特定生态系统对水源地水质改善的研究

通过构建水生动物-人工介质新型生态系统来研究太湖水源地水质改善效果.中试试验结果表明,对比3d和7d的水力停留时间(HRT),当HRT:7d,系统对TN、NO2--N、NO3--N、TP、PO4--P的平均去除率可分别达到79.00%、63.46%、14.57%、67.43%、35.81%;对比空白池,TN、NO2--N、NO3--N、TP、PO4--P的平均去除率仅为9.67%、7.09%、1.30%、9.92%、7.04%.通过该系统中水生动物的吸收和人工介质上微生物降解的协同作用,使得氮磷类污染物的去除效果明显.可见,水生动物-人工介质生态系统对改善太湖水源地水质有良好的效果,对构建安全的水源地生态系统具有积极的意义.     

Design of policy mechanism to promote cleaner production in China

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＣｌｅａｎｅｒｐｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎ (ＣＰ)ｈｏｌｄｓｇｒｅａｔｐｒｏｍｉｓｅａｓａｎｅｆｆｅｃｔｉｖｅｓｔｒａｔｅｇｙｉｎｔｈｅｆａｃｅｏｆｄｏｕｂｌｅｃｈａｌｌｅｎｇｅｓｏｆｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌｐｒｏｔｅｃｔｉｏｎａｎｄｅｃｏｎｏｍｉｃｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔ.Ｉｎ 1993,ａｄｅｍｏｎｓｔｒａｔｉｏｎｐｒｏｊｅｃｔ (Ｂ 4ｐｒｏｊｅｃｔ) ,ｄｅｓｉｇｎｅｄａｎｄｅｘｅｃｕｔｅｄｂｙｔｈｅＳｔａｔｅＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌＰｒｏｔｅｃｔｉｏｎＡｄｍｉｎｉｓｔｒａｔｉｏｎ (…     

Detection of fetal HLA-DQα sequences in maternal blood: A gender-independent technique of fetal cell identification

The objective of this study was to detect fetal HLA-DQα gene sequences in maternal blood. HLA-DQα genotypes of 70 pregnant women and their partners were determined for type A1. We specifically sought couples where the father, but not the mother, had genotype A1. In 12 women, maternal blood samples were flow-sorted. Candidate fetal cells were isolated and amplified by using PCR primers specific for a paternal HLA-DQα A1 allele. Fetal HLA-DQα A1 genotype was predicted from sorted cells; amniocytes or cheek swabs were used for confirmation. Six of twelve sorted samples had amplification products indicating the presence of the HLA-DQα A1 allele; 6/12 did not. Prediction of the fetal genotype was 100 per cent correct, as determined by subsequent amplification of amniocytes or cheek swabs. We conclude that paternally inherited uniquely fetal HLA-DQα gene sequences can be identified in maternal blood. This system permits the identification of fetal cells independent of fetal gender, and has the potential for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis of paternally inherited conditions.     

Flow cytometric method to measure urea-resistant alkaline phosphatase from blood neutrophils for use in the prenatal screening of Down's syndrome

The histochemical measurement of urea-resistant alkaline phosphatase from maternal blood neutrophils is known to have a high detection rate for the prenatal detection of Down's syndrome pregnancies. However, because the histochemical method is laborious and subjective to use, it has not gained widespread acceptance in prenatal screening programmes. We present a simple and objective method for the measurement of urea-resistant alkaline phosphatase by flow cytometry. The method should allow the design of larger studies aimed at evaluating the role of neutrophil urea-resistant alkaline phosphatase in the prenatal screening for Down's syndrome.     

Expanding multiple marker screening for Down's syndrome to include Edward'S syndrome

Information on maternal age and maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein, unconjugated oestriol (uE₃), and human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) levels was used to investigate retrospectively the effect of estimating Edward's syndrome risk in women having multi-marker screening for Down's syndrome. The screened population comprised 15 pregnancies affected by Edward's syndrome, 15 with Down's syndrome and 5472 unaffected pregnancies. The use of all three markers to estimate Edward's syndrome risk would have led to the detection of 10–12 (67–80 per cent) cases with a false-positive rate of 0.3–0.6 per cent depending on the risk cut-off. A further case would have been detected as a result of screening for Down's syndrome alone. Similar results were obtained when the Edward's syndrome risk was based on uE₃ and hCG only. These data suggest that extending Down's syndrome screening to include Edward's syndrome risk will yield a high detection rate with only a small increase in the false-positive rate.     

Determinants of parental decisions to abort for chromosome abnormalities

Parental decisions concerning the continuation of pregnancy following prenatal detection of abnormal chromosomes were evaluated for 80 patients whose diagnosis and prenatal counselling were performed in our centre. Twenty-two anomalies were diagnosed by chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and 58 by amniocentesis. The severity of the chromosome anomaly and associated ultrasound findings in the first vs. second trimester were correlated with patients' decisions. No difference was found in the likelihood of parental decisions to interrupt or continue a pregnancy between CVS and amniocentesis for either the‘severe’ or the‘questionable’ group of chromosome anomalies. Ninety-three per cent of patients with severe prognosis and 27 per cent with questionable prognosis opted for pregnancy termination (p <0·0001). The association of ultrasound anomalies and termination was highly significant (p< 0·001). The severity of the chromosome anomaly, and, to a lesser extent, the visualization of anomalies on ultrasound were the major determinants of parental decisions to terminate the pregnancy. The diagnosis of an anomaly in the first trimester was no more likely ito lead to a termination of pregnancy than in the second trimester.     

Prenatal diagnosis of endocardial fibroelastosis

In a case of fetal heart failure caused by endocardial fibroelastosis, prenatal echocardiography clearly demonstrated; a thickened endocardium. We therefore suggest that an abnormal endocardium may be detected in utero by ultrasound, thus representing an important clue in the differential diagnosis of fetal nonimmune hydrops and in the evaluation of pregnancies at risk for endocardial fibroelastosis.     

Environmental input-output model and its analysis with a focus on the solid waste management sectors

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＳｉｎｃｅｔｈｅｆｉｒｓｔｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌｉｎｐｕｔｏｕｔｐｕｔｍｏｄｅｌ(ＥＩＯＭ)(Ｃｕｍｂｅｒｌａｎｄ,1966)ｗａｓｅｓｔａｂｌｉｓｈｅｄｂｙｉｎｃｏｒｐｏｒａｔｉｎｇｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌｆａｃｔｏｒｓｉｎｔ?..     

Prenatal diagnosis for dystrophia myotonica using the polymerase chain reaction

The polymerase chain reaction has been used to detect an abundant class of short repeat DNA families of the form (dC-dA)n.(dG-dT)n, known as microsatellites. These units are found throughout the human genome and have been characterized for several loci including APOC2 on chromosome 19ql2-ql3.2. The locus APOC2 is linked to the gene for dystrophia myotonica and a microsatellite within this locus was used to derive polymorphisms in a family to predict the inheritance of the disease. Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) was performed at 151/2 weeks' gestation. Following DNA extraction from the CVS material and parental blood samples, microsatellite analysis was carried out by the polymerase chain reaction.