Comparative research on NIMBY risk acceptability between Chinese and Japanese college students

Along with the progressive acceleration of urbanization, the need to identify potentially troublesome “Not In My Back Yard” (NIMBY) facilities in the city is inevitable. To resolve NIMBY conflict, it is important to know people’s NIMBY risk acceptability for these facilities. A questionnaire survey was used among Chinese and Japanese college students to identify NIMBY risk acceptability. LISREL was used to construct a structural equation model to analyze the difference in NIMBY risk acceptability between the Chinese and Japanese college students. Factors that may affect NIMBY risk acceptability were analyzed: “perceiving utility,” “perceiving risk,” “trust in government,” “reasonable compensation,” and “procedural justice.” The findings show that Japanese students’ concerns were greater than Chinese students’ concerns. Perceiving utility and perceiving risk were the most important factors that affect people’s NIMBY risk acceptability, followed by procedural justice, trust in government, and reasonable compensation. There is a difference between the different cultural backgrounds in confronting the risk: Chinese students focus more on the reputation and value of real estate, while Japanese students pay more attention to environmental pollution and damage to health. Furthermore, cultural influences play a role in students’ risk perception. To improve the risk acceptability for NIMBY facilities and provide a basis for resolving NIMBY conflicts, it is necessary to ensure the benefits of the NIMBY facility while reducing environmental pollution. The findings of this study may be of interest for policy makers and practitioners to devise future NIMBY strategies.     

Comparison of organic compositions in dust storm and normal aerosol samples collected at Gosan,Jeju Island,during spring 2005

To better understand the current physical and chemical properties of East Asian aerosols, an intensive observation of atmospheric particles was conducted at Gosan site, Jeju Island, South Korea during 2005 spring. Total suspended particle (TSP) samples were collected using pre-combusted quartz filters and a high-volume air sampler with the time intervals ranging from 3 h to 48 h. The kinds and amount of various organic compounds were measured in the samples using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Among the 99 target compounds detected, saccharides (average, 130 ± 14 ng m^?3), fatty acids (73 ± 7 ng m^?3), alcohols (41 ± 4 ng m^?3), n-alkanes (32 ± 3 ng m^?3), and phthalates (21 ± 2 ng m^?3) were found to be major compound classes with polyols/polyacids, lignin and resin products, PAHs, sterols and aromatic acids being minor. Compared to the previous results reported for 2001 late spring samples, no significant changes were found in the levels of their concentrations and compositions for 4 years, although the economy in East Asia, especially in China, has sharply expanded from 2001 to 2005. During the campaign at Gosan site, we encountered two distinct dust storm episodes with high TSP concentrations. The first dust event occurred on March 28, which was characterized by a predominance of secondary organic aerosols. The second event that occurred on the next day (March 29) was found to be characterized by primary organic aerosols associated with forest fires in Siberia/northeastern China. A significant variation in the molecular compositions, which was found within a day, suggests that the compositions of East Asian aerosols are heterogeneous due to multi-contributions from different source regions together with different pathways of long-range atmospheric transport of particles.     

Perfluorosulfonates and perfluorocarboxylates in snow and rain in Dalian,China

Samples of precipitation events (snow and rain) in Dalian, a typical coastal town in China, were analyzed for perfluorosulfonates (PFSAs) and perfluorocarboxylates (PFCAs) to investigate atmospheric contamination by these compounds. In the snow event on December 16, 2006, samples were collected from 21 different sites and in another 6 precipitation events, samples were collected from a single location. Four PFSAs (C4, C6, C8, C10) and seven PFCAs (C6–12) were analyzed. Among the homologues, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) concentrations were the highest with a geometric mean (GM) of 145 ng/L (n = 21) during the snow event on December 16, 2006, followed by perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) with a GM of 24.7 ng/L (n = 21). Concentrations of perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) and perfluoroheptanoate (PFHpA) were more than two orders of magnitude lower than that of PFOS. Other PFSAs and PFCAs were found to be below the limit of detection in all the samples. In other 6 precipitation events, PFSAs and PFCAs were detected approximately in the same order of magnitude in both snow and rain. The results indicate that wet deposition may be a potential transport mechanism of perfluorinated chemicals in the environment.     

Alkali borosilicate glass by fly ash from a coal-fired power plant

The possibility of using coal fly ash as a silica source for alkali borosilicate glass was investigated. Alkali borosilicate glasses were prepared from the coal fly ash mixed with 30 wt.% reagents composed of Na(2)O and B(2)O(3) by susceptor-induction heating. Their densities ranged from 2.24 to 2.55 g cm(-3) and decreased as the amount of B(2)O(3) addition increased. However, the Vickers microhardness showed a different tendency with the density since the glass network connectivity improved by boron anomaly, which was identified by a nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. The Vickers microhardness of the glass product, with the addition of 15 wt.% B(2)O(3) and 15 wt.% Na(2)O, was about 4030 MPa. Furthermore, the changes in microstructure were consistent with those in the chemical stability by the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP).     

Estimation of internal radiation dose to the adult Asian population from the dietary intakes of two long-lived radionuclides

Daily dietary intakes of two naturally occurring long-lived radionuclides, 232Th and 238U, were estimated for the adult population living in a number of Asian countries, using highly sensitive analytical methods such as instrumental and radiochemical neutron activation analysis (INAA and RNAA), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The Asian countries that participated in the study were Bangladesh (BGD), China (CPR), India (IND), Japan (JPN), Pakistan (PAK), Philippines (PHI), Republic of Korea (ROK) and Vietnam (VIE). Altogether, these countries represent more than 50% of the world population. The median daily intakes of 232Th ranged between 0.6 and 14.4 mBq, the lowest being for Philippines and the highest for Bangladesh, and daily intakes of 238U ranged between 6.7 and 62.5 mBq, lowest and the highest being for India and China, respectively. The Asian median intakes were obtained as 4.2 mBq for 232Th and 12.7 mBq for 238U. Although the Asian intakes were lower than intakes of 12.3 mBq (3.0 ug) 232Th and 23.6 mBq (1.9 ug) 238U proposed by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) for the ICRP Reference Man, they were comparable to the global intake values of 4.6 mBq 232Th and 15.6 mBq 238U proposed by the United Nation Scientific Commission on Effects of Radiation (UNSCEAR). The annual committed effective doses to Asian population from the dietary intake of 232Th and 238U were calculated to be 0.34 and 0.20 microSv, respectively, which are three orders of magnitude lower than the global average annual radiation dose of 2400 microSv to man from the natural radiation sources as proposed by UNSCEAR.     

Intercomparison of INAA and ICP-MS results for thorium determination in Pakistani diet

A pilot study on ingestion and organ content of trace elements of importance in radiological protection was to be carried out in Pakistan. Baseline analytical data on daily dietary intake of thorium was to be measured using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) technique. To determine the accuracy and reliability of our technique, some samples were measured in Pakistan using INAA and in Japan using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry. For intercomparison of results overall mean Z-scores were calculated. The results showed validity of our technique. Mean value of 232Th concentration in Pakistani diet samples using INAA technique is 0.0062 +/- 0.0028 microg/g and with ICP-MS technique is 0.0069 +/- 0.0032 microg/g.     

Cultured human-cell-based bioassay for environmental risk management

Among bioassays for evaluating various impacts of chemicalson humans and ecosystems, those based on culturedmammalian-cells can best predict acute lethal toxicity to humans. Weexpect them to be employed in the future in environmentalrisk management alongside mutagenicity tests and endocrine-disrupting activity tests. We recently developed adisposable bioassay device that immobilizes humanhepatocarcinoma cells in a small micropipette tip. Thisenables very quick (within 2 h) evaluation of acute lethaltoxicity to humans. For bioassay-based environmentalmanagement, 2 promising approaches have been demonstrated bythe US-EPA: toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) andtoxicity reduction evaluation (TRE). The Japanese Ministryof Environment has been supporting a multi-center validationproject, aimed at assembling a bioassay database. To makefull use of these resources, we present a numerical modelthat describes contribution of individual chemical toobserved toxicity. This will allow the selection of the mosteffective countermeasure to reduce the toxicity. Bioassay-based environmental risk management works retrospectively,whereas impact assessment using substance flow models andtoxicity databases works prospective. We expect that these 2approaches will exchange information, act complementarily,and work effectively in keeping our environment healthy inthe 21st century.     

日本建筑垃圾再资源化相关法规介绍

介绍了日本建筑垃圾的分类方法和种类以及与建筑垃圾再资源化有关的法律法规。     

Behavior of a hammerhead ribozyme in aqueous solution at medium to high temperatures

The “RNA world” hypothesis proposes that—early in the evolution of life—RNA molecules played important roles both in information storage and in enzymatic functions. However, this hypothesis seems to be inconsistent with the concept that life may have emerged under hydrothermal conditions since RNA molecules are considered to be labile under such extreme conditions. Presently, the possibility that the last common ancestor of the present organisms was a hyperthermophilic organism which is important to support the hypothesis of the hydrothermal origin of life has been subject of strong discussions. Consequently, it is of importance to study the behavior of RNA molecules under hydrothermal conditions from the viewpoints of stability, catalytic functions, and storage of genetic information of RNA molecules and determination of the upper limit of temperature where life could have emerged. In the present work, self-cleavage of a natural hammerhead ribozyme was examined at temperatures 10–200?°C. Self-cleavage was investigated in the presence of Mg²⁺, which facilitates and accelerates this reaction. Self-cleavage of the hammerhead ribozyme was clearly observed at temperatures up to 60?°C, but at higher temperatures self-cleavage occurs together with hydrolysis and with increasing temperature hydrolysis becomes dominant. The influence of the amount of Mg²⁺ on the reaction rate was also investigated. In addition, we discovered that the reaction proceeds in the presence of high concentrations of monovalent cations (Na⁺ or K⁺), although very slowly. Furthermore, at high temperatures (above 60?°C), monovalent cations protect the ribozyme against degradation.