Comparison of maternal and fetal chromosome heteromorphisms to monitor maternal cell contamination in chorionic villus samples

Maternal cell contamination (MCC) presents a potential problem in the analysis of chorionic villus sampling (CVS) preparations for early prenatal diagnosis by chromosomal, biochemical and molecular methods. Through the comparison of fluorescent chromosome variants from CVS and maternal cells, we found three out of 50 samples to have MCC. One of these was observed on a direct preparation. Routine chromosome heteromorphism analysis suggested as a reliable method for monitoring MCC in CVS specimens.     

ASSESSMENT OF SAMPLING ERROR ASSOCIATED WITH SOIL MOISTURE ESTIMATION DESIGNS1

A spectral formalism was developed and applied to quantify the sampling errors due to spatial and/or temporal gaps in soil moisture measurements. A design filter was developed to compute the sampling errors for discrete measurements in space and time. This filter has as its advantage a general form applicable to various types of sampling design. The lack of temporal measurements of the two‐dimensional soil moisture field made it difficult to compute the spectra directly from observed records. Therefore, the wave number frequency spectra of soil moisture data derived from stochastic models of rainfall and soil moisture were used. Parameters for both models were estimated using data from the Southern Great Plains Hydrology Experiment (SGP97) and the Oklahoma Mesonet. The estimated sampling error of the spatial average soil moisture measurement by airborne L‐band microwave remote sensing during the SGP97 hydrology experiment is estimated to be 2.4 percent. Under the same climate conditions and soil properties as the SGP97 experiment, equally spaced ground probe networks at intervals of 25 and 50 km are expected to have about 16 percent and 27 percent sampling error, respectively. Satellite designs with temporal gaps of two and three days are expected to have about 6 percent and 9 percent sampling errors, respectively.     

The use of cluster sampling to determine aid needs in Grozny, Chechnya in 1995

War broke out in Chechnya in November 1994 following a three-year economic blockade. It caused widespread destruction in the capital Grozny. In April 1995 Medical Relief International--or Merlin, a British medical non-governmental organisation (NGO)--began a programme to provide medical supplies, support health centres, control communicable disease and promote preventive health-care in Grozny. In July 1995 the agency undertook a city-wide needs assessment using a modification of the cluster sampling technique developed by the Expanded Programme on Immunisation. This showed that most people had enough drinking-water, food and fuel but that provision of medical care was inadequate. The survey allowed Merlin to redirect resources earmarked for a clean water programme towards health education and improving primary health-care services. It also showed that rapid assessment by a statistically satisfactory method is both possible and useful in such a situation.     

AUTOMATIC BOTTLE SEALING MECHANISM FOR SEQUENTIAL SAMPLING OF VOLATILE ORGANICS IN WATER1

ABSTRACT: The design, construction, and evaluation of two automatic bottle sealing mechanisms for the collection of volatile organic compounds in water are described. Manually collected samples were either stored in uncapped bottles or in bottles capped with the automatic bottle sealing mechanisms. After 24 hours' storage, significant losses of volatile compounds from uncapped samples occurred even if the samples were stored at 4°C, but not for the samples capped with the automatic bottle sealing mechanisms. The mechanism for sealing the sample bottles was integrated into a commercial sampler with minor modifications to the sampler. The sampling system was then evaluated under controlled conditions to simulate actual field sampling. The results showed that the system was suitable for taking sequential discrete water samples automatically for 24 hours without significant losses of volatile organic compounds.     

RESERVOIR WATER QUALITY SAMPLING DESIGN1

ABSTRACT: The design of monitoring programs often serves as one of the major sources of error or uncertainty in water quality data. Properly designed programs should minimize uncertainty or at least provide a means by which variability can be partitioned into recognizable components. While the design of sampling programs has received recent attention, commonly employed strategies for limnological sampling of lakes may not be completely appropriate for many reservoirs. Based on NES data, reservoirs are generally larger, deeper, and morphologically more complex than natural lakes. Reservoirs also receive a majority of their inflow from a single tributary located a considerable distance from the point of outflow. The result is the establishment of marked physical, biological, and chemical gradients from headwater to dam. The existence of horizontal as well as vertical gradients, and their importance in water quality sampling design were the subject of intensive transect sampling efforts at DeGray Lake, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir in southern Arkansas. Data collected were used to partition Variance, identify areas of similarity, and demonstrate how an equitable sampling program might be designed.     

预测流速法烟尘采样中采样嘴的选择及采样流量的计算

本文用公式计算出合理的采样嘴直径和采样流量,可以提高工作效率和数据的准确性     

固定污染源排气中PM2.5采样方法综述

我国新的环境空气质量标准已于2012年颁布并将自2016年起全面实施.为使新标准规定的细颗粒物(PM2.5)达标,各地需对固定污染源排气中PM2.5进行监测和控制,但目前国内尚无固定源PM2.5采样标准方法.本文系统地介绍了国内外固定源PM2.5采样方法及相应的国际标准,包括直接采样法和稀释采样法,并分析了这些方法的优缺点及用于我国固定源PM2.5测量的可行性.为了便于环境管理和监测,建议确立基于虚拟惯性撞击原理的烟道内直接采样方法为标准方法,用于测定固定源排气中的可捕集PM2.5;为了评估固定源PM2.5排放对大气环境质量和健康的影响,建议同时确立以烟道外稀释采样为基础的标准方法,用于测定固定源排气中包括可捕集和可凝结的PM2.5.     

不同取样尺度下亚高山草甸土壤呼吸的空间变异特征

基于对4个取样尺度(10、5、2.5、1.25 m)下亚高山草甸土壤呼吸速率的观测,对不同尺度土壤呼吸的空间变异特征进行了研究,分析了不同尺度土壤全氮、有机碳、碳氮比、全硫、土壤温度和土壤水分对土壤呼吸空间异质性的影响,并对各尺度不同置信水平与估计精度下的必要采样数量进行了计算.结果表明:除1.25 m和2.5 m尺度上土壤温度的空间变异属于弱变异外,土壤呼吸及其相关因子的空间变异均属于中等变异,土壤呼吸和土壤温度的变异系数随着取样尺度的增大而增大,而土壤全氮、有机碳、全硫和土壤水分的变异系数随着取样尺度的增大均有减小的趋势;不同取样尺度,影响土壤呼吸的关键因子不同.在10 m尺度,土壤呼吸与土壤全氮、有机碳呈极显著正相关,与土壤温度呈显著正相关,与土壤全硫、碳氮比和土壤水分相关性不显著;在5 m尺度,与土壤全氮和有机碳呈极显著正相关,与土壤全硫、碳氮比、土壤水分和土壤温度相关性不显著;在2.5 m尺度,与土壤有机碳、全氮和土壤水分呈极显著正相关,与土壤全硫、碳氮比和土壤温度相关性不显著;在1.25 m尺度,与土壤全氮、有机碳和土壤水分呈极显著正相关,与碳氮比呈显著负相关,与土壤温度呈极显著负相关,与土壤全硫相关性不显著.随着取样尺度的减小,土壤水分所起的作用逐渐增大,相关系数从0.27~0.49,土壤温度与土壤呼吸的相关性由显著正相关向极显著负相关变化;4个取样尺度95%置信水平误差在10%和20%内必要采样数量分别为28、21、18、14个和7、5、4、4个,随着取样尺度的减小,必需的采样数量减少.     

两种大气汞排放监测方法的比较研究

对吸附管离线采样法及高锰酸钾溶液吸收法两种固定源大气汞排放监测方法进行了比较研究。结果表明:由于有更严谨周密的采样过程及质量保证/质量控制过程,吸附管离线采样法监测精度高于高锰酸钾溶液吸收法。吸附管离线采样法在含汞废气低浓度情况下其相对标准偏差为7.88%,而高浓度条件下监测精度明显下降。高锰酸钾溶液吸收法在采样方法上存在一些缺陷,未来该国标方法应重点在采样环节进行修订完善,并亟待建立适合于高浓度固定源含汞废气监测的高锰酸钾溶液吸收法。     

污染场地土壤气中VOCs定量被动采样技术研究及应用

污染场地中土壤气样品的采集是蒸气入侵风险评估的关键,目前最常用的主动土壤气采集技术包括真空苏玛罐和泵吸附管,其操作繁琐、成本高、易受多种因素影响、只能采集短时间的浓度.土壤气定量被动采样技术是一种新兴的采样技术,很好地克服了主动式采样存在的不足,是目前污染场地中土壤气调查的研究热点.通过总结现有研究,就定量被动采样技术的理论、被动采样器吸附剂和外壳材料的选择、被动采样器吸附速率的研究及定量被动采样在污染场地中的应用进行论述.综合研究发现,只要严格控制吸附速率,被动采样能够提供准确的定量土壤气浓度测量;采样器结构的设计、外壳材料的选择能够有效控制吸附速率;吸附速率受环境因素和土壤性质的影响,场地校正是获得准确结果的有效途径.我国在土壤气采样领域的研究刚刚起步,建议:加大高效、广谱型或混合型吸附材料及相应测试方法和设备的研发;加强吸附速率的影响因子及场地校准方法的研究;加强土壤钻孔内土壤气的补给速率的模型和场地实测研究;增加不同种采样器的现场应用比较研究;进行适合我国国情的技术标准的研究与制订.