Effects of landscape homogeneity on starling roost distribution

The possible effects of landscape structure on starling roost distribution were investigated in western France using GIS analysis at different radii (2, 4, 8 and 10 km). Composition (11 land use classes) and configuration (patch size, diversity index) of the landscapes surrounding 97 roost sites used by starlings from 1981 to 2002 and surrounding 50 random points not used as roost sites were compared. Significant results suggested that starling roosts were established preferentially in the centre of an agricultural landscape where large units of pastures and arable land predominated and where natural areas were lacking both in large patches (forests or wetland classes) and in small patches such as woods in the mixed land class. A varied farmland landscape with natural areas and small patches should be promoted to limit the starling damage in wintering regions and also to favour their reproduction in regions where it has declined.     

Transboundary air pollution balance in the new integrated European environment

Ten out of the 12 new EU members, used to belong to the so-called “former eastern block”, with a post WWII environmental policy radically different from the tendencies followed in Western Europe. The lack of conservation regulations has resulted in a rather harmful industrialization, regarding natural resources and environmental quality. While air pollution transfer is a phenomenon of transboundary level, there is a particular interest in examining the contribution of the new EU member states to the environmental pressure faced by the older member states and vice versa. The current study utilises the official data for almost 20 years published by the European Monitoring and Evaluation Program concerning the transboundary transfer of NO_x and SO₂ in order to analyse the situation and discuss the present and future environmental policy regarding air pollution.     

Neonatal lung function following mid-trimester amniocentesis

Three hundred and fifty-four women who underwent midtrimester genetic amniocentesis were matched for age, parity, indication, and smoking history, with an equivalent number of women who had declined the procedure, for the purpose of comparing the neonatal respiratory status of their offspring. There was no evidence that the infants exposed to genetic amniocentesis were compromised.     

Peri- and paracentric inversions in chromosome 12: Prenatal diagnosis and family study

Three different types of chromosome 12 inversion were seen in 15 individuals out of 44 individuals examined in one 8 generation family. Type 1: a pericentric inversion inv(12) (p112; q131) was found in 7 individuals and twice at prenatal diagnosis. Type 2: a paracentric inversion inv(12) (p123; p131) was seen in two individuals. Two individuals carried both inversion chromosomes, namely type 1 and type 2. The two inversion chromosomes were transmitted from each of the parents. Type 3: a double pericentric and paracentric inversion (type 3) inv(12) (p123; p131) (p112; q131) was observed in the daughter of one of the carriers of type 1 and 2 inversions and again at prenatal diagnosis in her son. The double inversion most likely arose through crossing-over in between the two inversion loops. A balanced translocation t(7; 13) and the inversion type 1 was observed in one individual, who transmitted the translocation only to an offspring. The frequency of inversions in amniotic fluid cells observed in our laboratory was 1·9 per cent. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Prenatal diagnosis of gastrointestinal obstruction: A correlation between prenatal ultrasonic findings and postnatal operative findings

The impact of prenatal sonographic diagnosis of oesophageal and gastrointestinal obstructions has been analysed over a 10-year period. Three groups of patients were evaluated. The first group consisted of 46 newborns with abnormal prenatal sonogratns, 41 of which were confirmed to have intestinal obstruction postnatally. The second group consisted of 17 neonates with normal prenatal sonograms who had intestinal obstruction postnatally. The third group included 56 newborns who did not undergo a prenatal sonogram but who had intestinal obstruction confirmed at surgery. Polyhydramnios without the appearance of a stomach on ultrasound was diagnostic of pure oesophageal atresia. Polyhydramnios with intestinal dilation was diagnostic of intestinal obstruction. Although surgery was performed earlier in the infants diagnosed prenatally with ultrasound, mortality was no less than in the group that did not undergo a prenatal sonogram, probably because of the high incidence of associated anomalies.