Serum PAPP-A levels are depressed in women with fetal Down syndrome in early pregnancy

The value of maternal serum pregnancy-associated plasma protein (PAPP)-A in screening for Down syndrome in early pregnancy was assessed using stored samples. Seventeen cases of Down syndrome and 66 unaffected control pregnancies were studied. The median PAPP-A level in the cases was 0.42 multiples of the expected value in controls (p <0.0001). Eleven cases (65 per cent) had levels less than half the expected value compared with only six controls (9 per cent). A commercial assay kit is now needed so that prospective screening with this marker can begin.     

Expanding multiple marker screening for Down's syndrome to include Edward'S syndrome

Information on maternal age and maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein, unconjugated oestriol (uE₃), and human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) levels was used to investigate retrospectively the effect of estimating Edward's syndrome risk in women having multi-marker screening for Down's syndrome. The screened population comprised 15 pregnancies affected by Edward's syndrome, 15 with Down's syndrome and 5472 unaffected pregnancies. The use of all three markers to estimate Edward's syndrome risk would have led to the detection of 10–12 (67–80 per cent) cases with a false-positive rate of 0.3–0.6 per cent depending on the risk cut-off. A further case would have been detected as a result of screening for Down's syndrome alone. Similar results were obtained when the Edward's syndrome risk was based on uE₃ and hCG only. These data suggest that extending Down's syndrome screening to include Edward's syndrome risk will yield a high detection rate with only a small increase in the false-positive rate.     

Serum PAPP-A measurements in first-trimester screening for Down syndrome

Serum PAPP-A measurements taken from 254 women in the first trimester are reported. Eleven chromosomal abnormalities were detected. The mean serum PAPP-A levels in cases of Down syndrome were 0.44 MOM at 9 weeks gestation, 0.15 MOM at 10 weeks, and 0.29 MOM at 11 weeks. The PAPP-A level at 10 weeks was below those of pregnancies which aborted spontaneously. At 11 weeks, the pregnancies with Down syndrome recorded the lowest PAPP-A levels at that gestation. On this small sample, offering chorionic villus sampling to women with singleton pregnancies and a PAPP-A level below 0.3 MOM (approximately 6.5 per cent of this at-risk group) would have detected all the Down syndrome fetuses at 10 weeks and 50 per cent at 11 weeks without selecting those cases destined to abort. This suggests that serum PAPP-A should continue to be investigated as a potential first-trimester screening test for Down syndrome.     

Reduction of sera requirements in amniotic fluid cell culture

Reduction in serum requirement for culture of primary human amniotic fluid cells can be achieved by the addition of 10 growth-promoting factors to the nutrient medium. This supplemented medium preserves cell types normally found in amniotic fluid cell cultures supplemented with 20–30 per cent fetal bovine serum. The volume of amniotic fluid required to initiate culture can be as little as 1 ml. Amniotic fluid samples contaminated with red blood cells with no visible clot also grow well in the low serum medium. Cell-free amniotic fluid combined with equal parts of supplemented medium is useful in initiating cell culture.     

布袋式除尘在大型煤炭筛分系统中的成功应用

煤炭筛分系统在工作时产生的大量煤尘对环境造成污染，为解决这一问题，我们设计安装了两套煤炭筛分除尘系统，通过布袋式除尘器，把煤尘用布袋收集起来，解决了煤炭粉尘污染问题，通过三年的使用观察，效果非常明显。     

小城镇产业集群主要污染源筛查与影响分析

以郫县安德镇川菜产业园为研究对象,采用等标污染负荷法对污染影响进行了标准化评价。结果发现:川菜产业园主要的工业污染行业为豆制品加工行业,排污量为2 919.94 t/a,占总排污量的96.46%,等标污染负荷为9.83,占总污染负荷的92.83%,其中有6家企业为主要控制对象。对比分析发现,环境污染受企业规模、末端处理方式、废水排放量等多方面因素共同影响。所有污染因子中,BOD对环境的实质污染影响较大。该研究成果将为优化小城镇产业集群的规划、管理和污染物总量控制提供有价值的参考。     

辽宁省菱镁矿区生态修复研究

针对辽宁省菱镁矿区资源状况与环境问题,提出菱镁矿区土地生态修复技术对策,包括土壤污染等级分类对策、不同立地条件土地复垦适宜性评价与对策、板结土壤复垦技术与对策和排土场贫瘠土壤肥力改良修复对策,进行适宜性复垦植物筛选与复垦效果评价。     

ESS试验温度循环次数确定方法研究

介绍了环境应力筛选温度循环试验数学模型,通过雷达单元实际筛选数据统计建模计算,在相同的温度范围、温变速率条件下,进行筛选度和循环次数的理论与实际数据对比分析,得出了确定雷达组成电子单元温度循环试验循环次数的方法和修正系数。     

海水中亚硝化细菌的分离鉴定研究

从海水样品中分离到1株严格自养的氨氧化细菌GW201210,对该株茵的形态特征、培养特性、生理生化特性等生物学特性进行了初步研究。结果表明,它为革兰氏染色阴性,无鞭毛,不产芽孢,细胞短杆状,呈单个排列或排列成直线。该菌株能将氨氮氧化成亚硝酸盐,不能还原硝酸盐,能利用CO2,在7％NaCl条件下生长,在肉汤培养基中不生长,其特性均符合亚硝酸菌的特征,并用PCR方法扩增该菌株的16SrDNA基因,进行16SrDNA序列比较、同源性分析并构建系统发育树,将菌株GW201210初步鉴定为亚硝化单胞菌属（Nitro．somonascommunis）o