Association between prenatal sonographic findings and post-natal outcomes in 30 cases of isolated spina bifida aperta

This study presents 30 cases of fetal isolated spina bifida aperta (SBA) to identify prenatal ultrasound findings that could predict the prognosis. Comparisons between surviving patients who had normal (group 1) and abnormal (group 2) post-natal neurological outcomes were made for three different prenatal signs, that is, site of vertebral lesion, presence and degree of ventriculomegaly and presence of talipes. The site of the lesion was the most significant outcome predictor, as high spinal dysraphisms were observed in 2 patients (2/7–28.6%) in group 1 and in 15 patients (15/19–79.0%) in group 2 (p = 0.03). The presence of fetal ventriculomegaly was associated with impaired post-natal neurological development, as it occurred in 4 patients (4/7–57.1%) in group 1 and in 18 patients (18/19–94.7%) in group 2 (p = 0.04). The presence of talipes did not significantly differ between the two groups. Patients with abnormal intellectual outcome (8/26–30.8%) had significantly greater (p = 0.018) lateral ventricle/hemisphere ratios (mean = 0.74, standard deviation = 0.13) than those with normal intellectual development (mean = 0.54, standard deviation = 0.18). Mean post-natal follow-up was at 23 months (standard deviation = 15 months). Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

短期OTC处理对鹅绒委陵菜健康影响的研究初报

利用开顶箱（Open Top Chambers, OTC）模拟增温的方法,研究了短期变暖对鹅绒委陵菜健康的影响。结果表明,短期变暖后降低了鹅绒委陵菜的萌蘖株死亡、增加了单位长度匍匐茎的萌蘖株数目和其死亡率,同时叶片数目、高度和健康率比对照增加,匍匐茎长度和匍匐茎上萌蘖株数目比对照减少,同时所有表征指标中只有萌蘖死亡率和叶片高度比对照有显著变化（p ＜ 0.05）。     

The current situation of solid waste generation and its environmental contamination in China

In China, controlling environmental pollution resulting from solid waste (SW) and hazardous waste (HW) has become one of the most pressing tasks in the field of environmental engineering. It is reported that the annual generation of industrial solid waste (ISW) in China exceeded 0.6 billion tons in the 1990s, and is increasing every year. Although ISW management has been strengthened in recent years, about 40% of SW is put in uncontrolled landfill without appropriate treatment. According to statistics from the national Environmental Protection Agency, the cumulative ISW uncontrolled landfill in China had reached 6.6 billion tons by the end of 1995, occupying around 55 000 hectares of land. Although some major uncontrolled landfills were constructed, nonetheless groundwater contamination resulted from the use of low-standard liners and poor management. Furthermore, about 20 million tons of ISW was discharged into the environment illegally, and a third of this waste was discharged directly into water bodies, making ISW one of the greatest pollution sources for surface water and ground water. Environmental pollution accidents resulting from SW occur about 100 times a year in China, and environmental issues frequently arise because of ISW pollution. The practices of SW management, treatment, and disposal started relatively late in China, and for a long time the management of SW pollution has received little attention compared with water and air pollution management. China faces problems such as the insufficiency of management laws and regulations, insufficient investment, inadequate treatment and disposal technology, and a lack of qualified technicians. At present, most treatment and disposal technology cannot meet the requests for solid waste pollution control. In order to protect, restore, and improve environmental quality in China and to realize sustainable development, the safe management and disposal of solid and hazardous wastes is a pressing challenge. In recent years, much attention has been paid to SW management in China, and investment to develop management and treatment technologies has increased. In 1995, the Law for Solid Waste Pollution Protection was issued, and work on solid waste treatment and disposal began to be legally managed. SW treatment and disposal facilities have been constructed, and now operate in some large and medium-sized cities. In particular, rapid improvements have been seen in ISW recycling, collection, and disposal of municipal solid waste and regional HW management. All the figures in this paper are from 1995, and represent the situation in China in that year. Received: April 18, 2000 / Accepted: May 15, 2000     

Origins of black carbon from anthropogenic emissions and open biomass burning transported to Xishuangbanna, Southwest China

Black carbon (BC) has importance regarding aerosol composition, radiative balance, and human exposure. This study adopted a backward-trajectory approach to quantify the origins of BC from anthropogenic emissions ($\mathrm{B}{\mathrm{C}}_{\text{An}}$) and open biomass burning ($\mathrm{B}{\mathrm{C}}_{\text{BB}}$) transported to Xishuangbanna in 2017. Haze months, between haze and clean months, and clean months in Xishuangbanna were defined according to daily PM_2.5 concentrations of >75, 35–75, and <35 µg/m³, respectively. Results showed that the transport efficiency density (TED) of BC transported to Xishuangbanna was controlled by the prevailing winds in different seasons. The yearly contributions to the effective emission intensity of $\mathrm{B}{\mathrm{C}}_{\text{An}}$ and $\mathrm{B}{\mathrm{C}}_{\text{BB}}$ transported to Xishuangbanna were 52% and 48%, respectively. However, when haze occurred in Xishuangbanna, the average $\mathrm{B}{\mathrm{C}}_{\text{An}}$ and $\mathrm{B}{\mathrm{C}}_{\text{BB}}$ contributions were 23% and 77%, respectively. This suggests that open biomass burning (BB) becomes the dominant source in haze months. Myanmar, India, and Laos were the dominant source regions of BC transported to Xishuangbanna during haze months, accounting for 59%, 18%, and 13% of the total, respectively. Furthermore, India was identified as the most important source regions of $\mathrm{B}{\mathrm{C}}_{\text{An}}$ transported to Xishuangbanna in haze months, accounting for 14%. The two countries making the greatest contributions to $\mathrm{B}{\mathrm{C}}_{\text{BB}}$ transported to Xishuangbanna were Myanmar and Laos in haze months, accounting for 55% and 13%, respectively. BC emissions from Xishuangbanna had minimal effects on the results of the present study. It is suggested that open BB in Myanmar and Laos, and anthropogenic emissions in India were responsible for poor air quality in Xishuangbanna.     

西藏芒康滇金丝猴国家级自然保护区变化监测

以第一次全国地理国情普查与基础性地理国情监测数据为数据源,开展西藏芒康滇金丝猴国家级自然保护区内2015、2016、2017、2018年自然保护区建设与管理情况监测,分别从人工地物、林草资源、露天采掘场等方面进行统计,分析人类活动对自然保护区内的生态系统胁迫以及区内生态恢复情况等。     

Traffic-related air quality assessment for open road tolling highway facility

Open road tolling (ORT) design has been considered as an effective means of smoothing highway traffic and reducing travel delay on toll highways. In this paper it is demonstrated that ORT can also achieve significant air quality benefits over the conventional toll plaza design. The near roadside carbon monoxide (CO) concentration levels can be reduced by up to 37%, and diesel particulate matter (DPM) emissions can decrease by as much as 58%. These large expected air quality benefits have great implications to the regional efforts of reducing mobile source air pollution toward achieving attainment status and healthier living environment.     

Valuation of Spatial Configurations and Forest Types in the Southern Appalachian Highlands

Site-specific estimates of the values of spatial configuration and forest composition are presented. Amenity values of forest patches are found to vary the most by urban and sprawling development patterns of specific areas and forest types. For example, smaller patches of deciduous forest are more highly valued in the urban and sprawling areas of Greensboro, North Carolina, whereas larger patches of deciduous forest are more highly valued in the urban and sprawling areas of Greenville, South Carolina. Within the Greenville and Greensboro areas, visible landscape complexity is highly valued for deciduous and evergreen forest patches, whereas lower visible landscape complexity, i.e., smoothly trimmed forest patch boundaries, is highly valued for mixed forest patches.     

Planning waste cooking oil collection systems

This research has been motivated by a real-life problem of a waste cooking oil collection system characterized by the existence of multiple depots with an outsourced vehicle fleet, where the collection routes have to be plan. The routing problem addressed allows open routes between depots, i.e., all routes start at one depot but can end at the same or at a different one, depending on what minimizes the objective function considered. Such problem is referred as a Multi-Depot Vehicle Routing Problem with Mixed Closed and Open Inter-Depot Routes and is, in this paper, modeled through a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulation where capacity and duration constraints are taken into account. The model developed is applied to the real case study providing, as final results, the vehicle routes planning where a decrease of 13% on mileage and 11% on fleet hiring cost are achieved, when comparing with the current company solution.