Carrier screening for cystic fibrosis

A number of different models of CF carrier screening have now been tested in pilot trials. Apart from opportunistic and cascade testing (which are strictly speaking not true forms of screening), the major programmes have been directed either to young adults in primary care or to pregnant women in antenatal clinics. Only in the latter form of screening has sufficient data been collected to allow conclusions to be reached on the optimum mode of delivery. It seems very probable that when CF carrier screening passes into routine service, it will be the antenatal couple model that is used.     

Serum alpha-fetoprotein and neural tube defects in the first trimester of pregnancy

As part of the Medical Research Council randomized trial of vitamin supplementation in the prevention of neural tube defects (NTDs), maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was available for 19 NTD pregnancies. Each of these was matched with four unaffected controls, by maternal age, participating centre, and duration of sample storage. The samples came from women whose gestational age ranged from 6 to 14 completed weeks. The median AFP level in the affected pregnancies was 1·2 multiples of the median value in unaffected pregnancies of the same gestational age (95 per cent confidence interval (CI) 0·83–1·59). This confirmed the view that serum AFP measurement is of no practical value in the detection of NTDs in the first trimester of pregnancy. The study also showed that folic acid supplementation, used as a method of preventing NTDs, had no effect on the concentrations of maternal serum AFP up to 14 weeks of pregnancy.     

Attitudes to prenatal screening,diagnosis and research among pregnant women who accept or decline an alpha-fetoprotein test

The aim of the study was to describe the opinion of pregnant women who had accepted or declined an alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) test, not only on AFP screening in general, but also on whether every pregnant woman should be offered amniocentesis (AC)/chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and an ultrasound scan for fetal malformations. An additional aim was to describe pregnant women's attitudes concerning continued research in the prenatal field. The study was performed as a questionnaire study in two regions over a 1-year period from 1 October 1988 to 30 September 1989. Results are based on answers from 3331 women who had taken an AFP test and 336 women who had declined the offer of a test. A total of 79 per cent of the women thought that an AFP test, 70 per cent that an ultrasound scan for fetal malformations, and 26 per cent that AC or CVS should be offered to all pregnant women. Fifty-nine per cent of the women were positive towards continued research in the prenatal field. Women who had had an AFP test were generally much more positive towards screening and research than women who had declined, who were generally against. Women who had left school without a high school degree were on average more positive towards the screening issues than women who had this degree. In conclusion, the results obtained in this study strongly suggest that women's attitudes are very dependent on how the prenatal screening programme is already organized in their local area.     

南昌地震台地下水位变化异常的分析判别

本篇文章主要通过对南昌台地下水位资料变化的处理分析，利用求地下水水位变化的加速度来判别和分析地震异常，并初步进行试验预报和探索研究。     

Expanding multiple marker screening for Down's syndrome to include Edward'S syndrome

Information on maternal age and maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein, unconjugated oestriol (uE₃), and human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) levels was used to investigate retrospectively the effect of estimating Edward's syndrome risk in women having multi-marker screening for Down's syndrome. The screened population comprised 15 pregnancies affected by Edward's syndrome, 15 with Down's syndrome and 5472 unaffected pregnancies. The use of all three markers to estimate Edward's syndrome risk would have led to the detection of 10–12 (67–80 per cent) cases with a false-positive rate of 0.3–0.6 per cent depending on the risk cut-off. A further case would have been detected as a result of screening for Down's syndrome alone. Similar results were obtained when the Edward's syndrome risk was based on uE₃ and hCG only. These data suggest that extending Down's syndrome screening to include Edward's syndrome risk will yield a high detection rate with only a small increase in the false-positive rate.     

Serum PAPP-A measurements in first-trimester screening for Down syndrome

Serum PAPP-A measurements taken from 254 women in the first trimester are reported. Eleven chromosomal abnormalities were detected. The mean serum PAPP-A levels in cases of Down syndrome were 0.44 MOM at 9 weeks gestation, 0.15 MOM at 10 weeks, and 0.29 MOM at 11 weeks. The PAPP-A level at 10 weeks was below those of pregnancies which aborted spontaneously. At 11 weeks, the pregnancies with Down syndrome recorded the lowest PAPP-A levels at that gestation. On this small sample, offering chorionic villus sampling to women with singleton pregnancies and a PAPP-A level below 0.3 MOM (approximately 6.5 per cent of this at-risk group) would have detected all the Down syndrome fetuses at 10 weeks and 50 per cent at 11 weeks without selecting those cases destined to abort. This suggests that serum PAPP-A should continue to be investigated as a potential first-trimester screening test for Down syndrome.     

电子产品野外环境下温循加速载荷谱编制方法

目的 将电子产品在野外环境下日变化波动与季节差异明显的温度载荷编制成温循载荷谱和转换为加速载荷谱。方法 通过四点雨流计数法提取原谱中的载荷循环信息,对提取的循环信息进行分布拟合、相关性检验等统计分析,进而构建循环均值与范围值的联合概率密度函数,再运用概率密度法,编制出8×8二维环境载荷谱。在二维载荷谱基础上,编制出温循载荷谱,使用针对电子部件参数修正的加速方程转化为加速载荷谱。结果 利用野外作业现场1个作业周期内的气温纪录,提供了一套编制温循载荷谱和转换加速载荷谱的合理化流程和解决方案。结论 该制谱方法可以利用原始环境谱中绝大部分有效信息,较好地还原电子部件野外作业阶段经历的温度变化过程,为电子产品的加速寿命试验和使用寿命预测奠定基础。     

工程塑料环境因素与载荷应力耦合作用试验装置研究

目的 设计一种能够模拟工程塑料实际服役工作环境的试验装置,在多型自然环境中,构建兼具环境因素侵蚀与载荷应力耦合作用的试验条件。方法 研制工程塑料环境因素与载荷应力协同作用试验装置,采用包括拉伸加载、弯曲加载、控制系统等组件的模块化设计,实现0.01~16 Hz加载频率的拉伸及弯曲载荷,最大1 550 kg的拉伸载荷,最大375 kg的弯曲载荷。结果 将研制完成的试验装置置于多型自然环境下对试验施加恒定和交变载荷,以真实模拟工程塑料实际服役中的环境因素与载荷应力协同作用。结论 试验装置制造加工难度小,结构稳定可靠,可用于评价和研究工程塑料等系列类型材料的环境损伤性能演变。