Nuchal edema as the first sign of fetal valproate syndrome.
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Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗
Biomedical subjects
F Van Assche
Publications and source records attributed to F Van Assche.
Reclamation of a bare industrial area contaminated by non-ferrous metals: in situ metal immobilization and revegetation.
To reduce the environmental impact of a 135-ha bare industrial area with a highly phytotoxic soil contaminated by non-ferrous metals, a rehabilitation strategy was developed, aimed at the restoration of a vegetation cover. Two different techniques to overcome the high phytotoxicity of the soil were first evaluated on a laboratory scale: reduction of soil phytotoxicity by the addition of a powerful metal immobilizing substance and use of metal-tolerant plants. Since a combination of both approaches proved most promising, this strategy was subsequently utilized in a 3-ha field experiment on the most contaminated location of the industrial area. After soil treatment and sowing of seeds of metal-tolerant grasses, a complete and healthy vegetation cover was quickly established, even at the sites where metal concentrations were extremely high. The reduction of soil phytotoxicity by addition of beringite was immediate and was confirmed 15 months after the treatment. Thirty months after the reclamation activities, the vegetation is still healthy and vegetative and generative plant propagation is abundant.
Journal Article↗
A biological test system for the evaluation of the phytotoxicity of metal-contaminated soils.
The potential soil phytotoxicity in the surroundings of an old zinc smelter closed in 1966, was evaluated by a biological test system. This system is based on the analysis of shoot growth and (iso-) enzymes in leaves and roots of 2-week-old seedlings of Phaseolus vulgaris grown on soil samples under controlled environmental conditions. The biological data were presented in a phytotoxicity index, which allowed classification of the soil samples into four phytotoxicity classes. Comparison was made between the biological results and soil and plant metal content. The study revealed that more than 20 years after closure of the factory, the soils in its surroundings were still potentially phytotoxic. Zinc proved to be the most important, but not the only, phytotoxic element, as was shown by isozyme analysis and by the strong correlation between the biological data, the water soluble Zn fraction of the soil and leaf Zn content. The effect of contamination extended to a distance of more than 3 km from the industrial site in the direction of the prevailing wind.
Journal Article↗
Induction of enzyme capacity in plants as a result of heavy metal toxicity: dose-response relations in Phaseolus vulgaris L., treated with zinc and cadmium.
Toxic doses of zinc and cadmium inhibit shoot growth but increase the capacity of several leaf enzymes in dwarf beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Both effects were studied as a function of the metal concentration applied to the plant. There was a linear relationship between the metal content of the primary leaf and the nutrient solution. When leaf metal content exceeded a toxic threshold value, shoot growth became inhibited and an increase in capacity of the following enzymes was measured in the leaf: glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, glutamate dehydrogenase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, malic enzyme, glutamate-oxaloacetate transminase, peroxidase. The threshold values were similar for growth inhibition as well as for enzyme capacity induction. Both effects were strongly correlated to each other, especially under conditions of toxic zinc treatment. Measurement of enzyme capacity might therefore provide a useful criterion for the evaluation of the phytotoxicity of soils, contaminated by zinc and/or cadmium.
Journal Article↗
Erythrocyte concentrations and transmembrane fluxes of sodium and potassium and biochemical measurements during the menstrual cycle in normal women.
The erythrocyte concentrations and the transmembrane fluxes of sodium and potassium were investigated in 20 normal women during the two stages of the menstrual cycle. Half of the women were using oral contraceptives and the other half were not. In women with a normal menstrual cycle the erythrocyte sodium concentration and the ouabain-insensitive total potassium efflux were lower in the luteal than in the follicular phase. Intracellular potassium concentration, ouabain-sensitive rubidium 86 uptake and the furosemide-sensitive sodium and potassium efflux did not differ significantly between the two periods of the cycle. No cycle-related variation in sodium or potassium intracellular concentration was observed in women using oral contraceptives. In these women, however, the ouabain-sensitive 86Rb uptake was increased in the second part of the menstrual cycle. In each woman with a normal menstrual cycle the plasma progesterone, renin activity, angiotensin II, plasma aldosterone concentration, and urinary aldosterone excretion increased during the luteal phase. The increment in the plasma renin activity, plasma angiotensin II, and plasma and urinary aldosterone indicate a stimulation of the renin-aldosterone axis in this menstrual period. During the same phase, serum cholesterol was decreased significantly. When the women using oral contraceptives were compared to those not using them, the renin-aldosterone axis was already stimulated during the first part of the cycle; no further stimulation occurred during the second part.
Adult↗