Biodiversity and stakeholder participation

Consensus building through stakeholder participation is a promising new trend that takes into account the interactive character of the communication process. There is a growing realisation that stakeholder participation has a significant role to play in the development and delivery of biodiversity policy and practice. Experience and best practice from activities such as the designation and management of Natura 2000 and Integrated Coastal Zone Management shows that problem solving and conflict management are significantly enhanced through participative processes. There is therefore the potential for a change to take place in the way that biodiversity policy is developed and implemented. This brings challenges to the biodiversity community in terms of developing new skills and processes and in engaging with new agendas and sectors.     

转基因大米品尝会:中国情境下的公众参与科学

以转基因大米品尝会为例,通过问卷调查、访谈法、观察法研究由公众主动发起的科学传播活动及其参与者。描述了该类活动的发起和组织过程,发现参与者是一群热爱科学、认同科学价值并愿意传播科学的人,他们的行动对自己、对亲友、对社会都产生了一定的影响。转基因大米品尝会以及类似的活动是转型期中国情境下的公众参与科学实践。     

Synthesis of 6-deoxy-5-thio- -glucose

Three routes were investigated for the conversion of -glucose into the title compound. In the first approach, reduction of the 5,6-thürane ring of 5,6-dideoxy-5,6-epithio-1,2-O-isopropylidene α- -glucofuranose (17) as well as that of its 3-O-allyl derivative (13) with lithium aluminium hydride was investigated; 17 afforded the corresponding 6-deoxy derivative besides di-, tri-, and poly-mers, whereas only polymers were formed from 13. In the second approach, the oxirane ring of

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was reduced by sodium borohydride and the resulting 6-deoxy derivative was converted into the 5-thiobenzoate; the corresponding hex-4-enofuranose was formed as a byproduct. In the third approach partial mesylation of methyl 5-thio-α- -glucopyranoside was attempted, but the 6-mesylate 27 could be isolated only in modest yield (28%) together with rearranged 2,5-thioanhydromannofuranoside derivatives. The mechanism of this rearrangement is discussed in detail. The 6-mesylate 27 was converted via the 6-iodo derivative into the title compound.     

When does optional participation allow the evolution of cooperation?

Altruistic punishment has been shown to invade when rare if individuals are allowed to opt out of cooperative ventures. Individuals that opt out do not contribute to the common enterprise or derive benefits from it. This result is potentially significant because it offers an explanation for the origin of large-scale cooperation in one-shot interactions among unrelated individuals. Here, we show that this result is not a general consequence of optional participation in cooperative activities, but depends on special assumptions about cooperative pay-offs. We extend the pay-off structure of optional participation models to consider the effects of economies and diseconomies of scale in public-goods production, rival and non-rival consumption of goods, and different orderings of the pay-offs of freeriding and opting out. This more general model highlights the kinds of pay-offs for which optional participation favours cooperation, and those in which it does not.     

Female productivity and mortality in early-20th-century Taiwan

In late-Qing-dynasty Taiwan (1870-1895), female infanticide and general neglect killed over 15% of young girls. During the early years of Japanese rule (1895-1915), female infanticide was almost completely eliminated and the treatment of girls improved. This paper argues that the increase in the willingness to raise daughters was due to an increase in adult female productivity. Under Japanese rule, female seclusion decreased, female labor market participation greatly increased and the custom of foot-binding was ended. These changes increased the expected value of raising a daughter relative to raising a son.     

A pilot study on the effect of advance care planning implementation on healthcare utilisation and satisfaction in patients with advanced heart failure

BackgroundPatients with advanced heart failure may benefit from palliative care, including advance care planning (ACP). ACP, which can include referral back to the general practitioner (GP), may prevent unbeneficial hospital admissions and interventional/surgical procedures that are not in accordance with the patient’s personal goals of care.AimTo implement ACP in patients with advanced heart failure and explore the effect of ACP on healthcare utilisation as well as the satisfaction of patients and cardiologists.MethodsIn this pilot study, we enrolled 30 patients with New York Heart Association class III/IV heart failure who had had at least one unplanned hospital admission in the previous year because of heart failure. A structured ACP conversation was held and documented by the treating physician. Primary outcome was the number of visits to the emergency department and/or admissions within 3 months after the ACP conversation. Secondary endpoints were the satisfaction of patients and cardiologists as established by using a five-point Likert scale.ResultsMedian age of the patients was 81 years (range 33–94). Twenty-seven ACP documents could be analysed (90%). Twenty-one patients (78%) did not want to be readmitted to the hospital and subsequently none of them were readmitted during follow-up. Twenty-two patients (81%) discontinued all hospital care. All patients who died during follow-up (n = 12, 40%) died at home. Most patients and cardiologists indicated that they would recommend the intervention to others (80% and 92% respectively).ConclusionACP, and subsequent out-of-hospital care by the GP, was shown to be applicable in the present study of patients with advanced heart failure and evident palliative care needs. Patients and cardiologists were satisfied with this intervention.     

中国生物多样性保护的新尝试——以社区为主体的渠楠保护小区管理模式研究

生物多样性是人类赖以生存的物质基础,目前对生物多样性的保护主要通过建立自然保护区来进行。保护小区作为我国现有自然保护区体系的一个重要补充,是联通动植物破碎化的栖息地,维护生态系统完整性的重要手段。该文通过文献研究和实地调查等方式对以社区为主体的渠楠保护小区的组织架构、制度建设、日常工作以及初步成效等进行了系统的整理和分析。结果表明:(1)渠楠保护小区以“自建、自筹、自管、自受益”为指导思想进行建设,采取“平等议事、民主协商”为主的方式进行管理,得到了当地社区居民的认可和拥护,并得到了当地政府和外界的承认和支持。(2)保护小区的成立、建设和发展,不仅提高了社区居民的保护意识和周边动植物种群数量及多样性,还改善了渠楠社区的生活环境,丰富了社区居民的精神文化,为当地的生物多样性和传统文化的保护做出了积极贡献。该文还探讨了以社区为主体的保护小区建设中存在的隐患,并提出可行性建议,以期为我国生物多样性保护及其他保护小区的发展提供参考。     

患者参与决策与医学新技术使用行为的关联分析

目的 研究我国医学新技术临床应用中的患者参与决策,分析患者参与决策对患者医学新技术使用行为的关联性及影响。方法 采用横断面设计和分层整群抽样方法,选取上海市、福建省、四川省18家医院临床科室的患者进行调研,调查问卷为自主设计,借鉴国外SDM-Q-9量表,应用LIKERT五分量表赋值进行logistic回归分析等。结果 共调查了来自18家医院临床科室的554名患者,患者SDM-Q-9量表总得分为(34.66±7.314) 分,单条目得分为3.74～3.95分,聚类分析显示,310名（占64.32%）患者的量表得分为“较高”;患者SDM-Q-9得分对患者是否使用医学新技术有统计学意义（P＜0.05）,对患者决策满意度有统计学意义（P＜0.05）,患者满意度对患者是否使用新技术也有统计学意义（P＜0.05）,此三者间两两相关。结论 医学新技术临床应用中患者参与决策的实际有效性仍有待研究;患者参与决策正向影响患者决策满意度,并影响患者是否使用医学新技术。建议加强合理的患者参与,适度把握新技术监管,以提高患者满意度,促进医学技术创新发展与适宜推广。     

Integrated climate sensitive restoration framework for transformative changes to sustainable land restoration

Sustainable land restoration is the key to restore degraded land, halt biodiversity loss, and reinstate ecosystem services for human well‐being. Restoration needs to be planned and conducted with due recognition to growing climate uncertainty with an evolved understanding of the future restoration targets. The present opinion article attempts to provide an overview on an integrated climate sensitive restoration framework that recognizes the local participation in mapping degraded lands, identification of species for supporting species modeling to better understand climate uncertainty. Involvement of citizen science‐based restoration monitoring tools can contribute to big data analytics for ecological monitoring and policy support. The Framework potentially helps in sustainable land restoration by transformative changes for achieving the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030), Sustainable Development Goals 15, and addressing the post‐2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. However, to realize success, climate finance mechanisms to drive restoration should be seriously considered for reducing bias and enhancing opportunities of equitable sharing in the era of corruption, authoritarianism, and regulatory capture.