Prenatal diagnosis of omphalocele and gastroschisis by ultrasonography

As the use of ultrasonography has become a routine procedure in the care of pregnant women, fetal congenital malformations have been frequently diagnosed prenatally. During a 4-year period abdominal wall defects (AWD) were diagnosed in 14 cases, five were gastroschises and nine were omphaloceles, seven females and seven males. Concomitant malformations were present in one case of gastroschisis and in five cases of omphalocele. Eleven AWD's were diagnosed in the second trimester and six pregnancies were interrupted. Eight children with AWD were born; two boys with omphalocele and one girl and one boy with gastroschisis are still alive. Alpha-fetoprotein was determined in amniotic fluid in 11 cases and also in maternal serum prior to the amniocentesis in eight cases. Chromosomal investigations were performed in 13 cases, 11 on amniotic fluid cells and two on lymphocytes from a blood sample made postnatally. Two abnormal karyotypes, 47,XX + 18 were found.     

Echolocation call design and limits on prey size: a case study using the aerial-hawking bat Nyctalus leisleri

The echolocation calls used by Nyctalus leisleri during search phase in open air space are between 9 and 14 ms long, with the peak energy between 24 and 28 kHz. The pulses are shallowly frequency-modulated with or without an initial steep frequency-modulated component. The diet consists primarily of small flies (Diptera), including many chironomids (wingspan 9–12 mm) and yellow dung flies (Scatophaga; wingspan 24 mm), but also of some larger insects such as dung beetles (Coleoptera; Scarabaeoidea), caddis-flies (Trichoptera) and moths (Lepidoptera). The echo target strength of some prey items was measured. Contrary to models based on standard targets such as spheres or disks, the echo strength of real insects was found to be virtually independent of the emitted frequency within the 20–100 kHz frequency range. A model was used to calculate probable detection distances of the prey by the bat. Using narrow-band calls of 13.7 ± 2.7 ms duration, a bat would detect the two smallest size classes of insect at greatest range using calls of 20 kHz. The results may therefore explain why many species of large and medium sized aerial-hawking bats use low-frequency calls and still eat mostly relatively small insects. The data and model challenges the assumption that small prey are unavailable to bats using low-frequency calls.     

Evaluation of environmental impacts from municipal solid waste management in the municipality of Aarhus, Denmark (EASEWASTE).

A new computer based life cycle assessment model (EASEWASTE) was used to evaluate a municipal solid waste system with the purpose of identifying environmental benefits and disadvantages by anaerobic digestion of source-separated household waste and incineration. The most important processes that were included in the study are optical sorting and pre-treatment, anaerobic digestion with heat and power recovery, incineration with heat and power recovery, use of digested biomass on arable soils and finally, an estimated surplus consumption of plastic in order to achieve a higher quality and quantity of organic waste to the biogas plant. Results showed that there were no significant differences in most of the assessed environmental impacts for the two scenarios. However, the use of digested biomass may cause a potential toxicity impact on human health due to the heavy metal content of the organic waste. A sensitivity analysis showed that the results are sensitive to the energy recovery efficiencies, to the extra plastic consumption for waste bags and to the content of heavy metals in the waste. A model such as EASEWASTE is very suitable for evaluating the overall environmental consequences of different waste management strategies and technologies, and can be used for most waste material fractions existing in household waste.     

The risk assessment–policy gap: An example from the UK contaminated land regime

Risk-based regulation assumes that risk assessment can evaluate risks against policy objectives. However, policy goals are often ambiguous and require risk assessors to interpret them for use in risk assessment. This risk assessment-policy gap stems partly from normative and imprecise policy language but is rooted more fundamentally in society's uncertain expectations for the environment. Until this uncertainty is resolved, the democratic and regulatory effectiveness of risk regulation will be undermined by ad hoc policy decisions abdicated to risk assessors.     

Environmental modelling of use of treated organic waste on agricultural land: a comparison of existing models for life cycle assessment of waste systems.

Modelling of environmental impacts from the application of treated organic municipal solid waste (MSW) in agriculture differs widely between different models for environmental assessment of waste systems. In this comparative study five models were examined concerning quantification and impact assessment of environmental effects from land application of treated organic MSW: DST (Decision Support Tool, USA), IWM (Integrated Waste Management, U.K.), THE IFEU PROJECT (Germany), ORWARE (ORganic WAste REsearch, Sweden) and EASEWASTE (Environmental Assessment of Solid Waste Systems and Technologies, Denmark). DST and IWM are life cycle inventory (LCI) models, thus not performing actual impact assessment. The DST model includes only one water emission (biological oxygen demand) from compost leaching in the results and IWM considers only air emissions from avoided production of commercial fertilizers. THE IFEU PROJECT, ORWARE and EASEWASTE are life cycle assessment (LCA) models containing more detailed land application modules. A case study estimating the environmental impacts from land application of 1 ton of composted source sorted organic household waste was performed to compare the results from the different models and investigate the origin of any difference in type or magnitude of the results. The contributions from the LCI models were limited and did not depend on waste composition or local agricultural conditions. The three LCA models use the same overall approach for quantifying the impacts of the system. However, due to slightly different assumptions, quantification methods and environmental impact assessment, the obtained results varied clearly between the models. Furthermore, local conditions (e.g. soil type, farm type, climate and legal regulation) and waste composition strongly influenced the results of the environmental assessment.     

Sea transport safety — A challenge to European maritime society

Safety matters are boring, bothersome or just a cost factor. These are some of the arguments which prevent safety issues from being treated in the same way as, for example, transport logistics, i.e., rationally aiming at optimum results. National legal evolutions, resulting in distinct rules and regulations, are another handicap for a European approach to common marine safety standards. Political changes within the European Community offer a chance to create a marine safety system which complies with developments in shipping, operational practices, and requirements resulting from casualty investigations and statistics. The establishment of a European Marine Transport Safety Board under the umbrella of a European Transport Safety Board is proposed to mutually benefit from road, rail, air and sea transport knowledge.     

Multi-elemental EDXRF mapping of polluted soil from former horticultural land

The distribution of major and trace elements was systematically investigated by use of energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF) on a former horticultural soil. The purpose of the study was to combine mapping of soil element concentration levels with multivariate statistics for characterisation of soil metal pollution in relation to previous and present land use. A 1-ha study site was chosen from a former horticulture where a previous preliminary survey indicated increased concentration levels of toxic elements. The soil was sampled from the top 20 cm of the soil surface in a 10 x 10-m grid-like pattern covering the 1-ha study area. In addition, three soil profiles were studied. The elemental composition of the soil samples was investigated by EDXRF while the composition of aqueous soil extracts was determined by total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (TXRF). Based on mapping and multivariate statistically analysis of the data obtained by EDXRF, most elements were found in almost constant concentration levels in the top soil throughout the investigated site. However, the contents of the toxic elements Zn, Cu, As, and Pb were found to vary significantly within the area. Hence, the samples with high accumulations of As also contained relatively high amounts of Zn, Cu, and Pb, which indicates that toxic-element-containing pesticides have been applied to the soil surface in the area of the former green houses at the study site. The Pb/As mass ratio in the soil indicates that PbHAsO3 was the preferential lead arsenate used for pest management at the investigated site, while Cu as Bordeaux liquid (CuSO4) and Zn were applied to minimize the leaf damaging effect from the former compounds. Calculations indicated that As annually was applied to the soil in the former greenhouses in doses up to 4 kg As/ha while Pb had been annually applied in doses up to 12 kg Pb/ha. The enrichment of Zn, Cu, As and Pb was greatest in the top 20 cm of the soil and no anthropogenic enrichment of these elements occurred below a depth of 50 cm, indicating that the toxic elements are rather immobile in this soil. The results of this investigation suggest that EDXRF used in combination with multivariate statistics is a strong tool for multi-element mapping of elemental contents, sources and mobility in the terrestrial environment.     

The risk assessment-policy gap: an example from the UK contaminated land regime

Risk-based regulation assumes that risk assessment can evaluate risks against policy objectives. However, policy goals are often ambiguous and require risk assessors to interpret them for use in risk assessment. This risk assessment-policy gap stems partly from normative and imprecise policy language but is rooted more fundamentally in society's uncertain expectations for the environment. Until this uncertainty is resolved, the democratic and regulatory effectiveness of risk regulation will be undermined by ad hoc policy decisions abdicated to risk assessors.