Activity of biotin-dependent and gaba metabolizing enzymes in chorionic villus samples: Potential for 1st trimester prenatal diagnosis

We have documented the presence of five mitochondrial enzymes in samples of chorionic villus tissue and measured the levels of activity. Three of the enzymes catalyse biotindependent reactions. These are propionyl-CoA carboxylase, 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase and pyruvate carboxylase. the other enzymes. 4-aminobutyric acid aminotransferase and succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase, are involved inthe degradation of the central inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. Distinct diseases in whichthere is deficiency of each of these enzymes have been documented in man. Significant levels of activity were observed for all five enzymes in chorionic villus tissue. This methodology should permit early prenatal diagnosis of deficiencies of these enzymes by chorionic villus biopsy in the first trimester.     

Pollutant emission characteristics of rice husk combustion in a vortexing fluidized bed incinerator

Rice husk with high volatile content was burned in a pilot scale vortexing fluidized bed incinerator. The fluidized bed incinerator was constructed of 6 mm stainless steel with 0.45 m in diameter and 5 m in height. The emission characteristics of CO, NO, and SO2 were studied. The effects of operating parameters, such as primary air flow rate, secondary air flow rate, and excess air ratio on the pollutant emissions were also investigated. The results show that a large proportion of combustion occurs at the bed surface and the freeboard zone. The SO2 concentration in the flue gas decreases with increasing excess air ratio, while the NOx concentration shows reverse trend. The flow rate of secondary air has a significant impact on the CO emission. For a fixed primary air flowrate, CO emission decreases with the secondary air flowrate. For a fixed excess air ratio, CO emission decreases with the ratio of secondary to primary air flow. The minimum CO emission of 72 ppm is attained at the operating condition of 40% excess air ratio and 0.6 partition air ratio. The NOx and SO2 concentrations in the flue gas at this condition are 159 and 36 ppm, which conform to the EPA regulation of Taiwan.     

Design approaches for a cycling adsorbent/photocatalyst system for indoor air purification: formaldehyde example

A kinetic model for a cycling adsorbent/photocatalyst combination for formaldehyde removal in indoor air (Chin et al. J. Catalysis 2006, 237, 29-37) was previously developed in our lab, demonstrating agreement with lab-scale batch operation data of other researchers (Shiraishi et al. Chem. Engineer. Sci. 2003, 58, 929-934). Model parameters evaluated included adsorption equilibrium and rate constants for the adsorbent (activated carbon) honeycomb rotor, and catalytic rate constant for pseudo-first-order formaldehyde destruction in the titanium dioxide photoreactor. This paper explores design consequences for this novel system. In particular, the batch parameter values are used to model both adsorbent and photocatalyst behavior for continuous operation in typical residential home challenges. Design variables, including realistic make-up air fraction, adsorbent honeycomb rotation speed, and formaldehyde source emission rate, are considered to evaluate the ability of the system to achieve World Health Organization pollutant guidelines. In all circumstances, the size of the required rotating adsorbent bed and photoreactor for single-stage operation and the resultant formaldehyde concentration in the home are calculated. The ability of how well such a system might be accommodated within the typical dimensions of commercial ventilation ducts is also considered.     

Ambient air monitoring of PCDD/Fs and co-PCBs in Gyeonggi-do, Korea

We started the monitoring for PCDD/Fs in ambient air and soil in August 2001, and co-PCBs in January 2002. Decreasing of PCDD/Fs and co-PCBs levels in ambient air were observed. The higher PCDD/Fs levels were found in winter and lower in autumn. We found that the industrial incinerators influenced the PCDD/Fs levels in ambient air. In the 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDD/Fs concentration profiles, the three major congeners occupied 67% of the total mass. In case of co-PCBs, PCB#118, #105 and #77 were observed as the main congeners. Five cluster groups discriminated by ratio of four components, O(8)CDD, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-H(7)CDD, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-H(7)CDF and O(8)CDF, were obtained from HCA (hierarchical cluster analysis).     

Influence of peatland and land cover distribution on fire regimes in insular Southeast Asia

Anthropogenic biomass burning in insular Southeast Asia facilitates conversion and degradation of ecosystems and emits high amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. We analyzed the influence of peat soil and land cover distribution on the occurrence and characteristics of vegetation fires. Two years of satellite-based active fire detections over Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo and Java were examined together with land cover and peatland maps. Our results showed that fire occurrence nearly tripled (23,000 → 68,000) from a wet La Niña year (2008) to a drier El Niño year (2009). In both years, fires were concentrated in peatlands (in 2009 41% of fires vs. 10% of land area), and the majority of large-scale burning took place in peatlands. Variation in peatland land cover within the study area was noticed to create remarkable different fire regimes. Biomass burning in the intensely managed Sumatran peatlands was characterized by large-scale land clearance fires that took place annually to varying extent. The largely unmanaged degraded peatland ecosystems of Borneo, on the other hand, experienced very little fire activity in a wet year but were ravaged by large-scale wildfires when El Niño conditions arose. We conclude that fire regime characteristics in insular Southeast Asia are strongly connected to occurrence of peat soil and land management status. This leads to high variation of fire activity within this region both annually (depending on weather patters) and over longer time range (depending on land cover/management issues) and greatly complicates estimation of the effects of fires.     

Food waste treatment in a community center

For urban community composting centers, the proper selection and use of bulking agent is a key element in not only the cost but also the quality of the finished compost. Besides wood chips (WC) widely used as BA, readily usable cereal residue pellets (CRP) can provide biodegradable carbon and sufficient free air space (FAS) to produce stabilizing temperatures. The objective of the present project was to test at a community center, the effectiveness of CRP in composting food waste (FW). Two recipes were used (CRP with and without WC) to measure: FAS; temperature regimes, and; losses in mass, water, carbon and nitrogen. Both recipes were composted during three consecutive years using a 2 m³ commercial in-vessel composter operated in downtown Montreal (Canada). For all recipes, FAS exceeded 30% for moisture content below 60%, despite yearly variations in FW and BA physical properties. When properly managed by the center operator, both FW and CRP compost mixtures with and without WC developed within 3 days thermophilic temperatures exceeding 50 °C. The loss of total mass, water, carbon and nitrogen was quite variable for both recipes, ranging from 36% to 54%, 42% to 55%, 48% to 65%, and 4% to 55%, respectively. The highest loss in dry mass, water and C was obtained with FW and CRP without WC aerated to maintain mesophilic rather than thermophilic conditions. Although variable, lower nitrogen losses were obtained with CRP and WC as BA, compared to CRP alone, as also observed during previous laboratory trials. Therefore and as BA, CRP can be used alone but nitrogen losses will be minimized by adding WC. Compost stabilization depends on operator vigilance in terms of aeration. The measured fresh compost density of 530-600 kg/m³ indicates that the 2 m³ in-vessel composter can treat 6.5 tons of FW/year if operated during 7 months.     

Effects of post-sampling conditions on ambient carbon aerosol filter measurements

Ambient carbonaceous material collected on quartz filters is prone to measurement artifacts due to material gained or lost during post-sampling field latency, shipping, and storage. In seventeen sampling events over a one year period, ambient PM_2.5 aerosols were collected on quartz filters (without denuders) and subjected to various filter treatments to assess the potential for and extent of artifacts. The filter treatments simulated post-sampling environments that filters may be exposed to and included: storage at 40 °C for up to 96 h, storage at ?16 °C for 48 h, and storage at room temperature (～21 °C) for 48 h. Carbon mass on the filters was measured using a thermal-optical method. The total carbon (TC), total organic carbon (TOC) and total elemental carbon (TEC) as well as carbon thermal fraction masses were obtained. Statistical analyses were performed to identify significant differences in carbon fraction concentrations between filters analyzed immediately after sampling and after being subjected to treatment.TOC and TC concentrations decreased by on average 15 ± 5% and 10 ± 4%, respectively, for filters maintained at 40 °C for 96 h but did not change for filters stored at room temperature or frozen for 48 h. TEC did not change for any of the filter treatments. The mass concentration for the organic carbon thermal fraction that evolves at the lowest temperature step (OC1) decreased with increasing storage time at 40 °C with average losses of 70 ± 7% after 96 h. Therefore, OC1 is not a stable measurement due to post-sampling conditions that may be encountered. This work demonstrates that TOC and TC can have substantial measurement artifacts on filters subjected to field latency and other non-temperature controlled post-sampling handling, compared to the carbon loadings on the filter at the end of the sampling period.     

Supported Pd/Sn bimetallic nanoparticles for reductive dechlorination of aqueous trichloroethylene

A Pd/Sn bimetallic nanoparticles resin (nano-Pd/Sn/resin) was successfully synthesized for reductive transformation of aqueous trichloroethylene (TCE). The physicochemical properties of the prepared resin were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, N(2) isothermal sorption at and X-ray photospectroscopy. The surface-area-normalized rate constants (k(SA)) of Sn particles in the nanoscale range (50-100 nm) were 4.5 times larger than the k(SA) for powdered Sn (0.04 mm). After depositing 1 wt% Pd onto nano-Sn surface, k(SA) was further enhanced by about a factor of 2. Groundwater constituents such as sulfide nitrate and dissolved oxygen had significant negative effects on the rate of TCE degradation by the nano-Pd/Sn/resin. A wet-chemical method regeneration method was observed to effectively restore the reactivity of the poisoned nano-Pd/Sn/resin after dipping in sulfide solution for 2d. In all cases, less than 0.5% of the degraded TCE appeared as chlorinated byproducts including the three dichloroethene isomers. The nano-Pd/Sn/resin technique performs well in transforming TCE into nontoxic hydrocarbons, as compared with other published methods.     

Modeling perceived collision risk in port water navigation

An increase in the likelihood of navigational collisions in port waters has put focus on the collision avoidance process in port traffic safety. The most widely used on-board collision-avoidance system is the automatic radar plotting aid which is a passive warning system that triggers an alert based on the pilot’s pre-defined indicators of distance and time proximities at the closest point of approaches in encounters with nearby vessels. To better help pilot in decision making in close quarter situations, collision risk should be considered as a continuous monotonic function of the proximities and risk perception should be considered probabilistically. This paper derives an ordered probit regression model to study perceived collision risks. To illustrate the procedure, the risks perceived by Singapore port pilots were obtained to calibrate the regression model. The results demonstrate that a framework based on the probabilistic risk assessment model can be used to give a better understanding of collision risk and to define a more appropriate level of evasive actions.