Blood chemistry of human fetuses in the second and third trimesters

Six biochemical parameters and four enzyme activities were determined from the serum of 76 healthy and 56 pathological human fetuses between the 20th and 38th week of pregnancy. In the normal fetuses studied within that period, creatinine, immunoglobulin M, lactate dehydrogenase, and gamma-glutamyltransferase increased; haemoglobin F and glucose progressively decreased; and alkaline phosphatase was at a peak around the 26th week; cholesterol and triglycerides were always low. The same parameters were also measured in some of the pathological fetuses and compared with their normal counterparts.     

Mercury human exposure through fish consumption in a reservoir contaminated by a chlor-alkali plant: Babeni reservoir (Romania)

Purpose  

Chlor-alkali plants are one of the most important point sources of mercury to aquatic environment. The problem of Hg contamination has been studied in a region, Rm Valcea (Romania), impacted by the wastewater discharge of a chlor-alkali plant. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the current status of mercury pollution in the Babeni reservoir (Olt River) and the exposure of local population via fish consumption to mercury originating from the chlor-alkali plant.     

Process integrated modelling for steelmaking Life Cycle Inventory analysis

During recent years, strict environmental regulations have been implemented by governments for the steelmaking industry in order to reduce their environmental impact. In the frame of the ULCOS project, we have developed a new methodological framework which combines the process integrated modelling approach with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method in order to carry out the Life Cycle Inventory of steelmaking. In the current paper, this new concept has been applied to the sinter plant which is the most polluting steelmaking process. It has been shown that this approach is a powerful tool to make the collection of data easier, to save time and to provide reliable information concerning the environmental diagnostic of the steelmaking processes.     

Prenatal morphology in meckel's syndrome (with special reference to polycystic kidneys and double encephalocele)

Prenatal morphology of Meckel's syndrome was studied in five fetuses of different gestational age, that had been aborted because ultrasonography and elevated amniotic AFP-levels indicated neural tube defect. Histologically, the enlarged polycystic kidneys were completely alike with respect to the type of involvement and differed only in the severity of changes. They could be identified as type III cystic kidneys according to the classification of Potter. Proliferation of hepatic bile ducts and slight cystic dilatation of pancreatic ducts is already evident in the youngest fetus. Additional cyst formation in the epididymis was found in one of the cases. Occipital encephalocele, located within an apical occipital bone defect was always associated with a second mostly occult encephalocele protruding through a separate defect of the basal occipital squame and of the first and second vertebral arch. It is assumed that double encephalocele represents a constant finding in Meckel's syndrome, indicating a specific pattern within the disturbance of neural tube closure.     

Environmental Cleanliness as a Public Good: Welfare and Policy Implications of Nonconvex Preferences

This paper explores the implications of a form of nonconvexity in individual preferences over the public good “cleanliness.” The implications of this nonconvexity on equilibrium outcomes, welfare analysis, the process of development, and optimal government policy are examined. The nonconvexity can imply a role for government in providing a commitment to a clean environment even if the government has a cost disadvantage in cleaning compared with individuals. By providing a credible commitment to a clean environment the government can induce private individuals to undertake optimal levels of cleaning on their own.