Quantifying progress toward a conservation assessment for all plants

The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) set an ambitious target to achieve a conservation assessment for all known plant species by 2020. We consolidated digitally available plant conservation assessments and reconciled their scientific names and assessment status to predefined standards to provide a quantitative measure of progress toward this target. The 241,919 plant conservation assessments generated represent 111,824 accepted land plant species (vascular plants and bryophytes, not algae). At least 73,081 and up to 90,321 species have been assessed at the global scale, representing 21–26% of known plant species. Of these plant species, at least 27,148 and up to 32,542 are threatened. Eighty plant families, including some of the largest, such as Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, and Rubiaceae, are underassessed and should be the focus of assessment effort if the GSPC target is to be met by 2020. Our data set is accessible online (ThreatSearch) and is a baseline that can be used to directly support other GSPC targets and plant conservation action. Although around one‐quarter of a million plant assessments have been compiled, the majority of plants are still unassessed. The challenge now is to build on this progress and redouble efforts to document conservation status of unassessed plants to better inform conservation decisions and conserve the most threatened species.     

The apportionment of quadratic entropy: a useful alternative for partitioning diversity in ecological data

Many methods that study the diversity within hierarchically structured populations have been developed in genetics. Among them, the analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) (Excoffier et al., 1992) has the advantage of including evolutionary distances between individuals. AMOVA is a special case of a far more general statistical scheme produced by Rao (1982a; 1986) and called the apportionment of quadratic entropy (APQE). It links diversity and dissimilarity and allows the decomposition of diversity according to a given hierarchy. We apply this framework to ecological data showing that APQE may be very useful for studying diversity at various spatial scales. Moreover, the quadratic entropy has a critical advantage over usual diversity indices because it takes into account differences between species. Finally, the differences that can be incorporated in APQE may be either taxonomic or functional (biological traits), which may be of critical interest for ecologists.     

A review of the chemical ecology of the Cerambycidae (Coleoptera)

Summary. This review summarizes the literature related to the chemical ecology of the Cerambycidae and provides a brief overview of cerambycid biology, ecology, economic significance, and management. Beetles in the family Cerambycidae have assumed increasing prominence as pests of forest and shade trees, shrubs, and raw wood products, and as vectors of tree diseases. Exotic species associated with solid wood packing materials have been notable tree killers in North American urban and peri-urban forests. In forested ecosystems native species respond to disturbances such as fires and windstorms, and initiate the biodeterioration of woody tissue. Eggs are laid by females, on or through the bark surface of stem and branch tissue of moribund, recently killed or decomposing woody plants; larval cerambycids (roundheaded woodborers) typically feed in the phloem and later in the xylem. Females will also, in some cases, select living hosts, e.g. adult conifer and angiosperm trees, for oviposition. Research on the chemical ecology of over 70 species has revealed many examples of attractive kairomones (such as floral volatiles, smoke volatiles, trunk and leaf volatiles, and bark beetle pheromones), repellents and deterrents, oviposition stimulants, short- and long-range sex pheromones, and defensive substances. Emerging generalities are that attractants tend to be monoterpenoids and phenolic esters; oviposition stimulants are monoterpenoids and flavanoids; short-range sex pheromones are female-produced, methyl-branched cuticular hydrocarbons; and long-range sex pheromones are male-produced -hydroxy ketones and (,)-diols ranging in length from 6 to 10 carbons. The latter compounds appear to originate from glands in the male thorax; putative defensive substances originate from metasternal secretory pores or mandibular glands. In one unusual case, a flightless, subterranean female that attacks sugar cane produces a sex pheromone that is derived from the amino acid isoleucine. With significantly more than 35,000 species of Cerambycidae worldwide, these generalities will be subject to change as more species are examined. Addendum The authors would like to point out that the electronic version is more accurate than the printed version.     

Prenatal detection of trisomy 21 in uncultured amniocytes by fluorescence in situ hybridization: A prospective study

A prospective study was undertaken to evaluate the use of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for the detection of trisomy 21 in interphase nuclei of uncultured amniotic fluid cells. Five hundred cases were analysed in situ and classified as normal or abnormal; the results were subsequently checked against the cytogenetic findings. Four hundred and ninety-three were correctly identified as normal with an 86·6 per cent average frequency of scored nuclei exhibiting two signals; six cases were correctly identified as trisomic for chromosome 21 with 81·7 per cent of scored nuclei exhibiting three signals; and one abnormal case involving an unbalanced chromosome 21·21 translocation was falsely scored as normal due to poor hybridization/detection efficiency. The method has been substantially improved and simplified so that it is suitable for the rapid detection of trisomy 21. As aneuploidy detection in interphase does not identify structural chromosome aberrations, it is not a substitute for fetal chromosome analysis.     

Molecular cytogenetic analysis of term placentae suspected of mosaicism using fluorescence in situ hybridization

In first-trimester chorionic villus sampling (CVS) for prenatal diagnosis, abnormal chromosomal findings, such as mosaicism, trisomies, or suspect abnormal karyotypes, are found more frequently than at amniocentesis. The fact that these chromosomal abnormalities do not always reflect the fetal karyotype but may be restricted to the placenta is a major problem in diagnosis and counselling. In this paper we present the results of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) studies on interphase nuclei of three term placentae investigated because of false-positive findings at first-trimester CVS. The chorionic villi of the first case showed a mosaic chromosome pattern involving a trisomy 10 cell line and a normal cell line, those of the second case a total trisomy 8 cell line, while in the third case a complete monosomy X was found. Follow-up amniocentesis in each of these three cases revealed a normal karyotype. By using FISH, we were able to confirm the presence of the aberrant cell lines, which were all confined to one part of the placenta. FISH on interphase nuclei allows the investigation of large numbers of cells for the existence of numerical chromosome aberrations in a quick and reliable way.     

8-羟基喹啉功能化树脂HQDK-110对Hg2+的吸附性能

8-羟基喹啉对金属离子具有良好的络合性能。研究了一种8-羟基喹啉接枝DK-110的螯合型离子交换树脂HQDK-110对Hg~(2+)的吸附性能,并与DK-110树脂进行比较。考察了不同吸附时间、Hg~(2+)浓度、温度和pH值条件下两种树脂对Hg~(2+)的吸附性能和去除性能。结果表明,HQDK-110和DK-110树脂对Hg~(2+)的适宜吸附p H值为4.5左右。25℃时,HQDK-110和DK-110树脂对Hg~(2+)的吸附容量分别为2.496 mmol/g和2.290 mmol/g。HQDK-110和DK-110对Hg~(2+)的吸附过程更接近于一级动力学方程,其一级吸附动力学常数k1分别为0.009 4 min-1和0.011 8 min-1。吸附过程符合Langmuir等温吸附方程。研究表明,HQDK-110对Hg~(2+)的吸附量和去除率优于DK-110,且树脂的稳定性优于DK-110,湿态树脂比干态树脂具有更好的重复使用性能。     

Using a novel adsorbent macrocyclic compound cucurbit[8]uril for Pb removal from aqueous solution

In this study, cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) was utilized as a kind of new adsorbent to remove Pb^2 + ions from aqueous solution. With the solution pH increased from 2 to 6, the removal efficiency of adsorption increased from 55.6% to 74.5%correspondingly. The uptake of Pb^2 + increased rapidly in the initial 30 min, and then the adsorption rate became slower. The Pseudo-second order model could be used to interpret the adsorption kinetics satisfactorily; and the rate determining step in Pb^2 + adsorption onto CB[8] was the external mass transfer step. Equilibrium isotherm study reveals that the Langmuir model gave a better fitting result than Freundlich model. The maximum adsorption capacity calculated by the Langmuir model was 152.67 mg/g for 298 K, 149.70 mg/g for 313 K and 136.42 mg/g for 323 K, respectively. The adsorption is a spontaneous process of exothermic nature. The effect of the adsorbent dosage and the influences of solution pH and co-existing cations were also investigated. The CB[8] was synthesized and characterized by ¹H NMR, IR, ESI-MS spectra, SEM-EDAX, Zeta-potential and BET-analysis. The adsorption mechanism was due to the coordination between CB[8] molecule and Pb^2 + ions.     

重大自然灾害后遗体处置应急预案研究

重大自然灾害发生后一般都会伴随着大量人员的遇难,及时妥善处置灾后众多遇难者遗体,是许多国家面临的棘手问题。借鉴我国唐山7.8级地震和汶川8.0级地震中遗体应急处置的经验与教训,从遗体的搜集、存放、运输、消毒、防腐、保存、火化、掩埋等方面,探索遗体处理应急预案的程序与内容,从而提高政府应对重大自然灾害后大量遗体的应急处置能力,全面保障灾区群众的身心健康。     

制药废水生化出水的强化混凝—高级氧化深度处理组合工艺比较

采用强化混凝和高级氧化法对制药废水生化出水进行深度处理,比较了不同混凝剂、不同氧化方法（包括Na₂S₂O₈氧化、电化学氧化、Fenton/类Fenton氧化）的处理效果。实验结果表明：经聚合硫酸铁与聚丙烯酰胺强化混凝处理后,废水的COD去除率达18.5%;强化混凝与不同氧化方法联用均可使废水脱色至无色,COD去除率达70.1%~92.4%。强化混凝—电化学氧化组合工艺的出水COD为27.1 mg/L,达到GB 8978—1996《污水综合排放标准》一级标准限值要求,且成本较低,适于实际应用。