Prenatal diagnosis in three cases of iniencephaly with unusual postmortem findings

Iniencephaly is a rare and lethal congenital malformation of the neural tube characterized by occipital bone defect, cervical dysraphism, fixed retroflexion of the fetal head and severe lordosis of the cervicothoracic spine. The etiology is unknown. Prenatally diagnosed cases of iniencephaly are rare because careful and early ultrasonographic evaluation is necessary. We present three cases of iniencephaly prenatally diagnosed by sonography at 20–22 weeks' gestation in which therapeutic abortion was induced. The sonographic findings were compatible with the postmortem findings. The present cases of iniencephaly were found to carry unusual associated malformations such as two lobes in the right lung and chorangiosis of the placenta. Only hypoplastic lungs have been reported by previous authors. We also studied the 677C→T mutation on the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene in the parents in one of the present cases. The mother was found to be heterozygous for the 677CT polymorphism. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Health importance of arsenic in drinking water and food

Arsenic is a toxic metalloid of global concern. It usually originates geogenically but can be intensified by human activities such as applications of pesticides and wood preservatives, mining and smelting operations, and coal combustion. Arsenic-contaminated food is a widespread problem worldwide. Data derived from population-based studies, clinical case series, and case reports relating to ingestion of inorganic arsenic in drinking water, medications, or contaminated food or beverages show the capacity of arsenate and arsenite to adversely affect multiple organ systems. Chronic arsenic poisoning can cause serious health effects including cancers, melanosis (hyperpigmentation or dark spots, and hypopigmentation or white spots), hyperkeratosis (hardened skin), restrictive lung disease, peripheral vascular disease (blackfoot disease), gangrene, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and ischemic heart disease.     

Potential utilization of burned wood in manufacture of medium density fiberboard

The potential utilization of burned wood in the manufacture of medium density fiberboard (MDF) was investigated. For this aim, the MDF panels were made of various mixtures of burned pine wood (Pinus sylvestris L.), unburned beech (Fagus orientalis L.) and oak (Ouercus robur L.) woods under commercial conditions in an MDF company. The mixture ratio of the unburned beech and oak woods to the burned pine wood were 50/50 wt%. The mixing ratios of burned wood chips with unburned wood chips were 0:100, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25 and 100:0, %, respectively. A commercial urea–formaldehyde resin was used as a binder. The physical properties measured in the investigation included density and thickness swelling, while the mechanical properties examined were bending strength, modulus elasticity, internal bond, screw holding ability perpendicular to the plane of panel, and janka hardness perpendicular to the plane of the panel. Surface roughness and color of the panels were also measured. The results indicated that all the panels met the mechanical properties of general-purpose MDF requirements of EN 622-5. The surface roughness of the MDF panels containing burned wood decreased with increasing burned wood content but remained higher than the control panels. The dimensional stability of the MDF panels decreased with the incorporation of burned wood fibers as compared with the control MDF panels.     

蔬菜施不同肥料对产量和土壤肥力的贡献

为控制施肥对蔬菜和土壤的负面影响，充分利用施肥对土壤肥力的保护功能，探讨蔬菜合理的有机肥施用量，在不同质地土壤上，田间试验小白菜、苦瓜、豇豆三种蔬菜施不同量有机肥，收获时测定其产量、品质及试验前后的土壤有机质质量分数。结果表明，(1)在施适量无机NPK的条件下，每造蔬菜的有机肥(禽畜粪便，下同)施用量，砂土上小白菜为4500kg／hm^2、苦瓜和豇豆为3000kg/hm^2；在壤土上，小白菜和苦瓜均宜施3000kg/hm^2，豇豆则宜施4500kg／hm^2；在粘土上，小白菜每造只宜施1500～3000kg／hm^2的有机肥。(2)有机肥必须与无机肥合理配合施用，才能获得最佳的产量和品质效果。(3)施有机肥3000-4500kg/hm^2 适量无机肥可使土壤有机质水平保持在种植蔬菜前的质量分数水平，该施肥量和方式不仅可使蔬菜高产、优质，还有利于保护土壤肥力。(4)对蔬菜产量的贡献，有机肥和化肥配合施用的处理对蔬菜产量的贡献最大，来自土壤的效应由小到大依次为有机肥和化肥配合施用→化肥→有机肥，进一步反映合理施肥有利于保护土壤肥力。     

Cadmium accumulation by green algae Cladophora glomerata (L.) Kutz. (Chlorophyta) in presence of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (L.)

Accumulation of metals by aquatic organisms is mostly affected by other biological components in environments. In this study, cadmium (Cd) accumulation in green algae, Cladophora glomerata (L.) Kutz., exposed to 0.1 and 1.0 mg L^?1 of Cd for 15 and 30 days was examined in laboratory conditions in the presence of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (L.). The green algae C. glomerata accumulated Cd concentrations as 690 ± 70 and 3430 ± 470 mg kg^?1 on day 15, and 1130 ± 180 and 6830 ± 1540 mg kg^?1 on day 30. There were significant increases (p < 0.05) in metal accumulation by green algae as the exposure time and metal concentration increased. The results also indicated that the presence of Nile tilapia in the medium led to a significant Cd accumulation in the green algae compared to control (p < 0.05).     

Spatiotemporal changes of landscape pattern in response to deforestation in Northeastern Turkey: a case study in Rize

Recognition and understanding of landscape dynamics as a historical legacy of disturbances are necessary for sustainable management of forest ecosystems. This study analyzes spatial and temporal changes in land use and forest cover patterns in a typical mountain forest area in Rize Forest Enterprise of the Northeastern part of Turkey. The area is investigated by evaluated the temporal changes of spatial structure of forest conditions through spatial analysis of forest cover type maps from 1984 and 2007 using GIS and FRAGSTATS. The quantative evidences presented here showed that there were drastic changes in the temporal and spatial dynamics of land use/forest cover. As an overall change between 1984 and 2007, there was a net decrease of 2.30% in total forested areas. On one hand, productive forest areas decreased 12,506 ha, on the other hand, degraded forest areas increased 14,805 ha. In examining the changes of crown closure and development stages of forest ecosystem during the study period, the forest stand area with medium crown closures increased. Regenerated area increased while the other development stages were left to grow to mature development stages in the period. These results regarding to crown closure and development stage showed that forest quality has increased but total forest areas decreased. This is partially due to out-migration of rural population in Rize and Cayeli towns. In terms of spatial configuration, analysis of the metrics revealed that landscape structure in Study area had changed substantially over the 23-year study period, resulting in fragmentation of the landscape as indicated by the large patch numbers and the smaller mean patch sizes due to heavy timber subtraction, illegal cutting, and uncontrolled stand treatments.     

Comparison of ALAD activities of Citrobacter and Pseudomonas strains and their usage as biomarker for Pb contamination

Delta-aminolevulinate dehydratase (ALAD) activity has been used in prokaryotes and eukaryotes as a biomarker for environmental lead (Pb) exposure and toxicity. Microorganisms are sensitive indicators of toxicity at the fundamental level of ecological organization, but bacterial biomarker studies are focused on the Pseudomonas strains in Group I and E coli. The objectives of the present work were to determine if Burkholderia gladioli belonging to group II, due to its 16SrRNA similarity, can be used as biomarker in metal contamination and compare its possible usage with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Citrobacter freundii (previously known as Esherichia freundii) and Bacterium freundii which are classified in Group I. In this study, ALAD activity in an environmental strains of Burkholderia gladioli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Citrobacter freundii were investigated to evaluate potential inhibition by Pb and other toxic metals. When the ALAD activity of Burkholderia gladioli was tested, Co and Pb decreased activity by 27 and 71%, respectively. In addition to these findings, Zn increased the activity up to 26%. These effects were found to be statistically meaningful (p < 0.05). It was determined that the increase of lead concentration inhibites the ALAD activity at each of the three strains. There was a statistically significant dose–response relationship between ALAD activity in cells of Burkholderia gladioli and Pb (Pearson correlation coefficent = −0.665; r ² = 0.665, and p < 0.001). The strongest ALAD inhibition which was measured was 90% at Burkholderia gladioli when protein extracts were incubated with 750 μM of Pb. The relationship between Pb and ALAD activity was statistically described by [ALAD Activity] = 0.476−0.000597 × [Pb]. According to the obtained results, we suggest that the ALAD of Burkholderia gladioli can be used as a biomarker for lead contamination in the environment.     

Assessment of environmental radioactivity for Batman, Turkey

The province of Batman, located in southern Anatolia, has a population of approximately 500,000. To our knowledge, there exists no information regarding the environmental radioactivity in this province. Therefore, gamma activity measurements in soil, building materials and water samples and an indoor radon survey have been carried out in the Batman province. The mean activity concentrations of the natural radionuclides (²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K) and a fission product (¹³⁷Cs) were 35 ± 8, 25 ± 10, 274 ± 167 and 12 ± 7 Bq kg^???1, respectively, in the soil samples. The concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K in the selected building materials ranged from 18 to 48 Bq kg^???1, 8 to 49 Bq kg^???1 and 68 to 477 Bq kg^???1, respectively. All the calculated radium equivalent (Ra_eq) activity values of the building material samples are lower than the limit of 370 Bq kg^???1, equivalent to a γ-dose of 1.5 mSv year^???1. The activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K in tap waters collected from the study area were determined with mean specific activity concentrations of 42 ± 15, 35 ± 9 and 524 ± 190 mBq L^???1, respectively. Indoor radon measurements were made at 95 dwellings in Batman using a CR-39 detector. The radon concentration levels were found to vary from 23 to 145 Bq m^???3. The arithmetic mean of the measured radon concentration levels was found to be 84 Bq m^???3 with a standard deviation value of 23 Bq m^???3. The measurement results obtained in this study did not significantly differ from those taken in other parts of the country. The data generated in this study can be used to determine whether the Batman province is in a normal or high background radiation area and provides a valuable database for future estimations of the impact of radioactive pollution.     

Variations of measured and simulated soil-loss amounts in a semiarid area in Turkey

The main goal of this research was soil-loss determination and comparison of the plot measurement results with simulation model (universal soil loss equation (USLE)) results in different land use and slope classes. The research took place in three different land-use types (Scotch pine forest, pasture land, and agricultural land) and in two different slope classes (15–20%, 35–40%). Within six measurement stations (for each land-use type and slope class-one station), totally 18 measurement plots have been constituted, and soil-loss amount measurements have been investigated during the research period (3 years along). USLE simulation model is used in these measurement plots for calculation the soil-loss amounts. The results pointed out that measured (in plots) and simulated (with USLE) soil-loss amounts differ significantly in each land-use type and slope class.