Javad Asadollahi and Rasool Hafezi
Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 148 (2020), 2379-2396.
Abstract, references and article information

The Lands Department will provide additional rental or fee concessions for tenants of short-term tenancies (STT) and waiver holders in accordance with the new round of support measures announced earlier this month.

The measures aim to strengthen support for enterprises in light of the challenges arising from the COVID-19 epidemic.

In accordance with the support measures launched in 2019 and those announced in the 2020-21 Budget, STTs and waivers for varying the terms of land grants for business and community uses under the department have been granted 50% rental or fee concession from October 2019 to September this year.

Under the new round of support measures, the 5,000 eligible STT tenants and waiver holders already enjoying the previous concession, such as catering facilities, shops, workshops, public fee-paying car parks, and welfare facilities, will see their rental or fee concession rate increase to 75% from April to September.

The 75% concession arrangement will be extended to businesses not covered previously, such as depots for public transport operators, public utilities, petrol filling stations, driving schools and advertising facilities, effective for the same period.

If these tenants and waiver holders are ordered to close or have chosen to close due to the Government’s orders or other restrictions for safeguarding public health under the relevant regulation, they may further apply to the department for full rental or fee concession for the duration of the closure.

The department will issue written notifications to eligible STT tenants and waiver holders on the above concession measures and their implementation details.           

Additionally, to help development projects with construction progress affected by the epidemic, the department will offer extensions of the Building Covenant period at nil premium for up to six months for leases with the covenant not yet discharged as at April 8.

The department will issue a practice note and upload it onto its website by the end of the month to announce the application arrangements for lessees.

The Development Bureau today announced that the Land Sharing Pilot Scheme will open for applications tomorrow to help unleash the development potential of qualified private land.

The private land must be with consolidated ownership that is outside specified environmentally sensitive areas and not covered by the Government's development studies.

In connection with the pilot scheme’s launch, the Chief Executive has appointed 10 members from a wide spectrum of sectors to a Panel of Advisors to offer independent opinions on the applications received and advise on the scheme's operation.

Chaired by Dr David Wong, the panel members will serve a term of 3.5 years starting May 1.

Secretary for Development Michael Wong said while government-led planning and land resumption remains the mainstream and continues to dominate its land creation agenda, the pilot scheme seeks to complement such efforts by tapping into market resources and efficiencies to boost both public and private housing in the short to medium term.

Under the scheme, the Government will facilitate infrastructural improvements that will enhance the development intensity of the private lots under application.

In return, the applicants are required to hand over part of the lots they own in the form of formed land that is capable of delivering at least 70% of the increased domestic gross floor area for public housing or Starter Homes developments intended by the Government.

Each project under the scheme should be capable of delivering an increased domestic gross floor area of no less than 50,000 sq m in total and at least 1,000 additional housing units.

The application period lasts for three years until May 5, 2023, subject to a cap of 150 hectares on the total area of private land to be approved.

The development chief added that the Government’s target is to convert the agricultural lots into spade-ready sites ready for housing construction within four to 6.5 years from the time applications are received.

The Development Bureau today briefed the Land & Development Advisory Committee on the major recommendations of the Planning & Urban Design Review for Developments at Kai Tak Runway Tip (KTRT).

Members noted the planning objectives, design principles and key study recommendations for the KTRT developments, including the existing and planned public open spaces as well as the Tourism Node site included in the 2020-21 Land Sale Programme.

They generally supported the recommendations of the KTRT study and provided comments on various aspects, such as ways to attract people to KTRT, the connectivity to and within the area, and promotion of healthy city and kid-friendly concepts.

The committee was also briefed on the proposed two-envelope tender arrangement, which refers to evaluation of both design and price proposals, for disposal of Site 3 of the New Central Harbourfront.

With a total area of 4.75 hectares, the site will comprise a commercial development in separate blocks mainly for office and retail, with a total gross floor area not exceeding 150,000 sq m, to be built alongside a spacious public open space of no less than 25,000 sq m to be opened round-the-clock.

There will be a continuous landscaped deck spanning across the site in a north-south direction, allowing visitors to walk all the way from the hinterland of the Central Business District to the harbourfront.

While noting that the two-envelope approach was rather unconventional for government land sale, members agreed that the approach would allow both quality and price considerations to be taken into account, and the setting of a reserve price would ensure reasonable protection to public revenue.

Fatty acid transport protein 2 (FATP2) is highly expressed in the liver, small intestine, and kidney, where it functions in both the transport of exogenous long-chain fatty acids and the activation of very-long-chain fatty acids. Here, using a murine model, we investigated the phenotypic impacts of deleting FATP2, followed by a transcriptomic analysis using unbiased RNA-Seq to identify concomitant changes in the liver transcriptome. WT and FATP2-null (Fatp2−/−) mice (5 weeks) were maintained on a standard chow diet for 6 weeks. The Fatp2−/− mice had reduced weight gain, lowered serum triglyceride, and increased serum cholesterol levels and attenuated dietary fatty acid absorption. Transcriptomic analysis of the liver revealed 258 differentially expressed genes in male Fatp2−/− mice and a total of 91 in female Fatp2−/− mice. These genes mapped to the following gene ontology categories: fatty acid degradation, peroxisome biogenesis, fatty acid synthesis, and retinol and arachidonic acid metabolism. Targeted RT-quantitative PCR verified the altered expression of selected genes. Of note, most of the genes with increased expression were known to be regulated by peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor α (PPARα), suggesting that FATP2 activity is linked to a PPARα-specific proximal ligand. Targeted metabolomic experiments in the Fatp2−/− liver revealed increases of total C16:0, C16:1, and C18:1 fatty acids; increases in lipoxin A4 and prostaglandin J2; and a decrease in 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid. We conclude that the expression of FATP2 in the liver broadly affects the metabolic landscape through PPARα, indicating that FATP2 provides an important role in liver lipid metabolism through its transport or activation activities.

The Government is actively exploring sustainable and innovative approaches to expand the city’s land resources. One viable source of land supply is rock cavern development.

The relocation of suitable existing government facilities to caverns can release above-ground sites for housing and other beneficial uses. This would reduce the amount of land occupied by them, as well as relocate facilities which do not need to be above-ground and are incompatible with the surrounding environment and land uses nearby.

Mountain move

Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works is one such facility. It will be relocated to caverns in Nui Po Shan of A Kung Kok to release the existing site of about 28 hectares for housing and other uses that will enhance Hong Kong’s living quality and bring extended benefits to the community and environment of Sha Tin.

Drainage Services Department Sewerage Projects Division Engineer Brian Chan said that moving the sewage treatment plant to caverns minimises any adverse impact on the environment and community.

“The whole sewage treatment works will be put inside the cavern and the cavern will serve as a natural barrier fully enclosing the sewage treatment works. With the implementation of an effective odour management system, the odour impact to the community will be minimised.”

Mr Chan added that moving the existing plant, which has been in operation for more than 35 years, provides an opportunity to formulate a long-term strategy for the ageing facility.

High-tech solutions

The relocated Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works will consist of several caverns.

A successful local example of accommodating facilities in rock caverns is Stanley Sewage Treatment Works on which the layout for the Sha Tin treatment plant is based.

To reduce the required cavern space and shorten the construction period, advanced sewage and sludge treatment technologies will be used.

Water recycling is a multi-stage process in wastewater treatment plants.

Mr Chan explained that moving bed biofilm reactors will be used in the secondary treatment process at the relocated Sha Tin plant as they require less space than the traditional wastewater treatment.

“Compared to the conventional method, there will be some biofilm carriers inside the reactor and this biofilm carrier will enlarge the surface area for the biological treatment and therefore, the overall size will be reduced. In terms of the sewage treatment process, there will be about a 20% reduction in the areas.”

Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works serves a population of about 630,000 in Sha Tin and Ma On Shan, which produce 250,000 cubic metres (m3) of sewage daily. After the relocation, the facility will be able to handle 340,000 m3 of sewage per day.

The first phase of works to relocate Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works to caverns began in February. The Drainage Services Department hopes to start the second phase from the end of next year to early 2021 with the excavation of the caverns. The department plans to move the whole sewage plant in five stages. The project is expected to be completed by 2031.

Members of the public can visit the department's website for more details about the project and its latest developments.

(Aarhus University) An international team of researchers has put together a new image of Neanderthals based on the genes Neanderthals left in the DNA of modern humans when they had children with them about 50,000 years ago. The researchers found the new information by trawling the genomes of more than 27,000 Icelanders. Among other things, they discovered that Neanderthal children had older mothers and younger fathers than the Homo-Sapien children in Africa did at the time.

(Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History) What makes our species unique compared to other hominins? High profile genetic, fossil and material culture discoveries present scientists working in the Late Pleistocene with an ever-more complex picture of interactions between early hominin populations. One distinctive characteristic of Homo sapiens, however, appears to be its global distribution. Exploring how Homo sapiens colonized most of the world's continents in a relatively short period could reveal the exceptional capacities of humans relative to other hominins.

Earthquake: 2020-05-06 21:54HKT M6.7 [7.0S, 130.0E] in Tanimbar Islands Region, Indonesia http://openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-7&mlon=130.

Fatty acid transport protein 2 (FATP2) is highly expressed in the liver, small intestine, and kidney, where it functions in both the transport of exogenous long-chain fatty acids and the activation of very-long-chain fatty acids. Here, using a murine model, we investigated the phenotypic impacts of deleting FATP2, followed by a transcriptomic analysis using unbiased RNA-Seq to identify concomitant changes in the liver transcriptome. WT and FATP2-null (Fatp2−/−) mice (5 weeks) were maintained on a standard chow diet for 6 weeks. The Fatp2−/− mice had reduced weight gain, lowered serum triglyceride, and increased serum cholesterol levels and attenuated dietary fatty acid absorption. Transcriptomic analysis of the liver revealed 258 differentially expressed genes in male Fatp2−/− mice and a total of 91 in female Fatp2−/− mice. These genes mapped to the following gene ontology categories: fatty acid degradation, peroxisome biogenesis, fatty acid synthesis, and retinol and arachidonic acid metabolism. Targeted RT-quantitative PCR verified the altered expression of selected genes. Of note, most of the genes with increased expression were known to be regulated by peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor α (PPARα), suggesting that FATP2 activity is linked to a PPARα-specific proximal ligand. Targeted metabolomic experiments in the Fatp2−/− liver revealed increases of total C16:0, C16:1, and C18:1 fatty acids; increases in lipoxin A4 and prostaglandin J2; and a decrease in 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid. We conclude that the expression of FATP2 in the liver broadly affects the metabolic landscape through PPARα, indicating that FATP2 provides an important role in liver lipid metabolism through its transport or activation activities.

Nora Linscheid
Apr 14, 2020; 0:RA119.001878v1-mcp.RA119.001878
Research

Members Event

Event participants

Carien du Plessis, Journalist; Co-Author, Understanding South Africa

James Hamill, Associate Fellow, International Institute for Strategic Studies; Author, Africa's Lost Leader: South Africa's Continental Role Since Apartheid

Martin Plaut, Senior Researcher, Institute of Commonwealth Studies; Co-Author, Understanding South Africa

Chair: Pumela Salela, UK Country Head, Brand South Africa 

Fatty acid transport protein 2 (FATP2) is highly expressed in the liver, small intestine, and kidney, where it functions in both the transport of exogenous long-chain fatty acids and the activation of very-long-chain fatty acids. Here, using a murine model, we investigated the phenotypic impacts of deleting FATP2, followed by a transcriptomic analysis using unbiased RNA-Seq to identify concomitant changes in the liver transcriptome. WT and FATP2-null (Fatp2−/−) mice (5 weeks) were maintained on a standard chow diet for 6 weeks. The Fatp2−/− mice had reduced weight gain, lowered serum triglyceride, and increased serum cholesterol levels and attenuated dietary fatty acid absorption. Transcriptomic analysis of the liver revealed 258 differentially expressed genes in male Fatp2−/− mice and a total of 91 in female Fatp2−/− mice. These genes mapped to the following gene ontology categories: fatty acid degradation, peroxisome biogenesis, fatty acid synthesis, and retinol and arachidonic acid metabolism. Targeted RT-quantitative PCR verified the altered expression of selected genes. Of note, most of the genes with increased expression were known to be regulated by peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor α (PPARα), suggesting that FATP2 activity is linked to a PPARα-specific proximal ligand. Targeted metabolomic experiments in the Fatp2−/− liver revealed increases of total C16:0, C16:1, and C18:1 fatty acids; increases in lipoxin A4 and prostaglandin J2; and a decrease in 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid. We conclude that the expression of FATP2 in the liver broadly affects the metabolic landscape through PPARα, indicating that FATP2 provides an important role in liver lipid metabolism through its transport or activation activities.

Genetic and genomic research has greatly advanced our understanding of heart disease. Yet, comprehensive, in-depth, quantitative maps of protein expression in hearts of living humans are still lacking. Using samples obtained during valve replacement surgery in patients with mitral valve prolapse (MVP), we set out to define inter-chamber differences, the intersect of proteomic data with genetic or genomic datasets, and the impact of left atrial dilation on the proteome of patients with no history of atrial fibrillation (AF).  We collected biopsies from right atria (RA), left atria (LA) and left ventricle (LV) of seven male patients with mitral valve regurgitation with dilated LA but no history of AF. Biopsy samples were analyzed by high-resolution mass spectrometry (MS), where peptides were pre-fractionated by reverse phase high-pressure liquid chromatography prior to MS measurement on a Q-Exactive-HF Orbitrap instrument. We identified 7,314 proteins based on 130,728 peptides. Results were confirmed in an independent set of biopsies collected from three additional individuals. Comparative analysis against data from post-mortem samples showed enhanced quantitative power and confidence level in samples collected from living hearts. Our analysis, combined with data from genome wide association studies suggested candidate gene associations to MVP, identified higher abundance in ventricle for proteins associated with cardiomyopathies and revealed the dilated LA proteome, demonstrating differential representation of molecules previously associated with AF, in non-AF hearts. This is the largest dataset of cardiac protein expression from human samples collected in vivo. It provides a comprehensive resource that allows insight into molecular fingerprints of MVP and facilitates novel inferences between genomic data and disease mechanisms. We propose that over-representation of proteins in ventricle is consequent not to redundancy but to functional need, and conclude that changes in abundance of proteins known to associate with AF are not sufficient for arrhythmogenesis.

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Secretary Jeh Johnson, Partner, Paul, Weiss; US Secretary of Homeland Security, 2013 - 17
Chair: Amy Pope, Partner, Schillings; Associate Fellow, US and Americas Programme, Chatham House

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