Prenatal application of fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) for identification of a mosaic Y-chromosome marker,IDIC(Yp)

An amniocentesis was performed at 13.3 weeks' gestation for advanced maternal age. A mosaic sex chromosome pattern was found: of 50 cells examined, 34 had a 45,X karyotype. In 14 cells with a modal number of 46, a recognizable Y was substituted by a small non-fluorescent marker. C-banding identified the marker as an isodicentric in 12 cells. In two cells, the non-fluorescent marker appeared to be monocentric and looked like a non-fluorescent del (Yq), but could have been an isodicentric Y with inactivation of one of the centromeres. Two cells with a modal number of 47 showed two copies of the monocentric marker. Fluorescent in situ hybridization with an alpha satellite Y-specific centromeric probe confirmed the Y-chromosome origin of the markers and allowed for more accurate prenatal diagnostic information.     

Hepatic calcifications in a fetus with trisomy 9 that underwent cordocentesis

Foci of calcification were observed at autopsy in the liver of a fetus with complete trisomy 9 on which two cordocenteses had been performed. It is suggested that liver calcifications are a possible complication of the procedure. As several other cases of calcifications in the liver and other organs of fetuses with autosomal trisomies have been described without a history of cordocentesis, further studies should be carried out to determine whether fetuses with chromosomal anomalies are more prone to thrombus formation and embolization.     

Chorionic villus sampling—short-term versus long-term culture in a subtle 2; 18 translocation

Prenatal diagnosis on chorionic villous tissue was performed for a woman with the karyotype 46,XX,t(2;18)(q32;q12)—a subtle ‘difficult’ translocation. The case illustrates the necessity of good quality cytogenetics for accurate prenatal diagnosis. For chorionic villi this can be obtained only with long-term culture.     

Mating System and Sexual Selection in the Scorpionfly Panorpa vulgaris (Mecoptera: Panorpidae)

Panorpa vulgaris   has become a model insect for testing theories of sexual selection. This contribution summarizes that which has been learned in recent years and presents new data that clearly show that the mating system of P. vulgaris is not simply a resource-defense polygyny, as has previously been thought. In P. vulgaris neither the pattern in food exploitation nor the ratio of variance in the lifetime reproductive success of the two sexes is in accordance with that expected in resource defense polygynous mating systems. Lifetime mating duration is the most important proximate determinant of male fitness. Males employing alternative mating tactics obtain copulations of varying duration in relation to the following sequence: saliva secretion  1  food offering  1  no gift. The number of salivary masses which males provide to females during their lifetime is significantly correlated with the lifetime condition index. The condition index depends on the fighting prowess of males and their ability to find food items. Thus saliva secretion of Panorpa is considered a Zahavian handicap, which can serve as an honest quality indicator used by mating females. Our results confirm four main predictions of the indicator model of the theory of sexual selection: (a) the indicator signals high ecological quality of its bearer, (b) the indicator value increases with phenotypic quality, (c) the indicator value is positively correlated with the genetic quality affecting offspring fitness in a natural selection context, and (d) the quality indicator is more costly for low- than for high-quality individuals. The evolutionary consequences of the mating pattern and the sperm competition mechanism in P. vulgaris are discussed in the context the way in which sexual selection creates and maintains sperm mixing and the evolution of a promiscuous mating system.     

Serum PAPP-A measurements in first-trimester screening for Down syndrome

Serum PAPP-A measurements taken from 254 women in the first trimester are reported. Eleven chromosomal abnormalities were detected. The mean serum PAPP-A levels in cases of Down syndrome were 0.44 MOM at 9 weeks gestation, 0.15 MOM at 10 weeks, and 0.29 MOM at 11 weeks. The PAPP-A level at 10 weeks was below those of pregnancies which aborted spontaneously. At 11 weeks, the pregnancies with Down syndrome recorded the lowest PAPP-A levels at that gestation. On this small sample, offering chorionic villus sampling to women with singleton pregnancies and a PAPP-A level below 0.3 MOM (approximately 6.5 per cent of this at-risk group) would have detected all the Down syndrome fetuses at 10 weeks and 50 per cent at 11 weeks without selecting those cases destined to abort. This suggests that serum PAPP-A should continue to be investigated as a potential first-trimester screening test for Down syndrome.     

Petroleum waste biodegradation with porous biomass support system (PBSS) on rotating biological contactor

A laboratory scale study was conducted to assess the feasibility of the new coupling of rotating biological contactor (RBC) plus porous biomass support system (PBSS) using polyurethane foam as porous support media to biodegrade petroleum refinery wastewater. Polyurethane foam was attached on disks of two four-stage laboratory scale cascade connected RBC units.The two RBC units were operated simultaneously at different but constant, flowrates giving hydraulic loading rates of 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04 m3/m2/d in two runs keeping the same rotational speed 10 r/min throughout. Organic loading was a less controllable factor in this study.For all of the hydraulic loadings, it was found that the removal efficiency of total chemical oxygen demand (TCOD) and oil were above 80 percent. Ammonia nitrogen and phenol removal were above 90 and 80 percent respectively. The maximum biomass concentration within polyurethane foam was about 30 g/m2 in the first stage for 0.03 m3/m2/d hydraulic loading.The results show that t     

Gas chromatographic separation and determination of chloroanthracene isomers on fly ash

An efficient, reproducible and rapid fused silica capillary column gas chromatographic method, in splitless mode, for analysing of the three chloroanthracene isomers is described. The method affords efficient separation and good linearity for each isomer in the range of 0.2 -200 μg/ml. The method can also be used in separation and determination of another thirty three aromatic and their halosubstituted compounds. This paper also presents the applications of the method in analysing of complex products mixture from reaction of the selected aromatic compounds with hydrogen chloride on fly ash surface from municipal incinerator.     

Prenatal diagnosis of infantile GM 2 gangliosidosis type II (sandhoff disease) by detection of N-acetylglucosaminyl-oligosaccharides in amniotic fluid with high-performance liquid chromatography

Prenatal diagnosis of Sandhoff disease (infantile onset) at 16 weeks gestation has been made by detection and analysis of N-acetylglucosaminyl-oligosaccharides in amniotic fluid using high performance liquid chromatography. The elution profile for the branched chain oli-gosaccharides was identical with that obtained with neonatal and infantile Sandhoff urine. The concentration of the oligosaccharides in the fluid was 1/100th that of urine but when calculated relative to creatinine the levels were similar. No oligosaccharides were detected in normal control amniotic fluids (10 patients) at a similar gestational age. Based on the levels of the amniotic fluid oligosaccharides and the sensitivity limits of the assay, prenatal diagnosis of patients with the juvenile onset form of the disease may also be possible with this technique.