Perceptions toward stewardship among residents living near U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear Facilities

Although stewardship has been widely defined and used in environmental management and planning, there is a dearth of studies that describe how the lay public perceives this concept. A national sample of residents in 14 states who live near DOE nuclear facilities were interviewed to delineate public understanding and awareness of the stewardship program of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). This study discusses the findings of the survey and discusses how institutional trust influences public participation and resident’s choices of potential stewards. Almost 40% of the respondents could not define stewardship; those who did, believed that ‘responsibility,’ ‘management,’ and ‘accountability’ are key elements of stewardship. In addition, about a third of the respondents identified Federal groups and the DOE as potential stewards. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue     

Prenatal prediction of childhood-onset spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in Turkish families

Childhood-onset spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is one of the most common neurodegenerative genetic disorders. SMN1 is the SMA-determining gene deleted or mutated in the majority of SMA cases. There is no effective cure or treatment for this disease yet. Thus, the availability of prenatal testing is important. Here we report prenatal prediction for 68 fetuses in 63 Turkish SMA families using direct deletion analysis of the SMN1 gene by restriction digestion. The genotype of the index case was known in 40 families (Group A) but unknown in the remaining 23 families (Group B). A total of ten fetuses were predicted to be affected. Eight of these fetuses were derived from Group A and two of these fetuses were from Group B families. Two fetuses from the same family in Group A had the SMNhyb1 gene in addition to homozygous deletion of the NAIP gene. One fetus from Group A was homozygously deleted for only exon 8 of the SMN2 gene, and further analysis showed the presence of both the SMN1 and SMNhyb1 genes but not the SMN2 gene. In addition, one carrier with a homozygous deletion of only exon 8 of the SMN1 gene was detected to have a SMNhyb2 gene, which was also found in the fetus. To our knowledge, these are the first prenatal cases with SMNhyb genes. Follow-up studies demonstrated that the prenatal predictions and the phenotype of the fetuses correlated well in 33 type I pregnancies demonstrating that a careful molecular analysis of the SMN genes is very useful in predicting the phenotype of the fetus in families at risk for SMA. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Split-hand/split-foot malformation with paternal mutation in the p63 gene

We report the prenatal diagnosis at 16 weeks' gestation of bilateral split-hand/split-foot malformation (SHSFM) with severe lobster claw deformity of hands and feet in a male fetus without associated malformations. A minor manifestation of SHSFM was present in the father with only mild bilateral foot involvement (syndactyly I–II; cleft II–III; left cutaneous syndactyly III–IV). Mutation analysis of the p63 gene on chromosome 3q27 showed a missense mutation 577A→G (predicting amino acid substitution K193E) in the father. This mutation has not been reported so far in SHSFM but resembles the previously reported 580A→G (predicting amino acid substitution K194E) in a family with SHSFM. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

地下水波动带中细菌群落结构与水质响应关系

为揭示地下水波动带中细菌群落结构特征及其与地下水环境相互作用关系,选取哈尔滨市第一水源地作为研究区,采集地下水样品以及波动带不同深度（0~5m非饱和带和6~50m饱和带）含水介质样品,分别用于水化学分析和16S rRNA细菌高通量测序,依托冗余分析定量表述地下水质参数与细菌群落相关性.水化学分析结果显示,研究区地下水主要污染物为Fe、Mn、NH₄⁺和有机质,Fe、Mn超标与研究区特定地质背景有关,NH₄⁺和有机质主要来源于人类活动.微生物分析结果显示,非饱和带和饱和带的细菌群落结构差异性显著,非饱和带细菌群落丰度和多样性显著高于饱和带,Proteobacteria、Bacteroidetes、Actinobacteria、Firmicutes和Acidobacteria为研究区优势门,在非饱和带和饱和带的累积相对丰度分别为82.89%和98.64%.冗余分析（RDA）结果显示,门水平上非饱和带中与水质演化强相关的细菌类群是Bacteroidetes、Proteobacteria、Actinobacteria、Verrucomicrobia,贡献率分别为15%、14.8%、8.9%和5.2%;饱和带中对地下水质演化起主要作用的类群为Bacteroidetes、Acidobacteria、Actinobacteria和Firmicutes,贡献率分别为38.4%、19.0%、10.8%和9.1%.属水平上非饱和带中的Pseudomonas和饱和带中的Flavobacterium对Fe、Mn、NH₄⁺生物转化起主导作用.本研究为揭示地下水波动带中生物地球化学作用对地下水环境的影响提供了科学依据,对地下水污染修复具有重要的意义.     

双酚S在两种典型地带性土壤中的吸附/解吸行为研究

采用批平衡实验方法研究了双酚S（BPS）在两种典型地带性土壤中的吸附/解吸行为.结果表明,吸附动力学曲线符合拟二级动力学方程.吸附等温线呈非线性,且同时符合Freundlich和Langmuir方程.相比而言,BPS更易吸附在高有机质含量的黑土中,298 K反应温度下BPS在黑土和红壤上的最大吸附容量分别为497.8和156.6 mg·kg^-1.吸附到两种土壤中的BPS存在解吸滞后现象,这可能是由于BPS以化学吸附和微孔扩散的形式存在于土壤中的缘故.溶液pH与BPS在土壤中的吸附容量呈负相关关系,即中性形态的BPS比阴离子形态的BPS具有更高的吸附容量.与结构类似物双酚A（BPA）的吸附相比,BPS在土壤中的吸附量更低,因此具有更高的迁移能力,可能会引起更高的环境健康风险.本研究结果为了解BPS在土壤中的迁移规律提供了数据支持.     

一株高效嗜碱反硝化菌的分离鉴定及其脱氮特性研究

为了应对日趋严苛的废水TN排放标准要求,试验采用溴百里酚蓝（BTB）培养基,从某煤化工废水处理厂反硝化缺氧池活性污泥中,经多次分离、纯化获得了一株高效兼性厌氧反硝化菌株HK13.通过形态观察及16S rRNA基因序列分析,菌株HK13被鉴定为施氏假单胞菌属（Pseudomonas stutzeri）.在此基础上,利用含硝酸盐模拟废水,探讨了碳源类型、C/N（碳氮比）、初始pH、溶解氧（以不同摇床转速表征不同浓度的溶解氧）和培养温度对菌株HK13反硝化脱氮能力的影响,确定了该菌株的最优生长条件和最大脱氮效率.结果表明:①菌株HK13最适反硝化脱氮条件为以柠檬酸钠碳源,C/N 8,培养温度35℃,初始pH 8~10,摇床转速100 r/min.②初始ρ（NO₃--N）为106.67 mg/L下,反应12 h后菌株HK13对TN的去除率可达92.62%;反应9~12 h时,该菌株的脱氮速率最高,可达20.03 mg/（L·h）,其16 h的脱氮率在98%以上,且无亚硝酸盐积累.③菌株HK13适宜生长的温度和pH范围广泛,分别为20~40℃和7~10.研究显示,菌株HK13具有快速高效的脱氮能力及嗜碱特性,拓宽了生物脱氮工艺对环境条件的适用范围,在废水脱氮领域具有广泛的应用前景.      

四环素胁迫对Shigella flexneri细菌四环素抗性基因抗性表达的影响过程

四环素(TC)抗生素在不同环境介质中已被广泛检出,为研究其对四环素抗性基因(TC-ARGs)丰度变化及表达水平的影响过程,以从活性污泥中筛选和纯化分离获得的弗氏志贺氏菌(Shigella flexneri)为研究对象,考察了不同浓度TC对其生长过程的作用影响,采用荧光定量PCR和逆转录PCR方法定量检测了不同抗性机制TC-ARGs,包括tetC、tetO和tetX基因的丰度变化及表达水平,并探讨了TC浓度与TC-ARGs丰度及其表达水平之间的相关关系.结果表明,在培养周期内(24 h),TC胁迫对Shigella flexneri细菌的生长具有抑制作用,细菌细胞浓度增长速率随TC暴露浓度的升高而降低,但对TC-ARGs丰度变化影响较小.TC胁迫能够促进Shigella flexneri细菌TC-ARGs的转录表达,tetC、tetO和tetX基因表达水平在整个培养周期内均先升高后降低.由相关性分析可知,TC浓度与TC-ARGs丰度及其表达水平之间相关关系不显著,但tetC和tetO基因丰度与其转录表达水平之间存在显著的正相关关系,表明其基因丰度一定程度上可用来衡量和评价其抗性表达水平.