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.     

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.     

石灰性土壤中高效解磷细菌菌株的分离、筛选及组合

对石灰性土壤样品进行了解磷细菌的分离和筛选,得到具有明显溶磷圈的解磷细菌71株.分析了菌株分泌磷酸酶、释放速效磷及pH降低等综合因素和特征,研究了菌株生长动态.最后筛选出解磷能力较强且无拮抗反应的6株解磷细菌,并将其组合成为解磷细菌菌群.图8表2参17     

3株反硝化聚磷菌的分离与鉴定

通过烛缸法培养富集、分离,结合除磷试验、硝酸盐还原产气试验及异染颗粒和PHB颗粒染色辅助检验相结合的方法筛选,得到3株具有较高脱氮除磷效率的反硝化聚磷菌DNPA8, DNPA9和DNPA10。在富氮富磷培养基中培养48 h,各菌株的脱氮率均大于75%,除磷率均大于78%。采用多相分类的方法确定了3株反硝化聚磷菌的分类地位,DNPA8为嗜麦芽寡养单胞菌,DNPA9为水生丛毛单胞菌属首次发现的反硝化聚磷菌;DNPA10为约翰逊氏不动杆菌。该研究结果为富营养化水体的治理提供了有效的菌种资源。     

厌氧菌对硝基苯污染河道底泥的修复研究

在厌氧条件下,以长期受硝基苯（NB）污染的化工厂排污口底泥和河道底泥混合为菌源,分离纯化出4株能厌氧降解硝基苯的细菌。其中菌株N-O在低温（10℃）条件下可以快速去除20 mg·L^-1的硝基苯。在松花江（吉林市段）底泥中分别接种10 mL·L^-1、20 mL·L^-1、30 mL·L^-1、40 mL·L^-1（菌悬液/处理溶液）N-O菌进行NB降解研究,结果表明接种30 mL·L^-1时,N-O菌对底泥中NB的降解效果明显,72h内达到了NB的完全去除;但是该菌对降解副产物苯胺（AN）几乎没有去除效果,寻求在厌氧环境下同步降解NB、AN的优势菌,将非常迫切。