Restoration of a Canadian Prairie Wetland with Agricultural and Municipal Wastewater

3 /day (800,000 US gallons) of municipal wastewater and beef processing wastewater. A large nongovernmental organization hastened restoration with a development process that outlined restoration goals and management objectives to satisfy a dual mandate of wastewater treatment and wildlife habitat creation. In 1995, after five years of wastewater additions, the basins had been refilled and the surrounding uplands had been acquired and restored. The Frank Lake Conservation Area currently provides high-quality habitat for a variety of wildlife in a region where many of the native plants and animals species have been lost due to habitat loss and fragmentation. The success of upland and water management strategies is reflected in the increase of target species' abundance and richness: 50 shorebird species, 44 waterfowl species, 15 raptor species, and 28 other new bird species have returned to the marsh since restoration. As well, significant N and P reduction occurs as waters flow through the first basin of the marsh. The management strategies of this project that satisfied a dual mandate serve as a model to guide managers of other large-scale wetland restoration projects.     

Nitrogen and phosphorus attenuation within the stream network of a coastal, agricultural watershed

Streams alter the concentration of nutrients they transport and thereby influence nutrient loading to estuaries downstream; however, the relationship between in-stream uptake, discharge variability, and subsequent nutrient export is poorly understood. In this study, in-stream N and P uptake were examined in the stream network draining a row-crop agricultural operation in coastal North Carolina. The effect of in-stream nutrient uptake on estuarine loading was examined using continuous measurements of watershed nutrient export. From August to December 2003, 52 and 83% of the NH4+ and PO4(3-) loads were exported during storms while concurrent storm flow volume was 34% of the total. Whole-ecosystem mass transfer velocities (Vf) of NH4+ and PO4(3-), measured using short-term additions of inorganic nutrients, ranged from 0.1 to 25 mm min(-1). Using a mass balance approach, this in-stream uptake was found to attenuate 65 to 98% of the NH4+ flux and 78 to 98% of the PO4(3-) flux in small, first-order drainage ditches. For the larger channel downstream, an empirical model based on Vf and discharge was developed to estimate the percentage of the nutrient load retained in-stream. The model predicted that all of the upstream NH4+ and PO4(3-) load was retained during base flow, while 65 and 37% of the NH4+ and PO4(3-) load was retained during storms. Remineralization from the streambed (vs. terrestrial sources) was the apparent source of NH4+ and PO4(3-) to the estuary during base flow. In-stream uptake reduced the dissolved inorganic N to dissolved inorganic P ratio of water exported to the N-limited estuary, thus limiting the potential for estuarine phytoplankton growth.     

Developing joint educational programs in sustainability science across different universities: a case study from Japan

The challenge for sustainability educational programs lies in how to imbue students with the strong motivation necessary to move the world in a more sustainable direction. Five universities in Japan have mutually collaborated in the design and development of a unique curriculum and education system for sustainability science since 2008. Specifically, they have developed a common and remote lecture system called the “Frontier of sustainability science” (FSS). This paper discusses the concepts and challenges of FSS and how it was organized to teach students to actively learn how to work with people of various disciplines to realize interdisciplinarity.     

Development of a spatial web tool to identify hotspots of environmental burdens in Wallonia (Belgium)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In response to the Walloon Environment and Health Program, the Scientific Institute of Public Services (ISSeP) developed an integrated approach of...     

Sustainability assessment with time-series scores: a case study of Chinese provinces

Asian nations are currently facing a number of challenges, including environmental degradation and growing societal inequalities, in the course of their rapid economic growth and industrialization. Under such conditions, it is of critical importance to develop appropriate assessment tools with which to comprehensively measure the sustainability status of a region in order to guide its transformation into a sustainable society. This paper proposes a method of sustainability assessment consisting of the three components of environment, resource, and socio-economic with aggregated time-series scores. This method can demonstrate the relative sustainability scores of targeted regions for different time periods, thereby, enabling the comparison of relative sustainability status for different regions over these periods. We carried out a case study of Chinese provinces for the years 2000 and 2005 using the proposed method and confirmed its applicability as the indicative type of sustainability assessment at the regional level, while actually investigating the sustainability status and its chronological changes. The results indicated that aggregate sustainability index scores improved between 2000 and 2005 in most provinces, mainly due to significant improvement in the scores for the socio-economic component, whereas the scores for the environment component deteriorated in some provinces over the study period. Our method proves to be effective in analyzing the relative sustainability status among targeted regions for different time periods in the form of aggregate scores, paving the way for practical applications, such as policy analysis, in the pursuit of a sustainable society.     

Chorionic villus sampling utilization following reports of a possible association with fetal limb defects

Prenatal diagnosis choices were reviewed in 473 women who presented for genetic counselling prior to 11 weeks' gestation for the indication of advanced maternal age. Group A consisted of 336 patients who were unaware of a possible association between chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and limb defects. Group B consisted of 137 patients who were provided this information. Fifty-one per cent of patients in group A and 45 per cent of patients in group B chose CVS. This difference was not significant by χ² analysis (P = 0·7). Patterns of prenatal diagnosis procedure utilization from 1987 to 1992 revealed a significant reduction in CVS utilization accompanied by a corresponding increase in amniocentesis after the association between CVS and limb defects was publicized. Referrals for CVS counselling also significantly declined. However, acceptance rates did not change for those patients who received genetic counselling. First-trimester genetic counselling, including a discussion regarding a possible association between CVS and limb defects, helps patients make informed decisions concerning prenatal diagnosis options, and, in our population, resulted in no change in CVS acceptance rates.     

Prenatal diagnosis of dilated coronary sinus with persistent left superior vena cava in a fetus with trisomy 18

A case of dilated coronary sinus with persistent left superior vena cava diagnosed at 33 weeks in a fetus with trisomy 18 is reported. The features of this cardiac anomaly on prenatal ultrasonography and its association with trisomy 18 are discussed. Published in 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Identification of abnormal chromosomal complement in formalin-fixed,paraffin-embedded placental tissue

The objective of this project was to assess the efficacy of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with chromosome-specific DNA probes to identify chromosome number in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded placental specimens. Using this approach, 75 per cent of the karyotypes in 20 formalin-fixed placental samples (comprising aneuploids, triploids, and normals) were correctly identified. As this technology improves, the ability to obtain information regarding chromosomal abnormalities in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded placental tissue should improve as well. This technology can potentially provide important cytogenetic information even when fresh tissue is not available for standard karyotypic analysis.