Increased concentrations of octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin in cases with breast cancer--results from a case-control study

Organochlorines are persistent and highly lipophilic environmental contaminants which bioaccumulate in the food chain. Some of these chemicals, 2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1-trichloroethane (DDT) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), have been suggested to be of significance in the aetiology of breast cancer. 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is an anti-oestrogen in animal studies and should be thus lower the risk of breast cancer. The other isomers of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) or the chemically related polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) have not been tested regarding carcinogenesis of the breast. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether PCDDs or PCDFs influence the risk for breast cancer. Consecutive patients who underwent surgery for a breast disease between 1993 and 1995 were recruited for the study. Cases were 22 patients with infiltrative breast cancer and controls were 19 patients operated for a benign breast disease during the same time period. Approximately 10 g of breast tissue free from tumour was taken from the specimen and frozen until analysis. Fat was extracted, cleaned and analysed with a high-resolution gas chromatograph coupled to a high-resolution mass spectrometer. Median concentrations of octachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD) were 598 (170-14,880) and 396 (103-1,847) pg/g lipid in the cases and in the controls, respectively. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis controlling for other risk factors for breast cancer increased odds ratio (OR) was obtained for OCDD: 401-1000 pg/g lipid yielded OR 3.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.4-39, > 1000 pg/g lipid gave OR 5.2, CI 0.4-72. When the lipid OCDD variable was examined as a continuous risk factor there was a 1.09 (9%), CI 0.95-1.25, increase in the adjusted OR for breast cancer per 100 unit (pg/g lipid) increase in OCDD. No differences were found between cases and controls for the other six tested PCDDs. Mean concentration of TCDD was in the cases 3.6 (1.0-7.9) and in the controls 3.3 (1.1-6.3) pg/g lipid. For PCDFs no significant differences were found between cases and controls. The results were not changed if oestrogen or progesterone receptor status, S-phase fraction and DNA ploidy were considered. Breast tissue concentration of OCDD was increased in cancer patients, whereas the concentrations of other PCDDs and PCDFs were equal in cases and controls.     

长江螺山站高水位流量关系和城陵矶（莲花塘）控制水位的研究

螺山站高水位流量关系是确定长江城陵矶（莲花糖）控制水位的基本依据，从基本的河道水力学规律出发，考虑涨落率修正、瞬时比降修正，计算各时段点的代表性比降，和相应糙率，求出均值，根据断面资料，得出高水位的稳定流曲线，并以各日流量转化的稳定流点，进行验证，精度很好，分析了河段区间流量对螺山站稳定流量的影响。阐明了螺山站稳定流量的变化情况和趋势，推求了各次大洪水的超额洪量，计算出莲花糖以上的总入流，根据现今的湖区及槽蓄容积进行洪水演进，计算1954年特大洪水的超额洪量，并分析节三峡水库拦洪后对长江中下游超额水量的影响；对莲花塘不同防洪控制水位进行了技术经济分析和评价，提出了抬高控制水位的具体建议。     

The corrosion behavior of sputter-deposited aluminum-tungsten alloys

Thin films on aluminum-tungsten alloys were prepared by co-deposition of pure aluminum and pure tungsten, each sputtered by an independently controlled magnetron source, on glass and sapphire substrates. Completely amorphous films were obtained in the Al₈₀W₂₀-Al₆₇W₃₃ composition range. Passivity and corrosion behavior of amorphous Al-W alloys were investigated in 1 M deaerated hydrochloric acid solution using polarization and impedance spectroscopy measurements and have been correlated with the properties of pure alloy components. Tungsten and sputter-deposited Al-W thin films are inherently passive materials while aluminum undergoes pitting corrosion in hydrochloric acid solution. The passive film formed at the OCP on each alloy possesses excellent electric and dielectric properties comparable to those of the isolating film on tungsten. The absolute impedance increases with increasing tungsten content in the alloy. According to electrochemical polarization measurements, alloying Al with W in solid solution significantly enhances the material's resistance to pitting corrosion by shifting the breakdown potential above 2000 mV (Al₆₇W₃₃) and lowering the corrosion rate at the OCP by more than two orders of magnitude. The most likely mechanism explaining the passivity of amorphous Al-W alloys, the Solute Vacancy Interaction Model (SVIM), involves the formation of complexes between highly oxidized solute atoms (W⁺⁶) and mobile cation vacancies, which restrict the transport of Cl⁻ through the oxide film and inhibit its breakdown in hydrochloric acid solution. The role that film stress relaxation effects and microscopic defects in amorphous Al-W films, of the some composition, and deposited on various substrates play in their corrosion resistance is discussed.     

由乙腈一步法制备乙酸丁酯的研究

以丁醇和制备丙烯腈的副产物乙腈为原料 ,采用一步法合成了乙酸丁酯。通过正交实验得到了影响反应的 4种因素。确定了最佳的工艺条件为 :催化剂的量为样品质量的 40 % ;n(CH3CN)∶ n(C4 H9OH) =1∶ 1 .0 5 ;反应温度为 1 0 5℃ ;反应时间为 8h。在此反应条件下 ,乙酸丁酯的收率为 88.8% ,纯度可达 99.5 %。并用气相色谱及红外光谱对产品的纯度进行了表征     

Utilities in the sky?: Comparison of space-based and terrestrial solar power systems

Could huge arrays of space-based solar power systems one day supply utility scale electricity to the electric power grid on earth? How realistic a possibility is this option for alternative energy supply at the moment? Finley R. Shapiro, USA compares space-based and terrestrial solar power systems.