Prenatal diagnosis of congenital mesoblastic nephroma in mid-second trimester by sonography and magnetic resonance imaging

Although congenital mesoblastic nephroma (CMN) is a rare benign congenital renal tumor, it is the most common solid renal tumor in the newborn period. The most common presentation of congenital mesoblastic nephroma is polyhydramnios, and only one case with prenatal fetal hydrops has been previously reported. Prenatal diagnosis of CMN has previously been made on the basis of the findings of sonography in the third trimester, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)–based diagnosis has been reported recently. Here we report a case of prenatally diagnosed classical type CMN diagnosed at 22 + 3 weeks of gestation based on the findings of sonography and magnetic resonance imaging. The characteristic imaging findings in this case were fetal hydrops and polyhydramnios. To our knowledge, this is the youngest reported gestational age for prenatal diagnosis of CMN and it is the second case of CMN associated with fetal hydrops detected prenatally. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seasonal changes in microbial heterotrophic activity in subarctic marine waters as related to phytoplankton primary productivity

Water samples were collected in and near Kasitsna Bay (Cook Inlet), Alaska over 18 mo (February 1979–August 1980). Seasonal changes in glucose and glutamate uptake rates were measured in these samples. During the second year of the study, the uptake rates of glycolate and acetate and primary productivity were also measured. Of the substrates tested, significant positive linear correlations were observed between glucose and glutamate uptake and primary productivity. A higher correlation was observed between glucose to glutamate uptake ratios and primary productivity. The seasonal patterns of glucose uptake, glucose-to-glutamate uptake ratios and primary productivity rates show that the ratios changes simultaneously with fluctuations in primary productivity rates. The glucose uptake patterns reveal a delay in the response of the glucose-utilizing microorganisms to the onset of the bloom. It is suggested that by measuring the uptake rates of the simple compounds by microheterotrophs, and comparing these rates with each other, one can determine the relative flux of these compounds through the system. If the major source of these compounds is material released into the seawater by phytoplankton, it is possible that this approach could characterize the flux of extracellular products. As more is known about how the composition of extracellular material relates to the physiological state of phytoplankton, such an approach may eventually be a useful indirect assessment of the physiological state of natural phytoplankton populations.Published as Technical Paper No. 6397, Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station     

The International Boreal Forest Research Association: Understanding Boreal Forests and Forestry in a Changing World

Boreal forests represent a biome of the planet whose unique characteristics are changing rapidly under the influence of both human and natural pressures. These forests hold the key to current and future supply of coniferous industrial wood and at the same time play a significant role in regulating Earth's climatic system. Expected to be one of the most rapidly impacted regions of the world by future climate change, the boreal biome has already been substantially affected by global change. It is likely that if unabated, continued change will lead to impoverishment and degradation of boreal ecosystems, with consequent loss of vital services upon which human society depends. An improved systems understanding of the functioning of circumpolar boreal forests is a pressing challenge for boreal forest science and is needed in order to estimate their resilience to perturbations, to predict likely responses to the changing environment, and to design mitigation strategies. With such understanding, coordinated international efforts can be focused on developing anticipatory strategies for adaptation to, and mitigation of dangerous consequences of global change for boreal resources. The International Boreal Forest Research Association (IBFRA) provides a focus for international research on these issues and serves as a global window for boreal forest science and sustainable forest management in the boreal region.     

Evaluation of NO(x) flue gas analyzers for accuracy and their applicability for low-concentration measurements

The requirements of the Texas State Implementation Plan of the U.S. Clean Air Act for the Houston-Galveston Ozone Nonattainment Area stipulate large reductions in oxides of nitrogen (NO(x)) emissions. A large number of sources at Dow Chemical Co. sites within the nonattainment area may require the addition of continuous emission monitoring systems (CEMS) for online analysis of NO(x), CO, and O2. At the outset of this work, it was not known whether the analyzers could accurately measure NO(x) as low as 2 ppm. Therefore, NO(x) CEMS analyzers from five different companies were evaluated for their ability to reliably measure NO(x) in the 2-20 ppm range. Testing was performed with a laboratory apparatus that accurately simulated different mixtures of flue gas and, on a limited basis, simulated a dual-train sampling system on a gas turbine. The results indicate that this method is a reasonable approach for analyzer testing and reveal important technical performance aspects for accurate NO(x) measurements. Several commercial analyzers, if installed in a CEMS application with sampling conditioning components similar to those used in this study, can meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's measurement data quality requirements for accuracy.     

Heavy metals in soils and crops in Southeast Asia 2. Thailand

A reconnaissance soil geochemical and concomitant plant survey based on 318 soil (0-15 cm) and 122 plant samples was used for the assessment of heavy metal pollution of agricultural soils and crops of Thailand. Arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) were determined in soils using aqua regia digestion, and in plants using nitric acid digestion. Organic carbon (C), pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and available phosphorus (P) were determined on the soil samples using appropriate procedures. Results indicated that concentrations of heavy metals varied widely among the different regions of Thailand. Regression analysis between the concentrations of metals in soil (aqua regia extractable) and edible plant parts indicated a small but positive relationship for Cd in all the plants sampled in the survey (R2 = 0.081, p < 0.001). There was also a positive relationship between soil and plant Cd concentrations in rice (R2 = 0.242, p < 0.010), and negative relationships for Zn in rice (R2 = 0.385, p < 0.001), and Cu (R2 = 0.355, p < 0.001) and Zn (R2 = 0.122, p < 0.026) in glutinous rice. Principal component analysis of the soil data suggested that concentrations of As, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni and Pb were strongly correlated with concentrations of Al and Fe, which is suggestive of evidence of background variations due to changes in soil mineralogy. Thus, the evidence for widespread contamination of soils by these elements through agricultural activities is not strong. On the other hand, Cd and Zn were strongly correlated with organic matter and concentrations of available and aqua regia extractable P. This is attributed to input of contaminants in agricultural fertilisers and soil amendments (e.g. manures, composts).     

Incorporating known sources of uncertainty to determine precautionary harvests of saltwater crocodiles.

It has been demonstrated repeatedly that the degree to which regulation operates and the magnitude of environmental variation in an exploited population will together dictate the type of sustainable harvest achievable. Yet typically, harvest models fail to incorporate uncertainty in the underlying dynamics of the target population by assuming a particular (unknown) form of endogenous control. We use a novel approach to estimate the sustainable yield of saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) populations from major river systems in the Northern Territory, Australia, as an example of a system with high uncertainty. We used multimodel inference to incorporate three levels of uncertainty in yield estimation: (1) uncertainty in the choice of the underlying model(s) used to describe population dynamics, (2) the error associated with the precision and bias of model parameter estimation, and (3) environmental fluctuation (process error). We demonstrate varying strength of evidence for density regulation (1.3-96.7%) for crocodiles among 19 river systems by applying a continuum of five dynamical models (density-independent with and without drift and three alternative density-dependent models) to time series of density estimates. Evidence for density dependence increased with the number of yearly transitions over which each river system was monitored. Deterministic proportional maximum sustainable yield (PMSY) models varied widely among river systems (0.042-0.611), and there was strong evidence for an increasing PMSY as support for density dependence rose. However, there was also a large discrepancy between PMSY values and those produced by the full stochastic simulation projection incorporating all forms of uncertainty, which can be explained by the contribution of process error to estimates of sustainable harvest. We also determined that a fixed-quota harvest strategy (up to 0.2K, where K is the carrying capacity) reduces population size much more rapidly than proportional harvest (the latter strategy requiring temporal monitoring of population size to adjust harvest quotas) and greatly inflates the risk of resource depletion. Using an iconic species recovering from recent extreme overexploitation to examine the potential for renewed sustainable harvest, we have demonstrated that incorporating major forms of uncertainty into a single quantitative framework provides a robust approach to modeling the dynamics of exploited populations.     

Implications of life history for genetic structure and migration rates of southern African coastal invertebrates: planktonic,abbreviated and direct development

The amount of genetic structure in marine invertebrates is often thought to be negatively correlated with larval duration. However, larval retention may increase genetic structure in species with long-lived planktonic larvae, and rafting provides a means of dispersal for species that lack a larval dispersal phase. We compared genetic structure, demographic histories and levels of gene flow of regional lineages (in most cases defined by biogeographic region) of five southern African coastal invertebrates with three main types of larval development: (1) dispersal by long-lived planktonic larvae (mudprawn Upogebia africana and brown mussel Perna perna), (2) abbreviated larval development (crown crab Hymenosoma orbiculare) and (3) direct development (estuarine isopod Exosphaeroma hylecoetes and estuarine cumacean Iphinoe truncata). We hypothesized that H. orbiculare, having abbreviated larval development, would employ a strategy of larval retention, resulting in genetic structure comparable to that of the direct developers rather than the planktonic dispersers. However, regional population structure was significantly lower in all species with planktonic larvae, including H. orbiculare, than in the direct developers. Moreover, nested clade analysis identified demographic histories resulting from low levels of gene flow (isolation by distance and allopatric fragmentation) in the direct developers only, and migration rates were significantly higher in all three species having planktonic larvae than in the direct developers. We conclude that the amount of genetic structure within marine biogeographic regions strongly depends on the presence or absence of free-swimming larvae. Whether such larvae are primarily exported or retained, whether they have long or short larval duration, and whether or not they are capable of active dispersal seems to have little effect on connectivity among populations.     

Towards a framework to assess,compare and develop monitoring and evaluation of climate change adaptation in Europe

Adaptation is increasingly recognised as essential when dealing with the adverse impacts of climate change on societies, economies and the environment. However, there is insufficient information about the effectiveness of adaption policies, measures and actions. For this reason, the establishment of monitoring programmes is considered to be necessary. Such programmes can contribute to knowledge, learning and data to support adaptation governance. In the European Union (EU), member states are encouraged to develop National Adaptation Strategies (NASs). The NASs developed so far vary widely because of differing views, approaches and policies. A number of member states have progressed to monitoring and evaluating the implementation of their NAS. It is possible to identify key elements in these monitoring programmes that can inform the wider policy learning process. In this paper, four generic building blocks for creating a monitoring and evaluation programme are proposed: (1) definition of the system of interest, (2) selection of a set of indicators, (3) identification of the organisations responsible for monitoring and (4) definition of monitoring and evaluation procedures. The monitoring programmes for NAS in three member states—Finland, the UK and Germany—were analysed to show how these elements have been used in practice, taking into account their specific contexts. It is asserted that the provision of a common framework incorporating these elements will help other member states and organisations within them in setting up and improving their adaptation monitoring programmes.     

SELECTED CHALLENGES IN RUNOFF GENERATION RESEARCH IN FORESTS FROM THE HILLSLOPE TO HEADWATER DRAINAGE BASIN SCALE1

ABSTRACT: When faced with practical forest land management issues such as the impacts of logging or forest conversion to other land uses, planners ideally require a comprehensive understanding of within drainage basin hydrological processes to determine the most vulnerable areas to increased storm runoff and erosion. Land managers in particular need to know the source areas and magnitude of inputs to the storm hydrograph, in terms of water quantity, sediment and solute transport; and the routing of such hydrographs from headwater to larger drainage basins. The latter includes an overall assessment at various scales of the impacts of forest disturbance and conversion on the water balance. This paper will focus on runoff generation in terms of identifying the various pathways and source areas. Such aspects will be linked with the need for a more comprehensive effort towards the field testing of so-called ‘physically based’ models of runoff generation. Some of the controversial issues arising from the difficulties in reconciling results from hydrochemical investigations with complementary hydrometric studies will be highlighted. Subsequently, attention will be given to topographic-wetness models, which have promising applications in forestland management. In addition, alternative simple models for application at the catchment scale will be assessed. The latter is in recognition that at smaller scales, heterogeneity both in time and space of soil hydraulic properties demand a greater number of parameters in modelling. Such considerations can even prove an obstacle in terms of the confident application of ‘physically based’ models.