Prenatal diagnosis of an isochromosome 5p in a fetus with increased nuchal translucency thickness and pulmonary atresia with hypoplastic right heart at 14 weeks

We report on a fetus presenting with increased nuchal translucency at 11 weeks' gestation, suggesting cystic hygroma. Chorion villous sampling was performed, and cytogenetic analysis revealed a supernumerary isochromosome 5p leading to tetrasomy 5p: 47,XX,+ i(5p)[7]/46,XX[5] after short-term culture and 47,XX,+ i(5p)[20] after long-term culture. Subsequent targeted sonographic follow-up at 12 and 14 weeks revealed further increase of the NT to 6.4 mm and the additional presence of a congenital heart defect (pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum). Termination of pregnancy was performed, and the heart defect was confirmed. Isochromosome 5p was found in varying proportions in all examined organs. Only a few cases of mosaic tetrasomy 5p have been reported in the literature, and recent reports on prenatally detected isochromosome 5p showed a possible relationship to increased nuchal translucency in some cases and also a possible role of confined mosaicism in others. Whereas cases with confined mosaicism did not show suspicious signs on ultrasound, true mosaicism conversely showed increased nuchal thickness as well as structural abnormalities. This is the first report on the association of a cardiac defect with this chromosome aberration. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

UV/H2O2降解水中硝基酚及影响因素

UV H2 O2 氧化对硝基酚实验表明 ,H2 O2 光解产生·OH自由基是对硝基酚降解的直接原因 ,12min内 2 5mg L的对硝基酚去除率达到98%以上。溶液中TOC变化与对硝基酚的去除并不同步 ,说明对硝基酚的降解中生成了一系列的中间产物 ,然后再达到完全矿化的。体系中H2 O2 浓度变化显示产生的中间产物对H2 O2 光解没有明显影响。研究中还对对硝基酚起始质量浓度、H2 O2 浓度及pH影响进行了考察。研究认为UV H2 O2 是对硝基酚脱毒的一种有效方法     

Temporal variability in atmospheric Hg released from natural and anthropogenic sources in central Taiwan

From September 2011 to February 2012, ambient air particulate and particulate-bound mercury [Hg(p)] concentrations were measured, together with dry deposition using a cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CVAFS) analyser, at two characteristic sampling sites in central Taiwan. Results from the sampling site at Westin Park indicated that the lowest particulate dry deposition and lowest average particulate concentrations in total suspended particles (TSP) occurred in September (29.70±7.47 μ g m^?2×min) and February (34.38±13.60 ng m^?3), respectively. Moreover, results from the Gung-Ming junior high school (airport) site, showed that the highest average particulate dry deposition and average highest particulate concentrations in TSP occurred in February (156.76±30.36 μ g m^?2×min) and January (125.49±9.51 ng m^?3), respectively, during the winter. The Dragon Steel Plant and Han-Shian Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation were both nearby. These factors led to the high Hg(p) concentrations at Taichung Airport (TA) compared with Westin Park. Local large suspended particulates from heavy traffic were the main reason for the high average Hg(p) deposition at Westin Park compared with TA in this study.     

Effects of a phycotoxin,okadaic acid,on oyster heart cell survival

Okadaic acid (OA) is a dinoflagellate toxin which accumulates in shellfish producing diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) in humans. It was found that OA is a highly selective inhibitor of protein phosphatase types 1 (PP1) and 2A (PP2A) which produces a marked increase in phosphorylation of several proteins, including p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase. The cytotoxicity attributed to OA and the effects on p38 MAP kinase and calcium current were examined in the oyster Crassostrea gigas in this study. Data showed that p38 MAP kinase is strongly expressed in oyster heart and that OA bioaccumulated in cultured heart cells. Hence the effects of OA was tested in vitro and in vivo on oysters. OA was found to (i) exert a positive chronotropic effect on cultured atrial cardiomyocytes which is related to an increase in calcium current via PKC as shown by patch clamp measurements, (ii) produce an activation/phosphorylation of MAP kinase as shown by Westernblot while the non-phosphorylated p38 remained constant during treatment, (iii) did not induce a pro-apoptotic effect. Data suggest that OA may also stimulate the anti-apoptotic pathway by phosphatase inhibition.     

Non-cooperative and cooperative climate policies with anticipated breakthrough technology

Global warming can be curbed by pricing carbon emissions and thus substituting fossil fuel with renewable energy consumption. Breakthrough technologies (e.g., fusion energy) can reduce the cost of such policies. However, the chance of such a technology coming to market depends on investment. We model breakthroughs as an irreversible tipping point in a multi-country world, with different degrees of international cooperation. We show that international spill-over effects of R&D in carbon-free technologies lead to double free-riding, strategic over-pollution and underinvestment in green R&D, thus making climate change mitigation more difficult. We also show how the demand structure determines whether carbon pricing and R&D policies are substitutes or complements.     

Toxic effects of realgar transforming solution on the reproduction of Caenorhabditis elegans

Realgar transforming solution is an arsenic formulation which has shown anticancer effects with low toxicity both in vivo and in vitro. In this study, Caenorhabditis elegans was used to evaluate its reproductive toxicity and its possible mechanisms. Realgar transforming solution decreased the brood size and induced proliferation arrest and apoptosis significantly only at an elemental concentration of 37.5 mg/L, while arsenic trioxide reduced the brood sizes and induced proliferation arrest and apoptosis of both the wild type N2 and let-60 ras(gf) mutant worms in an arsenic concentration dependent manner. Mitogen-activated protein kinase and protein p53 pathways may be involved in reproductive toxicity as evidenced by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, RNA interference, and inhibition experiments with mitogen-activated protein kinases and p53. In conclusion, realgar transforming solution at the low arsenic (As) concentrations showed lower reproductive toxicity than arsenic trioxide, and a different molecular mechanism of reproductive toxicity is suggested.     

丙烯腈暴露对大鼠脑组织损伤及iNOS/p38 MAPK信号通路关键蛋白表达的影响

通过探究iNOS/p38 MAPK信号通路在丙烯腈(acrylonitrile,ACN)诱导脑组织损伤中的作用,为进一步研究ACN的神经毒性作用提供依据。选取50只SPF级健康成年雄性SD大鼠,随机分为5组,每组10只。适应性饲养一周后,以12.5、25.0、50.0 mg·kg~(-1)ACN对大鼠进行灌胃染毒,对照组给予玉米油,另设NAC组(300.0 mg·kg~(-1)NAC+50.0 mg·kg~(-1)ACN),1次·天~(-1),6天·周~(-1),共染毒13周。次日称重并处死大鼠,测定大鼠脑组织NO含量、总NOS水平及iNOS、p-p38和p38蛋白表达水平。结果显示,ACN各剂量组大鼠脑组织脏器系数与对照组比较均显著降低(P0.05),高剂量组大鼠脑脏器系数与NAC组比较降低(P0.05)。高剂量组NO含量和总NOS水平显著高于对照组,与NAC组比较,高剂量组NO含量降低(P0.05),总NOS水平升高(P0.05)。Western blot结果显示,ACN高剂量组大鼠脑组织iNOS、p-p38蛋白表达水平和p-p38/p38比值显著高于对照组和NAC组(P0.05)。ACN可激活iNOS/p38MAPK信号通路,这可能是ACN致大鼠脑组织损伤的机制之一。     

HHMHC对Cu2+、Ni2+的萃取性能

以对羟基苯甲酸为原料,通过化学修饰合成得到上沿羧基化的杯[6]芳烃羟肟衍生物,即5,11,17,23,29,35-六羧基-37,38,39,40,41,42-六羟肟酸甲氧基杯[6]芳烃(HHMHC),采用IR对其结构性能进行表征,并探讨了溶液初始pH值、初始重金属离子(Cu2+、Ni2+)浓度、萃取时间、温度等因素对HHMHC萃取重金属离子的影响.结果表明,在温度为30℃时HHMHC萃取Ni2+和Cu2+的最佳pH值分别为5.0、6.0,萃取平衡时间均为30min.用准二级动力学模型(R2>0.99)和Freundlich等温模型(R2>0.999)均可较好的拟合其萃取过程,通过计算萃取过程的热力学参数,得到Gibbs自由能(ΔG0)和焓变(ΔH0)均小于0,表明萃取反应是一个自发的放热反应.通过红外光谱图分析和考察溶液pH值对萃取分配比的影响,探讨HHMHC萃取Cu2+、Ni2+的机理,结果表明此萃取过程除了存在阳离子交换机理外,还存在与冠醚萃取相同的离子配位萃取,参与配位作用的主要是羟肟基团(–CONHOH).     

苯甲酸生产残液中锰、钴和镍的提取及分离

探讨了苯甲酸生产残液中锰、钴和镍的提取及分离方法。首先采用酸溶液提取残液中的金属元素;然后通过氨水沉淀法分离锰;最后使用p507萃取剂分离钴和镍。实验结果表明:当苯甲酸生产残液中锰、钴和镍的质量分数分别为0.085 0%,0.307 1%,0.015 5%时,在硫酸浓度为2.0 mol/L、过氧化氢溶液质量分数为25%的条件下,锰、钴和镍的提取率分别为88.59%,87.77%,86.50%;当氨水浓度为2 mol/L时,锰的沉淀率达94.24%;在平衡水相p H为4、p507萃取剂皂化率为60%、油相中p507萃取剂的体积分数为15%的条件下,钴萃取率达87.53%,镍萃取率仅为8.46%,钴镍分离系数为68.70。