Amniotic fluid acetylcholinesterase measurement in the prenatal diagnosis of open neural tube defects. Second report of the collaborative acetylcholinesterase study

Seventeen centres from Australia, Britain, France, and the United States collaborated in a study to compare amniotic fluid acetylcholinesterase (AChE) determination by gel electrophoresis and amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) measurement as diagnostic tests for open neural tube defects. The study was based on 32 642 women with singleton pregnancies (including 428 with open spina bifida and 238 with anencephaly) who had an amniocentesis at 13–24 weeks' gestation. The AChE test yielded a detection rate for open spina bifida of 99 per cent (95 per cent confidence interval 98–100 per cent), 98 per cent for anencephaly (95 per cent confidence interval 96–100 per cent), and a false-positive rate of 0.34 per cent (95 per cent confidence interval 0.28–0.40 per cent) excluding miscarriages, intrauterine death, and serious fetal abnormalities. The false-positive rate was 0.30 per cent among the 13 centres that used a specific AChE inhibitor in the test. Comparable rates for the AFP test were less favourable. (For example, the open spina bifida detection rate was 90 per cent and the false-positive rate was 0.46 per cent using the cut-off levels specified in the U.K. Collaborative AFP Study.) The AChE false-positive rate was lower in samples that were not bloodstained (0.16 per cent) than in those that were (2.4 per cent). It was higher in women who had an amniocentesis on account of a raised maternal serum AFP level (0.56 per cent) than in those who had one for other reasons (0.29 per cent). The best results were obtained by a combination of the two tests, an effective and economical policy being to perform the AFP measurement on all amniotic fluid samples and an AChE test on samples with AFP levels greater than or equal to 2.0 multiples of the normal median (about 5 per cent of all samples). Using this policy, the open spina bifida detection rate was 96 per cent and the false-positive rate was 0.14 per cent (0.06 per cent for samples that were not bloodstained and 1.2 per cent for those that were; 0.40 per cent for women with raised serum AFP levels and 0.09 per cent for other women). This policy offers a useful improvement to the prenatal diagnosis of open spina bifida.     

水淬铜渣技术要求标准研究

面对绿色发展的新形势,我国正在大力推进固废的资源化利用工作,提升标准化水平。论述了编制水淬铜渣标准的意义和作用,介绍了标准研制的原则,以及水淬铜渣的技术要求、试验方法、检验规则等,通过标准的研制与实施,将引领并规范水淬铜渣的应用。     

高效重金属捕集剂TDTC对络合铜的去除性能

传统化学沉淀法存在对酸性及低浓度的络合态重金属去除率低的问题,为解决此问题,以三乙烯四胺、二硫化碳为原料合成了重金属捕集剂N,N-双(二硫代羧基)三乙烯四胺(TDTC),并采用红外光谱等分析方法对其结构和主要官能团进行了表征.以酒石酸铜、柠檬酸铜和EDTA铜3种络合铜为去除对象,研究了TDTC对络合铜的去除性能及去除机...     

Development of the vertebrate central nervous system: formation of the neural tube

The developmental process of neurulation involves a series of coordinated morphological events, which result in conversion of the flat neural plate into the neural tube, the primordium of the entire central nervous system (CNS). Failure of neurulation results in neural tube defects (NTDs), severe abnormalities of the CNS, which are among the commonest of congenital malformations in humans. In order to gain insight into the embryological basis of NTDs, such as spina bifida and anencephaly, it is necessary to understand the morphogenetic processes and molecular mechanisms underlying neural tube closure. The mouse is the most extensively studied mammalian experimental model for studies of neurulation, while considerable insight into underlying developmental mechanisms has also arisen from studies in other model systems, particularly birds and amphibians. We describe the process of neural tube formation, discuss the cellular mechanisms involved and highlight recent findings that provide links between molecular signaling pathways and morphogenetic tissue movements. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of environmental factors on low-molecular-weight peptides of fishes: a review

The present state of knowledge of the influence of heavy metals and some other environmental factors on fish metallothioneins, low-molecular-weight tissue polypeptides, is considered. The ecological-biochemical role of these polypeptides and their involvement in the development of adaptive responses of organs to heavy metal accumulation are demonstrated.Translated from Ekologiya, No. 1, 2005, pp. 48–54.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Smirnov, Sukhovskaya, Nemova.     

软岩隧道自旋锚管抗拔力的计算理论

在软岩隧道支护中,大多数情况下需要向上钻孔打锚杆,目前应用较多的中空注浆锚杆和砂浆锚杆在向上打锚杆的情况下,均存在注浆不饱满及不能形成快速初锚力的问题,影响支护效果和工程安全。自旋注浆锚管能比较好的解决上述工程中存在的技术缺陷。在软岩隧道支护中,自旋注浆锚管的抗拔力是至关重要的技术参数,关系到锚固体系的安全。本文根据自旋注浆锚管的结构特点和作用机理,对其抗拔力的计算理论进行了探讨,对实际支护工程有一定的参考作用。     

Copper(II) ions’ removal from aqueous solution using green horse-chestnut shell as a low-cost adsorbent

The adsorption of copper(II) ions from aqueous solutions by the green horse-chestnut shell was studied in a batch adsorption system. It was determined how the parameters of the adsorption process, such as time, pH, copper(II) ions concentration and sorbent dose, influence the effectiveness of copper(II) ions’ removal. The adsorption process was fast and equilibrium was established about 10?min, and near 95–97% of Cu(II) ions were removed from aqueous solution. Maximum copper(II) ions’ adsorption occurred at around pH 5. The adsorption kinetics are also described, using pseudo-first-order model and pseudo-second-order model of type 1 and 2. A comparison of the kinetics models on the overall adsorption rate showed that the adsorption system was best described by the pseudo-second-order model of type 1 (r²?=?0.999) for all initial concentrations. Another key part of this study was the use of the Freundlich model to determine the adsorption isotherm and the experimental data were in strong correspondence with this model.     

超大直径扩底嵌岩桩模型试验研究

为了弥补因现有技术无法对深圳平安大厦进行现场试桩分析的不足,研究超大直径桩的桩身承载及沉降规律,采用缩尺模型试验的方法对其进行了研究。研究结果表明:超大直径嵌岩桩桩身最大承载力远高于规范计算得到的竖向抗压承载力特征值,其上部荷载主要由桩端承担,对桩进行扩底处理后桩端承载所占总荷载比例较等直径桩更大,且等直径嵌岩桩的侧摩阻力比扩底嵌岩桩的侧摩阻力的发挥更显著。桩身在中风化—微风化花岗岩段的侧摩阻力在设计中均不应忽略。现场实测结果对比验证了模型试验结果的合理性。