Transverse limb reduction defects after chorion villus sampling: A retrospective Cohort study

A retrospective cohort study was performed in five Italian obstetrical centres from 1984 to 1991 in order to verify the association between chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and transverse limb reduction defects (TLRDs). TLRD rates by period of gestation at CVS were calculated, and the study's results were compared with data from the general population. Of the 3430 pregnancies for which CVS was performed, 2759 had a known outcome. The overall rate for TLRDs was 1 in 1143 CVS pregnancies, four times higher than that of the general population in Italy (1 in 4458). The rate of TLRDs was 2·9/1000 for CVS performed at 9 weeks' gestation and 1·0/1000 for CVS at 10 weeks' gestation. A scalp defect was detected in a pregnancy in which CVS was performed at 10 weeks. A high proportion of pregnancies lost to follow-up and the poor quality of the data may have affected the results. Nevertheless, our results suggest an association between CVS carried out at less than 10 weeks' gestation and TLRDs which is consistent with the findings of other studies. CVS should not be prepared at less than 10 weeks' gestation until additional evidence is obtained.     

Bioavailability of pollutants sets risk of exposure to biota and human population in reservoirs from Iguaçu River (Southern Brazil)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The Iguaçu River, located at the Southern part of Brazil, has a great socioeconomic and environmental importance due to its high endemic fish...     

Using expert elicitation to define successful adaptation to climate change

This paper develops definitions of adaptation and successful adaptation to climate change, with a view to evaluating adaptations. There is little consensus on the definition of adapting to climate change in existing debates or on the criteria by which adaptation actions can be deemed successful or sustainable. In this paper, a variant of the Delphi technique is used to elicit expert opinion on a definition of successful adaptation to climate change. Through an iterative process, expert respondents coalesced around a definition based on risk and vulnerability and agreed that a transparent and acceptable definition should reflect impacts on sustainability. According to the final definition, agreed by the Delphi panel, successful adaptation is any adjustment that reduces the risks associated with climate change, or vulnerability to climate change impacts, to a predetermined level, without compromising economic, social, and environmental sustainability.     

The invisibility of fisheries in the process of hydropower development across the Amazon

We analyze the invisibility of fisheries and inadequacy of fishers’ participation in the process of hydropower development in the Amazon, focusing on gaps between legally mandated and actual outcomes. Using Ostrom’s institutional design principles for assessing common-pool resource management, we selected five case studies from Brazilian Amazonian watersheds to conduct an exploratory comparative case-study analysis. We identify similar problems across basins, including deficiencies in the dam licensing process; critical data gaps; inadequate stakeholder participation; violation of human rights; neglect of fishers’ knowledge; lack of organization and representation by fishers’ groups; and lack of governmental structure and capacity to manage dam construction activities or support fishers after dam construction. Fishers have generally been marginalized or excluded from decision-making regarding planning, construction, mitigation, compensation, and monitoring of the social–ecological impacts of hydroelectric dams. Addressing these deficiencies will require concerted investments and efforts by dam developers, government agencies and civil society, and the promotion of inter-sectorial dialogue and cross-scale participatory planning and decision-making that includes fishers and their associations.     

Microculture of fetal blood for prenatal cytogenetic studies from blood-stained amniotic fluid

An alternative method to the culture of amniotic fluid cells for prenatal diagnosis of chromosome disorders is proposed. Microculture of fetal blood can be used when fetal blood is drawn at amniocentesis through accidental puncture of the placenta. An easy discrimination of fetal red cells, a good response of fetal lymphocytes to PHA and the possibility of identification of the fetal karyotype from the maternal one are the technical bases of this method. This technique offers some undoubted advantages: a reduced need for repeating amniocentesis because of a lack of growth of AF cells due to massive contamination with red cells; a result may be obtained sooner. Thirty-seven cases out of 1092 amniocenteses were processed in this way (3·4 per cent). In two cases no mitoses were obtained but in the others the diagnosis was confirmed by the results of AF cell culture and/or by the outcome of pregnancy.