Prenatal diagnosis of Fanconi anemia (Group C) subsequent to abnormal sonographic findings

Manifestations of Fanconi Anemia Complementation Group C (FA-C) include multiple major congenital malformations, hypoplastic radius, absent thumb, growth retardation, elfin-like facial features, microphthalmia, microcephaly, café-au-lait spots, early onset of hematologic disease and poor survival (Auerbach, 1997). We describe two cases in which second-trimester sonographic findings led to parental carrier testing for FA-C and subsequent prenatal diagnosis of affected fetuses. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trade-offs between time, predation risk and life history, and their implications for biogeography: A systems modelling approach with a primate case study

Group sizes are often considered to be the result of a trade-off between predation risk and the costs of feeding competition. We develop a model to explore the interaction between different ecological constraints on group sizes, using a primate (baboons) case study. The model uses climatic correlates of time budgets to predict maximum ecologically tolerable group size, and climatic predictors of predation risk (reflected mainly in predator density and female body mass) to predict minimum tolerable group size for any given habitat. As well as defining the range of sustainable group sizes for a given habitat, the model also allows us to reliably predict our exemplar taxon's biogeographical distribution across Africa. We also explore the life history implications of the model to ask whether baboons form group sizes which maximise survival or fecundity in the classic trade off between these two key life history variables. Our results indicate that, within the range of study sites in our sample, baboons prefer to maximise fecundity. However, the data indicate that in higher predation risk habitats they would switch to maximising survival at the expense of fecundity. We argue that this is due to the fact that interbirth interval and developmental rates have a ceiling that cannot be breached. Thus, while females can shorten interbirth intervals to compensate for increased predation risk, there is a limit to how much these life history variables can be altered, and when this is reached the best strategy is to maximise survivorship.     

武钢循环冷却水钢管腐蚀的原因及其对策

针对武钢循环冷却水系统部分钢管腐蚀,造成管管漏水,严重影响正常生产的问题.探讨了钢管产生腐蚀的原因及其对策.近2年,通过实施减缓循环冷却水钢管腐蚀的对策,取得了明显的效果.     

Indicators of visual scale as predictors of landscape preference; a comparison between groups

Landscape change alters the visual scale of agricultural landscapes, as production units get larger and strips of taller vegetation are removed between smaller units. Visual scale, defined as the perceptual units reflecting the experience of landscape rooms, visibility and openness, is considered a key factor shaping landscape preference. The visual expression of landscapes affects people in many ways; aesthetic appreciation, health and well being. In order to understand how landscape changes alter the visual scale of landscapes, and hence its effect on human beings, it is important to establish efficient and practical ways of measuring visual scale and its relation to landscape preferences. This paper presents an empirical test of the ability to predict landscape preference of two photo-based indicators of visual scale; percentage open land in the view and size of landscape rooms. A preference survey was conducted with two groups of respondents; a student group from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB) and a public group. The student group was chosen to represent future landscape professionals. Photos of landscapes varying in the expression of visual scale were shown to survey respondents, who were asked to give scores according to how much they liked the landscapes. Both indicators were found to be predictors of preference for the student group, but not for the public group. The results demonstrate that student preferences do not reflect the landscape preferences of the wider public. The different appreciation of visual scale in the landscape of future landscape professionals and the public implies that experts wanting to reflect preferences of the wider public should be cautious when evaluating the visual impact of landscape change.     

Theory of planned behaviour, identity and intentions to engage in environmental activism

This study incorporated identity constructs into the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to investigate intentions to engage in environmental activism. First year students and participants of a students of sustainability conference (n=169) were administered a questionnaire survey that measured standard TPB constructs as well as environmental group membership and self-identity as an environmental activist. Consistent with predictions, environmental group membership and self-identity were positive predictors of intentions. Thus, greater involvement in environmental groups and a stronger sense of the self as an environmental activist were associated with stronger intentions to engage in environmental activism. There was also evidence that self-identity was a stronger predictor of intentions for participants with low rather than high environmental group membership. In accordance with the standard TPB model, participants with more positive attitudes toward and a greater sense of normative support for environmental activism also had greater intentions to engage in the behaviour. The implications for groups seeking to harness support for activities to protect the environment are discussed.     

The role of migration and founder effect for the evolution of cooperation in a multilevel selection context

The idea that natural selection can be meaningfully applied at the group level may be more important than previously thought. This perspective, a modern version of group selection, is called multilevel selection. Multilevel selection theory could incorporate previous explanations for the evolution of cooperation including kin selection. There is general agreement that natural selection favors noncooperators over cooperators in the case of an unstructured population. Therefore, the evolution of cooperation by multilevel selection often requires positive assortment between cooperators and noncooperators. The question is how this positive assortment can arise in the ecological meaning. We constructed an individual-based model of multilevel selection and introduced migration and evolution. The results showed that positive assortment was generated especially when a migration strategy was adopted in which individuals respond specifically to bad environmental conditions. It was also shown that the founder effect in the evolutionary process could further facilitate positive assortment by working with migration. We analyzed assortment by using relatedness defined in group-structured populations. The fact that cooperation was achieved by such migration and by the founder effect highlights the importance of sensitiveness to the ecological environment and of fluctuations in group size, respectively.     

鹤煤集团安全理念提升方法

总结鹤煤集团近年来在提升以安全理念为核心的安全文化方面值得推广的经验与做法。分析了公司推行的追求＂文明＂的安全目标理念、＂责任重于泰山＂的安全责任理念、尊重客观规律的安全风险理念、事故背后有故事的安全防范理念、赛马机制下的＂两条腿走路＂理念、＂木桶理论＂下的螺旋上升理念、系统工程论的齐抓共管理念以及以＂管理为中心＂的持续改进理念的理论和内涵,总结了以这八条理念为核心的安全文化建设与保障措施。最后进行实施效果的定量评估,共抽样分析179名员工,发现全部安全理念内容都有不同程度的提高。成果有助于类似煤矿企业树立安全理念、更好的建立安全文化,提高员工安全素质。     

胶东地块在古生代的浮沉

胶东—京畿地块在古生代并非“铁板一块”。中泥盆一早石炭世,裂解再生临津江—烟南冒地槽带;中、晚石炭世,郯庐海湾仲入成“诸城海湾”,并可能有二叠纪沼泽盆地。中生代运动使胶东地块复杂化。     

High individual variation in pheromone production by tree-killing bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae)

Aggregation via pheromone signalling is essential for tree-killing bark beetles to overcome tree defenses and reproduce within hosts. Pheromone production is a trait that is linked to fitness, so high individual variation is paradoxical. One explanation is that the technique of measuring static pheromone pools overestimates true variation among individuals. An alternative hypothesis is that aggregation behaviour dilutes the contribution of individuals to the trait under selection and reduces the efficacy of natural selection on pheromone production by individuals. We compared pheromone measurements from traditional hindgut extractions of female southern pine beetles with those obtained by aerating individuals till they died. Aerations showed greater total pheromone production than hindgut extractions, but coefficients of variation (CV) remained high (60-182%) regardless of collection technique. This leaves the puzzle of high variation unresolved. A novel but simple explanation emerges from considering bark beetle aggregation behaviour. The phenotype visible to natural selection is the collective pheromone plume from hundreds of colonisers. The influence of a single beetle on this plume is enhanced by high variation among individuals but constrained by large group sizes. We estimated the average contribution of an individual to the pheromone plume across a range of aggregation sizes and showed that large aggregation sizes typical in mass attacks limit the potential of natural selection because each individual has so little effect on the overall plume. Genetic variation in pheromone production could accumulate via mutation and recombination, despite strong effects of the pheromone plume on the fitness of individuals within the aggregation. Thus, aggregation behaviour, by limiting the efficacy of natural selection, can allow the persistence of extreme phenotypes in nature.     

新疆工业循环经济发展模式研究

以新疆天业集团化工园及其发展循环经济的下游企业——青松天业水泥有限公司为例,通过对企业内部的清洁生产工艺,企业间生态产业链的物质代谢、产业共生和效益集成分析,总结天业集团循环经济型化工产业的成功经验并对其存在问题提出对策建议,探索新疆未来循环经济型工业的发展模式和发展方向。