Prenatal diagnosis for arginase deficiency by second-trimester fetal erythrocyte arginase assay and first-trimester ARG1 mutation analysis

Hyperargininemia is a progressive neurometabolic disorder caused by deficiency of hepatic cytosolic arginase I, resulting from mutations in the ARG1 gene. We diagnosed arginase deficiency in a three-year-old male child of first-cousin Palestinian Arab parents. Prenatal diagnosis of an unaffected fetus was achieved in the second trimester of a subsequent pregnancy by cordocentesis and analysis of arginase activity in fetal erythrocytes. ARG1 mutation analysis in the proband revealed homozygosity for a deletion of 10 753 bp extending from the first intron to beyond the poly (A) site of the gene. This is the first gross deletion in the ARG1 gene to be identified and the first mutation to be described in an arginase-deficient patient of this ethnic origin. The identification of the ARG1 deletion in this family enabled first-trimester prenatal diagnosis in a subsequent pregnancy by multiplex PCR analysis performed on chorionic villous DNA. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Design and operating practices for safe conveying of particulate solids

I am pleased to offer this treatise on the conveying of particulate solids. In doing so I wish to acknowledge the immense contributions of Trevor Kletz in providing guidance to the chemical process industries in many areas including inherently safer design principles and operating practices.     

Abatement systems for SOx,NOx, and particles — Technical options

Summary This technical paper summarizes the various systems currently available for the removal of SO_x, NO_x and particles from possible acid rain emission sources associated with industrial processes. Preferred systems are outlined in the conclusions.This paper was first presented at the Institution of Environmental Sciences Seminar An Update on Acid Rain which took place in London during November, 1984. Stanley Wallin is a Principal Scientific Officer at Warren Spring Laboratory. He is an engineer working in the environmental field, and his main interests and research are in the measurement and control of pollution from stationary sources. He acts as a consultant for the European Economic Community, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the UK's Health and Safety Executive.     

Environmental contaminants in surrogates,foods, and feathers of California condors (Gymnogyps californianus)

California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) foods and feathers, and turkey vultures (Cathartes aura), common ravens (Corvus corax), and their eggs were collected within the condor range to determine exposure of condors to environmental contaminants. Samples were analyzed for organochlorines and trace elements. Food items contained low concentrations of organochlorines and generally low concentrations of lead. DDE was detected in all vulture carcasses and nearly all raven carcasses at generally moderate concentrations. Other organochlorines occurred infrequently in carcasses and generally at low concentrations. Turkey vulture eggshells were 16% thinner than the pre-DDT mean; there was no change in shell thickness of raven eggs. Vulture eggs contained an average of 6.9 ppm DDE and two contained excessive concentrations of endrin. DDE concentrations were low in raven eggs. Residues of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Ni, Se, Tl, and Zn in tissues of vultures and ravens appeared normal when compared with reference values for other species. Lead concentrations in bone of turkey vultures and feathers of condors appeared to be elevated above normal background concentrations in some cases. Current exposure of condors to organochlorines appears low; however, we are concerned about the excessive exposure of turkey vultures to organochlorines, possibly in Central America. Lead exposure to vultures and condors has occurred, but its significance to their populations is unknown.     

Fate of heavy metals and radioactive metals in gasification of sewage sludge

The fates of radioactive cadmium, strontium, cesium, cobalt, arsenic, mercury, zinc, and copper spiked into sewage sludge were determined when the sludge was gasified by a process that maximizes production of char from the sludge (ChemChar process). For the most part the metals were retained in the char product in the gasifier. Small, but measurable quantities of arsenic were mobilized by gasification and slightly more than 1% of the arsenic was detected in the effluent gas. Mercury was largely mobilized from the solids in the gasifier, but most of the mercury was retained in a filter composed of char prepared from the sludge. The small amounts of mercury leaving the gasification system were found to be associated with an aerosol product generated during gasification. The metals retained in the char product of gasification were only partially leachable with 50% concentrated nitric acid.     

SALT PICKUP BY OVERLAND FLOW IN THE PRICE RIVER BASIN,UTAH1

ABSTRACT: This study emphasized a field investigation of salt release to overland flow from Mancos shale lands of the Price River Basin, Utah. Although a high degree of natural variation existed in the data, which precluded the separation of factors affecting diffuse salt loading that occurs during overland flow, a simplistic nonpoint source loading function developed on empirical concepts was fit to the data. This function was then used to calculate the average annual salt yield to the Price River by overland flow. It was found that even under severe conditions, the salt yields from Mancos shale lands due to overland flow is relatively minor, accounting for less than 1.5 percent of the average annual salt mass transported from the basin by the Price River.     

LAKE MICHIGAN DIVERSION - STREAM QUALITY PLANNING1

ABSTRACT: By United States Supreme Court action, the diversion of water from Lake Michigan and the Lake Michigan Drainage Basin in the Metropolitan Chicago Area is regulated at an annual maximum rate of 3,200 cfs. Approximately 1,700 cfs of this diversion is used for water supply, and the remaining 1,500 cfs consists primarily of stormwater runoff with lesser amounts of direct lake diversion, such as lockage and leakage, navigational makeup water flows, and discretionary diversion needed to maintain water quality standards in the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago's basic waterways. In order to assess the schedule of its discretionary diversion needs, the District, using a computer model of its basic waterway system, has calculated the minimum discretionary diversion requirements for projected water quality conditions as successive elements of the District's water pollution control program are completed. The results of these analyses can be used as a basis for developing plans for future allocations of the limited supply of Lake Michigan water to other uses such as domestic water supply, when and if such supplies become available.     

ACCIDENTAL AND PLANNED WEATHER MODIFICATION IN ILLINOIS1

ABSTRACT: Weather modification, both planned by man and that accidentally produced by man, has been under intensive study in Illinois for ten years. Most everyone in Illinois and the Midwest is living in a climate that now is modified inadvertently from its natural state. State atmospheric scientists have tackled weather modification through a series of interrelated studies beginning with climatic studies (to establish the background), experimental design studies, experimental field studies to verify changes and their causes, and finally socio-economic and environmental studies to measure the impacts of weather modification. Studies at St. Louis show that the city acts as a trigger of summer clouds and rainfall leading to 4 to 6 summer days with 3 cm or more rain somewhere just east of the city. Power plants and jet aircraft also accidentally produce climatic changes. A focus on planned weather modification has been on the design of needed midwestern experiments in rainfall enhancement and hail suppression including the societal and environmental impacts.     

ATMOSPHERIC CONTROLS OF WATER EXCHANGE IN GREAT LAKES BASIN1

ABSTRACT Existing meteorological controls of water exchange by precipitation and evaporation on the Great Lakes are almost entirely inadvertent and related to man's urban-industrial complexes and their effect upon precipitation processes. These inadvertent effects have led to 10 to 40% increases in precipitation in localized areas within the basin. Envisioned growth of urban-industrial complexes within the Great Lakes region should lead to more inadvertent weather modification in the Basin. The only existing planned weather modification efforts are those at Lake Erie which are attempting to eliminate by redistribution the concentration of lake-derived heavy snowfall along the south shore. It appears reasonable to assume that practical increases of lake precipitation on the order of 5-20% could be achieved on an operational basis over the Great Lakes in the next 10 years, but the time of accomplishment will depend on national priorities, international cooperation, and economic factors. These activities would certainly produce a sizeable increase in the water quantity of the Great Lakes and should result in an improvement in water quality. Operational methods of evaporation suppression applicable to the lakes are just not available. Meteorological controls to ameliorate certain undesirable lake-effect snowstorms are a near reality.