Structural chromosomal mosaicism and prenatal diagnosis

True structural chromosomal mosaicism are rare events in prenatal cytogenetics practice and may lead to diagnostic and prognostic problems. Here is described the case of a fetus carrying an abnormal chromosome 15 made of a whole chromosome 2p translocated on its short arm in 10% of the cells, in association with a normal cell line. The fetal karyotype was 46,XX,add(15)(p10).ish t(2;15)(p10;q10)(WCP2+)[3]/46,XX[27]. Pregnancy was terminated and fetus examination revealed a growth retardation associated with a dysmorphism including dolichocephaly, hypertelorism, high forehead, low-set ears with prominent anthelix and a small nose, which were characteristic of partial trisomy 2p. Possible aetiologies for prenatal mosaicism involving a chromosomal structural abnormality are discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trace Element Contaminants in Sediments From the Noaa National Status and Trends Programme Compared to Data From Throughout the World

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Status and Trends (NS&T) Programme has analyzed samples of surface sediment collected at almost 300 coastal and estuarine sites throughout the United States since 1984. the overall distributions for concentrations of each element are approximately lognormal allowing a definition of geometric means and of “high” concentrations as those exceeding the mean plus one standard deviation of the lognormal distribution. Those mean and “high” concentrations should be useful for comparing the NS&T data set and with other reports on sediment contamination. A world-wide data set, constructed from data in the literature, was summarized in an identical manner. It was found, after excluding locally extreme values, that the NS&T and world-wide data sets yielded very similar mean and “high” concentrations for Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn. Chromium was the sole element showing higher summary statistics in the NS&T data set, a result attributed to NS&T sampling in areas of naturally (not contaminated) elevated Cr content. It remains undetermined, however, why the world-wide data set, even with exclusion of “hot spots”, yielded higher means and “highs” for Cd, Hg, As, and Ag.     

洞庭湖区近50年土地利用/覆盖的变化研究

利用1978，1989，1998年的Landsat卫星遥感影像资料及20世纪50年代航测的地形图，研究了洞庭湖区近50年土地利用／覆盖及其景观结构的变化，土地利用／覆盖类型分为水体，湿地，农田，林地和建成区五类，各时期遥感影像的总体分类精度都在80％以上，运用ArcInfo和ArcView GIS软件，将不同时期的土地利用／覆盖格局在空间上清晰地显示出来，通过叠加4个不同时期的影像分类图，计算出各种土地利用／覆盖类型转变为其他土地利用／覆盖类型的比例，洞庭湖区50年来水体面积不断减少，减少量为1460km^2，其中1955年到1978年水面面积缩小了970。57km^2，分别为1978年到1989年和1989年到1998年缩小面积的2．23倍和1805倍，湿地面积逐渐增加，1998年湿地面积分别为1955，1978和1989年的1．46，1．41和1．09倍，农田的面积百分比从1955年的54．70％增加到1978年62．15％，又逐渐降低到1989年的51．88％和1998年的48．17％，林地的面积1978年比1955年减少了17％,，1989年比1978年增加了57％，1998年比1989年增加了11％，建成区的变化表明近50年来湖区城市化的进程，洞庭湖区土地利用／覆盖及其景观结构的变化是社会经济和自然因素综合作用的结果。     

Optimization of the high-pressure, near-critical liquid-based microsortation of recyclable post-consumer plastics

High-pressure, near-critical liquids were used as float-sink separation media for the microsortation of polyolefin mixtures and PET/PVC mixtures. Near-critical carbon dioxide was used for the refinement of the polyolefins, and sulfur hexafluoride was used to separate post-consumer PVC from PET. Preliminary experiments indicated that there was no overlap in the density ranges of post-consumer HDPE, LDPE and PP containers. There was no overlap in the PET and PVC densities, with the exception of a single PVC packaging material with a density in the PET range. These initial results indicated that a float-sink separation was a viable means of microsortation. Separations of 91% LDPE (1/8′ beads)/9% PP (1/8′ chopped strands) resin mixtures and mixed post-consumer polyolefin flakes were then conducted in a laboratory-scale, 1-I batch apparatus. This apparatus not only permitted the observation of the separation, but also enabled the separated fractions to be removed from the high-pressure environment. The results indicated that LDPE purity of greater than 98.9% was obtained in 3 min or less if (a) the fluid density was 0.018 g/cm³ greater than the PP density and only 0.002 g/cm³ less than the LDPE density, thereby providing the greatest buoyancy force for the removal of the PP, (b) the fluid was recirculated upward through the bed of mixed plastics, facilitating the upward movement of the PP, and (c) the loading was kept at levels below 40% by volume. HDPE purity of 99% was also attained with clean, dry, post-consumer mixed plastic flakes. The loadings for these separations were very low, however, due to the difficulty in agitating the mixed bed of plastics using fluid recirculation. An economic analysis of these microsortation processes indicated that the value of the sorted plastics relative to the mixed feed must increase by approx. $0.08/lb for the CO₂-based separation and approx. $0.27/lb for the SF₆-based separation to justify the implementation of these high-pressure processes.     

MULTIPLE CRITERIA ANALYSIS FOR WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN THE NITRA BASIN1

ABSTRACT: This paper presents the implementation of one element of a decision support system (DSS) for regional water quality management, applied to the Nitra River Basin in Slovakia. A model-based, aspiration-led methodology for multicriteria decision support has been used for the study. Several reusable, modular software tools have been developed and implemented: a problem-specific generator to produce the core part of the mathematical programming model, tools for the generation and interactive modification of multicriteria problems, and a solver for the resulting mixed-integer optimization problem. Provided in the paper are the following: a complete formulation of the mathematical model (including the imbedded water quality model), a summary of the aspiration-reservation-led multiple criteria optimization approach applied to decision support, and an overview of results that illustrate the applied approach and provide some interesting insights to the case study.     

Characteristics of roadside air pollution in Korean metropolitan city (Daegu) over last 5 to 6 years: temporal variations, standard exceedances, and dependence on meteorological conditions

The present study performed a roadside data analysis to provide baseline data for exploring associations between environmental exposure to four gaseous pollutants and health effects on residents living near roadways. The yearly roadside concentrations of CO and SO₂ showed a well-defined decreasing trend, whereas those of NO₂ and O₃ exhibited the reverse trend. In most cases, the diurnal trends of the roadside concentrations were well-defined for all seasons, plus the daytime concentrations were higher than the nighttime concentrations. In contrast to the other target pollutants, the daytime O₃ concentrations observed at the roadside sites were lower than those observed at the residential site, likely due to high-levels of fresh NO from traffic emissions that rapidly react with O₃, thereby reducing the O₃ roadside level. The Sunday roadside concentrations of CO, NO₂, and SO₂ were similar to or somewhat lower than the weekday concentrations. Conversely, for O_3, the Sunday roadside concentrations were similar to or somewhat higher than the weekday concentrations. The higher O₃ concentrations on Sunday may be due to the reduced titration from a decrease in NO_x emissions under VOC-limited conditions (low VOC/NO_x conditions). The monthly averages of O₃ concentrations exhibited the reverse seasonal variation to the other target compounds, with peak O₃ concentrations between April and June, and the second peak between August and October. It is also suggested that for O₃, the 8-h standard is more stringent than the 1-h standard, while for NO₂ and SO₂, the 1-h standard is more stringent than the 24-h standard. The multiple regression equations obtained from the relationship between the concentrations and five meteorological parameters indicated that the number and type of meteorological variables in the equations varied according to the pollutant, monitoring station, or season.     

The Loch Fleet Project in the Context of Acidification Reduction Measures

At Loch Fleet, and in other liming studies in similar environments, catchment liming is successful if an adequate amount of lime is added to hydrological source areas. Geochemical modelling demonstrates that the relatively late acidification of L. Fleet is consistent with the ameliorating effect of an alkaline groundwater input: the presence of this input implies that had the Loch not been limed in 1985 it would have recovered to conditions suitable for fish in about 20 years, given current commitments to sulphur emission reductions. Lakes without similar alkaline groundwater are not likely to recover as quickly. the different consequences of liming and emission reduction as methods of restoring acid waters are reviewed and contrasted. Restoration of waters by liming may result in some undesirable effects on the terrestrial catchment: these are discussed but it is concluded that catchment liming, used with discrimination, can be an acceptable management tool.     

F/M对活性污泥微生物生态网络的影响

为深入理解有机负荷率(F/M)对活性污泥(AS)微生物群落的影响,以F/M(以BOD/MLVSS计,下同)设计建议范围0.2～0.5 kg·(kg·d)-1为依据,将采集的AS样品分为3组,运用基于随机矩阵理论(RMT)的网络分析方法,解析了不同F/M条件下的AS微生物生态网络拓扑性质及结构特征.结果表明,较低的F/M...     

镉处理对大豆幼苗生长及激素含量的影响

采用室内培养试验,通过测定植株生理生化指标,研究了不同浓度Cd²⁺处理对大豆幼苗生长及激素含量的影响.结果表明:①不同浓度Cd²⁺处理对大豆幼苗地下部生长素(IAA)和赤霉素(GA₃)的合成有抑制效应,对地上部生长素(IAA)和赤霉素(GA₃)的合成具有低浓度下的刺激效应和高浓度下的抑制效应;对地下部、地上部玉米素(Z)和脱落酸(ABA)的合成均有刺激效应.②Cd²⁺处理84h对大豆幼苗根系活力、叶绿素a和叶绿素b的合成有刺激效应,对类胡萝卜素的合成无影响.③Cd²⁺处理对过氧化物酶(POD)活性和丙二醛(MDA)含量具有低浓度下的抑制效应和高浓度下的激活效应,且随着Cd²⁺浓度的增加激活效应逐渐加强.④短时间、低浓度Cd²⁺胁迫可刺激大豆幼苗的生理活性,以Cd²⁺处理浓度为0.50 mg/L时,大豆幼苗根系活力最大,IAA和GA₃含量最高,POD活性最低,植物生理活性最强.