A survey of diagnostic amniocenteses in Oxford from 1974–1981

A survey was conducted of the results of mid-trimester diagnostic amniocenteses in the Oxford Region from 1974 to 1981. The survey used data relating to all 4357 singleton pregnancies in which an amniocentesis was performed during this period. Follow-up information on outcome was obtained in respect of 4284 (98 per cent) pregnancies. A cell culture to determine karyotype and an alpha-fetoprotein determination was carried out in all cases. From 1974 to 1981 amniocenteses became increasingly common, rising from 2 to 32 per 1000 births. The most common indication for amniocentesis was a high risk of a chromosome abnormality–56 per cent of all amniocenteses. Within this group advanced maternal age was responsible for 89 per cent of the cases. The next most common indication was a high risk of a neural tube defect (37 per cent of all amniocenteses)–in 1974 a raised maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein level accounted for only 4 per cent of these; by 1981 this had risen to 67 per cent. There were seven false-positive and 132 true-positive diagnoses of neural tube defect; since 1981, with the introduction of amniotic fluid acetylocholinesterase determination as a secondary diagnostic test for neural tube defects, there have been no further false-positive diagnoses. In 1981 76 per cent of women aged 35 years or more did not have an amniocentesis. It is not known to what extent this was due to not offering women in this age group amniocentesis or to women not accepting such an offer.     

Selective survival of only the healthy fetus following prenatal diagnosis of thalassaemia major in binovular twin gestation

Selective feticide is the procedure of choice when, in twin binovular pregnancy, only one of the fetuses is shown to be affected. As the probabilities for this condition are almost 1:2 when the genetic disease is due to homozygosity for two autosomal recessive genes, the problem is expected to occur frequently among the ever increasing number of couples seeking prenatal diagnosis of thalassaemia and the haemoglobinopathies. The present report is the first case of this condition and the ninth in the overall medical literature.     

新农药环境化学行为研究(V)-—三氟羧草醚(Acifluorfen)在土壤和水环境中的滞留、转化

从如下几方面研究了三氟羧草醚在土壤－水环境中的化学行为：一是土壤对该药的吸附，结果表明，吸附强度与土壤理化特性密切相关，Ｆｒｅｕｎｄｌｉｃｈ常数ｋｆ＝０．９４Ｗｏｍ＋０．６５Ｗｃｌａｙ－９．５９ｐＨ（ｒ＾２＝０．９４）；二是吸附机理研究，发现三氟羧草醚能与碱金属以外的许多金属离子形成配合物，并证实了与ＣＵ＾２＋形成的双核桥联合物的可能性；三是实验指出它在水中避光有一定的稳定性，不易水解；四是它在〈     

Simultaneous sorption of aqueous phenanthrene and phosphate onto bentonites modified with AlCl3 and CTMAB

The purpose of this work is to synthesize a new type of bentonite sorbent that can simultaneously remove both organic compounds and phosphate from water. Inorganic-organic bentonites (Al-CTMAB-Bent) were synthesized by modifying bentonites with both AlCl₃ and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTMAB). Simultaneous sorption of aqueous phenanthrene and phosphate onto Al-CTMAB-Bent was examined. Removal rates of phenanthrene and phosphate from water reached 96.3% and 90.2%, respectively, at their respective initial concentrations of 1 mg/L and 5 mg/L and the added amount of Al-CTMAB-Bent was 1.25 g/L. The residual turbidity of the Al-CTMAB-Bent suspension decreased 81.4% compared to that of organobentonite suspension after a 1 h settling time. Thus, inorganic-organic bentonite can be used to treat wastewater containing both organic pollutants and phosphate. Translated from Environmental Science, 2006, 27(1): 91–94 [译自: 环境科学]     

Experimental and theoretical studies on NO selective catalytic oxidation over α-MnO2

Based on the experimental and theoretical methods, the NO selective catalytic oxidation process was proposed. The experimental results indicated that lattice oxygen was the active site for NO oxide over the $\mathrm{\alpha }$-MnO₂(110) surface. In the theoretical study, DFT (density functional theory) and periodic slab modeling were performed on an $\mathrm{\alpha }$-MnO₂(110) surface, and two possible NO oxidation mechanisms over the surface were proposed. The non-defect $\mathrm{\alpha }$-MnO₂(110) surface showed the highest stability, and the surface O_s (the second layer oxygen atoms) position was the most active and stable site. O₂ molecule enhanced the joint adsorption process of two NO molecules. The reaction process, including O₂ dissociation and O=N-O-O-N=O formation, was calculated to carry out the NO catalytic oxidation mechanism over $\mathrm{\alpha }$-MnO₂(110). The results showed that NO oxidation over the $\mathrm{\alpha }$-MnO₂(110) surface exhibited the greatest possibility following the route of O=N-O-O-N=O formation. Meanwhile, the formation of O=N-O-O-N=O was the rate-determining step.     

Selective collection as a pretreatment for indirect solid recovered fuel generation

Effective selective collection (SC) has been increasing in many countries of the European Union. As a consequence the composition of residual municipal solid waste (RMSW) is changing not only because of economic development, but also due to the collection system. The input of RMSW treatment plants is thus not homogeneous. This paper analyses two case studies involving a total of five SC scenarios and their impact on the generation of solid recovered fuel (SRF) with/without bio-drying, post-treatment and packaging take back programs (TBPs). These case studies are based on two types of SC: kerbside and drop-off. The latest regulation on SRF classification is taken into account: energy content, Cl and Hg concentrations are assessed and discussed. The role of the respirometric index (RI) is also analyzed. Results show that when SC is highly efficient RMSW can be classified directly as SRF, but only if the introduction of RI does not set stringent respirometric targets. The role of packaging TBPs is important as the residual waste remaining after the packaging has been processed, can be valorized increasing the lower heating value (LHV) of the residual RMSW and minimizing the streams that should be landfilled. The source separation of food waste has a significant impact on the suitability of bio-drying: when the SC of food waste is very efficient, its percentage in the RMSW may be too low for effective bio-drying.     

桑沟湾表层沉积物性质及对磷的吸附特征

通过研究桑沟湾表层沉积物对磷的吸附动力学曲线和吸附等温线,并结合沉积物的表面电荷性质及磷的形态分析,考察了沉积物对磷的吸附性能和吸附机制.结果表明,桑沟湾表层沉积物对磷的吸附过程包括快吸附过程和慢吸附过程,可用快慢二段一级动力学方程描述,等温线符合Langmuir交叉式模型.夏季沉积物样品的最大吸附量高于春季样品,粒级较小的沉积物吸附能力较强.沉积物样品对磷的最大吸附量Qm在0.047 1~0.123 0 mg·g-1之间,吸附/解吸平衡磷浓度(EPC0)范围在0.059 6~0.192 7 mg·L-1,沉积物充当"磷源"的作用.不同站位表层沉积物中无机磷(IP)是磷在沉积物中的主要赋存形态,吸附后的沉积物样品中弱吸附态磷(Ex-P)、铁结合态磷(Fe-P)明显增加.吸附过程包括物理吸附和化学吸附,以物理吸附为主.     

Removal of perfluorinated surfactants from wastewater by adsorption and ion exchange——Influence of material properties,sorption mechanism and modeling

Perfluorooctane sulfonate(PFOS) has attracted increasing concern in recent years due to its world-wide distribution, persistence, bioaccumulation and potential toxicity. The influence of sorbent properties on the adsorptive elimination of PFOS from wastewater by activated carbons, polymer adsorbents and anion exchange resins was investigated with regard to their isotherms and kinetics. The batch and column tests were combined with physicochemical characterization methods, e.g., N_2 physisorption, mercury porosimetry, infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, titrations, as well as modeling. Sorption kinetics was successfully modelled applying the linear driving force(LDF) approach for surface diffusion after introducing a load dependency of the mass transfer coefficient βs.The big difference in the initial mass transfer coefficient βs,0, when non-functionalized adsorbents and ion-exchange resins are compared, suggests that the presence of functional groups impedes the intraparticle mass transport. The more functional groups a resin possesses and the longer the alkyl moieties are the bigger is the decrease in sorption rate.But the selectivity for PFOS sorption is increasing when the character of the functional groups becomes more hydrophobic. Accordingly, ion exchange and hydrophobic interaction were found to be involved in the sorption processes on resins, while PFOS is only physisorptively bound to activated carbons and polymer adsorbents. In agreement with the different adsorption mechanisms, resins possess higher total sorption capacities than adsorbents. Hence, the latter ones are rendered more effective in PFOS elimination at concentrations in the low μg/L range, due to a less pronounced convex curvature of the sorption isotherm in this concentration range.     

水环境中典型纳米颗粒对菲的吸附特征

以典型三环多环芳烃菲为代表,选取11种典型纳米颗粒对水中不同浓度的菲进行吸附实验,探究水体中的纳米颗粒对菲的吸附特征.结果表明,Freundlich模型对所有样品的拟合结果最好.logKFr值显示,有机膨润土及3种炭黑对菲的吸附作用最强,且远远大于其他纳米颗粒.有机膨润土对菲的吸附表现为线性吸附(n=1.08),而3种炭黑均表现出显著的非线性特征(n＜0.5),且非线性特征随吸附能力的增强而增强,其他几种纳米颗粒均表现出非线性吸附特征(n＜0.9).水中所有的纳米颗粒在与菲作用的过程中,吸附的强弱与颗粒表面电位、粒径及比表面积均无显著相关性,即对于所有纳米颗粒来说,这几种性质并不是决定吸附作用的最主要因素,而吸附剂的化学组成及结构特性可能是引起吸附作用差异的主要原因.     

Utilizing surfactants to control the sorption, desorption, and biodegradation of phenanthrene in soil-water system

An integrative technology including the surfactant enhanced sorption and subsequentdesorption and biodegradation of phenanthrene in the soil-water system was introduced and tested. For slightly contaminated agricultural soils, cationic-nonionic mixed surfactant- enhanced sorption of organic contaminants onto soils could reduce their transfer to plants, therefore safe-guarding agricultural production. After planting, residual surfactants combined with added nonionic surfactant could also promote thedesorption and biodegradation of residual phenanthrene, thus providing a cost-effective pollution remediation technology.0ur results showed that the cationic-nonionic mixed surfactantsdodecylpyridinium bromide (DDPB) and Triton X-100 (TX100) significantly enhanced soil retention of phenanthrene. The maximum sorption coefficient Kd* of phenanthrene for contaminated soils treated by mixed surfactants was about24.5 times that of soils without surfactant (Kd ) and higher than the combined effects of DDPB and TX100 individually, which was about 16.7 and 1.5 times Kd , respectively.0n the other hand, TX100 could effectively remove phenanthrene from contaminated soils treated by mixed surfactants, improving the bioavailability of organic pollutants. Thedesorption rates of phenanthrene from these treated soils were greater than 85% with TX100 concentration above2000 mg/L and approached 100% with increasing TX100 concentration. The biodegradation rates of phenanthrene in the presence of surfactants reached over 95% in30days. The mixed surfactants promoted the biodegradation of phenanthrene to some extent in 10-22days, and had no obvious impact on phenanthrene biodegradation at the end of the experiment. Results obtained from this study provide some insight for the production of safe agricultural products and a remediation scheme for soils slightly contaminated with organic pollutants.