广东沿岸海域生物可利用性重金属的地理分布

利用牡蛎做监测生物，研究了广东沿岸海域生物可利用性重金属Ｃｄ，Ｃｕ和Ｚｎ的地理分布。牡蛎体的Ｃｄ，Ｃｕ和Ｚｎ含量存在着显著的地域差异，反映了广东沿岸海域生物可利用性的Ｃｄ，Ｃｕ和Ｚｎ在地域上存在很大的梯度。由牡蛎显示出的广东沿岸海域生物可利用性重金属的地理分布与广东沿岸海域受人为来源的重金属输入状况相一致，如实地反映了广东沿岸海域重金属污染的基本特征。     

Prenatal diagnosis of medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) deficiency in a family with a previous fatal case of sudden unexpected death in childhood

Medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) deficiency is a potentially fatal inherited disease with a carrier frequency of approximately 1:100 in most Caucasian populations. The disease is implicated in sudden unexpected death in childhood. A prevalent disease-causing point mutation (A985G) in the MCAD gene has been characterized, thus rendering diagnosis easy in the majority of cases. Since the clinical spectrum of MCAD deficiency ranges from death in the first days of life to an asymptomatic life, there are probably other genetic factors—in addition to MCAD mutations—involved in the expression of the disease. Thus, families who have experienced the death of a child from MCAD deficiency might have an increased risk of a seriously affected subsequent child. In such a family we have therefore performed a prenatal diagnosis on a chorionic villus sample by a highly specific and sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the G985 mutation. The analysis was positive and resulted in abortion. We verified the diagnosis by direct analysis on blood spots and other tissue material from the aborted fetus and from family members.     

Maternal serum inhibin levels in second-trimester down's syndrome pregnancies

Maternal serum inhibin levels were measured in 19 second-trimester pregnancies affected by fetal Down's syndrome and 95 unaffected control pregnancies matched for gestational age. A statistically significant elevation was found in the affected pregnancies compared with the controls (Wilcoxon rank sum test: one-tail P=0·02). The median level in the cases was 1·3 times that in the controls, with 95 per cent confidence limits of 0·9–1·9. Although the inhibin levels were unrelated to those of alpha-fetoprotein and unconjugated oestriol in the same samples, there was a statistically significant correlation with human chorionic gonadotropin. This together with the relatively small elevation in cases suggests that inhibin would be of limited value in maternal serum screening for Down's syndrome.     

Iniencephaly is not uniformly fatal

Iniencephaly is an uncommon, but not rare, lesion involving a fusion between the posterior occipital bone and the cervical spine. Many cases are associated with other cranio-cervical abnormalities and anencephaly, and most are associated with other structural abnormalities. The prognosis is thought to be dismal. We describe a male infant, one of twins, who was diagnosed prenatally as having iniencephaly. The child was born without complication and has grown and thrived. This is the fourth patient with long-term survival with iniencephaly. We recommend that non-directive counselling be applied when presenting the findings of iniencephaly to parents.     

Sonographic diagnosis of cystic adenomatoid malformation in-utero

Routine ultrasound examination at 30 weeks gestation revealed an intrapulmonary cystic mass in an otherwise normal fetus. Following delivery at term, the diagnosis of congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation of the right lung was confirmed, and an elective right middle lobectomy successfully performed at nine days of age.     

Recurrence risk of neural tube defects following a miscarriage

Data from 280 sibships in three published series were used to see if the increased risk of neural tube defect (NTD) associated with having had a miscarriage in the immediately preceding pregnancy was also found in women with a previous affected pregnancy. A statistically significant relative risk of 4.0 (2-tail P=0.0111, Fisher exact test) was found among such women, and this could not be accounted for by the effect of parity or of a history of miscarriage in general. The finding may be useful when counselling patients.     

生物酶技术在农药残留快速检测中的应用进展

综述了生物酶法快速检测有机磷和氨基甲酸酯类农药残留的某些理论与技术问题。该技术是现代生物学技术同农业环境监测技术相结合的产物。并介绍了国内外关于农药残留快速测定的方法和研究状况，在快速和现场测定等方面有着巨大的潜力，是一种极具前景的快速检测技术。