Comparative floorplan-analysis as a means to develop design guidelines

This study explores the usefulness of comparative floorplan-analysis for the development of spatio-organizational concepts in architectural design processes.Each floorplan can be considered as a reflection of the goals and activities of the users as interpreted by the architect. By comparing a wide range of building layouts for similar organizations one may achieve a good understanding of the way organizational characteristics are (can be) expressed in spatial solutions. In the study reported here, in which 50 Dutch health centres were analysed comparatively, definite relationships between organizational and spatial concepts were found. This information is used both as a means to make organizational principles more explicit as well as data for briefwriting and design guidelines.     

Prenatal diagnosis and fetal pathology of partial trisomy 20p–monosomy 4p resulting from paternal translocation

Amniocentesis was performed in view of a paternal balanced chromosomal rearrangement t(4;20)(p16;p12), inv(18)(p11q11). The pregnancy was complicated by severe oligohydramnios. The fetal karyotype was unbalanced: 46XX, der(4), t(4;20)(p16;p12), inv(18) (p11q11)pat., thus resulting in partial trisomy 2Op and monosomy 4p. In addition, the amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) became increasingly elevated with gestational age. The pregnancy was terminated at 25 weeks. The fetus presented with typical facial dysmorphic features, unilateral cleft lip and palate, severe renal hypoplasia, consistent with the 4p- (Wolf-Hirschhorn) syndrome.     

Darwin's Fox: A Distinct Endangered Species in a Vanishing Habitat

The temperate rain forest of Chiloé Island, Chile, is inhabited by an endemic fox ( Dusicyon fulvipes ) first described by Charles Darwin and now designated Darwin's fox. Despite morphological differences, Darwin's fox has been considered only an insular subspecies of the mainland chilla fox ( D. griseus ). This follows the assumption that the island population, with an estimated population of less than 500, has been separated from the mainland chilla fox for only about 15,000 years and may have received occasional immigrants from the mainland. Consequently, this island population has not been protected as endangered or bred in captivity. Recently, a population of Darwin's fox was discovered on the Chilean mainland 600 km north of Chiloé Island. This population exists in sympatry with chilla and possibly culpeo ( D. culpaeus ) foxes, which suggests that Darwin's fox may be reproductively isolated. To clarify the phylogenetic position of Darwin's fox, we analyzed 344 bp of mitochondrial DNA control-region sequence of the three species of Chilean foxes. Darwin's foxes from the island and mainland populations compose a monophyletic group distinct from the two other Chilean fox species. This indicates that Darwin's fox was probably an early inhabitant of central Chile, and that its present distribution on the mainland may be a relict of a once much wider distribution. Our results highlight the ability of molecular genetic techniques to uncover historical relationships masked by recent events, such as local extinctions. The "rediscovery" of Darwin's fox as a distinct species implies that greater significance should be given to the protection of this species and its unique habitat and to documenting the extent of its mainland distribution.     

Internal eutrophication: How it works and what to do about it—a review

In the 1980s and 1990s, it became increasingly clear that changes in external nutrient loads alone could not entirely explain the severe eutrophication of surface waters in the Netherlands. Nowadays, 'internal eutrophication' has become a widely accepted term in Dutch water management practice to describe the eutrophication of an ecosystem without additional external input of nutrients (N, P, K). This review surveys the principal mechanisms involved in this process. It also discusses possible remedies to combat internal eutrophication.