Erythroid-specific antibodies enhance detection of fetal nucleated erythrocytes in maternal blood

Fetal nucleated erythrocytes (NRBC) in maternal blood are a non-invasive source of fetal DNA for prenatal genetic screening. We compared the effectiveness of three monoclonal antibodies for the separation of fetal cells from maternal blood by flow sorting. Mononuclear blood cells from 49 healthy pregnant women were incubated with antibody to CD 71, CD 36, and/or glycophorin A (GPA), employed singly or in combination with each other. These monoclonal antibodies recognize surface antigens on haematopoietic precursor cells. Successful isolation of fetal cells was defined as detection of Y chromosomal sequences in maternal blood from women carrying male fetuses, with absence of Y sequences when female fetuses were carried. Thus, gender prediction accuracy was used as a measure of fetal cell separation. Using anti-CD 71 to isolate fetal cells, gender prediction was 57 per cent correct; with anti-CD 36, it was 88 per cent correct. Anti-GPA, an erythrocyte-specific antigen, used alone or in combination with anti-CD 71 or 36, improved gender prediction to 100 per cent. We conclude that antibody to GPA improves the retrieval of fetal NRBC from maternal blood, permitting genetic analysis by the polymerase chain reaction.     

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.     

Serum alpha-fetoprotein and neural tube defects in the first trimester of pregnancy

As part of the Medical Research Council randomized trial of vitamin supplementation in the prevention of neural tube defects (NTDs), maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was available for 19 NTD pregnancies. Each of these was matched with four unaffected controls, by maternal age, participating centre, and duration of sample storage. The samples came from women whose gestational age ranged from 6 to 14 completed weeks. The median AFP level in the affected pregnancies was 1·2 multiples of the median value in unaffected pregnancies of the same gestational age (95 per cent confidence interval (CI) 0·83–1·59). This confirmed the view that serum AFP measurement is of no practical value in the detection of NTDs in the first trimester of pregnancy. The study also showed that folic acid supplementation, used as a method of preventing NTDs, had no effect on the concentrations of maternal serum AFP up to 14 weeks of pregnancy.     

Insights into reactive oxygen species formation induced by water-soluble organic compounds and transition metals using spectroscopic method

Ambient particulate matter (PM) can cause adverse health effects via their ability to produce Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). Water-Soluble Organic Compounds (WSOCs), a complex mixture of organic compounds which usually coexist with Transition Metals (TMs) in PM, have been found to contribute to ROS formation. However, the interaction between WSOCs and TMs and its effect on ROS generation are still unknown. In this study, we examined the ROS concentrations of V, Zn, Suwannee River Fulvic Acid (SRFA), Suwannee River Humic Acid (SRHA) and the mixtures of V/Zn and SRFA/SRHA by using a cell-free 2′,7′-Dichlorodihydrofluorescein (DCFH) assay. The results showed that V or Zn synergistically promoted ROS generated by SRFA, but had an antagonistic effect on ROS generated by SRHA. Fluorescence quenching experiments indicated that V and Zn were more prone to form stable complexes with aromatic humic acid-like component (C1) and fulvic acid-like component (C3) in SRFA and SRHA. Results suggested that the underlying mechanism involving the fulvic acid-like component in SRFA more tending to complex with TMs to facilitate ROS generation through π electron transfer. Our work showed that the complexing ability and complexing stability of atmospheric PM organics with metals could significantly affect ROS generation. It is recommended that the research deploying multiple analytical methods to quantify the impact of PM components on public health and environment is needed in the future.     

城市污水高效低耗生物脱氮工艺研究

采用活性污泥与生物膜法相结合工艺处理城市生活污水，可以高效去除污水中的有机物和NH4^ -N。研究结果表明：水力停留时间为7．5h、回流比为1．5、无外加碳源时，COD的去除率大于90％，NH4^ -N的去除率大于99％；平均出水COD小于40mg／L，NH4^ -N小于1mg／L，TN的去除率60％左右；反硝化过程的适宜C／N为4～5。     

废旧电池掩埋处理方法初探

以分别种植小叶黄杨和八角金盘的2块试验土地与1块贫瘠裸露土地作为对照,试验植物吸收处理废旧电池的重金属污染的掩埋方法。文章介绍了将废旧电池内部的糊状物分别掩埋在小叶黄杨,八角金盘和贫瘠裸露土地3块试验土中,选用电池内部含量较多的 Zn 等重金属元素为跟踪元素,经一定时间后分析土壤中重金属元素的残留量。测定结果发现,小叶黄杨能很好地吸收掩埋入土的重金属元素,而八角金盘则对重金属没有明显的吸收作用。     

电镀重金属污泥的处理及综合利用现状

简要综述了目前工重金属污泥近几年的处理及综合利用状况，包括固化，填海等方法，其中重点介绍了铁氧化体法固化电镀污泥重离子的湿法、干法工艺流程，以及用污泥生成的铁氧体为原料，可生产颜料、油漆和磁性探伤粉等较高档产品。     

Yellow River Valley flood and drought disaster:spatial-temporal distribution predictionand early-warning

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油田采出水处理技术与发展趋势研究

油田采出水具有水量大,水质复杂,处理难度高等一系列特点,因此寻求合适的处理技术一直是油田面临的主要问题.针对油田采出水的产生和特点,介绍了近年来研究较多的油田采出水处理技术,主要包括分离技术、过滤技术、膜技术、气浮技术、吸附技术等物理法;盐析技术、混凝沉淀技术、化学氧化技术、电化学处理技术等化学和物理化学法;活性污泥技术、生物滤池技术等生物法,并概述了油田采出水处理技术的最新研究成果.通过对现有技术分析,总结出当前油田采出水处理中存在的问题,并对存在的处理难点做出了分析,提出了油田采出水处理技术的发展趋势.