Development of community of practice to support quantitative risk assessment for synthetic biology products: contaminant bioremediation and invasive carp control as cases

Synthetic biology has the potential for a broad array of applications. However, realization of this potential is challenged by the paucity of relevant data for conventional risk assessment protocols, a limitation due to to the relative nascence of the field, as well as the poorly characterized and prioritized hazard, exposure, and dose–response considerations associated with the development and use of synthetic biology-derived organisms. Where quantitative risk assessment approaches are necessarily to fulfill regulatory requirements for review of products containing genetically modified organisms, this paper reviews one potential avenue for early-stage quantitative risk assessment for biosafety considerations of synthetic biology organism deployment into the environment. Building from discussion from a March 2018 US Army Engineer Research and Development Center workshop on developing such quantitative risk assessment for synthetic biology, this paper reviews the findings and discussion of workshop participants. This paper concludes that, while synthetic biology risk assessment and governance will continue to refine and develop in the coming years, a quantitative framework that builds from existing practice is one potentially beneficial option for risk assessors that must contend with the technology’s limited hazard characterization or exposure assessment considerations in the near term.     

The urban growth machine goes South: Conditions and capacities for more sustainable place-building

Abstract

The prospects for global sustainable development are thoroughly tied to the future of cities. Our goal is to better understand how cities actually get built and with what substantive consequences. Beyond designing and implementing public policy tools, this requires a better understanding of the underlying political economy of urban place-building. Beginning with the ideal type of the urban growth machine, we outline frameworks for analysing both the ‘conditions for urban place-building’ and the ‘capacities for sustainable urban place-building’. We apply these in the Chilean context by examining general features of the urban political economy and then specific development exemplars from the urban region of Valparaíso. We outline frameworks for further comparative work.     

芒苞草（芒苞草科）种子的无菌萌发研究

选取野外采回的芒苞草种子为材料,研究无菌水和不同状态Ms培养基以及不同激素种类和浓度对芒苞草种子萌发的影响,并初步探讨了芒苞草幼苗的生长情况.结果表明:经4℃的低温春化处理2 mo后,播种在无菌水中的芒苞草种子萌发率可达95%,比同样条件下MS液体(25.1%)和固体(10.4%)培养基中的萌发率高;在有关激素影响的实验中,无菌水中6-BA和GA,对种子萌发没有促进作用,液体MS培养基中的1.0 mg/L GA,明显促进种子萌发,而固体MS培养基中0.5 mg/L 6-BA对种子萌发的促进作用较明显,1.0 mg/L 6.BA有利于从生芽的诱导.将无菌水和液体MS培养基中已发芽的芒苞草种子转移至固体MS培养基中培养可长成小植株.     

Management of adverse effects of a public water supply well field on the aquatic habitat of a stratified drift stream in eastern Connecticut.

A study was conducted to determine the effect of water withdrawals from the University of Connecticut's (Storrs) water supply wells on the fisheries habitat of the Fenton River adjacent to the well field. The study was designed to investigate the relationships between in-stream flow and selected fish habitat in the section of the Fenton River situated in the main zone of influence of the pumping field. With the aid of historical data, new data collection, and mathematical simulation modeling, the relation between the magnitude and timing of groundwater withdrawals on the stage and flow of water in the stream was derived. Fish sampling and habitat modeling were used to assess the effects of human influence on certain reaches of the Fenton River. Among the various water management scenarios studied, several are presented that would optimize water withdrawals, while minimizing adverse effects on the stream flow and in-stream habitat.     

转Bt基因玉米种植对土壤细菌数量及多样性的影响

利用三室根箱装置获得玉米生长室土壤(S I)、根际土(SⅡ)、非根际土(SⅢ)3个不同根区土壤,采用传统平板计数培养与变性梯度凝胶电泳(DGGE)技术相结合的方法,研究了转基因玉米Btll及其非转基因亲本在播种后40、50、60 d各根区土壤细菌数量及多样性的变化.结果表明,转Bt基因玉米播种后50、60 d S I根区土壤可培养细菌数量显著低于非转基因亲本,播种后40、50 d SⅡ根区土壤可培养细菌数量较亲本玉米显著增加,而在其他时期和根区与亲本玉米之间均无显著差异.DGGE图谱显示,3个采样时期各根区DGGE图谱条带数、土壤细菌多样性指数和均匀度指数均无显著差异(P＞0.05).     

黑龙江、松花江和嫩江冰坝凌汛发生原因及预报方法

利用1951-2000年水文、气象资料,在对黑龙江、松花江、嫩江发生的特大冰坝的年份监测中分析发现,冰坝发生大多在二江同时发生,个别年份有三江同时发生,并有群发特点。冰坝发生前,秋季降水多,河槽蓄水量多,河流水位高;冬季降雪多、气温低;春季开江期,有明显的降水和升温过程,是冰坝的形成和凌汛发生的重要原因。并且分析冰坝发生前期高空环流形势特点,依此研制了冰坝凌汛预报方法。     

SedTrap: A Conceptual Model for Trap Efficiencies in a Sedimentation Basin

Sedimentation basins and sediment traps are established methodologies for reducing sediment and other pollutants exiting small watersheds such as urban areas and construction sites. However, estimating the trap efficiency or designing a basin or trap to provide a pre-determined trap efficiency, is difficult, especially for dynamic conditions of water and sediment inflow. A conceptual dynamic model, called SedTrap, was developed that can be used to assess the varying removal efficiencies as a storm is routed through different sized basins or traps. The model uses the STELLA® modeling software from Iseesystems, Inc. to build a dynamic model to route both water and sediment through the system. Settling velocities are determined for a range of sediment sizes and temperatures using the Rubey-Watson law and compared to the more traditional Stokes’ law. The variation of efficiencies with time and by sediment size as the basin fills with sediment is also addressed. The results for the example used show a decrease in trap efficiencies with decreasing particle size, which leads to an increase in percent fine material of total sediment load at the outlet of the basin. This “fining” of the material coupled with the higher surface area per mass of the fine particles has implications for changes in the upstream-downstream concentrations of adsorbed contaminants.     

Analysis of chromosome 21 copy number in uncultured amniocytes by fluorescence in situ hybridization using a cosmid contig

A comparison of the use of chromosome 21-specific libraries, DOP-PCR 21 paints, yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) clones, single cosmids, and a 21q cosmid contig as probes for the detection of the copy number of chromosome 21 in interphase cells by fluorescence in situ hybridization shows that the cosmid contig is a satisfactory probe for interphase analysis of chromosome 21. The contig cCMP21.a, which is 55 kb in length, is highly chromosome 21-specific and produces intense, compact signals in a high proportion of interphase cells. A retrospective blind analysis of coded uncultured amniotic fluid samples correctly detected four trisomy 21 cases out of 49 samples.     

己烯雌酚与四溴双酚A对小球藻生长效应的影响（Effects of Diethylstilbestrol and Tetrabromobisphenol A on Growth of Chlorella pyrenoidosa）

采用化学品对藻类毒性测试的标准试验方法,分别研究了己烯雌酚和四溴双酚A单组分对小球藻生长及光合色素含量的影响,并用相加指数法评价了己烯雌酚和四溴双酚A双组分对小球藻的联合毒性效应.结果表明,藻细胞密度和光合色素含量随己烯雌酚和四溴双酚A浓度增加而明显下降,且均表现出较好的浓度-效应关系,其对小球藻的96h-EC50值分别为0.0248mg·L-1和0.0455mg·L-1;两者对小球藻96h的联合毒性效应为拮抗作用.     

A river might run through it again: criteria for consideration of dam removal and interim lessons from California

Resource managers are increasingly being challenged by stakeholder groups to consider dam removal as a policy option and as a tool for watershed management. As more dam owners face high maintenance costs, and rivers as spawning grounds for anadromous fish become increasingly valuable, dam removal may provide the greatest net benefit to society. This article reviews the impact of Endangered Species Act listings for anadromous fish and recent shifts in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's hydropower benefit-costs analysis and discusses their implications for dam removal in California. We propose evaluative criteria for consideration of dam removal and apply them to two case studies: the Daguerre and Englebright Dams on the Yuba River and the Scott and Van Horne Dams on the South Eel River, California.