Prenatal diagnosis of monosomy 4p14→pter and trisomy 11q25→qter: clinical presentations and outcomes

We present the case of a pregnant woman with low free β-HCG in maternal serum Down syndrome screening that led to prenatal diagnosis of a fetus with 46,XY,der(4)t(4;11)(p14; q25). This chromosomal aneuploidy resulted from unbalanced segregation of a paternal balanced translocation, t(4;11)(p14;q25). Prenatal ultrasound revealed intrauterine growth restriction, cleft lip and palate, a thick nuchal fold, a single umbilical artery, and pyelectasis. Array-based comparative genomic hybridization and short tandem repeat markers further located the exact breakpoint of translocation. The woman had her pregnancy terminated at 23 weeks of gestational age. The proband had general appearance of Wolf–Hirschhorn syndrome and some unique findings, including single umbilical artery, severe immunoglobulin deficiency, scalp defect, and underlying bony defect. Our case underscores the importance of fetal karyotyping when low maternal serum free β-HCG is found. It also adds information on the fetal presentations of monosomy 4p14→pter and trisomy 11q25→qter. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Composting of vegetable waste.

The effects of the aeration, seeding, and agitation on the composting of vegetable waste were studied in a laboratory-scale reactor. Experimental results showed that the final product at the end of a 4-day composting period met multiple maturity indices suggested by many researchers. The evolution of carbon dioxide during the composting process could be modelled with a modified Gompertz equation that described the bacteria growth successfully. Multivariate regression analysis was used to study the effects of operating parameters on the carbon conversion. The response surface contour plots were constructed using the regression equation for the examination of the dependence of carbon conversion on operating parameters. The maximum carbon conversion of 14.54% was obtained when the percentage of seeding was set at 14.5%, the air suction rate was set at 2.6 L kg(-1) dry-solid min(-1), and the agitator operated half of the time, alternating on and off for every 5 min. Future work will focus on the application of the data and the experience gained in this work to composters of pilot and semi-commercial scales.     

Different mechanisms of extinction of conditioned taste aversion are dependent on time intervals of extinction following conditioning

After extinction, the reappearance of a conditioned response induced by an unconditioned stimulus which is weaker than that used during the conditioning training indicates that the extinction procedure does not eliminate the original conditioned memory. Recent studies on fear conditioning have shown that rats exhibited little or no recovery of conditioned responding if the time interval between fear acquisition and extinction was short, suggesting that the extinction process may erase the original conditioning trace in this situation. In the present study, a saving experiment was conducted in rats to investigate whether an aversive response could be recovered following extinction training with different time intervals after acquisition of conditioned taste aversion (CTA). Male Long–Evans rats developed CTA by associating a 0.2% sucrose solution with malaise induced by intraperitoneal injection of 4 ml/kg 0.15 M LiCl and were subjected to extinction training with an interval of 5 h (5H group) or 24 h (24H group) after acquisition of CTA. Rats in the 5H group, but not in the 24H group, exhibited no aversive responding to the sucrose solution followed by the injection of a lower dose of LiCl (1 ml/kg). These findings indicate that the extinction procedure administered at different time points following the acquisition of CTA affects recovery of extinguished aversive memory and suggest that an unlearning process may be involved in the mechanisms of CTA extinction with short intervals between acquisition and extinction.     

Responses of protists with different feeding habits to the changes of activated sludge conditions: A study based on biomass data

Changes of protists, which were categorized into different functional groups primarily according to their feeding habits, in two full-scale municipal wastewater treatment systems experiencing sludge bulking were investigated over a period of 14 months. Protist biomass represented 3.7% to 5.2% of total biomass on average under normal sludge conditions, and the percentage increased significantly (p < 0.05) under sludge bulking conditions. The biomass of Chilodonella spp., capable of eating filamentous bacteria, tended to decrease in both systems when sludge bulking occurred, showing that the abnormal growth of filamentous bacteria did not lead to a biomass bloom of this group of protists. On the other hand, the bactivorous protists represented more than 96% of total protist biomass, and the biomass of this group, particularly the attached ciliates, increased significantly (p < 0.05) when sludge bulking occurred. The significant increase of the attached ciliates may have possibly facilitated the growth of filamentous bacteria through selectively preying on non-filamentous bacteria and further exacerbated sludge bulking. The redundancy analysis and correlation analysis results showed that the biomass changes of the attached ciliates were primarily related to the sludge volume index and to some extent related to five-day biochemical oxygen demand loading and hydraulic retention time.     

碳源对工业污染场地土壤中HCHs和DDTs降解的促进作用

我国对有机氯农药的大量需求使得在农药生产、加工和分装等过程中造成了许多城镇中存在有机氯农药污染场地,限制了土地的后续开发利用.本研究选取3种类型的碳源组成有机修复剂A、B、C,添加到受有机氯工业污染场地土壤中进行微生物降解试验,并对比了3种修复剂的效果.试验过程中,反应体系水分含量为50％,添加零价金属调节氧化还原电位,采用好氧/厌氧交替循环方式进行生物降解.实验结果表明:3种修复剂对HCHs和DDTs的降解都有显著促进作用.与DDTs相比,HCHs较易降解.90 d内,添加修复剂(A、B、C)的处理中∑HCH的浓度分别从73.37~85.71 mg·kg^-1降解到了15.88~38.21 mg·kg^-1.与未添加修复剂的对照相比较,∑HCH的降解率提高了19%~52%,90 d内,ΣHCH的降解率最高可达81%.添加修复剂(A、B、C)的处理中ΣDDT的浓度分别从91.68~119.79 mg·kg^-1降解到了45.1~60.7 mg·kg^-1,相对未添加修复剂的对照试验,∑DDT的降解率提高了39%~45%,30 d内∑DDT的降解率最高可达到51%,但30 d后降解效率无明显增加.就不同类型碳源的促进作用来看,C/N最高,而含水率最低的修复剂B的效果最好,而C/N比最低而含水率最高的修复剂A效果最差.     

萘降解菌MQ合成靛蓝的研究

利用萘降解菌(丛毛单胞菌)MQ完整细胞对吲哚进行转化合成靛蓝,结果表明菌株MQ具有较好的靛蓝合成能力,靛蓝产量在4h左右即达到稳定.薄层色谱和高效液相色谱分析结果表明,合成的蓝色产物为靛蓝.考察了反应温度及摇床转速对靛蓝合成的影响,结果表明最适温度和转速分别为25℃和150r·min-1.随后,采用表面响应法确定了菌株MQ合成靛蓝的最优条件:菌株接种量OD6602.16,吲哚浓度200.55mg·L-1,pH=6.91.在最优条件下,菌株MQ合成靛蓝的产量为53.05mg·L-1,比初始条件下的产量提高了179%.     

野鸭湖湿地挺水植物磷素截留量动态变化分析

野鸭湖湿地位于官厅水库上游,在截留养分、预防水库水体富营养化方面发挥着重要作用.通过野鸭湖湿地中4种优势挺水植物(茭白、扁秆藨草、香蒲、芦苇)的分布区域研究,分析了植物生物量及养分元素磷含量随季节的动态变化特征,得到了研究区域内4种挺水植物对磷素截留总量的动态变化.结果表明,研究区域内4种优势挺水植物地上部分磷含量为茭白>香蒲>扁秆藨草>芦苇;地下部分磷含量呈现茭白>扁秆藨草>香蒲>芦苇的分布特点;4种植物的地上部分和地下部分磷含量均随生长季节而降低;4种植物的单位面积磷素蓄积能力存在明显差异,表现为茭白>香蒲>扁秆藨草>芦苇的规律,其单位面积蓄积峰值依次为4910、4140、2190和1390g.m-2;研究区域内挺水植物磷素蓄积总量在夏季达到峰值2210.8kg,最小值出现在冬季,为1263.5kg;区域内上、中、下游挺水植物的磷素截留总量依次递减.     

“固化赤泥-人工膜”复合防渗材料研究

赤泥本身具有良好的防渗性能,加入石灰作为激发剂,更可提高其防渗性。根据《土工合成材料测试手册》和GB/T 50123—1999《土工试验方法标准》进行渗透试验,结果表明:室内试验在赤泥中加入8%石灰,并夹一层人工防渗膜形成的复合防渗材料,在固化28 d后,其渗透系数可达(7.3～7.4)×10-9 cm/s。在工业试验中,夹入不同厚度和质地的人工防渗膜的石灰(8%)固化赤泥,渗透系数可达到6.32×10-9～1.89×10-7 cm/s。研究成果在中原某铝厂赤泥堆场防渗工程中得到了应用。     

内配燃料垃圾焚烧飞灰烧结无害化处理实验研究

研究了一种垃圾焚烧飞灰烧结无害化处理的工艺,该工艺是将飞灰与不同比例煤粉混合并添加助熔剂进行造粒烧结。通过对试样进行热流和热重测量,分析了飞灰试样在加热过程中热重变化的规律,并利用XRD、扫描电镜、氮吸附分析仪等仪器分析手段对烧结试样的物相、微观形态和孔隙特性等物理化学性质进行了研究。最后采用电感耦合等离子体发射光谱仪对烧结试样重金属浸出性进行了分析。实验结果为飞灰烧结炉的设计和内配燃料烧结工艺运行参数的制定提供了依据。