Prenatal diagnosis of a 46,XX/47,XX, +12 mosaic

A case of true mosaicism 46,XX/47,XX,+ 12 was diagnosed prenatally. The pregnancy was terminated in the 21st week of gestation and the aberrant cell line was rediscovered in cultured fetal tissue. However, a detailed examination of the fetus did not disclose any significant physical malformation.     

Prenatal prediction of duplication 10q24→qter by gene dosage of GOT1 on uncultured amniotic cells

Glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT1) gene dosage studies were performed on uncultured amniotic cells from a fetus at risk for duplication/deficiency of 10q24→qter, due to maternal translocation t(9;10)(p24;q24). Previous investigations in the same pedigree had shown triplex dosage effect of GOT1 on red blood cells of a 10q24→qter trisomic fetus monitored by midtrimester amniocentesis. In the present pregnancy, the GOT1 activity of amniotic cells exhibited a triplex gene dosage, suggesting duplication of region 10q24→qter in the fetus. The biochemical prediction was confirmed two weeks later by cytogenetic analysis.     

The significance of choroid plexus cysts in fetuses at 18–20 weeks. An indication for amniocentesis?

Over a period of 25 months, all antenatal patients were offered a detailed ultrasound scan at 18–20 weeks' gestation. The lateral cerebral ventricles were scanned for the presence of choroid plexus cysts. Fifty-one patients found to have choroid plexus cysts were offered amniocentesis to exclude chromosomal abnormalities. One pregnancy, in which the only abnormality found was bilateral choroid plexus cysts, was terminated after trisomy 18 was detected on amniocentesis at 19 weeks. The other 50 pregnancies had normal fetal outcomes. The significance of the isolated finding of choroid plexus cysts is reviewed.     

The Truth About Science: A middle school curriculum teaching the scientific method and data analysis in an ecology context

The Truth About Science is a 40-lesson middle school curriculum module that teaches the process of scientific research, integrating mathematics and science concepts and skills. The goal of the curriculum is to teach students to think systematically and statistically about science inquiry. Students participate in each step of the scientific inquiry process, from asking testable research questions, designing unbiased experiments, and collecting their own data, to analyzing these data via graphical representations and statistical summaries, and communicating their research results as both poster and oral presentations. While the necessary statistical skills depend on difficult and abstract mathematical concepts, middle school students have been successful in applying them to their own research projects. The curriculum meets local and national standards in science and mathematics education and fills a gap in available educational materials. It has been piloted and revised through multiple iterations and published by the National Science Teachers Association Press. Feedback from teachers and students has been extremely positive.     

乙酸铅对PC12细胞形态的影响

为了从形态学角度研究铅诱导细胞凋亡的机制,用100 μmol·L-1乙酸铅对PC12细胞进行染毒24 h,检测细胞整体形态、细胞骨架和细胞超微结构的改变.实验结果显示:乙酸铅染毒24 h后.细胞整体形态和细胞骨架无明显改变.但电子显微镜下已出现细胞核固缩;线粒体肿胀、正常结构消失并伴有空泡化;胞内出现鼓泡等现象.结合前期研究结果,推测线粒体在铅诱导细胞凋亡中起了重要作用.而细胞骨架不参与此过程.     

甲基汞对未分化型PC12细胞的毒性机制

应用未分化型PC12细胞为体外模型,研究甲基汞对多巴胺能神经元的毒性作用机制.利用MTT法检测甲基汞的细胞毒性,Hoechst33258荧光染色观察细胞形态变化,流式细胞术定量分析细胞周期分布和凋亡比率,并进一步通过比色法评价各项氧化应激指标.结果显示,甲基汞以剂量依赖性方式降低了细胞存活率,干扰细胞周期,造成S期细胞阻滞,细胞出现典型的凋亡性死亡特征.另外,甲基汞暴露导致PC12细胞内O-.2、H2O2和·OH等活性氧含量急剧增加,脂质过氧化程度升高,且SOD、CAT和GSH-Px等抗氧化酶活性降低.因此,甲基汞对多巴胺能神经元具有强烈的毒性,毒性作用机制涉及到干扰细胞周期、诱导细胞凋亡和引发严重的氧化损伤.     

地方环境保护标准现状分析及“十二五”发展思路

我国地方环境保护标准工作起步晚、发展慢,仍与国家标准存在较大的差距。地方环境保护标准制(修)订的基本思路逐步由传统的保障总量削减目标实现、加严污染排放控制,向改善环境质量、保障环境安全以及实现区域联防联控并重转变。以北京、上海、广东等主要省市地方标准现状为例,分析了地方标准的工作难点,并探讨了"十二五"时期地方标准发展的思路。     

Investor demand and spot commodity prices: Reply 2

This, our second reply to Östensson, supplements our earlier more technical analysis with a simple intuitive explanation of how investor demand can be driving commodity prices higher even when investor stocks are falling.     

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Burkina Faso: Suggestion of multi-agent methodology as a complementary support in elaborating a policy

In order to better manage artisanal and small-scale gold mining, the Burkinabe authorities have planned to build a suitable methodological support as an aid to elaborating appropriate policies and actions. The developed methodology concerns (a) at a spatial level, the generation and analysis of a geological resources map needed by the artisanal miners and (b) at a socioeconomic level, analysis of the miners' activity. This paper reports and discusses the results of our suggestion to also introduce the use of an approach known as multi-agent system (MAS) as a complementary part of this initial methodology, at a downstage level to the above two analysis stages. MAS methodology could be used to develop simulation models to forecast the future of the activity. MAS is appropriate for describing the dynamics of systems where it is impossible to obtain all output data of a model from a purely mathematical or statistical transformation of input data. Our suggestion involves (i) demonstrating the capacity of the approach to simulate all parameters needed by mining policy makers and (ii) evaluating to what extent the methodology is accepted by them, as well as, at a more scientific level, the literature regarding mining system simulation.     

重点流域水污染防治“十二五”规划的总体设计

国家重点流域水污染防治十一五规划实施以来,取得了显著进展,80%考核断面水质达标,60%规划治污项目完成。为进一步提高流域规划编制的科学性和执行的有效性,重点流域水污染防治十二五规划力求在治污思路、管理方略等方面取得突破,以求能提高治污效益,显著改善水环境质量。