Chemical looping with oxygen uncoupling: an advanced biomass combustion technology to avoid CO2 emissions

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change - Bioenergy with carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (BECCS) technologies represent an interesting option to reach negative carbon...     

First Detection of Hepatitis E Virus in Shellfish and in Seawater from Production Areas in Southern Italy

Shellfish samples (n = 384) from production areas, water samples from the same areas (n = 39) and from nearby sewage discharge points (n = 29) were analyzed for hepatitis E virus (HEV) by real-time and nested RT-PCR. Ten shellfish samples (2.6%) and five seawater samples (12.8%) tested positive for HEV; all characterized strains were G3 and showed high degree of sequence identity. An integrated surveillance in seafood and waters is relevant to reduce the risk of shellfish-associated illnesses.     

Second-trimester cancer antigen 125 and Down's syndrome

This study explores if assay of cancer antigen 125 (CA 125) in maternal serum might aid the detection of Down's syndrome in the second trimester of pregnancy. CA 125 levels were determined retrospectively in stored maternal serum samples from ten Down's syndrome pregnancies and 78 controls matched for gestational and maternal age. In addition, second-trimester amniotic fluid samples from nine Down's syndrome and 109 unaffected pregnancies were analysed for CA 125. Maternal serum CA 125 values for Down's syndrome pregnancies were lower, with the median being 0.72 multiples of the unaffected population median. The medians for affected and unaffected pregnancies did not differ significantly and there was a considerable overlap in the range of values of cases and controls. The distribution of amniotic fluid CA 125 levels for Down's syndrome pregnancies resembled that for controls. From our present results, we could not find an association between Down's syndrome and second-trimester maternal serum or amniotic fluid CA 125 levels.     

Effects of atmospheric mercury pollution on terrestrial ecosystem in Chongqing, China

1　ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＭｅｒｃｕｒｙ(Ｈｇ)ａｓａｇｌｏｂａｌｐｏｌｌｕｔａｎｔｈａｓｃａｕｓｅｄｃｏｎｃｅｒｎｗｏｒｌｄｗｉｄｅｓｉｎｃｅｔｈｅｅｎｄｏｆ 1980ｓ.Ｉｔｉｓｅｍｉｔｔｅｄｔｏｔｈｅａｔｍｏｓｐｈｅｒｅｆｒｏｍｂｏｔｈａｎｔｈｒｏｐｏｇｅｎｉｃａｎｄｎａｔｕｒａｌｓｏｕｒｃｅｓ.Ｉｍｐｏｒｔａｎｔｓｏｕｒｃｅｏｆｔｈｅｆｏｒｍｅｒｉｓｔｈｅｄｉｓｃｈａｒｇｅｆｒｏｍ ｐｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎａｎｄｕｓｅｏｆＨｇａｓｗｅｌｌａｓｔｈｅｃｏｍｂｕｓｔｉｏｎｏｆｆｏｓｓｉｌｆｕｅｌｓ(Ｎｒｉ…     

澳大利亚自然保护区系统与管理

澳大利亚是全球生物多样性最丰富的12个国家之一。于1879年4月26日建立的澳第一个国家公园是世界上第二个国家公园，澳保护区系统类型齐全，名称不一。大多数保护区由各州自行管理。     

三峡水库香溪河库湾冬季甲藻水华生消机理初探

2010年1—2月在香溪河库湾上、中、下游各选取1个监测点对水体环境因子及藻类进行监测,对水温、营养盐含量等进行分析,探讨香溪河库湾冬季甲藻水华的生消机理. 结果表明:2010年冬季,香溪河库湾末端暴发了甲藻水华,持续44 d,优势藻种为拟多甲藻(Peridiniopsis sp.),最高细胞密度达到11.8×106 L-1;适宜的水温、充足的营养盐以及良好的光照、弱分层水体是香溪河库湾冬季甲藻水华暴发的主要原因;Zmix/Zeu〔Zmix(混合层深度)与Zeu(真光层深度)之比〕在2~3之间时有利于甲藻生长;库湾中下游因水体掺混强烈而在冬季未暴发水华;后期水体分层状态的加强及Zmix/Zeu的减小是甲藻水华消失的主要原因.      

Detection of Viruses in Coastal Seawater Using <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mytilus Galloprovincialis</Emphasis> as an Accumulation Matrix

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that shellfish can be used to detect enteric viruses in marine waters where they are present at very low concentrations. Aqua-cultured mussels were placed in the sea just off the mouth of a drainage channel affected by human and animal faecal contamination. Samples were taken from the channel, the sea and the mussels at intervals over two 4-week periods. The samples were tested to verify the presence of both rotaviruses and E. coli. Rotaviruses were detected by Real Time-PCR, typed by multiplex PCR and subsequently sequenced. E. coli was enumerated in water matrices by a filtering method and in mussels by the MPN method. The presence of E. coli in the examined matrices demonstrates contamination of faecal origin throughout the studied environments. Rotaviruses were recorded in channel waters, but not in sea water. In both experiments, rotaviruses were detected in mussels 21 and 28 days after being placed in the sea water off the channel mouth. The use of mussels thus enabled the detection of rotaviruses in waters where the high dilution rendered direct investigation impossible. This study indicates that mussels can be used in marine virological surveillance programs.