脑磁图神经活动源数目的估计

在脑磁图信号的分析中,正确估计出脑磁图神经活动源的数目是进一步分析脑磁图信号的前提。目前广泛采用的信息论方法和主成分分析方法都是根据特征值来确定源的数目,这两种方法在源数目较多、噪声较强的情况下,会导致误判。该文提出了一种噪声调节自动阈值的脑磁图源数目判断方法,利用基于噪声调节的主成分分析并结合聂曼- 皮尔逊准则对脑磁图源数目进行估计。同时,该方法采用了基于小波的噪声方差估计,实现了脑磁图信号中噪声方差的精确估计。通过对基于信息论方法、主成分分析方法以及该文所提议方法的实验结果的比较,表明该文所提议方法能更准确地估计脑磁图源数目,特别是在源数目较多、信噪比较小的情况下,仍能准确地估计脑磁图源数目,具有较大的实际意义。     

Managing schizophrenia in primary care: the utility of remission criteria as outcome indicators

The shared management of patients with schizophrenia in primary care can only succeed if underpinned by valid, easily administered and clinically relevant outcome measures. While conditions such as depression and anxiety lend themselves to this approach through the development, over a number of years, of patient- and observer-rated scales, schizophrenia still lacks the capacity for meaningful outcome measures. Recently, two international working groups have developed the concept of remission in schizophrenia and recommended a simple, brief and clinically valid measure based upon improvement in key symptoms over a specified time period. The authors consider this concept and its application to primary care both as a commissioning tool and to facilitate shared care of this chronic medical condition.     

Assessment of quality of three marine benthic habitat types in northern Baltic Sea

The European Union Habitats Directive (HD) obliges member states to assess the conservation status of marine habitat types but no explicit methodologies for assessing the quality of habitats have been stated in the directive or accompanying documents. In this study, a system was developed to assess the structure and functioning of three important marine habitat types in the Estonian sea area: sandbanks (HD code 1110), mudflats (1140), and reefs (1170). The assessment system includes a list of ecological criteria and favourable reference values together with procedural rules and field sampling locations. The habitat types listed in the HD are broadly defined and may encompass different communities depending upon distinct environmental gradients. By considering these environmental gradients the habitat types reefs and sandbanks were zoned and the assessment criteria and corresponding favourable reference values were defined separately for each zone. A set of several metrics like benthos indices, community variables, presence of sensitive or typical species, proportions of functional or taxonomic groups were tested as potential criteria for determining habitat quality. The most appropriate criteria were selected for incorporation into the assessment system based on ecological eligibility, suitability to local conditions, occurrence rates of benthic species, responses to disturbances, statistical properties of distribution of measured values, and practical considerations. Extensive benthos database (records from the whole Estonian sea area, 1995–2014) was used to calculate values of criteria to support the selection of criteria and to derive reference values. In order to fully take into account their crucial role in maintaining the structure and functioning of habitats, the criteria on habitat-forming species were assigned higher hierarchical order in the assessment scheme compared to other criteria. Special field works were carried out to assess the status of the three habitat types in 2015. The quality of all three monitored habitats was assessed to be in a favourable status. Additionally, the distributions of the three habitat types were mapped. To date, this is the first study in the Baltic Sea region that formulates HD compliant explicit criteria, reference values, and assessment procedures for several marine habitat types. The main challenges of the study were to derive assessment criteria and favourable reference values that are ecologically relevant and practically feasible.     

Evaluation of the WHO classification of dengue disease severity during an epidemic in 2011 in the state of Ceará, Brazil

In 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a new guideline that stratifies dengue-affected patients into severe (SD) and non-severe dengue (NSD) (with or without warning signs). To evaluate the new recommendations, we completed a retrospective cross-sectional study of the dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) cases reported during an outbreak in 2011 in northeastern Brazil. We investigated 84 suspected DHF patients, including 45 (53.6%) males and 39 (46.4%) females. The ages of the patients ranged from five-83 years and the median age was 29. According to the DHF/dengue shock syndrome classification, 53 (63.1%) patients were classified as having dengue fever and 31 (36.9%) as having DHF. According to the 2009 WHO classification, 32 (38.1%) patients were grouped as having NSD [4 (4.8%) without warning signs and 28 (33.3%) with warning signs] and 52 (61.9%) as having SD. A better performance of the revised classification in the detection of severe clinical manifestations allows for an improved detection of patients with SD and may reduce deaths. The revised classification will not only facilitate effective screening and patient management, but will also enable the collection of standardised surveillance data for future epidemiological and clinical studies.     

有关IUCN红色名录中“地点”参数合理应用的讨论

“地点”参数是构成IUCN红色名录标准的重要参数之一。在IUCN红色名录评估过程中,使用“地点”参数时常常忽略或简化致危因子的作用,有时仅以标本记录、采集地点数、观测数据、文献记录的分布点、管理单元及行政单位等信息代替“地点”参数,导致“地点”参数不准确甚至偏离实际情况。为解决这些问题,采用图解方式详细描述了“地点”参数的4类正确判断方法,包括根据致危因子的变化判断物种的“地点”参数、根据亚居群范围判断物种未受影响区域的“地点”参数、根据“地点”的最小尺度判断物种未受影响区域的“地点”参数、根据历史记录预测物种的“地点”参数;并以中国特有植物岩生红豆（OrmosiasaxatilisK.M.Lan）为实例对“地点”参数的正确判断方法进行进一步说明。在此基础上,对“地点”参数正确使用过程中存在的困难进行了讨论分析并提出了该参数的使用建议。     

Classification of weevils as a data-driven science: leaving opinion behind

Data and explicit taxonomic ranking criteria, which minimize taxonomic change, provide a scientific approach to modern taxonomy and classification. However, traditional practices of opinion-based taxonomy (i.e., mid-20^th century evolutionary systematics), which lack explicit ranking and naming criteria, are still in practice despite phylogenetic evidence. This paper discusses a recent proposed reclassification of weevils that elevates bark and ambrosia beetles (Scolytinae and Platypodinae) to the ranks of Family. We demonstrate that the proposed reclassification 1) is not supported by an evolutionary systematic justification because the apparently unique morphology of bark and ambrosia beetles is shared with other unrelated wood-boring weevil taxa; 2) introduces obvious paraphyly in weevil classification and hence violates good practices on maintaining an economy of taxonomic change; 3) is not supported by other taxonomic naming criteria, such as time banding. We recommend the abandonment of traditional practices of an opinion-based taxonomy, especially in light of available data and resulting phylogenies.     

Integrating biology and economics in seagrass restoration: How much is enough and why?

Although success criteria for seagrass restoration have been in place for some time, there has been little consistency regarding how much habitat should be restored for every unit area lost (the replacement ratio). Extant success criteria focus on persistence, area, and habitat quality (shoot density). These metrics, while conservative, remain largely accepted for the seagrass ecosystem. Computation of the replacement ratio using economic tools has recently been integrated with seagrass restoration and is based on the intrinsic recovery rate of the injured seagrass beds themselves as compared with the efficacy of the restoration itself. In this application, field surveys of injured seagrass beds in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) were conducted over several years and provide the basis for computing the intrinsic recovery rate and thus, the replacement ratio. This computation is performed using the Habitat Equivalency Analysis (HEA) and determines the lost on-site services pertaining to the ecological function of an area as the result of an injury and sets this against the difference between intrinsic recovery and recovery afforded by restoration. Joining empirical field data with economic theory has produced a reasonable and typically conservative means of determining the level of restoration and this has been fully supported in Federal Court rulings. Having clearly defined project goals allows application of the success criteria in a predictable, consistent, reasonable, and fair manner.     

亚热带城市河流底栖动物完整性评价——以流溪河为例

根据2016年前、后汛期及枯水期流溪河14个断面底栖动物群落组成数据(4门8纲22目52科94属103种),采用底栖动物完整性指数(B-IBI),首次对亚热带地区河流进行健康评价。经筛选(32个候选指标),流溪河B-IBI体系由5个核心指标(总生物量,敏感类群个体%,EPT、摇蚊和耐污类群单元数)组成,评价标准为:健康3.24,亚健康3.24—2.43,一般2.43—1.62,差1.62—0.81,极差0.81,评价结果为:健康位点数占14.3%、亚健康50.0%、一般21.4%、差14.3%、无极差。总体上,B-IBI值反映流溪河上游健康状况较好,以EPT分类单元数和敏感类群个体%贡献最高,下游健康状况恶化,以耐污类群单元数贡献最高。此外,上游支流健康状况要优于上游干流,而下游则情况相反。相关性分析显示,B-IBI值与溶解氧呈极显著正相关(P0.01),与电导率、氨氮、总氮和总磷呈显著负相关(P0.05),反映流溪河当前健康水平受水体污染影响严重。核心指标与环境因子间CCA分析显示,前2主轴对环境因子解释度达68.1%,且对上、下游及干、支流有明显的梯度划分,说明所建B-IBI在流溪河有较高适用性。对比不同温度带研究结果发现,B-IBI体系受人为干扰和水体污染影响更加明显,体现其评价功能不受地理区域影响。     

Chemical genomics: a challenge for de novo drug design

De novo design provides an in silico toolkit for the design of novel small molecular structures to a set of specified structural constraints. With the avalanche of bioinformatics data, de novo design is ideally suited for exploring molecules that could be useful for chemical genomics. The design process involves manipulation of the input, modification of structural constraints, and further processing of the de novo generated molecules using various modular toolkits. The development of a theoretical framework for each of these stages will provide novel practical solutions to the problem of creating compounds with maximal chemical diversity. This short review describes the fundamental problems encountered in the application of novel chemical design technologies to chemical genomics by means of a formal representation. This notation helps to outline and clarify ideas and hypotheses that can then be explored using mathematical algorithms. It is only by developing this rigorous foundation that in silico design can progress in a rational way.     

Sustainability of forest bioenergy in Europe: land-use-related carbon dioxide emissions of forest harvest residues

Increasing bioenergy production from forest harvest residues decreases litter input to the soil and can thus reduce the carbon stock and sink of forests. This effect may negate greenhouse gas savings obtained by using bioenergy. We used a spatially explicit modelling framework to assess the reduction in the forest litter and soil carbon stocks across Europe, assuming that a sustainable potential of bioenergy from forest harvest residues is taken into use. The forest harvest residue removal reduced the carbon stocks of litter and soil on average by 3% over the period from 2016 to 2100. The reduction was small compared to the size of the carbon stocks but significant in comparison to the amount of energy produced from the residues. As a result of these land-use-related emissions, bioenergy production from forest harvest residues would need to be continued for 60–80 years to achieve a 60% carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission reduction in heat and power generation compared to the fossil fuels it replaces in most European countries. The emission reductions achieved and their timings varied among countries because of differences in the litter and soil carbon loss. Our results show that extending the current sustainability requirements for bioliquids and biofuels to solid bioenergy does not guarantee efficient reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in the short-term. In the longer-term, bioenergy from forest harvest residues may pave the way to low-emission energy systems.