies as illustrative examples to highlight the P2 methods adopted, the resulting environmental burden reductions, as well as the value-added benefits to the TRSP clients' business bottom line. Furthermore, this paper outlines the findings of a survey conducted by OCETA to identify TRSP clients' key drivers for program participation, their implementation status, and the challenges encountered in implementing P2 projects. It is hoped that the insights from this paper will expand the boundaries of P2 knowledge within the P2 community, and motivate SMEs in various sectors to incorporate P2 as a sustainable business strategy.     

Prenatal diagnosis of β-thalassemia in Southern Punjab,Pakistan

Pakistan has a large population of more than 150 million people with an overall carrier frequency of approximately 5.6% for β-thalassemia. Punjab is the largest province of the country having more than 50% of the population. The state of β-thalassemia is alarming as consanguinity is very high (>81%) and the literacy rate is low in South Punjab. A thalassemia prevention program is the need of the hour in this part of Pakistan. In this study, we initiated awareness, screening, and characterization of the mutations causing β-thalassemia as well as a genetic counseling program mainly in the districts of Faisalabad and D.G. Khan to establish prenatal diagnosis, a facility previously unavailable in this region for disease prevention. A total of 248 unrelated transfusion-dependent children and the available members of their families were screened to characterize the mutations and identify the carriers. Genetic counseling was provided to these families and prenatal diagnosis offered. In the samples analyzed, 11 β-thalassemia mutations and three hemoglobin variants were detected mainly by using the Monoplex and Multiplex ARMS-PCR. First-trimester prenatal diagnosis was carried out through chorionic villus sampling (CVS) in seven pregnancies at risk. As a result of our campaign, 145 carrier couples planning to have more children gave their consent to have retrospective prenatal diagnosis in every pregnancy in future. A cooperative trend and a positive attitude toward the prevention of β-thalassemia were noticed in the families with affected children and in the general population. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Die Entwicklung der Erdatmosphäre und ihre Wechselbeziehung zur Entwicklung der Sedimente und des Lebens

The formation of the atmosphere-together with that of the oceans and sediments-was determined by three important processes: the loss of noble gases and volatiles in the solar nebula, the enrichment of these substances at the Earth's surface by exhalation from the Earth's mantle, and finally the formation of the hydrosphere, enabled by-in contrast to our neighboring planets-a suitable distance from the sun. In this way the development of the atmospheric gases N₂, H₂O and CO₂ was largely fixed. Oxygen, on the other hand, appeared late in the atmosphere. It originated from biological photosynthesis which apparently developed rather early in the Earth's history but lead at first only to oxidation of iron and sulfur. The subsequently occurring accumulation of free oxygen in the atmosphere resulted in interesting interrelations with the development of life.     

〔3H〕PBNA与小牛胸腺DNA的结合

经多种动物实验证明,工业用抗氧化剂N-苯基-2-萘胺(PBNA)为一种广谱的弱致癌物,本实验用管内研究方法证明了其在有微粒体活化系统存在时与小牛胸腺DNA的结合,这种结合有剂量—反应关系,并随温育时间而上升,约4h趋于平稳,用Sephadex G-15柱层析得到三个与λ_(260)相对应的同位素结合峰,表明这种结合在性质上是小牛胸腺DNA同PBNA代谢物的共价结合。     

Nature and frequency of chromosomal abnormalities in pregnancies with abnormal ultrasound findings: An analysis of 117 cases with review of the literature

During a 7-year period, 117 fetal karyotypes were available from 131 genetic amniocenteses. These procedures were performed between 14 and 37 weeks' gestation for the following abnormal ultrasound findings: (1) intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR)—61 cases; (2) fetal malformation—71 cases; and (3) amniotic fluid volume (AFV) abnormality—60 cases. Chromosomal abnormalities were identified in 19 cases (16.2 per cent). Aneuploidy was 2.5 times as frequent in the presence of malformations than in their absence. No correlation was demonstrated between specific fetal malformations and specific chromosomal abnormalities. Aneuploidy was also twice as frequent in the presence of symmetrical IUGR than in its absence. No chromosomal abnormalities were found among eight cases of asymmetrical IUGR. Four cases of aneuploidy presented with isolated IUGR, three of these involving the X chromosome. The frequency of aneuploidy was the same with or without abnormalities of AFV (14.3 versus 16.4 per cent). No chromosomal abnormality was found associated with isolated AFV abnormalities.     

高效低温聚磷菌的筛选及特性研究

通过人工模拟自然降温的方式,从A2/O反应器驯化污泥中筛选到低温条件下聚磷效果较好的三株功能菌株P1、P2、P3,经试验得到一种分离聚磷菌效果较好的方法 -稀释混合平板法;分析研究三株菌的聚磷效果、生化特性,测定三株菌的多维生长曲线,研究了温度、pH、微量元素对这三株菌的生长量及除磷率的影响,结果表明,三株菌的生长最适温度均为15℃,适宜的生长和除磷pH为中性偏碱。最后用分子生物学的方法对三株菌进行鉴定,三株菌均属于不动杆菌属的约氏不动杆菌(A cinetobacter Johnson ii)。     

Kohleveredlung an der Schwelle der 80er Jahre

Coal as fuel and chemical feedstock is featuring a bright come-back. A number of coal gasification plants is already operating, mainly in developing countries. Recent events have prompted additional and extensive research efforts. In West Germany eleven large-scale projects for coal gasification and three coal liquification units are discussed, involving investments of 13·10⁹ DM, which could go on stream in the second half of the eighties.     

Towards a framework to assess,compare and develop monitoring and evaluation of climate change adaptation in Europe

Adaptation is increasingly recognised as essential when dealing with the adverse impacts of climate change on societies, economies and the environment. However, there is insufficient information about the effectiveness of adaption policies, measures and actions. For this reason, the establishment of monitoring programmes is considered to be necessary. Such programmes can contribute to knowledge, learning and data to support adaptation governance. In the European Union (EU), member states are encouraged to develop National Adaptation Strategies (NASs). The NASs developed so far vary widely because of differing views, approaches and policies. A number of member states have progressed to monitoring and evaluating the implementation of their NAS. It is possible to identify key elements in these monitoring programmes that can inform the wider policy learning process. In this paper, four generic building blocks for creating a monitoring and evaluation programme are proposed: (1) definition of the system of interest, (2) selection of a set of indicators, (3) identification of the organisations responsible for monitoring and (4) definition of monitoring and evaluation procedures. The monitoring programmes for NAS in three member states—Finland, the UK and Germany—were analysed to show how these elements have been used in practice, taking into account their specific contexts. It is asserted that the provision of a common framework incorporating these elements will help other member states and organisations within them in setting up and improving their adaptation monitoring programmes.     

New contributions to the study of common double mutants in the human <Emphasis Type="Italic">LDL</Emphasis> receptor gene

Variations in the gene encoding the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) can cause familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), one of the most common inherited metabolic disorders in humans. The functional effects of the p.Gln92Glu and p.Asn564His alterations are predicted as benign, but the c.313 + 1G>C and p.Lys799_Phe801del changes are believed to cause disease. Although p.Gln92Glu and c.313 + 1G>C have been observed only in Spain, p.Asn564His and p.Lys799_Phe801del are widespread in Western Europe. In order to estimate the ages (t generations) of these four variants of the gene, to determine their possible origin and to consider the influence of age and selective pressure on their spread, we analyzed 86 healthy individuals and 126 FH patients in Spain. Most of the FH patients investigated carried two of these four LDLR variants simultaneously, while only one patient carried three of them simultaneously. Haplotype analyses were based on five LDLR SNPs: c.81T>C, c.1413G>A, c.1725C>T, c.1959T>C and c.2232G>A. The results suggest that p.Gln92Glu and c.313 + 1G>C arose at about the same time (99 and 103 generations ago, respectively) in the CACTG haplotype and that p.Asn564His and p.Lys799_Phe801del appeared in the CGCCG haplotype and might be slightly more recent variations (92 and 95 generations ago, respectively). Low selective pressures could explain the maintenance of these variants in spite of their ages. The origin of p.Gln92Glu and c.313 + 1G>C appears to be in Spain whereas p.Asn564His and p.Lys799_Phe801del could have been introduced in Spain by Celtic migrations in the seventh to fifth centuries BC.     

Chemical and biochemical studies in fetuses affected with nieman-pick disease type A

Chemical and biochemical studies were performed on two unrelated fetuses affected with Niemann-Pick disease type A, following abortion at about the 19th week of gestation. Abortion was performed as a consequence of previous findings, in amniotic fluid cell cultures, that sphingomyelinase activity was completely absent. Phospholipid analyses of various organs of the fetuses, spleen and liver were the organs mostly affected. Interestingly enough considerable accumulation of sphingomyelin was found in the placenta. The brain was the only organ in which sphingomyeiin storage could not be proved. In addition to sphingomyelin a slight accumulation of cholesterol was noticed. Deficiency of sphingomyelinase activity measured at pH 5·0 was the general characteristic of the affected tissues. It is concluded that the accumulation of sphingomyelin in various organs throughout the body of fetuses affected with Niemann-Pick disease is suggestive of the essential role of the enzyme sphingomyelinase and its biochemical maturation, even during the early stages of gestation.     

Microhydro electrification and climate change adaptation in Nepal: socioeconomic lessons from the Rural Energy Development Program (REDP)

This article explores the potential for microhydro installations in Nepal to improve adaptive capacity in addition to their ability to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. After explaining its methods of data collection—namely field research and research interviews—the article explores the climate change adaptation benefits of microhydro plants being promoted under the Renewable Energy Development Project (REDP). Besides displacing fossil fuels, in particular kerosene for lighting, microhydro electrification offers an effective way of improving community assets and bolstering social resilience (thereby enhancing the adaptive capacity of communities there). Our own survey of REDP project sites reveals how microhydro units have improved community income levels, equalized gender roles, enhanced access to education and information, and reduced migration patterns. The article concludes by highlighting three key lessons—the role of extensive community mobilization, proactive capacity building for efficient electricity use, and the need for comprehensiveness—for those wishing to adapt to climate change in other rural and developing economies.