Eine Verallgemeinerung der Stereochemie

The Science of Nature -     

Incorporating Uncertainty into Management Models for Marine Mammals

Abstract: Good management models and good models for understanding biology differ in basic philosophy. Management models must facilitate management decisions despite large amounts of uncertainty about the managed populations. Such models must be based on parameters that can be estimated readily, must explicitly account for uncertainty, and should be simple to understand and implement. In contrast, biological models are designed to elucidate the workings of biology and should not be constrained by management concerns. We illustrate the need to incorporate uncertainty in management models by reviewing the inadequacy of using standard biological models to manage marine mammals in the United States. Past management was based on a simple model that, although it may have represented population dynamics adequately, failed as a management tool because the parameter that triggered management action was extremely difficult to estimate for the majority of populations. Uncertainty in parameter estimation resulted in few conservation actions. We describe a recently adopted management scheme that incorporates uncertainty and its resulting implementation. The approach used in this simple management scheme, which was tested by using simulation models, incorporates uncertainty and mandates monitoring abundance and human-caused mortality. Although the entire scheme may be suitable for application to some terrestrial and marine problems, two features are broadly applicable: the incorporation of uncertainty through simulations of management and the use of quantitative management criteria to translate verbal objectives into levels of acceptable risk.     

中国食管癌发病区环境地球化学及相关模型的研究进展

食管癌是一种常见的消化道疾病,在世界许多国家和地区均有发生,其中环境因素是引发地方病食管癌的重要因素。目前,模型被应用于食管癌的研究中,食管癌研究模型主要有食管癌发病率预测模型,食管癌预防模型及食管癌动物模型等。本文主要综述了前人对中国食管癌发病区的土壤、饮用水和食物等环境地球化学因素,以及与食管癌研究相关的土壤模型和食管癌模型的研究进展。     

Integrating energy efficiency performance in production management – gap analysis between industrial needs and scientific literature

For governments and for manufacturing companies, global warming, rising energy prices, and customers’ increasing ecological awareness have pushed energy efficient manufacturing to the top of the agenda. Governments and companies are both striving to identify the most effective measures to increase energy efficiency in manufacturing processes. Based on results of a recent EU-funded roadmapping project, this paper highlights the needs of industrial companies for integrating energy efficiency performance in production management. First, it analyses concepts and tools for measurement, control and improvement of energy efficiency in production management proposed in literature. Second, the paper outlines that ICT tools and standardization are important enablers for energy efficient manufacturing. Third, industrial needs in these areas are presented based on expert interviews. The industrial needs thus identified are contrasted with concepts proposed in literature to point out the implementation gaps between practice and theory. The paper demonstrates that there exists a gap between the solutions available and the actual implementation in industrial companies. It concludes by deriving requirements for energy management in production that future collaborative research projects should address.     

沈阳地区水环境和生物样品中全氟化合物的污染分布特征

采用高效液相色谱/电喷雾负电离源串联质谱法对沈阳市各类水环境和生物样品中全氟化合物(PFCs)进行测定,研究了PFCs的河流分布及季节分布特征.同时,对通过饮用水及家禽和鱼摄入全氟辛烷磺酸(PFOS)和全氟辛酸(PFOA)的人体健康风险进行了评价.结果表明,沈阳市各类水环境样品中总PFCs浓度范围为nd～6.01ng·L-1,平均浓度为5.23ng·L-1.PFOS和PFOA是沈阳地区所有水环境样品中最主要的PFCs污染物,浓度范围分别为nd～2.83ng·L-1和nd～5.71ng·L-1,平均浓度分别为1.11和2.13ng·L-1.细河的PFOS含量最高,约为浑河PFOS含量的2倍,蒲河PFOS含量的3倍.一些PFCs化合物之间呈正相关关系,说明其可能具有相同的来源.PFOS与PFOA之间无相关关系,由此推断沈阳水体中二者具有不同来源.浑河流经沈阳市时,PFOS和PFOA浓度升高.流经沈阳市区后,PFOS和全氟己烷磺酸钾(PFHxS)浓度明显升高.细河中PFHxS也有检出,表明沈阳市是周边水体中PFOS及PFHxS的主要污染来源.丰水期地表水中PFOS和PFOA浓度与枯水期相比没有明显差异,但丰水期水中PFCs组成更为丰富,出现了大量全氟庚酸(PFHpA).沈阳地区自来水中PFOS和PFOA浓度平均值分别为0.39和0.85ng·L-1,最高浓度分别为1.16和2.55ng·L-1,均低于美国饮用水健康参考值.沈阳生物样品中PFOS和全氟十一酸(PFUnDA)是最普遍的化合物.总PFCs平均含量在鱼样品中为6.59ng.g-1(以干重计),鸡和鸭血清样品中分别为1.65和0.69ng·mL-1,鸡和鸭肝脏样品中分别为0.41和1.68ng.g-1(以干重计),与文献报道相比处于较低水平.     

Successful DNA-based prenatal exclusion of juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis

A family with two siblings, 10 and 8 years old, both with clinical and ultrastructural evidence of juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis is described. The family was found to be informative for the restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) detected by the probes pCJ52–95Ml (locus D16S148) and pCJ52-94Tl (locus D16S159) flanking the juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis locus, CLN3. The parents were both heterozygous using these probes, while their two children with juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis were both homozygous. Chorionic villi analysis showed that the fetus was heterozygous and had inherited the one allele of the mother which was not found in the two siblings. This suggested that the fetus had derived one healthy allele from the mother, the risk for a double crossing-over being less than 1 per cent. Electron microscopy showed no fingerprint inclusions in chorionic villi. The child was investigated at 6 months of age and found to be healthy, as new fingerprint inclusions were found at electron microscopy and no vacuolated lymphocytes were found in the blood smear. Due to the risk of heterogeneity, both DNA-based analysis and electron microscopy on chorionic villi are recommended for prenatal examination for juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis.     

The oldest haplogyne spider (Araneae: Plectreuridae), from the Middle Jurassic of China

New fossil spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from Middle Jurassic (ca. 165 Ma) strata of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China are described as Eoplectreurys gertschi gen. et sp. nov. and referred to the modern haplogyne family Plectreuridae. This small family is restricted to southwestern USA, Mexico, and the adjacent Caribbean area today and hitherto has only a sparse Cenozoic fossil record. The morphology of Eoplectreurys is remarkably similar to modern forms and thus demonstrates great evolutionary conservatism. This new discovery not only extends the fossil record of the family by at least 120 Ma to the Middle Jurassic but also supports the hypothesis of a different distribution of the family in the past than today and subsequent extinction over much of its former range.