增进城市地区生物多样性——以新加坡模式为例

自 1963 年以来,新加坡开展实施了绿化计划,并经历了从“花园城市”到“花园中的亲生态城市”的演变。为了在新加坡实现生物多样性保护,国家公园局制定了自然保护蓝图,重点介绍该规划实施的关键是利用技术创新。新加坡城市生物多样性指数是一种评价生物多样性成效的自我评估工具,已在全球范围内的多个城市得到应用。     

Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) in the environment and humans: a review

Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) are brominated aliphatic cyclic hydrocarbons used as flame retardants in thermal insulation building materials, upholstery textiles, and electronics. As a result of their widespread use and their physical and chemical properties, HBCDs are now ubiquitous contaminants in the environment and humans. This review summarizes HBCD concentrations in several environmental compartments and analyzes these data in terms of point sources versus diffuse sources, biomagnification potential, stereoisomer profiles, time trends, and global distribution. Generally, higher concentrations were measured in samples (air, sediment, and fish) collected near point sources (plants producing or processing HBCDs), while lower concentrations were recorded in samples from locations with no obvious sources of HBCDs. High concentrations were measured in top predators, such as marine mammals and birds of prey (up to 9600 and 19 200 ng/g lipid weight, respectively), suggesting a biomagnification potential for HBCDs. Relatively low HBCD concentrations were reported in the few human studies conducted to date (median values varied between 0.35 and 1.1 ng/g lipid weight). HBCD levels in biota are increasing slowly and seem to reflect the local market demand. One important observation is the shiftfrom the high percentage of the gamma-HBCD stereoisomer in the technical products to a dominance of the alpha-HBCD stereoisomer in biological samples. A combination of factors such as variations in solubility, partitioning behavior, uptake, and, possibly, selective metabolism of individual isomers may explain the observed changes in stereoisomer patterns. Recommendations for further work include research on how HBCDs are transferred from products into the environment upon production, use, and disposal. Time trends need to be analyzed more in detail, including HBCD stereoisomers, and more data on terrestrial organisms are needed, especially for humans. Whenever possible, HBCDs should be analyzed as individual stereoisomers in order to address their fate and effects.     

Development of Saturable Absorbers for Laser Passive Q‐Switching near 1.5 μm Based on Transparent Ceramic Co2+:MgAl2O4

We describe the development of a reasonable cost Co²⁺:MgAl₂O₄ transparent ceramic plates fabrication technology that allows the producing of parts functioning as passive laser Q‐switches in the 1.3–1.7 μm domain. The main relevant material characteristics were measured. The absorption band, positioned between 1.2 and 1.7 μm, is typical of the ⁴A₂ (⁴F) → ⁴T₁ (⁴F) transition of Co²⁺ substituting Mg²⁺ ions in their T_d symmetry sites. The measured ground‐state absorption cross section σ_gs = 2.9 × 10^?19 cm², saturation contrast γ = 0.12, and depleted ground‐state recovery time τ₂ = 110–430 ns render such parts suitable for the intended application. The radiative lifetime was estimated as . The spin‐orbit splitting constant was estimated as ξ_SL??150 cm^?1 for the ⁴F parent ground state, and ξ_SL ? –575 cm^?1 for the ⁴P parent excited state. Obtained specimens had a transmission of ~80% (t = 2 mm, λ = 600 nm) and included some opaque, white spots. Further improvement of host optical transmission and resistance to laser damage are necessary.     

Cannabidiol Downregulates Myocardial de Novo Ceramide Synthesis Pathway in a Rat Model of High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity

It is known that metabolic disturbances, including obesity, predispose to an increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases. Elevated consumption of dietary fat results in intramyocardial accumulation of lipids and their biologically active derivatives, which can disrupt the contractile function of the heart, its metabolism, and intracellular signaling pathways. Therefore, alternative methods, such as phytocannabinoids, are being sought for the treatment of obesity-related effects. In a model of rodent obesity (seven weeks of high-fat-diet (HFD) regime), we used cannabidiol—CBD therapy (intraperitoneal injections for 14 days; 10 mg/kg). High-performance and gas-liquid chromatographies were applied in order to determine sphingolipids in the heart and plasma as well as Western blotting for protein expression. Two-week CBD administration significantly inhibited the de novo ceramide synthesis pathway in the heart of HFD fed rats by lowering sphinganine and sphinganine-1-phosphate contents. The above reductions were accompanied by markedly diminished expressions of myocardial serine palmitoyltransferase 1 and 2 as well as ceramide synthase 5 and 6 in the HFD group with 2-week CBD treatment. To our knowledge, this research is the first that reveals unknown effects of CBD treatment on the heart, i.e., amelioration of de novo ceramide synthesis pathway in obese rats.     

Application of Selective 29Si Isotopic Enrichment to Studies of the Structure of Calcium Silicate Hydrate (C-S-H) Gels

Selective isotopic enrichment of SiO₂ with ²⁹Si in a mixture with tricalcium silicate (C₃S) has allowed the Si from this phase to be effectively labeled during the course of the hydration reaction, thus isolating its contribution to the reaction. A double Q₂ signal has been observed in ²⁹SI solid-state MAS NMR spectroscopy of C-S-H gels of relatively low Ca/Si ratio, prepared by hydration or by carbonation of a C₃S paste. The origin of the weaker, downfield peak is discussed and tentatively attributed to bridging tetrahedra of a dreierkette silicate chain structure.     

Group sequential crossover trial designs with strong control of the familywise error rate

Crossover designs are an extremely useful tool to investigators, and group sequential methods have proven highly proficient at improving the efficiency of parallel group trials. Yet, group sequential methods and crossover designs have rarely been paired together. One possible explanation for this could be the absence of a formal proof of how to strongly control the familywise error rate in the case when multiple comparisons will be made. Here, we provide this proof, valid for any number of initial experimental treatments and any number of stages, when results are analyzed using a linear mixed model. We then establish formulae for the expected sample size and expected number of observations of such a trial, given any choice of stopping boundaries. Finally, utilizing the four-treatment, four-period TOMADO trial as an example, we demonstrate that group sequential methods in this setting could have reduced the trials expected number of observations under the global null hypothesis by over 33%.     

Oxidative degradation of polyamide reverse osmosis membranes: Studies of molecular model compounds and selected membranes

Selected aromatic amides were used to model the chemical reactivity of aromatic polyamides found in thin‐film composite reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. Chlorination and possible amide bond cleavage of aromatic amides upon exposure to aqueous chlorine, which can lead to membrane failure, were investigated. Correlations are made of the available chlorine concentration, pH, and exposure time with chemical changes in the model compounds. From the observed reactivity trends, insights are obtained into the mechanism of RO membrane performance loss upon chlorine exposure. Two chemical pathways for degradation are shown, one at constant pH and another that is pH‐history dependent. An alternative strategy is presented for the design of chlorine‐resistant RO membranes, and an initial performance study of RO membranes incorporating this strategy is reported. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 1173–1184, 2003     

Impact of N on the atomic-scale Sb distribution in quaternary GaAsSbN-capped InAs quantum dots

The use of GaAsSbN capping layers on InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) has recently been proposed for micro- and optoelectronic applications for their ability to independently tailor electron and hole confinement potentials. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the structural and compositional changes associated with the process of simultaneous Sb and N incorporation. In the present work, we have characterized using transmission electron microscopy techniques the effects of adding N in the GaAsSb/InAs/GaAs QD system. Firstly, strain maps of the regions away from the InAs QDs had revealed a huge reduction of the strain fields with the N incorporation but a higher inhomogeneity, which points to a composition modulation enhancement with the presence of Sb-rich and Sb-poor regions in the range of a few nanometers. On the other hand, the average strain in the QDs and surroundings is also similar in both cases. It could be explained by the accumulation of Sb above the QDs, compensating the tensile strain induced by the N incorporation together with an In-Ga intermixing inhibition. Indeed, compositional maps of column resolution from aberration-corrected Z-contrast images confirmed that the addition of N enhances the preferential deposition of Sb above the InAs QD, giving rise to an undulation of the growth front. As an outcome, the strong redshift in the photoluminescence spectrum of the GaAsSbN sample cannot be attributed only to the N-related reduction of the conduction band offset but also to an enhancement of the effect of Sb on the QD band structure.     

A New Batch Verifying Scheme for Identifying Illegal Signatures

The concept of batch verifying multiple digital signatures is to find a method by which multiple digital signatures can be verified simultaneously in a lower time complexity than separately verifying all the signatures.In this article,we analyze the complexity of the batch verifying schemes defined by Li,Hwang and Chen in 2010,and propose a new batch verifying multiple digital signature scheme,in two variants:one for RSA-by completing the Harn’s schema with an identifying illegal signatures algorithm,and the other adapted for a modified Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm protocol.