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MTR Corporation has established through extensive experience in railway operation an Operations Assurance process to assure the operational safety and service performance of railway network in Hong Kong and for new lines operation outside Hong Kong. This paper provides an overview on the Operation Assurance System which focus on safety assurance of the railway operation, safety critical system software assurance, system reliability, system assurance and new business safety assurance. The Operations Assurance process, which aligns with a risk based Asset Management System of the Corporation, requires appropriate assurance activities to be conducted at different stages of asset life cycle with foci putting on 1) management of changes arising from asset introduction / modification, asset life assurance and their associated operational interfaces, 2) monitoring of asset condition and performance in the whole life cycle, and 3) mitigate the potential hazards due to aging and compatibility of the assets. With the solid platform of the Operations Assurance process and spirit of continuous improvement, MTR Corporation has been achieving a high level of standard in operational safety and service performance that is recognised as world class.

International climate negotiations have stressed the importance of considering emissions from forest degradation under the planned REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation + enhancing forest carbon stocks) mechanism. However, most research, pilot-REDD+ projects and carbon certification agencies have focused on deforestation and there appears to be a gap in knowledge on complex mosaic landscapes containing degraded forests, smallholder agriculture, agroforestry and plantations. In this paper we therefore review current research on how avoided forest degradation may affect emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) and expected co-benefits in terms of biodiversity and livelihoods. There are still high uncertainties in measuring and monitoring emissions of carbon and other GHG from mosaic landscapes with forest degradation since most research has focused on binary analyses of forest vs. deforested land. Studies on the impacts of forest degradation on biodiversity contain mixed results and there is little empirical evidence on the influence of REDD+ on local livelihoods and tenure security, partly due to the lack of actual payment schemes. Governance structures are also more complex in landscapes with degraded forests as there are often multiple owners and types of rights to land and trees. Recent technological advances in remote sensing have improved estimation of carbon stock changes but establishment of historic reference levels is still challenged by the availability of sensor systems and ground measurements during the reference period. The inclusion of forest degradation in REDD+ calls for a range of new research efforts to enhance our knowledge of how to assess the impacts of avoided forest degradation. A first step will be to ensure that complex mosaic landscapes can be recognised under REDD+ on their own merits.

The virophage Sputnik is a satellite virus of the giant mimivirus and is the only satellite virus reported to date whose propagation adversely affects its host virus' production. Genome sequence analysis showed that Sputnik has genes related to viruses infecting all three domains of life. Here, we report structural studies of Sputnik, which show that it is about 740 angstrom in diameter, has a T = 27 icosahedral capsid, and has a lipid membrane inside the protein shell. Structural analyses suggest that the major capsid protein of Sputnik is likely to have a double jelly-roll fold, although sequence alignments do not show any detectable similarity with other viral double jelly-roll capsid proteins. Hence, the origin of Sputnik's capsid might have been derived from other viruses prior to its association with mimivirus.