Evaluation of entanglement properties of crushed automobile shredded residue and detachment of entrapped particles

Automobile shredded residue is a potential solid fuel when its metal and chlorine-containing parts have been removed. The authors have investigated physical separation of automobile shredded residue to obtain the components that may be used in solid fuel and found that agglomerates of entangling fiber-like components are formed during crushing, making removal of metals and chlorine-containing parts difficult. In this paper, a reattachment ratio, entrapment ratio, and disentanglement ratio are proposed to evaluate the entanglement properties of crushed automobile shredded residue. It is found that products smaller than 16 mm were not reattached easily in the sieving process, and an index based on entanglement properties proposed here is useful to predict suitable crushing conditions. Wet detachment of entrapped particles from agglomerates of entangling materials was also applied to separate particulate matter from crushed ASR.     

Trends in the use of psychoactive substances by truck drivers in São Paulo State,Brazil: A time-series cross sectional roadside survey (2009–2016)

Objective: Truck drivers represent a group that is susceptible to the use of stimulant substances to reduce the symptoms of fatigue, which may be caused by a stressful and exhausting work environment. The use of psychoactive substances may increase the risk for involvement in road traffic crashes. Previous studies have demonstrated that amphetamine, cocaine, and cannabis are the 3 main drugs used by Brazilian truck drivers. We studied the prevalence of amphetamine, benzoylecgonine (indicating use of cocaine), and Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THC-COOH; indicating use of cannabis) in urine samples from truck drivers in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, using the same methodology during 8 years (2009–2016).

Methods: Samples were collected during a health program supported by the Federal Highway Police. Toxicological analyses were performed using immunoassays and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry.

Results: The total prevalence of illicit drugs was 7.8%. Benzoylecgonine was the most prevalent substance (3.6%), followed by amphetamine (3.4%) and THC-COOH (1.6%). We found the highest drug prevalence in 2010 (11.3%) and the lowest in 2011 (6.1%). We could detect a slight change in the pattern of stimulant use: until 2010, amphetamine was the most prevalent substance; however, in 2011 benzoylecgonine became the most frequently detected substance. This lasted until 2015, probably due to changes in Brazilian legislation regarding appetite suppressants; the most common one is metabolized to amphetamine.

Conclusion: These data show that the use of psychoactive substances by truck drivers in Brazil did not decrease during the study period. This reinforces the need for further preventive measures to reduce drug use among drivers, which could lead to a decrease in traffic crashes in Brazil.     

通过私有部门措施解决环境问题的日本举措

引言 1997年12月,<联合国气候变化框架公约>缔约方第三次会议(COP3)在京都举行.在经过11天谈判之后通过的<京都议定书>中,先进工业国同意到2008-2012年使其包括CO2在内的6种类型温室气体的排放量平均削减1990年水平的5.2%.具体地说,CO2削减将对经济和对人民产生直接影响.正是由于这个原因,各缔约方能够第一次对一个有法律约束力的温室气体削减议定书表示同意,是重要的第一步.各先进国家都呼吁采取与各自的温室气体削减目标相一致的举措:日本6%,美国7%,欧盟国家8%,等.     

Fluorinated alkyl compounds including long chain carboxylic acids in wild bird livers from Japan

A wide range of fluorinated alkyl compounds (FACs) has been reported in wildlife in various locations in the world. However, such information regarding Japanese wildlife is rarely found. In the present study, we investigated the occurrence of 21 FACs, including perfluorinated alkyl sulfonates (PFASs), perfluorinated carboxylates (PFCAs), and fluorotelomer acids, in the livers of 10 wild bird species from two regions in northern Japan. To avoid interferences, FACs were quantified by a recently developed method using acetonitrile and solid-phase extraction followed by an ion exchange HPLC column separation. Apart from perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), which was found at the highest levels of all the compounds detected, several long chain perfluorinated carboxylates (PFCAs) from C8 to C16, particularly perfluorotetradecanoic acid (PFTeDA) and perfluorohexadecanoic acid (PFHxDA), were detected for the first time. Additionally, 7:3 FTCA, a fluorotelomer acid, was also detected in most swan livers from Miyagi prefecture and all the birds from Tochigi prefecture. However, none of the sulfonamides and unsaturated telomer acids were detected in any species. Swans seem to be the least exposed wild birds to FACs among the investigated birds, signifying that feeding habits may reflect FAC accumulation in wild birds. The highest total concentration of detected FACs was 405 ng g⁻¹ wet wt., which was found in a Japanese sparrowhawk, indicating that the top predatory wild birds can accumulate several long chain carboxylic acids. However, the current FAC concentrations found in livers may suggest that these compounds alone would not cause a severe toxic effect in these species.     

Comparative assessment of primary and secondary infection risks in a norovirus outbreak using a household model simulation

Diarrheal diseases can be transmitted via both primary infection due to exposures to contaminated materials from the environment and secondary infection due to personto-person contacts. Usually, the importance of secondary infection is empirically assessed by fitting mathematical models to the epidemic curves. However, these empirical models may not be applicable to other epidemic cases because they are developed only for the target epidemics and they don't consider the detail routes of infection. In our previous study, we developed a theoretical model taking into account the various routes of infection that commonly occur in households(e.g., shaking hands, food handling, and changing diapers).This model was made flexible and applicable to any epidemics by means of adjusting model parameters. In this study, we proposed a new index "Vulnerability indicator to secondary infection(VISI)", which expressed a ratio of secondary infection to primary infection risks and calculated this index in a simulated norovirus(No V) epidemic that involved 10,000 households.The results demonstrated that households composed of more than three members including infant(s) had much higher levels of VISI(5–45) than two-member-households with VISI(0.1–4).These results concluded that the infants were likely to be a hub of secondary infections in highly dense families and therefore careful handling of diapers was deemed indispensible in such families to effectively control the secondary infections.     

Body color change and serum steroid hormone levels throughout the process of sex change in the adult wrasse, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudolabrus sieboldi</Emphasis>

Gonadal sex steroid hormones are the principal factors that directly control the gonadal and morphological alterations during sex change in hermaphrodite fish; however, the physiological mechanism of action by which these hormones govern body coloration is poorly understood. The protogynous wrasse Pseudolabrus sieboldi is a good model for understanding the physiological mechanisms of gonadal and body color change during sex change in hermaphrodite fish. To obtain information on the relationship between sex steroids and body color change during the process of gonadal sex change, we analyzed body color, gonadal histology, and serum levels of sex steroids. Body color was analyzed using a quantitative analytical method based on the hue value. Compared to other body parts of the fish, the anal fin changed color the most, becoming increasingly redder in association with gonadal changes that converted ovaries to testes. Levels of serum 11-ketotestosterone (11KT) increased as the gonadal sex change proceeded, whereas no significant change was observed in estradiol-17β (E2) levels. Moreover, we found a significant correlation between the hue value of the anal fin and serum 11KT levels, but not E2 levels. These results suggest that androgen, but not estrogen, plays a principle role in the changes in both gonadal morphology and body color in the transformation from female to male in this species. To our knowledge, this is the first quantitative demonstration of the relationship between body color and serum steroid levels during sex change in fish.     

Jig separation of crushed automobile shredded residue and its evaluation by float and sink analysis

Automobile shredded residue is a potential solid fuel when its metal and chloride-containing components have been removed. The authors have investigated physical separation of automobile shredded residue to isolate components that may be used as solid fuel and reported that agglomerates of entangling fiber-like material are formed during crushing. These agglomerates make removal of metals and chloride-containing components difficult, and the paper proposes a treatment flowchart consisting of separate treatments of the coarse size fraction containing entangling fiber-like components and the smaller size fraction containing particulate matter. This paper reports the treatment of the smaller size fraction treated with jigging to obtain a low-ash and low-chloride-content product. A new washability curve was developed based on float and sink analysis test results, and it was applied to estimate the gravity separation performance of treatments such as jigging and dense medium separation. The estimated results show good agreement with the experimental results of jig separation.     

环境监测技术的现状及发展趋势

根据日本环境质量标准发展的需求,结合欧洲新近实施的相关环境标准,分析了环境监测技术需求和发展方向.