Fetal chromosome analysis: Screening for chromosome disease?

The aim of the study was to investigate the rationale of the current indications for fetal chromosome analysis. 5372 women had 5423 amniocenteses performed, this group constituting a consecutive sample at the chromosome laboratory, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen from March 1973 to September 1980 (Group A + B). Pregnant women 35 years of age, women who previously had a chromosomally abnormal child, families with translocation carriers or other heritable chromosomal disease, families where the father was 50 years or more and women in families with a history of Down's syndrome (group A), were compared to women having amniocentesis, although considered not to have any increased risk of fetal chromosome abnormality (1390 pregnancies, group B). They were also compared with 750 consecutive pregnancies in women 25–34 years of age, in whom all heritable diseases were excluded (group Q. The risk of unbalanced chromosome abnormality in group A (women with elevated risk) is significantly higher than in group B + C (women without elevated risk) (relative risk 2–4). Women with a known familial translocation and women 40 years or more have a relative risk of 5–7 of having an unbalanced chromosome abnormality compared with women without elevated risk. Spontaneous abortion rate and prematurity rate did not differ from rates expected without amniocentesis. It is concluded that current indications may be characterized as a mixture of evident high risk factors and factors with only a minor influence on risk. Indications for amniocentesis should therefore be reconsidered. Because it must be considered impractical and ethically wrong to limit amniocentesis to the two mentioned real high risk groups, and illogical to continue the present policy, which is not based on clearcut evidence, the possibility of offering amniocentesis to all who want it, is discussed. Screening for chromosome disease in all pregnancies is not without problems, but may be reasonable in some localities.     

运用电法勘探方法研究梁宝寺矿的浅层结构

梁宝寺煤矿是一个新建大型现代化矿井,实际揭露的地质及水文地质资料较少,在该矿井实施综合电法勘探-矿井高分辨率电测深和矿井音频电透视,解决了矿井地层、地质构造、水文地质等问题,较好地弥补了实际揭露的地质及水文地质资料较少的问题,为该矿安全生产提供了重要技术支持.     

Ranked set sampling: an annotated bibliography

The paper provides an up-to-date annotated bibliography of the literature on ranked set sampling. The bibliography includes all pertinent papers known to the authors, and is intended to cover applications as well as theoretical developments. The annotations are arranged in chronological order and are intended to be sufficiently complete and detailed that a reading from beginning to end would provide a statistically mature reader with a state-of-the-art survey of ranked set sampling, including historical development, current status, and future research directions and applications. A final section of the paper gives a listing of all annotated papers, arranged in alphabetical order by author.This paper was prepared with partial support from the United States Environmental Protection Agency under a Cooperative Agreement Number CR-821531. The contents have not been subject to Agency review and therefore do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Agency and no official endorsement should be inferred.     

Is the antipredatory response in behaviour reflected in stress measured in faecal corticosteroids in a small rodent?

Predation risk has been shown to alter various behaviours in prey. Risk alters activity, habitat use and foraging, and weight decrease might be a consequence of that. In mammals, studies on physiological measures affected by risk of predation, other than weight, are rare. We studied in two separate laboratory experiments foraging, hoarding behaviour and expression of stress measured non-invasively from the faeces in the bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus), a common boreal rodent. Voles were exposed to predation risk using odours of the least weasels (Mustela nivalis nivalis). Distilled water served as control. In the first experiment, we found that foraging effort, measured as sunflower seeds taken from seed trays filled with sand, was significantly lower in trays scented with weasel odour. Both immediate consumption of seeds and hoarding were affected negatively by the weasel odour. Females hoarded significantly more than males in autumn. In the second experiment, the negative effect of weasel odour on foraging was consistent over a 3-day experiment, but the strongest effect was observed in the first night. Foraging increased over the time of the experiment, which might reflect either energetic compensation during a longer period of risk, predicted in the predation risk allocation hypothesis, or habituation to the odour-simulated risk. Despite decreased foraging under predation risk, stress measured as corticosteroid metabolite concentration in vole faeces was not affected by the weasel odour treatment. In conclusion, we were able to verify predation-risk-mediated changes in the foraging effort of bank voles but no physiological stress response was measured non-invasively, probably due to great individual variation in secretion of stress hormones.     

农村环境质量区划的多元分析

本文提出了适合于农村环境质量区划的分区方法，即首先以主成分分析法分析农村环境质量问题，然后以多种聚类分析法取得一个初始分区系统，最后用判别分析法判别该初始分区系统中各区域单元的类型归属是否正确，对一些类型归属不恰当的作适当调整，最终得到农村环境质量分区系统。文章最后讨论了类型划分问题。     

镉与铜的分离与测定研究

设计出离子交换分离法分离与测定Cd2 和Cu2 的实验方案及实验步骤,摸索出分离与测定Cd2 和Cu2 的最佳实验条件.     

Evaluation of CFD Simulation using RANS Turbulence Models for Building Effects on Pollutant Dispersion

CFD evaluations were performed to examine the applicability of the RANS methods in simulating pollutant dispersion near, within and over three typical building configurations: (1) an isolated building, (2) a building array and (3) an urban intersection. The CFD results are compared with values obtained from wind tunnel tests. In some situations major differences between the wind tunnel tests and the CFD results were observed. The main source of difference between the CFD and wind tunnel results was inadequate modelling of local flow patterns using the RANS turbulence models. Also inappropriate evaluation of high intermittent turbulent mixing in the RANS approach may lead to either over-prediction or under-prediction of the concentration level, by up to a factor of 10, depending on the case investigated.     

Screening for Down's syndrome in older women based on maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein levels and age: Preliminary results

We report the results of screening for Down's syndrome (DS) in older women using published rate schedules based on maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP) and age. Five hundred and seventeen patients aged 35 years and older, who were referred for a mid-trimester genetic amniocentesis, were first tested for MSAFP and then underwent an amniocentesis. Individual risks for DS, combining MSAFP and age, were derived using three different published rate schedules. Theoretical selection for amniocentesis was made using the cut-off level of the average collective risk for a 35-year-old woman (1:380 at live birth or 1:270 at amniocentesis). Six affected pregnancies (five with DS and one with trisomy 18), which were diagnosed prenatally, were all found to be at a higher risk than the specified cut-off. These cases would have been diagnosed in any event, using any of the published rate schedules. According to these rate schedules, between 39 and 45 per cent of the patients would be in the lower risk group and therefore would have been counselled not to undergo amniocentesis. Further studies should be conducted in order to reach conclusive screening policies for DS in older women.     

氰化废水的性质对净化方法选择的影响

本文论述了氰化废水的来源、性质及净化方法。介绍了如何根据氰化废水的性质正确选择净化方法。     

环境空间分析中常用采样方法及其对空间结构表达的影响

采用几种采样方法在不同的采样密度下分别在两套模拟数据集上进行模拟采样，并以实验半变异函数为结构分析工具探讨了采样方案对具有不同空间分布特征数据的空间结构表达的影响。研究发现，采样密度与采样方法的选取都对空间结构的表达有显著影响。