Prenatal diagnosis of congenital gastric outlet obstruction

A case of gastric outlet obstruction diagnosed prenatally at 22 weeks' gestation is described. The differential diagnosis and the clinical management of this rare condition are discussed, and an updated literature review is presented.     

日本企业的环境责任

上世纪90年代初期，日本的许多企业都未将环境管理、指标、社会责任等纳入企业成本、运营和规划中，他们认为这会给企业带来负担。也无必要，这种情形与现阶段的中国企业有着非常类似的“价值取向”，我们希望这篇文章能给中国的同行们带来一些思考和借鉴，从而使得我们的企业更绿，环境更清洁，社会更可持续。[编者按]     

Images of war: using satellite images for human rights monitoring in Turkish Kurdistan

In areas of war and armed conflict it is difficult to get trustworthy and coherent information. Civil society and human rights groups often face problems of dealing with fragmented witness reports, disinformation of war propaganda, and difficult direct access to these areas. Turkish Kurdistan was used as a case study of armed conflict to evaluate the potential use of satellite images for verification of witness reports collected by human rights groups. The Turkish army was reported to be burning forests, fields and villages as a strategy in the conflict against guerrilla uprising. This paper concludes that satellite images are useful to validate witness reports of forest fires. Even though the use of this technology for human rights groups will depend on some feasibility factors such as prices, access and expertise, the images proved to be key for analysis of spatial aspects of conflict and valuable for reconstructing a more trustworthy picture.     

Enhanced science–stakeholder communication to improve ecosystem model performances for climate change impact assessments

In recent years, climate impact assessments of relevance to the agricultural and forestry sectors have received considerable attention. Current ecosystem models commonly capture the effect of a warmer climate on biomass production, but they rarely sufficiently capture potential losses caused by pests, pathogens and extreme weather events. In addition, alternative management regimes may not be integrated in the models. A way to improve the quality of climate impact assessments is to increase the science–stakeholder collaboration, and in a two-way dialog link empirical experience and impact modelling with policy and strategies for sustainable management. In this paper we give a brief overview of different ecosystem modelling methods, discuss how to include ecological and management aspects, and highlight the importance of science–stakeholder communication. By this, we hope to stimulate a discussion among the science–stakeholder communities on how to quantify the potential for climate change adaptation by improving the realism in the models.     

Thirty year monitoring of PCBs, organochlorine pesticides and tetrabromodiphenylether in eel from The Netherlands

Because of their excellent properties as a biomonitor, yellow eels (Anguilla anguilla) have been used for time-trend monitoring of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and tetrabrominated diphenylether (tetra-BDE). The program has now lasted for thirty years and has delivered valuable information on trends and spatial differences of these compounds in the delta of the rivers Rhine and Meuse and other Dutch canals, rivers and lakes. Specific local PCB, HCH and dieldrin contaminations were identified. Temporal trends show a slow decrease of PCB concentrations since 1977. Eels from the rivers Rhine and Meuse still exceed present European maximum residue limits for dioxin-like PCBs. Apart from some exceptions, OCP and tetra-BDE concentrations have also decreased, and more than those of PCBs. Fat contents of eel have decreased from an average of 21 to ca. 13%. This decrease in fat contents, coincides with the strong reduction of the European eel stock.     

Hypoxia in the Baltic Sea: Biogeochemical Cycles, Benthic Fauna, and Management

Hypoxia has occurred intermittently over the Holocene in the Baltic Sea, but the recent expansion from less than 10 000 km² before 1950 to >60 000 km² since 2000 is mainly caused by enhanced nutrient inputs from land and atmosphere. With worsening hypoxia, the role of sediments changes from nitrogen removal to nitrogen release as ammonium. At present, denitrification in the water column and sediments is equally important. Phosphorus is currently buried in sediments mainly in organic form, with an additional contribution of reduced Fe-phosphate minerals in the deep anoxic basins. Upon the transition to oxic conditions, a significant proportion of the organic phosphorus will be remineralized, with the phosphorus then being bound to iron oxides. This iron-oxide bound phosphorus is readily released to the water column upon the onset of hypoxia again. Important ecosystems services carried out by the benthic fauna, including biogeochemical feedback-loops and biomass production, are also lost with hypoxia. The results provide quantitative knowledge of nutrient release and recycling processes under various environmental conditions in support of decision support tools underlying the Baltic Sea Action Plan.     

Maintenance and Operation Problems of Electrostatic Precipitators

A general background is offered to the potential sources and solutions of maintenance difficulties Involved with the electrostatic precipitator. The purpose of the discussion is not only to show the Inherent complexity of the situation, but to stress areas of problem identification and activity for the user of this equipment. The information contained in this paper should provide an overall base for the details covered in the subsequent papers of this conference.     

Life cycle assessment of selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) of nitrous oxides in a full-scale municipal solid waste incinerator

Selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) of nitrous oxides in a full-scale municipal solid waste incinerator was investigated using LCA. The relationship between NO_x-cleaning and ammonia dosage was measured at the plant. Un-reacted ammonia - the ammonia slip - leaving the flue-gas cleaning system adsorbed to fly-ash or in the effluent of the acidic scrubber was quantified from the stoichiometric reaction of NO_x and ammonia assuming no other reaction products was formed. Of the ammonia slip, 37% was associated with the fly-ash and 63% was in the effluent of the acidic scrubber. Based on NO_x-cleaning efficiency, the fate of the ammonia slip as well as the environmental impact from ammonia production, the potential acidification and nutrient enrichment from NO_x-cleaning was calculated as a function of ammonia dosage. Since the exact fate of the ammonia slip could not be measured directly, a number of scenarios were set up ranging from “best case” with no ammonia from the slip ending up in the environment to “worst case” where all the ammonia slip eventually ended up in the environment and contributed to environmental pollution. In the “best case” scenario the highest ammonia dosage was most beneficial demonstrating that the environmental load associated with ammonia production is of minor importance. In contrast, in a “worst case” scenario” NO_x-cleaning using SNCR is not recommendable at all, since the impacts from the ammonia slip exceed the saved impacts from the NO_x removal. Increased dosage of ammonia for removal of NO_x is recommendable as long as less than 10-20% of the ammonia slip to the effluent of the acidic scrubber ends up in the environment and less than 40% of the slip to the fly-ash ends up in the environment. The study suggests that the actual fate of the ammonia slip is crucial, but since the release of the ammonia may take place during transport and at the facilities that treat the wastewater and treat the fly-ash this factor depends strongly on local conditions and may be hard to determine. Thus, LCA-modeling proved useful in assessing the balance between ammonia dosage and NO_x-removal in flue-gas cleaning from waste incineration.