"Venom" of the slow loris: sequence similarity of prosimian skin gland protein and Fel d 1 cat allergen

Bites inflicted on humans by the slow loris (Nycticebus coucang), a prosimian from Indonesia, are painful and elicit anaphylaxis. Toxins from N. coucang are thought to originate in the brachial organ, a naked, gland-laden area of skin situated on the flexor surface of the arm that is licked during grooming. We isolated a major component of the brachial organ secretions from N. coucang, an approximately 18 kDa protein composed of two 70-90 amino-acid chains linked by one or more disulfide bonds. The N-termini of these peptide chains exhibit nearly 70% sequence similarity (37% identity, chain 1; 54% identity, chain 2) with the two chains of Fel d 1, the major allergen from the domestic cat (Felis catus). The extensive sequence similarity between the brachial organ component of N. coucang and the cat allergen suggests that they exhibit immunogenic cross-reactivity. This work clarifies the chemical nature of the brachial organ exudate and suggests a possible mode of action underlying the noxious effects of slow loris bites.     

Generation amount prediction and material flow analysis of electronic waste: a case study in Beijing, China.

The draft legislation on e-waste prepared by the Chinese national government assigns management responsibility to local governments. It is an urgent task for the municipal government to plan an effective system as soon as possible to divert the e-waste flow from the existing informal e-waste recycling processes. This paper presents a case study implemented in Beijing, the capital city of China, with the purpose of predicting the amount of obsolete equipment for five main kinds of electronic appliances from urban households and to analyse the flow after the end of their useful phase. The amount to be handled was 885,354 units in 2005 and is predicted to double by 2010. Due to consumption growth and the expansion of urbanization it is estimated that the amount will increase to approximate 2,820,000 units by 2020: 70% of the obsolete appliances will be awaiting collection for possible recycling, 7% will be stored at the owner's home for 1 year on average and 4% will be discarded directly and enter the municipal solid waste collecting system. The remaining items will be reused for about 3 years on average after the change of ownership. The results of this study will assist the waste management authorities of Beijing to plan the collecting system and facilities needed for management of e-waste generated in the near future.     

Individual variations in fatty acid composition and concentration as indicators of the nutritional condition of wild pointhead flounder larvae

We investigated the fatty acid compositions and concentrations of wild marine fish larvae with a highly accurate method because our knowledge of them has been seriously limited compared with cultured larvae. This study presents estimates of the fatty-acid-based nutritional condition of individual larvae in the field. Because the pointhead flounder Cleisthenes pinetorum displays relatively high stock size fluctuations, we investigated the developmental change in the fatty acid compositions of the body trunk, head, and eye and the annual fluctuations in the fatty acid concentrations in the trunk. We show that the process of fatty acid accumulation is not uniform across body parts and that the trunk is a better indicator of larval nutritional status than other parts because there is less time lag. Starved larvae with simultaneously high docosahexaenomic acid ratios and low total fatty acid concentrations, as observed in laboratory experiments, are rare in the wild. Thus, starved larvae must be removed rapidly by predators before they can experience a relatively long period of starvation in the wild. Fatty acid accumulation was greater in the larvae of the 2005 year class than in those of the 2006 year class in their first feeding stage, according to the optimal model derived with generalized linear model. A previous study indicated that the 2005 year class showed stronger recruitment than the 2006 year class. We conclude that the fatty acid analysis of wild larvae is a useful index of their nutritional status and mortality, especially in the first feeding stage.     

A simulation model for Japanese sardine (Sardinops melanostictus) migrations in the western North Pacific

A two-dimensional individual-based model coupled with fish bioenergetics was developed to simulate migration and growth of Japanese sardine (Sardinops melanostictus) in the western North Pacific. In the model, fish movement is controlled by feeding and spawning migrations with passive transport by simulated ocean current. Feeding migration was assumed to be governed by search for local optimal habitats, which is estimated by the spatial distribution of net growth rate of a sardine bioenergetics model. The forage density is one of the most important factors which determines the geographical distributions of Japanese sardine during their feeding migrations. Spawning migration was modeled by an artificial neural network (ANN) with an input layer composed of five neurons that receive environmental information (surface temperature, temperature change experienced, current speed, day length and distance from land). Once the weight of the ANN was determined, the fish movement was solved by combining with the feeding migration model. To obtain the weights of the ANN, three experiments were conducted in which (1) the ANN was trained with back propagation (BP) method with optimum training data, (2) genetic algorithm (GA) was used to adjust the weights and (3) the weights of the ANN were decided by the GA with BP, respectively. BP is a supervised learning technique for training ANNs. GA is a search technique used in computing to find approximate solutions, such as optimization of parameters. Condition factor of sardine in the model is used as a factor of optimization in the GA works. The methods using only BP or GA did not work to search the appropriate weights in the ANN for spawning migration. In the third method, which is a combined approach of GA with BP, the model reproduced the most realistic spawning migration of Japanese sardine. The changes in temperature and day length are important factors for the orientation cues of Japanese sardine according to the sensitivity analysis of the weights of the ANN.     

Evaluation of pedestrian subsystem test method using legform and upper legform impactors for assessment of high-bumper vehicle aggressiveness

In accidents involving sports utility vehicles (SUVs), injuries to pedestrian leg, knee ligaments, and femur are likely to occur. Therefore, the European Enhanced Vehicle Safety Committee proposed two subsystem test methods for evaluation of SUV bumper aggressiveness. Such evaluation can be conducted by means of either a legform impactor (evaluation of risk of knee and tibia injury), or an upper legform impactor (evaluation of risk of thigh and pelvis injury) test. Each of these two test methods has its own injury criteria and injury acceptance levels. Therefore, the first objective of this research is to clarify any differences between the test results obtained when evaluating SUV bumper aggressiveness by means of these two impactors. The second objective is to determine whether or not a legform impactor can be applied to estimate the risk of femur fracture, and if an upper legform impactor can be used to estimate the risk of knee ligament injury. The present results indicate the test method using an upper legform impactor yields higher ratios of injury criteria to the relevant EEVC/WG17 injury acceptance levels than by using a legform impactor. Thus, the upper legform impactor test rates an SUV bumper as more aggressive than the legform impactor test. The present study suggests the lower leg acceleration obtained by the legform impactor can be used to adequately assess the risk of femur fracture, when evaluating the aggressiveness of an SUV bumper using proposed injury acceptance levels reported in the literature. Similarly, the impact force obtained by the upper legform impactor can be used to assess the risk of cruciate ligament injury.     

New biofidelic corridor and biofidelity test procedure for pedestrian legform impactors

The objectives of this research are to propose a new impact response corridor for the ISO legform impactor and to determine the biofidelity of the current legform impactor with rigid leg and thigh developed by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL). The latest data obtained from Post Mortem Human Subject (PMHS) knee impact tests were analyzed in connection with the proposal, and biofidelity legform impact tests were conducted using the current rigid legform impactor. New normalized biofidelic corridors of impact force corresponding to adult male 50th percentile (AM50) are proposed. The impact test results indicate the current rigid legform impactor does not have sufficient human knee biofidelity. The present results suggest that human tolerance can not be used directly for the injury reference value of the legform impactor. A conversion method is needed to interpret the data measured by current legform impactors as the injury reference value.     

Pulverization of waste printed circuit boards

A new pulverization method to reduce the volume of waste printed circuit boards is reported. About 50% of printed circuit boards with integrate circuits (ICs) could be pulverized by our method in one 20-min batch, but boards without ICs could not be pulverized. By repeating the process three times, about 95% of printed circuit boards with ICs could be made into a fine powder with particles less than 106µm. A weight-drop test was also performed to examine the strength of the printed circuit boards and clarify the mechanism of pulverization. When a weight was dropped on the solder-welding side of the board ruptures occurred more easily than when the weight was dropped on the IC-mounted side. With a heavy weight, the IC was fractured more easily when the potential energy was low. Where the stress was concentrated, two types of rupture location were found on printed circuit boards with ICs. One was where the IC was connected to the printed circuit board. The other was where the surface had undulations. It also became clear that the fracture of printed circuit boards depends on the impacting weight rather than on the potential energy.     

Assessment of plastic waste generation and its potential recycling of household solid waste in Can Tho City, Vietnam

Plastic solid waste has become a serious problem when considering the disposal alternatives following the sequential hierarchy of sound solid waste management. This study was undertaken to assess the quantity and composition of household solid waste, especially plastic waste to identify opportunities for waste recycling. A 1-month survey of 130 households was carried out in Can Tho City, the capital city of the Mekong Delta region in southern Vietnam. Household solid waste was collected from each household and classified into ten physical categories; especially plastic waste was sorted into 22 subcategories. The average household solid waste generation rate was 281.27 g/cap/day. The compostable and recyclable shares respectively accounted for high percentage as 80.74% and 11%. Regarding plastic waste, the average plastic waste generation rate was 17.24 g/cap/day; plastic packaging and plastic containers dominated with the high percentage, 95.64% of plastic waste. Plastic shopping bags were especially identified as the major component, accounting for 45.72% of total plastic waste. Relevant factors such as household income and household size were found to have an existing correlation to plastic waste generation in detailed composition. The household habits and behaviors of plastic waste discharge and the aspects of environmental impacts and resource consumption for plastic waste disposal alternatives were also evaluated.