Influence of chlorsulfuron herbicide on size of microbial biomass in the soil

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＴｈｅｕｓｅｏｆｃｈｅｍｉｃａｌｓ,ｉｎｃｌｕｄｉｎｇｐｅｓｔｉｃｉｄｅｓ,ｈａｓｂｅｃｏｍｅａｎｉｎｔｅｇｒａｌａｎｄｅｃｏｎｏｍｉｃａｌｌｙｅｓｓｅｎｔｉａｌｐａｒｔｏｆｍｏｄｅｒｎａｇｒｉｃｕｌｔｕｒｅ.Ｐｅｓｔｉｃｉｄｅ?..     

Thyroid antibodies are not a risk factor for pregnancies with down syndrome

The observation that thyroid disease is frequent in mothers of children with Down syndrome (DS) has suggested that maternal thyroid antibodies could be a factor predisposing to trisomy 21 in their offspring. In this study, the incidences of thyroglobulin (Tg) and thyroid peroxidase (TPO) antibodies were analysed with a sensitive solid-phase immunosorbent radioassay in sera from 29 mothers giving birth to children with trisomy 21 and 87 control mothers. The serum samples were collected at delivery. There was no statistical difference regarding the proportion of thyroid antibodies (against Tg and/or TPO) in the two groups. Thyroid antibodies were detected in 6/29 (20.7 per cent) of the DS mothers and in 23/87 (26.4 per cent) of the control mothers. Among the women with thyroid antibodies, 4/6 (66.7 per cent) of the DS mothers and 12/23 (52 per cent) of the control mothers had antibodies against both Tg and TPO. There was no increase in the relative risk of having a child with DS if the titre of either Tg or TPO antibodies or both were positive, i.e. ≥ 1/5. The results indicate that the presence of thyroid antibodies in the serum of a pregnant woman has no prognostic value for the birth of an infant with DS.     

Prenatal ultrasound diagnosis of Apert's syndrome

A mother affected with Apert's syndrome was diagnosed by ultrasound scan at 16–17 weeks to have a fetus similarly affected. The typical features of acrocephaly and symmetrical syndactyly were seen. This is probably the first time that this condition has been diagnosed at such a gestation by ultrasound scan. The patient decided to continue the pregnancy, and intrauterine death occurred at 34 weeks. The diagnosis was confirmed by pathological examination.     

Prenatal diagnosis of a fetus with terminal deletion of chromosome 1 (q41)

Many authors have suggested that individuals affected by a terminal 1q deletion display a phenotypically definable and recognizable syndrome. In all of the 27 cases reported to date, the breakpoints were at band q42 or distally to it. To our knowledge, we report the first case of a terminal 1q41 deletion. Diagnosis was made prenatally by amniocentesis, following ultrasonographic diagnosis of omphalocele, cerebral ventriculomegaly, and increased nuchal fold thickness in a 19-week female fetus. Multiple facial and extremity features were consistent with the proposed distal 1q deletion syndrome; omphalocele, however, has not been reported previously. The absence of liver herniation into the omphalocele sac in this case supports the previously reported association of this finding with chromosomal anomalies.     

Petro-chemical wastewater treatment by biological process

Ｉｎｔｈｅｃｏｕｒｓｅｏｆｏｉｌｒｅｆｉｎｉｎｇ,ｏｒｇａｎｉｃｗａｓｔｅｗａｔｅｒｗｉｔｈｈｉｇｈｃｏｎｃｅｎｔｒａｔｉｏｎｏｆｅｍｕｌｓｉｆｉｅｄｏｉｌａｎｄｐｈｅｎｏｌｉｓｐｒｏｄｕｃｅｄ,ｓｏｆａｒ,ｔｈｅｍｅｔｈｏｄｓｏｆｐｈｙｓｉｃｏｃｈｅ?..     

Duration of vaginal bleeding and trisomy at prenatal diagnosis

In the case-control study of 118 women with autosomal trisomy identified at prenatal diagnosis and their 442 karyotypically normal matched controls, we found that there was no overall association between risk of trisomy and the presence of vaginal bleeding during pregnancy. However, a lengthy duration of bleeding appears to predict increased risk of trisorny.     

On the study of ecosystem health:state of the art

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＤｕｒｉｎｇｌａｓｔｄｅｃａｄｅｓ,ｔｈｅｔｅｒｍ“ｅｃｏｓｙｓｔｅｍｈｅａｌｔｈ”ｉｓｕｓｅｄｗｉｔｈｉｎｃｒｅａｓｉｎｇｆｒｅｑｕｅｎｃｙｉｎｔｈｅｌｉｔｅｒａｔｕｒｅ.Ｔｈｅｇｒｏｗｉｎｇｉｎｔｅｒｅｓｔｓｉｎｔｈｅｓｔｕ...     

Amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein levels and prenatal diagnosis of autosomal trisomies

Pregnancies with fetal trisomy 21 have been associated with low amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein levels (AFAFP). This observation led to the suggestion that low AFAFP levels be used as a criterion for completion of a chromosomal analysis in patients who are not otherwise at increased risk for a fetal chromosome abnormality and in whom karyotyping might not have been completed for economic reasons. In order to assess the usefulness of such criteria, we reviewed the AFAFP levels of 90 cases of fetal trisomy 21, 23 cases of trisomy 18, and 10 cases of trisomy 13. These were compared with 2400 control samples with normal chromosome constitution. AFAFP levels were generally lower in pregnancies with trisomy 21, showing a median value of 0·72 MoM. However, 40 per cent of the trisomy 21 samples had AFAFP values greater than 0·8 MoM and 20 per cent were over 1·0 MoM. These data imply that over 50 per cent of Down syndrome cases might have been missed using a cut-off level of 0·70 MoM for completion of chromosome analysis. Using a higher cut-off level will leave only a small percentage of samples unkaryotyped. The distribution of AFP levels in trisomy 13 and 18 is no different from controls; we therefore believe that fetal karyotyping should be completed in every amniotic fluid sample obtained.     

Stipulation of the criteria for the construction of eco agricultural county in China

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＮｏｗｗｅａｌｌｃｏｎｃｅｒｎｏｕｒｓｅｌｖｅｓｗｉｔｈｔｈｅｃｏｎｔｅｍｐｏｒａｒｙｐｒｏｂｌｅｍｓｏｆｏｖｅｒｐｏｐｕｌａｔｉｏｎ,ｒｅｓｏｕｒｃｅｅｘｐｌｏｉｔａｔｉｏｎ,ｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌｐｏｌｌｕｔｉｏｎａｎｄ...     

Renatal diagnosis of mosaic tetrasomy 12p/trisomy 12p by fluorescent in situ hybridization in amniotic fluid cells: A case report of pallister–killian syndrome

A prenatally detected case of a rare mosaic tetrasomy 12p/trisomy 12p is reported, presenting as the well-known accessory isochromosome 12p and a supernumerary single 12p marker in 17/24 and 6/24 clones of cultured amniotic fluid cells, respectively. The chromosomal nature of both marker chromosomes was investigated in cultured amniotic fluid cells by fluorescent in situ hybridization with various probes: the 12-centromeric probes pa12H8 and D12Z3, a whole chromosome 12 paint, and the chromosome 12p-specific paint M28. DNA analysis revealed a maternal origin of the extra 12p material. After counselling, the parents requested termination of pregnancy. Inspection and autopsy of the fetus revealed many of the dysmorphisms and internal structural abnormalities of the Pallister–Killian syndrome.