Prenatal diagnosis of Freeman–Sheldon syndrome (whistling face)

The diagnosis of Freeman–Sheldon syndrome was made by ultrasonographic evaluation of a 20-week fetus with a positive family history. The ultrasonographic features were abnormalities of the extremities and mouth.     

Vitamins,folic acid and neural tube defects: Comments on investigations in the United States

No clear answer concerning whether multivitamin/folate supplementation prevents neural tube defects (NTDs) is provided by three studies in the United States. All these studies are occurrence in nature, no recurrence studies having been conducted. The Atlanta Birth Defects Study is subject to pronounced memory and recall biases, the length between event and interview being as long as 16 years. In a second study (Boston University), objections can be raised to certain aspects of the experimental design, and the claim that 22 per cent of women started vitamins sufficiently early after pregnancy diagnosis to influence NTD formation is suspicious. Our NICHD case control study of 541 women in California and Illinois revealed no evidence for multivitamins or folic acid preventing NTDs. U.S. public policy-makers face difficulties in applying results of recurrence or occurrence studies in high-risk areas to low-risk areas in the U.S.     

The influence of sewage sludge properties on sludge-borne metal availability

With the advent of more stringent controls on wastewater treatment, sewage sludge production in Europe and many parts of the world is increasing. With this increase comes the problem of sludge disposal, and recycling to land arguably offers an economically and environmentally sustainable option. However, a major limitation of sewage sludge reuse is the potential release of heavy metals from the sludge and heavy metal accumulation to toxic levels in topsoils. The properties of the sludge play a crucial role in determining the initial release and subsequent availability of heavy metals in amended soils. Bioavailable forms of heavy metals in recently amended soils are most likely to be those that are bioavailable in the sewage sludge. In this paper, published research on the importance of sewage sludge characteristics on metal release and bioavailability will be reviewed and contrasted with original research. A selection of sludges from around Australia has been collected for this purpose. Through the use of incubation studies, isotope dilution techniques, ion-selective electrode measurements and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy, the importance of a range of sludge properties on heavy metal behaviour in sludges and sludge-amended soils is addressed.     

Transient division of labor and behavioral specialization in the ant Formica schaufussi

Cooperative prey retrieval in the monomorphic ant Formica schaufussi is carried out by workers that perform functionally distinct roles which persist only for the duration of a single retrieval event. A forager (scout) that locates prey too large to retrieve individually organizes cooperative prey transport by recruiting nestmates (recruits) to assist in retrieval. The scout and recruit roles appear to be determined by whether a worker activates recruitment or is recruited from the nest. Scouts organize recruitment and play a key role in maintaining the cohesion of the retrieval group. If a scout that has initiated group transport is experimentally removed, the recruited workers composing the retrieval group typically abandon the prey and cooperative foraging is terminated. In this context, recruits are unable to function as scouts and reorganize group transport. Individuals marked as recruits in one prey retrieval, however, can switch and act as scouts in subsequent retrievals. Because the roles of individuals persist within but not between retrieval events, the specialization involved in cooperative prey retrieval cannot easily be explained as a response associated with age-related or genetic predispositions. This transient division-of-labor, in which individual roles may persist only for the duration of a single group action, represents a novel type of short-term individual specialization.     

Preparation of PFS coagulant by sectionalized reactor

The oxidation rate of ferrous sulfate is investigated for the preparation of polyferric sulfate(PFS)coagulant.In is proved that this reaction is zero order with respect to Fe^2 ,first order with respect to NO2(g),and first order with respect to the interface area between gas phase and liquid phase.According to this mechanism,sectionalized reactor(SR) is used in place of traditional reactor(TR),and the liquid of reaction mixture is recycled by pump.As a result,not only the flow path of reaction liquid is prolonged,but also gas-liquid contact area enlarged,and the reaction distinctly accelerated,compared with traditional reactor.The effects of parameters including temperature,acidity and others on the reaction rate are also discussed.     

酸碱度变化对日本三角涡虫生存及再生的影响

用自来水和去离子水配制不同的pH溶液，测定涡虫生存及再生的情况，以及涡虫可承受的pH变化幅度，确定日本三角涡虫对不同酸碱环境的耐受性。结果表明涡虫对酸碱环境的耐受力较强。     

Utilisation of bubble resonance phenomena to improve gas–liquid contact

 In several branches of science and technology a gaseous phase is dispersed into a liquid in the form of bubbles, a gaseous component then dissolves into the liquid and subsequently undergoes chemical reaction. The overall process performance can be improved substantially when the area of gas–liquid contact is increased. By subjecting the liquid phase to low frequency vibrations, the bubbles are shown to suffer significant breakage, induced by resonance. When the vibration is properly tuned, the interfacial area is found to increase by a factor of 1.8–2.4, depending on the properties of the liquid. Resonance-induced bubble breakage phenomena have a great potential for improving the rates of chemical processes involving fast reactions, with minimal energy input. Received: 7 July 2000 / Accepted in revised form: 28 August 2000     

调理剂对污泥中石油降解速率的影响

试验研究了添加不同调理剂及不同量调理剂对污泥中石油生物降解的影响。结果表明：添加调理剂可以显著地提高石油生物降解速率；几种调理剂之间比较，以木为最好，蛭石次之，稻草再次之。添加６％的调理剂，在室温下培养１２０ｄ，污泥中石油残留量减少了近７０％。     

上海城市交通与机动车排气污染调查

上海市机动车保有量逐年增加，车辆的排气污染愈来愈严重，据调查，１９９７年机动画排放的ＣＯ，ＭＮＨＣ，ＮＯＸ和ＰＭ分别达到５８．６，９．０８，６．２０和０．２３万吨。中心城区机动车排放的ＣＯ，ＮＭＨＣ和ＮＯＸ污染物５０％以上来自于小型车，是影响上海城区环境空气质量的主要污染源。     

Urban Flood Damage and Greenhouse Scenarios - The Implications for Policy: An Example from Australia

Urban flooding is often used as an illustration of the potentially adverse effects of greenhouse-induced climate change on extreme events. There is however, a paucity of studies that convert climate scenarios into changes in flood damage. This account summarises the use of modelling techniques, for three flood prone urban catchments in south eastern Australia, to assess changes to urban flood losses for the 'most wet' and 'most dry' scenarios for the year 2070. The most wet scenario indicates that annual average flood damage could increase within the range of 2.5 to 10 times, under the most dry scenario flood regimes would be similar to those experienced at present. The socio-economic scenarios based on the changes to flood losses are used to consider policy responses. It is unlikely that many local government authorities will respond because of lack of interest and because of major changes to the climate scenarios proposed over the last decade. Any response is likely to be incremental and accord with the 'no regrets' and the precautionary principle'.