Cystic fibrosis prenatal diagnosis: Confirmation of an equivocal microvillar enzyme result by direct analysis of the common gene mutation

A child was tentatively diagnosed as having cystic fibrosis, based on neonatal presentation with severe gastrointestinal complications; the diagnosis was not confirmed biochemically and no tissues were available for DNA analysis. The mother presented in her subsequent pregnancy, and microvillar enzyme analysis of cell-free amniotic fluid at both 18 and 20 weeks gestation gave equivocal results. The pregnancy was terminated voluntarily because of a trend towards abnormal enzyme assay results on the second amniocentesis. Retrospectively, fetal tissues were found to be homozygous for the most common mutation of the cystic fibrosis gene (AF₅₀₈), which confirmed the prenatal assessment and suggested that the first infant of the couple was probably also affected by the disease.     

Recipient and observer reactions to discipline: are managers experiencing wishful thinking?

A qualitative study of recipients' and observers' reactions to discipline events was conducted. Data from 123 recipient interviews and 46 observer interviews were content analyszed and categorized. Results showed that while both groups see positive results from discipline, recipients and observers may lose respect for the discipliner, and may develop negative attitudes toward the organization as a consequence of the discipline. They are also likely to perceive the discipline event as unfair, especially when discipline is applied for informal as opposed to formal rule violations. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Native fish diversity alters the effects of an invasive species on food webs

Aquatic communities have been altered by invasive species, with impacts on native biodiversity and ecosystem function. At the same time, native biodiversity may mitigate the effects of an invader. Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) is a ubiquitous, invasive fish species that strongly influences community and ecosystem processes. We used common carp to test whether the potential effects of an invasive species are altered across a range of species diversity in native communities. In mesocosms, treatments of zero, one, three, and six native fish species were used to represent the nested subset patterns observed in fish communities of lakes in Illinois, USA. The effect of the invader was tested across fish richness treatments by adding common carp to the native community and substituting native biomass with common carp. Native species and intraspecific effects reduced invader growth. The invader reduced native fish growth; however, the negative effect was minimized with increasing native richness. The zooplankton grazer community was modified by a top-down effect from the invader that increased the amount of phytoplankton. Neither the invader nor richness treatments influenced total phosphorus or community metabolism. Overall, the invader reduced resources for native species; and the effect scaled with how the invader was incorporated into the community. Higher native diversity mitigated the impact of the invader, confirming the need to consider biodiversity when predicting the impacts of invasive species.     

A comparison of different biogeographical classifications of Europe,Great Britain and Spain

Various biogeographical and bioclimatic classifications of a number of regions, countries and continents have been created to meet different objectives. A policy maker might ask the question 'why is there no single accepted classification and how do the different classifications compare with one another?' In order to answer these two questions three classifications created by different methods for Great Britain and two for Spain are compared using the Kappa statistic. All of the classifications were created from data on cellular grids with a set window size. Further non-statistical comparisons are made with other classifications. The biogeographic classifications studied in this paper produced three different types of zone: those that were always identified whatever the method; those that were broadly similar but where the boundaries differed; and those that were unique to a particular classification. These different types of zone are likely to exist for any comparison between classifications of a particular region. The extent of the geographic window from which data were obtained had a major effect on the classification of grid cells at the edges of the window. For example, the few grid cells in the south of England, with characteristics of continental Europe, are not detected if data from Great Britain alone are used for the classification. We conclude that the data window should always be larger than the area for which the classification is being made. The objective Kappa statistic, although useful, was not capable of discerning similarities and dissimilarities that appear obvious to the subjective human eye. Although the details of the classifications differed there were broad similarities between the classifications and these differences reflect important divisions along major environmental axes that have been inferred by earlier biogeographers. As the divisions are real there is a sound basis for their use in future land use or environmental policy.     

Effectiveness of national air pollution control policies on the air quality in metropolitan areas of China

Understanding the effectiveness of national air pollution controls is important for control policy design to improve the future air quality in China. This study evaluated the effectiveness of major national control policies implemented recently in China through a modeling analysis. The sulfur dioxide （SO2） control policy during the llth Five Year Plan period （2006-2010） had succeeded in reducing the national SO2 emission in 2010 by 14% from its 2005 level, which correspondingly reduced ambient SO2 and sulfate （SO42-） concentrations by 13%-15% and 8%-10% respectively over east China. The nitrogen oxides （NOx） control policy during the 12th Five Year Plan period （2011-2015） targets the reduction of the national NOx emission in 2015 by 10% on the basis of 2010. The simulation results suggest that such a reduction in NOx emission will reduce the ambient nitrogen dioxide （NO2）, nitrate （NO3-）, 1-hr maxima ozone （03） concentrations and total nitrogen deposition by 8%, 3%-14%, 2% and 2%--4%, respectively over east China. The application of new emission standards for power plants will further reduce the NO2, NO3-, 1-hr maxima 03 concentrations and total nitrogen deposition by 2%-4%, 1%-%, 0-2% and 1%-2%, respectively. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to evaluate the inter-provincial impacts of emission reduction in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the Yangtze River Delta, which indicated the need to implement joint regional air pollution control.     

家具行业挥发性有机物治理成本及排污权交易价格估算

佛山市顺德区工业VOCs污染问题突出,以中小企业为主的家具行业排放是第二大来源(17%),因此,顺德区率先在广东省开展了家具行业VOCs排污权交易试点工作.本文以区内木质家具行业为例,研究了排污权交易定价方法,得到VOCs平均污染治理成本(5363.26元·t~(-1)·a~(-1))并将其作为排污权交易的初始价格,之后运用多级模糊综合评价法计算的地区调整系数(γ=1.47)进行修正,得到最终参考交易价格(7883.99元·t~(-1)·a~(-1)).该价格与2016年交易底价(8000元·t~(-1)·a~(-1))偏差较小(1.45%).本文还开发了内置核心算法的挥发性有机物排污权交易辅助定价工具,综合利用数据库中企业基本信息、挥发性有机物排放数据等,为排污权交易定价提供辅助决策服务.     

Development and case study of a new-generation model-VAT for analyzing the boundary conditions influence on atmospheric mercury simulation

Atmospheric models are essential tools to study the behavior of air pollutants. To interpret the complicated atmospheric model simulations, a new-generation Model Visualization and Analysis Tool (Model-VAT) has been developed for scientists to analyze the model data and visualize the simulation results. The Model-VAT incorporates analytic functions of conventional tools and enhanced capabilities in flexibly accessing, analyzing, and comparing simulated results from multi-scale models with different map projections and grid resolutions. The performance of the Model-VAT is demonstrated by a case study of investigating the influence of boundary conditions (BCs) on the ambient Hg formation and transport simulated by the CMAQ model over the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. The alternative BC options are taken from (1) default time-independent profiles, (2) outputs from a CMAQ simulation of a larger nesting domain, and (3) concentration files from GEOS-Chem (re-gridded and re-projected using the Model-VAT). The three BC inputs and simulated ambient concentrations and deposition were compared using the Model-VAT. The results show that the model simulations based on the static BCs (default profile) underestimates the Hg concentrations by ~6.5%, dry depositions by ~9.4%, and wet depositions by ~43.2% compared to those of the model-derived (e. g. GEOS-Chem or nesting CMAQ) BCs. This study highlights the importance of model nesting approach and demonstrates that the innovative functions of Model-VAT enhances the efficiency of analyzing and comparing the model results from various atmospheric model simulations.

Open image in new window

     

Design and demonstration of a next-generation air quality attainment assessment system for PM2.5 and O3

Due to the increasingly stringent standards, it is important to assess whether the proposed emission reduction will result in ambient concentrations that meet the standards. The Software for Model Attainment Test—Community Edition(SMAT-CE) is developed for demonstrating attainment of air quality standards of O3 and PM2.5. SMAT-CE improves computational efficiency and provides a number of advanced visualization and analytical functionalities on an integrated GIS platform. SMAT-CE incorporates historical measurements of air quality parameters and simulated air pollutant concentrations under a number of emission inventory scenarios to project the level of compliance to air quality standards in a targeted future year. An application case study of the software based on the U.S. National Ambient Air Quality Standards(NAAQS) shows that SMAT-CE is capable of demonstrating the air quality attainment of annual PM2.5and 8-hour O3 for a proposed emission control policy.     

Current status and perspectives of accelerated carbonation processes on municipal waste combustion residues

The increasing volumes of municipal solid waste produced worldwide are encouraging the development of processes to reduce the environmental impact of this waste stream. Combustion technology can facilitate volume reduction of up to 90%, with the inorganic contaminants being captured in furnace bottom ash, and fly ash/APC residues. The disposal or reuse of these residues is however governed by the potential release of constituent contaminants into the environment. Accelerated carbonation has been shown to have a potential for improving the chemical stability and leaching behaviour of both bottom ash and fly ash/APC residues. However, the efficacy of carbonation depends on whether the method of gas application is direct or indirect. Also important are the mineralogy, chemistry and physical properties of the fresh ash, the carbonation reaction conditions such as temperature, contact time, CO₂ partial pressure and relative humidity. This paper reviews the main issues pertaining to the application of accelerated carbonation to municipal waste combustion residues to elucidate the potential benefits on the stabilization of such residues and for reducing CO₂ emissions. In particular, the modification of ash properties that occur upon carbonation and the CO₂ sequestration potential possible under different conditions are discussed. Although accelerated carbonation is a developing technology, it could be introduced in new incinerator facilities as a “finishing step” for both ash treatment and reduction of CO₂ emissions.