Carbon Dioxide Emission Reduction Scenarios in Mexico for Year 2005: Industrial Cogeneration and Efficient Lighting

An analysis of the impacts on Mexican energy demand and associated carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in the year 2005 due to efficient lighting in the commercial and residential sectors and cogeneration in the industrial sector is presented. Estimation of CO₂ abatement costs and an incremental cost curve for CO₂ mitigation options are considered. These technologies are cost effective opportunities, and together are projected to reduce CO₂ emissions in 2005 by nearly 13 percent. Implementation of efficient lighting is already part of the demand side management (DSM) programs of the Mexican state-owned utility. However, there are important barriers that may hinder the implementation of large scale cogeneration plants.     

Reproductive behaviour and prenatal diagnosis following genetic termination of pregnancy in women of advanced maternal age

One hundred and fifty-one women of advanced maternal age who underwent genetic termination of pregnancy (TOP) were studied for their reproductive behaviour and the type of procedure for prenatal diagnosis in a subsequent pregnancy. A total of 59 women (39 per cent) had a further pregnancy. In all continuing pregnancies prenatal diagnosis was performed, of which 75 per cent consisted of chorionic villus sampling (CVS). Reproductive behaviour following a genetic termination was negatively correlated with maternal age and parity. Both reproductive behaviour and the choice to undergo a diagnostic procedure in the next pregnancy were independent of the type of diagnostic procedure in the previous affected pregnancy.     

False-negative amniotic fluid acetylcholinesterase in a case of meningo-encephalocele

We describe a patient with a significantly elevated serum alphafetoprotein (AFP) concentration at 17 weeks of gestation, who showed only a marginally increased amniotic fluid AFP and lacked the second rapidly migrating band of acetylcholinesterase electrophoresis. Ultrasound examination revealed an encephalocele and ventriculomegaly. Autopsy showed that the encephalocele was not covered by skin.     

Verification of carrier status for Becker muscular dystrophy from analysis of a blighted ovum

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used on material from a blighted ovum to confirm indirectly the carrier status of a woman with a family history of Becker muscular dystrophy. Conventional testing including creatine kinase levels, muscle biopsy, and EMG had been inconclusive, and on the basis of one elevated creatine kinase level, the woman had been designated a possible carrier. Ultrasound examination at 10 weeks of pregnancy indicated a blighted ovum, from which DNA was subsequently extracted and subjected to PCR testing for determination of sex and genotypic status with respect to the known familial deletion of the dystrophin gene. The blighted ovum was found to have a Y chromosome and also to be deleted for at least exon 6 of the dystrophin gene, indirectly indicating that the mother most likely carried the family mutation for Becker muscular dystrophy.