DETERMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WATER QUALITY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE IN FISHERY POPULATIONS1

ABSTRACT: Diseases in wild fish populations may have multiple economic and social impacts. Epidemics of infectious diseases, which are associated with the presence of some microbe or parasite, have recently been observed in several major estuarine systems in the eastern United States. The most prevalent of these problems is ulcerative mycosis (UM), a fungal infection. The agents responsible for UM and many of these other diseases are opportunistic pathogens that are not believed to infect normal, immunocompetent individuals. While inroads have been made into determining the infectious agents associated with these diseases, we know very little of how pollution may influence their prevalence. Understanding the importance of pollution requires an awareness of all the environmental conditions that can affect the health of wild populations. In this paper, a multistep examination of the interactions between the host, pathogen(s), and environment is outlined.     

Huntington disease–unaffected fetus diagnosed from maternal plasma using QF-PCR

The discovery of fetal DNA in maternal plasma from early pregnancies has led to new opportunities for clinical application. In the last few years there have been numerous reported applications, mainly fetal gender and RhD genotyping. The prenatal diagnosis of some inherited genetic diseases such as Huntington disease is also very frequently required in the prenatal diagnosis routine. We have successfully diagnosed, with a non-invasive procedure, an unaffected HD fetus at the 13th week of gestation using fetal DNA from maternal plasma and the quantitative fluorescent PCR method, which is one of the most sensitive ways to detect fetal DNA in maternal plasma at such an early time of gestation. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

TiO2 photocatalytic antifungal technique for crops diseases control

Introduction N um erous studies have utilized a strong oxidizing pow der of TiO 2 photocatalysts to degrade aqueous or gaseous toxic organic pollutants for w ater purification, w astew ater treatm ent and air pollution control (Fujishim a et al., 2001; K …     

The minerals sector, sectoral analysis, and economic development

Sectoral analysis, a new branch of political science, alleges that mineral extraction creates a socio-political climate that promotes inflexible statism, which in turn leads to substandard development performance. The theory, that mineral economies underperform bureaucratically and economically, is said not only to hold in a post-dictive sense for the mature mineral economies, such as Zambia, but also in a predictive sense for the newer mineral economies, such as Ecuador. This essay reviews and assesses this hypothesis in the light of the empirical evidence comparing mineral production, state capacity, and economic performance. It finds that the sectoralist view is supportable only in selected cases, and is not a general result.     

Prenatal ultrasound diagnosis of congenital heart disease associated with intrauterine growth retardation. A report of 2 cases

Two fetuses with extreme growth retardation (IUGR) of 31 and 34 weeks gestation were studied using a combination of two dimensional echocardiography (2DE), pulse wave Doppler (PWD) and differential measurement of the instantaneous vessel diameter techniques. The first fetus was diagnosed as having univentricular heart or possible double outlet right ventricle (DORV). Descending aorta blood flow was reduced as was indexing for weight. The second fetus was diagnosed as having univentricular heart with periodic bigeminal and trigeminal rhythm. Descending aorta blood flow was measured on two occasions and was reduced both times. Indexing for weight was within normal limits the first time and showed gross reduction on the second occasion prior to fetal demise. Fetal death occurred in both cases at 34 weeks gestation. Cardiovascular evaluation in fetuses with IUGR is useful as the detection of severe congenital cardiac abnormalities may substantially alter the management of these pregnancies, in particular caesarean section may be avoided when the prognosis for the fetus is considered hopeless.     

煤沥青烟气对职业接触人群姐妹染色单体交换的影响

利用姐妹染色单体交换率（ＳＣＥ）的增加与否，作为细胞遗传毒理学的指标来评价一些理化因子的诱变性，是检测化学致突的方法之一，通过对某碳素厂接触生产性煤焦沥青烟气的工人人体外周血淋巴细胞ＳＣＥ观察表明，车间接触组工人ＳＣＥ明显高于非接触组工人（约１．６７倍）；在接触线组中，在者ＳＣＥ高于非吸烟者；同为吸烟者，接触组工人ＳＣＥ高于非接触组工人（约１．４８倍）。结果提示示煤焦沥青烟尘能引起工人ＳＣＥ的改变     

Prenatal diagnosis of Pompe's disease (type ii glycogenosis) in chorionic villus biopsy using maltose as a substrate

Uncultured trophoblasts obtained from chorionic villus biopsy during the gestation period of 8–12 weeks were assayed for alpha-glucosidase activity using maltose as the substrate. Only one major form of maltase activity with a pH optimum at 4.0 was demonstrated. Using this method, we performed prenatal diagnosis on three pregnancies at risk for the infantile form of type II glycogen storage disease. Two affected fetuses and one unaffected fetus were predicted and the diagnosis was subsequently confirmed. The maltose assay offered a direct, simple, and sensitive method for prenatal diagnosis of Pompe's disease in the first trimester.     

Carrier detection and prenatal diagnosis in Norrie disease

We report the use of DNA probes to determine carrier status in three young women from a large kindred with Norrie disease. One of the women requested prenatal diagnosis during pregnancy. In this pedigree, Norrie disease was not characterized by a deletion at DXS7.     

Experience with first trimester prenatal diagnosis of Menkes disease

We have performed 28 first trimester diagnoses for Menkes disease in 27 high risk pregnancies by direct copper measurement on chorionic villi (c.v.) Two male fetuses were found to be affected because of significantly increased copper content. In one male fetus a slightly increased copper content was observed indicating an exogenous copper contamination of the sample. This view was supported by normal results observed after abortion. Three out of 15 diagnostic c.v. samples with a female karyotype showed increased copper levels. In two of these cases, part of the copper content might have been released from the cannulae used for these particular biopsies. Histochemical visualization of copper accumulation in fixed chorionic villi of two affected fetuses and one female fetus was observed. [⁶⁴Cu]-uptake studies have been performed on 11 diagnostic and 10 control c.v. samples. As the control samples in some cases were found to incorporate more [⁶⁴Cu] than the corresponding diagnostic sample, this method cannot at present be used for diagnosis. Compiled results on newborn females gave evidence that two carriers expressed the paternal X-chromosome, and two carriers expressed the maternal X-chromosome in chorionic villi.