Stability of a Coal Waste Artificial Reef

The feasibility of using U.K. coal-fired power station waste materials for artificial reef production is being examined. in June, 1989, an experimental artificial reef was constructed in Poole Bay, off the central south coast of the U.K., using three different mixtures of pulverised fuel ash (PFA), flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) gypsum and slurry, stabilized with cement and formed into blocks. Fifty tonnes of 40 × 20 × 20 cm blocks were formed into eight conical reef units replicating three different PFA/gypsum mixtures and one concrete control. the reef structure is 10m below chart datum on a flat sandy sea-bed.

Combustion of coal concentrates the heavy metal content in the resultant ash. the purpose of stabilization of the ash as blocks is twofold: to immobilize heavy metals (or other components) and to provide hard substratum for the attachment of organisms. to examine the effectiveness of this stabilization and hence the environmental compatibility of the block materials, heavy metal (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Mn, Ni, Zn) content of the blocks has been monitored routinely over two years, to determine leaching rates. Sectional profiles indicate partial replacement of calcium content by magnesium. Associated with this there has also been some redistribution of heavy metals. Only in the case of cadmium has there been a detectable loss from the surface of blocks. Chromium and manganese concentrations appear to have increased. the metal content of the reef epibiota (including ascidians, Ascidia mentula; hydroids, Halecium spp.; bryozoans, Bugula spp. and red algae) growing on the ash blocks has been compared to that of epibiota attached to the concrete controls and surrounding sea-bed. to date no evidence of excess bioaccumulation of metals has been detected.

The physical integrity of the ash reef blocks has been maintained. There is evidence that the blocks are increasing in compressive strength.

An indication of the fishery enhancement potential of the experimental structure is given by the presence of eight commercially fished species (crustaceans and molluscs) including lobsters (Homarus gammarus).     

The gill symbiont of the hydrothermal vent mussel Bathymodiolus thermophilus is a psychrophilic,chemoautotrophic, sulfur bacterium

Certain hydrothermal vent invertebrates, e.g. Riftia pachyptila and Calyptogena magnifica, are clearly established as harboring dense populations of chemoautotrophic sulfur bacteria in specialized tissues. By contrast, the physiological characteristics of the abundant intracellular gill symbiont of the vent mussel Bathymodiolus thermophilus have been questioned. The low activities of enzymes diagnostic for CO₂ fixation (Calvin cycle) and for sulfur-driven energy generation, as measured by other investigators, have been attributed to bacterial contamination of the gill surface. Based on research at the Galápagos Rift hydrothermal vents in 1988 and subsequent laboratory experiments, the current study confirms that the B. thermophilus symbiont is a psychrophile for which thiosulfate and sulfide stimulate CO₂ fixation. It strongly indicates that the symbiont is a chemoautotroph by establishing the following: (1) Sulfide and thiosulfate can stimulate CO₂ fixation by partially purified symbionts by up to 43-fold and 120-fold, respectively; (2) the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase activity of the symbiont is sufficient to account for its sulfide- or thiosulfate-stimulated CO₂ incorporation; (3) the symbiont's molar growth yield on thiosulfate, as judged by CO₂ incorporation, is indistinguishable from that of free-living chemoautotrophs. Due to the high protein-degrading activity of B. thermophilus gill lysate, it is also suggested that host lysis of symbionts plays a more important role in the nutrition of the vent mussel than in R. pachyptila or C. magnifica, for which no comparable protein-degrading activity was found.     

Distribution of diatoms in the surficial sediments of the Mangyung-Dongjin tidal flat,west coast of Korea (Eastern Yellow Sea)

The relationship between the distribution of benthic diatoms and sediment characteristics of the Mangyung-Dongjin tidal flat on the west coast of Korea was investigated during June and July 1988. Diatoms were collected from the upper 5 mm of sediments at 60 sites along eight transect lines running perpendicular to the shore line. Of the 371 taxa encountered in the study area, 88% were pennate diatoms. Genera represented by the greatest number of species were Navicula, Nitzschia, Amphora, Cocconeis, Fragilaria and Achnanthes. The most abundant species were Paralia sulcata, Navicula sp. #1, N. arenaria and Cymatosira belgica; all were broadly distributed across the tidal flats. The 60 sites could be assigned to eight clusters with respect to similarity in species composition. Discriminant analysis showed that separation cluster was primarily related to the mean grain size of the sediment. The species could not be separated into groups based on similarities in occurrence; a high degree of spatial overlap was observed. The preferences of the more abundant species for grain size were, therefore, analysed by plotting numerical abundance against mean grain size. There were at least four patterns: species groups could be associated with finegrained sediments, those of intermediate size and coarser sediments and the last group showed no discernible pattern.     

Seasonal fluctuations in sand temperature: effects on the incubation period and mortality of loggerhead sea turtle (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Caretta</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">caretta</Emphasis>) pre-emergent hatchlings in Minabe,Japan

Incubation period, hatching success, and emergence percentage in loggerhead (Caretta caretta) nests were quantified during the 1993 and 1995 nesting seasons and following incubation seasons in Minabe, Wakayama, Japan. Sand and nest temperatures were also monitored. Over the seasons, daily mean sand temperature at nest depth fluctuated between 18.0°C and 33.3°C, with a steep increase in the second week of July and a peak in late August. Temperatures inside the nest chambers were a few degrees above those of the surrounding sand at the end of incubation. The incubation period ranged from 46 to 82 days. A significant negative correlation was found between mean sand temperature and incubation period. The relationship conformed to the day-degree concept. There was no significant seasonal trend in hatching success, but many pre-emergent hatchlings were found dead in most of the clutches during the warmest part of the season. Emergence percentage was correlated with mean sand temperature calculated for 4 days before emergence, suggesting that mortality may be due to heat. This heat-related mortality is considered to be a common phenomenon at our study site, because the peak in emergences coincides with the peak in high temperatures. These temperature effects on hatchling mortality must be taken into account in estimates of hatchling sex ratios. Because sand temperatures already exceed the optimal thermal range for incubation, this population is vulnerable to even small temperature increases resulting from global warming.     

Funipuncture for fetocide in late termination of pregnancy

The most widely used method for fetocide in late termination of pregnancy for fetal abnormalities (TOPFA) consists of injecting of potassium chloride (KCl) into the fetal heart and is likely to be painful after 22 weeks of gestation. We studied ten consecutive women undergoing TOPFA between 22 and 38 weeks. This technique for fetocide consisted of a single umbilical vein puncture under ultrasound guidance with injections of sufentanil 5 µg followed by KCl 2 g. No electrocardiographic modifications could be observed and maternal plasma potassium levels did not show any significant variation throughout the procedure. Fetal umbilical phlebotomy for fetal analgesia followed by fetocide therefore appears to be a safe procedure for the mother and allows the fetus to die without pain when late termination of pregnancy (TOP) is indicated. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis of the fragile X syndrome by use of linked polymorphic markers

Fragile X syndrome is the most common cause of familial mental retardation. The most common mutation is expansion of a triplet (CGG)_n repeat in the 5′ untranslated region of the FMR1 gene on Xq27.3. The expansion is refractory to PCR due to preferential amplification of the smaller allele in heterozygous cells and the high GC content of the repeat and surrounding sequences. Direct detection of the normal parental alleles in preimplantation embryos has been used for preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) of this disorder. However, this approach is only suitable for approximately 63% of couples due to the heterozygosity of the repeat in the normal population. As an alternative we investigated the use of polymorphic markers flanking the mutation to track the normal and premutation carrying maternal chromosomes in preimplantation embryos. Using a panel of 11 polymorphisms, six (CA)_n repeats and five single nucleotide polymorphisms, diagnosis was developed for 90% of referred couples. Multiplex amplification of informative markers was tested in 300 single buccal cells from interested couples with efficiency and allele drop out (ADO) rates ranging from 69% to 96% and 6% to 18%, respectively. Use of this approach is accurate and applicable to a larger number of patients at risk of transmitting fragile X to their offspring. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Epidemiologic Analysis of Factors Associated with Local Disappearances of Native Ranid Frogs in Arizona

Abstract:  We examined factors that may independently or synergistically contribute to amphibian population declines. We used epidemiologic case–control methodology to sample and analyze a large database developed and maintained by the Arizona Game and Fish Department that describes historical and currently known ranid frog localities in Arizona, U.S.A. Sites with historical documentation of target ranid species ( n = 324) were evaluated to identify locations where frogs had disappeared during the study period (case sites) and locations where frog populations persisted (control sites). Between 1986 and 2003, 117 (36%) of the 324 sites became case sites, of which 105 were used in the analyses. An equal number of control sites were sampled to control for the effects of time. Risk factors, or predictor variables, were defined from environmental data summarized during site surveys and geographic information system data layers. We evaluated risk factors with univariate and multifactorial logistic-regression analyses to derive odds ratios (OR). Odds for local population disappearance were significantly related to 4 factors in the multifactorial model. Disappearance of frog populations increased with increasing elevation (OR = 2.7 for every 500 m, p < 0.01). Sites where disappearances occurred were 4.3 times more likely to have other nearby sites that also experienced disappearances (OR = 4.3, p < 0.01), whereas the odds of disappearance were 6.7 times less (OR = 0.15, p < 0.01) when there was a source population nearby. Sites with disappearances were 2.6 times more likely to have introduced crayfish than were control sites (OR = 2.6, p = 0.04). The identification of factors associated with frog disappearances increases understanding of declines occurring in natural populations and aids in conservation efforts to reestablish and protect native ranids by identifying and prioritizing implicated threats.     

Molecular taxonomy of vestimentiferans of the western Pacific and their phylogenetic relationship to species of the eastern Pacific

The nucleotide sequence of part (624 bp) of a mitochondrial gene for cytochrome oxidase I was determined for 46 escarpiid vestimentiferans collected from seven sites in the western Pacific and 49 individual specimens of Arcovestia ivanovi from two sites in the Manus Basin. Phylogenetic analysis, based on the newly obtained and previously reported sequences, indicated that escarpiids in the western Pacific can be divided into two tentative species, as we proposed in a previous report. While members of the first tentative species have been collected exclusively from a seep area at a depth of 300 m off the coast of central Japan, the members of the second species inhabit some sites at depths greater than 1,100 m, namely, seep areas in Japanese and Papua-New Guinean waters as well as hydrothermal vent fields in the Okinawa Trough and the Manus Basin. We detected no genetic structure among populations of the second tentative species. The first tentative species was more closely related to a species in the eastern Pacific, Escarpia spicata, and to a species in the Gulf of Mexico, Escarpia laminata, than to the second tentative species in the western Pacific. Sequences obtained from all arcovestiids were identical with the exception of those from three individuals, each of which included a single synonymous nucleotide substitution relative to the dominant haplotype, and no genetic differences were detected between specimens from the two sites in the Manus Basin.