Rapid prenatal diagnosis of Patau's syndrome in a fetus with an abdominal wall defect by 72 hour culture of cells from amniotic fluid

A woman in the 32nd week of pregnancy was referred for investigation because of fetal abnormalities, including an abdominal wall defect, detected by ultrasonography. In view of the increased risk of chromosome abnormality, amniocentesis was performed to enable informed decisions about the management of the pregnancy and delivery to be taken. Cells from the liquor were inoculated into standard lymphocyte culture medium and incubated for 72 h. Slides with a high mitotic index and good quality metaphases, comparable to those from a blood culture, were obtained after harvesting. Cytogenetic analysis showed the karyotype to be 46,XY,—14,+t(13ql4q), which is consistent with Patau's syndrome. This technique appears to be an option for rapid karyotyping in cases of abdominal wall defect, where a chromosomal abnormality is suspected.     

Efficiency of energy delivery systems: II. Estimating energy costs of capital equipment

Procedures are developed and summarized that allow the calculation of the energy required to manufacture and install capital equipment, such as the material needed for a coalfired power plant. Three methods are available, each with certain strengths and weaknessess The first uses both literature value and national manufacturing statistics, the second uses a previously developed technique that disaggregates energy use according to how much each industry buys from all other industries, and the third technique is based on the average national relation between energy use and dollar flow. The most important differences between estimates of energy use by the different techniques relates to the inclusion or exclusion of labor and indirect expenditures rather than to differences in the data bases of the three techniques.