Forestry Mitigation Options for Mexico: Finding Synergies between National Sustainable Development Priorities and Global Concerns

We examine carbon (C) reference and mitigation scenarios for the Mexicanforest sector between the year 2000 and 2030. Estimates are presentedseparately for the period 2008–2012.Future C emissions and capture are estimated using a simulation modelthat: a) allocates the country land use/land cover classes among differentfuture uses and categories using demand-based scenarios for forestryproducts; b) estimates the total C densities associated to each land usecategory, and c) determines the net carbon implications of the process ofland use/cover change according to the different scenarios.The options analyzed include both afforestation/reforestation, such ascommercial, bionenergy and restoration plantations, and agroforestrysystems, and forest conservation, through the sustainable management ofnative forests and forest protection.The total mitigation potential, estimated as the difference between the totallong-term carbon stock in the reference and the mitigation scenario reaches300 × 10⁶ Mg C in the year 2012 and increases to 1,382 × 10⁶ Mg C in 2030. The average net sequestration in the 30 year period is 46 × 10⁶ Mg C yr^-1, or 12.5 × 10⁶ Mg C yr^-1 within the period 2008 to 2012. The costs of selected mitigation options range from 0.7–3.5 Mg C^-1 to 35 Mg C^-1. Some options are cost effective.     

Detection of low-grade mosaicism in fetal cells isolated from maternal blood

Recovering and analysing fetal erythrocytes from maternal blood is being pursued for non-invasive prenatal genetic diagnosis. We report the observation of 46, XY/47, XXY mosaicism in fetal cells from a woman whose first-trimester chorionic villus sampling (CVS) initially showed only 46, XY. Only after exhaustive (500 cells) analysis were four XXY cells found in cultured villi.     

The nature of the redshift and directly observed quasar statistics

The nature of the cosmic redshift is one of the most fundamental questions in modern science. Hubble's discovery of the apparent Expansion of the Universe is derived from observations on a small number of galaxies at very low redshifts. Today, quasar redshifts have a range more than 1000 times greater than those in Hubble's sample, and represent more than 100 times as many objects. A recent comprehensive compilation of published measurements provides the basis for a study indicating that quasar observations are not in good agreement with the original predictions of the Expanding Universe theory, but are well fit by the predictions of an alternative theory having fewer adjustable parameters.     

First and early second-trimester diagnosis of fetal urinary tract anomalies using transvaginal sonography

Urinary tract anomalies are common. Prenatal diagnosis is important and enables either special obstetric management or termination of pregnancy and probably in the future, intrauterine intervention. Transvaginal sonography (TVS) allows visualization of the normal and anomalous fetal urinary tract at an early stage. One thousand nine hundred and forty women were examined via TVS at an early stage of pregnancy between 10 and 16 weeks from the last menstrual period (LMP) and 35 anomalies (1·8 per cent) were clearly identified: 29 cases of low urinary tract obstruction, 2 cases of multicystic dysplastic kidney, 2 cases of polycystic kidney (infantile type), 1 case of double collecting system, and 1 case of horseshoe kidney. Potter syndrome could be ruled out in three patients who had delivered fetuses suffering from this anomaly in previous pregnancies. The concise and early identification of anomalies makes TVS an important aid in the hands of the obstetrician, ultrasonographer, and neonatologist.     

Design of policy mechanism to promote cleaner production in China

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